To my guest reviewer, E: Thanks for all the reviews, first off. Now to start with, let's address the concern about OCss- I more or less agree with you, which is partially why Elizabeth and her squad, along with any other named non-canon Sekirei that may appear, are crossover characters and not OCs. Elizabeth and her team specifically are characters from Freezing, as a few readers have taken note.
As for Minato and the class of being he is, yes, he's heavily-based upon a servant-class Lovecraftian entity, the Shoggoth. However, things are more… variable than even a Shoggoth, in regards to where Minato's kind stands on the food chain.
You were right in that 'In Flight' is my favorite Sekirei fic as well.
To the other guest reviewer… 'Guest'- my plans for Karasuba are very much non-canon, so I hope you'll enjoy them. I won't leave hints, beyond that I'm rather fond of Karasuba myself.
As everything stood poised to go wrong all at once, Chiho briefly found herself thinking that it made a morbid amount of sense for a career patient like herself to have her first kiss taste like blood.
Blood with a cherry aftertaste, because the woman's lips were red from more than just her split lip.
So very red, and so very soft.
Chiho couldn't help but feel her eyes drawn to the woman's lips, to the glossy warm softness she could still feel lingering against her own.
Sekirei Number 49… Meiko.
Meiko, Meiko… what a pretty name for a pretty lady.
"Chiho? Are you alright?" Shiina called, getting closer.
As the brief daydream promptly abandoned her, Chiho realized that Shiina must not have seen the woman, since he was directly behind her chair, but that at any second now he would circle around to avoid startling her, just like he always did-
Chiho whipped her head around to face him, right on cue, and Shiina's eyes went very wide.
The distance between them evaporated, and she flinched a little as Shiina's face was suddenly inches from her own.
Flinched, and ruthlessly bit down the sudden crazed urge to make the distance between her lips and his go away.
… Well, she'd always known she was a pitiful person.
An overwhelming sense of guilt clenched her chest like a great invisible fist as Shiina's eyes zeroed in on her lips.
A gentle sleeve had brushed across her lip, coming and going before her mind or body could react.
Shiina's gaze flicked down to the blood on his sleeve, and those gentle pale eyes of his turned cold yet sharp, like a huge icicle glittering above her head.
"You're hurt, Chiho," he said, his voice so dreadfully soft. "Did she do this to you?" She hadn't even realized that her own lip had been bleeding too.
A different flavor of guilt hit her as Shiina acknowledged Meiko's presence for the first time, though his eyes never left hers.
"Sh-Shiina, I can explain!" She stammered out, panicking. "It wasn't her fault, I promise, I didn't mean to-!"
Shiina's eyelashes that were long for a boy's eyelashes but suited him well fluttered several times as he blinked, his gaze darting between her face and Meiko's.
"... She's a Sekirei!" It was as if he was truly looking at Meiko for the very first time.
Shiina's dangerous expression melted away into something between panic and heartbreak, for only a moment before the merciless cold returned with a vengeance.
"When you say it's not her fault… Did you see her wings?"
"H-her… wings?"
It was answer enough for Shiina, apparently, and he sighed softly, relaxing his body and closing his eyes.
Chiho didn't realize the way she was holding the woman, which meant that the Sekirei that had forcibly winged herself on Chiho already mattered to Chiho, on some level.
… Accepting that he shouldn't kill the newcomer for what she'd done to Chiho, Shiina gave another quiet sigh. A little pang of guilt struck as he heard the creak of Chiho's chair shifting awkwardly, the way it always did when she fidgeted in her seat.
"I-I'm sorry Shiina it all happened so fast and she wasn't in her right mind and I don't even know why I'm apologizing any more but I'm sorry!"
"Chiho." Shiina opened his eyes and smiled, gently, and Chiho's words ended with a sharp inhale. "It's okay."
"S-Shiina?"
"Promise." Shiina said, his smile becoming a little more earnest even though his soulful eyes glistened.
Chiho flushed, and sniffled, and then-
Her eyes darted down to the woman who seconds before had been bleeding into her lap, and-
"H-huh?"
… And wasn't bleeding anymore, her visible wounds still an angry red but firmly shut.
Empty hands fluttering around ineffectually into the air, a thoroughly bewildered Chiho naturally locked onto Shiina…
Who covered his mouth with one hand to muffle his chuckle.
Chiho gaped at him, mouth moving but not even a stammer escaping her lips, and Shiina chuckled again.
"S-Shiina!" Chiho pouted, her voice quiet even when raised.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," Shiina lied as naturally as he breathed, before hastily scrubbing his eyes with his sleeves. "But… um… I guess you have a few questions?"
"Y-you could say that," Chiho managed with a lopsided smile.
As her big sis relaxed her hand, Uzume let her veil fall limp at her side.
"... What's our play, Sis?" Uzume quietly questioned Kazehana, keeping her eyes on Shiina and the other two.
"Let's hang back for now," Kazehana answered immediately, watching as a nurse rushed over to the odd trio. "Going over there is just going to complicate things right now."
"Gotcha," Uzume nodded. "But still… poor kid."
Kazehana grimaced.
When they'd gone to find Shiina, they'd found him already leaving work in a hurry, and not towards home.
So they'd tailed him while keeping their distance, and from their rooftop vantage point, happened to see what he hadn't.
… An injured Sekirei had stumbled across… or rather into her Destined One, and kissed the girl on the spot.
Winging herself on the same Ashikabi that Shiina had apparently been looking for.
"He must have been meaning to break it to her slowly," Kazehana said wistfully. "That girl is his Destined One."
The Ashikabi that Shiina had chosen had just 'ended up' with someone that wasn't him. The sense of solidarity Kazehana was feeling with the kid was painful.
And then she realized with a start that it wasn't just Shiina deserving of sympathy.
Those boys had bonded too quickly and too easily.
"Flock-brothers-to-be, was it?" Her voice barely a whisper, Kazehana couldn't have honestly said whether she meant those words to be spoken out loud.
But Uzume still heard them.
"... Oh, no way… Homura's been looking longer than almost any of us!" Uzume moaned, her fists clenching.
"If that girl can't handle multiple Sekirei, It'll be two broken hearts we're dealing with, and not one," Kazehana sighed. A glance at Uzume though, stole her focus away from the boys almost entirely.
… So much for being the first Sekirei of the flock.
Uzume had gotten more than a taste of the despair and pain that accompanied having 'missed her chance' as well, and the wound wasn't quite healed even if their wonderful husband had spared Uzume the full brunt of the experience.
Only another Sekirei could truly appreciate how much that hurt- and Kazehana knew that pain more than most.
… She was still a little grateful that her in-law had glossed over how 'liver damage' was part of her 'internal scarring' that Minato had inadvertently healed.
But it wasn't about her, not at the moment anyways.
A gentle arm wrapped around Uzume's shoulder in a sideways hug, and her only reaction was to lean in.
Aliens were real, and one of them had taken her first kiss.
Chiho could only accept that her day was going to take a turn for the weird.
Meiko, Shiina, and… Homura too, were something called 'Sekirei'... she was pretty sure that was the name of a bird, so didn't that kind of explain Homura's thing with windows? … No, she was distracting herself again and it wasn't fair to-
"S-so… what does… 'winging' mean?" Chiho asked, feeling somehow embarrassed by the word as they sat in the hallway outside of the hospital room that the slumbering Meiko was in. "And how come the doctors gave a different dosage for the anesthetic?"
Shiina blinked in surprise, more at the second question than the first.
"I've been in the hospital a long time, Shiina," Chiho said, expression falling along with Shiina's as she realized what a depressing explanation she'd just given. "A-anyways, wings? Do you have wings too?"
Shiina immediately stiffened up in his seat, sitting rigid as his cheeks began to color.
… Was it mean of her to think the color of his blush was pretty?
"N-not yet?" Shiina said, shyly averting his gaze.
"Um… then how do you get them?" Chiho asked, equally shy. It wasn't fair to feel embarrassed because Shiina was embarrassed.
"Y-y-you've already seen, h-haven't you?"
It took her a moment to understand, and then her own cheeks grew hot.
She had 'winged' Meiko, hadn't she?
Or Meiko had winged herself on her… she hoped that wouldn't cause problems, Meiko hadn't been in her right mind or she obviously wouldn't have chosen Chiho.
After all… Shiina and Homura might have spent time with her, and she liked to think they got along really well, but… they hadn't 'chosen' her, either.
It was a horrible thought to have, and Chiho instantly felt horrible for thinking it.
How conceited of her.
A frail little girl who could barely get out of bed without help, expecting to be desired by others.
"We were trying to take it slow," came a threadbare whisper. Shiina wasn't looking her way, but his entire posture was rigid.
"We didn't think it would be fair to just… dump all of this on you all at once, so we were going to wait, and break it to you slowly, and then… then maybe…" Shiina's words trailed off, and the silence left behind was almost unbearable.
… So he could have his 'weak' moments too.
… Surely Homura was no different.
Chiho was used to feeling weak, but… everyone suffered, and anyone could be dealt a bad hand by life.
And if even someone like her could make someone else's life better, then how could she possibly just sit there and do nothing?
Shiina sucked in his breath when a thin and soft hand reached out, gently turning his face her way. There was no strength at all in that delicate hand, but its pull was undeniable.
Chiho closed her eyes, leaned in before she could talk herself out of it, and…
'Oh, so a boy's lips are soft, too.'
A little 'spark' like one she had felt once before lit up her mind's eye, and Chiho caught a brief but poignant glimpse of white chrysanthemum petals against weathered stone- the furtive, solemn beauty of flowers left at a loved one's grave.
And then Chiho withdrew while her eyes, and the vivid albeit fleeting vision was replaced by a sight even more vivid.
Shiina was staring at her, his eyes so wide it was a wonder they hadn't fallen out of their sockets.
And the moment their eyes met, the color of Shiina's face went from pale porcelain to bright crimson.
But even as the rest of him remained completely and utterly still to the point where even his heart didn't dare beat, the wings of light that had bloomed from his back curled around them both.
They were off-white wings whose shape resembled the long petals of the Japanese white chrysanthemum.
The flower petals she'd seen in her vision were not petals at all, but the mystical wings of the beautiful boy before her, like a fairy prince from an enchanted forest.
Calmer now within the veil of his wings, Shiina spoke the words he'd always been waiting to say. "Sekirei Number 107, Shiina. I'll be the death of your sorrows, my Ashikabi, forever and ever."
It was Chiho's turn to blush, deeply, ducking her head.
"W-when you say it like that, it almost s-s-sounds like a proposal~" Chiho murmured, almost inaudibly.
Shiina's blush returned with a vengeance, forgetting that he hadn't gotten that far in his explanation as Chiho's words began to play themselves on repeat in his head.
Suddenly, the sliding door at their side all but flung itself open, and standing there was a tall and imposingly beautiful woman with steel gray hair, hospital gown straining against her chest and metal door straining beneath her fingers.
After a moment of staring out the window, her gaze naturally sought out Chiho, only to narrow dangerously as she found a Sekirei in her way.
The stormy scowl on her face vanished, though, in the time it took for her to get a good look at the male Sekirei protecting her Ashikabi. The brief silence that followed was broken first by the woman releasing the poor abused door from her grasp, and the scowl returned with a speculative edge as she regarded both Shiina and Chiho in turn.
"Gaining a wife and a sibling all in one day? Productive."
Chiho and Shiina squeaked in unison.
"Damn, that chick with the big tits has sharp eyes," Uzume remarked. "Her and Tsukiumi would get along though huh? Could almost feel her glare all the way over here."
"Mhm, think we just barely managed to duck her radar, though," Kazehana said. They'd bailed off the rooftop when the tall woman seemed to notice them.
"... But good for him," Uzume smiled. Shiina's wings were beautiful.
"Good for him," Kazehana agreed. "This changes things though, so let's give Honey a call."
"Yeah, be a little tricky to walk Shiina home if his Ashikabi can't leave the hospital."
When Kazehana contacted Minato, it was a video call and not a phone call.
They both needed to hear their Ashikabi's voice, because they both knew they were thinking the same thing.
… What about Homura?
Past the fluttery feeling that came with her first lucid interaction with her Ashikabi being the delightful girl fretting over her now mostly-healed wounds, Meiko was mostly just feeling confused.
By some strange twist of affairs, her Ashikabi had ended up with yet another Sekirei while Meiko slept off her wounds.
A male Sekirei at that, weren't there less than half a dozen of them?
Meiko hated men, and yet she was now stuck sharing a wife with one!
Except that… she could not truly bring herself to be angry.
Her younger flock-brother was… after all…
No, there was no way to sugar coat it.
Her flock brother was simply adorable! Of course, it was completely and utterly impossible for anyone at all to be as adorable as her Ashikabi, but her little brother had earned second place, and earned it well!
… The saving grace for Chiho's flock dynamic was that Shiina was cute, and Number 49, Meiko loved cute things far, far more than she hated men.
"Yes, we will need to meet with them sooner or later, so go ahead if the opportunity presents itself," Minato suggested, the phone held in front of him.. "I will need to go over there if Shiina's Ashikabi cannot leave the hospital, but she and the Sekirei might not be aware of certain 'perks' available to participants in the S-Plan."
"Might need to help ease the new Ashikabi into things, but we'll at least make it clear to the Sekirei that we're on the same side." Kazehana followed up.
"Yeah, dunno about the newcomer, but reminding Shiina might not hurt," Uzume chimed in with a mischievous grin. "He might be feeling a little overprotective, especially if his Destined One is even half as cute as our little bro is."
"And I will talk with Miya- I have a feeling the Inn is going to fill more rooms, but regardless of what they decide, I may as well give her a heads up," Minato suggested.
A sharp tilt of his head was the only outward reaction Minato gave, when the house flinched.
"... Something wrong, Hun?" Kazehana questioned calmly, giving nothing away as she observed her Ashikabi with keen eyes.
"I am unsure, but I should probably go take a look," Minato said, turning his eyes back her way. "Call me if anything else comes up, but otherwise, see you when you get back."
Taking note of the confusion flickering through their bond, Kazehana and Uzume elected not to drag the call out, blowing Minato a kiss in flirtatious unison before hanging up.
The phone vanished from sight as Minato rose smoothly to his feet, casting his senses out to confirm that his other Sekirei were still outside.
Miya was upstairs, approaching the shy one's room-
The house flinched again, and 'something dark' surged out of the living room and up the stairs.
"... M-Matsu? What on earth is… this?" The scent and the sight hit Miya like a physical impact, the moment she had all but torn open Matsu's door.
Yet Matstu didn't turn, didn't react at all.
She just kept typing away on her keyboard, her braids shifting slightly as she glanced between screens.
Screens with incomprehensible symbols scrawled across them.
Incomprehensible symbols scrawled in recently dried blood.
There was something… unpleasant about those symbols, independent of the 'ink' used to write them, but what dominated Miya's thoughts was the disbelief that Matsu had done all this in her home and she hadn't noticed until that very moment.
And then he was there, at her side, lips curled into a frown as his visible eyes darted between the scrawlings on the screen.
Only then did Matsu react, her entire body shivering sensually before her head whipped around with a beaming smile upon her face.
The wooden handle of the feather duster splintering beneath Miya's fingers was her only outward reaction to the sight that greeted her.
Though orange was an uncommon eye color, even for a Sekirei, Matsu's eyes were ordinary otherwise.
Or rather, had been ordinary otherwise.
Anything resembling a pupil was simply gone from her eyes, and it was as if Matsu's irises had burst like a ripe grape being squashed, the color having splattered throughout the milky white orbs before dripping free to stain her cheeks in burnt, vivid orange.
And yet those wide eyes were staring at Minato in rapt fascination, and the first words that Matsu ever spoke to him were laden with awe.
"You're… beautiful," Matsu whispered. "I can't tell if you're the Gate, the Lock, or the Key!"
Though his title as her strangest tenant was currently being contested, Minato's strangely exhausted reply ended that competition almost instantly.
"Just… answer one question."
"Of course, anything!" Matsu eagerly replied.
"... Is there going to be a cult I need to worry about?" Mother was very strict about cults.
… A latticework of pulsing crimson.
Matsu's wings spread from her back like a network of veins trying to escape her body, and yet…
Miya could not deny that there was a bizarre sort of beauty there, a changed Sekirei befitting just one Ashikabi that she knew of.
A strange fate that had taken flight above the city she called home, a seeping encroachment on the delicate veil of normalcy that had begun to fray when her kind first swept in.
Miya found that she had more than a few questions for herself, but before she could ask those, she needed answers from him.
Minato was involved in… some way, with the uncanny things that had shaped and scarred Matsu in ways perhaps none of them understood.
A faintly translucent blindfold of 'something dark' now encircled Matsu's head, covering her eyes and masking the strange markings that glistened beneath them.
A protective measure to prevent the inquisitive Sekirei from seeing too much.
It was currently the only thing the Sekirei of Knowledge wore, the rest of her clothes discarded as Miya helped her newly winged tenant cleanse herself. Matsu had naturally pouted when Miya stonewalled her mixed bathing attempts, but rules were rules.
… And the opportunity to speak with Matsu alone was necessary.
"Matsu."
"Yes, Miya?" Her voice was mild to the point of being nearly toneless.
"I do not wish to press you, but needs must."
"Uh huh, be more surprised if you didn't have questions, Miya."
"... I could not help but notice that you passed over your vows to your Ashikabi." … And that had not been the first question she had intended to ask, not in the least.
"Ehehe, well… yeah?" Matsu rubbed her head sheepishly, her voice taking on a familiar childishness. "I'm not good with surprises you know, and the words changed the moment I got winged! I'd die of embarrassment if I flubbed my lines, die I tell you!"
… What did it say of their relationship, that Matsu's theatrics were genuinely comforting to hear?
"That does sound dire, but changed how?"
"Well, my title is new, for one."
"... Title?"
Matsu's reflection in the mirror showed the way she smugly puffed out her not inconsiderable chest.
"Hehe, feast your eyes on Sekirei Number 02, Matsu of Apocrypha!"
"... Apocrypha? Whatever is that supposed to mean?"
"Not a clue!" Matsu declared, still smug.
Miya experienced the disorienting sensation of vertigo while motionless.
"That's the other reason I didn't announce myself properly," Matsu giggled. "No offense Miya, but it's way more embarrassing to not be able to explain that to my Ashikabi!"
"I suppose it would be, wouldn't it?" Miya found herself smiling in spite of herself.
"Right!?" Of course she wasn't totally clueless, given what she knew about the term, but she needed time to work out how 'apocrypha' applied to her.
"And now tell me, Matsu," it was Miya's turn to speak in a mild tone of voice, though the undercurrent was drastically different. "Tell me anything you can of that thing I drove from my house."
Matsu's lazy posture corrected itself in an instant, her back ramrod straight as she suddenly found herself under interrogation by her commanding officer and the bone-white apparition peeking over her slim shoulder.
"M-M-Miya! Ma'am!" Matsu half-shouted, her voice trembling.
"I'm waiting, Matsu~"
"It's hard to explain! I was looking into Minato and then something looked into me! In a way, way different sense of the term- huh, what is it?"
The demonic mask vanished like baleful smoke as Miya turned her head sharply.
"Oh my, I seem to recall asking him to wait in the living room?"
"Ahaha, about that, Miya… I think he's about to have a better idea of what that 'thing' was?"
Their monstrous tenant was, in fact, in the living room when they found him.
… Lying on the floor, curiously boneless limbs spread out, and…
An expression that could only be described as a 'pout' on his lips.
Kusano and Musubi were at his side, taking turns prodding him with their fingers. Akitsu was knelt primly at his other side, while Tsukiumi and the twins had occupied a couch, gazing down with varying blends of bemusement and concern.
"Big Brother is all floopy!" Kusano threw up her hands to announce.
"Whatever is it this time?" Miya asked, a hint of exasperation leaking through as she cupped her cheek with one hand.
"I was cleaning the internet." Minato 'explained'. He'd need to leave the house to deal with 'that', so he'd settled for destroying its lair in the meantime.
"... Well, if he hasn't lost his habit of casually mentioning the ridiculous, he can't be that badly off," Hikari rolled her eyes. Hibiki sighed softly, underscoring a joint loss of tension in the twins.
"Husband! Didst thou do something perilous without our knowledge yet again!?" Tsukiumi demanded, fed up.
"Not dangerous, just unpleasant. I will replace the monitors, by the way." Minato replied. "And the towers. And the wires. And the bedding. Tatami too."
"Oh my, I believe you owe me another explanation," Miya said.
Matsu gasped loudly as the implications hit. "Y-you didn't!"
"I did, and it tasted dead and ancient. I haven't had indigestion this bad since I emptied out 'The Tomb'." Minato complained softly.
"You did!" Matsu wailed, falling to her knees. "Noooo!"
"... Babe, did you eat Matsu's room?" Hibiki hesitantly asked. "And are we just skipping over the long-awaited reveal of our mystery housemate?" The midnight-blue blindfold was a point of curiosity as well of course, just a potentially more sensitive one.
"And why the hell would it taste ancient? Miya would never let a part of her house go unclean for that long!" Hikari added.
"Rooms are food?" Musubi tilted her head.
"Not the whole room, but the flooring couldn't be saved and I had to strip the paint." Minato said.
"Babe, you were gone for twenty minutes, including the phone call." Hibiki pointed out.
"I eat faster the less pleasant the meal. Goes down easier that way."
"Yep, that logic makes sense as long as you ignore the context." Hibiki admitted in a way that made it hard to tell if she was conceding the point, or just giving up trying to understand it.
"And more importantly!" Tsukiumi burst out. "Didst thou wing Matsu!?"
"Congratulations Tsukiumi, you have a new sibling and it's a girl." Minato blithely replied, before blinking. "... Sorry, the writing I ate is making my brain squiggle."
For some reason, that last comment made Matsu's cheeks flush.
"Do we need to call a doctor?" Hikari asked. "And by a doctor, I mean your mom?"
"Not until I make sure examining Matsu is safe."
"Why wouldn't it be!?" Matsu exclaimed, patting herself down somewhat irrationally.
"Put your inner body back where it's supposed to be before asking that."
Akitsu seemed to have already noticed something, as she had followed the direction of Minato's gaze, and was tilting her head back and forth as if to get a better angle.
That was their cue for the rest of the household to notice, and a chill gripped the room.
Minato tended to look people directly in the eye when looking at them, blinking seldom.
… Yet when he had been speaking with Matsu, his gaze was focused in the 'empty' space above her head, at least until Matsu unknowingly complied to his request.
And once again, for Matsu alone…
Her shadow was being cast onto the ceiling instead of the floor.
[Sooo… we came to pick our little bro up from work so you didn't get jumped by someone looking to wing ya, but… congrats?] the text from Uzume read.
Shiina felt a fluttery little feeling as the joy of being winged seemed to replay itself yet again.
That wasn't the only text message, though, far from it.
[Since you're a competitor for realz now, first things first- Plan 'don't give Kuu a reason to cry' is still a go. In Babe's own words "being forced to fight our friends is an overused cliche, the Director hates overused cliches"- so ya, no need to worry about anything changing with the home sitch, Little Bro!]
[Ur wings are adorbs btw]
[Babe wants to meet ur Ashikabi, but only when you, ur big-tiddied flock-sis, and ur cute Ashikabi are comfortable with it. Mind if Kazehana and I come say hi in person, were outside?]
"You must care an awful lot about whoever is texting you, Shiina," Chiho said with a gentle smile. "Is it your roommates? … S-sorry, you don't have to ask that, I didn't mean to pry!"
"It's fine, Chiho," Shiina smiled back. "Yep, two of my roommates came to pick me up from work, there are a lot less unwinged Sekirei and the Director made an announcement about it, so they were worried I might be in danger… I guess there's even less unwinged Sekirei now, huh?" As he trailed off, the boy's cheeks pinked, shoes squeaking against the linoleum as he shuffled shyly.
"Oh! Are they still nearby, then? I-if so, d-do you think I m-maybe could…?"
"They are Sekirei, are they not?" Meiko interrupted, gaze stern as she stared down at the much shorter boy. "Are you certain we can trust them?"
Shiina, however, met that imposing glare without falter, unwittingly earning a few points from his flock-sister.
"Absolutely," Shiina replied with confidence. "We're family, even if we're not from the same flock. Do you remember when I told you about Kuu, Chiho?" He asked, directing his attention to the seated blonde.
"Of course I do!" Chiho chirped happily. "Let me guess- Kuu is a Sekirei and these girls are from the same flock as her?"
Shiina nodded happily, before turning his attention back to Meiko. "Kusano- Number 108, and I were raised as siblings, and still treat each other that way. Anyone I can trust to be around Kusano, I trust to be around Chiho."
Chiho blushed even as her smile grew, and Meiko directed a warm glance her way that only Shiina was perceptive enough to catch before it was gone.
"That will do for now, then," Meiko relented. She wasn't wholly convinced, just convinced enough to give Shiina the benefit of a doubt. "If you wish to meet, I have no objections."
Both Sekirei looked to Chiho, who stiffened a little at the attention, before giving a shy, but firm nod.
"Then I suppose I should get dressed, if you would excuse me for a moment?" Meiko said, idly plucking at her hospital gown. "This is rather…" the hospital gown tore in grand fashion, leaving a rather magnificent cleavage window on display. "... or rather was quite restrictive."
It was Meiko's turn to blush as Chiho's gaze was averted with a cute little 'eep', and she could feel her heart rate spike dramatically as their bond provided a flash of embarrassing but blissful clarity.
… Of the multiple reasons Chiho had so hastily averted her gaze, disinterest had not been one of them.
Feeling gratified to an almost shameful degree, a smirking Meiko turned on her heel and returned to the room.
That feeling soon paled in comparison to what Meiko felt when Chiho got a good look at her usual attire.
And though the time when she admitted, let alone acted upon it, was a long way off, Meiko privately took note that, even if he did an admirable job of being a gentleman about it…
… Shiina's reaction to seeing her in more presentable garments was… intriguing.
Everything about Shiina's sexy-schoolgirl-cosplaying flockmate screamed 'Power-type'- a big girl in all the fun ways.
Pushing past six foot with those stiletto heels, not overtly muscular (few Sekirei were), but with the same kind of hidden sturdiness that Musubi had.
She also probably had bigger tits than even Kazehana, which really was impressive enough on its own.
Further investigation needed (wanted).
"Busy day, Lil Bro?" Uzume grinned as they sauntered down the mostly empty hallway of the hospital.
"Y-you could say that," Shiina scratched his head with a bashful laugh. "This is Chiho, my Ashikabi, and-"
"Sekirei Number 49, Meiko," the woman stepped forward a half pace to introduce herself and place herself just a bit ahead of the human she was flanking. Both Uzume and Kazehana took note of the nonverbal warning in the form of the woman's leather boot, clicking down with just a trace of an echo.
Kazehana raised her eyebrow briefly, though inwardly she approved- she was wary about any Sekirei she didn't know around her Ashikabi, regardless of who vouched for them.
And her Ashikabi was a literal monster, not a dreamy little princess in a wheelchair.
"Pleased to meet you both," Chiho bowed her head with a serene smile. "My name is Hidaka Chiho, Ashikabi of both Shiina and Meiko."
And then the adorable little thing straightened up, squirming slightly and shooting furtive glances to her Sekirei. "U-um, did I do that right?"
Kazehana gave a breezy laugh of delight as Shiina's adoring smile and nod was the answer Chiho received.
"Sekirei Number 10, Uzume, pleased to meetcha," Uzume grinned, hands on her hips.
"Sekirei Number 03, Kazehana- pleasure's all mine," Kazehana gave a brief bow, hands clasped in front of her.
Number 49's wariness spiked at the mention of Kazehana's number, but Kazehana gave a minute shake of her head and a soft smile, Meiko's rigid posture easing and Shiina giving an inaudible sigh of relief. Uzume's smile remained in place.
"Sorry our Ashikabi isn't here with us to say hi," Kazehana carried on as if the lightning fast exchange hadn't occurred. "But your fateful encounter was a welcome surprise to us as well~"
Chiho blushed at the gorgeous Sekirei's wink, and Meiko and Shiina both jolted a little as they felt with certainty that it wasn't really Kazehana that had made Chiho blush.
In yet another quiet display of how keen she was, Kazehana was the first to notice that little chain reaction, and left feeling elated at how cutely in sync the newly formed flock was
Smiling warmly, she placed a hand to her cheek with a pleased sigh. "You truly did find the perfect 'forever and ever', didn't you, Shiina?"
Shiina's faint blush deepened, but there was nothing shy or hesitant about his response.
Minato liked to think they were making progress- Matsu wasn't 'the shy one' anymore, and seemed to have wholly forgotten about being terrified of him.
That being said…
"No, you can't experiment on me Matsu, that's illegal without proper authorization," Minato firmly denied. "But you are very clever Matsu, so I am sure you will learn a few things about me during the medical examination."
"Does that mean I caaan experiment on you, with proper authorization?" Matsu 'teasingly' asked.
"If Mother allows it, I do not mind," Minato nodded. "I trust you, Matsu."
Matsu was not expecting a blunt admission like that, and she hadn't had the slightest chance to truly adjust to all the new emotions that accompanied being winged by a powerful Ashikabi.
Confident that her now rapidly beating heart was bruising itself against her ribcage, Matsu gave a whimper and hid her burning face in Miya's lap.
The landlady merely quirked an eyebrow and patted her reclusive tenant's head.
"There there Matsu, I am sure with time, you…" Miya trailed off briefly, regarding the other Sekirei in the room with a critical eye. "-Won't get used to him being like that at all, so perhaps the sooner you give up, the easier it will be?"
"Sis, is Miya comforting Matsu or bullying her?" Hikari murmured from the corner of her mouth.
"I don't think Miya knows either, Sister," came Hibiki's helpless reply.
Miya, having clearly heard every quiet word, gave a little 'hmph' of protest.
It wasn't as if lying to Matsu would do any good in the long-run, she internally justified.
In almost perfect unison, every noise in the room died as both Miya and Minato's heads whipped in the same direction.
Facing upstairs, their attention caught by something no one but them could have noticed.
Every eye was on them, even Matsu as she pushed herself upright, and even then it lasted so briefly that they almost missed it.
Miya's lips pursed and her habitually perfect posture sagged, shoulders drooping minutely as if pressed down from above. As per the norm, Minato's expressions and body language gave away little (at least in the way a person would), but his reaction was still the most obvious.
"... I suppose I will need to meddle after all."
That quiet admission firmly stole everyone's attention, including Miya but excluding Matsu, who found herself fascinated by her old friend for all the wrong reasons.
It was the first time in her life that she'd ever seen Miya react in a way that somewhat resembled 'panic'.
… Her Ashikabi really did make the whole world a little more interesting, huh?
Homura raced across the rooftops, chased by the uncomfortable sensation that whatever was bothering him so much was less preferable to being lit on fire by his own power.
He didn't even do it on purpose, but before he knew it, he was across the street.
Across the street, and on the same rooftop that gave him a good view of the hospital garden and let him find Chiho faster.
He found her at the worst, best moment possible, and that useless Sekirei heart of his jumped for joy while it proclaimed the end of the world.
… No, not 'the' world, just his.
And he was still honestly, truly happy for her, because if anyone deserved a miracle, then it was Chiho.
Accompanied by Shiina and a taller female Sekirei that was pushing the wheelchair, Chiho had just stretched out her hand to pick a low hanging flower from a branch.
At this distance he could clearly make out that she wouldn't be able to reach from her chair.
And so as if it were only natural, Chiho stood up from her chair to pick the flower she'd been reaching towards.
Stood up by her own power, for the first time in roughly five years.
Chiho deserved a miracle, truly he believed that.
But he had also always believed that that miracle would have nothing to do with him, and it seemed he had just been proven right.
And with his self-imposed duty as the guardian of the unwinged also reaching its end, it seemed he wasn't needed anywhere anymore.
… On an empty rooftop, the lingering syllables of an earnest but bittersweet prayer lingered alongside scorch marks in the shape of shoe prints.
Unaware of how her actions had rendered her Sekirei speechless, nor of the significance they held, Chiho stood there beneath the tree, staring with unease at the flowers in her hand.
She hadn't been really thinking of a specific individual, but before she knew it, she had picked one flower, then a second, then a third.
But when she had firmly taken hold of the third flower, a stiff breeze blew in out of nowhere, stripping away the flower's petals until almost none remained.
It was eerie and she didn't know why.
"You stood up more easily than I would have expected," Meiko said hesitantly from behind her.
"Hmm, what was that, Meiko?" Chiho turned around to look at her, only to get immediately distracted as she caught Shiina's tears from the corner of her eye. "S-Shiina, what's wrong!?"
Turning again, Chiho's legs tangled, and she practically fell into the boy's arms.
Shiina gave a sniffle, and then a watery laugh, giggling even though the tears streamed from his eyes.
"W-well, maybe the tripping part wasn't so great, b-but I guess you didn't notice, huh?" Shiina laughed.
Distress over Shiina's tears faltering, Chiho blinked several times in succession, playing out events in her head.
She had tripped.
Luckily, Shiina had been there to catch her, but she had still tripped.
But… not out of her chair.
She had…
No way, that didn't…
Body trembling largely, Chiho looked down to where her legs were still crossed at the ankles.
Focussing hard, she dragged one leg free, and planted one foot, and then the other, on the ground. Shiina was still carefully supporting her, but Chiho could feel it in the way her disused legs protested the sudden effort.
Protested, but did not powerlessly buckle beneath even her slight weight.
… She was standing.
She could stand.
Chiho slowly met Shiina's watery eyes and radiant smile, then turned her head to meet Meiko's baffled concern.
And then the young woman who had given up on standing or walking burst into tears.
Chiho cried, in happiness for a miracle she'd given up on, and in sadness that one among the tiny number of people in the world she could share her happiness with wasn't there.
For the first time in her life, Matsu experienced true weightlessness.
True timelessness.
It was as if every possible sensation had been replaced with 'him'.
Her kind and fascinating monster of an Ashikabi.
MBI's other alien, Myriad 1.
Even a hacker of her skill hadn't found a scrap of truly relevant information-
No, she supposed that wasn't quite true.
That Sahashi Minato was Sahashi Takami's son was relevant information, or rather, deeply important information to her Ashikabi. Just as the connection with Kazehana and the rest of the flock, just as the connection with Matsu herself was deeply important to Minato.
Part of what made him hyper-compatible with Sekirei was that 'connections' were what Minato valued above all else.
She was curious if that was a point of commonality with members of his kind, but Minato had never met another Myriad so it was impossible to form any meaningful hypothesis.
Matsu was glad she didn't need to keep the 'starting point' to Minato's compatibility a secret, though- that Minato was only able to be an Ashikabi because he had 'absorbed' the necessary genetics from actual Ashikabi.
The first being his mother, but it was distinctly possible that he'd gone all the way and eaten other Ashikabi, in the past.
Meh, he probably had his reasons.
Just like he had his reasons for the Level 5.
It was funny how destiny worked- Matsu had fantasized about her future Ashikabi more than a few times, and even broken a toy or two in the process, but of all the traits she'd imagined, 'shapeshifter' and 'super predator' had never made it onto the list.
She was also a little curious if her mother-in-law was aware that adoption had likely prevented Minato from becoming a global disaster- his first 'connection' likely drawing a line where not all people needed to be food.
Ah, he was just so goddamn fascinating that she wanted to scream!
She probably had just screamed, but it was hard to tell since she couldn't hear anything, she'd have to ask if she made any noise afterwards.
Somehow, she knew that he knew.
Her Ashikabi who had begun her 'medical examination' by swallowing her whole.
And it wasn't scary at all! Comfy if anything.
Well… Matsu had always known she was a bit of a freak.
Just not a 'currently developing new kinks by the second' level of freak.
… Even now, she could feel him in places that no one was supposed to feel anyone.
But it wasn't like the thing on the screen, the thing with no body that had crawled out of the screen and up her eyes like a computer virus turned physical.
This 'encroachment' was infinitely more careful and gentle, exposing everything but damaging nothing.
When 'that' had attacked her, it had been pure agony that she wasn't even allowed to scream for. If she had to summarize the sensation, it was like something had gripped the edges of her consciousness and stretched it open.
If Miya hadn't somehow clued in and intervened- also, what the hell, who knew Miya could verbally rend the metaphysical- then she imagined that 'that' would have pried open her mind's eye and crawled all the way in.
Also, adding to her general level of freakiness, was it weird that hearing 'do not worry, I will kill it if it returns' from her Ashikabi made her a little wet?
Dammit, he kept distracting her with his eldritch sexiness, she was supposed to be reviewing information!
She didn't even know how her own eyes worked, just that she was never taking the blindfold off because the blindfold was him!
… Back on track, it seemed that the 'attack' had forcibly opened her sixth sense, letting her perceive things that probably weren't physical.
… Actually, it was more like her eighth sense since Sekirei could already perceive things that humans couldn't, and her own power set let her sense things that other Sekirei couldn't.
But even if 'that' had attacked her and maybe mind-raped her a little, Matsu was kind of grateful.
Because whatever it had done to her had allowed her just a glimpse of the Minato past Minato, of that dark starry hunger that was probably his true self, independent of the 'human' persona he'd crafted himself.
But Matsu had seen more than that, and wondered what it meant that Minato was easier to make sense of.
Because before she'd had the chance to peek behind the curtain that Minato's human form represented, she'd briefly caught sight of the Miya past Miya, as well.
And though she couldn't truly make sense of what she'd barely managed to see, the mysterious ache left behind in her heart was much harder to ignore.
No one missed the positively disappointed look Matsu gave when Minato… spat her out?
Her expression changed rather quickly though, when Minato started revealing his findings.
"There is no need for alarm, the carvings on your bones are just harmless graffiti."
"What carvings on my bones!?"
"All of them?"
"Which bones have carvings on them!?" Matsu wailed.
"All of them?"
"... Will they show up on an X-ray?" Matsu asked as she recovered with suspicious ease, placing her glasses back on her nose after receiving them from Akitsu. "I kind of- no, definitely want to see them."
"I believe they would, but you should not let a doctor other than Mother see them," Minato said. "Other humans might experience… complications."
"Ah, it would make sense that Takami has a bit of an 'immunity', given… well you." Matsu replied. "Anything else I need to worry about?"
"Leaving the house might be dangerous for a bit," Minato began, his monotone voice inexplicably taking on a soothing tone. "You will… 'settle' with time, and then the risk should be mitigated, but things that wouldn't notice the others might find you interesting. They cannot get to you here, though, I ate the backdoor."
He turned his head to Miya, then. "And I imagine nothing will 'sneak past', now that you know what to look for?"
"Indeed, now that I know what it's like to have 'vermin' in the house, I'll have a broom handy if they ever try again," Miya replied in a flat tone.
It was the first true 'intrusion' into her home, and she had not liked it one bit. There would not be another.
"On that note, if you have ensured Matsu is out of harm's way, you and I need to speak." Miya said, her tone light but her expression stern. "In private."
"Yes… we do, don't we?" Minato replied softly.
When the two convened on the veranda, it had been Miya's intention to have a frank and open discussion with Minato as to what had befallen Matsu, free of any distraction.
… That had been her intention.
"I can't believe how lucky we were," Minato said the moment they were in private, though his tone and his words didn't match in the least. "I am glad… very glad that Matsu is still alive."
Miya stiffened. "Was the situation truly so dire"
"You caught her just before the part where killing her would have been the only kindness left to offer her."
"And what, precisely, do you mean by that?"
"The… 'Intruder' that attacked her forcibly wrenched open her awareness. That was why her inner self was drifting loose- Matsu is 'aware' enough on some level to realize that the inner and outer do not always need to be in the same place, though I do not believe she is conscious of it." Minato explained.
"It is likely her power set that made her vulnerable- her… 'technomancy' as she put it involves her spirit influencing the electronic." He continued on. "She just managed to find something that could influence her back."
"So then, whatever attacked Matsu was some kind of… 'digital Intruder'?" Miya reasoned, groping at the unfamiliar terms. She wasn't exactly tech-savvy herself, she had Matsu for that… and regretted taking that for granted. "I wasn't aware that Intruders could be digital."
"Neither was I," Minato admitted. "To me it is still truly mysterious, but this is the only world that I have entered to my knowledge, so I suppose I overlooked how others might be Intruded upon."
Miya accepted the idea that the internet was apparently habitable with aplomb- she'd come to accept that reality grew malleable, when her strangest tenant was around.
"... Please understand, I am not seeking to place blame when I ask this," Miya began, after a sip of her tea. "But I would like to know anything you can tell me of how Matsu's attempts to research you may have led to all of this."
Minato was still and silent for a moment, and when he spoke, Miya didn't fail to notice how his mouth did not move when the words began.
"My… presence exposes those around me to things like me, that do not truly belong in the human world." He said. "Even when we are not interacting directly. Matsu barely understood that there was something 'strange' about me and it was still enough to draw her in. Sekirei are especially vulnerable, it seems- you are… more interesting than humans, in a sense?"
"More interesting how?"
"You are aliens, for one," Minato blandly commented. "You are the only people on this planet that are not human, and what you are does not follow the same logic as humans, either."
"You are referring to the way Sekirei bond, and the powers they possess?"
Minato nodded.
"So then, just by becoming… 'focussed' upon you, Matsu… 'announced herself' to other entities, shall we say?"
"There is knowledge that people are not meant to possess, Miya," Minato replied with another nod. "Seeking the forbidden never ends well."
"And that was where Matsu's 'luck' comes into play, I take it?" Miya asked.
"Only her mind and body were scarred," Minato's tone seemed to suggest that that was indeed 'luck'.
"It is not my secret to tell, but Matsu's pursuit of forbidden knowledge is what led her to take shelter with me," Miya said without looking at him, as subtle a warning as she could give.
"I am aware she is black-listed by MBI."
"And yet you didn't hesitate to wing her at all," Miya remarked, flashing a coy smile. "Was it love at first sight?"
"... Something like that." It wasn't as if being immediately complimented had made for a poor first impression. "But she is safer now that she's winged. All of them are safer from the things I may lure in, after being winged."
"Ah, those other things are afraid of stealing from you, aren't they?" It had been a light-hearted remark that Miya immediately regretted as being in poor taste.
"Stealing from me, and stealing from you, who is much larger than me. I do live in your territory after all."
"'Large'? I'll have you know that I'm perfectly average for a woman my age," Miya crossed her arms and turned up her nose in a somewhat exaggerated fashion.
"Nothing about you is average, Miya." Minato innocently denied.
… What did it say of her, that the question she had just barely managed to avoid asking was 'is that a good thing'?
"... Minato." She said after a while, her gaze on the tea in her cup and not the monster on her left.
"Yes, Miya?"
"Don't blame yourself."
"For what?"
"For what 'others' may take interest in those around you." Miya said softly. "You do not blame your flock for exposing you from the dangers of the Sekirei Plan, do you?"
Regardless of whether those dangers might have been lesser for him compared to any other Ashikabi.
"Of course I don't."
"It is the same for them… for us." She did not know why she chose to qualify things in such a manner.
"If you say so, Miya."
The easy answer brought the hint of a bitter smile to her lips- of course it wouldn't be so… simple…
Slowly, Miya turned to look at her tenant, and those blank dark eyes gazed innocently back.
"What is it, Miya?" Indeed, as she expected- the subtle gloom that had clung to the boy had vanished without a trace.
"... Your mood improved rather suddenly, did it not?"
"You told me not to blame myself?"
"... And?"
"And I listened?"
Miya's response to the inhumanly straightforward logic, that she really should have expected, was a wooden nod. It was not lost on her that the implication of trust there had stood out beyond all else, nor how… it was, if only for a moment, far more gratifying than it should have been.
Perhaps it would be for the best if she went to bed a little early, clearly she wasn't quite feeling herself.
Clearly.
… It was not lost on Miya that once again, she had neglected the obvious opportunity to question her tenant about how she truly appeared in his many eyes.
Miya slept poorly that night.
A career patient usually knew how to avoid overdoing things and making her condition worse.
That all went out the window when Chiho had a reason to feel excited about her condition for the first time since her ninth birthday.
She could stand!
She could… well, shuffle her feet a little bit in a way that kind of vaguely resembled walking, but it was still more than she'd been able to do in years!
And maybe she'd been just a little too eager to share it with her new… with the new 'connections' she'd made but was a little afraid to fully consider just yet, but she'd… shuffled for a bit, arm in arm with each of them (and they were so gentle and kind), and…
Thoroughly exhausted herself after a grand total of three minutes.
It was silly of her and immensely satisfying, and they'd barely made it back into the hospital before she was dozing off in her wheelchair.
The kind nurses were very happy for her, and promised not to scold her for being reckless until the morning.
They were even nice enough to let Shiina and Meiko escort her back to her room, though the Sekirei were warned not to be underfoot when it came time for her evening check-up.
It had been such a magical, wonderful day.
And Hidaka Chiho felt so incredibly arrogant to think she had any business worrying about Homura during it.
It wasn't fair to Shiina and Meiko, and what good did someone like herself worrying about anyone do anyways?
"... Chiho, are you sure you're alright?" Meiko questioned softly.
"... Y-yes, well… I'm pretty tired, but…" even sort of lying to Meiko felt wrong.
Meiko almost furtively clasped her hand, the motion almost impossibly delicate yet somehow reliable.
Chiho giggled as the sudden thought struck her.
… Though it was impossible to mistake Meiko for a boy, there was still something 'princely' and gallant about her.
It was a meager wish, and even that might have been a little overly ambitious of her. But right then and there, Chiho silently resolved to be, in some small way, the 'princess' her princes deserved.
It would be a long time before Chiho came to truly understand how achievable her wish was, in the eyes of her Sekirei.
It didn't take nearly so long for the princess to learn what role the monster had to play in her story.
Busy busy chapter- Matsu gets mind-graped a little, Chiho starts a reverse harem, and Miya is starting to face the ramifications of all the change and strange she's let into her home.
Chiho and her flock will be central to this next arc, and after that, well… more change and strange, I suppose. Maybe they'll have less depression to share around after the end of it idk.
As some of you guessed, Meiko is from Prison Highschool- canonically a bit of a misandrist, but it would take a lot more than that to hate on Shiina, so things have smoothed over… for now.
Matsu is going to be… a gateway to all sorts of eldritch exposition, and a catalyst in other ways that no one expects.
PS: Matsu's reference to 'the Gate, the Lock, and the Key' is an obscure metal reference to a band that has influenced this story more than once. The band being Chaosweaver, and this particular reference being to the song 'The Great Cosmic Serpent'.
The song tells of an entity that has achieved omnipresence through hyper-dimensional consciousness, and while it's not truly a reference tied to Minato, it's certainly still relevant to him.