"And we are here!"

Homura had replaced his mask and overcoat with mundane black dress pants and a white button-up shirt.

"This is Izumo Inn. Matsu and Uzume live here with me, along with 108's new Ashikabi."

Behind him is a two-floor building built in a traditional Japanese style, with a large wooden privacy fence around it. A white tile path leads to the front stoop, where one step up will lead to the front door. There's a row of shrubs lined up along the base of the house, going all the way around the side towards the back. Well-walked grass grows in the yard; it looks so nice, I just want to lose my shoes and take a stroll through it.

"Thank you, Homura!" I say.

"Your welcome, but once inside please call me Kagari!"

"Okay, Kagari!" I say as follow Kagari towards the doors to Izumo Inn.

"Miya, I'm back! " Kagari calls as he steps inside. As he starts to take off his shoes, a woman appears from one of the rooms.

Her long lilac hair cascades down her back stopping at her waist and is held in place by a white ribbon. Her eyes are a dark brown with slight hints of red. She wears a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt, and wooden sandals. She was a perfect vision of beauty, but something about her seems familiar.

"Umm… Hello ma'am," I say, not making eye contact with beautiful woman in front of me. "I'm here because Kagari told me you know something about some people I've been looking for."

"I see. Well, I will help anyway I can," she replies with a smile as she holds out her hand to shake. "I'm Asama Miya. Welcome to Izumo Inn."

The mention of her last name hits me like a ton of bricks. It makes me realize why she was so familiar. This woman standing before me is none other than Sekirei Number 1. She fell in love with her adjuster Takehito Asama, and must have taken his surname. Takehito tragically died in an incident a few years ago, and Number 1 left MBI shortly after. He was not able to wing her because he did not have the Ashikabi gene. That didn't diminish her strength; she is considered the strongest and deadliest of all Sekirei. Even if Minaka knew that they were hiding here, he wouldn't dare oppose Number 1.

"Is something wrong, miss?" Miya's voice arouses me from my thoughts.

"Ah… No. I'm Shirayuki Saya."

"And your friends?" She looks behind me at my Sekirei.

Akitsu is looking down at the ground as she says, "Akitsu."

Haruhime on the other hand is more formal. She gives a slight bow and says, "I'm Haruhime. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miya-san."

"Well, it's my pleasure to meet all of you." She turns back to me. "Shirayuki-san, do you know anything about the people you're looking for? Their appearance, or distinguishing features?"

What in the world could I tell her? 'Hi, I'm looking for Numbers 2 and 10 and heard they were hiding out.' She would probably kick me out for being part of MBI. Multiple other scenarios run through my head, each one worse than the last. I decide that, either way, I have to say something to her. I decide it would be best to just tell the truth.

"Asama-san?"

"Yes, Shirayuki-san? And please, call me Miya."

"Very well, Miya-san. I will tell you, but is there somewhere more private where we can speak? It's an urgent matter; my number one priority, in fact."

Miya must have instantly caught on to what I was implying, as she gestures for me to follow her upstairs. She leads me into a room, which I can only assume is hers.

"Who are you? What does MBI want with me?"

"Like I said before, my name is Shirayuki Saya. I'm an Adju-… I was an Adjuster for the Sekirei Plan. I kinda of unofficially lost that job last night."

"That still doesn't explain what you want with me. I'm just a simple housewife. I have nothing to do with Minaka or his company."

"Yes, I know, but you were once Sekirei Number 1 and before you jump to any conclusions, I'm not here for you."

"Oh really." Miya's tone grows threatening. I detect shades of the old No. 1 pushing through. "Then what, pray tell, what are you here for?"

"I'm… I'm looking for Number 2 and Number 10. Kagari said you know where they are. "

"And assuming I do in fact know where they are, why would I tell you?"

"I know you don't trust me because of my ties to MBI, and I don't blame you. I don't know what I can do to make you believe me, but I'm not your enemy. I know how cruel Minaka's game will be when the eliminations begin. He's playing with people's lives, with their emotions, and I want to stop him."

I hesitate for a moment before continuing.

"As for why I want to know about 2 and 10, it's because I was there the night they disappeared. I was working late that night when I saw them running from MBI security, before they jumped out of a window. All I want is to know if they're okay. I've also been having strange dreams about Number Ten ever since then, and I think I'm supposed to be her Ashikabi."

Miya doesn't say anything. Instead, she just stares at me. I can't seem to make eye contact with her, because her eyes say she is staring into my very soul. "Kagari, what do you think of young Shirayuki here?"

I whirl about. I hadn't even noticed Kagari, yet there he is, standing just outside the doorway, listening in on our conversation.

"Takami speaks very highly of her," he replies. "She saved Number 7 from a potentially dangerous situation, as well as trying to stop 108 from getting an abusive Ashikabi. She has my approval. She is a good person despite who she works for."

"Very well, Shirayuki-san, I will trust you for now." The air suddenly grows cold as something starts to appear behind Miya. Slowly a phantasmic hannya mask forms behind her, making her appear like some kind of demon. She just smiles, like it's not there, only adding to the terrifying tension. I can even sense the fear of my Sekirei, sequestered as they are in another room.

"If you try anything in my home," Miya says sweetly, "I will not hesitate to punish you, or your Sekirei. Am I clear, Shirayuki-san?"

I feel the muscles in my neck unlock, as if they were out of my control for a moment. I simply nod, as the hannya mask has taken the power of words from me.

The mask suddenly disappears as she continues. "Now, as I recall, Uzume is not here. She spends a lot of nights out, looking for something. Matsu is here, however. If you'd like, I can take you to her."

"Thank you, Miya-san, I would appreciate that."

She nods and leads me towards the steps leading downstairs. We stop at the top, though she's not even looking down. Instead, she reaches up and knocks on the wall next to her.

"Matsu, you have a visitor!"

A voice from the other side of the wall says, "Coming!"

My Sekirei gather around me, doubtless as curious as I am. The wall in front of me starts to rotate. There she was, standing in the newly-revealed doorway: Sekirei Number 2, Matsu. I hadn't really gotten a good look at Matsu a year ago, since my focus was mostly on Uzume, but she is beautiful, too.

She has long, crimson orange hair that glints as if it's the last rays of light from a sunset. It's tied into two long braids with some loose hair in between. Her captivating eyes are the same color as her hair, and only seem prettier through the lenses of her big round glasses. She has a long white dress with a small diamond-shaped shaped hole just below the neckline, giving me a small portal to check her curvaceous cleavage. The dress's sleeves hung over her hands and slits cut all the way up the skirt to just below her waist, revealing her smooth, curvy legs.

Glancing around at my Sekirei, she quickly ushers us in before closing the door. Her room is dark, only illuminated by a wall of computer monitors. The screens display all of the different rooms of Izumo Inn; there are even a couple that displayed outside. It figures she would have a setup like this, considering that she's the Sekirei of Wisdom. Hacking and gathering information are her specialties.

My eyes once again fall upon her, I notice something changed. She has a devious smile, and the light from monitors hits her glasses in such a way that her eyes were no longer visible. "I've been expecting you."

"Wait," I say, "you knew I was coming?"

She giggles, and it's a little unnerving. "Ever since we saw you a year ago, Uzume has done nothing but talk about you. She said she's dreamed about you, literally, and I imagine you've been dreaming about her. "

"I have," I admit, "almost non-stop. When will she be back?"

"Hard to say. She normally stays out days at a time looking for you. She didn't want to go near MBI, and didn't know where you lived. I could have found out, but I didn't want to put you on MBI's radar by hacking into their file on you. Government servers would have done no good without knowing your name."

I try to get in a word as Matsu keeps talking. When she finally stops, I ask. "But what's Uzume been doing?"

"Like I said earlier, she's been looking for you. She's developing a reputation, you know. The other Ashikabi are calling her the Veiled Sekirei. They say it's impossible to wing her, as she manages to stop all attempts."

"Wow." This is certainly a lot to take in. Not only is MBI's entire database apparently compromised, but the government's as well. On top of that, Uzume's connection with me is already so strong that she's actively rejecting potential Ashikabi, just so she can find me. "Well, tell her I stopped by if she comes home."

"I will," she says as a knock is heard on the wall.

"Shirayuki-san!" Miya's voice comes from the other side of the wall. Matsu gets up and opens the door as Miya peeks in. "Shirayuki-san, it's getting late. Your welcome to spend the night, but remember my warning about disturbing the sanctity of my home. "

The hannya appears behind her again, sending chills up my spine. "It's okay Miya-san, but thanks for the offer."

"Are you sure?" Miya gestures to my first Sekirei. "Akitsu looks extremely tired."

I look to the left, where Akitsu is actively dozing off. She is leaning against the wall, her head slowly, drooping as I hear a very light snoring. She looks so peaceful and at ease while sleeping, almost a shame to wake her.

"Besides," Miya continues, "since you're looking for Uzume, you can be here if she comes home tonight."

Miya does have a point. It would certainly save me the time and energy of looking for her, since we've apparently missed each other already. How did I never hear of this 'Veiled Sekirei' until now? "Very well, Miya-san, we'll spend one night."

"Very well Shirayuki-san, you and your friends can have the room at the end of the hall. If you need to talk a bath or anything let me know."

"Thank you Miya-san, but can do me a favor and escort Akitsu to the room? I'm gonna go take a bath. Haruhime, do you want to take one with me?"

Haruhime's face turns red as a beet and I don't need the bond to know how embarrassed she is. "Y-y-you to t-t-take a b-b-bath with y-y-you?"

"If you don't want to, it's fine! I wouldn't want you to faint in the water or anything."

"N-n-no, it's fine. I want to!"

"Are you sure, Haruhime?"

"Yes, I'm positive!"

I look over to Akitsu and lightly shake her. "Wake up Akitsu-chan!"

She looks up at me with her big storm-gray eyes. "Mistress, is it morning?"

"No Akitsu-chan, but we're going to spend the night here. Miya-san is going to take you to our room; I'm going to take a bath and then I will join you. "

"Okay, Mistress," Akitsu says as she stands and quietly shuffles over to Miya before following her out of the room.

I figured since the top floor was just bedrooms, the bathroom had to be on the bottom floor. I grab Haruhime's hand and lead her downstairs. We quickly find the bathroom and enter. The bathroom has an antechamber for changing, though it's little more than a laundry basket and cubby shelves for our clothes, crammed inside a room that's only just bigger than a handicap bathroom stall.

"Don't look! At least not till I'm ready," Haruhime says nervously. I'm guessing she's still a little bit shy. On the other hand, she still hasn't backed out of the bath.

"Don't worry, Haruhime," I call, "I won't."

I quickly strip down and look over at Haruhime, who had only taken off her shirt. She was facing away from me so she didn't see me take a glance at her. "When you're done getting undressed, come inside the bathroom, Haruhime."

"Y-yes, Saya."

I walk into the bathroom. It certainly fits the older style of the house, as there was a large multi-person bath and faucet for filling wash buckets. I grab a wooden bucket and head over to fill it. As the water rushes in, I hear Haruhime walking up to join me.

"Saya."

That's not Haruhime's voice.

I feel something press against my back. The soft mounds of flesh pressing against me feel amazing, but they feel too big to Haruhime's breasts. Secondly, she wouldn't be that forward. I slowly turn to see Matsu behind me. She is completely naked, apart from the towel wrapped around her body. The towel does little to hide her extremely curvaceous form.

"M-M-Matsu!"

I quickly back against the wall, as Matsu gets down on her hands and knees. Like a hungry panther, she slowly crawls a little bit closer to me, as her towel falls from her chest revealing her very large breasts.

"Shirayuki Saya, age 27, mother Shirayuki Mizuki, father Shirayuki Riku, both deceased. You had top marks all the way through grade school, Junior High and High School, graduated with an engineering degree from Tokyo University and were recruited by MBI straight out of college. Your life has been very successful." The tone of Matsu's voice begins to drop. "How about adding another success?"

Her voice changes to that of a very seductive tone. "You are my Ashikabi, my mistress. Please claim me." She presses her body against mine making it feel hot as her massive chest presses against my own. "Claim with your hot DNA, and make me yours."

""W-what do you mean? I'm your AAbak-kashi? What did you with Haruhime?"

"Shhhhh, she'll be fine!" She reaches up before I can react and kisses me. Her soft lips press against mine; a pair of golden wings sprout from her back. I'm caught in a moment of pure bliss, as our tongues fight for dominance. The moan she pours into my mouth is like a vibratory orgasm on my lips and tongue.

"Matsu! You know the rules, no sexual contact of any kind. " If Miya hadn't broken the moment, the sword she's holding certainly would have. It's currently pointed at Matsu. The hannya mask is snarling behind her.

Without another word, she grabs Matsu by the hair and starts dragging her towards the door as that hannya mask disappears. Matsu protests yelling about wanting to experiment with her new Ashikabi. When she reaches the door she stops and says, "Matsu is a very dear friend, Shirayuki-san. I expect her to visit at least once a week. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes Miya-san."

"Thank you; take good care of her.''