"Saya, I'm back!" Haruhime's voice resonates as the elevator doors swing open. I look up at her from my position on the sofa.
"Did you get Daisuke something nice to wear?"
She has a bag in her hand, which she throws on the sofa next to me. She pulls out a blue shirt that could be considered semi-formal and black pants. "Will this do Saya?" She asks with her head tilted to the side, with a finger on her lips.
"Yes, Daisuke should still be in the bath. Take those clothes and lay them out where he can see them. "
"Right!" She runs towards the bathroom.
20 minutes later… Daisuke comes into the room wearing the new clothes and looking much better. Considering he looked like shit before, that is. I Look at the clock on the wall in-between Matsu's room and the bathroom. It's "4:07", we still have approximately 4 and a half hours until Honoka is ready to make an appearance.
"What's the occasion? I'm confused. Is there a reason why you laid out clothes for me to wear?"
"Just thought you'd look good like that!" I reply to deflect the subject."Come join us, Ya-chan should be starting dinner soon."
While Haruhime had gone shopping, I let Akitsu pick something to watch. Somehow she had settled on an action movie marathon. One that included Lady Snowblood one and two.
Yahan waits until the end of the second Lady Snowblood to start dinner. I myself had never been one for action movies, but Akitsu seemed oddly content watching them despite not showing much emotion over them.
Matsu sits reading a book, I glance at the title,"Deviant Truth." The title combined with a picture on the cover said exactly what the book was about. A woman who had her kimono hanging off her shoulders as if she was stripping ment only one thing, a cheesy erotic novel.
Haruhime had been cheering for the female lead the entire time, as she exacted Revenge on those who had wronged her family. The only person missing was Kazehana, which I was grateful for.
I lean over to Matsu and whisper, "where is Kazehana?"
"Yahan gave her a bottle of the wine you bought at the supermarket, on the condition that she remains in the upstairs bedrooms. I assume she is up there drinking herself into a stupor. "
The next movie to play was Tokyo Drifter, about halfway into the movie Yahan calls "dinner!"
I look at my watch, 10 minutes left until Honoka makes her appearance. As always the smell of Yahan's food was mouth watering. I look up to see everyone heading towards the kitchen. Just as everyone disappeared into the dining room, the sound of the elevator echoed through the penthouse. Honoka was a few minutes early.
"Welcome to my home, Honoka!" I say turning to see the elevator doors slide open.
"Thanks, Adjuster-sama! It looks really nice!" She replies.
She has on black strapless dress that looks amazing. It hugged her curves in just the right places, and stopped in a slightly poofy hem just above her knees. Her long pumpkin colored hair has been curled and is flowing down her back.
Fuck! I can't have her calling me Adjuster-sama during dinner. That would raise multiple questions I definitely don't want to deal with right now. " Honoka! Please call me Saya! "
"Yes Ad-... Saya! "She says as I grab her hand and lead her into the dining hall.
Upon entering the dining room I see Daisuke and my girls standing in the room awkwardly staring at the table. Only two plates are set on the left end of the table. The room is dimly lit with only a large candle between the two plates full of food. Yahan escorts Daisuke to one of the plates, and I quickly escort Honoka to the other.
"What is the meaning of this? "Daisuke asks. Confusion evidently on his face.
"I hope you don't mind. But, My friend here wants to meet you, her name is Honoka. She said she was invested in your future. "
Daisuke looks at Honoka," you look a lot like a girl I saw in my dreams."
"Yes! I saw you in a dream too." Honoka says, looking away from his gaze and down at her plate.
I quickly signal my girls to leave as I start walking out of the room. They follow, as we all crowd around the island in the kitchen.
"I hope everyone is hungry!" Yahan says while pointing at the large dishes on the countertop. The first dish looked like some type of casserole. The top of it was browned to perfection and smelled like she took a piece of heaven and put it on a plate. The second dish contains something that looks like deep fried tomato slices.
The look of it all told me this was a foreign dish, but then that's why we went to the International market. She quickly scoops food onto all of our plates. Akitsu stares down at her food as Yahan puts some on her plate. "What is it?"
"Moussaka" Yahan says as she puts some on my plate. She continues moving around as she continues." It's a Greek dish! It's a casserole made with pan fried eggplant, potatoes, and a rich beef sauce with tomatoes topped off with a creamy bechamel sauce. I'm serving it with a side of tomato fritters, another Greek dish!"
As we all crowd around the counter, Akitsu picks up her fork, then uses the edge to cut off a small piece of the Moussaka. As she takes a bite her eyes light up slightly before she takes another.
"Itadakimasu" Haruhime yells as she starts shoveling the food in.
I look down to my plate. It looks amazing, it smells amazing and judging by everyone else's reaction it tastes amazing. I take a bite, then another, the flavor was out of this world. It's as if a perfect mixture of meat and cheese exploded over my taste buds. It was unlike anything I had ever tasted. "This is beyond amazing, as expected of Ya-chan!"
"So Saya," Matsu says, taking a bite of her moussaka. "It is quite possible that we will enter the third stage by the end of tonight. There is only four unwinged Sekirei, Number Number #06 Homura, #90 Sayuri, Number #35 Honoka, and lastly we have everyone's favorite drunkard Kazehana."
"Well Honoka should have her ashikabi soon, but Kazehana… well, she said she wasn't ready."
"That maybe so, but sooner or later she will have to pick an Ashikabi and you're the top candidate."
"Right…" I say looking away from her. "Wait Matsu is there a Sekirei that conjures and throws tridents?"
Matsu runs into her room and comes out a moment later with a tablet. She sets it on the counter and takes another bite of her moussaka before unlocking the tablet. She scrolls through the list of Sekirei, before stopping on one that matches the description.
The Sekirei in question has short, honey blonde hair with bangs covering her forehead. A blue ribbon is criss-crossed on the left side of her hair tied off with a large blue bow. Her eyes are a dark teal color, almost like the Caribbean Sea on a moonlit night. From the image I can see a bit of her clothes. She wore a red top and a cream colored jacket.
"Sekirei Number 54, Kuruse! It says she was winged just 4 hours ago by Minato Sahashi."
"Good! Daisuke said she was being chased by Nishi a few hours ago."
Yahan tenses at the mention of the former ashikabi of the west." I'm glad that asshole didn't get another Sekirei. "
We ate in silence for another twenty minutes or so, until a bright flash of light emanated from the dining room. Honoka must have convinced Daisuke to kiss her, or maybe he took the initiative and kissed her. Regardless of who initiated the kiss though, he was now an Ashikabi. " Girls, I'm sure he is probably confused at the moment. I think we should go in and explain what just happened to him."
As I finish saying that, Daisuke walked out of the dining room holding Honoka's hand. As we all turn to look at them Matsu asks. "Honoka, did you explain anything to him?"
She shakes her head no, as I sigh. "Daisuke sit down, there are a few things that I need to talk to you about. I need to tell you what you are now involved in."
"He looks at me with a puzzled expression, as I continue." I suppose I should start by coming clean. I knew about the superpowered girls before you even said anything to me. Honoka as well as my roommates here are a race of otherworldly beings known as Sekirei. They are beings that draw power from love. I'm sure by now you're starting to realize that you can feel Honoka. You can feel her emotions, her desires, almost as if they are your own.
Daisuke nods, "I understand that much. But what does that mean for me?"
"It means that you are part of the Sekirei plan. The superpowered girls, or rather Sekirei, are supposed to battle each other in a grand battle royale. The last Sekirei and Ashikabi team standing will be the winners.
"But what if I don't want to be a part of this battle?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this but...you don't have a choice now that you have winged Honoka. Remember the bright lights when you kissed her? Did you look at her back?"
"Yes she had what looked like transparent, bright orange, wings. I thought I was hallucinating due to the pure bliss I felt from the kiss."
"No, that's what happens to all Sekirei when they are kissed by their Ashikabi. Their one true love." I turn to Akitsu, and give her a brief but passionate kiss. Her translucent snowflake-like wings sprout from her back in full view so Daisuke can see them.
"I know that you were afraid of the superpowered girls, and for good reason. They are very powerful beings, more powerful than anything you can imagine. But you will have a bond with them on a far deeper emotional level than normally possible with a normal human."
"So all of you have super powers?"
My girls nod and introduce themselves one by one, starting with Matsu." I'm Sekirei Number #02 Matsu, and I can speak to machines on a telepathic level. "
"Oh me next! I'm Number #25, Haruhime and I'm a weapon type Sekirei, specializing in this." She flick one of her tessen open.
"Number #10 Uzume and I can change the shape and density of cloth making it as strong and sharp as any blade." Uzume says changing the length of one of her shirt sleeves.
"Im #57 Yahan, and I can travel through shadows." She puts her hand on the counter where my shadow was cast. It sinks into the shadow, and re-emerges in Daisuke's shadow.
Finally, Akitsu speaks in a quiet but still audible tone as she conjures a few ice crystals in her left hand. "#7 Akitsu, I make ice."
I expected Daisuke to be scared out of his mind by the revelations, but his demeanor was surprisingly calm. He turned to Honoka and asked, "what can you do?"
"I'm a weapon type and I wield a Kanabo." Honoka replies.
"I see," he takes her hand. " I don't know why. It may be due to that emotional bonding thing that Saya-san mentioned… but I feel compelled to help you win. "
Suddenly a strong gust of wind hits me, which could mean only one thing. "Kazehana, what happened to staying in your room?"
"I came down because I smelled the heavenly aroma coming from the kitchen. But I've been standing here for a few minutes watching the exchange."
I look at Daisuke, almost expecting him to get up and make a run for it but he stood his ground. Kazehana continues," helping a young Sekirei find her ashikabi, to find her true love. I think your actions have caused me to make up my mind."
She walks forward and kisses me causing translucent, fuchsia wings to appear on her back. The way the wings protruded from her back almost gave me the impression of a lily flower. I closed my eyes and accepted Kazehana's embrace.