Uzume sighed softly, it had been about two hours since Ryu left. For the first time in a long time she was content on how things were going. There were no battles going on at the moment, everything was quiet and tense. But, she'd take that over fighting anytime.
She wished she could say the same for Ryu, but as of late he's been acting more aggressive. Most of his time went into training himself and his Sekirei, which she wouldn't fault him for-they needed to be stronger for what lied ahead, but she couldn't let it consume most of her time like the others did, even Hari took to training which she had found odd at first, but it turned around Hari was quite skilled in an array of things but was beyond proficient with healing in particular. She definitely wasn't a fighter like herself or Ryu's other Sekirei.
There would come a time when she needed to fight, and she needed to be prepared for that time. Uzume had never been fond of Minaka forcing his will on her and the rest of her kin to basically kill each other in some sick and twisted game. To this end she helped Matsu escape the squad with the Jinki in hand, and made it a point not to confront any Sekirei if she didn't need to. Warily, she turned her focus onto Karei. The woman sat entirely relaxed with one leg crossed over the other with her arms in her lap.
How much longer was she going to be able to keep this up... The unwinged Sekirei were getting fewer and fewer in number, and some of them were so weak they weren't worth all of the trouble or effort, and some of them were just too elusive that she couldn't even find them. Higa only wanted useful assets-Sekirei, if they were weak or little brats he simply ignored them by all means or sent out his Sekirei to deal with them. When he didn't do this he'd send her or Karei to deal with them discreetly. With so few Sekirei unwinged, Higa was going to lose his uses for her and Karei, and that also meant that Chiho would be...
The only thing that was keeping her going with this... What was keeping her numb was Chiho. The girl didn't have the best luck, and being in Higa's hospital really solidified that fact.
Uzume shook her head struggling to push the cynical thoughts away to the back of her mind. She couldn't afford to think along such lines, if she did then Ryu would pick up on it and question her, more importantly she needed to keep a positive outlook for Chiho's sake. The only thing that was keeping her alive were the dirty deeds her and Karei performed as well as Higa's 'special' medicine which only seemed to keep Chiho hanging on just enough and did nothing to help the pain.
"Uzume-san." She inhaled slowly, forcing herself not to jump at her friend's voice and gave Karei her full attention.
"What's up?"
"It just looked like you were spacing out there." Karei said carefully.
"I was just thinking." Uzume said softly. Had she gotten so lost in her thoughts? It wasn't good if she did get so lost in them, but at least she was with Karei and Hari. Hari wouldn't care to take notice and Karei as usual would snap her out of that stupor when it became too apparent. She really needed to keep better track of this, because if Ryu seen her getting so lost, when she normally wasn't that thoughtful or spent her time brooding it was going to throw up alarms.
She whirled towards the entrance of her home. "I think Ryu is back."
"We're back!" Ahiko's voice traveled from the front.
"I'm going to the door." Hari told them, getting and hurrying out.
"Ryu-san is back." She pointed towards the door with a blank expression waiting for Uzume to turn, finally she did and like Karei said Ryu was slipping off his zori with a rather angry expression on his face with Toyotama and Ahiko a few inches ahead of him both sporting angry expressions themselves. "Well, I see you're all back in one piece, so I guess that means you guys didn't fight..." She flicked her eyes between the three of them. "Right?"
"I hope not." Hari voiced her thoughts.
"No, we didn't fight." Toyotama spat, setting her staff securely in a corner. She would have liked to fight, it would have made her day stabbing Mutsu's eye out and then slicing into his neck, but they had been outnumbered and with both Karasuba and Miya present it was better not to fight considering the damage would be catastrophic if those two would attack in the same area at the same time. Despite this though, she wanted to take a chunk out of Hayato for the simple fact he didn't even think of the Sekirei as people but just toys. "And, you! We've been gone for how long and you still haven't put any clothes on?" Toyotama glared at Uzume, folding her arms over her chest as she watched the older Sekirei.
"Don't even start." Uzume sighed, frowning at her. "You know me well enough by now. Don't get like Miya-san."
"Give me a break." Toyotama scoffed. If she could even be half as bad as that rule freak...
"Just saying." Uzume said with a light smile.
Toyotama didn't mutter a single word as she strode passed the buxom brunette. It was very true, she knew Uzume well enough by now and the one thing that was most assured about her was the fact she was carefree and walked around half naked or completely naked-even back at the inn despite Miya's warnings and punishments she continued to do the same thing. They were all women and had the same body parts, Toyotama was comfortable seeing her naked in the shower or bath, but just around the house. No. "I'm going to get something to eat if you need me."
Ryu sighed tiredly and plopped down on the couch one seat down from Uzume. "She doesn't seem too happy, Ryu. What exactly happened?" Uzume asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "I mean, Toys can always be a bit sour and not happy, but she seems much more so than usual." Toyotama wasn't bad just a bit difficult and abrasive, but when she got in moods like this she could be a real bitch.
"I'd like to know too." Hari voiced in agreement looking between Ahiko and Ryu, her sister had remained oddly silent enough though that could be credited to her focus being pointed on the TV.
"Well... I can say it wasn't a declaration of war." Ryu admitted lowly, he figured he should start out with his since it was his first possibility of the meeting taking place in the first place. Hayato had shown signs of aggressive action, but no resolve to follow through on them since he wanted to 'play by the rules' and obviously not piss off Minaka. "He proposed an alliance between us." He caught their wide eyes on him save for Ahiko. "I declined, of course. There's no way I'd join that brat. Anyways, he proposed that we have an alliance until the time comes we all have to fight and at that time the alliance would cease to exist. In order for him to make me feel more inclined on going through with this he was going to give me three Sekirei as... Trophies."
Of course he wasn't going to say it was to replace the three he lost. As if they could even be replaced, which was a hell no. It had angered and shocked him that Hayato had been ready to give up three of his Sekirei, he couldn't accept that. If he did they'd be in... Stasis or something, being turned into a gold statue had to have some effect on a Sekirei that either killed them or put them out for the amount of time they were in such a state.
"Trophies?" Uzume asked warily.
"Yes." Ahiko nodded stiffly. "As in them being dipped in gold and turned into actual statues." It had been a... Hazy and blinding experience hearing that come from the boy's mouth and that sickening smile that graced his face as he said it. She felt anger, fury, fear, and apprehension all at once. Angry at Hayato for being so flippant, furious because he thought he could replace Yashima, Nanaha, and Yomi so easily, fear for the Sekirei under him that could suffer the fate one day, and apprehension at the fact she was in the presence of such a dangerous person.
"You can't be serious!" Uzume and Karei both looked horrified and appalled. Hayato was a brat and force winged Sekirei, but for him to go to such an extent... It was almost as bad as Higa if not worse.
"Unfortunately." Ryu nodded with a grim expression.
"You didn't agree did you!?" Of course, it was Hari who asked.
"No, Ryu didn't agree." Ahiko said soberly, slowly standing up from her seat and moving into the kitchen.
Uzume blinked at Ahiko, taken by her sudden departure. It wasn't like the girl to leave without as much as a goodbye, out of all Ryu's Sekirei Ahiko had to be the most relaxed and carefree next to her. Though, given what they had just been through she could understand the reason Ahiko left way she did, it was still just a bit weird. "Okay, and is this all that happened?" Uzume looked at Ryu carefully. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Ryu didn't tense or even wince at the questions. He told her everything that needed to be said save for minor details of the visit. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her that brat tried doing something stupid, and somehow... His 'heritage' got out, though it seemed Hayato just knew about it... Was it an isolated thing, did Minaka have anything to do with it? "There was almost a fight, Hayato was too brazen and had to be put back into place. I may have broken his nose and almost crushed his windpipe, and during this my Sekirei that came with retaliated as well. Including Karasuba..." He sighed at their looks. "Nobody was killed, we left soon after this and went to Miya's for a bit and now here I am."
"Hayato has always been that way." Karei commented recalling the few times she had seen him. The first time she ever seen him was after she was winged by Chiho and the dumb ass didn't even know she was winged until Mutsu saw it fit to inform him of such. The second time was when he winged the whip twins Mitsuha and Mitsuki and both of them respectively took to setting about completing any task he gave them, often times this brought them close to her and she'd fight them off since those two had no type of sense. And, thanks to those two Hayato winged well over eight Sekirei in record time. "That's why MBI has the majority of their outposts in that sector, with Mutsu and Akitsu under him he's too much a flight risk."
"He sounds mean." Hari said with a deep frown. "I don't like him!"
I should just kill him... Ryu thought before he could stop himself. Calling Hayato a flight risk didn't quite do him justice, but got the point across well. He didn't care what he did, how he did it, or who he had to step over to get what he wanted. To him it was all a game and the people's lives in this-Sekirei and human were all just that to him, a game. He was blurring fantasy and reality, deluding himself even further... It was madness. It made Hayato dangerous, more dangerous than Higa. At least Higa knew what he was doing was wrong and had no grand delusions. "Well, I don't like him either Hari. But, we'll ignore him for now. I don't think he's going to be making a move against us anytime soon." He stood up from his seat, looking over his girls and Karei carefully before stretching his arms. "Any of you hungry?"
"Kind of." Karei admitted. It was true she'd been living here for a couple of months now, but she was still polite and mindful where she didn't overstep her boundaries, though Ryu never really put any in place for her. She shared a room with Uzume, ate the same food they did, and did pretty much everything they did even joining in the training sessions. Still, though she had been raised with home training. "If you wouldn't mind cooking for me, I mean."
Ryu gave her a blank look.
"I'll have whatever you make." Karei said with a small nod smiling. She recognized that look, the look Ryu would give his Sekirei or anyone who said or did something strange to him. In this case it was her asking if he didn't mind cooking for her. It wasn't so surprising, Ryu wasn't keen on manners or anything of the sort, though he did have manners he was never one of those formal types of people-like Takami.
"I'm starving!" Uzume said, shooting up from her seat with a wide grin.
"Before you eat anything you're going to put some clothes on." Ryu told her sternly, staring at her despite her state of undress. He'd be more inclined to glance at her from the corner of his eye so he didn't feel like a total creep starting at her body openly, but he didn't care much about that at this moment he wasn't going to deal with Toyotama flipping out because Uzume refused to put on any type of clothing. "I don't care if it's my shorts and one of my t shirts or just one of my t shirts... Just cover yourself."
Uzume kept her arms down at her sides, barely resisting the urge to fold them under her breasts. She wasn't inclined to wear any clothes for the entire day, she wasn't joking when she said that to Ryu. However, food was more important than walking around the house naked and free without a single care, and she really didn't want to deal with Toyotama's abrasiveness. "Okay. Fine." She relented with a quiet sigh, walking towards him making sure to sashay her hips as obnoxiously as she could. "But, just know that I feel no need to cover myself up in front of you at all, I have no need to be ashamed of anything. But, I'll play nice and get dressed."
"Please do." Ryu said, raking a hand through his thick hair as he watched Uzume walk away in all her naked glory. The tenth Sekirei seemingly taking her time and sauntering away. Once she was out of the living room he turned his focus onto Karei staring at her for a long moment. She looked mildly amused at the banter between him and Uzume, but at least she was wearing clothes even if those clothes were a green t shirt and white shorts that stopped just at the middle of her thighs.
"I'll be waiting here." Karei flashed a convincing smile. There were no words to describe this moment.
And, so Ryu just shook his head and went into the kitchen to take care of the elephant in the room.
"Ryu, how long did you intend to keep it from us?" Toyotama asked, turning around with a stern look in her eyes as she leaned against the counter. She had a suspicion that he was somehow half Sekirei or something along those lines, but it was just that, a suspicion. Eventually she just blew off the notion altogether because Ryu couldn't be a hybrid, there were times in the past where there were hybrids, but in the present that wasn't the case. "Better yet, how long have you known?"
Ryu scratched the back of his head. He knew this was going to come sooner or later. He should have told them about it, it was the right thing to do... But, some of his Sekirei at the time would have made a big deal out of it, and by some freak chance somebody else was listening in at that moment it wouldn't bode well in the long run of things. And, there was the fact even he didn't believe it, it could just be something Minaka pushed and Takami was going along with unknowingly, after all she had come this far with the Sekirei Plan. "I've known for a long time now, but I wanted to gather enough information before I believed there was any merit to it."
Toyotama narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anymore.
"Are you?" Ahiko asked, slowly taking a seat on a nearby chair.
"I don't know. To be honest." Ryu admitted lamely. Takami showed him the x-rays or whatever and his spinal cord and how it differed from a human's, but who is to say she didn't just come up with that last one spare of the moment. If Minaka gave an order she would follow it to the absolute T. So, when he seen that x-ray naturally he was skeptical about it, and still was. "I've only been focusing on what I know for a fact, and that is I have to stronger. You're my Sekirei, and I'll do anything to protect you."
Ahiko nodded understandingly. If Ryu did know for a fact that he was a hybrid of sorts he would have told them, even if it would have caused a bit of an episode for a few days to a few weeks depending on the variables. But, he would have told them still, she believed this without a single doubt. It wasn't in Ryu's nature to take things easily without pondering on it, etc. "That sounds just like you." There was a hint of humor in her tone.
"Well, to be honest I wouldn't care one way or another." Toyotama said with a light shrug, adjusting herself for a second. It would have been strange calling him-him being her Ashikabi despite being part Sekirei himself. Now that she actually thought it about, it would have been more than strange if he were a hybrid, but she didn't know if he was, and Ryu was undecided on the whole thing opting to focus on the here and now instead of the maybes. She took in a small breath, exhaling smoothly as she released the rest of her trepidation. "You're still my Ashikabi either way, and I have to make sure you stay in one piece." She flashed a smirk.
Ryu nodded. "Now, dinner."
"Have fun making it." Toyotama said exiting with her snack in hand.
Ahiko shook her head slightly, it didn't really surprise her Toyotama left so quickly. She was never one to cook really, leaving it to her, Miya or anyone else who had the skills to make something edible. "Don't worry, Ryu. I'll help you make everything." Ahiko said in a chipper tone flashing him a promising smile as she sauntered her way towards him.
Karasuba strode through the large front doors of MBI tower and entered the elevator. All the while she kept a small smirk plastered on her face as she mulled things over mentally.
The spectacle at Hayato's was nothing short of eventful and insightful. It seemed Hayato was trying to make moves that would turn the tides in his favor eventually as well as making his motives clear. Quite simply he wanted to get back at the Squad-Koto in particular, naturally he had hatred and hostility for her comrade since he cut down Mitsuki. It was just a shame that things hadn't escalated beyond what they had, because she had been looking for any reason at that point in time to cut down the Sekirei that were trying to stare her down.
It was a good thing though that things hadn't escalated further than they had. Miya would have took one swing and that whole sector of Teito would be reduced to nothing but rubble and smoke. Still, she couldn't help but sigh with disappointment it would have done her day well if she'd got to cut down at least one of those fools, even more so she couldn't cut down Hayato.
She may have cut down her fellow Sekirei, but she'd never do what he had planned to do to them.
But, now that Hayato was showing his true motives it could only lead to trouble. He had Mutsu on his side as well as Akitsu who was a wild card altogether, her powers and strength couldn't be quantified or classified like the others since her adjuster was for lack of a better word and complete fuck off. This wasn't including the Sekirei he managed to wing which numbered well over twenty if her observations were correct, which they always were. MBI may have had superior technology and a private army, but going against Sekirei was nothing but suicide.
It was going to be a matter of time before Hayato made a stand against MBI and the sooner that happened the better in her eyes.
In Minaka's eyes it would be nothing short of a waste, but a necessary casualty. Hayato was one of the top players in this game, and has the most Sekirei overall only being rivaled by Higa in sheer number. It showed his power and potential, the potential to really shake this whole thing up, and Hayato hadn't disappointed in that at all. Since the first day he winged Mutsu and Akitsu he had been nothing short of a pain in the ass.
The elevator finally halted, the foundation beneath her feet giving a small heave as it came to a stop, and a small ding sounded around her. She could never understand or guess Minaka decided to build so many floors in the tower other than to confuse and throw off attackers as well as show off just how much power and wealth he had at his disposal. She took a step out of the elevator, and then took another step striding down the hallway heading straight for Minaka's office where Takami was waiting. She didn't take four steps until Koto was in front of her with the same stony expression he always wore.
"I had a unit of soldiers waiting there with Natsu in case things got out of hand." He said in his deep voice looking Karasuba straight in the eyes for a moment before tearing his gaze away from her and directing it down the hall with a keen sharpness. Takami had been showing major concern over the whole thing, and while he should have been back out on the field with the others, he opted to pacify her. Since nothing happened he found it nothing short of a waste of time and energy, but it was necessary... He supposed. Ryu could be unpredictable.
"You didn't come all this way to tell me that, knowing you... You'd be back in the field." Karasuba noted.
"No." Koto shook his head. He kept up his stride with Karasuba's lengthy and fast paced one, he was used to her long strides by now, and since he didn't suffer from being much shorter like when he was younger he could easily keep up with her. "Luna, Beni, and Kai are waiting for us in the office to discuss the current state of things." It had been decided there'd be checkups every few days where someone from one of the groups-barring Saki and Yahan who mostly did spy work would come in and give a debriefing.
It was done for many reasons, aside from the big one-Minaka wanted to know what was going on... Even though he could see it from his office from the thousands of monitors that displayed everything going on in Teito. One of these reasons was for intelligence gathering, if they could pin down certain movements from certain people they could plan in advance and come up with a way to deal with them when the time came. The second reason would be so they can remap the routes they'd take from each outpost respectively. The third was to make sure everything was staying consistent.
"I take it this includes Ryu then?" Karasuba drawled.
"Naturally." Koto scowled not finding the amusement like Karasuba did. "I should warn you that Minaka is in another one of his moods. Takami has already threw her clipboard at him twice to no effect. I'm not sure what it is that he's going on about, nobody knows not even the stupid ass himself... But, I think it may have to do with the third round."
"The third round?" Karasuba asked slowly, narrowing her eyes.
"It is just my hunch, he doesn't get this way unless it has to do with this." Koto said knowingly. And, seeing as how Takami was so furious during the whole thing despite Minaka not hinting towards anything in particular he knew it had to be something with the Sekirei Plan since Takami only got fuming mad when it had something to do with that. And, Minaka didn't go on his obnoxious ramblings unless there was something big coming up from his own experience, thus why he thought it had to do with the third round. "There are only a handful or more Sekirei left that have yet to be winged."
Karasuba nodded once. If this was indeed true then she'd need to get back out there and cut down these remaining Sekirei. They were most likely too damn weak anyways to do or be anything worthwhile. But, perhaps she didn't need to go on the hunt. There were Ashikabi chomping at the bit to get a few more Sekirei while they still could-either way things would be advancing to the third stage soon enough.
"Ahh! Karasuba-san and Koto-san!" Minaka's boisterous voice sounded from across the room as Koto opened the door with a small scowl. Neither of the two decided to make a comment on just how obnoxious it was. Takami as always sat behind the desk a few inches from Minaka with her clipboard in hand jotting down a few things before glancing upwards for a few seconds. Natsuo, sat on the other side of Minaka with his same relaxed demeanor as usual, a hollow but easy smile on his face. Both Kai and Luna sat inches away from each other both looking polite and calm. "Take a seat if you will, I am most excited to hear about how things went on your end."
Kai moved one chair over giving Koto his old one while Karasuba opted to stand as she always did, and no one bothered to argue about it.
"I'll go first then, I suppose. Better to get this over with." Benitsubasa said with a quiet sigh. Normally Haihane, Kujou, or Akiko would handle this in her place, she had never been very good with words even when she was younger, she had always been better at hitting and fighting. But, since those two were still needed out in the field she conceded to come here in their place just this one time. Seeing Natsuo was a plus as well. "Sanada... Is that the guy's name? Well, I haven't seen him at all or his Sekirei, there were a few Sekirei and Ashikabi that were trying to escape but I took care of them with some help from Firestorm. Since then there hasn't been any fights or confrontations, and Sanada has showed no signs of trying to fight us... Yet."
Minaka slowly nodded digesting everything that was just said while Takami just looked at Benitsubasa for a long moment. "I see and were any of these Sekirei or Ashikabi working for someone?"
Benitsubasa shook her head. "Not that I could tell. They just wanted to escape, cowards." That was the truth, or at least what she thought was the truth. The Sekirei and Ashikabi that were trying to escape that she had cut off were only looking out for themselves, if they had been working for somebody... Well, that person wouldn't be happy in the least that their 'employees' were taken out and the fact their 'employees' were basically running out on them without as much as a goodbye.
"Thank you for all of your hard work, Beni-kun." Natsuo sent a smile her way. Benitsubasa started swooning and giggling like a schoolgirl as she babbled to Natsuo who nodded in kind responding only when he really needed to. "I will see you later tonight." He nodded slightly, smiling as she placed a soft kiss on his cheek-a tender gesture of affection, she waved them off before pushing open the door and sprinting down the hallway.
"So, Sanada is not a threat as of yet..." Minaka mused to himself running a line through a sheet of paper in front of him. "Moving forward. Luna-san, and Kai-san how are things in the east?"
The two looked at each other for a moment.
"They are the same as always." Luna spoke up warily. "Higa is continuing to show signs of hostility and his army has grown in number as well as in strength. We control all of the points we have before, but Higa has been showing signs of more aggression lately. He hasn't moved on any of our points specifically, but his points are being more heavily guarded than usual. I don't think we need to worry too much about it now, but if things continue this way for much longer we may need to worry about it..." Because, Higa was a cunning and dubious man who did anything and everything to get what he wanted. He even had his own personal army of Sekirei and Ashikabi.
"I see..." Minaka hummed softly. "I'll send more soldiers out that way in a few hours, it'd be better to be prepared than be caught off guard."
"There's... One more thing."
Takami raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"
It wasn't her place to say it, and she shouldn't really say it at all. She wasn't a mother, but she was still a woman and she knew that if she was in the same situation...
"Speak." Takami instructed.
"Yukari is working under Higa." Kai said succinctly, his face betraying none of the emotions he felt on the inside or anything at all. It was dry and calm as always. Higa had to be the most problematic person they had to deal with, even the north didn't compare to the east, though the north was pretty quiet in comparison nonetheless Higa was still the most problematic. He didn't even show up face to face and chose to send out his cronies or one of his many Sekirei to take care of whatever it was that gave him trouble.
"What!?" Takami hissed, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. That couldn't be, it damn well couldn't be the case! For so long she had done everything within her power to keep Yukari and Minato out of this, now she did everything in her power to make sure they were protected through this whole thing and no severe harm ever befell on them. All of it would not be for naught, there was no way she was going to mobilize a force of soldiers while Yukari was within one thousand feet of Higa.
"That's great-"
"Would you shut your mouth before I kick you in the balls!?" Takami hollered, smashing her fist straight into his happuri. The force of her blow was tremendous just welting the happuri, but it absorbed most of the impact. It was unfortunate because Takami wanted that to knock him over and send him flying into the next wall and through it. "Now my daughter is a part of that man's schemes and his army..." She failed... Takami clenched her hands tightly, she had failed again.
"Yukari appears to be in good health." Kai said slowly, eyes darting from a recovering Minaka to Takami, to Luna who shrugged helplessly unable to offer anything more than that. She had been here far longer than he had, seeing these two go at it like this must have all but been a commonplace for her and the others, but it still bemused him to no end. "I even seen her heading to Teito university. Obviously she is in Higa's good graces at this moment, otherwise I doubt she'd be allowed to even leave her room."
Karasuba sighed softly. "I'm going to agree with Kai here." She leveled a frightening gaze with Takami for a few long moments. "We've clashed with Higa since the very beginning of this, you should know him better than any of us, Takami." Here was the famed head scientist of MBI and the head of the Sekirei Plan about to have a panic attack-already lost her temper.
"She seems to be doing well enough, she's going to college, and her Sekirei is still alive." Luna tried to pacify the older woman. Takami. Well, she had mixed feelings about the woman, but this was her daughter they were talking about. Regardless of any misgivings she had towards Takami the least she could do was ease her mind, if only slightly.
"That's true..." Takami muttered. If Yukari didn't make Higa happy she was certain at this point Yukari would be dead. "Keep a close eye on things."
"Thank you both for your hard work. Kai-san, you may go back now." Minaka said with an easy tone, as if he just wasn't beaten by Takami. He nodded to the younger man as he exited swiftly. With that out of the way he turned his focus onto Koto, Luna, and Karasuba all three of them looking expectant, bored, and wary given the recent episode it wasn't hard to see why. Though Koto and Karasuba were looking more bored and expectant. "Now that they're gone I have something important to say."
"And, what is that?" Koto drawled, hissing softly when Luna dug her elbow into his ribs. "What was that for?"
Luna's only answer was a light glare.
"The fighting rink in the south sector has been seeing more activity." Minaka said with that same sickening grin as before. This had been one of his primary focuses. The fighting rink was home to many fighters and warriors, and a few of them were definitely Sekirei judging from the aftermath of some of the matches that were held. There was also that wild haired man who was maintaining an undefeated streak still, it had been interesting at first, but now he had to see this man for himself. If such a person was alive and well, he needed to join his side, such a variable was hard to come by. But, getting him here would be the hardest part along with getting inside the fighting rink-MBI soldiers just couldn't waltz in there. "There is one man who remains undefeated in all of the fights that take place there and there have also been Sekirei spotted around the building and inside fighting. I think now is the time we put a lid on this, wouldn't you agree Koto-san?"
Koto nodded stiffly. He knew exactly who Minaka was referring to... The man he wanted to fight still, the itch that never went away and persisted on day after day aggravating him. That wild haired man, his movements had been savage and powerful, swift and merciless he had rarely seen anyone move with such purpose and killing intent since Karasuba and Benitsubasa raging against Haihane for one of the many breast comments she made. Then there was the way he mowed through his foes the first time he'd seen him fight... It was nothing short of savage and brutal. Bones were completely severed and split.
Koto wanted to fight him. Wanted to feel that full killing intent. This game of cat and mouse if it could even be called that was coming to an end, and he'd see to that.
"I do agree." Koto replied lowly.
"Are you giving us a mission?" Luna spoke up, giving Minaka a curious gaze. He always had a funny way of speaking, and not his random obnoxious outbursts that lasted at least two hours on any given day. There were a lot of times when he'd be explaining something and there was some sort of hidden meaning behind the whole thing that they were all supposed to see. It was truly bemusing, but she got better at deciphering what he said and how he said, what words he used, etc.
"Everything in Teito seems to be quiet for the moment." Minaka nodded slightly. The first and primary focus of everyone including himself was to get Teito on such a tight lock that even an ant wouldn't cross over the borders. The task was successful with Kai and his Sekirei now on the Squad they were reigning in control of everyone and everything, the Sekirei and Ashikabi that tried to escape were stopped dead in their tracks and dealt with accordingly-fools actually tried to fight back. Higa was up to his usual unsavory deeds but wasn't showing outright hostility towards MBI, Hayato was only showing signs of going after the last few Sekirei to claim them as prizes and toys, Sanada... Moving forward, Ryu well that was a given, and there was Minato, both of them enemies of MBI. "All of your hard work has more than paid off, as of now nobody is even going to try to make a move against us. The borders to each sector are growing more and more guarded as the days go on, every exit and dock, every airport and freeway, every subway, every train nothing can get by-"
"Would you shut your fat mouth and just get on with it!" Takami snapped.
"Yeah, listening to your ramblings isn't on my agenda today." Karasuba's eyes gleamed with a hidden threat and unmatched blood lust. She could tolerate Minaka and all of his bullshit including the rambunctious shouting and overdrawn way too long speeches. But, she could appreciate the fact he mentioned their feats. True, they were locking down Teito more and more patrolling it with an iron fist, there was no place anyone could go that they didn't already know or see.
Minaka's grin didn't falter. "I want you three to pick whoever you see fit and take them with you..." Minaka said slowly, resting his chin between his clasped hands a small glare of light obscuring his irises. He had given this thought before, and sent them off to see and deal with it, but other things got in the way and they needed to return earlier than anticipated. He would have blown it off afterwards, but these reports kept on coming in-and even more intriguing was the fact Sekirei were in this fighting rink too. But, that brought up another point, that ghastly man who remains undefeated. "Go to the fighting rink and confront this undefeated fighter, find out if he has any Sekirei, and bring him back here when it is all said and done. I already have Ryu and one variable running free, I will not allow a third." He didn't need another one, even if it'd really shake things up- Ryu was already unpredictable and could be a loose cannon, and this man seemed to be much worse than Ryu,
"You want him to join the Squad." Luna's eyes flashed with understanding.
"I will decide that." Koto said stonily. "When do we leave?"
Minaka grinned widely. He wasn't at all surprised to see the three of them all eager to leave. Koto looked pretty annoyed as always, Karasuba just had the menacing air about her that screamed 'I want to kill', and Luna looked to be pretty weary of his rather loud speeches that he had been going through since their discussion. He could understand respectively why they wanted leave, Koto in particular had this fixation on the fighting rink and everything to do with going as far as sending Yahan and Saki out towards that way. "That is entirely up to you."
"See ya." Karasuba didn't even hesitate to leave in a heartbeat. Koto and Luna trailed steadily behind her.
Takami sighed.
"I was expecting that you'd give them the news." Minaka said in a coy manner, eyeing Takami with one of his infamous grins. "Ah, but I understand why you didn't. Karasuba and Koto can both be terrifying and frightening, doing this will be crossing them as well as everyone else on the Squad. Natsuo-san, do you really want to go along with this? It could shed you in a bad light."
"I'm sure, Minaka-san." Natsuo offered a small nod, the same smile on his face just as before. "It'll be easier to control Benitsubasa-san and Haihane-san this way, and it will make my duties here much easier as well." Being the "leader" of the Squad even though everyone knew he wasn't put a lot of stress on him on top of his other duties to MBI, and then there was making sure Benitsubasa didn't feel neglected or anything of the sort, and Haihane had a steady stock of anime and manga, it all built up after a while. Koto and Karasuba handled anything that had to do with Squad anyways.
"And, what of you my dear Takami?"
"I am not your dear." Takami spat, standing up and heading towards the door with renewed speed and purpose. It wasn't a wise move on her part to do this, but she had to make sure things remained going smoothly and how they should be without any disturbances. There had been many disturbances recently, and while Minaka rejoiced every single one, food or bad, she could only scowl and curse each and every single one for the simple fact it gave Minaka a thrill. It was for this reason she made this choice, she'd live with it, Minaka wouldn't fight against it, but Karasuba and Koto... Her hand gripped the doorknob with terrific force peeling her knuckles into sheet white. "I will not let Karasuba and Koto have their way... There's no telling what they'll do, they're like wolves." She narrowed her eyes. "They are wolves."
Minaka laughed to himself. Takami, even after all these years you haven't changed one bit. He shook his head in mild amusement, Takami had always been a fiery and spirited woman always decking him when he needed it the most and when he didn't need it at all. It all started with her throwing rocks at the back of his head, but despite how the year flew by Takami hadn't changed... She believed she was in control of this whole thing and she was calling the shots. But, I couldn't expect anything less from you. You've never had a choice or say in the matter from the very beginning, but you will soon realize this yourself. All things to ponder on later.
Minaka shook his head letting out a loud laugh as he brought himself back to the present. Takami could try all she wanted it wouldn't make a difference, and crossing Karasuba and Koto was going to land her in deep waters. She'd be lucky if she wasn't cut to pieces and thrown into the ocean. But, that was in the near future, it was about the here and now. With a chilling smirk he flicked his eyes onto Natsuo. "We'll need to inform everyone of this in a few weeks time, I suggest you think long and hard on what you will say. But, enough of that for now... Keep me informed of any movements from key players."
"Of course, Minaka-san." Natsuo bowed his head slightly as the crazy man exited swiftly, his white cape billowing behind him like a curtain framing his lanky and tall form.