(A/N) As much as I love to hear the sound of my own voice, there's not much for me to say-

Oh wait.

We're on TvTropes, baybeeee! Is it way too soon for an ongoing story with like 30k words to have a TvTropes page? Definitely, but I'm still hyped as hell. Big thanks to y'all. I appreciate you.

I'd like to extend my thanks to noschittsherlock and AzureFlame Dragon King for beta-reading this chapter. You're the best.

Please enjoy, and don't forget to check out the chapter illustration on SB or QQ (if you're not in the discord)! HBMS will update next.

X

A man in a suit sipped from his canned coffee as he forced himself to keep his eyes on the same unchanging screen for the ninth straight hour.

He readjusted himself in his seat and grunted. Maybe he should invest in a chair with better lumbar support? If nothing else, this monotonous job paid well enough for him to afford such a commodity.

It wasn't a bad gig, back pain and boredom aside. He never really had much to do because nothing ever happened. He just had to keep his eye on the screen and make sure that no Ashikabi was stupid enough to–

A blinking red light popped up on the top corner of his monitor, right next to a letter icon.

He choked on his beverage, the subsequent coughing fit sending liquids flying all over the company's keyboard. His surprise superseded any concern for the device, however.

The man put his beverage down on the floor next to his chair, grabbed his mouse and tried to click the unread message as quickly as he could. The cursor clumsily missed its mark the first few times, but it struck true on the third try.

His confusion only grew as he read the automated system message that found its way into his inbox.

"Some dumbass is trying to buy a pair of plane tickets online?" he asked aloud. There wasn't anyone else in the room to give him an answer, but he couldn't help himself.

There was just no way, right? If he were an Ashikabi trying to skip town when he knew damn well that he wasn't supposed to leave, then the last thing that he'd do was buy an international flight while he was still in the city. Forget "traceable", it gave MBI a head start to catch him too.

The man narrowed his eyes.

Sorry, buddy. Think before you act next time.

He approved the request to block the transaction and followed the embedded hyperlink to the Ashikabi's profile.

Emiya Shirou, was it? …Some poor sap that got sucked into this crap while he was on vacation, apparently. If he had to guess, the guy was probably trying to get back to wherever it was that he came from.

He scrolled down to try to find which Sekirei it was that he was partnered with. There were two tickets on the online order, so taking his lady friend with him was most likely part of the plan.

"…"

Number Four.

Crap. Which one was Number Four again? The smaller numbers were more important, right? Or was it the other way around? Understanding the intricacies of the "Sekirei Plan" –or whatever the higher-ups called it– wasn't really part of the job description so he never bothered to pay attention to anything beyond the broad strokes.

Regardless, he was supposed to call his supervisor now.

He dialled a number and placed the phone to his ear. It rang for a few seconds.

"…Something happen, Ito?"

"Some Ashikabi's trying to leave the city."

He heard a sigh from the other end of the line.

"Which border did our guys spot him at?"

"None of them. He tried to buy a plane ticket."

"…Seriously?"

"Yeah. I blocked it though. No worries."

"Alright then. Good work, Ito. Just give me the Ashikabi's name and I'll send someone to talk to him. This doesn't sound serious enough to warrant bothering the upper brass."

The worker looked to his screen to make sure he got the name right.

"Sure thing. Emiya Shirou's the name. E-mi-ya Shi-rou. You get that?"

His supervisor's speaker picked up the sound of a mouse being clicked repeatedly.

"Thanks. I'll– hm? Number Four?"

"Sorry?"

"Number four," the supervisor repeated. "The Sekirei on his file is Number Four. Did I get that right?"

"Yes, but why–"

The line dropped.

"…Hello? Hello?"

He shrugged and hung up. It wasn't his problem anymore.

X

"…Eh?"

Shirou refreshed the webpage and retyped the relevant information twice now, but it still wasn't going through.

Was there an issue with the server? Strange. He never had any problems buying flights before now.

He tried one last time just in case.

"…"

No luck.

This shouldn't be happening, same-day flight or not.

Ah.

He technically wasn't allowed to leave because of the Sekirei Plan, right? Then could it have been Karasuba's fault that the convenience of the internet had been taken from him?

No point in wasting time on the phone with customer service. They would just have to go in person and book an emergency flight. He had a court deadline, so it should be easy enough to accommodate the request.

"Karasuba!" he spoke at a reasonable volume so as to be heard across the house.

"Hmm!" was the non-verbal reply that came from the bedroom.

"Get out of bed!"

"Why!?"

"We need to go to the airport early! I can't buy the tickets online so we have to go in person!"

He heard a lot of movement on the other side of the door. Eventually, his partner emerged bearing baggier-than-normal eyes and bedhead.

"…Why," she muttered again in a much quieter voice.

"My credit card is being blocked," he explained. "I'm sure they'll give us tickets as long as we're at least two hours ahead of the next departure, but that means standing in line."

"It's probably MBI that's doing… all of that," she remarked with a yawn. "They're going to try to stop us once we get there, or something."

"Mhm. Probably. Can you order a cab for us? There are some things that I need to grab from the room."

The woman grabbed her cellphone from the kitchen counter.

"I'll just call MBI and tell them to send us a driver."

Shirou paused.

"Can you… do that? They probably don't want us to go to the airport, right?"

She shrugged.

"I'm not sure, honestly. They've never said no to me before."

Only hesitating for another second, he gave her a thumbs up and retreated into the bedroom.

"Sure," was the last word that came out unmuffled before he closed the door behind him. "Doesn't hurt to try, I guess. Let me know how that goes."

X

"Care to run that by me again?"

Takami tapped her finger against the side of her desk angrily as her other hand nearly snapped the handset held to her ear in half.

"O-of course. I said Karasuba's Ashikabi had tried to purchase a direct flight to Heathrow–"

"Stop right there."

The MBI employee did as he was asked while she took a series of deep breaths.

"How many tickets did he try to get a hold of?"

"Two. One for each of them, presumably."

Of-fucking-course.

"We're not letting Karasuba loose outside of the city, let alone the country," she told him. "Did you already send guys to wherever it is that they're staying right now?"

"Yes Ma'a–"

"Good. If they're still at home, make sure they stay there. Until you find out, I want every agent out on the field scouring every cab– no. Every fucking road vehicle that isn't ours between here and the airport. We aren't the government, so we can't publicly force a foreign airline to deny them passage without causing a commotion. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

She hung up and threw the phone across the room.

"For fuck's sake!" she screamed. Lab workers stared at her strangely from the hallways as they passed by her office, but a dirty look was enough to send them on their way.

X

Karasuba leaned over her Ashikabi to stare through the window on his side. Shirou was forced to lean back in order to accommodate her whims.

"What's all that?" she asked, referring to the lineup of taxis being denied entry by an MBI blockade.

"I don't know, M-Miss Karasuba," answered their young-looking chauffeur nervously. The poor kid was white-knuckling the steering wheel as he followed the line of MBI vehicles past the traffic. "I'm just a commodity driver. They don't really tell us anything. I came straight to you when you called, so if anything happened since then, I haven't been made aware."

"Good thing we didn't take a cab, then," Karasuba concluded. She removed herself from the white-haired man and sat up properly.

Her partner nodded in agreement.

"We might have been late, otherwise. I'm glad that this worked out for us."

The car pulled up to the curb near the airport's entrance. The driver got out to unload their suitcases from the trunk while the pair took their time to gather themselves.

"You know, I've never been on a plane before."

The admission was enough of a surprise for Shirou to completely disregard his better judgement. The words slipped out of his lips before he could catch them.

"Seriously?"

They were interrupted for a moment as the driver handed them their luggage. The boy tried to refuse the ten-thousand yen bill that Shirou placed in the palm of his hand, saying something about "not being a taxi" or "it being impolite to take the money as an employee of a large company" or something, but neither of them paid attention to his begging. They thanked him and continued on their way.

"Mhm," Karasuba hummed, though the sound couldn't be heard over the rattling wheels of the suitcase that she dragged behind her. "Only helicopters."

"Helicopters can only take you so far," the man remarked. "You've never been outside of Japan?"

Even though he asked, it did make sense if that were the case. Maybe MBI was mindful enough to realize that sending their alien projects across the border was a really good way to lose them.

"I've never left Shinto Teito," she corrected. "I've only ever been as far as the shoreline; western countries are a fair bit different, I hear."

Shirou froze in his tracks in front of the Haneda Airport doorway.

Letting Karasuba come with him was unquestionably a terrible decision from the get-go, but letting her use his Clock Tower court hearing as a first-time exposure to overseas travel somehow managed to make that sound even worse.

He sighed.

If they wanted to make it through customs without needing to rush, then they needed to get a move on. His panic would have to be postponed.

Someone grabbed his arm and stopped him again.

"Excuse me, Sir. I'll need to see your passport before I can let you in."

He followed the arm back to the person it was attached to. The individual wasn't identifiable, but the MBI body armour told him everything that he needed to know.

Right. Ashikabi weren't supposed to leave the city. He supposed that he was included in that demographic.

There wasn't any reason to cause a commotion right now.

"Sure thing!" he answered with a smile. His suitcase was propped upright as he fished through his carry-on for his personal identification.

"You as well, Miss," added the MBI agent. His focus remained on Shirou for a moment longer. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but–"

The agent cut himself off mid-sentence. The front of his standard-issue helmet was locked onto Karasuba' grin.

"Ka… Kara…"

Shirou could understand why she wasn't immediately recognizable. Her usual attire had been replaced with something much less conspicuous for the trip, after all.

Much less skin was showing. She wore a pair of jeans and a turtleneck instead of her black leather minidress, and the grey kimono top that could be spotted from a mile away was discarded in favour of a large bomber jacket that seemed to swallow her figure whole.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding. Let us through, please."

"Right! Sorry, Ma'am!"

As if on instinct, he darted out of the way and straightened his back like a lamppost.

"A-also!" the agent squeaked out before the pair could pass him by. The force of habit wore off quickly; it was as if he suddenly remembered that he had a job to do. "I should inform you that MBI is currently investigating your whereabouts! Unfortunately, I will be required to–"

"That's fine."

The flippant response from the leader of the Disciplinary Squad stumped the guard mid-sentence. He could only watch straight-faced as the two high-profile individuals disappeared behind the rotating doors that he was supposed to guard.

"…"

He frantically patted down his many pockets in search of his handheld transceiver.

X

"Was that man supposed to stop us?" Shirou asked the grey-haired woman at his side. "I couldn't really tell what he was trying to do."

"That's right! Karasuba-chan is just a little scary, is all. Would you tell her that she can't do something if you're left all on your lonesome? I sure wouldn't."

The voice did not belong to Karasuba. She did, however, offer a smile and a positive response.

"How kind of you to say that, Minaka."

MBI's director stood before them in fairly unusual attire. Or rather, it was only unusual because it was so unbelievably normal compared to what he usually wore.

The pseudo-supervillain laboratory coat was swapped with a green cardigan, and his bird nest of a hairdo was hidden by a flat cap. Not quite all-the-way normal, but it was enough for him to fly by unrecognized by the hundreds of people lined up for their boarding passes behind him.

Speaking of which, two such boarding passes were held in his hand.

Shirou noticed them instantly.

"Those are–"

"For you," Minaka offered cheerfully. "Please forgive Takami-chan. She's become so disgruntled in her old age. But don't fret! I wanted to make sure that you two could enjoy your honeymoon uninterrupted."

Shirou wanted to get to the heart of the matter.

However it was that he found them aside. Flowery language aside. Everything else aside…

"We're breaking the 'rules', aren't we? Why let us get away with it?"

The happy-go-lucky mask glued to the CEO's face melted away.

"It's easier this way. There's no point in fighting something if I don't gain anything from doing so."

"…"

The taller man didn't understand and his partner didn't seem to have any desire to provide any sort of input. Minaka caught on, so he elaborated.

"I know that you'll be back. Takami-chan is just going to make my life more difficult than it has to be if she catches you, so I might as well ensure that she doesn't."

"...What makes you so sure that we have any intention of returning?" Shirou shot back. Should he have kept his mouth shut and rolled with it? Absolutely, but something that he couldn't describe dragged the question out of his mouth.

"That's right, that's right!" chanted Karasuba. "I might like our vacation so much that I never want to come back again! You should be careful, Minaka."

Shirou suppressed his desire to slap a hand over her mouth. Asking questions was already pushing it; telling the man to not make their lives easier was just counterproductive.

Before panic could settle in, the sound of the bespectacled man's guffaw forced him into inaction. The tickets were dropped into his hands.

Minaka walked past them and made his way towards the exit.

"See you soon!" was his optimistic parting message to them.

What a frightening man.

X

As the aircraft began its descent, the sudden case of airplane ears roused Shirou from his slumber.

He took a few seconds to gather his wits; swiping at the new wrinkles in his shirt, rolling out the kinks in his neck and the like.

He only noticed the weight pressed against his shoulder after the fact, and he panicked.

The sight itself, Karasuba using him as a pillow while she slept in, was not at all a cause for concern.

…Or at least, it had long since stopped fazing him. Whether or not it was a cause for concern was another matter entirely.

What bothered him was the fact that he didn't notice–

No.

"Notice" wasn't the right word. The fact of the matter was that he didn't react to something foreign being stuck to him.

She was just there.

"You'll make me blush if you stare at me that intensely, Ashikabi-kun."

Her chin tilted up, and her now-half-open eyes were staring directly into his.

A light dusting of pink stained his cheeks and he forced himself to look away.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were awake."

"Would it have been better if I were asleep?"

"No, I–" He cut himself off and changed the subject. "We need to talk about some things before we land."

She noticed his serious tone, thankfully, though at no point did she remove her head from his shoulder.

"Hm," was the only offered indication that she was listening.

"I have a place that we can stay at for the time being; it's reasonably close to the Clock Tower without being on the campus or near any of the affiliated residential blocks. While I'm in court, you're going to have to stay there."

She didn't reject the demand out of hand, thankfully, that didn't stop her from asking questions.

"Is there a reason, or do you just want me out of your hair?"

Funny enough, this might have been the most straightforward conversation they ever had.

"I don't want to take any risks," he told her. "Someone might notice that you aren't human the very second that you step in the room. The trial is going to be fairly straightforward, but it won't stay that way if the wrong people start getting curious."

"Could you tell that I wasn't human right away?" she asked honestly.

"Depending on who you meet, you'll find out very quickly that I'm not the best at those kinds of things."

"'Who I meet', huh? Like who?"

"Doesn't matter. You're not meeting them."

She stared at him with a clearly dissatisfied cat-like squint.

"I didn't come along to sit around the house all day, you know."

Honestly, he didn't know why she came. She seemed so insistent at the time, and he couldn't–

…He could have stopped her, couldn't he? In fact, protests aside, he should have. It would have been the correct thing to do. Having Karasuba with him in London served no purpose. It was one more thing to worry about.

And yet he–

"Take me on a date when you're done, then," was Karasuba's demand.

He blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Show me around the city. Take me somewhere. I've been stuck in this cabin for nearly half a day. Make it worth my while."

His first instinct was to question why he had any obligation to make it worth her while since she was the one who forced her way onto the plane, but what came out was, "You want to go sightseeing? This is pretty serious, you know."

"Funny that you should say that. I find the idea quite repulsive myself, truthfully."

Her immediate response didn't sound sarcastic in the least. Her expression was warped into a one of pure disgust.

Repulsive? What was repulsive? The trip? The trial? Taking time off to tour London?

"Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent, please make sure your seats and table trays are positioned upright. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and…"

Shirou took a deep breath.

One thing at a time.

Outcomes aside, he already knew that stepping foot into that courtroom would birth issues that he wasn't yet prepared to deal with.

X

The door creaked open, and the bright mid-afternoon sun snuck past them to illuminate the space before the lights turned on.

"Well… this is it."

Her Ashikabi did not do a great job of embellishing the introduction, but then again, she didn't get the impression that he was the type to do so.

Regardless, she didn't need a sales pitch to know that she wouldn't mind staying here for a few days. The place was pretty clean despite the fact that it likely hadn't been inhabited for at least the little while that the man had spent in Japan. It was well-furnished to boot; more so than their shared apartment back in Shinto Teito.

The lounging space wasn't anything special –more or less the same, she'd say– but the parts of the kitchen that she could see peeking out from behind a half wall were unmistakably expensive, even to her untrained eye. While she didn't really care about it herself, she could safely assume that he had a clear preference between the two.

"Where's the bathroom?" was the first thing that she asked him. "I need to change."

She wasn't used to wearing pants. She thought that she could manage at first, but hours upon hours of sitting it the same damned airplane chair had gotten to her.

She didn't enjoy commercial airplanes, she decided.

"You said you wanted to go out, right?"

Karasuba paused with her hand on the collar of her jacket.

She smiled.

If only she could put into words how much she was dreading this.

"You want to go right now?"

Her Ashikabi stared at her blankly.

"You're the one who asked, no? I need to let the Clock Tower know that I've arrived in the country first thing in the morning, so if you want to go sightseeing, now's the best time to do so."

Her smile widened.

X

"…and this bottle here."

Shirou had a sneaking suspicion for a while, but…

"Ma'am, that bottle is–"

"Oh. I'll try this one too, actually."

"O-of course, Ma'am."

As he watched the woman recite the entire menu to the waiter, he could say with absolute confidence that this girl had zero grasp on the value of money. Was this what happened when you spent your whole life being waited on hand and foot by a multi-billion-dollar corporation?

They stood out like a sore thumb in this fancy restaurant that she dragged them into. Or at least she did. His suit, while a little dishevelled after a prolonged day, was comparable within reason to the dress code of the other patrons.

At no point did Karasuba change out of her denim and leathers. In fact, she now wore a Union Jack-embroidered baseball cap that had caught her eye at a tourist trap an hour ago.

This was more or less how they had decided to spend the rest of their day. She had asked him to take her to see some popular sights in the area, then they ended up somewhere completely different because something else had caught her eye on the way.

It was funny, in a way. Here he was, thinking that they would be visiting monuments, museums and the like, and instead, they found themselves investigating oddities at gas stations that were spotted through windows or buying candies from variety shops because there were advertisements for them on back-alley billboards.

There was an almost frantic quality in how she was insistent on sinking time into discovering new and insignificant things. It was such an unusual match with someone of her character that he couldn't tell if she was faking it or not.

Maybe it would have been simpler to assume that she was faking it. She had made it clear that she didn't want to have any part in this outing despite having requested that it take place to begin with. It clearly suggested that she had an ulterior motive, and she wasn't even hiding it, really.

A finger tapped him on the shoulder. Their waiter stared at him apologetically.

"I'm very sorry," the waiter whispered. "I've been asked to let you know that there have been complaints about the madam's attire."

Karasuba hummed disinterestedly with the rim of a wine glass between her lips.

"Who's complaining?"

"The other diners, Ma'am. If you'd like, we can lend you a costume to change into–"

"Not interested," shot back without missing a beat. Her beverage was placed calmly on the table with but a few millilitres of liquid left in the bowl of the wine glass. "Let's go, Shirou. I've had enough fun today, I think."

How nice for her. It cost him a pretty penny.

With a sigh, he complied and got up along with her. The Japanese man smiled at the server apologetically.

"Sorry for the disruption. If I could have the bill, we'll be on our way shortly."

X

"You know, I didn't know that you spoke English until now."

He couldn't get a read on her body language with how close they were to each other. They navigated the busy nightlife of the city and slowly made their way back to the lodging with arms interlinked.

"I do," was her unhelpful two-word reply.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but Karasuba beat him to the punch. Startlingly, she decided to elaborate.

"All of us do… or at least those that were part of the Disciplinary Squad know a few other languages."

Shirou's mouth remained closed, though he tried to make it clear that he was listening. Though they didn't stop, their pace slowed. Other street-goers had to walk around them as they passed them by.

"According to Minaka, it was supposed to help us deal with foreigners when they tried to attack the company," she explained. "It never really came in handy though."

Why that was the case didn't need to be explained. He could take a guess.

Although…

"Why are you part of the Disciplinary Squad?" he asked. "Or for that matter… why is any Sekirei? Are you chosen at random? Do you volunteer?"

She chucked. Their difference in height made it so that the brim of her cap hid her smile from view.

"None of the above. Once upon a time, only the first five of us were developed enough to protect ourselves. We defended the younger birds until they could stand on their own two feet. In time, MBI grew more powerful and we weren't as necessary anymore. The old members moved on, and new ones took their place."

…Oh.

To him, it was as if the second piece of a thousand-piece puzzle was found and put next to the first.

"But you stayed," he remarked.

"I can play more this way, right?"

He understood.

The man let out a sigh.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" She pushed herself deeper into his side. It was uncomfortable. She craned her neck; he could see the ever-present smirk of hers, and while her eyes were still hidden, there were no doubts in his mind that they were tightly shut.

"What does?"

"The way that I am. You hate that you won't kill me right now."

Shirou shook his head. Her phrasing was confusing, and he was likely misinterpreting the point that she was trying to make, but…

"No, not really. I'm not sure if it's what you're trying to ask, but I don't dislike you, Karasuba."

That was never the crux of the matter.

Of all the reactions that he was expecting, her removing herself from his person as if scalded by his touch was not one of them.

She stood at a healthy distance from him now, so he could make out the fact that the smile was still there despite the reaction. As expected, her closed eyelids offered nothing.

Neither mentioned her strange behaviour. They contented themselves with each other's company at their new distance.

The dwelling wasn't far now; it stood just around the corner.

Ah. He forgot. There was only one bed, and it was smaller than their usual one. If she was angry about something…

"I can sleep on the floor if you want," he offered. "I'll have to leave before you wake up, so we don't–"

"No. You're sleeping with me."

He didn't know what surprised him more: her blatant insistence on the matter or the fact she didn't mind it in the first place.

He could only nod and distract himself with digging through his pockets for the housekey.

Maybe "understanding" wasn't the word he was looking for after all.