(A/N) Lol.
Thanks, Sherlock.
X
"I told you, didn't I? It's a bit of a mess around here right now. Maybe you should put off paying Minato a visit for a little longer."
"But Moooooom," her daughter complained, as was becoming a frequent ritual of hers as of late. "That's what you keep saying! I'm gonna be graduating high school soon, ya know? This is probably that guy's last chance to see his cute little sister wearing her uniform! Besides, it can't be that bad, can it?"
Takami could only pinch the bridge of her nose and take a deep breath.
"Those leaps in logic never cease to paint a worrying picture of your relationship with your brother, Yukari."
"I love him lots!"
"Evidently. Either way, it's not like you'll have much luck trying to get here. MBI and the municipal government are holding up public transportation until everything's been cleared out. You're better off spending time with your friends."
"Muu…"
Her daughter would always be cute as a button in her eyes, but she wasn't a ten-year-old anymore. Pouting through the telephone wouldn't be getting her anywhere.
"We'll talk later. Do you need me to send you money? Are you taking care of yourself?"
"…Hey, mom? Is there… what's going on, really?"
… Well, she couldn't answer that one honestly in good faith now, could she?
Takami's fatigue was forgotten for a moment. A warm smile pushed her lips apart.
"You worry too much, girl. Things are a little hectic with the company, is all. Minato is fine, but I don't need another head around here to worry about. At least when you're with your grandparents it's a weight off my shoulders to know that you won't be in harm's way."
"That's no fair. I'm worried about you too."
"Hah. Silly girl. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
Takami ended the call and unceremoniously dropped the device onto her desk. She leaned back into her chair and finally allowed the breath she was holding to escape through her nostrils.
"I need a smoke."
"It'll have to wait," another voice told her, putting to death her plans to search her desk for a lighter. "Are you ready to go? You're the one who called us. The others have already boarded. "
Mutsu waited for her answer with crossed arms. Not impatient, but certainly expecting swift action.
She wasn't the only one who had a stake in this. That was why she brought together this "merry little crew", after all.
"Did the flight crew mention anything?" she asked.
"They want to leave in fifteen. The weather's perfect, so Karasuba's inbound flight won't experience any delays."
"Got it," she acknowledged and made a move to push herself out from behind the large bureau. "We'll enact Plan A right away."
A not-so-inconsequential part of her questioned the point of wasting time pretending that Plan A would have any chances of working.
Plan A was, quite literally, how they would operate if Karasuba and her Ashikabi acted exactly how she wanted them to. It assumed that both of them behaved in a fashion that worsened their odds and bettered hers.
Fat chance of that ever happening.
Even so, they needed to lay out the "perfect case scenario" in order to pinpoint all the ways that things could go wrong for them, so at least there was that.
"After you, Mutsu."
"…"
She stopped.
"You're looking at me strangely," she noted. "Is there something wrong?"
He searched her eyes for something.
"Can you do it?" Mutsu asked. "Is taking another person's life really something that you can live with? This won't be the same as letting the pieces around you fall as they may, Takami. We're going to put down Karasuba and that man she has with her, and you'll be just as responsible as the one who does the deed themselves."
Her expression was glacial.
"Look. I don't particularly hate either one of those two enough to want to kill them, but if they threaten the livelihood of my children, then there isn't a part of me that will regret capping their asses."
She walked past and marched forth toward the hangar.
Mutsu shook his head.
"Right. Never mind."
X
"Hgng– huh?"
Matsu snorted, woken by the alarm sounding on her computer. A blinking indicator on her monitor glowed painfully in the poorly-lit room, though she had to rub her heavy eyes in order to make out what any of it was about.
She groaned. Her blurry vision cleared up.
A gasp escaped her lips.
"Mi…Mina…"
The Brain-type scrambled toward the door on all fours as fast as she could, seemingly forgetting how to walk in her agitation.
"Mina-chan! They're moving! MBI is moving right now!"
X
They were all gathered around the dining room table. Minato's eyes lingered on everyone's seated form, his posture tight.
He couldn't help but notice the empty spot where Uzume-san usually sat. An ugly feeling washed over him, but he suppressed it as soon as it bubbled to the surface. Uzume-san was his friend, and she had her own reasons. Besides, it would be awful to force her to do something so dangerous when it didn't really involve her in the first place, right?
Uzume-san was a… Sekirei. She had her own Ashikabi to look out for. Not that he knew who that was.
And that was the crux of the matter. It kind of bugged him that she couldn't… trust them? Was that what he was trying to say? They were friends– at least, he liked to think so. He'd never made so many friends so quickly before, so maybe it was him who was misreading things in his inexperience. He thought they were friends if nothing else, so he wished that she would have been more upfront with what she was thinking, if only a little bit.
On the other hand…
Minato stared awkwardly at the smiling face belonging to the person seated next to the landlady.
The new tenant… was it really okay to get someone like this involved? They said that they knew Emiya Shirou-san, but still. The Sekirei Plan wasn't supposed to get any normal people involved, right? All they wanted to do was to pass through the city on a business trip, but because of Karasuba's Ashikabi, they felt an obligation to commit to something like this even if it meant getting in over their head.
Minato would have said something, but strangely, no one else brought it up. Even Miya-san, who had seemingly grown quite close to this person despite their arrival not having been that long ago, wasn't pushing too hard for them to stay out of it.
Maybe he was just missing something.
Hah… he felt pretty lost right now, to be honest. It would have been nice if Kagari-san were here –the man was much wiser than him, always knowing exactly what to say– but he would be asleep at this time of day. His work hours were pretty demanding, so it wouldn't be right to wake him up just because it suited his needs.
Besides, previous rules applied here too. Kagari-san didn't have anything to do with this mess.
Matsu-san shot him a sidelong glance.
Right. They had already ironed out the details. It was time to go.
But before then…
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
The new houseguest blinked and pointed to themselves.
"Me? Well, of course. What is it?"
"What is he to you? Emiya Shirou-san, I mean."
The plan was to have this person talk with him. In their words, Emiya Shirou would be very interested in what they had to say. Minato was willing to believe that for the sake of their plan working, but that didn't mean that he wasn't worried.
Sekirei weren't normal people. They could flatten a car like a pancake with their fist. Control technology with their mind. Control the elements with their mind. One wrong move would spell the end for an Ashikabi, let alone someone who wasn't partnered with a Sekirei to begin with.
Their relationship with Emiya Shirou-san must have been something that ran quite deep if they were willing to risk themselves despite knowing all of this.
"Ah, well… if you're asking if we get along, I don't suppose that I can say that we do," was the response. Minato hid his astonishment. "Even at work, we actively avoided each other most of the time. I haven't spoken to him in ages."
"Then –!" Minato spoke before he could even figure out what he wanted to say. His lips pressed together in a thin line and he looked down at the table. "Is it something else? Admiration? Respect?"
What's with that!? You don't stick your head out for someone you hate, right?
"No, no," they continued. Their kind smile became something else. "In fact, I don't like him much. At all, really. He really is a detestable person, you know."
Musubi-san and Tsukiumi-san did double takes, and the ever-flippant Kazehana-san tensed. Even Miya-san was caught off guard by that.
The new tenant either didn't notice or didn't care. They kept going.
"It's okay, though. Just leave it to me. I know him like the back of my hand; he's an easy guy to read. If we just need him to listen to us, then I'll have him singing to our tune in no time."
Matsu-san laughed uneasily.
"I-is that right…? You're not worried at all?"
"Worried? About what, him?" They laughed. "He's harmless."
Kazehana-san took offence to that.
"We have very different definitions of 'harmless', then," she snapped. "Especially if we have Karasuba to deal with too!"
Hands were raised placatingly.
"Ah, well, I suppose it's more accurate to call him 'dangerous' in the same way that an old, starving mutt is 'dangerous'. You can't teach it new tricks, but dangling a slab of meat over its nose will get it doing what you want. He acts all sure of himself, but he's pretty gutless, you know. A husk of a human being, even. That man can't think for himself, and any sense of agency you think he has is arbitrary at best and fabricated at worst.
"Pitiful, isn't it? It's a sad joke to compare him to a functional person."
There was a silence that followed the unexpected rant.
The smile returned to something a bit more normal.
"Right! Let's go then, shall we?"
Minato coughed into his fist.
"R-right. Miya-san, thanks again for taking care of Kuu-chan while we're away."
The landlady smiled.
"Of course. Come back to us in good health. That girl won't be asleep for too much longer, however, so you should hurry."
"Right."
The tenant threw their arms around Miya's shoulder right as everyone else had gotten up to leave. The woman did a poor job of suppressing a high-pitched squeal.
Those gathered at the room's entrance –save for Musubi, who laughed and clapped happily– were taken aback. The tenant was often quite forward, but they were usually polite and reserved: never this handsy.
"W-what are you…"
"It'll be tricky for us, right? I'm just recharging. Think of it as a good luck charm."
"This is hardly appropriate!"
"Oh?"
They pulled back. A teasing smile crossed their face.
"Well, if I can hear you calling me Big Sister just this once, then we'll all come back safe and sound for sure!"
X
Karasuba yawned as soon as they stepped through the airport doors. A blast of wind hit them straight on, ruffling the woman's long hair.
"I'll call a taxi," Shirou announced. He pulled out his phone–
"Hm?" she exclaimed with feigned interest. "That's one of MBI's cars, isn't it?"
He looked up from the screen and quickly noticed the black sedan parked along the row of taxis and coaches.
"So it is."
A man in a black suit pulled himself out of the vehicle, circled it, and held a door open for them.
"Welcome back," he greeted them. "I was asked to pick you up upon your return. Your current residence is in Ebisu, is that right?"
The pair looked at each other. Karasuba only shrugged.
Well, she certainly didn't call this guy here.
Did Minaka send him? It wasn't impossible to believe. Last they spoke, the man had been pretty cryptic about his true intentions. With that said, however, he seemed pretty content to let them leave and welcome them back with open arms upon their return.
Maybe this was his way of "welcoming them back".
Shirou turned back to the man and nodded.
"Right. Thanks. That's kind of you."
This was fine, right? It never hurt to save a bit of cash.
Without raising too much of a fuss, they both got into the backseat.
X
"They're in the car, Ma'am. The guys have already cleared out the south end of the airport; we're meeting them there."
Takami bit her nail and ignored the uniformed man with a radio held to his ear. The glowing monitor in the back of the dimly lit van was grating, but she couldn't look away.
"...Something is strange, Takami."
She whipped her head to Mutsu.
"Don't you think I know that?" she snapped.
If the Sekirei felt antagonized by her behaviour, he did a good job of concealing it. The man lowered his chin thoughtfully.
"...Karasuba isn't stupid. She's been acting against orders for a while now, am I understanding that right?" he thought out loud, ignoring her agitation. "There's no way that she didn't expect some form of resistance."
Takami could only look away. She didn't have a response to that.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
The expression "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" was a common one, but she was really banking on that being the case here. Why the hell did they just get in like that? It screamed "I'm a trap", didn't it? At least be a little cautious!
She sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Right. Whatever. Just hit the gas. Gate Twenty Seven has the best view from the safest distance, and I want to be there before anything happens."
She was missing something here. Something that she had failed to take into account when they planned the attack, and something that would probably come back and bite her in the ass soon.
Takami steeled herself. None of that mattered now. From here on out, everything would bank on how well she could follow through and how well everyone else could follow instructions. If one of those Ashikabi tried to pull a fast one on her, she'd have their heads.
X
Fifteen minutes had passed. They still hadn't left the general vicinity of the airport.
Shirou didn't need to be a genius to figure out why that was. Their driver was taking a detour.
The malintent behind that detour, however, had yet to be gauged.
The poor man's fingers could barely hold on to the wheel with how much they were twitching. He kept eyeing them from the reflection of his rearview mirror.
Something was up, then.
Karasuba leaned forward and stuck her head through the opening between the first two seats. The driver nearly jumped.
"Hey, um…" she brought a finger up to her lip and hummed. "We're going the wrong way, right?"
The man's eyes widened. He lost control of the vehicle for a moment– he would have crashed were it not for Karasuba climbing onto the front console to grab the wheel.
Shirou tapped her leg.
"Sit down properly," the Ashikabi said. "It's dangerous to move around like that when someone's driving."
She chuckled and retreated, patting the driver on the shoulder and forcing his fingers to curl back onto the wheel as she did so.
"Sorry, sorry. I won't do it again," she apologized in a fashion that Shirou knew was meaningless.
For the most part, the ride after that point transpired in silence.
The driver was quite good at his job, so Shirou would have even called the experience soothing were it not for the man being on the verge of tears.
The paranoia on his part was painfully obvious.
…Could it be that MBI was trying to set them up?
Shirou leaned back into the seat and glared at his partner ruefully. She only waved her fingers at him playfully when she noticed.
What happened to "Don't worry about them"?
He turned away and clicked his tongue, choosing instead to pass the time by staring out the window.
It was a wonder where it was that they were being taken, then. The car was circling the airport; he pitied the driver that had to drive them knowing that they knew something was amiss, but such was life. Was it really Minaka that schemed this up? If so, he must not have put too much of a stake in this working out as intended.
He was interested to see where this led, however.
The car slowed a little. They were nearing one of the terminals, but strangely enough, there weren't any planes parked nearby.
"Hey," Shirou spoke up curiously, "what's–"
The driver unbuckled his seatbelt and threw himself out of the still-moving car.
Ah. There it was.
Karasuba grinned and his circuits blared into action.
X
BOOM!
Takami watched the explosion happen in real-time through a pair of binoculars with an unimpressed frown set firmly in place.
Great chunks of the black MBI vehicle were flying everywhere; one of the car doors, caught on fire, narrowly avoided collision with the balled-up driver as it flew over his head. After the fact, the man lifted his head and looked around frantically.
Other passengers near the gate window that she was standing in front of took notice of the commotion and panicked. Screams of bystanders assaulted her ears, but she ignored the clamouring and kept her attention planted firmly on ground zero.
Neither Karasuba nor her Ashikabi could be seen.
"Did we get him?" some moron asked from behind her. She threw her hand back and nailed him right in the chest with the binoculars.
"Hold this," she told him, ignoring his wheezing. The head researcher marched off and weaved her way through the crowd of headless chickens. She pulled out a cellphone and held it to her ear.
"Are they–"
"What do you think?" she snapped at Ichinomi over the line. "I want eyes on them now. When you find them, call me back."
Was it bad that she felt relieved now that something expectedly went horribly wrong? How the hell did they manage to disappear like that anyway? They brought them out to an area with no obstructions for a reason.
Anyway, she was banking on that brain-type Sekirei that Higa's assistant brought with him being able to find them first with Satellite Imaging. Those two might have run away already, but surely they wouldn't have gotten so far that her crew wouldn't be able to catch up to them.
In the meantime…
"Mutsu. Follow me."
She only waited for as long as it took for the man to come within a few steps of her before taking off with a purpose. She wasn't running, but her pace was far from unhurried. The woman headed in the opposite direction of everyone else, and the areas that she traversed became less and less dense as a result.
Agh.
A shrill sound assaulted her ears. She winced, flared her nostrils, and did her best to disregard it.
There were all kinds of sirens and alarms sounding off from every which way now. Mentions of an evacuation were playing on repeat over the intercom system. How was she expected to retain a half-decent thought with all this noise!?
A security guard approached her.
"Excuse me! We're evacuating the area! Please–"
He only got that far before Takami flashed her ID at him. She didn't wait to see if he registered what it was that he was seeing, but it didn't matter since Mutsu cut an intimidating enough figure with his sword half-drawn.
Takami balled her fists.
So far, so good.
The airport was being evacuated. A "possible terrorist attack", supposedly. This way, MBI didn't have to be the one to call the shots on the matter directly; none of this would be tied back to her.
She and Mutsu were alone in one of the long hallways that would have normally been restricted access. A moment later, they turned the corner and found themselves in a communications room. She closed the door behind them and was met with immediate silence.
There were no alarms here. Her ears were thankful.
There were two bespectacled people inside: a dark-haired man in a suit and a flashy-looking woman with short white hair.
Takami crossed her arms.
"Kakizaki. Is that right? This is the first time that we've met face to face."
The man offered her a passing glance before turning back to peer over the white-haired woman's shoulder.
"Indeed," he replied. "A pleasure. If you'd give us a moment, Kocho will have IGS-Optical 7 in position shortly."
"What?" she hissed. "Use one of our satellites!"
"This one works much better for our purposes," the white-haired woman told her. "You don't want the director to know about any of this, right? Even for me, taking control of that one without anyone noticing would be impossible with what little time we have."
Takami clicked her tongue in annoyance. The MBI satellite would have made things easier, but…
"Whatever. How much longer? The longer we take, the farther they'll get."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," spoke the usually non-talkative Mutsu. "Karasuba is fast; I've seen her outrun military vehicles moving at full speed. With that said, however, she has her Ashikabi with her. That will definitely slow them down."
The head researcher mulled that over for a moment.
Would it really?
"Do you think they're headed toward one of the parking lots? Steal a car?"
"Unless they have one of their own hidden away somewhere, I'd say that's a safe bet."
The click of the door opening was heard behind them. They all took a casual look over their shoulders, already knowing who it would be.
Takami huffed.
"Ichi–"
"Bzzt! Wrong."
The name was caught in Takami's throat. For a moment, she was unable to close her mouth.
Karasuba stood at the entrance, smiling cheerfully. Emiya Shirou stood behind her with an unreadable look on his face.
Mutsu reacted before anyone else in the room could process what was going on. Faster than the human eye could process, he drew his sword and rushed at Karasuba.
Somehow, despite the woman being unarmed, the sound of two blades crashing against each other resonated as Number Five managed to push the Black Sekirei out of the room. He tried to trip up the Ashikabi in the same motion, but to his surprise, the Ashikabi was agile enough to sidestep him.
Mutsu cursed audibly.
Takami wasted no time. She pulled out her cellphone once more.
"All of you, to me! Now! Mutsu has engaged Karasuba in close quarters combat!"
She did not wait for a reply, nor did she take any more time to explain what was going on to those on the other end of the line. There were more pressing matters to deal with.
Kakizaki cursed under his breath.
"Himari!" he whispered hotly. As he did, a woman dressed as a kunoichi dropped down from an overhead vent.
He swiftly gave his next order. "Kocho! Get behind her and don't find yourself in the enemy's line of sight."
Takami was mildly impressed. Only one of them was his Sekirei, and yet they both listened to him as if he was both of their Ashikabi. Higa must've had quite the well-working relationship with this guy.
As for the ninja girl, she couldn't sense that one's presence whatsoever.
Considering that she was one of the Sekirei that Higa had sent to help them out, it was a relief to know that her ninja theme truthfully alluded to competence in areas beyond aesthetics alone.
While Mutsu kept Karasuba busy, Emiya Shirou took the opportunity to calmly walk right back into the room as if nothing was wrong. He hadn't drawn any sort of weapon, but it wasn't like anyone was going to wait for that to happen.
Both Takami and Higa's happy little helper tensed. It was up to the one combat-ready Sekirei to take the stage, and so she did. Moving like a silent blur, Himari hopped into the air and drew a kunai from under her skirt. She was moments away from landing on top of the physically inferior human and ending his life without him being able to do a thing to defend himself.
Takami held her breath.
Was this it? There was no way that he could avoid this, right?
"Eh?"
It wasn't Takami's voice. Rather, it was the ninja-like Sekirei who let out a surprised squeak. The human had grabbed her by the wrist so tightly that her trembling hand was forced to drop the knife.
Takami's jaw slackened. Kakizaki and his brain-type reacted similarly.
There was no time for their bewilderment to fester, however. A split second later, Mutsu's body flew right by their heads and crashed into the digital console of the communication system, sending the nearby Kakizaki and his Sekirei tumbling to the ground.
The blown electronics kicked up a cloud of smoke. Takami was forced to cover her face for the few seconds that it took for things to clear up.
When they did, the Number Four duo stood in front of them once more. They hadn't made any moves beyond that.
Damn it.
What was she missing!?
Mutsu should have been enough of a match for an unarmed Karasuba–
She wasn't unarmed.
There was a sword in her hand, and it wasn't one that MBI had given to her. It was doubtlessly Japanese, yet despite Shinto Teito's formidable weapon regulations, the chances of her having acquired it overseas were slim. Did she have that thing this whole time? Was Takami just blind?
…No. No way was she going crazy. That wasn't there before. She knew that wasn't there before.
Suddenly, all the pieces of a puzzle that she didn't know she was trying to solve in the first place flew all out of order.
Karasuba was a straight combat-type… wasn't she?
And that Ashikabi… She didn't give a rat's ass about whatever military program Emiya Shirou seemingly crawled out of. Human augmentation of that calibre was not possible.
MBI had certainly tried.
"Uhm," Emiya Shirou began awkwardly, "we just want to talk this out…? There's no need for all this, I don't think."
Ah.
Were it any other circumstance, she would have appreciated the desire to avoid a confrontation. Especially one that could involve innocent people.
Unfortunately, playing nice wasn't in the books anymore. She just had to hope that the airport would be successfully evacuated in its entirety before these two monsters could use the lives of innocent people to their advantage. She was the one who organized this little escapade, so it was up to her to make sure that no one outside of MBI or the Sekirei plan got hurt because of her decisions. She would do her best to keep this contained to the depopulated region of the building.
She didn't answer him, though someone spoke up in her place.
"Hello again. I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
Emiya turned around, but Takami didn't think for a second that he wasn't paying attention to his front. Karasuba, on the other hand, didn't even bother offering the newcomer a quick glance. She just kept that fucking vile smirk of hers planted on the older woman.
Emiya hummed contemplatively, ignoring the fact that he was about to be a murder victim.
"Ah. Yeah. Of course."
Ichinomi and the two remaining members of the Disciplinary Squad blocked the room. The pair's Ashikabi wore a thinly pressed smile.
The small, pink-haired one growled.
"Ya know, Karasuba, I'm kind of glad that we don't have to put up with your creepy ass any more."
The taller grey-haired one merely scratched the back of her head awkwardly then immediately pulled her hand away upon realising that there were giant blades resting atop her fingertips.
Ichinomi's expression was carefully measured. Whatever it was that he was thinking, none of it would show.
Takami held her breath for a moment before exhaling sharply. She noticed that Mutsu was a bit slow to get up, but he wasn't any worse for wear. There weren't any obvious injuries, at least.
Good…
Good.
This, she could work with. Sekirei Zero-Five, Seventy-Nine, One-oh-Four and One-oh-Five were combat-ready. They had Zero-Four and her Ashikabi surrounded.
A cold sweat ran down Takami's back. A shaky smile split her lips.
Sorry. I'm not letting you leave here alive.
X
"Do you see that!?"
Musubi-san's exclamation was appreciated but unnecessary. Without a doubt, everyone within a two-kilometre radius of the airport could see the smoke rising from one of the far terminals. In fact, most people were doing their best to put as much distance between them and the supposed fire as possible.
Minato's eyes hardened.
"We have to hurry!" he shouted. No one seemed to disagree, thankfully.
Every step that Musubi-san took was jarring, though that was mostly because he was riding on her back and she was more focused on moving quickly than she was on making it a comfortable experience for him. Sure, it was emasculating, but it was the only way for them to get here in time; humans simply would not be able to move as quickly as a Sekirei. That was a fact that he had accepted.
It was nice that the only other human in the group had agreed so easily. She didn't seem to mind being carried by Kazehana-san.
…Kazehana-san, on the other hand, didn't seem too happy.
"I'm a delicate woman too, you know," she complained with a strained frown. "I'm no mountain of muscles!"
Minato really did feel bad about that.
"I'm sorry, Kazehana-san! Physically, you're still the strongest after Musubi-san, so…"
She blushed and looked away.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'm happy to be depended upon, I suppose."
Thanks, Kazehana-san. You're the best.
Tsukiumi-san looked around worriedly.
"Aren't there still too many innocents nearby?" she noted. "If Emiya Shirou and That Woman are to be cornered, it isn't out of the question for them to try to use any and all avenues available to them if it gives them a chance at survival."
Minato grimaced. The implications weren't lost on him.
That was right. Regardless of what he thought of their true character, it was obvious that they would protect themselves if push came to shove. MBI wasn't really giving them much of a choice here. He could only hope that they'd be able to get to them before it came to that.
Kazehana-san added her two cents.
"We're lucky that it hasn't already happened if I'm being honest. They must be having a tough time holding up Karasuba."
"Oh, no, I don't think that's the case, really."
Minato and Tsukiumi-san craned their heads towards the other human. Musubi-san and Kazehana-san surely would have done the same were it possible.
"While I don't know this Karasuba person all that well, Emiya Shirou's modus operandi isn't very complex," she continued. "If he has an objective in mind, you can be sure that he'll do everything in his power –meticulous and contrived plans and all that– to see that objective through till the end. If that objective is something as base as self-preservation, however–"
Her smile turned mocking.
"–then he turns into a brainless monkey, content to throw himself away as one would a broken toy that has outlived its usefulness. Silly, isn't he?"
Such a description set off alarm bells in Minato's head.
Not being particularly close with Emiya Shirou-san was already one thing, but to be this antagonistic towards him was another matter entirely, wasn't it? Regardless of what she said that she could bring to the table –having him see reason, as she put it– was it really worth the risk of her having ulterior motives? Maybe letting her come along wasn't the best decision after all…
Musubi-san frowned. She was facing away from him, but he could still see it with his head hanging next to her ear.
"That's mean," she said simply.
The woman giggled elegantly.
"Right. Perhaps it is. Please don't mind me, though. I promise I'll pull my weight when it counts."
X
The tall man with a sword was the first to make a move.
It made sense for that to be the case. As far as Shirou could tell, the man was his enemy's strongest asset, and as such, the most obvious piece to use to test the waters.
Rather than Karasuba, the man's sword came swinging at Shirou's head. The white-haired magus was ready to protect himself, but Karasuba did so in his stead. Monohoshi Zao flashed and struck the flat of the other Sekirei's blade, pushing it to the side.
The pink-haired Disciplinary Squad girl tried to sneak forward under the cover of the quick but intense clash. Shirou craned his head over his shoulder and found her crouched behind him with a gloved fist pulled back and ready to shatter his spine.
He deftly grabbed the appendage as it approached him. He used the girl's momentum to flip her over and send her sailing straight into the ninja-like woman who was about to swipe his legs out from underneath him.
The bandaged one with the claws threw subtlety to the side. Her weapon shot for his throat–
She froze and gurgled wetly. The woman looked down at the long blade piercing her stomach
Karasuba grinned, one hand on the handle of the offending sword and the other holding the male Sekirei's wrist to the side.
"This is fine, right?" his partner asked long after the point at which asking became a moot gesture. "I don't think leaving them alive will go your way anymore."
Well, she was certainly right about that.
With a shaky arm, the bandaged woman pushed herself off of Monohoshi Zao. She didn't seem to be able to process what happened.
"Ka-Karasu…"
The others could only look on grimly.
Shirou, however, was not to be included in that group.
Taking advantage of the momentary emotional distraction, his food dropped right on top of the pink-haired girl's chest. She screamed, and the kunoichi laying under her grunted in obvious discomfort.
The male Sekirei's eyes widened in alarm. He dropped his weapon and grabbed it mid-fall with his unobstructed arm. Before it could skewer the white-haired man, however, Karasuba kneed him in the gut and had him gasping for breath.
Shirou cranked his neck to the side. Something whistled right past his ear.
Takami held a firearm in front of her: a tiny thing that was probably concealed in her coat pocket. Her mouth was clamped shut, but the fury in his eyes was worth a thousand words.
For as long as their staring contest felt, no true moment of reprieve was given. The male sekirei's scabbard slammed into the ground, and–
A shattered granite tile shot up from the ground and sent Shirou tumbling through the door.
Well, he certainly didn't expect that.
Karasuba was next to him in an instant. The Disciplinary Squad's Ashikabi took the opportunity to kneel down next to the profusely-bleeding woman laying flat on her back.
The man's Sekirei tried to speak, but she wasn't able to. Shirou couldn't help but notice how particularly unemotive the man was acting despite having taken the time to hold the woman in his arms in the middle of a battlefield.
His thoughts were not allowed to linger on the matter, however. Once again, the male Sekirei struck the ground and the flooring cracked and bent into wildly jagged shapes. The cracks hurtled along a set path toward them.
What a strange ability.
They both managed to sidestep the seemingly-pointless attack, though neither was prepared for it to shatter the wall behind them upon contact and drop parts of the roof onto their heads.
Shirou's eyes widened. He threw himself to the side in an attempt to avoid the greatest parts of the damage.
Moments later, as the final chunk of debris fell, Karasuba's bellow could be heard. She stood up, and the giant slab of cement that laid on her fell to the side as if its weight was barely a passing thought.
Neither of them came out of that one unbruised.
"You're stronger now, Mutsu!" she shouted gleefully.
The man with the sword looked over his shoulder and grimaced at the sight of three downed fighters, two humans a and a brain-type.
"I sure I am," he answered in an even tone. "Such is the result of a bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi… though I'm sure you've realized that by now."
"Hey! Karasuba!"
Both Shirou and the addressed peered past the male Sekirei to face the voice of the smaller Disciplinary Squad member. She had a vicious snarl on her face, though the upturn of her lips did a poor job of masking her pain.
By comparison, Karasuba's kind smile was much milder.
"Yes? What is it?"
"We're going to kill you, ya know," the smaller woman said matter-of-factly.
Karasuba squinted and chuckled.
"Well, I can definitely see that you're trying."
Shirou wasn't too impressed by her sense of humour right now.
"I don't–"
He was cut off by a rope wrapping itself around his neck. His eyes widened.
"...I've got you."
He was flipped upside down by whatever it was that was holding him. As turned around has he was, he could barely make out the sight of two figures entering through the hole in the wall left by the male Sekirei.
The element of surprise wasn't enough to keep him down for long, however, he skillfully unbound himself and got back to his feet in time to find a staff-wielding woman with long green hair pressing her weapon against the one belonging to an amused Karasuba.
"Hey Mutsu!" the green-haired woman shouted without looking over her shoulder. "If that's your idea of a 'signal', then boo! It sucked!"
"I'll do better in future," the man answered without much feeling. He was more focused on setting his stance in preparation for his next assault.
…And suddenly, the numbers disadvantage became a much bigger issue.
Magical energy gathered–
"Karasuba-san! Shirou-san!"
…That was a voice that he wasn't expecting to hear.
A new group had made their presence known, showing up from around the corner of the long corridor. That boy led the charge and a group of women was not far behind. What their intentions were was still unclear.
Shirou stiffened.
The moment that she heard her son's voice, Takami ran out from behind the protection of the room guarded by the male Sekirei. He was caught flat-footed and couldn't stop her in time.
"You idiot!" she screamed at the boy. Her eyes were like pinpricks. "What the fuck are you doing here! Get away!"
The thought of taking the woman out right now didn't even cross Shirou's mind. He had his own worries.
Of note was one of the women behind the boy who stepped to the forefront.
She walked as if she had just joined a pleasant function and not a battleground, and yet that was the confidence with which she always held herself. Her outfit was particularly tame considering her position: nothing more than a simple knit turtleneck covering chequered slacks. Her wavy hair was voluminous and free-flowing, though it did little to hide the sheen of the hoop earrings dangling on either side of her head.
She smiled beatifically as if meeting an old friend.
"A pleasure, Emiya."
Shirou grunted, not wanting to telegraph the fact that his heartbeat had quickened uncontrollably.
He could only do his best to return the greeting measuredly.
"Tohsaka."