Minaka has to deal with the memories of the Toclafane in his head, and say what you will; the little balls of doom were scary as heck. So, in a way, the Doc will be understanding. The Master cannibalized his Tardis, and he still forgave him. So far, Minaka only broke into it; that gives him a chance. Unless, of course he gets pissed at Minaka for the slavery thing. As for Akitsu, her jealousy's cute, but she'll have a long way to go.
Author's Notes It's been 365 days since the last chapter (leap year). Holy crap. I know, it's been beyond too long since I last updated this. Fact of the matter is, life has been busy. I know I say that a lot but it really has. To give you an idea, here's a few keywords that describe my life for the last month: University Chainsaw at 3 AM Career Gun Shots Work Ex Girlfriend Nephews Rape (namely, thwarting some fuckers attempt on my Ex) Hospitalisation Stolen railway equipment. And that's just the stuff going on in my personal life. No, I'm not going into detail about it. This chapter though has been through the ringer a few times. This is officially draft nine. It's had the most extensive rewrites (as you do when something takes this long) and has suffered the most extensive cuts (4,000 words cut out since it was all telling and not showing). And I still haven't gone through all of my plot points originally written for Chapter 9 over a year ago. You can thank linkhyrule5 for this chapter finally coming out by the way. He asked about it in a PM a couple of days ago and after explaining some of why this was taking so long, promised to sacrifice a bit of sleep to get it done. It killed me but it's done. Well, not completely. There's still quite a few chapters to go before we get to the end of course. Oh, and parts of this were inspired by real life events. I'll let you guess as to what those parts are. One final thing. As always, I appreciate feedback and criticism, even if that criticism is "ABOUT FUCKING TIME!". I strive to make my work (somewhat) logically and internally consistent. If I've missed anything (highly likely given this latest draft was done on two or three hours of sleep over two days), let me know and I'll do what I can to fix it. As always, thanks for reading, and enjoy! *** If the Doctor could have found an army of angry Daleks to fight he would have jumped right into action without hesitation. As far as his luck went, no such army had presented itself. Instead he’d found something infinitely worse… a fan. Someone that had, somehow, managed to track his movements, exchange information about him, obsess over his adventures and long for the day he’d walk into their lives. It was annoying on multiple levels. Most people were just not suited to the level of utter bizarreness that the he was used to dealing with on a daily basis. Most people didn’t have the stomach to face constant danger, to say nothing of the physical fitness required for a life of constant running. Then there were the fans that due to their unfortunate enthusiasm inevitably got in his way or ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time resulting in, at the very least, mild cases of death. Fans were in a way their own worst enemy. Their belief in him, their faith in his abilities was so often their undoing. He may have been brilliant but he wasn’t limitless… at the end of the day he couldn’t protect everyone all the time. Some were inevitably lost and for that he’d come to loathe the enormous faith that fans invested in him. He neither deserved nor wanted it. The Doctor peeked between the fingers of the face-palm that had occurred the moment he realised he was dealing with a fan. Matsu was still swooning over the prospect of having met her idol while Minato was alternating a bewildered glance between the two. “Who… who did you say you were?” asked Minato. “I’m the Doctor!” he said, perking up slightly in one of his practically trademarked mood swings. “Doctor who?” asked Minato. The Doctor frowned. Was everyone in this house going to ask that? “Just… the Doctor,” he said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, “What's your name by the way?” “M-Minato… are you going to stay up there?” asked Minato. “Why? Does it bother you that I’m in the roof?” replied the Doctor. “Yes… a little,” The Doctor shrugged and squirmed his way through the hole he’d made in the roof and landed softly on the floor. He dusted himself off as Matsu, finally recovered from her initial reaction regarded the Doctor with eyes as wide as saucers. “So, um…” said Minato awkwardly, “How did you come to know Doctor-san?” asked Minato. “It all started a few years ago, Mina-tan,” she explained, “A researcher at MBI gave me an old DVD of his,” “DVD?” asked Minato. “It’s what came before blue rays,” explained the Doctor. “While I was watching the DVD, I discovered an Easter egg… sort of a bonus feature hidden in one of the menus. A garbled video started to play,” she pointed to the Doctor, “a video with his voice on it. He spoke as though he was speaking one half of a conversation.” “Oh I remember that!” exclaimed the Doctor, “But why didn’t you recognise my face?” “The video was garbled,” explained Matsu, “Only the audio really worked… I’d heard that there were several other DVD’s that had the same hidden Easter egg but they were very rare and hard to find and the eggs don’t show up on the blue ray releases either.” “Ah the DVD,” lamented the Doctor, “Gone the way of betamax already.” “…Beta? What?” asked Minato. “…never mind,” muttered the Doctor. “After that I did as much research as I could,” she continued, “Most of the information was locked up tight, I still can’t get to it… but I know this much. Doctor-san is an alien time traveller who has saved humanity more times than can be counted. In short… he is amazing!” This feeling, thought Minato, Am I jealous of the way she looks up to the Doctor? Matsu seemed to have an insight into the way her Ashikabi was feeling. She adjusted her glasses with one hand and reached out to reassuringly squeeze Minato’s hand with the other. It was enough for him. While she may have admired this Doctor the same way one might admire their favourite idol or voice actor, Minato was after all still her Ashikabi and still the one that she loved. “So, you’re a time traveller?” asked Minato. “Exactamundo!” exclaimed the Doctor, seizing on an opportunity to use the word. “I don’t suppose you could tell me if I get into Tokyo University next year?” he asked. “Spot of bother, actually,” said the Doctor, scratching his head nervously, “see, my time machine was sort of… stolen.” “Again?” asked Matsu. “Again?” asked the Doctor, bewildered. Matsu pulled out a ratty old t-shirt with faded but otherwise bold lettering in both kanji and surprisingly well translated English. THE ANGELS HAVE THE PHONE BOX “Ah, of course,” said the Doctor. He’d forgotten that those egg forums had made a T-shirt after all. “I take it that’s why MBI wants to get their hands on you,” mused Matsu, “They have your time machine, but they must know that you’re dangerous even without it.” “Dangerous?” asked Minato nervously. “Mina-tan,” said Matsu reassuringly, “this man has saved the world many times in the past… he’s only dangerous to those who would endanger the world.” “Speaking of endangering the world…” said the Doctor, “perhaps you could explain to me… what are the Sekirei doing here?” “Eh?” asked Matsu, not understanding the question. “The Sekirei. What are they doing here? In Tokyo? In the year 2020?” “What?” asked Minato, “You know about the Sekirei?” The Doctor nodded sagely. “Would you like to hear the story?” asked the Doctor. Minato and Matsu exchanged glances before turning back to the Doctor and nodded in unison. The Doctor took a deep breath. Most of what he knew was hearsay from long before the Time War… but as the last of the Time Lords he was the only surviving authority from those times. They had a right to know. “It all started a long time ago…” *** Takami, unable to handle her nerves, finally lit up her first smoke for the day. As the nicotine rushed into her system her mind started to relax and process information in a more reliable manner. The Doctor. A name, a title, an omen. She’d had a chance to skim the files on that man… the files that Minaka had managed to blackmail out of some secret UNIT vault. She knew enough to know that Minaka had made a terrible, terrible mistake. She knew enough to know that the Doctor had had something to do with Harriet Jones’ downfall, the thwarting of multiple alien invasions during the last few decades and almost certainly possessed the capability of time travel. In all, he was a fearsome man that she had absolutely no intention of getting on the bad side of. Takami grimaced as Minaka went through the rounds of announcing the second phase of the Sekirei Plan. The idiot was being a grandstanding buffoon again. She both loved and hated him when he did that in equal measure. It was a personality quirk that had first attracted her to him, the fact that he could absolutely and confidently make the most ludicrous claims seem almost plausible… Still. He’d effectively thrown down against the Doctor. The psych profile UNIT had built clearly indicated that there was a 100% likelihood of a negative response towards exploitation of the nature that MBI was in the habit of towards Sekirei. If the Doctor moved against Minaka, Minaka would rally all of MBI against him, Takami included. The idiot would doom her just as surely as he had doomed himself. Perhaps if the Doctor hadn’t shown up in some imaginary parallel world she may have held off on her planned coup, at least until a later stage of the Sekirei Plan where she would be able to leverage more power and ensure success. She had always been against the Sekirei Plan… even so it was no guarantee that whatever fallout generated from Minaka’s downfall wouldn’t blow back and affect her as well. Takami was not stupid by any measure; she had always considered survival to be the noblest form of selfishness and was already thinking of ways to turn the tables both to her advantage and her survival. Whether she could turn the Doctor into an ally or not her actions would have to be the same regardless. She pulled out her phone and dialled a number. After several rings and a soft click, it automatically transferred to a scrambled line she’d set up especially for this one phone call… even then she wasn’t taking any chances. “Bad Wolf is a go,” she said, hanging up almost nonchalantly. She stabbed out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray and eyed the rest of the packet hungrily for more precious nicotine. It wasn’t every day she started a corporate revolt. ** Akitsu idly dried the dishes she had been washing earlier. The Doctor had been upstairs for long enough to start worrying her, though her face would never betray such worry with its look of eternal melancholy. She lowered the dish onto the bench and reached over to grab another dish from the drying rack when she paused in thought. What is he to me? She thought, I cannot be winged, so he cannot be my Ashikabi. I am a scrap number, a waste of a Sekirei. He would never want me. Why… Her mind trailed off as she remembered his kindness. The way he had tried to find her a place to stay, how he’d bought her clothes, spoke with her as a person and had vowed to help… for her? She touched the Sekirei crest emblazoned on her forehead. Its position, prominent and clear to Ashikabi and Sekirei alike, showed her to be a scrap number. For her it was a mark of shame, a singular symbol of all her failures. It had set her apart, made her different. Though she had always preferred solitude even among other Sekirei she had always sensed the isolation from her peers, the way conversations would just die off when she entered a room, how she would always eat alone at tables and how she could go entire days without having to utter a single word to anyone. “Karasuba-sama!” exclaimed Musubi from outside, breaking Akitsu’s wandering thoughts. Her eyes shot up. Sure enough, Number 04, Karasuba, stood outside of Izumo House… and she’d just been sprayed with water by Musubi. Akitsu dropped the slick dish, numbly allowing it to fall and shatter on the floor. Her arms trembled slightly… she could feel her heart thundering in her chest as something inside her… a feeling that only ever arose when it came time to fight or to flee. She’d never understood that feeling and she’d never allowed it to bother her until now. What had changed? Why was this feeling affecting now of all times? The Black Sekirei exchanged a few words with Musubi before starting towards the door, but not before casting a wary glance directly at Akitsu. She’s going to kill me. The thought came unbidden to her mind. Something came unstuck in Akitsu. The crest emblazoned on her forehead became painfully cold. Akitsu ran from the kitchen and into one of the rooms downstairs. She cast about in an emotionless panic, looking for a place to hide, a dark place to bury herself and never come out from. Common sense and rationality would tell her that it would do no good. That the Black Sekirei would find her and kill her if she chose to hide herself within Izumo House… but both had long since fled. She all but threw herself into a dark and stuffy closet, pulled a futon over her head and curled up as tightly as she could manage, trying to stay silent as the Black Sekirei entered Izumo House. She could hear her footsteps; hear the soft murmur of her voice. Terror, her mind supplied, this feeling is called terror. Akitsu was too swept up to realise that she was feeling something for the first time that she could remember… and too swept up to realise that a tide of cloying calm was trying to drown that terror. All she could do was whimper and hope that Karasuba didn’t find her. “Is someone here?” asked a voice from inside the room, causing Akitsu’s terror to redouble. The door opened up, causing Akitsu to shrink back into the corner, to try to bury herself into the wall and floor. “Aki-Onee-chan?” said the diminutive Kusano. “No… No…” quivered Akitsu, unable to clamp down on her terror. Kusano’s eyes opened wide as she recognised the look on Akitsu’s face. She popped into the closet and closed the door behind her. “It’s alright,” said Kuu as she inched slowly towards Akitsu, “Kuu comes here sometimes when she’s sad or afraid or wants to be alone,” Kusano carefully dodged mentioning her Ashikabi. She didn’t want to risk upsetting Akitsu again as she had before. Though she was young she was also precocious at times. “Aki-chan is afraid?” asked Kuu. Akitsu nodded as tears started to pool in her eyes and stream down her face. “It’s alright, Kuu is here,” she said, closing into hugging distance and curling up with Akitsu in an embrace. Akitsu automatically returned it. Just the physical presence of another person seemed to calm the roiling sea of terror she was drowning in… if only a little. “It’ll be alright,” said Kuu. Akitsu sobbed softly, caught between raging terror and cloying calm. *** Uzume glared at the bowl of warm muck, she lifted her gaze and regarded her Ashikabi, and then returned her glare with redoubled irritation back towards the bowl of muck. She was about to reconsider the whole idea of trying to feed the muck to Chiho when she noticed her Ashikabi smiling towards her warmly. “So, you tried cooking again?” asked Chiho softly. “I… ehehe, well…” said Uzume uncomfortably while nervously rubbing the back of her head. The last time Uzume had cooked anything for Chiho the experience had left her unable to taste anything for a week. Uzume had vowed never to cook for her again and had taken up cosplaying instead, which had turned out for the best. Uzume was certain that Chiho remembered the last time as clearly as she did. Even so, Chiho was willing to try what she thought was her cooking. “Quickly,” whispered Chiho conspiratorially, “Before the doctors’ notice and try to stop you,” Chiho sat up in bed and took the bowl that Uzume offered her. After spending a moment adjusting to get comfortable, she managed to pick up a spoonful of the muck the Doctor had created and hesitantly held it before her. Before Uzume could begin to doubt whether she’d try it, Chiho brought the spoon to her lips and scoffed the food. She chewed experimentally before her eyes widened. “This… this food…” she said softly, “This is delicious!” she exclaimed before she began devouring the bowls contents. Uzume relaxed somewhat. The Doctor may have used a mess of odd ingredients but apparently whatever it was he’d concocted had been enough to reawaken Chiho’s long lost appetite… she’d never seen her Ashikabi eat so ravenously. Before either of them knew it Chiho had cleaned the bowl completely, even going so far as to try her best to lick it clean without even the pretence of manners. “Uzume-chan! You’ve improved your cooking a lot!” exclaimed Chiho, “I… sort of doubted you when I looked at it… but the smell…” Chiho was smiling radiantly. She had vibrant colour in her cheeks and face for the first time that Uzume had seen her. She’d always thought that her Ashikabi was beautiful, but nevermore than at this moment. Blushing, she leaned forward to kiss her… “Ahem!” interrupted Kakizaki as he stood in the doorway. Chiho and Uzume drew apart from their abortive kiss, both of them blushing furiously at having been caught by the unwelcome interloper. “Uzume-san? A word if you please,” said Kakizaki. “Uzume? Who is this person?” asked Chiho curiously. “Ah, one of the specialists,” lied Uzume, “I’ll just be a few minutes,” she said before leaving her Ashikabi with a smile that was only partly forced. Uzume passed a nurse on the way in to check on Chiho’s condition. The two shared a brief look before the nurse had to suppress a smile. Chiho and Uzume had been a hot topic amongst the nurses in the hospital, from those that who quietly disapproved of their ‘forbidden love’ to those that tried to give Uzume and Chiho romantic pointers and tried to push their relationship to the ‘next level’. As soon as Uzume had shut the door behind her, she fixed Kakizaki a withering glare. “What.” She stated flatly. “Is that any way to address the representative of one whom so graciously holds the life of your ashikabi in the balance?” he teased, “Come now Uzume-chan, I thought we’d built a strong working relationship with one another. It would be shameful to allow the breakdown of our mutually beneficial partnership to endanger the life of someone so precious…” Uzume took a deep breath and tried to drain the seething anger that built up every time that sneering bastard spoke. Whether she liked it or not, Kakizaki worked for Higa, and Higa owned the hospital. If she pissed off either of them, Chiho’s life was forfeit. She had to grovel… for now. “I apologise,” Uzume forced herself to say in as pleasant a tone as she could muster, “What is it that Higa-sama requires of me now?” “We have a new target for you to find and eliminate. Here are her files,” he said, passing the necessary information on to her, “Please dispatch her for us as efficiently as you have your prior targets. You are an extremely valuable asset for Higa-sama.” Uzume glanced at the information she’d given him. A picture of an innocent and nervous looking Sekirei confronted her. Number 95, Kuno. Ranked quiet low in terms of power… she would be easy prey to almost any Sekirei she’d come across. “Fine, I’ll do it. As long as my Ashikabi is looked after,” grumbled Uzume. “See that you do,” said Kakizaki before leaving. Uzume leaned against a wall and thought. She hated this. She hated being used in this fashion. She hated going against her principles. She hated dirtying herself to keep the hands of her Ashikabi clean. But if it meant that she could live… if it meant that she could get the treatment she needed then she’d do it. Sekirei lived their lives by and for their Ashikabi. If she had to she’d move heaven and Earth for her Chiho. The clicking of Chiho’s door broke Uzume’s train of thought as the nurse softly padded towards her. “I wanted to let you know,” said the nurse, “Your friend, she’s sleeping right now… but she’s looking quite good,” “She is?” asked Uzume, feigning some degree of ignorance for Chiho’s apparent turn for the better. “More than good,” said the nurse with a smile, “In fact, I haven’t seen her this strong in years…. she may have gone into remission. We’ll need tests to confirm that, I’m going to get the paperwork ready once I get back to the office.” *** “Mu-chan,” said Karasuba relaxedly as she casually dried off in front of Musubi, “You know what I came here, right?” “Eh?” asked Musubi. As she looked on vacantly, she noticed the Sekirei Crest at the base of Karasuba’s neck, “Ah! The Sekirei Mark! You were winged Karasuba? I’m so happy for you!” Karasuba chuckled softly. Musubi was endearingly air-headed at times. “It’s about that promise we made, do you remember?” asked Karasuba. Musubi took the time to recall all the times that Karasuba had spent time mentoring her prior to her release. After a few moments, the pertinent memory sifted through. “Ah! The promise!” exclaimed Musubi. “Yes, that,” murmured Karasuba. She took a deep breath. It had to be said sooner or later. “I’m sorry, Mu-chan. Before you and I can be the last two Sekirei standing, there is something I must do.” “…eh?” queried Musubi with a curious tilt of her head. It wasn’t like Karasuba to back down from a fight or the promise of bloodshed in her experience. Karasuba was the kind of Sekirei that had been born to fight with all her heart her mind and her body. She was an inspiration for Musubi. That pure will to fight with everything she had gave rise to her own gung ho attitude to fighting. But the emptiness she sensed in her mentor… the hardness of her heart was also an inspiration. An inspiration to show her mentor the power of love, to show her that a Sekirei that fought with all her heart and body and soul could be far more powerful if they were capable of loving others. “You have to grow stronger,” said Karasuba, “Much stronger. Much, much, much, stronger!” she continued with a rising manic bloodlust. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, Karasuba laid a hand on each of Musubi’s shoulders before leaning in. “I have someone to kill,” she whispered with reverent softness, as though she were speaking of a forbidden lover, “someone I’ve been waiting a very long time for. Sorry, Mu-chan.” With her business done, Karasuba turned to leave. *** Akitsu stood on a vast landscape of barren ice. Overhead, grey clouds scudded by at impossible speeds, and as the wind swept by carrying with it ice and snow the cold, the dreadful cold seeped into her bones. She spread out her arms and with the barest function of her will, called for the ice to rise up to her command. And rise it did. Blocks of ice rose up from the tightly packed ice, forming walls to shelter her from the cold. A ceiling formed on its own accord, sheltering her at last from the arctic blasts that had cut to the bone. The walls soon began to take on details, carving into themselves patterns, doorways and intricate works of art. Furniture grew out of the floor itself, shaping themselves into chairs and tables. From the roof grew delicate chandeliers of ice. Everything save for Akitsu herself was ice. When at last Akitsu felt the work was complete, she strolled forth to explore her new realm. With every step she became more and more convinced that she was the sole ruler of her domain, that none could challenge her sovereignty. She paused as she approached a blank wall and, with the barest hint of concentration, commanded the wall of ice to smooth itself until a mirror-like surface of ice reflected back at her. Her sandy blonde hair was covered in a delicate frost that refracted the light into a kaleidoscope of colour. Her head was encircled by a regal crown of ice and draped over her shoulders was a diaphanous gown of frost woven together in a way that only her supreme control over ice could ever allow. Most striking of all to her was the lack of the Sekirei crest, her mark of shame, emblazoned on her forehead. She turned away from the mirror and continued to wander through her icy domain, passing through hallways, great dining halls festooned with feasts of frost, chambers that would be considered opulent, grand and extravagant by even the most spoiled and jaded, winding her way through palatial extravagance undreamt of by even the most ambitious and unscrupulous royal. Finally she came to the heart of her domain. Vaulted ceilings of ice stretched up to a height sufficient to warrant the passage of giants. Between struts and various random points, ribbons of ice were strung gently reflecting and refracting light in a manner precisely calculated to shine brightest upon the very centre of power within any palace. Before she took a single step inside, however, her attention was seized by the dark shape that sat in her throne. Anger flared within Akitsu. How dare they! She thought, How dare they affront my sovereignty! Without heed or caution, Akitsu’s Sekirei combat instincts drove her forward at breakneck speed, her blood raging with cold fury at the affront to her supreme authority. And yet, the more she ran the more stubbornly the throne seemed to maintain its distance from her. The dark shape seemed to taunt her both with its mere existence and the intransigence of its distance. The affront only served to force Akitsu to redouble her efforts. All her will was focused on reaching the dark shape and deposing the dark harpy from her rightful throne. She ran with complete and total reckless abandon, gouging holes in the icy floor with the power of her footfalls. Finally her legs gave out from under her, unable to continue meeting her demands that they run faster, further, faster. She tumbled face first into the ice, shattering her crown and scraping her face brutally across the floor until she came to a pitiful stop. She lay there, spent, for several minutes before she started to pick herself up. As she did, she saw for the first time that she had reached her goal. The pedestal of the throne lay before her. As she drew her eyes upwards, she saw a block of ice before the throne… and within that block of ice was… someone. She peered into the block of ice, noticing slender legs, a black and white kimono, the parting on the chest revealing a generous amount of cleavage, and finally her own face. Akitsu drew back instinctively. What was she doing inside a block of ice? How could this be? Apprehensively she looked closely and saw that the Sekirei Crest was emblazoned upon her frozen others forehead as she stared off into space. Akitsu blinked in confusion, looking at herself, she didn’t quite know what to make of what she was seeing. And then she saw that her frozen other was now looking directly at her. Akitsu drew back with a sharp breath. She mentally commanded the ice to shatter and release her other… but it refused to obey. She issued the command again and again, each time more strident than the last. The most the block of ice would do to yield to her authority was to clear up a bit to offer her a better view of her other. There was a look of panic on her face, raw and primal. The way her body was encased in the ice, it looked as though her other had either tried to usurp the throne… or flee it. It took only one look into her other’s eyes to realise that something was dreadfully wrong. All pretence of royalty and sovereignty had fled her mind. The palace of ice, once grand and beautiful to her now felt oppressive and dark. The look of her other now made sense to her. She had to get out of here. She had to run. She turned to do precisely that but found her feet were held fast. She turned to see what held to her to find that solid ice now encased her feet entirely. Akitsu commanded the ice to retreat, to set her free. Instead it grew faster, twirling about her legs and rapidly encasing her waist in frigid cold and cloying calm. It was like struggling in quicksand. Every time she struggled she only compelled the ice to grow faster, the cold to sink in more deeply, and the calm… that unnatural calm… Even doing nothing was only a delaying tactic. The ice was slowly and inexorably growing to encase her as it had her other. But as the ice grew to encompass her shoulders and pin her arms in a decidedly unnatural pose, it failed to matter to her any more. Nothing mattered to her anymore. There was no longer any fear, no terror, no love, no joy, no apprehension, nor confidence. There was nothing but cold and ice… and the calm… the deadening calm that swallowed her heart. Akitsu locked eyes with her frozen other. It carried the look of fear as it always had… but now a flash of pity seemed to creep in. Before the ice encased Akitsu in its entirety, she caught a glimpse of reflected eyes… eyes that held no fear… eyes that no longer cared. *** “It all began a long time ago in a galaxy far far away,” said the Doctor. “That’s Star Wars,” cut off Matsu. “Is it? Hmm. I suppose it is. Okay, Once upon a time-” “That’s any number of fairy tales,” cut off Minato. “What? Someone paid attention to his English lessons I see. Okay, look. A long time ago there was a race of hyper intelligent pan-dimensional beings-” “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,” harmonised Matsu and Minato. “Actually, Doug stole that one from me. He stole a lot from me actually. I really should have insisted on getting credit-” trailed off the Doctor. “Doctor…” interrupted Matsu impatiently. “Oh, right, of course!” exclaimed the Doctor. Just as he was about to launch into lecture mode… RRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNGGGG! All three people in the room sighed and then glared at the offending cell phone as it insistently rung. “Sorry, I have to take this,” said Minato as he flipped his clamshell phone open. “Minato, dear!” said a saccharine voice from the other end. “M-Mother!” exclaimed Minato before shooting the others a pained expression. Matsu leaned in closer to the Doctor. “Perhaps you could tell me that story, Doctor-san. I have a feeling Mina-tan is going to be on the phone for a while,” she whispered conspiratorially. *** “Minato, you never call me anymore! Are you afraid I’ll cut your allowance in half again?” teased Takami. “It’s not like that mum. I’ve just been busy with my studies and part time work!” “But not too busy to get a girlfriend?” she jabbed. Minato practically choked on his own tongue. “Mum! How did you-!” “Yukari told me about her a few days ago! Really! If I’d known you had a girlfriend I might not have cut your allowance that much!” Minato silently promised himself never to trust Yukari with sensitive information ever again. “Is she there Minato? I’d like to have a word with my future daughter in law! I expect to see many grand children from her and you to make up for your recent failures!” “Mum!” shouted Minato blushing beet red as he cast about looking for an escape from the painful conversation. Matsu and the Doctor were whispering about something or other, while Musubi was outside watering the garden last he checked. The last thing he was going to do was to put any one of his Sekirei on the phone with his mother. That was a disaster waiting to happen and Minato wanted none of that. “Hurry up and put my daughter in law on the phone! We need to decide what your grandchildren’s names will be!” “Uh, listen, mum, now’s not a good time-” “Oh I see, did I interrupt you while you were busy making them?” “No, that’s not it!” “You haven’t even taken her ‘maiden purity’ yet? Minato! I’ll die of old age before I get to see my grand children at this rate! Think of your poor old mother!” “Mum, I can’t hear you, the signal is breaking up!” exclaimed Minato, hoping that the old ruse would work. “Besides, your sister already has a boyfriend!” continued Takami, not even giving Minato’s ruse the time of day. “What!?” exclaimed Minato, ruse forgotten. “A boyfriend!” exclaimed Takami, “He’s a bit short but he’s such a beautiful boy!” Minato went cold inside for three reasons. Firstly, Yukari beat him out on getting into university; secondly, she also managed to find a boyfriend in less than a week after coming to Tokyo. Third, whoever her boyfriend was, he had to have the… unique personality necessary to handle his little sister. “Anyway, I need to call your sister up and tell her you’re busy working on the grand children!” “Wait, mum, how do you know Yukari has a boyfriend if you haven’t called her yet?” asked Minato. “It’s on her FacePlace,” said Takami nonchalantly, “Really, she should be more careful what she puts up there if she doesn’t want her dear mother to find out!” Minato was suddenly felt vindicated and relieved that he had never once signed up for FacePlace or any other kind of social networking. Being part of MBI’s Ashikabi Networking system was bad enough, and involuntary. “Anyway, remember to eat lots of vegetables and clean behind your ears!” enthused Takami. “Yes mum,” droned Minato with practiced apathy. “And wash down there too! Especially since you won’t be using protection to make me my grand children! Bye Minato!” she sniped before hanging up. “Ah! Wait, Mum!” fumbled Minato before glaring exasperatedly at his phone. *** Matsu gaped as the Doctor finally finished his story. “You can’t be serious!” she hissed as Minato endured his mother’s badgering over the phone, “We can’t tell Mina-tan that!” “What do you propose instead? That we lie?” asked the Doctor. “Yes!” exclaimed Matsu before covering up her lips, “Yes,” she continued whispering, “If Mina-tan knew the truth… it would break his heart.” “You’ve nothing to be ashamed of,” said the Doctor reassuringly, “And I promise I’ll help in any way that I can once this is all over,” “Thank you,” whispered Matsu. “Ahhh!” groused Minato in frustration, “Sorry about that. Mum was being a troll again!” “I like her already!” grinned the Doctor as he surreptitiously grabbed the Jinki he’d casually tossed about earlier and passed it to her. “Ah, Doctor-san, I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly is that?” “Well…” the Doctor drew out, mentally patting himself on the back for using the Jinki to distract Minato from the prior subject at hand, “If I had to put in basic terms… I’d say that it’s a pan-dimensional hyper-omni-tool!” “… a what now?” asked Minato. “It’s like a multi-tool. Only it can work in seventeen dimensions. Very useful too depending on how you use it. ‘Course, as it is now, it’s just some nice bauble.” “Why is that?” asked Matsu. “Well, it’s got a security feature. You need eight of them for it to work properly, and it requires an authorised user. Good thing too since one wrong move and… uh…” “And what? What happens if you ‘make a wrong move’?” asked Minato. “Um…” said the Doctor, scratching his head as he wanted to avoid the question entirely if he could, “Slice the planet in half?” he ventured, “Make the sun explode…” he continued, running down the list, “Turn every cat into a catgirl and uh, probably kill a lot of people too.” “What!” exclaimed Minato, “W-w-what is it doing here then?” The Doctor shot a glance at Matsu. Following his gaze, Minato looked towards his Sekirei. “Matsu-san,” began Minato, “What is that doing here?” Matsu fidgeted, not wanting to give Minato information he might not like. “Well…” said Matsu, feeling the pressure from the gazes the Doctor and her Ashikabi were giving her, “I sort of… stole it MBI.” “EH!?” cried Minato. The Doctor broke into a manic grin of appreciation for her audacity. “That’s why I’ve been hiding in here! If I were to show my face outside MBI kill me!” “I take it that MBI have the remaining seven Jinki?” queried the Doctor. Matsu nodded. “Minato, what do you think of the Sekirei Plan?” asked the Doctor, switching subjects. “The Sekirei Plan? Um… I’d rather not see anyone hurt,” he answered. “If there were a way to stop it, to stop this madness before it could go too far, would you do it?” asked the Doctor. “If I could stop the Sekirei Plan…” muttered Minato before he realised what he’d said. Matsu positively glowed with admiration for the Doctor as she rapidly connected the dots. “You have a plan!” she exclaimed. “I have a plan,” he confirmed. *** Kazehana gulped down yet more expensive sake as she enjoyed the wind and the view from one of Tokyo’s many high rise construction sites. No matter how much sake she tried to drown her broken heart in, it never seemed to wash away the stain of rejection. “Was I not good enough for you?” she wondered despondently. She knew the flaw was not in her looks. With her long flowing black hair and smooth skin clad in a scandalously short and tight purple dress that showed off her breasts she turned more than her fair share of interested onlookers. She’d even caused a few accidents much to her delight. It was because of her heartbreak that she had not been searching for an Ashikabi amongst the denizens of Tokyo. She had neither the need nor the desire for one, not when she had had her heart so thoroughly shattered. A gust of wind blew as she drew more sustenance from the bottle of sake. The wind was her element; it bent to her power as a Sekirei as it would any other elementalist type. Unlike the others, though, she found that the wind tended to have its own playful agenda. At times, if she ‘listened’ carefully, she would gain a sense of things happening far away. It had served her well in avoiding the more unsavoury ashikabi that had forced their way into power. It was as her phone rang that the wind gave her the sense of importance. Instead of ignoring for further sake, as would be her custom, she flipped it open to see a text had arrived. Izumo House. Read the message, short and to the point. Kazehana frowned. She hadn’t been along to see Miya for some time… she doubted that old housewife, though she would never day say such a thing to Miya, would let her have any fun if she were to just drop by. If she could get just a little bit more drunk she might be able to doze off even at this height. She pulled the sake up to her lips only to find it empty. She pulled the bottle at a higher angle to make sure, before finally looking straight down the neck to find it completely drained. “Well,” said Kazehana as she staggered to her feet precariously drunk atop a very high skyscraper construction site, “Guess I could give old Miya a visit after all!” Her mind made up she leaped off the construction site as only a Sekirei could. *** “Yo, Natsuo,” said Karasuba casually as she swung herself over the door and into his convertible. “Anything interesting happen?” asked Natsuo with feigned interest. “Yes, actually,” said Karasuba, “I bumped into Miya earlier.” “That old Hannya?” queried Natsuo. “Yes. She’s still scary. Ah I’d love to fight her!” “You’ll get your chance I’m sure,” said Natsuo. He held off on pulling into traffic. He knew Karasuba, both from her psychological profile that MBI had supplied him with and from the connection they shared as Ashikabi and Sekirei. He could feel the latent bloodlust in Karasuba boiling up, screaming for release. “Are you sure you don’t want to try your luck now?” joked Natsuo. Karasuba shot him a sidelong glare and an infectious grin. “No,” she said, surprising him, “it can keep. I have someone more worthy in mind.” “Oh? And who’s that?” Karasuba gave an uncharacteristically girlish giggle. “Doctor-kun!” *** Takami hung up on her son with a massive grin. As far as she was concerned, trolling her children was both her parental right and incredibly fun. It made up in some small measure for the pain they’d put her through during childbirth. She glanced briefly outside a window in MBI tower. All over Japan certain people were finding themselves relieved or replaced by forces loyal to her. Piece by piece she was building up a brick wall that would bar the way of any outside interference that Minaka would see fit to call in. Even MBI’s private army within Tokyo was being reshuffled in such a manner. A few might raise concerns about the company-wide scale of such things, but all such reports would inevitably find their way to Takami before being passed on to Minaka. He was always a dreamer, an egotist that didn’t bother with the finer details once he had people he trusted to worry about them. As long as Minaka trusted Takami, he wouldn’t notice, would never notice, the knife that was about to be plunged into his back. She lit up a cigarette and looked back at her phone. There was more than enough time to have a little fun at someone else’s expense. With well practiced movements, she quickly dialled up Yukari’s number. Oh the fun she would have at her daughter’s expense.
Nice recap. And good to see this continuing. Still waiting for the Doctor to go full Fury of the Time Lords on MBI.
Foul play in denying us the exposition, but I guess parental trolling would constitute for more amusing reading and I suppose that for plot reasons, the delay in providing that information is well motivated.
Less than a year between updates this time. It's been a hard year at university. Between studying, putting bread on the table, and getting a few of my original works published (yay!), I've also gained a Niece and have continued supporting my Ex through her ups and downs. Unfortunately, my best friend was severely injured recently. I'll keep his details on the down low since he likes to keep things private, but lets just say he's lucky he can even walk. I've been giving him a lot of my time and support lately. The good news is that he's recovering much better than originally planned. Anyway, enough blathering about my personal life. Let's get to the author's notes, shall we? This is officially Draft 7. I honestly wanted to put in a couple of more drafts, but I figure it's past time to just push this out the door. I'm a bit sad about that as I'm positive the battle with the Toclafane isn't anywhere near as awesome as it could be. There's a few more gags in this chapter than in others I think... I wanted to squeeze in some humour and laughs before things start to get serious. Anyway, enjoy. *** Decimating the population of the world had not been enough for the Master. Nothing it seemed could sate his lust for power and appeals to his positively enormous ego. Minaka knew well of this, as did every slave labourer living in slums that now spanned continents. The world meekly accepted the Master’s rule, cowed it seemed, by his titanic charisma and force of personality… but Minaka knew the truth. He’d spent months trying to find out why some trudged the Earth, all but worshipping the Master while other’s like the infamous Martha Jones seemed utterly unaffected and defiant. The answer had been Archangel. The Archangel Satellite network had been launched in the old days, long before the Master, then Harold Saxon, had vaulted himself to power. The fifteen satellites were transmitting a vast telepathic field, binding the human race together in mutual fear and awe. While the nascent corporation Minaka had been building had been stripped almost entirely for the Master’s grand war effort against the universe, Minaka still had a few cards up his sleeves in the form of his Sekirei and the recovered alien technology he had at his disposal… kept secret for all this time… and he’d used them in a gambit to free the world. That gambit had just failed. Matsu had only managed to disable two of the satellites before the Toclafane made her position and butchered her, Mutsu, and Kazehana ruthlessly. That failure, however, had freed the islands of Japan. They now saw everything that the Master was and would never again submit to him, even if the telepathic field were restored. Minaka had hoped to disable the entire field simultaneously in the hopes of sparking a world wide revolt. Japan had enjoyed its chaotic, riotous freedom from the Master for twenty four hours before he retaliated. The result of that retaliation even now rained down on Kamikura Island, the last place in the Japanese islands where life still yet resided. The ash was already choking off access the bunkers, not that it would do him much good in the end. Minaka rubbed his chin thoughtlessly as he watched the monitors with dead eyes. Using as many Sekirei as he could to evacuate people off the mainland and hiding them in neighbouring countries had been a good idea… at the very least it had been an idea. The Master would isolate and destroy all his Sekirei soon enough. The few thousand Japanese refugees they’d saved would most likely be reported and turned over to the Master by his lackeys in short order. The only three people he could think that had a good chance of surviving were Seo and his Sekirei, Hikari and Hibiki. The last he’d checked they’d escaped to Africa. I wish I could have saved more. I wish I could have saved so many more. Lamented Minaka as he turned to Yume for support. Yume laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. She would protect him as best she could when the end would come. He had no doubt she would do her part, and he had no doubt that she would fail under the weight of millions of Toclafane, just as he had no doubt Miya and Karasuba above would also fail in defending the island. While the Sekirei were superb fighters, their enormous quality could never hope to compete with the sheer number of Toclafane the Master would throw at them. There was no point in fighting now. There was nobody left to save. The rest of the world would slave on, ever more fearful now for having witnessed the Master’s Wrath. The two satellites that Matsu had disabled would be repaired in short order… all Minaka had done was get over a hundred million people killed pointlessly. I failed. I failed. I failed. Oh god, I failed. I failed. I failed. I have failed. I failed. I have failed so much. I have failed so many. I failed myself. I failed Takami. I failed Takehito. I failed Seo. I failed the world. I have failed. I failed. I failed. I failed. The thoughts wound in his mind over and over and over as he gently rocked back and forth. *** I hate this. Thought Karasuba. Ash was raining from the sky. Death was in the air. None of it had been her doing, bringing her back to her original thought. I should have been the one to do this, she thought savagely, I should have been the one to destroy this waste of a species! Not the Master! That idiot does this only for fear and conquest! There is no purity in his actions! No beauty! That idiot! But as much as she could bring herself to hate the Master, she had to admire him for what he’d brought out of Miya. The death of Takehito, sliced up by the Toclafane, had hardened her for some reason she couldn’t fathom. More than that though, the sight of all the destruction that Japan had endured had seemed to set off a glint in her eye. It was as though she’d seen it all before and was simply watching a rerun. That had been fascinating. “So,” Karasuba said, tiring of silence, “Yume will outlive me after all,” Miya cast a furtive glare. “You speak in my presence?” said Miya acidly. “Still angry?” teased Karasuba, unafraid in the certainty of death. “Furious,” admitted Miya. “Good. Focus that fury on the enemy. I am your ally after all,” said Karasuba. “Were it not for the imminent arrival of our enemy I would cut you down in a heartbeat. What you said was unforgivable,” glowered Miya. “And yet you allow me to live,” stated Karasuba. “Only because I hate our enemy more, and I can use you against them,” “You are beautiful when you’re like this, Miya. Hate, rage, the desire to completely and totally destroy… only now at the end do you understand as I do!” exclaimed Karasuba with light in her eyes. “You understand nothing. I do what I do for love. I love Takehito, and so I take the path of vengeance on his behalf, just as I love our people and took the cowards path for their sake,” said Miya. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” said Karasuba in a measured tone. “And you never will,” said Miya as she unsheathed her sword, “The enemy approaches. Prepare yourself.” They advanced in uniform waves from all directions, riding the air with a grace that even birds would envy. Their ungainly spherical forms marred only by spikes. Millions of Toclafane descended to snuff out the last lives left in Japan. With a breath Miya raised her sword. No longer did she have to be wary of leaving evidence behind. No longer would she need to be care with her power, lest she kill the innocent or the uninvolved. The only target she wished to kill beyond the numberless Toclafane stood at her back, ready to mop up any stragglers that might make it through. She no longer needed to reign in her enormous power. She brought her sword down in an angled strike, aimed carefully to track the widest arc across the thickest formation of Toclafane. The Earth rumbled gently and the air above it rippled with heat. As the grounds trembling ceased, millions of Toclafane exploded. Beneath them, the ground melted and the sea not far off began to boil as slagged wreckage rained down. She raised her sword and struck once more to similar effect with raw burning hatred in her eyes. Behind her, Karasuba went to work, doing the hard work of keeping the Toclafane that had managed to get close off of Miya. Despite the tens of thousands of Toclafane that were trying to breach Karasuba’s defence of Miya, she couldn’t help but turn a brief but appreciative eye to the destruction that her compatriot had wrought. They were right, she mused, Miya is on an entirely different level. She’s a weapon of mass destruction… Despite the massive gaping holes Miya opened in the Toclafane ranks, more always flooded in to fill in and reinforce. For every million Toclafane she utterly annihilated from existence, two million more rushed in. Her attack patterns were calmly analysed by the networked hive mind that humanity would become by the year 100 trillion and countermeasures to reduce her effectiveness were already put into effect. For the Toclafane, fighting Miya was almost as much fun as butchering the helpless humans that were their distant ancestors. It made no difference if they lost a million, a hundred million or a billion of their number fighting her. Death meant nothing to them. Karasuba came to realise that as she skewered thousands more upon her blade. Everything she was was being tested on this battlefield. She had never felt more alive, more invigorated. She knew she was fighting harder and faster than ever before even as her blade ran slick with the black fluid that served as Toclafane blood. Our two lives, set against the billions of Toclafane the Master will beset us with, she thought, The Quality of the Sekirei, the Quantity of the Toclafane. That little man with the mustache was right. Quantity is a Quality all its own… As Miya brought yet more Toclafane to an untimely demise she knew her situation was growing desperate. The Toclafane had analysed her attack and were swarming their position with greater and greater effectiveness. There was no option for retreat, nor was surrender a consideration in her mind. She was drawing upon reserves of strength and power she never knew she’d had. How fitting it should end like this, she thought, knowing that this great battle would be her last, Did the Gods feel like this when the end came? A barely suppressed grunt signalled to her that Karasuba had grown overconfident in fending off the Toclafane. Miya didn’t even need to look behind her to know that her… comrade had fallen. She knew her back was open. In moments the Toclafane would overwhelm and swarm her before butchering her like they had so many others. With the serene calm that came with the certainty of death on the battlefield, Miya turned her blade upon herself. *** Minaka’s underground bunker rocked violently enough to throw Yume off her feet and Minaka out of his constant mantra of despair. “W-what was that?” he gaped, shocked that a bunker that had been designed to withstand even the worst earthquakes had shook so violently. “Miya,” whispered Yume softly. Minaka understood instantly. With whatever Sekirei in hiding about to be hunted down and eliminated by the Master and his lackeys, and the few Sekirei here about to be eliminated, Miya had made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy as many of her hated enemy as she could in a final blaze of glory. Though Minaka felt that Miya would not rest in peace knowing that billions more Toclafane existed, he felt that she might take some small solace in knowing that she’d personally avenged the deaths of all Japanese citizens several times over. “Director,” said Yume, pulling Minaka out of his soul searching, “It’s time you made your way to the vault.” “The vault will be of no use,” he replied, apathetically, “It will only slow them momentarily,” “Sir, I must insist…” “No buts. There’s no point anymore. The Master has won. The only question is how I choose to face my end.” Yume sighed more in defeat than in exasperation. Minaka had a point. The man had a right to choose where he died… the office within his private bunker or the reinforced vault below that bunker… the location of his death had little bearing anymore on how long he’d live even with her protection. “You want to fight them, don’t you?” asked Minaka. “I am here to protect you, Director, that is what I will do,” responded Yume. “Like I said,” sighed Minaka, “There’s no point anymore. Run along. Fight them on your own terms.” “Director!” exclaimed Yume. “I said go!” snapped Minaka, “Let me have my last moments in peace!” Yume hesitated a moment before she took the hint. She clenched her fist and readied herself for the last fight of her life. Without a word, she left Minaka to his own company. As soon as Yume had left his sight, Minaka pulled out a box and withdrew one of many long, thick cigars. He’d received them as a gift from a business associate in the old days and had long since been looking for an excuse to smoke them. Happily lighting up, he watched as monitor after monitor started to broadcast static in place of security feeds. The slight rumble he felt from time to time was no doubt Yume, fighting the Toclafane on her own terms just as he’d instructed her. Eventually, the bunker became deathly quiet and the wall of monitors he’d been viewing filled entirely with static. Sighing tiredly, the dishevelled Minaka swivelled his chair around to see that several Toclafane had infiltrated his office. They floated there serenely as he completed his one hundred and eighty degree turn and for a surreal moment they floated while he smoked, both sides staring each other down. Eventually the ‘lead’ Toclafane as evidenced by floating closer and higher to Minaka than the rest spoke up. “So. Much. FUN!” it exclaimed before it rushed him. *** Minaka fell out of his chair. Not that damned nightmare again! Thought Minaka bitterly as he tried to dignify himself. Ever since 2008 the nightmare had plagued him. The nightmare of the world he had lived through, a world that had somehow undone itself. Minaka wasn’t a fool. He heeded warnings when he saw them. The moment he had become aware of the terrible future that awaited them he’d done all he could to avert it, reinvested certain MBI holdings, subtly used his corporate connections to manoeuvre his counterparts into funding the campaign financing of a certain prospective leaders over others, he’d even moved his base of operations to the mainland from Kamikura. 2008 had come and gone without incident. As had the year after that and the year after that all the way to the present day. He hoped that his actions had somehow averted the Master’s rise to power. Yes, Harold Saxon was considered dead, yet they had never found his body and that made Minaka very uneasy. The Toclafane was another front he was terribly concerned with. Who or what they were was something he’d never found out. Why had they invaded Earth? Where had they come from? As long as Minaka was unsure that the Master was well and truly dead and could never connect the cause of the Toclafane’s brutal invasion, he could never be certain that the coming years would be safe. He intended that never again should humanity ever have to suffer a future as horrible as the one he’d borne witness to. There was however one person that might be the key to ensuring that would never happen. He’d only heard of that person in whispers, a message passed on and on through the huddled masses from the legendary Martha Jones… He is the key, mused Minaka, He’s dangerous to me and everything I’m trying to do… but he may well be the only person capable of ensuring that future never happens. With determination in his heart, Minaka pulled out his cell phone and called Natsuo. It was time for the discipline squad to hunt down the Doctor. *** “And I will need your computer to do it!” exclaimed the Doctor with glee. “Eh?” asked Matsu with a mix of surprise and concern. “Your computer. May I borrow it?” asked the Doctor innocently. “Well, um… of course! It’s just that-” “Thanks!” said the Doctor and leapt at the computer. “No!” shrieked Matsu with panic. “Matsu,” said the Doctor in his official warning tone, “What is this?” “Ehehehe…” giggled Matsu nervously. “I’m not laughing,” said the Doctor sharply “What’s what?” asked Minato as he tried to get a look at what had set the Doctor on edge. “It’s… it’s a manga I was working on earlier…” said Matsu sheepishly. The Doctor frowned. He couldn’t make heads or tails out of what he was looking at on the monitor. “I don’t get it…” the Doctor tilted his head, “Oh. Oh!” “I don’t get it either,” said Minato. The Doctor grabbed Minato and tilted his head at the same angle. “All I see is…” started Minato before trailing off into an intense crimson blush, “Is that…?” “Yes, it is,” confirmed the Doctor. “And are we?” asked Minato. “Yes. With a pogo stick.” “A pogo stick!?” yelped Minato incredulously. The Doctor tilted his head ever so slightly further. “A… a pogo stick!” “How does that even work?” queried the Doctor. “Ah! Well, you see-” started Matsu. “Don’t tell us!” harmonised the Doctor and Minato. The two looked at each other before looking away uncomfortably. “She got the positioning of my mole correct,” muttered the Doctor. “And my birthmark,” mentioned Minato. “Ehehehe, just let me save and close my work and you can get to using the computer, Doctor-san,” said Matsu as she moved towards the keyboard. “I’ve got a better solution! DELETED!” exclaimed the Doctor. “Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” wailed Matsu. “Let us never speak of this again,” proposed the Doctor to Minato. “Speak of what? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Weren’t you going to use the computer for your plan?” said Minato. “Good man. Yes. Let’s get started…” *** Bad news all. Ah! Sensei Sama! x Onii Chan! Ai! Chapter 11 has been unforeseeably delayed. I apologise for this most regrettable occurrence. ~Matsu *** “Arrrrghhhh!” yelled Yukari in agony. “Yukari-san!” yelped Shiina, worried for his ashikabi, “W-what’s wrong? Are you okay?” “I-… I’ll be fine…” lied Yukari unconvincingly, “Wait, no, I won’t be. Shiina! This is horrible!” Yukari thrust her phone into her Sekirei’s face to show him the message she’d just received. “Ah, Yukari-san?” he asked, not quite understanding the message without context. “It’s about my favourite boy’s love manga,” she whimpered. “Ah, well…” stumbled Shiina, trying to alleviate his ashikabi’s suffering, “D-don’t worry, I’m here for you,” he said, going for sympathy and comfort. Yukari gripped his arm tightly and looked intently into Shiina’s eyes. The rare male Sekirei gulped, unsure of whether this stare constituted killing intent or the desire to do unspeakable things in dark places to him. “Shiina,” she started, “Are you sure there aren’t any other Sekirei about that are guys?” she asked as a trail of blood trickled down her lip. Shiina gulped in relief, suddenly glad that male Sekirei were a distinct minority. *** “How the hell are we supposed to find one guy in a city this large?” yelled Benitsubasa as she leapt from building to building. “Smell,” said Haihane with her characteristic monotone. “Don’t shit me! The Director’s got a bug up his ass about some lanky goofball and he’s sending us on a wild goose chase!” she snapped. “Hehe… maybe the Director swings the same way as Natsuo… hehehehe,” chuckled Blue Sekirei. Her laughter was short lived as the claw using Haihane soon found herself caught by the scruff of her outfit by Benitsubasa and lifted off the ground. “He’s not gay! Natsuo loves me!” she snapped, “All he needs is someone to show him the way! That’s all! I’ll just entice him with my feminine charms!” “Feminine?” asked Haihane incredulously. Benitsubasa growled at the perceived assault on her lack of femininity. “I am very feminine!” she roared, “And I will beat the crap out of you if you disagree!” “And just what is happening here, Beni-chan?” asked a sweet sounding Karasuba. “Geh!” yelped Benitsubasa, dropping Haihane in surprise, “Kuroi! W-when did you get here?” she asked, referring to her by nickname. “Just now,” she said, “Why exactly are you wasting your time dawdling? Hmmm?” “Well, you see…” stammered Benitsubasa. Normally Benitsubasa was casual and easygoing around Karasuba. This time however she was behaving very oddly… even for Karasuba. She seemed… happy. That set her immediately on edge. Karasuba was only ever content, occasionally amused, but never happy. “CCTV footage places the Doctor somewhere in the North,” said Karasuba, “How troublesome,” “Eh? The north?” muttered Haihane, “Isn’t that where a vicious Hannya lives?” “Eeeeh!? I’ve heard stories about the Hannya of the north!” said Benitsubasa. “Ho? What kind of stories?” asked Karasuba, suddenly interested. “Well… uh… nothing really…” Benitsubasa tried to dodge. “Nothing? But you just said you heard stories. You wouldn’t be lying to me, wouldn’t you, Beni-chan?” “Well…” started Benitsubasa before pausing to gain some courage, “Just that the Hannya almost terminated you once and that you’ve been out for revenge ever since…” “Mmm. Mhmhmmh. Mfmfmfmmf. FUAHAHAHAHAHA!~” laughed Karasuba, trying and failing to suppress her laughter. “Eh?!” harmonised Haihane and Benitsubasa. Though the two junior members of the third generation discipline squad had known Karasuba since their induction, they had not once known her to laugh in such an unrestrained manner. “It’s true!” cried out Karasuba between bouts of laughter, “It’s all true!” she confirmed, before becoming serious once again, “But there’s someone I want even more revenge on.” Karasuba marched up and grabbed both junior members of the discipline squad by the scruffs of their outfits as Benitsubasa had done to Haihane before. “Now listen to me both of you. I want to catch the Doctor. I want to kill him slowly, painfully, beautifully. If either of you kills him first or lets him get away from me, I will not forgive you. Is that understood?” she said with such enthusiastic hate and lust for violence that her fellow Sekirei, known for their penchance for violence and bloodlust, were immediately cowed. “Yes!” harmonised Haihane and Benitsubasa enthusiastically. “Good,” said Karasuba, satisfied that neither of them would disobey her. “But, Kuroi, what if the Hannya is helping him?” asked Benitsubasa. “The Hannya doesn’t care about the Sekirei Plan,” said Karasuba nonchalantly, “If the Doctor is hiding under her skirt, it’ll only be a matter of time before he has to come out, and when he does…” Karasuba leapt from the building, leaving her sentence to dangle with her juniors. “Yo, Haihane,” said Benitsubasa, “Is it me or does Kuroi seem a bit more motivated lately?” *** “This is your plan?” asked Matsu incredulously. “Absolutely,” said the Doctor. “You can’t possibly expect to stop MBI with torrents!” snapped Matsu. “Not just torrents!” said the Doctor. “Are those some kind of special files then? I’ve never seen the .flac extension before…” asked Minato. “Why… why would you need lossless audio?” “Good sound quality is its own reward, Matsu,” said the Doctor evasively. “I give up!” flailed Matsu, throwing her hands up in the air, “His powerlevel is too high! Saged! Reported! Called the cops!” “Matsu-san!” exclaimed Minato as Matsu thrust her face into the nearest pillow. “Just make sure you have a peer guardian program in place. I don’t want my internet to be cut off. I’d want to die then,” said Matsu with dispassionate resignation. “Don’t say that Matsu,” said Minato, trying to comfort her. “The only thing that would keep me sane would be constant sexual intercourse with Minato-kun, fufufufufufu! Experiments! Experiments!” The Doctor facepalmed at the latest sexual shenanigans the Information Sekirei had unleashed on her mostly innocent ashikabi with a sigh. At that moment the doorbell rang with a furious insistence. “Oh! I’ll get it!” exclaimed the Doctor, eager to leave the room. “W-wait! I’ll come with you!” shouted Minato, hoping to escape the clutches of the most perverted Sekirei in Izumo House. *** Akitsu awoke in a closet. How did I get here? She pondered. Her memory was fuzzy. She was doing… something… she couldn’t quite recall what. Something about dishes? Everything fuzzed over… no matter how hard she tried to recall the memories that were otherwise almost eidetic refused to surface. This wasn’t the first time she had found herself in an odd location with no proper recollection of how she’d gotten there. Every so often she would become aware of other, smaller gaps in her memory. She thought herself forgetful in the extreme… to the point where she embarrassingly forgot certain basics. It was now so much a part of her life that Akitsu barely gave it a thought anymore. She shook herself awake, brushing aside a small dusting of frost that she had apparently summoned in her sleep. As she moved, a small child seemed to stir. The dusting of frost had covered her too. The small girl shivered in its cold embrace. Kusano, number 108, her mind automatically supplied, Why is she here with me? Akitsu was well aware as the Sekirei of Ice that she was also mostly immune to her own power’s effects. She also knew that others were most decidedly not and quickly brushed the frost from her small form. Gently, she carried the child to a nearby futon and wrapped her up; hoping the warmth it would provide would prevent her from developing a cold. The faint chiming of a doorbell arrested her attention. Who could be here? Pondered Akitsu as she made for the front door. *** Kazehana nursed her growing hangover with a sense of dread. The night’s journey had been somewhat convoluted thanks to her less than sober navigation skills and the wind, her usual go-to option, had been rather flighty in steering her towards Izumo House. Even so, she’d finally made it. Miya would almost certainly have some quality sake hidden about to shoo away her hangover. “Come on, Miya, open up! Let your good friend Kazehana come in for a visit!” she shouted playfully while hammering the doorbell with as much restraint as a six year old. The door finally opened, revealing not Miya, but a man. A very familiar man. “Oh, hello! I’m the Doctor! Pleased to meet you!” he said cheerfully, “I’m afraid Miya’s not in right now so if you coul-” SLAP! Kazehana slapped the Doctor with the force of a dozen pimp hands. “What?!” exclaimed the Doctor. “That!” yelled Kazehana, pushing him back with accusing pokes, “Was for breaking my heart!” She drew her hand back, ready make the other side of his face even. “You…” she growled, voice trembling with uncharitable rage, “You left me. You broke my heart. Doctor-kun…” Her entire body was trembling now. “D-Doctor-kun you idiot!” she yelled, pulling him into a fierce hug and all but burying his face in her more than ample bosom. “Oh my!” exclaimed Matsu, “A soap opera! It’s a soap opera! Fufufufu!” “D-Doctor-san! Are you alright?” asked Minato. “MMmmfff!” struggled the Doctor. “Never leave me again Doctor-kun!” exclaimed Kazehana, “We’ll go on that cruise you always talked about!” “Fmffmmfmf!” protested the Doctor, which only prompted Kazehana to squeeze him more tightly to her body. “D-Doctor-sama?” asked a new voice. All eyes turned to the newcomer, a shocked Akitsu bearing witness to the person she perceived as her Ashikabi in the arms of another. Her face quickly gained steely determination. “My Doctor. In another’s arms. Unacceptable,” she said. Minato and Matsu exchanged glances. For Akitsu, that had practically been an hour long speech. “Oh? Your Doctor?” teased Kazehana, “I think he belongs to me!” “Mine,” said Akitsu as she almost casually tore the Doctor out of Kazehana’s grip. The Doctor had only a moment to gasp for some much needed air before he found himself forcibly embraced by Akitsu, his face once again planted in the centre of a gorgeous Sekirei’s impressive cleavage. “My, oh my!” enthused Kazehana as she eagerly embraced both Akitsu and the Doctor, “Couldn’t he be our Doctor?” Akitsu looked from where the Doctor was being suffocated and back to Kazehana, thoughtfully considering the proposal. Before she could reply however… A wave of killing intent swept the innocent members of Izumo House away to relative safety. Only the three individuals who were the target of the killing intent stayed in place, too paralysed by fear or too suffocated to notice to even attempt to preserve their lives. “Oh dear,” said Miya, shopping dropped at either side as she brandished a radish with deadly intent, “I never expected such clear violations of my rules. Please be prepared to take responsibility.”
