[hr][hr][h1][i]Hikari Mino, [color=598527]No.49 Nagisa[/color] & [color=f49ac2]No.77 Orinami[/color].[/i][/h1] [hr] Hikari bowed his head respectfully. He noticed the frown she had on her face when he turned back around and could only speculate as to why she was upset. It wasn't his time to question it, though. "What of those two?" he asked softly, glancing back towards Shohei, a darker look entering his eyes briefly as he remembered his anger. That wasn't important, though. What was important was protecting Nagisa, even if that meant running away. "They might try to follow us." Meanwhile, Orinami was already down on one knee as she gave Nagisa a quick (and disdainful) look at her injury. A small part of her wished that she should have let this useless piece of trash die under that ridiculous scythe, but her personal feeling shouldn't get in the way of the grand show. She arched an eyebrow at Hikari's question, and followed the boy's gaze - the redhead Ashikabi had already gone to his fallen Sekirei's side, where he picked her up in a bridal carry, giving the trio a hard glare before disappearing into the darkness. "I guess that's your answer," Orinami said and shrugged, standing up. "Now's your turn and do the [i]same[/i] for her." Clapping her hands together, she raised her voice and spoke with a melodic tune, making a shooing gesture at the three cops still gaping at them not too far away, "Time to go home, boys!" Then she muttered out of the corner of her mouth at Hikari, "Let's go to your house - reinforcements are already on their way." She pointed a finger into the air... and a distant siren could be heard. Hikari instantly flushed at the thought. Carry her? That was a bit much for a woman he barely knew, natural nervousness aside. How was he supposed to calm himself with that thought in mind? Luckily, the faint sirens forced his hand promptly. One arm slipped around Nagisa's shoulders, being careful to avoid the wound Sae had caused. His other arm scooped up beneath her legs, lifting her up with him. He was surprisingly strong for the thin frame he possessed. His face was still beet red, though, thoroughly embarrassed for the action. "Right. My house then," Hikari agreed, gesturing down the street. He quickly began to lead the girl there, thoroughly hoping they might be safe there. [hr] It didn't take long to reach the apartment complex. It was the same one that the initial conflict had occurred. He carried Nagisa carefully, being very mindful of where his hands were. With the initial danger passed, he was becoming more aware of his current position and the embarrassment that it caused him. So, he tried to keep his hands tame rather than letting them brush against anything that might not be seen as proper. As they ascended the stairs and reached one of the few doors down the hallway, he paused, realizing it was a little hard to get the key in his current position. "Ah... sorry, my key is in my pocket," he said with a small sheepish smile to Nagisa. "Do you mind if I put you down to grab it really quick?" Before Nagisa could open her mouth, Orinami had beat her to it. "Oh, for the love of God," the gothic jester exclaimed as she stuck both her hands into Hikari's side pockets (with her chest pressed against his back), then pulled out the keys unceremoniously from one of them. "[i]I'll[/i] do it. Now tell me which one is for the lock." Earning herself a scornful look from the injured Nagisa. Hikari's face heated up again at the close contact, having not expected that from the other Sekirei. However, through stuttering words, he was able to instruct her on which key went to which lock. Not that it was too hard, he only had one lock. What did he have worth stealing? Upon entering, they would find that his room was rather organized. A small living area with books stacked on some of the chairs and the sofa. There was a very modest cooking area attached to the living room, but anything further was blocked off by closed doors. "Sorry it isn't that clean, I wasn't really expecting company today..." he explained, glancing around. "I think I have some medical supplies in the bathroom. Orinami-san, could you please clear off the couch so I can lay Nagisa-san down?" Orinami was about to tell him to drop that useless bitch onto the cold floor to save them all the stupid trouble, but in the end she swallowed down her snarky words and did as told. "...You might want to put her face down." Then she winked at him. "I won't stop you from watching me stripping this doll naked, though." Hikari's face went beet red at the comment, glancing away from Orinami to try and prevent her the satisfaction of bothering him. He didn't respond verbally, though, doing as instructed. He laid her down carefully, face first on the couch as to not disturb the gash in her back too much. "Are you... comfortable?" he asked softly, wanting to make sure this was alright before he left her to Orinami's care. Nagisa's lips were trembling - the pain of the wound was numbing her senses, and it was the feeling of touch with her Ashikabi that kept her Core going, preventing her from losing her conscious. She gave Hikari a weak nod, then Orinami started tearing down the injured Sekirei's stealth suit, causing Nagisa to grit her teeth to stop herself from screaming. Despite the severity of the situation, Hikari had to look away, a slight tinge growing in his cheeks once more. He stood up to give Orinami more room, walking away to the other side of the room. He kept his back turned, not wanting to peep on Nagisa in her state of undress unless he was needed. The bloody gash on Nagisa's back wasn't a nice sight; thankfully it wasn't too deep to reach her backbone, but she did lose quite a lot of blood. Orinami let out a sigh. "I'll take back what I said about you being an useless Sekirei - I'm amazed at your willpower to stay awake even with such an injury." Her lips curled into a smirk. "...And I hope you continue to keep those eyes of yours wide open as I operate on you." Nagisa could only respond her with a seething look. "Enough," Hikari said with a bit more force than he was used to, glancing back at the two girls. He seemed to realize this and glanced away again to hide his surprise. "Just help her. Please. There's no need for these comments." His voice had gotten softer again, just wanting Orinami to help Nagisa through this, despite her mannerisms. Orinami - even Nagisa - were surprised at Hikari's unexpected outburst, and that was enough for the jester Sekirei to stop taunting Nagisa. "...Fine." She scowled at Hikari, unhappy that she had to be shouted at by someone [i]lower[/i] than her. "I'll make it quick so that your [i]girlfriend[/i] won't have to suffer under me much longer." [hr] The "operation" was successful, though Orinami had to (not so) kindly remind Hikari that Nagisa would have to stay down for at least a week to recover fully. "Thank you," Hikari said to Orinami after Nagisa had been patched up, thankful the girl would be okay. He wasn't really sure what else to say, but he knew there were other issues they had to iron out. "S-So, who are you anyway? You didn't really... introduce yourself." It was hard for him to get out, but he managed to. "[i]'Who am I'[/i], you ask?" Orinami glared at him. This brat sure got the nerve to ask her, after he had totally spoiled her grand entrance just now! She took in a few deep breaths to force down the rising frustration inside her, then she did an exaggerated bow at Hikari, reciting in a melodic voice, "[b]No.77 Orinami[/b] - behold, the [i]cutest[/i] Sekirei among all!" She switched to a colder tone before continuing, "Be grateful to have me at your service, [i]boy[/i]." Hikari's eyes widened at the cold tone, a complete swap from his earlier outburst. "N-Nice to meet you, O-Orinami-san..." he mumbled weakly. [hr][hr][h1][i][color=00a99d]Yuki Kaguya[/color], No.11 Houkatori, & No. 88 Yajuu.[/i][/h1] [hr] While Houkatori was still in the bathroom, Yuki decided to give herself a tour around her new home. She felt unnerved at how everything was in order, specially renovated to accommodate them. It was as if the organization had planned for all this since the very beginning. She shuddered at the thought of how their every move was within the organization's calculations. The kitchen was brand new, loaded with all the kitchenware one would ever need for basic home-cooking. She did make the right decision to get Yajuu to buy some groceries - the fridge was completely empty. As she pulled out a pot and some utensils onto the kitchen counter, she felt around the walls of the cabinets and the underside of the drawers. So far she didn't find any bugs in the bedrooms, but she wasn't going to be complacent. She frowned when she still didn't find any. [i]Those creeps think that Yajuu is sufficient to keep my trap tightly shut, huh?[/i] She slammed down a bowl onto the counter at the thought of it, so loud that the sharp sound echoed throughout the house. [hr] It was a while before Yajuu returned, carrying three bags over each of his arms. She would be alerted to his return from a sharp kick to the door, unable to reach the handle on his own in his current situation. However, once she let him in, he smiled happily. "I got us enough to last us a few days, at least," he said cheerfully, once again ignoring the awkwardness of the current predicament. "Where would you like me to put them down?" Houka couldn't help but frown as she rejoined Yuki. Having dressed back into her clothes, a towel still wrapped around her damp hair, she was greeted with the sight of the blond returning from his trip. It was too short. Sure, she was hungry, but this guy was a nuisance. "Give me the potatoes, carrots, and the curry; use the rice cooker behind me to do the rice," Yuki ordered them in a rush, not looking at either of the Sekirei as she put the pot filled with water onto the stove, and turned on the gas. "Then the rest go into the fridg---" She stopped, turning to look at them, hoping that they would at least know some basic kitchen rules... Yajuu had a bag held out to her, presumably with the ingredients she had requested. Other than that, though, the two were staring at her blankly. "I've... never cooked before," the blond admitted. "I was served food at the facility..." Houka added. Yuki slapped her forehead. That could only mean one thing. "[i]I'll[/i] get the dinner done. Go and find something to entertain yourselves... and for God's sake, be [i]good kids[/i]," she finally said, plucking the bag out of Yajuu's hands before she started pushing them out of the kitchen. [hr][hr][h1][i]Shohei Tanaka, & No.94 Sae.[/i][/h1] [hr] It was the umpteenth time Shohei sighed. After he had dragged Sae back to their apartment, the twin-tailed Sekirei had been sulking in a corner of his bedroom, polishing her scythe with such ferocity that one could only wonder if the blade would break under her insane strength. He reclined back into his chair and stretched, facing away from the his desktop. Still no leads about this 'Sekirei' thing... nothing that could lead him to uncover Sae's past. Tonight was indeed a bad night for the pair. Not only did they fail to eliminate the weak gun-girl Sekirei, now those two got a weird clown-bitch to join their side. Sae said that she could also feel the presence of two more Sekirei - further away from them, but definitely hiding somewhere in this city. The odds against him and Sae were stacking up... [i]Not good at all.[/i] The boy felt conflicted - he still didn't know how he should see Sae. She looked human, but her physical capabilities were definitely [i]in[/i]human; she talked about a Core inside of her that had reacted to him, calling him her Ashikabi when they were mere strangers. Shohei could still clearly remember how he had met Sae for the first time... [hr] [i][b]SOMEWHERE IN FUKUOKA-SHI DECEMBER 25, 2022[/b] It was supposed to be just a boring-as-fuck Christmas night like the past decade of his life: all alone, in this cold weather, snorting at the stupidity around him. People of the current era so consumed by materialism that they were only willing to put their bullshits aside on specific days where they could try to buy happiness with money... and gain better profits. It was also the perfect time where Shohei could swipe off some goodies for himself, under the chaos of the blur of these dumb shoppers. ...Or so he had thought. His back was pressed against the wall of an alley - with a dead end. Two cops were closing in on him, blinding him with their flashlights. He swung the switchblade in one hand before him wildly in a futile attempt to keep the policemen from coming near him, while the other tightened its grip onto the package he had shoplifted from a nearby department store. His senses felt disorientated - he thought he heard one of the men laughing at him... "Get away from him." The red in Shohei's tightly-shut eyes was suddenly thrown into darkness; he opened his eyes to see the cops shining the light behind them, bathing a young girl with long green hair in twintails... with a huge silver scythe on her back. "What the---" Before the policemen could react, the girl raised the scythe and slammed the blade onto the ground, the shockwave threw the cops and Shohei off their feet, causing them to all fall on their asses on the dirt floor. The policemen looked up into the girl's hard glare and scooted off on all fours, the fear overwhelmed their fragile sense of justice. The girl ignored them and began to walk towards Shohei, who was slowly getting up to his feet, rubbing his sore back with irritation. "What the hell was that for?" He glowered at the girl. "So now they send a crazy bitch to kill me for stealing a couple of bikinis?" The words that came out of the girl's mouth was enough to shock Shohei into shutting his trap for a good one minute. "I am Sekirei [b]No.94 Sae[/b] - and I'm here to serve my Ashikabi: to serve you." "What... did you just call me?" The girl who introduced herself as Sae ignored his question. "You will be my vessel to participate in the Second Sekirei Project."[/i]