Chapter Text
Clinging white-knuckled to the sideways seat, Minato Sahashi ignored the shrill energy blasts outside and focused on the little girl huddled against the shattered bus window. If the bus had been even a little upright she could have climbed out, no problem; despite the helter-skelter pile of luggage on top of her, she didn’t look hurt. Just pale and scared and stuck. “Hey,” he said, hoping years of lessons had stuck and he really was speaking decent English. “Hang on, we’re going to get you out of here.”
“...Monsters.” A black leather handbag shifted, before the shivering girl pulled it back on top of her. “Monsters out there.”
Smoke drifted past Minato’s nose; he wondered how much of it was Kagari’s. “The good guys are fighting the monsters, I promise.” Bracing his feet against a toppled bench, he held out his hand. Please come out. Please. “There are policemen out there. They’ll help you find your family-”
The world tumbled, steel screaming around them. Minato dove for shivering terror, clutching cloth and a shrieking child as the bus rocked and spun, purple-white light searing past his ear. His left wrist caught on one of the tumbling seats; damn it, Minaka’s tracker was going to kill them and he hadn’t even done anything yet-
“Minato!”
Metal and plastic tore, as Musubi yanked off half the side of the bus, jumping in to pluck them out so fast his ears popped.
Safe.
Probably not what most people would think of as safe, Minato had to admit, as Musubi landed with them by a knot of stunned cops and bystanders. The streets of New York were a chaos of gunshots and purple-gray armored aliens, with more roaring through the skies to unleash bolts of energy on anyone unlucky enough to be in range. Though fliers that headed their way had to dodge lightning from both sides; and any that made it past Hikari and Hibiki got smashed by wind, water, and balls of angry fire.
Wow. I think we’re starting to build a barricade.
The local cops, Seo, and Yukari were taking advantage of it, just as they’d used Kusano’s giant thorn-barrier and looping vines to herd fliers and foot-soldiers to where they stood a chance at shooting the creeps. Shiina was behind Yukari, ready to grab any alien that made it to the barrier or unleash a full-strength blast if a mass of aliens swarmed them. Yukari was zapping away with an alien staff-thing, cackling with mad glee whenever she lined up a particularly tricky shot.
One of her shots went... a little lower than center of mass. Minato shared Shiina’s flinch and shudder. “Sis!”
“They’re alien invaders from another dimension!” Yukari fired again, wrist bent so the rifle didn’t catch on her tracker. “They’ve got to be tentacle perverts! I’m saving us all from a fate worse than death!”
The worst of it was, he couldn’t even be sure she was wrong.
Helping one shaken rookie grab clips to reload, Seo gave Minato his best beady-eyed glare. Absently shook out his left wrist; a nervous habit the freeloader had gotten into, ever since Minaka’s email had explained exactly what the vicious little trackers were meant to do, if any other Ashikabi tried to escape. “This is your sister? What kind of manga has she been into?”
Still holding the girl, Minato felt himself turn bright red. “I don’t know, I swear!”
“I wish I didn’t know,” Shiina groaned.
“What’s manga?” their latest rescue mumbled against Minato’s jacket.
“Oh, they’re great!” Musubi beamed at her. “They’re these funny books with all kinds of neat stories, and some of them have people wearing really skimpy-”
“Modesty,” Minato sighed.
“...The manga should wear panties?”
Minato blinked, and headed for the rear of their impromptu fort, where paramedics and some determined civilians had set up a first-aid area, while Kusano stayed safe and felt for any lives they could pull out of the wreckage. I’m in the middle of an alien invasion of New York, with a bunch of friendly aliens, trying to get modesty through to a girl who was happy I brought four other girls and Kagari home to stay, while my sister groin-shots the bad guys with her laser rifle. When did this turn into my life?
On the bright side, New Yorkers seemed a lot less spooked than anyone in Shinto Teito. Heck, the paramedics were smiling back at Musubi when she smiled at them; and they’d seen her tear open steel with her hands.
They’re not afraid of Sekirei. That’s... it’s nice.
“Here you go, sweetie.” The paramedic’s nametag flashed Roarke through the smoke; his handlebar mustache bent in a determined smile as he eased the girl out of Minato’s arms. “What’s your name? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I want my mommy!”
Yow. Even with gunfire going off, that hurt. Minato beat a hasty retreat with Musubi to where Matsu and Kusano were hiding out in a living shelter of bent trees and bramble.
Only Matsu wasn’t in the shelter. The Information Sekirei was standing outside the waving thorns with an alien rifle in her own hands, talking to Sergeant Montoya, the officer who’d ended up more or less in charge of their little knot of life-saving; Matsu’s normally cheerful face so pale it was almost gray.
On her part, the Hispanic policewoman looked like only the uniform was keeping her standing. “Are you sure?”
“I wish I wasn’t!” Matsu’s red braids were fluttering in the charge of her power, as she tapped satellites, computers, and who knew what else. “I don’t know who this World Security Council is, but they are going down. Musubi! Go get Yukari and Shiina. Drag them if you have to.”
“Okay!” Face serious, Musubi bounded off.
“Minato!” Tossing the rifle to Montoya, Matsu snagged his jacket. “No more rescues, we need you right here!”
They were going to need a Norito. Oh, not good. A Sekirei’s incantation could be almost unstoppable, but it burned a lot of energy. And they’d already been fighting for... god, he’d lost track of the time. But the aliens weren’t showing any signs of slowing down, so Matsu had to have a good reason for asking. “What’s going on?”
“If your ‘Net-lady is right,” Montoya swallowed, and lifted her chin, “some international asshole just decided to throw a nuclear bomb at New York City.”
For a moment, it was too ludicrous to make sense. “Are they crazy?” Minato yelped, jabbing a thumb up toward the hole in the sky. “What do they think that’s going to do? The mothership’s not even in this dimension!”
We’re going to die.
Minato covered his face with his hands and breathed, slow and deliberate. He wanted to panic. Panic was an old friend by now. But he had family depending on him, all their Sekirei depending on him, and Matsu wouldn’t be tossing around orders if they were just going to die. “What can we do?”
“Kusano’s life,” Matsu said briskly, as Musubi hauled his protesting sister and her Sekirei back to them. “Shiina’s death. Destruction of energy. If we time it just right, with Shiina blasting the incoming radiation while Kuu shields us - we might live through this.” Behind her glasses, red eyes went distant a moment. “But just in case we don’t, I just launched some of my best strip-and-destroy worms on all their servers I can identify. It’s scorched earth time.”
“What about the city?” Sweat was trickling through the soot on Montoya’s face.
Matsu winced. “Sergeant-”
“We’re going to save everyone here,” Minato said firmly. “I know the range on a Norito.” We’ve set off enough of them. “If this works... we’ll cover about a block. I hope.” He met hazel eyes, wondering if his own gray looked just as desperate. “Get everyone as close as you can.”
The sergeant swore under her breath, but gave him a stiff nod; turned away, and raised her voice. “All right! New plan, people!”
Rifle still in hand, Yukari was staring at Matsu, her schoolgirl jacket and skirt a bit worse for wear from high kicks and energy blasts. “You want us to what?”
“Stop the incoming hard radiation of a nuclear explosion!” Matsu’s glasses gleamed. “Won’t this be fun?”
“Erk.”
Shiina traded a rueful glance with Minato, then took his stunned Ashikabi by the hand. “Come on. Let’s go sit with Kuu. If this is going to work, we’ll have to be close.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Musubi took her own Ashikabi’s hand, smile bright and determined as Miya’s blade. “You’ll save us. I believe in you.”
Even terrified, Minato had to smile back. Musubi was the first person who had ever believed in him. He’d move mountains for her. Even if he had to do it one teaspoon at a time.
For all of them. Minato sat down inside Kusano’s giant arbor, in the clear spot away from the huddled wounded, opening his arms to hug a frightened little blonde Sekirei. He didn’t know how old little Kuu really was, but she looked and felt not much older than the girl they’d just pulled out of the wreckage. And he would never, ever forgive Minaka for dumping Kuu in the middle of Shinto Teito and emailing every Ashikabi to come and take her.
Kusano reached up, fingers touching the gray streak in his hair. “Big brother’s going to need me?”
Minato looked into wide green eyes, and hugged her again. “We’re all going to need you, Kuu.” He glanced at Shiina and his shell-shocked sister. “You know what we’re doing?”
The silver-haired teen stared back, eerie Sekirei eyes grim. “I think so...?”
“It’s simple!” Matsu draped herself on one side of the entrance. “I’ll listen for the EMP pulse. When stuff goes dark, I’ll give you the signal. You blast the nasty little gamma rays before they kill us all, and Kuu gives us all the life we can handle. And if we’re really really lucky, we’ll all survive!” She stepped inside. “I’ve got a few ideas....”
Minato listened with half an ear. His part was pretty much going to be kissing Kuu at the right moment. For now, the best thing he could do was hold a scared little girl, let Musubi watch over both of them, and check on the rest of his Sekirei to be sure they’d all be inside Shiina’s protection.
Center, Minato told himself, remembering Matsu’s sometimes hair-pulling efforts to teach a human how to handle energy like a Sekirei. Ground, and reach.
Ashikabi were human. But their link to their Sekirei made them just a little more.
Empathy.
All Ashikabi had it; though he was willing to bet the crazy ones like Higa and that jerk Yukari had run into had either cracked because of it, or were sticking their mental fingers in their ears trying to desperately block out the dreams and emotions of their bonded Sekirei.
Part of him - Minato hoped it was a very small part - didn’t totally blame them. It was hard enough to live inside your own head. One kiss, and every Ashikabi lost being alone in a mental chokehold of mine, mine forever, I love you.
He did love Musubi. He loved all of them. Which was why he was going to shut out the doubts and focus.
There was Kusano, green and bright like a young fern uncurling. Musubi; tired, but proud and watchful as a bear with cubs. Matsu, a smooth flow of calculations and possibilities, sparkling with worry and controlled terror.
So weird to feel them so clearly while I’m awake. Wish Matsu had told me more sooner, so I could practice this before we ended up in an alien invasion....
Farther out. Past the tingly almost-link of Shiina’s bond to Kusano, and the ripple of anger and determination that was Yukari. Out past the static prickles of not-my-flock to surging waves, flower-petal winds, and fire that burned to warn and protect.
Tsukiumi. Kazehana. Kagari.
He felt them, protective and worried and so horribly tired. And he knew they felt him.
Please let this work. :There’s going to be a bomb.:
“Don’t focus on words,” Musubi had told him, the first time Matsu had talked to them about the possibilities. “Who uses words when they’re trying to feel? Focus on pictures. Focus on your heart.”
“We’re your Sekirei,” Matsu had added. “Trust your bond. Trust us.
“And damn it, trust yourself....”
:Fire from the sky,: Minato pictured, shuddering. He knew the history. Who didn’t? :Get down to the ground. Close to us. Shiina and Yukari....:
He could see it in his head. Kusano’s green life wrapping around them, while Shiina’s gray destruction tore away invisible fire.
:Get down. Bring Hikari and Hibiki. Get down!:
Surprise. Unwillingness, tinged with the hot copper of anger; not all Sekirei wanted to fight, but it was a rare feather indeed who ran from one. Impatience, especially from Tsukiumi-
Minato bit his lip, tasting blood. :Fire-not-fire. Shattered bodies, skin peeling off like paper. Don’t you dare do that to us!:
A wind of cherry blossoms softened his fear. :Shh,: Kazehana murmured, backed by warmth, and a reluctant tug of current. :We’re coming.:
Minato blinked, catching Yukari’s stare. “They’re on their way.”
His sister eyed him a moment longer, then shook herself. “You’re weird.”
“Me?” Minato tried to keep it to older-brother-indignant, hiding the stab of hurt. He could barely taste the blood anymore, and that would scare him if he let it. “I’m not the one who reads tentacle hentai!”
“Reads?” Yukari gave him a slightly toned down version of their mom’s terrifying smile. “I heard what happened in Miya’s kitchen.”
“It’s not what you think!” Live bulbs in the kitchen and an upset Kuu equaled green onion snares; he hadn’t been able to look an onion in the eye for days. “Bomb, focus, okay?”
Yukari stuck her tongue out at him. “Says the two-year ronin.”
Argh. Mom would never let him have the last word either. Which was part of why they were all in this mess; Takami Sahashi apparently hadn’t believed either of her children would make it through the Sekirei Plan on their own. So she’d pulled on her Mad Scientist labcoat and-
Don’t think about it. Live through the aliens; get Yukari away from Mom and MBI, before Mom can add more needles to make things worse. Stick to the plan.
The plan hadn’t had an alien invasion in it. Or nukes.
The bridge plan didn’t have the Discipline Squad in it, either. We still made it.
And he wasn’t going to think about ending up in the hospital afterward, or what his mother had taken that chance to do....
Matsu was leaning against the arbor entrance. Her face was almost serene, long red hair flowing down her pink dress like tame fire, but he could feel the tension in her winding tighter and tighter-
The Information Sekirei shot to her feet, eyes searching the sky. “Look!”
:Surprise. Fear-and-hope!:
Swinging Kusano up to his shoulder, Minato scrambled to his feet and peered upward. He halfway expected to see nothing; sometimes Matsu forgot not everyone could look through a satellite’s eyes.
A glint of red and gold, zipping against blue sky.
“Iron Man’s trying something!” Matsu bounced into the open, drawing every stray eye, shading her gaze to look up.
“Iron Man?” Musubi was wriggling from foot to foot as if she expected him to drop out of the sky to spar. “Who’s that?”
“You need to watch some news outside of MBI.” Kazehana touched down, all long legs and skimpy pierced violet dress that made at least one dusty stockbroker thump right into an equally drooling hot dog vendor. Sauerkraut flew. “He was on the world reports a few months ago, fighting flying robots.”
“Yeah!” Matsu cheered, as Kagari and Tsukiumi leapt down, the grumbling lightning twins following. “Go Iron Man! Go, go, go!”
Red and gold and ominous black soared up into the hole in the sky, out of sight.
Silence.
“That was the missile!” Matsu was almost babbling; and who wouldn’t be, Minato thought, seeing imminent death snatched away by the skin of their teeth? “He got it up through the portal! If my calculations are correct, the energy shouldn’t make it back across the dimensional boundary if they can just get it closed-”
The world shook.
“Minato!” Musubi was holding his shoulders, making sure Kusano didn’t fall even if his own knees threatened to buckle. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“The static’s gone.” Minato blinked, dazed. “The aliens, they were like a power saw you can’t track down and can’t turn off. Just this high awful noise. And it’s gone-”
“Move!”
A hot black shadow knocked them sideways, as alien metal fell from the sky.
“Kagari.” Minato stared up into burgundy eyes framed by silver hair, and tried desperately not to blush. The Guardian Sekirei really wouldn’t appreciate it. They were friends, and both guys. And he was not going to think about pressing up against soft and warm and-
This is bad. Think about him socking you in the jaw! You’d deserve it. Again.
Only they were really close, and he could swear he saw red on Kagari’s cheeks, what was up with that?
:Pain.:
Not his Sekirei. But close enough that he could feel it anyway. Minato scrambled up, helping Musubi brush Kusano off as he turned back toward what had almost flattened them all. “Thanks, Kagari.”
“I almost wasn’t fast enough.” The androgynous Sekirei’s voice was low, trying to hide panic under determined male cool as he glanced around for any more plummeting death. “What kind of idiot alien ship falls out of the sky?”
“We need some help over here!”
Oh, this is not good.
Montoya was caught half under one stubby wing, swearing under her breath as ominous red started seeping out from under gray metal. Roarke and a few others were right there, the paramedic digging into his depleted kit with the kind of fierce concentration Matsu used to hack MBI killsats. “Looks like a femoral bleed, we’re going to need units of O-neg stat - Musubi! Just the lady I wanted to see. Can you lift that?”
Tired as the rest of them, the fist Sekirei still lit up. “Yes!”
“Wait!” Minato grabbed her before she could move too fast. “We don’t know how bad it is under there. You might need to lift and hold it-”
“And that, ‘twere best done with more than two hands to steady it, this foul piece of mechanical mischief!” Tsukiumi stepped to the near corner of the wing, some feet away from where Musubi would be lifting, unneeded water dissolving back into the air around her. “Homura, Kazehana - let us aid our sister.”
Roarke’s eyebrows weren’t the only ones bouncing up at sister, but the paramedic kept his focus on Montoya. “Minato, right? Can you help me pull the sergeant out?”
Minato gulped. “Y-yes, sir.”
“Good for you. On three. One, two-”
Three was a screech of alien metal up off asphalt, and trying to block out the blood as he gripped and pulled.
“Good, good - stop!” Roarke dove for Montoya’s bleeding thigh. “Head down, Sergeant. We need to elevate this, you’re going to be fine....”
But she’s lost so much blood, Minato thought. It was red and sticky as it cooled on his hands, oh god. And the streets are all torn up. Not just from us; the aliens were blasting everything. How can an ambulance get here in time?
A Sekirei ride was out of the question. Even if they could find their way to a New York hospital, the jarring from being bounced across the city by superhuman strength was bad enough for a healthy person. Someone already bleeding? No way.
I can’t just let her die!
He’d only tried this on people tied to him. He didn’t know if it would work on anyone else. But he could feel her pain, her grim knowledge of the odds, her regret as the world faded....
No!
Kneeling in the dust and ashes, Minato took her hand. Center. Ground. Feel where her energies are torn; flow yours into the gap.
It was like trying to thread a needle in bad light. Humans were so much fainter than Sekirei.
So it’s hard; keep trying! She’s alive, you can feel she’s alive, just - find the right threads....
He had them. But he was tired, world graying out and swaying. There wasn’t anything left to mend the wound.
Please.
Kuu’s hand on his back, small and warm and alive. Musubi’s fingers gripping his shoulder, willing in strength. More familiar touches, wind and water and circuits’ hum; Kagari’s black-gloved hand resting warmth on top of his own.
:Our flock-leader. Believe.:
Behind his eyes, there was light.
“...Sweet mother of - okay, pressure’s still down, push fluids. Minato. Kid? Ladies, get him to let go. We need to move the sergeant. Don’t let him fall on his face!”
Musubi’s embrace smelled like dust and honey. Minato sighed, and let his head sag on her shoulder. He could go to sleep right here.
No. Can’t. Remember the plan. Minato pried open one eye. “Matsu?”
“On it!” From somewhere in her tight pink cheongsam, Matsu produced a little gadget that looked a lot like a stun-gun. Which was pretty much what it had been, before she modified it. “I hope this works... hold still.”
Oh, he was holding still all right. Very still, as Matsu grabbed his left forearm and held it up to get one last good look at the tracker.
On the bright side, if this goes wrong? Tetrodotoxin. Shouldn’t hurt a bit....
Prongs jammed home. Sparks flew.
Like a seared leech, the tracker dropped away.
“Seo! Yukari!” Matsu brandished her tracker-disarmer with a fierce grin. “We’re leaving this game!”
Yukari’s head whipped toward her brother. “What?”
The lightning twins linked hands in fretful worry, as Seo let Matsu grab and zap him. “You think this can still work?” the streetwise Ashikabi muttered, squinting at the disabler. “We didn’t plan for grade-B Guyver rejects tearing up the city.”
“Anything that slows us down will slow Karasuba down.” Minato tried not to shiver at the thought of the deadly leader of MBI’s Discipline Squad. “We’re out of Shinto Teito. We won’t have a better chance.”
“Probably not.” Seo winced as the tracker fell away. “Just hope it’s good enough to keep us in one piece.”
“We can’t leave!” Yukari protested, even as Shiina drew her closer. “All the defeated Sekirei; whoever wins has to help them!”
Musubi’s eyes went teary. Minato squeezed her hand. “We’ll find a way,” he promised. “We just have to get away first.”
“Whoever wins?” Shiina stopped pulling; stepped in front of Yukari, staring into his Ashikabi’s eyes. “What if none of us wins? We’re dangerous! A fight’s never certain! What if both of the last two Sekirei die?”
Yukari blanched. “But....”
“And what if none of us wins?” Seo rubbed his bared wrist. “Would you trust Ashikabi like the ones you’ve stomped to help the rest of us? Heck, what if Higa wins?”
“Worse.” Minato raised his head, hoping for once Yukari would just listen. He couldn’t tell her everything. Not yet. “What if Karasuba wins?”
For once, Yukari paused. “That’d be bad, wouldn’t it.”
“I’m going to beat her!” Musubi vowed.
“Thou wilt most assuredly try, with all thine heart,” Tsukiumi nodded, arms crossed under her breasts. “But speaking as one who had to watch thy broken body upon the bridge, pinned and helpless as we all grieved - sister, do not face her alone. None of us could bear it!” She drew a deep breath, white-clad bosom heaving. “And thus, though it pains me greatly, though it might seem veriest cowardice in the face of the enemy - I will leave the Sekirei Plan, until we can be certain she will face thee in a fair combat, without Minaka’s interference!”
Kagari flexed his fingers, a puff of flame licking over his gloved palm. “I just want to burn the whole thing to the ground. Minaka included.” The black half-mask hid his smirk, but Minato felt the feather-brush of very real amusement. “I’ll settle for wrecking his game. For now.”
“We joined the game to find Kusano.” Shiina cradled Yukari’s hands in his. “What if we hadn’t found her until the last stage? What if we’d only found her when we were facing her?” His voice shook. “I don’t want to fight anymore. All I want is to stay with you!”
Yukari reddened. Glanced down, then back at her brother and Seo. “But if we’re the only ones who can get away - it’s not fair!”
The world was a little less grayed out and shaky. Minato lifted his head off Musubi’s shoulder. “Who says we’re the only ones? Matsu?”
The redhead grinned, tapped a key on her little tablet, and pumped a fist. “Text message should be hitting everyone except the Discipline Squad... now.”
Three phones rang. Minato opened his, checked the ID; Hannya-North, just as Matsu had set it up to be-
Shut it, and dropped it in the street. “Drop your phones. Your MBI cards. Get rid of anything they could use to track us!”
Seo dropped his phone with the heartfelt sigh of the perpetually broke. “Hope your money magic’s as good as you say, Matsu.”
“Don’t worry.” Glasses gleamed evilly. “It’s better.”
Yukari had apparently just hit the end of the text. “You - this is real? How did you do this?”
“A lot of late nights.” Kazehana pouted, long legs striding around a bit of rubble. “And not the way I would have spent them.” She gracefully scooped up the two fallen trackers, and handed them over to the nearest cop enjoying the view. “Officer Cameron? There may be some very scary people looking for these. If they show up....” The Wind Sekirei’s smile sobered. “Don’t do anything reckless. Just let them have these.” One violet brow raised, Kazehana turned serious eyes on Yukari.
The young Ashikabi sighed, and held out her arm for Matsu. “Okay. This better work!”
Zap.
“Miss?” Officer Cameron stared at the three trackers now in his hands. “If you’re in some kind of trouble, we can make a report-”
“No!” Minato stood on shaky feet, letting Kusano swarm up onto his shoulder. “They’ll kill you if you try to stop them. They will. Don’t worry about us. We’re going to be gone-”
Musubi gripped his hand. Shiina took Yukari’s. Hikari clung to Seo.
Together, they leapt.
The wind took them, and Minato fought back a girly scream. Oh, I’m never going to get used to this-!