Shirou was stuck.
The creature had her arms wrapped around his, so he didn't have enough wiggle room nor the strength to actually break free. It would be easy enough to bite off her tongue, wrapped around his own as it was, but that would mean getting her blood in his mouth. Ingesting the bodily fluids of an unknown organism was a terrible idea.
… Any more than he already had, that is.
Regardless, none of that really mattered right now because a more pressing issue had presented itself.
What looked like pitch-black wings had sprouted from her back.
Was she shedding her human vessel? Was he about to see the true form of–
She pulled her lips away from his, a wet "pop" noise sounding as she did so. The wings disappeared as if they weren't there to begin with.
Was he just imagining things? Seeing things? That couldn't be a good sign. Maybe her saliva was poisonous.
A black key was traced in his hand: an action that seemed to amuse the woman greatly.
"What did you do? Why did you kiss me!?"
She waved a hand at the dagger dismissively.
"Ah. There's no need for that anymore. I can't kill you."
Shirou's eyebrow twitched. She knew that the whole "killing" thing went both ways, right? Just because she lost her sword didn't mean that he would stop attacking her.
"I can," he told her with a steady voice. "Like I said, I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous to leave you alive."
She made no move to defend herself. "Mm… I'm not expressing myself properly…"
She cut herself off. For an awkward couple of seconds, she did nothing other than stare at his pants.
Despite himself, Shirou couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
"Oh. We confiscated your phone, right?"
…His phone?
"The director would have called you by now, otherwise. Here, we'll just use–"
She froze.
"Never mind. I forgot to bring mine, too."
"…"
"…"
There was a great contrast in their expressions as they stared at each other. His was weary, whereas hers was strangely easy-going.
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind explaining things in his place. I'm a–"
"Don't bother."
Five more black keys were traced, all of them held snugly between his fingers. With a reinforced pounce, he was on her in an instant.
His gaze hardened. Enough of this.
"If you kill me before the game can start, you'll forfeit the prize, you know?"
The blades stopped right before they cut through her neck.
It was nothing more than a loose quip, but if what she was insinuating matched up in any way to what had immediately crossed his mind when she uttered it, then whatever she could tell him really did outweigh the risks of letting her breathe a little longer.
Karasuba lips formed a Cheshire smile.
"I don't play games," he muttered.
"One hundred and eight little birds are flying around the city," she chirped cryptically, ignoring him. "We're going to fight, fight, and fight… until only one of us is left. Supposedly, the victor will have any one wish granted to them."
The black keys disappeared, but Shirou's tight expression didn't loosen in the slightest.
One hundred and eight "little birds", she said. Is that what she was calling those like her? For there to be that many was a problem. He would have to hasten his efforts.
More than that, the "prize" sounded just as bad as a bunch of supernatural creatures stalking around a populated city like Shinto Teito. Worse, even.
Although…
"What does any of that have to do with me sparing your life?"
Her simper put him on edge.
"Whether you like games or not, I'm afraid that you'll be participating either way. Your fate was sealed the moment that you winged me."
Her wings… did she mean the kiss?
"That was some sort of contract," he concluded.
The woman cupped her cheek and sighed. "In a way. We are bound to each other, now, but…"
That's what she meant when she said that she "couldn't kill him anymore".
If that's all it was, however, then it wasn't his problem. Shirou had resolved himself to eliminate her, chase down the driver–
She kissed him again.
Unlike the first time where he was unable to move, this time he was simply caught off guard.
She pulled away before his brain could catch up.
"More than the 'game', you're stuck with me now. Our fates are intertwined, forever and ever."
She stressed that last part mockingly, but Shirou didn't think for a second that she was joking.
She was prodding him for a reaction.
This situation had escalated beyond "eliminate the target thoroughly and move on". At a time like this, there was only one sensible question left for him to ask.
X
"What are you?"
"An alien."
Karasuba relished the dumbfounded look on her Destined One's face. It was adorable. She wanted to tease him more, to see what other great expressions he could make for her.
She hated that feeling with every fibre of her soul. She hated that the ability to feel that way was a part of her to begin with.
There was no mistaking what that feeling was. It was something that she had never really understood before, and yet the reality of the matter had become as clear as day once it had washed over her.
The easy-going quirk of her lips didn't budge.
It was written all over his face: he was thinking up a thousand different ways to kill her. Not as the mouse scheming to fell the lion, but as the lion mulling over the execution of the mouse.
A human had no right to look at her that way. A human wasn't able to look at her that way. The mouse did not hunt the lion. The mouse could only do its best to hold on to its meaningless life for as long as the lion allowed it.
She was the lion. Everyone else was a mouse.
And yet, despite that, she had fallen prey to the rotten –useless– nature of her kind, just as Yume had promised she would.
No one but Yume could understand her. No one but Yume could free her.
She wasn't wrong to think the way she had. This world was worthless. It was by pure coincidence that she found an anomaly. An exception. He existed as if to spite her– to prove that she was no better than the rest of the little birds, pathetic as they were.
She loved the way he looked at her.
"Love needs not rhyme, nor reason," Yume used to tell her.
He existed, whether she wanted him to or not: an Ashikabi for someone like her. Yume was right, and Karasuba was wrong.
As complicated as the rest of her emotions were, it was as simple as that
"What are your intentions towards humanity?" asked her Ashikabi once he had composed himself.
How strange for that to matter all of a sudden. Wasn't he fully intent on wiping out her kind either way?
"I couldn't care less about the rest of you," she answered honestly.
"Then why… this?"
Hm? Oh. He must have been referring to their bonding.
He continued, "That man–"her Ashikabi pointed at the corpse a little ways away "–is clearly human. There was some sort of collusion going on between him and the girl. If you really have no interest in humans, then why involve us? Is it for your 'game'?"
He was being awfully inquisitive all of a sudden despite not wanting to hear a thing just a second ago.
"'This' and 'that' are two different matters altogether," she started before pausing to think. The smile that she hadn't lost once during their conversation seemed to be reinvigorated.
X
"Finding humans like you is how we mate."
His brain had to reboot.
"Come again?"
She wasn't even trying to hide it. Despite the deadliness of their previous exchanges, she was definitely enjoying watching him squirm a little too much.
"We don't copulate amongst our own kind. When we find a compatible spouse, we 'feel' it in our core and bind ourselves to them for life."
A… spouse? That couldn't be right. That sounded made up, actually. Shirou began to grasp at straws, or rather, any sort of reiteration that could break down what he surely didn't hear properly the first time. "Is this a custom of yours, or–"
"–It's a physiological response," she corrected, instantly shattering his hopes of this conversation ever grounding itself in reality again. "I meant 'bind' in the literal sense, by the way. Our souls are now bridged together. I hope you don't mind that terribly."
Her smile finally disappeared. In its place was found an expression that, impossibly, appeared both hedonistic and self-deprecating.
"For all intents and purposes, we're now married."
His emotions were getting out of hand, so Shirou removed them from the equation by quashing them entirely.
There could be no success without control. To regain control, he would need to first define his objective, then weigh his options and commit to one of them. No more hesitation. No more distractions.
There were one hundred and eight creatures from an alien species trying to kill each other in Shinto Teito. Though he wasn't sure how related it was to their feud, a matching number of regular humans could be pulled into the fray for alleged reproductive purposes.
The dangers were twofold. Firstly, the potential harm that may befall the tens of millions of people living in one of the world's most populated cities. Secondly –and most importantly– the public exposure of the moonlit world. Whether the aliens were supernatural in nature or not, this sort of behaviour would attract the attention of the Mages' Association. If that happened, an operation of such a large scale would jeopardize much more than just a few million people.
The goal, ultimately, was to eliminate the one hundred and eight aliens before either of those two scenarios could come into play. In the current circumstance, there were two options immediately available to him, each with its sets of merits and issues.
Firstly, he could follow through with his original intention of killing the alien in front of him. Assuming that the pink-haired girl was an alien as well, this would mean that at least two of the total number of targets would be dealt with expeditiously. The disadvantages were that he had no idea how much the "bonding" had affected him, and if this one died, he would, as she said, lose out on any information that she could give him.
His second option –and the one that was currently looking like the sounder choice– was to go along with whatever it was that this alien was scheming. If she was to be believed, then she planned on thinning out the numbers herself; two hands were better than one, of course.
Obviously, he couldn't put any stock in what she said about not wanting to kill him, but if nothing else, their relationship could definitely be mutually beneficial as long as their goals continued to align.
Taking a deep breath, he nodded to himself. It was settled then.
"I'm going to book a hotel room nearby. We have a lot to talk about."
Her eyes were squinted shut. The alien held the silence for a moment, so it was difficult to decipher what she was thinking.
"…Jumping straight into the honeymoon, are we?"
Shirou sighed. Of course, she had to be the type to joke around at a time like this.
"I'll get rid of the bodies," he said.
"Don't bother. We should wait for MBI to show up."
The man blinked. He was lost.
"MBI?"
The alien's mouth formed an "o" shape. "Did I forget to mention that? Mid Bio Informatics is administrating our 'game'."
…That was definitely a variable that would have been nice to know about a little earlier.
He tried to recall where he'd heard that name before. It was definitely familiar, but he could have sworn that it was a totally normal business.
"They're a… tech firm?"
"Pharmaceuticals company," she corrected.
"…Right."
His expression darkened. If this "MBI" was responsible for an alien death game in the middle of a populated megacity, then they were just as big an issue as the aliens themselves.
The woman hummed, before adding, "Point being, they do a good job of cleaning up the mess. They keep everything contained within the bounds of the city and deal with the corpses. One less thing for us to worry about."
Then it would be inadvisable to deal with them first. No matter how condemning their involvement, they were, at the very least, keeping a lid on the damages.
"How do we call them?" he asked.
"We don't have to. They've chipped us, so if our vital signs drop, they come to retrieve our body. "
…So being secretive was never an option to begin with. No matter how careful he was, the overseers of this deathmatch would know whenever he would interfere.
Teaming up with this alien really was the best option, then.
A helicopter appeared overhead, and it dropped a ladder. He looked to his new partner, and she shook her head. They would be standing their ground, apparently.
A woman came down along with four heavily-armed men. They obviously weren't the JSDF, so however it was that they were in possession of Howa Type 89 assault rifles was questionable at best.
The woman, dressed in a lab coat with a tablet clutched underarm, stalked up to them with an angry snarl.
…Just a moment, wasn't she the same lady from the airport?
He couldn't believe it. He was kidnapped by a pharmaceuticals company, of all things.
"Karasuba," the woman growled. "My ears better be served the best excuse you've ever spewed, or we're going to have a problem."
The alien kept her friendly look, but there was no keeping the annoyance out of her posture.
"Sorry. My bad."
"You're supposed to interrogate the spy, not get in his pants!"
From the sound of things, the alien's plans weren't quite matching up with MBI's.
The lady in the lab coat jabbed her finger in Shirou's direction.
"And you. You're coming with me."
He immediately began considering his chances of escape. It wasn't until the alien had placed her hand on his shoulder that he realized how tense he was.
"Don't worry too much," she told him. "Takami-chan is acting mean, but you're my Ashikabi now. She can't do anything to you."
The woman in question didn't seem too fond of the alien's assurances. Nevertheless, she nodded in agreement with a huff.
"That's right. Karasuba has –for whatever reason– dragged you into the Sekirei Plan, so frankly, you're not really my problem anymore. The chairman's the one who wants to speak with you."
The chairman of MBI wanted to speak with him? More than that, they were throwing around a bunch of strange names. Codewords, maybe?"
"What's a–"
"Save your questions for the chairman," the lab coat-wearing woman snapped at him. "He would have called your cellphone to give you then rundown–"
She caught the alien's disinterested stare with a heated one of her own.
"–but neither of you had your phones on hand for reasons… each your own. Just… get in the chopper."
X
He was escorted through a third padlocked door by the pair of military men.
What a difference from the way he was treated the first time. No handcuffs, no blindfolds, and no crazy alien women wanting to chop his head off. It wasn't exactly first-class service –he still had rifle barrels pushing into the small of his back– but at least the experience as a whole was a little more guest-like.
Sort of.
"He's in here," one of his escorts informed him ever so kindly, as gruff as he was. "Don't try any funny business."
Shirou bowed politely. "I wouldn't dream of it. Thanks for showing me the way here."
He entered the chairman's office alone; the pair didn't follow. A comically-tall chair swivelled behind an equally-lavish desk, revealing… an otaku? Some sort of mad-scientist cosplayer?
The otaku jumped to his feet and spread his arms wide.
"Greetings! I am Hiroto Minaka, founder and chairman of Mid Bio Informatics! Due to the momentous nature of the occasion, I would like to formally congratulate you on the winging of Sekirei number four, Karasuba."
There was that word again. Sekirei. Was that what they were calling the aliens?
Moreover, the older man's exuberance caught him by surprise. It took Shirou a moment to figure out what to say in response.
"The woman that brought me here, her name was…Takami." The otaku confirmed his recollection with a nod. He continued, "She mentioned that you normally give newly-involved individuals a call to introduce them to your… 'game', but you've asked for me to come see you directly. Is there a reason in particular that you couldn't wait for me to get my cellphone back?"
It wasn't even as though the chairman wouldn't know the moment he had it back in his possession. It was his company that confiscated it in the first place.
The older man's glasses reflected the shine of the overhanging light fixtures, making it impossible to discern his expression. "There is, indeed! I simply had to meet the man who accomplished something that I had previously dismissed as an impossibility."
There was no mistaking it. Despite the chairman's over-the-top act, the man had every ounce of his attention on Shirou.
"And what might that be?"
"As an Ashikabi, you've made Karasuba react to you."
Shirou kept his face as straight as he could to mask his confusion.
"I'm not familiar with your terminology, I'm afraid."
Despite his understanding that this meeting was supposed to be for the director to fill him on the details that he was missing, he couldn't help but feel as though the man was enjoying his ignorance.
"'Ashikabi' is the term we use to describe people like you: those who are able to wing the Sekirei."
Shirou nodded. "By 'wing', you mean the bonding contract," he guessed. That much had made sense. "But what's so special about that? The a– Karasuba mentioned that this sort of thing was par for the course."
The grin that crossed Hiroto Minaka's face was in many ways similar, and in many ways different from Karasuba's. Different in that it felt assuredly less murderous, but similar in that he was immediately put on edge by it.
"Well~ for any of the others, you'd be absolutely right! Karasuba, on the other hand, has never shown any desire to find herself an Ashikabi in the twenty-some-odd years that I've known her. Here I was, thinking that I'd have to ask her to just settle for someone and be done with it."
He tensed. "Karasuba made it sound as if there were some sort of qualifications for the 'bonding'. You're telling me that there was no reason in particular for her to have picked me?"
If that were true, then Shirou was certain that the woman had something up her sleeve. She must have mislead him for a reason.
For the first time, the director's expression became a little more grim. "It's not that simple, I'm afraid. It's true that Sekirei can bond with any human as long as they're an Ashikabi, but a 'reaction' only occurs if the Sekirei manages to find their 'soulmate'. This arrangement is quite permanent, so you can understand why this outcome would be preferable."
The younger man closed his eyes with a sigh. The 'reaction' really was a big deal, then.
"What makes you so sure that Karasuba reacted to me? If she would have needed to pick someone eventually, she could have just as easily settled for me and been done with it."
Infuriatingly, Hiroto Minaka did not answer his question.
"Emiya Shirou. As you understand it, what is your 'role' in this game?"
Shirou hummed. "If I had to put it into words… it would be to eliminate every other competitor, right?"
The chairman laughed uproariously. The sudden outburst nearly made Shirou take a step back.
"I get it. I think I understand a little better. Thank you, Emiya. If you have no further questions, feel free to leave. The next time she sees you, Karasuba will give you a credit card with an upper limit of ten million yen taken from MBI's accounts. Please accept it as an apology for the rough treatment."
Shirou bowed and turned to leave. As he reached the doors, however, he froze and peered over his shoulder.
"Sorry. There's one more thing, if you don't mind."
"Oh?"
"If it isn't too much trouble… can I have my suitcase back?"
X
Now standing across the desk from each other, Takami still hadn't stopped glowering at the younger grey-haired woman.
"Well, I'm waiting. What are you up to?"
"Ah?" Karasuba squinted, a look of incomprehension set firmly in place. "What are you talking about, Takami-chan~? Isn't it obvious? My maiden heart was captured, completely and utterly! How could I force myself apart from my knight in shining armour once we finally crossed paths?"
"Cut the crap!" Takami turned away from the object of her annoyance. The longer she stared at that two-faced smile, the more likely she'd was to blow a gasket. The bitch was trying to rile her up with her parody of a love-struck Sekirei– a characteristic that Karasuba resented with every fibre of her being, and thus, something that she obviously wasn't. "The only reason for someone like you to take an Ashikabi would be if you thought it would benefit you in some way."
Karasuba hummed. "Well, I can only get so strong if I'm not winged, after all. My Norito–"
"Don't pretend you didn't know that Minaka was planning to make you wing an Ashikabi from the company. I don't care if it was on a whim. You knew better than to choose an unknown quantity who, for all we know, is a foreign agent."
There it was. The act was dropped. The Sekirei's eyes cracked open to reveal constricted pupils whose unsettling focus obsolesced the impression given by her lethargic posture.
"Hm? I'm not kidding, ya know. Whether you believe me or not, the truth is that I reacted to him. What followed just couldn't be helped~"
And just as quickly as it came, the dangerous glint in the Sekirei's eyes disappeared once more, and the mocking joviality returned along with the sarcastic inflection in her tone.
It did nothing to alleviate the trepidation that suddenly swelled from deep within Takami's gut.
The chances that Karasuba wasn't B-S-ing her were infinitesimally small. But that chance, insignificant as it was, could be the worst possible outcome for the Sekirei Plan.
The Black Sekirei on her own was already a nightmare for MBI to deal with.
The best-case scenario was if she was winged by someone affiliated with MBI. Then, she'd at least be a manageable nightmare, if nothing else.
The fact that she didn't bind herself to one of their own took the "manageable" right out of that sentence. She was still just a plain old "nightmare"– maybe even a little stronger, to boot.
If Karasuba truly and honestly reacted to an Ashikabi?
Then Takami couldn't picture that Ashikabi as being any less of a nightmare than the woman herself.
"If that's all, Takami-chan, I think I'll leave now."
The poor Head of Operations could only gape like a fish when the bane of her existence suddenly decided that their conversation was over and walked out the door.
"W-wait, damn it! I don't know where you think you're going, but you better show up for work tomorrow, you hear me!?"
X
Shirou scoped out his new apartment with a critical eye.
The kitchen? It was alright. He wasn't a fan of the electric stove, but the wall oven was pretty high-end. More importantly, the island gave him an extra meter or so of workspace, so preparing larger dishes –not that he planned on spending that much time preparing food– wouldn't be too difficult.
The living room? It was more of a two-in-one living room and dining room, but considering how small the apartment was, the size of the living room wasn't anything to scoff at. Most of his work could be done from there without any discomfort.
The bedroom was fine too, not that he planned on spending too much time in it. The king-sized bed might have been a little over-the-top, but the superfluity could be overlooked.
It was important to be mindful of these things. A poor base of operations could only lead to poor operations.
"All in all…"
He nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Considering that it was a last-minute purchase, he really couldn't have asked for anything better. He wasn't sure how legal it was for him to move in the same day, but then again, money went a long way.
He was not an avaricious individual by any stretch of the word, nor was he one to take another's money so easily, but he could at least appreciate its importance in the modern world. His personal qualms went out the door when there was a job to be done. As such, he would abuse the ten million yen that was given to him, whether the donation was good-intentioned or not.
Despite the terrible start to the day, he couldn't claim that it was unproductive. He had learned of a catastrophe waiting to happen, and he was placed in a position to prevent it.
If nothing else, he was now confident that he'd be able to force his way from MBI's entrance to the chairman's office, door to door, without much difficulty. The rest of the building was a different story, but the state of the company's current security systems meant that he could probably assassinate the man quite easily if needed.
He might have needed to reschedule his trip to Fuyuki, but it wasn't a huge loss. He was closer now than when he was in Europe, so it wouldn't be hard to make a day-visit on the weekend, or something.
…He wasn't forgetting anything, was he?
The doorbell rang.
"…"
He wasn't expecting guests. In part because he didn't have that many acquaintances, but more because he literally just moved in. Frankly, he doubted that he'd be the documented legal owner of this apartment for another month, at the least.
He opened the door and froze.
Hah. That's what he was forgetting.
"…Yes?"
The grey-haired alien pushed a fruit basket into his arms and walked straight past him like she owned the place.
"Thanks for having me, Ashikabi-kun."
What?
She whistled, then turned back to him with a malicious grin that immediately set him on edge.
"It's a good thing this place is big enough for two, wouldn't you say?"
…What!?