"I'm home," Minato muttered, walking through the door. His downcast eyes swept the entrance, noticing a lack of shoes. The Izumo Inn was empty.

He thought so at first, at least. The gentle pitter-pattering of feet grew louder before a small figure rounded the corner and jumped into his arms.

His distant, contemplative look vanished, replaced by a grunt and widened eyes.

"Kuu-chan?"

The girl kept uncharacteristically silent. She hugged him tighter as if scared that he'd vanish; his expression softened as he rubbed small circles into her back.

"Hey, hey," he whispered. "I'm back. I'm okay."

Still, she wouldn't move her forehead away from his belly. He had to pry her off, revealing her red, puffy eyes and sniffling nose.

"You promise?" she pleaded meekly.

"I promise." He kissed her on top of her head. "Is anyone else home right now?"

Kuu-chan pulled away from him and wiped her reddened eyes. She did her best to regain her composure: something that hurt Minato's heart to see. She was so young, yet she was forced to put herself through… all of this. She didn't deserve it—not that anyone else did, but…

"Miss Landlady went out this morning," the girl managed to get out, causing him to frown. She couldn't possibly mean—

"And Miya-san took care of you well?" he asked for confirmation. Kuu-chan nodded silently. "How about Homura-san?"

"Not here."

Still? They had agreed that something needed to be taken care of before everyone could come home, but Homura should've been back by now. Did something happen?

"Who's been looking after you?" was his next question. He immediately pulled her closer and checked her for anything indicating she wasn't in otherwise perfect health. A kid her age shouldn't be left unattended this long, and the only other person around was—

"I made sure to keep her safe, Minato. Don't worry."

He froze for a moment before looking up. He missed her arrival, somehow: Matsu-san stood before him, a thin smile in place.

He wanted to greet her joyfully. His mouth twisted, trying to smile, but his lips could only fall painfully as his eyes welled with tears.

"Matsu-san," he muttered. "I'm sorry. I should have listened. Because of me—!"

The woman rushed over and pulled him into her bosom. Kuu-chan ended up sandwiched between them, left unable to escape the fleshy prison they unwittingly created.

"It's okay, Mina-chan," she whispered into his ear. "It's okay."

He was still as stone for the first few seconds, then his hands were allowed to drop down to his side as his body slumped into her.

"But it isn't," he insisted," his voice barely audible. "You were right, Matsu-san. Shi—Emiya is a bad guy. If only I hadn't disregarded your warnings—-if I weren't so blind as to ignore what was right in front of me—maybe Uzume-san and everyone else would still be alive."

This time, her silence was loud; it was telling. She didn't try to console him or deny it. Kuu-chan looked up at them with big, curious eyes, unable to make out much from her disadvantageous position.

"There are other things for us to worry about right now," Matsu-san told him, changing the subject. "A package arrived, Mina-chan."

A… package?

Silently, she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him toward the kitchen. Kuu-chan followed after them while making sure to stay a few cautious steps behind.

Placed unassumingly on their dinner table was, indeed, a package. If not for the concern plastered clearly across Matsu-san's face, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. It was a brown box with no identifying characteristics beyond the Japan Postal Service packing slip taped to the top of it.

Matsu-san placed a hand on his chest, stopping him before he could get any closer to it.

"I'm sure of it," she muttered. "Beyond any shadow of a doubt… that's a Jinki."

"Eh?" He tried to blink away his bewilderment. "Someone sent one to us? Just like that?"

After everything he'd been told about the things… what was going on here? Was this a trick or an act of goodwill?

Either way, one question remained at the forefront of his mind.

"Who's it from?" he asked.

"MBI," she answered succinctly.

"MBI!?" he hissed. "Are you sure—"

She sighed.

"I'm sure," she insisted. "It was shipped out using a public mail service, of all things, so I've been keeping tabs on it since the tracking number went online. Door to door, sure enough…"

Minato shook his head in disbelief. This time, Matsu-san didn't impede his advance as he stepped toward the box. The woman handed him a knife; he was quick to cut through the packing tape.

The moment he opened the top and peered inside, he stepped away as if scalded.

Nestled neatly over a layer of bubble wrap was a large numbered crystal—as if someone was asked to draw a stereotypical diamond, but narrower and sharper—that encased a bead.

Sure enough, it was a Jinki.

"Why would they send this to us?" he muttered under his breath, not expecting an answer. And yet, Matsu-san answered all the same.

"Why they would do this at all is a mystery, but their reasons for choosing you specifically is obvious: you're important," his Sekirei reminded him. "Minaka said that he'd have a gift to the Ashikabi that 'Shine the brightest', didn't he? Pretty much half of the Single Digits—those among us with the highest power output by design—are yours to command. Everyone involved in the Sekirei plan has us on their radar. MBI included."

He didn't know what to say to that; his words wouldn't come to him. He didn't think of that, as stupid as that sounded. Matsu-san, Kazehana-san, Tsukiumi-san, Homura-san… From an outsider's perspective, if so many incredible people surrounded him, he was supposed to be incredible too, right? Not a regular guy. Everything so far had been accomplished of their own merit; it had nothing to do with him.

Ding!

He got a notification. Embracing the momentary distraction, he checked his phone.

Unfortunately, distractions would not come.

When he saw the message, he made a strange, strangled noise. Like a lobster being boiled, kind of.

Greetings!

I have rewarded those of you who have shined the brightest! A gold star has been left at the doorstep of the most Promising Ashikabi.

Sahashi Minato!

Sahashi Yukari!

Mikogami Hayato!

Sanada Nishi!

Congratulations to the four of you! As for everyone else… worry not! There will be opportunities for you to acquire gold stars of your own. I've hidden two more somewhere in the city. Find one… and it's yours!

Don't get too comfortable, though~

I'm keeping track of every gold star possessed by an Ashikabi. You will all be sent a map featuring the live location of every currently discovered gold star, so nowhere is safe! Fight, fight, fight! Take every single one for yourself, and go even further beyond!

The Sekirei upon which all stars shine their light will fly amongst them and be crowned victor of the Sekirei Plan.

Happy hunting!

He took a deep, calming breath. Matsu-san peered over his shoulder, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Mina-chan?"

Her inquisitive expression vanished, replaced by one of worry. Kuu-chan didn't know what was going on, nor did she ask, but felt the need to grab Minato's hand to provide comfort. It worked to a degree, letting him come to his senses, but that feeling of trepidation still sat heavily within him.

"Kuu-chan. Do you have any games upstairs?"

The younger girl blinked owlishly.

"Homura-chan bought me a Wintento Twitch! I have Cooking Auntie, Animal Stop, Doon Ethermal, Wintendogs…"

Minato adopted the same look. Homura did? That was kind. He felt bad for not noticing earlier. For now, though, he was happy to hear it.

"Do you mind playing your games for a bit? I need to talk to Matsu-san about grownup stuff."

"But…"

She looked unwilling—as if scared that they would turn to dust if she left them alone together. Thankfully, his and Matsu-san's reassuring smiles were enough to crumble her feelings of uncertainty.

"Okay," she mumbled before scampering up the stairs.

The smiles dropped the moment she left their line of sight.

Slowly, the boy turned his head to the older Sekirei. The bespectacled woman's mood dropped further as she laid eyes on his utterly lost visage.

"Matsu-san. My sister's name is on here."

She placed a delicate hand atop of his.

"Mina-chan…"

"I should call her—"

His fingers couldn't even budge under the force of her hold. His eyes widened, not expecting her to be so strong.

She didn't seem to notice. Was Matsu-san always…?

It made sense, in the end. She was a brain-type, so it was easy to forget that she, too, was a Sekirei. Even if the others stood head and shoulders above her in brawn, Matsu-san could out-muscle a weak human like him easily.

"MBI put your info out there," she reminded him. "You're vulnerable. For now, you absolutely cannot call her. Not over a public line, at least. Give me some time to work something out. Until the others are back at least."

He grimaced. That wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"But—"

"We're vulnerable. Most of your flock aren't here. There's only so much I can do to protect you." she interrupted him, her voice wavering. "At least, against the people we need to fight. I'm sorry, Mina-chan, but please. Please."

The defeat in her tone made him feel awful. Their current circumstances were his own doing, and the first step to amending what he could was actually listening to the person who tried to warn him in the first place.

"Sorry."

She closed her eyes.

"If she really is an Ashikabi, then she's a strong one," Matsu-san argued. "There's no other reason for Minaka to give her name out like that, other than…" She shook her head. "No. You must have faith in her."

They shared a moment of intense silence, broken by his lengthy sigh.

"You're right. In the meantime, though, I'd like your help."

She blinked.

"Yes?" she answered unsurely, not expecting a request.

The conviction in his eyes was clear to see.

"I want to talk to the other three Ashikabi in that message," he asked clearly. "The gold stars are jinki, right? Among us four, that's already half. I want to work with them, not against them. If we band together, it'll be possible to get the rest before Emiya can find one. We can nip the next phase in the bud!"

She didn't look convinced. She looked away, eyes downcast.

"Minato…"

"If you don't think it'll work, we'll think of something else," he told her right away. "I'm serious: if you tell me it's a bad idea, I'll believe you."

She grabbed her collar bashfully.

"It… might work," she relented. His face brightened.

"Great! Then—"

"But everything has to go perfectly!" she spoke over him. "It'll be really, really easy to make a mistake here. That's why we have to remove any room for error—don't do anything until I can secure our comms."

He nodded.

"Right."

Matsu-san pressed her hands together.

"There are eight jinki in total: four given out, one stolen, two for people to fight for… I'm guessing the other one is in the custody of the Disciplinary Squad. It's a bold move, but… it confirms my suspicions that my stealing one didn't put a dent in their plans in the slightest. Minaka isn't stupid: if he handed out most of them before the next phase even started, he's banking on the lack of availability to make the rest of the Ashikabi turn on the stronger ones, or that all that's left going into the next round are those capable of going all the way."

…The stronger ones, huh?

"Why didn't Emiya get one, then?"

Her mood dropped further as she welled with uncertainty. The crux was that it didn't make sense for Emiya and Karasuba to be left out of MBI's newest announcement. If it were a matter of naming the strongest Ashikabi as was insinuated, they'd no doubt be at the top of the list. It was so bizarre that it couldn't have been anything but an overt message on their part.

"I don't know," Matsu-san answered sombrely.

Oh.

If even Matsu-san didn't have a clue…

His phone rang. With it still being held in his hand, they could both see the caller ID.

They shared a look.

"Don't mention anything we just talked about right now," she whispered. "But you should answer anyway; don't say anything strange."

He accepted the go-ahead and picked up.

"Seo?"

X

"I could've sworn I saw something from the rooftops just a second ago," Hibiki asserted, her fist pressed against her chin. "He couldn't have gotten far, right?"

Seo stopped in his tracks, reaching up to pull the hood of his rain jacket over his eyes.

"Hold up," he muttered quietly, hoping his voice was loud enough for Hibiki and Hikari to hear over the sound of rain drumming against concrete.

"The hell?" Hikari grumbled. "What's the big—"

He covered her mouth.

"He's here," he told them.

A bright, circular headlight appeared around the corner of a conspicuously empty city block—a motorcycle. Considering current weather conditions, the rider cruised down the road at speeds that probably weren't the safest.

Despite their stark contrast in demeanour, the twins shot him a similar look of disbelief. He did his best to hide his smug grin, knowing there was more to his moment of sensory acuity than they thought.

It wasn't that he, the human, heard the hum of the engine before the Sekirei; rather, unlike them, he knew that what he was hearing was an engine to begin with and not a nearby drain echoing the sound of falling water or something. City streets, cars, people, the inner workings of society… His girls were new to all of it. They were raised in a lab. The one thing a good-for-nothing guy like him had going on was lots of experience with all of that.

With any luck, that experience would help him with the stupid thing he was about to do.

"Let's get this show on the road," he ordered, running on ahead.

The girls regained their composure. They followed his lead as he stepped out right smack in the middle of the street, impeding the progress of their target. The rider seemed to consider swerving around them, but he was smart enough to know that he might wipe out if he tried it. Or maybe it was something else? Either way, not super important. Step one: check.

The motorcyclist came to a full stop. In one fluid motion, he disembarked his vehicle and kicked out its stand.

"You psychos. What is this, an insurance scam? I've got a dashcam, you idiots," he cussed at them gruffly, his voice muffled by his helmet, then pulled out a cellphone. "It's raining pretty hard right now; we could've all died. Want me to call the cops on ya? Whatever this is about, I'm not interested."

He was agitated. Or annoyed. Both, maybe. He wasn't approaching them, though, so he had the presence of mind to remain cautious.

Not as much of a hothead as most would speak of him, then. That was… good, maybe.

"Sanada Nishi," Seo greeted him, noting how the man froze upon hearing his name. "I hear you like to spend your afternoons spinning about the west end; I hoped we'd catch you on one of your little ventures despite the weather. Good to know that I was right."

The downpour worked in their favour, here. Since the reform, this end of Nakano ward didn't get much traffic, which probably explained why Sanada came here so frequently. In this storm, it was deserted. They wouldn't have to worry about bystanders if things went south.

Sanada dumped his phone into his jacket's front pocket and pulled his helmet off, revealing a scowling face covered by long, unruly black hair.

"What do you want?" he spat, then glanced at Hibiki and Hikari. "A fight?"

A fight, huh?

Seo took a look around. He didn't see any of the man's Sekirei around. Were they hiding?

"Doesn't have to be," Hibiki chimed in.

Sanada stared them down in silence. Despite his earlier complaints, he was more than happy to ignore the rain matting his hair to his brow in favour of standing his ground.

"Could've fooled me."

Seo bit his cheek. Damn it. It would have been better to meet under different circumstances, but they were forced to work with what they had.

"Did you get MBI's message?" Seo asked. "The newest one."

"What's that got to do with me?" the other Ashikabi grumbled, picking at his ear. "Something about stars or whatever… right? I don't care."

That was a no, then.

"If you saw it, you'd know, given that's where I got your full name and location."

The ear-picking paused. Suddenly, the younger man looked much more interested in what he had to say.

"Hah!?"

"You read the Ashikabi forums, don't you? Including yourself, there are Five Ashikabi understood to be the most powerful forces in Shinto Teito," Seo told him. "Four of them are referred to as the Ashikabi of the North, South, East, and West, each named after the region of the city they occupy… or used to occupy. Their 'territory', so to speak. The fifth—"

"Yeah, I know," Sanada snapped back brusquely. "You going anywhere with this?"

Seo closed his eyes, hoping to gather enough mental fortitude to carry out the rest of this mess of a conversation. This Sanada guy got on his nerves.

"Look. The current 'top four' Sekirei pairs have all been given a package by MBI. You have one too, right?"

Sanada seemed bothered by the turn in conversation; all interest in learning about Seo's access to his personal information was lost. He hopped back onto his motorcycle and rested his helmet atop his crown, giving all three of them a dirty look from under the eave it created above his brow.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe go fuck yourself. You all need to get outta my—"

"You have the means to take your fate into your own hands," Seo tried. "Do you want to keep letting MBI lead you around by the nose until it's too late? I know you know what happened to Higa! He was a prick of the highest order, but he was not an idiot. What makes you think that you'll fare any better? Work with us, Sanada. We, the Ashikabi, have to stop MBI. No one else can."

The outburst managed to get something out of Sanada; he stilled.

"Stop MBI?" Sanada repeated incredulously, eyeing Hibiki and Hikari as he did so. "Higa died because he overplayed his hand and ran into the Black Sekirei, not because of MBI. That compass playground jungle gym kumbaya horseshit you were talking about just now doesn't interest me. Now MBI realises it too, right? All that matters is who's strongest. This matter'll be settled among us four: Sahashi, Mikogami, Emiya and Yours Truly. The rest of you don't matter."

He started walking toward them. Seo and the girls were put on guard.

Seo glared at him. Hikari and Hibiki took a few steps back, their hands crackling with electricity. He had to put his arm up to calm them down. This guy was alone; treating him as a threat would only antagonise him further.

"Hate to break it to ya, but Emiya's not in MBI's 'top four' either."

Sanada stopped in his tracks. He looked utterly thrown for a loop, not that anyone should blame him. It didn't make sense for Emiya to be kept off a list, right? As far as 'competitors', went, he was all that anyone could talk about now, for better or worse.

"What?" the younger man breathed out, "Why?"

Seo grinned.

"You wanna know, huh?"

"Quit playing around, Seo!" Hikari whispered agitatedly. "Get to the point already! What's the matter with you?"

They just wouldn't get it. Guys like Sanada couldn't read between the lines; they needed pictures painted for them.

Sanada's mouth stayed shut but he kept pace in his advance. Seo decided to answer anyway.

"Like you said, he's a different animal. No one wants to treat him as a 'competitor', ostensibly. "He's been hunting us down, killing us. He blew up a hospital. There's no way anyone would accept that a well-renowned company like MBI, regardless of its eccentricities, would let someone like that play their 'game', right?" is my best guess. "He's an outlier. Everyone's too scared to admit anything to the contrary. He's a monster, not an Ashikabi." But I think MBI overplayed their hand allowing them to run about, and I think they're in too deep to admit it now."

Sanada was standing face to face with him now. The older, larger man was more than happy to stare this punk kid down, arms crossed.

Sanada sucker punched him right in the nose. His girls watched it happen with eyes wide like saucepans.

"You—!"

He touched his finger against his nostril and could instantly feel it bleeding. Hopefully, nothing was broken.

The kid snarled at him and flipped him off with the same hand he used to knock his head back, the banged-up skin on the knuckles acting as a little extra "fuck you".

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care, Old-timer? Call him the boogie man all you want. You're not gonna stop me from going after him. I'm kicking his ass."

…Wait.

Was that what he thought Seo was doing? Convincing him to stay away from Karasuba? How the hell did this idiot come to that conclusion!?

"Seo, you moron!" Hikari nagged him, not seeming to care about his injury. "This is why you don't beat around the bush!"

"The Black Sekirei is literally why we're here!" Hibiki added, also not seeming to care about his injury. "You suck at this!"

Ah. Maybe. Still, though, hold on.

"Did you just call me Old-timer!? I'm only—!"

BOOM!

Their conversation was brought to a halt. Not too far from them, three figures dropped from the city skyline and cratered the asphalt below as they landed. Three young women, hair jet black, sprinted toward them with crazed looks in their eyes. Almost as if they could smell the moment first blood was drawn.

"Ah, shit," grumbled Hikari.

"Did they just get here?" Hibiki questioned. "There's no way they've been hiding nearby this whole time!"

Seo was inclined to agree. He glanced over to Sanada, who grinned triumphantly as his cavalry arrived to save him. Did he know they were coming?

His eyes trailed down to the bright screen of the cell phone sticking out of the kid's pocket, then widened.

Damn it! No way a guy like this would've called the cops. He probably dialled Back Up and left the speaker on as they spoke. He was starting shit to buy time.

Seo didn't give Sanada Nishi enough credit. His Sekirei had come for him.

"Wait, wait wait!" he screamed, hands spread out before him. His plea didn't work, unfortunately; Hikari and Hibiki were kept busy by a Sekirei each, leaving the third one to zoom past them and pull him into a chokehold.

"Listen—gagh!"

She flung her legs around his, tripping him and dragging him to the ground. He was a pretty tough guy, but not even Seo could put up much of a fight against the Sekirei's quick takedown.

"Damn it."

"Shit!"

His girls looked back and cursed, but not much more could be done given the circumstances.

Feeling in charge of the situation, Sanada gave himself the time to check his phone.

"So this is what you were talking about, huh?" he mumbled to himself. His eyes widened after a few seconds. "The hell…? Another Sahashi? Who the hell's this? Is she related to the other one?"

Sahashi…

…!

That gave Seo an idea, albeit a stupid one.

He gasped, doing his best to keep his windpipe intact as he wormed his hands into his pockets to reach for his phone. It was an older thing: a flip phone. In situations like these, however, the physical buttons helped a ton.

The phone started ringing and he wasn't the only one who noticed. The Sekirei holding him down tried to wrestle the device out of his hands, so he had to put his entire body and soul into keeping it out of her reach until the line picked up.

Click.

He grinned.

"Sahashi Minato! Buddy! Pal! Are you there?"

He spoke as loudly as he could without sounding pained. It did the job, he thought. At least, it was enough to get everyone to stop long enough to figure out what he was doing.

It was a gamble, admittedly. If things didn't go the way he wanted them to, maybe the kid could avenge him, or something.

"Seo? What—"

"I'm having a nice chat with the Ashikabi of the West right now," Seo cut him off, enjoying the perplexed look of the man in question with a shit-eating grin. "Super chill guy! I was wondering if we could stop by in a bit. I think he wants to speak with you, Ashikabi of the North, about dealing with Karasuba and her circus monkey. That cool with you?"

There was an intense silence that followed. It sounded like the kid was discussing with someone away from the speaker, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying.

Judging by the six sets of eyes boring holes into his head, whatever Minato said next would determine his fate. If Sanada didn't take him out, Hibiki and Hikari probably would.

"...Yeah. Come over."

Nice!

"Sure thing, friend-o! We'll be there soon."

He quickly hung up before any questions could be asked.

"What was that?" Sanada asked him. His confrontational demeanour took a back seat to his incredulity. That was good, probably.

"You want to go after Karasuba, right?" Seo asked him seriously, his jovial facade dropping in an instant. "I can tell you aren't an idiot. If you think that's gonna happen, you'll need help, and the way things are going, anyone who isn't working with you is probably gonna be working against you. I've dropped a golden opportunity right onto your lap and I suggest you take it before it slips you by."

Sanada looked like he swallowed a lemon whole. Seo grinned.

X

The doorbell rang. They could hear it clearly, even up here in Matsu-san's hidden den-room… place. Minato nodded in her direction, then over at Kuu-chan, who was playing one of her games in the corner. She looked up from the device long enough to nod back.

"I'll get it," he told Number Two. "If you want, you can stay here."

She seemed to think about the offer for a moment. In the end, however, she shook her head.

"No," she whispered. "You'll need me there. Everyone else is recovering; Homura-san is still patrolling the perimeter, so it's up to me to pick up the slack. I won't leave you alone."

He thought of putting up more of a fight, but only for a split second. It wasn't much to say that she was way smarter than him, and even with all her eccentricities, considering the stuff they were bound to get into, leaving her behind would be spitting in her face, more than trying to keep her safe.

"Thank you," he replied simply, then got up to leave. Matsu-san followed. "Kuu-chan, you remember what we told you, right?"

"Stay here unless you call me," she mumbled, clearly unhappy with her end of the bargain. She could pout all she wanted. He wasn't about to get her involved unless he had to.

He affectionately patted her on the head and went off to greet their guests.

He was nervous. Seo, he knew, but Sanada? The guy was a total unknown. Going off reputation alone, he was a powerful Ashikabi. As for his character, little to nothing could be said. Hopefully, he wasn't as bad as his reputation would suggest.

Grabbing the doorknob, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

Okay. Let's do this.

"Welcome," he greeted them, posture straight. "Let's—"

His words died in his mouth when the opened door revealed the people standing behind it. A taller man, sword sheathed at his hip, and a younger boy.

Both were immediately recognisable.

"You!" Minato shouted in alarm, taking a step back. "What do you want, Mikogami?"

Damn it! Judging by their previous run-ins, this guy was no pushover. He was the Ashikabi of the South for a reason. In his current state… there wasn't much that he could do to ward the away. He should've figured that someone was bound to come for him eventually, given MBI's newest message, but this was way too fast! He didn't want to make Kuu fight anyone, but it could be their only option if they were here for what he thought they were.

"Is Matsu around?" asked Mutsu, the Sekirei. "We're here to talk, for now. Nothing more."

…Eh?

Matsu-san pushed past him in a panic, her eyes wide like saucers. She looked like she wanted to say something, and yet, it was all she could do to stand between her Ashikabi and their enemies.

Mutsu sighed.

"Settle down, would you?" Mikogami told them, waving a hand over his shoulder dismissively. " I'd bring more than Mutsu if I were trying to start a fight with another heavy hitter. Besides, Mutsu says this place is hallowed ground, no fighting here and all that. I think there's a deal to be made. Won't you hear us out?"

That was… good, right? For now.

Matsu-san peered over her shoulder at Minato uncertainly, waiting for his answer. Before he could give one—

"What fresh hell is this?"

It was a voice that Minato was unfamiliar with. Mikogami and his Sekirei stepped aside to reveal, Seo and the twins, who just entered the property along with…

The boy did his best to seem unbothered as he locked eyes with this scary stranger that Seo-san brought over to meet him. This was Sanada-san? The guy didn't look that much older than him, yet something told him that the guy's life experiences were way crazier than a college flunky like him. He had a real biker gang aesthetic about him.

"That must be Sanada," Matsu-san whispered. Mikogami overheard her, unfortunately. The younger boy grinned.

"Oh! It's nice to finally put a face to the name, Ashikabi of the West!" he greeted the man, then his eyes veered toward Seo-san. "Is this your vassal? I think you can do better, truthfully."

Hibiki-san slapped her hand over Hikari-san's mouth before she could laugh.

"Who the hell're you calling a vassal, you punk!?" Seo-san screeched indignantly.

"Sure, let's call him that—," Sanada-san agreed disinterestedly.

"Hah!?"

"—But that's not important. Are we all here for the same reason?"

Mikogami's smile didn't crack.

"I'm not sure. I suppose we'll have to find out, right?"

Cautiously, Mutsu rested his palm on the hilt of his sword. Regardless of the Sekirei's intentions, it wasn't taken very well; three women—all of them Sekirei—jumped down from the roof and landed in front of Sanada-san, presumably their Ashikabi. Were they here this whole time?

Oh, man. This could get bad really, really fast.

Minato's mind was working a mile a minute. No matter which way you sliced it, they were about to start a fight right here, right now, weren't they? Three, five… Six Sekirei and three Ashikabi would be too much for him to handle with things as they were.

This didn't have to be a bad thing, though. On the flip side, wasn't this exactly what he wanted? For reasons each their own, the strongest Ashikabi were gathered in one place and seemingly willing to talk things out. Or at least, that was their intention. They were getting carried away right now.

"Everyone, please come inside," he invited them, making sure to speak audibly. "We have a lot to talk about."

It's now or never! Let's hope MIkogami is being genuine.

Minato felt everyone's eyes on him. No one showed any signs of moving, though.

"Do you remember what I was saying about 'not leaving room for error'?" Matsu-san whispered into his ear. "This is 'room for error'!"

She wasn't wrong to think that way, but was there any other option right now? They were sitting ducks regardless.

For once in your life, be dependable. Take charge.

"We should state our intentions clearly now," he continued, hoping Matsu-san didn't think that he was ignoring her again. He didn't mean it that way! "I invited Seo-san and Sanada-san personally, but you must have your own agenda, Mikogami-san. If we're open with each other, I'm sure we can work something out—"

Three phones buzzed in unison. Their conversation was put on hold as the Ashikabi warily checked their devices.

Hello Again!

It seems like someone has already found one of my hidden gold stars!

The fifth star has been found by:

Emiya Shirou.

Better hurry up! There's only one left~

Reminder: the gold stars already in play are free game!

Minato's blood ran cold.

X

The highway leading out of Shinto Teito was empty. MBI made sure of it.

The Sekirei Plan was a delicate thing; any unwanted variables could spell trouble. That meant keeping everyone from Shinto Teito in and everyone else out. Security at the borders was tighter than ever, shutting down all public access to highways, train stations and airports. This inconvenienced the general populace, definitely. Angered them, even. Nothing could be done, however, as MBI's word was law.

Of course, as a singular armoured truck rolled down the aforementioned empty highway, it stood to reason that the vehicle belonged to MBI.

Inside its reinforced trailer sat a group of men, shoulders slumped and eyes downcast. There was an air of defeat about them, and yet they all knew that they should be thankful that they were left alive to feel miserable at all.

Here they were, being carried out of harm's way by MBI's witness protection program because the organizers of the game couldn't keep their own event under control. Their partners—their Sekirei—were killed in cold blood. By either luck or misfortune, none of them were around when it happened, so all they had was second-hand information.

"The Black Sekirei", they called her. The murderer.

MBI had told them that they had to go away because she would come for them next. Why? Why couldn't they just take care of the very obvious problem? Why did the rest of them have to suffer because of some megacorporation's incompetence?

"Shit," one of them cursed under his breath, staring at his phone screen. "Did you see this? My nephew sent me an article: the hospital burned down the other day. Buncha people died."

The man seated across from him looked unimpressed.

"Are we allowed to be in communication with our families? This doesn't feel very 'witness protection-y'"

"I dunno, they didn't take our phones away so I think it's fine."

"Which hospital?" another man asked, scooting over curiously.

"Which—I dunno, the big one!"

The second man grimaced.

"Yeah, I heard. They're trying to cover it up, but…"

"But what?"

He sighed, hunching over and grabbing his head as if in pain.

"My Sekirei was there. There was some stuff going on and that Higa guy had dirt on me—" he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Look, that's not important. What I'm getting at is that it was an attack."

The third one hummed.

"Right. That Higa guy was an Ashikabi, too. A pretty strong one. You saying some a group of Ashikabi teamed up to take him down? Dropping a hospital as collateral is pretty messed up, man."

"Nah. From what I hear, it was just the Black Sekirei. She's pure evil."

In unison, their cellphones buzzed, cutting the conversation short. They shared a look of uncertainty.

It was a message from MBI.

As they took their time to read it in silence, confusion took over.

"The hell?" the first man muttered. "Why are we still getting these? Aren't we out of the game?"

"'I have rewarded those of you who have shined the brightest…'" the second man recited slowly. "'A gold star—'"

Thump.

There was a loud knock at the back of the truck. They all jumped.

The third man was white as a sheet.

"Hey… What's our driver doing? Can someone tell him to quit messing around?"

"How? We're totally cut off from the cab. We don't even have his number."

"Then how are we supposed to—"

Thump.

The second one was even louder. Their jaws clacked shut and their necks swivelled over to the back doors.

CRASH!

They screeched as the doors finally caved inward, warping enough to be taken clean off the hinges and shanghaied by the billowing winds. Standing in the makeshift entrance was a grey-haired woman gripping the top of the trailer lazily as her narrowed eyes were glued to a cell phone.

"'The Sekirei upon which all stars shine their light will fly…'" she read, sounding almost unsure of herself. "Yada yada yada… What's Minaka going on about? Why send this to me? I—uh… Oh."

She finally looked up from the screen. She met the wide-eyed gaze of surprise of the group of men with surprise of her own. The reasons for their surprise differed, however; the men were surprised to see her while she seemed more focused on whatever she had going on on the phone.

"You—You're the—!" the first man stuttered, unable to get his thoughts together. Surprise turned to dread very quickly.

"The Black Sekirei," another whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the truck's tires spinning on asphalt.

"... I took the wrong phone," the grey-haired woman concluded, ignoring the onset panic of her purported targets.

She took her dear sweet time tapping away at the device's screen before bringing it up to her ear.

"He~yo Shirou-chan!" she chirped into the mic. "I think I took your phone by accident. Do you mind checking something for me?"

She pulled the speaker away for a moment and winced.

"Sheesh. No need to get all uppity about it."

"Screw this," one of the men hissed. He would try making a break for it under the distracted woman's arm. Sure, the fall would suck, but staying here with her was a death sentence anyway!

He moved before the others could stop him. Just as he thought he was home free, he felt a hand grabbing him by the ankle.

"Wha—-Ah! Ahhhhh!"

His loud cries persisted as the other men could only watch in horror as the woman held him up by the hem of his pants, letting the rest of his body drag along the road behind them. No part of his upper half was visible to them, though his incessant screams made it easy to imagine his agony.

"What? Sorry, things are a little loud; I only have one free hand so I'm forced to improvise," she continued to speak to whoever was on the other line as if nothing was wrong. "Did we get any deliveries recently?"

The screaming man fell silent. It wasn't difficult to imagine why that was. After waiting a second or two, she allowed his body to drop and be taken away by the road.

"Ehh," she drawled. "Nothing? Seriously? No, no, I'll explain later."

The remaining men were petrified. One started crying. It didn't feel like she even thought of them as people. Having been dehumanized in such a way, forced to wait their turn, and yet, nothing could be done.

She took the open seat next to the crying one; he cried louder until she slapped her free hand over his mouth, silently telling him to do a better job of keeping quiet.

He was trying, to his credit.

The Black Sekirei's phone was kept pressed tightly to her cheek. Her face contorted in concentration as she listened intently to the person she spoke with.

"Mhm. Mhm… Mhm. Yeah—wait, that's where? No, you're thinking of the wrong end of town. I'm in—We have time before it closes so I can pick it up when I'm done. No, don't change plans, I said I'll pick it up! Can you hear—Uhg." Her shoulders slumped. "One sec."

Her katana—an ordinary-looking thing— was drawn before the remaining two men could blink. A shame for them as their heads rolled to the ground just as quickly.

That's that, then.

Karasuba left the corpses as they were and exited through the same end she entered. The Sekirei scaled the top of the truck before swinging down and through the glass windows of the cab.

She sighed.

"That's better. A lot quieter in here. Can you hear me now?"

Shirou started talking about something or other, but she was soon distracted by the sight before her. What should have been the driver's seat was completely unmanned, which explained a lot if the cab was moving on autopilot while she was causing a ruckus in the back. Curiously, however, a plain brown box was left unattended on the empty seat.

Curiosity got the best of her. Using a hand to open the unsealed flaps, the first thing she saw was a printed paper note.

Here you go, it read.

As the letter was lowered, she noticed the item it was covering and laughed.

"Hm? Sorry, sorry!" she apologised, noticing she interrupted Shirou mid-sentence. "Something really funny came up. No, you'll have to see for yourself when I get back. And I will buy the pork cutlets. Don't take anything else out, okay? You know I've been craving it."

She hung up on him, her smirk never leaving her as she kept her eyes on the box.

And just like that, a Jinki fell onto their laps. It was gifted to them, more like. It didn't take much to figure out that Minaka left it here for her to find when she inevitably came to finish the job. No wonder the security was practically nonexistent.

How thoughtful of him.

Idly, she wondered if this sudden gift would change her Ashikabi's plans for the next few days in the slightest.

She doubted it.

One way or the other, the Sekirei Plan was hurtling towards its end, after all.

Smiling, she opened the door, hopping out with the box tucked under her arm, making her way back across the bridge as the newly designated hearse drifted serenely into the horizon.

X

Hello again! Sorry it took so long to get the ball rolling. Again, this really isn't supposed to be a yearly release; I've just been busy with work. And this chapter. You would not believe the hell I put Sherlock through with this one.

Scenes were added. Scenes were deleted. Scenes were rewritten. The good news is that most of the next chapter is already written thanks to all the scenes that were taken out and pushed back, but the bad news is that it took, what, like a month and a half or something to finish this thing?

I will be putting out a bunch of HHEX chapters to play catch-up but I'll be honest I NEED to give Sherlock a break here. Poor guy didn't deserve this. I'll be putting up a We Never Grow Up chapter shortly followed by the first pa treon exclusive chapter in a while, then I'm back on my head.

Thank you all for sticking it out with me!