One moment, she was standing, trying to get someone out. The next, she hears someone belittling her and grabbing her! "Wh-wha!? Hey, let me go, you! I know what I'm doing!" She kicks, unable to get a good enough position to get out. She hears a bunch more people and more chaos, but having been picked up and carried off, everything blurred together.

She kicks up and manages to roll out of her hold. She falls to the ground and lands on her feet before clicking her tongue. "What the hell was that for!? Do NOT ever do that again!" She frowns and tries to brush off her clothes, when she hears the growl of the wolf from earlier.

'Oh crap... he's looking at us...' She tenses up, feeling his ki. Recalling what happened earlier, she puts her chances at winning at slim, if he does decide to attack. And that's when another signature entered the ki echoing. 'Is that...' She is still tense as she feels the second Sekirei ki... well, third counting the armored woman. ****.

'I want to run, but... then someone else might get hurt. One of these humans... can't do that.' She thinks to herself. She clicks her tongue before speaking. "You guys... really should be going... not just standing around!"

Noah The Wolf

The Omniscient Ingenious Overly Handsome Hero of the Sekirei Plan Hiroto Minaka valiantly sits on the roll-y chair in his monitor room as he watches the most interesting event to occur in the North District so far. Everything kept getting better, the whole scene had heroics, brave idiocy, gore and of course his lovely Sekirei. He squinted curiously beneath his glasses at the two monitors which showed the only humans left in the immediate area. "That one, he fits the bill in every way." The man who seemed to recognize the danger of the situation right away yet wouldn't leave while other people were still in danger despite his inability to save anyone. He was smart, but not too intellectual, neither ugly nor especially handsome, but most importantly he was still there, and Minaka knew there must be at least one Ashikabi there, it was all far too perfect to be a coincidence. Sekirei don't simply flock together with no Ashikabi around. "Perhaps that one." The American who'd tried to fiddle with the cafe's electronics. "Definitely not that one." The American who barely showed enough signs of intelligence to warrant being human instead of a sea sponge, and now filmed it all without managing to show any comprehension for the whole thing regardless.

"Kana, you're still listening right?"

"Yes sir."

"This is fun and all, but none of those humans have done anything to really stand out to the Sekirei, something like this and still none of them have emerged. In fact only 4 Sekirei in the North District have their wings so far. This won't do at all, if one district is too much weaker than the others the plan could become depressingly dull, especially with that boy in the south taking the easy way. If nothing else happens after this battle is over we might have to spice things up in the North a bit on our own. Stand by for now."

"Understood."

---

The small girl broke out of the knight's grip the moment she had a chance and went off on her, but it didn't go far before she froze. Seiji followed her gaze and froze just as quickly, the giant wolf was looking right at them. "You guys... really should be going... not just standing around!" The blind girls words were true, really they'd been true since far before she uttered them but he still willed his legs to move. Sadly his attempts were to no avail, his legs were as uncooperative as an Irish Wolfhound with rabies. He was only pulled out of his frozen state when the knight yanked her hand out of his, it was also only then that he realized he had still been holding it at all.

The cosplayer was flustered for a moment but wasted no time reprimanding him for his silly comment on knighthood. "I- Go, I know full well what a knight's job is!"

Her stern command finally broke him out of fear's embrace and he happily complied. "Yes ma'am!" He practically squeaked as he FINALLY ran from the Cafe a safe distance. Being the persistent doof that he is Seiji stayed just close enough to watch the rest, something far beyond the scope of regular life was happening, and he had to see it through. He stared almost in awe at the Knight girl's speech to the wolf. Wow, she's no cosplayer, I don't know if it's time travel or an extreme devotion to specific morals but she really is a knight...or at least deserves to be called one. The woman fighting the wolf didn't seem to share the knight's sentiments and planned on surviving however unlikely it was. Seiji didn't know if he agreed with any of it or not but the whole thing was soberingly painful either way.

Seiji gasped and averted his eyes when the Wolf made his final move, but shortly after he couldn't stop himself from looking, ad doubling over to try and conquer the gagging. "Her head? Couldn't there be some other way... I... why didn't I leave sooner."

"Seiji, thank god you're still here! I'm so sorry I'm late I - what's wrong?" There stood Hiromi, showing up after all that madness and asking such a sensible question. He just shook his head and looked almost like he could cry. Hiromi moved to peek around the corner but Seiji pulled her into a tight hug and took the opportunity to squeeze her face lightly against his chest before she saw.

"Don't look, just don't." The tone of his voice stopped the question in her throat and she just nodded against his chest. With her nonverbal promise Seiji loosened his grip to look at her face before giving her a real hug. "Don't apologize, I'm so glad you were late, you could have been caught up in the whole thing. Some people were hurt and-and-and."

~~~

She shushed him and hugged him back. When Seiji had finally calmed down and they were sitting outside a different cafe they finally had the discussion they both knew was coming, but even though Seiji had been waiting at Sakura's in the first place to hear what Hiromi had to say it was him that spoke up first. "Hiromi... I don't think we should be together anymore, I can't give you what you need or deserve, and I just don't feel like we're right for each other." He looked for the anger, listened for the harsh words, but all he heard was a relieved sigh and all he found was a gentle smile.

"Good, now I don't have to feel like I'm breaking up with you." Seiji was utterly flabbergasted, Hiromi knew all too well how when Seiji was completely confused he sometimes couldn't react at all until he thought on it so she continued. "You deserve to pursue the life you want to live, but I can't just watch my boyfriend not live up to his potential and allow himself to fade into mediocrity. I've been thinking about it ever since we started fighting and...well...I see now that I can support you much better as a friend."

At first Seiji wondered if he was really making the right decision, but he quickly saw the beauty of the situation and grabbed Hiromi's hands in his own. "I'm glad you feel the same way I do, and I definitely want to keep hanging out. But now that that's settled I have to go, I'll stop by your place later so we can just finally talk like mature adults, but right now I need to ask someone something. He hurried off before Hiromi could ask any questions and started checking the area around Sakura's, he was worried about what he might see but when he got there the body was gone and some of the rubble was already cleared out. He wandered around for a few minutes before he felt more than heard the most direct, pained crying of his entire life. It could almost be called...pure there was no attempt to fight it, just the act itself, and the release it brought. Seiji's chest tightened more than any other time that day and he clutched at the pain, although the voice was distorted in the crying somehow he knew who it was, and that she could answer at least some of his questions.

He looked down at the ground and clenched his right hand into a fist when he realized he was hearing the crying not just in his ears but in his head, and as he muttered to himself he wished intensely that somehow his words would reach her and make her feel the least bit better. "Every knight is still a person under their armor, do not they deserve someone to help them?"

---

Minaka huffed at the whole situation before keying the communicator once again. "Kana, this situation has become dreadfully boring, and none of the Sekirei seem to be reacting to anybody yet, I think it's time we stir up some drama. I want you to make yourself known to number 93 and then run off with the closest human from Sakura's. I'm sending Maki after another human who interests me, the American who actually has a brain. I want you two to stay in contact and when you've acquired your targets meet up and wait for someone to find you before trading people and splitting up. It will be interesting to see what she does, and maybe number 34 will get involved, but I have plans for her later if nothing happens anyways. They don't want to fight just to fulfill the plan but maybe they'll fight when humans seem to be in danger. After all, every knight needs to save a damsel or two."

"Understood sir, she won't catch me."

---

Seiji had no idea why but he was so...angry that that girl was crying, but it didn't last long and when he looked around for the sound he thought he saw her descending from a building. He made to run towards her but before he moved much or managed to shout anything he heard a light ruffling noise behind him and felt a fairly hard impact in his stomach as the ground fled from him. All he could see besides the rapidly escaping ground were a pair of black boots and some black cloth.

Kana had pulled it off perfectly, the human was so surprised he didn't even have time to struggle before her grip completely immobilized him. She found #93 almost immediately and jumped silently behind her, pausing only long enough to whisper "Hello defective knight, still don't have your Excalibur?" before jumping once again and beginning to head towards where she knew she'd find Maki with her own target. She was no fan of insults but it served the President's interests in this case.

Noah the Wolf

Kotone sighs, having gotten away from the brutal scene before a while ago. She clicks her tongue here and there while she walks through the alleyways. Her finger trails on the wall of some random building she doesn't know the purpose of. 'I was just... just... useless back there! I thought I was better than that...' She kicks a trash can, sending it flying a few feet away with a loud 'clang'. She twitches from the loudness, but she keeps on forward.

"No, no. I gotta keep going. Gotta get past that. It's the only way." She takes a breath and holds her hand over her heart. She keeps on walking around, deep in the gut of the city, when she hears a commotion. She clicks her tongue and hears a few sounds, sounds of what might be some kind of fight. She clicks her tongue and turns her head in the direction of the confrontation.

The knight and human from before are up there. And also someone else. Someone she shouldn't really mess with from the feel of it. Various clicks of the tongue give her a decent layout of the building. She couldn't let herself back down, especially not after earlier! She frowns and begins to jump up the building's skeleton, clicking her tongue to refresh her mental map constantly. With a few hops and some corrections to keep her from falling to her death, she made her final jump.

"Hiiiiyah!" And lands on her face. She groans, clicks her tongue and sits up. "Whas goin on here?" She rubs her head, trying to kill the headache before it starts. Feeling the member of the disciplinary committee, her heart pumps faster. Much like earlier, her body is telling her she shouldn't be here, but she swallows that and stands tall.

Fia - The Blazing Aria​

Long, unbound white hair fluttered in Fia's wake as she strolled down the street with casual grace. The lights of the sleepless city of Tokyo caught in her hair and caused it to glow a myriad of colors, each different flash of a screen or a traffic light seeking to pain its reflection in the glistening strands. If her appearance didn't turn their eyes, those she passed would be drawn to stare at her as she hummed a cheerfully melodic tune. She paid no mind to these glances, though there was a small smirk on her face. She had forgotten how easy it was to tempt men with something so simple as beauty. They so rarely considered the character hidden beneath; if they knew her demented and degrading ways, they would probably avoid her at all costs. Such a foolish species.

Yet her Ashikabi would be among them... Such a sad thing. That wasn't such a pressing matter on her mind at this moment, however; she would much prefer to explore her new found freedom and grow accustomed to being in the wide world once again. Of course, Fia wasn't foolish enough to believe that she was without binds. She knew the MBI were likely monitoring them, and there was a set of rules they had to follow, but at least she was in the outside world once again.

The first thing Fia had done upon being released into Tokyo was to find more suitable clothing to where. Those within the MBI hadn't seemed to fully understand her requirements and had continuously brought her flawed materials... Clothing that was perfectly fine by others standards, but that was far below what she preferred. However, even when she found a clothing store that contained the clothing she was searching for, she had been disappointed to discover that the funds provided her by the MBI didn't cover such a large purchase and had been forced to find cheaper materials with similar appearances and textures. Highly unsatisfying. Perhaps it would be best if she found her Ashikabi quickly so that she could coerce them into buying the more expensive items she required... She just hoped they were rich, whoever they were. Rich and stupid. So much easier to manipulate, especially since all the rich boys seemed keen on impressing their lady friends with their wealth anyhow. Foolish, foolish creatures.

At least she had been able to find food to her tastes. Fia had first gone to a place called Sakura's, after hearing that they had fine food, but had arrived only to find it completely demolished. Whispers of a fight between some spectacular beings lead her to believe that Sekirei had been the cause, not that she really cared. Of course, she had to go on a longer search for food, but she had found something satisfactory enough. Not necessarily nutritional, but satisfactory. Even now, Fia was consuming spoonfuls of the strawberry sunday as she sauntered down the street, taking an occasional crunch of the minty cookies she had purchased from a group of young girls at a stand outside of a store. She had been unsure of them at first, but after tasting them she had found them quite delicious...

Fia was staring longingly up at a bulletin board featuring her favored brand of clothing when something flew by her vision. She turned her head to follow the object and noticed that it was a person... A Sekirei to be more specific. The Sekirei was holding another person, a normal human if their dully ordinary appearance was anything to go by. Fia's curiosity was peaked by this, though she didn't make any move to go after them. They were going in the same direction she was anyways, so if she caught up to them, she caught up to them and if she didn't, she didn't. She swallowed another spoonful of her frozen treat with a small smile. It might be worth her while to catch up, however... Some entertainment after her meal. But she wasn't going to rush herself on their account.

The Darkness Sekirei Layfe
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Hmm I wonder if they sell manga somewhere around this town." Layfe would think aloud to himself as he walked down the street with no real destination. While his knowledge of the town was quite limited his ability to steal things was not, so to help his problem along he had hmm "procured himself a phone from a passerby and used it. I mean it wasn't like they were going to miss it or anything, putting that thought aside Layfe pulled the phone out of his pocket and began to erase the contacts and things on the phone.
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As he went through this process however something to the side had caught his attention. It was the one thing that could almost bring him to tears, a manga shop. Layfe strode in quickly and swiftly went over to the shounen section completely disregarding the looks he received from the few customers that were staring at him. He didn't care as their was something much more important. He needed to grab at least 3 full series to quench his thirst, the allure of manga had been one of the many things that he had wanted to enjoy when he finally got to explore. Gathering what he wanted for today Layfe made his purchase with the card that had been provided to him, noticing that the cashier avoided looking him directly in the eyes and had a small blush covering her face, and decided to give the cashier a smile that made not just her but the other females in the shop blush profusely and with that Layfe exited with his bag of manga in hand.
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"Hmm I have reading material now, so I just need to find somewhere to read now." Layfe spoke as he would look around searching for a place that he could read and maybe get something drink. It would seem as if this was not an anime where one could find a cafe or something conveniently located where needed and so Layfe resigned himself to search. "Damn it this never happens in manga.." Layfe mumbled to himself as he eventually found a nice place that sold coffee and just decided to read his manga at his leisure. As he took a sip from his drink he noticed something zoom by, since there were not many things his trained eyes couldn't easily see he assumed it couldn't be anything but another Sekirei. "Hmm it could be interesting...." Layfe thought aloud as he decided, since he had no other plans, to go see what was going to occur. He would pull his hood up and walk into an alley way and would seemingly disappear as shadows covered him, it wouldn't due for his presence to be revealed to just anyone yet Layfe thought as he traveled through the shadows.

Soaring through the air with every jump, Tatsumaki Hagane, The Raging Steel Tornado of the Sekirei Plan's Disciplinary Squad huffed at the mission she was on. "Of course I finally get to go on a mission and I'm not supposed to be fighting, and what's worse I got the yappy one. Oh well... at least he was easy to shut up." Despite her disappointment there was a bit of excitement to her, Maki was fairly certain this whole ordeal would turn scrappy no matter what Minaka had told them so far. When she drew close to the unfinished building she was to meet Kana at she realized Minaka had sent her in a bit late, the Sekirei who Kana was supposed to lure was already there.

"Why does he always send her out first for stealthy stuff... jerk." She hefted Ryce securely over one shoulder and pulled her staff out with her other hand, and after only a few seconds of preparation spun the staff above her head at such a speed that wind blasted beneath her and she shot almost straight up. When she was near the top her concentration faltered for a second at the feeling of nearby pursuers and she had to cling to a girder and jump that last short distance to the roof. Kana was simply watching number 93 in preparation for any possible attack and only bothered to nod in Maki's direction. "Well hello to you too. I've got some good news, it looks like I was followed too."

"I as well, the wolf is on his way up, he didn't even have to keep up thanks to that nose." Kana nonchalantly added.

Seiji was so sure he had no control in what was going on by that point he almost wasn't afraid anymore. He looked up from Kana's grasp and saw Maki with Ryce. "Oh hey look, it's the american... what a coincidence."

Kana shook the confused human a bit. "Be quiet, you're lucky I'm the one holding you, the other human is unconscious for a reason."

"I'll be good scary quiet lady."

Athena tensed at the arrival of a second member of the Disciplinary Squad. One was strong enough to best a single-number with little effort, so that didn't bode well for her chances of besting two. She didn't need to best them, though, only to rescue the human. Or humans, now. She realized that they were both from Sakura's, and worried that the third and final member of the Squad might arrive with the last human who had stayed. She stood, unwilling to make a move as she worked her mind for a way to get the men away from the Sekirei.

The wait seemed to be at an end, but before anymore could be said, or 'threatened', numbers 34 and 7 showed up. Maki openly gasped and Kana covered her mouth for a moment to hide her disgust. "Ugh he's naked!" Maki shouted. "Couldn't you at least grab some clothes before you came here you stupid mutt!" It seemed that neither of the new entrants to the confrontation were anymore willing to let Humans be manipulated than number 93. Maki strolled casually over to Kana and dropped Ryce behind her, after which Kana dropped Seiji face-first right next to him.

Hiroto almost cackled with glee when he saw that Noah and Kotone had arrived. "Alright girls, looks like there's no point in trading and splitting up now, otherwise one of you would most likely get all the fun and number 7 and the other would be left out.

A wave of relief washed over Athena upon the arrival of the two other Sekirei. Normally she held the belief that all battles be one on one, but this was a rescue mission, not a battle, so any assistance was welcome. More than welcome, in this case it would be necessary. However, there was no guarantee they would help her. Their actions would have to be fast and deliberate for them to have a chance, though, even with three of them. The gears in her mind turned faster, struggling to come up with a plan, but she could not.

She then realized that the fact that they had let go of the humans presented an opportunity. All she needed to do was find a way to immobilize them long enough for the other two Sekirei to retrieve the humans, but they were both too strong to be held by her barriers. Their strikes were met with no resistance whatsoever.

Seiji sat on the ground behind Kana trying not to draw any attention. Whatever was going on here, there obviously wasn't too much he could do to influence it. However he couldn't just let other people fight over his life either. There had to be something he could do. His gaze rested on Athena for a moment and it came to him. Earlier at Sakura's she had been able to make some sort of wall of what looked like solid energy around that battle, and it had come out of nowhere so precisely he wondered just how accurate she could be with them. When Seiji noticed she was darting her eyes towards him and the American occasionally he decided it was worth a shot.

He waited until the next moment that Athena seemed to be looking at him and he held a hand up so she'd look at him a moment longer. Since the women who'd kidnapped them weren't really watching him he pointed to Athena, then Kana, then wrapped his left hand around his right wrist like a shackle, and next his hands around his ankles like shackles. He hoped she'd understand what he was getting at.

Athena focused on the Japanese man out of the corner of her eye as he began to move, not wanting to make it obvious to his captors. Even without his final gesture she realized his intentions, and wondered why she hadn't thought of it herself. If her barriers could not hold against their strikes, then it stood to reason that she only needed to keep them from striking. She'd never even thought of trying to use her barriers like that, but then again, she hadn't had much combat experience with her barriers anyway. Her focus shifted to the indicated body parts of the two disciplinary squad members. However, their sheer strength wouldn't allow her to hold them for too long, but it should be enough to retrieve the humans.

Once she had "locked on" to her targets, Athena quickly conjured barriers around the Disciplinary Squad members' wrists and ankles, also trying to get the knees and elbows for good measure. The barriers were always completely stationary, so they wouldn't be able to move without breaking them. The speed required to craft them before the enemy could react caused her to make weaker barriers than she'd have liked, but it should be enough.

Kana and Maki watched all three of the Sekirei carefully, none of them could stand up to the discipline squad, and there was no way of knowing how their abilities might be able to compliment one another of they synchronised well enough. It wouldn't do if either of them got too confident and ended up looking like fools. Maki was surprised it had taken number 93 so long to act on saving the humans, but with seemingly no warning at all the action came. Faster than even she could react small motes of light hardened into small barriers around first her wrists and ankles, and then her other joints.

"What th - crap I didn't think she could make them on people." She gritted her teeth and began to struggle, but with no room to build up any momentum she couldn't shatter the barriers right away.

Kana had the same problem, she generated one of her blades almost immediately but couldn't move her hand enough to get at either of the barriers. An unexpected move to be sure, but I don't remember hearing anything about her being that quick to come up with a plan.

"You two," she called to the other Sekirei present. "rescue the humans while I try to hold them!" She made an effort to strengthen her barriers with more layers. She wished she could simply reinforce a barrier she had made, but this was the best she could do.

If Kana couldn't reach her bonds she would have to let gravity do the work. Kana focused intensely in an attempt to manifest a sword directly above one of the barriers at just the right angle to free her right arm. She had to get it on the first try, if it took them more than a few seconds to break free they might actually be struck by some attacks.

Seiji watched Athena carefully after signing his idea to her, and so he was prepared when an opening came. As soon as he heard the frustrated grunts from his captor's he smacked the American's shoulder to make sure he was ready. "Come on we've got a chance, run!" He really hoped the guy understood at least some Japanese since he was there and all. Seiji pushed his legs as hard as he could, righted himself and ran towards the girls and, reluctantly, the naked guy at full speed.

His intuition could only go so far but he figured if he could help the Knight woman use her abilities more efficiently maybe he could give the others an idea or two. "Wolf guy I have no idea what else you can do but please change if for nothing other than to cover up!" He shouted as he ran. "Blind girl, I hope those clicking noises you make mean you can do something with sound and they're not just a tick! If you can then let loose, this part of the building's structure isn't nearly as stable as the rest, and they're at the center of the floor, seems like enough vibration would be effective!"

While the two members of the Discipline Squad struggled against the barriers a voice entered their ears obnoxiously. "I'm glad the two of you have a moment to listen to me." Minaka said as if it didn't bother him one bit that they had been immobilized, in fact it didn't, he had hoped the Sekirei would surprise them. "It looks like the North might not be so bland anyhow, number 9 just made her way into the district."

"Number 9?!?" They both exclaimed, stunned for a moment at the coincidence. So far only one single number had appeared in each district. With two in the North, Ashikabi would likely start fighting over them soon, and some from the other Districts may even show up to throw their hands in. Kana's aim had been ruined from the revelation and she almost cursed as she had to hold the blade in place a few seconds longer to try and get it at the right angle again. Kana could feel something else creeping towards them, she'd have to be on alert for an ambush the rest of the confrontation, this might actually become slightly challenging.

Fia stood in front of a tall, structural frame of a partially finished building, staring up at the small specs of figures in the highest girders and wooden platforms. "Seems I've caught up already," she mused, biting into another cookie she pulled out of the box tucked up against her chest. She swallowed the morsel then hummed a short, lilting tune under her breath. As her voice rose and fell quietly, bright blue flames flickered to life along her shoulder blades; soon, the flames expanded outwards and took on the shape of a pair of large outstretched wings. The music died away as the blazing wings swept downwards and launched Fia into the air. She climbed rapidly, moving at an angle of nearly 90 degrees despite the extra effort such a form of flight required.

"Number 9?!?" she heard two voices exclaim as she was nearing the top. Fia's mouth curled in an amused smile; it seemed they hadn't been expecting her in the least. Well, it wasn't like she had planned this anyways.

"Yes, that's me," she called lightly as she came into full view of the gathered group. Fia touched down on a platform that seemed sturdy enough and her wings burst disappeared into a cloud of embers that floated away on the breeze. She reached into the box of cookies again and rummaged around for a moment before frowning. "Seems I'm all out..." She sighed in disappointment and held the box out; the empty box burst into flames and rapidly became nothing but ash.

As Fia turned back to survey those present, a raised brow was the only sign of surprise she showed as she noticed that two of the Sekirei present were form the Discipline Squad. Had someone broken the rules already, so early in the plan?

Fia turned her head to her left to look at the other side of the equation; what seemed to be three Sekirei - one of whom was naked, she noted in disgust - trying to defend two men who were running away from the Discipline Squad. Ashikabi perhaps? Or perhaps destined to be the Ashikabi of one or more Sekirei, since if they already belonged to someone Fia doubted the Disciplinary Squad would lay hands on them. After all, didn't targeting the Ashikabi of another Sekirei break their precious rules?

Well, she didn't really want a Sekirei to lose their Ashikabi before they were even winged... Much less fun for her later on. Besides, she was itching for some entertainment now that she had taken care of the essentials. She had no interest in a full-on fight at this moment, just a quick tussle to test her strength and have a little fun. Anyways, Fia doubted that even a single number like herself would be a match for the pumped up Disciplinary Squad. She'd just offer some... support to those already on the field. If things got ugly she could always fly away.

An orb of blue fire shimmered to life in Fia's hand as she started to sing a soft tune, her voice barely audible at first but gradually rising in volume to echo in the night air. She sent the orb of fire gliding towards the Disciplinary squad, the orb growing in size and brilliance as her voice rose. By the time it reached the two Sekirei, it would be large enough to contain them both. As it grew closer to them, Fia let out a number of short, higher pitched tones in her song, varying slightly from the smooth, calm flow she had been holding. At each climbs of frequency, smaller orbs of fire would launch themselves away from the larger orb and towards the Disciplinary Squad, just in case the large orb made it there too late.

Noah the Wolf

Kotone frowns, a bit distant from most of the action. She clicks her tongue, watching the fight, albeit she's mostly confused about what's going on. After all, no one had answered her question, and it seems she was left here to flail about.

She keeps clicking her tongue, the fight between at least three people with a lot of power, one of them blasting it about like mad, and in general things she would not want to get hit by, hence remaining a bit far away.

It's at this point, her clicking notifies her of someone heading her way, one of the humans. 'Was he kidnapped, too? Well, that's just not right.' She steps to the side and stretches, content in the time she's been given to prepare.

The man said something, and was doing something. She can't particularly tell what he's doing, but... "Well, you shouldn't be too alone. There's another normal person here from what I can tell." She frowns and stands up. "I don't think I can do much here now, but I can at least try to keep you safe." She sighs, admitting that aloud, but in comparison to the disciplinary squad and the higher level Sekirei, she doesn't stand much of a chance.

'I came at today all gung ho, too... I really need to get better, and fast.' She thinks to herself, clenching her fist hard. The bandages are the only thing keeping her nails from digging into the skin.

Now things were really starting to heat up, so much so in fact any potential puns were completely ignored. Kana and Maki had both been surprised at Number 9's appearance, but ultimately it didn't change much. After the dramatic moment was over one of Kana's blades dropped straight onto the barrier cuffs, and in the same movement she pulled her arms out, caught the blade and swiftly slashed Maki's cuff's cleanly with it.

Maki drew her staff and leaned towards Kana. "This is getting far too crowded, a group this big couldn't maneuver properly, our only choices would be to let them win or to utterly stomp them. Good luck, and don't make me look bad." Next the twin-tailed girl drew her long steel staff from her back with a flourish so swift it sent a gust of wind at the opposing Sekirei and Ashikabi.

As the wispy blue flames from the Blazing Aria Sekirei grew near Maki spun her staff clockwise and blasted the fire into oblivion, before jumping at the group. Maki was by far the fastest of the Disciplinary Squad and at that moment none of them had a hope of matching her, let alone stopping her. Maki flew like the winds of a hurricane right into the group and batted everybody in her way to the side before grabbing Seiji, eliciting a panicked "Not again!" and diving backwards off the edge of the building towards the streets below.

It seemed as if things had escalated far quicker than what he had assumed and so with his shadowy weaponry dissipating Layfe decided that it would be a good time for him to move positions. With one of the targets jumping towards the streets below it would probably be in his best interest to follow after. "Alright here we go again." Layfe spoke with a sigh as he walked into the shadows of the structure on top of the roof that gave access to it and sunk into them. This was unpleasant but it allowed him to move much more quickly as long as he knew where he was going. So, with his destination in mind Layfe would pop up in a random alley way near the group that had made their way down to the streets.

"Now if she has picked up my presence this will make things a bit more...complicated." Layfe spoke wryly as he waved his hand and commanded the Type 1 Orbs he had made earlier to surge down to his position but took away their transparency. This would make the energy they give off sensible and while not much it would do as an effective way to cover his presence. "Okay then let the orchestra begin." Layfe knew that this could end up bad but the slight instability in his energies at the moment made him a bit loopy. Oh well things were about to pick up at least that could be fun.

There was little time for Fia to react as one of the Disciplinary Squad members snatched one of the Ashikabi away and dove for the streets below. The moment her slow-in-comparison movements caught up, Fia was falling through the air after the them, her flaming wings sprouting from her back as she hummed a tune softly under her breath. They remained folded behind her back until she was nearly upon the two, then they snapped open to slow her decent. A song was already starting up in her throat as her feet lightly touched the ground, its foreboding and threatening tone contradicting her calm demeanor.

It began as a gentle hum fueled with poison, goading a small flaming orb in her hands into a serpentine shape. Then, the music took on a demanding tone and the quickly-created serpent of fire flowed out of her hands and onto the ground. As Fia's voice then rose from a deep baritone to a sharp pitch, the snake shot up in size, soon towering over the group in a blazing coil. Of course, it was still just fire; but Fia found that such shapes could intimidate a foe much more than a shapeless blob would, and the length of the creature as it moved to spread its full size out would make it more difficult to take down. Unless she were forced to dissipate it, or if at least fifty percent of the flames were put out at once, she would be able to continue to expand the creation. The moment it was ready, the she sang the snake into turning its head towards Maki, then raised the pitch of the song again and held a single note; the snake opened its flaming mouth wide and a stream of flames erupted towards Maki. She held no worry for the Ashikabi; unless she permitted them to, her flames would not burn so much as his clothes. Though now that she thought of it, that would be rather amusing...

He just couldn't believe it, he was honestly baffled. Again?!? Seriously?!? AGAIN!?! How fast is that psycho? And this time I got grabbed by the angry one too... Seiji was angry enough he was almost about to work up the courage to actually yell at Maki, but as soon as he opened his mouth he stopped and just let it hang down at the sight before him. A giant snake made of pure fire was breathing yet more fire right at blond woman...and him!

Maki smirked at the flame-spewing azure snake in front of her. "You're going to have to be a bit more serious than that, I'm not afraid of some fire-breathing reptile!" She spun her staff once again like the blades of an industrial fan until the stream of fire slackened. As soon as she saw an opening she tossed Seiji out of the flames' path and leapt to the side herself, flicking one of the staff's caps off and launching a bladed chain at Fia.

The song never died in Fia's throat as she spread her wings and leaped into the air as the weapon came flying towards her. She flew straight over Maki to avoid the bladed chain, angling into a dive once she was directly overhead to more quickly reach the ground behind the Disciplinary Squad member. As she landed, she ended the song with a dramatic rise in tone; the features of the gigantic snake melted away and the creation exploded outwards in a wave of flames. The burning torrent was purposed to serve more as a distraction, however.

She began another song under her breath, barely even audible to her own ears so as not to alert her foe. It was soft, relaxing, kind... and causing a bright, cheerfully sinister cloud of fire to form over the group. While Maki would probably notice this quite quickly despite the previous attempt at a distraction, Fia didn't plan on giving her time to do anything about it. Orbs of blue flames bloomed to life in her hands and she threw them towards Maki like balls. These orbs required no music to take form, and thus she had no need to interrupt her song; though they wouldn't be very effective either. Hopefully, though, it would be enough to keep the other Sekirei from turning her attention to the greater threat.

"Hmm...it seems like they haven't noticed me just yet." Layfe was slightly surprised by this I mean it wasn't as if he was trying very hard to hide and keep his presence hidden so it was more likely that the two that were currently fighting were hyper focused. It was similar to tunnel vision in which you were focused intently on one thing and things around you became somewhat less relavant. Oh well, it didn't matter too much as it would make his job a bit easier. The two Sekirei who were fighting must've obviously not noticed that there were bystanders closeby to where this battle was taking place. Therefore it was up to him to make sure they didn't realize what was happening and get any closer to the action. "Alright then Type 3 Formation: Jormungandr.." Layfe spoke in a calm voice as a wispy chain began to form from the shadows in the area as they coalesced together. As it finished the chains snaked around his forearms as he then began to place his hands on the ground and focused on the all the shadows in the area. Bursts of pain shot through him as he grit his teeth and spoke once more.

"Now to manipulate the area but let me first save the unfortunate looking guy who just got tossed." With a simple motion the chain around his arm shot out like a snake and went around the man's waist and would pull him towards himself. To cover this he would bend the shadows around their form hoping that the two Sekirei would simply not care or keep hyper focusing on their battle. Some pain wracked his body but to Layfe this situation required him to blow it off, he could only hope the other Sekirei kept fighting so he could recover a bit. Using the more extensive abilities really tired him out but now it was time for him to stop others from interupting. All he needed was just a bit of time, man why did he have to be the one who remembered that there could be innocent bystanders who stumble upon the scene. It happened 9 times out of 10, and he should know the manga he read was evidence enough.

The day just kept in the same vein as it had been so far, terrible, nothing but pain and confusion for the lowly office worker Seiji. The Seiji who never did anything more interesting than watching TV after work, the Seiji who'd just broken up with his first serious girlfriend, after everything else, was thrown to the side like he was trash. He had no time to even gasp at the torrent of azure flames that roiled past him before some sort of chain wrapped around his stomach and yanked him to some guy. His face showed nothing but disdain, not for the person but the whole situation and he only thought of one thing to say to the man. "You're one of them aren't you?" He asked with venom.

He didn't wait for an answer, immediately looking back towards the battle, he had no idea why that girl was jumping into the fight but she was helping him so he hoped she'd be okay. She seemed to have pulled off a pretty clever attack, using both the giant snake and some burning orbs as distractions while she prepared a cataclysmic-looking firestorm. He felt some of his hope fade however when the girl in the weird outfit smacked away the fireballs like it was nothing and started to turn towards the white-haired girl. I'm really not in the mood to be smacked with a polearm or burnt to a crisp, but I am SO SICK of watching all this crap happen around me and doing nothing about it. As soon as the black chain around him loosened Seiji bolted towards the fight just like he'd yell at any other idiot for doing in such a situation.

Maki almost laughed at how pathetic the next assault on her was, but as she smacked away the fireballs she scanned her surroundings with the lightning reflexes that helped earn her title. The conflagration forming above her was nothing to scoff at. Okay, even without an Ashikabi, that would hurt. Fia's only mistake in her attack was getting closer to Maki, close combat was her specialty. Instead of using her substantial speed to try avoiding the attack Maki decided to punish number 9 for it, but just as she prepared to lunge at her opponent she felt movement behind her. Maki angled her staff towards the ground and did a one-eighty, easily sweeping Seiji's feet from under him. However thanks to her preparation towards attacking Fia Maki's starting position for the sweep was less than ideal and Seiji still crashed into her afterwards. "You moron!" She shouted. "What do you think you're-" But her reprimand was cut short by a lilting cadenza rising into an epic climax before being silenced as a small vacuum was formed at the epicenter of what became a massive burst of pyromantic achievement.

Fia couldn't have asked for a better distraction, though really, what kind of an idiot was that Ashikabi? She knew humans could be quite stupid, but who in their right mind would jump in the middle of a fight between two superpowered beings? But then, she supposed that might be just what made this man an Ashikabi; his reckless idiocy. At least he wasn't the type to just sit back and let others do the work, but she would be quite grateful if he didn't waste all of her hard work by getting himself killed.

Maybe a little scare would show him his place was to be the protected and not the protector.

Without warning, the soft lullaby took a sharp turn, a high pitched beckoning emitting from Fia's mouth. At the call, the cloud of fire broke apart into a multitude of blazing birds, all of which came raining down towards Maki and the Ashikabi. Maki, if she wasn't quick enough to counter, would likely be left with some pretty nasty burns.

The Ashikabi, well, his clothes would simply burn to ashes. The idea had returned to her as she had begun to rain death down on the pair, and it seemed a suitable enough punishment for his idiocy.

Seiji covered his head for all the good it would do when the rain of fire smote him, but even that was undone since Maki smacked him off of her just before the attack struck. Seiji took the only option left to him and closed his eyes, but after a few seconds of wondering which theory about the afterlife was right he still felt no pain, just a pleasant warmth that was almost like a tender caress. Out of nowhere Seiji felt inexplicably cold, almost as if... "Ah!" Yeah... "You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HAVEN'T I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH TODAY?" Seiji jumped up and stomped on the ground with his bare feet in rage, because the fire had in fact left Seiji unharmed, but burned away all of his clothing except for his plain dark blue boxers.

The outburst couldn't last more than a few seconds though, as there was a steaming hunk of much more intense anger growling and beginning to stand back up. One look at Maki left Seiji with only the much safer half of the fight-or-flight response and before he knew what he was doing he was behind the white-haired singing girl. He clutched her shoulders and hid behind her, not for protection but in a pointless attempt to hide his partial nudity. "So... uh hey, I can be mad about my clothes later, could you, maybe... help me get out of this alive, beautiful, singing pyro lady?" He only noticed he was holding on to her shoulders after his humbled plea and pulled them off with a start. "Uh, sorry about that, wasn't being forward. Just a little scared, I've had...quite a day."

"Of course he would have to run..dammit." Layfe was not currently having a good time and with his slight instability he was slightly pissed but, he didn't have time fo that as he closed is eyes and took in deep calming breaths. With each breath he took in he could feel himself begin to calm. After a minute he reopened his eyes which now were analyzing the situation at hand looking for a time for him to jump in and possibly resolve the situation. The two oppositions were without a doubt very strong and Layfe doubted without his versatility and cunning that he could beat either of them in a straight fight, so he would have to make use of what he could. As the two Sekirei and questionably dumb human were doing whatever, Layfe thought it was time for him to formally introduce himself. Focusing he sank his hand into the shadows and let the chains on his arms go into them and watched as they snaked there ways into the other Sekirei's shadows and waited for further instruction. While they wouldn't be able to hold them for too long they would give him the precious few seconds he needed if they tried to attack him.

He would probably need to make the chains strike at the white haired girls throat so she wouldn't be able to sing and maybe bind her hands. Ugh a disturbing thought struck him about this situation but nevermind that this wasn't a doujin. Oh well he just wouldn't let his guard down it payed to be safe. "Alright now it's time for me to make my entrance." Layfe was actually excited for this part of the plan as it made him seem like some type of dark hero from the manga that he reads. Either way it was time to put his plan into action, from the shadows of the alley ways he began to manipulate the shadows he could and make them snake their way out towards the group. 'Construct Ourobouros should be useful for this..' Layfe thought to himself as his chains began to clank and the cover he had made for himself made way so that the group could see his form. Mentally commanding his earlier constructs to guide humans away from the area he walked out of the shadows into view. "Man it seems as if you all can't just keep it down." His hand scratched the back of his head in a lazy fashion belying the dark aura that he forced to come off of him, it was an evil source so it's feel of malovelence should stop them from attacking him momentarily at least since it was a weaker version so that it wouldn't harm the humans mind. With a wry smile Layfe spoke. "Regardless it seems that me being the good Samaritan I am will have to step in." It was game time now and Layfe plays to win, so it looks like things have just become serious. 'And today was gonna be such a nice day too.' Layfe thought as he waited for their reactions.

A small smirk of amusement cross Fia's features at the human's outrageous display of anger at his less than savory circumstances. She let out a small laugh when his anger turned to terror and he came to hide behind her. Fia was substantially smaller than the male, being at least a foot shorter, so she could only imagine what an interesting sight this made. "I'm just here for the fun, deary," she said lightly, unperturbed by the close contact. "Though after such a charming compliment, I suppose I could spare some thought towards your well-being." At these last words, she looked back at him over her should and fluttered her eyelashes teasingly. Her eyes trailed briefly over his physique as well, if only to unsettle him even more.

A new presence appearing drew her attention away from the half-naked man, and her eyes set upon what seemed to be another Sekirei, if the malevolent aura he was giving off was anything to go by. At his words, Fia waved a hand indifferently. "Whatever. Just make yourself useful and don't get in the way." Flames flickered to life along her arms as she turned her gaze back to her original foe, the azure fire ready to follow the command of her voice.

The smoking form that had startled Seiji finished getting up and looked at him over Fia's shoulder with such an intensely smoldering anger that he flinched. "Oh you... that was a dirty trick, if I wasn't ordered not to hurt you I'd rip your arm off and snap your own neck with it. I think for now I'll just have to settle for giving you a few good smacks after I get number 9 out of the way." She seemed to completely ignore Layfe, this was because she'd noticed him before even jumping down to street level. She didn't feel any more threatened by him than before so she didn't bother acknowledging him, besides he probably wasn't a very likely candidate for the Ashikabi.

Seiji had to take a step back, he didn't need any help identifying how scary the girl with the staff was. But of course there was another very scary woman with fire and a beautiful voice who seemed to be at least partially on his side, although the way she looked at him made him nervous. "I think I may have a few ideas about how to beat the psycho with the staff, so for convenience's sake may I ask what your name is? Pretty singing pyro girl could get tedious."

Was the human just pretending he had a brain, or did he honestly have some smarts? Fia wasn't entirely sure after the foolhardy stunt he had just pulled. Well, as long as it didn't end up with her getting killed, she didn't see any harm in going along with whatever his plan was... And she could always return to her own strategies if she found them unsatisfactory. "You may call me Fia," she replied. "And what may I call you, fine gentleman?" The last two words with said with playful sarcasm, even as she continued to face what was a rather serious situation.

"I'm Seiji." He answered, somehow managing to look serious despite his current... style of dress. "Sorry about getting in the way a minute ago but seeing someone about to hit a girl doesn't sit well with me, besides I've been stuck in situations like this where I couldn't do anything all day and it pissed me off. Before we try my plan I'd like to ask, can you continue to control that fire of yours after you've released it?"

"I can," Fia said in answer to his question, giving a small nod. Really, she would have thought that had been quite obvious with her earlier display.

"Good, I wanted to make sure before trying this. Decisions like this should only be made off of concrete information if possible. It seems to me like her main defense against your attacks is to disperse the fire with powerful gusts of wind, and fire, feeds on oxygen. So, what if you launch some sort of large burst of fire at her, and when she prepares to blow it away, pull some of the fire in the direction she's facing so that it goes with the wind instead of dispersing. And pull the rest of the fire to her sides so she has no room to avoid it or go straight for an attack, and while the secondary flame is swirling around her send the flames that have gotten bigger from her wind and absorbed it's momentum back into her in a sort of pincer attack." Seiji was beginning to look a bit excited despite himself, this reminded him of all the times he'd imagined great wars during chess games, or thought of his own strategies while reading books about wars.

So he did have a brain! Well, it was definitely lovely to know that total idiot Fia had bothered herself to save wasn't actually a total idiot. Though most of the plan seemed to depend on their foe defending herself with wind, Maki had not yet disappointed so it was worth a shot.

Fia raised her arms to either side and started up another song, one that seemed like something you'd hear in a movie when the cavalry goes charging into battle. And indeed, as the flames flickering along her arms burst into a brilliant conflagration and rushed towards Maki, they seemed to contain the flickering shapes of horses. Directly behind the first wave came another, separate one that would break out from behind the previous wave and circle around on either side of Maki.

"Another face front attack? I'd expect something a bit more clever from a single number." She began to spin her staff once again in her time-honed defense against attacks like the one in front of her, but just as the wind started to push the inferno in front of her back the reserve of a incendiary cavalry split and began to circle around her. "Nice, but if you think I can't break your silly horses you've got another thing coming."

As the pressure of the winds pushed against the flames, the song abruptly changed to a call of retreat. The flames rolled in on themselves, the blazing horses wheeling about wildly to gallop back the way they had come. They ran as one with the wind that had been meant to extinguish them; then when that wind was no longer a threat to the flames, the song called for vengeance. The flames, burning brighter than before, turned again and charged back towards Maki, the blazing steeds on either of side of the Disciplinary Squad member turning to close in on her as well.

"That's it! Good job!" Seiji let out excitedly.

Maki stopped in her preparations to break out of the burning arena when she heard the song change, she could tell the fire was coming back at her, but she wouldn't be able to just blow it away this time, especially not while surrounded. She had to think quick, sure the attack probably wouldn't be enough to beat her but she couldn't just let it hit her. She held her staff above her head and started to spin it with both hands even faster than she had with her defenses earlier. "Vortex barrier!" The staff started to spin so fast that she let go of it and it kept spinning, giving her the free space she needed to start shaping the wind with her hands and form a small dome of spiraling air around herself.

"Crap." Seiji realized with one look at the shield Maki had formed on the other side of the burning horses that the shield had a small vacuum around it where fire couldn't survive. "Quick, same trick as before, move the flames with the current of air!" He turned and pointed towards Layfe in the distance. "And you! While she's vulnerable against the fire try to attack her as well, something aerodynamic! With as little wind resistance as possible to go through her shield!" The main advantage at the moment was that he could yell as loud as he wanted, if the staff woman's shield really did have a small vacuum around it there was no way she'd be able to hear him.

The moment the wind began to pick up around Maki, Fia realized the plan had failed - though perhaps not completely. She held the flames back from the vortex before they could be extinguished by the fierce winds. Fia stopped her song for a brief moment, only to start a new one immediately. It started as a slow series of changes in pitch, and the three groups of blazing horses began to spread out until they all connected in one large circle around Maki. Then, the pace of the music began to pick up and the circle of fire gradually started swirling about until it was once again moving in step with the wind. The flames, which Fia had at first been keeping away from Maki's barrier so they would not be extinguished, now began to close in towards the Sekirei. If Fia and Seiji were right, this should work as it had before; the flames would become more powerful rather than being put out, and Maki would be trapped in a nice little oven of her own making.

Something aerodynamic eh? Well Layfe could make his chains become slimmer but those wouldn't have had enough strength behind them to do maximum damage so it was on to option 2. "Alright then since this could be a good chance to get some damage in let me put some effort into this." Layfe spoke to himself as he knew exactly what he would have to do for this to work out. Gathering together a tiny bit of dark energy in his hands he focused on creating a new construct. He hadn't much time to practice with this but this was a perfect opportunity to try it on an opponent. "Construct Type 0 Hades.." He spoke coolly as his weapon formed completely and it was...a bow. While normally not very threatening what he was about to do would show a bit of what he could actually do, but he didn't mind. So with his task in mind Layfe sent his Ourobouros chains he had made earlier upwards and as they reached their peak he pulled himself upwards with a jump and began to pull gather more dark energy as he pulled his bow back.

This was going to have to work because at this point Layfe really didn't feel like pulling out any more of his tricks or he would lose the element of surprise. Regardless it was time to try and deal some damage, he might not be a certain cynical archer from a manga but he could damn well mimic his move. "Black Hunting." And with the release of the energy he had been gathering through his bow and arrow struck forth towards its target faster than a speeding bullet. As he fell back downwards to the earth Layfe mentally commanded the chains he had planted earlier to activate when the arrow was close. Like he had said it paid to have a plan and that was his back-up so hopefully this worked, no it had to work. Let it never be said that Layfe wasn't optimistic.

It was nearly impossible to hear anything through the vortex barrier, but Maki could feel the air growing warmer and knew they'd thought of something else that might actually work. She'd already been burned once today thanks to that stupid Ashikabi, it wouldn't happen again. She decided the whole thing had gone on long enough, and if the Ashikabi hadn't had any sort of impact on any of the Sekirei yet then he was worthless. "That is..." She held up the staff and started gathering energy in her arms. After a few seconds she slammed the staff into the ground yelling "Enough!" and simultaneously dispersing her entire vortex barrier at once with explosive force. With the fire following the air currents it was spread out along with the air, the outburst just barely knocked Layfe's arrow off course and it scraped her cheek, drawing a small amount of blood.

"What the... hell is she?" Seiji muttered under his breath at the sight.

Maki slowly stood up from her kneeling position, looking none too happy. "I was just going to leave, I've done enough for now but I suppose I'll have to teach you not to mess with the Discipline squad first!" Maki held onto her staff and the air around her began to move erratically and small amounts of electricity crackled in the air in time with her flailing hair. "By the laws of my contract I will punish those who forget their place!" Weakest link, and the one she'll have the least fun with first. Maki gathered all her strength in her legs and jumped at Layfe, leaving small cracked divots in the street and propelling herself at him so fast she was moving through the air in a straight line. As soon as she made it to life she slammed the staff into his stomach before he could make proper use of his chains, she just wanted to incapacitate him so she finished with a quick one-two strike. One side of the staff right between his legs and then the other over the top of his head.

"Well that didn't go as planned..." Layfe spoke cynically as he put his arms over his eyes to block dust from getting into them from the winds that had blown outwards. He had put in quite a bit of work for that technique and it was diverted, it was imperfect but still oh well it wasn't like things could possibly get worse right? That process of thought was quickly knocked out of him as he felt something solid connect with his stomach and it hurt quite a bit. It wasn't enough to put him out of commision but it still hurt, he would fine though it wasn't like he was about to get where no man should right? 'Wait a minute.... **** my life.' Was what Layfe's thoughts were as he took a shot to the groin from the staff. He briefly felt something hit his head as he hit the ground in pain. After thinking about what just happened he couldn't help but feel he had caused this somehow.

Before Layfe even hit the ground Maki dashed towards number 9 and the human, now they'd recieve their recompence. Seiji would have preferred to do something but just after chanting her Norito Maki was moving so fast Fia had no real chance to react, let alone a human. She was upon them in an instant, slamming the staff into Fia's stomach much like with Layfe before sweeping her feet while she was staggered, leaving her in a kneeling position. Maki decided she'd take a little bit of time with this, but bit her lip when the idiot in his underwear got in the way.

"Hey hey hey, hold on, wasn't it me you were angry at for getting in the way? I'm the one you bothered to grab in the first place so whatever's going on is my fault right? Why don't you just pummel on me until you feel better?"

Maki scoffed and swiped the staff lightly (for her strength at least) into his ribs and knocked him aside. "This is way over your head you moronic human, it's not something you would understand, and no you're not enough to sate my anger." Minaka is such an idiot sending me on something like this, Ashikabi are overrated, any Sekirei weak enough to need one doesn't deserve to win. Seiji got back up right away but this time he was struck hard enough to be stunned without even being graced by another word, but Maki did walk towards him. "Fine if it's so important to you, you can go first." But just as she raised her staff a chill ran up her spine and she stopped mid-swing.

Walking right through the scene of the battle completely unaccosted and without a shred of fear was an extremely beautiful woman with long red hair in an ornate cloak, a western longsword with a jewelled hilt belted at her side. She didn't stop as she walked, she just smiled at Maki while Maki stared at her in shock. "Again... why does she have to get in the way." Of course she understood why, she had already completed her mission, there was no reason for her to stay any longer. The woman kept walking until she was out of sight and Maki but her staff back through the leather holster on her back. The last thing she did before jumping away was to kneel down next to Fia and add "Don't ever get in my way again, and make sure you follow the rules to the letter, if you slip up I'll be there before you can even regret your mistake."

Seiji had finally managed to stand up, but after Maki left his legs wobbled and buckled beneath him. He let out a huge breath and looked around. "Today is not my day..." He managed to push himself back up with his hands and walk over to Fia, offering his hand to pull her up. "You alright, Fia?"

That was most definitely not something Fia had expecting; that had sounded suspiciously like a Norito, and judging by her sudden burst of speed, it probably was. Did this mean the Squad member was already winged, or was this just a result of the enhancements given to them? Either way, it didn't bode well for any of them.

Fia had barely had time to bring flames to life all along her skin before Maki had knocked her to her knees. The flames she had hurriedly called forth dimmed as she let out a small gasp for air; a moment later, however, they flared up slightly as Maki struck Seiji first once, then again. Fia was preparing to try some last-ditch effort to get them both out of here, not quite willing to abandon the Ashikabi after she'd spent all this time attempting to save him, but in the end there was no need for that. Whoever that women had been, Maki seemed to fear her.

Though, with that last threat from Maki... Fia found the idea of finding an Ashikabi quite important now.

Fia looked up at the hand offered to her and took it without complaint. Even after knowing how close she had come to death, her composure was as tranquil as ever as she replied. "Yes, quite fine," she said, though in truth her stomach still throbbed from the hit she had taken. She passed a critical eye over his body, noting without surprise the painful marks showing where he had been hit.

"Good to hear, I'm no macho man but I'm not okay with watching someone get hurt because of me." He made his best attempt at a reassuring smile and couldn't help noticing how soft and warm her hand was before more practical matters forced their way back into his head. "I really need to find some clothes, but even more importantly than that, I think you know at least something about all that crap that just happened considering you've got crazy powers too. And at this point I feel that someone needs to tell me about all this."