Shirou breathed out a sigh of relief once Akitsu and Kazehana had gotten themselves dressed once again. Akitsu had thrown on her usual clothes, while Kazehana had worn the dress from the previous night.

If Shirou had to be completely honest, he didn't have an easier time looking at her. The shortness of the dress and the height of her heels made her already long legs look extremely taut.

It was a bit rude of her to wear shoes indoor, but then again he didn't have slippers to give her and the floor wasn't in good enough condition for her to go barefoot.

Currently, she was looking around the place, but even though her back was turned to him, he knew that a good portion of her attention was focused on him and Akitsu. Unlike the Sekirei of Frost, who seemed to possess an awareness of her own surroundings similar to that of a young child, Kazehana was quite alert of everything that happened around her.

She wasn't even obvious about it. Shirou noticed simply because he had developed an eye for it, and was paying just as much attention. There was the telltale sign of an experienced fighter, as if the phantom smell of blood wasn't a dead giveaway.

She seemed to have decided that he was not an immediate threat, and he or Akitsu had somehow piqued her curiosity enough to hang around a bit. This was the chance he was looking for to get some info on the Sekirei Plan and MBI as a whole. He would absolutely capitalize on it.

[br]

"Wow. This place sure is a dump," Kazehana said, looking around the living room - if one could call it that - of the apartment belonging to the guy who she got drunk with the previous night.

She didn't remember his name, mostly because she dismissed it as soon as he introduced himself the previous night.

She just wanted to mooch off him, and committing his name to memory was more effort than she was willing to invest in the endeavor. Certainly, she had not planned on following him to his place and pass out naked in his arms. It would have been quite a bad joke if she ended up winged to someone like that.

Clearly, with a Sekirei of his own at his side, he had to know how they functioned. It would have taken so little effort to permanently bind her to himself, yet he had not. What kind of man would pass up on a free Sekirei?

Few people, human or otherwise, ever caught her eye and, as women are wont to do, she grew more interested in a guy the less he appeared to be interested in her. Wounded pride and genuine curiosity made for an addictive cocktail, even for a female Sekirei.

Admittedly, he was also rather easy on the eye.

Kazehana was very tall, especially when she put on her favorite heels, but he was still taller than her of a good head. However he wasn't spindly. Far from it, in fact. While he was still on the lean side, he was built like an oak, with clear cut muscles that his worn out shirt did very little to conceal. Perhaps, too many washing cycles had shrunk it down a little bit, with the result that it clung to his torso more than it was originally intended.

Granted, she could still toss him across the room with one arm, but he cut an imposing figure nonetheless. Though her preference was tilted for the bishounen type, she couldn't say that there wasn't some merit in such a physique.

"Sorry about that," he replied, not at all upset by the brutal criticism of his own living conditions.

He didn't even turn around to answer, as he busied himself preparing coffee for the three of them, while the Scrap hovered behind his shoulder, following his every gesture with rapt attention.

It was cute, in a pitiful kind of way.

"Here. Coffee's ready," he said.

"Thank you," she replied, gingerly receiving the paper cup. She expected the beverage to taste as bad as its container looked, but she was forced to reconsider that notion the moment she took the first sip. "Hey, this is pretty good."

"Sorry, I don't have anything else to offer. I wasn't expecting to have guests over."

"So, I take that picking up drunken women isn't exactly a habit?" she asked, as she took a seat upon one of the two chairs available, crossing her legs in such a way that he quickly looked away.

It was rather amusing.

He offered the other to his Sekirei, who was taking sips of coffee like a small kitten would do with a blow of cream, while he remained standing, leaning against the wall.

"Last night was first and hopefully the last," he admitted.

"Same," she agreed wholeheartedly, taking another sip of the delicious brew. "I get guys to pay for my drinks most nights, but I don't usually follow them back to their places."

"I imagine. Although I'm sure that a Sekirei can fend off for herself better than most human women, the risks involved are so much higher."

"No kidding. Thank you about that, by the way."

"That's not something you should thank anyone about," he said, drinking his own coffee. "I'm even less in the habit of forcing myself upon anyone."

Perhaps, Kazehana realized, it was as simple as that. There wasn't much need for convoluted explanations. He was just a man that wouldn't do things of the sort. In theory most men were like that. In practice, she had no way and no desire to find out.

But that didn't explain why she had gone with him in the first place. Even at her drunkest, she always had her guard up. What had made her drop it? She must have seen something in him.

"So, why did you make an exception and bring me over to your place last night?" she asked.

"Well, I couldn't very well leave you back there in that state, could I? I don't recall everything perfectly myself, but I'm rather sure I didn't take you to the bed with me. Akitsu, do you know what happened last night, after we arrived?"

"Yes, Master. I was waiting for you to return," she replied. "You put Kazehana-san to sleep on the couch and then you passed out on the floor next to her. I thought you would be cold, so I took you to bed with me."

"Uh. Thank you about that," he said, reddining slightly, "but how did she end up with us then?"

"She came into the room on her own later, saying that the couch was cold and uncomfortable. I didn't understand why she complained about the temperature since she disrobed herself."

"I usually sleep in the nude," Kazehana explained.

"Ah. So do I," Akitsu agreed. "It's more comfortable."

"It's certainly is," she approved.

"Go… good to know," said the guy as he looked away from either of them and drank a sizeable mouthful of coffee. "Anyway, that explains it. I'm glad neither one of us did anything stupid."

"Speaking of which, you already knew I am a Sekirei when we met last night, didn't you?"

"What gave you the idea?" he asked.

"Your behavior, earlier. You showed no surprise about my own reaction to the Scrap being here. So, how did you know if you truly don't work for MBI?"

He looked at her, and his gaze hardened. She knew that kind of stare. He was weighing the pro and cons of lying to her.

"Tell you what," he said, "I originally wanted to ask you some questions. How about I answer yours and you answer mine?"

"Sounds fair," she agreed. "You first. How did know I was a Sekirei?"

"By the smell," he replied.

"... look, you if just wanted to make fun at my expenses then-"

"I'm serious," he insisted, cutting her off. "I'm not sure myself how to explain it, but Sekirei have something about them that stand out to me. If they get close enough, I can tell if they are humans or not."

"So, what? It's like a sixth sense?"

"I guess? I suspected that Akitsu wasn't human the moment I met her, and I had a similar impression from other Sekirei I ran into later."

"Other Sekirei? How many did you met so far?"

"Counting you and Akitsu, that would be four. Granted, I couldn't confirm the identity of the last, but I'm positive he was one."

"Oh? Describe him to me. I may know who he is."

"Tall guy, silver hair, sharply dressed. A bit on the effeminate side. He smelled like cigarettes ash and cinders. Akitsu smells like frost and she had ice-based abilities, so my guess is that he has fire-related ones. Do you know him?"

'Homura.'

"Nothing comes to mind," she lied with practiced ease. "So you say that we Sekirei have a smell that you can attribute to our powers?"

"Not necessarily. Karasuba smelled predominantly of blood, but Akistu says that she's a power-type, so I guess that what my nose picks upon is the mark of the people she has killed."

"You ran into Karasuba?" she hissed.

"Twice. I didn't get the feeling that she likes me very much."

"There is no such a thing as that psycho liking somebody. How are you still alive?"

"I have a knack for surviving when I really shouldn't," he said with a tone of voice that she couldn't quite place on an emotional scale. If she didn't know any better, she would have said it was regretful.

"So I see," she replied. "What do I smell like, then?"

"You know when winter turns to spring and you can feel the smells of nature on the wind, again? Like that, except that there is a faint backdrop of blood. Like Karasuba, you have also killed enough people that the scent has become part of you, but it's nowhere near being predominant. I take it's happened a long time ago."

Kazehana's pupils had shrunk to the size of pinpricks as she stared a hole through his skull. Either he was telling the truth or this was an extremely elaborate ruse, either on MBI's part or an unknown third party's. Her bloodied past wasn't known to just anybody, and while Karasuba wore her with enough pride that even the unaccustomed would take notice, she was nowhere like that.

In the end, she decided to believe him simply because if he wanted to get something out of her, he could have just winged her the previous night.

"You are surprisingly relaxed for a guy who thinks he's in the same room with an experienced killer," she said. "Your nose is the real deal, though. I'm the Sekirei number Zero-Three. Kazehana of the Wind. A former member of the disciplinary squad. What did you say your name was again?"

"Uh… It's Emiya Shirou. I told you last night, don't you remember?"

"You probably did, but I usually don't bother memorizing the names of people I only want to pay for my drinks."

He snorted and then finished his coffee. "Well, points for honesty. So… former member?"

"Yep, but I'm not saying anything about what happened back then. So save your breath and ask about something else."

"That's alright. Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. No offense, but I didn't really brought you here to ask about yourself. I was more interested in MBI and Sekirei as a whole, rather than single individuals."

"Hmm? What did you want to know? Since you are with her, I assume you are participating in the Game?"

"MBI wants me to, but I'm weighing my options. There's too much I don't know about it, so I'm not committed about getting into a fight just yet."

"Why, isn't the promised payout enough for you?"

"That's not it," he said, shaking his head. "The problem is that I don't trust MBI. I can't understand their motives and what they are going to get out of it. I can't realistically quantify the risks of letting over one hundred aliens roam freely among mankind, but it goes without saying that they are pretty damn high. The cost of keeping this entire operation running and secret must rank in the billions at the very least. Daily at that. For the life of me, I can't figure how MBI is going to profit from this."

"Why do you care?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and whipping her dark hair behind her shoulder with a twist of her head. "I mean, even if MBI operates at a loss, that's not skin off your back, right?"

"Please," he snorted. "I won't believe for a second that an entreprise of their size doesn't stand to gain something, directly or indirectly. They are all about maximizing their revenue."

"Again, what does it have to do with you, whether MBI gains or loses from the Sekirei Plan? Shouldn't you be more worried about how are you going to profit from it?"

He sighed, and rubbed his face wearily.

"Look, in all of human history, goals have scarcely proved themselves to be better than the means employed to achieve them. And when the means are a battle royale between the last surviving members of a sentient species, I think that the goals warrant more than a little worrying about. Wouldn't you think?"

Now, that was surprising. She couldn't name more than a couple of people that would look past the ludicrous prize promised by MBI and worry about the cost to the Sekirei species. Maybe the Scrap's choice in partner didn't come from sheer desperation as she initially believed. There was something worthwhile about this guy.

Despite his obvious financial straits.

"I do, and you would be right to worry. However, you don't know the director the way I do."

"You mean Minata Hiroko?"

"That's him. See, you are thinking in terms of profit and loss, but he doesn't really care about stuff like that. He's always been invested only in things that he finds interesting, regardless of the losses. In fact, I'm quite sure that the company would have bankrupted a long time ago if the reins were left to him."

"A guy like that is the CEO?"

"Sure he is, and what he says goes, but he usually doesn't stick his nose in the day-to-day operations. That honor falls solely upon the shoulders of his second-in-command."

"Oh? And who would that be?" he asked leaning forward.

Apparently this was the kind of intel he was looking for. Was he sizing up MBI as a target, maybe? That was crazy, but who was she to deter him? If he was fool enough to try, he deserved what would come of it.

"Takami Sahashi."

"The head of R&D?"

"Oh, you have heard of her? She isn't actually that well known outside of MBI itself."

"She's the one that invited me into the Game and told me that MBI would consider me as Akitsu's Ashikabi, with all that it entails."

"She did?" she asked, blinking rapidly. "I mean… in person?"

"Sure. That's when I met Karasuba the first time."

"Huh. That's… weird"

"Yeah. I thought she was just a doctor or an engineer. I didn't suspect she was such a high profile character. Why would the de-facto head of MBI come meet me in person and bring the chief of the Disciplinary Squad along? I take that's no standard practice."

"Definitely not. From what I know, if Hiroko is in a good mood and isn't otherwise occupied, he might give a newly minted Ashikabi a phone call to congratulate them and explain the Game. Mostly he does it to make them freak out even more for his own amusement. Generally, it's up to the Sekirei to give their Ashikabi the rundown of the situation."

"Could it be that they came because Akitsu is a runaway?"

"Really, that's the only explanation that comes to mind. I mean, they had to have been on the lookout for her, so maybe they were just enroute to get her? She is in charge of the Sekirei development and wellbeing, but it's still weird that she would take the field herself."

"Hmm. Maybe it's something really simple and we lack the knowledge to make sense of it. There's no point overthinking it."

"Maybe," she agreed. 'Or maybe there is something particular about you,' she did not say.

His ability to detect Sekirei alone was reason enough for MBI to take a vested interest in him. Not that it was unheard of. There were other humans that exhibited weird traits when interacting with Sekirei. They were rare though.

However, Kazehana doubted that he had shared that information with them, considering his lack of trust in their schemes. Therefore, it had to be something else that got that woman out of her room. Something more. Kazehana planned to find out exactly what.

She didn't say that to him, of course, lest he questions how she would go about it.

"Well, I'm sure that the truth of the matter will become apparent on its own, given enough time," he concluded. "What can you tell me about MBI itself? Do you know how they operate in general and in regards to the Sekirei plan?"

"I have dropped out of the Disciplinary Squad long before the Sekirei Plan was disclosed so I'm not up to date about their protocols, but I can tell you how the company is structured."

"I would definitely like to know that," he said, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen.

"There are four main sections," she explained holding four fingers up. "Section One is the Directorate composed primarily by all the other sections' heads and their closest assistants. The CEO should be in charge of it, but like I said, Takami handles that position in his place. Section Two is the intelligence department. As the name suggest, their job is handling all the flow of information in and out of the company. True or false as it may be."

"I assume that also involves industrial espionage?" he asked.

"It is safe to assume so, although MBI has a rather unfair advantage over the competition."

"I'm sure of that, but they wouldn't have gotten as far as they have if they didn't keep regular tabs on the competition. Exclusive access to alien technology or not. What's next?"

"Section Three is the R&D department. They are in charge of researching and adapting Sekirei tech to human society and needs, but they also take care of the Sekirei adjustment and health. They are in charge of retrieving any Sekirei that may become incapacitated for whatever reason."

"Yes, I imagine they wouldn't just leave an alien specimen lying there for someone to pick up. Speaking of which, how do they keep track of the Sekirei and their status?"

"Prior to being released, every Sekirei has a chip implanted, each in a different location of our bodies. I know this only because I was part of the Disciplinary Squad. The other Sekirei are not informed about it. You know, in case they decided to get rid of it."

"That makes sense. No one would try to get their tracker removed if they don't even know it's there."

"Pretty much. It would be too hard following all of us around the city, otherwise. Even with MBI's means and resources."

"Akitsu probably doesn't have one herself, then. It took them way too long to track her down after her breakout."

"Indeed. Scraps were not meant to ever leave the labs, so there wasn't much point in tagging them like the rest of us. That was quite the oversight on someone's part. I'm sure that's ground for termination."

"Termination or termination? Sorry. That was a rhetorical question," he said, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, it was," she chuckled. When secrets of that magnitude were involved, being fired usually meant being shot. "Moving on, there is Section Four. This is the armed branch of the company. The Disciplinary Squad is technically part of this."

"Technically, but not practically?"

"Karasuba doesn't care enough about humans to bother working with them, and if she takes any notice of them, it's because she's going to kill somebody. Either one of them or someone else. The people from Section Four more or less skirt around her, hoping not to provoke her ire."

"And does it work?"

"I'm not sure. It is the section with the highest turnover of them all, but it's hard to say whether it's just the expected occupational hazard or something else."

"Does MBI engage in armed conflict very often?" he asked. "I thought they would be more of a deterrent than an actual combat force."

"Of course they are an actual combat force. Although it does so under different aliases, MBI work closely with the military forces all around the world, either by developing cutting edge weaponry or lending their high trained forces. Household appliances and hospital equipment are all well and good, but the biggest chunk of the cake is the military contracts."

"That makes an unfortunate good amount of sense. It explains why MBI has as much leeway as it does. I bet that key official in most governments have a sizeable investment in MBI's share."

"Probably," Kazehana agreed. "It's hard to say where MBI stops and the governments, any government, begins. I'm not sure it's possible to count how many people they have bought. Of course, they have their shares of detractors as well. Plenty of companies went out of business because of them and I'm sure they couldn't buy just everyone. They don't control the world, yet."

"Yet," he specified. "You think that's what they are aiming for?"

"Pfft. Nah. I'm not saying it won't end like that anyway, but knowing the director he would say something about it being too cliche. Besides, someone would then have to rule the world and he's too far too whimsical for that. Takami would sooner quit rather than dealing with that as well. I don't even know how she manages all of her duties as it is. The director might be a scientific genius and a visionary, but that woman manages not to be left behind, somehow."

Kazehana told herself that she managed to keep the bitterness from her voice, but she wasn't that good at lying to herself. Fortunately, he immediately changed the subject, though Kazehana wasn't sure if he hadn't picked how loaded her statement had been, or if he decided to spare her from prodding.

"What I'd like to know next is about the other Sekirei, and which powers they have."

"She didn't tell you?" Kazehana asked, tilting her head at the Scrap.

"She did, but she wasn't meant to take part in the Game and her knowledge is sketchy at best. I would like to confirm what I know."

"Hmm. I'm not supposed to discuss these things with anyone other than my Ashikabi, but I owe you for not winging me against my will, so I'll give you a general idea."

"That's more than enough," he agreed. "Thank you."

"Alright then. Sekirei can largely be grouped in three Classes. The Power Class makes up the majority of us. They have stronger physiques than the others and usually fight at close range. As you already know, Karasuba is part of this Class. Then there is the Elemental Class, like myself and the Scrap."

"Excuse me," he interrupted. "Could you please stop calling her that? She has a name."

"Oh. Good," she said approvingly. "I was wondering if you'd say something about it. An Ashikabi is supposed to stand up for their Sekirei, you know? Even if you are weak, squishy things, you should at least make a token effort."

He blinked a couple of times, but he didn't seem offended by her jab at his species.

"So, what? You were testing me?" he asked.

"Of course," she nodded. "One day we might fight one another until I win, but that doesn't mean I want any of my sisters to be with someone who doesn't treat as well as they deserve."

"Is that how all Sekirei feel about each other?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Weird question coming from someone who has met Karasuba," she deadpanned.

"... good point," he concurred. "Please, carry on."

"Hm? Don't you want to know if you passed the test or not?"

"You haven't walked out on me yet, so either I did or it's still ongoing," he said flatly. "No offense, but you don't strike me as the kind of person that would hang around someone who has disappointed them."

"You think you got me all figured out, don't you?" she asked, but her lips were stretched into a very amused smile. This guy was fun to play with. He was clever, but also shy enough that it was entertaining to tease him.

"Ah," he scratched his cheek as he looked away. "I wouldn't dare be so presumptuous."

"Not if you know what's good for you," she praised. "Now, as I was saying, Akitsu and I are are part of the Elemental Class. We each have control over one Element and one Element only. Physically we aren't the Power Class match, but our offensive power is much higher. I think we make up for about twenty-five percent of the total. Lastly, there are the Special or Odd Class."

"What is that makes them Special?"

"The easy explanation is that they won't fit the other groups, and there's too few of them to make a Class of their own, so they are just lumped all together. I'd be shocked if there were more than two per type. Obviously, they are the rarest, but that doesn't make them necessarily stronger. In fact, by far and large they are much weaker."

"Why is that?"

"Because generally their specialization isn't combat-oriented," she explained with a shrug. "Some can interface with digital networks, others can travel through shadows or have different kind of skills. I'm sure that they all have a developed way to use their abilities offensively or defensively, but I don't expect them to be much of a threat in a fight. "

"And overall, how many of them are there?"

"I'd say not more than twenty, but I have no way to be sure."

"So, twenty or so are Special Class, about thirty belong to the Elemental Class and the rest fall in the Power Class," he resumed, taking a look at his notes.

"Yes, that's about it," she confirmed.

"Okay. Is there any other thing that it might be useful to know, that you'd be willing to share?"

"Hm. How about this?" she leaned forward, looking cospiratoringly as if she about to share a great secret. "The number of a Sekirei indicates in which order they have been awoken. Hence, the lower the number, the more experience they are likely to have."

"So, what you are saying is that single digits are the most dangerous," he concluded, sizing her up all over again.

She was number three, after all, which meant that there were only two other Sekirei that were stronger than her by virtue of a longer experience.

"Pretty much, yes," she said, sticking out her chest proudly. This time, the flaunting of her feminine virtues did not have him blushing and looking away. So, he was not as pliable as she first thought him to be, then.

"That's extremely important. Thank you," he nodded.

"It was the least I could in exchange for the hospitality. Now, I have some questions of my own."

"Alright. I'll answer what I can."

"Okay. Why do you live in this box? Even if you were short on money before, you should have received a MBI credit card, right?"

"Sure they did give me one, but it's not a good idea to rely financially on an entity I don't trust. Also, this area is largely desert at night, when I'd expect most fights will take place. Collateral damage and casualties would be kept to a minimum."

"How thoughtful of you."

"Thoughtlessness comes at a steep price."

Silently, she agreed and wondered how much that piece wisdom had cost him.

"Right. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself then?"

"There isn't much to tell. I'm just a college dropout trying to make a living. I traveled the world a little bit doing odd jobs and then came back to Japan looking for work. There's nothing really worth mentioning."

"Hm-hm, I'm sure," she said, not bothering to pretend she bought it.

One does not easily recognize the smell of blood unless they are familiar with it. However, if he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't press the matter. If he was anything like her - and nothing like Karasuba - he wouldn't want to talk about the matter more than strictly necessary.

She was shameless in many ways, but she still knew how to return someone's courtesy.

Unfortunately, if he didn't want to talk about his life, there was little else that she had to ask him. At his point, she might just have some fun at his expenses.

"So, how far have you gotten?" she asked.

"How far have I gotten with what?" he asked back.

"With Akitsu, you dummy. What base are you at?"

He frowned, clearly not getting what she was talking about, but then understanding dawned on him and he blushed beet red.

"That's…! Akitsu and I aren't like that," he protested vehemently.

"Oh dear," she said, turning to Akitsu. "It looks like you have your job cut out for you."

Akitsu, much to his chagrin, nodded slowly in agreement.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, outraged, red from ear to ear.

"What do you think an Ashikabi is, hmm? They are not just a mean to unlock a Sekirei true power, which Akitsu cannot do in any case. They are a lifelong partner. A lover. I'm sure she must have told you this much. If you can't be that for her either, what's the point of you being around at all?"

"Be that as it may, my relationship with Akitsu is none of your business. That line of discussion is prohibited."

Kazehana felt a chill go up her spine and she froze in place immediately like a deer in the headlights. It was a pavlovian reaction to the use of a certain set of words, and tone of voice that had long since come to awaken a sense of horror deep within her.

In that moment a number of pieces clicked together and she understood precisely why she had followed this man back at his place, when there should have been no sensible reason for it.

'This guy is just like Miya.'

Everything about him reminded Kazehana of that woman. From his stern but obviously kind composure, to his eyes, who had seen more ugly things that they would have liked. For some reason, her drunken self had been able to put the pieces together faster than her sober mind could.

What a joke. So much about reacting to him. Although, that was somewhat reassuring.

Of course his voice held none of the command that the number Zero-One could muster, but the terror carried by those words was deeply ingrained into her, and she reacted accordingly. It was so evident that even he had noticed.

"Err… sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice," he apologized.

"What? Oh, no, no, no. I was in the wrong. No one is supposed to put their nose between a man and his woman, right?"

"Like I said… Ugh. Forget it," he said, looking away as he ran a hand through his hair. Incidentally, in that moment his eyes fell on the battered clock hanging my the wall. "Oh crap! It's already nine? I should have been at work three hours ago," he exclaimed. "Why is that nobody from work called me yet? Where is my phone?"

"Oh dear," she laughed. "It seems that our time together is running short. I should take my leave as well. Places to see and people to meet."

"Wait. Hold up," he said. "Do you have a number where I could reach you in case I had other questions?"

Kazehana grinned, standing up and turning to leave.

"We might have done a few things in the wrong order, but you have not earned the privilege of knowing my phone number yet. If you want to meet me again, you know where to look for me. If fate wills it, we'll meet again."

"I see," he sighed, shoulders dropping. "You are the type of person that enjoys making things needlessly complicated."

"Fufufu. What kind of cheap woman would I be, if I let the men chasing after me catch up too easily?"

"Do you apply that kind of logic to everyone you meet?" he asked tiredly.

"Of course not" she said, picking up her coat from the couch where it had been placed, on her way to the door. "Only to the cute guys."

She winked at him from behind her shoulder, and he frowned in response, though he also blushed at little bit.

That was good enough for her, for the time being. She went out the door and down the stairs beyond, without waiting for a rebuttal that never came anyway.

He didn't follow after her, which raised her esteem of him a little further. The line between being persistent and being annoying was a thin one, but apparently he knew where it was and that he should not cross it.

Her next stop would be at a certain inn, where another runaway Sekirei was hiding. She would be able to give her all the informations there were to find about this recent object of curiosity.

It had been a long time since she had been so excited about something other than booze and that put her in an unusually good mood.

'Emiya Shirou, eh? Let's see what is it that makes you so interesting…'

[br]

Shirou watched through the battered blinds of his apartment as Kazehana left the area. He had gotten some useful pieces of information out of her, but he didn't quite like how he had handled the conversation.

Particularly, he wasn't happy about telling that he could detect Sekirei. Unfortunately, she had caught on him knowing her nature faster than he could come up with a decent excuse on the spot. Even if there had been one, he wasn't sure that lying would have worked on her.

Kazehana was no idiot, and if she realized that he had lied to her from the onset, any chance of cooperation might have been shot. Besides, even if she told somebody, it was such an intangible thing that he could easily deny it later. Furthermore, his impression of Kazehana told him that she wasn't a precisely a blabbermouth. Somehow, despite appearances, that woman was the farthest thing from loose there could possibly be. For all that she showed about her body, she played her cards close to the chest

Ultimately, he hadn't lost much, especially compared to the insight he had acquired. So why was he so frustrated?

'Rin would have handled it much better,' he thought, and it was true. Even after so many years, he still got caught flat-footed far too many times.

But it wasn't just that.

What Kazehana had said about him and Akitsu bothered him. He had taken her in because she needed his help, and then he got entangled with the Sekirei Plan because of it. However, he neither could nor would be anything more than her ally in the Game. What he actually wanted was for her to learn to exist on her own and eventually find someone who could really be her partner.

That person could not be him.

The problem with that was twofold. First, telling her that he intended to disappear from her life one day was tantamount to abandoning her and it would probably break her. Therefore he would have to keep it to himself until she was ready.

Second, that meant that he was leading her on. Even if it was for her own good, it filled him with self-loathing, and he already had enough of that to spare.

Sadly, there was no immediate solution to that problem, and there were far more pressing concerns to worry about. Starting from figuring out where his phone was, so that he could call his boss and apologize for not showing up.

He found it under the couch, where it had probably rolled when he fell asleep on the ground the previous night. The battery was dead, but after he plugged it in and turned it on, he found that there was a message from an unknown number.

"Yo," it read. "I told the boss that you felt sick last night and that you probably wouldn't come in today. Don't have too much fun. Seo."

"That guy," Shirou grumbled, although he was relieved. "I'll have to pay him back sometime."

Even though he would soon start working independently, it would have been a blow to his reputation if he had lost his job. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about losing a day worth of wages now that he had the card from MBI, and since he was already excused for the day, he might as well take care of a few things that he had left pending.

There was a crate full of compromising material waiting for him and he would better retrieve it before someone got their hands on it. He couldn't afford to lose that stuff and more importantly, he couldn't have the law enforcement on his case. There were just so many complications he could deal with at one time.

[XXX]

AN: That's it for now. Sorry for making you wait this long. I'll be focusing on other stories now, but if you want to read more On Wings of Steel check my page at "pa treon[dotcom] / neoalfa"

Thank you.