0027

After crossing the street in a hurry, Ryan and his girls approach Kaho and Musubi. They ignore the pedestrians they bumped in their haste. Still, Taki would apologize aloud as she looked back at the pedestrians they had bumped. Meanwhile, Ryan and Yomi ignored their wrongdoing.

When their distance to Kaho and Musubi is close enough, the system warns Ryan about the automatic activation of his Ashikabi's Gene; it's just as Ryan has expected.

Ryan stops abruptly. Yomi and Taki can't help but stop after him. Next, they gaze at him in puzzlement, wondering why he stopped before they catch up to their target. There are still a few meters apart between their group and Ryan's target.

However, Ryan knows that he does not need to approach Kaho and Musubi any more. Since his Ashikabi's Gene has triggered off, Ryan wants to know how this one will go. He's full of anticipation for a new surprise.

So far, Ryan was always facing the Sekirei he would wing when their "reactions" were triggered off. Therefore, he wants to find out how it is going to happen if he's not facing his target.

At the same time, Kaho and Musubi stop dead on their track. Their hands move to their chest as if trying to calm their frantic heartbeats. They're confused, wondering what they suddenly feel hot and restless. Their intuition as Sekirei also tells them to turn around or they'll regret it for the rest of their lives. And so, Kaho and Musubi follow their intuition and turn around.

Finally, Ryan faces No. 87 and 88. The moment they look at him, their faces redden. They stand rooted in their place with a dazed look. It's the typical reactive phenomenon when a Sekirei reacts to their Ashikabi.

Without any delay, Ryan approaches Kaho and Musubi. He grabs their hands and drags them somewhere less crowded.

"Eh? Wait!"

"Mou! Ryan-sama, please wait!"

Yomi and Taki, who are caught off guard, finally return back to their sense and follow after their Ashikabi in a hurry. Since Ryan drags the panting and blushing Kaho and Musubi with a regular person's speed, they can catch him without a problem.

The five—four Sekirei and a young man—are finally arriving inside an empty alley. After reaching deep inside the alley, Ryan releases the hand of Kaho and Musubi, but they quickly grab his hands as if they are unwilling to cut off their contact. In Kaho's case, she throws her clothed Naginata first before grasping his hand with her gloved hands.

"I...finally found you! My Ashikabi-sama!"

"Finally, I met you, Ashikabi-sama!"

Kaho and Musubi declare aloud before staring at each other's face. They have bemused expression before Musubi breaks the awkward silence first with her known airhead action and enthusiasm.

"Amazing! We have the same Ashikabi, Kaho-chan! Let's become one with our Ashikabi and serve him with our body and soul together!"

"Musubi-chan! Don't say something that can create a misunderstanding!" Kaho snaped at Musubi in embarrassment because of Musubi's words that have double meanings. Her delicate face formed a scandalized expression.

"What did you mean, Kaho-chan?" Confused, Musubi stares at Kaho with a blank look and tilts her head quizzically.

Looking at the oblivious Musubi, Kaho smiles helplessly. She knows how Musubi is. Because of her simple-minded attitude, she can say something that can create misunderstanding without thinking carefully about it. Musubi is a musclebrain and airhead. She is too innocent to the point of making others around her vexed without being intentional.

"Hehehe, you two are funny!" Yomi chuckles suddenly, grabbing the attention of Kaho and Musubi, who quickly turn in her direction.

They see Yomi who's standing behind their soon-to-be Ashikabi while hugging her scythe. Standing next to Yomi, Taki is watching everything with an amused expression, grinning widely. Meanwhile, Ryan has a small, amused slime from the shenanigans of Kaho and Musubi. His hesitation for winging these two has gone since he's now sure that he won't regret it. Besides, he's already obtained two Quests from the system to wing the both of them or he'll lose his free Sekirei quotas. Three quotas don't seem to be much, but Ryan thinks those three quotas are precious. They are equal to quick gains of millions of System Points, after all.

Back to Kaho and Musubi. Kaho has put up her guard after realizing the presence of other Sekirei. She's wary of them. On the other hand, Musubi stares at Yomi and Taking blankly before bumping her fist on her palm as if she has her eureka moment.

"Are you two Ashikabi-sama's Sekirei too?"

"Yep. No. 43. Death Scythe Sekirei, Yomi. Ryan-sama's second Sekirei!" Yomi introduced herself proudly.

"No. 65. Sekirei of Mist, Taki. I'm Ryan-sama's fifth and latest Sekirei." Taki greeted Kaho and Musubi with a wave of her hand and an embarrassed yet genuinely happy smile.

When Kaho and Musubi hear that, they have a different reaction. Musubi's eyes shine brightly to the point of having twinkling stars in them.

"Amazing! So, Ashikabi-sama has winged five Sekirei so far! Where are the others! I want to meet them!" Musubi exclaimed enthusiastically while bouncing on her feet.

"..." Kaho, meanwhile, has a dumbfounded expression. Her guard has been forgotten. "Five... In addition to me and Musubi... Then, there are seven?!" As she recovers from her shock, Kaho displays another scandalized expression and stares at Ryan with a complex look.

"What?" Ryan asked Kaho casually.

Kaho quickly shakes her head and says: "Regardless of seven or ten or more, you're still my destined Ashikabi! I shall support you with everything I have!"

"Well, then. Should I wing you now or what?" Ryan raises his brows at that. He wants to get this warped up as soon as possible, but he doesn't want to force them. Of course, it's only a pretense since there's no way he'll leave them just like that and lose his Sekirei quotas. However, he wants to present himself as a gentleman in front of them.

"Ah!" Kaho realizes that she's been winged yet. She suddenly becomes shy for knowing what being winged is about.

However, Musubi doesn't have Kaho's problem. When she hears about "winging", she quickly loses her interest to Yomi and Taki she's been pestering. She turns around to face Ryan, grabs his face, and immediately kisses him out the blue.

Everyone is speechless by Musubi's boldness. Even Kaho is dumbfounded because of how abrupt Musubi's action is.

Ryan quickly recovers from his stupor and returns Musubi's kiss. A moment later, pink-colored energy wings appear from Musubi's back. Afterward, Musubi breaks off the kiss. She then pledges herself to Ryan, "By the fist of my contract, Sekirei No. 88, Musubi, is yours forever and ever! Let's fight in the name of Love, Ashikabi-sama!"

"Yes. You're mine forever and ever, Musubi." Ryan replied with a soft smile and patted Musubi's head.

Inwardly, Ryan is very happy because the system has notified him that he's winged not one but two Sekirei. The other one is No. 8, Yume, who sleeps inside Musubi.

Their Affection Love Meter is maxed out. Moreover, their Devotion gauges are filled to 50%.

Ryan has obtained more than a million of System Points due to that.

(System, can you take out Yume's Tama without harming Musubi and creating a new body for her?)

Ryan asks the system silently.

[Answering the host: the system can do it for a price.

- Splitting the Tama of the individual [Sekirei No. 8 Yume] without harming the individual [Sekirei No. 88 Musubi] costs the host 1,000,000 SP.

- Creating a new body for the individual [Sekirei No. 8 Yume] costs the host 500,000 SP.]

(That's one million and a half, huh?) Ryan is troubled when he finds the exorbitant price to revive Yumi without harming Musubi.

[Advising the host: The host can use the facility in the spaceship to create a new body for the individual [Sekirei No. 8 Yume] to save up the host's System Points.]

(Great! Thanks a bunch, system.)

Ryan's happy to find out the alternative for recreating Yume's body. However, his moment is cut off by Kaho's voice.

"Excuse me, Ashikabi-sama."

Before he knows it, Kaho has grabbed his face and pushes her face into his. They kiss deeply and the winging process happens once again. The same pink energy wings sprout out of Kaho's back.

Ryan receives a multitude of notifications amidst the kiss. One of them informs him of his upgraded Ashikabi's Gene, raising it from (high) to (pinnacle). His Sekirei quotas are doubled; he can wing other eight "unwinged" Sekirei now.

Moreover, his total System Points are 4,031,572 points with the additional System Points he obtained from filling Kaho's Devotion gauge to 25%.

Despite that, Ryan's hunt is far from reaching the end.