"Homura, it appears to us both that you're likely a Sekirei Prototype."

"However, 'likely' is all we can say for sure."

"We made as many adjustments as we could. But in our assessment, until you emerge, your output will remain unstable."

"Due to your severe gender instability, even if you can emerge, your options for Ashikabi will be limited. But in the off-chance that you do have a reaction to someone, just know that your body will be as the Ashikabi wills it to be."

Some days, Homura thought back to that conversation, to that adjustment bed and the horrible gown that all the Sekirei wore when they were on it, and he laughed. He'd quite literally tripped over his Ashikabi his first night out of the lab.

Okay, so he'd actually tripped over her cat. Her white-with-a-purple-striped-tail talking cat that walked on two feet as often as four and wore gloves with really big claws over the front paws.

Not that he'd noticed any of that when he'd first met them. He hadn't even realised the strange cat was there at all until after. He wouldn't have tripped over the cat if he'd seen it. He'd been much too preoccupied at the time with the fact that, despite the cautions from Takehito and Takami, he'd felt himself reacting to someone. Already.

Oh, and his Ashikabi had been only thirteen years old when he'd tripped over her talking cat and landed, face-first, on the girl. Who had in turn fallen backwards into a bush. Which was better for her head than falling all the way to the ground, but still wasn't exactly an ideal place for a first kiss, however accidental it had been.

~oOo~

"Kari! Are you alright?" a frantic voice called from behind him.

The kiss had been accidental, binding, but accidental, and Homura was acutely aware of how uncomfortable the bush was once he'd finished emerging.

"I am so sorry!" he apologised quickly as he stood up, then moved to his Ashikabi help up as well.

"It was an accident," the girl said, but she'd winced when she accepted his help to stand. "Ah, I think I might have twisted my ankle in the tumble though," she admitted, and shifted her weight so that she was effectively standing on one leg. Only the toes of the other foot touching the ground at all.

Homura realised then just how small she was. Realised how young she must be. Rather than slipping an arm around her waist, he braced her shoulders. He looked around, spotted a bench, and quickly scooped her up into his arms and carried her over.

"Woah!" she yelped in surprise, but didn't hesitate to wrap her own arms around his shoulders while he carried her.

"I am so, so sorry," Homura insisted again as he gently set her down on the bench.

"What are you?" the voice from earlier asked.

Homura was surprised to look down to the source, and even more surprised that it seemed to be a very strange-looking cat that had spoken.

"Gatomon!" the girl exclaimed.

"Whatever he is Kari, he's not human," the talking cat insisted, and jumped up to take a defensive position between the girl and Homura. Six sharp claws and a set of pointed teeth all bared at him menacingly. "Humans don't light up like a Roman Candle that was lit by Greymon's Nova Blast, or send up a flare a hundred miles high just from the back of their necks."

Homura's hand darted to the back of his neck reflexively, to where his crest would be, now that he'd emerged.

"I promise, I intend no harm to... Kari-chan, was it?" Homura asked.

"Kamiya Hikari, but everyone just calls me Kari," the girl confirmed with a nod. "And this is Gatomon," she added, and rubbed the fur between the odd cat's ears.

"Well, I'm Homura," he presented himself, "and I..." he checked to see if there was anybody else around. There wasn't. It was just him, his Ashikabi, and her cat. "I'm a Sekirei."

"I'm guessin' that has something to do with the lightshow that sprung out of your back when you crashed into Kari," the talking cat, Gatomon, said. "I suppose it kind of looked like wings."

"That happened because Kari-chan is my destined Ashikabi," Homura explained. "When we accidentally kissed when we fell, it allowed me to emerge, and now I'm winged to Kari-chan."

"Ashikabi?" Kari and Gatomon repeated.

"Is that kind of like DigiDestined?" the girl asked.

"Sounds like it might be," the cat answered with a shrug.

"What's DigiDestined?"

"Kari is my human," Gatomon explained. "I'm her digimon. I was waiting for her from the day I was born, and when we met, it was like a missing piece of who I was fell into place."

Homura blinked. "I guess... it's very alike then," he allowed.

Homura, fresh from the MBI labs and having been very attentive to Takehito and Takami's explanations while he was there, explained everything about his situation, and his species, as thoroughly as he could. He even included the insanity of Minaka, the enforced secrecy of the Sekirei Plan, and the 'job' Takami had asked him to perform of guarding the un-emerged Sekireis until they found their own Ashikabis.

"Well... if I can't tell anyone, then I guess I can't really just take you home with me," Kari said thoughtfully. "I can't see Momma or Daddy taking it too well that I brought a stranger home when they eventually found out, especially if I can't explain why. Tai would almost definitely flip his lid, even if I could tell him."

"Tai?" Homura asked cautiously. He didn't want to get caught up in some love-triangle, if his Ashikabi already had a human boyfriend. It was different if an Ashikabi drew multiple Sekireis, because Sekireis understood how it was. A human boyfriend might not.

"My older brother," Kari explained with a fond smile. "He gets very protective sometimes."

"My understanding is that, well, that's what big brothers are for," he said, a relieved (if slightly tentative) smile on his face.

"Do you have somewhere to live?" Gatomon asked suddenly, clearly thinking about the logistics and practicalities of this new relationship her human was suddenly involved in.

"There's a boarding house not far from here," Homura supplied. "It's owned by the head researcher and his wife. I've been offered a place there."

"Izumo?" Kari checked.

"You know it?"

"Sure. I walk past it on my way to school. Um... actually, how will being your Ashikabi work when I'm only thirteen? The way you explained it, it's like you're kind of my boyfriend now," Kari broached carefully.

"Husband," Homura corrected, even as he winced. "Uh, well... that actually sounds worse. Um..."

"How about we stick with 'older boyfriend' for now, and take our relationship slowly until I'm seventeen?" Kari suggested with a giggle. "That's only four years."

"I think that's a good plan," Gatomon interjected, tone firm and approving all at once. "If MBI are releasing Sekirei in ones and twos, and it takes a while to... 'adjust' them inbetween... then Kari should be old enough to have a relationship with you before they're all released."

"And in the mean time, we can be friends, and I can get to know you better, and you can get to know me, and we'll even help you protect the younger Sekirei," Kari suggested. With everything decided, at least for now, Kari tried standing. She didn't try that for long. Her ankle had definitely been twisted wrong when they fell, and was still very tender.

"Maybe I could carry you home?" Homura offered quickly.

"That's a good idea," Gatomon agreed. "If we were in the Digital World, I'd offer, but digivolving here would attract attention. As it is, I'm surprised your light show didn't get people to come running."

"People probably dismissed it as fireworks, and stuck to their balconies to watch for more," Kari suggested, "and Angewomon or Nefertimon wouldn't draw as much attention as Greymon and the others. All the same, yes, I'd appreciate you carrying me home very much, Homura, thank you. You'll be able to meet my family that way too, even if we can't tell them everything about what exactly is going on."

He piggy-backed Kari back to her apartment, Gatomon walking alongside, and while they walked, they explained to him more about the Digital World, and some of Kari's adventures as one of the DigiDestined.

~oOo~

Homura was surprised the next day when Kari arrived at the door of Maizon Izumo with a bunch of other kids. Four of them were about her age, one was a few years younger, but most of them were a couple of years older. It surprised him even more that they all had some odd creature with them, or it did until he remembered that Gatomon and Kari had explained a bit about how all the DigiDestined had a digimon partner.

He supposed that this must be them. But... why were they all here?

"Guess what Homura," Gatomon spoke up with a grin. "Minaka messed up."

One of the older boys, who had an absolutely massive amount of gravity-defying brown hair, stepped up to him, a critical look on his face.

"So, you're my little sister's Sekirei huh?" he asked, eyes narrowed and assessing.

Homura blinked, processed the implications of Gatomon's statement and the boy's question, and realised that he was in the unique position of having to explain himself as a Sekirei to his Ashikabi's big brother. Most other Sekirei would be able to simply tell the family of their Ashikabi that they were a girlfriend, if they were introduced at all.

Heck, when he'd brought Kari back to her family apartment the night before, he'd just been the stranger who had tripped over her cat, and then carried her home because she'd twisted her ankle when he fell on her. Introductions had been extremely brief, and certainly not comprehensive. He had only spoken to Kari's father at the time, in fact.

"Yes," he finally managed to get out, and bowed quickly. "I am Homura, Sekirei number six. It is an honour to meet my Ashikabi's Onii-san. Please, come inside. It looks like we have a lot to talk about."

He hadn't known the half of it. Kari had barely finished introducing everyone when there was a loud noise in an upstairs part of the house, and a very buxom, bespectacled red-head had crashed through the door.

Every boy in the room apart from Homura and the young Cody turned pink at the sight of her. Not surprising given her own flushed face, mussed appearance, and heavy breathing.

"Which of you is it?" she panted as she clung to the edge of the shoji screen. "You all walked in, and I started reacting. Which of you is my Ashikabi?"

"Everyone, this is Sekirei number two, Matsu," Homura introduced quickly.

"Should we go outside?" Gatomon asked quietly. "Is she going to set off fireworks like you did?"

"I'm a fire-type Sekirei. Matsu is an information and technology type, or brain-type. Her winging shouldn't be as... spectacular as mine was," he explained as he shook his head. He also kept an eye on the other Sekirei as she stumbled into the room and worked her way around, pressing herself close to each of the kids in turn, trying to find the one that was making her react.

When Matsu finally set her hands on Joe's shoulders, nearly swooned, and kissed him soundly, this was proved out.

"Are you calm now?" Homura demanded dryly, once the after-image of Matsu's wings had faded.

"Yes," Matsu answered, and turned to face everyone properly, though she stayed at Joe's side. "I am sorry for my behaviour. Normally, I'm much more rational, truly. I was taken completely by surprise by the strength of my reaction to my Ashikabi."

"Joe's a pretty surprising guy," Gomamon volunteered proudly.

"I think I missed something," Matsu admitted as she blinked down at the digimon, surprised confusion evident on her face.

"Matsu, this is Gomamon," Joe introduced, with a proud smile battling a pleasurably dazed look on his face. That must have been quite the kiss. "He's my partner digimon, and my best friend."

"Definitely missed something," Matsu confirmed with a nod, which started up the explanations in earnest. Explanations which were regularly interrupted by questions, from both sides.

~oOo~

It had been several years since then. A lot had happened. Some of the original tenants had left, others had come – and gone again. Takehito had died in mysterious circumstances while working at MBI, leaving Miya to mourn him, and with a lot of help, force herself to continue to go on without him. All but the last two numbers had been released from MBI's labs. Homura still lived at Maizon Izumo, and Kari still lived with her brother and their parents. Matsu, on the other hand, was living in a small apartment with Joe and Gomamon, and had been since about a year after she'd been winged. Joe had insisted on a year of living separately and getting to know each other before moving in together.

He'd also insisted on Matsu finding some way to bring in an income, even if she was hiding from MBI. He was a student after all, most of the money he got from his part-time job went to his tuition when he was living with his family. Moving out would put a bit of a strain on his limited savings if they couldn't figure something out.

Izzy had been the one to find Matsu a job, as he was the one in their group who had been making connections in the information and technology industry. He'd also helped Homura enrol in a college course, and Yolei had gotten him a part-time job at her parents' convenience store.

Homura appreciated the chance to make something of himself beyond MBI's machinations. It was nice to be able to spend his own money on Kari as well, rather than using the MBI card he'd been given. Gatomon was quite the chaperone for their dates too. Not intrusive, not disapproving, but she made extra sure that neither Homura or Kari did anything past a certain point. A line in the sand that had been drawn (initially by Kari and Homura when they had met, yes, but more emphatically and with greater detail by Tai) and agreed upon by all parties involved.

Homura had even been to the Digital World a few times over the years. After what had happened the first time Homura went with Kari and Gatomon to the TV station on the anniversary of Wizardmon's death, Kari insisted upon it.

For that matter, so did Wizardmon.

The digimon's ghost had appeared, had spoken to them and warned Gatomon of a danger, and when his warning was given, his ghost had been sucked into the nearby computer screen. From which had come an egg. A blue egg with yellow stars that, it turned out, was Wizardmon's digi-egg. It had floated out of the computer and right into Homura's hands, along with a digivice. Wizardmon mostly lived at Maizon Izumo with Homura, though he also had a place he called 'home' back in the Digital World as well.

Homura was hardly resistant to the requests of both his Ashikabi and his digimon. It was so... freeing to be able to leave Shin Tokyo and travel all over the Digital World. MBI couldn't stop him from going there, since he was technically not leaving his room, Izumo, or Shin-Tokyo. Entering the digital world was truly liberating.

Matsu had worked with Izzy and a digi-man called Gennai, and stable portals had been set up for easy travel between the Real World and the Digital World. There were restrictions, of course. It wouldn't be good to open the way to bad digimon, after all. Or bad humans, for that matter. Only those who held a digivice or were linked to a digivice (so, a DigiDestined and their partner digimon) were able to use these portals.

"Heeeeeeeelllllllllllp!" a voice screamed.

Homura jerked out of his thoughts, and hurried to check that the cry for help hadn't come from his computer. It had sounded more distant than that, but it was still what he checked first. It wasn't a call from any of the digimon, or any DigiDestined currently in the Digital World. Satisfied on that front, Homura went to see where else that cry might have come from.

~oOo~

"I heard a scream," Homura said as he slid open one of the shoji doors that led into the small back yard of the boarding house. "What's going on? Oh, Miya-san, it looks like some strange people have fallen into your garden."

They had most definitely fallen. There were leaves and twigs in their hair, and the tree they'd fallen through was looking a bit battered.

"Yes," Miya agreed. She'd found them before him. "And one of them is hurt. Will you please fetch the first-aid kit, while I see about getting some clothes that aren't all torn up?"

"Hello!" a familiar voice called from the front gate before he could agree. "Anybody home?"

"Ah, Miya-san?" Homura voiced cautiously.

"As long as you get the first-aid kit out on the way," she permitted with a smile. "I think fresh clothes are a bit more urgent than a scraped knee just now, and I can lend some of the things I have in storage. Go on."

Homura bowed quickly in gratitude, and went to greet his Ashikabi's best (human) friend. He stopped short in the doorway when he saw that TK had a mostly-naked, beaten-looking woman with him. Appeared to be holding her upright, in fact, as she was leaning heavily on TK and he had both arms around her middle.

"Homura, this is Akitsu," TK introduced. "Do you think Miya-san would mind taking care of one more lost, hurt, and lonely little bird? Just until Matt and I sort out our new apartment? She'll be able to live with us then."

"While I'm surprised you didn't take her to Joe's place, I also know that Miya-san won't turn anyone away," Homura assured TK, even as he stared at the woman who wore only a bloody lab-coat, and had the Sekirei Crest splashed across her forehead.

This Akitsu was a Scrapped Number. What was she even doing out of the labs? Well, whatever the reason, at least he knew TK would take good care of her, which was more than could be said for some people. For that matter, TK would very likely take better care of the Scrapped Number than MBI, judging by the state of the poor, unfortunate creature. Homura also didn't doubt that the rest of the DigiDestined, and their digimon, would help as well – and Homura counted himself in that number.

"At this time of night, when he's working shifts at the hospital and studying like crazy for his last exams before graduating?" TK countered, then shook his head. "I sent Matsu a text. She promised that Joe will have time to make a house-call the day after tomorrow. Akitsu isn't physically hurt that I can see, just dirty, tired, and hungry, so I thought that it would probably be okay to wait that long."

"Would you like me to see if Uzume will lend Akitsu some clothes?" Homura offered, even as he nodded in agreement with TK's chosen course of action, and stepped up to help TK get the mostly-naked Scrapped Number inside.

"That sounds like a great idea," TK agreed quickly and firmly, and Homura noticed (now that they were inside and the lighting was better) that TK's face was flushed. All the way from the collar of his shirt to the roots of his hair, his face was completely pink.

Well, that was a perfectly reasonable reaction for a young man in his late teens to have to helping a mostly-naked woman stumble through the streets, carrying a good deal of her weight, and with her curves pressed up against him. Homura thought himself very restrained in not laughing at how eager TK was for Akitsu to be properly covered.

Homura settled TK and Akitsu in one of the empty rooms, knocked on Uzume's door to pass on the request, and then went to deliver the first-aid kit to Miya and the couple that had somehow crash-landed in Maizon Izumo's back garden. Naturally, he made sure to whisper in Miya's ear that TK needed to talk to her.

Then he grabbed his phone and punched in the speed-dial for his own Ashikabi.

"Kari? Oh, hey Gatomon. Is Kari there? Thanks. Kari? Yeah, it's me. Listen, you want to come around tomorrow? I think things are about to get really interesting..." In general, Homura couldn't help but smile whenever he talked to Kari, but with everything going on right now, he'd have been grinning like Gatomon did when she got fish and a bowl of cream, regardless.

~oOo~

In response to the call they'd gotten from Homura, Kari and Gatomon had gone to the Inoue's Ai-mart store on their way to the inn that day. Yolei had been interested to hear the latest on how things were going with the Sekirei Plan, and Kari had been able to get a few basics for the 'Scrapped' Number. Basics like a hairbrush, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, since Homura had assured them that Uzume would have the clothes issue all stitched up, and it wasn't like Kari knew the new Sekirei's sizes to buy clothes for her anyway.

Now, here they were, a few yards from the gate of Izumo Inn, and there was a young man carrying a couple of bags, and a girl in a... well, a 'sexy cosplay' version of a shrine girl outfit, with boxing glove accessories, carrying an almost impossibly large bundle on her shoulders. Almost, because it was very clearly happening. It shouldn't be though.

"Not too subtle, are they?" Gatomon quipped from her spot in the basket of Kari's bicycle.

"Trying to wrap all your worldly possessions up in an over-sized table-cloth really isn't the best way to do things, no matter how traditional it might be," Kari said. "Besides which, that's just ridiculous."

It really was. The bundle that the girl was carrying on her shoulders was... well, Kari would lay money that if the bundle was on the ground next to the girl, they would be the same height (not counting sticking-up hair). The bundle was also pretty much spherical, so... there was a lot of stuff being carried on that girl's shoulders, and she wasn't even the slightest bit bent over under the weight.

She really should have been. For balance if for no other reason. Her centre of gravity had to be way off.

And yet it didn't seem to bother her at all.

Kari and Gatomon gave the strange pair a few seconds to go ahead before Kari swept her bike through the gate and settled it by the fence.

"Will you stick with me, or go snooping on your own?" Kari asked as Gatomon hopped down from the basket.

"You're seventeen now," Gatomon said with a wicked little smile. "I'll let you have some unsupervised time with your husband before I come find you," she teased.

Kari blushed, but before she could say anything to her digimon, Gatomon had vanished into the inn with a flick of her tail. She took the bag full of things for TK's Sekirei with her.

"Gatomon!" Kari called after her.

"What did she do?" Homura asked as he came to stand in the still-open front door. Brown eyes flicked from where they'd been trailing Gatomon to Kari.

"Gatomon was teasing me," Kari pouted as she folded her arms over her chest and looked away from Homura's gaze, cheeks still very pink.

Homura chuckled, and stepped down from the entryway so he could wrap his arms around his Ashikabi. He pecked a light kiss to her cheek.

"You need to be teased now and then," he said fondly, smiling.

"Even when she's teasing me about having some alone time with my husband?" Kari asked pointedly.

Homura was naturally pale, so when he blushed, it was really very noticeable – and he lit up just as much as Kari had at Gatomon's suggestion. His hands also tightened around her waist.

"Wizardmon, TK and Patamon are explaining to Akitsu-san about digimon, Miya-san is busy with the new residents, Uzume is asleep..." Homura listed thoughtfully, voice soft. "While the Gatomon is away, the Sekirei shall play," he suggested in a play on the old saying, and swept Kari inside and to his room.

Miya had rules of conduct in her establishment, but she couldn't be everywhere at once, and since Matsu had moved out and taken all of her computers with her, Miya didn't have Matsu's little surveillance network to spy with either. As long as they were quiet, they should be able to get away with at least a little bit. Miya had a sixth sense for things that were forbidden in her inn though, so even if they were confident of her being distracted, they wouldn't go too far.

~oOo~

"TK said something about an apartment," Homura said quietly. For a while, they'd sat together on his bed and – to use a colloquialism – necked. Hands had only had a little time to roam before Miya had slammed the door open and reminded them of her rules – a glint in her eye and a knife in her hand.

"Mm," Kari agreed. "Matt's band made enough on gigs that he can make a deposit on a place, and TK's got an after school job now too, so they're moving in together. They've done their best, but having been separated by their parents' divorce was hard on them when they were kids."

"That's got to be one heck of a deposit," Homura mused.

Two boys, two 'animals' (digimon, but they weren't human, which is what their lease-holder would care about), and a woman as well. That could definitely be difficult.

"They can handle it," Kari asserted. "Tai's the one I'm worried about."

"Oh?" Homura prompted. "Is he moving out as well?"

"Yep. Out of home, and in with Sora," Kari reported.

Homura blinked as he took that in.

"Wait... I thought Sora and Matt...?"

"Which is making everything about a hundred times more awkward until they all get their feelings straightened out," Kari confirmed. "I really think he'd be better off getting a bachelor pad with Izzy, but Izzy isn't interested in moving out of his parents home just yet. Probably because he can't cook."

Homura brought his hands up and kneaded his Ashikabi's shoulders in a comforting manner, and pressed a kiss just behind her ear. Easy enough to do when she was sitting between his legs with her back against his chest.

"Leaving Izzy out of things for now, maybe we should lock Sora and Matt in a closet together, and find Tai a nice Sekirei to settle down with," Homura suggested, deliberately letting his lips tickle Kari as he murmured the words into her skin where he'd just kissed her.

Kari giggled, and lightly slapped one of his shoulders.

Homura slid his hands down her arms in response, then wrapped them warmly around her waist and propped his chin over her shoulder. He loved his Ashikabi. He loved that he'd found her so soon after being released from MBI. He loved that – thanks to that – he was considered to be only a couple of years older than her, so no one ever looked askance at them for dating each other. Just occasionally for their hair- or eye-colour, though with how popular hair dye and coloured contacts were these days, that was less of an issue than it could have been.

"I'm serious," Homura protested against the non-verbal reprimand.

"As much as that might make life easier, and as awkward as things will be for a while, it really is better to let them sort it all out for themselves," Kari denied.

"Hm. Any chance of you getting your own apartment soon? Or should I be saving up the money for a deposit?" Homura asked. "Actually, I think I can afford a deposit now... hm, but maybe not for a place that will look kindly on Gatomon. Keeping a pet makes getting an apartment more expensive – and you and I know that Gatomon isn't a normal cat, but the point remains."

Before Kari could answer, Homura's phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered. "You've known that for years, Takami-san. He what?! Is she alright? No, of course, that was a foolish question. Mm, she's right here with me. Kari," he said, and passed the phone over to his Ashikabi with a kiss to her cheek.

"Moshi-moshi?" Kari greeted. "... I see," she said dangerously after a while of listening silently to Takami on the other end. "I'll set Davis on him, and set up a rotation with the rest of the Digidestined to protect the Feather. I really don't see why- Oh. No, I meant Mikogami. I'm more inclined to send Matt and Tai to deal with Minaka., but they're both a bit busy right now... That's a bad habit you have, Sahashi-san. I'll see ya, bye!"

Kari folded the flip-phone shut, hanging up with the action.

"We're on first shift to take care of number one-oh-eight?" Homura asked.

"Well, we know about it right now. TK can take the news to the others and sort out who will watch over her when, while we do immediate protection," Kari explained.

She'd said, when she first met Homura, that she would help him protect the un-winged Sekirei – and she had meant it. When Minaka screwed up and contacted her about her part in the Sekirei Game in front of all the other DigiDestined, and after they'd met Homura and Matsu, they had all agreed to help as well.

Incidentally, Davis had been looking for an excuse to beat up Mikogami for his forcible winging of no less than three Sekirei, including number five Mutsu, one of the few male Sekirei. Davis was convinced that Mutsu had been reacting to his sister, Jun, before Mikogami had forced himself on the older male.

~oOo~

Even though most of the DigiDestined didn't have a Sekirei, that wouldn't make them any less effective as guards for the Arboretum where the young feather had sequestered herself. After all, they did all have digimon – and the element of surprise.

Well, Mikogami's 'collection' of Sekirei wouldn't be surprised by Veemon, since Davis had taken umbrage at the kid setting two of his to restrain Mutsu long enough to kiss him. Not even just because Davis was sure that the number five had been reacting to his big sister, but also because Davis had a low tolerance threshold for guys kissing guys. It just grossed him out. No, he wasn't homophobic. It just grossed him out to see two guys doing that (kinda grossed him out to watch anybody kissing, actually).

That one of them was being forcibly kissed had just made him mad as well. This newest offence against a Feather that wasn't even through all of her adjustments just gave him an excuse to march right over and lay in on the rich kid all over again.

Kari blinked at the sight before her. She'd called Davis about Mikogami's attempt to wing a Sekirei that was only out of the MBI complex to visit flowers – not actually through all of her adjustments yet, and certainly not 'released' – while she, Gatomon, Homura and Wizardmon had made their way to the arboretum.

Veemon and Davis would keep the brat busy, while the rest of the DigiDestined would figure out a rotation to guard the Arboretum in shifts until either Takami showed up to take her back for final adjustments, or the Feather managed to call her real Ashikabi to her via the psychic link that all Sekirei had in varying strengths.

TK had clearly called around while she'd been walking as well, since there was no other reason that Izzy should meet her at the gate with Tentomon... and a Sekirei.

"Something to tell the rest of us, Izzy?" Kari probed teasingly.

"Ah-ha ha," Izzy laughed nervously. Normally, he was pretty cool, calm, and collected. It was only when he was caught out on a lie that he really got nervous. "Kari, Homura, Gatomon, this is Haihane. We, uh, we met... three months ago when she, uh..."

"When I was only just released from my adjustment phase, and still part of the Discipline Squad," Haihane finished, and carefully wrapped her arms around one of Izzy's. "I'm glad that Koushiro-sama is my Ashikabi, and that we met when we did. The higher ups at MBI were going to just assign an Ashikabi to the Discipline Squad... but Natsuo-san is only interested in men so..."

Izzy blushed under the understanding smiles of the younger Kari, the older Homura, and (even worse than those) the knowing smirk of the too-worldly Gatomon.

"And just how did you two meet?" Gatomon asked archly.

"It's was a truly fascinating amalgam of coincidence," Tentomon spoke up. "We were on our way to visit Cody, and a Sekirei-Ashikabi pair ran past us. Nothing particularly out of place about that, but they were running towards a bridge that leads out of the city. Haihane, along with Benitsubasa, another member of the Disciplinary Squad at the time, were in pursuit."

"Benitsubasa still is part of the Disciplinary Squad," Haihane said, "and I broke off pursuit when I felt myself react. Benitsubasa wasn't all that pleased, actually."

"It was all a bit awkward for a while," Izzy agreed. "But Ma sorted out the wardrobe issues, and Dad figured out the problem with Haihane's claw weapons."

"Problem?" Homura repeated, concerned for his fellow Sekirei.

"I wear them pretty much all the time," Haihane said, "so I sometimes forget they're there, and..."

"And hurt yourself," Kari finished. "Well, I'm glad you two found each other, and some other time, I'd like to really get to know you better, Haihane-chan, but right now, we've got a job to do."

"Ah. I'd... I would like to get to know you better some time too, Kari-chan."

~The End~