Disclaimer

The various story ideas that are written here are contrived from various works and novels which are/were written and illustrated by their respective authors. I am merely borrowing their concepts to help me with the story telling.

My main muses come from Gabriel Blessing and Marcus Galen Sands, authors of great works themselves. This series is meant to be a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life are purely coincidental and should not be taken seriously. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Damn It!

Date Published: 4th November 2018

Title: Ashikabi of Gravity, Scythes and Veils (Working Title)

Genre: Action / Romance / Adventure, Canon AU

Description:

He was just returning home to Japan to see an old friend from his past, but a chance encounter with a girl wielding a big hammer put his plans on the back-burner. He blamed Hiroto Minaka for this bullshit...

0-0-0-0

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have arrived at Shin Tokyo Airport. It is now 8.30 am local time, temperature is currently at a cool 18 degrees Celsius, so you may wish to bundle up if you are afraid of the cold. Please ensure you have gathered all of your belongings before exiting the cabin. We thank you for flying MBI Transit Airlines and hope you would look to us for future trips. Have a pleasant stay in Shin Tokyo."

The end of the announcement was followed by the signal to unbuckle their seat belts, followed shortly by the luggage racks unlocking to allow the passengers to grab their bags. A few stayed put in their seats to let the rest grab their luggage first and moved on, knowing it would take a while before they got their turn. Among that lot was a young man sitting next to the window waiting for the two passengers at his side to grab their items before he did his. He was roughly around seventeen years old with rough black hair that was tied into a ponytail and blue eyes that appear to shimmer like water. He wore a thick gray jacket over a white t-shirt and had old jeans that had seen rougher days. A pair of earphones hung around his neck with the cable going to his pocket. The young man waited for a while before he got the chance to grab his bag from the compartment, pausing for a moment to check a certain item was kept securely and more importantly out of sight before moving out of the airplane, greeting the stewardesses as he left the plane.

"Damn, that was pretty quick trip back home. Only 8 hours from New York to Japan." The late teen shook his head in disbelief at the feat. "MBI is getting more outrageous by the day with all that technological advancements."

"You can say that again." His travel companion, an old man in his fifties with graying hair and wearing a thick coat over his clothes for the trip nodded as he walked alongside the young man. "If you have told me a few years ago that a startup company would develop the technology to allow traveling from one end of the world to the other in in eight hours, firing off twelve satellites and creating a new island all in one week, I would be asking the type of drink you would be taking so that I could try some myself."

"That makes two of us." The teen snorted as they got to the gantry where they were to check their passports. That proved to take a long time with the queue that had only lengthened as time gone by. From his angle, the teen could only guess the delay was due to a machine that that was supposed to take the visitor's DNA and checked it against the international database for comparison. He had heard of it before coming over here back in the states, it had caused much concern and controversy over the privacy rights and how it would give the impression of labeling people as though they were criminals. And currently, it appeared to be doing too good a job with quite a number of people getting directed to a different area for further checks, and out of that lot, groups of two were sent out in handcuffs.

"Christ, how many security guards are there for this?!" The old man exclaimed watching one rowdy man try to manhandle the guards only to be taken down by a stun gun.

"I guess the rumors were true about them having their own private task force." The teen could only remarked while blinking before shaking his head and coming to the counter himself to present his passport and to place a thumb in the scanner to have it take a sample of his blood. He frowned when the machine gave an error alert while blinking red.

'Great, I'm next.' The teen groaned as he watched the security guard starting to take out his cuffs while another was readying his weapon.

'Bing po~' The light turned green and gave a rather cheerful sound before the gantry gate opened.

'Huh? Looks to be my lucky day.' The teen thought wryly.

"Finally, the machine works right." The security guard who was halfway taking out a pair of handcuffs gave a sigh of relief before looking at the teen with an apologetic look. "Sorry for the delay, you have no idea how long we have been stuck here with every response directing the passengers to the security room."

"I can only imagine the frustration." The teen gave a sympathetic smile. "I worked in a firm that dealt with this type of security, and I lost count of the number of times I wanted to grab a hammer to smash the system every time it throws a false positive."

"Ha Ha! That would be something!" The security guard guffawed as he handed the passport over to him. "Welcome to Shin Tokyo, Sanimoto Takuya. Hope you enjoy your visit."

"Thank you, hope you have a pleasant day yourself." The now named Takuya nodded as he walked through the gate to meet his traveling buddy on the other side.

"For a minute there, I thought I would be seeing you in cuffs." The old man remarked.

"That makes two of us." Takuya let out a sigh of relief. "That would be one way of celebrating my return to Japan, getting locked up in prison on the first day."

"That would suck." The old man laughed in a loud voice as they collected their luggage and proceeded to leave the loading area to get to the exit, something that got hindered with the crowd congesting at the entrance.

"Okay, I have heard of rush-hour, but this is madness." Takuya grumbled as he tried to push the crowd with limited success.

"You telling me, I am not sure why everyone is holding up the traffic here." His traveling grunted as some of the crowd bumped into him roughly. "Okay seriously, what is going on here? Is there like some celebrity that touched down at the airport or something?" The person next to him heard his query and turned to answer.

"Something of the sort. There is a big limo with the MBI logo on the hood just parked outside, and the driver is currently holding up a name-card outside. Everyone is just wanting to see who is the big-shot who could get the sweet ride."

"Huh, seriously? Wonder who is the lucky one?" The old man mused not noticing how stiff Takuya went at the spectator's words.

"Some guy called Sanimoto Takuya." The person answered while tiptoeing to get a better look at the name-card.

"Wait, that name?" The old man turned to Takuya with wide eyes. "Isn't that your name?" Takuya could only nod in resignation as he pushed way through the crowd and out of the exit where a very high-end limousine was parked outside with the driver holding up a big name card with name printed in bold letters. As Takuya got closer to the driver he got a better look at him and was honestly a little intimidated by his looks. He looked to be in his late thirties with graying hair tied into a long ponytail and a face that was set with what looked to be a permanent scowl. Combine that with a well maintained body that was straining the chauffeur suit and one might be forgiven for thinking the man ought to be a bouncer for the yakuza instead.

"Sanimoto-san?" The man lowered the sign and looked down on him with eyes that looked ready to burn him on the spot.

"That's me." Takuya would like to pat himself on the back for not sounding too nervous, but that was a little much for the moment.

"My name is Gatou. The boss wanted me to pick you up at the airport. She told me to say that she wanted to pay you back for the prank you pulled on her last time, so she granted the use of the limousine and make sure everyone know who you are." The driver spoke with a twitch of the mouth.

"Damn it..." Takuya groaned while palming his face.

"She also said that she is currently at work, so I am to take you to the apartment first before taking you to her." The man continued before opening the door of the limousine. "Please make yourself comfortable, this will likely take a while."

"Hold on for a minute." Takya turned to his companion who was staring at the limousine with wide eyes. "You said that you were going to Yaniguru Station. Want to catch a ride?"

"Erm, are you sure?" The old man looked to Gatou with a wary eye. "I don't think he might be that open."

"Can he come along?" Takuya asked Gatou who shrugged.

"It is quite close and on the way. Five minutes drive and we will be there."

"There you have it. Hop on in." Takuya smiled as he got inside. The old man gave another glance at Gatou before following Takuya, letting the driver close the door and go to the driver's seat. Inside the limousine the two passengers found themselves in what had to represent the epitome of wealth inside the vehicle; the seats were lined with dark leather sewn with red thread that gave it a nice finish with the gold trimmings holding the cushions in place and the dark oak wood that provided the frame; there was a mini-fridge with bottles of wine that looked ready to burst their ban accounts to oblivion along with the odd soft-drinks in between; a 10-inch plasma television lined with silver chrome was made the centerpiece of the limousine being set in the front that separated them from the window to which they could talk to Gatou, and finally much to their amusement, a button that would reveal a miniature disco ball that came out of the top and lit up the inside with different colors.

"Okay, this is a little much for me." The old man looked at the items before turning to Takuya. "Are you some rich kid or you have friends in high places?"

"As it is, the latter option, although I had insisted that I wanted a small cab." Takuya replied while shaking at the sight of all the wealth around him. "Perhaps I should not have pulled that prank on Takami before I left the country."

"Who?"

"Someone I knew growing up, she took care of me when I was a few years old. It was roughly 3 years ago that I left Japan for the States." Takuya answered. "She and a couple of others home-schooled me before I could gain the qualifications to study and worked overseas."

"And you repaid her by pranking?" The old man raised an eyebrow.

"We pranked one another all the time. One of the favorites was to prank one person who we really disliked a lot." Takuya let out a cheeky smile.

"Huh?" The old man looked around once more before going back to him. "So this person worked for MBI. But you acted like you did not work for them."

"I didn't, I worked for a different firm altogether. I am actually surprised Takami still held on this long, she hated the CEO the last time I checked."

"Well, looks like she didn't and at least you have some friends to depend on in the future if need be." The old man's mouth twitched as he continued. "Although you might want to watch out for expensive traps in the future if she still remembers your prank to pull this out."

"This is phase one, that much I can assure you." Takuya nodded with a shudder as he could picture the woman crackling like a mad woman as she plotted her revenge on him. He looked outside when he felt the car slowed down. "Looks like we got to your stop."

"Wow, that was quick." The old man blinked owlishly at the site of his destination. "Guess it helps to have good service."

"Haha~ Come on old man." Takuya opened the door before offering his hand. "Don't think I caught your name, may I know it before you leave?"

"Sure." The old man gave a firm shake of his hand. "Hyoudou Kanosuke, but you can call me Kano. If you are in the area, look me up at Hyoudou's Family Cafe."

"Your personal store?"

"The best food bar in the area. Whether you want a quick bite or a pint, there is no better place in the area." Kano puffed his chest out proudly as he made that claim. "Anyway, see you around kid, don't be a stranger okay?"

"Sure." Takuya waved goodbye to the old man exiting the vehicle and watched his friend disappear in the distance. After sometime, he turned to the screen with a frown. "Okay we are alone now, so you can come out to talk." The screen flickered before an image of a white-haired woman appeared on the screen with a cigarette in her mouth with a mischievous light in her eyes.

"Hey there, it has been a while Takuya." The woman greeted while expelling the smoke. Takuya inwardly thought that the years had not done any damage to her visage, if he recalled correctly she was reaching her forties soon, yet she still looked beautiful as she did in her late twenties.

"You still hung over the prank I pulled on you?"

"Yes." She stated bluntly. "So this is just phase one of my payback."

"Phase one huh?" Takuya gulped at the shark-like grin Takami had on her face.

"Exactly, hope you enjoy the rest of it." Takami let out a rather evil crackle at the sight of his expression.

"Oh great..." Takuya palmed his face. "You do realize that showing me up at the airport with the limo will tell people I have connections with MBI, something I thought we did not want to advertise to everyone out there."

"True, but there are reasons besides me wanting to prank you." Takami suddenly adopted a serious expression as she looked at him. "I can't tell you too much right now, but let's put it that Minaka has done it again with his recklessness." That got Takuya's attention as he snapped his head up with hard eyes.

"Tell me what you can then."

=()=

Takuya let out a sigh of embarrassment as he entered through the door of his new apartment and looked around with wide eyes. Takami certainly went above and beyond his expectations for his choice of housing; he had asked for a small apartment as he doubted his stay to be that long, but with MBI having demolished a fair number of old buildings and taking over a fair number of districts, Takami decided to get him an apartment in one of the more upstate areas in the northern sector of Shin Tokyo. There were more choices in the other areas but she chose that particular sector because it was apparently a safer area with some guardian called the 'Hanya of the North'. From what he gathered, the South and the East had two individuals of the unsavory type with groups of people working for them who would likely target him for his association with her or MBI in general, so the two territories were not safe for him to reside. When queried about the West sector, Takami placed two fingers on the bridge of her nose and blew out a long stream of smoke before telling him that it was best not to talk about that if he wished to maintain his sanity.

That was oddly specific and somewhat morbid.

In any case, the apartment that would be his for the foreseeable future was quite the sight and honestly a little unnerving for him. Takuya had earned and saved quite an amount through his work and investments around the world, accumulating a staggering 4 million dollars in the time he was away, but preferred not to go crazy with the spending or to showcase his wealth. He would have been happy with a three room apartment, but this was practically a penthouse with two stories worth of rooms, a shower room that came equipped with a mini Jacuzzi, a room dedicated for his computer work and finally a big balcony with a miniature garden commanding a view of the skyline overlooking the bay. Even the furniture looked way too expensive for him to even touch; the smallest table had actual gold studs built into the dark marble!

And Takami said this was the cheapest apartment in the district.

MBI had some messed up conceptions of wealth.

He shook his head and quickly went to the nearest room to dump his luggage before heading out of the apartment and back to the limo. Takami had stated that she would be meeting him in one of the local hospitals that were under MBI's field of operations, something that made him a little weary but willing to follow.

The trip did allow him sometime to consider what Takami had told him on the way to the apartment.

Takuya knew as he grew up under the care of Takami and others that the company was involved in something groundbreaking that dabbled in a fair bit of shady work, if the rumors of competitors mysteriously disappearing were of any indication. There was also the bit when one of his teachers, Takehito Asama, evidently got involved with a woman that at his young age Takuya had called an angel (and he was somewhat embarrassed at that time to admit), and there was something about her that got the hairs on his neck stand up at attention while making his mind a little fuzzy, like his body was uncertain whether she was a threat or a friend. The two were often seen together during some incidents that had appeared on the news. Takuya was not sure of the woman's purpose, but at the time he just thought of her as another aunt, something the others had apparently teased her and Takehito a lot.

But the biggest bit that came to mind was the CEO of MBI, one Hiroto Minaka. It was perhaps a surprise for anyone to see a child have an averse reaction to an adult upon their first contact, but there was something about Minaka that had Takuya on edge, likely some form of instinct every child would have to help them survive before they learned more about life. He was not impressed with the manner Minaka kept portraying himself like an upcoming god, and it was around the last year before Takuya left for the States that Minaka started sprouting about the Coming of An Age and something called 'Operation Wagtail'.

It would seem in his absence, matters did not improve his attitude and something was going on in the city. He would need to be careful.

"Where to, sir?" Gatou asked as Takuya approached the limo.

"The hospital where we meet Takami-Sensei." Takuya could not help the smile as he recalled the title he called her in his childhood. She and a few others were his teachers and role-models in life, so he looked up to them, especially when they pulled pranks on one another.

"Understood, we will take the Shibuya route past the offices. It is a little longer but safer for us." Gatou answered as he opened the door for Takuya to enter.

"Seems like the city is really unsafe considering the security measures." The young man remarked as Gatou got in himself.

"Unfortunately it is the case. MBI is a corporate powerhouse, and with that they stubbed a lot of toes around them. The Ease Sector is perhaps the most volatile since one of the biggest competitors is there. Hiyamakai Enterprises if I am not mistaken" Gatou explained as he drove them out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"I have heard of that company. I believe they own a hospital around here?" Takuya frowned as he tried to recall the information.

"They do. They specialize in quite a few treatments, and are quite successful… while were successful until MBI came along and started taking over some of their works." Gatou remarked as he slowed at a long queue of cars.

"Ouch." Takuya winced as he looked out of the window to check the traffic. Oddly enough, scenes like this were an odd comfort to him, a reminder that he was now back in Japan. Movement at the corner of eye drew his attention to a man who had grabbed the arm of a young girl and was dragging her into the alley, the look of fear evident on the girl's face.

"Takuya-san?!" Takuya ignored Gatou as he rushed out of the limo and crossed the road to get to the alley as fast he could. He got to the opening in time to see the girl who had one arm feebly trying to push the young man away from her while he was gleefully forcing himself onto her and drawing his face towards hers with a leer.

"HEY! What are you doing over there?!" Takuya yelled as he rushed forward, his shout drawing attention from side walkers and distracting the assailant enough that the girl pushed him away enough to get her arm free. Takuya used that opportunity to get between the two, shielding the girl while glaring at the teen.

"Who the hell are you fucker?!" The rude young man growled in anger.

"The guy who is asking you nicely to back off or get arrested for assaulting a girl." Takuya gave a growl of his own while a couple of the side walkers closest to him came forward with a glare of their own directed at the rude man.

"Screw you man! That is one of them Sekirei girls with MBI cards!" That man pointed a finger at the girl who was cowering behind Takuya. "I will be set for life if I can make her my woman!"

"I have no idea what the hell you are talking about, but you are not going to lay another hand on her." Takuya clenched his fists tightly. "But I am however letting you have a chance to back off, so take it and leave."

"The hell with you asshole!" The young man pulled out a knife and thrust forward with the aim to stab Takuya in the chest. Takuya waited until he got closer to hit the arm lightly to the side and stepping forward to get up close to deliver a straight punch to the man's sternum, causing him to gag and stop his motion. Grabbing the arm, Takuya twisted it enough to force the man to drop the knife before grabbing the shirt and pulling him hard enough to throw him over and slammed him into the ground, allowing the other passer-by to assist by grabbing the man's limbs and holding him there.

"Well that is done." Takuya nodded grimly at the young man who was struggling against the other people restraining him, prompting one of the bigger passer-by to manhandle him and flip him on his chest in order to restrain his arms with some thick ribbons from the nearby clothing store. Takuya turned to face the brown-haired girl who was now looking at him with wide eyes, no longer trembling in fear but looking oddly flushed. "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Erm yes!" The girl covered her mouth with both ends and going red in the face. "Sorry!"

"It is okay." Takuya raised a hand and waved it while smiling to ease her worries.

"I… He just grabbed me from out of the alley and dragged me along, and he knocked my hammer out of my hands before I could react."

"Hammer?" Takuya blinked when she pointed to a double-headed hammer that was a good deal bigger than his torso and had a handle that was taller than the girl herself. His mind ceased at the possible weight of the weapon, it has to weigh more than the girl herself.

"Okay, I guess you would need to hang on to it tighter then." Takuya offered a hand to her. "Up you get then." The girl went to grab it only to fall forward while panting hard. "Oui, are you okay?" The girl nodded weakly while hanging on to his arm somewhat sluggishly. Takuya turned to Gatou who just arrived. "Gatou, we need to get her to the hospital. How far is it?"

"Not too far sir, we can get there faster if we go now to beat the traffic." The driver answered while looking at the girl with a worried expression. "Shall I start it up?"

"Yes please."

"Don't worry about this guy, the police are on their way." One of the helpers spoke out while holding a phone. Takuya thanked them and went to bridal-carry the girl, pausing to lift the hammer with a great deal of effort and dragging it to the limo where with help from Gato, was able to get it inside before they could get going.

"Hang on, we are on the way to see a doctor." Takuya tried to assure the girl as he dialed the number on the dashboard, getting Takami on the screen. "Takami, I am heading to the hospital with someone that needs attention. I could use a doctor on hand!"

"Help is on the way. Show me the patient." Takami, bless her soul, was blunt and to the point. Takuya lightly cradled the girl and brought her to the screen for Takami to see through the camera, although he nearly lost his grip when Takami spoke with surprise. "Yashima, is that you? What happened?!"

"Takami-sensei..." The now-named Yashima let out a moan that was somewhat distracting to Takuya as it sounded somewhat sensual, not helped with the girl panting and sweating in a manner that would throw a man's mind to the gutter.

"Some guy attacked the poor girl in the alley way and attempted to force himself on her. I and a few others took him down, but the girl seemed to have gotten too stressed out and just collapsed on me when I grabbed her hand." Takuya explained as Yashima attempted to put herself upright on the seat. "I think she has a heart condition because she is breathing heavily and having a slight fever."

"..." Takami remained silent as she listened to his explanation before taking the cigarette out of her mouth and let out a stream of smoke, her eyes alternating between him and Yashima. "Takuya, I think I know what is wrong and there is a quick way of fixing her issue, but this is going to be a bit of weird for you so please keep an open mind on it."

"Open mind?" Takuya shook his head at that random wording. "I am not sure what is going on, but if I can help her get better, then I will do it."

"Okay, in that case..." Takami took another drag of the smoke. "You would need to wing her to stop the symptoms."

"Wing her?" Takuya asked while wondering if he had heard wrong.

"To put in a different manner, you need to kiss her to cure her." Takami gave a stern glare to stop Takuya. "Trust me on this, I will explain after you wing her." Takuya could only look at her with a dumbfounded expression before turning to Yashima who was now facing him with her legs tucked under her on the seat. Now that he was looking at her up close, Takuya would admit that Yashima was quite a beautiful girl; her brown hair was short with blue ribbons weaved around it that matched well with her gray eyes, and the thigh length white gown fitted her shapely figure nicely, coupled with the black stockings that covered her legs and black gloves that covered past her elbows. Add that to the light air of vulnerability that asked for men to want to protect, if not hurt her for her weakness, and you have a girl that was quite desirable. Another treacherous part of his mind could not help thinking how erotic her current position and state was, with the flushing of her face as she looked with glazed eyes, the sweat making her clothes cling to her shapely body tightly, the occasional squirming with her arms between the legs, or the emphasis of her breasts being squeezed between her arms while she breathed heavily.

'Focus, Sanimoto Takuya! This girl needs your help damn it!'

"So, I am supposed to kiss you… to wing you?" He asked while glancing at the screen where Takami was still looking at them.

"Yes..." Gods, the manner she was saying that was making his loins stir unconsciously as she leaned forward at him, her breathing bringing attention to the gentle and curvaceous swells of her chest. "Please be my Ashkabi and make me your Seikirei..."

He had no idea what she was talking, but honestly, he was getting distracted by both her state and the way she said those words in a somewhat husky voice, it sounded so naughty to him that he had to shake his head to his mind out of the gutter. With another glance at Takami who was now sporting an amused expression at his discomfort and waving her hand to urge him on. With a sigh, he turned back to her and nodded. "I agree to your terms?"

"Thank you!" Yashima let out a breath of gratitude before lunging forward and kissing Takuya fully on the lips, and before Takuya's eyes, blue wings of light burst from her back and seemed to wrap around the two of them before dispersing into blue feathers.

"May the gravity of our bonds keep us together, my dear Ashikabi." Yashima smiled happily as she cuddled into his arms, while Takuya had a dumbfounded expression at the incident.

'What is going on here!'

"Well that is something. Looks like your bond is quite strong to begin with." Takami mused as she looked at them with an analytical look. "I might not be surprised if there are more on the way?"

"Wait, more? You mean this might happen again with more women?!" Takuya looked at her with wide eyes. "What is going on here, what are you not telling me?"

"That might be better done face to face." Takami pressed a button off-screen before speaking. "Gatou, mind bringing both our guests to the hospital at the main building? Situation has changed so I will meet you there."

"Understood, madam." The driver answered as he took the vehicle down the next corner.

"Takuya." Takami called out to the young man. "I know you have questions so you can get some of them answered by the young lady over there. Once we meet up we can talk more, so please be patient." Takuya was about to speak when the screen went blank, leaving him in the back if the limo with a beautiful young woman snuggling into him and a boatload of questions in his head.

'I knew I should not have pulled that prank. My luck is so going to suck in the near future…'