A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the beginning of the Mikogami Arc!

*Fireworks start shooting up*

Holy crap, those kind of fireworks are illegal in Minnesota!

Ahem. But, anyway, first of all, I wanted to give you all big thanks for reviewing, and favoriting this story. It boosts my morale; at first, I really didn't expect it to be this popular. So, seriously, thanks, guys.

Updates might be slow for awhile, but I'll try to keep them as steady as I can.

Anyway, let's get it on!

Disclaimer: Sekirei is not mine, in anyway or form. Any OCs, however, will belong to me, as well as to the people who suggest them.

Chapter Eight: Izumo Inn Under Attack!

I cursed; damn those two Sekirei! Even though we had them outnumbered, they were putting up one hell of a fight. Everyone, even Minato and myself, were covered in scratches and bruises. Of course, this was excluding Miya from the equation, because she's a god practically, but that's kinda to be expected. The most she was doing was just protecting me and Minato from certain death.

Speaking of which, certain death seemed to favor me today.

"…!"

If we weren't in the midst of battle with a huge chance of dying, Miya would've smacked my face clear off for using such 'dirty' language. In any case, she had her hands full trying to keep those deadly strings that M.B.I created away from me. Seriously, what were those things made of? Reinforced fish line? Not only is it hard to see, but it's hard to break too. And it hurts to have it wrapped around your neck. I would know, trust me.

At least we were wearing them down fast. Musubi, as boneheaded as ever, charged straight towards them, looking to smash her fists into the back of their heads-via the face. At least she was a good distraction; it prevented me from outright dying, at any rate, so I say it's for the greater good.

Ku and Shiina weren't much help. As powerful as they are (for as young as they are), they just didn't have the experience that most of the other Sekirei had. Matsu wasn't much help either-she had long fled back into the safety of the Inn, although she claimed that she was going to get more information about Mikogami. Somehow I doubted that was the main reason…

"OW!"

I was rewarded for my lapse in concentration with a new cut on my cheek, courtesy of another one of those damn strings. Okay, if I wasn't such a pitiful human being, I'd go up to her and stab her in the face. Seriously, those cuts stung!

Fortunately, it seemed that we were making a ton of headway; Akitsu had frozen and shattered the whip belonging to Mitsuha, and Musubi had finally completed her plan of smashing her face in. Joy, one down, and the more dangerous one to go.

Said dangerous one felt the need to try to strangle me again. Damn it, why can't she try to kill Minato instead? Is it because I'm blonde? Oh wait; the blondes always die first.

Well, to hell with it all.

I dove for cover as Miya once again intercepted the damn-near invisible strings, Uzume being said cover. At least she could defend herself with her…control over cloth…

Never mind. I was screwed.

Or so I thought, until said cloth smashed into the ground where Mitsuki had been a split second before, creating a giant crater.

I take back what I said about being screwed. I think I'm in love…Err, not that I'm going to abandon Akitsu or anything.

Matsu burst out of the Inn, face completely pale. Making sure that those damned strings weren't anywhere near me, I quickly conversed with her.

"What's up?"

She had a wild look in her eyes. "I've taken a look at Mikogami's Sekirei. He has quite a few of them, equaling ours."

I shrugged. "So?"

She gave me an exasperated look. "So, he also has a single number. Said single number is number 05, Mutsu. He's one of the former Disciplinary Squad, and his power can easily equal that of Akitsu or Homura."

My jaw dropped. Matsu continued, "That's not all. It seems that Mikogami has hired several Ashikabi and Sekirei to do us in and retrieve Akitsu. They're en route now. We're surrounded."

I glanced at our Sekirei. Musubi was panting hard, her clothes almost torn off completely (I looked away quickly). Ku and Shiina were in front of Minato, determined to fight to the death to protect him, if need be. Uzume was still near me, cloth flying everywhere. Tsukiumi and Akitsu seemed to be working together in order to bring down Mitsuki. It appeared to be working. Homura and Miya were merely standing off to the side, conserving their energy.

I gulped. "Matsu?"

"Yeah?"

"I think…we might be screwed. Even with Miya, if everyone attacks at once, there's no way all of us are going to come out of this in one piece."

She gave me a hard look. "You think I don't know that?"

I groaned. A huge cracking noise drew my attention to the front of the Inn. It seemed that Musubi had gotten her wind back enough to crush Mitsuki's head into the ground. Motioning for everyone to come over, I quickly huddled everyone together.

"Okay, so it's like this; Mikogami has got us surrounded by Sekirei and Ashikabi, and we aren't looking too hot. No pun intended, Homura," I said, as he rolled his eyes.

"So, in short, I think we're screwed. Unless if you all have any bright ideas. Cuz I sure don't. Maybe if we were at full health, yes. As we are now, not so much. We may have to break through the weakest part of the enemy's forces and run like hell in order to live."

Everybody was looking grim, even Miya; she understood only too well that as powerful as she was, she couldn't possibly protect us all.

And, as if to pull off the clichéd trick of showing up when all is lost, a voice rang out.

"Giving up already? I thought you guys would put up more of a fight than this!"

We all turned. Seo, Hikari and Hibiki were walking up to us, Seo all smiles.

I groaned. Great, now he was here to finish us off and claim the prize.

As if he had read my mind, Seo smirked. "Now now now, for a reasonable price, I'll join your side in this little battle. I'll even give you a discount, since I like you guys so much!"

I think he only succeeded in pissing everyone off, but I suppose that it's the thought that counts. Gulping, I asked, "All right…what do you want?"

Seo got a thoughtful look on his face, then smirked. "Just a month's worth of food. That'll be all."

Miya pulled out the hannya mask, fully intending to intimidate Seo's asking price down to a grain of rice. I put my hand on her arm; she gave me a questioning look. I sighed. The things I do for my survival…

"All right, we have a deal. But you're here until the end, Seo; if I catch you trying to run away like a coward, I'm sure Miya won't have any regret to strike you down where you stand. Understood?"

Seo nodded, a slight bit of fear entering his expression. "Crystal."

Pleased with the results, I quickly sent my somewhat analytical brain into overdrive.

"Okay, so Musubi is injured; She should stay more towards the back of the group until she recovers enough to actually do some fighting. I highly doubt that they're all going to come around the front entrance; they'll likely jump over the fences that surround us. So, basically we've got the Inn for cover and a fortress. The only problem with that is that a strong enough Sekirei can level said fortress in a few seconds flat. We're gonna need to pull out all the stops in order to live through this."

I looked to Miya. "Miya, can I trust you on protecting the front? It'd be a huge help if we could cover as many openings as possible, and you can probably handle everything coming from the front at once." She nodded, then got into position. I quickly brought everyone to the back of the Inn.

"So here's the second point of entry. Homura, Tsukiumi. You guys should stay here. You guys are probably powerful enough to hold your own."

Leaving those two there, I ushered Musubi inside. "You rest for now. Don't try fighting unless if we absolutely need you or if you recover enough. I don't want to lose anyone, alright?" Surprisingly enough, she agreed.

"Okay, two more points. Akitsu, Uzume. You guys go on the east side of the Inn. Destroy anything not us. Hikari, Hibiki. You guys go handle the west side. Same thing as I told those two. Seo, you go with your Sekirei and use your Norito if need be." As I watched them all go off to their positions, I briefly thought that I'd make a pretty damn good tactician for an army. I quickly banished the thought, and focused on what I was doing.

"Matsu, you go inside and keep an eye on their movements. Minato, you go act as our messenger. Keep Musubi in there until she's fit to come out. And get her to change, too, will you?" Matsu cackled as I said that, Minato merely sighing and nodding before they both followed Musubi inside.

"Ku, Shiina. I would love to not have you guys fight, but desperate times call for desperate needs. You two shall be our back up in case if someone gets too injured. Until then, you guys will be my bodyguards, I guess. I'll be keeping an eye on everyone. But if you do go out and fight, please be careful."

Both nodded, and with them in two, I ran inside. After all, it was much quicker to go through the Inn to get to our various defense points than it was to run around. And much safer, too. I was sure that these mercenary Sekirei would be just fine with putting a nice big dent in my head.

I could hear Miya fighting out front already; it sounded like a whole squad of jet fighters were having seizures or something, due to the constant whooshing noises. Mmm, sonic booms.

Glancing out the nearby window, I could see Akitsu and Uzume engaging the enemy as well. Several Sekirei were already frozen in ice. I smirked.

Thunder was also a noise that I could hear; Hikari and Hibiki must be doing their jobs. I also thought that I could vaguely hear Seo swearing up a storm, but brushed it off as my imagination.

An explosion alerted me to the fact that all of our defensive points were indeed being attacked.

Just what had I done to deserve this?

A/N: And, that's a wrap. Still not very long, but hopefully the chapters will start to get longer as I progress.

Until next time.

~The Doc