Author's note: Hey all, I know most of you were probably expecting an update for An Older Sisters Love, but, well, I went on an archive troll and landed up in Sekirei land. I read a lot, there were some great stories there and they gave me this idea. Again, its one of those where I'll write more chapters, I've got some good ideas, but if you guy's like it I'll write more. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

It Started with a Kiss

Kiss 1

It all started with a kiss. When Ichika Orimura was eight years old two very notable things happened to him. The first was that he went through a phase where he wanted to kiss every sad girl he came across. His sister Chifuyu Orimura, the usual target of his affections, blamed it on a daytime soap opera she had found him watching on the television. The second notable thing that happened to Ichika when he was eight was that he was kidnapped.

When it happened, nobody knew the real reason. Most speculated that he was kidnapped because of his sister. Chifuyu was the top ranked IS pilot in the world and was on her way to another easy victory in the Mondo Gross, the IS Olympics. Another victory for Japan would have been embarrassing to the rest of the world, so most people assumed that it was blackmail to get her to stop. It worked, though Chifuyu got Ichika back shortly after he had been kidnapped. Most people assumed she did it by herself, though this was also not the case.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ichika Orimura woke with a start. He had been on his way to school when a black car had stopped beside him…and that was all he remembered. He was currently lying on a cold metal table. Standing up, he glanced around the room he was in and started to panic. The room was mostly dark, the shadows concealing much, though he could tell it was a lot like Tabane-nee's secret lab he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about. But this wasn't Tabane-nee's lab, it didn't look right and there weren't cartoons playing.

Feeling scared, he was about to start crying when he heard a different noise and froze. Hearing it again he figured out what it was, it sounded like a girl crying. "That's not good," he thought as Chifuyu's lessons started to kick in, "Girls aren't supposed to cry. And if they are, it's a man's job to help them." Ichika was a man; Chifuyu always told him he was the only man in her life. So as a man he needed to go help the sad girl.

When he heard the snuffling noise for the third time he finally managed to figure out where it was coming from. Across the room, partly hidden in the shadows, was another table. Gathering up all the courage his eight year old self could muster, he started walking towards it. He approached slowly, still nervous but determined to be a man. When he got within five feet of the table a series of lights turned on and startled him, causing him to fall on his butt.

When nothing else happened, Ichika gulped and stood up, looking at what the lights had revealed. On the table was a child like him, covered in a white sheet. They were restrained with three metal bands across their feet, hips and chest. There was also some kind of weird helmet attached to some wires on their head. It was then that the person made another noise.

"That sure sounds like a girl," thought Ichika, still nervous. But eight year old bravado and his dedication to his sister's teachings pushed him forward. Gulping, he moved his shaking hands towards the strange helmet and pulled it off. As he pulled it off, he revealed the face of a young girl. She had short cut brown hair and appeared to be in pain, her breathing shallow and her face twisted and red. When he got the helmet all the way off her head Ichika dropped it, startled by the girl as she said something he didn't quite catch.

When she didn't repeat herself, Ichika got close to the girl, his head nearly touching hers and said, nerves very clear in his voice, "W-what did you say?"

The girl let out a heavy breath and Ichika put his head near her mouth. For another second she didn't say anything, but finally he was able to barely make out something as she whispered, "…kiss…"

Ichika moved his head back, looking at the strange girl. She had started to breathe heavily and had turned redder; he didn't know what was wrong with her. But she was a girl in distress and he was a man, so he did as she asked him. Scrunching up his lips, little Ichika planted a big kiss on the girls lips.

Ichika drew back after he did, nothing happening for three heartbeats. Then suddenly the girl arched her back and screamed, as a pale pink light shone from her. Startled badly by what happened, Ichika again dropped on his butt and scrambled back a little before freezing in surprise. From the still screaming girl came wings, wings made of the pale light. For a second they looked like angel wings, and then they changed to eight beams of light that haloed her. Ichika, scared and confused, didn't know what to do as the girl stayed arched, her scream continuing as the light shown from her.

As suddenly as the light appeared it stopped. With the lack of light, the girl dropped back down to the table, breathing heavily. Ichika stayed on the ground for a few seconds, before his concern for the girl overwhelmed his fear. Scrambling upright, he moved closer to the girl, unsure of what he needed to do, but sure he needed to do something. When he got next to the girl again, he noticed a definite change. Her face was relaxed now, the pain and redness gone. Her breathing also slowed, going down to a normal pace. Ichika wasn't sure, but it looked like the girl was feeling much better.

"Wow," he said, his young brain churning for all it was worth, "Kissing really does make girls feel better."

He looked at the young girl for a few seconds more and was again knocked down when a massive pressure wave hit him as the door burst inward. Falling on his side, Ichika grunted in pain as his shoulder hit the ground sharply. Rolling onto his back he looked at where the explosion had come from. As the dust cleared he saw a woman, with dark hair and a strong face standing in the wrecked door frame.

Mildly dazed as he was, it wasn't surprising that Ichika made the mistake he did. When he saw the woman he yelled, "Nee-chan!" and rushed towards her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sekirei number 08 (Scrapped), Yume, had been slowly making her way to the location of Sekirei number 88, Musubi, through the secret base she had been hidden in. She and Karasuba, number 04, had been dispatched by MBI as soon as it had located Musubi's location. Yume didn't like killing humans, preferring to simply disarm them on her way through the labyrinthine base. She had unfortunately split from Karasuba, which meant that any of the poor men that #04 encountered were already dead.

She herself was currently dealing with six defenders, simply dodging their fire as she got close enough to disarm them. But through the fire, she heard the nearby scream of a young girl. Anger and worry flooded through her, overriding her protective instinct for the humans. Shifting her stance she raised her hand and summoned forth her powers, firing six small balls of superheated plasma at the unfortunate men. The small balls burned through the soldier's Kevlar armor like it wasn't even there, drilling through them and the men's hearts in a split second.

Ignoring the dead men, Yume raced forward towards the sound of the scream. When it cut off, she pushed herself even more, worry burning through her. Seeing the target door in front of her, she summoned a larger ball of plasma and launched it towards the door, blasting it to pieces. Rushing to the smoking door frame, she paused to make sure the room was safe.

As the smoke cleared, the first thing she noticed was Musubi, apparently ok, lying on an examination table covered by a white sheet. The second thing she noticed was the young boy charging towards her, yelling "Nee-chan!"

Yume raised her hands, prepared to defend herself when she was startled by the boy; she hadn't expected anybody but Musubi or hostiles to be in the lab. But she managed to refrain from attacking the boy, recognizing him as no threat. As he closed, the young boy jumped and managed to wrap his arms around her waist, crying and still yelling, "Nee-chan, Nee-chan!"

Calming since she saw Musubi was ok and mildly amused by the young boy assuming he was his sister; she looked down, put her hand on his head and said, "Its ok, nee-chan is here."

The young boy looked up when she spoke, confused, and said, "You're not Chifuyu-nee."

"No," Yume said, putting her hands on his shoulders and kneeling down to face the boy directly, "I'm Yume-nee."

"Did you come to find me?" asked the boy, still confused, trying to piece together what was happening.

"No," said Yume honestly, "I came to find my imouto Musubi," she gestured towards the girl lying on the table, "but I'll take you with me."

The boy thought about it for a second before saying, "Will you help me find Chifuyu-nee?"

"Yes," said Yume, starting to worry about how much time this was taking, "But we need to get going or Musubi will get sicker than she is and bad men will try to stop us from leaving."

"Ok," said the boy, "But I don't think she's sick anymore, I made her better!"

"What?" asked Yume, her hands tightening as she was surprised by the young boy's declaration, "How did you make her better?"

"Well," said the boy, trying to find the words to explain himself, "Musubi-chan was crying and Chifuyu-nee says that men have to help crying girls. Since I'm a man I tried to help since she looked sick. I asked her what was wrong and she told me to kiss her, so I kissed her! Then there was a bright light and she grew wings! She yelled while she had wings but then they went away and she stopped. When I checked on her after that she looked like she wasn't sick! And then the door blew up and Yume-Nee came in!"

Yume stared at the boy, not believing his story. Musubi was sick, her tama damaged, a death sentence for a Sekirei. She shouldn't be able to react to anyone, much less be winged by this little boy. Letting go of the boy, she stood up and rushed over to Musubi, sure that he was mistaken. But when she looked Musubi in the face, she found that the little boy was likely telling the truth. Musubi was breathing much more steadily than she was when Yume last saw her, her face no longer twisted in a rictus of pain. She couldn't be certain herself, she would have to take her back to MBI to be sure, but it really looked like Musubi's tama had somehow been fixed.

Emotions overwhelmed her as she finally realized her wish that Musubi would live. Dropping to her knees, she put her head on the child's stomach and started to weep.

Ichika wasn't certain why Yume-nee was crying, her imouto wasn't sick anymore. But she was still a girl and he was still a man so he walked over and put his arms around her the best he could and said, "It's ok Yume-nee, I'll make you better too."

Yume was surprised when Ichika grabbed her waist again, but relaxed when she heard the young boy speak. Turning to embrace him, she said in a happy voice, "You already did," as she continued to let tears fall down her face. Pulling away from the boy as she wiped her face she finally asked him, "What's your name?"

"My name's Ichika, Ichika Orimura!" said the little boy with a grin on his face.

"Thank you Ichika-kun," said Yume, "Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me."

Staring at the grinning face of the young boy, Yume felt something she thought she never would, a reaction to an Ashikabi, but hers was unlike any she had ever heard of. Her crest suddenly flared, feeling like it was burning through her stomach. She had never felt so much pain in her life. Clutching her stomach, she fell to the ground and groaned in pain through gritted teeth. "This, this shouldn't be happening," she thought to herself. She was a scrapped number, she couldn't react to an Ashikabi, yet it was happening, a joyous occurrence, even if it did feel like the very pits of hell were trying to eat her inside out.

Ichika looked on in shock as Yume-nee tensed up and fell over, groaning in pain. Kneeling down beside her, Ichika fluttered his hands as he desperately tried to do something, anything, to help her. Seeing her face twisted in pain and turning red, Ichika's young mind somehow connected it to Musubi, who had gotten better when he kissed her. So he did the same thing to Yume, grabbing her head and managing to put his lips to hers, despite her twisting in pain.

Yume didn't notice when Ichika grabbed her head, she was in too much pain. But she did notice when he kissed her. It wasn't really the kiss she noticed, but the change in what her crest was doing. Instead of trying to burn through her stomach and out her spine, it started to spread out through her body, filling her with its warmth.

Ichika backed away from Yume-nee after he kissed her, expecting her to do the same thing Musubi-chan did; he was not disappointed. If anything, the light shining from Yume was even more intense than that from Musubi and Yume yelled louder as she arched her back. Her wings were also different, being slightly bigger than Musubi's as well as having a more wavy shape. When they disappeared, twelve beams of light shot from Yume, forming a similar pattern to Musubi's halo, yet still being unique.

Yume felt the entire thing, the immense heat threading through her expanding out, turning from pain into pleasure at the exact moment her crest moved from her stomach to between her shoulders, where it was supposed to be. When it was over the warmth retreated from her, leaving her feeling slightly empty. Opening her eyes, she saw Ichika leaning over her, appearing very concerned.

"Are you better now Yume-nee?" he asked, voice filled with worry, his eyes locked on hers.

Still breathing heavily she managed a smile, saying, "Yes Ichika-sama, I feel much better, thank you." Reaching up she grabbed the boy's face and pulled him down for another kiss. He almost panicked, but then relaxed as her hands remained gentle. When she released him, he looked a little embarrassed, but still didn't take his eyes off of her.

"For Sekirei 88 Musubi and I, Sekirei number 8 Yume" said Yume in a formal yet loving voice, "may you be as kind and caring Ashikabi as you were a stranger, forever."

Ichika's face became very confused when she said that, obviously not understanding what she meant. Yume, smiled at him, feeling affection for her newfound and completely unexpected Ashikabi. This was tempered when she remembered that she was still in the middle of a base possibly full of hostiles and now had two charges to take care of. She immediately started to prioritize her actions.

"But" she said, sitting up and then standing, "That's for later. Right now we need to get out of here." Moving to the table Musubi was on; she pressed a button and retracted the metal bindings on the girl. Gently picking the sleeping girl up and wrapping the girl in the sheet, Yume looked over to Ichika who was still looking at her, confusion on his face.

"Yume-nee," he asked, eight year old confusion overriding any thoughts of "Bad Men", "What are a Sekirei and an Ashikabi?"

Still holding Musubi, Yume again kneeled in front of the young Ichika. She was currently in a complicated and bittersweet situation. She had an Ashikabi, every Sekirei's dream, one she thought she could never have. But he was also a child, one who couldn't quite understand what the situation was. If he gave her a direct order, she would follow it, so great was their new connection. But if he gave her the wrong order now, it could end in tragedy. She had to handle Ichika carefully for now.

"An Ashikabi," she said, her tone gentle, "is a person who is brave, strong, smart, kind, caring, gentle and loving. They are the center of a Sekirei's world and the one they are destined to be with. Sekirei's love their Ashikabi's to no end and do everything in their power to make them happy and safe. Do you understand?"

Ichika was just a kid, so he didn't really understand what Yume said, but he did understand some of it in his own way. The first list was what Chifuyu wanted him to be, he got that part. But he wasn't sure about the rest except for destiny and love. So he tried his best to rationalize it.

"So," he said slowly, "we're married?"

Yume's heart stopped at the same time it managed to do a Double McTwist 1260. She had never heard of a Sekirei getting married. There were rumors that #1 had gotten married, but no one was certain, she had disappeared from MBI without a word. If it had been anything but the words of a child she might've died from happiness right on the spot. But they were just…just silly words. She made herself believe that, could not let herself believe otherwise.

"Not, not quite," she managed to stutter out, "But we can talk more later, right now we need to leave and find your Chifuyu-nee, so I need you to climb on my back and hold tight."

Ichika brightened up at the mention of Chifuyu-nee, worries forgotten. Nodding he got behind Yume and put his hands around her neck and did his best to put his legs around her. As soon as he was settled and she stood up, Ichika whispered something in her ear.

"Yume-nee," he said, as she started moving towards the door, "If I grow up big, strong, and all those other things, then will you marry me?"

Despite being possessed of super-human strength, speed and balance, despite having martial art abilities to best the greatest human masters, despite the power to call forth the heat of the sun itself and despite the floor she was walking on being flat polished steel, Yume very nearly tripped at the young boy's voice, only just recovering her balance before she toppled.

Pausing to let her body calm from the feelings rushing inside it, Yume felt herself breathing heavily. Looking back at the boy clinging to her, she said, in a voice that managed to be strained and filled with want at the same time, "Y-yes Ichika. If you grow up like that I will be very happy to marry you. But right now I need you to be quiet, shut your eyes and hold tight, ok?"

"Ok Yume-nee!" said Ichika, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek before snuggling his face in her shoulder.

Yume felt warmth flood through her when Ichika kissed her on the cheek, affection welling up inside her breast, wanting to burst out. But she fought that down, reminding herself that she was wasting time standing here. Shaking herself one last time, Yume started running towards the exit, holding back only so Ichika could manage to hang on.

When she approached the exit, Yume heard something she would have ended by now, the sounds of battle. Emerging into the light, she saw an amazing sight. It wasn't the piles of dead humans; that was generally expected when MBI let Karasuba off her leash. The amazing sight was Karasuba engaged in a battle with a woman wearing a suit of powered armor.

They were both wielding swords, moving at such speed that Yume could barely keep track. Again and again they clashed, swords ringing off each other so fast it was almost a continuous tone. The noise made Ichika open his eyes, in time for him to catch sight of the powered armor woman's face as the two combatants paused for just a second.

"Chifuyu-nee!" he yelled, cheerfully oblivious to the fight she was in.

Chifuyu's head snapped around at the sound of Ichika's voice, providing a split second distraction that Karasuba took immediate advantage of. Moving forward at frightening speed, her sword moved directly for Chifuyu's seemingly exposed neck, even as Yume yelled, "Karasuba stop!"

It was too late; Karasuba had already launched the strike. Yume watched in slow motion as the razor sharp blade headed for her Ashikabi's sister; watched as she reacted, watched her try and fail to pull back in time, watched it connect with the fragile flesh…and then watched as the blade merely staggered the woman back, leaving her completely unharmed.

Karasuba's face, which had been a twisted grin of victory, changed to shock as her blade rebounded. Recovering her stance, she was about to launch herself forward again when several blasts of plasma cratered the ground in front of her and Yume again yelled, "Karasuba stand down, that's an order!"

Karasuba's bloodlust was up, but she was smart enough to know that Yume would stop her by force if she didn't listen. Withdrawing from her aggressive stance, she nevertheless maintained a ready posture, refusing to lower her blade to an unknown opponent. "I was just getting to the good part too, Yume," quipped the gray haired Sekirei, heavy breathing the only sign of the pitched battle she had been in.

Turning to the woman in armor, who did in fact have a similar face to her Yume noted, she spoke calmly and slowly, "We are not your enemy, we only came to get the girl."

The woman, Chifuyu according to Ichika, never took her eyes off of Karasuba but said, "I only came for my brother, I have no quarrel with you as long as you did not take him."

"Yume-nee saved me from the bad men Chifuyu-nee!" Ichika said excitedly, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"If you did so then you have my gratitude," said Chifuyu, her eyes never leaving Karasuba's, "But I will not lower my blade until you call off your dog."

"Karasuba," said Yume, her voice commanding, "Put your sword away now, no back talk."

Karasuba looked over to Yume, her face filled with unhappiness and anger, but Yume's face was harder than Karasuba's sword. Slowly and with great reluctance, Karasuba withdrew from her ready stance and sheathed her katana. Once she took her hand from the blade Chifuyu did the same, dismissing the sword in her hands and taking a relaxed if still wary stance.

Finally glancing towards Yume and Ichika, but keeping one eye on the grey haired Karasuba, Chifuyu said, "Now what, I simply want my brother, I have nothing you want."

"Besides your head," muttered Karasuba, a dark grin on her face.

Yume glanced sharply at Karasuba, but the grey haired Sekirei was unrepentant. Turning her head towards Ichika, Yume said, "When I kneel down, get off my back ok?"

Ichika nodded, finally catching on to the seriousness of the situation. Yume kneeled down slowly, keeping an eye on both Chifuyu and Karasuba. When she was fully crouched, Ichika let go of her and settled down to the ground, though he still hid behind her back.

"Karasuba," Yume said as she stood, "Come over here."

The grey haired Sekirei grimaced, but moved to Yume as ordered. Ichika hid behind Yume, able to feel that something was not right with the woman.

"Here," said Yume, holding out Musubi's sleeping form to Karasuba, which the grey haired Sekirei took with a slight look of surprise on her face. "Musubi has gotten better," said Yume, her eyes burning into Karasuba, "You are to take her back to MBI for examination. She WILL make it back to MBI, otherwise I'll just have to tell Minaka and he'll terminate you, understand?"

Karasuba nodded, confused on to how the previously ill girl had gotten better, but seeing that Yume spoke the truth. Minaka may be deranged, but wastefulness of Sekirei's before the plan started was not tolerated. After the plan started, that was a different story. Securing the sleeping girl, Karasuba sent one last poisonous look at Chifuyu before leaping away towards their extraction point.

Yume watched Karasuba leap away till she was just a speck, then she turned to her young Ashikabi's sister. "Can, can I have a minute with your brother?" she asked, her strong voice suddenly turning anxious.

Chifuyu didn't know why the strange woman wanted to talk to her brother, but she had been the one to broker the truce and apparently saved Ichika. Ichika also seemed to trust her, which meant more to Chifuyu then she cared to admit. Still...

Yume watched the woman's face as she thought over her response. It was too much to ask, she was probably worried about her brother and here she was, a strange woman who wanted to talk to him? She could almost see the answer of no forming on her lips... until she was interrupted somehow. Yume wasn't sure, but it looked like the woman was speaking with someone over the radio. The conversation was short, Chifuyu looking annoyed as she turned back to them.

"You may have your time. Don't make me regret it."

Yume's breath caught at the proclamation. She nodded her thanks to Chifuyu and then turned to Ichika, who was still attached to her leg. Emotions welled up inside her as she peeled him off of her and knelt in front of him. So much she had to say, so many feelings she had to give him, all the things she wanted to do with him…but she couldn't do any of it. He was a young boy, still growing. He had no place in the world she was in, not now. Maybe…maybe some time in the future, after he had grown up… But would he remember? No, he probably wouldn't, he would forget about this, forget about her…Besides, he didn't love her, not really. He was just a little boy, he couldn't love her, they had just met and anything he felt for her would disappear in a couple days. But it would be ok, even if he didn't love her he would still be her Ashikabi and maybe one day….

Thoughts rolled through Yume like tsunami over a beach, chaotic unpredictable and destructive. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she held onto the young boy's shoulders, desperate to say something, anything to him to let him know how she felt…how long she would wait for him. But nothing would come out, she couldn't do anything…

Then a touch, a small hand on her face, bringing warmth like before. A small voice repeating something that she couldn't hear, something she didn't want to hear, yet wanted drown in at the same time.

"-nee, Yume-nee," the voice finally came in despite herself, "Yume-nee why are you crying?"

Sniffing, she managed to speak, her voice choked with emotion, "I-I'm crying because I have to leave you behind Ichika, Yume-nee has to go away for a long time, so long that you might forget Yume-nee."

"Yume-nee's silly," said Ichika, tapping her forehead with his, "I will never forget Yume-nee."

"But I still have to go away, far away for a long time," said Yume, warmth spreading from where her Ashikabi touched her, fighting back the sadness inside her "Even if you don't forget me, you'll have others in your life, others that will be more important than me."

"But Yume-nee said forever and ever for her and Musubi-chan right?" asked the young boy.

"Yes, Yes I did," said Yume, tears still in her voice "But that's just for me, you're too young to agree to that Ichika, you still have so much growing up to do, you can't say forever and ever, not now, not yet, not to me." The last came out as a whisper.

"It's ok, Yume-nee I understand," said Ichika, his voice gentle. Yume's head dropped, glad she had been able to make the boy see; make him understand that he should forget about her, to live his life normally.

"I have to grow up more right? Before I can have forever and ever with Yume-nee and Musubi-chan?" continued Ichika's voice, surprising Yume. Her head shot up at those words, surprise etched on her face. Why? Why wouldn't he stop? Why couldn't he just leave her alone with the pain of leaving her Ashikabi behind?

Ichika continued to speak, not realizing Yume's feelings. "It's fine Yume-nee, I understand. I'll ask Chifuyu-nee to help me grow up big and strong so that when I'm older I can find you and Musubi-chan and we can get married and have forever and ever ok?"

Yume didn't know why, it was probably the bond she had with the boy, but for some reason she believed him, believed that he would grow up and find her. Despite everything her brain told her, everything that she knew, some part of her truly believed that this…this little boy, her Ashikabi, would find her and that everything would be better. She would just have to wait…wait a long time. But she could wait, because the young boy…no he was already a man in her eyes, he had for whatever reason given her real hope, hope that she would see him again despite everything.

She couldn't say anything; her body was too full of conflicting emotions for her to make anything coherent come out. Instead she just nodded, her face red, tears still dripping; she just nodded her head at the words of the boy, the man that she loved from the bottom of her heart and likely wouldn't see again despite what he said. The one person in the world she would ever have such a connection with, one she would miss just like her own heart for the entire time he was gone. All she could do was nod and cry, despite wanting to say something, anything to him.

Then she was filled with warmth, from her head to her toes and she felt the most warmth on her lips as Ichika kissed her again. This time it didn't hurt, there was nothing but the feeling of love filling her, warming away all of her sadness as her pale wings blossomed. She opened her eyes as he withdrew; staring at the grinning face he gave her.

"Don't cry anymore ok Yume-nee?" said Ichika, "Don't cry, because I promise to grow up big and strong so we can get married and have forever and ever ok?"

"Ok Ichika," she said, her voice returning with the warmth, "I promise not to cry anymore, forever and ever, right?"

"Yeah," he said, with a grin on his face, "forever and ever Yume-nee."

Yume couldn't believe it; here she was, with a small boy comforting her. A small boy who happened to be the only person she wanted in the world. But she would wait; wait forever if she had to, because he promised her, forever and ever.

Smiling at him, she wiped away the last of the tears she had shed and gave him one last hug, trying to memorize the feeling he gave her when he returned it. When she was done, she managed to smile at him, saying, "You should go back to your Nee-san now ok?"

"Ok," said Ichika, giving her one last smile that made her heart flip and a small hug, before running off towards his sister. With one final wave as his sister picked him up, Yume watched her newfound world leave her just as suddenly as it had entered. She stayed there, watching him go until she couldn't see him anymore. Before she turned towards her rendezvous, she whispered it one last time, "Forever and ever."

End notes: Well, how'd I do? I'm not quite sure myself, I'd like your opinions. I'm not sure I got Ichika or Yume right, but Yume's a lot more open to interpretation since she's not as fleshed out in cannon. Any problems with Ichika I blame on me not being able to write kids very well. There is a reason I made Ichika able to react with two damaged Sekirei, you'll just have to wait and find out!

Anyway I'll shut up now, please read and review, constructive criticism makes me write better and happy words make me write faster!

AN 6/15/17: Made a few edits, mostly for smoother reading. Added a part with Chifuyu as when I originally wrote this the story wasn't quite as developed.