"Hey, hey, heeeey!" an unfamiliar and masculine voice said from the entryway.

"Adonai preserve me," I prayed.

"It's your old pal Seo!" a rougishly handsome dude in his mid-20s declared as he barged into the dining room, holding a platter. "And this time, I came to share my bounty with you!"

"Oh?" Miya said sweetly. "The good-for-nothing mooch is finally good for something, now?"

"Aw, Miya-chan, so hurtful," Seo said, looking not hurt in the slightest. "I brought nigiri! The good stuff!" He turned to me and grinned, swapping over to English with a noticeable Japanese accent. "What do you say, my new foreign friend? Wanna try some authentic Japanese sushi?"

"I don't like seafood," I said dryly, in Japanese. "Also, who the hell are you?"

"That's Seo," Uzume said. "An old friend of Takehito, Miya's late husband. He comes to eat dinner here every time he runs out of money."

"Just because Miya's nice enough to keep feeding him doesn't mean she's nice about anything else," Homura added. "Hey, how did you get nigiri, anyhow? Did you get a new job, or something?"

"I got the best job!" Seo declared.

"He has a new girlfriend," a woman said as she trailed into the dining room, a nearly-identical one beside her.

"Oh hey, you're the two people who shot lightning at me and Musubi last month," I said.

"They won't be doing that again, will they?" Miya said sweetly, provoking a synchronized panic as the Thunder Twins assured Miya that they would behave themselves very well.

"Well, okay," Seo said. "Yes, I do have a new girlfriend."

"Two Sekirei weren't enough for you?" Uzume asked.

"Eh," Seo said with a shrug. "I love Hikari and Hibiki. I don't love the new lady, but she doesn't love me, either. Don't need to. She's the best kind of cougar: a sugar mama, and I'm now her baby boy."

"After hearing that sentence," I said, "I'm not sure if I want to kill myself or you. Possibly both."

"So you found someone else like me, except this time she actually wants the one thing you're good for?" Miya asked.

"Basically, yeah," Seo said, setting the platter down on the table and taking a seat. "She said she dumped her last boyfriend after an argument about smoking- he was trying to quit, apparently. Something about smelling like an ash tray?"

Homura started coughing, and I hummed thoughtfully.

"And this cougar girlfriend of yours," I said. "What would her name be?"

"Sahashi Takami," Seo said. "Real big at MBI, actually, which is a really lucky break for me. Why, why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said. "Oh, hey, I heard you developed a psychic power of your own, thanks to MBI experimenting on you."

"Heh," Seo said. "Yeah, I did. But if you're looking to do the same... tough luck. I have no idea what they did to me, and the only guy who did is dead now."

"Eh," I said with a shrug. "Disheartening, but not a dealbreaker. I'm more interested in any dirt you can dish on MBI's psychic lore."

"Psychic lore, huh?" Seo asked, tapping his chin. "Hrm... Alright. I think I got something. It turns out, all of the core personnel at MBI have white hair. Something about the Sekirei technology turned their hair white before they learned to control it."

"Can you tell me something I wouldn't know just by looking at them online?" I asked.

"Hrm... Well, there was a guy I didn't recognize, when Takehito was experimenting on me," Seo said. "He had white hair, just like Sahashi and Minaka, but he was always wearing a medical mask, so I never got a good look at his face. He was always there when Takehito was trying something new, sometimes helping, and sometimes just standing back and watching. Real creepy motherfucker. I don't think I ever even heard him speak."

"Interesting," Matsu murmured. "I wonder who that could be... There really aren't that many white-hairs at MBI..."

"Alright," I said, nodding. "Now... did they ever use something that looked like this?" I drew the Jinki forth from a portal hidden under the table.

"Hey, hey, I can't be giving away valuable information for free," Seo said. "A guy's gotta eat, y'know?"

I reached under the table again, this time pulling from a portal a briefcase full of cash, which I set on the table and popped open so he could see the insides.

"So yes, they did have one of those things in your hands," Seo said, taking the briefcase with a smile. "The guy who didn't say anything, he was always the one holding it. I'm pretty sure that guy was an Ashikabi- I couldn't tell at first, but then something they tried worked, and suddenly I could tell- and I know Takehito wasn't. Maybe that thing could only be used by an Ashikabi? The hell even is it, anyway?"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"It's called a Jinki," I said. "They're tools found on the old Sekirei ships. This one here has been corroded and corrupted by time, but... maybe the others are more intact." I shrugged. "I guess we'll find out eventually, if we ever get our hands on 'em."

"Hey, if it's restricted MBI property you want, I can see what I can swing with Sahashi," Seo said.

"Matsu can't go outside because she stole one of them," I said. "I don't think a human woman would fare much better if she stole the remaining seven. Maybe stick to information-brokering."

"Mmn, point," Seo said.

"Also," I continued, standing up. "I think I'm done eating. You smell like a seagull shat in an ash tray."

"Just like Sahashi likes it!"

----------------------------------------

"More lore," I muttered that night. "Seo was experimented on by Takehito and an unknown core researcher with a Jinki."

"Seo couldn't tell that the researcher was an Ashikabi until near the end, after the experiments finally succeeded," Matsu added.

"I wonder," I said. "What the hell would they even be trying to accomplish, anyways? Seo might be a slacker nobody likes or would miss, but he's still a human with a legal presence. I find it hard to believe MBI would just kidnap a random dude and do experiments on him just to see what would happen. There probably was something specific they wanted to do... right?"

"It's... kind of thin," Matsu said. "MBI does actually have the influence to do exactly that. They might've done a lot of that, actually, and Seo is just the only one we know about."

"Shit," I said. "That's a terrifying point. But... gah, this is stupid, but... While we're spitballing... Maybe Seo wasn't an Ashikabi to begin with, and Takehito had just... grabbed his neighbor's slacker son who nobody would miss, and the experiment was really about whether they could make an artificial Ashikabi?"

"Maybe," Matsu said. "But then, why? There aren't a ton of natural Ashikabi, but considering how many Sekirei there are, there's enough."

"Because Takehito wasn't an Ashikabi," I said. "If he found a way to become an Ashikabi, then he'd finally be able to wing his wife."

"Mmn, point," Matsu said.

"A mirror of me," Akitsu said quietly.

"...Yeah, kinda," I said. "It... kind of is a mirror of your situation. But..." I sighed. "Alright. Well. We don't really have any evidence to suggest any of what I just spouted was true, honestly, so... It may well be that we well and truly did not learn anything useful from that."

"I learned you can make briefcases full of money," Matsu said. "But..."

"Yeah," I said, sighing. "Alright, well. If nothing else, my curiosity is piqued, and now I wanna get my hands on those fucking Jinki. Damnit. Damnit!"

"I know you're usually dismissive about lore, but-" Matsu began.

"It's not that," I said. "It's that now I don't know what's happening. This is Sekirei, I've known this story for a while, but now, oh, now there's complications and mysteries, because I couldn't help but pull at loose threads."

"And?" Akitsu asked.

I paused, turning to look at her.

"The truth would be the same, no matter what questions you ask," Akitsu said.

"She has a point," Matsu said. "Better to find out about the hidden depths now, than to have them sprung on us in the eleventh hour."

"Point," I admitted. "But... I am still going to whine about it."

"I expect nothing less," Matsu said solemnly.

"I am also going to stay up all night trying to piece some things together," I continued. "We can go back to the usual cuddle schedule tomorrow night."

"Do you have to?" Akitsu asked.

On the one hand, I was extremely reluctant to tell her no when she asked for something directly.

On the other hand...

"Sorry, Angel," I said, stroking her hair. "I do. I've got this restless energy that's not going away, and..." I sighed. "Trust me, you wouldn't want me in your bed tonight, anyway."

"...I see," she said, looking crestfallen.

"I'll come to bed if I do manage to work it out, but... That might not happen tonight."

----------------------------------------

"Can't sleep, huh?" Homura asked.

"There's a lot going on that I just... can't figure out," I said. "With the Jinki, and MBI, and what the fuck Minaka's even doing all this for..." I sighed. "Can't believe this started with you hitting on me."

"Hey now, I was a perfect gentleman," Homura protested, grinning to show he wasn't offended. "Anyway. You want a distraction?"

"I might need one, yeah," I admitted. "Whatcha got for me?"

"I quit my job at the host club last week," Homura said. "I'd been losing interest for a while, but now..." He shrugged. "Well, Takami was most of the reason I was still there, honestly. She's the only female Ashikabi I've met who likes men."

"Well, I'm sorry for the role I played, however incidental, in making your MILF ladyfriend dump you," I said.

"Don't sweat it," Homura said, waving it off. "It was probably for the best, anyhow. I've been questioning some other things, lately."

"Oh christ," I whispered.

"You're the first trans person I've knowingly met," Homura continued. "And it's been... disorienting, fitting you into my worldview. I've reconsidered some things about my own identity."

I held my tongue, not trusting myself to not say something destructive.

"I'm not asking you to wing me or anything," Homura continued. "But, I think... Well. I think I could, actually, enjoy being a girl. That... maybe..." He sighed. "Maybe it isn't this shameful thing, to start as a guy and then become a girl. And that, y'know." He looked me over. "Maybe I had too narrow an idea of what it would mean to be a girl."

I swear to god, if I'm accidentally forcefemming this fucking twink, I'm going to-

"Buddy, I'm glad your egg is cracking, but I am fucking dying over here," I said. "Legitimately, congrats, but... I think you'd be better off talking to Uzume and Matsu about it. It's more personal for me, and I don't think I have it in me to have this conversation."

"Heh," Homura said, shaking his head. "Fair enough. Will do. You want me to go, or..."

"I'll go," I said, stretching my legs. "I should be in bed right now anyways. Goodnight, Homura."