"Eat up," the burly shepherd named Thistle said, handing the both of us big bowls of stew. "You'll need the energy tomorrow."

It had been a week, and after some time with the cowgirls- both in the sense of 'women who work with cattle' and 'women with cow horns and big tits'- Kazehana had decided she wanted to go visit a different group of frontier folk for a little while.

"Mmn," I said, after swallowing some stew. "This is pretty good. What did you put in it, besides an old sheep and those potatoes?"

"Wild herbs," Thistle said, shrugging. "The steppe is more than just endless grass, after all."

"Do you know what kind?" Kazehana asked.

"Mostly wild onions," Thistle said. "A few wild turnips, too."

"I see, I see," Kazehana said, nodding.

The shepherds, unlike the cowgirls, were not, in fact, predominantly made up of sheepgirls. They were a pretty varied bunch, in fact, counting among their number bunnygirls, demons, foxgirls, and a single angel. That being said, there was still an identifiable core demographic: two of every five of these shepherds was an elf, just like Thistle.

"Eat fast," Thistle added. "Here on the steppe, it gets very cold at night. You don't want to be outside for long after the sun's set."

"We noticed, yeah," Kazehana said. "I see the others are starting to put on coats?"

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to," Thistle said. "There's always something that needs doing outside after dark." She sighed. "It's just one more reason Clover and I have to leave, soon."

"Oh?" Kazehana asked. "Who's Clover?"

"My wife," Thistle said, pointing at the heavily pregnant elf ladling out stew for the other shepherds. "Life out here is rough. We're adults, we can handle it. But... our child?" Thistle sighed. "We're still thinking about which civilization to return to. A grove would be best, really; I was raised outside a grove, and I always felt... cheated, of that. But, well... Clover is due soon, and we might not make it to a grove in time."

"Wellll..." Kazehana began. "...We do have our van, and you have that wagon. What say we tie one to the other, and give you folks a lift?"

"After all," I continued. "We have been meaning to visit a grove."

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"It's interesting," Kazehana said. "With those cowgirls, nearly all of the alphas lived outside of the town, on ranches, and had a lot of gay sex."

"Well, duh," I said. "Can't have a proper Western without gay sex."

"No, I'm being serious," Kazehana said. "The only reproductively viable pairings could happen in town, where they had some basic amenities set up- I mean, you saw that schoolhouse, right?"

"I did, yeah," I said, nodding. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"For the cowgirls," Kazehana continued. "Unless they were a ranch hand? Their life really was just not that different from life back in the city, because they brought part of the city with them. Now, compare that to the shepherds, who all lived together, out of wagons and tents, in something a lot closer to a truly nomadic lifestyle."

"Real nomads have kids and raise them in the community," I pointed out.

"True, but real nomads don't have access to the insane educational system these people have," Kazehana said. "Maybe one day, they'll get some members who can provide that education on the move, but as it stands... none of those people seem to want to live here."

"...I see," I said, nodding. "...Do you want to do something about it?"

"After we get through customs, maybe."

"Next," the elf TSA agent said, sounding bored.

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"They grow up fast," Kazehana marveled, a touch of horror in her voice.

"Yeah, it is... freaky," I admitted.

It had been an entire month since we arrived in the grove. Clover had given birth near-immediately upon arrival, and introduced to the world a healthy baby beta who was promptly named Dandelion, in Kazehana's honor. Originally, they'd wanted to name the baby Rose, but then I'd translated Kazehana's name out of Japanese- it meant "wind flower"- while explaining that Kazehana was the real driving force, here, and so, Dandelion it was.

Today, after four weeks of education at eight hours a day and five days a week, enough time for Dandelion to pick up eight world-class masteries or eighty Bachelor's equivalents, Dandelion was now an adult elf who looked disconcertingly like Kazehana, despite neither Thistle nor Clover bearing any particular resemblance.

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"I'm so glad you came!" Dandelion exclaimed, throwing her arms around the both of us. "Thank you for all the help you've given us- I literally wouldn't be where I am without you!"

"No sweat, kid," I said, patting her shoulder. "So, uh... what... what now?"

"Well, now, I just have to work a liiiittle bit of charm," Dandelion said, a sly grin in her voice. "One of my classmates was a teacher's kid, and she inherited all her mom's teaching perks. If I can talk her into coming with me, then the next kid the shepherds have can be raised with the shepherds!"

"Good luck," Kazehana said.

"I'm gonna need it!" Dandelion said, letting go of us. She pulled a little compact out of her cleavage, checked herself over in the mirror, then snapped it closed and tucked it back away. "See you soon!"

"I think I understand, now," Kazehana said as Dandelion ran off to go seduce her nerdy classmate, "just how distressing the 'accelerated aging' thing looks from the outside."

"On the one hand, I kinda wanna turn it off," I said. "On the other hand, mucking around in these people's culture because I'm squeamish about it feels a little too imperialistic for comfort, so..."

"Let's just... go be somewhere else, and try to forget this happened," Kazehana said.

"Let's."

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"So, I misjudged you, I think," I said.

It was now two months into our travel together- more specifically, Day 65 out of 170. We were currently at a sort of monastery slash temple, learning about the local community.

"That happens," Kazehana said, jotting down notes in her notebook.

"I'd thought that your wanderlust was a symptom of loneliness and depression," I said. "The same sort of thing as your drinking problem. But..."

"But," Kazehana repeated.

"But, well..." I shrugged. "You're not an aimless drifter who doesn't know what to do with herself. You just... like traveling."

"And meeting new people," Kazehana added. "I did notice you trying to get us involved in local passtimes, hoping to get me a hobby, but... well, I already have one. I collect stories, about places, and the people who live there. I want to understand them, and how they live, and why they live that way."

"And," I said, "as long as the world is full of people..."

"Then I'm never going to run out of new stories to collect," Kazehana said, nodding.

"In that case," I said. "You... might actually be the first and only Sekirei I've met who might want to actually come with me when I leave your universe."

"Depends on where you're going," Kazehana said. "But, most likely, yes."

"Huh," I said, leaning back and chewing on that.

"So, your other Sekirei don't want to come with you?" Kazehana asked.

"Matsu has plans for this world that extend beyond this year," I said. "Akitsu wants children that I'm not willing to give her, so our relationship is inherently short-term. Musubi and Tsukiumi, I haven't asked, because I kinda don't want to bring them with me- they're dating each other, so they'd be a package deal, and I just... I tried, okay? But I just do not like Tsukiumi. She's attractive and tolerable in small doses when she's in a good mood, but..." I sighed. "Anyhow. Uzume isn't my Sekirei, but she still might be willing to come with me, if I can convince Chiho to come with me, too."

"So, being winged by you isn't a prerequisite for tagging along?" Kazehana asked.

"It is not," I said. "So, y'know, if you wanna breathe a sigh of relief now that you don't have to kiss this sweaty nerd, feel free to do that whenever."

"It'd be a sigh of disappointment, really," Kazehana said.

"...Beg pardon?" I asked.

"See, you told me that I had to stay unwinged for as long as possible, if your plan is going to work," Kazehana continued. "And I abided by that! I kept my lips to myself this whole time, like a good girl. Oh, sure, this long vacation together where there's only ever one bed- I was hoping you'd give up on that plan and wing me- maybe that was a bit naughty, but..." She tilted her head forward, shooting me a pleading look through her eyelashes. "I've been good, haven't I? Don't I deserve something?"

I stared blankly at her.

"Matsu was right," I said after a moment's pause. "You are terminally down bad."

"I can't help it," Kazehana said with a shrug. "I kept seeing these flashes of passion, when you forget to be ashamed of who you are, and it draws me in, like a moth to a lamp. And I want to be part of that, to make it happen even more."

"And, I suppose, to help me with Matsu's plan to overthrow MBI and set the Sekirei truly free?" I asked.

"Well, yes, that too," Kazehana said, nodding. "But, well, it does help that you're passionate about it."

"Well..." I sighed, closing my eyes. "...Homura's unemployed, so he's-" Possibly not the right pronoun anymore, but I was going to wait until I heard it from Homura. "-not getting winged in a hurry. The plan'll survive."

"Oooh?"

"Bring it in, doll."

I'd gotten used to the feeling of Kazehana's body pressing against mine over the past two months of sharing a bed. Oh, sure, at first any cuddling was purely incidental, but after a few days, as we got more comfortable with each other, things escalated. It had gotten to the point that I now habitually wore an N95 mask to sleep, because Kazehana's taste for face-to-face cuddling meant there was a very real risk of me winging her on accident otherwise- something that, on reflection, she'd probably been doing on purpose.

Actually kissing Kazehana, however... well, it recontextualized a few things. Her legs wrapped around me weren't just her draping herself bonelessly like a cat- that was done with intent. Her chest pressed so tightly against mine? Sure, she always had those boobs, but it wasn't just gravity squeezing them against me like that.

Her wings were hard to see- faint outlines in the air- but the effects were quite visible, as a small windstorm struck the inside of our room.

Eventually, she pulled back, face red and chest heaving.

"So," I said. "Anywhere new you wanna go on this vacation?"

"I don't suppose you know any particularly romantic destinations?" Kazehana asked.

"I'll see what I can do."