"Alright," I said. "We're going to be winging Akitsu in a half hour. If anyone else has a confession to make to me, or some purely platonic desire to go be alone with me somewhere for a few whole days, now's your last chance before Akitsu has grounds to call dibs until we enter the endgame."

"Well," Miya began.

"Adonai preserve me," I prayed.

"I am married," Miya continued. "And... Takehito made Minaka swear that, whatever happened, I would be left alone, to live my life. But..." She looked around at her tenants, pretty much all of whom were Sekirei I'd helped, one way or another. "...Bless Takehito, but I cannot keep sitting on the sidelines any longer. Rose." Miya closed her eyes, her expression hardening as she transitioned from 'ordinary landlady' to 'ronin returning from retirement.' "I will help you fight MBI, however I can."

"...Thank you, Miya," I said, nodding to her to the extent of a short bow. I didn't have the heart to tell her that this was an infiltration mission, and I had zero use whatsoever for spare muscle. Besides, I might be wrong, and she might be useful. "I'll let you know when it's time to move. Now-"

"Me too," Homura said, stepping forward. "Rose..."

"Yes?" I said.

"I... well." Homura coughed, nervously. "I've had time to digest it all. And... I think... yeah. I'm a woman, too."

"I cannot fucking believe," I said, "that I forcefemmed you by accident."

Homura choked on her own spit and started coughing furiously.

"Homura!" I continued. "This sort of thing is what I was trying to avoid doing when I turned you down, when we first met! But, well, you were bound and fucking determined to be feminized, weren't you?"

"I- that-" Homura gasped out.

"I mean, if she did it to herself, and you were even trying to stop her," Matsu continued, "That... pretty clearly means it was her own idea, right? No 'force' involved."

"Also," Kazehana added, "even unwinged Sekirei will obey orders from the Ashikabi they want, if they want that Ashikabi enough. For Homura to disobey that order..."

"There-" Homura hacked up a thick glob of mucus into her hand, and grimaced. "There wasn't any order. Rose never told me to do anything. She talked about her tastes, but never in a way that sounded like she wanted me to do anything about it."

"So, you being a woman is a lot like you quitting smoking because I said you smelled like an ash tray," I said. "Except, you know. This time it'd be a different reason for your MILF girlfriend to dump you and stop paying your rent."

"Your what?" Kazehana demanded, staring at Homura.

"Takami didn't like-" Homura began.

"You were dating that woman?!" Kazehana all but yelled.

"And you were lusting after Minaka," Homura pointed out. "The difference between you and me is I actually got laid."

"I- that- you-"

"So anyway," I said loudly, "I know for a fact that the people in my Warehouse have developed some really good gender-affirming treatments, so Homura, if you ever decide you want some of that..."

"I'm good, actually," Homura said. "I kind of want to look a little butch, y'know? Like you, except... well. With smaller boobs. I don't want to have to buy new clothes."

"Can I get that gender-affirming treatment?" Chiho asked, raising her hand.

"Only with the permission of a parent or guardian," I said.

"Bitch I'm twenty one, give me the goddamn boob job."

I barked a laugh. "Alright, sure. We've got time, and I don't even have to be there for it. Anyone else?"

"I mean, I wasn't done," Homura said.

"Ah, right, sorry," I said. "Please continue?"

"Well, uh... Since you were pretty key on my journey of self-discovery... and you're also the only top in this house..." Homura looked away, blushing, and poked her pointer fingers together sheepishly. "...Could we maaaaybe try that... how did Chiho put it..."

"Fucknasty t4t lesbian buttsex," Chiho supplied.

"Right, that," Homura said, nodding.

"...Just to be clear," I said. "You're only interested in sex, and not in being winged?"

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"I was listening when you explained your plan," Homura said. "You need someone to stay unwinged, and we don't know if Miya counts. And, well, sex actually doesn't wing Sekirei."

"It doesn't?" Matsu asked.

"Takami is an Ashikabi," Homura said. "If sex could wing a Sekirei, I'd still be her collared bitchboy she drags around on a leash and feeds cigarettes."

"And now that's Seo," I said. "Eugh. Bad mental image. Anyway, let's just..." I shook my head to clear it. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say to me before things kick off in earnest? Confessions? Comments? Questions?"

"Do pigeons have feelings?" Chiho asked.

"Okay, fuck this," I said. "Matsu, go grab the camera, we're skipping ahead and doing it now."

"Don't forget your part," Matsu added.

"What about the t4t lesbian buttsex?" Homura asked.

"I'll get to it when I get to it," I said, pulling out my phone and composing a new text message.

Rose

Hey, Takami, it's supposed to be impossible to wing Akitsu, right?

Takami

...yes? why do you ask

Rose

I'm about to try something.

It might even work.

Takami

fucking w h a t

"I got her attention," I said, pocketing my phone. "That's the last bit of groundwork laid, I think. Akitsu? You ready?"

"More than," she said, nodding.

"You know," Kazehana remarked, "usually you're supposed to do the honeymoon after the wedding."

"Aside from firearms being illegal in Japan," I said, "the only reason this 'wedding' isn't of the shotgun variety is that Sekirei can only be impregnated by their Ashikabi."

There had, unfortunately, been an unpleasant conversation after Akitsu discovered what baby fever was. Namely, that, while she may find sublime joy in caring for a child, I felt no such parental instincts, and was in absolutely no hurry to become a father.

It did answer the question of whether Akitsu would stay or go, however- as much as we might love each other, we wanted fairly different things out of life, and thus, our romance was destined to be a temporary one.

Thankfully, that had happened on Day 25; by the time our month in the Warehouse was over, it had been the better part of a week ago. Today, it was more than a week ago, as they'd spent the last four days making plans to rob MBI, while I handled the morale issues of taking Musubi, Tsukiumi, and Kazehana on their own dates.

"Such lewdness," Miya said, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Anyhow," I said. "Sorry I hadn't thought to frame this like a wedding, Akitsu."

Akitsu shrugged. "I would've broken up with you by now, if I was that bothered by your tendency to forget what romance is."

"Ouch," Homura said. "You need some ointment for that burn?"

"As it is," Akitsu said, reaching up to caress my cheek, "I find it endearing."

"Are we ready for the experiment?" Matsu asked, setting up the camera, her new laptop set up on a little tripod desk next to it, the screen extended up along its rails to get a better viewing angle.

"Sounds like," I said. "Trial one, attempting to un-wing and re-wing Akitsu. Akitsu, hon, how are you feeling?"

"Ecstatic," Akitsu said, smiling. "I have been waiting for this day for a very long time."

"And... okay, not strictly germane to the experiment, but, Matsu, double-checking: the other plans- is everything in place for those?"

"Yep!" Matsu said.

"Alright," I said. "Everything is in place, then."

I created a little portal in midair, through which rose a little pillar holding the Jinki- which, rather than being in the parts of the Warehouse that experienced a hundred times more age than the real world, was actually stored in temporal stasis, to prevent any further degradation and data corruption.

I plucked the long, icicle-like crystal off its pedestal, which retracted back through the portal, and sighed deeply.

"Don't keep me waiting too long," Akitsu said.

"Here goes nothing," I said, reaching out and gently pressing the tip of it against Akitsu. I triggered the Jinki... and Akitsu's wings manifested. I'd never seen them before now, but, well, every Sekirei I'd un-winged had manifested their wings. More interestingly, the Sekirei Crest on Akitsu's forehead, that I'd long since stopped noticing and simply dismissed it as as visual noise, started to glow brightly, matching the hue of her ice-shard wings. The glow brightened... and then, dimmed rapidly, as the crest and wings crumbled to nothingness. "So, Akitsu... how do you feel now?"

She stared at me with her old, flat affect.

Shit. Did I fuck it up?

"I feel," she said quietly, with none of her more recent undertones of actual emotion, "nothing."

"Fuck," I whispered.

"I feel," she repeated, "very happy."

What.

"That there is a camera," she continued, before grinning. "So you can see the look on your face."

"Oh you bitch," I said affectionately. "I mean, now really is not the time for that, but... still."

"The way I see it, this is likely to be important archival footage," Akitsu said. "Students of Sekirei medicine will have to watch this. I may as well give them something to laugh about." She sighed, and looked up. "I feel... lighter, and heavier, at the same time. I feel as though a load has been lifted from my shoulders... and, also, like the absence of that load has made me weaker. I think... I think this is very solid evidence that, yes, I was self-winged, and that did make my powers stronger. But..." She smiled at me. "I'm willing to lose some power, if it means a deeper love."

"Glad to hear it," I said. "Now... Ready for part two of the experiment?"

"Kiss me like you mean it," Akitsu said.

So I did.

Cheers and applause erupted from the peanut gallery, including a few wolf-whistles from both Chiho and Kazehana.

"Anyway," I said, as everyone settled down. "Now we just wait to get a call demanding to know what the hell we just did, and score ourselves an invite into the lab. And then?" I grinned. "Showtime."