Horizon the Transient presents,
BROKEN CHAIN
Book 1: "Winging For Godot"
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Horizon The Transient
hey matsu are you awake
Matsu
yeah, whats up
Horizon The Transient
there is no way to phrase this that doesnt make me sound like an idiot
i got drunk and purchased a one-way plane ticket to japan and then hired a cab to take me there
Matsu
hey what the fuck
Horizon The Transient
yeah i dont know either
but hey, you still live in tokyo, right?
Matsu
if i say yes, and tell you where i live, are you going to come visit just to slap me for that vore pun i made last week?
Horizon The Transient
not just for that, no
Matsu
thats fair
ill ask my roommate to come pick you up from the airport
Horizon The Transient
okay cool, thanks
Matsu
no probert, bobert
Horizon The Transient
id ask why you cant come out and meet me yourself but the answer is probably something mundane
Matsu
im actually a fugitive from a powerful megacorporation. if i show my face in public, a sexy lady in a leather minidress and thigh-highs will katana me to death.
Horizon The Transient
yeah and im a shapeshifting tentacle monster whos also a jumpchain protagonist
Matsu
ew
jumpchain?
Horizon The Transient
since when are you not into tentacles
oh
since when are you not into jumpchain, ive sent you like fifty absurdly busted build ideas already and somehow you havent blocked me yet
Matsu
we all have flaws
one of mine is that im actually an alien with psychically-enforced tradwife shit hanging over my head that i intend to subvert with the kinkiest sex imaginable
Horizon The Transient
you really just say whatever you want dont you
Matsu
yeah
Horizon The Transient
so who am i gonna be looking for?
Matsu
depends who agrees. thankfully, both of my roommates are pretty visually distinct. uh... probably gonna send uzume, since kagari has work tonight and needs his sleep.
Horizon The Transient
whats uzume look like?
Matsu
shes like five foot four, long brown hair usually in a side ponytail, and huge boobs. i mean some serious honkers
a real set of badonkers
Horizon The Transient
are you done yet
Matsu
packin some dobonhonkeros
Horizon The Transient
matsu
Matsu
massive dohoonkabankaloos
Horizon The Transient
why are you like this
Matsu
i didnt get enough attention as a child
Horizon The Transient
neither did i, bitch. control yourself.
Matsu
rude :(
Horizon The Transient
so what does uzume know about me?
Matsu
all ive told her about you is that youre a writer im friends with, and that this is a surprise visit
you get to tell her about your alcohol adventures all on your own
Horizon The Transient
youre an asshole.
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"...and then I woke up on the airplane about fifteen minutes before it landed, hungover," I said. "Got off the plane, pulled out my phone, and tried to remember whether or not my Japanese internet friend lived in Tokyo."
Uzume cackled, in a way that left no ambiguity regarding how she felt about my misfortune.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, fuzzball," I grumbled.
I remembered something before waking up with a hangover, that a stupider person than I would hope was just a dream. I knew it wasn't, though. I'd met Jump-chan, and been sent on a Jumpchain. And that's why, even though I'd only seen drawings of Uzume, she still looked very familiar.
"See, I thought it was, like, some kinda international booty call or something," Uzume said, still laughing. "But no, turns out the only game Matsu's got is her Steam library."
I snorted, and started chuckling.
"Now, let's be fair, there's probably also some online roleplaying in there, too," I said. "Which is like playing D&D, except even more nerdy, because you don't have enough real-life friends to play it in person."
"Hey, now, only I get to talk shit about Matsu," Uzume said.
"Did I ever tell you how I met her?" I asked. "I think that might change your position, there."
"No, you didn't, we've only just met," Uzume said. "Also, it is nice to meet you, Rose. I'm Uzume."
As this was the first time Uzume said my name aloud, I figure now is as good a time as any to establish what I look like.
I was tall, standing at about six foot two- or about 188cm in real units- and fairly skinny, the only exception being shoulders that were pretty broad for a woman, and hips that would've been pretty broad for a man. My skin wasn't super pale, but instead came out somewhere around a light olive, with my hands being a bit darker and my face a bit lighter. My hair was long, brown, and the borderline between wavy and curly- if I didn't brush it out frequently, it would form tumbleweeds. I wore rectangular, wire-rimmed glasses, perched atop a proud, sharp nose, posed above a strong jaw and a chin that resembled the prow of a cargo container.
Even with the shapeshifting I'd bought myself, I didn't quite look like a conventionally feminine beauty, but I was definitely pretty striking, and considering I'd barely softened the features of what had once been "a real good-looking guy," I was probably currently a flavor of butch that'd be fucking catnip for most femmes.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Of course, just because I didn't change much above the neck- I mean I definitely did remove all that goddamn facial hair, shit itched like crazy- doesn't mean I didn't change anything below the neck. Being as I was six feet tall, and also obviously American, I reckoned I could get away with some fairly sizable tits of my own before I started being truly attention-grabbing in ways I didn't feel like dealing with. If there was an easy way to measure the objective volume of a fleshy orb attached pretty firmly to a human torso, I was willing to bet I was in the same league as Uzume, who- being five feet tall instead of six- looked like a hentai character.
"Matsu told me, actually," I said. "But anyway. See, I write a lot, and post stuff online. One of the things I've posted was porn. Weird porn. Really weird porn. Not the stuff that'd make you want to scrub your brain out with bleach, nothing disgusting, just... tremendously weird. Well, Matsu didn't care about anything I've written except that, and decided to start messaging me on Discord- I had a server for my fics- to try and convince me to write more of the weird stuff."
"...Yeah, that sounds like her," Uzume said. "But, uh, what is the weird stuff?"
"Ask Matsu if you're that curious," I said. "I want you to like me."
Uzume laughed. "Yeah, alright, fair enough. So, train station's up here, and the train should be here in a minute or two. Huh. This one's usually a bit more crowded at this time of day."
The platform wasn't deserted, by any means. There were people here, making me glad I was wearing a mask, even though I knew, intellectually, that Covid hadn't happened in this universe.
"I can live with that," I said. "This way I don't have to wonder if people are keeping their distance because I'm a smelly foreigner."
"I know Japan can be kinda xenophobic, but-"
"Look out below!" a voice cried, causing me to immediately duck and cover the back of my neck. I probably should've moved instead; my back got used as a landing pad, knocking me off my feet and pinning me underneath a person-heavy weight. "Ow..." the person on top of me said. "I guess that was too high to jump from..."
"Does this happen often in Tokyo?" I rasped, barely mustering the strength to breathe as the person got off of me.
"This is new," Uzume said, bending down and pulling me up to my feet.
"Oh! Thank you!" I turned to face a short woman with brown hair and tremendously fat knockers, wearing a horny cosplay corruption of the traditional shrine maiden's outfit that replaced the hakama with a red mini-skirt. "You broke my fall!"
"Fair's fair," I said. "You almost broke my ribs." Really, that should've broken some bones; I just got drop-kicked in the spine by a woman jumping off a ten-story building. Thank god for the Body Mod and that super-physicality perk I'd picked on a dumb whim; I was probably about as sturdy as a Sekirei. "I'm Rose, by the way."
"Nice to meet you!" she said, cheerily. "I'm Sekirei number 88, Musubi!" She blinked, and then dove forward, pushing me over once again. Behind her, lightning struck, bursting the concrete. "Look out!"
"It's no use running!"
"Fight us!"
Musubi got off of me, again, and I clambered back to my feet. Standing atop a tall building across the street, two similar-looking women in matching outfits that very much looked like fetish gear leered menacingly at Musubi, electricity crackling and dancing across their fingertips.
"Did I miss a fucking press release or something, or have Japanese people always been able to shoot lightning from their fingertips and nobody told me?" I asked. I mean. Okay, I knew exactly what was going on here. But I couldn't admit to that without raising some questions I wasn't quite comfortable answering just yet.
"I'll fill you in later," Uzume said. "Right now, we need to run."
"Trust me, we're doing you a favor," one of the roof-women shouted.
"You'll be knocked out of this cruel game sooner or later," the other said.
"If it happens before you find your Ashikabi, it won't hurt as much!"
"Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," I quoted at them.
"And just who the hell are you?" one of them yelled. If I recalled correctly, the two of them were Hikari and Hibiki, and... I had no idea which one was which. They were twins.
"Rose Corcoran. I'm new in town, but I'm pretty sure making a scene at a train station is bad manners."
"Rose," Uzume said, grabbing my shoulder.
"It also sounds more like you're just knocking competitors out of the game before they can become a threat to you," I added.
"You-!"
"Rose!" Uzume yelled.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, turning to face her.
"We just missed our train!"
"...Son of a bitch," I said, before turning back to look up at the Thunder Twins. "Now look what you did! You're done wasting our time- we are leaving." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Now walk away calmly but briskly. Do not run, they'll realize what's up and chase us. Just walk."
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"What the hell was that about?" Uzume demanded, once we were pretty sure we were free and clear.
"I panicked and started saying words," I said with a shrug. "It seems like it worked, though. More importantly, though, I would also like to know what the hell was up with those women shooting lightning bolts from their hands." I knew already, but... well, I couldn't just reveal that.
Uzume sighed, and glanced at Musubi, who had followed us out of a lack of any more appealing options.
"...So, those women... weren't human," Uzume admitted. "Musubi isn't either. They're what's called Sekirei- psychic aliens, set loose into Tokyo to find their Ashikabi- er, their soulmate. And then, to fight, until only one is left."
I grimaced.
"...You're one of them too, aren't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer. I'd seen the show, after all. But, again, I didn't want to let anyone know that yet.
"...Yeah," Uzume said, nodding. "So is Matsu."
"And that woman over there, huh?"
We were cutting through the park as a shortcut; it was getting dark out, and we all wanted to get home as quickly as possible. So, naturally, we were being derailed with a side-quest in the form of a distressed and poorly-dressed disaster of a woman, who looked to be ever so slightly blood-spattered, and had the Sekirei Crest very visibly stamped on her forehead.
"...Goddamnit," Uzume muttered, before walking up to the woman. "Hey, you okay?"
The bloody woman looked up, eyes vacant, and if it wasn't for the fact I recognized this woman and her personality, I would halfway expect her to say something like "of course I'm not."
"I'm... a failure," she said instead.
Uzume sighed. "Fuck... The stories were true, then. Listen- what's your name?"
"Akitsu."
"Akitsu. I know a place where we can get you cleaned up and fed, where you can stay as long as you need," Uzume said. "Will you come with me?"
Akitsu sat there, silent, either contemplative or simply refusing.
"What's wrong?" Musubi asked, stepping up.
"Musubi-" I began quietly, reaching for her shoulder, before stopping myself. Sure, Musubi's IQ might be the room temperature in Alaska, but she was endearing as hell, and had infectiously strong beliefs about the power of love.
Really, she was the anime protagonist. Minato- and now me too- we were both just audience surrogates, allowing the viewer to vicariously experience being part of Musubi's harem.
"...You got this," I said, patting her on the shoulder and stepping back.
Honestly, I wasn't all that worried. Akitsu was very affection-starved, and if Musubi was anything, it was affectionate. This would work no matter what; the only variable was how well it would work.
"I'm... broken," Akitsu said, quietly. "A failure."
"Nobody is a failure," Musubi said.
"I am," Akitsu said. "I... cannot be winged. I will never find an Ashikabi and fulfill my purpose."
"Never say never," Musubi said, shaking her head. "You'll find your special someone, I promise. Maybe you won't be able to be winged, but you can always find love, if only you're willing to look for it."
Akitsu blinked, staring up at Musubi with something like hope in her eyes.
"She really is a harem protagonist," I whispered to Uzume, who elbowed me. "Ow, fuck."
"Take my hand," Musubi said. "And I'll make sure you find someone who loves you."
Akitsu stared at Musubi's outstretched hand, and slowly, gingerly, reached out and accepted it.
Uzume, having set out to fetch one unexpected guest, returned home with three of them in tow.
I'm sure the landlady would be thrilled.