The Scrapped Number

Sent at 2:51 AM

Opened at 3:12 AM

Sender: Chuuni-Wacko

Breaking News! To all players participating in this Grand Game, I, the Game Master, will share the latest breaking news! A little birdy with broken wings has escaped her cage and is wounded and somewhere in the center of this game's field! Who will become the most magnanimous Ashikabi and take in this Scrapped Number in their growing flock? The hint is on her forehead! Go and find this scrapped number before another veteran player or a new player get this pitiful bird in their flock! First come, first served!

— — —

'Does this nutjob even sleep?' I thought silently as I saw the latest e-mail from Minaka blankly.

Well, I have no right to ask that question since I rarely sleep nowadays. But, I digressed.

My mind wanders somewhere else as I contemplate what I should do. I understand what this message meant. It is about Sekirei #07, Akitsu, also known as the Scrapped Number Sekirei. I recall anything I know about her in my memory.

In the source materials, Akitsu will become one of the Sekirei that belonged to Hayato Mikogami of the South. I remember him inviting Akitsu into his flock at day. He is going to be there with Mutsu. Although Hayato's feeling for Sekirei is twisted because of his childish and spoiled personality, Akitsu deeply loves Hayato for accepting her as his Sekirei, though she is a scrapped number.

I label Hayato's feeling for his Sekirei as twisted because his affection and fondness are similar to children's affection and fondness to their rare and precious toy. Regardless of how twisted it is, Hayato still cares about them and shows genuine anger if he loses even one of his collections.

As mentioned in the manga, Akitsu even unleashed her Prayer that she could only use once because of her condition in the late stage of this Sekirei Plan. After she unleashed her Prayer, Akitsu would lose her life.

Although I could leave Akitsu in Hayato's care, I feel a bad taste in my mouth if I am letting it happen. After all, Hayato's care for a traumatized girl like Akitsu is likened to his care for his precious toy. There is also her condition that won't get fixed if she stays with Hayato.

'But, if it is me…' I stopped my thoughts about the "what-if" scenario. I'd consulted the system and received the assurance that it could fix Akitsu's condition.

Although it is true that I have a way to fix Akitsu's condition, it is not that simple. The problem is that it is not only me who gets implicated. I already have a Sekirei, and I need her consent despite she has given her blessing to me to expand my harem.

I've been thinking that I have had time to find my courage and gather my resolve, but this announcement reminded me that the world isn't revolving around me.

Okay! That was a lie…

Truth be told, I have been procrastinating. I am a coward who runs away from my problem, but I now am cornered. I need to accept it if I want to help Akitsu out.

Because of my sensibility, I feel hesitant to take Akitsu under my wings. The only way to help Akitsu out is to turn her into my second Companion. I still have a problem with accepting the idea of creating harem.

I always remind myself not to think with my dick, yet I feel like my morals and sensibilities are hindering my growth. At the same time, I am unwilling to discard my belief and moral value even if it inconvenienced me.

I feel complicated feelings and turn in the direction of the source of comfort nearby. It is Yashima, my devoted and loyal first Sekirei.

Speaking of Yashima, she is still recovering from our intense lovemaking. We have started at 9 PM and just finished a few minutes ago.

Presently, Yashima is lying on the crumpled futon. She is resting on her back, sweaty and naked. Her left hand is resting on her belly, and she's resting her other arm on her face, covering her eyes. Her ample breasts are moving up and down quickly as she is breathing heavily. Her legs are slightly folded and creating a shallow M-shape. From my position, I can see trickles of white liquids dripping from her slit.

As if sensing my gaze on her, Yashima moves up her right hand, dropping it on the pillow on top of her head, and then shift her head slightly to see me. Her eyes are still hazy and unfocused, and a tired, resigned smile is marring her exhausted expression.

"Rio-sama, I'm sorry. Let me rest for a moment. I will get better soon and we can continue, I swear!" She said weakly.

I feel guilty after I saw her state. Because of my upgraded Tier and stats, my prowess has surpassed Yashima's. She always forces herself to match my upgraded stamina, but it makes me worry. I can't help blaming myself.

I find myself at loss and feel conflicted.

I usually lost my self-control when I was in the middle of sex. It is hard to keep a clear mind in such a heated and passionate moment. It's easier to keep my mind clear amidst pain than pleasure.

I really want Yashima to max up her stats as soon as possible, so I can upgrade her Tier. Yashima has been saving up her AP for that. However, I forbid Yashima to depend on the system for statistic upgrade.

She is almost reaching the limit of Tier F. I only need to wait for her Power and Acuity to reach SSS rank.

I can feel it will happen soon. But, that's going to happen in the future. The present is full of hardship and impatience waiting.

After I forcefully suppressed my guilty conscience, I speak up.

"Don't worry about it. We won't continue."

"I'm sorry..." Yashima apologized pitifully, blaming herself again.

"No need to apologize and stop blaming yourself," I chide her softly before changing the topic to make her stop focusing on this matter, "By the way, I need your help."

"Please tell me what do you need. I will do it."

"You see," I confide my inner conflict and confusion to her. I told her what I know about Akitsu and her fate in another timeline in which she became Hayato's Sekirei and what I could do for her.

There is no reason to lie because it's impossible lying to her. She will find out because of our bond. Moreover, I don't want to lie to her.

I dared to speak openly to her because this place is safe. There are no spying devices hidden in this room. Moreover, the walls of this room are soundproofed. I've soundproofed this room after I received some complaints from our neighborhood who were complaining about the sounds our lovemaking produced.

Yashima listens to my explanation silently. After I ended my explanation, I see her expression carefully. She is deep in thought, carefully thinking her answer. Normally, any Sekirei would easily tell her Ashikabi to accept other Sekirei who wanted to join his flock.

But, I am not a normal Ashikabi, and it is not a simple matter. Moreover, Yashima's sensibility has been affected by socializing with normal humans living in this apartment complex. She understands my distress and does not want to make it worse by thoughtlessly providing her inputs.

A while later, Yashima stops her contemplation and speaks up.

"I think we should get her first," said Yashima resolutely.

"Why?" I asked, feeling curious about her reason.

"There are two reasons. First is that she has my sympathy. I can't imagine how it feels not to be able to emerge. After spending the past month together with you, I cannot live without you anymore, Rio-sama. To be honest, I am glad that I will get terminated when you die. I cannot imagine life without you."

I feel mixed feelings from Yashima's confession. I feel touched by her devotion, yet I also feel sad because she's extremely dependent on me. But, it can't be helped because it's her nature as Sekirei.

At the very least, she has her personal time and hobby without any relation to me, though it is pretty insignificant if compared to the time she devoted to me.

In the end, I form a wry smile unconsciously, but it disappears as I recover my focus when Yashima continues her explanation.

"Back to my first reason. I want you to fix her so she won't end up like her…other version who became the Sekirei of the Ashikabi of the South. If she becomes your Sekirei, she will get fixed and have a chance to emerge. She will experience the feeling of fulfillment and completeness from emerging. She won't need to sacrifice her life to use one-time-only Prayer."

"I see…" I accepted her first reason. "Then, the second reason?"

"I need reinforcements!"

"Huh?"

I am speechless after I heard Yashima's outburst. She has a conflicted blaming look. She looks like she is unsure who she needs to blame: herself from unable to satisfy me, or me for my crazy stamina. After she struggled for a little, it looks like she decided to blame me.

Yashima continues her rant, utterly losing it: "Although this wounds my pride as Sekirei, I am at my limit! I understand that you need to have sex to collect more tantric energy, but you're too much, Rio-sama! You're insatiable! A sexual deviant! beast!"

I feel guilty from listening to her rant. This is the first time Yashima openly ranted at me. It looks like she has been enduring so much. At the same time, I am also happy because Yashima is being outspoken and admitting her woes.

"I'm sorry." I apologized to her while sitting in a "seiza" position and putting my forehead on the floor.

"You shouldn't be stubborn and just let me increase my power with the system's help. If you do that, I won't have to meet my limit like this!"

"About that, I can't agree with you! Unlike me who is fully dependent on the system to grow powerful, you can grow stronger normally. Besides, I don't want something to happen with you. I fear if I depended on the system too much to help you grow stronger, something bad will happen to you in the future! The system is a trap, and I have told you about this!"

Yashima releases a helpless sigh and nods in understanding. Yet, she still sends me her blaming look.

An awkward silence descends in the bedroom. A while later, Yashima breathes deeply to calm herself, after which she speaks up.

"Okay! Sorry for snapping like that. That's so unsightly of me," she apologized to me.

I accept her apology to ease her guilty conscience and help her move on from this matter. If I refused her apology, which I believe that I don't truly deserve it because it's my fault, to begin with, she will hold it for a long time.

We don't have a long time. It is still early in the morning. To be precise, it is now at 3:27 AM, and the clock is ticking forward. Today is the 32nd day after I reincarnated, and the 29th day after I winged Yashima. Also, today is the day I will get my second Sekirei.

"Alright! Let's help Akitsu to get her wing fixed!" Yashima said spiritedly.

It looks like she has recovered enough from the heavy exhaustion that I have inflicted on her.

"But, first, please heal my lower body with your magic, Rio-sama! I can move it! It feels numb!"

Or maybe, not yet…

Well, it is understandable. Normally, she recuperates while sleeping after our long, exhausting sex. Unluckily, we don't have time to wait for her recuperate normally.

Speaking of my Healing Magic, its effect is actually speeding up the natural healing of the target. It isn't in the realm of true recovery or regeneration, hence I never abused it. I only use it in an emergency.

Well, it has a low rank. Although there is Healing Magic at the higher rank that grants a real recovery or true regeneration effect in the Shop function, it is too expensive. I can only buy low-ranked Healing Magic in the past.

Since it can be considered as an emergency, I use my Healing Magic on her. My EP is reduced by 10 points, and there is several seconds cooldown time until I can use it again. After the cooldown ended, I cast it again to stack up the effect.

After 5 minutes passed by, Yashima recovers enough until her movements won't be hampered. We quickly clean ourselves in the bathroom. No funny business this time. After that, Yashima wears her standard Sekirei outfit, which she donned in our first meeting. Meanwhile, I wear a light-colored sweater, light gray jeans, thick socks, and a pair of army boots under a hooded overcoat.

I put on the hood to cover my face. We walk out of our apartment, go for the staircases, and then jump down to the ground floor. After we landed safely, Yashima takes her hammer our of her interspatial ring. It is something that I got in the past.

After that, we head for the central area of Shinto Teito.

I remember that Akitsu will stay in one of many parks near MBI HQ. We only need to check out each one until we find Akitsu.

And so, the hunt for my second waifu begins!