(Homura P.O.V)
"W-What did you say?"
"I said that he winged an unwingable Sekirei by the name of Akitsu."
Takami-san gives me a disbelieving look. Hey, it's the truth. Even I didn't want to believe it but he did, and now that Sekirei lives at Izumo Inn with… him and the other two. Three Sekirei. That boy has three Sekirei now.
And right now, I am telling Takami-san about what happened. I called her and she arranged to meet me in a limo no less. I wouldn't expect anything different from Takami-san.
"Akitsu. She is the former No. 07. But now, she has been winged. She was deemed unwingable therefore useless to Minaka. But this boy, has made this scrapped number into emergence. Homura, what's so different about this boy?"
Different about him? He's kind of cute with his ways of… ehehe, never mind.
"As far as I know, nothing. He is an average boy, who goes to a school like most children his age. I heard from Miya that his parents died years ago and his sister is hospitalized. And he currently works at a restaurant, part time I imagine due to attending school."
Takami-san raises a hand to her face, and lets out a deep sigh.
"Clearly, something must be different. When Minaka finds out about this, he'll want to study the boy closely. So, tell me, what's this boy like?"
"He is intelligent, observant and figured me out with the simple few phases from me."
That's what I feel anyway. He did. He wouldn't have said anything if he didn't even have a guess about it. Otherwise, he's just completely random and said that to be just random. But I believe that it's a little more than that.
"Explain."
"Right. A short time ago, No. 18 attacked him while No. 16 was fighting his Sekirei, No. 78 Nanami. But as he was about to get attacked, I used my power to save him. I spoke some words to No. 18 and then they fled. Then, we met just the other day and within the day, he guessed that I am No. 06."
Takami-san narrows her eyes at me. I was shocked also. If he can tell my voice from only hearing it once while in a death battle, then he is quite observant indeed. And intelligent, according to Matsu.
"From hearing your voice, once? He guessed your identity?"
I nodded at her, but then shook my head.
"What he did was point at me and said 'You are No. 06!' but then he laughed off the notion. Either he doesn't want me to know, or he is second guessing himself. Either way, he might've figured me out from the sound of my voice."
"I… see. Homura."
"Yes?"
"You need to keep your eye on this boy. Clearly, he is something different. To wing an unwingable Sekirei is very strange indeed. So, remind me, how many Sekirei does he have?"
"He has No. 07 Akitsu, No. 78 Nanami and No. 95 Kuno. Three so far. I don't know how many he will have but he has three thus far."
I listed them off with my fingers. Counting my fingers, she simply nodded with a content face.
"Hmmm, three Sekirei and including a single number. He seriously is rising in power as an Ashikabi. So what is his name? And what does he look like?"
I anticipated this. So I got out a… picture and showed it to her. She took the picture from me as I told her his name.
"His name is Hidaka Totsuka-san. He's quite a nice boy, even if a little shy."
She studied the picture, then looked at me with emotionlessly eyes. W-Whats with the eyes!? I-It's kind of creepy!
"Homura."
"W-What?"
"This picture is… Homura. I need to ask, why is this picture of him in the bath?"
I covered my mouth and looked away. I couldn't look at it for obvious reasons. It wouldn't be proper to do such things. And I wouldn't ever do things like taking pictures of people bathing.
"Because Matsu took the picture for me. I couldn't do it without being suspicious. I said not to get a lewd picture but she did it anyway and now… well, that's the final product of asking Matsu for anything."
"Homura."
She placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently, almost in a comforting manner while speaking in a displeased tone.
"W-Whats wrong?"
"It's okay."
I tilted my head to the side in confusion.
"What's okay?"
"There's help out there for you. Just admit to me that you have a problem."
What is she on about now? Me, a problem? I have a problem with someone now? Erm… I don't know what she is talking about. She thinks I have a problem with… someone? Or am I a problem?
"What do you mean, Takami-san?"
She showed me the picture again, I blushed a little. He, isn't that bad to look at, but unlike most I know *cough* Matsu *cough* I wouldn't look at someone naked without permission.
"This boy is 12 years old, Homura. Even if his thing is… big, he still is 12 years old Homura. What this is, is basically child pornography. It's illegal to take naked pictures of minors Homura. Even using Matsu to do it and walk with it around is very bad. I believe that you need some help, Homura."
"W-What!? I-I didn't...!"
S-She isn't t-thinking that I am...
"Homura, it's alright. I can get you help, if you let me. We can cure you of your pedophilia."
"B-But...!"
She raised a hand to my cheek and patted it slowly, in an affectionate manner. Almost in a comforting way.
"It's okay. I will get you all the help you need."
She believes that I am a pedophile! She actually believes that I am a pedophile! Uwah! I'm not a pedophile!
"Homura. I'm going to ask you a serious question and I want a truthful answer if you would?"
I nodded, with tears stinging my eyes.
"Homura, are you a pedophile interested in 12 year old boys?"
I've had enough of this! I am not what she thinks I am! I am not a PEDOPHILE! I'M NOT ONE!
"HE'S 16 YEARS OLD! HE'S OF LEGAL AGE EVEN IF I WAS INTERESTED WHICH I'M NOT! I AM NOT A PEDOPHILE TAKAMI-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
I made an outburst. She looked at me with suspicious eyes. But then looked at the picture, with a slight blush, then looked at me with those same eyes as before.
"Don't you lie to me and take away the dream!"
Dream? What dream? I sighed to myself.
"What dream?"
She sighed at me with a clearly annoyed tone.
"...Never mind. But, he's really 16 years old?"
"Yes. He is 16 years old, or that's what Miya told me."
She looked out the car window, where we happen to be and released a small breath.
"So he's 16 years old huh… damn, he's like the King of Shota's with that perfect cuteness they seem to have..."
She drools a little and mumbles incoherent things to herself… ehehe, creepy or what.
"Takami-san?"
She snaps out of her delusions and looks at me.
"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about how he winged No. 07."
Yeah, sure you were. And you call me a pedophile. That hungry look in your eyes tells me that something more is going on than meets the eye.
"So, what should I do?"
She goes back to studying the picture again. Ugh, Takami-san, please just… I tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at me again with a red tint to her cheeks.
"Takami-san, what should I do regarding Hidaka-san?"
"Oh… just keep an eye on them. Make sure that she is truly winged. From what you've said that, she is winged but let's make sure that her power isn't going to go out of control."
"But, won't Minaka already know if she has been winged?"
"Most likely yes. But, he's already done enough damage to everyone. You said he's lost his parents and his sister is hospitalized?"
I nodded. That's what Miya told me and she doesn't have a reason to lie about things like that.
"That's what Miya tells me."
"Then… Minaka can leave him alone. Even if he has some weird powers as an Ashikabi, Minaka isn't going to exploit that. I will make sure of it."
She's really determined huh. W-Well, that's also a good thing, I guess? As long as she doesn't go super Shotacon then I think he'll be fine. Maybe… I should've said that he is actually 12 so to save him from Takami-san's advances.
"Anyway, you best be getting back."
"Y-Yes, I promised Miya I would be home for dinner."
She nodded and told the driver to take me home, to Izumo Inn. Miya will kill me if I'm late for dinner when I promised to be back.
But then I noticed that Takami-san had a hold of that picture. I reached out my hand to take the picture so I could burn it before anyone knew that it existed besides me, Matsu and Takami-san. But when I was about to take the picture back from her, she put it in her pocket.
"I'll keep a hold of this for now."
"Why?"
"Don't question my methods, Homura. This is for… research."
Yeah, how to sleep with a Shota. Isn't that also why you want to keep the picture, Takami-san? I wonder, if I said that, would she agree or be angry at me? Either way, it's pretty shocking the quickness of her attitude changed when I said his age.
"Okay… if you say so."
For the rest of the ride, Takami-san said some rather strange things to herself. She is a strange woman indeed.