A/N: Well, I am glad that people enjoy this story so far, and I love re-writing Sekirei. Some things that happen in the series pissed me off, and know I can settle the score. Still no beta, could use one, PM me if you're interested. Anyway, review replies:

evillevi: Sorry, I am working on that, hopefully this chapter fleshes him out some. He's supposed to be kind of mysterious, but I'm trying to not make him TO mysterious.

Kaiton: Yeah, my bad, I don't have a beta and I wrote that while listening to the anime in the backround, and the way Hibiki says Hikari's name sounded like Higari. Though, in the prologue I had it as Hikari then second guessed myself ahahaha. I went back and fixed it and posted the updated chapters along with this one.

Dragon-cloud16- I won't have anyone, even Uzume, winged for a couple of chapters, and then Kusano will be getting winged before anyone else. And him having a spine defiantly does, and the other reason was hinted at in chapter three, towards the end. I'll dedicate a chapter to ya if you can guess!

Argorok: Thank you, and here you go

Mas2009: You're welcome, and no way in hell. I'm rolling all my stories till the end!

Frost Wolf: Minato is supposed to be a little OOC, because he has a spine and such. I did kind of change that, but not really. The Twins have always struck me as rather powerful. Or maybe I just like the fact that they can throw lightening. Not to mention, I think it would also make sense for a Sekirei's power to grow based of how strong their Ashikabi is, and how powerful the bond is. If an Ashikabi grows stronger from the Sekirei they have, which the anime tells us they do, the reverse makes sense.

Nghtwng77: Exactly the reason I chose Yume. I can't write ditzy, and I don't wanna lol. I think Seo is alright as comedy relief, but I agree, the twins are too good for him. And I'm not going to stop with the North being a safe haven

Anyway, let me know if you want anyone other than those Sekirei already mentioned in the prologue to join our merry band.

Sekirei: Guardian of the North

Chapter 3

Maisson Izumo

Atop the tall structure that was MBI headquarters, Takami Sahashi glared spitefully at the back of the man she had used to love, and the father of her children. Hirato Minaka, Director and Chairmen of MBI, Creator of the Sekirei Plan, and raving psychotic.

"You bastard, you swore to me that my children would not be involved!" she hissed, but Minaka just laughed in that maniacal way of his, completely uncaring.

"Ah, be glad that our child has been chosen to take place in this glorious game of mine!" he shouted, fists on his hips as the wind made that ridiculous cloak of his billow. "He will destroy those who challenge him and prove himself, or he will fall upon the wayside!"

"That kind sentence is the reason he is MY son and not yours." Takami growled, turning and stalking back inside. Prowling down the halls, she cursed furiously inside her mind. Her son had been trained to fight, that may be true, but he was still kind-hearted, and her father had instilled a sense of honor and duty in him that would have made those of the ancient Samurai seem pale and insignificant in comparison. The Sekirei Plan, she knew, would offend him and anger him beyond anything else she could imagine. She could only hope that he would forgive her for her part in it.

Minato, Yume, Hikari, and Hibiki followed the girl, who had since introduced herself as Uzume, down the front walk of the small Inn that she had spent the last half an hour describing. It was beautiful, a building using an amazing blend of traditional and modern architecture. It was surrounded by a high, simple wooden fence, and there was a garden off to one side.

"Miya!" Uzume called as she opened the door. "I found some potential boarders for you!"

"Oh? How did you manage that, Uzume?" said a quiet but strong voice from what appeared to be the kitchen, and a slightly older women with pale violet hair in a traditional miko's outfit: a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt wooden sandals and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place, came into the hallway. Minato and his girls bowed deeply, and she smiled. "Who are your friends, Uzume?"

"My name is Minato Sahashi, Landlady-sama." Minato said, bowing low. "My companions are Yume, Hikari, and Hibiki. We are looking for a place to stay."

"A pleasure to meet you all, please come in." Miya said, standing back as they filed in. In truth, she had known who they were as soon as Matsu had 'seen' Uzume meet them near the realtor's office with her satellites. As soon as the boy had bonded with Number 08, her successor as leader of the Discipline Squad, Matsu had kept an eye on him, even more so when she figured out he was the son of Takami Sahashi. When he had then winged Hikari and Hibiki soon after, he had become even more interesting. She knew everything about him, and Matsu, who had watched the fight yesterday, where the Twins were winged, with her computers had shown her a recording of Minato willingly taking on Akitsu, the former number 07, for the sake of two Sekirei that were not even his. "So, Minato-san, please explain to me what you are looking for accommodation wise, and how you can pay."

"Landlady-sama, I got thrown out of my home because Yume here was in trouble and I let her hide out at my place for a while. Uzume told us this place was very safe, and I want to make sure that these three stay safe above all else." The boy said nervously, but with iron resolve in his tone. " I have no way to pay for room and board at this time, but I am searching for a job, and am willing to take care of this building, clean it, anything."

Miya raised her eyebrows concealed surprise, and a great deal of curiosity. What a strange human this was. He had three Sekirei, each with their own, unlimited value MBI Platinum card, yet he apparently refused to allow them to pay for him to live. He wanted to care for them on his own merits and with his own work. He valued their safety above all, it seemed, something that certainly earned him more respect in her eyes than was already gained by almost dying to protect un-winged Sekirei. He reminded her a great deal of Takehito, now that she thought of it.

"I'm sure that we can work something out, Minato-kun." She said quietly. "Why don't you and I go discuss it, while Uzume helps your friends choose rooms?"

"Hai, Landlady-sama. Yume, Hikari, Hibiki, I'll be back soon." The boy stood and followed Miya out of the room with a chorus of "Hai, Minato-sama!" drifting after him.

As soon as they were alone, all three of Minato's Sekirei turned their heads and locked their eyes on Uzume, who shied away from them and fiddled nervously.

"So, Uzume, what number Sekirei are you, and are you a threat to our Minato-sama?" Yume asked calmly, and while the Twins didn't make any outrageously aggressive moves, Hikari casually brushed her hair, and it just so happened lightening was arcing between her fingers at the same time.

"Easy now, girls." Uzume said, holding her hands up to show she wasn't a threat. "I'm Sekirei #10, Uzume, and I'm not in any way a threat to Minato-sama. In fact, I'm reacting to him."

The trio visibly relaxed, and Yume smiled at her. A new sister would be nice, especially since this one was responsible for them having a home again.

"I am number 08, Yume. These girls with me are numbers 11 and 12, Hikari and Hibiki. So, do you want me to tell him that you are reacting to him?" she said, but was dismayed when Uzume shook her head violently, tears filling her eyes. She crawled next to the now sobbing Sekirei and wrapped her arms around her. "Hey now, what's wrong? Minato-sama is a kind and compassionate Ashikabi."

"Yes, he almost died for my sister and I. You do not need to fear!" Hibiki said encouragingly, trying to cheer her up.

"Oh, I know all that, it's just…" Uzume blubbered, hands over her face. After a little more coaxing, she spilled the entire story, a story that had the three Sekirei of Minato Sahashi raging and feeling rather vengeful.

Uzume explained that Minato wasn't the first person she had reacted to. She had, in fact, first reacted to a young girl named Chiho. Unfortunately, Chiho was very sick, and from a poor family. So, when she was admitted to one of the hospitals owned by a man called Higa, he had had his man Takizaki, who was apparently his right hand man and ran the hospital, refuse Chiho aid. The girl had died that night, before Uzume could bond with her and pay for her care with her MBI card. According to Takizaki, who had found her later that night, Higa had known that Uzume was reacting to Chiho, but desired Uzume's power for his own faction. Takizaki had, evidently, guessed that the death of Chiho would break her spirit and allow him to subdue her and return her to Higa. She had fled from his Sekirei and himself and sought refuge in Maisson Izumo, and been there ever since.

"It's a good thing Minato-sama didn't hear this story." Hibiki muttered while the other two nodded slowly. "He would blow his top over something like this. So, what drew you to Minato then, if he isn't your true Ashikabi?"

"His soul…it burns like the sun, and I can feel it drawing me in. I would bond with him, oh how I want to bond with him, but…" Uzume trailed off sadly, and Yume hugged her again.

"You need time to recover emotionally. I understand completely." She said warmly, before having a thought. "You have a cell phone, right?"

Uzume nodded, confused by the apparent non sequitor. Yume smiled and gave her Minato's cell phone number. In response to her questions, the Sekirei of Fate simply replied with "Call and we will find you." It was obvious what she was saying. If anyone came after her to try and wing her forcefully, call Minato and they will come and help her, no matter what. This reduced her to happy tears, and the girls hugged and comforted her a little more before she had cheered up enough to be pert.

"So, how good of a kisser is Minato-sama? I see those hickeys, and if I'm going to be one of Minato-sama's girls I want to know everything so that I'm ready for the fun." She said slyly, and the other girls giggled and blushed before launching into a rather detailed description of their Ashikabi's skill as a paramour. Super-powerful aliens they may be, but they were also young women in love, and some things span every race.

Minato shivered slightly and sneezed. He rubbed his nose and sniffed. It felt like somebody was talking about him, somewhere.

"Tissue, Minato-kun?" the landlady, who had introduced herself as Miya Asama, said in her quiet way, offering him one and he accepted gratefully, blowing his nose quietly.

"Thank you, Landlady-sama. I appreciate that you are willing to help us out like this. I was running out of viable options." Minato bowed low from his seated position, resting his forehead on the floor, and Miya frowned slightly where he couldn't see it. Why was this boy so violently against using the MBI cards as payment? Perhaps Uzume would find something out from his Sekirei.

"I'm glad to help, Minato-kun." She said calmly. "Now please stop bowing to me, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I am your landlady, not your sensei. "

"Actually, Miya-sama, I heard from Uzume that you are skilled with a sword. I myself use two kodachi, and I was wondering if we could spar sometime. I know I could learn much from you." Minato said respectfully, still bowing.

"Hmmm…very well. Once you move all of your things here, I suppose that we could have a quick match, at which time I'll decide if I wish to teach you more." Miya agreed slowly. The recording she had seen of him had involved hand to hand combat, not Satsujin-ken. This boy was an enigma, and a part of Miya relished that.

"Thank you Miya-sama."

"Humph, I see that you found two more sluts to entertain you as well as the first." Minato's ex-landlord snorted in disgust as he saw Minato, Yume, Hikari and Hibiki leaving his apartment with his belongings. Minato's hand twitched slightly, and his eyes hardened and narrowed.

"Watch your mouth. I won't tolerate any insults to them." He said coldly, so coldly that the man stepped back automatically. Minato never could tolerate insults to any woman. His grandfather had taught him that. He still remembered the old man's words. Minato, a woman is like a jewel. Treat her well, and take care of her, and she will shine and gleam. Ignore her or abuse her, and her shine will fade, cracks will appear, and eventually she will break to pieces. Never let those you care for lose their shine, nor suffer others to darken it.

"Minato-sama, don't waste your anger on the likes him. Let's go home." Yume said quietly, taking his free hand in her own. Minato visibly calmed, and smiled at her. She was right, after all. The man was an ignorant pig, a self-centered and lonely fool. There was no need for him to lose his temper. That would make him just as bad.

"You're right, Yume-chan." He agreed, and they left the spluttering man behind as they walked away, chatting cheerfully amongst themselves.

"So, Uzume, what did you pick up from his Sekirei?" Miya asked quietly, looking out the window of the second floor at the setting sun.

"Other than the fact that he is an amazing kisser?" Uzume giggled, and Miya turned her head slightly, raising one eyebrow slightly as an oni mask appeared behind her. "Oh relax, I need the laughs. Anyway, he was apparently taught martial arts and a Bushido-like code of honor by his grandfather, who was evidently a master of many styles. He has a very strong sense of justice and honor, and iron-clad opinions on the line between right and wrong."

"That is good to hear." Miya murmured. She had been able to discern much of that simply from watching and talking to the boy, but hearing her opinion reinforced was always nice as well. "Did they say why he refuses to use the MBI cards to cover their expenses?"

To her surprise, Uzume grinned widely and somewhat viciously. Her tenant and friend was not one prone to anger or hate, so such an expression was surprising to say the least.

"Minato-sama is totally against the Sekirei Plan. He entertains the idea of trying to put a stop to it." She grinned broadly as Miya gasped, and the false doors hiding Matsu's room swung open.

"Are you sure about that, Uzume-chan?" the red-haired Sekirei of Wisdom asked, shock and awe in her tone as she pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Yes, very sure." Uzume nodded confidently. "He is violently against the idea of we Sekirei being winged against our will, and even more violently against the idea of we Sekirei, who are siblings, being forced to fight and kill our brothers and sisters because some "psychotic cape wearing bastard of a lunatic found a crashed ship and thought that that he had the right to own the living, free thinking creatures on board." Uzume quoted gleefully. Higa had better pray that he never crossed paths with Minato-sama, because she knew which one would walk away. Higa was the exact opposite of Minato-sama, better than him in every single way."He says he doesn't want to be in debt to people who would commit such atrocities."

"I must admit, I find myself rather impressed by his character." Miya murmured, surprising both the other women. Miya was not one to show emotion easily, nor was she one to share her opinion on others. For her to compliment someone aloud, especially someone she had just met, said a lot about what kind of person he was, and just how much of a good impression he had made.

"I have to agree. Everything I've found on him says he is an upstanding person of morality and character." Matsu chimed in after a moment. "He has a record with the police for subduing muggers and the like. He has brought in something like two dozen abusers and muggers because he caught them committing their preferred crimes and stepped in."

"So, you think it wise to have him stay here then?" Miya asked quietly, and both nodded. They knew if they had had any problems with him, Ashikabi or not he would have found himself on his ass outside the door. The violet haired number 01 Sekirei quietly descended to the lower floor to begin making dinner, leaving Uzume and Matsu alone.

"So, Uzume…Minato-sama, huh?" Matsu said quietly, the question implied very clear in her tone.

"Yes, Matsu, I am reacting to him, but I can't have him wing me yet. I'm not ready." Uzume said, her grin fading as she thought about Chiho. She had cared so much for that girl, yet here she was caring for another, not even a month after her death. What kind of horrible person was she?

"Hey…You're not betraying Chiho's memory, Uzume. She would want you to be happy." Matsu said, correctly discerning what had caused her friend to feel gloomy. "She would want you to be happy."

Uzume just nodded quietly and went to her room to get ready for supper. Closing her secret door, Matsu sat back in front of her Command Center, as she liked to call it, and watched Minato and his Sekirei walking towards Maisson Izumo, laughing and talking happily. She felt a stirring inside her as she gazed upon his laughing face, and she softly reached out with one hand to touch the screen.

"You aren't the only one reacting to him, Uzume." She said quietly to herself.

Several hours later, Minato lay on his futon, staring up at the ceiling as he considered everything that had happened in the last three days. He had failed his entrance exams again, and his future had seemed rather bleek, when Yume had quite literally crashed into his life. He had taken the beautiful young woman home, and his reality had been shattered. So, she had told him about how he was now involved in a barbaric battle royal where he either had to split up people who loved each other or allow them to take his loves away from him. Then he had met Hikari and Hibiki, and almost died to save two girls he didn't even know, just because it was the right thing to do. Now here he was, with three girls to care for, and the strong possibility of more, according to Yume, and he had no job, or even an idea of where he could start looking. He sighed and threw his arm over his eyes. What the hell do I do now? Sleep well, my lovely Sekirei. I swear I'll do right by you! were his last thoughts, as he drifted away into the arms of Morpheus.

Unbeknownst to their Ashikabi, Yume, Hikari and Hibiki were all still wide awake, and talking quietly to one another.

"How many more Sekirei will the Master attract, Yume-chan?" Hibiki asked curiously. "DO you have any guesses?"

"None, only that it will be many." Yume shook her head negatively. "His soul is overwhelmingly powerful. I've never seen anything like it, except among we Sekirei."

"It is strange though." Hikari murmured slowly. "That his soul is so strong, and so bright. It's like Uzume said. It draws you in, until you are consumed by its heat and light."

"Like a star." Yume agreed, the metaphor seemed very appropriate to her. "He has his own gravitational field and it's impossible to escape from once you enter it. You can only do what Uzume is doing, and resist for as long as you can."

"I wish that we knew more about him. I mean, we know he is trained in martial arts, and had two kodachi but we don't know what arts, or what his code of honor is, or who his family is. We know nothing, and that disturbs me." Hibiki sighed, flopping down on her futon. "He's an enigma. I mean, did you see how angry he got with his old landlord when he called us whores?"

"Yes, that is strange." Yume frowned in thought. She remembered well the anger that had clouded his eyes, and the dark scowl that had marred his face, and the frigid tone he had spoken in. "That didn't seem like the Minato-sama we see usually. I wonder if what the landlord man said hit a nerve with Minato-sama. After all, as you said, Hibiki, we know next to nothing about him, only the barest details."

"SO we ask him." Higari said bluntly, getting under her covers. "We ask him to tell us more about himself, and start to piece together his past. But," she yawned widely, making the other two Sekirei yawn as well. "We can ask him in the morning."

All three Sekirei curled up in their futons, and all three fell asleep and dreamt of their beloved Ashikabi, and the puzzle that he represented.

Sekirei #108, Kusano, the Green Sekirei, sat sniffling on the gnarled roots of a massive tree in the Arboretum. She was cold, and scared, and worst of all…she was all alone. Her big brother Shiina wasn't anywhere to be found. She had searched for him and searched for him, but when the mean girls, the angry one and the cold one, had tried to hurt her she had hidden here. When they had followed, she had cried out in fear, and now her beloved plant friends were protecting her from the mean people.

"Big brother…." She snuffled. "Come and find me big brother! HELP ME!"

A/N: another chapter done, still with no beta, so if you see anything that needs correcting, tell me in a review and I will edit the chapter and re-post it later! Catch you next time!