Kusano, number 108, was understandably unhappy Shiina had recently been winged...at least until she found out who his Ashikabi was.
Then she couldn't be happier. She loved Honoka, who always brought the most interesting stories and even brought her new toys to play with! Shii-chan might not spend as much time with her anymore, but Honoka didn't mind sharing him with Kusano. Whenever she came to stay with Crow-nee-chan, Shiina could spend time with her!
"Ara...you seem to be gathering quite the large flock, Honoka-san," said Miya, eyesmiling.
Whenever she looked that innocent, you knew she was displeased about something.
"Shiina had a natural reaction to me, not like Homura and Karasuba!" said Honoka, backing away. When Miya looked pissed, normally she would unleash her dreaded Hannya. For Honoka, who was immune from the get-go, she had a much more interesting punishment.
No time with Uzume, Matsu, or the Kitsune twins. She had to spend the day with Seo.
Honoka disliked Seo almost as much as Miya did. He was a bit of an ass. The fact he didn't stop his twin Sekirei from attacking the unwinged ones recently released was one of her biggest pet peeves with him.
It was why she was always trying to get them arrested for public indecency charges whenever she ran into them outside the inn...a fact that endlessly amused Miya to no end. More than one time Seo had lost his belt and had to hold up his own pants after passing a disguised Honoka on the street.
Miya thought of Honoka as her own daughter. However she did have some issues with Honoka's odd ability.
Homura she could forgive, because it had been an accident. Karasuba she could possibly tolerate, because it had been an emergency. However that was the limit of her patience with what she considered a forced reaction.
"Ease off of her Miya. 107 had been reacting for some time, but didn't say anything because he wanted to avoid upsetting 108 by being winged before she was."
"I thought the last twenty were still in the adjustment phase? That should have kept a reaction from occurring," said Miya, eyes narrowed.
"He was adjusted early because of his powers being so dangerous. The sooner they adjusted him, the less accidents he could cause," explained Homura, who had already known he would have to explain why Honoka had another Sekirei.
"Are you absolutely sure it was a natural reaction, and not because of..."
"Miya, I already have Homura. Why would I want a second male in my female harem? Besides, I never got the prompt like I did with Homura and Karasuba. Kazehana never had it either," said Honoka quickly.
That was why she had been so surprised when Kazehana started to react to her. She never got the message asking if she wanted to wing her.
Which meant it was a natural one, not one she had instigated.
"Hmm. Where will Shiina be sleeping while he's here?" asked Miya.
"I'm clearing out some of my room for him. Since we're part of the same flock I don't mind sharing," said Homura quickly.
That seemed to soothe Miya's ruffled feathers.
"No more using that ability of yours to wing Sekirei. Natural reactions only," said Miya to Honoka. She nodded. She was still working to find a way to wing Akitsu properly...unfortunately the ability said she still had a ways to go. It was unlikely to happen before she was 18 at least, from how things were going.
And that was that.
Honoka was eating lunch at her magic school instead of outside of it like normal with two of her flock with her. Akitsu, her usual bodyguard, and Shiina, who was acting as her 'boyfriend' to keep the fan boys away.
However her peaceful meal time was about to come to an abrupt and very painful end.
A tengu showed up with a notice from the bank...one look at what it said and she shrieked in fury.
"THEY EXPECT ME TO DO WHAT?! ARE THESE IDIOTS INSANE?!"
Honoka got up and stormed to where the phone that lead to the Ministry was. Shiina hurriedly followed her while Akitsu was so used to her 'master' that she had gotten almost as soon as Honoka shrieked in anger.
"Japanese Department of Magic, how may I direct your call?"
"I need to speak to Niwa-san please."
"One moment... Your call has been forwarded to Niwa Hikari-san's cell phone."
"Moshi Moshi?"
"Hikari-san, the English are up to no good again," said Honoka.
"Honoka-chan? What's wrong?"
"They're trying to marry me off without my consent!"
"They're WHAT?!"
"I just got the letter from the bank by Tengu, and it said there's an active marriage contract from England about to take hold once I turn seventeen! And it claims to be valid, but we both know the English will try to bribe their way into making it legal," complained Honoka. She was pissed.
"Does it say who the contract is bound to?"
"Someone named Malfoy," said Honoka, looking at the letter.
Hikari sounded disgusted as she said "Why am I not surprised. They're one of the most affluent families in Europe through stolen money and bought nobility. Odds are they were desperate enough to reclaim their poster girl that even the light families allowed this nonsense to be pushed through. It did say seventeenth birthday, correct?"
"It states 'to be acted upon the age of majority of both parties', and since I had Miya listed as my legal guardian, that means when I turn seventeen in Europe," said Honoka, reading the letter again.
"Which means all you have to do to render it invalid, since it was made without your magical signature or consent, is to marry Homura-san when you turn sixteen. So long as you have a betrothal ring before your next birthday, the marriage to him will be considered magically valid," explained Hikari.
Because teenagers could legally marry without their guardians consent at 16, it meant that they could cut off the English before they had a chance to force Honoka into marrying any of their inbred idiots.
The Sekirei Plan in general was considered a 'magically-binding contract', meaning they couldn't remove Honoka or her flock from the designated area by the officials governing it. It blocked them from trying to drag Honoka off through any other magical artifacts so long as the S-Plan was going on.
A fact that had saved Honoka from being thrown into a very dangerous tournament when she was fourteen, despite someone trying to enter her birth name illegally. Since she had become part of the Sekirei Plan when she was twelve, the Goblet of Fire rejected the name outright.
Still, the fact they were trying to drag her back to England through a fake marriage contract to a known pure blood family that had close ties to Honoka's father...this was a new low for the English.
"Explain this one more time, slowly please," said Homura when she got home a few hours later.
"The English are attempting to force Honoka-san to return to Europe through an illegal marriage contract to a known pure blood family with connections to the same wizard who killed her birth parents and terrorized Europe for nearly twenty years. Fortunately there is a simply way to nullify their claim...you, Homura-san, will have to wear a betrothal ring. Basically it would mean you are promised to marry Honoka once she's legally old enough to do so. You would take her last name, since it's considered...well let's just say they would think you as lesser if you didn't have one," said Hikari.
"That's rather rude," said Miya.
"Unfortunately it's common among many cultures, particularly in Europe. Without a last name you could be tricked into becoming little more than a slave to a family if the right method is used."
That made Miya's eyes narrow.
"Pretty much what some of the Ashikabi do whenever they forcibly wing Sekirei to add to their collection, right?" asked Homura. That made him feel rather sick.
"Unfortunately. However, because of the fact you're all bond to Honoka-san, once you marry into the 'Potter' family they can't touch you or the others without her consent. You would all be considered part of the Potter family, except for Miya-san, because she married into Takehito's family," explained Hikari.
"And what of the other Sekirei?"
"Whoever wings them hands down their family name," said Hikari immediately.
"Great..." said Homura, sighing.
"All you have to do is marry Honoka-san before the six-month deadline after she turns 16 next year, and she'll be safe from any more of this nonsense."
"So where do we get a magically bound betrothal ring?" asked Homura, changing the subject.
"We just need to take you two down to the local branch run by the Oni and get the paperwork filed. After the wedding you can contest it and filed a grievance claim because they tried to force you into a false contract," said Hikari.
"Can we do this tomorrow?" asked Homura. He had a massive migraine.
"Absolutely."
The Gringotts bank was as imposing as ever. Unlike Europe, the Japanese didn't hire goblins to do the banking. It was much cheaper and less irritating to deal with oni, who were the same workforce employed by the afterlife office, or so they claimed. With how efficient they were, it wouldn't be surprising. And they were less hostile than goblins.
"Business?" said the oni gruffly.
Honoka held up the letter.
"We wish to retrieve a betrothal ring and the paperwork to contest this contract," said Honoka, getting to the point.
"Fifth door on the left down the hall for heirlooms, and they'll bring the paperwork to you. Next!"
Honoka, Homura and Miya all went to the indicated office. Miya had come because she was Honoka's legal and magical guardian on record. It was better to be prepared.
"How may I help you?"
"I need the betrothal ring for the Potter or Black family. Preferably both," said Honoka.
"I'll need a blood test to confirm relation to the family," said the Oni, holding out a knife. Honoka cut into her thumb and allowed a few drops to hit the spelled paper. It was specially treated and soaked in the same inheritance potion used by all Gringotts branches so that only the blood was needed. And it didn't go bad like the potion did, which made it easy to stockpile.
Time was money, and the oni were easier to deal with than the goblins would have been. They would have charged for the potion.
"Bloodline confirmed. Now, who will be wearing the rings?" asked the oni.
Homura and Honoka looked at each other.
"We will."
"I'll just need you to fill out the paperwork for betrothal, so you can get the license once she hits sixteen," said the oni, pulling it out. The last part had to be signed by blood quill to insure authenticity...despite how unpleasant the things were.
Honoka filled out her age, gender, relationship to the family and then her name again in blood. Homura did the same, only he had to sign the agreement that any children they had would be given Honoka's last name instead of his own. Considering he didn't have one, that was a given.
"One question... can I have a notice-me-not charm place on my half?"
"Work with muggles a lot?"
"He works at a host club, and it's common practice for them to remove anything that might say they're married or betrothed in order to avoid losing customers," said Honoka.
"Hmm. I'll need you both to sign this as well."
"What is it?"
"An acknowledgment that you accept the fact he works in a ...people oriented...industry that can include intercourse with women other than yourself, and acknowledging that any children he has before or after that are not born from you would have to be adopted into the family if any are made," said the oni bluntly. It wasn't his business if Homura was a host, or that Honoka was marrying him anyway.
The two of them filled it out. Homura knew there wasn't any chance of children, because he was always careful and since being winged had avoided those particular customers by giving them to other hosts.
"Everything seems to be in order. Anything else?"
"This. I got a letter yesterday stating that a marriage contract was written to someone I have had no contact with, nor have I agreed to. I would like to file a claim of grievance and attempted line theft, seeing as how they couldn't possibly have gotten my magical guardian's consent to write the contract or forcibly marry me to someone I have never even heard of. There is also the fact the person in question is too closely related for me to marry legally," said Honoka.
"Let's see... here it is. An agreement for one Rose Potter to Draco Malfoy... Ah, I see the problem. Second cousins cannot legally marry because of close familial relation. And from the looks of this, someone is attempting to claim guardianship over you, despite the fact our records indicate one Miya Asama is your legal and magical guardian. Is Asama-san here?"
Miya held up her hand.
"If you can come back once the rings are placed upon their respective hands and the betrothal goes through, you can file a grievance for your charge. We take line theft very seriously. Is that all?" he asked.
"For now," said Honoka.
"I'll just file these. Thank you for your continued patronage," said the oni with a bow. One they repeated.
While the goblins had issues with manners with the wizards in Europe, the oni never had that trouble. The Japanese were ingrained with politeness and courtesy. It was part of their very culture.