Hello everyone, I'm back for a new chapter of The Bloody Ashikabi! Sorry for the delay, but I had a lot of work on my latest crossover, so I didn't update nearly as soon as I would have liked.

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei.

09

Confrontations and training

Harry sighed as he paced back and forth in the entrance of his apartment in MBI's Tower, he was expecting Karasuba to enter any minute now, and quite frankly he didn't know what her first action would be. Meanwhile, Akitsu was sitting on the couch, waiting, as he had told her that she'd better not be the first person the Black Sekirei saw when she arrived, and with good reason. He half-expected Karasuba to try and kill Akitsu on sight, as she had always been very possessive of him, and if he was right, it had only become worse since he became her Ashikabi.

It had been three days since he had left Izumo Inn, and he kept daily communications with Homura. As he had expected, the man was already reverting back to a female body, though luckily it seemed that the process, while not painless, wasn't too painful either, at least not on the level of the sudden fits he had had when his powers had been acting up. During that time, the women in Izumo Inn had tried to brief him on what being a woman entailed, and Harry suspected that more than once the Fire Sekirei had been thoroughly embarrassed. After all, having to be told again about a woman's menstrual cycle, about panties and bras wasn't something any man exactly enjoyed, and especially not someone in Homura's situation. After all, all men had their pride, and for someone who considered himself as a man, to suddenly learn you were in fact a woman was already a huge shock, never mind having to take crash courses on the essentials of being female.

There was also his own problems to consider, first the fact that he had to explain to Karasuba that he had two new Sekirei, one of which wasn't bonded to him but was his Sekirei all the same, then the fact that Takami was now highly suspicious of him, as he kept avoiding her attempts to get the story about his "mystery friend" out of him. After all he couldn't really tell her about Akemi, since while he knew she was against the Plan, he had enough experience to know that the more ace up your sleeves, the better. So he had already contacted the AI, as he had managed to get her to agree creating a fake phone number on his phone, allowing him to call her. She could manipulate the signals so that they formed a voice, which was more than enough for them to deceive the Head Geneticist. Now all that was left was to play his part, and say that he had woken up one day with this number on his phone calling him.

His problems with the mundane world aside, he also had a lot on his plate on the magic side of his life, since he had exams coming up before the end of the year, and he intended to ace them, so he was taking as much time as he could to study. There was also the fact that once he had his NEWTS, and he knew he would have them, he was the best student in the country thanks to Tom's memories, he would be emancipated. That meant that he would be able to claim his titles, not that he intended to show himself in the Wizenmagot, he would use people to represent his three seats, as he didn't want to tip off the British Wizards about the fact that the person holding the titles of Lord Peverell, Lord Slytherin and Lord Ravenclaw was the same person. He wasn't stupid, someone with as much political power than a Lord of one of these Houses was bound to be kept under scrutiny by the other Lords and the Wizards at large, meaning that a Lord of three Houses would be completely unable to stay anonymous, something he intended to do until he was at least sixteen.

He was also preparing a surprise for Karasuba, he knew her enough to know that she loved the adrenaline of a good fight, so he was already preparing to teach her magic, that is if Sekirei could use it, but he was fairly sure of that. Once she knew enough (and if he was right, that wouldn't be long, she was a very fast learner), then he intended to apply for a formation to become a Hit-Wizard, the equivalent of a hitman in the mundane world. There was always work to do for them, and he was sure that the Black Sekirei would love fighting wizards, that is if they lasted long enough to put up a fight.

Unlike Mundanes, Wizards could do a lot more damage to a Sekirei, since battle spells were a lot more destructive than your average bullet, and unlike European Wizards, who tended to believe themselves above the others and tended to stagnate, Asian Wizards were far more humble, and worked far harder. That meant that they not only often knew more spells than their European counterparts, they were far trickier to fight, as they tended to be more level-headed, and could use spells with optimum effects. An European Wizard trying to break through a shield would simply try to overpower it, or if they were a little cleverer than average, to use spells that targeted their foes' immediate surroundings. An Asian Wizard would be more subtle, and switch to elemental spells, making it look as if they too were trying to overpower the shield, while they were in fact directly targeting their opponent. After all, a fire spell would quickly drain the oxygen around someone, or a water spell followed with magical lightning would fry just about anyone.

So, it was safe to say that he would not be bored anytime soon. However, before even considering anything, he had to make sure that Karasuba wasn't going to kill him for getting other Sekirei, as he knew she was extremely possessive of him, and he had no idea how the winging had affected her. From what Akemi had told him, some Sekirei changed completely after being winged, and others stayed much the same, only they were completely devoted to their Ashikabis. He had no idea where Karasuba stood, as he hadn't gotten the time to see how she acted after her winging, so he was quite anxious. After all, she was quite violent even on the best of days, so it all boiled down to how well she would take the news. From what he expected, there were two major reactions possible: one, she became furious and murdered Akitsu, and, if she ever found out about Homura, the Fire Sekirei too, or, if he was lucky, she wouldn't care, so long as she got to stay with him and get her "fun" with him.

The sound of footsteps made him tense, and, a few seconds later, Karasuba entered the apartment, with a very satisfied face, which he translated as the fact that a lot of people had died over the course of her mission. That or she had found someone able to fight her one on one well enough that she hadn't bored, but he doubted that. Apart from Single Numbers, there weren't many Sekirei able to fight her yet, and even then most were too afraid of her to even try, such was her reputation.

"Harry-chan, I'm home!" she called. It was slightly disturbing to see an almost unstoppable killing machine acting so much like the stereotypical husband of a household, but he guessed that it was just the way she was.

"Welcome home, Karasuba." he greeted her, as his heart was beating wildly in his chest. This was the moment he had dreaded for the last days, and he could only hope that her good mood would make her more acceptant of what he was going to tell her.

He could see her eyes narrow slightly as she noticed how nervous he was, and the next second she was in front of him, looking him over as if to make sure he wasn't harmed. He could see that she was very serious in making sure he wasn't hurt, but a part of him felt miffed that she would even think he could get hurt simply because she wasn't there.

"What's wrong, Harry-chan?" she asked, her tone cold. He could already tell that seeing him nervous didn't make her happy, but he couldn't very well tell her that she was the one making him nervous, lest he wanted to suffer.

Knowing that she would learn about Akitsu and Homura anyway, he decided that he might as well try to be clear about the fact that he didn't want her to harm them in any way. But first, he had to make sure that she wasn't going to go on a rampage when he told her. While he wasn't sure she would do so, he still knew it was a possibility, and he didn't want either Akitsu or Homura to suffer any more than they already had.

"Karasuba..." he started,"I...Have gotten two more Sekirei."

He saw her eyes widen slightly, before her mouth stretched into the widest grin he had ever seen on her face, and she lifted him in her arms as she hugged him. Well, had he been human, she would have broken all his ribs, but as it was, he only felt slightly crushed.

"Oooh, my little Ashikabi has already gotten two more Sekirei, I'm so proud! "

However, as she stopped twirling him around, he nervously gulped as he saw her eyes narrow, while she brought him closer to her face. Her grin was still plastered on her face, however he could easily tell that she was deadly serious at the moment.

"Ho-we-ver, these girls better remember that I'll always be your first, okay? It would be sad if they lost a limb, don't you think? Accidents happen so easily nowadays..."

He almost laughed out loud, at least this was the Karasuba he knew, jealous and with the biggest vindictive streak he had ever seen. He had been worried for a bit, when she had hugged him, he had thought that something was wrong with her, but at least he knew that she was still herself.

"So, Harry-chan, who are the girls? There aren't that much Sekirei that have been released yet." she asked, as she put him down, her face once more grinning. "I'd like to know who I'm going to share my man with, and...test them a little." she added, her voice dropping and her grin becoming more bloodthirsty.

"Well, I can introduce one of them right now, though for the other, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a bit before meeting her. Her situation is...unique, and right now the last thing she needs is us visiting her."

"Would it be Matsu? That girl did steal a jinki, after all, no wonder she can't show herself around here!" laughed Karasuba, confusing Harry. Matsu, he knew, was the number 02, the second Sekirei, and one of the very few that weren't elemental or physical types. Matsu was, for a lack of a better term, someone who had absolute control over any machine, computer or manmade device, so long as she could hack into it (which meant pretty much every machine on Earth, save for a few of MBI's most protected servers). He knew that she was on the run, but Akemi hadn't been very clear on what she had done to have MBI hot on her tail, nor had she told him where she was now, although he suspected she was hiding at Izumo Inn. However, Karasuba might have given him a hint, with that word, "Jinki". While he didn't have the slightest clue about what it was supposed to mean, it was clear that whatever it was, was considered precious enough that MBI was tracking Matsu, even several years later after her escape.

"Karasuba, you'll have to tell me more about this Jinki thing later, but no, it isn't Matsu. Don't worry, I'll tell you who it is later, but for now, I'd like you to meet Akitsu." he said, while taking her hand and leading her to where the Ice Sekirei was sitting. He was still a bit nervous, as he knew his first Sekirei well enough to know that she could very well change her mind about how she felt about his other Sekirei and attack Akitsu.

His fears were unfortunately founded, since as soon as Karasuba caught a glimpse of Harry's new Sekirei, she rushed forwards, her sword already swinging down towards the brunette's head, who immediately jumped back to avoid losing her head, ice spears starting to appear in the air next to her. With an insane grin, Karasuba attacked again, while Akitsu extended her hand and created a wall of ice, effectively slowing the nodachi, yet the ice Sekirei didn't attack, despite her advantage.

As the grey-haired woman was about to attack again, she found herself facing a very irate ten (soon to be eleven) years old wizard, who had his wand trained on her and was only moments away from using the strongest spells he could manage to stop her. His other hand was also twitching towards the ninjato he always had hidden on his person, most likely waiting to see what she was going to do next. Instead of attacking her, however, he looked at her coolly, and growled:

"The next time you try to attack Akitsu,I will kill you."

-Break-

Karasuba was shivering in delight, while she had wanted to test the scrap to see if she deserved to be another of Harry's Sekirei, she had never expected her Ashikabi himself to intervene, or at least, not like that. The Harry she remembered from before the attack on the island, while strong, didn't have what it took to kill someone, and had he told her that he would kill her, she would have laughed at his face before wiping the floor with him. However, it appeared that since the attack he had gained what he had been missing as a fighter, the guts to carry on with his most lethal threats, and it aroused her to no end to see her Ashikabi talk to her like that.

Quite frankly, she didn't care much about humans' taboos about relationships between people with a large age gap, or about how "forbidden" sex with children was prohibited. After all, once you had killed someone, you stopped being a child, and nothing could change that. And Harry had not only killed, but he also had the mind of an adult, meaning that he knew very well just what sex was. In fact, she had every intention of having some fun in the bedroom with her Ashikabi as soon as his body had grown enough to work for sex. So she knew that when Harry would be thirteen or fourteen, she would be having a lot of fun with him in the bedroom.

She was itching to try herself against the scrap, after all, she knew very well that she was one of the very few people who could actually compete with her, since not only had she been quite powerful in her own right before her accident, but said accident had drastically improved her power. However, she would abide by Harry's wish, after all she had chosen him independently from her reaction to him, so she would allow him to tell her what to do, so long as he did not cross a line. Besides, she could always test the former number 07 later, and she also had to see how good Harry had become now that he was a Pillar. She was the only one he had directly told, even if Takami and Minaka knew he wasn't exactly human anymore, and she had felt a foreign warmth in her chest when he had told her that she was one of the only people he intended to tell.

"Fine, Harry-chan. So, you got the scrap number? How did you do it? She can't react or even be winged, so why would you call her your Sekirei?" she asked, sheathing her nodachi with a disappointed frown.

"Quite simply, in fact. I asked her if she wanted to be my Sekirei, and she said yes." he answered," By the way, her name is Akistu, and I won't tolerate you calling her names, Karasuba. God knows I have enough experience with name-calling to dislike it, so remember that, before I have to punish you, okay?" he asked, his voice gaining an edge by the end of his sentence, causing her to shiver. He may not have realized it yet, but when he was angry, she could feel his power, and it made her all giddy inside to know that her Ashikabi was probably the most powerful man on the planet, someone maybe as strong as her.

"Yes, Harry-chan. So, what do you plan do to now? You said that when you're eleven, you'll receive a letter asking you to go to Hogwarts, right?"

Harry frowned, and she was happy to see his eyes harden. Despite his obvious hero tendencies, she was pleased to see that he was still broken. He may hide it well, and act as if everything was fine, treating everybody like equals, but she knew better. It was merely a façade, a mask he wore to protect himself, and underneath he was filled with rage and hatred towards the world, be it the mundane one, for allowing him to be abused for six years despite the obvious signs, or the magical one, for shipping him to the Dursleys and worshipping him for something he didn't remember. The only ones she could honestly say he cared for were Takami, herself, and as of late Akitsu, since Minaka was crazy and therefore Harry didn't really care about him.

"I'll be training. Since that, my magic reserves have gone through the roof, so I have to adjust my casting to avoid messy results, and I'll need to relearn to balance my strength, too. I plan to get my NEWTs around June, so that leaves me two months for that. No matter what, I am NOT going to that cesspool of stupidity and bigotry. And since having my NEWTs will make me a legal adult, it should be enough to make my name disappear from Hogwarts' books.

While I'll be working on my NEWTs, you'll be training too Karasuba. I am almost certain you can use magic like me, so we'll be getting you a wand, to learn how to cast magic. And before you complain about using a piece of wood, it's only to teach you how to cast. Once you've learnt how to properly channel your magic, I'll be teaching you how to cast silently and wandlessly. Of course, wandless spells are less powerful, but I was planning on making rings with the same function than wands. If I can make them, you'll have all the advantages of a wand without the downsides.

As for you, Akitsu, we'll teach you how to defend yourself without using your powers. I know that you are very powerful, and also stronger than any human, but you'll need to learn some martial arts, just in case. Once it's done, we'll work on how you can control our power, and what you can do with it, I'm sure there are plenty of things you can do that you haven't thought of yet. After that, we'll see to get you a wand too. Even if you'll probably be more geared towards Ice Magic, I'm pretty sure that a lot of spells are not tied to any element, so you shouldn't have any trouble casting them."

She couldn't help but grin. From what little she had learnt from the books she had borrowed from her Ashikabi, magic had plenty of ways to kill, maim, and harm people, which she couldn't help but want to learn. There was even one time Harry had told her that some spells could fill someone's lungs with acid, or even turn their blood to boiling lead. She couldn't help but crave that kind of power, she wanted to become more powerful, to show Miya who was the strongest Sekirei. Besides, while she loved the feeling of flesh being torn apart by her sword, she wanted to experience how it felt to use magic to kill people.

She could also see the scr-Akitsu, her name was Akitsu she told herself, not wanting to anger her beloved Ashikabi once more, she could see her nodding slowly. It was almost like watching a puppy, she seemed to be completely hooked on Harry, and she had little doubt that there was little she wouldn't do for him, not that she minded. In fact, had she shown any indication that she wasn't completely loyal to Harry, she would likely have cut her down for that. No way she was letting him having a Sekirei that wasn't completely loyal and devoted to him. She was the exception, of course.

As she thought about what she would be able to do once she had learnt magic, she couldn't help but grin and give her Ashikabi a bear hug. Life was good.

-Break-

The next day saw one Harry Minaka wake up feeling quite refreshed, but for some reason he couldn't move, not that didn't have an idea as to why. Sleepily opening one eye, he sighed upon realizing that he had been right, in fact he had been a bit too right. While he had expected Akitsu to snuck back into his bed, he had certainly not expected the same from Karasuba.

In fact, he was being hugged by Akitsu on his left, who was crushing her rather substantial bosom in his side, while she was draped over him as if she was trying to fuse with him. One thing he noticed, was that at least this time she was wearing something, though it covered a lot less than it should have. Considering how he was situated, he couldn't not see what she was wearing, and he discovered that apparently his new Sekirei had a liking for rather risqué underwear. He just knew that it was going to be torture to resist the call of his hormones when they started acting up.

As he turned to look at Karasuba, he saw that she was at least wearing something that covered more than her crotch and breasts. She was clad in a black tank top, as well as black shorts. He was unsurprised to see her wearing black, after all it seemed to be her favorite color of clothing, not that he could say, it was his own too. However, what came at a shock to him was the face she was making while sleeping. In all the years he had known her, he had seen her grin often, sometimes frown, a very few times he had seen her angry, but he had never, ever, seen her look contented and happy. Yet here she was, her gray mane covering half her face, with a small, contented smile as she clung to his arm. While nowhere near as voluptuous than Akitsu, she was indeed a beautiful woman in her own right, that is if one liked the "scary woman" type.

Well, might as well go back to sleep, he thought, that is until he heard the door of the apartment open as someone stomped towards his bedroom. As he expected, less than thirty seconds later, his door was slammed open by a very angry Takami, who upon seeing his situation seemed to get even angrier.

"HARRY. . . ? AND KARASUBA, GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THIS BED NOW!" she all but growled.

"Shtup, m'comfrtble..." mumbled a very sleepy Karasuba as she half-opened an eye to glare at the geneticist.

Knowing that his sleep would just get ruined if he ignored her, he proceeded to disentangle himself from the two Sekirei, though he noticed that Akitsu was a lot more awake that someone who had just woken up, making him wonder how long she had been awake and hugging him. The ice Sekirei simply stood next to the bed, not bothered in the slightest by the fact that she had been sleeping in the same bed than a boy who wasn't even eleven yet, in nothing but skimpy underwear. Karasuba seemed to come to the same conclusion than him, as she yawned and got up, walking past Takami, probably to get her clothes and sword.

Feeling a bit angry to be disturbed, Harry cheekily smiled at the scientist.

"Well? Are you gonna stay here when I change? Never knew you were into children, Takami."

Judging by how her eyes narrowed, he was quite sure that she would make him pay for that one, not that he really cared. There was very little he cared about, after all.

"Whatever. But remember, I'm not leaving until you tell me how you knew about Homura." she huffed, before storming out of the room.

Sighing, he motioned to Akitsu:

"Akitsu, please go and get dressed."

With a nod, the ice Sekirei left, leaving him alone in the room, as he waved his wand towards the door to close and lock it. Taking off his sleepwear, he put on some black boxers, before pausing at the sight of his reflection in the mirror of his cupboard. Facing him with a frown was the face of an androgynous boy, though the body couldn't possibly belong to a child, unless said child was a high-level athlete. Muscles forged through hours of exhausting practice laid underneath his skin, giving him the build of a well-balanced fighter. Unlike some people, who thought that overpowering their opponent was best, he knew that raw strength meant very little if you couldn't hit your foe, and so, he had made sure to train both his strength and speed.

However, now that he was a Pillar, he had to be very careful and estimate carefully how much strength he could apply in each of his moves, as he could now easily reduce someone's hand to a bloody pulp in he accidentally put too much strength in a simple handshake. Even something as simple as holding a glass of water was hard, as he had accidentally broken three of them before growing annoyed and using magic to reinforce the others so as to avoid a repeat of those accidents.

With a sigh, he started dressing himself.

-Break-

Once everyone was dressed, the group met in the living room, where Karasuba was slouched in the sofa, Akitsu was standing behind Harry's armchair, despite his insistence that she should sit, and Takami was in the armchair opposite to his own, looking rather impatient. Yet despite that, he took the time to think about how he was going to ensure that nothing he would say would betray Akemi's existence. Despite the fact that she was using him to ensure the Sekirei were safe, he still felt he owed her at least that, considering she had not only saved his life, but had made him into someone who would one day be among the most powerful people on Earth. While he disliked being used, he had to admit that the favor she had done him by giving him the power of a Pillar deserved to be returned, and at least it would keep him busy for a few years at least.

He was quite aware that he was now probably the person with the largest magical reserves ever seen, yet he was also aware of the fact that if his body betrayed him by being too slow to react, or too weak to channel his power, it would have been useless. Yet Akemi had literally given him everything he could have asked for, his already enormous magical reserves had been expanded to a degree that still stumped him, and his body was now stronger, faster, and more resilient that if he had still been one hundred percent human.

"So? I'm waiting, Harry." growled the geneticist, as she tapped her fingers on the armrests of her armchair.

Sighing, he made sure to send a pulse of magic strong enough to fry any kind of recording device that could have been placed in his apartment. Even if he wasn't going to tell the truth, that didn't mean he wasn't going to be cautious.

"Right. So, you wanted to know how I could be aware of Homura's situation, just to be sure?"

A stern nod from the scientist made him sigh again. She was stubborn as a mule, and he knew that he needed to be convincing to have her stop prying into the matter further. If it had been personal, she would have left it alone, but seeing as it concerned one of the Sekirei, she would keep nagging him until she had an answer that she deemed satisfactory.

"As I said before, I learnt about it from a friend. Now, before you ask who it is, I only know that she wants me to call her Akemi, since I only ever talked to her on a phone."

"She? Your friend is a woman?" asked Takami, who was leaning forward and was looking thoughtful.

He shrugged, showing that he honestly didn't care.

"I'm not sure, but even if the voice comes out distorted, I think it's it IS the voice of a woman. That and I don't know many men willing to have themselves called by a woman's name.

Anyway, after I came back from Kamikura, I got a phone call with a masked number. Seeing as Minaka, Karasuba and you are the only ones who know my number, I was curious so I answered. Apparently, "Akemi" was someone who's aware of the existence of the Sekirei, and has somehow managed to hack into the ship's databanks. And don't give me that look, I don't have a clue about how she did it either. She was obviously concerned about the Sekirei, saying that what MBI was doing was illegal, and that the "Feathers", which I suppose mean the Sekirei, should be allowed to live a normal life. She told me about Akitsu, what happened to her, and told me that she needed someone. She was apparently aware of my psychological profile, since she knew that I wouldn't need more to help her. And before you start thinking I'm only helping you out of pity, Akitsu, remember that I could have merely helped you find your Ashikabi and be done with you if I was that kind of guy.

Now, as for how I learnt about Homura's case, apparently she had also managed to hack into your databanks and get intel on the Sekirei that were already awake, and she apparently found Homura's case to be quite interesting. She eventually managed to piece together what was the matter with her, but seeing as she couldn't do anything herself, she needed someone to do the job for her. Seeing as she also had intel about me, she more or less decided that I'd be perfectly suited for the job and dumped everything on me. I could have refused, of course, but seeing that she knew a lot of things about Sekirei, I thought it was a fair bargain, and it would keep me busy, as well."

He could see Takami go through a variety of emotions as he told her his tale, which was all in all, quite close to what reality...maybe. He could see her disbelief at the idea of someone managing to hack the ship's databanks, especially when even a team of MBI's best minds couldn't even figure how to access the databanks. Her face then morphed into shock and worry as she realized that someone had found his phone number, while his personal data was possibly one of MBI's most guarded secrets. Worry turned to indignation as he explained his reasons to accept to help the Sekirei, and the scientist glared at him.

"So you accepted to help Akitsu, Homura and just about every other Sekirei because it would keep you busy?! All this is just a game to you?!"

Now it was his turn to glare at the scientist, and despite being only ten (going on eleven), the sight was still scary if you knew just how dangerous he was. His glare was ice cold, not the kind of glare any ordinary ten-years-old could muster, it was the glare of an adult, of someone who understood life better than most.

"Shut up, Takami. Don't even try to lecture me, we both now that it wouldn't do you any good. I helped the Sekirei because it would be an interesting challenge, true, but also because I hate people being used and manipulated. As far as I'm concerned, once I'm done with helping them, they can rot in Hell for all I care. I'm only going to give them the tools and shelter they need to be protected, not babysit them. If they still get in trouble after I'm done with them, I can assure you that I won't bat I eye.

Of course, if there's a good fight for us, I may change my mind, but that's the gist of it." he finished pleasantly, though his face was showing a rather unsettling grin.

Takami, while she didn't look pleased, seemed to at least understand what he meant, though it was obvious that she had envisioned him being the protector of the Sekirei, something he didn't intend to be anytime soon. Sure, Homura was more or less filling the role, meaning that he may be dragged into babysitting some Sekirei anyway, but quite frankly he himself didn't care overly much. Sure, he would help them get free of MBI's crutches, he would provide them with the means of finding their Ashikabis, but that would be all. He wouldn't be taking part in protecting beings that could easily squash the average human by merely punching them, it would do them no good.

" Fine. I have a meeting scheduled soon, so for now that'll be enough, but Harry, we'll be talking about this later. I have to tell Minaka about the fact that our security is compromised by a third party."

With that, the scientist left the room, leaving the three aliens (or part-aliens) alone.

-Break-

A week later, Harry was coming back from his daily spar with Karasuba in an excellent mood. He had been right, she could use magic, and unsurprisingly, her wand was geared solely towards destruction, though knowing her, he wasn't exactly expecting anything else. She had been practicing a few spells, and while the results were varying, she seemed to be making steady progress. She had reluctantly agreed to read the first year material, if only to understand magic better, and to learn what she deemed useful.

Akitsu was also making great progresses, her self-defense lessons with him had allowed her to pick up the basics already, and every time they practiced, she showed visible improvements. Her control over her power had also started getting better, she no longer needed to gesture to attack, she could stay unmoving and send dozens of ice spears towards her opponents in a matter of seconds if the need arose. She had also, on his advice, started looking for ways to use her powers differently, since using always the same kind of attack left her wide open to an eventual counterattack. She had already thought of something for close-quarter fights, depending on her needs, she could form a crude ice sword around her arm, or create ice claws over fingers. As for long-range attacks, she was still working on improving her aim, as creating numerous ice spears was taxing after a while, so he had suggested that she focus on creating only a few but aiming them at specific places.

Finally, his own studies had allowed him to be confident in his ability to get his NEWTs with a perfect score, as he had tried to use the subjects of the last three years, and had found himself easily answering the questions, while the practicals were a mere formality, thanks to Tom's memories and his own studies. He knew he would soon be able to up his training, as his eleventh birthday would allow him to finally start using the more taxing spells he had been forced to avoid until then. He had already planned what he would after obtaining his NEWTs, he would need to go to England and state his will to not claim the Potter inheritance. By doing so, he would effectively be cast out of the family, meaning that for all intents and purposes, it would be as if Harry Potter was dead. He knew that by doing so, he would probably inherit the title of Lord of another House, but he frankly didn't care.

It was something interesting to know: since he was the oldest Potter child, he could claim up to four titles, usually the most prestigious ones, and his eventual male siblings would be able to claim other titles. Usually, the Heir would only inherit one title, but with the two last Dark Lords killing entire families left and right, many children could find themselves in the position to claim titles by the most tenuous blood ties. He was quite sure that the Potters, a very old family as they were, would be able to claim quite a lot of inheritances, but he doubted that James Potter was clever enough to think of that. For what he had read, the man wasn't especially crafty or interested in politics, meaning that there was a good chance that he didn't even know his children could possibly become political powerhouses.

He had every intention of disowning himself, since he loathed the idea of having the same family name than those that abandoned him and blindly trusted Dumbledore, but that also meant that apart from the Peverell name, which he inherited from the Potter bloodline, the Slytherin and Ravenclaw names that he had gained by vanquishing Voldemort, he could also claim another family name. He frankly cared little about which one he would end up inheriting, since the three first names were enough to make him a political powerhouse in England, so maybe he would try to see which family he actually wanted to become the Lord of.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he did not see the person coming from the corridor on his right, and seeing as he was walking quite quickly, he ended up colliding with said person. Had it been two humans colliding, they would have ended on the ground, but seeing that Harry was a Pillar, he had superior reflexes, and he quickly righted himself. He was surprised to notice that the other person had done the same, and grimaced when he realized he had bumped into none other than Yume. He really disliked the number 08, and quite frankly, the less time he spent in her presence, the better it was.

With a mumbled apology, he rushed past the woman, but to his surprise, he found her catching him by his wrist. Looking up in annoyance, he was surprised to see her making a serious face. Usually she was always smiling, but right now she wasn't, and quite frankly it surprised him.

"Harry-kun, we have to talk."

-Break-

"So, what do you want?" growled Harry, as he sat on his armchair, his fingers drumming on the armrest in an irritated manner.

In front of him, Yume was sitting in another armchair, and was looking at him intently, and quite frankly it was starting to piss him off. Not only did he hate spending time with her, he didn't have the time to satisfy her childish need to play games.

Finally, just when he was about to stand up and leave, she asked, her voice carrying a deep sadness:

"Harry-kun, why don't you like me? You've been avoiding me ever since we've met, and I would like to know why."

The question actually surprised him. For a moment, he thought about it, and she pressed on:

"I mean, if I did something to upset you, I'm sorry, but could you please tell me why you avoid me? I'm worried about you, Harry-kun."

At that, he snorted, and his face grew into an angry mask.

"You are asking me why I don't like you? Think about it, Yume-chan" he spat," You're someone who's always babbling about how Love is beautiful, about the fact that Love makes everything right. Tell me, how do you think I take that? How do you think I take having someone gushing about how fantastic Love is, when I've been treated like a slave, outright tortured, by people who should have loved me? How do you think I feel, when I don't even know what Love is?

I'll tell you: it is extremely irritating, and I have trouble refraining from maiming you each time you go on one of your rants about how Love is what makes the world work. It makes me want to bash your head into a wall, repeatedly, until you understand that Love, the thing you like so much to talk about, is an illusion. Love, while it exists, is useless when it comes down to helping people. It doesn't heal broken bones, and it certainly doesn't nourish you if you're starving.

So, unless you stop prattling about Love left, right and center, I do not intend to be anywhere close to you, since I don't want to end up doing something I wouldn't regret."

With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving a shell-shocked Yume behind, her eyes wide as saucers, and feeling as if her heart had just been shattered into a million pieces.

So young and already so hateful...

So, I wanted to show in this chapter that despite her very possessive nature, Karasuba is still a Sekirei at heart, and won't mind Harry having other Sekirei so long as she deems them worthy enough, and that she is the "main" Sekirei.

I also tried to show that despite having a socially correct behavior, Harry stills bears the scars of his time at the Dursleys, as evidenced when he lashed out to Yume. In a way her words of how Love is what makes the world go round remind him of what he lost, as at that point, he really has no idea of what Love is, since the people he knows aren't that close to him, save for Karasuba, and even then what he feels is a strong affection and a sense of belonging.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!