After staring at the screen for a moment, I said "So, the two biggest obstacles we'll have to overcome are the Disciplinary Squad and MBI's private military company, correct?"

"Well, from a strictly brute force physical perspective, yes." Matsu replied. "Without either of those things, MBI won't have any real way to enforce the plan. Of course, unless you have some kind of magical power that lets you defeat an entire army and three of the most dangerous Sekirei there are, I would advise against the direct approach. "

I gave the hacker a small frown. "Even if I did have such a method, I doubt that I could use it without letting the entire world see it, so no."

Matsu let out a small hum and scuttled over to another keyboard and monitor. He room was an odd set up, hidden behind a false wall at the end of the hallway. All there was in the room was a large futon in the center which was surrounded by a number of computers and monitors. There were no chairs to speak of, so the lot of us were sitting on the futon. As the Sekirei typed, she said "I thought as much. In any case, the Disciplinary squad will likely be the more problematic of the two. The PMC is simply following orders, and I can think of a few ways of taking them out of the equation. The Black Sekirei on the other hand…" she paused and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, she's doing it because she wants to."

I hummed in thought before asking "What about the other Ashikabi in the game? Some of them would probably prefer it if things continued. Are any of them a threat?"

"Hardly." Rin remarked from her siting position next to me. "The bunch I ran into at the gardens were little more than the average adolescent male. The few that Musubi and I fought started to panic when I tried assaulting them personally and just ran away. I don't think that they really understand what they're doing."

"Nevertheless, there are certainly those we do need to keep an eye on." Nero added from her position behind Rin. "For instance, that one in particular could be trouble." She said, pointing at one of the listed Ashikabi on Matsu's monitors.

It was also worth noting that she did so by leaning forward against Rin, the magus' head ending up pressed against the other woman's chest. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that my Servant had been using our time in the somewhat small space to lounge or simply lay on top of one of the other 3 occupants, but I had more important things to focus on at the moment.

"T-that's Higa Izumi," Rin read off the screen as she shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "It says here that he's the heir to Higa international, a rival pharmaceutical company to MBI. He also has the second highest number of Sekirei winged at 12."

"And the one with the highest, Hayato Mikogami, is the son of some extremely wealthy international businessmen." Matsu completed. "All information shows that neither particularly cares for their Sekirei or how they get them. While they're not the biggest threat, they are certainly something we'll have to consider, even if we succeed in stopping the Plan."

I contemplated the situation before giving a small sigh. "I suppose I should ask the question, can this whole problem be solved simply by killing Minaka?"

Matsu gave a start of surprise at my sudden question. "That's a rather grim option to think of so soon, Shirou-tan."

"I've done more than just think about it." I replied. "If I were younger, I would have gone off and done so the night he contacted me."

"Leaving a massive trail of collateral, no doubt." Rin said dryly.

I nodded. "Both in material and in lives. Of course, given some time I could probably come up with something more subtle and contained, even if it's not really what I normally do. Still, I have to know what consequences there will be if I resort to the primary function of my job."

Matsu proceeded to give me a measured look, weighing what I had just said. Over the past week I had ended up learning a thing or two about the 02, like the fact that she used to be on the original Disciplinary Squad with the 01, and had helped fend off an invasion of the island their ship was on from foreign powers. For all of her childish mannerisms, she still knew what it was like to be a soldier, and to have to do unpleasant thing to achieve a goal. Eventually, she gave a small shake off her head and said "I can't say with one hundred percent certainty, but I would guess not. I have been downloading as much data as I can from the MBI servers ever since I learned your intent to stop the plan, and I have found a number of documents making references to 'contingency plans' for certain scenarios. Unfortunately, due to my limited access I was not able to determine what the plans or the scenarios for them were."

"That is rather vague," Nero remarked. "Such contingencies could be referring to much more mundane thing about the Plan itself. Have you found anything more concrete?"

Matsu's mouth twisted into an unpleasant frown. "Unfortunately, yes. I've also found evidence that our adjusters did more than alter our biology. Each Sekirei has also been given implants."

"Implants?" I asked with some concern. "What kind of implants?"

"I'm not entirely sure, though I know that at the very least that one such implant is a GPS tracker." The hacker said before turning her back to me, sweeping her braid to the side and tapping a point the back of her neck meaningfully. "I had to wait a few days for some equipment to arrive to check, but there's definitely something here giving off a signal. And I had thought I was safe." She said with a small huff. "In any case, it's likely that this is how MBI keeps tabs on all of the Sekirei and their conditions, and there is no telling what else we have inside of us without access to a high grade medical scanner."

Rin, who was looking a little lost at all the talk of technology, said "So, what does that all have to do with whether or not we should just kill Minaka?"

"It means that it's possible he might have some sort of dead-man switch on him that would terminate all the Sekirei if he ever dies out of spite." I said grimly. This wasn't the first time I had seen this sort of thing during my work. Granted, it was all usually a bit more magical in nature, but it was essentially the same. "My mother had said something to the effect that taking out any piece of the plan would only make it worse. I suppose it's only natural that she included Minaka in that statement." I then blinked as I remembered something. "By the way Matsu, have you managed to find anything about the Mr. Black which my mother mentioned?" Takami had not been the great source of information I had hoped she would be since the altercation a week ago with Karasuba. I knew a lot of it came from that she was probably being monitored whenever she was with me and couldn't let confidential information slip, but I was sure that she could be giving me more than she was if she really wanted to. Still, she had managed to drop some helpful hints as to where I could have Matsu look for information.

But not on this particular subject. Matsu gave a childish pout and said. "No. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Takami-tan was making him up. Usually I can get at least some little fragment of information when looking for something, but this time I found nothing. I know as much as you do, which is to say that he is a mysterious person that even gives the Black Sekirei pause."

"Hmp." Rin grunted. "So all we know right now is that we don't know enough about Plan or how many pieces it has, and that if we make an incorrect move (which is rather likely with our current lack of information) it could have disastrous consequences of an unknown nature." She gave the hacker a dry look. "So far, I'm finding your self-proclaimed skills in information gathering to be somewhat lacking."

Matsu became indignant. "Hey! I would like to see anyone else get even the small pieces of info I managed to acquire! MBI has some of the most advanced network security in the world! The only way I'd be able to do better is if I had a Norito!"

"A what?" I asked.

The hacker blinked and said "Oh! I guess no one has explained it to you. A Norito is how we Sekirei use our full power, and we need our Ashikabi to do so."

"Then why haven't you asked for my help?"

"Well," she said while looking a little awkward. "In order to preform one, we would need to… kiss. And I wasn't sure if…" she trailed off.

I looked at her for a moment before saying. "Oh. Well, if you really need it to get all the information you can, than I have no problem with."

"Really?" Matsu said in surprise. "Thank you, Shirou-tan!"

I was a little taken aback by how happy my agreeing to kiss her seemed to make her, but I didn't know what to say about. My relationship with the woman was… strained at times. Matsu had made it clear at every possible opportunity what she wanted to do with me (sometimes with video), and she was unhappy whenever I turned her down. I know she had said that she intended to win me over eventually, but I was getting the distinct impression that the alien was rather impatient and didn't have any idea how to court someone other than in a physical manner.

The idea of simply relenting to Matsu's wants had crossed my mind. I wasn't exactly adverse to the idea of casual sex (it wouldn't be the first time Nero and I threw someone else into the mix for the hell of it), but the problem was it couldn't be casual. Matsu had feelings for me, and that would make things… different. I had a hard time articulating my discomfort, but if I had to put words to it, I would say that the thought of having sex with someone who had feelings for me which I didn't return just felt wrong. Like I was taking advantage of them somehow. That same discomfort returned when Matsu because so enthused about the idea of us kissing, albeit to a lesser degree.

Ironically, my wife was less than helpful in this matter, as she was constantly encouraging the other woman. Nero had a… unique view on love. It had changed a bit since I had come to love her and she learned what it was liked to be loved in turn, but she felt that love was selfish, and one was entitled in return for their affections. It was a rather simple view all things told, and as such she believed in an unlimited capacity for love inherent in everyone. They idea that things might not work due to logistical reasons (such as me already being married to her) didn't seem to occur to the emperor.

And in spite of what my wife might suggest, Rin does not factor into this at all. Nope. Not at all.

"So, are you going to give me my Norito now, Shirou-tan?" Matsu asked eagerly.

I snapped out of my musing to say "Uh, not right now. It's almost lunch time, so why do we take a break and get back to this later?"

Our timing was better than I thought, as when we came down the stairs we found Miya setting utensils on the table. Yukari was there as well. "Good morning Onii-chan! How did your 'strategy session' go?" I could almost hear the quotation marks, and the small leer on my sister's face showed just what she thought we were doing in Matsu's room.

"Oh?" Miya said. "Sahashi-kun, you weren't up to anything indecent I hope?"

It was Rin who responded. "J-just what are you implying?! I don't know what you're thinking, but it certainly wasn't that!"

"But Rin-sempai! With all the women popping up in Onii-chan's life, you need to act soon or you'll lose your advantage as the old childhood friend!" Yukari insisted. "You see, in all the manga I've read-"

She was then interrupted by the timely application of a ladle to her head, courtesy of the landlady. "Ara, what have I told you about bringing lewd literature into my home?"

My sister began waving her arms frantically before Miya could begin her signature technique. "I didn't bring them here! I left them at my mom's place! I swear!" It looked like this wasn't the first time she had been chastised for her choice of reading material.

I was about to suggest that I go get the plates when Musubi, Uzume and Kuu-chan walked into the room doing just that. However, for whatever reason, Musubi was dressed in a rather skimpy maid outfit, with a short skirt, open back, and a low neck line. Kuu on the other hand was wearing what looked to be a penguin outfit, only her face visible through the bird's mouth.

"Tada!" Uzume proclaimed as she laid down the plates in her hands and addressed Rin and Yukari. "How do you like it? These are from my personal collection." She said proudly.

Rin said nothing, but her head titled to the side as she stared at Musubi's outfit and a light blush formed on her face. My sister gave a small squeal as she looked at her Sekirei. "You look adorable, Kuu-chan!" However, the most pronounced reaction came from Nero of all people.

Nero prided herself on always acting with proper decorum (for her standards anyway) and for always being formal. However, this was not always the case, as was evident when my wife set eyes on Kuu. Nero eyes shined brightly, and a joyful smile crossed her face as she exclaimed "Penguin!" She then proceeded to launched herself at the young girl in what I believe my sister would refer to as an 'attack glomp' and began cuddling her.

There are few things that can make my wife enter her 'super kawai mode', but penguins are one of them.

"Hey! She's my imouto!" My sister said, and moved in to latch on to the young girl as well, causing Kusuno to fidget uncomfortably between the two.

The rest of the room stared at this scene nonplussed. Eventually Uzume said "Huh. Really thought she would have liked the other outfit more."

I quirked an eyebrow at the one responsible for this. "And just why did you feel the need to have those two play dress-up?"

Uzume gave a playful smirk. "Cause they look awesome! Usually I'm the only one who wears the outfits I make, but I thought I'd give some of the other Ashikabi's around here a treat too." Her grin became impish. "I would have roped Homura in too, but he's gotten a little too beefcake lately for my outfits."

"Well darn," I said in a flat and sarcastic tone. "I guess you have to find someone else. Nero would probably oblige."

"Aw, and here I was half thinking you were going to ask me." She said with a mischievous smile and a hand on her hip. "Maybe your roguish charms ain't as good as ya think."

I gave her an even look while suppressing a smirk of my own. "You speak of hearsay, woman. I need only time before my plan to add you to my harem comes to fruition in all of its draconian complexity."

I was about to continue when I heard Matsu next to me speak up in an annoyed tone. "Shirou-tan! How come you flirt back with her but not with me?"

I looked at the bespectacled woman in surprise and was about to say I wasn't flirting when I paused. Thinking about it, I guessed it could look like that, but we were just kidding around. Odd that I was apparently more comfortable doing so with the person who had no interest in me than the one who did.

"Damn it," I muttered with a frown. This was getting complicated.

I was saved from contemplating my various relationships with women by the timely entrance of Homura through the front door. "Shirou! Rin! I need to talk to you!" He ran into the dining room and noticed the lot of us. He briefly looked at the nonsense going with my sister, my wife and Kuu-chan, but apparently dismissed it with a shake of his head and turned to Rin. "Rin, these dreams you've been having about a blonde woman, is her hair down below her waist? And does she wear a sort of black overcoat and a short white tunic underneath?"

Rin was taken aback by this. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"Because those aren't dreams you're having, they're visions."

"Visions?" I asked before my eyes widened in realization, "Wait, do you mean-"

"That a Sekirei is reacting to Rin? Yes."

Rin's face twisted in confusion. "Well if that's the case, why the hell does she keep saying she's going to kill me?"

Homura shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I actually happen to know her, and Tsukiumi is… different than most Sekirei. She's very proud and resents that fact she needs an Ashikabi to get her full strength. Also, well… She is not taking the fact the she's reacting to a female very well."

I arched an eyebrow at this. I had thought Homura to be unique in his own reaction to me, but now it seemed almost like same-sex reactions were surprisingly common. Hell, the only one I knew of that had an opposite-sex partner for sure was Matsu. For all I knew, even Uzume could have a woman as an Ashikabi. It could have just been coincidence that I was meeting all the ones who had this quirk, but it still seemed incredibly off.

Rin simply grunted at this. "If she's so set on not having me wing her that's fine by me. I just want those bloody dreams to stop."

It was then Musubi decided to speak her piece. "Rin-san! Don't say things like that! Of course you're going to wing her!"

The magus arched an eyebrow at her Sekirei. "She has repeatedly said that she will try to kill me if she ever sees me. I don't think this is something either of us particularly wants."

This surprised me a little. I would have that the Rin would have wanted multiple Sekirei so that she could have a better test base, but it seemed she was taking the whole bonded-for-life thing seriously. More proof that she was better than those jerks at the Clock Tower I suppose.

"Rin, I actually have to agree with her on this," Homura said. "I know it's unpleasant, but I don't think the dreams will go away if you ignore them. I'm not sure what will happen to a reacting Sekirei if you leave them alone for a prolonged period of time, but…" He trailed off, undoubtedly thinking of what happened to him when he was reacting to me. He looked back at Rin, his expression worried. "Rin, please. Tsukiumi is feeling scared and ashamed because of what's happening to her, and it won't get any better if both of you try to ignore this. She was… probably the closest thing I had to a friend before I met you lot, oddly enough. I'm asking you, please help her."

Rin's mouth twisted into a frown. Eventually, she said "Well, I'll think about it. In the meantime, let's have lunch."

"Yay!" Musubi said, apparently taking Rin's statement as approval. "I made you some curry Rin-san! It's my specialty!"

My face twisted into a grimace. "No offence Musubi, but I think I'll just stick to the salad. I hate spicy foods."

Homura gave me a sideways glance. "Really? I would have thought that with, you know…" he trailed off, though his implication was clear.

I leaned closer to him and whispered in a low voice. "Immunity to fire is not the same thing as immunity to capsaicin." In part, it was this hatred of spicy foods that drove me to learn how to cook in the first place. Given my adopted father's love of overly spiced curry, I probably would have starved to death if hadn't. Or would have become indebted to Rin by having her cook for me, but that might have been worse.

Turning my attention back to the group, I noticed that one thing hadn't changed in spite of Homura's entrance. "Nero, let go of Kuu-chan already."

"But Shirou!" She said as she clutched the still squirming girl. "She's so dapper!"

I suppressed a sigh. This was going to take a while.

Takami shifted through the papers on her desk, trudging through the bureaucracy and paperwork that were required of her high position. She did so automatically, giving it only part of her attention while her mind wandered to more important things. Like how to keep her children alive.

It was bad enough that Yukari was a part of the Plan now, but Minato actively trying to undermine it put things on a whole new level of dangerous. It wasn't that she disagreed with him on why the Plan should be stopped (if fact, she agreed wholeheartedly), it was just, well, he would be putting himself in the line of fire to do so. In a way, she was proud that her son would willingly put himself at risk for the sake of other, but at the same time she didn't want to lose him. Was that so selfish of her? To want to keep her child safe, even if it meant he wouldn't be able to help others?

Her dilemma was not helped by the fact the Minato was asking for her help in taking apart the Plan. Aside from her own trepidations, this was made problematic by the fact that all of her interactions with her son were being monitored to prevent her from doing just that. Her son's declaration of war had insured it. So far she had been able to slip him little details to keep him informed, but nothing more.

As she pulled out another piece of paper from the pile, she then found another reason why she couldn't help her son. Mr. Black requests more resources for his personal project in basement lab 00, it read at the top. Takami suppressed a small shudder at the thought of that man. It had been fairly early in the founding of MBI that she and Minaka had been approached by the man for a partnership of sorts, and Takami had instantly distrusted him. However, that fool of hers became enamored with Mr. Black for some reason or another and brought him on board without her consent. He didn't seem to be very useful at first, but as time went by he became more and more helpful when it came to research and adjustment, especially after they had lost Takehito.

The problem stemmed from the fact that when she told Minato that she knew everything about the plan, she wasn't being entirely accurate. As the Head Geneticist, she knew all the official details of the Sekirei Plan, including the contingencies and backups which would certainly help Minato if he knew about them. However, Mr. Black had become something of an unspoken force in company. There were no records of what he did during the adjustment process or any of his assets on file, as instead all such information was keep by himself. He kept his own assistants (who remained completely covered in robes like some kind of cult), and barely ever let himself be seen. Takami had been able to figure out some of what he had done, but she knew there was much more that he (and Minaka) was keeping from her.

And to put it frankly, no matter what happened, she would never let her children near that man. Most of MBI could be considered misguided or thoughtless with their regard towards the Sekirei. Mr. Black? She didn't even want to think about what he was doing to the poor creature MBI had deemed useless, locked away in that basement lab.

Takami shook her head in frustration and put the paper down. After a moment she decided to shift gears for a while and she turned to her computer, pulling up the information on her son's one request which she didn't feel bad about working on. It had been fairly easy to get Sakura Matou's medical information, as well as the data pertaining to the night of her disappearance. To be honest, there wasn't much; there were no signs of forced entry into her room, and hospital security said that there were no disturbances at all that night. It seemed that either someone snuck into her room and took her during the night without anyone noticing (and with no clear motive for Takami to see), or the girl had woken up from a five year coma and snuck out of the hospital on her own (again, for reasons Takami couldn't fathom). She honestly didn't know which was more likely.

Still, it was the girl's actually condition which intrigued the scientist. The reports were very vague on what had actually happen to her, but apparently, in addition to falling into a coma, Sakura had somehow contracted a case of near-albinism and gained a large number of light scaring on her body. Takami made a mental note to ask her son for specifics on the matter the next time she saw him, because it seemed to the geneticist that there was something extra-normal going on with this girl.

Takami suddenly frowned as she reread the girl's physical description. There was a small nagging at the back of her mind, like a memory that was on the tip of her tongue. "White hair, red eyes, scaring," she muttered to herself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

Akitsu followed behind her master as they walked down the street, her eyes as always fixed on the woman who had shown her kindness. The white haired woman had promised that she would find someone to help the ice Sekirei, but at the moment Akitsu considered Sakura that person. She had agreed to be Akitsu's master even though she was broken, and agreed to take care of her. Akitsu didn't even think that her condition could be fixed, so for now, this was enough.

It was about midday when Sakura slowed and came to a stop. Without turning around, she said "You're probably wondering why we wander around all day."

Akitsu blinked. "Ah," she said. It was true that since she had met her master, most of their time had been spent wandering aimless around the city, seemingly talking to random people. They never even stayed in the same hotel each night, instead switching to a new one. Akitsu did not know why, but such things were irrelevant. "Maser is doing what she chooses. Master will explain it to me if she feels it necessary."

Sakura turned to look at her, faint surprise apparent on her face before it turned to a warm smile. "Your very understanding, Akitsu. All you need to do is ask and I will tell you." There was a brief silence between the two, and Sakura took this as a sign of consent to continue. "You know that I'm… different from most other humans, that I have certain abilities. Ever since I woke up, I've felt a sort of connection with the one that saved me. I can't explain it, but I somehow know where he is."

She then gave sigh of frustration. "But only roughly. I know he's in this city but don't know where! All it seems I can do is search randomly!"

Akitsu was silent for a moment before she said. "So long as you search, I will help you. How long it takes is irrelevant."

Again, Sakura gave her Sekirei a look of surprise before she smiled. This time she leaned forward and hugged Akitsu, causing the other woman to stiffen at the contact. "I'm glad I met you." She said. "I'm not sure what I'd do right now it I didn't have you to rely on."

"A-ah" Akitsu replied, a blush forming on her face at the contact. "Thank you." She said in a small voice.

Sakura pulled back and gave a small sigh. "Well, maybe we should take a break for now." She looked down at herself. "You know, I could probably use some more cloths if we're going to be in this city for much longer. Why don't we do some shopping?"

With that she asked a random passerby, who happened to be a high school girl with glasses and medium length black hair, where they could shop for some cloths, and the girl helpfully directed them to a unique boutique in the Shin Tokyo's shopping district.