When Shirou let out the breath he had been holding, it rose up in a visible cloud of vapor. It was the only thing that came out of his mouth, because he was completely at loss for words. He looked around at the extent of the phenomenon that had just taken place.

Everything was covered in ice.

The floor and the walls, up to the ceiling of his warehouse were encased in a thick layer of ice. Only the place where he and Akitsu were standing had been mercifully spared, which was nothing short of mind boggling since that was the epicenter of the phenomena.

'Would you mind showing me what you can do?' he had asked Akitsu once they had returned home and this was the result. There had been no warning, nothing even resembling an incantation. She didn't even look like she had been straining herself.

She had merely replied 'Yes, Master,' before she turned the place into a frozen fortress.

This much power, wielded with such ease… it was something he would have expected only from a Mage from the Age of Gods. Perhaps even something above that.

"Can all Sekirei do something like this?" he asked, once he recovered his voice.

"No, Master. Every Sekirei has their own specific ability. Some can manipulate fire or water. Lightning or shadows. Some possess more powerful bodies that are better suited for physical combat. I know that there are at least two that specialize in intel gathering."

"Well," he replied, because he didn't know what else to say. "Well."

Back in the days of the Grail War there were seven Servant responding to a specific class that more or less labeled what they could do.

Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, Caster and Assassin.

It was pretty easy to figure which was their field of expertise just from the name.

Now there were over a hundred of these powerful creatures, with a wide array of abilities and he didn't know which had which or where they lived. How the heck was he supposed to contain this?

There was a real possibility that he would have to inform the Clock Tower if things went really southward. The only reason why he didn't do it was because he knew all too well what that would spell for the Sekirei species. To put it in perspective, a Battle Royale was a lot more merciful alternative. At least, they would not suffer long.

Knowing that, he promised himself that he would not contact London until he found out what this Game really was about and only if it threatened more than just the Sekirei species. That was where he drew the line.

He would not allow a second Fuyuki to happen.

"Alright, then. Can you undo this?" he asked.

Akitsu blinked and in the following moment the ice shattered, all of it simultaneously, in such tiny little fragments that they evaporated immediately.

That wasn't precisely the smartest thing to do. Even though the warehouse was big, it was still an enclosed space. The suddenly freed water coalesced and subsequently rained down on them in big droplets that completely drenched their clothes.

Shirou pulled away his wet hair from his face, not feeling really annoyed with the unexpected shower. He still had to get himself clean from the sweat he had build up during work that day. The warehouse was also largely empty, so nothing would get ruined by the water.

However, his face reddened all of a sudden when he saw what had happened to Akitu's clothes.

Even though it was her size, the shirt he had bought was already quite tight in the chest area, and the sudden addition of copious amount of water only made the piece of clothing cling even further to her impressive… endowments.

"A-Akitsu. Go get changed immediately," he told her as he looked away.

"Yes," Akitsu agreed, unbothered.

And promptly removed her shirt right where stood, freeing her boobs right in front of Shirou's face.

"Urk!" Shirou groaned, immediately turning his back to her. "I didn't mean right here. Didn't they teach you the meaning of modesty?"

Akitsu started down at her exposed chest and then to Shirou who was firmly looking in the opposite direction. She then tilted her head quizzically.

"Did I do something wrong, Master?" she asked, clearly not seeing anything wrong with her state of undress.

Shirou put a hand over his eyes and sighed tiredly. Forget about learning more about the other Sekirei. He would have his hands plenty busy just teaching Akitsu things like common sense and decency.

Babysitting a woman with the body of a supermodel but the mind of a little child was not what he had in mind when he decided to be an ally of justice, but he had long since learned that it was anything but a straightforward job. Or an easy one for that matter.

He resigned himself to teach Akitsu about the basic facts of life.

"Akitsu, I don't know if this applies to Sekirei as it does to humans, but certain levels of skin exposure are considered as a sign of being sexually available. Do you know what that means, right?"

"Yes," Akitsu replied. Although he could not see her face, since she was behind him, Shirou didn't hear any inflection in her voice that suggested embarrassment on her part.

"Great, then you understand that you shouldn't show your body to the extent you are doing now, unless you want to have sex with them, do you?"

"I understand, Master."

"Good. Now go get some dry clothes for yourself alright? I'm going to take a shower now. A proper one."

Without looking back, he marched for the living portion of the warehouse, hoping that he would never have to have such a conversation with anyone again.

[br]

When he got out of the shower, Akitsu was sitting on the couch that doubled as Shirou's bed. Mercifully, she was fully dressed.

He picked up the dirty clothes, both his and Akitsu and dumped them into a cardboard box that he temporarily used as a damper. However, he heard a strange noise that clothes shouldn't make.

'Did I forget something in my pockets?' he wondered, as he picked them up and went through them. There was nothing that could have made a noise like that, but then he noticed the bloodied lab coat that Akitsu wore when he first met her.

He picked it up, realizing that there was something in one of its pockets that he didn't realize was there the first time around.

It was a small, metallic case about three inches long. Shirou shook it gently and heard something like a liquid moving inside.

'An explosive? Unlikely, but better be safe than sorry,' he thought before muttering "Trace on," under his breath and running structural analysis on it. The case was just that, a case. However its content were far less simple.

He cracked it open, even though he already knew what was inside.

It was a syringe, inside of which floated a compound of a peculiar purple shade. Shirou ran Structural Analysis on it once again, this time directing his focus to the liquid but immediately stopped when it started to shine with an ominous glow.

"What the heck?"

He had only received a vague impression of the elements that constituted the liquid before he cut off the flow of energy. Most of it where Earth based elements, although he had no clue as to what they did in that particular combination. The rest, however, he had absolutely no idea what they were, because they didn't belong on Earth at all.

A Mana susceptible substance from outer space, which by the looks of things was meant to be injected into someone.

Did MBI know it was missing? Did they know he had it?

Akitsu had gotten the coat right after the explosion, he assumed, so there was a high chance MBI thought it had been destroyed in the incident that resulted in her escape. Perhaps a missing Sekirei was more important that whatever this was, but once more he had no way to verify that.

Maybe Akitsu would know more.

"Excuse me, Akitsu," he called out. "Do you know what this thing is? I found it in the lab coat you had on when we met."

"No, Master. I have never seen it before."

"Did they ever inject you with anything?" he inquired.

"Sometimes, but nothing like that."

"Hm. I see." Shirou didn't have trouble believing her. He too would remember if he was ever injected with something of that color.

Now the problem was whether this new discovery was a resource or a source of potential trouble. He actually had a pretty good grasp of chemistry, both because of his ample use of Structural Analysis and because he had dabbled with explosives more than he was comfortable admitting. However his knowledge of biology was only above the average Japanese high-schooler, although his knowledge of the countless ways to kill a man would probably put a surgeon to shame.

In any event, he was out of his depths with something like this. He could try and do some experiments if only he had a big enough source of alien tissues to work with. His eyes went to Akitsu, who as sitting on the couch looking intently at him, as per usual.

He shook his head. He didn't have the equipment he needed on hand, and trying to procure it would raise all sorts of flags at MBI. He still had his black market channels, but it would take time to get anything through those and they would cost him a lot of money.

Money that he didn't have. Not to mention that his finances would probably be closely monitored as well. The credit card he received was good, in fact it was an unexpected windfall. Right now, what he needed most was intel, so he might as well use MBI's funds to get it.

But that could wait until tomorrow. it was already late and he still had to go to work the next day. He couldn't just quit for a lot of reasons.

First, being financially dependant on MBI wasn't a good idea, because if he did they would be able to obstruct him by controlling his finances. Secondly, a half-capable Ashikabi with good connections could cross-reference a change in habits and wealth to track the other users of an MBI credit card, that is to say, other Ashikabi.

That was something Shirou intended to do himself after all. His connections were limited, but he still had some to exploit. He would have to personally be on the lookout for Sekirei activity. Shin Teito was a city that never slept, but at night human activities slowed down all the same, so that would be when most battles would happen.

It looked like he had many sleepless night ahead of him, so he'd better cash in some sleep while he still could.

"Akitsu, I'm turning in for the night. Do you mind leaving me the couch?"

"Of course, Master," Akitsu agreed.

"You should get some sleep too. Starting tomorrow we should begin patrolling the city at night. I want to see if I can come across a battle between Sekirei and I need you to come with me."

"As you wish."

Years ago, he would have balked at the idea of taking a woman, even a powerful alien one, towards a battlefield. Now he was acutely aware of his own limitations, therefore he would have to borrow Akitsu's power.

For the time being, he had no intention of actually getting involved into fights. He would avoid it until he understood what this battle was really about. If MBI had some nefarious second purpose, Shirou wouldn't be doing their job for them.

After Akitsu returned to her room, Shirou laid down on the couch and turned off the lights, hoping to have one night of peaceful rest. He knew better than that, but he could always hope.

[br]

In her room, Akitsu laid down quietly on the futon that her Master had provided her, wearing only her panties and one of her Master's old shirts. She didn't know how long she remained there, with just the sound of her breathing to keep her company, but she knew that she didn't feel like sleeping at all.

She just couldn't calm down. Even though he was just in the next room, not seeing him made her feel uncomfortable, afraid. She knew he wouldn't just disappear the moment she wasn't looking, but unlike the other Sekirei, she could not bond with him. If she could, she would be able to tell where he was and how he felt even across great distances.

That pain within her chest, that void, was something that would not calm down until she was in direct physical contact with him, or at least until she could see him.

She wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. In fact she would only grow more agitated by the minute.

However, her Master had told her to sleep in her room and that meant she would not move from there. She, who was a failure at birth would not also fail with her deeds. Even if she couldn't catch a wink of sleep she would not leave the room.

Her Master's orders were absolute. That was the decision she's made when she found him. When she was found by him. Her unconditional obedience was the only thing she she could give him.

Sekirei were all naturally subservient to their Ashikabi, or at the very least they could not go against their will. Not that a good Sekirei would ever want to go against the wishes of their Chosen One. Akitsu couldn't form that bond, and even in her state the concept of opposing her Ashikabi filled her with absolute dread.

They could still disagree with him and make their mind known.

However Akitsu didn't have that option. She was already damaged goods and needed to try harder than the rest. No matter what her Master wished, she would do it.

Unless, of course, she had to protect him. The only thing that surpassed a Sekirei's need to make their Ashikabi's happy was the need to keep them safe.

That held true even for Akitsu. She would bear any punishment in the world to keep her from harm. So, when she heard him moan in his sleep, she immediately got to her feet and opened the door to the main area of the apartment.

She could see him from there, laying on the couch that was his resting place. If she could call what he was doing resting in any shape or form.

His brows were furrowed, eyes clenched tightly. Beads of sweat made their way down his face, while he clutched his chest looking like he was in great pain.

"... Fuji-nee. No. I'm sorry. I don't… Not her… Sakura… Sakura, please..."

He was having a nightmare by the looks of it, and a pretty intense one at that.

Akitsu was divided between her need to obey his order and the one to be at his side and help him. The latter won out.

She approached him on light feet, not wanting to wake him, and kneeled next to him, grabbing the hand he clutched his chest with.

He tensed, and for a moment Akitsu believed he had woken. However he soon resumed his perturbed sleep as if nothing had happened. If she was a proper Sekirei she could comfort him through the telepathic link that they formed with the bond. However, because she was such a failure she couldn't even do that.

But that didn't mean she would give up so easily. If she couldn't reach him with the same ease as the others, she would go the hard way. Since she was already committing a transgression, it was necessary that she'd make it work.

[br]

When Shirou cracked open his eyes, the sun was shining right into his face.

'Overslept again,' he sighed. 'The chief is going to kill me.'

He also already knew why it had happened. Even without looking, he felt the conspicuous weight pressing down on his chest. When he did look down he saw precisely what he knew he would.

"Akitsu," he said softly.

The sound of her name being called stirred the Sekirei of Ice, as he came to define her in his mind, awake and looked up at him. There was an hint of fear in her eyes

"Good morning, Akitsu," he greeted.

"Ah! Good morning, Master," she replied.

"Would you mind getting off me, please?" he said.

She didn't weight nowhere near enough from him to feel uncomfortable about it, but he was acutely aware of her breast pressing on him, as well as the bare legs intertwined with his own. If she didn't get up soon, something else would.

However, this being Akitsu, she followed his request the moment he expressed it as if was an order.

However, rather than standing up, she sat seiza on the floor, which caused him to frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I have… disobeyed your order, Master," she replied, making his frown deepen.

"Which order? I don't recall giving you any," he told her.

"You told me to sleep in the other room, and I didn't," she said, eyes downcast.

"That wasn't a…," he started to say, but stopped. He sighed and rubbed his face. It made no difference to her. Akitsu subservience was extreme and part of her character. Telling her would only make her uncertain. "Fine then. I suppose a punishment is in order."

"Yes, Master," she said without hesitation. That didn't really help with Shirou's stress levels.

On a side, knowing that this powerful creature kept his orders in such a high regard meant she was easier to control. Although he didn't want to control her, one less Sekirei running amok was one less catastrophe that he had to contain.

However, from an emotional standpoint, it pained him to see her like that. Still, he was her Master and that meant something. He was responsible both for her wellbeing and her actions.

"Why did you disobey, though?"

"You looked like you were in pain. I… I had to do something, Master. As your Sekirei."

"I see," he told her. "Thank you, Akitsu."

"Master?" she asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Although you disobeyed my order, Akitsu you should know one very important thing."

"Yes. What is it?"

"There is nothing wrong with wanting to help others. In this, you have done well."

"But… But I disobeyed," she protested weakly.

"You did. And I'm going to punish you for it. However, at times, even most times, doing the right thing comes at a great deal of personal cost, do you understand what I mean?"

"I… I think so. I… I did good?"

"Yes. Yes, you certainly did," he told her, patting her head like he would do with a child, making her smile faintly and blush cutely. "Now, let's get on with your punishment."

"Yes, Master," Akitsu replied sharply, back straightening like a iron rod.

That was fine. If he could imprint on her an outline of right and wrong, one day she could do fine on her own without him and without hurting others.

For the time being, however, he needed to see to her punishment.

[br]

The concept of punishment varied from person to person. Some people would dread doing task that other people would enjoy. In this case, it was Shirou who felt like he was being punished.

Going shopping for women's clothes ranked pretty high on his list of things that he'd rather not do with his time. Although he no longer was an easily impressionable teen, he still wasn't such a worldly kind of guy that he felt at ease going into women only stores.

But that was something he needed to do. As embarrassed as he was, he was doing Akitsu a great wrong if he let her wear those cheap clothes, and since MBI had provided them with funds, there was no reason why he shouldn't change that.

Akitsu's portion of the punishment was putting up with that. It didn't cross his mind that she might actually enjoy it, until it was too late to change his mind.

It was so that they started going to one clothing store after the other for most of the morning. Shirou bore with it and accompanied her in every single shop, helping her pick clothes for daily use.

During the process, Akitsu caught the eye and the envy of every other woman in every single store they went, not to mention the attention of the men in between. There was no such a thing as being inconspicuous with Akitsu.

Therefore, he resigned himself to being an object of attention by proxy, because who wouldn't want to see what man walked around with a beauty like that.

Fortunately, whatever could be said about his shabby appearance, Shirou's height and level of physical fitness dissuade every other male in range from trying to pick her up. They probably thought him not at her level, but it seemed no one wanted to run the risk of arguing with his biceps.

Unbeknownst to him, he was being started at a lot on his own merit, for the same qualities that kept other men at a distance. Their journey continued without a single incident. However, Shirou's stalwart sense of duty eventually admitted defeat before an opponent he knew he could not face.

The underwear store.

It wasn't even one of the fancy ones that specialized in lingerie, no. However, there was no way in hell he'd walk into one of those. He knew where he belonged and it wasn't in there.

So, he sent Akitsu in with instructions of letting the clerk help her pick something, while he waited outside sitting on a bench right in front of the store entrance. He wasn't afraid something would happen while he wasn't looking because he could tell exactly where Akitsu was inside the shop from feeling her presence.

In fact, he could feel another one not too far away and coming closer.

As far as he knew, Sekirei couldn't tell each other's position, so he wasn't worried. Akitsu had the marking on her forehead that gave away her identity as a Scrap, but she was in the shop and unlikely to come out very soon.

Therefore, Shirou could easily try and figure out the identity of this new Sekirei from the crowd. It was far from an simple task, but it could be done.

It was coming in his direction. From the left and slightly from behind. It moved in a straight line, but it clearly wasn't coming directly at him. It was moving with the crowd on the other side of the street.

Shirou didn't even need to turn to see behind his back. The light was just right to see the reflection on the string of shop windows that lined the road.

To be honest, he wasn't sure he would have been able to pinpoint him out of the crowd just like that, but he was fortunate that he recognized him on sight. It was the same, bishounen-looking guy he had run into the other evening.

He couldn't follow him, because that meant leaving Akitsu behind, and he couldn't get her back before he disappeared into the crowd. Therefore he did the only thing he could and tried to get an impression of him from there.

Karasuba bloodlust had been overwhelming, so it had been pretty easy to get a reading on her. This other Sekirei wasn't quite as powerful and he didn't have the slightest bloodlust so it was a much harder task.

Shirou closed his eyes and tried to filter everything else out in an attempt to label this guy in some way. Although he couldn't be sure if it was the same association of impression and memory he had with Karasuba, Shirou felt a faint trace of smoke in the air.

It could have been just a passerby smoking a cigarette, but he'd be willing to bet it wasn't so. It wasn't too slippery a feeling to have been a real one, so he temporarily filed it as this other Sekirei's presence-signature.

In the future he would be on the lookout for it. Furthermore, this was the second time he saw him in this general area, and if he wasn't mistaken he was going in the opposite direction than the last time.

The difference in time of the day could suggest that he this was a way an area of passage between two points of interest. He could verify it later that evening. If he was lucky, he could track him down and perhaps other Sekirei as well.

It was a start, at least.

For the time being, he allowed him to slip out of his senses, disappearing into the crowd.

A few minutes later, Akitsu came out of the shop with a bag in her hands. It seemed that her shopping adventure solo had gone well.

"Did you find everything?" he asked.

"Yes. The shop lady was very helpful, Master," the Sekirei replied in a way that Shirou could loosely call chipperly, within Akitsu's range of expressions.

"Was she? That's good. Was it difficult conversing with her?"

"... a little bit," the Sekirei admitted.

That had to be expected. Shirou was having a hard time understanding what Akitsu meant with her words and physical cues, and he had the advantage of knowing she was an alien grown in captivity. Fortunately, with her looks she could pass for foreign, which went a long way to explain any awkwardness on her part.

More importantly, it was a learning experience for Akitsu, so that one day she might live among humans with on her own. That was a long term goal Shirou didn't dread aiming towards, for a change.

Having achieved what they had set out to do, they started to make their way home.

Neither of them could have possibly noticed that all the security cameras outside the shops turned to follow them specifically as they walked by.

Emiya Shirou wasn't the only person in Shin Teito tracking the competition.

[XXX]