Shirou was hiding inside of the air vents, taking the moments safety to reexamine his situation and try to come up with a plan.
Suddenly finding himself a girl was probably on the top of the list of strangest things to have ever happened to him... her. But at least she had an explanation for that. Alaya had taken her soul and stuck it in some other body. She had no clue what everything else was about.
Why had she been in that fluid chamber? Had they been experimenting on this body? If so, for what reason?
Shirou was doing her best to try to reason through it, but the sudden lose of the family jewels was rather jarring for her.
Considering that his soul was now in her body, it was most likely that either the original soul had left the body after some kind of accident that should have resulted in death, or there was never a soul to began with and the body was just a vegetable up until now. Or perhaps he had been in the body since it was first born and he... she was only just starting to wake up.
Two of these options would imply that she had always been in the lab up until this point and that she was somehow created there, like a homunculus of some type. It seemed like the most likely explanation. It would also explain all of the Magic Circuits.
Shirou had been shocked when she slowed down long enough to start trying to project clothes for herself to cover her body and on further inspection of her magic circuits found that there were far more of them than she should have had. She wasn't even quite sure how many she did have, somewhere in the hundreds. Even though she only really could make use of thirty of them at the moment, it was already more than she was used to owning. The structure of the circuits reminded her more of Saber's magic core than human magic circuits.
It was the kind of thing one found in some Greater Elementals, Dragons and the True Ancestors. So what did it mean for it to be in the body of a small girl in a test tube? Was that the reason those people were experimenting on her? Most magus would give up a good deal to have such a test subject. Shirou had personal experience with that fact.
Her hand moved down to rest on her midriff, where the majority of her activated circuits had gathered. On a spot, just above her naval, was a mark. It was only slightly darker than the rest of her skin, seeming to be as natural as a birthmark, but the shape of it was way too distinct to be a birthmark. It had the appearance of a bird above a yin yang symbol with two sets of tomoe marks on either side of it. Whatever the mark was, it seemed to be directly connected with her magic circuits. Though what the mark meant, she didn't have a clue.
She wanted answers. The fastest way to get them would be to turn herself in and hope that the people around her would be friendly enough to explain just what is going on, then she would have to escape again later on down the line with more eyes on her. It was a dangerous option and one that was about as likely to work as stopping Berserker with a pillow.
Kidnapping someone and forcing them to answer her questions was much safer... for her anyways, but with the alarms blaring and people searching for her, it would be hard to single anyone out and hold them for long enough to get the answers she was looking for. She would need to sneak away and come back later once things had finally calmed down.
But how exactly would she escape? Move up to the top floor and hope that there was a nearby roof top she could reach? Make her way down to the ground floor and try to bust out or hope there was a crowd she could fade into? Hope that there was a back exit she could force her way out?
She didn't know the building's layout or the surrounding buildings. Going to the top floor would most likely get her stuck and she would have nowhere to hide.
Her appearance was too unusual to blend into a crowd. She would be spotted in an instant and most likely the people who kept a small girl in a tank would not have any problem with firing into a group of civilians. She couldn't risk innocent lives just to make her get away. So she would have to try for a back down policy and hope her luck was going to change.
"That's about as likely as hell freezing over." As if the World was reading her thoughts, cold air blasted through the vents, causing her to shiver. "Fuck you Alaya!" Shirou hissed as she tried to shield herself from the cold wind. They must have figured out she was in the vents and were making things colder in order to drive her out. She should have projected warming clothes instead of the black leotard she had made. It was something extremely simple and easy for her to project without worrying about it fading away on her in a sudden laps of focus. She had expected to be fighting in those clothes, not trying to drive away the cold.
Moving to an exit panel, she placed her hand on the metal cover, quickly using a spell to strip the screws that were holding the cover in place before carefully removing it, trying not to make any sound.
Quickly checking for any guards, she dropped to the ground out of the way of the arctic air. "Hopefully I can find the stairway before anyone... spots... me..." Shirou mumbled as she looked up from the spot she just dropped down from. Right over the open vent face was a security camera pointed right at her. "Oh come on!" She shouted as she heard foot steps coming in her direction with people talking into headsets. This was just not her day.
Turning away from the noise she dashed down the hall, keeping an eye open for any stairs or an elevator. It was only know the she was exploring the place outside of the vents that she realized just how huge the building was. She had been in castles that weren't as big as this one floor seemed to be. She ran past four entire long hallways, disarming any guards that popped up in her way.
As she ran down one of the halls a one foot thick metal barrier slide down from the ceiling, blocking her path. Turning she could see another one closing on her right and another behind her the way she had come. The only way left open was the left. Looking off in that direction, Shirou smelt something off. It was the scent of volcanic ashe mixed together with blood and iron. Something big was in that direction.
"They are trying to shepherd me into a trap." She mumbled turning back to the heavy metal barrier in front of her. She slashed at it with her Noble Phantasms, cutting a triangular hole in the mundane metal before jumping through.
The power didn't come after Shirou. Instead, two smaller individuals who had gone unnoticed at first being of the other's overwhelming presence began to follow. The two were coming fast, moving at a speed that easily outstripped Shirou's own, even with her reinforced steps. It wasn't long before they caught up to her.
Shirou first spotted them in the reflection off of her white blade. Two women, somewhere in their late teens early twenties, and both giving off far more prana than what could be produced by humans.
"Where do you think you're running to!" The lunging kick to Shirou's exposed back had been inticipated, and she quickly rolled to the side, leaving the attacker to fly straight by before she performed her counter attack on the girl's own backside.
The girl skidded to a stop and turned just as Shirou was slicing towards her exposed shoulders and thighs, trying to cripple rather than kill her. But too Shirou's shock the girl deflected her attacks using nothing but her gloved hands. The back handed swings caught onto the edge of Kanshou and Bakuya's blades, blades that could easily cut through normal steel, but the girl's gloved hands didn't receive so much as a scratch.
It wasn't impossible. Kuzuki had managed to do pretty much the same during the Holy Grail War, going so far as to break the traced Phantasms with his fists after Caster magically reinforced them. But that was back when Shirou was just a rookie with her tracings and against a man with the power of a servant of magic backing him up.
The girl throw a punch which Shirou absorbed with Kanshou, using its momentum to help her pivot into a slash with Bakuya towards the bottom of the outstretched arm. Seeing the attack coming, the girl moved back giving Shirou some room to intercept the second attacker.
Two sets of metal claws were being thrust down at her head which Shirou quickly blocked, parrying away the force behind the attacks before her swords got locked by the metal claws out to the side.
The first girl came back, aiming a punch towards the back of Shirou's head, so she ducked down, letting the punch pass over her as she brought one foot off the ground, kicking the girl hard in the stomach, launching the girl back across the hall. Then Shirou abandoned her swords, taking the claw using by surprise as she traced a new pair and slashed at her in order to drive the woman back.
Some space gained Shirou turned a sword on each of her opponents as she took a chance to recover and assess her situation.
Being double teamed from both sides in a small hallway by two fast opponents was not ideal at all. The fact that both enemies were completely unknown to her was another thing that the Magus didn't like. They were not human, that much was for sure, but she didn't know there limits or there weaknesses.
The fist fighter girl was petite with long pink hair that was worn up in a one sided ponytail. She was dressed in a sort of black short kimono baring the same bird yin yang symbol that was on Shirou's own stomach. Her fighter's stance had her body all wound up like a spring ready to do a large lung and strike at any moment and the smirk on her face was that of someone who loved fighting a little bit too much.
The woman with the claws was taller and more developed in curtain areas. They she didn't look on any way's old, her pale skin and wild white hair made her look a little unhealthy. From the neck down she was completely covered in bandages with the only other clothes she was wearing being a studded choker and kimono like the other girl's, only this one was practically cut to ribbons.
But what really caught Shirou's eye was her weapons. The polished claws with their arm guards might not have been of the most efficient design, but their creation was absolutely shocking. The metal had been not so much forged and shaped as much as it had been assembled on the atomic level using electron lasers to make sure that the metal had no gaps in its structure. The claws were equal to any mundane steel reinforced to its very limit. Shirou had no idea that such technology existed. Sure by the definition of magecraft, anything she could do with her reinforcements could be done through science, but she hadn't realized that engineering had managed to achieve it yet. Beyond that, they seemed to have an organic component to them, mixing the woman's own blood into the steel, allowing her to use her own Od to even further enhance the blades, even without any knowledge of what she was doing.
What the hell kind of magus created those things? They would be considered beyond heresy to most, a mixture of magecraft and engineering.
"Looks like the little hatchling knows how to do more than run after all." The pink haired fist fighter said in a condescending manner. "To bad you're so weak and clueless. This is hardly going to be any fun at all." Then she did something that was completely baffling to Shirou, the girl introduced herself. "I'm number one zero five, Benitsubasa."
Magus never did something like introducing themselves. Knowledge of who you are can provide knowledge of what you can do. Giving it could possibly giving up an advantage. Best to kill your enemies unaware before they can figure you out. The second thing that confused her was the number given. Was it some kind of serial number? Maybe it came from a line up of homunculus, artifically created magi. It would explain how they had such inhuman amounts of prana, but even the Einzbern combat models weren't this durable.
Benitsubasa stared at Shirou for several seconds before a sneer crossed her face. "Well? You going to give me a response or do you think your somehow to good for me?"
Shirou didn't respond, just finished her reinforcement and deepened her stance, slowly putting up a larger opening, in order to lure in the attacker.
"Calm down Benitsubasa, we're supposed to bring her back still functioning, not terminate her, remember?" The grey haired woman said to her partner. "This fight isn't part of the plan, so we don't need to follow those rules. Besides, this isn't a one on one fight."
"Shut up Haihane! I don't care about that! But this brat shouldn't think she is so high and mighty that she doesn't have to even respond!" The pink haired girl spat. "So! Say something!"
"The battlefield is no place for words." Shirou said. It was the philosophy that Saber had beaten into her. While in battle, every breath that you spend talking was one that should have gone to ending your enemies life.
The pink haired girl flushed with anger. "Why... you... brat..." She growled, clenching her fists. Good, an angry fighter made mistakes. "Those eyes... I hate them. I know that the hag wanted you back still functioning, but who knows what will happen in the heat of battle." Lifting on her hand above her head Benitsubasa started to leak out more and more prana as she built up for an attack. "I might just kill you on accident!"
The girl punched the ground, releasing a massive shockwave through the floor. The shockwave was surprising, but nothing that Shirou hadn't dealt with before. She jumped up and to her left kicking off of one wall with another strength to crack the slate coverings and flying over to the other side, throwing one of her weapons as she did so.
Benitsubasa had planned on charging, but with her target using the walls to rapidly change her position, she missed her chance and had to defend herself against the incoming blade. Shirou shifted from dual wielding to a two handed style on the remaining blade, spinning it in a wide slash using all the momentum she had gained from the triple jumps to crash down on Benitsubasa's defense.
Strong as the pink haired fist fighter was, taken off guard she couldn't maintain her balance after such a heavy blow, and why she struggle to right herself and gain some distance, Shirou landed on her strong leg and twisted her left hand to the bottom of her blade pushing it upwards in a hard thrust aimed right for Benitsubasa's heart, underneath her guard.
The pink haired woman saw the blade's approach and kicked off the ground as hard as she could to get some distance between her and death. Her body blurred away from the spot, up into the air. But with how much force she had to put into getting out of the way in time, she was know airborne, unable to do anything as Shirou took a step forward and slide her blade up over her shoulder into position for a throw.
It would have been checkmate if Benitsubasa had been alone. Instead, Shirou had to cancel the finishing move in order to block an attack from Haihane. Deflecting one claw before side stepping to move out of the way of her and let the rest of the grey haired woman's momentum carry her past Shirou.
It had cost Shirou her opening, but it had gotten her out of being surrounded. She throw Kanshou at the grey haired woman's back, but she turned around and batted it out of the air. The weapon slapped into a nearby wall and was stuck there.
Kanshou and Bakuya weren't ideal blades for fighting in inclosed spaces. A wide range of angles of approach and quick speed were their specialties, along with the special properties that they gained in flight, pulling towards one and other. Not to mention that Shirou's style of luring countering worked a lot better against attackers with heavier momentum and the fist and claws were too quick to recover from a failed attack to fully take advantage of her little trick. She needed a different approach with a different weapon, one that could take advantage of the limited range of angles, something with a longer reach.
Shirou reached into her Unlimited Blade Works and found what she was looking for. A long black nodachi, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. The single edge blade was twice the size of Shirou's entire body but felt light as the wind in the small space coiled around it, helping with the weight of the blade. The legendary sword that was pulled out of the belly of the Yamata no Orochi, the eight headed serpent.
"What the hell!? Where are all these weapons coming from!?" Benitsubasa shouted as she regained her fighting stance.
"Looks as though she making them. Little feather must be an elemental type." Haihane said getting into a more cautious stance. With Shirou's new found reach, they wouldn't be able to depend upon speed along to get them past her.
"What? Is she a sword elemental? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." Benitsubasa spat.
The battle became much slower as the two extreme close quarters fighters tried to find a way through Shirou's own defenses. Each time putting up a token attack before retreating out of range of Shirou's massive blade. They were fast, much faster than Shirou herself. But they didn't have nearly her level of skill. Shirou was slowly driving them back into a corner.
However, it was going too slowly. Shirou could still feel the presence of the stronger fighter coming closer at a leisurely pace. As if she wasn't interested at all in capturing Shirou herself. But all bets would be off the moment that monster of a presence arrived in person.
She knew she had to finish it and get out.
She would activate Kusanagi no Tsurugi's legend, Heaven Winds Cutting the Fields. With it, Shirou could command a massive wind, capable of uprooting entire trees. In the narrow coridor with no where to hide from it, it would be a sure way to take care of her opponents.
'My body is made out of swords.'
'My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.'
Shirou started her manta, building up to unleash the legend. She was shocked when she felt just how much power responded to the call. Rather than flicking on ten magic circuits, more than sixty came to life at her words.
The prana was building up quickly, poured out of her skin and forming around her in a silvery glow. It gathered behind her, pulling together to form into feathered wings, that stretched out. Each and every feather looked like a expertly shaped blade, only lacking a hilt. So sharp as to cut into the walls surrounding her.
The Kusanagi no Tsurugi greedily drank in the prana, absorbing more and more of it. Far more than was needed. Shirou knew that it was too much but she couldn't stop it. The Noble Phantasm quickly reached its limit and then... it broke.
Cracks formed around the blade in such a manner as to give the black steel the appearance of snake scales, with dark mist leaking out of it and shrouding the blade, making it shimmer in the light. The air became heavy, as if charged by an incoming thunder storm. It was too much. Shirou couldn't use a broken Noble Phantasm. Not in a building full of people.
"She's using her Norito!" Haihane shouted, raising her voice for the first time in surprise. "How... that shouldn't be possible!"
"Like hell am I going to let her!" Benitsubasa shouted, rushing Shirou in an attempt to stop her attack.
Shirou had no choice. She didn't have time to disarm the weapon she had just created, not with the pink haired woman pressing down on her. Her hand was force and she swung the blade.
Shirou pushed the bits of stone that had buried her out of the way. She was a little roughed up by the cave in, but she was still in one piece. Just a few scraps to show for a roof collapsing on her head. Her new body must have been more sturdy than she thought.
The wind that had been unleashed was like a tornado. It didn't just rip apart the hallway. It tore open the the rooms on either side of it to pieces, going two rooms deep in every direction including up and down. A massive cone of destruction appearing in the middle of the building.
"I hope no innocent people got hurt." She mumbled to herself as she looked around her. She couldn't see her attackers, but she didn't expect to find them. An attack like that one at such close range. If they wouldn't dead she'd be surprised. Then again, these... things seemed to be around as durable as some servants. Either way, she needed to get out of there.
Looking out over a massive hole that had been blown in the nearby wall, she could see another roof top, around a hundred meters away and three stories down. It would have to do as an exit. Reinforcing her body as much as she dared, she made the jump to the neighboring building, rolling ungracefully along the roof as she did so before picking herself back up and continuing on her way, trying to get some distance between her and the strange people. Her body was exhausted. She needed to find a good place to rest.
Karasuba smiled as she stood in the hole left in the build's side, following the escapee with her hawk-like eyes. A feeling of excitement like she hadn't felt in a long time filling her. It was all she could do to stop herself from running straight after the little girl. But she wanted her to be on the outside, not cooped up on some lab somewhere. To see what kind of things she would get up to and to see how strong she would become.
Karasuba lazily glanced to the side as she heard a grown and saw a large amount of loose concrete being pushed aside to reveal Benitsubasa and Haihane, the other two members of the Disciplinary Squad.
"Ah! Damn brat!" Benitsubasa screamed as she stood up. Then she screamed again, kneeling down and covering herself with her hands. The pink haired Sekirei's clothes hadn't managed to escape the blast of wind as well as she had. The two of them were beaten and bruised, covered in cuts, but still alive and functional.
"Oweeeee..." Haihane whined as she pushed herself into a sitting position with her legs spread wide and open to the world, not seeming to care about her sudden nudity as much as her partner. "I didn't think that little girl would pack such a wallop." She said raising up a hand in order to rub her head only to cut herself with her claws, resulting in another cry of pain. "I guess we failed."
"Don't worry about it too much. I doubt Minaka will care too much. He'll probably be thrilled to hear about it all." Karasuba said patting her grey haired junior on the head.
Haihane smiled up at her. "You really think so, Karasuba-sama?"
"Who cares! How am I supposed to face Natsuo after this!" Benitsubasa cried over her 'ruined' body. "That damn brat! I'll kill her for this!"
"No, let her go." Karasuba said turning and walking away, back into the partially destroyed building.
"Let her go! Like hell am I going to late that little..!" Benitsubasa started, but she lost her voice as Karasuba looked back at her and a wave of killing intent flooded the air.
"I said. Let. Her. Go." Karasuba said, her grey eyes shining and a horrible smile stretched across her face. "I want to see how she does. Now come on, you two need to get dressed." She looked past them, in the direction the child had ran. "Get strong, my little feather."
"I can't wait to see Hayato's face when he sees the kinds of clothes we got for Akitsu." Mitsuha giggled.
"I know that this wasn't what he had in mind, but it will be totally worth seeing his reaction." Mitsuki nodded in agreement. "He's so adorable when he flushes in embarrassment."
Heads turned in there direction as they walked through the streets with their shopping bags. It was only natural for a pair of identical busty twin girls dressed in black and yellow stripped tight latex dresses with knee high stockings to turn some heads. Each of the sisters wore there golden blond hair in long twin tails that reach down to their waists where they both had rope whips attached to trendy belts.
And even if the twins hadn't been enough, the third member of their little shopping party set it over the top. Akitsu's pale skin and slightly light brown hair were exhatic enough in Japan, but her slightly far off expression and the Sekirei mark on her forehead took that to another level, even before taking her clothes into account.
She was wearing an extremely thin white kimono with a low cut to expose her shoulders and ample chest. The thing would have slide right down off of her if it wasn't for some chains that were wrapped around her neck, snaking its way between her breasts, before being attacked to the clothe, holding it up.
It was an outfit that the twins had found at an S&M shop, something they thought would be good for a laugh. Even some of the women blushed as they walked by. "You know, you don't have to wear that before we get home." Mitsuha said to the quieter Sekirei.
"Ah..." Akitsu blinked and opened her mouth before pausing for a moment in thought. "But I like it."
The twins burst into giggles. "And that is what we love about you Akitsu." Mitsuha said as she pat the brown haired girl on the head.
"You are such a natural pervert." Mitsuki nodded in agreement.
Akitsu tilted her head as she wondered about what the two had said, but that didn't last long before something caught her attention.
"Now lets hurry, I want to see how our Ashikabi reacts." Mitsuki said.
"I wonder if he will have blood squirt out of his knows like it those anime sho... Akitsu!" Mitsuha shouted as she noticed that the other girl who had been shadowing them was suddenly missing. "Where did she go?"
"I don't now! I hardly ever even realize she is there! She usually just follows us around silently!" Mitsuki looked around, starting to panic.
"Akitsu! Where are you!" Mitsuha shouted, looking around them. "This isn't good, our Ashikabi trusted us to look after the scatterbrains! We can't let him down like this."
"Ah... I'm here." The two turned around with sighs of relief.
"Akitsu, you are supposed to stay with us! Don't you remember what Hayato... said... um..." Mitsuha's words died as the twins stared at Akitsu, or more specifically what she had in her hands. "Akitsu... what is that?"
"Ah... I found her... over in the alley." Akitsu said, holding out a small naked girl with dark skin and light pink velvet hair. The twins' eyes went to the Sekirei mark on the girl's stomach. Not quite believing what they were seeing. "Can I keep her?"
Deciding to have Shirou go and meet the spoiled rich kid first. Whether or not it will stay that way will depend on how well I write the next chapters. If I feel like I have built believable chemistry between Shirou and the Sekirei of that group then she'll stay. Otherwise... sucks to the rich kid.
Just so you are aware, it is unlikely that I'll have Shirou fall for a guy. Just won't really feel right.
