I know I haven't updated for a few days, but I'm lucky I could even get this out. I've had so much volleyball the past few days that every time I get home, I just go to sleep. But I managed to finish this chapter, so here you go. As usual, I really appreciate any reviews I get. Thanks for the feedback. Note: The italics in this chapter indicate a flashback.

Chapter 5

"The Demon and the Death God?"

"Yeah, you seriously need to watch out for them. They're looking for someone, and I heard that if you don't know, they'll kill you!"

"First the Reaper, now this? Everything's going to hell!"

The two men stopped talking when they realized that footsteps were approaching them. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw two figures approaching their meeting spot in the alley. There was a blue haired girl with a silver haired boy, both of whom were wearing all black. As they approached, the alley seemed to melt away at their presence.

"Say, you wouldn't have happened to see my big brother, have you?" Yukari asked, flashing a photo of Minato.

"Say yes." One of them whispered to the other.

"Of course I have!"

Yukari's eyes widened in anticipation, "Really? Where is he?"

"Well, you see… the thing is…"

"You were lying." Yukari finished, with rage in her eyes.

The man was taken aback at the sudden change in attitude.

"You know, the only thing I hate more than those who run from me are the ones who lie to me. And I already make sure those who run from me die an excruciating death." Yukari said with an evil glint in her eye. Before either of the men could respond, a swift kick to the balls silenced both of them.

"Shiina." She ordered.

"I'm really sorry, but I have no choice." Shiina apologized as he placed a hand on each of their heads ,"I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

The men didn't even have time to scream before they were turned to dust.

Takehito's eyebrows furrowed in worry as he read another report by one of his informants. He calmly sipped his tea while Miya and Homura observed him from their seats across from him at the dining table. Seo was merely leaning against the wall, barely interested in what was happening in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Miya asked, knowing that Takehito only got upset about serious matters.

"It seems that, in addition to the Reaper, a new Ashikabi called the Demon and her Sekirei, the Death God are also leaving behind a massive body count."

"So, what are we going to do about it?" Homura asked.

Takehito took a sip from his cup. Outwardly, he was exuding a sense of calm, but inwardly, he was fuming with anger, "As much as I want to do something, we can't do anything yet. The Discipline Squad has been hot on our trail ever since Tsukiumi defected to our side."

"You don't think that she's a spy, do you?" Miya asked. She had been very suspicious of the blond haired Sekirie ever since she arrived at Izumo Inn. Having been a part of the Discipline Squad herself and knowing many of the members personally, Miya knew better than anyone that Discipline Squad members should not be trusted.

"There's no way! She's Chiho's Sekiriei, and I know that she would never do something like that to betray her Ashikabi! Even if she had thought about it at first, she's been won over." Homura cried out. Tsukiumi had agreed to become Chiho's Sekirei and loved the girl dearly, but asserted that she was the legal wife of Homura, not Chiho. Miya's words made him doubt her true allegiance for a second.

Miya looked at him with suspicion, "You're just saying that because you sleep with her."

Homura was flustered by that comment, but plowed on, "That's not it at all. I trust Tsukiumi. She would never do something like that."

"You better be right, or I'll skin her myself." Miya said, placing a hand on her sword.

"That's enough!" Takehito yelled, "We can't just accuse her of something like that, but likewise, we can't put our complete faith in her. We need to get to the bottom of this. I'll assign someone who's impartial to investigate this matter. End of discussion!" Takehito slammed his cup on the table and walked out.

As he walked out, Seo sighed and took his best friend's place at the table.

"Look what you guys did. Now Takehito's all stressed out."

Miya whipped towards Homura, "It's all your fault! You never should have fallen for that girl! She's clouding your judgment."

"I don't love her. I already told you that. She's a piece in this game, nothing more!" Homura yelled as he followed Takehito's lead.

"Miya, you really need to calm down. I know you want to do everything you can to help Takehito, but this time, you need to back off a little." Seo added as he walked out as well. As he walked out, he bumped into a blond haired woman, who seemed to be on her way out. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it.

"Come on! Read your opponent's moves! Don't just hack away randomly!" Karasuba ordered, as Minato hopelessly swung his practice sword at her.

"Come on! Actually put some thought into this!" Karasuba yelled as Minato swung in the wrong place again, earning a wooden sword in his gut.

"How did I get to this point?" He gasped out.

"Wait, you want me to join the Discipline Squad?" Minato asked incredulously. Within an hour, he had been whisked away from his home in the warzone and ushered into a private meeting with the Chairman of MBI.

"Well, you did wing Mutsu, who was a key part of this group." Minaka replied.

"But still, I don't know if I'm cut out for this."

"Being an enforcer shouldn't be a problem for the Reaper."

"Why does everyone insist on referring to me as that? I'm not actually that cruel."

"Your track record says otherwise." Minaka said, pointing to his computer screen, which held personal information about Minato.

Minato had to admit, his recent actions had been pretty violent. But he had no part in them. He was not actually strong enough to cause that much damage to one person, let alone forty.

"Fine, I'll do it." Minato sighed, "But I don't want to officially be part of the Discipline Squad. I'll work with them, but my team will be a completely different entity."

"Deal."

Minato was greeted by his two Sekirei as he walked out of the office.

"So?" Benitsubasa asked.

"Pack your things, we're staying here with the Discipline Squad."

Minato did not own anything to begin with, so while Benitsubasa returned to gather her things, he decided to check out his room. Mutsu led him to the elevator and took him to the floor where the Discipline Squad stayed. As soon as the elevator opened, Mutsu was pulled into a hug by Kazehana, who made sure that Mutsu's face was mashed into her chest.

Minato walked out behind him and noticed Karasuba watching on in anger. She immediately got up and walked off as Kazehana shot her a glance. Unnoticed by either of them, Yume was also intently watching Karasuba.

Intrigued, Minato followed her to a room on the other side of the floor. He opened the door to find himself inside of a dojo. Karasuba was busy striking a mannequin that had been adorned with a black wig. Karasuba noticed the intruder and stopped.

"What do you want?" She snapped as she stabbed her sword into the mannequin.

Although he was a bit scared of her, Minato figured that he could benefit a lot from her instruction. "Teach me." Minato replied.

Karasuba thought for a moment, "Why do you want to learn?"

"I want to be able to help my Sekirei when they fight. I would be powerless to help them if they were being overwhelmed. Also, I don't want them to get hurt just because I can't defend myself."

Karasuba decided that she liked his answer, "Fine I'll do it."

From that moment on, Minato had become Karasuba's student. He honestly didn't know a lot about her, so he figured he would ask some of the Discipline Squad members. As he met each one, he decided that the Discipline Squad's reputation, much like his, had been greatly exaggerated. Haihane was actually pretty good to play video games and watch TV with. MBI Tower was outfitted with the latest game systems and had access to the best games. It wasn't uncommon for Haihane to ask Minato to play a few rounds of Nazi Zombies with her.

Matsu scared him a bit. Every time he talked to her, it always ended with her trying to rape him. At this point, he learned to stay away from her. Kazehana seemed to always be flirting with Mutsu or himself. If she wasn't, then she was at the bar, drinking. Saki relished in using her teleportation skills to mess with Minato. He had already been locked in the bathroom by her four times this week. When she wasn't pranking him, she was a lot like Haihane, only she didn't like video games as much.

Minato had only met Akitsu a few times, and in the few times he met her, she barely spoke a word. She was quiet, and seemed to live only to help Natsuo, who sometimes requested her help on sensitive matters. Yume seemed to be a pleasant person, but didn't really pay Minato too much interest, so he had not had a chance to talk to her. Karasuba was actually the only one who really paid attention to him, even if it was only because she was training him.

"You're hopeless. In the back of my mind, I knew you were hopeless from the beginning." Karasuba muttered as she dropped her sword. She sighed and sat down on the ground, her body still burning up from the workout. Even though Minato wasn't very good yet, he did make her work. Every day she had trained with him, it felt like she had been in the sun all day.

"Then why did you start teaching me?" Minato asked as he took a seat next to her.

"Honestly, I thought you would be able to protect your Sekirei better."

"You really care for Mutsu, huh?" Minato asked as he grabbed a bottle of water from the ground.

Karasuba immediately blushed at the mention of his name, "How did you know?"

"It wasn't hard to tell. I could tell just by how protective you were of him."

Karasuba sighed, "It doesn't really matter. He could never love me."

"Why are you so sure?" Minato asked.

"The real me is nothing like the person standing in front of you. You would be terrified if you knew the real me."

"What's so bad about the real you?"

"I love killing. I get giddy whenever someone cries out for their life. Watching the blood squirt out of their lifeless bodies is exhilarating for me. It's the greatest feeling in the world when I'm weaving in and out of a crowd, just slicing off body parts and causing pain. I've never known a rush quite like killing. Isn't that the most messed up thing you've ever heard?" Karasuba said, certain that Minato would run off in fear. But instead he just sat there and listened intently.

"That's not messed up at all. I should hate this life. I shouldn't love every moment that I'm spending in here. But I do. Fighting to win the Sekirei Plan is the only thing in my life that has ever given me purpose. It's also the most exhilarating thing I've ever done. I've been against fighting and killing all my life, yet here I am, doing all of that and more. And the scariest thing is that I never want this to end, because regular life scares me too much."

Karasuba looked at Minato in wonder. They had been training together for a week, and Minato was still learning, but Karasuba still found herself in awe of him sometimes. He barely knew her, yet he seemed intent on comforting her, and wasn't afraid to bare his soul to her. She had no idea that he was so afraid of his own desires like she was.

For a moment, they almost felt like kindred spirits. That was a feeling that Karasuba loved. For all of her life, she had felt alone in her world because she was different from everyone else. No one else could understand how scared she was of herself. Sometimes, she looked in the mirror and realized in horror that her greatest joy in life was killing, and that almost nothing else would bring that joy to her life.

She put up a tough exterior, but there were times when she was scared out of her mind. She was afraid that one day, she would lose herself in the moment, and never return. She was in control for now, but she could never tell when her sadistic nature would take hold. That uncertainty terrified her more than anything else in the world. Now though, she knew someone else who felt the same way about themselves, and she didn't want to lose him. Suddenly, she realized why she always felt so hot around Minato.

"Wing me." She ordered.

Minato almost spit out the water he was currently drinking, "What?" He had never imagined that someone as strong willed as Karasuba would be willingly winged.

"Will you be my Ashikabi or not?" Karasuba asked.

"I thought Natsuo was supposed to be your Ashikabi." Minato replied nervously.

"He was, but it's still my choice in the end. Minaka can plan all he wants, but he knows he can't force me to be winged by someone I don't approve of."

"Wait, you approve of me?"

Karasuba smiled for the first time in a long while, "Well, you're the only one who's ever approved of the real me."

Before Minato could say anything else, Karasuba's lips were on top of his. She suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over her body as two wings of light sprouted from her back. She had no idea that it felt so good to be winged. If she had known, she would have done it a long time ago. Although, she was glad that if she waited this long, at least she met the right Ashikabi.

"Since you're my Ashikabi, I really need to train you now." Karasuba said as she grabbed her sword and stood up.

"One more thing." Karasuba paused for a moment.

"What?"

"Don't hide who you are." Minato smiled as he picked up his sword. Karasuba nodded in response.

Before they could resume their training, Mutsu opened the door.

"Minaka wants to talk to you." He told Minato.

"First, congratulations on winging Karasuba. I knew you had it in you! Second, it's time to put your squad in action!" Minaka said excitedly.

"You don't have to act so excited." Minato grumbled.

"I'm not acting, I am excited! I'm very interested to see how you carry out this job." Minaka said as he handed Minato four packets.

He exited Minaka's office only to be met by a light haired man dressed in an expensive purple suit.

"You must be Minato, I really look forward to working with you in the future." The man said as he held out his hand.

"Oh, you must be Natsuo." Minato shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

"I heard that you were getting your first assignment today. I wish you the best of luck!" Suddenly, his expression changed to one of nervousness. He began searching his pockets urgently.

"Got it! Minaka wanted me to give this to you." Natsuo said as he held out a small box.

Minato picked it up and carefully opened it up. Inside lay a sheathed dagger with a slightly curved blade.

"A dagger?"

"Oh, it's much more than that. Minaka just had me pick it up from the research department. He knows that you've been training with Karasuba. Consider it a reward for taking the initiative."

Minato gingerly took the small dagger, and instantly, the ivory blade began to rapidly expand and became much more curved, until it resembled a large crescent.

"What is this?" Minato asked.

"It is a specially made makraka. The Zande of central Africa used this weapon, mainly for executions. The blade has been specially modified to slice through flesh and bone easier. I think you know where I'm going with this." Natsuo said, all with a smile.

"Wait, this is for executions? But, I promised myself that I would never kill." Minato said, studying the blade.

Natsuo shrugged, "Suit yourself, but when the time comes, you'll be glad that you had this on you." He turned around and walked off.

As Minato tried to sheath it, it returned to its original size. Minato took the blade and placed it inside of his jacket. He really hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

He returned to the dojo, where Benitsubasa, Karasuba, and Mutsu were waiting for him. Mutsu was leaning against a wall while Karasuba and Benitsubasa were loafing around on a large box. While Benitsubasa was busy adjusting her hair, Karasuba was staring dreamily at an oblivious Mutsu. All three focused their attention on him as he entered the room. He handed each of them a packet before opening his own up.

"Well?" Benitsubasa asked.

"We have a mission, so get ready." Minato ordered.

Mutsu opened up the box and tossed a black uniform at Minato.

"What's this?" Minato asked.

"Your uniform. Benitsubasa and I already received ours." Mutsu grabbed another one and handed it to Karasuba.

"All right, then let's get changed and get to the meeting place."

Minato looked at the uniform that his team would use. It was a black military uniform, with slight modifications. The shoulders were each covered by an ivory shoulder guard, and the right arm had a small patch with the black outline of the grim reaper against a white background. The pants were completely black, hiding the black military boots that reached up to Minato's shins, except for a lone stripe of white down each pant leg. He slipped on black fingerless gloves and picked up a hooded mask.

The mask itself was an eerily accurate rendition of a skull, paired with a completely black hood. As he put it on, he couldn't help but feel that he looked like an embodiment of the grim reaper. He adjusted the hood so it would hide as much of his face as possible, so from far away, it would be impossible to tell that he was wearing a mask.

He exited his room to be met by Benitsubasa, Karasuba, and Mutsu, who wore the same uniform, minus the mask and hood. The uniform was significantly more form fitting than the kimonos the three of them normally wore, and Minato could sense Benitsubasa's self consciousness as she stared at Karasuba's significantly larger chest. Meanwhile, Karasuba was busy ogling Mutsu, whose uniform showed off his toned body. Minato instantly felt self conscious as well. He was pretty strong, but compared to Mutsu, he looked like a weakling.

"I guess this is it." Minato sighed as he led the group to the elevator. As they walked by the Discipline Squad, he saw Karasuba shoot Kazehana a look of smugness. He wondered what was going on between the two, but he had no time to think about it as his mission was time sensitive.

Himura Youichi smiled as a tank blew up in front of him. His plan to escape the city was going off without a hitch. He had managed to get five other Ashikabi and their Sekirei to join him and Nanami. They assaulted the Northern Bridge as that was where the defenses were at their weakest. The MBI solders so far had been no match for their group.

"Come on! Just a little further!" He yelled out to his group, which cheered in response. He was so close to finally returning to the normal world where he wouldn't have to fight other Ashikabi. Plus, as an added bonus, he basically had a very attractive slave who would do anything he wanted.

"Not so fast." A voice rang out. A lone figure came into view. He was dressed in a black uniform that was starkly contrasted by his ivory shoulder guards. A black hood covered most of his face. Although he was alone on the bridge, the feeling of fear could be felt by everyone in the group. The man seemed to have an almost demonic aura surrounding him.

"The Discipline Squad?" One Ashikabi with brown hair asked.

"No, the Reapers." Minato replied.

"The Reaper? No way, I'm out!" The Ashikabi cried out and along with his Sekirei , turned back to leave, but was stopped by a sword slicing him in half. Before his Sekirei could do anything, she was decapitated in one swift motion. Both bodies dropped lifelessly to the ground and blood began spewing out of the various severed blood vessels. The sight almost made Himura throw up in disgust, but he tried his best to keep his composure.

Karasuba laughed as she watched the blood from the two bodies quickly pool up. She had taken Minato's words to heart and was indulging her desires to spill blood. She had no idea why she had tried to suppress her urges. The feeling she got when she looked at the rest of the group cowering in fear was unparalleled. The feeling was exhilarating and she could not wait for more.

While the group was distracted by that, a shockwave hit the group from the side. Mutsu leaped forward and impaled one Sekirei on his sword before turning around and expertly blocking an attack from another who attempted to punch him. Karasuba watched him, mildly aroused by his killing, but quickly snapped out of it and cut down another Sekirei in her way, making extra sure that her victim's Ashikabi got a good look at the Sekirei's blank eyes as her head rolled off of her shoulders.

Benitsubasa joined in the fray, quickly grabbing one Sekirei and pulling her aside. She picked up the stunned Sekirei and tossed her into a support beam for the bridge, reveling in the crack that the Sekirei had made when she met metal. She quickly turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick to another Sekirei who had tried to sneak up behind her.

Mutsu quickly slashed at the Sekirei that Benitsubasa had sent his way, leaving her core limbless. He turned away as she cried out in pain while blood poured out her open wounds. She was dead within seconds. He didn't always like killing, but he understood that their group had a reputation to uphold. Besides, who was he to ruin Karasuba's and Benitsubasa's fun?

Himura watched in horror as his group was quickly decimated. He had gotten so close to pulling off his plan, and he wasn't let all of his work go to waste.

"Go for the Reaper! He can't stop all of us!" Himura yelled out, charging towards Minato.

"Don't come any closer, I don't want to hurt you." Minato pleaded.

"Like you can hurt me, Nanami!" At his command, the blond Sekirei jumped in front of her Ashikabi, armed with a bladed staff. She immediately lunged forward with it, but Minato pulled out his makraka in time to deflect the blow. He backed off and tried to remember Karasuba's lessons. He waited for her to stab forward again, and quickly used the curved blade to disarm her. He then delivered a kick to her shocked face, knocking her to the ground.

"Fine, whatever, I don't need her. I can beat you myself." Himura said as he got into a fighting stance.

"You don't even care about what happens to your Sekirei. You disgust me." Minato spat. In an instant, he lost control. He quickly punched Himura in the gut, forcing him to his knees. He pulled back his hood, revealing the skull mask he had on underneath, eliciting a look of fear in Himura's eyes. He then lined up his sword against Himura's neck, nicking it slightly and letting the blood flow down his neck.

"Please, just let me go. You've won." Himura begged, now cowering in fear.

His plea snapped Minato out of his bloodlust. Himura's face relaxed as Minato took his sword away from his neck. However, his face suddenly changed to an expression of pain as a katana stabbed through his chest from behind. Minato looked behind him to see Karasuba, who pulled her sword out of Himura, allowing his body to collapse to the ground as the man gasped his dying breaths. Wordlessly, she made her way over to Nanami, whose crest was disappearing and stabbed her in the back.

Minato watched her in fascination. He now knew why Karasuba was so feared. When she was locked in, she was easily the most intimidating person Minato had ever seen. Also, now that he knew about the pleasure she got from killing, she was even more intimidating, although he didn't want to tell her that. She noticed his gaze and gave him a thumbs up. She had to admit, he hadn't done a bad job. He took out the Sekirei rather easily and even managed to scare the Ashikabi to death.

"Minato, we should go." Mutsu said as he tapped his Ashikabi's shoulder. Minato looked at the dead bodies of the group and agreed. Once again, he had left no survivors. He wrapped his hands around Benitsubasa's waist as she took off from her spot on the bridge.

As the group landed in front of MBI Tower, he looked down at his hands and realized that he almost killed someone just a moment ago. In the moment, he had no hesitation. He was simply acting on his instincts, and his instincts had ordered him to kill the man standing in front of him. Now he was unconsciously becoming used to death and his body would no longer hesitate to kill.

His gaze fell on Karasuba, who was hanging on every word that Mutsu had spoke. He wondered if the same thing had happened to her and she became the killer she was today in a similar process. He imagined that they both progressive grew less and less opposed to the idea of killing, and in Karasuba's case, she became addicted to it. He had stopped himself this time, but if he lost control again, he was going to kill without remorse.

"What am I becoming?"

I know that interpretation of Karasuba might be different from the usual one, but I like to think that she is vulnerable and self conscious of the fact that she is a sadist. Although she would derive pleasure from inflicting pain, I feel like she would feel at least a little guilty about it. Although this has been a pretty serious story, especially in comparison to my first one, the next chapter will be a bit more light hearted, mostly because I think Karasuba and Mutsu would be a cute couple. Again, if any of you guys want to see a Sekirei crossover, please vote on the poll I put up on my profile.