I like lots of things, and dislike very few, in special misdirection, lack of information, being away from my family and my Ashikabi. Maybe that is why this situation bothers me so much.

Kei have locked herself in her own world. And in her room. Oh, she have done it before, namely when some major powers or weapon making corporations have released a new 'product'. But this time is different, instead of being away for a day, she never left her room for two weeks, three days, four hours, and two minutes. She stills eat and go to her bathroom, but is annoying to even watch her spy cameras. Souhiro knows what she is doing, Dad and Rin-kaa-san have a few theories, but I'm left in the dark. And I should have seen it coming dammit!

… two weeks, five days, two hours, and fifty minutes before…

"What are you doing saia~ai?" I seized her by her chest, groping her deliciously soft mounds in my hands.

Instead of the expected explosion (of temper and plastic pellets) came the almost mechanical dismissal: "Studying, and gathering materials for my project. See you later." Then she got away from my stunned hands, and proceeded to put a few blueprints in a box, and left to another room.

… later that same day, after dinner …

"I'm full, if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

…

It sounded a normal thing to say, specially coming from Saiai. She, from time to time, tried (keyword: tried) to get away from the explosive and chaotic routine of our house, to study her magecraft in peace. We always dragged her back, kicking and screaming after a few hours. This time, however, she prepared herself way too much. And Dad and Rin said she should be left alone too…

"Not fair, not fair at all!" I fumed. But unlike some brother of mine, I avoid colliding with the person in front of me, without even taking not of who exactly he was.

"What is not fair Karin-chan?" Dad's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Dad!" I glomp him, in a way that he calls 'Ilya style'. "The meeting was faster than last time." He states happily. "They probably resigned themselves to the fact 'Minato Sahashi' was going to keep the same policies from the last years…" He chuckles. "Enough boring politics. How are you doing, dear?"

"Keiko, stills in her room, and I'm getting worried…"

"Relax, your sister" He still doesn't refer to her as my Ashikabi, "is only caugh up in her research… I used to do that when I first married your mothers all the time." He scratched the back of his head, and I could see the unspoken message of 'that it, when your mother didn't get me for her own research…" I laughed at him.

"Dad, would you help me with my tracing?" I ask innocently.

He immediately looks at me in suspicion. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, Saiai have a weapon's fetish right?"

"You mean Keiko have a weapon affinity? Right." He corrected me instantly.

"Either way, I figure that I could get closer to her if I could make weapons too…"

He sit on the veranda in front of us, and patted his side, where I sat up. "Karin, dear. Just because your sister is devoting time to her studies and her preferences, doen't mean that she doesn't like you. One of the first cultural shocks I had with Sekirei, was your trademark single-minded devotion to your Ashikabi. Your sister loves you, more than should be considered proper, and that will not change, regardless of the fact that you prefer machines and she weapons. I like swords, and Miya too, but your mother likes computers. Do you see me giving your mother less attention for that?"

"Actualy, you tend to pay more attention to mother, than the others, but that is just cause of mothers antics isn't?

"Well, that is that, and I don't like the idea of reenacting another of her videos again."

We both laughed at that.

"The point is that you shouldn't change who you are to be closer to your sister, because that will only drive her away." He got up. "Now let's go to the range, and I will give you a few pointers."

... to be continued

I roughly woken up in the middle of the night by something exploding and maniac laughter, but thankfully, familiar maniac laughter… "Keiko!"

I jumped from bed, and got out of my room, in a flash of speed. Her door was unlocked, and the defenses, lifted, but only one of my 'mind threads' noted that, all the others were only focused in one thing: the girl I tackled to the floor, groping and ravishing her with all my strength, wings of light emerging from my back.

She shoved me back, "Get of me sis!" she pulled a shotgun out of hammerspace and aimed at me, the combination of shadows and moonlight of casting some sort of supernatural aura of darkness around her, focusing all the light in her eyes.

"What in the name of the root possessed you!" She was trembling in embarrassment, as a typical tsundere she is. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes have rings around them, and she was overall awfully looking to anyone else. To me she was gorgeous.

"I was thinking that you're never going to leave your room! I missed you so~o much!" I didn't care about looking childish, even with all my family at the door looking at us.

"Shh, I was going to leave… I… I was just fin… I'm sorry Karin." She embraced me softly, and I relaxed in her embrace.

…Next morning…

I awoke in a familiar bed, yet not my own. It took a few minutes that my mom dubbed as our 'boot time' to fully register what happened last night: I slept with Keiko. In the innocent way, but I slept with her.

"And they say I'm no good with mornings…" Kei chuckled from my back.

I turned, in time to catch she putting her panties on, and let myself admire her nice looking body as she never let me bath with her since my winging.

"Just don't drool on my bed OK?" She joke at me. Then she caught some pendant, in form of a square ruby that I've never saw before.

"What is that Saiai?" I call her by her pet name.

She looked at me in rage, but it disappeared in less than a second, being substituted by amusement: "My new toy, come to breakfast and I will show everyone what I've made!" She talked excitedly.

"Couldn't you've made a sex toy Kei-chan?" I whine at her, determined to get my tsun tsun reaction, but she held firm.

"Nah, I know what you're trying, and I'm not falling for that Karin." Then she pulled the bed sheets, making the cold winter air wake me instantly.

"Besides, that's wrong in so many levels that I'm not even wasting my time detailing then to you." She shot me a dark look, and left the room.

…

I got to the breakfast table, and anxious chatting was all around my siblings. Rin-kaa-san was smiling like the cat who got the canary, and Tou-san was muttering something like 'Please let me be wrong, if just this time…', until Keiko, still carrying that small bundle of hers, set it on the table in front of her customary seat.

"I have something, or better someone to introduce to you all." She unrolled the bundle, revealing the same ruby pendant, which she took in her hands and said:

Awake "Archer!"

The pendant shined, forming long, double-barreled gun made of dark metal, with bluish and silver trims, and a ruby jewel where the left-handed cartridge ejector. Her clothing also changed, turning into an 'Archer-esque' navy blue cape, and black clothing, with silver details.

"Why it had to be a gun?" Rin-kaa moaned in distaste. "Couldn't you have something more magi-like? A dagger perhaps?"

"Is not just a gun, it uses rune based bounded fields of warped space to load more ammunition than it should be possible, and reduce recoil and noise! Also imprints the bullets with magical enhancements, have a combination of magical and technological aiming systems and is a self-aware device." She assumed her mother's infamous 'lecture pose'.

"Basically, you made your own version of Raging Heart?" Shirou asked in disbelief.

"Yep, it has Rifle form, Spear form, and Saber form!" She nodded enthusiastically.

"When I explicitly forbid you?" He continued his question.

"Is perfectly stable, and locked to my use only." She said a bit subdued.

Rin started to talk, only to be interrupted by Shirou: "Give me one good reason for you to keep it."

"So I'm not disarmed like when we traveled to Sicily?" Dad mollified at Kei's offer so she just continued.

"Also, is always good to have guided attacks to prevent collateral damage." Dad nodded in agreement. "And the best of reasons? It's Archer's conscience trapped inside." Rin-kaa-san was the first to laugh, but everyone followed suit. Dad? He just took Kazehana's bottle from her hands and tried to knock himself out.