Hello there, I'm back with the new chapter of Bloody Ashikabi! Sorry for the delay, but between my job and the little block I experienced a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to write this story as fast as I would have liked.

Now, onwards with the story!

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei.

05

Attack on Kamikura Island

Harry appeared in a small room. From what he could see, it was probably one of the few storage rooms of the facility, as most of the rooms he had seen on the plan were either labs or living facilities, like a cafeteria, or even dorm rooms. It was logical that the scientists who worked with Sekirei couldn't come and go as they wanted, after all that would have been the best way to leak information.

However, right now he had other things in mind, and had someone able to use Legilimency been there and be able to get past his mental shields, they would have heard him cursing like a sailor. After all his careful training, after being so careful, he had made a mistake, and a very stupid one at that. By using Tom's memories, he had learnt a lot of magic, and had known which spells were too powerful for him to use yet, yet he had forgotten something simple, yet easy to overlook: his magical core, while very powerful for his age, wasn't nearly stable enough to allow him to Apparate on such a long distance. Any other child his age would probably have died, their magic having simply run out completely, killing them on the spot. He was lucky in that he was powerful enough to not die, but his magic had gotten down to dangerous levels, and was nowhere near enough to repeatedly cast spells.

Breathing heavily from the sudden loss of a large part of his magic reserves, he leant on one of the walls. For the first time since he had reconnected with his magic, he felt weak. Even during his own training sessions with his spells, he had never used that much power, despite sometimes getting close. If he hadn't had knowledge on how to Apparate more efficiently, he was fairly sure he'd have died, his magic being mostly wasted during the apparition. The actual apparition wasn't that magic-hungry, it was more than most wizards and witches wasted half the energy they used to apparate. The process was similar to opening a door: the way he did it was the "best" way, at least in his mind, since it was more comfortable, and far more perfected magic-consumption wise. It was like taking the key and opening the door with it, while the "usual" way of doing it was like kicking the door open, go through it, and then repair the damage. By doing it his...no, Tom's way, he would only use enough magic to use a first-year spell, otherwise it would be like using a seventh-year spell, like the Patronus Charm. Unfortunately his not-yet mature core had been almost depleted as he hadn't been able to properly channel his magic, his distraction costing him his ability to use magic for at the very least a few hours.

After a few minutes of rest, he had recuperated enough to stand, and turned the earplug and communication device he was given on.

"Takami-san? You here?"

A small static later, the voice of the white-grey haired woman came out of the earplug.

"Harry-kun? Everything fine?"

"Yes, no trouble here. Can you tell me where I am, please? I should be in one of the storage rooms, but I have no idea which one."

He heard Takami shouting at someone, and a few seconds later, she answered:

"Impressive. You've managed to get into a room that's quite close to the lab where Kaho and Musubi are. From what we've gotten from the secure emergency feeds, there are only a few patrols down here right now, since most of them are preparing for our assault."

At that, Harry released a shaky breath. While a part of him, his inner Karasuba you could say, was disappointed that he wouldn't get much opposition in his way, the rational part of his mind was relieved to know he wouldn't have to fight nearly enough people to kill him. Sure, these people were dangerous, sure, HE was dangerous, but right now, he was a kid, he couldn't use magic, and all he had for himself was the fact that nobody knew he was there.

There was also the fact that this time, he wasn't training, and he didn't get a second chance, any mistake he made could and would cost him dearly. While Karasuba wasn't exactly soft during their spars, the most he would get was broken bones, here, his opponents would gladly kill him. He may have some protection in the form of the protective gear he was given, he was quite sure it didn't stop bullets yet. It may protect his body from hits, maybe from slashes of military knifes, but bullets would do damage no matter this protection or not.

Checking one last time his weapons, he asked Takami for some directions. Once he had repeated the path to the lab where his targets were, and from there the path to the door leading to the ship, three times without making mistakes, she gave him the all clear, but not before asking him, again, to be careful. With his reassurances that he would be careful and that he wouldn't look for trouble, he cut the connection. After all, if he wanted to be discreet, he couldn't keep answering her.

Using what little magic he had left and could allow himself to use without fainting on the spot, he cast a silencing charm on himself, making sure his feet didn't make a sound as he walked, and that his clothes wouldn't make a noise that would betray his presence despite his silenced steps.

Then, slowly, carefully, he opened the door and took a glance in the corridor leading to it. As becoming of the corridor of a secret facility dedicated to the study of alien technology and life forms, it was perfectly clean, white, and was illuminated by artificial lighting. Carefully, he went to peek at the corner, trying his hardest to listen if he could hear someone coming or not. After all, once he would get spotted, things would get difficult.

From what Takami had told him, he was around a hundred meters from his objective, and he had only a few men to neutralize. Despite being professionals, they didn't expect him to be there, and would likely underestimate him, at least until they found their own comrades downed. That would most likely cause them to be far more careful about him. There was also the risk that they'd mistake him for a Sekirei they hadn't heard about, and try to capture him for experiments.

-Break-

Since he was extremely careful, it took him several minutes to get to the next embranchment, one where he had to turn left. He quickly retreated back after taking a peek, as the two people standing at the end of the corridor were quite clearly a patrol. From what he had seen, and thanks to his Occlumency allowing him to recall what he had seen with crystal clarity, he checked their equipment. The men were wearing military clothing, the color of the rocks that made up Kamikura Island, those had probably helped them escape MBI's sentinels until they were close enough to begin their assault. They were holding what he had identified as sub-machine guns, which type he didn't know and didn't care, all he knew was that those kinds of guns were able to spit steely death extremely fast and at the drop of a trigger. That meant that as soon as he was spotted, he was going to have to disarm those two guards fast, lest he find himself with a lot of holes in his body, and a lot less blood. He also spotted several bulges in concealed pockets, most likely explosives, perhaps grenades? They also seemed to have military knifes strapped to their legs.

Making sure to make no noises that could betray his presence, he tried to come up with a plan that would allow him to get rid of those two guards as fast he could possibly deal with them, and with the least amount of risk possible. Of course, said plan was far from foolproof, since he couldn't use any more magic that he was already to take those men down. So he had to rely on the element of surprise, and on his own physical skills. He would also have to be merciless, as he simply couldn't afford to have them wake up and hamper him later. Taking out his ninjato, he made sure that the steel was as good as ever, after all he had taken care of it since Karasuba had given it to him for his birthday. For someone his size, it was easier to use than a katana or even a nodachi, and easier to carry as well. He had trained with it a lot, though until now he hadn't used it on a live target.

Taking deep but silent breaths, he tried to relax his body, to enter the state of mind he had when he fought Karasuba, who insisted that he should "come at her with all he got", meaning with the intent to kill, otherwise he would never get better. He had long ago gotten used to the bloodlust that came with that state of mind, since despite his best efforts he had never been able to harm her, not even a scratch, but this was the first time he would actually kill somebody, and despite his upbringing and Tom's memories, he was slightly uneasy.

Steeling himself, he took a last breath, his green eyes cold as ice, his face scrunched into a concentrated frown. Then he was off, his silenced body making absolutely no noise as he ran towards the two guards, his blade in one hand, another, smaller one in the other. As he ran, he reviewed his plan: first, the one on the right, a strike to the throat to silence him, next the man on the left, evade whatever attack he sends my way, make sure he can't use his gun, and open his throat as well.

Of course, when he was only meters away, the two guards noticed him, luckily they had been too engrossed in their conversation to see him earlier, and as they reached for their guns, Harry jumped, aiming his blade for where he estimated the man's carotid was. Unprepared, the man didn't manage to deflect the blow in time, finding himself gurgling as blood flowed like a river from the cut as he tried to stop the flow.

Meanwhile, disregarding his first target, a blood-splattered Harry ducked under the gun the other guard had tried to hit him with, aiming his smaller blade for the man's groin. It was a difficult target, but with three years of practice against an overpowered alien whose strikes were extremely precise had made him very good at aiming for difficult targets. The man realized his intention and tried to parry the hit, but it was too late. The small steel blade entered a sensitive part of the man's anatomy, and Harry made sure that he was silenced before he screamed. Amazing how distracted one could be when their family jewels were currently impaled with a sharp blade that they wouldn't notice another blade cutting their throat open.

All of it happened in the span of a few seconds, a few seconds that felt like hours to the young wizard. He stood there, in the crimson pool that stained the ground, looking around at the walls, which were splattered there and there with blood. Part of him felt at home, thanks to Karasuba's teachings and Tom's memories, and part of him was in shock of what he just did. He felt his stomach churn, but managed to avoid vomiting as he tried to rationalize the fact that he had just killed for the first time. It was either them or him, and he'd much rather stay alive for a while longer. There was also the fact that these people were fine with experimenting on little girls, simply because they were aliens.

Unknown to him, the battle-hardened instincts that had been Tom's kicked off, working at full speed to make him fully functional and aware of his surroundings. They took over his more normal thoughts, forcing his body to slip once again in fighting state, and overriding the state of shock he was currently in. His thought process became crystal clear, his panic was snuffed out like the flame of a candle that had been blown, and he made sure that he was fine, disregarding the dead bodies and the scent of iron. He was now acting like a war-hardened veteran, used to death and bloodshed, no longer like the extremely mature child he had been so far. It was at that moment that the last remains of his old, scared personality died, and that it was replaced with the assurance that came from facing a life or death situation and emerging victorious and alive.

Without a look behind, he walked towards his destination, his eyes cold and determined.

-Break-

It took him ten minutes to make it to the lab where the two Sekirei were supposed to be, and in this time he encountered only three pairs of guards, which he took care of with the same strategy that he did the first group. Each time he managed to get rid of the two guards before they could warn their comrades, though in the last encounter he had gotten a long gash on his left cheek, courtesy of a military knife. He didn't really care about the blood dribbling down his chin, he was more concerned about the two Sekirei, Takami had been clear that he should hurry as much as he could, and that their fates were more or less depending on how fast he could get to them.

Focusing, he took a deep breath, holding on a handgun he had taken from one of the soldiers (thank God for the fact that Karasuba had insisted he knew how to use them, "just in case" she had said). He had loaded it, and now all he had to do was aim and press the trigger.

Pushing the door open, his blood almost froze when he saw what was happening inside. The room was a standard lab, with two medical cots in the middle. In these cots were the two Sekirei he had come to rescue, though he couldn't see their faces, as the scientists that had came with the soldiers were surrounding them, poking syringes in their bodies, drawing blood samples or testing whatever chemicals they could think of. Luckily, it seemed as if they were drawing blood, making him inwardly sigh in relief. They wouldn't be drawing blood if they had already started injecting chemicals or drugs in the two aliens, meaning they were probably safe.

There were six or seven scientists, all wearing a different uniform from the guards he had just killed. Unlike their counterparts, they were wearing lab coats, though they were open, showing their uniforms underneath. Five were surrounding the Sekirei, while two others were putting what looked like tubes with blood inside a case, which already contained several USB keys, probably data gotten from the experiments of the Sekirei that they had managed to get.

As soon as he opened the door, the scientists looked up, the closest one to Harry having only the time to widen his eyes before he was shot between his eyes. The gunshot seemed to wake the other scientists, as all of them reached for the weapons they had been given, but Harry was already moving. With deadly accuracy, he was able to kill half of the scientists before they managed to get their weapons, unfortunately that still meant that there were still three of them alive, and armed.

The first one didn't take the time to aim and shot in his general direction, allowing him to avoid getting hit thanks to his reflexes as he dove to the side, growling in anger as he realized he had now very little time before reinforcements came this way. That scientist didn't have much luck, as his head exploded from the bullets Harry had aimed his way, killing him on the spot. Unfortunately for Harry, he had to immediately jump back as several bullets hit the ground where he had been standing seconds before, courtesy of one of the last two people he had to kill, which was a woman in her thirties, with short, blonde hair, and a heart shaped face. The last scientist was already charging his own weapon, so the young wizard, who, considering his position behind a table couldn't aim for the woman's head, aimed instead for her feet, and managing to hit with three of his bullets left, causing her to scream in pain as she fell to the ground, holding her foot, right in front of Harry who used his last bullet to end her life.

Now, there was only one scientist left, a man in his mid-forties, Harry'd say, with a light but toned build, the signs of someone who exercised regularly. Considering he no longer had any ammo, he threw his gun to the man's face, surprising him long enough for the young wizard to run in his direction, his ninjato aimed for the kill. With a yell, he jumped on the man, pushing the blade inside his heart as the sound of gunshot could be heard. As they both fell, the man backwards with his foe using his momentum to push the blade further, Harry took out one of his smaller blades and with all the strength he could muster in his exhaustion, both magical and physical, he stuck it in the man's forehead, through the skull, and inside the brain, killing his target instantly as blood and some grey matter ended on his face.

For a moment, Harry stood there, his adrenaline still high, and his actions not yet registering in his mind, as he looked around. Like an automat, he went and took the gun of one of the scientists and used it to shoot the case holding the data. Some of it should still be salvageable, but since he couldn't use magic right then and there, it was the best he could do. He then turned to the two bound Sekirei, who were apparently sleeping, though he couldn't say if the scientists had injected them with anything dangerous. At the very least, they looked unscathed save for the puncture wounds on their arms, and upon touching their skin, he didn't feel any drop in their body temperature compared to a human's, which meant that the scientists hadn't taken too much of their blood.

Realizing that he had precious little time to get them out, he roughly slapped the both of them while taking of their restraints, and they were quickly awake, meaning that either the anesthetic used on them wasn't that strong, or, and he was leaning towards it, their bodies had weakened the chemicals far quicker than a human one. Both of them were wearing what looked like white hospital gowns, and looked like then were eight or nine at most.

The first one looked like a younger Yume, her hair being cut with the same style, and she was looking around in childlike wonder, despite the fact that there were corpses scattered around the room. The other had long, dark hair, and had the more sensible reaction to look around and shriek at the sight, latching onto Harry like a lifeline as she stared at the blood and bodies lined on the floor.

"W-what h-h-happened? A-are they d-dead?" she asked, as her face contorted into a frightened grimace.

"Yes, they are." answered Harry, who was taking nervous glances at the door, expecting soldiers to barge in at any moment, his heartbeat echoing loudly in his ears. "However, right now we don't have much time. I'm with MBI, and I'm here to take you two to safety. You can call me Harry."

"K-Kaho." spluttered the Sekirei latching onto him.

"Hi! My name's Musubi, Harry-sama! A pleasure to meet you!" exclaimed the second one, making him wonder if she didn't have some brain damage. Being cheerful in her situation wasn't exactly a normal reaction, but he'd have to tell Takami when he saw her.

Shaking his head, he grabbed both of their wrists, and dragged them with him to the door.

"Now listen. Follow me, and don't make a noise, except if you see anyone that isn't is me, okay?"

The two girls nodded, Kaho with her frightened and worried face, and Musubi with a smile.

Harry quickly peeked behind the half-open door, and, seeing nobody, made a sign to the two Sekirei to follow him, as he darted to the right, towards the direction of the door that would allow all three of them to get to safety. His two charges followed, albeit a little groggily, but they looked like they were better by the second, something that he supposed had to do with their enhanced bodies, which were probably far better than any human's at eliminating the toxins in their blood.

Taking glances at the two girls, he could see that they were like night and day in their behavior. Kaho was looking worried, frightened and was following him as best as she could and wasn't looking at anything that wasn't his back, clutching her gown with her hands in fright, her eyes darting left and right even if she wasn't turning her head. Musubi, for her part, had a big smile on her face and was looking around in wonder, making small "oohh" and "aaahhh" noises, though after telling her for the third time to stop, he simply told her to keep her voice low.

Trying to remember the path to the door, he was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of several people running and shouting at each other. With a curse, he grabbed both Kaho and Musubi and started running, activating his earplug, any idea of trying to be discreet gone.

"Takami! I got them, but the soldiers are after us. OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" he screamed in the device, as he was rewarded with curses and the voice of Takami shouting to her underlings.

"Harry, you're almost there! Turn right next, and it's the door at the end of the corridor! Hurry, they aren't far behind!"

"As if I didn't know that!" he growled, pushing his body as fast as he could when dragging two girls behind him. He could hear the soldiers approaching, and he wasn't really eager to learn what would happen should they catch up to them. All three of them would probably be killed since he had killed the scientists, thus making it impossible to collect more data, and had destroyed the previously collected one.

By now both Sekirei were ahead of him, having recovered from whatever they had in their bloodstream. Their superior bodies made it so that even if he was certainly far quicker than any ten-years old, they were still far faster than him.

"Turn right! The door at the end of the corridor! Hurry up!" he screamed.

He was already lagging behind, for some reason he was tiring faster than usual. He supposed it was his magical exhaustion that was catching up with his body, though if that had been the case, he shouldn't have been able to move around that much. Maybe the adrenaline was wearing off? Not possible, he was seconds away from getting caught and probably killed, if that wasn't enough to make him pump adrenaline in his veins like no tomorrow, he didn't know what would.

A shout made him look behind. The soldiers were catching up with him! Pushing his body as much as he could, he turned, and had the pleasure to see that both Musubi and Kaho were past the door, though both of them looked like they wanted to come and help him, which was not the brightest idea to have at the moment.

"Get inside!" he told them, though they didn't move. "GET INSIDE, DAMMIT!" This time, they complied.

He was now halfway through the corridor, though his heart was beating loudly in his ears and his vision was darkening, and he was running for all he was worth, as he could hear the soldiers behind him. Apparently they had decided not to shoot him, perhaps because they wanted to get behind the opened door and thought that if he died, MBI would immediately close the door?

The last meters of his run were the hardest, as he felt as if his heart was about to break through his ribs with how strong it was beating. He could hear a soldier mere meters behind him, and in a last ditch effort he plunged through the opening, yelling at the top of his voice in his earplug:

"NOW, CLOSE THE DOOR!"

He heard the sound of the doo closing, though one soldier had an arm on their side. All three watched as the door closed on the man's arm, severing it as the soldier started to scream in pain on the other side of the door. Needless to say, both quickly looked away, though Harry wasn't particularly fazed, Tom's memories had far worse.

With a relieved sigh, Harry leaned on the wall of the corridor. That had been close, too close. He was pretty sure that he was running far slower than he should be at the end. While magical exhaustion could be a cause, he should not feel nearly as drained, as he had not entered the "Danger Zone" of his reserves, meaning that at most he should be unable to use magic and a bit out of breath. Yet here he was, breathing as if he had just run three marathons consecutively and then went for another one. Yes, something was very wrong, and if his guess was right, then Karasuba and Takami were going to kill him.

Prodding his chest slightly, he scowled when he felt pain near his right shoulder, and when he brought back his hand, it was full of blood, not sticky, half-dried blood from his earlier kills, no, fresh blood, his blood. As he had guessed, while the gear he had been given did protect him from gunshots at a distance, when shot at point-blank range it was still useless.

With a sigh, he looked at the two Sekirei. Musubi was looking around and acting like her childlike self, while Kaho was looking at him with concerned eyes. It seemed that despite not having noticed his injury yet, she had still noticed that something was wrong with him.

"Harry-sama? Are you alright?"

"Unfortunately not. Can you keep an eye on Musubi while I talk with Takami, please?

"Of course, Harry-sama." answered the young Sekirei, though while she was now keeping an eye on Musubi, was glancing in his direction every now and then.

"Takami?" he called, knowing full well that the woman was still listening, now that the door was close they were safe, but he knew she wanted to hear it from him.

"Yes, Harry? The door is closed, none of those guys managed to get inside before it did, right?"

"No, fortunately. Takami, I have good news, bad news, and worse news."

"Start with the good news." sighed the geneticist, and Harry could tell that she was holding her forehead, as if expecting a headache, it was one of her usual ways to deal with stress.

"Good news are, Musubi and Kaho are fine. They hadn't cut them open by the time I arrived, and I think they only took some blood samples and injected a few drugs, nothing their bodies couldn't handle, though I'd suggest you still have them examined, just in case."

"That's a relief. Suggestion duly noted, now what are the bad news?" she asked.

He took a deep breath, knowing full well that what he was about to tell her was going to make her mad, very mad, and hopefully not at him, but he didn't want to take chances. Takami could be extremely scary if she wanted to be.

He decided to be blunt, as tiptoeing about it would most likely only irritate the white-haired woman further.

"I got shot in the shoulder, and I can't use magic to patch it up."

A loud curse made him smile, he was quite sure it wasn't good to be in the same room as her right now. Especially if the frightened cry he heard was any indication.

"And the worse news?"

"I don't think I'll be able to stay conscious very long."

There was a silence, then he heard the woman start yelling orders to her subordinates, probably telling them to order Karasuba's team to accelerate, before she talked to him again, panic evident in her voice.

"Okay, Harry, listen to me. Don't go to sleep, or fall unconscious. Tell Kaho and Musubi to help you to your feet, there's what MBI labeled as an infirmary not too far from your position, give Kaho your earplug, I'll guide her."

"Okay. And Takami...It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known."

With that, he motioned to Kaho to come closer, not bothering to listen to the geneticist protests.

"Takami wants you to listen to her instructions." he told her as he handed her the earplug and helped her put it in her ear.

As she listened to whatever Takami was saying, he saw her glance in his direction with regret in her eyes, probably feeling guilty that he had been harmed in rescuing her.

Once she had received her instructions, she gently grabbed Harry under his left arm and helped him up, before calling to her sister-alien.

"Musubi-chan! Takami-san wants us to help Harry-sama to a room!"

"Coming!" chirped the excitable young girl.

The trio walked/stumbled for a little while in silence, which suited Harry just fine, though he knew it wouldn't last very long, while Kaho seemed reasonably level-headed, Musubi seemed like a living battery, full of energy and unable to stay still for even a moment.

"Ne, Harry-sama, you're strong, right? Do you think I could become strong too?"

"Sure, though remember, getting strong takes a lot of time, and even know, after three years of training, I'm still far from my teacher's level."

"Oh? Who is your teacher, Harry-sama?" asked Musubi, as she hopped up and down.

"You'll meet her soon, she's in the team who's coming to get us. Her name is Karasuba, don't know if the name is familiar?"

Apparently it was, as Musubi squealed and started bouncing even more, while Kaho had a rather shocked expression.

"Your teacher is Karasuba-sama? But she said that..." started Kaho, only to shut her mouth as she realized that the one time she had met the Black Sekirei, a guard had taunted her by telling her that she had to be going soft to "raise a skinny brat'', and other things that she hadn't understood, though the next day the man had been reported missing. Could Harry really be the "skinny brat" the man had been talking about?

However, she was cut short when they reached the door they had been told about, which, after she called Takami, opened and let them in.

Harry looked around, to him it really didn't look like an infirmary, he would know, he had spent quite some time at infirmaries before he was taken in by MBI. It was mostly empty, with several things looking like giant glass tubes fused in the wall, each one the size of an average human. There was also something that looked like a mix between a table and a bed though he had no clue what it's use could be.

Turning to look at Kaho, he asked her, a bit angrily:

"What are we supposed to do now?"

His tone caused the little Sekirei to squeak and hastily call Takami, while Harry tried to calm down, not an easy task when you were bleeding out, had a reasonable chance of dying in the upcoming hours, and were in an room that had no visible medical supplies.

Glancing at Kaho, it was obvious that either she was given an explanation she couldn't understand, or something was wrong, as she was looking panicked.

"A-ano, Harry-sama...Takami-san says that she only asked that we come here so that you could lie down on the table, it should slow the flow of blood."

"That's it? Nothing else? I mean, she probably knows I've patched my shoulder to stop the bloodflow, but really, there isn't anything of use in this room?"

"N-No, Harry-sama."

He groaned, he might as well had stayed where they had been behind the door, they would have been reached faster when the rescue teams arrived. However, right now he only wanted to rest, and he wasn't about to decline an offer to lie down, his limbs felt as if they were made of lead, and he could barely move. For a ten-years old to lose so much blood was very dangerous, so he hoped that whatever magic he had left would be enough to keep him alive until he could get treated.

With infinite precautions, Kaho helped him get on the table. As he expected, even so young, her strength was impressive, probably around the level of an average adult man, and she wasn't even a teen yet! While she was helping him, Musubi was jumping around and poking everything she found with appreciative exclamations.

When he was settled, he was surprised to find that whatever the table was made of, it was quite comfortable, and he could almost swear it had shifted slightly when he had lied down.

"Harry-sama, how do you feel?" asked Kaho, the Sekirei looked at him with worried eyes.

It was a stark contrast between the two Sekirei he had rescued, while Kaho was quite mature for her age, and very level-headed, Musubi seemed like an overgrown five-years old, completely innocent and extremely naive.

"Quite tired, though it seems I'm not bleeding that much anymore." he said, while lifting his hand to show that he was fine.

However, he was surprised when the table/bed shifted, immobilizing him as some kind of metallic appendage shot out of the ceiling and proceeded to, for a lack of a better term, scan his body, before retreating as fast as it had appeared.

"What the Hell...?!" shouted Harry, as he couldn't move, the material of whatever he was laying on having changed forms and immobilized him.

Kaho was looking at was happening in shock, after all it isn't everyday that you see a seemingly inoffensive bed morph and restrain those that laid on it. She was about to try and help the young wizard, when a screen on the wall, which had been silent so far, sprang to life, showing lines and lines of data that were written in a language that none of the three people present could understand, and at the time, were not willing to try and learn as they were quite busy.

Then, without warning, the table shifted again and moved to one of the giant glass tubes with a screaming Harry, where it settled, as another table seemingly popped out of where the first one had been, while the one holding Harry was now inside the tank, which immediately closed itself.

By now Harry was panicking, he was injured, he couldn't use magic, and now he found himself sealed inside a giant human sized test tube? He wasn't feeling really good at the moment, especially since the table, that had now fused with the wall, was still restraining him. He could see Kaho desperately banging on the glass (or whatever it was made of) wall of the tube, yet it seemed that her efforts were fruitless, though it was to be expected. While he didn't know of the function of the room, it was quite clear that everything in it had been built by, and for Sekirei, meaning that it was likely that the tube was reinforced to not break, even with their strength.

While his mind was racing, trying to understand what was happening, he saw the tube/tank start to fill with liquid, making his panic skyrocket. He was human, in a closed area that was slowly filling with liquid, he didn't want to drown! However, as the liquid reached his knees, a hole opened in the ceiling, letting what looked like a breathing mask slowly position itself in front of his mouth and nose, before it stuck itself on his face, making his eyes widen.

Trying to refrain from breathing, he found himself unable to hold his breath for long, as the lack of blood in his body made it hard for the remaining one to carry enough oxygen to keep him conscious. As he gave in, breathing whatever the mask was feeding him, he saw the panicked face of Kaho as she was apparently screaming something to either him or Takami, just before his eyes closed, his body unable to keep him conscious any longer.

-Break-

Karasuba was running down the corridors of the facility so fast that the few soldiers that noticed her before they were killed only saw a blur as she sped past them, her blade working at speeds that far outclassed what the human eye could see. She was not in the mood for her usual games, and had only thing in mind, and that was reaching Harry.

Flashback

Karasuba looked outside of the window of the helicopter that was bringing her to Kamikura Island. She was alone in this one, Yume was in another one, as MBI knew better than to put two overpowered aliens that couldn't bear being near each other one second more than necessary in the same transport.

She was polishing her blade, smirking at the idea of the upcoming carnage, after all it had been quite some time she had been able to work out of her stress on expendable, live targets. While spars with Harry were great, it simply wasn't the same. Slicing through the flesh and bones of her prey was a big part of the fun, as were their fear when they realized they were about to die. She loved how people scrambled away from her when they knew of her reputation. The only one she didn't want to act like that was Harry, and he thankfully did not.

As her thoughts drifted to her disciple/son/Ashikabi-to-be, she thought about his progress. If he continued like that, she would have to take him on one of her next missions, to see how well he fared against real-live opponents, and with some luck, if he managed to kill them, wing herself on him. It was the "moment" she had decided to wing herself on Harry. As soon as he was able to kill, she would wing herself on him, as he would have proved to her that he deserved to be her Ashikabi, that he was strong enough to protect himself, and that he had a strong enough mind to kill someone and live with the consequences.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone, and she groaned as she took it out and listened. It had to be important, otherwise MBI wouldn't have called her.

"Karasuba here, what do you want?" she asked, not feeling particularly happy at the moment.

She was not expecting a frantic Takami shouting at her:

"Karasuba?! Tell your pilot to hurry his ass up! There's an emergency!"

"Something happened to Kaho-chan and Musubi-chan?" she asked, slightly more interested. While she wasn't too interested in her "sisters''' safety, she still cared about them more than about the average human.

"No! Listen, Minaka sent Harry to Kamikura!"

...What?

Straightening up, she spoke in a ice cold voice:

"Takami? Is there a problem with this phone? I could have sworn you said Minaka sent Harry-chan to Kamikura."

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID! Harry used this skill wizards have, you know, the teleportation thing? Anyway, since Minaka knew about it, he sent Harry to rescue Kaho and Musubi!"

Clenching her nodachi in her hand, she felt cold fury wash over her. How DARE Minaka send her Harry-chan to fight without asking her, or even sending her with him!

"And? What happened?"

"He's been shot! And he said he wasn't sure he would stay conscious much longer!" shrieked the panicked scientist.

With a growl, she kicked the wall between her and the pilot, bending the metal slightly.

"LISTEN YOU FUCKING LOWLIFE! I WANT TO BE AT KAMIKURA IN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES, OTHERWISE YOU'RE DEAD! UNDERSTOOD?!" she screamed, and the pilot immediately pushed the helicopter to its full speed, with no regards for safety. He may risk exploding in flight, but he would take that over the sure death the Black Sekirei had promised him.

Going back to her phone, Karasuba growled:

"What news since he said that?"

"Not much, Kaho said she had managed to bring him to an unused room that we labeled as an infirmary to make him lie down. Karasuba?"

"Yes?"

"...Make sure he gets out of there alive, will you? The poor kid's got a shitty life so far, I don't want him to die without having some fun in it."

At that, she grinned grimly. Oh, yes, she would make sure he was alive, and then she would go and kill Minaka, that bastard!

End flashback

Takami had filled her on where she would find Harry, and she quickly reached the door to the ship. It appeared that the soldiers had tried to force it open, though their efforts seemed to have been for naught. As she approached it, it opened, and she stepped into the ship that had brought her kind to Earth. She could see that there was a rather large crimson puddle next to the door, and she resumed her run, her heart clenching at the thought of losing the one person she had come to appreciate on this planet of retarded apes.

Reaching the door of the room where Harry should be, she barged in, only to freeze at the sight that greeted her. Kaho and Musubi were looking at a human-sized tank filled with a slightly yellow liquid, a tank in which Harry was floating, his face half-covered by a breathing mask, and several tubes inserted in his body.

"What in the world...?"

Hearing the noise of her entrance, the two younger Sekirei shrieked and turned around, before relaxing as they saw it was one of their own, and not one of the people that had tried to hurt them or Harry.

"Ah, Karasuba-sama!" exclaimed Musubi, being her usual over energetic self. "Ne, ne! What happened to Harry-sama, Karasuba-sama?"

"That's what I would like to know. What happened here, Kaho-chan?"

"A-Ano...I don't know. One moment Harry-sama was on the table, then the table trapped him and moved there.", she said, pointing at the tank," Then it started filling, and the mask covered Harry-sama's face. The tubes appeared after that and connected with his body. That's all I know."

Looking at the tank, Karasuba was tempted to destroy it and retrieve Harry, but so far it didn't look like anything nefarious was happening to her disciple. In fact, it looked like whatever was happening was at least keeping him stable enough that he didn't die, which she had no objection to, though she would have to ask Takami to come and see if she could understand what was happening.

Taking out her phone, she dialed the number of the geneticist, and waited. She didn't have to wait long, as the woman answered after the second ring.

"Karasuba? So, did you find Harry? Is he going to be fine?" she asked, and her apprehension was clearly audible.

"Yes, I found Harry-chan. However, I'd like it if you could come here, something's come up."

"What?"

Karasuba simply activated her phone's camera and turned it towards the tank, giving Takami a clear view of the floating Harry.

"Oh sh...What happened?"

"That's the thing. From what Kaho-chan told me, the table he was resting on just moved to the tank with no warning at all, before it started to fill with liquid and he got the mask on. It's like some kind of automated response from the ship, and I don't know shit about how this thing works. So do you think you could get here and see what the heck is happening?"

"Let me tell Minaka about the situation, and then I'm there."

-Break

Takami bit her lip while the transport brought her to Kamikura Island. She had managed to let loose some steam by pounding Minaka in the ground, though it had been but a distraction. The fact that Harry had been shot weighted heavily on her mind, as while she would like to say Minaka was the one responsible, she too had her own part in what happened, as she hadn't protested when he had asked that Harry was sent to retrieve Kaho and Musubi. Worse, she had been the one who had ultimately disregarded his safety in favor of the one of the two Sekirei, something that had been hard on her.

She thought back on what Karasuba had shown her by using her phone. Whatever had happened to Harry, he didn't seem to be in immediate danger, in fact she was willing to bet that he had accidentally booted a part of the ship's program. She had checked several times on her datapad, but the room in which the three Sekirei and the Wizard were now in had been written down as an infirmary. Now, they could have been wrong, but she doubted it, as the tank Harry was floating in, the fact that a mask had automatically been put over his mouth and the tubes connected to his body reminded her of a few SF stories. She was ready to bet her job that the tank was made to contain Sekirei, and help them heal. That meant that there might be a problem, Harry was a wizard, so it was unknown how he would respond to a treatment that was not even meant for his species in the first place.

Taking out a cigarette, she lighted it and took a long breath from it. Hopefully she would arrive soon.

So, in this chapter, my main goal was to show that despite all his magic and physical training, Harry is nowhere near invincible. He made a stupid mistake, and that cost him. As for Kaho and Musubi, well neither will become his Sekirei, though both will now have a deep respect for him.

Next chapter, Harry gets a power-up (yes, another one, but don't worry, I don't plan on making him completely Miya, who is the most powerful being on Earth, is not broken, as if assaulted by several Single Numbers or people on par with them, she would let's face it, even someone as strong as her has weaknesses. It's why she has never gone against MBI directly.) with far-reaching consequences (that won't be seen anytime soon , but later in the story).

After that, well I'll introduce Akitsu (not telling how), and that's all I'm going to say (ain't going to spoil you lot too much^^).

So, as always, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! While I may not change my earlier chapters, hopefully I can improve the future ones.