I AM BAAAAAAAAACCKKKK!

Phew, sorry for the delay, but I've just recently moved, and as it stands, getting Internet is a LONG process (well, not VERY long, but enough to delay our new chapters significantly).

Anyway, now that I've gotten used to my new job, gotten rid of the EVIL consequences of moving (paperwork demons...), here is the first of the two chapters I promised! The next one will be released tomorrow, once I'm done checking it!

Enjoy!

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei

23

Jinki

Harry peered at the odd contraption he held in his right hand. It was oddly shaped, looking like it was made almost entirely of crystal if not for the spherical bead held in its' center. Its' largest extremity was shaped as a hexagon, while its' edges joined in a single point at the other extremity, forming a conical contraption. This was a Jinki, one out of the eight that existed on Earth, one for each of the Sekirei ships that had landed on the blue planet.

From what he had learnt from his sources, mainly Takami, and some of MBI's scientists, it had many uses, allowing those that knew how to use to tinker with the Sekirei's "Tama", their magical cores, giving anyone with the necessary knowledge an incredible amount of power over the remaining one hundred and eight Sekirei. However, while the uses that could be made of it were already quite large, the Jinki affected even those that weren't Sekirei themselves, so long as they possessed some amount of Sekirei blood. This meant that all Ashikabi could be affected, as their potential to become Ashikabi was usually dependent on how much Sekirei blood they had. Still, the Jinki were what had been used to adjust the, at the time, rather overpowered aliens.

If the Sekirei had been left as such, they might have accidentally killed their Ashikabi, as they were simply far too strong physically, and their powers too strong to be left as such. All it would have taken for one of them to kill their Ashikabi would have been a harder than normal pat on the back of their very human partner, or a tight hug, to effectively turn the poor person to paste. And if they were allowed to use their full power all the time, they might cause untold amounts of destruction. A simple example was Homura. She had a rather good grasp on her power, and could use it well enough that she didn't burn down everything in her immediate surroundings, however this was because it was a sliver of her true power. If she had kept the ability to use her full power while she was still growing up, a temper tantrum may have eventually ended up with her burning everything in her surroundings to a crisp.

Of course, now that she was an adult, MBI could have used the Jinki to unlock her full power, however they had no intentions to do so. After all, the Sekirei Plan needed the Sekirei to depend on their Ashikabi to access their full power, and they knew full well that some of the beautiful aliens might feel belligerent and attack the company's headquarters. As such, it was much preferable for MBI to keep the Sekirei in their weakened state, as Single Numbers like Harry's Sekirei were already terrifying in their diminished state, never mind if they could freely access their full power. Akitsu could already freeze an area roughly a quarter of the size of Tokyo without using her Norito, the brief access of her full power left by MBI's manipulations, which meant that with her Norito she was powerful enough that they had no wish to see her freely access that kind of power. Homura, while less powerful than her sister, was still incredibly powerful on her own and without her Norito, and it was clear that she still disliked MBI. They were certainly not going to give people who wanted to take them down more power, it would have been suicidal.

However, Harry had access to everything in MBI, as he was Minaka's heir, and the man, instead of being careful about what he let him access, seemed all too happy to give him access to everything in MBI. Harry heard from Takami that when she had asked the crazed director why he allowed him access to things that could potentially cause MBI's downfall, the man had merely said that Harry was an "Agent of the Gods" and that as a mere mortal it would be a grave insult to the Gods if he were to impede the actions of their representative on Earth. Of course, this had not pleased the scientist, and Harry had heard that Minaka had spent the next week with bandages over his head after she had hit him repeatedly with her clipboard.

Harry had been contemplating using the Jinki for a long time, as it didn't sit well with him to see his Sekirei deprived of the ability to use their full power all the time. Well, he could admit that the reasoning behind it was sound, however having to kiss them each time they wanted to use their full power wasn't the most practical thing, that and a Norito let a Sekirei access her full power for only a few minutes. He wanted to see if he could use the Jinki to allow his Sekirei to switch between their normal, powered-down abilities, and their full power, at will, as well as allowing them to use their full power for as long as they could keep up with the drain.

Akemi had been a lot of help, explaining everything she knew about Jinki and how to use them, as well as what Sekirei had been able of before they came to Earth. It was an eye-opening experience to learn so much, and Harry knew that they had only scratched the surface. Still, to learn that Sekirei could fly was a bit of a surprise, but when he had thought about it afterwards, it had made sense. If their wings of light could be used, then it made sense that they could fly. He had actually had a rather enlightening conversation with Homura and Akemi on that topic, since Homura had wanted to know if some Sekirei hadn't been mistaken as Angels by the primitive populations of Earth when they had first arrived. Apparently, such had indeed been the case, and while Akemi couldn't help him with it, Harry highly suspected that Merlin himself had been the son of a Sekirei. In the myths, the man was the son of a nun and of a demon who had seduced her, which had granted him great powers. If Merlin's mother had been a Sekirei, or his father, then it explained much. Sekirei were naturally beautiful, so it would have been easy for legends to mistake his mother as a nun if she had worn religious garments to blend in, or for his father to have been a Sekirei and rape a human nun. Whichever was true, it meant that the Sekirei had a much deeper influence in Wizardry history than he had thought.

He had taken one of MBI's Jinkis to study it, as his recent mission to England had left him with a bad feeling, since the Goblins had told him that the TriWizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts. He had no reason to participate in it, since he hadn't spent a single year in a magic school, and the schools involved were all European schools, however the Goblins seemed to think that there was a chance that he would have to participate, something to do with the method used to chose the champions. Not only that, but he heard that Dumbledore himself had been poking his nose where he shouldn't, as Gringotts had informed him that the old man seemed to want to meet him and his Sekirei, and not to hire them. Seeing that he had no wish to lose his time with a fool like the celebrated "Leader of the Light", Harry had specifically instructed the Goblins that unless he wished to hire them, then he wasn't to be told anything about them.

After what had happened in England, Harry had decided to sit down and see what could be done to make his Sekirei and himself more powerful. They all knew magic, and kept learning more spells as time passed, first by using it with a wand, and then without a wand, as they had no intention to depend on a piece of wood like wizards and witches seemed to be. They were all versed in at least two martial arts, usually ones that complemented their own abilities, and while Akitsu and Homura weren't physical types, Harry had made sure to teach them how to use weapons, at least until they were able to stand their own against him going easy on them. As it stood, the only way to get more powerful than they already were, without using Dark rituals, was to use the Jinki to unlock the potential of the Sekirei that had been locked away. In his own case, he could actually unlock more power, as Akemi had limited his own power after his alteration, if only to allow him to get used to it before anything else.

"Harry-chan, come here, will ya?" came Karasuba's voice, making him sigh.

The day after their return from England, the Black Sekirei had actually dragged him out for the most intense spar he had ever had with her, which had ended with the both of them covered in cuts that varied in size, but were all rather serious. He had barely had the time to open his mouth to ask what had gone through her head before she had quite literally jumped him, tackling him to the ground, their swords discarded and forgotten, and then proceeded to kiss him senseless while her hands had been working to remove his pants and her skirt.

What had happened after that had been rather intense, and if he could say so, very enlightening. While he no longer was a virgin, he had only ever had sex with Akitsu, so he had had nothing to compare their times together to. With Karasuba, he now had a different experience to compare, and it was rather startling to see how different both Sekirei were in bed. The Ice Sekirei had been passionate, extremely so, but she had also been very careful not to hurt him, and to make the act as pleasurable for him than it was for her. In Karasuba's case, it had been vastly different. She had been wild, extremely aggressive and assertive, and had taken offence when he tried to be gentle with her, something that Akitsu had loved. His first Sekirei, however, was different, and enjoyed rough sex, though now that he could think about it, it made sense. She had never been one for gentleness, much preferring being blunt and aggressive. It was logical that she would be like that in bed too.

However, now that they had had sex together, she seemed to have become rather clingy, coming to him for spars or fights, or even sex whenever she so pleased. Of course, most of the time he was happy to oblige, but there were times, few as they were, that he would have appreciated if she didn't interrupt him. And he couldn't very well tell her that he didn't want to fight or have sex, since their connection made it impossible for him to lie on those subjects. He was a teenager, an hormonal one, and he had two gorgeous women willing to sleep with him whenever he wanted. Even if he had wanted to, he couldn't have said no, as he didn't want to damage his relationship with his Sekirei, though he made it clear to Karasuba after indulging her that if he was busy, she was not to disturb him again.

"Coming."

-Break-

Takami was smoking as she watched Harry and his Sekirei. They were currently on Kamikura Island, a place that Harry came to rather often, which bugged her, as he had nothing to do there, and there was nothing of interest there, save for the Sekirei ship. And even that shouldn't have been all that interesting, as even MBI's lead scientists hadn't been able to make much sense of what technology could be found inside, though she had a nagging suspicion that he understood far more of it than he should, more than Minaka at any rate.

She had not forgotten this odd contact of his, however each time she tried to track down the woman by using MBI's resources, she ended up with odd results. More often than not, it was as if the call came from Harry's own phone, which was impossible, and she was getting increasingly frustrated at her lack of results. The only thing that prevented her from freaking out completely was the fact that Harry had assured her that his mysterious contact only had the Sekirei's wellbeing at mind, and that the odds of Kamikura being attacked by hired mercenaries were nil.

She could only quirk a questioning eyebrow at Homura as she saw Karasuba cop a feel of Harry's ass, her glare making it clear that she expected answers. She was very aware that the teenage wizard was no longer a virgin, after all he had had to explain how he had winged Akitsu to her, and while she hadn't approved, she could at least understand why he had had sex with the Ice Sekirei. It would have been cruel to make her wait longer for potential results, and she had seen firsthand how good it had been for the brunette's self-confidence to finally be winged. However, while she held no illusions that Akitsu would be having sex with Harry more than once after losing her virginity to him, she had not expected Karasuba to do the same.

The fire user's sigh was all the explanation she needed, and she puffed a cloud of smoke angrily.

"So, Karasuba and Harry, uh?"

"...Yeah. To be honest, I can understand where she comes from." sighed the grey-haired Sekirei, causing the scientist to turn her head and stare at him.

"Really? Educate me, then."

Her voice was cold, and it was clear to anyone listening to them that the geneticist wasn't happy. At all.

"Look, Takami. You want to protect Harry, I understand that. But remember, Karasuba is a Sekirei. I'm a Sekirei. Since Harry is our Ashikabi, we crave his love, to see him happy. Since Akitsu's had sex with him, he's been more relaxed, and she's been more happy than I ever remember seeing her. Karasubas's known him for seven years, Takami. She's been the very first person to treat him with anything remotely looking like affection, and she's always considered that Harry was hers, and she only shares with us because we accept that she's his first Sekirei.

Since he's had sex with Akitsu, she's wanted to do the same with him. She's been waiting for the opportunity to jump him for years, so I can't really blame her for what she did. Truth be told, I expected her to have her turn right after Akitsu was finished."

She had to admit, it made sense. Karasuba had always been extremely possessive of Harry, even more so after becoming his Sekirei, and to know that Akitsu had lost her virginity to Harry before she could was probably a blow to her ego, one that demanded that she do the same to feel at least some semblance of satisfaction. Otherwise, it was highly likely that she would have gotten restless and snappish, which was not by any means a good thing. Still, that didn't mean that she had to like it.

Taking a deep breath that filled her lungs with smoke and relaxed her slightly, she glanced at Homura.

"Not intending to join the "I've had sex with Harry" group?"

She felt some amount of sadistic pleasure in seeing the Fire Sekirei stumble over nothing and right herself, her face as red as a tomato, and looking extremely embarrassed.

"TAKAMI!"

"What? You're the one to say that you craved Harry's love." she smirked.

"Don't joke with that, please. You have no idea how weird it feels to feel attracted to someone who's already having sex with two other women. I know I should feel weirded out or something, but I just really can't seem to care." said the Sekirei, and Takami could almost hear her confusion.

It made sense, after all. Homura had always been one of the Sekirei who had adapted the best to human society, from things such as common sense, that quite a few of her sisters seemed to lack, to things like the norm in relationships, etc... For her, who had probably expected to be the only Sekirei of her Ashikabi, to share her mate with two others, two extremely possessive Sekirei, was probably a shock. Besides, Takami knew her enough to know that despite her job as a host when she was still a man (Kami that sounded wrong), Homura was a prude, and extremely awkward when it came to relationships.

It was no wonder then, that the Fire Sekirei hadn't taken her turn with Harry, as unlike Akitsu or Karasuba, she had a few deterrents in the form of social taboos. In human society, it was considered illegal to have sex with a person who wasn't of age, and while said age depended on the country, in Japan the age of consent was thirteen, and even that was when the relationship was approved by the parents on both sides, otherwise it was eighteen. Considering that Harry's parents had no clue where he even was, and that her own parents were more than likely dead and had been so for several hundreds of years, well it wasn't like she could feel comfortable "doing the deed" with her Ashikabi. The fact that he had the mind of a full grown man, as well as the body of someone in his late teens didn't help either, since Takami knew that all Sekirei were rather sexual in nature, so Homura must have felt some urge to have sex with Harry despite all her reluctance to do so. The fact that Harry was a teen, i.e a giant ball of hormones, probably made it all the harder on her, as she knew that her Ashikabi wouldn't refuse having sex with her, but at the same time, her own morals prevented her from making a move, even if her body was pushing her to try and produce offspring.

Sighing, she decided to change the subject. She was already stressed enough as it was, she didn't need to start worrying about her almost-adoptive son's sexual life (which was probably more active than her biological son's, Minato was such a wimp that he would never make a move on a girl).

"So, why are we here, anyway? Harry said that he wanted to try something, but he was quite elusive about what."

Homura gave a sheepish laugh, making her quirk an eyebrow. She knew the Flame Sekirei enough to know that that reaction was reserved to the times when she expected the person she was talking to, to throw a fit and to direct their anger towards her. Now, she also knew the grey-haired Sekirei enough to know that she had precious little chances to have done anything that would anger her, but such was not the case for Harry or Karasuba.

"Homura."

She was satisfied to hear her interlocutor "meep" in fright, startled.

"What. Is. He. Planning?"

"HewantstousetheJinkitoundoMBIsmodificationsandgetbackourfullpower!" blurted Homura.

For a moment Takami was frozen, trying to get her brain to decipher the jumbled words from the Sekirei who was currently slowly inching away from her, before she finally put the words together, and she let her cigarette drop in shock.

"He WHAT?!"

Using the Jinki to give back to Homura, Akitsu and Karasuba their full power? Was Harry completely mad? There was a good reason why the Sekirei's full power had been locked, only accessible by use of a Norito, after all! From the data MBI had collected on the Sekirei when they had first found the ship, they had surmised that the average Sekirei would kill a normal human merely by hugging them, and that was when their powers weren't even in the equation. They had surmised that any of the Single Digits, if left alone, would have enough power to level entire countries by themselves!

"He wants to give you back your full power?! Is he mad?!" she shrieked, unable to contain herself.

The thought of Homura being able to use her full power wasn't that scary, she knew the woman understood what restraint meant, but Akitsu or Karasuba? That was a disaster waiting to happen! Considering how clingy and protective the Ice Sekirei was of Harry, a simple misunderstanding may very well lead to dramatic consequences, as Akitsu would do anything to protect her Ashikabi, she had made such very clear. And Karasuba...Oh Kami, Karasuba...That image was enough to give her nightmares, even with her slightly more reasonable self. She didn't care that Harry had popped the Sekirei's cherry, the woman was a psychopath, and only ever restrained herself because of him.

"Harry!" she called, making the teen look at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"What?"

"Stop this immediately! Giving the Sekirei their full power back is a disaster waiting to happen!" she growled. "Think about it, their strength would go through the roof, they wouldn't be able to touch you without risking turning you to paste! Not to speak of what would happen if their control slips! And that's if you don't blow us all up!"

For a moment, she thought he might listen to her, but then he sighed and shook his head.

"Takami, I know what I'm doing, trust me. I'm not giving them back their full power full time, I simply want to make it so that they can access it without having to kiss me each time. I'm not stupid. Granted, with Minaka's usual ideas, I can understand why you'd think that."

She wanted to tell him that it was just as bad, since even if they weren't at full power all the time, Karasuba with access to more power was something that gave her shivers of dread, it was the same with Akitsu. Neither of the two Sekirei understood what "restraint" meant, though the Ice Sekirei at least was sensible enough to be careful most of the time. Unfortunately, everything went out of the window the moment she thought someone threatened Harry, or that a woman was trying to seduce him. Of course, as a Sekirei, Akitsu was naturally beautiful and had little concurrence from human females, but she was extremely protective of her Ashikabi, and only shared him with Homura and Karasuba because they were fellow Sekirei.

"Harry, please, listen to me." she almost begged. She was surprised herself by how desperate she was to have the teenage wizard to listen to her, but then again, working with Minaka had made her very aware that Murphy was right, and that whenever something could go wrong, it would. She didn't care much about her own life at this point, since she had long since accepted that if she didn't die in Minaka's stupid Plan (which Harry had promised to prevent), she would most likely be thrown in jail for what she had helped do to the Sekirei, or even get tortured for information by foreign countries if they got their hands on her, but she didn't want Harry to die. At this point, she considered him as something of an adoptive son, one who was surprisingly closer to her than her biological son and daughter. And to her knowledge, what Harry was attempting to do had high odds of having bad aftereffects, or even of failing in a way that would make Hiroshima and Nagasaki look tame. "I understand that you know a lot about Sekirei, but that isn't enough to safely try what you are going to do. Think of everything that could go wrong. You could kill Akitsu, Homura and Karasuba, turn them into brain-dead vegetables, or even kill us all!"

As she breathed heavily, trying to recover from her outburst, she saw that Harry had narrowed his eyes in a way that she recognized and didn't like overly much. This was the look he had whenever he was about to completely shatter someone's world, or turn it on its' head.

"Takami, tell me, how much do you think you know about Sekirei? And I'm not talking about basic biology, but advanced things, like where their powers come from, their history, the reason they came to Earth in the first place? About the Jinki?"

She found herself at a loss of words. While MBI could claim to have the most extensive knowledge of Sekirei on Earth, and she as Head Geneticist of the project knew more than most, it was painfully true that they knew very little about the beautiful aliens. The adjustments done to them had required a lot of trial and error, sometimes with negative results, like in Akitsu's case, and they had only been able to fine-tune their work after the first ten Sekirei had been adjusted and monitored for several years. Not only that, but outside of their physiology, the Sekirei as a whole were a complete mystery. Thanks to Harry's help, they had been able to learn more about them, since apparently they had similarities with magic users, but even then had he not been at MBI then they would still know next to nothing on the mostly female race.

But what troubled her was the look Harry was giving her. While not overly smug, it was a look that screamed that he knew more than what he let on, and knowing Harry as she did, she was willing to bet everything she owned that the amount of things he knew and hadn't told anyone outside of perhaps his Sekirei, was probably enormous. In fact, it was very possible his knowledge of the alien race was far more complete than anyone, save perhaps for Minaka in his mad genius, had suspected.

"Are you telling me that you know all of this?" she growled. While she could understand why he wouldn't tell her anything about the Sekirei, as a scientist she detested knowing that the answers she had been looking for had been right under her nose all that time and that she hadn't noticed.

"So what if I do? What would you want me to do? Spill everything to Minaka? To you? As far as I'm aware, you have both been working on a Plan that would see every Sekirei fight to her death for nothing but my "father's" sick amusement. I've promised to take care of the Sekirei, and I will damn well make sure that I'll uphold it!" he snarled.

For a moment, she felt her mind go blank. While she wasn't as close to him as his Sekirei, she was probably the one who knew him the best in MBI, and while she didn't want to badmouth a boy that she considered as a son, she knew very well that Harry Minaka only ever respected his promises when he had no choice or because it was advantageous for him. And despite knowing that protecting the Sekirei might very well be beneficial to him, how she didn't know, but it was possible, she had trouble believing that it was the only reason behind his actions. It was as if he had a more personal reason to help the Sekirei as a whole, and not just his own.

Then she remembered why she had stepped in, and scowled.

"Don't change the subject. Are you really certain that you know how to use the Jinki, and that nothing bad will happen to your Sekirei or yourself if you use it?"

"While I am certainly more than happy to ignore my survival instincts, that doesn't mean I am actively looking for a way to die!" said the young wizard, as he rolled his eyes. "Besides, aren't you curious? I mean, every Sekirei, even Miya has been adjusted, right? Though in the bitch's case, it wasn't much. Aren't you curious about how a Sekirei with one-hundred percent of her abilities available to them could do?"

She shuddered. In truth, she was a bit curious, however she had witnessed just how powerful the different Disciplinary Squads were, even without Ashikabis. Her wish to learn more about Sekirei wasn't enough to make her forget that one of the most dangerous killing machines in the world was going to be the one to get an "upgrade", so to speak, and she was in no hurry to learn how Karasuba intended to test her new abilities. At least she expected Akitsu and Homura to be somewhat reasonable about it, the Fire Sekirei more so than her younger "sister". She had no wish to read in her newspaper that a small country had been erased from the surface of Earth.

-Break-

Harry had to refrain from growling. While he had never been the picture of patience, he could be very patient when needed, for example when it involved his plans, after all most of them wouldn't bear fruit for another few years, in some cases an entire decade. However, one thing he hated above everything was to be told what to do. It was something he detested with every fiber of his being, and he had a good idea as to why attempting to do ticked him off so badly.

As Harry Potter, child "raised" by the Dudleys, being told to do was a common occurrence, one he had gotten used to, much to the chagrin of his present self, and whenever someone tried to tell him what to do, he had brief flashes of his life at his "relatives'" house, despite his best attempts of locking up that part of his life somewhere in a deep, dark corner of his psyche. As someone who had received the memories of Tom Riddle, a child prodigy and someone who was incredibly proud, being told how to behave was an attack to his pride, since it meant people thought they knew better than him. And finally, having being raised by Karasuba after his arrival at MBI, he had mimicked her behavior to the best of his ability, and a very easy thing to see about the Black Sekirei was that she obeyed no one. He was aware that the only reason she seemed to listen to him was because he was her Ashikabi, someone she had chosen herself, as well as a fighter who could actually give her a challenge.

All of this put together meant that anyone attempting to order Harry Potter around would find themselves dead or maimed, unless you were one of his Sekirei, or Takami. Minaka may have been his adoptive father, but Takami was far more of a parent to him than the mad genius. Of course, he was still sore about the time she had sent him, alone, to rescue Musubi and Kaho, but at the time she didn't have much of a choice, and it wasn't as if she had ordered him to kill anyone, only to sneak in and get the young Sekirei to safety.

Now, while he could acknowledge that the white-haired woman's concerns were valid, from her point of view at least, from his own they were not, and his patience was starting to wear thin. Takami had known him for seven years, and unless he was greatly mistaken about what she knew about him, she was well aware that he wasn't one to take unnecessary risks outside of fights. He wasn't like Minaka, doing things on a whim, and pushing their luck. He had studied the Jinki extensively, asked Akemi about everything she could tell him about the objects and how they affected the Sekirei, how to recognize the early signs of a problem occurring, and so much more. And while so far he wasn't an expert on how to use the Jinki, he certainly knew more about how to use them than anyone else in the world, save for Akemi.

Anyway, he was being realistic in not giving his Sekirei their full power back permanently, as he was well aware that doing so was bound to create trouble. By making it so that they could switch between their usual, diminished state and their full power at will, it allowed them to blend in easier than if they were permanently "superwomen", and, while he doubted they would need it, it would give them an edge in a fight.

"Now Takami, you might want to step back. I'm quite sure of what I'm doing, but I'm told that being around us when I use the Jinki on my Sekirei might be uncomfortable."

The woman was about to retort something scathing, but a hard look from him made her sigh as she walked away, until she was about thirty feet away from their group. Once he was certain she wouldn't interrupt them, he turned back to look at his Sekirei. He had already decided (with their input) that the first one to go would be Karasuba, as Akitsu, while she trusted him, would probably be awfully scared of what might happen to her, even now that she was winged to him. After all, the last time someone "tinkered" with her, she had ended up "broken" and unable to get winged by normal means. He could understand that, and he more than anyone wouldn't begrudge her for feeling uncomfortable at going first. Homura wasn't exactly thrilled about having her limitations removed either, which meant that the only one of his Sekirei left was Karasuba, who was welcoming the opportunity to get more power for herself. He knew that a large part of this eagerness came from her goal of surpassing Miya, a goal for which she had trained relentlessly all her life, and one that he could understand.

Making sure he was holding the Jinki right, he looked up at his oldest Sekirei, whose face was split by a shit-eating grin even wider than usual. He didn't even need their bond to know that she was greatly anticipating what was about to happen, then again, she had always wanted to be stronger than Miya, and she was pretty much given the opportunity to see her dream come true.

"Well then, Harry-chan, ready?" she asked, her voice betraying her anticipation.

Rolling his eyes, he lifted the Jinki and began "feeding" it some of his magic, making the device spring up and hover around four feet in the air in front of Harry, slowly turning until the number carved on it was facing Harry's side. Akitsu and Homura had retreated immediately upon seeing the Jinki starting to hover, though they hadn't gone as far as Takami, as they wanted to be able to reach him in time if there ever was a problem with the procedure.

Once the Jinki had stabilized, he closed his eyes, synching his magic with the one of the device he wanted to interface with. From what Akemi had told him, Jinki could be used by anyone with a drop of Sekirei blood in their bodies, but the more they had the better. An individual such as him would have no trouble using it, but a human whose great-great-great-great-grandmother was a Sekirei would have far more trouble even activating it. The Jinki, for lack of a better word, was usually used by directly connecting with one's brain through the synchronization with their power, as such the more power was poured into it the faster it could analyze it, adapt to it, and use it to send information to the person without harming them.

Once he was done, he felt a slight shift happening in his mind, as the Jinki connected with it. The great thing with the device was that it didn't even need a menu, or anything like that. It "felt.." what the person wanted, and provided them with all the pertinent information. At the moment, Harry was learning quite a few things about Karasuba, things like her genetic makeup, with parts highlighted showing what had to be changed if he wanted to unlock her potential, as well as several hormones and other bodily substances whose production he had to adapt, not to mention making sure her body would be able to bear the amount of power it would contain.

Making sure that he had missed nothing, he then gave a mental command to the Jinki to proceed with the modifications he had picked. Soon, he could see the changes occurring in his Sekirei as the device showed him the progress of the modifications. Just as the bodily modifications were finished and the changes to her Tama begun, he faintly felt a burning sensation somewhere around his stomach, before he was hit with a wave of power, and pain.

He barely realized that he was on the ground retching blood before another wave of pain shot through him, making him whimper as he curled into a fetal position, the pain being far too much for him to bear. While the Cruciatus made it seem as if all the body's nerves were on fire, he was currently feeling as if every fiber of his being was being stretched in different directions and burnt at the same time. It was so excruciating that he the world had been reduced to nothing but himself and his pain as his body tried to voice its' suffering, but was unable to as he threw up blood again. He could faintly hear the panicked screams of his Sekirei as he tasted copper, wishing for the pain to just end.

"Harry!"

"Harry-sama!"

"Harry-chan!"

Despite the pain, a very small part of his consciousness was startled to hear the desperation in Karasuba's voice. It just wasn't right, her voice shouldn't sound like that, he mused, his brain clinging to that thought as a last resort to allow him to keep his sanity.

Finally, he felt his vision start to go dark, and just before he was released from the pain by blissful unconsciousness, he felt soft hands carefully lifting him and cradling him.

Yes, I know, cliffhanger, I'm evil. Wait till tomorrow! Reviews are welcome!