The lost child
AN: This and all of my reading projects are done with the permission of the Authors. I do this so that I can work with them on any parts that they might wish to change/ edit. This story is based upon the bloody Ashikabi written by Arawn I hope that you enjoy it.
Within the void, a place that is known by many names. The dimensional gap, The warp, purgatory or as it was known by a certain vampire, the kaleidoscope. It is a moldable place that is of unknown extent. It changes appearance depending upon the beholder. It is however the place that the 'concepts' of reality reside.
As a place that is without the multiverse, this place tended to be used as a easy to access, For higher beings at least, within which they could manipulate to create entertainment. Being on a higher end of the evolutionary scale, beings of godly might learned quickly that they needed to create their own otherwise they would loose all sense of reality.
This time a room was created within which we find a woman. This was Hecate/trivia the goddess of magic. She had observed some of the other deities doing such things where they allow people of a timeline closer to the prime of a universe one of the outliers. Depending on which deity was the one in which showed how it would go. Some took someone from a world in which the universe that they are being sent was both ahaid and had information that had leaked over into the 'normal' worlds in the form of media of some kind.
They would then send this person into a version or copy of another world creating a branch in which they would use for their entertainment and keep it isolated. Others would create a room such as the one she had created where they would be shown a 'possible' future. Once it was finished however the majority of the time their memories would be wiped after words.
Hecate was annoyed but intrigued with her magical s. True they were created in conjunction with other gods and goddesses of magic. They did however split the creation into spheres of influence. The world of what was known as the Potter-verse was under her jurisdiction. It had also been extremely fascination the amount of different variations that have happened in it. There were some where it had interacted with entirely different universes. Others where one little tweak and it lead off into a massive tangent from the original time line. It was a fascinating process to watch. Heck there was even one where one of the main actors within the universe somehow became her own son!
She sighed with a small headache coming when she tried to figure that one out. It essentially boiled down to the her of that world being one of the more limited versions of herself but more active due to the other gods still residing their did what her other Greek gods and goddesses do when bored and took a lover.
Shaking the memories that would only give her a migraine if she stayed upon the subject much longer and continued to create what she had came here to do. First out was the sealed building, rooms and facilities in which those that she brings can use over their time within. The main room was the viewing room designed after a theatre with different boxes within which the guests would be located. She had also created a library in which contained books and information relevant to which the guests would need to know, they could find it their.
Finally she wrote a note for them and then within a flash of purple light she was gone from the place, It being ready to begin.
It was almost immediately afterwards that their was a large flash and a large group of people appeared. These were people from the Potter-verse.
"Hmm interesting" said the old man with a long beard as he looked around taking in what had just occurred. "Professor what happened!" came a shrill voice of one molly Weasley who was holding her daughter close. The others were also looking around with their wands out in case of threats, they only slightly calmed down upon the room proving to be empty.
"It would appear that we have been forcefully brought here" replied the old man. True it was an obvious statement but without much to go on no one could expect him to know much more. It did however speak much to the influence of the man that his mere presence and calming words were enough to set most of the occupants at ease.
Moving forward to the small pedastle upon which there was a letter, using his wand to scan it for any traps or curses and finding none he lifted the letter and read, before he explained to the others.
Dear wizards/
I am Hecate the goddess of magic, I have created this construct to act as a place in which you can view one of the many different alternate worlds that exist.
This raised an eyebrow with the old wizard. True magic made many impossible things possible but this was not something he had heard of.
This is to be used as a learning experience. Ones actions do have consequences and even the smallest can cause the biggest of problems. The main seat has a large button before it which will be used to start the viewing. All of your needs have been provided and time passes differently here so there is no need to worry about anything.
Albus sighed , it seemed that they would be here for a while. They had explored and found an abundance of space and living areas. What they had not found however was a exit. Even magical transportation was not working. "It would appear that we are going to be here for a while" he said passing around copies of the note which he had conjured.
"An alternate world" Gasped lily in shock gaining many odd looks from those around her she however had kept up with the muggle world and it was not an uncommon concept within literature within the muggle world. Upon seeing the looks aimed at her she could not help but blush, she was a teacher however so she began to explain, not that she expected them to truly understand the full significance of what was being said.
"An alternate world is essentially one in which something is different. Be it a person or an action, it will then ripple out from that point creating a new chain of events." Lily explained getting looks of both confusion and understanding. This time she decided to use a magical explanation.
"Take time turners for instance, we only go so far back with one due to the times within which someone went to far and disappeared. According to theories created by muggles there is a possibility that these people did in fact go back the intended amount however due to it being so far back it created a entirely knew timeline in which that person now resides. There are other us who act and think exactly the same but the series of events have been irrevocably changed by the appearance of that person." This got nods from the crowd until a young male voice said "What does any of that mean?"
This voice belonged to one Ronald Weasley but they were not that surprised as the boy was not the smartest.
Looking around at the group Albus saw himself and the faculty from Hogwarts, The potters and Weasley. This was understandable. The Weasley were close friends to the potters. They were also large players within his plans for the coming war. He also saw one Hermione Granger, he assumed the two with her were her parents.
One thing that he did notice was that there were more seats than people, this hinted at the fact that there was a possibility of more people arriving at a later time. Who it would be was unknown and from what he had learned it could be essentially anyone.
The bloody Ashikabi
"Well that is an ominous title" whispered james getting a nod from his wife. A sinking feeling forming in her stomach. Luckily for her the others did not notice. They were too busy wondering why it would be called such and what a Ashikabi was.
Prologue
Seven years old Harry Potter was waiting in the car for his Uncle and Aunt to come back. Oh, he wasn't sad, even if he would have liked to be able to walk around a little, but seeing as his Uncle had told him that he didn't want his "freakish ways" to prevent him from making a deal with this new and big society, MBI it was called, he had been told to stay inside the car.
The almost silent gasp that had escaped lily did not go un noticed by sirius and ivy. They had been told that their brother had been placed somewhere safe. That it was for his own saftey. This however was not what they were expecting. What made it worse was in the way in which the word 'freakishness' was used. It did not bode well.
For a seven years old, he was quite small, and unnaturally thin, mostly due to the fact that his relatives had told him he wasn't allowed to eat too much, as he was a strain to their "well-earned money". Harry was a very intelligent child, and observant too. He had to, seeing as he wasn't allowed to do better than Dudley at school, since it would mean getting a beating. It was much harder to have bad grades purposely than to simply be good, so he had to be even better at his subjects if he wanted to do worse than Dudley. And he had to be observant, seeing as he couldn't afford to get hit too much by Dudley and his gang, or his Uncle would beat him for being dirty.
The growl that was heard had no obvious location in which it came from, this however did not mean that they could not narrow it down due to the looks of rage and disgust on the faces of the Grangers and Potters. Albus did not care, the boy had to die, he had a horcrux imbeded into his scar. He was a threat to the greater good. Not that he would tell anyone that. There was a reason in why he had convinced the potters to leave the child to him. This however did not mean that he was happy with this outcome it just meant that he had accepted it as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good.
The Professors after they had gotten over the fact that the child was being abused had to admit that it was correct that it would be harder to fake bad results than it would be to just try and succeed. First he needed to observe on how the subject in which he was attempting to hide his results was likely to do and then he would have to adjust his own to make it look like he was trying but not in such a way into which he would not be caught. It spoke volumes of the boys intelligence and subtlety that he could do so at such an age.
When Vernon had been asked to make a trip to Japan to approach a new company that had been doing better and better since a few years ago, Harry hadn't really listened, since he expected to be left to Mrs. Figgs, but Vernon had told him that he didn't want to risk him using his freakish powers to destroy the house, so he had been invited too. Of course, since they had arrived, he had not gone on any of the sightseeing trips his relatives had gone to, so he had had to make do with whatever he could find. He had taken a liking to observing the architecture, as it was very different from what you found in England.
He had been in the car for around seven hours, when he saw someone walking fast towards it. He immediately crouched, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, as Vernon had told him that if anyone saw him, he'd get a beating. As he was hiding, he was mumbling "Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me". Now, Harry had noticed that sometimes, when he was really hurt, or that he really needed something, things happened. Not ordinary things, no, things. One time he had been angry at a teacher for calling him a cheater, and the teacher's wig had turned blue! He was hoping that this time too, he would be lucky.
Flitwick smiled at this, the boy was obviously very intelligent as most would put the random bouts of accidental magic as coincidence yet here was a child that had managed to put the pieces together. Whilst not entirely he had managed to get enough of a picture together to know that the accidental magic was trying to help him.
"That is one intelligent child, he would do well within Ravenclaw." said the half goblin with a small smile. The fact that even severous nodded at his comment was enough proof as Snapes hatred for the potter name and those that looked like his 'nemesis' was legendary.
"Indeed he would" said mr granger. True he did not klnow all of the details of the system, he did know that they were sorted into houses based upon traits. He did not know how it was done but he knew what the outcome was.
However, as someone opened the door of the car, he tentatively peeked through his fingers to see who it was, and was surprised to see a woman in her thirties, with a cigarette in her mouth, a lab coat, and an identification badge looking at him. What surprised him was that the woman had completely white hair, even though she looked young enough to be his mother.
This caused some of the women to huff in indignation at the omens age being alluded at as it was a rude thing to do. The men though could not help force fully keep a straight face and act as if they were not interested as it would most likely get them into severe trouble with their partners.
Then there was a flash of light and the woman on the screen appeared before them in the middle of taking a draw. Her sudden change in scenery was different but not something that she had not seen happen before due to her work with a certain shadow walking sekerei.
It did not take long for the woman to have the situation explained to her. Thus there she was taking a seat with a glass and bowl. One filled with sake the other acting as an ash tray.
-Break-
Takami Sahashi was in a foul mood, as she walked briskly down the corridors of the MBI building. She had been the one charged to greet the three English guests, and frankly, she was glad that they were dead.
"How can you say such a thing!" screetched Molly, horrified that someone could even consider death as a good thing for anybody, As the head master said they should be redeemed and they could not be if they were already dead. Takami just took a draw of her cigerette and turned to look at the plump woman out of the side of her eye with a dead pan stare. "Easily" she non challantly said making many of those there flinch at the tone of her ice cold voice. They however did not know what she put up with on a daily basis. The death of a few strangers would not even make a dent in her will power.
It was their own fault that they died, seeing as their fat and idiotic son had just had the marvelous idea to wander in a restricted area and try pressing random buttons on a control panel. If he hadn't done so, then thirty people would still be alive, including his parents and himself. Not that Takami would have allowed such a disgrace to the name of the human race to live. Seriously, for the half-hour she had been in the presence of those people, she had to restrain the urge to vomit. The man, Vernon Dursley, was by far the fattest person she had ever had the displeasure to see, and had put on so much Cologne that you could smell him a corridor and a half away! Then there was the woman, Petunia Dursley, who by using such a name insulted the flower itself, seeing as she had a horse-like face with a very long neck. Then there was the son, Dudley Dursley, who by what she had seen was well in the steps of becoming as fat as his father. The brat had been polite at first, but when she had started to show them around the facilities, he had quickly begun walking around and touching everything, and his parents had not even scolded him once, going so far as to praise his curiosity. That is, until they entered a room and the young idiot had managed to lock the three of them in, while she was answering a call from Minaka. When she had hung up, the fat child had already activated several securities, locking several teams in rooms that were then flooded with poisonous gas.
There was silence in the viewing room. "my point" said takami causing some of those in the room to flinch. There was however those who still disapproved. "That is a tragedy such a bright future snuffed out so early" came the response of Dumbledore. This caused a frown from takami "So your upset about the boy but not the thirty people that he killed due to his sheer stupidity?" asked the scientist.
The grangers nodded at this, whilst hermione might have been on the fence her parents knew full well what could happen if something went wrong in their practice. It was not as dangerous but still had the potentiol to kill. "If that is they way you think, we might need to seriously consider withdrawing our daughter." this caused looks of shock to appear upon the faces of the wizards in the room. No one had done such a thing as long as they could remember.
Now, several teams of scientists were dead, as well as the Dursleys, and MBI would have to explain it to the police. Two of their best teams of scientists were dead, and all Minaka did was shrug it off as an unfortunate accident. Then again, he always had had a questionable sanity, and with the discovery of the Sekirei, and of their technology, he had gotten even more crazy, acting like some kind of megalomaniacal genius. It was things like this that made Takami aware of the reason she had white hair while she was barely thirty: stress. Working in a fast expanding, recently turned multinational company, that so happened to be holding alien life forms in their labs, was not a job just anyone could do.
"Aliens?" stuttered out the granger family to the confusion of most of those within the room. This got a nod from the scientist It was not a well kept secret, hell most of the city knew about them because of Minaka and his stupid game. It was also due to the stress that she had white hair, from working on the health of the Sekirei to curbing Minakas most outragous ideas it some time seemed as if there was no end to what she needed to do.
As she strode down the corridors, she felt her cell phone go off. As she took it out, she groaned as she saw the caller. Reluctantly, she answered the phone:
"Yes?"
"Aah, Takami-kun. I would like you to check out the car of our foreign guests, see if there is anything suggesting that they were here for anything else than business."
Takami gritted her teeth. What was wrong with this man? Did she look like a security agent? No! She had way more than enough work as it was, without having to fulfill the duties of the MBI security force.
"Are you joking, Minaka? Do you have any idea of how much I have right now? Unless you've missed it, we have several dead scientists, and it won't be long before the police start nagging us on what happened. And you want me to do the job of a grunt?"
Just from the conversation you could tell that this was a normal occurance for the two, the scowl upon the woman in the rooms face just proved it. Several others could not help but feel sympathy for her if this was the sort of things that she had to put up with. The only ones that could properly relate were those who were close to the headmaster as both seemed to be fans of keeping their secrets.
"Now, now, Takami-kun, no need to be this aggressive. I was suggesting that you did so, because our cameras have brought up a surpriseee~."
She had to resist the urge to bang her head on the wall, and the few scientists who were passing by gave her a wide berth, as they were well aware of just what her scowl entailed. Damn that fool for speaking in riddles, she didn't have time for that!
"Minaka, just get to the damn point! I don't have all day!"
"Nope, it's a surrrprissseeee~. Just go down and see if there is anything interesting in the car."
Albus could not help but have a small smile upon his face as this Minaka person seemed to be similar to him in secrecy and approach in how to get his subordinates to complete their tasks. " What an interesting fellow" said albus getting nods of agreement although not for the reasons that he thought. "Ohh, don't you start!" barked out takami who looked close to throwing her glass at the old headmaster.
And with that, he ended his call, leaving a pissed Takami, who knew that he may be a madman, but he was a clever madman, and never did anything without a good reason, even if said reason was to have fun by creating a battle royale involving the only known alien life forms man had ever made contact with.
Suddenly feeling extremely tired, she decided that she would take a look, if only to make Minaka shut up, otherwise he would nag her until she did what he wanted. Taking the closest elevator, she went outside, taking out a cigarette to have a relaxing smoke. Nobody said she couldn't mix pleasure and duty on this particular one, right?
This drew a small smirk from said woman at the mention of her habit of turning Minakas inane ideas to her benefit.
After a few puffs, and some nicotine in her system, she decided that she'd better get it over. Minaka had sent her a description of the Dursleys' car, as well as its location. Walking towards it, she thought she saw a shadow inside, but the time for her to blink, it had disappeared. She paused at that. In a normal company, a normal employee would have dismissed this as their imagination playing them tricks, however, MBI was not by any stretch of imagination an ordinary company, and as head geneticist on their main project, Takami was certainly not an ordinary person.
Taking out her phone, she quickly dialed a preregistered number.
"Yume? Please come to the parking, please. I have reasons to believe we may have an unsavory guest."
Closing her phone, she waited for the Sekirei to come. Calling number 08 to help her may be overkill, but considering how many attempts to steal technology from MBI the Disciplinary Squad had to destroy, she wasn't willing to take any risks.
"Whilst I dont understand some of this due to it being muggle, I would say that she has taken a prudent course of action to be safe" said james his auror hat on. It had not been the first time in his active duty that he had to hunt down thieves for stealing records or attempting to get into the ministries sensitive departments.
Besides, she was a scientist, not a fighter. Though she wondered if she wasn't a little too paranoid, the Dursleys were way too nasty to be a good cover for an infiltration attempt.
"Ah, Takami-san, here you are!"
Takami sighed. While she appreciated Yume, she was a tad too childlike for her tastes, but between her and Karasuba, she was still the better choice, as the Black Sekirei would probably kill anyone trying to infiltrate MBI before she could interrogate them.
This drew stares at the woman who pointedly ignored them. It was Albus who asked the question "What does it mean by that?" he was clearly not happy at the thought of peoplebeing killed despite thousands dieing every day, perhaps more. The fact that she knew for a fact that a lot of the problems could be solved by these wizards vaunted magic did not go un noticed by her so no she was not going to help them in this regard.
Turning slightly, she caught sight of the Sekirei of Destiny. As her older sisters, she was an extremely attractive young woman, a trait that most of the Sekirei so far seemed to be exhibiting. Her body was slim but toned, in no small part thanks to her combative character, and her breasts, well...Suffice to say, many women would have sold their parents for a chance to have them. She had long, brown hair, tied in a ponytail, and was wearing her uniform, a tight black leather top, a pair of black gloves, a miniskirt and stockings.
The male population of the room were trying to not make it obvious how attractive they thought the woman was, this however was not helped by the fact that a few of the women were in a not much better state than the men. The atmosphere was however destroyed by molly shrieking about the indecency of the womans clothing getting a roll of the eyes from those who knew about the styles of those who lived or had contact within the muggle world. A world that moved and changed with meteoric speed compared to the tortois like advances from the magical side.
"What did you call me for, Takami-san?" asked the Sekirei, being her usual curious self.
"Minaka asked that I investigate the car of the Dursleys, our English guests that caused the catastrophe earlier, and I think there might be someone in the car."
"Oh, okay!"
With Yume at her side, Takami then went to the car, and tried to open the door, which was still closed. A quick blast of light from Yume, and she opened said door...to freeze. There, hiding behind a seat, was a small boy, clutching his head and muttering the same words again and again. But that was not what attracted her attention. The boy was wearing clothes way too big for him, and which were looking quite old. When she had seen the Dursleys, they had all been wearing fancy clothes (way too fancy, in her opinion),
Lily groaned at this which caused her husband to chuckle at her reaction. Lily could not help it though her sister had always been a very vain person. This however had only been exaserbated by lily having magic and her husbands intolerance of anything he did not think was 'Normal' so the idea that her sister would show up to an informal meeting in a full formal dress was not exactly surprising.
which had to have been quite expensive. The fact that she had just found a child in their car, one that seemed to come from a very poor family, rang a few alarm bells in Takami's head.
As she stood there, frozen, the boy tried to peek through his fingers, and she caught a glimpse of green, which disappeared way too quickly for her to be sure about what it was. She quickly examined what she could see of the boy, and frowned. He was very thin, and while she wasn't sure how young he was, she was quite sure that a child his age should not have been this thin. What's more, for what she had seen from the Dursleys, the males in their family tended to be vastly overweight, so a male child that was not at least fat seemed strange.
At this both takami and madam pomfrey were scowling. Both working in the medical field they had both seen their fair share but the description of the potter boy was enraging.
"Oh, what a cute little boy!" cooed Yume, her face lighting up in delight, and her exclamation bringing her out of her thoughts. Though, the most interesting reaction was the boy's one: when he heard the Sekirei, he flinched and tried to back away, a feat rendered impossible by the fact he was already currently curled up as close as he could to the other side of the car.
"Mother I have a bad feeling" said Ivy as she tried to explain what her instincts were saying. She had always wanted to meet her brother since she had learned about him. Sure sirius cared but they had little in common, he was your typical gryffindor, she however was more like her mother in her love of learning and reading, this however was not the core of her. No that was her lust to prove herself, her desire to have her older brother proud of her. She already knew that she was not going to be within Gryfindor. Not that she had told her family that.
"why is that sweety" asked her mother though it was obvious that she herself was not quite comfortable with what had been happening on the screen. Particularly due to the fact that this was just the beginning. Ivy could not help but notice that her brother and father were more busy talking to the others within the room. No she did not have a good feeling about this. Not at all.
-Break-
Harry was terrified. He had been found, and now his Uncle would beat him when he'd come back! Not only that, but the woman with white hair had a scary face, and the other one was way too enthusiastic for his tastes. After all, usually, when people were enthusiastic around him, it usually meant something bad was going to happen to him.
Then, the woman with a scary face said something that he didn't understand.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
Normally, he shouldn't have said anything, but with the Dursleys, he had learnt it was better to be polite with people. They tended to hurt you less if you did.
The woman looked thoughtful, and then spoke again, this time using an oddly accentuated English.
"Do you understand me now?"
Harry nodded, not too sure if the woman wanted him to talk or not. Better play it safe. After all, he had gotten quite a few beatings and days without food for speaking when he shouldn't.
"Good. My name is Takami Sahashi, and I'm a scientist at MBI. The lady behind me is Yume."
"Hi~." said the pretty woman, waving at him with a smile.
The two waited patiently, apparently waiting for him to say something, but he was not stupid enough to speak when not addressed, so he kept silent. That seemed to make the Takami woman impatient, and she took a few puffs from her cigarette before asking:
"And who are you?"
"Harry Potter, Miss."
"Potter? Not Dursley?"
"No, Miss. They were my Aunt and my Uncle."
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to tell you that, but your uncle, your aunt and your cousin had an accident this morning. They are dead."
At that, everything came to a halt. They were dead? He was free then? There wouldn't be more beatings? He wouldn't be called Freak anymore? He wouldn't have to maw the lawn, cook, or clean the house? There wouldn't be any more Harry Hunting?
The last thing he heard before blacking out was the voice of the woman with white hair calling him.
Albus kept a carefully neutral face. He could not display anything. It was true that he had created many plans around the boy for almost all of circumstances that he could concieve of. He had even come up with a plan incase the boy had been sorted into slytherin.
Strangely enough he had a couple of emergancy plans incase the boy had some how received letters from another school, despite the wards against such a thing. This however was not amongst his plans. The idea of the boy actually leaving the country had only been a fleeting thought and not one he had taken seriously.
Lily was again growling as the thoughts were said through the screen to explain what was going on in her sons mind. She could not blame him for passing out due to the fact that he had apparently been treated as a virtual slave since he arrived at the dursley house. She could have said that would happen so she could not help but wonder why he was there. She would also have to check up on her own version of him. If Albus had placed him there their would be hell to pay.
-Break-
Takami was honestly surprised about the boy-Harry. Unlike his cousin, he was very polite. However, she couldn't quite place it, but there seemed to be something...wrong, for a lack of a better term, with him. He seemed to be extremely shy, which was another big difference with the meat bag that was his cousin, and was apparently quite scared of Yume and her.
But when she told him his relatives were dead, she had been expecting shock, denial, sadness, or any of the normal reactions that such an event could cause in a child, but certainly not what happened. Instead of that, the boy had looked as if for the first time in his life, he was at peace, and his breathing had quickened, to the point of he had started to hyperventilate.
"Harry? Can you hear me? Harry, try to calm down, and take deep breaths."
However, the boy didn't seem to hear her, and as she went to grab his shoulders to shake him out of his shock, he collapsed. Swearing, she turned to Yume.
"Get him to Lab 3, I'll be right there."
With a nod, the Sekirei picked up the boy, and darted to the elevator, yet she managed to do so without shaking the boy like a rag doll.
Takami turned back to the car, and quickly went for the papers concerning its' renting. She found nothing that could suggest that it was an attempt of foreign spying, but she still kept the papers, she'd submit them to MBI's legal team to be safe. The car would be dismantled and every piece of it examined thoroughly, just to be sure that they had missed nothing.
Deciding that there wasn't much more that she could do, she went to take the elevator. Something wasn't right with the boy, and she'd be damned if she didn't figure it out!
Lily looked at the foreign woman with a small smile, a grateful one which was reponded to with a nod from the scientist. This interaction however was missed amongst the copious groaning and complaining about paperwork. Takami was just glad that most of the issues around MBI could be handled by entire teams of specialist from HR or law. She only needed to focus on her own and unfortunately minakas paperwork as his needed scrutiny to make sure he did not make an off the cuff decision that could doom them all.
-Break-
"Run that by me again?"
Takami was currently in Lab 3 with Yume, Harry's form laying on a cot and breathing peacefully, though every now and then he whimpered and turned.
MBI's head geneticist had barely made it to the lab before Yume had popped up and dragged her to the boy, her usual calm face a mask of anger. She had almost dropped her unlit cigarette at the sight. Yume, despite being a member of the Disciplinary Squad, had never shown anger to anyone or anything. She sometimes expressed disappointment and sadness when she had to kill soldiers, but never anger.
"As I said, Takami-san, I think that Harry was abused by his relatives."
The Sekirei was unusually serious, and Takami didn't like it one bit. If she was right, then quite a few things concerning Harry became easy to explain: the shyness, the politeness, the relief on his face when he had been told of the death of his relatives...But she wanted to be sure of it.
Taking out her cellphone, she gazed at the picture of her son and daughter. While she knew she wasn't the best mother around, she was proud to say that she did her best to raise them as responsible contributors to society. She may not show it much, but she loved her children deeply, which was why she had refused that Minaka take any part in their life. She wasn't about to let him corrupt her children!
Closing her phone, she sighed warily. She firmly believed that no child should ever be subjected to abuse, a notion all the more hypocritical considering her own involvement with the Sekirei Plan.
Takami kept a stoic emotionless face at the looks directed towards her, especially at the mention of the sekirei. She would let the story explain it as by the looks of things a lot of secrets were going to be dragged into the light, even those that they did not want to.
"Why do you think that, Yume?"
"When I was carrying him, I managed to get his weight. He barely weighs fifteen kilos (i.e: 33 pounds)! And when I was bringing him here, he was saying something like "I won't do it anymore! I promise!" , and he has something on his back, but I didn't have time to see what it was."
She was aghast. Fifteen kilos? That was way too little for a child of his size! And the mention that he had something on his back made her blood run cold. Oh, sweet Kami, please make it that Yume is wrong!
Turning to the still unconscious form of the English boy, she decided it was better to check now, while he was still unconscious, otherwise he might not want to talk about it if Yume was right. But deep down, she really, really hoped that she was wrong.
There were nods in the room. None however were more fervant than those from flitwick and the grangers. Muggles found the abuse of children to be aborant it was one of the reasons that those who did so have such a bad time in jail. Even criminals hate child abusers, many have their own children and would do anything to protect them. It just meant that the defence of their children would be a bit more violent than others.
Flitwick was a half goblin, a race that was bound by a strict warrior and honour code. Children could not defend them selves in the arena of combat. Such combat was not honourable. In goblin society it was not unknown for the children of the defeated to be taken in and raised by the victors.
Delicately pushing the boy so that he'd be laying on his stomach, she took a pair of scissors and cut the shirt open. Considering its' state, she was surprised that anyone would be willing to wear it. As the fabric fell, she dropped the scissors, which made a loud CLUNK! when they hit the ground, not that either her or Yume noticed, too shocked by the sight before them to even notice their ears were sending them signals.
Harry's back was covered by scars. In fact, there wasn't a part of his back that wasn't covered by scar tissue. Some were barely noticeable, being too old and having already healed to the point they were merely white lines, but most were still vivid and red, some even looking like they weren't even a week old. Some looked like cuts, others were more like burns, and some looked as if the skin had been torn from the muscle. This was not abuse, this was plain torture.
Shock and horror reigned supreme within the room. Even the resident death eater was horrified by what was shown. This was not something that should happen to a child. Yet here was one which had been put through what could only be described as hell.
There was no word to describe how Takami was feeling then, she was horrified by the sight, disgusted by how monstrous her fellow humans could be, and most of all, she was angry. If the Dursleys hadn't been dead, she'd have sic Karasuba on them right then. A feeling likely shared by Yume, considering how the very air seemed to be warping and distorting behind her. She was well aware that if she didn't fear it would wake up Harry, the Sekirei'd be screaming her lungs off and breaking things left and right.
"How...how?!" she managed to croak, her voice thick with emotion. "How can someone do that to a child?!" she asked, her voice bordering on hysterical.
Takami, while she did not say anything, agreed completely with the Sekirei. If the abuse had been on a teenager, she'd had understood better, not that she'd agree with it any more, but a child? This was not the result of a few nights of drunken violence, this was the result of daily torture. It was a miracle that Harry hadn't become completely crazy, and even then she was sure he had some of the most impressive mental scars of the people she knew, and she knew quite a few soldiers that Minaka had hired.
She saw Number 08 walk to the side of the cot, and place a hand on the whimpering boy's forehead. From where she was, she could see the face of the Sekirei of Destiny, and it was flooded with tears. Yume had always been someone quite empathetic, and seeing a child who had lived through such horrors at such a young age must have shaken her deeply. Especially considering how often she claimed that Love was the answer to everything. It would be difficult to believe in love after seeing the results of the abuse that Harry had suffered at the hands of his own family.
Albus could not help himself but be stuck in between a smile and a frown. This woman yume sounded like someone he would like. Love was the greatest power in the world and he appreciated the fact that she was a great believer in that, there were plenty within the light faction that did not. What put him off was that they had openly admitted to the fact that she had indeed killed people. Something that was anathema to him. Every one should be given the chance to be redeemed violence was never the answer in his eyes. So he was caught in a conundrum.
"Oh, my poor boy, what did these monsters do to you?"
Considering how the boy flinched away from the gentle touch, Takami was willing to bet that not only had he been tortured, but he must also have never been shown the slightest amount of physical affection. The reaction caused Yume to cry even more.
However, knowing he had been abused was all well and good, but what now? His family was dead, and all she had to search for any living relatives was a last name-Potter-, and considering how abused he had been, she really didn't think it'd be wise to return him to them. So, what to do?
The magicals were almost all extremely offended at the idea of the potters being violent to their children the grangers who were looking at things from the muggle point of view understood completely. They did not have any idea about the reputation the family held within the community. One which was very small and isolated. From their view it was a distinct possibility that they could end up similarly. So they had empathy to Takami and the dilema she was in.
-Break-
Harry was confused. Why was he dreaming? The last thing he remembered was a scary lady talking to him before he passed out. What had she said?
And then everything came back, crystal clear. He had been waiting in the car as he had been ordered to, and then there was the scary lady that told him the Dursleys were dead! That meant no more beatings from his Uncle, no more doing chores all day for his Aunt, and no more Harry Hunting and beatings from Dudley! But then what? He was not stupid, he knew that now that the Dursleys were dead, he didn't have any family left, well, apart from his parents, but his Uncle and Auntie had told him that they had abandoned him, because they were freaks, and he was a freak too. He didn't know why his parents had left him to the Dursleys, but if they were freaks and he was too, then why had they abandoned him? When he had asked his Aunt, she had given him a scary smile and told him he was so much of a freak that even his freak parents didn't want him. He had spent the night crying in his cupboard after that.
Maybe he'd be sent to an orphanage? That would be good. If they sent him to an orphanage here, in Japan, then there'd be nobody to spread bad rumors about him. That, and Dudley wouldn't be there to bully anyone wanting to be his friend. He was sure that there'd be bullies, but at least they wouldn't be focused on him.
He felt something cold on his cheek. It was...water? Was it raining? But he didn't hear the sound of the rain. Instead, he was hearing...sobs? Someone was crying? Who?
Slowly opening an eye, he close it immediately, blinded by the crude white light. Blinking to chase the tears from his eyes, he opened them again, to find that he was laying on a cot, a medical one. Immediately, he felt cold, and trying to hug himself to keep his own heat, he felt that his chest was bare. That was bad, he started to panic. If anyone saw his scars, there'd be questions, and then he'd get punished again! Grabbing the first piece of fabric he could, he covered himself with the sheet he had been laying on. Only then did he look around.
He was in some kind of infirmary, or maybe something like a lab, he corrected himself after seeing a huge machine he had never seen in the back of the room. The room was quite big, and all white, which was the reason he had been reminded of an infirmary. After all, he had a rather intimate knowledge of infirmaries considering the regular beatings he had received, courtesy of Dudley and his friends, before his Uncle had reminded Dudley that bad things would happen if Harry was sent to the infirmary.
Takami looked at the group that were sitting there. "this was premeditated and systematic, something that rarely happens in modern societies." she said seeing the reactions and she was not impressed by what she saw. These people where clueless about these things. It was true that she had been informed about how they were from a isolated community that had split from the main governments long ago. They had their own laws, their own settlements and their own governments and standards. Thus she had no idea what they would consider normal or not. So it was that she sighed and turned away from them. The fact that they had allowed it to happen made her sick to her stomach. Unfortunatly her instincts where screaming that this was not all.
His attention was attracted by the sound of sobs, and he turned to see the pretty woman he had seen earlier, when the scary woman had opened the door of the car he was in. He hadn't been able to see her well earlier, but now he could see that she was very pretty, and that she had boobies like the ladies in the magazines Dudley stole with his friends, and that his Uncle confiscated, only to keep them for himself. He may have been a kid, but he could appreciate someone with a good figure!
"Err...Miss, why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere?"
The sobs stopped, and the lady looked at him through red eyes. For some reason, she was looking at him funny, as if she couldn't understand what he had said. That thought made him blink. Of course she wouldn't understand English, she was Japanese! But how was he supposed to communicate with her then?
"I see you're awake now, Harry."
The voice on his left made him jump, and he quickly turned his head to see who had spoken. It was that scary woman with white hair!
She had probably noticed his fear, as she gave him a reassuring smile, which made him feel slightly better. Slightly. He had sharp instincts, and his instincts were telling him to be careful to never cross this woman, ever.
This prodded a chuckle from her. The fact that a child knew this yet Minaka did not was just amusing to her. It was also annoying and depressing. The man was a grade A genius whilst at the same time he was a weapons grade idiot. Something that both annoyed and confused the majority of people that knew the man.
Not trusting his voice and out of habit, he nodded. Considering that all of his life, if he had spoken before someone had talked to him, he'd get a beating. 'Freaks don't talk to normal people unless absolutely necessary!' his Uncle said. Well he had learnt the lesson, and he wasn't going to slip now!
The woman was looking at him strangely, and he couldn't quite place what her expression meant. He had never seen one like this on his Uncle or his Aunt's face, so he didn't quite understand it. So he waited. If there was something she wanted, she'd ask soon enough. He had a lot of patience, he had to, so he wouldn't be the one to crack first.
"So, I'd like to reintroduce my friend and myself. This crying lady, here, is Yume, and I am Takami Sahashi. So far so good?"
Harry nodded. The scary...Takami looked pleased. She then started to lean slightly towards him.
"Harry, do you remember what I said when we met? About your relatives?"
"Yes, Miss Takami. You said that my Uncle, my Aunt and Dudley were dead."
Takami nodded again, apparently pleased for some reason. Yume was sitting next to him, and a little too close for him to be comfortable with, but he forced himself to deal with it. After all, they couldn't be as bad as the Dursleys...could they?
"Now Harry, I'm sure you probably don't want me to explain the intricacies of the system to you, but right now we have a little problem. You see, we don't have any information on you, it's like you don't exist, so we are faced with an unique dilemma: what are we going to do with you?"
He blinked. And then he blinked again. Somehow he was getting a really bad feeling about what was happening. She had just said the same thing his Aunt said each time he had made a mistake, and he had to remind himself that Takami was not his Aunt, or he would already be apologizing. His Aunt had a bad habit of burning him whenever he made a mistake, and between his Uncle and her, he really didn't know what was worse, the beatings or the burns?
"Harry, can you tell me who your parents are?"
He was brought out of his musings by Takami, who was looking funny again.
"I don't know, Miss Takami. My Aunt said my mother was a whore, and that my father was a no good drunk. She said that they didn't want me, so they left me to the Dursleys."
A loud CRACK made him jump, and when he turned his head, he saw that Yume, who had been fiddling with an object he didn't know, had broken it in two. What scared him though, was the look of absolute fury on her face, and the fact that the object she had broken was in metal. Just how strong was she?!
Silence, utter silence. Though you could feel the palpable rage in the room. " She said what to my son" came a growl from lily the air around her becoming wavy as if there was a heat wave. "Lily calm yourself" Barked Albus trying to keep control of the situation. This however was so far from his plans that he had little to no idea of how to proceed.
"Do not think that you can tell me to calm down Professor this situation would not even be happening without you!" barked the woman starting an argument with the old man. He had after all done the same to her son, each and every time she asked for a update she only got a generic answer. She was not for having it any more after seeing what could possibly be happening to her son.
-Break-
The head geneticist of MBI was twitching. More accurately, she was trying to maintain a semblance of friendliness, so that Harry wouldn't be scared out of his mind. A task that was only made possible by her regular dealings with Minaka, otherwise she might have exploded right then and there. What kind of people tell a child his mother is a whore and his father a drunkard who didn't want him?
Yume had a reaction she had wanted to mimic, but she had restrained herself for Harry's sake. Said kid was quickly rising in her mind from "polite" to "someone who deserved respect". She didn't know how he could still be sane, and she highly doubted that his mind was anywhere around "normal", but to be able to maintain a polite and considerate personality after what he had lived was nothing short of a miracle. Any other child exposed to things like Harry had lived would have turned far worse than him, that was for sure.
"Harry, I'm sorry to hear this. But did she give you their names? Something that we could use to track them down to see if they could take you in?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Takami. She always talked about 'Her' when she was talking about my mother, and 'that freak' when she was talking about my father."
The idea in itself was laughable. Parents who let their child live with the Dursleys were obviously not fit to be his guardians, that was for sure. However the alternative would be to send him to an orphanage, unless MBI managed to track down other living relatives. Right now though, she wasn't sure it would be a good idea. Considering that Harry probably had a lot of mental problems stemming from his upbringing, it would be better to send him to a family able to care for him, something that he had apparently lacked so far.
James was offended at the idea of being an unfit parent. The idea was ludicrous for him as his family was all about family first. It was one of the things that tended to get him into arguments with others. Seemingly good ideas that would only end up hurting his family in the long run. Whilst he might agree with some of them personally the damage that would be done to his family was not acceptable. So it was that he muttered about how absurd the idea was.
The thing that shocked those from the magical world was the thought of harry having mental issues. Mental health was not an area that was widely practiced. It was seen as a disgrace to ones family to need to go to a mind healer. It was not something that would go noticed by a muggle born who was not aware of it.
Lily just so happened to be one of those muggle born. So whilst the others were hissing in protest at the idea she knew how likely it was as it was common knowledge within the muggle world the effects of mental issues could have upon people.
Deciding to let the topic of his parents drop, she steeled herself, as she was about to bring up the crux of the problem. Seeing that Yume had managed to regain some semblance of composure, she decided to broach the topic now, that would allow her to get it mostly out of the way.
"Harry" she paused. How was she supposed to say it? Oh well, might as well try to be direct, but careful in her wording.
"Harry... Can we talk about what's on your back?"
Bad idea, she realized, when the boy immediately went rock still, and his face became an emotionless mask.
"Harry, I'm sorry, but when you were unconscious, I checked your body to see if you were hurt. You know that boys your age don't usually have as many scars as you have, do you? Did your Uncle give you those?"
No answer. Harry was really starting to scare her. How the Hell did a child that had to be five at most manage to pull a perfect poker face?!
"Harry, I want you to know that I'm your friend. I don't want to hurt you, I want to help you."
Ah, a reaction. Though it was not what she had expected. Instead of looking hopeful, he looked confused.
"Why would you want to help me? Nobody wants to help me. Freaks don't deserve help."
Frea-?
"OH THOSE LITTLE SHITS! I SWEAR THAT IF THEY WEREN'T DEAD, I'D KILL THEM NOW! TO CALL A CHILD A FREAK?! WHAT KIND OF MONSTER WERE THEY?!"
A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. At some point during her rant, Harry had hidden himself under the cot and was currently trembling in fear, the sheet he had taken to cover himself over his small frame. Now Yume, who was looking furious herself, was shaking her and telling her to calm down since she was scaring the boy.
Dropping in her chair, she watched as Yume managed to convince Harry to get out of under the cot, an impressive feat considering how angry Takami could feel her. She watched as the Sekirei gently caressed his head, that is until Harry shifted uncomfortably.
"Ah, you don't like it?"
"I don't know, Miss Yume. It's just...well, weird. Usually the only times someone touches me is when my Aunt burns me, when my Uncle beats me, and when Dudley and his friends hit me."
Each time, Takami mused, each time I think it can't get worse I'm proven wrong. Seriously, how he hasn't become a mini-Karasuba I don't know. But I'll be damned if I don't at least know how much physical trauma he has gone through.
Takami could not help but flinch at her others thought. A flinch that did not go unnoticed by the grangers and aurors within the room. Takami however had a very od sensation run through herself at the thoughts. She could not really describe it beyond the feeling of an ice-water bucket being dumped down her back. Whatever it was it was obviously not a good sign.
"Harry, I think that for now you'll stay here, at MBI. I want to check a few things, so would you mind letting me run some physical tests?"
The boy simply nodded. There was no "Will it hurt?", no question, he simply nodded.
-Break-
Harry was confused. Takami and Yume had said they wanted to help him, and that made no sense. Freaks didn't deserve help, Freaks were nothing, they were abnormal and deserved whatever they got. There had never been anyone who wanted to help him, the only ones who had ever done anything for him were the school nurses, and they had only done so because it was their job. They had been quite clear on how much they despised him, though he had no idea why.
Right now, he was laying on a cot, and a machine was scanning him. Takami had told him she wanted to get as much physical data she could, so he had agreed. It was very comfortable, something he was not used to. Usually, when he slept, his cupboard was not very comfortable, and he was not allowed to take anything that may make it more comfortable with him.
So he simply lay there, waiting for the physical examination to end.
-Break-
Takami was not very happy right now. After witnessing the external signs of physical abuse, and several signs of psychological abuse, she now had proof that Harry had several bones that had healed improperly, meaning they would have to break them again to set them correctly. It was a small mercy that he was still young, his bones were still growing so there should be less consequences than there would be for an adult or a teenager.
"Takami, what are you going to do for Harry?" Yume asked.
The Sekirei had been oddly silent since she had decided to have a physical examination of the boy. Takami couldn't really begrudge her, after all Harry was the proof that her beliefs were not always true. After all, how could Love be the answer for someone like Harry, who probably knew the word but not the meaning behind it?
"I don't know. I think it would be best to make sure he has a loving family, but I doubt Minaka will agree."
"What does Minaka have to do with this?"
"He's the one who sent me to check on the car we found Harry in, and considering that he has no official existence, at least if we believe our databases, then I don't know what that idiot might do. He might even want us to eliminate him for all we know."
Yume grimaced at that, and Takami couldn't blame her. They both knew very well that Minaka, for the idiot he seemed to be, was a genius who greatly disliked the idea of anyone who didn't belong to MBI knowing of the Sekirei, and Harry had already met Yume.
Takami could feel the looks burning into her, not that she could blame them. Having to deal with minaka in even the slightest of ways was enough for most people to become immune to most forms of preasure. The constant unpredictability and childishness was not good for ones health. But she also agreed with what she assumed was their thoughts of, would he seriously do such a thing. This however was not a question that she wanted to be forced to answer as it was difficult even for her to know what the man-child would do.
It was hard enough for her to not react and keep a professional mask up, she was not happy with any of the situation that was playing out.
Sighing, she stopped the machine. She would need these radios to ask for a doctor to come up with an appropriate planning to heal Harry, both physically and mentally. She may have been an expert when it came to genetics, but health care was not her domain.
She went to the room where Harry had been, waiting in an hospital gown (his clothes had been discarded as soon as he had taken them off, seriously those things were just foul). She tried to explain as clearly as she could the procedures he would need to heal, but Harry was a smart kid, and he didn't have trouble understanding.
"But how will I pay? I mean...I don't have money."
"~Weeelll, how about working for me, Harry-kun?"
Takami clenched her fists. Why now? Why did the fool have to come and ruin everything?
"Now, listen Minaka...What is Karasuba doing here?"
A loud smack could be heard throughout the room and looking around they all saw takami smacking her head off the desk next to her chair.
"Why are you doing that?" asked Ivy, to her the woman looked much more sensible and intelligent than the others in the room/ So for her to be acting like that it had to be something serious. The response she got was "karasuba" though it was said in a more resigned groan than anything else.
-Break-
Karasuba, the Black Sekirei, was having an interesting day. Apparently some foreign guests had triggered the security, resulting in their deaths and some of the scientists', but she really didn't care about those humans. Actually, she had stopped caring for about everything ever since Takehito had chosen Miya over her, but now that she worked with Yume, she had discovered that she could still feel emotions, especially hatred. That woman spent all day spewing nonsense about Love, about how Love made everything possible, even though she knew her personal history. It was like she was taunting her, and more than once she had wanted to kill the offending idiot.
Now, Minaka had asked her to come with him, as they apparently had another guest. She was used to that, the fool always liked to use her as a scarecrow to show his guests that they shouldn't mess with MBI. She was ready to stand behind him and give her usual sadistic smile, like she always did, but she felt that something was wrong. Ever since that morning she had felt a nagging feeling, something that she wasn't to, she felt a pull towards a certain place and that place was where they were headed now. She was firmly decided to kill whoever made her feel uncomfortable, and to Hell with Minaka. After all, a small "accident" was not unprecedented, and it would be a shame if their guest was to try and take away some MBI material.
There were wide eyes as the people in the room assimilated what was just said in the mind of the grey haired woman. The woman whose smile was eerily similar to a death eater who was locked up within azkaban. Some how though the fact that she was already planning murder was the least surprising part of what they had heard. The bit that both confused and worried them was this nagging feeling that she was talking about.
That however was not what worried takami, for her she knew that Karasuba was starting to react. Not a strong one but it was enough for her to build upon. The one that she just happened to be reacting to, was harry.
As they got out of the elevator, she had to pause. What the HELL was that pull?! It was ten time worse than before!
"Oi, Minaka!"
"Yes?"
"Who's the guest this time?"
He must have guessed her discomfort, as he simply gave her that superior smirk she hated.
"You'll see, but I think that you will find him...interesting, to say the least."
With that, he resumed his walk, his white cape billowing dramatically behind him.
Karasuba's left eye twitched. Oooh, how she hated it when he did that!
Finally, they arrived in the area dedicated to the Sekirei's physicals, which housed some of the most advanced medical devices in the world, which was quite understandable as MBI was the one to create and produce them, basing their work on what technology they could understand on the ship that had brought the Sekirei to Earth.
Opening one of the doors, she heard a voice that she recognized belonged to Takami.
"...so we're going to draw this schedule up, and then we'll get you all better!"
Meh, looks like she's talking to a child, she mused.
"But how will I pay? I mean...I don't have money."
Oh? Apparently it was indeed a child. From the voice it sounded like a little boy, though she wouldn't be able to tell much more, seeing as she disliked mankind, and had no wish to get anywhere close to children. To her, children were innocent beings, but she couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted by their carefree attitude, their ignorance of all the basics of life.
"~Weeelll, how about working for me, Harry-kun?"
What the Hell was Minaka talking about?
"Now, listen Minaka...What is Karasuba doing here?"
"Oh, you aren't happy to see me Takami?"
"Karasuba, leave now!"
Okay, she had not expected to see Yume here. Her rival usually spent her free time observing those lowly humans. And she was surprised by the amount of venom in her voice. Usually she was only giving her the "I'm disappointed in you" look, but now she was actually talking as if she hated her. An interesting development, to say the least.
There was utter silence within the room, There was however a couple who could not help but draw comparisons. The 'im disappointed in you' look was one of Albus most famous ways of convincing people to do what he wanted whilst making it seem like it was their own idea. Usually most people do not even notice the tactic. He had had far too many years of practice for him not to be able to do so.
She watched as her rival got up and shielded someone who was behind her.
That was when she saw HIM. He was a human child, probably no older than five, and he was looking at her through half-broken glasses, but she could still see his eyes. They were of the deepest green she had ever seen, and then she SAW. This child, thanks to some twist of fate, was like her: alone, hating the world for what it had done to him, and all it would take to make him into a magnificent killer was some time and training.
There was a gasp, It came from Albus, all of his work to make the boy pliable and manipulable was just about to back fire. All of his plans were now not as steadfast as he thought they were. How would he fix this, how would he solve the issue. It was not like he would know where the boy was, never mind the fact that he even knew that the boy had left. It would take a year or two for the blood wards to drop due to his time there. No this was not a good thing at all.
It was the very first time in her life that she felt that someone UNDERSTOOD her, while Takehito was gentle with her, he couldn't understand her, nor her feelings. Oh, he had been close to, but this child... This child was so similar to her it wasn't even funny! She could see it in his eyes, the pain of being all alone, of losing everything.
Her breathing quickened, and she took a step forward. She didn't care that Minaka, Takami, or even Yume were there. All she knew is that she WANTED that child like nothing before, she didn't care he was a child, she didn't care that he looked scrawny, she didn't care she didn't know who he was. .
By now everyone in the room had noticed her strange behavior, Minaka was giving her a triumphant smirk, Takami looked aghast, and Yume looked angry. But she didn't care, she wouldn't care, so long as that child was hers.
Harry was surprised. First he had been told that his bones were not as they should be, that he would need to have them broken again to make them better, then there was this weird man asking him to work for him...But all that didn't matter. Behind the strange man was a woman, a beautiful woman. She did not have a figure as developed as Yume, but she was still beautiful.
She had long grey hair tied in a ponytail, squinted grey eyes, and she was carrying a sword. She was wearing the same uniform than Yume, so he supposed she was working with her. But what mattered to him was the feeling of absolute power this woman was exuding. He may have been a child, but even he could tell with one glance that this woman was dangerous, that she could kill him if he so much as looked at her wrong.
He was fascinated. This woman was not only beautiful, she was everything he wanted to be! During all his time at the Dursleys, all he had ever wanted was power. Power to do everything he wanted, power so great that he wouldn't need anyone, that he'd be able to protect himself, power to hurt those that hurt him.
There was silence, absolute silence. The horror struck faces of the wizards was only matched by the saddened but understanding looks from the muggles. This was a reaction that they were expecting. It was one of very few that were possible for such cases. The child would either become very driven to ensure they would never have such a situation ever again or they would try to blend into whatever environment they found themselves within. If only to protect themselves. Takami sighed she knew that those were what could have happened in the most simplistic of terms. What she also knew was that harry had been at the tipping point, which way he went had not been decided until he met karasuba. From then there was nothing that could be done.
Yume was trying to protect him from her, but he didn't care. He got out of behind her, and walked past Takami and Minaka, and looked at the woman in the eyes. He could see it... This woman was like him. She was not weak like him, no, but she was hurt, he could see it in her eyes. They were like his own, hollow and devoid of life. He saw these eyes look him over, and settle on the scars she could see on the highest part of his back. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw them, but he saw something else flicker in her eyes. He was not sure what it was, but he liked it.
"Who are you?" he asked.
He heard Takami suck in a breath behind him, and Yume advanced towards him, though he didn't know why. He continued to fix the woman in the eyes curiously.
He watched as the woman crouched to allow her eyes to be on the same level as his, as she gave him a scary smile. A part of his brain told him to flee in fear, but another one, the one distorted by years of abuse and neglect, was telling him to stand his ground. After all, what did he have to fear? There was little she could do to him that he hadn't endured and survived.
"I am Karasuba. And who are you?"
"Harry Potter, Miss Karasuba."
"What would you do if I told you I find you interesting, Harry?"
He tilted his head on the side, confused.
"Why would a freak like me be interesting?"
"Harry, you're not a freak!" Yume shouted, but he didn't pay her any mind.
The woman, Karasuba, looked please by his answer.
"You ARE interesting, Harry. VERY interesting, even." she purred.
Lily was sat in stunned horror, she had even forgotten how to breath momentarily. It was as if she was watching a car crash and she could do nothing about it. She wanted to close her eyes and deny what was happening but she couldn't.
She was not the only one however the others were the same. The ones who were the loudest in protesting were the weasleys. Why she did not know nor care it was not as if it was their family that this monstrosity was happening to. She was getting her baby back as soon as she got home, she would hold and nurse him, she would show him all of the love he could ever want, hell she would leave him alone if that was what he wanted, just anything but what was happening upon the screen.
-Break-
Karasuba was in Heaven. This boy was PERFECT! She had to call in all her experience and willpower not to wing herself on him right then and there. She had seen the scars on his body, and that had almost been too much for her. A child this young, so badly scarred? It was almost assured that he would become like her, that he would UNDERSTAND her! And to top the cake, it seemed as if Yume had a soft spot for him! There was no way she was going to miss the occasion to get one over her rival!
"Karasuba, get away from him NOW!" shouted Yume, as she approached the two of them, apparently concerned with the safety of the boy.
She was about to take out her sword to give the noisy bitch a piece of her mind, when she shivered. When she realized that for a split second, she had felt fear, she turned towards the only person in the room who could have made her feel afraid. Minaka was out, he was an idiot, Takami couldn't scare her, and Yume was on an even ground with her, which meant that only the child could have caused that kind of reaction out of her.
He was currently glaring at Yume.
" .alone!"
It was at that particular moment that she felt it. Right before Yume could say anything more, she was blasted in the wall with extreme force, to the point where you could hear the sound of her ribs breaking. Her ribs were not the only things to break though, Minaka's glasses exploded, and the machine that had taken the radios of his body made a cracking noise as smoke came out of it.
Yesss, she mused, bemused by the destruction this human child had caused, very interesting indeed. With this in mind, she caught the boy in her arms as he was about to pass out, and cradled him to her chest awkwardly. You are MINE, and I'll be damned again if I let anyone take you away from me.
-Break-
Takami couldn't believe her eyes. Not only had Karasuba tolerated Harry's presence, but she looked like she enjoyed it! She was acting so out of character since she had seen the boy that it was creepy. As strange as it was, she would much have preferred it if she had insulted him and/or tried to kick him. At least she would have been sure that she wasn't dreaming.
She saw Yume advance on her fellow Disciplinary Squad member, and she was about to try and calm everyone down when she felt a chill crawl up her spine. It was eerily similar to the one she felt each time Karasuba went on a rampage and she got too close to the bloodthirsty Sekirei, but a glance towards the grey-haired woman showed that it hadn't come from her, if her surprised look was any indication. However she saw said woman look down on Harry and grin, which confused and worried her.
To say that she was utterly baffled when Yume was thrown in a wall with enough force to break several of her ribs was an understatement. As a scientist, she had taken quite a shock when she had learnt about the Sekirei and their abilities, which defied everything she thought she knew, but at that time she had at least the possibility to put it as a feat reserved to their species. Now, though, she was faced with someone she had thought was an ordinary human boy, who had apparently used some kind of telekinesis to send a single number Sekirei, a being that could face of armies by itself, into a wall with enough force to break some of her bones.
She was still considering the sheer impossibility of what she had just witnessed when she saw something that was completely, utterly, mind-blowingly impossible.
Karasuba had cradled Harry in her arms, and was looking at his unconscious form with love and devotion of all things. Or at least something that resembled love, she wasn't sure the Black Sekirei was able to understand love anymore. But the fact that she had, by herself, initiated physical contact, with a child no less, was something not even she would have imagined. Karasuba's hatred for everything was well-known, as well as the fact that she held everyone save a very restricted number of people in the highest contempt, and even those people were little more that people she held a special dislike for.
Finally, she was able to compose herself, if only slightly, and croak:
"H-how?"
"Indeed Takami-kun, I must admit that such a feat is very interesting." said Minaka, who after looking slightly surprised, had returned to grinning like a madman. "Perhaps a few tests..."
The word "test" was enough to make Takami regain her composure and glare at Minaka.
"Listen, Minaka, I don't CARE what you think, you won't lay a finger on this kid! And if you do, so help me I'll castrate you myself!"
Minaka merely grinned and was about to retort, when another voice, one that neither of them had expected, spoke up.
"I will keep him."
James was not happy about this, not at all. First he found out that his son and heir had been living within a very hostile environment. One that was so bad that it might have damaged him mentally. That he was more mature than he had any right to be and that he had wounds so severe that they might never heal properly. The only good points that he could see was that he now had someone to care for him and that he would be very well protected if how this woman karasuba was acting.
So no he was not happy at all. He also had the horrible feeling that it was only going to spiral from here. His instincts were screaming it at him and being an animagus his instincts were keener than most. Thus he had learned early on to trust them.
At that, both Takami and Minaka turned to look at Karasuba, who was awkwardly cradling Harry in her arms, the bloodthirsty Sekirei grinning madly. She was looking at the boy in her arms with an intensity that made Takami uncomfortable. Usually, people did not interest the Black Sekirei, so she had little doubt that letting Harry anywhere close to her was a bad idea, especially considering his background.
"Karasuba, I don't think that it would be a good idea to..."
THUNK!
Faster than she could see, and certainly too fast for someone who was holding a child in her arms, Karasuba had drawn her sword and stuck it in the wall next to Takami, cutting her cheek. The Sekirei was still smiling, but this time it was a smile that promised unimaginable pain to whoever would dare to contradict her.
"I don't care what you THINK, Takami, I WILL have him, one way or another."
A knock on the door stopped the situation from escalating further, but Takami glared at Karasuba, promising herself that she would not let Harry anywhere close the Sekirei if she could help it.
Meanwhile, Minaka, as the mad genius he was, had been smiling all along and had opened the door, revealing a young man looking like he would like to be everywhere but there.
"Yes, what is it?~" asked Minaka, who, to Takami, looked quite curious about why he would be interrupted.
The young man whispered a few words to Minaka, before handing him an enveloppe and bowing before he hastily closed the door.
-Break-
Karasuba was having an very good day for once. Not only had she found someone that would be able to understand her, and who would make a great Ashikabi after some training on her part, but she had gotten to see Yume, who loved to prattle about Love, take a blow from a child that had sent her into a wall. Well, she had gotten up almost instantly, but still, it was the action that counted! And here in her arms, was the person who had illuminated her day and her existence, the first person to ever share her disgust for the world, her hatred and her need of destruction. He was also the very first person to even think about defending her, and she had to say, it had made her heart feel warm to know that this child had wanted to defend her against Yume.
Takami could object as much as she wanted, she was not going to let her take the child away from her, oh no. Such a fine specimen of Ashikabi was not going to get wasted by the stupid human morals, or Yume's Love. Well, she didn't think that there was any way that they'd manage to change the boy much with such arguments, considering that he most likely had no idea of what Love was supposed to be.
Looking at the unconscious form of the boy she had no doubt that she'd found her Ashikabi, her "Destined One" as Yume so fondly called them. It was strange for her to feel that she'd be unable to live without this boy, after all she was probably one of the most powerful beings on this pathetic planet. Normally the idea of being bonded to one of the weaklings that called themselves human to be foolish, but this one...This one may be different. She didn't know how, but he had managed to seriously harm Yume, who, for what she could tell, had some difficulty breathing after having been sent into the wall. It was a shame she didn't know what this power was, because she fully intended to make the boy develop it. There was no telling how powerful he would be when he'd be fully grown, considering how powerful he seemed to be already.
"Indeed, this explains quite a few things..."
She ticked an eyebrow. Minaka was looking pensive, something that very rarely happened. He was holding the letter that pathetic employee had delivered, and she had to blink at the state of the letter. In fact, it seemed that the letter hadn't been typed but written, and that the paper was old parchment.
"no!"came an urgant mutter from the headmaster. It was clear that he was nervous and distraught about something, it could not however be the state of the boy as he had been silent during the entire thing. He had rarely made any noise at all and ussually only when he had to answer questions. Being the chief of the ICW he knew what that letter was and he was not happy about it as it gave the boy a way to stay out of hogwarts. Again he would have to create contingencies, just in case.
"Minaka? What's this?" asked Takami.
The white-haired man looked up from the letter, and focused on the boy in her arms, serious for the first time in months.
"This letter-"he showed the piece of parchment to the three women," states that the little display this boy has shown us earlier is magic."
"Magic? Please, Minaka, don't be ridiculous! I know that some Sekirei have some strange abilities, but this boy is not a Sekirei, and these abilities are certainly not magic"gic. Perhaps some form of psychic power, but not magic!" snorted Takami.
"Ahh, but Takami-kun, this letter, from what I have been told, was tied to an owl's leg and is addressed to a certain Mr. Potter, Physical Examination Room, fifty-seventh floor, MBI Tower. I find difficult to believe that someone would have been able to know that Harry-kun was in this room, and send this letter in a matter of moments after the incident."
Karasuba blinked. Indeed, it was a little too precise to be merely a joke, and the timing was way too tight to be merely a coincidence, but magic? However, she was distracted by the boy shifting in her arms, as he opened his eyes and looked at her through his half-broken glasses.
Green. Eyes so green that she can't help but be drawn to them. A green so pure and so vivid, yet so empty. These eyes may have been one day full of life, but now they were haunted and empty. She had to repress a shiver of pleasure at the lack of emotion in these eyes.
"Why?" the boy asked.
"Because you're like me." she answered, watching with pleasure as Yume stiffened but chose to shut up, as the memory of what happened the last time she tried to separate the boy from her was still vivid.
"Ah, sorry to cut this sweet moment, but can you tell us how you sent Yume into the wall earlier?"
The boy blinked.
-Break-
Harry was pleasantly surprised to find himself in the arms of the beautiful lady with grey hair. Karasuba, he remembered. He liked her. Somehow, he knew that she was like him, without anyone to care for her, without anyone to help her. But she was strong. And he wanted to learn to be strong. Now that his relatives were dead, he intended to become strong enough to never again be treated like a slave, to be strong enough to be able to live on his own.
Then the man who was dressed funny asked him how he sent Yume into a wall. He shifted in Karasuba's arms, trying to see how much damage he had done, and indeed, the wall was cracked, and the lady from earlier was holding her side in a motion that reminded him of himself after a bad beating.
"You should see a doctor you know."
"Eh?"
"If you don't see a doctor, it's going to hurt for weeks."
"Oh, yeah."
"I...I'm sorry. It's my fault, things always happen when I'm angry."
That seemed to have caught everyone's interest, as he could see the man looking at him intently, Takami was staring alternatively at the wall then at him, and Yume was trying to smile and failing quite miserably considering her injuries.
"Oh? So things like this have happened before?" the man asked.
Harry didn't like the way the man was looking at him, but he answered nonetheless. After all, freaks were expected to answer when people asked them questions.
"Not exactly...One time there was a teacher who was mean to me, his wig turned blue. When I told my Uncle, he took his belt and beat me, he said that he would beat the freakishness out of me. Then there was the time Dudley and his friends were hunting me, I woke up on the roof of the building but I didn't remember climbing there. As punishment I spent a week in my cupboard without food."
"How is he not an obscural!" came a shout from the weasleys. "Obscural?" asked takami not being familiar with the word. It was dumbledore who answered "it is a rare condition, bareley seen more than twice a generation. Whilst unknown how they are formed, they have shown up most often in muggle homes with a magical child.
It was here that takami understood what type of person he was. The man obviously knew more on the subject than he was letting on and if she was reading between the lines correctly he knew that the situation in which harry was, was most likely the cause for such things happening.
When he finished he noticed that Takami was looking angry again, Yume too, and the man was grinning. As for Karasuba, she was smiling, and although he should feel afraid, he knew that he didn't have to.
"Weelll, Harry-kun, it seems that you are a wizard, if this letter is to be believed!"
-"A wizard, sir? B-but I'm Harry. I mean, I'm just Harry. I...I don't want to be a freak!"
"Nonsense! If you can use magic, be proud about it! Men have died trying to obtain the ability to use magic, Harry-kun. So why deny your own powers if you can use them? Imagine everything you could do if you could control your powers!"
Harry blinked. And then he blinked again. It made sense actually. He had never heard of people able to use real magic, so that made him an exception, that made him different. If he could use magic, and nobody else could, then he'd be able to use his powers to do whatever he wanted!
"Err, sir? Do you know where I could learn magic?"
"No, but leave it to me, Harry-kun!"
He really didn't like that man's smile.
"That has to be the first good thing that idiot of a man has ever done" moaned takami, She was qute surprised by the way he had handled the boy. True it was for his own ends but it had been something that harry needed to hear. "what do you mean?" asked the red haired boy, the youngest by the looks of it.
Looking at the others who were their she saw that they were all looking at her for an explanation. "Whilst what he said was almost undoubtably for his own ends, harry clearly needed some form of support so that he did not spiral." takami said getting both confused and accepting nods at this.
"now whilst I am against karasuba being the one to care for him it is clear that he draws some sort of comfort from her, she also acts as a pillar for him. Thus I would not be surprised if she ends up taking care of him" she finished and headed out of the room to get something to drink and a smoke.
In the silence of the room the others sat still clearly not quite sure what to make of what had just happened. The grangers were next to leave as they had a better handle on what was going on as it was based more in the muggle world with only a dash of the magical, or in this case alien. There was one thing that every one could admit, this was going to be a very interesting experience.