Those of you following my story On the Delights of Drinking Blood will have seen an announcement in that story that I am seriously considering doing a Sekirei crossover. That being said, I had, at the time, wanted to wait until the manga is republished later this year before I started. But then, an idea occurred to me that would only need the knowledge I already had from reading fanfics. Thus, this story, which is a pilot episode for a possible Sekirei crossover.

This is a considerable AU, though. Like Hammer into Anvil and Disquiet, this is a WBWL fic. And in this AU, Minaka's been toppled and bunged into an asylum thanks to Harry's actions, so while familiar characters will appear or be mentioned, the Sekirei Plan is no longer a city-spanning tournament featuring mostly buxom alien women battling each other for the amusement of Minaka. It's a more quiet, understated affair with Takami in charge.

This took heavy inspiration from sakurademonalchemist's Sekirei Game (particularly Harry being adopted by Miya) and Arawn D Draven's The Bloody Ashikabi. I have been in correspondence with Arawn D Draven about this story, and wrote this story as a deliberate contrast to The Bloody Ashikabi, even if it does use a few similar tropes and story elements (Harry abandoned in Japan by the Dursleys, Winging Akitsu and a member of the Discipline Squad, being on good terms with Karasuba, James Potter bashing, the Tri-Wizard Tournament being involved, etc). The Wagtail Industries name also comes from another fanfic, though I can't remember which offhand.

The story itself is set in 2004, bringing canon forward ten years. Harry is eighteen when this story starts, though, while the WBWL is 14. Oh, and I haven't made it clear in this chapter, but the Maison Izumo has been expanded to accommodate more people.

RARA AVIS

CHAPTER 1:

WAGTAILS AND WIZARDS

In the northern areas of the thoroughly modern metropolis of Shin Teito, sometimes known as Neo Tokyo, there was a rather old-fashioned house. Maison Izumo was a throwback to another time, though not necessarily in a bad way. Now a boarding house, it could get…lively at times. But it had been the source of a stabilising force that had prevented a wave of chaos from enveloping the city before it would truly begin. A wave of chaos that would have emanated from the deranged psyche of the ex-CEO of the company formerly known as MBI, now Wagtail Industries.

Life was nowhere near perfect. But it was better than it could have been. Most people who had better lives because of this didn't know it, but the main source of this stabilising force resided within Maison Izumo. And that much of it came from a boy still in his teens…

In a bedroom with a rather oversized bed, a quartet of people were snuggled up to each other, or rather, three buxom young women were snuggled up to a young man. Well, a boy of eighteen, with messy dark hair and a thunderbolt-shaped scar snaking out from beneath his fringe. He had handsome, if slightly scrawny features.

His companions in bed were a bit eclectic, if attractive to varying degrees. One was a redhead with her hair done in pigtails. Another had light brown hair framing a serene face, and easily was the most buxom of the women present. The third had short silver hair framing intense features, and scars all over her otherwise attractive body.

It was the young man who woke up first, his emerald eyes flickering open, before he rolled his eyes at his predicament. He suddenly vanished from between his bedmates and reappeared nearby with a muted whipcrack-like noise. However, the noise and his absence was enough to rouse his bedmates. It was the redhead who turned to him first and pouted. "Harry, why did you leave the bed?" she asked, taking some glasses from a bedside table and putting them on.

"Because it's time to get up, Matsu. Look at the time." He indicated a clock on the wall. "You know how Mum is if we're late for breakfast. Especially if she knows we've been engaging in 'lewd activities'." He even made air-quotes to emphasise his point.

"Ah…then we should bathe quickly," said the woman with the brown hair in a soft tone.

"And dress decently please, Akitsu. You know how Mum feels about your wardrobe, especially around Takami's kids. Minato just stares, and Yukari wants to grope you, and that's without going into Kusano and Shiina. And don't forget to leave your claws off, Haihane."

The scarred woman nodded. "I'm glad I took the week off. Between Benitsuba's whining and Karasuba being…well, Karasuba…I'm not sure whether to curse you or thank you for introducing her to pranks."

"Hey, whatever takes her mind off mass-murder," Harry said. "Anyway, she had fun dicing that moron we caught trying to forcibly Wing Sekirei. Seriously, you'd think after she made an example of that wanker Higa, people would learn their lesson. Even Mikogami's smarter than that."

Haihane rolled her eyes. "Well, I can make them listen to Reason." Reason being her pet nickname for her right-hand clawed gauntlet, currently in a box near the bed(1). The left-hand gauntlet, oddly enough, was called Mittens. Because a mitten was not only a kind of glove, but Mittens was a common Western name for a cat. And, like a cat, Mittens, if mishandled, had a bad habit of scratching the one handling it. Haihane got her scars on her body out of clumsiness: she habitually wore a bodysuit of bandages underneath her Discipline Squad uniform. Haihane had a wry sense of humour despite her clumsiness, which was why she nicknamed her gauntlets.

"Oh, incidentally, Harry," Matsu said, "I've got the latest video from the hospital of Minaka's funniest moments. You should see his attempt at imitating Team Rocket. I think your Mum will love it too."

"Of course she will. He nearly fucked over your species. At least Takami and the local Ministry are helping your people integrate with society now," Harry said. "Anyway, we'd better hurry. Otherwise, we'll get to see…IT."

The three women shuddered. They wanted to avoid that if at all possible…

They left the bedroom after their ablutions and getting dressed, and ascended some stairs to a hatch, which they opened, revealing the hatch to be the lid of some sort of trunk, in a bedroom, also with an oversized bed. This bedroom, however, seemed to be in a more Oriental style. Harry and the three women emerged, clambering out of the trunk, before leaving the room, and making their way to the dining room of the Maison Izumo.

The smells of cooking filled the air, while seated around a large table in a renovated dining room were a small group of people. Two of them were brother and sister, with dark hair, Minato and Yukari Sahashi. There was the silver-haired Homura, a rather beautiful-looking man. There was the purple-haired Nymphadora Tonks. There was the short, blonde-haired child Kusano. There was a silver-haired boy, Shiina. There was a buxom blonde with an arrogant air, Tsukiumi. And there was a dark-haired buxom young woman dressed in a fetishistic version of a Miko outfit, Musubi.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks said with a smile. Her mother had ended up being hired by Wagtail Industries as a lawyer in magical courts, particularly in regards to ICW laws, and she had ended up coming along for the ride. "You guys sleep well?"

"Of course, Tonks," Harry said, sitting down, with Kusano coming over to sit with him and his three bedmates. "What about you and Homura?"

"Like babies," Tonks said.

"Where's Kazehana?" Haihane asked.

"She's still in bed with a hangover," Minato said sheepishly. "Your dad ran out of potions."

"Tis just punishment for her intemperance," Tsukiumi declared loftily.

"Uzume and Chiho might be coming here later to visit," Homura said.

Harry nodded, and then looked down at Kusano. "Did you sleep all right, Kusano? No nightmares?"

The blonde child shook her head vehemently. "No, Kuu had no nightmares, big brother."

"Great." Harry picked up a newspaper from the low-set table, and frowned. It was an imported copy of The Daily Prophet, and he, along with his fellow ex-pats, liked to keep abreast of what happened. And the local papers didn't generally cover events in Britain. Admittedly, the Prophet was biased as all hell, being little more than a tabloid by Muggle standards, but it was better than nothing.

Tonks, noticing what he had done, said, "Apparently Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have arrived for the Tri-Wizard Tournament revival."

"Can't be any worse than that damned plan of Minaka's," Harry said.

"Well, given that Bagman's one of those in charge, I'm not so sure," Tonks said.

"Bagman?" Matsu asked, being a woman who thrived on information.

"Ludo Bagman, former Quidditch star and now the idiot in charge of magical sports in Britain," Tonks said. "He took too many Bludgers to the head, and made too many bets. I heard he's in deep debt with Gringotts and a number of Goblin loan sharks, not to mention a lot of other people. The guy supposed to be keeping a leash on him is Barty Crouch Senior, Head of International Cooperation, and he's a hardarse of the highest order."

"Nymphadora," lilted a gentle voice hiding an edge of steel, "I thought I told you that foul language is forbidden under the rules of Maison Izumo."

"And I thought I told you, Miya, that calling me Nymphadora is foul language in my book, so turnabout's fair play. Anyway, having been around Dementors, your mask thing is tame by comparison."

"Oh my," Miya said, emerging from the kitchen with a tray laden with food, a beautiful, apparently demure-looking young woman with long lavender tresses. "Then perhaps I should try harder." Her sweet smile didn't fool anyone: for all of her genuinely nice nature, Miya Asama was easily one of the most, if not THE most, powerful beings on the planet, and she took an impish delight in scaring people with a malevolent aura that frequently manifested itself as an illusion of a demonic mask, that depicting a Hannya or jealous female demon. It was probably the worst of habits she had picked up from her late first husband, Takehito Asama, and it had, over the years, given her the nickname of the Hannya of the North.

"Mum, try too hard and you'll be cleaning up after people soiling themselves," Harry said deadpan. "Save it for Seo if he ever comes around with Hikari and Hibari."

"But what if I need to enforce the rules of this house?" Miya said, still smiling sweetly as she placed plates of food on the table. "Rules which you have broken, my dear son?"

"Ah, as I said before, as the magical trunk's interior exists within a pocket universe, technically, it's outside the grounds of Maison Izumo," Harry said. "Anyway, can we have this discussion when there aren't innocent or indiscreet ears to hear it?" He glanced pointedly at Kusano, and then at Musubi, who cocked her head. The latter, one of Minato's Sekirei, was frankly something of an idiot, save for when it came to combat, with a brain in inverse proportion to the size of her breasts.

Miya sighed. Harry knew that, beyond her strict rules, it was part of her refusing to acknowledge that her son was maturing. He remembered after his 16th birthday, after he had bedded Akitsu (the first time for both of them), and she had made lamenting remarks about how her inn was being turned into a den of debauchery by her own son. Mostly in jest, but even so, there was a nostalgia for the time when her adopted son was just an innocent boy she had taken in after being abandoned by his so-called relatives.

Even now, Harry remembered that day like it was yesterday. His uncle heading on a business trip to Japan, taking his family with him. The beating. Being hurled over a wall into a graveyard, bones broken, and left to die a slow painful death. Crawling over to a gravestone, and passing out. Waking up in the arms of a complete stranger, at the time, a beautiful woman with lavender hair. He had thought her an angel. In a way, he had no idea how right he was.

Miya Asama was a Sekirei, a race of human-like aliens who had a ship that had crashed on Earth centuries, if not millennia, ago. They had been discovered by a trio of researchers, one of whom was Takehito Asama, a scientist who would later become her husband. Miya was the most powerful of the Sekirei, the Pillar.

While human in appearance, the Sekirei differed from humans in a number of important regards. The first was that all of them, in some way, were superpowered. These could be, broadly-speaking, divided into three categories. Physical types were masters of physical combat, usually using a particular weapon, or else a style of martial arts. Elemental types had mastery over an element of some sort. Brain types generally only had slightly more strength than the average human, and were thus physically weak by comparison to their fellow Sekirei, but could do something else. Matsu, by way of example, could hack into any computer network through the power of her mind alone.

The second was that their species could bond with other genetically and psychologically compatible beings, forming a magical and soul-based bond. This bonding process was called 'Winging', as it caused wings of energy to appear from a Sekirei's back. Only a select few humans, known as 'Ashikabi' or 'reed sprouts', could Wing Sekirei. And while any Ashikabi could Wing any Sekirei, a Sekirei tended only to seek out Ashikabi that they reacted to, where they felt an attraction to the Ashikabi in question. What was more, Winging a Sekirei boosted their powers.

They were also rather open-minded. It was unusual, but still a very real possibility, like with Harry or Minato, to have multiple Sekirei Winging themselves to the same Ashikabi. These were called Flocks, given the rather derogatory connotations of the term harem. Flocks of multiple Sekirei were desirable, as the more Sekirei Winged, the more powerful the Ashikabi, and thus the more power given to their Sekirei via their bonds.

"Even so, you should set an example, given that you are my son," Miya said.

"I am. I'm trying not to expose innocent minds to too much trauma," Harry said, ruffling Kusano's hair affectionately, causing the young Sekirei to pout. "Speaking of trauma, I forgot to tell you last night: we found that thug who abused Yashima, and Karasuba and Haihane went to work on him. Let's just say he won't be walking or having progeny any time soon."

Miya nodded, her expression solemn. There was no love lost between Miya and the current head of the Discipline Squad, the de facto policing force for Sekirei and their Ashikabi, but Karasuba's more bloodthirsty tendencies had become a little more controlled. Especially when she met Harry, and Harry had converted her to the idea of using pranks to torment people instead of killing them outright, something that appealed to her sadistic tendencies. She certainly enjoyed helping him gaslight Minaka before they finally put him away in an asylum for the rest of his natural life.

Haihane chuckled at the memory of dealing with Yashima's so-called Ashikabi. "Oh, he screamed like a little girl," she chortled. "He screamed worse than Benitsuba in a bad mood. I haven't had that much fun since Higa."

"I would chide you for your schadenfreude," Miya said, "but people who mistreat my feathers like that, I have little sympathy for. And Yashima?"

"Takami's working on her now, removing the bond," Harry said. "Hopefully, she'll have better luck finding a proper Ashikabi, but Yashima's traumatised. She'll need counselling."

"Vile beast," Tsukiumi muttered. She had been infected by her original adjuster's misandry, and while better now, she still had a streak of misandry.

"Now, now, that's no discussion for breakfast, son," chided a gentle voice whose owner came through from the kitchen. A rather careworn, lugubrious face, scarred and a little haggard.

"I agree, Remus dear," Miya said, giving her second husband, and Ashikabi, a peck on the cheek. Harry suppressed the need to roll his eyes. His parents were so embarrassing at times…

Breakfast was eaten mostly in silence. As they finished up, Matsu said, "I forgot to mention this earlier, Miya, but I have the latest footage from the asylum of what Minaka's doing."

"Oh? Is he still doing his Kamen Rider routine? I like that one."

"Of course, but he's recently added doing a Team Rocket introduction to his little one-man show. The version from the 4Kids dub, in fact. Oh, and he started singing a song that begins with him screaming that he is the God of Hellfire."

"Ah, Arthur Brown," Remus said with a wistful smile. "I'm still surprised that the local Ministry allowed you to get away with shredding his mind with Legilimency, son."

"They didn't like what Minaka did with the Sekirei any more than we did, but he had bribed and threatened them," Harry said. "I just cut the Gordian Knot. Besides, his failsafes and fail-deadlies have now been dismantled, so the original form of the Sekirei Plan, with some modifications, is now back in effect. I hope I made Takehito proud."

"You did, Harry," Miya said gently. "I'm certainly proud of you. At least now, the battles between our people are voluntary, and we are free to seek out our destined ones. And if it weren't for you, Remus wouldn't have come to me. I was privileged enough to have Takehito come into my life. It was an even greater one for Remus to enter my life as well, and that was thanks to you."

Harry looked embarrassed, which Matsu and Haihane snickered at. Still, it was better to be known for achievements he actually did do, rather than that whole Boy Who Lived BS his brother had. He was a minor celebrity in Magical Japan, and indeed across the wizarding world, for managing to stop Minaka's madness. Unfortunately, it had come with a cost. They later learned that Minaka had Takehito in stasis, not quite dead…and when Harry had attacked Minaka, the last thing Minaka did before succumbing to madness completely was to shut the stasis down in a way that killed Takehito. And there were other countermeasures, all the way up to a small nuke, that they were lucky Minaka didn't activate.

Miya took the news better than expected: she had already believed her first husband to be dead, and had mourned him. Most of her wrath was directed towards the now incurably-insane Minaka. Not that he wasn't incurably insane before, but now, he was just completely insane, and locked up in an asylum for the rest of his life. Takami Sahashi took his place, and changed MBI into Wagtail Industries. Not all was right with the world, but it certainly was better than with Minaka in charge of the Sekirei.

Suddenly, as if fate or destiny or some perverse force of the universe looked to shatter every peace that had been won, there was a sudden knocking at the door. "I'll get it!" Musubi cheered enthusiastically, before heading to the door. After a brief conversation, Musubi skipped back in, followed by an extraordinary figure, albeit one familiar to many of those present, though the last time he had been here was shortly before Harry Winged Akitsu.

It was Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and one of the few people Harry could call an ally in Britain. Thankfully, the old sod wasn't dressed in his usual eye-searing robes, dressed instead in a suit that wouldn't look out of place on a rather more shambolic and eccentric Oxbridge academic, albeit somewhat colourful. However, his expression was rather solemn, even harassed and harried.

"I'm sorry to arrive unannounced and disregard convention," Dumbledore declared, "but I have some news." He looked at the others present, particularly Minato and Yukari.

Seeing his look, Miya said, "They're aware of magic, Professor, and the Statute of Secrecy. These two are Doctor Sahashi's children, Minato and Yukari, and their Sekirei."

Dumbledore nodded, before he looked at Harry. "Harry, I have bad news. Someone, without your consent and my knowledge, has entered you as a contestant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And if you do not compete, your magic will become forfeit, possibly along with your life, and those of your Sekirei…"

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, yeah. That just happened. Even with Minaka gone and the S-Plan now tamer, life finds a way to screw around with Harry.

Now, this story, like Disquiet, has Remus Lupin being Harry's biological father. Unlike that story, he's still alive. Obviously.

1. Nicknaming Haihane's gauntlet 'Reason' and that whole 'listen to Reason' joke was something I took from Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. In that novel, Reason is a minigun that fires depleted uranium rounds. No, really!