Yukari remembers Eiichiro Takeba as a respectable man, a dedicated worker and most of all, a loving parent. She treasured every memory she could possibly recall and has held them close to her heart ever since his all too sudden demise. She remembers walks in the park with her tinier hands clasped within her father's larger ones. She remembers birthday parties and Christmas dinners, but most of all, she remembers the bed time stories and the wonderful tales of princesses and knights that came with it.

As such, her image of the 'ideal man' was molded around the stories Eiichiro told. At age 7, Yukari wrote an essay in English class describing her ideal Prince Charming.

'He would be a suave, sophisticated blond with bright, intelligent blue eyes that sparkled like a star in the night sky,' wrote Yukari's 7 year old self, 'He would also be as strong and powerful as a weightlifter and have a matching build. He would also be a prince and have a horse with a coat as white as snow, and when we meet, sparks would fly and he would sweep me off my feet and we would ride off into the sunset and chat endlessly about our common interests and he would only have eyes for me.'

Minato was none of that.

He wasn't blond, for starters, and his eyes were a rather enigmatic shade of grey instead of blue. His hair however, was a deep shade of blue. She chalked it up to a strange sense of fashion. After all, she never questioned why Mitsuru had dyed her hair red, or why Fuuka's was green. She assumed that Minato also had a reason for such a strange colour choice, but when she had asked him about it, he had simply shrugged his shoulders and answered with a simple, "I like blue."

Minato wasn't built like a body builder either. In fact, he was the exact opposite of what a body builder would hope to achieve. He was lithe and bone thin, despite being capable of devouring 7 bowls of ramen before slowing down. "Metabolism" he had answered as he slurped down an additional bowl of noodles, flecking broth upon the corners of his mouth in the process. It was not an answer Yukari had wanted to hear, considering she herself had to watch her diet to maintain her figure whereas it came effortlessly for her boyfriend.

He wasn't a prince. He didn't seem the Prince-ly type anyway. He was quiet, the type that only spoke when spoken too and sometimes, not even then, which seemed to add to the enigma of 'the mysterious transfer student in 2-F'. He certainly was popular like a prince however. His popularity rivaled her own, and after a few months, it surpassed hers, which irked her a little. Especially the way that shy, book-ish girl from student council clung to him, or the overly friendly way his team manager Yuko interacted with him.

It might, perhaps, also be worth mentioning that the closest thing Minato had to a horse was Koromaru, who despite being snow white, was still a dog, which disappointed Yukari a little.

She liked horses.

Minato Arisato was far from her ideal prince.

And yet, as Yukari found herself seated on the communal couch of the dorm with her head lolled against Minato's shoulder, the latter's eyes fixed upon the television with a ghost of a smile on his usually impassive face, his hand resting on her hip, pulling her closer as she snuggled against him for warmth against the frigid cold of the winter season, she realized that sometimes, not even her wildest dreams could compare to what she had now.

(Incidentally, the essay Yukari had written had gotten a measly 2 marks out of 20 due to her English teacher, having broken up with her boyfriend earlier that evening, lashing out at Yukari's for being far too idealistic, not fulfilling the topic's requirements and an eyesore to read, citing her cursive and girly handwriting as a source of irritation.)

A/N:

It's been a while since I've been on with a fic to publish. Anyway, first couple of steps into a new fandom, please forgive, or if you prefer, correct any OOC-ness that may be present! Re-post from Tumblr and de-anon from kink meme. Truth be told, MinaYuka isn't a pairing I ship really hard, but this prompt was like a siren's call that I just had to answer.

Thank you for reading!