It was the weekend before Minato would take the college entrance exam for the second time. He had spent the last years studying to the exclusion of all else. Even though he was living in Tokyo he had not gone out or enjoyed himself, he had not made any real friends, and he had not come close to finding a girlfriend. Instead he had gone to cram school and studied. He had gone home and studied. He had studied, studied, and studied some more to the exclusion of all else. On Monday all his efforts would be put to the test. Then in one week he would know if it had been all worthwhile or if he had just wasted an entire year of his life for nothing.

At the end of the last session of cram school his classmates all wanted to go out drinking to celebrate. It was a Friday and they would have the whole weekend to recover and get ready. They were his classmates and he had studied side by side with them for an entire year. Yet he couldn't call a single one of them his friend. But Minato figured there was nothing wrong with having one night of fun, besides after today he would not see any of them again. So why not?

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There were thirty people in his cram class and just about all of them decided to have this one night of fun. They wound up at a karaoke bar in downtown Tokyo. Minato grabbed a seat in the back and began drinking beers. He watched as guys went up to butcher songs as others laughed and cheered them on. He knew he wouldn't go up himself. He would stay in the background and watch the others. That seemed to describe his character pretty neatly.

He was drinking and watching the others when he noted a stir. He noticed some of the guys pointing and ogling at a newcomer. She had long black hair and this almost obscene red outfit on that was showing off her legs and a great deal of her huge breasts. He knew instantly that she had never attended his cram school. Even if she had been in a different class word about such a spectacular woman would have swiftly gotten around.

"Would anyone here buy a poor girl a drink?" She says with the cutest little pout.

Five guys immediately shout that they will and she is soon surrounded by adoring admirers who start offering her up free drinks and keep them coming. She smiles and laughs with them and they are in heaven pure and simple.

Minato watched feeling slightly jealous. But the idea of approaching her and trying to join the crowd of admirers never even crossed his mind. He was resigned to staying exactly where he was.

He was looking at her when she suddenly turned around in her seat and looked in his direction. He knew he had to be imagining it but it was as though she was looking straight at him. He knew it wasn't possible; it had to be some type of optical illusion. He was invisible to women, especially to beautiful women like her. No, she couldn't be looking right at him, it was impossible.

Yet, her eyes were looking into his with… interest. Then she gave him a playful wink, before turning back around to the men who were surrounding her. The whole interaction (?) had lasted just a few seconds. So why was his heart pounding so hard all of a sudden. Why did he have the very definite feeling that something had just happened?

He shook his head and ordered another beer. This had to be some kind of left over high school fantasy. He was definitely not the kind of guy beautiful women suddenly noticed in bars. She was obviously a regular in this place having a little bit of fun with some desperate horny boys. If by some miracle anything did happen with someone here it would be with one of the boys she was sitting with. Not with some quiet ordinary guy sitting all the way in the back. He got his beer and quickly downed it in one go. He wanted to wash away this silly feeling of hope. After not having had a single serious conversation with a girl in over two years he was not going to suddenly start conversing with a woman like that.

He ordered a couple more beers and was starting to enter a lovely haze. He looked at the guys and gals going up to sing and cheered them on as loudly as he could. He tried not to pay any attention to the hot girl and her personal flock of admirers.

He'd had enough and quietly got to his feet and headed for the exit. Since none of these people were friends he didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone and no one really seemed to notice him go. Like usual Sahashi Minato was able to leave without causing even the slightest stir. It had started out well enough, but as he stepped out into the cool night air he felt strangely disappointed. Was this all there really was to his life? Was this really supposed to be a highlight? Drinking in some crowded bar, listening to horrible renditions of pop songs, and hanging out with people he really didn't care much about? Was this the best his life had to offer?

He had been focused completely on getting into college. The assumption was that once he got into a good school his life would be on track and everything would finally be fine. But would it? Even if the best possible thing happened and he made into the college of his dreams, what then? Wouldn't he still have to spend all his time studying to do well and graduate and presumably get a good job? Would he magically be able to find happiness just because he was in college? Would he suddenly be able to find friends of get a girlfriend? Would his life really be any better?

He began laughing at his own drunken revelations. All this was occurring to him now? Three days before the exam? It was a little late to question the course when you were just about to arrive.

"Would you share the joke?" A sweet voice teased in his ear.

His laughter died in his throat as he turned around to find her standing there. He had already gone a couple blocks from the bar and yet there she was.

"What… what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was hoping to talk to you but you never came over to say hello. Normally when I wink at a guy that's all it takes to have him all over me." She pouted a bit and put a finger to her lips, looking completely adorable. "Am I not that attractive to you?"

"No! I, ah, didn't think there would be much, much of a point since there were so many guys already around you."

She looked at him with eyes that seemed sharp and clear, without a trace of drunkenness. "You should have more confidence in yourself. You never know what you can do until you try." She looked at him closely, studying his face. "My name is Kazehana, what's yours?"

He gulped and felt really scared of saying something stupid. "Mi… Minato, Sahashi Minato." He felt very proud of himself that he had gotten hat right.

"Sahashi," she mumbled softly. She looked at him smiling. "Are you a cram student like the others in there?"

He nodded. "Yes that's right."

"So you're taking your exam Monday?"

He nodded again.

She leaned in and whispered softly to him. "If you pass, I'll take you on a date to celebrate, but only if you pass." She leaned back away from him and gave him another playful wink. "So do your best Minato, Sahashi Minato."

He stood there staring as she walked away.

XXXXXXXXXX

When he got home he collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep. He knew however that he would spend the next 48 hours cramming like he never had before. He suddenly had a new and very important motivation for passing.