C1

Minato Sahashi was for all intents and purposes, average. He wasn't poor, and didn't grow up sociopathic. He went to school and had hopes and aspirations, all of which were rather normal for a boy his age in the region he lived in. He wanted to get into a good college so that he could get a good job and maybe meet a good girl and have a family to lead what he would hope would be a good life. It was the little things that differentiated him from the other everymen in the universe, from his slightly lean build, down to his gray eyes which at present had dark bags under them. However, if one were to ask someone who knew the boy personally what made him so special, they would mention three qualities. The first being his lack of confidence and overall passiveness, this was brought about mostly due to his upbringing, his mother and sister being the primary female influences in his life and both being particularly headstrong built in him a level of meekness that most people lacked. The second quality that differentiates him from others would be his intelligence, while no one really knows what makes one intelligent evidence exists that correlates it with genetics, something his father would gladly point out, and his mother would vehemently deny. The third quality which is likely what endeared him to his sister, would have to be his kindness, while the boy lacked any real confidence or drive, he was, fundamentally a kind and intelligent person, truth be told, he really was an everyman. And as an everyman, there was one thing he was quite used to, one thing that popped up more frequently in his life than anything else. Disappointment.

His head was throbbing. It felt as though someone was playing the drums on his brain. It was a steady beat. Minato realized that it was in tune with his heartbeat. It made sense after all, considering that he hadn't had much sleep recently. He was currently in cram school, praying to whatever god japanese people in 2020 prayed to that he wouldn't experience that which he was so used to in the coming weeks. In the next few weeks he was going to take an entrance exam for a university he wanted to go to. It was his first time taking it, and he hoped he passed because he wasn't sure what he'd do if he didn't. He'd just gotten back a practice exam that had been handed out, he'd gotten a perfect score. Not that anyone else knew, he didn't know anyone on his class particularly well. Today was the last day of cram school and most of the students were going out to a karaoke bar to celebrate, everyone was invited as is normal for these types of social situations, but Minato decided not to go, he was feeling anxiety at the moment, a perfect score on a practice exam only meant that he knew the material, it didn't mean anything in terms of admission. Drinking in some dingy karaoke bar with people he didn't know too well or care about particularly much wasn't his idea of an ideal afternoon. He slipped out, not that anyone noticed or Minato might not have had any actual plans for what to do with his time, he still didn't want to spend it with what essentially amounted to strangers he didn't care about. He decided his time was better spent walking around the city. He had a headache anyways and drinking would just exacerbate it.

The city air was cool on his face. Tokyo had taken environmental protection measures recently and the use of electric smart cars was becoming more commonplace. He inhaled deeply, loving it's crispness. The closest place to him, of note, geographically, was the local park. He walked around for a few moments admiring the scenery before sitting down on a mahogany brown bench across from a small tree. Squirrels running around burying their nuts, the occasional person walking around, that was his view. Moments like these were the current highlight of Minato's life. For the brief period of tranquility they provided if anything. He just sat there on the park bench for the next hour or so, under the summer sky. While the moment provided him with an all too brief period of peace, it was marred by one simple question.

Why. He still didn't have any particular reason to be going to Shinto Teito. In fact he was fairly confident that if he'd applied to any other college, he'd get in in a heartbeat. Perhaps that specifically was why he'd decided to apply to Shinto Teito. He didn't want to go to a place where he'd get by without a problem. Perhaps he was intentionally seeking out a challenge. Perhaps it was just the prestige of getting into Shinto Teito that did it for him. He still wasn't sure. But he had realized that he'd been sitting on this bench for far too long.

He stood up and began making his way towards the exit. And as much as he loved this specific spot in this specific park, he was burning his own time. He looked at his watch. It was 5 pm. He still had time to do something before heading back home. He decided that he might as well stock up on groceries, the supermarket was on the way home after all. Just as he was about to leave, he was met by a familiar face. His eyebrows perked up in surprise and recognition, and for the briefest of moments, too quick for someone who wasn't paying attention at a close range to notice, his mouth formed an O shape. An old friend from his old town, looking down at an old phone. While it could be considered new if not outright bleeding edge by today's standards, by 2020, it was a two year old phone and people were already waiting for the release of the newest model. It was better than the piece of shit flip phone Minato had, which, while not the best thing imaginable, still did what a phone was meant to do, namely calling and texting. It even had some web browsing capabilities. He smiled, a welcome surprise at seeing someone he cared about for once. "Yasaka!" He exclaimed.

His friend, noticing him, smiled as he looked up from the screen. "Hey! Minato! Long time no see!" He responded.

"When did you get to Tokyo?" Minato asked

"I just got here last week, I wanted to call you but my phone's memory got wiped, I lost all my contacts. It's actually crazy meeting you here like this!" He laughed.

"Yeah, it is pretty crazy, so what brings you to Tokyo?" Minato questioned. His eyes closed and a big smile stretching across his face, revealing his white teeth as he scratched the back of his head.

"Wanderlust, I guess. I figured I'd get a job in the big city, see if I can't make it here. I mean, usually once you get a job, you're in for life right? But mostly I'm here to visit a relative of mine." Yasaka shrugged.

"Oh, so you're staying with your relative then?" Minato started "Because I could use a roommate to-"

"Dude, do you live with your mom because she works in Tokyo? No, man, my relative is in the hospital, she's my cousin, and she's pretty sick." Yasaka interrupted.

A brief flash of anger ran through Minato at the interruption, he may have been used to being interrupted, but he didn't expect such a thing from his friend."Oh, Yasaka, I'm sorry, I didn't know-" Minato began to apologize, yet again cut off by Yasaka. He stopped scratching the back of his head, opting instead to place his hand on his thigh, if one were paying attention, they might have noticed a slight tension in Minato's fingers.

"It's cool, I'm actually sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm just a little stressed out is all. Everything is so different here. No one talks to anyone else, everyone just keeps to themselves and if you try to start a conversation they look at you like you're a weirdo or something." Yasaka intoned, a defeated look across his face.

Yasaka wasn't paying attention, too engrossed in his own feelings, but were he paying attention, he would have seen Minato's gaze lower ever so slightly, looking into the distance as a small, forlorn smile glanced over his lips momentarily. His fingers relaxed. Minato smiled, he knew how that felt, the overwhelming feeling one got when they moved to a come tell different environment, if he had to pick one key difference between his hometown and Tokyo, it would have to be the lack of communication. Back home, it was normal for strangers to talk to each other, people were a lot more open. But here, in Tokyo, you were supposed to keep to yourself. "I know that feeling, Yasaka, it doesn't ever go away, but you'll get used to it eventually." Minato slid over on the bench, gesturing at the free space with his eyes to his friend.

Yasaka took the invitation and sat down next to his friend "So what were you doing here? In the park by yourself anyways?" He asked

"I was just sitting and relaxing, you know how it is. So you never did tell me where you were staying." Minato responded.

"It's nowhere special, just this cheap place in the western part of the city." Yasaka said, his hand waving out to the side.

Minato curled his left hand and began scratching his fingers near his knuckles with his right, "So where are you going now?" he inquired.

"Right now? No plans, what about you?" Yasaka answered, leaning further back into the park bench, stretching his legs and spreading them out.

"I was actually planning on going to get some groceries before I saw you." Minato replied, tilting his head, ever so slightly towards the exit of the park.

"You mind if I join you? I was walking to clear my head. Hey, before I forget, give me your phone for a second." His friend requested.

"Why?" Minato asked, genuinely confused for a moment before realization dawned on him and he handed his phone over wordlessly.

Yasaka just smirked as he punched his number into the keypad before hitting the call button and handing it back to his friend. "Now, we have each other's number." He snorted.

Both young men made their way out of the park, they walked in silence. However, it wasn't an awkward silence, both men were familiar enough with each other that they realized that there was simply a lull in the dialog, and neither wanted to fill it. That was, until Yasaka, overcome by genuine curiosity rather than a need to continue the conversation, decided to start talking. "So what are you buying anyways?" He asked

"Rice and instant noodles." Minato replied

Yasaka winced, "that's like the definition of slumming it dude." the lightest hint of laughter could be heard on his voice.

Minato had a small smile on his face, "No,I think slumming it is what happened last Summer vacation when you tried to ask Yukari out." Minato was not, by any stretch of the word, a smug person, so his tone and attitude at that specific moment could not be considered it. However, the satisfaction at the potency of his comeback made itself prevalent once he saw his friends' reaction.

Yasaka winced at the subtle jab. His eyebrows raised as he realized that he had a counter. "So, city boy, tell me, all this time in the capital, you've definitely gotten a girlfriend in all this time, right?" His eyes glinted in the light of the street lamps as he said this.

No Minato winced, "Haven't really had the time, what with cram school and all." Minato rubbed his shoulder as he said this.

"Well, if you're in the market for one, I know a girl who could definitely use some company." Yasaka laughed.

Minato's eyebrows hiked up, "Is it the sick cousin you were talking about?"

Yasaka grinned, "Still as smart as ever Sahashi, so what do you say? She's pretty dude, and she's one of the nicest girls I know. You'll have a hard time finding a girl like her. I can promise you that"

Minato scratched the back of his head for a moment in contemplation, "You know what? Sure, why not. Might as well, right?"

"Cool, so when do you want me to introduce you?" Yasaka asked

"Anytime after the exam, would be good." Minato replied, shrugging to a degree where it was almost imperceptible.

Yasaks's eyes quickly glanced up before widening for a moment, too quickly for Minato to notice. "Alright, I'll keep in touch, but I've got to get going now." He said, raising his forearm in a quick wave.

Minato, for the briefest of moments, looked taken aback, "I thought you said you were going to come get groceries with me?"

Yasaka stopped in front of a building before gesturing to it quickly, Minato, noticing this, followed his friend's example. "I was, but then I noticed that we're standing in front of the place I just got hired to work at, I think I'll drop in and introduce myself to the coworkers before my shift, it starts in like an hour anyways." He replied

Minato took note of the building, looking at it skeptically, "This is a Nightclub Yasaka, are you even old enough to work here?" Minato inquired

"This is actually a host club, Minato, and it's great, I'm pretty much getting paid to chat up MILFs dude. Besides, so long as I don't drink anything it'll be fine." Yasaka responded.

Minato just looked on concernedly, He put his left fist on his hip, and raised his right hand, pointing his pointer finger at the establishment, "Yasaka, I'm sure you can make your own decisions, but this doesn't sound like the best of ideas, you know the rumors that are floating around about places like this." he said.

"Dude, relax, I know what I'm doing." Yasaka scoffed.

"Look," Minato responded, "All I'm saying is, is that the men who visit hostess clubs tend to be old, and not the best looking, they're essentially cruising around for a legal excuse for prostitution. You're going to get the female equivalent of that. Odds are, the ladies you're being paid to chat up won't be milfs."

"I know what I'm doing," Yasaka grunted.

"Just don't come crying to me when you get raped by a bunch of faceless, fat, old, japanese businesswomen." Minato laughed.

For a moment Yasaka had a small smile on his face, as he smirked, he exhaled through his nose a bit harder than normal, he found Minato's joke mildly entertaining. "You've been reading too many doujins," he responded.

For a moment, both friends stood outside the host club, neither knowing how to continue the conversation. "Right, well, I gotta go, I'll catch you later man." Yasaka said, slightly raising his hand in a goodbye gesture.

Minato waved Yasaka off and continued on his way to the grocery store. As he walked down the path he'd memorized from living near the area for so long Minato felt an emptiness, a pure disconnect from his surroundings. There were no real familiar faces around him. For a small town boy like Minato, it had been difficult to acclimate to such a situation at first, but eventually he'd gotten used to it. Minato still didn't have a reason to want to get into the college he was testing for, he just did. Soon, however, his thoughts turned to the exam itself, and his gut filled with an unbridled sense of anxiety, this had been happening ever since he decided to apply for the university in the first place. It had only gotten worse in the last few weeks, a feeling that was both sinking in his gut, and rising through his body, combined with a torrent of what ifs and thoughts of failure, it was this feeling that reignited the headache he had, the dull throbbing that had disappeared in the park had returned in full force, for a moment, Minato could have sworn that he could hear his heartbeat. Eventually he found himself in front of his destination. Grabbing a grocery cart, he made his way inside.

As the automatic doors opened to welcome him into the grocery store his face was immediately assaulted by a gust of cold wind, air conditioning in the middle of fall, not the brightest decision, considering that the japanese autumn wasn't particularly hot. The cold air, while not stopping his headache, did, temporarily soothe it. For a brief moment Minato thought of all the money this unnecessary use of air conditioning was costing the owner of the store before he realized that the owner of a grocery store likely had more money than a kid who still received an allowance from his mother. He tried to conjure up the list he'd created in his mind about what he needed to buy, when he realized that as a starving soon to be college student, he really only needed to buy instant noodles, a bag of rice, and maybe some instant curry mix. It might not have been the healthiest, of best tasting, but it was probably one of the cheapest considering that he bought in bulk at the beginning of every month.

His confusion pervaded him as he went down aisle six, not at aisle six itself, but rather, as a continuation of what he was going through at present. He grunted as he hefted a 25 pound bag of rice into his grocery cart With all his groceries in hand, he wandered back to the cash register, trapped in his own thoughts. By the time he rounded back to aisle four to pick up a multipack of instant noodles, he began thinking about the exam, and confusion became replaced with anxiety and doubt. The entirety of his thought process being 'What if I don't make it in? What will I do after? I really don't want to go back home.' These thoughts, of course, passed shortly after he adding the noodles to his cart.

While he was concerned about the exam before, now he was more focused on his home situation. He lived in a crappy singles apartment owned by a gremlin of a man. Balding, rude, paunchy, nosy, and intrusive, and truth be told, a little smelly as well. The man always reeked of tobacco, garlic, and sweat. His apartment was crappy too, it was run down, had leaky faucets, and smelled funny. Truth be told, it kind of smelled like the owner, not that Minato would ever want to make that association. As Minato thought back to his and Yasaka's conversation, he realized that even if he did get a girlfriend, not that that was looking for one any time soon, he probably wouldn't be able to bring her home became the troll that guarded his apartment, the owner, likely wouldn't want her insde. Still, Minato, ever the optimist realized that it could be worse, he could be living in Detroit. So trapped in his thoughts was Minato, that he didn't even realize that he was in someone's way until he bumped into them. She dropped her groceries, while Minato held his. Minato's eyebrows immediately shot up, his eyes widening in shock.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" he said.

The girl, who was being absentmindedly herself, believed that she was the one at fault, she apologized to Minato as he apologized to her, saying the exact same words that he said to her, to him. Had Minato actually been looking at the woman he'd bumped into, he'd have noticed her appearance first. And still been distracted of course. The woman before him was clearly a head turner. He might not have crashed into get had he noticed her before, but he'd certainly have been sneaking glances all the while. She was a brunette, with short hair, cut off before it reached her shoulders. A very well endowed brunette, with a pair of wide hips And if Minato had to guess, a rear like an onion, in the sense that is very presence drove men to tears. And of course the face and voice of an angel, in the sense that if a man didn't believe in God, he would after witnessing her. Before Minato was a goddess of a woman. Her clothes, while protecting her modesty, left little to the imagination, a form fitting, sky blue, long-sleeved shirt, with the number 10 placed in a white star above her breasts. Her tight jeans with rips on the thighs gave teasing glances at the skin under those pants. Needless to say, Minato liked what he was seeing. While Minato preferred not to take initiative, being passive in nature, the politeness in his upbringing surged, and he felt compelled to help the woman up. "Sorry," he said again, bowing his head. "I should have been looking at where I was going, are you okay?" He asked as he helped the woman up, forcing himself to divert his eyes from her chest.

"I'm fine," the woman responded, "Don't worry about it." she continued, as she squatted down to pick up the groceries she dropped. Minato took this as his cue to squat down and help her pick up the groceries as well.

"I'm really sorry about this, I've had a lot on my mind lately" Minato said, looking directly at the woman "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Relax," the woman replied, "besides, it'll take more than a bump from a cutie like you to hurt me." the woman teased with a smirk and a wink, sticking her pointer finger out and poking Minato in the chest.

Minato stumbled back a bit, bumping into a nearby shelf of beans before grabbing it for support to prevent himself from falling. Somewhat taken aback by the woman's strength, his face heated up marginally, blood rushing to it, and concentrating particularly around his cheeks. Minato's experience with the fairer sex usually did not consist of flirtation. He would justify stumbling back when she hip checked him by telling himself that he wasn't ready for it and that if he was, he wouldn't have ended up the way he did.

The woman's eyes shot open when she saw what happened to Minato, and quickly reached out, grabbing his hand. "Sorry, I forget my own strength sometimes," she chuckled nervously. "Are you okay?" She asked

Minato may have been a weakling, physically speaking, but he still had some semblance of male ego, or masculine pride, he let her help him up and then dusted himself off. "I'm fine," he said. Minato's mind was drawing blanks at the moment, he really wasn't used to dealing with women. Especially flirty ones. He thought he had to say something else to keep the conversation going, truth be told, if he didn't an awkward silence would likely befall the two of them, and then they'd both likely just awkwardly say goodbye. This was all happening over the span of fractions of seconds, of course.

Then, in a rare moment of what others might consider conversational genius, but what Minato would consider a brain fart, he said "Besides, it'll take more than a bump from a cutie like you to hurt me," repeating the girl's words to her exactly, Minato's face remained blank immediately after saying what he did, however, the instant those words left his mouth, a bead of sweat began making its way down the back of his neck as Minato panicked internally. 'Oh god, why'd I say that? Please laugh it off, please, for the love of god laugh it off.' He thought. The only facial movement one may have noticed if they were paying attention would be the slightest opening of his eyes and the tightening of his jaw. He really didn't mean to say that, he really didn't mean to flirt. The woman was clearly out of Minato's league, she was easily a ten, and Minato was slightly above average at best.

The girl hiked her eyebrows up, surprised by Minato's outburst, her face burst into a radiant smile that reached her eyes, her lips and cheeks parting to reveal pure, white, teeth. She let out a small snort. She held her hand up to her chest, and Minato could see that her cheeks were the slightest bit red as well. "Nice comeback, hot stuff," She let out a jovial sigh, one that intoned nothing short of pure mirth before continuing, "anyways, it's been nice meeting you, but I've got to get going. Kind of in a hurry." She waved him off before walking down to the cashiers and, Minato assumed, paying for her groceries. For a moment Minato stood awkwardly, his face hard, and locked into an expression of pure disgust and malice, were anyone to walk past or in front of him, they might wonder what it was that put him in such a bad mood, but the Sahashi son was not in a bad mood, rather, he was confused; his brain was still processing the events that just transpired. 'Did that just happen? That never happens.' He thought. Putting his right palm on his temple, and still trying to process what just happened, Minato started walking, his expression changing to one of only mild bewilderment. He proceeded to grab his required groceries and paid without any hassle.

As he began walking back home Minato let out a deep breath through his nose, and for the first time in the last hour, smiled. "That was a good comeback," he said to himself, before catching himself immediately, "Was it really though? Maybe she was just being polite. And I apologized like three times, who does that?" he whispered, tensing up a bit in frustration at himself and his perceived shortcomings in his conversation with the brunette in the supermarket. Minato made his way home; his trip was marred by and unspeakable conflict. One where he was beaten horribly, naturally said conflict was mental in nature. The entirety of that half hour walk back to his rented apartment consisted of Minato berating himself over perceived awkwardness or shortcomings that happened during his conversation. After Minato made his way home, his day was mostly unremarkable, he prepared instant noodles for dinner and went to sleep on his futon, not bothering to change his clothes aside from taking off his jeans and shirt, he threw his cellphone to the foot of his futon. His thoughts kept drifting to that girl he saw in the market. Minato found that he couldn't get her out of his mind. He also found that he had a boner. After going taking care of said boner, he laid down in bed, trying to go to sleep. He found that he couldn't, his thoughts kept drifting back to the brunette he met today.

After he'd drifted off to sleep, his dreams were, for the most part, a blur of images, smells, and sounds. He dreamt he was with a woman, he didn't know how she looked, he just knew she was beautiful. He couldn't see her face, but he felt instinctively, that she looked like an angel. Her voice could only be described as cherubic. He wasn't himself in his dream, rather, he could see himself, like if he were in a movie or a television show. He was with the woman whose face he couldn't see, they were together in what appeared to be a park of some sort. "Hey, come on! Let's go!" She called out, dragging him along by the hand. He could not see anything above her mouth, her nose, and eyes, anything above her lips, were cut off, as though the camera that were recording the dream kept it out of frame. He couldn't really see himself either, just his hand, but he knew, instinctively, that it was him with that woman. He could smell her, and he'd describe her smell as feminine, the smell of a woman, "No matter what happens, we'll be together," she promised. Minato wanted to ask questions, who she was, where they were, but couldn't. He was simply observing what was happening. The Minato he was seeing elected to remain silent. He and the girl stopped in front of a pond, ducks were swimming and she crouched down to get a closer look. The frame cut to her back, and all Minato could see was the red shirt he was wearing. "Why are you so sad?" She asked.

A chime went off next to Minato's head and he woke up with an erection. His eyes slowly cracked open as the noise produced by his cellphone's alarm assaulted his ears. He sat up so he could reach his cellphone before turning the alarm off. "Nine-Thirty, AM? I can't believe I forgot to turn off my alarm, I don't even have anything to do today." He groaned. While normally the sunlight may have assaulted his eyes and prevented him from falling asleep, he was lucky to be as lazy as he was yesterday that he hadn't even bothered to open the curtains before leaving. However, his attempts at going back to sleep were stymied by a loud knocking at his door. Minato looked around for some sweatpants and a t-shirt, finding them on a pile on the floor, before donning them. He noticed that his erection had still yet to pass, so he did the trick most men would to to conceal their girth, he tucked it into his waistband so he could answer the door. He was met face to crown of head with his balding, hunchbacked landlord, which quickly resolved his erection issue.

"Sahashi," His landlord began, "your lease expires next month. I'm not renewing it."

"What? Why?!" Minato exclaimed, the sleepiness and grogginess in his system jolted out by this sudden bit of news.

"I've got to do some construction here, apparently the building's not up to code, you can't live here while that happens or I'll get fined by the city. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news, you're a good tenant, always paid on time, but I can't afford to be fined in addition to the construction I have to do. Be out of here by next month. One of my other tenants or one of the neighbors must have said something. First it's the trash in front of the property, now it's this. I'll bet it's that asshole Kojima that keeps reporting me " He grumbled, as he turned around and walked back down the flight of stairs.

Minato closed his apartment door before sitting down on his futon. "Shit." he said.


A/N: For those of you without reading comprehension, canonically speaking, Minato was a two time ronin, meaning that he'd failed the exam to get into his college twice before. The timeline in Sekirei is incredibly vague. I'm assuming that the entrance exams are an annual thing. Take into consideration the fact that Minato, instead of just taking the train to Tokyo or something when the time for the exam came, was living there in a rented apartment. Was he renting it for both those years he failed the exam? That's what this story is about. In those two years, it's wholly possible for things to play out completely differently. Keep in mind that Kazehanna went on a year long sake tasting tour and came back around the time Sekirei started. That means she probably left around the time Minato failed his exam the first time. What about when Uzume and Matsu jacked the Jinki? It's not impossible it happened less than two years ago.