This is a Sekirei fanfiction, and unfortunately I do not own any of the characters or the actual story although I'd love it if they were real and they were mine. Haha. This is my first fanfiction so please read it and review, review, review! Every thought is appreciated. ;3 Please Read, Review and enjoy the first installment of: Cold Hearts & Steel Claws

Last Thoughts…

Takahito thought back to all of the problems that his beloved Miya would have to face in his absence, he could only hope that his love would make it through all of this alright. He knew that Miya was strong; the strongest in fact of all the sekirei but just in case he had prepared three things to help end Minaka's plan and to put things to rest once and for all. These were his last thoughts as he passed to the other side, never to see his beautiful Miya until they met again.

The First Step…

Minato Sahashi sullenly trudged back to his apartment after having been chewed out by his mother for yet again failing to pass his entrance exam to Tokyo University for the second year in a row. As he inwardly chided himself for being such a loser he did not notice how late it had become as he paced slowly through the park. As the lights began to shine and illuminate the walkway, Minato was snapped out of his thoughts and began to look around trying to figure out where he was.

As he gazed about, his eyes fell upon a lone figure sitting on a bench. Upon further inspection he noticed that it was a girl who looked about his age, she wore only a bloodied Doctors coat and sat with her eyes cast downwards. He watched as people walked past her and pretended like she did not exist; It angered him that people could walk past someone who looked like she needed help, and still would do nothing.

She didn't move, yet she looked lonely and that she was waiting for someone that would never again show up. Minato strode towards her and she turned her head slightly at the sound of his footsteps approaching yet she never lifted her head to see who was approaching her. He stood before her and saw that the blood on the coat she wore was not her own, he wondered what had happened to her but figured it was best not to ask for the time being, he kneeled in front of her as he attempted to catch her eyes. She had short, light brown hair and her face was a blank with only a slightly depressed expression upon it. As he looked at her he noticed a strange tattoo upon her forehead in the shape of a bird, she glanced at him as he crouched before her but otherwise she did nothing to acknowledge his presence.

"Hey, are you alright? Do you need any help? My name is Minato, may I ask what yours is?"

He waited to hear her response, curious as to what she would sound like. Just when he was beginning to think that she was never going to respond he heard her softly answer him in a voice that matched her depressed expression.

"My name…is…Akitsu… I have been discarded by my masters because I am no longer of any use... I…I am a…failure…"

She hung her head once again as she finished speaking never once having once looked at him directly. As she answered his question Minato felt a pain in his heart when she told him she had been discarded because she was told that she wasn't of any use and that she thought she was a failure. He knew what it felt like to be a failure being a second year ronin his self and he knew exactly how she must be feeling. He sat on the bench next to her removed his jacket and gently draped it over her shoulders.

Frozen Moments…

Discarded, used up and then thrown away when she was no longer of any use to them. Her masters no longer needed her, no longer wanted her; she was broken, a failure. Her adjuster, the arrogant fool had failed in his duty to complete his adjustments of her, then after he had been fired by Takami Sahashi and the rest of his division due to his own incompetence he tried to take his irate frustrations out on Akitsu. She did what any sekirei would have done; she defended herself and escaped from MBI's labs

Now she was forced to roam the streets with no purpose and nowhere to go. As she wondered about she inwardly cursed her adjuster for making it impossible for her to ever find her Ashikabi and be winged of which she so desired. Coming to a halt at a park bench she perched herself upon it and decided that this was as good a place as any to remain. Akitsu listened to the people around her as they hurried past whispering secretively to one another about her appearance and the state she was in, never once did one of them ever stop to see if she needed any help. That was fine with her, she needed no ones help; she was a failure and she knew it and it was better if nobody else was involved with her. She would just sit and wait until MBI came and retrieved her to begin more test on her.

The sound of footsteps approaching reached her ears and she turned her head slightly towards the sound. 'Why would anyone be approaching me? Is it MBI finally come to collect me and punish me for escaping?' as she thought this she never lifted her head to the sound even when a pair of feet halted in front of her. Akitsu waited for the figure to say something, ordering her to return to MBI or something of the sort, instead the figure simply knelt attempting to catch her eyes. She glanced at him and saw that he seemed to be studying her as if he were trying to figure out what had happened to her.

"Hey, are you alright? Do you need any help? My name is Minato, may I ask what yours is?" he stood before her again and seemed to be waiting for her answer. 'He seems to speak sincerely and with concern for my wellbeing, but why would he care? I am nothing to him, I am a failure can he not see this? He should just leave me be.'

She waited for him to grow tired of her silence and return to his life leaving her to be alone as she felt it should be, yet he would not leave, he would not go away. Finally she decided to answer him, a small thing that she felt would quell his curiosity and thus persuade him to leave.

"My name…is…Akitsu… I have been discarded by my masters because I am no longer of any use... I…I am a…failure…"

She hung her head as she finished, it pained her to be reminded of her uselessness and now that she had given the figure named Minato her answer to his questions she was sure that he would now abandon her just as everyone else had done once they had finished using her. Akitsu waited for him to leave, never bothering to look at him as having his visage in her mind would do her no good since he would not be a part of her life for much longer. Surprising her the figure named Minato sat beside her upon the bench and proceeded to remove the jacket he wore and to place it upon her own shoulders. It was a foolish gesture, she needed no protection from the cold as it was her only constant companion. Still the warmth from Minato's jacket was a nice feeling upon her ever icy skin.

'Why does this stranger show such care and affection to someone they have never met before, so much so that they are willing to give even the jacket from their own back to someone else? I feel a warmth growing inside of me, what is this feeling? This stranger has asked for nothing in return for his kind actions. I must somehow return this kindness he has shown to me'

Slowly Akitsu reached up and brought the jacket tighter around her ample frame and turned her head to gaze upon the smiling face of her savior, the kind stranger named Minato, and in that moment she decided that she had found a new reason to continue on with her life; to serve and protect her new master, her ashikabi.

Quietly she whispered to herself, "My ashikabi, now and forever… Thank you…"

Hey everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this if you have done so then I greatly appreciate it. Sorry that this chapter was sort of short, it is only the beginning of what I hope will continue on. Please leave me reviews and hopefully you all will want a second chapter and more! Thank you all for reading, and I hope everyone enjoyed the first of hopefully many installments of: Cold hearts & Steel Claws! See ya'll soon! ;3