The next morning, Minato woke up earlier than he had to, admittedly, but he was never much of a late sleeper. Having to rush to school after a few bad decisions the night prior served as a cautionary tale for the young heir on what NOT to do when it was a school night.
He quickly worked on making himself presentable, first he started with his hair, which was always a pet peeve of his. It never seemed to fall over his eye exactly how he wanted it to. It's messy look actually took time and effort to perfect. He then started digging out his uniform, which he took it upon himself to make a few modifications to.
He ditched the school-standard jacket in favor for a blue sweater vest, which he found to be more comfortable and more in tune with his style. He took a small pin of Gekkoukan High's school logo and placed it above his left breast. He also switched out the black bow tie for a standard blue tie. Finally, he rolled up the sleeves on the white dress shirt he wore underneath up to his elbows to complete the look. With a final glance into the mirror, Minato nodded to himself and gathered his things to take to school.
When he reached the bottom floor, he encountered an unfamiliar silver haired boy who was slinging a jacket over his shoulder. The boy looked to be a good head and a half taller than Minato, and his slim but fit physique seemed to hint at a rigorous exercise program. His school uniform was similar to Minato's, with a red sweater vest and gloves. He also seemed to be wearing the same armband that Yukari and Mitsuru were wearing the night before.
The silver haired teen must've heard Minato, as he turned around a gave a polite nod to the bluenette.
"You must be Minato Arisato." Minato nodded in response. "That's me."
"I'm Akihiko Sanada, pleasure to meet you. I heard you arrived late last night. Everything go okay on your way here?" Akihiko raised an eyebrow quizzically as Minato let out a small sigh. "Nothing out of the ordinary," Akihiko looked slightly puzzled at that, but he didn't interrupt, "though I would be lying if I said the welcome to the dorm was normal." Minato furrowed his brow as he spoke, which caused the taller teen to chuckle.
"I heard about that. Try not to let it get to you, though. Can never be too careful with all the incidents recently." Akihiko stretched a little bit before reaching for the door leading outside. "If you're heading to school, want to accompany me? It's your first day here, after all, and trying to find your way to the station can be hell."
"Sure, Sanada-san. Lead the way." With that, the two teens exited the building and worked their way towards the train station.
"If you don't mind me asking, Sanada-san, what's with the armbands that you guys wear? Yukari-san and Kirijo-san were wearing the same thing." Akihiko simply hummed in response as he mulled over what to tell the blue haired teen.
"It's a school club. All dorm members are a part of it, but you're only in our dorm for the time being. Something about a mix-up with the school or something." Minato raised his eyebrow at this.
"Well that's the first time I've heard of a mix-up…" Minato furrowed his brow once again. "I'm sure whatever it was will get resolved within the week. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." Akihiko assured him.
The rest of the walk to the station had been pleasant. The two teens engaged in small talk about the area and the different shops they saw. When they boarded the train, they found themselves talking about the school and the different clubs one could join.
"The captain of the boxing team, eh? Gotta admit, kind of surprised at that one, Sanada-san. I figured you for a track runner or something." Minato chuckled sheepishly.
"I get that a lot, but there's nothing more thrilling than being in the ring. Gets the blood pumping, y'know?" Akihiko's eyes burned with determination and the confident smirk on his face reminded Minato of his old Fencing team captain who was always looking for a good opponent.
"I understand that. I used to practice Fencing, so I can relate with that feeling of adrenaline." Minato grimaced at the memories of his old school's fencing team, if one could even call it that. It was small, and didn't receive much school funding, so most of the members had to bring their own equipment. That coupled with a few brutal training sessions with his brother when they were younger made him despise fencing, but he would be lying to himself if he said it wasn't fun sometimes.
Minato was brought out of his reflection by the screeching of the train, signaling their stop.
"This is our stop, ready to go?" Minato simply nodded in return and the two teens exited the station. "Gekkoukan has a Fencing team. You should consider signing up when you can." Akihiko didn't seem to notice the small scoff Minato gave to that idea. If fencing was anything like his old school, they wouldn't be very inclusive to new members. It was a competitive sport, after all, which meant that entry to the team was going to be higher than normal, and Minato hadn't practiced in years.
When the teens made their way to the school gates, Minato noticed just how massive the school was. It definitely wasn't what he was expecting. The building was much larger than he anticipated. Tatsumi Port Island was small, so to see such a large school here could only mean one thing…
"This school is funded by someone important, isn't it?" Akihiko glanced back at Minato, who was still gazing at the large building in front of them.
"The Kirijo Group funds the school, pays the staff, and keeps it operational." Minato simply nodded in thought.
"Figures they would. They do own the island after all. It only makes sense that they would own the school too, I suppose." Akihiko chuckle at the bluenette's demeanor. "You don't seem to be a big fan of them." At that, Minato only smiled wryly.
"It's more like my family isn't a big fan of them. I couldn't care less, myself." Akihiko raised his eyebrow at that.
"Why doesn't your family like them? Did they do something?" Minato was slightly taken aback by this. He thought Akihiko knew about his family, but it seems he was unaware of the bad blood between the two aristocratic groups.
"The Arisato Corporation isn't a very big fan of the Kirijo Group. The rivalry's older than me, so I wouldn't really know a lot of the details." Minato decided to keep his description of the rivalry short, as going into detail would have Minato recounting years and years of hatred and attempted Yakuza hits the two families conducted against each other.
This seemed to make Akihiko's eyes widen even more. "You're from a rival family of the Kirijo Group? I'll be honest, I never really pegged you for an aristocrat." Minato chuckled.
"I get that a lot. My brother's the stuck-up one in the family. I, personally, hate the attention that I get at my old school, so I would appreciate if we could keep my family's status a secret between us." Akihiko took the hint, but shook his head at Minato's request.
"At this point, it doesn't really matter. It's only going to take one person to recognize you to spur the rumor mill at school." Minato sighed in annoyance as the two entered the front doors of the school.
"You're right. I just want- "Minato's grievances were cut off by a loud screeching noise that was akin to a banshee.
"IT'S AKIHIKO-SENPAI!" With that, a large parade of twenty female students stormed through the crowd of students and started charging towards the silver haired boxer.
"Oh no."
"Do you know these girls, Sanada-san?"
"Oh shit."
"Sanada-san…?"
"Run."
With that, Minato was dragged by the collar of his shirt down a hallway and around a corner. They were hidden between two vending machines.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Shh!" Akihiko pushed them farther into the vending machines.
Within a couple of seconds, the sounds of twenty pairs of feet filled the hallways, but, to Minato's surprise, not a single girl thought to check the obvious hiding place the two teens were located at. They both waited for the hallway to clear before exiting their hiding spot.
"Well, you seem to be popular with the ladies." Akihiko glared at the bluenette.
"I don't even know their names. They just berate me with questions and won't leave me alone." Akihiko sighed. "Anyways, you should make your way to the faculty office. Your homeroom teacher should be waiting. I gotta go check in with my homeroom. See you around, Minato!" With a final wave, Akihiko disappeared and Minato was left alone in the hallway.
Minato followed the directions of a fellow student he met in the school's lobby to find the faculty office. The faculty office itself was nothing too remarkable. Messy desks and folders on top of folders. There was only one other person in the office, however; a brunette lady with her hair tied into a bun with red glasses and a white blazer. Minato walked over to introduce himself.
When he reached her, Minato could've sworn he heard her muttering something about a library committee and someone called 'Hasegawa', but he couldn't really care less at this point. He just wanted to get to class. She seemed to come out of her thoughts as he approached.
"Oh, you must be the transfer student," she rummaged through a few folders before pulling one out and scanning the documents contained within, "Minato Arisato, correct? You're a third year despite only being in high school for one year. Skip a grade?" She flashed Minato a friendly smile.
"My family thought it appropriate for me to finish High School as soon as possible." Minato saw her nod her head in response as she continued reading the document. Her face seemed to darken as she got further down the page and the smile on her face was replaced with a sympathetic frown. Minato could guess at what she had just read.
"I see. Well, I'm Ms. Ounishi. I teach science and I'm also the homeroom teacher of 3-C, which, just so happens to be your homeroom. There's a school assembly soon, so I'll lead you to the gym. Afterwards, I'll introduce you to the class." Minato bowed in response.
"Thank you, Ms. Ounishi." This garnered a chuckle out of the teacher. "My, you're polite."
Minato smiled in return. "Follow me. The gym is this way."
The assembly was dreadfully boring, and Minato was fighting the ever-growing urge to lower his head and shut his eyes. The only thing keeping him somewhat awake was the incessant amount of conversations around him. Minato was about to give in to temptation when a poke on his shoulder roused him once again.
"Hey, I heard you arrived with Sanada-san this morning. Do you know if he has a girlfriend?" Minato sighed in annoyance at the girl's question. How would he know? Better yet, why would he care?
"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him instead of bugging me about it, yeah?" Minato glared at the girl who didn't seem to understand his annoyed tone.
The rest of the assembly went by smoothly. Boring, most definitely, but smoothly, nonetheless. When Minato's class got up to leave, he noticed a familiar silver haired teen walking towards him.
"Hey there. You in 3-C too?" Minato nodded in response. Akihiko chuckled and shook his head.
"What a coincidence. One might think this is fate, if they were inclined to believe that." Minato fought back a yawn as he stretched his arms out. The assembly had taken most of the morning hours, and Minato felt it.
The rest of the walk back to the classroom had been comfortably silent, with Minato taking in the school's layout.
"Attention class, we have a transfer student. Would you like to introduce yourself?" Minato gave a polite, respectful bow and flashed a smile towards the class.
"I'm Minato Arisato. It's a pleasure to meet you all." A few grumbles of indifference could be heard, but there were also a few distinct gasps among the students.
"THE Arisato!? Why would he come here?" He heard one student whisper.
'Well that's just great. Anonymity lasted all of five seconds' Minato grimaced and scanned the room. A few stunned students looked at him in awe, while a few others, mostly male, looked on him with envy. He soon locked eyes with Akihiko which gave him an amused smirk and a shrug.
"Let's see… Ah! You can sit by Sanada-san, Arisato-san." Ms. Ounishi pointed towards the empty seat to the right of Akihiko.
"But, Ms. Ounishi, that's Aragaki-san's seat." A student called out in what had to be the whiniest voice possible.
"Well when Aragaki feels bothered to come to school, he can have his seat back, until then, this is fine." Ms. Ounishi's words only seemed to cause a few more grumbles and snickers among the student population of the classroom.
Minato took his seat without further question, and the rest of the day seemed to go by quickly. When the final bell rang, all the students packed up their things and started heading out of the class. Minato was about to follow suit when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"So how was your first day here?" Akihiko smirked at the blue haired teen's sigh.
"Wasn't as bad as I was expecting, though it was dreadfully boring. Not to mention the fact of my family's reputation is sure to spread like wildfire." Akihiko chuckled again.
"What did you expect? The Rival of the Kirijo Group in a Kirijo-owned school. It's only natural that they would eat up a story like that." Minato sighed again.
"I know, I just don't like it." Akihiko nodded his head in agreement.
"Trust me, I know how you feel." The silver haired boxer grimaced at the thought of his brigade of dedicated fangirls. "Well, I'll see you later, Minato. Got things to set up for the boxing team. If I were you, I'd head straight back to the dorm" Akihiko gave the blue haired teen a small wave who only nodded in response.
"See you at the dorm, Akihiko." With that, the two teens departed and went their separate ways.
The streets of Tatsumi Port Island were packed. Minato had underestimated the amount of people living in such a small area, and was constantly surprised by the eccentric individuals he encountered on his way back to the dorm. He saw an old couple arguing outside a bookstore, he saw a white Shiba Inu playing with a kid at the local shrine, and a rather predatory-looking business man trying to get a Gekkoukan student to pay him 5000 yen around Paulownia Mall.
When Minato finally reached the dorm, the sun was just starting to set, bathing the streets in an orange hue. He opened the front door of the dorm, and was greeted by a familiar pink loving brunette and a new face; an older gentleman with glasses and a brown business suit.
"Hey, Minato-san, or, I guess it would be Minato-senpai now." Yukari smiled softly at Minato's entrance, and the older man stood up and extended a greeting hand towards the newly arrived teen.
"Hello, Yukari-san," Minato smiled at the brunette and turned to shake the hand of the stranger.
"I'm Shuji Ikutsuki, hard to say, isn't it? Even I get tongue tied sometimes!" Ikutsuki gave a chuckle at his own statement.
'It's not that hard…' Minato was confused at the man's statement. 'He must be a special kind of dumb if he botches up his own name.'
"I'm the school chairman, so I should be able to answer any questions you might have. With that said, is there anything you want to know?" Minato scratched his chin thoughtfully for a moment before answering.
"One question comes to mind: When will the situation regarding my dorm placement be resolved? I'd hate to start unpacking only to have to move again so soon." Ikutsuki chuckled at that and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about that. Everything is being sorted out as we speak. You can expect to have your new dorm assignments by the end of the week." Minato nodded at that and gave a polite bow to the bespectacled man.
"Thank you, Ikutsuki-san. I don't have any further questions at the moment."
"Well, if that's the case, why don't you go to bed? It's a long walk from the train station from here, and you must be exhausted. I'm sure Yukari and the others would be willing to answer any other questions you might have. Speaking of which, where is Mitsuru, Yukari?" Said girl nodded her head towards the stairs and said:
"She's on the fourth floor, Ikutsuki-san." Ikutsuki frowned a bit at that.
"Wouldn't hurt for her to say hello every once in a while, would it?" Minato simply said his goodbyes to the pair and walked up the stairs towards his room. On his way up, he noticed a familiar red headed woman descending the stair case leading to the girls' floor of the dorm.
"Kirijo-san, hello." Minato gave a polite bow to the Kirijo Heiress.
"Likewise, Arisato-san. How was your first day at Gekkoukan?" Minato scowled a bit as he remembered Akihiko's fangirl brigade and the rumors that were bound to be spreading like wildfire across the school about his family, but it would be impolite to say anything other than something positive.
"It was great, Kirijo-san. Gekkoukan seems to be quite prestigious, and I look forward to spending my final school year here." This seemed to satisfy Mitsuru, as she hummed in approval of his response.
"You should get some rest. You look tired, Arisato-san." Minato chuckled sheepishly at that. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't somewhat tired. The missed opportunity of a nap during the school assembly had made him even more exhausted.
"I'll do just that, Kirijo-san." They gave each other one last polite nod before going their separate ways. Minato opened the door to his room and began changing into more comfortable attire when his phone rang. He rummaged through his belongings until he found the device. He glanced at the caller ID and sighed in annoyance before flipping it open and answering it.
"What do you want, Makoto?" Minato heard a small chuckle on the other side of the phone.
"Just wanted to check in on my baby brother. Make sure he didn't get arrested again and all that." Minato pinched his nose in frustration.
"Did you call just to be a prick, or do you actually have something important to say?" The phone went silent for a moment, and stayed that way until Minato heard a small sigh on the other end.
"Have you visited Mother and Father yet?" Minato felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He hadn't even thought about it. Their parents were buried here, against the wishes of his uncle of course.
"No…. I haven't." Minato fiddled around with his MP3 player a little bit; feeling the buttons with his thumb. He heard a huff of annoyance from the other end.
"Of course, you haven't," Minato felt his anger return, but remained silent, "well, when you get the chance, call me." Minato became confused. It was odd for his brother to ever tell him to call him.
"Any reason why?" Makoto cleared his throat, and his voice seem to sober a bit.
"I was looking through Uncle's old files and I found something… interesting. I don't want to talk so much over the phone. Frankly, I don't have the time. Just call me after you visit our parents' graves, then we can schedule a meeting in person." Minato was stunned. It was very rare for the two to have a civil conversation, but for one to actually reach out to the other was unheard of.
"Okay…. Um… I'll call you then." Makoto simply hummed in response.
"Talk to you later…. Mina." A small click indicated that the phone call had ended. Minato sat in silence for a moment. Makoto hadn't called him Mina in years. Not since the accident with their parents.
What was so important that he had to tell Minato in person? Why did it matter that he visited his parents' graves? Minato continued to dwell on these questions as he lay in bed, but soon gave into exhaustion.
Elsewhere, in the dorm, three figures sat in front of a complex computer screen watching the blue haired teen as he slept.
"Do you think he has the potential?" A red headed teen glanced towards the bespectacled man beside her.
"Well, let's find out." In an instant, the sky turned green and the lights fizzled out, leaving the room in an eerie green glow.
The three figures looked towards the computer screen and saw that Minato undergone no change. He was still fast asleep in his bed.
"They would've preyed on him by now if he didn't have the potential." The older gentleman studied the boy curiously.
"Then it must be true. Minato Arisato holds the potential."
Author's Note: First off, I want to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I don't really have an excuse, but I'll try not to make the long wait a habit of mine. The chapters are far too short to warrant long breaks in between them. Anyways, next chapter will cover the Awakening and all that, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to right a competent action scene. Fingers crossed! As always, please drop a review, and don't be afraid to ask questions. To answer a guest question, outside of small references here and there, the Nanjo Group won't be an Active faction in this story. They are nothing more than to provide more context to the backstory of the Arisato Corporation and the Kirijo Group.