AN: Slightly revised, added scene with Minaka and Mikogami.

"That will be ¥2300, sir."

Taking the required amount from the customer, Matsumoto Reiji forced a smile on his face as he watched the customer leave. As soon as it was just him in the store, his smile fell and he leaned back against the wall, letting out a sigh and rubbing his eyes. He was once again working at the crappy convenience store near his apartment, currently near the end of his double shift. It had been a long tiring day, full of customers asking annoying questions about products that Reiji was only barely familiar with. Then there were the ones who asked the obvious questions; Were the spicy chips spicy? Did the 2 for 1 special for the hot dogs apply if they bought three? The only remotely interesting thing that happened was when he had to chase out some elementary kids from looking at the risque calendars.

Why they carried such a thing in the age of the internet, he'd never understand. The only ones who ever bothered looking at the damn things were kids.

'I'm exhausted,' he thought to himself, bringing his hand from his face, having failed to make any impact on the bags under his eyes. 'I need to get home and sleep already...'

As if his prayers had been answered by the gods above, his manager stuck his head out of the back office. "Oy, Matsumoto!" The older man called out. "It's dead and Momo should be coming in soon. Stay on till then, you can leave once she clocks in."

"Understood, sir." Reiji replied, once more forcing himself to smile and not look like he was lazing around. Just as the Manager had said, Momo soon walked in, the black haired girl cheerily waving at Reiji as she headed towards the back to change. Once she came back out in the normal uniform, Reiji felt his smile become natural as he was finally free to leave.

"Sorry about that, Reiji-senpai!" The aspiring college student apologized, bowing her head to him. "My classes ran a little late today..."

With anyone else, Reiji would be mad, but Momo was just so damn nice all the goddamn time that he just couldn't stay mad at her. "No worries. Have a good shift."

Politely ignoring the 'you too' Momo said to him, Reiji headed to the back office and changed. His uniform was switched out for some cargo pants and a simple white t-shirt, with a black jacket pulled on over it. He took off his hat, briefly letting his brown hair go free, before hiding most of it under a black beanie.

Finally leaving the damn prison, Reiji stepped into the nighttime wonder of Shinto Teito. The stars were already beginning to come out, streetlights were beginning to turn on, and the streets began getting busy as more people started heading to or from work. Pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, he briefly enjoyed the ambience of the city around him, before he set off walking. He didn't quite feel like heading home just yet; He was exhausted, true, but more than that he was bored. Heading to sleep after working all day, with nothing in between, sounded awful to him.

It was like he was one of those myriad of salarymen, except without the hefty paycheck and nice suit. Though once again, he supposed it was just another failure on his part; no school would accept a middling student with a criminal record. And with no higher education...well, the best he could hope for was grunt work. Working at an air-conditioned shop beats working in the sun on construction.

If only he could avoid dealing with the customers...well, a man could dream.

As he continued walking, he took notice of the park nearby. It was a simple one, just some trees and grass broken up by concrete walkways and benches for old men to sit down and toss breadcrumbs, but it was calling to Reiji. It might not be entertaining, but a walk through a park would at least be relaxing after the day he had. It would be nice to unwind a little, just relax and smoke a cigarette.

Walking through the park and casually looking at his fellow park-goers, it soon became clear something was wrong. Not 'run for your life' wrong, no, but more 'that guy is talking to himself' wrong. The kind of wrong where it was better not to get involved. That was the expression most of those people had, and Reiji could feel the curiosity growing. Should he turn back, or keep going? Join the crowd pretending nothing was wrong, or get a fun story to tell the others at his next shift?

The temptation of having something to kill a little time at work won out, and Reiji continued walking, ignoring the other people going about their night. He started to wonder what he would find; maybe some weird cosplayer walking around? They weren't too close to Akihabara, so a cosplayer would definitely attract some stares, especially with it being night time. The people around him didn't seem to be rushing away or looking panicked, at the very least, so it probably wasn't anything dangerous...

And then he saw her.

The first thing-and Reiji was surprised himself at saying this honestly-the first thing that stood out to him were her eyes. They just looked...lifeless. As though she didn't see any reason to live, like there was no spark of life in her and her eyes reflected that. It honestly rattled him, seeing another human being look like that. Something so...instinctually wrong.

It was then he finally noticed what most others had noticed before him. The brown-haired woman was naked, except for a man's shirt that she was wearing completely unbuttoned. It was thankfully enough to hide her naughty bits, but Reiji's eyes narrowed when he noticed the dried blood on the jacket. Clearly something had happened, and with her manner of dress and horribly depressed expression.

'Ah, shit.' Reiji thought to himself, muscles tense as he smoked heavily from his dying cigarette. The woman was definitely involved in some kind of domestic dispute. Pretty rough one too, judging from the blood. The only grace here was that it didn't look to be hers.

He looked around at all the people just walking by, pretending they hadn't seen anything, and that the sight of a horrifically depressed woman wearing nothing but a bloody shirt and sitting practically comatose on a park bench after dark was totally fine. It disgusted him. Not one of them could ask if she was alright? None of them could pick up a cell phone and call the cop or an ambulance or some shit?! This was fucking Teito! The goddamn Capital!

'Be the change you want to see in the world, I guess.'

Stomping on the dregs of his cigarette, he approached the woman at a relaxed pace. He fixed his calmest smile on his face, and made sure his eyes didn't drop a centimeter below hers. When she finally looked at him, he crouched down a little to make himself appear less of a threat. With her finally facing him, he noticed the strange tattoo on her forehead. Was she involved in a gang, or something? Maybe the Yakuza? Ah shit, was she some kind of runaway slave or something?

"Hey there." He said to her calmly. "You alright there, miss?"

The woman took some time to answer him, enough so that Reiji almost said something else believing she somehow didn't hear him the first time. Her expression didn't change, but she did speak. "No...I have no reason to live." She spoke in a neutral tone. She didn't sound distraught with emotion, which was honestly worse; it meant she had probably put some thought into her issue and decided she really didn't deserve to live.

"Why do you say that, huh?" Reiji asked politely, almost regretting talking to her. This wasn't the relaxing walk he was hoping for...but shit, someone had to talk to her.

"I have been thrown away. As a Discarded Number, I will never be able to find my Ashikabi." She answered him.

'Discarded Number? Ashikabi? The fuck are those?' He thought to himself, practically forcing himself not to show his confusion on his face. It was pretty damn hard, but Reiji figured it was likely the woman's way of coping with whatever happened.

"I see..." He said, even though he really didn't. But besides that, the woman's fantasies would have to wait. It was starting to get colder, and letting the woman stay in that bloody shirt didn't seem like a good idea. He took off his jacket, offering it to her. "Here. It's a bit big for you, but you should wear something other than...that."

The woman took his jacket, looking at it as though it was something foreign to her. She took off the shirt she was haphazardly wearing, flashing Reiji and everyone else in the park, and put on his jacket.

Stemming his nosebleed, Reiji exclaimed, "W-what the hell are you doing!?"

"Ah...I didn't want blood on your jacket..." She explained to him, not quite understanding what was wrong.

'Alright, she doesn't quite understand modesty...What kind of environment did she escape from?!' Reiji thought, his anger overriding his perverseness. "Just...Whatever." He coughed, calming himself down and speaking calmly to her once again. "I'm Matsumoto Reiji. What's your name?"

The woman was keeping eye contact with him. "Akitsu." She answered.

"That's a wonderful name." Reiji said with a smile. He thought for a few minutes about what exactly to do now. Call the cops? It was probably the right thing to do, but if Akitsu talked to them about Discarded Numbers and Ashikabi, it would either get her locked in a looney bin or killed, depending on if his Yakuza theory held any water. She didn't look injured; he didn't know how to feel about the blood being from someone else, but he'd deal with that later.

She didn't look dangerous, and, as cruel as it may sound, Reiji figured the woman might have been just a few hours away from taking her own life. She might still be considering it...

Mind made up, Reji held out his hand. "If you need a place to stay, I have an apartment not too far from here. You can spend the night, and you can decide things tomorrow with a clear head. Is that alright?" He asked her.

She looked between his face and his hand for a moment, before grabbing his hand with a gentle grip. "...alright." She whispered. He gently pulled her up, the both of them leaving the bloodied shirt on the bench. Some drifter would probably add it to their collection, or the park workers would dump it, Reiji figured.

While people looked at the two of them oddly (and Reiji finally realized his jacket just barely covered Akitsu's lower naughty bits), nobody accosted them on their way back to Reiji's apartment. It was a simple one bedroom apartment with a small kitchen, bathroom, and living area, and Reiji waved his arm towards it as he opened the door. "Ta-da." He said dryly. "Maison Reiji."

Akitsu entered behind him, looking around the residence with her same melancholic expression. Reiji stepped around her to look for some night clothes for her along with a spare futon, but Akitsu grabbed his hand.

"Akitsu?" He asked, slightly worried.

"Matsumoto Reiji..." Akitsu said, almost testing the words in her mouth. "Matsumoto Reiji." She said with more decisiveness. "Are you an Ashikabi?"

'Is that like food or something?' Reiji thought to himself upon hearing the unfamiliar word again. "I...don't know what that is, Akitsu."

The strange woman looked as though she were struggling with something for a moment. She seemed to have decided on something, and she looked into his eyes and spoke with the most emotion he had heard all night from her. "You reached out to me when no one else did...you even opened your home for me, a Discarded Number." She stated. "As a Discarded Number, I am unable to be winged. So even if you are not a true Ashikabi...I will be your Sekirei. Will you accept me...?"

The woman had to suffer from abandonment issues. Reiji had no idea what all this was about (and she wanted to be his wagtail now? Like the bird?) but he knew refusing her would probably send her spiraling down quicker than his bank account after he went drunk shopping online. Only thing he could do now was say yes and hope the gods were feeling generous.

"Alright, Akitsu. I don't know what any of this is but...I'll take you as my Sekirei. I'll be your Ashikabi." Reiji promised her.

The woman seemed to finally gain a spark of life in her eyes, and before Reiji knew it, she held his face in a surprisingly strong grip. But more surprising than that was the kiss she was giving him, pressing her lips against his before he had even realized she had grabbed him. They finally pulled apart, Reiji still in shock, as Akitsu whispered to him in a solemn vow. "I, Akitsu, shall be yours. Now and forever."

"Akitsu, you shouldn't..." Reiji began, wanting to lightly chide her for kissing him. He wasn't exactly complaining about a beautiful woman kissing him, but it wouldn't be good to let her get so attached so quickly. Akitsu looked past him, and Reiji turned his head to see what she was looking at.

"Greetings!" A man dressed in all white waved from his TV screen. "Is the audio coming through clearly?"

"Professor." Akitsu stated, showing some recognition. It wasn't surprising that she did, since even Reiji knew who that man was. Minaka Hiroto, the Chairman of MBI. The man was rich enough to outright purchase large segments of Shinto Teito for MBI.

"Wait, Akitsu. You know him?" Reiji asked. Akitsu just nodded in reply.

"Yes, Akitsu and I have met before. I was quite distraught when I heard the news about the error in her tuning process." Minaka stated. "On a related note, we've already dealt with the situation regarding former researcher Tai. You may rest easy, Akitsu."

Akitsu actually seemed to relax a little, but Reiji still had no idea what was going on. "Hold on, what exactly is going on here?" He asked the strongest man in Japan. "How do you two know each other? Shit, how are you talking through my TV?"

"I'll answer your second question first." Minaka said with a grin. "And the simple answer is that MBI has its fingers in a lot of pies. Legally, I am obligated to say there is no proof we have implanted cameras and listening devices into several products our company produces. But for your first question...I founded MBI for one purpose-the Sekirei Game!"

"Game...?" Reiji repeated.

"Yes! I'll spare you the finer details; I'm a very busy man, and Akitsu can fill you in just as well. But there are 108 little birds like Akitsu here, preparing to fight against each other in a Battle Royale for the right to ascend to Heaven!" Minaka declared, placing one foot atop his desk to pose. "You, Matsumoto Reiji, are just one of many Ashikabi, fated by the Gods to help your Sekirei spread their wings!"

"That's insane!" The convenience store clerk countered. "A battle royale in Teito?! Gods? You expect me to believe this crap?"

Minaka sighed. "Show him, Akitsu."

The woman nodded, raising up a hand and getting Reiji's attention. She moved her fingers, and a wall of ice sprung up from the floor. Reiji stumbled back in shock at what was essentially magic cast right in front of him.

"Believe me now, Matsumoto Reiji?" Minaka teased. "Now, let me get to the reason I called. See, while we have determined you are in fact an Ashikabi-and may I say, you definitely need to schedule more frequent blood work tests-Akitsu was damaged in her tuning process by a man who thought he was much smarter than he really was. Sadly, she can never be winged...and thus, she will never find her Ashikabi."

Akitsu looked downcast at the reminder, but spoke up. "...Reiji is my Ashikabi. He has already promised me, and I have sworn myself to him as his Sekirei."

"Which is exactly why I'm calling." Minaka said with an excited grin. "Oh, to think the Discard Number would wind up joining the Game! I love it! But I thought I needed to sweeten the pot just a little, considering your current handicap."

With the display of ice earlier, Reiji just had to accept this was really happening. "Sweeten the pot? How so?"

"You may not understand it yet, how important the bond between an Ashikabi and Sekirei really is." Minaka responded, templing his hands together. "And this is, in fact, what I offer you-should you and Akitsu win the Sekirei Game, I will personally put together the best team of Sekirei researchers MBI has, along with all the resources at my considerable disposal, to hopefully uncover a way to enable Akitsu to be winged."

The Discarded Number looked almost shocked, eyes wider than normal. "Really...?" She whispered, daring to hope that her condition could be cured.

"You have my word." Minaka stated. "So, Matsumoto Reiji? Will you join the Sekirei Game?"

"You're giving me a choice?" Reiji asked, incredulous.

"Yes! See, since you haven't really winged Akitsu, she's technically not in the Game. Neither are you, as you have no other Sekirei. If you truly don't want to play, then MBI shall pick up you and Akitsu and bring you both back to MBI tower." Minaka said calmly.

Reiju sputtered. "W-what?! Bring us both to MBI?"

"Well yes." Minaka said as though Reiji was an idiot. "You already know too much about the Game, and I can't risk you blabbing about it if you're not even going to be a player."

"You're the one who told me about the game! Just now!" Reiji argued back.

"Nevertheless, those are your options. Compete in the game of the Gods, and seek to ascend to Heaven...or refuse and be in solitary for six months." Minaka went on.

Reiji wanted to refuse; fuck this guy for practically forcing him into this. He was perfectly comfortable living his life despite the long work hours and frequent bouts of exhaustion. Did he really need to join some stressful 'game' devised by an obvious madman?

Yet...

He looked at Akitsu, who was looking at him with that same damn melancholic expression. He could see in her eyes that she was expecting him to refuse...and worse, that she wouldn't blame him for it.

"Shit..." He cursed, rubbing his head. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He said to Minaka and Akitsu, then looked right at the ice woman. "I already promised to be your Ashikabi, didn't I?"

Minaka laughed excitedly while Akitsu gave a small smile. "Yes, wonderful! I expect great things from you, Matsumoto Reiji. Don't let me down!" He ended the call, the TV flickering off.

Akitsu hugged him close to herself, laying her head on his chest. "Thank you, Ashikabi-sama..." She said. Reiji just let her hug him, looking up at the ceiling.

What in the hell had he gotten himself into...?


Mutsu held up the bloody shirt in his hand, looking off into the distance and trying to see if the Discarded Number had just wandered off somewhere. Near him, his Ashikabi and fellow flock members stood.

"Where is she, Mutsu?" Mikogami asked, definitely not happy. They had gotten a tip that some woman was alone in the park, with a very interesting tattoo on her forehead. With the rumors from MBI that a Sekirei had been damaged in the tuning process, Mikogami had put the two together and demanded they pick up this 'super unique character' for his 'collection'. But now it looks as if this trip was for nothing!

"She already left." Mutsu stated with a frown. "I've already asked around, and they say she walked off with some guy. Probably another Ashikabi."

"Well I want her! I learned about her first!" Mikogami complained, scowling at the thought of someone stealing from him. "Get all the details you can about this mysterious Ashikabi. He might have the Discarded Number for now, but she can't be winged, right? So I still have a chance to get her for myself!"

AN: Always loved Sekirei, and always loved Akitsu. Finally decided to do something with it.

Reiji will get more Sekirei added to his flock eventually. Six, including Akitsu. Already sorta decided on the choices but feel free to chime in with any you want to see, if you can sell me on it I might just switch one of mine out.

Minato will still be in this fic, and Reiji will not steal any of his canon Sekirei. Pinky swear.