Chapter 1

He looked at the picture once, then twice. Shoulder length brown hair in messy bangs with a sole hair sticking out. Red fingerless gloves, pink skirt, white top. Smile on her face for no apparent reason. This was the one.

Gently placing the picture inside of his brown leather jacket, Minato Sahashi adjusted his white shirt, unbuttoning the top two buttons in the event that he would need to move. He shoved his pockets inside of his jeans and began gently pushing through the crowd, eyes on his target.

So far, he had gone unnoticed, which was what he had been looking for with his inconspicuous outfit. It wasn't exactly his preferred style of dress, but it was enough to go out in public unnoticed. He allowed his messy black hair to slightly cover his eyes, as to make it less obvious that he was watching someone.

She was stopped at a street corner now, waiting for the light to change. He noticed that she was shaking a bit, a bad sign because that meant that she was energetic, and if she was energetic, chances were that he was going to have to run.

He inwardly winced. The last run had not been kind to his legs, which were now extremely sore and throbbed with each step that he took. He needed to keep the chase as short as possible.

He noticed that the light had turned and she had begun to cross the street. Intending to catch up, he quickened his steps, but a man in a heavy trench coat bumped into him.

"Hey, watch it!" Minato barked angrily, glaring at the man. He turned back and realized that the light was about to change and that she was already on the other side of the street. If he didn't start running now, he was likely going to lose her for a while.

"And just when I thought I wasn't going to get into a chase." He muttered before he began shoving his way through the crowd, desperately trying to get at the woman, who had remained oblivious to him thus far.

However, the yelling of angry pedestrians and the clacking of his shoes got her attention soon enough and she turned around, quickly zoning in on his face. Immediately, she began tearing through the crowd, trying to create distance between them.

"Hey, get out of the way!" Minato yelled, finally pushing his way to the curb and sprinting across to the other side, not caring about traffic.

Angry drivers slammed down on their brakes before leaning out of their windows to yell at him, but he ignored them as he bulldozed his way through the crowd, gaining ground on her.

She suddenly ducked into an alley and he quickly followed suit.

He glanced around before noticing her figure on the fire escape of an apartment building.

He quickly scampered onto the ladder and, using his strength to pull himself up the rungs, began scaling the fire escape with considerable ease, closing in on the woman.

"Why do they always head for the rooftop?" He muttered to himself as he finally reached the top of the building.

"All right, you've cornered yourself. You have no choice but to give up." He sighed as he approached her. She was on the corner of the building, frantically trying to look for a way off, but finding none.

"No! What about finding my Ashikabi?" She screamed in an urgent tone.

"Calm down. You'll have your chance when you're scheduled to be released with everyone else." He reassured.

Reasoning didn't always work, but it was always his first plan of attack. After all, most Sekirei were logical, if nothing else.

"He's close! I can feel it!" She pleaded, but he ignored her cries, roughly grabbing her by the wrists.

"No!" She screamed, attempting to push him off. From her reaction, he guessed that she was a fist type, although that didn't mean much once he got in contact with her. He could cancel out any Sekirei's power once he got in contact with them, which proved to be an invaluable skill in his line of work.

"Thank God for Seo." He muttered, having learned this ability from his friend and scientist for MBI, Seo. She attempted to punch him, but found herself unable to break Minato's grip.

"But how?" She muttered.

"Look, I've got you caught. Can we just end this without violence?" He asked hopefully, but he received a head butt in reply.

"Okay, guess not." He gasped, having the wind knocked out of him, but still managing to keep his hold on her wrists.

He grabbed her by the collar and flung her to the ground with force, knocking her out on impact as her head met concrete.

He picked her body up with little difficulty and slung her over his shoulder. He didn't like having to knock them out, but it didn't really hurt them at all and it was the only choice when they were being unreasonable.

"Minato, how's it going?" Natsuo asked as he noticed the man walk into the offices of MBI, an unconscious body slung over the man's shoulder.

"Good, just got another one. I swear, more of them try to run every day." Minato replied, walking across the offices of MBI to the staircase, where some of his friends were gathered.

"Minato, you got another one, huh?" Seo asked, noticing the slumped body on Minato's shoulder.

"You think?" He replied sarcastically before beginning his ascent up the staircase.

"Hey, when you've got time, we should go get a drink on me." Seo said as Minato climbed the flight of stairs.

"Sure thing. I'll come along once I collect." The MBI offices were some of the largest buildings in the entire city, taking up an entire block. On the outside, it was simply a pharmaceutical company, but inside, the real developments weren't being made with medicine, but with Sekirei.

Minato didn't know much about who or what exactly the Sekirei were, only that occasionally they ran away, and that it was his job to recover them when they did. But he supposed that it would be best to keep it that way. His job paid handsomely and he was glad for it. As they said, he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

He finally reached the top floor, which was the office of MBI's CEO, Minaka Hiroto.

"Hello Minato." The secretary, a young blond woman with short hair pulled back into a bun greeted.

"Is Minaka in?" Minato asked, receiving a nod in response.

"Yes, he should be right inside. I'll call in the recovery team. Just drop the body in that chair." She said, pointing to a wooden chair in the corner.

"Thanks." He responded, dropping the body carelessly in the chair.

"So, how many is that this week?" She asked as he returned from his task.

"It's gotta be four." He replied, knocking on the door.

"They're getting restless, I guess." She remarked.

Minato nodded, "You can say that again."

The door opened to reveal a white haired man with thick glasses.

"Ah! Minato! Returning from a successful mission I see." He greeted with joy, ushering Minato in.

"She tried to run, but I managed to keep the chase short enough." He replied, sitting down in one of Minaka's expensive leather chairs.

"Well, I suppose that they're all itching for some action, especially since the release is coming up in less than a week!" Minaka said, walking over to his desk and pulling out a wad of cash.

"If it gets me more jobs, then I won't complain." Minato replied, gesturing for the money. Just as Minaka was about to hand it to him, he suddenly snatched his hand back.

"You know what? This might be the last job I'll ever have you run before the release." Minaka said wistfully.

"I guess so." Minato realized, leaning back in his chair.

"Minato, I want you to come back here in a day. I might have a new job for you then." Minaka said seriously before handing Minato his pay.

"Hey Minato, so, how did it go?" Seo asked as he saw his friend exit the MBI building.

"Minaka wants me to come back tomorrow for a new job." Minato replied, stuffing the cash into his pocket.

"Yeah? What do you think the new job's going to be about?" Seo replied, tossing his cigarette on the ground before crushing it with the sole of his shoe.

"I don't know, but as long as it pays like this job does, I won't care." Minato replied, climbing into Seo's car, a customized Mistubishi Lancer Evolution IX that he could only afford due to the large amount of pay that they received from MBI.

"Hang on, I'll only be in there for a minute." Minato said as he rushed into his apartment building. He currently lived in one of the most expensive apartment buildings in all of Tokyo, courtesy of MBI. MBI was ubiquitous, having connections in virtually every business sector, and essentially owned Tokyo in that sense.

Minato was in awe sometimes of the sheer power that one corporation could wield, but then again, it didn't seem so crazy when it was compared to the fact that there were Sekirei running around. Minato didn't know much about them, but with their superhuman abilities and powers, they were not from Earth, that was much for sure.

As he reached his apartment, he fished his keys out from the pocket of his jeans and inserted into the lock, opening up the door.

He made a beeline to his closet, where he removed his leather jacket and white shirt.

He stared at the mirror in his closet, just examining his reflection. He was only about of average height and was on the thin side, although his pale skin bulged with the muscles that were contained underneath, cutting an impressive figure despite that. He slipped on a white dress shirt, carefully buttoning it up while his gray eyes bored into his reflection. When that was done, he knotted a tie, pulling it into place before grabbing a suit out of his closet and pulling on some expensive slacks.

When he had first arrived in Tokyo as a hopeful ronin, he could not have imagined the life he was living now. He had arrived as a skinny eighteen year old with no clear goals except to graduate Tokyo University. However, his hopes were dashed when failed his first entrance exam.

He could remember clearly. He had been disheartened to learn from his mother that he would likely have to stay in Tokyo to study and to retake the entrance exam. Tokyo was so much different than his hometown. It was loud and colorful, while he was used to a quiet and peaceful existence. Tokyo didn't really seem like the place for him.

At least it didn't until he met Seo. The man turned his life around, introducing him to the prospect of bounty hunting, which proved to be extremely lucrative. Initially, he had been reluctant, but Seo had convinced him otherwise.

"Hey, Minato, let's drink up!" Seo yelled, downing another shot of alcohol while Minato watched in interest. How one man could drink so much was beyond him.

They were currently sitting at the bar of one of the livelier clubs in Tokyo which was owned by MBI. It was one of the clubs with pounding music and strobe lights that bothered Minato's eyes, but he didn't really mind. It was still a fun enough place for him.

"I'm fine." Minato replied, holding his hand up. Normally, he would join in, but for some reason, he felt off tonight.

"Eh, suit yourself." Seo snorted before calling for another shot.

Minato smiled and turned away from the man, who was in a drunken stupor. He noticed a brunette woman approach him with a smoldering smirk on her face.

"Hey handsome, want to dance?" She asked seductively. Minato looked at her with interest. He didn't have a girlfriend, which gave him a lot of options most nights. Being successful would do that for a man.

"Let's just skip ahead to the good part." Minato replied with a smile. He knew what she wanted, and he wasn't going to beat around the bush.

Minato awoke to sunlight searing his eyes, causing him to recoil in pain. He turned away from the source of the light and stared up at the ceiling. He was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar place. And not for the first time.

"Hey, you're awake." He turned to see the smiling brunette from the night before. Her face was vaguely familiar to him, although he could not place a name to the face. It didn't matter anyways. He probably wasn't ever going to see her face again.

"Hey to you too." He replied softly before climbing out of her bed to look for his shirt, which seemed to be missing.

"Look, I've got to take a shower. There's some cereal in the cupboard and milk in the fridge." The woman said before walking off to her bathroom.

Finding his shirt draped over a chair, Minato snatched it up and began buttoning it up as quickly as he could before hurriedly grabbing his suit from the floor and walking out the door, but not before redoing his tie.

He was used to the routine by now. It was the same one he would follow most nights after he got paid. He would head over to the club, get drunk, and wake up without any idea where he was. Sometimes, the routine got tiring, but most nights, he just really needed the company of someone other than Seo.

He reached into his pocket and checked his phone. There was one missed call from Seo.

He dialed his friend's number and put the phone up to his ear.

"Hey Minato! So you are alive!" Seo's voice cried out, jarring Minato from his half asleep state.

"Yeah, I just ended up going home with some girl. I'll be at the offices today since Minaka told me to drop by." He replied lethargically.

"All right, see you then!" Seo's voice rang before Minato snapped his phone closed. How Seo could have so much energy in the morning was beyond him.

As he exited the apartment complex, he took a breath of the cold air. Autumn was slowly changing to winter, and the weather was making that much clear.

As he walked towards the large tower in the center of the city that could not be mistaken for anything but MBI Tower, his thoughts began drifting.

For some reason, he felt…empty. As if something was missing from his life.

He shook his head, what was wrong with him? He had a nice apartment, food every night, and a solid paycheck. All in all, it was a good life. So why did he feel so empty?

Maybe it was the fact that, despite all of the upheaval to his life since his failed entrance exam, he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. His mother was a pharmacist, and his sister was going to be attending university soon. He was a bounty hunter. It was clear to him at least that they knew what they were doing while he was just floating along, just doing enough to get by.

But it wasn't enough. He wanted something more. He wanted to yearn for something. He wanted a goal to work towards. He wanted to feel important, and being a bounty hunter just wasn't cutting it.

Before he knew it, he was in front of MBI Tower.

Sighing deeply, he pushed open the glass doors and walked inside.

"Morning, Minato." Natsuo greeted from his desk, but Minato ignored him, too caught up in his own thoughts.

Normally, he took the stairs, but today, he just wasn't feeling up to it. Instead, he opted for the elevator, which opened up on the top floor with a ding.

"Good morning Minato. Minaka's just waiting inside." The secretary greeted, and Minato nodded his head in response.

He opened the door to Minaka's office to see not only the CEO himself, but also a pink haired girl dressed in a black kimono sitting impatiently in one of Minaka's seats.

"Minato! Good morning!" Minaka cried out with glee.

"Who's this?" Minato asked in confusion, jabbing a finger at the girl.

"Ah, this is Benitsubasa, number 105." Minaka said proudly, prompting the girl to wave in greeting.

"Okay, what is she doing here?" Minato asked curiously.

Minaka smiled, "This was what I wanted to talk to you about earlier. You see, as a sort of thanks for your hard work thus far, I decided to let you have the honor of winging the first Sekirei that I will release."

"So you're going to be my Ashikabi?" Benitsubasa said to herself, looking over Minato.

"Not bad." She whispered to herself, starting to feel her heart flutter and her temperature rise due to her proximity to the man. She had never felt a sensation like this before. Was this how she was supposed to feel when she was near her Ashikabi?

"Ashikabi?" Minato asked in confusion.

"Ah, I forgot that I never informed you of the finer details about Sekirei. You see, each Sekirei will meet an Ashikabi, who will wing them and use them to compete in the Sekirei Plan. What is the Sekirei Plan, you may ask? Well, I plan to pit Ashikabi against Ashikabi until only one remains standing!" Minaka explained while Minato did his best to take it in.

"All right, and you want me to compete in this plan of yours?" Minato asked.

"Of course! You are one of the select few who actually have the correct genes to become Ashikabi, and I hope you will take advantage of that. I have high hopes for you, please don't let me down." Minaka pleaded.

Minato was skeptical, but he decided to keep listening, "Okay, so let's say I do agree to this plan of yours. What's in it for me?"

"Trust me, the winner will receive a fabulous prize!" Minaka exclaimed, causing Minato to raise his eyebrows in interest.

"All right. So how exactly do I wing a Sekirei?" Minato asked.

"All you need to do is to exchange genetic material with a Sekirei. Or, in other words, you need to kiss me." Benitsubasa answered.

"Consider it done." Minato replied, cupping her cheek and lowering his lips onto hers. As he did so, Benitsubasa felt all of the heat building up in her body suddenly dissipate at the contact of his lips. Immediately, two large wings sprouted from her back, illuminating the room with a magnificent pink hue.

"Interesting." Minaka remarked before writing some notes down as he observed the phenomena.

"Wow, that was amazing." Benitsubasa whispered as Minato removed his lips and looked to Minaka.

"So, is that it?" He asked with cold detachment.

"Yes! Now you and Benitsubasa are linked together indefinitely. You two are free to do whatever you want, but when the time comes, be prepared to fight." Minaka replied happily, having gained more data.

"Wait, don't you have any more jobs for me?" Minato asked.

Holding his hand under his chin, Minaka thought for a moment, "Well, a bounty hunter could be useful. After all, I'll need to account for any variables that may appear…" He mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, an explosion was heard and the room began rocking violently. Acting on pure instinct, Benitsubasa quickly tackled Minato to the ground to prevent debris from falling on him and Minaka immediately pressed a hand to his intercom.

"What's going on down there?" He barked as the rocking subsided.

"Sir! The cages have been opened up! The Sekirei are loose!" Came the reply.

"What? How is that possible?" Minaka asked angrily.

"It seems that Takehito and Seo were planning this the whole time! They're escaping with most of the Sekirei!" The man replied and Minaka slammed a fist against his desk.

"Takehito! You traitor!" He growled in frustration before he looked up at Minato and a devilish smile came over his face.

"No, this is good. This is very good. Minato, I want you to hunt down those two and make them pay for what they've done." Minaka said.

"Wait, you want me to hunt down Seo? But he's my friend!" Minato replied, but Minaka cut him off.

"You wanted a job? Well, now you're getting one. I don't care how or when it gets done. Just make sure you finish the job."

Nodding, Minato took Benitsubasa by the hand. It wasn't the all important or incredible goal he was hoping for, but it was a start.

I know that I haven't updated Survival of the Fittest, and I don't know when I'll get around to doing so. Instead, I think that this will act as a sort of reboot for that series, still bringing a serious tone, while focusing entirely on Benitsubasa and Minato. One of the problems I've found with my writing recently is that I devote too much time to too many characters, and as a result, I lose interest in trying to keep several plot lines going at once. I think that, with this story, I'll be able to create a stronger narrative and actually finish the story.

Also, just a warning, but Minato will likely be OOC in this story, for the reasons I explained in the story. He won't be the same kindhearted person that he was in the manga and anime, but more cynical and pragmatic as he has lived a considerably different life in Tokyo.

I hope that my earlier readers and new readers alike enjoy this story! Please leave any thoughts or ideas you have about this in a review or PM! I would really appreciate any and all feedback!