Chapter Nine

M.B.I. Tower - Five Days Later….

"When was the last time you spoke to your son?"

Takami stopped reading the latest on Sekirei activity as soon as Minaka asked that question. She deliberately chose not to look up at him and respond to his question immediately. They were sitting in her office going over the activity reports, when he decided to randomly ask about her son again. She had not spoken with him since the day he failed the Tokyo U. entrance exam due to how busy she was, she had made t a point to contact him and see him face-to-face and discuss a variety of topics, but work kept her away.

Takami kicked herself everyday not having spoken to him after how heartless and curt she sounded to him after all of that. She hadn't even spoken with her daughter Yukari in the same span as well. Looking away from her papers she peered over at the framed photo of her, Minato and Yukari from a year ago. They were at a festival together during the summer and actually enjoyed being around each other. Happier times was how she always viewed that photo and that weekend, it was the last one for all three of them together.

"Takami?" Minaka asked from the other side other desk looking at a manila folder of papers. "When did you see him last?"

Takami stared at him blankly for a second. "Not since he failed the entrance exam."

Minaka looked up for second with a bemused expression. "Still that long ago?"

She nodded and sighed. "I've been wanting to contact him, wanted to a week after that, but was too busy."

He nodded and seemed to be waging some sort of inner battle in his head. "Any idea what he's been up to?" Making every effort to sound as if he actually did care about her son.

She shrugged ignoring his fake desire to know about her son, "I don't know." She reached over and took a sip of coffee. "I tried calling him last week, but he moved out of his apartment apparently and he also changed his cell number too."

"I see." Came his nonchalant response.

Takami hid her disgust behind her mug, wondering why the man even cared at all. Why did he need to know something about Minato and his current whereabouts? He had never met her two children so why continue to care or act like it mattered? It gnawed her more than she cared to admit. And given that the last three weeks had been quite strange recently with Natsuo looking a bit concerned about something, but not discussing it with either her or Minaka didn't help matters. Natsuo seemed quite conspiratorially in his demeanor and often cut meetings short or changed his schedule at the lab at the most random times. It was as if something major had happened and was not expected nor dealt with in a manner that suited the young man.

Minaka was always fully aware of what was going on within his company or outside of it, but he seemed disjointed recently about something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew something was up.

"Are you planning on looking for him?" He asked calmly.

Putting her mug down she looked back at her papers. "I don't plan to use our security force to look for him, nor do I plan on using our tech to locate him either if that's what your thinking."

"Didn't think that you would." Came his blunt response.

Takami bit the inside of her mouth hard. She wanted to reach across the desk and strangle the man, but thought better of it. Instead she made every effort to focus on the reports, and counted down the minutes until this day was over. Maybe she would ask a favor fro the security force to look into Minato's location and what he was up to, but for now she would leave him be. In many respects it was good for the both of them to not speak to the other, let time pass and heal some wounds before actually sitting down and having a serious discussion.

"I'm sure he's doing alright." Minaka interrupted her thoughts.

Takami answered thoughtfully hoping he was right. "I hope so. Maybe he's out of the city and doing something enjoyable."

The other side of the world

San Diego - Mission Beach

Minato stood in the middle of the beach waiting for Kazehana while observing the huge crowd that appeared in the last hour or so. He saw diverse groups of people from all over settling in for the day and getting ready to enjoy the nice weather. He could hear the waves and smell the ocean breeze and never knew how pleasant and relaxing it could be.

Wearing a t-shirt and swim trunks while a backpack full of snacks, tanning lotion, his phone and wallet rested between his legs, on top of the backpack was the large beach towel that would be used once they found a spot. He never thought in a million years that he would be here, always thinking it would take many years and lots of money saving efforts to be here to enjoy the beaches of the western US.

Yet, here he was. He made every attempt to not always think about it, but his life had changed so much in the last twenty-five days, everything had gone by so fast after that first week of meeting her to now being married to her fro eighteen days now. He found himself keeping track of the days and ticking how further away he was from what felt like his previous life - full of heartbreak and failure to now having a new life with a woman who was from another planet with amazing powers and incredible beauty.

"Minato-kun!" Kazehana yelled out, interrupting him from his thoughts.

Minato turned his head in the direction of wife and his eyes almost burst out of his head at his wife jogging up to him. He literally felt the blood conflict with where to go within his body; to his head, his nose or as Kazehana playfully called the part of his manhood - 'Junior'. He was praying and hoping that none of that happened.

Kazehana ran up to him wearing a form fitting gold bikini drawing envious stares of all the men both young and old and the jealous, angry glares of the women in their vicinity some even had their eyes of cheeks twitching. Her breasts jiggled as she stood close to him and adjusted her large violet colored bag that was slung over her right arm, which also held her clothes, shoes, wallet and make up, her right wrist was adorned with the charm bracelet that kept her miniaturized katana ready at all times. As was customary now - her hair was loose and down, something Minato was a fan of whenever they were together.

He still felt his blood coursing throughout his body in this internal struggle that was not going to end anytime soon. Please, not here, not now.

"I'm sorry it took so long, the line was ridiculous." Kazehana as he boobs jiggled a bit more as she leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the cheek and then pulled back to make sure her bottom didn't slip off, though it certainly came dangerously close to revealing quite a bit of her other part of her anatomy regardless of how tight the strings were.

"I-i-it's okay." Minato stuttered, he looked her up and down with his eyes, turning a shade of pink in his cheeks. "You look hot, I mean, um."

He scratched the back of his head nervously at Kazehana's playful smirk. "What I really meant say is that you look unbelievably stunning."

Minato felt incredibly proud of himself for not saying the more dirtier thoughts that ran through his mind. How he wanted to forget the beach for today and go back to their hotel suite and spend the entire day in there. Screw the rest of the trip, but sometimes it was better to enjoy the less explicit things in life as well. Maybe he was a bit of a pervert after all.

Kazehana gigged and then wrapped her free arm around one of his as he slung his backpack and beach over his other shoulder. She pressed her boobs against his arm and smiled at his obvious lack of self-control at the moment.

"Don't worry, Minato," Kazehana told him as they began to walk in a random direction and look for a spot on the beach. "I know what you meant." Winking at him and resting her head on his shoulder.

Minato breathed a sigh of relief and quickly remembered that they had a mental bond that they shared due to their relationship as Ashikabi and Sekirei. He was still a bit clumsy and learning as he went along, but Kazehana continued to him understand how it worked. He decided to not worry anymore about trivial things like he sometimes did and focus on the here and now.

—-

Three nights later…

"This is such an amazing place." Minato mused as he looked around the five-star restaurant they were in. He and Kazehana sat in a booth and were looking at the menus. The restaurant was full of patrons and had a nice mood-lighting to it that made the atmosphere pleasant and in some cases romantic. He looked outside and saw people walking up and down the sidewalk, some were families, groups of friends or others were couples just like them.

Minato looked at himself for a second and found himself still a bit awkward about wearing his navy blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and buttoned at the elbow and designer jeans and shoes. He felt totally out of place wearing them, but realized how much dressing up nicely every once in a while meant to Kazehana to remind themselves that they were still normal, everyday people even if they had a different type of intimate bond that was completely different form most couples.

Staring at the menu and all the prices he quickly doubted he would be able to pay for all the food, but remembered that he told Kazehana he would pay for the fancy dinner they would have while in San Diego. Despite offering too pay with her MBI card, he told her she had done so much for him that the least he could do was pay for the most expensive meal they'd have on what they both agreed was their unofficial honeymoon. It was also their last night and they would leave for their flight back to Tokyo tomorrow morning.

Deep down he also wanted to treat her to something special out of his own pocket. The wedding ring was great, but she had always paid for their outside dinners since they had been together and that he knew it was his turn.

Kazehana sat to his right and wore her own navy colored dress with a shelf bra, despite its simplicity she looked so elegant and charming. Minato was continually amazed at how beautiful she was and tonight his breath was taken away. As had been the case the entire trip in San Diego she wore her hair down and she had also dolled herself up more than usual even though her natural beauty made makeup unnecessary.

Kazehana looked up from her menu and smiled warmly at him. "What's wrong love?"

Minato looked at her. "Um, well, what do you want to start with?"

Looking at the menu for another few seconds she nodded her head and then made eye contact with him. "Hmm, it's tough to choose, but maybe a few appetizers?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," Minato replied honestly, not denying his stomach feeling empty.

They selected what they wanted and after another twenty minutes or so the waitress took their order as well the drinks they wanted to compliment the customary water that was given at restaurants. Minot couldn't help but notice Kazehana dig into her violet purse that had a flowers for buttons and a petal attached to the zipper. Kazehana rummaged for her iPhone and pulled it out and the screen lit up as she rose it to her face and swiped up for the camera.

"Want to take a few pictures?" Kazehana smiled as she made sure the filters were appropriate for the setting they were in. She looked so serene and at peace with everything around her as if all her worries and troubles were gone. "We'll print some of them when we come home."

Minato smiled warmly at her, "Let's do that," He couldn't help but always notice how genuinely happy she was, but how much in love she was with him. He felt the same way and loved her more than anything or anyone he had ever met in his short life. However, the feeling of self-doubt and wondering what he did to deserve someone so wonderful such as her in his life creeped up again. He always wondered if this was real or just a dream, but a part of him made every effort to push it down and suppress it knowing this was real and she was real.

Kazehana perked up before flagging down the same waitress who took their order to help them out with a few photos and gave him a gentle and supportive look.

"I know what you're feeling and thinking right now," She told him as she squeezed his hand. "Don't ever let that self-doubt you've carried comeback. I'm always going to be here for you."

Minato nodded his head as Kazehana flagged down the waitress, the young woman returned and Kazehana handed the phone to her to take a few pcitures. The waitress happily took the phone and moved a few feet away to let the pair get ready.

Kazehana and Minato leaned into one another feeling the warmth of each other's bodies as she wrapped her left arm around his right arm and they placed their free hands onto the table and interlocked fingers. Minato couldn't help but notice the simplicity of her wedding ring.

Whether it was instinctual or perhaps subconsciously done, he lifted his left hand and made sure his knuckles gently brushed against the top of her left hand making sure his wedding ring rubbed against hers. Kazehana smiled at him again at the simple gesture and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you Minato." She said to him quietly.

"I love you too, Kazehana." Minato replied just as quietly placing his head on top of hers taking in her fragrance and soft skin of her shoulder.

The waitress started to snap pictures and even though the world was full of troubles, for this brief moment in time. It was just the two of them and nothing else.

NOTE: This was a planned chapter and was meant to be short. Sorry, for the long wait for a new chapter, life has been busy and work is insane. More chapters are coming and the anticipated debut of a fan favorite character is on the horizon. The first real tension and conflict between main characters is happening soon.

Also, I get it, I repeat things over and over, but that is my style of writing. It's hard to change. And, no, I will not do betas either. Thanks for the offers, but I trust myself more in my editing and how I want things structured more than others.