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Throngs of people flowed through the wide alley that connected most of the shops and barracks of the base. Akihiro Saito sat on a bench beside the firepit, a strip of leather cast over his crossed leg which he used to sharpen his knife. It wasn't just a necessity to keep the blade keen, but also a display to let everyone know that he was not afraid of close combat. He didn't have the most threatening of statures when compared to some of the power lifters around the place. While his lean, muscular figure remained mostly concealed under his clothing, the threat of his knife was ever present.

The Ares Legion was not the safest of places and while the malcontents typically banded together against those in charge, they often fought with each other as well. It was almost like being in prison, but not quite as restrictive. The people who were sent here were done so unwillingly though, and so there was an air of resentment and rebellion that rang through everything they did. Some of the members he had met were actually slaves that the Legion bought from out on the edges of civilized space. All walks of life ended up in the Legion: some poor, some noble, criminals, and cowards.

Just then, a commotion arose from down by the commissary. He looked up just in time to catch a diminutive woman with dark hair throwing some bags to the ground and then punching a much larger man in the face. Akihiro recognized the guy as a well-known troublemaker and rushed quickly to his feet to intercept the fight that was sure to ensue.

The large, muscular man looked astonished that the woman had actually attempted to hurt him, but his surprise was soon replaced by morbid violence as he hurled his fist back to return the attack. She just barely dodged his massive hand, not expecting it to extend nearly as far as it had. Before she could respond, he was hurling his leg out at her, attempting to bridge the distance between them further. His foot caught her on the left side of her arm, thankfully not hitting her ribs square on, but still with enough momentum to send her flying.

The giant man was already closing in on her with another kick before Akihiro appeared out of nowhere, guiding her out of the way and safely back to her feet. With lightning speed he engaged the hulk, elbowing him hard in the chest before grabbing his wrist and locking it back. As if it were a dance, the lithe man threw his leg up and over the behemoth's arm, pushing down on his back with his free arm to drive him to the ground. The man groaned out loudly as his arm was pressed painfully down by the backwards force on his joints.

"Jirou?" the man asked as if scolding a child, "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit women?"

"MY MOTHER WAS A WHORE!" he yelled out in agony.

"Well, that explains a lot," Akihiro said sardonically. Jirou yelled out with frustration, not liking the idea of being cowed by anyone. "Now, Jirou, I'm going to let you go. BUT ONLY... if you promise to let it go and walk away. I can tell you it won't end well otherwise."

"FINE!" the huge man responded. "The bitch isn't worth it."

Akihiro whipped his leg over and off of the big man, taking a few spirited steps backwards to clear himself of any potential rebukes. Jirou got up from his knees, and sneered fiercely at the young woman, barely paying any mind to the one that had actually subjugated him. He turned around and walked away as two of his cronies appeared from the crowd to follow him. Their backs soon disappeared into the distance.

Akihiro turned around to face the woman, smoothing loose tendrils of dark brown hair back under his hat nonchalantly as he said, "I would keep an eye out for him. He's likely to try again when I'm not there to step in."

"I didn't need your help," she replied sullenly.

"Like hell you didn't! Are you bull-headed or just stupid? That guy is about 20 times your size. What did you do to catch his attention in the first place?"

"He was making crude remarks, following me the entire time I was picking up toiletries and the like," she said with palpable distress. "I couldn't take it anymore and decided anything would be better than to continue hearing him go on as if I could do nothing to stop him."

"Do you have a knife? A personal handgun? I know they don't let us hold on to much outside of a mission, but you're going to need something to keep him off of you when he tries it again... and he will try again," Akihiro pushed, knowing the man's history a lot better than she did.

She flared her nostrils at him in obvious annoyance, not wanting to be bothered with the idea of self-defense or answering to him for that matter.

"C'mon," he pleaded with her, genuinely concerned for her safety, "I'll help you pick something out, and demonstrate a couple of moves. You should really make a point to show people that you aren't weak around here."

"Who said I'm weak!?" she squealed with a high pitch at him. Akihiro put a finger to the side of his temple, rubbing the slight pain that had formed from her shrill cry.

"I'm not saying you are, but to many of the people here, your mere existence as a woman will be a sign of weakness. And considering there aren't a lot of women around here, you'll be dealing with a lot worse than that."

She ignored his pleas, attempting to turn and leave.

Akihiro contorted his face with frustration, his sharp features becoming more accentuated in the dim light as twilight neared. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder, his brow flattening seriously as she turned to face him again.

"Look," he said impatiently. "Stop being such a pain in the ass! You know I'm right. There is no need to be so difficult. You could say 'Thank You!' Hell, I don't even know your name yet. I'm Akihiro, it's nice to meet you. That's how normal people interact!" The words all came out in one long ramble as if he had just spilled the contents of his mind without much filtration.

"Well, we're not normal people. This is the Ares Legion. Where all the cretin outcasts of society go to die," she said dourly.

"With an attitude like that, yeah, probably," Akihiro responded coldly. "Just take mine," he said as he reached into his pants and pulled out his knife. "...Just sharpened it, you should be able to gut him if he tries again." He pushed the folded knife into her hand, forcing her to close her grip around it. Then he grabbed the brim of his cap, and tipped his head forward in a slight bow before turning and walking away.

Before he got very far, she spoke again.

"It's Misaki," she said tersely.

Akihiro turned around swiftly, catching a strange look on her face as she relented the information. Without another word, she turned and departed into the crowd of people.

As he returned to his seat, he couldn't help but reflect on her striking features. He was drawn to her deep brown, almond shaped eyes with alabaster skin and black hair that flowed past her shoulders.

"And a beautiful name as well," he said quietly to himself. "I hope she manages to keep it."