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Forward of the Year
Akira Kusanagi’s rap sheet isn’t the shortest you’ve seen; In fact she’s rather proud of it. But when she commits her last offense she ends up being black mailed into joining an IGPX team! Meeting the IGPX pros is a daunting thing, but with the help of her experienced teammates she vows to do her best and win the IG-1 if it’s the last thing she dose. Cunningham X OC.
Chapter one – The Forward replacement, Akira Kusanagi.
The woman turned the TV off and with he same remote opened the blinds on the huge windows. “ Yes, she already has experience with them, and she is extremely skilled on AT’s, she has an obsession of going entirely to fast.” she said looking out on the city “AT’s?” he questioned. “ They’re like rocket powered roller blades.” She said waving off the subject “What do you think? Will you allow her to join Team Hirameki?” the man walked to the window and looked down at the sixty miles of track “ I think she’ll have to do.” The blue haired policewoman nodded and hoped to God that the girl didn’t screw this up.
Akira silently crept through the alley way as best she could on her AT’s. ‘Why the hell did I agree to this…’ she thought.
Earlier that day she had been hanging out with some AT riders on the roof of an old apartment complex. “ Hey, Akira you’re the fastest out of all of us.” Said an older boy “yeah so?” she complied swinging her feet to and froe above the ground. “ Well we need someone, a fast someone, who can get into the school and steal back our AT’s.” she looked at him like her was crazy. “ Why? It’s your own damn fault for losing them.” She said standing up. Her outfit was a red t-shirt with a skull of a geisha on the front along with some kanji, and a pair of Khaki capris, followed by her white and red AT’s.
Her ash gray hair hung straight, slightly past her shoulders and she had to blow her bangs out of her eyes. “ Come on Akira! You’re the only one fast enough to do it!” the rest of the group murmured their agreement. “Help us out this once, we’ll owe you one.” Akira thought about it for a moment, what was the worst that could happen? She’d get caught, like that has never happened before. “ Fine, fine I’ll do it.”
‘Oh yeah that’s why.’ She made her why to the schools back door, and picked the lock. Once she was in she looked around remembering the instructions that Shibu, the older boy, had given her. Moving slowly she glided along on her AT’s and up the stairs, passing room after room until she came to the last one before the girls restroom. She slid open the room and glided to the teachers desk and began to look through the contents, when she realized that they weren’t in there she moved onto the room’s closet. She tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge, so she pulled harder until she felt her grip loosen and she felt herself fall onto the floor with a loud thud. Rubbing her backside she stood up “ Ouch. At least it’s open.” She walked to the closet and saw what she was after.
She grabbed the two pairs of AT’s and swiftly made her way down the stairs by use of the rails. She was about to rush to the back door when a bright light blinded her. “Hey!” Yelled a man, she turned around and rushed off to find another way out. Her AT’s screeched through the empty halls. ‘ Not good, he must have heard me! Just great...’ She angrily thought rounding a corner only to have another light shone in her face. “ Well, well, well. If it isn’t little Akira, stealing from school now?” Akira didn’t have to look at the person to know who they were. “ Officer Takani.” She said holding her arm in front of her face to shield her eyes from the bright light. “ You can try and run if you like but we’ve surrounded the building. Even caught your little friends. So it wont do you much good.” She said lowering the light. Akira stared at the woman thinking about what to do.
This would be the fifth time this month that the woman had caught her, and she wasn’t about to let her to catch her again. “ Just try and catch me.” Akira said before firing up the AT’s and zipping past the woman “this is resisting arrest!” Takani yelled. Akira jumped over tables and rounded corners as fast as she could without slowing down missing walls by mere inches.
She saw a door ahead and sped to it. Without slowing down she crashed through the glass doors and landed on the concrete at the front of the school. Akira stopped in her tracks when she saw four police cars and Officer Takani waiting for her ‘how the…’ The men who were standing behind the car doors had their guns out and were aiming at her, Takani was smirking triumphantly. “ Got ya.” She said waving to the young girl. Akira dropped the AT’s and lifted her hands while frowning she knew when she was beat. Takani walked over to her and held out her cuffs. Sighing Akira turned around placing her hands behind her back like she had done so many times before. “ Seriously did they need to point guns at me?” she asked perturbed.
Takani only smiled her annoying smile. The blue haired woman was probably about twenty-five, very tall and always had her blue hair in a bun neatly placed in the center of her head. Her brown eyes seemed to be black, and the officer’s uniform hugged her thin frame. Placing a hand on Akira’s head she placed her in the back of her police cruiser, and got in the front. “ So this would be, what? The fifth time this month? Akira we need to stop meeting like this, if you want to see me just call.” Akira seethed in the back of the car glaring at the woman. “ Who the hell would want to see you?” she said leaning against the window. “I’ve already called your father, but he says it will take awhile for him to get to the station.” The blue haired woman eyed Akira from the rear view mirror. Akira rolled her eyes “what else is new?”
Once they arrived at the station, Akira was ‘escorted’ to a waiting room. Along the way she saw several of the people who she had been hanging out with. Motoko Takani opened the off white door for Akira and closed it once they were both in. Akira stepped through her arms expertly and sat down at the table placing her hands on the metal surface.
“ Akira, why were you in the school so late?” Takani asked taking the seat in front of her. Akira shrugged “ I planted a bomb. You should really go get that.” Takani’s playful stare turned into a glare “ that isn’t something to joke about.” Akira shrugged again and stared at the wall. “ I was getting AT’s that the teacher took from some guys.” She said leaning back in the chair. Takani nodded “ you know this is your last offence. You could go to jail for this.” Akira’s gaze fell on the woman’s face. “ Are you kidding?” she said almost disbelievingly. “ Three counts of assault, two counts of petty theft, sixteen counts of breaking and entering, countless times you have resisted arrest, and I could go on. No Akira I’m not kidding.” Akira looked down at her hands. “ Whatever, do what you have to I suppose.” Takani stood up and walked around the table, Akira eyeing her the whole way.
Takani took the cuff’s key out of her pocket and took the cuffs off Akira’s small wrist. “ Akira I have a proposal.” Now she definitely had Akira’s attention. She knew that woman was more of a rival than a cop, and if she hadn’t always been running from the woman she could see her and Takani being friends, but for Motoko Takani to offer Akira something was a bit strange. “ And?” Akira urged. Takani eyed Akira “ Have you heard of the IGPX?” she asked crossing her arms. Akira’s face fell from disappointment “what about it…” Takani walked closer to the girl “ I know someone who is looking for a forward. You’re fast and good with tech. Of course if you agree I will have to tell the judge that it will be community service.” Akira stared dumbfounded at the woman. “ You can do that?” she asked leaning forward “ I have my ways Akira. Why do you think they send me after you? No one else is good enough to catch you.” Akira starred at the woman distrustfully. “And what if I say no?” Takani’s smirk widened “ then I guess you will have to get used to bright orange and nasty food.” Akira weighed the options.
“ You know I have never even piloted a mech that big. I would be rubbish.” Takani wagged her finger in front of Akira’s face. “ That won’t be a big problem, just leave it to me you’re a fast learner. Of course we’ll need you parents consent.” Akira rolled her eyes “ yeah good luck on that one.” Takani dropped her hand and her sympathetic gaze went unnoticed. “ I’ll take care of them too. All you have to do is show up at this place three days from now. Got that?” She handed Akira a small piece of paper. Akira scanned the paper and eyed Takani “are you serious?” Takani only waved and held the door open for Akira to leave “just be there.”
She felt her cheeks grow warm. Any attention like this got her blushing, no matter what. She tried to ignored them but felt a tug at her shirt she turned around to come face to face with one of the younger girls. “ Um are those AT’s?” the blonde girls asked curiously, Akira’s blush deepened, this is why she had next to zero people skills “ uh, y…yes.” She stuttered with a slight frown cursing her own body. The girl squealed and jumped slightly “ so you must be in a gang or something right? You’re so brave to wear them out in the open! Aren’t they banned? Wow! So cool!” Akira blinked continuously, what a weird girl. “ Im Sasha by the way, who are you?” the overexcited girl smiled broadly at her “ Akira, I have somewhere to be sorry.” Sasha nodded understandingly and waved her off running back to the group of girls who praised her for her braveness.
Akira glided faster than normal trying her best to avoid another Sasha incident, for the most part Akira avoided people, not consciously of course, that was just they was she had always been. What little people she did know all owned AT’s and only knew her through the banned sport. The only other person that Akira really knew was Takani.
It was nearly four when she arrived at the condo complex; she eyed the sky scrapper building with wide eyes. ‘ Takani…I knew she was a crooked cop.’ She thought entering the lavish building. The woman behind the reception desk eyed her through her glasses.
“ Can I help you miss?” she said catching Akira’s attention. Gliding over to the desk Akira pulled out the paper again “ um were can I find…Team Hirameki?” she said reading the paper over. The woman’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “ Your names miss?” Akira blinked “oh Kusanagi Akira.” She said pulling out her ID. The woman smiled warmly “just a moment Miss Kusanagi.” Akira nodded dumbly while the woman picked up the cordless phone and push a speed dial. “ Jonathan this is Geneva…yes Miss Kusanagi is here…alright sure. Bye.” Akira watched her press the off button ‘what was with the miss stuff?’ she thought readjusting her bag. “ Jonathan will be here in a moment to show you to the team room.” She said motioning to a plush couch that lined the wall
“ You can have a seat there if you want.” Akira nodded “ alright.” She sat on the couch and scanned the room, the walls were cream colored and the furniture was either red or dark brown. The rugs had countless different shapes on them in all the warm colors you could think of, and the windows that went from the floor to the very high ceiling were covered with sheer curtains. ‘ I feel so out of place here.’ She thought sighing. “ I hope I haven’t kept you waiting miss Kusanagi.” Akira whipped open her eyes and starred at the young man in front of her. He was very well dressed in suit pants and a light blue dress shirt tucked in the black pants, he was taller than her and sported messy blonde hair and blue eyes.
He smiled at her and held out his hand “Im Jonathan, the head mechanic for the team.” Akira clumsily stood up and shook his hand “ Im Akira, I’m a bit early. Is Takani here yet?” Jonathan turned around and motioned for her to follow. She walked behind him staring at the back of his head “ hey, your not…from the mafia are you?” she asked seriously, Jonathan turned around and eyed her face and then burst into a fit of laughter. Akira gripped her bag to her chest and starred at him half worried and half curious. “ You looked so serious! No miss Kusanagi, Im not from the mafia…just follow me if you have any questions just ask me.” She nodded and he started walking again.
“ So…” he said tired of the silence. She looked from the windows to him “ so…what?” she said dumbly, he shook his head “ were almost there Miss…” Akira stopped walking and glared at him
“ Enough with the whole Miss thing, my name is Akira, use it.” He stared at her surprised and then found his composer again “ right, Akira then. I hear your into AT’s.” Akira only nodded “ are you any good?” he asked opening a large white door. She stepped into the door way “ I suppose.” He smiled and closed the door behind him. Akira had stopped walking when he closed the door. Four large black, purple, and blue mechs starred back at her. “Impressive aren’t they?” Jonathan asked from her side. She nodded. The mechanics in the room had stopped what they were doing to stare at the new comer. Immediately she blushed, Jonathan’s eyes shot up in surprise. “ Not a social butterfly are you? I hope you know that this is a very social sport.” he said matter of fact.
She shook her head with a frown “ I guess not and I know that now which one is the one I will be piloting?” Jonathan smiled and placed a hand on the small of her back “this one here.” Her lead her to the mech on the far left. She eyed the mech up and down, it was black for the most part, out lined in dark purple and blue, the teams name written on the side in red. “Can I touch it?” she asked timidly. Jonathan nodded “sure. Go for it.” She walked up to the mech, forgetting about the eyes on her and reached out and touched the cold metal.
“ Well now that your acquainted with you new partner lets go and visit . Shall we?” She nodded and followed Jonathan once again. The mechanics in the hangar whispered amongst them selves when she left. The most of which she caught consisted of the word cute. Making her blush crimson once again.
Akira waited outside ’s office while Jonathan had gone in to inform him of her arrival. She had been waiting a good fifteen minuets when the door finally opened and Jonathan motioned for her to come in. The butterflies in her stomach swelled even more now. “ The is Akira, .” The older man stood up and crossed the room towards her. He had slicked back black hair and a neatly kept beard. He was obviously rich and wore and expensive looking suit. He stopped in front of her and she looked up into his clear auburn eyes, he stuck out his hand without so much as a smile “ Nice to meet you, I hope you are ready for this.” She took his hand and shook it lightly “ nice to meet you too, I hope I am too.” Jonathan smiled nervously for the young girl; Hirameki could be a very intimidating guy. “ Jonathan take her to the track, run a lap and see how she dose, then take her to meet Edward and Karen.” Jonathan nodded and led Akira out.
Once out of the posh office Akira let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “ I made it out alive.” She said earning a chuckle from Jonathan “ come on, he’s not so bad. Once you get to know him he’s actually very caring. Oh and Edward and Karen are great too. How long have you been piloting?” Akira starred at him dumbly after they had entered the hangar again “well, I’ve never really piloted anything this big…” Jonathan’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.” She shook her head “ didn’t Takani tell you?” he smiled nervously “ well you have a good idea how it works right?” she nodded “yeah as long as the bottom half is somewhat like an AT then that part should be fine, but he upper half…” She looked at the mech and suddenly felt like she would throw up at any moment. “ Well, lets just do a test run and see how much you can do.” Akira nodded and walked to the mech. “what are you doing? You need your suit.” Jonathan said running his hand through his hair. She smiled nervously and scratched the back of her head “right.”
After getting into the dark purple and blue suit, she had Jonathan give her pilot 101. She was now in the suit, looking at all the confusing meters and was moving, very slowly. From inside his office Hirameki was watching along with a tall red headed woman and a white haired man. She had finally got the hang of the legs and such and took off at a relatively fast pace around the track. “Okay so far your doing great, now try and move the arms, but keep your balance.” She tried moving to left arm first and the entire mech almost toppled over “ I said watch your balance Akira.” She stayed silent and moved the arms coordinating them as best she could “good job you learn fast, see not so hard right?” She sighed “Jonathan your probably more excited than I am, this is almost like AT’s, the only difference is instead of using my body to maneuver im using a big ass mecha.” Jonathan laughed onto the headset he wore.
“Try and go faster.” He said. Akira pressed her feet down and the suit took off, almost giving her whiplash. She could see the walls fly by her and she looked at the speedometer, 389-mph. She almost choked, but the feeling of the speed spread through her body, and even though it look clumsy and uncoordinated she sped up pushing the suit to go as fast as it could. “Akira slow down, you could get hurt.” She ignored him and kept going. “ Jon! She almost hit 420!” the crew starred out at the speeding mech in amazement, her first day and she was doing so well. “ You shouldn’t waste your breath asking her to slow down. She’s obsessed with speed, she’ll be the fastest forward in history.” Jonathan turned around and smiled at the smug blue haired woman. “ Well she hasn’t crashed yet.” Takani nodded “ give me the head set please.” Jonathan handed her the headset and continued to watch Akira. “ Akira, come back you have things to do besides you looked awful out there.” The mech almost tripped, thankfully though in a moment of sheer luck or brilliance Akira caught the track with the arms and flipped over almost skillfully and came to a complete stop. “ TAKANI! WHAT THE HELL DON’T JUST…Urgh never mind.” Jonathan watched with a nervous smile “ you two have quiet the relationship already I see.” Takani nodded “ well, if you count as me being her new parole officer then yes.” Jonathan eyed the woman. “Parole officer?”
Akira managed to get the mech into the hangar without as much difficultly as she had, had when she was getting it to the track. She hopped out of the cockpit and took her helmet off. “Aren’t you spiffy in your new suit.” Akira glared at the woman “ shut up, what do you want?” the crew looked on between the two all tacking a few steps backwards seeing the glares they were throwing at each other.
“ Listen brat, Im your new parole officer how you like that?” Akira’s face crumpled in horror “ your joking…” Takani shook her head arrogantly “ now follow me, you need to meet your teammates.” Akira grudgingly followed the woman. “Man those two are scary.” One man said watching them leave “ but that Akira definitely has talent like I’ve never seen before.” Jonathan said, “ Now lets make sure she didn’t break anything with that flip.”
Walking into Hirameki’s office for the second time wasn’t any different form the first time. Only the room held two more people, A tall man with short white hair that was lazily hanging around his face was leaning on the wall near the door, his yellow eyes starred curiously at Akira who you guessed it blushed. Standing next to the window was a woman about the height as Takani, she had short curly flaming red hair and light brown eyes that almost matched, she was clearly older than the man, but also had an elegant air around her. The man wore faded jean and a black polo, while the woman wore a Chinese style red dress, and a Shaw hung from her arms. “ Akira, this is Edward , your defender.” The man walked to Akira and shook her hand without saying a word and walked back to his place “ and this is Karen Saito, the midfielder.” Karen smiled warmly at Akira “ you did very well for your first run out there.” Akira looked to the floor feeling her face burn “th…thank you.”
Hirameki cleared his throat “ Kusanagi I have set up a condo here in this building for you it is right next to Karen’s if you need anything. Tomorrow we start practice Edward and Karen will also be helping you there to. You are nowhere near IG-1 level, but you will have to do. That is if you decide too.” Akira stared at him shocked “IG-1? I thought that we were rookies?” Hirameki smiled for the first time in front of her “ No you are the rookie, Karen and Edward are seasoned IG-2 champions.” Akira looked at the two again. “Oh.” She looked to Takani who had her arms crossed and was expectantly waiting for Akira’s decision. “Guess I will.”
Takani and Akira walked out of the office and into and elevator. Pressing the twenty-first floor Takani let go of Akira’s hand. “ So, what do you think?” she asked crossing her arms. “ That this is to much. Why are you helping me anyways?” Takani almost laughed, “ By helping you, I am helping me.” Akira looked at her with distain “ I should have known, what did my parents say about this?” Takani uncrossed her arms and once again sent sympathetic eyes towards the girl. “ To do whatever you want.” Akira ripped her eyes from the older woman’s. “ Stop looking at me like that.” She said just as the elevator doors opened. “Here, sleep well Akira. You’ll need it.” Takani handed Akira her keys and as the elevator doors were closing she waved to the girl. “Do whatever I want huh?” she walked down brightly lit hallway and opened her door. She almost fell down when she saw the front room. “At least I’ll be living like a pro.” She looked out the big windows at the night. The lights from the city shone brightly “ well, guess I should sleep.”
In her king sized bed Akira rolled around aimlessly until she opened her tri-colored eyes and sighed in frustration. “Damn parents. They could care less.” She grabbed the universal remote from the bedside table and switched the flat screen TV on the wall on. The news caught her eye “as the new season for the IGPX draws closer more and more rookie teams have signed up, this year will really be one to watch! The winners of the IG-2, Team Hirameki will also be entering this year into the IG-1. But with the loss of their Forward Alice Skillman they may not be able to enter at all…” Akira flicked the TV off and rolled under the covers. ‘So Im a replacement?' I suppose I should just play this out.’ And after another hour of tossing and turning the new forward of team Hirameki fell asleep on the floor.
Akira Kusanagi
Position: Forward
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 17 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 172cm
Weight: 56kg
Akira Kusanagi is the newest pilot for team Hirameki, a first timer she will be taking part in the IG-1 along with her new seasoned teammates. Her Father and Mother are almost never around due to work, and she has no siblings. She has had many run-ins with the law, where she met the mysterious cop Motoko Takani, who she is constantly fighting with. Although she clearly has the talent to become another IGPX legend, she has yet to find a reason why she should do so.
Edward
Position: Defender
Nationality: English
Age: 19 years old
Gender: Male
Height: 187cm
Weight: 66kg
As Team Hirameki’s Defender Edward is a fierce opponent. He has been piloting since before the sport really became popular. With his quiet demeanor and good looks he has an ample amount of female fans. The teams former forward the mysterious Alice and Edward seemed to of had some kind of relationship outside the normal friendship, and now that she has been replaced Edward feels it’s his duty to make sure Akira doesn’t end up like Alice.
Karen Saito
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 23 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 177cm
Weight: 60kg
The midfielder for the team Karen is seen as the big sister of the three pilots, her warm and caring nature paired with her fiery attitude during races really inspires many woman who dream of becoming pilots. She sees how much promise Akira has and helps her with anything that she can, she even shows up out of nowhere at Akira’s place to cook for her! Karen’s abilities as a pilot are almost unmatchable, and now in the IG-1 she can final unleash her true abilities. The only thing worrying her this season is Edwards desire to keep Akira from making her own mistakes and learning from them.
Hirameki Kazuya
Position: Team supervision and owner
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 46 years old
Gender: Male
Height: 184cm
Weight: 70kg
The owner of a weapons merchandise company, he was born to build mechs to there utmost of ability. He manages the team directly and supplies the team with state of the art equipment. Although he seems cold he is actually very caring and understands that his pilots are the best equipment he’s got. He and Takani have a friendly relationship.
Jonathan Alturi
Position: Mechanic
Nationality: Italian/ Japanese
Age: 19 years old
Gender: Male
Height: 182cm
Weight: 64.5kg
The friendly mechanic for the team, he worries excessively over Akira, although he is young his expertise in his field don’t go unnoticed. As Akira puts it, he's brilliant.
Motoko Takani
Position: Coach
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 26 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 175cm
Weight: 60.9kg
A mysterious police officer and also the coach of team Hirameki. She is boastful, arrogant and easily angered. But under all that she is like a sister to Akira.
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