Disclaimer: All rights go to Sega. I do not own any of the characters except Pira/Berry, Dawn and Blitz.

A/N: This fic was written a few years back. I found it recently and tweeked it a bit.

My name is Pira but everyone calls me Berry. Weird I know. I'm pretty young to be in my profession of a hunter. I'm only thirteen and already I have A class clearance. It's probably do to my pryokinetic ability. It's pretty cool but nowhere near as powerful as my older sister's. She can engulf six enemies in flame at once! It is probably more but that is the most I have seen her take out.

I love Dawn but I'm so jealous of her. She has a beautiful tan and beautiful deep violet eyes. Her hair is beautiful and is white as freshly fallen snow. Did I mention she is beautiful? All the guys love her. I would too...Not that I'm that way. We're complete opposites. I'm pale. Not like paper but I appear so in her presence. My eyes are a dull grey and I have red hair. I guess that is how I got my name. Sometimes I wish I could be just like her.

A sound interrupts my thoughts. I turn to my desk and see that my monitor has the envelope icon blinking. I sigh and click on it. I skim the contents and I sigh again. "Another mission...Wait another mission! Sweet!" I pause and reread the message. "Hunter Berry, I have an urgent mission for you. Please meet me in my office, ASAP." I race to the shower. The water is cold but I quickly change that. Dawn always scolds me for that. Saying things like "one of these days you're going to exhaust your power on such miniscule things." What does she know?

After my shower I dressed in my navy blue top and shorts. Then I put on my pink over shirt and tie-dye stockings. I run to my dresser and brush my hair. After tying on my blue bandana and slipped on my shoes. Dawn says that they look like a cross between leprechaun shoes and platforms. I couldn't agree more. But hey, I like them.

I run out of the apartment not caring to say anything to my sister, who is sitting in the kitchenette sipping what I guess, is coffee. I grimace. Coffee is so nasty. Especially the way Dawn drinks it. I run past the grey buildings of Mercury II. They stretch all the way to the ceiling, some even scraped at the virtual sky. More lipstick on the hog, to make this hunk of space metal more tolerable.

I skid to a halt in front of the transporter to the Captain's office. I breathe in and adjust my hair and clothes before stepping in. In a blink of an eye, the Captain stood before me. I walk up to him and notice a young man beside him. He is handsome to say the least. He has long dark brown hair and his deep green eyes, which accented his handsome features, were hidden behind thin rimmed glasses. He wore a long white lab coat with his hands stuffed in the pockets.

"Ah Berry, my best Hunter, I'm glad you could come. This is Van Blitz." He motioned to the man beside him. I nod to him. "He is our newest head scientist and..." The Captain looked kind of mad. I think it's because his daughter, Red Ring Rico, wasn't the best scientist any more. I smiled inwardly. "...for here on out. Are you listening? Berry?"

"Can you please repeat that sir?"

"I said Blitz is the newest head scientist and he will need an escort to Ragol to collect data."

"What?" I heard myself say.

"Is there a problem?" I shook my head.

"I was just wondering why you didn't send Rico or Dawn." It felt good knowing that I got the job but it still bugged me why he wouldn't send someone more experienced.

"Rico has been reassigned to the Lab and Dawn is currently working on a new mission." I narrowed my eyes, studying the old man's face. I knew for a fact Dawn wasn't on a new mission. Number 1 being that she was calmly drinking her nasty brew like she didn't have a care in the world. Number 2 being...I'm still working on it. I do know that he doesn't want Rico back on Ragol after what happened. I could understand that.

"Do you accept?"

"How much am I getting paid?" I didn't want to sound greedy but I had to know. I wasn't going to waste my time protecting some researcher for free, even though he was a total babe. Damn, I have been listening to Sandra and Maria for too long.

"5000 credits."

"For how long?" I tried to keep calm.

"As long as he needs you. You'll get paid 5000 credits for each week of service."

"Really?" I could hear the glee in my voice. Why wouldn't I be happy? I'm getting paid like 700 credits per day to protect an extremely handsome guy while he looked at plants.

"Yes."

"Of course you'll have Sunday off." I turn my head towards Blitz. That was the first time that I heard him speak. His voice was kind and seeing his smile made me want to melt. I regained my composure.

"When do we start?"

"Now." He smiled again and I felt butterflies begin to flutter in my stomach.