"You hear the Imperial Theater got a new boy? New captain and all that? You know they keep talking about how rare it is for males to pilot those mechs, but they seem to come out a dime a dozen."

A military enthusiast kept kept his head on the table, it was a day off for him today and he was at the bar that opened early and closed whenever it wanted to. It was a strange time for a bar to be open as early as 12pm, but the owner didn't care. She was technically retired anyway.

The owner was a tall woman with a fair skin complexion that matched most of the people in Japan. Her long brown hair was tied into a bun and she wore a small bow on her head to keep any stray hair at bay. Her face was the opposite of soft, but not too hard as though to give an intimidating aura wherever she went. Her eyes seemed to be a strange mixture of grey and blue; needless to say a rather uncommon style for a local. Her outfit consisted of a regular barman's outfit. A three piece black and white suit with soft green tie, black slacks, and black dress shoes.

Her hands were quick at work cleaning the bar and giving the military enthusiast another drink, "We live in a different time now, Ki-san. The governments are breeding soldiers and males who can pilot the Kobu or whatever they call them now are a rare commodity."

"Heh, must be nice. Just sit in a room and just have sex to your wildest content."

"I don't agree with the practice at all. I mean what do you think happens to the rejected children that can't use spirit power?"

"Don't be such a downer, Saejima-chan." Ki took another chug of his beer, "Anyway, when are you going to tell me your first name? I've given up on that free chance of getting an entire whiskey bottle."

"Sure you can't take a few more guesses? We can do this all year if we have to."

"Come on please?"

"Now where's the fun in that? The mysterious bartender Saejima revealing her name at the word 'please'."

"Does your new worker know?"

"My only worker, and no. Golder, get in over here!"

The military enthusiast chuckled, "You on a no honorifics bases with him or something?"

"Golder prefers no honorifics when talking about him, but he's got to keep up on his Japanese; he'll still have to use them on me."

"Yes, Saejima-sensei?"

The young man that appeared from the back had a bit of a slim figure that obviously used to be a more bulky one. He was still bulky In a sense, but not as big as foreigners that went out to chop down trees. The young man had a cleanly shaved head, which is blonde, and a pair of brownish-red eyes that appeared somewhat gentle. If those didn't give away that he is a foreigner, the fact that he stands a mighty 6 feet tall surely sealed the deal. He wore a similar barman's outfit to Saejima, but it was a bit more navy blue. His tie was instead a bowtie of the blue variety.

"Good job. You're still keen on your practicing and learning."

"I try my best, Saejima-sensei."

"Ah, so you're the rumored Golder-san?" Ki had a smile on his face, "Nice to meet you for on-"

"You met him a couple times, Ki-san. You were just drunk most of the time."

Ki chuckled nervously, "I suppose I might have a problem. So where you from, Golder-san? Judging from your height, I assume somewhere from America? I heard you guys get big over there. Especially the ladies.."

Golder took a few moments to think of what he was going to say, "I come from Ohio.. um.. not Ohaiyo.Ohio is a state, not the greeting you see..."

"Calm down, Golder."

He corrected himself at his boss' suggestion, "My mother is half Japanese, but she never learned the language. I've only been learning for a year or so, but never had a chance to speak in Japanese. I can read it well enough, but speaking is another matter."

"Your Japanese is impressive actually. Puts some native speakers to shame."

"Really?"

"I heard people who speak English have the same thing as well. I take it it would be better to speak in English than Japanese, no?"

"Are you fluent?"

"No, but getting the juicy details of new advancements in military technology is nice."

Saejima joined in the suddenly English conversation, "Golder. You speak Japanese. You too Ki-san."

"So, Saejima-chan can't speak English very well? That was a thicker accent than mine!"

"I'm sure you'll be done laughing when I charge you triple for your drinks."

Ki didn't even get a single fake laugh out before he downed his entire glass, "What would I laugh about? So, how'd you end up here, Golder-san?"

"I am a college dropout."

Ki swore he would've spit out his glass if he hadn't drank it all, "I uh... see. Don't know what to say about that, were you studying here and you decide to drop out?"

"No, no. I went to Ohio State University. I failed my classes. My father decided to send me abroad to make it on my own and see if I can truly take care of myself. Saejima-sensei is old acquaintance of his. Only supposed to bunk with her for a few weeks, but I ended up working for her. Said to pay rent every month."

Saejima pitched in, "He lives upstairs. The amount of rent he has to pay each month depends on how clean it is, and how clean the bar is after I leave and come back. He begged me to work for me."

"Did not."

"I will work for you. I will do anything you want and you don't have to raise my pay for overtime. I'll do whatever you want!"

She tried her best to mimic his slightly broken Japanese, it worked as the young man blushed. Ki could only laugh.

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. Sometimes you gotta know how far you're willing to go to stand on your own. That's why I hired you, Golder. Plus the extra set of hands is nice. Speaking of, I got some crates for you to deliver today. The Kireihana office, south of the Imperial Theater and take a right until you reach the end of the block."

Ki coughed a bit at the mention of Kireihana, "This payment for them to leave you alone?"

"Something like that..."

"I hate Yakuza. The scum of the Earth." Ki made his statement abundantly clear.

Saejima stayed silent on the matter and looked off to the side, "Crates are in the back, Golder. Stay away from any Chinese looking fellows staking out the place, also be careful of any Koreans looking around too. Get to the back door, knock two times and kick. Got it?"

The foreigner nodded and quickly set out to do what his boss wanted him to do.

….

It was a relatively 'short' trip for the foreigner. Short in a sense that he somewhat knew where he was going, but he at least made it to the back alleyway. The Kireihana office sign out of front side helped with him figuring out where it was located at in the back. He had no problems getting here and didn't see any Koreans or Chinese along the way.

He placed the crates on the ground and hesitantly placed his hand at the door. He took a moment to remember what he was supposed to do. He knocked twice and lightly kicked the door. It didn't take long for it to open and he got a good look at a man taller than him. Golder was considered tall here, but with this man in front of him he felt like a dwarf. The man had slicked back hair, a nice blue suit, a pair of sunglasses. Even though his eyes were behind the sunglasses he could feel the man stare into his soul. It didn't take a moment for the man to look down and have a small smirk appear on his face.

"Must be the kid Saejima-chan is babysitting. Why don't you come inside with those drinks?"

Golder shook his head, picked up the crates, and handed it to the man who graciously took it, "I have to get back to Saejima-sensei. Don't have time to sit around..." He's heard the stories- it goes from a quick sit down and suddenly you're knee deep in the Yakuza getting a tattoo to show loyalty.

"I was asking for your own sake, but if you insist. Also, foreigners should take care to hide their tattoos. It may mean nothing to you, but in Japan you could be barred from business just for having one."

Golder held a face that voiced his confusion as the man closed the door. Guess he couldn't hide the #32 on his neck very easily. At least to the keen eye. It was his jersey number for the hockey team back home. He got it in a stupid way actually. He was younger and very stupider so he thought getting a tattoo would get his teammates off of him for not having one. He shook his head at the memory. He needed to get back.

He headed out of the alley just to be stopped by some old looking homeless men.

"H-hey are you a foreigner?"

It was unsurprising that the Japanese could easily tell what he was. The homeless men stepped a bit closer to him, causing some alarms to go off in his head. They seem to be hesitant to approach, but ready to do something at a moments notice.

"A couple of Koreans told us that if we assault you and bring you to them we'll be rich!"

His heart sank at the words. What would anyone want to do with him? He looked at the other homeless men as one brandished a broken bottle and the rest put up a couple of sloppy fighting stances. Well he was no better as he placed his shoulders in front of him and scrunched forward. He mostly remembered what to do when on an ice rink, but being on the ground was completely different. As evident from him almost tripping forward.

"Excuse me, did you say some Koreans were lurking on our turf?"

Golder relaxed and looked behind the homeless men as they turned around. There were four men clearly beaten and bruised, but still looked fierce nonetheless. The leader of the men looked at the homeless man who said that.

"N-no!"

"You think Korean's lurking around our turf is a joke? Why don't you and your buddies come with us to our office? We'll be sure to take good care of you."

The homeless men put down their stances and the one with the broken bottle had his face smashed in by the stoic looking man. They looked scared shitless, but that wasn't his problem. They were ready to attack him and he honestly didn't feel bad for them. They complied as they followed three of the four men, the leader looked at Golder with a sharp glare.

"Why don't you get on out of here? Don't know what the Koreans want with you, but they'll likely encroach on us more if you stick around."

He did as he was told as he walked out of the alley, he gave a small glance of the scared men as they were led to the Kireihana office. He gulped a bit, but that didn't matter.

He made his way back to the bar, there were still hours to be worked.

….

Mostly wanted to keep this one short, mostly just a short introduction anyway. 2 more chapters to go.

Also Akiyama's chapter should be somewhat immediately after this one is released, so yeah.