Loud rock music echoed through the hangar as Katsuo laughed and joked with his squadmates and the recruits who were lucky enough to be on the ground that day, a lit cigarette in his hand as usual.
"Hey man, you've got good taste!" the loud mouthed Alvin Davenport exclaimed, causing a smirk to cross Katsuo's face.
The captain looked over the faces, picking out his squadron. There was the always loyal Erich Reinhardt, callsign Omega, a Belkan who's family immigrated to Osea before the outbreak of the last war. Then there was Patrick Hudson, callsign Blitz, a foul mouthed patriot through and through who had family in the Osean government. Finally, he locked eyes with his wingman, Alesia White, callsign Storm. The girl was as fierce as she was beautiful and from early on, she and Katsuo hit it off leading to more than one interaction that could've easily cost them their wings.
Next, he looked over the nuggets. The loud mouthed and opinionated Alvin "Chopper" Davenport who shared Katsuo's love of rock music. His sister, who while quiet and seemingly shy at times, would show her true self in the heat of battle. She was the calm to Katsuo's fiery personality and would often keep her brother from getting into too much trouble. Lastly there was the brown haired pilot who didn't seem to talk more than he needed to. He respecfully asked to be called by his callsign, Blaze. They all showed great promise in their own way.
"Captain," Erich's voice interrupted Katsuo's train of thought "Why don't you tell us about your life before the military? You've always been a bit tight lipped about it but..."
Katsuo's lighthearted demeanor faded when he looked to his sister, as if to ask for her permission to tell them their story.
"Go ahead," she said softly "they have every right to know."
Katsuo cleared his throat and turned the music down a bit, preparing for a long monologue. "Very well then. I was the black sheep in my family. I differed from my parents on many topics, politics, cultural issues, career choice, you name it. I listened to rock, I had run ins with the law due to near extreme political views. We fought back and forth quite a lot...I was an angsty teenager to put it simply," he took a pause to discard his cigarette and put a hand on his sister's shoulder "but I always looked out for this curious little girl who could never manage to stay out of my room." He joked, causing the entire crowd to laugh or smile, "...then came the fire. On an unusually warm day in December, I was half assing my school work when I began to smell smoke and ran out of my room, searching for Kei."
The smiles and laughs had faded from the crowd, who all began to predict what came next. "Sir...I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories..." Erich said, the mood of the conversation weighing heavily on him.
"It's okay Erich, about time I told you guys anyway," Katsuo sighed "Once I found her, I grabbed her and ran outside, making sure she was safe with a neighbor before I, either through bravery or stupidity, charged back in to find my parents...needless to say I couldn't find them and I suffered some ugly injuries trying," he pulled up his shirt to reveal burns and scars up his torso. "...From there we went to a few foster homes together before ending up on the streets of November City. I always took care of this one," he said, pointing to Kei "Until I found a friend that she could stay with when I enlisted. That was ten years ago."
"Don't go making me feel old now Katsuo," Bartlett's voice echoed over the music, which was promptly turned down "You were one of my earlier nuggets, and probably the only one stupid enough to stick with me this long."
Katsuo raised his middle finger with a chuckle in response "And now we old bastards are here, training these nuggets...sounds like another day in paradise. Unfortunately though, I have to run, so story time is over."
The pilots and mechanics quickly dispersed, some finding other places to hang around but most choosing to head to their rooms and get some much needed rest, not knowing the excitement the next day would bring.
Having made it to his room with little issue aside from a few recruits asking him questions, Katsuo got himself together for bed. Just as he was reaching to turn off the light, a pattern like knocking could be heard from the his door. "It's open," he said, knowing full well who it was.
"I know, I just like the secrecy of our little code." Alesia said in a half whisper as she entered the room, locking the door behind her. "So Captain, why didn't you tell us you had a little sister?" She asked him, though they both knew she was only pretending to make small talk.
A smirk grew on his face as he kept quiet, they had gone through this song and dance plenty of times before and not once had it gotten old.
"Straight to the point then. Fine." She said before shutting the lights off, pressing her lips into his as they both fell into the bed.
A/N: While I kept this chapter a bit shorter than the last one, I felt I needed to give you all a bit of background into the characters that we'll be following on this journey of ours, but didn't want to over extend the first chapter as I've never been that kind of writer. Anyway, thank you for reading and as always, I hope you enjoyed.