Appleseed Fan Fiction ❯ Untold History ❯ Midnight Rendezvous ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Appleseed is the brainchild of Shirow Masamune and belongs in part to Geneon, Manga Ent., TOHO, Seishinsha, Seinsha/TBM, and Appleseed Film Partners. Twiknham only retains intellectual rights for this unique story-line and the original characters introduced herein and receives no monetary gains from this work. Please enjoy.

Chapter 2: Midnight Rendezvous

 

Deunan crawled out of bed at 1:45am, putting a pillow under the covers to fool any teammates who might have been given `protection duty' as the guys called it. They ate, slept, and bathed in the same area. No preferential treatment being given to her for her gender. Although they were direct equals when they were in the field, the guys had taken to watching out for her on their off times. They felt that other soldiers didn't have the respect for her that she deserved, and they made sure these other soldiers didn't harm her. Being in a new place, someone would definitely be assigned watch tonight.

 

Thinking back to the earliest days at the academy, she couldn't help but smile. At the very beginning, the drill sergeant had tried to break her by making her bathe in the communal sento with the rest of the team. The guys loved having a naked woman in the showers with them. However, it had only taken one man getting his ass kicked by a tiny naked sprite of a woman for them to realize that looking was all she'd allow.

 

After Deunan started earning their respect, they started to turn their heads and allow her a modicum of privacy to wash. Akuma was the first. She remember it vividly. Eiji still had his voice back then, and he'd actually been the cocky one who had come up behind her and laid a hand on her ass. A drop twist, and he was sprawled on the cold tile floor, and she was in position to defend against any other attackers. Suddenly Daichi nodded to her, and turned his back, resuming his shower. She put a hand out to the man lying on the floor to help him up. “You can look, but don't touch. This is my property and you have no rights to it.” Eiji mumbled an apology and turned away too. One by one, the guys all about-faced, leaving her to stare at 9 naked asses. Realizing she'd been accepted, she finally turned her back on them, all of them respecting each other's semi-privacy.

 

The Staff Sergeant had issues with Deunan Knute because he'd been forced to admit her by Edward Uranus. Although Commander Uranus wasn't the highest ranking around, he had the ear of those that were. He'd felt that Deunan was only here to play dress up, and when he found out that her team had started treating her as an equal, he'd punished the entire group, including the Drill Sergeant. However, none of them would step down from their positions. Deunan Knute was an equal in every way and deserved the respect that came with the responsibility.

 

The Sento issue was mostly amusing to her, she was not inhibited about her body. Being raised in an orphanage had taught her early that it was only skin sewn on bones, and a man looking at her naked wasn't a threat to anything she believed in. However, she did appreciate the pseudo privacy, and thanked her comrades for the kindnesses they showed her when off the field. Tonight, their concern was highly annoying. She had an ass to skewer, and it irritated her that she had to resort to stealth in order to escape her self-designated wards.

 

Closing the door quietly, she sat on the front steps to put on her boots. It was brutally cold, the breath freezing in the tiny hairs above her lips as she exhaled from her nose. Taking in a deep breath, she smelled cleanness and the last visages of winter. Wondering how long it would be before they had time to enjoy a peaceful morning, she double knotted the right boot. Standing to put on a light flak jacket, she looked up to see an imposing body emerging from the shadows.

 

Briareos Paieon was a very good-looking specimen of maleness. He had black hair, with small wisps of grey betraying either age or experience in battle. Men aged quickly when under constant fire, and she suspected it was the latter of the two for him. Although she couldn't see his eyes clearly in the cold mist, she knew they were as piercing as a bird of prey, the same color as a falcon's.

 

However, his shoulders were the defining characteristic that set him apart from any man she'd seen before. He was extremely tall, and his shoulders had that extra girth required to support his frame. The black turtleneck he wore was delineated with pecs and abs, and she knew that if he took it off, there would be six distinct sections of muscle above his waistband.

 

His black pants were loose cargo-style, meant to allow for free-movement while providing adequate storage for the weapons and ammo needed for close fighting. They were belted at the waist, and she could see muscles moving as he continued to walk. Chuckling as she realized he was built everywhere, Deunan wondered if her fingers would touch if she wrapped her arms around his tight waist.

 

Suddenly he turned, giving her a good view of his backside in the soft light of the security lamp above his head. His shoulder holster emphasized the width of his back, while proving there was nothing soft about this man. She looked for the beginnings of love handles, but could find no sign of physical weakness. His ass was tight, and as he shifted his weight from right to left, she watched as the left thigh pulled the glut in, emphasizing no softness there either. Working her way down his legs, she didn't miss large muscular thighs, and very manly calves.

 

Turning, he performed a mock bow, golden eyes never flinching from her gaze. “I figured since I ogled you earlier, I'd give you a chance to make it even. Like what you see?” His deep voice crawled through her head, lodging in a place she wasn't ready to open to anyone. Blushing, she walked down the steps to stand beside him. “I did.” Those two words dropped like hot metal against her soul.

 

She snorted at his effrontery. “The wrapping's nice, but the thing inside leaves a lot to be desired.” He chuckled and she realized that she'd inadvertently cut herself down. Anger beginning to simmer under her skin, she looked him full in the face, green now clashing with gold. “We gonna do this, or you just want to chat it up all night?”

 

“Ladies first.” He waved a hand in the direction of their path.

 

“No, you said this was to prove I could keep up. That makes YOU the leader.” She bowed mockingly, and waved a hand out to indicate he was free to start anytime.

 

“Forty laps.” He started off at a dead run.

 

“Make it forty-one if you feel so insecure.” She settled into his rhythm, thanking her uncle for months of grueling morning jogs in the academy. Although he hadn't come around much while she was young, Uncle Edward had visited almost daily at the academy to make sure she was holding up her end of the agreement. He'd agreed to get her into the academy two years early, and she agreed to be the best. He wasn't much shorter than Paieon, but his son Hades had not inherited his height. Uncle Edward had chosen her as his thrice weekly jogging partner when Hades had not been able to keep his pace. Determined to prove that she wouldn't disappoint, she'd worked extra hours to ensure her running skills were equal to her Uncle's.

 

The soldier in front of her was an amazing runner, ten laps down and they were still full-out. Deunan would have questioned his humanity if not for the growing sweat ring forming behind his shoulder harness. She's started concentrating on his back when the first spot formed. It was a good way to distract herself from a full-bore pace. Coming only to his chest, she knew he had inches of leg on her. Deunan had to run three steps for his two, but she knew something he didn't. She never quit, regardless of the odds.

 

Briareos wondered how long the little girl behind him could keep up. He was beginning to struggle and knew he'd have to slacken the pace within the next lap. Beginning to pace himself down from a full-sprint to a light sprint, he wondered what her chances were of actually making forty laps. He glanced at his watch, it was almost 03:00. At this slower pace, they'd finish just in time for breakfast. That meant she'd have to keep up all day too. Smiling at his cleverness, he failed to see the lone sentry at the door of the team's barrack.

 

Deunan didn't. Glaring at Peta, and giving him a hand signal to leave her alone, she passed by without a sound. The boys could not step in, it would be the death of her career. If anyone understood her drive, it would be Shinjaru Peta. His father was a black American who had met his mother while stationed at Misawa. When his father retired, the family had decided to stay in the land of his birth. Both of his parents were familial outcasts. Peta father's family had disowned him for siring a half-breed with an Asian woman. While his mother's family disavowed any knowledge of her existence when she married a black man. Peta had grown up with the love of his parents, but under the shadow of a less open-minded society. When the two runners came back around, Peta was gone. Deunan breathed a sigh of relief. He'd understood this was her battle, and was probably even now inside guarding the door to make sure no one else interfered.

 

As they started lap seventeen, Deunan thought back to all of her personal victories to remind herself that this was only a drop in the bucket. Although women and men both served together in the Japanese military, there were still some areas that were mainly men. With the cyborg uprising, the areas of direct combat had quickly been relegated to men. Most women couldn't run fast enough. They were usually excellent marksmen, but the ability to hoof it was important when dealing with things that refused to die when shot. The newest hybri-borgs were even faster and more impervious to ammo. Now even men were being weeded as speed and cunning became critical for survival.

 

Deunan held a position that only a handful of women had occupied, and she'd known most of them personally. All of them were dead. It was a sobering thought, and her foot caught on a loose rock as she let her mind wander too far from the battle she was currently engaged in. Catching her stride, Deunan decided now wasn't the time to think about all the friends she'd lost in her life. She'd instead concentrate on all the men she'd bested over the years. A smirk lighting up her face, she caught up to the leader and smacked his back, hard. “Slowing down old man. You up to forty? I'll lap you at twenty, and you can buy my beer next Saturday night.”

 

Briareos had caught the slight bobble in her stride at the bottom of the hill and secretly hoped she was beginning to slow. He had two more laps at this speed before he would need to drop down to a fast jog for the last twenty. She was plucky, he gave her credit for that; but that was the only admission she'd earn. “I've actually decided to take you up on that forty-one. But I'm going to slow down a little just to help you out.”

 

“Don't do me any favors, I can run all day.” She snapped back into place just off his right shoulder, and watched the lightening of the sky as the earth crawled towards another dawn. Right now, the sky was beginning to take on a lighter hue, still almost black but with less clarity than when they'd started.

 

“Good, because that's exactly what you'll be doing. Today starts advanced basic, and this competition in no way exempts you from the normal requirements of the day.” He had slowed down, and she bumped into him, not paying attention to his proximity.

 

“Giving up already old man?” She slowed down to match him, their feet falling in synchronous patterns at that pace. She wondered about the phenomena for a second, but it became a fleeting thought as they passed her barrack. Eight heads were peaking out of defrosted circles in the windows. The ninth she knew was guarding the door.

 

“Your teammates are awfully protective aren't they?” Briareos glanced over at the windows, a team that babied a member was opening itself up for targeted attacks. Too protective, and they exposed weaknesses rarely seen otherwise.

 

“Only when we're off the field.” She looked at the ground, her breath coming in controlled pants. “I've had problems off the field. Some people can't understand that a warrior is a warrior, regardless of gender.”

 

He was surprised to hear her call herself a warrior. But looking over at her compact body matching him beat for beat, he thought she just might qualify.

 

“Amazons were the fiercest of warriors. To this day, there has been no race who could compare to them for ruthlessness and effectiveness.” She glanced over at his face, noticing in the growing light that he hadn't shaved before their run. “They captured free-roaming men, then slaughtered them after being impregnated by them. They believed that men were the weaker sex.”

 

“What do you think?”

 

“You ever see a man give birth?”

 

He chuckled. “Point taken. However, you are not tall enough to be an Amazon.”

 

He caught her slight smile before she passed him. “You might be surprised.”

 

Speeding up, he pushed ahead of her. “Upping the stakes?”

 

“No, I just forgot for a moment that I wasn't the leader.”

 

Looking at the lightening sky, then his watch, he was shocked to find it was only 04:45. They were running large laps, he'd not chosen an easy course. Eighteen laps to go, and breakfast was just over two hours away. Tucking his resolve under his belt, he settled back into his pace.