Ava did as she said after the fight, stopping by the bar to let the bartender know that there was a very angry man over by the equipment. By the time she circled back around to look for Akihiro, though, he was gone. And looking more intently wasn't really feasible. But he was here once, and he didn't seem frightened off, so she takes a chance that he might be back again. Another night, and here she is at the bar again, once again nursing a bottle of coke rather than something harder as she watches the various patrons.
*
Akihiro certainly wasn't scared off, but he also isn't advertising his presence either. His outfit has changed entirely, nice jacket and pants replaced with worn jeans, a worn hoodie, and matching dark clothes. He's careful to keep his face hidden away, even when ordering a bottle of scotch.
He doesn't have to turn to look for a seat, rather he catches a familiar scent while waiting for his bottle. When it comes around he pays and dips his head thankfully, before circling around to where Ava's sitting. "Care if I join you?" he asks quietly, pulling the hood back to reveal his face.
*
Ava glances up at the question, brows rising in a flicker of surprise. It's not often when the person you're looking for ends up looking for you. Once the surprise passes, though, she smiles faintly, nudging the stool next to herself with one foot. "Go ahead," she invites, glancing back toward the gym floor. "He's not here tonight, I don't think. Not yet at least. Not sure how many other people looked close enough fast enough to realize what was going on before it was over, though."
*
"Imagine I bruised his ego some." Akihiro says, taking a seat next to Ava. "I've been in plenty of bar fights, I'm sure a few people were expecting it when they saw me walk through the door." He opens up his bottle and takes a swig from it then giving a quiet sigh. "Seemed pretty comfortable with what was happening yourself. Take it that it wasn't your first fight, eh?"
*
"I wasn't in the fight," Ava replies, though there's something in her smile that says she knows better than that. "But no. Not the first one I've been around, either." She takes a sip from the bottle, head tilting as she looks back over at him, pensive. "Didn't sound like it was your first, either," she decides after a moment.
*
"I've been shot, stabbed, set on fire, pretty much anything you can think of. Lost a leg in a fight not too long ago, would have been an inconvenience if they didn't grow back." Akihiro admits, flashing a sort of grin. "But I've been training since I was a child, even got forced to learn the more practical stuff for the last four years. So, I'm never too worried as long as I don't end up fighting somebody who just completely outclasses me."
*
"Right. Grow back." Ava falls silent, tracing an empty pattern on the top of the bar with the condensation from her bottle behind a curtain of hair. She tucks it behind her ear when she looks back up, gaze steady as she meets his eye. "Who did it to you?" she asks in a low tone. "Not the leg. Where it began."
*
"My adoptive parents, but it wasn't when things got bad. Just a proud family, Akihira insisted that I train as a samurai. They died when I was fourteen, and from there Romulus shipped me out to Canada. Spent four years there, trained me to resist torture, hide, kill, and all the other things I needed to get into the world of assassination."
He lifts the bottle, chugging almost half of it. "It was hell. Once I escaped I ended here in New York. Met my father, Logan, and a bunch of other mutants. Now I'm just trying to settle in and stop all the violence. Hasn't went very well though."
*
"They don't teach children to fight because they want us to live a peaceful life," Ava says quietly, looking away again. "I was six when it started. Nine when I thought I got out. Fourteen when I ran from the new place. And I've been…more or less on my own since then. This is new, though," she admits, a spark of blue electricity popping in the palm of one hand.
*
Akihiro actually flinches when the electricity pops in Ava's hand. "Sorry, they used to electrocute me a lot." He takes a moment to gather himself, finally letting a ragged breath escape out his nose. "It's awful, and I'm sorry you had to experience it too. If you ever need anything, you're welcome to come find me." he shoots her an actually honest smile, gently nudging her with his shoulder.
*
"Yes, well. Me too." Ava looks back over, smile crooked at the nudge. "Being able to do it myself is recent. Just the last six months or so. But it's always there now, just beneath the surface. I have to hold it back." She pushes her hair away from her face, turning to face him more fully. "You said you escaped. Are you still running? Are they still after you?"
*
"I don't know. I imagine Romulus has people watching me. But there's nothing I can do about that. More worried about Weapon X." Akihiro leans back, hands resting in his lap. "Cleaned out the pier under their orders two nights ago, a friend of mine happened to find me and take the bomb they stuck in my brain out. So either they think I'm dead, or they're looking for my corpse to get their adamantium back."
*
Ava wasn't lying when she said she was trained. Her features barely shift when he mentions Weapon X. There's only the slightest shift in her heartbeat, even. Easy enough to explain as a reaction to the idea of being hunted down. "Weapon X," she echoes, pressing her lips together. "That is the second time I have heard that name in a week. I don't think I would like these people very much."
*
"I can't remember if I told you, but I can hear your heartbeat too. It gave you away when I told Eddie about myself. Can track a person by smell from half a mile away, how I noticed you over here tonight." Akihiro turns his full gaze onto Ava. "You know anything about the program other than what's been in the papers?"
*
Ava tilts her head slightly when he mentions her heartbeat, considering. Inconvenient. "I know there are other people looking into it. Wanting to shut it down," she admits, taking another sip from her bottle. "I told them I would help if I could. I know what it is to be someone's experiment, to be at the mercy of someone who wishes to shape you to their own will. I was lucky. Me and another, we were able to bring down a small part of the larger organization who did it to us. Just one branch, really. But I know that he is dead, and cannot touch me." Her voice is low at the last, but vehement. "If there are other places still…I will do what I can to stop it."
*
"Best of luck to them. My father was their first generation of weapon experiments, X-One. Don't even call him by his name. Bonded adamantium to his entire skeleton, says he went feral for a long time because of it. Guess I'm lucky to only have my claws done." Akihiro takes another swig from his bottle. He's clearly drank more than enough to be drunk at this point, he must not have been lying about his healing factor stopping it.
"They bounced me all over the place, they have cells all over the world from what I can tell. But I don't want to take all of them out, just the Director. I want his head, then I can stop killing."
*
"Can you?" Ava drains the last of her soda, sitting up a little bit straighter. "He's gone now. Ivan. The man who built all of it. But the program is still there. The research still exists. And they had a purpose. If they thought they could do it again, they would without hesitation. We destroyed their equipment, but I would believe if I heard there was more somewhere. And though Ivan is dead, if I heard it was still happening, I would be ready to pull a trigger in a moment."
*
"I couldn't, but it's nice lying to myself about it. Maybe by the time I'm two-hundred there won't be any more fighting to do." Akihiro doesn't seem to be kidding about that in the slightest. "That's probably just wishful thinking too. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I woke up to a world without violence."
*
"Well, I think you are in little danger of that," Ava says ruefully. "But for as long as there are people doing terrible things to other people, then I for one am going to be there to stop them." She tips back her bottle, swallowing the last of the soda before passing the bottle back across the counter. "If you hear from these Weapon X people, if you need help? I will be happy to offer mine."
*
"And if you ever need help of any kind, I'll have your back." Akihiro finishes off his bottle as well. "Even if you just need a person to talk to, us teenage vigilantes have to stick together." He reaches over to give her shoulder a squeeze if she allows it.
*
Ava is a little bit awkward at the clasp to her shoulder, as if she isn't quite used to people being friendly. Still, she doesn't actually move away. In fact, she looks over to it, finally a setting her hand on top of his. "Thank you," she says quietly. "I…will remember that. Try not to pick too many fights, yeah," she smiles faintly, slipping off the stool. "Some people aren't worth it."
*