Alicia Romero - We keep meeting under strange circumstances. Strange, but entertaining.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war" -George Santayana
The Post Service Marine
Most of what people know about Atsuko will probably be from her service record. She did at least two tours in Afghanistan as a United States Marine. She's on the record as an E5 who was given a medical discharge. It's hard to say how close or how far she is in relation to her Japanese heritage, as she seems pretty gung-ho American but she hasn't taken an American nickname in place of her Japanese given name like some do.
Pop Culture - Rock music, video games, internet culture, movies, and yes even Anime and Manga. Atsuko has hobbies outside of her military experience, who knew?
Military - USMC E5 Expert Marksman Sgt. Atsuko Ito. Atsuko was considered an expert marksman early on and upon attaining E5 became a Riflery instructor. Her tours in Afghanistan were part of the U.S. training of Afghan security forces. On the books she was a non-combatant serving in an advisory role, but the reality is she saw multiple pitched combat scenarios and earned 3 Purple Hearts in the line of duty before her eventual Medical Discharge in 2021 just prior to the U.S. withdrawal from the operational theater.
Security - In her military advisory role Atsuko applied a lot of security knowledge. She has experience with everything from simple guard duty to logistical and tactical implementation.
Philosophy - Perhaps more like Armchair Philosophy, but when you really get into it with Atsuko you are likely to find out more about her Buddhist beliefs, including Karma, Dharma, and the Japanese idea of Hitsuzen.
Firearms - Beyond her time as an instructor in the USMC, Atsuko is a civilian firearms instructor as well as a skilled gunsmith.
Mean Streets - There are whispers that Atsuko is tied to a small, now defunct, Yakuza Gumi. Ito isn't that uncommon a name, and the Ito-gumi was tiny before it was destroyed and swallowed by the Yamaguchi-gumi, however, so there may be no substantive credibility to this rumor. On the other hand, she seems pretty comfortable with the streets and anyone hearing her speak Japanese might notice a distinct manner of speaking slipping in occasionally.
