A shuttle circled the YSS Illustrious as it looked for an open spot to dock and deliver some crew to the massive battleship. One of them was the armor pilot Ushimo Sakaki, a wannabe samurai neko. Her black hair was put up in her typical top knot style with a barrette from a dear friend on her right side of her bangs. Her sword laid on her lap as she gazed out the window at the large ship, is it bigger than the Senbu? she wondered to herself, Perhaps there is a system like Megumi that I could ask.
"This is completely unbelievable." The Yamataian sitting across from her spoke up, face resting in his palm, his square framed glasses pushed up over his forehead. The voice, was familiar to Sakaki, and the vermillion bangs meant it could be only one person....
"Ushimo Hei, this is the second time we've met like this. I trust you're going to push my self-esteem into the dirt from here to Yamatai?" Nekki Shin, fighter pilot, looked up at the samurai neko, a half smile on his face. "Are you being assigned to the Lusty's armor wings, Sakaki?"
Sakaki had been trying to ignore his presence, last she remembered of Shin was his face being rubbed on the steel of a space station due to his refusal to take punishment, and the eventual removal from the Senbu. Her eyes shifted toward the enthusiastic Shin and answered, “That is incorrect Bettle-kun, I am to pilot a fighter, as I am sure you are as well.”
"Beetle-Kun? That's a suprisingly nice nickname, Ronin-Chan. I thought that you would've come up with something more insulting by now." The Yamataian leaned back in his seat and smiled. "This is quite the coincidence, R-Chan. Isn't this how we first met, both on the shuttle to our new assignment? And here we are again. How much do you want to bet that we'll end up in the same squadron?"
Sakaki seemed to SMIRK a little, “Dung Beetle, be nice and quite,” she then patted her sword's hilt which happened to be at her right hand, “Or we may have to explain why one of us is physically impaired.” She then returned to looking out toward the ship as the shuttle began docking with the battleship.
Shin responded, by leaning forwards, cracking his knuckles. "I don't think threatening your squadmates is proper behavior, 'specially for a cute girl like you." Looking at the Neko, the yamataian shrugged, and returned to his lounging in his seat, hand idlely pushing up his glasses. "Ushimo Hei, I do not believe that us constantly insulting each other is a good thing to bring onboard this new ship. We should atleast try to work together, if not as friends, but as comrades."
Sakaki ignored the wannabe Yakuza in favor for empty space and contemplating the mysterious of the universe, Soon I will be fighting on a war vessel like I wanted in the first place. Fighting as part of the crew of this ship is a great honor. I wonder what the captain is like? I wonder if... she's as cute as... then suddenly she had a slight blush as she attempted to suppress the blood raising to her head for remembering her former captain as a small lion.
Shin stared at the neko, and sighed. "Sakaki, wake up. Stop thinking about girls. Our squadron's commanding officer will be waiting for us when we land. Hide your sword inside your pack while you're at it. There might be a Ketsurui samurai, and you don't want to lose that memento, do you?" Shin cracked a smile at Sakaki, and leaned over, looking out the window with her. "We may not like each other, but being crewmembers on the same ship forges a sacred bond between us."
Sakaki stood up and took a step forward, “Don't get me wrong, Dung Beetle,” she stated with his nickname in emphasis, “I had respect for you when we first met, however as time continued, you continued to push what little respect of you I had out the airlock.” She turned her head with farrowed eyebrows, looking peeved, “Until you prove otherwise, you are not Yamatain, you are a dog, a Sprite, a Freespacer, an insect. You have no right to speak of me in any other way than my proper name and rank.”
Just then the shuttle docked, and the pilot declared in his suave manner that personnel could disembarked. People began to shuffle themselves onto the ship as Sakaki stood there with her angry face at Shin. A tear fell from her eye of the memory of that day, her yelling out to him to just take the punishment from the arms of security forces, and he himself not listening.
“Baka,” she simply stated with welling frustration and emotion, then recomposed herself and walked off the shuttle.
