Guess Who's Back?
Posted on Tue Jun 13th, 2023 @ 2:27am by Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost' & Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse' & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini'
1,310 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Descent
Location: Pilots' Lounge
Timeline: After "Moving In Together"
Ensign Saeko Busujima entered the pilots' lounge. Despite all the repairs and upgrades to the ship, the room was more or less how Saeko remembered it. Muscle memory led her gaze to her usual table, which she saw her friends seated at, and she made her way over.
"Hey, Riverside! Fujimoto!" Saeko called out. "And-!"
Saeko trailed off when she found herself staring down a pilot that looked like a mirror image of herself. Smirking, Saeko cupped her finger and thumb to her chin.
"Well, isn't this nice?" She muttered. "You missed me so much, you replaced me with a look-alike. I mean, seriously, you couldn't have picked a more splitting image of me if you tried!"
The lookalike shot Saeko a shit-eating grin that she didn't take one too kindly to.
"So this is the Busujima you were you talking about?" She remarked, her arms crossed. "I can see the similarities; though, if I'm being fair, I think I've got the better pair of tits..."
"I see, trying to body shame me, are we?" Saeko remarked. "But, the question remains..."
In a flash, Saeko yanked on the look-alike's hair, dislodging a strand of it.
"OW!!!"
With a piece of the doppelganger's hair in her hand, Saeko looked closely at the root, only to discover that it was black at the root. The look on Saeko's face was one of disappointment.
"Black root." She muttered. "You almost had me fooled there, doppelganger:" She said, carelessly flicking the strand of hair aside. "Whatever brand of hair dye you're using, don't use anything cheaper."
"What the hell was that for?!" the lookalike shouted, clutching her head. "Aaha..."
"I can see you haven't changed a bit, Busujima." Mika muttered.
"Well, looks can be deceiving." Saeko responded as she pulled up a chair. "Anyhow, what did I miss while I was off on my soul-searching journey?"
Saeko then noticed that Mika had an extra half pip on her uniform.
"Holy hell, looks like quite a lot." She muttered.
"Ah, only an attempted Tal Shiar hijacking, Mika here saving the Captain's life, a complete re-crewing of the senior staff, the Captain's wedding, an attempt by some Latina twat to crash said wedding, the Executive Officer marrying a woman he had known for less than a month, our reassignment to the H'Atoria Sector..." the lookalike quickly rattled off, before glancing at Iowa. "Am I missing anything, or does that pretty much cover it?"
"Can't forget the Volleyball tournament, which we lost to the Marines." Iowa said.
"Ah, yeah, can't forget that," the doppelganger snickered. "Probably should've worn a bikini with some more support, now that I think about it..."
"Or both of our promotions to squadron leader." Mika added.
"You two... Squadron leaders?" Saeko asked.
"That's right;" Mika smiled. "You're looking at the freshly-minted squadron leaders of squadrons B and D respectively. So, Busujima; did they tell you when you came back aboard what squadron you were assigned to?"
"I believe they told me I was going into B." Saeko said. "So, you mean to tell me you're my boss now?"
"Well, naturally." Mika responded. "But I don't see why our new on duty relationship has to compromise our current off-duty one. Have a seat, Busujima. It's been a while."
"It sure has." Saeko said, pulling up a seat. "So, anybody going to care to introduce me to doppelganger here? Or am I just going to have to keep calling you that?"
"Doppelganger here has a name, you know." Iowa said. "It's Nozomi Kusuda, and she's one of my charges in Squadron D. Say, Kusuda, weren't you part of some pop band back in the day?"
The doppelganger, Nozomi, grinned. "Astral, thank you very much; I went under the stage name of "Gemini," if ever you're interested in looking me up some day."
"You mean that J-Pop garbage?" Saeko responded. "I hope you'll forgive me if I pass."
Nozomi threw her head back and laughed. "I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea."
"Kusuda, I'm sure you've heard a lot about her (and quite frankly, I'm surprised she's back too.), but this is Saeko Busujima, the only other pilot besides you that Fujimoto and I were on a last name basis with."
"What can I say? Going by callsigns all the time wasn't my style." Saeko shrugged. "I find that being on a last name basis with friendly pilots helps us reclaim our humanity from the Starfleet fighter corps machine."
"Hey, most of those pilots are gone now." Iowa remarked. "You think I'd be where I am if D'Lar was still around? Hell naw; bitch wanted to make sure I knew my place."
"Oh, Teach wasn't that bad!" Nozomi insisted. "Certainly not as bad as you make her out to be; I mean, yes, she could be strict, but who wouldn't be after serving with Starfleet from day one? If you've lived as long as she has, and seen as much as she has, then you know what methods are going to work and what methods aren't."
"You know, Kusuda; I kinda agree with Riverside on this one." Saeko said. "D'Lar was kind of an asshole, and it was because of people like her and Trigman that Fujimoto, Riverside, and I earned our outcast reputation. Well, besides the elephant in the room that was Lieutenant Nakazato, of course."
"Hey, just figured I'd offer my two cents," Nozomi replied, putting up her hands defensively.
"So, Busujima, it's been a hot minute since we've seen your ugly mug around here:" Iowa said. "What have you been up to while we've been apart?"
"Oh, nothing much;" Saeko shrugged. "Just a soul searching journey on how I can avoid being typecast as the crazy, unpredictable gal, and I'd like to think that effort's paid off. I think you'll find the Busujima you used to know coming out a lot less often."
"Let us hope that is the case." Mika said. "Perhaps the winds carried you back here to put your newfound zen to the test."
"Nah, the truth is far less metaphorical than that." Saeko dismissed. "When I came back to receive my new orders, I was told my old position was still available if I was interested. Figured I'd come back, reconnect with some old friends, and see what's changed."
"That's assuming of course that your old friends, assuming that's us of course, were still here." Mika pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but if you weren't, it's not like I'm going to complain and ragequit over it." Saeko said. "That's something the old Saeko would do."
Nozomi's eyes widened in surprise.
"Was she really that bad?" she asked, stealing a glance in Iowa's direction.
"Oh yeah, she was." Iowa said. "With the amount of stories this woman has provided us, we could be here for hours!
"Do tell," Nozomi insisted, leaning forward with keen interest.
The next several hours were filled with tales of Iowa and Mika airing Saeko's dirty laundry, what they knew of it, anyway. Perhaps a sign that Saeko had indeed changed surfaced during this roasting session, where instead of wanting to rip their throats out, Saeko was laughing along with them, and even shared some stories of her own that Iowa and Mika hadn't heard before.
Perhaps this was indeed the start of a new Ensign Saeko Busujima...
Posting by (In Order Of Appearance):
Ensign Saeko Busujima
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Iowa Riverside
Triumph Squadron Leader, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto
Harley Squadron Leader, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Nozomi Kusuda
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
RSS Feed