~a special gift for maraic~
A fic for: maraic
Written by: A secret someone!
Title: Like shining bugs among the stars
Pairing/Group: V6
Rating: PG
Warnings: None, except for Sakamoto's reaction to bugs and TOKIO's idea of a uniform
Notes: This was much more difficult than I'd thought. This might not be exactly what you wanted, but it's the best I could do. I hope you'll like it anyway, maraic! Many thanks to my super helpful beta!
Summary: Space AU. Space is big. Luckily for V6, TOKIO leave an unmistakable trail.
The shining stars rotated, or rather, the Honey Beat, the not-quite-new starship, rotated around its axis. And around and around.
Sakamoto sighed. As captain he shouldn't have to deal with simple tasks like this, but the navigator was most likely playing cards with the weapon's officer and the cook in the store room.
If they wanted to reach the space station any time soon, he'd better head to the bridge and turn them right side up himself. Given the low supply of oxygen cubes and energy balls, he'd better make sure they didn't ram the station by accident. Refuelling was first priority right now. Even their mission would have to wait. Finding TOKIO would have to wait.
They had left, or rather, had been chased away from, Space Station Diamond Eyes three weeks ago, and Sakamoto's ears were still ringing.
"Drunk! Gambling!" Station Commander Higashiyama had not needed to lift his voice to have his words carry.
"I will not have my station disturbed again."
The Station Commander's disapproving frown had sent the Honey Beat's unruly crew packing faster than anything Sakamoto had witnessed before. While his crew shuffled to safety, Sakamoto had stood his ground, knees shaking.
"Children traumatized! Students led astray!" The words had chased Sakamoto as he quickly followed his crew.
The door to the bridge opened at his approach, the bio-mechanic eyes in the wall having tracked his passage.
By the time Sakamoto reached the navigator's seat, someone else was already occupying it. Not the navigator, of course. Sometimes he suspected they did that solely to drive him crazy.
"Docking in fifteen," Inohara announced as Sakamoto came to a stop next to him. "Space Station Midnight Shuffle has given us permission to land."
Before Sakamoto could reply, something brushed against the back of his knee. Head snapping around, he looked right into three of the many eyes of the multi-legged cleaning robot.
"Aaah!" he screeched, jumping backwards, only to topple right into Inohara's lap.
"Easy, Leader," the communication's officer soothed, not bothering to hide his broad grin. "It's just the cleaning bug." Captain Sakamoto's reaction every time he encountered one of the insectoid cleaning robots was easily the most entertaining thing in most of known space that didn't involve alcohol. Patting Sakamoto's leg in a calming manner, Inohara send the broom-swinging bug on its way.
~~~
Moving just far enough away from the Honey Beat to allow the big doors to close with a swoosh, Sakamoto addressed his crew.
"Okay, everyone. Remember, FIRST we need to re-supply. We don't have enough air left to get to the next space station if we get kicked out of this one before we can do our shopping, so please behave."
"Yes, captain~" the five members of his crew chorused, surprisingly obedient.
Not questioning his luck, Sakamoto went on, "Don't ask about you-know-who before we have everything we need. Remember, we've been kicked out just for mentioning their trouble-making asses before."
"Yes, captain~" The grins were beginning to worry him, but Sakamoto went bravely on.
"Nevertheless, pay attention if you see any sign of their passing through here."
Now his crew was openly snickering. Sakamoto sighed. "Okay, what is it?" he asked, trying to hold on to his patience. Some days, he was tempted to ditch his crew and take on a group of pre-schoolers instead. They'd certainly be more mature.
"Look behind you," Nagano finally suggested.
Turning around, Sakamoto saw nothing special. "It's just the usual 'Crews are expected to wear uniform at all times' sign?" he asked, frowning. There was a second, smaller sign welded to the bottom of the first sign. It was shiny and obviously new. Bold letters read 'Pants are considered part of every uniform'.
"Guess that answers that question..." he muttered. Naked-is-our-uniform TOKIO had certainly passed this way, and from the look of it not long ago.
~~~
With her store rooms filled up, the Honey Beat made her way gracefully past the outer planets of this particular solar system. They'd left the space station only half a day after the Sorafune, close enough that catching up should be no problem if everything went according to plan.
Closing the door to store room 6, Captain Sakamoto sighed happily. With all the recent purchases safely stored away, they wouldn't have to worry about not being allowed back on space station Midnight Shuffle.
"Out!"
Clutching the last of his shopping to his chest, Captain Sakamoto watched wide-eyed as High General Kondo Masahiko himself herded his remarkably sheepish looking crew towards him.
One disapproving glance was enough to make Sakamoto cringe. He did not want to know what his crew had done this time, he did not want to know at all.
"You," the General's finger was pointing right at him, "take your crew and go, before I make you repair the damage with your own hands."
They could easily travel for three years before they'd need to do their next supply run.
Not that doing the inventory was part of a captain's job.
"Where's the rice?" Morita's voice came from behind him, and Sakamoto whirled around. He hadn't heard the younger man arrive. "Shelf 3," he answered, only to spin around again when something brushed against the back of his foot.
"Aaah!" he screamed, jumping into Morita's arms. The cleaning bug rotated its eye-stalks before shuffling off, the silent whir of its vacuum cleaner fading away.
~~~
"Target in sight," Okada announced from where he was perched in the communication officer's seat. He flashed a grin at Miyake, who was kneeling on the captain's seat. "Bet I can shoot their engine out before they notice us."
"No one is going to shoot at anyone," Sakamoto sighed, stepping through the door. "And you can't shoot from that desk anyway." On this ship, no one was EVER at their own station.
On the big screen, the Sorafune slowed down, flashing an invitation. Either someone had noticed the Honey Beat's approach or, and Sakamoto found the second option much more likely, someone was having too much fun and playing with the light controls. It wouldn't be the first time.
"Approach carefully," he told Nagano, who was currently sitting in the navigator's seat. That didn't make the man a pilot or even a navigator, but the one good thing about his crew, Sakamoto knew, was that they could do their job. Even if it wasn't exactly their job.
Something surred next to his elbow, sending Sakamoto scrambling backwards before his brain had caught up. Tumbling into Nagano's lap, Sakamoto didn't hear the cleaner bug's satisfied hum before it flitted off, feather dusters swinging industriously.
~~~
Peeling off his space suit, Sakamoto waited for the rest of his crew to come tumbling through the vacuum tunnel. A cleaning bot, perfectly square and not at all bug-like, rolled past.
Addressing the Sorafune's crew directly, since this ship's captain might be the only one who had actually less authority than him, Sakamoto demanded, "We've found you. Now pay up. You still owe us three cases of beer."
"Compromise," Nagase drawled. "We'll share one case to get started and play for the rest. We've got new cards."