ADVENTURES OF THE STAR SQUAD (PILOT)

CHAPTER 8

"So, what do you think of him"?

Ichika sighed and dangled her feet in the water lazily, munching on the sikerpe berries she and Niji had picked that day. It was a balmy evening and both of them were in their tank tops and shorts by the river, cooling off and if they got lucky, they could catch some ciporkeso to bring home. It was their breeding season after all.

"I think he's nice, and he's pretty sensible at best", she finally replied at length. "At least, that's what I've seen of him for today".

"You should start dating him longer perhaps", Niji suggested, poking at a rock to see if there were any edibles hiding behind it. "See what he's really like".

"I'll try", Ichika murmured. "I don't know about this".

"Look, not all relationships are as fairy tale-ish as the movies portray them. No, in fact, there's more to them then that", Niji mused, grabbing a handful of sediment to sift through before letting the current wash it away. "You can make the first move, or you can wait for him to do it. Your choice".

Of course, Ichika knew which one to pick. She was no shrinking violet when it came to things like this. Her motto of 'if want things done your way, do it yourself' was strong in her. She wasn't at all hard to convince when it came to taking on just about any activity, and now that the subject was dating, well, it was like what she did with everything else thrown at her. She faced it head on.

"Then I'm taking the first one"! she answered. "He'll prefer the boldness, I guess".

"He'll be proud of it", Niji noted. "Lots of guys like girls who make the first move these days".

"I'll do it tonight", Ichika told him. "He did invite me for a picnic anyways".

"Knock him off his feet, lil' sis", Niji laughed. "Show him what you-Oh hell yes"!

"FISH"! Ichika shrieked, getting to her feet and helping Niji reel in the school of silver and dark blue-grey fish and dump them into the woven basket they had brought with them. Six of the school looked fat and a slight prod was all Ichika needed to know that they were loaded with eggs. Sweet, sweet fish roe!

"If you're uncomfortable with him, you could always try somebody else", Niji offered a suggestion as they lugged the basket home. "You know what they say, 'there's always more fish in the sea'".

"True, but only one of those fish is the chosen one", Ichika told him as they both went back home, lugging their precious load with them.

-

The next day.
Ichika's P.O.V
I'll be honest, I was not expecting this at all.

Was. Not. Expecting. This. At. All.

Living in an apartment unit as dingy as the one me and Miko were currently forced to live in meant stuff like blackouts and water cuts on a regular basis, and while I didn't particularly mind the former, the latter meant business. It meant I had either forgotten to pay the water bill again, or there was actually a problem with the plumbing this time.

The former was actually rare, since I never forgot to pay the water bill at all.

I don't know about the latter. The building's always had bad plumbing I suppose.

Miko came out of her room dragging a little suitcase of her own as I finished packing up the last of my clothes and toiletries. The alien observed us from his vantage point on the bed, turning his silvery head here and there to look at Miko and I as we darted to and fro, packing up everything we needed given that we were going to be staying there for awhile.