(expectingx2)

Feeling a little homesick, Yul had gone back to the bubble tea shop. In fact, he was feeling homesick enough to invite his squadmate, even if she was a pain in the... neck. Sure, he didn't get along with Hyeon-ju, but an old rival was kinda like an old friend in a lot of ways. You flew with them, you did a lot of the same things, there was a lot of yelling.

"I still can't believe they have one of these, here." Yul said, sighing, as he studied the menu. "Here I thought it'd be a milkless couple of weeks. I'm not sad to be wrong." He gave Hyeon-ju a sidelong glance. "What are you getting?"

Still casually dressed from earlier, Hyeon-ju was actually also keen on returning to Tian's. For all she knew, this might be some of the last bits of home she and the other Unicorn might have, depending on how things go.

The fact that they had a Tian's here was amazing enough in itself.

"Hmm... I think I want something mango-flavoured," she said thoughtfully. Also a slice of cheesecake. "Strange to think that this might be the last of cheese and milk we might see for a while? I heard they don't have this in most other territories. Imagine if we both end up marrying out - a life without milk, or cheese."

A sad life indeed.

"Maybe." Yul shrugged. "Or maybe not. I mean, they've got a Tian's here, on Asakaze of all places. Maybe more people are into Unicorn stuff than we thought. Which, honestly, makes sense. I mean, c'mon." Smirking, he spread his arms, displaying his leather jacket and uniform. Well, he could certainly pull the look off, anyway.

Sighing, he looked back up at the menu. "Matcha and milk for me, I think." Maybe a bit of cheesecake, too. "Flying's the big thing. If I get stuck on the ground, wow..." He shook his head. "I mean, I'd do my duty, of course. But what kind of life would that be for people like us?"

"Oof," was her first reaction to that idea, and she placed in her order for a mango bubble tea with milk. And baked cheesecake.

Maybe they'd have mooncake too since it was autumn season...?

"Not being able to fly anymore... that would be the absolute worst. I can deal with pretty much anything else, but being grounded. That's the absolute worst. Might as well just kill us then, huh?"

Just outside the shop a lone Crane was passing, she too was in her casual clothing. By chance she caught a glimpse of a jacket and uniform. The pilot was with someone already, but it maybe she could at least swap contact information. If only Ishiyo had worn her uniform.

Still it was the first such individual she had seen. So inside she went, "Pardon me..." she glanced at the mons, "Shinjo-san and mina-sama" As the two looked over Ishiyo gave them a proper bow. "My apologies if I am interrupting anything." She was smiling, a little more sincerely then the typical mask of Crane politness. Of course hearing the purple haired woman mention flying brought another short burst, "Oh...my furtheh apologies, Utaku-sama. I did not notice your mon to begin with."

Hearing someone speaking to them, Hyeon-ju looked over her shoulder and then turned fully. "Oh... uh... it seems we're at a disadvantage, but... Utaku Hyeon-ju, hohei of the 7th Sky Rider Wing. This is Shinjo Yul, hohei and also of the 7th Sky Rider Wing. Both of the Insect Squadron."

The Utaku offered a bow, figuring that the Crane knew who they were, but she would give the introductions still.

"Ah...yes as I suspected," For a moment there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth like she was resisting turning her smile into a grin, "...it seems I must apologize again, I had been most excited when I learned there were other flyehs at the miai. I have not yet had a chance to speak to anyone outside the Crane who fly."

"I am Daidoji Ishiyo, Nikutai in the Crane Fleet Ai-eh Arm, 312th Naval Fighteh Squadron previous assigned to the light carrieh The Golden Heron. A pleasure to make you-eh acquaintance Utaku-san, Shinjo-san." She did grin now.

Yul bowed as he was introduced.

His eyebrows went up, as did the corners of his lips. "Well well, a Crane pilot, huh?" His eyes narrowed as he studied her mons. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He gestured to a nearby table. "Tell you what. You wanna join us? We were just getting some bubble tea. And maybe some cheesecake. It's good Unicorn stuff. Milkier the better." Yul nodded. "Why don't you put in your order, and we can all swap stories?"

Hyeon-ju nodded in agreement. "It's not often we have the chance to swap stories and experiences with other pilots."

And the pilot she shared a room with had bigger worries than sharing pilot-stories.

"Bubble tea? Milk?" The Crane looked a little confused then leaned back enough to actually see where she had walked into, "Oh...I see. And yes, a Fighteh pilot. An Ace actually. 6 kills." A little pride slipped into her voice, "Three of which were in one sortie. All against pirates." She looked ready to say more about her time but stopped.

"Ah...well, I am not really familiah with bubble teas or cheesecake foh that matteh."

Hyeon-ju wouldn't say she and Insect Squadron probably had more kills than that, but she still nodded approvingly. "Sounds like quite an ace."

"Cricket," Hyeon-ju patted Yul on the shoulder, "order the nice Daidoji pilot something good and I'll get us a table."

"It's highly recommended to try new things at this miai, Daidoji-sama. Meeting new people, try new flavours, and new foods. You can tell us more about these pirates."

Yul grimaced, then his expression turned thoughtful. After a few moments, he turned to the shop owner, placing an order.

He turned back, smiling. "The Half Moon milk tea. It has a mild taste, mostly focused on the tea, which is quite good." Not that he really knew from leaf juice of any temperature, but he'd heard that. "As for cheesecake..." He shrugged. "Why don't you have a bite of mine, and if you like it, we'll get some more."

As he waited, he looked at Ishiyo, eyebrows going up. "Three kills in one sortie, huh? That must have been one heck of a flight."

The Daidoji took an offered seat and eyed the tea for a moment before trying it, "Hmm." Her expression was neutral, more experimentation required.

"Yes, it was the second most intensive battle of the touh." She nodded and took another sip, her expression was more pleasant. "The whole campaign was foh the suppression of piracy on our primary trade routes. We had tracked them to an asteroid they had hollowed out. Supply base really. The carrieh task force linked up with a marine assault cruiseh and its escorts. We swept the space around the pirate base and then I was sent to back to help protect the breaching shuttles."

"My first kill of the battle was in the initial clash, theih I stitched a line from nose to tail and up he went. The second I caught lining up a run on a shuttle, actually I got an assist similarly...the other pilot panicked and fell right into the defensive turret's line of fire. My final kill earned a stern look from my squadron leader." She blushes a little, "I...noticed an enemy lining up on me and I sped toward them, no shots until they flinched. Very nearly rammed into each other."

Hyeon-ju listened intently, interested in hearing what space-battle was like for other pilots outside of the Unicorn.

The final maneuver though did make her expression cool somewhat. "Your squadron leader was right to give you a stern look for that. It was a reckless maneuver," she said calmly, as it technically wasn't her place to scold another clan's pilot, but she knew Yul would say something like 'heck yeah awesome!'.

Hyeon-ju would not be disappointed.

"That's how it's done." Yul nodded, banging one fist on the table. "Head to head's a valid strategy, as long as you've got the guts and the aim for it. You can either make the other guy flinch, like that, or if you're a good enough shot, drill them before the get a line on you."

He nodded to Ishiyo. "That was how I got my first skill. Little dustup, me and them came out of a turn facing each other." Yul shrugged. "He tried to turn off, I..." He mimed firing a gun with one hand.

Hyeon-ju rolled her eyes, picking up her mango-flavored bubble tea.

"Why am I not surprised you're approving of such reckless flying, Cricket." Sighing, she sipped from the straw. "That time you got lucky, you could've crashed your ship."

"Recklesness doesn't win dog-fights. A cool head and awareness, and superior skill, on the other hand does."

"If you don't take chances, you're going to run out of them." Yul shot back, continuing the old argument. "Sometimes the perfect shot never comes, so you've just got to take the ones that do. And force the opponent to make a mistake"

He smirked, toying with his straw. "At least we agree on the part about superior skill."

And then he looked expectantly at Ishiyo.

Ishiyo looked at the two as they bickered and couldn't help but smile, "Utaku-san and Shijon-san must be good friends." She remarks before taking another sip.

"I suppose my contribution to the conversation is going to be...unsatisfactory. A cool head and awareness are important, as is using tactics to secure the advantage. But there seems to be times when one most gamble on the reckless plan." Another sip.

"My first kill was very amateurish." She sighs, "We were on patrol and got the advantage on a similar sized enemy patrol. My wingmate was tailing one, when the enemy's wingmate dropped onto his. I came in to support my wingmate and hesitated until ouh planes were practically touching....well not really but you get my meaning. I was so nervous at the time, and lucky the enemy was not paying attention to me. Stitched a line right across the enemy cockpit, killing the pilot."

Yul somehow managed to give Ishiyo an amused smile, and Hyeon-ju an edged smile at the same time. "Yeah, we go way back, don't we, Wasp?"

He shook his head. "You say amateurish, but you stuck with your wingmate. That's what you're supposed to do. Sounds like a good kill to me."

Yul pursed his lips for a moment, toying with his straw.. "Growing up, I always had to fly by myself. Having a wingmate took a bit of getting used to.

"Yes I did do that," Ishiyo nodded, "It was more...I should have taken the shot sooneh. I unnecessarily risked the life of my wingmate because I was nervous about hitting. And of course if my target had not been stupid and actually been checking the space around them...I would not have gotten a shot to begin with, they could have easily broken off the attack and slipped away from me."

"I got betteh as a flyeh, I still prefeh to shoot from close range...I am not a masteh marksman I must admit...but now I understand my figtheh and myself betteh."