Chapter Text
She never really expected to sit down at the bar and see such a familiar face, much less one she thought she'd never see again.
Matako remembered seeing her when their ships crossed paths. She had contacted the merchant fleet as it sailed by. Look, whatever you want, we don't have, and we're armed.
To which she appeared, cool and calm, the hat's shadow on her face giving her a sense of... mystery, of sorts. Our ships can turn into a giant robot. It can step on you. We don't mean harm.
Sheesh, what was that, some Transformers shit? Was... she into that sort of thing? Cool mecha animes and shit? That'd be nice, Matako thought, someone to watch reruns of Gundam with... Wait, no, what kind of thoughts were these? Sure, she's always liked the silent calm types, but...!
Takasugi appeared then, spoke, and a booming voice suddenly came from the other end of the screen in response. The call was quickly shut off by Takasugi, and they sailed on.
Now Matako was at a cafe, alone, having broke away from Takasugi and Takechi for some time of her own on this... godforsaken planet they were hiding away on. Lately, Takasugi wasn't... appealing to her as much. She didn't really get why. He just was, well, not living up to her expectations, especially after seeing her, who just so happened to be at the same exact cafe.
Matako practically stomped up to her.
"Oi, what're you doing here?"
Mutsu glanced up, chewing on her (third) bowl of whatever this planet was offering, the serious look on her face once more. "Eating."
"I already knew that." Matako huffed.
"Eating ramen."
Matako made a face. "That is most certainly not ramen."
The other just looked forward once more, still chewing. She put another bite into her mouth and hummed before nodding. "It is."
Now this was just getting annoying! Matako sat across from her and placed her elbow on the table, pointing at Mutsu with her entire hand. "And...? It doesn't look like ramen!" No, it looked more like someone decided to paint a picture of several orange sticks that just were sloppy looking to represent noodles. Maybe like carrots? Really floppy carrots? Disgusting.
The vice captain raised her hand, asking for another bowl. "More, please."
No, that's enough! No more! Don't eat that filth!
But nothing could stop the Unstoppable Mutsu, and she ate. Matako looked on before suddenly grabbing the bowl away from her and shoving the mystery noodle into her mouth.
...No fucking way! It was ramen!
"That's rude." But Mutsu was smiling. "Aren't you that one who interregated me over intercom while in space?"
"Duh." Matako crossed her arms and lifted her head arrogantly. Of course she was, who else dressed this good in the entirety of the universe? Huh? "Name's Kijima Matako. Best gunslinger in the galaxy."
At that, Mutsu seemed curious. "Mutsu. Best, huh? You're not the only one with guns around here." Matako made another face at that, but it disappeared when Mutsu placed her pistol on the table. An M22. "My boss thought it would be funny if he got me a gun that had the same name as a star cluster."
In response, Matako pulled out her two pistols, and placed them next to the M22 on the table.
"Those look nice. Let me take you to a shooting range. " Mutsu put her gun away and stood up. "Let's have a little competition."
E-Eh?