One of the reasons Hikaru enjoys fencing is that nobody ever expects him to wield a saber. He knows how to us other swords but the saber is his favorite and what he prefers to fight with. People expect a katana, they might not be surprised at a naginata, but nobody knows what to think when he pulls the thin, razor-wire sharp blade out. The Japanese guy isn't supposed to fight with a saber. He's supposed to use a katana but only after he's finished with his calculus homework.
Hikaru hated calculus. Algebra was fine and geometry was passable but anything else is beyond him. His mother was convinced this would hurt his chances for getting into the Starfleet Academy. But as it turned out…
"Mr. Sulu, one of the reasons we accepted you is your originality. Many of our applicants try to present themselves as perfect examples of their cultural heritage. Very rarely do we get an applicant who has the courage to write 'I hate calculus and don't want to take any math classes' in the 'any additional comments' section of the application." The admissions officer smiled. His mother lightly whapped his arm, but he could tell she was pleased (and relieved). His father was covering his mouth and was shaking with laughter.
"So…do I have to take any math classes?" He wasn't so naïve as to think he could get through the Academy without ever taking a math course, but a guy could hope.
"Yes. How many depends on what you want to do."
He wanted to be the one to fly the spaceship. Not the one who made it fly, engineering involved math. Not the one who plotted out where the ship went because so did navigation. He wanted to be the one who steered the ship away from the asteroid, who performed evasive maneuvers, who turned it away from any enemies. If anyone asked him why he wanted to fly the ship he would quote some poetry by a well known, long dead author about the feeling of flying and what it feels like to engage the ship and guide her through the stars.
But the honest to God truth is he thinks it would be really cool.
Fin.
Author's notes: One of the cool things about Star Trek is that it showed different cultures but never took the easy way out and wrote them as stereotypes. I think that might be one of the reasons why it was ground breaking.
Other characters to come. Star Trek is not mine and never will be. Emo sigh.
