Koori Chikage could hardly keep her breathing steady. Here on this picturesque day she was stood waiting for Yuuna! She could hardly believe just how lucky she'd been to find her way into this date, for that's what it was, a date.
But how had she found herself in this position?
Oh, of course, it had been Yuuna. Yuuna, who combined the amazing power of understanding people with the impressive strength of mind to be completely oblivious to anything of a non-platonic nature, had cordially asked Chikage if she had wanted to go to the zoo. Stumbling through a response, Chikage was surprised to find that Yuuna had interpreted it as some form of affirmative noise.
"Yay! I can't wait, Gun-chan!" Yuuna had been over the moon at Chikage's acceptance, and if Yuuna was over the moon, Chikage had made it somewhere over to Mars and back in a great leap of joy.
With the date set, Chikage spent every waking moment until that point planning just what activities she was going to do with Yuuna, what she was going to say, what to talk about, she'd written a list of potential topics and memorised them, or had tried to at least. When thinking up what to talk about she'd hit a dead-end on what exactly Yuuna liked outside of martial arts and udon. She refused to lower herself and ask anyone, because that would mean conceding to the fact that there were people who knew Yuuna better than Chikage did. Even on the day of the date, she would still be drawing a blank on Yuuna's interests, praying and hoping there was something in the zoo that she'd be able to latch onto as a topic.
As the day approached, Chikage found herself encountering new problems, what would she wear to impress Yuuna? Until now, Chikage had never given particularly much thought to what others had to say of her appearance, but everything was different now. Throughout the time she was waiting for their date, for what else could it possibly be? Chikage had experienced the ups and downs of the euphoria following her acceptance, replaced by the butterflies in her stomach for what was to come.
At last, on the morning of the day she was due to meet Yuuna, Chikage was at her lowest point, as she approached the day; the anxiety of going with Yuuna had caught up with her. She found herself almost unable to make it out of the door, what if Yuuna didn't like what she'd decided to wear?
Finally, Chikage had managed to edge out of the house, and made her way to the meeting spot they had chosen. She managed to keep any ideas that Yuuna had cancelled on her at the back of her mind, Yuuna wasn't that sort of person.
Though, it was starting to seem like Yuuna had gone somewhere, maybe she'd gotten lost? Chikage figured if Yuuna had gone astray then the best thing would be to go find her, right?
"Let's meet at the fountain in the middle. It's super big, so we won't get lost." Yuuna had explained.
Well, she'd gone and gotten lost, hadn't she?
Yuuna…
The fountain certainly was obvious enough, surrounded by blooming greenery and little benches for couples. It seems that the difficulty was to find Yuuna, where could she have possibly ended up…
Had Yuuna abandoned Chikage? Left her alone after telling her to come here? Had she forgotten about her?
5 minutes passed, no sign of Yuuna…
Chikage's mind turned to the worst possible conclusion, Yuuna had decided to abandon her, Chikage sat down on one of the little benches and began to think just why this had happened.
10 minutes, where had she gone?
Of course, Yuuna was too good for someone like Chikage…
Finally, 15 minutes later, still in the throes of her despair, she thought she heard Yuuna calling for her.
Surely a trick of her imagination? Turning her head toward the source of the noise, she noticed that it was indeed Yuuna making her way towards her.
"Gun-chan! Sorry I'm late!"
She'd actually come, the dark thoughts that had been clouding Chikage's mind rescinded, the relief was overwhelming, Chikage exhaled, she hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath since Yuuna appeared. Chikage began to think back to how Yuuna often used to cut it close getting into class, a small smile appearing in the face of the memory. In fact, nothing had changed since they'd met the other Heroes, even with another Yuuna showing up, Tougou ensured this second Yuuna made it in on time, however, a behaviour Chikage had often wished she could imitate, but never quite had the courage to force Yuuna like that.
"Takashima-san, where were you?" Chikage inquired gently
"Gun-chan you wouldn't believe it! I was waiting at a fountain for you! But then I realised there's two of them and I must have been at the wrong one!"
Oh, Takashima-san… You are so silly sometimes… Chikage thought in complete relief.
"I-it's okay" Chikage stuttered back, quite unable to berate Yuuna for her innocent mistake.
"You look cute today Gun-chan!" Yuuna advanced the conversation in her usual way, overwhelming Chikage with her positivity. In the end Chikage had finally settled on something to wear, a striped dress in black and white, with deep crimson sleeves and frills around the hem. She felt it was sufficiently 'fashionable' enough for the situation.
"You look nice too… Takashima-san." Chikage replied, feeling flush at the compliment. Yuuna had chosen to wear a striped blouse of white and pink, a short skirt with a small bag, a charm of a heart and a ribbon hung off it.
Yuuna had decided that they would be going to the zoo this day. Chikage felt a pang of regret that she never went to such places as a child, her rocky upbringing resulting in a whole host of potential experiences left unfulfilled. She quickly dismissed it, however, for she'd be experiencing this first time with Yuuna.
"Okay, let's go." Yuuna instantly decided, grabbing Chikage's hand and taking her completely by surprise
"Takashima-san…" Chikage breathed softly, her hand now firmly in Yuuna's grip, it was wonderfully soft. Although a simple contact, with it Chikage was now entirely content to be guided gently by Yuuna.
"Where do you want to go first, Gun-chan?" Yuuna asked the docile Chikage, who was somewhat entirely content to stand there and hold her hand.
"You can choose." Chikage mumbled back, still in a stupor
"Okay.. Hmm.. hmm.. Oh, I know! Let me show you something cute, Gun-chan!"
The first place that Yuuna took Chikage to visit was the white tiger enclosure, hand in hand, they walked over, Yuuna talking about her day and Chikage only capable of nodding shyly, in addition, Yuuna animatedly described her enthusiasm for them, in particularly the cubs, fussing over how adorable they were. Chikage continued to nod along somewhat, this didn't seem particularly interesting, but if Yuuna was so enthusiastic about it then she'd happily listen.
They stood around the enclosure for a while, Yuuna still enthusing about the white tiger cubs. The keeper, noticing Yuuna hovering around, eventually asked Yuuna if she would like to hold one.
"Oh, can I?" she asked, face lighting up.
Sitting down on the bench, the keeper slowly placed one of the cubs into Yuuna's hands, supporting its' underside with one hand, she wrapped her other arm around its body, holding it like one might hold a baby.
"Look Gun-chan, isn't he cute?" She turned to Chikage, who had sat down next to her, she was smiling brilliantly.
"Indeed" Chikage agreed, smiling back at Yuuna.
All was going perfectly, until the cub, which until had been content to sit still, moved its paws slightly, causing Yuuna to wince a little. Chikage's eyes flashed, and she had to restrain herself from attacking it with her scythe, it was a blessing that she hadn't brought it with her.
"Takashima-san, are you okay?" Chikage - supressing her urge to violently murder the cup - asked Yuuna, concerned.
" here has sharp claws is all, I'm fine." She answered back cheerfully.
When Yuuna handed the cub back to the zoo keeper - for Chikage had graciously declined to hold it for fear of throwing it in revenge - it had stared intensely Chikage, completely oblivious of how close it had come to death. Her opinion of the little cubs had completely changed following one of them slightly nicking Yuuna, and now Chikage made sure to put her most intensive stare into use. She made sure that it got the message, if it harmed Yuuna again, Chikage would unleash her full fury upon it.
As they left the enclosure, Yuuna seemed eager to hear what Chikage had thought. The enclosure had left Chikage with one great impression. Yuuna spent most of her time ensuring others were happy, so to Chikage, simply seeing Yuuna have fun with her own desires was a blessing in itself. Ah, Chikage was so selfish. Always relying on Yuuna to come do what she wanted to do…
"Gun-chan?" Yuuna was looking at her in worry "Are you okay? Did you not enjoy the tigers?"
Chikage smiled sadly, she'd done it again, gone and forced Yuuna to look after her with her moping and gloomy attitude.
"It's not that, Takashima-san."
Today, Chikage had decided, she'd care for Yuuna. Just for once, Chikage would do something for her.
Chikage knew she didn't have many skills, but there was one thing she was good at, games. She thought about all the time she'd spent playing games, a plan beginning to form in her mind. Summoning up her mental strength, no small feat considering Yuuna had resumed holding her hand tightly, Chikage asked tentatively:
"Takashima-san… Could we go to an Arcade?"
"Sure!" Yuuna's first response was instant.
There was a brief pause after her acceptance, as Yuuna thought about it, finally she replied.
"Hmm, Gun-chan, I don't think there are any Arcades in the zoo…" Yuuna's confused face accompanying this sentence would have been comical to the observer, but to Chikage it represented an unfortunate reality, she didn't want to force Yuuna to leave the zoo, not when she'd been so trailblazing in setting up the day in the first place.
"You're right. Takashima-san, it's fine." "We don't need to leave the zoo afterall"
"No" Yuuna replied, shaking her head
"If that's what you want to do let's go" Yuuna seemed perfectly amiable to the idea.
Chikage had done it again… forced Yuuna to change what she was doing for Chikage's whim. She began to think how she would go back to on what she'd just said and make it alright with Yuuna.
"We really don't have to…" Chikage began
"Let's do it, Gun-chan." By now Yuuna was dragging Chikage out of the zoo, taking her to the Arcade she wanted to see so much.
"Hmm, Gun-chan, where are the arcades? I don't know" she laughed a little.
It was too late now, standing outside the gates, Chikage figured they wouldn't be getting back in, and she couldn't sit idly with Yuuna looking as confused as she did right now. There was no choice but to banish her thoughts of guilt for now and go to the arcade, hopefully the prize she could pickup would make it up to Yuuna.
Chikage had to make a confession, contrary to appearance, she couldn't beat any arcade machine against the odds. She needed to have worked out the "feel" of the machine beforehand. So, they'd have to go to a specific arcade, preferably one she'd been to many times before in the past and knew the machine.
But that one was on the other side of town… And Chikage didn't want to make them go traipsing to the other side just to play one Arcade game, she'd have to go to the one that was closer, and less familiar.
One short walk later and they found themselves just outside the arcade, with its flashing lights and loud sounds blaring out from within. They tentatively stepped through the door, Yuuna giving a little sound of excitement at the range of games presented before them, Chikage was simply looking for the one with the biggest prize, just a little present with which to thank Yuuna for what she'd done.
None of these prizes seemed particularly worthy of Yuuna though, Chikage needed something big, something fluffy, something much higher quality than you'd find in an arcade…
Then she spotted it, arrayed above all the other available prizes, how she'd missed it before was a mystery, considering how large it was. A huge plush about half the size of Yuuna, a large white tiger cub, though whether it could be called a "cub" at that size was a mystery. It was an attempt to tie-in with the local zoo no doubt, and it had an absolutely astronomical number of arcade points tied to it, clearly designed to be beyond the efforts of any regular visitor.
Chikage was not a mere regular visitor. She was the legendary C-Shadow, and she was going to grind out those points for Yuuna's sake or die trying.
Ah, a regular staple of her time in arcades. The questionably named "Dead Shooting V" was of a illegitimate nature, but the gameplay was solid, and Chikage was good at it, first stop would be to exhaust this machine of tickets as she speedran the arcade and collected the tickets she needed for that plush before the arcade closed. Stepping up to the machine and slotting in the first of what would be a gross expenditure on that day, she started her first game.
Picking up the gun shaped controller, she readied herself to play. Although her plan had been to quickly collect points, with Yuuna watching her, she, naturally, had to throw some flair into what she was doing.
"Wow, Gun-chan, you're so good at this!"
"Not really…" she tried to deny it as another level was perfectly cleared
"Wooaahh!" Yuuna clapped in delight
This wasn't so bad, even if she was playing for Yuuna's sake, having Yuuna watch and enthuse over her every move was a state of acute bliss. Chikage made sure to keep in mind why she was playing though, it was all for that plush. Chikage only hoped there were enough tickets in the machines for when she blitzed through the rest of them.
She would never find out.
Chikage ran out of that one great commodity that makes the world go around long before she managed to get enough tickets. Despite spending the money that she brought with her, and then Yuuna basically forcing her money into Chikage's hands, she'd drained them both completely of any funds they had. Worst of all, Chikage wasn't even half way to that plush.
Outside the Arcade, she clenched her fists tightly and looked down at the ground, shame and annoyance on her face, she'd spent all their money, and had still been completely unable to get the prize that she'd so wanted to collect, all she had now was a small fortune in tickets, which translated to a large plethora of worthless prizes.
"Gun-chan?" Yuuna asked her in concern, not for the first time that day.
"Takashima-san, I've failed you." Chikage replied bitterly
"F-failed me? Whaaaatttt?" Yuuna asked in a panic
"Ah! Ah! You could never fail me Gun-chan!"
"I wanted to get you something nice, and all I got was these worthless tickets" Chikage smiled bitterly
"That's okay" Yuuna consoled her
"I was happy enough spending my time with you today, Gun-chan! That's enough for me!" Yuuna reassured her.
"I had a wonderful time today, but looks like we're out of money now" She continued, laughing again
"Oh! We can just transform and jump back to Marugame."
"Takashima-san, we can't do that." Chikage rebutted her
"Huh, why not?"
"Well…"
As Chikage explained to Yuuna the reason behind them being unable to transform and simply jump back, their day together largely came to a close, leaving them left to walk back to Marugame together, hand in hand.
In the Hero clubroom, Anzu waited, full of suspense, as Sonoko scanned through her story draft at an inhuman pace. She was hoping the brilliant Sonoko might be able to help her perfect her writings about their fellow heroes.
"Well, how was it, Sonoko-sensei?" Anzu tentatively asked her mentor
"Hmm, hmm" The younger Sonoko nodded, deep in thought
She then turned to Anzu, eyes sparkling
"I think… It needs to be bolder."
"Bold?" Anzu asked blankly "D-do you mean, like that?"
"mmm, Something like…"
"Aha! An idea!" Sonoko nodded again
"This is good..." "mmm, mmm"
"What if… Takashima-senpai has some money left after all!" Sonoko started off .
"Oh?" Anzu's curiosity was rising
"Something like this..."
"Gun-chan, I think I still have a little money left" Takashima said, rustling around in her little bag.
"Takashima-san… We don't need it anymore." Chikage replied, she didn't want to have Yuuna spend anymore of her money.
"Hmm…" looking around, Yuuna's eyes eventually settled on a photo booth in the corner
"Ah, let's take a photo together to remember this day, Gun-chan!"
"O-okay." Chikage nervously replied, fully aware just how small the booths were.
Squashing into the photobooth together, they were uncomfortably close for Chikage, Yuuna was so close to her right now, making it difficult to think. Being this close had Chikage in a complete state of fluster. She was so close that Chikage could hear her breathing gently. Chikage, by contrast, had forgotten to breathe, and hoped she wasn't too loud as she rapidly breathed for the air she'd lost.
"Hya!" Yuuna glomped Chikage, catching her completely by surprise
"Smile, Gun-chan!"
"y-yeah" Chikage conjured up one of her rare genuine smiles, reserved for times spent with Yuuna.
The camera flashed.
"That's great, Sonoko-sensei, but is it really bold?" Anzu questioned
"Not yet… But watch this…~" Sonoko replied dreamily
As the camera faded out, Yuuna pushed Chikage up against the side of the booth. Anzu letting out a little squeal at this turn of events from Sonoko.
"I've got you now, Gun-chan!" Yuuna whispered in Chikage's ear.
"T-Takashima-san, what are you doing!?" Chikage was completely flustered, this was a completely unexpected turn of events. Yuuna was normally a very touchy-feely person, prone to giving out hugs and holding hands, it was entirely her own brand of friendliness, even these simple contacts left Chikage flustered, and right now it was something more.
"Takashima-san is taking the initiative! Sonoko-sensei, you are a genius!" Anzu clapped in delight
"I'm not quite done yet…" Sonoko winked at her
Held up against the side of the booth by Yuuna, Chikage could only look straight into her eyes with a complete sense of submission to whatever was about to happen. She'd certainly not expected to end up in this situation. Yuuna was looking straight back into her eyes, this was wildly different from the platonic Yuuna Chikage was most familiar with.
She felt Yuuna place one of her hands on the inside of her thigh.
"Takashima-san… We can't do this here!" She found herself protesting despite her senses telling her she didn't give a damn, she'd happily do it right here.
"Don't worry Gun-chan, we'll be all right..." Yuuna smiled at her again. Chikage's breathing was ragged, contrasting with Yuuna's gentle breath on her face. Yuuna began to slowly move her hand up the inside of Chikage's thighs, moving up, passing just underneath the hem of her skirt…
Sonoko abruptly stopped
"And then!?" Anzu cried out in suspense "What happens next!?"
"Sonoko-sensei!?"
"zzzzzzzz…." Sonoko was sound asleep
Anzu couldn't believe Sonoko had fallen asleep at this critical juncture.
"Sonoko-sensei wake up!" Anzu shook Sonoko roughly, she needed to know what happened next. There was not a single thought given to just how much the younger Sonoko knew about this stuff, or where she'd learned it all.
"Hmm? Oh, they do something…. I'll leave it up to you…~"
Anzu was utterly dejected, there'd been so much potential added to her story by Sonoko, but she'd bailed out before it was completed. Anzu could never hope to match such scandalous ideas.
"I did enjoy your story Anzu-senpai…" Sonoko eventually admitted
"These honorifics are getting pretty strange…" Anzu couldn't help but notice.
"Ahaha, you need to work on your ships…" A piece of advice from mentor to student.
"What do you mean?" Anzu asked, eager to learn more of the secrets of the great Sonoko.
"Takashima-senpai and Chikage-senpai are cute together. But this is too obvious…"
"What can I do then?" Anzu asked, full of curiosity
"You must find something most people won't think about." Sonoko replied mystically, winking at Anzu again.
"Here, this is what I mean" she added, handing Anzu a stack of paper. Written on-top was simply 'The sound of silence', Anzu avidly began to read.
Kamiya was the most popular shop in Shikoku. Although it seemed like a simple udon shop, it was funded almost single-handedly by the Sanshu Hero club, who would frequent it several days a week. When the other heroes had been brought across by the Shinju's power, the Hero club had wasted no time in spreading showing Kamiya to all their new friends. And the small udon shop soon saw enough business from these 19 girls alone to have set up a small business empire if so they desired.
But today there were only two girls in Kamiya together, Koori Chikage was sat across from Mito Fujimori, a timid girl who had been the Miko of Suwa. Today was a 'date' of sorts, though Chikage would rather be with Yuuna, and Mito with Shiratori.
"…"
"…."
"…"
"…..."
"…"
"…."
"…."
"…."
"h-hey, this u-udon's not so bad." Mito suggested, trying to kill the silence in the air.
"mmm." Chikage made a sound of agreement
"..."
"…."
"….."
"….."
"….."
"….."
"….."
Another period of silence passed as they ate their udon without saying a word, this time it was Chikage who broke the silence. Tidily finishing up and gathering her belongings to leave.
"That was delicious, as always" Chikage said nonchalantly, nodding to the lady at the counter. With a flourish, she turned to leave, leaving Mito sat eating the rest of her ramen alone.
Anzu stared hard at this excerpt, the entire draft seemed full of similar plots, Chikage and Mito together in situations where they would often share one sentence between them. Anzu didn't quite get it, but she appreciated the nod to the Kamiya business empire Sonoko had included, an important part of the plot in an unrelated novel by Sonoko about a girl who was suspiciously like Hinata owning Kamiya. She falls to the charms of a customer who was suspiciously like Wakaba, who frequented the shop everyday to see the owner. It was truly fiction, Wakaba would never be that forward.
"Sonoko-sensei, where is the romance in this!?" Anzu asked, looking at Sonoko with desperation in her eyes, she was still suffering from Sonoko pulling the plug on Chikage and Yuuna.
"You need to look harder" Sonoko replied, wagging her finger.
Clearly Anzu still had much to learn. This seemed cryptic to her, especially considering Sonoko's earlier works had shown she was perfectly capable of straightforward romance. At the back of her mind Anzu secretly hoped this was just a phase and not a glimpse of the future of Sonoko's novels.
Deep in thought, Anzu had been unaware of the third person joining the conversation, practically sneaking up on Anzu, the senior of the two Sonokos had arrived. She was reading through the story about Mito and Chikage, and nodding in thought.
"Nice job, Sonocchi, your new direction is great." The older Sonoko nodded in approval.
"I'm trying out something new" the younger Sonoko replied
"mmm, mmm" both Sonokos made the same noise of agreement, drowsily nodding their heads in sync.
With both writers now assembled, Anzu felt it the best time to find out what the other Sonoko felt constituted a "good ship".
"Sonoko-sensei, what do you think is an unusual relationship?"
As soon as she said it, Anzu realised it was probably a dumb question, the two Sonokos seemed completely in sync with each other, no doubt they'd answer the same thing.
"Hmm"
To her surprise, the older Sonoko thought about it, considering her answer. Her eyes eventually lit up, Anzu hoped it wasn't something dark like Gin with a mystery bride, one not of the fairer sex. The unorthodox approach of smaller Sonoko's previous story still rankled on in her mind.
"Sonochii has the right idea ~"
"I've been experimenting too ~"
Oh no, for once, Anzu dreaded the words coming from Sonoko's mouth. It made sense they'd be acting in unison though, trying out the same thing, seemingly of their own accord, Anzu didn't trust this explanation, they had to have some kind of psychic link doubling their yuri powers, exactly why Anzu could never hope to catch up to them in this field.
"What about this?"
On the third night, they were finally hit by rainfall, thankfully the accompanying winds were light, as the small boat was completely unsuited for any sort of major storm.
"Oh, how romantic! A boat trip!" This was a lot more in-line with what Anzu was used to, now to find who the lucky couple were.
Washio stood at the helm, holding on to the railing for safety, in times like this, with the rain and the dark, someone had to stand watch and keep the ship safe. The freezing rain and unpleasant feeling of her rain poncho sticking to her was a discomfort, but no match for the superior Japanese spirit.
She'd left her older-self resting within the cabin. Sumi had her suspicions, but her future seemed to be somewhat grim, her older-self seemed less-dutiful to the glorious nation of Japan. The two of them were leaving the home islands to experience the rigours of a stringent military life aboard a naval vessel, though the Taisha had been unable to source them anything more military than a very small cabin boat, which hadn't left much room for people to come with them, nor did the idea of spending a week on board a tiny little boat in the waters of shikoku particularly appeal to most of them, only her older-self had agreed to come, and that was only after some deliberation and one express condition, Washio's eyes drifted over the huge antenna haphazardly bobbing around under the pressure of the storm. Her counterpart had refused to leave unless she had a way of keeping in contact with Yuuna at all times. She really had gotten softer with time… Though she couldn't deny Yuuna was a charmer.
Sumi felt herself flush a little at the thought, it seemed Yuuna was getting to her already. She shook her head. This was not the time for her mind to be wandering. Eyes forward, face the destination. She figured she'd occupy herself by thinking of how her counterpart had already failed in military discipline, so much for strict radio silence with that huge antenna. Washio would have to make sure she didn't repeat these mistakes, so she didn't end up like the future self presented before her. Shivering a lot, but with her resolve unbreakable, she weathered the storm.
Inside the cabin, Tougou lay staring at the roof, the boat Taisha had acquired only had one bed, so they had to take turns sleeping anyway. She wasn't too pleased to have been separated from Yuuna like this, but Sumi had wanted to try living on the seas for a little and Tougou felt obliged to help her out with the endeavour, she had a faint glimmer of excitement at the prospect, but she mostly thought this was a futile exercise, she knew more than anything the strict routine Sumi adhered to in her everyday life, she did more than enough in ensuring she lived by the military discipline she would need to serve her nation best.
Tougou understood, of course, she still lived by this strict regime even now, waking up at the optimal time to ensure she would be able to complete her own preparations before going to Yuuna's house and helping her out. Tougou hadn't quite reached the point of dressing Yuuna, she didn't need Tougou to do that for her, sadly. Although Sumi spent so much time glaring at the huge antenna the boat trailed behind it, she often joined Tougou to talk to the others back in Shikoku. Her main pastime was to repeatedly clean the deck day after day, never once complaining about the duty, Tougou could tell that she was completely starved for something entertaining, hence why she was always so eager to join Tougou in radioing back, this was always followed by some sort of self-berating, upon which she would redouble her efforts, usually scrubbing the deck again.
Mealtimes were dull too, although Tougou had brought her own lunchboxes, Sumi insisted on putting her ration collection to good use. Tougou could hardly believe it, did she used to be like this?
Still reflecting on her past self, Tougou drifted to sleep…
When she awoke in the morning, the rain seemed to have cleared, the water was once again still, and the skies were clear. Looking around she was greeted by a shocking sight, a very wet, shivering Sumi was sleeping on the walkway covering.
Stifling a gasp, Tougou picked up her younger self and took off her soaking poncho, before tenderly taking off Sumi's wet clothes, making sure not to wake her up, before she gently lifted her, taking care not to wake her up, and placed her into the bed. Motherly tucking her in, she shook her head, she couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep last night without counting the possibility that Sumi would stand outside in the freezing rain all night under the pretence of duty.
"I-is this…?" Asked Anzu breathlessly. Now she understood, this was bold, this was different.
Stepping out of the cabin, Tougou looked back at the shore, barely 10 minutes away. Sumi had pretended they were far at sea by always looking forward from the prow of the ship, and completely ignoring the landmass behind them. She sighed, Sumi's antics inspired a range of emotions within her. Admiration for her own pride in the nation, adoration for how easy she was to fluster with her uptight behaviour, and frustration with her sense of duty. This looked like the end of their brief 'navy experience'. The boat would probably be easy to turn around, now to take this silly, sick child back to her bed. And take Tougou back to Yuuna…
"Huh?" Anzu, who was well known for her polite etiquette, couldn't help but let a sound of confusion better suited to Tama slip out. That can't be the end though, where was Tougou huddling in the bed with Sumi? Preferably naked. Anzu had been yet again let down by the Sonokos, she had expected an unusual, bold ship, and had got nothing.
"Sonoko-sensei, I don't understand, where was the ship here?"
"Can't you see it?" the smaller Sonoko asked her.
"No." Anzu was concerned, was this too subtle for her to see?
"On the water."The bigger Sonoko explained.
Anzu was stupefied. This 'joke' from the Sonokos was almost too much for her. What a day it had been, during this session with her teachers, she'd been taken on a journey from her normal story, through having her hopes raised with a risqué addition to her story. Before being crushed by what could possibly be considered "alternative." As she looked over at the Sonokos in the corner, Anzu thought, just for a moment, that maybe the Sonokos had lost their touch. Though hopefully this was just a phase and they would soon be back to writing romantic vanilla again.
In the meantime, Anzu now understood, vanilla was best. If the Sonokos were lost to this new phase of theirs, then it would be up to Anzu to keep the vanilla shipping alive between the heroes of the Shinju. She wouldn't fall to this same craze of experimentation the Sonokos had fallen to.
Yep, indeed, Vanilla was best.