...and welcome back!

I have returned! The exams are over, and I now have some downtime. I'll be uploading new chapters about every week or so, so please check back for more!

Some restructuring of the story has been made. If you are interested, please go to the first chapter and read from there. I will admit, there wasn't much of a plot in mind when this was written, other than Toumai being something more than a punching bag for the girls. It then went on to a plot involving political backstabbing and infighting, underlying plots and motives and a boy with far too much burden on his mind.

After going through it so many times, I really wanted to follow through on the idea of having Norita/Marvin undergo a breakdown. However, whenever I did so, the result wasn't good enough and/or did not have the desired impact. Another idea was to make all the events I'm writing a figment of someone's imagination. That while this story had some truth to it, it was ultimately being told by a mentally insane patient in long-term hospital care.

...yeah. You can probably see why I scrapped that idea.

Something, everything is wrong

Trailing behind them in their wake was a diesel-fuel yacht, the 647 Finisher. Right now, it had a nasty crack down the side of the hull and was leaking diesel a gallon a minute. The radio operator managed to localize the distress signal, where the girls found a man shipwrecked on the West face of Imotojima. The damage control crew had the crack shored up with lots and lots of wooden blocks and planks, and soon enough it was seaworthy. All they had to do was tow it back to Chichijima for the Akashi to repair.

That was all fine and dandy, if one did not take into account just how many of these trips the crew had already made.

The scratchy sounds of a pen against paper distantly filtered from within the classroom. A man sat at one of the tables inside the room with a girl opposite him. Sanae ignored how the man who she placed at around 40 to 50 years of age was still devilishly attractive and concentrated on her work. As the secretary, she was most often tasked with any and all forms of paperwork. This included repair forms, salvage forms etc.

She could have simply put off the work for later and just enjoyed the day. Having spent the entire night and morning on the ship, she had missed her chance to actually get off the Tanikaze and have fun. The best that she could do to make up for it was go above deck and get some of the fresh sea air. That is, if not for the paperwork to finish.

The Tanikaze had so far rescued 4 ships with their crew and passengers, and the captain estimated an additional 4 more by the end of today. If they had to, the Tanikaze would continue working through the night until all ships were safely accounted for.

That had been the captain's declaration that morning, which drew many cheers from the crew, Sanae included. She was thoroughly hating that decision now. Rescuing shipwrecked people was a noble thing to do, but it was becoming more and more of a chore than she had expected, especially since she could not do anything much to help out besides giving the shipwrecked captains stress over filling out paperwork.

It had gotten to the point where she just locked herself in the classroom and kept writing out the forms. It was a simple enough matter to do, since all she had to do was fill out the basics and let the captains handle the more personal parts themselves. That is, until the Tanikaze reached Haha-jima and its surrounding islands. There, a whole bunch of foreigners had gotten themselves stuck when the storm came in and sank many of their personal yachts and catamarans.

From what scattered English the crew still remembered, these people were here to meet their sons serving at something called the Yorktown Naval Academy. Of course Sanae could not just leave the forms for these people to do, they would class as immigrants, meaning there was an even bigger stack of papers for them to go through. That was ignoring the fact, of course, that they did not speak a single word of Japanese.

The resident translator Miyuki just looked over the forms, made as many annotations as she could, and was dragged off to go placate the foreigners waiting on deck. Because of this, Sanae now had to keep the captain of the yacht 647 Finisher with her while she worked.

The man was nice enough to stay out of her way as she scribbled down kanji after kanji. Despite not speaking a single word of Japanese, the blonde haired man was able to understand some basic things like stand, sit and stay. Right now, he was sitting there, blankly signing away at the places she indicated for him while she did up the rest of the report. Otherwise, he did nothing more than to stay quiet while she worked.

A few times, she had looked up to catch him staring at her, to which he quickly looked away. It was… well, she didn't know how she should be taking it. Creeped out? Perhaps, but it didn't seem like that. Every time she caught a glimpse of his face, he had the look of a man who had lost something dear to him.

Wordlessly, Sanae pushed over another sheaf of papers, pointed out the parts where he needed to read and fill out, and resumed her task. The man, who was spinning his pen around his fingers, just got down to it and started adding his own handwriting to hers. Sanae noted how his handwriting was rather beautiful, yet there was… something off about it that marred its beauty.

She caught herself staring once more and looked at her pile of paperwork. All those sheets of paper had finally been moved from one pile to another. Once the man was done, she could add that to the pile and be on her way. Sanae leaned back in her chair and stretched, sighing in relief as her bones loosened up. "Finally…"

As Sanae got up, she spotted something curious out of the corner of her eye. Reaching over, she picked up the top sheet of paper and read through it. The man's handwriting was there in his blue fountain pen, while hers was scribbled everywhere else in her black ballpoint pen. All those English classes from long ago was slowly starting to come back to her. The first character was an "L", and the second an "A" …next was a double "R" and a "Y". La-rry. "La Ri?"

The man looked up. With a flourish, he finished signing off his name. "Yes?"

Holy shit that was deep!

Sanae blushed and looked away, keeping her head bowed. The man shrugged and pushed the piece of paper over to her, and it was all she could do to not just grab it and dash out of there. Instead she took it gingerly from him and placed it on top of the pile. Sanae rose from her seat, covered the box full of papers with its lid and hefted it in her arms. She was about to leave when the man spoke up.

"A-ari…gato."

She just looked back at him and nodded, before stepping outside.

Sanae had dropped off the box in her room and was making her way above deck. Below decks, the heat was not as pronounced as there was air conditioning in the ship's systems. Above deck, the temperature was near scorching. With the sun directly overhead and no clouds to block its rays, the sun beat down full force on the ship's top deck.

Sanae could feel the hot metal deck through her shoes as she emerged from the hallways. Distant noises of other people on the deck waiting drifted faintly over to her, as the Quartermaster sorted out where they would be placed on the ship. Noticing just how hot it was, Sanae started to feel bad for using the classroom. Perhaps the bridge or the mess hall would have been better, if these people didn't have to suffer the heat…

Her distracted thoughts nearly caused her to bump right into the Chief Torpedo Officer. The girl raced around the corner, screaming in laughter. A few moments later, the Chief Gunnery Officer followed after her, one hand holding down her skirt while she chased the other girl. Sanae just watched them disappear around the 2nd torpedo turret and shook her head.

Such a disgrace…

With that cheerful thought, Sanae climbed the ladder that led straight to the bridge.

Inside was utter chaos.

The Deputy Captain was busy arguing with the Quartermaster, the Chief Navigator was trying to placate an irritated foreign woman, and the captain was nowhere to be seen. When both the Captain and the Deputy captain are unavailable, it falls down to the secretary to handle things.

"Excuse me!"

They carried on arguing.

"Well, excuse me! Where is the captain?!"

Still no one took notice of her. Baka!

"Shut up!"

Instantly the bridge fell silent. Sanae took in their faces and knew that she had but seconds before they would go back to shouting. She raised her hand and pointed it at a random person. "Alright, you first. What is it?"

Aw crap it's the Deputy–

"The Quartermaster can't find anywhere to stuff the new arrivals, and was suggesting we move out and let them have our rooms."

"Then give me something else to work with! These people are stressed, tired and hungry! Enduring conditions like these is not something we, as Yokosuka Marine High School students, should stand for!"

Sanae barely gave the matter any thought before she spoke the first thing on her mind. "QM, the classroom is empty. In the future we do all our activities in the mess hall or the bridge. Give the newcomers the classroom. Next?"

"B-but–"

The Chief Navigator answered for the foreign lady. "She claims she has something important to tell the captain, but we don't know where the captain is."

"Well then, just give a ship-wide message asking for the captain to come to the bridge. What does she want? Perhaps she can tell us?"

"I tried doing that, Sanae-san. She refuses to say anything else."

Sanae sighed, "Right, then have her stay here while we wait for the captain." She then walked over to the microphone and pushed the little button. "Captain, you are needed on the bridge. I repeat, Captain, you are needed on the bridge."

It was just as Sanae's wristwatch beeped 5pm did the lady emerge from the Captain's room. She had just come down from above deck when she caught sight of the lady. The lady opened the door, slipped out and closed it, leaving the door ajar. She then turned for the stairs, giving Sanae a polite smile and nod as she brushed past the secretary. The instant Sanae saw her disappear up the stairs, she sprinted for the captain.

"Taichou!"

The captain was seated on her bed, staring at her hands. Skidding to a stop, Sanae took in the captain's appearance. Yamamoto Hikaru, an ever proud yet demure girl, with all the markings of an Ojou-sama plus Yamato Nadeshiko, looked… different.

Her slightly hunched posture, the way she sat that was just slightly off… Her long dark brown hair lay braided over her left shoulder, a little red ribbon in its signature bow tied onto the end. As Sanae looked closer, she started to spot a few details. Yamamoto's braid was frazzled, with little pieces of hair sticking out.

That was as far as Sanae got before the captain started breaking down.

Hikaru clasped her right hand to her mouth, bending over in her seat as her body started shaking. Sanae hadn't made it past three steps into the room before the first sob escaped her.

It was all Sanae could do to not rush out and go after that lady. Instead, she hurried over to her captain. The girl was hugging herself as tears fell one after another, little trickles running down her face. Another choking, strangled noise as Sanae stood there, unsure of what to do. Seeing her captain like this was doing Sanae's heart and conscious no favors.

Ah, screw it.

Carefully stepping forwards, Sanae wrapped her arms around the girl, hoping she would calm down. Hikaru stiffened in her arms, before releasing herself and grabbing Sanae, pulling the surprised secretary onto the bed with her. She stayed there for a while, firmly hugging the captain, all the while aware of how awkward their position was.

Hikaru had her face buried in Sanae's shoulder, letting the tears soak into the girl's shirt. With each sob, Sanae could feel her heart twist even more.

"Onii-chan… you're warm…"

Oh gods

"Onii-chan… please… don't go. Don't… don't leave me a-again…"

Sanae's only response was to tighten her grasp on Hikaru. "Don't worry, Hikaru-chan. I won't go."

It took the captain another five more minutes for her crying to stop. When she did, she shyly released Sanae from their hug. "S-shimizu-chan…"

"Shh… it's ok, Hikaru-chan. Everything's ok."

Sanae drew back, taking in the warm smile the captain had back on her face. A lifting feeling came over her, like she could fly. It was as if she was so cold and miserable that there didn't seem to be anyway for there to be any warmth left in the world, and all of a sudden the wind blows, the clouds part and the sun starts shining right down onto her. And just for that one moment, she knew that no matter how cold and dark the world was outside of that one spot, as long as she was in that one place, in that one amazing second, the cold could never ever get to her.

I guess the feeling's mutual.

What was that all about?

Sanae sat on the captain's bed. The girl in question sat a few inches away from Sanae, closer to the top of the bed. She was busying herself with dabbing at the tear streaks down her cheeks, and mumbling something that Sanae could not make out. During this time, Sanae took in her surroundings.

Her scarf hung from a coat hanger in a wide open closet, with her cardigan hanging from a separate hanger. The little green backpack hung from the back of her chair, its contents scattered over the table.

The scarf and cardigan were still damp from yesterday's rain and the bag had left a pool of water on the ground. Among these, Sanae managed to catch sight of two cloth covered objects sitting inside the cupboard. One was rather long and thin, almost reaching her height. The other was smaller, and more compact, like a large document tube.

Scattered across the table were a bunch of files, though one file in particular stood out. From what Sanae could see from her vantage point, the black file was rather thin, holding perhaps no more than a few sheets of paper. Yet, it had a bunch of gold Kanji embossed on the obviously hardcover front.

Other than the strange folder on the table, the other thing that caught her eye was the picture frame on the table. It was made of wood, and to be honest was a bit on the ugly side. The wooden frame was full of notches and splinters, and one of the sides was off by just that little bit that would kick off anybody's inner OCD.

It was a family photo. Taken at a studio, the background was all white. The two adults sat side by side at the front, their two oldest children by their sides. The lady sat on the left, with a teenage girl next to her. A middle-aged man, probably in his forties to fifties, sat on the right with a teenage boy. Behind the two adults stood two young girls. The older of the two stood behind the man, while the younger girl stood behind the lady.

All the girls wore a white dress with their hair tied up in a blue ribbon, except for the girl in the front. She wore a peaked cap, not unlike those worn by the Blue Mermaids. The boy wore a white shirt and long black pants, complete with a blue tie. He held in his lap a framed certificate, though what was on it Sanae couldn't see. The man wore a black suit, also wearing a blue tie. As for the lady…

She was wearing a Blue Mermaid uniform.

There was something off here…

Sanae tore her gaze away from the picture, only to be caught by Hikaru's vacant stare. The captain was staring off in the distance, her mind a million miles away.

"…that's my family."

Sanae tried to speak, but Hikaru just scooted closer to Sanae. "We took that picture back when I was in Elementary School. I was in the graduating batch, my Onee-chan was in her first year at Yokosuka, and my eldest sister was in her first year with the Blue Mermaids. My Onii-chan, he had just finished his Medical degree, and was going to work on a hospital ship. The MV Anastasis. He… he made that frame for me before he left.

"Back then, we lived in the town Ajigauracho, of Hitachinaka, Ibaraki prefecture. We lived opposite the baker's and every morning there was this wonderful smell of freshly baked goods. Every now and then, Onii-chan would take me down to the beach. This one time, while we were there, we found this really huge piece of driftwood. It must have been there for years, yet no one saw it. It was all dried out.

"We took it home, and managed to hide it in his room. A few years went by and I pretty much forgot all about it. That is, until he gave this to me."

Hikaru stood up, walking over to her desk to pick up the picture. Having done so, she sat back down with Sanae, blocking any further view of the desk.

"This. He took the driftwood with him to University, and kept it with him. He told me that it was his friend's idea to carve the wood into something, so he made it into a picture frame. He said that he had to borrow his friends' tools, and once stole sandpaper from the University's workshop just to get it complete. He… he really put a lot of effort into it."

Sanae could feel her heartstrings being pulled. And who was the one who thought the frame was ugly?

"The night before he boarded the ferry, he gave this to me. Explained to me where it came from, all the pains he had gone through to make it, and that it was all worth it when he saw my face…" Here, Hikaru paused to brush away a few tears.

"It's ok, Hi – Yamamoto-san. You don't need to continue."

Hikaru looked at Sanae. "Haa… sorry about that. I guess, I just really wanted someone to talk to about everything," she fidgeted nervously in her seat. Just as Hikaru made to put the picture back on her desk, Sanae laid her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Yamamoto-san, if you don't mind, may I take a look at the picture?"

Hikaru gave a soft, sad smile as she handed it over. Accepting it, Sanae studied the details of the thing itself. The picture frame was as she had suspected, rather badly made. She could make out the little notches in the wood where the carver missed his mark with the chisel. If she looked at it right, there was even a little spot of blood ingrained in the wood as well.

"It's… It's beautiful." She handed it back to Hikaru.

The captain smiled wistfully as she accepted the frame from Sanae. "You know, Sanae-san, I think you're the only person I've ever shared this with."

Sanae looked away, embarrassed. She lightly swung her foot, kicking the floorboards. "I-it's nothing, really. I just happened to pass by, that's all."

A small hand appeared in her view, causing Sanae to look up. Her captain spoke, "Well then, Sanae-san. It's best that we go above decks now, before people start worrying for us." Sanae reached up and took her hand, letting Yamamoto pull her to her feet.

"Of course, Yamamoto-san."

As the two girls left the room, Sanae noticed out of the corner of her eye that the folder was no longer on the desk.

Later that night

"Hi, Onii-chan."

"…"

"I'm back again. Today, we had so many new visitors! Right now we're rescuing all those people stranded by the storm last night. We've managed to get everyone onto Chichijima, so right now all the girls are sleeping. We're docked at Chichijima as well."

"…"

"I can hear the Akashi from here as well, Onii-chan. Those poor girls, they've been working non-stop ever since that storm ended, I guess they'd be really tired out by now."

"…"

"So… what do you think, Onii-chan? I… I hope you're happy, wherever you are, and that you're proud of me. I'm saving people, just like you've always wanted to do."

"…"

"There's this girl on the ship, I hope you'd like her. She came in today, asked me a few things. I told her about you, Onii-chan. How you wanted to be a doctor, how you made this for me." A rattle of wood-on-wood as something as placed onto the desk.

"…"

"Oh! Don't worry, I didn't tell her too much! You never liked it when I talk to others about our problems… always saying that if I did so, you would leave me. Well, Onii-chan, I'm really sorry, all I did was tell her about this thing that you made me. I didn't tell her about… you know."

"…"

"Still, I really want you to meet her! She's very trustworthy, Onii-chan! You always said I was a bad judge of character, that everyone was out to use me for the sake of our family's power, but I really, REALLY believe that Sanae-san is a good girl. I'm sure you'll like her when you meet her."

"…"

"Ah… I guess that can't really happen, can it? Just wishful thinking on my part, I guess…"

"…"

"Good night, Onii-chan. I've missed you."

Lifting it to her lips, Yamamoto Hikaru brought the top of the little white mouse's head to her lips and gently laid a kiss on it.

"Sweet dreams, Onii-chan."

Author's notes: After so long, it felt good to reupload this chapter. The last time I uploaded it, it was a mistake and I eventually decided to take it down.

For the benefit of hereLiesThisTroper, I took some liberties with the character Sanae Shimizu. I felt that her overbearing personality was due to her having a position of power. If she were shackled by having a lower status, with no one to directly boss over, her personality would be different. (In truth, I'm basing off her actions on mine. I had held a leadership position for about six month before stepping down. After I stepped down, I realised that while I had power, I behaved rather badly towards my subordinates. After I had lost that power, I realised I still tried to boss people around like I had before. Given that lack of power, my orders were often ignored or not taken seriously.

I'm basing Sanae Shimizu off myself. Once a person holds power, they may not realise how different they were acting, how much the power has affected them until they are forced to take a step back and reflect.

In this case, Sanae has yet to experience that power. It was probably a mistake to place her as a secretary, and then yet again, maybe not. Perhaps this side of her character would appear in chapters yet to come...