Chapter 51

Nagato sighed. She knew, after the last night, that most people were truly much happier with the way Mutsu, Tenryuu, and the others were running the district. Not that it really bothered her too much. Nagato was happy to allow Mutsu and the others to deal with the issues of running a district will she focused on rebuilding her reputation among the girls on base. Many were all too away of the role Nagato had, or hadn't, played in the events of the past few months, and were subtly giving her a harder time. Nagato remember the previous night, when Bismarck had addressed the party-goers and broken the news to them that she, along with Eugen and Graf, would only be around for a few more days before having to head back to Scapa Flow. Nagato only found out later that Bismarck had invited Mutsu and pretty much the entire rest of the leadership to a private dinner, courtesy of Mamiya's cafe. She had not been included, and although Prinz Eugen had privately told her that Bismarck had intended it to be for "current staff", Nagato had a suspicion that there was more too in than that, although she said nothing to Prinz at the time. Soon they would be leaving, and although Nagato was grateful for their help, she would, in a small way, glad to see them leave. Too many bad memories came too the surface of how she'd failed as a leader. She knew she should say something to the district, but she wanted them to be able to enjoy the time or rest.

Now as she lay on her bed in the dorm she shared with Mutsu, Nagato tried to force herself awake. It was dark out, still early. She checked her phone-0530. Despite feeling slightly miffed by Bismarck, she was in generally good spirits, as seeing everyone relax had been relaxing for her as well. If only the weather had shared her feelings. Over the night, a cloudy front had moved in, and the district was cloaked in fog. Heavy cloud cover kept everything quite dark. Not that too many people had taken too much notice. Nagato remember the reactions the past night when Kirov had announced that they were donating a set of TV's and for each of the dorm rooms and smartphones for all who wanted them, courtesy of Gangut and the Vladivostok Naval District. Everyone had sat in stunned silence for a moment then blown Nagato's ears out with their cheers.

While Soyuz had disappeared to catch up with Zuikaku, Kirov had spent the night helping set up the TV's in the dorms, and hadn't managed to get to sleep until nearly 0200, after hurrying through the last few as the storm moved closer. Nagato yawned, but couldn't force herself awake yet. Sometime today she'd have to meet with Mutsu, Bismarck and her friends to thank them for helping out. Nagato knew that she'd have to find Bismarck and put any differences behind them, as much as she hated those conversations. She figured it would be better to try to talk to Musu first, and then once she knew everything was ok between them, attempt to reason with Bismarck. Yawning, she forced herself out of bed and got dressed. Grabbing a light jacket and her phone, she hurried out the door. Making the short trip to Mutsu's office by heart, she still very nearly got lost. The fog had gotten thicker even since she'd woken up. Darker, too, it seemed. She shook her head.

"Hey Mutsu, you in here?" Nagato called, easing the door shut quietly, in case her sister was still sleeping, and hanging up her jacket. She heard the fridge door close, and soon Mutsu appeared in the doorway, glass of orange juice in hand.

"Oh, Nagato," Mutsu's face brightened. "This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

"Just needed to confirm something with you." Nagato took a seat on the couch, and Mutsu soon joined her

"What's bothering you sis?"

Nagato sighed. "Are we on good terms with each other?"

Mutsu's eyes widened. "Of course! Why would you think otherwise?"

Nagato shrugged "I don't know. It's just, well, I get that feeling sometimes, that people still hold what happened against me to an extent."

"Some people take a bit of time to get over some things and see past them. You'll be fine. I'll watch out for you. Promise," Mutsu set her drink down and pulled her older sister into a hug. Nagato sighed. She was still tired, and could still use a nap, but before she could say anything more to Mutsu, she was interrupted by frantic pounding on the door. Nagato pulled herself up, and the two hurried to see what was going on. No sooner had Mutsu unlocked it, then Tatsuta threw herself inside and looked at the two with wide eyes.

"It's Tenryuu-sama. She's-just-it…" Tatsuta couldn't finish. Nagato and Mutsu exchanged glances. Whatever unhinged Tatsuta this much was something they should probably take seriously, even if Tatsuta was overprotective at times.

"Tatsuta, come lay down," Mutsu murmured, guiding her over to the couch. "Where is she?"

H-home n-now," Tatsuta managed.

Mutsu nodded. She turned to Nagato. "Find Akashi and Mamiya. Have Mamiya bring ice and one of her smoothies. Akashi needs her first aid bag." Nagato nodded, then sprintied from the room. "We'll be back soon. Tenryuu will be fine, ok?" Tatsuta nodded. Mutsu patted her shoulder, then left for Tenryuu's place, locking the door behind her. Hours earlier

For the fourth time that night, Tenryuu woke up, and looked around her. On the other side of the bed, her sister Tatsuta was still somehow asleep. Groaning, Tenryuu looked at her phone. Ignoring the 7 missed messages, she looked at the time. 0317. "Damnit," she muttered. I'm not getting sleep tonight then." Slowly, she eased herself out of bed, pulled on her uniform, grabbed her sword, and headed for the door. A walk at night usually calmed her and and allowed her to get some rest later on. As she left the dorm, she strapped on her sword. She never went anywhere alone without it on. Ever. As she Began walking down one of the many paths that led through the woods, Tenryuu noticed how much denser, and even, to an extent, darker, the fog had become. Odd, she though. As soon as she entered the woods, the mist seemed to close in slightly. Tenryuu shivered. She drew her sword, and bathed in the deep red glow that the edge of the blade emitted. I must remember to thank Akashi for adding those lights next time I see her. Swinging her blade though the fog on a diagonal, she breathed a small sigh of relief as it parted the fog like a cloud of steam.

Walking for nearly an hour had woken her up a bit and allowed her to clear her head. Shaking herself one more time, she was turned and headed back. Even though she'd walked these trails many times on many nights, she still found herself struggling to see where she was and where she was going. Frowning, she turned right at a crossroads and followed a slightly clearer path. As she was rubbing her eyes, trying to see where she was, a dark shape off to the right caught her eye.

Tenryuu stopped. Only now did she look again at her phone. Nothing from Tatsuta. 0525. It should be getting light soon… What's going on? The forest was just as dark and oppressive as it had been earlier. Tenryuu shuddered when she thought about that. The darkness-oppressive. The more the thought about it, the more worried she began. Darkness was her friend, her source of strength. It comforted her. So why was she feeling so scared all of a sudden? Looking down the path ahead of her, she suddenly felt compelled to check it out, as if the dark somehow posed a threat to her, and to the district. She drew her sword.

Turning up the brightness on the blade edge, she pointed it towards the dark and slowly walked towards it, calling out a few times. Soon she'd gotten within 50 feet of the black and was able to get a closer look. The black seemed to move, with masses of dark clouds swirling in a constant circle. Shaking her head and avoiding direct eye contact with whatever it was, she then remembered how easily her sword had parted the fog earlier. I can do this. It's a black cloud. I've faced much worse than this. Raising her sword above her head, and charged the cloud. Letting out a guttural yell, she swung her sword through the smoke, and felt it bounce off something solid. Catching herself, she spun around and stabbed downward at where she guessed the centre of the mass should be. That'll do it, she figured, only to have her sword bounce off the mass and only narrowly avoided stabbing herself in the foot. Yelping in stunned surprise, she backed off. To her immense relief, the cloud began to dissipate, although her pride had taken a blow.

"Damn rookie have turned myself to the side first," Tenryuu muttered. Then she looked at the sword in her hand, and her heart nearly stopped. The blade had turned completely black, although she could still see the red lights on the edge, working fine. She walked over and sat down on a fallen tree and examined her sword. As she looked closer at it, she realised that the blade seemed to liquify, before collecting in a solid band running the length of the flat of the blade. Frowning, she tapped the black band with her knuckle, but the sword seemed fine. She sheathed it and turned to head home, shaken, and was stopped in her tracks.

Agonising pain flared suddenly in the hand she had on her sword grip, and she tried to pull it away. She couldn't. Her hand seemed melted to the grip while white-hot tongues of pure, intense pain shot up her entire arm. Yowling in agony, she fell to the ground, arm twitching. She could hear her cries of pain resounding throughout the forest, and managed to realise that that fog was clearing up and the sky was lighter. The last thing she noticed before darkness took her was a small orange glow coming from where the black had been. She blacked out.