As I step through the wide doorway, I rub the sleep from my eyes and sigh wistfully. A quick look at my watch tells me the time is 7.30 in the morning. I would rather still be asleep, but unfortunately, I have many responsibilities, and they are already starting to pile up. I also have something I desperately need to check.

As I move to sit on the corner sofa, the clink of teacups and the hiss of a kettle being boiled can be heard in the room behind me. I pick up the PDA from the glass coffee table in front of me and scroll through the status updates quickly, my heart beating faster, trying to focus my sleep-deprived eyes.

/UPDATE_19_12_20/

NO RECORDED INCIDENTS

LOW OIL IN STORAGE AREA D

RESUPPLY ETA 13:35

PATROL PERSONNEL:

CV: IJN KAGA

CA: IJN TAKAO

CL: HMS LEANDER

DD: USS DOWNES

REPORT: NO SIREN ACTIVITY DETECTED

SUCCESSFULLY RETURNED TO PORT

/UPDATE_19_12_20_END/

I breathe a quick sigh of relief, nothing out of the ordinary, and the night patrol had returned successfully. Every time I receive one of those updates, I feel uneasy, it's only a matter of time before the Sirens make their next move, and the consequences could fall directly on the ships I command. My eyes quickly gloss over Kaga's name again, the source of my sleepless night. I should be just as worried about any of the ships I send out on patrol, but while I do certainly worry each and every time, sending her out felt…different.

It's not the first time that Kaga had sortied, or been on night patrol. But each time she departed the base it made me uncomfortable, and to make matters worse, this was the third time this week.

From what I gathered, her competitive spirit had gotten the best of her, and she lost multiple games of Hanafuda to Souryuu, with the condition that the loser would volunteer to complete the winner's night duty's, on top of their own. However, tonight's patrol was one I had assigned her.

I quickly shake the thoughts away and look up when I hear footsteps entering the room. I give the owner of the footsteps a tired smile as she gracefully places a mug of coffee in front of me and sits herself down on the side sofa along with her cup of tea. "How you can manage to drink such vile liquid is beyond me," she says, her voice clear, yet firm. I give my thanks and go to sip my coffee.

"It helps me wake up in the morning, it's not like I dislike tea, quite the contrary" My eyes wander over her, awaiting some spiked comment on how Sakura Empire tea is clearly superior and anything less is equivalent to drinking dishwater.

The 'she' in question sips her tea, holding it with a refined posture, her dark brown hair falling down her shoulders, that along with her crimson red eyes fit her perfectly. She is currently clad in a dark red silk nightgown, with gold flowering patterns embroidered over it, and is as expensive as it looks. The two fox ears on her head twitch on occasion along with her many tails, the same colour as her dark brown hair. The tails sprouting from her behind curl around the side of her, making sure she can sit back on the sofa comfortably.

Those details make it clear that she is not entirely human, but even the rest of her gives off an otherworldly vibe, her sculpted face, her generous bosom and the curvature of her body. It feels unfair to even describe her as a girl, a woman even. She is a deity, a perfect work of art.

Her name is Akagi, and somehow, she is my wife.

The house we currently reside in was constructed shortly after the wedding when I quickly realised that my personal quarters were not going to cut it. It is actually sunken into the ground, carved into the face of a coastal cliff, providing great views of the ocean from the main room.

The architecture is an odd mix of modern west and traditional Sakura styling, due to my wives input. But I think it gives it a unique charm. Although having to ascend two flights of stairs to exit the house has quickly become annoying.

While I was still expecting a comment on my choice of morning beverage, Akagi quickly changes tact as her eyes soften. "She was fine, was she not? I did tell you not to bother so." I mumble an agreement half-heartedly.

Akagi finishes her tea, placing it on the table before leaning forwards towards me. "I am her dear sister, and yet I do not worry nearly as much as you. Both of us are fully capable of handling ourselves, a fact you should be well aware of, in fact, it's our very purpose. If Kaga knew that you worried about her so, she would be absolutely furious. You sully her honour after all."

Her logic is sound, and her words true, and a part of me agrees with her. But another part of me still feels like the situation is wrong somehow.

Before I can react, Akagi has quickly moved from the other sofa to sit next to me, her tails slowly weaving around my back, giving off a pleasant, cosy sensation, her eyes unreadable.

She wraps her arms around my shoulders. "Truly Shikikan, what am I to do with you? Your mind so preoccupied with another woman, when Akagi is right by your side, some might say that you deserve punishment for such a sin..." She then leans in and gives me a quick peck on the lips before standing up and gathering the cups and taking them to the main room.

I've learnt to not question Akagi's words too much, she seems to enjoy teasing and jesting far too much sometimes. At times, I feel just like a ball of string, and her the playful cat.

Just as Akagi re-enters the room, I hear the door open and close upstairs, and footsteps echoing down, and before long Kaga herself appears.

What is immediately obvious when I look up, is her tiredness, her eyes look hollow, and her movements are slow as she plods down the steps, although if you were to point this out to her, she would not hesitate to strike you down. I immediately feel even worse for sending her on a night patrol, and quickly realize that my own tiredness is nothing in comparison.

She wears her standard white and blue attire, and even when clearly exhausted, holds that otherworldly beauty that her sister exhibits. Although, where Akagi is elegant and sculpted, Kaga is sharp and stunning. "Ah, dear sister, we were just discussing you, all went well I presume?" Akagi greets the Sakura carrier while moving lithely towards her. She doesn't mention my worries, most likely to spare me Kaga's wrath.

Once Akagi reaches her, she takes Kaga in a deep kiss, pushing herself into her sibling. Their tails intertwine around each other, the tips slowly gyrating, each matched to a partner perfectly. They hold each other's hands, and both of their oath rings rub one another, glinting in the light.

The sight of the oath rings brings warmth to my heart, because, it so happens that Kaga is also my wife. When I had eventually summoned the courage to ask Akagi out on a date, she had brought Kaga along unprompted, and the rest was history. For anybody else, this might have seemed incredibly odd, but for Akagi, it was only natural, she and her sister were a package deal. End of discussion.

Even after 3 months of being married to the two foxes, the intimate display in front of me still feels incredibly lewd to watch and as the front of Akagi's loose nightgown begins to part of its own volition, I feel a blush rising, among other things. I hide my face in my PDA, pretending to look interested in some random statistics on supply levels.

As Akagi pulls away from her sister, she sees straight through me. "Hmm…dear sister, it would seem our husband seems to find our affection for one another distracting, perhaps we should help…alleviate that. We are the cause after all…" She says while tracing a finger down Kaga's collarbone, her own nightgown now fully parted, barely hiding her voluptuous breasts with her eyes locked on to mine, with a mischievous grin plastered over her face.

For Kaga's part, the poor fox is stuck blushing deeply, too tired to retort or escape. To be honest, the sight is enough to make my eyes fall out of their sockets and I wonder what I did to deserve such beauty. However, Akagi's straightforwardness at times like this is not very productive. I decide quickly that I better do something, we both have work to do, and poor Kaga is clearly exhausted.

"That won't be necessary," I say, trying to make my tone sound more serious. "Enterprise will be here any second, so you might want to get changed."

Her expression only sours for a second before returning to a sickly sweet smile. "Very well, I have a meeting with Nagato soon, so will need to prepare." With that, she quickly tightens her nightgown and moves towards the bedroom.

I walk over to Kaga and give her a quick hug and kiss. "Thank you" she curtly says, bowing formally. "Night patrol completed successfully, no activity detected, all ships returned safely, all data has been transmitted to your PDA."

I shake my head, uncomfortable at the official nature of her greeting. "How many times do I need to repeat this, while in this house, I am not your CO, there is no need for the formalities, please?" She hesitates for a second, fighting internally between her deep sense of procedure and the fact that she is returning home, and that her husband is greeting her.

She eventually relaxes, the tension seeming to drain from her shoulders. "Please go rest if you wish, me and Akagi will be gone for most of the day, so you will have the house to yourself." Kaga slowly leans forward, using my body to support herself, as we touch foreheads, and her ears twitch and tickle me.

"Very well, thank you…again, Shikikan." She sighs, and moves off towards the bedroom. Her tired, gentle figure only brings me more guilt, but I can only watch as she rounds the corner.

I sit back down and pick up my PDA, forwarding all the relevant reports from the last 24 hours to HQ and firing some quick messages to the supply staff about our low oil situation.

If only everything could be done digitally, unfortunately, there was bound to be plenty of paperwork waiting in my office, although at least my secretary was capable of helping with that. I cast my mind back, attempting to remember who I had assigned the position to this week. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was Belfast, head of the royal maids.

I give a sigh of relief, that meant that everything would be sorted and organized by the time I got to the office, she was a diligent and effective worker, unlike others who had held the position in the past.

But before I reach the office, I have a meeting planned with the Eagle Union to oversee their preparation for the combat training competition that was being held in a week. The competition was between them and the Sakura Empire. The port runs these sorts of events every couple of months, to serve as a training tool to see each fleets weaknesses and strengths, and they also serve to keep morale high as a form of entertainment.

I am completely impartial, and simply observe both factions in the lead up to the competition, making notes about how they independently operate and plan without my input and how they operate under pressure, dealing with unexpected changes on the battlefield come the day of the event.

Akagi again makes an appearance, this time dressed more modestly in her standard black and red clothing. She seats herself back down on the sofa and pulls out her own PDA, typing away rapidly. "I assume your meeting with Nagato is to do with the training competition?" I ask, genuinely curious.

She taps her PDA a couple more times, finishing off her message before lowering it and shifting her eyes over in my direction, giving a distracted smile. "Yes, Nagato expects nothing less but perfection from our performance on the day, considering our…embarrassment at the last event" she spits out that last part, clearly annoyed at their sub-par results, where the Royal Navy won by a substantial margin. "And as the flagship for the Sakura Empire team, it falls on me to provide results..." Her tone is neutral, but I can see the fire behind her eyes. She may not be as competitive as her sister, but when it calls for it, she expects nothing but the best from herself and those she commands.

Her ears swivel towards the stairway, then tilts her head slightly as she sniffs, her nostrils flaring. Her mood visibly sours as her eyes narrow into angry slits. "Speaking of the competition, I believe your rendezvous has arrived," she says sourly. Sure enough, 10 seconds later the doorbell rings clearly throughout the house.

I quickly stand up, smoothing out the creases from my uniform and straightening my tie. I give Akagi a peck on the forehead as I pass. "I'll see you when I get home, I hope the meeting with Nagato goes well" She gives me a distracted smile and a goodbye in return, while engrossed in her PDA, clearly in the middle of a discussion with someone.

I quickly scale the stairs and open the door, coming face to face with USS Enterprise, the source of Akagi's earlier sour face. "Good morning Commander, I trust you slept well?" She tilts her head forward slightly in respect to my rank, her naval cap slightly, hiding her face.

"Good morning to you too Enterprise, I slept very well, thank you for asking. Shall we get going? I'm afraid I need to get to the office as soon as possible after our meeting"

She gives a respectful smile "Of course, please follow…" she trails off as her eyes widen, seemingly startled.

I quickly discover what garnered her reaction when I feel tails weaving around my sides and the warm pressure of a body pressed against my back. I hear a voice by my right ear. "Greetings….vixen…what is it that brings you to our humble den?" Akagi's tails start tightening around me and her arms wrap around my waist possessively. "Surely you do not intend to distract Shikikan, steal him away from me, just for some mundane tasks? Perhaps you intended to sequester him away and attempt to woo him with your…" Akagi pauses, examining Enterprise like a lion might examine a piece of steak. "…less than impressive body, perhaps I should protect my territory…"

She was clearly trying to glean a reaction from the Eagle Union carrier. This was rather out of character for Akagi, she tended to avoid Enterprise at all costs, normally sulking around until she was gone, only interacting with her when absolutely necessary for an operation, and even then, she at least refrained from insults the majority of the time.

Luckily Enterprise is made of stern stuff and doesn't react to Akagi's barbed words, simply choosing to nod her head slightly and acknowledge her. Just as I'm about to open my mouth to apologize and reprimand Akagi, the soft feeling of being surrounded by tails and the heat of Akagi's bosom disappear from my back as she steps forwards out of the doorway, walking past Enterprise, bumping her shoulder with her own as she passes. "Pests should know their place…" She sneers, then her tone softens. "I'll see you tonight Shikikan" the arrogant fox continues walking away, not looking back.

I apologize profusely to Enterprise, embarrassed by Akagi's actions. "There's no need Commander, you are not responsible for her actions, besides, that's just how she is, I'm…used to it" Her words strike a chord with me. Indeed, Akagi has always been…different, but her heart at its core has always been pure, and when we got married, she really did seem to calm down at least a bit.

But perhaps this just proved that it was an act for my benefit, and she was still the same fox at her core. The Akagi I just witnessed couldn't have been further from the loving wife I left, engrossed in her work downstairs. I mull this over, I'll have to speak to her at the very least about this behaviour, it is unacceptable to treat her allies in such a way.

I motion for Enterprise to continue on, and we head off towards the port.

Luckily the rest of the day passes smoothly. The Eagle Union's plans for the competition seem to be almost complete. They have decided on their fleet composition for the day, along with the equipment. I make sure to have all the relevant data sent to my PDA so I can examine it in more detail later. Belfast indeed had all the paperwork organized neatly in the office when I arrived, and unfortunately, the majority of the day was spent filling out report forms and resource acquisition documents.

Finishing what appears to be the last document that Belfast has handed me, I give a large yawn before realising that it is pitch black outside. I glance at the clock and my heart plummets as I read 11.14 PM. I should have finished at least an hour ago.

Akagi will not be impressed. Somehow Belfast seems as full of energy as we started, giving a smile as she gathers the last completed document in her arms. "It's rather late commander, would you like me to finish up here? You can head home."

I shake my head. "No, no, I cannot possibly leave you by yourself to finish up, it would be incredibly rude." Her expression quickly becomes firm.

"Please, Commander, there is only a bit of light cleaning to do, then all the work is done, I am a maid, therefore it is my duty, and if you do not agree, I shall have to usher you out the door myself."

There's no doubt in my mind that if Belfast wanted to, she could easily sling me over her shoulder and chuck me out of the room, so I quickly oblige. "Very well…Thank you so much Belfast, I owe you one." She gives a quick curtsey accompanied by a genuine smile.

"No need, just doing my duty." She pauses giving me a pitied look. "You best hurry along, I cannot imagine that Akagi is a very patient woman."

Unfortunately, she's not wrong. I quickly grab my overcoat and bag and stride out the door into the brisk cold of night, heading towards home.

As I reach the front door, I pull out my keycard and give it a quick swipe, my hands starting to grow numb from the cold, my cloudy breath obscuring my view. I head inside, being careful to close the door quietly, as I am unsure whether Kaga will still be asleep.

I descend the stairs, a feeling of dread getting ever greater the lower I go. As I reach the second flight, I see Akagi sat on the corner sofa, wearing her nightgown, watching me intently. As I slowly approach her, she stands up and starts slowly walking forwards, reminding me of a predator stalking its prey.

"I'm so sorry, I completely…" She silences me by planting her lips firmly on my own, her tongue immediately exploring every corner of my mouth. Her multitude of tails wrap around my body, massaging and calming me, her body pressing into mine.

I have to say, it was not the reaction I was expecting. I had returned home later than planned on many occasions, and it usually ended with Akagi relegating me to the sofa for the night, with Kaga, the more forgiving one, not getting a say in the matter. Questions form in my mind about Akagi's odd behaviour, but they are quickly discarded as I feel her hands running up my back.

She hums into the kiss, sending vibrations tingling down my spine. We stay like that for at least a minute, although it feels like an eternity. She gives my bottom lip a light nibble, electing a quiet moan of lust from me as she pulls away, both of us gasping for air. It takes me a few seconds to slow my racing mind, while she seems to recover quickly, taking my overcoat and bag off me, and storing them in the closet.

"What did I do to deserve that?" I manage to stammer out as she returns, giving me a warm smile.

"Can Akagi, your loving wife, not greet her hard-working husband warmly?" She grins, referring to herself in the third person. She only does that when she's in a particularly…. excitable mood.

My wife wraps her arms around my shoulders and walks me over to the sofa, plopping us both down next to one another. She then somehow produces a bottle of merlot seemingly from thin air and begins pouring it into two wine glasses that were already on the table.

While Akagi preferred traditional Sakura Sake as her favourite drink, she had taken a liking to a handful of red wines, as long as they were top shelf of course. I suspect one of the reasons she took a liking to them so much is that she could share a bottle or two with me, while Kaga couldn't stomach the stuff.

She finishes pouring, setting the bottle down on the table, and offers me my glass. I accept giving my thanks and taking a deep sip, letting the alcohol warm me from inside. I sigh and lie back on the sofa, closing my eyes and relaxing. This was the life, glass of top-shelf wine in hand, a beautiful wife at my side. It makes me want to forget about the war, the sirens and all my other responsibilities.

I take another sip before setting the glass down and turning to the beautiful women beside me. "Kaga still asleep?"

She laughs with mirth, nodding. "Yes, she was up earlier but decided she needed more rest and went back to sleep." I nod, that's good, If I was honest, I was still worried she might have pushed herself too far.

"So, dare I ask how your day was?" Her tails stop their slow dance around us for a second as her face grows sullen, before returning to a smile, although I can see her trying to mask annoyance.

She takes a large sip, almost finishing her glass entirely before setting it down and giving an exhausted sigh. "Nagato is a great leader, but she does not have knowledge of the intricacies of combat, hence it is left to me. Yet she would make demands of me and lay it on my shoulders when she does not fully understand the issues that our fleet face." Her voice makes it very clear she is both exasperated and exhausted. "She interferes in our planning when I should be the one solely in charge, I am the flagship for the event. But I cannot deny her commands, she is the leader of the Sakura Empire in its entirety after all. And I understand, she simply wishes to see a victory for us."

I listen to her points carefully, considering the issues she's having. Akagi does have significantly more combat experience than Nagato, but Nagato has every right to command Akagi as faction leader. I quickly offer my help. "While I cannot directly order Nagato to stop, it would be a conflict of interest. I can certainly speak to her about it and give my thoughts and recommendations? I've known her to be perfectly reasonable and tends to value anything I say as Commander"

"Hmm, perhaps…I'll sleep on it." She gives her reply half-heartedly. She finishes off the rest of her wine and saddles closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder, her ears twitching while brushing my cheek.

I finish off my glass, and we stay like that for a while, to the point where I'm almost drifting off until she starts pressing her body deeper into mine and I feel her hands start to explore my chest. Her head turns towards me, her eyes consumed by lust as she starts to plant kisses up and down my neck, nibbling at the skin ever so slightly. She pauses, her eyes clearing slightly, giving off more a predatory feel. "You're meeting today was about the Eagle Union plans, correct?"

I'm not so sure I like where this is going, and I'm about to question it, when the fox returns to my neck and plants a deep kiss on my neck, sinking her vulpine teeth in, giving me a love bite and marking the skin. I gasp in both pain and pleasure as she gives a small chuckle. "Yes…I know what you like, my dear husband, all of your weak spots…. I'm sure we could work out some form of agreement… that data could be incredibly useful. In return, Akagi can tend to your…" She pauses as one of her hand's snakes down my body. "…needs" she finishes with a low, sultry tone, practically purring as her hand reaches my crotch and gives a hard squeeze.

With difficulty, I drag my mind out of the lust-fuelled state it has found itself in and quickly grab her wrist with my hand stopping her. Her hand immediately halts, frozen in place and her eyes widen in shock. "Akagi? What has gotten into you? That is completely unacceptable, it's a breach of trust and a breach of protocol, how could you possibly ask that of me!? Was that what all this was about, you being kind? Were you just manipulating me?"

I surprise myself with my angry tone, but once the words start coming out, I can't stop them. Everything just boils over, every doubt in my mind comes to the surface as I feel manipulated and used. "What about with Enterprise this morning? Your behaviour was unacceptable. Whenever I think you've changed, you prove me wrong. Was it all just an act, for my benefit, to fool me into thinking you could change? Just like this evening!? How much of our relationship is actually real?"

Her reaction is immediate as she recoils her hands as if bitten. I expect her to start shouting at me, angrily denying my accusations, perhaps for her to even strike me…but it never comes.

Her face contorts in pain, as tears begin to form in her eyes. She quickly stands and dashes towards the bedroom, ignoring me as I call out to her, and I hear the door slam then manually lock from inside.

I immediately begin to regret my tone, but there's no taking it back now. I lie back on the sofa, feeling wretched about myself, yet also still incredibly angry at Akagi for attempting to manipulate me. She had never tried anything like this since we have been married, I had hoped 'that' version of her, the sly, manipulative fox, had long gone, but perhaps I was kidding myself.

Through the walls, I hear a muffled voice, presumably Kaga, who up until now had been asleep, and Akagi quietly sobbing, the sound piercing my heart. I pick up the glasses and bottle, moving into the main room, washing them quickly and putting them away. From here, I am closer to the bedroom, and while I can't make out any words, it's clear the two sisters are talking and it's not difficult to guess what about.

I move back to the other room, practically falling on the sofa, and pull out my PDA, looking over the exact data that has been such a bother. It's not even that useful, just fleet composition and some basic equipment loadouts. No solid plans of attack. It would have given Akagi an advantage to be sure, but far from guaranteed victory.

I sigh deeply, still feeling a deep weight in my stomach from the way I spoke to Akagi. She might have been in the wrong, but I shouldn't have said the things I did. Seeing her so upset is rare, and hurts me deeply. Still, I don't know where to go from here, Akagi had attempted to breach protocol, and that was a serious issue, she broke the trust of our relationship.

By this point, it was incredibly late, and I was utterly exhausted from working all day, this incident with Akagi had drained the last of my energy. It was clear I wasn't getting into the bedroom, and while a part of me wanted to go apologize, I felt that Akagi bore the majority of the blame, therefore she should be the one to approach me.

I make myself comfortable on the sofa, still dressed in my uniform, and close my eyes, attempting to get to sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep would not come easily, at least 30 minutes pass as I struggle to sleep with my guilt. I then hear the bedroom door open, close, then lock again.

From my angle lying down on the sofa, I cannot see the face of the person who has entered the room, but the silk blue nightgown gives it away. I mentally prepare myself for some severe verbal abuse from Kaga as I begin to sit up, rubbing my eyes. Kaga and Akagi were very protective of each other, with each considering the other to be one of the most precious things in the world. Therefore, I fully expected Kaga to give me an earful, perhaps even chuck me out of the house for hurting her sibling's feelings so.

However, when I look into the fox's sapphire blue eyes, I see no anger, but pity. "You look terrible," She states bluntly. "Can't get any sleep?"

I nod, unsure of where the conversation was going. "Well, that's what you get when you are a fool..." So she had come here to punish me for my actions. Yet…. she did not seem overly angry.

Kaga sits down on the sofa across from me, crossing her legs. "She manipulated me. That's not something I can easily forgive, she attempted to breach protocol." I attempt to justify myself before her.

Her expression remains neutral. "My, you really are a fool sometimes aren't you. How did my sister fall for you so?" Her eyes narrow slightly. "And selfish too at times, yet also unbearably selfless, how is that possible?" Her words confuse me, so I simply purse my lips, choosing not to dig myself any deeper.

Her eyes soften as her expression grows kinder and she leans forward. "I'm going to explain something, and you're going to listen." I nod my assent, still extremely confused.

"When I woke up earlier today, the first thing I said to my sister was thus: why was Shikikan giving me such an odd look this morning? My sister refused to answer, changing the subject whenever possible until eventually I…" She pauses as a victorious grin spreads across her face, along with a rising blush. "…persuaded… her to spill her secrets" My imagination goes wild with the implication of her words, but I try to stay focused.

"Anyway, she claimed that it was because you were deeply worried about me during my night patrols. Of course, my immediate reaction was naturally to march straight to your office and strike you for doubting my abilities, perceiving weakness in me and sullying my honour." I shiver at the thought, not a doubt in my mind that she would have no issues doing so.

"What stopped you?" I ask curiously.

She gives a warm smile. "That bootlicker, of course, she stood in my way and demanded that I do no such thing. She stated that you did not deserve such treatment and it would be an embarrassment for you to be struck by one of your wives in public. She defended you."

She pauses, gauging my reaction before leaning back on the sofa and continuing. "She then sat me back down and urged me to calm myself. I, of course, baulked at this, but she insisted I hear her out. She asked me a question: If the port was under attack, who would I prioritise laying my life down for?" My eyebrows shoot up at the sudden seriousness of the topic at hand. "My answer was immediate, obviously, you, my Shikikan."

She starts fiddling with a loose strand of her pristine white hair, avoiding eye contact. "She then asked me a second question: and is that because it's the protocol? Or because he is your mate?" A bright blush starts creeping up her face at the word 'mate', and I feel my own face heating up at the rather vulgar term for our relationship. She continues "and… I couldn't answer her…" she shifts her eyes towards me, then back down, clearly uncomfortable being quite so open about her feelings.

She then looks me directly in the eyes then a more serious expression on her face. "So while I do wish to continue sorting, and I will not abide any attempt by you to hinder that. I… understand how you feel, and… thank you… for caring about me." Her blush reaches its peak as she confesses herself to me, and I can't help myself but leap over and hug her, taking her in a deep kiss, our tongues exploring one another briefly.

I quickly sit back down before I get too carried away. "That…means a lot to me Kaga, thank you. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I see the relevance to my and Akagi's situation. She might have defended me, but that still does not absolve her, not in my eyes."

She gives me a quizzical look in return, "Well yes, that's because I had not yet finished before you pounced on me like some vulgar beast." She jokes with a sly grin, her vulpine teeth slightly glinting in the low light.

"After that revelation, you will be delighted to hear that we began discussing you in earnest." I gulp slightly. My two wives, discussing me behind my back, this cannot be good.

Kaga seems to sense my nervousness and gives a small laugh "No need to fret, dear husband, it was…mostly positive, I can assure you." I'm not sure I like the inclusion of 'mostly'. But I allow her to continue, wondering where this is leading.

"Seeing as my dear sister had helped me with my shortcomings in our relationship, I felt obligated to return the favour. She was in a particularly… receptive mood, so was actually willing to listen for a change."

Akagi's mood always improved after some… fun… in the bedroom, so it sounded like this whole event had all taken place as pillow talk. I found the thought of Kaga pleasuring Akagi to get answers out of her very stimulating, and was finding it harder to focus by the second.

Kaga's eyes flash as she senses my distracted gaze. "I know what you are thinking, dear, but could you please focus." she firmly states, although the return of a bright blush proves my suspicions correct. I nod and return my mind to the conversation at hand.

"I pointed out the hypocrisy of her being angry at you when you arrive home late when you are obviously busy with important work, work which carries a responsibility. Made especially worse by the fact that she should understand how stressful that can be. She dedicates herself fully to the Sakura Empire, baring the responsibility and the work that entails, just as much as you do." My mind starts putting together the pieces before she finishes speaking, and my heart starts to sink even lower.

"To my surprise, she agreed with me, and promised to try and be kinder if you returned late in the future."

My heart hits rock bottom with the realisation that I doubted Akagi, accused her of manipulation and lies when she was genuinely trying to be kind, to be a loving wife to a tired husband.

"I see." It's all I can manage to say, my mind a mess of emotion and thoughts.

Kaga gives a deep sigh "Of course, that bootlickers attempt to get the Eagle Union data from you was unacceptable, and I have told her as much. She understands fully, and acted on impulse when she saw the opportunity to, how does that saying go…. kill two birds with one stone. She could please her husband, who needed some comfort after a long day of work, and also deal with the source of her own stress simultaneously." She shifts, slightly uncomfortable discussing mine and Akagi's intimacy openly.

"Do you see Shikikan? She was not manipulating you; the Eagle Union Data never even crossed her mind till the last second, then she acted impulsively, I cannot defend this, but you must understand, it was never planned, she never lied. And you accused her of some heinous acts."

"You accused her of spinning a web of lies, of manipulating you as your wife and betraying your trust. You accused her of putting on an act to deceive you, where there was none. You pierced her heart with your words when she was already so fragile, so tired"

Her expression becomes angrier the longer she speaks.

"Did it not occur to you that her work was stressful? That she might be genuinely pleased to see you? That she simply wanted the pleasure of your company?" Her voice grows louder as she defends her sister, and I start shrinking back into the sofa.

"Did you not think to message her!? To ask why she acted the way she did towards Enterprise? She was stressed and annoyed, and it showed in a brief lapse of control. Yet you, her husband, witnessed this, and did nothing? And then, you come home to your loving wife, she makes a single mistake and you jump to conclusions and accuse her of manipulation and lies."

Kaga is now standing, her tails puffed up around her body, vulpine teeth almost in a snarl. When she realises that her anger had gotten the best of her, and her whole body softens, along with her expression as she sits back down. "….apologies, Shikikan. But…you can see my point, yes? Akagi was a mess when she woke me up, and I do not wish to see her in such a state, can you understand why she acted the way she did now?"

I nod quickly, feeling rotten to my core. "I'm truly, deeply sorry Kaga" I go to stand up.

"I'll go talk to Akagi now, and try my best to apologize for my actions."

Before I can blink, Kaga is by my side, sitting me back down on the sofa. "Good, and I hope you make it up to my sister, but I must confess, I'm not entirely finished." I blink in surprise, there's more? Her expression is unreadable as she continues speaking.

"Akagi, my dear sister, as I'm sure you have noticed, has been a very different person since you agreed to marry her. Her more… extreme tendencies have calmed themselves, and she tries her best to be as prim and proper as she can, befitting her rank and also her status as your wife. She does this for you. She is trying to change for you. You can't expect that change to happen over such a small space of time. Incidents, just like this morning are bound to happen from time to time"

She pauses giving me an odd look that I cannot place "But my question for you, dear husband, is thus: do you have the right to expect her to change? You married when she was still…different, and dedicated yourself to her, regardless of her behaviour. You loved her, even when she was like that correct?" She pauses collecting herself. "I do not blame you for wanting her to change, and I'm aware you never asked her, she took it upon herself. But I do believe you should be more forgiving when her 'old' self gets the better of her on occasion. Just my thoughts…"

Before I have time to fully process her words, she moves one of her hands over mine, our oath rings touching. "Now, I believe you have an apology to make."

I give her another hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before wearily getting up and heading towards the bedroom. I mull on Kaga's words, indeed, I had never asked Akagi to change, she just had. Ever since we got married, she had calmed down significantly, and I guess I had just gotten used to it. So, when I saw elements of the 'old' her, it had shocked me into acting perhaps too harshly.

By this point, it is probably at least 1 or 2 in the morning and I can feel myself falling asleep as I cross into the main room. But this needs to be done, so I urge myself onwards, splashing some cold water on my face from the sink to try and stave off my tiredness before proceeding to the bedroom door.

The door itself is still locked, so I give it a gentle knock and call out her name. "Akagi…it's me…" I cannot hear any sounds from in the bedroom and I'm about to call out again when I hear the lock makes a *clink* as the bolt is slid back and the door unlocks.

I wait a couple of seconds and then slowly open the door, peering into the room. The room is dark with no lights on, but I can roughly make out the shape of the large bed in the middle of the room, and what looks like Akagi's silhouette, sat on the opposite side of the bed, facing away from the door.

I close the door behind and move towards one of the dressing tables, turning on one of the nightlights to dimly light the room. The silhouette I saw was indeed Akagi deliberately hiding her face from me, sat on the edge of her side of the bed with her back towards me, tails unmoving. I deliberate whether I should talk to her like this, but decide that it would be better if she could see my face, so I move around the room, sitting on her side of the bed, but making sure to leave a large gap between us. It's such a small act, leaving space between us, but inside it hurts me more than I could have imagined.

Her face is downcast, looking into the floor, her hair shifting and flowing down her face partially covering it. Her large fox ears, usually so full of life, are flattened against her head. I cannot make out her face well, but it's clear that it's a mess. I fumble for a way to start. "Akagi, I…"

She cuts me off by looking up at me, and it immediately feels like I have been gut-punched, she looks miserable, her eyes are puffy still wet from tears, her expression is one of defeat and it shames me to even look at her. Her voice is low, croaky, exhausted from sobbing.

"I'm sorry…" she whispers as she trails off. "I…broke our trust Shikikan … I'm sorry…" I can't endure her seeing her like this anymore and quickly stand up, closing the distance between us, kneeling in front of her so we are face to face while I look directly in her ruby red eyes.

"Akagi, I am sorry, I am the one to blame. I falsely accused you, I jumped the gun and assumed the worst of you. There's nothing I can say to repent for my actions."

Her eyes fill with confusion as she answers. "No… Shikikan, you were right, I was a fool, I acted impulsively, just like I always do in the end, and I ruined everything... It was me who lashed out at Enterprise, it was me who tried to convince you to give over the data. I tried my best to change, but clearly, I am incapable, I'm useless, both as your wife and as a ship within Azur Lane. I guess I'll always be a sly, evil fox at my core."

Tears start to run down her cheeks again as she begins to sob. I bring my hand up, caressing her cheek and wiping a tear away before taking her in a deep hug. The scent from her hair is overwhelming, beautiful, yet musky. I lilt my head and whisper into her ear. "You couldn't be more wrong, never, ever, say that. I chose to marry you, you are my wife, and I would never have it any other way. You don't even need to change if you don't want to, I love you for who you are, and what you are is pure at your heart. Attempting to get the data was wrong, but I am the one to blame, I overreacted, and let my doubts and anger take hold."

I pull out of the hug as she wipes her eyes. She looks at me and I see a flicker of life within her eyes, although she quickly looks back down at the floor. "But…I did try to break protocol, I couldn't help myself, I just wanted to stop worrying about Nagato's expectations, but it was unacceptable. Yet, you say you are ok with this?"

I sit down beside her, our body's touching. "I hope you never try it again, but I overreacted. I should have realised that something was amiss and tried to help, I didn't realise that the Nagato situation was such a big deal to you, and for that, I am a failure as a husband. I will spend as much time as I can making it up to you, and I fear I never will." She rests her head on my shoulder, and I tilt mine down so we touch.

We stay like that for a while until Akagi composes herself. "I…suppose that a good portion of the blame was on you," She says, some firmness returning to her voice. I agree.

"Did Kaga convince you of that by chance?"

"She did, she made it very obvious in fact," I reply.

Akagi gives a weak laugh. "That minx, she promised me that she wanted a drink, and would not say a word to you. I did not want her blaming you."

As if naming her somehow summoned her, Kaga promptly enters the bedroom. "There's none of Shikikan's blood covering the walls, so that's a good sign." She chuckles at her own joke.

She proceeds to disrobe before climbing into the bed. "If the drama is over, I would like to sleep, it is incredibly late, and it's my first night back from patrol, I'd like to enjoy it." I quickly give my assent, utterly drained myself, stripping myself, then climbing into bed beside her, with Akagi giving me a precious tired smile before joining us last. I'm quickly enveloped in soft and warm brown and white tails from either side as I start to slip into the embrace of sleep the second my head hits the pillow.

Endnote:

This is the first fanfic I have ever written, I just decided that I wanted to get a bit creative, and why not do it by writing about some characters that I love.

This fic was originally posted to Ao3, and I'm just now transferring it over. Currently has 11 chapters on Ao3, and I'll be posting them here bit by bit.

Hopefully, you enjoyed my bad/mediocre writing quality :)

As you can probably tell, this fic focuses on a calmer Akagi/Kaga and married life. It was originally envisioned as a general slice of life fic, but sort of took on a life of its own as I added more and more chapters.