hello everyone. Today I bring you a smaller story because one, I wanted it to be smaller as a bit of self-discipline/practice, and two, I got really frustrated with it. I just decided I wanted to get this out there before the big party arc
coming in 2077...
Usually, I don't like setting expectations but I do not guarantee quality and/or character consistency. That all said, Onwards and Upwards!
"I think it's about time we had this talk buddy. The thing is, you're working on a naval base, a place where efficiency is key. These girls need our help to keep their machinery up and running, if we don't do that then we're putting humanity in jeopardy. Your performance as of late has gone down hill and as I just stated, we can't have that. So, this is your last chance, I'm giving you one more test, and I hope that you don't mess it up, for your sake, gecko!"
Officer Sharp placed a small spider he caught next to a gecko that had snuck into his office. It had been there a few days and was initially catching bugs that managed to get in but as more bugs appeared in the office, Sharp had doubts about its usefulness. The gecko didn't move as the spider hastily crawled past it to get away. Sharp watched with his arms crossed and a scornful look on his face.
"You've outlived your usefulness, gecko!" he slammed a clear plastic box over it. To his surprise the gecko didn't flinch. He then bent down with concern to inspect the creature. "Are you dead?"
"Ehem… Mister Sharp," a meek voice called to him.
"Whah!" Sharp screamed as he accidentally flung the box across the room at Zuikaku. Miraculously, the gecko went with the box and while it tumbled through the air, it fell out and landed on Zuikaku's chest. She looked down at it, waiting for it to move. As she went to remove it the gecko crawled onto her fingers.
"Oh so it likes you, ok you can keep it, I don't need that dumb lizard in my office anymore," Sharp rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in defeat.
"Sorry to spook you Mister Sharp. The Commander told me to come find you for repairs," Zuikaku said. Her posture stood very small and uncharacteristic of the normally brave and jubilant crane.
"Zuikaku, what happened this time?" Sharp almost sounded like a disappointed parent.
"Well, I got into a bit of a fight with Saratoga, and we may have damaged each other's ships a bit," Zuikaku said.
Sharp didn't like the sound of that, every time Zuikaku mentioned Saratoga it was never in a good context.
"Well, let's go see," Sharp said, getting up from behind his desk.
"What… the… hell…" Sharp muttered. He stared at the near wrecks that were the Zuikaku and the Saratoga.
Zuikaku looked like she wanted to shrink into a ball of nothing, "The damage reports are already written up, and-"
"What? I'm the chief repair officer, who wrote the damage reports without me?" Sharp asked.
"The Commander himself, he wasn't too happy with me and Saratoga," Zuikaku said. She pulled out some folded papers from under her coat then gave them to Sharp.
The second Sharp unfolded them his eyes went wide, "What did you get yourself into girl?"
"Well, a lot of dive bombers."
"And apparently I don't want to see the other guy. How is Saratoga still above the water?" Sharp said in exasperation. Zuikaku remained silent.
"Well uhh, I guess some of the boys and girls have already gotten to work if we have these already. Thanks for informing me, I'd figure The Commander would do it but I guess he's too busy. You can run along now if you want to, not much else I need to know."
"Actually mister Sharp, The Commander assigned me to help with Saratoga's repairs. Until those are done I'm dry-docked," Zuikaku suddenly took an interest in her shoes.
"Oh I see, the good old 'walk in each other's shoes' hehe. My parents did the same thing with my brother and I when we got into fights."
"Yeah well Saratoga isn't my sister," Zuikaku grumbled.
"Don't worry about it, we'll have her fixed up in no time, well, I don't know about no time but we can do this."
"Hey Zuikaku," Sharp called.
The girl stopped to look up at him, "Yeah?"
"Let's take our lunch break, I already finished this section and I don't want to move onto another unless I can do it in one go."
"Ok!" Zuikaku set down her tool belt, took off her protective gear then joined him. It was a decent walk from the repair docks to the cafeteria so they had a lot of time to talk.
"Things are going well, we're actually ahead of time, then you're just waiting on Saratoga to finish her part," Sharp said.
Zuikaku's eyes went wide, "We're moving faster than Saratoga?"
"Uh yeah, is that a problem?"
"No that's great! I won't have to hear from her about how she did a better job than us. Although, I guess the bad part is I still won't be able to go out on sorties and commissions."
"I mean once we're done with her ship we can go help her out on yours to speed things up," Sharp said.
"It's not that important to me, though she is repairing my ship. She better not mess it up," Zuikaku said.
"I think our repair teams will keep her in check."
"I'm just worried she'll put stupid little prank gifts everywhere."
"Like what?"
Zuikaku sighed, "Well, attaching airhorns and party poppers to doors are the main ones. One time she left a fake proposal from Commander Lockee at my door, with AKAGI'S ring!"
Sharp zoned out. In his head he wondered, "Lockee… Commander Lockee, that isn't… Zuikaku, Commander Lockee is our commander right?"
"Oh yeah! The Commander finally let out his name. Only a few people on the base knew his full name before, but I guess he finally built the confidence to tell everyone his name, at the very least his last name."
"Huh, I don't know what to say to that."
"I think Lockee is a cool name, I'm just surprised it took so long," Zuikaku said.
Sharp thought for a moment. Sure when he first signed on he questioned why Lockee wouldn't tell people his name, but after a few weeks he gave up on that. Now it felt… refreshing, but he still wondered why.
Sharp then spoke," I don't know the guy too well but is he… paranoid?"
"I don't know, but when you put it that way it makes sense," Zuikaku said. There was a pause as the two contemplated. The pause reached all the way to the cafeteria.
After sitting down Sharp stared at Zuikaku, or rather her wings. The Sakura Empire girls all had inhuman traits and he was always curious about them, but never had the guts to ask about them. He figured Zuikaku wouldn't be offended, she didn't seem the type.
"Hey Zuikaku, what are those wings like?" Sharp pointed to the large brown feathered appendages on her back.
"Oh these?" Zuikaku stretched them out. "They're neat, Shoukaku says it makes us look pretty but I don't think so, at least mine aren't. Hers are all white and look more shapely and majestic than mine. Mine are just… brown."
"You can't like, fly with them?" Sharp asked.
"Oh I wish, that would be so cool! Imagine being able to fly and wield a sword at the same time!" Zuikaku made gestures as if she were swinging her sword.
"So they're just decorative?"
"I can glide with them a little if I fall from high enough, but they only slow me down enough to not hurt myself," Zuikaku shrugged with her wings.
"Are they like bird feathers? Are they soft?"
"Well, Shoukaku's are larger and softer but… want to feel them?" Zuikaku scooted around the table to get closer to him.
Sharp froze. Was this normal? Like, if one of the oni or fox girls offered their horns or tails for feeling would that be the same? Sharp spent a while trying to figure out what a human equivalent would be but came to nothing.
"Jules?" Zuikaku waved a hand in front of his face.
"Wah? Oh sorry, yeah umm, if it's alright with you," he put his hand out but it looked as if there was an invisible force trying to hold his arm back. Eventually he broke through, but even when he made contact his touch was fleeting and hardly enough for him to understand what the feathers actually felt like.
He didn't notice Zuikaku's confused expression, but both of them noticed the big sister crane coming in.
"Zuikaku! What are you doing?" she sounded like an irritated mother. She even had her hands on her hips.
"Shoukaku! I was just letting Mister Sharp touch my wings," Zuikaku stammered.
"And why are you doing that? In the middle of the cafeteria no less, in front of everyone," Shoukaku said.
"I'm sorry Shoukaku I just…" Sharp retreated his hand back to his side.
"You don't see Commander Lockee fondling Akagi's tails out for all to see! If you're going to be lewd at least take it back to your room!" Then things became a different kind of uncomfortable.
"I wasn't being lewd, he was just curious!" Zuikaku's voice was high enough that a couple people not focused on their own matters looked over.
"Keep your voices down," Sharp said.
Shoukaku turned to Sharp, "I'm so sorry Mister Sharp, I thought I had taught my little sister better."
"Shoukaku you're embarrassing me!" Zuikaku had a growing blush.
Sharp thought she was embarrassing both of them.
In an alarming turn, Shoukaku then gave them a gleeful smile. "I'm going out on a sortie for the rest of the day so I'll be out of the room to give you privacy. Have fun!" she then walked away.
The two watched her leave, flabbergasted.
Sharp spoke, "Did she just imply…"
Zuikaku looked at him but backed away around the table, "No this wasn't uh… I wasn't trying to seduce you I swear!"
"I didn't you were I just-"
"And I wasn't thinking about it either! At all!" Zuikaku's face turned red, like cherry red. Sharp though if she got any more embarrassed she might pass out. "My sister is so mean sometimes…"
"Hey Jules," a woman called from across the hangar, right as she entered. Rita, the 'second in command' for the repair teams at Central Pacific, she specialized a bit more in battleships, and 'things with big guns' in general but never lacked in the other necessary areas.
"Yes Rita?" Jules kept reading a news article on his phone. He had his legs on a rolling tool box in front of him
"Have you heard the big news?" Rita asked.
"Is it this? Cause if not wait for me to finish," Jules waved his phone in the air.
"Put your phone down and put something else in your sight for a second. This is cool," Rita kicked his legs off the cart and used it as a seat.
Jules rolled his eyes as he put away his phone. "Fine, what is it?"
"Central Pacific Operations is holding a big old party, like, huge. Kansen and even staff are invited, from different bases too," Rita said.
"I'm not really a party person," he said.
"Oh come on, staff aren't usually invited to events with the ship girls! This is a rare opportunity."
"Still not interested."
"Zuikaku is going," Rita had a sly grin on her face.
Sharp's head snapped towards her, "You're lying."
"See, you do like her," Rita said.
"I didn't say that. So is she actually going or not?"
"I think if you went and asked her you'd find out."
"Ugh I hate you. I know what you're doing and I hate you for it."
Rita laughed. "Better go get her before someone else snatches her up. Did you ever go to a highschool ball or prom?"
"I did but my date ditched me," Jules said.
"Oh damn, that sucks, so you abandoned it and went out with your friends right?" Rita asked.
"No. Little old Jules over here was barely able to ask her out in the first place. I went back home and played a single player game. I'd rather not go through that again," Jules pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Oh come on, you think Zuikaku is going to abandon you? Have you seen the girl, she loves you," Rita said.
"She does not 'love' me. She's just forced to be around me for the time being and wants to pass the time by talking," Sharp said.
"You haven't noticed the part where she comes even before and after her assigned work hours?" Rita asked.
"She just wants to get things done quick, she has a rivalry with Saratoga," Sharp said.
Rita sighed and put her head in her hands for a moment. She then looked up at him with a cold stare. "Fine, I'll ask her out for you."
Sharp's gaze snapped on to her, "You wouldn't."
"Bitch I will, you have five days until I do it."
"Rita…. You are the best friend I hate the most in this world," Sharp kicked the rolling tool cart away with her still on it.
Rita chuckled, "As it should be, good luck buddy."
Shoukaku walked into their kitchen to discover quite the surprise. Zuikaku was in an apron, hard at work with baking implements for chocolates. She looked at Zuikaku, who had her face close to something… Shoukaku couldn't quite make it out.
"What are you doing here Zuikaku? There's so much going on, who are the chocolates for?" she asked.
"Oh just making a special mold. It's a gecko, a chocolate one for Jules," Zuikaku said.
"Hmm, you really like this guy don't you?" Shoukaku said with a grin.
Zuikaku's eyes went wide, "N-no! I'm just thanking him for helping me repair Saratoga's ship!"
Shoukaku raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, she then pointed to all the baking materials around their small kitchen. "What girl goes to the trouble of making a specialized piece of chocolate, not even close to Valentine's Day, without expecting anything in return, and says, 'oh no I don't actually like him'."
Zuikaku hung her head in defeat, "Ok maybe I do like him."
"Maybe you should ask him to the big party we have soon," Shoukaku.
Zuikaku stared at her sister, "You think so?"
"Yes I think so Zui, who else would you pick? Commander Lockee, since it seems you two are getting married," Shoukaku laughed.
"Alright don't remind me of that, but yeah, I got this. A special chocolate gecko for Julius Sharp, coming right up," Zuikaku put her nose back to the grindstone, ferocity and intent in her eyes.
Shoukaku smiled, "Just don't forget to eat lunch ok?"
"Got it sis!"
Sharp was hard at work putting the finishing touches for the repairs. They finished up Saratoga's ship and now he was just working on Zuikaku's. Zuikaku got herself into messes so much. She proved to be a lot of work. Rigging or ship, she was one of Mr. Sharp's more frequent visitors.
As he was working…
"Hey Jules!" the happy crane herself called.
Sharp turned to look at her, the sight of her backlit by the sun caught him off guard. With those wings tailored to her form and that luxurious long ponytail, she looked like an angel sent right to him. A very needy angel but still…
"Hi Zuikaku, what do you need?" Sharp smiled and giggled a little bit. Something about her just looked amazing all the sudden.
"I had a question to ask you, it's very important," she smiled bright like the sun.
"Ok, what is it?" Sharp stood up to meet her eye to eye.
Zuikaku pulled out a box of chocolates, "Well first, I have something special for you. Some assorted chocolates of course, and... open the box."
If it was anyone else, Sharp would have wanted to open it with his work gloves and welding mask on but he trusted Zuikaku. In fact, he was pretty sure she didn't have a mischievous bone in her body. He flipped the top open.
"Is that a..."
"It took a long time but I found a way to make a mold for a gecko!" Zuikaku said.
"I... huh, that's really cool," Sharp immediately bit the tail off. "Realistic too."
"Thanks, I thought you'd like that."
"You still had a question right?"
"Yeah, want to go to the summer ball with me?" Zuikaku said.
Sharp felt like he was hit in the back of the head by a fastball, "Say that again?"
"The summer ball! Central Pacific is hosting a big party and kansen and staff are all invited, even from other bases."
"No I get that but... me?"
"Yeah you! Who else would I pick?"
Zuikaku spoke about it like it was so obvious.
"I... yeah, I'll go with you, I think I have to buy a new suit though," Sharp's mind immediately went into preparation mode. He didn't even know where the party would take place.
"Alright!" Zuikaku's wings flared out as she did a fist pump high enough to touch the sun.
"HEY SHARP YOU LOOKING AT MY GIRLS?"
Both Zuikaku and Sharp flinched, only to realize it was Commander Lockee.
"Hey you two, how are repairs coming along?" Lockee asked in a far more casual voice this time.
"They're coming along good Commander, we're probably going to be done within the week," Sharp said. Sharp was surprised that he didn't need a new change of pants.
"Commander Lockee, you scared the bejesus out of us!" Zuikaku said.
"Haha, sorry, how are you two doing? Got any plans for the day?" Lockee said.
"What? Us?" Sharp asked.
"I don't know about today... but Commander Lockee, here is my date for the Summer Ball!" Zuikaku put her arms and hands out towards Sharp as if she were presenting an animal at a circus.
"Nice, good for you two. The planning seems to be going well so I think it'll be a good time. I just came by to check on your progress so I'm off to do a little more inspection, you two have a good day."
"Thank you Commander Lockee!" Zuikaku waved.
"You too Commander," Sharp called.
"Actually, do you want to do something today?" Zuikaku asked.
Sometimes Sharp wanted Zuikaku to stop for just one minute and take it easy, but he also really liked her attitude.
"I uhh… know a really cool pizza place in west Honolulu, does that sound good?"
"Sounds good to me, Meet you at the gates? Twelve thirty?"
"Sure, I'll see you then."
"Awesome, bye!" Zuikaku shouted. She sprinted to the edge of her flight deck, leaping off to gracefully glide down onto the docks.
Sharp shook his head and smiled, "Zuikaku you crazy girl, I love it." He then stood stiff, realizing something. He whispered to himself. "I just agreed to a date with her… offsite. Take that Rita." Then again, something else to think about popped up in his mind. "I look like such a nerd… Hey Commander Lockee!" He bounded after Lockee.
Lockee, still within ear shot, turned to him, "Yeah, what do you need?"
"You're a ladies man right?" Sharp asked.
Lockee looked at him for a moment with a blank stare. Sharp wondered if he said something wrong. "I guess you could call me that. Why do you ask?"
"Well as you just heard I'm going to the ball with Zuikaku and I had the realization that I look like an utter nerd," Sharp said.
"And you want to change that?" Lockee raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Well first step, get some real glasses. I admire the do it yourself approach but those don't exactly scream 'professional' now do they?" Lockee said.
"Ok, and what else?" Sharp asked.
"Comb your hair, or just clean it up in some way. I guarantee those two steps will make you look ten times more attractive and confident. Keep the same relative look you have now, it's important to stick to your style, just be a bit… sharper," Lockee said.
"So hair and glasses, got it. Thank you very much Commander Lockee, I need to finish up today, but after that I'll get right on those things," Sharp walked away before Lockee could get another word in.
Sharp stood at the entrance of the hotel, checking his watch every few seconds. Zuikaku wasn't late yet, in fact she still had roughly four more minutes before being late but he couldn't help it. Maybe she backed out, didn't want to go with him. It wouldn't be the first time. He considered calling her, until...
"Jules! Over here!"
Sharp turned to see Zuikaku and Shoukaku waving at him. Shoukaku wore a surprisingly small 'dress' that looked more like an elegant night gown. Zuikaku wore a much more conservative red version that was less see-through.
"Wow, Zuikaku you're looking great," He remembered that sometimes Zuikaku felt a bit inferior to Shoukaku so throwing her a little compliment should help. Sharp looked down to check his own clothing, making sure he looked the part of The Auspicious Crane's Date.
"And what about me Mr. Sharp?" Shoukaku glared at him. She bent forward with one hand on her chest and one on her hip. Her wings even flared out a bit.
"Oh, well I uhh…" Sharp deliberately tried not to comment on Shoukaku so as to not spark some sort of sibling envy but he still failed.
"Shoukaku stop it! You're making him nervous," Zuikkau batted Shoukaku's wing in an effort to make her stop.
"Oh I am? I'm sorry Mr. Sharp, I was only joking, feel free to oggle my sister all you want!" Shoukaku smiled.
Sharp couldn't tell if she was still teasing, "I uhh don't plan on being labeled as a pervert tonight so I think I'll just stick to respectful admiration, if that's alright with you, Zuikaku?"
"Yes, that would be good," Zuikaku said.
Sharp reached his hand out to her. "Now, are you ready to party?"
Zuikaku took his hand and smiled, "Yes, let's go!"