Something felt strange. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but he could feel something was strange. Turning from one side to the next, he struggled with the idea of opening his eyes and starting the day. Truth be told, last night was particularly tiring on him so he was looking forward to an opportunity to sleep a little longer today.
"Wait a second," he said, his eyes shooting wide open at the realization. He never had the comfort of tossing and turning in his bed. This was thanks to the 'bed-mate' who often used him as a pillow despite his protests.
He also never had the opportunity to sleep in because when his alarm clock started ringing, it kicked off the morning argument which always ended with him being blown out of his room and sent into the waters.
"What the," he said, scanning the room from left to right. There was no sign of the woman who used him as a pillow, no sign of the woman who quietly stared at him all night long and no sign of the woman who purposely used his cape because she 'found it comfortable.'
"Something's not right," he said, wondering what happened to the three of them.
"He's onto us," said a familiar voice.
"Knock him out, quick," said another voice.
Before he could voice his protest, he felt something hit him on the back of his head, followed by everything going black.
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Groaning once again, he tried to move a little but found that he could not. Curious, he slowly opened his eyes and found that he was now seated in the centre of what looked like a stage, with a large sign behind him. Strangely enough, the stage was covered in a black curtain, making it impossible for him to see what's outside.
"Strange," he said, looking around a little "normally this only happens during the summer event. But that's two months away."
"Good morning ladies," shouted a voice through the mic coming from the other side of the curtain.
"Thank you all for coming here on this wonderful sunny day," said another voice.
It took him about five seconds to recognize the two voices. Those girls were often used as the MCs whenever there's an event around.
"Now without further ado, let's lower the curtain to mark the starting of the first ever '4 Nation Easter hunt special.'"
As the girl said that, the curtain around him fell down. The sign behind him lit up, indicating that he was indeed at an event and a single cursory look at the crowd clearly showed that every member of the fleet was involved.
"Easter hunt," he repeated "can someone please explain what's going on?"
"In a moment Commander," said Soryuu, one of the MCs, turning to him then back to the crowd.
"So I'm sure some of you are wondering what the Easter hunt is all about?" she asked and many in the crowd nodded in response
"I'll let my sister answer that question," she said, then took a few steps to the side, allowing her sister Hiryuu to come up on stage, while carrying a small puppet box.
"Every year," said Hiryuu, hiding under the box and showing a puppet of Queen Elizabeth and Warspite.
"The Royal Navy has an Easter egg hunt where every member of the faction participates in going around the island to collect delicious chocolate Easter eggs."
This was followed by an Illustrious puppet, a Warspite puppet, a Javelin puppet and a Belfast puppet trotting about what looked like a forest, each one finding an egg for themselves.
"When Queen Elizabeth approached us this year to MC the event, the two of us decided it was no fun if only the Royal Navy participated," said Hiryuu.
In response, a puppet of Queen Elizabeth waved her sceptre at a puppet of Hiryuu and Soryuu then left. The sisters looked like they were thinking about something, before hitting upon an idea.
"So we decided to involve everyone in the event," said Hiryuu "and that's what led to the first-ever 4 faction Easter egg hunt special."
"That's fine and all," said the Commander "but why am I being tied up?"
"I'm glad you asked Commander," exclaimed Hiryuu, tossing the puppet box "you see, we wanted to try something special, something unique. And what's the best way to make a competition more interesting?"
"A time limit?" asked Phoenix, raising her hand up.
"A point system?" asked Shokaku.
"A battle royale where the winner gets to look down on everyone they crushed on their way to the top?" asked Graf Zeppelin, and everyone (including the Commander) looked at her in surprise.
"Actually… I was referring to prizes," said Hiryuu.
"Last night, Soryuu and I hid ten golden eggs throughout the island, each one containing a very special prize. Sis, why don't you show us the prize list?"
As Soryuu wheeled out a table displaying the prizes, the Commander's eyes opened wide in horror when he saw the top five.
"Oh good god," he said, starting to sweat "this is even worse than the beach event." As Hiryuu started listing out the prizes from bottom to top, he started thinking of ways to escape.
"The fifth prize," began Hiryuu "a ninety-minute massage by the Commander. Making a return from last year's beach event; the fourth prize winner get the Commander as their butler for the whole day. The third prize is a new outfit hand sewn by the Commander himself, the second prize is a collection of rare never-before-seen artwork of the Commander drawn by a certain famous artist…"
"And lastly," she said with an intense look in her eyes "the first prize is a one-time only free wish card that you can cash in at any time and the Commander has to do whatever you say."
"Whatever I say?" muttered Saint Louis.
*The following takes place in Saint Louis' mind.
"You're such a good knight Saint Louis," said the Commander, "I'm so lucky to have you."
End dream
"Whatever I say?" muttered Dido.
*The following takes place in Dido's mind.
"You're such a good maid Dido," said the Commander, patting her on the head "don't worry about messing up, I won't get mad."
End dream
"Whatever I say?" muttered Akagi, Roon and Taihou.
*The following dreams break every rule set by fanfiction, leaving it to the reader to imagine what the trio had in mind.
"You all have till sundown to find the eggs," said Hiryuu "whoever is holding the eggs past that time limit wins the prizes."
"And to make sure that the Commander can't escape, we've tied him up," said Hiryuu, with a smile.
"Ha well jokes on you," interjected the Commander "I've taken the necessary preparations to avoid the same outcome as the beach event, which is why I…"
*Click
A noise came from the Commander, causing him to pause for a moment and stare at his metal arm.
*Click
A second noise and still nothing. Everyone could see how incredibly concerned he became.
"Commander," said Soryuu "give us a little credit here. We knew you'd try to detach your arm and use it as a way to escape, which is why we bound you up like that."
Realizing that his one and only option of escape was soundly cut off, the Commander wailed in fear while rocking his chair from side to side. The sight of him flailing about was a disappointing thing to see, considering that he was the same person who single-handedly held off a Siren fleet.
The audience and the two MCs watched as the chair fell down allowing the Commander to slowly inch his way towards the edge of the stage.
"Eugen," said Hiryuu, "please knock him back over here."
"Eugen no," he cried.
"Eugen yes," responded the Iron Blood girl before gently flicking him on the forehead and sending him right back to the starting point.
"Now that that's out of the way," said Soryuu, "let's all get fired up for today's event."
"Are you girls ready?" shouted Hiryuu and everyone responded with thunderous applause.
"Then, let the first ever 4 faction Easter egg hunt special. BEGIN!," shouted Hiryuu and Soryuu together. In response, everyone in the audience took off in different directions, eager to find those ten golden eggs.
"Oh don't worry Commander," said Hiryuu, producing a small remote and pressing a button. In response, the stand behind them opened up, showing ten television screens displaying different parts of the island.
"We set up cameras in various parts of the island so that you won't get bored waiting."
'Oh, that's pretty considerate of- wait no! I need to think of a way to escape,' he thought.
"OOOHHH looks like things are already heating up," said Soryuu, pointing at one of the monitors.
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"Of all the people to have run into," said Akagi, with an annoyed look "it had to be you."
"It looks like we both want the same thing," said Enterprise, her gaze shifting between Akagi and the golden egg perched on a tree branch "I wonder who will fate smile on today?"
"Hate to break it to you," said Akagi, forming numerous airplanes on her runway "but I make my own fate."
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"Keep your eyes peeled girls," said Yorktown to the rest of her class "we should find Unicorn before she gets herself into unnecessary trouble."
"Did you see how fast she ran?" asked Charles Ausburne to Fletcher "I didn't think she could do that."
"She tends to get very… motivated when it comes to her brother," said Yorktown.
"Unicorn… that way," said Eldridge, as her dousing rods were pointing to her left.
"Thank you sweetie," said Yorktown, patting Eldridge on the head. In response, the little strand of hair that stuck out of her head twitched in delight.
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"Ah, sis, check it out," cried Denver to her sister.
Cleveland, Monteplier and Columbia came to their sister and was surprised to see her holding a golden egg.
"Nice find sis," exclaimed Cleveland "which one is it?"
Rather than speculate, Denver cracked open the chocolate egg and saw a message inside.
"This coupon is good for one hand-stitched clothing item by the Commander," she read aloud.
"OOOOOHHHHH that's a nice find," said Columbia, while Cleveland's eyes sparkled.
Sensing this, Denver gave the egg to Cleveland and said "here sis, you should have it."
"Huh? Why me?"
"Well we're only participating in this because we want to help you. We like our current relationship with the Commander," she replied.
"Thank you, sis," said Cleveland, giving her a tight hug.
"So, sis," mused Columbia "what are you going to have the Commander stitch?"
"I'm going to have him stitch a really girly dress for me," she replied, already imagining the design and colours, "and then, when he sees me in that, he'll say…"
"'Cleveland, I didn't know you could be so feminine,'" she said, trying to sound like him.
"And then, finally I will be rid of the 'Clevebro' name once and for all," she shouted, while her sisters quietly clapped to cheer her on.
What Cleveland didn't know was that the whole thing was being recorded by one of the camera Hiryuu and Soryuu set up throughout the island. Normally, this meant the Commander would have heard what she said and took steps to correct his mistake.
Unfortunately for Cleveland though, he was busy trying to think of a way to escape.
"Um girls," he said, addressing the two hosts "isn't it about time you two let me go?"
"What? Why would we do that Commander?" asked Soryuu.
"If we let you go, you'll collect those eggs and ruin everyone else's chances," said Hiryuu.
"I'm not after all the eggs. Most of them seem like pretty reasonable things to be honest. But it's that last one that's got me worried."
"Still Commander, we can't let you run amok," said Soryuu.
"It's unfortunate that that's your stance," he said "guess I have no other choice, but to reveal your secrets to the others when they arrive."
The sisters were clearly caught off guard by that statement, given how their eyes opened wide and they turned to him in surprise.
"What secrets?" asked Hiryuu.
"W-we don't have anything to hide Commander. You should know that by now," said Soryuu.
"Well I can understand you'd try to deny that. After all, you don't want anyone else to know how terrible you are at playing Hanafuda do you Soryuu?"
Poor Soryuu immediately froze in terror upon hearing that.
"And you, Hiryuu. I'm sure you took a lot of time and effort into pulling off that 'delinquent' vibe. You even got the clothes for that. So imagine what everyone would say if I tell them that contrary to her image, Hiryuu is a gentle and caring girl."
"You're bluffing," shouted a now flustered Hiryuu "you don't know anything."
"Oh but I do. I'm sure by now you know I tend to wander around the base when I manage to complete work ahead of schedule. Imagine my surprise when I strolled past the school and I saw the Sakura Empire's delinquent watering the flower garden and tending to some of the weeds that sprouted up."
Hiryuu was frozen in shock, the color draining from her face.
"And then there's all those times when you put a bandage on dear Uzuki after she tripped and fell. Correct me if I'm wrong, but do delinquents do that?"
"AAAAHHH Alright, alright, alright," shouted Hiryuu as she and her sister quickly cut off the ropes around the Commander.
"Excellent," he said standing up. The girls expected him to head into the forest where everyone else was, but instead they found him heading back to his room.
"Um, Commander, the competition is this way," said Soryuu pointing towards the forest.
"True, but I need to change in my regular clothes. I mean, it'd be pretty weird seeing me run around in my night clothes."
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Now that he was wearing something fitting, the Commander ran into the forest, his objectives clear. He had to get that one prize before anyone else did.
However, what he didn't know was that he was being followed by two members of the Iron Blood- The leader of the faction, Tirpitz and perhaps the strongest member of the fleet, Friedrich der Grosse.
"Mother," said Tirpitz, no doubt unhappy with their tactics "are you sure following the Commander is a good idea?"
"Yes indeed my child," replied Friedrich "you see, the Commander has this innate ability to attract trouble wherever he goes. One need only look at the number of incidents he was involved in despite not taking an active part in any of them as proof."
"With that in mind, if we follow the Commander, it won't be long before he stumbles onto the next egg and gets into trouble again."
"Dear Tirpitz, are there any prizes you might be interested in?" she asked, turning to her.
"If I'm being honest, I would like to get my hands on that rare collection of artwork by Hibiki," she mused.
"Oh that's right, you and Yorktown struck up an unlikely friendship over some of Hibiki's works," said Friedrich "I remember it started right after Cleveland and her sisters came to our island."
"By the way, if you get that first prize, what will you do?" asked Tirpitz.
"Ufufufuf," said Friedrich with a wicked chuckle, which immediately sounded warning bells in Tirpitz's mind.
"If I get that first prize, I'm going to find that device Akashi used to turn Unicorn into a child and use it to turn the Commander into an adorable little child once more."
"Wait hold on a second," said Tirpitz "What do you mean 'once more?' The Commander was a child before?"
"Through reasons I am not fully aware of, one-day Unicorn turned into an adult. Akashi built a device to turn her back into a child but the Commander got caught in the blast, resulting in him also turning into a child."
"I am going to turn him into a child once a week so that I can clean his ears while he rests on my lap."
"Ummm… mom, why not ask the Commander? He probably, no definitely would be against getting turned into a child, but he wouldn't have a problem with the other part of that request."
"As much as I'd like to believe that, the last time I did that to him, it did not end well. The only way I see this working is by getting that golden egg."
As the pair continued following the Commander, Tirpitz couldn't help but feel deeply worried for her Commander. After all, when an Iron Blood girl got motivated, there was little that could stop them.
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Akagi and Enterprise darted from tree branch to tree branch, firing one plane after another in the hopes that one attack might hit the target. Their battle resulted in many trees, plants and the ground itself getting painted in shades of blue and red.
In preparation for events like these, Akashi always switched out everyone's regular ammunition with paint shells. The Eagle Union had blue paint, the Sakura Empire had red, the Royal Navy had grey, the Iron Blood had Black and the Dragon Empry had green. This colour scheme was particularly helpful during the mock battles and paintball matches the factions usually had and ensured no one got accidentally hurt during any event.
The fact that Akashi was able to do this for everyone, including Enterprise's arrow-transforming-planes and Akagi's flaming runway was one of the many reasons the Commander was glad to have her on his side.
"You've… gotten stronger," said Akagi, wiping some of the blue paint off her face like it were blood.
"I could… say the same… of you," said Enterprise, drawing her bow.
In response, Akagi drew her Shikigami and flung them at Enterprise. The paper dolls transformed into jets and spread out in different directions. Enterprise quickly leapt back and took aim at the one closest to her. Her drawn bow string produced an energy arrow which she quickly released. Unfortunately, Akagi's plane managed to dodge the arrow, and used that opportunity to come in closer before dropping numerous paint bombs around Enterprise.
Not one to give in so easily, Enterprise returned fire with a barrage of planes, all of which were making a beeline to Akagi. As much as Akagi tried to dodge them all, the last two planes managed to land paint bombs on her arms and legs.
Now that both sides were sufficiently covered in paint, the pair glared at each other, ready to bring this mock battle to a close. Akagi drew multiple shikigami in her hands while Enterprise readied four arrows.
The two launched their projectiles at each other, completely unaware that the object they were hoping to attain was no long perched in the tree branch. The recent explosion sent it sailing high into the air, far away from the pair and into the hands of someone else.
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Somewhere nearby, a red-haired twin-tailed light cruiser of the Eagle Union slowly made her way through a thick part of the forest. She sighed a little when she looked at her dress and saw some of it had tree sap and some of it got torn off.
"Why does this keep happening to me?" asked Honolulu, wondering aloud why certain random circumstances ended with her being caught in a 'revealing' state.
"Maybe I should just go home," she muttered to herself "I'm pretty sure that most of them are already caught by now. There's no way I could get one even if I …"
Her words came to a halt when she noticed something falling towards her. Given how things normally played out for her, experience dictated she move away. Instead though, she cupped her hands together and caught the object.
A quick inspection indicated that this was one of the five golden eggs Hiryuu and Soryuu were talking about.
Honolulu immediately looked left and right, expecting a wild boar to ram into her and cause her to let go of the egg. Yet when that did not happen, she was genuinely surprised.
"Thank you," she said, looking up, and appreciating her stroke of luck. Rather than risk things any further, she quickly went back to base, eager to crack open the egg and see which prize she won.
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"Now this is a rather interesting matchup," said Friedrich, eyeing her opponent, while Tirpitz skidded back and avoided an incoming paint barrage.
"Its only after facing you in combat do I understand why you six are held in such high regard," commented Tirpitz.
"Don't fall for her flattery Saint Louis," warned Roon "we came here for one thing and one thing only."
"Hush you," said Saint Louis "the only reason we're working together is because I don't want you to pull some dirty tricks on my lord."
"Typically," said Friedrich "a battle between a cruiser type and battleship type favours the battleship. But a type advantage will do little against enemies like these two."
"You're right about that," said Tirpitz, taking the initiative and firing a volley of paint shells at her enemies. In response, Saint Louis and Roon strafed left and right. This was on purpose as it split them apart, allowing Friedrich and Tirpitz to engage them in one-on-one combat.
Although she was using the back of her spear, Tirpitz could still feel the hostility in Saint Louis' attacks. It was clear to her that even a single mistake or miscalculation would spell her downfall.
The Iron Blood's leader did not fully intend to stick to defence. She was using this moment as an opportunity to understand her opponent's attack patterns and find a weakness.
'There,' she thought, ducking and avoiding the spear thrust then coming in closer and firing multiple paint shells onto Saint Louis' dress.
"My turn," warned Saint Louis, looking like she was about to fire only to have the ground suddenly start shaking.
Surprised by this, the four girls stopped their duel and scanned the area, wondering what was the cause for these tremors. At first, they imaged it was Akashi testing out a new gadget but dismissed the idea because she'd never try something when an event was going on.
Their doubts were cleared when they saw an incredibly large Uni rise up from the ground.
Realizing what this meant, Roon quickly ran towards the gigantic plush toy, intending to win that first prize.
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When he saw the giant plush toy emerge from the tree cover, he knew what was coming next. He extended his arms out and it wasn't long before one of his little sister fell into his arms.
"Unicorn," he said, referring to the girl and not the stuffed toy who was poking his cheek "what are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you big bro," she replied "I knew you'd break out and would try to participate in the event."
What she didn't mention was that she wanted to find him because she knew that out of everyone in the fleet, he had the highest chance of finding that coveted first prize.
"There you are," said a familiar voice ahead of them. Both the Commander and Unicorn looked in that direction to see Enterprise enter the area, followed closely by Akagi.
"You were right in thinking that Unicorn would go searching for her big bro," commented Enterprise to Akagi.
"Rats," muttered Unicorn under her breath.
"Now that we're here," said Akagi "Commander, give me the prize."
"HUH?" said everyone in response to the outrageous demand.
"Akagi, why do you think he's got the prize?" asked Enterprise "for all we know he's searching for it just like we are."
"Call it instinct," she replied "I'm pretty sure you not only have it, but are hiding it in one of those pockets."
"Now, give me the prize Commander so we can all bring this event to an end."
"Oh no you don't," shouted a voice, followed by someone tackling Akagi to the ground.
"If anyone's getting that first prize, it's me," said Roon.
"My lord," said Saint Louis, followed by Tirpitz and Friedrich entering the area "I am glad that you are safe. Please, come with me and I will take you somewhere safe, away from the rabble."
"Oh cut the knight act Saint Louis," said Roon with a sidelong glance "we all know about the Commander plushie you've got hidden in that closet."
"What?" said Saint Louis.
"WHAT?" said the Commander.
"If the Commander is going to give the prize to anyone, it'll be me," said Enterprise, stepping forward "after all, I am his most trusted ally."
"Sorry Enterprise but that prize is coming with me," said Friedrich, turning to the Commander "you know your best bet is to give me the prize. I would never do anything to harm you Commander."
Friedrich did make a good point and the Commander was about to turn towards her. But when he noticed the worried expression on Tirpitz's face, he knew the woman had something else planned.
"You're all wrong because he's going to give me the first prize," said Unicorn as she turned to the Commander.
"Isn't that right big bro?" she asked with cold, lifeless eyes and an expression similar to what Akagi and Roon often have "you love your little sister don't you? You wouldn't want to do anything to disappoint me right?"
"Et tu Unicorn?" he said, then turned to the rest.
"How about instead of that prize, why not go for one of the other four prizes?" he suggested "I mean those are pretty nice ones as well if you ask me."
"Sorry Commander," said Roon "it has to be the first prize. That's the only one I've got my eye on."
"Indeed," said Friedrich "no point in putting in all this effort only to settle for the second prize or something lower."
"Girls let's all think this through for a moment here," he said trying to reason with them.
"Hmm, it looks like you don't want to hand over that prize," said Akagi "guess that means I'll have to take it by force."
"The only one getting that prize is me," said Enterprise.
"Looks like we've entered a competition within the competition," said Friedrich with a light chuckle "I wonder which of us will snag that prize?"
"Girls don't do this," said the Commander, taking a step back.
"Sorry Commander," said Roon "but if you want this to end, you'll give the prize to one of us."
"Girls," he said, trying to come up with an alternate solution.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Friedrich to the others, who nodded.
"Girls," he said, sounding slightly louder, once again trying to think of another solution.
"Then here… we… go," said Friedrich.
"GIRLSSSS!" shouted the Commander, while running away in the opposite direction.
And that's pretty much how Easter with the ship girls was like. A little bit of fun, a bit of action and plenty of the Commander running for his dear life.
And what happened to the Commander? He was eventually caught by one of the girls. As for the prize, it's best to leave that to the imagination.
(AN: Thank you for taking the time to read this story. If you got a kick out of it then please consider sharing it with anyone else who likes Azur Lane.)