I hate rain. It had been raining for a couple of days now, making those days entirely miserable, even the most optimistic of ship girls would be dulled by the constant bombardment of the rain, and I like everyone else, was bored. Considering that nearly everyone would be tucked away indoors, save for those girls on, (the very limited number of), commissions at this time, the rest spending their time playing video games, eating sweets or hugging body pillows, in short, there was no crimes that needed solving, as nobody was out committing them in this weather, as such there was no work that needed to be done at the office, and yet here we were, Hornet with her legs on the desk, her hat over her eyes, fiddling with her hair. Myoukou had bought a shogi board with her, she had intended on helping out, until she found out that there was no work to do and spent all of yesterday chewing a pen top before deciding to bring her shogi board along the next day to work on some tactics, I'm unsure of how it is played though so I was of little use to her, eventually she gave up trying to get me to help her and started playing it herself, as for me, it was either sitting down staring at a wall all day with nothing to do, or stay at home and be forced to become a model for my sister Portland. Hornet gave a sigh and walked towards the window, staring out into the deluge with her hands behind her back.
"I hate rain."
""Yeah, we know."" Me and Myoukou said simultaneously
"You don't have to stay here you know…"
""It's peaceful here."" We both answered. If this was going to go on for another 5 hours then it was going to be a very boring day, but then I had an idea.
"Why don't we talk about some interesting stories?" I said.
"Nothing embarrassing, right?" Myoukou asked.
"Oh no, nothing like that, but this would be a good idea to talk about your first case." Hornet made a funny sound.
"You mean you don't know?" Myoukou questioned.
"I arrived later." I turned to look back at Hornet, who was fiddling with her hands, she had always remained elusive about her first case, any other cases she would be glad to talk about, but not that one.
"That's an idea, let me tell you about how me and Indianapolis started working together."
"Or I can tell her myself at a later date. First. Case. Now!" There was no getting out of this one Hornet, unless you wanted me to chase you around in the rain and make you catch a cold, then you'd really have nowhere to go in the infirmary. Hornet gave a huge sigh and looked down at the floor.
"Fine~" Hornet said eventually with some reluctance before sitting down at her desk.
"So how did it all start Hornet senpai?"
"Well, it had been a couple of years since Azur Lane and Crimson Axis had come together and everyone had started getting used to the idea that we were no longer enemies, I remember that day HM Queenie had asked us to attend a meeting- "
Queen Elizabeth was looking absolutely furious, sitting next to her were Warspite, King George V and behind her, Belfast, on their right were the representatives of the Sakura Empire, comprising of Amagi, Akagi, Kaga and Mikasa, next to them were the Ironblood representatives, comprising of Bismark, Tirpitz, Deutschland and Graf Spree, and between them and the Royal Navy were the Eagle Union, with Enterprise, Yorktown and Essex in attendance and one empty chair, at that moment the doors to the meeting room banged open and the last Eagle Union representative ran into the room, Hornet. "SorryI'mlateyouseeIwas…"
"You're late!" the queen yelled, "we've been waiting here for half an hour! I don't want to hear any excuses so sit! Down!" Hornet slowly walked to her seat and sat down without saying a word. "Now then, now that everyone is here." She started glaring daggers at Hornet, who rubbed the back of her head and quietly giggled. "We can begin. Now then, as the largest four factions within Azur Lane, I believe that it our duty to keep the peace between the other factions, I propose-"
"Umm…excuse me your majesty, but shouldn't that be Azur Lane and Crimson Axis?"
"Actually Bismark-san I believe that we are formally readmitted into Azur Lane now." Amagi replied.
"Of course, our governments have ratified this." Belfast added.
"I see, so we are no longer part of the Crimson Axis, but I think that it would be a bad idea if we were to just bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this never happened, there will still obviously be some resentment-" Mikasa
"Well of course we still resent you, you started it!" Queen Elizabeth yelled, prompting King George V to make a cough. With the uneasy silence Yorktown spoke up.
"Well, it may be true that some of us still hold long grudges from that time. But I'm pretty sure that both Ironblood and Sakura Empire are well aware of their mistakes and the consequences of those mistakes." There were nods from the former Crimson Axis factions.
"You have a point." King George V added. The queen gave a humpf.
"That being said…" she continued "It's best if we clear the air between us, I suggest some joint exercises between the four of us, it should clear up any long-standing rivalries between the various factions."
"It's probably not a good idea if we were to join with the Sakura Empire for these exercises, it might bring back some unwanted memories." Bismark said.
"Yeah" Enterprise added "And we probably not work as well if we were paired with the faction that we fought against the most." The queen gave a smug grin
"I see, in that case, for these exercises we will start with us working with the Sakura Empire and Ironblood teams up with the Eag-STOP STROKING THAT BIRD AND PAY ATTENTION!" The queen angrily waved her sceptre towards Hornet who was busy stroking Enterprise's pet eagle grim who was sitting on her shoulder. Hornet realised that she was talking to her and stopped and quickly shot her hand under the table, before giving a nervous smile, the queen meanwhile had a large vein forming on her forehead and was being held back by Warspite from running across the table and strangling Hornet.
"Geez, what's her problem?" Hornet asked, her hands behind her head as she and the other Eagle union shipgirls walked away from the building, a little way off the Sakura Empire and Ironblood representatives were discussing something, partly silhouetted by the sunset.
"Well, you have to understand Hornet, the Royal Navy are very traditional, some of these traditions date back centuries." Yorktown explained.
"Eh, but they're so boring, those things are hella old, can't they just get rid of them and do something more up to date?"
"Well, for them these traditions are sacred, it's like if you pulled a flag down at a 4th July celebration."
"Huh? Really?"
"And some of the things that really annoy them are: being late, and not paying attention." That was followed by a sinister smile from Yorktown, which Hornet reacted by laughing nervously, a large sweat drop at the side of her face.
"Why were you late Hornet?" Asked Enterprise.
"Ah, well you see, I was already running late, and I thought I could just about make it when Cleveland asked me to show her sisters how to shoot a hoop, so I showed them, but then they asked me about my positioning, and before I knew it I was showing Denver how to bend her knees properly, and then I remembered I had a meeting I had to got to so-" Hornet stopped herself when she saw the sinister smile that was forming across Yorktown's face, the setting sun creating a silhouette across her forehead making her seem even more sinister. "Eep!"
"Your also seemed to be really interested in Grim today." Said Enterprise
"Well, yeah, it's not fair that you and Yorktown get pet eagles, I want one too!" Hornet brought her hand forward to stroke under Grim's neck, only for Grim to bite her finger. "Yeeargh! It bit me, alright then it's fried chicken tonight!" The two of them stared each other down, Hornet vs Grim, the legendary fight of the century. That was until Yorktown whacked Hornet around the back of the head.
"And that's why you don't have a pet eagle, your animal husbandry skills are severely lacking." She lectured.
"It was just a joke sis." Hornet whimpered. Enterprise was busy stroking Grim, looking deep in thought.
"I'll tell you what, how about you look after Grim for a week, if you feed him, and water him then he might take a liking to you." Hornet gave a big grin and jumped on her sister.
"Wow! Thanks sis, you're the best!"
"I-I didn't say today Hornet…"
"Oh Enterprise, speaking of eagles that reminds me, can you look after Nine for me?" Essex suddenly said. "My room is being redecorated as my sisters will be arriving soon, and I don't want Nine to get in the way of the construction."
"Err…yeah, I think that you forgot that the rest of the Eagle Union dorms are also going under renovation Essex." The poor look on Essex's face was pure shock. "But that does raise a valid point, I don't have anywhere to put Grim."
"Why don't you put them in the ballroom?" Yorktown suggested.
"Wait we have a ballroom? Do they play baseball there or something?" Hornet asked.
"I'm afraid not Hornet, it's a room built for dancing."
"Dancing…oh wait, you mean the old-fashioned dancing don't ya?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I thought it was still being used as a temporary storage facility?" Essex questioned.
"Most of the stuff has gone now, but there are a few bits and pieces still lying around." Yorktown explained.
"That's good then, we can keep them in there until the renovations are complete."
"Well then you'd better be quick about it, it looks like a storm is coming." Yorktown said as she walked away, the other three aircraft carriers looking up towards the sky, and sure enough there were some dark clouds on the horizon.
"Man, you were right sis, it's really hammering it down!" Hornet looked out of the window the rain pounding heavily on the windowpane, the dark clouds making the night seem even darker.
"I do hope Grim is alright."
"Don't'cha worry sis, Grim's probably fine, besides he has Nine for company." Enterprise gave a nod and also looked out of the window.
"Thank goodness that there some spare dorms that we could us as temporary accommodation, otherwise we'd be sleeping between cement bags."
"Or out in the rain." Yorktown added.
"Welp, if you excuse me, I have an urgent appointment to make." Hornet said as she walked on over to the door.
"It's out of order." Yorktown hastily said, just before Hornet could open the door.
"Huh?"
"Oh, didn't you know, someone thought it was a good idea to throw a homemade explosive device down the toilet, now the toilet's all flooded."
"Saratoga again huh?" Enterprise asked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, so where's the nearest toilet?"
"Oh, it over in the Royal Navy dorms." Yorktown looked up to see Hornet staring back at her with wide eyes and apparently no mouth "What?"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, are you telling me that I have to get changed, walk all the way across to the Royal Navy dorms in the absolute heavy rain, knock on the door and ask the queen if she could let me in so I can use her privy!?"
"I doubt the queen will be up herself, but I'm sure one of the maids will be up, and I'm sure that most of them will let you in." Yorktown explained.
"Wait most of them!?"
"Don't worry Hornet" Enterprise said, "If Sheffield happens to be on duty tonight, you can always use the bushes behind the gym."
"Enterprise that is not reassuring!"
Hornet was absolutely furious, the little clothing that she wore was soaking wet, but luckily for her nothing had gone wrong. "Man, I was lucky that Edinburgh was on duty tonight." Hornet looked up as she was walking, shielding her eyes from the rain. "Still looks like the worst of it has-" A loud 'BOOM!' Echoed across the night as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Hornet uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. "Holy shit! That was close, I wonder if it hit anyth…ing?" as Hornet looked across the plaza, she though she saw the lights in one of the empty buildings turn off, as she focused her sight, she could make out the silhouette of a girl sneaking up to the door, opening it and walking inside. "HEY YOU!" Hornet shouted running towards the building, reaching the door in seconds, and throwing herself inside, of course there was the possibility that someone was sheltering from the rain, but the rain had become lighter and turning more into a drizzle, but the fact that someone was sneaking around, and that someone had been in there before hand was something that Hornet couldn't overlook.
It was pitch black inside, it took a while for Hornet's eyes to get used to the dark, fumbling around at first before she could make out the passage, she walked forward, on guard in case anyone tried to jump her, as she walked along she realised two things: One, this was the Ballroom, she recognised the layout from when the Royal Navy last threw a multi-faction tea party, and two, there was a cold wind blowing from the actual Ballroom itself. Slowly she walked towards the double doors of the Ballroom, and the scene was absolute chaos: there was shattered glass everywhere, the windows no more than shards of glass stuck to the frame, and even more disturbing, sitting in the middle of the room, a mangled bird cage, without an eagle in sight. Hornet picked up the empty cage, around half of it had been crushed, part of the bars had been ripped out, and the cage door was barely hanging in place by a small part of the hinge. "Oh no" Suddenly Hornet could feel a cold sensation under her chin, she looked to the side to find a thin, sharp blade across her throat.
"You're under arrest!"