Hello everyone due to real life it took me a while to get this chapter to you I am not sure how often I can update this in the future as my job is getting really hectic for the next motnhs to come
Anyway enjoy the chapter regardless of that ;)
Big thank you goes out to my beta Killroy122496 who helps me greatly with the story and every chapter ;)
Those closest to you are the ones who hurt you the most once they leave you
Chapter 19: Those we lose to Time
Akeno was really surprised by the fact that Shirayuri and her two sisters were here but that surprise only lasted so long before the three sisters hugged each other with Shirayuri and Oleg standing nearby with a small smile on their faces.
After several minutes of Akeno hugging with her two sisters the group went into the house that was more of a mansion as it looked small from the front but opened up into a building that was built into the small mountain.
Over the next few hours Akeno told her sisters what she has been up to over the last couple of months that she had been missing of course the fact that she had a boy and girlfriend she kept to herself and after Akeno was done with explaining what she had been up to it was Oleg who told them that he was the one who had been hunting pirates and attacking their bases with his submarine fleet.
But there had been a problem as many of those Oleg had rescued had nowhere to go as their homes had been destroyed and their families killed but just as Oleg had been ready to give up Akeno had contacted him and in exchange for him helping her Akeno guided his fleet with the freed prisoners to this paradise.
And Akeno had stood true to her word as around the large mansion a small village was being built of course with Oleg also taking anything of value from the slave camps and selling everything on the black market they were able to afford to contact several old Friends of Claire and the rest of B-company.
These old friends now lived on the Island as well creating a ragtag group of soldiers that formed a defense force for the small town that was rapidly growing larger and larger as Oleg maybe here with three of his largest submarines but he had several more that were busy with continuing his crusade against illegal slavery saving anyone they were able to before bringing them to the Island if they had nowhere else to go.
Shirayuri, Mitsuko and Kishiko were very impressed by everything Akeno and Oleg told them and over the course of dinner they shared their own stories of what they had been up to as well which meant that all five of the young teenagers stayed up way past midnight before they started to fall asleep one after the other with Akeno being the last one to fall asleep even if she felt as if something had been watching her ever since she came to the Island again.
In Japan in one of the few remaining natural coastal towns:
Underneath a massive Sakura tree rested a fifteen year old girl with a book lying on her lap those in the unknown simply knew her as Kaguya no Fujiwara but those closest to the girl know her as Eirin no Houraisan von Hratchouhi.
Eirin is an Armenian-Japanese with Greek and Arabic descent. She has Caucasian skin, long silver white hair turning a midnight black right at the middle to the end tips of her hair tied into a large ponytail-braid with purple gradient at the top of her hair.
Her heterochromia eyes with her left eye being a blood red and her right eye being an onyx black. She wears a pink yukata kimono with many white bows going down the center of the kimono, a long dark burgundy skirt decorated in yellow with bamboo and flower shapes along with a white ribbon in the center of her skirt.
A silver and golden necklace that holds a golden hourglass in the center was hanging around her neck, and brown geta sandals were on her feet but even if her eyes were closed and she seemed to be asleep one look at her face told you that she was anything but peacefully sleeping the day away.
Eirin had endured many things that even those closest to her only had a vague idea about but one of the things that she had always been capable of was to see events of the future mostly just simple things like the face of a person or a place but this time it was so much more.
Eirin was flying in the skies above a massive naval battle with a superior force attacking a much smaller fleet but just as it looked like the massive fleet had won a pillar of black and red light rose into the sky from one of the ships at the very front of the small fleet.
All ships stopped firing but as the pillar of light got smaller and smaller every single of the ships of the small fleet started glowing in the same eerie dark lights until the entire small fleet was a mass of black and red ships on the ocean.
The massive fleet hesitated for a while longer but it was the smaller fleet that made the first move as two of the battleships at the very front fired red glowing shells towards the massive fleet.
The effect was frightening to see as the ship that was hit simply seemed to partly disintegrate as both of the forward triple gun turrets and part of the bow of the massive battleship were no longer where they had been a moment ago but somehow none of the crewmen onboard had died from the attack.
The massive fleet seemed to hesitate after that attack but the smaller fleet made no move either that is until what looked like a massive dark bird landed on the destroyed bow of the battleship.
Eirin saw the angel's lips move as several crewmen surrounded her with various guns until the captain of the ship showed himself and talked with the fallen angel but that was the moment Eirin realized why she was having this vision so she took a very close look at the fallen angel from all angels she could get.
It was only a few minutes that the angel talked with the captain but a moment later a girl that looked very similar to the fallen angel was brought on deck but one of the crewmen had the bright idea to take the new girl as a hostage which was what sealed his fate as the fallen angel disappeared only to reappear right behind the poor sap with the girl behind the angel and the seamen on the ground with a dark black Katana by his neck that had a neon green edge.
But that was the moment Eirin woke up again but one thing was certain whoever the fallen angel was she was not someone who had survived to this day "You chose a new candidate Asuramaru and now my sister gave her blessing to this person as well" Eirin spoke as the wind started to blow away some of the fallen Sakura petals as she got up from the ground.
Eirin looked out over the vast ocean under the cliff she was on before a small smile formed on her lips "We shall meet soon Seraph of Asura" Eirin whispered as the wind blew all of the Sakura petals over the edge of the cliff until they started to fall into the blue ocean sea.
Back at Kakureta Island:
Akeno was really glad for the quiet time out she was having with her two sisters and two friends but even if they were able to relax they did not allow their training to go to waste as they kept up with their own routines and exercises.
Oleg stayed with the four girls for about a week before he went to sea again with the rest of his submarine fleet while Akeno helped Shirayuri to fly an aircraft and how to control the rest of the massive swarm of aircraft onboard the Saratoga.
It was another week before the four girls learned of something even more shocking as Claire was contacted by her old friend from the states with the results of the blood DNA-tests.
The blood of Akeno and Shirayuri was a positive match with over 95 percent meaning that they were basically twins the four girls really needed a break to process this information but in the end it made some weird sense as Akeno had found their parents crying in the kitchen back home one evening with a simple letter on the table of course the five year old Akeno had no idea what was written in it except their parents told her that a distant cousin had died in a car accident
With the emotional drama mostly over the four girls enjoyed their time together for another three days but Shirayuri, Mitsuko and Kishiko didn´t really have an idea what to do now until thanks to Akeno they now had a new mission of sorts.
Fukushui had shown something to Akeno that he was unwilling to share with the rest of them for some reason but now the girls were going out to sea again but not to seek revenge not just yet but instead they would be traveling around the world to find what remains of the old great fleet of the Akai senchō clan.
It took another day before two light and two heavy cruisers along with one battlecruiser and one aircraft carrier set sail from the ship bunkers of Kakureta Island several of the rescued would be slaves watched from the harbor as the fleet of six ships sailed towards the horizon until they disappeared beyond it.
Even with the four girls gone the Kakureta Island and its small village continued to grow larger over the next few months along with the group of soldiers that swore to protect this paradise with everything they had but it soon became apparent that they needed to restore another part of the Island chain to working order.
Akeno and her now three sisters had been keeping very busy as they sought out the old bases of their Clan most of them were nothing more than crumbling ruins at this point but no matter which size the base was they always found at least five ships in each one.
Over the seven months they had been travelling their fleet grew from four cruisers, one battlecruiser and one aircraft carrier to a massive fleet that totaled twenty four heavy cruisers, twenty two light cruisers, fifteen battlecruisers, ten battleships, eight aircraft carriers, fifty destroyers and Fourty submarines.
Most of the ships they found had to return to Kakureta Island for extensive repairs and rearming but with the ships they also found tons of supplies for each of the ship classes that were picked up by Claire the rest of B-company and their friends moving everything they could back to Kakureta Island.
Of course the journey was not always quiet as the four sisters encountered several other ships both civilian, military and student vessels and a few pirates that were dealt with swiftly by Mitsuko and Kishiko.
It was the middle of the eight month the four had been on the sea but there was something Shirayuri, Mitsuko and Kishiko had been wondering about as Akeno seemed to walk a bit funny a few times after the light onboard her ship stayed on into the early morning hours during the second month and several times after that.
The answer was given to them in a bit of a blunt way as Shirayuri had snuck onboard the Tsukuba and found Akeno in her room with another girl and a boy with Akeno having her head on the lap of the boy with the boy gently caressing the long ruby red hair but both Akeno and the unknown girl were wearing matching collars around their necks with a simple name tag hanging from the front of it.
Akeno was a bit embarrassed but introduced her three sisters to her girlfriend and boyfriend and also how they were even able to be here with her of course the rest made some sense to Shirayuri of course the three sisters decided to have a very serious talk with Sekiro and Riya before the rest of the day was spent with everyone teasing Akeno and her getting back at them twice as bad but it was a wonderful day spent with family and lovers.
In the early morning Sekiro and Riya told Akeno why they had actually came to her as they had been given a letter with a seal from Isoroku Nomura that was directly addressed to her.
Akeno thanked them but as soon as she read the first sentence Akeno froze "He can´t how did he even" Akeno stuttered as she collapsed to her knees her hand shacking as she started crying violently.
It took Sekiro and Riya a long time to calm Akeno down even the slightest bit but before they could even ask anything Akeno went into the hangar of the Tsukuba "Aki please wait" Sekiro yelled as he grabbed Akeno by her right arm before pulling her into a hug "Whatever it is that is troubling you please tell us so we can help you" he spoke soothingly while patting Akenos back gently.
Riya joined the two of them in the hug until Akeno spoke up "I´m sorry you two but I need to see him again before he is gone" Akeno mumbled before smiling at her two lovers sadly and climbing into the futuristic jet aircraft and taking off towards the setting sun.
It was actually Kishiko who explained to them from whom the letter was as she easily recognized the seal on the letter even though it was broken the five teenagers sat down together and Kishiko and Mitsuko told them about their family.
The Misaki family came to be after the mother of Akeno took her husband's name but Akeno was born before that as her mother was married to a young doctor and her mother´s surname was taken by her first husband Misariutski but when Akeno was just one year old her father died in a car accident but due to the marriage being a political power grab Akenos mother never loved her husband.
But Akenos grandfather realized what he had done and left his daughter alone to chose to live her life how she wanted to but by the time Akeno was seven years old she wanted to know who her real father was as she looked nothing like her mother´s current husband and finally she found her answers at her grandfather´s house.
It had been a big mess with Akeno refusing to go home with her mother and stepfather she even stayed for over three years with her grandfather before they became a family again of course Akeno would return many times to visit her grandfather after that and even brought Mitsuko and Kishiko along with her if their parents allowed it but their parents never went with them to visit.
"Due to our parents behavior Grandpa Ikoruma chose Onee-Chan as his sole heir leaving everything to her once he would pass on" Mitsuko explained "So that letter was probably from your grandfather then" Sekiro mumbled and a few hours later Sekiro and Riya returned to their own ships leaving Shirayuri, Mitsuko and Kishiko alone.
Over the Atlantic Ocean:
Akeno had tears in her eyes but she did not care about that she continued to fly at over three thousand kilometers per hour towards Japan and landed only fifty minutes later at a private airfield near Tokyo where a very familiar sports car was waiting for her.
Akeno thanked the butler for the car keys and the ground crew who took care of her aircraft that was moved into a hangar and a moment later Akeno was driving down the empty streets of the outskirts of Tokyo until she arrived at a massive old Japanese mansion.
Akeno parked the car in front of the gate but before she got out she took a ceremonial blade from the backseat of the car and clasped it to her belt before she walked towards the mansion.
There were four guards in black suits that stood at the gate who stopped her "Who are you?" one of them asked but Akeno just looked at them with growing anger in her eyes that is until a maid arrived at the gate who recognized the weapon at Akenos side.
"Young Miss it is an honor and pleasure to see you here again" the maid spoke startling the four guards who looked at Akeno with disbelieve in their eyes "It has been a while Madam Shizu" Akeno replied with a slight bow before the maid guided Akeno towards a room that overlooked the bay of Tokyo.
Shisu left Akeno in front of the room and a moment later Akeno was on her knees before pulling the traditional sliding door to the side revealing a large room with a doctor and a nurse standing over a bed with a mountain of a man lying in it.
The old man took one look towards Akeno before giving the doctor and nurse a hand signal who immediately moved out of the room "I see you are alive after all my Heir" the man's voice was still strong despite his body looking so frail due to his age "That is good to know come closer it has been a long time since I saw you last" the man spoke again.
Akeno got up from the floor and closed the door behind her before walking to his bed and a moment later she embraced the old man gently "I´m sorry grandpa Ikoruma" Akeno whispered over her sobbing as the old man gently moved his massive hand through her hair "It is alright little Hellcat at least you are here now" Ikoruma spoke.
They both stayed like that for a few minutes until Akeno stopped crying "Listen Akeno I know you are not very keen on being my heir so I made sure to leave the company in the hands of close friends to manage but even so there is something I need to give you before I can die" Ikoruma spoke before he got up which caused the doctor and nurse to run into the room but Ikoruma started walking down the hallways swiftly with Akeno right behind him.
Until the two of them arrived in the large garden with a lake in the middle "Akeno give me your blade" Ikoruma simply said and Akeno did not hesitate to draw the ceremonial blade from her side handing it to Ikoruma.
Ikoruma placed the blade on a simple looking flat stone but a moment later several stones rose from underneath the water's surface creating a path to a ancient Japanese sailing statue "Take what is rightfully yours daughter of my own daughter Raika Misariutski" Ikoruma spoke and Akeno got up almost in a trance and walked on the stones in the lake until she stood in front of the ships statue.
Right at the foot of the ships statue was a rectangular black box that opened a moment later inside the box was something wrapped in black cloth with a golden dragon on the cloth itself Akeno picked up the cloth without problems but as soon as she did an ice cold shiver went down her spine.
Ikoruma nodded as Akeno made it back to him but before Akeno could ask what that had been all about Ikoruma wrapped Akenos blade in a red and black cape before walking back to the rectangular box and placed the bundle inside along with returning back to Akeno as the statue and stones disappeared into the abyss of the lake once more.
Ikoruma sighed before looking at Akeno with a weary smile "What you are holding right now are the two items that belonged to me a long time ago they identify you as my heir and what I just did is place your own ceremonial items in the time capsule so you may chose an heir in the future" Ikoruma explained until he started coughing badly collapsing to his knees.
Akeno was by his side immediately but he simply smiled at her sadly "You have to show yourself to the rest of the family wearing the two items I handed to you right after I have passed away" Ikoruma spoke but held up his hand to stop Akeno from saying anything.
"Please I already knew my time in this plane would soon be up so I ask of you stay with me during the last few hours" he simply said before Akeno helped him over to their favorite spot a bench that was encircled by trees with red petals.
Akeno leaned against Ikorumas massive body with the black cloth on her lap the two of them stayed like that for several minutes until the sun started to rise upon the horizon again "Akeno of all the things in my life that I did I´m glad to have been part of your life" Ikoruma mumbled as his eyes were only half open "I am grateful as well Grandpa Ikoruma for the years we spent together and so many other things you did for me" Ikoruma laughed a bit at that.
"I remember it so well when I suddenly found you in my personal study all those years ago crying your eyes out and you just had to drink the sake I left there the previous evening didn´t you?" Ikoruma laughed as Akeno blushed in embarrassment but she was smiling as well.
The sun was just high enough for the light to fall through the petals of the trees around them but as they continued to talk about the time they spent together Ikoruma sighed again "I guess it is time for me to go but before I do promise me one thing my little hellcat" Ikoruma asked and Akeno silently nodded "Find Altessa for me I know that she disappeared all those years ago but I know she still lives" Ikoruma explained as he placed a silver black pocket watch around Akenos neck before leaning his back against one of the trees and closing his eyes.
Akeno stayed by his side with her head lying on his chest until his heart finally stopped beating completely "Goodbye grandpa Ikoru I will find Tessa for you even if it takes me my whole life" Akeno whispered as she started bawling her eyes out but no one dared to get close to her as a group of fifty men waited in one of the large conference rooms with their sons, daughters and wives waiting in another room.
Akeno needed over an hour to stop crying her eyes out and another three to calm down enough to leave her grandfathers side "May you rest in peace" Akeno whispered as she unraveled the black cloth that was a cape that she slung over her back while she carried the black scabbard with its black gold Katana in her left hand.
Akeno walked back to the main house and was greeted by none other than Shizumi "The rest of the family are waiting in the large festival room for your arrival" Shizumi simply explained but Akeno simply nodded without a word before walking down one of the hallways.
Shizumi had known this day would come eventually but she still did not like it as Ikorumas personal doctor confirmed his death and some of the guards helped him and the nurse to place his body in a casket that stayed in the garden.
Akeno could already hear the muted conversations going on in the other room but before she could enter someone screeched at her "How dare you wear the clothes of" the annoying teenage brat did not get any further as Akeno kicked him right through the door where he sailed through the air for several meters before crashing into and right through one of the outside walls.
Everyone present in the room looked at the boy who now was lying on the ground outside his clothes more than just dirty before their attention shifted back towards the door where Akeno stood her eyes promising death upon anyone who disrespected her again.
One by one every single person in the room got on one knee and bowed their heads of course the brat still had not learned his lesson "What are all of you doing bowing to this child!" he yelled only for Akeno to cross the room in an instant her blade ready to be drawn to spill his blood.
The fear in the boys eyes was glorious "Kuranheddo please wait" someone spoke up and an older man in a traditional black and white robe stepped forward from the crowd "I apologies for my nephews behavior towards you" he spoke as he got down on his knees and bowed his head until it was lying against the ground.
Akeno nodded at that "You better teach a useless brat like him a thing or two and if I ever hear him disrespecting anyone in this family like that again I will personally take care of him" Akeno spoke her voice sounding more like that of a snake "I understand perfectly Misariutski Aikara-Sama" he added before grabbing the young boy by his collar and dragging him out of the room.
Over the next hour every single person in the room made the same vow with her "I accept and will follow you whatever you decide to do Misariutski Aikara-Sama" but once it was finally over Akeno retreated to her grandfathers study drinking the sake Shizumi left for her on the massive desk "We will see each other again Grandpa Ikoru but for now I will do what I know is right" Akeno continued to drink remembering the time she spent in the mansion until she fell asleep in front of the glass sliding door that lead to the terrace overlooking the entire estate with its various buildings.
Now then if you wish to help me a bit with the story I´m sure all of you spotted the ammount of Ships the four sisters found.
Only problem is I only have names for a few of them only ten of the ships have a name so far so if you have an idea for a ship that should be part of their fleet send me a PM or leave a review ;)