"Say, you said it was Atago-san who bought all those lingerie outfits for us, right? Why don't we go thank her!"
Akatsuki stopped what she was doing and looked at Ikazuchi, who was dressing in her uniform and standing with her hands on her hips, grinning. It'd been a couple of days since they'd all been given that lingerie by Atago, and Akatsuki had to admit sleeping in the stuff was way better than sleeping in pajamas.
"Good idea, Ikazuchi-chan. Let's go see if we can find her" Akatsuki said. Her and Ikazuchi left their room and headed downstairs, finding Inazuma and Hibiki outside on one of the benches. Together the four of them headed for the dorms used by the heavy cruisers, expecting to find her there. She wasn't downstairs, as far as they could tell, so they went upstairs to the second floor where, instead of Atago, they found Takao.
"Oh, hello girls. What are you all doing here? Did you need help with homework again?" she said.
"No!" Akatsuki replied, a little too emphatically. "Sorry. We were just looking for Atago-san, we want to go talk with her about something."
"If it's Atago-chan you're looking for, you'd best check the docks. Earlier, she told me she was going there to freshen up. She should still be there" Takao said.
The girls bowed. "Thank you, Takao-san" Akatsuki said, and then they were off for the docks. The building was near the waterfront, not far from the dorms. The admiral, as great as he was, had wanted the building there so the girls wouldn't have to go far to get back to their rooms after finishing repairs.
Akatsuki and her sisters entered the building and headed for the repair pools at the back, passing by a few of the others as they went. The docks, thankfully, were sparsely populated today, meaning few of the girls had been injured in the recent fights, which Akatsuki was grateful for. It was boring in the docks, not to mention how scary it was getting hurt.
The four little ladies entered one of the changing rooms at the end of the building's single hall just in time to see Atago come out from the repair pool area, a towel wrapped tightly around her voluptuous figure. She saw the four of them and her face brightened up in a cheery smile.
"Hello, girls. Pan-paka-paaaaan!"
Inazuma, Ikazuchi, and Hibiki all raised their hands and chanted "pan-paka-paaaan" back, much to Akatsuki's annoyance. She folded her arms over her chest, puffing out her cheeks.
"Geez, we're all how old now and you all still do that silly pan-paka-pan stuff?" Akatsuki said, getting sheepish smiles from her sisters. She looked over at Atago and was surprised to find the heavy cruiser had gotten much closer to her, and was leaning forward, her hands on her knees and her rather impressive bust eye-level with Akatsuki.
"No matter how old a lady is, she always has room in her life for fun" Atago said with a wink, and Akatsuki blushed, feeling a little flustered. "Anyway, what are all you girls here for? Looking to get into the bath for a bit?"
Akatsuki shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "No, we came to talk to you. You see, Ikazuchi and I were thinking... That is, she brought it up with me, that maybe we should all come to you and thank you for buying all those lingerie sets for us!"
Atago smiled. "You're quite welcome, girls. I can only imagine what you young ladies looked like, all dressed up like that. Maybe you'll show me sometime, OK? Anytime any of you girls need anything from me just ask, and I'll be there, alright?"
The four of them all smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Atago-san" they all said in unison, and Akatsuki was about to ask her about something else when Atago stepped forward and hugged her, the arms of the much taller woman wrapped around her head, forcing Akatsuki to turn to the side lest she be smothered by Atago's stomach.
"Geez, don't treat me like a child!" Akatsuki protested, but Atago didn't let her go.
"I'm sorry, Akatsuki-chan, but you girls are just too precious. I just love you all so very much" Atago said, and let Akatsuki go. "Why don't all of you come up and give Atago a hug, hmm?"
The others all shared a look and shrugged, with Inazuma the first to step up. She smiles and closes her eyes as Atago embraces her, holding her tightly. "Thank you, Atago-san. For everything-nanodesu."
She releases Inazuma and opens her arms up for Ikazuchi to step forward, which she gladly does. She grins and nuzzles the soft fabric of the towel, happy as can be. "Thanks, Atago-san! You're the best."
Ikazuchi steps away, leaving just Hibiki. The little destroyer wraps her arms around Atago's waist, looking up, her chin on Atago's navel. "Spasibo." After a moment she steps away to rejoin her sisters, their hands all folded in front of their laps. Akatsuki takes a moment to straighten her hair before putting her hands back on her hips. She's about to suggest they all leave when Atago speaks again.
"Say, girls, how about a kiss from Atago? Just on the forehead, of course, to show how much I truly appreciate and love you all."
The four of them share a look, varying looks of want on their faces, before they all turn back to face Atago. "Well, why not on the lips!" Akatsuki said, trying to look nonchalant about the whole thing. "I mean, we're all first-class ladies here, right? It should be just fine to-"
She's cut off by a gentle bop on her head, and she turns to see Hibiki next to her, reaching up with her fingers out to karate chop Akatsuki's head, which she does again. "OK, OK, geez! On the forehead's fine too, I guess" Akatsuki said, her face red. She looks back at Atago, who just smiles and opens her arms again. She steps up and watches as Atago leans down, her giant melons right in her face, still glistening with water. She feels the tender kiss of Atago's lips on her forehead and feels her face grow warm again.
Akatsuki steps away to let Inazuma go next, her eyes tightly closed and hands drawn up to her chest, bracing herself for it. Atago's kiss lasts a little longer than Inazuma is expecting, apparently, and she tentatively opens her eyes to find her sight filled with Atago's plump orbs. She turns red and tries to turn away, but Atago is still kissing her forehead. "Hawawa..."
Atago lets her go and moves on to Ikazuchi, who's still grinning with her hands on her hips. Her grin widens and she giggles when Atago kisses her forehead. When she's done she moves down to Hibiki, who reaches around her back to grab her elbow, her face only faintly red as Atago kisses her.
With the four of them all hugged and kissed Atago steps back, a smile on her face and her hands folded together in front of her. "Thank you for indulging me, girls. I've got to go see Takao-chan now, OK? But I'll always be around if you need me, got it?"
Akatsuki looks to her sisters, who all smile and nod. They all take one last look at Atago and bow, their hands at their sides. "THANKS AND BE WELL, ONEE-CHAN!" they all shout together. Atago, taken aback by this, can only blush and smile at the four dutiful girls before saying her goodbye and leaving to get dressed.
"Well, that went well!" Ikazuchi said, smiling, and the others nodded.
"Atago-san's such a high-class lady, we should all try to be like her!" Akatsuki said, her hands on her hips and her chin high. "I'm glad our mission of gratitude was such a success. Well done, girls, and thank you again Ikazuchi for bringing it up to me. It was a good idea!"
"Like I always say, it's OK to rely on me more!"
The four of them share a laugh and begin the short walk back to their dorm room, happy and content knowing they've got the support of women like Atago in their lives, for all things big and small.
A/N: this story once again exists thanks to the imagination of fellow author and yuri fiend YuriChan220. As before, I must recommend you check out her page if you like yuri content, because she has at least one yuri story for basically every manga, anima, video game, or TV show in history! I must also offer my endless apologies to her in taking so long to write this story; she asked me to write it more than a month ago!