Disclaimer: Blue Sub # 06 is not mine, nor is it likely to belong to me in any forseeable future.


Claen'tor: Do enjoy my Blue Sub AS fic. I worked long and hard on it.

Cale: I still don't understand it, but I'm sure I will later.

Edwin: I really don't care. My turn to say, "Annnd... FIC!"


"Awake"
The aging Mousaka did not cry out in pain when it was hit by the torpedoes, nor did it seem to regret its imminent death. Hayami wanted to do something, help the great creature which had helped him, but there was naught he could do but watch and wait. The wave of blood and water swept him away from the female creature to whom he clung to, her name on his lips.

"Mutio!" He went under.

Suddenly, he was in the air, little more than a rag doll in the clutches of a machine he helped make.

"I... I'm always being saved from the sea..." He sagged a moment, then regained himself and scanned the red water, looking for her, seeing nothing. "Where are you!"

The image changed, to under the water, where the Mousaka lay in its final moments. The creature named Mutio lay crying under his eye, deep in her newest grief. Suddenly, it was not the Mousaka that Mutio was crying over but Hayami, eyes clouded in only the way eyes are when one is dead.

"Ha..ya..mi..."

He woke in a cold sweat, sitting up suddenly and banging his head on the bulkhead just above his bunk.

"OUCH! SONOVA! ...Damnable short bunks..." He grimaced and gingerly checked his head for yet another wound to add to his recent collection of bruises and cuts, courtesy of Velg. No blood came away, so it was nothing to worry about, and Hayami laid back down on the bunk once more, contemplating the most recent in a series of bad dreams since the final battle between Zorndyke's creations and the countries of the world. The door seal turned and the little girl, Huang Mei Ling, came in, holding her little teddy bear.

"Mr. Hayami?"

"What is it, kid? Did you need something?" The girl looked indecisive for a moment before answering.

"Do you miss the lady from the sea?" She looked contrite as Hayami went rigid, his eyes widening at her revelation. He tried to calm his expression down, and managed to get the look of shock from his face.

"What do you know of it?" He spoke softly, keeping his emotions under control.

"The other ladies of the sea. They sing to me sometimes. Right now, one song overrides the rest, calling for the one who saved Mutio. And you talk in your sleep sometimes, calling for Mutio. So, do you miss her?" Hayami relaxed a little and took his time answering.

"...Yeah. Go away, kid. I need to be alone for a little while longer." She nodded and left quietly, moving like a small mouse who was scared the cat would find her. The door clanged to a close, leaving Hayami alone under a flickering light, wondering a great many things while nursing his new headache.

---------------

Tsuji Sukune set the plate in front of Hayami.

"Eat, yah damn lucky punk. This is a special request from Ensign Kino." Hayami looked at the steaming mass of rice and vegetables and decided it wouldn't kill him to eat some of the grub.

"Thanks, Tsuji." The cook left and Hayami started eating, albeit a little slowly. The image of Mutio crying over his body would not disappear from his mind, and it unnerved him.

"Hey, you're eating." Kino slipped in. "Feeling better now?"

"Not really. Just hungry. Thanks, by the way." He munched thoughtfully.

"You've been acting strange since we got back to Blue 6 from the continent. Is something wrong?" Hayami considered telling Kino about his dream, then decided against it. She seemed to have taken a liking to him, and one thing Hayami knew was never to get on the wrong side of a woman you knew. It tended to be messy. He'd seen it happen to other men before.

"It's nothing." He continued eating, and Kino eyed him skeptically for a moment before getting up and leaving again, Iga coming in in her wake.

"They just keep coming, Iga. I don't think I've ever had this many visitors in one day. Don't tell me Yuri is planning on coming to see me too." He grinned a little. The grizzled captain smiled in kind.

"You never know Yuri, sometimes his dutifulness can be confusing." They shook their heads in almost perfect unison, then laughed over the thought.

"If Yuri was ever confusing about his duties, I never knew him then... Heh." Hayami took another couple of bites when his laughter died down.

"There's something bothering you, isn't there, Hayami?" Iga said as Hayami almost choked.

"How'd you know, old man?" he said, setting the chopsticks down on the bowl.

"You've been dreaming, Hayami. You talk in your sleep, you know that?" Hayami looked away.

"I was informed of that fact not long ago, yes."

"You know, Hayami, you aren't officially part of Blue 6. You've been free to go at any time." Hayami's eyes widened.

"You've known. For how long?"

"Since I saw the footage of you calling out to something in the bloody sea when you were delivered to us by that unfortunate peace-loving mousaka. The Grampus does have cameras, you know." Hayami turned back and looked at Iga for a moment.

"...Thanks, old man."

"What are you thanking me for? The Grampus has been signed to an independent diver by the name of Tetsu Hayami, courtesy of the world governments in recognition of accomplishments in ending this war between men and hybrid. Of course, that's what it officially says, but the government has no clue they're being represented by an old man who commands the mother sub the Grampus was assigned to." Iga grinned. "I thought you'd like a going away present from the crew, so I took the liberty."

Hayami stared at Iga for a long moment. "You're insane. Stupidly, idiotically, certifiably insane. Or maybe I am, I don't know." That elicted a laugh from Iga.

"Maybe we both are, Hayami. Half of them want to kick you off the ship for being so crazy, and the rest are like Kino, wanting you to stay, but knowing you could leave at anytime. So I just decided to help both sides in my own way." He winked at Hayami. "Good luck, my friend. The crew will see you off at 1200 hours, tomorrow." Iga left, leaving Hayami gaping like a beached fish in his wake.

After a minute, Hayami regained enough sense to shut his mouth and return to eating, now in a much better mood, due to Iga's amusing favour.

-End Chapter 1


Claen'tor: About time I finished that up... And this is the first of many that are being uploaded at the same time, so be amazed at my new-found proliferation. This actually was not how I wanted this fic to turn out, but I intend to make another along the same lines, but a different setup. So yeah. Check it out.

Edwin: Really, you need to shut up one of these days...

Claen'tor: ...Anyways, see you all next chapter!