Chapter 4
As night falls, everyone is headed back to their quarters and got ready to go to sleep. Well, almost everyone, as Yuudachi and Fubuki had been chatting for a few hours, but as Yuudachi looked out into the night sky, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh shoot, I almost forgot. Sorry Fubuki, but I promised Naka I'd meet her near Mamiya's cafe tonight. She said she wanted to talk to me about something important."
"It's okay Yuudachi," Fubuki said. Yuudachi smiled at her before dashing out the door.
"Maybe I should take a quick walk before turning in," Fubuki said to herself.
As Fubuki went outside, she couldn't help but look up at the starry sky, taking in all its majestic beauty. "The sky is quite beautiful at this time isn't it?" That mysterious voice from before asked her?
"You again," Fubuki muttered a tad bit startled to hear that voice again.
"Yes," the voice responded, "interesting, you never go outside before going to sleep," it said observantly.
"I…I needed to get my thoughts together," Fubuki said.
"Now that you're talking to me again," Fubuki started, "you said you'd reveal your identity soon, well I don't think I can wait anymore," Fubuki declared.
"Who are you, what are you?" Fubuki muttered louder than before with a mix of fear and desperation in her voice, "I must know."
"Ok," the voice responded, "I'll indulge your need for answers, but let's play a little game first," it suggested.
"What a game," Fubuki asked, surprised, "what game?"
"It's a simple one really," the voice started to explain, "it's called questions and answers. We each ask each other three questions. If the person answering lies and the asker calls them out on it, then the asker can lie on what question the other player asks, but the opposite doesn't happen if the asker calls the answerer a lier and they were being truthful."
"Ok," Fubuki acknowledged, "who asks first?"
"Well, as the challenger, I'll start things off," the voice said, "question one: if those you love were to turn their backs on you for no fault of your own, would you hold a grudge and hate them as well or try and have things go back to where they once were regardless of what responsibilities or goals you have?"
"This is an easy one," Fubuki quickly responded, "I could never bring myself to hate those whom I love, but even if things won't go back to what they once were I'd just try my best to move on."
"Impressive," the voice complimented, "seems you answered the question truthfully." "Question two: if you know a truth that others would either reject or try to hide, would you try and spread the truth as far as you can or just keep silent as to not rock the boat?"
Fubuki sighed, "I'd try and spread the truth, it's better to know the answer than to be in the dark about the matter."
"Good," the voice said. "Final question: if you had to fight against your friends and the true enemies together, would you treat them both equally as enemies, or would you in a way pick favorites between the two?"
"I…" Fubuki tried to answer but didn't seem to know what to answer with. "If push came to shove, I'd defend myself but even though I'd still focus more on the true enemy instead of treating them both as equals because to me they can't be equal."
"Impressive," the voice complimented, "you seem to have answered all three questions truthfully, now it's your turn to ask."
"Finally," Fubuki said, "first question: who are you?"
"You can call me, Exatior," the voice answered.
"Ok, second question," Fubuki continued, "why are you singling me out, what about me do you find more special than everyone else?"
"Like I said earlier," Exatior explained, "you have a potential far greater than you expect. In fact, you could become the most powerful fleet girl the world has ever known. Also, the bond between you and your emotions are far deeper and stronger than most other beings I've observed, even most humans, that makes you more compatible with what I intend to give you to help you out."
"Ok, final question," Fubuki said, "what do you have to gain from helping me, what are your motives?"
"First of all, I don't have anything to gain from involving myself in this whole ordeal," the Exatior said, "secondly, just like you, I view these things as abominations, there's something that I know about them, that when you find out, may shatter what you thought of both this world and the people living in it."
"Does this realization you speak affect how I view my friends and comrades," Fubuki asked, skeptical of Exatior's words?
"That depends," Exatior responded, "do you know how much they trust you and how far they'd be willing to go for you."
As Fubuki looked back at the naval district she saw that almost all the lights were off. "Oh no, I stayed out too long," she said, running as fast as she could back to carrier group one's quarters.
When she finally arrived, all the lights were off and the doors were closed. "I'm gonna have to be very quiet," she thought. Slowly opening and closing the door, she tip-toed as fast as she could back to her room. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she remembered the way she took when she left to go out to walk. She kept on high alert so no one could catch her. Luckily, she manages to sneak over to her room and quickly changes into her pajamas before going to bed. Just as she's about to close her eyes, "excellent stealth maneuvers," Exatior complimented.
"Just let me go to sleep Exatior," Fubuki mumbles before sleep finally takes her.