Nanami woke well before her alarm the next morning. However instead of getting in her uniform and going to the office right away, she decided she needed to get a workout in. So she changed into PT clothes, put her hair in a messy bun, grabbed some workout materials, and ran to the recreation center.

Once at the center, she walked around until she found what she was looking for, the boxing gym. The workout materials she brought were hand wraps, gloves, a mouthpiece, and headgear. She wasn't sure what it said about her that her method of working out was also combat related, but it was what worked for her.

She started with calisthenics to warm up, then wrapped her hands, put on the gloves, and went to work on the heavy bag. As she worked, she fell into a trance-like state, throwing combos dodging imaginary blows, so much so that she didn't notice the second person enter the gym.

"Woah, you're like totally good at this," a voice spoke from behind Nanami, breaking her concentration. She steadied the bag and turned to see a girl in tight-fitting workout gear that accentuated her impressive figure. She had short, blonde hair that was dyed pink at the ends and two longer strands hung down in front. Her clear blue eyes practically sparkled.

She must be another of my girls, Nanami realized. Not wanting to be be rude, she responded.

"Thank you for the compliment. I am Nanami," She introduced herself. She kept it informal, as this was an informal thing, and she didn't need to put this girl on edge.

"Sup Nanami. Name's Marblehead. Now, I would guess you're Sakuran by the name, but you speak Royal exceptionally well, and are wearing Eagle Union PT gear. So you must be the Commander," Marblehead returned the introduction. Nanami was impressed, she had pegged the girl for the airheaded type, turns out she was pretty intelligent.

"You have pretty good deductive reasoning skills. Please, in this setting do not worry about the Commander. Here I am Nanami. Now, I see you brought gear with you. Are you looking to spar?" Nanami praised before recommending a match.

Marblehead's eyes lit up even more, "Finally! I'd totes love to! Omaha never wants to spar with me!"

Nanami let her get her gear on and did a few small movement exercises to keep warm. Once Marblehead was geared up and Nanami had her headgear on and mouthpiece in, they stepped into the ring together. They took up corners opposite one another, then came out and touched gloves as a signal to start.

Nanami did not hesitate to go on the offensive. Feint left, slide right and uppercut past her guard. As quick as she was in, she moved back out and began looking for her next shot. It appeared as an opening in Marblehead's footwork. This let Nanami move in and land a straight kick to her midsection, pushing her back on the canvas.

Since she was a couple inches taller, Nanami had a reach advantage, so she only wanted to enter into Marblehead's range when she saw an opening. If she stayed in close, Marblehead would likely beat her based purely on the difference in their power.

And that was how the mock match would go. She would move in get a few shots in and stay just out of Marblehead's range. The shots that Marblehead managed to land, hurt. A couple even winded Nanami. Though Marblehead put up a good fight, after 3 rounds of sparring, Nanami was clearly the winner.

"You-you're awesome Nanami," Marblehead praised through her heavy breaths. Nanami smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you. I have been kickboxing for eight years. And...I may have a couple medals from the All-Service tournament," Nanami replied. Marblehead looked at her with wide eyes then fell back on the ground with a groan.

"I've been hustled," she cried in mock despair. Then she sat up exaggerating her exhaustion.

Nanami corrected her, "Think of it more as a learning experience. That is the only way to learn in kickboxing. I would be happy to continue the lesson another day." With the offer of lessons, Nanami also offered Marblehead a hand up.

"It's a workout date," Marblehead replied cheerfully as she took the hand up. With Nanami's help she happily hopped up, and they both began gathering their things. Once they had their things, they walked out of the gym together to see a freshly risen sun.

"Getting a good workout in sure feels good first thing in the morning. Just leave all your problems behind and hit some things," Marblehead chimed as they walked.

Nanami smiled, "Yes it does. It takes all those thoughts and pushes them out, leaving just you and the bag or opponent."

"Yep! Yep! You understand Nanami," the cruiser exclaimed. In short time they reached the junction where they had to split in order to reach their respective quarters, and Nanami continued on alone to her home. After a quick shower, she changed into her uniform and went into the office.

When she arrived, Essex, Takao, Enterprise, and Amagi were already there, each of them working on paperwork.

She paused a second in the doorway before greeting them, "Good morning ladies. While I appreciate you all being here already on a Saturday, you do not have to be here. I am on call, and have placed my emergency contact on the door." She explained to them that she would cover the office in the case of emergencies, but Amagi just laughed.

"Good morning Commander. Did you think we did not see the work you left behind for this morning?" Amagi asked.

"It is the duty of a secretary to assist her Commander in any way possible. If you have work, we have work," Essex replied in her matter-of-fact tone.

"I came to see if you had work for me," Enterprise added.

"As Essex said, I am your secretary, if I were to abandon you while you had work, that would be disgraceful," Takao explained. Nanami couldn't help but crack a small smile. There was a small swelling of feeling in her heart that caused it, but she couldn't recognize what it was. Ignoring it, she turned to Enterprise.

"Enterprise, I do have a job for you, would you follow me?" She inquired to the Eagle Union representative. Enterprise stood up without a word. As she did, Nanami noticed that Grim wasn't with her.

They walked out of the room and Nanami asked, "Where is Grim?" Enterprise smiled softly, and Nanami felt her heart beat a little faster, again she didn't know why.

"Grim is a lazy bird, and is asleep in my room with Yorktown," she affectionately recalled.

"That is sweet. And you should be taking a page out of Grim's book. Did you not just get off of QRF duty?" Nanami chastised the carrier.

Enterprise quickly replied, "I cannot leave my Commander with work while I sleep. I would do anything if it meant hastening the end of this endless war." She seemed rather melancholy even with that decisive statement, and Nanami paused to think for a moment. Enterprise went through a lot during her time in the war, and managed to survive it all. It was how she got the name Lucky course she would have some problems. She watched many of her friends, and her sisters go down.

"Enterprise...I understand. I want to end this as quickly as possible as well. We can talk about why later, once the rest of the office has cleared," Nanami told her and they returned to the office. With all of them working, the paperwork from the day before and what little showed up that morning was finished in rapid fashion.

Nanami stretched and said, "Thank you all for coming in this morning and helping. It would have taken me far longer to get through this without you. With that said, you are free to go enjoy your weekend. Enterprise, please stay behind for a bit." After Takao and Essex left, Nanami peeked at the clock and realized that was why Amagi was lingering. Well, might as well let her know too.

"Amagi you can stay as well, you have already heard part of my past. This will not take long either," Nanami explained.

After pausing to think, she continued, "I told both of you my heritage, my father, my brothers, but I have not said how they died." She moved over to the shelf and removed the box with their medals. She lingered on it for a moment before walking it over to Amagi and Enterprise.

"These are the medals they earned. My father served during the world war, and then the beginning of the Siren War. My brothers served in the beginning of the Siren War. Each of them a pilot, each of them honored for their valor. A Medal of Honor, a Navy Cross, 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses, among others. I accepted many of these posthumously," She revealed.

However she still wasn't done, "My father was 7th Fleet Admiral when the sirens appeared and obliterated the fleet near Midway. His kept his flagship afloat long enough to attract attention and let some smaller ships escape. My second-eldest brother was in 2nd Fleet as a pilot. He double aced before being killed in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay." Talking about her eldest brother was going to be the most difficult, because she had watched him die.

"Finally, my eldest brother. A bomber pilot with 3rd Fleet. They formed up in Puget Sound to protect the cities and bases of the sound. I watched my brother's bomber slam into what I now know to have been a humanoid Siren carrier," she kept going, beginning to undress as she spoke. The looks on Amagi's and Enterprise's faces were a mix of pity, horror, and compassion.

Finally she finished, "At that same battle I was ten. I watched Puget Sound burn, and I received these as a gift from the Sirens." She showed her scarred body to the two girls. Again, she was not particularly bothered by others seeing her like this, but for some reason she felt a little embarrassed at revealing so much of herself to them. As a result she hid her face from them, and didn't see their response to her scars.

Instead she suddenly felt two pairs of arms wrap around her. She was shocked. She had not expected that from these two. Well, maybe Amagi, but not Enterprise. It was frankly overwhelming, and suddenly a single tear slid down her cheek.

Tears? I do not cry. I can not cry, Nanami tried to convince herself. She was not allowed to cry. Her purpose was to end this war, there was no time for tears in that mission statement. Yet here she was, a second tear threatening to appear.

When did I let myself become so weak? She asked herself, leaning into the hugs. Only couple days ago she endured a sympathy hug from uncle Frank, and she hadn't reacted this way. This bothered her on a visceral level. As she thought about this, the two women pulled away.

"I am sorry to make you speak about that Nanami. I now see you understand better than I thought," Enterprise conceded. Nanami shook her head to dispel her worry. However Amagi spoke up next.

"You were so young...I am sorry Nanami. We will stay by your side and ensure something like that doesn't happen ever again," Amagi assured her, eliciting a small smile from Nanami.

After she got herself under control, she responded, "Thank you both. I appreciate you, and after the last couple of days, I have come to rely upon and trust you. Which is not an easy thing for me, and now you know why I am the way I am." She finished getting re-dressed, and checked the time. It was about time for them to leave for Amagi's room. She had an idea when thinking about how to tell Enterprise they were leaving.

"Amagi? Do you have one that would fit Enterprise?" She earnestly inquired. Amagi's resultant smile glowed.

"Of course! Enterprise you're going to come with us," Amagi notified the now confused carrier.

"Wait, where am I going?" she asked in a slight panic. However it didn't matter, because Amagi had taken one arm and Nanami the other as they escorted the carrier out of the office.

"Amagi's room to be fit for a kimono! You are going to attend a banquet with me tonight! It will do you good to interact with the Sakura girls since you are Eagle Union's representative. It will set a good example for the rest of the fleet," Nanami explained as they walked. Enterprise was uneasy, but knew there was no way she could squirm out of this one.

Seeing the potential fight and flight response from Enterprise wear off, Amagi released her grip on her. However Nanami didn't notice, and instead held tightly to Enterprise, feeling comfortable. Enterprise meanwhile was blushing furiously from the view afforded her by her height. Together they made Amagi smile knowingly as they approached the Sakura Dorms.

When they went through the front door, Nanami released Enterprise somewhat reluctantly. For Enterprise's part, she breathed a sigh of relief at not having to control herself any longer.

Instead of going to Amagi's dorm room like she thought they would, they headed to a large store room with a closet. When Amagi opened the door, they found there was already a small group of people there. Akagi, Kaga, Shoukaku, Mikasa, and the Mutsuki-class destroyers were all present.

"Nanami," the entire group of destroyers shouted in unison, abandoning their snacks to run over to her. Kneeling down with a smile, she gave each of them a hug. Once she had them back to eating, she went to greet the others.

However as she did, she heard a light growling coming from Akagi. She was glaring at Enterprise. Nanami remembered they had a history. Enterprise sank Kaga and Akagi at Midway after all. So she decided to stop this before it got out of hand. Walking up to Akagi, she reached up, and forced the fox-girl to look at her.

She glared at her and growled icily, "She. Is. Your. Ally." Akagi looked thoroughly defeated by Nanami's reprimand, shrinking away and looking much smaller than usual.

Mikasa, Kaga and Amagi stared in amazement. Nobody could manage Akagi like that but Mikasa and Amagi. Even then, neither of them used that particular method to keep her in line. Enterprise and Shoukaku both smirked at the sight of Akagi being put in her place.

"Now, how are the rest of you?" Nanami greeted the remaining three women in the room. Mikasa broke out of her amazement first and gave her a small bow.

"I am wonderful Commander, how are you this fine day?" She gave a cordial response.

"I am doing well Miss Mikasa. And please call me Nanami when we are in more casual situations," Nanami answered. Mikasa bowed her head in acknowledgment and returned to destroyer-sitting.

"I am well Nanami. Thank you for your concern," Kaga replied when it was her turn. Nanami was pretty sure that was the most words Kaga had said since Nanami had first arrived on base two days prior. Even though that wasn't long, Nanami had seen her several times.

Finally Shoukaku said, "After seeing you deal with Miss Akagi, I am doing incredibly well!" This elicited a glare from Akagi and a small smile from Nanami.

So 5th Carrier Division's leader really did have a problem with the 1st , I'll have to remember that, Nanami took a note mentally.

Now that the greetings were out of the way, Nanami turned to Amagi who was already working on Enterprise since she had been free. After double checking measurements, she entered the large closet and pulled out a full kimono.

The outermost layer was primarily black, but had beautiful depictions of lavender all across it. After the lengthy process of getting it on Enterprise and teaching her how to wear it, Enterprise emerged from the other side of the changing partition. It was clear Amagi had an eye for this sort of thing. Nanami's heart skipped a beat seeing Enterprise in a kimono that refined and elegant.

With Enterprise done, that meant it was Nanami's turn. Amagi quickly got her measurements, lingering in a few places that Nanami was sure weren't coincidental. Then just as quickly as she had with Enterprise, she pulled another Kimono out of the closet. This one absolutely took her breath away.

Ice blue with silvery snowflake patterns across the majority of it. She almost eagerly went through the process of getting dressed in it. She was thankful to have the changing partition to avoid questions about the scars. She did not feel like talking about it twice that day. Once she had finished dressing with Amagi's help(wearing full Kimono's is difficult), she walked out to the group.

"Oh wow..."


A/N: Surprise! Another chapter today! Do not get used to it, I just could not stop writing, and managed to hammer this out. Thank you all for your reviews, they are super important and really let me know how you feel about the fic.

Also, new character introduced! Everyone's favorite intelligent gyaru. Super happy to be able to add her.