Chapter 4

Back at the Naval district, tensions are high. It is the second day after Fubuki's disappearance and nothing seems to be getting better. While the abyssals seem to have quiet for now, they knew that could only mean that they were just building up for something big. As everyone was trying not to let the situation get the better of them, some of those who had a close relationship with Fubuki were really strained. As Mutsuki and Yuudachi were walking together they were discussing what was going on. "I still don't know why Fubuki decided to leave like that," Mutsuki asked, still saddened?

"I don't know either," Yuudachi answered. "But according to her letter, she believes that there could be other fleet girls out there somewhere that she could find and convince them to help us against the abyssals," Yuudachi hypothesized.

"Well, I still think that what happened with Ooi might've also played a hand in this," Mutsuki muttered. "I don't know why but she's always seemed to have it out for Fubuki ever since she first came here," she added.

"You really think so," Yuudachi asked? "I don't think she gave Fubuki any trouble while they were in mobile unit five together."

"That's mostly because: first, Fubuki was the flagship and therefore her superior, and second, because Kitakami was willing to work with Fubuki, so she only worked with Fubuki because Kitakami was, take Kitakami out and I'm sure she'd be giving Fubuki a headache every time they'd be together," Mutsuki explained.

"Poi, Calm down Mutsuki, let's not start holding grudges against our comrades now," Yuudachi said, hoping to ease the situation a bit.

Mutsuki sighed, "I know, but still I can't just stand by and let Ooi essentially run amok causing trouble for everyone around her and for her to not care about the consequences, honestly I feel bad for Kitakami having to put up with someone like her every single day."

Unbeknownst to them, Ooi and Kitakami were walking in the opposite direction and overheard the entire conversation, Ooi felt many different feelings, anger, betrayal, but above all she felt misunderstood. She knew why she acted the way she did, but that was connected to a part of her life that she didn't want to think about, let alone share with another person. After she loses sight of them, she turns to Kitakami, sighing in defeat and hanging her head down. "Maybe they're right," she thought to herself. "Maybe I do give Kitakami more trouble then she lets on."

Seeing her friend looking distressed, Kitakami flashed a warm smile and said, "I know the others may not see it, but underneath that hard shell you have a kind and understanding heart, you just almost never show it to most people."

Ooi tried to give a similar smile back to Kitakami. While she knew she couldn't expect people to understand her or even take the time to try, she was glad that Kitakami was willing to be patient with her and actually try to understand who she truly was even if she occasionally condemned Ooi for her actions or behavior. It was all the more reason why she had such strong feelings for Kitakami. While she was on the subject of strong feelings, she couldn't help but recall what happened after operation MO while they were still in mobile unit five, particularly how she saw how Fubuki acted toward Akagi. Thinking that time caused Ooi to have one of her occasional epiphanies, which caused her to slightly chuckle to herself.

Seeing Ooi start chuckling suddenly, Kitakami raised an eyebrow and asked, "what's so funny?"

"I just realized that me and Fubuki have something in common, in a unique way," Ooi answered. While she wouldn't go into details since she felt she may creep out Kitakami, she figured how she felt for Kitakami would be similar to how Fubuki feels about Akagi.

"Well I'm glad for that," Kitakami said smiling.

Just then they noticed Sendai walking around before she noticed Mutsuki and Yuudachi, quickly running up to them and getting their attention. After she caught up to them, she said something to them before all three of them then raced over in the direction of the launch bay. As Ooi and Kitakami looked on, they wondered about what Sendai said to the two girls, but decided to not be too nosy and just walked off, if it was something important then most likely they too would hear about it soon.