Author's Note: Ok! We are getting somewhere with these reviews. I seem to have pleased a good amount of you people. I have good news for all of you thanks to the support I have been getting. As a gift for all the follows, favs, and reviews, I will make more explicit content but not on this site. I have made an account on Archive Of Our Own where the more mature content will be placed.

Now then, on to the next chapter.

The Commander found himself once more in the gym after spending the past couple of nights sick. His little escapade by trying to relive his childhood memories of dancing in the rain left him ill. Thankfully the shipgirls did a good job in covering the paperwork and checking up on him, especially Akagi. She basically never left his side. Although, as much as it was an annoyance, he found that quite charming about the kitsune.

Now that he wasn't anchored to the bed, literally and figuratively, he was back to training his body. Cesare overlooked his workout routine like normal but she was more visibly upset. He couldn't blame her considering their date was interrupted by a storm before it could begin.

"I got to make it up to her," he thought to himself as he pushed the bar upwards and slowly brought it down while intaking some air

He pushed the bar upwards again while exhaling before placing the bar on the hinges. His face was pouring with sweat and his back looked like he took a dive into the ocean. Cesare closed her stopwatch with her frown faltering.

"You got more reps in a shorter amount of time despite your previous illness," she told him before leaving the area entirely

Sighing with relief, Shikikan began to wipe his forehead with a towel. His eyes then noticed that someone else was in the room. It wasn't Cesare thanks to the body shape of the other person, a body type that no doubt would land him some criticism if he spoke. This other individual wore an Ironblood dress but it was much more modest. Her blond hair was unique yet similar to Eugen's hairstyle but topped with a red cap.

"Something the matter, Hipper?" the Commander asked standing upwards and approaching the sister ship of Eugen

Without a word and also a slight scowl on her face, the Ironblood Heavy Cruiser handed over a water bottle to the officer. He took the drink and poured the cold contents into his mouth to rehydrate, "Thanks."

"It's what a big sister would do," Hipper grumbled before crossing her arms against her much smaller chest, "Shikikan, tell me something, am I better than Eugen?"

The Commander sweatdropped with a tired sigh. This wasn't the first nor the last time Hipper had asked this question. Ever since he got her thanks to construction, Hipper made it her mission to be better than Prinz Eugen in every way. Any conversation to get reasoning was always ended with a denial. It didn't help that with Shikikan's marriage, Hipper seemed to double her efforts in making herself a 'better older sister.'

His silence made the older sister huff, muttering, "Baka."

A brow was raised when he heard that term, or insult, brought up to him. It wasn't new since Nelson called him the same thing but the officer never found the answer. The one ship girl that seemed to really call him that was Hammann. That little destroyer seemed to have a lot of hatred in her to call him that on a consistent basis.

"You mind telling me what that means?" he finally asked, wanting to help out his sister in law while learning the nickname

Hipper closed her eyes with a frown on her face, shaking her head, "You really don't know what it means? Surely someone has told you about it?"

"Other than Hammann calling me that, I have no clue. So what does it mean?"

She was about to answer before the door was busted open with a very worried Akashi, "C-Commander! Someone stole a special item nya!"

Both the Commander and Hipper gave the Repair Ship a blank look since she had a tendency to rip them off, "What was stolen, Akashi?"

The officer was promptly gripped from the sides of his head by the Sakura Repair Ship before being shaken violently, "IT WAS A PROMISE RING SHIKIKAN!"

A look of dread planted itself on the Commander's face with that news. Whoever had the promise ring no doubt would sow chaos among the shipgirls. Now, that didn't mean Shikikan was obligated to marry them but a promise ring is a promise ring. Those things were basically Akashi's bread and butter beside the constant need to expand the docks. If someone stole that, they were harming the Sakura ship's trade network.

Not like the officer would mind the prices go down, but still…

"Alright, I'll have the rest of the base look around for a missing promise ring, I'm sure we'll find it," the Commander said with a confident smile but neither Akashi nor Hipper were believing him

The Ironblood Heavy Cruiser spoke, "You'll have to offer them something or they'll just ignore it. Not like you will have a problem incentivizing them."

Shikikan grumbled under his breath. He really didn't like what she was hinting at but he knew it was true. If one of the girls found the missing Promise ring but there wasn't a reward, they'll simply keep it or sell it back to Akashi. The best way to find this promise ring was to offer the one thing the other factions want, his hand in marriage.

"Alright, let's get the word out and see the carnage that will begin," Shikikan said before making his way out of the workout room

"What will you do once this place begins to get turned upside down?" Hipper questioned, following after her new brother-in-law

The Commander answered, "Paperwork, someone's gotta do it."


Paperwork is what the Commander would have done if he didn't find himself hiding out in the Ironblood brewery. When he arrived at his office, he found the place literally torn to shreds and paperwork all over the place. That and several of his clothes were missing. No doubt Akagi got inside despite the number of locks he had installed. The search must have started right away once the news got out and apparently, the Commander's office was the first place the girls seemed to check.

Now, he and Hipper were enjoying a couple of German superior beers while they waited out the carnage outside. The tsundere sister-in-law already looking like she couldn't handle the drink with her cheeks flushed.

"What does my sister have that I don't? Is it...hic...because I'm flat?!" the Ironblood Heavy Cruiser suddenly demanded, her anger not diminishing even with the alcohol going through her system

Shikikan sweatdropped before answering, "I think you simply don't have a nice personality. This has nothing to do with your chest size."

"Is that what...hic...boys are into? From my studying, having a bigger bust seems to attract all of them…" the tsundere took a massive gulp of her drink, having a temporary look of content before returning to her frown

The Commander sighed with how naive that viewpoint was but it was a simple explanation, "Not exactly...Uh. Like anyone, personality can play a role in that and sometimes...uh…"

He honestly found very little to say before it got to some rather inappropriate material. Hipper, despite her looks, was a mature woman and older than Eugen. Still, it felt like he was a pervert if he really wanted to explain it as he imagined it. Lord have mercy on him if he ever did.

Before he could properly put together a valid explanation, Hipper beat him to the punchline, "So why do you seem to only date girls with a larger chest?"

Shikikan's face lit up like pepper with no way to refute that question. All of his interests happened to be girls with good curves. Even Z23, despite her being a Destroyer, had a curvy figure that only seemed to be enhanced with her retrofit. She was nowhere near as curvy as Takao, Tirpitz, or even Hood, but she had a charm to her.

"That's just personal tastes," he meekly replied, gulping his drink down quickly to ignore his lewd thoughts

"Baka…"

Both sat in silence with the Commander occasionally looking out the window to find Ark Royal blushing intensely while watching some of the Sakura Destroyers. In a few moments, Enterprise sprung out of nowhere with her eagle wearing a police light. Ark Royal made a dash for any escape with an Enterprise hot on her heels. This entire scene had taken place just outside the Ironblood Bar and in front of Shikikan.

"That Ark Royal never changes," Shikikan muttered before laying his head on the counter

The door to the bar was opened with Tirpitz entering the area. She spotted the Commander and Hipper having some drinks. However, she wasn't here to have drinks, she looked like she had some news.

"Kommandant, the ring has been found," the Battleship stated, but her posture was not of relief or sadness, but of caution

The officer raised his head quickly, his face contorting into a frown, "Who found it?"


Shikikan looked in absolute confusion when he saw the promise ring on the one thing he never expected it to be on. Was it on the ring finger of a girl he never expected to eventually marry? No, not really. It was on the horn of a specific plush unicorn which was being held by an adorable purple-haired girl. Thankfully the other girls hadn't realized this but how did Tirpitz find out?

"Explain," the officer said to the Ironblood battleship who was thinking, her usual pastime


She then looked at the Commander, "I was on my way to have Vestal to inspect my ship for any damage or faulty leaks. It was then I found something odd…"

The day was bright, beautiful, and held a light breeze. Tirpitz's white cape flowed slightly as she made her way to the docks in hopes of finding the only repair ship that made a difference. No, it wasn't Akashi since she always ran the store. Thankfully, the Eagle Union had a dependable repair ship that never turned down a chance to help out her allies.

She was possing by some of the Royal Navy shipgirls until a certain approached her. She felt a slight tug on her cape, taking her out of her thoughts and turning towards the source. Standing at around half her height was one of the Royal Navy aircraft carriers but she was no more than a little girl. A purple-haired girl wearing a white dress and holding a unicorn plushie in her arms.

"Hello, Ms. Tirpitz...Are you getting a check-up too?" Unicorn asked shyly, hiding her face behind her unicorn in fear of the Bismarck-Class battleship

Tirpitz, despite how cold she was thanks to her solitude, couldn't deny that Unicorn was being quite cute with her shyness, "Yes, a regular inspection. Did you have yours, little one?"

Unicorn nodded vigorously, "Big brother said I need to so I don't hurt myself when the big meanies attack...Is it true that big brother married three of you?"

Tirpitz was about to reply but she saw the other Royal Navy ships looking in her direction. This could either be good news or bad news depending on how they felt about it.

"That is not for me to say," she simply answered before noticing something reflecting the sun's light off it

On the base of U-chan's horn was a ring loosely settled. It took all of Tirpitz's willpower not to question Unicorn on how she got one considering she was in her teens at best. Her thoughts turned to what the Commander was thinking in giving such a ring to a young girl who saw him as her brother. Was Shikikan secretly into little girls?!

"Attention. A promise ring was stolen from Akashi's store, please report the culprit and return the ring to the Commander. The first girl to do so wins his hand in marriage."

Tirpitz raised a brow before the pieces placed themselves. The ring must have been stolen by Unicorn at some point but did that mean the small aircraft carrier was in love with the Commander. If this was true, it was a brilliant but risky plan.

"Little one, did you steal this?" the battleship questioned, pointing at the ring on her unicorn's horn

Unicorn looked to where Tirpitz was indicating only to find herself blushing immensely, her cheeks scarlet with the sight of the promise ring, "N-no! I would never steal! Big brother would be mad at me."

Shikikan pinched the bridge of his nose while holding the missing promise ring in his hand and a quivering Unicorn holding his leg, "So our thief was a plushie? I was thinking Akashi simply mismanaged her inventory but this explains it."


The little aircraft carrier looked up at the officer with tears trailing down her face, "Is big brother mad at Unicorn?"

The Commander shook his head while sighing, picking up the little girl, "No, I can't ever get mad at you. I'm just a little upset that there was a fuss over this little thing."

Unicorn proceeded to hug the Commander while he watched the sun beginning to descend, indicating on the day slowly moving towards nighttime, "Let's get you back to the dorms before Illustrious begins to worry."

"What will happen to the ring, Kommandant?" Tirpitz questioned, having a feeling the other girls would be quite disappointed to hear the news

"Nothing for now. I'll just make an announcement so we can get the base under control. Once that happens, I'll just hold onto it until further notice. I got to get this one to sleep," Shikikan answered, waving at the battleship as he left the docks

"Big brother… is it okay for Unicorn to call you Papa?" Unicorn asked out of the blue while she rode on the shoulders of the officer

Tirpitz put a hand over her heart as she felt a pang go through it. Her eyes widened before her thoughts turned to that one word; papa. Once this war was over, was she even ready to settle down with the only person who melted her icy heart? As she thought about this, her knees felt weak to where she used her flag to steady herself. What would it be like to have a child on her own? Would she be a shipgirl like Tirpitz or just a normal human being like the Commander? All these questions were flowing endlessly through her head.

"Ms. Tirpitz, I'm ready to ch-Oh dear, are you alright?" the voice of Vestal spoke behind the Ironblood flagship but was barely paid any attention


The next chapter will be the Royal Ball so stay tuned for that. Have a nice day/night