Okay, let's not waste too much time and get right into the chap. I do want to announce I have begun my first story on Archive titled "Love Under Crane Wings" so check that out if you can. I should have the second chapter up for that in the following days


"Martin, you better have details on what the hell High Command sent me," the voice of Shikikan filled his vacant room

His room had little light to it besides one small lamp on his desk. The outdoors were dark ever since his date with Baltimore ended. He had changed to his nightly attire so he could rest easy yet the discovery he had earlier defeated any possibility of sleep until he had answers. That was why he ranged his trust friend and mentor.

The old man on the other end of the phone sighed with exhaustion, probably due to his sleep schedule being much earlier than the younger admiral, "What did they send you? Not functional guns?"

Flames of anger rose within the young officer but he remained calm since he was dealing with a sleepy Martin, not awake one, "I got a Wisdom Cube...but not any ordinary one. A pure white one that contrasts the Mental Cube I got reports about when I first arrived here. Long story short, I touched the damn thing and I saw something."

"What did you see?" the sleepy tone of Martin faded and was replaced with curiosity

Shikikan felt his jaw tighten a bit, the air in his lungs escaping him momentarily, "I saw...everyone's death. Not just that...I think I saw Enterprise but...she didn't look like herself."

Silence was all that revealed itself when the Admiral dropped the news on his superior. Moments of silence passed while the young officer hoped his mentor had some sort of answer to what he was dealing with. The scenes of every single one of his shipgirls dying was plaguing his mind. He didn't want to believe them, finding it ludicrous that their fate was sealed when they defied all odds so far.

"Ah shit...they sent you that thing," Martin finally said with another sigh, "I told them we shouldn't mess with items such as those. Not since she came around."

"She?" Shikikan raised a brow

"The Enterprise you mentioned. My fleet had an encounter with her and thank God she didn't destroy us right then. We didn't fire on her but she was damaged, both physically and emotionally."

"Wait, you ran into that Enterprise? Is this the same one that Washington, Carolina, and Helena reported on a year ago?" Shikikan rose from his seat with astonishment, his fear replaced with curiosity and a small glimmer of sympathy

He heard Martin move to get into a more comfortable position, the sounds of the old admiral's bed squeaking with age, "Yeah. Same one. We were tracking some Siren signals when we ran right into her. It was a bloodbath, Siren bodies and ships everywhere. Mostly lesser ones, not the important ones like what you fought against."

Digging through the cabinet for the reports about this Dark Enterprise, Shikikan replied, "What happened next?"

"She was injured from fighting all that on her own, so we helped her out. She mentioned something about losing something dear to her like she dropped something. High Command instructed me to take her back to HQ until further notice. I haven't seen her since then."

Finding the files he was looking for, Shikikan took out the photos that were taken. As Martin explained what he remembered, Shikikan analyzed each photo to see the very same Enterprise he found in his visions. She was not the Enterprise that he knew, so that meant the man he saw bleeding to death had to be…

"Martin, did she ever mention a commander?"

A few moments of silence before the old man gave a gruff reply, "Yeah, said he died on their last stand. I interrogated her for as many details as I could get on where she came from but she was too badly injured and entered into a coma."

The Admiral nodded along, putting the few pieces he had together, "I think she's from another timeline where the Sirens almost exterminated humanity. I think what I saw was my own death in her timeline."

"Like some comic book timey wimey bullshit?" the old officer retorted in a slightly joking manner

"Well, I'm no scientist. I don't know what the eggheads would say to explain this but I do know this, she's not from our timeline. Is she still at HQ?" Shikikan said, wondering what else he could learn from the Wisdom Cube

"Yes, she hasn't moved from there. She's been on life support in case she ever wakes up," Martin answered, his voice filled with uncertainty in what Shikikan was thinking

"Send her to me. Before I hang up, where did you guys get this Wisdom Cube?"

"Oh yeah, that. One of those Siren gates opened up and that thing just dropped into the ocean near one of my patrol ships. They recovered it and the eggheads studied it day and night. Even with the best technology they had, they couldn't open a single secret. So if High Command sent it to you and it gave you those visions, then it's tied to you in some way," Martin explained, humming afterward in thought

Shikikan sat back into his seat, looking at the photos of the Alternate Enterprise in wonder, "Yeah, that's what I'm wondering now. Hopefully, that Enterprise wakes up soon so I can ask her what's up with it."

"If she wakes up, I'll send her your way. Don't think too much about whatever that cube is showing you. I know damn well you haven't let any of your girls get sunk so don't let it get to your head,"

He really wanted to be relieved by those encouraging words, but something wouldn't let him feel relief at that moment, "Thanks, Martin."

Shikikan ended the call while he grasped one of the photos and stared intently at this alternate Enterprise. A version of Enterprise that was broken with no one to support her and her only goal was to destroy her enemies. A version of Enterprise that almost repeated itself in this timeline from what he read about.

A yawn escaped the Admiral's lips with sleep finally seeping into his body, forcing him to make his way towards his bed. Another day awaited him with another date being the main event. His mind was too tired to think about who his date was going to be tomorrow. Instead, he surrendered to sleep's embrace to rest for another battle.


Another morning, another breakfast inside his own room thanks to the efforts of Belfast. Shikikan looked over any small errands he had to do before the rest of his day was free for his date. One such errand was figuring out who was his date and Gascogne did a good job to make his week full of variety.

"I wonder how the weather is today," Shikikan muttered out loud, opening one of his windows to get an idea

Due to the light outside, he assumed it would be nice and warm but once he opened the glass windows, a great chill flooded the room. On reflex, the Admiral closed the windows and wrapped his arms around his body to get rid of the chill. Looking outside, he noticed that it had snowed overnight and there were at least a few inches covering the ground. It was odd considering yesterday was simply cool and not chilly.

"I must have not paid attention to the weather forecast,"

Shikikan then proceeded to change into warmer clothes for a much colder day. It was too early to begin his date so, for now, he would observe exercises for a small time. Afterward, he could check with Shiranui to see how the ammunition supplies were, but with little encounters with the enemy, they had stocked up so much ammunition. Maybe he should visit Akashi and see what she was up to.

Then his thoughts went back to the white cube from last night. All the reports about this Alternate Enterprise and how she was in a coma back at HQ. Shikikan needed some answers but if that version of Enterprise was unable to answer them, then the cube just might provide. It wasn't from here as Martin hinted, so where did it come from and why did it show the Admiral those scenes? Was it a prediction of events to come? A warning or was it a recording of events taking place in another world?

If his hypothesis was correct, judging off the visions alone, it had to be a record of what happened in another timeline. Humanity had won...but at what cost? Still, many questions and curiosities remained to be discovered. Grabbing the keycard and stuffing it into his pocket, Shikikan left the office building and proceeded to the shopping center.

His trip towards his destination was greeted with snow falling from the clouds above, reinforcing the snow that had already settled. The simple act of breathing produced a small yet visible cloud that quickly dissipated. Every footstep created a small crater in the shape of the boots he wore followed with the crunching sound of ice. Around him the trees were covered in snow, looking like mini-mountains with their leaves hiding in the white ice.

Arriving at Akashi's shop, Shikikan noticed it was still closed even though Akashi was one to open early in the morning. Maybe she went to enjoy the snow with the other shipgirls while it lasted. Reaching into one of his pockets, he produced a key and went to the side of the building to unlock a door and enter the storage area.

Shikikan was greeted with darkness save for the faint light of the cube lying inside its black container. The officer walking up to the container unlocked it and looked at the bright cube with some wonder. Like before, he felt compelled to touch it, fingers slowly reaching for it to feel the perfect figure. His nerves felt the cube become surprisingly warm compared to the atmosphere of chill. No visions assaulted his mind like before but his surroundings began to warp.


Blinking a few times to gather himself, Shikikan looked around to find beautiful green plains all-engulfing the entire area. No buildings or man-made structures were visible amongst the grass that hugged the earth below it in a loving embrace. No ocean was in sight and no planes were in the air.

It was a paradise for the average person. Except this paradise was ruined when the sounds of miniature explosions confined in a metal container were heard. The officer's nerves tensed, his eyes looking around for the source of the sound. More of it was heard coming from over a hill. Slowly, he walked over the hill to come face to face to whoever or whatever was causing that noise.

Once he stood at the top of the hill his eyes landed on a lone person, male in the figure, sitting on a boulder covered in pieces of armor and gear. A helmet hid his face with a cloak hugging his shoulders and covering the top portion of the helmet. A holster was on his right hip while his hands were toying with a pistol of sorts.

Shikikan wanted to speak to get the man's attention but the weapon he held looked was intimidating. Without paying enough caution, he accidentally knocked over a small rock. It tumbled down the hill and landed against some boulders. The slight sound of the impact caused the lone figure to stop messing with his weapon and point it at the Admiral. He raised his hands over his head while his heart began to beat quickly and his nerves tensing up in fear.

"Are you...me?" Shikikan questioned, wanting to confirm his earlier conclusion

The male's response was to cock his head to the side in confusion while approaching the unarmed officer slowly. Once he was close enough, he looked Shikikan over a few moments before placing the weapon in his holster. Then, he took off the holster and threw it at Shikikan. Catching the large item, he noted how heavy it was right away. No pistol weighed heavier than what he held in his hands right at that moment. But, the man didn't answer his question nor give him enough time to question why he gave his weapon away.

Any further protests were squashed as the area suddenly disappeared into a dark void.


Shikikan awoke, gasping for air he didn't realize he held from his lungs. He felt like he hadn't breathed for the past couple of minutes. Slowly rising to his feet, he felt a significant amount of weight on his ride side. Looking towards the source, he found the holster coupled with the gun placed firmly on his hip.

"What in the world?"

The cube glowed as bright as ever but it had reduced in size. It was almost as small as Shikikan's hand but still holding the brightness. Closing up the box until further notice, Shikikan turned to the holster, unhooking the strap to take out the weapon it held. His fingers cautiously wrapped around a rubber grip that felt comfortable to wield. Slowly inching it out, the officer felt the weapon weight borderline on heavy yet manageable to wield. His eyes then went to inspect it in detail.

It was a gorgeous weapon made with the utmost care and detail of a fine craftsman. The hammer had an insignia of Azur Lane while the cylinder had etchings of insignias of the various factions that made his fleet. The frame itself had inscriptions in various languages written so small that one would need a magnifying glass to see them. Finally, the weapon was bright silver in metal with only the grip being a black.

Shikikan would have studied the weapon more but he had other errands to do. So, he quickly holstered the weapon and concealed it with his jacket before proceeding outside and locking the store up. He felt the chill of the outside nip at his exposed face while the rest of his body remained nice and warm. Like a cold hand running its fingers down his face slowly to make sure every small nerve felt it.

Without missing a beat, Shikikan made his way towards the docks to observe the exercises for the cruisers. Both heavy and light cruisers had to be part of the exercise and he was only there to observe and give advice. His feet crunched the snow beneath him while he walked down the frosted paths down to the docks. Laughter and yells could be heard all around him with words that were too muffled to make out. Wars being reignited with the frosty snow as the main source of ammunition and defense.

"Good morning, Teitoku-san,"

The Admiral turned towards the source of the voice to lock eyes with Takao in an attire he hadn't seen. She wore a dark kimono that had large tufts of fur around the neck and sleeves with a red sash wrapped tightly around her waist. Her usual white bow that tied her ponytail was colored red this time around. Shikikan looked confused at her different attire since he was used to the usual naval uniform that was...well...rather attractive on her.

"Takao, why are you not already exercising with the other cruisers?" he asked, putting his hands into the pockets of his jacket when he felt them grow cold

A frown formed on the swordswoman but at least she didn't have her blade on her, "Did you forget you had a date with me? Disrespectful for your standards."

"Ah, forgive me. Gascogne didn't exactly write down everyone that wanted to take me on a date. That and I haven't exactly had the best mornings either," Shikikan raised his hands in defense

"Lack of sleep? If so, then you need to not fool around with the other women if they are making you sleepless."

He shook his head, "No, that's not it. Just some...bad dreams."

Takao nodded, her gaze turning towards the direction of the docks where the faint sounds of gunfire could be heard, "Are you aggravated that you cannot fight alongside us with rigging of your own?"

"No, that's not it. I used to have nightmares about the deaths of my brothers. The worst part was not being there when they died but seeing them already in a casket ready to be buried," The Admiral sighed, thinking back to his early years in the Navy at the beginning of the Siren War

Then he followed up with a question, "Does a moment like that ever plague you at some point?"

"Everyday," Takao answered with a calm demeanor yet her gaze hardened slightly, "I was the last to survive out of my three sisters. Every faction has a member that knows that experience first hand. It's what we do with it that matters."

Shikikan had to admit that Takao knew how to handle herself despite many of the personal failures she had gone through. She was right about many of the shipgirls in his fleet had faced similar tragedy and dealt with it somehow. Some much more positive than others, but that all changed when he revived those they had lost. Still, the visions of every shipgirls' death played in his mind with his hand unconsciously moving towards the revolver from this morning.

"Come, let's watch the exercises and not dwell on the past," Takao stated firmly

Shikikan followed after the eldest sister, finding her composed demeanor a breath of fresh air. Still, she had her moments of letting herself fall to anger like that horrible time with the King's Game. Speaking of that day, she had him give her a ring by force but at least she was going to date him before he planned those marriages. To make it easier, it would be best for the marriages to be handled by their respective factions.

Although, that was going to be hell once the Admiral came around to it. He was going to have to practice some of the traditions of the Sakura Empire that he was not knowledgeable of. At least the Ironblood, Royal Navy and Eagle Union had a western-style marriage. That still left questions around the Iris.

Then a mischievous thought came to Shikikan's mind. There was one small little weakness in Takao's discipline that Atago loved to exploit and Shikikan often noticed during sorties. While he was a few paces behind the Sakura heavy cruiser, he suddenly embraced her with his arms wrapping around her waist. Like a calculated battle plan, he got the desired results quite quickly.

Immediately Takao's posture stiffened up with her face illuminated in a scarlet blush. Following that, she began to squirm in his grasp despite his firm grip.

"A-ah! L-let me go,"

Even with the cold falling down on them, this little display of affection was no doubt warming. Although, the Admiral was not expecting for one of his arms to suddenly be gripped and his whole body being thrown over Takao's shoulder. All he realized was some pain on his back and his eyes looking upward following with the cold of the snow.

"S-sorry Teitoku-san, I forget you're not like my sister with her reaction speed," Takao said, offering her hand for the man to get up

With a grunt of pain, Shikikan reached out and grabbed the offering hand before being heave upwards to his feet. Without a word, both proceeded to the docks to find the exercises still being conducted. A bench was nearby for the duo to watch although there was a layer of snow covering it. So, it was probably wise for them to stand unless they wanted to get wet.

Still feeling the pain of being thrown by the physically superior shipgirl, the Admiral said, "Nothing getting the blood flowing than feeling a little pain."

"Apologies again. Here," Takao then took off the amber ring that was on her left hand and turned towards her superior, "It was shameful of me to demand this of you."

The Admiral was shocked to see the ring offered back to him, shaking his head in response, "No, I can't take that back. If there was something I learned from my parents, it was once you give a girl a ring, you follow on that promise."

"Then hold onto it once I prove myself to you."

Takao's response cut through Shikikan's refusal as easily as her blade cut through bullets. Her posture returned to normal if not much more straight than before. Despite her willingness to give up her position, the Admiral just couldn't accept it. Instead, he simply forced her hand to close on the ring softly, earning a look of surprise.

"I think I should let you hold onto it and you wear it when you feel like you earned it," he said softly

As much as this moment was quite romantic for the Sakura cruiser, she quickly grabbed his hand before towing him away from the docks lest the other cruiser shipgirls saw them. Still, that didn't hide the blush on her face as she pulled the man along towards the Sakura dorms.


The Admiral stood in the dueling arena located within the Sakura dorms. This was where most of the Sakura shipgirls practiced their swordsmanship to perfect their skills before combat. The only ones, as far as the officer knew, that didn't practice were a good amount of the destroyers and submarines. So, why did Takao drag him over here and left him waiting for her?

"Takao has a strange choice of date," he muttered to himself while idly gazing around the interior

While he waited, the officer took out the revolver he was given this morning and began to play around with it. He pushed the cylinder out to find the gun was empty and the chambers were not standard. Whatever his alternate version used for ammunition, it clearly was not standardized magnum ammunition. Akashi could probably analyze the weapon and find a way to make some rounds so he could test fire.

The sound of a wooden door sliding open got Shikikan's attention, putting away the revolver back into the holster. Takao walked into the dueling arena wearing her normal attire and wielding a couple of bokkens. She then threw one of them to him before taking her place in the arena.

"I don't mean to offend but what are we doing, Takao?" Shikikan questioned as he shed the jacket and holster, throwing them to the side before taking his place on the arena floor

"Training. Helps clear the head of distractions and allows the release of emotions,"

He really wanted to question why that seemed the case considering he found combat to apply much more stress than relief. The only relief he found was when a battle was over whether it was a victory or defeat. Sadly, the Admiral wouldn't get much time to think on this as he quickly brought his bokken up to block a quick attack.

As the duo was locked with their swords, it took every ounce of strength from the man to keep his opponent from pushing through his defense. He was able to push her back momentarily before she came in with an attack towards his side. With heartbeat rising quickly, the Admiral ducked under the slash only to get a small whack to the back of his shoulder. The sting of wood smacking against skin caused him to grit his teeth.

"Always expect the unexpected," the shipgirl stated with a slight grin crossing her face

Shikikan didn't answer back on that advice. He then took the offensive with a couple of swings of his own, only for them to get parried. Takao's expertise in swords put many of Sakura comrades to shame and it showed. Another couple of attempts to hit her side were met with the bokken being blocked and instantly get counterattacked. The Admiral had to back up on a few of the strikes lest he gets smacked again.

"Okay, it's clear I'm literally losing this no matter what I do. What can I pull that she won't expect?" he thought to himself while steadying his posture

A thought came to his mind as he positioned his bokken in front of him warily. Expecting a strike, he steadied his body a heavy blow to come at him. Takao would not disappoint him as she charged right for him. His eyes could barely keep up with how ridiculously fast she was but his instincts took over. Bokken clashed against bokken in another lock. Then, the officer's plan came into effect.

He shifted his weight and let his defense crumble which allowed him to force Takao's sword to the side. Before she could react to what he had planned, he quickly swept his foot and knocked her feet off the floor. Takao soon landed on her back with her superior's bokken aimed directly at her. Both were breathing heavily from exertion, mainly on Shikikan's side, as their little duel had ended at that moment.

A stunned look layered on her face before she lightly smiled, "Impressive, you exploited my weakness."

"You gave me some advice," he replied with a chuckle, offering one of his hands to help her up

A sudden sense of danger filled him as Takao gripped his hand. Then, he felt her tug him down and his legs being knocked off the floor. The next few seconds were confusing until he found his arm put into a lock. Damn, Takao knew how to sneak in a last-second win just when Shikikan felt that he had won.

"Alright, you win," he grumbled, patting the floor as a sign of surrender

"What did I win?" Takao questioned, releasing Shikikan's arm so he could get up

Rolling his shoulder to get rid of the discomfort, the officer replied, "I didn't realize there was a prize on the line."

"Every battle has a form of prize or at least some reason to fight for victory,"

"Fine, you win more of my respect and admiration,"

Takao handed Shikikan's bokken back to him with a spark of competition in her eye, "If I win again?"

"Like hell you'll win again," he retorted, raising his wooden weapon to challenge the Sakura woman

Their duel continued once more with both exchanging blows while defending themselves. The cool atmosphere was not going to bother the duelists while they were in the warm Sakura dorms. Hours felt like minutes with the morning rising upwards to noon by the time the Admiral was on the floor exhausted.

His body ached with pain from multiple whacks of Takao's bokken while the woman hardly took a blow from him. Both were a bit sweaty from the exercise, especially Shikikan with his shirt looking like a wet rag. Takao was right once more, he could think clearly and he felt like he exerted a lot of stress off himself.

"How many...victories was that?" he panted, pushing himself up against the wall

Takao steadied her breathing while sitting on the floor in front of him, "Four."

Thank goodness none of the other Sakura shipgirls had arrived back yet. No doubt Akagi would either find the Admiral's state infuriating or appealing. The morning exercises were over by now so some of them should be heading back. Only the cruisers, but that meant some of Takao's sisters would be here.

"What did I win?" Takao asked again

"Hm?" the Admiral raised a brow until he remembered her earlier question, "Ah...Well...Anything you want I guess. Something appropriate."

A light blush was on Takao's face as she scooted closer to him, the distance between them reduced to inches. Shikikan raised his gaze to Takao's amber eyes before he found himself lost in how bright they were. Bright as the sun on a summer day yet dim enough to gaze at how beautiful they were. A hand cupped his face before Takao closed the distance to where their lips were centimeters away.

"Ara ara~,"

Speak of the devils. Takao closed her eyes in irritation with her blush becoming darker now that their privacy was broken. Shikikan would have given Atago a piece of his mind for ruining the moment if Takao hadn't rose and chased her out of the dorms. Sighing at how silly that looked from his position, he rose up to gather his belongings. Then he felt the damp shirt cling to his skin which prompted the Admiral to get an idea.

"The onsen should be free for now. None of the Sakura girls would mind either," he muttered to himself

Knowing his way around the dorms, the Admiral proceeded to the onsen.


Shikikan gave a happy sigh as he plunged himself slowly into the warm embrace of the hot springs. He neatly put his clothes in the changing room, a miniature one reserved for him, and followed the Sakura traditions with such luxuries. The first rules were he had to wash himself before entering the bath and make sure he cleaned thoroughly. Only then could the officer enter but not with his personal towel getting wet.

Thankfully he just placed it off to the side close to him. The warm water doing wonders to his aching body, easing the bruised muscles and skin. Naturally, he closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of relief washing over his body. But sadly, that relief was short-lived when he heard some wooden doors open and footsteps. Shikikan didn't dare open his eyes to see who it was since he knew it had to be a shipgirl.

He waited several more moments with the water being moved due to someone else entering the bath. It was only until he felt someone's shoulder touch his own that he opened his eyes. Thankfully, it was only Takao, who looked quite unhappy and embarrassed.

"Atago had some nerve to do that," she spoke with irritation laced into her tone

The Admiral chuckled, "Siblings, always got to annoy you in some way."

Silence fell on the two of them with neither wanting to look at the other since both were in a rather embarrassing situation. Even so, Shikikan felt his face being turned towards Takao and their lips met shortly afterward. It was quick, but it did get the point across although Takao looked like a tomato with how dark her blush was.

"Does this ...conclude our date?" she asked timidly while looking the other way

"Do you want it t-"

"No! I mean...not so shortly,"

The Admiral could only smile in return, "Alright, we can continue this at my office. I have a bunch of movies I never watch and a lot of hot chocolate waiting."

Takao's demeanor returned before she spoke, "I assume the paperwork keeps you from having one day to yourself."

This got another chuckle from him, "Yeah, that and keeping your girls from killing each other. I feel like a full time chaperone for college kids."

He closed his eyes once more to enjoy the hot water reducing the soreness he would no doubt feel later, "Right now, I just want to enjoy a moment to relax."

Takao only smiled as she let her body become rejuvenated in the onsen, "Agreed, Teitoku-san."


Location: Azur Lane HQ

In the medical ward of the headquarters, a single woman was laid across hospital bed with medical equipment all around her. IV bags filled with necessary nutrients and liquids were consistently monitored and changed out. A pulse monitor beeped at normal intervals with her heartbeat maintaining nominal levels. She had been like this for almost a year and yet she never opened her eyes.

Until now….

"Commander…"


Hey! I hope everyone is doing great out there. Thank you for all the reviews out there and stay tuned for the next episode.

Next time: A Wonderful Christmastime...with ash