It was one of those days.

The sun was blazing overhead like a cruel orange king.

The seas, ever so docile, could do nothing but melt - evaporate - under its cruel gaze.

Stepping outside of an airconditioned room was a death sentence. Death by melting.

Add to that the fact that he was almost late to work a while ago, and you had a dreadful situation that anyone would dread.

That is, having to run a kilometer or two to his workplace in hot, blazing heat.

Granted he did drive most of the way to the workplace; up to before the bridge. But the parking lot was before the bridge, not on the island itself.

That's because no one but the Commander used it, so it was deemed not important enough to take up space on the island.

Then he met Atago, waiting on the end of the bridge, looking about as sweaty as he looked.

She had probably texted to say that she was waiting for him. Shikikan remembered catching a glimpse of her name on his phone, but he didn't have time to read her message because he was running late as it is.

Not only was he a total mess, he even had his subordinate mess herself up for him.

She was so red, too. Especially when he got closer.

What a mess.

In other words, he had a bit of a rough morning and the weather was getting to him.

So he told Atago ahead of time that he would be visiting an ice cream shop in the city for a quick break and left early.

She consented, and after this they would oversee some training.

"Phew."

The man wiped the sweat off his brow and opened the door to the ice cream place.

It was a moderately-sized plot; a decently large part of the complex it was a part of. It could probably take about 5 or 6 full-sized parties of 6 or so.

That was only something to be grateful for because more space felt more relieving from the heat outside.

That and there was the fact that nobody else was present in the store aside from employees and a few other people; a woman here, a man there.

Not even taking the time to remember their features, he took a seat.

The heat felt as if it was radiating off of him like water from a sponge, or like a radiator. A radiator would radiate, indeed.

He made sure to lean forward so that the sweat from his back wouldn't make the seat dirty.

While he was at it, he took his arms off the armrests too. Because the seat didn't deserve to be soiled by his sweaty self. He was just that sweaty at the moment.

Sorry, chair.

Then he gazed out the glass walls of the ice cream store.

He gazed at all the cars and motorcycles passing by, as well as the occasional bicycle in these busy, bustling streets.

It was a sight to behold, and he wondered if he had become like one of those machines passing him by.

"Hey, you," came a soothing, but cheeky feminine voice, forcing him out of his thoughts.

At the same time, platinum-white hair with a cheeky red strand came into his field of vision.

"Hello, who is it?" He replied instinctively. His mouth had moved before he had the time to think.

"It's me, Prinz Eugen." It was her, looking down on him from above with half-lidded eyes and a poker face.

She shifted her form standing above him, putting one hand on her hip.

Doing so brought attention to what she was wearing; tight jeans and a beige sweater that revealed her shoulders. It was simple casual wear.

"Ah. It's good to see you, Prinz. What's with the get-up?" He smiled up at her from his seat, absentmindedly wondering if he had gotten it dirty.

"Good to see you too, Commander." She smiled. "It's rare seeing you out in the city like this. And to answer your question, it's just casual clothes for a casual trip," she explained.

Come to think of it, there were times when he would see some shipgirls out and about in the city, and many times they would be out in casual clothes.

That wasn't surprising. It must've been strange to wear a military uniform in this setting.

"I see. Well, how can I help you?" He beamed up at her.

"Wanna get some ice cream with me? I know it's hot."

"Hmm." He considered the advantages and disadvantages in his mind.

There wasn't any particular bad point to doing it, and there wasn't any particular good point to not doing it.

Of course, that was only if he excluded his small nervousness. She might notice how sweaty he was and be creeped out.

But then again, he was planning to get ice cream anyway. That was why he had come here in the first place.

He scratched his cheek and decided to come clean. There were few things that could ever get past a shipgirl's intuition, and he wanted to lessen the blow for when she found out.

"Well?" Prinz raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sure. But I think I should warn you in advance, I'm really sweaty. I can't even lean back in this chair because of how sweaty I am," he laughed.

She shouldn't have too adverse of a reaction to him telling her about this. Shipgirls seem to generally be people who don't take life too seriously, like Laffey.

She raised her eyebrow again. "Ah. So that's why you were leaning forward. I thought you were thinking about something important."

Not much important things to think about other than how you guys will think of me.

But the fact that she wasn't visibly disgusted right away was something to be thankful for.

He scratched his head and laughed in a way that he hoped would come off good-naturedly.

"Yeah. It's too bad."

Prinz Eugen cracked a smile. "Don't worry about it. No one can blame you for sweating out here in this heat."

He smiled back at her, thankful that she didn't think lesser of him.

Then her eyes narrowed and her smile grew wider. "Even if you're sweating like a pig."

He laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, you're right."

Harsh! Take it back!

She laughed. "I'm kidding. Anyway, let's go get that ice cream."

They stood up and made their way towards the counter, which wasn't a very difficult task at all. It was only a few feet away.

"Hello, how may I help you," asked the employee, a young, short woman.

"I'll have a chocolate," Prinz said.

She turned and smiled at him. "How about you, Sir?"

"I'll have, um… vanilla, please."

"One chocolate and one vanilla, coming right up." The employee went to prepare the ice cream. She could be seen scooping it out from the display cases and putting them in cones.

A simple meal but quite a sweet one. And its chill was great for the blazing weather.

"Hey, Commander, how do you wanna eat this? We can eat it here or on the way home."

Ah, but didn't she have somewhere to be at right now? Wasn't that why she was in casual clothes?

He opened his mouth and had another thought, preventing any words from coming out.

"Uh…"

But then again, if she had to return she wouldn't have suggested that in the first place, probably.

If they ate it here, they could have time to rest their legs from walking and they wouldn't have to worry about the mess.

Then again, their legs weren't tired because they were just walking.

He didn't know about Prinz Eugen, but Shikikan himself could jog for hours.

On the other hand, if they ate them walking back to Azur Lane, then they would have to watch out to not make a mess. But at the same time it wasn't as if they were going to be put to death even if some ice cream spilled. It would just be a shame. And he would feel bad for dirtying the public.

Maybe they could bring tissues. Yeah. That was a good idea.

More importantly...

"If we eat it inside, we'll feel hot walking around later. But if we eat it outside as we walk, the coldness from the ice cream should counteract the heat," he explained.

As the reason he came here in the first place, how the ice cream related to how hot he felt was his first priority to settle.

Thus came the verdict, "Let's bring tissues and eat it on the way home. I don't wanna make a mess."

"Sure," she nodded. "That sounded unsuitably well thought-out," she smiled.

He scratched his head awkwardly and laughed, not knowing how to deal with the praise.

Then they were off.

They stepped out into the bustling city. They attracted a few gazes with how they stood out, but otherwise the city kept moving around them like it always did. Everything passed them by as they started walking on the sidewalk towards the direction where home was.

"Shikikan," Prinz Eugen chimed in from her position beside him and slightly behind.

Her smooth voice slithered as if it were a snake and felt constricting to him.

He had expected that they would walk in silence.

"Yes?"

"Tell me. Why are you here in the first place?" She licked her lips a she said that, presumably because of the ice cream. Presumably.

"What do you mean?" It sounded like a fairly existential question.

"Well, why did you come all the way out here from the base? What did you think I meant?" Her lips curved as she asked a rhetorical question.

"Ah. Of course," came his reply. "I, uh… felt cold. Hot, I mean. Hahaha."

Maybe because she was looking at him with upturned eyes, or because she asked so aggressively, or even because she licked her lips; Shikikan found himself nervous. Shaken, as if by a quake.

As if feasting on his anxiety, Prinz Eugen's smirk grew wider.

"Hm? Is that so? It's cold so you went to get ice cream."

"I meant hot."

The Commander was trying his best to get himself under command.

She gave a laugh, high and serene in response. "Yes, I knew that. I was just teasing. Sorry."

She didn't look very sorry with that smile still well on her face, but he ignored that.

What about you? Why are you all the way out here?

Is what he was about to say, but he held his mouth shut as Prinz Eugen opened hers. She showed no signs of stopping her inquiries.

"Phew. It's rea~lly hot out here." She fanned herself with her sweater, showing a little more skin.

Any ordinary man would find himself flustered and entranced by that action.

Thankfully, the legendary commander was quickly regaining control of his actions. He turned his eyes away calmly and surely.

"Why did you pick vanilla ice cream, by the way?" She continued.

"Ah. There's no particular reason," came his honest reply.

"Is that so. So you don't have any favorite ice cream flavor in particular?"

He noticed that she was slowly getting closer than she had been before.

"Yeah. I don't think I have any. I can eat whatever flavor just fine. I've never been a picky eater," he added.

That would be a nice appeal to his character.

Prinz Eugen's movements soon grew suspicious.

She licked her ice cream loudly and rambunctiously, as if she wanted people to see that she was indeed, licking her ice cream.

As she did that she met his eyes.

"Ah. Is that so? Well, then, would you like some of mine?"

She offered the ice cream to him, pushing it near his face.

It smelled like chocolate.

"A-Ah, n-n-no." He couldn't do anything but stammer. He could even feel his face growing red.

Prinz Eugen smirked - grinned - smiled. It looked like a beautiful woman smiling, but to him now more than ever her teeth were like the teeth of a Great White Shark, and nobody could convince him that she hadn't smiled triumphantly.

As if to taunt him, she even put her free fist near her mouth and started laughing.

This skank…!

She must've sensed his rising fighting spirit because she soon changed gears.

"Is that so? Too bad. Anyway, how often did you have it as a kid?"

She kept licking her ice cream menacingly.

"About as much as any other kid," he said.

She hummed in reply.

"Any siblings? How's your relationship with your parents?"

That was an unexpected thing to ask.

If her intention was to fluster him than family was one of the last things to be talking about. But he entertained her.

"My father died early on in my life. I never got to know who he was."

He made sure to say that as monotonously as possible and eyed Prinz from his peripherals, gauging her reaction.

She seemed as downed by that as anyone should be. She was looking down.

"I'm sorry," she said, scratching her head awkwardly.

She was scratching her head like he would've.

"No, it's okay," came his reply.

His predator, the one who looked like a terrifying shark to him until now, had become fully and uncharacteristically repentant.

Although only he felt that it was uncharacteristic.

Maybe she had to do this often.

Besides, he had to remind himself, these people have had no exposure to anyone but himself for their whole lives. They haven't had as many opportunities to learn at all.

He should cut them some slack. The way she looked right now was like a little kid scolded in the classroom.

The Commander scratched his head awkwardly. He meant to stop her from teasing him, but he hadn't meant to make the conversation awkward or to make her feel like she had gone too far.

Now he felt like he had gone too far.

Like he had messed up.

"I really don't mind," the words came though they sounded hollow in his mind. "I had a great mother," he explained.

"Had? Ah. So that means she, too… I'm really sorry."

The way she sounded and looked so sad, like a beaten puppy, just from him bringing up his mother, rubbed him the wrong way.

He decided to say the right thing.

"No, it's okay. Look, she's not even dead. She's in a coma."

Prinz Eugen was still looking down.

"Prinz, look at me," she complied. "I really don't mind it. We've had some great memories together. I remember that she would bring me out to see fireworks and have ice cream with her. It's one of my fondest memories."

It took a bit but her visage finally cleared like the sun after a cloudy day. She looked up and smiled.

"That sounds nice. I'm happy for you." It wasn't a teasing or a smug smile, but a pure one that felt like it came from the heart.

"It was, and thanks." He returned the smile.

But then her smile faded, and she looked a bit down again.

Now it was up to the Commander to keep the conversation floating, and he remembered that he had something he was meaning to ask her since a while ago.

"Hey, Prinz," he began. "You asked me this a while ago, but why are you here too? What are you doing in the city?"

He incidentally thought of how awkward it would've been if she actually needed to be back there but was going out of her way to accompany him back to the Azur Lane.

"Ah. I was out in the arcade with my Iron Blood fellows. I was just taking a break," she explained.

Hm? In the arcade?

"That's interesting," he said. "Do you go there frequently?" He ventured.

"Yes. Pretty much every day, though we can choose whether or not we want to go, of course."

He thought back to the other day.

"Ah. So that's where you guys were going when Bismarck was talking about a battle?"

"Yeah," she said without missing a beat. "Every day is a battle and we should give everything our all until we win or lose, is what she means."

He hummed. "That's a good philosophy to live by."

A bit uptight, but well, I don't think I'm one to talk.

An image of Atago telling him to be more relaxed flitted through his mind.

Now Prinz hummed. "Ah. That's right!" They were now bordering the city and approaching the dirt path.

She cracked a smile again, and Shikikan felt a sense of impending doom.

"Weren't you exchanging numbers with Atago? How did it go?" She fired.

"I got her number just fine. It's very useful. Like for example, right now, she knows I'm coming back to the base," he explained eloquently.

She hummed again with an expression that said that sounded rehearsed.

Don't look at me like that!

Her smile returned. "Really~? Is that so~? What else do you text her about?"

An image of him texting Atago late at night with her in a pink bed covered with hearts appeared.

He popped it. "I don't know what you mean."

"Hm~? Okay, if you say so."

"More importantly," he changed the conversation. "Why are you accompanying me all the way here? Don't you have to go back to the arcade?"

Now it was his turn to ask the tough questions.

She hummed for what had to be the nth time for the past hour. "Hmm… More or less, yeah."

"Then you should return, shouldn't you?"

"I don't want to," came her reply. For how unfitting it was, it was swift.

It was like it came from a woman who didn't like to regret or to keep others waiting.

People who didn't like to regret tended to make even mistakes without looking back. There seemed to be a problem here.

"Well? What's wrong?"

"It's just that, well, a while ago… I wasn't on the top of my game, and we kind of lost because of that."

She scratched her head as if to humble herself. "I messed up."

But then she laughed again. "But it's no big deal, after all. They said they didn't blame me."

Shikikan wondered to himself how Eugen was able to tell him what was weighing on her mind so quickly and so easily, without any resistance. She had so far given him the impression of being a strong woman.

But maybe she told him precisely because she was a strong woman. She told him what was really weighing on her mind while pretending that it wasn't really weighing on her mind.

She was keeping up a bit of a facade, and he didn't like seeing that.

Of course, he could also just be overthinking it.

But then again, if he were overthinking it but checked anyway, he didn't have much to lose. Maybe Prinz would think he was slightly weird at worst.

On the other hand, if he weren't overthinking it but failed to check, then he might've been leaving a subordinate to go through unnecessary emotional suffering.

He was reminded of Atago and Laffey.

Shikikan didn't get to be a Commander for abandoning his subordinates.

"Ah, so that's what it was!" He gave a loud laugh.

Prinz Eugen looked at him strangely.

Then he met her eyes with all the intensity he could muster.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they don't blame you. They're your precious family, after all, aren't they? Would they lie about something as small as that? Don't take things so seriously."

Prinz looked flabbergasted at him. Then her lips curved.

"Yeah, you're right. I already knew that, though~."

She gave a joyful laugh.. "Maybe I was being a bit of an idiot. Thanks for taking the initiative to talk to me. And maybe next time, you should take more initiative. It couldn't hurt and it seems to work."

He remembered the times a while ago when he thought to ask Prinz where she was going and why she was here.

Indeed, it was as she said. Though there were circumstances that surrounded it, like the fact that Prinz probably wouldn't have even tagged along if she needed to be somewhere else, there was also the fact that it would have been safer for him if he had asked just to be sure.

That would've been especially important if he was dealing with an airhead. Like Laffey, maybe.

Besides, it couldn't have hurt. He gave a dry laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Shikikan. I genuinely had a good time. You're a good guy."

Saying such, she turned around and went on her merry way. "I'll see you around," she waved.

"See you."


Booms, shockwaves and explosions were everywhere. The sun was hot but not nearly as hot as the heat of the battleground on which 6 shipgirls were training.

Atago had already texted the Commander to meet her here. They were at a valley near the Azur Lane, on the other side of the bay.

In detail, the Azur Lane could be said to be a circle within a donut.

That is, it was a small island which was surrounded by water bordered by an even bigger island.

It looked like a C with a dot inside of it, the dot being the Azur Lane, home of shipgirls all around the world.

That C held a city which was, for convenience's sake, also referred to as Azur Lane. That's why many shops were selling shirts or designs that had "I 3 Azur Lane" printed on them, much like the one the Commander bought the other day.

Does that mean he loves Azur Lane?

It'd be great if that were the case. The Commander should love his job. He should also love everyone in his job, yes, yes.

Especially people he spent a lot of time with, mhm.

But she digresses.

The point was that on one side of the island was the bridge, and on that side of the C was the city. Then on the other side, there were valleys. That's where they usually trained.

The salty ocean view, the evergreen grass, the clear skies, the blazing sun-

BOOM!

-the explosions Enterprise, Kaga and Akagi were making, all made for a very relaxing scenery, perfect for sword-to-sword combat.

Atago had heard on the net that there were many people who were beginning to support the idea that shipgirls were really just humans on the inside and should thus be completely integrated into society soon.

Firstly, she thought of strange ship-human babies. Maybe they would have planes attached to them. Maybe they would have giant guns attached to them. Maybe they would breathe fire.

Secondly, she thought of the dissenting opinion, that shipgirls should just be kept in Azur Lane, and the reasons given for that, which consisted of:

have you ever been to Azur Lane? they keep shooting each other LOL

yeah and there are explosons

She wished in her heart to tell them that not all of them mounted planes which they shot from their arrows like horses and engaged in mid-air shoot-offs.

BOOM!

She really wanted to tell them that they could really just as easily tuck away their huge guns, and not launch barrages of dozens of planes that would explode in the sky and fill the atmosphere with carbon dioxide like right now.

The silver lining was that they more or less couldn't be heard from over in the city because of the distance difference.

She sighed in her heart.

First Enterprise wanted to practice. That was fine; her practice was mainly just shooting planes into the distance like arrows.

But then Kaga and Akagi came along and said, "Let's spar," initiating something called a mess.

She absentmindedly wondered how many people in the city would start blaming them for how hot the days were getting.

"Heeey! Wait for meee!"

Then there was a brown crane coming along about to join them like a new kid in a shallow pool.

Atago sighed to herself.

Her sister across from her, Takao, also sighed to herself.

Choukai giggled at her side.

"Well, there's no use lamenting. Let's start practicing."

"Yes." With just one word, as if on command, her tired demeanor was washed away by the visage of one of the deadliest swordswomen (ships) to live, Takao of the Takao class.

"Come at me," Atago invited.

Then they became a blur of thrusts, strikes and blows.

When she would hit top-right Takao would hit bottom-left.

When she would hit bottom-right Takao would hit top-left.

Right. Left. Over. Under. Under. Over.

Each and every single one of her strikes was parried with complete accuracy and just the right serving of power.

It was enough power to make her muscles heat up, but not enough for her to stay impacted after the fact.

Their fight was like a dance between two evenly-matched ballroom dancers. Each blow was met perfectly, and nothing got through.

Such a sophisticated, high-level fight was only possible because they were sisters, Atago mused.

No one else would be able to keep up with her like this. Maybe Choukai and Maya would be able to with practice, and perhaps a handful of the other shipgirls, but apart from that there was no other.

In this moment, she was free. Free from thoughts about thoughts of her family and all the other shipgirls.

Free from having to think about who she needed to take care of.

Which left… him.

"Ah!"

A crack in her armor; a lull in the song.

She clumsily parried a strike from Takao, and before she could follow it up Atago held a hand up saying, "Stop!"

Her heart was beating wildly. Her heart was beating wildly.

Oh, just like in all those romance movies-

No, no. That's ridiculous. Her heart was only beating wildly because of the sword fight. That's also why her face was flushing. Yup. That's also why all of her skin was turning red. Or maybe she had a rash. Yeah. That would make sense.

"Nee-san, are you okay?" Choukai's worried voice came from her side.

Ah, Choukai. Ever the kind and pure little sister. Never change.

If she had a child, she would want her daughter to be like Choukai.

Then the husband could be-

"I'm fine. Sorry, I just thought of something," Atago explained as she panted.

Takao was also panting. "Atago… When was the last time this happened?"

She giggled.

Atago giggled too.

Choukai looked between the two of them, confused and concern written all over her face.

"Jeez… Are you two really okay?"

"Is anything wrong," came a masculine voice.

Here he comes!

"B-Buh-"

Buh?

"Hello, Commander!" His secretary ship greeted him first, as she always should because she was his secretary ship.

He waved cordially. "Hello, Atago." He smiled. "It's good to see you! You two as well."

Beat.

"Greetings, Commander."

"Hello Commander!"

"How is your training going along?" He asked.

Takao grinned in an almost bestial way. "I can feel myself growing stronger."

"Ah. Is that so? Haha…" He gave a dry laugh. When she saw the curve of his lips her heart seemed to beat a little bit faster, though it could've been her imagination.

"Don't forget to use that strength to protect those you love."

BOOM!

What's happening to me?

Choukai, bless her heart, seemed to have noticed that something was going on with her and decided to get close enough to whisper as Takao and the Commander were having a conversation about power.

"What's wrong, sister?" Her voice was so gentle, like how Shikikan looked talking to her sister.

She saw no point in hiding it. "I-I'm fine, I've just been feeling a bit strange around the Commander."

Atago made eye contact with Choukai. "Maybe I should take some time off," she suggested, ignoring the smug know-it-all look Choukai was giving her on her marshmallow face.

"Well, if you need some time away, I suggest you tell the Commander as soon as possible."

The Commander. He laughed at something Takao said, probably because that girl was so silly.

Because that girl was so silly, she got to see something great. Thanks, Takao.

BOOM!

Her heart rate seemed to increase.

"Hey, could you guys tone it down a bit please!? Thank you!" He turned over and shouted towards the aircraft carriers warring in the sky.

Right, right. She should tone it down, too.

She wasn't sure what she was feeling because she had never felt it before. But whatever it was, it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

She needed to identify what was wrong and take the appropriate measures.

"Commander!"

"Yes?"

"Can I take some time off? I think I need to sort something out. It's probably not a big deal."

He hummed in confusion. His face, contorted in confusion and concern, was bordered by the beautiful azure sky. "Sure?"

"Alright! Thanks! Please just text me if you need anything!"

"A-Alright! Please take care!"

Atago picked herself up and jogged away.

It could be said that this was the most distressed she had ever felt. Everything was so simple when all she needed to do was take care of her sisters and her other sisters.

But something has felt wrong ever since she met this Commander.

Her heart didn't feel at rest. It was beating too fast and sending too much blood which happened to show up on her face.

Once she identified what this was, she would take the necessary steps to deal with it as efficiently as possible, with as little time and effort as possible.

It was as if she was welcoming the end of her peaceful days.

And of course, in the future she would always look back on this moment and laugh at that thought.

These peaceful days were just beginning.