Once again, it was morning. The days were starting to get quite tiresome as everything devolved into a routine.

But at least that routine was getting less lonely than before, even if by just a little.

That's what Shikikan was thinking until he noticed that Bob the gatekeeper was gone, replaced by an automatic turret that looked like it was set to go off once anybody without military clearance entered the area.

The days were now once again lonely.

But he shook his head. It wasn't the time to mope or feel sorry for himself.

It was time to carry his head on his shoulders and stand tall, because today was the day his secretary was returning to him - er, to work. Awkward thought.

He could already see her in the distance. It wasn't the time to let awkward thoughts muck things up.

The picture of her as the sun rose on the ocean and the sky, most of it dark blue, had just started to turn into blue, was quite stunning, and he thought that his time here wasn't so bad after all.

Although he never did think that his time here was particularly bad. Only that it was going to be particularly bad before he had actually tried living here. Then it betrayed his expectations.

He definitely didn't worship this place or anything, but it was definitely miles better than any of his past experiences, barring the ones in his childhood. Many people thought their childhood to be the best part of their lives, and he wasn't any different in that regard.

But still.

Life wasn't that good, but he felt as if it was slowly getting better, maybe thanks to this one standing over here and waiting for him.

The thought colored his face, and he berated himself. It was a slip-up; a mistake; a lapse of judgement on his part.

"Good morning, Commander!" Her face shone like a non-biblical angel.

"G-Good morning." A stutter wasn't exactly a good way to start the day. Yikes.

His only saving grace was that there was no one nearby to see him.

"Ara? Why is your face red, Commander?" Atago grinned and scooched closer to him.

He could not but fumble, words and thoughts. "A-Atago!?"

"Is there anything wrong? You can always talk to me, you know. Think of me as your Big Sis."

She grinned, toothy and radiant, and Shikikan briefly wondered if this was all men wanted in their lives, as if it were the ultimate male fantasy. He wouldn't be surprised if it was. It was already quickly becoming his own.

Still, this was too drastic a change to be ignored. He had priorities.

"A-Are you okay?" That stutter was going to be the death of him. "You're acting quite… overbearing today." He couldn't meet her eyes.

"Is that right?" Especially not when she was trying to gaze directly into his so closely. Shikikan decided to find the floor very interesting and study it with his gaze, not moving it from the floor for anything.

"Oh, my. Perhaps you're right." Yes, he was very right.

"Sorry, that was a bit rude of me," she said. Shikikan let himself be relieved.

"I apologize," Atago finished, inserting herself directly below him, presumably so she could meet his downcast eyes.

!? Dodge!

The Commander tilted his head upwards instead of downwards. Though he looked like a bird, it was the only way to escape.

"Ara. It looks like I've scared you. I'm sorry again," she said, though her smile and the way she covered her mouth - as if laughing - didn't tell him she was sorry.

"I'm, uh, not particularly scared," he explained. "It's just a matter of personal space."

"A-Ah! Sorry, sorry. I wanted to see how you would react and got carried away."

Wanted to see how he would react?

Though that begged another why, he didn't pursue that line of thought any further.

(Later on in the future, he would find out why she wanted to see his reactions. It was pretty obvious, looking back.)

Anyway, instead of asking, he opted to stand there and scratch his head. "It's fine. Just refrain from doing that, okay? We wouldn't want others to get the wrong idea, and we need to focus on work."

Indeed, it would be troublesome if everyone thought that they were lovers or anything. Who knew what everyone would want to do to him if they thought he was touching their big sis?

Add to that the issue of work, and it was obvious that a line had to be drawn.

Thankfully, his secretary wasn't the type of person who had to be told this twice.

"Yeah…" for some reason, Atago's ears drooped.

What a sad expression. Now I kind of miss the contact.

Though brief, Atago getting into his personal space made him feel funny. Not funny as in just had a few too many tacos and felt like going to the bathroom, but funny in a nice way that made his cheeks feel warm and mustn't be further pursued for that way lay death.

He could already imagine Prinz Eugen making up some inane theory to tease them with…

But he digressed.

"Anyway, Atago," her ears perked. "Let's start with the day. What's the first thing we should do?"

She beamed. "Yes! Let's look after Enterprise!"

Using the words look after instead of the word oversee just emphasized her sisterly nature, he supposed. It was like she was looking after little kids.


BOOM!

If he tried speaking, it probably wouldn't be heard so he didn't try.

BOOM!

That said, the Lucky E was really going at it today.

BOOM!

Of course he could imagine Enterprise making such a ruckus, but he could probably attribute how much louder she was than usual to her battle partner.

"Is that all you got, Lucky E!? I laugh at you! You and your ancestors!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A certain crane's fighting banter that could be misconstrued as cackling, though she might have really been cackling, briefly rang over the battlefield and was more explosions as plane met plane and shot each other down in a brutal war effort.

The fact that they weren't actually trying to kill each other was a saving grace. If they were, all the fish in the ocean might have needed earplugs.

"Hey! Commander! Do you think fish have ears!?" His secretary shouted at him over the noise.

"Why!?"

"I was thinking that maybe they might need earbuds for this!"

What an inane thought…

"Don't worry about it! I think they do," he shouted his reply.

Atago looked briefly saddened but her droopy ears passed as quickly as they came.

Thankfully it seemed that she was applying her own lesson of not taking things too seriously.

After all, unlike us on land, if fish found this debacle too noisy then they could just swim away.

But anyway, the fact that Zuikaku was going at it this hard with Enterprise only meant good things, though his ears didn't seem to think so.

He should buy earplugs later. Ah, yes, that's right. There was also something else he would have to buy later. Maybe he could take Atago along.

But anyway, the important thing was that Zuikaku didn't seem so down and self-loathing anymore. She was trying her best in life and enjoying herself, and that's what counted.

BOOOOOM!

And truly, he needed earplugs.

"Commander! I think we should get earplugs!"

"You're right! Don't worry about it, though!"

"Oh! Okay!"

After that short exchange, his secretary and him sat down on the would've-been-peaceful-if-not-for-the-explosions green, grassy valley and waited for the two titans to finish their sparring.

The only notable thing that happened was that he had to take care not to look to his side too much. He was starting to get conscious about the strangest things.

Eventually, though it felt like decades had passed, they finally came down from their planes that they were using like horses to take to the skies.

Shikikan rubbed his ears, taking care not to actually pick them as that would be very gross. "Hey, Enterprise! How's it going?"

The fact that he didn't need to shout anymore was something to be thankful for.

As the grey ghost finished shaking hands with Zuikaku, she noticed him and his secretary sitting nearby.

"Ah! It's Shikikan and Atago. Good morning," Enterprise saluted.

"Ah! Good morning, you two," Zuikaku waved, making sure to smile amiably at Shikikan.

Shikikan took it well, though he noticed that Atago was eyeing the interaction with eyes that belonged to an apex predator.

Then Enterprise said something he didn't expect.

"Looks like it's working, huh, Atago," she said.

Working? What is?

"U-Uh, yes! Thanks a lot," the woman in question all but shouted.

Why does she seemed flustered?

Come to think of it, these two also came back late yesterday, hand-in-hand.

It looks like they had been working on something together that was working now… what could that be?

Well, no matter how hard he thought about it it wasn't as if he knew everything Atago was doing. Maybe this was something he couldn't see, and that had nothing to do with him.

"Hm? Working? What have you two been working on?" Inquired Zuikaku.

The bird asked the question but he wanted to know, too.

"A-Ah! It's nothing," Atago stammered again, uncharacteristically.

"Yeah, it's nothing. You can do it, Atago," Enterprise intoned as she reached over and patted her shoulder.

"Enty," she squealed. That was a cute nickname.

"Haaa?" Zuikaku put his thoughts into words perfectly.

Speaking of Zuikaku, she was facing him now.

"By the way, Shikikan, thanks for yesterday. I really needed it," she said honestly.

From cases like Laffey to Cleveland to Zuikaku, the sheer openness that everyone carried with them here - the quality of being able to open up so easily, was something he was enjoying very much.

"Yeah. You're the one doing the work, though. I'm happy for you. Good job," he smiled.

Indeed, he was able to smile so easily because of this environment.

"Yeah. Please take care of me in the future, too, Shikikan."

"Likewise," he replied.

What a nice and wholesome exchange.

So caught up in it was he that he only now noticed Atago eyeing the two of them. She felt like she was feeling something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Zuikaku also seemed to notice it just now, while Enterprise didn't seem to be noticing anything.

"Hm? Hm? What happened," she asked outright.

"I just had a talk with her yesterday. She needed some help," he explained.

"Ah. I see, I see. Good for you guys!" Lucky E smiled on them.

"Y-Yeah. Good for you guys!" Atago followed with an uncharacteristic stammer.

"Anyway," the Commander took charge of the situation, "Atago and I need to be getting to our other duties now. See you guys later," he excused himself and his secretary.

Goodbyes rang out as the group dispersed and went about their days.


Laffey, Ayanami, Javelin, and Z23.

Though the last member had been absent in recent history because of some personal circumstances (read: game night), these 4 had always gone together.

They were destroyers, they were powerful, and they were small.

That is, small on their own. But together they were big and even stronger; together they formed the Bamtastic Boar, the Furious Four, the Four Musketeers, the Goon Platoon, the Small Squad, or whatever other name anyone would dub them.

Those four were complete and now eating lunch.

But opposing them in their table were two invaders; the legendary Commander, and his lapdog secretary, Big Sis Atago.

It was them who had so daringly, boldly and audaciously come in with their plates of food, asked if they could sit here, then sat once they had received consent. They were practically invaders.

No one in the room except one man had ever been in a war, but these 4 had now felt as if they now knew what war was like and what it felt like to be invaded. And, at the same time, they intuitively knew; war never changed.

"Thanks for having us here, you four!" the Commander smiled amiably.

""""You're welcome,"""" all four replied as one. They were united. They were menacing.

"Um… Why are you huddled so closely?"

""""It's nothing,"""" they said in unison. They were united. They were menacing.

"Ara…" the lapdog continued speaking. Then, with naught even a warning sign, she took out her phone and instantly snapped a photo of the Goon Platoon.

They could've never seen it coming. The speed at which she did this was surely enough to rival even the strongest super typhoon's winds, or the mightiest gun's velocity. It made them wonder if she was even human.

No, the answer resounded in their minds. This was no human. This was Cerberus herself come to destroy them, except she only brought one of her heads instead of all three, as if to mock them. But they wouldn't go down without a fight.

So they started making angry noises. In unison. Menacingly.

Someone in the distance seemed to be likening them to cats as the Cerberus held the camera in front of them - perhaps even taking a video, the demon dog - but they held firm and stood their ground.

"Are you guys okay?" Asked the Commander.

He was legendary for a reason. They had to cooperate.

""""Yes, Commander.""""

"Why are you replying in unison?" He cleverly poked them with a stick of communication. There was no choice. They had to explain everything.

""""We are practicing… unison. For game night later. It's gonna be good,"""" they pronounced.

"Ohh, how cute!" The dog squealed and palmed her cheek.

The Commander also smiled at them, no doubt condescending in nature. "Well, have fun, you guys."

"Can I join!?" Cerberus chimed in just as the Commander was looking like he was going to move on. For some reason, though, he didn't seem annoyed. Maybe he was hiding his true feelings, as expected of the demon lord.

""""Sure.""""

Now, considering their attitude up to this point, one could view their saying sure as a reply to be barbaric, two-faced, venomous, or even vile. But there was a simple explanation for it, just as there was for all things.

That explanation was that Atago looked quite excited. It was very hard to turn her down. If they weren't all smaller than her, they would likely reach down and pat her head like the cerberus dog she was.

Even before the Commander had come along, she was always the type of woman to involve herself in others' business. Perhaps this was endearing.

"Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait!"

Actually, they all thought in unison, alone, they were smaller than her, but together, they were bigger than her.

The four destroyers split, went around the table, and reassembled around and on the Cerberus. It was not beyond some of them to climb the dog herself.

"Wha-What are you guys doing!?" She squealed again. Now it was time to see who was the real cute one here, dog.

8 hands came down and rubbed her head in perfect unison, none of them bumping with one another, and none of their limbs interfering with one another.

It was an example of perfect harmony.

"No~. Stop it~. The Commander is right there~."

Indeed, her master was right there, watching with wide eyes and a slightly agape mouth. But that had nothing to do with her. She was going to be pet to oblivion, and the legendary Commander will do nothing but watch as destroyers pat and pat his loyal secretary until nothing remains.

Besides, even if she said to stop, she didn't look convincing at all with a flushed face, smiling lips and twitching ears. Why, they were willing to bet that if she had a tail it would be wagging.

""""No. We will not stop.""""

"Save me, Commander!"

The Commander watched and did nothing. If he could, he would be crunching on popcorn, too.


That was a debacle. A fiesta. A truly interesting thing to bear witness to.

Atago's expression as she was being petted was amazing, and the Commander felt as if he had something he was willing to die for now.

But if he were to have such embarrassing thoughts, it would be later, not now, and definitely not when the subject was right next to him.

"Geez… they really messed up my hair," his secretary complained as she tried to fix her hair with her own bare hands.

"Don't you have a comb?" He asked.

"I left it at the dorm…"

"Do you wanna get it?"

"No, thanks. I wouldn't wanna be a bother," she said, smiling as she scratched her cheek.

She had a nice smiling face, but there was something more important to take care of.

"I don't mind at all. You are never a bother. Go get it and meet me at the plaza," he said, looking directly into her eyes to leave no room for discussion.

His shadow was over her at this angle, but her face lit up.

"Y-Yes, sir!" She blurted and scurried away like a little puppy.

Perhaps this, too, was one of life's many wonders. He felt an inexplicable urge to give thanks for his existence.

In the meanwhile, he did as he said and took a seat in the plaza.

It was just after lunch, and at this time, as one might expect, many of the especially young destroyers like Kisaragi were playing outside.

As a result, the air was filled with the sounds of them shouting and cheering, making the Azur Lane feel like a kindergarten school.

He often felt like that was the case, actually. He wouldn't be surprised if it actually was, though it's obviously not, of course.

"Hey, Commander!"

He looked up. Blonde hair, blue uniform with a cape, twintails, and red eyes.

"Hey, Cleveland. Wanna have a seat?" He patted the seat next to him on the bench.

"Thanks. Don't mind if I do," she said, taking the seat next to him.

A few seconds of comfortable silence ensued. Cleveland was smiling and the Commander decided to find out why.

"So? What's going on with you now? How did my advice work out for you?"

She showed him a toothy grin. "It's been going great! People have been relying on me a lot more nowadays and I just didn't see it," she explained.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! And it feels so good! Like I can do anything!"

A great feeling, he was sure. But no matter how many people he helped, he still felt somewhat inept inside. He wondered why that was.

Without betraying any thought, he smiled. "I'm happy for you."

That was when Atago arrived, combing her hair.

Shikikan idly wondered how it would feel like if she combed over her own ears. Meanwhile, she got up close and greeted them..

"Ara. Shikikan. Cleveland. I didn't think I'd see you two together. Since when have you known each other?" She asked.

Understandable. It shouldn't be forgotten that when everything was said and done, the Commander was still relatively new to his post, and it would take a lot more time to get to know each and every ship inhabiting this place.

"I met her and spoke to her yesterday. Gave her some advice. She seems to be doing better now," he explained.

"Ah~. Is that so? Great to hear that you've been interacting with more of us so often," she said, cupping her palm in a gentle gesture.

"Yeah." You helped me with that, went unsaid. Maybe it was because Cleveland was there and he didn't want anyone misunderstanding their relationship? Or would he even say it if he was alone with her anyway? Would he really even want to say it?

Cleveland's eyes continued sparkling. "Yeah! He was a big help! He even called me feminine, you know! That was really sweet, thanks Commander!"

Shikikan didn't know why, but he froze up and felt as if he had done something very, very wrong. "You're welcome," he muttered to Cleveland as he turned his eyes onto his secretary.

Her smile was as sweet as ever, and her body was frozen in the gesture of cupping her cheek. "Oh my~. Nice going, Shikikan."

"Y-Yeah. Thanks."

As if on cue, Cleveland took out her phone and looked at it, seemingly having received a message. "I gotta go! I'll see you guys around! Thanks again, Shikikan!"

"Yes. Thank you Shikikan," Atago parroted.

"Don't sweat it," he said as the life in him felt as if it were leaving his body.

He turned his face to Atago, who was now shaking her head to herself as if jolting herself awake.

"Hey," he started.

"Ye-Yes?" She said as if she had just woken up from a trance.

"Wanna go to the mall with me? I need to buy something."

"You don't need to ask me, you know, Shikikan. If you go it's decided that I'll go, too," she said to him.

But that wasn't what he wanted. "I'm just saying that if you want to go somewhere else in the time, you can."

She huffed. "I appreciate your consideration, but I'm going with you. When do we leave?"

He raised an eyebrow at her insistence. "Hm… Let's leave later, after we finish some more work."


The next few hours were carried on in awkward silence.

He got the feeling Atago wanted to say something to him, but couldn't. He would feel eyes on him, but that was as much as she was doing.

Time flew by, and it was about 4pm. Time for them to leave for the mall.

"Hey, let's go, Atago."

"Yes."

With such a short exchange they left, finding themselves on the city streets about 30 minutes later in the Commander's car.

She said nothing as she got in. No comments at all.

Though they were close to each other in the car, they felt so far.

Something definitely seemed to be wrong, but it should be solved with what he was about to do. He hoped, anyway.

Shikikan parked the car and disembarked with Atago.

"Where are we going?"

"A pet shop."

"A pet shop?" She tilted her head.

He nodded and went on walking without offering any further explanation.

Soon enough they entered a humble little pet shop.

"Hey, isn't this a dog shelter?" Atago pulled on his sleeve and asked that.

"Don't worry about the little things," he replied.

They talked with the lanky shopkeeper and very soon entered the meat of the establishment; that is, where all the dogs were being held.

His senses were engulfed.

As for his ears, woofing, barking, obnoxiously loud panting, and any other dog sound one could possibly think of polluted the air.

They used to be quiet but as soon as he entered the room, one dog must have started barking, which another dog reacted to with more barking, setting off a domino of noise.

It was a good thing that this place wasn't at the store front, he supposed. It would've been far noisier for the outside world if that were the case, though it was probably already a bit noisy.

As for his nose, the place smelled like dog droppings, quite fittingly.

The place was just all around dirty. Cages filled the room in lines that stretched out in front of him, and those cages were stacked upon cages which were stacked upon cages.

"Well," the lanky man beside Shikikan stopped to yawn. Probably one of those perpetually sleepy workers, the type who would man the desk at a 9-11.

"Which one will it be?"

He heaved a sigh.

When he woke up in his bed this morning, ready to go to work, he hadn't been expecting this. But since he fell asleep right away last night, he didn't get to get a dog for Atago as her siblings told him he should do.

Of course he hadn't been expecting to buy it right away, but he hadn't been expecting Atago to tell him that she would go back to work right the next day, either.

He had wanted to do it in the morning but he woke up too late and wanted to go to the base right away.

But that was enough lamenting about the past.

Now was the present.

Shikikan stroked his chin.

"Hey, Atago, which one would you want?"

"Eh~?"

The dog shelter was filled with dogs of all sizes and all colors. She should like something here.

Right now it was important to keep the barely-a-surprise-present just that, a surprise present. He'd hide who he was buying it for.

"Why? Is it for me?"

Yes. "It's for someone important to me," he fed her a half-truth.

She hummed twice, first in a surprised tone, and then in a contemplating one. "Hm? Hm…"

"Take your time," he reminded.

"Yes. How about this one?"

Doesn't sound like you took your time.

He checked her selection.

Amidst all the noisy large dogs was a small dog sitting upright in his cage without making a noise.

It must have been something of a miracle that he wasn't making a noise even though his surroundings were this noisy.

Shikikan suddenly felt something like a spiritual connection to this dog and decided to take it away.

"Are you sure?" Firstly, of course, he had to verify that the recipient herself would like it.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I'll take this one, please," he pointed to it.


Finances weren't a problem. He took the dog into the car, put it on the backseat, hoped it wouldn't pee and started driving back to the base. It was around 5pm at the time, and the sun was starting to set.

More than anything to be said about the scenery, his thoughts were focused on Atago. She seemed calm, especially compared to a while ago. Serene, he might even say.

He just hoped she would be happy with this gift.

30 minutes passed as soon as they came and they were getting out of the car at the base of the bridge.

"Shikikan, why are you bringing the dog out? Are you going to give it to someone here or something?"

Atago's body language as she said that wasn't great. She was scratching her head and looking away, as if she were preparing for something that would hurt her.

The last thing he would want to do is hurt her.

So he wordlessly handed over the dog to her.

"A-Ah? What?"

Her eyes were wide and her arms weren't moving to accept the gift.

"Well, go on. Take it, it's for you."

"But you said it's for someone important to you…"

Shikikan chose that moment to let out a laugh.

She said that as if she wasn't the one who fit that description the best.

"You know… almost all of my family is dead, the one who isn't is in a coma, and I never get to contact any friends I've made in the military because they're all either dead or frontlining somewhere," he explained.

Atago was looking at him silently. He put down the dog cage.

"I'm saying you're the most important person to me right now," he continued.

Ah.

That was a miscalculation. She might think he's creepy or something.

"Aside from my mother," he added.

There. But he had to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable.

"I mean - that didn't mean anything in particular, okay? I'm not trying to hit on you or anything, okay? I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable-"

Glomp.

Atago hugged him. He stumbled from the impact.

"Uuu…"

Is she crying?

Definitely wasn't something he would ask, so he settled for patting her back. It was really small. She was really small in general, compared to him. It was endearing, he thought erratically.

It's okay. She's probably not crying.

"I…" Thank God, her voice is steady and her body is relatively still except for her breathing. She doesn't sound like she's crying.

"I thought that you meant someone else…"

Hm?

"Who would it be but you?"

"I don't know… maybe Zuikaku or Cleveland… Anyone you've been talking to while I was gone... You even called Cleveland feminine…"

Maybe that was bothering her.

"Do you want me to call you feminine, too?"

He didn't need to wait for an answer. "Because you're feminine, Atago. Definitely. No need to worry about that."

A giggle came. It pleased his ears. Atago continued talking as the man she was hugging rubbed circles on her back.

"I… I thought you were doing such a good job while I was gone that maybe you didn't need me anymore…"

Hm?

"Of course not! Don't ever think that! I was only able to do that because you taught me to. It was so hard without you." He squeezed her tight, not finding the courage to say I missed you. He hoped his actions would say that for him.

So they stood there, in comfortable silence, wishing that that moment would stretch onto eternity.

"Hm~? Ara ara. Aren't you hugging me for too long? Enjoying yourself?"

The Commander let go of Atago as soon as she said that and wiped his hands all around his uniform as if to say I'm washing my hands of you.

Atago must have found his expression funny because he could hear her giggling, though he didn't risk looking at her because he feared his face might be red.

"Pft! Ahahaha!"

Soon, her giggles turned into laughter, and her laughter grew louder, and Shikikan joined her laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

They had a good laugh while the sun set.

"Come on. Let's head back."

"Yeah."

They walked on in comfortable silence.