"Atago. Think fast."
It was just a few days ago when she had first heard those words.
Enterprise notched an airplane in her bow and fired.
She took out her blade and sliced thin air, missing the projectile by mere millimeters.
"Try again," Enterprise said, notching another arrow.
Under the moonlit night, next to the black waves, they trained and trained until Atago finally got it.
This training was an attempt to address an issue that had been arising in her ever since that man showed up.
The answer to the problem that he presented always seemed so close yet so far, as if it were dancing just outside her palm no matter how long she reached for it.
Was love like that moment when you blocked an attack from an enemy, or when you sliced through an arrow?
She felt that to almost be the case, but not quite.
Was what she was feeling really love?
Well, Queen Elizabeth herself said so, so it must be the case.
So she was feeling love. But what did that mean? She loved her whole family in Azur Lane, yet this feeling of love was different from that by just a little bit.
What was the difference? Was there even a difference?
Her blade almost brushed the projectile. She couldn't imagine how small the space was between them.
Never before was she introduced to such a complicated matter.
What was love?
How did she end up in love anyway?
She thought back to the beginning. No answer.
She spent time thinking about everything that had happened. Pretty much nothing of significance came to mind.
Nothing of significance ever seemed to happen. She couldn't pinpoint any single occasion that would have made her fall for him.
And yet, as if from thin air, she realized feelings; a desire. Did that mean that it was gradual? A bunch of little things bunching up to become this big thing?
If anything, it should have been him falling for her. From the start she had been almost a picture-perfect secretary, with an impeccable record and flawless work ethic and a personality to match.
So why did she fall for him and not the other way around?
Her blade sliced air once again.
"Come on. Let's try again," the carrier notched another arrow.
"Alright."
Maybe it was in the way he spoke or the way he carried himself.
Ever since the beginning, though there were many times he stumbled on his words and looked foolish, he always felt like he was giving it his all.
Was that it? That's practically all he had going for him.
Or was it the times they spent together, laughing, working and watching each other?
She didn't even know if he was watching her. She didn't know how she got to this point.
He seemed conscious about her the other day, though. That was good. That was great.
It was something to latch on to, like a rope. Perhaps this was what people meant when they talked about the word hope.
Instincts that seemed to come from memories that seemed to come from a time immemorial or a future that never came to pass sprung up within her and told her to take that rope.
That's right, she reminded herself.
Her blade finally met solid plane.
"Congratulations," Enterprise said, expression softening a little bit.
"Thanks," Atago huffed.
"Yeah. Now let's do it again," she notched another plane.
"HEY!"
There's a ton of things she didn't know, like why she felt this way about him and what it really meant to love him.
But latching onto something and seeing it through 'till the end like a fight was something she was plenty familiar with. It was something familiar.
The answer to all the questions she may be having might still be evading her grasp. But right here, right now, she would seize what she wanted with her own two hands.
"If anyone is in a position to do something about it, it's you."
Akagi's words came to mind.
Enough of this farce. She would make sure that he fell in love with her tonight.
That thought felt so right.
So when she said, "Sorry. I've kept you waiting," his expression filled her with confidence.
The S.S. Atago would trample and overtake Shikikan as if it were the Titanic, but instead of crashing and sinking from the iceberg, she would poke, bump and shatter him until they both fall in love and mate.
cAn untold feeling welled up inside. It was a complicated feeling that felt like a ball of tentacles, each tentacle going in a completely unique direction.
It felt like his stomach was in the process of getting run over by a truck and about to reincarnate in another world.
Atago was dressed in a white yukata that had pink and yellow flowers all over it.
"Sorry. I've kept you waiting," she somehow asserted, though her voice gave the feeling of being as soft as a petal.
Maybe underneath that soft demeanor and that flower-like appearance was a beast waiting to devour him.
"H-Hello," he stuttered and subsequently cursed himself for it.
"..."
"..."
Atago pouted. "Well? What do you think about what I'm wearing? Is it nice? Geez, Shikikan."
Why do you wanna know what I think about it? Why do you sound so impatient? It's not like I can read your mind. I don't want you to read my mind, either. Isn't that what they say? Keep your thoughts to yourself?
"Well," he started with all the confidence he could muster. "It looks," he took another glance at her. The white, pink and yellow hugged her body and gave her a bubbly demeanor and her eyes seemed to stare straight into his soul in a strangely endearing way. "Good," he finished.
"Hm..." She raised an eyebrow.
Why are you scrutinizing me?
"Do you really mean that?"
"I do."
She beamed, expression changing from darkness to light like the first chapter of Genesis. "Alright! I believe you! Let's go have a good time, Shikikan," she said as she reached for his hand.
"Uh, sure. What does that mean?"
Her hand paused by a millimeter from his. "It means, uh..."
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow.
As if she took that as a challenge, she steeled her expression, said, "Come with me," and grabbed his hand.
Atago right simultaneously felt like a flower and a venus fly trap.
He wasn't sure what he felt about everything.
This feeling was surely complicated.
"Ah, Ata-"
At the last second, he felt a vague sense of No that stopped him from calling her by name.
Seeing that, she turned her hair and smiled like a goblin.
She continued to aggressively tug him along, though whether that tugging was that of a sheep to a slaughter or of a sheep to a pasture, he wouldn't know until later on.
The sight of her impishly smiling at him while they were navigating a festival crowd seemed to stop all the noise from reaching his ears.
From his peripheral vision, a short head of bunny ears seemed to wink at him while carrying something that was also white, had bunny ears and was big. Not like he could spare much attention.
Eventually, they came upon a stand that sold... chocolate.
It didn't sell the type of chocolate that you would expect to find in a festival, but boxed chocolate.
"Get your chocolate here!"
It was as if someone had the idea that people would be buying chocolate for some reason. Was it because Valentine's Day was coming up?
Also contrary to expectations, the stand seemed to be pulling in a lot of business. Even now a small number of people were buying boxed chocolate, pocky, and even the legendary chocolate banana in spades. Though that last one seemed far more fitting for a festival."
He looked at her. Atago's smile seemed to widen almost imperceptibly upon seeing the stand.
They always did seem to perceive unperceivable things about each other.
Anyway, they approached the shopkeeper.
"Good evening, Sir," he greeted Shikikan. "Ma'am." He greeted Atago.
"Hello. What do you sell here," Atago asked.
"We sell chocolate in all shapes and sizes. There's boxes, wheels, and even sticks of chocolate in the form of Pocky."
Atago's eyes brightened considerably, as if a light bulb had been lit somewhere near them. Maybe that was because the shop was indeed lit by a lightbulb.
She smirked. "I know just what to buy."
Knowing her, she's probably thinking something like, oh, it's that Pocky thing I've seen in all the romcoms. I know now what I must do.
"Atago. Wait."
Taking care to look about as confident as he was nervous, he put his hand on Atago's shoulder, prompting her to turn to him.
"Yeah?"
"I have..." his eyes darted between her, the shopkeeper, and the nice chocolate stand. "Something to ask this man. Stand down."
She tilted her head. No lightbulb was found here.
"Alright..." Atago stepped aside.
Nice.
"Good evening, my good man. This is a very nice stand you have here."
The shopkeeper, a nondescript man, cupped his right cheek. "Oh! Please, you will make me blush, Sir."
He nodded. "Yes. How have you been doing?"
He uncupped his cheek and tilted his head. That gesture only really ever worked when a shipgirl did it.
"Uh, that is... how have you been doing in these trying times? Is your family okay? Do you have a wife?"
"Ah!" His face lit up and stars seemed to dance in his eyes. "How kind of you to ask, Sir! Yes, I do have one, and she's the light of my life!"
Shikikan shook off the vague feeling of happiness that this man's happiness gave him. Really, why did he look like he was just waiting for someone to ask him about his darling wife all day long?
The Commander gave another nod and a hum, just to point out that he really understood. "Yeah. That's great to hear, friend. And you don't have any financial troubles?"
He shook his head.
"Alright. Then... why don't you tell me about your wife?"
Atago was still in his peripheral vision so he noticed how her ears twitched up at that question.
Shikikan absentmindedly thought of how good it was that nobody else was queued in the stand at the moment.
The man uncharacteristically twiddled his fingers together with a schoolgirl blush. "Yes. We met on the 31st of January. I saw her with another man and thought, wow, she just has to be mine..."
As he nodded along to the man's story while making sure to say things and drop questions here and there, Shikikan felt a prickling at the back of his head.
He turned around just enough to see Atago staring holes at him.
With a wide, angelic smile that squinted her eyes, he wasn't sure how she was staring at him. More importantly, he wasn't sure if she was staring happily or angrily.
"...And then... I applied pocky. She became putty in my arms."
The Commander felt something shift in his secretary's energy, as if another lightbulb went off. Far too many of those have been going off recently.
"Looking back, I was very aggressive. It's a good thing that it all worked out in the end. She could have gotten a restraining order with everything I pulled," he laughed.
"Ah, yeah. I hope you've learned your lesson there..."
"Of course!" The shopkeeper roared in laughter.
To his dismay, Atago did not seem to hear that last bit.
"So, anyway, there's all sorts of chocolates in this world, but if you were to court a lady, I strongly recommend the pocky. There's no food as intimate as that."
"I... accept your recommendation."
Atago now seemed to be radiating waves of energy.
"Great! I look forward to seeing how it works out on that little lady over there," he ribbed him and referred to Atago despite her being right next to them.
Beating himself up for agreeing with such a recommendation, he raised a finger. "Ah, on second thought, I think I'll just go with the chocolate bo-"
Atago's gaze felt nuclear.
The shopkeeper seemed unfazed by that and continued the conversation. "Hm? Why not? That's a shame."
"Well, it's just that-"
"Shopkeeper." Her voice ushered from behind him yet felt as large as life and three times more threatening. "I would like to have your pocky."
He turned to her in a last-ditch effort to save himself. "Wait, no-"
"Shhh," she hushed him. "This will only go to a..." Her smile deepened as she trailed off. "Very good cause."
"One bag of pocky? Alright, let me get that for you."
Is this guy blind?
"Here you go."
"Thank you, shopkeeper."
"Any time. You take care now, you two."
"Thanks again, she exclaimed as she took Shikikan by the arm and dragged him away."
The shopkeeper cupped his cheek one last time. "Ah. Get married already."
Why are you like this!?
Atago tugged him along like before to a dark area just outside the festival; a place where no one would think to look.
This was very shady.
Shikikan's heart was beating out of his chest like a bomb.
"Hey, Atago. What are you doing?"
She didn't seem to hear him as she unwrapped the pocky pack and put one in her mouth.
He almost heard his own heartbeat and wondered if she could hear it too. This was making him nervous. Why wasn't he taking any action to stop it?
Then, she played with it in her mouth, and... chewed on it.
"Hey. Want some?" She offered the opened pack of pocky to him while brushing some hair away from her face. She seemed to be a little out of breath.
"Oh. Thanks."
"Welcome."
Hm...
Just like all their other times together, a comfortable feeling of silence settled over them.
In no time at all, Shikikan finished his pocky stick.
"Ah. That was good. Thanks Ata-"
"Oops. I'm tripping."
Saying that monotonously, his secretary strongly set one foot into his personal space and shoved her pocky into his open mouth while he was still talking.
Shikikan's vision quickly became a sight of Atago, her breath tickling his cheeks, her hair brushing his face, and her big, sincere eyes looking strai-
This wasn't a good situation to be in. Not at all. A part of him said it definitely was good, but it wasn't. Not at all.
As if to accentuate that thought, she went just a little bit more forth, and as the distance between them decreased all the more, the pocky poked Shikikan's throat, causing a violent reaction.
It was a good thing that he thought fast.
Even as tears filled his vision, he quickly bit off that pocky, turned and coughed in another direction.
"Ah. You choked me," he heaved out.
"Ah. S-Sorry," she stuttered.
"Is this some kind of special Azur Lane killing technique? If so it's very... effective. I'll give you that."
"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry." Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be genuinely very repentant. Making her this sorry made him feel a little bit sorry even though logically he should have no reason to be.
"It's okay. Let's just move on," he replied, reliable as ever.
But, he thought, no matter how reliable he came across as, right now he was feeling anything but.
Trepidation. Giddiness. Remorse. Embarrassment.
As all these feelings made him feel an indescribable way, he had two thoughts:
One, that he had no idea what he was feeling and why. A truly complicated feeling.
And two, the thing Cleveland mentioned about fear making you urinate for longer.
As a sidenote, Atago seemed a lot meeker now. Not at all assertive. That was probably her way of saying sorry. It was nice, at least.
I, Graf Zeppelin, am quite bored right now.
An exhale was puffed out and into the open air. Though it initially stood out from all the air around it, forming a cloud, it succumbed. The cloud disappeared, and the air that was exhaled, though it still existed, might as well have not existed anymore at that moment.
It was gone and there was no proof that it was ever there to begin with.
This thought made the aircraft carrier exhale a second time.
The effect repeated itself.
The temporality of life came to mind.
This real process coupled with her thought process... only served to make her want to sigh some more.
Life had always been meaningless.
Appear one day for no good reason. For no explicit reason.
Then suddenly you have this group of people around you who are supposedly the same as you, which was frankly unthinkable.
They were like the earth and she was like the sky. Or the other way around. Who was she to call herself the sky?
It wasn't like she was high. Not at all. Or maybe she was high.
That would explain why she always felt and seemed so... different than everyone else.
She had always had this family and yet no one in it whom she could relate to.
Well, granted, that short-ass redhead could somewhat relate to her a little bit. But only a little bit.
In fact most of the reason she allowed her to stick so hard was because she pitied her for how much she wanted to stay.
If that Sandy girl were Cloud 1, she would be Cloud 9.
At least she could pretend to fit in with everyone else. Not so for this Graf Zepellin, not at all.
She basically just appeared one day and stuck herself to her like glue. That did feel nice and novel at the time, but the novelty wore off, and though they had a nice friendship that lasted to this day and probably would last to the end, it wasn't a very good one, she felt.
Not like she had many friendships to compare it to. She felt quite distant with her fellow Iron Blood ships if she said so herself.
Even if it was a very good friendship by others' metrics, she always felt as if she wanted more. Which was ridiculous. What would she want more than all this?
She had a loving family, a safe home, and free food to live off of for as long as she lived.
Anyway, that being said...
"Hey, I'm going this way. See ya later."
"Alright," the redhead nodded with an uncharacteristic calm about her.
She did appreciate these parts of her that would be considerate.
Maybe Sandy also felt the distance that she was putting up, or maybe she felt that regardless of distance to have time away from each other would be just normal for their personalities.
Anyway, it was now time to move. This Graf Zeppelin, after all, was not someone to stay in the same place for an extended period of time.
She would enjoy this festival in whatever way she saw fit.
Yeah. She should really learn to be more... satisfied, with what she had.
Let this account of what happened afterwards be known far and wide.
The scent of the sea, food and various burnt aromas tingled in the air and formed a unique nasal experience. Here at a seaside cliff, the moon, stars and sea bore witness to it.
That's when I saw it.
It was like... a shooting star.
"Hey, wanna go there?" A man said.
Their aura radiated as if they were blue flames, and the wonder blew me away.
When she stumbled upon them, it was pure euphoria.
Something good enough to circumvent all her thoughts until now, and perhaps her whole life while it was at it.
Something good enough to justify her whole life.
"Hm..." Atago twiddled her thumbs. "Maybe... if you want to."
That is... a reason for living.
"I need to go. I really need to go."
Silhouettes of trees obscured two figures dashing through the forest path with nothing to illuminate the way but the moon and the stars.
"Yes, Shikikan. It's okay, you'll make it."
Commander and Secretary ran through the night forest at high speed, looking for a certain kind of place.
The forest at this time was very quiet, which gave Shikikan something of an idea.
"Alright, alright. I'll save my energy by being quiet."
Atago raised an eyebrow but continued running with him nonetheless.
A few more seconds passed, and an awkward question that had to be asked was said.
"Hey... Is it okay if you, you know..." There was something that needed to be said about the fact that he was able to see a blush despite both of them being blurs in his sight.
Shikikan, clueless, huffed out, "If... I... what?"
"Do it here?"
"No! Gross!"
Despite it all this boat woman giggled.
And despite himself the man smiled.
"Ah. There, I can see one," she pointed.
"Thanks so much! Please wait!"
A decreipt green little box stood out to them from the shrubbage of the forest. It probably represented a toilet, so Shikikan did the logical thing and bolted in.
"Alright, I'll wait outside," was all he heard before he shut the door on her.
That was all he needed to hear.
Now he could let himself go.
All the rolling of the sea, all the bottles of water that were drank in this festival were building up to this.
Ahhh...
He felt relief.
But as quickly as it came, it was replaced by the unease that was so prevalent throughout the night. Everything came to mind.
Her actions.
His feelings.
Her actions.
His feelings.
He was never one to pay attention, really, to his own feelings. He would rather focus on what needed to be done.
But he also wasn't blind. He knew what she was doing, and the sum of how it made him feel was... interesting, to say the least.
He felt... uneasy. Giddy, but uneasy. That was probably the best summary of how he felt.
What even were the implications of a relationship like that? Theoretically, would the state accept their marriage? Would everyone else accept their marriage?
He would have loved to be idealistic and say something like, Just go with the flow, but he had to think of these things. He was an adult, after all.
He exhaled.
Well, he was done with what he needed to do in here, so it was time to head out. Maybe he could figure these things out on a later date, but for now, he could only respond the best he could.
He was greeted by cold air, a dark blue sky, the almost complete absence of light, strange forest noises, and the moon.
The moon shone on him as it always had. As it had that day, and the other day recently, and even tonight.
"Hi. Kept me waiting," her voice sounded.
But unlike that day, she was here. Waiting for him.
He at the very least knew how that made him feel.
Pure, unadulterated happiness ran through him.
"I did," he replied.
Atago's pale skin seemed to glow under the moonlight. She wore a playful smile that was rarely seen on her.
This really was an eventful day. From the playful aura she exuded, Atago went to an uncomfortable silence. A silence even less comfortable than the ones they had when they didn't know each other. That was impressive in its own way.
He caught her stealing glances at him every now and then. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't bring herself to.
Eventually, they made it out of the forest and back into the festival. Back into the place filled with crazy lights, delicious scents wafting everywhere and, most of all, people. Many people.
He turned to her. "Let's... go somewhere else?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking.
She especially couldn't tell what she was thinking when, as they were walking, she grabbed his sleeve. He turned to her with a questioning look.
"Hey. I'm sorry. Let's get ice cream."
"Are you apologizing or asking for ice cream?"
"...Both."
She scratched the back of her head awkwardly while her ears seemed to twitch around a bit, a habit, he noted, that he often used himself.
But he wasn't able to bring that up right now. It didn't feel appropriate.
"...Sure." He conceded.
Atago's face brightened, and she asked, "What flavors do you want?"
"Flavors? Just chocolate, please."
"Okay!" She gave a smile that showed her teeth as they continued walking towards the ice cream stand.
Shikikan stood off at a distance and let Atago order the ice cream.
They were away from the action but not so far that there was no light here. There was still light where Atago was. The ice cream was at the edge of the lit area, and Shikikan was waiting outside that area.
He took a deep breath.
There seemed to be something that was bothering him. It was probably about Atago, but he didn't know what it was.
It was as if the issue danced just millimeters away from his palm no matter how far he reached out.
No use thinking about it now, he supposed.
Atago came back.
"Here. Have some ice cream."
In her hand was a cone of two scoops of mint and vanilla ice cream, and she handed him a chocolate and vanilla combination.
The sight of her, in her yukata and ponytail, giving him some ice cream in a festival felt... familiar.
Perhaps this was the feeling of something tugging on one's heartstrings.
Reminiscent of a simpler time.
He smiled at the thought.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Yes."
They made their way to an isolated place, still by the cliffside. It seemed that this land stretched on and on and on, so most of it was left alone.
There was nothing and no one here but nature and themselves.
Shikikan and Atago enjoyed the view and let silence sink in.
Their ice cream was finished soon enough.
He wasn't sure how long they were there for.
But when he finally turned around, he saw something that once again tugged on his heartstrings.
Atago was biting on her lips and glaring at something. It looked like she wanted to cry.
"Hey, what's wrong?" His voice came out before he realized it.
"I... sorry."
"Hey. I told you I don't mind it."
"Yes Sir. Sorry again, Sir."
He sighed.
"Sorry," she started again. "It keeps bothering me. I can't stop it from bothering me."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I-I thought today was a bust, you know."
He didn't recall if he had ever heard her stutter before, so to him this might as well have been the first time he heard her stutter.
"I thought we would have a way better time than this, but I forced pocky into your throat and..."
It was the first time he saw her like this.
So unsure.
So sad.
So vulnerable.
"Hey."
He wanted to protect her.
"Don't cry."
A smile came from his heart.
"I really enjoyed tonight, you know?"
Her wide eyes were enough of a reply for him.
After this, they would go back home, forget about everything that was complicated, and continue on with their normal lives.
That's what would happen.
Then fireworks went off.
Neither of them bothered to even look at them.
And the sight of her reddened face, eyes that wanted to cry and a mouth that was trembling, was imprinted into his mind.
It was as beautiful as the full moon behind her.
She opened her mouth, but the fireworks' noise made her difficult to hear.
"-ove you."
"What?"
"I love you."
Once more her confession came, loud and clear.
The sound of her voice to him was louder than any firework would ever be.
"I love you. Shikikan."
As if she was holding onto something. As if she needed to make sure he heard it, she repeated what she said.
Shikikan couldn't stop the heating of his face even if he wanted to.
Seeing that, Atago's eyes narrowed lovingly, and a genuine smile appeared on her face - the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
"I love you, Shikikan."
"I..."
"Sh. There's no need to reply right now. I know you might not have a reply now, but I don't want to force you again."
Her smile continued. "I just want you to know that I love you, and that's why I did all those things."
"..."
"Though they weren't very well-advised... hahaha."
In a shy gesture, she scratched the back of her head.
At that moment, the Commander realized.
"H-H-Hey. You picked that up from me."
Entertaining his foolish notions, as if she knew just what he needed at all times, Atago laughed.
He laughed, too.
It was a warm night when the two laughed together.
Now, first and foremost, it should be noted that in and of itself, this occurence wouldn't be anything notable. Nothing to write home about, as it were.
It was just the Commander and his secretary, a pair very often seen together around the base, even more so in recent time. Come to think of it, many people seemed to be saying something about the two, but Graf wasn't part of any gossip circles that she was aware of.
But there was something in the way they moved, cliche as it may sound. Something in the way they looked at each other.
When he asked for permission, he looked at her as if she was a small puppy.
When she meekly replied with upturned eyes, it felt as if a wave of energy released that affected everyone around.
Electric shocks ran down Graf's spine.
What was that!?
By this stage, she did not have much reaction at all.
She supposed that that was to be expected. But what happened next would turn her world upside down.
The Commander... sighed.
And his secretary, Atago... whipped her hair.
That is, she turned around so fast that her hair whipped the air, and said, "Hey! I'm trying to be considerate here!"
The Commander, seemingly reeling from shock, replied clumsily, "Huh?"
"Ah, sorry," came the woman's reply. "I came on too strong again."
"N-No," the man stuttered. "I don't mind..."
They turned away from each other, the Commander scratching his head awkwardly and Atago twiddling her fingers.
Once again, throughout that whole exchange, electric shocks seemed to run down Graf's spine. Am I being electrocuted, she deigned to think. But of course not, of course not.
What was happening wasn't anything tangible, but... what was the word? Magical.
For the first time of the night, and perhaps for the first time of her life, she felt as if she was seeing something really good.
She had never seen these two like this before! Granted she didn't see the two of them often anyway. Maybe she should seek them out more to see them like this.
"Anyway... let's just go," Shikikan said, shyly.
There were times when he was like that in the base, but with her, it just felt so... right.
And his secretary obediently nodded and followed like a little puppy dog. If her ears should wag, Graf thought, perhaps she would be able to die peacefully.
She was pulled out of her musings when they finally arrived at their destination. A humble dart shop that saw great use throughout the festival. The back of it seemed to have space that looked like it would fit an especially big stuffed toy.
"Hello. We'd like to try," Shikikan said.
The poor guy took one look at the superpowered boat beside his customer and said, "Sure, Sir."
And try they did.
But there was a problem.
The darts made plop sounds as they landed on the wooden board.
"Hm... let me try again."
One try turned to two tries, two to four, and so on and so forth.
No matter how much he did it, the darts just seemed to never hit the center.
It would hit literally every ring but the center. The most outer ring, the second innermost ring, but never the center.
It was a bit of a miracle that by this time most people had stopped using this stand.
Atago giggled to herself.
The Commander turned at her and aggressively said - not quite yelling, but aggressive nonetheless, "What are you laughing at!?"
"N-Nothing." She was covering her mouth.
Despite herself, Graf could feel a smile forming on her face as well.
The Commander huffed like a child, probably because there weren't a lot of people around, and continued his attempts.
After a few more tries, he struck up a conversation.
"Hey,"
"Hi, Shikikan."
Hey!?
Graf couldn't tell much about what he was thinking as he was facing the dart board in the opposite direction.
"I've just been thinking..." He sighed and threw another dart. It landed with a thud. "You've been pretty quiet. Is what happened there stlil bothering you?"
A pregnant pause ensued.
"Honestly... yeah," she decided. "I wanna say I'm sorry again."
The Commander threw another dart. It landed on the 2nd innermost circle, just an inch away from the center.
He took the dart and passed it to her.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not worrying about it."
Atago turned to the one who manned the stall. "Is it okay if we keep going? We don't want any prizes, by the way."
The poor, poor guy looekd up confused from a bag that he was packing of small stuffed toys and nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course. And thank you so much."
Atago shook her head and got ready to throw a dart.
Thud.
It hit right next to Shikikan's dart, still missing the center.
She gave off a complicated air, as if her eyes would seem complicated if she saw them.
"I... Okay, Commander."
She forced herself to smile. "I'll do as you say."
Graf felt solemn.
It was right there and then that they came in, like a shooting star. On another shooting star.
Shooting stars collide. Shooting star battle, as it were.
"Hey~!" A joyous voice rang out. Graf matched it instantly with Akagi, who showed up with her sister. "Can we try, too~?"
The poor, poor, poor guy manning the stall just said yes.
"Thank you!" Then she made a show of dramatically turning around to Atago. "Ah! You two! I didn't see you there!"
Then, probably as part of her dramatic act that she was doing for an unclear reason, she knocked her head and stuck her tongue out in a teehee! pose.
Kaga's tails swirled behind her, batting at each other as if she wanted to palm her face but couldn't and so had to make do with her tails.
"Ah. Akagi," Atago started, surprised, then gave a gentle smile. "Why, of course you can try. Here."
"Thanks, Atago~!" The fox chimed.
She took a stance, stretched a little bit... and threw.
If the past darts made a thud sound, this one made a bang, smack dab in the middle of the board. Shockwaves rattled the dart board and it waved back and forth.
"Oh, wow~! Can I try again? This is fun," she beamed.
Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed another dart and prepared to throw.
Graf just realized that Shikikan's presence had been shrinking back.
She also noticed that Atago was shooting him concerned glances.
I can see something very good tonight.
"You know," the fox threw a dart around the board which went considerably slower and rattled it considerably less.
"I've been," thud. "Having," thud. "A pretty, thud. "Good time." thud.
Darts once again decorated the board in all circles but the center, which was only occupied by the dart she threw first.
"Do you guys... feel the same?" Akagi beamed at the two, ignoring the trembling shopkeeper in the background in favor of the Commander who looked like he wanted to start trembling.
To her credit, Akagi seemed like a really nice girl. She really did. But her smile probably just didn't come off right. She probably didn't realize it.
"Yes," the Commander forced.
Atago looked at him worriedly, but it looked like she was still debating what to do with herself.
That was this Zeppelin's time to shine.
She came out of the bushes and approached them.
"Excuse me," she let her voice boom through the night and picked up a dart. "May I... try?"
Shikikan looked even paler than before. Still with a calm demeanor, like always, but physically pale. It was like watching a ghost.
Not waiting for permission, Graf threw the dart smack dab in the middle of the board as well with a bang, penetrating the other dart and splitting it into four equal pieces.
That seemed to be the last straw.
"Excuse me," Atago called their attention with an obviously forced smile. "We... have to go. It was a nice experience, though. Thanks so much! See you guys around!"
She smiled without showing her teeth, grabbed Shikikan, and tugged him along somewhere else. Shikikan almost started running.
As they left, Akagi made eye contact with Graf Zeppelin.
In a moment of rare camaraderie, the two women cut from vastly different cloths gave each other a thumbs up.
