Sea and Sakura Chapter 1, an azur lane/碧蓝航线 fanfic

Sea and Sakura

Standard boilerplate that I don't own squat….

I've got a rough idea for this one; I am building as it goes. I'm not sure on who is going to be the central ship girl yet… Either Takao or Zuikaku…

This is going to be POV from The Commander…

Rated M just to give me some room to develop the story as it goes on, who knows how it'll go.

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Part One – One should not drink and fly

There is an old saying, 'War is hell'… After having fought a war, there is truth to that statement. But I would learn later, it really should be, 'Love is hell'. There is nothing rational to it, it makes a fool out of you, makes you blind to what is going on, makes you dumb at the worst times… really you could argue that it's sex that does that last one… Still…

I was never one to really study other cultures, probably something I should've done before I took that assignment, but here I sit across from a woman with long hair, tucked into a white hood, her white dress concealing her… well let's just say she could be considered a little top-heavy. The hood is doing a fantastic job at hiding her features; I can just make out a smile on her lips as they are quirking into a smile. It's times like this that I can't help but feel how adorkable she can be… but I'm getting ahead of myself, you're here for the story of how we got to this point… Let's just say it is a bit of a yarn and not a direct trip…

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New Year's day Azur Lane Pacific fleet base

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I'm jolted awake as the C.O.D. slams down on the runway, as I hear the pilot call over the headset, "Sorry about that, we hit a sudden downdraft…"

I wipe my mouth as I feel the drool that had been running down my face from the flight. I then rub my face, as my head starts to pound; the fair well party had been pretty big last night… Having just hit full-blown Commander and the only open posting for someone of my rank was a shore posting out in the central pacific…

I hear the engines spin down as the plane comes to a stop at a hanger, finally, I can open that docket I'd been given, told I couldn't open until I touched down. As I open it I see the letters S.C.I. stamped all over it, fuck me sideways what have I gotten myself into now?

I see the pilot and co-pilot pulling off their headsets before starting to move into the cabin, heading to the cargo in the back, I tug on the pilot's sleeve and ask, "You know anything about this base?"

I see her give me a sideways glance before he says, "If you like women, you're going to have blue balls for the rest of your days here."

I blink a couple of times at her and start to wonder what she's talking about. I was about to ask when they tossed me my duffle bag as they asked, "What did you stuff in that thing?"

I feel my cheeks heat a little, even eight years after high school I'm still a D&D geek at heart. Maybe I took it a step past being a D&D geek… I mean I did join HEMA if only for the exercise it gave me, and it did lend itself to leaning into my enjoyment of D&D. But learning how to use an arming sword, properly, proved both fun and challenging…. Not that it's a useful skill out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

I can see the pilot still looking at me like she's actually expecting an answer, before she shrugs and says, "Let me guess, sex doll?"

What. In. The. Actual. Fuck. Sure I'm not great with women, never have been, but packing a sex doll to bring with you on a cruiser? I catch her starting to laugh as my expression, that I'm guessing is somewhere between shock and bewilderment as she says, "Sorry Commander, I'm just messing with you."

I sigh, and sling my bag, and get that reminder that I packed my training arming sword, as it slams into the center of my back, it's not that it's heavy, just about two and a half pounds and about three feet long, it's just the heaviest thing in there….

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As I'm at the gate from the airfield to the base I can see a pair of... well... girls is all I can describe them as… but the weird thing is that they're both dressed alike, white jackets, red skirts with red and black tartans, one is clearly wearing a guarder belt as I can see the clips going to her long black stockings. Both of them kind of look-alike with blond hair, just really different eyes… The one with the stockings has blue, while the other has these red almost purple eyes, which send a chill down my spine. The one with the blue eyes speaks to me first, with a thin-sounding New Zealander accent I might add, "Good day to you Commander, I am Leander and this…"

She paused to gesture to the other girl and say, "Achilles."

I give them both a salute while Achilles puts her hands behind her head as she says, "Can we go now? I don't wanna miss the snacks at the Sakura quarter today…"

Leander gives a little bow as she says to me, "Do forgive my sister, she tends to think with her stomach…"

I give a nod and watch as both girls turn and start to escort me through the gate, I follow them through the base, I keep looking around and all I see are women, some in outfits that border on being swimwear or lingerie, I can feel my pants getting tighter as Achilles seems to pick that moment to look back and laugh as she and asks, "Commander are you aiming to become a wizard?"

I'm not really paying too much attention to what she said, enough that it registered, but not enough to actually think about what I said, what I did say was the class I would normally play in D&D, "Paladin actually."

Oh how that would come to bite me in the ass…

She started to really laugh, almost doubling over as she said, "That's even funnier! Maybe if you're lucky, I'll take you for a spin so you can break that vow of celibacy!"

Oh fuck me… what did I do…

I feel my cheeks get really hot, I can see Leander doing her best not to laugh, bless her heart. After a little while longer we get to a large house on a hill overlooking a good portion of the base and Leander turns to face me as she holds out her hand and says, "These are your quarters Sir, when the rest of your personnel effects arrive I'll make sure that they are brought here. If you don't need us for anything more, I and my sister are going to go and take part in the New Year festivities in the Sakura quarter now."

I take the item she wanted to pass me; it feels like a key in my hand as I tell them both, "Sure, I'm going to get settled in… Could you at least tell me where I'll find my office for tomorrow?"

Leander gave me a smile as she said, "Don't worry Sir; I'll meet you here at Oh-Seven Hundred tomorrow morning, I'm on the docket to be your secretary for the first week, just to get you used to the base, after that, you can pick from anyone on the roster."

"Uh, thanks?" I say as I give them both a salute and watch as they both walk away.

I watch as Achilles latches onto Leander and whispers something in her ear before looking back my way and winking, a spilt second before she makes a jerking off motion with her hand at me, I hang my head… yeah… I'm probably going to do that later… The eyes can only take so much….

After taking some pain meds for the hangover and late night, I reach for the door to head out, but remember I really need to settle in and read that docket cover to cover, just to know what I'm in for.

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After I got my head around the idea of what/who I was in command of, I got pretty lucky that Leander made my first week easy enough… Though Achilles had taken to teasing me as much as she could, and well then I met Ajax… wow she's got some issues…

Thankfully Leander was able to give me a lead on a fairly well-secluded place on the hills behind the base, from the way she described it, it would be a good place to keep up my practice with an arming sword. That weekend I made sure to head up there early in the morning on Saturday… and that decision would prove to have lasting effects on my life, in ways I had no idea of how they would later.

As I push through the brush, I see the clearing, but see two of these Kansen sitting on their knees, in what I guess is traditional training cloths of the Empire; both had long hair in a ponytail, one brown of hair and one black of hair. I watch from the tree line as they stand and take out wooden swords, it's clear from the way they are moving that they are sparing with each other. I've never really liked the eastern school of swordplay, I know it's similar to the one I practice, but it seems to focus on one perfect blow.

I watch as the one with the brown hair steps forward bringing her swing up from a lower rear guard position to counter the one with dark hair coming down from a high guard, as their blades clash I take out my training sword and place it tip down in the dirt and lean on the pommel taking in their motions… I'll admit I watched their chests for two reasons, first being that is where all motion starts for an attack… the second being… well as the joke around here tends to be, they had ample torpedo protection…

I see the one with the brown hair twist, moving to the side of the one with the dark hair, before she can strike the one with dark hair, I see the dark-haired one swing her blade out in a wide arc to her left catching the blade of the brown-haired one. As they connect I see dog ears perk up on her dark hair and angle towards me as she calls out, "You there, come out into the light, I will not suffer assassins in the dark."

I sigh, and pull my blade out of the dirt, gripping it in a backward way, clear that I wasn't planning on attacking with it, as I came out into the light, both of the women snapped to attention as the dark-haired one said, "I'm sorry Sir! I had no idea it was you…"

I shake my head as I tell her, "No harm, no foul…"

I see the confusion on their faces at my choice of words, as I laugh, "A figure of speech, meaning no offense was given and none was taken."

I see them both nod before they introduced themselves, the dark-haired one went first with a bow she said, "I am Takao…"

The brown-haired one spoke, "I am Zuikaku…"

"Commander Hawkwood..." I say to them.

I see both women look at my dull looking training sword and Zuikaku asks, "Do you know how to use that thing?"

I lift my blade a little more and roll it around to grip it properly as I say, "I know a thing or two about using it."

I mean I am by no means a master with the thing; Takao stands upright and tilts her head to the side as she tells me, "We have never faced someone that knows European sword skills… would you like to spar with us?"

I'm hesitant, my instincts tell me not to, these are girls… you don't hit girls, period, full stop. But at the same time, I knew they could crush me like a bug if they wanted too. I shrug and step out into the clearing.

I see both of them debate on who should go first, after a few moments Takao stand across from me, taking a high guard stance again, I take a short guard stance, again I'm locked onto her chest, watching for the motion to start.

I let out a breath to center myself, as I think about how she moved against Zuikaku. It happens fast, I see her slightly twist before she moves forward and starts to bring her blade down in chopping motion, I move to her left, extend my blade and roll it to catch hers on my cross guard and shove it off-center, leaving her open to take a shoulder check to knock her to the dirt, that out of pure muscle memory I deliver, my shoulder drives right into her, I see the look of surprise in her yellow eyes from the unexpected contact. As she lands on her side she looks up at me, still clearly surprised her face turning red as she said, "That was not an honorable action…"

I hang my head, as I say, "Maybe in eastern fighting, but not in European."

"My turn, I will get him back Takao…" I hear Zuikaku say as she goes back to that lower rear guard stance.

I switch it up to a hanging right guard, again I watch how she moves, thinking about what she did last time… again she moves like before, as she starts to swing up, I drive my blade down with all my might, trapping hers in the crossguard while my blade digs into the dirt, I let go of the grip and tackle her to the ground, drawing out a squeak of shock and surprise from her.

I feel her hands grab onto my sides and pull me with her down to the ground; I feel my knees hit the dirt, my right hand on something soft. Her brown eyes boring into my green ones, her cheeks are slightly flushed, our noses all but touching, after a moment I see her looks of surprise turn to one of anger as she moves her hands to my chest and pushes me off of her, enough that I go flying on to my back… now I'm not a small guy by any stretch of the meaning, six foot one, a solid two hundred pounds of a hard body nerd thanks to the Navy. This was my first introduction to just how strong Kansen really are.

I guess she must've been really flustered as she sat up and held her robe closed at the chest as she hollered at me, "Watashi no kyoka nashi ni nidoto!"

I won't pretend to know what she said to me, but if I had to guess based on her body language I must've copped a feel on her.

From behind me I hear some bushes move, and I look back to see two other Empire women coming, another one with dog ears and one with white hair, again both in similar robes to the other two, both with training swords. I see the one with white hair rush over to Zuikaku and ask her, "Sister, are you alright?"

Zuikaku nods as she tells her, "I'm fine Shoukaku…" she paused to take a breath before saying, "I was sparing with Shikikan Hawkwood and was taken by surprise."

Takao helped me up as she said, "Thank you Shikkan, it was very informative to face a different school of sword fighting… I would like to spar against you again in the future."

I watched as she bowed to me before she dusted off her knees before she stood back up and I tell her, "It would be my honor, I will try to respect your style more in the future."

From behind Takao I see who must clearly be her sister wiggle her dog ears and ask, "Can I take part next time?"

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Later in the day, I'm walking around the central shopping district, I need to get some new clothes, apparently, the Navy lost my luggage somewhere in the Atlantic… How the hell do you lose luggage that is bound for the pacific in the Atlantic?

I rub the back of my head as I sit down at the café here with a cup of coffee and a scone, I feel kind of bad about copping a feel on Zuikaku, it was a complete accident, but I still feel guilty… I am amazed at how real it felt, soft, warm… I hang my head; this is not doing me any favors.

As I settle into my chair better I lean forward and look out over this little town, I all I can see are these Kansen, according to my docket, I'm the only male officer here and it's my job to look after them like I'm some kind of caretaker… Azur Lane doesn't know what to do with them now that the war with the Sirens is over, they can't be released from service because they can level entire cities at will, but they can't be decommissioned because they are living breathing things…. So the Pacific Ocean collection of them; are here, on this tiny backwater island out in the middle of the ocean that no one gives a rats ass about.

I sigh out, "Talk about a dead-end career choice…"

"What is?" I hear a voice ask from behind me, I look out of the corner of my eye to see a white-haired beauty, dressed in white with a coat that makes me think of a crane, it takes me a moment, but it hits me, doubly so when I see Zuikaku with her.

I sigh, "This assignment, I hit full blow Commander last week, just before new years, Shoukaku… I had a choice, retire or take the only open posting…"

I sit back and gesture to the town, "Here."

When I look at Zuikaku I can see she is in a red dress that is somehow defying the laws of physics with how two little strings are supporting her bust that is apparently much larger than I thought it was. I feel my cheeks getting hot when she notices me looking she closes up her white coat as well, but I can see a little smile at the edges of her lips. I see Shoukaku tug on Zuikaku's arm as she says, "My sister has something she'd like to say…"

Zuikaku bows to me, I guess forgetting about her choice of attire as I can see right down her coat and dress, as she says to me, "I would like to apologize for launching you Shikkian… I forget that using my strength on a human could be fatal…"

I absentmindedly rub my back a little before I look down and say, "It's alright, you didn't hurt me and it's kind of my fault… would you two like to join me?"

That apparently was all the invite Shoukaku needed as I hear a chair being pulled out, while I see Zuikaku stand back up and blush a little before sitting across from me, looking to the café as one of the Royal Navy light cruisers exits the building with a teapot and some cups.

Both myself and Zuikaku are trying very hard to avoid eye contact with each other, while Shoukaku is happily sipping her tea she asks, "Shikikan, what brings you into the city today?"

I sigh and laugh, it is actually kind of funny, at least I hope someone finds it funny… "Apparently, my personnel effects that were in San Diego that were to be sent here somehow got sent to Scapa Flow… That has left me with exactly five changes of clothes, counting sleepwear…"

I hear a musical sound, which seems to border on laughter emanating from Shoukaku, after a few moments she stops laughing and suggests, "I and Zuikaku are doing some shopping as well, would you like some company?"

I was about to accept, when Zuikaku slams her hands down on the table, standing in the process, her cheeks red, brown eyes locked on me and I suddenly feel like I'm in the crosshairs as she says, "Sister, with the places we need to go, I do not think it is appropriate for him to join us."

If I didn't know better, I say her only objection is due to my gender… But considering what happened this morning, I but there is more too it…. As if taking her sister's hint, Shoukaku gets up and leaves the table as well. I sigh and go back to my coffee before I notice a pair of paper cranes, one red the other white where Shoukaku had been sitting.

I pick them up and look at them closer, the red one seems a little less refined than the white one, but they both seem to bring a smile to my face as I try and forget about my current problems. Just as I finish my coffee and scone I lean back with my head over the back of the chair and bump into something soft… at head height… oh no… oh no, oh no….

I open my eyes to see two yellow ones looking down at me, a smile starting to spread across their face, I look for more clues as to who it could be, but the voice and the words tell me faster than I could by visual confirmation alone, "You've been naughty, Commander. Do you want to be punished so badly?"

But it was the giggle she gave at the end that sent a chill down my spine and piques a little curiosity, "I'm so, so, so sorry Atago! I didn't know you were right behind me…"

She stepped back a little letting my head out of her bust as she leaned forward and teased me with, "Maybe this is what I wanted you to do… You can't go around just touching any girl you please Shikikan…"

My cheeks get red, like fire engine red, Atago for her part simply smirked and wiggled those dog ears from side to side as she whispered into my ear, "But I don't mind Shikikan touching me…"

I'm at a loss for words, I'm a full blow Commander, I've been in battle, I've taken command of a cruiser when the captain was rendered unable to give orders, and I get a pretty girl talking to me and I'm back to being that same kid I was in high school, completely terrified of talking to a pretty girl… mostly since my brain starts to run countless scenarios.

As if she senses my panic she leans out of my bubble as she asks, "Shikikan, if you aren't busy tonight, would you care to join me and Takao for dinner? We're going for yakiniku… it's always more fun with more people."

I'm still blushing like a schoolboy, I can feel it as I ask, "Sorry, but I honestly don't speak a word of Japanese…"

I see her give a sly smile as she says with a very sultry tone, "Then your tongue needs practice… yakiniku is grilled meat…"

"Oh! Barbecue, that actually sounds really nice… are you sure it won't be too much trouble?" I ask, deep down feeling really hopeful.

She leans back up and calls over her shoulder to someone, "Takao, Shikikan is going to join us for yakiniku!"

I lean around Atago to see Takao dressed in a very relaxed looking white tank top and black leggings, when she sees me, I see a blush come to her cheeks… somehow I wonder if I'm being set up for an ambush….

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I get to the restaurant a little earlier than what Atago had told me too, mostly to give me a chance to actually find it. I had gotten lucky with my shopping and had found a decent enough shirt and shorts combination that seemed to work. I'm standing outside, looking around and I feel like I'm on one of those stupid date shows that my best friend back home would make me watch with her… usually after she got dumped by her latest fling.

As I look to my left I see a pair of dark-haired beauties walking my way, one clearly more comfortable in her clothes than the other, it's easy to tell them apart, Atago with a bounce in her step, making her ample bust jiggle as she carries herself along and Takao, who while walking with confidence one would expect of a woman that could lay waste to whatever she wanted too, you could tell by her body language that she wasn't comfortable in an outfit that showed a little skin.

This should prove to be an interesting night….

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A/N: The first chapter is done, I'm not sure yet where this one is going to go… well beyond what I've already laid out in the opening of the story anyway, but we will see where it goes as it evolves.