Sea and Sakura Chapter 3, an azur lane/碧蓝航线 fanfic

Part Three – Trouble with chocolate

Weeks have gone by and I've really started to hit a stride with the Kansen and an understanding with most of them. And I've really been enjoying my Saturday mornings… even if I've been learning a new style of swordsmanship… at last the basics aren't too different. The only thing that has been kind of strange is the Sakura Empire Kansen are getting a little strange around me, especially Zuikaku and Takao…. Well, more than the usually blushing or trying to avoid eye contact anyways.

As I'm packing away my… oh what did Takao call it again? Oh! Right, a Bokutō… wood sword. Anyways, as I was putting it away, I opened my bag and saw a few of boxes all wrapped differently in there, I tilt my head sideways and shrug before slinging it and carrying my wood sword in my hand back to my quarters, during the walk back I flip over my phone to check the date and I start to wonder why I got what I can only guess is valentine's day chocolate… it's not like I really think any of these girls like me in that way… I mostly just hope that Zuikaku isn't trying to kill me due to me being hugely unlucky with her… Staring with copping a feel, drooling on her in my sleep, accidentally tripping and pulling down her top when we were at the beach… yeah, like I said, bad fucking luck…. Takao on the other hand, well it's hard to get a read on her, she is usually very reserved and doesn't put herself into a position for me to have a round of bad luck with her. I know that both Shoukaku and Atago like to tease me, but that's about it…

Anyways when I get home I see that the Manjuu left a box, a big box, at my door, I check the return address on it and grin from ear to ear, Naval Base San Diego. I open my door and drag the box inside, once in I toss my bag and wood sword aside and start getting out the things that were packed into the box, I see my role-playing game stuff, my miniatures and part of my model ship collection…. I sigh, at least the ones that are missing weren't that important to me… still, the collection will look funny missing them, I sigh before grabbing a shower and heading into town to see if I can replace them.

XXXX

As I enter the shop I go right to the IJN section of the model kits, I know that I missing some RN ships from my collection but something just drew me over to this section. I start looking at the kits and two jump out at me right away, a Shoukaku class and a Takao class, I pick them both up and stop by the high detail accessories and grab some detail kits for both. When I hit the paint section I start grabbing standard paints for the era of the ships but find, that I just stop before grabbing the greens I'd need. Rather I tilt my head and grab, a lot of white, some brown, some black, some yellow, red, inks and new brushes. When I get to the counter I see that blasted cat that overcharges for anything, she seems to have a grin on her face, I can see she's ringing them up at a slightly higher amount than normal so I cough into my hand and remind her, "Don't forget the Base Commander's discount this time…"

I see her flush a little then clear the transaction and ring everything in at the listed price, that's a good little kitty…. She tilts her head to the side and asks, "So Shikiknayn did you get any chocolates this year?"

I raise an eyebrow at her before nodding to confirm, I can see her grin getting larger as she says, "Then come back before this time next month for your white day gifts…"

I tilt my head to the side and take my model kits before I can ask anything else… I've got some fun projects to work on.

XXXX

Once I get home I put the two kits and supplies off to the side of my dining room table as I think about how I'm going to paint them up, I go into my living space and start to set up the models that did make it. As I take them out one by one, I place a couple of them, oddly enough my Shoukaku and Takao that are historically correct, on my coffee table, over my fireplace I put a miniature version of the ship I served on during the Siren War, well the ship I took command of when the bridge was hit and the captain and first officer were disabled… a Baltimore class heavy cruiser.

As I put it on the fireplace, I can't help but smile at the little ship, I had spent so much time on this one; it was the centerpiece of my collection. I had modeled ever bit of field repairs for the battle damage it suffered over the war, had her painted in three different shades of grey, just like the real one did by the end of the war.

I was so lost in my thoughts about the ship that I didn't notice my door open, until I heard a voice behind me say, "That's me!"

I spun around to see Shoukaku bending at her hips to look at the shoukaku on my coffee table. I watch as she puts down the books and papers she brought over for our weekly Japanese lessons, I'd been very, very lucky to convince her to be my teacher, I thought about going to Atago, but well… let's just say I don't think I could handle her teaching style very well.

I see Shoukaku inspecting every aspect of the model, right down to the weathering I'd done, before she looks at me with a pout and says, "I don't like the oil stains you put on her… I hate the oil stains…."

I can't help but laugh, it's kind of funny when you think about it; I'm talking to the Shoukaku, getting to hear what she thinks… I didn't think she'd be self-conscious about oil stains that are on her actual hull…. It's moments like this that I've seen over the last few weeks that remind me, that these Kansen are girls and not just weapons of war.

I see her blue eyes look up and see my Baltimore class and she comes over, and starts to inspect it closely before she says, "Was this the ship you were on? A mass-prod right?"

I nod before telling her, "Yes, the U.S.S. Los Angeles… for about a day I was actually her captain…."

Shoukaku turns to me, a sly smirk on her face as she changes the subject, "So Shikikan, did any girls give you chocolate today?"

I tilt my head to the side and ask, "You know, you are the second person to ask me about that today… what's the deal with that anyway? I mean I'm pretty sure I'm not on anyone radar in that way…"

Shoukaku blinks at me a couple of times before she explains to me the tradition on the Sakura Empire that girls give chocolate to people they like as well as how they also give it to people they feel obligated to, then she explains to me the expected reciprocation a month later. After her explanations she asks, "So can I see the chocolates? I know I gave you obligatory chocolates…"

I point over to my training bag and watch as she goes over and pulls out the boxes, setting hers aside, she goes to one with black and white dogs on it, checking the name before opening it and setting it with hers. I raise an eyebrow at her as she says "From Atago, obligatory…."

She goes to the next one, this one had grey and white dogs wrapping paper around it, she checked the name before opening it and whistling a little and setting it into another pile as she said, "From Takao; honmei… This is going to need a response of equal level… looks like she made this stuff herself."

She went to the last box that had a white and black feather pattern going on, she didn't even look at the name before opening it and going, "So that's what she was up too…"

I tilt my head as she turns the box over to show me what looks like a really sloppy attempt at making a crane out of white and dark chocolate, before I can even ask Shoukaku tells me, "Yeah… you're going to need to put in some real effort for white day…"

I sigh and hang my head, there isn't much I can do in a kitchen that would be even half the effort they put in… then it hits me, I go to my kitchen and grab the two kits I picked up, some paper and a pencil before going back to the living room, and I start to sketch out a rough aircraft carrier and cruiser, on two papers before I start to rough out an idea for painting them. Shoukaku for her part came around behind me to watch me while I worked fast, once I was done I said, "It's really, really rough…. but what about this?"

Shoukaku tilted her head to the side before saying, "It's not traditional… but it would be effort and a lot of it if you are going for that much detail…"

I look back at the picture of the aircraft carrier that I had roughed out to look like it has a flock of cranes flying down the flight deck, the sides looking like a crane in flight and say, "I thought for sure that Zuikaku hated me… I mean with all the bad luck and all… maybe the chocolate is poisonous…."

Shoukaku takes out a piece of the crane, apparently, it had been made of multiple parts, and took a bite of the dark chocolate before grabbing her throat and dancing around like it was poison, I stand to go and help her when she stops dancing around and grins at me before telling me, "Sorry, I had too… It tastes like she used good chocolate, she really put in the effort…"

XXXX

On the morning of March fourteenth, I made my way into the Sakura quarter to where I knew Shoukaku and Zuikaku lived, a big box in my hand that had four gifts in it, I knew that Atago, Takao, Maya, and Choukai lived nearby. I placed two gifts at the door of each pair that had given me chocolates, one box of cookies each and one model each… granted not very traditional, but with the white paint it kind of fit with the theme of the day, the cruiser painted to make you think of Takao when you saw it, I had it pained and in a diorama to look like it was in the heat of battle, turning hard to avoid shells that had landed in the water as well as using cotton balls and modeling putty to make it look like shells were leaving the barrels. The carrier to make you think of Zuikaku… all that detail work, painting the feathers and cherry blossom petals…. I had spent a month working on those ships, assembly, high detail parts, custom paintwork that admittedly took a lot longer than I thought it would've…

Later that day I'm sitting in my office, trying to keep my eyes open, I'm exhausted I had stayed up way, way too late finishing those ships. As I blink to keep my eyes open I check my clock and see that the time tells me I should be off duty now, I hear a knock at my door so I drop my pen and call, "Enter."

As the door opens I see Zuikaku and I'm worried she's mad about the gift or disappointed… rather she blushes at seeing me, looking down as she approaches over to me and I start to really worry at this point. She stops right beside me, and I turn in my chair to look at her, I see her bend at her hips and kisses me quickly on the lips, before turning as red as her dress and telling me, "Thank you for the gift, it's very beautiful."

In my sleep-deprived state, I'm not thinking when I say back, "But it pales to the real thing…"

I see Zuikaku go even redder like she's glowing red at this point as she seems completely tongue-tied by what I said, normally she'd have something to say at this point, after a few moments of awkward silence between us she acts like she can hear someone calling her as she tells me, "I…I… Think Shoukaku is calling me!"

I watch as she runs for the door, stopping to look over her shoulder at me, she's still glowing red as she gives me this almost coy smile as she tells me, "You should stop by Saturday night… I'm making dinner… I…"

She seems to bite her tongue there before she slips out the door, closing it behind her and I hear a thump against it, almost like she leaned against the door a little too hard.

XXXX

It's around nineteen hundred when I'm finally shutting down my office and packing it in for the day, I check my phone and see a few updates from various Kansen on this app that they insisted I install called Juustagram, anyway I'm scrolling through it I see a few posts that I hit the like button, mostly since they made me smirk and I keep going along when I come across one by Zuikaku, with the tags on it being #whitedayright and #maybeIwaswrong on it, in the picture it's of the model I did for her, with her face just behind it and slightly out of focus since the carrier was in the foreground and in focus.

I hit the like button before I open my door and see Takao sitting there on her legs, I think she called it seiza, two boxes in front of her, as soon as I open the door I see her dog ears perk up and point in my direction as she looks up and greets me with a slightly pink hue to her cheeks as she tells me, "Good evening Shikikan, have you eaten?"

I walk over and sit in front of her as I say, "Not yet Takao…"

I see her smile shyly before she looks down a little and pushes one of the boxes towards me, as I open the lid she says to me, "Thankyou Shikikan for the beautiful diorama, you really managed to capture my essence and spirit with it."

"You're very welcome Takao, I was a bit wor…." I was starting to say when she leaned over and kissed me, quickly on the lips.

My mind went blank, I forgot what I was going to say completely, rather I started to think about how soft her lips were and how she had this very subtle cherry and vanilla smell to her. When she broke the quick kiss, we both were blushing, brightly; she coughed into her hand and said, very quietly, "That was not appropriate of me…"

I see her stand and take a box with her as she reaches the door, she looks over her shoulder and gives me a small smile before telling me, "I look forward to seeing you Saturday morning, Shikikan."

When she leaves my office I flop on to my back as I say, "I think I'm in trouble…."

XXXX

Saturday rolled around and I grabbed my kit and headed to the sparing space when I got there, I found only Takao there, candles placed around the space and her in a white kimono, her hair free and cascading down on to her shoulders then down behind her, her legs under her as she sat seiza on a mat, her yellow eyes looking up to me slowly as she spoke, "I do not want an answer now, I want one later… I know you are confused about things right now… but…"

She paused and took a deep breath before she read a haiku she had written to me:

"We like mountain snow

Are something so fresh and new

A path awaits us"

She gets up from her position and kisses my cheek before she tells me, "I know that Zuikaku has expressed interest in you as well Shikikan…."

I see her cheeks get hot as she continues, "I've taken many bridal training classes so that I could be a worthy partner to you… But I know it is something you will need to figure out."

She steps back, her cheeks bright red as she finishes telling me, "Just do not make me wait too long for an answer."

I watch as she goes from candle to candle, blowing them out and collecting them as she says over her shoulder, "I told everyone else that sparing was canceled for today, as I wanted to bring a voice to my feeling Shikikan… and I would be too embarrassed to do that in front of everyone."

With the candles collected, she gives me a shy looking smile as she blushes in my direction again before she leaves the area, leaving me standing in the clearing looking confused.

XXXX

Later in the day, I'm dressed nicely and I feel like I'm sweating like a pig as I'm just about to knock on Zuikaku's dorm door. I feel so nervous right now, it'd been three days ago that the feelings of both Zuikaku and Takao were made perfectly clear to me, I feel like I'm going to be sick. I take a breath to center myself; the last thing I want to do is get sick all over Zuikaku… I mean I have already drooled on her… Stop it Brain! Not helping!

I hang my head and take another breath in, hold it for a moment, then out. In and out, in and out…. What if she's dressed more casually? What if I'm too casual? Damn it brain, stop it!

I rub my hands on my pants to try and dry the sweat and I keep running in circles when was the last time I had a date? Is this a date? Or is she just inviting me over for a nice dinner? What if she is planning on something more than dinner? Why or why brain are you doing this to me?

I take another breath in and out before knocking on the door, a moment later it opens and I see her in her usual red dress that somehow is both very casual and very not casual at the same time. I notice that she had done her makeup, the subtle red at the corners of her eyes, but I also notice the red lipstick, something she normally doesn't wear. She gives me this very demure smile as she greets me, "Shikikan, please come in…"

As I enter I take off my shoes, I learned that one early. I look at the shoes as I put mine down and note that Shoukaku must be out as her sandals are missing, as if reading my thoughts Zuikaku says, "It's just us tonight…"

I get a mental image of Zuikaku lying on her back on a tatami mat, naked, her cheeks flushed, moaning…. NOT HELPING BRAIN!

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out and I hear her ask, "Something wrong Shikikan?"

My voice cracks a little as I say, "Not at all."

Fuck me, I haven't had that happen since I was a teenager… and couldn't get a date… or find someone for a kiss, let alone have sex with…

I turn around slowly and see that she has laid out as she says with a smile and slightly red cheeks, "Dinner's served! Chicken nuggets with onions, rice cooked in barley and miso soup with an egg, and lastly for dessert: coconut juice and a Royal Rations Banana!"

Her smile gets bigger as she grabs her chopsticks and continues, "All in all, it's like a road trip through Flavortown! Bon appetit!"

I take a seat across from her and see her smile as she takes a bit of what I'm sure must've been hidden tempura… I wonder if it had been meant as a surprise. All in all, even if a little casually arranged, it all looks really good. I pick up my chopsticks and remember what it felt like to have he teach me, this draws my attention to her balcony and see more underwear and bras hanging to dry. I look back to her and see her smiling with her eyes shut as she's eating something, I relax a little and find myself looking at her lips before she says to me, "Yeah… I know I left them out again…"

I go bright red as my heart rate picks up, she opens her eyes to look me in the eyes and I see her get bright red, I wonder if she is thinking about anything along the lines of what I've… nope, not helping brain….

We finish dinner mostly in silence, I feel so awkward right now, she keeps giving me these shy smiles and I'm trying to figure out what she wants from me right now, after a few moments we both go to ask something at the same time and we both give an awkward uncomfortable laugh before I tell her, "Ladies first…"

I see her smile and blush brightly before she says, "I like you Shikikan… I'm not sure it came through on my chocolate…"

I gulp, if I'm honest I defiantly like her too, even if all I want is to see her naked… is that all I want? Why would I be feeling like this if that was all I wanted?

She moves around the table to sit close to me, her hip touching mine, impossible for me to move my arm without brushing against her… I watch as she takes her ponytail in one hand before stroking it with the other as she takes a deep breath before turning towards me, her eyes shut, head tilted up slightly, lips puckered… I get the hint that she wants me to kiss her this time.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly and kiss her softly, gingerly if you will. It feels like electricity shooting through me, I sense and feel her kiss back, deepening the kiss while she makes little happy sounding noises during this kiss, I turn more towards her and risk a hand going to her hip.

To my surprise she doesn't try to move my hand away, rather she starts to slide her slender hands up my chest to my shoulders, down my arms and back again as she turns more to face me. I feel her arms go under my arms to grip my shoulders from behind as she lies back pulling me with her. As the kiss breaks, I feel her adjust her hips against me, her thighs on either side of me, she smiles at me, her brown eyes twinkling as she whispers to me, "I really like you Shikikan…"

I lean in for another kiss, but find her meeting my lips, hungrily, this is just as electric as the last one, I slide my hands from her hips to her thighs, slowly sliding them up and down them as she keeps up the little pleasurable moans and starts to roll her hips against me in a suggestive way.

XXXX

A/N: I like how this is coming together; I'm also trying to incorporate lines from the quests or actual quotes from the game where I can, in ways that make sense for the scenes.