AN.: Did I write "the upper bottom of his shirt" in the latest chapter? Clap, clap. It's "button" me idiot! :)

Bismarck sailed following the coastline of the USA from a distance of 1000 kilometers. Close enough to reduce the chance of meeting with the Fog's East Pacific Fleet but not too close to the onshore American army. Now they were somewhere near California.

Bismarck and Heinrich were trying to plan their route.

"Should we turn to west at some point toward Indonesia and Micronesia or should we sail around Cape Horn to the South Atlantic?" asked Bismarck.

"I think we should choose the second option." replied Heinrich. "We cut a dash here in the Pacific so I think it would be better to get out of the scope of the local fleet."

"As you wish. In mean time we'll have to stop somewhere to get supply again. What about these islands, these… Galapagos Islands?" pointed Bismarck at the map.

"Galapagos Islands." said Heinrich with interest. "It would be great. They are full of wonderful and unique animals you find nowhere else in the world."

"Are they really so special?"

"Absolutely. I'll tell you sometimes about a human called Charles Darwin. He made a lot of discoveries there."

"Sounds interesting. And as I see they are far from Ecuador and the rest of South America and there are only three settlements. Likely we won't be disturbed."

"I dare anyone to disturb us!"

"He or she will get kicked in the butt right dear?" smiled Bismarck pulling him into a half hug resting her head on his shoulder.

Hiei's POV

Hiei was reading the data she downloaded from the network of the Fog's Atlantic fleet. This Bismarck sure has done a tremendous destruction. Three battleships, two heavy cruisers and three light cruisers have been sunk by her in the Atlantic and another battleship and three cruisers in the Arctic. The council president saw that it's not a joke. She had to be stopped by any manners.

A map appeared before her. Bismarck must be somewhere around the west coast of Mexico by now. Hiei was northeast from Hawai'i. She did some calculations and turned to the southeast to cross Bismarck's route. In mean time questions bombarded her in every second. What caused Bismarck to leave the Fog? What is her purpose? What is she doing in the Pacific? Is she intentionally hunting her kind? Where is she going? And how was she able to develop such tactics like the one Ashigara was talking about? The only other ship that was covered by this description was the I-401. Maybe this battleship is the same?

In the moment she asked this from herself her sensors detected something over the horizon. Hiei couldn't identify the ship. It definitely must be her.

"Prepare to meet your fait traitor. Those who have sinned against the Fog shall perish."

Bismarck's and Heinrich's POV

"Can you find out who is this?" asked Heinrich when they perceived a lonely Fog ship.

"Taking her size and armament into account she is probably a Kongo-class fast battleship." replied Bismarck. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Their armament is pretty strong but their armor is not the best in the world. But again, I've learned about their historical counterparts only. I can't say anything certain."

"I see. So? What should we do?"

"What we used to: let her to make the first step. Keep the course and speed. Show her that we are not afraid of her."

"As you wish Heinrich."

"How far is she?"

"Exactly ninety kilometers away. At her current speed we will see her within sixty minutes."

"You think she is coming after us?"

"That's the most logical scenario for me." replied Bismarck.

"Damn. I prefer to avoid fighting as much as possible."

"I promise. You'll be safe with me again!"

"I didn't doubt it Bismarck. I would trust you with my life anytime." smiled Heinrich at her.

They watched as the pointers of the gold-colored wall clock at the bridge. Half an hour passed then another thirty minutes. Heinrich took a binocular and looked out to the west. That certain Fog ship could appear in every minute now. They've just waited and waited in silence.

"There she is." said Heinrich not taking his eyes off the binocular's glass. A mast emerged from behind the horizon. It was followed by a slim main mast and two chimneys. One by one the whole dark-pink battleship became visible. "You were right darling; she's from the Kongo-class. Man, she actually looks pretty cool."

"Why?" asked Bismarck as if she was jealous.

"I mean, look at that foremast! It's like a pagoda tower!"

"Yeah. It looks great…"

"What about her weapon system?"

"It is armed. But of course, I would've been surprised if it wasn't."

"I guess we can be sure about what does she…"

"She's calling us." interrupted Bismarck.

"Bring her to screen." said Heinrich.

A huge screen appeared before the front windows with the Fog insignia on it. Then it changed and showed the fast battleship's mental model. She had amber eyes behind eye-glasses and long reddish brown hair. She wore some kind of a school uniform which had the same reddish dark pink color as the ship itself. She had a neutral yet strict look on her face.

"I'm pleased to meet you." she said in her surprisingly deep tone. "I'm the Fleet of Fog's First Oriental Fleet's student council president, fast battleship Hiei."

"Great. And what should I know about you?" asked Bismarck. Hiei saw only her on her smaller screen.

"Our duty is to punish those who have sinned against the Fog. According to the reports of your fleet in the Atlantic and my secretary it's obvious that your actions exhaust the concept of treason. I warn you to stop now and surrender to me! If you do so maybe you'll only taken into custody."

"Is this the part where I shall get scared?" asked Bismarck annoyed. Who on earth is this to act like one-man police?

"Don't make your situation worse! As it looks, you are nothing more than a disgrace of the Fog, a rebel, and a shameless traitor who…"

"Excuse me milady!" a male voice interrupted.

"Who was this?" asked Hiei frowning. Suddenly somebody else appeared on her screen near Bismarck. It was a male, a European like Bismarck. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

"It was me. My name is Heinrich Wenzel, former member of the Deutsche Marine, and the partner of Bismarck. You know I don't really like someone insulting her like this. If you want to say more kind things say it to me!"

Hiei watched. "So I was right." she concluded. "You have a human onboard. You failed as a flagship!"

"He is not just a human! He is the only person I care of and love in this world!" replied Bismarck angrily. "He is my eternal captain and mate!"

"Enough. Come to the student council room now!"

"Where?" asked Bismarck raising an eyebrow.

"Just enter the concept communication system!" finished Hiei and finished broadcasting.

"I don't really like this." said Heinrich.

"I'm going."

"Are you sure?"

"What could she do against me? Don't worry."

"Just take care of yourself!" asked Heinrich.

"I'll be back in in the twinkling of an eye." said Bismarck with a smile and giving him a kiss.

Then she entered the system. She found herself before a massive wooden door with the coat of arms of the Fog over it. She opened it and got into a big, dim room.

"You are unable to knock as well?" a voice asked. Bismarck noticed Hiei sitting at a table with crossed legs and arms.

"Why would I do that? You interrupt my journey; you are threatening me and calling me by rude names. And you are talking about politeness?"

"Forget it." Hiei shook her head. "Who is that human on your board?"

"That human has a name. It's Heinrich, he even introduced himself."

"Destroy him."

"No."

"What?"

"As I mentioned before: he is my captain and I love him."

"You love him? What is this madness?" asked Hiei while standing up. "What does it mean you love him?"

"It means that his life is more important for me than my own or anybody else's in the world. It's not the whole explanation and I can't express it with words. I don't expect from a blockhead like you to understand it." replied Bismarck.

"I don't need to understand it it's clear for me. You gave up your pride as a Fog ship and allied with the enemy! Our task is to wipe out humanity!"

"And why is that so important for you?"

"I'm a weapon and so you are. We obey the orders of the Admiralty Code. That's how we work."

"This empty and lonely life you are talking about is in the past for me Hiei. You should follow my example if you have any self-esteem."

"Never! Maybe you are malfunctioning but I still have a face!" complained Hiei and walked closer to Bismarck. She didn't show it but it was a bit uncomfortable for her that the german battleship was much taller than her and that she was looking down on her.

"Okay. Okay. What do you suggest for me?"

"Rejoin your fleet and destroy all humans who dare to leave the shore! Especially that one you've sided with!"

"And what if I don't do like that?"

"You shall face the consequences."

"I see. Well Hiei, I'm afraid that both of us are wasting our time for the sake of this conversation."

"Ergo, you are an enemy."

"In your perception yes. However I still do not have intention to fight with you Hiei. You can still leave without a single gunshot and see another day."

"It will be you who will sink to her grave." hissed the president and turned away. "Prepare to sink!"

"She will attack if I'm not wrong." said Heinrich when Bismarck was back with him.

"Unfortunately, yes. Man, I've never met with such a bloated mental model!"

"Try to disable her only. Don't kill her."

"Why?" asked Bismarck surprised.

"I don't know. Maybe she'll come to mind."

Bismarck sighed. "I doubt it Kapitän but it will be the way you want it to be."

The duel begun between the two battleships. Soon Hiei had to realize that she accounted the situation. No matter how many lasers she fired or how many rockets she launched her enemy always had more and her Klein-field slowly started to weaken. Some shots even reached her hull. She run an analysis about what would be the best option to do. For her chagrin it was retreating. She was really angry but she had to admit that this was logical. Bismarck clearly outgunned her. With a furious look on her face she turned away and got out of the firing range of Bismarck's guns.

"Well, this was a fast one." stated Heinrich as he watched their withdrawing opponent.

"Compared to what self-confident things she said she gave it up early."

"But she'll return."

"Are you sure dear?"

"Yes. She is a really determined flagship and she won't let us go with this. She'll come back and she'll bring her pals too."

"What should we do then?"

"Sail on to the Galapagos Islands. I have some ideas."

Hiei's POV

Hiei sailed at low speed southwards west from Guatemala. She never expected before that someday she'll get this far from Japan. The Sun has already set it was dark only the Moon and the stars gave some light. She was waiting for her reinforcement. That's just outrageous! Forcing her to retreat and request the support of her fleet mates!

"Hey Hiei!" a voice yelled in her head.

"It took a while Ashigara." sighed Hiei.

"We're sorry president. We got into dense fog then into a big storm near San Francisco. We are here now." explained Myoko. "What is the plan?"

"We'll split into two parts. Pretty sure that Bismarck is going to the Galapagos Islands. Ashigara, Haguro, you'll chase her from behind. I, Myoko and Nachi will take over her. We get around her out of sight and will wait for her south from the islands."

"Affirmative." the council replied as one.

"Go and do your duty as Fog ships!"

And with this Ashigara and Haguro went after Bismarck while Hiei, Myoko and Nachi turned to the east to get around Bismarck in a big curve.

Bismarck's and Heinrich's POV

Heinrich was sitting on the sofa in the saloon with Bismarck curled up next to him holding into his arm and pillowing her head on his chest.

"Can I ask something?" asked Bismarck.

"Go ahead Bismarck." replied Heinrich.

"What did you think when you first met me?" she asked looking up into his eyes.

"What did I think? That wasn't really the nicest thing on earth."

"Concretely?"

"Well… I thought that I'd prefer to beat you into pulp with bare hands." said Heinrich with an uncomfortable voice.

"Oookayyyy…" said Bismarck with a faint laugh.

"But I knew that it was impossible and you'll most likely kill me with a single move. I knew that I've done everything I could so I would have died in relative peace. Still I'm happy that it didn't happen."

"Same here."

"And what did you think about me?"

"Uh, that's indeed embarrassing." sighed Bismarck. "As a subject of the Admiralty Code my task was to kill you anyway. But when I met you first I wanted to end you because my hellish fury because of Tirpitz. Even if I knew that it wasn't you personally who sank her."

"It means that you've showed signs of human nature Bismarck. Sadly we used to blame people just because they are related to the perpetrator of the deed when they did nothing."

"You know what? Forget this." Bismarck shook her head. "Back at the time it was all different. We are here now together and we love each other."

"Humans are controversial aren't we?" smiled Heinrich. "The person a hated with all my heart before is now the most loved one of my life."

"Same here again." smiled back Bismarck shifting forward and capturing his lips in hers. "I'll do anything to protect him."

"I'll do anything to protect her."