The Life of Carriers

Chapter 7

A Day without Her

The morning of her department was finally here and Akagi woke up early. She turned around, hoping to give Kaga a farewell kiss, but she wasn't there. She looked around the room, but she couldn't find her. She was immediately starting to get worried because she was afraid that Kaga was trying to do something for Akagi. She quickly got ready and headed to the docks where her squadron was waiting for her. It was still dark as she made her way there, but when she got there, a smile immediately emerged on her face as she saw Fubuki and Kaga waiting for her. Kaga took a step towards her and grabbed her hand.

"I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye."

"I know. Thank you for being here."

"Promise me to stay strong and fight hard."

"I will. Same to you." Kaga immediately dropped her head in sadness. She told herself that it was best to let her go on this mission by herself, but now, she was starting to regret it. However, Akagi's hand was there to pick her head back up. She looked Kaga in the eye and smiled one last time. "I'm coming back." Out of nowhere, Kaga fell into Akagi's body and hugged her as tight as she could.

"I love you."

"I love you too." After a few more seconds, Kaga finally let go which let her head to the docks. Before she entered the water, she stopped in front of Fubuki. She patted her on the head and gave her a smile. "Look after my Kaga-san for me. Okay?" A bright smile emerged on Fubuki's face.

"Of course." Akagi turned her head and saw the sun finally rise on another day. She packed on her things and took to the seas. Before she vanished from sight, the two of them gave her one last wave goodbye.

The sun cleared the horizon and the day had finally started. Unfortunately, for Kaga, it would be a lonely day. To try and ease her mind, she decided to go to the café where she and Akagi usually have their meals together. When she got there, she saw a couple of people already eating, but they were all in groups. She was all by herself. She couldn't eat her without Akagi. Without her, she wouldn't find joy in spending her time there so she quickly turned around and headed off somewhere else. Since she had no orders for the day, she decided to head back to their place where she grabbed her bow and arrow and practiced her shooting. She occasionally got some good shots, but everything was completely off target. She didn't know why she was so off even though the answer was obvious. After a few minutes, she put her things away and headed to the docks.

There, it was pretty quiet. No one was around and no was traversing the waters so she decided to spend the rest of her day there. She sat down on the edge of the dock and dipped her feet in the water. For some reason, the water felt colder than normal. Every other time, she's always felt at peace when she touched the water, but that wasn't the case this time. She looked out to the horizon, hoping Akagi's squad return ahead of schedule, but that was simply wishful thinking on her part. That wouldn't happen so she bowed her head and looked at her reflection in the water.

"Kaga-san?"

Akagi-san? She turned around, but was sad to see that it wasn't Akagi. Instead, it was Fubuki with a ball of rice in her hand.

"Oh, Fubuki-chan, it's just you."

"Are you okay?" She turned around and continued to look down.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"May I join you?" She didn't respond. However, she did scoot to the side, giving Fubuki some space to sit down. At first, she didn't really say anything. She was hoping Kaga would be the first one to say something, but after a while, she knew that that wasn't going to happen. "Um, would you like some?"

"Huh?" Kaga turned her head and saw Fubuki offering half of her rice ball. At that moment, she closed her eyes and turned the other way.

"Kaga-san, please say something. I know I don't know you very well, but I've always seen you as being a strong independent girl. If something's wrong, you don't need to hold it in. Are you okay?" As gently as she could, she turned over Kaga's arm and placed the rice ball in her hand. Then suddenly, she saw a tear fall from Kaga's face. "Kaga-s…" She suddenly shoved her face into Fubuki's chest as she could feel the tears seep into her clothes.

"Fubuki-chan!"

"Kaga-san, what's wrong?"

"It's… It's Akagi-san. I miss her so much. It's been so long since we've been separated like this. The last time it happened, things didn't really go according to plan."

"Kaga-san, I never pictured you to be the emotional one."

"That's because Akagi-san is a part of me. She calms me down and makes seem like the strong one. When she's with me, I make it a point to be strong so she knows that I have her back. I'm afraid to show weakness around her because I never want to fail her."

"Kaga-san?" She suddenly sat up straight and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw that all on you. Forgive me."

"No, it's okay. We're all Fleet Girls, right? It's our jobs to look after each other and care for each other in all types of situations." She turned her head and saw a smile on Fubuki's face.

"You know, Fubuki-chan, you remind me a lot of Akagi-san." Immediately, Fubuki's face turned bright red as she tried to hide her embarrassment. "I know it may not seem like it, but you're both very compassionate. You're always looking out for others even though you have a lot on your plate already. Also, she always manages to share some of her food with me." She couldn't believe it. Akagi seemed like the kind of person who shouldn't be disturbed while she was eating, but apparently, that wasn't true. "Thank you… for being here. It really mean a lot to me."

"Of course. I couldn't let you be by yourself. And plus, I couldn't disobey an order from my senpai," she said with a smile. "So do you think she'll be alright?" Kaga looked back towards the horizon and finally smiled.

"I know she's alright. Akagi-san is the strongest of all of us."

End of Chapter 7