I couldn't sleep.

Despite all the progress I'd made today, despite the weight lifted from my chest, despite being "set free" as Shinano had put it, I still couldn't sleep. Every time I lay down and closed my eyes, I still felt the anxiety rush in. After tossing and turning for an hour, I decided to just give up on sleep for the time being and do something else. With an annoyed sigh, I threw off the covers and got out of bed, padding over to the adjoining office to find something to do.

As I shuffled through the books and papers on the desk, I heard a shuffling noise outside my door. For a second, my anxiety spiked and my heart leaped into my chest until I realized it was more than likely Haguro standing watch. That, in turn, gave me an idea, and I slipped on a t-shirt before I went to the door and stuck my head out. As expected, Haguro was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on her face.

"Hey," I said quietly, trying my best not to startle her.

If she was, she hid it well behind that look of bored disdain she often wore. "You need something, Commander?"

"Maybe. You still looking for someone else to play video games?"

A dark eyebrow arched above a ruby eye. "Well, considering it's me, you, and Musashi right now, what do you think?"

I decided to just sail past the obvious sarcasm and get to the point. "I'm thinking I want in on the video games. What's the plan?"

Her excitement was both visible and palpable, even if it was just for a moment, quickly replaced by cautious skepticism. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," I shot back. "Can't sleep, you're up anyway, figure it'd be a good way to pass the time."

Her mouth twitched downward in an empathetic frown. "Yeah, I heard you had a rough day, Commander."

For a second, a surge of anger shot through me. "Did Musashi talk about it with you?"

"No, I literally heard you," she answered, completely deadpan. "You were…not quiet in your grief."

"Oh."

"Hey, it's cool if you don't wanna talk about it with me," she quickly added. "You and Musashi have a good thing going, and I don't wanna intrude on that."

"A good thing going?" I repeated, suddenly wondering if she'd gotten the wrong impression about Musashi and me. "What do you mean by that?"

"Like, a good relationship and stuff," she shrugged. "You guys get along pretty well, and it's obvious she likes you. She doesn't take just anyone on a trip to a shrine, y'know. Although…" She paused and thought it over for a minute. "She does like to dote on people. Musashi dotes on people so much, she's bound to spoil a bunch of girls rotten... I've always been rotten to the core, so I'll be fine, but…" She turned back to face me, a curious look in her eyes. "What about you, Commander? Would you like to be spoiled rotten?"

I felt as if I was suddenly put on the spot, and I tried to find an honest answer. "Uh…at this point, I think I'll settle just for some sense of normalcy and inner peace, thanks. Then I'll worry about being spoiled."

"Whatever," she shrugged. "So, we doin' this or what?"

"Waitin' on you," I answered as I swung the door open for her. "What do we need?"

"Just a tv," she said as she produced a handheld game system from behind her back. "I can wirelessly link up with it so we can play split-screen."

"Yeah, there's one in the corner," I stated as I beckoned her inside. "C'mon in and I'll find us a couple of chairs while you get set up."

"Are you kidding me?!" I howled as my character spun around, knocked out of action by an NPC's oil slick.

"Ha ha!" Haguro crowed as she zipped by me, overtaking me to claim first place yet again. "See ya later, Commander! Maybe the fifth time'll be the time you finally beat me!"

I grinned wolfishly as I got the vehicle back up to speed and readied my ace in the hole. "Not this time! Try this on for size!" I shouted as I mashed the button to fire.

Haguro scoffed haughtily. "There's no way you can-" Her voice trailed off when she saw the weapon homing in on her. "Crap, where'd you get a fuchsia shell?! Nononononononononono!" Try as she might, she couldn't escape the spiked, winged object and it hit home with a colorful explosion, sending her kart flipping end over end as I sailed past her to the welcoming sight of the checkered flag.

"Victory is mine!" I whooped, basking in the glow of my victory for a moment. "You were right, I just needed to find the right racer."

"Yay, me," she deadpanned before shooting me a proud grin. "Still, you caught on pretty quick, Commander. Wanna go again?"

Before I answered, I quickly glanced at the clock. "Ehhh, better not," I begrudgingly answered. "I really need to at least try and get some sleep, getting up bright and early tomorrow for morning PT."

The cruiser moped for a second before she sighed and began disconnecting things. "Oh, alright," she said sullenly before she brightened up for a second. "Still, it was fun to get to play with someone, and you're not half-bad at it, either."

"Thanks," I smiled as I put the chairs back in their proper place. "It's been a while since I've played, but it was definitely fun. We'll have to do it again sometime."

That seemed to buoy Haguro's spirits even further. "Just say when and where and I'll be there, Commander. In the meantime, sleep tight, Commander."

I nodded to her as she headed out the door and I headed back to bed. "Night, Haguro."

Despite the rush from the game, I managed to fall asleep relatively easily this time, bolstered by the good mood it put me in. However, I probably would've liked to have slept longer, as the alarm sounded way too early for my liking. After checking the clock to make sure that it had been set correctly, I threw off the covers and shuffled out of bed. The tantalizing thought of fresh-brewed coffee beckoned to me until I realized that coffee before PT never made for a fun experience. Instead, I reluctantly filled up my canteen with water, got dressed in my exercise shorts and t-shirt, and headed up to the main deck to run a few laps around the ship.

When I opened the hatch and stepped blinking into the early morning sun, I was met by a sight I wasn't expecting. Musashi was waiting for me, wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt with black bands around the sleeves and the letters "IJN" on the front and an even tighter-fitting dark violet gym shorts that could have doubled as hotpants with how short they were and how much they accentuated every curve of her hips. While Musashi had always been beautiful, this new outfit seemed to show off just how achingly gorgeous she truly was. Or had she always been this alluring, and I was too caught up in my own grief and melancholy to see her for what she truly was? In either case, I was left stunned, my jaw on the deck as I stared at her.

Which was, apparently, her intention all along because she let out a coquettish giggle as she turned from side to side, showing off more of the outfit for me. "Good morning, Paul," she said in her usual, polite tone as if nothing were out of the ordinary. "I thought I'd join you for this morning's exercise as a little surprise."

I had to admit, it was very effective. "C-color me surprised," I stammered, trying my best not to stare. Good lord, those hips… "I, uh, I didn't know you exercised."

If she took notice of my struggle to avoid ogling her, she let it pass without remark. "Normally, I don't, but I decided I thought maybe you could use the company this morning. If that's alright with you, that is."

I could have made up a dozen and one polite reasons to let her down easy and carry on my morning run by myself. And yet, I found myself saying, "No, that's fine…just…uh…"

"Just what?" she innocently asked.

"Your, uh, your shirt," I said, hoping she'd catch on to my implications without me having to actually say it out loud. When she continued to look at me as if she didn't catch on, I swallowed hard and steeled myself for her reply. "Your shirt's white…people sweat…sweat's made of water…so…wet white t-shirt might be a bit…revealing?"

Her response wasn't what I was expecting. Rather than act embarrassed or shy or shocked at the realization, she simply laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry, Commander," she assured me, "I'm wearing a bra underneath, see?"

She pulled the shirt tight and leaned in, giving me a good look at the dark outline of a bra underneath. It was strapless, looked rather lacy and-

I leaned back and coughed self-consciously as I nodded in agreement. "Yep, that's a bra. So, uh, shall we get started?"

She leaned back and gave me a quizzical look. "Don't you normally stretch first?"

"Right!" I exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Haven't done this with other people in a long while…" I looked around the deck, ostensibly to find an open space where we could both stretch, but in all honestly, I was just doing my damnedest not to leer at her. "Have you stretched already?"

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "I was waiting on you, and I'd hoped you could show me what stretches to do."

"Alright." I took a deep breath to try and calm myself before I found an open spot on the deck and looked out over the lagoon. "Just go ahead and follow along with me as best as possible." I glanced back over my shoulder at her. "Ready?"

She smiled that warm, reassuring smile and nodded once. "Ready."

I turned back to the beautiful ocean vista as I began going through my usual stretches to limber up before a run. Part of me wanted to look back, to make sure Musashi was following along okay, but another part of me realized that would be a bad idea. While I didn't know exactly what the cause of this sudden surge of primal urges was, I could make a fairly good guess. After the incident with my wife and her "friends", I'd been emotionally numb, not feeling much of anything. After what happened yesterday, though, all those emotions, pent up for far too long, now came roaring back. It almost felt like I was in high school again. And not in the "ah, the exuberant and carefree nature of youth" kind of high school, more along the lines of the "my hormones are raging through my body why are you doing this I just want to finish this math problem the number seven is not sexy" kind of high school.

With all that in mind, lusting after Musashi would simply be asking for trouble. I wasn't ready for a relationship of any sort any time soon. While I felt a lot better than yesterday, I knew I still had a long way to go, and it wouldn't be fair to drag someone else into this mess. I needed to sort myself out and get my head straight before I think about finding someone else. If I did hook up with Musashi, there was a pretty good chance it would eventually implode, and when that happens it could risk causing an international incident. Even if it doesn't, it would make staying aboard her very awkward. So best to avoid temptation as much as possible for now.

My ruminations and stretches both completed, I stood up, shook out my arms and legs, and turned to face a smiling Musashi. "There we go," I announced, "all limbered up."

"Excellent! How do we determine who sets the pace?"

After a moment's thought, I pointed to her. "Since you don't normally run, I think you set the pace today." My reasoning was sound, although I admittedly had an ulterior motive. If I was setting the pace, I'd keep glancing over my shoulder to make sure she was still following behind me. And seeing as how I didn't want to trip over my feet because I was staring too long, I thought it would be safer to let her lead and for me to follow. After all, from behind, I'd just be starting at those soft, fluffy tails, which, while aesthetically pleasing to look at, would not tempt me to do anything unwise.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Almost as soon as Musashi set off on her run, I noticed she kept those tails of hers raised instead of trailing behind her. While it was interesting to watch them sway back and forth as a counterpoint to her footsteps, it also drew attention to her ample stern. And if her shorts looked tight-fitting from the front, they looked like they were painted on from the back. I took a deep breath and concluded that I would be taking a cold shower or twenty once this was all over…

Through no small amount of self-restraint, I managed to keep my eyes ahead for the most part during our three laps around the Musashi's superstructure. For never having done calisthenics before, Musashi was pretty good about keeping a steady pace. She only faltered a few times, and I saw her hands go up to her chest each time she did, presumably to fix her bra. By the time we finished our run, we were both panting heavily and covered in a sheen of sweat that glistened in the morning light, but we also both had broad smiles on our faces.

As soon as I caught my breath, I grabbed my canteen and took a big swig before I held it out to Musashi. "Good run, great pace, especially for your first time."

The kitsune accepted the bottle with a gracious nod and took several gulps before handing it back to me. "Thank you, it was mostly fun."

"Mostly?" I raised an eyebrow.

She nodded and took a few more deep breaths before responding. "I just need to make a few…wardrobe adjustments before I go running again."

"Gotcha." I decided not to press the issue. I had enough mental images dancing around in my head as it was already. "So…meet up for breakfast in thirty, then get cracking on the paperwork?"

"Sounds good."

Once the aforementioned cold shower and breakfast was out of the way, we settled back into our usual routine. Paperwork was done, reports were filed, and idle chatter was had. Sometime after lunch, however, I began to notice something about Musashi. She was restricting some of her movements, and at other times she winced when she moved to pick up a folder or bent over to grab a report off my desk. By the third time, I decided to speak up. "You okay?"

Musashi gave me her usual polite smile, but this time, it was almost imperceptibly strained. "It's nothing, Commander," she demurred, "Just a little sore from today's run."

That was odd. Normally I'd have pain in my legs if I hadn't run in a while. "Just…seems like it's in your back and-" It suddenly occurred to me why a woman with such a generous figure might have back pain after running. My face flushed beet red and I quickly looked at the fleet report. "Oh."

"It's nothing, Commander," she reassured me. "As I said, I'll just need to make some wardrobe adjustments before I go running again and just relax these muscles tonight."

"That's a long way to go if you're feeling uncomfortable," I frowned. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Musashi demurely shook her head. "I'll be fine, Commander, no reason to worry."

But I wasn't about to let this go. Something had to be done, and if she pulled a muscle, there was only one way I could really help her. "No," I shook my head emphatically, "After everything you've done for me, I want to be able to return the favor in some small way. Let me give you a back rub." When she immediately began to protest, I held up my hand to forestall her arguments. "It's only going to take a few minutes, we can use the couch over there, and with your outfit, we don't have to take anything off to get at the muscles causing you pain."

Her resolve seemed to falter as she glanced over her shoulder at the couch, then back to me. "Are you sure this is what you want?" There was a tone in her voice, one that held the implication a line would be crossed if we did this.

A tone I, at the time, completely missed. "Of course. But only if you're comfortable."

"I thought me being uncomfortable was the reason we're doing this," she smirked before she turned and strode to the couch. She removed her geta and lay on the couch as best she could, propping her head up on one of the arms before she beckoned me over. "Ready when you are, Paul."

That was the point where I realized I may have gone too far. I was about to straddle a beautiful woman and caress her bare skin as I give her a relaxing massage, all while trying to keep things as chaste as possible. Yeah, good luck, buddy. But it was too late now. I was committed to my course of action and I was going to see it through.

After kicking off my shoes, I carefully climbed up onto the couch, straddling her thighs as I tried to get comfortable while making as little contact as possible. Musashi passively watched me over her shoulder, her lips beginning to pull up into a mischievous grin. Once I'd gotten situated, I began to tackle the next hurdle: her tails. They formed a fluffy, swaying barrier for me, and I tried to gently part them as best I could, only for her to place them directly in my way again. Eventually, they began to playfully tickle my face, and my chest, softly caressing me with their silky-soft fur. "Musashi, can you-gah!" I laughed as I now found myself fighting with her tickling tails.

After she drew a few more laughs out of me, she relented and parted her tails, draping them along either side of me. I took a deep breath, noting I felt much more relaxed than I had just a few moments ago. I guess I needed that bit of levity to lighten up. Right before I placed my hands on her, I pulled back, realizing I had forgotten one critical bit of information. "Where should I start?"

"In the middle, and then work your way up to my shoulders, please," she gestured as best she could, and I nodded.

"Alright," I said as I exhaled softly. "Here goes nothing."

I placed my hands on her back, feeling her smooth skin beneath mine. Despite our repeated contact, I never noticed before just how soft it was. Was it because I was wrapped up in my own failings or was this something else? I tried to put it out of my mind as I began to massage her, feeling the tension and strain in her muscles. It had been a while since I'd given anyone a backrub, but judging by the relaxed sighs coming from Musashi, I assumed I was doing something right.

"Mmmm, right there," she hummed happily as she melted beneath my fingers. "A little higher now."

I let her guide me, watching her relax more and more. Watching her pain melt away felt almost as good for her as it did for me. While it still can't come close to everything she'd done for me, it no longer felt quite so one-sided. The more she praised me, the more confident I felt, enough that I decided to bring up the second half of my plan to help her. "You know, if you need a bra that will hold up while you're running, I know a tailor back at the Azur Lane base."

"Oh?" Musashi glanced up at me for a second before she laid her head back down "And are they any good?"

"The best," I answered honestly. "A little nervous at times, but she does a phenomenal job on outfits for the base kansen. I'm sure Melissa could work up something for you. If you want, I could pass on her measurements or get you her contact info if you want to reach out directly."

"If you trust them, then that's good enough for me," she sighed happily. "We'll look into that later, but for now, don't stop."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

As it went on, we became more and more engrossed in each other, so much so that neither of us heard the door latch turn until it was too late.

"Hey guys, Shinanooooo…" Haguro's voice trailed off as she caught us on the couch, her red eyes wide with surprise. A surprise that I'm sure was mirrored on my face as I looked up to see her in the doorway. Adding to my growing horror and embarrassment, Shinano leaned in behind Haguro to see what had shocked the cruiser. Her own half-lidded eyes fully opened, and a knowing smile crossed her face.

"It's not what you think!" I protested ineffectually.

"Come, Haguro, let's leave them to this for now…" Shinano said, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder and guiding her back out of the room.

As they left, I heard Haguro ask, "Am I gonna have to sanitize the couch when they're done?"

The last thing I caught before the door shut was Shinano's response. "Not today."

As the door clicked shut, Musashi and I stared at it for a good long while before I let out a long sigh and ran a hand over my face. "Well, that was suitably mortifying."

Musashi giggled as she rolled over to face me, placing her hands on my hips to keep me steady. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. She's a big girl, she'll understand."

"I guess," I muttered as I tried to relax and let some of the blood drain out of my cheeks. I wondered if a blush could become permanent as I shook my head. "I just don't want her getting the wrong idea about us."

Musashi raised an eyebrow as she eyed me up with those golden irises. "And what idea might that be?"

"Th-that we might be a couple," I nervously stammered.

Her eyebrow lowered as she seemed to consider the information, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me when she seemed to agree. "A fair concern," she conceded. "But what if we were a couple?"

My heart shot from my chest to my throat as if it had been strapped to an ejector seat.

Oh no.

A/N-Is this it? Are we on the precipice of these two becoming a couple? Who knows? (Me, I know.) Also, shout out to ArchiveSlave/Slabe for allowing me to use his OC Melissa! Until next time, fair winds and following seas!