Chapter 15: Unsettling
I nodded my head in response. "Yes, sir."
"Why, WHY!" Shikikan cried out. "I told that damn doctor and yet she didn't listen. Nobody ever listens."
"Shikikan, calm down," Takao attempted to calm her senior officer.
"Calm down?! The days I get to myself, interrupted by shipgirls that I specifically stated that I don't want to hang around. What gave her the permission to send you my way?" Shikikan boomed with an outfitting rage.
His uncle, under all the midst, took his take on their argument. "Now hold on for just a minute. You are telling me that this young lady is causing you trouble?"
"Well, no… Not her," Shikikan sheepishly answered.
"I don't understand the problem. It's nice that you have more friends, Little Dove. Why not let them join your vacation?" His uncle logically asked.
"You don't understand why I booked this vacation. First off the island… the girls there are chaotic," Upon saying that, he cocked his head towards the swordswoman. "No offense, Takao Sensei. You are fine, you know what I mean right?"
"If you mean my sister or Akagi, then yes, I understand," Takao nodded, a slight curve on her lips forming for a second. "They can be quite the handful at times."
"You see, you two get along nicely. Like two peas in a pod. There is no need for you to be locked up in your room for your entire vacation like some NEET," His uncle said with a smile of satisfaction.
"One, don't use the word NEET. Two, it's my vacation and I can spend it however I want," Shikikan defended.
"Can you listen to what Corrian has to say first?" A fourth voice intruded.
Everyone turned their attention towards the voice, Shikikan being the first to react. "Oh, OH. Now that doctor has gone mad! She sent you too?!"
Slightly behind Takao, stood the Eagle Union carrier, outfitted in a white T-shirt with the letters ENU in red printed on it, her shoulders exposed and her sports bra straps on show. The rest of her outfit had black short shorts, a black baseball cap with a pair of sunglasses sitting at the top of it. At her sides were two black rolling cases and a blue duffel bag.
"Yes," Enterprise replied calmly. "If you have questions, then this will answer them."
Enterprise pulled out her phone from behind her as if she had magic pockets, swiping her index finger across the screen for a few seconds, the carrier presented her commander with a video with Corrian.
Playing the video, it opened up with Corrian fixing the camera, nodding to herself as the problem was solved. Moving back a few steps, she started. "Hello… Shikikan. Before you report this, just know that I have government approval for this, it wasn't easy but I did," Corrian pulled out a sealed paper from the table behind her, bringing it up to the screen confirming the action before putting it back down. "I know that you think that this is something worth putting me through disciplinary school but hear me out first. You don't have to be around them if you choose to. They can spend the period doing whatever they want during the vacation."
She paused for a moment, snapping her fingers filling the silence until a jolt of insight struck her. "If you do choose to participate with my experiment, then I will let you have a luxurious vacation free of charge. If I were to guess why you didn't want them to be around, it is probably due to you being liable for the damage. That is why I had these two join you, so there is no need for you to be paranoid of them getting hurt as long as they are together. If you have any other questions, be sure to ask someone else in the base. I won't be picking up for a while, I have a political trip with a few fellow nations. So… Bye."
Waving her hand frantically as she ended the video there. Enterprise retracted her phone back, putting it behind her.
"Alright, if that is all. Then this is where we say goodbye. Let's go uncle," Shikikan signaled, retracting back into his seat waiting for him to move. "Why aren't you going?"
His uncle, disappointingly, glared at Shikikan, giving him his honest opinion. "Because you still disappoint me. And I thought that you changed. I guess you are still looking out for only your sister, me, and yourself."
"You don't know what type of stuff happens over where you work. Yeah, you were a naval commander. But that doesn't automatically give you the right to say that. What you did is light work compared to these super soldiers with abnormal powers," Shikikan sharply cleared up.
"Listen here, Dove. I know why you came back. I'm not going to give it to you until you are able to get along with these subordinates of yours," He calmly stated.
"You are a lying— You promised me that you would give it up once I became a commander. That can save your niece's life if you just give it to me," Shikikan criticized, balling up his fist, his face looking to be at a breaking point with his eyebrows scrunching his forehead.
"Shikikan. Uhh… Shikikan's uncle… You heard what Corrian has said. He has the choice to hang around us," Enterprise clarified.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but your commander here needs to learn to get along with people. He has a tendency to have issues when it comes to human interaction," His uncle mentioned.
"That's not your problem to deal with!" Shikikan exclaimed.
"If I may," Takao politely interjected, holding her palm up. "What exactly made him how he is? When he trains with me, he doesn't necessarily talk much about himself."
All of their eyes were on his uncle for an answer. Without a word from his uncle, Shikikan spoke first. "That is a story that isn't necessary for you to know."
"Yeah… It's a bit of a handful for us," his uncle muttered. "But, when the time comes when he feels like opening up which is what you two should aim for. My boy here will explain the whole story."
"Don't call me your boy," Shikikan stated.
"Ignore him, you two can put your stuff in the back of the car. I'm more than willing to drive you to wherever you are staying. Don't worry about his words against you," his uncle assured. "He is still the one I helped raise."
"Sure, whatever," Shikikan stated, irritated more than ever.
His uncle opened up the trunk of the car with an audible click. The two shipgirls started loading their luggage into the back. The seconds went by as the sound of case by case being dropped in the trunk. Shikikan, who was looking out of his window the entire time, questioning his options as of now.
This was cut shortly after the two kansens closed the doors to their seats and the sound of seatbelts clicking. His uncle, igniting the engine with a roar, he started driving.
Fixing the back mirror to see the two, he asked them. "Where do you two want to be dropped off at?"
"There is a hotel not too far away from here that the doctor booked," Takao replied. "Large, luxurious, and hard to miss."
"The doctor… Dove, can you tell me more about this doctor? I'd like to know more about her," his uncle said with a hint of ambition.
"Uncle, no… The last thing I need to do at my job is call my co-worker auntie," Shikikan stated.
"That wasn't really my intention, but she does seem kinda cute," his uncle smiled, making his nephew roll his eyes in response. "Is that the place?"
Pointing his index finger out his window; the building he pointed to was a tall, ivory-colored hotel. The place was astonishing as the hotel didn't even look to be a hotel but rather a large fortress with fountains and foliage galore.
"What a place this is," his uncle commented. "This doctor sure has the money to burn for her colleagues."
"Her research for command gives a good payday," said Shikikan.
Driving up to the entrance without any traffic, a lanky grey haired doorman dressed in a black uniform with a black bow tie right under his collar, walked up in acknowledgment of our presence.
"Hello, Admiral sir. Are you the one that Anna Corrian had booked," the man inquired respectfully.
"Yes. As much as I like you calling me admiral. It's actually commander. Commander Shikikan, the room is for the two in the back," Shikikan clarified.
"Oh! Apologies for my mistake, Commander Shikikan. You look wonderful today in your uniform," the man complimented in hopes that he forgave him.
"Enough with the introductions, mister. If you can grab the girl's luggage and guide them to their rooms, that would be great," Shikikan commanded.
The man nodded at his instructions, wasting no time unloading the luggage from the trunk carefully. The two kansens, who are now out of the vehicle, were telling him the ones to unload from their commander.
"Did being commander give you that kind of attitude?" His uncle inquired lightly.
"No. I just have things to take care of later in the day," Shikikan answered without making eye contact.
"What has he become," his uncle muttered. "I guess war is as bad as they say. No matter what job you have."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," his uncle answered decisively.
With a slam of the trunk, the two men turned to surprisingly see that the man had already efficiently held all of the girl's luggage in his hands. Takao was the only one holding on to anything, which was a duffel bag which Shikikan can only assume is her katana.
"Goodbye ladies. Dove— I mean Shikikan here will be seeing you soon. Please, take care of him," his uncle told.
The two kansens gave a questioning glare, Enterprise giving a light-hearted giggle, Takao's expression being slightly flustered, Shikikan was on the edge of shutting up his uncle.
When the two of them had nothing else to say. His uncle started the car again, heading back towards their home as they chatted aimlessly about their time away. When they arrived back home, his uncle fumbled with his keys a bit before finding the right one. With a thrust and a turning and opening up the doors, the sound of skitting across the floor came rushing towards them.
A small pounce of a white-haired creature met with his uncle. His uncle met with the small puff of hair with a series of laughs as it started cuddling up on his leg. "Oh, I'm glad to see you too, girl."
To Shikikan's surprise, his uncle has adopted a Samoyed dog into their household.
"You got a dog," Shikikan simply stated. "You do know how expensive it is to take care of these things right?"
"Who cares. It gets lonely in this house," his uncle stated, patting the dog's head. "She keeps me company while you and your sister are away."
"Don't tell me you bought this dog," Shikikan said, removing his shoes at the door.
"No, my friend's friend gave this to me."
"Still, we don't need more mouths to feed," Shikikan took foot in the house. "I'll be in my room to see if you fiddled around with my stuff while I was gone."
"You really don't trust me? Why would I need your dusty room anyways?" his uncle questioned.
Shikikan was already gone, leaving his uncle at the front door. Shikikan opens up his childhood room to see that it has indeed not changed at all. His desk was bare with only a small desk light. His bed was neatly made and across from it was his old game system. A smile formed on his lips, his mind engulfed in a bit of nostalgia as he studied every part of the room as spun around.
Breaking out of his trance of nostalgia. His eyes focused on his room's closet. Taking a few steps forward towards it, he opened it very slowly revealing his wardrobe of a few coats and a rose cap. There wasn't much that filled his interest other than the hidden box behind blankets and a desk fan, one of the few reasons why he came back. He opened the box, revealing the content of a singular smaller black box. Shikikan's face fell at the sight, opening it to confirm that what he came for was still intact had him relieved that his uncle hasn't sold it.
In the midst of the small celebration, his voice called. "Commander!"
"Yeah?"