Chapter 25: Underneath the Mask
Sorry it took so long! I got some major burnout and writer's block. It was difficult but I pulled an all nighter and made this for you all.
With that said, enjoy yandere entertainment~
"Send in the team," Corrian radioed on her transmitter. "Maybe call a medic… and their families if this goes wrong."
"You shouldn't have brought Roon into this game, Doctor," Bismarck criticized, her glare across the room sensible, even without the slightest glimpse at the battleship.
"I needed to make sure she wasn't mentally unstable," Corrian argued.
"There is nothing you can say that can justify all lives at stake here! Not to mention Shikikan got injured when you promised no harm to him."
"It was his own dumb decision to take such drastic and desperate escape," Corrian clarified. "On the contrary, we found more about her as an individual. There is no need to panic over this. We also can't cancel this show on such short notice. There is still around an hour left and we still have one more polling before we can call this off."
A sigh came from the cruiser. "There is so much Shikikan can do. All we can do is pray that he doesn't do anything rash again."
"I've got a feeling that he is prone to doing something like that again," Bismarck stated with notable disappointment. "How did we end up with such a commander like him?"
"Like I have said before, Bismarck. His stern, cold exterior is simply a facade. I think we are coming to a point where he can't keep it on for any longer," Corrian leaned back, shooting a look over to Jeanne. "How long do you think he can keep this up before falling victim to a girl's charm?"
Jeanne thought for all but a moment in the restful silence before coming to a quick conclusion. "I really can't see Shikikan coming to that. He really can stick to his ideals harder than any adhesive."
"Speaking of sticking… Why is he hiding in such a room?" The battleship questioned, looking at Shikikan's screen with intensity. "He has been in there for a while, and there is only one door to that room."
"As you can see, he is held up in one of the saferooms that he would buy and escorted… but he seemed to find a way in without purchase," Corrian scratched her head. "I don't think he was supposed to find that vent like that."
Jeanne looked over to the doctor. "Is he just safe in there for the rest of the game?"
"Not in the slightest. Every second he spends in there cost points. If he decides to spend all his points in that safe room, he will have to survive thirty minutes without any resources left."
"He isn't necessarily out of resources. I think it was a lock… thing and the weapon he had. A tranquilizer, correct?"
"Yes, there is enough in each shot to put down an elephant."
Bismarck's eyes widened. "And Roon took two of them without much effect? She is truly–"
"Relentless and powered by bloodlust," Corrian interjected as she lightly stroked her chin. "I think we should put her under constant watch after this."
Before Bismarck could respond, a yelp for help was followed by the sounds of metal creaking. As their eyes laid upon the screens, they saw a fully awake Roon with her rigging bearing its metal jaws at the men. Fortunately, none were killed in the cruiser's bloodthirst frenzy except for a few thrown around – sustaining minor injuries.
"Boss, we can't contain her!" A man's voice reached through her receiver. "She keeps deflecting our shots and isn't within range to stun her."
Corrian picked up her radio in an instant."Lethal force isn't an option. Bullets will just piss her off and possibly flip her kill switch."
"But–"
"You heard me! Do not do anything that will have your men or her harm. Anything lethal will make her think it's a challenge and make the casualties skyrocket."
A pause, but the room was far from quiet with men whimpering and impact sounds. Each of them winced when one of the guards got launched to the side "Roger. But after this… our services will no longer be extended to you."
A slight frown formed on the doctor's face. "I figured that much. Oh well. It was nice working for all but… five hours."
With a displeased grunt, the radio fell silent. Corrian knowing what she had done – fell back with her head cocked up. A fatigue sigh escaped her lips. "What a mess."
"I don't mean to rub this in, but you really shouldn't have done what you had," Bismarck critiqued.
"Roon incident or the man?" Corrian glared from the corner of her eye, no real heat behind it.
"Both."
As if that gave her energy, she raised her head while not looking away at the screens. "There isn't much I can do other than watch self-claimed professionals do their work. As of now, I think Shikikan will be almost out of time in that safe room."
When Shikikan first fell into the room, he hesitated at first with all of the modern luxuries at his disposal. His natural first thought was that this was either a trap set up by one of the girls or possibly a point trap. Flushing out the possibility of one of the girls hiding in the spaces, watching his points, and realizing that his points were being depleted. At first, he dreaded leaving with an understandable fear of losing his point cushion. Nevertheless, he was at a roadblock with no way to open the reinforced door. Instead of finding a solution, he dropped himself a nearby couch looking up with calm but notable stress. Tapping rapidly at his screen, giving himself false hope in thinking it was just a glitch, but to his luck, the digits declined uninterrupted.
He spent the next few minutes idly staring at the ceiling with no plan. Occasionally, getting up and scrounging around for anything edible to drip the concentrated trama moments ago. Settling for whatever junk food and fruit available, he relished every bite.
Only after a long moment did he realize it was dead silent in the room. Only interspersed by the occasional crunch from Shikikan as he gorged himself until he felt semi-satisfied. His snacking was interrupted with frequent glances toward his points as the numbers started to make him sweat.
'... can't leave this place without options.' He got up, several unfinished snacks on the coffee table.
His eyes wandered to the vent, not wanting to leave the sheltering light and serenity for the dark cavity. He stiffly made his way to the air shaft, plunging himself deeper down the rabbit hole, engulfing himself in the darkness. There was no light at the end of the tunnel the further he crawled, wishing he had any form of light or possibly the ability to aid him in the unsettling darkness.
After what felt like a never-ending tight, metal corridor Shikikan found a new grate. On the other side was motionless with a nearly if not equally dark room, only able to make out the shapes reflecting off the polished floor tiles. Eight tall bolted desks in a two-by-four formation stood in front of the teacher's desk.
Taking the seconds of silence and absence of movement, Shikikan pushed the vent grate with little to no resistance due to the rusted screws popping out from their sockets. Upon emerging from the wall and slowly lowering himself with support from a wall cabinet he once more scanned the room, this time with a flashlight to see the place was empty.
Slightly satisfied with that detail, he made his way to the door and opened it. One hand guiding his eyes with the light, while the other aimed with the gun at the pierced darkness. He only lowered both when nobody appeared in his sights.
He was clear for the time being until a ping on his wrist device showed his location. He didn't want to resort to his last option; one that he definitely didn't want to show off. But he was faced with making this choice whether he liked it or not.
Shikikan looked outside the door before reaching for the light switch, flicking it. The lights flickered for all but a second before all of the darkness dissipated. Using one of the sinks, he flushed his skin in the spine-chilling cold water, drying himself with a swipe from the back of his hand. Pulling out the teacher's rolling chair, he dropped himself as the seat swiveled. He sat there with his eyes glued to the doorway, waiting patiently like a hunter for his traps to spring. "Alright, I'm ready for the first to come."
It took a long moment for one of the girls to appear, but Shikikan remained motionless until a shipgirl found his location. "Found… you?"
Akagi was a bit perplexed by the commander's appearance. His eyes were warm with a strange charm to them. His face showed no visage of fear or stone-cold hatred but joyous with an underlying thrill at the fox woman's arrival. His legs spread with his back leaned nonchalantly and his uniform unbuttoned, showing off his chest. "Oh, Akagi. You have arrived."
"Is that you, Shikikan?" Akagi gingerly approached the commander, still uncertain of the man before her.
"Do I look different to you?" Shikikan inquired lightly. "I guess all of that frowning and brow squishing took a toll on my face."
"No, it's not that," Akagi tilted her head. "You are acting not like yourself, Shikikan."
A warm smile blossomed on his face. "You can say that. Can you come here for a second?"
Akagi complied, eagerly making her way to the commander. Unexpectedly, she sat on his lap. Shikikan's cheeks flushed but didn't push her away. However, she was by no means a large woman. Her tails were the ones that occupied most of Shikikan's breathing room, tickling his arm or the side of his face.
"Shikikan-sama~" Akagi's voice both seductive and passionate, cupping his cheek.
"Akagi…" Shikikan peered into her fiery red eyes, arms wrapping around her side. "Your body is burning up."
A giggle. "That's because Shikikan-sama finally desired something much more than~ just~ work~"
Shikikan then realized what she meant, which became more evident when her hand tickled up his chest. Shikikan's cheeks heated up, looking down in embarrassment. Incidentally, due to their position, his eyes aimed right at her cleavage, making matters worse. The fox woman took notice of his gaze, exploiting it almost immediately.
"Hah~ it is just me? Or is it getting hot in here?" Akagi exhaled, loosening up her kimono – her chest nearly spilling out if it weren't for the volume she has keeping her clothes up.
Not willing to wait any longer, Shikikan took the first move. Shifting his hands, he attacked her.
"Ah~ Shikikan," Akagi mewled, her hand sliding up and pulling his head close.
"What do you feel?" Shikikan inquired.
"I feel…" Akagi yawned, fighting to keep her head up. "Tired… Shikikan. Can you stay with me a bit longer?"
"Alright," Shikikan soothed the Sakura carrier, stroking the back of her head.
Not a minute later, Akagi's head gently rested upon his bosom. With one more caressing of her head, he softly and carefully lifted the fox woman as she was fast asleep and laid her down on the chair. While she was still sleeping, he cautiously made his way toward the door, having to stop occasionally when she mumbled his name which became more frequent when she tried sniffing for a scent. She has somehow, unconsciously gained the ability to confirm his presence. Having no choice, he peeled his uniform off and covered the woman. When Akagi no longer fussed, holding the clothing close and sniffing ever so slightly, Shikikan made his great escape.
"These tranquilizers are more effective than I thought," Shikikan murmured.
Shikikan made a check-up on his equipment, finding that his gun's out of darts and is now completely defenseless. His next train of thought was to do the same thing he had that kept him alive most of the time, having to buy another loaded dart gun and some other gadgets. He started meandering aimlessly down the halls, looking for the nearest vendor to fulfill his desired goods.
After a bit of time, he found the familiar light emitted by a tall machine. Eagerness leaked from him when he made a run for it, tantalized at its many contents. Looking over his account, he saw that his points had doubled, giving him enough to spend freely without worrying too much about saving when the game ends. He didn't waste time, pushing the codes necessary for a fresh set of tranquilizers.
Upon punching the codes in, there was no response. Shikikan thought that this was nothing more than a bug. He tried again, but the machine did not respond to his inputs. Shikikan started getting impatient, banging his fist against the machine in some feeble attempt to get what he wanted. As he kept violently striking the machine, his wrist device started going off, letting out a rhythmic beep alongside a pop-up message.
"Why is this?" Shikikan questioned the message. "Why are the machines disabled?"
The message disappeared, causing Shikikan to question more what was going on. Come to a quick conclusion that it was a ploy made by the doctor to further entertain the viewers. Any further questioning had to be put on hold, having heard a slight squeak down the hall, having tempting him to look in the general direction and make out a black silhouette in the darkness with two red lights illuminated at the head.
His adrenaline kicked in. Fear flooded his head, fueling his energetic surge as he sprinted in the opposite direction. The kansen's audible footfalls came marching after him. The fear kept mounting the closer he felt the woman's breath going down his neck. Though he wished that he had a plan of action, he couldn't think straight having his mind narrowed down to shake off the woman he could only assume by her eyes was Taihou. After a few minutes of running aimlessly, he eyed an open door that led to the school's auditorium. Although such a place was open-spaced with no hiding spots, he had a weak plan in mind that he hoped to execute.
Shikikan came rushing down the auditorium's column and sprinted his way up and towards backstage. In doing so, he eyed the curtains and pulled himself up on the rugged veil. His hands were aching at the rough textured curtains, not helped by the solid poles that integrated inside the drapes, making his hands strain more when trying to hold himself up. Nonetheless, that didn't stop him from coming down as the shipgirl that was tailing him was currently tearing the place up.
The red-eyed kansen called, her voice innocent but possessed a tinge of mischief and lust to it. "Shikikan, I know you are here. If you come out now, Taihou will consider a lesser punishment~"
She kept circling backstage but had yet to look up. He kept his grasp up, but his palm strained and his fingers weakened after each second. He was having to pray for the next few seconds that Taihou would just give up searching and leave without noticing him. He held his breath and bit his tongue while enduring the blistering pain as he felt his hands burning up. In what felt like ages, Taihou ultimately gave up on her search. Shikikan saw her leave from beneath him, her heels nigh-audible as she left the stage.
It was only then that he couldn't hear her steps when he came down quickly but carefully lowered himself without a sound. Looking at his hands: both his palm and fingers were red with a few shallow cuts scattered around. Rubbing pain away, he peeked past the curtain to see that Taihou was just about to make her way out of the theater, her steps becoming almost inaudible. Seeing this, Shikikan let a silent sigh of relief escape from his lips as he walked backstage. Thinking that he was in the clear, an unfortunate reminder had his composure thrown out the door.
His wrist device yet again let out a rhythmic beeping, this time signifying the exposure of his position. That wasn't what terrified Shikikan the most, as loud hurried footfalls came crashing towards him seconds later. This had him bailing towards the nearest fire exit visible by its red sign, breaching the doors with a forceful strike that had the door fling out.
"This game keeps getting worse and worse," Shikikan exclaimed, vaulting stairs and scrambling for the nearest door.
"The votes are in, and our next event will begin at the last fifteen minutes," Corrian announced through the speakers. "We thank you for tonight and your contributions towards Azur Lane. For now, enjoy the rest of the show."
"Shikikan is going to faint from exhaustion if he doesn't get a break, Corrian," protested Jeanne.
"Ah, he will be fine. He trains his body a decent amount. I think," Corrian said with uncertainty. "Either way, Shikikan is handling this rather well. His resolve and skills have proven that he can get this far. What is there that can stop him?"
"Well… you cutting off all of his options and throwing hell at him seems pretty effective at stopping him," commented Jeanne.
"It was a hypothetical question," Corrian fired back. "I get that things aren't going to be made easier for him, but it is as I have said before: For the sake of entertaining our guests."
"This isn't right. Shikikan will be even more willing to more extreme measures than before if you push him further off the edge."
"Well, he signed the contract and isn't exactly going through a death game. He could give up if he wants to and let one of the girls just take him. But no, he'd prefer to keep pushing through for money, which is something that I wouldn't mind one bit."
"Why is that?" Bismarck inquired.
"Because…" She paused for a moment, pondering deeply before reaching an answer. "It would be a shame if he got claimed, correct?"
"I don't understand why you are looking at us so intently when you said that," Jeanne replied.
"The both of you are always so concerned with his health and you both seemed on edge when Shikikan let Akagi straddle him."
"Don't mistake concern with affinity, doctor," Bismarck plain stated, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her seat. "I thought you would know better."
She shrugged. "Perhaps today mellowed me out a ton."
"Or you are hiding secrets you aren't going to tell us."
"Well, only time will tell. God knows when I will tell you anything~" Corrian uncharacteristically teased. "Right now, Shikikan is acting to his own accord. Whatever he decides to do is up to him. We are just spectators with minimal controls."
It took several minutes for Shikikan to shake off Taihou. Currently, he was hiding in a rusty instrument locker just big enough for him to hide but not enough for someone claustrophobic to stay for a few minutes. His breathing was heavy and shaking slightly from all the mad sprinting he did around campus. Right now, he felt like he was in the Alien movie with the exception that he wasn't in a life or death situation, but rather a reputation to uphold for his public image and mostly money.
He held his breath when he heard someone clambering outside his locker, watching through the thin slits as Taihou's red kimono flashed back and forth. There wasn't a single opportune time for Shikikan to escape from his metal coffin. Unfortunately for Shikikan, he doesn't have a single option on the board that doesn't jeopardize his position, he had to think of something to leave unnoticed. He began contemplating his next course of action. That was put into overdrive when Taihou created a ruckus; the screeching and moaning of metal came from what sounded from right beside him. That was later confirmed when the door to one of the instrument lockers came crashing into the other, creating a sonic-boom echoing throughout every compartment, then followed by another boom resounding throughout the room came scrapping his eardrums.
"Shikikan!" Taihou screeched, sending unsettling chills down his spine. "When I find you, don't expect me to give you any mercy! Because tonight… tonight is the night that I will have my way~"
That put the nail in the coffin, having become paralyzed in fear and his mind going blank but still holding on to hopes of escaping. His whole body quivering, hands trembling and numb making it nearly impossible to break out the minute she neared. Every so often, ripping off the locker door locks the enraged maniac.
One by one, the carrier steadily made progress toward his locker with each boom widdling away at his resolve and mind until the locker adjacent to where he hid jumpscares him. As the door steered away from him, the flash of the carrier's eyes pierced him having all hopes of escape dissipated. The flowing red robe of her kimono waved in front of him, hearing the moaning of the locker door when she started pulling. Anticipation neared when the bolt was about to give in.
"Shikikan~ I found you~" a light, sweetened voice distant but audible voice seemed to come outside one of the windows.
That was more than enough to divert Taihou's attention toward the voice. Having rushed off roughly in the general direction. With a few deep breaths, Shikikan regained his composure, and every bone in his body stopped shaking. Silence filled the room after minutes of hiding heart was now steadily beating, and his head was finally on correctly.
"Glad that's over," Shikikan murmured, slowly pushing the door open for minimal creaking.
As Shikikan pushed out he stopped abruptly, listening carefully and hearing distant footfalls closing in on his location. Pulling himself away from the door and watched from a short distance. He couldn't see very far but managed to see something, a black, busty silhouette. He couldn't see much of her face which was made more difficult when she turned away.
"You owe me one~" the figure muttered.
She disappeared before he was able to find out where she went. That raised many questions for Shikikan like who that was, why did she do that, and so much more. Shikikan had to shove that aside for now. Survival was still his top priority. Pushing the doors out and stepping outside finally. Looking at his watch, he saw that he had around twenty minutes left on the clock before the game was over. The more he thought about it; he wasn't sure how the game ends. Will he have to escape through a door or will it just end on the spot?
He stopped for a moment, thinking of a safe spot that might be good to hide out for the remainder of the time. Stepping out, the moon shined bright in his eyes. It was a full moon, its ray radiating the school with dim but visible blueish light. His eyes looked up in awe, lips curved slightly at the rare blue gem hovering in the sky. That gave Shikikan an idea which he immediately put into action, running for the main building's stairs. The entire time he was uninterrupted while rushing upwards. Upon reaching the top, he pushed open the door's push bars, finding the roof entirely unoccupied. The entire perimeter looked to be clear and clean as well. He stepped out in the middle of the roof. Sighing to himself as he plopped himself down lotus style and leaned back with his arms supporting him from falling and began a peaceful time of star gazing.
It was a lot of fun counting the very few stars in the sky, but he made the most out of it, darting his eyes from one dim star to the next one that caught his eye. Seconds passed as he sat there, completely absorbed in his star watching.
"Hehe~" light giggling came from behind, preluded by long arms wrapping around his body. "Guess who~?"
Her arms were warm, but her voice made his skin crawl. "Um… I didn't hear you coming up here."
"Mn," she nudged herself further into Shikikan. "I've been waiting up here for the longest time."
"Is that you, Junyou?" Shikikan guessed based on her friendliness.
Junyou giggled. "I knew my childhood friend could never forget my voice."
"It is good to see you…" Shikikan felt a slight unease as she pushed herself further toward him.
Although he wasn't entirely against her actions, she was starting to push it. Her breasts are being pushed further into his upper back. Her hands were on his waist, rubbing them as if she were warming him up, which was much needed considering how cold it was. But she was beginning to become more intimate with her actions, her hands running down his body. He stopped her which made a brow raise from the delusional carrier.
"What's wrong?"
"This doesn't feel right…"
"What do you mean?"
"It's just… it just feels like you are rushing it."
"You want to take it slower is what you are saying?"
"In a way, yes," he clutched up upon her arm, causing the Junyou to smile. "Perhaps we should make some time after this whole game is over?"
"You would do that for me?"
"I will when I have time."
"When will that be?"
"I don't know…"
She let go and in doing so, his wrist device went off and signifying that there were only fifteen minutes left. The end game was now in play and his location was now revealed constantly to all of the girls.
Shikikan wasted no time getting up and hurriedly made his way to the door. "Come on! It isn't safe here."
Junyou was unresponsive which had Shikikan looking over his shoulder to see the dark look in her eyes.
"We will be together, right Shikikan?" She tilted her head creepily. "You aren't leaving me, right?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to lecture. If you want to follow me, I can't ensure that you will be safe," Shikikan pushed passed the doors and started sliding down the safety handles of the stairs.
Again he didn't know where to go and instead opted for running blindly around the building for some form of exit. That turned out to be a horrible plan for Shikikan as he turned a corner and bumped head first into a very awake Akagi. At first, he didn't realize it, the red and brown haziness and malicious giggling from the fox woman.
"You think you can get away from me Shikikan? I know where you are at all times and that trick you pulled… I'll be sure you will never leave me."
Her word had him fleeing in the opposite direction horrified. He didn't look back and made a break for the double doors. Taking a nearby chair, he locked the door behind him by sliding the legs between the open bars of the door.
This went on for some time, bumping into several of the previous shipgirls and having to run, running is all that he could do. No where to hide and all but running, with the girls forcing him into a corner. Every hall he turned either was a dead end, one of the doors that he had locked previously, or a girl chasing him down. He didn't even have enough time to pick a lock due to his shaky hands and his overexerted brain feeling light. He was stuck, cornered. All there was is a door that couldn't be opened and the three girls blocking each direction. He had his back against the wall as they slowly closed in, each of them individually laughing at their horrified prey.
"Shikikan~ There is no escape," Taihou laughed maniacally. "It's just you and me now."
It was the end for sure, that was what Shikikan thought. That was until the previously locked door came loose, having Shikikan fall backward.
"That's game!" A loudspeaker announced.
His vision went dark, purely from the exhaustion and his fried brain. A smile of relief spread across his face with his eyes closed.
"It's over."
Shikikan didn't know how long he was out. It could have been hours, days even. His eyes were still heavy, groggily he blinked the sleep that lingered, wiping his eyes with stiff arms and slowly registering his surroundings.
When he did, he realized that he was in his office – Belfast at his side with a blanket in her hands.
She held off on the blanket, warmly greeting him. "Good morning master."
"Morning," Shikikan yawned. "How long was I out?"
"Not long," she turned away folding up the cloth, and placed the blanket on a nearby table. "Working hard as always."
Shikikan was still confused as to what happened that night and that day. "What day is it today?"
Belfast turned to him. "Today is February the fifteenth."
"So yesterday was Valentine's day," Shikikan whispered.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing?"
"It isn't my right to say this, but I highly suggest that you don't overexert yourself," the maid lightly remarked.
"Don't worry, I won't be like last time."
"Also, I don't think you should be getting your energy purely from chocolate."
"What?" Shikikan rubbed the remaining grogginess from his eyes, low and behold his desk was filled with several assortments of chocolates, most of them packaged in either a heart shape or a box with a pink ribbon with a tag on it.
Instead of questioning where all the gifts have came from, he swept them off his desk and pushed his face into his hands in horror.
"Master?" Belfast leaned in. "Is there something the matter?"
"I hate Valentine's day," Shikikan remarked.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For the next few weeks, I'm going to take a break. I don't want to further burn myself out and make it feel like I'm being burdened. The next chapter has its foundation laid out and just has to be written. It will be a bit different from what you are used to reading and focuses mostly on a character that I have been wanting to write about. Until then, I will try to get it out as soon as possible. Good night!