Rule courtesy of Random over on SB!

8760. The teasing of Aso is to stop immediately. She's been making amends for her past mistakes for the last two years and honestly, those of you who are still teasing her over it are far worse than she ever was.

Yokosuka.

This is it, she thought as she watched the sun rise over the training range. She'd already left the note next to her sister's bedside, and no one else was awake yet aside from the gate sentries.

And they're too far away to stop me in time.

The sun's rays were just now starting to reflect off the water,and already she could hear the sounds of doors opening as the early-risers woke up. Knowing that she didn't have much time before someone else would arrive at the range, she unzipped the small duffle bag she had with, taking out the Minebea 9mm and inserting the magazine. Satisfied that the weapon was ready, she raised it up and pressed the barrel against her temple. The memory of her shame, as well as the torments she had recieved becuase of it would soon be immaterial, and at least that gave her cold comfort as her hand carresssed the trigger.

"Aso-chan, NO!" a familar voice screamed, and, realizing that she'd been caught, Aso squeezed with all of her might on the trigger. And nothing happened.

Aso had all of two seconds to stare confusedly at the weapon before a silver-haired blur knocked her to the ground, wrenching the pistol out of her grasp. Dazed somewhat from the impact, Aso looked up at her rescuer, her emerald eyes meeting Shoukaku's hazel, and then, the realization of what she had done, what she had tried to do, came crashing down on her.
As her former student began to sob uncontrollably, all Shoukaku could do was pick her up as gently as she could, and carry her to the infirmary, far away from the range or her weapon. Dodging a few confused Kanmusu along the way, she finally made it to the infirmary, where Mihara showed them to a prvate room.

After what seemed like an eternity, Aso regained enough composure for Shoukaku to ask her the inevitable question.

"Why?"

"It's nothing, sensei," Aso started to say, only for Shoukaku to cut her off.

"DON"T YOU DARE tell me that your attempted suicide is "nothing", Aso-san." said Shoukaku, glaring. "You WILL tell me everything that drove you to the range this morning, and why during all of that time you never came to me, Hosho, or any of your sisters for help."

Aso tried to respond, but Shoukaku's raised hand stopped her.

"And, Aso-san, don't tell me that whatever troubles you is a recent development. Suicide is a decision that I know from personal epierience is not made lightly or quickly,so tell me the truth, chapter and verse. Please."

Aso looked at her former teacher in silence, taking in her words. Although Shoukaku's eyes blazed with fury, she somehow knew it wasn't directed at her, and she heard the underlying plea in Shoukaku's voice. A plea to tell the truth and let someone help her.

"It is a long story, sensei." she said, her voice quivering.

"Take all the time you need, Aso-chan." replied Shoukaku soothingly as she let the younger carrier lean on her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere."

Over the course of the next hour, Aso told Shoukaku everything. How after she'd been shown the archival footage of her nation's past sins, her previous errors had become cannon fodder for cruel jokes said behind her back, especially by some of the escort carriers. How she would wake up shivering and in tears from nightmares about the Hell Ships and labor camps, and how she had isolated herself from her sisters, placing a facade of aloofness between them, when in reality, she had felt unworthy of both their love and devotion. Finally, she told Shoukaku of the jab from Yamashio Maru that had pushed her over the edge, where the escort carrier had asked about her upcoming China convoy, reminding her to not go overboard in Nanjing.

Aso choked up again, not wanting to remember the words that had broken what was left of her self-esteem, but she continued past it, finishing with how she had checked out a sidearm from the armory the previous night under the guise of some early morning target practice.

"Oh, Aso-chan, I'm so sorry." whispered Shoukaku, tears running down her cheeks. "None of us had any idea that you were going through that hell, and you shouldn't have faced that alone."

"It's what I deserve, sensei," sighed Aso. "after all that I did, I'm a mons-.."

Shoukaku abrputly gripped Aso in a hug. "Don't finish that sentence, are many things, but a monster is not one of them. You never took part in the war, you never comitted any crime, unlike the rest of us."
The bitter tone of Shoukaku's last sentence surprised Aso, as she remembered what her teacher had told her at the beginning.

Suicide is a decision that I know from personal expierience is not made lightly or quickly.

"Sensei?" she asked. "I don't understand."

Shoukaku sighed, and looked around the room, making sure that they were alone. "What I am about to say does not leave this room."

"Yes, sensei."

"Aso, while I was steel, I comitted a terrible crime when I attacked Pearl Harbor. I started a war that brought our country to ruins and killed thousands of our people. It consumed everyone in it's path. My friends, my family, even your sisters died in that war. A war that I started."

Aso's eyes widened as Shoukaku's voice began to falter, but the older carrier powered through.

"Anyway, when I was summoned, I read just how much that war had cost, and I blamed myself. I fell into a dark place because of that, and it got to the point where I, like you earlier this morning, felt that I didn't deserve my life, and that it would be easier on everyone if I ended it all."

"What happened?" asked Aso, in complete shock.

"Kaga, my training officer back then, came back to the dorms at just the right moment to stop me before I made a mistake that I couldn't take back, and she took me to Hosho, and both of them listened to me when I told them my story. They helped me a lot through that first year, and I will always be grateful for that."

"Does anyone else know?"

"I told Zuikaku a few years ago, right after she and Kaga began dating, but she's the only one that knows aside from me, Kaga, Hosho, and now you. I trust that you won't mention this to anyone?"

"Of course, sensei." said Aso. "You have my word."

"Good." said Shoukaku, rising from the bed. "I'll leave out most of the details when I tell the Admiral, but, you can rest assured that what happened to you will never happen again. That's a promise that I intend to keep."

"Thank you, sensei."

"In the meantime, unless I'm hearing things, there are some people outside who want to see you." With that, she opened the door and gestured Aso's sisters inside, and upon seeing their sibling, they all immediately surrounded her,each desperately trying to hold the one they had almost lost.
In the middle of the embrace, Aso smiled her first genuine smile in two years, and she felt emotions that she had been lacking for far too long.

Joy and Love.