Author's Note: long time no see. Hello. I don't think this is my best writing, since I am struggling to get out of many things, but I just feel glad that I managed to make something. also, PixelDemise is helping me with the grammar so over the course of several days I will update the previous chapters with what Pixel had corrected. Hopefully that wil spare you some of my jarring grammatical errors if in case you have the will to reread previous chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kantai Collection or any of the songs that I used in this fic. I did translate them if they are Japanese.

I took some interest at that small hand of yours,
which squeezed out blurred memories that perhaps has been there from the start
You're looking for a way out, aren't you?

777 Sisters - Stay Gold

Shigure looked up, at the gloomy sky of late winter. It had rained yesterday and now it seemed it will rain today too. More than snow, rain was more common in this part of the nation, as the snow melts into precipitation or did not even had time to freeze. Shigure took the umbrella she had put by the umbrella stand at the entrance of the main office. She could recognize Shouhou's noticeable Japanese umbrella and Admiral Tendouji's transparent umbrella among the many other umbrella belong to the staff and privates. Her own, transparent light blue umbrella, rested by the very side of the umbrella stand. Only one, and there were two of them to go.

She turned to look at the green haired girl wearing the same uniform as pre-Kai Ni her, who stood slightly behind her. Their eyes met only for a second. Before Shigure could say anything, the girl already avert her eyes elsewhere.

"Do you mind sharing with me?"

They were sisters.

This was the first time they met each other as the personality they were now though. Yamakaze had just arrived in the base today, along with a heavy cruiser which had been fetched by Choukai earlier this morning. Shigure had not met the heavy cruiser at all. Both were recently permanently transferred from an abolished base somewhere in the eastern part of Tohoku. Admiral Tendouji did not tell them anything else but it seemed the mood of both transferred ship were not in their best.

"... If Shigure-neesan... is fine... with that..."

Even now, they were standing quite apart. Yamakaze did not seem like she would be the one who cross the gap between them first.

If she were Yuudachi, she would perhaps just jump into the puddle without a care and dance between the rain. Their eldest Shiratsuyu would perhaps do the same, or just take the umbrella and command them all to be under the same umbrella with her. Samidare would without hesitation go under the same umbrella with a friendly smile, while Kawakaze and Suzukaze had high chance would go like Yuudachi, maybe dragged Yamakaze without even asking for her confirmation. Somehow Shigure wished she had some of their initiative tendency. Yamakaze, more than her, was less likely to do something. Yet even then, Shigure knew deep in her heart she was the older one between them and that alone was enough of a motivation.

Shigure extended a hand towards Yamakaze, for her little sister to take.

For a while the other girl only looked at her extended hand.

"It isn't far."

Shigure only realized it later that perhaps it may sound as if she did not want to be in close proximity with her little sister for too long. It was not that.

The distance between them now at the moment was wider than merely a hand's reach from each other.

-The Mountain-

Spring drizzle colored the atmosphere with soft patter of light rain drops. It has been going on since a few days ago, but the weather forecast said it would let up by afternoon. Airi sure wished it would be that way. Rain always made her room's atmosphere turn a bit gloom.

"Otsukaresama. Good work."

"Thank you, Commander."

Asashio bowed dutifully at Airi's words. Her reports, as usual written in tidy writings with a lot of details, rested by Airi's right hand side near a pile of other documents. She had just returned from a week long escort expedition to eastern east so it had been a while since they met each other. Finishing her long oral report, Asashio stood straight with a steady look in her eyes. However, given their long hours of being together, Airi could see the tiredness etched in her face. That was quite a rare find, as Asashio usually did not look tired no matter how long an expedition was. Taking few seconds to glance over ten pages long reports detailing the escort, Airi turned to look at Shouhou. Her dutiful secretary standing beside her understood her motion right away.

"To the main headquarters, Admiral?"

"Yes. Also tell Ooyodo to telegram about Kongou sisters' conditions to Admiral Kudou while asking about Nagato's."

"Understood."

"Thank you, Shouhou."

The light carrier gracefully bowed, taking Asashio's report right away. Without any other question, Shouhou went out of the room. The door closed behind her with a gentle click. Perhaps Shouhou already read how Airi would like to be left alone with Asashio. They had been with each other long enough to understand when one of them had something in their mind. Shouhou's silent understanding always brushed Airi's heart gently and for that, Airi never stopped to be thankful she was her secretary.

With just Asashio in the room, suddenly the air formality melted away and Airi eased a gentle smile at her daughter. Almost at the same time, Asashio's shoulder slightly dropped. Her expression also eased from her usual formal almost emotionless face into one more human, more of a reachable presence.

"You seem really really tired, Sweetling. Did anything happen?"

"Nothing in particular."

It might have been an automated answer, with the little girl too used to reserve problems to herself. Airi raised her eyebrows. Asashio averted her eyes elsewhere, taking a deep breath. No matter how long or how hard a mission is, unless it was particularly bad Asashio never looked tired. She knew when to take her rest, to be strict to herself. It was not her first time to be the lead ship of a week long escort expedition, so the rather tired look she had was something new. A defeated smile came to her face when she looked back at Airi. In the same smile was exhaustion, and somewhere in it, sadness.

It took such a long time for both of them to finally be able to show their vulnerability to each other.

"May I hug you, Okaasan?"

Even if she knew exactly the answer to the question, she just had to ask. Airi's smile was an obvious answer and a few second later Asashio already buried her face into Airi's arms. Her hug felt tighter than they usually were. There was urgency in it, for something that Airi did not know why. Airi felt an unbearable urge to ask, but it did not seem like Asashio would like to say anything yet... at least not that time. It seemed like she wanted to talk, but still contemplating what she should have said. They may not have all the time in the world, but Airi could give Asashio as much as she needed. After all, Airi knew Shouhou would take longer than usual outside.

Their hug, once tight and demanding, finally eased quite a bit and Airi could feel tension dissipated from her daughter's shoulder. Asashio still leaned on her however, and it did not seem like the little girl would like to let go off their hug for a while. Airi, still sitting, gently rubbed her back. It must have not only been physical exhaustion.

At the time when Asashio finally talked, they had not move from their position. She spoke from between Airi's long locks of hair, sounded as if she was looking at something further than the window behind Airi's desk.

"... Yamakaze-san asked something on the way yesterday."

"Hmmm...?"

Asashio did not write anything about Yamakaze in her report.

"She asked... is sacrificing the success of missions is fair, from the point of view of those who sink for them."

"..."

That question came out of the left field, and although Airi had quite some idea why it surfaced, it was not the answer for the question at this moment. Airi closed her eyes, gently shifting Asashio to lean on her a bit more. She smelled of gunpowder a bit. Just as her report said, they had a small encounter with several Abyssal destroyers. Those encounters might not be that much of a battle. Her girls were strong fighters... They did not need help for their battles. Physical battles at times was not the one inflicting the worst damage. Taking a deep breath, with Asashio did not seem like she would like to let go off their hug, Airi replied slowly.

"I wonder, maybe no one has any answer to that, Sweetling."

The destroyer moved her head for a bit. A while later the strength in her hug returned.

"I guess... Okaasan."

"Or maybe, it is better remained unanswered. We will never know."

She finally released her hug and straightened herself again. A lot question and thoughts still lingered in those eyes but at least it seemed the tension she had had dissipated quite a bit with their hug. Airi gently put her daughter's hair behind the ear and placed her palm on Asashio's slightly oil-streaked face. The smile broadened for a bit. The destroyer seemed to take solace in her touch.

"Do you want to spend a night at home? We can cook some dinner together."

Asashio blinked. A bit of light returned into them.

"Can I?"

"Sure, I am quite free today and tomorrow, so we can go for grocery shopping after work."

The obvious happiness in Asashio's eyes lifted Airi's own feelings a bit. It took very little from her to make this girl smile. At least, for now, the best she could give to Asashio was a place to rest. She knew it was not in her place to answer that question. She also knew, Asashio actually understood that more than herself even before she asked that question. Perhaps that was instead the reason why she was so down. Because the answer was in her, against what Airi had taught her all these times.

XXXXX

Heishi peered into a small opening near the barrel joint of a 12.7cm twin gun mount model B kai 2. Squinting his eyes, he then placed the battery on his wooden workshop bench and reached for his box. Yamakaze standing near there watched his every movement while fiddling with her fingers. Her anxiety is making Heishi felt anxious himself. Her old gun had suddenly jammed, sizzling, and went unusable after a small battle on the way back from a week long expedition. The battle itself seemed to be going on well and she was unscathed. However, her already sad eyes got even sadder when she went to the factory with her busted gun.

"So you siblings are not in good terms with each other?"

"I am not usually with Yamakaze so..." Shigure seemed to trail off her words. She took a deep breath. A small sad smile curved up her lips and her voice dropped to its lower tone. "But, yes, I guess this time... she seems to be agitated about something and I don't know what. I feel like, it is directed to me too, somehow... but I never met her before today, at least not with this memories."

Heishi nodded slowly. Anyone would be confused about it.

"Do you feel like asking?"

"... It's... hard." Shigure joined her hands together. She closed her eyes for a while. She opened them again with a deep sigh, smiling sadly at Heishi. "I guess I will wait."

"... is it... bad?"

Yamakaze's voice sounded soft, but careful. Heishi smiled reassuringly at her. He patted the battery gently.

"So far I don't see it other than some busted gears, it can easily be mended. I will have to open it, however, in case anything else worse is happening. Maybe I will have to change the outer armor, however."

Yamakaze only nodded lightly. In her clasped hand by her chest was the gun's fairy, looking worried and sad as Heishi and some of the factory fairies began to uncover the outer shield to look inside. The damage looked quite bad. It seemed like she had used the gun so much, it just began to wore off. Heishi's expression perhaps told Yamakaze everything and her voice quickly rose again.

"W-will you be able to... fix it?"

"Oh, I can. It's fine," Heishi smiled. He gestured Yamakaze to get closer and then pointed some parts (some of them are being examined by the factory fairies) to tell her what happened to her gun. "This gear over here is busted because of frequent usage... or, rather, frequent impact. It just needs to be replaced. These other parts over here, they seem to have suffer past impact as well and those dent are creating crack opening, which may crack at any time now. I just need to replace some of the parts. "

Yamakaze's expression bridged between understanding and confusion but she nodded obediently. Heishi smiled at her reaction, but then remember something else.

"Oh, but Admiral Tendouji lately is developing a new gun, maybe you want to change into the new—"

"I will keep this one, if I could, Lieutenant," Yamakaze did not wait for Heishi to finish his words. She suddenly put a hand on her gun's cover protectively. Her fairy looked up to her, a sad look on her face. Heishi smiled at her reassuringly.

"It's fine, you can keep the fairy. We can train—"

"No, I... I want this one, Lieutenant," Yamakaze's hand somehow seemed to almost want to take her gun and its parts closer to her, away from Heishi. Her eyes, however, avoided Heishi's. She looked down on her gun cover, scratches and dents on its surface. "I don't want any new one."

For a ship that almost always avoided any interaction, the rather strong reaction piqued Heishi's interest. Yamakaze rarely talk, and usually if she did it was only greetings. She always avoided eye contact and always seemed like she would like to get away from everyone as fast as she could. Perhaps that was just her personality, but this time it was obvious there was something else. The mechanic took a deep breath and smiled.

"I see. Then that is fine," He said kindly, reassuringly. Yamakaze still did not look up to meet his eyes. "Then if that is what you wish for, I will be sure to tell Admiral Tendouji if in case she would like to change your gears."

Yamakaze seemed to take his words, but her hand still protectively stayed on her gun's cover. She seemed to slowly ruminate his words, wondering if she could trust him. The green eyes slowly looked up, to meet Heishi's.

"... Does Admiral usually listen to you?"

"She does," He answered a bit too fast than normal. It was kind of embarrassing for Heishi to just answer that straight away. It could be taken another way and it was quite strange for Heishi himself to answer that almost defensively for some reason. The idea that Admiral Tendouji never listened to him suddenly felt strangely scary for reasons he did not understand. He found himself quickly added his statements. "She listens to everyone. If you say it yourself, she will listen to you too."

Yamakaze looked into his eyes a bit longer, then withdrew her hand a bit. The factory fairies beamed at her then with glee moved the gun closer to Heishi. He smiled at her reassuringly, then finally took several equipment from his gear box. It seemed Yamakaze wanted to watch the process.

"This will get long, you may return to your dormitory if you would," Heishi began to take off some of the parts. Yamakaze bit her lips. It seemed she was not willing to leave the gun. "Or you may sit by the sofa over there, if you would like to wait."

"I can?" she seemed quite taken a back at the offer, but obviously quite delighted.

"Sure. Make yourself at home. Do you want tea?"

"Eh?" Yamakaze looked up at Heishi again. The simple notion of getting a cup of tea seemed to surprise her so. Heishi smiled at her reaction. He stood up from his seat. Tea always worked.

"Come, let us make some tea. Then, we will work."

Tea calmed people down. Then, if Yamakaze had calm enough, maybe she would be willing to talk just a little bit longer.

XXX

"We will be using white wine as we cook this meat. It will bring out the meat's taste. Let's take this one and take some of the basil, parsley, garlic, and scallion over there and we will be done."

Asashio nodded. She went further into the small grocery shop to take some basil. The old lady who owned the shop had now grew familiar of Asashio and she seemed to be quite fond of Asashio's polite mannerism. Airi stayed by her place in the meat section, smiling fondly as she watched Asashio went on to talk to the owner. After their long holiday in the Tendouji household, Asashio had grown familiar of human and also the atmosphere of human settlements. She talked more of her perceived age, less restrained, and would ask for help instead of solving things all by herself when she was stuck. For Airi that was a great progress, and she was really proud of her.

A smile formed on her face. The idea of cooking some nice steak lifted up her mood even further.

"This uniform. You're the new Admiral?"

An unfamiliar voice talked in rather... unfriendly manner behind her. Airi turned around to face the owner of the voice. A man stood around two meters away from her, wearing a hoodie and had both of his hands inside his pocket. It was nearing summer these day with the rain season drawing close and losing its seemingly perpetual rain. Not many people wear hoodie in this kind of weather these days. Airi did not recognize his face as well. In this small almost forgotten town, everyone knew each other by face even if one did not actually say more than hi to each other each day. He looked like he had not shaved for a long while and his hair looked disheveled. From the way he walked, however, Airi could see that despite his looks, this man had trained in martial arts before. His previous statement was spoken over an underlying sense of ego and air of sure superiority. Airi did not actually like that. It was not enough reason to be unfriendly however.

Airi eased a smile, even if the guy did not seem like he would return it. If they had met each other before, she really had no memory of him. She too, was rude in that point.

"Yes, I am. I would like to apologize, however, have we—"

"Is Kaga still the secretary?"

The words went out of his lips in nonchalant manner but with obvious familiarity. Airi disliked what she had in mind. All her previous light feelings turned dim, and her voice dropped into a low, cautious reply.

"... Not anymore."

"Ah, that's too bad," The man shrugged. His black eyes shot straight back at Airi's brown ones. "Kaga was a rather good one. That bitch knew her job."

Airi's mouth was now a tight line. She returned the man's stare with equally steady ones. The previous warmth in her presence dissipated, and she found herself countering his ego with hers. The man sneered at the change in her demeanor. He took out his right hand out of his pocket, then pointed at Airi's badges by her chest.

"At least you have enough brain for those, I see. You catch on quick."

She never dreamed she would ever meet him. Not even from the very second she heard that she would be stationed.

What surprised her the most, however, was that she could stare at him back calmly instead of flying punches right at his face. He sneered. A glaring showcase of how unfairly his deed had been punished. He should have been locked longer. Airi, at least, believed so.

"... I never thought I will ever meet you, Admiral Jiro."

Suddenly Airi felt sick she said that, and found herself using a tone she rarely used as she corrected herself.

"Or rather, ex-admiral."

Even better if he had never had the title in the first place however.

XXX

"Otsukaresama!"

Engineers bade goodbye one by one. Some usually peeked to salute Heishi by the door, which he answered quite lightheartedly. He could hear the sound of gentle rain outside. Spring rain usually lasted till late at night, it seemed Heishi would have to sleep at one of the lodging again. With most of the engineers, if not all, already went home, all that was left in the factory was Heishi, the fairies, and Yamakaze. Everyone else gone, the sound of Heishi mending the small broken gun was the only sound that can be heard in the room. Yamakaze did not talk after they had their tea. She was merely sitting there by the sofa, watching. Green eyes followed the screws, the gears, the parts, as they were taken off. The amount of attention she gave to an old gun was extremely endearing. Heishi felt like telling her what all parts meant, but maybe that would get too technical and boring so he hold himself. The silence between them was a comfortable one as well, both of them merely acknowledging each other's presence. Heishi rather enjoyed the atmosphere.

"Would you tell me why this gun is so important for you?"

Yamakaze, who was looking at the ceiling for a while, now turned to look at Heishi. The engineer just finished placing one part inside the battery, helped by the gun fairy. Her eyes fell on the gun fairy, but they seemed to look at something else more far away. She contemplated how to answer it. After a while she looked at Heishi and answered with a low voice, "Because... it's a gift from my previous admiral for my Kai."

"I see. So it's an important present."

"Yes."

Heishi smiled at her then continued his work. It was not the answer that Yamakaze was ruminating, obviously. It was whether or not she would trust Heishi. She just decided she would, at least for that information. If that was the only thing she would like to say, that was fine. Trust was something people build and earn... Yamakaze had spent her time distancing herself from everyone, even Shigure. Giving her the time to adjust herself would have been the wiser course of action. Just when he thought Yamakaze would not say anything else, the destroyer said, "... it's the only thing that reminds me of my past base."

"I see."

The base that was abolished. Yamakaze bit her lips. It seemed she had something more to say. Perhaps she had been meaning to say it to someone, but never had the last push to. Heishi patiently waited, watching her with gentle expression as she tried to find her words.

"... My previous Admiral was very kind. He took care of us and never let any of us sink. He treated us so gently."

"I see." Just like Admiral Tendouji.

Although the military was plagued by people who are so intent on looking solely in quantitative output, but Admiral Tendouji was right that they merely needed to push the humanity out of these people who has been institutionally desensitized. There are many good admirals out there.

At least Heishi would like to believe so.

"Yet, even then," Yamakaze's joined hands grip seemed to strengthen. Her green eyes dropped to the floor, and she talked without even looking at Heishi. "... Even then, our base was abolished. He did nothing wrong and has always been kind to us, and yet our base was abolished."

"She seemed agitated about something, but I don't know what."

"I wondered... if we have failed him. I wonder if we should have just continued those missions despite our critical status..."

The fingers trembled as she put more strength unconsciously.

"... I would have been willing to sink for him."

Perhaps that would not have been what he wanted...

But Heishi could not say that, it was not exactly his place to say it. The engineer sat there as Yamakaze looked down to the floor, her green hair falling and obscuring her face from view. Perhaps she would not like to be seen this way as well... and that was fine. And her words also made it clear why she was so angry. Admiral Tendouji seemed to run the base almost like her past admiral, yet only her admiral punished. Heishi understand that perhaps there are also other considerations, but from Yamakaze's POV, this base would have been an irony of her past base, a place her base did not come into being.

"I feel like... it was directed to me too, somehow..."

It would be harder to accept each other in such situation, and it was none of their faults.

"I see that you love your admiral," said Heishi eventually. Yamakaze did not return his words. He dropped his voice lower, kinder. "I am glad this gun is so loved by someone."

Yamakaze looked up to a smiling Heishi. The gun fairy smiled at his statement, and somehow made a cute smug face.

"With such reason, I am sure Admiral Tendouji will let you keep this gun."

Yamakaze's lips clasped together tightly. It did not seem like she had the same opinion as Heishi. The engineer smiled, taking the now finished gun to Yamakaze, who was sitting by the sofa. He slowly sat beside the girl, still holding the gun in his hand. The fairy jumped to his shoulder. Placing the gun on his lap, he faced the destroyer.

"We can mend broken gun any times," said the engineer, smiling as he gave the gun back to Yamakaze, who received it carefully. He pat the destroyer gently. "But we cannot say the same to a broken heart. Keep it well. Have a trial run with it tomorrow and report to me after. I have changed its broken parts, supposedly it will run well now."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Her words were almost a mumbling. She looked down even more intently with Heishi right in front of her. It seemed proximity made her nervous, but it was obvious she was happy, from the way she almost cradled the gun in her hand. For now, Yamakaze may not feel that convinced that Admiral Tendouji would hear her out but that was fine. As long as she had that gun.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes?"

"I really can still... keep this gun?"

Still a disbelief in her voice. Her eyes looked like glass, shyly looking into Heishi's as if searching for something. Perhaps all she needed was reassurance, or maybe courage to let go. Heishi did not know which she wished for, but the answer to the simple question was quite clear since from the start.

"Sure," He said, smiling. He patted her gently again. "Until you're ready to let it go, keep it for as long as you need. "

Gently, Heishi pushed the gun to Yamakaze's chest. Nodding reassuringly at her, and watched a small smile slowly came to her face.

"I will. Thank you, Lieutenant."

XXX

"Okaasan, I have..."

Instinctively, Airi raised her right hand a bit, halting Asashio in her track before she even arrived to her side. Admiral Jiro noticed the movement, and his eyes fell on the destroyer a few meters behind Airi who had paper bags of vegetables in her hand. A condescending smile curved up his lips.

"Playing house now, aren't we?" he scoffed. His black eyes glinted, amused grin on his face when Airi did not answer his earlier statement. "Babysitting an Asashio class, I see. You pick utility destroyers yourself. Good pick. Did you get her while trying to summon a training cruiser?"

"No."

"I see."

He raised his eyebrows in rather disbelieving fashion. He did not exactly push deeper however, which Airi felt grateful of. She might not be able to keep her composure if he had pushed further.

"Why do you come back?"

Admiral Jiro made a sarcastic chuckle at Airi's question. He cocked his head to the side.

"How rude. Am I not allowed near my own property? I may have been jailed for a while but I still have a house here. I am taking my things away."

He nonchalantly waved his hand to the east, before stuffing it inside his pocket again. Inside her heart, Airi silently felt grateful how it was on the opposite direction of her own apartment. Admiral Jiro's sarcastic smile curved up again.

"Happy, now? You'll never see me, this disgusting molester, anymore."

Airi did not answer his words, but narrowed her eyes at his sarcasm. Her silence made him sneered. He shrugged and asked nonchalantly, "Did they tell you everything?"

"They do," Airi answered. Her hands clenched into fists as those information came back to her mind. All the details of what he had done to the girls... She felt like bludgeoning him... but she shouldn't. He did not pose any danger to her nor did he actually verbally harass her. It was not right to just lounge at him, no matter how tempting it is. At her answer, his smile grew wider. He chuckled.

"Really? I bet they didn't."

Cold sensation ran down Airi's back at the sound of those words. She narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" The idea that there was something worse that might have gone in the base made her fell sick. The idea that the might damage might have run unrecognized, made her irrationally anxious. Her disbelief seemed to have leaked out of her composure as Admiral Jiro sneered at her reaction. He scoffed.

"Because, she wouldn't, and she didn't."

"She?"

He smiled, a rather sarcastic one.

"I don't see a need to tell you anyway," He raised his shoulder. Airi clenched her fists tighter. He's playing me. "Now they are none of my business. You are none of my business. Who the hell want to keep having shit to do with this kind of small town anyway. I am just saying hi to you because that is courtesy, but I guess you're being unfriendly to me since the start. That's fine too."

He chuckled at himself, ignoring Airi's unwavering straight eyes. Still in his nonchalant way, he pointed at Asashio, a smile on his face.

"I will be a good guy and say this to you, though, she may have that cute face but she isn't the same as you and me."

His black eyes moved to Airi's.

"She's your weapon. She is not hu—"

"I think I understand that very well without your explanation, thank you." Airi cut him off before he even finished that statement. Those words, Asashio had heard it once and it was enough. No more. Courtesy was too high of a price. He closed his mouth and let his hand drop, but raised his eyebrows.

"You do?" His voice filled with question and distrust. He squinted, furrowing his eyebrows as if thinking hard. It took everything in Airi to not punch his face. "I wonder... you really do?"

Airi narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Admiral Jiro smirked and straightened his body. He, again raised his shoulder nonchalantly.

"Well, that is none of my business," He said eventually, putting both hands inside his pocket and taking a deep breath. He gave a rather sloppy, nonchalant salute. "Good luck to you, then. Best not make yourself get killed silly. Good day, Admiral."

It took everything in Airi's will to be able to answer a rather half-hearted bitter "Good day". He gave a smirk at her reply then turned around, waving back nonchalantly as he walked away. He did not even ask for Airi's name, perhaps it was not important for him, not that Airi had that little bit of inclination to tell him either. It bugged her however, that there was perhaps other happenings in the base which she, or the military, did not know. It was obvious that it was something he was not held against in the court, as then Airi would have known since they told her everything. It was obviously not about Kongou or Haguro. What happened with the sinking of the ship was deemed as tactical necessity so he was not hold against that. He only got charged for "adultery"—not even rape or molestation—and misconduct. That was why he was out so fast. He was not even really charged for his crime... but does that mean...

"... Okaasan?" Asashio touching her arm snapped Airi back to reality. The destroyer looked up at her worriedly, one hand gently squeezing Airi's arm while the other holding on to the paper bag filled with their dinner ingredients. She really could have heard everything. She perhaps heard what Jiro said about her as he pointed at her, but none of those appeared in her eyes. She was worried for Airi's well being. "Are you okay? Is that..."

"... That's the base's previous admiral," answered Airi swiftly. She softened her expression and patted her daughter's head gently. "Nothing to worry about. I see you have bought everything. Have you pay? I forgot to..."

"Are you really okay?"

It really took more than lousy change of topic to distract Asashio of course. Airi knew that much. Asashio's eyes were bright, demanding, and Airi found herself melting into the devotion those eyes had. Even if Airi were to say yes, it would have been a blatant lie. She smiled, cupping Asashio's cheeks. Her daughter touched her warm hand on her face , still looking into her eyes deeply.

"I will tell you at home."

"Really?"

"Yes," She had to start contemplating her wordings. Gently, Airi kissed her daughter's forehead. "I promise. Now let's just forget him for a while. He isn't a nice topic to talk about while grocery shopping."

Asashio did not seem to entirely believe her, but she decided to nod. Her hand, however, reached out to grab Airi's and not the usual other way around. Airi's heart ached with the gesture, with love and with remorse. The gentle squeeze told her that her daughter was there.

"You do? I wonder... do you really do?"

No, she did not.

"I bet they didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Because she wouldn't say it."

She? Who is she?

She thought she was close enough with all of them at this point... The fact that Admiral Jiro knew more about them than she did, somehow made her felt sickened at herself... and irrationally angry. One of her ships were suffering... and she knew nothing of it.

XXX

"Tadaima."

"Okaerinasai."

Familiar kind answer felt warmer than the small hibachi burning by the entrance. Kaga took off her sandals and stepped onto polished wooden floor of carrier dormitory. The sliding door slid open from inside, and soon the owner of the previous voice that answered her appeared. She was greeted by a warm smile.

Akagi stood by the doorway, the brown eyes were kind and welcoming, filled with understanding. They did not exactly exchange more than a brief look into the eyes, but just by that, somehow that warmed Kaga's heart and told her that she was finally home. Blushing lightly, she averted her eyes toward the wooden flooring of their home. Home, back to the small Japanese style dormitory of the aircraft carrier. Back to Akagi.

Akagi eased a way for Kaga to come further inside. She seemed to right away notice a bit of limp of the other carrier as she walked pass. Kaga was just standing near the low table, when silently Akagi slid the door close behind her.

"Shouhou will not be here until Saturday."

Kaga did not answer Akagi's words more than a nod. That meant the had the whole building all for themselves. That mean, more ease to show their secrets. Kaga closed her eyes. Wordlessly, she slowly took off her chest guard ever carefully. It did not hurt as much as Abyssal shells... but a belt still did its damage. Especially if repeatedly.

Akagi's gentle hands delicately helped her with all the knots while Kaga loosen the knots by her waist. Gently, Akagi began to help her undress. Her touch felt feather-light on her skin. Every touch she made soothed Kaga, mending broken patches skin. While his were callous and rough, Akagi's were gentle and calming. His were filled with lust and aggression, Akagi's was familiarity and reassurance. Undressing for him was disgusting, undressing for Akagi felt almost natural. Kaga let the upper part of her Kimono slid down, revealing her back and chest to her companion.

Angry red gashes crisscrossed the aircraft carrier's back, but Akagi did not say anything about the wound. She merely tidied up Kaga's Kimono to better examine them.

"Would you like tea?"

"Have you—"

"I already have mine, but I can have another serving."

"If you don't mind."

"I insist, Kaga-san."

Akagi could be quite persistent in her own graceful way. Defeated, Kaga nodded with a smile. Her partner sweetly returned it, then rose to take their tea and their medical kit.

Lightly talking about dinner while taking care of whipping wound did not seem like a very ideal way of bonding. However, it was their schedule almost everyday. It took only one or two hours for the wound to heal... and for Kaga, it took even less to forget them. Being with Akagi was enough to close the day. To them, it was the closest thing to normalcy. And for Kaga, that was her lifeline.

~~ To be Continued ~~