Staring out of the dock, Shoukaku was contemplating everything that had happened recently. The admiralty inspecting the base, finding a future version of her sister and the timeline she came from. The situation with Enterprise, and finally Kowalski discovering about Tsubaki's existence. It was all so much to take in, "I'm tired, I'm so tired." The white-crane thought. Everything that had transpired recently had mentally exhausted her. Today, it wasn't a school day, so Tsubaki was staying on the base. When John, herself, and their daughter arrived at his office this morning, the crane informed him that she needed some time alone to figure everything out. John could see the mood of his wife and told her to take as much time as she needed. Even Tsubaki could tell something wasn't right with her mother and asked if she was okay. The crane simply replied to her daughter that she was fine and told her she wouldn't be too long. That was over two hours ago. Shoukaku realised that it was best to return. No doubt John might need help with paperwork, and Tsubaki might start worrying where she was. The crane began to leave the dock and headed back to the HQ building.
On her walk back, Shoukaku could see other KANSEN carrying out their tasks for the day. Several of them greeted the crane, to which she greeted them back. Shoukaku was thankful that the Azur Lane passed the inspection yesterday. If they hadn't all of her fellow KANSEN would have been destroyed. No doubt herself and possibly even her daughter and sister as well. The thought chilled the white-crane, while she didn't exactly get along with every other shipgirl here. All of them being destroyed would have been cruel; especially after all they had done for humanity. "Stop thinking about it, Shoukaku. we passed. The admiralty found no evidence of the META ships. Everyone is fine." She mentally stated. Shoukaku then began to think of Zuikaku META, "Is she okay? I know she told Zuikaku that she wanted to begin searching for her Tsubaki, but she couldn't at least have told me and John goodbye. I hope I get to see her again and that she gets to find her niece." Shoukaku really hoped for the best for the META version of Zuikaku. She had been through enough and deserved some happiness and good fortune in her life.
Shoukaku eventually arrived at the HQ building, opening up the entrance. Shoukaku found the stairs and began walking up towards John's office. Once outside, she could see his door was shut, so she knocked and called out to him, "John! I'm back! Are you busy? Can I come in?" she asked. Shoukaku couldn't hear a reply, "That's strange. Is he in? Has Tsubaki ran off somewhere, and he's gone to look for her? I expected to hear a reply from at least one of them." Shoukaku pondered. While she wasn't worried, Shoukaku did find it odd that neither her husband nor daughter called out to her. Deciding that she wanted to know what was going on, Shoukaku opened the door, and when she did, the sight that greeted her caused the blood pressure of the white-crane to immediately rise.
John wasn't at his desk, but Tsubaki had fallen asleep on the couch. And next to her was someone who had really gotten under Shoukaku's skin lately; she could instantly recognise the tails and fox ears. It was Akagi. The kitsune could see that Shoukaku had entered the room, "Oh my, why has the commander's personal plaything decided to show up? Akagi was hoping that I could deepen my bonds with him and his sweet little angel. So can't you leave? Akagi wants to spend time with them, not his toy." The kitsune stated. Shoukaku balled her fists. She wanted to punch Akagi right in the face. But if she started a fight with the kitsune, it would certainly wake Tsubaki up. And with how much her daughter had taken a shine to Akagi, the crane knew that it was possible that Tsubaki would not look favourably towards her if she got physical with the kitsune. Akagi had already begun to poison her mind.
The white-crane realized she had to be diplomatic about this. As much as she wanted Akagi gone from here, she couldn't resort to violence. She had to keep a level head. Unballing her fists, Shoukaku then walked up in front of the kitsune and calmly spoke to her, "Akagi. As you can see, the commander currently isn't here, and Tsubaki is asleep right now. I'm certain you wouldn't want to wake her up and upset her. Why don't you come back another time? He is probably busy right now. The last thing he needs right now is to deal with an upset daughter." Akagi could see why Shoukaku wanted to be civil and wasn't buying it. The kitsune wanted to really get at the crane, so she decided to poke some more jabs at her, "Well, if he had a capable assistant, then he wouldn't be so busy. He could spend more time with his daughter; she wouldn't ever be upset. Akagi could certainly fulfil that need and any other needs the commander desires. Much better than what you can." The kitsune responded.
A vein appeared on Shoukaku's head, Akagi was really getting on her nerves, and the kitsune could see that; she had a smile on her face. Shoukaku, however, wasn't going to take that lying down. She said, "Well, Akagi, if I couldn't fulfil his needs, then the commander wouldn't have married me. Would he? That's why I get to call him my husband, not just my commander. Do you get to call him that, Akagi? And I'm certain he finds me a more than capable assistant. You can ask him yourself when you get the chance." This caused the smile to be wiped from Akagi's face. Shoukaku had hit hard, mentioning the fact that she was the one who John married. Akagi wasn't going to let Shoukaku get away with that. The KANSEN stood up and got right in the face of Shoukaku, "You dare question our destiny? Akagi's destiny? The destiny of the commander? Me and the commander are meant to be together. Fate has decided that. You are nothing more than an interloper, a distraction. Nothing will change that. Akagi will see to it!" The kitsune declared, screaming the the last bit of her declaration.
This woke Tsubaki up from her slumber, and both KANSEN noticed the little girl waking up. The half-KANSEN rubbed her eyes to get a better sight of her surroundings after her nap. When she was able to focus, the first thing that Tsubaki saw was her mother and Akagi. This caused Tsubaki to have a smile on her face, "Mama! Miss Akagi!" the girl shouted in delight. Seeing that Tsubaki was happy to see them both, the kitsune and the crane decided to stop their verbal sparring match. They didn't want to ruin their image in front of her. Shoukaku took the initiative and knelt down next to her daughter, who was on the couch and spoke to her, "How's my little darling? Sorry I wasn't here earlier. Mama has a lot to deal with right now." Tsubaki remembered the mood her mother was in earlier and decided to ask how she was. "Are you feeling better now, Mama? You looked really sad earlier." Shoukaku could appreciate her daughter's concern. But she didn't want the half-KANSEN to be pulled into her problems, so with a smile, the white-crane replied, "I'm much better now that I'm here, sweetheart. Being back here with you has made me feel much better." Shoukaku then gently rubbed her daughter's head.
Seeing the way both mother and daughter acted with one another caused Akagi to feel immense jealousy and anger towards Shoukaku. She felt the crane had taken the place that belonged to her and her alone. Shoukaku was becoming a massive thorn in her side, one that needed to be gotten rid of. The KANSEN then began to think some very dark thoughts, thoughts that involved the demise of the white-crane in front of her. Akagi was soon brought out of her thoughts, however, by Tsubaki, who was suddenly hugging her legs, "Miss Akagi! Can I play with your tails again? Please?" the little girl pleaded. Looking down at half-KANSEN, Akagi wanted to oblige her request. However, her mother intervened, "Sorry, Tsubaki, Miss Akagi is very busy right now. It's best you leave her alone. We will stay here and wait for your father; he should be back soon." Shoukaku told her daughter. Tsubaki was disappointed with what her mother told her, but nonetheless, she untangled herself from Akagi's legs and went back to Shoukaku.
Akagi looked at Shoukaku with a look of intense hatred, "You will pay for this, Shoukaku! Akagi is going to be rid of you, you insolent insect!" The kitsune thought. Seeing that Shoukaku had won this fight she turned around and stormed out of John's office, on her way out she walked past John but didn't register his presence, her mind was too clouded with rage. When John entered his office, he could see his wife and daughter there, Tsubaki had a gloomy look on her face, and Shoukaku looked annoyed by something. Wanting to find out what happened, he spoke to the crane, "Are both of you okay? Why was Akagi here? What happened here that got Akagi so fired up? She looked angry, so angry that she didn't even say anything to me." Shoukaku replied, "We just had a talk, that's all. And where we're you? You left Tsubaki on her own. Anything could have happened to her." John scratched the back of his head and said, "Sorry about that Shoukaku, I needed to print off some documents, but the printer is broke. I saw Tsubaki was asleep, so I quickly went to see Akashi to get a new one. I swear the prices she charges for new things are daylight robbery." Satisfied with his answer, Shoukaku told John that she would carry out any tasks he needed and to never let Tsubaki out of his sight again. John replied that he would never do it again, but these documents were important. The situation now resolved the two carried on with their day, and Tsubaki stayed with them. They didn't let her out of their sight.
When Akagi exited the HQ building, she was enraged. Many other KANSEN could see the kitsune's mood and avoided her at all costs once they saw her. They knew what she was capable of and didn't want to be in her crosshairs. The enraged KANSEN walked back towards the Sakura Empire building. Once she arrived, she headed to the room shared by herself, her sister Kaga, and her other sister Amagi. Now in the room, the kitsune stewed over the situation that had happened with herself and Shoukaku. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Eventually, Akagi got so angry that she punched the nearest wall with so much force that it left a deep hole in it. Akagi knew that Amagi wouldn't be happy with her, but right now, she didn't care. All she cared about was ridding herself of Shoukaku. "Insect! Insolent insect! She dares get in the way of destiny? My destiny? The commander's destiny? She is nothing! She means nothing! Akagi will be rid of this toy once and for all!" Akagi internally screamed.
To Akagi, Shoukaku was nothing more than a placeholder, a seat filler, a bed warmer for the commander. The kitsune believed that once the commander came to his senses, he would discard Shoukaku like the trash she was and would embrace her instead. He would also bring his daughter with him, and the three would be the perfect family. She could then dispose of Shoukaku and her sister Zuikaku as well. But after today's antics, the kitsune had enough. She was going to get rid of the white-crane once and for all. Akagi knew, however, that she couldn't do it herself. Despite being more powerful than Shoukaku, if she destroyed the crane, the consequences for herself would be disastrous. Not even Amagi could or would protect her from them. Akagi knew she needed someone who would do her dirty work for her, someone who would take the fall for her and suffer the consequences instead.
Akagi grinned menacingly. She knew the perfect person who would do this. With this in mind, the KANSEN left the room she was in and headed towards the room of a certain old foe, someone that Akagi could easily manipulate. After some walking around the Sakura Empire building, Akagi was outside the door of a certain phoenix. This person, much like herself, dearly loved the commander. Even Akagi couldn't deny this. This person, however, would also be the perfect individual to take down Shoukaku and suffer the consequences of her actions. This person was also a potential future rival of Akagi, and with her out of the way, the kitsune knew she would kill two birds with one stone—no pun intended.
Akagi knocked on the door and after a few seconds, this person wearing a red kimono with red eyes and long black hair, who had a generous bust, which even Akagi was envious of, opened the door. It was the armoured aircraft carrier of the Sakura Empire, Taihou. Akagi could see the woman in front of her and could tell she looked terrible. Ever since the commander married Shoukaku and had a daughter with her, the armoured carrier had never been the same. Taihou had become a huge loner, hardly ever associating with anyone. Taihou also hardly slept these days and clearly wasn't taking care of herself; her hair was unkempt, and she had bags under her eyes. Akagi looked at Taihou from head to toe and spoke to her, "My, if it isn't Akagi's old rival. How have you been, Taihou?" Akagi asked.
Taihou wasn't in the mood to speak to Akagi; she was about to shut the door when the kitsune stopped her. "Wait a second, Taihou. Akagi has something very important that she needs to speak with you about." Taihou wasn't convinced, though. "And what would that be, Akagi? What is so important that you think Taihou would be interested?" The pheonix replied. The kitsune responded, "It's about our dear commander. I'm sure you'd definitely be interested, wouldn't you?" The eyes of Taihou widened. She still loved the man after all this time, and any information about him would certainly catch her interest. Wanting to know more, Taihou opened the door and let Akagi walk inside. She then closed the door behind her.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds, Taihou was then the first to speak, "What is this about the commander! Taihou wants to know! Taihou needs to know! Tell me Akagi!" she asked frantically. Akagi had a good story of what she wanted to tell the armoured carrier., something that would be believable and would get Taihou to act, "Well Taihou, its seems our dear commander is in trouble, trouble regarding a certain insect." She said. Taihou knew exactly who she was referring to. It was Shoukaku. Taihou wanted to know what Akagi meant and asked. Akagi was more than happy to indulge her, "You see Taihou, the commander doesn't love that pest anymore. He wants to leave her, but she can't accept that. She is doing everything in her power to keep him trapped. He needs help, and he is frightened of her. Akagi says we should dispose of her, free him from Shoukaku's grasp. We have an exercise soon, that will be the perfect time to remove her and rid the commander of this burden. What say you, Taihou? Do you want to help Akagi in this task? The commander would surely be grateful." Akagi told Taihou.
Akagi waited a few seconds for Taihou's reply. It was quiet for a while, but then Taihou responded. Taihou was angry, thinking that Shoukaku was trapping him and possibly hurting the man she loved. Taihou was shaking in complete fury, she wanted Shoukaku to pay for her crime of hurting her beloved commander. "She will pay! That insect will pay! I will stop at nothing until the commander is free from her! I swear it!" Taihou screamed. Seeing the reaction from the armoured carrier put a smile on Akagi's face. Her lie had worked perfectly. Now that she had set her plan in motion, Akagi left Taihou alone to come up with her own plan to destroy Shoukaku.
Once outside, Akagi chuckled to herself. She couldn't believe how easy it was to manipulate Taihou. She knew that Taihou would stop at nothing to destroy the crane. Akagi could see it now: Shoukaku begging for mercy from Taihou; Taihou destroying her; Taihou taking the fall for her; the look of disbelief on the armoured carrier's face when she suffered the consequences. And after all of that, Akagi would comfort the commander, taking her rightful place next to him, Tsubaki accepting her as her new mother, and living the perfect life with them. This would all be perfect for her. All the pieces were falling into place for Akagi. Shoukaku's demise would come soon, and the beauty of all of this is that all Akagi had to do was wait, she didn't have to lift a finger. The crane would be no more and the commander would be hers...