"What about these ones? Can I sign them?" Belfast asked. "No, not them. Only John can sign those. All the rest I've shown you are the ones you can sign." Shoukaku answered her question. Currently, Shoukaku was showing Belfast the duties that she was to undertake as secretary while she was away on exercise. The light cruiser was shown what documents she could sign and which ones she couldn't. Belfast had learned that she could sign for things like oil, ammunition, and even finances despite how well funded the Azur Lane was. The Azur Lane couldn't just throw money around everywhere. Every cent had to be counted. Anything more than that, such as getting weapons or research projects, only John could sign for those. Seeing what the white-crane had to deal with, the maid knew she would have her hands full. Shoukaku only made it look easy because she had been doing this for years. The crane would admit that when she first became John's secretary, it was overwhelming at first. But now, after doing it for so long, it was second nature to her. She could easily do everything in her sleep.
"Well thank you for showing me this Shoukaku, is there anything else that I need to be aware of?" the maid asked. Belfast wanted to know what else would be in her duties when she became John's secretary. She didn't want to be caught off guard. "Yes there is. Follow me, and I'll show you what else will need to be done." The white-crane said. Shoukaku led Belfast outside of his office and HQ. The pair walked over to a building, on top of the entrance to the building. The word "Storage" was in big white letters on a blue background. Belfast could guess something was stored here but didn't know what. Shoukaku led both of them inside and showed Belfast what was inside. Looking around, the maid could see many shelves with many items on them, "Might I ask what is in here, Shoukaku?" the maid asked. "Items that the Azur Lane has acquired, such as anti air radars, aviation tanks, and other utilities. Everyone of them must be counted and checked to see if we can still use them. The ones we can't get destroyed and the parts used for something else. Normally, this gets checked by whoever is on duty here, but if whoever hasn't you might have to check yourself. I've had to do it a few times. You can guess John wasn't happy about that. He's had to discipline other KANSEN on more than one occasion." The crane explained. Belfast didn't look forward to potentially having to do this. By the looks of things, the Azur Lane had a lot of utilities. Shoukaku then said that by the looks of things, whoever was on duty right now had managed to do it. But she might have to do it when she became secretary if who was on duty didn't do it.
The light cruiser breathed a sigh of relief. She was thankful herself, and the crane didn't need to do this right now. Seeing nothing needed to be done here, the pair then walked out of the building. Belfast then said, "Well thank you for showing me my duties. Shall we head on over to the Royal Navy? We can talk about your daughter Tsubaki." Shoukaku did feel like eating right now, and it would be a good idea to talk about her daughter. Shoukaku agreed to this idea, so the pair began walking over to the building of the Royal Navy. While on their way, Shoukaku could feel a gaze on her and stopped. The crane then looked around to see who was watching her. "Is something wrong, Shoukaku? You seem to be searching for something." Is what Belfast asked. Shoukaku however didn't answer. She was too busy trying to find who was looking at her. The crane then caught sight of another KANSEN in a red kimono and red eyes, Taihou was staring at her again. "Okay, what is Taihou's problem with me? She's doing it again. If Taihou has something to say, I wish she would say it to my face instead of looking at me like she wants to kill me." Shoukaku had enough of looking at her. The crane began walking over to the phoenix to confront her about what she was doing.
Like before, when Taihou realised Shoukaku was heading in her direction, she began to leave. Shoukaku however wasn't going to let her get away. Seeing the phoenix leaving the white-crane started to run, which caused Belfast to start running to catch up with her. Shoukaku ran after Taihou. Taihou, however, began to take many twists and turns around the base in an attempt to lose the crane behind her. Shoukaku did her best to keep Taihou in sight, but eventually, after one awkward path, she lost sight of the phoenix. "Shoot! Lost her! Where could she have gone? Why is she doing this? Have I done something to offend her?" the white-crane thought. Shoukaku was trying to think of a reason for Taihou's behaviour, but nothing came to mind. These days, the phoenix mainly kept to herself, so Shoukaku hardly saw her. This behaviour from the phoenix was bizarre, to say the least. Belfast eventually caught up with Shoukaku, "Why did you run off Shoukaku? It looked like you were trying to chase someone." The maid asked. The crane told Belfast to pay it no mind that it wasn't important right now. Shoukaku didn't want to get Belfast involved in whatever was going on with Taihou. Belfast however wasn't convinced that the crane said it wasn't important. The maid couldn't get a glimpse of whoever Shoukaku was running after, but the fact that Shoukaku was running after someone meant it must have been important. Belfast promised to keep a mental note of it and inform the commander if the crane didn't.
After this, the two then decided to head to the building of the Royal Navy, while on their way, Shoukaku did keep an eye out just in case Taihou showed up again. Thankfully, for the white-crane, the phoenix didn't appear again by the time she arrived at the Royal Navy building. Once inside, the two walked around the building and then headed into the garden. The pair then found a table and decided to sit down. "Would you like some tea Shoukaku?" Belfast asked. Shoukaku replied that she would, so the maid headed off to collect a kettle and cups. While alone, Shoukaku looked around and could see different KANSEN from the Royal Navy. Some of them gave the crane odd looks. They didn't know why the wife of the commander was here. Also, some KANSEN from the Royal Navy still had a grudge against the KANSEN who were a part of the Crimson Axis before they re-joined the Azur Lane. Shoukaku could feel the hostility from some of them and could understand why they didn't like her being here. The Crimson Axis did commit some terrible acts, acts that Shoukaku wasn't proud of. She could understand their resentment towards her. She hoped that resentment didn't get passed on to Tsubaki. The little girl was innocent in all of this.
After a few minutes, the maid had returned with everything she needed and began making some tea for the two of them. Once it was made, Shoukaku thanked her. The two then began discussing Tsubaki, "So Shoukaku, about your daughter. What do I need to know about her? What does she need? Anything you can tell me will help greatly." The maid asked. "Well, she is a rambunctious child, as I'm sure you are aware. Tsubaki will also sulk and throw a tantrum if she doesn't get her way, or she will try on the waterworks. Try not to give in to her. Trust me, I know it can be difficult sometimes. As for what she needs, make sure she eats well. Avoid giving her too much candy. Also, make sure she doesn't stay awake too late, Tsubaki will be grumpy the next day if she is tired. You might also need to take and pick her up from school. John told me last night that if he isn't too busy, he will do it. But he said you might need to do it if he has a lot of work going on. That's about everything you need to know, Belfast." Shoukaku explained. Belfast nodded to confirm that she received the cranes instructions. Looking after Tsubaki seemed easier than the duties that the maid had to carry out in her mind.
The two then went into silence for a bit. The only sounds around them were the chirping of birds in the garden and the two KANSEN taking sips from their cups. Belfast eventually broke the silence by asking the crane a question, "Shoukaku, if you don't mind me asking, I have something I want to know. What is it like being a mother from your perspective?" The question caused Shoukaku to think on how best to describe it. "It's hard. I won't lie. Considering that nobody knew KANSEN could have children, it came as a shock to both me and John. John was prepared to never be a father, I never expected to be a mother. It is hard because we didn't know if we would get raising Tsubaki right. It is hard because we want her to have a normal life. We never want Tsubaki to see war. We want to see her grow up, achieve her dreams, be a normal person, and gets to be happy. Right now, we are at war, at war with the Sirens. They could strike at any moment. We worry because they could kill or take her if they can. Lastly, I worry for Tsubaki because of me, or rather what I did while I was a part of the Crimson Axis. I know I did some terrible things. Things that I regret. I know other KANSEN still hold a grudge for what I did. I'm scared that other's may take revenge against me by harming Tsubaki. It truly scares me that my allies could decide to hurt my daughter one day." The crane laid everything out except the fact that the Tsubaki, who was the niece of the META version of her sister, had already been taken by the Sirens. The white-crane still worried for the girl.
Hearing all of this Belfast could understand why Shoukaku said raising Tsubaki was hard. Mainly, it was down to fear of losing her. The maid could certainly understand that fear. However, Belfast was certain no other KANSEN would try to harm the little girl. She was about to say why that wouldn't happen but another voice beat her too it, "I assure you Shoukaku, no one within the Royal Navy or any other faction would even dare think of hurting your child. Unless they wanted to feel the wrath of myself or the commander." Both the crane and the maid turned towards the voice, and they could see Queen Elizabeth and her bodyguard and friend Warspite approaching their position. Belfast got to her feet and began to bow, but Queen Elizabeth told her that it wasn't necessary. The two battleships then sat down at the table alongside Shoukaku and Belfast. Queen Elizabeth then looked at the crane in the eye and spoke to her, "I understand your fears, Shoukaku. But believe me, your daughter shall not be harmed by any KANSEN on this base. I will personally see to it that they shall suffer the consequences if they decide to carry out such an abhorrent action. I class Tsubaki as one of us, and any action taken against her is an action taken against the whole Royal Navy. Do you understand what I mean by this Shoukaku?" the battleship asked.
Shoukaku took a second to understand why Queen Elizabeth said that but then hit her. John was born in America, but his father was English from what he told her. So, while Tsubaki had connections to the Sakura Empire and Eagle Union through herself and John, the half-KANSEN also had a connection to the Royal Navy as well albeit slightly more distantly. This realisation made the crane feel more comfortable that no one would try to hurt Tsubaki. The little girl had many KANSEN on the base who would do anything to protect her. To them, Tsubaki truly was one of their own. If anyone was truly foolish enough to try to harm her, whoever did would be facing the wrath of three powerful groups, a very angry Zuikaku, and John who would be beyond livid. They wouldn't last very long. Shoukaku had a smile on her face after realising all this, and Queen Elizabeth and Belfast could see it. Shoukaku could see why the battleship was the leader of the Royal Navy. The KANSEN around the table talked for some time until the sun began to set. Shoukaku realised the time and got ready to leave. She thanked Queen Elizabeth for her help and thanked Belfast for being John's upcoming secretary before leaving.
Once she left the building of the Royal Navy, Shoukaku began to walk back to the HQ. While on her way back, the white-crane could feel she was being watched again, "Okay, where are you hiding this time, Taihou? I know you're watching me. Let's see if I can spot you." The crane thought. Shoukaku looked around where she was for the phoenix but couldn't find her this time. Shoukaku realised Taihou must have chosen a better hiding spot than before to spy on her. This constantly staring from Taihou was really getting on the cranes nerves. She wanted to know more than anything about why she was doing this. If this carried on Shoukaku promised she would inform John, and he would deal with it. However, Shoukaku didn't want it to go that far. She wanted Taihou to confront her upfront about this. The crane carried on walking to the HQ to see her family but could still feel the gaze of the phoenix all the way to the building.
Shoukaku couldn't shake the feeling that, for whatever reason Taihou was doing this, it couldn't have been good. The crane took one more look before she went inside to see if she could see the phoenix. No such luck for her this time, Taihou was really well hidden. Shoukaku then walked inside to escape the gaze of the phoenix...
"Curse you, you pest! Taihou will make you pay for hurting the commander! He won't have to deal with your presence much longer! He will be free of you!" Taihou was thinking to herself from her hiding spot. Ever since Akagi had told her what she did, Taihou became obsessed with freeing the commander from Shoukaku. The phoenix was watching everything the white-crane was doing to the best of her ability. Taihou was looking for the perfect opportunity to get rid of her now. She didn't want to wait until the exercise. Shoukaku, however, had spotted her more than once and more than likely tried to speak to her. Taihou didn't want to talk to Shoukaku. She wanted to destroy her. However, with how many KANSEN were on the base, it was proving difficult to carry out what she wanted to do. Taihou wasn't simply going to give up. She would carry on trying to find the perfect time to attack the crane. If not, then the exercise is when the commander would finally be free. Seeing Shoukaku go into the HQ, Taihou realised she couldn't do anything tonight. She would be too close to the commander. The phoenix began to disappear into the night, she promised that Shoukaku would be no more soon enough...