John was walking with a purpose. Behind him was Zuikaku, and she was holding Tsubaki in her arms. As soon as he finished speaking with Vestal earlier this morning, he wanted to talk with Taihou. Now that the armoured carrier was awake, he could finally get the answers he wanted. John, however, had to wait for Zuikaku and Tsubaki to wake up. No doubt they would want to see Shoukaku again this morning. John got himself cleaned up and began preparing breakfast for himself and the other two. When his daughter and sister-in-law came downstairs, they could see that the man had breakfast ready for them, John explained to them that they would be heading to the medical bay early this morning. Zuikaku guessed that Taihou was now awake and that John would want to speak to her. Tsubaki however didn't understand why her father wanted to leave so early in the morning, but the little girl didn't complain. The half-KANSEN just wanted to see her mother again today.
After the other two had eaten they got themselves ready and they immediately left John and Shoukaku's home, the man was walking quite quickly and Tsubaki couldn't keep up with him so Zuikaku decided to carry her niece instead. Tsubaki noticed something was wrong with her father. She had tried to call out to him several times while she was in Zuikaku's arms, but the man didn't reply. This got the half-KANSEN upset, Tsubaki thought she had done something wrong by the way John was ignoring her, so she decided to ask her aunt what she did, "Auntie? Why is Papa mad? Have I upset him? Have I made Papa mad?" the little girl asked the crane. Zuikaku could tell her niece was upset by the tone in her voice, "No Tsubaki, your father isn't mad. At least not at you. It's difficult to explain Tsubaki, but me and your mother are going to have a word with him later. I understand how he's feeling, but that doesn't mean he should ignore you, don't worry, Tsubaki. Auntie Zuikaku will sort this out, I promise." The crane told her niece that her father wasn't mad or upset with her. Zuikaku wasn't happy that he was ignoring his daughter. However, she would tell Shoukaku, and they would both have serious words with him when he finished speaking with Taihou.
John however didn't hear the conversation his daughter and sister-in-law had behind him. The man was focused on getting to the medical bay. John wanted answers from the phoenix about why she nearly destroyed Shoukaku. A few other KANSEN could see John walking towards the medical bay and thought to greet him but the look on his face told them he wasn't in the mood for talking, they decided it was best not to bother him at this moment in time. Zuikaku could see the other KANSEN and had an apologetic look on her face as she walked by. She felt sorry for the other shipgirls who simply wanted to say hello to their commander. John carried on walking with Zuikaku and Tsubaki behind him until they arrived at the medical bay, John opened the door and waited until Zuikaku had entered with Tsubaki, he then shut the door behind him. Zuikaku set Tsubaki down, and the half-KANSEN immediately went to look for her mother without saying anything to her father.
John was about to head to Taihou's room, but Zuikaku grabbed his arm before he could walk off. He turned to look at the crane, "Why are you stopping me, Zuikaku? Can't you see I want to speak to Taihou? Let me go already." John asked his sister-in-law to let him go so he could speak to the phoenix. Zuikaku however didn't let go, "What on earth is wrong with you, John? I understand you want answers, but that doesn't mean you should ignore your daughter. Didn't you hear her calling out to you? She wanted to talk to you. Instead, you carried on like she wasn't there. You really upset Tsubaki. She thought she had done something wrong. When you have finished with Taihou, you owe Tsubaki an apology, Shoukaku isn't going to be happy about this either. You will have a lot of explaining to do later, do you understand?" Zuikaku clearly wasn't happy with John's behaviour, and she let the man know that he owed the little girl an apology when he was done with the armoured carrier.
John sighed when Zuikaku scolded him for his actions. He knew he had done wrong, "Your right, Zuikaku, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored her, I just want these answers from Taihou so badly. I promise to apologise to her when I'm done. No doubt she's telling Shoukaku about it right now. She'll definitely have my hide when I see her." John told the crane that he would say sorry to his daughter later. This satisfied the crane, and she let go of the man. Zuikaku then walked off to her sisters room to join her niece, and John began walking off towards Taihou's room. As John began walking towards the phoenix's room, he was telling himself that he had to keep his emotions in check. He couldn't act irrationally when confronting Taihou. Despite the anger he felt at what Taihou did, only she had the answers to why she nearly destroyed Shoukaku, shouting and screaming at Taihou would get him nowhere.
The man soon arrived outside Taihou's room, standing outside of the phoenix's room was the repair ship, Vestal. "She is still awake, commander. Taihou is able to talk, but I wouldn't try to put her under too much stress. She still hasn't fully recovered yet." Vestal told John about Taihou's condition when she saw him. "I'll keep that in mind, Vestal. It's best you take a break. You have been working hard lately with everything that has happened, and the last thing I want is for you to end up in one of these rooms." John knew that the repair ship had been working nonstop for a while and wanted Vestal to take some time off. In his mind, she had definitely earned a break. Vestal told him she would take up his offer when all her patients were in the clear. She wasn't going to abandon her duties just yet. John thanked Vestal for her diligence but said to not burn herself out. Vestal nodded at what he said and then left him alone so he could speak with Taihou, and she could check on her other patients in the medical bay.
John took a few deep breaths to steady himself before deciding to walk inside Taihou's room. Now that he was here, John was making sure his head was clear before he decided to head inside. He couldn't let his emotions cause him to lose his temper with the phoenix. Once John was sure he was read, the man opened the door and walked inside. When John was inside, he could see the condition Taihou was in. The phoenix looked worse than Shoukaku. Zuikaku META could have easily destroyed the KANSAN if she had wanted, "She's more powerful than I thought. Taking down both Taihou and Akagi is no easy feat by anyone's imagination. Thank goodness she is on our side and isn't one of the META's who are attacking human navies." John was grateful that the META version of his sister-in-law wasn't his enemy. He didn't want to imagine the casualties that the Azur Lane would suffer if he had to try to stop her. Seeing someone as strong as Taihou as beaten as she was drove home this fact.
John's thoughts were interrupted by a shout of "Commander!" John looked at Taihou's face when she called out to him. The armoured carrier had a look of incredible joy on her face when she saw the man had come to see her. John however kept a neutral look however, he certainly wasn't happy to see Taihou but didn't want to lash out at the phoenix for what she had done to Shoukaku, he needed answers from her about why she did what she did. "I see you are awake Taihou, how are your injuries?" John asked how Taihou was as a matter of curtesy, not because he was worried about her. "Taihou is much better now that you are here, commander. Taihou was sure she could have died because of that META I fought. Taihou let you down commander...I'm sorry." The armoured carrier felt ashamed she couldn't defeat Zuikaku META. In her mind, if she defeated the META, then John would have been immensely proud of what she had done. Taihou however didn't realise until it was too late that she underestimated her opponent. The phoenix was currently suffering the consequences of underestimating the META crane.
"She isn't an enemy of the Azur Lane, Taihou. It's difficult to explain, but Zuikaku META is on our side. She isn't one of the META's who we are fighting. Zuikaku META only attacked you because you attacked Shoukaku." John explained to the KANSEN that the META only attacked her to defend this timelines version of her sister. He left out the details about why she was here and who she was looking for. Taihou didn't need to know that. John gave the armoured carrier a few seconds to register this information before deciding to ask her the main question that was on his mind, "Taihou, I want the truth from you. Why did you attack Shoukaku? Don't lie to me about why you did it. It is very serious. Shoukaku was nearly sunk by what you did, Zuikaku META could have sunk you if she chose to. She spared you because she wants answers, and so do I. Depending on what you say could mean the difference between you getting disassembled or not." John asked Taihou why she attacked his wife. He wasn't in the mood for any lies. He also warned the phoenix that depending on what she said could be the difference between her getting destroyed or not.
"Commander! You can't be serious!? You would disassemble Taihou!?" The armoured carrier was in complete shock and disbelief that John would do such a thing. The man had never ordered any KANSEN under his command to be disassembled before. The tone in John's voice and the look on his face, however, told the phoenix that he was willing to carry out what he said. Taihou couldn't believe it. The man that she loved was willing to destroy her for what she did. John was willing to do it over Shoukaku, the one that Akagi had told her he didn't love anymore and wanted to escape from. This hurt Taihou immensely. Tears started to fall from her eyes at this realisation, "I don't understand commander. Taihou thought that you didn't love Shoukaku anymore. You wanted to be free from her. Shoukaku however couldn't accept that. She wanted to keep you in her grasp. You were afraid of her. That's why Taihou attacked her. She wanted to free you. Was that a lie? Did Akagi lie to Taihou?!" Taihou realised that the kitsune lied to her. She wanted her to destroy the white-crane and take the fall for her. This caused the phoenix to feel immense despair and guilt. Her commander still loved his wife, and Akagi had tried to use her to destroy her.
"So Akagi was behind all of this. She manipulated Taihou to destroy Shoukaku, Akagi wanted Taihou to take the fall for her instead. She's going to pay for this!! But Taihou... she was only looking out for me, in her own messed up way. Taihou definitely feels guilty for this, I can't punish her. The guilt and feeling of being used is punishment enough." John decided that punishing the armoured carrier wasn't necessary. She looked absolutely distraught with what she had done. Taihou was only trying to protect him, and she had been tricked into nearly destroying one of her comrades. The anger he felt towards Taihou earlier had dissipated, and it was replaced with pity. All his anger was now pointing in the direction of Akagi. It was locked onto the kitsune like a heat seeking missile. John however didn't want to confront the kitsune at the moment. He needed to comfort Taihou.
John walked around to one of the sides of the phoenix's bed and held her hand. This caused Taihou to turn her head and look at him. Once John could see the armoured carrier had her attention on him, he began to speak, "Taihou, I might not like what you did, but I understand why you did it. You wanted to protect me. This isn't your fault, Akagi is responsible for this. Don't blame yourself, I promise you Akagi won't get away with what she has done." John said to Taihou not to blame herself. He understood now why she attacked Shoukaku. He also said to the crying KANSEN that Akagi would be punished for her manipulation. Taihou nodded that she understood. John let go of Taihou's hand and was about to leave, but the armoured carrier had something to say to him, "Commander, when you see Shoukaku. Tell her Taihou is sorry for what she did... please." Taihou told John with remorse clearly present in her voice. The armoured carrier wanted the forgiveness of the white-crane.
John replied that he would tell her before he left, John knew that once he explained to Shoukaku why Taihou attacked her in time, his wife would forgive the phoenix. John then left Taihou's room and began heading to where Akagi was. The man didn't waste any time getting to Akagi's room. He marched towards it with purpose. John was livid with Akagi, because of her three other KANSEN had been hurt. One of those KANSEN was his beloved Shoukaku. The kitsune wasn't going to get away with her manipulation. As soon as John reached the kitsune's room, he swung the door open. Inside Akagi's room was herself and her two sisters, all of them flinched when John had swung the door open. Amagi saw that her commander had entered the room and asked why he was here, but Amagi was completely ignored. John simply walked to the end of Akagi's bed and looked her right in the eyes. This caused the kitsune to fear for her life. The look on John's face sent shivers down her spine.
"How dare you! How goddamn dare you! Who do you think you are Akagi?! Did you think that you could get away with this?! Taihou told me everything!" John shouted at the kitsune. He was livid with what she had done. Akagi wanted to reply, but she couldn't, the kitsune was simply too afraid of the man in front of her and the consequences she was going to receive. Kaga didn't like the way John was shouting at her sister, "Why are you shouting at my sister commander?! What has she done?! And what has Taihou told you?!" she shouted back at the man, the white-haired kitsune didn't understand why her commander was livid with her sister. She wanted answers from him. John turned to look at Kaga and explained why he was so angry with Akagi, "What she has done!? Akagi is the reason why Shoukaku was nearly sunk! Taihou told me that I wanted to be free of her! That I was scared of her! Shoukaku however couldn't accept that. She wanted to do whatever it took to keep me! That's why Taihou attacked her! It's all because of what Akagi said to her!" John told the white-haired kitsune what the phoenix told him. John then turned back to Akagi, "That's true isn't it Akagi?! Or are you calling Taihou a liar?!" John dared the kitsune to call the armoured carrier a liar.
Kaga sprung to her sisters defence and told John that Taihou was lying, that Akagi wouldn't stoop so low. This caused the two of them to begin a very heated argument. Akagi couldn't speak. She wanted to tell John that Taihou was lying, that she had nothing to do with Shoukaku nearest being sunk. But she couldn't lie, especially in front of her sister Amagi. Amagi decided to calm down John and Kaga, who were still arguing before it got worse. It took several minutes, but eventually, Amagi managed to calm down the man and her sister. Once both were calm enough, the KANSEN then decided to ask Akagi if what Taihou told John was the truth or not, "Akagi, you are my sister, and I love you. But even I can not turn a blind eye to this. I want the truth from you... Is Taihou lying? And don't lie to me Akagi, I'll know if you are." Amagi demanded her sister tell her the truth.
Akagi looked at her sister. She hesitated at first, but in the end, she decided to confess, "No, Taihou isn't lying. I did say all of those things to her." The kitsune's voice nearly broke when she confessed, Akagi knew it was all over for her. Kaga was in disbelief. She couldn't bear the thought that she tried to defend Akagi from John. Kaga felt like a fool. Amagi was simply disappointed. She knew she should have expected her sister to try something like this. The KANSEN knew her sister still hadn't given up on the commander. John was satisfied that he had the answer that he wanted, Akagi was going to pay for this. "Amagi, Kaga. When Akagi has recovered from her injuries, I want you two to bring her to my office. She will receive the punishment. I trust you both know what is going to happen?" John ordered Akagi's sister to bring her to his office when she had recovered. The two kitsune knew what Akagi's punishment was going to be. They both had feelings of dread.
Akagi simply felt cold. She knew what was going to happen to her. John then left the three in the room to return to his family. He was going to tell the truth of everything that had happened and what was going to happen to Akagi. John also knew to expect a chewing out from Shoukaku with what happened with Tsubaki earlier. He could already imagine it now. John didn't like the fact that he was going to destroy one of his most powerful aircraft carriers, but in his mind, Akagi had crossed a red line. He had let her get away with things before, but she had gone too far this time. She needed to pay the price. He just hoped that Amagi and Kaga could forgive him for what he was going to do...