Walking along the Naval base's sea front, was a certain moody, white kitsune.
While it wasn't hard to annoy Kaga at the best of times, today she was especially irritated. Due to some injuries from her last battle, both the Commander and her elder sister Akagi had told her to take shore leave. This wouldn't have been a problem if Akagi could have taken it with her, but unfortunately she was still needed in another operation; meaning Kaga had been left behind.
The white fox winced as she walked, clutching her left shoulder for a moment as it ached. A lucky shot by some irritating Breaker class siren had 'Mission Killed' her in the last fight, effectively putting her out of that battle. Vestal and Akashi had both cleared her for light duty, but to not put excess stress on her left arm. Kaga cringed as she remembered the shame of her retreat, and the terrified look on Akagi's face when she was hit, while the physical pain had been bad, the pain of scaring Akagi had been much worse.
"Nee-sama...please forgive me..." Kaga privately pleaded. Up ahead she saw an ice-cream stand; Nevada had just served some destroyer girls some ice cream cones, they giggled as they ran off with them. The Sakura carrier wanted a cone too, even feeling a tiny rumble in her stomach as it agreed with her, however there was one small problem: Kaga is a chronic introvert.
Even with other Sakura Empire kansen, Kaga rarely spoke to someone unprompted. Sure she'd yell orders in combat, but that was purely because she was in her element, in any other setting, and depending on who was speaking to her, she would either lose her confidence and become too shy to speak, or she'd lose her temper. So she'd always deferred to Akagi to let her speak for the two of them.
But Akagi isn't here this time.
Kaga gulped, she REALLY wanted that ice-cream, but Nevada was an imposing woman, while Kaga could easily take her in a fight, she was less sure about how to talk to her without provoking one in the first place. Nevada was Eagle Union, Sakura Empire's biggest rival in Azur lane, while the Crimson Axis war was over, there was still a lot of bad blood between the two factions, and Kaga knew she was the target of a lot of Eagle Union's anger.
The white kitsune took a deep breath, and stepped over to the stand. Nevada was still waving to the destroyers she just served, but Kaga didn't mind, it gave her time to browse the menu without drawing her attention. She was intrigued by the chocolate cones she'd seen Prinz Eugen enjoy whenever she'd seen her at the beach. Kaga gave an audible huff as she thought back to that annoying Ironblood cruiser.
"Something bothering you about my ice cream fox?" Nevada asked, a clipped tone to her voice. Kaga's ears twitched as she looked up from the menu, into the battleship's narrowing eyes. Kaga almost literally bit her tongue to keep from retorting, trying to stay civil even if Nevada wasn't even caring to hide her disdain for the kitsune. She cleared her throat to regain some composure before speaking.
"No of course not, I just have a headache..." Kaga lied, trying not to scowl too much as she held the side of her head. Nevada tilted her own head, smirking a little.
"Ice cream won't help with that, I suggest going to Medical." Nevada snarked, snickering a little. Kaga held in a growl, clenching her fist as she attempted to stay calm.
"Look just...just me a cone...please." Kaga hissed through gritted teeth, the battleship's smirk faded, without breaking eye contact with Kaga, Nevada reached behind the stall, and put a 'closed' sign on top.
"Sorry, I'm out of stock." She told in her mocking tone. Kaga gasped at the blond woman's audacity, it wasn't even time for lunch yet, and she decided to close just to spite her? Nevada just leaned on the stall, revelling in Kaga's frustration. The fox was about to open her mouth to chew out the battleship for this stunt, but someone else beat her to it.
"Nevada!" A voice called out to the two of them. Both kansen turned to see St Louis jogging over to the stall, the blue-haired cruiser scowled at the blonde battleship. "Come on, we both know you're just being mean, give her an ice cream already!" St Louis demanded. Nevada held up her hands in surrender.
"OK OK! Fine...what flavour do you want?" She asked Kaga in a defeated tone.
Later on...
St Louis had invited Kaga along for a walk with her, the kitsune didn't have an excuse to refuse, so here she was, walking down the sea front to the shopping district with her. As Kaga and St Louis walked, ice creams in hand, the fox woman couldn't help her curiosity about what her new friend had done.
"Um...thank you for your assistance with Nevada...but why did you help me?" She asked, wondering what motive Louis could have for her altruism. The cruiser just quietly giggled before taking a bite of her ice cream cone.
"Well no offence, but you don't seem used to social interaction, I'm guessing Akagi normally does that kind of thing for you?" St Louis asked kindly. Kaga blushed a little, not wanting to say she was right, but the cruiser kansen picked up on that and giggled again. "Hey, I have two younger sisters, so I can tell when someone usually has an older sibling help them, its nothing to be ashamed of." She added with a smile.
"I...I guess so..." Kaga stated, her anger and embarrassment from earlier slowly fading as they talked, she gave a small smile as she kept eating the ice cream. St Louis put a hand on her cheek as she intently watched the kitsune lick her cone.
"You know...everyone sees you as this scary, angry fox lady. But I don't think you're really like that at all." The blue-haired woman commented. Kaga stopped mid lick, and side eyed St Louis with an annoyed expression, But St Louis just smirked with a small giggle. "I'm right aren't I? You might this tough, invincible carrier on the outside, but in reality you're an adorable fox girl who loves head pats and cuddles."
Before Kaga could stop her, St Louis reached up and gently rubbed the top of her head. She gasped as the cruiser's soft hand caressed her fluffy ear, only Akagi was allowed to touch her like this, she would normally slap away anyone else who touched her, she even thought about pushing St Louis off, but she didn't, she didn't feel like her space had been invaded, more like it was Akagi herself patting her head. Before she realised, she was quietly purring.
St Louis smiled as she felt Kaga vibrate under her hand, the fox's tails swished around happily with her touch. "I told you~" She lightly teased, gently brushing her ear before pulling her hand away. Kaga blushed at how she must have sounded, but St Louis was still grinning nicely at her. "You're so cute purring like that, honestly I'd love a sister like you, Akagi is so lucky~" She commented wistfully.
"Um...you said you have two sisters though?" Kaga pointed out, a little confused. St Louis sighed longingly before replying.
"Well I have quite a few, and I do love them all, its just they don't seem to appreciate the stuff I'm into. Helena is constantly stressed out by her work and seems to never have time, and Honolulu always wants to do her own thing, it gets kinda lonely sometimes..." St Louis trailed off sadly. Kaga felt a little bad for the cruiser woman, her normally stoic face softening a little as she had spoken. She deduced that St Louis must have had a hint of jealousy over her relationship with Akagi, it wasn't exactly a secret that the two of them were very close.
"That...is a little sad." Kaga agreed, she thought for a moment before an idea came to her head. "Hey uh...I don't normally do this, but you did help me so...do you want me to accompany you for today?" The kitsune started to blush heavily as she asked, St Louis gasped quietly, before grinning widely. She could tell it took a lot of confidence for Kaga to ask that, and her blushing just made her look even cuter in her eyes.
"You will?! Oh thank you!" The bluenette put her hands together gratefully, almost dropping her ice cream in her excitement, her eyes sparkling in joy. "I know just what to do, we'll finish these ice creams off, then the real fun can begin!" St Louis giggled, clearly much happier now. Kaga nervously chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head as they walked, wondering just what she got herself into.
Eagle Union Dorms
The two kansen were relaxing in St Louis's room, enjoying a hot chocolate each. Kaga had never had one before, but was enjoying the one her new friend had made for her. Her tails waved around lazily, with Kaga herself not paying attention to where they moved. As she took a drink, she accidentally brushed St Louis on the thigh, making her gasp a little. The fox carrier, widened her eyes in shock, and quickly moved her tail away.
"My apologies I...I was distracted." Kaga awkwardly excused herself. St Louis just giggled, putting a hand on her cheek as she looked at back at her guest.
"No need to be sorry, your tails are so pretty and fluffy, may I touch them?" She asked hopefully. Kaga looked away with a blush, pulling her tails closer to herself protectively, St Louis noticeably deflated at the non-verbal rejection, but quickly perked up once she thought back to how Kaga is as a person. "Sorry, I can wait until you're more comfortable-"
"Yes...y-you can touch them..." Kaga quietly uttered. The cruiser's eyes lit up at gaining Kaga's permission. She scooted over to sit by Kaga on the bed, watching intently as one the kitsune's tails slowly unfurled over her lap, she gently ran her fingers along the fluffy core of the white fox woman's precious tail. St Louis noted just how sensitive Kaga was to the touch, at first she was flinching with the first few pets, but after a while she quietly purred with the nice sensations, her whole body vibrated yet again just like with the head pat.
"That...feels nice...you have a gentle touch." Kaga complimented awkwardly, still unable to help herself as she kept purring quietly. St Louis chuckled as she kept up the relaxing strokes of this wonderfully fluffy appendage.
"Of course, you clearly take good care of yourself for these to be so soft~" St Louis pointed out, Kaga blushed deeper hearing that, clearly embarrassed as she spoke again.
"Um...actually Akagi helps to groom me, I uh...can never do quite it right..." She admitted, hiding behind another tail. St Louis tilted her head in surprise at that.
"Really? She even does that with you?" She then sighed wistfully again. "Helena often wants me to help her with her hair too, its often amazing how alike sister relationships can be, even between factions~" The cruiser stated, but after a moment she frowned. "Though its a little irritating that Lulu DOESN'T let me help, even when she gets knots and split ends, she's so stubborn!" She added, hissing slightly as she got irritated.
Kaga also frowned, not being able to understand the behaviour of someone like Honolulu towards her elder sister. "I couldn't imagine treating Akagi nee-sama like that, your sister sounds most dis-respectful." She commented. St Louis looked back at her, shaking her head with a small smile.
"Oh don't be too harsh on her, like I said before; she wants to do her own thing and be her own woman. Sometimes I just get in her way, and I know that...sometimes I really should just step back and let her go." She put her hand on her cheek as she sighed happily again. "She'll always be my little sister however, and she'll always look so cute in any outfit I make her wear~"
St Louis giggled as she remembered a few pieces of clothing she'd insisted on Honolulu wearing, from erotic lingerie, idol outfits, Halloween costumes, and even Sakura kimonos. Then mid-laugh, she gasped and had an idea. She looked back at Kaga with a cheeky smirk, who looked on at her confused.
"Why are you looking at me like-"
"Kaga...could you model something for me~?" St Louis interrupted with a low, but smooth tone of voice. The kitsune raised an eyebrow, unsure if the blue-haired woman was joking or not.
"Model? You want me to...wear an outfit for you?" Kaga asked.
"Could you? I was going to ask Honolulu, but she'll put up more a fuss since she hates dresses, you don't mind do you? Please?" She asked more earnestly. Kaga took a moment to think about it. St Louis was quickly becoming one of the few non-Sakura kansen to befriend her, she was actually enjoying herself for once, and didn't want to ruin things between them by refusing. Akagi had also asked her to wear things in the past and she grew to like the items of clothing she picked; could she have a similar moment with St Louis?
"Just... make sure my tails don't get caught on anything, it'll hurt if they do." Kaga warned her. St Louis nodded with understanding, then she slowly walked around while looking over Kaga's body through the kimono she was wearing, gauging her size, general build, as well as exactly where the kitsune's tails originated on her body. Then she snapped her fingers as she got an idea for what to have her wear.
"I've got just the thing! Wait here a sec." St Louis then disappeared into her walk in wardrobe, after a few minutes of rummaging around, the cruiser emerged from the wardrobe with her prize: A dark blue, cocktail dress. "This is backless, so your tails won't be obstructed, want to try it on?" St Louis suggested, handing it to Kaga. The fox woman looked over the dress, secretly impressed that the bluenette woman had already found something fitting her conditions, she looked up to thank her, but St Louis had already vanished.
Kaga was about to call her name, when she saw her shadow behind a room divider. It turned out she had gone to put on her own dress. She shrugged and started to get changed herself, slipping on the dress. It was surprisingly comfortable, her breasts were well supported by the dress, the rest of it hugged her curves excellently, and most importantly; her tails were not constrained by it thanks to its backless design.
"This is... pretty nice actually." Kaga thought, admiring herself in the mirror. She was just smoothing out her tails as St Louis stepped out from behind the room divider in her own silver cocktail dress. When she saw Kaga in her blue dress, a big grin formed on her face, and her eyes sparkled in joy.
"Oh its even better than I imagined!" The cruiser beamed happily, putting an arm around the fox woman's shoulders. "You're so beautiful, dignified and alluring all at once in that dress Kaga. Its perfect." She added with a giggle. Kaga blushed, hugging herself shyly, but giving a small smile of her own.
"Thank you, but uh...why are YOU wearing one?" She asked curiously. St Louis looked down at herself for a moment, then looked back at Kaga with a shrug, but still smiled.
"Well partly because I just like wearing this dress, but mainly because you seemed a little nervous if you don't mind me saying, I didn't want you feeling awkward and alone wearing that." St Louis explained.
"I uh...I appreciate that, thank you St Louis."
"Please, call me Lou."
"Of course...Lou."
The cruiser gave Kaga another head pat and Kaga once again purred feeling her head be stroked. Feeling emboldened by their new bond, the kitsune pulled St Louis into a hug, wrapping the two of them in her now vibrating tails. The cruiser was surprised by Kaga's sudden affection, but she wasn't complaining, cuddling her back as they both nuzzled each other.
Glad to have someone else to call a sister.