In the medical bay, away from everyone else was Akagi. The kitsune was recovering from her fight with Zuikaku META. The META crane had severely damaged the kitsune in their battle. In the room alongside Akagi were her sisters, Amagi and Kaga. Outside the room, several KANSEN were keeping watch on the aircraft carrier in case she tried to destroy either Shoukaku or Taihou. John had given these KANSEN orders that if Akagi tried to destroy either the white-crane or the phoenix, then they were to eliminate her on the spot. Akagi was well aware of this, Amagi was the one who informed her sister when she had arrived at the medical bay to see her. The injured kitsune became terrified upon hearing this news. She knew that several KANSEN would love to take her out, and in her condition, it would be very difficult to defend herself.

Akagi, however, was even more terrified of John when she knew he would find out the truth that she was behind everything that had happened to Shoukaku and Taihou. The aircraft carrier knew it was only a matter of time before Taihou woke up and told him everything. That was if she wasn't awake now and was telling the commander everything this second. Akagi wanted to run. She wanted to get as far away from the Azur Lane as she could to escape the wrath of the commander. But in her current state, she wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Also, Amagi wouldn't let her leave her sight either, even if she was capable of fleeing. Amagi wanted the truth from Akagi about what happened and why she was in this sorry state, but the kitsune was afraid of telling her sister. As much as Amagi loved Akagi even she wouldn't let her get away with all of this if she discovered what happened. Her sister would inform the commander, and then it would be all over for her.

"Somebody...Anybody...please help Akagi!" The kitsune was frightened by what would be her fate and was praying for anybody to save her. Amagi could see her sister looked like a deer in a headlights which was unheard of from her, "Akagi, what is wrong? Why do you look so afraid? What aren't you telling me?" Amagi tried asking her sister what was wrong but didn't receive a reply. The aircraft carrier just looked forward, with fear clearly written on her face. "Isn't it obvious, sister?! It's because of that META! Look at what she's done to her!" Kaga spoke up. She believed that it was because of her clash with Zuikaku META was why Akagi was looking this uncharacteristically frightened right now. "No, that can't be right. If it was simply because of Akagi's fight with Zuikaku META, then why has the commander ordered Akagi to be watched all of the time? And why has he given the order to destroy her if she tries to harm either Shoukaku or Taihou? Is she involved in some way? Is that why Akagi is afraid... she is afraid of being found out?" Amagi was starting to paint a grim picture of the situation in her mind.

The evidence and reasons were starting to stack up against Akagi. It did not look good for the kitsune. Amagi didn't want to believe her sister had her hand in what happened to Shoukaku and Taihou, but she knew Akagi was capable of terrible things. Amagi couldn't put it past Akagi that she orchestrated Taihou attacking and nearly sinking Shoukaku. "Excuse me, Kaga, Akagi. I'm just heading outside for a moment, I won't be too long." Amagi needed space to piece together everything. She also wanted to talk to John and ask him for his thoughts on the situation. Kaga acknowledged her sister with an "Okay." But Akagi only slowly nodded to show she heard what her sister said. Amagi left the room and walked past the KANSEN keep watch on her sister towards the room that Shoukaku was in. The battleship walked around the medical bay until she arrived at the room of the white-crane. Amagi could see that the door was open, so she looked inside. Looking inside the kitsune could see John with his daughter sitting on his lap, sitting next to him was Shoukaku's sister, Zuikaku. In the bed was Shoukaku herself, the white-crane was talking to John, and Zuikaku was listening intently to what was being said between the pair.

Tsubaki, however, noticed someone had shown up and called out to the battleship, "Hello Miss Amagi." The little girl said to the kitsune as Amagi was looking into the room. Tsubaki calling out to Amagi drew everyone's attention, and they all looked towards the entrance where they could see the battleship. Amagi felt the eyes of everyone on her and began to cough. This did worry everyone else. While John, Shoukaku, and Zuikaku were aware of how damaged Amagi's wisdom cube was, the half-KANSEN in the room only thought that the battleship was ill. "Are you okay, miss Amagi?" the little girl asked, sounding concerned. "I'm alright, little one. This cough is nothing to worry about. You do not need to be concerned." Amagi replied to the half-KANSEN after she finished coughing. John gave Amagi a moment to make sure she was alright before he decided to ask Amagi why she was here, "Why are you here, Amagi? Has something happened? Or have you come to see either Shoukaku or Zuikaku?" John asked the battleship if anything happened or if she wanted to see either of the cranes.

"No commander. I've come to see you, I need to talk to you in private. Can you come with me? I promise that this won't take too long." Amagi replied to John that she wants to see him and talk to him in private. John had a feeling that she wanted to talk about her sister. The man looked at Shoukaku, "It's okay John, you had best speak to her. Don't worry about me, I will be fine." The white-crane told her husband that he didn't need to worry about her. Zuikaku was still here, and she would keep an eye on her. John then looked at Zuikaku, and she nodded to show that she agreed with her sister. Seeing both cranes had no problem with him talking to the battleship in private, John then picked up Tsubaki and placed her on her aunts lap, "Where are you and Miss Amagi going papa? Are you both going away?" the half-KANSEN asked her father. Zuikaku was the one who answered her niece's question when she was on her lap, "No Tsubaki, they are just going to talk. They won't be long, you stay here with me and your mother, okay?" Zuikaku eased whatever worries that the little girl had about where her father and the battleship were going.

Seeing that Shoukaku and Tsubaki were in good hands, the man left the room to join the battleship. The two walked outside the building so they could talk in private. Once outside, Amagi had a quick look around to make sure no other KANSEN would be able to listen in on their conversation. Once she was satisfied no one else would be listening in Amagi then began explaining to John why she brought him out here, "My apologies for dragging you away from your family, commander. But I need to talk to you, it's about Akagi." Amagi told the man she wanted to speak to him about her sister. John simply sighed when Amagi told him why she wanted to talk to him out of earshot of Shoukaku, Zuikaku, and Tsubaki, "I should have guessed you wanted to talk about Akagi. What is it you want to tell me? Has Akagi said anything?" John wanted to know if Akagi had said anything to the battleship regarding the current situation.

Amagi shook her head and replied, "No, commander. Akagi hasn't said anything to me. What I want to know is why you have given the order to those watching her to destroy her if she tries to harm either Shoukaku or Taihou? I want your honest opinion. Do you really think she is responsible for all of this?" The battleship wanted the opinion of her commander. "To be honest, Amagi, as much as I don't want to admit it, I believe she is. Zuikaku META had plenty of chances to destroy Taihou if she wanted, but she hasn't. Zuikaku META is looking for someone. If she destroyed anyone, then she knows she would be destroyed herself. She would never be able to find who she is looking for, that's why she also didn't destroy Akagi. What I think is Akagi wanted to destroy Taihou so no one would discover the truth, but until Taihou wakes up, we won't know what happened. That is my honest opinion, Amagi." John gave his opinion to the battleship.

Amagi wanted to know who it was that Zuikaku META was looking for but decided it was best to ask the META crane herself another time when the truth had been revealed. It did however make Amagi understand why the META didn't destroy either the phoenix or her sister when she had the chance, she certainly had plenty of chances to destroy either and would have been well within her right to destroy Taihou after she attacked her sister. Amagi then decided to ask what would happen to Akagi if it was true she was behind all of this, "And what will happen to my sister if she is behind all of this, commander? What will you do to her?" Amagi asked John. "There's only one thing that can happen, Amagi. I hoped I would never have to do this, I have never had to do it before. But if Akagi is the reason Taihou nearly destroyed Shoukaku...then I'm sorry to say this, but she will need to be dismantled. It gives me no pleasure in saying that, but that is what's going to happen. Until Taihou wakes up however I'm not jumping to conclusions, you just better hope Akagi had nothing to do with this, Amagi" John told the battleship what would happen if she was the reason for all of this happening, the man didn't want to have to dismantle one of his most powerful aircraft carriers but Akagi couldn't escape unpunished if she was the reason Shoukaku was nearly sunk.

Amagi felt her heart go into her throat when John told her what would happen to Akagi if she was responsible for Shoukaku nearly dying. The battleship was praying that her sister had nothing to do with this, but until Taihou was awake, John was holding back from punishing her. He certainly wouldn't hold back if it was true that Akagi had manipulated Taihou to kill his wife. "Akagi, I hope and pray you don't have your hand in this." Amagi thought to herself. She didn't want to think about losing one of her sisters. Amagi thanked John for his honest opinion, then walked back inside to join Akagi and Kaga. John could tell the battleship was dreading the idea of Akagi being dismantled. He himself wasn't looking forward to potentially having to do it. He, too, hoped Akagi was innocent, but the evidence wasn't in her favour. Only Taihou could reveal the truth, and she wasn't awake yet. Deciding not to dwell on that for the moment John decided to return to his family.

When Amagi returned to her sisters room, she could see Akagi still had a deer in a headlights look on her face, Kaga just looked annoyed. The white-haired kitsune noticed the battleship had returned, "It's good to see you are back, sister. Akagi is still the same. Damn that META! I can't forgive her for this! I swear she will pay for this!" Kaga was swearing revenge against Zuikaku META for nearly destroying Akagi. Kaga wanted payback and decided to look for the META crane. She got up from where she was sitting and about to leave the room, but Amagi stopped her, "Kaga, wait! I know you are angry, but you must control yourself right now! This situation is more complicated than you think!" Amagi tried to get her sister to calm down.

"What do you mean it's more complicated than I think?! Look at what she has done to Akagi! I've never seen her this frightened before! And you are telling me to control myself?! Why are you defending her, sister?!" Kaga wanted to know why Amagi wasn't going to let her look for revenge. "Kaga, believe me when I say this if you try to get revenge now, it will just make things worse. We need to wait until Taihou wakes up. Until then, please don't go looking for a fight." Amagi tried to reason with Kaga to not look for a fight with Zuikaku META. Kaga felt angry at Amagi for stopping her. The white-haired kitsune didn't understand how Taihou was involved in all of this and why she needed the armoured carrier to be awake before she could act. "Why sister? Why do we have to wait for Taihou to wake up?" Kaga was desperate to know the phoenix's role in all of this.

"Kaga, I can't tell you right now. Just please trust me and wait. That is all I ask." The battleship pleaded with Kaga to bide her time and wait. She couldn't act irrationally right now. The white-haired kitsune could sense the desperation in her sisters voice, and in the end, she reluctantly decided to listen to Amagi. Kaga, however, warned her sister that she wouldn't wait forever. If Taihou didn't wake up soon, she would act no matter what the consequences were for her. Amagi breathed a sigh of relief that Kaga stood down for now, "Please Taihou, wake up soon." Amagi thought to herself. The kitsune wanted this mess to be over, and for that, she needed Taihou to be conscious. The phoenix was the one who held her sisters fate in her hands...

Early next morning, as the sun was rising above the sea, a certain armoured carrier was waking from her slumber. The KANSEN began to remember her fight with the META ship she had encountered just before she could destroy the white-crane, Shoukaku. She began to remember the pain she had felt when the META's bombers hit her. She began to remember the fear she felt of sinking before she blacked out. The armoured carrier stirred more and more as more memories returned to her. Eventually, after a few minutes, the KANSEN opened her eyes, and her red irises looked around to see where she was. "Where am I? How did Taihou get here?" The KANSEN was confused about where she was and how she got here. She was sure she had met her demise at the hands of Zuikaku META. Taihou was awake, and she wanted answers. A sound of someone running drew Taihou's attention, but before she could call out to whoever it was, they were gone. The phoenix wanted to move, but her body was in incredible pain. The META had done a huge number on her. In her condition, all the armoured carrier could do was wait until someone arrived. She just hoped it was sooner rather than later...

John was asleep, but the sound of his phone woke the man up from his slumber, "Dammit! Who is calling me this early in the morning?" he thought as he grabbed his phone. Looking at the caller ID, John could see it was Vestal, realising it could be about Shoukaku. The man answered it, "Morning Vestal, what's up?" he asked in a groggy voice. He still wasn't fully awake yet. The words the KANSEN replied to him, however, caused the man to instantly wake up, "Commander, I apologise for waking you up so early, but I've got something very important to tell you." Vestal told him.

John didn't need a further explanation when Vestal told him why she woke him up so early.

"Taihou is awake..."