"And you are sure Akagi is keeping herself out of trouble? Good, thank you for telling me Amagi. If the situation changes, then please call me as soon as possible. I'll let you get back to work." John then finished his call with the kitsune and put down the phone on his desk.
The man had just received his weekly report from Amagi. The situation at the outpost was quiet, the KANSEN who were sent there for eight months had so far discovered no Siren or META activity. They were following the orders of the local commander and Akagi was keeping herself out of trouble. This relaxed John, while at first he was regretting his choice of sending Akagi away from the Azur Lane, the aircraft carrier was following what orders she was given and was towing the line.
John hoped it stayed that way...
Now knowing that he didn't have to worry about Amagi's group for the time being, John started his paperwork. Looking at the small pile he had on his desk, the man knew that it wouldn't take him long to complete it. The man then looked towards Shoukaku, the white-crane had already managed to complete her set of documents. Shoukaku's pile was even smaller than his.
John also noticed that his wife seemed happier this morning, Shoukaku had a smile on her face and was humming a tune as she was putting together her completed documents. The man suspected that his recent talk with their daughter had managed to improve her mood.
Once the white-crane had put her documents together, she then looked at her husband, "I'm all finished, John. Do you need any help? Do you want anything?" Shoukaku asked her husband if their was anything she could do to help. "I'm good, Shoukaku. It won't take me long to get through this. If you don't mind, could you make me some tea, please?" John replied that he didn't need help and kindly asked his wife to make him some tea.
The white-crane happily replied that she would and began to brew the man said hot beverage. One Shoukaku finished brewing the tea, she put it next to him and then sat down on the couch. A few minutes passed until a knock was heard at the doors of the office, Shoukaku got up and answered it. When the white-crane opened up the doors she was met with the sight of Prinz Eugen standing in front of her.
"Hello, Prinz Eugen. It's not often that we see you up here. Is something wrong? Do you need to see John?" The crane asked the cruiser if she needed to speak to her husband. It wasn't often that Prinz Eugen came to the office, the only times the Iron Blood cruiser came to the HQ was to inform John that the Iron Blood was running low on alcohol.
"No Shoukaku, it's not the commander that I need to see. I came here to see you." The cruiser told the white-crane that it was her that she needed to see. "Well, that's a surprise. I didn't expect you came here to see me. What do you need to talk about?" Shoukaku asked Eugen what she needed to speak about.
"Actually, I came here on behalf of someone else. It's not me personally who wants to talk to you. It's Graf Zeppelin, she wants to talk to you at the Iron Blood HQ." The cruiser explained to the white-crane why she was here.
"Graf Zeppelin? Why does she want to see me? Did she say why she wanted to see me, Eugen?" Prinz Eugen shook her head at Shoukaku's question, "No, she didn't say why. All Graf said was that she wanted to see you while we were having a few beers. Didn't say anything else."
Shoukaku was really puzzled now, the two aircraft carriers hardly ever spoke to one another. Even when the two did speak, it wasn't much more than a casual greeting and goodbye. Both the white-crane and the Iron Blood aircraft carrier didn't have much of a reason to speak to each other.
Shoukaku wanted to find out why Graf Zeppelin wanted to talk to her. The white-crane informed her husband that she would be heading to the Iron Blood HQ and wouldn't be gone to long. John replied that he would see her later and carried on with his paperwork. Prinz Eugen and Shoukaku then left the HQ and headed towards the HQ of the Iron Blood.
When the two arrived at the Iron Blood HQ the first thing they did was head towards the bar. When the two arrived at the bar both Shoukaku and Prinz Eugen could see Graf Zeppelin sitting alone in a corner of the bar, the aircraft carrier was surrounded by quite a number of empty beer mugs. Graf Zeppelin had downed a lot of alcohol and had another mug in her hand ready to go, she didn't look like stopping any time soon.
The Iron Blood cruiser and the white-crane walked towards Graf Zeppelin, as the two got closer, Shoukaku could smell the alcohol reeking off of the aircraft carrier. The smell almost made her feel light headed. Prinz Eugen wasn't affected as she was known to be a heavy drinker herself.
When Graf Zeppelin noticed that others had arrived she grunted before speaking, "Eugen...why have you brought...the commander's wife here?" the aircraft carrier asked her colleague in a slurred speech, she was clearly on the verge of being absolutely hammered.
"You asked me to bring her here. Or, don't you remember?" Eugen asked the intoxicated aircraft carrier. Graf Zeppelin took a few seconds to think, she then managed to remember through her drunken haze, "Oh yeah...I did...right." was all the aircraft carrier could slur out.
Prinz Eugen then left and Shoukaku sat down on a chair as close to Graf Zeppelin as she could without trying to catch the smell of alcohol too much. The Iron Blood aircraft carrier carried on drinking while Shoukaku just looked at her and patiently waited for Graf Zeppelin to speak. The aircraft carrier took one huge swig before she decided to speak to Shoukaku, "You know...I really hate you sometimes...I really do."
This caught the white-crane off guard, "Huh?! What did you just say, Graf Zeppelin?!" Shoukaku wasn't sure that she heard the Iron Blood aircraft carrier correctly. Graf Zeppelin then looked towards Shoukaku, "You heard me...I said I hate you! Do you want me to say it again?!" even though Graf Zeppelin slurred out her words, she said them with a lot of aggression behind them.
"What?! Why?! What have I ever done to you?!" Shoukaku couldn't understand why the aircraft carrier was being so hostile towards her, the white-crane had never done anything which hurt or offended Graf Zeppelin in anyway.
Graf Zeppelin took another swig from her mug then slammed it down on the table, "I'll tell you what you have done! You married the commander! And had a child with him! Do you know how much that hurt?! It hurt me so much!" the aircraft carrier through her slurred speech explained to Shoukaku what she had done to her.
The white-crane was completely stunned by what Graf Zeppelin had said, this was so unexpected. The Iron Blood aircraft carrier was one of the last KANSEN at the Azur Lane that Shoukaku expected was hurt by her marriage to John and having a daughter with the man.
Graf Zeppelin however, wasn't done. She had plenty more to say to the white-crane, "You know, before I met the commander, I hated everything. I hated existing, I hated humans, I hated my fellow KANSEN. I wanted to burn everything to the ground. But, then I met the commander. He gave me a reason to fight. I still didn't care what happened to humanity, or anyone else. But, he gave me a reason to exist. He showed me I was worth something, I wanted to fight for him!" the Iron Blood aircraft carrier was laying out all her feelings to Shoukaku regarding her husband.
Shoukaku was completely speechless, she had no idea her fellow KANSEN cared so much for John. The white-crane was about to interrupt Graf Zeppelin's tirade, but the Iron Blood aircraft carrier began to look at Shoukaku with complete malice, "Then, just as I thought we were beginning to bond...you came along. You ruined everything! You took the man who made me value myself away from me! Now look at you...you walk around the base like you own it! I've seen you clinging to the commander, showing him off like he is a prize that you have won! The look on your face when I see you with him...it makes me want to wipe it off!"
Shoukaku felt pity towards the Iron Blood aircraft carrier despite her admission of wanting to wipe her smile of her face whenever she was with John. "Graf Zeppelin, I'm sorry you feel that way. I had no idea you cared so much about John. And I'm sorry for acting the way I do around him, I don't mean to rub it into your face. John just makes me so happy, I love him so much. I can't help the way I feel about him." The white-crane tried explaining to Graf Zeppelin why she acted the way she did with her husband whenever she was seen with him. Shoukaku didn't realise that Graf Zeppelin was so offended by it, she wanted to smooth things over with her.
Graf Zeppelin however, didn't want to listen to the white-crane. The Iron Blood aircraft carrier took another swig of her drink before saying something which quickly turned Shoukaku's pity to anger, "Don't try and butter me up, Shoukaku. I don't want to hear your apologies. You know, when I heard that Taihou almost destroyed you...I wish she succeeded!" A round of gasps was heard around the bar when Graf Zeppelin made her admission to the white-crane.
"Excuse me?! You wished Taihou succeeded?! How can you say that?! Do you have any idea how I felt?! I was scared! I was scared that John would never see me again! That Zuikaku would never see me again! That Tsubaki would never see me again! And you wished Taihou destroyed me?! You have no idea what that would have done to them! How dare you say that!" Shoukaku was beyond livid with Graf Zeppelin's hurtful words towards her.
The white-crane knew that if Taihou destroyed her, there would have been severe consequences for it...
Zuikaku would have been devastated...
Tsubaki would have lost her mother and would have to grow up without her...
And John...he would have returned to that dark place that he went to when he lost Yorktown. Only this time, Shoukaku believed that he would never come back from it...
The white-crane knew that her destruction would have completely destroyed her loved ones.
Graf Zeppelin however, didn't seem to care, "So? I'm sure they would manage fine without you. Especially the commander. Let me tell you a little secret, Shoukaku. I'm not the only one who cares so much about him, plenty of other shipgirls do as well. And many think the same as me, I'm the only one who's willing to admit it. So trust me, if you were gone, there would be many KANSEN who would jump at the chance to be with him. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if another shipgirl tried to destroyed you. Before you accuse me of anything, I'll promise you this. I won't try anything. But, if I were you, I would watch your back!"
Graf Zeppelin's words shook Shoukaku to her core. Looking around, Shoukaku could see several KANSEN looking at her with their eyes narrowed at her. Several other KANSEN couldn't look the white-crane in the eye, they were ashamed to admit it. But, Graf Zeppelin was right.
"Just how many love John?! And, they want me destroyed?! This...this is too much! Who can I trust?!" Shoukaku didn't feel safe being at the Iron Blood HQ now. The white-crane decided it was best to leave the bar and quickly. As she left, Shoukaku could still feel other KANSEN staring a hole in her back, many without doubt were wishing the worst for her.
Once outside the Iron Blood HQ, the white-crane took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Graf Zeppelin's drunken admission had left the white-crane shaken. Shoukaku now knew she was carrying a target on her back and she didn't have many allies, she knew she only had a small handful of KANSEN she could completely trust. Her sister and Zuikaku META were the obvious candidates, possibly Queen Elizabeth and Belfast as well. But, beyond that, Shoukaku didn't know who she could trust.
Enemies were possibly all around her, plotting her demise. Shoukaku didn't want to involve John this time, she had to find out who was looking to destroy her without getting her husband involved. The white-crane didn't want her husband and daughter to be caught in the potential crossfire. If John got killed trying to protect her, then the Azur Lane would definitely fall to the Sirens and the META's.
Shoukaku had to deal with this herself, she had to find out who else she could trust. The white-crane had to find out who were truly her allies. With this in mind, Shoukaku decided to look for her sister and Zuikaku META to begin a plan to uncover who was looking to do her harm.
As the white-crane walked away from the Iron Blood HQ, a KANSEN was glaring at her retreating form, "You will pay! You will pay!" were the KANSEN's thoughts while looking at the white-crane while she walking away. Once the white-crane had left her sight, the KANSEN decided to disappear to begin her own plan to destroy the white-crane...