Enterprise and Massachusetts blinked into existence on the docks of the joint base. The fact that there were still docks was a good sign, they thought.

They scanned their surroundings in concern. Outside of the unusual calm, in this case due to the absence of most of the inhabitants, nothing seemed out of place.

The two shared a concerned glance and took off, heading where they hoped to find the Commander. They didn't need to go too far. They found him on the way to the command room's underground bunker, surrounded by a handful of Kansen.

Needless to say, someone had had to remain behind with him. Moving out in force was fine and all, but there's no way they could leave the Commander and the base without protection. With the latest development, it proved to be the right call.

"You guys, thank God you are all right; we were worried sick," Hornet said, moving to meet her sister, only to stop in her tracks upon realizing that there was no one else with them.

Ryan stepped forward as they approached. "Enterprise, Massachusetts, report. Why is it just the two of you?"

"Could it be…" Belfast trailed off with growing concern.

"No, you can rest assured, the situation at the Sanctuary is under control... ugly, sure, but manageable." Enterprise reassured them before they could get the wrong idea. "We rushed here as soon as we heard the news of the attacks, but it seems there's nothing to worry about."

"What, were you expecting to find the base leveled to the ground or something?" Hornet quipped.

Enterprise smiled wryly in response. Joke or not, that's exactly what they were afraid of.

"We just got the news too," said South Dakota. "Not gonna lie, it came this close to that."

"What do you mean?" Asked Massachusetts.

"As you feared, we've also received a visit from the Sirens while you were away," Ryan explained. "Luckily, they only showed up to drop a few bombs on us, just like they did everywhere else around the world. It was quite a scare, but we've managed to intercept them all thanks to TB. She interfaced herself with the base's defense system and shot them down before they could cause any damage."

"So, the Sanctuary is the only one to have received such a massive onslaught," Enterprise mused.

"Indeed, we were lucky they didn't come at us in force; otherwise, we wouldn't have made it," Belfast said. "They simply kept outside the range of our detection system and launched their attack from there, then they disappeared into thin air."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Enterprise knew what her next question was going to be, and she was already dreading the answer. She gulped and got ready for the gut punch.

"Commander, how's the situation around the world?"

Ryan looked at her and pursed his lips. "It's… not pretty."

A few hours later, after a couple more trips to the Sanctuary and back that left Massachusetts completely worn out, things seemed to have calmed down. The fleet had returned, their Japanese guests were settling into their accommodations, and the wounded were being taken care of at the hospital. Some of the senior Kansen of the Sakura Empire, as anticipated, remained behind to handle things with their compatriots, which included reporting to their superiors and securing the Sanctuary, or at least, what was left of it.

After such a tough battle and a hard-earned victory, what usually followed was some sort of celebration, but unsurprisingly, no one was in the mood for that, especially knowing what the situation was.

"Not pretty is an understatement," Enterprise internally grimaced as she tried to come to terms with what she was hearing.

Sitting at the table inside the conference room, surrounded by the faction representatives, she was listening to the Commander's speech in silence. Although it wasn't exactly a speech, it was more like a list of things that went to shit, and the mood inside the room grew increasingly heavy as he read through it. The fact that all the flagships were connected via video to take part in the talks was a testament to the gravity of the situation.

All the major ports and outposts in the alliance had been targeted by a ballistic attack similar to the one that hit the base. The good news was that those with a suitable defense system, the most important ones, had managed to prevent the worst from happening and come out mostly unscathed. For those who were found lacking, though… let's just say that the losses were still being counted.

But that wasn't the worst part. While the coordinated strikes on the various bases had different outcomes depending on the circumstances, there was another thing that yielded the same result everywhere. It was the attacks on the governmental offices and the private residences of the world leaders.

In short, not just the leaders of the major factions but also their representatives in the alliance were gone. The location of the summit had been leaked, and right as the brass were deliberating, the attack happened. Chairwoman Tamayo was dead, along with her peers in the Azur Lane council; the alliance had just lost every single person responsible for all the interpersonal relationships between the factions.

"How did this happen…" Nagato muttered amidst the silence that permeated the room; the loss of Chairwoman Tamayo hit her particularly hard, not just on a professional level. She was the only flagship attending the meeting in person, for obvious reasons.

"Comrade Commander, you'll have to forgive us, but this will only delay the dispatching of our delegation to the joint base, if not prevent us from deploying at all," said Sovetsky Soyuz. The Northern Parliament faction leader was attending the meeting remotely, like the rest of the flagships, but as opposed to them, the northern faction didn't have a representative at the joint base. Delays and other impediments, mostly of Siren origin, had caused the Northern Parliament to be among the last to send a fleet.

Yat Sen and Richelieu nodded gravely, their faces appearing next to Soyuz's and those of the other flagships on the various displays in the room. The Dragon Empery and the Iris Orthodoxy were in the same situation.

"No, I understand; right now, we all have too much on our hands. The fate of the alliance is hanging by a thread; if I have to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone decided to recall their subordinates," Ryan grimaced. The words coming out of his mouth were as heavy as boulders.

The clamor he caused was almost deafening as the shipgirls voiced their objections.

"Have you lost your mind, Commander?!"

"We wouldn't go as far!"

"Such preposterous insinuation!"

"If you think we aren't going to do our damndest to keep this alliance afloat after everything we've been through, you are sorely mistaken, servant!" Queen Elizabeth spoke up sternly.

"This isn't like the first time, child. We are determined to see this through to the very end," Friedrich der Große stated, having taken up the role of Iron Blood flagship as a temporary arrangement.

"Indeed, we've lost too much to give it up at this point, Commandant," Richelieu concurred.

For a second, Ryan found himself at a loss for words. He tried to hide the relief that came over him, thinking of downplaying his previous statement as a joke, but he was too busy trying to do his best to keep his composure as he felt a wave of emotion hit him.

Letting out a self-deprecating sigh, he gathered his resolve.

"Forgive my lack of faith, everyone," he declared, meeting the gaze of the women in the room with a determined smile of his own. "Shall we begin?"

After receiving everyone's acknowledgement, he turned toward TB; his not-so-digital assistant had been standing by his side in silence all the while, feeling out of place with the gloomy atmosphere, but now she was ready to do her part, almost jumping in excitement at being called upon.

"TB, what can you tell us about those missiles? Do you think we can expect another surprise attack of this magnitude?" He asked her.

"The answer is no, Commander," TB answered confidently, everyone already paying attention. "The weapons employed by the Original Sirens come straight from the seed's stocks. Those missiles have been produced and stored away by my mother as a way to further test humanity in this timeline; of course, she ended up never having the chance to use them."

"Does that mean... you know how many they have left?"

"Correct," TB answered. "By confronting the reports from the various bases targeted I've made a rough estimate of the number of warheads employed, and after confronting it with the data I was given, I can safely say that they've kept a handful, probably as a reserve, but not nearly enough for an attack of similar scale."

Everyone felt relief at her words, but most of the Kansen still had plenty of doubts in their minds.

"TB, if you knew about those weapons, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Enterprise asked aloud, her tone steady, with the barest hint of accusation.

Silence fell over the room as everyone locked their eyes on TB. For the first time in her fairly short life, the poor AI felt self-conscious as she shrank where she stood.

"Because… mother was supposed to disarm them," TB replied gravely. "Something happened after she sent me here with Purifier, something that I might have just figured out…"

"She's fallen under their control, just like Observer," Ryan concluded for her. The thing that stood out the most in the reports he had received was the humanoid working together with the Original Sirens.

At least, thanks to that, Ryan had found an answer to his previous doubts. No wonder the Sirens were so efficient in their approach; despite their short stay in this world, they'd managed to hit this hard because they had access to the information held by Zero. They knew that humanity kept their biggest stash of Wisdom Cubes in the Basilica, they probably knew what they were using the Sacred Sakura for, and of course, they knew where humanity's most important leaders lived.

And they didn't fail to take advantage of that information.

"We were careless," Musashi grimaced. "We assumed the Original Sirens simply erased Zero and the others to take control of the seed, and we lowered our guard."

"From now on, we are going to have to act while taking into consideration that they have all the information they need at their disposal," Peter Strasser added.

"I don't think it'll be necessary," TB said. Her voice held a bit of hesitation, as she felt responsible for such an oversight, but at the same time, she had something that could prove useful.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," TB started. "They knew the location of the leaders of humanity, they knew where the council was being held, and they knew the most important outposts to attack. They went all out with this move, but in the end, not all the warheads managed to land on their targets. If their intention was to cripple humanity, they didn't entirely succeed."

Everyone fell silent as they tried to piece things together. Indeed, while the bombardments on governmental targets did succeed, some of the bases came out unscathed from the attacks. Of course, it was all thanks to their security systems and other precautions, but that's exactly what didn't add up; if the Sirens knew about those, why would they waste half their arsenal on those targets?

The answer was quite simple.

"They didn't actually know everything…" Ryan mused, coming to the same conclusion as everyone else.

TB nodded in confirmation as realization dawned on them. "This is just my speculation, but before sending me away, mother was supposed to erase all the sensible data she had gathered to prevent the Sirens from putting their hands on it. I have reason to believe that she did succeed before succumbing to them, even if only partially."

"Now that I think about it, Zero should have been aware of both the ASD and the energy shield, and yet during the attack, the Original Sirens seemed to have taken precautions only against the latter," Nagato spoke up in realization. "They acted like they knew nothing about the ASD system; it worked on them twice, and they had no way to respond to it."

A murmur of voices spread around the room as the flagships pondered among themselves.

"That does work in our favor," Soyuz said.

"It doesn't change the fact that we'll have to watch our every move from now on," Musashi commented.

"Yeah, and who's to say that Zero didn't leave behind some fake data on purpose to fool them?" King George V supplied.

"I wouldn't put it past her," Enterprise said.

"If that's the case, things will only get more confusing," Peter Strasser stated.

"If only we had a way to know how much of what they have is actual sensible data and how is fabricated," Yat Sen said, making everyone pause in thought.

They all knew how important information warfare was; the latest events were irrefutable proof of that. Information was what got them into this mess, but it was also what made the situation slightly less shitty.

"Actually, we might have," Ryan interjected. "Devil's returned with Observer's Cube."

Everyone turned to him; those who didn't know about it raised their eyebrows at him.

When Yorktown told him about Observer's presence at the Sanctuary, he was rather bummed that she had managed to escape. If they had succeeded in apprehending her, they could have gotten plenty of valuable information.

Imagine his surprise when Devil had come up to him holding the aforementioned Elite's Cube in her hands.

Without wasting time, he had handed it over to Aoste and Anzeel, who immediately got down to work. They wanted to see if they could reverse the hacking that the Original Sirens had enacted on her program, which was preventing the Kansen from interfacing with her Cube. If they succeeded, they'd be able to communicate with her.

"Finally, some good news!" Littorio proclaimed. "Exactly what we needed to lift our spirits."

"Let's say the doctors succeed; do you think she'll cooperate?" Vittorio Veneto inquired from the display behind her sister's seat.

"If she refuses, we could have Purifier try to convince her. If that doesn't work either, we'll have to coerce her," Peter Strasser commented.

"I'm sure she will; Observer can be rather petty," said TB. "She'll jump at the chance to get back at the Original Sirens for what they did to her."

"As soon as the doctors are done, I'll make sure to send word of any developments," Ryan said. "Meanwhile, shall we move onto the next topic?"

After receiving everyone's acknowledgement, he continued, "Initially, I believed that the attack on the Sanctuary was just a diversion carried out by the Sirens to go after the world leaders, all as a means to cripple our response against them, but now, I'm not so sure about that anymore," he said, turning to look toward Nagato. "Thanks to the reports that Nagato has kindly offered us, it's safe to assume that the Sirens had another goal in mind, outside of sending our chain of command into disarray: to destroy the Sacred Sakura Tree."

His words seemed to raise a couple of eyebrows.

"As we know, Shinano recently managed to find a connection with the shipboys' world through the tree," Ryan continued. "We already knew that these Sirens come from that very same world, and it's safe to assume that they are aware of our attempts to interact with it; the fact that they are so hell-bent on robbing us of our only means to do so, going as far as to deploy an entire armada to take it down, is proof of that. In my opinion, it's because they know what would happen if the forces of two worlds teamed up against them. Keeping that in consideration and after seeing how rewarding the cooperation with the shipboys has been, I say we double down on it."

"Agreed," Queen Elizabeth spoke up as soon as he finished. "The next planetary alignment is one month away, correct? It should be plenty of time to make preparations."

If anyone noticed Elizabeth's unusual eagerness, they didn't show it; at any rate, everyone seemed to agree as well.

"What's the plan, Commander?" Enterprise inquired.

"We make the portal ourselves. We wait for the right time, and then we send the shipboys and a small delegation on the other side to enlist their help," Ryan explained.

"That is perfectly reasonable, but I'm more interested in what we are going to do in the meantime," Friedrich intervened, drawing everyone's attention. "With the situation being what it is, chaos is bound to ensue among the population."

"Indeed, I'm already dreading the moment I leave this room to deal with the uproar," Veneto said, her feeling shared by many of those present.

Ryan visibly winced at that; he really didn't envy the flagships. After the latest events, there was a veritable power vacuum in the current political scene; panic and disorder were bound to spread, giving way for anarchy, power plays, and the rise of more extremist political parties. The silver lining was that the chain of command wasn't completely broken, but it also meant that it was the flagships' turn to step up and keep things going, at least until the vacuum was filled.

"As we've already stated, we'll do our best to keep the alliance afloat, but that means we'll be too busy to assist you, servant," Queen Elizabeth said, eyeing him from the side. "You'll be alone; sure, you'll have our subjects lending you their assistance, but you won't receive any more direct help from us."

Ryan let out a wry smile as the representatives turned to look at him expectantly. The bad news was that the alliance headquarters had also been attacked and suffered the same fate as many other targets, which meant only one thing—the base's source of funds was now cut off; yes, they were, for all intents and purposes, broke.

That simple thought filled him with dread. He doubted there were any people left with higher authority than him in the chain of command of the alliance at the moment, which meant that there was no one he could ask for help. There was the option of panhandling Admiral Nimitz and other high-ranking officers of his acquaintance, but he wagered they were facing the same issue.

Luckily, he was prepared for such an eventuality.

"Regarding that, I've already drawn up an action plan," he declared, making everyone in the room perk up in curiosity. "I only told Admiral Nimitz about this. He thought I was crazy, but in the end, he gave me his approval."

"Which is?"

"We are going rogue."

It took Ryan a while to bring order back into the room, as his admittedly misguiding words caused a veritable uproar from the Kansen. Someone wanted to object, refuting his preposterous idea, but the more they thought about it, the more they realized that his proposition was a lot smarter than they initially thought.

The top brass of the alliance were gone, and Ryan had no one left to respond to. With the world political situation hanging by a thread and the threat of the Sirens more present than ever, the natural response would be to dissolve the alliance, disband the joint fleet, and recall the shipgirls to their homeland as each faction dealt with their own internal problems; that's what the higher charges would definitely do… if they were still alive.

But ultimately, the only ones left who had a say in this matter were the flagships themselves, they realized. There was no one else to whom their own subordinates would respond, which meant it was their call to allow or forbid the other Kansen from remaining under Ryan's command.

And since they had already expressed their desire to keep the alliance around, he only needed a few more words to convince them to acquiesce.

"From now on, we'll have to get by on our own. Supplies, oil, ammunition, spare parts... we'll get it ourselves, and we'll do it by buying it directly from other ports," Ryan explained confidently, watching as the women pondered his words.

"But what are we going to offer if we lack the funds?" Enterprise asked him as the representatives and the flagships pondered his words.

"Our own manpower," he declared. "You just need to keep doing what you've been doing until now: escort duty, patrols, sorties... Just leave the rest to me."

By that, of course, he meant paperwork. He had never managed an organization from the get-go with no one watching over him, and he could only imagine the amount of work he'd have to go through, but it's not like he wasn't used to that. This time, though, his focus would be on reassuring the world populace that, despite the dire situation, Azur Lane wouldn't abandon them and that they would still be the ray of hope shining amidst the chaos unleashed by the Sirens.

He figured it would cause a lot of conflicting opinions and friction. Plenty of people would frown, badmouth, or even be openly against this development, but he knew that the support they'd get from the masses would be invaluable. The shipgirls were already considered heroines, and there were plenty of people out there who were more than eager to support their idols.

Besides, it's not like he was actually going rogue. The flagships would have a huge leash on him. Officially, they would act as supervisors in place of their deceased superiors, when in truth, they'd just leave him with the same authority he'd always had; that would certainly help shut down some eventual complaints.

That's what he told the flagships to convince them, and that's what they all were pondering, absorbed in their thoughts.

"This isn't fair, Comrade," Soyuz spoke up, breaking the silence hanging in the room. Ryan's heart made a flip as the tone she used didn't seem to bode well, but upon glancing at her face through the screen, he saw a warm smile adorning her face. "Now you'll make us look bad for not sending anyone to your base."

Ryan blinked, then turned toward Richelieu and Yat Sen, who bore a very similar expression.

"Does that mean…?"

He scanned the room expectantly, glancing at each and every one of the flagships remotely connected, then at their representatives, and finally at Enterprise and Nagato next to him. The nods they gave him were enough.

"Thank you all for putting your trust in me," the Commander said solemnly. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

Queen Elizabeth harrumphed, rolling her eyes at him. "If you are going to be so meek even when facing your future detractors, know that you won't get far, servant."

"Queen Elizabeth is right, Comandante," Veneto tittered. "You are still so humble even after receiving the approval of all of us faction leaders."

"Remember that humility is a virtue, but you'll need to be a bit more assertive if you want to face what's ahead," Yat Sen piped up.

Ryan could only scratch his head sheepishly as he became the target of the flagships' bantering. He graciously took their half-serious teasing; it was probably the most entertained they were going to be for a while, and he didn't want to take it away from them.

"Anyway, this whole matter is a lot more complicated than that," Elizabeth interjected to bring the conversation back on track. "It's going to take some more discussing, for which we don't have time at the moment; we'll have to leave our subordinates to it. Hear that, George?"

"Loud and clear, Your Majesty; leave it all to me," the battleships replied to her queen.

"Good, don't forget to keep us up to speed," Elizabeth said as parting words. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the queen and the others signed out of the meeting, leaving their subordinates to lay out the details of the new state of affairs with the Commander.

"Well, then, shall we get to work?"

Kurama's eyes fluttered open. He could feel his body, but he could barely move his limbs. Every single muscle in his body ached, as if he had just undergone the heaviest workout. He was much too familiar with that feeling—the telltale sign of the strain he'd put his body under after abusing his Wisdom Crafting.

He let out an annoyed breath. The aching wasn't unbearable, but the fact that he couldn't even lift his arm to scratch his itching nose was driving him crazy. At least, feeling pain meant that he was still alive, he supposed.

Someone cleared his throat beside him, making him turn his head to the side. Kneeling next to him were Kaga and Kawakaze, bearing very unimpressed looks on their faces. Only at that moment did he realize that he was lying on a futon, inside what was probably one of the many rooms inside the Sakura dormitory of the joint base.

Guessing what was coming, he groaned. "What did I do this time?"

Kawakaze frowned, and Kaga's eyebrow shot up.

"Seriously, you don't remember?"

"I remember the battle, but not much about it." Kurama lied as easily as he'd breathe.

Before the two of them could suss him out, the sliding door opened. Amagi stepped into the room, only to pause in surprise at seeing him awake and alert.

"Oh, you are awake. How are you feeling?" She smiled at him, approaching the futon and kneeling beside the other two.

"Dead tired," he said. "And I can't move a muscle."

"Do you want me to call Vestal? She should be done checking everyone by now," Amagi offered.

"I'm fine; I just need to sleep..."

As he tried to turn down her proposal, another voice came from the hallway.

"Uh, the door is open…" Aoba's face peeked through the doorframe, and her eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh, hey, you're awake! Mutsu, guys! Kurama's awake!"

"Kuramaaaa!" They heard Mutsu's voice becoming louder and louder as the shorter battleship bolted through the hallway. When she reached the room, she crossed the doorframe at high speed, then launched herself at him, landing on his chest and knocking the air out of him.

"Mutsu... Oof!"

"Buaah! I'm so glad you are still alive!" She cried out, with tears coming down from her eyes and snot coming out of her nose in a comical manner. "When we saw you were sacrificing yourself for us, we didn't know what to do! Thank the Gods Kaga was there!"

"Mutsu, he said he doesn't remember anything." Kawakaze informed her and everyone else.

"Hmmm, that's weird; when Vestal came to check on you, she said you didn't get hit on the head," Amagi mused. "Maybe we should really call her for another checkup."

Kurama almost panicked. "There's no need for that-"

"What? Really?" Mutsu raised her head and sniffled; her eyes were puffy, and a trail of snot connected her nose to his chest. "That's not fair! You were so cool back there, and you can't even remember!"

"Cool, uh…" Kurama trailed off, thinking back to what was essentially the closest he ever was to death. If it were anyone other than Mutsu, he'd have something very unpleasant to say.

"Indeed, cool, heroic, and so incredibly romantic~" Aoba chimed in with a grin as more Kansen showed up behind her, drawn by the commotion. "Kaga, I love you! Remember me~" She sang in a playful way. Giggles and barely concealed snickers arose from the small crowd that was gathering outside the room. Most of the Sakura shipgirls present were from the Sanctuary, he noticed, and they probably wanted to express their gratitude to him for what he did.

Of course, the display didn't fail to elicit the intended reaction, as Kaga averted her gaze in embarrassment, her cheeks turning bright red.

Kurama narrowed his eyes at the cyan-haired cruiser. "That's not what I said at all..."

"So you do remember!"

Now it was his turn to blush as he realized his fuckup. He let out a resigned sigh, which only increased the giggling in the room.

Luckily, his savior arrived soon after, coming in the form of a certain senior Kansen. Mikasa herself stepped into the room after navigating through the small crowd.

"Alright, everyone, that's enough for today. Kurama needs to rest; you can hang out together another time," she said, clapping her hands a couple times to get everyone's attention. "You too, Mutsu," she added, seeing as though the shorter battleship was still clinging to him.

Reluctantly, Mutsu complied, standing up on her feet and following the others as they left the room, a bit dejected, but not before waving goodbye to him. Unable to respond, the shipboy sent her a small smile in response, then turned toward those who remained in the room.

"Well?" He asked Kawakaze, Kaga, and Mikasa.

"Well what?" The carrier shot back. "Did you really think we'd just let you get away with that stunt you pulled?"

Kurama rolled his eyes and groaned; there was no need to hide behind pretension anymore.

"I almost wish I died there…"

"Oh, you will, once I'm done with you."

His sweat dropped. The very familiar voice belonged to a man this time. He turned his head again to see Sparviero entering the room, with Carabiniere accompanying him as always.

"Brother, uh, I can explain," he tried to say, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"No, you zip it," Sparviero said, snapping his head toward the male Kitsune's voice. "I swear, I can't let you out of my sight for a few days that you go and almost get yourself killed; you and Freedom are so much alike, you'll be the death of me," he sighed. "If it weren't for Kaga, you'd be dead even before we could arrive. Have you at least thanked her?"

Kurama averted his gaze again, unable to look anyone in the eyes. Sparviero was usually calm and collected, but the few times he saw him angry, someone was in for a rough time. His scolding, though, succeeded in making him think. His mind went back to what happened at the Sanctuary—how Kaga's giant fox had brought him to safety after he almost got himself killed.

"I haven't… I literally just woke up," he said through tight lips. "Wait, why? What happened to Freedom?"

"Don't try to change the topic."

"Everyone, please, I think you are being too hard on him," Mikasa intervened. "Sparviero-san, you have all the reason to be upset with your brother, but we should give credit where it's due. He played a huge part during the battle; without him, a lot of us wouldn't be here today. We should all be grateful to him; am I right, Kawakaze?" She finished, turning toward the destroyer with a telling look.

Kawakaze perked up at being called out all of a sudden; her ears went down as she took on a more bashful demeanor. If she had to be honest, she still resented him a bit for putting the fate of all her comrades in her hands like it was nothing, but there was also something else she wanted to say; she just couldn't find the right moment.

Grateful to Mikasa for giving her the opportunity she was looking for, the destroyer gathered her courage and spoke.

"I… Actually, I wanted to thank you, Kurama," she began, still a bit unsure. "You taught me everything I needed to save my comrades, and you trusted me enough to put your life at risk for us; that means a lot to me. I'm still a bit upset about that, but it's only thanks to you that I've grown so much. Thank you," she added, bowing her head to him until her forehead touched the floor.

Kurama listened intently to her words, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. He was doing his best to resist the urge to pat her head, and he couldn't help feeling grateful for not being able to lift a finger. He thought hard about what to say in response, but that was even harder.

"You… don't have to thank me, Kawakaze." He finally settled for. "That's just the result of your hard work and willpower. I did the bare minimum, and don't forget that, ultimately, we're all still alive only thanks to you."

Kawakaze lifted her head, looking impressed after hearing the kind words coming out of his mouth... but then her expression turned into a deadpan as he added, "But if you think we're done with your training, you are sorely mistaken. Up until now, I've been holding back on you, but as soon as I'm up on my feet we'll get back to work, and you'll be sorry to have become my apprentice."

"Since when am I officially your apprentice? I don't remember pledging myself to your teachings or anything," she shot back.

"Since when you managed to cut that Mirror Sea in half, so deal with it."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Ugh, Kurama, can't you just say that you're proud of her?" Sparviero interjected, rolling his eyes behind his blindfold.

"Shut up."

After that, the mood inside the room grew lighter as the Kansen sat down around Kurama's futon for a light chat. Mikasa took advantage of it to officially extend her gratitude to the shipboys, vowing to do the same with Freedom and Massachusetts as well. Then, when she realized it was getting late, she took her leave. Kawakaze, after being reminded that the meeting was drawing to a close, followed her to go meet up with Nagato.

Soon, Sparviero and Carabiniere also left, leaving only Kaga inside the room with the bedridden shipboy.

"You should also go; otherwise, your sister will get jealous," he told her. Akagi was also on base, and she had probably already recovered from her injuries thanks to the repair ships.

Kaga eyed him up and down, sending him another unimpressed look.

"Not until I've heard your apology," she said, making him wince. "If you thought Mikasa's words made me forget about it, think twice."

Kurama deadpanned; he was about to retort with a proper comeback, but then sighed in surrender. Why the hell was it so hard with Kaga? Because it was her, maybe? Was it because he wanted to look cool in front of her? God, he was such a kid; what would Nagato-niisama think of him?

"Alright," he conceded. Maybe it was the near-death experience, but he was feeling the need to curb a bit of his attitude. "I'm sorry for making you worry, Kaga. I won't pull another stunt like that, perhaps…" he trailed off.

"What was that?" She glared at him.

"Nothing…" He shrugged. "Also, thank you for saving me; that foxfire familiar of yours was impressive."

Kaga's lips quirked up in a satisfied smile, and her tails began swaying behind her. The compliment and his genuine words seemed to have pleased her, he thought, but then he noticed her reach her hand out to him. She grabbed the covers of his futon and threw them in the air, then she moved to straddle him.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked her, her gesture taking him by surprise.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Kaga declared, looking down at him with her piercing sky-blue eyes. "You need a proper lesson, and I don't think I'll have another chance like this."

"I can't move, Kaga," he deadpanned.

"That's exactly the point," she said as she opened his haori, exposing his torso.

She took her time admiring him, gliding her hands over his toned upper body, feeling his aching muscles under her fingers, and making him shiver under her touch.

She couldn't help licking her lips, and when her gaze met his, her eyes lit in anticipation, and for the first time in a long while, Kurama felt like prey in front of a predator; not even the Siren armada felt as dangerous.

She dove down on him, lifting his head with one hand behind his neck so that her lips had an easier time meeting his, and she caught him in a hungry kiss.

He decided that he would let her have this one; she did save his life, after all, but it's not like he was going to just take it. His tongue, the only muscle in his body that he could move freely, joined hers as they danced between their mouths.

The more they went on, the more Kaga's kissing became sloppier; she began sucking on his tongue, nibbling at his lips—not enough to draw blood, but enough to make him feel her fangs. Soon, her other hand began roaming further down, trying to get a hold of the hem of his pants to pry them off in an almost desperate attempt to get his hardness out.

Of course, as eager as she was, there was a limit to how much she could do at once. She began getting frustrated, her position too uncomfortable to disrobe him, until she just gave up. She straightened up and took off his pants with a swift move, almost making him roll over with how forceful she was.

Her gaze fell on his erect mast, now free of the constraints of his pants. She gulped in anticipation as she removed her own underwear from under her skirt, leaving everything else on her person before straddling him once again.

He let out a groan, glaring up at her in barely concealed annoyance. He could feel his erect member sandwiched between their groins, hidden out of sight by her blue skirt.

"Next time, I'm going to fuck you so hard that the entire base is going to hear you scream my name," he warned her.

"Heh, I'm looking forward to that," she shot back. "But for now, you are the one getting fucked." She reached between their legs, taking a hold of his member to aim it at her entrance; then, she lowered herself on his groin, taking his inches in a single go.

He winced in surprise as he felt her folds clamp around him, and she let out a satisfied groan at the bliss of being filled to the brim. She put her hands on his chest for support and began slowly rocking her hips, grinding her groin against his as she slowly got accustomed to his presence inside her.

He hissed through his teeth. By now, you'd think he'd gotten used to being inside her, but instead, every time they did it, he marveled at how warm and soft her insides were and how his cock seemed to snuggle perfectly into her cooch. With her on top of him, he could clearly feel her depths' warm embrace, inviting him further in.

She looked down at him with a satisfied smile. If the expression on his face was any indication, he was having the time of his life, and so was she.

She decided to spice things up. Without breaking eye contact, she straightened up on his lap and began slowly undoing her uniform. First, she took off her kimono, then she unclasped her collar, and finally, she slowly took off her corset, deliberately showing one inch of her creamy skin at a time, smirking down at him all the while.

He let out another annoyed groan as she teased him with what he knew he wouldn't be able to reach this time. She reveled in his frustration as she felt in control, and when her sizable bust was finally freed of her uniform, she increased her humping; only this time, she made sure to add that little bit of bouncing, making her breasts giggle with her every movement. Soon, the sound of their flesh slapping on each other began filling the room, along with the sound of their labored breaths.

He couldn't help the groan of resignation that escaped his lips, internally cursing his current state. How much he wished his body would respond so that he could wipe that smirk off her face. Glancing up at her expression, he noticed that Kaga's lips were quirked up in a blissful smile, her face was flushed, and her tails were swaying gently behind her, framing her form as she rode him. Instead of the mocking grin he was expecting, she was looking at him with a blissful expression on her face and dreamy eyes full of passion.

At that moment, his eyes widened in understanding.

Initially, he figured that her aggressiveness came from her desire to "punish" him, but it wasn't just that. There wasn't anger or a desire for comeuppance in her movements; it was just pure, enthusiastic passion. She wasn't venting her frustration on him; on the contrary, this was a celebration. It was her way of expressing everything she had bottled up: the thrill of battle, the ecstasy of victory, the relief of having survived... All those feelings together culminated in what he could only call post-battle euphoria, heightening her sexual desire so much that she couldn't contain herself.

Or rather, she chose not to. Seeing her lover completely defenseless like that was too much of a temptation not to give in.

Kurama cursed even more his current state; how much he wished he was able to properly respond to her instead of just lying there like a log.

Breathing hard through his teeth, he used all his willpower to will his right arm to move, and lo and behold, it responded. Kaga paused in surprise, coming to a standstill on his lap as his hand rose toward her, slowly reaching out to her.

She smirked; she knew what he wanted. She took his hand in her own and guided it to her bust. His palm came to rest on her soft breasts, and she was about to let go when she noticed that he was trying to move it further up. She allowed it, and his hand moved to her face, caressing her cheek first, then coming to rest on her nape.

She looked down at him in confusion until she felt his hand weakly trying to pull her in. Looking into his eyes, she didn't see a hint of malice; quite the opposite, in fact: love and desire. She allowed him to pull her down, and her bare chest came to rest on his own, her breasts squishing against his torso. Their faces were inches apart; they could gaze into each other's eyes as they felt the other's breath on their skin.

It took her a second to figure out what he was asking, and when she did, she closed the distance, meeting his lips in a kiss. Unlike their previous make-out session, this one was a lot less messy and a lot more tender, but not any less passionate.

Kaga never stopped moving; her hips kept clapping on his groin as she tried to feel his every inch inside her. In an attempt to reciprocate, he tried bucking his hips, but it was still too hard for him to move.

It didn't matter. Kaga's movements were more than enough to bring them both up toward their peaks; with each passing second, they became shorter and quicker, until she was essentially twerking on his lap. They kept locking their lips as pleasure slowly began building up.

He tried his best to hold it in until Kaga detached herself from him to let out a loud moan, her body shivering like a leaf atop him as her orgasm hit her.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Kurama let out a groan of his own, and finally, release washed over him, his loins pumping his seed into her folds as she sucked him dry of every drop.

They remained like that for a few seconds until, after the wave of pleasure that hit her subsided, Kaga lowered herself further into him, panting in exertion and bliss, resting her head on his chest.

"Gods, that was… awesome…" She managed to let out a breath.

"Have I earned… my forgiveness, then?" He asked her.

She lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

"I was serious earlier, you fool; don't try something like that ever again," she said with a hint of stern emotion in her voice. "We are strong; you and I together can conquer all, no matter who stands against us. There's no need to go rushing ahead alone."

"Kaga-" Before he could reply, she sank her face into the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around him and letting out a breath.

"Dammit, if I think I could have lost you right after finding you..." she whispered.

Only at that moment did he realize how much he'd made her worry. With his hand still holding onto her, he began stroking her hair between her ears as she snuggled into him.

She was right—no more heroic sacrifices, and no more keeping everyone in a bubble or leaving them behind. He'd seen it with his own eyes that his comrades were strong; Kaga and Kawakaze had proved it to him.

Together, they could take on everything the Sirens threw at them.

AN: Goddamn, how long has it been since we've had some smut in this story? Something like twenty chapters? Let me fix that.

Next Chapter: A Fox's Troubles