Nagato sighed, walking through the hallways of the Sakura dorm, holding a tray of food in her hands. The meeting was finally over, and after the intense battle, if there was something she was looking forward to, it was a trip to the onsen.
Alas, it wasn't the time to take it easy; she was the Priestess of the Sakura, after all, and she had to go back to the Sanctuary as soon as possible.
But first, there was something else she wanted to do.
Kawakaze was with her; her faithful adjutant had told her that Kurama had woken up, and she had decided to check on him now that she had some room to breathe. She wanted to thank him, not only for everything he did to protect the Sanctuary and its inhabitants, but also for the kind words he said to her during those fateful moments; she couldn't lie, they touched her deeply.
Despite the bond they had built during his stay, she couldn't help but get the feeling that, no matter what she did, Kurama never actually took her seriously as a flagship; to find out that he held her in such high regard was a surprise, one that made her chest swell up with pride, but that was also making her feel a bit self-conscious.
How was she supposed to face him after that? She couldn't help but squirm in embarrassment as she thought about it, so she opted to have a serious talk in business mode before thanking him.
"Nagato-sama, do you want me to hold that for you?" Kawakaze offered, nodding at the tray stuffed with food in Nagato's hands.
"No, it's fine, Kawakaze; I can handle this much," Nagato replied, only to come to a stop when she noticed someone kneeling beside the door to Kurama's room.
It was Aoba. The reporter shipgirl was giving her back to them. She had an ear attached to the wall and seemed to be holding a notepad and a pen in her hands.
Nagato's eyes widened in disbelief. She was eavesdropping. How could she?! Being constantly on the lookout for juicy scoops was fine and all, but that wasn't an excuse to spy on other people's privacy.
"Aoba, what in the Gods' name are you doing?!" She questioned her as they came to a stop behind her. She made sure to speak in a hushed tone of voice so as not to disturb the shipboy's rest inside, but it was still enough to make the cruiser jump in surprise.
Aoba flinched and turned in a flash, her eyes widening in shock and surprise when she realized it was her flagship.
"N-Nagato-sama?! "What are you doing here?" She inquired, acting like she wasn't just caught eavesdropping on someone red-handed.
"I'm here to bring Kurama some food since he skipped dinner," she said, bringing up the tray in her hands to show. "And don't turn my question around. Don't you know you aren't supposed to eavesdrop? It's improper and very ill-mannered of you."
"Uh, I'm sorry, Nagato-sama. I was just hoping to get a one-on-one interview with Kurama, but... I think he's rather busy at the moment..." Aoba trailed off, averting her gaze from her.
Nagato raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. Was it just her impression, or was Aoba's face slightly flushed?
"Busy? What do you mean?" She inquired. "He should be resting."
"Um, well…"
At that moment, the sound of frantic shuffling came from inside the room, and Nagato's ears perked up.
"Ah, he's awake; good," she said, approaching the sliding door.
"W-wait, Nagato-sama!"
"Kurama! I'm coming in!" Nagato announced, reaching for the door with one of her hands as she balanced the tray in the other.
The sight that welcomed her made her freeze in shock. Her jaw went slack, and her eyes went wide as her brain stopped working, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
Kurama was there, of course, lying with his back on his futon. Kaga was also there, but the thing that made her mind go blank was their state of dress—or undress, for that matter.
Kurama's robe was wide open in the front, and he was clearly naked from the waist down, trying to use the sheets of the futon to cover himself up. Kaga's top was missing, and the position she was in—giving her back to them while trying to reach for a piece of clothing on the floor—perfectly showed them that she was also wearing nothing under her rolled-up skirt.
The two lovers were also frozen on the spot, like deer in headlights. They must have heard them when Nagato addressed Aoba, but unfortunately, they didn't manage to hide the proof of their deed in time, not with Kurama still being partially unable to move.
As time started flowing again, the tray slipped off Nagato's hand, falling to the tatami floor with a loud clatter and spilling its contents. The silence in the room made the noise almost deafening. Behind Nagato, Kawakaze and Aoba didn't dare utter a word, their eyes wide and their cheeks flushed.
Seeing as though they had already been caught, there was no further need to hurry, so Kurama finished covering himself, feigning nonchalance as Kaga retrieved the rest of her uniform.
When she was done dressing herself, she stood up and cleared her throat, turning toward her flagship, who seemed still frozen in time in the middle of the doorframe.
"I apologize for the regrettable display, Nagato-sama," she said, trying her best to hide the stuttering in her voice as her face flushed a deep shade of crimson. "If you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave."
But Nagato didn't hear her; she had already passed out.
Ryan's eyes skimmed over the papers in his hands. He was going over the reports of the battle at the Sanctuary and the performance ratings of his Kansen in said battle, and he was fairly impressed. Particularly, he was lingering over the part concerning Yorktown and her fight with Observer.
"I'll have to ask Anzeel if she can fit some of the other girls too with her Type II rigging," he thought. If he had to be honest, he didn't need the report to know. Yorktown herself, once she was back, didn't miss the opportunity to gush about her shiny, brand-new rigging, and he didn't need any more convincing of how effective it was.
"What about you, girls?" Ryan asked, setting the paper down on his desk and addressing the two shipgirls in front of him. "How are you holding up? Anything you feel I should know?"
"Not at all, Commandant; we've been doing great," Dunkerque answered him with a smile.
"Indeed," Hood concurred. "The battle was a rather intense way to get back on track with things, but it's nothing we couldn't handle."
Her words were enough for Ryan's apprehensive self to perk up in concern.
"If you are tired, I can have someone cover for you, so you can take it a little easier," he told them.
Hood tittered at that, hiding her giggle behind her gloved hand. "Commander, you are being more protective than usual today, even though we're no longer impeded by our physical issues."
In contrast to Dunkerque, who had been staying at the base for a fairly short period, Hood had been under Vestal's care for a far longer time, basically since the joint base was established, and Ryan had always treated her with white gloves. Even now that rehabilitation was essentially over, he wasn't letting up; to him, it's like they were still recovering, even though, thanks to the Reality Lens, they were as good as new.
"I just don't want you to push yourselves too hard so soon," Ryan said. "Besides, Queen Elizabeth and Richelieu would kill me if they knew I'm making you work hard right after recovering," he added, a shiver running down his spine at the mere thought of angering the two faction leaders.
"Fret not, Commandant. Don't forget that we were the ones who insisted on going." Dunkerque reassured him with another smile.
"Right, that!" Ryan exclaimed. "I still can't believe that you two of all people were trying to go behind my back. I wonder what your flagships would have to say about it." His eyebrow shot upward as he regarded them with a stare, prompting them to look down sheepishly.
That's right. The two of them were supposed to stay behind on base with him instead of going to the Sanctuary with everyone else. Imagine his surprise when, while supervising the fleet's departure, he caught the two battlecruisers trying to sneak inside Sparviero's pocket dimension behind his back.
He didn't even try to hide his disappointment at that, but in the end, after a little bit of begging and pleading, and with the help of the other Kansen around them, they managed to convince him to let them go. Of course, he had conceded only because they were all in a rush; he certainly wasn't going to spare them the scolding they deserved now that he had remembered.
He was also considering having the two of them help him with paperwork for a while as punishment; he could certainly use the help, especially now that things were going in a new direction. In the end, he decided against it. He couldn't, for the life of him, force them to stay put by confining them within four walls, not after they had been yearning for the waves for so long.
Was he being too indulgent with them? Probably, but he couldn't bear seeing those girls unhappy. Now that their sustenance depended solely on him, that sentiment was only growing, and he was ready to jump through hoops to make sure they didn't lack anything.
"By the way, I'm sorry, Hood," he said with a sigh after finishing. "Neither I nor George have told Elizabeth about your recovery yet. That goes the same for you, Dunkerque. Richelieu was too busy; they were too much in a hurry, and they cut the meeting short."
"We understand, Commander. We'll tell them ourselves as soon as the situation settles," Hood said, and Dunkerque nodded in agreement.
What Ryan was trying to do with Azur Lane was an incredibly arduous endeavor, but as it came to fruition, it should also divert the attention of the panicked population and take some pressure off the flagships' shoulders by giving them some room to breathe as they dealt with the tumult in their nations.
In truth, he didn't come up with all that by himself.
Right after the missile attack on base and after receiving news of what was happening around the world, he didn't waste time and immediately contacted Admiral Nimitz. Fearing for the fate of the alliance, it only made sense for him to call the senior officer first.
At the time, Nimitz had been the first to give his approval when he had been appointed commander of the joint base. He was also one of the few Eagle Union high-ranking officers whose voice could influence even the higher-ups in the alliance. Such was the respect gained by the senior officer during his long-standing career. Ryan respected the man, not just because of his position but mainly because he had given proof of his integrity on multiple occasions, something his other fellow officers had rarely done. And yes, most of it involved the way they treated the shipgirls.
So, yeah, it wasn't rare for the Commander to occasionally seek out the senior officer for advice. Though, this time, what he needed from the Admiral wasn't some kind of guidance; he needed his support.
Of course, when Ryan contacted Nimitz to explain his plan, the man almost fell off his chair. It took him a bit of convincing, but luckily for him, trust and respect weren't one-sided when it came to their relationship; Ryan only needed to be honest about his intentions and upfront about his future decision-making.
Maybe it was the care with which the Commander had thought it through, maybe it was the fact that the New York harbor had also just come out from a missile attack, or maybe it was the worrying number of notices of chaos spreading all over the nation that he was getting, but in the end, Nimitz, just like the flagships, could do nothing but recognize the validity of Ryan's plan.
With the Admiral openly stating his approval of Azur Lane becoming self-sufficient and independent, most of the other officers would follow suit, adding that to the official support of the flagships, and the few remaining charges in the council would have nothing to do but give their unconditional consent.
"Commandant, please, don't take this the wrong way," Dunkerque began as she looked over one of the papers Ryan was filing. "But these papers are so detailed and impeccably accurate... It's almost like you've been expecting all this to happen." The Commander was done checking the reports; now it was the turn of the paper stacks concerning his plan as he double-checked them and put his signature on each of them.
Ryan didn't pause his frantic scribbling; he simply sighed, half-expecting that someone would eventually pick up on it and a question like this would eventually arise.
"It's not that I was expecting it," he simply responded. "It's that the situation just so happened to align with one of the fail-safe plans I've devised in case... well, stuff like this happened."
Hood couldn't help the fond smile that appeared on her face. Yep, that was typical of Ryan: dedicated to his work—and to the good of those around him by extension—almost to the point of paranoia. After hearing all that, there was no way she could leave him to deal with all that work alone.
"Well, at least let us help you sort these out; it'll make it a lot easier for you," Hood said, Dunkerque chiming in immediately after. "Yeah, it's the least we can do."
Ryan raised an eyebrow at that. It was weird of them to offer to subject themselves to what he was initially considering having them do as punishment, but then again, why would he refuse when they looked so raring to do so? Besides, he did say he could use some help, so...
After a few hours of diligent work, made more bearable by the two shipgirls' help, a knock came to the door. When Ryan gave permission to enter, Cleveland's face could be seen peeking inside the room.
"What is it, Cleve?" Ryan smiled warmly. Finally, the shipgirl seemed to have learned to knock instead of barging in like a battering ram.
"Sorry to bother you, Commander; I've got news from the hospital," Cleveland said, making him perk up. "Dr. Aoste and Dr. Anzeel are done with Observer's Cube."
"And?" He egged her on with a bit of hope in his voice.
"Seems like it worked," Cleveland said. "But they said they want to talk to you."
And with that said, Ryan was off. Hood and Dunkerque remained in his office to cover for him as he followed the cruiser to the hospital, eager to learn about the news.
"Ah, Commander, welcome back." Anzeel greeted him. The woman was sitting at the desk inside the room in the medical bay that had been designated as her personal office. "Been busy?"
"You have no idea…" Ryan grimaced as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The place was still a bit unassuming and barely furnished, but he was sure the woman wouldn't waste time to make it homier with her signature exuberance.
As expected, Aoste was also there, along with Enterprise.
"Where's Zero- I mean, TB?" The Creator asked him.
"Taking a break with some of the other girls," Ryan answered. "I figured it'd be good for her to socialize a bit now that she has a body."
"I see," Aoste responded. "Well, then, let's get down to business," he declared immediately after, making Ryan raise an eyebrow.
"And here I wanted to know how you've been enjoying your stay," he commented with a dry tone of voice.
"We can leave small talk for later; there's work to be done."
"On that we can only agree."
Ryan noticed that Aoste was being more standoffish than usual. It couldn't be helped, in his opinion. He'd gotten the news of his Antiochus being brought under the Sirens' control, and as one would expect, he hadn't received it well.
"I'm sure you've already been informed, Commander, but we've managed to get through Observer's Cube. We used the Reality Lens to undo the tampering of the Sirens, and Enterprise here has already talked to her," said the human woman, making the shipgirl nod in confirmation.
"Excellent… and how did it go?" Ryan asked her, dreading the answer.
"Observer has given us her cooperation," Enterprise replied, assuaging his worries. "On one condition, though."
"Alright, let's hear it." For some reason, he didn't like where this was going.
"She wants her body back," Enterprise declared. "She said she won't provide us with any information until we fulfill her request."
"Of course, it couldn't be that easy," he thought, letting out a sigh. "I guess we can't fulfill her request with the Reality Lens, right?"
"Unfortunately, we can't," Aoste said. "Creating a vessel for an Antiochus program isn't an easy task. It requires state-of-the-art technological support which, unfortunately, you are missing in this timeline."
"It's the same issue we are facing with the METAs," Anzeel supplied. "We can heal them, but we lack the equipment necessary to create a new body specifically for them."
Ryan grimaced again at that. "Dammit, we need to find a solution."
"And we need to do it quickly, Commander," Enterprise supplied. "Observer told me that each of their mainframes can sustain only one vessel at a time, which means we won't be able to bring her back if the Sirens do it before us."
"I can help with that!" An enthusiastic voice spoke up, followed by a few light thumps coming from the window. The curtain was close, so Enterprise moved to open it, revealing the figure of a certain humanoid Siren waving at them from outside with a toothy grin.
Before anyone could utter a word, Enterprise closed the curtain with nonchalance.
"Um, who was that?" Anzeel inquired.
"No one," Ryan said, trying to dismiss the matter, but when Anzeel looked at him funny, he added, "Trust me, you want nothing to do with her."
"Hey, that's rude! Is this how you treat your guests?" Purifier's muffled voice was heard again.
Unable to keep his cool, Ryan strode up to the window, opening the curtain again, revealing the Elite with her face and hands attached to the glass, trying to peek inside.
"Purifier, what did I tell you?!" He yelled, fuming.
"Please, Commander, I can't take this anymore! I want to meet the experts!" She whined, rolling around midair until she was upside down. "C'mon, let me in! I promise I'll be good!" She pleaded, giving him the puppy eyes complete with quivering lips.
Ryan's eye twitched at the display. He forced himself to calm down as Anzeel behind him to let out a long "aw." He had been trying to put this off for as long as possible, but he knew it had to happen eventually. Sighing again, he decided to let her in, opening the window without uttering a word.
An enthusiastic grin appeared on Purifier's face as she entered, dismissing her rigging before rolling inside.
"We're in the middle of something important, Purifier; go bother someone else," Enterprise told her sternly when she landed on the floor.
"Oh, I know, I was eavesdropping- ahem, I was passing by and just so happened to pick up on the conversation," Purifier said before turning her attention to the other people in the room. "So, these are the humans who know how to repair Wisdom Cubes, uh... Oh, hey, Commander, this one looks a lot like you!" She commented.
Ryan let out a resigned sigh as the Elite began doing what she did better—being an absolute nuisance to everyone around her. He decided to ignore her and do the honors.
"Dr. Anzeel, Dr. Aoste, meet Purifier; she's an Elite under Zero's command, just like Observer. She's the one who brought us TB when the Original Sirens took over the seed," he announced. "Purifier, meet Anzeel, the mother of the Kansen, and Aoste, the Creator, as well as my other self from the Original Timeline."
"Um, hello there." Anzeel waved at her hesitantly, her other hand already reaching for her phone, ready to take pictures.
"So, this is one of the programs created by Zero—The Purifier," Aoste mused. "Why didn't you say you had one of them on base?" He raised an eyebrow as he questioned Ryan.
"You'll understand soon enough," the Commander deadpanned.
"Hmmm…" Aoste moved closer to the Elite to give her a once-over. Then his hands came to rest on Purifier's cheeks, stretching her skin and turning her face to the side multiple times as if to inspect her. He pried open her eyelids to stare into her eyes and opened her mouth to check her insides, all under Ryan's and Enterprise's stunned gazes. "I must say, Zero did a good job with the external appearance of this vessel, but her programming leaves a lot to be desired. She doesn't seem to respond to stimuli..."
Indeed, Purifier seemed to have gone limp under his touch. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw slack.
"I think she's just too shocked to react," Anzeel intervened after having snapped an acceptable number of pictures. Indeed, the Elite's brain seemed to have stopped working after the introduction. "And for the love of... I get that she's cute, but can you stop feeling her up already?"
Much to everyone's relief, Aoste nonchalantly took his hands off her. After that, it took Purifier a few more seconds to recover, and as soon as she did, she turned to the Commander; her gaze resembled that of a kid who had just seen something crazy and couldn't wait to show it to her parents, but before she could ask for any explanation, Ryan cut her off.
"No, I'm done talking about this! I'd rather swallow a jar of razor blades than tell the story for the umpteenth time," he blurted out before she could even utter a word. "Just tell us what you want."
"Yessir!" Purifier acknowledged enthusiastically.
The Elite was ecstatic. Zero had told her that she had put the Commander and Azur Lane on the trail of the Original Timeline when the exchange between her Cube and that shipboy happened, but she had figured that it was just a way to have them deal with the Ashes; who would have guessed that they'd actually manage to reach it and to bring the Creator back with them on top of it? She couldn't wait to see Observer's face when she'd tell her—that is, if her idea was feasible to begin with.
She banished those thoughts from her mind. She had to focus. The Creator needed her help, and she wanted to make a good impression.
"Do I get to call you daddy?"
"Come again?"
"Nothing, where was I? Right, Observer's new vessel. So, here's how it is…"
Akagi was troubled.
The fact that she hadn't had a chance to meet up with the Commander ever since arriving on base was certainly bothering her, but that's not what had her so agitated. She had just come out of his office, but instead of Ryan working at his desk, she found a certain pair of battlecruisers covering for him.
That wasn't weird in and of itself; it wasn't uncommon for commanding officers to delegate some of their work to their secretaries. What threw her off was the identity of the shipgirls in question.
Hood and Dunkerque. If she remembered correctly, last time she was here, the two of them were injured and supposedly unable to deploy permanently; heck, the Vichya woman was in a wheelchair, and the Glory of the Royal Navy couldn't walk straight without a cane, but now they were both scampering around like nothing.
When they invited her to sit down and wait for the Commander to return, she decided to turn them down. Waiting too long in his office meant that there was a risk of bumping into Shoukaku.
She was sure the white-haired carrier wouldn't miss the chance to pester her by rubbing into her face her not-so-stellar performance against Observer during the battle at the Sanctuary, and she really wasn't in the mood for that. In any other circumstance, she wouldn't mind engaging in snappy banter with her detestable kouhai, but the encounter with the two battlecruisers had stirred something within her mind.
She was already thinking that Yorktown showing up to save her with new rigging and no sign of her old affliction was weird, and she had been too preoccupied with everything else to give it much thought, but this was stretching it; not one, not two, but three crippled Kansen who should have spent the rest of their lives on the sidelines made a miraculous comeback, and all at the same time.
How was it possible?
"Akagi, there you are!" Yorktown herself called out to her from afar, making her perk up in surprise. "We've been looking for you everywhere."
"Yorktown, and... ugh, speak of the devil." The welcoming smile that was about to appear on her face turned into a frown as she watched the Eagle Union carrier approach her with someone she could have gone the rest of the day without seeing in tow.
A tight smile appeared on Shoukaku's face at being addressed in such a dismissive manner. "Why the face, Akagi-senpai? Aren't you happy to see me?"
"The time I'll be happy to see you is the time the Sirens will get on their knees and ask for forgiveness for their actions," Akagi shot back.
"As insufferable as always, I see," Shoukaku stated. "And here I thought you'd become a little humbler after such your embarrassing performance at the Sanctuary."
Akagi gritted her teeth, suddenly finding the urge to strangle her aggravating kouhai ever so tantalizing. Luckily, Yorktown was there to cool things off.
"Now, now, let's calm down a bit," Yorktown interjected, trying to bring peace. "Let's start over again, okay?"
"Very well, then," Akagi conceded. "You wouldn't happen to know where Shikikan Travis is, would you? I've been looking for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere."
To no one's surprise, that didn't help.
"Can I ask what business you might have with my Ryan?" Shoukaku inquired, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"What, scared I might steal him from you?" Akagi scoffed, grinning widely at her. "Woman of little faith, I just want to talk to him."
"Guys, please, stop bickering!" Yorktown insisted, slightly raising her voice. "Shoukaku, this isn't why we are here."
Her words managed to break through them. Akagi crossed her arms and averted her gaze, while Shoukaku mentally chastised herself.
She wasn't here to butt heads with her senior; she was here because Ryan had entrusted her of all people to carry out this task because he trusted her, and because this was something that involved her compatriots directly.
"You are right, Yorktown," she let off, taking in a breath before addressing Akagi again. "Akagi-senpai, we need to discuss something."
"Ugh, what is it?
"We'll tell you everything; meanwhile, why don't you come with us? It's better to show it first," said Yorktown.
The Eagle Union carrier was very much aware of Amagi's condition and of Akagi's fruitless attempts to find a cure. Since the Reality Lens was the godsend that helped her overcome her own affliction, it was only natural that she shared it with her friend as soon as possible. It's not that it was a secret; it's just that, between taking care of the wounded, organizing the guests in their new lodgings, and everything else, everyone had been too busy to think about that.
And now that things had somewhat calmed down, the Commander had given the all-clear.
"Sure," Akagi said, trying to read something into the other two's intentions, but in the end, she shrugged. "I also wanted to talk to you about something; you've shown up at just the right moment."
"Great! Let's go then."
"I'm back," Kaga announced as she opened the sliding door of the room that was assigned to her and her sisters.
"Welcome back, Kaga." Amagi greeted her back with a smile.
The sickly Kitsune was kneeling on the tatami floor, folding the clothes they had brought from the Sanctuary before putting them away inside the dressers. Those pieces of fabric and toiletry were the few intact things they had managed to retrieve from under the rubble of their home.
Kaga grimaced at the sight. While it was well-kept and comfortable, this was just a simple dorm room; it was a far cry from the three-bedroom apartment they shared at the Sanctuary. The furnishing was enough to contain everyone's stuff, but the room itself wasn't made to accommodate more than two people. It wasn't noticeable because there were no beds, but once they pulled out the futons for the night, it would start to feel cramped.
Maybe she could ask Kurama to share the room with him, at least for the night. He certainly wouldn't mind, but considering how prim and proper some of her Sakura comrades were, she didn't know how they'd react to a couple getting busy under the same roof. She just hoped no one would be as extreme as Nagato; the poor girl straight up fainted while standing when she caught them in the act.
"Amagi-neesama, I'm taking a change of clothes, and then I'm going to the onsen; would you like to join me?" She asked as she approached her adoptive sister.
"But of course," Amagi answered. "Let me grab my things."
As Kaga crouched next to her to reach for her bag, Amagi caught a whiff of the scent emanating from her, and her ears perked up. A sly grin appeared on her lips.
A walk through the dark streets of the harbor later, the two foxes were soaking together in the hot water of the base's onsen. They weren't alone, as "a few" other Kansen seemed to have had the same idea.
It wasn't just the Sakura shipgirls; the Kansen of other factions seemed to have taken up the habit of visiting the hot springs after a particularly hard day of work. No one could make them a fault; the hot water was perfect to soothe tired muscles and alleviate aches and pain, and the Sakura Kansen were proud that their foreign comrades could appreciate one of their most widespread customs. However, after such a hard-fought battle and an even more stressful aftermath, the hot springs were filled to the brim.
Normally, it wouldn't be much if an issue, but it disrupted Kaga's plan, much to her own chagrin. Her intention was to take advantage of the relaxing environment to break some news to Amagi; after all, the matter she wanted to discuss was particularly delicate.
What matter? Well, of the Reality Lens, of course. Before going back to her room, she had met up with Enterprise. The Grey Ghost seemed to be headed to an urgent meeting with the Commander, so, after exchanging a few quick pleasantries, Kaga had decided to cut to the chase. She had inquired on the matter that concerned her the most, namely, the success of the mission Enterprise took on with Ryan and Freedom, which she knew about thanks to Kurama.
"It worked."
Those two words were enough to send her mind into a spiral of relief and elation. Excitement began coursing through her. She couldn't wait to tell her sister all about it… but she just wasted her opportunity for a private talk by taking her to the onsen.
"Maybe it's for the better," Kaga thought. "Maybe I should wait for Akagi to be present for this."
"You skipped dinner earlier. Did you eat with Kurama? Is he doing better?" Amagi piped up suddenly, barely able to conceal her smirk.
Kaga's mind stopped working for a second, heat rushing to her face. She thanked the hot water, making her embarrassment less evident.
"Y-yeah, we ate together; he's already gone to sleep," Kaga lied, averting her gaze.
"Oh, so you've already had your fill, I see," Amagi commented, sending her a telling look. If the way Kaga was squirming weren't enough of a giveaway, the musk of sex and lingering arousal mixed with her normal scent were too easy to detect.
"Neesama, please…" Kaga pleaded. Her sheepish tone managed to draw a chuckle from Amagi.
"I'm sorry, Kaga, but I couldn't help myself; I can still smell him all over you," she said in a hushed tone. Then she cleared her throat to assume a more serious tone, her voice subdued by the chatter in the background. "I understand your enthusiasm; you are in the middle of your spring season, but you should be more mindful of the time and place for that kind of activity."
"I-I understand, Neesama." Kaga winced at that. She made a mental note to scrub herself harder this time around.
After a few seconds of comfortable silence and relaxing bathing, Amagi piped up again.
"Uh, that's Hood over there, isn't she?" She said, turning her head to the opposite side of the room, where the aforementioned battlecruiser was bathing as well, a towel covering her modesty as she sat on the edge of the tub. "She seems to be doing better; I'm glad," she added with a slightly more wistful tone than she intended.
"Y-yeah, that's her…" Kaga trailed off, unsure of what to do. Amagi just gave her the right chance to broach the subject; should she take advantage of it or...?
The appearance of a certain Vichya made her make up her mind.
"And that one over there is Dunkerque," she said, nodding toward the towel-clad woman who had just appeared from the changing room. "She also appears to be doing fine."
That managed to draw a reaction from Amagi. "Uh, why? Was she also injured?"
"She was supposed to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her days." Kaga informed her.
Amagi's confused frown deepened. "What do you mean?"
Here it comes.
"Uuh, you see..."
"Amagi-neesamaaa~"
Kaga visibly deflated as the very familiar voice rang over the room, drawing everyone's attention and making the chit-chatter around them lower to zero.
"Neesamaaa~ I know you are here~"
The door to the changing room slammed open as Akagi strutted into the hot springs, completely dressed. Even the non-Japanese shipgirls raised an eyebrow at that. Clothes were strictly forbidden in the onsen, even swimsuits; they had learned it the hard way.
Akagi seemed to be in a good mood, Kaga noticed, if the wide grin on her face, the glint in her eyes, and the spring in her step were any indication. Maybe too much of a good mood for the current circumstances...
As Akagi scanned the room, her eyes lit up even more when her gaze settled on her sisters, particularly on Amagi.
"There you are, Neesama~" she gushed, running up to Amagi. "Quick, come with me!" The poor Kitsune didn't even have time to chastise her sister for breaking the sacred rules of the onsen before Akagi grabbed her by the hand, all but hauling her up to her feet and out of the water.
"W-wait, Akagi! What's gotten into you?!" Amagi squirmed in embarrassment, trying to cover herself. "At least let me get my towel!"
Kaga watched dumbfounded as Akagi literally dragged Amagi inside the changing room, her cries of complaint disappearing into the distance.
She let out a long sigh and shook her head, resolving herself to get out of the water and follow them.
"Akagi, wait!" Amagi complained, trying her best to keep up with Akagi. She was barely given enough time to change into her clothes, and she was trying to keep her kimono from spilling open.
Akagi didn't even look at her as she kept dragging her along the base by the arm. "Don't worry, Neesama. The clinic's right around the corner."
Amagi kept plodding along until she almost stumbled in her steps.
"Akagi, that's enough!" She cried, jerking her arm back to free it from her sister's hold. "What's gotten into you?! You are acting even more-" The sudden change between the hot temperature of the onsen and the cold air of the outside forced her to double down as one of her coughing fits came over, cutting off her tirade.
Akagi was by her side in a flash, holding her up as she soothed her back.
"It's okay, Neesama; I know it hurts, but don't worry, everything will be over soon."
Akagi's overly enthusiastic but also slightly forced undertone caught Amagi's attention. She raised her gaze to look at her sister and to see her face adorned with an ear-to-ear smile, something that, for some reason, felt slightly eerie, almost as if she was forcing herself to wear it.
"Akagi… What are you talking about?"
"They can heal you, Neesama. They can fix your Cube, aren't you glad?" She told her excitedly.
Amagi let out a sigh and shook her head. "Akagi, we've been through this…"
By now, Amagi had lost count of how many times she'd had that same conversation with her sister, of how many times she was given hope only for reality to come crashing down on her.
"But this time it's different, Neesama!" Akagi insisted. "Have you seen Yorktown? She told me herself. They have a machine here that can make your health improve."
"Akagi, there's nothing you or anyone can do about my illness; you need to accept it and let go," Amagi implored her. "Just like I've already done," she added in her mind.
In the beginning, Akagi's dedication to helping her was admirable, but after a while, it went way past the line of unhealthy obsession. The longer it went on, the harder it was for Amagi to rein her in.
"But Neesama-"
"Akagi, please, just stop…"
"Amagi-neesama," Kaga's voice interjected, the white fox having caught up to them after getting dressed as well. "You should listen to her."
"Now you too, Kaga?" Amagi turned to acknowledge her other sister with a dejected sigh.
"I know it might sound crazy, but why don't you give it a try?" Kaga tentatively asked her.
"I… I don't know…" Amagi pursed her lips. She didn't know what to do. If Kaga was also on board with this, maybe there was a small chance, but the last thing she wanted was another disappointment.
As Amagi pondered, realization slowly dawned on Akagi, the exchange between her sisters opening her eyes.
"Kaga… You already knew about it," Akagi stated, her voice matching the shock on her countenance.
"Kurama told me what Freedom was up to with Shikikan Travis and Enterprise," Kaga said, hanging her head. "Though I only just found out that they succeeded."
Mouth agape in disbelief, Akagi walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eyes.
"Why? Why didn't you say it sooner?" Akagi inquired, her voice reduced to a whisper, her tone laced with a mix of betrayal, disbelief, and accusation.
Kaga averted her gaze in shame. "What if I told you and it didn't work? I just wanted to spare you—both of you—another disappointment."
The response didn't help to assuage Akagi's upset. "You… You know very well that I've been looking for a way to cure her since... You could have said something, at least to me!"
"I'm sorry, Akagi-neesama."
"Akagi, it's okay," Amagi intervened after making up her mind. "Let's just hear what they have to say, okay? If it doesn't work, we'll just forget about all this. Sounds good?"
Taking a deep breath, Akagi let go of Kaga, and the two began trailing behind her, heading to the clinic without uttering a word.
AN: You know how it works by now. After a big battle, a few chapters to take our breaths, then back into the action.
Next Chapter: Azure Paler Than the Sky