"GGGUUUUOOOOAAAHHH! It's finally done!" My girlfriend stretched her body and screamed as if she had been sitting for 8 hours. It's still 10 O'clock, Stella. "Come here, Lena! Let me hug you!"
"Eh?" Before my daughter could do anything, Stella came and hugged her tightly. "Mmmh! Too tight! Mama! Help!" My adorable daughter seems to be in trouble. "Papa! Ah… I mean, commander Igo."
"You can call me papa, Lena." I approach my girlfriend and then karate chop her head. "Stop torturing my daughter, dummy."
"Ouchie! You're a big meanie!" I am.
"If you want to hug someone then do it to Nagato."
"Eh?" The cute fox was startled when I brought her up. "No! No! No! I'm good!" She is cute when she is embarrassed like this. "I think we should get going now, commander Stella."
"Aaawww~~! Come on! We just finished a meeting!" My girlfriend deflated like a stabbed balloon.
"Huh? What are you both talking about?"
"The head priestess of the sakura empire said that she wants to meet us." Ah! FOR FUCK SAKE! Let me rest for goodness gracious! "I understand your feelings, Igo. I truly do and I hope I can do something about this."
"You should do it fast because our escorts are already here." Kawakaze, I'm going to make you into my slave if you keep being like that.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Stella screams her heart out. Did she forget that we're still inside the building? "Rest please!" Who are you begging to, Stella?
"Greetings, we're here to escort you to the head priestess." 5 women who wear shrine maiden outfits approach and talk to us. The person in the middle talks to us and introduces herself. "My name is Yamada Inoue. It's my pleasure to be your acquaintance." She kinda reminds me of Flandre but I guess it's because she has the same last name. This woman has dark blue wavy shoulder length hair, fair skin with not even a single blemish, and a calm aura.
"So you become a shrine maiden huh, Yamada?" The fact that Stella knows who she is makes it more likely that Yamada has a connection with Flandre. "Well, if that's what you want then who am I to judge."
"It's been quite some time, Stella." The shrine maiden bowed her head. "Shall we make our way to the parking lot? We have prepared transportation for all of you."
"Sigh… can we not have lunch first?" Again, it's still 10, Stella. Lunch usually doesn't come for another 2 hours.
"Of course we have prepared food for you to eat on the way." She seems to know you well, Stella. "Please follow us." To stop Stella from even thinking of another excuse, the woman turns around and walks away. It'll be hella awkward if we decide not to follow her.
"..." The first one to move was Nagato. Not me or Stella, it was Nagato the little cutie patootie. Ah shit… This has something to do with her, huh… Well, better be a good commander and keep her company. I won't let some no good head priestess get my cutie Nagato.
"Come on, Stella. We can't leave the cute fox alone now can we?"
"UUUGGGHHH! FINE!"
With both of their commanders moving, the rest of the shipgirls soon follow. We go down using the escalators straight to the parking lot in the basement. While we were making our way down, I noticed that people were turning their heads away from us the moment we came near them. A pair of lovers suddenly break into a fight which cause them to turn their faces away from us, several books fall off from a bookcase which cause janitors to stop whatever they were doing an fix the issue, a sudden loud noise from a TV which cause the entire customers of a restaurant to look at said TV, and a lightbulb suddenly turn on and off erratically which cause some people to get spooked. That was only some handful of coincidences that happen as we ride the escalators down. It can't all be a coincidence, right? 1 or 2 is understandable but all of them when we're here? That's very unlikely.
"We apologize if this doesn't live up to your standard but it's the fastest thing we could get a hold of." In front of us was a line of buses. Luxury buses with full tinted glass which makes it impossible for anyone to look in. "If you please." The door of the first bus opened wide and Yamada gestured for us to walk in.
When we enter the room, we are welcomed by a faint smell of minty lavender plus a little bit of lilac. The inside of the bus wasn't as dark as I expected, it's warmly lit with yellow and orange lights on the roof of the bus. The seats are also different from the usual bus, it's more similar to the heavily armored train from this morning.
"We can only accommodate twelve people plus their guide in one bus. Those that didn't get any seats, please move to the other bus." All of this space is just for 13 people, huh. Well, technically the bus driver too but she is sitting on her own seat so she doesn't count.
"Where's the food?!" My girlfriend brazenly sits on one of the seats and screams out. I was about to be mad at her but the rumbling from her stomach stopped me in my tracks. She really is hungry.
"After everyone takes their seat, Stella."
"Stella, don't be rude."
"I'm not being rude. We were scheduled to have lunch after the meeting, Igo. I'm just upholding their promise." I suppose what Stella is saying is kinda true if it was scheduled like that. "We're going to meet with the head priestess, do you think you'll be able to act normal in an empty stomach?" Yeah, fair point. Embarrassing myself in front of someone so important is definitely not something that I want to do.
"Sigh… Lena, don't become someone like aunty Stella, okay?"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"You never change, do you?" Yamada commented.
Once everyone was seated, the bus started moving and Yamada walked to the back and went behind a red curtain. Please don't come out with a gun! Please don't come out with a gun! Thankfully, Yamada came back with 2 meals in a ready to eat packaging that were steaming hot.
"Here's your meal. It's fresh. We prepared just before we picked you up." Yamada placed the meal in front of Stella and me. Wait, me too?
"Eat it while it's still hot, Igo. Although Yamada's cooking is good no matter the temperature, it's usually better when it's hot." Hmm? Is that so? Stella opens up the packaging of her meal and that beautiful smell of a delicious meal instantly disperse to every corner of the bus. "Aaah~~ Seriously, I thought you were going to be a professional chef or something like that, Yamada."
"Thank you for the compliment but I don't fit well in a hectic environment like that." Ah… Chefs do work in a stressful environment, huh? You have to cook delicious food fast and if you fuck even one things up, your restaurant could be condemned. "Being a shrine maiden fits me better."
"Alright. I won't pry." Stella grabs the utensils in the packaging and starts devouring her meal. "By the way, everyone is eyeing me cause they're hungry as well."
"I shall prepare the rest of the meal." And with that, Yamada returns back to the back.
"You seem to know her well, Stella." I opened the packaging of my meal and my nose was assaulted by the fatty smells of the curry. I love that smell. The brown stew was filled with bits of chicken, potatoes, and carrots. The steaming rice wasn't too lumpy so that it'll make a large ball when you try to scoop it up but not too dry that it feels like you're hitting a rock when pushing your spoon into the rice.
"She was a part of Azur Lane three years ago." Ah… I see. "She quit and it seems she has decided to become a shrine maiden." Considering that she doesn't like to work in a hectic environment, I say that's on brand. Fighting the siren does become hectic sometime, especially when they decide to deploy the Arsenal Bird. "She makes incredible meals though." I can tell by how fast you're devouring your food.
"Miss Yamada, do you perhaps have a handkerchief or a tissue?"
"Yes, please wait a moment." Yamada comes back from the back while carrying 2 meals in her hands and then places it in front of Helena and Lena before she comes to us and gives me a pack of tissues. "You should try becoming a more elegant lady, Stella. For your boyfriend."
"Why should I? He accepts me for what I am!" Miss Yamada, elegance doesn't work on me as it works on other men. I've seen several elegant ladies, namely Hood, who acts more slutty than a non-elegant lady like Stella.
"It must be hard for you, Mister Igo." In more ways than one.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it. Thank you for the meal." I put some of the brown stew onto the rice and then scoop said rice and eat it. Fucking damn! Stella wasn't kidding when she said that Yamada is a good cook. "This is wonderful!"
"Thank you." I was going to ask if she would be willing to become my wife but I can't say it when my daughter is here. It'll be a bad influence for her. Well, I'm just going to shut up and enjoy the meal.
.
.
.
"FINALLY! TECHNOLOGY!" I cry out in joy when I see an escalator in front of me. "NO MORE STAIRS!"
"Is he okay?"
"Don't worry. He was forced to climb a lot of stairs in our base and now he hates them." It's all because of the cutie patootie fox! I will fuck her! "Come on, Igo. Let's enjoy the technology that you're yearning for."
We ride the elevators up the hill toward a magnificent looking establishment. I'm hesitant to call it a mere shrine as it's more similar to a village rather than A shrine. The village consists mostly of wooden buildings with the triangle roof. Land seems to not be a concern for people living here since their buildings are much wider than a normal house in Nagoya.
"Welcome to Miko village. Mister Igo, you would be the first man to set foot here."
"Eh? Is that okay?" The first man in Azur Lane and the first man to come to The Miko village but what really matters to me is Sheffy's first. "Wouldn't I get into trouble?"
"Everyone has been notified so it should be okay." 'Should'?
I will be lying if I say that I wasn't intimidated. Being the only man here and probably in miles really put some pressure on me. I'm probably will be used as an example of a man for these shrine maidens and if I fuck it up, all men will have a weird image to live up to in these shrine maidens' heads.
Reaching the top, the open wooden gate welcomes us with an open arm. I'm not even in the village yet and there's already eyes glued onto me by the curious young shrine maidens.
"Mister Igo, everyone in this village is a shrine maiden or a soon to be shrine maiden. Girls from all corners of The Sakura Empire gather here to learn what it takes to be a shrine maiden." So does that mean I can't fuck around and find out? Got it! "Every girl with any kind of background is here. Orphans, abandoned children, gifted highschool students, optimistic kindergarteners, and ex-military personnel. Everyone is here. Everyone is accepted."
"I see…" As we walk past the gate, the gazes grow more intensely accompanied by murmurs and whispers.
"Is that a man?" "Yes it is, Hinata." "You should add more details, Hori. Hinata hasn't seen a man in her life before so she wouldn't know. That's a foreign man, Hinata." "Foreign?" "Indeed. Most likely from the western hemisphere." "You can tell, Sui?" "Yes. I've met several of them when I was still an office worker." "Are they kind?" "Some of them are loud horny monkeys that hit on everyone they see." "Maybe this one is different." "Perhaps. He isn't making a move to Inoue. Anyway, make sure to not get too close to him."
"How much do you think he can lift?" "He looks pretty fit so maybe ten kilograms?" "He's a man, no? Shouldn't he be able to lift way more than we do?" "For sure." "So maybe twenty kilograms?" "Do you think he's athletic too?" "Perhaps. He's in the military, isn't he? Don't they train their soldiers well?" "From what I remembered from my time in the army, we do normal exercise and nothing special." "But he is a man so he should be more developed than us."
"His shoulders are much wider than I thought." "Hehehe~~ I told you! I'm an expert when it comes to men?" "Do all of them have red spiky hairs?" "No, of course not!" "He is walking beside Inoue. Does that mean he is her boyfriend?" "Eh?! That's–! Mmh! Anoo!"
The translator earpiece is working wonderfully which makes me understand what these girls are whispering about and it's hard to ignore some of them. Don't fuck it up! Don't fuck it up! I don't want to be the asshole that tarnishes the image of a man in their minds.
"There's nothing to worry about, Mister Igo." Huh? "I'm sure you will be remembered positively by everyone."
"I hope so. My apology for not knowing about the sakuran culture but is it forbidden for a shrine maiden to have a relationship with a man?"
"Depending on what type of relationship. Shrine maidens symbolize purity so someone who wishes to be a shrine maiden also needs to be pure." That's a pretty subjective thing, right? "This village is built to help shrine maidens achieve said purity by isolating them from the outside world."
"Isn't that a little bit too harsh?"
"It's something one must accept to be a shrine maiden." I guess there's a reason as to why this is a special occupation, huh? If everyone can do it then there's no need for a special label. "Shrine maiden is also much more connected to sakuran magic. We can't risk any misuse of higher level sakuran magic."
"I see…" In Nagoya, every 5 people there's at least 1 person that has special features while in this place, everyone has special features. "Miss Yamada, I'm sorry to ask but do you not have special features like ears or tail?"
"I do." You do? Is my eyes tricking me? I don't see it. "I hide them as it's inconvenient to have them out all the time." So she is so high level in sakuran magic that she can hide her special features, huh? I wonder what other kinds of magic she has in store.
We kept walking on the main road toward a massive castle that stood at the center of the village. Seven story stone castle with that authentic sakuran style and a massive fucking cherry blossom tree beside the castle. That tree is almost as big as the castle for goodness sake! The fuck did they feed that tree to get that big!?
"That's the sacred sakura." I can tell. This village is mostly decorated by cherry blossom trees and yet that's the only one who grows that big. "Please wait a moment. I will open a hole in the barrier." In the fucking what?
Yamada and the other shrine maidens that accompany us step forward and start chanting. Yamada's special features start growing as she chants away. Dark blue puffy tail with black stripes and black tip emerges from her tailbone area. On her head, a pair of cute triangle ears pops out from underneath her hair. On her face, 2 pairs of thin white whiskers grow from her cheeks.
"It is done. Let us continue."
"Stairs…" Unlike the first climb, the stairs to the castle aren't motorized. The journey isn't as long as the first one but stairs are still stairs. I hate them.
"Ah… apologize. Yumi." Yamada turns her head to one of her co-shrine maiden who has the features of a meerkat. A pair of small circular ears and a thin long tail. Yumi nods her head before crouching down and chanting some magic mumbo jumbo. After she was done, she planted her palms onto the stairs and said stairs began moving like an escalator. "I believe this is better, no?"
"Please teach me that particular spell."
"You should ask the head priestess about that." Is that spell really that high level that I need the permission of the boss to learn about it?!
The group use the moving stone stairs to climb onto the castle's front door. A massive dark brown wooden double door stood tall in front of us. My neck hurt from trying to see the top. Etch on it are beautiful carvings of mythical beings. Serpent-like dragons, nine tailed foxes, two-tailed cats, men with wings and long noses, multi-headed snakes, and etc. On both sides of the door, there are twin shrine maidens that act like a pair of guards.
"..." The twin shrine maidens make eye contact with Yamada before they begin chanting something unknown. Not only that, their hands also are moving, making shapes and intertwining their fingers. These 2 shrine maidens are so in sync with one another that I couldn't notice any kind of delay nor differences in their movements or chants. They must've been practicing like crazy to achieve such synchronicity.
*CLAP*
The twin clap and the massive door begin to move. Are we going to fight the boss? Fuck! I haven't grinded the middle levels! My equipment and skills are surely underleveled for this boss!
Beyond the grand double door is an equally grand room. The ceiling is so fucking high! What do they plan to fit in here?! A crane?! This room has 8 pairs of red pillars with a diameter of at least 1 - 1,5 meter. Beautiful, clean, and glossy wooden floor that reflects my face when I look down. The sidewalls of the room are made out of wooden doors which are now opened to let sunlight in. On the left and right side of the room are a bunch of shrine maidens, creating the illusion of a path in the center of the room. The most important feature of this room is directly on the opposite side of the room from the double door. An elevated platform with a shrine maiden sitting gracefully in seiza position. Behind said shrine maiden is a symbol of yin and yang.
"Head priestess, we are here with Azur Lane."
"Thank you."
"!" Her voice sounds less like a human voice in the ears and more like a gentle wind in the brain. It feels weird! It's like she speaks directly into my brain! My ears don't even register that they caught her voice.
"You may return." Our guides bow their bodies before they walk and join the swarm of shrine maidens either to the left or the right side of the room. "Welcome, Azur Lane."
"Come on, Igo. There's no need for cold feet." My girlfriend nonchalantly takes off her shoes and then walks forward toward the head priestess. She is so calm about this. She must have done this before. "Greetings, Head Priestess Ochi Sanae." Stella's translator spoke up in sakuran afterward.
The head priestess has black long hair, a pair of fox ears on her head, a pale white skin like the snow, and gray eyes watching my every movement. Similar to Akagi and Kaga, Ochi Sanae has 9 nine fox tails but her color is black with white tips. She wears a shoulderless white kimono and a black long pleated skirt.
"Greetings, Admiral of The Navy Stella of Azur Lane." Guh! This is going to take some time to get used to. I follow Stella's example and walk forward until I'm directly next to Stella. 2 cushions fly from behind the head priestess and land in front of me and Stella. "Please sit."
"Sigh… Sorry for being rude, Sanae. I believe we had a discussion for this meeting."
"Yes."
"So why are we meeting here? My partner is being intimidated by the show you are putting on." They can cast testicular torsion on me, Stella! And do you see how many there are!? Imagine all of them casting testicular torsion on me!
"Who causes you to worry for your own safety, Admiral Igo of Azur Lane?" Huh? The head priestess eyes focus on me and scan my entire being, inside and out. "Let it be known that you are under my protection. Anyone who threatens or causes you discomfort will have to talk to me." The pressure I'm feeling is fucking immense! Who put an elephant on my shoulders!? "Tell me, Admiral Igo. What causes you to feel discomfort?"
"Ah! No! I'm just nervous since someone said that I'm the first man that set foot here. Is that true?"
"Yes." Don't just answer that question so easily! It's putting more pressure on my back! "Do people question your legitimacy to enter this place, Admiral Igo? Tell me their names." Guh! Her voice tone is normal and yet why do I feel like she is commanding me?!
"No! No! No one has done that!" I don't know why but it feels like if someone was to threaten me, I would've blurted out their names or features to the head priestess right here right now. I feel like a child being asked by the teacher to point out who bullied me. "It's just the feeling I get as I walk here."
"..." The head priestess eyes me like she tried to strip me bare in her mind. I'm telling the truth, woman! Believe me! Please don't get someone in trouble because of me. "If you say so." Thank you for dropping the case.
"Good afternoon, Head Priestess Ochi Sanae." The cutie patootie small fox girl walked up to us and sat down next to me. I want to hug her and cuddle her right in front of everyone.
"It's nice to meet you again, Nagato." A cute fox and an intimidating fox are communicating with each other. Is this how foxes communicate in the wild? "I see that you are doing well." You're welcome!
"Yes, I've been blessed with good health." And a good commander too, no?
"Tell me, Nagato. What are you thinking right now?"
"Ah…"
"You have been thinking about the Arsenal Bird, no?"
"..." Hit her right on the head. "Yes."
"We are weapons to defend The Sakura Empire but that does not mean you are allowed to sacrifice yourself without a plan." Let's not think about sacrifice before any other plan, okay? Sacrifice should be at the last list of plans and not the first. "Tell me, what have your commanders taught you so far?"
"Eh?"
"Of course I have taught her a lot!" Stella, your nose will touch the sun if you lift your head that high.
"I'm more interested in what Admiral Igo has taught you." What? Me? "He might be new but you should be able to learn something from him no matter how short the time is if he is indeed a great person." Should I be flattered that she thought of me as a great person?
"Well… I… Uuuh… Anoo…" I think this is a bad start for me when Nagato is acting nervous to that question. Should I step in? I don't want to be rude but I also don't want The Head Priestess to think that I'm some sort of a bum. "You see… He… Mmmhh…" The cutie's face is blushing and she can't keep her composure and could only look down.
"Hmmm…" Nagato, The Head Priestess is looking at me pretty hard! You gotta answer her question or I'm gonna get zapped by lightning! "Would you mind answering in her stead, Admiral Igo?" Is it a good idea to ask the teacher what his student has learnt from him? "What have you taught Nagato in your short time as Admiral?"
"I taught her to use her rigging less."
"May I know the reason?" I'm glad that she is intrigued and not outright mad at me.
"I want her to learn how to use her rigging more efficiently." It sounds counterintuitive, I know. "The first thing she needs to train is her brain. To see opportunities and threats more clearly before using her rigging to fight."
"If efficiency is what you want then shouldn't you train her to enter the hyperfocus state? One's strength is one of the requirements needed for someone to enter a hyperfocus state and I believe Nagato has plenty of it." A basketball player is most likely to enter the hyperfocus state when they're playing basketball and this presumably can be applied to shipgirls that are fighting. So to some extent, it can be said someone has to have a prerequisite skill in that area to enter the hyperfocus state.
"Indeed, I couldn't deny that. Hyperfocus state or zone is a state where someone gives them all to finish a task but it also has a side effect that causes that same person to be less aware of their surroundings."
"Which in this case would make them at risk of getting caught in a trap."
"Yes." It's like their view got shrunk into a cone to focus on things that they're hyper focused on. "One of the ways to lessen this effect is to either never enter the hyperfocus state or to train the brain to notice threats before they become one." Like I said, hyperfocus states cause people to use everything they have to finish a task including the brain. "If she trains her brain to come up with a plan and recognize threats, those same skills will be amplified to their maximum when she enters the hyperfocus state. Making it hard for Nagato to fall into an enemy trap. Even if she doesn't, it would still be beneficial for Nagato to have them."
"If that's what you believe is the best course for Nagato to take then I have no complaints." Does that mean you approve of our marriage, Mother in Law? "Please take care of Nagato, Admiral Igo." That's a 'YES' in my book!
"Especially when one of them is listening to our conversation right now~"
"Kufufufu~~ Apologies for answering honestly, commandant."
"Lena will grow to be a spoiled child if you keep spoiling her like this."
"But, please hold yourself. Please don't seduce all of these pure shrine maidens, okay?"
"That should address your concern."