The rays of the sun filtered through the window, hitting Emperor's eyelids and making him stir in his sleep.

"Good morning, Master. I hope you slept well," Hermione said with a smile and a bow of her head. The maid was the one who had opened the blinds of his room's window, and was now standing straight next to it, waiting for him to fully wake up.

Emperor turned his head toward her and let out a blissful sigh as he took in the sight of the rays of sunshine enveloping the figure of his personal maid. "Good morning to you, Hermione. Today you look even more blinding than these rays of sunshine~"

A chuckle escaped the maid's lips. "You seem to be in a good mood today, Master."

"Of course I am. My little brother is safe and sound, and my personal maid is waking me up with the loveliest smile; this day couldn't have started in a better way," Emperor said, returning the smile. "Though I'd much rather wake up in bed with you next to me~"

A hard blush came to adorn Hermione's cheeks, her smile widening even more as she brought a hand to cover her mouth, eliciting a snicker from the shipboy. "Master, please don't tease your maid too much."

The two had settled into a comfortable routine since arriving at the base. Every morning, the maid would personally wake him up, and they'd eat breakfast together in the Royal Navy dorm with Chaser, Unicorn, and some other Kansen before Hermione went to perform her duties with Belfast and her other fellow maids.

And today wasn't any different, except for the fact that he had asked her to find something for him the previous day.

"Did you bring it?" He asked her.

"It's right here, Master," Hermione said, producing an envelope and offering it to him as he stood up and approached her to examine it. "Please, allow me to assist you."

"But of course, how could I possibly say no to such a request?" Emperor said, taking a step back in the middle of the room and proceeding to take off his sleepwear.

Hermione busied herself with unwrapping the envelope, pushing back the blush on her face as he undressed. Once he was done and down to just his underpants, she approached him with the garb in her hands and helped him put it on. She made sure the tight-fitting black attire was buttoned up, perfectly crisp and neat on every part of his body, but once she reached his left arm to adjust his sleeve, she paused.

A series of thin scars were etched into the pale skin of his wrist. Some were perfectly parallel with one another, while others were more irregular with their pattern and were all aligned along his forearm.

Her hesitation grabbed his attention, and the shipboy regarded her with a soft smile.

"Sometimes the pain of loss and the weight of responsibility are too much of a burden," he said, raising his arm and adjusting the black sleeve himself. Hermione looked up at him with a bemused expression, concern and distress evident on her face. Her mouth opened to say something, but she couldn't find the right words.

"Don't worry, Hermione, these are a matter of a past that I've already left behind. They are rather ugly, but I don't mind them much anymore," he said as he buttoned the sleeve around his wrist.

"I... I understand, Master. Please forgive my rudeness," Hermione apologized with a slight bow. Suddenly, the conversation she had heard between him and Leviathan that time on the deck of her ship assumed a totally different meaning.

"There's nothing to forgive," Emperor said, giving a nice tug to the ribbon under his neck. "Come on, give me a smile; it suits you a lot better than that gloomy expression."

Hermione complied, letting out a genuine smile, his cheerful attitude affecting her as always.

"That's more like it," Emperor said, giving her a smile of his own. "Now, let us go. We have work to do."

"Yes, Master."

With that said, the two of them left the room and headed to the kitchen.

Elizabeth let out a frustrated sigh.

Another day, another morning she had to spend talking with the faction leaders and the Commander, then a quick lunch, and then back into the meeting room. By now they were done discussing anything political-related, and every discussion revolved around the matter of the Original Sirens and their strategy for dealing with an invasion. Logistics, troop deployment, potential targets of interest—everything they could discuss in advance that could give them even the slightest advantage against the enemy was brought up, including Nagato's report regarding Shinano's ability to communicate with the shipboys' world. They needed to get everything sorted out before the arrival of the higher-ups so that they could present them with a proper plan of action; it was the minimum they could do if they wanted to get them to listen to them.

Luckily, the talks usually ended right on time for her afternoon tea, which gave her plenty of time to spend with the comrades she hadn't seen in a while.

Flanked by Warspite, Elizabeth walked along the hallways of the Royal Navy dorm, heading for the dining room. Surprisingly, there was no one outside to open the door for her. She was about to voice her disapproval to her sister, but then, with a loud creak, the double door opened on its own to reveal a figure she was much too familiar with; it was Emperor, much to her chagrin.

The man had forgone his hat and was wearing a black butler suit with a white shirt under a black blazer, a black ribbon right on the collar of his uniform, and pristine white gloves on his hands.

She paused in her tracks and her jaw hit the floor at the sight of him. He also had a monocle on his left eye; did he even need the bloody thing? What in the hell was this bloke up to? Was this another way to make fun of her?

"Good morning, Your Majesty," the shipboy welcomed her with a smile and a curtsy worthy of the most qualified butler in the Royal Navy. "Would you like a cup of tea? A bath? Or maybe…?"

His words lingered in the air for a second and silence settled between them, immediately breached by Elizabeth's screech.

"BELFAAAST! COME HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"Did you call, Your Majesty?" Belfast appeared seemingly out of nowhere from the side of the door.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Elizabeth pointed her finger at the male Kansen in indignation. "Why didn't you stop this blockhead?! He's insulting my stature and disgracing the good name of the Maid Corps with this travesty of his!"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but this was partly my idea," Belfast revealed, bowing her head to her queen.

Both Elizabeth's and Warspite's jaws went even more slack at her words.

Seeing that neither the monarch nor her bodyguard were giving any sign of recovering from the shock, Belfast began explaining.

"This is Lord Emperor's way of apologizing for his crass behavior during the meeting. When he expressed his wish to make amends, Hermione sent him to me, and I suggested he put himself in your service as a show of goodwill, if only temporarily."

To corroborate Belfast's words, the shipboy went down on his knee and bowed his head to the queen. "Indeed, Your Majesty, I only wish to make it up to you. You went out of your way to look out for me and my brothers this entire time, and I repaid you by disrespecting you and your stature in front of everyone in a fit of rage. I can only beg your forgiveness and hope that you'll find my service to your liking."

Elizabeth grimaced, a series of conflicting emotions clashing inside her. She was still angry at him and didn't want to appear as if her rage was so easily quenched, but at the same time, she was rather thrilled at the idea of seeing him grovel at her feet for the rest of the day.

Was she really about to be persuaded by pretty words… again?

Of course she was.

"Are you sure about this?" Leviathan asked. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I've been cooped up in a cell long enough," Lenin replied as he warmed up, stretching his limbs. "Besides, I need to blow off some steam…" His words trailed off as things he'd rather forget came to his mind.

"In that case, feel free to go all out; I'll gladly act as your punching bag for today," Leviathan said. He took off his cape and moved to the center of the open area, right next to the port's training bay. The bay itself was already occupied, so the two had to make do with the solid concrete. In the background, since Kurama was nowhere to be seen, Zuikaku and Kawakaze were sparring by themselves. Out to sea, the three South Dakota sisters were busy practicing with Freedom, and further away, Enterprise and Kaga were having another one of their mock battles; the white fox was eager to put her newfound firepower to the test against her lifelong rival.

"Hehe, fine, but don't go crying to your mistress after," Lenin replied with a smirk.

With that said, he lunged at Leviathan, taking a swing at him. Instead of moving out of the way, the taller man raised his fists and blocked his punch, doing the same with those that came after. Lenin began bouncing on the balls of his feet, sidestepping left and right, trying to find an opening in his guard. The icebreaker put a few feints in his attacks, but the battleship didn't flinch as he followed his every move and blocked each and every one of his swings.

Sensing that the shorter shipboy was getting frustrated, he lowered his guard to better match his eight and offered him a few openings to exploit. Lenin smirked as his attacks began to connect, completely unaware of the fact that Leviathan was the one allowing them through.

They kept going at it for a few minutes, with the icebreaker landing a few hits and the battleship shrugging off most of them, until Leviathan took advantage of a moment of respite between attacks to warn his brother.

"Heads up, Lenin. From now on, I'm going on the offensive," Leviathan declared.

"Fine by me!"

This time, it was Leviathan's turn to lunge at his brother. The taller man reared his fist back, and Lenin took a different stance, bracing himself for what was coming. He stepped to the side, narrowly dodging the straight at his face, but his foot tripped on something, and he lost his balance, falling unceremoniously on his butt.

"What the fu- A plushy?!" Lenin wondered aloud once he glanced at the thing at his feet.

It looked like a stuffed animal—a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail, a golden horn on its head, and a pair of small, white wings on its back. Lenin stood up and grabbed it by the tail, dangling it in front of him to take a better look at it as Leviathan stepped back in confusion.

"I've seen it somewhere before," Leviathan mused. "Isn't this the doll that Unicorn girl is always carrying around? The one who's always hanging out with that Illustrious lady."

"I don't know; you tell me, I only just got here," Lenin shrugged. He didn't have the time to ask what to do with it that the plushy began moving in his hand, struggling against his grip like an angry cat.

"Woah! This thing's alive!" He let go of the creature in surprise, and the unicorn fell to the ground before shaking off like a dog after a bath and bolting away from there.

But Leviathan had already summoned his chains. He threw one at it, like a cowboy with a lasso, catching it before it could run away.

"So that's how it ended up here. But I don't remember it being able to move on its own…" Leviathan wondered aloud, retrieving the chain as the creature struggled in vain against it.

"What do you want to do with it? Feed it to Liebe?" Lenin inquired.

The poor unicorn froze at his words and began shivering in fear, his inexpressive eyes welling up in what appeared to be tears.

"Let's return it to its owner. We'll continue this later."

"Ugh, fine," Lenin lamented as the two male Kansen left for the Royal Navy dorm.

"Yuni…" Unicorn hugged her legs, hiding her face behind her knees, her eyes on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry, Unicorn," Laffey said, affectionately patting her head.

"We'll find U-chan before it gets dark; it's a promise," Ayanami said in a comforting tone.

"Do you remember where you last saw it?" Admiral Graf Spee asked her.

"I… I do, but... one moment she was there… the other she wasn't anymore," the little carrier replied, distraught.

Whenever she lost her plushy, it was usually her own fault for putting it somewhere, then getting distracted by something else and forgetting where she HAD left it. Thanks to the method Illustrious had taught her—retracing her own steps until she found it—it usually took her a few minutes to locate it. But this time it was different; this time it had just disappeared from under her nose.

Since they were outside, maybe a gust of wind had taken it away, or someone had misplaced it while she wasn't looking? But they had already checked everywhere around the dorm, and there was no trace of Yuni.

"Come on, guys, there's no way she just disappeared," Z23 declared. "Let's double check the surroundings."

At her words, the group split again. How far could a plushy go on its own? It's not like it was alive or anything.

As the group of destroyers, the heavy cruiser, and the light carrier checked the front garden of the Royal Navy dorm for the umpteenth time, Leviathan and Lenin arrived. Graf Spee was the first to notice their presence and waved at the battleship with a smile. Then she paused in confusion when she realized that the man was holding Unicorn's plushy in his hands. The stuffed animal had stopped struggling against her binding, and Leviathan had seen fit to recall his chains, allowing her to get comfortable in his arms as he held her like a baby.

"Leviathan? And isn't that... Yuni?" The other shipgirls perked up at her words as she greeted the new arrivals.

"Hey, Spee, how's it going?" Leviathan greeted her back.

"Yuni! You found her!" Unicorn sprang to her feet and ran up to the male Kansen. Her plushy woke up from her sleep, and upon hearing her owner's voice, she excitedly jumped from his arms into hers, under the confused gaze of all those present.

Even Unicorn didn't know how to react when Yuni snuggled into her arms like a kitten. "Yuni… you can move! That's awesome!" With a bright smile on her face, the shipgirl began spinning around in happiness, hugging the plushy tight to her chest. "Thank you so much for bringing her back!" The others gathered around her, marveling at the sight of what was supposed to be an ordinary stuffed animal acting like a puppy, and wondering how it was possible.

"Wow, she's so cute." "Aw, look at her flapping her little wings!" Javelin and Shimakaze cooed.

"It was nothing, little one," Leviathan said, bringing a hand to his chin in thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another man approaching them; it was Emperor.

"Ah, so that's what all the fuss was about," Emperor said. Following Elizabeth's order, he had come to check on the noise and was surprised to find the other two shipboys with Unicorn and her friends in the front garden.

Leviathan and Lenin did a double take at seeing his attire, and a bunch of questions popped into their minds as he approached them. The icebreaker couldn't hold it in; he snorted in derision and let out a resounding laugh.

"You clown," Lenin let out as he tried to recover from the laughing fit. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

"Hey, mind your language, especially in front of Unicorn," Emperor reproached him. "So, why are you guys here?"

"For that," Leviathan said, nodding his head toward the group of shipgirls, who were still fawning over the small "animal."

"Big brother, look! Yuni is alive; she can move!" Unicorn ran up to him, showing off her plushy. Emperor raised an eyebrow at her, but his expression shifted into one of delight when he saw the smile on her face.

"That's… incredible, Unicorn," Emperor said, genuine surprise and confusion in his tone.

"Big brother?" Lenin frowned at the moniker, regarding Emperor with a questioning look.

Emperor let out a sly grin. "Right, you didn't know. You see, I found myself a little sister, and she's a lot nicer than you." He said as he crouched to pick up Unicorn, putting her on his shoulder and eliciting a yelp of surprise from her.

"WHAT?!" Lenin yelled, confused and outraged.

"That's right, Lenin. Unicorn's such a sweet girl; she lets me pat her on the head whenever I want, and she doesn't call me names, unlike you." His voice took on a more insulting tone as he sneered at his brother, and Unicorn blushed at his words, hiding her face behind her plushy.

Lenin was fuming. He didn't know why, but the mere concept of Emperor finding a little sister to dote on and the sight of him showing off like that was annoying, and it was even more annoying that he found it annoying.

"B-big brother, please put me down," Unicorn pleaded from above. "I-it's embarrassing… being held so high."

"Oh, sorry, little one. There you go." Once Unicorn was back on the ground and the shipgirls went back to gushing over her plushy, Leviathan addressed Emperor.

"What do you make of it, brother?"

"Mmh… I don't know; she clearly used Wisdom Crafting to imbue her plushy with her own Cube's energy and bring it to life, but I never taught her how to do it, and even if I did, it'd be too soon to manifest it," Emperor mused aloud. "She must have picked up on it by herself while I was showing the ropes to Chaser, but it doesn't make sense; she was with us only a couple of times while we did it. There's no way she could understand the process just by that."

"I see… Hey, Unicorn, can you tell us how long you've had your Yuni?" Leviathan asked the little carrier with a smile and a friendly tone.

"Um… I've had her for as long as I can remember, Mister Leviathan. Why? Is it a bad thing?" Unicorn asked him.

"Oh no, don't worry, just my curiosity," Leviathan reassured her, and the shipgirl turned her attention back to her stuffed unicorn, who was being passed along by her friends and smothered like a pillow.

"That's interesting," Emperor said to his brother. "She's so attached to her plushy that she must have been subconsciously pouring a slight amount of her energy from her Cube into it for the longest time, and now that she's been made aware of what Wisdom Crafting is, what must have been an innocent fantasy of hers has become reality."

"Well, it seems we have a little prodigy on our hands," Leviathan said with a smile. "Or maybe the Kansen of this world are that much more attuned to their Cubes than we thought."

Lenin had been listening intently to his brothers' musings, and what he was hearing left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't the latest Kansen brought to life by the Cubes in their world, but he was effectively the youngest ship, which meant he had a lot less experience under his belt compared to his brothers and comrades. He figured he could make up for it in training, and he had been diligently practicing for ages just to catch up with them. Unfortunately, it took him months just to perfect his control over his Cube, to say nothing of Wisdom Crafting, which he had never been able to unlock; in fact, he was the only one of his brothers still able to summon his hull. The others had told him multiple times not to think too much about it and that having in their group at least one Kansen still capable of calling out his ship was very helpful, but even their kind words didn't help with his sense of ineptitude. He had been struggling with it for the longest time, and now this half-pint of a carrier came out of nowhere, showing him up without even doing it on purpose.

He couldn't accept that.

"Where are you going, Lenin?" Leviathan asked him when the icebreaker turned on his heels and walked away.

"Anywhere that's not here!" With that said, the shipboy disappeared behind the gate of the garden, heading back to the docks on his own.

"And there he goes..." Emperor commented. "Oh well, I believe I should take my leave too before Elizabeth-"

"Servant! What's taking you so long?!" Elizabeth's altered voice came from afar.

"Yeah, that," Emperor grimaced, then an idea came to his mind. "Hey, everyone, the queen and the others are having a tea party in the back; why don't you join us too? I'm sure they won't mind."

"Oh, that's a splendid idea," Javelin was the first to answer, and she began dragging her friends toward the backyard, where the senior Kansen and the members of the Royal Court were having tea.

"Forgive my tardiness, Your Majesty; I just found a few guests who wish to join you," Emperor said to Elizabeth once the group reached the garden in the back of the dorm.

"Oh, Javelin and friends? Prepare a table for them and see that they are tended to," the queen ordered.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Emperor said, bowing to her before showing the way to the group.

A bunch of rounds, white tables had been laid out in the garden, with a bunch of shipgirls, mainly Royals, sitting at them, making small conversation while sipping tea and eating snacks.

Unicorn ran off to where Illustrious was sitting, eager to tell her what happened. The elder carrier was rather taken aback by the news and sought Emperor with her gaze in concern; After receiving a nod of reassurance from the shipboy, she smiled and patted both Unicorn and her plushy on the head before letting her go back to her friends.

After greeting Elizabeth, Leviathan spotted Bismarck and August sitting at one of the tables, chatting with King George V and another Kansen he didn't recognize. Seeing that August was also there and that there was a vacant place at the table, he decided to approach them.

"Meine Liebe, how nice of you to join us," August said. Following the royal protocol, with which she was plenty familiar with, she offered her hand for him to kiss. The man was more than happy to oblige, delicately planting his lips on her digits in front of the amused expression of the other Kansen.

"Forgive my intrusion, ladies; may I sit here?"

The unknown shipgirl gestured for him to take a seat with a smile and addressed the man once he was comfortable. "I don't think we've been introduced yet, Mister Leviathan; I am Hood, senior Kansen of the Royal Navy."

"Hood… the Glory of the Royal Navy; I've heard about you from my fellow Iron Blood," he said as he glanced at Bismarck. He had heard about the two of them having a history from August, in both their times as warships and Kansen, but he didn't imagine them to be on such good terms.

"Only good things, I hope," Hood joked.

"But of course, ma'am. They wouldn't stop singing your praises, especially a certain someone," Leviathan said, raising a telling eyebrow.

Bismarck choked on her tea and coughed in her hand as both Hood, August, and George laughed.

"That's not true at all…" Bismarck recovered and crossed her arms, averting her gaze in offense.

"Oh, Biscuit, it speaks volumes when no one mentions your name but you still feel called out," Hood tittered.

Bismarck's eyes went wide in realization, and a slight blush came to adorn her cheeks as she adjusted her black officer hat on her head, mortified.

They kept teasing the battleship for a few more minutes, reveling into the predicament they were putting her into, until King George V decided to come to her rescue, switching topic to something more serious.

"As much as I'd like to spend the entire afternoon watching Bismarck squirming in embarrassment, I'd like to take advantage of your presence here to ask you something, Leviathan," George said with a serious tone.

"Ask away, King George," Leviathan said, putting down his cup.

"We still don't know when the next planetary alignment will take place, but suppose we manage to create the portal for your world in time…" she trailed off, tracing her cup with her finger. "After all is said and done, what are you guys going to do?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"From what I've seen, some of you have found someone you might be reluctant to part with, whether it's a lover or a sibling, so I was wondering... is it really necessary to try so hard for something you admittedly might not need in the first place?"

"George…" Hood chastised her. George's voice and eyes lacked any hint of accusation or hostility; there was just earnest and genuine curiosity. Nevertheless, it was still a little insensitive on her part to bring up such a topic completely out of the blue.

And yet Leviathan didn't seem too bothered by it; August, on the other hand, was clearly on edge, glancing nervously at him from the side.

"No, Miss Hood, that's a totally legitimate question," Leviathan reassured her, then crossed his arms on his chest and frowned in thought. Although the idea had already crossed his mind, he had never really given it much thought until now.

"I won't speak for my brothers, for it will be their own decision to make, but I... have found my place, and I won't forsake it for anything in the world," he declared, glancing over at August and bringing his hand to clasp hers above the table. The carrier's expression lit up like a beacon, and a bright smile appeared on her face; her lips trembled as she clutched his lover's hand in her own.

"If anything, I'll take advantage of the portal to tell my brothers—my real brothers—of my situation and find some closure with them. While I was never that close to them, they deserve to know what happened and the circumstances of my decision… Not to mention our previous commander; knowing that he's still out there, thinking of all of us dead doesn't sit well with me," Leviathan continued, then a light smirk came to adorn his lips. "And even if we all wanted to go back, we'd still uphold our promise to aid you in fending off the Original Sirens. So, you can rest assured, King George; no need to fret over us running away and leaving you all in deep shit."

George chuckled under her breath. "It seems you figured me out. Forgive me for doubting you, Leviathan."

"No offense taken."

"My, this tea is quite delicious, though it would go well with a little more-"

"Honey, dear sister?" Emperor interjected, appearing right next to Chaser with a tray in his hand.

"Thank you so much, brother," Chaser smiled as Emperor poured some more of the golden nectar into her cup.

"Ah! Who ate all my cookies?" Javelin cried out, but Emperor was already there with another tray of freshly baked treats.

"Thank you, Mister Emperor," Javelin said with a radiant smile as the shipboy subtly produced a handkerchief to wipe off the crumbs from Laffey's mouth before the other destroyer could notice.

Despite everyone's predictions, the tea party was going smoothly, all thanks to the shipboy. Emperor had insisted that the maids take it easy for the time being, so they all decided to wait on standby in case the amount of work would be too much for him to tackle alone, but until now, he was handling everything perfectly.

Elizabeth was sitting at the main table and had a perfect view of the entire garden, so she didn't miss a single one of his movements. She was still upset with him, but after seeing the lengths to which he was willing to go to gain her approval, she was willing to forgive him, especially because the little scene he was putting up was rather amusing. Watching him hustle around the tables like a wind-up toy, doing his best to serve her subjects and her guests with his usual jovial demeanor, was enough to put a smile on her face. She still had some reservations, but fortunately, the one person who could dispel them was standing right beside her.

"Hermione, you've been watching him for a while now; how was your experience serving under him? Did he ever do anything untoward to you?"

Hermione, standing by the side with her hands folded in her lap, didn't expect to be called out all of a sudden. She cleared her throat and answered with the utmost sincerity.

"Master Emperor enjoys teasing a lot, Your Majesty, but he's never tried to cross the line; on the contrary, he's been nothing but a perfect gentleman toward me," she reported. Of course, she couldn't mention to her queen how much fun she was having serving under him. Not to mention that the shipboy was well aware of the fact that Elizabeth had assigned her to him solely to keep an eye on him; he had simply chosen to disregard the whole affair, treating it more like a game. She wasn't sure if that spoke volumes about his kind nature or his more uncaring side; what she did know was that he trusted her, and she felt the same way toward him.

"Mmh… So, he's lost that lecherous attitude of his…" Warpsite commented from the side, sitting right next to Elizabeth.

"He probably began having a change of heart right after Chaser and Unicorn entered his life," Illustrious intervened. "I figure he's just trying to be a good big brother; it'll be a hard hit for the both of them when he goes back to his world."

Hermione totally agreed with her and couldn't help the downcast expression that appeared on her face. Indeed, his teasing nature, as lighthearted as it was, never came out when he was around Chaser and Unicorn, with whom he had taken on the role of the affectionate and doting elder sibling. With a pang in her heart, she realized that the two escort carriers wouldn't be the only ones affected by his eventual departure.

"Mmh… So, I gather you consider him worthy of my forgiveness?" Elizabeth addressed her again.

"I do, Your Majesty," Hermione replied. "Master Emperor is a respectable man who loves his family with all his heart and cares about the wellbeing of the people around him; in my humble opinion, he deserves a second chance."

"Very well, I've made up my mind," Elizabeth declared. "Servant! Come here this instant!"

"Did you call, Your Majesty?" Emperor quickly approached the table and offered a slight bow to the queen.

"Did you talk to your brothers about tomorrow? What are your intentions?" She asked him.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We are planning on making ourselves as inconspicuous as possible so as not to hinder you and the other flagships while you deal with your superiors," Emperor replied.

"And after that?"

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Emperor cocked his head, perplexed by the question.

"Sit down here, we need to discuss something," Elizabeth said.

Le Malin was walking across the docks when she heard the sound of steel clashing against steel. The Vichya destroyer was told she could find the shipboys at the training bay at this hour, practicing by themselves or with the other shipgirls, so she had decided to head out and look for one of them.

Imagine her surprise when she found the docks occupied by a small excavator; the thing had a crane hook on its arm in place of the usual shovel, and the sound of metal clashing was coming from Lenin. The shipboy had his rigging out, and to her dismay, he was using said hook as a punching bag.

She came to a stop at a safe distance, regarding him with a questioning look. "Aren't you going to hurt yourself?"

Her presence alerted the shipboy, who stopped in his tracks, looking at her like she had a flashing red light atop her head.

Needless to say, he paid dearly for his distraction. The hook swung back toward him, slamming into his chest and knocking him flat on his back with a pained yelp.

Le Malin didn't know if she had to laugh or wince. She waited for the hook to stop swaying before approaching him and helping him up.

"See? That's what I meant. Are you hurt?"

"I've been punching concrete for training since the day I was born. I'm used to this," Lenin brushed off her concern, dismissing his rigging and holding his arm around his torso, trying to assuage the pain in his chest. "This time it's your fault for distracting me."

"No, it's your fault for getting distracted," Le Malin deadpanned. "Where did you even get this thing?"

"Those manjuu chicks brought it out for me," Lenin said, straightening his back and averting his gaze from her in embarrassment. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, yes," Le Malin started. "Did you and your brothers talk to the Commandant about your next plans?"

"We did. Kurama will go back to the Sakura Empire with Nagato and her delegation to meet with this Shinano lady, while we remain here and go search for the Ashes with the other Kansen; why are you asking?"

"Because I want to go with you," Le Malin declared, much to the surprise of the shipboy.

"Why? Shouldn't you go back home with your faction leader?" He inquired.

Le Malin shook her head. "It's been decided that Dunkerque will remain here under Vestal's care. Richelieu's our official flagship, and she'll have to go back home to make preparations; the same goes for Jean Bart, since the Templar Knights only answer to her. But if there's actually a way to heal our friend, as dangerous as it is, the Iris Orthodoxy has to get involved, so I volunteered to stay behind with you."

Lenin considered her words for a moment. Her friend was involved, and Le Malin knew the risks of something as dangerous as finding the Original Timeline; who was he to tell her to back down? Besides, he had seen firsthand how skilled she was. She'll be all right.

"That's totally fine by me," the shipboy replied. "I'll tell my brothers later; I'm sure they'll also agree."

"Merci, I look forward to working with you," Le Malin said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm quite beat, so I'm going back to sleep…"

AN: I didn't even realize, but fuck, that's a lot of red flags…

Next Chapter: Love Bites