"This is…" Ryan wondered to the shipboy in front of him as he handed him a purple Wisdom Cube.

"Tester's," Freedom declared, setting the Cube of the defeated Elite on the counter in front of the Commander, right beside Tower's. "Ember gave it to me; she said to do as you please with it."

Ryan's chest swelled at his words. The fact that Ember had willingly handed over Tester's Cube to Freedom was huge. After what had happened at the tea party, right before they departed for Brest, he feared the alliance with the METAs would be compromised. However, with her gesture, Ember had given him her tacit agreement—and by extension, that of the rest of the METAs—to proceed with his idea of bringing the Antiochus back.

"And with this, how many... Antiochus are left under the Sirens' control?" Bismarck inquired. The Iron Blood flagship had been brought up to speed about everything that had happened while she was asleep and was still trying to process the sheer amount—and importance—of information she had received. The METAs being on their side, the Commander's trip to the Original Timeline, the Creator... Everything sounded so unreal she almost had trouble believing it.

"Only Zero, if I'm not mistaken," Leviathan stated.

"We have a way to find out though, right?" Richelieu said, looking at the two shipboys in the room.

The five of them were inside the bridge of the new and improved Jean Bart, discussing things.

Richelieu's injuries weren't that serious, so she had recovered quickly. Admittedly, the harder thing for her to recover from was going to be the trauma caused by the sight of a giant mechanical whale barreling towards her, mouth wide open, ready to swallow her whole.

Bismarck had finally sated the thirst of the journalists, who had been led below deck to make themselves comfortable during the return journey to Brest. They had been sent deep into the bowels of the massive vessel to ensure they wouldn't bother any of the Kansen if they decided to roam around the place.

Lastly, Jean Bart should have also been here, as this was her bridge, but she had to excuse herself and had left the room abruptly, trying to hide the dark blush creeping over her face from the rest of the group.

"We do, and if you ask me, the sooner the better," Ryan replied to the Cardinal.

"Agreed," Freedom said, suppressing a yawn. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner I can go take a nap; I'm exhausted." The shipboy had given his all during the battle, depleting every single ounce of energy he had at his disposal, and he was on the verge of passing out. The only thing he wanted was to spend the rest of the way to Brest sleeping inside his cabin, but he had another matter to attend to.

"Whenever you are ready, then," Bismarck said to the two shipboys.

As the others stepped back, Freedom and Leviathan took a seat at the table to the side of the room opposite each other, the former with Tower's azure Cube laying in front of him, the latter with Tester's purple one. They looked at each other and nodded. They extended their arms towards the Cubes, their fingertips brushing the surfaces, then they both took a deep breath and initiated contact.

Leviathan's green eyes and Freedom's purple ones shone with a bright light before they closed their eyelids and focused their mental efforts on the objects in front of them. The Cubes responded by trembling slightly before they began hovering a few inches above the table. Soon, the shipboys fell into a trance. Their shoulders relaxed and their breathing became steadier, but their focused expression didn't leave their faces even with their eyes closed.

Ryan crossed his fingers internally; there was a chance it wouldn't work, just like it had happened with Observer's Cube, and they'd have to wait until they returned home, but it was worth a shot.

They didn't have to wait too long. Bismarck let out a breath of relief when she noticed the Cubes' light grew dimmer in intensity. The contraptions lowered and came to rest on the table, pulsing idly as the shipboys' eyes fluttered open.

Bismarck's mind went back to that time when Leviathan and Emperor had tried to interact with the Cube of that one Original Siren. She remembered the mess they had made and how scared she had been of the Cube trying to reach out to her weak mind back then. Now, after the operation, she had nothing to fear, but she still felt a bit uncomfortable in the presence of the naked contraptions.

"So? How did it go?" Ryan inquired as the two shipboys returned to their senses. They looked as if they had just woken up from a deep slumber and were rubbing their eyes and blinking as if to ward off sleep.

"It worked; I was able to speak with Tester," Leviathan said. "What about you, brother?"

Freedom seemed lost in thought, looking down at the table with a pensive expression.

"You okay?" Ryan asked him, lightly shaking his shoulder.

"Uh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Freedom muttered, bringing his hand up to soothe his temple. "I saw Tower in there, but it was weird."

"Weird how, exactly?" Leviathan inquired with a frown.

"She looked... confused," Freedom said. "She was acting like someone with brain damage."

"I'm not surprised about that," another voice was heard from the side, and they all turned to see the figure of Dr. Anzeel standing at the entrance. "Sorry; I came looking for you, and I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying," she said with a smile as she stepped into the room.

"Doctor, what do you mean you are not surprised?" Richelieu asked her.

"Well, think about what she's been through," Anzeel said, a sorrowful look coming to her face. "Tower has been awakened only four times in all the timelines, and every time, she's known nothing but massacre and destruction," she explained. "She doesn't have a mainframe, so her comrades were forced to keep her dormant the rest of the time, which means she's spent who knows how long inside her own 'mind' all by herself. How do you think that must have felt for her?"

The people in the room shared a glance at that.

"If you found her in that state, Freedom, it's likely because her mind has regressed to a state of numbness due to the lack of interaction and stimuli with the outside," Anzeel continued. "The poor thing must have been so lonely."

Ryan pursed his lips at that, not uttering a word. He wanted to remind Anzeel that the "poor thing" had destroyed humanity all four times she had been awakened, but he decided not to say anything. Regarding the Antiochus, the doctor had a different kind of sensitivity than him.

"I see…" Freedom muttered as the other pondered what Anzeel just said. The doctor's words made sense; the Antiochus were, after all, androids with anthropomorphized personalities that relied on their incredibly high level of learning capability to develop. Of course, learning meant experiencing the world around them; if one of them were to be denied that, their mind wouldn't have a chance to grow.

"So, Tower is basically just a child who knows nothing of the outside world and has been let out of her house a few times only to drown a colony of ants," Leviathan mused. "If that's the only kind of interaction she's had with humanity, then she's too dangerous to be brought back," he declared.

"Don't say that, Leviathan," Anzeel said with a pleading tone. "We just need to inhibit her hostility toward humanity with the Reality Lens, just like we did with the others."

"You don't need to tell me, doctor. The decision is not mine to make anyway," he told her, turning to look at the Commander.

"Mmm, maybe we can give her a new vessel, but I don't think we can rebuild her rigging, so she'd be harmless anyway," Ryan pondered. In actuality, the giant whale was still there, her body slowly sinking into the ocean, but there wasn't much they could do about it. The rigging was just too big and cumbersome to be towed; the only thing they could do was leave it behind and return to secure the zone later, so that they could take their time retrieving it. If they wanted to repair it and restore it as an ally of humanity, they'd have to wait at a later date.

But then again, how would they justify to the masses that the giant monster that had killed countless people in its rampage would be on their side? Azur Lane had just obtained trust points with the public thanks to the reveal of Bismarck and Jean Bart's survival; they didn't need more material to give their detractors. Maybe the right choice was to disassemble it and repurpose its parts…

"Well, we'll see about that later," Ryan stated in the end. "For now, we should focus on what we have at hand. So, Leviathan, how did it go with Tester?"

"Rather well," Leviathan replied. "At least as well as it could go with an annoying prick like her."

Ryan had to suppress a laugh at that. "Did she say something useful?"

"Well, she revealed what Tower's destination was for starters," he said, making everyone in the room perk up. "It was Azur Lane; your base, that is," he declared.

"What? The joint base?" Ryan exclaimed, baffled.

"Indeed; it seems that the Sirens have determined the joint fleet as the greatest obstacle to their campaign," Leviathan explained.

"But why?" Ryan asked, only to realize how dumb that question was. The Sirens had succeeded in their plan to undermine humanity's coordination by eliminating a good chunk of the higher spheres; the factions were the only thing standing between them and the destruction of humanity, and the only thing keeping them together was the alliance, of which the joint base was the centerpiece.

"It's no wonder, if you ask me," Leviathan said. "Anyone would see you as a threat after what you pulled off at the Sanctuary. You were able to transfer an entire fleet in the blink of an eye and destroy an entire armada. Sure, it was thanks to the power of a few individuals that the stars aligned in your favor, but that doesn't change the fact."

"Makes sense," Freedom supplied. "I mean, look at what we did here; we travelled to the other side of the world to take the enemy by surprise. I don't think the Sirens will give up on it after today; in fact, I'm certain they'll double down on it."

"There's no way it's just that though," Anzeel intervened. "Weren't the Sirens dead set on taking down the Sacred Sakura Tree? What happened to that? Did it get second place in their scale of priority?"

"It's possible," Ryan said. "Or it could be that they were aiming to kill two birds with one stone. After all, the Sakura Empire is 'only' a couple thousand miles away from the base. They could have easily dealt with both one after the other."

And it would have worked. They had been able to contain the damage by engaging Tower in the open ocean, but close to the mainland, it would have been a whole different story. Even if they did manage to bring down her giant rigging, it would have been a disaster; the coast would have been devastated, and they would have lost the Sanctuary, the joint base, or both.

"That would certainly explain Tower's behavior," Richelieu piped up. "Before you arrived, she completely ignored us; she only began defending herself after Emperor broke her barrier."

"Tester did say that the Sirens had activated Tower too soon," Leviathan supplied. "She's positive that Tower's rigging didn't have much autonomy anyway, and that she was likely conserving her energy for the real fight, whether that was the Sanctuary or the joint base."

"And when we finally arrived, she realized that her targets had come to her, so she began fighting back with all she had," Bismarck concluded. "It was then that she deployed the rest of the fleet she was hiding within her."

A pregnant silence fell over the room as they all pondered their speculation. It all matched with what they already knew, and it made sense when compared with the facts.

But something was still bothering the shipboys.

"Brother, I was thinking…" Freedom mused. "The way they are acting. Isn't it a bit…?"

"Unusual?" Leviathan finished for him. "I've been thinking the same thing. The others as well, I bet."

"Care to elaborate for us?" Bismarck asked them.

"The Sirens are acting too smart," Freedom stated. "Sure, they've always displayed some kind of tactical intelligence during battle, but they've never acted with a proper strategy in mind. They mostly steamrolled over everything they came across."

"They usually appear at a place of interest and take it down with sheer force before moving on to the next one," Leviathan added. "In a way, they were almost predictable in their approach."

"I can vouch for that," Anzeel said, raising her hand. "Even though I was never in on the battle planning, I've learned to recognize their pattern over the years. They are definitely more intelligent than how I remembered them."

"Maybe it's the fact that they've arrived in small numbers and were forced to act more conservatively," Richelieu offered. "Or maybe…"

"They are taking advantage of Zero's program," Ryan concluded. "They are using her to decide their moves, but not just by exploiting the information she's providing them. It's possible that, when they captured the seed, they were influenced by the Antiochus program in turn and have begun acting more… rationally."

More silence. It was a harrowing prospect, but it didn't sound farfetched at all.

"You sounded a lot like Aoste there, Commander," Anzeel commented with a grin.

"I don't know if I have to take that as a compliment or not, doctor," Ryan let out a sigh. "Okay, listen, everyone; what we know is that the Sirens have attacked the Sanctuary because they fear us getting into contact with the shipboys' world. They were probably aiming to take down the joint base with Tower because we are the only ones capable of creating a portal. Now, the planetary alignment draws ever closer, and with each passing day, they are likely to become more desperate," he said, drawing everyone's attention. "We need to take advantage of that, and for when that time comes, we will be ready."

"Do you already have a plan in mind, Kommandant?" Bismarck inquired.

"I do," Ryan stated. "But first, we need to build that damn portal."


"Big brother, you are awake! We are so glad you are okay!" Unicorn exclaimed when she noticed Emperor striding inside the mess hall, Hermione following behind him.

She stood up from her seat and ran up to him, prompting Illustrious to follow behind her as the other Kansen sitting with them waved their hands at the new arrivals and smiled.

"Unicorn, behave; Emperor's still recovering," Illustrious sternly told her, but the purple-haired carrier stopped short of jumping into his arms, curiously staring up at him.

"Big brother, what is that?" She inquired with a note of concern in her tone.

"Oh, this? It's just a wound Vestal couldn't heal," Emperor replied with a smile, bringing his hand up to his face. "Don't worry, it'll go away on its own."

"Good to see you awake, Emperor. How are you feeling?" Illustrious greeted him. "When her gaze settled on his face, she finally understood what Unicorn meant by that, and she paused in surprise. There was a dark, swollen bruise on his cheek the size of an apple, whose color ranged from deep blue and purple to black.

What could have possibly given him that mark, she wondered. Her curiosity didn't last long as her gaze fell onto Hermione next. The maid was trying her best to hide it, but her whole neck and neckline were covered in bruises as well. Illustrious also noticed her slightly crumpled uniform, the funny way she was walking, and the way the maid's eyes refused to meet hers; those weren't normal bruises, they were hickeys.

It didn't take long for Illustrious to put two and two together. The corner of her lips quirked up almost imperceptibly as she tried to suppress the grin forming on her face at the thought of the two of them taking things to the next level. But then another thought crossed her mind: what was the bruise on Emperor's face, then? Did Hermione give him that? What could possibly have warranted that from the maid? Did he perchance coerce her into it against her will?

"Illustrious, please, stop looking at me like I'm some piece of trash," Emperor spoke up after noticing the horrified look the carrier was sending him. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Piece of trash sounds quite accurate to me," Jean Bart chimed in, stomping into the room from behind them, an upset expression on her face.

"Listen, Jean Bart, I'm sorry," Emperor let out an exasperated sigh. "It was my idea; I didn't know this was your ship."

"Well, maybe you didn't, but she did!" Jean Bart exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the maid, who was squirming in embarrassment, trying to make herself smaller behind the shipboy.

"Again, we are sorry; we just got carried away a little," Emperor tried to assuage her fury.

"A little?! I could feel everything through my hull, putaine!" Jean Bart howled, making them both recoil. "Next time you try something like that on my ship, I'm going to take off and throw you overboard, you hear me?!"

"Well then maybe you should have come to stop us sooner," Emperor muttered defiantly, tired of apologizing.

Jean Bart's eyes flared up in rage. "Do you want another one, Goldilocks?!" She warned him as she clenched her fist hard.

"What are they talking about, big sis?" Unicorn asked Illustrious as the Vichya battleship went on another rant.

"Nothing, dear," the carrier said dismissively, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come now; let's go back to our table. We'll wait for them there."

The two carriers turned their backs on the trio and returned to their table. The scene had drawn the attention of the other Kansen sitting at the other tables in the hall, and Illustrious wanted no part in it.

The mess hall was almost full, and as soon as Jean Bart stopped chewing them out, Hermione and Emperor were free to join the others.

The maid headed for the kitchen with the intention of helping the others. Among them were also her sisters; Sirius and Charibdys let off a series of gasps as soon as they saw her, and Dido almost let an entire plate of food slip out of her hand in disbelief at the sight of her state. They began excitedly pestering her for details until Sheffield had to come in and reprimand them, intimating them to stop wasting time, much to Hermione's relief.

Emperor, on the other hand, went to sit between Unicorn and Lenin. The tables were particularly long, and there was a lot of space to allow all Kansen to mingle together, at least those who weren't still recovering or too exhausted to even lift their heads from the pillow and get out of their cabins.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lenin asked him after noticing the bruise on his face.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Emperor patted his head with a wink, to which Lenin rolled his eyes. "Freedom and Leviathan are still busy?"

"Freedom was too tired. He went to bed as soon as you and Hermione started... uh, discussing things," Sparviero replied from beside Lenin as Chaser, who was sitting in front of him, hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment.

"What about you, Teddy Bear? Shouldn't you be with your beloved?" He addressed the shorter shipboy, whispering the last part in his ear and prompting him to send him an annoying glare.

"She went to sleep as well," Lenin replied flatly. "A lot has happened, and she needed a break."

"Any progress you need to tell us about?" Emperor pressed with his questioning.

"N-no, nothing new," Lenin stammered. "And even if there was, I certainly wouldn't tell you."

"Progress about what?" Sparviero inquired.

"His soon-to-be girlfriend," Emperor replied before Lenin could do so.

"Don't say that out loud, jackass!" The icebreaker exclaimed.

"Uh? What's that? Are we talking about love?" Victorious interjected from the side excitedly.

"T-that's none of your business!" Lenin blurted out, averting his gaze in embarrassment.

"Sister, leave him alone," Formidable reprimanded her. "The boy is clearly uncomfortable."

While Unicorn and Illustrious were sitting on Emperor's left, the other two Royal carriers were sitting in front of them, right next to Chaser, and Victorious couldn't help her curiosity upon hearing the subject of their conversation.

"Aw, fine, but if you are trying to gain the favor of a fair maiden, I'm always ready to offer some advice," Victorious said.

"Alternatively, you could ask directly to your brother here," Formidable said. "He seems to be doing great lately, right, Emperor?"

Emperor raised an eyebrow at her, feigning ignorance. "What could you possibly be trying to imply, dear Formidable?"

Formidable and Victorious were among the group of carriers Richelieu had sent to deal with Tower during the battle. Emperor had the chance to meet them a few days before, as they were part of the delegation sent by the Royal Navy to Brest, along with Hermione's sisters and some others. They had insisted Illustrious introduced them to the shipboys, and thanks to Victorious' bubbly personality and Formidable's more laidback demeanor, they had become fast friends. The two of them were there when Tester almost killed him and were more than glad to see him up on his feet.

"Nothing at all. I was just wondering what was all that with Jean Bart just now," Formidable waved him off, a smirk appearing on her face. "Hermione seemed particularly flustered there; we were all wondering if something happened."

"A true gentleman doesn't kiss and tell," the shipboy shrugged, making Chaser's blush even harder than she already was. "You should learn from your elder sister; she knew right away but didn't say anything."

"Only because I realized the misunderstanding," Illustrious piped up with a smile of her own. "If I had found out that you did something bad to Hermione, I wouldn't have been so quiet."

"Big brother, did you do something bad to Hermione?" Unicorn piped up, turning to look at the maid working in the back. "Is that why she's walking funny?"

"O-of course not, Unicorn; your big brother is a gentleman," Chaser spluttered at the shorter carrier's words. "That's just because she got hurt during the battle and hasn't recovered yet."

Unicorn turned to look at the maid with eyes full of admiration. "And she's working anyway? She's amazing…"

Emperor followed her gaze with a dreamy expression on his face. "Yeah, she truly is…"

Illustrious cleared her throat before addressing the purple-haired carrier. "Unicorn, didn't you have something you wanted to say to your big brother?"

Unicorn perked up at her words. "Oh, yeah, big brother, wanna hear what Lenin and I did?"

"Why, of course!"

Emperor listened intently as Unicorn recounted her and Lenin's exploits during the battle. Before long, the conversation evolved into a complete retelling of the entire engagement, with the other shipgirls chiming in to share their perspectives. It was a good way for him to catch up on what he had missed, since he had only gotten a quick summary of the events after waking up.

"Well done, you two," Emperor said to Lenin and Unicorn. "You've made your big brother proud." Sporting the biggest smile he could muster on his face, he reached out to the two shorter Kansen with his hands, patting them on the heads and ruffling their hair.

Unicorn beamed up at him, reveling in the display of affection, while Lenin averted his gaze in embarrassment, muttering a thank you under his breath.

Then Emperor perked up, sending a questioning look to the icebreaker. "But wait, Lenin, weren't you scared of heights?"

"S-shut up, jackass!" He exclaimed, making everyone chuckle under their breaths.

"You also did great, Emperor," Victorious piped up. "If it weren't for you, Tower would have escaped us."

"And you also commanded us rather well, even though some of your ideas were a bit unconventional," Formidable added.

"Ladies, please, you'll make me blush at this rate," he said with a chuckle.

As the conversation steered toward more mundane topics, Emperor took in a silent breath as the food finally arrived and he could relax a little after such a harrowing experience.


"Jeanie, are you all right? What was that all about?" Richelieu asked her sister as she approached the table she was sitting at. The Cardinal had assisted to the scene with the male Kansen and the maid, but from the other side of the room, she couldn't catch much of what happened.

"Nothing important; just two idiots getting too frisky," Jean Bart waved her off as she sat next to her. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine now; I only got a few scratches, and Vestal took care of them in a minute," Richelieu reassured her.

"Good," Jean Bart commented before narrowing her eyes at her. "Cause I'm about to give you another one," she declared, bringing her hand up to her sister's face, flicking her brow hard.

"Ow, Jean, what was that for?!" Richelieu complained, soothing her aching forehead.

"That was for your heroic sacrifice, idiot. You could have waited a minute before deciding to throw away your life," she rebuked her sister.

Richelieu tried to justify herself. "I was just trying to be helpful…"

"I don't care; do not do that again when I'm around," Jean Bart warned her sternly. "Or next time I'll slap you for real."

"Fine," Richelieu mumbled, looking away demurely.

The whole exchange happened with Dunkerque observing them in silence as she sat on the other side of the Cardinal. She couldn't contain her glee and stood up from her seat to hug the both of them from behind, wrapping her arms around their necks in a warm embrace.

"I'm so glad you've reconciled!" She gushed, her heart swelling with pride and elation. "Je vous aime bien, mes amies," she added, kissing them both on the cheek.

The two sisters tried to fight back against her old, but in the end, they let it happen. They shared a glance and smiled at each other as they returned the embrace, affectionately rubbing their friend's arms.

"By the way, what did you mean by 'getting frisky' earlier? What were they doing exactly?" Richelieu inquired obliviously after they broke the hug, looking for something lighter to make conversation as they waited for the food.

"Oh, lord…" Jean Bart breathed out in disbelief.

Richelieu tilted her head to the side, puzzled. "What? Did I say something weird?"

Dunkerque suppressed a smirk and leaned into her ear. "Richie, getting frisky means..."

After a few seconds, the Cardinal's jaw went slack, and her face took on a red hue as her eyes widened in disbelief.

"W-what?! B-b-but that's so shameless... and sinful!" She exclaimed, covering her gaping mouth with her hands.

"Pipe down, soeur," Jean Bart rolled her eyes. "Their only sin was to do it inside my ship."

"How could they? They aren't even married!" Richelieu continued, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Ugh, we really need to do something about that prudishness of yours…" Jean Beart muttered, palm on her face, as Dunkerque suppressed a giggle.

"W-what are you trying to say? I'm not prudish at all!" Richelieu retorted in annoyance, pouting slightly.

"Yes, you are. The mere thought of kissing someone is enough to make you blush," her sister shot back, making her look away in embarrassment. "I think it's about time we find you a good man to straighten you out; give you a good pounding," Jean Bart continued, a smirk coming to her face.

"J-Jeanie, that seems a bit drastic," Dunkerque perked up, the suggestion making even her blush.

Jean Bart's smirk enlarged. "Why? Oh, I know; we could ask Leviathan. I'm sure August wouldn't mind a menage à trois."

Richelieu's retort died in her throat. Her eyes became as wide as searchlights, and her jaw hit the floor as her mind scrambled at the vulgarity of the suggestion.

"Did someone call me?" The aforementioned shipboy asked aloud, having just entered the hall with August right on time to hear his name being uttered from one of the tables.

"There's the big man, right on time!" Jean Bart exclaimed, standing up to wave at the two of them, glancing down at her sister with an evil grin. "Come here, you two; Richelieu wants to ask you something."

"Jeanie!"


After a few more minutes of waiting, the maids began serving the tables. Jean Bart's galley wasn't exactly well-stocked, but the meal cooked by King George V with the few things she had at her disposal and with the help of the maids was heavenly, and everyone was elated.

They all ate in peace, making small talk, and after that, everyone went their own way; someone remained to help clean up, while those who had postponed their rest finally retired to their own cabins, while everyone else decided to go find a way to spend the little time remaining until arrival.

Lenin, for his part, was walking through the hallways of the large vessel, looking for a specific cabin.

When he found it, he knocked on the door and waited.

Nothing.

He tried it again, this time with more force.

Still nothing.

"Le Malin, are you in there?" He called. He didn't know if there were other people resting inside the adjacent rooms, so he tried not to be too loud.

But the destroyer didn't answer.

"Maybe it's the wrong room," Lenin thought as he opened the door and peeked inside to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

Sure enough, Le Malin was in there, but something wasn't right. Why was she sleeping? Wasn't she the one who had called for him?

"Oh Lenin My sister said she needs to tell you something" That's what Le Terrible had yelled to him in the middle of the mess hall… where everyone could hear.

Then it hit him. He had been too embarrassed to pay attention to Le Terrible's tone and expression to realize that she was pulling his leg.

He chastised himself internally and closed the door, letting out a long sigh as he did that. He began walking away, but then he heard an unfamiliar voice coming from ahead. He turned around right on time to see an unfamiliar human woman round the corner, accompanied by a man holding a camera in hand.

The journalists had escaped confinement.

"…the new and renewed Jean Bart, which everyone believed sunk, and the shipgirl commanding her killed in action. As you can see, the hallways are slightly larger than your usual warship, but then again, there's nothing usual about this vessel…"

"Oh, hell no," he thought. He wasn't about to become the target of a barrage of uncomfortable questions and have his face displayed on national TV. He'd rather fight Tower again.

He noped out of the situation in time for them not to notice his presence, swiftly pushing open the closest door and getting in before closing it behind him without making noise. He waited for them to go away, but for some reason, their voices stopped relatively close to the door.

"Why, the great Deutschland would be more than glad to give you the honor of answering your questions," a haughty voice was heard from outside. "You, camera boy, make sure to capture my best angle."

Lenin held back from letting out an audible grumble. Of course they had to run into Deutschland of all people, and of course the Iron Blood cruiser would jump at the chance of having the spotlight for herself, and of course they'd stop right in the middle of the hallway for an interview.

He resigned himself to waiting to get out of the room until they went away. He turned around, and his heart stopped; his gaze fell on Le Malin's sleeping figure. She was sprawled over the bed in a very inelegant way, supine, with her arms spread wide and the sheets in complete disarray.

He debated on what to do. He couldn't let her wake up to find him inside her room uninvited; how would he explain that? He couldn't just say, "I was running from the journalists and just happened to end up in your room."

Or maybe he could; he could wake her up himself and explain the situation. She wouldn't get mad at him, right?

He decided on that and approached the bed to wake her up, but before he could reach out to shake her awake, he came to a stop, unable to move.

The destroyer was snoozing peacefully, hugging a pillow to her chest. She had removed her cape and accessories, and had let her flowy, white hair loose, which was now framing her round face, making her even cuter to his eyes than she already was.

He found himself staring at her, too entranced by her appearance, his heart hammering in his chest, and a blush forming on his face. She was sleeping so peacefully; he couldn't bring himself to wake her up.

He resigned himself to waiting for the group of nuisances outside to leave, but then something came to his mind—a feeling of déjà vu that made him ponder.

Why was he being so skittish about all this? Le Malin never seemed to have any reservations about intruding on his sleep. He had lost count of the times she had done it in the past. How many times had he woken from a nap only to find her dozing off in his personal space without a care in the world?

Not that he didn't enjoy it, but still.

Spurred by sudden resolve, he threw his inhibitions out the window and decided to get back at her by climbing into bed with her.

But first, boundaries. He gathered the blanket and threw it over her snoozing form, making sure to tuck her in properly. Then he took off his shoes and slowly climbed onto the mattress, being careful not to pull her hair by accident. He lay down on his side on the blanket, right beside her. His head came to rest on the pillow, and a smug smile appeared on his face; he couldn't wait to see the expression she'd make when she woke up.

Suddenly, she mumbled something in her sleep, then she rolled over, her face coming to rest dangerously close to his. At that moment, the realization of what he was doing hit him like a torpedo.

Regretting his own existence, he began scooting away with the intention of getting off the bed, but then he froze on the spot when he noticed her eyes, half-lidded and still drunk with sleep.

"Lenin…" she mumbled unintelligibly. "…aime."

"L-Le Malin, this is-" his words died in his throat when her arm came to rest on his shoulder.

"Je t'aime," she mumbled again before leaning in, closing the distance between them to press her lips on his.

Lenin froze, his brain short-circuiting for a second. What the hell was that?! Was she dreaming?! What did that mean?! Was she dreaming?! Why did she kiss him all of a sudden?! Was she dreaming?! Of him?!

Her alluring scent invaded his nostrils, which added to the softness of her fresh lips on his and made his brain strain to restart, so he just laid there, unable to pull away.

"Who gave you permission to roam around my ship?!" Jean Bart's unmistakable voice boomed in the room, coming from outside.

The loud noise startled him, and Le Malin was shaken out of her half-asleep state, her eyes widening as she took in her surroundings before setting on his face, so close to hers that they were basically touching.

She shot upright on the bed as he fell to the floor with a thud, faces flushing red and eyes wide in shock. They remained like that for a few seconds, staring at each other as the interaction outside the room kept unfolding.

"Why are you getting in my way, Jean Bart?!" Deutschland complained audibly.

"Because this is my ship, and I don't want no goddamn cameras pointed at my comrades while they are recovering!" The Vichya declared angrily. "Put that thing away before I crush it!"

After a little bit of shuffling and apologizing, the group outside the room seemed to disperse; peace and quiet finally returned in the hallway as the two shorter Kansen heard their footsteps walking away.

The destroyer and the icebreaker relaxed after that, but they were both still too embarrassed to look the other in the eyes.

The first to break the silence was Le Malin.

"Lenin… d-did I…?" She stammered, hugging her pillow close as she glanced at him.

"Mmm," Lenin hummed in confirmation, standing up on his feet awkwardly.

"S-sorry," she said demurely. "I thought it was a dream," she mumbled under her breath, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"N-no, I should be sorry," Lenin hung his head as he stammered out an excuse. He explained to her in a few words what happened, deciding to come out clean with her.

"I see…" she let out, still embarrassed.

A heavy silence fell over them. It felt like an eternity, until the shipboy couldn't take it any longer.

"I'll be taking my leave now. Sorry again," he stammered as he made for the door, unable to look her in the eyes.

"Wait…" she called out to him, making him pause in his tracks. He turned to glance at her, and she looked up at him with big, pleading eyes that caused his heart to make a leap in his chest. "You... don't wanna try again?"


AN: I went full third-rate romance anime with that last scene between Lenin and Le Malin, and I don't regret it one bit. It fits perfectly with their characters, and it was so much fun writing those two bumblefucks.

Next chapter will be the end of this arc and the last one before I go on that break I mentioned before.

In the meantime, for those who'd like to see a different take on the whole "male Kansen" trope, try checking out these stories: "Homecoming" by M0B1US_ON3, and "Azur Lane: Cogito Ergo Sum" by Mrmister_1 (both on AO3).

Leave them a kudo, a follow, or even better, a review if you feel like it. Feedback helps a lot with motivation. Trust me, I would know that.

Next Chapter: No Party, No Problem