Chapter 22: Troubling Mind

Recently, Zuihou has been acting weird. She will only respond to me when I call her the second time. She jumps whenever I call her. She will stare blankly into space. I can tell she wants to say something but she always held back. She was also like this at Yuudachi's birthday party and during the joint operation with Azur Lane last week. She will drift off in her own world until someone pulls her back.

Did I do something wrong?

Maybe she didn't like my present. But if that's the case, she wouldn't be wearing it at all. I have seen her wear it even outside of practice. Should I ask Shouhou? Maybe she knows what's up. There weren't any sorties or expeditions scheduled for today, so the girls are either practicing on their own or resting in their rooms. So I could probably find Shouhou in her room. If she's not there then I will just ask her another day.

It's only late June but it's so hot! Swimsuit season might be coming early this early. I better get Akashi to make sure the Air-conditioning is functioning well. Last summer was disastrous.

I headed over to Shouhou's room at the Carrier dormitories and gave a knock,

"Shouhou, you there?"

"Ah. Admiral? Give me a moment." (Shouhou)

There were sounds of rustling and a loud bang. As if something had fallen over.

"Everything okay in there? You don't have to rush."

"I'm fine. Just a moment." (Shouhou)

The door opened and Shouhou appeared, breathing heavily and hair slightly messy.

"Were you working out?"

"I...I was doing some cleaning." (Shouhou)

She combed her hair back to normal with her hands,

"Come in. Let's talk inside." (Shouhou)

"Pardon my intrusion."

Shouhou's room, unlike Zuihou's, is fairly neat and plain. Her desk is arranged neatly, the shelves have books arranged in order. Her coffee table only has a tea set in the middle with two cushions on each side. She doesn't have any dolls or toys scattered about or in the open. Heck, I don't think she has bought any toys before. Only calligraphy scrolls hang on her wall.

"Would you like some tea?" (Shouhou)

"Sure."

I sat at the small coffee table. Shouhou poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of me. The steam brought a pleasant aroma to my nostrils.

"Thank you."

Shouhou sat across me,

"You wanted to talk?" (Shouhou)

"Yeah. Have you noticed anything up with Zuihou lately?"

"Zuihou? Yeah. She is a little absent-minded recently." (Shouhou)

"So I'm not the only one. You noticed it too."

"I'm her sister. I will definitely notice a change in her behavior. Besides, it was obvious." (Shouhou)

"Do you have an idea when it started?"

"I'm not too sure myself. I think it was the day after her birthday." (Shouhou)

That's what I thought as well.

"She didn't mention anything to you, right?"

"You know that girl. She may be bad at hiding her true feelings but she won't say it outright." (Shouhou)

"Yeah. You have to work hard and dig deeper to unearth it. Unlike last-"

"Admiral, please. Let's not talk about the past. We should focus on the present." (Shouhou)

Shouhou glared at me,

"Right. I'm sorry."

"I know you miss her but you have to move on. That incident wasn't your fault. In fact, I am the one to be blamed." (Shouhou)

"It was my strategy that failed. The responsibility lies with me. And you know about my relationship with Zuihou back then."

The air got cold and silent...

"Heh. What are we doing?"

"Ufufu. Just when I reprimanded you for talking about the past, I did it myself." (Shouhou)

Both of us chuckled. Seriously, I didn't come here to reminisce about the past.

"We got a little sidetracked there. So, about Zuihou..."

"I will do my part. It worries me to see my little sister like this." (Shouhou)

I finished the cup of tea,

"Thank you, Shouhou. I will see if I can dig it out if her myself."

I left her room and shut the door behind me.

I want to say that discussion was pointless, but I'm being rude to Shouhou like this. Besides, she has got a point. I have to dig a little deeper.

I should look for Zuihou but maybe I can try asking someone else. Ryuujou should be at the training grounds.

As I passed the docks, I heard someone called out to me.

"Ah. It's Admiral nano!" (Iku)

The big-breasted submarine girl with unique irises cut through the grass patch and charged towards me, The other submarines followed suit.

"A good day to you, Admiral." (Shioi)

"Hello. Done with practice for the day?"

"Yes! We are going to bathe now. Is Admiral going for a bath too?" (Ro)

"Let's go in together nano!" (Iku)

"Hey! Swimming R-18!" (Imuya)

"I appreciate the offer but I will take a rain check. I got something to do."

"I see. That sucks dechi." (Goya)

"Do you need help?" (Shioi)

"No. I will be fine on my own. Thanks for asking. See you later."

I pet Shioi's head as I passed them. It suddenly became noisy behind me, but let's ignore them for now.

I continued walking to the training grounds. The Kamikaze class, along with Shimakaze, are challenging the obstacle course. The Agano class are practicing launching their seaplanes. The Carrier training grounds is just right ahead.

"Oh. Admiral. Whatcha doin' here?" (Ryuujou)

Just who I was looking for.

"I wanna ask. Do you know what's up with Zuihou lately?"

"Zuihou? Well, she is actin' all weird n stuff. But even I hav' no idea what happened. In fact, I was gonna ask ya about it. Didja do somethin' to my best bud?" (Ryuujou)

She pointed her scroll at my face, several inches away since she is that short.

"You know I wouldn't dare."

"As long as ya don't hurt her, I won't mind what ya do. But if I find out ya made her cry, there's gonna be hell ta pay. Got it?" (Ryuujou)

This spunky McDonald employee cosplayer...

"Yeah yeah. So you don't have any idea why is she being like this?"

"No clue at all." (Ryuujou)

In the end, looks like I got to find out from her myself. It's probably better and more sincere this way.

Only problem is the timing. When is the perfect time to bring up this topic?