Chapter 67: The Crane's Plea

Goddamn. It's freezing out here. Maybe waiting for Zuihou at the pier at 5am in the morning is a bad idea. That being said, I had just finished the report a little while ago and couldn't really sleep. Why did I jump the gun and shot myself in the foot? I should have just reported my theory to HQ and let them handle it. 

Shioi insisted on helping me with the report but I managed to put her to sleep first. 

Based on the logs sent by Yamashiro, her fleet left the base at exactly 2300 hours. They encountered an aircraft carrier advancing towards Japan in the Philippine Sea, just past Guam, at 0142 hours and identified it to be the Zuikaku. She is moving slower than I thought. Though, I think that is almost the actual speed of the Zuikaku ship back in the 1940s. 

They did not encountered any Abyssals along the way and apart from Zuihou and Zuikaku, the other 11 girls were fast asleep in the ships' bunk. The latest log at 0350 hours states that they  just passed Naha and are approximately 2 hours away from the base. 

They should be back any time soon. I already turned on the pier lights and designated the docking area.

As I waited, I heard the familiar sound of something going 'pu~lip~ pu~lip~' repeatedly, like semi-deflated squeaky shoes for babies. I turned my head to see a fairy walking towards me with a cup over her head. 

"For me?"

She wiggled the cup. I guess that's a yes.

"Thank you."

I took the cup from her. It was hot chocolate. The fairy that just delivered this hot drink to me was a pilot fairy, judging by the pilot cap she is wearing. Although these fairies wake up early for morning air patrol, they don't wake up this early. It rubbed it's tiny hands together and put it on her mouth. She must be cold too.

"You're waiting for them too?"

The fairy gave a nod as she jumped onto my outstretched palm. I brought her to my breast pocket,

"Get in. It's freezing out here."

She gave a bow and disappeared into my breast pocket. After taking some time to adjust herself, she poked her head out. I sipped the hot chocolate and let the much needed heat circulate around my body 

"Who do you belong to? Just raise your hand if I say the correct shipgirl."

She gave a nod.

"Hiryuu. Souryuu. Ryuujou. Ryuuhou. Shouhou. Zuihou."

She immediately raised her hand. So she belongs to Zuihou.

"So you're part of Zuihou's group. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be wit- Oh. You are part of the attack corps. Right."

The fairy's annoyed stare told me what I wanted to know. Since recon took precedence over striking for this operation, the attack corps were put on standby. In hindsight, I should have told them to carry some attack craft as well. I had severely underestimated the strength and numbers of the enemy this time. Despite being in this position for eight years now, I still have a lot to learn... 

I feel a tap on my chest.

"What is it?"

The fairy pointed towards the sea. I can't see a damn thing.

Ah. There is something moving. And is it getting closer?

The shadow caught the attention of the turrets as their searchlights moved to centre on it. That's on big ship. There are also smaller humanoid shadows by its side

It's an aircraft carrier! They are back! 

I finished the cup of hot chocolate and placed it on the bollard I was sitting on.

Erm... What is sequ- Oh. That's right.

I flickered my floodlight, signalling 'over here' in morse code. A light from the ship flashed the code for 'acknowledged'. One of the shadows by the ships side seem to speed up and came into view. It was Suzuya.

"Admiral? What are you doing out here so early?" (Suzuya)

"Pulled an all-nighter with a report. Since there is only like what? An hour before dawn. Might as well welcome you guys back. Imma take a nap later."

"What? Can't wait to see me?" (Suzuyu)

"In your dreams." 

I poked her forehead,

"Anyway, how are they?" 

"Apart from Zuihou, who was chatting with Zuikaku-san throughout the journey, the others were still sleeping when we went up to check on them. Zuikaku-san's ship is totes awesome! There are bunks, magazine room, boilers, and a huge hanger." (Suzuya)

"That sounds interesting."

Zuihou must have enjoyed exploring Zuikaku's insides.

After a while longer, the huge aircraft carrier anchored itself at the pier. Yamashiro fleet and  Zuihou's fairy helped me tied the ship's mooring line around the bollards.

"I have never moved this slowly in a long time." (Yamashiro)

"Ahaha. My bad."

"I'm exhausted." (Hiryuu)

The gangway extended down and the thirteen girls walked down onto the pier. 

"Welcome home, everyone. Thanks for the hard work."

I turned to Zuikaku,

"Welcome to Maizuru Naval Base, Zuikaku. I'm Admiral Keita. Thank you for saving my girls from that onslaught."

"Your welcome, Admiral." (RA Zuikaku)

She shook my hand. At least she is friendly for now. She looks tired and I can see dark circles around her eyes.

"The rest of you, go and get yourselves some rest. Head to the docks for repairs. I will hear your report later in the afternoon."

"Roger!" (All)

"It's time for a bath! I don't like to be stinking of sweat!" (Amatsukaze)

"Sorry, I'll be taking quite a long bath." (Ryuuhou)

"Well, I don't really mind taking a bath..." (Kumano)

"Yamashiro, let's go refresh ourselves." (Fusou)

"Yes, Onee-sama." (Yamashiro)

All of them went towards the docks, save for two people.

"Don't you want to get some rest first?"

"I will be fine. More importantly, I would like to get down to business as soon as possible." (RA Zuikaku)

"Alright. We will discuss your situation in the meeting room. And Zuihou, if you don't want a bath, you can head back to your room to sleep. I heard you were up chatting with Zuikakau-san."

"It was fun." (Zuihou)

"Yeah. If I was alone, I would be bored out of my mind during the journey." (RA Zuikaku)

For someone who had a bad start with the other party over breast size, she has gotten pretty close to Zuikaku already.

"Let me take the meeting minutes. I'm not tired yet. And I can always take a bath later." (Zuihou)

What is she planning?

"Then, I leave it to you. Let hurry to the meeting room. It's freezing out here."

Zuikaku began telling her story in the meeting room. During a battle with Azur Lane's Lexington, She and Shoukaku, another household name, were alerted to the presence of approaching enemy aircraft. Shoukaku told her to use the rain clouds as cover while she deals with the enemy aircraft despite her younger sister's protest. That's when all contact between the sisters were lost.

"Later, I found out that Shoukaku-nee-san was captured. After digging around, I discovered the Sirens plan to use her as a mold." (RA Zuikaku)

"A mold? For what?"

"I don't know. Our dear senpais from the First Division refused to tell me anything, or even launch an rescue operation to save Shoukaku-nee-san. SInce they are refusing to help, I decided to do things my own way. I picked up Shoukaku-nee-san's signal and traced her all the to that location. I didn't expect the sanctuary to turn into something like that and be surrounded by Sirens."  (RA Zuikaku)

"Sanctuary?"

"It was an island used by the Sakura Empire last time. It's something like an hideout." (Zuihou)

"You know quite a bit of this."

"Zuikaku-san told me." (Zuihou)

"It was supposed to be an beautiful island with a large Sakura tree in the middle, not an enormous ship. Anyway, I spent the next few days staking out the place, trying to memorize their patrols patterns and find a way to burst in. I was about to charge in when you guys showed up." (RA Zuikaku)

"There was an increase in Siren activity and it was affecting us. So I had to investigate."

"Although it threw a spanner in my original plans, I'm kind of glad you showed up. When I saw them swarming out just to go after you guys, I realised there were just too many of them for me to handle." (RA Zuikaku)

"That's right. It would have been suicidal if you just charged into the horde like that. How would Shoukaku-san feel if you died because of that?" (Zuihou)

"Heh. She would scold me for that." (RA Zuikaku)

"How do you know if your sister is alive? Like you said, she is being used as a mold for something."

Zuikaku slammed the table as she stood up,

"She is alive! I know it! She has to be! If she wasn't... At least... her body..." (RA Zuikaku)

"Zuikaku-san, calm down." (Zuihou)

"Ah. S-sorry." (RA Zuikaku)

Zuikaku sat back down. She stood up again and bowed deeply,

"Please! I implore you to help me find my sister. Without her... I... I..." (RA Zuikaku)

"Admiral..." (Zuihou)

It's a little risky... But...

"I can't help you... if you don't give intel on what we could be dealing with."

"Then- That means-" (RA Zuikaku)

"We won't go in immediately. If we are going to burst in, we need a proper plan of attack. It will be painful but I need you to be a little patient while we figure out how to do this together. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yes! As long as I can rescue my sister!" (RA Zuikaku)

Zuikaku slumped back onto the chair and clasped her hands together.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." (RA Zuikaku)

"Get some sleep. You look horrible."

"You can use my bed." (RA Zuikaku)

"'What about you?" (RA Zuikaku)

"I have a special sleeping area." (Zuihou)

Our eyes met as she replied Zuikaku's question. 

After an exhausted Zuikaku left the meeting room, I immediately hugged Zuihou.

"Hyaah! Wait. Admiral! I smell of sweat!" (Zuihou)

"I don't mind. It amplifies your smell."

"But I do mind! At least let me take a bath first!" (Zuihou)

"Then, let's take one together. That's the reason why you didn't went in with the others, right?"

She puffed her cheeks and blushed,

"You are being mean, Admiral." (Zuihou)

"Welcome home, Zuihou."

I kissed her cheek.

"I'm back, Admiral." (Zuihou)

"Zuihou smells nice."

"HEEEYY!!! Stop sniffing me!" (Zuihou)