Chapter 280: Dream

"Mn..."

Another day greeted the droopy Shiro. Keeping the normal biological actions, he transformed them into a way to recover his lost energy.

"She's already up... like the usual."

He was used to preparing the breakfast most of the time, so he found this nostalgic experience quite different. The position beside him was crumpled, showing that Akagi slept with him last night. Of course, they were content without anything else happening, more so when Akagi already gave birth to their daughter.

Even now, she was the only one who managed to do this feat. The other women around Shiro could not do so.

Suddenly, he had a vague feeling. Somehow, the things which happened in the past—the times when he could not get enough sleep due to midnight ambushes—would reoccur. When he reigned it in, he saw a glimpse of a blurry future. He could not receive a clear vision due to the "lock" that his future self had imposed. It was only thanks to [Mysteries] that he managed to intercept it.

"I'm sorry... Next time—"

There, he saw himself standing on a foggy place covered in darkness. He saw several figures beyond him, but he could not capture their features. Then, his eyes met with the him in the future.

Hum.

The vision was suddenly cut off. Shiro was also surprised to find out that he could not recall the majority of those memories. Only that one line remained engraved into his mind. After a few breaths, he composed himself.

"This affliction of mine... It's starting to become more annoying."

For once, he would have wanted to know more about the future they were about to face. Just from the bits that he could remember, there should be a number of Beyond Creators equivalent in that place. Yet, he recalls it as a dreary place if his memories serve him right.

That alone is an indicator of how serious the problem they would face in the future.

"Why did I prevent others form having spoilers? Tsk."

Pushing that thought aside, he left the bed room. He went downstairs where a sight of Akagi busily cooking on the kitchen. He could tell that she was preparing the traditional breakfast from her country: cooked salmon, miso soup, rice, and several other side dishes.

Seeing this familiar sight, he surrendered himself to their memories once more. Habitually, he hugged her from behind.

"Good morning."

"You remember everything."

"...Things happened."

Akagi reminded him of something.

"The others would have been hurt to know that you forgot about them."

"That's right... I owe them..."

Shiro did not forget about his earlier meeting with Altera. Just the thought of being forgotten by your lover would be a painful thing. There was also Euryale whom he could not meet. Lastly, there was Castoria who helped him regain most of his self. As for Musashi...

'She didn't go with her previous plans.'

Before he 'left', he had a talk with everyone—included with it were their plans for the future. Naturally, Musashi told him that she would "find" him first, but she did not even show within Chaldea's territory. She also did not show up in the other places where they agreed to meet. Hence, the "guardian" of Shiro's timeline, the clone of himself, could not pass down any relevant information about the current her.

For a moment, he pondered about her whereabouts. Though, this "moment" was enough for him to have some guesses on it. The speed of his thoughts were in no way comparable to his previous state now that he has [Third True Magic—Heaven's Feel], a magic that rids the state of "mortality".

Of course, that included the ability to accelerate their thoughts with ease.

"You can make up for them next time. For now, why don't we make up my lost time first?"

"How would you want to do it, then?" He asked.

"Hm~"

Akagi hummed a familiar song to his ear. It was a song that could be found on the old Azur Lane base. During that one time, she acted as the base's idol alongside several others.

...it was also the time when everything was peaceful.

Shiro was reminded of their times, both in their lives in their world as well as their newlywed wife when they found out that they were together even in their next life.

After finishing that one song, she finally responded:

"Let's have our breakfast first, shall we?"

*****

Huff... Huff...

Without any ounce of control to his body, Shikikan suddenly found himself in a strange place. It was similar to the Azur Lane base but obviously more advanced. However, its desolateness made him sense something out of place.

'Where am I..?'

The last thing that he could recall was succumbing to sleep after a huge workload. The two KANSEN factions leaving made a huge dent at their base. Not only did he need to solve their problem regarding repairs and logistics, they also need to resolve the gap between their inventory when the other two countries pulled out.

'This place... Is it the command room?'

There, he could see some parts that were familiar to him. During their 'operations', the Commander—him—sends out commands through the use of a special device. By connecting in it with his ability to connect with KANSENs, he could efficiently send out commands without any delays.

He could also share visions with other KANSENs, making him the best person to act as the naval base's commander. In the first place, his perfect compatibility with Wisdom Cubes made him the first person to be able to do such things.

'The communication lines... am I inside the base?'

Just as he thought about it, something invalidated that thought of his.

Buzz-!

A scene popped up on the big screen. There, he could see a city filled with metal ruins. The smokes coming out of the rubbles as well as the crackling fire made him realize that the destruction happened as it was being filmed.

Psssh-!

Tap-!

Tap-!

The sound of the airtight door being opened resounded to his ears. Footsteps came from the opened door. When he sought for the source, he blanked out for a second.

The familiar pupils that has the color of the sea.

The snow-white hair that only one person could possess.

The fleet admiral's uniform that he was very familiar with.

"That's... me?"