Our Bonds

The second mission was a success. My girls returned with smiles on their faces. From what I heard, Shouhou actually stole the limelight by sinking the Wo-class flagship with a single air group during the 'Last Dance' phase. The 'Last Dance' phase phase is the point of the mission where the Abyssal main fleet is unable to repair itself and becomes more aggressive and dangerous as a result. At the same time, this is when they are at their weakest. You can imagine how happy Shouhou is when she received the recognition she deserved. The other girls are currently swarming the four of them with questions and stories to share. The only one that didn't join the crowd was Yamakaze, who immediately latch herself onto me as soon as she saw me. So I left the little party they were having and went back to my office.

"She really loves you. Cute..." (Zuihou)

"Leave me alone..." (Yamakaze)

I gently stroked Yamakaze's hair. She must have really been home sick for her to act like this. The Shiratsuyu sisters have been trying to pry her away for a while but to no avail. So they decided to leave her in my care for the time being.

"Did you sortie?"

"No." (Yamakaze)

"I see."

I don't think she was in a good state to sortie in the first place. Yamakaze gets frightened easily, but she has the habit of trying to hide her feelings. I guess Yokosuka's Admiral managed to read her, or there wasn't a need for Yamakaze to replace anyone.

"It's okay. You are home safe and sound."

"Sorry, Papa. Even though you sent me there to help out." (Yamakaze)

"Don't worry about that. It's over already. Rather, I should be the one apologizing. Sorry for sending you somewhere so far away."

"Unh... I was so scared. The others were with me but... Even though I got remodeled..." (Yamakaze)

"There there."

I pat her softly on the head as she started trembling. It was the only way I know to calm her down.

Zuihou also gave Yamakaze a pat on the shoulder. I guess that's her way of trying to cheer Yamakaze up.

After a while, Yamakaze fell asleep in my arms. Murasame and Harusame were right on time too. They came in when Yamakaze just fell asleep and carried her back to their room.

"Good work." (Zuihou)

Zuihou set a cup of tea on my desk as I stretched a bit.

"It was nothing. It's for her sake."

"I was like that for a while too, right? I understand the feeling of being useless and scared." (Zuihou)

"Come on. Let's not talk about that. Anyway,"

I got up from my desk and sat on the sofa.

"Come over here."

I called Zuihou over to sit next to me.

"What is it? We still have work to do." (Zuihou)

"Just come here."

As soon as Zuihou sat down, I pulled her head towards my shoulder.

"Eh?! Admiral?!" (Zuihou)

"Did you think I wouldn't notice that you were feeling lonely?"

"I wasn't- Was it obvious?" (Zuihou)

"Very."

Throughout the entirety of me consoling Yamakaze, I noticed Zuihou glancing at us from time to time. Her eyes were filled with loneliness. Since she was feeling that way, I decide to indulge her for a while.

Zuihou held onto my arm and nuzzled her face against me as I pat her head. She is mimicking how Yuudachi acts when I give her headpats. We stayed like this for a while, until she is satisfied.

"Phew. I fully recharged on Admiral-energy!" (Zuihou)

"What the heck is that? Anyway, let's get back to work."

"Speaking of which, did you share the workload with Rei-san?" (Zuihou)

"Not yet. I told her to come up with a fleet of her own. I want to test her well she can command a fleet. Ooyodo can teach her how to do the reports."

"I see. You don't think she would just slap some random shipgirls together and call it a fleet." (Zuihou)

"Nah. She isn't the dumb. She has seen how I put a fleet together. She probably has some ideas."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And once she forms her own fleet, let's have a practice excercise."

"Good idea. That's a good way to test her knowledge." (Zuihou)

"Yeah. Rondo did the same to me too before handing the base over to me."

"Did you win?"

"What are you talking about? You were- oh right."

The fleet I put together back then was Shouhou, Zuihou, Ryuujou, Shioi, Samidare and Murasame. The Zuihou back then is gone.

It was a tie anyway. Battlesh.i.p.s like Fusou and Yamashiro can't hit a submarine like Shioi.

Suddenly, the phone rang. If it's ringing, that's means it important. Either that or it's a call from Azur Lane.

"Hello. Maizuru Naval District."

"Ksshhh... krrrkkk..." (???)

I got replied with the sound of static. This is a secured number. A prank call is almost impossible. A malfunction, perhaps? Maybe I should get the phone checked.

But before I took the phone away from my ear, a faint sound got through,

"Help... me..." (???)

And then silence... Nothing but the beeping sound that signals the end of a call.

What was that? Why was the person calling for help? The voice send chills down my spine. More importantly, why does it sound eerily familiar? Prank call or not, my instincts are telling me not to ignore it.

I picked up the phone and called Yokosuka Naval Intelligence Office

"Yokosuka Naval Intelligence Office. Who is this?" (YNI operator)

"This is the Admiral of Maizuru Naval District."

"Good afternoon, Admiral. How may I help you?" (YNI Operator)

"I need to trace a call. Is it possible?"

"A call? Huh? When did this-? That can't be right. Admiral, did you just received an call from a unknown source? Is that the one you need tracing?" (YNI Operator)

I knew it. That call got into the logs but somehow managed to slip through the tight security.

"Yeah. Can you trace back the source?"

"Sorry. Based on the call log, the call was too short to be traced back." (YNI Operator)

Figures...

"That's al-"

"However, the origins seems to be coming from somewhere in Cape Egano. And though unknown in source, it was using a registered channel within the IJN." (YNI Operator)

All the way from there? What? And to top it off, it was coming from one of our own.

"Sorry. This is all I can make out." (YNI Operator)

"That's alright. At least I have a general location. Thank you."

What's up with that creepy call? And the source is all the way at Cape Egano as well. Something doesn't add up. No. There is something I'm missing. A piece of puzzle.

"What happened?" (Zuihou)

Oh. Now I understand why the voice sounded familiar. The caller was using Zuihou's voice.