Our Bonds

Admiral, welcome home. Good work today." (Shigure)

Shigure, with her silky black hair tied into a ponytail, came over to the door to greet me. She was wearing an apron over her shirt and jeans.

"Today's dinner is curry rice. Would like to have dinner first, or a bath?" (Shigure)

Before I can answer, I felt something soft pressing against my arm. I looked down only to see that a Shigure with only one eye enveloping my arm in between her chest. They are only slightly bigger than Zuihou's, but there is a huge difference in the feeling.

"Or maybe me?" (One-eyed Shigure)

Between the normal Shigure and the Shigure with one eye, who should I choose?

"So, who is it? Which of us do you prefer?" (Shigure & one-eyed Shigure)

The answer was plain as day,

"I choose..."

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Hmm? Eh? When did I fall asleep? I feel like I just had a weird dream. Can't really remember what was it about though. This Kotatsu is really scary. My cheeks hurts from resting against my watch.

I looked at my watch. It's 1700hrs now, almost time for dinner. I hope my other girls are fine. In the end, I had to send them off to their respective post. This is no different from directly participating in the operation. I still ended up getting separated from Zuihou.

...Where is Shigure?

"Shigure?"

"I'm here, Admiral." (Shigure)

I turned around to see Shigure standing at my desk, looking out at the sea again. I silently let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, I thought she disappeared on me.

"Should we go for dinner, Shigure?"

"Umm... Before that, can we... talk for a bit?" (Shigure)

Shigure turned around to face me. She seems so meek all of a sudden. This is something I haven't seen in a while. She is usually like this when she wants me to pet her.

"Sure. It's cold over there. Come here."

"Can we... talk in your room?" (Shigure)

"Okay."

I got out from under the warm Kotatsu.

Cold cold cold!

I quickly entered my room and switched on the heater. Shigure followed closely behind.

"Fuu~ Cold. So, what is it you want-"

Shigure suddenly hugged me. I was so surprised I have no idea how to respond. I can feel her body heat.

"Shigure?"

"I knew it. This is who I love." (Shigure)

Did I hear her right? She is talking about the feeling of being hugged and patted, right? She likes it when I pamper her.

"Admiral, I know I am not going to like your response, but I'm still going to say it." (Shigure)

Shigure let go and took a few steps back. She looked at me with tearful but determined eyes,

Eh? This buildup...

"Admiral, I love you." (Shigure)

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When I first met Shigure, I thought of her as a reserved, quiet and cool girl. That fact remains true even till now. Aside from battles, she is always hesitant to make the first move. The practice of pampering her wouldn't have come if I didn't initiate it in the first place. If I remember, it was shortly after Shigure returned to me after that fateful operation. Yuudachi, as usual, pounced on me a day after we found Shigure. As I was petting her, I can see that Shigure was envious about it. And that's how we started this whole practice. Our relationship only developed from there. I was usually the one to initiate things with her. On rare occasions, she would ask for favours herself. That usually occurs after a sortie. Like a puppy, she wants to be rewarded and loved.

This is shocking. Shigure just confessed her feelings to me. I kind of guessed that she has feelings for me, but I didn't expect this sort of development. Nonetheless, I need to give her my answer.

Shigure looked at me with anticipation,

"Thank you, Shigure. I appreciate your feelings."

I have already made up my mind,

"I love you too, Shigure."

Somewhere along the line, Shigure was the only girl I ever thought about. The way she acts, cool and collected during battles, a submissive, little girl who just wants to feel loved when we are alone. The time I spent with Shigure was different from Zuihou. With Zuihou, I feel the urge to be a bit mean to her while protecting her. I want to see her smile, at the same time, I want to tease her until she cries. To be honest, even I find these desires a bit twisted sometimes. I mean, Zuihou is just too cute.

For Shigure, my feelings are more pure. I want to protect her smile. The smile she rarely shows me. I want her to be calm. I want her to be free from her past. I want her to be happier. No matter what state she is in, I will accept her.

Shigure looked at me in shock. Well, she did say she isn't expecting an answer she would like. Rather, the outcome was the opposite.

"Admiral... Did you... I..." (Shigure)

"Yeah. I love you too, Shigure."

Tears flowed from her eye,

"I... Admiral... Thank... you..." (Shigure)

I stepped forward to hug her,

"There there. I did your best, Shigure."

I hugged her till she calmed down.

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"Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah. *sniff* Thank you, Admiral." (Shigure)

We sat on the bed. Shigure laid against my shoulder,

"Are you sure? I'm pretty much useless. Am I allowed to be here?" (Shigure)

"You don't have to be useful to be by my side. You love me. And I love you. That's all that's needed. I have been thinking about this for a while. Was this the only reason why you are so depressed?"

"It's sad that I couldn't fight together with my friends. But it was more painful when I couldn't be of any use to you, Admiral. As long as I can help you and be of use, I could continnue to remain by your side, even if you didn't love me. That was my only source of respite. Hau~" (Shigure)

I ruffled her hair,

"Silly. You were overthinking things. At least, now I know that you weren't depressed because you couldn't go out to sea."

"There's that too. But now," (Shigure)

Shigure slid of my shoulder and laid on my lap. She lifted her shirt a little, exposing her belly,

"I'm really, really happy. I feel alive again." (Shigure)

After what feels like a long time, Shigure is smiling again.

"By the way, is this okay? I mean, Zuihou and Admiral are-" (Shigure)

"Oh that. I guess no one reallys knows about it. Zuihou and I have agreed to something called a Harem."

"That means..."

"Yeah. There are going to be more people joining us sooner or later. If you don't want that, I can stop. Only you and Zuihou will be my girlfriend."

"That sounds nice, but it will be unfair to the others, right? I'm fine with it. As long as I can be with Admiral, I'm willing to accept anything." (Shigure)

"No. You can reject or protest if you're not happy with some things."

"Eheh~ Then, I will do just that." (Shigure)

With that, I got myself a second girlfriend.

"By the way,"

"Hm?" (Shigure)

"Want to go get something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Ah. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot about dinner." (Shigure)