Our Bonds

"Eh? That's your reason? Ithought you were being blackmailed or something."

"No. It's not something as scary as that, but it's a serious problem for me. At this rate, I'm going to be a Christmas cake." (Rei)

"Christmas cake?" (Shigure)

"How can a human turn into a cake?" (Zuihou)

"Don't worry about it. It's something most women in this age don't even concern themselves with anymore."

I'm not surprised these two don't know about the 'Christmas Cake' thing. It emerged in the 80s but now hardly anyone bothers about it. Basically, it's a metaphor used for unmarried woman who 25 years old and above. It's a reference to unsold christmas cakes after December 25th. I didn't expect Rei to be concerned with such a thing.

The reason for Rei's strange behaviour lately is due to not being able to find a suitable boyfriend. Every weekend, she would apply for permission to leave the base for a blind date, and come back feeling dejected because her date wasn't the right one. The worry of not getting a boyfriend, the acc.u.mulation of having so many failed dates, and no one to complain to must have taken a toll on her sanity. But why doesn't she want to complain to Avrora or the others in her fleet?

She said that the boys will keep talking about their own achievements, flaunt their statuses, and only focus on her chest. When she told them she is part of IJN, they would have this scorn on their face.

"It's like, even if you think it's weird, at least don't be so obvious about it. And why do they have to keep talking about how rich their parents are or how much they earn per month. I don't give a damn about any of those! And my eyes are up here! Stop staring at my chest!" (Rei)

I can understand if a few candidates were like that, but she has been doing this for five weeks now and all of them were like that? What kind of dating agency is she using?

"No wonder they are still single. With that kind of attitude, apart from gold diggers, no sane woman will even think about dating them." (Rei)

"Erm... It's almost time for morning roll call." (Zuihou)

"Already?"

I took a look at my watch. She's right. It is time for roll call.

"Rei, let's continue this after roll call."

"Promise?" (Rei)

"I did say I will listen to you just now. I don't how to help though."

---------------------------------------------------

"And the last guy was no better. He claims that his father has a large amount of shares in some Russian oil company. He doesn't need to go to work since his father gives him a huge allowance everyday. Because his daddy is rich, he is able to play FPS games everyday. He told me that if I marry him, I can live off his daddy's money and not work a single day for the rest of my life. Don't screw with me! That just makes you a parasitic sc.u.m! You just confessed that you are a useless human being. I don't care if you book such an fancy, high-class restaurant for a date. The food isn't worth the price, the wine doesn't taste good, the music sucks, and all you ever talk about is how rich your father is. Tell me, if you were in my shoes, would you choose someone who is useless?"

"No. I don't think I will."

"Exactly! When I wanted to introduce and talk about myself, he kept interrupting me and talked about how he is ranked first in this game he is addicted to. Like, why? I don't even know what you are talking about. What do you mean by 'Nox Gas' or 'Pathfinder'? Don't just go talking about a game when I'm trying to introduce myself. I specifically put down my preferences on the website. Why did they pair me with so many pieces of trash?" (Rei)

Rei sat on my sofa as she spent the past two hours ranting about all her failed dates. Each date was unique in its own way. There was a guy who claims that he is a millionaire but had his cards rejected when he offered to pay the bill. Of course, Rei had to foot the bill. That guy is out, since he is obviously a liar and a broke. He has yet to pay her back the money.

There was one who thought that he was some kind of bigshot and looked down on Rei, saying that she should be honoured that he is even considering her as a dating partner and that her only assets was her large chest. But when Rei threatened to leave, he broke down into a sobbing mess.

There is another one who is just a pervert, plain and simple. Essentially, every single one of them didn't meet her standards and had some rather infuriating traits. By the way,

"What kind of preference did you put in?"

"Muscular, able to work well and make good decisions under pressure, have a stable source of income, kind, caring, and of course, a nice face. I would put more, but the site has a character limit of one hundred." (Rei)

"He~eh. So that's your preference."

"That sounds familiar." (Shigure)

"Does it? It doesn't sound familiar to me."

"Admiral, you are kind of dense sometimes." (Shigure)

Eh? What is she on about all of a sudden?

"Anyway, I don't think any of the people you just described have all of the traits you want."

"That's the thing! I specifically tick the 'all' option. Shouldn't they find a man that fits the description? Instead, they just throw me some desperate men who only have one of those traits. What kind of dating site is this?" (Rei)

"Maybe it's better if you register with another site. Did you pay for the service?"

"No. It was a free website." (Rei)

"That explains it. Those kind of sites always do things sloppily. You should register yourself with the professionals. You need to pay a deposit and then the full price once you and your partner become a pair. It's better than those shoddy free sites."

"You seem experienced with these kind of things." (Rei)

"That's right... How do you know so much?" (Shigure)

This is bad. Shigure is glaring at me. I can't tell them that I was desperate in highschool and tried to register at such sites. Of course, there is a age limit and I got found out right away even after registering with a fake age. It was dumb of me to post my highschool photo.

"Rondo told me before. He was really desperate back then."

"Eh? Grand Admiral Rondo did such a thing before? I didn't know that." (Shigure)

"That's surprising." (Rei)

Sorry, Rondo. I will treat you to lunch or dinner the next time we meet.

"Anyway, if you really want to find a partner, I suggest searching for a professional matchmaker. They are probably your best bet."

"Y-yeah. I guess." (Rei)

For a split second, there was a look of disappointment on her face, before reverting back to a smile. She stood up and stretch,

"Hnnng~ Ahhh~ That's better. It feels so good get all those of my chest." (Rei)

Looks like she feeling better. I guess I was imagining things just now.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't of much help."

"Nope. You did helped. You listened and gave you two cents about things."

"Is that enough?"

"And you reminded me of..." (Rei)

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Nope. Now then, Avrora must be waiting for me in my office. I better get back and do my papers for today. Thank you, Admiral, Shigure." (Rei)

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do."

"Commander Rei, I will support you." (Shigure)

"Shigure... Yeah! I will do my best. Someday..." (Rei)

Rei left the office smiling.

"What did you mean by you would support her?"

"It's something only we girls understand." (Shigure)

"Ehh? Tell me. Now I'm curious."

"Admiral, let's get to work. Zuihou is going to flare up again if we don't complete today's report." (Shigure)