Our Bonds

What kind of arrangement is this? Leading at the front is a battleship dressed in a bunny costume. Protecting our backs is an Aircraft Carrier. And in the middle of the two is a little girl holding my hand while I'm partially submerged. Only the upper portion of my chest is above the water. Even though my body hurts all over, I can move on my own but this little girl, Enterprise as she calls herself, is dead set on holding my hand.

"Ah, a classic case of EMP. Even if you don't get hit by it directly, it still has an irritatingly large area of effect. We have been hit by the same thing a few times since we got here. It will eventually go away, but not so soon. The Sirens in this... Never mind. Scratch that." (New Jersey)

I told them about how I was unable to use any of my equipment. I suspected that this malfunction was caused by that sneak attack from the Sirens. To think the Sirens now have an attack that can disable our equipment.

According to Ticonderoga-san and New Jersey-san, they have been stuck on the island for almost a week now. Every attempt to move out of the area has been foiled by the Sirens and the black sea monsters, which I guess she must be talking about the Abyssals.

Whenever New Jersey-san mentions about the Sirens, her face will twist slightly in frustration, with a tinge of sadness, for a moment. She would frequently cut her sentences short and change the subject.

By the way, since when the skies became dark?

"Jersey, we need to pick up the pace. That fog is coming and will swallow us if we don't make i back in time." (Ticonderoga)

Fog?

"It's best that you don't look, Shioi. It will swallow you. Just like how it swallowed eve-" (Little Enterprise)

"Enty!" (New Jersey)

New Jersey-san's suddenly raised her voice, silencing the little aircraft carrier.

"Ah. I'm sorry, Enty. I just... Ugh..." (New Jersey)

"I'm sorry..." (Little Enterprise)

"We need to pick up the pace. That fog is closing in on us like a coyote hunting its prey." (Ticonderoga)

"I know, Ty. We are almost at our hideout. You should be able to see it by now." (New Jersey)

I can't see anything. Not with that thick and juicy-looking peach in front of me. How do you get such a voluptuous body?

And the hideout she is talking about is the island designated as 'Node P'. I kind of expected it, since they came from the direction of my objective. I will set up the anchor fairy later.

"New Jersey, do we have extra clothes? The one's Shioi is wearing is in pretty bad shape." (Little Enterprise)

I lost my orange top and my swimsuit is threatening to fall off any minute. But I'm already used to this level of exposure.

"There are a few bunny suits, but I'm not sure if they will fit." (New Jersey)

Oh no. Anything but that.

"I will be okay with just a towel. I don't want to impose on you."

"Come on, don't be shy. Oh! I know! Maybe Amagi can help sew some clothes." (New Jersey)

Amagi? She is here too?

"How is that child going help? She is sick, you know? And the other fox girl won't be of much use. She won't even leave her sister's side of a second." (Ticonderoga)

She must be talking about Akagi. I know Akagi respects and is extremely close to Amagi. The ones I know, at least.

"Akagi-chan is just worried." (Little Enterprise)

So the Amagi here is a child version, just like this Enterprise. And a smaller version of Akagi is here as well.

A few minutes later, we finally reached the shore of the island. The riggings of the three girls fragmented into blue mental cubes and pieceed themselves back together as their individual warsh.i.p.s. New Jersey led us deeper into the island.

"Welcome to our hideout. We have lots of fruits, water, though you need to boil them first, and fish. Just be mindful of the occasional snakes and bugs." (New Jersey)

Close to the shore was a large forest clearing. There are several building which look to be essential, such as a dormitory, a dock and a factory. And then there are the weird ones. At one corner, closer to the trees, is a Japanese style house, surrounded by bamboo. Through the gaps, I can see a garden, with a pond and some rocks There is a little girl sitting on the porch. Ah, I think she sees me.

The most eye-catching building was this circular structure with lights surrounding the roof. There is also a bright neon sign, showcasing the silhouette of a... bunny girl? What is this shady building?

"Isn't this building great? I had the remaining Manjuus build it. A place for us to dance, drink, and gamble our worries away!" (New Jersey)

There it is again. That pained look...

"Come on, let's get you inside." (New Jersey)

"Eh? Wai-"

Before I can say anything, New Jersey dragged me inside the suspicious-looking building. There was a bar, a few game tables, some sofas, and a large stage in the middle of the room with a tall pole. This really is a shady establishment!

"Yo! Welcome to my place! Don't be shy now, get hella jiggy with it!" (???)

We were greeted by a scantily-clad girl, who was seated on a sofa near the entrance. She wore a white blouse, white frilly skirt and net stockings. She also has a pair of white bunny ears, with mismatched patterns. One side was blue, the other was checkered.

"This girl is San Francisco. She manages the place." (New Jersey)

"The name's San Francisco! Jazz, rock 'n' roll, or whatever else, you name it and we'll play it!" (San Francisco)

"Hello. I'm I-401. Please call me Shioi."

"Oh. Another Sakura Empire survivor. Little Amagi is going to delighted." (San Francisco)

"Eh? New Jersey, who is the new girl?" (???)

Sitting amongst the bar stools was a girl wearing a black bunny suit and a black padded jacket. Her hair was tied up in twintails, with three ribbons, pink, blue and white, on each side. Wine glasses and liquid were scattered on the floor around her. To top it off, she looks tipsy.

"Allen! Oh my god, you made a mess again! It's too early to be drinking." (New Jersey)

The girl named Allen simply stuck her tongue playfully.

"Come on, introduce yourself." (New Jersey)

"I'm Eagle Union destroyer Allen M. Sumner! Just call me Allen! It's a pleasure! I would fetch you our menu, but I've had a teensy accident here... Don't worry, I'll fix this somehow!" (Allen)

"Nice to meet you. I'm I-401, the second ship in the special submarine series. Just call me Shioi."

"Oh? Another survivor from Sakura Empire? You don't have any animal tails or ears though. Unless those things are your horns." (Allen)

Are they mistaking me as a Sakura Empire Shipgirl? And why survivor? What happened?

"Oh, no. These are just hairclips. I'm a Japanese shipgirl but I'm not from the Sakura Empire."

"Hm? Then where are you from?" (Allen)

Before I can answer, a small girl in a red and white bunny suit with garterbelts walked up to me from behind the bar. She has tanlines on her h.i.p.s as well.

"Ho-oh? Let me guess, you are a the same as me, a submarine girl. Am I right? Not that I heard what you said or anything." (Red Bunny Suit Girl)

"Y-yeah."

"Damn. What happened to you? You swimsuit is about to fall off." (Red Bunny Suit Girl)

"This girl is Archerfish." (New Jersey)

"Balao-class submarine – Archerfish, Hull Number SS-311. I'm part of the Balao class, plus I hold the record for the biggest ship ever sunk by a submarine! I doubt anyone's ever gonna beat it. You're our lucky guest today, Shioi~ You get a taste of my secret concoction... Excuse me, I meant to say "c.o.c.ktail!" Relax, it won't do anything weird to you~ Probably. Ahaha~" (Archerfish)

Archerfish offered me some kind neon red drink. There is pungent smell to it. I don't want to take it but it's rude not to.

"Th-thanks? I guess."

"Let's introduce you to the others before you start drinking." (Ticonderoga)

Ticonderoga-san took the glass from my hand and set it on the table. She gave me a wink as she pushed me along. Thank you, Ticonderoga-san!

We went on to meet the rest of the girls in the building. The orange hair girl in a green bunny suit sleeping on sofa is called Morrison-san. Morrison-san took one look at me before turning away. New Jersey says she is feeling unwell but her eyes... They are wet and red. There is another girl with neon blue hair, wearing a black bunny suit, sitting near the speakers. Her name is Boise. She is using her hair to cover her mouth, and she was breathing heavily. I asked her what's wrong and she just said she is not used to the outfit she is wearing.

Ticonderoga-san said she was going to change into something more comfortable, leaving me with New Jersey-san. A manjuu managing the bar gave me a blue jacket to wear. The blue jacket had the Eagle Union's insignia on it. I then made the mistake of asking her how did they all end up on this island. New Jersey-san's face immediately turned grim and she told me she is feeling tired and wants to rest for a bit, before disappearing into one of the rooms at the back of the building. With nothing to do, I decided to go to the beach and complete my objective.

"Woah. What's happening?"

When I went to the beach, I noticed something weird and probably dangerous. Not far from the beach, there was a thick black fog. I can't see anything past it, except for some red lines moving around. Those must be Siren patrol sh.i.p.s. What's going on?

"Ah. There you are." (???)

I turned around to see two small girls, one in a red kimono and one with a white blouse, red skirt, and a black haori. The one in the red kimono has long brown hair tied into twintails, a pair of long fluffy ears and nine fluffy brown tails. She was the I saw through the bamboo. The other girl has short hair, also tied into twintails with two gold bells and has four fluffy tails.

"You are..."

"Battle Cruiser Amagi offers you her humble greetings. *cough* *cough* ...Ah, I'm fine, I just seem to have caught a little cold... *achoo!* Aww..." (Amagi-chan)

The little girl took out a handkerchief to blow her nose. So this is Amagi. She is way smaller than I expected.

"I'm Akagi. Feel proud, from today on, you will be Amagi-nee-sama's number one subordinate alright~" (Akagi-chan)

"Akagi, you are being rude!" (Amagi-chan)

And this sassy child is Akagi. Since they are both childlike, I'm just gonna add a 'chan' honorific.

"Amagi-nee-sama, we shouldn't be out here. You are going to feel worse." (Akagi-chan)

"I will be fine. It's not that serious. *cough* *cough*" (Amagi-chan)

Are you sure about that?

I lowered myself to their height,

"Amagi, right? Can I call you Amagi-chan?"

"How dare you? You must address Amagi-nee-sama with respect and honour!" (Akagi-chan)

"Akagi." (Amagi-chan)

With a stern look and sharp voice, she silenced the other fox girl.

"Yes. Feel free to call me however you like. I am an inexperienced child after all." (Amagi-chan)

"Amagi-nee-sama..." (Akagi-chan)

"No. I mean, you are a child but I wouldn't go that far to say you are inexperienced."

"It's the truth. *sniffle*" (Amagi-chan)

Amagi-chan sat on the sand and beckoned me to sit with her. Akagi-chan seems displeased though.

Amagi-nee-sama, you are going to dirty your kimono." (Akagi-chan)

"We can wash it later. Just a bit of water should get rid of the dirt. Anyway, Shioi-san, can I ask you some questions?" (Amagi-chan)

"Sure. Go ahead. I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities."

I replied as I sat down with her.

"Then... For my first question, are you from the Sakura Empire? Or are you from another new faction? I don't have any memories of an aircraft carrying submarine." (Amagi-chan)

Ah, we are starting from there, huh.

"I'm not from the Sakura Empire, but I am from a similar... I will just borrow that term... a similar faction. I belong to the IJN. Our main objective is to defeat the Abyssals and take back the seas.And I can't blame you for not remembering the Sentoku I-400 class. We were created near the end of the Great War. For a secret weapon, we didn't contribute much to the war effort."

"I see... Secondly, these Abyssals... Are those the weird black monster we see whenever the fog clears?" (Amagi-chan)

"That's right. In a way, they are like the Sirens, just a bit more grotesque and fleshy."

I continued to sate Amagi-chan's curious mind. She asked about my weapons, the members of IJN, the Sirens present in this world... They keep on saying that world but I have no idea what they are referring. Are they really from another world? I thought that sort of thing only exists in anime and manga. But if they really were from another world, then that would explain a lot of things and why are they not knowledgeable about a sorts of things. Wait a second. The girls at Azur Lane also came from another world too, didn't they? And the fact that they don't know about the Abyssals further cements this theory. As we spoke, Akagi-chan fell asleep on one of Amagi-chan's tails.

"What was your life back at the place you call home?" (Amagi-chan)

Woah. I wasn't expecting that question to pop up.

"Everyday is so fun. We would practice together, sortie together, play games, hang out, it was great. Despite being a military organization, I would say we have quite a bit of freedom. So long as we don't do anything drastic like blowing up the base, we can do anything we want. Of course, when they is work to be done, we will give it our all. That's the only way to repay him for all he has done for us. Admiral treats us very well. To be frank, when he first came in, I expected him to be like the rest and treat us as mere weapons for this war. But he sucked at it so he decided to treat us like girls. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, I'm just happy that such a person came into our lives. He plays with us, cares for us, rewards us when we are successful, scolds us when we do something stupid and dangerous, calms us down whenever we have an episode. He is sometimes lazy though, and that really annoys Ooyodo and Zuihou. He is also a bit a pervert. Doing that in the office..."

I suddenly remember the time I caught Admiral and Shigure about to make out on the office sofa. I feel a sharp pain in chest. My injuries must be acting up again. I need to go home and take a long bath at the docks.

"What's wrong?" (Amagi-chan)

"It hurts a little. I need to take a bath in the docks back home."

"You were inured?" (Amagi-chan)

"Yeah. I needed to get a little close to my enemies to defeat them with malfunctioning torpedoes. So the explosions were a little too close for comfort."

"I never had of an explosion causing chest pains. Either you have a serious problem or it's something else entirely." (Ticonderoga)

Amagi-chan and I turned around to see Ticonderoga-san and the other Eagle Union girls walking out of the forest. Instead of the bunny suits, they were wearing something else. Allen-san was wearing a white and blue leotard with a hole exposing the underside of her chest. Archerfish-san wore a blue and white blouse and white frilly skirt. Morrison-san had a one piece dress with the same colour scheme as the others, and held a fiece-looking yellow teddy bear. Boise-san's outfit consist of a white mini dress, white leggings, and a gas mask. San Francisco-san also wore a similar mini dress, only difference is that hers is white and black. She also has a black jacket zipped up at the bottom. Ticonderoga-san's outfit is the same as I saw her.

Hmm? New Jersey-san isn't here.

"Don't worry about that girl. Give her some time to rest and she would come bouncing back." (Ticonderoga)

"You sure about that? This time is worst than before. I say she is finally breaking down." (San Francisco)

"Now it's not the time..." (Boise)

"Yo, foxy. Finally came out of your hiding hole, huh." (San Francisco)

"San Francisco, please, now it's not the time for this. We have bigger issues at hand." (Ticonderoga)

"What's the point if we are going to die out here anyway?" (San Francisco)

"At least this way, we can die in honor. It's the only way we can honour our friends deaths." (Allen)

They look like they are ready to go to war. The fog is getting thicker and closer.

"Um... May I ask, what is going on here? What happened to all of you before you came to this world? Why does New Jersey-san look like she is in pain sometimes?"

Their faces turn grim. Morrison-san looked the other way. Allen B Summers-san wore a sad expression on her face. Little Enterprise looked as though she is about to cry. I just stepped on a landmine, didn't I?

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's all right. It's just... I thought I got over it already..." (Allen)

"It's hard..." (Morrison)

"The 2nd Reenactment Incident. As you have found out, we came from another world. In that world, our Commander led a rescue to save some of our girls from a supposed Sakura Empire attack. Jersey and I were part of a patrol fleet when that happened. Once she heard that our Commander is participating in the rescue mission, she immediately put us on a course to AF. That's when things went south." (Ticonderoga)

"At the same time... *Sniffle* The Sakura Empire was also being attacked by the Eagle Union. We thought that Azur Lane had finally decided to bare their fangs so I ordered a full-on assault. I was so dumb..." (Amagi-chan)

"In the ensuring battle... in the mirror seas... We... lost contact with our Commander... He was killed during our fight with Sakura Empire." (Little Enterprise)

Little Enterprise voice was breaking. She was trying to hold back her tears.

"But that was part of their plan. By tricking us and the Sakura Empire, they were able to cut our connection and assassinate him. Without the Commander to guide us, our base... everyone... was killed." (Allen)

"That was when the Sirens decided to pull this sick prank on us. Before we had the time to collect ourselves , the Empress teleported the survivors into this world, onto this island. Not only are there Sirens here, but those black sea monsters are roaming around. And there are strange shipgirls going back and forth, doing something sus." (Ticonderoga)

That must have been us.

"She may not look like it, but New Jersey blames herself. She thinks that if only she had been truthful about her power level, the Commander wouldn't have assigned her to the patrol fleet. Things wouldn't have ended up like this if she was by his side." (Ticonderoga)

"We are on our own now. And we are losing. We don't have a Commander, our resources on this island are dwindling. We can't get out of this godforsaken island. We are going to die here like the others. But at the very least, we want to die a soldier's death." (Archerfish)

They don't know...

"Ticonderoga-san, what if I told you there is still a chance? A chance to continue and win this fight?"

"Huh? Are you drunk? There is no way we can win this. we already told you, we barely have any resources to continue this fight. Our friends are all gone! It's the nine of us against them!" (San Francisco)

"San Francisco, calm down." (Archerfish)

"You said it yourselves. You are all from a different world. What makes think that this world is any different from yours. Out there, your friends are still fighting against the Sirens! Enterprise, Saratoga, Akagi, Kaga, Shinano, Nagato, Belfast, Dido, everyone is out there fighting. And you are all going to join them. That includes you, New Jersey-san!"

New Jersey popped her head from behind the tree. Her eyes filled tears and her face with snot.

"Jersey? How long have you been there?" (Ticonderoga)

"Shinano is here too?" (Amagi-chan)

"Enterprise? Wait, there is another me?" (Little Enterprise)

"The Commander in this world is well and alive. I don't know how your Commander was in your old world, but I can assure that this one will be the same."

"How are you so sure? It is as if you have met him before." (Archerfish)

"We are allies after all. I told Amagi-chan about this but I haven't mention it to the rest of you. I'm from a organization called IJN. We are allies with Azur Lane in this world. He may not be your old Commander, but this way, you can continue his legacy."

"Really? Will I... Do we have a second chance?" (New Jersey)

"Yes. You will make it out of here alive, and you will continue this fight."

It's late. Admiral must be worried sick right now.

I took out the Anchor Fairy, who glared at me for bringing her out this late and delaying her job.

"Sorry. But can you do it now?"

"Hmph. Finally! I don't usually work when it's dark, girly! But I will make an exception, just this once. You better make sure you bring me back home safely. I had enough of rocking about in my quarters for a month." (Anchor Fairy)

"Ahaha. I will."

"What's that?" (Amagi-chan)

"It's talking..." (Allen)

The Anchor Fairy took a look at everyone and paused to think for a while.

"I got it. Let's make this totem a big one. And let the whole world know that we were here! A large bunny with nine fox tails!" (Anchor Fairy)

Ah. I picked a hot-blooded one...

"Just a simple one would suffice, please."

"No! I'm not letting this inspiration go to waste! And besides, I will be done in a few minutes." (Anchor Fairy)

The Anchor Fairy went ahead and worked her magic. I really hope she doesn't take a long time to finish. I want to go home.

I want to see Admiral...