Our Bonds

Oh wow. Talk about being late.

I have been sitting here for almost an hour now, watching Rei stand in front of Osaka Station, waiting for a sc.u.m which I only heard bad things about. Rei is supposed to be on a date with this Saw- Sawaka? Sawada? ...Whatever his name is, at 12 noon. Now it's almost 1pm. What kind of guy makes his date wait this long?! And no, I'm not stalking her. At least that's what I like to think. Rei told me what time and where she was meeting this dirtbag. You don't have to wait for a guy who is this late for his date, Rei. Just leave and return back to base already. Or at least wait inside where there is air conditioning. It's hot out here.​​

Rei is wearing a white sleeveless blouse with a black and red skirt. Resting on top of her is a white beret. She is all dressed up for a date with some prick. She looks elegant in that outfit.

Ah. Someone is approaching her. A plain looking man with shoulder length hair in a blue polo t-shirt and black jeans. Maybe he is one of those brats who go around trying to pick up women with cringy lines, only to be blatantly rejected and then they would start to get violent and be an absolute nuisance to society. I admit, it looks like he has some muscle though, but he is clearly a brat. He looks kind of familiar.

Wait. Why is Rei walking with him? Don't tell me, that's him?! That's the twat that Grand Admiral Akihito has chosen? Has that old man's eyesight gone bad? Or has he gone senile? Maybe both. That twat isn't even dressed up for a date. He just wore an ugly grey polo t-shirt and blue shorts. At least put on a jacket and style your hair a little. And how dare you make your date wait for almost an hour under the hot sun. You are lucky Rei is such a nice girl. You clearly don't deserve her.

"Shioi, let's follow them."

"Y-yes." (Shioi)

Shioi and I went inside the station and tailed them from a distance. Thankfully, we e don't look suspicious. Probably. Since we are tailing them, it was better for us to wear a disguise. I'm wearing an ordinary white t-shirt with a sleeveless denim jacket, blue jeans, and a white face mask while Shioi has a green tank top with blue shorts and rectangular-framed glasses. We can't let Rei know that we are nearby, tailing her.

Oi oi oi. Why is Rei paying for the ticket? Shouldn't they at least share the cost? Maybe he will pay her back later. More importantly, where are they going? And why are they buying a one-way ticket? Just use a Icoca pass.

"Shioi, is your Icoca pass topped up?"

"Icoca pass? What is that?" (Shioi)

I looked at the bewildered girl,

"You don't know what's a Icoca pass?"

She shook her head.

"How did you get around all this time during your off days?"

"I just buy tickets to where we want to go." (Shioi)

"Let's get you a Icoca pass."

I brought her to the machine to make one. Having a Icoca pass makes it easier to move around. You don't have to keep going to the machine to get a ticket. Just tap your card and you can enter the train.

"Ehehehe~ Admiral got me my first Icoca pass~ This animal is so cute! What creature is this?" (Shioi)

Shioi looks elated about the card.

"A platypus, I think?"

Oh no! We spent too much getting her a card. We lost them!

"Commander Rei and the other man went over there." (Shioi)

Shioi pointed at the stairs leading to the line 4.

"Alright. Let's go."

We went into the train and sat at a distance, far from them but within line of sight. I should have brought a wiretap, so I can listen to their conversation. What a blunder.

"Admiral, won't Zuihou be better for this? She has great hearing so maybe she can pick up on their conversation. Compared to me..." (Shioi)

"Zuihou is only s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to the sound of planes, so I doubt she can even hear those two. Besides, Zuihou and Shigure are on a mission today. Zuihou-chan has lessons with Kashima so she volunteered to hold the fort after that. I wanted someone to accompany me so I brought you along. It's not a matter of how useful you are to me."

Plus, I kind of want to spend some time with you. Not like I can say that though.

"I-I see." (Shioi)

That guy is just yapping while Rei just gave a forced smile. I wonder what kind of things he is talking about to make Rei make that kind of forced smile. Shioi is staring out of the window, taking in the scenery.

This is the Kobe line leading to Kobe. Where are we going?

After a 25-minute train ride, they finally got off at the place people take this line to, Kobe. What is there to see in Kobe? It's only a port town famous for its beef. Apart from a few museums and nice buildings, I can't think of any date spots there.

"Ooohh~ Ah, something smells good." (Shioi)

"Admiral, they are going into that restaurant. Shouldn't we follow them?" (Shioi)

Before I can answer, I heard a loud growling sound. Shioi immediately covered her stomach and blushed.

"Let's go in and get lunch ourselves."

The both of us entered the restaurant. We made sure not to let our targets notice us as we walked past them. Luckily, there was an empty table just behind where the twat is sitting. This should allow me to hear their conversation a little. I could have sworn Rei was staring at us as we walked by.

"What's up?" (Twat)

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw someone familiar." (Rei)

You actually did see someone familiar.

Oh. This is a barbecue type restaurant. Sweet.

"One of your exes? With that size, you should have plenty." (Twat)

"Ahaha. I hope that's not the case." (Rei)

I wanna punch him. But first, let's fill Shioi's stomach.

"Have you decided what you want?"

"They are all so expensive." (Shioi)

"This is one of those premium yakiniku places. So the prices are steep, but the meat is delicious."

I waved my hand to the waitress. The tiny girl skipped towards our table. A child?

"Can I take your order?" (Tiny Waitress)

"We will have the supreme set."

"Wait. That's way too expensive!" (Shioi)

"Don't worry. This amount of meat is worth the 4000 yen. And give me a beer. Shioi, what drink would you like?"

"Eh? Erm... I will take the fruit juice, please." (Shioi)

"Understood. Anything else?" (Tiny Waitress)

"Nope. That will be all for now."

"Alright. Please wait for a moment." (Tiny Waitress)

The tiny waitress switched on the stove on our table and walked with a bounce in her step towards the kitchen. She must be the cook's family member or something. Either that, she just has a really small statue. Anyway,

"So yeah, with my brilliant plan, my dad managed to seal the deal with this big shot. Now, we are roping in millions every month. Of course, because I'm the one that hatched such an awesome plan, father is giving me a 60% cut." (Twat)

"Is that so?" (Rei)

Yikes. It's just as Rei said. C.o.c.ky, a parasite. What else?

"Thank you for waiting." (Tiny Waitress)

The tiny waitress came back with four large plates of meat. She set the plates down and placed a metal grill on the stove. She spread a thin layer of oil on the stove with a brush.

"This much meat?" (Shioi)

"Would you like me to cook for you or would you rather you do it yourself?" (Tiny Waitress)

"We can cook it ourselves."

"Got it. I will bring you your drinks." (Tiny Waitress)

"Thank you."

For the time being, that twat is spewing nonsensical bullshit. I still need to make sure he doesn't say anything too offensive to me, so I will just multitask for a while.

"Shioi, let me teach the perfect way to cook this meat."

With tongs in hand, I arranged the sirloin, ribeye, briskets, and tongue onto the grill. The meat sizzles and a delicious aroma fills our noses.

Shioi stared at the sizzling meat, unaware of the fact that she has started drooling. She is really hungry. I waited for the meat to change color before flipping them over. Timing is important when it comes to Yakiniku. Each meat has its own specific way and time to cook to bring out its flavor. A single second is all it takes to ruin the meat.

That guy is still bragging about how rich his father is and how smart he is that his father relies on him for business plans. How delusional are you?

I placed the cooked pieces of meat onto Shioi's plate,

"Eat up."

Shioi gripped the sirloin with her chopsticks.

"Careful, it's still quite hot."

After a few blows, she puts the sirloin into her mouth. Her eyes brightening and her dancing hands tells me she loves it.

"There is more of where that came from."

I put in the next batch of meat and repeated the grilling process. Shioi's gleeful expression while chewing on beef is really cute.

"I got to admit, this yakiniku thing isn't half bad Seriously, thanks for paying today. I will treat you next time. If I didn't forget to bring my wallet, I would have brought you to a 5-star restaurant with more high-class food." (Twat)

What are you trying to imply? You are going to piss off this restaurant's cook and the rest of us.

"Having some normal delicious food once in a while is great, you know. It doesn't have too luxurious." (Rei)

"You think so? True. The meat is nice, but way too greasy for my palate." (Twat)

How about I cook your greasy face, huh? Ah, no. I shouldn't do that. Not only is it unhygienic, but I will also pity the stove that needs to cook his face and the people that need to clean it up.

I continued to listen to his nonsensical yapping as I teach Shioi the ways of Yakiniku. Shioi has a look of satisfaction as we finish our food and drinks. Most of the stuff that twat is spewing out are about his achievements in FPS game, obviously fake and nonsensical 'plans' he thought up for his father's business, going to a hotel to dine in their restaurant, how much money his father is giving him... Damn, he has so much nonsense in him that he might be enough to power a power plant for a few years. What the heck?

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yes. That was delicious. Thank you, Admiral." (Shioi)

"Let's take a short break and let the food digest a bit."

"Honestly, you should quit your job and let me support you. I'm rich. I can give you anything. And no way am I letting such a big pair of melons get away." (Twat)

"That's not happening anytime soon. I love my job and the environment." (Rei)

"What do you work as again?" (Twat)

"I'm a Commander at IJN's Maizuru Naval Base" (Rei)

"Ah, right, right. So you work for those child slavers. I can't believe they are forcing such a busty beauty like you to abuse children and make them fight in some play war." (Twat)

HUH?!?!?!

"Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Child slavers?" (Rei)

I clenched my fist tightly. I can feel my c.h.e.s.t throbbing rapidly.

"Yeah. Child slavers. That's what your people do, right? Giving guns to kids and throwing them at imaginary monsters the government made up. It's all-over social media. I even have my own information broker in the organization. So I know everything. You don't have to work for such an evil organization. Quit your job and just focus on making babies for me." (Twat)

"I'm sorry. You didn't strike me as one of those activists. What do you think we do there?" (Rei)

"I just said it, didn't I? Forcing dumb kids to fight an imaginary war for you. You guys probably fed those stupid kids some kind of drug to brainwash them into throwing their lives, right? You can tell me. My lips are sealed." (Waste of oxygen)

Is this knife sharp enough to cut his throat? I hope it's sharp enough.

"You know damn well we don't do that!" (Rei)

Rei sounds pissed as well.

"Oh come on. We are outside now. There is no need to follow whatever military rules or NDA doc.u.ments you were forced to sign. Besides, we are going to be a couple soon. Couples don't hide secrets from one another." (Waste of space and oxygen)

I looked around the restaurant. The diners are all staring at the two. Some even have their phones up, hoping to catch some kind of drama.

"You are so wrong." (Rei)

"Nah. I'm right. The IJN is a bunch of sc.u.m who torture and brainwash young children into fighting a fake war and killing themselves. In fact, the kids are obviously dumb enough to even let themselves get brainwashed by your people and be treated as mere weapons. I really pity them." (Son of b****)

Shioi looks upset about that sc.u.m's comments. I don't care if he insults IJN but if he dares talk about my girls like this...

I raised my hand and signaled for the bill.

"Where the hell did you get all of this nonsense from?!" (Rei)

"No need to get defensive. Anyway, my point is, quit your stupid job and let me support you. You can get everything you want for free while I get to play with those massive jugs. A win-win situation for everybody." (Piece of maggot-infested trash)

I hand over my card for the waitress to process my payment. My hands are starting shake...

"First of all, we do not brainwash or torture the kids at our base. I don't know what lies you are being fed but there really is a war going on out there. These kids are humanity's only hope of winning this war and are working hard to save people like you from dying. We do our best to make them comfortable, especially after each battle. We treat them as humans! Not weapons! And they are not dumb!" (Rei)

"You know I'm right. You are just afraid to admit it." (Why was he born?)

The waitress returned me my card and took a step back. The plates made a clattering sound as I stood up. I walked over to the table behind me.

"Those kids you guys have in your base are really stupid enough to believe whatever your people say and kill themselves in this so-called wa- Ggoghh?!" (Trash)

I slammed that piece of useless garbage headfirst onto the table. Screams echoed around me but I can't be bothered to entertain them. After four punches to the face, I added another knee for good measure. I grabbed the hair of that sniffling bag of crap and whispered,

"If I see you in front of me, hear you talk about Rei like that or insult any of my girls ever again, it won't end with just a bloodied nose. Got it?"

"Who are y-" (Bag of trash)

"I said, Got it?"

I jerked its head. The trash pile nodded it's head fearfully. I slammed its head onto the table one more time. A plate of beef flipped into the air.

"Let's go, Shioi."

"Y-yes." (Shioi)

I walked out of the restaurant. My right hand is throbbing.

"Admiral..." (Shioi)

"Sorry. But I can't let that ********* talk about Rei and you girls like that anymore."

"I know. But was it alright to do that? Wouldn't you get in trouble?" (Shioi)

"Probably."

And it won't end with just a pay cut. There were many people watching. No doubt this incident will get posted on social media. I will need to plan out what to say during my trial to make sure I don't get fired. I'm fine with detention. So long as I get to see Zuihou, Zuihou-chan, Shigure, and Shioi and everyone else again.

"Well, I will cross that bridge when the time comes. You have never been to Kobe before, have you? Since we are here, shall we explore?"

"Are you sure?" (Shioi)

"If I go back now, Ooyodo will just lecture me again. Might as well enjoy ourselves while we are here. There isn't much but I know a few good sightseeing spots."

"Thank you, Admiral." (Shioi)

I pray that things don't go as badly as I think it would...