Our Bonds

Ugh... God... That was a dream, wasn't it? Zuihou-chan transforming into an Abyssal before my eyes. Hah. What a load of-

Ow! A sharp pain suddenly surge through my right arm. I look at my arm and saw a black tendril stuck to it. It looks as though it's rooted to my forearm. Now that I think about it, my back hurts as well. And there is something cold pressed against my ??h??st..

"What is th- Waaa-"

I immediately placed my hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. I can't risk this creature waking up. Holy shi- Why is there an Abyssal here? Wasn't I with Zuihou-chan? Wait. This is Zuihou-chan! Her appearance is a little different but this is definitely Zuihou-chan.

That wasn't a dream! Snuggled against me was Zuihou-chan, fast asleep and looking like an Abyssal. She has black and grey patches all over her body, her hands are black and sharp, with a small bow-like device replacing her right hand. A small horn protruded out from the right side of her forehead and her hair was both brown and white. Apart from my lower body, connecting me to her were the tendrils rooted into my arm and maybe my back. I don't want to count how many though. I slowly got out of the bed and moved away from the small girl. The tendrils became taut and a sharp pain shot through my arm and back. Gh! So this is how much I can move away from her. A mere 1.5 metres. At this distance, I can confirm that there are six tendrils attached to my back and one to my forearm. Unless I move any further, there is a throbbing pain present on my arm and certain points on my back.

What is going on? Why did Zuihou-chan take on this form? Barring her outfit, which seems undamaged, she looks almost the same as her Abyssal form, the Abyssal Phoenix Princess. Has she reverted back to being an Abyssal? Do I have to go through that again?

"Mmgh... Ad...miral?" (Zuihou-chan)

Her voice sounded hoarse. The small girl opened her eyes. The left one was normal while her right one was red and surrounded by black sclera. She got up and looked around the room for a moment before our eyes met.

"Good morning... Admiral... Eh...? Why are you... making such a frightened face? " (Zuihou-chan)

Eh? Was I?

She let out a few coughs,

"My voice... feels a bit weird..." (Zuihou-chan)

"Zuihou-chan, I need you to calm down and listen to me."

"Hmm? What... is it? *Koff* *Koff* Why does... throat..." (Zuihou-chan)

I can see Zuihou-chan's eyes widened. Her gaze seemed focused on the tendrils connecting me to her.

"Admiral... What is... that?" (Zuihou-chan)

She pointed at the tendrils and her jaw dropped as she saw the crossbow on her hand. She trembled as she examined her claw and the crossbow and the various black and grey parts all over her body. I can her breathing become more rapid. This is bad.

"Zuihou-chan, stay calm."

"What... is this...?! This can't... Nooo!!" (Zuihou-chan)

I quickly hugged her tightly,

"Shhhh. It's okay. It's okay."

"Why... am I... What..." (Zuihou-chan)

"Try and calm down. Breathe in. Breathe out."

She is trembling a lot and her breathing isn't slowing down. How do I get her to calm down?

"Say, do you want to go somewhere later? Let's play a game."

"Nooo....! Noooo! Why?!?!" (Zuihou-chan)

I can feel the tendrils thrashing around behind me. It hurts, but I need to endure it. Just for a moment.

Whatever I'm saying isn't getting through her. What should I do?

"Why?!?! No! I... don't want... this!!!" (Zuihou-chan)

What do I do? How can I calm her down? Ah. Here goes nothing!

I pressed my lips against her and pushed my tongue in,

"Mmmph?!" (Zuihou-chan)

I licked the inside of her mouth. I can feel her trying to resist as she struggled a bit but only for a few moments. Her body became lax and her breathing slowed down. Instead of pushing, I can feel her tongue exploring my mouth. I'm surprised that worked.

I broke away from the kiss,

"Calm down for a bit."

Her beautiful face was covered in tears and snot.

"Let's figure this out together. The two of us. Okay?"

"But... I... I..." (Zuihou-chan)

"It will be alright."

I stroked her head,

"We will figure something out."

"What is this?" (Zuihou)

Why is Zuihou here? Never mind. I already know the answer.

"For starters, let us put on some clothes."

Since those tendrils protruding from her back are in the way, Zuihou-chan wore one of my uniform tops backwards while I have to settle for a pair of boxers. I explained the situation to Zuihou, who was visibly confused and shocked by Zuihou-chan's sudden transformation.

"Give me a moment. This is a little too much info to take in."

"Take as long as you need."

Zuihou-chan laid on my ????p as I pet her head. She is still sobbing. Right now, my main priority is to keep the smaller light aircraft carrier calm while figuring out a solution.

"Come on. Stop crying. You are making me cry too." (Zuihou)

"Zuihou-chan, how are you feeling now? Does it hurt anyway?"

"It doesn't... hurt. But I'm scared." (Zuihou-chan)

"Your speech isn't as stilted as before. That's a good sign. Just focus on keeping a calm mind, okay? Don't think too much."

"Admiral, you should worry about yourself as well." (Zuihou)

"I'm fine. As long as I don't move too far away, they don't hurt. I don't think it's doing anything to me."

"I'm sorry... Because of me..." (Zuihou-chan)

"Ah papapap. Don't worry about it."

I placed a finger on Zuihou-chan's lips as she turned to me.

Zuihou wiped another tear from her eye. Zuihou-chan's emotional state is really affecting Zuihou.

"Zuihou-chan, can you tell me something?"

"What is it?" (Zuihou-chan)

"You don't have any thoughts about being lonely or cold, right?"

"No. I don't." (Zuihou-chan)

"That's great. Keep those kind of negative thoughts our of your head. Only happy little thoughts."

"What should we do now?" (Zuihou)

Hmm... There has to be a trigger which caused Zuihou-chan's transformation. The only thing I can think of is her core changing shape and our lovemaking. Other than that, what else?

"Obviously, we should figure out what caused this transformation and why. Huh?"

The throbbing pain in my arm is gone now. My back doesn't hurt as much as before. In fact, the pain is totally gone. I looked down at my arm and noticed that the tendril was detached and had fallen off. The spot where the tendril was connected to was extremely red. The six other tendrils that were on my back had also fallen onto the bed.

"Zuihou-chan, what did you-"

I was about to ask Zuihou-chan when I realized she had fallen asleep. There was a soft snapping noise and the seven tendrils that sprout from her back fall off as well. The small horn on her head dissolved into dust as the black and grey spots all over her body slowly fade away. Even her hair is returning back to it's original colour. The crossbow on her right hand cracked opened and fell apart while her claw reverted back into an ordinary hand.

Zuihou and I watched in awe as she returned back to her original form.

"That... was weird." (Zuihou)

"Get Yuubari and Akashi to stand by in the factory after roll call. I'm calling Vestal from Azur Lane first thing in the morning."

I carefully tucked Zuihou-chan in bed and got up to pack my room a bit. What is the scanner doing on the floor? Oh right. I'm the one that did it.

Hmm... Let's try this.

I carefully attached the electrodes to Zuihou-chan's ??h??st, trying hard not to wake her up, and switched on the scanner once more. As usual, the machine beeped to life and all the numbers and elements appeared on the screen. The red counter that I discovered before was now showing the number 7.

"What should we do with these?" (Zuihou)

Zuihou presented the black parts which have fallen of their owner to me,

"Keep them. They may be able to give us a clue for this whole situation."

What is happening to my girl?