Our Bonds

"Huh? What did you just say?" (Zuihou-chan)

Suddenly, the microphone picked up a loud scream. No, it was more like a war cry.

"Dooryaaa!" (???)

A pink streak of light zoomed down a few metres from where the two stood, creating a large tower of water and an explosive noise. There was more screaming in the background,

"You missed! How could you miss?! It was only that far away!" (???)

"Shut up, Baqua! I just hit the 10% miss rate!" (???)

"Less talking, more moving. Secure those two! Everyone, surround them and be prepared for anything! (???)

There is a lot of noise in the background as a bunch of girls moved into view. A familiar submarine maid grabbed Shioi while another short girl with silver hair in black and purple costume paired with a witch hat pulled Avrora to the side.

"Wait! What are you-" (Avrora)

"Sorry. This is an emergency!" (Witch girl)

"What's going on?"

Zuihou-chan shoved the demon back,

"I don't know. Azur Lane's shipgirls are surrounding us." (Zuihou-chan)

"Aqua-chan, what are you doing here? Please let me go." (Shioi)

"Sorry. We got our orders." (AL Minato Aqua)

What is Azur Lane doing here? The noise in the background got louder as ten girls, led by a maid with a large sword, surrounded the pair. I'm seeing some familiar faces. There is Unicorn, Colorado, Shigure and Alabama.

"Shioi, hijack and intercept her signal. Ooyodo..."

"Already on it. Decoding and attempting to establish a connection." (Ooyodo)

There was some static before a couple of voices came from the radio. We got in. That was surprisingly easy. I expected at least another half an hour. But this is great for us.

"Signal hijacked. We can listen in on their conversation. I'm trying to infiltrate their channel." (Ooyodo)

"Energy readings are a match. That's codename 'Blue'." (Girl with bunny ears and thick eyebrows)

That shark monster?!

"It changed form. What about the other one? What is an Abyssal doing here?" (Suwanto Ao)

"We don't know. The wavelength is similar but energy readings are off the chart for this one." (Girl with bunny ears and thick eyebrows)

"Are those your parents, Spee? I won't be surprised. (Loli with two shark-like riggings and a gun)

"Shut up, Deutschland." (Girl with two red claws and mechanical fish tail)

"What is Keita doing? Letting an Abyssal Princess and that monster so close to the mainland." (Suwanto Ao)

Because it's not an Abyssal. That's my girlfriend.

"Are we in yet?"

"Not yet. That submarine maid is making it a little difficult. She keeps changing the encryption." (Ooyodo)

"At least we can hear what are they talking about for now. Keep trying. I need to speak to Ao. Shioi, Avrora, try to break free from those two. Zuihou-chan, be prepared to take evasive maneuvers. Ooyodo is trying to connect me to Ao."

"What about calling him directly?" (Ooyodo)

"Already did. It keeps getting cut off. His direct line isn't working as well."

I have been trying since his girls showed up. I'm just not getting through.

"That Abyssal... She looks familiar." (AL Unicorn)

"The form matches the Abyssal Phoenix Princess but the the outfit is different." (AL Colorado)

"Split up into 6-4. Dido, just as we planned, eliminate 'Blue'. Maya, keep that Abyssal at bay. Our priority is the destruction of 'Blue'. Get rid of the Abyssal if necessary. Keita is going to own me one." (Suwanto Ao)

Oh, hell no! I'm not letting any one of you touch my girl!

"Hey! Don't run!" (AL Alabama)

The demon quickly dove underwater.

"Aqua, chase after it!" (Witch girl)

"Wai... Shion... Jamming..." (AL Minato Aqua)

"Oi. What are you saying? (Witch girl)

"Something... hijac..." (AL Minato Aqua)

"We are being listened in on! It must be that Abyssal. Cut the connection and get ready for combat." (Suwanto Ao)

I watched as the 10 Azur Lane girls aimed their guns at Zuihou-chan. Zuihou-chan immediately braced herself and took an evasive stance.

"Ooyodo!"

"We are in!" (Ooyodo)

I grabbed the microphone,

"Ao! Get your girls to stand down now!"

"Ouch! What the-? Keita? How did you-" (Suwanto Ao)

I can see the other girls clasp their ears and flinched. Sorry.

"Stand down. That's not an Abyssal. That's Zuihou-chan."

"What are you talking about?" (Suwanto Ao)

"Eh? Why is there another voice?" (Girl with bunny ears and thick eyebrows)

"This voice... Maizuru's Admiral?" (AL Minato Aqua)

"I'm sorry, Aqua-chan. I had to do it." (Shioi)

"It was you?" (AL Minato Aqua)

"Just stand down. I will explain later. Come over to my place. It's easier that way."

"O...kay. Stand down, everyone." (Suwanto Ao)

Shioi rushed to Zuihou-chan's side and took off her sailor top. She tied it around Zuihou-chan's wound, which immediately turned red from the blood.

"Keita, you better explain all of this properly." (Suwanto Ao)

"Relax. I was going to tell you about this. Eventually."

"So something like that happened... That's quite unexpected." (Suwanto Ao)

"Tell me about it. I was shock when she suddenly transformed in front of me."

Right now, I'm explaining to Ao about Zuihou-chan's condition and how we are trying to find ways to control her transformation. Zuihou-chan and the others are in the baths, along with a few Azur Lane girls who decided to tag along. Gangut's wounds are deep but they aren't life-threatening. It will take a few weeks and a lot of time in the medicinal bath for her to fully recover. To give her stomach, and her liver, some time to recover, I going to impose a limit on her daily alcohol consumption. That girl can chug alcohol from dusk till dawn and still not get a hangover. Talking about it is easy, implementing it is another story.

"So, what happened over there? I tried calling you several times but you didn't pick up. And it was easy to infiltrate your channel."

"You called? So it was still down... I'm sorry. We are kind of having a little trouble on our end. Our Yuubari was testing some new equipment she built a few hours ago and ended up short-circuiting everything in our base. We just managed to restore minimal power to our comms network and Arsenal. Looks like our automatic encryption and direct line got deactivated as well." (Suwanto Ao)

"So your Yuubari is like that too. Ours is just as equally troublesome. She would create weird contraptions and bring about mayhem. The other day, she created a giant mechanical rabbit for Gozny but it blew up and destroyed one of our empty warehouses."

Shigure served Ao some tea, before taking her place beside me.

"I'm amazed you can do that so naturally..." (Suwanto Ao)

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Admiral..." (Shigure)

I find myself petting Shigure's head and scratching her chin. When did I... Oh well.

"Where were we?"

"Ah, right. Since we already discussed about your Abyssal girlfriend, Alright alright. Both of you, please don't glare at me like that. Anyway, we need to talk about 'Blue'." (Suwanto Ao)

"So now it has taken on a humanoid form. Did you know about this?"

"Nope. It fell off our radar last month. Today was the first time in a while we have seen it." (Suwanto Ao)

"Can't help it. You guys have been busy lately."

"Did Vestal tell you that?" (Suwanto Ao)

I nodded my head. I can understand that they have a lot on their plate right now. Everything from the Sirens to the META shipgirls to the two weird creatures that have been active. To deal with all of that is pretty admirable. We already have our hands full dealing with the Abyssals.

"There are several questions as to why it took that form." (Suwanto Ao)

"If you are wondering about that form, I probably can answer that. You know the phrase 'You are what you eat'? Since it was attacking and eating Re-classes, it took on a form resembling one. Whether it's to blend in with the Abyssals to get its meal or something else entirely, that's a another problem to tackle. But that's is just a theory I have."

I described to Ao what happened before his girls entered the fray. How it was attacking ships and killing off the crew, how it was impervious to our shots, how it reacted when it bit Zuihou-chan... Actually, I'm more concerned about the last one. Why did it call Zuihou-chan 'Mama'? Did she cheat on me and gave birth? No no no. That is ridiculous. There is no way shipgirls can give birth without a ring. The timeline doesn't match and that demon was the shark monster Azur Lane had been trying to monitor. But where did it came from? Zuihou-chan gave birth to a shark monster which gained a human form after eating Abyssals... That sounds like a crappy title and plot for a fanfiction...

Anyway, the most important thing is that Zuihou-chan did not cheat on me. Yes. I trust that she didn't.

Then, why did it call her 'Mama'?

There was a knock on the day,

"Excuse me." (???)

I don't recognize that voice.

"Come in, Spee." (Suwanto Ao)

The girl with the large claws and mechanical tail from earlier walked in. This time, she is wearing black military-esque uniform. She still has her fish tail though.

"I thought you might want to see this." (Spee)

The girl presented a small jar with a bloodied tooth in it.

"A tooth?" (Suwanto Ao)

"Yes..." (Spee)

"Could it be...? Where did you get it?" (Suwanto Ao)

"It was in that girls wound. I helped to pull it out since it was causing her discomfort in the bath." (Spee)

Why is she stealing glances at us?

"That means..." (Suwanto Ao)

"Y-yes. I believe it belongs to 'Blue'." (Spee)

"This is... This is fantastic! We finally have something to work with. We can perform a scan on this to help us figure out what is 'Blue' made of. It is really a shark, or some kind Siren construct." (Suwanto Ao)

"Then..." (Spee)

Spee glanced at us again, this time with eyes of longing.

"I get it. Sit here." (Suwanto Ao)

Spee sheepishly sat down beside Ao. He placed a hand on her head and started petting her.

"Good girl. Good girl." (Suwanto Ao)

"~~~" (Spee)

I can a little embarrassed squeak, but she looks so happy.

"Once I get some results, I will share it with you all." (Suwanto Ao)

"Please do. There is a lot of mystery surrounding that thing."

"But why was that Destroyer able to get a tooth while none of our weapons were able to make a dent on it?" (Spee)

I already know the answer but I'm just going to ask for fun,

"What destroyer?"

"The one that we mistook for an Abyssal Princess, Zuihou-chan. She has able to get a tooth. She is a Destroyer, right?" (Spee)

Keep a straight face. No laughing.

"Spee, that girl is a Light Aircraft Carrier, not a Destroyer." (Suwanto Ao)

"Eh?" (Spee)

"In fact, she is Shouhou's younger sister." (Suwanto Ao)

"Ohh. I guess that sort of explains her size." (Spee)

Oh god. I can't help it!

"Admiral, you are laughing too much." (Shigure)