Our Bonds

With Zuihou feeling better and back to her usual self, she wanted to go back to Fleet 1. Although I was a little skeptical about it, I decided to allow it since the others kept pestering me to put her back and agree to help if anything happens.

"Alright I get it. Sheesh! You better don't push yourself. You girls as well!"

"Yes!" (All)

Once these girls set their mind to something, they would do whatever it takes, especially when it comes to their teammates. Since they have been together for long time, they have developed quite a strong bond together.

In order to gauge their current capabilities, especially Zuihous' since she has been out of action for nearly two months, I decided to sortie them to the forefront of the Southern Sea. That place is swarming with mid-tier Abyssals. A little dangerous, but the perfect place to test their skills. I will be observing this sortie from the command room.

"Fleet 1 has entered the operation area!" (Agano)

"The objective is the same as usual. Eliminate all abyssals in the area. Retreat as soon as one of you is severely damaged. Now, begin the operation!"

"Roger!" (All)

The Abyssals fleet always position themselves a certain distance from one another, with the smaller Abyssals as the vanguard. Based on past data, the girls took the northeastern route. This route allows them to clear out the smaller Abyssals first before engaging the tougher ones. I watched as they took out the first few fleets before encountering the carrier fleet.

"Zuihou, are you still okay?"

Zuihou took a deep breath. Looks like she is still a little uneasy.

"I'm fine. Just give some time to prepare myself." (Zuihou)

She took another deep breath. I can see the determination in her eyes as she launched a squadron of bombers and fighters. The Abyssal carrier launched its own squadron, but most of it got shot down by the fighters. Those that managed to break through were cleaned up by Murasame and Shigure. The bombers did their job, sinking one Ta-class cruiser and heavily damaging the carrier. All that in a spectacular firework display.

"Now!" (Agano)

All of them rushed in to carry out the shelling. In a few moments, the carrier fleet was eliminated.

"Yep! I miss this feeling of rushing in after a pre-emptive strike. We can't do this with my Zuiun." (Suzuya)

"Suzuya-san did just fine." (Shigure)

"Eh? No no. I'm just saying how it has been so long since we get to see such a successful bombing run." (Suzuya)

"Come on. We are not done yet. This is the last one. Let's finish this and go home!" (Agano)

"OOOOHHH!" (All)

They are all hyped up. Looks like I didn't have to worry after all.

"Ooyodo, I'm returning to my office."

"Eh? You are not going to watch till the end?"

"They will be fine. They are definitely stronger than this. I'll leave the after-report to you."

I left Command Room and headed straight back. Now that Zuihou is back in shape, she is going to hang out with the rest more often to make up for lost time. My room is going to be quiet again. No more late night crying, no more random breakdowns and screamings. Just plain, old silence. I'm happy that Zuihou has recovered, but then again, the thought of everything going back to normal makes me feel a little lonely.

Or so I thought...

When I returned from dinner, my office was rather lively.

"Hey, Admiral! Let's all sleep together!" (Murasame)

"Yuudachi wants to sleep with Admiral poi!" (Yuudachi)

"The beds are big enough, right?" (Suzuya)

"I want to be in the middle!" (Agano)

"Admiral... let's sleep together~" (Zuihou)

"Can we?" (Shigure)

Looks like it won't be as quiet and lonely as I thought.