Our Bonds

*Yawn*

Morning already, huh.

I looked at Zuihou, sleeping peacefully beside me. That was fun. Zuihou showed me so many reactions last night. Some of which I have never seen before. She said so many cute and embarrassing things as well. I want to do it again. Regrettably, it's time for work now.

I gently shook Zuihou.

"Zuihou. Wake up. It's morning already."

"Mnh... Admiral..." (Zuihou)

I want to let her sleep a little longer but there's work to be done.

"Come on, wake up."

"Nm... Admiral?" (Zuihou)

Zuihou's eyes opened halfway. I got a feeling that she is still half-asleep. Zuihou reached out and wrapped her arms around my neck as she pulled herself up.

"My good morning kiss..." (Zuihou)

I was right. She is still half-asleep. Oh well, a kiss is still a win for me. I kissed her deeply.

"Nmh...Mgh?!" (Zuihou)

I felt a hand pushing me away.

"Admiral? What are you doing?" (Zuihou)

Zuihou, her face as red as a beetroot, was using the blanket to cover up.

"Good morning, Zuihou."

"Good morning... Wait, that's not it. Kissing me this early in the morning is unfair!" (Zuihou)

"You're the one that asked for it."

"That's..." (Zuihou)

"Come on. Get dressed. We have quite a bit to do today."

As I walked out of my room to go to the toilet, I turned around for one more tease.

"You were very cute last night."

I watched as her face turned redder than before. She grabbed a pillow and threw it towards me.

"Dummy! You don't need to remember that!" (Zuihou)

--------------------------------

Today was the continuation of the third mission. With some luck, Battleship Demon would be sunk, allowing us to advance to the fourth part of this operation. Since the fourth is an joint operation with Yokosuka, I don't need to think too much about the fleet composition as they will be providing most of the firepower. I just need to fill in the gaps.

"At 1100 hours, the combined fleet will begin sortieing. Also, Yokosuka has requested 1 Light Aircraft Carrier, 1 Aviation Cruiser and 1 Light cruiser from us for the upcoming mission." (Ooyodo)

"That's it? I was expecting a bit more."

"For now, that's what they requested. They need some destroyers as well for the transport phase." (Ooyodo)

"All right. Tell them I will send Ryuujou, Suzuya and Noshiro to them. When does Yokosuka want them?"

"As soon as the third mission is completed, all shipgirl's involved in the fourth mission are to gather at Yokosuka Naval District for briefing." (Ooyodo)

"Finally, the task of repairing and resupplying falls under someone else. Oh, and send another small expedition fleet to expedition 2. We need to resupply our repair buckets."

"Roger. Is sending Umikaze-san and 3 other Coastal Defense girls okay with you?" (Ooyodo)

"Yeah. That's perfect. Those girls must be dying to go out to sea by now."

"By the way, Zuihou, are you alright? You look rather uncomfortable." (Ooyodo)

Ooyodo turned her attention to Zuihou, who was squirming about.

"Ah. No. I'm fine. No need to worry about me." (Zuihou)

"Really? You did almost got caught by Zuikaku-san and Shoukaku-san before. I think it's better if you get a full-body checkup from Akashi-san." (Ooyodo)

"No need for that. I'm fine. Really." (Zuihou)

"It's that so? Then, I guess that's fine by me. I'll go send a reply to Yokosuka. Excuse me." (Ooyodo)

As soon as Ooyodo left, I poked Zuihou's side, causing her to let out a surprised whelp.

"Hyaah! Admiral, why did you do that for?!" (Zuihou)

"No reason. But seriously, why are you squirming about for?"

"Egh...It still feels like its inside..." (Zuihou)

What's inside? Oh, I see.

"Want me to dig it out for you?"

I said that while wiggling my fingers.

"I-idiot! What are you saying?! And stop with that hand motion! Geez! I'm going to borrow your bathroom for a bit." (Zuihou)

As soon as the I hear the bathroom door lock, I felt my sense of self-control returning. That was dangerous! Seeing her like that almost made me want to have another go. There's no way I'll be able to think properly with Zuihou being this cute. Now that I think about it, is it all right to do it before marriage? It should be all right if I take responsibility, right?

"Marriage... I've never really thought about it until now."

I took out a small, black case I have hidden in my drawer. Inside it contains a wedding ring. This wedding ring was part of the 'starter kit' given out to all Admirals upon successfully completing our training. Not sure why it was there but I have been saving mine since then.

"Soon..."