Our Bonds

I was making my rounds when I saw something strange. Usually it's Taigei who is managing the submarine unit on her own. Feeding them, playing with them, taking care of their needs. You can say that she is a mother of all submarine girls. Right now, at the practice pool, the submarine girls are usual practice of diving and evading underwater. Taigei would stand at the sides, keeping an eye out for them and making sure that they don't exhaust themselves. However, the one taking caring for them isn't Taigei. Rather, it was someone else.

This girl's entire outfit looks similar to Taigei's. A white, long-sleeved sailor outfit with a blue collar, a red tie and frills at its bottom. She also wore a blue skirt and black pantyhose. Her hair was long and brown. I could only see her from the side but she looks extremely familiar. Does Taigei have a sister ship? I don't think so. Heck, I don't even remember getting a new submarine tender.

She was crouching down and holding a water bottle, letting a partially submerged Iku drink out off it. Floating beside her was a grey and red bucket, similar to the one Taigei was using. After drinking enough, Iku went back underwater. Next in line was Ro-chan, whom was fed some Tamagoyaki.

"Delicious! Danke,Takasaki-san!" (Ro-chan)

"Taka-? Goya-chan! What have you been teaching her?!"

That name...

"Takasaki is Takasaki dechi."

"I told you, don't call me Takasaki. Call me Zuihou." (Zuihou)

"Aww~" (Goya)

I see. No wonder she looked so familiar. This 'Submarine Tender' was actually a Light Aircraft Carrier. She looks really cute in that. I just want to squeeze her. Of course I can't do that. At least, not in front of everyone.

"Ah! Admiral, good afternoon!" (Imuya)

I've been spotted. Soon, all of them swam to the edge of the pool where I'm standing. Zuihou stood there, frozen in place.

"Good afternoon. How's practice?"

"We are trying out new evasive maneuvers." (Shioi)

"It's really interesting nano!" (Iku)

"I see. By the way, where's Taigei?"

"Taigei-chan caught a cold. Hacchan volunteered to look after her." (Shioi)

"That's why Taka-, I mean, Zuihou-san is looking out for us today!" (Imuya)

"So that you are dressed up like that. For a moment, I couldn't recognize you."

"You saw?" (Zuihou)

"For some reason, it suits you way too well."

"Geez! You should have said something! It's not like I wanted to wear this. But the submarine girls said that this was the outfit to wear while taking care of them. Besides, didn't Admiral commission this outfit?" (Zuihou)

"Why would I commission an submarine tender outfit that fits you so well?"

"Eh?" (Zuihou)

"Ah!" (Submarine girls)

Zuihou stared at the submarine girls, who all have a nervous smile. Oh. I see what's going on.

"You girls planned this from the beginning, didn't you?" (Zuihou)

"Ahaha... Crash dive!" (Shioi)

"Run away nano!" (Iku)

All five of them went under water immediately.

"Hey! No fair! I can't dive! Get out of there now!" (Zuihou)

I should probably go check on Taigei. I will leave them to their fun.

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

I knocked on Taigei's room door.

"Come in." (Taigei)

She sounds alright. I went into her room.

"Admi-" (Taigei)

Taigei quickly sat up and before Taigei could finish her sentence, she started coughing.

"Relax. Don't push yourself."

"Oh. Okay." (Taigei)

I sat at a empty chair near her bed. Hachi was probably using this chair. Speaking of which,

"Where's Hachi? Wasn't she with you?"

"Hac-chan went back to her room to get a new book. Oh. She was taking care of me. Really." (Taigei)

"I-I see. How about you? The submarine girls told me you caught a cold."

"They told you that, huh. I'm feeling better now."

"You were coughing just now."

"That was..."

"Well, focus on get better for now."

I tucked Taigei into bed.

"By the way, you met the little ones just now, right? How are they? Are they taking care of themselves?" (Taigei)

"They are fine. There's another Submarine Tender looking after them after all."

"Huh? Another Submarine Tender?" (Taigei)

I explained how I saw Zuihou taking care of them and getting angry after discovering that she was tricked into wearing a modified version of Taigei's outfit.

"So that's why they asked me to modify one of my uniforms the other day. I was wondering who was going to wear it. The dimensions don't match any of them at all." (Taigei)

"They must have planned to get Zuihou to wear it from the start."

"Why would they do that?" (Taigei)

"Hmm... Maybe they wanted someone to help you out. You single-handedly raised them and took care of them. They did that with you in mind."

"But why Zuihou-san?" (Taigei)

"Zuihou was supposed to be a Submarine Tender like you. Though her role is different now, she has the knowledge on how to take care of submarines. That and I think they wanted a little sister for you."

"Is that so? They were thinking of me... I should thank them." (Taigei)

"That's why, hurry up and get better."

"Okay." (Taigei)

Taigei closed her eyes and fell asleep. Now then...

I walked to the door and opened it, causing the girls on the other side to topple over one another.

"Waah!" (Submarine girls)

"Shh... Quiet. Taigei just fell asleep. Seriously, don't you know that it's rude to eavesdrop?"

"Ehehe. Sorry. We just couldn't find the right time to come in." (Shioi)

"Done with practice already?"

The girls backed off while I closed the door behind me.

"Yes dechi!" (Goya)

"Though Zuihou-san chased us around for quite a bit nano." (Iku)

"Of course she would. Anyway, Hachi, why didn't you come back sooner?"

"I can't help it. It took me a while to find my favourite book." (Hachi)

"You sure love your books. Just make sure you don't spent all your New Years money on books."

As soon as I said that, Hachi had this guilty look on her face.

"You can't be serious, right?"

"..."

I pulled on Hachi's cheeks.

"Ow ow!" (Hachi)

"Keep this up and I'm going to decrease your allowance."

"Ehh! No way!" (Hachi)

"Say, I don't see Zuihou anywhere."

"Zuihou-san went back to change." (Imuya)

"Now wonder she isn't here. Oh well. You girls came to check on Taigei, right? Go on in."

I opened Taigei's door. All six of them looked at each other and smiled. After that, I walked into the room and gathered around Taigei. Those girls really love their caretaker. I'll leave them to it. Now then, I better get back to work. Maybe I can get Zuihou to wear that outfit again some time.