Our Bonds

That was sort of easy. It has been 3 days since we started our exploration. Following the concrete path, we managed to discover and sketch out all of the structures which look important. The slightly difficult part was when we had to make our way across the jungle areas. We also observed some of the animal activities. There were some dangers along the way as well.

"I think that's about it. We got most of the island mapped out."

"Did we take note of that snake pit and watering hole?" (Rondo)

"Yep. They in here as well. We better tell them to place a warning sign there if the resort proposal gets through."

Just the day before, we discovered a huge watering hole. Surrounding the watering hole was a a large number of large lizards sunbathing and crawling around. A few of them noticed us and started hissing. That was our cue to back off. Later on the same day, Rondo almost fell into a pit of snakes. Luckily, all of them were fast asleep. Since it's still cold, they were most likely hibernating.

"Knowing those guys, they will probably just kill very last one of them." (Rondo)

"And your job is to convince them not to. This is still a new island. Its better if we don't mess around too much with it's ecosystem. That also means no bringing in heavy machinery."

"Then how is the resort going to be built?" (Rondo)

"We have more than enough manpower, don't we? Maybe not the humans but the fairies are more than willing to get started on a big project like this."

Apart from the reptiles we have seen, birds seem to be coming here from the mainland. There are barely any insects as well, save from the typical jungle bugs like flies and mosquitos. The reptiles here seem to rely on fish as a source of food. They are mostly territorial, as with most wild animals, but they won't go onto the concrete paths. Rondo tried to provoke one large lizard to follow him. It did, up till about 5 metres from the concrete path before turning away. He repeated this experiment a few times with other lizards, all of which had the same reaction. We will just leave this case to the biologists.

"So... We're done?"

"Yeah. We're done. Let's go home. One more day without Houshou and I'll go nuts." (Rondo)

"Oh, I know how you feel."

I have been feeling lonely without Zuihou since day one. Maybe this is how she feels whenever I go to Yokosuka for meetings. This is definitely not a good feeling.

"What do we do about transportation?"

"We take the boat back, of course." (Rondo)

"No, not from here. I meant from Sasebo."

"We aren't going back to Sasebo." (Rondo)

"Huh? Wait, you're saying that-"

"First, we drop you off at Maizuru, then Houshou and I will return to Yokosuaka. Wasn't that the plan?" (Rondo)

You didn't mention that. Oh well, that makes going home faster.

"If we pack up now, the both of us should reach home by sunset." (Rondo)

"Well, what you waiting? Lets go!"

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It feels like it's been a long time. These familiar buildings... The sound of cannon fire... the cheerful voices of shipgirl's frolicking about... I'm home.

"Ahhh! Admiral is back poi!" (Yuudachi)

"Admiral-san~" (Kashima)

"Welcome back, Commander." (Fubuki, Asashio)

As soon as Yuudachi cried out all the shipgirls in the area gathered around me. Though, I don't see the one I was looking for.

*sniff sniff* "Waah! Admiral, you stink!" (Tokitsukaze)

"Of course I am. I just came back from an island."

"How was it? Was it beautiful?" (Samidare)

"Mmm... I will share with you guys later."

"Aww... If I knew about it, I would have been the first to explore that island." (Shiratsuyu)

"You will just get lost."

Now then where is-

"If you are looking for Zuihou, she is at the front gate." (Houshou)

"Houshou. Thank you for taking care of the place while I was gone."

"It was pleasure. The girls were extremely well-behaved." (Houshou)

"Umm... Is there anything I must know?"

"About that..." (Houshou)

Houshou brought me near the front gate, where I can Zuihou standing there, staring into the distance.

"She has been like this since we returned. She wouldn't eat unless I force her to and would only return to your room when its nightfall." (Houshou)

I have the urge to run up to her. I expected her to miss me, but not till this extent. She must have thought I would come home through the front gate. Sorry, I thought the same at first as well.

I walked towards Zuihou. Alright, resist the urge to hug her. Actually, you know what, I can't be bothered to hide it anymore. For now...

"Who are you waiting for?"

"He is not bac- Eh?!" (Zuihou)

That didn't take long. Zuihou immediately turned around. The surprised look on her face was quickly overtaken by the tears flowing down her cheeks. She ran to me at full speed and it took some of strength to make sure I don't fall over as she lunged at me.

"Oww... Hey, you're stronger than-."

"I missed you so much..." (Zuihou)

I put my hands around her.

"I missed you too."

"You smell of salt and sweat." (Zuihou)

"Should I go bath first?"

Zuihou shook her head,

"This smell... is not that bad. It's Admiral's scent after all." (Zuihou)

We shared this moment for a while before Zuihou realized something and quickly broke away. Yeah. The others have been watching the whole time. They followed me here.

"Umm... This is..." (Zuihou)

"That's alright. I've decided already."

"Huh? Are you serious?!" (Zuihou)

"Everyone! I have an announcement to make! I'm in love with Zuihou!"

I scooped Zuihou up as I said that. Damn, this is a little more embarrassing than expected but I don't want to hide it any longer.

"Wai- Admiral!" (Zuihou)

"Eh? That's it?" (Suzuya)

Huh?

"Ehehe~ We already knew that for quite some time already." (Agano)

Oi...

"It's a shame. I thought Shigure would be your chosen one." (Yamashiro)

"It's okay, Yamashiro. So long as Admiral doesn't change the way he treats us, I'll still like him." (Shigure)

Did Shigure just confessed?

"Oh. Don't get me wrong, Zuihou. As long as I can get my headpats and playtime, I'm fine with anything." (Shigure)

Seriously?

"Eh? What is it? What's going on poi?" (Yuudachi)

"Okay. Maybe not all of us know about it..." (Murasame)

"Eh? What are you all discussing about poi?" (Yuudachi)

"When did you-" (Zuihou)

"On the day we rescued you from that island. Sorry, Admiral. We were curious so we kinda eavesdropped a bit." (Yahagi)

"We knew something was up when Zuihou started acting weird. The time when Zuihou got jealous of Eldridge-chan confirmed it." (Suzuya)

"You were watching?!" (Zuihou)

Suzuya just stuck out her tongue playfully. According to the others, they either saw us when we thought we were alone, figured it out from Zuihou's actions or heard it from the rest. Most of them were more perceptive than I thought.

So they knew it from the start. There was no need to hide our relationship at all.

"Say, what kind of things do the two of you do at night? Is it one of those night battles Tatsuta-san told us about?" (Etorofu)

"Okay okay. You will learn about that when you're older. Oi! Tatsuta! Don't go around teaching weird stuff to the young ones!"

"Ufufu. Isn't it fun?" (Tatsuta)

Looks like it's going to get even more lively here.

"Oh right. Admiral," (Zuihou)

"Hmm?"

"Welcome home ♡" (Zuihou)

"I'm back, Zuihou."