Chapter 147 - 133

It's finally summer. And that's means it's swimsuit season.

Although we have an emergency on our hands, the girls still can have time to have fun on the beach. In fact, there are more of them now.

"Kasumi-chan!" (Kawakaze)

Kawakaze hit a beach ball high up into the sky,

"Hey! Not too hard! Inazuma-chan!" (Kasumi)

"Hawawa!" (Inazuma)

As I walked around, I see the destroyers from each district playing together in hot afternoon sun. The cruisers and battlesh.i.p.s stroll along and rest on the beach. Some of them are even playing a game of beach volleyball with one another.

As agreed in the emergency meeting, each district has sent a fleet over to assist in the Abyssal Phoenix Princess subjugation. Azur Lane has a Carrier fleet on standby at the homebase and a Destroyer Squadron here. Sasebo Sent an battleship with two torpedo cruisers and three Destroyers. Kure sent over an Torpedo squadron. Yokosuka sent an Battleship fleet, with Yamato and Musashi as the flagsh.i.p.s. Brunei Anchorage sent a mixture of Heavy fleet, with heavy cruisers and battlesh.i.p.s. As expected of the district with the most number of foreign sh.i.p.s. Although, they are still in their way.

I returned to my office with a bowl of Anmitsu which I just bought from Mamiya. No, it's not for me. It's for the girl who is still troubled by the events that happened while she slept and the revelation she just received.

Zuihou sat on my sofa, staring blankly into space. I presented her the bowl of Anmitsu,

"Here. Mamiya's new Anmitsu."

She slowly took the bowl from my hands.

"Thank you..." (Zuihou)

After the meeting, I went to check on Zuihou in the infirmary, only to find her in tears. She told me that she just had a nightmare, where she tried to sink Ooyodo, Yahagi, Shouhou, Gambier Bay, Fubuki and Satsuki. That nightmare of hers eerily mirrors the events that happened during Ooyodo's initial encounter with the Abyssal Phoenix Princess. The following day, she got woken up by another nightmare. She described her surroundings as a dark and cold place. Her body was hurting all over. Only one thing was on her mind at that time. To sink everyone and kill me. She woke up in cold sweat and came running to me from her room in the middle of the night. At this point, I had no doubt that the malice of the Abyssal Phoenix Princess has some sort of effect on her. So, I decided to tell her about what happened in the morning. It is an understatement to say that she is shocked to hear that. No. She was probably feeling a mix of shock, sadness, fear and many other negative emotions right now. Who wouldn't be when you tell them they have an evil clone out there trying to murder all your friends and loved ones? Her eyes were blank and she hasn't said much since then.

Zuihou scoop a spoonful of Anmitsu and put it in her mouth. Mamiya is such a genius with food. All it took was one scoop and Zuihou's glazed over eyes become back to normal.

"This is delicious! How did Mamiya-san make this?" (ZUihou)

There she is. The normal Zuihou is back.

"I don't know. How about you ask her next time?"

I watched as she enjoys her food. Seeing her cheer up makes me happy as well.

"That was delicious! Ah!" (Zuihou)

The happy expression on her face suddenly disappeared.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I didn't let you have a taste..." (Zuihou)

She gave me an apolegetic look as she said that.

That's it?!

"Heh."

"What?" (Zuihou)

"No. It's nothing. I bought it for you anyway. Feeling better?"

"Oh. Uhm... A little." (Zuihou)

"I understand. It's a lot to take in."

"Yeah. I still can't believe that I have an Abyssal counterpart. So all those nightmares... Do you reckon-" (Zuihou)

"They might be connected to the Abyssal Phoenix Princess. Her emotions, thoughts, and so on. You two are the same after all. Something like the psychic connection between twins."

"Another Zuihou. And my senior... I wonder what would happen if she saw me?" (Zuihou)

If the both of them met, what would happen? How will the Abyssal counterpart react? Probably with more hatred and malice. Abyssals are a bundle of negative emotions and energy.

"I wonder I should say to her... Apart from that time, I don't have any memories of sinking, but she has. All that malice... that cold, dark place... Is this what an Abyssal feels?" (Zuihou)

Zuihou pulled her legs towards her and wrapped her arms around them. She is scared and anxious.

I pulled her closer,

"That's why, we should sink her. That Zuihou... has already sunk. She doesn't belong in the living world. If we leave her like this, she will only continue to suffer."

"I know... but the more I think about it, the more frightened I become... All I felt was just the urge to destroy, how unfair the world is, sadness, regret... Is this what Abyssals feel all the time? Eh?" (Zuihou)

"What is it?"

Zuihou looked like she just realized something,

"Now that I think about it, in the nightmares, there was something else aside from all the malice..." (Zuihou)

"What do you mean?"

"There was this voice in my head saying, 'I want go home. I miss everyone. I want to return to Admiral's side'. It was mixed in with all the madness and bloodl.u.s.t." (Zuihou)

Can Abyssals feel that? We all know that, apart from the princess types, all Abyssals are mindless creatures solely focused on destruction. The princess types often hold negative emotions about their sinking, and based on what they said, we know they have memories regarding the Great War.

The Abyssal Phoenix Princess is the first Abyssal to stray away from this common knowledge. Her destructive tendencies stems from the regret and anger of sinking as a shipgirl. Her existence changes everything we know.

Wait. What was the last one? She wants to be by my side? Are you saying that Zuihou from before had a crush on me? Now I feel worst than before. I was responsible for her sinking...

"No matter how or what I am, looks like I will always love you, Admiral." (Zuihou)

Zuihou responded with a sweet smile, but my main focus was at somewhere else.

"That Zuihou, she loved me before, didn't she?"

"From the nightmare I saw, yeah she did. Just like me..." (Zuihou)

It was my fault. I ordered them to advance knowing that there is a high chance that one of them would sink... If I didn't make that order back then, she wouldn't have to-

Something warm touched my face. My lips became wet as I felt something warm push through.

I realised that Zuihou's tongue was inside my mouth! When did she go in for a kiss?!

I feel warm inside...

After a while, we broke off from the kiss to catch our breath. She looked at me with a reddened face and watery eyes,

"Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that. I know how much you blame yourself for it." (Zuihou)

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her chest. It's a little hard, but this is the chest I love.

Our roles got switched. Now it's my turn to be comforted.

"Sorry. I got to stop doing that. I'm fine now."

"It's fine. Let me take the lead once in a while." (Zuihou)

I stroked through her hair as I broke off from her embrace. She just smiled.

"Say, I just had a thought. Do think a mini-me will appear if we sink my evil clone? Abyssals can return back into shipgirls after all." (Zuihou)

Speaking of which, can two shipgirls with the same name, class, type and appearance exist at the same time. So far all of the shipgirls in our districts are 'one of a kind'. If we sink the Abyssal Phoenix Princess, will another Zuihou appear? Or will an entirely different shipgirl appear? Or maybe nothing will happen. The last one seems the most plausible.

A mini-Zuihou, Huh? The closest thing I can think of is a baby.

Suddenly, I heard a switch clicked inside me. We haven't done it in quite a long time. I put my hands on her shoulders.

"We can make one, you know. A miniature Zuihou."

She seems to understand me, as I watch her whole face turn red.

"Wha-what are you saying? It's still daytime. And Ooyodo-san is going to get angry again if we get caught!" (Zuihou)

I don't think thats the main issue.

"Since the start of the operation, we haven't had time to ourselves."

"Th-thats true. All of us have been really busy. But-" (Zuihou)

"You don't want to do it?"

"That's- I mean- Uuu..." (Zuihou)

"I been holding back all this time..."

I kissed Zuihou deeply. Our tongues explored wash others mouth,

"Fuah~ Geez... Even though I was trying so hard to hold back..." (Zuihou)

She is finally turned on,

"Want to do it here?"

"That's a little..." (Zuihou)

"Ahahaha. Just kidding. Out here is a little embarrassing. Maybe next time."

"You still plan to do it outside?" (Zuihou)

I pulled Zuihou into the bedroom.

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After dinner, we continued our bonding session. Zuihou got tired and immediately fell asleep, leaving me to wipe her down. I think this might be the most we have ever done in a day.

As I watched Zuihou sleeping soundly, I thought back at our discussion in the afternoon. The Abyssal Phoenix Princess had feelings for me, and everyone else. Feelings of regret, loneliness and sorrow are the main drivers for her actions. That's when I thought up on something crazy.

I want to talk to her. Yes, she is an Abyssal princess, but she unlike the others. She is a unique type, able to converse with others. She spoke to Shouhou before attempting to kill her, and then to the others of the subjugation fleet before attacking.

If she is really the Zuihou that I sank, I have so many things to say to her...

The question is, how am I going to carry this out without getting myself killed?

I think I know just the trick.

I picked up the phone and called Azur Lane's office. It's still relatively early into the night, so someone should answer. Even if the commander himself is asleep, one of his maids can help me pass in the message.

"Hello. How rare of you to call at this timing." (AL commander)

Just the person I needed.

"Hey, I got a favour to ask of you... Fair bit of warning, it's going to be crazy."