Chapter 216 - 197

"So... Mind filling me in?"

Zuihou stood beside her younger sister, who was covered in blue blood and a baby shark biting her head. The shark's victim is covered in wounds, her outfit was torn, as usual, and red blood dripped from where the shark had sunk it's small, jagged teeth in.

I rushed to port after hearing from Ooyodo that Zuihou-chan got damaged. I was bewildered by the sight in front of me. It was just a simple perimeter patrol. How did Zuihou-chan end up being this damaged with a shark attached to her? And what did they kill? I didn't receive any reports of an attack or gave permission to engage anything.

"Erm..." (Zuihou)

"Never mind. I will hear about it later. Hold still."

I feel bad, but this thing needs to learn about letting go. I squeezed the shark's small eyes until it opened its mouth and struggled. I tossed the little menace back into the water.

"Thank you." (Zuihou-chan)

"You're welcome."

She looks kind of down. Now that I think of it, I haven't been giving her my attention lately. When was the last time I gave her my attention? Nothing comes to mind... Talk about good timing...

"Now then, let's get you to the baths. Zuihou, you can go back to my room if you want. Or maybe your room if you prefer."

"Okay." (Zuihou)

"U-unn..." (Zuihou-chan)

I followed Zuihou-chan to the docks and into the changing room. Oh right, better put up the 'in use' sign. It would be bad if a troublesome one enters and see us.

"Eh?" (Zuihou-chan)

"What's wrong?"

I took off my shirt and folded it in the laundry basket.

"Admiral, what are you doing here?" (Zuihou-chan)

You waited until I'm in the changing room with you to ask me that? Took you long enough.

"What am I doing? I'm taking a bath, of course."

"With me?" (Zuihou-chan)

"Yeah."

"Really? You won't run or push me away?" (Zuihou-chan)

"Eh? Since when did I-"

Ah. I have been rejecting most of her advances. Crap... What have I been doing? Not only have I been ignoring her, I even pushed her away... Pathe-

No no no. Better late than never. I got to make up to her.

"Sorry. I won't run away this time."

"mmh... Then..." (Zuihou-chan)

Her expression changed. She is giving me a mischevious look. She is about to do something.

Zuihou-chan removed her torn top... and pushed herself against me!!!

"Hug me!" (Zuihou-chan)

"Wha-! You! Don't smear that weird stuff all over me! Ahh! Look what you done!"

ZUihou-chan 'generously' shared some the blue blood with me.

"Now Admiral has to go in with me~" (Zuihou-chan)

"That's the plan all along!"

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

"Ahh~ The medicinal bath really is something else."

I think I could get use to this. I can feel the tiredness leave my body and my soul healing.

It took a while, but we finally managed to scrubbed that blue blood off our bodies. It was so sticky and slimy that we had to use four towels each to scrub that off us. I thought it was Abyssal blood, but those things aren't that gooey. I'll need to send a sample for analysis.

"Zuihou-chan, are you feeling alright?"

Zuihou-chan is in the same medicinal bath as me, lying against my chest. Her body was red from all that scrubbing we did. Cleaning was a little painful for her, since she was injured in the first place. Apparently, while on patrol, both of them came across a egg-shaped structure floating just outside the perimeter. Zuihou-chan spotted something moving inside and went to investigate. When she poked it with a arrow, it blew up on her, dealing damage and covering her with that strange goo. The baby shark that was biting her, also popped out from there. If I knew that, I would have kept the shark. It might be infected.

"It stings a bit, but I'm fine." (Zuihou-chan)

I gently stroked her cheek,

"I'm sorry... for pushing you away all this time."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. But, may I know why? Was it something I did?" (Zuihou-chan)

"No. It's not your fault. It was just something personal."

"Which is?" (Zuihou-chan)

Zuihou-chan tilted her head back to look at me. I already knew about this, but despite being the same ship, their size are totally different.

"It's just that..."

"Just that?" (Zuihou-chan)

"You were too small. It felt way too criminal to do anything to you."

"Small..." (Zuihou-chan)

Zuihou-chan looked down and cupped her chest.

"No. I don't mean it like that."

"If that's the case, then it's okay now?" (Zuihou-chan)

"To be honest, I only planned to give you some attention. But now, my own morals hurt you again."

Once I do this, that's no turning back. Not like it matters anyway.

I placed my hand on Zuihou-chan's chin and angled in for a kiss.

"I love you, Zuihou-chan."