Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 13: Lonely Phoenix

She scooted over to squeeze against him, making sure he could feel her warmth and her viciously-pounding heart. He slowly rubbed her back until he could feel her body begin to relax, and under his attention, she gradually fell asleep.

The commander thought about things as she began to cling to him in her sleep. While not, perhaps, in the way that Taihou intended, the commander had a great interest in her for a very strong reason. If things had gone just a bit differently, he may well have ended up like her, hopelessly obsessing over the first person to show him kindness after a long drought of isolation to a near-impossible degree. There was no miracle cure to this love-sickness of hers, but perhaps with time and understanding, she would be well.

Her grip on him loosened a bit once she was satisfied that he was still there.

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The next morning was sunny, which would probably do wonders for Taihou's mood, but he couldn't exactly leave the bed while she was still clinging to her. So, he decided to gently wake her, stroking the back of her head until she slowly opened her eyes. "Anh... So commander is here... It wasn't a dream after all..."

"Good morning, Taihou. How are you feeling?"

She giggled. "Ahhh... My commander waited for me..."

"I'll take that to mean that you're all right."

She nodded to him. "Of course."

He continued to stroke her. "Well, I need to go back home now- I kinda have to do my job if I'm going to stay on this base with you, after all."

Taihou half-closed her eyes, and then looked back to him. "Mmmm~ Go if you must- I'm not worried, though- my commander is never far away, and I can always catch up to him, even when he thinks I can't."

The commander somehow managed to take his leave- all of his clothes were still there.

Once he was back out and about, he decided to head straight back to headquarters to catch up on whatever he missed, and along the way he became aware that he was being accompanied by Albacore. Which was why he wasn't startled when she spoke up. "Sooo.... How did it go?"

"Hm?"

She giggled. "With Taihou! Did she only let you go if she could keep your underwear or something?"

The commander shook his head. "Taihou doesn't need any keepsakes- she needs no reminders about what her goals are. Anyway, Taihou is doing... I won't really say she's well, but spending time with me seemed to cheer her up."

Albacore put her arms behind her head. "That's good! There are reasons to worry about her."

That was true. "I had to stay the night, but she didn't stop me from leaving. So, like I suspected, Taihou may be obsessed, but she wouldn't actually hurt me."

The submarine giggled. "Soooo... See anything juicy while you were there?"

The commander needed a moment to think of it. "...I think I had a glimpse of what Taihou might look like if she was well."

Albacore's eyes widened. "What! Tell me! What would she be like?"

The commander thought about it for a moment, to put it in a way that Albacore would appreciate. "...She would be the kind of person who would let you sit in her lap when you play video games together."

She had a big smile. "Ooooh... Comfy headrest!"

The commander remembered his question from earlier. "So, I've been meaning to ask you- you're full of pranks and tricks, and considering what happened in the old days, why don't you pull any on Taihou?"

She blinked. "First, that's actually dangerous, and even besides that, I like making friends- I'm not gonna prank anyone who can't take it."

"Is that so? Like Niizuki?"

"Erk..." She put her hands up. "I said I was sorry about that! In fact, you made sure I was extra sorry about that! For a pretty long time! I was aiming for someone like Kawakaze!" She relaxed. "Besides, when Taihou shut herself up in her room that one time when I thought I was just joking around, I was scared of what she might do."

He shrugged. "Taihou is certainly a handful, but she's committed to the mission as much as anyone else. Anyway, I'm going back to do things you'd certainly find extremely boring, and besides, it's not like you have an empty day yourself."

"Toodles!" And then she was gone.

The commander made it back to his office without further incident, and then unfolded the note that Yuubari had given him concerning his request.

"Though it was tricky, and a little dangerous, we think we were able to create what you requested.

Now that they exist, I understand what you said when you asked for these.

'The commander must provide for the future.'

Even aside from what you may plan to use them for, these 'promise cubes' are proof of our humanity.

We hope you consider us for further requests, commander. -Yuubari"

The commander folded up the note and put it away. He had always relied on these living ships to soothe his worries about the present, the past, and the future, and Yuubari had just provided him with a powerful weapon against his greatest fears.