"Oh? It’s the Commander! Hi, Commander!"
"Huh? Oh, uh.... Hi, Cleveland? And Memphis is here too?"
"We’re teamed up today. More importantly, Commander, it’s really hard to catch a glimpse of your face!"
"Ahaha, well, yeah.... Still, it’s better not to make a scene."
As Jinseong and Bremerton were strolling through the base, Cleveland and Memphis came up to them.
By now, most of the Eagle Union shipgirls approached him with complete ease and familiarity. Jinseong still didn’t seem used to it at all.
"It’s okay, it’s okay! Back then, the Commander protected me, right? This time, if anyone says anything, I’ll protect the Commander!"
"Th-thanks, Bremerton."
Bremerton smiled brightly and linked her arm through Jinseong’s. The huge pressure pressing in from her arm alone made his legs feel weak.
"Don’t casually touch shipgirls.... No, what’s the point if I’m not even touching them! I can’t stop them from touching me!"
"So Bremerton’s your secretary ship today?"
"Yep~ Yorktown went out on coastal patrol."
"Perfect! Commander, can we stay by your side next time too?"
"That is.... am I even the one who gets to decide that?"
"If the Commander is choosing which shipgirl stays by his side, then who else would decide? Don’t worry! We’ve already been trained in secretary ship duties!"
"Th-then I guess so. I’ll call you separately next time."
"Great. We’ll be counting on you from now on."
Memphis held out her hand as if asking for a handshake. Jinseong hesitated for a moment, but since he had no other answer, he took it.
"Nngh...! Uwaa...? I-I only heard about it, but it’s real? Hah! Commander, why are you so flustered? I can feel everything!"
Watching Memphis shiver slightly while holding his hand, Jinseong could only clamp his mouth shut and break out in a cold sweat.
"Really? Really? So aptitude really is a thing.... I want to go out to sea with the Commander sooner than I want to be secretary ship!"
After greeting Memphis and Cleveland, Jinseong started walking through the base again with Bremerton. The only difference from before was that Bremerton still hadn’t let go of the arm she had linked through his.
"Bremerton? But.... how long are we going to walk like this?"
"Hm? Why? Do you not like being this close to me?"
"No, no! It’s not that I don’t like it.... I mean, no."
"If you don’t dislike it, then don’t hold back and let me stay close~ I get all fluttery and happy when I’m this close to the Commander. Ah, should I update today’s status to very positive then!"
There was no way Jinseong could shake off Bremerton when she was talking like this. He could only look off into the distance and pretend to be calm.
Yorktown at least wore a dress over her uniform coat, but Bremerton’s outfit was basically just a swimsuit under the coat draped over her shoulders. On top of that, the unfamiliar, impossible-to-ignore softness brushing against his arm kept shattering Jinseong’s inner peace.
Bremerton, meanwhile, was delighted by even the embarrassment and awkwardness radiating from him.
After quietly jotting something down, Bremerton tugged on Jinseong’s arm.
"Come on, Commander! We’ve got somewhere to go! That’s why I brought you out here, after all. Let’s go!"
"W-wait, where are we going? At least tell me....!"
Where Bremerton dragged him to was a district lined with all kinds of houses. It was the dormitory area where the shipgirls lived.
"This is...."
"It’s where we stay! Oh? Baltimore’s off today? See you later~"
Shipgirls in comfortable casual clothes were wandering around. Jinseong felt like he had come somewhere he absolutely should not have. Whether he noticed Jinseong’s unease or not, Bremerton cheerfully waved to Baltimore, who was waving from afar in relaxed clothes.
Baltimore was in the middle of waving back when she seemed to notice Jinseong standing beside Bremerton and jumped in surprise. She hurriedly straightened her clothes and practically fled into the dormitory.
"Ahaha~ Is she embarrassed because she’s dressed too casually in front of the Commander? Baltimore still has a long way to go~"
"Hold on, hold on, Bremerton! Am I even supposed to be here? What are you doing bringing me into a women-only area?!"
"Hm? Why wouldn’t the Commander be allowed into the dormitory where we live? There’s nowhere on the base that’s off-limits to the Commander!"
The conversation felt like it was drifting slightly off target. Jinseong had only paused with Bremerton for a moment, but he could already feel the gazes from the dorm windows and the shipgirls standing outside turning toward them. His whole body prickled.
"Ufufufu.... This is fun.... Now then, shall we go to the place we originally came for?"
What on earth could he possibly be needed for in the shipgirls’ resting place? Jinseong was dragged along again by Bremerton, who was still tugging his hand.
The place they arrived at was just another ordinary dormitory. Bremerton opened the door marked "Saint Louis" and went inside.
"Saint Louis! Are you here?"
"You came, Bremerton."
"Oh, Helena’s here too?"
"Hello, Commander."
A sofa and a table sat in the spacious room. On the table were steaming cups of tea, already prepared.
The two shipgirls sitting side by side on the sofa had loose blue hair flowing down their backs, looking exactly like sisters.
"Sit down and relax, Commander."
Since Saint Louis offered him a seat, Jinseong sat down on the edge of the sofa, but it was pure torture.
There were two shipgirls here who had been hurt by the previous Commander. Bremerton was one thing, but he had intended to let Saint Louis and Hornet recover as much as possible. Still, Jinseong felt like the time had finally come to face them.
"I was the one who asked to see the Commander today. Bremerton encouraged me and said it would be okay. I’m sorry for making a superior come and go as I please...."
With a sad expression, Saint Louis clutched the skirt of her soft-looking silk dress. Jinseong took a deep breath and waved a hand lightly.
"No. I figured you’d need time to sort yourself out anyway. I wouldn’t have called you first either."
"Thank you.... I’ve also been getting all kinds of treatment from Vestal, so! I’ll recover quickly and be able to carry out missions beside the Commander again."
Vestal was the shipgirl acting as a doctor. He hadn’t caught it properly before, but Saint Louis’s mental shock seemed to be bigger than he had expected.
"Good. I’ll wait."
After Jinseong’s words, a brief silence followed. He wanted to get out of this already-torturous situation as soon as possible. Just as he was about to lift himself from the sofa, Saint Louis suddenly raised her voice with a determined expression.
"I want to tell the Commander honestly what happened, and I want your help!"
"What....?"
"I’ll tell you what happened to me. I’d like it if you could counsel me about a few things from now on."
Hearing Saint Louis’s words, Jinseong leaned forward a little more seriously and shook his head.
"That sounds difficult.... I’m in the same position as the Commander who did bad things to you. And I’m not the same sex, either. Isn’t that a little too direct?"
"That person is gone now, and the Commander has changed too. Thanks to that, Eagle Union has changed a lot as well.... I didn’t want to be the only one stuck in the past. Vestal said it was okay, Bremerton said it was okay, and Hornet did too. Yes, and Helena as well."
"Hmm.... I see. If that’s what you yourself think. I’m your superior, but also your guardian, so I’ll help as much as I can."
"Thank you, Commander. After all, the only person who can protect me in a situation like this is the Commander. So.... I’ll tell you what happened."
Saint Louis closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again, and her story began.
-------------
"...."
"You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind."
"Of course I do. This is the first time I’ve ever dealt with something like this.... I can’t believe that happened."
Jinseong and Bremerton were on their way back to the Commander’s office after leaving the shipgirls’ dormitory. By now, the day was already drawing to a close.
"And that was the first time I heard it too. That a Commander’s orders can have such a huge effect on a shipgirl...."
"Yeah. Once we decide on the person we’ll follow as our Commander, it becomes really hard to go against them. That just means Saint Louis trusted and followed him that much. So the betrayal must have hit her hard. I can’t even say it’s a relief that he didn’t go all the way...."
"I can’t believe an order forbidding the deployment of a rigging actually works, and that she’d be left unable to do anything and get treated like that just from one order. This position is way too heavy...."
"Hehe. Why? Do you want to run away?"
"Well, obviously."
"Nope~ I’ll allow everything else~, but abandoning us is absolutely not allowed!"
Jinseong flinched at Bremerton’s smile. He had, in fact, been earnestly thinking about how to run away.
The two of them soon arrived at the Commander’s office, and Jinseong greeted Bremerton with an awkward voice.
"You worked hard today. It’s getting dark now, so go get some rest."
"Hmm.... I still have something to do with the Commander. First, can you do the thing you promised me?"
"The thing I promised?"
"Sparkling lemonade!"
With an "Ah," Jinseong nodded and sat Bremerton on the sofa before heading to the refrigerator. Bremerton stared at his back intently, then slowly took off her coat.
"Looks like you really liked the lemonade made with sparkling water?"
"I liked it, but.... it also feels like a little bribe you offer when you’re asking the Commander for something difficult?"
"W-what....! Sorry, sorry! I made the wrong choice! In the end, it was because of my request that you got caught up in this too....!"
"No, don’t think like that. The Commander’s order was justified."
Exhaling, Jinseong brought the lemonade over to Bremerton, then froze.
With her coat and the rest of her clothes removed, Bremerton was now wearing nothing but a pink bikini swimsuit.
"Um.... why are you....?"
"I told you I had something to ask the Commander, didn’t I? Is it done? I’ll drink it well!"
Before Jinseong could even set it on the table, Bremerton came over, grabbed the lemonade, and gulped it down. Since it was carbonated, she seemed to be drinking it in several quick bursts in front of him.
"No, at least sit down and drink it slowly...."
"Pwoah~! It stings, it stings! Thank you, Commander! It’s so good!"
Bremerton set the empty cup on the table and slowly approached Jinseong. He instinctively backed away, but her hand caught the hem of his clothes, leaving him no choice but to stop.
"U-um, why are you getting so close.... W-what was the request, Bremerton...?"
At Jinseong’s question, Bremerton lowered her head and stayed silent for a moment. Then she slowly moved again and nestled herself against his chest.
"W-what?! Why....?!"
"Commander."
"Y-yes?!"
"Can you hug me?"
"...."
Jinseong was glad Bremerton had buried her face against his shoulder, because that meant she couldn’t see how completely red his own face had become. But that was all. The sound of their hearts pounding rapidly was already reaching each other.
Listening to Saint Louis’s story must have reminded her of her own bad experiences too. Jinseong decided that since he had already said he would help, he should take this seriously and wrapped his arm around Bremerton’s shoulder.
"Not just my shoulder.... my waist too."
"Huh? O-okay."
Jinseong lowered his left arm and wrapped it around Bremerton’s waist. A soft, squishy feeling seemed to spread through his entire body. That was probably exactly what it was, but he clenched his teeth and forced his arm not to shake from the tension.
"A little more.... hug me tighter."
At Bremerton’s words, Jinseong tightened his arms. She was pulled a little closer into his embrace.
"Nngh.... more...."
He wasn’t sure if this was right, but Jinseong pulled her in even harder. Bremerton lifted her face from his shoulder and gently rubbed her cheek against the nape of his neck. Her arms, which had only been around his back, also tightened a little more.
"Huu...."
After holding that position for a moment, Bremerton kept one arm around Jinseong’s waist and lifted her head to look at him.
"Okay, that’s it! No more negative thoughts! Thanks to you, I forgot all about it, Commander. I won’t think bad thoughts anymore!"
Jinseong found Bremerton’s rosy cheeks adorable, so he let out a sigh and raised his right hand to pat her head. She looked startled, but didn’t say anything and quietly accepted the touch.
"Commander, Commander, do you like your hair tied up? Or down?"
"Out of nowhere?"
"Yep. Out of nowhere."
"I...."
Knock, knock. Click.
"Commander! Are you still working? I came back, and even though it’s dark now, the light in the Commander’s office is still on....?"
The Commander’s office door suddenly opened. And Yorktown, who seemed to have hurried over, was breathing a little hard. Her eyes caught the man and woman holding each other in plain view.
"Uh.... d-did I interrupt something...?"
She hurriedly covered her face with both hands, but Yorktown’s eyes were still visible between her fingers. Jinseong scrambled away from Bremerton.
"N-no...! The work is done, but, um.... it’s not like that!!"
Explaining things to Yorktown, who had already noticed Bremerton’s coat left on the sofa, ended up taking quite a long time.
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