Commander's Rounds

Entry 10- Sisterly Feeling

"My, my, commander smells like something fun happened to him recently~"

The commander was actually on inspection again, and Atago invited herself to join him- she didn't actually get in the way of his work, she just teased him a bit every now and again. Though her doggishness wasn't as obvious as in the case of say, Yuudachi or Foxhound, he did have to remember that she had extra ways of perceiving his activities. There was no way to deny it, as he was sure that at least a few other people probably could tell it. And he wouldn't lie to Atago, anyway.

He kept his eyes on his tablet. "Huh? Well... Yeah. It happened."

She giggled. "Mmmm~ When you first showed up here you seemed so lost and confused, but now you've been made into a man so quickly. I'm beginning to wonder how much longer the commander needs his big sister."

Even though she said it with a smile, that's not something that he'd take away from Atago- and besides, just because he has one thing doesn't mean he can do without the other. "That's actually something I've been thinking about." Which was a lie.

Her smile disappeared for the first time he ever noticed. "And... The commander's decision is...?"

He had a ready answer. It was the only one he could bear. "As strange as this may sound, I'd like you to continue being my big sister."

Her eyes widened- she clearly wasn't expecting it. "Ah... May I ask how the commander came to that decision?"

"Since it concerns you, you're entitled to know." He checked off a few more things from the list on his tablet. "It's true that, in the heat of the moment, something wonderful happened. But there were places where things could have gone wrong. And even if things go well, it's doubtful that things will always be perfect. So there will always be a need for a big sister." He had a pause. "And besides that, it just wouldn't feel right if I went without your teasing and creative ways of saying hello. Just because there are other important people in my life doesn't mean you've become less so."

"Commander?" Her voice broke a bit, and he looked back at her. Her smile had come back. "I'm glad that you'll let me keep being your..." She stopped for a moment to... Wipe away a tear? "...Look at this, the silly commander making his big sister do things like this in public." She instead just opted to wrap her arms around the commander for a hug, treating him to both her literal and figurative softness, and rubbed her cheek against his. "Fine. Big sister will be here to look after the cute commander."

He reached up, and slowly rubbed over her fuzzy ears, from their tip to their base. As much of a knockout as Atago was, this was a safe way to show his appreciation. "I'd still like that, and I don't think I'd stop."

"Ahhhhhh~" She just closed her eyes and leaned into the rubs, letting herself be played with for a while. After some time she opened an eye. "When you're done, commander, we should go somewhere together."

He continued to play with those twitching ears. "Have somewhere special in mind?"

She giggled. "Oh, I think we'll just go and I'll figure out what I want when I see it~"

That is the way things went- outings with Atago happened to be rather spontaneous- she would point in a direction and they'd end up doing whatever caught her fancy- once it was accidentally a horror movie (where he found her close-guarded secret that she was afraid of ghosts), once they crashed a pool party, and at least a dozen other things. "I'm not going to mess with what works. We'll go where you like."

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Fusou gave the commander a bow. "Welcome, Milord! Ah, you have brought company today?"