Commander's Rounds

Entry 33: Friendship Quest

Back to business. And there was certainly a lot of it to go around- such was the commander's life.

Part of that business was looking over things that had happened in his absence. Apparently, Yuubari and Akashi had actually brought Marblehead on board for their secret projects, which was surprising only for about five seconds. Marblehead was no stranger to hitting the books of any kind and any difficulty, so it wouldn't take her too long to get up to speed on whatever the other two were doing. It was still something he was going to have to talk to her about, as he did want to know why she was so suddenly on-boarded.

Another part of that business involved resolving disputes, though this one got a bit more physical than was normal. It was nothing on the scale of the fight between Takao and Littorio, but it still meant that Richelieu was sitting in front of him, rubbing a bandage on her cheek from one of the most thorny of matters- it had to do with religion. The commander went on. "I have to admit it was quite a reaction. So, did Chiyoda say anything before she attacked you, because I don't see this just suddenly coming out of the blue."

Richelieu gave a nod. "Indeed. I had come into their shrine to discuss matters of faith with Chitose, but her sister became quite testy about my presence, and she told me that "People like you uproot everything wherever you go.". Or some such thing."

The commander sighed, and shook his head. "To be honest, I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner. The Sakura fiercely guard their traditions, and she may have mistaken you for trying to evangelize. I'm afraid there's a bit of a reputation for that sort of the thing that you could unwittingly represent."

Richelieu gave a nod. "And I would presume it's not easy to talk to Chitose alone."

"Correct." The commander shrugged. "However well-meaning or innocent your intentions may have been, there's a history that's older than many countries that you're going to have to account for in these matters. I think it's a conversation you're going to have to hold off on until you've had time to make your intentions clear. If you still want to talk about these sorts of things with a representative of the Sakura traditions, Fusou is much safer if you want to talk."

"I will keep that in mind."

The commander gave a nod. "Beyond that, you can leave talking with Chiyoda to me. Now, you said there was something else?"

"Yes, there is." She took a deep breath. "One of my people was caught sneaking around the Sakura dorms- and so I wanted to give you fair warning that the matter was being brought to you."

If there was sneaking, then that meant he was going to have to deal with Kawakaze- someone who took great pride in her ability to keep an eye on Nagato, perhaps a bit more than Nagato might necessarily like. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll deal with it."

The commander had managed to find a hole in his schedule for this. Aside from everything else going on, there was some unusual siren activity out there, and he also had to brief Ajax and the other squadron commanders who were going out to intercept. Whether he was sick or not, the war went on with or without him.

But that could wait a little while, especially since Kawakaze was already here.

Kawakaze marched a rather chastened-looking Le Temeraire into his office, and so the commander decided to control the room by speaking before Kawakaze could. "So, what seems to be the matter?"

Kawakaze gave a nod. "Commander, this one was discovered attempting to sneak into the inner chambers of our dorm building, around Nagato's quarters. She was near some very sensitive areas."

The Iris ship spoke up. "I wasn't there to steal anything, honest!"

Kawakaze sighed. "She's been like this all the way through. However, there's no telling what she was really there for- she took great pains to hide herself from me."