Commander's Rounds

Entry 62: Pure Girls Only?

The commander insisted on cruiser exercises as much as any other- these versatile ships were the ones that probably carried out the widest range of operations for the fleet, and needed to be expected to be adaptable and resourceful at sea, perhaps more than any other sort of ship under his command. He had high standards for that sort of thing, and his new assistant couldn't really help him with these kinds of maneuvers- Albert's specialties lay elsewhere.

This, of course, meant that the commander was also the one who had to deal with any problem that arose during those exercises, caused by one reason or another.

This time, however, the problem was that one of his ships had become delinquent, so that was something he was going to have to deal with. He radioed Suzuya and asked her to come to the docks.

It didn't take long for her to arrive, and the commander told the rest of the cruisers to remain on the water while he talked things over with Suzuya in private. "Suzuya, this is the second time that Kumano hasn't attended exercises. Once is something I can overlook because of how diligent she's been in the past, but twice means it's something I can't allow to turn into a habit. Does she have any compelling reason not to come that I should be aware of?"

Suzuya looked to the side for a moment, and then made eye contact with the commander. "Well... You see, recently, my sister has been... Unhappy."

"Unhapp-!" It sounded ridiculous as soon as he started to say it. Not just because it was a very vague and nebulous reason not to attend military exercises, but Kumano was one of the most cheerful and outgoing ships he'd had in his command. This was quite a sudden change, if true, and if it was so severe that she wouldn't even come out to tease the other girls, not to mention himself, then something drastic must have cut down her mood, and he had no idea what it was. "...Do you have any idea what about?"

"It happened pretty recently, so I haven't really had time to figure out how to ask... And I'm not even sure my sister has had the time needed to put it into words. I know this because she hasn't talked at length about it yet."

"All right." The commander marked off something in the roster, noting that Kumano might be absent for a little while longer until this was sorted out. "What I'm going to ask you to do is find out what's going on with your sister as soon as you possibly can. I don't mean to sound heartless, but these exercises are how we keep everyone on the same page, and she needs to be a part of that."

Suzuya gave a small bow. "Would you say, commander, that you are angry or concerned?"

"Concerned, really. As playful as your sister might be on the surface, she can get serious on the spot, like someone just flicked a switch, and there she goes. It wouldn't be like her to just blow off exercises like this... However, I do want to know why this is going on so I can decide what to do next."

Suzuya smiled. "I figured as much, but it hardly hurts to ask. I just needed to know so I could give my sister a sense of your own mood. Should I go to her right away?"

"Just whenever you can get her to talk. I mean, she's open about a lot of things, but I don't know how open she is about everything." The commander got back to his charts. "Still, this does seem very sudden, and I'd like this to be resolved as soon as we can, especially since cruisers are going to be the ones most likely to encounter the rebel Kansen that are out there."

Suzuya put her hands behind her back. "Don't worry commander- I'll find out what's bothering my sister before you know it, and we'll get her back on track."

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Suzuya returned to her room, and found Kumano right where she left her- wearing the bear hoodie that she wore to bed, and no pants besides. The cruiser was pouting and she clung tightly to her pillow, and Suzuya was left to give her the bad news. "You know, the commander is starting to get concerned- you probably should go to the next exercise."