Azur Lane: Konvergenz

Extra Chapter: Frigan't

BEEP BEEP BE-

A fist nearly instantly hit the alarm clock to shut it up. A small, nearly silent groan escaped a certain frigate – err, cruiser, err... whatever ship designation she was called now – as she opened her eyes slowly, her fox ears twitching in annoyance at the source of the disturbance. Even in near-darkness, her gaze trailed around the room as she searched for her bearings with perfect sight.

Looking at a nearby mirror, she nearly scared herself when she found a pair of burning, glowing blue eyes directly staring back at her before she remembered...

Oh right, I'm a kitsune now...

She slightly shook her head. She had not entirely adjusted to her new kitsune self yet. Suddenly possessing a pair of large fox ears and three stupidly-fluffy tails is quite life-changing... In multiple ways than one, some expected, some unexpected. Then again, that is why she woke up this early in the first place.

She looked at the clock again. It was currently about four in the morning.

Ugh... Why Amagi wants to have me up so early is beyond me... I better get going.

Not wanting to further waste time, she slowly moved out of bed before once again reaching an impasse as she was pulled back moments later. Something had latched itself onto her during the night, refusing to let her go.

She turned her head around to identify the reason, only to find...

Her sister Hamburg, asleep on her bed, clutching two of her tails tightly to her body as if her life depended on it. Her face was almost completely covered by the fluff, which did not hide the fact that her sleeping form possessed an expression of pure peace and bliss. Hamburg seemed like she was attracted to her sister's tails like a moth to a flame.

Right. Possessing fluffy tails as the only kansen in the entire German navy made it both a blessing and a curse. A curse, that is, of people desiring to claim her fluffiness for themselves. Especially a certain sister of hers.

Hessen sighed as she took a nearby pillow from her bed. That poor thing could finally find a purpose after having been entirely superseded and made obsolete in its function of providing comfort.

Come on, now.

She slowly mobilized to replace her tails in Hamburg's grasp with the pillow in the same way Indiana Jones replaces a priceless artifact with a hat. It took a few long and drawn-out minutes – all while she had to listen to her sleeping sister's uncomfortable mumbling of having her only true source of comfort taken away – before she succeeded.

Right... Glad that it worked.

Having now gained her freedom, which she used to clothe herself as quietly as possible, she directly exited her room and entered the main part of the naval base, silently closing the door of the dorm room behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The corridors were nearly empty, understandable since it was relatively early in the morning. It could be considered quite relaxing, actually.

Do you know the feeling of existing in hotels at night? The long, near-identical hallways, the strange abstract art, lights of buildings in the distance shining through the windows, random, quiet noises of chatter nearby? The feeling of no past, but an infinite present?

This fit pretty well into what it was like for Hessen while she was en route towards her destination. It was... strangely calming.

Our base at Wilhelmshafen is normally far more lively than here in Hamburg... But I'm not complaining.