Our Bonds (A Kantai Collection Fanfic) (Remastered)

Chapter 0: Prologue

-Maizuru Naval District-

A loud crack nearly made me jumped in my chair, pen flying out of my hand. Sounds of water pounding against any surface it could find followed, as if it were trying to break in. A late night storm, and a rather fierce one.

I reached down to pick up my pen and continued my report. After that large-scale operation, which ended in a failure, the amount of resources, especially steel and bauxite, we have are in the red. Not to mention the amount of buckets left is close to none. We suffered way too much casualties back then and this was the result of continuously using the buckets on my damaged ships. For now, the plan is to focus on resource acquisition, improving our equipment and getting stronger. Well it's not me who is getting stronger, it's them. A puny human like me ain't gonna do jack against those things. My job is to become smarter so as to plan out our strategies for every potential scenario. I'm also in charge of managing their training schedules, sorties, and expeditions. Not something I would have thought I would be doing back when I joined the force. While, I was immature back then.

The pattering of the rain gives of a tranquil atmosphere in my brightly lit office,

"The sound of rain is somewhat relaxing. With this much rain, the destroyers will start frolicking around, especially the Shiratsuyu sisters."

I can't help but chuckle to myself. 6 years ago, you won't see this sort of behavior in them.

"The others are still asleep. Admiral, shouldn't you get some rest too?" (Shigure)

A rather monotonous, yet somewhat concerned voice responded to my monologue. I looked up from my papers to see a pair of blue eyes underneath unkempt black hair. Standing in the middle of the office, in her pajamas, was the second ship in the Shiratsuyu Class.

"Shigure? Why are you not asleep yet?"

"I-I could say the same to you. It's already 0220. Why are you still awake?" (Shigure)

Before I could respond , another loud crack echoed across the room, followed by a shriek. Shigure rushed around my desk and hugged my waist tightly. She was trembling like a leaf. I should have known. The sound of thunder scared her awake.

I place my hand on her soft hair,

"There there. There is nothing to be afraid of."

I begin stroking her hair, trying to calm her down. Muffled sniffing sounds can be heard and my waist is starting to feel a little wet.

Sobbing? Must be one of her usual nightmares again.

Using my other hand to pat her back, I continued my attempt to calm her down.

"Shhh~ It's alright. It's alright. We are still here. No one has disappeared. Shhhh~ Good girl, good girl. Come on, let's move to someplace more comfortable alright?"

I don't want to carry all the way back to her room while she is in this state. Her sister, Yuudachi will definitely freak out. So I decided to carry her over to my sofa and continue soothing her. Shigure didn't want to let go so I had to carry her in an awkward position. I grabbed the blanket I usually have on the sofa and I wrapped her body with it. Naturally, she brought it up to cover her face. I continue to soothe her until I can neither hear her sobbing nor feel any signs of movement. It took a while, but at least she has calmed down and fallen asleep. This sort of situations are pretty normal in this Naval District. Since the Destroyer dorm wing is close to my office and my room, some of them tend to seek my company especially when they have nightmares about their past. One prime example is this girl on my lap. Even though she is part of the main fleet, she has these "attacks" from time to time. Since I'm stuck like this for the time being, mind as well get some shut eye. I close my eyes and let the darkness consume my conscious.