Our Bonds (A Kantai Collection Fanfic) (Remastered)

Chapter 25: On the Hill

Shigure stared at the cairn that has her name on it.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you till now."

Since Zuihou knew about it, I felt it was right to show this to Shigure as well. The day after our heart-to-heart talk in the baths, I decided to tell Shigure the truth. So I brought her up the hill and showed her the cairn. I'm prepared for her reaction.

"How did she sink?" (Shigure)

Shigure turned around to face me, her eyes devoid of any emotion.

"It was in the Northern Salmon Seas. She was pierced by a shell while shielding Fusou and Yamashiro."

"Shie- Eh? Really?" (Shigure)

The look in her eyes returned back to normal instantly.

"Y-yeah. At that time, Fusou wasn't able to move and Yamashiro went to cover her. The Southern War Princess fired at them but Shigure to rushed in and took the bullet herself."

"...I see... She actually did it." (Shigure)

Something is off.

"Shigure?"

Shigure took off her hairpin and held it in her palm,

"Back then, Fusou told me to protect Yamashiro. Yamashiro told me to protect Fusou. I accomplished neither. Mogami, Michisio, Asagumo, Yamagumo, everyone died before me. I was called a lucky ship but I don't understand what was so lucky about being the only survivor. I wasn't able to protect anyone. I lived my whole life fearing that the same thing would happen again. To think that there was a 'me' who did what I thought was impossible." (Shigure)

She touched the cairn,

"Great work. Thank you. I will take it from here. I will continue protecting everyone in your stead. I won't let you down." (Shigure)

I went over to hug her. For some reason, I'm scared. Scared that she would do something stupid.

"Admiral?" (Shigure)

"Shigure. Please do not think about such scary things."

"Hm? What?" (Shigure)

"I don't want you thinking that it's alright for you to sacrifice yourself. We already lost you once. I don't want it to happen again."

"Erm... Admiral, are you misunderstanding something?" (Shigure)

"Eh?"

"Hmm?"

We looked at each other. Shigure had this confused expression on her face. She suddenly looked as though she realized something,

"Ah. No no no. I'm not thinking about sacrificing myself. I don't want to die." (Shigure)

"Really? No self-sacrificial thoughts or things along that line."

Shigure shook her head. I heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment, I really thought she was considering following the footsteps of her predecessor. But there is still a risk. I will keep a close eye on her for a while.

"Ah. Admiral, what are you doing here?" (???)

Shigure and I turned to the direction of the voice. Fusou stood at the entrance of the clearing with a bucket of water in hand.

"And Shigure too... I see. You finally told her." (Fusou)

She smiled gently. Fusou walked towards Shigure and placed her bucket down. Her arms wrapped around the Destroyer, pulling Shigure in for a hug.

"Fusou..." (Shigure)

"Sorry. We kept such an important thing from you." (Fusou)

"It's okay. Honestly, I'm still a bit shocked but..." (Shigure)