Cards and Tricks (Azur Lane fanfic)

Chapter 12

He woke up, but not in his room, instead, he slept on the couch from the Sakura Empire dorm's living room. He's trying to recall things that happened. He remembered playing hanafuda with Souryuu, with many memories recall from the first time they met until his last days with the Sakura Empire. He removed the blanket from his body and set it aside, then he looks around and checked the time, it's already 6am in the morning, an hour before his workday started. So he rose from the couch and fixed it. Just as he's going to leave the dorm, someone called him.

"I didn't know you can be a peeping tom."

He turns around and it's Mogami with her usual dull expression, that made him slightly down and sigh that it's embarrassing he slept to the female's building, and its expected for him to be called as one for some misunderstandings.

"I just fell unconscious after some dreadful match with Souryuu." He explained that made her twitch her eyes with some disbelief across her face.

"Geez, get in a room you two." Mogami said to him straight like a bullet. Hinting that something must've happened while he's not on his mind because he's drowsy during that time.

"Huh?!" He cannot believe what he heard after a second, so he's twitching his eyes and tries to think if he heard it right or not.

"Nevermind, disregard it." She brushed it off as she proceeds to go to the dining area then just as him opening the door... He can hear the familiar footsteps.

"You cannot just leave without taking a proper meal." A familiar voice of Souryuu can be heard so he turns around. She offered breakfast.

"Uh... Thanks, but I've intruded this place long enough." He kindly declined the offer of her but then he suddenly realized that he sent Mogami and Belfast to the escort mission so he looks to where Mogami went.

"Isn't Mogami and Belfast are on the mission?" He asked if his hunch is correct then Souryuu pushed up her glasses thinking he must've forgotten things.

"It is, but they're done. They've returned early this morning before dawn." Souryuu answered as she goes to the dining area then he sees Hiryuu stretching out her arms as he descends from the stairs.

"Ohayou, shikikan..." Hiryuu greeted after she yawned loudly before heading to the dining area. He just standing there then after a few seconds, he decided to go out and take some fresh air.

Once he got out the building he sits down to the nearby bench. He looks up to the horizon, where the sky isn't harmful enough because of the light. He isn't dramatically thinking about the things happened, however he can't deny it's haunting him until now. He did what he can to erase the bad memories, but it also makes him feel a coward for running away from it.

"Ryusei... Everyone..." He thought as he remembered them fondly, then he gripped his hand yet again, he doesn't know what will Azur Lane do to the Sakura Empire after what they have done, what if he told them everything. Then he can hear a voice that is very calm and gentle behind his ear, a very familiar one... So he quickly tries to find that voice until it landed him in his room.

"The heck....?" He is dumbfounded why the voice led him here. Then in a blink of an eye, he's around the cosmic realm again just like in his dream from the previous day the time he took a nap.

"Welcome back, Commander Ken." The Siren Elite greeted, Observer to be precise. She's walking toward his direction as if she's taunting him.

"Welcome back...? What is the voice I'm hearing earlier?!" He asked as he is confused, but asking the Siren directly like he is used to it, sounds like a big achievement. Observer seems to be amused to his approach.