Chapter Text
Tick... tock... tick... tock...
The only sound in the Commander's office was that of his clock, slowly ticking away the minutes as he toiled away at the day's work. It was already past noon, and he had missed lunch.
As he reached the end of one document, he took an opportunity to rest his eyes briefly, so he blinked several times before slowly looking around the room. In the back of his mind, he recalled that the door had opened at some point while he was working, but he'd been far too busy with said work to even register who it was.
Scanning the room, the Commander noticed nothing of note... until he saw the flowers.
"Huh...?"
He stood up and walked around his desk to inspect the small bundle of flowers that were now sitting on the work table, placed in a nice little vase of water. The arrangement was quite cute, actually, being a set of pink and purple flowers, with one white flower in the middle. He wished he could remember who had left them here, but he could not.
"Hmm... I should ask around..." he mused to himself, taking a quick sniff of the floral arrangement and smiling at the pleasant aroma. He couldn't place it, but whatever it was, it was quite lovely. Satisfied, he went back to work...
...
Several hours later, he put down his pen with a sigh, having finally finished his work for the day. "Mmm..." he groaned as he stretched his arms out behind him.
Glancing towards the secretary chair, he dimly remembered that his previous secretary, Kasumi, had finished her rotation the prior day, leaving him without a secretary today. He made a mental note to put out a notice for people to volunteer. Logging into the Port's Juustagram page, he sent out a quick post to the fleet.
"Secretary volunteers requested. Recommendations encouraged. Thank you."
With that, he clicked send, and started packing up his things for the night. As he finished, he gazed towards the floral arrangement he had noticed earlier. Thankfully, it seemed to be doing well, so he nodded to it. "Let's see if I can't find out who brought you here earlier, hm?"
Smiling to himself, he clicked off the light and left the office for the night.
--------------------------
The next morning...
Ding!
Surprisingly, the Commander woke up not to his alarm, but to a Juustagram notification. Wearily he rolled over and picked up his phone.
"Mmmh..." The soft hums from behind him told him his wife had woken up. "Huh...? What's up, Commander?"
He rolled onto his back, phone in hand, and shuffled close to Montpelier. "Juustagram, apparently..." He opened the app and checked the notifications, finding that someone had replied to his late-night secretary search. It was from a name he didn't recognize... "Hey, Monty... do you know the name Hanazuki?"
"Hanazuki... hmm..." The cruiser thought for a moment, nodding slowly. "Rings a bell... pretty sure she arrived yesterday at about lunchtime. Surprised you didn't already meet her."
The Commander glanced away, cheeks heating up with embarrassment. "Umm... I think I was so busy working I didn't realize she had dropped by... I think she left some flowers in the office."
Montpelier smiled. "What's the message say, then?" She peeked over her Commander's shoulder and read the comment. "Well, guess you got yourself a secretary."
"I guess so," he muttered, giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek, before starting his day.
...
A couple of hours later, the Commander found himself back in the office, looking over the itinerary for the day.
Knock knock! The sound of the door made him jump slightly in surprise. He wasn't expecting any visitors, so he had no clue who this might be. "Come on in!"
The door creaked open, and from behind it stepped a girl clad almost entirely in a pink kimono that matched her tails and hair. It was immediately obvious that the morning visitor was from the Sakura Empire, and she was a kitsune. She held a similarly-colored parasol behind her as she stepped into the Commander's office.
"Ohayōgozaimasu, Shikikan," the girl said in a light voice, smiling warmly at him. "I'm here about your request from last night?"
Suddenly, he realized he was staring at her, and he blinked before replying. "Ah- yes, my apologies. You must be Hanazuki, yes?" He stood up, held out his hand, and smiled at the foxgirl.
With an affirmative nod, Hanazuki took his hand and shook it gently, then bowed to him. "Correct, Shikikan. I am Hanazuki, Akizuki-class destroyer of the Sakura Empire. I apologize for entering without permission yesterday afternoon..."
Before she could continue, the Commander held up his hand. "It was my fault, Hanazuki. I was too deep in my work to realize you were there, and I apologize for that. Usually, I make a point to greet new arrivals on day one." His cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and he gestured to the vase of flowers, still alive and well on the coffee table. "Thank you for the flowers, by the way."
The girl blushed a little at the words, and bowed once more. "You're very welcome, Shikikan. I'm glad we could officially meet today." She smiled warmly once more and motioned to the secretary seat. "May I sit down?"
"Ah, of course..." he muttered, sitting back down in his own chair as she took the seat across from him. "You said you wanted to discuss my request?"
"Yes, Shikikan," she responded quietly, letting out a small sigh as she seemed to muster up some courage. "Umm... if you don't mind, I'd like to fill the secretary position!"
For several moments, the Commander was silent, and Hanazuki worried she had somehow been too forward with this... but eventually he nodded slowly. "...Consider yourself the new secretary, Hanazuki. Welcome aboard."
She smiled warmly and bowed her head. "Arigato, Shikikan. I will do my best for you!"
With that, the newly-paired Commander and secretary went about with the day's work.
...
As the day came to a close, the Commander wrote his signature on the final document to be submitted to HQ. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back in his chair and stretched out his arms. Bringing them back down, he glanced across at his secretary, noticing she was looking at him.
"Something the matter, Hanazuki?" He asked her quietly.
With a start, the kitsune quickly glanced away, her face heating up a bit. "M-my apologies, Shikikan... there's nothing wrong, I promise." Inwardly, she chastised herself for staring at the Commander even for a short time. Quietly, she spoke again. "I m-must be just a bit tired, that's all..."
He smiled at her, leaning forward and gently placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to softly squeak. "It's alright, don't worry. I'm sure it's just been a long day for both of us." Patting her shoulder gently, the Commander sat back in his chair and began to organize the finished paperwork. "If you'd like, you can head out now, Hanazuki. I can finish up here."
The foxgirl let out a slightly-relieved sigh, shuddering a bit. "Arigato, Shikikan. Have a good night!" She smiled a little and stood up, bowing to him and turning towards the door. As she reached it, she paused and turned around again. "One last thing, Shikikan..."
The Commander glanced up at her. "Hm?"
She sighed again. "Please let me know if you'd like me to bring some more flowers in the future...?"
He smiled at the kitsune and nodded. "I will, Hanazuki, thank you. Have a good night."
"You as well, Shikikan." With that, Hanazuki left the office, took a few moments to collect herself, and made her way back to the Sakura dorms.
-----------------------------
Three weeks later...
"Shikikan, I've brought you some new flowers~"
The voice of the pink-haired kitsune at his office door brought an instant smile to the Commander's face. "Ah, thank you Hanazuki. Could you please place them on the..."
The words died in his throat as the girl held out the new bundle of flowers. It was pink and purple, like the very first... but this time the center flower was red. Something about the new arrangement brought a small blush to his face, and he took a few moments to collect his thoughts. "Ummm... those can probably go... uhh..."
He glanced around the room, trying to find a good place for Hanazuki's latest delivery. Eventually, his gaze landed on the desk itself, which up to this point had remained empty of her floral arrangements. He decided to fix that. "Right here on the desk!" He gestured to an empty area on his desk, and with a nod, Hanazuki placed her newest arrangement in that spot. Stepping back, she took a moment to simply look at the situation.
"Hmm..." she murmured, and the Commander looked up at her.
"What was that, Hanazuki?"
She blinked and smiled, meeting his gaze. "Oh, nothing, Shikikan! I was just admiring how nice your office looks now~" She giggled lightly and bowed to him.
By this point, Hanazuki had already ended her shift as secretary, so she only got to drop by the office every once in a while, like today. For some reason the Commander couldn't quite place, his day always seemed to brighten immensely when the pink-haired kitsune paid him a visit. Whatever the case, he appreciated it all the same.
"Well, that's thanks to you, Hanazuki," the Commander quipped, bringing a small blush to the foxgirl's cheeks. "I think even Hipper would be inclined to agree with your statement."
"Perhaps so, Shikikan~" Hanazuki replied, grinning at him. She glanced towards the clock, letting out a sigh as she realized her visit was over. "Gomen'nasai, Shikikan, but I have to take my leave now..." He could feel the regret in her voice as she spoke, which he shared as he nodded a bit.
"I understand, Hanazuki. I'll see you soon, though, right?" He gave her a small smile, a reminder that he would be overseeing the Sakura Empire's exercises in a few days, in which she would be a participant.
Realizing this, Hanazuki's face brightened, and she bowed deeply. "Ah, of course, Shikikan! I look forward to seeing you at the exercises~" She flashed him a small wink before leaving the office.
The second she stepped outside, she stopped. Did... did I just wink at him...? Oh gods... Her face flushed deeply as she realized what she'd done. She hoped he wouldn't take it too heavily, and this was all she could tell herself about that as she made her way to her next appointment.
Within the office, the Commander had also registered her wink, the gesture serving to just give him something else to smile about as he went about his day.
...
That night...
After leaving the office, the Commander returned to his quarters with Montpelier, spending some time watching TV with her after dinner. The whole time, something about his demeanor felt... not necessarily off, but unusual, to Montpelier.
While watching TV, this notion brought itself to the forefront of her mind, and she decided to deal with it now. "Hey, Commander, how about going on a stroll before bed?"
Caught off-guard, he took a few seconds to respond. "...Sure, sounds like a nice idea!" Kissing her head, he helped her up, and soon the two of them were outside, slowly walking along together around the Port. For the most part, the pair simply enjoyed each other's presence, opting not to break the silence around them... but soon, Montpelier changed that.
"Commander, you seem... different today," she murmured to him as they walked.
He looked over at his wife and tilted his head, confused. "How do you mean, Monty?"
She was silent for a moment, save for a quiet sigh. "Well... I haven't seen you this happy since before our wedding. You seem... brighter."
He mulled over her words for a moment, seeing the truth in them. He recalled how being around Montpelier always seemed to brighten his day, even despite her seemingly-indifferent mannerisms before they got married. "I... guess I see what you mean, Monty... huh..."
After a few more seconds of silence, the light cruiser smirked and leaned in to his ear to whisper to him, "So... who is it this time?"
The Commander's cheeks instantly flushed deep red as he glanced away from his wife, her smirk not going away as she leaned on her husband's shoulder. Eventually, he muttered softly, "...Hanazuki..."
With a joking tsk, tsk, Montpelier shook her head and smiled at him. "Figures it would be her, huh?"
"I have no clue what you mean, Monty."
His response was so deadpan that the cruiser actually laughed, the sound short but genuine as she sighed again. "I'll be honest, Commander, when I met her on her first day, I suspected you might fall for her eventually." She leaned in again, whispering conspiratorially, "I just didn't expect you to fall for her this quickly."
The two of them chuckled together, the Commander's cheeks never losing their deep red blush as they continued walking.
-------------------------------
Three days later, at the Sakura Empire exercise...
The Commander found himself standing by the harbor, observing the girls of the Sakura Empire as they carried out their practice maneuvers.
There were two teams today. The first consisted of Akagi, Shoukaku, and Suruga in the main fleet, and Shiranui, Yuubari, and Atago in the vanguard. The second fleet was comprised of Shinano, Nagato, and Amagi in the main fleet, with Kumano, Azuma, and Hanazuki in the vanguard.
At first glance, most would have expected the second fleet to have the clear advantage, given the presence of Azuma in the vanguard, but as the exercises went on, the two groups were pretty evenly matched. The Commander found his gaze drifting more often towards Fleet Two, more specifically towards Hanazuki, but if anyone noticed, they didn't show it. Inwardly, he was pretty sure Akagi would try to deal with his wandering gaze at some point, but he didn't care at the moment.
Time went on, and soon enough, Fleet Two ultimately proved the victors of the exercise. As the results were announced by Kawakaze, the Commander observed the various reactions of the six winners. He could see Amagi chuckling to herself; Shinano simply smiling sleepily while congratulating her opponents on a well-fought match; Nagato briefly hopping up and down in excitement before composing herself, cheeks flush with embarrassment; Kumano taking selfies, as expected, to commemorate the victory; Azuma politely joining Shinano in congratulating her opponents; and Hanazuki...
...nowhere to be found...?
Suddenly, a quiet giggle from nearby caused the Commander to look around his shoulder, where he saw Hanazuki already back on dry land. He stammered for a moment, unable to collect his thoughts. "H-hanazuki...? Wh-what are you- Oof!"
He grunted as the pink-haired kitsune hugged him out of nowhere, heat immediately rising in his cheeks as her arms wrapped around him. "Hehe~!"
"H-hanazuki, shouldn't you be celebrating with the others...?" His mind was still trying to register the sudden embrace as he spoke. The girl just giggled and smiled at him.
"I congratulated them over the intercom~ I'm not much for elaborate celebrations, you know?" She finally released him from the hug and stepped back, and the Commander could see now she was blushing heavily as well. He smiled warmly at the destroyer, patting her shoulder gently.
"Congratulations on the win, Hanazuki. You all did very well, and I'm beyond impressed by everyone's performance." Inwardly, he was trying to get his heart to calm down after the unexpected hug, but outwardly, he was calm as anything now.
"Arigato, Shikikan~" Hanazuki replied, grinning happily at his praise. "I look forward to the next opportunity to show our strength like this~"
"Same here, Hanazuki," he responded with a small smile. In the back of his mind, he realized just how right Montpelier had been.
He was absolutely falling for this pink-haired kitsune, and strangely, it was worrying him slightly.
...
That night, as the Commander walked into his quarters, he noticed Montpelier making some dinner in the kitchen. Smiling he hung up his officer's cap...
...and paused as he noticed a small object sitting on the kitchen table. It was a ring.
After a few seconds, he started to panic. Had he forgotten his own ring somehow when he left for the office this morning? Had Montpelier decided to rescind her oath? He quickly glanced down at his hand. His ring was still there, as always. He looked over to Montpelier. Her ring was still on her finger. So why was there another ring on the table?
As he was going through all this in his head, Montpelier glanced over and chuckled at the panicked expression on the Commander's face. "Hehe, guess you noticed?"
Slowly, he looked up at his wife, a mix of confusion and fear on his face. "Monty, why is there a Promise Ring on the table?"
The cruiser smiled, not even missing a beat as she called back to him, "So you can propose to her."
...
The Commander was silent for several moments as he tried to process what his wife had just said. "P-propose...?"
Monty smirked at him and winked. "Yeah, to Hanazuki."
His face heated up instantly, his train of thought derailing as he tried to reply. "I- You- You got this for me?"
"Yeah!"
"How?"
"Paid for it!"
"With my gems?!"
"Actually, I persuaded Shiranui to get Akashi to sell it for the equivalent price in coins."
"How the hell- You know what, never mind."
The Commander walked over to the couch and sat down, his mind racing. "...Why?"
Montpelier was silent for a few minutes as she finished preparing dinner. Once it was all set, she sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "I was watching the exercise today, and I saw her jump back to dry land and tackle you into a hug." She leaned in and whispered, "Pretty sure she feels the same way about you, Commander. Just saying."
He sighed and smiled at the cruiser, kissing her head. "You know I love you, right?"
"Mhm, and I love you too." She lightly hit his chest. "That's why I'm doing this."
He nodded, and they stayed like that for a while before eating dinner and going to bed.
--------------------------
Two days later...
As the Commander stood by the harbor looking out at the water, he felt the light breeze brush across his face. He sighed softly and leaned on the railing, dimly noticing the item in his pocket.
"Shikikan?"
The soft voice behind him made him turn around, and he saw Hanazuki quietly approaching him with a slightly confused look on her face. "Ah, Hanazuki!" He smiled and motioned for her to come alongside him, and she joined him in looking out over the harbor. "Guess you're wondering why I wanted to meet you here, huh?"
"Y-yes... I am curious... what's the matter?" The kitsune smiled somewhat nervously at her Commander, slowly placing a hand on his arm. "Anything I can help with?"
He was silent for a moment before sighing and looking at her. The look in his eyes caught Hanazuki off guard somewhat... as it was one of nervousness as well. "Actually... yeah. I think you can help with this..." He turned to fully face her, gazing into her eyes and smiling warmly.
"Sh-shikikan...?" Her voice quivered a bit with confusion. Suddenly she noticed his hand moving to his pocket, and saw there was something in that pocket. Involuntarily, the kitsune let out a soft gasp. "I-I... is that...?"
Before she could say anything else, the Commander pulled the object out of his pocket and came down onto one knee, still looking at her eyes even as she struggled to maintain eye contact with him. "It's exactly what you think it is, Hanazuki... so I think you know what's coming ne-"
"Yes."
The Commander was struck dumb for a moment as she spoke in the same instant he opened the box to reveal the Promise Ring. "I... did you just-?"
"Hai, Shikikan. I said yes~"
The tone on her confirmation brought an instant blush to his cheeks, and she giggled as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his frame for the second time that week.
His hands slowly came up, one wrapping itself around her in return while the other gently cupped her cheek. For a moment, both were silent. Then, the Commander removed the Ring from its box and, taking Hanazuki's hand carefully, placed it on her finger. Once this was done, the kitsune beamed at her Commander before leaning in and kissing him happily.
After a few seconds, she pulled back, breathing softly and gazing into his eyes.
Soon, the Commander found the courage to speak up. "I love you, Hanazuki."
The foxgirl blushed and smiled, kissing his cheek and cupping his face with her hand. "I love you too, Shikikan."
The two spent the rest of the day relaxing together by the harbor, and any shipgirls who happened to pass them by could see them unashamedly holding one another's hand.
Hanazuki was quite proud indeed to have been welcomed into the Commander's family, and her flowers would always decorate his office each day.