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It was a peaceful day at the port town of UTX and the folk were either busy at the market or just doing whatever the heck they felt like it. The sun was high in the sky and few clouds were decorating the endless sea of blue sky. That day, the port was rather busy as merchant and battle ships were stopped to get revitalized.Everything seemed perfectly calm as the childrens were playing at the outside, when the sky suddenly turned dark, thunders booming from afar. The air became heavy and fear started building up inside the citizens who took their childrens and fled home. Even the soldiers and sailors fled their ships to find shelter as a mysterious rain started to pour, followed by maniac girly laughs.Not long after, the silhouette of a massive ship could be seen sailing at the East of the town. It went full speed toward its next direction: UTX, its Jolly Roger placed on tip of the highest pillar of said ship. A skull eating bread and being trusted by a pair of saber in both sides was the motif on the flag and the violent wind made it wave in all directions.The citizens started locking their door and window from inside, praying whatever Gods they believed in to save them as the gigantesque floating coffin sailed in their direction. And just like that, without any summation, the ship arrived at the port with a loud boom, knocking few other ships away, be it a merchant one or battle one.Atop the highest pillar, a lone figure could be seen watching through a telescope. Upon closer view, it was revealed to be a girl in her 16s with wavy long blue hair and wearing a white-and-blue sailor outfit – composed of a white sailor fuku top, a blue knee-length skirt, a long barrel gun and a saber at her back. She placed the telescope down and looked down at the other crew. "No enemy in sigh! It looks like they all locked themselves in their houses."The other girl who was in her 16s as well, who had past shoulder ginger hair and wearing an oversized orange coat over her sailor uniform, smiled as she tightened the grip on the wheel. "That's nice!" She moved at the side and walked forward to have a better view of the town, while her second-in-command – who had past-ear ginger hair and wearing the same attire as the other members of the crew – took the wheel and made the final maneuver until anchoring.Another girl with long ash-gray hair, who was wearing the standard outfit and had a pair of guns attached on her belt, walked beside the captain. "So, what are the orders this time?"The ginger remained silent an instant as she watched the dark stormy sky, before turning to her first mate with a smile drawn on her lips. "We are almost running low on supplies and gun powder. We need to revitalize as fast as possible."That last sentence picked the curiosity of another girl – who had shoulder-length honey-blonde hair and unlike the others was wearing a total blue uniform, her weapon of choice being a pair of sharp pocket knife. "As fast as possible?" As long as they could remember, their captain wasn't the kind of person to hasten on things, unless something very important was about to happen.The ginger just nodded and motioned the crew to disperse with her hand. The other young pirate girls jumped out of the ship and landed on the soil before walking toward their favorite spot while anchoring: the clothes shop. Only the captain and the brunette stood alongside the few members responsible of cleaning. "Did you hear, Hanayo?" The ginger's eyes were fixated at the town while the younger girl walked beside her. "They apparently sent three new Admirals to track after us."Hanayo just stared at the horizon as well. "That might be true, but as long as I could remember, no one ever has managed to defeat us, be it alone or in group." There was a brief silence and the brunette turned to the captain. "Honoka?"Said ginger let go of a sigh and closed her eyes. She then lifted her head to see the dark clouds while the rain was pouring direct on their faces. Honoka opened her eyes and let go of a heavy sigh. "Maki is among them."The brunette gasped at that sentence. "Say what?" She couldn't believe that someone who used to be childhood friend with them would join the navy and track them. "But why would Maki do something like that? Weren't we childhood friends?"Fortunately, just as Honoka was about to let go of another sigh, the blue-haired girl from earlier stepped beside them. "The truth is that Maki wasn't totally like us. Unlike us, she was born in a noble family from the capital, but was forced to adapt to our way of life after the ship they were sailing with wrecked, leaving her as sole survivor." She turned to Hanayo to see a confused look. Umi patted her head and started walking toward the stair leading out of the ship. "In other world, her family was supposed to go on a vacation when a band of pirates attacked them and slaughtered everyone but her. That was all thanks to our mothers having motherly instincts and brought her into our island, raising her with us.""I see…" The brunette was still slightly confused, but at least she got an idea of the truth. "So, in other words, our mothers attacked their ships and killed everyone but Maki and decided to bring her into our island."Umi nodded her head. "That's right!" The two of the arrived at the land and started walking toward the market. "Unlike us daughters of Pirates, Maki was forced to adapt."Meanwhile, Honoka was still busy watching the dark sky, few things racing inside her mind. "Maki… What if we meet again? Will you point our weapon at us?" The ginger then walked toward the commander's cabin and took her soaked coat off before sitting on a chair. She grabbed the locket attached on her neck and opened it to reveal the photo of two young girls – in their 8s and 9s smiling at the camera while making sign of peace with their hands. The taller one had shoulder length crimson hair and violet eyes while the other one was ginger and had baby blue eyes. The two were hugging each other on top of a grassy hill, the clear emerald seas as part of the background.Honoka smiled at the picture before closing it and looked at the ceiling. She soon realized that her head was in pain and that was only worsened as she sneezed. Realizing that her condition weren't that good, the captain of Otonokizaka stripped of her current attire and changed into a baggy white shirt and dark mini short before laying flat on the bed. She didn't wrap the cover around herself, but just hugged a pillow tight in her arm and fell asleep not long after.[-x-x-x-]It was a hot summer day and the young girls at the remote island of µ's were waiting for their mothers to return from their raid. True enough, it was a pirate's island and small where few cabanas were built. It was a grassy island and the volcano at the middle of it was totally asleep and wasn't about to wake up again anytime soon. Overall, they lived in peace… if people don't consider the life piracy as peaceful.Six girls around 7 to 9 were sitting at the seaside while watching the horizon. Sure enough, the total number of resident of the island was of these six girls and their mothers that make it 12 people living there and they were happy as they were. The adults only went on raid when necessary and the older among the group have to take the lead when they were gone.The short ginger that had yellow pair of eyes was happily playing with the water, not far from the others since they weren't supposed to be too apart from each other. Alongside her was her twin sister who had honey-blond hair and violet eyes. The two of them were clad in one-piece swimsuit that their mother found while raiding an exploration ship few months earlier.Sitting on the warm sand were two girls. The one with ash-gray hair was braiding her sister's hair while the bluenette was happily enjoying the feeling of Kotori's fingers taking her hair and doing her magic. Standing next to them was the oldest girl of the group, even though she had the tiniest figure among the small group. She had long raven hair and a pair of crimson ruby eyes and her role was to have an eye on her younger sisters.True enough, they were not all sisters in blood, but since their parents were very close friends, they always considered themselves like sisters. Some of them though are really related like Rin and Hanayo who were both born by Ms Koizumi's tummy, just like Ms Minami gave birth to Kotori and Umi while Nico and Honoka were slightly different. The ravenette was born from Ms Yazawa and said woman made Ms Kousaka pregnant few years later. That was when the energetic ginger was born. Talking about Honoka, she was busy collecting shells while clad in an orange one-piece swimsuit.After another hour under the blazing sun, a silhouette could be seen at the horizon and the daughters of Pirates cheered as they recognized its Jolly Roger. "It's Mama! Mama is back!" Rin cheered.As the ship came closer, they could see six figures standing on the large ship's bridge while waving at them. That was the clue and the six girls turned back toward the sandy beach and waited until the massive construction anchored. The women immediately jumped out of the ship and hugged their daughters – the woman with dark-red hair and teal eyes going for Nico, the raven-haired tall woman with ruby eyes lifting Honoka in her shoulder, the blue-haired woman patting Kotori's head, the ash-haired woman with ember eyes smiling at Umi since the young girl wasn't very found of direct body contact.The two remaining women, much to the others' surprise were the last to descend from the ship as they took a stair to go down, mostly because Ms Hoshizora was carrying a young red-haired girl in bridal style. The others walked near her to have a closer look at the sleeping beauty and couldn't help but to comment. "Wow! She's so cute?" The energetic ginger smiled and poked her face.The red-head blinked from the impact and opened her pair of violet eyes… only to let go of a very pitchy scream later. The others had to cover their ears due to the young girl's powerful scream. Talking about which, she took the opportunity to escape from Ms Hoshizora and ran to the side. "W-who are you people? Where are Mama and Mom? And where are we?"The other slowly removed their hands that were covering their ears and looked at her. The girls were confused as to why their mothers brought someone into their island. That was the first time such thing ever happened and both looked at their mothers for an answer. "Mama?"The six older women looked down with guilt written all over their faces. The atmosphere became heavy and gloomy as the youngest of the group became confused since it was the first time the older women were acting like that. "Mama, is something the matter?" Nico, being the most mature of them decided to shake Ms Yazawa."The truth is…" Ms Koizumi started, still averting eyes from the seven girls. "The raid didn't go as well as planed.""Well…" Ms Kousaka continued. "It so happened that they were armed and as we were about to abort the mission, they started chasing after us and ended up engaging against each other."The raven-haired woman gritted her teeth as she stood up, but still refused to make direct eye contact with anyone. "And like the proud Pirates we are, we fought without holding back… but it was soon revealed that none of them had any experience in using weapon…""And it ended up as a massacre…" Ms Hoshizora finished. "We realized it too late…""But then there was a girl sleeping in the commander's cabin." The woman with wavy blue hair and golden pupils continued as she started leading the way toward their cabanas. Maki was slightly confused, but decided to follow them. They arrived in front of one of the residence and took an open shower to get rid of the sand and salt on their clothes. Even the foreign red-head agreed since she didn't feel comfortable with her sticky soaked dress.The thirteen of them then got inside one of the buildings and changed into more casual clothes and sat around at the living room. There was an awkward silence until the red-head finally decided to speak once again. "So…" She looked down. "Mama and Mom are gone?" There was no response.Fortunately for them, Maki was a person of the mind and was very clever and somehow managed to get over it. The Pirates, feeling guilty decided to adopt her and took care of her as if she was one of them. They eventually trained her to become one of them and took profit of the fact that Hanayo and Rin didn't remember these events as to hide the real truth to them.The red-head somehow managed to become very close with the other girls and ended up smiling at the end… even if deep inside, she was still saddened by her parents' fate. Several years later though, Honoka and her became a lot closer… closer than she ever thought would have been possible. It all started with the childhood friend always staying together, then Maki caught in the rain while hunting at the top of the hill and the ginger saving her. They were caught in the middle of a storm and had to take refuge in a cave… They eventually talked a lot about their passion and their point of view in life and it ended up with the older girl doing a confession and a promise."I really like you, Maki! You're cute and very interesting, especially when you talk about things you like. Also, I really enjoy spending time with you. You've taught me a lot until now and I cherish them all."The red-head's face reddened at these words. The two of them were wrapped in a blanket inside the cave, a fire lit in front of them while the storm was ragging outside. "B-but h-how could you say that? W-we are still 13, should I remind you.""Yeah, I know that!" The ginger rested her head on the younger girl's shoulder. "In that case, let us make a promise!""A promise?"Honoka lifted her head so that a pair of baby blue eyes met up with amethyst ones. The red on Maki's face deepened as the shorter girl leaned closer until their forehead met. "…A promise that someday, we will get married and sail at the horizon, looking for treasures and mysteries that are yet to be discovered…" She closed her eyes, and so did her best friend. "Even if we fall apart, we will always find our way back toward each other… and to be together until death do us part when we reunite again."The two reopened their eyes, the blush on Maki's face has disappeared and they stared once again at each other's eyes. The red-head could have sworn she saw the shorter girl's eyes sparkle and smiled at that. "Yes, I promise!""Really?" The two separated, but only of few centimeters. "I'm so glad! One day, we will leave this live of Piracy behind and start everything anew as explorer of this world. I know that I am not very good in navigation, but I will try my best and the two of us alone will discover what's hidden behind the horizon."The red-head smiled once again at these beautiful words. "You're really a weird one…" The two giggled at that statement and then stared once again at each other's eyes, until Maki leaned closer and brought their lips together. They parted after few seconds, their faced beet red. "T-take this as a mark of my honesty… You better respect your promise of leaving this life behind, I say."Honoka's lips curled into a huge smile and she jumped at the red-head to take her in a bone-crushing hug. "Ow, thank you, Maki! I will do my best!"[-x-x-x-]"Honoka… Honoka…"A pair of baby blue eyes slowly opened as a gentle voice was calling for her. While the owner's vision focused on the person who woke her up, she realized it was Hanayo who was in panic. Honoka understood and quickly jumped from the bed and grabbed her – now dry – outfit."We're under attack!" The young brunette said as the commander was busy changing. "It is Tsubasa leading a militia fleet. They appeared all of a sudden from the south.""Fools!" The captain put her oversized coat on and walked out of the cabin to be greeted by a torrential rain and the sound of multiple canon firing. "Let's teach them what it cost to attack the µ's ship."Not long after, everyone on the dark ship ran into their post and started countering fire with the cannons. The crew responsible for navigation too regained their respective post and made some maneuvers and ultimately smashing their huge ship against the rebels.Their opponents were led by three girls—militia—who were fighting pirates who happened to travel in the surrounding. They were rather popular and well-known bounty hunters and many fear them… That however was still not enough to intimidate the crew of Otonokizaka.As the two navires collided, the girls from both side readying their weapons—guns, sabers, axes, spears and knives—and just waited for their captain to give orders. Honoka stepped in the middle. "Tsubasa, Anju and Erena I presume…"The brunette who was clad in a dark blue suit and white skirt nodded. "We are just common citizens, but we can't stand such barbarism against the weak."The girl with orange hair who was standing beside her and who was clad in the same attire as the captain grabbed her long barrel riffle. "We have decided to take the arms and fight the scum like you who are abusing the weak. You might have some targets that you think are good, but we can't allow our beloved town to be destroyed.""We were never planning on doing such thing." Umi stepped beside her captain. She was still busy commanding the cannons few minutes prior and was finally able to move at the front. Her job was to convince the opponents to surrender without any loss. "We are just here to resupply and will leave as if we were never there in the first place.""You piss me!" The last girl who was co-captain of the A-RISE ship—who had long dark red hair but wore a white sailor shirt as a top for her attire—pointed her sword at the µ's captain. "I'm done with talking!"And with that, gunfire, clash of iron and splashing blood were the only things that happened on the two ships.[-x-x-x-]A pair of emerald green eyes slowly opened lazily as its owner was regaining conscious. They however got wide quickly as Tsubasa realized that it was day—noon, judging by the sun that was on top of their head—and that she was on a ship she didn't recognize. Alongside her two co-commanders, she was bound by rope and was attached to a pillar in the middle of the ship. Erena and Anju were still unconscious.A couple of young girls wearing µ's attire saw her awake and walked in her direction. She gritted her teeth. "Damn! So, we lost the engagement and were captured." She looked down as her eyes started to tremble. "Sorry, Mother, everyone… I wasn't strong enough to protect you all."The girl with past-ear orange hair scanned Tsubasa from every angle and then smiled innocently. "Hello!"That was enough to wake the two former commanders of A-RISE and the soon started scanning the area. "W-where are we?"The pirate girl with shoulder-length brown hair just smiled. "You are aboard the Otonokizaka." The three militia turned to her with horror and Hanayo quickly continued to explain. "The battle yesterday didn't end well as the storm became stronger and at the end drifted both ship away. The three of you ended up with us and Honoka has decided to make you our prisoners.""Damn!" Erena cursed under her breath before lifting her head as Rin untied the rope that was binding them. "What are you doing?"The reply came into a huge smile from the cat-like girl. "Honoka said that it will not benefit anyone to have prisoners, so Rin is freeing you all. Honoka said too that she is willing to let you aboard until we arrive at the next port.""But we're enemies!" Anju stepped forward as she was now freed from the ropes. "You are pirates and we are bounty hunters.""It's no problem!" Hanayo just beamed another smile. "Honoka might not look like it, but she is a very kind person…and so are Umi and Niko." She then slightly looked down as her smile fell. "They are just scared to loose something dear to them once again." The brunette lifted her head and gave a gentle smile as to comfort the three former A-RISE. "That's why they are trying to look tough and emotionless, but deep inside, they are good people. To be honest, no one in Otonokizaka has ever killed anyone. We always heal our opponents after each battle and send them away. After all, they have family who cares about them, so it would be unfair if we took something that was important to them."These words were enough to calm the three hunters. "Miss Hanayo…" Tsubasa felt a sentiment of guilt as a single tear ran on the other brunette's cheek. She reached her hand forward and whipped it. "We got it! In other words, you are not pirates who destroy and steal for wealth and power.""That's right!" The pirate with short hair hugged her sister by the side. "Our Mothers were pirates before us and we were wanted dead since our childhood. Umi, Niko and Honoka have decided to build our band to allow the youngers like Hanayo, Kotori and Rin to live by protecting each others and adventuring on the unseen lands behind the mountains and the islands at the horizon."Anju smiled at the words. She turned to Erena, who nodded at her, and then the two of them turned to their leader. The brunette understood what her friends wanted. "We know that the actual government is ruled by corruption. That's why the number of pirates sailing the sea are numerous. Our objective by building A-RISE was to defeat them and bring peace back on our beloved land…" She took a breath before eying at the ginger, a bluenette and a ravenette who were walking in their direction. "But now, we understand that there are other people who have the same objectives as us.""Then, does that mean you are going to sign a non-aggression pact?" Umi asked while her lips curled into a smile."It is more like we are going to join us!" Erena continue while looking straight at Honoka.The ginger folded her arms for a couple of minutes. Cold sweat ran on Tsubasa's forehead. She was intimidating. After what seemed like hours, Honoka finally unfolded her arms and for the first time smiled while offering a hand to shake. "It's all right! Welcome to the Otonokizaka! Our objectives are to sail freely on the world while following our dreams. We do not abuse the weak. We do not seek for more than what we can take. We always pay for what we take on each town and our main target is to bring peace back on the world."Tsubasa smiled and accepted the offer. "Let us do our best!" Her smile then fell. "But just so I warn you. If you ever break any of our rules, Anju, Erena and me are going to kill you. Understand?"Niko and Honoka just giggled at that comment. "All right! I will keep that in mind." The raven-haired girl replied before turning on her heels and started walking away, soon followed by Rin and Hanayo.The five remaining girls then walked at the dock to discuss more matters like chores and the three newbie were given new uniforms. They then spent the afternoon talking to the other crew members and cleaning the dock. Everyone in Otonokizaka were nice girls. Anju smiled to herself as they were having a collective diner on a huge made-up table in the middle of the ship to celebrate their new members.
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Blood! That was covering Maki's hands. She has taken the life of the women who stole her Mothers away from her. Her eyes were glued to the horrifying sign of the six bodies lying on the floor, a kitchen knife covered in blood in the middle of the puddle of blood.The young 15-years old girl was stunned and shocked. "I… I killed them… S-so…why do I feel so empty…?" True enough, she got her revenge, but for odd reason felt more like she lost than anything else.The other girls were out fishing when the Mothers were supposed to be cleaning and cooking in their house. Maki thought it was the perfect time to execute the plan she has planed for months now. She didn't let it appear but deep inside, she never found the strength to forgive the pirates for what they did. They might have regretted it and did their best to apologize, but the red-head still felt the urge to avenge what she lost."Mama, we're ho-…" Niko was the first to walk inside the room in which the murder was held few seconds prior. She stopped dead in her track, her eyes widening and she quickly ran to where Kousaka's body was. "Mama! Mama!" She shook her, but got no response."Niko…?" Umi and Honoka were the next to enter and got the same reaction as the older girl when stepping in. The bluenette quickly turned back and dragged Kotori and the two younger sisters away so they won't see the massacre. The ginger however saw Maki who was covered in blood and ran by her side. "Maki; are you all right? What happened? Are you hurt?"The red-head was shocked from Honoka's action. She thought that the ginger would have reacted in other way like yelling at her or attempting to kill her, but yet. The taller girl started to sniff. "Why? Why are you acting like that, Honoka? I killed your Mothers, so why are you worried about me first?"Just as Honoka was about to reply, her older sister stood up, her bangs covering her eyes and rushed at the red-head, the kitchen knife used to kill their Mothers in hand. "I won't forgive you, you damn spoiled brat!" She almost stabbed Maki if it wasn't for the ginger that got in the middle and in response got the hit that was supposed to be her crush's. "Honoka!"The younger of the two sisters fell on her knees and coughed blood. Niko quickly took the knife out, only provoking more blood to come out of the ginger's newly-made wound. Silence followed as the ginger just placed her hand as to stop the blood but in vain. "Maki…" She turned to the red-head. "Are you…all right?"Maki looked down until her bangs hit her eyes. "Idiot! Why did you protect me? I killed…and yet why?"Honoka smiled at her as a response. "That's because we made a promise!"By that time, the older of the two siblings was kneeling down as well and looked at her sister's wound. "Honoka! Idiot!" She tore part of her own pink cloth shirt and attempted to bandage Honoka's waist with it."Bad news!" Umi ran inside the room once again, alone this time. The bluenette however couldn't help but to feel a chill deep inside her as she saw the horrible sign of the six bodies covered in blood on the floor…but she had more important things to do first. "There are sign of several Navy ships coming this way!""Say what?!" Niko stood up and faced the younger girl. "How could they find the location of this island?" She took one second of pause before turning to the red-head. "YOU!""Niko…" The ravenette turned back to the bluenette whose voice was reflecting panic. "I already told Kotori to bring Hanayo and Rin 'there'! We have to hurry as well until these Navy ships arrive."Niko gritted her teeth. She still wanted to get proper explanation from the red-head and properly burry their Mothers but the situation was unfavorable to them. They might not have been pirates yet, but they already got bounties on their head. "Fine! Honoka!" She moved by her sister's side and placed the ginger's arm above her shoulder before standing up. The younger sister turned to Maki—who was still looking down, paralyzed—and couldn't help but to worry. Realizing that, Niko decided to speak as she started walking toward the door, following Umi and bringing Honoka. "She will be fine! She does not have wanted poster so I am sure they will just bring her with them on the main land and put her in an orphanage or something."Understanding the difficulty of the situation, the ginger nodded and turned one last time to her childhood lover. "Maki… Someday… Yes, someday; we will meet again! We might face lot of difficulties, but I will do everything in my power to bring us together again. Together, we will leave this life behind and start everything anew."These were the last words that Maki heard coming from her 16-years old friend. She moved her hand to her chest and gritted her teeth. "Why…?"As the trio was out of the building, they could have seen that three ships have already anchored at the coast and the women member of its crew were already jumping out of their navires. "This is bad!" Niko quickly led the two others toward a small path leading into the forest at the other side of the beach.Unfortunately, few of the women clad in sleeveless white sailor fuku and blue shorts has spotted them and started running after them. "You three there! Surrender now or we will use force!"Umi was scared. Sure, they were prepared to anything by their Mothers, from possible raid or bounty hunters running after them…but it was still scary when living them in real time. "What are we going to do?"Niko just continued to run, her younger sister held close to her body and moved her hand to grab the bluenette's arm, motioning her to continue running deeper into the forest. "We can't afford to be captured here! If we surrender, they will bring us at the capital and we will get judged for the crime our Mothers did. Also…" She took a second of pause. "We can't leave these three alone. Goddess knows what might happen to them without us."Umi nodded as they continue running in between threes, jumping roots and taking several turns. They were used to run inside the forest and easily fled the older women. After being sure that no one was following them anymore, the trio continued into another path that led toward a cliff at the rear part of the island. Near the cliff was the entrance to a cave. That was their next stop.As they got inside, the trio was greeted by Kotori and a pair of crying teenagers. The ash-haired girl smiled at the newcomer and ran to her sister. "Umi… You're fine! Where are Mothers and Maki? Why are there ships coming to our island."The bluenette didn't know how to respond to these questions. Her sister and the two other older girls didn't see the massacre inside the room fortunately, but yet, she herself didn't know what to say."What happened to Honoka?" Everyone's attention was brought toward the ginger as Hanayo saw the blood on the bandage that Niko placed on her sister's waist. Said ginger had a pained expression on her face."Rin is scared…" The youngest of the group said, shaking. Her sister and Kotori hugged her as to comfort her.There was a brief moment of silence until Honoka was the one who broke it. "We have to leave the island." Everyone's attention turned to her. "We lost our Mothers and Maki…and the Navy will soon take control of µ's island so we have to go away…" She then moved her arms away from Niko and pointed at the side of the cliff where a huge ship was hidden by trees and rocks. "We will operate the Otonokizaka ship and flee for now."Niko nodded. "We have no other choice left so let us do so. We might face difficulties during our first and second sailing, but we will lean on each others and see the end of this dark tunnel.""But we are only 6 people, how could we operate such large ship?" Kotori pointed out. "We might be able to follow the current, but again doing so have risk of leading us to unknown regions."Umi placed a hand on her chin as to thing an instant before speaking her conclusion. "In that case, we have no other choice but to recruit more members. I heard that the other women former crew of Otonokizaka has daughters as well, so we should look after them and recruit them before the Navy or the bounty hunters find them.""Agreed!" Niko nodded. "According to the wind, the current will lead us South, in the direction on island 15. I heard that island 13 got raided few days prior and the survivors have moved there. That's our chance to find candidates."[-x-x-x-]A pair of amethyst eyes slowly opened as the sunlight brought its owner out of her slumber. The red-haired girl in her 18s pushed her back so she was in a sitting position and scanned the surrounding. She was inside a large room in which a large bed was placed at the middle, few chairs and closets at the side."A dream?"She quickly brushed these thoughts away and stood up from the bed before walking to the nearest closed and got changed. She took her baggy shirt and short off and changed into another white short-sleeved sailor fuku shirt and navy blue skirt. She then walked toward the nearest chair where an oversized navy blue coat was placed in. The emblem of the Navy force was printed on the back of the coat.After grabbing the coat, Maki walked out of the room and soon found herself in a huge hallway. Just as she was about to resume her walk though, a familiar voice called for her and she turned around to see two girls in their 20s walking in her direction. The taller of the two had blonde hair attached in a ponytail, her attire being literally the same as Maki's. The second one however had purple hair attached in a braid and instead of wearing the white shirt was wearing a navy blue bust dress. The two of them were wearing the oversized coat as well as a proof of being Admirals."Hey, Maki!" The purple-haired girl walked behind the red-head and placed her hands on Maki's chest. The response came into the taller yet younger girl to elbow her in the guts. "I see that you're energetic from morning…" She however didn't even flinch as if she didn't even feel pain from the impact."Mff… And I see that you're as annoying as ever, Nozomi."The blonde just giggled at the scene. "Well… Now that the greetings are done, how about we move on now? I heard that the head Admiral was looking for us; especially you, Maki."No more words were spoken as the trio started walking the hall, direction the head Admiral's office. The hallways of their private quarters were quiet, especially compared to the busy area in the main building. The red-head took the opportunity to thing about few things that she needed to do. It was not an easy job to get into her actual rank. After all, when brought back into the main continent, no one could believe that she was the daughter of Nishikino since an imposter has already bribed the court, forcing her to be sent into an orphanage. There, she had to struggle day and night to become what she was now, starting from an average recruit, but then quickly climbed the ranks since her superiors found her great abilities in studies, tactics, navigation and battle."By the way," Nozomi decided to break the silence as they walked a stair leading down, "I heard that the Otonokizaka ship has raided the port town of UTX." That caught Maki's attention as her eyebrows furrowed. She had to hide her curiosity though. After all, she hasn't told her co-Admirals about the fact that she spent 7 years of her life surrounded by pirates and their daughters."Really?" The blonde turned to her sister, curious to hear the detail. "They attacked another town? I hope no one was hurt during the assault." The Admiral Eri was very caring and honorable person who cared a lot about her soldiers and folk. She understood the fact that the government was ruled by corruption and so was the Navy but she had joined them to "change it from the inside" as she told Maki."Well… No civilian was hurt…but I heard a fight broke between the militia who were patrolling around and the pirates." The purplenette continued. "Apparently, a storm broke in though and drifted both ships away. The militia ship was found in a nearby island, but their three commanders missing. Other than that, we have no clue about the Otonokizaka."Eri placed a finger on her chin and closed her eyes as the trio still continued to walk. "I have a bad feeling about it…" Sure, the three of them were personally assigned to track the Otonokizaka ships—namely the µ's pirates like they preferred to call them in the Navy. She however felt doubtful when the superiors has ordered them to make it their first priority. "It's not as if they made that much of bad things. We had never received report of that much violence from them. I just heard that they rarely raid towns and then leave behind enough money for the townspeople. What makes them dangerous if their power. They are chasing other pirates who abuse the weak and sometimes raid battle ships of the Navy transporting prisoners or dangerous weapons."The blonde's train of thought was cut thought as the trio arrived in front of a large door leading to the main Admiral's office. They knocked and a voice ordered them to get it. They did so and entered the new room in which a woman was sitting behind a desk at the other side of the room. Said woman had long blond hair and judging by her appearance was a foreigner. Standing beside her was another woman with shoulder-length purple hair and clad in a dark blue working suit. "So, the three of you are here?" The trio nodded. "I've called you, the elite today to assign you to a special mission ranked SS."Eri gasped at the information. SS rank mission was the highest level possible, only reserved for the best units and were held secret. Only few people knew about them. "Rank SS?""Yes!" The woman clad in white shirt and skirt with an oversized coat over them nodded and placed her elbows on her desk. "Our source reported rebellion in the capital of the semi-aquatic nation of Uranohoshi. A group of girl naming themselves Aqours are causing lot of trouble and your mission is to put an end to this bringer of hope. Therefore, you will make this mission your first priority."The younger blonde was in shock from these words. She was actually witnessing a high-rang form of corruption. "But doing so will…" She looked down. "That will only cause more harm for the people…"The head Admiral folded her arms, the stern look never leaving her face. "These orders came from the queen herself! Our job is to execute order, not give our opinions about them. I understand your fear, but this is for the sake of our government. Worry not though; you will be largely paid for such mission."Eri gritted her teeth while tightening her fist. "Why does it always have to be rank for you, Mother?" She couldn't contain her yells anymore. "You never cared about us, always finding excuse to leave the house and serve whoever 'superior' you always put before your own daughters. And on top of that, why are you always following such selfish orders? The folks are suffering. We soldiers should have the mission to protect them and yet we are the ones that add more into their grief. Why aren't you doing anything?""Eri!" The purple-haired woman, the secretary of the Admiral Ayase spoke sternly. "We already discussed about that. Our family has served in the Navy for generation and has followed the direct orders from the worldwide government. We already abused our authority to promote the two of you as fast as possible, so do your damn share of the contract."Nozomi placed a hand on her sister's shoulder as to calm her. Eri was still not willing to give up…but in the end decided to relax slightly, opting that it was not time yet to rebel against orders from her superiors. "Yes, ma'am!""Eri chi…""Now that it's settled…" Ayase cleared her throat. "We will now make the briefing for your mission. First off, you will be assigned with our elite assassins and will lead them toward the town of Uranohoshi. Your objective is to end their rebellion by killing their leader Chika alongside her first mate You and Riko. Another treat you should be aware of is mostly the young heiress of a powerful weaponry industry, Mari. She is the one who is supporting the revolution regarding funds and weapons. Her assassination should be as careful as possible. Make it pass as if the rebels have betrayed her." The three younger Admiral nodded despite the fact of being disgusted at the thought. "In addition to that, sources are saying that the two daughters of a well-known merchant, namely Dia and Ruby have joined the rebellion alongside the only children of the leader of the local church Hanamaru. Killing them will not cause us any benefit so we are counting on you to capture them alive, make them prisoners so we can wash their memories and have them act under the queen herself."At this point, Maki's right hand has formed a fist. When she left the pirates, she has thought that life would be better with less violence and less corruption, but she was soon wronged. "And these people still call themselves 'humans'…" She then slightly looked down before eying at her blonde friend. "Eri… I hope your plan to reform the system will work. I wish to change things as well, but I can't do anything right now…" She finally turned back to the head Admiral and her secretary. "Honoka… I know that you are also fighting out there…but until we will be able to execute our plan, you will still be an enemy. If our paths ever meet before we get enough support, it will be as enemy…and as an enemy, I shall not show any mercy to your mates and you. Our mission goes above everything.""Also," Ayase continued, "two elite commanders of our assault division in the Navy, namely Kanan and Yoshiko has betrayed us and joined the rebel forces. Capture them alive if possible so their execution shall be made public at the capital of Live as an example for these who dare to oppose our beloved queen."Feeling disgusted, but with no other choice but to execute the orders now, the three girls brought their feet together, stood straight and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" And with that, they excused themselves and left the room to meet up with the elite that they are going to command during that mission.[-x-x-x-]"D'aww…" A girl with past-ear ginger hair let go of a yawn as she walked on the docks. She was on guard duty that night and felt slightly sleepy. "Rin wants ramen…" She sighed."Oh, greeting, Rin." She turned to see a girl with waist-length orange hair walking in her direction. Said girl was clad in a navy blue short-sleeve, knee-length battle dress. A long barrel gun was attached in her back and a pair of holster containing knives was on the side of her thighs. "So, you are on guard duty as well?""Yes!" The energetic girl replied with a smile. "It was supposed to be Kayo's turn but I didn't want her to push her body since she caught a cold. Rin didn't expect to see Miss Anju though.""Kayo? You mean your sister Hanayo?" Anju walked beside the younger girl and placed her elbows on the rail. "You don't have to talk so formerly, you know. We are in the same team now. We might still have thoughts that don't match, but we have the same objectives."Rin rested her elbows as well and looked at the horizon. "Is that so?" The cold night wind was blowing in their hair as the two enjoyed the calm atmosphere under the starry night. "Then, Anju…?""Yes… What is it, Rin?" The taller girl turned to her newly made friend with a smile on her face."I was just thinking about few things…" Rin's gaze was glued to the horizons, her eyes reflecting melancholy. "You know, we didn't have the chance to say goodbye to Mommy and Mama. After we had to leave our island, Kayo and Rin felt despair as we always had to struggle everyday to survive. Honoka, Niko and Umi were the ones who suffered the most though. Kotori and us were just following them around when they were always giving their best. There are times when I wonder if Mama might be disappointed with Rin…"Anju's smile dropped from hearing that. She knew that the pirates had to go through lot of hardship, but she never imagined that much. Talking about that made the taller girl have a sad smile on her face as she turned at the horizon as well. "Well… I guess I can't really be of much help since I myself have lot of regrets in my life." She let go of a soft sigh. "You see, I was a total brat back when I was still a child. I always caused trouble to my Mothers Yuuki and Toudou as well as my sister Erena and our childhood friend Tsubasa. I was a total jerk… I remember that day when I got in a fight with Mom for a reason I don't remember anymore. I ran away that night and they had to go look after me. In the end, it was Tsubasa and Erena who found me. When we came home though, our Mothers never did. The next morning, we heard rumors about two women's body found dead near the cliff and went to investigate." She started to sniff, her voice slightly breaking, catching Rin's attention as the younger ginger turned to her. "We heard that they were unlucky enough to be passing by when a band of pirate was hiding. I never forgave myself…I was the one who killed our Mothers…"She felt Rin's hand placed on her own. Anju refused to look at the younger girl, her cheeks soaked with tears. "Anju…""Erena might not look like it, but their death really affected her. I think that she still hasn't forgiven me…"Rin reached her hand to wipe the older girl's tears. "Rin can't do much to help Anju right away…but I do think that Erena doesn't hate you." The taller ginger turned to her at these words, her pair of big violet eyes soaked in tears. "I believe that she does care a lot about Anju. Sure, you did mistakes, but we all learn from them. You've changed since then, right? Then, I do believe you are a good person now. I myself always used to be a bother for Kotori and Niko when we first started sailing, but everyone comforted me and I eventually started to gain confidence." She caught Anju's hands with her own and gave her a smile. "That's why… You should never give up! There are always chances.""Rin…" The taller girl whipped the remaining tears in her eyes while sniffing. "You're a weird one… but thank you!" She smiled after a while, her violet eyes meeting with chartreuse ones. "Let us promise to both see the end of this dark time…" Her cheek turned slightly pink. "And when the time will come… will you please still be my friend."The response came into an energetic smile. "Of course! Also, we should learn to know more about each others." Rin brought her attention back toward the horizon. "First off, Rin really likes ramen and-…" She stopped dead in her words, surprising the older ginger. "Sound the alarm! There are Navy ships in 3 hours."Anju quickly turned to said direction to see three gigantic ships with the Navy flag swaying atop them going in the North-East. As soon as she saw that, the two gingers ran to different side and rang the alarm. It didn't take long for the crew to gather at the dock and got ready for a fight."It looks like they saw us as well." Umi commented as she stood by their commander's side. True enough, the three Navy ships was now sailing in their direction, canons ready to shoot anytime. The bluenette raised her arm, ordering the gunners and canon to get in post. Honoka placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to her friend to see an uneasy and sad look on her face. "What is wrong, Honoka?"There was a couple of second of silence before Honoka spoke the words that neither Umi nor Niko wanted to hear at that time. "Maki is commanding one of these ships."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Maki is commanding one of these ships."These were the last words that the second in command wanted to hear. "Are you really sure about that, Honoka?" Umi asked, concern in her voice. "I mean…""So, what are we going to do?" Niko turned to her younger sister.There was a brief moment of silence until the commander spoke again. "We have no other choice but to face them. Their battle ships are better than the Otonokizaka when it comes to speed so we can't expect to rout them." She took her oversized dark coat and wielded her weapon of choice—a katana saber—with both hand. "Everyone; get ready for a battle. Avoid as many casualties as possible."The crew saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" And with that, everyone aboard the ship ran toward their respective post. The bluenette was responsible of the canons alongside Tsubasa—who proved to be experienced and skilled in the domain—and Hanayo who was still not that well, but was still apt for service. Niko on the other hand went behind the steering wheel and started commanding the crew responsible for navigation.At the other side of the dock, Rin and Anju have taken their weapon, with the younger girl wielding a pair of battle knife while her newly-made friend grabbed her long-barrel gun. "Rin…" The older ginger spoke and Rin turned to her. "B-be careful… I heard that these three are very powerful.""I know… You too, be careful!"At the three Navy ships though, the same panic was happening as the women and girls member of the crew were gaining their post. Maki however was just standing on the front part of the navire. Eri, who was commanding the second ship saw her from afar and took a rope before jumping on the red-head's ship. "Hey, Maki! Is something wrong? You're kind of in the cloud."The red-haired girl slightly jumped from being surprised and turned around to see her blonde co-Admiral behind her while her sister too was walking in their direction. Maki let go of a sigh. "It's nothing…" She lied. "How could I tell you that I am nervous? I didn't expect us to meet road with the Otonokizaka ship this soon… A skirmish can't be avoided though. We can't allow anyone to interfere in our mission.""Liar!" Nozomi commented, earning a teeth-gritting from her fellow Admiral. "Something is bothering you." She walked behind the red-head and grabbed the taller girl's breasts. "You can talk to us, you know. We've been friends for year. We understand if you are feeling scared or something. We are going to face the µ's, the most powerful group of pirate from this era after all.""You won't understand." Maki just let go of a sigh before taking two steps forward, escaping from the older girl's groping. "I am not scared."Eri placed a hand on her shoulder. The red-head didn't even bother turning to her friend as her eyes were glued to the sign of the other ship getting closer by each second. "We understand that you have things you don't want us to know…but please believe in us. It doesn't matter what you did or used to be. All that matter is that you are our friend now."Maki turned to her friends who were smiling at her. "Eri… Nozomi…""We won't force you though." The purplenette continued. "Take your time! You can always come to us when you are ready to talk. Anytime."The red-head couldn't help her lips from forming a smile but then turned on her heels as to hide her smile from the two sisters. "I-it's not like I wanted to hear that or anything…""Maki dear is not being honest again~" Nozomi teased. "You know that bad girls have to be punished~"Eri cleared her throat as to bring important matters. "This is great and all, but we have to return to our own ship." She started walking away, soon followed by her sister. "We will go according to the plan." The blonde ordered the crew—mostly composed of elite fighters and assassins—of her ship. "We will surround them and then overwhelm their force. Capture as much as them as possible and let none escape. If they resist too much, feel free to stop them though.""Yes, ma'am!"Not long after, the first ship led by Nozomi was the one that collided against the Otonokizaka. The busty Admiral was talented in combat and real-time strategy and was most of the time assigned to frontal assault.Both side's crew started charging at each other, iron meeting steel, bullets meeting flesh. Rin and Erena were leading the front row of their team when Erena and Kotori were giving fire cover. The other girls member of the crew—daughters of the former crew of Otonokizaka—were either following the melee leaders or the range ones.As the two small armies had their first contact, the second ship was getting in position at about half kilometer from behind the Otonokizaka. It then started firing several canons. Just as Niko was about to command her units to move their ship our of the bullet's trajectory, the third navire led by Eri came into contact with them from the left side, the first one already blocking them from the right. Bind in between the two massive Navy ships, the crew member of navigation had no other solution but to prepare for the impact.Several explosions followed from the read side. As if that wasn't enough, the crew from the third ship started charging right into the µ's. That was the signal for Honoka to move at that part alongside the remaining frontal battle crew to counter. She swung her saber at the enemies, always being careful to not cut the enemies in their vital point, just wounding them enough to immobilize them until the end of the battle. Her followers did same as they aimed for the opponent's arms and legs, never shooting at their head or torso.Umi, Anju and Hanayo too were done with the preparations and pointed the cannons at the East to where Maki's ship was. They charged the canons with bullets and powder before shooting. Their shoots were popular to be accurate and deadly, but same went for the red-head Admirals. The second Navy ship started sailing forward as to avoid the multiple bullets while shooting back.With the Otonokizaka now unable to move, it was the perfect target for the canons. Now surrounded by the three ships, anyone in that position would start to loose hope, but the µ's was another story. When they were in tough situation, they always found a way to get away victorious. That was mostly why people call them "bringer of miracle".Seeing that attempting to move the ship was useless, Niko abandoned her post and grabbed her long-barrel riffle while running to the Southern part of the ship, offering fire cover to her sister's unites. No need to say that Otonokizaka's melee units were the best when it came to skirmish. Rin and Erena have already defeated the units who got on their ship and were now attempting to get on the opponents. They already had 5 wound girls and said girls were sent at the middle of the ship to get proper treatment.At Honoka's side though, the battle was mostly one-sided as even the Navy elite couldn't match the battle abilities of the captain and her followers. They quickly made easy work on the opponents without any casualty. Eri saw that and furrowed her eyebrows. "So, the rumors are true… She is strong indeed… but…" The blonde tightened her grip on her weapon—a dual edge sword.As another member of the elite fell from Honoka's hit, the µ's cheered, gaining confidence and moral. That however was short live as they saw the blonde Admiral jumping out of her ship and landed on the Otonokizaka, her sword in hand. The Navy members cheered at her arrival when few of the pirate girls slightly backed away. "That's the Admiral Eri… I heard she is the best when it comes to close combat.""Do not loose hope!" Another girl said as she tightened her grip on her axe. "Titles are nothing but words. Commander Honoka is going to defeat her. I do not doubt. All we have to do is to stop their units from offering cover and let the Commander in a one-on-one duel against her.""Commander Honoka I presume." The blonde bowed her head. "It is an honor to meet you in person. I hope that you will give me the honor to show your skills in fighting." She took her oversized coat away."It will be a pleasure for me to give it my all in this battle." The ginger replied.There was a brief moment of pause between the two small armies with only the canon shots from Maki's ship heard at the horizon. The first to make a move was Honoka, who was soon followed by her girls and Eri did so as well. As the two leaders clashed their blades for the first time, their followers engaged against each others, never allowing their enemy to get closer to the two Commanders.The two girls slightly backed of one foot before charging again. Their swords met a dozen of time before they backed away again. This time, both of them ran at each other again but instead of going straight at it, the ginger jumped high in the sky before bringing the tip of her katana down. She almost got her opponent if it wasn't for Eri who jumped at the side to avoid it. The blonde took the opportunity when her opponent was standing up to kick at the shorter girl. Honoka was fast enough to block the incoming kick with her left arm but wasn't quick enough to evade a punch coming in her guts.Honoka jumped back while holding her tummy. "That did hurt indeed… She is not holding back at the least." Just as she charged forward again, the blonde did so as well and the two clashed their blades again.The two opposing forces were too busy against each others that the didn't realize that the second ship has collided against the Otonokizaka from behind. Now trapped in the middle of three Navy ships, the pirates had no other choice but to defeat them if they wanted to survive. Unfortunately, Maki's units jumped out of their ship and landed on the Otonokizaka. Taken by surprise, Umi and Hanayo had no other choice but to engage in a close-quarter battle even though they were mostly specializing in long-range battles.The battle at the rear part was one-sided though, with the Navy winning since no one in the bluenette's unit were able to engage in real melee combat. The brunette girl ran quickly to where Niko was as to let them know about the situation. "This is bad! We are loosing the battle at the rear part. We are overwhelmed by them. Umi is still attempting to hold them back but it doesn't seem she will be able to hold them for long."The short ravenette cursed and gritted her teeth. "Honoka is having difficulties against that Eri chick as well though and her units are busy holding the opponents in position." She sighed. "Fine! Tell Kotori to sent reinforcement."The younger girl saluted and ran in the right side of their ship. There, she saw that the pirates were having difficulties as well boarding their opponent's ship. Her sister was engaged on a savage battle against Nozomi and her crew when the other µ's were blocked at their own dock."It was your biggest mistake to jump right into our trap!" One of the woman clad in Navy's uniform grinned.Rin on the other hand was already panting heavily. She was alone against a whole army; one of her knaves has already been broken. "They are too much for me…"The purple-haired Navy officer walked in her direction. "Looks like fortune is favoring us today~" She took a card out of her cleavage. "Surrender and we will not use violence."The ginger gritted her teeth. She couldn't surrender. If she continued to fight though, she might die…but then either way, she will die. Just as the cat-like girl was about to decide to charge at the Admiral, a familiar voice called for her before Anju fell on one of the enemies. "Rin, are you all right?"The girl with long orange hair quickly ran to where her friend was and the two backed each others as to gain some support and defense. "Why are you here? You are specialized in long-range battle. Going here is a suicide mission.""But…" Anju looked slightly down. "I don't want to leave you alone…" She muttered. "I don't want to loose you…" She finally lifted her head to see the crew of Navy surrounding them and prepared her weapons. After seeing that the shorter girl was mostly out of weapon, she reached for her holsters and offered her knives to Rin. "You should take these! You are better at using them than I am."Rin just nodded while taking the weapons. The Navy crew charged at them but the duo stood close to each others and protected each others with the older girl shooting and Rin slashing. The fact that they were still careful not to kill their opponent though was becoming a burden by this point but they had no other choice. It was part of the deal that they shall never kill.The Navy gained in number while Anju was running out of bullets. The younger girl too was starting to feel that her weapons are getting weaker. "They are going to break soon." She scanned the area as to find an escaping route but found it impossible as more enemies surrounded them.After another couple of minute of fight, the elite enemies started to fall back one by one, allowing their leader to walk in. Nozomi chuckled. "You two look in bad shape." She grabbed a knife from the side of her thigh and slowly walked in their direction.By this point, the two gingers were already breathing heavily, barely able to stand. As the purplenette charged at them, Rin just had enough time to get in between and pushed Anju as hard as she could. "Kotori!" She yelled.The other ginger was sent flying over the rail of the Navy ship and almost fell on the seas if it wasn't for their ash-haired gunner who caught her in time. Rin smiled a brief moment before falling on the wooden floor, unconscious. Not long after, Nozomi placed her knife back on her holster. Anju saw the spectacle and was about to jump back there if it wasn't for Kotori and Hanayo who held her. "Let go of me! I have to save Rin!"Niko too had difficulties giving fire cover and so were Umi and Honoka. The Commander was literally loosing against the blonde. Eri was faster and stronger than she was. On top of that, the Navy members were not holding back, something that the pirates couldn't afford. The blonde gave another kick and the ginger wasn't agile enough to avoid it. She was sent flying few feet away.The majority of the pirates were horrified at the sign of their Commander slowly standing up while coughing blood. "The Commander is loosing…""That's impossible…"And as if that wasn't enough, they heard an explosion from the rear part. Second later, Maki was walking in their direction, a spear in hand. "Eri… I can take care of the rest now."Niko was horrified to see the red-head's clothes were covered in blood. It wasn't her own blood though so that meant she has caused a massacre. The ravenette scanned the area to see an unconscious Umi lying on the floor. "Umi!" She jumped from her sniping point, ran beside her teammate and shook her. "Umi! Wake up!"The bluenette slowly stirred our and slightly opened her right eye. Her left eye was covered with blood. Niko concluded that she has lost one eyes. "Ni…ko…" She coughed blood. "You…have to…flee…and take as many of them…as possible…" There was a couple of second for Umi to regain her breath before she spoke again. "This…is not a battle…we can win…""But I can't let you here!" Just as the ravenette was about to lift her friend, it was revealed that she was not as strong as she thought. "Damn!" She still attempted but in vain. That wasn't help by the fact that few Navy soldiers were walking in their direction. "Come on Niko! You can do it!""Ni…ko…" The bluenette reached for the older girl's hand with her own—that was covered in blood. "Please… You have…to… For us all…"The raven-haired girl sniffed, tears falling on her cheeks. "This is unfair! I didn't even have the chance to properly confess."Umi reached for Niko's cheek and whipped some of her tears. "I know… I love you too…" She gave the best smile she could to her crush. "I am sorry…for not telling you sooner…"Niko leaned down and gave her a peek on the lips. They parted and smiled at each other before the ravenette stood up and ran in the front part of the ship as the Navy officers arrived at the spot Umi was. The petite girl had a look around to see that their units were loosing one by one. Rin, Umi and Erena have already been captured. Kotori and Hanayo were treating Anju and Tsubasa's wounds. Niko quickly walked in their direction. "We have to escape! This battle is lost! Gather the remaining units so we can aboard the emergency boat."The ash-haired girl stood up and faced the shorter girl, eyes obviously reflection how concerned and scared she was. "But what about Honoka and Umi?""We have no other choice!" Niko ran downstairs as to prepare the emergency boats. With no other choice but to follow, Kotori and Hanayo helped the two former A-RISE and gathered the remaining available crew. They all went downstairs to see that everything was ready. They all aboard the boats and cut the ropes. They only took three of the available boats and started to sail at the front. From that point, they saw how bad the situation was. Their beloved ship was starting to burn down, their allies falling under the enemies. "The Otonokizaka…"Hanayo started to sob and Kotori held her close. "Rin…" Anju too held her by the side, tears falling on her cheeks. "This hurts…"They saw Maki engage against Honoka. The ginger was obviously holding back when the red-head was giving her all, planning to kill her opponent. The fact that the pirate commander was already wounded and tired at the point didn't help either.The red-head trusted her spear forward and Honoka took the full force of the impact. She then received a punch right in the face and was sent against the rain. Honoka slowly lifted her head to see her childhood lover walk in her direction. Her childish look was not present anymore. What the ginger saw was a fearless killer who was going to execute her mission. "Maki…"Maki arrived in front of her and readied her weapon. Eri's units were already back on their ships so it was a one-on-one battle. The bodies of the crew of Otonokizaka were lying on the floor. The survivors of the raid were brought on the Navy ships as prisoners. "Honoka… I do regret we had to meet under such circumstance…but it can't be helped. I am a soldier now and you are a law-breaker. My mission goes first."A sad smile appeared on the ginger's face. "I see…" She dropped her weapon as tears ran on her cheeks. She then grabbed the red-head's spear and pointed it on her chest. "In that case, it will make me really glad if you were the one to take my life away." She sniffed yet still smiling.At that time, Maki felt a painful feeling on her chest. Honoka was crying in front of her. She was crying because of the red-head. The only thought made her hesitate. Her grip on her weapon tightened as she gritted her teeth. She has prepared herself that she was going to be the one to defeat Honoka…and yet. Tears formed on her eyes. "I am going to kill you… We killed your crew… So why are you still smiling to me like that? That's unfair…""That's because I've already decided years ago…" The ginger replied. "I've decided that I love Maki and that was enough to allow me to survive to this point. Now that I've met you, I can finally rest in peace. You can call me selfish if you want…I just did all these to be able to meet you again…"There was a moment of silence with only Maki's sobs breaking it from time to time. "Why? Why me? What do I have so special to make you act like that?"Honoka reached a hand to wipe her childhood lover's tears. "That's Maki is Maki…and that's all! There is no need for complex things. It's as simple as it sound."The red-head was about to counter that opinion but then closed her mouth before she could say anything. "You're an idiot! You're the most stupid idiot on this world!" She dropped her spear and took the older girl in a hug. Her mind was not working properly anymore by this point as she literally has ignored the possibility that someone might be looking at them. "But I still love you…"Their touchy reunion was ended as Eri walked into them, forcing them to part away. Maki barely had enough time to attempt to wipe her tears but wasn't able to fool the blonde nor Nozomi who was walking in their direction. "So, that's the truth you were hiding from us…"The red-head scoffed and avoided eye contact. "And what? Report me if you want. I don't care anymore.""Who said we will report you?" The purple-haired girl replied. "We did saw that we will accept you no matter who you are, didn't we?""And then what?"Eri smiled. "We can cover you, but we have to bring the pirates at the capital of Uranohoshi. Remember, we still have another mission. I understand that you might want to save Honoka…but now is not the time. We can't still rebel yet." She turned to the pirate while dropping her smile. "I do apologize! I know that you are a good person, but our mission have to go first for now. I so wished we've meet under other circumstances." She walked in Honoka's direction. Maki moved in between them. "Maki…"The two admirals glared at each others for a couple of second before the red-head let go of a sigh and moved away, allowing the blonde to walk in front of the pirate leader. Honoka was smiling by this point. She had not regret but the fact of leaving all her friends behind. Maki, not wanting to see what was to happen next turned on her heels and started walking away from the burning ship. "Let's go, Nozomi!"Now that the two were gone, leaving Eri and Honoka alone, the blonde bowed her head. "As to make honor to your titles, I will allow you to sink with your ship like any proper Captain did before."The ginger just had a sad smile as she walked away from the rail and walked in the direction of the Commander's cabin. She however stopped in front of the door. "I don't really care about these things anymore… All the matter is that I've accomplished my target and that's all…"Eri had a look at the younger girl's back for a couple of second before walking in her direction. She placed a hand on the pirate's shoulder, making Honoka turn into her direction. Silence followed as a pair of baby blue eyes met with icy blue ones. The blonde opened her mouth and spoke something to the pirate Captain.[-x-x-x-]"Are you done?" Nozomi asked as Eri walked back on the ship where her sister and Maki were. The Otonokizaka ship was halfway sinking at that point and they turned to see the remaining of what was once the most dangerous thing that floated on the seven seas disappears in the abyss of the Pacific Ocean. "What about these who escaped?""It can't be helped!" The blonde sighed. "We couldn't track them anymore." She then turned to their red-head friend.Maki rolled her eyes in response. "Let us focus on the prisoners we have right now." She started walking away and was soon followed by the siblings. They arrived at the dock of one of the ship and had a look at their prisoners. Rin and Umi were unconscious alongside the normal crew. Only Erena was still conscious. "Well… It looks like Miss has changed her playground from Militia to Pirate."The dark-red-haired girl gritted her teeth. "You imperial dogs!" She was soon silence by a smack from one of the women in the Navy crew. "Always attacking the weak…" She saw the three Admirals giving orders around and not long after, the ships started to move in the North-East. At that time, only one thought was running on Erena's mind. "Sis… everyone… please be safe!"[-x-x-x-]The survivors of µ's were now on a remote island as the sun was settling at the horizon. The members were in panic. "Where is the captain? What is going to happen to us now?"Niko was having a hard time trying to take the control. She most of the time let Honoka rearrange and calm the crew so it was hard for her to do so. "Please calm down, everyone! I am sure Honoka is fine! Remember, she is the bringer of miracle, right?"Hanayo who was still sobbing since their arriving was still being comforted by both Kotori and Anju. The two older girls might not let it appear but they were mentally in panic at that point. "Umi… I miss you… Please be safe, my only and beloved sister.""Rin… Erena…" The ginger too was restless as she tried to play with her fingers to distract herself. When she turned to their wounded allies though, she couldn't help but to feel even more restless. "Tsubasa too has fallen in the coma due to the damage she received. What is going to happen to us?"True enough, the brunette was still unconscious and lying on a bed made of coconut leaves. The remaining crew of Otonokizaka has decided to build a temporary base made of the wood and leaves they could find in the surrounding of the beach. It wasn't that large, but it was enough to allow them all to fit in.Niko however was standing outside, her thought away. She was really worried about Umi and Honoka, but she had to at least try to focus on the actual situation since she was the one they trusted the most. "Hey you over here; take two other girls and light a fire!" She ordered one girl who was passing them. She then turned to another group of girl. "The three of you; follow me! We are going to hunt for now." She finally then turned to the last group. "The rest will take turn fishing and looking after the still unconscious units.""Yes ma'am!" At least, the girls still respected her.The ravenette looked at the sky one last time before turning toward the dense forest behind them. "Honoka… Umi… Rin… Erena… Please be safe!"[-x-x-x-]"Terrible! This is terrible!" Kotori ran into the temporal hideout of the µ's. She was out of breath from running and everyone who saw her walked in her direction."What is wrong, Kotori?" Tsubasa asked. The brunette managed to return into her sense the night prior and was feeling better now that it was morning.The ash-haired girl rested her hands on her knee an instant as to catch her breath before taking a newspaper from her bag. Her unit was supposed to be taking supply at the nearest town, but the blonde has decided to go back as she saw the news. "Please read this!"Everyone's eyes widened at what were written on the first page. "You must be kidding, right?" Niko almost shouted."But it is too soon… How could they?" Hanayo continued.What were written were: Three sub-officers of the Otonokizaka pirate, namely Umi, Erena and Rin were captured and will be executed today at noon at the capital of the port town of Uranohoshi. The Otonokizaka ship's Captain, namely Honoka confirmed dead by the Admiral Eri."This is a lie, right?"They didn't wait another second before gathering everyone who could still fight and weapons before boarding two of the ships. Just as they were about to sail to the port town of Uranohoshi, another girl from the intelligence department walked into them. "Bad news, Commander Niko!" The girl took was breathing heavily as they have just returned with the third boat. "Our spy has reported that the three Admirals Eri, Nozomi and Maki were sent on a mission to assassinate and capture the members of the resistance force, namely Aqours."Niko gritted her teeth. "We're in deep trouble!" She then raised her arm. "Everyone, we have to move as fast as possible!"Everyone aboard the two boats nodded. "Yes ma'am!"Only Niko, Anju and Kotori were going on the mission, leading few other girls since Tsubasa was still unable to move well due to her wounds. Hanayo was still mentally unstable so they decided to let her look after the others on the island.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
People were gathered at the marketplace at the busy port town of Uranohoshi. Soldiers from the Navy as well and civilians were waiting to see the execution of few members of the former µ's pirates. They all wanted to see the fall of the once most feared pirate in person.Several figures walked in direction of said place, getting out of the local prison. Few guards armed with spears and axes were pushing three chained girls toward their execution place. Rin, Umi and Erena were in very bad shape. The ginger was having a hard time walking and occasionally fell on the ground before being dragged up again and pushed around. The former second in command on the other hand was doing her best to walk when standing straight, staying prideful as her usual self. A bandage was wrapped on her head and covering her now missing eye. She still remained calm despite the fact they were going to die soon. The last girl of the trio was still struggling to get free but in vain as one of the guards knocked her before dragging her again by the hair until they arrived at the middle of the marketplace."Kill the pirates!""Death to the thieves!""Execute these who resist the government!"Yells could be heard coming from the crowd of people. Few of them even started throwing tomatoes, eggs, rock and even bottle. That angered the girl with dark red hair but she was once again held down before she could have attempted anything. Rin on the other hand had dull looks in her eyes. She was through hell the past hours between the tortures method they had to endure. Out of the trio, the younger one was the one who got the most affected by the turn of event.The three Admirals who now got the honor and title of being the ones to bring the µ's down were standing near the fountains. Maki and Eri were folding their arms while the last of member was folding cards. The sun was high in the sky and three crosses were standing beside the three Admirals. The former pirates were soon brought to them and attached to the crosses. With their wrist, ankle, waist and neck tied, the trio couldn't resist anymore."So… this is the end…" Erena gritted her teeth. She however didn't want to look weak at these times. She remembered the day when they discovered their parents dead, killed by pirates. A powerful anger built itself inside of her and she used that anger to become her source of strength. When she started the Militia alongside Tsubasa and Anju, the red-head has fought dozens of pirates but no matter how much she defeated, her anger never faded away. "In the end, I never managed to find peace…"The ginger-haired girl's dull yellow eyes were looking down. Her mind was blank at that point. Umi noticed that and attempted to call for her. "Rin…" The younger girl slightly turned her head to look at her childhood friend. The bluenette forced a smile. "It will be all right! It will not hurt for long. Soon enough, we will meet our Mothers and start everything anew."The younger girl just weakly nodded. Umi looked down at her own words. She didn't even convince herself, but she had to at least look proud so that she will not have any regret when meeting their Mothers. She however couldn't help but to worry about her sister and her other friends."Umi…" The bluenette turned to Erena who was looking at her. "Do you really think that Honoka is dead? She is going to make another miracle and will save the others, right?" There was no response as the one-eyed girl just watched blankly at her. "There is no way our Captain would be dead right? We've been through so much hell until now. There is no way our adventure will end this miserably.""Shut up, pirate!" One of the women wearing the Navy's outfit used her whip to attack Erena. Said girl screamed it pain from the impact and glared dagger at the woman, only earning another whip. Just as the Navy officer was about to swing her weapon one more time, someone grabbed her wrist and she turned to see that Eri has stopped her. "Admiral?"The blonde let go of her wrist. "It is time!"The other soldiers saluted and all walked to the front to contain the crowd just in case. Nozomi and Maki walked to where the blonde was. "So, there we are…" The shortest of the trio had a sad look on her face. "I have the feeling the one who lost are us…"She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked down. "There are times for everything." Her sister said. "Right now, we still have to do this, but someday, we shall avenge everyone who died during this madness."Maki however just remained silent. She turned on her heel and started walking away. "I've got enough! I'll leave the rest to you." To be honest, she didn't feel like watching her childhood friends die there, but she was a soldier and the best she could do was to at least turn her eyes away. "Honoka…" She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beat slower and her vision started to blur, signaling that she was about to cry soon. The red-head started to run when no one was paying attention to her and only stopped in a dark, empty alleyway. She backed the wall and fell in a crawling position, not able to contain her tears anymore. "I'm an idiot! I'm really an idiot!"Back at the marketplace, the blonde Admiral was readying her sword. She was the one assigned to take care of the execution. She felt a heavy feeling but suppressed them. "Reasons go before feelings." She slowly walked closer to the three crosses and had a better look on the mortified look on Erena and Rin's face. Umi was still trying to keep stoic. "For the crime that will be listed next, you were deemed guilty and will be sentenced to death; high-rank thievery, spying on ultra-secret governmental domain, sabotage of Imperial weapons, kidnapping of prisoners and rebellion against the league of queen. I, Admiral Eri shall be your executer in that case. Do you have any last word?"There was no response. Eri nodded and walked even closer. She swung her sword behind and just as she was about to hit, an explosion occurred on a building nearby. The Admiral paused dead in her track as she saw the building containing military supply and weapon burning.Another explosion happened and then another one coming from the prison and the Navy officers readied their weapon. The crowd on the other hand was starting to go in panic. The soldiers assigned to rearrange them had difficulty doing so. Maki ran toward the two other Admirals as soon as she hear the explosion, her eyes still slightly wet but neither Eri nor Nozomi wanted to ask.As the crowd of people cleared, two figures could be seen walking in the direction of the execution's place. The Navy soldiers, Nozomi and even the red-head were shocked from the two newcomers who walked in their direction fearlessly. Eri however gritted her teeth. "That idiot! I gave her a chance to live and she threw it away like this.""They must be kidding us…" One of the soldiers freaked out.Coming in their direction was a pair of ginger-haired girls, the one being in her 19s and the second one barely 17 according to her appearance. The taller of the two stopped several feet from the Admirals, allowing the three prisoners to have a look at her. Umi's and Rin's eyes widened. "I-it can't be…""Honoka!" The orange-haired bind girl called out.Honoka had a couple of bandage on her body and was holding her favorite katana with one hand. Standing beside her was no one else but the leader of the Aqours resistance for Chika. "Worry not! We will save the three of you!""We?" Nozomi questioned.The resistance leader grinned. "Aqours and µ's of course!"Several more explosions occurred and not long after, the marketplace was surrounded by pirates and rebels. Niko and Anju, alongside Kanan, Yoshiko and You walked beside the two leaders. "I have to admit I didn't expect you to show up that soon, sis." The raven-haired girl placed a hand on her sibling's shoulder. "You don't know how much you made us worry.""Well, sorry about that." Honoka chuckled and stuck her tongue out in a childish manner. "It's just that things happened you see.""B-but how…?" Maki's eyes were still widening from the surprising events. "We saw you sink with the Otonokizaka."The ginger turned to the Admirals, a smile on her face. "Eri… I owe you one… But I have to save my friends. µ's is not µ's when we are not together. We already lost too many people during the confrontation."[-x-x-x-]"What? You are going to help us? But why?" Honoka asked after she heard the blonde Admiral's proposition."I am Maki's friend and I know that you are someone special to her. I might not be able to do much, but I will fake your death and allow you to escape." Eri replied.
There was a brief moment of silence until the ginger spoke again. "And what about Umi, Rin and Erena?"
"You have to forget about them. The eyewitness saw them being captured so there is nothing in my power to spare them, let alone let them escape."
Honoka gritted her teeth. "I will save them!"
The blonde pushed Honoka against the door and kicked it open, letting them inside the cabin, out of the Navy's view. "Do not do anything reckless! We were sent on a mission to defeat Aqours and were assigned with the Navy's elite. Your chance of winning is near zero percent. On top of that, you don't even know where your other friends are."
"And then what?" The ginger pushed Eri back. "What if things are hard? What if the world is against me? Shall I give up just because probabilities are not favorable?" The captain stood straight. "I once made a promise! I promised Maki that we will leave this life of piracy behind once we bring this rotten government down."
The Admiral still had a stoic look on her face. "And what now? Do you still plan on granting that wish of yours?"
"Yes!" Honoka replied without a second of hesitation."Why are you so loyal toward Maki? I was wondering?"
The ginger just smiled. "There are things that only she and I know."
Eri sighed. She threw the bag she was holding at the shorter girl. Honoka opened it to see the Navy's uniform alongside a wig, headband and massive nerdy glasses. "Wear these and jump from the rear window right before your ship sink. I will try to distract everyone long enough so you could infiltrate our ship. I do trust you are not planning to do anything reckless though."
And with that, the blonde left the room, closing the door behind her. Second later, several explosions happened on the Otonokizaka. Honoka concluded it was Eri making sure that the crew is thinking she has killed the pirate leader. The ginger has decided to trust the Admiral and wore the uniform, wig and glasses. She then walked deeper into the sinking ship. After taking her shoes off, the ginger ran barefoot on the knee-length salty water filling the halls of the undership. Minutes later, she found a window and kicked it before jumping out of it, only hoping that the Navy ship wasn't too far yet.
Just as promised, no one was on lookout and the ginger took the opportunity to swim in the direction of the first ship. She somehow managed to jump inside one of the windows and found herself in a hallway. After taking her breath for a second, she decided to walk around and find a way to dry her clothes and find a shoe on her way.
"You over there!" Honoka froze at the unfamiliar voice. She turned around to see a woman wearing the Navy outfit walking in her direction. She eyed the pirate for an instant before talking again. "Your clothes are all soaked down… Did you fall on the water during the fight? Also, you must have lost your shoes in the water." The woman started to walk again. "Follow me; I will get you new outfits.""Y-yes, ma'am!"
Honoka was fortunate enough her identity was never found out. She however didn't want to risk it all and avoided the three admirals as possible. As the day arrived and the ships stopped at the port town of Uranohoshi though, the ginger took the opportunity to get away and find the Aqours members as to let them know about the situation. Honoka herself knew their leader Chika personally since she's saved the younger's life once during a join mission they had. That was back when liberating island 23 but the other ginger has started respecting her since that day. She hoped they will give her a hand.
[-x-x-x-]"But I have to admit it was a shock seeing you all already gathered at Aqours' headquarters." Honoka commented.Niko just scoffed. "We went as soon as we could to the main continent when we heard about the execution. Fortunately, they still remembered us and led us to their base without that much of questions. The surprise was all ours when we saw you walking into the HQ wearing a Navy uniform."The ginger felt a hand placed on her shoulder and turned to see Hanayo smiling at her. "Let us do our best, Honoka!" She has joined the party as well. Right after Niko and Kotori has departed from the remote island, the other brunette Tsubasa has begged her to allow her to go save Erena and stop Anju from doing anything reckless. The chubby girl too was worried about her sister and Umi and so they gathered the remaining girls and sailed toward the mainland. They only arrived at the Aqours headquarters right after Honoka has arrived. "We have to save them! And we have to save Maki as well.""Save me?" The red-head overheard their conversation."Yes!" Honoka looked straight at the Admiral. "I am here to take you with us as well, Maki. I don't care if you are soldier or anything like that. I do not care if we will have to bring you by force, but we will make you join our rebellion.""Are you idiot or what?" Eri yelled at her. "Now is not the proper time yet! We still have to get a political support before we can make any move. The rebellion will just end catastrophically at this rate."Thinking that she had enough, Chika finally decided to speak again. "Admiral Eri, I suppose… I've heard a lot about your sister and you. You are nice people." She took one step forward. "But what you don't know is that this SS-ranked mission is a total fake. The objective of this mission is to get the three of you out of the equation.""What are you talking about?" Maki asked back. "Please explain yourself."The rebel's second in command was the one to reply. "What we mean is that our spies have reported they found additional information. After sending you on this mission, the head Admiral Ayase has called the secret police organization to keep an eye after you and assassinate Eri, Maki and Nozomi once they are done defeating Aqours."Nozomi's eyes widened. "Mothers would…?"Eri looked down. That was something she knew her Mother was capable of. If these were orders coming from the superiors, there are near hundred percent of chance she would assassinate her own daughters. "I get it!" She eyed at a shadowy figure behind her and swung her sword so slash a woman who was about to stab her. "Staying in the Navy will only bring more grief to us." The blonde took her coat away. "I'm quitting it!"Nozomi smiled at her sister's words and took her coat as well. "I'm quitting as well!"Maki took a moment to think. If she joined the rebels now, she will feel the heavy guilt caused by the massive number of lives she has taken during that mission. "Maki…" The red-head lifted her head to see a bright smile on Honoka's face. It was the kind of smile that the ginger used to comfort her whenever she didn't have enough confidence or was in doubt. Honoka offered a hand as she walked in the red-head's direction. "Come with us… Come with me…"The remaining soldiers tightened the grip of their weapons as the pirate got closer. Maki looked down, her bangs hiding her eyes. She started to laugh when her body started to shake as well. "You're a weird one!" She then threw her coat away and ran at the ginger, taking her in a hug. She rested her head on the older girl's shoulder as her tears slowly fell on her cheeks. "But I still love you!"Honoka soon relaxed and started to pat her head while drawing circles on Maki's back. "Yeah! I know!" She slightly adjusted their position so their forehead was touching. "I love you too!"After seeing the scene, the remaining soldiers dropped their weapons. Eri eyed at the shadow to see several figures—presumably the secret police—walking away but didn't do anything to stop them. Hanayo, Anju and Kotori quickly ran to where the three bind girls were and made quickly work of untying them with the help of few other rebels. The girl with long orange hair took Rin in a hug as soon as the girl was freed. "I was so worried about you! I thought I was going to loose you as well. Thank Goddesses you are alive!""Anju…" The petite girl sobbed into the girl's chest. "Rin was scared… I don't want to get away from Kayo, Honoka, Niko, Umi, Kotori, Erena, Tsubasa and Anju. I want everyone to be able to see the end together."Umi smiled at these words. Her sister was inspecting her eye meantime. "It doesn't look that terrible but we need to apply few medicines first."Niko walked in their direction and stopped in front of the bluenette. Umi stood up and they looked at each others. "About the other day…" The short girl started awkwardly while avoiding direct eye contact. "I really meant these words…"The bluenette just smiled. "I know."Hanayo helped her sister and Anju get up. Rin's left leg was severely wound and she had difficulty standing so the taller ginger lifted her in bridal style. Tsubasa helped Erena by placing the later's arm on her shoulder. "Can you still walk?""Yes!" There was a brief moment of silence until the red-head spoke again. "Thank you for coming into our rescue.""Do not let it bother you. It was nothing."[-x-x-x-]"So, this is our plan?" Eri asked as she had a look at the map.The members of Aqours, µ's and few former Navy members were now inside the building used as the former's headquarters."Yes!" Chika replied. "First off, we have to make quick work to liberate Uranohoshi. Once we will have the control of this town, the remaining threat would be the queen herself.""I will assure the fund and support with the weapons." Mari commented."And after we liberate this country, we will get the support of several other rebel groups such as Saint Snow, Nagarekawa Girls, NO NAME and Negitoro who are all still struggling on their own out there." Riko concluded."So, in other words, this battle we are about to face will decide the future of the whole continent?" Maki pointed out as she placed her elbows on the table."That's right!" Niko nodded. "They will put every force they have to guard the royal palace. We might face lot of fight and difficulties but we shall not loose now. If we loose now, our efforts will be in vain."A crimson-haired girl ran into the room alongside a girl with purple hair attached in pigtails and another one with equally purple hair but attached in a sidetail. "Ruby brought the leader of Saint Snow as promised."The taller of the two smiled. "It will be a pleasure for us to give the political support you asked for. Our spies are already working to find proofs to convince the younger leaders that they are being used by their advisors. We will also take care of the paperwork so you don't have to worry about anything."Eri had a sad smile on her face. "And I was stupid enough to think that they didn't have enough support… But well, I am glad we joined force with them. Now, we have to win…for the sake of the future generation."[-x-x-x-]"Maki…"The red-head turned to see her lover walking in her direction and smiled. "Hi, Honoka!"The two of them were inside the building where their operation briefing was held. Right at that time when everyone was busy running around and enjoying the night before the fight, the two girls decided to walk at the veranda. Honoka placed her elbows on the rails as she took a glance at the stars. "It's nostalgic, isn't it?" The red-head turned to her. "I remember when we used to sleep under the starry night when we were still childrens."Maki smiled at the memory. "Yeah! I remember that you would sneak at the kitchen and bring lot of bread and tomato for us to have a picnic and then we will be too tired the evening to walk our way back. In the end, we always ended up camping…just the two of us." The red-head turned to the starry sky as well.The ginger's hand moved until holding Maki's hand and she leaned against the taller girl while closing her eyes. "I am glad we are together!" She rested her head on her lover's shoulder. "Maki… Please promise me that you won't do anything reckless tomorrow. Together, we will see the end of this and will be living the life the two of us always dreamt about.""That's supposed to be my line!" They giggled soon after Maki said that.At the other side of the base, Anju was pealing an apple for her newlymade lover. Rin was lying on a bed and was happily smiling to the older girl who was humming a tune when pealing the apple. "Rin really like that song you are singing? What is its title?""Its title?" The taller girl tilted her head. "I never though about giving them a title before so I'll let you decide."Rin placed a hand on her chin and thought an instant before deciding. "How about 'Oh, love and peace'?""Oh, love and peace?" Anju smiled. "I like that." She was now done with pealing the apple and started feeding the younger girl. Said girl happily ate them and made delighted face every time she took a bite.After the apple was fully ate, the two remained silent for a while until the shorter of the two was the one to talk first. "I'm sorry for not being able to fight alongside you.""Do not worry about it! Just focus about healing as fast as possible." Anju just replied. "In exchange, I promise to live through this battle so the two of us could be together for the rest of our life."The younger girl looked down. "But even though… Rin won't ever be able to walk ever again…" What she said wasn't a lie. During her time as a prisoner, she has already had a severe wound on her left leg and it was only made worse by the Navy crew manhandling them. When the doctor examined her, she concluded that the muscles from her legs were severely damaged, few of her bones having broken meaning she might always need to be chaired or bedridden. She was fortunate enough they didn't have to amputee her. Rin at least was thankful she still had her two legs even though they were useless now."I won't worry about that!" Anju grabbed her hands. "I told you I love you for who you are, right? Then, my opinion will never change. I've loved, I love and I will always love you! You heard?""Anju…" Rin finally smiled at these words. "Right! I will go my best as well so you will be warmly welcomed when victory is ours."Nozomi had a sad smile on her face as she was standing by the door. She felt guilty for not caring more about the cat-girl but it was like her sister said; "Regretting will not help us to the least. We have to do our best as to earn their forgiveness.""Nozomi?" Said purplenette turned to see Umi and Niko walking in her direction. The two of them were holding hands but quickly separated as they walked beside Nozomi. "What are you doing here all alone?""Nothing! Just looking for some spiritual power." She then started walking away. "Good night, the two of you!"Niko and her girlfriend watched her as she walked away, then at each others. The bluenette had now an eyepatch on her right eye. She however didn't let the fact of being one-eyed stop her from being who she was. "How about we have some rest in that case? We have a long day tomorrow."[-x-x-x-]Another explosion made the earth shake. The rebels were invading the royal palace at the capital of Uranohoshi. The battle was like nothing they ever saw before. With the rebels composed of µ's and Aqours against the royal and imperial units, it was the bloodiest war their land has ever seen.The girls were instructed that they had no other choice but to kill during the operation. "An enemy who is still breathing can still be a threat. I know that you all have your principle, but please understand that this is for the sake of the whole future." Eri has said in her speech before everyone left the base. "Please make an exception just for this one time. We promise that this will be the last Genocide ever taking place in our beloved land."Agreeing with the fact, yet still with heavy hearts, the girls have attacked the palace without putting any restriction. Blood was split, flew was cut, bones were burnt and lives were stolen.They decided to separate in several groups inside with Nozomi, Eri, Kanan and Mari going to the first hallway. They didn't have the opportunity to explore long though as two figures started walking in their direction. "I am really disappointed by you, my daughters." Ayase sighed."Mothers!" Nozomi closed her eyes. "We do apologize but our hears has decided. We have to do what is beneficing the country. It sure breaks my heart to fight the two of you but we can't back down anymore. We have to end this madness once for all."Toujou took a deep breath. "I see… We will not hold back in that case. "She then smiled. "We might not have been the example of perfect parents, but we still want you to know that we are proud of the two of you. Eri…Nozomi…you've grown into such dependable ladies."The blonde ex-Admiral wiped a tear from her face before grabbing her sword. "Mothers… I will give it my all!"Nozomi too grabbed her knives just like Mari while Kanan swung a hand axe. Their opponent equipped a long barrel gun and dual short guns respectively. They didn't wait long before charging at each others, giving their all into the battle that was about to decide the future of the whole world.The second group composed of Niko, Umi, Kotori and Yoshiko went to the east and was up against the secret police elite. They all grabbed their weapons and engaged into a fierce battle. The elites were very fast and specialized in light weapons such as claws, knives and short guns. It was difficult for either the bluenette or her girlfriend to hit them with their bullets.The ash-haired girl and the former Navy officer too were slightly finding it hard to follow up with the enemies' speed. "They are too fast!" Yoshiko cursed as she grabbed the minigun attached at her back, aimed it at a random direction and emptied several magazines on the enemies, hitting half of them.Fortunately for them, Tsubasa, Erena and Riko came as reinforcement, armed respectively with a saber, an axe and a pair of short gun.Honoka and Maki have formed the last group to lead frontal assault. They were to face against the one pulling the string behind all these madness. They ran the empty and half-ravaged hallways then walked stairs leading up. "Maki… I want you to know that no matter what will happen, I was glad I fell in love with you.""What are you saying out of sudden, you idiot? We went through hell together. Now is not the time to be goofing around."The ginger smiled at these words. "You're right; I suppose! We have no other choice but to win." Not long after, the couple arrived in front of a large door. The one behind the corruption of their continent was waiting for them behind that door. "Once this will be over, together, the two of us alone will…"The two pushed the door open to then find themselves in a heavenly garden. The neon green grasses, the beautiful blooming flowers and transparent water made it look as if that place was cut from the rest of the world. As Honoka and Maki walked deeper into the room, the door was closed behind them. Both girls grabbed their weapons before processing further."Welcome!" A familiar voice could be heard and the two young girls walked further into the garden until arriving into a terrace-like spot. A round table was placed at the middle of it and four chairs were around it. Two figures clad in sleeveless white summer dress and white cloth hats hiding their face were sitting on two of the chairs, facing each others. The women who looked to be in their 30s were calmly drinking tea while the younger girls walked in their direction, weapon in hand. "Why don't you have a tea with us?" One of the two women proposed, their face still out of their vision."So, you're behind this madness? You're the ones who caused corruption into our continent?" The red-head pointed her spear at the first figure."Calm down, dear. Why don't we calmly talk this out like educated people?" The second woman proposed once again.Just as Maki was about to counter another word, Honoka interrupted her by placing a hand on her love's shoulder. Sighing, the red-head placed her spear against the rail and took seat from across Honoka's. The taller of the two women served them teacup and the ginger thanked her. When Honoka just drank it without any doubt, her lover couldn't help but to feel suspicious. "It's not poisoned." The taller woman said as she saw Maki.The first woman placed her cup back on the tea set and turned to Honoka who was done drinking hers too. "So, what do you think?""It was delicious!""You can have as much as you want."Maki felt something wrong was going on. The fact that these people were nice to them was one thing but what she really found the weirdest was about their voice. She had the feeling she knew them and had a little idea about who they might be…but yet her logic would fail her since the candidate was…"So, mind to tell us what you really want?" The red-head took a sip of the tea before placing it back on the table. "You didn't just want us to drink tea so you can corrupt our minds, right?""You are as perspective as always dear young Maki." The shorter of the two women smiled, her eyes and hair still hidden by the shadow of the hat. "But maybe you never expected this." She reached for her hat. Honoka and Maki gulped. They were about to see the face of the people who were causing this much pain for their folk. As the hat was off, allowing the woman's waist-length ginger hair to fall on her back though, the two teenagers' voice was caught in their throat. "Surprised?""H-how…?" Honoka's eyes got wide. What she saw in front of her was an adult version of herself. She then turned to the other woman who took her hat and revealed what she feared. "B-but what are you people?"The woman with waist-length crimson red hair and amethyst eyes smiled. "Isn't it obvious? I am Maki, daughter of Nishikino and the woman over here is my beloved wife Honoka, daughter of Kousaka and Yazawa."Maki's cup fell from her fingers and right into the floor. She then felt anger building inside of her and gritted her teeth. "How in bloody hell do you except us to believe such imposters as you? Beside, if you were really us, why would you have attempted endlessly to kill us?"The adult Honoka giggled as a response. "You are still naïve, Maki dear! You see, things are not always as easy as they seem. Sometimes, you are running after something you thought was lost when it was right behind you. Sometimes, you are too busy watching the sky that you forget to watch what is under your feet.""Quit being so philosophical! Tell us what you want already!"Adult Maki let go of a sigh before turning to her wife. "Was I really that annoying back then?"The response came into a smile. "Well, Maki is Maki and I love Maki no matter how you act as long as you love me back."The younger ging/per was feeling her brain was in overheat by this point as she clutched her head, trying to find a response to all her question. She ultimately ended up voicing her thoughts. "If you are really us, then how come are you here right now and how come are you the evil ones? Sure, we are not angels ourselves but yet…"The adult red-head chuckled at that question. "Honoka… Have you already heard about the seven seas' treasure? That is an item that can grant its owner the ability to control time and space. After sailing for years, the two of us found such item and used it to turn back to this era as to change the history.""But why?"The one to continue was the shorted woman. "You see… Well… I will start by the conclusion; this world is hopeless. It is rotten to the core, just like the soul of the people who live on it. Every one of them only cares about their own self and how to ascend into a higher condition of life. Some people just are stronger when the others are weak. You see, we've been already through the same things as you did, but instead of adult version of us as final boss got the people we trusted the most.""Our Mothers!" The adult Maki continued. "Can you believe that the woman in who you believed and loved the most has faked their death, leaving you alone behind and then meet them again in the middle of a battle that will decide the fate of the world? Useless to say that we learned their soul was corrupted. It pained us more than anything to be the one taking their lives away.""Can you at least understand how betrayed we felt? Our Mothers, our friends, everyone…they all turned us down the day after. We had to flee away since our heads were the most wanted bounty in the world."Honoka looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "I can't understand…" The three others turned to her. "I can't understand how you feel since I regret nothing! From the day I decided to fall in love with Maki, when I built µ's alongside our friends, when we had to fight each other…until now when we are talking to our future self. I vowed to never regret anything anymore. And that's why, no matter what will happen once this battle is over, I will take Maki away and we will live together, the two of us, and only us. We will never do such low thing as to regret or wish to get our revenge or even let greed getting the better of us."Maki smiled at these words. She reached her hands forward and intertwined their fingers. "As long as I will have Honoka, I won't need anything else…I won't fear anything…I won't ever cry again."There was a brief moment of silence until the two women looked at each other, baby blue eyes meeting with violet ones. "Maki…""Yeah! I know."The adult Honoka let go of a sigh before patting both girl's shoulder. "You are different than us. We might be the same person, but we are different. Who knows? Maybe you will be able to overcome what we never dared to do." She then stood up and so did her wife the two women both grabbed a weapon and Honoka and Maki readied their arm as a reflex. "That's why, we will not hold back in this battle.""If you win, we will let you decide of your own fates! If you loose though…""We won't loose!" Maki interrupted the older red-head. "We won't loose! I am sure of it!"The adult Maki smiled at these words. "Let us begin the end!"[-x-x-x-]"Eri… Nozomi…" Ayase who was covered in blood and breathing heavily used the last of her strength to say her farewell. The two sisters were kneeling beside her, tears already forming in their eyes. Toujou's cold body was already lying at the other side of the hallways. Mari and Kanan on the other hand have already left few minutes prior since Chika has asked for assistance. "The two of you have grown so fast…" She reached her hands for both girls. The siblings grabbed their Mother's hand and held them close. "I was a foolish Mother! Because of my stubbornness, I have dragged my wife and daughters into such mess. I've never had the chance to meet my own Mother since she died few hours after I was born so I didn't know how one was supposed to take care of her daughter. I realize now that I made the worst mistake possible." She coughed several times and blooded escaped from her mouth. "I know that it is too late but…would you please forgive your foolish Mother?""Mother…" Nozomi hugged the woman. "Please do not leave us! We can still start things anew. There are still chances for us to live together as a family. Please don't die!""Nozomi…" Ayase patted the purplenette's head. "I'm sorry… I am sure that someday, you will become someone so reliable that everyone will look at you for advice. I am sure that they will all love you and unlike me, you will end your days surrounded by people who you love and love you back, without anything you regret.""Mother…" Eri tightened her grip on the woman's hand, tears running on her cheeks."Eri… You are an adult now! I am sure that you will do better than me in everything you do. I am sure that you will lead our country into a better era free of corruption." The woman moved her hand to wipe her tears away. "You can cry for now my daughters! Feel free to cry with the foolish woman who gave birth to you." Ayase started to sob as well when tears formed in her eyes. "After all, starting tomorrow, I won't be there anymore and the two of you will be adults. I am believing in you, my daughters. Your Mother loves you!""Mother…"[-x-x-x-]
Background music: piece of youth (by ChouCho)
"Is everyone here?" Tsubasa checked."Only Honoka and Maki are left.""These two, hun?" The brunette turned to the castle that was now in ruin. The battle has ended with them as winners. "I bet they are being lovey-dovey somewhere."Niko just chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about them if I was you."Umi nodded as well. "I am sure that they are already aboard a ship that will be leading them somewhere behind the horizon, just the two of them.""You really think so?" Rin, who was on a wheeled chair smiled. "Rin can't help but to worry about them nya. Honoka always causes trouble and Maki is rarely honest about her feelings."Anju chuckled. "What are you talking about, darling? These two will be fine!"Hanayo smiled as she started walking toward the nearest restaurant. "I don't know about you girls, but I feel like eating 15 bowls of rice."Tsubasa ran after the other brunette. "I am hungry as well so might join you.""Hey, wait for me!" Erena followed them.Nozomi chuckled. "I have the feeling something spiritual is about to happen? Care to join us, Eri chi?""Yes! Let us have a bowl or two."Kotori giggled as well. "I guess I will take cheesecake in that case.""Eeee…" Chika ran after everyone. "We need Mikan to celebrate this victory.""Chika! Wait for us!" You ran after their leader.Riko too was not far behind. "You two are hopeless!"Kanan massaged her temple. "And you are the one to talk…""Maa.. maa.." Mari started running after the younger girls. "We have to take it easy sometimes!" She however saw a flower in the middle of the ruin and paused one second to look at it "Oh, shinny!"Dia patted her back. "Aren't you happy now that we have the chance to start everything anew, Miss Mari?" The response came into a smile."Sis, let us race until the restaurant!" Ruby jumped near her sister. "Hanamaru should join us too!""That sound fun zura!"At the other side of the battlefield, the two leaders of Saint Snow were smiling at the scenery. "Ria… It looks like the toughest part of our job star here.""Yes, I know, Seira!" The younger sister turned to the blue sky and couldn't help but to smile. "Let's go have a bite as well, sis!"Already several kilometers away from the port aboard a small simple ship were a couple who was enjoying their "honeymoon" travel like how the ginger insisted that much. They have organized the ship so it had everything they needed since it was going to be their new house."Say ah!" Honoka said as she spoon-feeds her wife with her favorite dish: tomato. "Maki, I want to spend my life with you!""I know, Honoka!" Maki replied with a smile as she returned the service by feeding her wife with tomato back. "Nothing will ever separate us!"As the ship was floating on the endless sea, their new adventure has just begun as a couple. They will have to face lot of hardship, but the two were prepared. After all, they had to defeat their own fate. Nothing will ever stop them from loving each others.And as a proof of their undying love, they named their new home-ship…
SS HonoMaki
The end