Sorrow

Aoba is fighting against the Abyssal and didn't know the commotion that occurs at the backline. What in her mind right now is going back to Kimura's location as soon as possible. So, she leads her unit and another unit that lost their flagship at that battle.

They move in a formation and when they spot the enemy, Aoba shouts,

"Everyone prepare your torpedo now! The target is the enemy Light Cruiser! Do you copy that?"

Everyone shout to Aoba's order and after Aoba shows the signs they attack the enemy with their torpedoes. Aoba could see that a lot of enemy Light Cruiser sunk in front of her eyes. But, the number of Abyssal isn't decreasing.

Every time she sinks one, she could see the number of enemies increasing and they become more feral than before. Sometimes they could dodge the attack and that's make everything become harder for them.

Meanwhile, at her side, one by one of her sister-in-arms are sunk and their number is dwindling. They can't cope with enemy bombardment and it's a miracle that they could hold the enemy up. Aoba then shouts at Mutsu,

"Where is the Defensive unit? I believe that I hear they will help all of us."

"I don't know. They should be here several hours ago," answer Mutsu that also exhausted

Aoba only could look at the enemy once again and knows that if she fights Mutsu it will cause unnecessary casualty as they will lose their focus. Aoba then says,

"Uzuki, Yayoi. Both of you follow me! We will move to the right side of the formation now! We will help them."

"Yes." shouts both of them

The three of them start to move to the right side and Aoba thinks,

"I remember that Kinugasa's units are assigned at the right side of the formation... I need her help."

But when she arrived at the location, she didn't find anyone there. She looks around with Uzuki and Yayoi to find at least Kinugasa there. But, none of them find here. Aoba then feels the raindrop start to drop from the sky and then she says,

"Ah... The storm already starts..."

Meanwhile, Mutsu tried her best to find the enemy in the middle of the storm that makes finding the enemy with their bare eyes is difficult at night. She then starts her searchlight to find the enemy. But, she realized that by doing that the enemy could focus on her.

In the split second, Mutsu bombarded by the enemy salvo and torpedoes. Together with that, most of her equipment broke down. She lost her balance and immediately capsized. One Ship Girl near her help her and then shouts,

"The Flagship is down! Everyone retreat from this place now!"

Aoba receives the message and then looks at Uzuki and Yayoi. The situation there is really hectic and that make Aoba can't think straight a little bit, especially when she knows Kinugasa isn't around. She then says,

"Uzuki, Yayoi... Please retreat now. Aoba wants to find Kinugasa first before retreating."

"But, we don't want to go first..." says Uzuki

"Please, the situation here is really dangerous and it could kill both of you."

"No, we believe we could..."

Aoba suddenly snaps and shouts,

"Aoba says retreat now! This is Aoba's order to both of you as the flagship of this units! If both of you still here, both of you only will drag Aoba down!"

Uzuki and Yayoi really surprised with Aoba that suddenly shouts to them and start to crying. Aoba looks at her and could see Uzuki and Yayoi scared face and hear both of them crying. Aoba looks down for a while and then moves to both of them. She then hugs them and says,

"Uzuki... Yayoi... Mother really sorry to says that... Mother actually didn't want to shout to both of you... It just... Mother only thinks for both of your well-being..."

Uzuki and Yayoi look at Aoba and then nod to her. After a while, the three of them stay quiet and let the raindrops hit them mercilessly. After the two of them already calm, Aoba observes her surrounding and didn't see any enemy around her. She then looks at Uzuki and Yayoi and then says,

"Let's find Kinugasa together."

Uzuki and Yayoi nod to her and start to move. Aoba looks around her and thinks something really weird there. When the battle commences back then, the number of the enemy is enormous. But, suddenly all of them vanished into the thin air like no one there. She then mumbles,

"Most of Ship Girl already retreat and that leaves the three of us here... Aoba must find Kinugasa fast and retreat from this hell..."

"Mother... Isn't that Kinugasa?" ask Yayoi

Aoba looks at the direction pointed by Yayoi and she finds the Abyssal woman with a black dress. She could see Kinugasa lays on the hand of the monster behind her. She stops for a while and hears the woman says,

"Are you looking for her?"

Aoba didn't answer the question. She could see that Kinugasa skin really pale and motionless. She can't believe what she sees right now. Then, she hears again the woman says,

"I will ask you one more time... Are you looking for her?"

Aoba tried to calm herself until the woman smirks at her. From there Aoba knows what will she do, but before she could do anything, the woman says,

"If you aren't looking after her, then I will sink her now..."

The woman smiles and then orders the monster. Aoba only could see Kinugasa's motionless body being destroyed in front of her. Rage immediately filled her head and she starts to attack the woman mercilessly. Aoba shouts,

"Just sink, you bitch!"

Aoba shoots her remaining ammo towards her. But, every bullet she shoots none of them harm the woman. In exchange, the woman points her gun at her and says,

"You are a fool to attack me... Then, I will let you meet with her..."

She then attacks Aoba and hits her arms. Aoba holds her lost arms and writhes in agony. But, she immediately looks at the woman and shoots using his other arms. She doesn't care about the pain as long she sinks her. Not only shoots her shell, but she also uses her torpedo to attack her. She then shouts,

"Uzuki! Yayoi! Attack that wretched woman now!"

Uzuki and Yayoi nod and start to attack the woman. Just like before, none of them could hurt her. The woman looks at the three of them and little by little feeling a little bit agitated. She points her cannon at Aoba once more and shoots her. The attack hits Aoba's equipment and renders her powerless.

Aoba looks at the woman and shouts,

"I will kill you... I will kill you... I will kill you.."

"Mother... Let's retreat now..." says Uzuki

"I... I..."

"Please, let's retreat now..." says Yayoi with a scared face

Aoba looks at the two of them and then at the woman that laughing at her. She then nods and says,

"Let's go now... Both of you looks after my back now..."

"Ara... So you are running away? What a shame..." says the woman

Aoba didn't care about the remarks and start to retreat from the scene. Meanwhile, the other Abyssal are ready to attack her, but the Abyssal woman raises her hand and says,

"Just let them go..."

One of the Abyssal looks at her with a puzzled face and tried to ask her about that. But, the Abyssal woman laughs a little bit and says,

"Let them run away... After that, let's sink them... Isn't it better if we kill a running prey?"

The other Abyssal nod to her and then look at Aoba's unit that already retreating from the place. Meanwhile, Aoba looks behind her and says,

"They didn't pursue us... That's good..."

Uzuki and Yayoi didn't say anything as they tried to tow Aoba away from that place. After a long pause, Aoba then says,

"Ahahahahaha... Aoba can't believe this... In this battle, a lot of us are sunk because of the unknown enemy... And one of them is Kinugasa..."

Uzuki and Yayoi hear that and only look down as they didn't want to see Aoba face right now. Aoba then takes a deep breath and says,

"Aoba know it will be really lonely now..."

"No... Mother will not feel lonely when we still here," says Uzuki

"..."

"And... Father will not like it if Mother says something like that. Right, Yayoi?"

Aoba smiles at the two of them as they showed their strength there. Aoba then says,

"Then, let's go to Father place... Huh?"

Aoba immediately pulls Uzuki towards her and sees a shell comes near her. Aoba looks behind her with disbelief and says,

"Don't say that her range is this far... How in this world we could..."

"Mother, let's run now!" says Uzuki with a panicked face

"Yes..."

The three of them start to move and avoid the enemy attack towards them. But because of her injury, she moves really slowly. The moment Aoba sees the enemy attack pattern, she knows that the enemy mocks them because none of them hit her. She only could move with anger, until she hears,

"Aoba... Hello... Aoba!"

"Huh? Kimura? Wait... The communication with the Ship already clear?" says Aoba

"Yes. Rather than that, are you alright?"

"Not really... Aoba lost some of Aoba's arm and equipment. Right now, Uzuki and Yayoi tow Aoba to your place."

"I think you should go to another ship for that one..."

"Heh? Did you suddenly hate Aoba or something?"

"No, for the first treatment."

"Alright..."

"I remember that Viltus' ship is near your position now. You could go there..."

"Is that so? Alright! Aoba will go to Viltus' ship now!"

Aoba starts to move with Uzuki and Yayoi and then she remembers something. This type of communication line at Kimura's equipment can't reach this position regarding the radar as it's used by Kimura when they are in the middle of a sneaking mission. She looks at her and realizes that the enemy didn't attack them again. She then calls Kimura and says,

"Kimura! Where are you?"

"I am with the other Admiral... You don't need to worry," answer Kimura with an explosion voice at the back

"Don't lie to Aoba! Don't say that you are approaching the enemy..."

"I'm not..."

"System to the Admiral... Flood on the lower deck... Flood on the lower deck... Commence sealing on sector 3 and 4 of the ships."

"Kimura... Why did you go there?"

Uzuki and Yayoi quite puzzled to see Aoba that suddenly panicked about Kimura and try to approach Aoba. They could hear Aoba says,

"Kimura... Why did you there?"

"Mother... Did Father go here?" ask Yayoi

Uzuki and Yayoi didn't get the answer, but from Aoba's face, they know that Kimura is there. Kimura didn't answer Aoba's question until Kimura says,

"You know... When someone falls in love, they can't think clearly about what happened with the one that they love most..."

"Kimura..."

"Even I oppose some people and I think I hurt someone feeling when doing that." continues Kimura

"Kimura... Just go to our location now! Aoba believes we could do this together..."

"You already hear the damage report right?"

Aoba paused and looks at the horizon with a blank face. And then Kimura says,

"Wow... Is that the enemy that making such a ruckus here? What a beauty..."

"..."

"Aoba..."

"Aoba will go to your place."

"No..."

"Aoba will..."

"AOBA!" shouts Kimura

"..."

"You know... In the past one year, I think a lot of things... Like is it wrong for me to wait at the safe place while you will be killed in the front line? Is it wrong for me to bring someone to their grave?"

"No... You are not wrong..."

"It's wrong for me..."

"..."

"Because I think it is better if we fight together with our life depends on each other," says Kimura with a little laugh

Aoba can't say anything after hearing that answer from Kimura and can't think straight. Aoba then says,

"Then... Aoba wants you to back to us..."

"After I hold them, ok?"

"Please... Come back to us..."

"I already promised a lot of people to come back... You should know my answer."

"Kimura... Please..."

"I know... I'm sorry to break my promise, Aoba."

"Please... Kimura... Please..."

"And one more thing... I love you, Aoba. And I'm sorry."

Aoba can't say anything as Kimura cuts the communication because of the damage was done at the ship. Kimura looks at the window and says,

"Admiral to the system... You know I want to try this so many times. How about we hit that goddamn bitch so hard? She will feel pain, right?"

The ship starts to move towards the Abyssal Woman. The Abyssal woman looks at the ship and says,

"What a fool..."

She points the cannons at Kimura's ship. Right before the Abyssal woman shoots the ship, Kimura asks the system to call Uzuki and Yayoi. And after that, the explosion occurs. Meanwhile, Aoba could hear the explosion and starts to move towards the location. But, Uzuki and Yayoi hold her. She immediately shouts,

"Uzuki! Yayoi! Leave Aoba alone! Aoba wants to save him... Aoba wants to save him..."

But, none of them let her go. Aoba tried to break away, but Uzuki and Yayoi are much stronger because they are much fitter than her. Aoba tried to ask them, but Uzuki says,

"Father... Gives us order... To bring Mother away to safety."

"Eh..."

"It's not the only Mother who wants to save father... Uzuki wants to save him too..."

"Uzuki..."

Aoba could see Uzuki tried to hide her tears, and together with her Yayoi also tried her best. She looks at the horizon once more and starts to cry, and with that Uzuki and Yayoi start to cry too. After a while, Aoba looks around her again and mumbles,

"Who the one tell him about... Who the one knows about our... location..."

She then realizes who the one tell Kimura about that and now her sorrow change to anger. And with them approaching their destination, Aoba can't hide her anger anymore.