His head was hurting. A lot. He knew the reason, but somehow he just couldn't grasp it at the moment. His memories didn't really come to him even though he tried hard to remember.

So, time to start with the things around him. He was lying on something soft. A bed. So far so good. He opened his eyes. Grey ceiling. Grey walls. Small room.
Seemed familiar, but he couldn't really say where he was.

He felt his head. Apparently it was just a headache. Not caused by some sort of blunt trauma.
Moving his hand down over his eyes, he suddenly touches his jaw which made him wince. And with the pain in his jaw, all his memories came back.

Junko. The last days. The ship. The mission. Junko...
hmm. Where was she? She attacked him, but why? And where did she go?
As he suddenly realises what she has done, he jumps out of the bed.
Without losing time he rushed towards the hangar, his pulse racing.

He could feel the anger building up inside him.
What a stupid woman she was. He should have sent her home immediately.
But he let her stay and she broke her promise. She had been planning to do it all alone from the start. And there he was, enjoying his time while she carefully waited for the right moment to knock him out and leave him.
Stupid. So damn stupid.

He growled as he saw his Roc gone. Obviously, she had taken it. He turned around and ran over to the eagle they had been busy repairing over the last days. No time to check it again. It should fly.
It will fly.

It really was nice here. And he was thankful for being able to spend some time away from everything and rest.
But somehow.. He was bored.
Sleeping all day and relaxing at the shores of the sea was nice, but it seemed as if he was missing something.
Hideaki wondered what it was. A weird thought crossed his mind.
Maybe he was just missing her.
But that was silly. She was really annoying. And stupid. It would be good to spend some time away from her.

He frowned and nipped at that sweet alcoholic drink they were serving here.
The weather was nice and the hot sun in combination with the alcohol made him dizzy soon.
It was hard to think and make decisions, so he just put that off for later.

But he was sure in one thing. He won't go back to her now already. She messed up and he should let her feel that. He would wait three days.. or two and then he would come back. And benevolent as he was, he would forgive her and everything would be good again.
Or so was his plan.

Quite content with himself and his clever plan he ordered another drink.
He thought he deserved that.

His quarters really were bigger than those of the regular officers. He pictured Junko's room in his mind. It hadn't really occured to him when he had visited her. Wondering if some pilots or engineers might even have to share their quarters, he put the bottle on his lips and quickly poured the liquid down his throat. There was surely not enough space on this ship to make it comfortable for everybody.
It made him realize again in what an impossible situation they were, which, in turn, made him raise the bottle once again.
He was not at the bar with the other pilots and the ones he was supposed to lead into battle. Ishikawa had chosen to stay all alone in his room. It wouldn't be good if the men saw their captain drinking until he drops to the floor. Even more so if the admiral would see him. Fortunately that guy never left the bridge anyway. He shook his head and finally emptied the bottle.

Good thing that nobody noticed him bringing the alcohol back from the freeport. And Junko had believed his little lie about him having to go to the toilet. That gave him no satisfaction though. Things hadn't been exactly great between them recently. His failure to understand this woman just made everything worse. He knew how to deal with women, always had. Women like the Takada girl, who blush when you say something suggestive and smile at them.
Not Junko though, she was different. And she was very good at making him mad. He sighed before opening another bottle.

He just was in no condition to deal with her attitude.
Their situation was bad. Most people on the ship had no idea just how bad it was. And he was locked up in this ship, listening to Sakamoto and his staff all day how much worse it will be next week. And nobody was able to come up with a solution. It was depressing, so much that he couldn't even really sleep anymore.
And then hearing Junko tell him what an idiot he is just made it all worse.

He wondered how Sakamoto deals with all that. Does he sit in his quarters drinking as well?
Probably. He smirked and put the bottle to his lips again. It was going to be a long night.

Water. He opened his eyes.
The blue shades of ocean water surrounded him. Where was he?
Below him, he saw black depths, anonymity and invisiblity. It seemed warm and safe, a place to hide, a place to sleep, a place to forget. He smiled.
Above him, there was light. Bright and harsh, it hurt his eyes. From there he'd come. He had been thrown into this liquid world, floating indecisively in a sea of hesitation. Who had done this?
He didn't know and wasn't in the least concerned by that.
A quiet and pleasant humming filled the blue water. Someone, or something, was there with him. He extended his arms and drifted towards the source of this euphonic music. Everything would become alright. Eveything would make sense. It was so peaceful there. The sound intensified, the liquid around him started to gain a purple glow. He would meet the other one soon.
But then something changed.
There was rumbling in the distance and the world started to shake. His head began to hurt as the light from above started to burn brighter. The humming was gone. He heard voices as the blue and purple colors faded, one of them so oddly familiar, but strange in his ears now. She..
The noise grew louder and he backed away.

Air. He panicked.
The urge for oxygen had returned to him. Struggling, he floated towards the light. All the comfort and warmth of this place was now gone, all that was left was the wish to reach the surface. He hesitated.
And broke through the surface.

He held the cup of tea tightly and studied the enigmatic person sitting on the other side of the table. A dream.
A restaurant on New Tokyo, he could feel the hands on his shoulders. When had that been?
Home, two wooden swords leaning against the wall. Where had the wielders gone?
A steel corridor, a broken ship. Shared meals and laughter. Just why did he make it fly again?
He was standing on the bridge of a large ship, asteroids passing them. The person he so respected smiled. Another day survived.
Hot sand beneath his feet, the warm sun in his face. A happy place for unhappy times.
A cave on the shore, smooth rock and cold water. The wet moss between his fingers.
Refuge.

He frowned as he walked down the corridor. "A whole patrol you said?"
A female voice quickly answered. "Hai. A wing of five fighters. We have no response for a whole day now and we haven't found any wrecks." Getting no response she continued speaking. "Would you like to see their flight path and their position when they vanished?" She held up the data pad she had been looking at.
He quickly took it out of her hands and studied the image, still walking.
A few lines visualised the flight path of the patrol through Tohoku before terminating abruptly. Five ships just disappeared. The system was more and more slipping out of their control. Moving the Sado here was supposed to change that.

"I see. It wasn't too far from here." He handed the pad back to her. "They are getting quite bold." A few guards saluted as they passed through the security gates closing off the entrance to the bridge.
His companion quickly put away the pad and cleared her throat. "I can give a more detailed report tomorrow. Maybe this evening if everything goes well."
He nodded slowly. "That would be good." They finally approached the gates to the bridge of the huge vessel. "Also, make sure my ship is available in two hours. I hopefully will be done by then."

"Your ship has already been prepared, admiral. I expected you would want to have it ready." He stopped just before the doors. "Ah, very good. Always thinking ahead." The admiral smiled. "What would I do without you, Kurosawa-san?"
She lowered her head, giving a slight bow. "Too much praise for such a small thing, Ishikawa-sama."
"Not at all. I will meet you in two hours. Please make sure everything is ready." She nodded quickly and watched as he turned away and walked onto the bridge. As the doors closed she allowed herself to sigh. He appeared thankful, but did he actually know how much work all of that was?

The young admiral was sitting in his small office on the Sado, staring at the screen in front of him.
He didn't visit the bridge much nowadays, his officers capable enough to keep the Battleship fixed in position next to the jumphole.
Grunting quietly, he tapped once on the screen, confirming the patrol schedule for the coming week.
It had been the same schedule for months now, as nothing was ever changing in this remote corner of space.
His hand reached over for the bottle of sake on his desk. He didn't even bother to use a cup and simply took a rather large swig from the bottle.
This was a far cry from the proper conduct of an officer he had been so proud to display years ago. But times had changed and so had he.
Ishikawa was tired of this post and by now resented the fleet admiral for assigning him to the Sado.
At this very moment, the fate of Kusari is being decided in Kyushu and Nagano while he was stuck here, staring at lifeless rocks and an alien force that was happy to bide its time while they tore each others throats out. He thought that his frustration was entirely justified.

Putting the bottle down again, he stared onto the screen once more, a host of communications appearing in his inbox. All of them inconsequential and yet he had to deal with them.
He was fit, he was intelligent and yet his entire job consisted of writing mails and talking to people. An incredible degrading experience.
It didn't all seem so bad when she was still around, but that was a thing of the past.

Releasing a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, opening them again a few seconds later.
He turned his head and looked at his secretary. "Arigatou, Kurosawa. You can take the rest of the day off. I doubt anything important will happen."
She got up from her knees and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Alright, admiral."
Not leaving yet, she stood in front of him and crossed her arms, looking at him with disapproval. "At least stop with the drinking, if word of this gets out.."
"Kurosawa." He quickly said and interrupted at her. "Thank you for your concern, really. But I'm fine. Now get going." He waved her off.
She pouted slightly, but turned around and left the room while the admiral reached for the sake again.