Chapter Text
"Hmmm......... Master Elysia is right. Captain Hajime looks cute when he is emotionally flustered." Rita and the rest of the valkyries, except for Kiana who is absent, who performed snickered at the poor sorry sight of the captain, who has his entire body covered with ice pack bag.
"Don't add fuel to the fire, Rita." He groaned as he reached another one from Rita to cool off his head.
"Still....... Why did you girls agreed to that when you all knew it was a bit of an overkill to do that in front of the new recruits?" He even covered his entire face to cool himself off. He heard Rita giggled.
"Well..... Master Elysia said that you might like it." He groaned as Rita replied with a smile.
"By liking you mean putting me in this sorry state of a person, yeah....... Sure." He groaned.
"The day didn't even ended yet. I swear that woman knows how to push my buttons." He muttered. "She is even worse than a Drunk Himeko and that is saying something." He breathed slowly.
"Speaking of which............ Where is she?" He removed the one on his head just to see that the girls answered with a shrug. He raised an eyebrow and decided to think deeply.
Weird, Usually Ellie would have come to me and asked me how was the performance go. She even performed as the lead dancer.
At least, Comparing to what Otto did, this is more tame, elegant and refined.
Ugh........ Them dancing in a bunny suit.
I would never ask them to wear that, especially if i knew it would make them feel uncomfortable wearing it.
He took a look around and noticed that Kiana wasn't with them any more.
"Wait........... Where is Kiana?"
"She is in the kitchen with Bronya and Overseer." He raised his eyebrow at them as Durandal replied.
"Should i be concerned?"
"Not to worry captain. They are not going to let Kiana touch the stove."
"You say that and yet, i am still worried because last time she was in the kitchen, she blew it up back in St. Freya." He looked at the horizon and saw the ship was on schedule for maintenance and check up.
It was a surprise to him that the few minutes after the 'idol concert' has started, the ship went to autopilot mode and began to descend to the loading bay.
He knew that Elysia was behind the autopilot, the dance choreography and the music.
He can admit that all of them were amazing from the start to end and he couldn't just looked away.
What surprised him even more was that Elysia planned the timing of the fireworks as they ended their dance number.
What only annoyed him is that he knew Ellie asked for firework maker to make a chibi elysia firework.
If only he could rubbed his temple to ease his headache................
His thoughts went back to the occupants of the kitchen and decided to try asking if they needed help.
"I'll need to talk to her just in case that they need something from the store." He opened his drawer in the lounge and saw that his ear piece communications wasn't there.
He did however see a note that Ellie left for him.
Dearest Hajime.
Wanted to borrow your ear piece to show it to the recruits for the time being.
Love From Your Darling Wife
Ellie
XOXO
He groaned.
"Well...... At least you guys had fun. If you all did those dance numbers for your audience and you see no problem doing it, then i should let it slide. Who am i to deny you guys when you all wanted to have fun? Like i said, i am willing to help you girls." He didn't noticed or knew that the valkyries blushed from it.
"That said, Fun isn't my best department. That's Ellie so i think it is best for you to get along with her more than me." He shrugged.
"Besides, Who would want to be around with a boring captain?" They all softly frowned at him as he began to recall what happened earlier.
He let himself relaxed for a few minutes and let the soothing ice pack bag heal all of his straining muscles and headache.
As much as they want to correct his last statement, the present valkyries decided to let himself heal and keep their opinions to themselves.
For now? They are just happy to see Captain Hajime show more emotions than just being concerned.
They are also grateful for the Miss Pink Elf to show them this side of him.
To them, it makes him seemed more human.
A few minutes of silence go by and all but Fu hua left their captain lying on the couch in the lounge.
She even assisted on replacing the ice pack bag herself.
She couldn't blame him for being this exhausted.
He is dealing with Elysia.
If that doesn't mean something to anyone........... Then she truly feels sorry for the ones who don't know.
Right now, She is glad and feels lucky that it is captain lying on the couch. Not her.
And even more so that someone else isn't here to give him a hard time.
If those two are present. Captain Hajime is going to need all help he can get.
Cause, even with her Taixuan knowledge, she doesn't know how to help him.
He even looked like his lifespan got cut in half.
Captain Hajime reached for another Ice pack to replaces the ones that have already been used.
"Where is that Pink Elf? I should have heard something from her by now. We have a schedule to keep."
He slowly and painfully reached out his holotab on the desk to see that there is a seminar where the captain would be the host for the new recruits that recently graduated from St. Freya and Schicksal.
Much to his surprise, Elysia was already there, acting as a host for the said seminar.
"Wow.......... Kinda wished she told me that she will be taking this one for me."
"Maybe that she knew that you needed a rest for what just happened earlier?" Fu hua looked besides him and read the schedule as he rubbed his eyelids to see that he isn't hallucinating it.
"Maybe............" He read the time frame of the event for confirmation.
3:30
And it was 3:45.
To him, Fifteen minutes has passed.
Even if he has rested for a few short minutes, he kinda doubts that he would make it in time just to assist Ellie teaching in the seminar.
"I guess you are right. The seminar is the last event for today.
I think it is safe to say that I can leave Ellie with the new recruits.
Heck, i don't mind her mingling with the other valkyries when the seminar is done." He chuckled.
"After all....... Ellie has always been.............. the life of the............... party.........." He slowly thought about his words with widened eyes.
Wait.........................
Ellie............
Mingling with Other recruited valkyries From Schicksal.
Along the ones within St. Freya and Hyperion.
Then that means.........
It is a surprise that it took him this long to figure out what was Elysia up to.
And he admits that he was a dumb idiot.
"Oh, Hajime. You dumb son of a............." He facepalmed as he headed outside while leaving a very confused Immortal Phoenix in the lounge.
Even in his head, he could still hear her giggle.
The door opened and Theresa quickly moved aside to let the captain pass through the door as she entered in.
Theresa looked from excited to shock and confused to see a very annoyed Red-haired leaving and both valkyries in the lounge just watched him run.
Everyone else in the Hyperion were also confused why Captain was running for his dear life.
They were also surprised that he shouted these at the top of his lungs.
"ELLIE! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT!
LET THEM GET SETTLED IN THEIR DORMS FIRST.
GET BUDDY-BUDDY WITH THEM LATER!"
"ELYSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Needless to say, it was a long distance run from the loading dock of the Hyperion to the seminar assembly.
The red haired captain was miserable.
Every muscle in his body were screaming in pain and agony despite the fact that he recently showered in the hyperion to ease the tense muscles.
He honestly don't know how was he able to stand, let alone walk from St. Freya dorms to his home.
He arrived at the front gate of his mansion. And he saw the lights were turned off.
"Huh............ I guess Ellie took out Felis for a walk." As he looked around and see that their pet cat wasn't waiting for him at the front yard, like she normally would.
"Time for me to make them dinner, i guess." He locked the gate as he knew Ellie has his spare keys.
He sighed and threw his backpack at the couch as he entered his home.
"Aillie? You there?" There was no response from his personal Ai.
"Guess Ellie brought her with them." He cracked his neck and stretched out his arms.
"Let's see what i have in the fridge then." He entered the kitchen and decided to open the lights.
As he started to flick the switch.........................
"SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!" He flinched and dropped to the floor as he heard a pop confetti, surprising him.
Every valkyrie in the Hyperion, except for the Olenyeva twins, was there. Even Mei, in her herscherr form, smiled.
"..........." He stared blankly at all of them and see banner that says 3 year anniversary.
Felis, the grey calico cat, pounced on his chest and licked on his face while Stan, the mysterious white cat, was sleeping in Durandal's arms.
He heard a giggle from his left.
"Were you surprised?" Elysia bent down to his level.
"Yeah. But i hate to break to you, Elysia. We haven't been together for that long." Elysia giggled and pulled him and put him on her shoulder.
"No............ You silly........... I am flattered that i am always in your mind but this isn't about us." She pointed to the original 3 members of the Hyperion valkyries.
"It's about them." He looked at Kiana, Bronya and Mei as three of them were shy to say something.
"Could you come with us, captain?" Hajime nodded.
"Okay. Elysia. Can you help me? I can't move my body. Everything is aching all over and that surprise took everything all i had." Elysia nodded with a grin.
Elysia carried him to the kitchen table and set him down to sit.
"Hajime? Do you remember the first day we were deployed to your command to fight honkai beasts?"
"Yeah. You hitched a ride on a jet plane to fight Honkai waves while Himeko, Mei, Bronya and I were evacuating the people from the UN building. Then you crashed the said jet plane on the building and next to it, costing millions of property damage." Kiana blushed hard while Mei and Bronya snickered. "What about it?"
"That was exactly 3 years ago, captain. It was also the first day we met as a squad."
"Oh.............." He looked at the two and they nodded to him for confirmation.
"You guys didnt have to do this for me. I was doing my job as your captain."
"Yeah...... And you took care of three of us pretty well." He recalled everything starting from Elysia setting up the banner to stopping her from doing something drastic in seminar. He looked at the pink elf who smiled sweetly at him.
"You knew." She giggled.
"Mmhmm~ I saw Kiana and Bronya were talking outside of their dorms with someone the other night.
And when i realized that they were talking to Mei, who was supposed to be at World Serpent, with them, I knew something was up.
So i decided to give them a helping hand."
"You didn't plan this?" She shook her head.
"It was their plan. All I had to do was to keep you occupied by making you always focused at me, long enough for them to set everything up." He looked at every valkyrie who nodded at him.
"You were a very difficult man to distract, Hajime. And very persistent too. I honestly thought that the fall from the ladder would at least put you out of commission for a while. I was actually wrong on that assumption." All three original valkyries nodded at Elysia's initial plan.
"And you didnt tell the others?"
"Theresa actually helped me to tell the valkyries after they left you in the lounge when the performance was done. Fu Hua was the last one to be filled on what was really going on." Fu Hua, Theresa, Durandal, Rita and Seele softly smiled and nodded.
The Olenyeva twins weren't present due to the fact it was past their bedtime and exhausted from the party event earlier.
"Even If i wanted to tell them earlier than that, It would be a bad idea because you'll know something was up. Like i told you Ha~Ji~Me, you were a very difficult man."
"And you decided to keep me in check while Mei was busy in the kitchen." As he turned to Bronya who nodded.
"Bronya thought that it would be best to keep you occupied with your teachings. Bronya didnt expect you to make Bronya cry." Bronya and the other valkyries narrowed their eyes at the red-haired who sheepishly grinned.
"Hehehe......... Oops." The Herscherr of Reason shook her head and smiled.
"So you weren't curious about earlier?" She shook her head with a smile.
"Bronya was genuinely curious and is grateful for Captain's teachings. But if Captain still feels guilty about what he did, how about another round of Homu game next week?" He nodded with a smile as he knew he would get destroyed by the gaming herscherr next week.
But he doesn't really mind.
Kiana was fidgeting her fingers, too shy to say something.
He was going to ask something but Kiana's stomach growling beat him to the punch.
Kiana blushed in embarassment.
"Right, You are hungry, aren't you?" Mei, who was the tallest of the valkyries, rubbed her head. "Have some cake." Theresa silently placed the huge cake on the table while Rita helped settled with the dishes and silverwares.
Hajime who was still in shock just smiled as he watched Kiana rubbed her hands in glee.
"Hehe, I know Mei is always the best in cooking." She reached out the cake but hesitated.
"Mei. What about the Captain's portion?" She frowned and played with her thumbs.
"Don't worry, I made a lot." Mei smiled to ease her worries.
"Bronya already reserved for captain." Bronya leaned her head towards Kiana and shook her head.
"This is an anniversary celebration for Captain. Of course, we prepare our best for Captain." All three herscherr stood with each other as they all turned to him.
"Hajime." Kiana reached out her hand and smiled while Bronya held both of her lips to show him a cute smile.
"Make sure you come and join us." Bronya and Mei smiled along with the silver haired.
Hajime nodded but gave them a sad smile.
"Is something wrong, captain?" All three of them gave him a very concerned look as he just sat there doing nothing.
"I would love to hug you girls and say my thanks for everything................ But i really can't move. My arms, legs and everything hurt." The three original valkyries laughed.
"Come here, You." Kiana pulled him from his seat and his three girls hugged him tight.
"Thank you for everything, you three. I will keep doing my best."
Elysia giggled as she finished recording with her phone from the moment where Kiana was shy to say something to the four all hugged together.
The three helped the captain settled back to his seat.
Hajime looked around and smiled softly on how festive the atmosphere was.
"I promise i will keep doing my best. After all, the valkyries are more important for the Hyperion than the captain." As he softly muttered.
Not realizing that Ellie heard everything.
"Sorry about giving you a hard time earlier, darling~" Hajime was too tired to correct her and decided to let Elysia caressed his head on her lap. "I didn't mean push you through this far but you were really really stubborn and persistent. I even told them that one of your main weakness is how you don't normally process your emotions well to the point that you don't think straight when you are flustered."
"Normally i would be very very upset about what you did. But considering what you said earlier............. You are probably right. I would have noticed something was up and eventually spoiled the surprised that the three worked very hard for."
The party ended and the rest were heading home, leaving Ellie and Hajime on the couch while Felis asleep beside them.
"I am very impressed at your will power, Hajime. No one could have lasted this long and yet you lasted the whole day and night dealing with my..................."
"Shenanigans?" She giggled.
"I would prefer the term 'games'." He chuckled.
"In hindsight, I should have noticed it when you decided to put my face on the banner and dedicated that idol dance to your dearest hubby."
"And yet somehow, it just flew over your head. I'll say........ It worked pretty well, all things considered." She smiled while he rolled his eyes.
"What did you think about the idol dance and firework earlier?" He scoffed.
"Oh, don't get me started on that, woman." She giggled.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed her caressing his hair.
"Say, Hajime?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why do you keep insisting that the valkyries are more important than you?"
"Hmmmmm......... Because they are the symbol of the Hyperion. They protect the people and humanity. It is just my job as their captain to keep them safe while helping them maintain the ideal of them being the symbol." She giggled.
"I beg to differ, you silly~ They aren't the symbol of Hyperion. Valkyries are the symbol of St. Freya. All young and cute girls fighting to save the world from Honkai. Sounds fitting if you ask me." He raised an eyebrow but smiled.
"Then Schicksal and AE then." She smiled.
"The weapons they carry are the symbol of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Valkyries can't fight them alone and sometimes it is better to ask for help from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. You can't expect all of the cute girls fight Honkai by getting their hands dirty."
He pouted as he kept pondering the answer to that question. Seeing Hajime lost in thoughts, she decided to answer for him.
"The symbol of the Hyperion is you, Hajime." He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"A ship wouldn't be a ship without its captain, right?" She smiled as he chuckled.
"Is that right? I am glad that you are the first mate of the Hyperion, Ellie."
"Me too........" She kept caressing his head, not realizing that Hajime has fallen in a deep slumber.
"Good night, Hajime." She chuckled.
"FIRST MATE ON THE BRIDGE."
Theresa and Bronya turned to the elevator and shocked to see Elysia only came out.
"Hi~" Elysia waved her hand to the two and clapped her hands. "What is our first order of business, girls?"
Theresa raised her eyebrows at Elysia and crossed her arms.
"Hajime isn't with you?" Elysia cutely frowned and placed her hand on her heart, showing that she was offended by the gesture.
"I am hurt, Theresa. More worried about my hubby than me.
I feel like he is cheating on me with other cute girls here in the Hyperion." Both Theresa and Bronya gave her a blank stare.
"Bronya and Theresa are more concerned why the captain is absent." She giggled.
"I am just joking." She took her holotab and decided to analyze everything about it and quickly assessed the situation at the same speed as Hajime's.
The speed she showed surprised them both.
She could have taken the captain position from Hajime as she had the potential to become a better captain than he was and yet she insisted on being his first mate.
Much like Fu hua said, They just never know what is going through her head.
Elysia does what she always does best.
Elysia is always being Elysia
And no one can change that fact.
Both valkyries at her side just chuckled at the thought on how Hajime even was able to keep up with her.
"Ha~Ji~Me is tired due to the emotional stress we put him through yesterday. So i figured it would be best to give him a week and half off or two. After all, He rarely takes a break when opportunity arises, right?" She turned and winked to both of them as she kept typing rapidly.
Both Theresa and Bronya chuckled at her playfulness and decided to go back to work.
Elysia took out her megaphone when she was done analyzing.
"All right Hyperion crew and Ai-chan. Time to head to Arc City and show the world how beautiful our Valkyries are by saving it."
Elysia put her right foot on the high desk. One hand was for pointing at the horizon while the other was to hold the megaphone close to her face.
"FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
The Hyperion battleship sped off on the horizon
Back at Hajime's mansion
Captain Hajime, while being comforted by a sleeping Felis on his chest, was sleeping soundly with a smile.