Elder brother's garrison

"They have a very good relationship. When we were little, she often told my brother that she wanted to marry him."

"Love?"

"When I was little, I said the same thing to my dad."

Saratoga blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.

“I don’t have a father.” She turned her head, as if talking about something trivial. “I only have an older sister.”

"Sorry……"

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Saratoga said. “You don’t belong here.”

Saratoga's way of speaking is very strange.

The topics were unrestrained, as free as the wind. We said whatever came to mind.

“…Hmm.” Little White had no choice but to nod quietly in agreement with Saratoga’s words.

Saratoga said nothing more and walked towards the dormitory building.

Xiao Bai followed behind her with his head down.

I was indeed not popular with everyone.

“There’s more,” Saratoga suddenly said as they went upstairs.

The girl's melodious voice echoed in the hallway, carrying a unique charm unlike anything she had heard before.

"kindness?"

"...I think I was thinking something unpleasant about you earlier." Saratoga walked up the stairs in front of Xiaobai, who couldn't see Saratoga's expression. "I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

Saratoga turned his head and looked at Little White.

In the slightly dimly lit corridor, the girl's blue, gem-like eyes shone brightly.

"For example, getting beaten up."

"...What a coincidence." Xiao Bai couldn't help but chuckle.

Saratoga quickly turned her head back.

"Let's go."

"kindness."

...Perhaps there is still a little room for maneuver?

Each of the two girls, with their own thoughts, went up to the third floor.

They arrived at Bismarck's house.

"Do you have the key?" Saratoga asked.

"Ah... I forgot to ask Tirpitz for it."

Saratoga rang the doorbell.

“Tirpitz opens the door very slowly,” Saratoga said expressionlessly.

It sounded a bit like a complaint.

"Feel sorry……"

And so, silence fell between the two of them again.

"Speaking of which, isn't Hood living next door?" Little White wanted to start a conversation and remembered that Bismarck had talked about Hood before, so he said to Saratoga.

"Yes, she has a very good relationship with Bismarck."

"Huh? Bismarck said Hood seems to be afraid of her..."

“We’ll find out then,” Saratoga said. “If things weren’t good, Sister Hood would have moved upstairs already.”

"what……"

Xiaobai nodded.

It seems that the ship girls' social circles are quite complex.

The two waited for a few minutes before Xiaobai could hear faint footsteps coming from the other side of the door.

"Snapped."

Tirpitz, dressed in his pajamas, slowly opened the door.

"You're back so soon..." Tirpitz saw Saratoga, then the filthy little white creature. "Huh?"

Tirpitz glanced at Saratoga with a hint of doubt.

"What did you do?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Xiao Bai seemed to see a large tic-tac-toe mark pop out of Saratoga's head at that instant.

"Come on in." Saratoga slipped under Tirpitz's arm, swung her legs to kick off her shoes, and strode inside.

"I..." Xiaobai looked at Tirpitz, not knowing where to begin.

"No need to say anything more." Tirpitz looked at Little White, patted her shoulder, and gave her a warm smile. "I'm too lazy to listen."

That's true! I'm so sorry to have wasted your time!

Tirpitz took a key from a small box next to the shoe cabinet inside the door and handed it to Little White.

"Remember to bring it next time you go out."

"OK, thank you."

"Don't lose it. Besides the one your sister has, this is the only one left."

"Don't you need it?"

"I'm not going out."

As Xiaobai entered the house, Tirpitz turned around and headed towards the living room.

After the two entered the living room, they found Saratoga sitting at the table, quietly drinking a Coke.

"Want some potato chips?" Tirpitz asked Saratoga.

"kindness."

Tirpitz sat down next to her, pulled a bag of chips from the pile next to them, and handed it to her.

Saratoga tore open the packaging and took out a few potato chips, munching on them like a hamster.

...These two people seem to be very familiar with each other.

"Does Saratoga come here often?" Little White asked, sitting down on the other side of the table.

“Yeah, her sister won’t let her eat potato chips.” Tirpitz also handed White a bottle of Coke. “She said they’re unhealthy or something, but anyway, she came here to take refuge.”

Oh wow.

Xiaobai opened the can and immediately felt a burst of sweet, watery steam, characteristic of cola, spray up.

Cool.

She looked up at Tirpitz and Saratoga, who weren't exchanging much words, and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

—These two people must have a good relationship, right?

Xiaobai quickly finished his cola and stood up.

"Then I'll go change my clothes," Xiaobai said.

"If you want to take a shower, the bathroom is at the very back on the second floor."

"It can't be washed anymore," Xiaobai said, throwing the can into the trash can. "The gauze I just wrapped it with is gone."

She left the living room and followed the direction Tirpitz had pointed into her room.

It was a very ordinary room, with no distinctive decorations, just a bed, a wardrobe, a set of table and chairs, a bookshelf and a clothes rack, and nothing else.

Xiao Bai took out a yellow briefcase from her backpack, and then pulled out several sets of clean clothes.

The backpack, which was initially quite bulging, suddenly became deflated.

She took off her dusty military uniform and put on a casual outfit.

Come to think of it, there was a cell phone in the briefcase.

After getting dressed, Xiaobai reached into his briefcase and pulled out a cell phone.

A relatively new style of mobile phone from an unknown brand.

Xiao Bai searched through his clothes and found a yellow business card.

It was left to her by her brother's friend.

I only noted down the business card with a phone number.

Should we call Mom and Dad first?

Xiao Bai thought about it, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

After all, I'm already working, and calling home as soon as I arrive at my new place just feels a little childish.

She plopped down on the bed, thought for a moment, and then dialed the phone number left by her brother's friend.

Chapter 11 and below are all jokes (2)

After two beeps, the call was connected.

Little White put its ear close to the ear.

—The phone number left by my brother's friend must be a work number, since he answered so quickly.

"Hello? This is..."

"Ah? Little White Sister." A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

As always, he's so overly familiar and infuriating.

"Hmm." Xiaobai thought for a moment. He was the one who gave her the phone number, so it should have been recorded.

"Judging from this, they've arrived at the naval base safely," the brother's friend said. "It's good that they weren't beaten up and sent to the hospital on the first day."

"I'm so sorry I didn't end up in the hospital," Xiaobai said slowly, touching the gauze on her hand. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I told you, that naval base is very..."

"About the nerve medication."

"..." There was a sudden silence on the other end.

Xiao Bai didn't say anything, but just waited quietly.

“…You guys go out for a bit.” A few seconds later, the voice of the brother’s friend came from the other end, an unexpectedly serious voice.

A few more seconds passed.

"I thought you'd have to wait a while before you found out about this thing," the brother's friend said with a hint of helplessness.

"Mmm." Xiaobai sat on the bed, gently swinging her legs, and gave a brief reply.

"...Could it be that he's angry and wants to dance with a weapon to expose a scar and weep with pomegranate seeds?"

"You should have been angry when you were kicked out of your home."

When they let him into the house, they allowed him to spend less than a few dozen seconds alone with Xiaobai's parents, which changed their attitude. They then asked Xiaobai to leave the living room and talked for a few more minutes.

Xiao Bai still doesn't know what he said to his parents.

While not exactly angry, Xiaobai was still a little curious. However, her brother's friends remained silent about it, and her parents wouldn't say anything when she asked.

"...I've actually thought about telling you this for a long time," the brother's friend said, then paused. "After all, it's not something you can just casually talk about. It doesn't feel very formal to tell you directly on the train. I also couldn't find a good time to say it, so I just decided not to. Anyway, someone will tell you eventually."

"...Is this potion really that terrible?" Xiaobai asked.

"...Actually, it's not that scary. If the human body is a treasure chest, then this capsule is just a key, only the contents of the chest are different," the brother's friend said. "Hmm...that doesn't seem quite right."