It sat there for the longest time, taunting her, begging to be picked up. It would be a betrayal of trust, something no big sister should ever subject her younger siblings to, but as the round clock above the grey couch on which it sat continued to tick, so did Atago's thoughts.
Atago, despite considering herself to be a good big sister, great she'd dare say, she fell short in one category, gift giving. Whether it came to not just knowing what her siblings or friends wanted or just getting the wrong thing, Atago struggled during the holidays, and the biggest was coming up...
Christmas...
Atago did not dread the festivities or togetherness, but having to choose on what she thought others would like on such a special day, it made her stomach churn with anxiety. She could always go the easy route of money or a gift card, but those had no soul.
She'd already gotten Takao's, a decently sized stuff plush of a certain atomic kaiju she could just see her sister snuggling up with already, but both Maya and Choukai's still remained. She'd saved Choukai for last, going in descending order from age, which left her with Maya, and her current predicament. She needed inspiration and/or direction on what to get the odd one out of their little family.
Speaking of her current conundrum, time was running thin. She could see the scene starting to dull as the automatic shutdown drew closer, and so did Atago's chance. She had to steel herself and act now or respect her sister's privacy... She promptly chose the former.
The black haired heavy cruiser dived for the couch, her finger brushing against the touchscreen, igniting the still unlocked device once more. Maya had left because Takao had called her from the other room, wanting help with dinner or something, so Atago had a decently small window, which meant speed was key.
She curled up against the arm, getting cozy and pulling the white phone into her lap. She swiped away from Juustagram, thinking about it being useful in her investigation for a moment before deciding against it. Now faced with her homescreen, Atago scanned the app selections.
Her gallery could maybe provide insight, but it wasn't likely to give any good results. Another social media might work, or perhaps a shopping site? She could peer into whatever Maya had in her cart and buy that for her. Yes! That's the plan!
And as Atago's finger hovered over the app cover of a cardboard box with an odd looking smile, she stopped, eyes drawn to the small text box at the top left corner of the screen, next to the time. A notification.
It wasn't Atago's to check. She was already snooping through enough of Maya's personal life. She didn't need- and she'd already scrolled up to see who it was from, drawn like Eve to the apple.
"Yamato" - Thanks, you're really making me look forward to tonight 🥰
The message made Atago blink. Yamato? Tonight? What was she talking about? Did Maya have plans to attend something with the flagship she guarded so dearly? And what was Yamato replying to.
The teasing side of Atago's brain filled with scenarios of her little sister sending morning love messages to her "Lady Yamato." Atago had her suspicions about the two. She understood Maya was her Imperial Guard, and this had to be close to her, but she had the kitsune as her homescreen, dammit, a picture of the two at some space museum or wherever. Yamato was supposedly into that kinda stuff.
It wasn't that Atago minded. In fact, she was rather happy her less socially able younger sis managed to snag herself such a catch, and clearly, the very sheltered battleship needed such too. Someone treating her like she was just another person and not a benevolent goddess was definitely good for Yamato.
Atago couldn't hold in he curiosity at what lovey dovey message her younger sister had sent to the flagship. It took a moment for the messages app to load and a moment longer for Atago to realize what she was looking at.
It was a selfie, the phone proved up against the floor and facing the corner of Maya's room, the white haired girl in question crouched down in front of it, in the most peculiar of attires.
Shiny red ribbons wrapped around her chest, keeping anything too naughty from view. Her thighs were covered by stockings, heh, which shared the same visual appearance as a Santa hat, red with the white fluff at the top. Speaking of Santa, the rest of her barely there attire seemed to be lingerie inspired by the fat man in red so lewd, Atago could barely imagine herself wearing it... That was kind of a lie, but she still didn't want to see Maya in it!
Around her neck was a red collar, reflecting a bit in the dimness of the dark room the picture was taken in, Atago almost able to make out "Yamato" on the gold tag. The leash connected to tag and collar was held by Maya, whose expression, though barely in frame, seemed to be just as embarrassed as Atago would imagine her much less outgoing sister would be. And to top it all off was a candy cane in the place where a candy cand most definitely should not be.
"Maya" - Woof Woof
It took Atago all of two seconds of viewing before swiftly throwing the phone to the other arm of the chair with some much force she was surprised it didn't explode on impact. Her face burned crimson, and her ears lay pinned against her head.
That was enough of that.
The older sister quickly scurried from couch to couch at the sound of footsteps from the kitchen, which eventually made it to living space in the form of Maya, the white haired heavy cruiser instantly eyeing up her shaking older sister in confusion.
"You alright?" The younger sister questioned, giving an odd look to the other woman, who seemed to jump when finally spoken to.
Atago stammered for a moment, her tongue tied, mind still reeling with the image and knowledge of her sister sending a naughty pic to the most powerful battleship in the Sakura Empire, before eventually just nodding, cheeks a tint strawberry.
Maya raised a brow but ultimately shook her head at her older sister's shenanigans. She swiped her phone from the seat and turned on her heel, retreating back into the hall. "Whatever." Her voice called back as she pressed the on button, typed in the simple pass code, and opened the phone, only for her eyes to immediately widen and her cheeks to turn scarlet at whatever laid on the sceen. With her ears pinned against her head, she quickly swiped away and retreated to her room.
Atago, now traumatized after seeing a side of her younger sister, she frankly never wanted to see, just sat there, silent... before realizing she didn't get any info on what to get Maya.
She ended up just getting a gift card.