Hey what is up peeps! I am here to present my third story to my profile, something I really want to do for awhile, I present to you the story of The black steel fleet! I am excited for this story since this story is going to be a original story from me. Meaning everything is handled by myself. This is also the first story I'm producing that has no Kamen rider involvement in it, but this story involves elements from 2 other worlds into a single world.
After this story was published I felt that someone was very off and that was the point of view. See when a story is going to have lots of characters involved, it would be inappropriate to tell the story from a 1st point of view when there will be a lot going on and it will become not very practical so eventually I decided to make this into a 3rd point view so the story would actually be told in a more sensible way rather than telling from a 1st point view. But the story is still told from the MC's view, which is my OC. So without further ado, Lets sail into the world of The black steel fleet!
Bon voyage!
Chapter 1: The training begins!
Deep below the waters of earth, it seemed calm. But on the surface it wasn't.
2 torpedoes covered in a red glow sped towards a vessel, and both of them hit their target, causing the targeted ship to explode in flames.
A huge fleet of modern naval vessels behind fired a barrage of missiles at their target, at 4 ships. The explosions caused by the missiles had no effect on them as the 4 unknown vessels, looking like world war 2 warships had a spread of cyber shield around them. The fleet was a small task force: 2 destroyers, a training cruiser and a light cruiser. But what outstood them were that their hulls were decorated with neon like alien markings, like as if telling to the world they were their enemy. Their masts hung flags, but the flag that was shared among them were the words: Scarlet one: to invade and protect.
But it seemed like the light cruiser had took its toll as its cyber shield wiped out. The ongoing missiles stuck the decks of the light cruiser, causing the back section to tear apart from the main hull.
Onboard the training cruiser's bridge, it was expected to have a full crew but there was only one crew onboard: A teenage girl that looked like in her high school years who had blue eyes in a tsurime style and wavy silver hair tied into twintails with a payot in the front. She wore a white jacket with black buttons and a trim, along with gold epaulettes and a red neckerchielf. Her bottom was a pleated charcoal miniskirt, black kneehigh socks, and sandal-like shoes. She wears a Baret with 2 flag-like flaps of cloth accentuating it. Her most noticeable appearance would be her large breasts.
"Kuma-San! Please respond!" The girl shouted as she looked all the screen-like data around her. On one of them was what seemed to be a radar and another looking like status on the other ships of her fleet.
"...move...crippled." A voice came through but it sounded faint, and critically injured.
"...you...move...on...me..." The voiced continued before it cut off.
"Kuma-sannnnn!" The silver haired girl shouted in tears as her screen showing her fleet that one of the ship's radar was off.
"Why... did it have to be like this..." The girl said before a shock rocked through her ship, causing her to scream and fall forward and hitting her head hard onto a mini workstation's edge.
She tried to get up but it seemed like she gave up on her life. Blood tricked from her forehead as her hands wearing white gloves were stained from it.
"Kashima! Kashima!" Another voice, this time that of another girl but with a more fiercer tone came in.
"Akebono-San..." The silver haired girl now called Kashima responded back.
"Listen! Kuma died protecting us. It's a honor of sacrifice! We didn't know this would happen or so. We gotta move on and get out of here!" On one of the destroyer's bridge, the girl angrily said through her communications. Her appearance was much younger than the earlier mentioned Kashima, as she wore a standard seifuku that Japanese school girls wear with short sleeves, completed with a navy blue pleated short skirt and knee length socks. Her long purple hair was tied up with a white spring chrysanthemum.
"Akebono-san...KYAHHHHHHH!" Kashima muttered her comrade's name before she screamed.
"What's wrong Kashima?!" Akebono asked back.
Kashima took a quick scan around her data before her eyes widened. "Our Klein field won't make it at all! We can only last 5-10 more hits!" She reported back.
"Fuck! Then we gotta do this then. Kamikaze!" Akebono cursed before she then called out to her other destroyer comrade.
Onboard the other destroyer stood a young girl around akebono's age. Unlike the seifuku akebono wears, she wears traditional Japanese clothes, namely a pink hakama over a red kimono paired up with lace up boots in the style of a Meiji schoolgirl uniform. Her most outstanding appearance was her long purple hair that gradually changes to pink tied up with a yellow ribbon and purple eyes.
"Hai?" Kamikaze responded.
"That plan that! The plan where we shitblow them up!" Akebono said.
"Alright I understand. Executing plan D! Release lock on missiles!" She commanded her ship which the deck opened up revealing tons of warheads. Akebono did the same.
"I'm sorry... commander... release smoke screen! Kashima cover us! We will send our remaining Klein field energy to you!" Kamikaze said.
"I-I understand!" Kashima then felt some energy flow into her before she expanded her Klein field to make a bigger cyber shield.
"I hope this works..." Kashima muttered as the smoke covered the ships.
"FIRE!" Akebono shouted as the warheads from both destroyers launched and headed backwards, towards the human naval fleet.
The warheads caused a huge explosion, sending huge waves in all directions. The escaping fleet suddenly then spreaded due to the waves, but the destroyers akebono and kamikaze remained together.
"Akebono-San! Kamikaze San!" Kashima shouted as she saw her own vessel tearing apart the formation. But what next completed set her into a huge trauma: a beam weapon from the human side shot through and struck the kamikaze and akebono, causing both ships to explode in a huge red fireball.
And what was worst was that the human fleet was not even obliterated, only a few ships sank but most of the fleet was still standing unscathed.
"No..nO..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The silvernette screamed before collapsing onto her knees.
"Why...why...?!" She gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists while tears dropped from her face. Suddenly, a explosion rocked the back of her ship, causing her to check her data. A naval vessel's bullet had penetrated the aft of the ship, causing a huge fire from the inside.
She was shocked because her Klein field was still up. But then she noticed something: The bullet wasn't ordinary. It was a bullet that was made with the corrosive effect, the same effect that her fleet's warheads had. But because the impact was too large, she could not repair the damage, not with the most needed material that her fleet needs. Each hit her ship took also slowed down her speed so it was pretty clear that her fate was sealed.
"At least...I could send this data...to nagato..." Kashima then used her powers to record all possible data to tell her boss that this mission ended up in failure, with everyone dead.
But the human fleet did not gave her a chance to do so. The naval fleet fired their guns upon the training cruiser, and each shot was the same from the previous shot that caused the ship's back to be engulfed in fire.
One by one, the shells penetrated the field and into the hull, causing huge holes to be formed, and all the girl could do was just sit there and wait for her doom.
A huge explosion that resulted in a huge fireball was the response from the fire. The human fleet was successful in defeating the small force of 4 world war 2 like ships.
"Sir. All enemy ships eliminated." A sailor from one of the ship's reported to his superior.
"Good work. This will teach the others not to mess with us. Return to base." The voice ordered.
And with that, the surviving human fleet turned around and sailed away.
Meanwhile in the flames of kashima's vessel wasn't the best sight. The ship was torn apart, only leaving about 15% of the ship intact. The other parts of the ship were broken up, metal pieces sank to the bottom of the ocean. The girl herself was also in a bad shape too. She was covered in blood, glass fragments stabbed into her abdomen and her clothes were torn too, now what's left was a exposed side of her bra, the skirt ripped so bad that her panties could be seen and her socks had holes in it. And she seemed to have suffered burn marks too.
As she slowly sank, she thought back about hours ago, where she was hired up for the mission although her now deceased comrade Akebono objected to the idea. But she insisted on coming as the escort since the original fell sick. But now, it was probably her biggest regret. She shouldn't have come and let another shipgirl handle the task considering how fearful she was, even back at her base. She was afraid of battle, losing her friends and the worst of all, death on herself.
"No... I don't want to die... Not like this... It's cold here... No... No..." She thought in her mind as tears escaped her eyes before blacking out.
"AHHHH!" Kashima screamed as she rose up from a bed. She looked around to noticed that she was in a cabin. She felt herself sweating badly and her eyes in tears too.
"Why did that come back...?" She thought as she wiped her eyes off and looked into the porthole of the cabin she was in.
"Nee-Chan?" A male voice spoke up. She then realized she was quite near the ceiling. So she looked down to see a male looking up at her in confusion, probably awoken from her nightmare. She knew this male as this male was her captain, a boy that was only 17 years old but his face looked like a baby. He had black eyes and black hair and he was wearing home clothes on him. But on the desk in the room was a military style hat that was that of a naval officer's. And on the wall was a naval officer's uniform, hung neatly beside another uniform, which was hers that she could recognize. This boy was the captain of the ship they are on.
"What's wrong Nee-Chan?" a voice asked as he stepped out of his bed only to see her sweating, like something bad happened.
"Eh? I-it's nothing! Nothing alright!" Kashima waved it off. But he could tell she was not alright and okay because the second she turned away from me, she has this look of regret and sadness in her.
The boy climbed to the top part of the bed and hugged her as a means of comfort. "It's okay. I'm here for you. You must have experienced a bad dream." He said as he stroked her hair.
She said no further as she then slowly cried into his chest, and stayed like this for a few minutes.
Well while this is going on, this boy is- woah right there, she actually introduced his looks right a few paragraphs up. Well then to keep it simple, the boy's name is Kureshima Eugene and this girl right here he's comforting is Kureshima Kashima, his elder sister. Well not really his biological elder sister but a adopted sister. Currently, they are in a cabin out at sea but not on a cruise, but on a military cruiser instead. Eugene is the captain of the cruiser named Haguro. She's one of the 4 myoko class cruisers that belongs to the school's naval training academy.
That's right, a naval training academy. and he or he and his sister are currently students at the Tokyo marine naval academy, a high class training academy in Tokyo considering it to be one of the elite schools of Tokyo. Why a naval training academy for high school students? Well, the world dates back to where it was actually plagued with a problem. The former city skyline of Tokyo is no longer seen on the surface because the water levels had risen so bad these few decades that it actually went underwater. So therefore, the earth is now covered in way more water than we think. In response, governments all around the world built artificial cities and at the same time, terror rose on the sea with pirates and some countries facing territorial issues. Therefore, governments passed a law to set up naval training academies all around the world to train students to protect the seas. But it was not only just that, the world faced a huge problem.
A unknown fleet of world war 2 ships believing to be corrupted were out there somewhere, and they have been attacking human fleets for no reason, like animals. Their technology surpassed any of ours, just one shot from a gun turret is enough to take down a regular human vessel. Not a lot of information is given to us but only their name was given: Scarlet one. It seems like this fleet called Scarlet one was formed from the ashes of another former fleet called the fleet of fog. And their reasons to attack was unknown again. No history was known to any regular human except with Eugene here for a reason.
But just a few years ago, probably about 6-7 years ago, humanity countered a fleet from Scarlet one for the first time. The small fleet, consisting of a light cruiser, a training cruiser and 2 destroyers were wiped out by us humans, well technically, the Japanese fleet. The fact that the fleet took a huge step led us to be able to defend ourselves from the enemy fleet at the same time facing competition from other countries from the incident alone. We called that day "v-day".
When news broke out that the Japanese naval force took out a fleet of our enemy, the boy was initially excited and happy at first but then, everything in him changed when he met her. His elder sister Kashima was the only survivor here from that force that the Japanese fleet wiped out on v-day.
While comforting his sister as he stroked and patted her, he looked out the small porthole the cabin has while remembering clearly what happened that day.
A young Eugene was walking home from school alone from a usual day when he came across Kashima's body. She was washed up on the riverbank he was passing by everyday on his way to school. Shocked but remaining calm, he walked over and found out that she was badly wounded. Glass fragments stabbed, covered in blood and clothes torn. Even one of her twintails came undone.
A call for an ambulance immediately and the paramedics soon arrived and took her to hospital and performed a emergency surgery on her. But as he was waiting outside, his parents came overhearing what happened. They were still wearing their naval uniforms. Yes, naval uniforms. his dad's a captain of a vessel while my mom was a first officer the same vessel. Anyways they asked me a few questions and decided to wait for awhile for the surgeon to come out. Just then, the military came into the hospital and surrounded us. The leading force commander questioned me as he approached me.
"Boy. Is it true you found this girl washed up on a riverbank?" He asked.
"Yes. She was badly injured. I cannot leave her like this. Otherwise she will die." The boy replied.
"You have done a good job on saving a life. But what you didn't know was that you saved a enemy." The words the man said was confusing back then.
"Huh?" Eugene tilted his head.
"Look here sir. My son didn't know that was the enemy. I'm sorry that my son did that." His father then spoke up and apologized.
"Dear! Don't do such things!" My mom tried to get him up.
"Ma'am. It's alright. We also didn't know that such a girl existed within a enemy ship either until much earlier." The commander said before he took out a tablet and showed us.
"We plan to reveal this to the public but, our naval research team went back to the battle scene yesterday and they found out that the enemy vessels stored these cores here." He swiped to a picture that looked like some massaging vibrator except the fact that the object had a alien like markings on it.
"It took quite a while for our scientists to get hold of the matter but just hours earlier, they got their findings and revealed to us that these girls were in fact in the enemy ships. They even had the names of the Japanese warships the Japanese empire owned back in world war 2." He then swiped to a picture showing 4 girls, including the one that was being operated in the room.
"Oh my. Such a discovery." My mom said.
"Indeed. So therefore, as designated, we will have to kill the enemy. We can't save her." He then off the tablet and signaled his men to attack the operating room but the boy's father came in and stopped them.
"Now just hold up. I know what exactly is going on but don't you think you guys are getting too carried away. Why not just question her if she can make it through the operation on getting info on the enemy since she's considered one of them." His father said.
"No can do. Our orders were to kill her, not capture her." The commander ignored his father's words.
"I won't let you! I won't let you kill her!" Eugene got infront of the operating door, attempting to block the path.
"Kid. You don't understand the situation right? That girl is your enemy. Plus we won't know if she would attack." ignoring his pleas, He threatened in a voice.
"What do you know? She's badly injured. She may not be able to attack." He said.
"And who knows she's not to be a human?" The commander countered back. "Our enemy possesses a huge leap of technology ahead of us but we were just able to beat that. That is enough proof to cover up. Plus, our men died fighting these guys years back so how can you try to defend the enemy." He continued.
"Even so! I don't wanna see you guys kill her!" He shouted.
"Eugene! Stop that! Let uncle pass through!" My mom instructed.
"No! I don't wanna!" He replied back.
"Annoying ain't you? Then I suggest my men kill you right now." The commander coldly said as he raised his hand, his men following suit with their rifles up high.
"Wait! How about this? Since my son is so eager on keeping her. How about this? We will watch over her. If anything, we kill her by our own hands." Eugene's father stepped in front of me, spreading his hands to protect me.
"... I don't trust you with that. Especially when you have your duties to attend to in the navy." The commander answered.
"My son can handle it. He's young but he's tough. I believe he can handle a elder girl." He countered.
A silence ensured among us for a few seconds before the commander spoke up. "Fine. I will let you." He then signaled his men to lower their weapons before he drew out a card from his pocket and handed to his father.
"This is my number. If you have killed her, let me know immediately." He said.
"Alright." Then the military left the hospital. Just then, the surgeon came out.
"Oh are you the girl's parents or something?" She asked.
"Yes we are." His father replied, putting the card into his pocket.
"Your girl is safe then. She has successfully survived but... given the condition, she won't wake up until a few days later." The surgeon explained.
"That would be fine. Thank you." The boy's father said.
And that was the end of the ordeal. After the whole incident, Kashima did woke up from her sleep and while things got rough at the start, The family of 3 slowly warmed up to her and eventually his parents took her in and she adopted the surname of the Kureshimas. Luckily, she didn't have to change her looks since the military did not really report their researches that there were girls like her on the enemy ships. They went on our daily lives until the day the family's younger sister, Yuzuki came. To make this short, I call her "Yuzu" while Kashima calls her Yuzuki. After which, the family raised her up until she was 5-6 years old when that day happened.
The day that the sibling's parents were lost on a mission.
Ever since then, Eugene and Kashima had to take care of each other and Yuzu too. Kashima took care of her really well when the boy was not around and each time she puts on her smile, Yuzu will always smile too. That's why Eugene sees her as a big sister and eventually, started to call her "Nee-Chan" at times. After all, she wasn't even evil at all. She was just a pure, sweet, kind hearted elder sister to me.
Years went on leading the same daily lives until Eugene and Kashima eventually enrolled in the Tokyo naval marine institute and eventually this is where we are now. Kashima has been helping him as the secretary given her status as a training cruiser in her days as a Scarlet one member. Yuzu enrolled in the same middle school Eugene was in but she graduated 2 months ago so now, she has enrolled in the academy as a 1st year student.
Eugene then felt weight leaving him like as if he was working out in a gym on weights.
"You okay now?" I asked as the girl left his chest. She simply nodded with a "Mmm" while wiping away the last of her tears.
"Well. Time to get back to sleep. We arrive port in the afternoon so we need as much sleep as possible." He said as he climbed back down towards his bed only to feel his sleeve tugged by her, and it could only mean one thing.
"Get on." He signalled with his head and the elder sister climbed onto his bed and laid beside him.
"Thank you, Eugene." Kashima said with a smile on her, without him noticing.
"No worries. Good night." He answered back simply as he went back to sleep, soon Kashima followed.
The next day finally arrived. The sunlight shone through the small porthole. The alarm clock sounded, which was time for me to wake up. Still sleepy and with my comforting session with my elder sister earlier in the wee hours, He hit the alarm clock and got up. He noticed that she was gone from her bed. Guess she's really a early riser, he gotta admit, she wakes up earlier than him. If a captain's wake up time is 5.30am, she wakes up at 5am.
Speaking of which here she comes. She entered the room with her uniform on and her hair all styled up neatly. Each time I see her, I can't help but just wished she was my girlfriend because of how pretty she looked.
"Ohaiyo, Eugene." She greeted.
"Ohaiyo..." he sleepily replied before he yawned and wanted to go back to sleep.
"Ah! There you go again. Come! I will help you out. Get uppppp!" She then pushed the sleepy boy out of the room towards the toilet.
After brushing and getting dressed up in my uniform, the 2 of them headed straight towards the bridge, where the bridge crew was gathered already and at their stations.
"Captain on deck!" The deputy captain of this vessel , Takagaki Iori said.
"Ohaiyo! Captain and secretary!" The crew saluted me, with Kashima too since she isn't the deputy captain. He saluted back and we got to our stations. Whenever the captain is on duty, his treatment to everyone is the same, including Kashima. But once off duty, he would only show my relaxed side.
"Status, Kashima." Eugene ordered with a officer's like tone.
The elder sister opened up a screen on her tablet showing the ship path towards the port and showed me, in which he nodded back in response. Taking a look around my crew, he gave a very small smile as he was satisfied with who he has on board.
Takagaki Iori is the ship's deputy captain and she stands beside me. She has long black hair that reaches to her just below the shoulders by abit that is tied to a high ponytail with a red ribbon. And she wears the standard captain uniform like me except that, she wears a black pleated miniskirt sporting a similar design to Kashima's. Her personality is that of a captain's like me when on the bridge. But when off duty, she always seems to hang out with the logistics crew. Well I can't blame her for that since her friends are there.
The next in line is the chief navigator, Natsuki Tokushi. He, just like me had a similar hairstyle just that his hair is much shorter than mine and he wears the standard academy uniform: A white short sleeved buttoned shirt with black long pants. The shirt itself has some badges and stripes on it along with his name tag imprinted onto his right side just above the pocket. He has a fierce going personality and is able to lead us anywhere through his driving skills he obtained.
On my left side is the artillery officer, Tateshi Yuuma. His features are quite unique as he possesses a look of a American-Japanese. His silver white hair is what stood out the most. He, just like the bridge crew wears the standard academy uniform. Unlike Tokushi, he has a hyper personality and is willing to jump into situations head on first. And trust me, you won't wanna know how many times I booped him on the head.
Opposite the artillery officer is the torpedo officer Miura Iki. Her dark short brown hair is tied up into 2 low pigtails and her eyes are pretty much of a dead fish actually. Her attire is that of the rest again on the bridge except that it's replaced with a blue pleated short skirt. And she wears thigh high socks along with sneakers. While she has the dead fish eye look, she's actually quite the hyper one too like Yuuma. But her most out feature is her tomboyishness. Each time Yuuma screws up, she scolds him like a elder sister would and she tends to have more guts and confidence. But like any girl, she has her weakness but that's what I like about Iki, her bravery and courage.
The last one to be on the bridge would be the third officer but we do not have a person for that slot yet. So that is pretty much my crew for now.
Hours passed and finally, the artificial skyline of Tokyo was in sight. They were finally coming home from a expedition ordered by the academy. To put things simple, they were ordered to deliver some classified goods to another ship in Okinawa before coming back. The goods were so classified that they didn't knew what it was at all, up till now.
But anyways, we finally sailed into the harbor of Tokyo and as they got closer, they could see the school in the distance with its buildings.
"Kita! We are finally home!" Iki said happily as she stretched her arms in a Kamen rider fourze pose.
"Mmm. It's about time I get a rest." Yuuma added.
"Captain if I'm not wrong, today's the day of the enlistment for our new cadets right?" Iori asked.
"Yes." Eugene answered.
"Well then, I can't wait to see your other sister onboard then." Iori looked at him with a smile.
"Yuzu huh? It's been awhile since we last saw her in person..." He pondered.
"Indeed. Yuzuki will be happy to see us after so long." Kashima noted happily.
"More like you are the more happier one. You take care of her like a elder sister would." he sweatdropped.
"Of course! Who do you think I am?" She asked.
"Kureshima Kashima, my elder sister." He answered.
"Mmm" she pouted at my attempt to be dense which caused him to giggle a bit before he cleared my throat.
"In case you forget, we are on duty." He reminded her in which she snapped out and returned to her serious state.
After docking at the port with the help of the tugboats, the bridges lowered and one by one, the Haguro's crew got off. The bridge crew were the last to leave after they performed a round of final checks throughout the ship.
"Well then. I will go see the opening ceremony, I bet they are still ongoing." Iori said with Iki stretching. "You sure you don't wanna come captain?" Iki asked.
"I have my reports to turn into. You guys go ahead." He said with the reports on my hand.
"Sure then. Have fun!" Iki smiled before they took off.
"How is a captain's job fun?" He deadpanned.
Kashima giggled "At least you don't regret the job. Let's go to the instructor and hand her these." She said as she held her own reports. Usually it would be the deputy captain to be beside me but since my elder sister wants to do the duty, I overlooked it.
"Then let's go." They then headed to our teacher's.
Arriving at the teacher's office where all the teachers were working, they headed to their specifically, Instructor Yukino or Yukino kyokan. Yukino was their instructor since the first day we were assigned to the ship but the only times she has ever taught them as a instructor was during a mock battle. Otherwise, she's mainly here on the land while the crew worked their asses off on the sea.
"Yukino. It's good to see-ow!" Before Eugene could finish greeting the instructor used one of the files on the table to hit his head. The reason why he called her by her name is because of her looks. Although she's 28, she looks like a college student. She had long black hair with dark purple eyes and her attire can be mistaken for a school uniform. That's why the boy always go off on his wording and address his instructor here by her name.
"It's sensei or kyokan. Always the usual huh?" She said.
"Hai hai. Kyokan, here's the reports from our sailing." He then handed her the reports along with Kashima doing the same.
She gave a quick run through. "Good work." She said.
"Thanks a lot. Excuse us." Both students bowed before turning to leave.
"Wait. I'm not done yet." Yukino then pulled out a small letter from her drawers.
"Is something the matter?" Kashima asked.
"This letter is specifically handed to Captain Kureshima here." She then handed the letter to the captain.
Eugene took the letter and opened it up wondering who sent him the letter. The letter seemed to come from the upper branch of this academy just by seeing the school logo on the top of the paper.
Dear Mr Kureshima,
I hereby relive you of your sailing duties and assign you and your vessel, Haguro to be the instructor of this year's new cadets assigned to your ship. Do take care of them and teach them your knowledge.
Sincerely,
Director Kuzuki.
The letter read.
"EHHHHHHHHHH?!" He gaped loudly, gaining the attention of the other teachers before covering his mouth.
"Seems like it. Well then good luck about it." Yukino gave me a thumbs up.
"Wait wait wait. I can't be a instructor! I'm just only a 2nd year student here. I can't be one unless I graduated or something!" The boy flustered as he somehow felt himself getting nervous.
"It's okay. Remember what you have been taught so far. They are just year 1 students so they will only be taught what's necessary for a 1st year. Also they will have exams too, Just like you and her last year." The instructor assured me.
"But wouldn't that means we have to stay on the land further? I mean we have to teach these students right? Is the whole crew involved?" Kashima asked.
"Of course duh. But don't worry, once they pass their land exams, you guys can set sail by then. Also since you guys have been given this opportunity, your ship will no longer hold that many live rounds. They will be switched out for training rounds so do expect a lot of training equipment being modified to the ship. Well naturally once this is over, your ship will return to normal. And also, be lucky that you guys have the least cadets assigned to your vessel. The other ships don't have such fortune like you guys." The instructor explained while handing the captain a list of names that just came through the printer.
He took a quick glance at the list of names being assigned to the Haguro and wondered now how the other ships being assigned the same role are going to survive.
"Well there you have it so good luck with it. Oh I forgot to mention, if you guys do well, the upper heads may reward you. Now go." Yukino then waved the both of them off.
"Excuse us." They said as they closed the door.
While walking Eugene sighed. "This is the worst day for me..."
"Cheer up alright? We are all going to be in this situation together for a year now. At least you don't have to worry about being transferred to another ship or something." Kashima tried to comfort her brother out of his dead zone.
"Instructor huh? I don't even know if I or the Haguro's crew can be cut out for it." He wondered.
"I believe we can do it if we believe in ourselves. Let's see those names." She pointed to the list.
We both stopped at a nearby bench and sat down and looked at the list for the different positions. The most important was the bridge. Seems like there will be 5 cadets assigned but one name caught our attention: Kureshima Yuzuki, our younger sister.
"Woah what? She's assigned to our bridge?" The brother rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing wrongly.
"It looks like it. Yuzuki's will be with us for a year! Woohoo!" The elder sister had a huge smile on her now knowing that their younger sister will be joining them. She's more particularly excited than the man himself because of the close bond both sisters share.
"Well then maybe it isn't so bad after all. At least we can talk after we are off duty." He said.
"Right? Then let's get ready to meet her!" She then jumped up and started running towards the classroom where they will greet the cadets.
"Slow down!" He said before giving a sigh at how energetic Kashima is. He guessed she is really that excited and can't help but smile because to be honest, he is also looking forward to seeing the other sister since both him and Kashima had been sailing for a year or so.
"Excuse me." A female voice said to his left before he turned around to see a student and by the looks, it was a freshman.
"May I know where can I find Captain Kureshima?" She asked.
"That would be me. Do you need help?" He pointed to himself.
She gaped before covering her mouth with both hands.
"Then is that you... Onii-Chan?" The words caught his attention.
"You are... Yuzuki?" Eugene was shocked to see her just right in front of me.
Tears developed in her eyes before she ran up and hugged him. "Onii-Chan!" She addressed her brother before she started to cry, happily not sadly.
"Oi oi oi. Your first day here seeing your big brother and the first thing you do is cry?" Eugene hugged her back while stroking her head.
"Because, I have seen you in a year. I missed you so much!"
Eugene can't help but felt really happy at this. Not only was he seeing my sister here in this academy, but it was a fast reunion, like speaking of the devil.
"I couldn't even recognize it was you." The brother took a good look at her and was surprised by her change of looks. A year ago before enrolling here he remembered that her face was full of pimples and no matter what he said about going to facial, she wouldn't listen to both older siblings advice. Her hair used to be so messy that she doesn't even bother. To put it simple, she used to look like some lazy introvert. Now, she looked like the perfect sailor. Her hair tied up into a ponytail and her face fixed. She was also wearing the academy's uniform which really looked good on her. But I noticed that her ponytail was off, the white ribbon was way off.
"After all, if I'm coming to a military academy, I need to look presentable after all." She smiled.
"But your presentable isn't presentable after all." He said pointing to her ponytail.
"Eh?" She then took out her mirror only to notice her error. "Ahh! I didn't noticed it! Must have been when I was sleeping on the bus! What should I do?" She started to panic.
"Never panic. Sit here and turn around, I will help you re tie it." Eugene put his hands out and she stopped panicking and sat down.
She then handed him the comb while he released the ribbon.
"Your still not an early person are you after all this time your big brother and sister out of the land sailing?" He said as he brushed her hair.
"Well, gomen. I knew it was the first day but I couldn't prepare myself for it." She apologized.
"It's ok. I was also like this too when I began my training. I remembered being scolded by Yukino all day."
"Who is Yukino, Onii-Chan?" She asked.
"My instructor. Basically what I'm going to be to you for this one was what she was back then to me." He explained.
"Ohh. But isn't it rude to call her by her name?"
"I only call her that when we are not seen by the other instructors."
"I see. Is Onee-Chan here too?" She moved on to talk about their sister, Kashima.
"Nee-chan's here, she's actually looking or we are actually looking for you in fact since the ceremony's over." He said.
"Ohh! I can't wait to see her after all. What's she like now after all this time?" She beamed with excitement.
"Same as always like how she took care of you when you were much younger." He smiled.
"Seems so."
"Well your going to see her more after all. But what a surprise it is, to see you applying for the roles of the bridge, especially wanting to be the deputy captain. You sure you apply for this just because you want to be with your brother?" He teased.
"I-it's not this way! Baka Onii-Chan!" She blushed nervously for some reason.
"It's not Onii-Chan anymore, But sergeant or kyokan. We are in the military after all. You have to address by our ranks or my role as instructor." Eugene reminded her as he was finishing the last touches.
"Ohh sorry about that, sergeant." She apologized.
"It's ok. You will get used to it eventually. Alright it's done." He set the comb down before she looked at it herself in the mirror.
"It's so beautiful. No one else's ponytails can look that beautiful except your work. Thank you, sergeant." She bowed.
"No worries. Now hurry along to the classroom, recruit Kureshima. I'm coming soon." He said before handing the comb back.
"I will. See you then, Onii-Chan!" She then took her bags and ran off.
"Sergeant! Not Onii-Chan!" The brother called back as he sighed. But he smiled abit. It was great seeing his 2nd sister again. And she's definitely grown up. It felt like a new Yuzu was born after all the pain in the ass she gave to me and Kashima in the past. He then headed towards the instructor's office as stated on the documents he had to collect the materials.
The youngest child of the Kureshimas skipped happily among the corridors. She had just seen her brother not too long ago and even fixed her hair. She knew herself as a shy girl when she first meets people but only opens up to her friends, and always feels at ease when her family members, her brother and sister was with her. But her life was about to change this very day she stepped foot into a military academy. She was prepared for the harsh training her brother and the ship crew is going to give for the first year as they have to be student sailors in their second and third years. Therefore, she had to put her best in performing all tasks in order to be fully independent.
Once her training was over, she will move on to becoming a blue mermaid, a government organization put aside from the actual navy. The blue mermaids has just been founded only a few years ago and this was particularly her, or every women's dream. And she was looking forward to be on the sea most of the time, even if her elder siblings wouldn't be there for her. Her room at the Kureshimas were filled with warship models, posters, books and even she had a piece from a actual warship, a float used for emergencies.
As she finally approached the classroom that read: Haguro cadets. She stopped infront of the door, and took out her mirror to make sure she looked good one more time before she took a deep breath and opened the door. She expected everyone to look at her since it was a military academy. She thought that everyone would be quiet and waited for their instructor to come but it wasn't what she thought.
It was a regular classroom scene. The very same regular classroom scene each Japanese student will walk into each day of school, just that this classroom was 2 times bigger than a regular.
The rest of the students or cadets were in groups already talking. They were looking at their handphones, while some talked about life. But some of the students preferred to be alone. Some of them were listening to their music on their earpieces or headphones, and some looking at the handbooks they were given at the registrations earlier when they were filling their particulars.
Particularly for Yuzuki, she was the one to do nothing. She headed towards a empty desk seated at the side but was at the front row. She put her belongings and stuff down and sat down and just waited for her brother, now a instructor to come. But while she waited, she decided to take out her dossier and see it once again.
Kureshima Yuzuki
Deputy-captain trainee
Heavy cruiser Haguro
It read.
"Woah! Your the deputy captain trainee?!" A voice spoke up.
"Eek!" Yuzuki jumped in fright before noticing that the voice came from behind her.
It was a girl that shared a similar appearance to her looks. But her wild brown hair that reaches to the middle of her back is what stood out from her black hair.
"H-hai..." Yuzuki said softly.
"So it looks like we have a shy deputy captain in the future after all." The brownette said while putting her hands behind her head.
"I-it's not like this! I-I want to change!" The youngest Kureshima blushed.
The brownette then laughed a bit. "You seem to be a interesting person." The girl winked.
"E-eh?" Was all Yuzuki could say.
"My name's Mitsuki Tachibana. I'm the assistant engineer for the Haguro. What's yours?" The said girl now known as Mitsuki introduced herself.
"Yuzuki Kureshima. Nice to meet you, Mitsuki-Chan." Yuzuki offered a handshake.
"Your pretty bold to use my first name immediately. But I like you, nice to meet you, Yuzuki. I hope we can get along as cadet mates. " Mitsuki then took her hand.
"L-likewise." Yuzuki replied.
"Alright! Everyone take your seats!" A male voice spoke this time. Both the girls turned around to see a older boy holding a tablet enter the classroom. He was accompanied by 2 girls, one that had black hair and one that had silver hair. For Mitsuki, she didn't know any of them but for Yuzuki, she recognized the 2 faces. The boy was her brother and the silver haired girl her sister. But she cannot just simply call them out now, for they are in a military academy now. The only chance she can call and talk to them casually would be when they are off duty.
Eugene walked into the classroom being accompanied by Iori and Kashima with tablets on our hands.
"Is every cadet for the Haguro class here?" He called out and looked at the students. They were seated upright but they seemed to be uneasy, probably because they were meeting with us for the first time, well particularly us as instructors. He counted all before agreeing in my mind that everyone was present.
"Captain!" Eugene called to the captain trainee of this new class that consisted of 50 cadets.
"Hai!" A male responded, assuming his role was the captain trainee. He looked at him. He had a short trim cut on his dark brown hair and had blue eyes. His name was Kazuraba Kito. How would he knew the captain's name? Earlier before we entered the class, I met up with the 2 girls and the other instructors that I had to tell them too and we looked through the name list in detail.
"Rise!" Kito ordered and the entire class stood up. "Salute!" The class followed suit.
We saluted back as a form of respect. "At ease." The students then put their hands down.
"Class. I'm your instructor for the next 12 months, Kureshima Eugene. But however, I don't like to be called as Kyokan. You guys address me by my rank, which is a sergeant. Understand?" Eugene said.
"Yes sergeant!" The class responded.
Eugene then began his introduction briefing. "I know you guys have come far, from graduating from your middle schools, you guys are now students of this academy. At this academy, it's not longer a regular high school u see back in your middle school days. You are now called recruits or cadets into the military. This academy follows the military closely so we practice military rules unlike the other naval high schools around the country. We don't tolerate nonsense here, whatever we do, we do it seriously like a naval sailor. If there's anything, you can ask the seniors or the instructors around. Your course for the next 12 months is to prepare you guys for nautical training, which is to take helm of a ship and sail out on your own without our help. Because for everyone, once you graduate, the girls become the blue mermaids, while the guys become part of the official navy. But you guys think wrong if the training is going to be easy. The preparations will be tough and difficult, just like military training. You came to this academy so be prepared for what's to come. I have seen students quitting the academy due to this reason. So for my first time as a instructor, I hope to see none of you guys quit. But you are more than welcome to do so. There will be times where it's tough, times where you get emotional, times when there is fun and most of all, time for your passion and talents to shine. So embrace these times now, because once your out there in the sea, there's no time for that." He took a deep breath before continuing.
"My crew is made up of 100 people. Only a 100 of us are managing the cruiser. So therefore, only a few of us are instructors at different sections. I'm your overall instructor but since you guys will be in different sections, you go to your specific instructor. I will introduce them to you now. Come in." Upon the call, the remaining crew who became instructors from orders walked in.
"First off there's me, Kureshima Eugene. I will be the bridge's instructor and the Captain of the Haguro at the same time."
"The next is the combat section. There's 2 instructors here. The artillery instructor is Shinsato Yasukazu and the other is Kanda China." Eugene gestured to the 2 who stepped out to the cadets. Shinsato who is a white haired male and China who has short red hair but wears a brown headband.
"The next is Navigation. There's 3 instructors. Megumi sakiyama, Kazuto Kiriyama and Oda Sekai." The 3 being called then stepped out.
"The next one is the engineers. There's 2 instructors. Kenneth Hayama Johnson and Keiko Sakura." The next 2 stepped out.
"The last is the logistics. 4 instructors from here. Kotori Kousaka, Akari ohsawa, Takeru takasu and Kyoko isomura." The last 4 then stepped out.
Eugene pointed to each one of them. "These guys will be your instructors when you guys are learning to operate the equipment on the ship. But, for your physical, Me, Deputy captain Iori and secretary Kashima will be your trainers."
"So therefore, I hope you guys will be able to learn from us, in order to operate on your own next year. We look forward to working with you." The crew together then bowed.
"We look forward to work with you too! Take care of us!" The students stood up and bowed back.
"Good. Your timetables for your lessons will be given within the next few days through your tablets you have gotten. If any further enquiries, please ask the instructors. If not, you guys will be given an hour's break, go to your assigned dormitories before I will see you guys at the running track, with your gym attire on. Understand?"
"Yes sergeant!" The students replied.
The captain nodded before heading out of the classroom with the deputy captain and secretary in tow.
"I need water. That was way too long." The boy felt his throat dry like as if he was in a drought.
"Hai. Here's some." Kashima handed her brother a bottle of water and he chugged half the bottle down.
"Long but a great speech captain." Iori said.
"Of course. It's a military high school academy after all. We follow the military rules. Alright you girls get changed and then we meet up back at the ship to discuss our plans for the physical later." He instructed.
"Yes captain." The 2 girls responded before we parted ways.
Yuzuki, having now heard everything, picked up her bags and walked out of the classroom to her assigned dormitory room.
"Yuzuki!" Mitsuki caught up to her.
"What is it Mitsuki-Chan?" The said girl asked.
"To think your brother would actually be a instructor. But he seems to be a senpai rather than a instructor don't you think?" Mitsuki said.
"I don't know what happened but he's our instructor so we can't talk back about that. Your room is different from mine right? So why are you following me?" Yuzuki asked.
"Who knows, but I just wanna accompany you till you reach your dorm rooms. After all, your the first friend I made in this school!" Mitsuki smiled.
"Friend huh? Well but we only have an hour to change to our gym clothes and head down to the running track. You don't have time if you follow me." Yuzuki reminded.
"Seems so. I can't help it then. See you at the track then, Yuzuki!" The brunette then took off.
Yuzuki waved back before going to her room. After a few minutes of walking, she reached her room and opened the door. In it was a simple set up with not much things: 2 double decker beds at the sides of the room with 2 steel cupboards beside the beds. The toilet was beside the right bed. A vanity table was beside the left bed with some papers which were a welcome notice and guide on the cupboards arrangement with some memo pads. And that's just it, nothing else. Nobody was around yet since she was one of the first few cadets to leave that classroom. So therefore, she had time to settle down. She decided to settle down on the lower part of the left bed before slowly taking out the necessary belongings following the guide and placed them inside the steel left cupboard. After which, she took out the necessary gym clothing to change. Because nobody was around, she decided to use this opportunity to undress herself before anyone else entered.
Quickly unbuttoning her uniform, she slipped on her gym shirt. But however, the door opened when she reached for the shorts. It was a male who was at the front. They said pretty much nothing but Yuzuki felt her face heat up and all she could was...
Scream.
"AHHHHHHHH!" The male then quickly closed the door. Unlike the old Yuzuki, the new one quickly put on her shorts rather than stand there in a daze.
"Y-you can come in now!" She said.
The door then opened to reveal the same male and 2 other females.
"Are you okay?" One of the girls asked.
"H-hai. I'm fine." Yuzuki replied but still felt her face burning.
"Look here you fool. Why didn't you knock in the first place?" The other girl then grabbed the male by the neck.
"I-I thought nobody was in there!" The male protested.
"Don't give me shit. Even so! It's courtesy to knock on a door to a room you have never been in before!" The girl said.
"I-I'm sorry about it. I'm sorry about it too!" The male then apologized.
"I-it's okay. It's my fault anyways. I should have locked the door." Yuzuki tried to assure it off.
"The matter is closed so why not just let it go?" The other girl said as she settled down to the lower part of the opposite bed.
"Fine. Just don't do it again promise?" The girl who grabbed the male earlier said to him.
"H-hai!" He nodded.
"Are you the deputy captain trainee?" The settled down girl asked.
"H-hai!" She nodded.
"I'm the artillery officer trainee, Kirisaki Chouko. It's nice meeting you, Deputy captain Kureshima. " Chouko introduced herself with a handshake.
"Just call me Yuzuki. That would be better." Yuzuki said.
"I'm the torpedo officer trainee, Meiko Hinata. Call me Hinata!" Meiko then shook her hand.
"I'm the captain trainee, Kazuraba Kito. Nice to meet you, Yuzuki-San." Kito then shook her hand.
"Now that we all know each other, let's get along as bridge mates shall we?" Meiko said.
"Hai!" Yuzuki smiled, knowing that her bridge mates weren't that bad after all. And she was glad she didn't put her shy act anymore.
"Meiko. We gotta change to our gym uniform so let's make it quick for Captain here." Chouko said.
"Hai hai." Meiko then reached for her bags and took out her gym clothes before she entered the toilet.
After a good 30 minutes, everyone was ready to depart. Their belongings all settled into the cupboards and themselves just except one problem.
"Chouko, your hair..." Yuzuki pointed out to Chouko's long purple hair.
"O-oh I didn't notice it! Hang on..." Chouko then opened her bags again but flew into a much more panic. "I didn't bring my hair ties! Ahh what should I do..." She was in a cold sweat now knowing that gym activity will mess up her hair. Yuzuki laughed at this because just much earlier ago, her own one was messed up and her brother fixed it so it's time she become that brother of that scene now.
"I have extra hair ties so I will lend you one. Go sit at the table, I will help you." Yuzuki said as she pulled out a yellow bow hair tie from her bag.
"T-Thanks a lot! Yuzuki-channnn." Chouko comically cried.
"Hai hai. Don't cry already. Come on." She then got to work.
After awhile, she was ready. Chouko looked at herself with her high ponytail now in place with the yellow bow. Her long bangs were also clipped up.
"It looks pretty! Thanks Yuzuki-Chan!" Chouko smiled.
"Glad you liked it. Now let's go shall we?" Yuzuki said.
"Hai!" The rest replied as they headed out to the courtyard. Yuzuki was the last to leave, she checked the room one last time before smiling and closing it.
Now, she is a no longer a ordinary girl, but a trainee girl that is ready to be trained to be a blue mermaid.
No, her training starts now!
(Cue High free spirits by Trysail)
(Instrumentals) The opening begins with a fast travelling motion of the waters before it showed the Tokyo marine naval academy. The scene then switches to the different parts of the school before showing the Haguro before it pans up to the sky and revealing the logo.
(Shizuka ni moeru sekai hajimari wa koko kara yozora ga owari wo tsugeru toki) The scene then starts with a young Yuzuki playing with the young Eugene and the already grown Kashima at a playground before the 2 of them dissapears. Yuzuki then stands up and saw a warship in the distance and she grew happy. As she turned around, it reveals her high school looks as she now looks at the entrance of the Tokyo marine naval academy.
(Hitosuji no hikari ga mune ni himeta koe ga tokihanatsu yami wo saite) Eugene and Kashima are seen walking at the academy's hallways, each carrying documents before they looked out at a window to see their younger sister running towards the building. The scene shifts to Yuzuki running to her classroom before she opens the doors.
(Kareru yori isso chiri isogu sugata mayoi aruku sube wo) Section by section, the crew and their trainees are introduced before the main cast, the crew of the bridge comes in along with their trainees.
(Sen no nami ni nomareta kokoro ja kimi sae mamorenai) The scene changes to Yuzuki and Eugene both wearing their respective hats before they met each other in the ship's corridors as they both went up to the bridge with Eugene giving off the command signal to sail.
(Hibike tashika na shoudou nariyamanu you ni wasurerarenu kizu wo nokoshite) The scene switches to the Haguro now sailing in the waters before it shows Eugene giving off the signal as the gun turrets all rotated 90 degrees to the left. The artillery and torpedo officers and their trainees give the signal to go. Both deputy captains give the ok signal and Eugene signals the ship to fire at the enemy vessel.
(Ima mo kasuka na zanzou kienai mama de sekai ga matteru asu no ubugoe wo) The scene then showed a fleet of Scarlet one vessels before a girl from one of the battleship classes stood up showing her determined eyes. Planes launched from the ships as they attacked the Haguro but the ship's anti-aircraft fire slowly took them down.
(Hibike tashika na shoudou kienai mama de sou mirai to kako ga kousa suru hyakunen me no uta) A Scarlet one battleship aims its cannons at the Haguro as the Haguro accompanied by 2 destroyers turned swiftly and charged at the battleship and then revealing some beam cannons before they fired.
(Instrumentals) The scene then showed each of the bridge's crew's gritting expression before it showed a picture of the Haguro facing off Scarlet one's fleet.
(Onto the next chapter of The black steel fleet!)
"You think it's possible?"
"This is no trial. You operate the equipment and I observe."
"The enemy won't wait so you have to react fast."
"This training is nothing compared to the ones I had! I can do this!"
"Whoever fails, gets it from me."
Whew, and all done! That was the premise of The black steel fleet! Now I know I know there is a lot of things going on in here so I will try my best to simplify.
This story is set in the haifuri world BUT it's my own version so no bullshit on the fact that no aircrafts existed. And this story is set before the main events of the haifuri anime series. So the main cast that you guys have seen will appear much later so for now, its just OC's. There is also elements from the other 2 ship anime series that I have watched, Arpeggio of blue steel and Kantai collection. That's why at the beginning the descriptions for Kashima, akebono and kamikaze are the descriptions of what they looked like in Kantai collection.
There was a lot going on in my mind when thinking how this story will start off and I decided that I will base it off a Japanese drama I have recently watched but I won't mention what it is. So this training regimental will last for quite awhile before the main story of haifuri kicks off that will tie in with this series. And the opening is huge ass spoiler for what's to come.
What will happen next to Yuzuki's training regimental? Well you will have to find out yourselves. Also, this story might have long chapter waits because I have to think and research before I write a new chapter. Do check out my other stories, Hyperdimension drive and The Ghost hunter of Halkeginia too! They will be updated every now and then! So I will see you in the next chapter of TBSF! Peace!