Kantai Collection © Kadokawa Games, DMM

Danshaku and Vitelotte

Jason M. Lee

"She's coming to visit! She's coming to visit! Yay, she's coming to visit!" Fubuki sang repeatedly, twirling every so often after crossing the threshold to her shared dorm. "Eeee!"

Mutsuki blinked up from the after action report she was working on. "What's with you, Fubuki-chan?"

A sigh from her fellow destroyer. "Apparently, Fubuki-chan has an American cousin, poi," Yuudachi answered, closing the door behind her.

"She's coming to visit!"

"I didn't know Fubuki-chan had any other relatives, much less ones outside Japan." Intrigued, Mutsuki put down her pen.

"Eeee!" Another twirl that sent the Special-type destroyer pirouetting across the room.

"Neither did she, poi." Yuudachi flopped onto the tatami, red eyes closing, exhausted from constantly making sure her division mate didn't crash into anyone else in the halls all the while apologizing to those that weren't as lucky. "Her father's side, according to that weird DNA testing kit thing she bought online some time back, poi."

"Yaaay~"

"Oh, that's right. They've been advertising those kind of kits lately." Mutsuki had seen the commercials briefly whenever she had passed by the general recreation room, usually playing when someone had switched over to the US channels. The name ship of the Mutsuki-class destroyers then did a double take. "Wait, kanmusu can use that test?"

A weak shrug, one hand lazily reaching out and grabbing a cracker. "Akashi-san had gotten curious, and grabbed a mix of Natural Borns and Summons after Admiral Goto cleared it, poi."

"For Science," the older destroyer wryly guessed. Mutsuki had tuned out Fubuki, who was still dancing and singing about like the time after Akagi had given her a headpat.

"For Science, poi."

"And the results?"

"Summoned kanmusu kept messing up the test results, which Akashi-san kind of expected, poi (something about oil and other mechanical fluids). Natural Borns obviously worked, and, well..."

"As the Americans put it, things snowballed from there."

"Yup. Apparently, Fubuki-chan got curious and wanted to dig deeper. And that's how we found out she has a cousin in America, poi."

"We've actually been corresponding over Skype and emails for a while," Fubuki interrupted, face flushed and still smiling as she also flopped down onto the tatami. "I wasn't all that sure if the DNA testing was correct the first time, so when Akashi-san asked for volunteers, I jumped at the chance to make sure that it wasn't just a fluke. I also had Aoba-san-"

"EH?!" exploded from both Mutsuki and Yuudachi, the latter nearly choking on her cracker.

"-to help double check the paperwork." Fubuki poured herself a cup of tea, ignoring the interruption and taking a sip.

"But... Aoba-san... her newsletter..." Mutsuki sputtered.

"Yeah! She writes those silly articles that gets her into trouble almost all the time, poi! Why would you go to her for something like that, poi?"

A quirked eyebrow over the cup's rim. "Her exaggerated reporting aside, she actually has some pretty good investigative skills. I did find in the Japanese Immigration Bureau's records that my cousin's - and my father's family registry - ancestors were originally from Hakodate. But I didn't know where they went after immigrating to America, and I wasn't sure where to start looking in the American immigration system."

"Wait a minute." Mutsuki held up a hand. "Why and how would Aoba-san know the American immigration system? It's not something she'd normally report on, even with American Natural Born kanmusu stationed here in Japan."

A shrug from Fubuki. "She said that any good reporter should know at least the basics on a variety of things, and research is the first step. I think she had been considering a fluff article on Natural Born families to help out PR, so as to make things easier for the public when new Natural Borns are found. You know people have moved around a lot more between countries ever since, Mutsuki-chan."

"True, that." Mutsuki still had the occasional trouble with most of the modern day Japanese norms that either didn't exist or had shifted since she was a steel hull. It was a common sentiment shared between the Summons, even with classes on the modern day world held by either JSDF/USN instructors or a Natural Born. "So, do you know when your cousin will be visiting?"

Fubuki regained her energy, eyes practically sparkling. "She's trying to figure out her schedule, as she's in the USN, but we both think it'll be with the next convoy from Pearl. I can't wait to introduce her!"

Given that Yokosuka was home port to Seventh Fleet, Mutsuki and Yuudachi didn't give much more thought that Fubuki's cousin was a US sailor, other than sighing exasperatedly at the squealing that commenced.

~0~0~

"Nee-chan's been quite... bouncy lately, isn't she?" Shirayuki whispered to Hatsuyuki, as they waited at the receiving docks.

The third Fubuki-class destroyer eyed her sister-ship warily, who was practically vibrating in place and causing some of the other ship girls to shift away nervously. "Yeah... All I know is that her cousin is coming in with this convoy."

"That's it?"

A shrug. Hatsuyuki had been hoping to just laze away in front of her computer on the Internet, but somehow got dragged out by her overly excited older sister-ship who wouldn't take no for an answer. "Nee-san was rather tight-lipped about it, kept saying that she wanted it to be a surprise for us." Hatsuyuki then frowned, something niggling her intel officers. "Except something's weird..."

"What is it?" Already, their lookouts could see glimpses of the arriving steel ships and ship girls.

The former flagship of DesDiv 11 gestured around them, composing mostly that of the usual greeting crowd and Mutsu, who was substituting for Nagato as secretary ship that day. "If Fubuki-nee's American cousin is a US sailor and she wanted us to meet her, then why are we waiting at the docks for receiving kanmusu? Instead of at the docks for the actual ships that allows them to disembark?"

Shiryauki opened her mouth to reply, but paused, thinking over it. "Now that you mentioned it, that is strange."

"OII~II!" Fubuki suddenly called out, one arm waving as the cargo ships began separating away for the ports for unloading. "Oii~ii! Oii~ii!"

A faint "HE~EY!" returned back from one figure in the arriving squadron.

Shirayuki's eyes widened at a realization. "No way, that can't be right..."

Hatsuyuki's lips twitched. "Guess we'll find out."

As the American squadron drew closer, the recognizable figure of Iowa became clearer, as well the rest of the Americans. Most were familiar faces of those that came by often depending on rotation, some were new members. However, almost every one of the JMSDF ship girls had immediately locked their rangefinders on one particular ship girl, if only because of her face. Seeing the bug-eyed looks on the Japanese ship girls, Iowa pretty much grinned but said nothing as she pulled up, giving a mischievous wink to Mutsu, who hid her smile behind her hand. Fubuki looked about ready to leap off of the concrete when she spotted the newest carrier, easily identified by her flight deck.

"Yatta! You finally made it!"

A laugh from the tall carrier, slinging her M1903 Springfield back over her shoulder and adjusting her flight deck so as to clasp Fubuki's hands in greeting. "I finally did! It's nice to actually meet you in person, Setsuko!"

"Me, too! Oh, there's this nikujaga recipe I want you to try that's from Hakodate dating back to the Meiji!"

"Really?! Neat! Grandma wanted you to try her gratin dauphinois recipe that's been in the family for years and is the best!"

"That's gre-"

"WHOA, TIME OUT! TIME! OUT!" Amagiri shouted, putting her hands into a "T" position. "Fubuki, who the heck is she?! You've been going on about introducing us to your cousin, but you haven't spit out any actual information and we've been sailing in the dark with no navigation equipment or destination! So spill!"

The Japanese weren't the only ones wondering, as some of the Americans were also sharing looks of confusion with each other. Mutsu looked ready to blow out her boilers from trying not to laugh, while Iowa was still grinning away.

Hazel green eyes blinked before Fubuki started giggling, prompting additional giggles from the new American carrier. "Ah, gomen, gomen, Amagiri-chan!" Coughing once, Fubuki straightened up, all the while smiling and gestured with a hand. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my cousin from my father's side, Helen Hayatake Sprague of Seville, Ohio."

Standing to attention and delivering a sharp salute, the professionalism was somewhat marred by the barely contained excitement in glittering blue eyes. "Fifth ship of the Essex-class aircraft carriers, USS Intrepid, CV-11! Shall we go forth together?"

Silence, save the for the regular sounds of dock work and seagulls.

Amagiri summed up the only response available. "WHAT."

Mutsu and Iowa finally burst out laughing.

A/N: This was in response to a post by Harry Leferts at the KC Fanfic Idea and Recs thread at Spacebattles after Intrepid was revealed in the Winter 2018 Event: "Once more, I cannot help but imagine a Natural Born Fubuki being excited that her American cousin is coming to the base, much to the confusion of various other shipgirls there (especially the Japanese ones)... and it turns out that said cousin is also a Natural Born and is Intrepid."

Danshaku is a variety of potatoes that grows up in Hokkaido, named in honor of Baron Ryukichi Kawata (baron = 男爵 danshaku), who was also the senior executive of an agricultural company in Hakodate in the late Meiji Period. Vitelotte is a gourmet variety of potatoes from France, also called "vitelotte noire", cultivated in France since the 19th century. Intrepid's earliest predecessor was USS Intrepid (1798), originally built for Napoleon's Egyptian expedition before being captured by USS Enterprise (1799), while serving in Tripoli under the name Mastico in 1803. Given the French connection, the vitelotte's earliest reference by name was 1812, nine years before Napoleon's death.

You can look up a quick summary at the Japan Times: "The storied history of the potato in Japanese cooking".

Nikujaga is a type of Japanese beef and potato stew, while gratin dauphinois is a French potato dish (the traditional version doesn't use cheese).

"Helen" is from Intrepid (CV-11) sponsor Helen Smith Hoover, wife of USN Vice Admiral John H. Hoover, while "Sprague" is obviously USN Vice Admiral Thomas L. Sprague who commanded her for a time. "Hayatake" is written with the kanji 勇猛, from 勇猛心 yuumoushin for "intrepid spirit". As for Ohio, it still has a sizeable French American population, while Illinois has a Japanese community in Arlington Heights near Chicago with the Chicago Futabakai Japanese School. Setsuko = 雪子, as the on'yomi of 雪 is "setsu" and せっ "Sett-" when used in a name.

And yes, there's actually a book on the history of potatoes: The Potato Book by Alan Romans.