Auxiliary Vessels: One-Shots about KanMusu* that were not built for frontline naval combat. Based off of real World War Two-era Auxiliary Ships and the events that occured during their service time, except now during the Abyssal War. Some stories will be longer and some will be shorter, mainly depending on the ship(s) in question. Enjoy.
*ALL characters are of my creation, except for those already established in the Kantai Collection canon. I do not claim ownership of Kantai Collection or its established Characters. Also, feel free to suggest a ship in your reviews and I will see if I can do a chapter on her in the future.
Chapter 1: The (Other) Japanese Repair Ship
Part 1: Learning From Your Youngers:
- It was a beautiful and calm Tuesday morning at the Yokosuka Naval Base on Japan's eastern shores. The birds were out and chirping and the rolling hills off in the distance were beginning to turn green, signalling the beginning of springtime. A moist and cool ocean breeze, one of the last remnants of the winter, lightly blew its way from the sea towards the inland. Through all of this, the Japanese Navy's Repair Ship, Akashi, was making her way to the Admiral's Office to answer his request for her appearance.
Since she spent most of her days down in the Workshop or in the Repair Pools, Akashi made sure to take her time in arriving to her destination. Walking through the Naval Base's Park often improved her mood, so she took great liberty to slowly and happily skip through the grass, making sure she stopped often to breathe in the fresh air. She wouldn't know when she would next have the chance to do so.
As she neared the end of the park, Akashi spotted a small patch of blooming flowers off of the stone path ahead to the right. As she got closer to it, one particular specimine caught her eye: A small, lone red flower among a slew of green and yellow ones. She stopped and bent down to pluck it from the ground.
'You're quite beautiful, aren't you young flower... Oh, if only the Navy needed biological research vessels.' Akashi thought to herself as she twirled the flower gently between her forefinger and thumb.
While Akashi loved her work, she often resented being the only person that was capable of maintaining the Repair Baths and performing the more surgical fixes for the fleet girls. The only other KanMusu that could possibly help her, the Light Cruiser Yuubari, was usually tasked with weapons and technology development in the Research Center on the other side of the Base. Thus, Akashi was forced to perform the repairs and maintenance of the fleet alone. It was a lot of work, and it definitely took its toll on her, both mentally and physically.
She also loved botany, and spent what little free time she had reading books and browsing the internet about different plant species as well as many aspects of plant life. Since a university degree in Phytology was completely out of the question due to her circumstances, she could only ever consider it as an amateur hobby.
Sighing heavily as her attention returned to her orders, Akashi placed the flower she had picked in her hair above her right ear. She then slowly continued the trek to the Admiral's Office.
Upon arriving in the lobby of the Administrative Offices building, the Battleship Mutsu waved to her from behind the reception counter.
"Here to see the Admiral~?" Mutsu asked playfully as Akashi walked up to her.
"Yeah, he called me here for something. I'm hoping beyond hope that he tells me he's giving me some time off of work."
Mutsu giggled, "Well, not quite, but I think you'll be quite pleased nonetheless."
"Whatever you say!" Akashi responded, smiling.
Walking past Mutsu and proceeding down the hallway and to the left, she passed the locked and darkened 'Sorties and Operations' room (with a patrolling Musashi inside!) and came up to the Command Cruiser Ooyodo's personal desk just outside of the Admiral's Office.
Ooyodo, however, was nowhere to be seen, so Akashi decided to knock on the Office door herself.
~Knock, knock~
"Enter!" She heard the Admiral say. So, she let herself in.
Before her was the usual sight in the Admiral's Office: The Admiral himself was seated behind his large U-shaped desk, all of his papers and files neatly stacked and sorted; the Battleship Nagato, his longtime Secretary and Second-in-Command, was standing behind and to the right of the Admiral (from Akashi's point of view, that is) leaning against the wall next to the grand window at the end of the room; and Ooyodo was off to the left side of the room, with the usual stack of papers and folders on a clipboard in one hand, and an ink pen in the other. Lastly, the Destroyer Fubuki's desk, as normal, was empty and dust-ridden, save for a framed photograph of her and a neatly typed note taped onto the wooden surface that read, 'Starter Ship Fubuki, You Always Did Your Best. 1927-1942 and 2013-2017. Rest In Peace.'
Something quite unusual about the otherwise normal scene was a woman standing in front of the Admiral's desk that Akashi had never seen before. Because of the rigging that was strapped to her back, it was immediately apparent that she was a recently summoned KanMusu, but her class, type, and role were up for debate. She was about the size of one of the modern heavy cruisers, possibly a little larger, with Japanese facial features and long black hair that was tied together at the very end. Her rigging was rather large with warship-type designs and features, but it had no large calibre guns. Instead it only sported a few outdated 80mm dual-purpose cannons and some 25mm and 13mm anti-aircraft weapons. No flight deck was visible, but Akashi did notice a pair of cranes protruding from either side of the woman's shoulders. Perhaps she was some kind of seaplane tender?
The woman very much resembled Mizuho's looks, in fact, but she also possessed an elderly and motherly aura similar to that of Houshou or Mamiya. As Akashi walked closer to address the Admiral, it became clear that this mystery woman was indeed a much older ship-girl than anyone else on the Base.
The Admiral stood up and smiled, "Welcome Akashi. I believe that we have some important things to discuss."
The unknown woman gasped and turned to face Akashi. She covered her mouth with her hands at the mention of Akashi's name. Her eyes gleamed with happiness as she struggled to hold back tears.
Akashi was dumbfounded at her reaction. "Admiral, may I ask who this woman is?"
"Yes." The Admiral responded as he began walking around to the front of his desk, "She is why I asked you to come here. This is the Repair Ship Asahi, you may remember her from the distant past."
Upon hearing the name, Akashi's mind ventured back to August of 1939, shortly after her commissioning in her metallic form. She remembered working alongside an old warship of some kind that had been converted to repair duties, with the pair performing maintenance on ships together for a few years in Japan. Akashi never caught her name, but her crew gained a lot of valuable experience from the already seasoned crew of the other repair ship. This lasted until March of 1942, when that ship departed for Singapore and never returned home. Akashi never heard what had happened to her, but she assumed she had been sunk.
Akashi and her crew worked alone in repairing the fleet for the rest of the war until her demise came on March 30, 1944 from American dive bombers in the Palau Islands after attempting to escape from Truk Atoll to the Philippines.
Holding back a chill from that particular memory, Akashi looked at the woman, now revealed to be Asahi, with steady eyes.
"Asahi... You were that other ship weren't you? The one that trained my crew before the War?"
"Yes, I was. It's so good to see you again, I thought I never would." Asahi replied as she embraced Akashi with a warm, sincere hug.
Akashi returned the embrace, and as tears welled up in her eyes she wondered if this was what it felt like to view someone as their 'mother'. After all, this woman did teach her everthing in the beginning and was most likely the main reason that she survived that disaster of a War for as long as she did.
'I'm sure it is, or something close to it.' She thought to herself, her heart feeling warmer than ever before.
After a few moments, the pair let go of each other and returned their attention to the Admiral, who was smiling brightly.
"It's good to see that you both will get along so well." He said, "I am also glad that we now have another Repair Ship in the fleet, as I know that all of the work is very difficult for one ship to accomplish. I'm just sorry that we couldn't summon her sooner."
"No problem, Admiral!" Akashi responded cheerfully, wiping a few lingering tears away from her eyes and grabbing a hold of Asahi's hand, "We've got this covered from now on!"
Silence filled the room for a moment before Asahi cleared her throat.
"Ahm..."
"About that." The Admiral stated worriedly, adjusting his hat. "You see, when Asahi was summoned, her rigging was that of when she was a Repair Ship, but her mindset is that from when she was still a warship."
"So, I've forgotten nearly everything when it comes to healing our kindred." Asahi interrupted, "It appears that this time you will need to train me, if you would have me?"
Akashi allowed this proposition to sink in for a moment, 'This will almost certainly put a dent in some of my work output.' She thought, 'But in the end I will have more free time to get everything done since Asahi would be able to take some of the work-load off of me. Not to mention, I would get to have more off time and be able to study botany more... But most importantly, I will be able to repay the service that she paid to me all of those years ago...'
Needless to say, her decision was quite easy.
"Sir, it would be more than an honor to retrain the one who first trained me." Akashi declared with a big grin.
"Then it's settled!" The Admiral shouted in approval. "I'll make sure that Asahi's accomodations will be ready by tonight. I'm giving you both the rest of the day off, so make sure to show her around the base and introduce her to as many of the girls as you can manage, and please be ready for tomorrow."
With that, the Admiral returned to his seat and began typing on his computer and making phone calls.
Akashi, overwhelmed with joy and excitement, skipped over to the door.
"Come on Asahi, let's go and get to work!" She said, holding the door open for her new partner.
"Yes, let's."
And they walked out together.
Part 2: What the Past Brings:
- The next morning Akashi awoke with, for the first time in a long time, a clear and relaxed mind. The remainder of the previous day had been spent showing Asahi around the base, including the Repair Baths, the Workshop, Mamiya's Cafeteria, various leisure and relaxation areas, and finally her new living quarters.
Today was to be the start of Asahi's official re-training process, and hopefully a new and prosperous friendship between two old partners. Not wanting to waste any more time, Akashi leaped out of bed at 6:45 AM and quickly got ready for the day ahead. Not 5 minutes later, with a final check of her hair, she bolted out of the door and down the hallway to Asahi's new living space.
Not thinking properly, mainly out of her excitement, Akashi opened the door without knocking.
"Good morning Asahi! Are you ready to start your training!?"
Silence.
Puzzled, Akashi looked around and saw that Asahi was knelt down on a rug in the middle of the floor off to the left, completely unfazed by her method of entry.
"Erm... Asahi?"
There was still no response from the woman, and awkwardness began to fill the air.
"Oh, sorry. Well, I'll see you down in the Workshop in a little bit." Akashi said, now completely red-faced and embarassed.
She quickly and quietly exited the room and made her way down to the Workshop for 7:00 AM to start her daily routine of warming up all of the machines and tools: First came the conveyor belt system that connected the Workshop to the Repair Docks, then came the furnaces and various other contraptions and machines. Finally, Akashi hooked up the numerous power tools that she used on a daily basis and made sure that they all still ran, then she procceded to begin filling out the daily log.
This process took nearly 30 minutes, and the time was now 7:30 AM. Since the day's operations didn't start until 8:00 AM, Akashi decided to run down to Mamiya's for a quick to-go breakfast.
On a sticky note she hastily wrote, "Went for breakfast, will be back very soon. -Akashi" just in case Asahi arrived while she was gone.
Jogging out of the Workshop and down the way to the Cafeteria, she wondered how long it would take for Asahi to come down to work.
'It would be best for her to arrive at 8:00 AM so I could at least have some time to show her all of the equipment and tools before the first operation ends and we get to work on repairs.' Akashi hoped to herself as she opened the door to Mamiya's.
Walking up to the counter where Mamiya herself stood ready to take orders, Akashi was delighted to see that the normally long line of ship-girls (mostly destroyers) had cleared out and were already seated with their food. So, she walked up unopposed to place her order.
"Good morning Mamiya, I'll have the egg and rice breakfast meal with American sausage, to-go please?" Akashi asked with a big smile.
"Anything to drink with that?" Mamiya asked as she quickly wrote the order down.
"Nah, I'm stocked up on drinks in the Workshop as it is."
"That's fine!" Mamiya replied cheerfully as she handed the order to her assistant Irako, who in turn yelled it out to the kitchen staff.
"ONE EGG AND RICE BREAKFAST WITH GAIJIN SAUSAGE, TO-GO!"
Within moments the clattering of cooking utensils filled the air of the kitchen and echoed out into the Cafeteria. Meanwhile, Mamiya opened her log book and checked off Akashi's name.
"Well, it looks like you're my last customer of the morning. Everyone else has already received their breakfast.' Mamiya said with delight.
"Everyone? Even our new arrival?" Akashi asked.
"Oh, are you talking about you're new work partner? Yes, she came here. In fact, she is still sitting over there. She ordered a rather large meal, which I did not expect." Mamiya replied as she pointed off to a far corner of the Cafeteria where, sure enough, Asahi was taking her time eating a large plate of rice and other foods stacked on top.
"Thanks, Mamiya. Holler at me when my food is ready, I need to go talk to her about being late." Akashi replied with a slight hint of impatience.
"Oh, her first discipline? Now, don't be too hard on her. She seems like a traditional lady, and you know that they like to have a strict schedule for themselves. Try to work it out first!"
Akashi hesitated for a moment. She hadn't really given it thought that the age and cultural differences between herself and Asahi would impact their work. Despite the two of them being Japanese, they lived in radically different times and were influenced by them accordingly.
Of course, over time Asahi would open up to this modern world, just as all of the other girls had, but that could take months or even years. Akashi had to come up with a way to convince her to arrive earlier to work, or at least get her to eat her rather large breakfast at the Workshop instead of the Cafeteria.
"Hey, Asahi." She started as she arrived at her table, "I didn't know you would come here first. I was going to show you the daily process that I go through to prepare for the day."
Asahi looked up from her meal with a disappointed look.
"I'm sorry my dear Akashi. I didn't expect work to start so early. Back in my day we had at least an hour of meditation and prayer time before the work day began."
"No, It's fine! It's just that we don't exactly have that now. Our work day starts at 8:00 AM and continues for the rest of the day, and sometimes even into the night." Akashi responded as she sat down across the table.
"I'm terribly sorry. Please accept my apologies. From now on I will arrive at 7:30 AM to begin work. You can show me the warming up process tomorrow. Today I am eager to re-learn the ways of healing our sisters-in-arms!" Asahi declared with a strong voice.
"Sure, 7:30 AM is fine from now on. There are only a few sorties and expeditions planned for today, so you should definitely get some practice before the big days ahead. The first expedition for today is at 8:00 AM, so please try to be at the Workshop before then." Akashi replied, relieved that Asahi was quick to change her ways for her.
"Yes, I promise." Asahi said, bowing her head before continuing to eat.
Just then, Mamiya yelled out, "Akashi, your order!"
"Well, I've got to go get my food and then go back to the Workshop. I'll wait for you there. Whatever happens, we will make this work, okay." Akashi stated with reasurrance.
"Yes, we will. I, the Battlesh... I mean, the Repair Ship Asahi will make sure to follow your example!"
With a chuckle and a smile, Akashi stood and left the table to grab her breakfast.
'So, she was a Battleship once, huh? That should prove an interesting topic for the future.' Akashi thought as she left the Cafeteria for the Workshop.
Part 3: Memories Unfolded:
- As Akashi licked her chopsticks clean, she heard the doors to the Workshop creak open. Her new workmate had finally decided to show up. The time was now 7:57 AM, and the daily operations were about to begin.
"You ready?" Akashi asked as she put on her gloves and hard hat.
"Yes, show me everything that is necessary and I will do my best!" Asahi replied.
Luckily, Akashi had just enough time to show off most of the basic duties that Asahi would be performing and how to do them. She reserved the more complicated matters to herself, at least until she had trained her partner enough to where she could be trusted with more serious matters.
Needless to say, the first day went off without a hitch! Asahi quickly got into a rhythm, sending out Instant Repair Buckets when asked and quickly cleaning the Repair Pools after one of the girls had finished using one so another could quickly go in after.
Of course, she did occasionally get lost and had to ask where a certain tool was or where fresh towels were located from time to time. Akashi didn't mind, as she was already way ahead of schedule compared to when she worked alone.
Hours later, just after 11:30 AM, Yuubari made her way into the Workshop, just as Asahi was leaving to attend to the latest batch of girls at the Repair Pools. The two nearly ran into each other in the doorway.
"Oh, m-my apologies Miss." Asahi said as she bowed in respect.
"No worries!" Yuubari replied cheerfully. "You go ahead, I gotta talk to Akashi for a moment."
Raising her head and saying nothing, Asahi quickly walked out of the door and down to the Repair Pools.
"You like her?" Yuubari asked as the doors slammed shut.
"Of course! She's an ex-battleship apparently, so she eats a lot and has a strict personal schedule that affects when she shows up to work, but that's about it. She doesn't ask questions or complain about the work. It's not really that much work yet anyway, I'm still doing the complex stuff. I'll teach her everything in due time."
"An ex-battleship you say? What's her name?" Yuubari asked inquisitively.
"Her name is Asahi. A name oddly similar to mine, now that I think about it, but we are far from sister ships. We just happen to share the same role."
"OH! I think I know her! She's a Pre-Dreadnought, or at least she was. I believe she is a Tsushima veteran."
"A Tsushima veteran?!" Akashi exclaimed, "That's awesome! But how do you know that? All of that stuff happened way before you or I even existed."
"Well, shortly after I was commissioned in my metal form in 1923, I remember seeing her being used as a tender ship or something... And by 'seeing', I mean nearly running into her when I was returning to harbor after one of my trial runs. Being a new type of ship design and all, those sailors didn't really know how to use me quite yet." Yuubari replied, with a hint of a smirk at that last statement.
"Yeah, you are pretty hard to get used too." Akashi replied playfully.
"Oh, whatever." Yuubari scoffed, "Anyway I had a lot of free time in the 20's and 30's to get to know everyone, even you. So that's how I know her, but you should definitely ask her about herself during lunch today. I'm sure she would love to spill some of those old memories."
"I definitely will. I never knew anything about her back then, and I would love to get to know her now."
"That's great." Yuubari smiled, "By the way, I came here to ask if you have a spare welding mask. I broke mine earlier by accidentally sitting on it."
"You sat on it? That's impossible! You must have modified your stern or something to be able to do that." Akashi teased.
"Are you trying to say that I don't have a butt?!" Yuubari steamed rather angrily, while also grabbing her nearly non-existant rear in embarassment.
"Haha! I'm just jokeing Yuubari! The spare masks are over there." Akashi pointed to a large table with lots of protective equipment, with many welding masks neatly placed in a row that spanned the length of the table.
Yuubari walked over and grabbed the first one in line, "I'm sorry for getting loud, and thanks for the mask. I'll get out of your hair now. Maybe now that you have some help in here, we can get back to working on that hydroponics project of ours again in your spare time, eh?"
"Maybe so, but it'll still have to wait awhile. See you later girl."
"Don't you forget! Bye now." Yuubari yelled as she left the Workshop.
As the doors slammed shut once again, Akashi sighed as she finished repairing Nagato's head gear. Somehow, she had got it jammed in one of the destroyers' chest armor pieces on her last mission. Oddly, this seemed to happen quite a lot, and while most of the time it seemed accidental, under some circumstances it often sent Akashi's mind into a dilema.
'That whole Nagamon thing is just an internet meme, right?' She often questioned to herself, to which she always answered, 'Yes, it must be. There is no way an honorable warship like Nagato could be such a pervert, especially to young destroyers. It's probably just the work of deranged teenagers online who want to make fun of her... NO! It's got to be the work of some filthy Abyssals looking to discredit her name through the power of the World Wide Web!'
At any rate, she radioed Asahi a few moments later over their walkie-talkies, "Hey, when you're done in the Pools, I need you to come back here to run an errand for me and then we will head to lunch together."
"Right away."
Not 30 seconds later, Asahi walked into the Workshop. She hadn't even broke a sweat despite treking back and forth from the Workshop and the Repair Pools over a dozen times now.
"Alright, all I need you to do is to take this to Nagato in the Admiral's Office. If nobody's there, just leave it on his desk, then meet me at Mamiya's for lunch. Ok?"
"I will go as quickly as my boilers will allow me." Asahi replied with a smile.
As she turned and left the Workshop, Akashi proceeded to make sure that everything else was taken care of so she could get out of there herself. She had noticed that her stomach was rumbling much louder than usual, and the light pains from her hunger made it frustrating to work and hard to concentrate.
"I've got to start eating bigger breakfasts." She said aloud as she rubbed her belly, "But no matter, time to head out!"
Rushing over to Mamiya's Cafeteria, Akashi saw that Asahi was already waiting outside. Silently, she stood up from the bench and walked inside, Akashi quickly following. The ordering line was relatively short, with only a handful of destroyers as well as the Heavy Cruisers Aoba and Kinugasa ahead of them. Without warning, Aoba turned around, camera in hand, and snapped a photo of Asahi and giggled to herself.
"Aoba! That's not very kind. Why don't you ask a person for permission before you just photograph them?" Kinugasa protested at her sister's actions.
"Aw, she won't die from it Kinugasa. No harm done." Aoba responded, redirecting her attention to Asahi, "May I ask your name, lovely lady?"
"Oh, m-my name is Asahi. I'm the new Repair Ship. There is no need to be f-flattering, I'm just here to do what is required of me." The ex-battleship responded as a flush of red filled her cheeks.
"Is that so?" Aoba responded as she scribbled some notes into her Journalistic Journal (TM), "Fascinating! Everyone will love to hear about you in this weekend's newspaper!"
"O...Oh, you think?" Asahi asked rather timidly.
"Of course! Everyone needs some friends to make it through the day to day stuff in this war. You seem like an old-fashioned kinda girl, and my article will get you the type of friends you need!" Aoba said with a confident smile.
"More like it'll just get her harassed by curious destroyers." Kinugasa retorted.
"Sister! That only happened once!" Aoba responded, "Besides, if you ask me, a little bit of harassment is worth a lifetime of... ~thwack!~"
"It's our turn to order Aoba, you go first." Kinugasa directed after smacking her sister on the head.
"OH! Yes, I'm so hungryyy!"
"I'm very sorry about my sister. Please forgive her for intruding in your personal space." Kinugasa quickly apologised as Aoba began telling Mamiya what she wanted to eat in the background.
"N..No, no! It's okay. She's fine." Asahi reassured, now visibly sweating.
All the while Akashi noticed that, as proper as Asahi tried to be, she appeared to have some form of social anxiety. She stuttered, her face turned slightly red, and she also began to sweat as she talked to the Aoba-sisters. She had also acted slightly strange when Yuubari had entered the Workshop earlier.
A few moments later, Akashi ordered her food and went to sit down with Asahi. She decided that it was time to break the ice with her.
"So, how do you like your first day of work so far, Asahi?"
"It's rather good. I enjoy cleaning the baths and seeing the girls' wounds heal before my very eyes. It's almost magical!"
"Well, it kind of is. I don't quite know how to explain it myself. Something about fairies?"
"Oh, well regardless, it has reminded me of my new role in this fleet. I am beginning to accept that combat is no longer my forte."
"Speaking of that..." Akashi began, "I did some research and saw that you were once a Battleship. Wanna talk about it?"
"If you wish, what would you like to know?"
"Nothing in particular, just anything you would like to talk about. No pressure."
"Well, I was a what would be called a Pre-Dreadnought. We were the best fighting ships to ever sail the seas, don't you let anyone ever tell you different!" Asahi declared.
"Why is that?" Akashi pressed.
"Well, I think we proved that at Tsushima. I know the Dreadnoughts had their day at Jutland, but it wasn't a decisive battle, not like the glorious Battle of Tsushima!"
"Well, that's definitely your opinion." Akashi laughed.
"Yes, it probably is. I know that advances in technology eventually made us obsolete, I lived long enough to see it. Naval warfare gradually turned away from short-range brawls and embraced long-range gunnery, as well as the use of aircraft and, um, su-submarines."
Akashi again noticed that slight nervousness in Asahi's voice.
"You okay? You sounded upset when you spoke of submarines."
"Oh, it's nothing. I just... I never quite got used to them s-snorkeling around in the oceans. They just weren't really a big thing during my early years."
"I see. Well, do you mind if I ask about what you did later in your career from back then?"
"Of course!" Asahi smiled, "After the First World War ended, I was disarmed and used as a Submarine Tender and later as a Barracks Ship. I almost never left port during those times. In 1927, I was converted to a Repair Ship, which was what I ended up spending the rest of my life as. During that time was when I met you... I remember watching you and your crew work. I myself was somewhat jealous that there was a younger ship that could perform my assigned duties better than me. I guess that is what happens when you get old, you get passed up eventually."
"Aww, that's flattering to think of me like that, but theres no need to think that way now. In this new life, we never truly age as long as we take care of ourselves with repairs and eating."
Just then, Akashi noticed that Yuubari was eavsdropping on their conversation from the next table.
"I mean, just look at Yuubari! As old and haggard as she is, she still looks like a teenager!" Akashi teased, continuing from where she left off earlier.
"Excuse me, did you just call me an old haggard, Akashi?" Yuubari said as she turned to face the Repair Ship's table.
"Yes, I mean, we all are literally old now, don'tcha think?"
"Well... Yeah, but..." Yuubari pouted, "I'm not a haggard! That was uncalled for."
"Maybe so, but hopefully that teaches you not to listen in on people's conversations."
"Ugh, whatever. I just wanted to make sure that you two were getting along and stuff. You tease me way too often, you know."
"I know, and I'm sorry for saying rude things, but it's just so funny when you blush like that."
"Wha... I am not blushing!" Yuubari said as she frantically felt her cheeks.
She was definitely blushing.
"Hehe, you two are way too cute!" Asahi mused as she held her face in her hands and smiled.
Still pouting, Yuubari stood up and crossed her arms, "Well fine, I'll leave you two alone. I've got to get back to work anyway. Those weapons aren't gonna build themselves, you know."
With that, Yuubari stomped out of the Cafeteria leaving Akashi and Asahi to their own conversation once again.
"So, I take it you know her well, Akashi?"
"Yeah, we go way back to the beginning of the KanMusu program. I love her to death, she is my best friend after all."
"I see. Well anyway, I'm just about done eating. We can head back and finish the day if you would like."
"Yeah, let's finish strong. You're help has been invaluable!"
With that, the pair left their empty plates for Mamiya to clean and headed back to the Workshop.
The rest of the day went overwhelmingly smoothly, and before the girls knew it, the day was at an end. Akashi finished filling out the daily log at nearly the same time as Asahi returned from tending to the last batch of damaged ship girls. The time was nearing 8:00 PM.
"So, is the day almost over?" Asahi asked, "I really need to get back to my room and meditate before bedtime."
"Yes, we are done, but before you go I have some things I need to talk to you about."
Asahi waited silently as Akashi stamped the log she had just finished and placed it in the folder near the door for Ooyodo to pick up later.
"Alright." Akashi started, "Firstly, don't forget to grab dinner from Mamiya's before 10:00 PM so she can mark your name off for all three meals."
"I won't forget." Asahi reassured.
"Secondly, don't forget to try to come into work earlier tomorrow so I can show you how to set everything up. We will work on a better schedule soon, but for now we just need to continue showing you everything. Okay?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Asahi replied with a hearty salute.
Smiling from the show of respect, Akashi took off her work hat and called it a day. "You're dismissed Asahi, great work today."
With that, Asahi bowed, turned, and walked to Mamiya's to grab her last meal while Akashi took it upon herself to shut everything down in the Workshop.
"The future looks bright, very bright." She said to herself as she turned the lights off and headed to grab some food herself.
Part 4: What the Future Holds:
- The following day, Asahi showed up to the Workshop at 7:30 AM so she could learn the process that Akashi went through to prepare for the day.
Akashi allowed her to do everything while she simply spewed out the instructions. It went rather well, Asahi continuing to prove that she was a capable Repair Ship. Afterwards, the pair worked tirelessly throughout the day as the Operations continued. At the end of the day, Akashi again praised Asahi on her quick progress and promised to begin teaching her some of the more complex matters soon.
The following day, the two agreed to adopt a new schedule: At 7:00 AM, the pair would head down to Mamiya's and eat breakfast there together. Since Asahi's food serving was quite large, Akashi would leave for the Workshop at 7:30 AM to get started on half of the daily preparations. 15 minutes later, at 7:45 AM, Asahi would arrive and finish the other half of preparations, and thus they would begin the work day together at 8:00 AM, as usual.
However, on this day Akashi and Asahi were assigned to a task that was unusual for their role: convoy duty.
"Ugh, I hate running with convoys." Akashi grumbled after she read the e-mail from the Admiral.
"C...convoys? Like going out to s-sea?" Asahi asked nervously.
"Yeah, every once in a while the navy will use us to transport supplies when they're in a pinch. Now is one of those times, sadly."
"Oh... So, where will we be going?"
"Just to Minami-Tori-Shima. It isn't nearly as far away as some of the other convoys go, so we should be back in a few hours."
"Oh... Alright then, if I must."
30 minutes later, the Repair Ships were standing in the launch bay waiting for the signal to depart.
"Ahm... Hey, Akashi?" Asahi asked worriedly, "There won't be any danger of submarines on the journey, right?"
"There shouldn't be, the seas where we're going are pretty clear, but I can't promise it won't happen. Why, are you afraid of them?"
"Well, yes... kind of. I don't mean to be a burden or anything, but..."
Suddenly, flashing red lights turned on and the signal for the girls to set sail was given.
"Don't worry Asahi, our destroyers and escorts are excellent at ASW. They'll keep us safe!" Akashi said in reassurance just before she plunged down the launch chute into the water below.
"Not from what I remember." Asahi muttered as she prepared to follow suit.
Over the next few hours, the convoy slowly steamed toward their destination. Although Asahi had to use a bit more power than most of the other ships, she easily kept up the pace. Akashi marveled at how elegant she appeared to be despite the fact that this was Asahi's first time at sea in her rigging.
"You're doing great, Asahi. Just a little further now." She praised her over the radio.
Moments later, the convoy's escorting destroyers began breaking off the formation toward the same direction. Akashi immediately knew what was wrong and prepared to make evasive manouvers if the escorts gave the signal.
Sure enough, a bright red flare shot up from one of the destroyers momemts later. "Evasive manouvers!" Akashi yelled out.
The convoy began a hard turn toward the enemy submarine that the destroyers were after. Asahi followed suit, but soon after she heard a snap that definitely wasn't normal. As she tried to turn, she noticed that she was continuing in a straight line.
"Torpedoes!" She heard from one of the other convoy ships in the distance.
Momemts later, Asahi spotted a spread of 6 torpedoes closing in on the convoy. Luckily, it looked like 5 of them were going to miss because of the manouvers, but one seemed to be on a collision course with Asahi.
"Oh no." She began mumbeling to herself. "It's just like back then... No, this is worse! This time I can see it coming, yet I can't turn! Oh god, someone help me! I can't turn, I don't want to die!" She yelled, this time frantically waving her arms as she began to sob.
Akashi turned her head and immediately saw the predicament: One of Asahi's main shafts had somehow snapped, cutting off her ability to manipulate her rudder. She had to do something quick, or that torpedo would surely strike her.
Looking around, Akashi got a brilliant but risky idea. Picking up her anchor and twirling it around in the air like a lasso, she hoped to latch it onto Asahi's rig and turn her for herself. She had learned this technique from some of the American ship girls that were stationed in Japan a while back. After carefully taking aim, she hummed the anchor at Asahi, latching it onto her tall funnel. When she was sure that the line was secure, Akashi drew up all 10,000 of her horsepower and heaved!
Asahi, feeling herself being jerked by something, peered through her tear soaked palms to see that, somehow, she was beginning to turn. Looking around, she saw what Akashi had done and was immediately relieved.
"Asahi, full reverse!" Akashi yelled out.
Throwing her throttle in reverse, she slowed down to a crawl quickly. Soon enough, she observed the torpedo that would have otherwise destroyed her pass by harmlessly about 40 feet ahead. Off in the distance, she heard a loud explosion followed by cheers from the destroyers. Akashi slowly drifted up beside her.
"Sounds like they got the submarine. Are you alright?" She asked as she put her hand on Asahi's shoulder.
"Y-yes. I'll be fine. I'm sorry for losing my grip, I just didn't want to go down that way again."
"Again?"
"I guess I should have told you, but yes, my previous life was ended by a submarine. I was on my way back to Japan after performing repairs for some of our ships in Singapore when we came under attack. I took some torpedoes and sank very quickly. I never saw it coming."
"I'm very sorry, Asahi. This shouldn't have happened, but your rigging malfunctioned. Here, let me fix it real quick and we'll head back to base right now. To hell with the cargo."
"Now, you shouldn't be swearing, Akashi. I'll be fine, I promise."
"Nonsense. We are going home. We'll dump off what cargo we have on the other ships and we're gonna get..."
"Stop, Akashi dear, we must complete our mission for our country."
"To HELL with the country, I don't want to lose you again Mom!"
For a few moments, Asahi stared at a sobbing Akashi with surprise, all the while she was still attempting to repair her damaged rigging.
"D-did you just call me Mother? Mother... I..."
After another pause, in which she put her hand on Akashi's face to attempt to calm her, the two finally looking into each other's eyes.
"I've never had a daughter, Akashi." Asahi began, "But if I did, I couldn't imagine it being anyone other than you."
Asahi pulled Akashi into a tight embrace as the two began weeping softly into the other's shoulder.
"Thank you for saving me, my daughter. If it makes you feel better, then let's head home this one time."
"Yes, please. Let's go."
After unloading their cargo onto the other convoy ships and some of the escorts, the two Fleet Maidens, now Mother and Daughter, sailed back home side by side.
The KanMusu program had never before experienced ships that had treated each other as such, but nonetheless it proved to be quite the morale boost throughout the fleet. There was a celebratory party that weekend in which everyone was deeply moved by Akashi's speech on her new relationship with 'Mom'.
So, what does the future hold for these two? Nobody knows for sure, but one thing is for certain: that two old partners will forever be together again, working behind the scenes to ensure that the KanMusu are always in fighting shape.
Now, if only they could keep Aoba away from them for more than 5 minutes at a time, everything would be perfect.
~Fin