Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).
Chapter 1 "The Landing"
"Sir, we're going to reach the island in a few minutes." A rather mechanical sounding voice came from the speaker that was mounted on the wall. The room, only filled with bare necessities such as a single bed and a desk, was occupied only by a single person. A man, probably on his late twenty, was putting on his grey trench coat. The trench coat looked far from new but still usable. After putting it on, he reached to the desk to grab a flat top hat with the same color as the trench coat and put it on.
"Good to hear that, good to hear that," said the man while fixing his hat. "Tell the Admiral, to meet me as soon as possible."
"Understood, sir." The same mechanical sound came from the speaker as a reply to his question.
A small smile crept on his face, showing his eagerness for the coming job.
"Well, Admiral," he opened his room door, "Let's see what you've got on your little base, shall we?" And with that, the man closed the door behind him and went to the bridge.
The sound of running was heard all over the hallway. Her long black hair flowed behind her as she ran with all her might. Her navy uniform which consisted of a white choker jacket and white trouser seemed to be worn in a rush, evident in the slightly creased cuff and sleeves. On her left hand was her hat that she deemed to be in the way for her run along the hallway if she put that on.
Near the door, two girls with some kind of machinery behind their back stared at the one that was running. They had the same white and dark blue serafuku with an insignia bearing the letter "III" placed on their uniform, although both wore it on a different location. The first one, with long brown hair fashioned in style of folded ponytail, greeted the running woman.
"Commander, good morn–"
"Morning, girls! Sorry got to go!" And without even listening to their greeting, she dashed away and exited the building, leaving the two girls a bit stunned.
"Where is she going this early in the morning?" The other girl, this time with a short brown hair, asked the other one.
"I don't know. Rumor has it that we would have a guest here."
"A guest? Really?" Hearing that answer, the short brown haired girl's eyes beamed with excitement.
"Uhm, not so sure."
"Well, whatever it is, we're bound to hear it sooner or later, right?"
"Yes, you're right, nee-san. Well, shall we find Tenryuu-san? Maybe she knows something about it."
"Okay~! Wonder who will this guest will be, eh?" Answering with the same cheerful voice, she followed the other girl.
"I'm late! I'm late!" Muttered the woman who was running minutes ago, the one that the two girls called 'Commander'. "Why didn't she wake me up!?" She shouted while still maintaining her pace of running.
She was running for a good few minutes that her long black hair was beginning to become a bit tangled behind her. But that was the least of her concern. The reason was because she had a tight schedule for today. And in the morning, just as the girls had talked about, a guest would arrive on the island base. As the highest officer in the island, her presence was absolute.
"Please arrive late! Please arrive late!" She muttered while keep running.
Thankfully, the place where she was supposed to welcome the guest was already in sight. The place, which was a dock located on the far side of the island, was void of anyone since most of the fleet girls were either on expedition or on training. But it seemed somebody has arrived there sooner than her as a sole figure was standing there, gazing to the sea.
"Ah, her!" Realizing who the figure was, she quickened her pace much more even though her breathing was already getting ragged.
In front of her was the figure, wearing a short one-piece sailor dress with a hair as long as her, only with the color of white instead of black. She carried a polearm with her right hand that was rested on her shoulder.
"MMMUUUURRRRAAAAKKKKUUUUMMMMOOOO!" the black haired woman shouted to the girl who was standing near the dock. The girl's pair of red eyes like burning amber shifted to the one that called her name with a rather loud voice. But it was just for short while since the girl looked back to the horizon, ignoring the woman. "Ignoring me, will you!?" Being treated like that, a vein bulged on her head.
Minutes later, she finally arrived at the dock, standing near the girl who was still ignoring her. On her back was machinery with two extended part on both side. And on her head was a pair of floating object that seemed to resemble a pair of fox ear. The black haired woman, still catching her breath after a long run, clenched her legs while her body was hunched forward. "*huff* Y-You…*huff*"
"Oh, it's admiral?" Hearing that, the white haired girl finally looked to her. "Didn't know you were coming."
"*huff* V-Very–*huff*– funny, Murakumo." After a while, the Admiral finally stood straight. While fixing her black long hair slightly, she looked to Murakumo. "Why didn't you wake me up like I asked you to?"
"Oh, you did?" She said with a teasing tone.
"Geez, never mind." Giving up on asking for a reason, she put on her admiral cap and looked to the sea too. "Has anyone arrived?"
"No one, Admiral. You're the first," she looked to the admiral, making the floating objects near her head bobbed a little, "after me, that is."
"You sure, right?" She asked again while looking around, trying to make sure that the guest she was waiting for didn't arrive.
"I am." A short reply from the white haired girl.
"And I thought he was supposed to be a punctual person." She then looked took an object from her breast pocket. It was a pocket watch which looked a bit old. She opened it and then checked the time. "It is already past 7 o'clock. Could it be there was something holding him up?"
"I don't know. But if there was, I don't think the weather has anything to do with it since there was no sign of storm or strong wind." The girl besides her replied.
"Okay, now I'm worried." Admiral said as she closed her pocket watch and put it back. "He is never late for anything. If so, he would tell me."
"My, it seems you know this guest of ours so well, Admiral," said the girl with the same teasing tone as before.
"We did go back. Far back, if I may say so myself." The Admiral started to look for any sign of her guest, hoping that she might find him on the vicinity.
"Ah, really. I guess we really only know a fraction of you, eh Admiral?" Murakumo said to her, still gripping her polearm with her gloved hand.
"Hmm?" Noticing something was off on her, the Admiral leaned closer to Murakumo.
"W-What is it?" A bit startled by her superior sudden action, she stuttered her reply.
"Murakumo, are you perhaps?"
"Perhaps what?"
"Jealous?" The Admiral said with a grin on her face.
"W-W-What!?" At that statement, Murakumo's face lighted up completely, painting her face with red color. "Me? Jealous? Impossible!" She added with an extra emphasizing on her words.
"Ufufu~ My, my, you're so transparent with your feeling, Mu-Ra-Ku-Mo-chan~" The Admiral teased her further.
"D-Don't be joking! Why you!" All of a sudden, her machinery pointed their gun at the black haired woman.
"W-W-Wow, there!? L-Let's not be hasty now! Calm down, okay?" said the black haired woman while flailing her hand in panic, trying to at least calm down the gun pointing girl in front of her.
"Oh, don't worry! I'm calm, all right! Calm enough to–"
"Excuse me for interrupting you, young ladies."
A sudden voice startled them, making them cease their bickering and starting to look around for the source of new voice. But they couldn't see anyone else besides them on the empty dock.
"Show yourself!" Murakumo quickly jumped in front of her superior and brandishing her polearm to take care of any danger.
"Forgive me for startling you, young ladies." The voice spoke again with the same mechanical voice.
"If you want to be forgiven, stopped hiding yourself!" Murakumo spat her reply while the Admiral still looked around for any sign of the presence besides the two of them.
"Understood. Deactivating cloaking device in 3 seconds." A buzzing sound followed after the voice. Then in one of the empty dock, a silhouette started to appear.
"W-What's happening?" Seeing an unknown object started to appear all of a sudden, the two of them became surprised. But Murakumo's reaction differed from the Admiral as she went into defensive mode in front of her superior.
The object started to gain visibility, starting from the bottom part which was quite wide for a boat, then to the dark colored deck, and then finally to the top of the mast. After the whole vessel gained complete visibility, the word "S.M.V. 42" flashed on the side of the half-submerged hull.
"Isn't that…"
"Admiral, you recognize this ship?" Murakumo asked as the Admiral looked to the ship with half opened mouth.
"…No…it can't be…" Her reply came in a whispering tone.
"Admiral?" But before Murakumo could ask more, she saw a figure came out of the ship. She quickly pointed her polearm to the ship, ready for any incoming assault.
"Greetings, young ladies of the Guardian Office." A voice came with the appearing of the figure. The figure that came out was a not a human being. It was a floating ball with a ring on the bottom of it. A single yellow light was on the front of it, lighting up every time the ball spoke.
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Still with her guard up, Murakumo spoke with a rather harsh tone.
"I am the AI of the S.M.V. 42, I have no name, young ladies of the Guardian Office," said the floating ball with a monotone and mechanical voice. The ball turned to the Admiral and then spoke again. "Are you the one called 'Admiral'?"
"Eh? Y-Yes, I am," said the Admiral while peeking slightly behind Murakumo.
"I have a message for you. Playing message no. 000500." Then a buzzing sound came from the ball as the ball's light turned into green.
"A message for me? Who is–"
"You're late!"
"W-Wow!?""What the!?" Once again the two girls were startled by the ball. This time, it was because of the sudden shout that came from the ball that now flashing in green.
"I see that your habit of waking up late is still there, eh? Hahahahaha!" The voice, instead of the previous monotone and mechanical voice, was replaced with a rather gruff voice of a male.
"Oh no." The Admiral hit her palm to her face while feeling of anxiety seeped into her mind.
"Well, since you're late and I saw no one here, I decided to give myself a private tour of your island here."
"Did he just say a tour?" Murakumo asked her superior. But she received no answer as the Admiral was unable to say anything except feeling cold sweat coming from her forehead. Murakumo who saw this became confuse.
"…Oh, Lord, have mercy…" A single statement came from the black haired woman filled with despair.
"Now, now. I know that you're losing your mind there. But don't worry, I won't do anything bad….."
"Really?"
"Well…..there's a slight chance of small trouble if they didn't know who I am right?" At that, the Admiral's face that gained light seconds ago quickly lost its color completely.
"But~ I'm sure you've told your crew all about me, right?"
"Uhm, Admiral, did you?" Murakumo asked her superior. And that question received an answer in the form of a shaking head. "Thought so."
"So, I'll meet you after I've done my tour of your base here. Before that, try to be more punctual, would you? Well, that's all. Oh, I see someone over there! Good bye for now~!" With a loud beep, the recorded voice stopped playing and the light on the ball turned back again to yellow. "That is all, Admiral." The ball said with mechanical tone again.
Silence came over them, only the sound of the wind was heard.
"Uhm ,Admiral?" The silver haired girl became a bit worried that her superior had not reacted to anything for a few minutes after that last beeping sound.
"W-W-When was that recorded?" The Admiral asked away with a pale face.
"Estimated recording time was 15 minutes ago, Admiral."
"Good! I still have a chance!" She then looked to the girl besides her and grabbed her shoulder.
"Eeeh? A-A-Admi–"
"Murakumo! I have a task for you!" She said with a rather loud voice.
"Y-Yes?" Feeling shaken after being grabbed by the panicky looking Admiral, Murakumo could only come up with a short reply.
"Contact anyone who is not on the dock, on sortie, or on expedition! Give them order for an immediate search of the whole base!"
"What!? The whole–"
"Just issue the command! Look for a man with a grey trench coat and flat top hat! Good luck!" And with that last word, the Admiral ran with all her might, leaving Murakumo alone.
For a few seconds, she was just standing with a blanked look.
"….What just happened?" Unable to understand the whole event, she asked to no one in particular.
"Okay, girls! Although we have no mission today, we have to train our body!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
At one of the open field on the island, a group of six females were ready to start their training. The one in the front, a girl with a tall body and purple hair that had long bangs covering her face, wore a sharp looking pair of eyes. Her uniform which consisted of a purplish black school uniform, a dark tie, and thighhighs, strangely made a perfect match with the eyepatch covering her left eye. With a long sword hanging on her waist and machinery akin to ship turret that covered almost the entire height of her back, she already had the look of a warrior.
In front of the eyepatch wearing girl were four girls. The two of them were the two that greeted the Admiral on the hallway. The other two girls were also wearing the same uniform as the two of them with added black sailor cap with an anchor symbol on top of it. Both of them had long hair, one had silver hair while the other one's color was black. The four of them gave a salute to the eyepatch wearing girl who seemed to be their leader.
Behind her was another girl, having almost the same height and also wearing the same color uniform, but she wore a one-piece variation of the uniform with a skirt and instead of a long sword she carried a long glaive. The same machinery hung on her back, although a bit different in the design with the added torpedoes.
The two of them also bear similarities with the girl named Murakumo as both of them had mechanical pieces on their head. The eyepatch girl wore something like a pair of wolf ears near her head while the glaive carrying one had a floating mechanical halo above her head.
"Okay, you lot! For starter, a few laps around the field! Let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am!" As the four little ones answered, the six of them ran around the field, training their body.
Unknown to them, a pair of eyes kept watching them for the far side of the field, an alleyway hidden by rows of building here and there.
"My, my. Very energetic girls they are." The figure spoke with a relaxed tone. The long grey trench coat that almost touched the ground swayed with the movement of the wind.
He just stood there, looking at the six girls who were running a few laps around the field.
From the looks of it, the leader and the glaive carrying one ran effortlessly while the four girls behind them were trying their best to keep up with their leaders' speed. Among the four, the one with the folded ponytail was running slower than the other.
"Hey, Inazuma! Put your back into it!"
"Y-Yes, Tenryuu-san!" Being shouted by her leader, the girl named Inazuma replied between her ragged breaths.
"One more lap, girls!"
"Yes, ma'am!" With that shout, the girls continued onto their last lap.
"Hmm, Inazuma, eh?" The figure seemed to be interested after hearing that name. He pulled out a black tablet and swiped his fingers along the screen. "Let's see, let's see." A window appeared on the screen. "I-n-a-z-u-m-a. There!" He typed the name into the search box on the screen. The screen flashed and a loading bar appeared. As it started to fill, he returned his gaze to the training girls.
"Okay, that's a good workout! Now let's continue with push up! How about 50 each?"
"What!?" The girls shouted their protest.
"If you said that, I'll add more!" Hearing that, their expression changed. The only one that didn't have her expression changed was the white haired girl. "So what's youjk65r response?" She asked with a loud shout.
"Yes, ma'am!" The four of them answered in unison.
"Good! Now let's get down and finish 50 each! On my mark, one!" The tall girl immediately went down and did the first one.
"One!" The other one also did the same as they repeated the shout.
"Two!"
"Two!" And they continued their training.
"Oh, good to see them very diligent." The hidden figure kept his gaze to them while still waiting for his tablet to finish the request. But before long, a small 'beep' sound was heard, signaling that the process had completed. "Ah, now let's see what I've got here." He then tapped the 'SHOW' button on the tablet. With the same 'beep' sound, the screen transform into a list of information. On the header was the word 'Inazuma' and below it was the list of specification of the named ship.
"Hmm, the twenty-fourth and last of the Fubuki-class destroyer destroyers and the third and last of the Akatsuki-class destroyer destroyers." He read the first sentence of the information. With that, he smirked a little. "So that girl is the youngest one, eh? The youngest sisters among the many destroyers of her class." He said while nodding slightly and leaning on the wall behind him.
"Oh, I guess the other three are her sister." He looked to the field again to see them still in the middle of their push up routine.
"Who's that tall girl name? Ehm,…something with 'ryuu' behind it?"
"Fifty!" With that last push, the tall girl quickly stood. With sweat pouring from her forehead, she looked to the other ones. The one besides her, the one carrying the glaive, looked only a bit tired with sweat also starting to pour out on her forehead.
"You okay, Tatsuta?"
"Hmm? Fine, Tenryuu-chan~" The girl said with a smile on her face. In contrast to her friend rough sounding voice, Tatsuta's voice sounded a bit sweeter.
"Do you think they need some rest?" She asked her again while the other four was either lying down or sitting down while trying to regulate their breath.
"I guess they might need it. I'll get the water." With that, Tatsuta went off and leave the others. Tenryuu nodded at that and looked at the four tired looking girls.
"Okay, let's have a break on the bench." She said that and it was greeted with a rather low cheer as the four of them were too tired to cheer louder.
"Ah yes, Tenryuu! Okay, so it's T-e-n-r-y-u-u. Search!" The man tapped the search button after entering the name. Unlike before, the search ended rather fast. With the same sound, the screen switched to the information list.
"The lead ship in the Tenryuu-class light cruiser, designed to act as a flagship for destroyer flotillas." He read the first sentence of the information just like before. "No wonder she was there training the destroyer girls." Finished reading the majority of the information, he was about to put the tablet back when he felt someone was looking directly at him. He then followed his instinct and then he found the one that was looking at him.
"What is it, Hibiki-chan?" Inazuma asked the silver haired girl as she was not moving but looking onto a certain place.
"Over there," said Hibiki while pointing to the place she was looking not long ago. "Someone's there."
"Someone? Who?" Sign of worry was visible on Inazuma's face as she asked her.
"I don't know. I've never seen him."
"You've never seen him?" Inazuma was confused at her friend's explanation.
"Yes, it's a man I've never seen before." Hibiki stoic tone remained.
"S-Should we t-tell Tenryuu-san?" The now scared looking Inazuma asked while stuttering her words.
"Yes, go on. I'll keep an eye on the man."
"Don't do anything dangerous, Hibiki-chan." She said to her while tugging her sleeve. At that Hibiki only nodded while still keeping her sight on the stranger. Seeing that, Inazuma quickly ran toward Tenryuu to tell her about the stranger. After Inazuma left, Hibiki walked toward the man with firm pose and calm expression.
"Oh, found out so fast?" Seeing that one of the five had walked toward him, he smiled rather excitedly. "I guess I underestimated them, didn't I?" He then put back his tablet into the trench coat pocket and then waited for her while guessing how will she react to him.
With steady footsteps, Hibiki went near the place where she saw the man. The sound of her armament and equipment behind her back was the only sound that filled the empty place. After only a few steps from the target, she stopped and then looked around.
"Please show yourself, whoever you are." With her stoic and calm voice she asked the stranger.
No response came for a few seconds after that. But then the sound of footsteps and clothes rustling in the wind came from dark alleyway.
The figure emerged, dressed in a grey trench coat that looked quite worn out and a flat top hat on his hat with the same color as his coat. His face showed that he was expecting the girl as no trace of surprise was visible. He stood there in front of girl with confidence. As he was taller than the girl, he had to bend his head slightly to be able to see the white haired girl.
"You managed to find me," said the man to her. "Impressive."
"Thank you." She replied without changing his expression.
"If I may ask, what gave me out?"
"The sound." She replied shortly.
"Sound?" He raised one of his eyebrow, clearly didn't expected that from her.
"The beeping sound from whatever equipment you use. I can hear them."
Hearing that, he laughed a little.
"Once again, impressive." He clapped his hand thrice slowly. "Since when?"
"From when we were about to start doing our push up routine." She replied.
"Oh, that long?" She nodded at his question. "Good work there."
"Thank you." She bowed slightly, making her silver hair fluttered slightly on the air.
"What are you going to do now?" The man, clearly didn't mind being found out like that, continued asking the girl.
"I don't know. It's up to my senior officer." She then glanced to her back. "She's coming here shortly," said Hibiki after seeing that a group of girls were running near her.
"I see. Then I guess I'll talk with your superior then." He then walked near her. He patted her shoulder slightly. "Well done, ojou-chan."
"It's Hibiki."
"Hmm?"
"My name is Hibiki. The second of the Akatsuki-class destroyer." She announced her name proudly.
"Oh, a sister ship of that girl named Inazuma?" She nodded at that. "Then, nice to meet you, Hibiki-chan."
"You are?"
"I am–"
"Who are you!?" A shout interrupted his words, making him shifted his gaze from Hibiki to Tenryuu.
"My, it's not polite to interrupt one who is talking, ojou-chan." He said with calm tone.
"I could care less about politeness when dealing with intruder like you!" She shouted her response with her hand already on her sword.
Seeing that she was on the aggressive mode, the man patted Hibiki's shoulder again and gestured her to join her friends who were standing behind Tenryuu with worried expression, not knowing what to do at the situation. Hibiki nodded, turned around, and then ran back to join her friend.
Wave of sentence such as "Are you okay?", "Did he do something to you?", and "Didn't I said not to do anything dangerous, Hibiki-chan?" could be heard coming from the three worried looking girls. The girl in question then tried to reassure them that she was fine.
A bit relieved that her subordinate was fine, Tenryuu's stance relaxed a bit but still on the alert against the stranger.
"I'll say it one more time! Who are you?" She roared her question toward the stranger with her hand already gripping the hilt of the sword.
"Don't be so tense, Tenryuu-san." Unaffected by that sight, the man was still able to reply in a calm tone.
"Who are you?" She still didn't budge and she was on the verge of unsheathing her sword.
"Well, well, if you relax a bit, I'll answer your question." He waved his arm again, trying to calm the eyepatch wearing girl. "I am–"
"ATTENTION TO THE WHOLE BASE! LOOK OUT FOR A MAN IN A GREY TRENCH COAT AND FLAT TOP HAT! I REPEAT! LOOK OUT FOR A MAN IN A GREY TRENCH COAT AND FLAT TOP HAT! EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED!"
When the whole announcement died down, the five girls looked at each other.
"Grey trench coat…"
"Flat top hat…"
"Isn't that…"
"Him?" The four of them murmured to each other, but their voice was still loud enough for the man to hear clearly.
"Oh my, that girl really has outdone herself this time." The man said with a small laugh in between of his sentence. In contrast to his rather happy and relax expression, the girls in front of him all wore worried expression, except Hibiki.
"Y-You!" With a rather shaking hand Tenryuu unsheathed her sword in one swift motion and pointed it at the man. "Who are you!?" She threw her question toward him.
"Wow, a little tense, aren't you ojou-chan?" The man said teasingly, not showing any sign of being affected by Tenryuu's intimidation.
"Answer me!" Tenryuu's roar was heard all over the field. It seemed that her roar also affected the little girls as they distanced themselves from their superior a few steps away with fear in their eyes.
"Okay, what was the question again?" He still seemed to be unaffected by that, asking her the question while titling his head slightly.
"Playing fool, eh? I guess I have to force it out of you!" She rolled the hilt of the sword, switching the sharp edge with the blunt one. "HAAHH!" Raising her hand, she attacked the man right away with the intention of knocking him out. "What the!?" But to her surprise, the man dodged that effortlessly by simply moved aside from the trajectory of her slash. As her sword met the hard concrete floor, the impact of her attack made the floor cracked a little with the tip of her sword planted a bit.
Looking at that, the man smiled at his attacker. "Powerful blow, yet crude and amateurish." He looked at her with a challenging intention on his eyes. "Are you even trying, ojou-chan~?"
"Say what!?" Clearly fell victim to his intimidation, Tenryuu's roared with anger. She immediately pulled back her sword and charged at him.
She gave him another swift slash. The man just dodged that again like before. Another slash came at him. And just like before, he dodged that move effortlessly.
This continued for quite some time until finally Tenryuu stabbed her sword on the floor, feeling frustrated and tired. In contrast to that, the man just stood in front of her without any sign of fatigue at all. "Done already?" He said with the same teasing tone he used before while putting his hand on his hip.
"N-Not*huff*e-even*huff*close!" She then pulled the sword and then once again pointed the sword at him. "I will not be defeated!" She shouted her determination.
"Really now? Well, you have to catch me before you can fight, right?" The man said while fixing his hat.
"Huh?" Not understanding what he meant, she looked at him with caution.
Without waiting for Tenryuu to recover from her confusion, the man quickly turned back and then dashed away from her view, leaving trail of dust behind him.
The girls were in silent, not expecting that at all. Still with her sword pointed to the place where the man was seconds ago, Tenryuu's hand trembled.
"Did he just?" Inazuma asked the others. And her answer came in an unexpected form.
"HE RAN AWAY!?" Inazuma was startled by the sudden shout of her superior, almost falling backward if not being caught by Hibiki who was standing near her.
After shouting, Tenryuu's whole body shivered. It was not because of fear. It was out of anger. She could feel the anger boiled inside her as she was made fun of. It seemed that the man was not satisfied with just evading her attack with a mocking attitude. He had to run away from her.
"Uhm, Tenryuu-san?" The black haired girl asked her superior with worry after seeing Tenryuu's current condition. She approached her superior timidly, afraid of being the target of her anger.
But before she managed to get one step to her, Tenryuu quickly turned back toward them. The sudden action surprised the girls, making their body tensed up.
"ATTENTION!"
With that shout, their usual drill came into their mind and they stood in line in front of her. "Listen up! New instruction! Search for that man!"
"Eh?"
"I said!" Tenryuu closed in on them and struck her sword to the ground , producing a crisp sound when the point met the ground. "SEARCH! FOR! THAT! MAN!"
"Y-Yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!" The girls, feeling intimidated, shouted their response as firm as possible.
"GO! NOW!" And with that last instruction, the girls spread out and ran toward all over the base, trying to locate the mysterious man.
"Ugh! That man…" Tenryuu's whole body trembled with mixed of anger and embarrassment for being mocked like that in front of her unit. She swung her sword again and then sheathed the weapon right away. "I'll get you. I SWEAR!" After roaring that, she dashed into another part of the base with anger in his eyes.
"Oh no!" The Admiral muttered that under her breath. "I know I said that you have to tell the other. But I didn't want it sounded like he's an enemy." She kept running all around the base while saying that in regret of the action her subordinate had done. She came into an intersection and saw that a few other girls were already running around there. Before she could ask any of them, they were already gone to look somewhere else.
At a glance, she could see the worried expression on their faces. Low murmuring of the man as an intruder or potential enemy was also there. Knowing that the situation had escalated to a very terrifying level, cold sweat poured like waterfall from her forehead. "This is not good! This is so not good!" While shouting that, she continued to run to the opposite direction of the girls, hoping to find the man before anyone could.
"My, my. This is covert ops all over again," said the man as he hid himself in a nearby shade of a stack of crate. Footsteps of some girls were heard near him. The chattering they made was centered on subject of the possibility of the man as an intruder who might bring danger to the whole base. Hearing that, he couldn't help but laugh inside his heart, finding their reaction hilarious.
"Is he here?" A familiar voice came from near his hiding spot. He peeked through the crate, trying to be as stealthy as possible.
"Not here, Tatsuta-san." The two voices was none other than the two girls from before. The one that asked the question was the glaive carrying girl while the one that answered her was the black haired girl.
"I see. Tenryuu-chan looked so mad when I get back to give her the water."
"Yes, ma'am. She was fighting the man moments ago."
"Fighting, eh? My, my, my. And she lost?" Tatsuta asked her with her usual sweet voice.
"Uhm, he didn't counter at all. He just dodged all of her attack."
"Is that so, Akatsuki-chan? Well then, I guess," the girl called Tatsuta swung her glaive lightly, "I have to be careful around him, right~?" She said with a smile on her face.
"Err, y-yes, Tatsuta-san. Y-You should." Clearly scared of her, Akatsuki stuttered her reply.
"Well, let's go look for him then~" The glaive carrying girl pointed her glaive to her right. "You go that way, I'll go that way. Got it~?"
"Affirmative!" After trading a salute with each other, both of them dashed to the opposite direction, resuming their search. Even after the coast was clear, the man refused to stop hiding himself.
After hearing that, he knew how dangerous things had become. Even if he was quite strong, if the whole base was on against him, the chance of leaving with his life would decreased to next to impossible. Thinking for a while, he heard another set of footstep. He peeked at the source of the sound and found it right away. At that, his smile widened.
"Did you find him?"
"No, Tenryuu-chan," Tatsuta shook her head and continued, "no sign of him anywhere."
The two girls were taking a short break on the nearby park not far from the field they were practicing not long ago. The two, showing sign of fatigue due to their search 'mission', were thinking any possible place where their target could be hiding.
"Agh! This is frustrating!" Tenryuu stomped her feet in her anger. She then looked around and saw that three girl in her division were near them.
"Inazuma! Ikazuchi! Akatsuki!" She waved at the three while shouting their name.
The girls heard their senior's voice and ran toward her. When they were close to her, they stopped and tried to catch their breath again after running all around the base.
"What about you guys? Any progress?" Tenryuu asked them after at least one of them started to breathe normally.
"We're search all over the base, but there's no sign of him anywhere." The one with the short brown hair gave the result of their search.
"Tch! Where could that guy go?" She was clearly not satisfied by the result all of them have made.
"Uhm, Tenryuu-san."
"What is it, Ikazuchi?" She looked to the speaker of the three girls while folding her arm.
"Where's Hibiki-chan?"
"Hibiki? She wasn't with you guys?" Hearing that one of her subordinate had gone missing, Tenryuu's expression started to show worry.
"No, she wasn't. We crossed path not long ago and thought she was with the two of you." Ikazuchi said to them, her tone also showing she was worrying about the whereabouts of their silver haired friend.
"Oh no…" All of a sudden, Tatsuta spoke with a low voice.
"Don't tell me she was k-kidnapped?" Akatsuki expressed her worry and a very bad possibility. Hearing that, the face of the other darkened.
"…It seems we have the same thought, Akatsuki-chan." Tatsuta gave her opinion for that possibility. Their expression darkened even more as she also agreed to that.
"Hawawawa! W-What are we going to do now? Akatsuki-chan? Ikazuchi-chan?" Inazuma was the first among them to panic.
"I…I don't know." Akatsuki, gripping her hat tightly, said with a dejected tone, feeling powerless against the situation that may harm their friend.
"Tenryuu-chan," Tatsuta called her with a soft voice. Glancing back between her friend and the girls under her command, Tenryuu felt both frustration and anger; frustration because she was unable to catch the man, and anger because now there are possibility that one of the girl is in danger but they were powerless to do anything.
"Ugh, damn it!" She ruffled her hair in her anger. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Language, Tenryuu-chan." Tatsuta reminded that they were with the little ones. "Don't lose hope just yet." She then smiled at her. "Remember, you're the leader here."
Hearing that, she quickly shifted her gaze to the three girls in front of her. They all wore expression that was mixed of worry, fear, and anxiety. She could even see tears started to well up on their eyes, especially Inazuma's. All of a sudden, she slapped her cheeks together, startling the others.
"Ow, that hurts!" She shouted after that. She then faced the other girls who looked at her with confusion on their eyes. "We can't give up yet! We have to do something!" She said with a firmer tone.
"B-But what?" Ikazuchi asked her.
"First, we have to report to the Admiral. After that, we'll ask her to announce that she was kidnapped. By doing that, we can ask everyone on the base to help us, right?"
"Ah, yes. That'll work. If we can't do it alone, we'll ask for everyone's help." Tatsuta added.
"Exactly! Come on! We're wasting time!" After saying that, Tenryuu rushed to the direction of the main office. The next one to follow her was none other than Tatsuta. The three girls were too confused to be able to react properly. The first one to follow their leader was Akatsuki. Ikazuchi also followed after.
"W-Wait up-nanodesu!" Unable to keep up with the two, Inazuma stumbled on a rock and almost fell. Thankfully, Ikazuchi was still near her and managed to catch her. She then dragged her hand to catch up with the rest.
"Come on, Inazuma-chan! We'll save Hibiki-chan and teach that man how wrong he was trying to mess with us!" said the girl with pride in her voice. Hearing that, the almost crying Inazuma started to regain her spirit and then she wiped her eyes as she followed her.
"Right! Wait for us, Hibiki-chan!" And with that, they followed their friend to meet up with The Admiral.
"ADMIRALLLL!" With a powerful push, Tenryuu opened the wooden door that connected the hallway to the Admiral's office. The door was pushed so hard that it made impact to the wall near it and loud sound was made from that.
"W-What happened!?" The Admiral shouted from her sit because of the sudden entrance.
"Admiral! We have a situation!" Tenryuu quickly walked toward the desk.
"Hibiki-chan is missing-nanodesu!" Inazuma also approached the desk and shouted that.
"And we can't find that man in a trench coat!" Ikazuchi joined her friend.
"She might be kidnapped!" The next one was Akatsuki.
"Huh? Huh?" Not understanding what they mean, the Admiral could only make a face full of confusion.
"Girls, calm down." Murakumo who was standing near the Admiral looked at the group of panicky looking girls.
"Murakumo-chan is right." Another voice came from near the door. "You too, Tenryuu-chan." Tatsuta came with a calm face while still carrying her glaive behind her back.
"Ah, yes, yes. Sorry about that." After being reprimanded by her friend, Tenryuu scratch the back of her head, feeling slightly embarrassed by her previous display of panic.
The Admiral let out a breath and then looked at the group of people in front of her. "So let me get this straight. You met the man but then you lost him. And somewhere between that Hibiki is missing. All of you think that there is a possibility of her being kidnapped." She massaged her temple before continuing. "Did I get that right?"
"Uhm, yes, ma'am. Perfectly." Tenryuu, not knowing what else to say, was only able to say that.
"I see," The Admiral then gesturing her hand toward Murakumo who was standing beside her. Murakumo then gave her a piece of paper. "Actually it is good that all of you have come here. I was already thinking to send someone to get you."
"Huh?" Tenryuu face displayed her confusion at her superior's reply. She didn't know where The Admiral was going with that.
"We've just received a notice letter from the main office," said The Admiral as she waved the letter slightly.
"Notice letter?" Still didn't know what that had to do with the emergency they brought up, Tenryuu and her group all showed the same face of confusion.
"Yes, notice letter. It is said in this that we will have a–"
"Pardon me, Admiral, but what does this have to do with Hibiki?" Tenryuu interrupted her sentence; sign of impatient was in her voice.
"I was just going to–"
"Hibiki is missing! Aren't you going to do something about it, Admiral!?" Tenryuu shouted to her while slamming the desk with his gloved hands.
"My, my,…" A voice came from the direction of the door. Before anyone on Tenryuu's division could turn around to face the speaker, the mysterious speaker spoke again. "I believe that she was getting into that, if you would be patient a little bit there, Tenryuu-san."
"That voice!" Tenryuu and the other turned around to face the speaker and found a man standing with a very relaxed attitude on the door. On his hand was a long object wrapped with a piece of cloth. "You!?" It was the man she faced before.
"Yes, nice to meet you again,–" Before he could say anything more, Tenryuu charged toward him with her sword. Mixed emotion of anger and frustration fueled her blow as she did that. Her mind was so clouded that her move was executed almost reflexively.
"Tenryuu-chan!?" Tatsuta who was standing in the most rear position of the group didn't realize that fast enough. All she could do was shouted the name of her friend who passed by her in a flash to attack the man behind her.
The man, clearly showing his calmness, stood there with a smile that started to grow as his attacker came closer to him. On the last few seconds, he dodged that attack by slightly moving his left feet behind and making his body went out of the way of Tenryuu's downward slash.
Metallic sound was made the moment her blade touched the floor of the room. Not wanting to let her enemy rest, Tenryuu quickly pulled the sword. But to her surprise, a blow was made to the center of the sword that made her let go of the sword. The blow was a kick made by the man to disarm her right away.
"Damn you!" As she cursed him, the man only smiled at her. The man opened his mouth, trying to say something, but was cut off once again by the sense of killing in front of him.
"Get away from her!" It was from Tenryuu's comrade, Tatsuta. Following Tenryuu, she also charged toward him with her polearm pointed at the trench coat wearing man.
Just like before, the man didn't show a single sign of fear as he face the attack. And also just like before, he executed the same movement. He moved slightly to his side in the last second, evading the blow, and then kicked the weapon away, disturbing Tatsuta balance right away.
"Ugh!" With her weapon deflected, she almost fell backward. But fortunately she managed to regain her balance. She quickly readjusted her polearm to continue her attack. "E-Eh!?" She was surprised to saw that the man was already inches near her.
"Never thought that you were the impatience type, ojou-chan." While saying that he unwrapped the object in a flash. It was a scabbard.
"Tatsuta!" Feeling that danger was going to befall her friend, Tenryuu quickly charged again after getting her sword.
"Tenryuu-chan! Don't!" Noticing that the man was getting serious, the polearm wielder tried to stopped her friend. But it was no use as she was already near her. A flash then came into her eyes, followed by a crisp sound of metal hitting each other.
Crashing sound was made when Tenryuu's sword was flown and hit the floor besides her, impaling itself onto the floor. With her hand on the air, a blade was positioned near her neck courtesy of the trench coat wearing man. "I win, eh?"
"Tenryuu-chan!"
"Stand down." The man said with a cold tone, the scabbard of his sword positioned near her neck too. "The blade on this scabbard is quite deadly. Don't want to hurt you." He stopped Tatsuta who were trying to help her friend.
"…Ugh, damn it." Tatsuta cursed under her breath after being threatened like that. Although she was strong and well trained, she couldn't avoid getting killed in that situation.
"So I guess I won a match of 2 against 1, eh? Quite an achievement." The man said that with a cheerful voice in contrast to the heated and tense atmosphere of the office. "Quite some girl you have here, Admiral." He added that while looking straight at The Admiral, mischief in his eyes.
At that, The Admiral could only shook her head while touching her forehead.
"C-Commander…" The worried voice of Inazuma was heard near the black haired woman. Hearing that, she once again let out a heavy breath.
"Tenryuu, Tatsuta, stand down." She gave out a command.
"Admiral!?" Clearly not happy with that order, Tenryuu shouted out her protest.
"This is an order." The Admiral's voice grew darker, showing that she will not tolerate any disobedience from her subordinate. "Stand. Down." Emphasizing each word, she gave out her command once again.
The already dark mood of the room worsen with that. The three girls under Tenryuu's command were in confusion, not knowing what to do when their superiors were being threaten by the mysterious man. Both Tenryuu and Tatsuta felt angry that The Admiral gave out that command. Knowing in their heart that she was being very serious, they had no choice.
"Tch!" Cursing the situation, Tenryuu slowly lower her hands and walked back slightly. Tatsuta also did the same and followed her action.
Seeing that, the man sheathed back his weapon calmly. "You can continue your announcement, Admiral-san."
Shaking her head once more, she felt the stress of the day quickly built up. The scene that happened just then also didn't help her a bit. Still holding the paper, she continued her interrupted announcement.
"As I was saying, we will have a guest her in the base. And apparently, you already met him." Her announcement surprised the whole room, except the man and Murakumo. "No, you already had a fight with him." She corrected herself.
"W-What? W-Who? H-He–"
"Yes, yes. He is the one." The Admiral quickly cut Tenryuu stuttering. "And apparently Murakumo here already announced that to the whole base not long ago. And she made it like he was an intruder."
"Hey, I did what you told me, right?" Murakumo, clearly not happy being put on the spot like that, pouting at her and wore an annoyed expression.
"I know, I know. It's just that…forget about it." Feeling tired because of the whole commotion, The Admiral gave up trying to give her reason. "Sorry about it, Senpai. But could you do the rest of the introduction yourself?" She put down the paper and massaged her temple again.
"Senpai?" The whole room shouted that in confusion, including Murakumo. They shifted their view from their Admiral to the man in question.
"Well, tired already? I guess I can understand that for now."
"Thank you." She gave a sigh. "I'll treat you later."
"Really now?" A small laugh accompanied that statement. He then pulled out Tenryuu's sword from the floor. After that, he walked forward toward the girls. "So you're Tenryuu, eh?" asked the man as he looked at her.
"Y-Yeah, that's me." Still shocked by the latest situation, she was unable to give a proper reply.
"You have good strength. But, as I said before, your technique is crude and amateurish." He then twirled her sword on his hand slightly, trying to get the feel of the weapon. "And not a bad sword too." He looked at it for a few seconds and then put it forward. "Here, take it."
"E-Eh? I mean, yes." Tenryuu approached him and took the sword from him. She sheathed back the sword and then returned to her previous position.
"So, introduction, eh?" The man said while looking at the whole room. The room was filled with girls who were wearing a mix expression of confusion and fear looking at him. "Nice to meet all of you. I am Major Jurou Wakahisa. Just as stated in the notice letter, I was sent here to be an independent auditor of your base."
"Independent auditor-nanodesu?" Inazuma said the foreign term she had never heard before.
"Yes, I am here to audit your base. I will assess and evaluate your battle performance, equipment, resource management, and so on. It is already listed on the notice paper." Before continuing, he saw that one of the girls raised her hand. "Yes, you."
"So you are here to grade our base?" Ikazuchi asked him.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Then another hand was raised.
"So you're not the one that kidnapped Hibiki?-chan"
"Ikazuchi!" Akatsuki who was near her quickly covered her mouth. "What are you asking him about?"
"Umph!" With her mouth covered, Ikazuchi was not able to say anything, instead she just grabbed Akatsuki's hand, trying to make her let go of her mouth.
"Hmm, kidnapping eh?" Jurou touched his chin and then continued. "I guess you can say that I am the one responsible for that."
"EEEEHHHHHH!?" The whole room exploded with their unison shouts.
"You!? Where did you keep her?" After hearing that, Tenryuu pointed at him with anger in her voice. Beside her, Tatsuta was already gripping her glaive, ready to assist her friend if she went into combat again.
"Calm down. She should be here any minute now." And just on cue, the sound of hurried footsteps was coming near them. "Oh, I guess that's her."
The whole room then looked at the source of the sound. Not long after that, a silver haired girl entered their view. It was none other than their friend, Hibiki.
"I'm sorry for the wait, everyone." She said as she entered the room with a box on her hand.
"Hibiki-chan!" "Hibiki!" "You're safe!" Cheering from the other girls covered her as she was attacked with a wave of hug from them.
"W-What happened?" The silver haired girl looked at the others who were hugging her so much. Even Tenryuu and Tatsuta were near her, ruffling her hair and patting her shoulder to show how relieved they were seeing their friend managed to be safe and sound.
"We thought you were kidnapped-nanodesu!" Inazuma said so while wiping the tears out of her eyes with her sleeve.
"Kidnapped? Why?" She was surprised to hear that reason from her friends.
"You were gone! And we can't find that man too!" This time it was Ikazuchi's turn to answer her.
"Who? Major Wakahisa?"
"You know him?"
"Just recently. When I was searching for him, he called me and then asked me to show him the way to this office."
"And you just believe that, Hibiki-chan?" Tatsuta asked her, showing that she didn't approve of the girl decision to just believe a stranger.
"Uhm, he did show me his badge and his notification letter." Hibiki answered that with slight hesitation.
"Badge?"
"She meant this." Jurou unbuckled his trench coat and opened it slightly. A sight of a single badge embedded on his chest was there. It was the badge that signifies his rank as a major. "And the letter of notice is the one your admiral was reading."
"And the box?" Tenryuu asked her again. "What is that thing?"
"I don't know. He asked me to bring it over." She then walked over to him. "Is this the right one, Major?"
"Yup, correct, Hibiki-chan." Jurou took the box right away from her. "спасибо (thanks) ," said the man while putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Oh!" She was surprised to hear the man used Russian. "Пожалуйста (you're welcome)." After that, she walked back to the others.
"Now that everyone's here, I will say it again. I am here to be an independent auditor for this base. All of the necessary formality is already in the notice letter. If you need something more, I'll ask the HQ to send the information you need. I hope I can work together with all of you." He then finished his introduction with a bow to the other.
"As Major Wakahisa said, he will be here to audit our base. I hope you can work together with him." The Admiral added that to his introduction. "For now, introduce yourself, girl."
"Yes, ma'am!" The girls said in unison.
"I'm Akatsuki! Treat me like the fully-fledged lady that I am!"
"I'm Hibiki. I'm also referred to as "The Phoenix" from my exploits."
"I'm Ikazuchi! Not 'Kaminari'! Please take care of that part too, okay!"
"I'm Inazuma. Pleased to meet you." As the four girls finished their introduction, the two senior officers were next.
"My name is Tenryuu. Fufufu, ya scared?" Although already lost twice, Tenryuu still said that with pride in her voice.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tatsuta~. I apologize for the trouble Tenryuu-chan had made."
"W-What? You attacked him too, Tatsuta!" Being blamed by her friend, Tenryuu quickly protested.
"But that was because you attacked him first, Tenryuu-chan~"
"B-But! B-But!" Tenryu tried to say something, but she didn't know what else to say. Her face was blushing because of that.
"Tenryuu." The Admiral quickly stopped her before she embarrassed herself any more. The eyepatch wearing girl could only shut up while still blushing. Tatsuta who started that only giggled to herself.
"And may I know the one on the back?" Jurou said while looking at Murakumo.
"Ah, yes. Please forgive me. I am the Special type destroyer, 5th ship Murakumo. Nice to meet you, Major Wakahisa." She then bowed her body slightly to him.
"The pleasure is mine, Murakumo-san and everyone." He then returned his gaze to the other girls. "Well, as a token of friendship, I have something for all of you." He then put the box on the table nearby the Admiral's desk. Seeing that, the girl gathered near him with curiosity on their eyes. Even The Admiral stood up and joined the girls.
He then opened the box, revealing a variety of smaller sized box inside it. The girls looked at that with excitement, curios at the content of the colorful boxes.
"Let's see. I guess this one will do for now," said Jurou while reaching for the red colored one. He then turned around to face the others and pulled the cover of the box. "Please help yourself."
"Ooooh!" The girls let out sound of excitement as they saw the content of the box. Inside the box was an assortment of bars wrapped in colorful paper and also the word 'chocolate' on it.
"There are plenty of flavors and also plenty for everyone. Or at least for the one in this office right now." Jurou said with a smile on his face.
"Then I'll take this one!" Ikazuchi quickly picked the one wrapped in yellow paper.
"Ah, I was going to take that!" Akatsuki shouted to her.
"You're too slow, so it's mine."
"Then I'll have the one in pink." Inazuma then took the one wrapped in pink colored paper.
"I'll take the white one." Hibiki also joined the other in picking the treat.
"Eh, then I'll take this one!" Akatsuki quickly took the one with the blue colored wrapper.
"I'll have this then." Murakumo picked the purple colored one.
"Ah, I was going to take that." Tenryuu said disappointingly.
"Oh, this looks good." Ignoring Tenryuu, Tatsuta picked her choice of chocolate.
"I guess I'll have this then." Tenryuu picked the one next to Tatsuta.
"So for me it's this one." The Admiral was going to pick one for her, but then her hand was stopped by Jurou.
"Your share is different from this."
"Eh?" Disappointed at that fact, she protested the unfair treatment.
"Don't worry. I guarantee it will not lose to these ones." He said to her while smiling to her.
"Okay, but you promise that, Senpai." She then returned to her seat. After that the girls opened their chosen treat and quickly ate it. Various comments came from them as they discovered that each of their treat had different taste. But one thing was the same. They all looked happy to enjoy their newest auditor's treat.
"It's been a while, isn't it Senpai?"
As the girls retreated to their quarter, the only one left on the office was the Admiral and the Auditor.
"Yes, about 5 to 7 years, I think." Jurou drank his tea that was brewed by Murakumo before she left for the night. At first, Murakumo was reluctant to leave her superior to a stranger like him. But after a long persuasion from her superior that he was a longtime friend, she had no choice but to do that.
"What were you doing all those years?"
"Huh? What a silly question you ask, Admiral Yoko Miyamoto," said Jurou while laughing at that.
"It's been a while since someone called my full name." She said while sipping her own share of the tea.
"I guess so. All the time I was here, I've not hear them called your name even once."
"You'll be in the same boat as me later, you know? They'll probably call you by 'Auditor-san'."
"Well," he leaned back on the sofa he was seating on, "not that it's a matter for me, right? I mean, we are quite accustomed to that, right?"
"You're right. By the way, you still haven't answered my question, Senpai."
"Oh, about what I was doing? What else is there for me?"
"Mercenary works as usual?" She said that while frowning slightly.
"That's what I do best, right?"
"…If you say so." She then continued to sip her tea.
"I have to say, you have it quite good here. Well, you are fighting those strange Abyssal Fleets, so I think this is quite fitting, eh?"
"…I actually don't know how to react to that statement of yours, Senpai."
"Hahaha, just say what's on your mind there, Admiral-san." He looked quite relaxed. Then he stood up and then walked to the box he brought some times ago. He rummaged the content and then pulled out a plain colored box. He then returned to his seat and put the box on the table. "Open it," said Jurou to her.
Not knowing what to expect, she just opened the box. Inside it was a bottle with a label written in some East Asian language she didn't understand.
"What's this?"
"Liquor." He said to her as he emptied his cup. "What else?"
"So this is my share? You know that I can't drink much." She looked at her rather disappointingly. Inside her mind, she was expecting for something lighter.
"Just open the damn bottle and drink it." He said impatiently at the black haired woman complaint.
"Okay, okay." She then opened the bottle cap. The moment she opened it, the scent of the alcohol filled the air. But instead of being overpowering, it was a very pleasing scent. The scent was also mixed with flower scent and other fruity scent. She liked the first impression the drink had made for her. With that, she poured a little on the empty cup. She saw that the liquor color was akin to a slight pinkish color. With one movement, she emptied the colorful liquid inside it.
"How was it?"
"It's light. Very surprising. One of your friend's specialty?"
"Yeah," he put forward his cup toward her, gesturing her to fill it with some of the liquid she just drank. "He said that it is not too strong, so I'll bring it here."
"How thoughtful," said Yoko as she poured some into his. "I like this."
"Thank you. It's a very rare one. Glad you like it." He then drank it empty. "Good, but too weak for me."
"Well, you're too accustomed to those throat burning ones, Senpai."
"I guess I am. I guess I am." He nodded at that.
For a few moments, there was silence over them. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking sound of the clock inside the office.
"That ship of yours…" Yoko suddenly spoke. "Did you get it from–"
"Yoko Miyamoto." He called her full name suddenly, making her stop her sentence. "That's confidential. You know that, don't you?"
"…Yes, forgive me for that." She bowed slightly, feeling slight disappointed that her senpai would not tell her about it more, although she had a hunch about the origin of the vessel.
After filling his own cup with the tea from the teapot on the table, he pulled out his tablet and then swiped his finger on to it. He typed several words and then opened several windows on the screen. The whole process intrigued Yoko as she kept staring at her senpai with curiosity on her eyes all the time.
"Here, take a look at these for now." He put forward the table toward her. She took it right away and read the display of the tablet.
"Is this the data you will need, Senpai?" She said after finished reading the whole display.
"Pretty much," said the man with relaxed tone.
"For what?" She inquired further. "Forgive me for asking, but that is a bit too much even for an auditor."
"…Too much for an auditor, eh?" He sipped his tea a bit before putting it down again. "Admiral Miyamoto, for now I couldn't give you any reason for that. But there will be time when I'll tell you, whether I want it or not."
"Whether you want it or not?" She paused for a second. "That didn't make any sense."
"And so is your Fleet Girls. And the Abyssal Fleet. Heck, not a single thing here make sense." He said that with a tone dripping with sarcasm.
Hearing that, Yoko sighed and then looked at her senpai. "You are, as usual, a mysterious fellow, Senpai."
"Thanks. That's my specialty after all." He smiled at her.
"Couldn't agree more. Well then about your living quarter–"
"I'll live in my ship. That will reduce the hassle for you. Besides, you already have plenty of it from what I've seen." He grinned at her, receiving a head shake from her.
"You don't know the half of it, Senpai." She then looked at him again. "So is there anything else you need?"
"Oh, you already knew what I am going to ask, don't you?" He grinned at her again.
"I have a hunch," she shrugged at that, "but I need your word to grant that request of yours."
"I see. Then let me have the permit to make Tenryuu's torpedo division for my sample."
"Granted." After saying that, she massaged her temples. "I knew you're going to ask that."
"And you call me a mysterious person."
"Sometimes you purposely make it easy for other to read your intention."
"Hahaha, true, true." He then raised his cup toward her. "A toast, for all of us."
"For all of us," she did the same as him. The sound of two cup clinking after hitting each other mark the end of a such eventful day for the two longtime friends.
*In an unknown part of the world
N: Is everything ready, Camera-kun?
C :Please wait a minute, sir….Ah, there we go! Ready, sir!
N: Okay, so are we on, now?
C: Yes, sir.
N: All right! Helloooo there, everyone! We are in the end of the show, so this is our small corner for small talk! I'm your host, N-san. And as usual, we have my ever diligent assistant, Camera-kun!
C: H-Hello there.
N: And right now we are at a submarine! My first experience here! A bit cramped, but I'll survive!...I hope.
C: …I don't like the sound of that, sir.
N: Well, what do you want me to do? I've never been here before. All I've been is either an office or a studio. This here is out of the world!
C: Sir, you look excited.
N: And scared! Don't forget scared! Ugh, this is not good for my blood pressure.
?: I suggest you took a regular and constant breath, N-san.
N: Ah, thank you for the advice. ….And you are?
?:I'm I-168, you can call me Imuya.
N: Imuya-san then…Uhm, nice to meet you, I guess…
I: Hey, why the lack of spirit? We're in a very secure submarine. And you even have a very comfortable place here, N-san.
N: I guess. I don't really know much about submarine, you know.
I: Well then you're in luck! I'm a submarine myself.
N: A submarine? Oh, so you're one of the fleet girls, right?
I: Correct, N-san.
N: So I guess you'll be our guide here then?
I: If you want to, I will. I already have the work order from our admiral.
N: Really? Then welcome aboard and nice to meet you, Imuya -san! Let's hope we can work together!
I: Likewise, N-san. You know, this is such a magnificent submarine. I've never seen this before.
N: But of course! This is one of our latest investments. But sorry, I can't say much about it. You know, company confidential and such.
I: Understood, N-san. We have our own duty, right?
N: Agreed, Imuya -san. So let's start out interview then. May I ask you a few things?
I: Sure, go on. As long as it is not about our base's secret, I'll answer you.
N: Thank you, Imuya-san. So let's start with an easy one. What is your daily task?
I: Well, besides on sortie and expedition, I mainly do resource transport.
N: Oh, really. Then you're quite fast then?
I:….Uhm…I'm quite slow actually.
N: Err, sorry, did I touch a bad subject?
I: No, it's not your fault. Next question then?
N: Eh? Oh, yes, yes. Well, let's stick to something easy again then. What's your hobby?
I: Hmm, on our free time I usually went shell diving with Goya. Oh, Goya is my fellow submarine.
N: Shell diving? What a unique hobby. Well then, let's continue with this one next. What do you think about the Major? Have you met him?
I: Major? Oh you mean Major Wakahisa? Yes, I heard quite a bit from the other when I'm on break.
N: Oh, really? Can we hear about that?
I: Uhm, all they say was that he was a bit scary. A battle maniac that is able to defeat both the Tenryuu class girls. But I haven't met him yet, so I can't really say.
N: Oh, I see, I see. So the news that he defeated both Tenryuu-san and Tatsuta-san is already spread.
I: News spread fast on a small base like us, N-san.
N: I see. Okay, okay. Well, it seems like our time has run out. Since this is our premiere episode, we will get to reading comment letter starting on the next one. Thank you for coming here, Imuya-san.
I: The pleasure is all mine, N-san.
N: Okay, so see you later, don't forget to send us your comment (aka Review). Thank you for watching, have a nice day, and stay healthy, everyone! Bye!