Here's the 2nd chapter! But before we begin, there's a couple of things I wanted to talk about.
The first thing I wanted to talk about and establish is Enterprise's personality. Using Iowa as a template and basing off the Japanese stereotype of Americans in their media, I'm assuming that American ships would be overly cheerful. So I'm making Enterprise cheerful as well. She's got a serious side as well which is only natural considering her reputation and history. She's very observant and aware of her surroundings and the situations she's in. Having fought throughout the war and surviving, something like that fits. And concerning her status as a legendary ship in WW2, I want to make her humble about it. I wouldn't say she flaunts off her abilities or boasts about it, but she is aware of her strength.
Another thing I want to address is the mood in the story. When handling the interactions between the American ships and Japanese ships in KanColle, I see 2 ways that someone can approach them. When considering the history between the ships, you can use that background to either have a serious dramatic mood, or you can use it to set a light-hearted/comedic mood. So the thing I wanted to do for the interactions between the Japanese and American ships is that it will probably be dramatic when they first meet since they'll have history from WW2, but then it'll transition into light-hearted/comedic stuff.
The room was definitely filled with tension.
After the reveal of who they were, a silence washed over the room. All 3 of the room's inhabitants hadn't uttered another word after their introductions.
Shoukaku and Zuikaku had shocked looks on their faces with wide eyes as they looked at the American girl. They were still staring at her.
Enterprise was still nervously scratching the back of her head while having her eyes closed and still smiling. She was almost starting to sweat underneath their gazes. Being by herself and outnumbered 2 to 1 did not make her feel secure. God she wish she had Hornet or Yorktown with her here. Actually, scratch that. Having them here with her would have been an even more horrible idea.
The 3 girls continued their silent standoff. Each of them were aware of the history they had together. Their encounters with each other throughout the Pacific War was one of the most notable rivalries the girls have ever had with how many times clashed.
For Enterprise she felt...frustration, was the best word she could use to describe it, when she saw the two of them. The two crane sisters were truly one of the most intense oppositions she had in the war. They had faced off against other so many times. In the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz, They were the ones that had been able to hit and damage her with some of the most immense pain she had ever felt. Not only that, they were also the ones that had hurt her friends and sisters. They had participated in the Pearl Harbor attack. They were the ones directly responsible for Lexington and Hornet's deaths.
On the flipside, the sisters felt that same feeling of frustration towards Enterprise. They had squared off in multiple instances, but they felt it was multiple instances too many. They had sworn they sunk her in the Solomons and Santa Cruz. But after each time, she came back, like a Grey Ghost that would come to haunt them for the rest of the war. And also to them, they knew that she was the one responsible for many of their friends' deaths in the war.
The 3 were locked in place for a while. The thing that broke the stagnation was when Zuikaku started moving. She turned around and started heading towards the door, not even saying a word.
"Wait! I...uh..." Enterprise yelled out as she raised her hand towards Zuikaku.
Zuikaku turned around to look at her. Enterprise opened her mouth but found that no words came out. What could she say in this situation?
With Enterprise remaining silent, Zuikaku turned back around, headed out of the room, and closed the door behind her.
Enterprise stared at the door for a while, debating or not whether she should go after her or not. She broke her head away and then turned her head towards Shoukaku. She was still looking at the door from where Zuikaku left.
But with the departure of Zuikaku, Enterprise realized that she was now left alone with Shoukaku in the room who still hadn't made a move or response. She wondered what she would do.
As if Shoukaku heard her thoughts, she turned her head back towards Enterprise. "I'm sorry about that Enterprise-san." Shoukaku said to her.
Now that wasn't a response that Enterprise was expecting from her.
"N-no, it's fine. You've got nothing to apologize for." Enterprise waved her hands. She wondered why Shoukaku was apologizing to her.
"It just might take Zuikaku some time to take this in and get accustomed to it." Shoukaku said as her mouth curled up into a melancholic smile. "Enterprise-san, regardless of our past relationship, if we are to be working with each other and living together, I would like for us to be on friendly terms."
"Shoukaku?"
"If you're worried about the past, then let me be the first to say I harbor no ill will towards you right now. The past is the past. I don't want to let the fact that we fought another back then dissuade us from straining our relationship in the present now that we are on the same side together."
She hadn't expected to hear something like this from Shoukaku. She had thought she was also going to be met with something kind of like the same cold response Zuikaku gave her. Shoukaku was surprisingly someone very mature.
"I..." Enterprise started with a pause. "...feel the same way too." Enterprise finished.
One of the things she hated the Crane sisters the most for in the war was for sinking Hornet. She could still recall the feelings she had from that battle off the Santa Cruz Islands. How she and Hornet were battered and bruised, how she had to leave Hornet behind, and the sorrow she felt when she learned that they had finished her off.
She had been devastated from losing her sister. But now, as a kanmusu, she had been able to see Hornet again. She had been able to see all of her friends and sisters again when they all came back together as kanmusu.
She felt that she could drop any ill feelings that she had towards the Crane sisters now that she had been reunited with everyone again.
"If you're able to put the past away, then I guess I can too." Enterprise said
"I'm glad you feel that way." Shoukaku said.
She then stood up and walked up towards Enterprise. Shoukaku then bowed in front of her. "I hope to get along with you." A genuine warm smile appeared on Shoukaku's face.
Enterprise could feel as if Shoukaku's face was shining. "Awww cmere!" Enterprise said before she lunged at the girl with a hug.
Shoukaku was surprised at her sudden actions. "I guess this is that fabled American affection." She said as she let out a small laugh while still being crushed underneath Enterprise's hug.
"Eheheheh." Enterprise chuckled.
While Enterprise and Shoukaku were having a heartwarming scene, Zuikaku was stomping off away from their room.
A boiling feeling came from her stomach. A feeling that had only just popped up when she saw Enterprise. That intense feeling of frustration.
Zuikaku looked back on their history together. She had first encountered and fought against Enterprise during the Battles of the Eastern Solomons and the Santa Cruz Islands. When she first saw her, a intense feeling had welled up inside of her. She was hoping to attain revenge against her in order to avenge her fallen comrades from Midway by taking out the one that was responsible for it.
And after each outcome of those battles, she had thought that she had attained her goal.
Only for Enterprise to shatter her illusions as she had came back each time.
At first, Zuikaku had hoped to crush Enterprise. Then it had all turned around and she had just hoped to be able to even fend her off. As the war had blazed on, she kept getting knocked back as Enterprise pushed on.
Frustration had mounted within her back then. And it seemed that feeling of frustration still carried over to today as they came back as kanmusu.
Zuikaku stopped and let out a sigh. That was right, they were kanmusu now.
No matter what the outcome of the war was, she was back now. All of her friends and family were back with her now. Did she really have any reason to continue holding her grudge?
She didn't know it, but that was the same thought that Enterprise had herself earlier.
But Zuikaku was a stubborn girl. Hell, if she still had beef with Kaga, how was she expected to get along with Enterprise of all people?
Zuikaku let out a puff and started walking again.
Fubuki, Mutsuki, and Yuudachi were hanging around in the cafeteria as they went off for food after their meeting with the American.
Only this time, they had Akagi and Kaga with them. That in itself wasn't anything abnormal, but they were acting weird.
Kaga was just sitting down staying silent while looking down at the table solemnly. Akagi was devouring all the food that was coming her way. While something like that was usually normal for Akagi, it seemed like she was eating while looking...panicked?
"Uh, Akagi-senpai, are you okay?" Fubuki asked.
"Yeah...I'm just fine..." Akagi said in a downtrodden voice before going back to scarfing down food.
"She's looking like one of those women that stress eat-poi." Yuudachi said.
"She's been like this ever since we met that American, what's up with that?" Mutsuki said.
Fubuki looked at Akagi who was still drowning herself in food. It would be futile to try and ask her about it and she was pretty sure she would just deflect it. She moved her gaze and looked over to Kaga who was still holding her head down down solemnly.
"Kaga-senpai, can you tell us what's wrong?"
Kaga flinched a little and lifted her head up as she was suddenly asked a question.
"Does it have something to do with that American we met earlier?"
The same complicated expression appeared on Kaga's face again at her words. She let out a sigh as she raised her head to meet their gazes. Kaga put her elbows up on the table and put her hands together.
"Yes." Was all she said.
Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki waited, expecting her to continue but not hearing anything else come form her. So they continued staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate more.
She let out another sigh as their stares continued to pressure her.
"Back during the war, me and Akagi participated in the Battle of Midway."
Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki nodded as they listened.
"In that battle, we were truly and utterly defeated." Kaga said with a melancholic look on her face. The 3 girls observed that she was struggling to speak about the topic. It made sense, for a usual proud carrier to talk about her defeat must be difficult.
"What was supposed to be a crushing victory for us, turned into a devastating defeat in a manner of 5 minutes. Midway was the site of where both me and Akagi sank." As Kaga spoke, it seemed that her tone was getting more morose after each word. Meanwhile, Akagi also seemed to be eating more frantically and faster after Kaga's statement.
"And can you guess who it was that sank both of us?"
The girls shook their heads.
"Do you guys remember the name of that American girl we met today?" Kaga asked.
"Uhh, it was Enterprise right?"
"Correct." was all Kaga said before remaining silent. It took a couple of seconds before the realization hit them.
"Eh?"
"Wait..."
"No way!"
"It's true." Kaga placed her forehead in her hand. "It was Enterprise. She was the one that sank us." Kaga said as she gritted her teeth.
"Ehhhh?!" The girls said.
"To be able to sink Akagi-senpai and Kaga-senpai, two of our strongest carriers..."
"Enterprise-san is pretty impressive."
"Enterprise-san must be super strong-poi! She really sank two carriers in one battle-poi?"
"It wasn't just 2, it was 3. Hiryuu was also sunk by her that day." Kaga said with her head still downtrodden.
The girls continued to be awestruck.
"That's even more awesome-poi!"
"If Enterprise-san is strong enough to take on 3 carriers, then surely she'll be able to defeat Abyssals with ease! I can't believe the Americans sent her first."
As Yuudachi and Mutsuki continued to gush with awe, Fubuki noticed a glum mood over both Akagi and Kaga's heads as the girls showed their excitement.
"Ah, Enterprise-san is impressive, but that doesn't mean that you and Akagi-senpai aren't still strong." Fubuki said with sweat drop trying to reassure them.
Kaga's hands balled up into fists. Her grip tightening and her teeth gritting.
She raised her head up. "I swear, I will make up for my defeat back then. I'll prove that my skills are are better than hers. She was only lucky back then, I'll show her who's truly the better carrier!"
Kaga stood up from the table and grabbed Akagi by her robe. "Come on Akagi-san, we're going to the range to hone our skills." Kaga said as she dragged Akagi away from the table behind the girls.
Fubuki twisted her body and turned. "Kaga-senpai!" She called out.
She saw that Kaga had stopped, only it wasn't because of her calling out to her. She saw a blonde-haired person standing in front of Kaga in the way on the path she was headed out.
Kaga stood in place as she stared at the person in front of her. Said person was also looking back at her with a curious expression.
"O, hello there." Enterprise said. "Sorry, I'm in your way. Excuse me." She said as she stepped to the side.
Fubuki swore that Kaga threw Enterprise a glare before she continued to walk off with Akagi in tow.
"What's up with her?" Enterprise said as she scratched her head.
Enterprise had heard that one girl call the other 'Kaga' as she walked in. If that really was Kaga, she had a good idea why she walked off like that.
"Ah, it's nothing Enterprise-san." A voice said from behind her.
Fubuki had stood up from the table after their little exchange and moved towards her.
"Ah hello." Enterprise said as she turned around. "I met you at the docks, but I didn't catch your name."
"It's Fubuki."
"I'm Mutsuki!"
"I'm Yuudachi-poi."
Fubuki didn't notice that her friends also stood up and went up to Enterprise as well. She could see it in their eyes that they still had their look of awe from the story that Kaga had told them. Fubuki would be lying if she said that she didn't feel that sense of awe as well.
"Nice to meet all of you." Enterprise said.
"What are you doing here Enterprise-san?" Fubuki asked.
"I'm just touring around the Naval District. Shoukaku told me about the cafeteria here if I wanted to go get something to eat. Thought I'd check this first."
"Ah if you're touring, we can show you around if you'd like Enterprise-san!" Mutsuki offered.
"You sure?"
"We'd be glad to-poi!"
Enterprise smiled. "I'll gladly take up your guys' offer."
And so, the destroyers showed the carrier around their naval district. They showed Enterprise around to places such as the repair docks, the classrooms, the training ranges, and even Mamiya's cafe.
"Wow, this place is pretty nice." Enterprise commented.
"I told Fubuki this when she first got here but the Naval District really does have everything you need." Mutsuki said.
"I'll say."
"It's pretty huge-poi." Yuudachi added.
They were now crossing across the main courtyard of the Naval District, just in front of the Admiral's office.
"This place you probably know since this was the first place you headed to when you got here." Fubuki said.
"Heyyyy Buckyyyy!" A voice rang out in the courtyard. Suddenly, a big form ran into Fubuki.
Enterprise reeled back at the sudden intrusion of another person into Fubuki's personal space. Mutsuki and Yuudachi looked on as if it was something that wasn't out of the ordinary.
"Ah, Kongou-san?" Fubuki asked while having her faced buried into Kongou's body.
"We just got back from our mission. I was just the Admiral's office. I didn't get my loving embrace from him so you get to receive it."
Enterprise let out a chuckle at the scene.
Kongou heard her chuckle and turned her head towards her.
"Hmm? Who's this?" She broke her embrace with Fubuki and faced Enterprise.
"I'm the USS Enterprise."
"Ah, you're a Yankee." Kongou said with an amused smile as she put a hand underneath her chin.
"That's right." Enterprise said with a smile.
"How interesting! Well allow me to introduce myself then." Kongou said as she placed her hands on her hips. "The name ship of the Kongou-class Battleships, born in England and raised in Japan, Kongou-desu!"
She raised her hand up and struck a pose. She stayed in that pose and didn't say anything more
A few seconds passed by. Silence.
"Huh?" Kongou said confused. She looked around as if expecting something.
"Hmm?" Enterprise also looked confused.
"I-I-I'm the s-second ship of the K-Kongou class..." A timid voice popped out.
Kongou turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. She then moved to the side to reveal a girl from behind her who was shuddering. Where'd she come from? was what Enterprise thought.
Fubuki, Mutsuki, Yuudachi, and Enterprise looked at the girl questionably.
"What are you doing? This isn't how the routine goes." Kongou said.
The girl looked around at the people staring at her. When she met eyes with Enterprise, she jumped back.
"Ahhhhhh, Onee-sama protect me!" The girl said as she ran behind Kongou again.
"Daijobu?" A third girl with long hair appeared right besides Kongou talking to the girl. "What's wrong?"
"H-her!" The girl said pointing at Enterprise
"M-me?" Enterprise was confused now.
"Enterprise-san?" Fubuki said.
"I see. So she's the cause of all this." A fourth girl with glasses popped in.
"W-wait, what are you talking about?" Enterprise questioned.
"You were the one that sunk me!" The girl hiding behind Kongou said. Everyone's eyes popped onto Enterprise now.
"Ehh? Wait a minute, who is she?"
"Ah, that's Hiei-san." Fubuki answered Enterprise.
Oh. So that's why she was met with that reaction.
Enterprise did indeed remembered that she sunk her, just off of Guadalcanal where she managed to claim the first battleship kill for a carrier.
"Get her torpedo planes away from me!" Hiei cowered behind Kongou.
Enterprise sweatdropped as she didn't know what to do in this situation. The 3 sisters tried to comfort Hiei as she rolled up into a ball. The other remaining 4 girls just watched.
Kongou eventually broke away and then walked up back to Enterprise.
"I'm sorry for this." Enterprise apologized.
"Ah it's fine. Hiei will get over it eventually."
"Onee-sama, I need your loving embrace to comfort me!"
"See?"
"Eheheh." Enterprise laughed.
"Anyways, it's pretty interesting to see a yank around here." Kongou said. "We don't get much foreign ships. As a British girl, it's kind of exciting to have an American around here now!"
"Ah, you weren't here for the announcement Kongou-san." Fubuki said. "We're going to be having American visitors on the base to help out with the Abyssals. Enterprise-san here is the first one to come."
Kongou's face lit up. "Ooooh, I'm burning up with excitement! I hear Americans are pretty energetic, it'll be more fun to play around with them!"
Enterprise chuckled. She wasn't wrong about that. All of them were pretty cheerful and animated to an extent. Enterprise would say that the BBs were particularly the most lively. Especially the Iowa-class ones. She thought that Kongou would maybe get along with them the most.
"Well you'll get to see more of them soon enough. More should be arriving to the base soon."
"Oooh, I can't wait!" Kongou said. "Well I gotta go take Hiei away. I'll see you around." Kongou said as she ran back towards her group of sisters, grabbed them all in a hug, and ran off while dragging them.
"She reminds me a lot of Iowa."
The rest of the day was spent touring around the rest of the Naval District. She had eaten dinner with the destroyer girls when that time rolled around.
As the sun set over the horizon, nighttime started to settle down.
As she walked around with the destroyers, Enterprise saw that girls started to retreat to their rooms.
"Ah, Fubuki-chan, Yuudachi-chan, we should probably head to bed as well." Mutsuki said.
"It is getting pretty dark-poi."
"I guess we'll see you later Enterprise-san." Fubuki said turning to Enterprise.
"Good night y'all, thanks for showing me around today."
"No problem at all!" They all said gushing before heading off to their dorm.
She thought about whether she wanted to retire to her room too. She had wanted to confront Zuikaku about earlier, but she couldn't find her all day. If Zuikaku was still avoiding her, she thought that the best thing to do would be to come in later to make sure that she's there in their room.
Enterprise looked over to the darkening horizon. She decided that if she wasn't going to return back to the room, she might as well get some night flying training in. She made her way over to the carrier training range.
Off the waters of the Naval District were a bunch of targets set up made for a carrier's planes to hit. Enterprise stepped up into the range and got into position.
She took out her Springfield rifle. First she loaded it with bullets and set the bolt in place. Then she raised the butt of the rifle to her shoulder and lifted the rifle and pointed it downrange. Looking through the sights, she aimed at the targets. Her finger came around the trigger.
Within a moment, the air suddenly bursted and was filled with planes. The targets came under attack from a combined assault of Hellcat fighters, SBD Dive Bombers, and Avenger Torpedo Bombers.
Meanwhile, Sendai was walking around as per her usual routine during the night. She was also heading to train as well when she noticed the commotion that suddenly came from where Enterprise was training.
"Huh that's strange, usually I'm the only one that's still up around this time." Sendai said as she turned her head. Curious, she made her way towards the source.
As Enterprise lowered her rifle she watched as her airgroups hit their targets.
"Looks like they still got it." She smiled.
As they dropped their ordnance and payload and made their way back towards her, she extended her arm that held her flight deck a couple of lights lighting up on it. "Alright boys, nice and easy. Just like how we did it in the war." She watched as one by one her planes came back to her.
"Oh, what is this? A carrier training in the night? This is most certainly unusual."
Hearing another voice pop out of nowhere, Enterprise flinched a little and turned her head suddenly towards the source. Over a bit away, she could see a girl with a hand underneath her chin, observing her closely.
"Oh, uh, hello there." Enterprise said with a smile.
The girl walked up to her and leaned her face towards her, looking as if she was analyzing her.
"Carriers usually can't fight at night. I've never seen one be able to." Sendai said as she looked at Enterprise up and down. "So how are you able to?"
"Well here I'll tell you how," Enterprise said as she pulled out an Avenger plane. "Each of these planes have radar installed in them." She said as she pointed at it. "They use their radar in order to locate targets. When they return, they use their radar and the lights on my flight deck in order to touch down and come back." She explained.
"That's so cool!" Sendai exclaimed after listening to her explanation.
"Right?"
"If you know how to fight at night, does that mean you're a fan of nighttime battles too?!" Sendai asked ecstatically, getting even more closer into her face than she was before.
"I guess you could say I am." Enterprise as she laughed lightly. "Back in the day, my crew back then really pushed to make nighttime flying a thing. I was the first carrier to be able to do night operations." Enterprise started explaining as she backed a little bit away from Sendai. "They called me CV(N)-6, the N standing for night."
"Ah man, you're getting more and more interesting!" Sendai said with a now even more excited look in her eyes. "I'm so glad to have met another person just as interested in night battles like you!" Sendai said.
Enterprise smiled. "Oh I haven't introduced myself. I'm Enterprise."
"I'm the lead ship of my class Sendai." The girl said. "It's nice to make your acquaintance!"
"So you don't mind that I'm an American ship?" Enterprise asked. She was curious with how fast she became friends with this girl over something like night battles.
"Well, to be honest, I think I was a little wary of you just like almost everyone around here."
"Eheheh, I expected as much."
"But surely someone that likes night battles can't be that bad!"
After their encounter, Enterprise had continued to converse with Sendai. She had gotten to know Sendai a bit more and vice-versa. After showing her night-flying capabilities, Enterprise joined with Sendai in a little bit of night time training as well.
Eventually, after some time, Enterprise decided she was done for the night. She had departed from Sendai who continued her night training while she headed back towards the carrier dorms.
Well it was certainly an interesting day was what Enterprise thought.
Overall, she would say that her experience on the base had been nice so far. The reception to her arrival had been mixed from what she observed but she was glad that nothing too bad came from it. The only thing left was her situation with Zuikaku, and hopefully she could resolve that when she got back to her room.
She walked through the carrier dorms and eventually reached the door to her room. She lifted her hand up to the handle. I hope she's in there. Enterprise thought.
Enterprise grabbed the handle and turned the knob. She pushed the door and creaked it open. She walked in to see that there were indeed two figures already inside the room. One was sitting on the bed. The other was standing with her front towards the person sitting on the bed and her back facing towards Enterprise
Enterprise observed that it looked like Shoukaku had been talking to Zuikaku.
With her entrance towards the room, the two people turned around as she shut the door behind them.
Much like earlier, a tense silence swept over the room as the girls didn't say anything and remained in place. Zuikaku and Enterprise staring off against each other.
"Come on Zuikaku, go ahead." Shoukaku chided as she became the first to speak.
Zuikaku turned back to Shoukaku with an expression that seemed like it was saying 'I don't want to do this.'
"You know that you're going to have to confront this issue eventually right?" Shoukaku said. "I don't think you can run away from this issue now anyway."
"Geez. Alright, Shoukaku-nee." Zuikaku gave in.
Zuikaku turned back around towards the American and walked up to Enterprise.
"I talked with Shoukaku-nee about this whole situation. She told me about how she felt about this." Zuikaku started.
Enterprise nodded as she listened to her.
"She also told me that you two came to an understanding, that you both were willing to put the past aside." Zuikaku crossed her arms "To be honest, I'm not as mature or forgiving as my sister. Now that we're back here like...this. I don't know how to feel about you. We fought so many times in the past. I'm not sure if I can ever really consider you a friend."
Enterprise sighed. She figured that something like this could be a possible case. If that was what Zuikaku thought, then it was time for her to giver her own thoughts.
"Well if you ask me what I personally think, I once had that same line of thought." Enterprise said. "With the struggles and bloodshed we went through against each other, I didn't know if I could ever think of you guys as friends."
Zuikaku's expression changed as a frown fell onto her face.
"But, what I do think is that you guys are my greatest rivals." Enterprise continued.
Then her face changed into a look of surprise.
"I respected you and your sister's strength the most. Especially you Zuikaku. You were the one that gave me the most trouble during the war. And that much, I can respect. That is why I can at least put aside the past so that we can work together. Since we are on the same side now, I can trust your strength when we work together."
Zuikaku was red now. She didn't expect to receive praise from Enterprise of all people.
"So even if you don't think of me as a friend, I hope we can stay rivals at the very least." Enterprise said as she laid out her hand.
Zuikaku stared at Enterprise's hand. Rivals huh? This was different from say the rivalry she had with 1st Carrier Division. This was a rivalry with a former enemy.
Former now being the key word. It was true that she didn't need to worry about fighting her anymore. If Enterprise could put aside their history to work together at the very least, then she could too.
"I guess we can stay rivals then if you want." Zuikaku said as she took her hand and shook it.
Enterprise smiled.
"Wouldn't dream of it any other way...Turkey."
"W-w-wha, Turkey?!" Zuikaku said.
"That's right. It's my nickname for you."
"What kind of nickname is that?!"
"I just remember that one time we faced against each other in the Philippine Sea. I remember my boys described shooting down your planes as like a 'Turkey Shoot' so I think it fits you."
"I don't approve of it!"
"Too bad, that's what I'm calling you. If you want, you can call me a nickname too. How about Big E?"
"How narcissistic of you! I know that's what the USN called you back then!"
"Eh, I tried."