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Approaching Eta-jima, after lunch...

"Sōridaijin-san, you must listen to reason...!"

The Prime Minister of Japan tried not to groan as he mentally wished that he had not agreed to bring the selfish brat sharing his helicopter ride to the Kure Naval District along with him; all the stupid boy had done since they had departed Tōkyō was complain about the fact that his classroom rival was now living at Eta-jima, well away from Tomobiki and all those who saw Moroboshi Ataru as the surefire guarantee to keep a certain alien monster still on Earth.

Four more days...! Abe Shinzō mused to himself as he turned to stare at Mendō Shūtarō. "Shūtarō-kun, your opinions concerning your former classmate are not relevant at this time! As he is recovering from the year of abuse he suffered at Lum's hand..." — he ignored the shiver from the younger man at the lack of any honorific concerning the warlord's daughter from Uru, to say anything of how he viewed such a disgusting accusation against her — "...and is willing to assist in the effort against the Abyssals, Ataru-kun was allowed to resign his place as a student at Tomobiki Senior High School and enter private tutorial. The same applies to Tariko-san even if technically she hadn't existed as a separate being until nearly three months ago. Nothing that you try to provoke with the Family Registrar or the Ministry of Education to force Ataru-kun back to Tomobiki will be allowed. It will displease the Heavenly Sovereign greatly."

Hearing that made Mendō gargle in horror before he seemed to shrink down on himself. Until the whole issue with Queen Elle had come up, the young heir to Japan's largest family fortune had been comfortable with his life. Interact with the common people at his school. Keep clear of his insane sister Ryōko's attempts at killing him. Bask in the adulation of his admirers in the school. Find a way to forge a relationship with Mizunokōji Asuka despite her androphobia. Try his best to make Lum — Mendō adamantly refused to think of the Oni as "Redet Lum" as it was seen as quite gauche to refer to any native of Uru by family name even if they were strangers — see what a mistake it was to pursue such a lout like Ataru. And punish Ataru for whatever slight he made against other people with the help of Lum's so-called "Stormtroopers". Given his family's wealth and influence, Mendō felt invincible, ready to react in any way that would ensure that he would maintain his place at the top of the social pecking order in Tomobiki Senior High School for the rest of his time there.

However, after nearly being incinerated by the eldritch fire of a three millennia old spirit-dragon from the planet Noukiios for some reason that even now remained a mystery to him, Mendō had found himself in a place that was totally WAY beyond his comfort zone. With the usual lightning rod of weirdness that had long earned the ire of his peers for every reason imaginable missing, Mendō's classmates turned on each other like a pack of rabid wolves, with the girls uniformly pushing to ensure Lum would never come back to Earth and the boys split between supporting Lum and moving to seek their own destinies. And once the Noukiites had demonstrated through the Dragonspeaker that Lum would not have an easy time of it as she tried to bring her would-be "husband" to heel, Mendō then found himself wondering if he was truly going mad.

To believe Moroboshi Ataru managed to get the Heavenly Sovereign on his side!

Whatever Mendō or his family could do to force Ataru back to Tomobiki would wilt like a flower in a desert in the face of such spiritual influence as that!

How did that happen...?!

"We're almost at the base now, sir," the co-pilot announced.

Abe nodded as the helicopter swept over the grounds of the former Imperial Naval Academy, moving to land on the old track field at the south end of the base overlooking the cove and the former site of Eta-jima Elementary School, which had been abandoned when the Abyssals began attacking coastal cities and towns en masse three years ago. The machine came to a landing as members of the Prime Minister's protective detail opened the doors to scan the area for threats. Once the engines had been shut down, they beckoned their principal from the passenger cabin. Awaiting them by one side of the track was the current commander of the Kanmusu-keikaku, along with his senior aide, the only battleship to survive intact at the end of the Greater East Asia War.

"Sōridaijin-san, welcome back to Eta-jima," Saitō Ten'ichi said as he saluted his senior civilian boss while Nagato gave the prime minister a polite bow.

"It's good to be here, Saitō-kaishō," Abe said as he shook the veteran naval officer's hand, then returned Nagato's bow with his own. "Nagato-san." Back to Saitō. "The Cabinet's curious about the new shipgirls that were summoned last night, especially our long missing aircraft carrier."

That made Saitō chuckle as Nagato grinned. "Understandable, Sōridaijin-san," the former stated as he waved the politician towards the main buildings. Mendō was made to follow along thanks to to the prime minister's guards, who moved to place themselves between him and Nagato; the battleship had fallen in behind her admiral. "«Um, sir...what's he doing here?»" he then whispered in English as he glanced back at Mendō, knowing the prime minister was fluent since he had attended three semesters at the University of Southern California.

"«As soon as Lady K'ekhech brought him back, he heard what happened to Ataru,»" Abe responded, knowing that the scion of Japan's richest family barely understood the language of world communication. "«He wants his alien princess to come back so he can fawn over her,»" he then added.

Saitō chuckled...

...before he tensed on hearing the helicopter pilot squawk in outrage.

"Oi!"

Mendō jerked on hearing the voice of his hated rival.

"Say hello to your 'goddess' in Hell, sport! KONTŌ!"

As the scion of Japan's richest family spun around, the sound of something akin to a lightsabre being ignited echoed over the temporary helicopter pad.

That was then echoed by a shriek of mortal pain.

Mendō spun around...then dropped to his knees in horror on seeing the pilot now frozen thanks to a burning energy sword having been punched through his head from behind, said sword being held by Moroboshi Ataru! As the protective detail moved to surround the prime minister and Nagato instantly summoned her rigging and weapons, the pilot then dropped dead to the ground without any sign of physical wound or other means to show how his life was exterminated. Ataru then calmly made a slight gesture with his hand, the sword he had created from his own life energy dispersing into nothingness. Before Mendō could croak out a question, his former classmate knelt down to flick off the baseball cap the pilot had been wearing, then he gently shifted the hair away from his ears to reveal their alien taper, which made all the people there gape.

"Another one?!" Saitō demanded...

...then he tensed as Nagato surged over to the helicopter, ripping out the door to the co-pilot's station and yanking the young woman out with one hand as two of her twin 41 centimetre 45 calibre 3rd Year Type naval gun turrets spun around to lock on target. "HOLD IT, NAGATO-SAN!" Ataru snapped out as he stood up from beside the man he just killed, walking around the helicopter as that mysterious energy blade of his forming again. As Nagato got out of the way of that deadly spiritual sword, Ataru lanced it into the co-pilot's head, making her shriek out...though, much to Mendō's personal relief, she didn't drop dead.

The blade was dispersed as Nagato allowed her rigging to vanish. "She's like Negako-san and Tariko-san!" the battleship then hissed. "An...Avalonian...?"

"Hai," Ataru said as the co-pilot shook her head clear. "You okay, Ojō-sama?"

She blinked...then her eyes went wide as suddenly re-awakened psionic senses locked in on something about the young man her master had viewed as the Devil. "You're one of us..." she moaned, staring in wide-eyed shock at him. "How...?"

"Thank your grandfather Ganzo," he said with a wink, making her croak in disbelief on hearing that name. "But before I say why, we have to clue your masters' so-called 'fifth holy apostle' in on the one thing Lum definitely did NOT tell him about life up there!" Ataru then gave his former class rival a weary look. "Or did you get the chance to learn about the Niphentaxians while you were recuperating on Uru after Nengmek'i-ojiichan took me to Okusei?"

"I know some things," Mendō answered, surprised at how calm he just felt after seeing someone killed before his eyes...never mind that said fellow had just been killed by Moroboshi Ataru of all people! "They're an allied race of Lum-san's people, militarily the most powerful in the whole Galactic Federation. Representatives of that race came to the hospital to pass on their sympathies to Lum-san for what Nengmek'i-sama did, vowing their support to investigate what happened. It was during that time that we all learned of what instigated the Tag Race." He then tensed. "Moroboshi! You can't think of trying to sell us out to the Ipraedies or the Seifukusu! Are you insane?! If that...!"

Ataru laughed, which made the other man stop ranting. "Oh, man! Figures you'd think that!" he said before giving Mendō a knowing look. "By the way, Mendō, while you were on Uru, did you ever hear the phrase 'They Who Must Never Be Named' or 'the You Know Whos'? Say in relation to events fifty years before the Union Revolution? You have to have seen that wreckage north of Onishuto while you were recovering from Lum trying to force me to marry her."

That made the scion of Japan's richest family pale. Indeed, he DID remember how the Urusians at the Onishuto Defence Force Central Health Unit had reacted whenever his classmates had asked about what had happened to the old town site of Uru's capital city as they were recovering from burns and the fallen debris of the Onishuto City Cathedral. How it had taken two weeks before the curious Terrans even learned the proper demonym of the metahuman monsters that unleashed a level of destruction on that planet the likes of which couldn't be imagined by even the darkest horror or science fiction writer on Earth; it was at that same time that the members of Class 2-4 learned NOT to mention the words "Yiziba" or "Yizibajohei" in the presence of any alien if they didn't want said alien to die of a heart attack. "Moroboshi, are you MAD?!" he shrieked, itching to grab his katana and try to hack off his hated rival's head for even CONCEIVING such a thing. Sadly, he had been forbidden from bringing his normal shin-guntō with him to Eta-jima; that had been one of the conditions Abe Shinzō had insisted on before he would be allowed here as entering the base grounds unbidden was cause for arrest to any civilian (no matter how rich) who had no business there. "You have to know how much Lum-san's people are terrified of them! How could you even THINK of doing THAT to them?!"

"Oh? And her taking the fucking planet hostage TWICE just to make me submit to her false claim of marriage just to avoid the Beef-and-Noodles King is any...?!"

"ATARU-SENSEI!"

He tensed, then he looked over...before he was nearly bowled over as a speeding blonde missile collided with him at flank speed, knocking him onto his butt. Before Ataru could say anything, he found himself with an armful of crying destroyer. "Oi! Oi, Shimakaze-chan! Calm down!" he called out as Shimakaze tried to bury her face into his chest. "What's wrong?!"

Nagato looked, then she blinked on seeing a calendar flutter to the ground nearby; it had been dropped by Japan's fastest destroyer as she had charged in to collapse into a crying heap in the arms of Kirishima's "special boatswain". Walking over to pick up the folded sheets of paper, she opened it...then she gargled on seeing who had been July's "pin-up girl"! "SARA-CHAN?!" she shrieked out...before she checked the index, then she moaned. "Aoba...!"

Saitō groaned. "Gods! What has she done this time, Nagato-san?!"

"Borderline pornographic pictures as calendar pin-up girls, Teitoku."

Everyone jolted, then the admiral sighed. "Excuse me, Sōridaijin-san..."

The prime minister gave him a sympathetic look. "You deserve hazard pay."

A sheepish smile responded. "It would be appreciated, sir..."


The admiral's office, minutes later...

"You had no idea whatsoever the picture Aoba took of you would be published?"

"N-n-no, Teit-t-toku!" Shimakaze burbled, dabbing at her eyes as she tried not to fidget. Seeing how much the poor fast destroyer had become totally unstrung at being publicly humiliated like that despite what she wore as her normal mode of dress (a pair of black thong panties under an ill-fitting skirt with her abdomen exposed, the whole under a too-short sleeveless seifuku jacket), Saitō and his subordinates had been caught totally off-guard. The co-pilot of the prime minister's plane, a woman named Fujikawa Satsuki, was gently squeezing Shimakaze's shoulders in support. "I wanted to send s-s-something nice and romantic t-t-to Fanta-chan in Brest over e-mail! I n-n-never knew th-that Aoba w-w-would make me s-s-some Page Three girl or s-s-something like th-that...!"

She bawled, earning her a warm embrace from the bioroid who had helped fly Abe Shinzō to Eta-jima. "'Fanta-chan'?" Mendō whispered to Ataru; the two were seated off to one side alongside the latter's sister and a moaning Kongō.

"Le Fantastique," the latter whispered back.

That made the scion of Japan's richest family nod in understanding. Thanks to growing cooperation between the various kanmusu fleets over the last three years, relationships that spanned the once-deep dividing line between Allied and Axis warships had sprung up all over the place. Yamato's relationship with Enterprise was well known, as was Hood's with Bismarck. "Aoba-san, did you ask the girls for permission to use those pictures?" Saitō wondered, wishing he could drink a bottle of sake right now to make this particular headache go away.

The cruiser in question was now in the hot seat before her admiral's desk. To ensure she behaved in the face of the line of lethal looks she was receiving, the would-be gossip reporter was effectively shielded by Moroboshi Negako; the ninjutsu grandmaster had her normal unflappable look on her face, which had unnerved Mendō when he had finally met the famous "Imperial Special Agent #49" moments before. A glance around the room revealed that beyond Kongō (who was being comforted by Tariko), there was a humiliated Yamato (trying to control a seething Enterprise with help from the American carrier's sisters Hornet and Yorktown), a hissing Littorio (barely being held back from strangling Aoba by her sisters Roma and Vittorio Veneto), a cursing Prinz Eugen (who had all four of her sisters trying to prevent her from calling out her rigging and shelling Aoba out of existence), a blushing Iowa (who was trying to hold back a growling New Jersey from ripping the would-be reporter apart) plus five other kanmusu who had been victims of Aoba's camera and her total lack of common decency, not to mention sisterships of same; Nagato's girlfriend Saratoga was now busy with her sister Lexington escorting a convoy from Táiwān to Japan as part of a joint American/Australian/New Zealander team. "Um, it slipped my mind, Teitoku...!" Aoba sputtered...before she gargled on sensing a volcano of outrage from a certain carrier standing in Negako's normal spot at the corner of the room.

Tenryū (Tatsuta had been January's "pin-up girl") looked over. "Oi, Yonaga! I'll do the gutting and you can behead her!" the light cruiser proposed.

Aoba screeched as she stared in wide-eyed horror at Tenryū. "You do need some practice with your katana, Tenryū-san," the seventh carrier said, her voice like Arctic ice. "I'll do the gutting. You'll be the kaishaku-nin."

As the heavy cruiser in the hot seat sputtered in disbelief and terror at how serious Yonaga sounded, Saitō cleared his throat. "Negako-sama, would you please find all the copies of that calendar and get rid of them?" he asked. "Yonaga-san, you won't be beheading Aoba-san...but what you WILL do is go to her quarters, then practice your swordsmanship on all her camera gear!"

"TEITOKU!" Aoba shrieked.

"Oh, stop it, Onē-san!" her sistership Kinugasa snapped, looking as if she wanted to relive her sinking off Guadalcanal. "You know how much our allies frown on how teenagers are depicted in manga and anime these days! Could you imagine what pervert pedophiles might have done if you got pictures of other destroyers, much less frigates, corvettes or submarines?!"

"Oi! I don't do that...!"

"ENOUGH!"

The Aoba sisters clammed up. As James Vance tried not to chuckle and Abe Shinzō shook his head in amusement, Saitō took a deep breath. "Kinugasa-san, you'll make sure that everything your sister owns outside her camera gear isn't touched by Yonaga-san; her lack of experience in modern things may make her do something she'll regret later! Go now!" he then ordered.

Negako forced Aoba up. "I will assist, Ten'ichi." With that, she walked the heavy cruiser out, a grumbling Kinugasa and a stoic Yonaga following.

People relaxed. "You need the danger pay, Saitō-kaishō!" the prime minister then said with a wry chuckle before he sipped the tea Ōyodo prepared for him.

"Honestly, Sōridaijin-san, I need to be relieved!" the commander of the Kanmusu-keikaku moaned, making all the Japanese shipgirls tense as they stared wide-eyed at their leader. "Girls, it's not because of issues like this! Remember, I was assigned to this just after we lost the Kure Flotilla when the Seventh Fleet and the Canadian Pacific Fleet were wrecked!" As many of the kanmusu winced — they had either been there trying to help out or had seen the pictures of that horrid bloodbath three years ago known now as the Second Battle of Iō-tō, a day that had gone down in history as a naval disaster worse than Pearl Harbour and Leyte Gulf combined — Saitō sighed. "It has been an honour and privilege to have led you all through this...but I'm tired, girls."

"Teitoku...!" Nagato whispered as many looked ready to break down and cry.

"Don't worry, girls. We're getting someone even better."

Eyes locked on Tariko. "What do you mean, Moro-..." Mendō then caught himself; even if this being was a reflection of his hated rival, she WAS a pretty girl. "Um, T-t-Tariko-san...?" he sputtered in embarrassment.

Before the matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan could answer, running feet echoed from the hallway outside. A rapid knock at the door later, it flew open to reveal a shipgirl in Canadian naval shore attire, though she was older looking than any of the corvettes on base. "Oi, Beaky-chan!" Shimakaze called out to the girl who had been indirectly named in honour of the capital city of British Columbia. "You know your diesels need to be looked at! Why are you...?!"

A panting moan escaped Beacon Hill as she tried not to collapse against New Jersey. "S-s-sorry about th-that!" she apologized before straightening herself and saluting Saitō. "Begging the a-a-admiral's pardon, s-s-sir, but there are two f-f-four-leaf flag officers coming here...!"

"Ah!" the prime minister called out in delight. "They're finally here!"

Everyone gazed in surprise at him. "What are you talking about, sir?" James Vance then asked as the other foreign officers who served both as naval liaisons and Saitō Ten'ichi's unofficial senior planning staff for operations in the northwestern Pacific exchanged confused looks.

"Don't worry, Vance-shōshō," Abe answered before he gazed on Saitō. "You'll be relieved by the former captain of the Mirai, Saitō-kaishō," he assured the Japanese admiral, which made Saitō gape. "Umezu-kaisa was just promoted to rear admiral and has agreed to take charge of the Kanmusu-keikaku."

As the shipgirls in the room gasped on hearing that they would now fall under the command of Umezu Saburō, the dimension-hopping and time-hopping guided missile destroyer captain who had managed to get his entire ship's company to safety before the Abyssals wrecked Mirai at Iō-tō, Nagato smiled. "He met Yamamoto-gensui himself when he and his crew were in that other dimension back in 1942." As all the shipgirls there gaped at that statement, she nodded to Abe. "Understood, Sōridaijin-san. We will gladly welcome Umezu-kaishō as our new Teitoku...!" She then tensed as she gazed on Beacon Hill, who now sat in Iowa's lap as she tried to recover her energy. "Wait! You said 'two four-leaf' officers, Hill-san! Do you mean they're Canadian?!"

"Aye, ma'am!" the black-haired, green-eyed frigate answered. "A Navy admiral and an Air Force air chief marshal...!" She jolted as the Canadian officer in the room, Captain (Navy) Wendy Armstrong, cleared her throat. "Um...s-s-sorry, Captain!" the frigate sputtered out. "I mean an Air Force general! Keep forgetting that they didn't put the old titles back into use when they put the pearl grey back on their rank insignia a couple years ago...!"

A gentle knock echoed at the door. Bismarck opened it...then she gasped before snapping to attention, saluting. "Frau Admiral Thompkins! Frau General Dover!"

Everyone quickly scrambled to their feet as two women stepped into the room, both in Canadian naval combat uniforms even if the epaulette slip-ons of one was in Air Force medium blue with four pearl grey maple leaves in a diamond formation under the Crown of Saint Edward over crossed sword-and-baton in lieu of the gold-on-black insignia her companion wore. As always, family names were on tags over their right breasts, with the United Nations crest on the upper right arms; the admiral had the Canadian White Ensign on her left arm while her friend had the Royal Canadian Air Force blue ensign. The admiral wore a black beret while her companion had a blue wedge cap trimmed in pearl grey. Both officers wore general officer's cap badges, which was a stylized version of the Canadian Forces' tri-service crest. The admiral was Kongō's height, dark brown eyes peeking out of a friendly, round face, that framed with curly black hair styled in a simple bun above her collar; normally, it extended to mid-back. She had a pair of old-fashioned reading glasses. The general was about Nagato's height, with blue eyes peeking out of a Slavic face even if her skin colour was northern European pale; her hair was sunflower blonde and cut in a taper at the back of her neck. On looking deep into their eyes, the shipgirls tensed even if they didn't know these two warriors' histories and how much they helped keep North America free of Axis metahumans during the Second World War.

As it was said years ago in America, these two had definitely seen the elephant.

All the naval officers were instantly on their feet, saluting the two new arrivals. "Thompkins-taishō! Dover-taishō! Welcome to Eta-jima, ladies!" Saitō declared for them all...then he blinked before he gazed on his head-of-government. "Um...Sōridaijin-san, what's going on...?"

"I'll answer for that, sir," Heather Thompkins declared, her voice flecked with the tones of her native province even if she spoke Japanese fluently. As Abe nodded, the native of Québec City gazed at the others. "Given that America is finally moving to get its shipgirl project underway so that the world doesn't have to lean on Japan and the Commonwealth nations to keep sea lanes clear, the United Nations has decided it's time to unify the shipgirl and shipboy projects under one operational commander to coordinate our response to those things. Since many of the nations in the Far East would have problems with an American, a British, a Russian, a Chinese or a Japanese commander-in-chief, I'm the poor schmoe that got picked to be the Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief of Shipgirls and Shipboys." She then gazed at her military host. "Admiral Saitō, before Admiral Umezu relieves you and gives you a chance to take a well-earned rest, I expect as thorough a briefing as possible on operations and that Merlin-be damned thing you use to bring shipgirls here. I want to make sure I understand thoroughly what I'm dealing with before I start putting lives into harm's way!"

"It'll be my pleasure, Taishō-sama!" Saitō declared, bowing deeply to her.

Heather then gazed around. "Which one of you is Mutsu?"

Nagato's sister tensed. "Hai, Teitoku!"

"Until such time as the cruiser Aurora joins me here to take up her operational role as senior Canadian shipgirl for the Western Pacific, I'd like a personal assistant to help me get my combined staff set up. Since Nagato here will be helping Admiral Umezu get settled in and since you've helped your sister direct your girls' actions after you all answered the Heavenly Sovereign's call to arms, I can use an experienced hand in helping me get up to speed here."

Hearing that made Mutsu blush. "It will be my honour, Teitoku!"

"Good!" Heather then gazed on Jessica Dover, an amused look then appearing on her face. "Now, Jess, don't go over to that café and eat the soul of that little Abyssal that lives there!" she playfully scolded.

The native of Winnipeg jolted. "HEY!"

"EAT HOPPŌ'S 'SOUL'?!" all the shipgirls screamed out in horror.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'LL SAVE YOU, HOPPŌ-CHAN!" a screaming Nagato bellowed out, tears jetting out of her eyes...before she gargled as she swayed to the wind, then collapsed in a dead faint on the deck!

As the two visiting Canadian senior officers blinked in confusion, Mendō's eyebrow twitched ominously while Ataru and Tariko rolled their eyes...


Cafe Mamiya, that moment...

"Hoppō-chan! Calm down, Hoppō-chan..!"

As her Mamiya-mama tried to comfort the child spirit — who had instantly hid herself under a very handy kotatsu screaming her guts out — Hoppō tried her best to not make herself spiritually too obvious to that whatever it was that was now in the base headquarters building nearby.

And she thought the Angry One's presence here was bad...?!


The kanmusu training building, an hour later...

"Dance classes?"

"Hai, Hishō," Nagato stated as she escorted Jessica towards a classroom next to the one the Canadians had taken over as their music room. Given the kanmusu as a whole referred to their overall commander by the traditional title "Teitoku" in lieu of proper Imperial Navy or Maritime Self-Defence Force rank titles, the resurrected warrior-spirits from the Greater East Asia War had fallen back on using a similar classical title for the Royal Canadian Air Force general. In Jessica's case, she got the Japanese reading of the characters that went into the Mandarin term fēijiāng ("flying general"), the title once applied to one of the more notorious warlords that helped rip China apart during the run-up to the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Second Century CE, Lǚ Bù. Hearing that, the native of Winnipeg then wondered what would happen if a certain Army tactical aviation pilot that was one of her best friends had been assigned to take operational command of the world's shipgirl/shipboy forces.

'Shōgun' maybe...? Jessica mused to herself.

"It teaches us flexibility and allows us to better get used to living as human beings," the battleship added. "While the Kami that allowed us to be reborn as kanmusu did allow us to somewhat understand what being human and female is all about, Negako-san has shown us over the last month that we could improve ourselves immensely." She then chuckled. "Ataru-san's demonstration of his soulsword capability the day after he and his siblings came here when he saved Kirishima-san from an enemy submarine was quite an eye-opener for all of us."

"Hai, the soulsword is quite the devastating little trick, isn't it?"

Nagato chuckled, then she blinked. "Ano, Hishō...!"

"Relax," Jessica assured her. "I know Abyssal princesses when they're in child form are harmless babies deep down. You folks scored a hell of an intelligence coup when you allowed Hoppō to come live with you at Mamiya's café, just as the Russians did when they found Ártika on Nóvaja Zemljá and the British did when they found Sealtainn in the Shetlands." She sighed. "According to the current theory about them that our Ministry of Magical Affairs put out recently, child Abyssals are the living echoes of the spirits of children who have died at sea or have lost parents at sea for whatever reason. Reflections of the combined anger, grief, fear and all the other hurtful emotions a child experiences when he or she faces death...or learns that Daddy and/or Mommy aren't coming home again. If we catch them soon enough, we can save them from too much corruption by their adult counterparts. Given that kids like Hoppō have some attachment to the land, I wouldn't want to unleash Negako or Dean on them to see them killed for something that really isn't their fault in the long term."

Nagato nodded. "Understood, Hishō." Even if she wasn't personally responsible for raising Hoppō, she couldn't bear the idea of seeing the child face death at the hands of Moroboshi Negako or Jessica Dover's former commanding officer...!

They stopped before one door, noting there was a haunting religious-like instrumental song echoing from inside. Nagato opened it as she beckoned the Canadian inside. Stepping in, Jessica blinked on noting there were a whole flight's worth of destroyers and light cruisers teamed as partners on the floor, swaying to the echoing sound from the ghetto blaster that was in one corner of the room. Watching over this was Negako, who paused to briefly gaze on Jessica before she turned her attention back to the dancing partners. "Move as slow as you can to ensure Kisaragi does not stumble, Mutsuki," the ninjutsu grandmaster calmly bade as she focused on one couple. "The more you help her become used to moving again, the faster she will recover."

"Hai, Sensei!" a voice audibly choked with emotion answered her.

Jessica looked. Part of the reason that it had taken the War Hawks so long to finally hit the field after they returned to Earth two weeks before was the need to go over every piece of intelligence various nations had gathered concerning the Abyssals and who were being summoned to fight them off. She knew that the coquettish girl in the white-and-green seifuku was Mutsuki, named after a poetic term for the first month in the old Japanese calendar and lead ship of her class of destroyers. The girl with the longer hair currently in Mutsuki's arms was her sister Kisaragi, who was made to relieve history when she was sunk in the Wake Island operation nine months ago; thanks to a roving Canadian submarine girl, she had been found and brought to Eta-jima to recover three months later, sometime after Midway Island had been liberated by the kanmusu. Said destroyer seemed to be almost as stiff as a mannequin, a dazed, lost look on her face as her sister held her close, though she did respond to Mutsuki's guiding her into swaying to the music. A glance at Mutsuki revealed a determined look on the destroyer's face; no doubt, seeing her sister in such awful shape was tearing the poor girl apart inside even if she had the iron discipline implanted on her soul by the memories of her crew to keep her eye on the ball and allow her to carry out her missions when called to sea.

The Canadian's eyes then narrowed as she focused more eldritch abilities to scan the salvaged destroyer. Yes, the body had been healed perfectly and the faerie ghosts of her crew were within her to help her operate with something resembling normal capabilities both as a human teenager and as a resurrected warship...but there was something within her body that was preventing her soul from taking full control over herself. Where the hell was it...wait...ah!

Smirking, Jessica walked over to the ghetto blaster to stop the music, making all the dancers pause as they looked her way...then Fubuki (who had been dancing with Yūdachi) gasped on seeing the four pearl grey maple leaves on this woman's shoulder boards. "ATTENTION ON DECK!" she barked out as she snapped to attention, making all her peers do the same. She then saluted the Canadian general. "General, welcome to Eta-jima!" she called out. "Pardon us for...!"

"At ease! At ease!" the pilot from Winnipeg called back as she slipped off her naval combat jacket to reveal the pale blue short-sleeved shirt she wore underneath it in lieu of the normal indigo blue, flame-retardant, long-sleeved shirt that was normally worn with the Number 5 Navy uniform. As soon as the left sized of her chest was revealed, all the people there gasped on seeing the several rows of medals and decorations under her command pilot's wings.

"Poi..." Yūdachi gasped in awe.

"Wow...!" Fubuki nearly gushed.

"Holy shit...!" Akebono breathed out, her normal disdain for higher-ranked officers vanishing on seeing how many medals were on this lady's uniform.

Especially the wine-red ribbon at the primary position at the top left of the "salad bowl", that bearing a dark bronze stylized Maltese cross.

"The Victoria Cross...!" Akatsuki croaked. "She has to be an elephant...!"

"Elegant," Negako gently amended.

That made the dark-haired destroyer blush. "'Elegant'?!" Jessica asked.

"Akatsuki takes her lessons in humanity well," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated as she gave the other woman an amused look...which caused the pilot to blink. Seeing such a show of emotion from the likes of the Saikō Jinseijutsu herself was truly alien, especially as Jessica could remember the only time the War Hawks faced her within the body of Moroboshi Ryūbi in late 1943. In that scuffle, Negako fought even Dean Raeburn to a standstill; it had taken Martin Larsden's hunting skills to drive her off. "But she requires improvement."

As the shipgirl in question blushed, Jessica chuckled. "Alright, I'll be happy to explain all these silly medals later. And no, Akatsuki, I'm not an elegant lady! I'm a flapper, born and bred in the years of Prohibition!" As all the shipgirls gasped on hearing that — Jessica clearly looked to be a woman in her mid-twenties at the most, hardly matching her potential real age; atop that, her Canadian Forces Decoration (the long-service medal of Canada's military) didn't have 10-year repeat rosettes on it to indicate anything past the normal twelve years of service to be awarded that particular medal in the first place — the native of Winnipeg winked. "After all, it was in Canada that the rum-runners got their booze to sell to folks like Mister Capone down in Chi-town!"

As some of the dancers on the floor laughed on hearing that flippant admission, Jessica then turned to the iPod that had been connected to the ghetto blaster to play songs. Calling up the selection, she scanned what was there, then smiled as she made her choice. "Now, let's pick up the music here..."

A snappy, fast jazz tune began to pound out, making all the destroyers save Kisaragi gape before some of them began to bounce and jiggle to the thundering melody of Sing, Sing, Sing; they recognized same from the times radiomen in their crew picked up signals over shortwave from the Armed Forces Radio Service...not to mention the times they had spent with American shipgirls like Enterprise and her sisters, who simply adored big band music. To the surprise of many, Tenryū laughed as she lunged over to grab the Canadian general, then yank her onto the floor. The others all cheered out on seeing the light cruiser do that, though Jessica was quick to swing her new partner into a fast jitterbug. People began to clap to the music as Negako remained still, though she kept her ki sight locked on the dazed destroyer in Mutsuki's arms.

Yes...

Now...!

"HOW DARE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU...?!"

Everyone screamed as a dark aura of power exploded from Kisaragi's body, knocking her sister back as a snarling image appeared over her, making the dazed destroyer look like she was some Ha-class Abyssal fused to a humanoid body. As Tenryū moved to shield Jessica from this thing and others struggled to summon their rigging, Negako grinned. "Thank you for doing that," she declared as sickly green ki glowed in her hand. "SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN!"

A bolt of energy lashed out to punch through the creature right above Kisaragi's head, making the destroyer jolt before she dropped to the floor like a marionette with her strings cut, causing whatever had been latched to her to howl at being burned clear of the shipgirl's soul so easily. Before Tenryū could draw her katana and charge at the monster that had clearly been infecting one of her kids like that, Jessica spun herself around to face it...

...just as her eyes glowed a brilliant reddish-gold. "Lunchtime...!"

The creature screamed in terror as an aura of burning energy exploded from the Canadian's body, forming the image of a fiery raptor that made the shipgirls gasp in awe. "She's a PHOENIX?!" Tatsuta screamed out in disbelief...

...before they watched the "phoenix's" head lunge over and snare the enemy destroyer-like thing that had surged out of Kisaragi in its beak, gulping it down in one go! As the once-nearly comatose destroyer cried out on feeling something ripped from every point on her body, her eyes going wide, the fiery image around Jessica faded, leaving behind a smirking general...

...who then belched out, hand snapping up to cover her mouth! "Excuse me...!"

"That's not elegant, Teitoku," Akatsuki then stated.

"'Hishō'," Nagato corrected, her mind reeling from what she just saw. "She's of the Royal Canadian Air Force, not the Royal Canadian Navy. Hishō..."

"OH, NO! IT'S A BOMB! I'M BEING BOMBED...!"

Everyone jolted...then Mutsuki screamed out, "KISARAGI-CHAN!"

A now fully-aware Kisaragi gasped before her sister buried her with a flying glomp. As the other shipgirls all exclaimed in delight on seeing their once-lost fleet mate acting normal again, Mutsuki wailed with happiness as she buried her face in the crook of her sister's neck. That made Kisaragi blink in confusion for a moment before she looked around. "Mutsuki-chan..." she rasped out, her larynx reacting harshly at her shouting after months of immersion in salt water and non-use. "I'm back at the Naval District...?"

With twin screams of delight and joy, Fubuki and Yūdachi lunged over to add their own hugs to the crying Mutsuki's while the other destroyers all cheered and wept, which made Kisaragi gape before her face softened, then she moved to hold her sister closer to her. "Mutsuki-chan...!" she whispered.

"Negako-san...?" Nagato hissed out as she gazed on the ninjutsu grandmaster.

Negako wasn't the least phased. "Hibiki!"

The silver-haired destroyer gasped as everyone fell silent. "D-d-Da...?"

"Translate from Russian: Dušá Ljudoéd Dneprá."

Hibiki blinked...before she croaked as memories of her Russian crew speaking of the legends of her adopted nation came back to her. Said tales being whispered out of hearing range from hidden agents of the MGB or the GRU given that retelling such folk stories were seen by hard-core communists as giving in to the "oppression" of religion, long denounced as the "opiate of the masses" by Karl Marx. She then stared at Jessica before she turned to Negako, her face as pale as a ghost's. "H-h-her...?!" she sputtered out in mind-numbing horror...

...before her eyes rolled into her head and she dropped in a dead faint!

Screams escaped others as Tenryū and Tatsuta moved to help Hibiki recover. As those not involved in the cute cuddle pile around Kisaragi exchanged looks, the just-recovered destroyer blinked. "Um...what's going on here, Nagato-san...?"

Kisaragi jerked in shock on seeing said battleship on her knees, her stoic look vanished and eyes sparkling. "So kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"

Jessica snickered as Negako shook her head while Benny Goodman played away...


Tomobiki, mid-afternoon...

"We're moving?!"

Fujinami Ryūnosuke blinked as she stared wide-eyed at her father Fujimi. "Hai, we are," the old fisherman from Chōshi on the Pacific coast of Chiba prefecture replied as he sipped his tea. "I've already had you withdrawn from classes here; you'll be going into private study since we'll be living on the Eta-jima naval base." Seeing the goggled look appear on his "son's" face, the current master of the temporarily-defunct Hamachaya smirked. "A new and safe location to erect Hamachaya after we were driven from our home earlier this year."

The protest that had been swelling up her throat at the idea of once more uprooting themselves from a stable home and going elsewhere died on hearing where Fujimi now planned to live. "Why Eta-jima?" Ryūnosuke demanded. "The place is restricted to civilians because of the kanmusu. How the hell did you managed to get us a place there?! Not that I wouldn't mind being close to the sea again — and it would be safe since the kanmusu are there — but still...!"

A sigh escaped the older man. "You can thank Tariko-chan for that, my child."

That made her gape. "Tariko?! You mean...that other version of Moroboshi?"

"The same," he affirmed. "I don't know what K'ekhech-dono told you about what happened to Ataru-kun that saw his soul split in half to allow Tariko-chan to become her own person, but it really happened. I felt it when they came here a month ago to move his stuff out of his parents' home and relocate to Eta-jima." As she nodded at that — while not members of any known official martial arts school, Ryūnosuke and her father were quite adapt at some of the more esoteric things such as sensing out a person's ki — he added, "Tariko-chan is Ataru-kun deep in her heart. One more self-disciplined as he because he was the 'base' personality and his mind was far too influenced by Negako-san using him as a living ki conduit in hopes of creating her own body before the Noukiites kindly gave her another option...but still Ataru-kun deep down. She..." Here, he sighed. "She has many of the same issues you have, my child."

Silence fell as the younger woman took that in. Despite the countless knock-down, drag-out fights that often rocked their relationship, Ryūnosuke knew that her father privately did accept the truth of her birth gender regardless of his loud insistence that his child was a "boy" and had to behave and dress as such. After all, how the hell was Ryūnosuke supposed to deal with women-only issues such as menstruation? Fujimi simply had no idea whatsoever concerning how to teach his child about that! Atop that, a marriage with the "daughter" of an old classmate of Fujimi's had fallen through when Shiowatari Shin and his son Nagisa had been killed by Abyssals striking into the Sagami Sea and catching them at their tea shop near the town of Fujiwara five months ago. That was the only time Redet Lum came close to encountering the sea yōma; prior to that, the Men In Black had gone out of their way to ensure the warlord's daughter stayed clear of them as a way of assuring the Urusians that the Abyssals were not such a big issue in the first place (as Kyech had later explained to everyone in Class 2-4 when asked about it). With that migraine out of the way, Ryūnosuke stood a better-than-average chance of trying to build a life for herself as a woman and find a nice person who could accept her with her faults; whether or not such a life-partner would be a man or a woman was still up in the air...

"Oh, Negako-san left this for you."

A letter was handed over bearing Ryūnosuke's name written in kanji. "Dōmo," the tomboy affirmed as she took the envelope, then opened it to draw out the folded sheet inside. She then scanned it before she snickered. "Shit...!"

"What?"

"Negako-sama must have got K'ekhech-dono to teach me how to read Noukiite," Ryūnosuke then explained. "She did it in a mind-meld that was straight out of Star Trek! Freakiest thing I ever went through even if K'ekhech-dono was really nice about it. The Oni didn't care for it too much...but what were they to do given that K'ekhech-dono was just too damned strong?!" As the old fisherman gaped, she winked. "Keeps all the messages secret, after all..."

He laughed as she plunged into the letter, noting it was dated a month ago:

Ryūnosuke,

If you are now reading this missive, you have been returned to your father's side and you have been told of what Tariko arranged on your family's behalf to relocate to Eta-jima and re-establish Hamachaya on the grounds of the former Imperial Naval Academy. I would strongly suggest that you take such an option, both for the sake of the kantai musume who currently are based there as well as your own sake. In many ways even more so than Tariko, your presence at Eta-jima will be of mutual benefit for the kantai musume and yourself; like both Tariko and yourself, they must adjust from a male-influenced "upbringing" given the presence of all-male crews within their hulls when they were actual ships and not human beings trying to embrace their new lives as females. As they learn, you will learn, which will do more to assist in correcting the many misconceptions your father's upbringing has forced upon your life.

Before you inquire such, both Tariko and Ataru are supportive of such a move. Be assured you will need no longer have to worry concerning amorous advances from either of them; I am sure some more of the more amorous kantai musume would seek them out intimately as it is the ultimate plan to remove Redet Lum from Ataru's life once and for all time and seeing him dating another woman would guarantee that happens. My siblings see offering a chance to relocate to Eta-jima as a way of not just repaying you for the many times your personal space was intruded on by us-as-one being, but as a way of giving you a chance to take charge of your destiny in a way that will benefit you much more than what residing in Tomobiki has done for you to date. Many kantai musume will no doubt see you as a personal inspiration as they seek to develop their sense of self and as a potential intimate interest. I realize forming such intimacies gravely disturbs you given the conflicting life lessons Fujimi's inability to understand female issues forced on you, but as I stated, your presence in Eta-jima will be mutually beneficial to yourself and the kantai musume as a whole.

This, you now need to know, is also the Heavenly Sovereign's desire. On my first presenting myself to the Heavenly Sovereign as myself in lieu of possessing Ataru's body two days before I wrote this missive, I gave him an appraisal of all those who were forced by circumstance to deal with Lum. He found your story particularly tragic. As I indicated above, his desire to see Lum removed from Earth once and for all is profound; by "removing" you from the scene, those who support Lum's return to Earth such as Aisuru Satoshi and Mendō Shūtarō will be quite distracted since it would appear to them that Ataru is moving to "strip" Lum of potential local "allies". I am aware you do not care for Lum; without doubt, your experience on Uru after Nengmek'i removed us to Okusei would have disabused you of whatever positive images you may possess of Urusians as a whole, especially their arrogance when dealing with "lesser" species and their belief that their way is clearly the best for all living beings across the cosmos. Considering such was forced on them a millennia ago by the Seifukusu Dominion (you will be aware of them by the time you read this missive), such an attitude cannot be allowed to influence Earth's future.

As you will no doubt realize on evaluating past interactions, Lum was without any control in the time she resided with us at Muchi's and Kinshō's home.

Forcing her to accept such could lead to a major intergalactic incident.

As to the "why", I will not explain that here. You will be briefed once you and Fujimi are at Eta-jima...or if you refuse this invitation, within hours of Lum being expelled from Earth once and for all. I will not explain how here.

Destroy this missive once you have read it. It is for not just your security, but the security of all humanity. You are capable of rising to the occasion.

Moroboshi Negako

"Holy fuck...!" the tomboy breathed out.

"She didn't tell me what this was all about," Fujimi stated as he sipped his tea. "But from what I could sense from her, Negako-san was in deadly earnest concerning how much that alien girl has come to threaten all of humanity." He then chuckled. "Strikes me odd that our simply moving to Eta-jima will help save the planet, but given that we need to restore Hamachaya..."

She nodded, then reached over to get a long match. "Let's get packed..."


Eta-jima, the guest barracks, that moment...

"This...is some mad joke! Isn't it...?"

Tariko shook her head. "Sorry, man. No joke."

Hearing that from his current host, Mendō Shūtarō shuddered before he gazed upon the ship-breakers who had been based in Eta-jima for a year...and WITHOUT his family's knowledge! "Did you have any suspicions at all that this man leading you was an alien?" he asked the foreman, waving to the several internal security pictures of the man who had been gutted hours ago by Yonaga.

"None whatsoever, Young Master!" the foreman stated as the others shook their heads. "His behaviour was so perfect, I'd swear he had been working for the Conglomerate for decades! He never ONCE let on that he was anything more than a native of Japan! His loyalty to you and your family was absolute, which was expected...but as to his being an alien...!" He shook his head. "If Yonaga-sama hadn't shown his ears like that..." A hiss escaped him before he slammed his fist in frustration onto the coffee table. "We should have seen that!"

"That's how good these clowns are," Tariko advised, wincing on sensing how much this was tearing the man apart. Incompetent morons Mendō's people were, their loyalty to the family was absolute. "It was a survival technique that allowed his ancestors to weather being attacked by pretty deadly predators...which got evolved into something that's both fantastic and frightening at the same time." She then gazed on Mendō. "When you were in Onishuto and you saw this jerk's countrymen, did they act kinda like Megane and his dolts do when it came to Lum or any of her friends? Like they'd worship the ground Lum walked on?"

The scion of Japan's richest family trilled for a moment before he shook his head. "No. Though now that I think about it, the few times I did see those people, the doctors and nurses at the hospital had us moved into private rooms. We didn't understand it at first; when some of the girls asked, they were told meetings with the Niphentaxians were always treated as high security affairs and they didn't want to deal with anyone from Earth." He stared at his host. "But if what you just revealed about these people is true, Tariko-san..."

"They've been watching us for three centuries. They've had people like this jerk on Earth for over a century. Whole generations of observers have been born and grew up here, all made to believe watching over us and reporting on everything we do and everything we create to their bosses on Phentax Two was the right thing. Any attempt at trying to break clear of the many 'churches' that have been created over the years based on what they've seen here..." Tariko shook her head. "It's heresy. And that's a capital crime there."

Mendō jolted on hearing that. "Why are you so concerned about this?"

She gave him a knowing look. "Guess who their latest 'divine inspiration' is?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Lum-san...?"

"Yeah," Tariko affirmed with a nod. "Ten years ago, Lum saves this kid named Ōgi — he's OUR age, believe it or not! — from the Terrible Swamps just beyond where her house is located outside Onishuto. He then gets it into his head to start up the 'Church of Lum', thinking she was an arahitogami!" As Mendō gaped at her, she shook her head. "It took off, becoming popular faster than any of Naka-chan's podcasts on YouTube! By the time the guy turned ten, he was the effective leader of a 'church' that had fifteen BILLION adherents! By the time he would have started high school here on Earth, he's the fucking PRESIDENT of Phentax Two!" She then shook her head. "Now, under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be so bad! Even if they all think Lum's touched by the Divine and all that, most knew when not to push things! It wouldn't be so much of an issue even with Lum living on Earth...except for three things."

"What could they be, Tariko-sama?" the shop foreman demanded.

"One: They created this 'holy book': The Book of Lum. Know what it contains?"

"I'm afraid to ask," Mendō snarled.

"Copies of your diaries."

"WHAT?!"

Smirking, Tariko reached under a nearby pillow to bring out a book similar to a normal hotel Bible, handing it over. Seeing the title — in both some strange alien language and in Japanese of all things! — Mendō flipped it open to scan the index. A moment's wide-eyed staring later, he shrieked, "'THE BOOK OF THE FIFTH HOLY APOSTLE TO THE LIVING GODDESS, MENDŌ SHŪTARŌ'?!"

"Read it," Tariko bade.

Mendō flipped to the chapter, then he scanned what was there. A moment later, he seemed ready to throw up...then he gaped at her, a putting-it-together look flashing across his face. "The ofuda Negako-sama put in the mansion house...?"

"Right! You didn't get Cherry or Sakura to take them off, I hope!"

He immediately shook his head. "No! Cherry tried, but Negako-sama sealed it with ki based on her own blood, which he couldn't defeat!" He shook his head. "Gods! This is insane! Why hasn't Lum-san told us about this?!"

"She was under direct orders from her dad to say NOTHING at all about it!" she affirmed. "Just like Schultz-gunsō always acted in Hogan's Heroes. 'I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!'" she then spat out with a faux German accent. "Now, this leads to the second issue: Given that Lum is a 'goddess' to these people, you and the Stormtroopers are the 'holy apostles' and all of Lum's friends from space and a number of people here on Earth are her 'holy friends', guess who gets to be the devil figure in this 'church' of Ōgi's?!"

Mendō winced. "Your brother..."

"Right...!" she drawled as she crossed her arms. "And here comes problem number three: Ōgi has proven himself to be willing to commit mass murder in Lum's name." As Mendō and the others gaped in horror on hearing that, Tariko closed her eyes. "Did Lum ever tell you of Nassur and his wife Cinba?"

"Lum-san's former combat instructor and his wife," Mendō immediately affirmed. "Natives of the planet Vos; the Vosian Confederation is the largest local intergalactic power. They work as independent bounty hunters based out of an asteroid near the Shingetsu system, Ran-san's home colony."

"Well, they're dissidents from their home planet. Six years ago, the dictator in charge of Vos — his courtesy name would translate as 'Mikado' in Japanese; don't ask me what his real name was — tried to have Lum and her family killed because of their public support of Nassur-san and Cinba-san," Tariko reported. "Ōgi got wind of it, then sent a bio-bomb to Lecashuto, the capital city of Vos. It went off...and five million people died!" A sarcastic look crossed her face as her guests all paled. "Of course, the Mikado survived that...!"

"Gods...!" Mendō hissed out.

"Yeah! So you can understand why Ataru and I don't care to have someone like Ōgi lurking in the background like he's done over the years! Why do you think we had to make friends with the Yizibajohei of all the races in the galaxy?!" As Mendō jerked, Tariko smirked, a grimace that had no humour whatsoever in it crossing her face. "Nice to have the galactic bogeyman..."

Running feet echoed from outside the room. "TARIKO-SENSEI!"

Tariko looked over as a panting pink-haired destroyer burst into her guest room. "Oi! Yūdachi-chan! You're not as fast as Shimakaze-chan, alright!" she playfully scolded, wagging her finger at the shipgirl. "What's wrong?!"

"P-p-poi...!" Yūdachi moaned as her turquoise eyes teared. "Kisaragi-chan..."

As the ship-breakers winced on hearing that name, Tariko hummed. "Oh-ho! Something tells me Dover-taishō had a little afternoon snack today, eh?!"

Yūdachi nodded. "P-poi! Hishō got that phoenix inside her to e-eat this th-thing inside Kisaragi-chan after N-n-Negako-sensei used the Seishin-hasai Hi-kōsen attack on it!" She then sniffed. "Kisaragi-ch-chan's okay n-n-now...!"

She was instantly in the older-looking woman's arms. "There, there!" Tariko gently comforted as she stroked Yūdachi's long hair while the ship-breakers all whooped in delight and Mendō breathed out in relief. "Now we gotta wait for Onē-san and Dover-taishō to go clean out whatever evil gunk is inside Shōhō-chan next, then we're all together and merry!" she promised.

Yūdachi gaped, then screamed as she pulled Tariko into a jerky waltz. Watching this happen from his place by the table, Mendō could only shake his head...


The common room in one of the battleship dorm houses, that moment...

"Lovely tea you made here, Kongō."

"So glad that you can enjoy it, Veneto."

The Italian battleship politely smiled as her sisters giggled in delight on tasting some of the spare hēichá Kongō obtained from Tariko the previous evening. "This is so strange," Tirpitz then mused before sipping her own fermented tea. "Was it hard for you four to adjust to being human after that brave wizard summoned your souls from where we all were sleeping?"

Kongō and her sisters shook their heads. "Not really," Hiei affirmed. All the battleships who were currently residing at Eta-jima save Nagato and Mutsu — along with the five newcomers who had joined them last night — were relaxing in various chairs and sofas in the large space. A flat-screen television was set up on one nearby wall, transmitting a live feed from CNN. The news channel was running the lead story of the day: The summoning of the American battle line from the first dreadnought South Carolina to the last of the Montana-class battleships Louisiana (plus four uncompleted Lexington-class battlecruisers and six Alaska-class large cruisers) hours before. Much to the amusement of Iowa and her sisters, the metropolitan Chicago area was throwing a massive street party in celebration of the arrival of fifty-two shipgirls that would spearhead America's "official" entry into the Abyssal War in a very big way.

"Negi-san's spell was based on some research done by a former student of Master Hosan's around the turn of the last century," Hiei added. "He discovered it while he was reading through the archives at the Imperial Magical Commandery of Kantō's base in Mahora north of Tōkyō. Given that he is the son of one of the most powerful magicals in recent memory, it was no wonder he was able to bring all four of us back to service without the need of a summoning chamber."

"He's just a teenager, believe it or not," Iowa noted.

"A child?!" Vittorio Veneto gasped in horror.

"He was a magical child prodigy," Bismarck explained before sipping her own tea. "Very bright young man. He earned the equivalent of a master's degree in English at his magic school, plus teacher's training before he was summoned to go to Mahora at age ten to teach a class of middle school sophomores."

"What grade?" Tirpitz asked her sister.

"Untertertia," Bismarck provided. "They're in the Obersekunda year now."

"What grade's that?" New Jersey wondered.

"They were in Grade Eight," Iowa translated. "Now in Grade Eleven."

"And he was just TEN?!" Wisconsin demanded.

"He's almost fourteen now. He is a true knight in the Western traditions, Wisconsin-san," Musashi said with an approving nod. "He's fought everything from vampires to sorcerers to demons and everything else imaginable." She shook her head. "It's a pity Negi-sensei's type of magical isn't more accepted in Britain. The 'average' wizard there is quite a different type of being...!"

"Oh, gods! Isn't that right?!" Ise moaned out, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Veneto asked...

...then everyone gasped as a whooshing sound echoed from outside...

...then they blinked as someone screamed from out of nowhere before a body flopped down onto the soft ground beyond the outside patio. "Lieber Gott!" Bismarck screamed as she bolted for the door, racing outside to see the newcomer moan as he tried to pick himself off the grass. "Are you alright, mein Freund?!" the blonde battleship demanded as she knelt beside him.

A dizzying moan escaped him as he looked up, fixing Bismarck with eyes as green as molten jade fire, which made her cheeks instantly flush as his handsome looks registered deep in her very human heart. "«S-s-sorry about th-that...!»" he muttered in English...then he gaped as a look of awe crossed his face. "«Bloody hell! You're battleship Bismarck, aren't you?!»"

"«Yes, I am,»" she responded in the same way as Kongō squealed in delight on hearing that mix of Surrey and East Midlands from the handsome teen visitor with the messy black hair and the reading glasses. "«So how...?»"

He blushed as he made an apologetic nod. "«Sorry about this, ma'am. I just was portkeyed from my godfather's house in London. Ruddy, stupid Ministry...»"

Hearing that made Kongō moan as the other battleships emerged from the lounge. "«Your Ministry of Magic, you mean,»" the British-built battleship concluded.

He blinked, then nodded. "«Yes! You're battleship Kongō, aren't you?»"

"«The English-born returnee! That's me!»" she declared. "«And you are...?»"

"Harry Potter," he stated as he moved to stand...

...then gargled as a bout of nausea hit him. Feeling his last meal surge up, he spun around, instantly spotting a handy garbage can.

He made it just in time.

As the battleships winced on seeing him upchuck his breakfast, eyes locked on Kongō. "Looks like portkey nausea to me if he came in from London just now."

"I'll go get Teitoku, Onē-sama," Kirishima volunteered.

"Good idea..."


Ten minutes later...

Harry sighed contently as he sipped the tea that had been made for him, looking a little healthier than he did when he first plopped down on the base grounds. "Thank you very much for the tea, Kongō-san," he stated, glad that he had remembered to take the special Japanese translation lozenge that had been prepared for him before he was teleported halfway across the planet.

"No problem!" Kongō stated as the other battleships smiled. "So, you're Harry Potter! All my friends in Britain told me about what they heard about you!"

He chuckled. "I assume Surrey's the source of all the stories."

"'Surrey'?" Missouri asked.

"County-class heavy cruiser, Norfolk variant, Missouri-san," Haruna immediately provided. "She was one of two that was cancelled as a way of persuading the great powers to accept the London Naval Treaty in 1930."

The other battleships nodded in understanding. "But since work had been done on her, she could be summoned and was two years ago," Harry finished for Kongō's sister, which made the grey-haired fast battleship blush as he smiled in thanks to her. He sat back in his chair, glad the tea Kongō had made for him was settling his stomach down; he would take the potions to help him adjust to the eight-hour time difference between Britain and Japan as soon as he could get his school trunk returned to normal size when Heather Thompkins finally came to look in on him. "I first met her last summer when my relatives brought me to a rally in support of the Navy in Guildford before I returned to Hogwarts for my fourth year of studies." Noting that, he was glad shipgirls worldwide were always briefed on magical societies so he didn't have to explain much to his hosts. "What did she tell you about me?" he then wondered.

"Quite a bit, Harry-kun," Haruna stated. "She wasn't the least bit flattering concerning your current caregivers." As the other battleships tensed, she added, "Harry-kun here was orphaned thanks to a rebellious 'dark lord' that was tearing apart the majority of British wand magicals over a decade ago, just as the first large battles between magicals worldwide and the Abyssals began." As the others in the room grimly nodded — until the shipgirls arrived on the scene three years ago, magical squads of warriors from all seaborne nations had been bled nearly dry when they tried to stop the sea yōma from attacking defenceless normals — she added, "As the story goes, Harry-kun was responsible for this dark lord's defeat...though friends in Gringotts told Hood-san and the others who investigated this when Surrey-san raised the alarm that it was Harry-kun's mother Lily-sensei who deserved credit for this yakuza's downfall...!"

Yamato giggled. "Taking speech lessons from my sister, Haruna-san?"

"Your sister?" Harry asked. He knew that Japan's greatest battleship had two "full" sisters in Musashi and Kii; both of them were present enjoying tea. He also knew that there was also a sister of the Yamato-class who had been rebuilt as a carrier in her first life as a warship, Shinano; glancing around, he noted there was no sign of the tall, raven-haired bespectacled shipgirl.

"Did the news of the summonings last night get to England?" Bismarck wondered.

He shook his head. "I recognize almost all of you...save for you two and you three..." He indicated Tirpitz and Veneto, then each of Iowa's sisters. "Did you all come through last night?" Harry then asked.

"Ja, they did," the German battleship assured him.

Introductions were then made, with handshakes exchanged between the visiting wizard and the new shipgirls to have joined Eta-jima's international battle line. Yamato then added, "Along with Bismarck-san's sister and Littorio-san's sister, Prinz Eugen-san was finally reunited with all four of her sisters, then my long-missing sister was retrieved as well late last night."

Harry gaped. Throughout his year at school even as he had been forced to deal with the insanity of the Triwizard Tournament, many muggle-born students from Hogwarts and Beauxbâtons kept him updated on the goings on with the shipgirls. It was understandable that the "Boy Who Lived" had become a fan of the reborn warships thanks to Surrey, who had publicly called out the Dursleys at that rally in Guildford eleven months ago when she noted how badly Harry's cousin Dudley behaved when it came to younger people at the time and had seen Dudley's parents Vernon and Petunia blame their nephew for such hooliganism...even when it had been as obvious as coal in a ballroom who was truly at fault.

Shaking his head from his self-reflection, he focused again on Yamato. He knew that when Kii answered the call to duty at the turn of the New Year, she had told her superiors that Hull 797 (name unknown) had been constructed somewhere else in Japan. "I'm so glad to hear that your sister's back, Yamato-san..."

"Onēsan-tachi!"

Everyone turned as footfalls echoed from the hallway, then Harry gaped as someone who seemed to him to be as tall as Rubeus Hagrid himself walked smartly in the room. "Ara! Yonaga-san!" Yamato said with a delighted smile. "I trust that Aoba-san's annoying little hobby won't bother us again?"

"It will not," Yonaga stated as she sat beside Musashi. "Who is this?"

Harry winced as he felt ageless grey eyes fall on him...then he tensed as footfalls heralded the arrival of the third of the Kongō-class battleships, who was now accompanying the current secretary ship for Japan's shipgirl fleet, her sister and the new overall commander of shipgirls and shipboys worldwide. "Here he is, Teitoku," Kirishima announced. "Harry Potter-san."

He instantly got to his feet along with the other battleships. "Madame Supreme Mugwump," he greeted her with a bow, then reached into his jacket to pull out a rolled piece of parchment. "I have a message from Professor Dumbledore, ma'am."

"'Supreme Mugwump'?" Jersey wondered.

Heather Thompkins smirked. "I'll explain that to you soon enough, New Jersey. Suffice to say, it's the main reason I got promoted to admiral from my old rank of navy captain to take charge of you all," she stated as she nodded thanks to Harry, then she snapped open the wax seal to unroll the parchment, scanning what was there. Her eyebrow then arched. "I see, then..." she breathed. "The quality of Her Majesty's Ministers for Magic in recent years clearly hasn't improved one bit. What a pity we can't get Gonebren opened up again..."

Harry winced. "Actually, ma'am..."

She gazed at him. "Yes?"

"Gonebren was brought back into commission last summer," he explained with an amused smile. "Azkaban was destroyed by the Abyssals, wiping out the Dementors forever; seems the Abyssals were too strong for them. Fortunately, there was an escort group of British Loch-class frigates and Castle-class corvettes based out of Scapa Flow who were able to get the prisoners and the wardens to safety before they were consumed by the Abyssals or drowned in the North Sea. After they signalled the Admiralty about what happened, the Queen was told, then she loaned the Keys of Gonebren to Madame Hood to have the prisoners secured." He then smirked. "That idiot Fudge didn't find out about that until a week ago, then blamed Professor Dumbledore because of the whole thing with Voldemort."

The admiral sighed. "Alright. You have some potions for time zone changes?"

He nodded, patting his jacket pocket. "I got my trunk. It's shrunk down."

"Mutsu, I need guest quarters set up for Mister Potter here."

Mutsu bowed her head. "Right away, Teitoku."

As she headed out, Heather faced the others. "I assume someone can be a..."

Hands instantly shot up!

"...host for Mister Potter?" the admiral finished as Harry blushed.

Laughter then filled the lounge as Yonaga shook her head in amusement. New footfalls then heralded the arrival of Heather's friend and co-fighter in the War Hawks; she was currently being accompanied by Vestal. "Hey, Heather!" Jessica Dover called out as all the battleships and the carrier bowed or nodded their heads to the veteran air force pilot. "Just got that issue with Shōhō fixed up just now. Any other tasty little snacks you need me to...?"

She then stopped, her nose twitching excitedly for a second as her eyes flared with power. Said eyes almost immediately locked in on the cute teenage boy now standing close to Yamato. Before Heather could say anything, Jessica walked over to stare intently into Harry's eyes, making him wince as he tried to shy away from that glowing, all-penetrating gaze. "Little morsel here..." she then purred as the fiery phoenix-like image suddenly formed around her.

As Harry tried to draw his wand to defend himself, the phoenix's beak lashed out to snip at something underneath that scar which reminded Bismarck and Tirpitz of the Germanic "sig" rune that had been used to write the initials to the Nazi Party's infamous Schutzstaffel. Harry croaked in shock as he felt SOMETHING be ripped out of his head before he staggered as a black, inky liquid poured out of the scar...which instantly evaporated into a dusty mist. A faint scream echoed before whatever it was that had been contained behind Harry's scar vanished into the energy creature now cloaking Heather's friend while he seemed to drop back into the chair he had been using; fortunately for him, Yamato was fast enough to catch him before he bounced his head off something hard. "An Abyssal?!" Nagato demanded as Harry passed out with a pained moan.

"No!" Musashi stated. "Abyssals all sound female! That was a man's voice!"

"Who was that, Admiral?!" Iowa demanded.

"I don't know," Heather breathed out, shaking her head. "I haven't had a chance to get myself reacquainted with what's been happening in the magical realms since I got back to Earth two weeks ago. Vestal?"

The American repair auxiliary tensed. "Yes, Admiral?"

"Find Negako, then get her here if she's not busy looking over Shōhō or Kisaragi. I want her to make a full examination of Mister Potter here."

"Aye-aye, Admiral!"

As Vestal raced out of the dorm, Heather then called out, "Nagato?"

The secretary ship tensed. "Hai, Teitoku?"

"Send a message to Professor Konoe Konoemon over in Mahora. My compliments to him and ask him if he or someone from the Kantō Magical Association can spare some time soon to come down here and give me a full brief of what's going on with magicals in Europe, both Hogwarts and Meridiana alumni."

"Wouldn't you prefer to speak to Matsui-hakase over in Rijō, Teitoku?"

"I don't know Professor Matsui. I do know Konoemon."

"Hai, Teitoku, right away!" the battleship affirmed before heading out.

Heather then sighed before she gazed on Jessica. "Well?"

"Just a soul fragment of some sort," the pilot from Winnipeg reported with a shake of her head, her lips twisting into a frown of what seemed like disappointment to the shipgirls present. "Couldn't really tell who it was in the long term...but it seemed to be linked to all sorts of people and things."

Hearing that made the native of Québec City moan. "Great. A horcrux. Kongō?!"

The fast battleship tensed. "Hai, Teitoku?!"

"Tea, the strongest you've got! Put a shot of rum in it while you're at it!"

Kongō beamed, then she jovially saluted. "Aye-aye, ma'am!"


Within the abandoned Riddle Mansion outside Little Hangleton in England...

"MY LORD!"

As several of the more fanatic Death Eaters watched in horror as their leader seemed to be consumed by eldritch fire, Severus Snape was trying not to hiss too much as he gripped his left forearm. It had been a normal meeting of the magical terrorists seeking to "purify" Britain...until a moment before when all of Voldemort's followers felt as if someone had stabbed molten knives right into the warped protean charms burnt into their bodies to mark their ultimate "allegiance" to the greatest dark lord to have ever risen on the planet. Just before Voldemort lashed out in anger at the open show of such weakness, he recoiled as if someone had shot him in the centre of the head with an arrow or bullet. All the "faithful" — regardless of how much they were suffering by whatever it was that had tried to burn their nervous systems through the Dark Marks! — then watched in horror as the dark lord seemed to combust before their eyes, screaming in agony as something seemed to snip at his very soul.

Seeing that made Hogwarts' potions master grin savagely.

Albus Dumbledore's crazy idea about involving the Soul-Eater of the Dnipró in this mess that was threatening to bleed wizarding Britain dry just paid off!

Lily's son wouldn't have to be sacrificed to see that prophecy fulfilled!

"Severus...!"

Severus looked over as Lucius Malfoy gingerly made his way over to stand close to him; despite the scalding burning sensation in his arm, the current leader of Clan Malfoy of Avebury in County Wiltshire was made of stern stuff and could tolerate such abuse on his body. "It worked, Lucius!" the potions master hissed, glad that none of Voldemort's more fanatic followers could hear them over the man's shrieking. "It proves it! The idiot used..."

"Horcruxes," the blonde aristocrat sneered as he glared at the dark lord...

...who then decided to explode!

A quick, handy shield charm protected both Severus and Lucius from tongues of flame as many of the people who had been closer to Voldemort screamed in horror on seeing their resurrected leader once more transformed into a howling, bodiless wraith...to say anything of their being nearly burned alive by the fire from that detonation. Reclining nearby, a shuddering, hissing Nagini tried to fight off whatever it was that had seared into her mind like molten lava...before she also detonated in a flash of burning energy and shredded body parts, knocking more people down! Noting one of them was a former friend of Lily Potter's husband, Severus yanked out his wand. "ACCIO PETER PETTIGREW!"

The rat-faced betrayer of the Potters and Sirius Black screamed as he felt himself yanked across the ballroom towards his "allies". A quick stunning spell later followed by a binding charm, Severus and Lucius were making their way out of the Riddle home as it began to burn from the released magical energy Voldemort's temporary destruction at the hands of a woman halfway around the world. Neither took notice of the howling dark wrath now bellowing vengeance.

"CURSE YOU, POTTER! YOU'LL PAY! YOU'LL PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY...!"

Severus smirked as he recalled his own appalling behaviour concerning the son of his oldest childhood friend, which was instantly noticed by Lucius; the latter had long ago figured out the former's desire to walk a middle path as all true Slytherins would when it came to the opposing sides of the blood politics that had polarized wizarding Britain for years. They remained silent as they passed the ward boundary of the Riddle home, then both men apparated with their cargo off to the south towards the Malfoy mansion outside Devizes...

To Be Continued...


WRITER'S NOTES

1) Translation list for this chapter: Sōridaijin — Prime Minister; Kontō — Soulsword; Shin-guntō — Literally "new army sword"; this is a blade similar to a katana that was mass produced for use by officers of the Imperial Army, not possessing the thorough workmanship a samurai's weapon always received; Kaisa — Modern Maritime Self-Defence Force rank title for a captain (the proper rank title for Umezu Saburō from Zipang is Itto-kaisa ["First Rank Captain"]); Gensui — Fleet Admiral/General of the Army (NATO rank code OF-10); Taishō — Admiral/General (NATO rank code OF-9); Shōgun — Literally "army leader" though normally translated as "commander-in-chief", this word is deprived from the Chinese term Jiāngjūn even if it uses slightly different characters (in Japanese 将軍, in Chinese 將軍); Seishin-hasai Hi-kōsen — Spirit-breaker Fire-light; Dušá Ljudoéd Dneprá — Soul-Eater of the Dnieper (River); MGB — Short for Ministérstvo Gosudárstvennoj Bezopásnosti ("Ministry of State Security"), the 1946-53 incarnation of the Soviet Union's external intelligence and internal secret police agency; GRU — Short for Glávnoe Razvédyvatel'noe Upravlénie ("Main Intelligence Directorate"), the Soviet Union's (and later Russia's) military foreign intelligence (and internal special security in Soviet times) agency; Hamachaya — Literally "Beach Tea Shop"; Gunsō — Sergeant; Untertertia — Lower Third (the grade title used in German gymnasien secondary schools, the local equivalents of British grammar schools); Obersekunda — Upper Second (the third grade up from Untertertia); Lieber Gott — Dear God; -tachi — Japanese language equivalent of the English plural "s" ending to nouns.

2) Iō-tō is the proper name of the island known to the West as "Iwo-jima"; like several other times interpreters tried to properly read and understand Japanese characters, the wrong reading of the kanji was used in Allied reports. For those who don't know, Iō-tō (literally "Sulphur Island") is one of the Volcano Islands (Kazan-rettō), located 1200 kilometres (750 miles) from Tōkyō.

3) On thirty-four separate occasions, ships in the Royal Canadian Navy were given different names than what was originally planned for them. Escort ships such as Flower-class corvettes and River-class frigates were always named after Canadian towns; flower names were used by British ships and destroyers in RCN service were named after Canadian rivers before the Tribal-class ships were brought into service. However, when potential confusion between an RCN ship and a like-named allied warship occurred, the Canadian ship got a new name; on several occasions, names were changes due to local preference. For example, HMCS Beacon Hill (wartime pendant K407, peacetime code FFE-303) was named after the capital city of British Columbia, Victoria; the name switch was to prevent confusion with the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (pendant R38).

4) In the universe of this story, I modified the storyline of Kawaguchi Kaiji's manga Zipang to have the time-travelling trip of JDS Mirai (DDH-182) be also a trip to another dimension. It makes sense in the end; if the Mirai had gone back to 1942 in the timeline the kanmusu remember, girls like Yamato would definitely remember encountering a missile-slinging AEGIS destroyer!

5) When the first two incarnations of the Royal Canadian Air Force was founded in 1914 (as the Canadian Aviation Corps) and 1918 (as the Canadian Air Force), Army-style rank titles were used; only when the service was properly re-formed in 1920 at Camp Borden north-northwest of Toronto did the Royal Air Force-style rank titles come into vogue. When the post-Unification version of the RCAF, Air Command, was restored to its pre-Unification name in 2011, it was decided to keep the Army-style rank titles; this was because the United States Air Force (which the RCAF was partnered with in the North American Aerospace Defence Command alliance) had used their Army-based rank titles since its foundation in 1947 and calling an RCAF general an "air chief marshal" (A/C/M) would just lead to too much confusion to our friends down south!

As an aside, post-Unification Air Command/RCAF rank insignia was always gold on dress and work uniforms until 2015, when traditional pearl grey (which looks like silver from a distance) colouring used before 1968 was restored.

Also, since the rank titles "captain" and "lieutenant" signify vastly different ranks between the Canadian Army/Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy, the "(Navy)" suffix is always added to the base rank title to indicate an RCN officer in lieu of one from the Army or RCAF. A Captain (Navy) (short-form Capt[N]) has the NATO rank code OF-5 (equal to a colonel) while a Lieutenant (Navy) (Lt[N]) has the rank code OF-2 (equal to a captain). When spoken, the rank titles are verbally addressed as "navy captain" or "navy lieutenant".

6) My use of the term Imperial Magical Commandery (in Japanese, Teimajutsu-gun) to describe regional Magical Associations from Mahō Sensei Negima derives from my stories, which mixes the Negima and Harry Potter worldviews concerning how magicals are governed. Traditionally, the equivalent of a British minister for magic in Japan is the Mahō-Shōgun ("Supreme General of Magic"), who responded directly to the Heavenly Sovereign. However, as a way of placating European powers after the end of World War Two (which, in my universe, saw them stripped of magical colonies worldwide as a prequel to the end of colonization in the normal world during the 1950s and 1960s), the Mahō-Shōgun at the time, Yomigawa Tsukiko (AKA Tsukuyomi), was retired and regional commandery directors such as Konoe Konoemon allowed to interact directly with the Imperial Throne. As a way of ensuring Europeans couldn't dominate the post-Grindelwald War international magical scene, all eight of Japan's magical associations have independent votes at the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW). As an aside, the Imperial Magical Commandery of Kantō/Kantō Magical Association would be addressed in Japanese as Kantō Teimajutsu-gun and be given the short title Tōmagun.

Also, be advised that while I do take some inspiration from Pottermore, I do not care for the complete lack of historical and cultural understanding when it came to viewing magicals worldwide as has been recently introduced there.

7) Her Majesty's Prison Gonebren (HMP Gonebren) is my creation; I first noted the prison in Harry Potter and the Icemaidens, my first attempt at writing a series re-do. In the universe of my stories, Gonebren (known to most magicals in Britain as "You Know Where" as it is seen as the most foreboding piece of magical real estate in the British Isles thanks to its soul-eating inhabitants, the Hollows...and no, they're not Bleach-type hollows!) was the standard prison for malcontents before Azkaban was opened in the early Eighteenth Century. Reason why was properly explained in my third Wizards and Avalonians side story to Phoenix From the Ashes. HMP Gonebren is located in Cornwall; "Gonebren" comes from the Cornish Goon Brenn, the local name for Bodmin Moor.

8) Rijō ("Carp Castle") is the nickname for Hiroshima Castle (Hiroshima-jō), headquarters of the leaders of the local domain until the Meiji Restoration. Hiroshima-jō was wrecked in the attack on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945; the castle was 600 metres (2000 feet) northeast of Ground Zero. The castle was rebuilt in 1958 and serves as a museum for the history of the area. In this story, it also serves as the headquarters of the Imperial Magical Commandery of Chūgoku (Chūgoku Teimajutsu-gun, normally shortened to Sanmagun), also known as the Chūgoku Magical Association. "San" in this case means "mountain" and is borrowed from San'in ("north of the mountains") and San'yō ("south of the mountains"); these describe parts of the western end of Honshū around Hiroshima.

9) The Dnieper River (in Russian, Dnepr; in Ukrainian, Dnipró) is the fourth-longest river in Europe, rising in Russia and flowing through Belarus and the Ukraine before it empties into the Black Sea. Jessica Dover's maternal ancestors are Ukrainian who migrated to Manitoba from the old Russian Empire before World War One (as my late grandmother Molly did in 1912).