PART THE FOURTH
IN WHICH TENRYUU POKED ELVEN PASTRY WITH A SWORD

This was insane, thought Fubuki.

She was staring at her plate like it had contained all the answers to the mysteries of the world. Of this world, at any rate.

The last weeks had been insane in a very bad way. Even Mamiya's cafe was no longer a haven for rest, relaxation and the occasional zany schemes by whichever fleetgirl high on parfait. Not when they'd ostensibly vanished from the world only to reappear somewhere in another, unknown world.

She needed not be the Admiral or Nagato-san to know they were in a lot of trouble – so much so, a lot of trouble was an understatement.

Even putting aside the fact that their entire fleet had essentially committed desertion...

Even putting aside the fact that mankind was basically doomed without them around to defend the coast...

Even putting aside the fact that, well, there was nothing for them fleetgirls to fight – which invalidated their very reason for existence...

There was the more pressing concern of supplies. Because a fleet of a hundred ships without any real way to resupply would spell disaster; again, she didn't need to be the Commander or Nagato to know.

They were very, very far from the sea (according to recon reports anyway). The land around them was largely unknown and they'd spent the last week trying to comb the immediate vicinity - and beyond. Planes were sent in all directions. The destroyers were dispatched along the river, and where there was no water, over the banks and miles inland.

It had been an extremely fatiguing week, not helped by dwindling supplies and the sheer despair at how sparsely populated and low-tech their new world is. Settlements were few and far between - at least within several hundred miles - and those few townships were tiny. No industrial centers. No radio signal. No electrical infrastructure. And - this Fubuki saw herself - there were a lot of old ruins dotting the landscape. It was like one of those post-apocalyptic novels she'd caught Hacchan reading once. It was infinitely more depressing when she saw it with her own eyes.

Through all of this, a corner of her mind kept telling her, maybe there was a bright side to it all. With all of the fleetgirls in another world, there would be no source of new Abyssals either. The cycle was broken.

But no, no, no, she shook her head at herself, that wasn't right. All of this wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to stand their ground. They were supposed to fight. They were supposed to protect. They were not supposed to vanish and reappear in another world and then hope that the problem would resolve itself without them!

And yet it did.

Fubuki kept staring at her half-size curry plate. It was fine for her, at least for now. She didn't need a lot of food; even less when she wasn't out on a mission. Not that there would be any mission for a while: no sea equals no expeditions, no Abyssals equals no combat.

It was less fine for Akagi.

She turned to her left and tried not to sigh. A week ago the mere image Akagi eating off a normal-sized plate was far, far from her thought. Today she saw the carrier glumly digging into a ration a twentieth her normal, and her normal easy-going smile had all but vanished.

"Um... Akagi-senpai," she said. "I... uh... you could take my share-"

Akagi waved her hand furiously. "No, no, no, I can't do that!" she said, and smiled. "I'm fine, really!" Except her smile was ugly: Hungry Akagi was, in Fubuki's eyes, well and truly heartbreaking.

The door poened with an angry slide behind Fubuki. She turned around: at the threshold stood a frazzled-looking Hiei, hands held limp at her side. "Oh, Hiei-san?"

The battleship nodded, and marched over to Fubuki's table in irregular steps. She plopped herself down with a thud on the mattress next to Fubuki and propped her chin with both palms.

(Fubuki glanced sideways: within the span of her taking her eyes off Akagi and back, her plate had gone completely empty. Like polished clean empty.)

"Hiei-san, how's the shift-"

Hiei threw her arm in the air. "Boring, boring and boring."

"And Kongou-san-"

There was an exasperated groan from the base of her throat. "Onee-sama? Not gonna be back for another hour or two." Her smile was oddly bitter. "She's been having too much fun blasting those stinky giants into the ground."

Without anywhere to sortie the Kongou sisters had been made into watchtowers of a sort, and Kongou was the lucky one. She at least still got to yell BUUURNING LOOOVE while obliterating the hostile local fauna at night. Hiei had been... less fortunate. Her lookout post faced a stretch of barren land without much of wildlife whatsoever.

Just then Mamiya passed by, and placed a half-size curry plate in front of her. Hiei groaned. "I want a super-size parfait, darn it."

"Sorry," said Mamiya sullenly. "We're all out..."

Hiei's chin sank from her palm and hit the table next to the plate with a small thud.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." she said. "Entirely new world, everything running out, no friendlies, nowhere to get resupplied... Can't believe I'm saying this, but right now I'd rather just go and fight a dozen Wo-class on my own..."

"I... I don't think that's such a fair thing to say, Hiei-san."

"Well, what do we know?" Her tone was flat. Unamused. "We can't help it being stuck in this place, wherever it is." She turned to the side. "Hey, Akagi, anything to add?"

No reaction. She poked Akagi in the cheek. No reaction. She gathered some stray strands of Akagi's hair between her fingers and gave them a soft tug. No reaction.

She grabbed Akagi's left shoulder and began shaking her. "Akagi? Got to be kidding me, A-ka-gi!" No reaction. "Bau-xite-Queen!" No reaction either.

"Ehehe," She scratched her head. "Seems like Akagi-senpai is conserving energy..."

Akagi began blinking. Very slowly. "I heard that." Her voice lacked any humor whatsoever. "The first time." The moment her eyes met Hiei's, Fubuki could swear the battle ship jerked backwards.

"K-killing intent," murmured Hiei. "Scary..."

Fubuki shuddered, too, and began quietly shoveling food into her mouth.

Now a very large group had gathered at the largest table in the cafe, sitting around and yawning – for the most part. There were Sendai and Jintsuu, the former sleepily flipping cards, the latter just yawning. There were Kaga and Zuikaku, staring at their respective teacup. There were Atago and Tone, idly flicking their hair. Yuudachi was resting her chin against the table. The Sixth Destroyer Division (and Shimakaze) were hovering about the table's perimeter. And of course there was Mamiya herself.

"Man, this is frustrating," said Tenryuu. "Can't we go out there and shank some sunuva-"

Ashigara knuckled her in the head. "Language," she said.

"Yeah, sure, sure." Tenryuu sighed. "Sure makes me wish I could just cut all this supply problem open."

"Well, I suppose it's not all hopeless," said Mamiya. "The civilian and staff quarters are doing... alright, I heard. The garrison's organized several hunting parties and the prospects aren't that bad on that side. The supply chain's just going to need some time to readjust itself." She performed some rapid wrapping-up-presents hand gestures. "And then there's been talk of converting some of the Naval district's industrial capacity into... well, industrial capacity. You know, to make things and see if we can trade for supplies from the local."

Yuudachi pressed her cheek against the table. "You sure it isn't Akashi or Yuubari talking, poi?" She shuddered.

"No, no, no," said Mamiya. "I heard from Kongou-san, to the same tune, too!"

"That's even worse!" cried Sendai.

"She sounded serious. I heard her!" said Zuikaku. "You know the Admiral is paying a visit to those very nice people who returned the Sixth Destroyer Squadron, right? Who's betting he's setting up some sort of a trade?"

"I don't like the idea," said Kaga. "We have nothing to offer but our swords. I am not keen on the prospect."

"Hey, hey, hey, can it with the defeatism!" Zuikaku's fist hit the table. "We will work something out, right?"

"Fifth Carrier Division." Kaga wasn't even looking at Zuikaku. "It's not defeatism. It's being realistic." Her eyes turned icy cold. "We are fleetgirls. We exist to fight and nothing but. Anything else is simply wishful thinking. I... refuse to put my bow on sale."

Fubuki could swore she saw Zuikaku's vein go pop. "Well, guess what, First Carrier Division, even if it comes to that we'd have to survive, don't we?" she said. "Not to mention there's no more Abyssals to fight-"

"There are," Kaga said. "It's not them who are gone from the fight, it's us." Now her voice was lowered to but an airy whisper. "What does that make us then? Traitors? Deserters? Disgraced, honorless ronin?"

Zuikaku obviously wasn't taking it that way. "Well, excuse me, but whose fault is that?" She paused, and then huffed. "Not mine, and not yours either!"

Just then the door slid open.

Dozens of eyes flipped towards the noise, followed by a near-collective wow. There at the threshold stood Mutsuki, panting and sweating and so, so happy with herself. A sack almost as long as she was tall was slung across her shoulder.

Fubuki was the first to stand up and run to the doorway. "Mutsuki-chan!" she cried "You're late! A-are you alright?"

Mutsuki wiped her brows. "I'm alright!" she exclaimed. "Everyone, look what I brought!"

It had been a long time since Mutsuki was so happy. Her grin couldn't have been broader or brighter, she plonked the sack on the ground and said with a sing-song voice. "Supplies!"

At once the cafe sprang to life. First came the destroyers, then the light cruisers. Then came Ashigara and Haguro and Mamiya. Then Yamato stood up. Then Hiei, too, leaving Akagi slumping half-hibernating.

Mutsuki's fingers quickly undid the rope holding the sack together. At once the contents spilled out: loaves of hard-tack and biscuits, rashers of salted meat strung together, wheels of goat cheese, grains packed into bags, and more than a few jars of sour-smelling cabbage pickles. Most were well-preserved for a month-long journey. There were, however, several still-fresh loaves of exquisitely baked pastry; their delightful aroma filling the room.

"A very nice old man gave me!" she exclaimed.

Then with the same happy voice, she told them all the story. She'd run into this old man near a river ford, and had lunch with him. In exchange, he'd told her a wealth of really amazing stories, and to cap it off, had even given her this much supplies when she'd just blurted she had friends who were hungry. Her tale was outlandish, sure. Didn't stop it from infecting the whole room with a fresh breath of optimism.

Correction: The whole room, minus Kaga.

The carrier quietly stood up, walked towards the destroyer, placed her hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. "I would be very careful with whom you speak to, Mutsuki," she said. "No offense."

Mutsuki blinked rapidly. "Uueh? But..."

Kaga threw a hard, hard look at the pile of supplies spilling on the tatami. "Let me be frank," she said. "What are the odds this old man, conveniently appearing out of nowhere, was trying to take advantage of you? What are the odds he was after our sensitive information? And-" Her voice was low, low, low. "What are the odds this old man had slipped something into whatever he gave you?"

Mutsuki shuddered. "Uh..." She couldn't answer, and started to shiver harder with every passing second. "I... I..."

"I thought so," Kaga's voice was terribly, terribly chilling. "How could you have been so careless?"

The happy noises from the crowd faded. In their place came quiet mutters. Fubuki could feel the atmosphere creeping with tension with each passing word.

"U-um, Kaga-san?" interjected Haguro. "I... I don't think it's as serious as you think... is it?"

"I'd be glad if that is indeed the case," Kaga said. "Except we aren't always welcome everywhere. Remind yourself we're in potentially hostile territory. The locals are just as likely to want us dead as they are willing to lend a helping hand." She narrowed her eyes and turned away. "Don't be so trusting of strangers on the road, is all I'm trying to say."

Because fighting Abyssals while backed by the full industrial and economic might of the civilized nations was one thing. Fighting an entire world of possibly very hostile people without any logistics support whatsoever was another, far nastier thing.

Now Inazuma was inching closer towards the pile – particularly at one of the baked loaves rolling out of their bags. "But it smells really good, nanodesu."

Akatsuki swatted her on the back. "It isn't lady-like to ogle at food!"

Tenryuu looked disturbingly enthusiastic – perhaps the only one to be so. She patted Inazuma on the head, and stepped forward with her blade bare.

"Well, only one way to find out, isn't it?" she said. She picked up one of the loaves and sliced it into halves. Then quarters. Then eighths. The creamy filling spilled messily on the table; the smell of cream and berries was almost irresistible.

Ashigara's lips curled. "If it is poisoned you wouldn't know poking it, you know," she said.

Yuudachi's face fell. "And it's a waste if it's good food, poi~"

"Well, Kaga's right," said Mamiya. "Who knows... I sure don't like to think the locals would hate us that much to slip poison into our food, but..."

And then Akagi stood up.

The whole room went quiet. There were several mutters and whispers that sounded suspiciously like "whoops" and "oopsie" from the destroyers.

But something wasn't right. Akagi wasn't even looking at the terribly alluring cake spilling cream all over the table.

"I say we put all of this away," she said. "Mamiya-san, if you've got any food-testing apparatus, please use it. I'll inform the Admiral and Nagato-san as soon as they return. No one takes a bite until we've verified it is safe."

The silence was such that Fubuki could hear a pin drop. It was a solid while before Mamiya actually responded. "W-will do, Akagi-san!" she said. "Could anyone give me a hand?"

Akagi nodded. "Good." There was a ghost of a smile on her lips – before she equally suddenly turned towards Mutsuki. "Oh, and Mutsuki-chan?"

The poor destroyer trembled. "Y-yes?"

And then Akagi swept Mutsuki into a tight, tight embrace. "It's all right," she whispered. "Just... take care and be careful next time, okay?"

Her timing couldn't have been more perfect. Mutsuki's eyes were getting misty.

Meanwhile, Hiei's face was twitching. "... Who are you, and what have you done to Akagi?" she said incredulously.

Kaga said nothing. She only looked at Akagi. It could be Fubuki's searchlights deceiving her, but the other carrier of the 1st Carrier Division was smiling, too, for a passing second.

Fubuki wasn't so surprised.

Because Akagi-senpai is so cool, isn't she?