Admiral Hara stretched his arms tiredly and ran his hand through his silvery-pink hair, scattered upon his desk were reports he'd spent the past few days condensing all the observations and reports from the notorious Eldridge Incident few weeks before. Those reports were due to be sent up the Navy's chain-of-command by sundown, tomorrow, and eventually sent out to the United States Navy.
Normally he'd have his shipgirls and petty officers do the tedious work, but there was a great amount of politics attached to this particular report, due to the involvement of an foreign shipgirl and the disappearance of one of the JMSDF's prized heavy cruisers.
What made it even more stranger was, when he conversed with the United States Navy's brass via video conference the week before, the USN bigwigs repeatedly made it clear the Eldridge they sent over was an ordinary Cannon-class destroyer-escort whom displayed nothing extraordinary despite being under constant watch back Stateside. They even transferred an dossier containing photographs and videos of the Eldridge they initially sent over.
One thing that became abundantly clear to Admiral Hara, after viewing the photographs and vids, was the Eldridge they originally sent over looked and behaved nothing like the Eldridge he'd hosted.
The USN admitted there was an 18 minute tracking and communications gap when Eldridge left Wake Island after a brief stopover to refuel.
Something definitely happened during those missing 18 minutes to the original Eldridge.
Which raised the very high possibility the shipgirl Hara hosted, was an impostor.
Admiral Hara had carefully left out the discovery of Aoba's hundred years-old audio recorder and the disturbing contents it held during his communiques to the USN brass. He did not need additional layers of confusion and even more questions added to this mess.
Not to mention Aoba turned out to be his ancestor.
This sort of thing was immediately classified, and reclassified as beyond top-secret, then classified again as super-mega-ultra-you'll-disappear-if-you-know-top secret.
Also, Hara himself was considered a walking time paradox, once everything was pieced together.
This in turn, raised even more questions on whether the timeline was the original one or an artificial one.
Who knows what sort of diverting influence Aoba had upon the course of history?
The entire incident gained the unwanted attention of an government unit whose existence was shrouded in secrecy. An agent, belonging to said organization, paid Hara a visit.
The agent, in question only introduced himself as 'G-Black' to Hara after flashing his government credentials, and after asking several meandering questions, the so-called G-Black then attempted to remove the hundred-year old Walkman from Hara's possession.
In turn, the agent was rebuffed by Hara and forcefully 'escorted' off-base by the battleships Ise and Hyuuga, upon the admiral's orders.
Not even Hara knew of that unit previously, but what he was able to glean from the sparse information available about them; apparently they had an hand in the beginnings of the whole kanmusu program.
Unfortunately, Hara wasn't able to discover the name of the unit, just the fact it existed.
Nonetheless, this was an Navy problem, not the meddling civilian government's.
A soft knock interrupted the admiral's thoughts.
"Come in," Hara halfheartedly called out.
The door swung open to admit destroyer Ushio and destroyer Yuudachi.
"Ah, Ushio-chan and Yuudachi-chan." Hara smiled at the destroyer duo.
Ushio stepped forth, cradling an manila envelope against her chest, while Yuudachi trailed behind carrying a stack of papers.
"Admiral," The special type destroyer began, "I've brought the reports you requested."
Hara held out a hand to receive the envelope. "Good work, Ushio-chan. You have my thanks."
Ushio's cheeks tinged pink as she handed off the reports. This was one thing she- no, all shipgirls lived for, to receive praise from their admiral!
Yuudachi hefted the stack of papers. "I've, like, brought the reference sheets you asked for! Poi!"
"Good work, Yuudachi-chan. Put them there." Hara motioned at an clear spot on his relatively large desk.
"Poi!"
The admiral glanced at the additional papers, and immediately felt like an headache was coming. He mentally cursed the need to not involve assistants.
Hara absentmindedly reached for his pen, preparing for the long, stressful night ahead.
"Admiral?" Ushio called out.
Hara lifted his head, a frown etched upon his features. "Yes?"
The busty destroyer fidgeted. "W-would Admiral like some tea and snacks?"
The admiral's frown was replaced by a smile. "Yes, I would like some. In fact, I could use a break."
"Then, please wait a moment while I prepare the tea." Ushio excused herself, followed by Yuudachi. "I'll, like, help too! Poi!"
Hara couldn't help but smile even more. Ushio was easily the sweetest shipgirl he ever met. A true Yamato Nadeshiko, in his opinion easily matching the likes of-
The admiral blinked as an unsettling feeling crept up his spine, and warning alarms went off in his head.
He knew this feeling too well. This was something he inherited from his ancestor, something akin to an internal radar similar to those on bonafide shipgirls, although his inbuilt set wasn't anywhere nearly as good.
Hara squeezed his eyes shut as he concentrated on getting an location of-
"We're back, Admiral." Ushio announced her return, holding a tray carrying three tea mugs.
"I, like, brought the snacks! Poi!" Yuudachi added as she entered carrying a bowl full of rice crackers.
The admiral sighed. Shipgirls used their radars with great ease while he had to concentrate intensely to get something of an accurate reading and lose track of time.
"Girls, you might want to make a fourth cup for our guest." Hara bent and reached down to open the desk's special bottom drawer. The drawer, where the admiral kept his most prized possession.
"A-a guest? W-we have a guest?" Ushio stammered as she quickly looked around the room. "I don't see anyone other than you, poi!" Yuudachi interjected.
"Our guest isn't here yet. In fact our guest's at the end of the hallway outside, approaching this room at flank speed." Hara fumbled with the combination lock on the drawer.
The pink-haired admiral looked up and fixed his steely gaze on the destroyers, "Girls, what you are about to witness will not leave this room, nor will you utter a single word of it."
It wasn't an suggestion, or a request, but a flat-out order.
The destroyers correctly interpreted the intent behind the admiral's words and saluted. "Aye sir!"
Hara half-smiled as he yanked the drawer open with an wooden *clonk!* and withdrew an long snouted digital camera out and promptly ducked underneath the desk, holding the camera like a rifle.
"You girls might want to take cover. Wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire."
The destroyers obeyed without questioning, ducking behind the sturdy Victorian sofa which was conveniently placed against the wall, the sofa's backrest giving enough space between the wall for the destroyer to squeeze themselves in-between.
A deathly silence settled upon the room, with the exception of breathing from the destroyers and the admiral.
Suddenly, Hara leaned out from his cover and aimed his camera at the doorway with the practiced aim of an professional photographer and unleashed an furious volley of thunderous shutter clicks followed by the blinding split-second gunfire of camera flashes!
Silence settled upon the room once again.
"P-poi? What was that, admiral?!" An thoroughly bewildered Yuudachi called from her hiding spot.
However the answer came with an violent explosion of shutter clicks and intense lamp flashes from the doorway!
From their vantage point, the destroyers caught a glimpse of a hand holding an camera as it retracted behind the door frame.
"Oraaaaa!" Hara hollered as he rolled to a new position behind one of the guest chairs and took aim with his camera, firing off several clicks then ducking behind the chair.
The unknown person spun to the other side of the door frame offering the observing destroyers an fleeting glimpse of the person's general appearance, the unknown 'guest' had curves indicating that of an female, and wore an dark purple informal yukata. She ducked behind the door frame, responding with an equally furious counter-fire of shutter clicks.
"N-ne, Yuudachi?" Ushio poked the blond shipgirl, in which said shipgirl answered with a "Poi?"
"Does this remind you of that game we played awhile ago?"
Yuudachi smacked her palm with her fist. "Poi! You mean Gears of War?"
The brunette Ayanami-class destroyer nodded.
"It, like, looks that way, poi." The so-called Nightmare of Solomon quipped, as she peered over the top of the Victorian sofa at Hara randomly rolling, jumping and ducking behind various pieces of furniture 'firing' his camera.
Ushio lifted her head until her eyes barely peeked over the top of the sofa. "Admiral seems to know this person."
"Poi? He knows?" Yuudachi inquired.
"Admiral knew the person was coming before we did and knew exactly what to do." Ushio turned to face her friend.
The rather nonviolent shutter war went back and forth for several minutes with neither side gaining the upper hand.
"Like, why are we even hiding in the first place, poi?" The blond destroyer pointed out.
Ushio shrugged. "Humoring the admiral, I s'pose?"
Hara attempted to roll back behind the relative safety of his desk, but the instant he exited his cover... a blinding flash, followed by an single, deafening and accurate shutter click caught the admiral flatfooted.
"O~ho! You're still a hundred years too early to defeat me, himago!" (Great-grandson) A familiar voice called out.
The voice was recognizable to the destroyers, immediately. That voice belonged to the kanmusu that went missing those weeks ago.
"A-aoba-san?!" "Aoba-san?! Poi!" Yuudachi and Ushio called out the heavy cruiser's name in the same breath.
Hara on the other hand, grumbled as he stomped the floor in frustration. "You cheated, Baba! You totally did!"
Aoba stepped out from behind the door frame, fully revealing herself. She was smiling, but there were several things... different about her.
Ushio's eyes widened abit, for the Aoba she remembered, her hair wasn't that long compared to the Aoba standing before her.
Nor did Ushio's Aoba keep her hair in a pony tail. Her hair certainly was not waist-long either. Hair didn't grow that long in the span of few weeks.
Not to mention, Aoba most certainly did not have a great-grandchild. Yet this Aoba just referred the admiral as her himago.
What in the tarnation is going on?
Aoba's blue eyes narrowed at Hara, as she slipped her camera inside her yukata's loose sleeves. "A cheater, you say?"
Ushio noted Aoba had visible crow's feet around her eyes when she narrowed them.
The admiral's mouth formed into a petulant pout, rather unfitting for his age and station. "Yeah, Baba, you cheater! I can never catch you off guard and take a picture!"
Ushio blinked dumbfoundedly at the whiny tone Hara took. Her image of the admiral cracked a little.
Aoba smiled brightly at Hara. "Like I said, himago, hundred years too early to photograph me off-guard!"
Yuudachi leaned towards Ushio and whispered, "Like, why is admiral calling Aoba-san 'Baba'? Isn't that, like, a pet name for grandmothers... poi?"
"Yuu-chan," Ushio whispered back, "Doesn't this Aoba-san... feel different? Like, giving off the air of an much older kanmusu?"
"Ah... you girls," The pink-haired heavy cruiser turned towards the destroyers, as if she only just noticed their presence.
"Yes!" The destroyers stiffened as they chorused in a single voice. Internally they did not understand why they suddenly felt the urge to give her respect usually reserved for elders and superiors.
Aoba approached the destroyer duo, looking them up and down carefully, her hands set in a thinking position.
She then placed her hands on their shoulders, while nodding. "Still the same... after all those years."
Ushio worked her jaw in stunned silence, while Yuudachi managed to work out an utterance: "What...?"
What was with that cryptic message? What years?
Hara grasped the heavy cruiser's wrist with a stern "Baba."
The pink-haired admiral glanced at the destroyer duo and motioned his chin at the door. "You girls go make Aoba a cup of tea."
However Ushio, being considerably more perceptive than the blond destroyer, correctly decoded the underlying message: 'Beat it, I have things to discuss with Aoba. Things that are not meant for your ears. Take your time making the tea'
With a simple quick bow, Ushio then grabbed Yuudachi's hand and tugged the squawking blonde out of the office, "Poooooooooooooooi?!"
Hara and Aoba stood in the relatively empty office for several long silent moments.
"They don't know yet, do they?" The hundred year old heavy cruiser fired the first question.
"No, not yet." Hara shook his head as he sauntered towards his desk. "By the way, Baba, why are you here?"
Aoba opened her mouth and let it hang for several seconds before giving the admiral a somewhat roundabout answer, "I figured you'd pieced everything together by now. I've been giving you hints and clues ever since you were thirteen years old."
"You gave me a hint when I was thirteen?" The admiral plopped into his plush office chair, placing his camera back in the bottom drawer and kicking it shut.
"I gave you your first camera."
"That's not much of a hint, and you couldn't have expected me to realize everything when I was just 13?" Hara flatly stated.
Aoba simply smirked as she launched into a small lecture. "Of course not. I was hoping you'd put everything together at a later time once everything accumulated. Investigating all kinds of leads no matter how strange IS part of investigative journalism!" She ended the sentence with a bit more excitement and emphasis than usual.
The pink haired shipgirl then pointed at framed family photo resting on the admiral's desk, "I'm surprised you didn't realize something was amiss earlier when the... 'younger' me was still around."
"At first I thought so, too." Hara defended, "But you know what they say, 'For every person, there's two or three people who looks similar and acts similar' or however it went. So, I didn't look too deeply into the matter until the whole Eldridge incident happened."
Aoba held up a finger. "Point, can't argue with that." She then pointed at Hara, "Buuuuuuut... you still should've realized something was up. You DID inherit... abilities from, yours, truly."
Hara threw his hands up and grumbled. "Fine, you win Baba. You're absolutely right, I should've thought of that."
The pink-haired heavy cruiser held up a victory sign, totally unbecoming of her age. "V!"
Hara looked down at his ancestor. "By why are you sitting on my lap?" Somehow Aoba had slipped into the admiral's personal space and settled herself on his lap.
Aoba gave him a sparkling grin as she wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, refilling my himagonium stores."
...
Admiral Hara is an creation of mine, based off this guy wiki/Tameichi_Hara
Not a direct relative but let's say Aoba married to one of the Hara's, an elder brother or an cousin while stranded in the past.
Will continue with a part 3 whenever it tickles my fancy.