"We have a problem." Admiral Yin Said casually as he placed his chopsticks beside his breakfast plate, causing all of his ship girls to look at him.

"What do you mean, Admiral? What's the problem?" Shimakaze said as she continued to stuff her mouth with rice.

Yin looked at the ship girls and could see various emotions in of their eyes. Interest in Musashi's, disinterest in Shimakaze's, worry in Tenryuu's, and a strange mix of worry and fear in Wo's. "Two days ago, while the four of you fought the enemy and while Wo fought the enemy Wo-class, I got an email from headquarters. An order stating that we were to begin taking requests for assistance. They felt with four ships to our name we could now handle it."

"Well that's good. We can help other fleets now and get stronger ourselves too!" Tenryuu said with a grin.

"Yes, but this Musashi sees a problem with that." Musashi added, causing Yin to nod in agreement.

"Yes. The order came because we have four ships in our registry, meaning that headquarters can see the ship's classes but not their names. "

"How is that a problem?" Shimakaze asked as she finishes her food and sighed happily.

"Yeah, why is it ah . . . . Oh." Wo said in realization when she noticed Tenryuu and Musashi looking at her.

Yes, Wo. You are, sadly, the problem." Yin admitted with a sigh.

"Huh, why is she a problem, because others will think she's a spy?" Shimakaze asked with a hint of expectation in her voice.

Yin nodded as he rested his chin on his hands, "Unfortunately, that is not completely wrong. Other fleets will be informed we can assist them if need be and that we have four ships currently, a destroyer, cruiser, battleship and an aircraft carrier. They won't know that Wo is our aircraft carrier, and depending on what fleet asks for assistance will change how we'll have to react. Wo won't be able to assist with reinforcing our allies for the most part."

"B-but then I can't' help everyone! I want to help Tenryuu-onee-san and everyone else!" Wo said pleadingly.

"And you will Wo, but I'll have to figure out how to let you without raising anyone's suspicions about you, so-, "Yin began before abruptly stopping and pulling out the base tablet as it vibrated madly. As he looked it over his face paled. "We've been asked to assist the 31'st destroyer fleet."

No one said anything for a moment until Tenryuu stood up from her seat, her chair falling over with a heavy clang as she did. "Then let's go help them. What's the mission?"

Yin nodded and looked back to the tablet, reading the info it held. "Their destroyer fleet was in Sector Four of the Southern Sea doing some minor training to level up their rookies. They encountered a force far larger than their own that is comprised of numerous I-class and Ro-class, as well as several WA-class submarines. The enemy force is apparently led by a Ru-class battleship." Yin explained, the explanation causing the girls faces to change to looks of horror at the numbers attacking rookie destroyers.

"Are they asking for any kind of help, or certain help?" Musashi asked calmly as she stood up and crossed her arms across her chest.

Yin nodded as he looked back to the tablet. "It says they sent all of their other available destroyers and their two cruisers to assist them, but the numbers are simply too great for their combined fleet to deal and it's turning grim. They're specifying assistance of a battleship and anything else we can send. It sounds like they want to use you as a meat shield so they can escape, Musashi." Yin explained grimly.

"Then this Musashi shall take up the challenge. They cannot just be left to their own if they are outnumbered." Musashi stated proudly.

Yin smiled. "I thought you'd say that. You and Tenryuu go get equipped and head out to assist them and-"

"Send me to!" Shimakaze suddenly said as she leapt from her chair and raised her arm like she was a kid in a classroom.

"Me too, please!" Wo added as she carefully pushed her chair back and stood up.

Yin shook his head. "No, just Musashi and Tenryuu are going to their assistance."

"But I want to help them!" Wo pleaded, her eyes nearly sparkling with good intention.

Yin could feel his stomach turning, but he knew that as an admiral he had to make choice that would be good for the long run, as well as the short run. He had to worry about their own resources as well as the 31st fleet's ship girls. "No. we're lower on resources than I'd like us to be, so I need you and Shimakaze to go on expeditions for the rest of the day."

What? Aw this sucks!" Shimakaze said as she slumped down and fell back into her chair.

"I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be. Shimakaze, I want you and Wo to put priority on looking for fuel and bauxite. Musashi, Tenryuu, good luck on saving those destroyers!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This sucks!" Shimakaze said as she knelt down and picked up a ton of fuel and put it into her storage compartment.

It had been five hours since she and Wo had left on their expedition, and while they had found lots of resources, they still had a bit more to find.

"Yeah, I wanted to help Tenryuu-Onee-san." Wo said with a sigh as she flicked a piece of steel into her storage compartment with her staff.

"Ugh, this feels like it's your fault!" Shimakaze growled as she skimmed over the water as she continued looking for resources. "The only reason I'm here is because the admiral didn't want you to be lonely!"

Wo lifted he shoulders and tilted her headgear as if to hide herself from Shimakaze's gaze. She knew that what Shimakaze said was likely true, but that didn't make it any easier to take. "Um ,do – do you think this is enough resources, or do we keep looking?"

"Huuuhh, it's probably enough. It's becoming hard to find any more in this area, so let's head back and drop off what we've found." Shimakaze answered, immediately turning around and speeding off across the water, forcing Wo to do the same just to keep up.

Heading back to the base was very quiet, and every attempt at making conversation with Shimakaze was thwarted, it was clear to Wo that she was still not liked by the other, which depressed her. As the two of them entered the base and dropped their acquired resources into storage they ran over to the admirals office to report, and things went wrong fast.

"Admiral, we're back. Where do you want us to go next so we can-," Shimakaze stopped as she and wo saw Admiral Yin sitting with both hands on his desk, and tears falling onto it from his eyes.

"Admiral? What's wrong!" Wo said as she ran to the front of the desk and looked at Yin.

Yin looked up to Shimakaze and Wo and wiped an arm across his face, smearing the tears across his cheeks. "I just was contacted by the admiral of the 31st destroyer base. Musashi and Tenryuu completed their objective, and not a single destroyer was lost."

"Well that's good news!" Shimakaze said happily, obviously confused by Yin's tears.

Yin shook his head. "Musashi took major damage, but Tenryuu. . . . . she took on the enemy Ru-class head on to protect Musashi from taking another hit."

"Wait, so they're on their way back now right?" Wo asked, her emotions suddenly running high as her mind began to realize what had happened.

"Musashi will return once ,she's been repaired enough to safely make the journey but, Tenryuu, sunk the enemy Ru-class flagship . . . . And sunk herself while doing it!"

Authors note:

I apologize for the great space of time between the last chapter and this one. Things happened and I focused on other fics for a while and I should not have left this updated. I apologize greatly for the wait you've had to endure.

I intend to keep this story updates on a semi constant basis for the future.

On another note, there are now two PV's for the anime out, and it almost looks like their doing it similar to strike witches, an act I approve of greatly. I'm just wondering if there's going to be an admiral in the anime or not, and if it'll be male or female.

On yet another note, one that may seem like jumping the gun, I have thought up three ideas for kantai collection fics. I intend to do one of them when I finish this one, but I am unsure which one to do, so I'd like anyone's thoughts on which one intrigues you. I have made a poll that is on my profile that shows the options, so if you feel inclined, please vote on which one you'd like to see. If necessary I can pre write some small spoilers for the dies and include them in a chapters extras as well if anyone needs additional info on an idea.

I hope everyone ha like this chapter, and I hope you look forward to the next one!