Rule 73. Iowa is to remove the wooden plaques with... certain names immediately.

Musashi was walking down one of the halls of the Kure Naval Base when she felt something loop around her head.

"Hey, what the-" Musashi exclaimed as she turned around to see Iowa standing behind her with a measuring tape. "What... are you doing?"

"I'm measuring your head," Iowa answered absentmindedly. "11 1/4 inches. Guess I shouldn't be fucking surprised you've got the biggest head I've measured."

Musashi tilted her head as she stared, dumbfounded, at the American battleship. "That answer clarified nothing."

"Eh, it's for a personal project. No big deal," Iowa said, waving off Musashi's confusion as she started away down the hall.

"Oh no you don't," Musashi retorted as she started after the American. "I want answers. Especially since Vanguard and Bismarck both mentioned that you measured their heads before you got kicked out of the Atlantic fleet."

Iowa flinched at the last sentence. "The one fucking Japanese battleship to have a fucking tolerance for alcohol," she muttered under her breath. Iowa mentally weighed the pros and cons of showing Musashi her... collection. "Eh, fuck it. Maybe she'll be impressed."

Turning back to Musashi, she said, "Well, if you want answers, follow me. I wanna show you something."

The two proceeded in silence until they arrived at Iowa's temporary dorm at Kure. Despite the fact that most of her belongings were still packed away in cardboard boxes, Iowa had already left her mark. Despite the sizeable alcohol cabinet and prominent ashtray, the room was very tidy. Or rather, the mess was confined to a two-foot strip around the bed. Iowa, for her part, dropped the tape measure on her bed and pulled a box out from under her bed and began rooting through it.

"Where is... aha!" Iowa crowed in triumph as she pulled a wooden plaque out of the box, of the variety usually hung up on walls to display hunting trophies. "Here, this should tell you all you need to fucking know."

Musashi took the plaque without a word, and gave it a look-over. Aside from the small bronze label on the bottom, the plaque was bare, waiting for something to be attached to it. A bloodthirsty grin worked its way onto her face as she read the label at the bottom: Vanguard, UK.

"I see what this is," Musashi smirked. "That confident you can take me, huh?"

Iowa fired back a smirk of her own over her shoulder sat on her bed. "Oh, you know it, bitch. I haven't put together your plaque yet, but now that I got your head measurements I should have one by tomorrow."

Musashi chuckled as she tossed the plaque back to Iowa. "Well, you're confident. I like that. Though, kind of a waste to have these gathering dust, y'know? Maybe you should hang them outside your room or something, put everyone on notice."

Iowa's grin widened to Cheshire-like proportions. "Oh, I like how you fucking think, Musashi. Tell ya what, I'll do that, and when I start my headhunting, you get to be last."

"I look forward to it." And with that, Musashi left.

Iowa held the grin for only a moment longer before exhaling explosively and slumping on her bed. "Jesus Christ it's a good thing I controlled that," she breathed. Reaching into the box, she pulled out one last plaque. This one read "Yamato, Jp" on the bottom. "I'm not sure I could fucking take her if she was all fired up to protect that fucking sister of hers." Taking a calming breath, she retrieved a hammer and some nails from the toolbox she kept in her closet. "Well, time to get to fucking work."

~o~

Fuso and Yamashiro stared at the plaques adorning the wall, the names below a veritable who's who of prominent battleship girls. Bismarck. Nagato. Vanguard. Warspite. The Battleship Princess. It was a long list.

"Should I be insulted or relieved that we're not named here?" Fuso wondered aloud.

"I vote relieved," Yamashiro stated.