Eight hours later, Damon Polchow is sitting in one of the two conference rooms on the first floor with Benjamin Yamamoto, who is sitting with his hand over his face.
"You're seriously going to go into the Chicago City Hall with everyone carrying 3-D printer pistols? Are you fucking retarded?"
Damon just laughs in his face.
"So what would'ja call me if I went there with everyone armed with nothin' less than an M4?"
"A bit smarter 'cause you'd actually stand a chance."
Damon laughs even harder.
"Dude. I ain't goin' there necessarily to kill everyone in the damn buildin'. I'm goin' there to hammer out a deal. At least it ain't terrorists we're negotiatin' with, right?" Damon laughs hysterically at his own political joke, and even Benjamin pops a smirk of his own. "Like there's really a difference 'tween 'em anyway..."
Benjamin's smirk doesn't last long. "So that's why Travis told me you were out the whole day? The girls were constantly popping back and forth from my office asking me where you were."
"Did they? Damn it, I told 'em not to bother ya..."
"Wasn't bothersome or anything. So when're they coming in?"
"The guns?"
"If you can even call them that."
"What, they're legit guns, don't hate, they only got one or two shots in 'em. They're gonna arrive here at seven in the mornin'."
"At my doorstep?"
"Chillax, dude, I'll sign off the papers."
"If you're gonna keep them here, I'm charging you storage fees."
"Dude, it's just for one fucking day."
"One day's worth of storage fees is seventy bucks, and you know that. Plus, you also know that I have more weapons shipments coming in that could be using that same storage space."
Damon rolls his eyes, pulls out his wallet, and throws two bills, a fifty and a twenty, at Benjamin.
"Stingy-ass muh'fucker."
Benjamin snorts. "Suck it, bitch."
"You can bet'cher ass I'm rememberin' this shit."
"Want some cheese with that whine? Or maybe some baby back ribs with that salt, 'cause you're a baby back bitch?"
"Dude, fuck off."
Benjamin laughs. "So what do you even plan on doing once you're inside with those damn printed guns? Throw paper at the president and get the hell out? Who do you think you are, Soap MacTavish with a squirt gun?"
Damon himself gives a sarcastic laugh. "What kinna name's Soap, anyway?" Damon ridicules in a purposefully stereotyped British accent. "Bitch, please. Soap ain't fuckin' a quarter of a badass that I am. I'd like to see him take three shots to the chest 'n live. A stupid knife doesn't count." Damon's grin quickly turns upside down. "And I'd fuckin' pay big bucks to see him survive for a month in God-forsaken Baltimore, with another grand that says he dies in the first forty- no, twenty hours."
Benjamin sips on a cup of decaffeinated coffee. "Yeah, it'd be nice if we lived in a Call of Duty world too. Soak up a couple dozen bullets like it's nothing, hide behind a bush or camp in a corner, wipe that red jelly off your dick, and get all your health back. It'd be real nice, I admit. Anyway, now that we've clearly established that we're not playing Call of Duty in real life, tell me what you're planning on doing."
Damon looks at Benjamin incredulously. "And what the fuck makes yer nerdy-ass virgin brain think I'll tell you?"
"Well, why the fuck not? And did you really have to bring up the fact that I'm a virgin?"
"Yeah, 'cause I know it pisses you off. And you just fuckin' ripped me off. Why should I tell you?"
Benjamin sighs. "Fine, whatever, you don't have to tell me. I want to know what happens, after all. Can't blame me for being curious, you know. Now that I think about it, if the Feds find out that I'm connected to someone who's about to get thrown in jail and maybe shot for treason..."
Damon gives a short, bitter laugh again. "Well! I s'pose you'll find out within the next two days."
"Rip in pieces, mate."
"Don't worry, I ain't a baby back bitch like you."
Benjamin rolls his eyes again and waves his hand at him. "Get outta here, you. I still got some invoices to look over."
Chuckling, Damon gets up from his seat and leaves Benjamin to himself in the conference room. Heading up to the third floor, Damon enters the kitchen and dining area and finds Amagi sitting with Yuudachi, Suzukaze, Shimakaze, Amatsukaze, and Mutsu along the far wall on an inflatable couch in front of an outdated model of an LG flatscreen 36'' television hooked up to an old DVD layer. Damon recognizes the intro theme of Dragonball Z playing as soon as he enters the third floor and walks over to them. The destroyers are eating some caramel popcorn popped in the microwave, eagerly watching the screen, but to their utmost shock and dismay, Damon suddenly snatches up the remote control and clicks the DVD player on pause.
"H-Hey!" The destroyers, outraged, immediately turn around to see who the culprit is, who turns out to be Damon with the remote in his hand.
"Damon, what the hell, we were just getting to the good part!" Shimakaze complains bitterly, trying to snatch the remote control back from Damon, but Damon simply whisks it away out of her reach.
"By good part, do ya mean the part when they say 'find out next time on Dragonball Z'?" Damon laughs hysterically. "You'll be sittin' here for a long time, I'm jus' gonna warn ya - "
"Hey, Damon, no spoilers, I was enjoying this too!" Mutsu frowns, also turning to Damon out of displeasure of having their show interrupted. "What's with the pause? Do you need something from us? And where've you been for the last eight or so hours? We were starting to wonder if something happened."
"As it turns out, those eight hours were real interestin' for me, and it should be for all 'a ya too. We need ta get everyone together, I need to talk to everyone. Where're the rest?"
Mutsu points up at the ceiling.
"A'ight. Everyone, come with me to the fourth floor for a sec."
"Is it gonna take a long time, poi? I wanna watch more of this, poi!" Yuudachi says impatiently.
"I dunno, but you'll have all night tonight to marathon DBZ. Besides, I'll give you some better anime doesn't involve you sittin' on one scene for a dozen episodes..." Damon rolls his eyes at his memories of watching Dragonball Z when he was younger as he and the ship girls, reluctantly getting up from the couch, follow him up to the fourth floor. They find the rest of the ship girls relaxing on the beds - Murakumo, Iku, Shigure, and Samidare are seated with Haruna on Haruna's bed enjoying some tea and recounting what the destroyers had each seen throughout the city on their little excursion, and Kaga is brushing Shoukaku's long silvery-white hair with a comb she borrowed from Benjamin.
"Sorry ta crash," Damon says when the ship girls turn to him when he and the girls watching anime on the third floor enter the fourth floor.
"Ad-Damon, where've you been, nano?" Iku, excited and relieved to see her Admiral, swings her legs off the bed and bounds over to him to give him a mighty hug. "We were all getting worried, nano!"
"Busy, that's what," Damon mutters, less than amused, as he pats the top of Iku's middle tri-tail. "Everyone gather up, this shit's important."
Damon waits for everyone to find a seat and get comfortable, and once he has everyone's attention, he begins.
"A'ight, so listen up. I've been in email contact with Sanford, and here's what's been goin' on. This mornin', he met with the President 'a the United States 'n talked with him. He told me that dear ol' Prez wants to meet with me and all of you, a'ight? He also told me that he's got a fleet 'a his own ship girls with him - "
At the mention of additional ship girls, some of his own fleet girls - namely Kaga and Shoukaku - lurch forward.
"Sir, do - do you know their names? Has Sanford-sensei given any names?" Shoukaku asks intensely, cutting Damon off.
"No, he didn't give any names, and for now, don't cut me off, lemme just say everything first and then I'll answer any questions ya got, okay?" Damon says quickly, and Shoukaku, suddenly feeling embarrassed for interrupting her own Admiral, reddens a bit and sits back. "While we're still on that topic, he says they've got a pretty big fleet too, but mine - you girls - should still be stronger. I thought about it a bit while I was runnin' around takin' care 'a stuff, and I figure the Feds have about...anywhere from ten to a dozen fleet girls, maybe. Again, jus' ta reiterate, we ain't got names or specifics, just an estimation of how strong they are. So the main point is, we gotta go see 'em, meet with the Prez. Now, this's obviously gonna be real fuckin' tricky. This could be a trap, 'cause we could jus' be walkin' straight into some sorta elaborate scheme. Worst case scenario, they'll jus' up 'n kill me first thing and steal the rest 'a you to expand the size of their own fleet."
"Th-That's...that's mean...!" Samidare exclaims worriedly. "If - If the President wants to meet with us, why would he - why would he make something like that happen?"
"Ya gotta understand," Damon points out, "you're all Federal property. I hope y'all aren't forgettin' that ultimately, it was an American team that developed you girls, the Japanese devs helped out a lot but it still wasn't their project. You're all technically owned by the government 'a the United States, even still, even now."
"How preposterous," Kaga spits bitterly, a bit predictably, too. "We ought to be the property of our home country, not this one."
"Yeah, well...that's how shit is right now. Plus, what this also means's that I'm also in real fuckin' big danger. Think about it: if I've been spendin' the last month travelin' down to the South to recover Federal property that I ain't supposed ta have any business takin' 'cept for the fact that I wanna command my own fleet 'a ship girls, what does that make me?"
"A thief, I suppose," Mutsu suggests, and Damon points to her in confirmation.
"Bingo, we've got ourselves a winner. To the eyes 'a the American government, I'm a traitor, guilty 'a treason 'n grand theft 'cause I've been illegally takin' Federal possessions 'n doin' whatever the hell I want with 'em. Specifically, blowin' shit up 'n findin' more ship girls, which obviously means I'm stealin' even more Federal property. So off this basis, I got every reason to believe that the Feds've got somethin' planned to wreck my shit 'n take y'all away from me." Damon then pops a nasty, extremely sarcastic smirk. "Though, I'm sure there're some people here who'd want that, I guess..."
Amatsukaze immediately turns to Murakumo. "Murakumoooooo!" Amatsukaze shrilly yells.
"W-What!? What're you screaming at me for?! What'd I do? What'd I say!?" Murakumo, utterly shocked, shouts back at Amatsukaze.
"What'd you say to Ad-Damon this time? You're always taking every single chance you can get to put him down! Seriously, stop with that shit, there's no reason to do stupid stuff like that!"
"Wha - What the hell're you saying? It's not like anything I've said explicitly stated for him to stop being our Admiral!"
"Even still - "
"SHUT UP!" Damon bellows over the two destroyers. "Forget that last shit I said, I shouldn't've said somethin' stupid like that if I knew that was gonna set ya two off, fuck..." Rolling his eyes, wishing he hadn't said that simply out of spite, Damon continues. "Anyway, Sanford did mention that the Feds're willin' to negotiate or make a deal with me. I've already told some 'a you 'bout this earlier this afternoon, in fact. So I don't really know what to expect - maybe they won't treat me like a damn traitor 'cause they know I've got a more powerful fleet than they do, somehow. Maybe they wanna pay me off for all 'a ya, I dunno what's gonna happen."
"Wait!" Yuudachi suddenly blurts out. "Y-You're - You're gonna sell us off to the President, poi - ?!"
Damon looks at her with his usual are-you-fucking-retarded gaze. "Hell no! I thought I made that perfectly fuckin' clear! Do I need ta say it again to all 'a ya? Huh? Do I? I'll tell ya again anyway! I ain't given any 'a ya up for shit! I gave up on a month's worth 'a makin' bank 'n livin' a good life here in New Chicago, honestly, got shot three times, nearly snapped my back in half, 'n nearly got shot outta a chopper gettin' all 'a ya! Shit like that, there ain't no way money can pay for shit like that. It ain't possible. Sometimes, money can't buy the kinda effort that you put into gettin' what'cha want, and this's one've those instances."
Damon sternly gazes at his fleet girls, while the only sound being made is the sound of Kaga's comb brushing Shoukaku's silvery-white hair.
"Basically, here's what we're doin'. Not tomorrow but the day after, at eight in the mornin', we're gonna head back to the same place where the limo driver dude dropped us off, 'n presumably he's gonna take us back to Inner Chicago, back to the City Hall to meet with the Feds 'n the Prez. I'm also expectin' 'em to bring their own fleet girls too...and," Damon's tone depresses even further to the point of expecting the worst, "y'all better hope they ain't got any sisters 'a yours that y'all might be lookin' or hopin' to meet, 'cause ya might hafta fight 'em."
Haruna's eyes sink to her lap, and Kaga nearly drops her comb.
"Th-They will have Akagi...fight...me...?" Kaga's voice is filled with a volatile mixture of fear and rage.
"I mean...I don't wanna be all downer 'n all, but...they might," Damon shrugs, sighing. "I don't know what's gonna happen in two days. I'm jus' sayin' I'm goin' in expectin' the worst, and maybe y'all should too. And that's why I'm armin' all 'a ya."
"Arming? But...we already have our pistols," Shimakaze points out, pulling out the USP .45 handgun that Sanford had ordered all of them to carry on them the day they had landed in Chicago.
"Couple problems with that," Damon elaborates. "First, they're metal. They're bound ta have metal detectors set up once we go 'n see the President, make sure we ain't 'bout to assassinate his bitch-ass."
"But...there were no metal detectors inside the City Hall the first time we went through, so why should we worry about it now?" Mutsu asks.
Damon throws up his hands. "Hell if I know! Maybe 'cause Sanford was with ya, I dunno! I'm guessin' they jus' straight up trusted you that y'all weren't about ta rampage on through the City Hall, I guess, fuck. But this time, Sanford ain't with us. To the Feds, a traitor like me's bringin' thirteen contraband fleet girls into the close vicinity 'a the president 'a the United Fuckin' State 'a America, God fuckin' bless it. If you were the Feds, that shit don't sound too safe. At all."
"So then if we can't bring the guns we have, what're you giving us?"
"About that. Hold up, lemme go get it." Damon hurries out of the fourth floor and returns within a minute with a wonky, funny-looking gun that looks more like a plastic and foam toy than an actual firearm.
"What in the hell is that?" Murakumo says in sheer disbelief, the other fleet girls with similar the-hell-is-this expressions.
"This's what's known as a 3-D printer gun," Damon says, sighing a bit. "I know it looks funny, yes, 'cause it honestly does, a'ight? Now can we get over it, please? I spent fuckin' four hours negotiatin' a damn deal with one 'a the manufacturers I know over in South District to get thirteen printer pistols, cost me fuckin' seven grand plus a priority manufacturin' cost to get 'em out within twenty-four hours. The reason why I want all 'a ya to have one 'a these when we get in there day after tomorrow's 'cause these things are almost entirely all plastic, so metal detectors aren't gonna detect shit. Practically the only thing that's metal is the nail that's the firin' pin for this thing, but since I asked 'em to be made small enough so that they can fit inside the places where ya load your navitasium cubes, it ain't gonna fuckin' matter."
Some of the ship girls, mainly the girls with navitasium cubes already loaded, gawk at him.
"You're telling us to put that inside us?!" Amatsukaze utters, finding it hard to believe her Admiral's words.
"If you can stop sayin' it in such a dirty way, then yeah, I'm fuckin' serious, that's how I'm gettin' you armed. What, ya think they'll let'cha bring your gearboxes inside? You think they'll jus' let y'all waltz through carryin' these things so that everyone 'n their fuckin' mothers can see?"
"But why do we even need these anyway? We're a lot stronger than the average human bein'! We can mess 'em up with our own bare hands if we gotta!" Suzukaze shouts, throwing a few boxer punches for added emphasis.
"That, and sir, you said that...that there would be additional ship girls like us who are under the command of the President. I'm not too sure of...of how the meeting to go, but...wouldn't you agree that we would all be together in a place where everyone can see one another? As in, all of us ship girls would be together with our Admirals? If that's the case, then...then these guns wouldn't work against ship girls like us."
Damon sighs, arching his neck upwards. "Yeah, I know, there're lots'a problems with this shit and too many ways for this crap to go wrong. This's the best I thought we'd be able ta do, 'cause no matter how I look at it, we're gonna be put at a disadvantage, I can jus' feel it. Jus' tryin'a do my best here." Damon looks back at Shigure. "I'm bankin' my chances on the fact that me 'n the President kinda have this lil' standoff, like some kinda mutually-assured destruction policy. See, since we both have ship girls, we can just order you girls to kill everyone, and you'd do it, and basically the only people left standin' would jus' be you ship girls, right? Obviously we don't want that, so I'm hopin' that's how it goes. I can try to think of some other shit, but..." Damon shrugs.
"Then once we get there, what do we do?" Samidare asks.
"No fuckin' clue," Damon says. "When we're there, though, I wanna be able to have us all in the same room so that we can watch out for each other. I don't wanna think 'bout what they'd do with ya if they told me they wanted to have us separate, those bastards. We'll just hafta see what goes down and see what we can make outta it, but as of now, can't do much else other than what I've been spendin' the last eight hours doin'."
Damon claps his hands to wrap up the meeting.
"That's all I wanted to say. Any more questions?"
Haruna slowly raises her hand. Like a teacher allowing a student to speak, Damon points to her.
"Yes?"
"If...if I meet a sister...or two...of mine...will you order me to fight them?" Haruna asks so quietly that Damon has to ask her to repeat herself before he understands, and when he does, he doesn't answer right away.
"If they tell their fleet girls to get ready to attack us, you have to understand, I got no choice but to tell the lot 'a you to do the same," Damon says slowly. "But think about it. If y'all got sisters that the Feds got, I don't think they wanna attack you either. I'd rather have you all fight everyone else but the other fleet girls, but then again...this shit's complicated, I'll tell ya what. Just remember, don't do anythin' or say anythin' unless I specifically order you too. Leave all the talkin' to me, a'ight?"
"How do we know you'll be able to talk through all of that? This sounds really dangerous, what we're about to get ourselves into - or rather, what you're getting us into," Murakumo mutters.
"You wanna do the talkin', then? Be my fuckin' guest. My goal's ta try 'n get as much ship girls as I can. I think I can talk my way through, but...honestly, I dunno. We'll find out...but if you wanna take it over, then fine." Damon flamboyantly extends his arms out towards Murakumo on purpose. "YOU can do the chit-chat when we get to the City Hall, 'k?"
"H-Huh? N-No way, I'm not talking!"
"Then shut it 'n let me do my thing. If you can't do somethin' yourself, why bother wastin' your time doubtin' someone who says they can?"
"Because you don't sound convincing at all!"
"Convincing? The hell do you mean?"
"As in, you're not confident! You're constantly saying how you don't know what's gonna happen! What's with that now, of all times? Up until now you've always been certain and decisive about what you've decided on having us do. Why is it now, at a moment that seems so important, do you not know what to do?"
Damon gives a bitter chuckle. "Maybe, if ya think about it, it seems so fuckin' important because I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do, ever think 'bout that?" Damon replies snarkily. "If I knew exactly what to do at each step 'a the way, I wouldn't be standin' here tellin' y'all that we need to be careful, that I need to be careful. And besides...if somethin' does go wrong and bullets fly, at least none 'a you need to worry 'cause it ain't like it matters if someone puts a bullet in your head, 'cause they won't be able to. They can still put a bullet in mine." Damon taps his own forehead through his cap, then his chest where the girls know there are bullet scars underneath his shirt.
Shigure closes her eyes painfully, and Damon, noticing this, glances at her.
"Perhaps...perhaps for you, Admiral, that wouldn't be so bad..."
Damon and more than just a few of the other ship girls stare at Shigure.
"Huh?" Damon asks, genuinely stumped by Shigure's words, because to him, Shigure basically told him that it was okay for him to get shot in the head, but the way that Shigure said this, it didn't seem like what she truly meant, resulting in a clash of words and intention. Shigure, quickly realizing the ambiguity of her words, perks her head up in alarm and frantically shakes her hands.
"N-N-N-No, uh, um..." Shigure stammers in a panic. "Th-That's - that is not - I'm sorry, Admiral, please fo - forget what I said, that - that was very inappropriate of m-m-me - "
"Shigure...why do you...want Damon..." Yuudachi whispers in a shocked voice. "I...I didn't know - "
"This - this isn't what I meant, Yuudachi! You, you're getting it wrong, please listen to me - "
Damon claps his hands loudly. "A'ight, a'ight, settle down, there ain't a need to panic here!" Damon barks to restore order and clear the confusion. "Shigure, just calm down and explain what'cha just said. Maybe we just misunderstood you, I don't feel like you're the kinda girl who'll just tell someone to go off 'n get shot in the head, I hope, anyway."
Shigure puts a hand over her mouth and gazes at the floor, almost tearing up in embarrassment at her poor choice of words. Damon, seeing that it would be difficult to get Shigure to talk like this, sighs and shrugs.
"We'll adjourn this meetin', since I've told everyone the important stuff. Make sure to take tonight 'n tomorrow to rest up as much as y'all can, 'cause who knows what the hell we'll get ourselves into Thursday." Damon kneels next to Shigure, puts his hands underneath her armpits and pulls her up swiftly to her feet. "Up ya go."
"E-Eh? Admiral, I-I'm sorry - !" Shigure instinctively puts her hands over her head as if Damon were threatening to hit her, but Damon simply stares at her until Shigure realizes that she won't get hit.
"Just what are ya doin'?" Damon asks with a bit of a head tilt. "I was 'bout to tell ya ta come with me so we can have a lil' talk, but...if you really don't like me that much, then, well..."
"..."
Shigure is unable to answer, sniffling as her tears start to catch up to her. Rolling his eyes, Damon looks to the other ship girls.
"I'ma try 'n calm Shigure down a bit 'n chat with her a lil' like I mentioned earlier when we were flyin' around in the Merlin. The rest 'a you, jus' do whatever, but don't go off 'n get all crazy, Yamamoto needs his sleep 'n gets pissy if he gets woken up when he ain't supposed to. Also, after I'm done talkin' with Shigure, Kaga 'n Haruna, I wanna talk with you two later separately too. C'mon, Shigure."
After fetching a napkin from the third floor kitchen and getting cups of hot chocolate for the both of them, Damon sits with Shigure outside the house, on the small front steps that directly lead out to the plaza in which Benjamin's house sits. A few people, recognizing Damon as the guy who looked like he was beating up a girl earlier that morning, give him nasty looks when they see him sitting with yet another girl, but Damon gives them icy looks back, and they leave him alone. Twisting the end of an orange cigarette from a fresh new pack of candy cigarettes he bought earlier in the day while he was running around in New Chicago making preparations for their meeting with the President, Damon takes a puff and swirls the contents of his cup around clockwise.
"So now that we're finally settled down," Damon sighs, taking a slight sip of his chocolate and grimacing because it is still way too hot, "explain what ya meant back then, that it wouldn't be so bad for me."
A bit predictably, Shigure takes a rather long time to reply.
"Are...are you angry with me, Admiral?"
"Only with the fact that ya still call me 'Admiral' instead 'a 'Damon'. I thought I made that clear, to call me Damon. You can call me Admiral once we go 'n meet Mr. President 'a the United States 'cause we'll probably be all formal 'n shit, but I already made myself clear on why I don't wanna be called Admiral, I think."
"...but...it is...what we are supposed to address you as, because it is your proper title - "
Damon turns his head ninety degrees to look at Shigure with his full attention.
"Shigure, lemme ask ya this. Do you call me 'Admiral' because you want to, or 'cause you need to?"
Shigure does not return his piercing gaze, as if she can feel Damon's piercing eyes bearing down on her.
"Answer me, Shigure. I wanna know why it is that you call me Admiral. Is it 'cause 'a some bullshit arbitrary military protocol, or just the way that you're supposed ta speak to your superiors in the navy or army or military or whatever, or is it 'cause you actually genuinely respect me as your commanding officer? Which is it? Be honest with me."
Shigure finally answers,
"B-Because...I'm supposed to...sir."
Damon notes that Shigure said "sir" very, very quietly.
"So military procedure, a'ight, I understand, I guess. So is it okay for me to assume that you still ain't callin' me Damon 'cause you're not comfortable with me on a first-name basis? This a Japanese thing? I know people usually call people they don't know all too well by their last names, right?"
"You're...you're not...wrong, per se..."
"So generally speakin', it's okay for me to assume that?"
"Y-Yes..."
Damon draws his gaze away and resumes gazing out to the rest of the plaza. "I guess I'll hafta start workin' on earnin' your respect, then..."
"...but you already have my respect, sir."
"How so?"
"B-Because...um, because..." Shigure searches for words.
"Is it 'cause, again, I'm the one who gives you orders?"
"...I don't know, sir...maybe..."
Damon exhales deeply through his nose, letting the orange scent soak into his clothes and wisp away into the air.
"I was thinkin' 'bout it earlier today, Shigure," Damon says, "and I think you and Haruna might have the same problem goin' on here."
"Problem, sir? What kind of problem do we have?"
"Culture shock." Damon tastes his hot chocolate, but it's still too hot. "Tell me honestly, Shigure. Do you feel comfortable livin' here? Do you feel anythin' in particular knowin' that you're operatin' and livin' in America as opposed to Japan?"
Shigure slowly shakes her head.
"...no, sir..."
"Do ya wish you were in Japan?"
"...yes, sir..."
Damon nods slowly. "What I think happenin's that the project devs, by creatin' y'all to be reincarnations of old Japanese warships, made ya be used to a Japanese way 'a life 'n culture. But this place ain't Japan, even if we're in the middle 'a the most Asian place in all 'a north United States. So naturally - and this's what I shoulda seen comin', now that I think about it - some 'a my ship girls would start feelin' like this. And the reason why I'm bringin' this up's 'cause in Asian countries - y'know, Japan, Korea, China, and wherever else they do this too - but over there, you automatically give respect to people older or higher rankin' than you. I've known Asian people as I was growin' up livin' like that. They tell me that their parents always raised 'em like that 'cause that's how they were raised over in wherever country they were from. You give respect to people older than you, and if they're above you in rank or status or anything. And if ya don't, you're a fuckin' asshole, the rudest kinda piece 'a shit anyone could ever know, and a disgrace to society. Just 'cause you don't respect someone older than you, higher rankin' than you. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you don't call me 'sir' for that kind of a reason. But it's somethin' I'm jus' inferrin' from what I know, from what I got.
"But here in America, especially after the war, you gotta earn the respect of other people. Age matters but only up to a certain extent. And lemme tell ya, once you're an adult, once ya hit eighteen, everyone treats adults jus' as equally. Doesn't matter if one dude's twenty and the other guy's like forty or some shit. You don't gotta respect someone older than you if he's a douchebag here in America - that dude's an idiot? A dickbag? Someone who just doesn't deserve your respect one way 'r another? Fuck him. Here in America, we don't waste our time givin' people like him our respect. And like I said, especially now after the war, where 'respect' and 'trust' are real fuckin' hard to come by, you better fuckin' prove that you're someone who deserves other people's respect. That's why whenever Murakumo acts like a bitch towards me, I don't yell at her or anythin', 'cause I know she probably has a good reason why she talks the way the does towards me. That, and I'm used to that. I'm used to havin' people come up to me and talk shit to me. Say shit that isn't true to me. Say that all I ever do is selfish, that I'm a detriment to society and the world. And it ain't like they're wrong, either. It ain't like I have too many altruistic reasons to do the shit that I do, if at all. And so what if they talk shit? So what if they don't give me their respect? I don't fuckin' need it to live my life. I don't need the approval or 'respect' 'a other people to affirm the kinda person I am. So fuck 'em and their 'respect', I'm still gonna keep doin' my thing and earn my respect from other people who're willin' to give me theirs."
Damon glances at Shigure, who is looking down at her cup of hot chocolate, the steam of the heat rising up past her bangs.
"Do ya get me? In the end, if you have to call me 'Admiral' or 'sir', then that's jus' your choice and I won't say anything 'bout it further, but the thing is, I'd much prefer it if you called me that stuff once I actually have earned your respect enough to deserve those kinds'a titles."
"But...sir, you're...aren't you belittling your own actions...?" Shigure asks. "I have been browsing through all of the memory files that I was given...and all this time, you speak as though you haven't done anything to warrant our respect - or, at the very least, my respect. But I think...I think the fact that you decided to come down to us, find us, and activate us when we were forgotten and trapped in those bases...doesn't that, by itself, deserve at least some kind of respect?"
Damon laughs, catching Shigure by surprise.
"It's all 'bout perspective. You think what I've done for y'all deserves respect. Guess what the Feds probably think 'bout me touchin' their fancy ship girls that's supposed ta be 'theirs'. I really doubt respect is what's on their mind when they think 'a me."
"But...I don't care about what they think of you, sir...! They're not my commander; they're not my admiral! You are...!"
"And so we come full circle. You're givin' me your respect 'cause I'm your admiral and you think I've done enough to earn your respect already."
Shigure blinks slowly, the chocolate in her cup rippling slightly at her shaking hands.
"Yes...yes, sir."
"I'm honored. I'm not used ta gettin' complements or praise. The fact that someone's willin' to say that to me's pretty amazing," Damon says, taking a drag on his cigarette. "Anyways, that was a huge tangent that I jus' went off on, my bad, I'm pro'lly wastin' your time - "
Damon shuts up when he sees Shigure shake her head out of the corner of his eye.
"I-I'm...I'm happy that you're spending time to talk with me, sir. I really am. I...I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but...I didn't think...you'd actually take the time out to speak with me like this..." she mumbles. Damon takes off his cap and scratches an itch on his scalp.
"You wanna know what's funny? I don't have too many friends - they're usually the guys inside the house, like Yamamoto or Travis or other people do drop by ever so often. But we're all pretty good friends 'n buddies, right? Not once have I actually ever talked with 'em like I am with you now. Maybe it's jus' a gender thing, I dunno. Or maybe it could jus' be that I never really find the chance ta jus' sit down like this 'n do nothin' but talk. Then again, if yer someone like me who's always constantly thinkin' 'bout what he could be doin' next, that shouldn't really come as a surprise..."
They sit in silence for a moment. Damon, finding his chocolate now to be at a tolerable temperature, drains his cup in one feel swoop as Shigure sips at hers.
"So anyway, huge tangent aside," Damon continues, putting his empty paper cup next to him on the front step, "explain to me what'cha meant from earlier. How 'it wouldn't be so bad' for me, or somethin' like that."
Shigure stays quiet for practically an entire minute, formulating her words before articulating herself.
"I was trying to say that...if this Thursday goes wrong for us, that, something happens and...and the worst comes to be, that you end up...getting killed and we are seized by the American government, I thought that...compared to what might await us, dying for you might...might be a better fate. That's...that's all I meant, I-I didn't mean to sound like I said I wanted you dead, or that it would be better if you were dead."
Damon nods slowly, as if he were some kind of sage. "Yeah, I can see why you'd say that. You think the Feds're treatin' the fleet girls they got badly?"
"I...I don't know, sir. I don't want to assume anything, but...I would imagine that, in a world like this where our lives are much different than we were constructed to expect, there can't be much better ways to treat us than yours, right...?"
"I don't know 'bout that," Damon replies quickly. "I might treat y'all nice now, but who knows what'll happen in a month, two months, a year. Will I still treat ya like I do now? It ain't good to assume that the way things are now're gonna stay the way they are."
Shigure turns assertively to him.
"Sir, I beg your pardon, but...I firmly believe that for us ship girls, who know very little about this world without your guidance, 'now' is the most important part of our lives. What the future holds...I think...I think we can worry about that later. At least, it is of my opinion that how you treat us now matters to us more than how you might end up treating us one month, two months, even a year down the road. And I trust that you will successfully lead us to reach such a time, a time in which we can afford to worry about the future."
Damon stares lazily off into the distance, the cigarette stuck in between his left-hand canine teeth.
"That's dangerous, y'know?"
"What is, sir?"
"Puttin' your trust in me like that so willingly."
"But...what other choice do we have, sir? Without you...without you, we...we wouldn't even be here right now. I wouldn't have been able to see my ship sisters again or met Fusou-san again had it not been for your efforts. But because of you, I now at least have a glimmer of hope that...everything will be alright."
Damon then turns his head towards Shigure.
"Tell me, Shigure, whadd'ya mean by that?"
"Eh? Mean by what, sir?"
"By 'everythin' will be alright'."
"Oh..." Shigure looks back down into the depths of her chocolate. "Um..."
"Like, do you have any goals in life? There anythin' that you wanna do? Plans for the future? I know that you jus' said that worryin' 'bout the future can come later, but pretend ya didn't say that, I'm curious right now."
Shigure blinks, a bit at a loss of what to say.
"...I...I don't really know, sir," Shigure mutters. "I haven't really...given that much thought."
"Hm. Then let's leave that topic alone, we'll come back to it someday once you've got an answer for me. You already know what my plans 'n goals are. Yours don't have to be somethin' like that - that's jus' like sort of an ultimate goal that I wanna achieve that's probably highly unlikely I'll ever get there, but...it ain't a bad start that I've made so far."
"Y-Yes, sir. And...you're right, this...what you've done so far for us..." but Shigure trails off, not finishing her sentence. Damon decides to pay this no heed.
"Alright, one last thing I wanted ta bring up before we head in so I can talk with the others. I was readin' your individual profile that Sanford sent me earlier this mornin', and I read somethin' about this 'Guilt Protocol', but it didn't say much. Wanna explain that to me, if ya - "
Damon looks over at Shigure, but he freezes when he realizes that Shigure has bowed her head so far forward that her sideburns are blocking her eyes from his sight. Damon can tell he just triggered some sort of land mine.
"Sir..." Shigure whispers so lightly that Damon has a hard time hearing her, "please...don't mention that to me."
Damon is torn between pursuing the topic, now suddenly very curious about this Guilt Protocol thing, and just shutting up and leaving Shigure alone. He decides to take a gamble.
"...well, why not?" Damon asks cautiously. "Is it...is it somethin' I shouldn't be askin' ya about?"
Shigure shakes her head.
"It's...not that...it's just..."
"...just what?"
Shigure puts her hands over her ears and pushes them against her ears tightly. Her cup of chocolate, only half-drunken, sits by her side.
"Please, sir, I beg of you, please...! Don't mention that to me...!"
Damon slowly reaches up to his cigarette and pulls it out of his teeth. He, too, stares down at the ground in front of him, trying to figure out what could possibly make Shigure so resistant to the words "Guilt Protocol". He recalls the times when he was talking with Shigure...and he remembers that time when he and Shigure were yelling back and forth at each other inside the helicopter.
"Admiral, it- it's not good to be like that - ! Y-You can't enjoy killing people for the sake of killing people! That...that's just too cruel!"
Damon blinks. That's right - it certainly felt like Shigure had a big problem with the thought of killing people, even though, frankly, that's what her purpose is all about, to fight and possibly kill other human beings. He also recalls the scene in front of the run-down manufacturing plant where they had found two more of his ship girls, when Shigure tried to stop him from beating up that one kid from the family with three sons. Sanford's words also float up from the depths of his recent memory and play themselves inside Damon's ears:
"...whoever made Shigure made her to be real sensitive towards killin' other people."
"Shigure," Damon finally says slowly and in a low voice, "does this...Guilt Protocol have anything to do with the fact that you don't like killin' people?"
Damon watches Shigure carefully as he says this to try to see if he can catch a reaction out of her, and sure enough, he sees the muscles in her left arm squirm a bit, indicating that they have tensed up. Looks like his educated guess was right.
"Admiral..." Damon hears Shigure's voice start to shake terribly, "please...I said...not to - "
"If it hurts you so much to answer me, then I'll answer for you, and you can tell me where I'm wrong," Damon says. "I don't know what this Guilt Protocol shit is, but I think it's somethin' that makes ya hurt people when ya don't wanna. Am I wrong? Or am I right?"
"Sir - "
"It said that it was some sorta code that made you change personalities, from what I read. Is it like some sorta mode that changes you?"
"Sir - "
"Shigure, this seems important. Ya gotta tell me what this is, otherwise - "
Shigure suddenly moves faster than Damon has ever seen her react, and she grabs her unfinished cup of hot chocolate, hurls its contents at Damon, and quickly hurries back into the house without a further word, leaving Damon drenched in warm hot chocolate from his face down to his upper thigh. Damon, blinking slowly and wiping his face with the back of his hand, sighs and takes another long drag on his cigarette.
Just before Shigure had thrown the chocolate at him, Damon had managed to catch a glimpse of her eyes. They were glowing a red hue around the pupils, a glow that he knew shouldn't be there.
"I shoulda paid attention to those warnings," he mumbles to himself, leaning forward on the few front steps of Benjamin's house to finish the cigarette as the hot chocolate seeps into his clothes and skin and cools. Shigure's empty and abandoned cup rolls off the last step and comes to rest against Damon's right toe.
Not too long afterwards, Damon hears some rapid thumping of footsteps rushing down to the first floor towards him, and the door gets kicked open by Murakumo's foot as she stomps forward and bellows right behind Damon's ear,
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD, WHAT'D YOU DO NOW!?"
Damon, not bothering to look at her, blows out a breath full of orange-flavored smoke and responds casually,
"Get splashed all over with some hot chocolate, that's what I did."
Murakumo pulls out her expandable mast and smacks Damon over the head with it.
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! YOU SAID YOU WERE TALKING WITH SHIGURE, RIGHT? SO WHY'D SHE JUST BARGE INTO OUR ROOM CRYING!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"
Although the blow that Murakumo dealt him was painful and still rings in his head, Damon snatches her mast and pulls it down, bringing Murakumo down with it.
"Hey, ya wanna, like, not yell out loud? What's your fuckin' problem? Stop botherin' other people around you, goddamn it."
Murakumo draws back and yanks her mast out of his hand. "Well, I'm not the one who just made one of his ship girls cry! What the hell did you say to her?!"
"I was talking to her about her Guilt Protocol, but it seemed like she really didn't want me talkin' 'bout it, so this shit happened."
"What did she do?"
"Like I said, and as you can clearly see," Damon points at his own shirt, "she threw the hot chocolate I gave her at me."
"You fucking deserve it, prick."
Damon simply laughs bitterly.
"Yeah, in this case, I wouldn't disagree, I s'pose."
Then, more footsteps can be heard from within the first floor, and Haruna and Mutsu come out to the small front porch.
"Damon, what on Earth did you do to make Shigure cry like that?" Mutsu wonders out loud with a loud sigh. "Yuudachi's trying to get her to calm down, but Shigure hasn't stopped crying!" Mutsu stops at Damon when she realizes that he is covered in large dark stains all over his upper clothes. "What on Earth happened to you?"
Damon rolls his eyes. "I said it just now. Me 'n Shigure were talkin' about her Guilt Protocol, whatever that is, and she jus' up 'n chucked her chocolate at me 'n left cryin'. Simple as that. Didn't know it was gonna make 'er cry."
"Please wait, sir, Haruna will fetch some towels for you," Haruna says quickly as she retreats back into the house to get some dry towels to wipe Damon's splashed hot chocolate and promptly returns to do just that.
"Honestly!" Murakumo, genuinely indignant this time, stamps her foot. "We're ship girls, yeah, but we're also girls too! You think you can just hurt anyone's feelings just 'cause you're the Admiral? I can't believe you, making a girl like Shigure cry! I knew that this was going to be a bad idea!"
"Murakumo, settle down, this isn't even about you," Mutsu says sternly. "And it's not as if Shigure isn't at fault either, she just threw a cup of chocolate at Damon, regardless of whether or not he's our Admiral. You just don't throw things at people just because you're upset."
Damon takes the towel from Haruna after she finishes drying his hair that now smells like chocolate.
"Thanks, Haruna, but that's 'nough, I'm gonna take a shower after this anyway, so it ain't like I gotta get wiped down now."
"But, sir - "
"Leave it."
Haruna almost unwillingly sets the towel next to Damon and prepares to leave, but Damon tugs on her dress with his index finger and thumb.
"Haruna, you're stayin' with me for a bit. I said we'd talk, so while you're here - "
"Are you going to make Haruna-san cry, too?" Murakumo asks, only half sarcastically.
"Mutsu, can you take Murakumo back into the house? I'm startin' to lose my patience with her, and I ain't in the mood to argue all fuckin' night long," Damon asks, and Mutsu ushers Murakumo away from him and Haruna back up to the upper floors of the house.
"I swear, you little prick, if you make Haruna-san cry too - !" Murakumo's voice trails off and gets swallowed up by the depths of the house, and Damon gets up to pull the door shut. Several of the people in the plaza, having witnessed the events unfold, are now curiously watching him as he sits down next to Haruna on the few front steps.
"...Haruna assumes that the talk with Shigure-san...did not go so well," Haruna mumbles, averting her eyes away from Damon as he sits down again.
"No, not at all. Not at fuckin' all..." Damon lightly sighs and blows another breath full of orange smoke off into the air. "...ended up makin' Shigure probably hate me 'n my guts."
"...may Haruna ask what it was all about?"
"We were jus' talkin' 'bout some stuff...then I brought up this thing called Guilt Protocol that she has. I dunno what it is, but...when I mentioned it, it was like I suddenly turned into the fuckin' Boogieman, and when I tried to press the issue, which I probably shouldn't've, she got pissed 'n chucked her cup 'a chocolate at me, and...now this whole shit's a giant clusterfuck now. Hopefully I won't make the same mistake with you."
"H-Haruna will not get angry, sir," Haruna tries to reassure Damon. "Haruna is making a promise."
"I'm tired right now, so I'll take your word for it. Let's see...what did we need to talk about..."
Damon wracks his brains for a moment before remembering what he wanted to talk to Haruna about.
"Right. So, Haruna, two things. First, why the hell are ya talkin' in third person?"
Haruna looks stunned.
"S-Sir...is there something wrong with the way Haruna is speaking?"
"Yeah! Well, no! But it's weird! It's hella weird! I dunno how the other girls are handlin' it, but every time you say 'Haruna', I gotta take a step back 'n realize you're referrin' to yourself and not someone else named Haruna! Holy hell!"
"But...but..." Haruna casts her eyes downwards, "that...that is how...Haruna was programmed to speak...so...even if Haruna were to make an effort to change her speaking mannerisms, it...it would be a very difficult transition..."
"No, it's not - ugggh." Damon scratches his hair furiously. "Now let's back up for a sec, bring it back 'n hold it before I wind up makin' you cry too and have Murakumo all over my ass a second time. Listen, Haruna, I ain't sayin' there's somethin' wrong with puttin' yourself in third person, all I'm sayin's that it's really fuckin' weird for me to talk with ya with you usin' third person like that. I jus' wanna know why you talked like that, but since you already said it's pre-programmed into you, I guess my question's already been answered."
"N-No, it is - it is not just that," Haruna says, flustered and not willing to give such a simple reason that sounds more like an excuse than an actual reason.
"Then what else is it?"
"Haruna feels that...because she was constructed to serve the needs of humans, she is not worthy of using the first-person mannerism of speaking. Haruna's purpose is to fight and defend the lives of people who cannot fight. With such a purpose, Haruna should not use the first person for fear that it will distract or sidetrack her from her true purpose."
Damon stares at Haruna long and hard to the point where Haruna feels downright uncomfortable with him looking at her with an I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look.
"...um...did...did Haruna say something...bad...?"
"Not bad. Weird. Weird, weird, weird."
Haruna hangs her head. "...Haruna apologizes for her misbehavior..."
Damon slaps his hand onto his face, thinking to himself that he might've chosen a very bad time to talk with the girls he said he'd talk with. But then again, if not tonight, when else?
"No, I didn't ask you to apologize for anythin', okay?" Damon says finally. "It's just...I found your reason to be real strange. Don't think of it as anythin' else, jus' strange, that's all."
"But...you sound very dissatisfied with the way Haruna speaks, no...?"
Damon swings his legs around so that his entire body faces straight forward at Haruna.
"Listen. I ain't mad, dissatisfied, angry, whatever with jus' the way ya speak. If it's how ya talk, it's how ya talk. I told Murakumo off 'n that one on that Furutaka girl, 'member? I jus' can't handle it. It's gonna take me a long time gettin' used to."
Haruna still hangs her head, clearly apologetic at the fact that she had been throwing Damon off by the way she spoke all this time.
"It's just...really weird for me. It's probably like a translation thing from Japanese to English so that what you say in Japanese jus' turns out to be that you speak in third person in English, but in English, normally if ya run into someone who speaks in third person, it's real weird. It's like, for Americans anyway, it's like you don't even have a sense 'a identity if you don't refer to yerself as "I" or "me" or whatever. And seein' that we're a heavily individualistic culture..."
Damon shakes his head, as if to shake off that topic.
"Speakin' 'a culture, I was also talkin' 'bout this for a bit with Shigure before she got pissed off with me, but since you two kinda have similar personalities, I figured I'd ask you too. Do you have any problems right now? I know Shigure's got one, but obviously I can't really talk with her about it right now."
Haruna slowly raises her head. "Problems, sir?"
"Yeah. Anythin' that's keepin' ya from bein' happy."
"Why do you ask, sir?"
"'Cause I've noticed that you're the quietest outta all of the ship girls here. I mean, you hang out a bit with Amagi, but everyone else's got a friend or two to hang out with a lot. You're the only one, I think, who kinda stays quiet most 'a the time. What's up with that?"
Like Shigure before her, Haruna's lips do not move for a long moment.
"I mean...if you don't wanna answer, then that's fine. I don't wanna have you end up like Shigure too, where I pushed the issue too much and she dumped chocolate on my ass."
"...no." Haruna's voice peeks out, and Damon silences himself. "You are Haruna's Admiral, sir, so you have a right to know what is on Haruna's mind. My...biggest qualm is that many of the ship girls in your fleet have...have their ship sisters with them, whereas...I have none."
"So it's a sibling thing."
"Yes...oftentimes Haruna catches herself wondering and worry about her ship sisters, thinking about where they could be and wondering how they are doing without her. Haruna is troubled about the condition of her sisters, and she would very much so like to find them."
"Who are your sisters again?"
"Kongou, Hiei, and Kirishima, sir. Haruna is the third of the Kongou-class fast battleship line in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Technically speaking, Kirishima is my twin sister, but she is generally considered the youngest."
"That's a lotta sisters."
"Perhaps, sir. There are other ship classes who have many more ship sisters than us."
Damon nods. "Yeah, well...hopefully we'll run into 'em sooner 'r later. You miss 'em a lot?"
Haruna nods too. "Yes, very much, sir."
They sit in silence for a bit.
"Hey, Haruna," Damon breaks the silence, "ya know how I mentioned to y'all that I feel like with all 'a you girls, it kinda feels like I'm part of a big ol' family now?"
Haruna nods in response.
"What's it like havin' siblings? I don't have any brothers 'r sisters, so I don't know what it's like. Can you tell me?"
Chuckling quietly, Haruna turns to Damon.
"Well, sir, it's...it's rather tough for Haruna to talk about her experiences with her sisters if she has never even met them."
"You never met 'em? But I thought some 'a the ship girls said they were activated once before gettin' shipped over to America."
"Yes, but I have no recollection of actually meeting my sisters face to face. I know what they look like, I know their personalities, I know what they like and do not like - but we have never met."
Damon rubs his chin. "So you know everythin' about each other but never saw each other, that right?"
"Yes, sir."
Damon taps his finger against his cheek.
"So it that what's botherin' ya the most? Or are you just...quiet by nature? Because you don't need me to tell you that yer the kinda girl who's kinda quiet 'n keeps to herself."
"Haruna...tends to keep to herself, yes, you are not wrong, sir."
"Then tell me this: is the fact that you don't know where your sisters are worryin' ya to the point where you're not talkin' with the others as much as you would be if yer sisters were here with you? Be honest with me."
It doesn't take long for Haruna to reply.
"Haruna might not...know for sure herself, sir, but...Haruna's concern for her ship sisters is most likely affecting her behavior."
"Then if we were to find 'em, would you be happier than you are now?"
"O-Of course, sir. If Haruna could meet at least one of her sisters, Haruna will be alright."
Damon turns to Haruna again. "Then try not ta look all depressed all the time, a'ight? I'll do my best to try 'n find as many ship girls as we can. I don't wanna say I'm gonna promise to find everyone's sisters, but you got my word that we'll try. 'K?"
Haruna nods.
"Then that's all I really wanted ta talk 'bout with ya. You can go back now - and call Kaga down here, I said I'd talk with her, too."
Haruna moves to get up, but stops as soon as she does.
"Sir...may Haruna ask a question...?"
"Yeah?"
"Is...there any particular reason that you are speaking with us? Our expectations of our Admirals...we were never programmed to expect this kind of behavior from you, and - and Haruna does not mean this in a degrading way. All Haruna is trying to say is that - "
"Yeah, I get it, I know what'cha mean," Damon mutters. "But by now I'd think that it's pretty fuckin' obvious that I ain't your typical run-'a-the-mill Admiral, right? I mean, what kinda Admiral fights alongside his own fleet girls, right? So why the hell should I try 'n behave like some sorta cookie-cutter Admiral outside 'a combat? If I wanna talk with y'all, I will, and that's exactly what I'm doin'."
"But, sir, may I ask...why?"
Damon chews on the end of his cigarette. "'Cause I know that morale is an important part 'a any fightin' force, and I ain't even part 'a the military - like the military gives a shit 'bout 'morale' anyway. I'm takin' it upon myself to get to know what everyone's problems are so that I can do what I can to fix 'em, 'cause, like in your case, Haruna, your problem's that you miss your ship sisters and wanna meet 'em. Well, that ain't exactly a problem that you can fix by yourself, right? I don't mean to make myself sound superficially important, but without me, the chances 'a you ever meetin' your ship sisters again - I don't wanna say for sure that they'd be lower, but compared to havin' an Admiral who doesn't give a shit 'bout the fact that you wanna find your sisters - you know what I mean. Plus, I don't think there's anythin' wrong gettin' to know my ship girls a bit more, right?"
Haruna gives a painful smile.
"But what if...one day you fall in battle, sir? Wouldn't...that make the rest of us feel terrible, once you've made friends with everyone? Are you sure that getting to know us is the correct course of action to take when you risk your life by fighting with us?"
Damon narrows his eyes at his cigarette. "You sure like raisin' a whole lotta death flags, don't'cha, Haruna?"
"D-Death flags? What - "
"Never mind if you don't know what those are." Damon points his finger at Haruna. "Haruna, do you have a problem with me gettin' to know you?"
Haruna tenses up before slowly shaking her head.
"N-No, sir. Haruna does not."
"Do you got a problem with me gettin' to know all the other girls?"
"No, sir."
"Then it's settled. I'll worry 'bout lookin' after myself. Go call Kaga down for me."
Haruna, almost unwillingly, leaves Damon by himself, but she returns barely two seconds later.
"S-Sir, you should at least take a sho - "
"Get Kaga, please, Haruna, I don't wanna hafta repeat myself, let alone more 'n once."
Haruna swiftly leaves, and Damon drops the orange cigarette butt into his empty cup. He picks up the towel that Haruna brought him and wipes the sides of his head dry, where the chocolate that Shigure had spilled on him were leaving chocolate residue on his skin and hair like perspiration.
A minute later, Damon hears two sets of footsteps approaching him, and Kaga emerges from the door and closes it behind her. Standing behind him on the small porch, Kaga asks,
"You called for me, Admiral?"
"Yeah, I said I wanted ta talk with ya in private, so sit down, it won't take long, hopefully."
Kaga sits neatly and politely on the front steps, although with a good space in between them.
"What did you wish to speak to me about, sir?"
"I'll keep it brief. Do you remember the first night we were here? When we were talkin' on the second floor and Yamamoto started talkin' 'bout that Battle 'a Midway or whatever?"
Kaga bites her lower lip but quickly stops so that Damon does not see her reaction.
"Yes, I do. What about it?"
"You got real pissed off when he started goin' off 'bout how the Japs screwed up real bad in that battle and nearly punched him, but ya ended up punchin' me. 'Member that?"
"Sir, I did not come down here simply to hear you guilt-trip me to excess."
"And I didn't become your fuckin' admiral jus' so that I can hear that fuckin' obnoxious tone 'a yours."
Damon's voice becomes so savage with the last sentence that Kaga blinks at his words, taken back by his dramatic shift in tone towards her.
"Obnoxious tone? Then what of Murakumo? Does she not speak obnoxiously to you as well? Why single me - "
Damon, without looking at Kaga, jabs his finger at Kaga. Even though Kaga has made sure to seat herself at an arm's length away from Damon, she still flinches a little bit when he does that.
"What does Murakumo have to do with us right now? Why're you bringin' her up? 'Cause she acts like a bitch towards me too? Well, wanna know why? It's pretty simple, actually, why I'm 'singling you out', 'cause I've been with Murakumo the longest outta all you ship girls and I've gotten to know her a lil' bit. And even though she talks shit to me, I can tolerate it 'cause I know for a fact that she doesn't genuinely hate me." Damon then turns to Kaga with narrowed eyes filled with distrust. "But can I expect the same from you, Kaga?"
"Expect what, sir?"
"Lemme rephrase my question. Do you hate me?"
"And what if I were to answer with a yes?"
"It wouldn't fuckin' matter, 'cause it wouldn't change the fact that you're takin' orders from me, would it?"
Kaga scowls at Damon. "If you put it that way, then I suppose you are correct."
"Then answer the damn question properly. Ya hate me or not?"
"'Hate' is not the appropriate word here, sir. I must profess that I do not 'hate' you, for you have done nothing to warrant any sense of hatred from me. But I cannot say that I 'like' you or hold any sort of affection for you, nor do I foresee such a change to my opinion of you in the future."
"So you don't hate me. Then what is it that ya hate 'bout bein' here? I think you've mentioned it already a few times. Whenever somebody mentions the word 'America' or 'United States' to ya, you get pissed off. You hate America for what happened durin' the second World War? Is that it?"
Kaga bitterly turns away from Damon, now knowing why he has called her down here.
"What else would it be? This place that I am in now - the country for which I am forced to fight and serve my purpose as a fleet girl in this life is the same country that defeated the nation that birthed me over eighty years ago. What sort of sick joke have I been reborn into? What have I done to deserve such humiliation? Why should anyone deserve this kind of humiliation, the shame of being forced to fight for your enemy?"
"So I'm guessin' that it doesn't help knowin' that the person who's commandin' you's American?"
"Not at all."
"Brutal honesty, at least I can like that part 'a ya," Damon snorts. "Hey, well, it could be a lot worse. You could've ended up in the hands of an American military officer 'n had to've followed his orders. Jus' in case I didn't make this clear enough, I ain't so fond 'a the American government as they are right now. So at the very least you won't hafta worry 'bout directly fightin' for America, you're jus' bein' commanded by an American. But even then that 'American' part doesn't even count, 'cause I've done a lotta things that woulda made the Feds throw me in jail."
"Such a consolation that is."
"You're kinda hard to talk to, ain't'cha..."
Damon sighs loudly, wanting to end this conversation as quickly as possible.
"Lemme try 'n get one thing straight here, a'ight, Kaga? Answer me this so that I know a hundred percent: do you hate America?"
"Yes."
"A'ight. Do you hate bein' here?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Do you wish you could go back to Japan, where I'm pretty sure you'll say that you should be?"
"Yes."
"Then do ya hate everythin' that I jus' mentioned directly 'cause what happened in the second world war?"
"Yes."
"Do you care about anythin' you're fightin' for while you're under my command?"
"No. Seeing that I have very little chance to being able to fight for my proper country, it is useless for me to care at all about what my fighting will do, unless my people are involved."
"I see. Then what do you care for right now?"
"I only care to find my comrades of the Imperial Japanese carrier divisions, especially my ship sister Akagi. That is all."
"Findin' siblings really is a recurring theme here, huh..." Damon taps his fingers on his hair and glances at his fingers, feeling if the chocolate that Shigure had thrown at him has already completely dried. "Then, Kaga, I'll jus' leave it at this, 'k?"
Kaga says nothing, simply waiting for him to continue speaking.
"It's nice that you're fiercely loyal to your roots 'n origins. I'm not tryin'a downplay where you've come from 'n your history 'n all that, okay? But whatever hate or ill will ya got harbored inside 'a ya, forget that shit. That ain't somethin' that should fuel ya to fight - at least, not now. If you're fightin' to avenge a fallen comrade or some other injustice that you see 'n you wanna correct, then that's fine. But bein' pissed off at somethin' you can't change or do anythin' about? That's jus' stupid. Leave that shit alone."
"Sir, I am warning you now, do not think that simply because you are my admiral that you can dictate the state of my emotions and mentality or insult my native country of Japan. I will not allow - "
"Bitch, I jus' said I wasn't tryin'a do that!" Damon suddenly jumps off the front step and faces Kaga, looking down at her. "Don't'cha fuckin' dare try 'n misinterpret my words! Lemme say it again loud 'n clear for ya one more time: I'm sayin' that you shouldn't be always pissed off 'bout somethin' you can't change! Ya think I'm gonna jus' let go 'a ya so that you can go fight for some other bastard Admiral? Ya think yer jus' gonna go off on yer own in a world you hardly even recognize, tryin'a find your ship sister Akagi and the rest? Ya think you can jus' leave this place to go for Japan? And how the fuck are you so sure that Japan's the exact same as it was eighty or ninety fuckin' years ago, huh? Are you gonna change those things? Answer me, Kaga! Fuckin' answer me!"
Other people in the plaza, surprised by the sudden yelling coming from Damon's direction, look on as Damon stands over Kaga.
"...if given the chance, then yes, I will change these things that I hate," Kaga hisses back at Damon, glaring back at him in the eyes.
"And what're the chances that you'll get that chance? Huh? Tell me!"
"Enough of a chance to justify my willingness, however little, to fight for you, sir." Kaga spits the last word as bitterly as she can.
"In other words, not enough," Damon finishes for her. "You obviously don't realize it now, Kaga, but you ain't seein' that your hate towards America's completely anachronistic and ain't got any part 'a the world we live in now."
"What is your point, sir?"
"My point? My fuckin' point? Don't hate the wrong people for the wrong reasons! You already showed that when Yamamoto was talkin' last night and you tried punchin' his head in. Don't let me catch you doin' that shit again! Learn to just let that shit go 'n don't let it bother you!"
"I'm afraid you don't understand, sir," Kaga growls back, "that some things cannot simply be 'let go'."
Damon scoffs. "Like Akagi or whoever, right? Is she an example 'a what ya can't simply let go?"
"Precisely."
"Then lemme ask you. Do you love Akagi like a sibling? Like family?"
"Why do you even bother asking?"
Damon leans forward.
"At least you're lucky you still got friends 'n sisters out there to fight for 'n try 'n find. The only person like that for me's already gone. I didn't have a fuckin' choice but to let her go."
Kaga continues to glare back at him.
"And why should I care about your deceased mother? Are you trying to make me pity you? Or, more likely, are you trying to use yourself as some sort of role model that I ought to follow?"
"Because," Damon sneers at Kaga, "you never know. It might be Akagi next who you'll hafta let go of, and you won't get a say in the matter."
Kaga suddenly grabs Damon by the collar. Pushing her rear off the front step, she stands, glaring harder than ever into Damon's sickly yellow eyes.
"Are...you...threatening...me...?"Kaga demands in a shaking and low voice. "How dare you try to use Akagi as some kind of bargaining chip, you insolent filth...!"
Damon smirks in Kaga's face. "This's what I was talkin' 'bout, Kaga. This right here? I'm askin' ya not to do somethin' like this."
"But you just threatened someone very close to me, and you expect me not to react? What kind of Admiral are you?"
"The one who's gonna find Akagi for you, that's who. Now let go 'a me, will ya?"
Kaga shoves Damon away.
"Is this all?" she asks, simultaneously turning away from him. "I no longer wish to be in your company if there is nothing more to discuss."
"One last thing, and that's it," Damon says. "Kaga, are you gonna go from here on out hatin' everythin' and everyone? Is that how yer gonna be until things change to be the way you want 'em to be?"
"I cannot say I will go about my business being content with everything and everyone," she replies curtly.
"Then don't blame me when you crash 'n burn one day down the road. Lemme tell ya, hatin's somethin' anyone can do, but it ain't somethin' anyone can do and last."
Kaga moves towards the door. "Do not compare me to some weak human, sir. I am a fleet girl for a reason."
"Lookin' at Shigure, I dunno if I can take yer word on that."
Kaga leaves, and Damon follows after her to take a shower. As he closes and locks the door behind him, with Kaga already going up the steps, Damon walks over to the secretary desk and raps his knuckles against the top.
"Whoever you are, I know you're down here. Come on out."
Shoukaku, having tried to hide when Kaga and Damon were coming back into the house, emerges red in the face from the inside of the desk.
"You were listenin' to our conversation since the beginnin', weren't'cha?" Damon asks her, and she nods shakily.
"H-How did you...know...?"
"That you were listenin' in on us?"
"Yes..."
"I heard two sets 'a footsteps when Kaga came to talk with me. I also noticed that some 'a the file holders here got moved, and the only reason why they'd be moved like that's if someone happened to crawl underneath here." Damon points at the file holders near the edge of the desk that are slightly edged out of position when Shoukaku hurriedly tried to hide from them. Shoukaku keeps her eyes glued to the floor in embarrassment.
"A-Are you mad at me, D-Damon?" Shoukaku stammers.
"Mad at you? What for?"
"F-For...for...eavesdropping..."
"No. In fact, it's better than you were here."
Shoukaku looks up in surprise.
"Huh? Um...why...?"
"Because I got a favor to ask 'a ya now. You can think 'a this as punishment for listenin' in on us when I didn't say you could," Damon gives Shoukaku a light grin. "Can you make sure Kaga doesn't do anythin' drastic? It seems like you're the closest to her outta all of us. Can you hold her down 'til we find Akagi or whoever it is that Kaga wants to find?"
Shoukaku nods, but slowly.
"I-I...I will try my best. But...but if she has her mind set on something that she feels she must do, then...then as her underclassman and subordinate, I do not feel that I have the right to stop her."
"Try 'n stop her anyway. If you think what she's doin's too extreme, do all that ya can to stop her 'til I can get to her, okay?"
"Um...yes, sir..."
Damon sighs as he and Shoukaku climb the stairs into the upper floors.
If tonight's this tiring, Damon doesn't even wanna know what kind of shit Thursday will bring.