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The Stargazer Academy on Ōmure-jima, Tuesday, lunchtime...
"Now, U-chan..."
"Pyon?"
"Hina understands that U-chan wants to make a good lar'beke barbecue for all the shipgirls to enjoy," Saeru Hinako declared as she paced to and fro in front of the cafeteria table her sisters were using.
"Pyon!" Kisaragi Utako declared as she shot her hand up in determination.
"Hina also understands that these particular lar'beke that Yvonne-san and Naomi-chan were happy to give you are really stale tasting because they were young and cloned, right?"
"Pyon!"
"So you'll need to get loads of spices and all that from Shirayuki-chan's kitchen to make sure the lar'beke taste good for all the shipgirls to enjoy, right?"
"Pyon!"
The Spirit of Innocence nodded before she fixed the Rainy Scrapper of Spring with a knowing look. "Alright, then! You know what Hina thinks about smelling cooked lar'beke, don't you?"
Here, the fourth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers winced. "U-chan remembers, pyon...!"
"U-chan isn't going to do something silly like THAT again, will she?!"
A determined fist thumped over her cleavage. "Pyon!"
"And you won't do anything to wreck Hime's kitchen?" Osamu Shirayuki added.
Before the adopted native of Chūō Ward in Tōkyō could answer, two VERY incensed reborn air warfare destroyers suddenly appeared behind her, both gazing intently at Utako. "Don't worry about that, Shirayuki-sama!" Akiyama Tokina declared as she and her sister Motoko wrathfully sneered at the older destroyer. "We'll make VERY sure that Utako-sempai doesn't hurt such a beautiful kitchen!"
Naturally, Utako cringed from the looks sent her way. "Pyon...!"
Gloved hands then landed on both Tokina's and Motoko's heads before they were rocked to and fro by their just-returned sister. "Now, now, you two! Stop acting as if Shirayuki-san's kitchen is the equivalent of the Imperial Palace!" Akiyama Suzumi stated as she gazed on her older sister, then her younger. As the first and fourth of the "duckies" both gaped in disbelief at their more self-sufficient sister saying something that seemed so heinous, the adopted native of Nagasaki pulled her hands back. "All we have to do is make sure the smokehouse is fully aired out before Teitoku's sisters come back from school this afternoon, then enjoy the barbecue out on the back lawn of Welcome House."
That didn't do much to assure the two of the Akizuki-class destroyers who were salvaged and Gifted on the anniversary of Leyte Gulf. "Onē-san...she doesn't understand...!" Motoko warned.
"She'll learn, Motoko...!" Tokina advised.
"Go fry, U-chan!" Moroboshi Ataru bade, waving the fourth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers off.
Hearing that command, Utako snapped to attention, saluting him. "Hai! U-chan's Special Lar'beke Barbecue Expedition, setting sail, Shirei-kan!" she proudly declared before racing off.
The three Akiyama sisters jogged after the older destroyer while a lot of the younger students watching this cheered them on. Naturally, given the presence of so many shipgirls living at Welcome House, a cottage industry had developed among Academy students, they forming fan clubs for both individual reborn warship kami as well as class groups as a whole, such diligently tracking their movements, maintaining an intricate information network about each shipgirl's likes, dislikes, interests and how they came to adopt to modern Japanese culture. It was edited, of course; given the growing rift of relations between the sisters' big brother and the "lifeless dolts" of Tomobiki, all information concerning WHERE the shipgirls were based was expertly screened out by Hatoyama Rinrin with help from Hasegawa Chisame at the Mahora Academy, which was an effective sister school to Stargazer.
Given the mad drive of one Mendō Shūtarō to learn where his rival's accursed sisters lived ALONE...!
"Oh, get this!" the Technological Sorceress of the East noted as she gazed on her PAA display, making her siblings and their companions look her way. "Mendō-baka's been trying to call the Prime Minister to declare Aniki's and Aneki's move to drive Lum-baka off the planet 'treason'!"
Moans escaped the others. "No doubt, Shūtarō-san didn't care for Tennō making clear the Diet's desire to stop all attempts by Ataru-san's parents to try to seize the inheritance Nagaiwakai-san left him in her will," Itō Yoiko noted before sipping the cloudberry tea made for her by some of Rinrin's classmates. Given how "exotic" she seemed, the seventh carrier of Operation Z had quite the following herself at Stargazer, something that never ceased to privately embarrass the adopted native of Maizuru.
"I trust the proper punishment for such acts can still be inflicted when it comes to such hooligans, Yoiko-san," Oikawa Kei noted from the same table her long-missing mission mate was seated at.
"It's dicey, Sempai."
An elegant eyebrow arched in curiosity. "How?"
"He's the modern version of a zaibatsu heir," Yoiko calmly declared, she giving the adopted native of Komatsu a knowing look. "Sadly, the military doesn't have as much all-reaching influence as they did back in our day, so we couldn't simply eliminate him with the tried and true methods we know of."
"There is a plan to deal with him quite thoroughly which goes into effect later this week, Kei-san," Ataru added as he gazed over his shoulder at the reborn battleship-turned-carrier.
"How so, Ataru-san?" Kei wondered. "According to what intelligence was given to us by Yoiko-san after we met her in Oregon, the influence of the Mendō Clan in the halls of the Diet is quite persuasive. Hai, with the planned eviction of the aliens come Friday morning, he will loose considerable face, but if he is trained in that bastardized version of Bushidō that drove people before the war..."
"He'll learn to behave or be disinherited, Kei-san," Sukeyama Sakuya advised.
"For his sister?" Aoki Anna asked. "She doesn't strike me as a very stable person."
"There is another sister in the wings, Anna-san," Ataru noted...
That moment, within the Mendō mansion in Tomobiki...
"AH-CHOO!"
"Someone's talking about you."
A moan escaped the pretty tomboyish woman who was now seated beside the Trickster of the Show in the main reception room used by the elder members of Japan's richest family. As rasped sobs escaped the matriarch of said clan at the idea of getting ANOTHER daughter when she was rendered incapable of having more children after the birth of her younger child — naturally, she was being comforted by her valet and effective human parrot, Hikutsu Ōmukai — Moroboshi Tariko blinked before she looked to the south. "Oh, I get it," she declared, making Mendō Tachiko gaze upon the true form of her brother's "rival". "Ataru's telling Yoiko's friends about you. Seems that Shūtarō's having a massive brain fart thanks to what Ryū-chan accidentally pulled in class earlier that spoiled some of the plot."
As a madly cackling Mendō Gennosuke quivered with delight on hearing that the mission mates of the great carrier he helped shield from Western spies had returned to duty as shipgirls — several of his own maids were barely able to keep the retired Kempeitai major to remain calm and not have heart failure from all the excitement — the current operational head of the Mendō Conglomerate took a puff of his pipe. "So because Tachiko-chan was Gifted practically within an hour of you helping her gain that body these Niphentaxians created, she had to remain in the shadows — as did your own twin Hiromi-chan, not to mention the others — until it was safe enough to reveal their existence. That coming up in less than seventy-two hours thanks to this special event you need to keep secret, Tariko-chan."
"Hai, Ojii-chan," Tariko affirmed as she gave Mendō Hajime a tired look. "Personally, I'm relieved that it's finally come. With the way the days just dragged on and on all the time, I was afraid that Ataru would end up pulling a Columbine on the idiots in class and really spoil the plot." As people winced on hearing that dire statement, she shook her head. "Even during the days I was there pretending to be him to give him a break from the fools, I wanted to just tear my hair out at all the idiocy...!"
"Was it truly that bad?" Ōmukai asked after hearing that whispered question from Hajime's wife Haruka.
"To a Yizibajohei, it was a living hell, Oba-chan," Tariko noted; she knew the terminally shy matriarch of Japan's richest family could barely speak above a whisper. "Never mind Lum constantly lying through her teeth to HERSELF, much less me, there was the other nonsense. One thing we folks from Yiziba hate is what we call 'grovelling scenes'." She waved her hand in emphasis. "Shūtarō volunteering to help out with class to show the wealth and impress Lum? Grovelling scene. Satoshi and his gang promising Lum they'd keep an eye on me? Grovelling scene. The girls always going ga-ga over Shūtarō even when it was as clear as mud that he was just interested in Lum? Grovelling scene. Shinobu acting like she was like Baka Aho Ofukuro even when she loudly said she wanted nothing to do with me? Grovelling scene. Even after I pulled my usual response on them when Lum wasn't looking, nothing sank in to ANY of them! It was no wonder that Sakuya-chan sicced the destroyers on them after the Pseudo War was done and I killed off that Memory critter inside the hill here." She thumbed in the direction of the Tarōzakura Hill in emphasis before sighing. "Maybe I hit them too hard...!"
"Perhaps it has something to do with your original encounter with the Sagussans, Tariko-san."
Eyes locked on Tachiko. "What do you mean, child?" Hajime asked.
"You wouldn't know this, Chichi-ue, but prior to Tariko-san's 'kidnapping' in 2001, she disappeared for nearly two months from her home," the current incarnation of the Passionate Pugilist, Dimdite (the "Boxer"), explained. "That was when one of the Daishi'cha came to seek out someone to help them understand emotions and found Tariko-san; then as Ataru-san, of course." She pointed to the now-devastated hill where the Mendō Clan's guardian kami had been before its destruction in the lead-up to that other-dimensional event in mid-August. "According to what I've learned from all the Avalonians I've encountered, Sagussan myths claims that a great battle was fought at a place called 'Toghmoghbiki' a hundred millennia ago between the Master of Entropy and forces that opposed him. That battle was confirmed by Yoiko-san since such actually occurred here on Earth; her own spiritual patron and the other Great Old Ones were involved in that battle. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch of the imagination to conclude said battle happened in Japan, perhaps here within Tomobiki itself."
Surprised looks answered the woman with the powerful ki abilities that allowed her to unleash "force punches" that could devastate skyscrapers. "Wasn't there an ice age at the time?" Hajime wondered.
"Didn't reach this far south, I think," Tariko noted.
"What of the Old Ones? Could they be behind this?" Tachiko wondered.
A shake of the head. "No! According to what Yoiko learned from the Big Man Up North himself over the last few months, those critters avoided these islands like they were filled with the plague!" The Trickster of the Show hummed as she considered that for a moment. "Still, I can see why the yōma and other critters in this town might panic over Ataru actually becoming the leader of the Daishi'cha." As her friend made a face at the idea of her brother's rival becoming the leader of a large pack of reanimated corpses, the Trickster of the Show wryly smiled. "With all the free Shōzoki in town begging to get a master or mistress so they didn't have to worry about Mother, it was a perfect situation for Ataru to work off a lot of his own anger while still delivering a middle finger to everyone in class!"
As the Passionate Pugilist giggled at that fact, the older people shook their heads. "I dare think Muchi-kun might think your brother to be quite the 'stud' if the number of people in his 'harem' is anywhere close to the truth, Tariko-chan," Hajime noted. "Before adding all the shipgirls in his 'fleet', of course."
More laughter escaped people there. "So, are you going to pull your own reveal scene on your dear brother today?" Tariko asked as she gazed on the clone of her old class "rival".
The reborn champion boxer hummed. "I suppose I must. Onii-sama will be quite put off now that he knows how much you've 'subverted' all of Earth against his precious Lum-san." As her parents moaned — they had no use whatsoever for the warlord's daughter from Onishuto given how much her presence had turned their son and heir into such a reckless idiot at times — Tachiko gazed with concern at Tariko. "Are you sure you want to do what you plan to do in case Benten-san and Oyuki-san come?"
An amused look answered her. "She's in my Book."
Her hosts all stared wide-eyed at the Trickster of the Show...
Meanwhile, in nearby Nerima...
"You two okay?"
A groan escaped Saotome Genma as his eyes fluttered open, then he winced as arcs of now-dulled pain ran through his body. "Damn...!" the would-be "master" of Musabetsu Kakutō grunted before gentle yet quite firm hands helped him sit up. Gazing on his transformed child, he shook his head before noting who was seated around his living room table. "You hit like a jackhammer, Kazuma!"
Kiryū Kazuma grunted before nodding his thanks as Yuhara Seiko came over with a cup of tea for him. "You're in pretty decent shape even now that you're not working out daily with your daughter," the Dragon of Dōjima noted as Hayashi Kanami moved to help the slowly stirring Tendō Sōun up. "Still, even if he couldn't give you masteries, Happōsai did teach you two a lot."
"Much to our eternal sufferance...! Ah, dōmo, Kanami-chan," the patriarch of the Tendō of Ōizumi breathed out before he perked as the reborn escort carrier that had come with his would-be son-in-law came over with a cup of tea. "Dōmo, Zitzewitz-taisa!" he thanked her, earning him a blush from Chloe Zitzewitz. "That was the most unbelievable fight I've ever been in!"
"And that was with Shihan-sama blocking your Gift?" Genma added, waving to the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū, who was seated at the table finishing off her cigar.
"Hai," the man who was also the Grand Poobah of the Golden Springs affirmed, nodding. "It's been quite the rough time for me even before I met Isaac-kun and got myself Gifted." At the surprised looks from the other two men, the native of Yokohama added, "It was just after that mess with Tanimura and Munakata that Isaac-kun — he's Doctor Renaissance, by the way; that makes him sort of like the Circle of Thought — came up to me and offered the chance to be Gifted. I took it and never looked back."
"Always wondered why you just accepted being the wakagashira of the Tōjō-kai," Genma noted. "Weren't you the fourth chairman? You were promoted during that ten billion yen thing in 2005."
A wary look answered him. "Me?! Chairman?!"
Laughter filled the room. "Kazuma is much better suited as a semi-independent troubleshooter for the Tōjō-kai. Hence, the reason he's a wakagashira to Dōjima Daigo-san," Dean Raeburn stated as she put out her cigar, then vanished both that and the tray she had used. As Genma and Sōun boggled at such an incredible show of psychokinesis from the Protector of All Life, the Ontarian playfully squeezed the Yokohama-jin's shoulders. "My senior teachers on Watari-shima filled my ears to overflowing about this man and all he's done." As the Dragon of Dōjima blushed madly on hearing that — to earn such compliments from the warriors who had served the Chrysanthemum Throne for over a millennia was definitely NOT faint praise! — she added, "I was glad to point Isaac your way to get you Gifted."
"You've been here all this time, Shihan-sama?" Seiko asked.
"Since shortly after Tariko-chan started her casting drive in '01, Commander," the woman who was seen as the true mother of modern metahuman warfare operations answered. "Managed to get the Specialized Warfare Regiment going full-time with all the people trained at my school in Clayhurst, then helped reform the Corps of Air Cavalry..." She blinked as a gulp escaped the second of the Kagerō-class fleet destroyers. "Commander, as far as I can recall, no regiment of the Sixth Brigade were anywhere close to the Philippines during Leyte Gulf. What's with the scared rabbit imitation?"
The adopted native of Yokosuka weakly chuckled. "I was at Midway, Shihan-sama...then I encountered them once again near the Aleutian Islands..."
Raeburn's eyebrow arched. "Ah! Eighth Brigade. I can understand that."
"Were they really that nasty?" Chloe asked.
Seiko shuddered as a cloud of darkness seemed to cloak her. "They didn't dive bomb the carriers like HER Dauntlesses did..." she declared in a voice of ashes. "But they orbited over the Kidō Butai like vultures, ready to pick off anything of opportunity! They were the only Allied aircraft to be able to turn inside an A6M! They flew like mad lunatics, ripping apart anything that blundered in front of them with those massed .50 calibre machine guns, especially the explosive shrapnel shells they used!" As Raeburn herself winced — she had NOT approved of that type of ammunition for anti-personnel use during her regiment's moves to raid occupied France and Belgium to take the heat off the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain — Seiko hugged herself as Kazuma reached over to squeeze her shoulder in support. "They shot down a lot of the protective fighter cover after those incredibly brave Devastator pilots were slaughtered — even those from HER! — then turned their wrath on everyone's anti-aircraft crews! No one on the open decks was safe! The blood...! The blood...!"
"Patricia Chennalton's crew were there for those who couldn't be rescued, Seiko," a cold woman's voice then declared from the genkan, making everyone save Raeburn tense before they looked over to see the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū standing there, a flash of disappointment in her near-black eyes. While Genma and Sōun both gaped on seeing the ONE person their late master feared above all others, Seiko awked in embarrassment at being caught in what her sisters had begun to call a "Nui-Nui" moment while Moroboshi Negako sat seiza beside her old opponent from World War Two. "You must meditate on ALL facets of the battles you were involved in when the regiments of the Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry were involved. Given the presence of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment of Canada and the Royal London Rifles aboard Enterprise at this time — to say anything of 'her' having been reborn as Yvonne Swanson — your paranoia may cost lives in upcoming engagements."
Seiko awked before she prostrated herself. "Please forgive me, Shihan-sama!"
Negako's eyebrow arched. "Do not disappoint me again, Seiko."
"Ooh! Nui-Nui's in TROUBLE...!"
Seiko awked again before looking up...
...then her cheeks turned as red as cherries on seeing three teenage women in modern jumpsuits with protective gloves over their hands standing there, looking at her with undisguised glee: An amethyst-eyed woman with long caramel brown hair done in high twintails with yellow ribbons in bow ties, a green-eyed woman with shoulder-length raven hair parted over the left eye and a silver hair clip over her left ear, plus a grey-eyed girl with longer raven hair to mid-back and the same type of hair clip in the same position. "Minami..." Seiko weakly greeted, her jaw jerking slightly. "Kunie...Chikako..."
As the first, third and fourth of their class gleefully giggled on seeing their sister mentally knocked askew like that, Negako rolled her eyes. Genma cleared his throat. "So, Kazuma...how on Earth did you get my daughter here to call you 'Aniki' of all things?" he asked.
A chuckle escaped the Yakuza wakagashira. "That's a bit of a story, Genma..."
Tomobiki High School, an hour after lunch...
The latter half of the Terror Twins of the West bowed. "My friends, I can only beg your forgiveness for the sheer levels of deception that were played on all of you because of the late Marshal's plot to try to vault the Fatherland ahead of all other nations of Earth by whatever means necessary."
Standing in the effectively closed-off clock tower belfry — which had been ordered shut from access save for "authorized students" by direct order of the school's administration officer — the Gifted members of Class 2-4 gave Sŏ Yŏn'i very sympathetic looks. As both Shirai Kōsuke and Arakida Yui squeezed the Ryanggang-saram's shoulders, Gekasawa Kumiko took a deep breath, the horror on the newly-born gynoid-turned-metahuman's face quite apparent to her peers. "You — AND Tamako-chan AND your brother AND sisters — were programmed with SLEEPER PROTOCOLS, Yŏn'i-ya?!"
"Ne, Kumiko-ya...OE!"
That was the native of Taehongdan being nearly snapped in half when the Living Omnissiah of Technology lunged over to hug her, horrified sobs escaping the native-born former gynoid. Watching such a reaction, Marubeya Momoe gazed wide-eyed at Kōsuke. "Is it that bad, Kōsuke-kun?"
"Hai, Momoe-chan," the Passionate Father of Sentient Machines affirmed as his now-girlfriend squeezed his shoulder in sympathy while Yŏn'i moved to shush the crying Kumiko. "Imagine what might have happened if Yŏn'i-ya here was struck by a car. If she saw her internal mechanisms, the chances were awfully good that her mind would simply shut down. She wouldn't know how to properly protect herself to prevent discovery; you know how badly the Oni react when they get news about us, don't you?" As a disgusted look answered him from the Wise Jurist of the West, the reborn scientist sighed as he moved to gaze outside; the veranda was now effortlessly blocked off by shatter-proof transparent titanium doors made to look like normal glass by Tsuruya Rumiko. "We couldn't afford that."
"So who was it that screwed around with Yŏn'i's mind, man?" Fujinami Ryūnosuke demanded. "If it ain't this Mother thing you and Yui-san were bonded to until Ataru got to you, what the fuck's going on in P'yŏng'yang? I don't want Tariko-san's friend to get swamped when she makes her move, you know."
"Honestly, I can't answer that, Ryūnosuke-chan," the only male metahuman in Class 2-4 breathed out. "While gatherers like Yui-chan and I did get curious from time to time when it came to Yŏn'i-ya, we weren't ordered to move in on her like Hokuto was last night." He gazed on the Careful Planner of the Circle of Thought. "By the way, how'd you make Hokuto disappear like that, Rumiko-chan?"
"A quick word to Nanase-sensei this morning cleared it up before the new class lists were printed for the day," Rumiko noted. She was at her new work desk; the whole clock tower belfry and the attic over the central wing had been "rented" to the third of Yiziba's famed triumvirate of hyper-genius polymaths for the rest of this year and the whole of the next for her private use. As a precaution in case there would be nasty metahuman battles in Tomobiki after Friday, the attic had been converted into a well-equipped healer's cockpit; Rumiko intended to ask Tsumiki Mikan from the "second class" of Bullet Deniers to live in Tomobiki full-time and help at the school. It was just being safe, after all. "How many more like you are still running around Kantō, Kōsuke-kun? Outside Mariko-chan, that is."
"Seven more," Kōsuke answered. "One's in Butsumetsu High. I hope Chigaiko-chan has plans to get her sister out of that place just in case." He then chuckled. "Gods, that was SO funny...!"
"What?! The school basketball team?! Or the Principal?" Miyake Shinobu asked.
"Both, of course!"
Laughter filled the belfry before a knock made people gaze at the hatchway. Walking over, Ryūnosuke opened it to see her fiancée on the ladder. "Oi, what's up, koi?" the "heir" of Hamachaya asked.
As the others in the belfry save Rumiko playfully hooted on hearing the Huntress of the Wild address her lover as THAT, Shiowatari Nagisa blushed. "You best get back to class, minna-san," the Steady Guardian of the South warned. "Sakurambō-san told me the boys are starting to get riled up. It appears the Prime Minister told Mendō off when he tried to call Tariko-sama's actions 'treason'."
"Well, I'm not going to stand around and let my mistress be slandered like that!" Kōsuke declared as he moved to exit. "If you'll excuse me there, Nagisa-sensei, I need to go clobber some morons!"
Nagisa hopped down to the second floor landing to make room for the reborn AI researcher, which made the others save Rumiko move to leave. "You coming, Rumiko-chan?" Shinobu asked.
"No. Want to make sure the defence fields around the school are strong enough," the class' only declared lesbian answered. "Shigaten and Fuyujo are coming in now from Triton, so we best be ready."
The Eternal Titaness of Life nodded, then exited the belfry, closing the hatch behind her; once it was shut, it automatically locked thanks to a special sensor built in that would only allow those with Gifts to enter the Careful Planner's new sanctum sanctorum. Once Shinobu had hopped down to join her peers, they headed towards their homeroom; first afternoon period was a study hall even if classes in school were effectively disrupted because of the shocking revelation of the mass presence of Gifted Terrans-turned-Yizibajohei among the student body. Not to mention the return of so many American warship kami as shipgirls...accompanied by not only the last Japanese warship kami who were at Leyte Gulf to be salvaged and Gifted, but the four aircraft carriers who led the Kidō Butai until Midway!
"...perverse act against Lum-san is simply UNFORGIVABLE!" the bellowed voice of one Aisuru Satoshi echoed from the open doorway into Class 2-4 as the Gifted members of the class moved to look in and watch. "It is an evil plot that has supposedly been executed for more than a DECADE! How can we, Lum-san's most loyal supporters, stand by and allow Ataru and his wicked sisters to succeed...?!"
KK-KLONK!
"Tariko-chan HEARD you, Megane!" Kōsuke teased after a cinder block dropped from nowhere to smash the head of the Stormtroopers' leader, making many boys awk; naturally, Mifune Hideyuki was too busy gazing at a beautiful picture of one Kuwana Aiko now displayed on his iPhone screen.
As the other boys wildly looked around for the Trickster of the Show, the girls in the room all sighed in relief. "Oi! Kōsuke-kun! Can't you ask Tariko-chan to get this Iranian shipgirl over here to SHUT THESE MORONS UP finally?!" Sugihara Nara demanded as she waved at the moaning Megane.
"YOU CAN'T WISH THAT, NARA-SAN!" Mendō Shūtarō screamed.
"OH, DO SHUT UP FINALLY, ONII-SAMA!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"Ah! Tachiko-san! What are you doing here?!" Shinobu called out.
Seeing where the ebony mesonium-welding FISS-type was looking, heads snapped over...
"No...!" Shūtarō croaked.
...as a woman who looked like he would had he been born a woman stepped in through the rear door. Dressed in a beautiful white blouse covered with a silver sweater, that over a below-knee pleated skirt, Mendō Tachiko reached up to trace her fingertips through her well-styled hair; it was a bit longer than how her brother wore his hair, but the familiar cowlick over the bridge of her nose was the same. Instantly, hearts appeared in many people's eyes — boys and girls alike — on seeing how beautiful in her own way the new heiress of Japan's richest family was, which made her template/brother awk in stunned disbelief. "Oh, ye gods! I HAVE died and gone to Heaven!" Nara's once-boyfriend Nishijima Hiroshige gushed as he tried not to eat away at his fingernails on seeing such a woman.
Instantly, Megane was on his feet glaring death at his peer. "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY...?!"
PSSSHHEEW!
"How about SHUTTING UP finally, Aisuru?!" Ryūnosuke snarled threateningly after catching the loud-mouthed fool in another "V" of fingertip claws, making Megane gargle in underwear-soiling fright. "I'm getting sick and tired of listening to you yap the same fuckin' script lines again and again and again! Lum's just ONE fuckin' selfish umale who's going to DIE if she don't give up on Ataru finally!"
"ATARU WON'T DO THAT!"
That was Koi Shinjin. "Shaddup, Koi!" the Wild Huntress snapped. "Ataru ain't the guy you THOUGHT you knew so well! He's been fuckin' LAUGHING at everyone who's wanted to screw his plot script around since the aliens came! And with Tariko-san, his sisters and all the shipgirls on his side...!"
"Including Musashi herself now!" Hideyuki added with a grin.
Many of the boys in the room looked as if they were about to face a firing squad...
Back on Ōmure-jima...
"AH-CHOO!"
"Bless you, Onē-san! Are you alright?!"
Moaning, the reborn second of the Yamato-class battleships reached up to rub her nose. "Someone is speaking of this Musashi, Imōto," Itō Mutsuko muttered as she and the others who were with Moroboshi Ataru walked through the torii-like portal heralding the main entrance to the grounds of Welcome House. Gazing around the cozy youth hostel which had been heavily expanded over the last few months to take in a tonne of new residents, the adopted native of Fuchū nodded in approval. "A most beautiful barracks for our kind, Moroboshi-dono," the woman with the silver hair in a shaggy two side up style with twintails and bangs falling over her forehead declared. "Was it your sister Hatoyama-dono that had the new barracks constructed?" Here, she pointed to the commons set up against the side of Stargazer Hill to her port, then the smaller commons overlooking the old sea wall to starboard, then the new rotunda close to the residence where Ataru and his sisters current lived.
Ataru chuckled. "Hai, Rinrin-chan had to put them in once Tennō gave his nod to have the kami of people like yourself 'brought back to duty' after Luisa-san made her rather interesting public debut!"
Mutsuko laughed as everyone headed towards the main doors leading to the joined rotundas. Already, some of the shipgirls' noses were twitching in excitement on smelling seared prim'ta flesh, that mixed with various spices and sauces no doubt being applied by one Kisaragi Utako in the "smokehouse"; that was a basement attachment to the dining hall close to the new rotunda on the seawall side of the grounds, such equipped with air vents that would allow whatever smells were within to safely disperse over rural parts of the "new town" beyond. "This Musashi looks forward to the chance to meet Bismarck-dono! Her crew's willingness to stand their ground even with her crippled as she had been by Ark Royal-dono's pilots was worthy of the memory of the Teutonic Knights themselves!"
"Fortunately, Argo-dono was there for those of Bismarck-dono's crew that Dorsetshire-dono and Māori-dono failed to rescue," her true elder sister noted, making the recently-returned shipgirls gaze wide-eyed at the seventh carrier of Operation Z. "She is Chennalton-dono's elder sister, minna-san. She was in Surigao Strait that evening," Itō Yoiko added for the benefit of the veterans of that battle.
"Really?!" a wide-eyed Haruguchi Wakana asked. Despite her acting as if she was a clone of Yuhara Seiko — the reborn third of the Hatsuharu-class destroyers hadn't been blessed with a practitioner of the Moroboshi Clan's in-house school of ninjutsu, though — she would naturally be quite excited on learning any details concerning the Ryūseizen that had been there to destroy the sea kaijū that wanted to consume the souls of drowned sailors, plus also gallantly rescue the crews of those sailors not saved from ships that were sunk in Surigao Strait during and after the events of Operation: Shō Ichi-gō.
"Hai, Wakana-san. Dorothy Holland is her human name though I'm not sure if she has been Gifted and transformed as we have just yet," Yoiko affirmed as everyone arrived at the main doors to the dining area, with Ataru throwing them open for the others to step inside. "I know there are starship versions of Dorothy-san and her sisters — along with the other Ryūseizen as well — being built now."
All the destroyers who came with Mutsuko and her sister Shizuka gaped in starry-eyed awe at the idea of having actual starships built in their honour to help defend all of humanity from outside threats. "Hah!" Akatsuka Yoriko snarled as she shook her fist in anticipation. "Bring those lar'beke on! Bring the Oni on! We'll scatter their wreckage all over the galaxy once we're done with them!"
"Ara! Ara! Welcome back, minna-san!"
The newcomers gaped. "Mutsu-san!" Aoki Anna yelped as she ran over to warmly embrace Yamamoto Chiyoko. She blushed as their minds quickly touched to allow information to be exchanged. "Oops! Sorry, Chiyoko-san!" the adopted native of Kiryū in Gunma Prefecture (where her namesake mountain was located) and Kure near Hiroshima (her place of construction) then apologized before an eager Fukushima Fujiko moved to escort both her and Oikawa Kei to nearby chairs so they could relax.
The other reborn capital ships also took their seats while the destroyers — even the just-returned ones — moved to transport snacks and drinks from the kitchen now being produced by Fujiko's sister Shirayuki. As people moved to sip their tea and enjoy some choice slices of beautiful cake, footfalls heralded the arrival of one of Ataru's personal "fleet", her PAA in hand. "Mein Admiral?"
Ataru moaned. "Rinnie!"
Catarina von Savoyen smiled at her lover. "Update from Herr Lyman in the West Wing, Ataru," she said as she placed her PAA on the table before tapping the crystal to allow a hologram to be projected. "As of now, all museum ships that were there in America — plus those sunk as targets or diving parks within range of the continental United States — have returned to duty and have reported to Herr Professor Bartlet at the White House." As the people gaped at the portrait taken of Josiah Bartlet in the Oval Office with a vast retinue of reborn aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, escort destroyers, minehunters and submarines, the reborn third of the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers added, "There appears to be a couple sleepyheads who haven't properly been Gifted yet, though."
"Oh? Where exactly, Catarina-san?" Yoiko asked.
"Pearl Harbour," the adopted native of Paris and Vienna announced. "Specifically, Frau Kapitän Professor Miriam Young and Frau Kapitän Sonia Owings. They, of course, being..."
"United States Ships Utah and Arizona," Ataru finished before he reached into his own pocket to pull out his PAA. "Rinnie, did Rita-san and Jazlynn-san come back yet?"
"Ja!"
He nodded, tapping his device. An instant later, a holographic image appeared, that displaying the pleading look of a twenty-something woman with silver hair to mid-back and teary amethyst eyes. The background indicated that the sun had just set over Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam. "Huh...?" the adopted native of Jefferson City (capital of the Show-Me State), Brooklyn in the Big Apple (her place of construction) and the city/county of Honolulu (where she was placed as a museum ship after her decommissioning) blurted before her eyes went wide. "Admiral Moroboshi!" Marguerite "Rita" McNair exclaimed as she snapped to attention and saluted. "Um...why are you calling here?" she asked.
"Sorry to bother you, Rita-san, but what are you doing there instead of being with Bartlet-hakase in Washington?" the male half of the Trickster of the Show asked, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
Rita sighed as she tilted her PAA screen over to display a massive group of sailors and Marines shouting at the top of their lungs from dockside towards a very familiar white bridge-like structure over the shattered remains of the second Pennsylvania-class super-dreadnought beside mooring quays F3 and F4 off Ford Island. "Soon as the news of Dragon coming back with Olympia and Becuna got here, people showed up on the base and began screaming for Captain Owings and Captain Young to come back!" Here, the third of the Iowa-class fast battleships shrugged helplessly. "Jazzy and I came back easily enough, especially with E putting out transmissions from NCA saying we're back on duty..." — here, she smiled as a grinning blue-eyed teenager in the form-fitting black sleeveless skinsuit worn by reborn submarines ducked in to wave at the people at Welcome House, the black-streaked dark brown hair indicating she was the former Balao-class fleet submarine USS Bowfin, now Jazlynn Willingham — "...but neither of the captains are listening to any of us!" she finally finished, her shoulders slumping.
«Rita-san, does Hina have to go over there and yell at them?!»
Ataru winced. "Hinako-chan...!"
«You hush, Onii-tama!» Saeru Hinako snapped, no doubt moving to teleport once more out of her classroom to go on a salvage-and-Gifting mission. «Yvonne-san and Julia-san want Sonia-san and Miriam-sensei to come back! So does Bartlet-hakase! So Hina's gonna MAKE them come back!»
And in a flash of energy, the Spirit of Innocence appeared between Rita and Jazlynn!
"Ara! Ara...!" Chiyoko trilled before sipping her tea...
Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam, on Ford Island, that moment (local time: Suppertime)...
"Hey! Who's the kid, ma'am?!"
Rita McNair held out her hand to stop the wide-eyed gunner's mate second class from charging up to confront the just-arrived native of Niigata. "Stand down, Weaps!" the reborn USS Missouri called out as GM2 Cora Waikes halted herself, quickly sensing the younger girl's empathic aura. "This little kid here's the one who's been doing the lion's share of salvaging since she first bumped into Fubuki back in the spring!" As the native of Long Beach near Brooklyn gaped in disbelieving surprise on hearing the reborn battlewagon assert that, Rita smirked as Jazlynn Willingham moved to warmly hug Saeru Hinako from behind, making the youngest of Moroboshi Ataru's sisters stammer before she moved to shove the giddy submarine away. "She came here to help us get Ari and Utah back on their feet again!"
The current member of the ship's company of USS John Paul Jones — said destroyer was docked across from where Rita had been docked in honoured retirement, with her whole crew on the weather decks screaming away towards the wreck of USS Arizona — blinked. "How could she do THAT?!"
"Hina's an empath!" Hinako asserted as she allowed her school uniform to switch to her white battlesuit with the prominent red heart on her upper chest, plus pink belt and boots. "Hina will get these two silly sleepyheads up!" she then said as she held out her hand towards the New Yorker.
Cora blinked, then realizing what Hinako wanted, handed over her bullhorn. She nodded her thanks, then pulled out her PAA. "This should make it loud enough," she muttered before taking a deep breath.
"SONIA-SAN! WAKE UP!"
The whole of the base shook violently from that megaphoned shout!
As Cora and the other normal sailors and Marines nearby gaped in disbelief at such a scream from the cute little kid now standing with them — that wall of noise had rattled their ears HARD even if such didn't physically hurt them — Rita and Jazlynn perked. "Oh, man!" the latter exclaimed. "I bet the captain must have slept through the whole friggin' attack if she's just waking up NOW...!"
Huh...oh, no! Please don't tell me I slept through reveille...?!
As people on both sides of where Battleship Row had been located yelled in delighted shock, a deep reddish bubble then formed around the shattered wreckage of the second Pennsylvania-class battleship. Whistles echoed through the air indicating that those parts of her superstructure which were removed during salvage attempts after the attack in 1942 were being restored from where they had been dumped in barred-off areas of the Waipi'o Peninsula near the entrance to the Pearl Harbour lagoon while the memorial structure melted and flowed forward to help rebuild the bow of the battleship, which had collapsed on itself thanks to a lucky bomb strike close to her Number Two main gun turret. As the hull itself was pulled out of the bottom and reformed to pristine shape, the sailors and Marines standing close to the third of the Iowa-class battleships and the third of the Balao-class fleet submarines could only stare in dumbfounded disbelief. "What the hell did the morons of her crew do?!" Cora demanded on seeing how much the forward hull of Arizona had been gutted into practical nothingness by such a massive explosion. "Store her ammunition in the damned GALLEYS?!"
"Sure looks like it," Rita wryly commented.
Tene lomher'buo, Sonia Lily Owings...!
Hinako nodded. "JULIA-SAN! HINA NEEDS YOU!" she then bellowed to the sky.
A flash of energy then made someone appear right behind everyone. Spinning around, Cora snapped to attention, saluting. "ADMIRAL ON THE DECK!" she screamed out, making everyone snap to attention.
ADMIRAL?! OH, HELL! IS IT AN INSPECTION?!
As that voice with its mixed Brooklyn and Western accents echoed over the air, a VERY displeased reborn cruiser accepted the salutes of the people there before she walked over to stand beside the bright young lady who had been there when many warship spirits gained new bodies. "IT'LL BE A COURT MARTIAL IF YOU DON'T GET UP, CAPTAIN! MOVE IT, YOU SLACK PIECE OF USELESS METAL!" Julia Dewey screamed with the same level of power as Hinako showed moments before to force through the Gifting. "THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T HAVE ALL NIGHT, YOU KNOW!"
An embarrassed scream escaped the rebuilt super-dreadnought as the energy that was moving to transform her turned as white as the noonday Sun, forcing people to cover their eyes or turn away...
THE PRESIDENT...?!
Nesu...R'BUOLIM!
Evening became brightest noon for a quick moment...
...then the light faded back to normal as the woman now serenely floating where her wreck had laid for nearly seventy-one years blinked in confusion before she looked to her left and right. "Huh...?!" the just-reborn Sonia Owings blurted out, her voice carrying thanks to the total awestruck silence that fell over all the crowd after seeing such a transformation. "Hey! What the HELL...?!"
"Captain!"
The adopted native of Phoenix (where parts of her hull had been placed in memorial after the war) and Brooklyn (where she had been built) instantly awked on hearing the voice of a VERY peeved flag officer nearby. In a quick shift of person to the dock nearby, she snapped to attention and saluted the shorter woman standing there bearing the single silver star of a rear admiral on the collars of her uniform, never mind the gold stripes of an ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY displayed on her jacket's lower sleeves. "Ma'am! I apologize, ma'am! United States Ship Arizona, battleship number 39, reporting for duty!"
"You're LATE, sailor!" the reborn flagship of Manila Bay snapped, making the sailors and Marines hearing this wince in sympathy at the old-fashioned dressing down Julia was now delivering. "What's the excuse?! Did you damn hell SLEEP throughout that whole attack on that Sunday in 1941...?!"
Shocked confusion crossed the face of the shaggy brown-haired, brown-eyed twenty-something in the traditional jumpsuit, the eagles of a Navy captain on her collars. Her suit was patterned in a beautiful reflection of her namesake state's flag: Gold top with thirteen red rays radiating like sunbeams from her ship's crest, with some reflected on her sleeves, a copper-tinted belt around her waist with a star-embossed buckle, dark blue pants and gold boots. Her crest had USS ARIZONA and BB 39 on the blue stadium ring, that surrounding a replica of the flag of the Grand Canyon State in a shield, such held aloft by an eagle and flanked by heraldic dolphins in copper. The whole was set on a white field over a blue motto scroll emblazoned with DITAT DEUS in gold, intertwined with a multi-coloured ribbon denoting the medals awarded to Arizona during her commission: The World War One Victory Medal (with ATLANTIC FLEET clasp) and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with one battle star).
"Wh-what attack, ma'am...no!"
Hinako hissed. "Sonia-san didn't remember...?!"
As Rita and Jazlynn squeezed their eyes shut in horrified sympathy, Sonia turned as white as a ghost while she sank to her knees, her hands flying to her mouth as the memories of that beautiful morning came back to her, such a day turned into one of horror and fiery death for TWO-THIRDS of her crew.
"No...!"
Instantly, the sailors and Marines seeing this took off their headdress in mute sympathy as wracked sobs escaped the reborn super-dreadnought. Instantly, the Spirit of Innocence was embracing her. "There, there, Sonia-san...it's okay to cry...it's okay to cry...it's okay to cry..." Hinako then soothed.
Julia grimaced. "Gunny?"
Cora Waikes perked. "Admiral?"
"Get a preacher here, now!"
"Aye-aye, ma'am!"
As the New Yorker raced off, respectful silence fell while Sonia wailed...
Welcome House on Ōmure-jima, that moment...
"I should go..."
"You remain right here, Kei-san."
Hearing that cold command from her new formation flagship, Oikawa Kei spun around to gaze in horror at Itō Yoiko. "Yoiko-san!" the reborn battleship-turned-fleet carrier snapped as she waved to the television screen now showing the image of their host's youngest sister comforting the reborn martyr of Pearl Harbour...and doing such in front of the world's news media. "Don't you see...?!"
"Sempai, I would gladly serve as your kaishakunin if the circumstances weren't so dire," the seventh carrier of Operation Z calmly declared, making everyone in the dining room hiss in horror on hearing THAT escape her lips. "Hai, Sempai's karma is gravely wounded if what just happened after the Little One prompted her to return to duty indicates anything." She gave the adopted native of Komatsu a knowing look. "But do you wish to perform that act in front of a CHILD?! Especially one with young Hinako's capabilities? Remember what the Code demands when it comes to children, Kei!"
That made Kei tensed...before she seemed to slump. "I cannot drink gall, Yoiko..."
"No samurai should be asked to drink that," the adopted native of Maizuru stated. "But look what happened after that attack. The Americans rose in righteous fury at what they perceived was a sneak attack, then unleashed a typhoon's worth of vengeance on us all! But THEN, after it was over, they offered a helping hand to restore our homeland. Hai, it was in part to prevent Stálin's maniac hordes from ripping the Home Islands apart like Germany and Korea were ripped apart after that war ended, but they still helped us when they had every moral right to leave us in the dust. Even more so, I've heard stories of where officers and rates from our formation who survived the war actually went to where Arizona-dono had been sunk to apologize to her crew for their part in that attack! And for the most part, the Americans FORGAVE US!" She sipped her tea. "When did you come back?"
"The anniversary of Leyte," Yamaguchi Hiyoko answered.
"What did you all do after that?" Moroboshi Ataru wondered, clearly not bothered by such bloody talk — especially when it might concern his youngest sister — from his current guests.
"After finding out that Midway was abandoned, we just drifted around, visiting the odd village or so around the Pacific Rim," Kaku Sei answered. "At first, we didn't know if the war was over or not. Naomi-chan found us a few days later, then gave us the whole story." As Hiyoko giggled on remembering that initial encounter with America's first shipgirl, the adopted native of Kure shrugged. "We needed time to absorb what we learned from her — especially Miss Yakitori Grill here..." — here, she thumbed Kei in emphasis, making the converted battleship squawk — "...but we finally got used to the idea of being at peace." She gave the older carrier a knowing look. "She was pretty impressed by the new Hyūga and Ise. Is it true that they're planning to name Izumo's sistership Kaga?"
"So rumour has it," Roberta Ansaldo affirmed.
"Feh!" Kei snarled. "'Escort ship'?! That's an aircraft carrier! Are people blind?"
"There are too many people haunted by what the B-sans did, Sempai. They don't want to have ANYTHING to do with something that could bring that type of horror back to the Home Islands."
Eyes locked on the now-blushing Itō Shizuka. "Hai, Shizuka-san, you're right," Yoiko affirmed with a nod, earning her a deeper blush from her "older" sister. As Itō Mutsuko reached over to squeeze her sister's shoulder in support, the fifth (planned) of their class added, "'War is the sum of all evils', so Jackson-chūjō wisely declared all those years ago. How right he was. Our duty now is to ensure those evils do not visit those who can't fight for themselves. As all warriors must do, regardless of personal beliefs." She gazed anew at Kei. "And Tennō has forbidden thoughts of seppuku, Sempai. As Naomi-chan advised earlier, all of humanity has need of living warriors, not dead martyrs."
Kei's fists clenched for a moment before she seemed to slump. "Tennō's will is law."
Hearing that, people relaxed. "Ne, ne, Shirei! Is it really true?" Akatsuki Tomomi probed.
"What?" Ataru asked.
"That they're building big spaceship versions of all of us?!"
He chuckled before reaching for his PAA, tapping the crystal. A screen came up to show a list of names, then he tapped on one. The screen then vanished to produce the image of what looked like a Fubuki-class destroyer...save for considerable modifications to the hull, not to mention rocket engine exhausts where the propellers would have been. People gaped at that image, then Tomomi's sister Michiko turned to gape on said starship's reborn template. "Sempai...is that YOU?!" she demanded.
"No, Michiko-san, I'M me!" Fukushima Fujiko asserted, earning her a chorus of barked laughs. "Hai, this is based on my class design, but modified to make us pretty equal to people like Tokina-san and her sisters. We're practically the equals of a Commonwealth Tribal-class destroyer right now!" She then sighed. "I hope they're able to come out on Thursday. Especially Roberta-san...!"
"That's for Raeburn-shihan to concern herself with, Fujiko-san," Yoiko cautioned.
"Who's Roberta?" Haruguchi Wakana asked before she waved to the lone Italian fast battleship present. "Not her, of course. Is that the name of a destroyer, Teitoku?"
"Roberta Welland, Wakana-san," Ataru supplied. "HMCS Haida of the Royal Canadian Navy. She's the only Tribal-class destroyer left intact; she's currently preserved as a museum ship in Ontario right now. Has the highest kill count of ships of any Canadian vessel in that war."
"That class suffered considerable losses during the war," Yoiko mused. "As that memorial song written for Roberta-san advised, thirteen were lost and thirteen scrapped, with only Haida remaining to honour her sisters." As the destroyers present winced at such losses for a single class, the seventh carrier hummed. "As I said before, that is for Shihan-sama to decide given all Canadian shipgirls would fall under her command as formation flag for the Specialized Warfare Regiment..."
People suddenly tensed on hearing a knock echo from the main doors. Fujiko's sister Miyuki headed over to open it before she gaped, then threw the door open wide. "Come in, please," the adopted native of Yokosuka bade, waving the newcomer through the portal. "You look a little hungry."
People gazed over...
...then jaws dropped as a beautiful teenager in a red modern jumpsuit walked in, such trimmed by a white belt and boots, plus a Commonwealth-style ship's crest over her cleavage and her collars displaying the rank of commander. On her upper thighs were the hull number 212 in the modern style for the navy of Britain's former senior dominion; her belt buckle had the eleven-point red maple leaf of Canada displayed. She had the tanned skin and general facial features of a native American, though she had long strawberry blonde hair in a high ponytail, a pair of forest green eyes peeking out of her face. Given the pinched look there, it was quite obvious to Miyuki that she hadn't eaten recently.
"Dreadfully sorry to barge in on you like this!" the newcomer declared in a voice that mixed middle Canadian with the Geordie British accent of her place of construction in Newcastle upon Tyne. "The war IS over, I hope?!" she hopefully asked. "Seeing as everything seems at peace..."
Miyuki waved her hands in a reassuring gesture. "Hai, hai..."
"Oh! You're from England!"
The just-arrived reborn twentieth of the Tribal-class destroyers awked as the first of her class of fast battleships literally teleported over to wrap a warm arm around her shoulders. "Anne-san!" Fujiko shrilled as many of the people who had lived in Welcome House for some time rolled their eyes at Chihaya Anne's antics when it came to meeting a fellow "countryman". "Don't scare her!"
"Anne, PLEASE...!"
Anne winced as Ataru gave her a knowing look, then she chuckled as she pulled back from the reborn HMCS Athabaskan. "I'm sorry about Anne, Randi-san," he apologized. "Even if she's served Japan all this time, she hasn't forgot that she was built at Barrow-in-Furness. C'mon in and have some tea or coffee." As Anne awked in horror on hearing THAT accursed word, he looked over towards the entrance to the old rotunda. "Shirayuki-chan!" he called out. "We need some snacks out here quick!"
"Hai, Shirei-kan, right away!" Fukushima Shirayuki called back.
The girl named Randi Stubbs by the Spirit of the Seeker's Forge on her salvaging and Gifting gaped. "Eh?! YOU'RE the one who made all those names for us, Admiral?!" she demanded, pointing at him.
"Indeed he did, Athabaskan-dono," Yoiko affirmed, making the woman named to honour North America's largest indigenous group of languages look over before she boggled on sensing the seventh carrier's vast spiritual aura. "You honour us with your presence here today. I'm sure Raeburn-chūjō will be more than pleased to have such a valiant warrior such as you back in the ranks again."
That made Randi's jaw nearly drop to the floor. "Major Raeburn's a GENERAL now...?!"
"Did you come alone, Randi-san?" Fujiko asked.
The just-arrived adopted Canadian destroyer awked. "Oh, bollocks!" she hissed before looking outside. "Hey! Girls! It's safe! We got fresh rations here! C'mon in!" she barked out.
"About bloody damn time!" a voice called out from outside.
People turned to look...
...then approving nods touched people's heads on seeing twelve more girls walk in, all in modern jumpsuits even if their pennant numbers had the D flag superior marking them as British warships; also, their crests didn't have the nest of three golden maple leaves at the base over the ship's rope forming the frame as Randi did. Noting the VERY exotic looks of some of them, the local destroyers all gaped. "Damn! THOSE are Tribals?!" Ashikaga Akemi breathed out in awe. "Nice ships!"
The leader of this group, a swarthy-skinned woman with a beautiful dark green ḥijāb wrapped around her head of raven-black hair, blushed as she gazed on the orchid-haired woman across the table. "Coming from a Fubuki-class, that's quite the compliment, madame," she declared as Ataru stood up and walked over. "And you must be the admiral of this chipper lot here, I believe," she added.
He took up her hand and courtly kissed it, making the adopted native of Peshawar in Pakistan (the heart of the Aprīdī homeland) and Newcastle upon Tyne (her place of construction) blush at such manners. "So Fate decreed, Commander Cresswell," he said, making the reborn HMS Afridi gape in surprise. "Do you prefer Gharra or Hazeema? I hate to stand on ceremony in these sorts of situations."
A chuckle escaped the green-eyed woman. "Gharra, please. Forgive us for dropping in on you like this, but we've been wandering around since Athabee here came looking for us all, then failed to locate Haida. Whatever that is in Hamilton Harbour now didn't at all feel like Haida, of course..."
He chuckled. "Oh, thank one of General Raeburn's old students for that. After Roberta-san was made a shipgirl, they subbed in a replica to make people believe nothing had happened to her."
"Shirei-kan!" Fujiko whined. "Why didn't you tell US about that?!"
"I was asked to keep it a secret, Fujiko-chan," Ataru answered.
The visiting British destroyers all nodded in approval. "So Haida's okay?" Randi asked.
"She's fine," Ataru assured her, making the adopted Albertan — Randi's namesake Sea Cadet unit was based in Edmonton, at the same building the local "stone frigate", HMCS Nonsuch, was headquartered — breathe out in relief. "Probably busy in space right now looking over her starship-self."
"'Starship'...?" the reborn HMS Cossack, now Luíza Filíppovna Vján, wondered...
...before her jaw dropped in shock on seeing the holographic image of THU Fubuki being projected from Ataru's PAA. "BLOODY HELL!" the adopted native of Chyhyrýn southeast of Kyjív in the Ukraine (first capital of the famous Víjs'ko Zaporóz'ke host of Cossacks) and Newcastle upon Tyne exclaimed. "What the hell is THAT supposed to be?! We're made to DESTROY ships like that, not BECOME them!"
"Calm down, Luíza-san!" Ataru called out, making the swarthy-skinned woman with the sharp green eyes and the dirty blonde hair cut square at her neck fluster in embarrassment. "We're not dealing with the lar'beke just yet, okay! We got other idiots from beyond Earth to go deal with first!"
"With all respect, Admiral, why are we SMELLING lar'beke?" the reborn HMS Punjabi, now Tosha Lean, wondered as she waved around the room. "By what I'm smelling, there's quite a cookout here...!"
"Pyon!"
Ataru winced. "U-chan...!"
A gargle answered him. "S-sh-shirei-kan...?!"
"What did Hinako-chan warn you about at lunchtime?"
That gargle turned into a pained moan. "U-chan's in trouble...!"
"Du-uh!" Miyuki moaned, slapping her head.
"Windows open!" Yoiko bade as she rose. "I'm sure we can air this place out before the Little One and the others come back." As several destroyers in the room moved to open what windows were there to vent the room out, she added, "In the meantime, Utako-san, have you managed to cook some of those prim'ta Naomi-chan retrieved from those unfortunates in Oregon? We have a whole host of very hungry visitors adopted of the many tribes once affiliated with our British friends here with us now!"
Eyes locked on Kisaragi Utako, who had a tray of nicely-roasted Goa'uld symbiotes coated in well-fried batter and topped with various sauces in hand; she had come in via the stairs connecting to a tunnel that led to the smokehouse the shipgirls at Welcome House used for special cooking projects that might make the sisters potentially nauseous from unwelcome smells. "Ah! Tribals!" she whooped before waving the visitors with her. "Follow U-chan, pyon! U-chan's made loads and loads and loads of smoked lar'beke with loads and loads and loads of spices and nice batter for everyone to have, pyon!"
As the newcomers and many others moved to head out with the fourth of the Mutsuki-class to the smokehouse for a nice meal, Ataru shook his head before he perked. "Oi, Naomi-chan!" he called out as a certain missile cruiser walked in through the main doors. "Were you able to find Yasuko-san?"
"Yeah, A-man, I did," Naomi Haight-Ashbury declared, making everyone stop to look her way. "Man! I was right when I said some kid kami practically kidnapped her! Even if it wasn't really intentional!"
"Where is Onē-san, Long Beach-dono?" Itō Mutsuko demanded.
The adopted native of her namesake town gave the second of her class of super-battleships an annoyed look. "Oi! No square stuff, Big M!" she chided before gazing again at Ataru. "You ever hear of a junior high kid named Hitotsubashi Yurie, A-man? She lives in Onomichi near 'Shima...?"
"Wait!"
Eyes locked on Yoiko. "You've heard of this person, Yoiko-san?" Matsubara Suzue asked.
The seventh carrier of Operation Z hummed. "Hai, Suzue-san. Onomichi-no-Yurie is her divine name. Very inexperienced, but she won Napaaqtuqarunnanngittuq-sama's attention last month..." Her eyes then widened before she slapped her forehead. "Oh, ye gods! That happened during Kannazuki!"
"Turns out, one of the cool cats that helped with your construction still lives down there, Big Y. He was involved with Little Y, too," Naomi announced. "Chief Engineman Gen Kiyonobu?"
A surprised look crossed the taller shipgirl's face. "Oh, I understand now...!"
"What does that mean for Onē-san, Onē-sama?" Mutsuko wondered.
"Yurie-san must have answered a wish of Gen-san's to see his old ship again, Mutsuko-san."
People nodded on hearing that...
Back in Tomobiki...
"Ow, ow, ow, ow...! What the hell WAS that around the school?!"
Moroboshi Kinshō sighed as she moved to gently dab some cotton swabs soaked in vitamin E ointment over the exposed parts of Aruka Ran's skin. "I'm not sure," the older woman declared as she moved to bandage one arm, earning her a nod of thanks. "How did it feel like, Ran-chan?"
"Like Lum-chan really lost her temper, Oba-chan," the native of Shingetsu answered as she gave the older woman a knowing look, earning her a nod. "Speaking of which, have you seen her this morning? Given what happened when that prince showed up looking for her yesterday afternoon..."
"She left looking for Shūtarō-kun just after breakfast," Moroboshi Ataru's mother affirmed, unsure as to what to say now in the light of what had been revealed earlier that morning. Given how much she knew Ran had come to love living on Earth over the last year, being literally ordered to go home — and with the threat of THEM now looming on the near horizon — would definitely start a huge panic.
The younger woman hummed. "I wonder if this guy actually got to her..."
That made Kinshō pale before she sighed. "Do you think you can contact Lum-chan's other friends, Ran-chan? No matter what, I don't want to see her hurt..."
"What about Darling?"
The older woman winced before she sighed. There was no getting away from it now. "He moved out."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
A sympathetic look answered her. "Much that I hate to say it, Oba-chan, you had that coming."
Kinshō winced again before she moaned. "I'm afraid this situation is WAY more complex than you suspect, Ran-chan," she declared as she reached under the living room table to pull out the accursed package that effectively heralded the end of alien involvement on Earth from Uru and its allied planets. "Eleven years ago on his birthday, my stupid son was kidnapped..." She squeezed her eyes closed. "By a native of the ONE planet your people don't speak of openly by name," she quietly added.
Ran blinked before she paled. "You mean it's true?!" she hissed.
"What?!"
"That the current Miss Infinity comes from Earth?!"
Kinshō blinked before she shook her head. "No, I don't know anything about others that my idiot son may have met in the decade and more he was living on that damned planet," she admitted, shaking her head. "All I do know is that he was literally transformed into a GIRL of all things while he was there!" As Ran's jaw dropped in disbelief, the older woman moaned before she gave her guest a weary look. "He was destined to become the ONE of those people you fear the most of all, Ran-chan."
The native of Shingetsu blinked before she turned stark white. "Tuyuki...?!"
"Hai..."
Silence fell as the alien girl considered that for a moment before a wry smile crossed Ran's face. "I don't know if you're the BRAVEST woman in the whole damned Universe or the most STUPID...!"
KK-KLONK!
"I...wish I...never had him...!"
"Gee! You wouldn't have had Kaeru either, Baka Aho Ofukuro!"
Ran blinked in surprise on seeing her hostess now smashed face-first into the floor thanks to a cinder block, then she slowly turned to look towards the entranceway...
...before her jaw dropped. "Whoa...!"
Tariko Katabarbe snorted as she stepped onto the floor. "Naturally, the greedy idiot here wants to do the reveal scene HER way, ignoring the fact that she's been trying to get her hands on MY inheritance from my late grandmother!" the Trickster of the Show declared as she moved to sit beside the stunned Ran, waving her hand to telekinetically shove her mother head-first into a nearby wall. "Tamiyo!"
"Yo?!"
Ran's head snapped over to see the first of the Tenryū-class cruisers standing in the entranceway. "Go up and find Benten and Oyuki," Tariko ordered, thumbing up. "Bring them down here alive and unhurt! I don't want them to fry their butts off on Rumiko-chan's force fields around the school!"
Shimosuwa Tamiyo jauntily saluted. "Aye-aye, Teitoku!"
As the adopted native of Okaya in Nagano Prefecture immediately headed off, Ran watched her go...before she gasped as she felt something flood her body from head to toe, making her slightly dizzy for a moment. Gazing down at her exposed arms, she then gaped in surprise on seeing all her burns vanish, then she blinked before she gazed on the reality warper seated beside her.
"D-d-Darling...?" she hesitantly asked.
"In a sense, yes," the girl born a boy named Moroboshi Ataru declared. "Let's wait for your friends to get down here before I do the PROPER reveal scene here."
She then blinked before snapping her fingers, making Ran jolt as she felt SOMETHING go through her mind for an instant before it vanished. "Er...?" she then began.
"Yiziba."
A gasp escaped the native of Shingetsu...
...before she blinked. "Er...?"
"I'm sick and tired of THAT stupid repeat scene, Ran-chan!" Tariko muttered, rolling her eyes...
To Be Continued...
WRITER'S NOTES
The scene here between Saotome Genma, Tendō Sōun and Kiryū Kazuma (Tekiya) was a carry-on and expansion of the first draft written by Dr. Tempo as noted before.
Translation list and source language: Zaibatsu — Literally "financial clique", this was the name given to conglomerates that dominated Japan's economy up to the end of World War Two (Japanese); Chichi-ue — Formal way of addressing one's father (Japanese); Koi — Lover (Japanese); Imōto — Little sister (Japanese); Ditat Deus — God Enriches (Latin); Kaishakunin — Literally "person who corrects a mistake", this is the one who beheads someone committing seppuku (Japanese); Víjs'ko Zaporóz'ke — Literally "Zaporóz'ke Host", this is the name of the Hetmanate that existed from 1649-1764 (Ukrainian); Kannazuki — Literally "month without kami", this normally falls in October (Japanese).
Yatsura character notes: Mendō Shūtarō's parents Mendō Hajime and Mendō Haruka were minor characters in the series; the former first appeared in the manga story "New Year's Party At the Mendō Mansion" (manga chapter #114) while the latter first appeared in "The Parents' Day From Hell" (manga chapter #51). Hikutsu Ōmukai is my name for the valet/butler that often shows up in Haruka's company; he actually first appeared alongside Shūtarō himself in "Trouble Drops In" (manga chapter #22). Nishijima Hiroshige first appeared on the relationship chart list Miyake Shinobu (Prometheús) made in the anime story "Goodbye Season" (anime episode #64); his given name is my invention.
The Senior Year story plot note: The joke about Toghmoghbiki (pronounced /to̞-mo̞-bʲi-kʲi/ like the Japanese Tomobiki) is that it was the "place of fools and madmen" which served as the base of the Master of Entropy; in effect, this is the Sagussan quasi-equivalent of Purgatory. Of course, this was meant to explain why the Daishi'cha were so hell-bent on getting Moroboshi Ataru away from there.
Yakuza character note: Dōjima Daigo is a background character throughout the Yakuza series, seen as a young man in the first game and ascending to position of oyabun of the Tōjō-kai by the time the third game occurs (in the universe of this story, around February of 2009).
Watari-shima is an ancient name for Hokkaidō itself; it was mentioned in the Nihon Shoki that was published in 720 CE as edited by Prince Toneri (676-735). According to what was written there, the legendary general Abe no Hirafu (who's existence is not confirmed) encountered what might have been Ainu on Watari-shima. I borrowed the name for the islet lying off the Pacific coast of Hokkaidō where the dōjō of the Tensei-ryū is located. Such an island is close to the city of Kushiro.
Shipgirls introduced or mentioned here. First, from Canada:
Captain (Navy) Dorothy Joan Holland RCN(M) (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Argo [pennant 08, later BBGH-08])
Capt(N) Patricia Beatrice Chennalton RCN(M) (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Chennalton [pennant 49, later BBGH-49])
Commander Randi Georgette Stubbs RCN (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Athabaskan [pennant G07, later DDE-212])
Cdr Roberta Petra "Bobbi" Welland RCN (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Haida [pennant G63, later DDE-215])
As noted many times before, Canada's magical battleships are my creation; no vessel of that type ever served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Given such ships would be hidden by the demands of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, such vessels would be part of an autonomous wing of the Dominion's maritime warfare service, the Royal Canadian Naval Magical Service (RCN[M]). Since the Canadian Armed Forces are one single service with three environmental elements (Navy, Army and Air Force), the need to tell the difference between similar rank titles is necessary. Thus, a captain in the RCN is referred to as a Captain (Navy), short-formed Capt(N); such officers in the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) are simply called Captain with short-form Capt.
Canada switched from British-style pennant numbers to American-style hull classification codes after World War Two. Thus, Roberta Welland (HMCS Haida) had the wartime pennant of G63 and the post-war hull number DDE-215; DDE is also the Canadian code for an escort destroyer. Since Randi Stubbs (HMCS Athabaskan) was sunk in 1944, she never received a post-war hull number; the choice of DDE-212 is mine. Finally, the RCN(M) followed the British pattern of not using flag superior letters for battleships, though numbers were kept post-war while given the hull classification symbol BB. After the magical battleships were upgraded to carry helicopters and fire guided missiles, the hull classification symbol became BBGH ("helicopter carrying guided missile battleship").
Both Roberta and Randi are based on fan art done on both of them by Myūto. Roberta's art can be found on Pixiv at ID #48141687, while her sister appears at ID #63108106.
From the United States:
Lieutenant Commander Jazlynn Hope Willingham USN (United States Ship Bowfin [SS-287, later AGSS-287])
And now from the United Kingdom:
Captain Amy Joan Power RN (Her Majesty's Ship Ark Royal [pennant 91, later R91])
Capt Bette Charlotte Stella Martin RN (Her Majesty's Ship Dorsetshire [pennant 40, later C40])
Commander Luíza Filíppovna Vján RN (Her Majesty's Ship Cossack [pennant F03, later D203])
Cdr Gharra Hazeema Cresswell RN (Her Majesty's Ship Afridi [pennant F07, later D207])
Cdr Kanono Nyree Brewer RN (Her Majesty's Ship Māori [pennant F24, later D224])
Cdr Jabulela Sizani Crawford RN (Her Majesty's Ship Zulu [pennant F18, later D218])
Cdr Fulki Revati Parham RN (Her Majesty's Ship Gurkha [pennant F20, later D220])
Cdr Jasleen Tosha Lean RN (Her Majesty's Ship Punjabi [pennant F21, later D221])
Cdr Nobade Bongani Whitmy-Smith RN (Her Majesty's Ship Matabele [pennant F26, later D226])
Cdr Omeda Orenda Jolly RN (Her Majesty's Ship Mohawk [pennant F31, later D231])
Cdr Libin Zeinab Grace Nicholson RN (Her Majesty's Ship Somali [pennant F33, later D233])
Cdr Penya Veneka McLaughlin RN (Her Majesty's Ship Mashona [pennant F59, later D259])
Cdr Jhazala Abal McCoy RN (Her Majesty's Ship Bedouin [pennant F67, later D267])
Cdr Jyoti Aarati Giffard RN (Her Majesty's Ship Sikh [pennant F82, later D282])
Amy Power (HMS Ark Royal) takes after her Kantai Collection self. Stella Martin (HMS Dorsetshire) takes after the Warship Girls interpretation of Suzanne Bell (HMS Exeter). Luíza Vján (HMS Cossack) takes after her Warship Girls self, with more Slavic features and skin colour. And Tosha Lean (HMS Punjabi) takes after her Victory Belles self, with darkened skin matching her namesake people from the Subcontinent. As said before, British shipgirls were shifted into a modern pennant system, with uniformed flag superior letters: C for cruiser, D for destroyer and R for aircraft carrier. For the hundreds of destroyers serving the Royal Navy, this required the pennant numbers to leap well past two digits to include them all; in wartime, flag superiors included "D", "F", "G", "I" and "R".
The Nui-Nui concept concerning Yuhara Seiko (THG Shiranui) can be seen at Danbooru within pool #9202, called the "Nui-Nui Collection", showing when she does things out of character.
The reason why Catarina von Savoyen (USS Prinz Eugen) uses the term "Professor" after the rank title for Miriam Young (USS Utah) here is following German tradition concerning academic titles. Since USS Utah was turned into a training ship, a shipgirl like Miriam would by custom be entitled to the title "professor", which always follows one's rank title in military service.
Cora "Weaps" Waikes is based on the character of the same name from the 2012 movie Battleship. And yes, USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) is currently assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam.
The quote from LG Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson CSA made by Ito Yoiko (THG Yonaga) here is derived from the 2003 movie Gods and Generals, based on the 1996 novel by Jeff Shaara.
The memorial song for Roberta Welland (HMCS Haida) spoken of here can be heard on YouTube. Just look for the phrase "HMCS Haida In a Class of Her Own".
Hitotsubashi Yurie and Gen Kiyonobu (his given name is my invention) both hail from the very sweet 2005 anime series Kamichu! by the Besame Mucho team of writer Kurata Hideyuki, director Masunari Kōji and producer Ochikoshi Tomonori; such was later remade into a manga by Naruko Hanaharu released to coincide with the anime. In that series, the events of this story fall in after the story "Mysterious Adventure" (anime episode #12); note that the story "Crossing the River of Time" (anime episode #9) — this is where Mister Gen first appears — wouldn't have occurred yet.