Chapter 5

Finally, the time had come for them to truly talk for the first time...and Kosuke felt more anxious about it than he cared to admit.

Now that the distraction (read: sirens) had been taken care of, the two of them got the chance to talk properly that had previously been denied them. To this end, the unlikely duo had returned to the infirmary that he had initially put Yuubari in for her treatment, the Shipgirl having kept her ship parallel to his whilst both remained stationary for the time being. Neither of them wanted to waste what fuel they had left (well, her more so from what he could tell), and letting them travel aimlessly at this point sounded like a stupid idea although it had been plainly obvious that the two had found themselves in the middle of freaking nowhere.

In current times, Kosuke and Yuubari sat opposite one another with the former sitting on a chair whilst the latter occupied the bed. Initially, she had been intent on letting him have the bed, but Kosuke had reasoned that she needed it more than him due to her not being at 100% just yet... kind of like his [Proto Satan], actually, hence she simply followed the saying 'when in Rome do as the Romans do' and accepted his reasoning, hence the sight of her sitting in the traditional seiza position on the center of the bed. She even had her large Tail swishing about to and fro behind her.

At first, the atmosphere around them had been thick with awkward tension, mostly from the male himself while Yuubari remained expressionless like she seemed to normally be from what he could tell. Right now, the male had his eyes closed as he cupped his chin in thought, rubbing his index finger and thumb alongside both sides of his jawline with his brows furrowed and a deep frown on his lips. That look of concentration had been the reason why Yuubari hadn't said anything on her end since she assumed that he wanted to say something but didn't know the right means to do so.

In his mind, Kosuke wondered what he should open up with since his previous conceptions of Yuubari had been somewhat debunked with her actions and mannerisms. With his previous assumptions of her being so honor-driven that she would let it define her entire life having been vanquished, it left him at a loss... in addition to that, the two of them had fought alongside one another in that recent battle, almost seamlessly at that. It had been a part of his own philosophy, that fighting someone would let one learn a great deal about them, which could be applied to both allies AND enemies.

Thus, thanks to fighting alongside Yuubari the way they had, with her having seemingly understood his intent throughout the whole thing, it lessened a lot of his initial reluctance towards her. Obviously, he didn't intend to divulge everything after fighting just one battle with her, that would be both foolish and incredibly naive, but much of his distrust had vanished from him after seeing how she had conducted herself in that battle, never complaining about her situation and making the best with what she had...

Now that he thought about it, the WW2 Generation had that lesson taught to them in spades, didn't they?

In any case, Kosuke shook his head to disperse such thoughts from his mind and opened his eyes, staring straight into Yuubari's own. "Alright, how about we trade questions with one another?" he eventually decided as an introduction. As much as it made him internally cringe on the inside, hopefully, the Shipgirl before him didn't mind too much.

Fortunately for him, the look seemed to be on his side for once as Yuubari tilted her head to the side, her expression unchanging yet her canine ears twitched a couple of times like they were 'blinking' in a manner akin to eyelids. "Trading questions, you say...?" she muttered, and before he could elaborate on his meaning she locked herself into thought by putting her hand under her chin like what he had done earlier. "I see... it's obvious that both of us have questions on our minds about one another, so this way we both get what we want in the end..."

Looked like she DID have some questions for him then, but after that battle with the Sirens, Kosuke had come to expect and accept it at this point. It would have been suspicious if Yuubari DIDN'T has questions about him, or more likely his connection to this new ship she had likely never seen before. "Yeah, that's the gist of it. Of course, there's likely some stuff we can't say either due to it being secret or we just don't know. So let's agree not to press further than each of us can allow, does that sound decent to you?"

Yuubari nodded her head in response, understanding the meaning behind his words all too well. "That is acceptable," she stated firmly, getting a hum of acceptance from the male before her.

"Alright then, I'll start." With that done and dusted, Kosuke decided to take the first plunge if only to try and dispel the tension that he himself had created since the moment they had gotten settled. "Are you able to tell me why you were out here in the first place?" he questioned, deciding to start with the big one. 'Hold on a moment, if I think about it Azur Lane was theorized to have a multiverse thing going on, so which version of Azur Lane is I on really? I'd initially assumed that I was in the mobile version, but there's ZERO evidence to prove that. Perhaps this QnA session could help me figure that out too...' the male realized moments after he had asked his first question, a thought that had formed after his question had sparked it in his noggin. He may have wanted to find out what the hell was going on, but his response could change depending on what the general situation was.

While he thought about all this, Yuubari looked to be thinking about her own response to that question. Unlike him, however, she had come to her answer much quicker as she placed her hands atop her thighs in clenched fists. "I am unable to divulge much, as it is highly classified by my superiors." She began to say, before glancing to the side just as Kosuke looked back at her with his attention now brought back to her from his previous thoughts. "However, I will say this: the fact that these Sirens appeared not long after you rescued me and my ship... I have reason to suspect that their main target was me this whole time."

Huh? Kosuke blinked in confusion at that while he wondered what Yuubari meant by that. But then something about the battle they had taken part in clicked in his mind, which was the lack of laser fire in the beginning. 'Now that I think about it, they didn't initially seem to be as interested in sinking [Proto Satan] as they had been in previous battles. Kind of feels like this time I wasn't their priority, which would put more credit onto Yuubari's story...' He thought as he mulled over this information. But that just raised another question regarding why they would target a simple Light Cruiser specifically if her theory was correct, though part of him believed that her status as a testing platform for new technologies could be one answer, it wasn't his turn to ask a question right now and even if he could Kosuke doubted she would answer him.

"It is my turn to question you: what exactly is this Ship we are on?" Yuubari finally questioned him after a few seconds, having decided to get some more immediate information from him compared to about the overall situation at play here. She glanced to and fro around the infirmary, although this gesture likely referred to the entire vessel she currently resided on, her eyes alight with confusion and... well, thinly veiled interest in it. Like a child that had gotten a new subject of interest to study, her hands gripping her kneecaps tighter to try and seemingly control herself. "This Warship... feels like a Battleship and from my Radar, I was able to get a signature like one, but this ship is much unlike any I have seen before."

'Yeah, kind of expected that one...' Kosuke internally mused with a faint sense of pride at the curiosity and nigh blatant awe he could sense coming from her. That pride came from her reaction to his ship after all. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to think too much about answering this one unlike before, his response being much less awkward in comparison. "His name is [Proto Satan] as I have previously mentioned," Kosuke responded, gesturing to the room around him whilst Yuubari got the feeling that he was REALLY gesturing to the entire vessel. "He's a Drillship, a variant Battleship class which was designed more for ramming and sliding into enemies up close. As much as that contradicts the Battleship's role in a Navy fleet, it was made with the intent to slam into enemy vessels and spear right through them."

"Is that so... but the Drill wasn't functioning at all last battle, and-"

"Hold on now, it's my turn." Just when Yuubari made to question about the Ship's effectiveness in the previous battle Kosuke interrupted her with a wag of the finger. Something which she didn't appreciate but didn't complain verbally, settling for a pout alongside a pair of puffed-out cheeks. A sight which Kosuke secretly found rather adorable, suppressing the urge to try and pet her for some reason. "You can ask that when it's your turn again, but for now it's mine. Are we in the Pacific Ocean?" Since she had asked about something more immediate, Kosuke had decided to try to do the same thing. He had partially wanted to ask her about the world they were in but that sounded a bit too weird in this situation. If he outright asked her about it she would become suspicious of him and that wasn't something Kosuke wanted, the Sirens would have been common knowledge to those outside the Navy after all.

Thus, he went for an alternative in which the location of their ships would serve as a good start. He DID guess that they were in the Pacific, this theory having formed after he had tracked Yuubari's wrecked ship. The Japanese mainly operated within the Pacific Ocean from what he could recall of WW2 history.

Fortunately, the woman before him seemed to have the answer to that question and better yet, had zero qualms about giving it. "Indeed. We are within the Pacific Ocean, close to an island I believe. I have memorized various maps of the Pacific under... my Shikkan's orders so that I didn't get lost out in the open ocean and become Siren food." She answered him calmly and with her usual tone... save for that bit in the middle.

Much to his confusion, Yuubari seemed to hesitate when regarding this 'Shikkan' of hers. Why was that? Wasn't the Shikkan supposed to be the self-insert faceless entity for the player? The Shipgirls were said to be naturally curious about the Commander due to him having a special connection with them. But... the way she said his title didn't match up with what he knew from the game which set off more than a FEW alarm bells inside his head. 'This actually could serve as a clue to which world I'm in. The presence of a Shikkan does hint that I'm in the Mobile version, but the way she seemed to react about him doesn't seem to be the same as other Shipgirls.' Kosuke thought to himself, a bit of worry seeping into his chest.

Why did he get the feeling that he was going into a Shitstorm he had no way of avoiding?

"It should be my turn, is it not?" Soon, Yuubari's words broke Kosuke out of his musings, the male raising his head to see her gazing at him intently. Upon seeing him nod back after clearing his throat, the young woman hummed in acceptance of this and promptly capitalized on this opportunity. "Very well. About that battle... are you one of us? The way you controlled this Vessel is reminiscent of me and my kind when we do not use our Rigging."

At THAT, Kosuke had to choose his words VERY carefully here, so that he didn't reveal more than he wanted at the moment. His abilities were still a mystery at present, a mystery which the more he delved into it the increasingly complicated they became. All he knew for certain was that he was in control of this Warship and he wanted to fight the Sirens with him. But if he wanted Yuubari to drop tat subject then he would have to provide her with SOMETHING, preferably something that was true, to sate her curiosity till he could trust her better. "I can't answer that at the moment, not because of anything being classified, but because I hardly have any grasp at all of why I can do this. Think of my situation as like exploring the foreign territory, one with mines beneath the earth." He eventually responded with, although that last part felt like it had MANY layers to it, layers even he didn't completely understand.

Though those layers did serve to mollify Yuubari's curiosity for the time being, thankfully. However, Kosuke suddenly got the feeling that he should probably watch himself with the intensity he could feel behind that gaze of hers like she would try to dissect him in his sleep or something which did NOT bode well for the nights ahead of him. He got the feeling that Yuubari maybe... kind of a research nut, which while somewhat making sense from what he knew of her purpose during WW2 it made him feel somewhat uncomfortable at the same time.

Fortunately, Kosuke found something to focus on other than the impending lack of sleep he'd have shortly when he gestured... to Yuubari's ears. "Then, for my net question... Are you some sort of Canine by chance? Part of me assumed you were some kind of wolf girl the first time I saw you if that makes sense." He asked her, and no he was not kidding. Against his usual common sense and Imperial Japan being the context, Kosuke had assumed her to be a wolf girl instead of a fox or a dog.

At his question, Yuubari placed her hands on her canine ears to feel them up, all while her Tail swished a bit faster than previously, obviously having not expected. "I'm a fox and don't you forget it. I'll overlook the ignorance you showed just now since you were so polite about it, civilian." She replied with a bit of a defensive edge... she seemed to have some kind of negative stigma when one mentioned her ears for some reason. He didn't know why she would have that, but he decided not to press.

"You can call me Kosuke you know."

"Ah, apologies, civilian just came out."

Kosuke shook his head, a slight smirk of amusement present on his lips. Despite being from a Nation like Imperial Japan, he just couldn't help but find it humorous when this Kuudere tried adopting some facial expressions. Not like he'd say that to her face, cause she would likely not respond well to that, plus it didn't really serve a purpose to say. "No worries. Anyways, your turn."

"Right... then what do you plan to do now?" She asked, and this one threw Kosuke for a loop, as evident from his befuddled expression whilst his gaze reflected his inability to understand her question. Hence, she elaborated. "I intend to return to the Sakura Empire, as I rightly should, however, it will be a perilous journey if these waters are as Siren-infested as I fear." her words rung true, both of them realized. Perhaps the reason why Kosuke hadn't encountered that many were due to them somehow knowing about [Proto Satan] in some way, but the same could NOT be said for Yuubari, especially if her theory was correct. "Still, my mind is set, my path lies before me. I will tread it without hesitation to return to my homeland. What of you?"

...Huh? What the...

Was she... was she trying to request something of him? Judging by the way she was looking at him with those intense red eyes of hers, Kosuke got the feeling she wanted to request him, he felt. Those eyes almost resembled searchlights to him, looking through his own to see whether or not she could find the answer she sought. Instead of finding it herself, Kosuke promptly responded. "Well, I haven't the foggiest idea at the moment, me and this ship of mine have just been sailing aimlessly unaware of where we could go," he answered, briefly glancing out at the window as memories of the previous weeks flashed through his mind. He then glanced back at her, deciding to test his previous theory. "My turn: do you wish me to accompany you or something?"

Seemed like he had hit the nail on the head with that one, his theory proving correct when this time Yuubari herself started to falter, her eyes glancing to the side whilst her ears bent downwards as a sign of nervousness. She placed her hands together on her lip and, judging from how she clenched them so tightly, Kosuke felt like their roles had been reversed in terms of awkwardness. Ironic, wasn't it? "From what I have seen, this battle between me and the Sirens does not concern you, young man-I mean, Kosuke. You may as well be a civilian in my eyes despite the... weird anomalies surrounding you and this Ship."

Oh, he could guess what she meant by that, and he didn't disagree with her. There was still so much he had yet to learn, but right now it became increasingly apparent that Yuubari wasn't willing to divulge the gritty details just yet. As frustrating as it felt to finally have someone to talk to only or them to be not the most talkative at the moment, Kosuke had to keep his composure. Patience was indeed a virtue, one which he had to exercise right now so that things didn't fall apart.

He also felt somewhat glad she never brought up the fact that he was Japanese yet. Perhaps she didn't see it as an issue worth mentioning at the moment, something which he was thankful for.

Never thought he'd be thankful for that part of him.

Still, joining in escorting Yuubari back to the Sakura Empire... as much as everything inside of him SCREAMED at him not to do that, as imperial Japan was NOT a nice place to be, Kosuke didn't have a lot of options at the moment. He couldn't stay as a wanderer of the oceans forever heck he doubted that he would have an impact like this. Plus he could finally see what one of the four main factions was like.

It was a risky gamble...

But one that he had to choose on.

To risk or not to risk?

In the end, Kosuke chose to risk it. The answers wouldn't be waiting on their asses around for him, so he'd have to go to them. "Well then, I'll gladly help escort you. Sirens will NOT like it when on the receiving end of [Proto Satan]'s guns." Kosuke proclaimed, curling his right arm to flex the biceps within whilst grinning with confidence. The confidence that came from his relief at finally making a proper decision for the first time since he had come to this world whatever it may be. Whether or not it was a good choice only time would tell.

It was also a grin which Yuubari reciprocated with a small but happy smile at, her eyes quickly brightening up despite still mostly looking like those a... what was it that Keijo called them again? Oh yeah, a Kuudere. 'Man, I think I'm starting to get why he called me a Boomer several times...' Kosuke thought to himself, a pang of longing erupting in his chest at the thought of his friends back in his world. A stronger one occurred when he thought of his brother too, with a few quick flashbacks of his parents, the family that he had left behind.

He missed them... he missed them a lot. How were they doing? Were they worried about him like he was for them? Had they noticed that he had disappeared? He knew for a FACT that it wouldn't take long for his bros and younger brother to notice his lack of appearance given how close they were, his parents maybe a little later but they'd notice pretty quickly. They'd gone through some stuff together that united them like soldiers on the battlefield.

Those feelings inevitably resulted in a wave of the determination being born within his chest as he opened his eyes to reveal a steely gaze, one which Yuubari nearly recoiled at from the sheer fire she could see behind his eyes. "In any case, since we're going to be traveling together, are we gonna be headed straight to the Sakura Empire?" he asked her, cupping his chin as he began to think on where Yuubari might have been stationed historically. He recalled vaguely that he'd researched it sometime in the past but the name slipped his mind.

Yuubari shook her head at this, her hair flowing like a wiggling serpent. "No, we need to stop near a Sakura Empire Naval port, so that I may receive repairs and updated information on where we are. While we are still within the Pacific Ocean, I have managed to memorize the sea maps we had hence once we find a populated island and ask for details, I should be able to chart us a course back to my home base."

Kosuke nodded his head in understanding, having decided against remembering the name of the port Yuubari had historically resided in for the time being. "I see. Then we head straight for that base... that'll likely take us through many Siren-infested areas I'd assume." The male mused to himself, getting an agreeing hum and a nod of the head from Yuubari, her fox ears flicking about briefly. Sounded like they had their goals set in mind for the time being, then, but it would likely be a while before they could find the closest Sakura Empire-controlled island. Thus, how would they spend the time till they got there? He already had a few ideas though, as he looked up and gestured to the infirmary's exit. "Then since we have our next move done and dusted, wanna have a tour of this Ship? There's going to be plenty to do here, outside of maintaining a watch out for Sirens anyways." he offered.

Upon hearing this offer, Yuubari's ears straightened up like an excited look quickly plastered itself across her face. Her eyes LITERALLY glistened like stars in the wider galaxy whilst her tail matched her ears. "Yes, that would be great! Yuubari would love to see more of this interesting ship! Yuubari wants to see how it works, how it was made, everything!" she proclaimed excitedly, having practically appeared right on top of his lap in the same sitting position as before with her knees perfectly placed on top of his thighs. Her hands held his own like two girls would when promising something to one another, letting him get a close-up on her face to showcase her excitement.

All of this happened in a couple of seconds by the way.

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"...You might want to get off me then, so I can stand up and start the tour." Kosuke eventually stated with a dry gaze, gesturing with his head to the exit since that was the only part of his body he could move at the moment. Any ORDINARY guy would have recoiled at the sudden close contact and then frozen up like a wimp, however, Kosuke remained calm and collected despite similar responses struggling to make it to the surface. He just kept thinking about several Imperial Japanese War Crimes he had heard about to keep his mind focused. It's kind of like cooling down a boner by thinking of something ugly and non-appealing, a strategy he had used himself a few times.

But aside from that, it took a couple of seconds for Yuubari to realize the situation she had placed herself in, during which her ears flickered whilst she blinked owlishly a couple of times. Once she figured it out, however, her reaction immediately became apparent when her face turned pink and she became quite shy in demeanor while slowly getting off the male in front of her. "...Many apologies, that was uncalled for." she apologized moments later, even going as far as to bow in the traditional Japanese style, her ears hanging low to show how she felt about the conduct.

"Meh, it's alright. As long as your careful." Fortunately for her, Kosuke didn't give much of a thought about it beyond her unusually high amounts of excitement causing her to act unconsciously. He'd seen his brother do similar things without realizing it a few times himself, so he understood things from her perspective. Regardless, now that he was able to Kosuke stood up from his seat and turned towards the exit, proceeding to stride towards it. "Anyways, let's get going. Some places are forbidden though, mostly for security and safety reasons, plz understand that," he told her while glancing back at her from the corner of his eye.

Yuubari nodded as she got up, performing the IJN Salute as she did so. "Arigato Gozaimazu! Once again, allow me to introduce myself: I am Yuubari, Sakura Empire Yuubari-class light cruiser. I was developed under the constraints of a naval treaty, but this conversely allowed me to utilize a great number of new technologies. I served as the flagship of a Destroyer Squadron in the Pacific War." She stated in a more formal tone, though afterward she glanced to the side and begun musing to herself, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I will need many oxygen torpedoes if I am to research them..."

'Isn't that her self intro from the game? Might be in the mobile world, but we'll see. There needs to be more evidence there...' Kosuke thought to himself, putting aside his temporary sweatdrop at her repeated intro before opening the door and stepping through. Part of him had thought to try and make her laugh by doing the whole Chauffeur thing, but that sounded way too much like the Royal Navy and currently, he wasn't sure if that would be counted as offensive or not. "Well, before that could happen perhaps the tour could classify as a close second...?"

"Hm, that does sound appealing. Yes, let's go. I'm eager to see what there is to see within this vessel." Yuubari replied, trying to sound more composed like she'd been earlier... but the swaying from side to side she did betray her true feelings.

Something which Kosuke smirked at while mentally wondering how long she'd be able to last before he would be forced to restrain her from going places she shouldn't. Without saying anything more due to lacking a need to, Kosuke walked out with Yuubari trailing behind him.

With this, the tour around [Proto Satan] had begun.

As a concession on his part, Kosuke had decided to stop by one of the entrances that he had been unable to access so far, an entrance located deep within the Ship's superstructure, the forward bridge to be more precise. Standing by it, Kosuke turned to see Yuubari looking around and taking in the sights, most noteworthy being how she eyed the many Guns she could see outside the FWD Bridge on the Main Deck. "First off, as you might expect we're in the FWD Bridge, where various auxiliary systems are positioned. They flow through the entire ship from this superstructure, allowing it various improvements on its capabilities," he explained which quickly took her attention.

"Oh? How do they do that exactly? And what kind of systems have been installed onto this Ship?" Yuubari questioned with intrigue, putting an index finger on her chin.

Kosuke however, shook his head negatively much to her confusion. "Sadly I'm unsure as to the specifics, one reason being that I haven't been able to access all of them yet due to various reasons. That and I'm not exactly the most tech-savvy person around." He admitted, and that wasn't really a lie. Since [Proto Satan] had been a ship he'd built within a videogame, he didn't have much of a clue about the deeper mechanics behind certain systems. He did know each of the Auxillary Systems on board though, he just didn't want to admit that for previously explained reasons.

That didn't mean that he knew nothing though, the evidence being the following explanation. "One of them, however, I've found is the auto-loading system, one which allows the Guns of my ship to be loaded with ammunition without the use of a large crew like in typical naval warfare... before Sirens and Shipgirls by the way. This one is so effective that it allows the Guns to rapid-fire like you must have seen during that last battle. They seemed to have been built for that purpose too since none of the barrels seem to have been morphed from the high fire rates." Part of him made the comparison between them and the instance of morphing of mortar barrels he'd heard during the second great feat of Leo Major when he held a certain hill under mortar fire.

"Huh..." Yuubari mused as she took this information in, her gaze once again having been drawn to the copious number of guns on the Main Deck. She HAD gotten a front-row seat to that little display and had had similar thoughts at the time, amongst one other thought as well. "That would make a huge ammo cache necessary for every Gun," she remarked, wondering just how much of a logistical nightmare this Ship could be if one wanted to fully arm it. With the copious amount of guns she could see JUST ON THE STERN SIDE, she could only imagine the number of different ammunition types it would require to fight effectively. "The maintenance for this must be a nightmare..." she mused to herself, bringing those thoughts out into the atmosphere.

Thoughts which Kosuke hummed in acknowledgment at. "It's annoying sure, but it's a lot less so thanks to some features which I'm able to use," he replied, pulling out his phone. "Some I can access on this thing with one being the option to salvage the enemy's wreckages. From what I have seen, [Proto Satan] has systems in place that scrap entire hulls for different parts, parts used either for future emergency repairs or to restore its ammo capacity." He revealed, shocking Yuubari when she remembered seeing a bunch of jellyfish-like robots after the recent battle headed out the ship towards the sinking wreckages.

'So THAT'S what those things were doing! salvaging for parts!' she realized internally, a brief shudder traveling down her spine at the memories resurfacing. She just BARELY had seen those things go to work on those damaged hulls, and every instinct she had as a Shipgirl had trembled at the rather methodical, yet somewhat violent way that those hulls got scrapped. She remembered seeing some bring back big lumps of junk that they took inside the ship itself just when she had entered the superstructure following Kosuke. It had almost made her consider this Warship like a vampire, scrapping its opponents and taking their parts for itself. 'If that's what happened, then provided one kept a careful eye on the ammunition supply within the ship then the fight time for it would be extended considerably...' she mused further. "Then what you did near the end, that constant shelling of the enemy when they retreated, it isn't something that one should do recklessly." she then said, remembering the mayhem [Proto Satan] had caused.

At this, Kosuke nodded in agreement, mentally thanking these strange new abilities he had for being as accomodating as they were especially his HUD. "Yup, luckily for me I have something that lets me know the amount of ammunition each gun has at all times, plus with the number of ships I've scrapped for parts and ammo it was safe for me to do so. Not going to be doing that too often though, I'm no idiot. No ammo for [Proto Satan]'s guns would leave me and him a sitting duck." he replied, trying to assure Yuubari of her worries, those worries having once been present within himself in the past. As in, during previous playthroughs of Naval Ops Warship Gunner.

These worries mostly arose during the final battles against the two strongest Superships in the game, super ships which were said to have weaponry that could wipe out an entire continent with their firepower. What was worse about this claim, was that it wasn't unfounded since just ONE of its weapons had been shown to wipe out an entire FLEET of Destroyers, Cruisers, and Battleships before they could get a single shell off. That weapon's ridiculous range, its wide firing path, and sheer destructive force resembled an oversized laser, one which nearly caused the ships to capsize upon impact. Thus, in one blast those superships could create an entire graveyard of destroyed warships... made him worry about what those weapons could do to people.

Internally, Kosuke speculated that it'd be like that Warhammer 40K universe one of his bros liked when people got shot by those 'atomizers those undead metal skeletons had.

He didn't like that though, not at all.

Not long after that, they moved on to another doorway that this time Kosuke opened, stepping through with Yuubari following suit. The reason why he did this instead of keeping her out was both due to compromising within himself, as well as for deciding that the sight may help him provide information to his companion.

Through this door, the duo stood on a small viewing platform seemingly within the Ship's Bow itself, not the biggest but not the smallest in terms of space either. The reason why this had been the case had been due to what lay below them: the massive long pole that jutted outward, going through a specially made hole that Yuubari quickly figured out the nature of. "Is this the Drill itself...?" She questioned, looking the device over as well as the complex-looking machinery keeping the Drill in place. Her inner researcher squealed in joy at the sight while excitedly trying to figure out the workings behind each mechanism.

"Yup," Kosuke replied, gripping the platform's railing for support as he leaned over slightly, eyeing the Drill and the machinery. "No idea why, but the emergency repairs weren't able to fix this thing so it hasn't been able to rotate. But on paper, it's meant to ram into things and drill through them kind of like a mining drill. It's because of this and the sawblades on the starboard/portside that this Hull was nicknamed a 'Drillship'." he explained, and this time there wasn't any need to omit anything.

As in, everything he had said had been the truth, no matter how many times he had initiated the Emergency Repairs function after the battles he had undertaken, the Drill and Sawblades just refused to activate. He figured that the problem was something only an engineer or shipwright would have been able to fix, but since he was neither of those there wasn't much else he could have done. He didn't omit any details this time due to Yuubari having seen the Drones go to work earlier so he bet she could figure the details out herself. She WAS a researcher from what he could remember, although he doubted she would be able to figure out the problems [Proto Satan] had and figure out the means to solve them.

Researchers and Engineers weren't the same in this case.

"...Could one of the reasons behind these forbidden areas be a previous battle that this vessel partook in?" Turned out that proof of his thoughts about her had been just around the corner, the moment the male mused when he heard his companion's words. It hadn't been a day yet and she had already sussed it out if those words were to be believed.

Glancing at her, Kosuke witnessed Yuubari looking at the various mechanisms and the Drill itself or, more specifically, the areas which seemed to sport cracks and dents in them which could have only come from being impacted by enemy fire. Of course, she'd notice those peculiarities, it would have been stupid to assume otherwise. As a Shipgirl, she would have been QUITE familiar with such signs of damage, so the moment she'd seen them it didn't take her long to figure out the root cause of many problems the Drillship faced. "...Yeah. Seems like this ship was damaged badly in a previous encounter, though I'm unsure of the specifics." He eventually admitted, sighing as he cast his gaze across the damaged Drill. "That encounter is the reason why this ship isn't using all its faculties, and why areas have been put off-limits, there's too much risk of things being made worse."

In his mind, Kosuke had to admit that as strong as [Proto Satan] was at full power, this could be the weakest state it had ever been in.

"I see..." Yuubari mused thoughtfully, cupping her chin. She didn't say much else at the moment before her eyes glanced over towards him. The Shipgirl then proceeded to ask a question that provoked a lot of questions inside Kosuke's mind. "Which kind of threat would be the most lethal to this vessel in your eyes?"

Upon hearing that, Kosuke entered a period of deep thought, crafting ideas and theories in that noggin of his before he found a list of threats forming within. Once it fully formed, the male glanced back at her and gave her his answer. "I'd say the biggest threat could be Submarines, as Aircraft and their Aircraft Carriers can be dealt with by the AA capabilities [Proto Satan] has. Among the still operating auxiliary systems, the Sonar hasn't been the most reliable, probably due to being slightly damaged. A Submarine assault may be the worst matchup for this guy..." he briefly tapped the railing to gesture to the large warship, the tapping sounds reverberating through the air. "Not only that but [Proto Satan] lacks depth charges to blow those things to kingdom come, instead of relying on a series of VLS systems that launch missiles instead. But that previous encounter rendered those systems inoperable, meaning that I and him would be sitting ducks against them."

The more he talked about it, the more nervous he felt at the thought of being attacked by Submarines. Back during his Warship Gunner days, he had seen Missiles as a more ideal way of dispatching submarines at a distance since they, alongside a certain feature, made dealing with them a piece of cake. Now though, without EITHER of those features Kosuke felt like [Proto Satan] had a COLOSSAL weakness against them, heck historically submarines had huge effects on surface vessels which further compounded their lethality.

If they were going to be traveling together, being wary of enemy subs would be a HUGE priority.

Yuubari didn't respond, having seen the more conflicting emotions which wrote themselves across Kosuke's face. To her, this may be the first time she had been able to see past that guarded facade of hers in the truest sense, and she could understand why. She hardly knew a thing about this guy but if there was one thing she DID know just from observing him it would be that he seemed quite attached to this Warship. "That makes sense. I will have to take point on submarine-related matters, we will likely have to try to flee from any we perceive while I drop my Seamines in our wake to delay them." she reasoned after thinking of what she could do to prevent them them them problems like this. In the end, she concluded that their best strategy would be to flee from them with the mines that she had on her ship being used as a delaying tactic. She had been commissioned with naval mines, and although back at her base there had been talks about giving her a Retrofit it hadn't gone through for some reason.

"Sounds like a decent strategy with what we have at the moment..." Kosuke eventually replied after he mulled that over for a moment. It wasn't the best solution and he could think of a bunch of problems that could surface from it, some that would occur during combat, but it wasn't like they had much they could use as an alternative. "In any case, how about I show you some of the more... entertainment-focused facilities in here? There's a few I found that I've been using to keep myself sane while aboard here." he eventually offered after shaking his head to rid his mind of those thoughts for the time being. There wasn't much he could do to change this situation so butting his head over it wouldn't do him any favors.

Yet at the mention of those said facilities, Yuubari's curiosity got piqued judging from how her ears perked up. "That does sound intriguing. Please lead the way." She told him, to which Kosuke did just that. The two of them then headed back through the doorway from whence they had come, leaving the Drill to its own devices... for the time being, anyway.

When it came to entertainment, Yuubari hadn't been sure what to expect. From what she had observed, this Ship seemed to have quite the unique set of attributes that made her assume that the same could be true for its entertainment facilities. She remembered once hearing how the Eagle Union had their Battleships outfitted with facilities like a pool or places for the crew to play card games, as in before those Ships became Shipgirls. This had been another contribution to her lacking what to expect from this Ship.

Still, when she was lead into the first room located deep within the Drillship's center hull, she gaped in surprise.

"This is the first one I found, welcome to my personal Gym." Kosuke declared, smirking widely as he stood in front of... well, what looked like a decently spacious room filled to the brim with different types of equipment.

Immediately, it became apparent to Yuubari that this room had Equipment meant for exercising and training one's combat skills from the looks of it, as Yuubari saw those bean bags those Eagle Union Boxers punched for training, there was a small section within the room's center for sparring practice, among other pieces of equipment. She could see a fridge to the back containing fresh drinks of water (something which Kosuke had shown after his declaration by opening and taking one bottle out) Off to the side she could see what looked to be an improvised obstacle course, one made from various pieces of training equipment like benches, swings, weights, etc. There was even a rack filled with different types of weapons, traditional Sakura Empire weapons to be exact for she could see Katanas, Naginatas, various polearms, fans, sickles, and the like.

"This is..."

"Yeah, not the standard thing one might expect in a Warship, eh?" Kosuke remarked, pretty much confirming Yuubari's unasked question whilst she looked around in sheer astonishment. She had seen that there had been some level of increased armor protection around the Warship's center, but she had thought that had been to better protect the Sawblades rotation systems not... this. "When I first saw this, I questioned the practicality behind it too. However, this place doesn't detract from [Proto Satan]'s combat ability, and it's attached to a smaller room to the side over there..." taking a pause, Kosuke pointed to the right which prompted Yuubari to look. There, she saw an open door which led her to see a smaller room, but one packed with various types of musical instruments. She could see guitars, flutes, recorders, drums, all kinds of stuff in there. "I like to call it a small studio where I can practice some singing, whereas this Gym can be used to perfect some dancing. This stuff combined with other forms of creative arts helped me massively in keeping myself occupied... when I wasn't keeping an eye out for Siren fleets."

Oh yeah, he LOVED these places, more so than what he had let on Kosuke believed. This Gym and the smaller studio with all the musical equipment was pretty much paradise to him. Sure it had been a bummer when he found there wasn't anything related to PS2 Gaming (or any gaming for that matter) around, but what he did have allowed him to at least keep himself occupied. On the days where there hadn't been any Sirens around Kosuke would spend his time within these two rooms either performing his daily exercises, something he refused to miss out on even for an instant (one time he had been doing his exercises when a Siren Fleet had shown up and started firing on [Proto Satan]. Didn't retaliate till after his exercises were complete). He hadn't been able to practice any of the weapons yet due to having relied more on his fists, but he did have the desire to one day.

Then again, pretty much anything could be a weapon in the right hands.

"Fascinating..." Yuubari mused to herself, taking in all the training equipment she could see. As impressive as all this was, she was a researcher and not someone who enjoyed combat very much... at least not as much as some of the bloodthirstier members of her kind (ESPECIALLY not like those in the combat-prone Ironblood. Combat was freaking part of their culture), so she didn't see herself spending a lot of time in this room if Kosuke even let her. Her time would probably be spent mostly on her ship keeping an eye out for Siren aggressors. Still, the way that he reacted to this place opened the path for her to find out some more about this mysterious male. "Do you play songs?" she asked him.

Kosuke nodded. "Yup. It was my secondary passion, tied closely with exercising and training myself. I'm not the best player in the world, but I can handle some songs out there." he remarked thoughtfully, having gazed at the studio's entrance during this time. The male then glanced towards the rest of the Gym, a small smile on his face when he remembered the copious amounts of time he had spent in here. "As for my other passion, training and exercising's been a thing since I was about 12 I think..." There were other reasons why he started working out back then but he wouldn't be going into that just yet.

"In any case, let's cut the tour short for now." After a few moments, Yuubari decided to get that sentence out, causing Kosuke to look back at her which prompted the Shipgirl to elaborate. "We both have our own things to do, and in my case, I wish to take the lookout shift for this afternoon. We can work out a schedule for both of us so that we are never caught off guard like this again. Sound fair?"

A second or two later, Kosuke nodded his head in response. "Yeah, that sounds decent. We can meet up either on your Ship or on mine to discuss it tomorrow. I've got some runs to do for my own vessel anyways after this." he replied, getting a nod from Yuubari.

"We will talk more on your ship tomorrow, the main deck should suffice."

"Got it."

With their morning meeting established, the Sakura Empire Shipgirl saw no need to stay any longer and departed from the Gym, leaving Kosuke to go back to her own vessel. She would sleep in the [Yuubai]'s Cabin which thankfully hadn't been... damaged before she had been found by her rescuer. In the Meantime, Kosuke himself decided to get some working out done before he would make his usual rounds throughout his Ship. They would likely start plotting a course tomorrow too, so he felt it necessary to run a few checks on [Proto Satan] before that happened.

It would be a long journey.

Chapter end.

Hey everyone, welcome to a new chapter. Not much happened here, mostly because I was trying to set up what the duo would be doing going forward, their situation isn't the most ideal. Plus I'm slowly learning to adapt to writing an Azur Lane fanfiction, which will help in the future. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing so far, really appreciate it.

A few things:

One, the type of world this is - I think that will be part of the mystery Kosuke will unravel instead of me outright stating it. To me, that feels like a better way to immerse oneself in the fic, plus it'll let me insert clues and hints to the bigger picture.

Two, whether the other Ships Kosuke designed in his game will appear or not, depends. Would anyone (others who expressed their desire to in the reviews) like to see the other Ships he built? Speaking of these Ships, what would you all say to me making a wiki for this fanfic that shows not only what these ships ACTUALLY look like, but also their weapon load-outs and list of auxiliary systems? Even their Blueprints so those with the first naval ops can build them for themselves? It'd help with understanding why these Ships are so powerful and versatile.

Three, whether or not the Sirens are the only threats in the oceans... well that remains to be seen. However, they HAVE hinted at something if one read the siren convo earlier.

Four, what's everyone's opinion on the recent northern parliament event which featured the commander as an actual character for the first time? I personally liked that, since if Mihoyo does more with the Commander as a character it could add more meaning to the relationships between said Commander and the Shipgirls. It's a fantasy of mine (I'm aware of what a commander's role is, but still) to have the commander take physical form and gain a rigging I could design myself like in Warship Gunner. Imagine, a Siren fleet comes waltzing into the Commander's territory and he pulls up with dozens of BB tier guns ready to fight alongside his wives and other Shipgirls.

Again, a bit of a slow chapter, hopefully, things may pick up in the future. Till then though...

PEACE OUT!