With the Kanmusu Strike-Force:
After the girls had fully healed from their wounds, they'd packed up and left with the first light, as the Abyssal base slowly burned in their wake.
They sailed North West, passing Hong Kong as they moved along the coast of China, well within what, before the war, could have been considered 'National Waters'. Luckily, the Admiral's friends in the Diet had mostly smoothed things over with them beforehand, managing to paint the combined fleet as a coalition relief force, which in many ways they were, although with an ulterior motive.
There weren't any Abyssal contacts on the way, aside from the occasional pack of Destroyers, easily taken out before they entered engagement range due to Iowa directing the Battleship's fire. Any major combatants in the area would have probably either sunk or fled already as they had approached Dongsha.
The Kanmusu fleet sailed into the Qiongzhou Strait that afternoon, the Chinese port city of Haikou stretching out before them as they tiredly cruised toward the nearest windbreak. The wind had been kicking up, ever since early morning, and the fleet of Kanmusu had been buffeted continuously ever since by large waves slapping against their hulls as they cut through the choppy waters.
They'd radioed ahead, of course, and the port authority had been given ample time to prepare for the inbound ships. The harbor was packed, the by-product of too many fishing boats and too few safe places to fish. The wooden and steel craft alike were nonetheless well maintained despite (or perhaps because?) of their inactivity, long red and yellow banners whipping in the heavy winds, blue hulls freshly painted by their owners. There was a single steel-hulled Luyang Destroyer moored in the artificial harbor, one of the few surviving modern military vessels from the Month of Blood.
"Hey, who is that?" Inazuma said, tugging the black sleeve of Tenryuu's jacket, before pointing at the vessel.
Tenryuu squinted, looking at the Chinese ship, "... I dunno kid, she looks new, way before our time, anyway."
Nagato, cruising nearby, overheard and looked over. Sparing the Akatsuki a warm smile, Nagato answered the question, "That would be Haikou, a Luyang-two."
"Uhm, isn't that the name of the city?"The Destroyer asked, somewhat shyly, to the Battleship.
Ikazuchi piped up then, pumping the air with a fist, WOW! She had a whole CITY named after her?! She must be awesome!"
"...I'm fairly certain she was named after the city, Raiden, not the other way around," Kongou said, putting a hand to her forehead and squinting ahead as a trio of women exited the same enclosure as their more modern, Steel-Hulled peer.
Iowa put a hand to her hip, "Huh, looks like the Chinese scrambled some of their Kanmusu for a welcoming committee!" She waved at the ships, grinning widely, "looks like a Light Cruiser and some escort Destroyers..." Iowa pause, looking at the Cruiser more carefully, "Hey, Yuubari, that one has the same Tripod mast you do!"
Yuubari, having been occupied with the Destroyers, looked over.
Her face drooped, "Oh... shit," ignoring the gasps at her cursing from the Akatsuki's, Yuubari quickly fled, hiding behind a suddenly confused Shinano, who had been talking to the other Carriers.
The Chinese Shipgirls finally came within easy talking distance, the Cruiser coming ahead to stand in front of Nagato, who had moved forward to meet her.
The woman didn't look Chinese, possessing the features of a Japanese ship, though her dress was a variation of the traditional Chinese Qipao, bright red contrasting sharply with her greenish-grey hair.
Nagato bowed lightly, before saluting "I was not expecting to see you here, Ning Hai, I thought you were still stationed in Sanya?"
The Kanmusu simply nodded at the Japanese Battleship politely, "Nǐ hǎo, Nagato-San. I was, until recently, but pirate activity has slackened significantly in the past weeks, so the Admiralty wished for me to be stationed here temporarily, along with Chien Kang and Yu Chang here," she gestured back, to where two blond-haired, practically identical Destroyers stood, somewhat nervously, behind her.
"Showing the flag, I presume?" Nagato ventured.
The Light Cruiser nodded again, a small frown on her face, "Yes, for what good it does, the government is... uneasy, at your presence here, I'M uneasy at your presence here." She nodded her head towards the Carriers, "Especially hers."
Nagato spared a glance back, to where Kaga stared at the Chinese ships impassively, face an inscrutable mask. She turned back, "Kaga is an ally now, as am I, you know that, no matter your history with her."
The Cruiser paused for a long moment, before letting out a long sigh, "Hmmph, doesn't mean I have to like her, but yes, in this we are allies once again, you clearing our shores makes that quite clear, and I'm sure the Destroyers will get along, at least, so there's that." She paused then, looking back towards the Carriers before squinting, "Is... is that my mother hiding back there?"
Shinano's eyebrows rose to her hairline, meeting Ning's gaze for a moment, she pointed at herself dumbly.
Ning Hai raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head.
Shinano turned to look back at the Cruiser hiding behind her massive hull, who, now bereft of her Carrier-camouflage, cruised out from behind her embarrassedly, "Hi Ning Hai, it's uh, good to see you again?"
The Destroyers, having overheard, gasped loudly, "You're a mom!?" Yayoi practically shouted at Yuubari, who for her part was doing a very good impression of a tomato.
She hung her head, bringing a palm to her face as she slumped, "I was the testbed for the Ning Hai-class, a pair of Light Cruisers made by agreement by China and Japan, a lot of the experimental equipment that went into me was refined and used on them, and Ning Hai here was made in Japan, before all the... unpleasantness."
Ning Hai's expression soured briefly, her red hair-ribbons flapping like startled birds in the wind, "'Unpleasantness', yes, mother, lying on the bottom of the Yangzte river IS quite unpleasant. Thankfully I wasn't under for very long." Yuubari winced as the slightly shorter Cruiser turned back to Nagato, who herself had a slight frown, "My apologies, talking about it still riles me up, now, I assume that you came for the re-supply?"
Nagato struggled for a moment at the abrupt change of subject, but quickly schooled her features, "I was not informed of this, we merely wished to bed down for the night at whatever establishment was available."
Ning Hai's expression became slightly puzzled, "I was told by my Admiral that you would require supplies, several of the local fish plants were warned you were coming. They have been cooking seafood, non-stop, for days."
"Someones trying to leave a good impression, it seems," Kongou said slyly, "the best way to a Kanmusu's boiler is through her holds ne!"
"Well, regardless of the details, it would be appreciated if we could get out of this damn wind," Iowa said, bobbing with everyone else as a particularly large wave passed them by, "I wouldn't doubt it if it started raining too!"
Ning looked at the sky, squinting, "It was giving light drizzles for later on today, last I checked," she turned to the fleet, "very well, the details can wait for later, for right now, let me lead you to where you will be staying for the night," the Light Cruiser turned towards her escorts, before pausing, "oh," She turned back, and gave a small bow, "and welcome to Hainan, please don't mind the mess."