Night Watch…

"What a beautiful night" Akeno said to herself as she stared out the forward windows of the Harekaze as they sailed on the vast ocean. It was just her on the Bridge as nearly all of the crew were asleep in their quarters apart from those members of the crew assigned to the night watch.

"Permission to come on the Bridge?" asked a voice in slightly accented Japanese. Akeno looked round to see their new German companion slowly spin a cap in her fingers with a bit of nervousness.

"Yes" Akeno nodded. Mina, she preferred that to Mi-chan under most circumstances, came in through the port Bridge wing and stared at the otherwise empty area.

"Do you not have a full crew?" asked the girl.

"Yes, but with everybody so tired, I thought they could do with a rest. If I need them, I can always wake a few of them up"

"I see… Captain, I want to thank you for coming to my rescue and saving me. I realise that I was most likely rude when I stormed up here, but I was confused over what had happened"

"Its understandable" Akeno shrugged. "How are you settling in with Mashiro?"

"She has a very… large collection of soft toys" Mina smiled. "Apart from that, I am doing well with her I think. I came up here because I wanted to know what to do – a duty to perform"

"Um… Well, I think we have pretty much everything covered already" Akeno replied, checking her course on the gyro. "You were pretty good giving us advice evading that submarine… You can be our tactical advisor until we can help your ship"

"Thank you" Mina said. "Have you heard anything about the Spee?"

"No… We dare not radio anything because our transmission could be narrowed down"

"Yes" Mina said, looking out the windows to see little crests as the almost non-existent wind blew, "I was told by Mashiro that you are accused of mutiny. I have been aboard only a few hours, but I can not believe this to be the case"

"Bridge, Sonar… All is clear"

"Bridge, Radar… All is clear"

"Bridge, Radio… Faint commercial traffic but otherwise clear"

"Midwatch reports" Akeno explained to a puzzled Mina. "Would you mind steering for a moment? I need the bathroom and its easier to give it to you than to call somebody up here for five minutes. Last time I did that, Rin threw curry at me"

"What's so bad about that?"

"It was still in the tin" replied Akeno with a smile which the German girl returned.

"I would be honoured, Captain" Mina bowed from the shoulders and took the wheel. "Do I have any orders?" she asked.

"Steer 223 – cruising speed" Akeno paused at the starboard entryway. "Maintain course and speed… Steady as she goes"

"Steer 223, maintain speed – steady as she goes… Aye, Ma'am" Mina replied and nodded in confirmation. Akeno waited a moment before leaving for the bathroom one deck below the Bridge – wondering about both the Musashi and the Spee. The teen couldn't imagine what had happened to either of them, and she briefly wondered if the same thing had happened to the Instructor ship in their training exercise.

#

"This is easy" Mina said in a sort of chant. She wasn't used to being on a Bridge that had a single person on duty, but perhaps that's how they did things on Japanese Naval High School ships.

"I brought you a drink" Akeno's voice made Mina jump. The Captain was carrying two cups of hot chocolate – one of which she rested on the edge of the gyroscope.

"Thank you" Mina said politely. "Captain, which ship will we go looking for?"

"It depends on which one we find. Also, we must tell our school that we are not mutineers"

"I know we are operating under radio and electronic silence, but perhaps I could make a single call to my own school. I could tell my Principal and she could get in touch with yours to explain things"

"Would that not be too risky? Surely they'd pick out an odd signal in the middle of nowhere"

"You're right" Mina took a few sips of the hot chocolate.

"Anyway, if it comes to it, I'll surrender to the first people we see and sort it out from there" Akeno walked over to the front windows. "This is not how I imagined how I would start to be a Blue Mermaid" she said quietly.

"At least you have a ship for now" shrugged Mina. "For all I know, Spee could have sunk"

"Maybe, but we would have heard something by now" Akeno said. "The main issue is to get back in contact with our school's fleet and explain our side of the story"

"Bridge, Quartermaster"

"Go ahead" Akeno picked up a handset from the rear bulkhead.

"Captain, we've got issues with our supplies and fresh water tanks – recommend that we heave to and investigate more"

"Can it wait for a few more hours?" Akeno asked the crewmember she couldn't place at that moment.

"Yes"

"Then we will sort it out after we've had breakfast. Bridge out" and she replaced the handset.

"Something wrong?" Mina asked.

"That was the Quartermaster… Seems we're running low on water and some supplies. I'm not going to wake the crew up for that – they can sleep a few more hours"

"On the Spee, we would have turned the whole crew out – even in the middle of the night"

"Maybe that's why you are grumpy sometimes… you don't get enough sleep" Akeno let a small laugh escape her before finishing her drink and checking the compass again and correcting the course.

"Captain, may I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Why did you want to go through this and end up being a Blue Mermaid?"

"Because…" Akeno hesitated in a manner out of character for her. "Because I was on a ship that ended up sinking during a massive storm. I was with my mother and father when it started to really go down, and we jumped into the sea and were picked up by a lifeboat that had been launched. I looked around for my parents, but I never saw them again. They were right behind me but never jumped into the sea for some reason – their bodies were never found. I ended up living with Moka's family because she was my best friend growing up, and they took care of my parents' things for me. All I have left of them are a few pictures and good memories… Anyway, after seeing what the Blumers did to rescue us, I decided I wanted to pay them back by becoming one of them. I don't want to get any of my crew hurt, and now we're running for our lives!" and Akeno fell silent and attended her wheel. Mina, for her part, considered what she had been told carefully before resting a hand on Akeno's shoulder.

"I would be proud to serve alongside you" she said. "If it is permitted, I would like to finish the watch with you"

"Thank you" Akeno whispered and gave a half watery smile. Together, the two girls from different countries, but bound by the same love of the sea, helmed the Harekaze thought the night…