Mashiro's Duty and Honour…
Mashiro stared at the form on the bed before her, willing it to get up and hug her – but it never did. Misaki Akeno, Captain of the Harekaze, was dead in the Sickbay of her first and only command.
"I don't know if this will help you, but her death was most likely very quick indeed. I doubt she felt any pain at all" Minami said quietly.
"That's not much comfort" Mashiro said.
"Radio Room to Deputy Captain… Tenjin wants us to get the Captain and the wounded off – they say to scuttle the ship. They are sending boats over to help us" and a blind rage came over the girl.
"Reply to Tenjin 'Like hell!' and have the engine room ready to make best possible speed" Mashiro replaced the handset on its hook and crossed to the hatchway – turning slightly to look back. "Look after her"
"I will" Minami promised.
#
"Deputy Captain, Tenjin has ordered you to abandon ship and scuttle the vessel. If you don't comply, I'm ordered to assume command and arrest you" Kouko said as Mashiro walked onto the battered Bridge.
"Do you intend to carry that order out?"
"No, Ma'am"
"Good. Engine room, Bridge"
"Engine room"
"Maron, can you give me enough power to get back to the school"
"We'll get there even if I have to get out and push" came the serious voice of their Chief Engineer.
"Tenjin is moving to come alongside" Mei said, gesturing to their starboard side.
"This may end any chances I have of being a Blue Mermaid, but I will honour my Captain by bring her home aboard her ship. Kouko, please note in the ship's log that all actions from now on are my decision and that I am ordering the crew to do this"
"It is so noted"
"Weapons, can we turn the forward battery?"
"Yes" Tama said from the rear of the bridge.
"Good, turn the forward battery to starboard and train it on the Tenjin. All torpedo mounts towards the Spee. All hands to prepare to repel boarders. Rin, steer a course for home"
"Aye, Deputy Captain" the normally frightened girl said firmly. She was still in a daze from Akeno having been killed during the liberation of the Musashi, but fully agreed with Mashiro's intention of bringing her home aboard her own ship.
"Radio room; do not accept any communications from any of the ships in the fleet except Musashi and the Spee"
"I have just received a message from the Spee"
"Read it"
"It says 'Understand your intentions and request permission to form on your starboard aft quarter'. That's all they said"
"Tell them to do it" Mashiro allowed herself a small smile – Spee would ward off Tenjin from getting too close and trying to stop them with a training torpedo. "Helm, steady as she goes – maintain course and speed. Kouko, can you go around the ship and have the crew get ready to put on fresh uniforms when we dock? We should all be in our best uniforms when the Captain goes ashore" the teenager couldn't bring herself to acknowledge Misaki Akeno's death.
"Bridge, Engine room"
"Bridge"
"Advise we can put out full speed" Maron called out. "I might not have given her it now, but the Captain can have all thirty five knots"
"Thank you, Maron-San" and she turned back to look beyond the windows of the Bridge. "All available crew members to toss debris overboard then get changed into the fresh uniforms" she ordered.
"Tenjin is moving in front of Spee and is mustering a boarding party" the starboard lookout, Mashiro couldn't remember her name, called out.
"Very well" the older teen closed her eyes and sighed. "Tama, this is a direct order from me - fire a shot across the bow of the Tenjin. Radio Room, when it has landed in the water, alert the Spee that we'll be going to full speed"
#
All of the girls who could be spared dressed in their best uniforms and dressed the side of the ship as the Harekaze made its way to a berth back at the school. Standing on the Bridge, overseeing as much of the docking procedure as she could, Mashiro saw a number of officials from the Government, Akeno's adoptive parents, her own mother and older sisters and others from the school and medical facilities.
"Maron, can you spare any of your girls?" she called down to the Engine Room.
"Yes"
"Have one report to the Bridge on the double" and the Deputy Captain sighed in resignation. "Rin, both engines slow ahead – three degrees on the rudder" and the bow turned slowly. "Slow astern port engine – rudder midships" and the bow stayed where it was as the back of the ship slowly swung round. "Both engines to stop – prepare to cast lines to shore. Have the Captain ready to go ashore" and then, slowly and carefully, she removed her binoculars, patted them gently and then hung them back in their stowage case.
"Hirota Sora, reporting as ordered" an unfamiliar voice.
"One moment" Mashiro turned with a resigned look and sadness in her eyes. "Miss Nosa, as the most senior officer present, I present myself to you for arrest"
"Arrest?" Kouko blinked at the statement.
"It is for your own good, Kouko… By placing me under arrest and confining me to my cabin, whatever happened from the moment we got orders from Tenjin is only punishable to me. I've made a lot of bad mistakes, please allow me to make a right one" and Kouko nodded and gestured for Mashiro to be taken away.
"I hereby assume command of this vessel" Kouko said for the record. "Get the gangplank secured and have the Principal and other senior officials brought to the Bridge on the double" and as her orders were obeyed, the girl wondered why Mashiro was taking all of the blame. She could only guess that by doing so, it gave the others a chance of still becoming Blue Mermaids.
#
"I take it she is inside?" Mashiro's mother said to Hirota as she stood to attention.
"Yes, Ma'am… The Third Officer had her placed under arrest for mutiny, endangering lives, firing on an Instructor's ship and disobeying orders" the girl said.
"Very well… I'm going in to speak to her" and the woman opened the hatch and entered – closing it behind her as she stepped through. "After all I did to protect you when nearly the entire country thought this ship had mutinied, you go and do this"
"I obeyed the last set of orders that the Captain gave me" Mashiro stood her ground. "I was ordered to ensure the ship got back to harbour and that's what I did"
"The orders became invalid the moment she died"
"I do not believe so" Mashiro replied. "Although you might be correct legally, Akeno taught me that obeying orders to the letter and doing what one should do is not always the best option. Damage control said we had major flooding, but it was being held off for the moment, we had engine power and Harekaze answered her helm. Anyway, I don't believe it matters anymore" and Mashiro handed over a folded piece of paper to her mother. "Please read this" she requested.
Dear Principal Munetani,
I regret that I write this short letter to announce I am resigning my position at Yokosuka Girls Marine High School with immediate effect. The main reasons will be clear to you by now, but I feel I can not remain in a school where one is to be punished for doing one's duty. This will also save you the trouble of having one of your own daughters stand trial for ordering the Harekaze to open fire close to the Tenjin. I am sorry about how this has all ended, but I believe it is best for you, our family, the school and the ship. I thank you for the opportunity you have given me, and I promise to cherish and use the lessons you have given me over the years and the term I spent at the school.
Respectfully,
Mashiro Munetani
Deputy Captain
"Harekaze" Y-467
"You know that things will be difficult for you" her mother said. "You can not live on the base if you are not a student – where will you go?"
"I've asked Thea on the Spee and she's promised to get me a place on her ship as a transfer student" Mashiro said. "She was going to refuel here and then head for home, but they are going to stay a few days for Akeno's funeral. I'll collect my things from my room here at the school and get them onboard the Spee within a day"
"Very well" her mother took a deep breath and let it go slowly in an attempt to calm herself. "As the head of your school, I have to say I am disappointed in your actions. However, as your mother I want to say I am proud of you for sticking to your principles and for honouring your Captain by bringing her home on her own ship. I am proud to call you my daughter"
"Thank you" Mashiro tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"I know what you said in your letter to me just now, but I will not accept it until after the funeral. That way, you may attend the funeral service and command the Harekaze to and from the spot"
"Burial at sea?"
"It was in Captain Misaki's wishes should she die"
"She… She never said"
"Did you ever spend time with her as a friend?"
"No… I thought I should keep my rightful distance as Deputy Captain"
"Perhaps that was in error. Are you truly certain you wish to resign your place? Europe is a long way away by sea travel"
"Maybe Kouko's dreams will come true and somebody will invent heavier than air travel" Mashiro shrugged. "Thank you for the offer to command the Harekaze one last time, but I think I have done enough damage – I'd just like to resign quietly"
"I understand, Mashiro, but at least attend the funeral leading your class"
"Alright"
#
Moeka, Akeno's close friend and, seemingly, love, took command of the Harekaze as it sailed out in company of the Musashi and the Admiral Graf Spee to a point where they'd both seen Yamato years before. As the service was read out and the ashes scattered into the sea, Mashiro's mind was filled with regrets that she'd never been more friendly to the Captain, that she'd never tried to make friends with the crew…
"Just my bad luck" she muttered under her breath.
After the service was over, the trio of ships sailed back to harbour where she'd leave the Harekaze for the last time and turn over all of her uniforms and equipment to the school Quartermaster. It was a strange twist of fate, at least in Mashiro's opinion, that the Captaincy of the ship now seemed to be going to Kouko.
"You did the right thing, Deputy Captain" Rin said. She had come up behind where Mashiro stood on the bow as they sailed together.
"You shouldn't call me that" she told the younger girl.
"I know, but I still want to… Captain Misaki would be proud of you"
"You think so?"
"She taught me to stand up for my beliefs, even if they might be wrong to others"
"She did, didn't she? Do you think what I did was right?"
"I think you made a bad choice, but it was the right thing to do. I will miss you, Mashiro"
"And I you, Rin"
"At least you will have Mina on the Spee to keep you company"
"But it won't be the same"
"Can't you stay?"
"By resigning from the school, I save everybody's futures as Blue Mermaids" Mashiro suddenly reached out and hugged the girl. "I promise I will send emails to you and the crew as much as possible"
"It will not be the same, though"
"Things can never be the same"
"I wish they could be" and Rin looked out towards Japan and home. "I miss the Captain already" she whispered.
"I know"
"I was thinking of leaving too" and Mashiro looked sharply at the Chief Helmsman.
"Why? I thought you loved the sea"
"I do, but I don't know if I can like it in just the same way after this" Rin shook her head sadly. "The Captain was the one that held us all together whatever happened, she helped me to see that running away was sometimes the best option… You know there is a protest being organised to keep you here?"
"I thought the crew would have hated me after all the times I snapped at them" Mashiro snorted. "No, I have to leave the school for the good of everybody. I beg you not to leave and to carry on the work that Akeno did. I'm just sorry you are here"
"Why? What do you mean?"
"That you of all people should witness this" and, with that, Mashiro jumped over the side and into the waters. Rin watched as Mashiro jumped over the side, her body landing badly and making no attempt to stay afloat before she tossed over a life ring and started screaming for a man overboard. The moment she got to a phone, she called up the Bridge and told them everything that had happened and that she'd thrown over a lifering. Maron, on the Bridge due to a lack of senior officers on the ship with Akeno's death and Mashiro's resignation, ordered the engines to full reverse and all boats to be launched – signalling both the Musashi and the Spee that they may need their help.
#
"Why…" asked the Principal as she waited outside the hospital room where her youngest daughter was being treated.
"I would have thought it was obvious – she felt as if she couldn't cope with the pressures her family set on her" Kouko stood with an angry look on her face.
"How can you say that? I have supported her in everything…"
"Her Captain has just died, she's been chased round the seven seas accused of mutiny and sinking an Instructor's ship, she's been put in situations she should never have been in when the Blue Mermaids could have helped first… She felt that all of her honour was lost and this was her way out to regain it for you, the school and the ship"
"Do you know I have had to treat several of the crew for depression?" Minami spoke from the back of the room. "The loss of the Captain and attempted suicide of the Deputy Captain has badly shaken even the most solid of the girls. I recommend specialist help be brought in to deal with any mental trauma"
"I will discuss it and see if funds can be allocated"
"FUNDS BE DAMNED! Even I am emotionally compromised from what has happened lately… Mashiro was put in a position where orders given to her confused her, the crew was ordered to abandon ship and scuttle without any attempt to conduct a full damage check – she did what she thought was right, and, in that process, her mind told her that the only way to regain honour for the ship, crew and the school was to kill herself in some act of remorse and contrition" the Doctor was furious and had to be led away by Mei and Tama. The rest of the crew looked on in disbelief as they'd never heard her talk like that before to anybody.
"We didn't talk often, but the Deputy Captain sometimes said she felt pressure to live up to her family's ways and traditions – maybe the pressure was too much" Rin said.
"Yes… I am beginning to see that now" the Principal sat down in a chair and looked completely broken. "Perhaps I spent too much time at sea and not enough time at home" she added.
"What has happened has happened" Kouko said wisely. "The main thing is to get Mashiro better again and then we can see if she really wants to leave. If she doesn't really, then by the time the Harekaze is repaired and ready for sea once more, then she can be the Captain"
"I will make sure she is ready" Maron said. "It is the least that I can do for the Captain and Mashiro"
"If she does not want to be Captain, then I will take command" said Moeka from the doorway.
"You'd take a sort of demotion?" asked the Principal.
"Yes… Apart from letters, pictures gifts and memories, the Harekaze is the only thing I have left that was a part of Akeno's life" the girl replied.
"Madam Prinipal" a soft voice spoke from the slightly open door to Mashiro's room.
"Yes! How is my daughter?" she jumped to her feet.
"Recovering as best as can be expected when one considers the circumstances. Right now, she is sleeping as a result of the medication we have given her. Under the circumstances, I ordered a full report from the mental health team due to the fact she's mentally exhausted as well as physically. I also have a message for two people called Kouko and Maron"
"That's us" the pair said together.
"I was told to tell you to get the ship ready, though I do not know what that means"
"We do" Maron said. "Well, looks like we have a ship to repair so lets get to it" and as she watched the crew turn and leave back for the school's docks, the Principal wondered where she had gone wrong in her life.
"Are you alright, Ma'am?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes, more or less – I just stand in awe at the loyalty of her friends. It is like they are her family more than myself and her sisters"
"Didn't you know?" Kouko looked back over her shoulder as she left, "All comrades at sea are family. To be honest, Principal Munetani, I think you forgot to remember that"