Disclaimer: Kantai Collection belongs to Kadokawa Games and I do not own any right to it.


It was a hot mid-summer day, and the sun was shining fierce over the clear blue skies outside of the navel base.

Inside the base, a girl with long, blonde twintails wearing a black, light brown, and gray patterned serafuku with a MVP medal hanging from it sluggishly walked down the hall. Beads of sweat rolled down her face.

"It's so hot..."

Two hours ago, the base's air conditioner had given out. The maintenance crew was desperately trying to fix it, but it appeared that they were having quite a difficult time of it. In the meantime, everyone was suffering, and electric fans were in high demand.

Unfortunately, Abukuma didn't have one in her own room.

She thought about seeing if one of the other shipgirls would share, but then she remembered that the admiral had an electric fan in his office. As luck would have it, the admiral had left for a meeting earlier that day, and he wasn't due to be back for another two hours. Hatsushimo had also gone with him, so there shouldn't be anyone in his office right now.

With that thought in mind, Abukuma slowly made her way to the admiral's office and walked in.

Just as she had suspected, no one else was in there.

"I'll just use his office until he gets back~" She said to herself with a soft giggle at the end.

Abukuma started by opening up the windows to let the air flow before she looked around for the admiral's electric fan.

"...Eh?"

She looked portside and starboard side, under the admiral's desk, and even under Hatsushimo's desk, but the fan was nowhere in sight. Just as she was about to panic, she noticed a note lying on top of his desk. When she looked to see what it said, she did panic.

"Fueh!?"

On the note was written...

Self-Reminder
Requisition another electric fan.
Hatsushimo-san's broke, so I gave her mine.

"Admiral, you idiot! What am I supposed to do now!?"

Abukuma sighed as she sunk down into the admiral's chair, sweat rolling down her face. It was still possible for her to go ask someone if they could share their electric fan with her, but she didn't have the energy to get up and go find someone anymore.

"All of this sweat is messing up my hair..." She said as she twiddled with her bangs, a small pout on her face.

Then, Abukuma suddenly remembered that the admiral did have something that she could use. With a new goal in mind, she rummaged around in his desk drawers until she found a hand fan.

It's not as good as an electric fan, but it's definitely better than nothing!

She spread the hand fan, leaned back in the admiral's chair, and started fanning herself.

"Ah..." Abukuma let out a soft sigh of relief as the breeze hit her.

While it wasn't much, it still helped to alleviate the heat a bit.

"Hm? I'm really sweaty, aren't I?" She looked down at her top which was clinging to her skin, wet with sweat. "It's still pretty hot, too..." She pulled the collar away from her neck, trying to let some fresh air flow in.

"I wish I could just take it off..." Abukuma muttered, "but I'm in the admiral's office right now, not my own room. I'd die of embarrassment if someone saw me."

She looked around the room, which didn't have another soul in it aside from her.

It wasn't her room, but she was completely alone right now.

"...the Admiral said he wouldn't be back until around 1400 hours," Abukuma whispered as she looked up at the clock, which showed that it was just half past noon, "and there shouldn't be anyone else showing up before then..."

She nodded to herself as another bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. "It should be OK for just a little bit, right?"

She set the fan down and took a deep breath. "I'm only doing this because it's this hot." She told herself, using that as an excuse as she slipped her hands underneath her top and then pulled it off.

"Fuah..." Abukuma sighed as the air hit her bare skin, a sense of relief washing over her even as her cheeks reddened in shame.

"It's just for a little bit..." She told herself, setting her top down on the admiral's desk and picking up the fan again.

Abukuma leaned back in the admiral's chair, using the fan to cool her upper body as she let out a sweet sigh of relief.

"Yeah, this is OK for me."

Suddenly, there was a click.

Abukuma blinked and looked towards the door.

When she saw who stood there, her face went white.


A Few Minutes Before

"To think that the AC went out while we were away." Admiral Kuroda said, tugging at his collar as he and Hatsushimo walked back to his office.

"I thought it was quite fortunate that the meeting ended earlier than expected, but perhaps it would have been better if we had stayed away for a bit longer." Hatsushimo commented next to him, her blazer wrapped around her waist by the sleeves.

"The maintenance crew looked like they were giving it their all, so maybe they'll have it fixed soon. Hopefully."

"Should I bring the electric fan from my room to the office?"

"Ah, that reminds me, I still need to requisition another one for the office." Kuroda chuckled, just now remembering that he had even wrote a note to himself. "Yes, please."

"Then, I'll go get it after we reach your office."

Currently, Hatsushimo was helping Kuroda carry some folders that they had taken to the meeting.

"Thank you. Ah, here we are." He said as they reached his office. He opened the door, and just as he was about to let Hatsushimo step in, his eyes went wide in surprise.

"...!?" Hatsushimo's own eyes widened as well.

There, in the admiral's chair, at the admiral's desk, sat Abukuma in only a light blue bra. A fan was in her hand, and Kuroda could see sweat glisten against her skin as a single drop ran down in-between her modest breasts.

A heavy silence descended on the room in an instant.

A moment later, it was broken by the sound of the base's AC roaring to life.

A moment after that, and a girl's shrill, high-pitched cry could be heard across the base.

Abukuma hurriedly grabbed her discarded top and held it against her chest, her cheeks blazing red and tears forming in her eyes.

Admiral Kuroda averted his eyes and pulled his cap down over his face, his cheeks burning hot.

"A-Abukuma-san!?" Hatsushimo cried out, a blush on her face. "Ah!" She followed up with, turning to look up at the admiral. She hurriedly ushered him out the door and closed it behind him before she turned on the older girl. "Please put your clothes back on!"

"Y-yes!" Abukuma stuttered, doing as she was told and slipping her wet top back on. She winced at the dampness, but she had bigger concerns. Hatsushimo was standing in front of her now, her hands on her hips.

Abukuma could only shrink down as the younger girl started berating her.


Admiral Kuroda stood outside of his own office, his cheeks tinged red at what he had just seen.

Try as he might, he couldn't get the sight of Abukuma's half-naked upper-body, glistening with sweat, out of his head. The sight of her sitting there, with her usually well-kept hair plastered to her skin, and in nothing but her bra...

No! I need to stop thinking about that!

He told himself, but it was easier said than done. He tried thinking about something else, but the memory of what he'd just seen was too much.

Think... think...

Ikazuchi, Fumizuki, Zuihou, Hatsushimo...

Kuroda was trying to think of some adorable, and cute, destroyers (or light aircraft carriers) to get his mind off of Abukuma, but his cheeks reddened even further when he remembered what he had seen just yesterday.

Hatsushimo's panties.

Without warning, he slammed his head against the wall.

Just then, the door to his office opened up and Hatsushimo stepped out. "Hm? Admiral, is something wrong?"

Kuroda straightened his hat and stood straight up. "I'm fine. How did it go?"

"Hmm... I tried to go easy on her."

Hatsushimo reached behind her and pulled out what looked like a little puppy and set it before the admiral.

Of course, this 'little puppy' was a cowering Abukuma.

"Admiral... I'm really sorry..." Abukuma muttered, her face pale and several beads of sweat, unrelated to the heat, rolling down her cheek.

"I entrust that Hatsushimo-san told you to be more careful where you... undress, correct?"

"Y-yes...sir."

"In that case, don't let it happen again, and go get something cold to drink. Understood?"

"Y-yes...sir!"

"Dismissed."

Abukuma bowed her head and quickly scampered off.

Admiral Kuroda and Hatsushimo watched her go and then they both shared a sigh.

"I can't believe that she actually did that..." Hatsushimo said.

"Yes, well, it's quite a hot day today, isn't it?" Kuroda said, scratching his cheek as he looked down at the girl by his side. She looked back up at him, and he caught sight of a bead of sweat rolling down past her collarbone where her shirt was unbuttoned.

His cheeks reddened again and he looked away, prompting Hatsushimo to tilt her head questioningly.

"Admiral?"

"I-it's nothing."


Author's Note

I've been writing this story while listening to the song "Farewell, Pride!".

Thank you very much for the reviews!

To rou(period)alex: Fusou would be interesting to write with her bad luck. It sounds like it'd be fun to mess with her~

To mattguellec: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I may go back to chapter 1 soon and extend the omake. I had, like, two other omake in mind to add to it. I try to pay close attention to the shipgirls' quotes when writing them, so I'm glad that they got your approval.

Wakaba, hm? One of Hatsushimo's big sisters. I'll have to look into it!

Moving on, I'll keep a track of the 'votes' here in the Author's Note.

Fusou: 1
Wakaba: 1

I may already have a shipgirl in mind for the next chapter, but I should be able to write one of the voted-for girls in the 4th! Please look forward to it.

Finally, I'll be moving the Omake to after the Author's Note.

Enjoy!


OMAKE
Abukuma and Aoba

Abukuma dejectedly walked down the hall, hiding her face with her hands.

I can't believe... that the admiral came back so early... and saw me like that...

Now that she could think clearly, her face was red all the way to her ears.

I don't think I can look him in the eye ever again.

To say that she was embarrassed would be an understatement.

Ugh... what should I do? The admiral was definitely embarrassed, too!

She'd seen how the admiral had blushed and looked away from her.

Does that mean he finds me attractive, at least...? Should I be happy about that? Geez, I don't know!

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

...I just want to hide in my room and never come out again.

"Hm? Abukuma-san?"

Abukuma looked in front of her and saw Aoba standing there, a pen and notepad in her hand.

As soon as she saw her, she got a bad feeling.

"Aoba-san...?" The trepidation was evident in her voice.

Aoba took a step closer, a dangerous glint in her eye. "Pardon my intrusion, but did something happen? Please tell me about it! I'll listen to any of your worries!"

A cold sweat ran down Abukuma's cheek. "N-no, no, everything's OK with me!"

"Please! Just a few words!"

"Nothing happened, OK!?"

"Ah, so something happened?"

"No!"

"Come on, what is it, what is it~?"

"I'm sorry, but please excuse me!"

"Ah! Abukuma-san!"

Aoba watched Abukuma-san run away, but she didn't pursue. She pouted a little, but she decided that what happened must be something that Abukuma didn't want to talk about.

"Hmm... I wonder if the admiral would know anything about it." Of course, that wouldn't stop her from pursuing other leads.