"Ah… It's a simple thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It's all I could get, but I think it fits."

"I agree."

Akagi and Drake stood atop the grassy cliff that overlooked the sea. In front of them and placed just before the edge of the precipice was a small, white obelisk. It did not have anything engraved on it, but everyone knew the meaning of it regardless. Behind Drake and Akagi was the rest of Drake's fleet, and everyone was now out of the hospital. Shigure was still in her catatonic state, but she was in attendance regardless, supported by her two sisters.

The sun was setting on that summer day, and the sea in the distance appeared as a shimmering obsidian against the backdrop of the red and orange sky. Drake turned to face the fleet.

"All right, everyone. Thank you for coming," he started a bit unsurely. "Our fleet hasn't really met together like this since before the operation, and much has changed since then. We lost a lot of good soldiers during the last fight, and some of you may think that it's your fault or that it's my fault or whatever, but that's not why we're here today. Regardless of how you feel about the battle, people still gave their lives for our cause, and it's important that we remember them."

He paused briefly. "In particular, our fleet lost its flagship, Kaga… As you all saw before the operation, I'm not good at giving speeches, so I won't bother with that today. All I'll say is that Kaga was an important part of our fleet, and that she was important to me personally as well. I'm not one for grand ceremonies and Kaga wasn't either, so we're just going to keep this brief. All I ask for is a moment of silence."

Drake then turned back to the obelisk. The vast ocean stretched out behind it, and a cool breeze sailed through the air. She's somewhere under those waves, huh? If I go out on those waters again, will I feel her with me?

His throat tightened as he continued to stare out at the sea. He turned his eyes back to the obelisk, and he saluted it.

After a few moments, Drake went up to the obelisk and pulled something out of his pocket. He tied the blue ribbon Houshou had given him around the obelisk, then let out a small breath and turned back to the fleet.

"Okay. That's really all I wanted to say. Thanks, everyone."

He started to walk away, but before he could go, Shoukaku grabbed him by the arm.

"Admiral… Are you really leaving?"

Drake's gaze fell. Earlier when he had sent out the message to meet at this spot at this time, he had also told the fleet that he was being reassigned. He didn't want to do it in person because he wanted this moment to be about Kaga's memory, but he supposed there was no way to avoid it after all.

"... Yeah. I don't have a choice. I can't disobey my orders."

"But… Why?" Murasame asked with a sad frown.

Yamakaze then shoved Shigure onto Murasame and rushed at Drake, clinging onto his leg. "No! You can't leave!"

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do," he apologized as he softly patted her green hair.

"But it doesn't make sense!" Zuikaku protested. "Who's gonna replace you? Who else knows how to command ship girls aside from the admirals on this base? We can't lose both our secretary ship and our admiral! It's not fair!"

"The world isn't exactly a fair place," Shiranui replied coolly. "What do you expect him to do? Tell his superiors that they can go and shove it?"

"I'll mess 'em up for you if you want, sir," Suzuya offered, cracking her knuckles.

"Yeah, that would definitely solve the problem," Drake said sarcastically, smiling a bit in spite of the situation. "I'm sorry, but those are my orders. I wish they weren't, but what can I do?"

Bismarck stepped forward. She was not wearing her usual outfit and instead wore a German officer's uniform, probably because she was supposed to go back to Germany today. With an angry look on her face, she roughly grabbed Drake by his shirt.

"Why don't you just tell them you don't want to go?" she demanded to know. "You don't have the guts for it, do you?"

Scowling, Drake grabbed her hand and forced it off him. "It's not a question of guts, you -"

His words died in his throat when he noticed that Bismarck's hand was trembling in his own. He could see tears of frustration begin to well up in her eyes, but she quickly jerked her hand free and stomped off.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Drake called after her. "I didn't hear you saying shit to your admirals when they told you to go back to Germany!"

What does she want from me? Why is she so hard to understand? Drake thought.

"I'm sorry, sir. I am sure she is just frustrated," Haruna told him. "We all are… I did not expect that you would be leaving like this…"

Drake sighed in defeat. "I know… I didn't want to leave like this either. But I'll be back. It doesn't have to be permanent."

"Really? You'll come back?" Yamakaze asked.

"Yeah. I just don't know when…"

"Well, if you don't come back, maybe we'll just go over to America and drag you back ourselves," Zuikaku grinned.

"Pearl Harbor Part II, huh?" Drake smirked. "Don't worry. I put a lot of time and effort into this fleet, and I won't let it go to waste. I'll be back. I promise."

"Then we'll hold you to that, sir," Shoukaku said as she saluted.

The rest of the fleet saluted him as well, and Drake returned it. I'll miss this place…

He said his final goodbyes to the fleet and then began walking towards the docks. Some IJN sailors had already been conscripted to handle Drake's luggage, so he could just head over now. He didn't come to Japan with much in terms of personal effects, and so his packing was fairly light.

He got to the docks and saw the familiar battleship that would take him back to his new assignment in America. He didn't know exactly where he was going yet, but the ship would dock in San Diego first. Since Van Dyke had given him a week's leave in between assignments, Drake would then disembark and fly over to the East Coast and visit his family for the first time in a while. After that, he would head to JFK International Airport in New York City where someone from the navy would meet up with him and head to the new deployment area.

I wonder if the fleet will be all right when I'm gone. What if they were sent out to sortie in his absence? Would they be split up? Would they get a new commander? What if their new commander was incompetent? What if some of them sunk?

Or what if they got a new, better commander, one who wouldn't make the kind of mistakes Drake made back at Okinawa?

He quickly chased those thoughts from his head; it would do him no good to torture himself like that. All he could do now was focus on his next assignment and impress Admiral Van Dyke enough so that he could come back to Japan one day.

Drake stood at the foot of a long, winding driveway that led up to a fairly large house at the top of a hill. The sleek black military car that dropped him off drove away a few seconds later, leaving Drake alone with his luggage. Sighing at the prospect of making the long trek up the driveway, Drake nevertheless grabbed his suitcase and slowly began hiking up. He was back in civilian wear, which consisted of khaki pants and a black long-sleeve shirt. It was fairly hot out, so he was regretting his choice of clothing now, especially since he had to climb all the way up the driveway.

When he finally made it to the top, he took a moment to catch his breath before knocking on the front door. Seconds later, a portly man with a strawberry-blond beard and hair opened the door. He was shorter than Drake by a couple inches, and his blue eyes lit up when he saw him.

"Well, well! Look who it is!" the man cheerily greeted, patting Drake on the back. "You're early, eh? You should've told me, I could have picked you up from the airport."

"The navy already set up a car for me, so no need," Drake said as he stepped inside the spacious foyer and took off his boots.

A woman with black hair and brown eyes then walked in, smiling when she saw Drake.

"Oh, Richard! You're early," she said in a slightly-accented tone, echoing her husband's sentiments.

"I guess I am," Drake nodded to her.

"You look tired. Are you hungry?" his mother asked, patting his hair.

"No, I'm fine," he replied, ducking out of her reach. He was well into his twenties by now, but his parents always treated him like a child regardless.

Another man then stepped into the foyer. He was about the same height as Drake, and he had brown hair and blue eyes.

"Hey! There he is!" the man called out loudly when he saw Drake. He had a much more pronounced British accent than Drake's father. "Didn't expect to see Uncle John here, did you!"

"I did not, no," Drake replied, staggering a bit as his uncle clasped him by the shoulders.

"I came back from England just to see my heroic nephew! Great, right?" he excitedly nodded.

"He's been here for three days now and has been making a ruckus ever since," Drake's father rolled his eyes.

"Stuff it, Brady. What's wrong with some enthusiasm?"

"It's annoying, that's what's wrong with it."

"That's rich. The guy who stays up til midnight watching soap operas and blaring the volume for the whole house to hear shouldn't be calling others that."

"Soap opera?! It was a sporting match!"

Drake's mother ushered Drake away as the two continued to argue. "Why don't you go put your suitcase in your room? I'll make you something for lunch afterwards."

Drake just nodded and headed upstairs. He opened the door to his room and found it pretty much the same as he had left it. It was fairly barebones, with nothing inside but a bed, some drawers, a wall-mounted television and an Xbox. There was also a bookshelf, mostly lined with textbooks or history books about military campaigns or the like. Drake slid his suitcase into the corner of the room, not really feeling like unpacking just now. Instead, he went back downstairs, where his dad and uncle were still embroiled in their pointless argument.

Guess that hasn't changed either.

Uncle John was not related to Drake by blood, and he was the husband of his father's sister. Both John and his wife lived in England and were often away for business, but John occasionally liked to come over to America to visit Drake's family as well as his own daughters, who actually went to a prestigious private high school nearby. They went to school in America because their parents were away for business so frequently that it was decided that it would be better if they were at least nearby other family members, especially since Drake's parents rarely ever went anywhere.

As Drake sat silently at the island countertop in the kitchen, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was nice to be back home after being abroad for so long, but the circumstances were not what he hoped they would be. He was coming back with the weight of death and defeat on his back, and to make things worse, he had left his fleet alone back in Japan.

Was it really all right to leave them like that? He asked himself, though he knew that realistically, he didn't have a choice if he ever wanted to see them again.

He also thought of Bismarck. We left on such bad terms… Why does this sort of thing always happen with her? I wonder if I'll ever see her again…

His mother placed an omelette on a plate in front of him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You should eat, Richard. You look like you've lost so much weight!"

I thought I told her I wasn't hungry, he sighed to himself. Nevertheless, he picked up the knife and fork and endeavored to finish the food anyway.

As he chewed the omelette, the familiar taste he associated with home filled his mouth. Sometimes it felt so far away. He recalled the battle at Okinawa and his close combat with the Ne-class, and how he had almost died and would have never been able to taste his mother's cooking again.

Well, I guess I am glad I'm still alive, even if it's just for moments like these… But what about those who died during the battle? The men on those destroyers? They'll never be able to go home again.

He forced himself to think of something else. As he finished the omelette, he looked out the window and towards the green grass and trees that surrounded the house. The house was in the suburbs and was in an out-of-the-way area, so it was fairly quiet and isolated most of the time. Having to go up that long driveway just to reach the front door could be annoying at times, but given the privacy they had, he supposed the tradeoff was a good one after all.

Drake then walked to the living room, where his father and his uncle were now animatedly chatting about something else, their previous argument apparently forgotten.

"So, Rich! What's the plan for today?" his uncle asked excitedly.

Drake shrugged. "I don't know. I was just going to sit in my room and watch TV or something."

His father and uncle gave him flat looks.

"That's what you're going to do after coming back to civilization?" his father asked with disbelief.

"I wasn't away from civilization…"

"Oh, that's right! Did you bring us any souvenirs from Japan?" his uncle asked.

"Uh… No."

"Bloody hell. What kind of a nephew are you!" Uncle John grinned, slapping Drake on the back. "Anyway, if you don't have anything to do, why don't you go over and pick the girls up from school? I'm sure they'd be happy to see you."

"I haven't seen them in a while, though," Drake said.

"So? It's not as if they've forgotten who you are," his uncle scoffed. "Here. Take my car."

Drake caught the keys that his uncle tossed at him. Guess I don't have a choice now.

"I told them I would be there at around three, so better get going," his uncle slapped Drake on the back once more.

God damn it… Drake sighed as he left the house and unlocked his uncle's car. He used to be pretty close to his cousins when they were younger, but ever since he left for college and then joined the navy, he hadn't been home as often as he used to be, and now they had mostly grown up. He supposed it was the same with Lira, but he actually saw her more often now that they were both in the navy.

As he drove towards the school, he marveled at how quiet and peaceful the roads were. His recent experience with cities had been Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London, so coming back to a small, almost-rural town like this one was a welcome change for now. The roads did get a bit busier when he got closer to the academy, but it was still manageable. He pulled in beside the school and parked the car away from the school buses and other students, lazily resting his arm on the windowsill as he waited for his cousins to arrive.

He watched the students walk by, all of them dressed in the same, prim uniform with a tan blazer and dark blue slacks or skirts. They laughed and chatted with each other as they strolled through the campus, carefree looks on their faces. Drake felt that if he stayed here for too long, he could almost forget that there was even a war going on.

Nah, like that would ever happen, he thought bitterly. No amount of innocence or ignorance would change the fact that people died and were dying because of the Abyssals, something that Drake had tried and failed to stop. While he was sitting in in a pretty private school campus, civilians in Okinawa were being killed by Abyssals, and those who had fallen in battle were festering away at the bottom of the ocean.

What the fuck am I doing here? Drake grew frustrated. How can I get revenge this way? How can I atone this way? I'm such a waste…

He forced himself out of his dark thoughts when he saw two familiar faces in the crowd. Two blonde girls of about the same height approached the car. They had sparkling blue eyes like Drake's father and Lira, and they shared their fair skin as well. The two of them looked incredibly similar to each other, and even Drake, who knew them for years, mainly told them apart because one of them wore her hair in a ponytail while the other wore it down.

Drake started up the car again as he waited for the two to get in. When they got closer to the car, they paused and squinted upon seeing someone unfamiliar inside.

"Forget me already?" Drake asked, rolling down the window.

The one with the ponytail, Eli, blinked with surprise. "Oh, it's Rich? You're back already?"

"Ahoy, sailor!" the other, Alisa, greeted with a salute. Like her sister and unlike Drake, she had a refined British accent.

"Yeah, whatever. Just get in," Drake said, shaking his head.

"I didn't know you would be back today," Eli said as Drake drove away from the academy. "Dad said it would be another few days at least…"

"I didn't really know when I was going to be back either, so I just told him my best guess, which turned out to be wrong," Drake admitted.

"So, have you got any good war stories?" Alisa asked excitedly as she leapt out of the backseat.

"No, but I have plenty of good stories about annoying little girls who died in car accidents because they didn't wear their seatbelts," Drake chided her as pulled on her cheek.

"O-Ow!" Alisa cried out as she went back to her seat and put her belt back on. "And I'm not a 'little girl.' We're starting senior year now!"

"Wow, impressive," Drake droned sarcastically.

"Did you see Lira?" Eli wondered.

"Yeah, I did. I also saw her father, unfortunately."

"Uncle Reginald? Dad was ranting about him again a couple days ago," Alisa added.

"Not surprising," Drake muttered. Reginald Snowbrook sure knew how to piss people off.

They arrived at the house shortly afterwards, and as Drake drove up the long driveway, Alisa asked him again about the war.

"Hey, is it true what they're saying about the battle in the Pacific?" she questioned. "The news said the international fleet was defeated. There's got to be another side to the story, right?"

"I don't know what to say. It's pretty much the truth," he answered honestly.

"You mean you actually lost?!" Alisa cried out in disbelief. "Come on, Rich!"

"Hey, don't blame him," Eli said to her sister. "He's got to have people above him who are in charge and do most of the planning. I doubt he was the reason they lost the battle, right, Rich?"

"Yeah…"

Drake followed behind his cousins as they went into the house. His uncle greeted the two girls when they entered, and they began talking about something as Drake's dad joined in. Though Drake was watching, he wasn't listening. His thoughts kept drifting away to the Tokyo Bay Base, and he was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake by not putting enough resistance when Fleet Admiral Van Dyke reassigned him.

He was glad to see his cousins again, and he did feel at home here, but every time that warm feeling fluttered inside his chest, the dark memories resurfaced, as if to remind him that he didn't deserve this. He had broken so much and fixed nothing, and yet here he was, away from the battle and away from danger. His ship girls would continue fighting and dying without him, and he would be left behind, a bystander in the war he had devoted so much of his psyche to.

"... I'm bored," Amatsukaze said lethargically. She was lying on a bench at the Tokyo Bay Naval Base, one of her legs dangling off as she stared up at the sky.

Fubuki was standing nearby, sipping from a ramune. "We could go training again?"

"Fuck training," Amatsukaze replied.

"What a hard worker," Shiranui sarcastically noted from where she sat on the next bench over.

Asashio, who was sitting next to Shiranui, stood up. "Amatsukaze, you mustn't say things like that! What would the Admiral say if he came back and saw the state of our fleet?"

"Are you stupid? He's not coming back," Amatsukaze glared at her.

"Yes he is! He promised, remember?" Asashio shot back with a glare of her own.

"Um, maybe we shouldn't fight about this," Fubuki feebly cut in. "It's only been a week since he left, after all…"

"Yeah, and our fleet hasn't done shit since then," the silver-haired destroyer said, sitting up. "We've received no new orders, and our command structure is nonexistent. Shoukaku told us that we should be practicing on our own, but that's the extent of the guidance we've received."

"You shouldn't need to be told anything more. You're a ship girl, aren't you?" Asashio pushed.

"Sure doesn't feel like it," Amatsukaze grumbled. "What good are we if we just get our asses handed to us in the first big battle? We literally lost a piece of our country to the Abyssals. How can we call ourselves warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy and still take ourselves seriously?"

"You sure are optimistic today," Shiranui observed.

"And you're as dour as usual," Amatsukaze parried.

Shiranui shrugged. "Well, I can't disagree with you, I guess. The Admiral isn't coming back, and as we are now, we can never defeat the Abyssals if they get serious again. It's a hopeless situation."

"T-That's not true," Fubuki tried to deny. "If we train harder -"

"Then what?" Shiranui cut her off. "You know as well as I do that no amount of training is going to put us on the level of a Princess. We'll be slaughtered in our next engagement, so why waste time training?"

Fubuki's look turned to one of anger, but surprisingly, it was Amatsukaze who stood up and broke up the argument.

"All right, that's enough for today, don't you think? No more of that talk."

Fubuki and Shiranui quieted down, and the group fell into silence once more.

"Maybe we should pay Shigure a visit in the hospital," Asashio suggested. "Anything is better than just sitting here, right?"

"Sure, I guess," Amatsukaze half-heartedly agreed.

The group of destroyers began walking towards the base's hospital, where Shigure was still being held in her catatonic state. When they went up to the room where their injured comrade was, they found Yamakaze and Murasame there, as they often were.

"Oh, hey, girls," Murasame greeted with a smile.

"Good morning. We came to visit," Asashio saluted.

Murasame sighed as she looked at Shigure. "Unfortunately, she's still the same as usual."

Shiranui peered over at the lifeless-looking destroyer. "So, have they said what they're going to do with her?"

"W-What are they going to do to her?" Yamakaze asked, frightened.

"I don't know. I'm the one who asked you," Shiranui replied.

"We haven't heard anything," Murasame shook her head. "I hope they don't scrap her or anything…"

"That would never happen! The Admiral wouldn't let it!" Yamakaze cried out, not wanting to accept the idea of her sister being dismantled.

"Ugh, the Admiral is gone. It's better to just forget about him," Amatsukaze said.

"No! I won't…" Yamakaze refused, though her voice trailed off at the end and her green eyes were not very optimistic.

"But he'll be back, right?" Murasame asked worriedly.

"Who knows. But you know how things are in war, Murasame. Would you expect an officer who failed to defeat the enemy in such a fashion to ever come back to the frontlines?" Shiranui posed the question.

"Yeah, but… This war isn't like World War II," Murasame said. "There's not many people who know how to use ship girls, and Admiral Drake still had his victories too. His command sunk three Princesses."

"Maybe you're right. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't count on his intervention," Shiranui concluded.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. No one wanted to talk about the past battles, but no one wanted to talk about the uncertain future either. Though nobody wanted it to happen, they could all feel the solidarity of their fleet slowly beginning to crumble as each day went by. They had lost both their admiral and their secretary ship, and the remaining members didn't know how to fill those holes.

Suddenly, the doors to the hospital room were flung open, and a couple naval officers along with a flurry of engineers stormed inside. They quickly strode over to the stunned destroyers.

"Greetings. That is the destroyer Shigure, is it not?" one of the officers asked.

Murasame and Yamakaze shared a look.

"Who are you?" the twintailed destroyer asked.

"Excuse me? Why are you talking back to an officer?" the man demanded to know.

One of the engineers looked at the tablet he held in his hand and then nodded. "Yes, that's Shigure. Shall we proceed?"

The officer nodded. "Yes. Go ahead."

Two of the engineers moved to pick up Shigure, but Murasame and Yamakaze stepped in front of them. The other destroyers also tensed up, ready to act.

"What do you think you're doing?" the officer glared at the destroyers. "Move aside or I will order you all scrapped!"

"No! You can't take her!" Yamakaze cried out, shoving away an engineer who came too close and pushing him onto the ground.

"Hey, no one ever said anything about fighting a bunch of warships," one of the engineers complained.

The officer was fuming. "You little -"

"Hold on," the second naval officer interrupted. He was a bit younger, and he also wore a timid look on his face. He didn't seem to want to get into a scuffle with the ship girls either, even if they were just destroyers. "Why are you girls getting angry?"

"You're out of your mind if you think you can just come in here and take Shigure away for scrapping," Murasame told him firmly. "You're not our admiral. You don't have that kind of authorization!"

"Sir! Shigure didn't do anything wrong!" Fubuki added to the officers.

"We're not here to dispose of her, you idiots," the first officer said with disdain. "Naval Command has told us to come to this base and take a select few ship girls back to Tokyo to undergo a remodel procedure. Shigure's name is on that list. Learn the facts before you lash out like children."

"A remodel?" Shiranui repeated curiously. "What sort of remodel?"

"I don't have access to that information. All I was told is that I should bring her, unharmed, to the navy's facility in Tokyo," the officer said. "I assume we have no problems now?"

Murasame and Yamakaze reluctantly stepped aside, and the engineers picked Shigure up. The comatose destroyer had not reacted to any of the commotion, and her unblinking blue eyes continued to stare at nothing even as she was taken out of the room.

"D-Do you think they were telling the truth?" Yamakaze worriedly asked when the men left the room.

"I would assume so. If they weren't, I doubt they would have been let on the base in the first place," Shiranui answered.

"Also, us ship girls are pretty valuable, so I don't think they would just scrap Shigure without trying to fix her," Amatsukaze noted.

"Hm… But what is this remodel?" Murasame wondered. "I've never heard of any of us being remodeled before…"

"Is it a new procedure? Maybe it can help us defeat the Abyssals," Asashio said hopefully.

The intercom in the hospital blared to life.

"All ship girls, please report to the main auditorium," Nagato's voice sounded. "I repeat, all ship girls, please report to the main auditorium as soon as possible."

"What's this about?" Amatsukaze wore a look of confusion.

"Another sortie?" Yamakaze asked apprehensively.

"Let's go and find out," Shiranui stated, the edge in her voice showing that she was also worried about having to sortie again.

The destroyer group went over to the auditorium, which was located on the first floor of the Administrative Building, and saw that it was packed full of the other ship girls on the base. All the ship girls were talking among themselves, and it seemed that they shared the same concern that the destroyers did. As the destroyers tried to find a row of empty seats, Sendai bounded over to them, a cheery look on her face.

"Isn't it too early in the morning for you to be acting like this?" Amatsukaze frowned.

"Heh. Take a look at this," Sendai said proudly, flashing a ticket of some sort in Amatsukaze's face.

"'Remodel Candidate,'" Amatsukaze read off the ticket. "Wait, you're getting remodeled too?"

Sendai nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. I got it this morning."

"So you're going with Shigure," Murasame added.

"Shigure's got one too?" Sendai scratched her head. "So none of you has one?"

"They probably haven't finished handing them out yet," Jintsuu, Sendai's sister, said from behind her.

Sendai was about to reply, but the room fell silent after Nagato walked up the podium on stage and cleared her throat. Fleet Admiral Miiro and Rear Admiral Genji were also at the front of the room.

"... Thank you all for coming," she started in her usual professional tone. "As some of you may have heard, naval command has begun a program where they select some ship girls to undergo a remodel procedure."

The room erupted into chatter once more, and it was evident that many of the ship girls present had heard about this recently.

"Quiet!" Nagato ordered, silencing the room once again. "Anyway, they are still distributing the remodel orders, so it is possible that you may receive one if you haven't already. The remodels will take place at the Imperial Navy's facility in Tokyo, but that is the extent of our knowledge on it. The actual procedure is highly classified, and we do not know what the outcomes will be. Regardless, it is clear that the goal is to make us stronger for the next time that we face the Abyssals, so I will ask you to please cooperate with the officers sent from the capital. I myself have received a remodel order, so I will be going with some of you to Tokyo. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask."

Numerous hands shot up.

"All right… You can go first, Shiratsuyu."

"Yes!" the brown-haired destroyer cheered, then realized that everyone was staring at her. "Ahem… I was told that Yuudachi and Kawakaze would be taken in for their remodels even though they are nowhere near repaired yet. Are they really going to remodel them like that?"

"Yes. The remodel procedure will presumably heal them," Nagato nodded.

"Yuudachi and Kawakaze too?" Murasame whispered in surprise to Yamakaze.

Nagato called on the next questioner. "Go ahead, Kongou."

"How is it decided which ships get their remodel?"

"I don't know the answer to that, sorry."

The questioning then continued for about ten more minutes, but it quickly became evident that Nagato wasn't lying when she said that she didn't know much about the remodel procedure to being with. For now, it seemed like they would just have to wait and see who got their remodels, and what would happen afterwards.