Chapter 2: Redemption
Michishio was alone in the Admiral's office. Today was her turn to tidy up the desk and stow loose documents. Simple task, it was – gather the papers neatly into a pile, sorting by urgency and then date. She flipped through the pile in her hand, checking that the dates are in running order to make sure no task stayed at the bottom of the pile for too long. Among the many intelligence reports and resource ledgers, 2 documents, both received on the same day 2 weeks ago just hours apart caught her eye. The first one carried the header: "Final list of operationally ready ships", and the other one titled "RE: Final list of operationally ready ships – Corrected". Curious, she gave both a quick flip through. She found no discrepancies at first glance.
"Hmm, looks like Shigure wasn't able to convince that man to make any changes" she said with some contempt. But something wasn't right. There would be no reason why High Command would make changes to a document so quickly, unless the Admiral spotted a mistake himself and asked for a second look. She scanned both documents, holding them side by side to compare individual words. After 5 minutes she found 1 discrepancy. It was in the destroyer roster. It was her.
It was one simple change. Michishio Kai Ni was changed to Michishio Kai.
She stood motionless, distraught. A Kai Ni remodel is unique to each ship, difficult to develop, expensive to implement, but the highest honor to any who are fortunate enough to receive one. When Shigure and Yuudachi got theirs, their combat performance improved by leaps and bounds. Same applied to the Fusou sisters. And Nagato, the pride of the fleet, the first of the Big 7, became an absolute beast. To have the promise of unfathomable firepower dangled in front of her, and then taken away right when she needed it most felt like a slap to the face, or at best some kind of sick joke.
Her legs collapsed out from under her as she slumped onto the ground, clutching the stack of papers, crumpling them where her hands gripped them. "Why did I get assigned to such a fleet?", she forced out as the first tears dripped onto the pile…
The Admiral opened the door to his office to find papers strewn all over the floor, and on top of them was a balled-up and sobbing Michishio. "Maybe having you tidy the place up these few days was a bad idea. I can explain everything, you just need to listen to…"
"W-w-why should I l-l-listen t-t-to you?" she forced out between sobs.
The Admiral sat down beside her, putting a hand reassuringly on her head. "You don't. Instead, listen to Shigure, Fusou, Yamashiro, or any of the other girls who have had theirs. The power jump they had rendered them combat-ineffective for weeks, months in the case of Nagato, as they came to terms with their new-found strength. It was only when they got used to their abilities that they could function without being a hazard to themselves and those they love. This may sound like something from a comic book, but with the great power of a K2 comes great responsibility. If your K2 were ready a month earlier I would have given it to you in a heartbeat, but right now I really need all of you for this operation. I have full faith in your current abilities, and you should have some faith in yourself too. But for now, I will take my leave. You can rest here as long has you need to."
With that, he stood up to attend his other business around the base. Michishio lay still, no longer sobbing. With a weak smile, she mumbled: "So annoying…"