Chapter 5

This time no nightmares came to haunt Hat Kid

When Hat Kid woke up she found herself lying in a cot inside a room with 2 bunk beds and a few pieces of furniture, one of which is a small table where her diary can be found

When Hat Kid manages to sit up she notices that all but one of the beds is vacant. The remaining bed is being occupied by a loli uhh I mean a short – yet still taller than Hat Kid - girl with a messy, bleach-colored hair. Looking closer, Hat Kid noticed her head is bandaged and slightly bloodied as if somebody had bludgeoned her. As Hat Kid went even closer the girl suddenly sat upright in her bed.

"бля-"

*pat*

"Ouch! That still hurts!" the girl complained in pain

"Sorry, it's better than banging your head under the top bed" Hat Kid explained

The bandaged girl took a while to realize low her headroom was

"C'mon! I've been sleeping here for donkey years and still end up - *sigh* never mind, my mind is still screwed up from the blow, getting pissed off will make this worse. Anyway you must be the kid Matsukaze talked about, am I correct?"

"Yeah probably, who the peck is Matsukaze?"

"One of the kanmusu stationed here who risked life and limb to pick you up from that island of yours"

"Kanmusu?"

"Most of the people here, me included, are a kanmusu: they are reincarnates of sunken ships, human depictions of our successors or even some that are completely made up ones that are tasked to protecct and liberate the seas from the Abyssals – our enemy, it's a dangerous, yet honorable work for us here"

"Where am I? Where are the others? What happened to you?"

"Whoa kid! Don't ask too many questions! I can't keep with you yet"

"Okay, first question. Where am I?"

"You are in the sleeping quarters of the Akatsuki sisters. By the way my name is Hibiki, my comrades are currently out for lunch while I continue to rest here; does that sound good for you?"

"What happened to your head Hibiki?"

"Ah that? Come closer and I'll tell you everything that happened"

Hibiki then went on to explain how along with her sisters were transported to some dimension full of platforms after touching an orb that mysteriously appeared in their quarters, just after they witnessed some shooting stars earlier; how they managed to grab a hourglass and eventually transported back to their quarters.

"Right after being transported back here, we were caught and given suspension for being AWOL, and just like they warned me before we all went in that place they slapped my head. Akatsuki on the other hand went a little bit too far, instead of slapping my head she took a stick and knocked me out cold for god knows how long!"

"Ouch! So much from your elder sis! What's with her?"

"It's okay, she can get childish and do mischievous things sometimes, but this one in my opinion a little bit too far, but it is still my fault anyway"

"This orb… Hibiki! you just found a - "

Hat Kid was interrupted when the door opened and a tall, well-decorated man went inside. Hibiki tried standing in attention as if to greet him, but the man gestured her to remain seated in her bed

"It's okay Hibiki, I understand you're injured, no need to stand in attention to greet me" the man said in a kind tone

"Thanks Commander!"

"Anyway I came in here to welcome our guest here, and if appropriate ask her a few questions"

"Go ahead commander!"

"Hello kid! Welcome to the club! How are feeling today?" the Commander asked

"I'm still feeling a bit tired from my times in the cave" Hat Kid said in reply

"It's okay. Here is better than back there"

"I understand. I had encountered these Abyssals, as you called them, back there in the cave. Man they are so scary, do they kill?"

"Of course they kill! A few of my men (or women) had died trying to defend the seas"

The Commander took off her hat and placed it on his chest as a gesture of respect

"Sorry for the loss, it's inevitable during war"

"Well said kid" the Commander said. "Anyway I am a little bit suspicious of you causing this mess, which is why I'm here"

"What mess?" Hibiki asked

"Well… while you were still unconscious Hibiki, our recon teams had spotted numerous hourglasses same to the one we found at Ikazuchi's cabinet"

At the word "hourglass" Hat Kid's eyes widened. That was no hourglass that was a Time Piece! and it used to be here in this room!

The Commander immediately noticed Hat Kid's sudden interest, but decided not to immediately point that out fearing that by doing so would make Hat Kid go evasive so instead he continued talking, while giving both of them a photo to Hat Kid and Hibiki. The photo showed Hat Kid beside the pyre and a pile of wood

"At the same time the recon teams found you marooned in a large island which is currently under Abyssal territory, thus explaining your encounters with them"

"Which is why you sent a Rescue Fleet to pick her up" Hibiki finished

"Correct! Looks like your memory is recovering quickly" the Commander complimented

"Thanks, but wait a minute this looks strange, am I seeing boosters and a satellite dish along with the pile of wood?"

"Where are they Hibiki?"

"This, this, and this one commander" Hibiki pointed out the questionable stuff in the pile of wood for the Commander to see

"Are you hallucinating?"

"I am not hallucinating"

"Okay then" The Commander then turned back to Hat Kid, "the reason why I suspect you to be the cause of this mess is because when we inspected your belongings for dangerous contraband or anything Abyssal-related, we found more of these hourglasses in a safe, anything to explain for me?"

Hat Kid remained silent

"Come on kid, we don't have all day" the Commander said impatiently

"Commander, I think she's scared, give her some time"

And sure enough the Commander noticed her shaking badly

"Alright, alright I'll wait then"

The Commander then took his walkie-talkie in his pocket, "Nagato, I will be a little late"

"Don't worry Commander I can wait!" a voice rang out in the walkie-talkie

The Commander then places his walkie-talkie back into his pocket "alright kid, I'll give you time to compose yourself?"

"No… I'm okay…" Hat Kid said, sniffing a bit in an attempt to hold back her tears

Hat Kid then took her diary and gave it to the Commander

"Ah diary? Are you really letting me read it?"

"Go ahead! I don't mind"

The Commander began reading the book. As time passed the Commander became more and more amazed Hat Kid's trials and tribulations. From being stranded in another planet, being a star in two movies in the same time, and even having

Finally the Commander reads her most recent entry which confirms everything Hibiki and he had suspected

"I get it now, you're lost and lonely aren't you?" the Commander turned around to find Hat Kid crying in Hibiki's shoulders

"There, there, we now understand why you're here. I promise we will get you back home" the Commander promised

Hat Kid nodded in approval.

"Alright! Now that I got the information I need it is about time we start an operation, and its goal is to help get this kid back home. Hibiki since you are with me I give you the honors to give this operation a name, what shall we call it?"

Hibiki thought for a moment then asked "before I decide on a name, when did these recon groups spot these hourglasses-"

"They are called Time Pieces according to the kid"

"Okay, when did these recon groups spot these Time Pieces and the kid?"

"The morning after we had witnessed the shooting stars"

Then it hit them both

"Those shooting stars were no ordinary "stars", those were the kid's Time Pieces" the Commander finally said

"And that spaceship I saw was no hallucination, it was the real thing!" Hibiki added

Then Hibiki had an idea

"We shall call it 'Operation Shooting Star' for what we will do next all started by what appeared to be shooting stars when in actuality is a call of duty"

Hat Kid stopped crying and started to smile. She could feel Hibiki's aura: inspirational and motivating Just like Vladimir Lenin himself!

"Well done Hibiki!" a serious voice said "Thanks to this information we now have a clear path on what we should do with these Time Pieces and the kid, as a result you and your sister's suspension orders have been lifted, and can participate in sorties"

The three turned around to the source for find a tall red-eyed lady with long black hair. She was holding a notebook and pen as if she was taking down notes on what are they talking about

"As for you I recommend you stay a little bit more for your injury to heal. I prefer staying here with that than being a 'magnet' for those Abyssal scums" she continued

"Ah Nagato! You're here!" the Commander said, a bit surprised

"Yeah, you took so long! But eventually I realized that you might not come to the venue after talking to the kid, so I decided to come here and listened to you all"

"That's unpleasant… Thanks anyway" Hibiki complained

"Sorry, anyway I'll be off to notify your sisters of the news then, with Admiral's help, sortie the fleet. Farewell, oh and by the way, get well soon!"

With that said Nagato then walked away, with the Commander/Admiral following soon after.

"You hear that kid, we are going to help you out" Hibiki assured Hat Kid

Hat Kid could only nod

"Hey sis! Did you hear the news? We're free!" a voice shouted

"Woohoo! I can't wait to get back in action!" another said

Hat Kid and Hibiki looked around and saw two brown-haired girls coming inside the room

"Oh! Inazuma, Ikazuchi, how fast! Wait a minute? Where's Akatsuki?" Hibiki asked

"She's coming, though she isn't acting normally" Inazuma said

"She's unusually silent" Ikazuchi added

"I see, she's guilty of her actions against me, Bring her to me and I'll try to fix this up"

Well looks like I'm done writing this one. This is what I mean when I said school screwing up my writing schedule. But I'll do my best to update my fic.

Until now see you in the next chapter!