-Tempus Mare Puera -Arkh's Kancolle Fanfic-
Tags: AU-verse, Non-canon, OC.
Chapter List:
Chapter 3: Who are Welcome
It was half past nine, The pale moon hung low in the cloudless sky, gleaming over the dormitory complex in the Naval District where Armored Cruiser Tokiwa lived. Tokiwa, who just finished eating a simple lonely dinner stood in front of a kettle and waited for it to start boiling. The Kettle whined and steam rose up from its spout, prompting Tokiwa to turn it off. She then reached for a silver tin stuffed with various teabags - she came across a bag of Earl Grey.
This was Armored Cruiser Tokiwa nightly routine; she would take a lonely dinner than have a lonely cup of tea. maybe even some cake if the canteen had it, She would never be able to say that she liked this routine, but by now, she had been used to her perpetual silence and solitude.
Then, someone knocked at her door. Tokiwa nearly jumped.
'Now who could that be?' she wondered, leaving the kettle to see who was at the wasn't very often guest came to her room, aside from the secretary ship or certain often mistaken room knocks, It wasn't often that Tokiwa had any guests at all.
On the way to the door, the golden-haired kanmusu tried to guess who her guest might be. she believed it could have been either Chidori or Tomozuru -or even both. Those two underclassmen of hers were both budding Destroyers after all, even more after their first Abyssal encounter they had joined her earlier that week. Whatever it was they might want to talk about, she decided to talk about it over tea and cake, Tokiwa always had plenty.
Clearing her throat, she prepared to welcome her guests with open arms. When she quickly peered through the door's peephole however, she saw that her guest wasn't either of the girls she had hoped for.
Tokiwa took a step back from the door, trying to figure out her next move. The guest standing at the door wasn't one Tokiwa would normally welcome at all. Tokiwa readies her body and tries to prepares her rigging even though it is illegal to do so in the dormitory, just incase she had a little 'scuffle' with her 'guest' at a moment's notice.
"Coming to my room at this hour?" she asked her guest coolly through the comm. "To what do i owe the honor, Battleship Asahi-san?"
There was silence.
Tokiwa had expected her guest to counter sharply and swiftly in her usual distant manner. She did not expect silence. Puzzled, the girl peered through the peephole again and saw Asahi in her everyday attire. The black haired girl was not holding any weapon or any rigging, but unto the book of armaments Tokiwa had lent her earlier in the library.
"Tokiwa-san." Asahi then replied through the comm on the door. her voice was collected and measured, but far warmer than usual. "I just wanted to thank you for lending me this book. Like you said, it's section on mortars and heavy artilleries were interesting."
Tokiwa's eyes widened, she couldn't believe her eyes or ears. To have the seclusive, distant Asahi come to her to thank her for letting her borrow a book? It was a pleasant surprise - maybe too pleasant. Tokiwa realized this and raised her guard one last time.
Asahi didn't' need to come to thank her. In fact, returning the book to the library's deposit bin would have been enough of a courtesy. Tokiwa figured she didn't have much business with Asahi, so she would just thank Asahi for dropping by, throw in a compliment or two (for good measure) before politely sending her guest off on her merry way.
"You're quite welcome." Tokiwa said, making no move to open the door, "Now then, Asahi-san..."
"Actually..." Asahi interrupted, "I came by since... I wanted to talk."
Tokiwa blinked."To me?"
"Yes,about the First Spring War. You said you would happily share what you know with a fellow enthusiast - I came by to take up that offer."
Tokiwa than slowly lowered her guard, starting to feel slightly elated. Never in a million years did she expect this sort of encounter with Asahi, The Everdistant Battleship of the naval district - it was almost as if she wanted to work together with her rather than against her. It was a step in the right direction, Tokiwa thought.
She opened the door and the two kanmusu stood face to face for a moment in silence.
"Only friends are welcome in this room." Tokiwa then declared firmly, "Am i welcoming an exception tonight,or am i welcoming a friend?"
Despite her strong words, Asahi knew what Tokiwa wanted to hear. The cautious happiness in Tokiwa's bright eyes easily gave her away. Silently gulping, Asahi broke the tension.
"...A friend."
"A friend, huh?" Tokiwa repeated with growing cheerfulness. She closed her eyes as if savoring the moment then gave off a bright, bright smile. "Come on in then! I'll have some tea ready for us in a jiffy!"
"You don't have to go through the trouble..." Asahi refused, shy all of the sudden.
"Nonsense, Asahi-san! Have a cup of tea with me... oh, and some cake too, glad the canteen had them today!"
"Really...I'm fine."
"No, no. I insist!" Tokiwa said, ushering Asahi inside and waving aside her reluctance. "As a sign of our new friendship, I insist we have tea together!"
Asahi looked hesitant.
"Tokiwa-san..."
It have been a long,long time since Tokiwa had smiled at her like that.
"Alright."
Tokiwa beamed then returned to her kettle. Preparing two cups of tea instead of one. That evening would be a welcome break in her routine. That evening, Armored Cruiser Tokiwa would not be lonely.
Tokiwa's room was notably empty and, for the most part, devoid of fancy furniture or any second beds. It was to be expected, since she was the only one living in that dorm room. Plus,she had never expected to entertain any other kanmusu very often. Still a low triangular glass table in the middle of her small room was it's centerpiece and served as dining table.
There, around the table, Asahi and Tokiwa sat on the floor facing each other, their emptied cups of tea resting on the smooth glass surface. Businesslike silence sat heavily between them for a moment as Tokiwa took a bit from her mostly untouched slice of caramel cake. Asahi, engrossed in Tokiwa's lecture and theory, had left her cake uneaten.
Tokiwa had been in the middle of a passionate lecture about the First Spring War and Asahi listened intently.
The lecture discussion started out broadly, discussing the more well-known battles and figures of the Spring war; the theater wherein, according to Rowy, Erebus Hime manifested. Piecing together what she already knew from Rowy's 'presentation' with Tokiwa's vibrant lecture, Asahi finally managed to zero in on the country she wanted to focus on: The Commonwealth of the Philippines.
"Just like in Pearl Harbor..." Tokiwa started, thoughtfully picking at her slice of cake with a spoon, "The Philippines Campaign started with a nation-wide abyssal air raid in the archipelago.
"The Abyssal would have struck at major airbases first, naturally, to disable the USAFFE air force and means of quick transportation for the then newly developed kanmusus." Asahi guessed, "That way, they would eventually gain air superiority."
"You catch on very quickly,Asahi-san, but that is expected from the 'Ever-distant Battleship'" Tokiwa lightly teased before getting serious once more.
"That's exactly what happened. Thus, in a very short time, the USAFFE airforce was ground to dust.
Tokiwa gave of a heavy sigh. "It's too bad the USAFFE was'nt alerted in air wings stationed in Philiphines had some fine warbirds. Nearly all of them destroyed before they could even take to the skies."
Despite the amazing breadth of Tokiwa's knowledge about the Spring war, Asahi wasn't getting the information she really wanted to know. Who was Erebus Hime? Who were those three girls Rowy had showed her?
Having Tokiwa tell her only about recorded human history wouldn't be enough to satisfy her thirst - but she needed to stay coutious.
If ever Tokiwa found out about the fates of Kanmusu...
Asahi didn't want to think about it. She promised herself that Tokiwa would never find out about it again, ever.
Still, Asahi wanted to play her gambit. To show Tokiwa a peek of her motives would not hurt, she figured. In return, she would have Tokiwa give her the information she really wanted.
"Tokiwa-san" Asahi asked in a carefully measured tone,
"about those initial air raids... would you happen to know about any strange occurances?"
"Strange occurrences?" Tokiwa hummed. Her face showed no suspicion towards Asahi's question. "What do you mean by that?"
"Unusual activity - Suicides, murders, deaths..." Asahi explained, doing her best to remain vague.
"Major abyssal attacks then - The Himes I assume." Tokiwa deduced, her expression starting to seem more guarded. Asahi could only reply with a nod. "I figured that was why you were interested in the First Spring War."
Asahi's heart sank immediately. She realized she had revealed more cards than she had intended.
"I guess great minds do think alike, Asahi-san!" Tokiwa's smile shone brightly. "Abyssal Himes manifest themselves in times of great suffering and grief - both of which are plentiful during the initial war against the Newly inducted kanmusus of the time must have a hard time. I've had my theories about these sorts of things too,you know."
Asahi could barely hide her surprise, getting a hold of herself just in time. Did her blunder...actually work in her favor?
Tokiwa stood up from where she sat, her curled golden hair bouncing on her shoulders as she walked towards on of the room's far walls. With a gentle stroke of her hand, she activated a projector showing a slide with date and time, Tokiwa touched the buttons with a finger and dragged it down to change the slides, stopping at December 1941, zooming to the Philippine Islands then revealed several red spots scattered throughout the archipelago.
"These spots are the sites of major conflicts in the Philippines during that specific month." Tokiwa explained to a coutiously curious Asahi who stood behind her.
"The earliest battles were mostly air raids...and the greatest one would have been at Clark Air Base in Pampanga."
"An AIR base? instead of a Naval district?"
"Yes." Tokiwa nodded, a slight frown on her face. "Clark Air base was the home base of the USAFFE's largest inventory of P-26 Peashooter Interceptors in the Philippines plus a major secret kanmusu project laboratory . Disabling those interceptors and the lab would have been the Abyssal main priority."
"and so when the bombing began, the planes were disabled. It sounds like standard strategic bombing to me."
"According to the books, yes..."Tokiwa agreed, folding her arms as she thought."But having an entire INTERCEPTOR wing grounded and unable to fight back is strange, don't you think? Interceptor wings are drilled to face these sort of attacks... but they just sat there and watched the bombs fell. The first aerial counterattacks came hours after bombing started. Even the anti-aircraft regiment stationed there took their time before actually shooting. a major Hime must have been involved."
Asahi smirked,"And she was defeated by the base's kanmusu."
"My thoughts exactly." Tokiwa smiled "That's the only explanation for the terribly late reaction."
Her words were then followed by a long yawn.
"Speaking of late..." Tokiwa apologized. "It's already past midnight. Would it be alright if we continued this tommorow? i wouldnt want to miss physical's tomorrow, Sensei have been hard lately."
"Sure." Asahi said, standing up and taking her leave before being stopped by Tokiwa's voice.
"Asahi-san, please do come earlier next time - and tell me beforehand!" Armored Cruiser Tokiwa chided. Her eyes then brightened and added, "Oh! And maybe we could get Chidori-san and Tomozuru-san to join us next time too! I'm sure they would be very interested in the history of Kanmusu-"
Suddenly, Asahi turned around and gave Tokiwa her coldest glare. "No."
"No?" Tokiwa asked, puzzled and suspicious."Why not? they're an aspiring Kanmusus."
"Those two..." Asahi said cautiously, turning away from Tokiwa's inquisitive gaze, "Aren't really that interested in the First Spring War."
"Really?"
"Tomozuru-san just uses History lessons for nap time...and Chidori just draws in her notebook, History bores them."
Tokiwa fell silent, not to sure how she ought to reply.
"Only you and I can fully appreciate what we will go over." Battleship Asahi said, now looking at Tokiwa directly,
"Unlike them, we already have faced a Hime-class directly, plus that blasted Abyssal..."
"...I guess you have a point." Tokiwa sighed. "I suppose I wouldn't want to directly influence either of them to contact Rowy. I brought them on an abyssal raid, yes, but the encounter with a Hime is not what they need right now, they are not ready whatsoever, however, it wouldn't be right for me, or you for that matter, to influence their decision."
"That would be for the better, unless Admiral said so." Asahi said coolly as Tokiwa showed her to the door, "I will see you tomorrow then."
"Yes, Tomorrow."
Asahi gave Tokiwa a small, appreciative nod, her dark black hair hiding her face, before walking away from the armored cruiser's dorm room. Tokiwa watched as her guest descended down one of the staircases on her dorm, closing the door once the battleship was out of sight.
She locked the door from behind her back then slid down hugging her knees, a smile still on her lips.
It was a small step, Tokiwa knew, but it was towards the right direction. It finally seemed like she and the 'Ever-distant Battleship' would get along, oh how the shock it must be throughout the naval district if this were true.
