A/N: Kudos to Little Donkey for the beta!


Chapter 11: Crystal Clear

Two years had passed since then, and nothing much changed after that.

Due to the typhoon Akagi's modernization didn't go as smoothly as mine, so she was stuck in the factory much longer than I was.

I didn't know how she coped with that.

Perhaps the Navy let her keep her hand in with light exercises.

I never paid her visits anymore, not even on September 23rd.

Sometimes she called me or tried to meet me, but we rarely spent much time together, because I started avoiding her.

Once in a while I would see her watching my fleet exercises.

I hated how I would feel so relieved seeing her healthy and well, and how I would occasionally play with the rabbit keychain she gave me.

I never told her any of that.

I was determined to head off any attempts to improve our relationship, come hell or high water.

If we were going to break off this friendship, we might as well just go all the way. And if it could also put my feelings to an end, it was all to the good.

Aside from a few people, nobody really knew what happened between Akagi and me.

Whenever somebody asked me, I would just answer "we grew apart" and end the conversation there.

As the gulf between us grew wider, Akagi and I became nothing more than mere co-workers. We only had several halting conversations in the last few months.

I preferred it that way, although I knew it wasn't the case with my mind since I missed her so much I dreamt about her sometimes.

Those dreams always destroyed my heart, because every single one of them was a happy one.

Memories from the past.

Fragments of what could have been.

Or even worse, a scene of what could happen if Akagi didn't leave me in my room that day, if Akagi shared the same feelings as me...

Although I did this to run away from the conflicting emotions in my head, it did cross my mind that I would give anything in the world for my love to be requited. However, I knew that nobody would hand me something like that on a plate.

Thankfully, I was never hard up for work in my hectic life to keep my mind occupied. It helped being able to fill my days with exercises, but I was unable to make much headway with my own healing process. Occasionally I was so miserable that a few perceptive girls would be concerned of how heartbroken I looked. I dug my toes in, refusing any offer of help and only covering my sadness up with something lame like "the Navy expects great things for me, so what I feel doesn't matter as long as I deliver the goods". The bases were experiencing a rapid growth in fleet girls' population, so the standard carriers were no longer the center of attention.

Eventually, this half-baked idea to avoid Akagi came around to bite me.

Everything around me remained the same until an armed conflict in another country suddenly escalated into a full-scale war, in which the Navy would actively participate with the Army.

Official announcements were made, and a lot of fleet girls would be sent out to support military operations, patrol the seas, providef cover for and escort army troops as they land on the enemy's coastal areas.

Fleet girls from various bases were moved to mine in case their dispatch was needed, and we gathered in the yard to listen to the announcement.

I heard Souryuu and a destroyer named Mikazuki, who were standing in front of me, discussing about how gruesome the working hours there would be, and according to the news they heard from their friends who was on guard around enemy waters, on the ground there was no hope of this war ending anytime soon. Meanwhile on the platform, Battleship Nagato, who would lead the whole operation of the fleet, kept going on to the next item on her list.

"...The following divisions and ships shall begin preparations to be dispatched immediately: Carrier Division 1 and 2, Battleship Division 1, Cruiser Division 4, 5, 9, 16, 18, and 21, Submarine Squadron 4 and 5, Destroyer Squadron 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, Destroyer Division 2, 7, 23, and 24, Mutsuki-class destroyer Mikazuki, Ayanami-class destroyer Oboro. The following ships would be deployed for needed fleet support at any time necessary: Battleship Division 3, Cruiser Division 7 and 19, Destroyer Squadron 5, Destroyer Division 21, Souryuu-class aircraft carrier Souryuu, Chitose-class seaplane tenders Chitose and Chiyoda. More divisions and ships would be added. Every ship in commission is obligated to prepare in advance and is ready to be sent to the front lines at a moment's notice. Exceptions are given to those who are currently undergoing extensive reconstruction and are therefore unable to sortie, as in the names that are officially listed as follows: One, Akagi-class aircraft carrier Akagi, two..."

"Oops, sorry..."

I felt a shove against my back that nearly made me stumble to the girl in front of me.

When I turned to find out who it was, I saw a short haired girl wearing a white shirt and a necktie.

"...Tenryuu-san...?"

"Kaga! Oh thank God," she whispered in a panicked voice, "You have to help me out!"

I gaped as she yanked my sleeve and pulled me away from the crowd.

Tenryuu usually had a belligerent attitude and unfailing good humor that made her popular among the destroyers. But now there was nothing in her expression but fear.

"Wait, Tenryuu-san, what the...?"

"Kaga," she put her hands on my shoulders and begged, "Please hide me!"

"What...?"

"Come on, man, future fleet mates gotta help out each other!"

"...oh, right, you're from 19th Cruiser Division," I recalled, "But if I remember it correctly, your division has another cruiser. Where-"

"She's the problem! Now hide me!"

"But why-"

Tenryuu impatiently took me to hide at the corner of the nearest building when I heard a sweet, sinister voice from among the crowd of fleet girls.

"Fufufu~ where are you, Tenryuu-chan...? Do you think you can run away from me...?"

I wondered why Tenryuu was seeking for help with an extremely furious-sounding Tatsuta at her heels.

I was more amazed that some girls still had the nerve to talk to her...like Hiei for example.

"Oh, hey, Tatsuta. Um...I didn't know if you're allowed to bring your glaive around..."

"Have you seen Tenryuu-chan...?"

"Huh? No. Gee, you're always going on and on about..."

"Don't speak to me if you haven't seen her," Tatsuta replied with a hair-raising tone.

Hiei then let out a high-pitched scream of terror that sounded like she just discovered that this world was truly godless.

I glanced at Tenryuu, who was shivering beside me when she heard that. I didn't know what kind of shenanigans I was getting myself into this time, but I decided to help her out of pity without much questioning.

"...Alright, let's go to my room," I finally said.

"Yes! Thank you, Kaga! You're truly the kindest, most good-natured person that I have ever...!"

"Yeah, yeah, save that for later. Now we have to go and hide you..."

Sneaking our away around the base, we managed to slip past Tatsuta and headed to my dorm hall without attracting much attention.

Tenryuu looked so relieved when she locked the door behind my back.

"Phew...that was close," she wiped some sweat from her forehead.

Before I could say anything else, she threw herself on my bed and lied on her stomach with a defeated sigh.

"This feels so nice...Do you have tea...?"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"...After suddenly making a request like that, you're going to treat my room like your home and expect me to treat you like a guest of honor...?" I grumbled.

"I'm really sorry but...please let me rest a bit," she took my pillow and stuffed her face in it.

"What did you do to Tatsuta-san?"

"Ack, it was just one stupid joke and she's already tearing her hair out. I thought she would take it like a grown-up, but she's still just a kid."

"And look who's hiding from that kid. You have no grounds for complaint."

"Ouch, you're as strict as ever," Tenryuu yawned, putting her hands behind her head, "It's okay. She's going on a long expedition soon. So how are you doing, Kaga?"

"I'm fine, thank you," I answered before sitting on the floor.

"The last time I heard from the others about you, it seems that you're getting rather chummy with Akagi, huh...?" she teased.

She dropped her smirk when I didn't give a reply.

"...uh..." She scratched the back of her head "...what happened...?"

"That is none of your business."

That seemed to tick her off. She sat straight on my bed and crossed her arms while growling, "Okay, wise girl, spill it."

My expression was unchanged. "Who are you to order me around?"

"In case you have forgotten, I'm not afraid of you," Tenryuu stated, "The ice-cold but boiling-hot carrier, the pride of a million koku, Kaga. She invites admiration and fear wherever she goes. The absolute opposite of the Washington Naval Treaty's other carrier daughter, Akagi. Only a few handful of fleet girls know her true face. And this carrier... she went on a dinner date with another person? Just the two of you...? How is that possible?"

"You need to shut up if you know what's good for you," I said, but a shiver accidentally slipped in my voice and Tenryuu caught that.

She caught that the name "Akagi" was creating a reaction within me.

"Akagi is my friend too. What did you do to her?" she demanded, "Tell me, Kaga, or I'm going to smack your face for hurting her."

"Hurting...? What...?"

Tenryuu stood up from the bed and walked impatiently to me. "I met her some time ago. She was sitting alone, on the beach. When I asked her what was wrong, she suddenly hugged me while crying her eyes out. I thought I was imagining her mentioning your name. But I guess I wasn't."

I could only stare at her. "...Akagi-san... cried about..."

"I thank you for helping me, but this and that are entirely different things. What did you do to make her cry, huh? I won't forgive you if it's a lame-ass reason," she said as she seized my collar and I made a sharp intake of breath, "No wonder she looks so depressed these days, it was your fault after all. She said it's just a small hang-up, nothing to worry about, but so far nothing from her has shown it's true."

Tenryuu's rage looked dangerous.

But I was so damn stubborn and proud to try calming her down.

I should've kept my stupid mouth shut.

"...that is a groundless allegation. If you like her that much, then why not ask her directly? She won't tell you? Why? You might not be as close as you think."

Her reaction was instantaneous. There was a flash in her eyes when she pulled me by the collar and threw me to the floor.

My back was slammed to the wardrobe and I winced as the pain radiated from my bones.

"...Asshole. Akagi shouldn't be going around making friends with a jerk like you."

I tasted a bit of blood in my mouth. Apparently I accidentally bit my tongue just now.

Despite that, I couldn't bear any grudge against Tenryuu.

I might unconsciously want someone to punish me as well, and Tenryuu's anger was perfect for it.

If her hands weren't tied, she probably would have tried to turn me into scrap.

"...Rest assured. She and I are not friends anymore," I told her as I tried to stand back up, "This jerk doesn't exist in her life any longer. You don't need to worry."

"Do you have to be so thick? It's too late to say that now. How could she possibly be happy about that when she was crying back there? And you just decided to leave her to bear all that pain by herself?"

I clenched my fists. "She doesn't need me. She doesn't want me in her life!"

"Go and ask her then! She sure as hell ain't smiling and laughing about that!"

"I have no choice!" I spat, "This is all for the better. No matter how much I want to be with her, she's better off without me, she's better off with other girls! She needs people who won't ruin their friendship for the sake of a petty, sick emotion...!"

I slipped up and my voice was quivering.

Tenryuu only gawked at me, and I couldn't blame her for reacting that way.

I sank to my haunches, burying my face in my hands so she couldn't see the cracks in my expression.

I hated how my facade simply crumbled to pieces when I remembered that person.

Akagi-san.

Akagi-san.

I miss you so much.

I miss your smile that always helped me get through the day.

I miss your voice that soothed me after a grueling practice.

I miss your gentle touch, your appetite, your mannerisms...

I miss everything about you.

I knew in my heart of hearts that I was losing this hard-fought battle.

For a while it was so silent that I could have heard a pin drop.

Then Tenryuu finally arrived at a conclusion.

"...so that's how it is," she said, "Do you really...?"

"You don't know the half of it," I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, "What has happened is neither here nor there. We can't go back to how we were."

"And you're just going to give up like this...?" Her voice rose once more, "Throwing away the friendship that you had built with her? I don't know what happened between you guys...but I thought I heard her say this while crying, 'Kaga-san, I'm sorry, please forgive me...'"

When I didn't give her an answer, she stomped her foot on the ground and said, "Go and talk to her, Kaga."

"I refuse."

Tenryuu seemed to already expect that abrupt reply.

"Then I'm going to force you."

"And how would you exactly do that...?"

"For someone like you, words would not be enough," she said, "You need to be taught a lesson on how to tackle your own problems head-on. I'm going to have this out with you once and for all. We'll settle this, in the way we both know best. Prepare yourself, Kaga."


After the official announcement, the wide naval yard only had very few fleet girls around. They all stared curiously at Tenryuu and I as we walked there together, a regular bow and a wooden sword in hand. They probably thought that some kind of show was about to start.

"So what's the point of this?" I asked. We stopped by to the dojo just now to pick up the bow and several ordinary arrows, not the ones that could transform to planes.

"I've told you, haven't I? We'll settle this the best way we know how."

She ordered me to stand at the very end of the yard before pointing her wooden sword at me and explained loudly. "The weapons of fleet girls are among the heaviest in the world that could be carried into battle by a single person. That includes my sword, your bow, and your arrows. Carrier-based planes are the heaviest arrows in the world and your bow is highly specialized for that. And now we're going to use the absolute weakest version of those weapons. This would give us a speed advantage, but proficiency would depend entirely on the user," she said as more and more fleet girls were gathering to watch, "I'm going to stand at the opposite end of this naval yard, and you'll have to shoot me with your arrows as I try to reach you. If one of your arrows hit me, then I lose, you can do whatever you want to me, I don't care. But if I get to you before that happens, then I would beat the shit out of you until you agree to talk with Akagi again."

My gaze dropped to the bow in my hand.

It was much lighter than my usual weapon.

I was also not heavily loaded, so the speed advantage would multiply, but with a bow of this weight my accuracy would be measured raw.

I tightened my grip on it as Tenryuu headed to her position at the opposite end of the yard.

I didn't know why I agreed to do this.

A lot of fleet girls were watching us now, wondering what would start between us.

As soon as Tenryuu couldn't go further, she turned to face me and readied her stance.

This stretch of field between us was at least twice the usual distance for a carrier target practice.

"Precision aiming is your forte, right? I heard from Akagi that there are many calculations and angle consideration involved before you can properly fire a single arrow. You can't entirely rely on guesswork and luck. So this should be easy as pie for you who have known that technique by heart, shouldn't it, Kaga...?"

Akagi is the one...who guided me through my intensive training so I could be the way I am now.

Akagi is the one...who recognized what I was capable of and how I could push my abilities to the limits.

Akagi is the one...who helped me learn all those things.

And just look at how I repaid her.

My eyes twitched. Tenryuu was clearly trying to lay a guilt trip and provoke me at the same time. She was making me go all out so that I would understand that my defeat was definite.

But that is... I thought, adjusting one of the new arrows on the bow, ...if she can defeat me.

"Here I come!" she shouted, and I noticed her leaning heavily on one foot, "This is Tenryuu-sama's attack! Yosha...!"

Using that foot as a spring, she made a series of flying leaps forward while holding her sword with both hands.

For an old light cruiser, her speed astounded me, and that wooden sword clearly played to her advantage. It took me half a second to recover from the surprise, take aim and release the arrow.

It was perfect, it headed straight to her right shoulder even with considering the weight and the winds.

But Tenryuu was aware that I could master this new weapon immediately.

In the minuscule amount of time before the arrow found its target, she raised her sword and deflected the shot with a single wild swing of her arms. That swing was so strong, the deflected arrow was embedded on the ground with a loud thwack.

She raised her head and grinned when she saw that my bow was already equipped with another arrow.

"That hurt my arm a little! You ain't half bad! Can make a shot that powerful with just a regular arrow!" she praised without stopping her dash.

Her fakes were a bit hard to read, but I refused to play into her hands. I realized she was getting faster by the second.

"You're a worthy opponent."

"Bring it on, Kaga!"

Before she closed her mouth another arrow was flying toward her forehead. It was a very close margin, but she managed to block that too. It was getting increasingly harder to aim at her. She didn't have all that experience for nothing; Tenryuu was born even earlier than me.

And she was getting closer and more obnoxious.

"Is this all you got? You don't strike me as a good-time kind of girl. You spent all those days being away from Akagi for training, didn't you? And this is all you amount to? How dare you leave Akagi alone for this shitty skill? How dare you?"

I gnashed my teeth, feeling my hackles rose as another arrow that I launched missed her chest by a hair's breadth.

She couldn't talk big after that, as my attacks grew to be swifter and more merciless.

Once I got used to it, my shooting became mechanical, and the arrows flowed smoothly from my hand to my bow to the air like the currents of a river.

I was able to see the panic in her eyes when she couldn't use her trusty sword anymore to parry my continual assault, and had to rely on nothing but her evasion.

The strain was starting to get to her, and I hadn't even broken a sweat.

She was closer than how I'd like her to, but there was still a clear gap between us where one of two more shots could slip in. My victory was obvious, and Tenryuu could see that she was losing ground as I went on shooting.

She accidentally heeled over when she was avoiding my next consecutive arrows, and I knew that was my opening.

My line of sight immediately located the easiest target that showed because of her blunder: her left arm.

The audience let out a collective gasp when they realized who was heading for a certain defeat.

Time slowed down around me, and I reached my calmest mental state where I could utilize my absolute best form of archery.

I've got to hand it to her, she lasted longer than I expected her to.

Just when I was about to launch my winning shot, I heard a loud voice from the sidelines that stabbed through my consciousness like a knife.

"Kaga-san...!"

The grip of my fingers around the arrow loosened.

In that a millionth second when I recognized that person among the crowd, my mind was instantly shattered.

Aka...

"Pay attention to your opponent...!" Tenryuu yelled at me.

Once my eyes were back to her it was too late.

With great force Tenryuu's sword made contact with my face in an unforgiving slicing hit.

The stinging sensation on my cheek blinded me as my body was knocked down to the ground.

I was on my hands and knees when another strike from her landed on my shoulder, and I heard a crack from her wooden sword.

She was beating me so hard, it surprised me that it didn't snap in two.

All the fight went out of me. I sat on the ground and hung my head in defeat, ready to accept whatever punishment she thought was fit for me.

I was a bit glad that Akagi got to see this.

This shameful face of the girl who had caused her so much pain.

The former battleship who was never supposed to meet her.

The loser who was guilty of selfishness, who deserved everything Tenryuu was doing to her.

Even if I asked Tenryuu to stop, I knew she wasn't having any.

Even if Tenryuu kicked the hell out of me, to the point of killing me there outright, it would only go halfway to giving me the proper punishment for hurting Akagi.

Akagi-san...

I can turn a hand to basically anything involving launching carrier-based planes... but when it comes to you and my feelings, I am just pathetic.

After all my ham-fisted attempts to become closer with you... no matter how much I thought I could forget you someday, half the time my mind always comes back to you somehow.

Perhaps not even forever would be enough.

My ears were ringing and my sight was completely blurry when I saw a glimpse of the sword being raised once more.

With a heavy heart I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

I'm sorry that I confessed my...

"Stop it...!"

Out of nowhere, a pair of arms circled themselves around me and her warm body was suddenly pressed against my right side.

Her voice sounded so distressed in my ears and it still gave me an inexplicable sense of tranquility.

"Tenryuu-san, please...!"

I could sense her trembling as she embraced me closer.

The nostalgic scent that came from her body and hair was enough to make my eyes brim with tears.

For a while I was in seventh heaven, and everything that happened between us was forgotten completely.

As I was being overwhelmed by Akagi's presence, Tenryuu spoke again in a small voice.

"Akagi...?"

"Tenryuu-san, please stop."

"Why are you protecting her?"

"Because..."

"I know you like her, but a friend like her is not worth your time."

"It's not that... It's not that at all..."

"Then why?"

Akagi didn't answer her immediately.

I could feel her hesitating as she tightened her hug around me.

But her voice was crystal clear when she opened her mouth and uttered those few words that would stay in my mind for the rest of my life.

"...It's because..." she continued, "...because I'm in love with her."


July 1937

On one night in the vicinity of the Lugou (Marco Polo) bridge, Chinese and Japanese troops exchanged fire in a confused, sporadic skirmishing that soon escalated into a full-scale battle. This conflict would be known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which marked the beginning of The Second Sino-Japanese War.

August 1937

To provide escort to troop convoys and support military operations along the central China coast and further inland, Kaga and the other ships were sent to Chinese waters.