Disclaimer: Kantai Collection (Kancolle), all of its characters, and musics belongs to their respected owner. The only things I own here is my OCs. This fanfict may or may not be canon. Besides that, I've got nothing else to say. So with that, please take a seat, grab your drink, pick your snack, and have a pleasant cruise (or read).


Chapter 2 "Gunshot and Curry Pot"

At a hallway inside of the building inside the base, two girls wearing red serafuku could be seen talking with each other while walking into one side of the building. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't realize that their voice was a bit too loud that even the clanking sounds of their equipment on their back failed to hid their voice,

"Hey, hey, you heard?" said the first one with an excited tone.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"There's a guest that is staying in the base."

"Oh, you mean that news? Yes, it is the current news that everyone talks about, right?"

"And did you know that it is the very man that was announced in the announcement?"

"Really now? So that's him? You've met him?"

"No, I haven't. I've only hear rumor. I want to meet him, y'know? Just, kinda curious," said the first girl while putting her hands behind her head as she swayed her body a bit.

"We'll meet him sooner or later. I'm sure the Admiral will introduce him."

After that, they exited the building together. Unknown to them they were not the only one in the hallway. Well, not exactly in the hallway. One of the doors in that hallway opened with a creaking sound, revealing a figure with a short light violet hair tied behind her head and a white serafuku.

"I smell a scoop!" And with that, the figure ran and exited the hallway after closing the door behind her with a camera on her hand.


"So what are you doing here, Senpai?"

"Reading the material you've given me," said The Major with a relaxed attitude. "Any problem there, Admiral?"

"Shessh, I though you will work on your own office." The black haired woman gave a tired sigh.

"Don't have one, remember?"

"I mean your own room, Senpai." She replied with an annoyed tone.

"Oh, you mean that?" He said to her while still keeping his attention to his tablet, swiping his hand onto the surface, making the digital paper flipped onto another page. "Well, I'll be doing that. Later."

"…Suits yourself." The Admiral gave up on reasoning with her senpai.

"Besides, this way I can keep an eye on you to do your job perfectly."

"Ugh…"

"He got you there, Admiral." Murakumo who was standing her agreed to him.

"Not you too, Murakumo-chan." She said that while feeling more annoyed.

"I was just stating the fact, Admiral."

"Ah, forget it." With that, she returned her attention to the stack of paper she has to do. "This is a lot of work, you know?"

"I know." The man said again with a relaxed tone.

"Thank you for the very concerned word, Senpai," said the Admiral sarcastically.

"You're welcome, Admiral~" And it was replied with a teasing tone. Sighing at the reply she got, she gave up on continuing the argument.

A few moment of silence came into the room. The sound of pen's friction on paper and the tapping of fingers were the only sound that filled the room. Each of them looked very serious and there was no chatting or whatsoever, making the room really silent.

"Major Wakahisa," the fleet girl with halberd standing near her called him, breaking the silence.

"What is it, Murakumo-san?" Jurou replied without moving his eyes from the flickering screen and still tapping his fingers on the device.

"May I ask what your schedule is for today?"

"My schedule?" That question stopped his finger from continuing his work. He then shifted his eyes to the one who threw the question. "And why do you want to know that, Murakumo-san?"

"I just want to prepare for whatever data you might need, Major. It is to make your work easier."

"Hmm, document, eh?" He tapped his chin and thought for a while. "Then give me the record about the latest expedition. While you're on that, give me the list of the whole fleet girl in the base."

"Expedition and mission report and personnel list. Is that all, Major?"

"That is all, Murakumo-san."

"Very well, then please excuse me, Admiral, Major." She bowed a bit to her two superiors and then reached for the halberd that was left standing near her.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Clearly confused at her subordinate, The Admiral asked her. "The report is all here, right?"

"I'm going to the dock and the warehouse. The report for the latest expedition is still there. I need to combine them with the report here. I'm sure Major Wakahisa expects the reports to also contain the latest data. Isn't that right, Major?" She asked The Major.

"Yes, I would really like that."

"Then once again, please excuse me." She then exited the room. Sound of her footsteps could be heard from the room fading gradually.

"You are one dense woman," commented The Major while returning to his tablet.

"Eh? Why the sudden harsh comment?" Feeling annoyed at that, she pouted a bit and demanded an explanation.

"It's about Murakumo." Jurou paused for a while, waiting for any reaction from her. "You don't get it?"

"Huh? Get what?"

"Geez, you are really slow sometimes, Admiral." He said that while moving his gaze to her.

"Oh, so the ever understanding Major Wakahisa know what's going on then?" She stopped writing and said that with a sarcasm filled tone.

"I know. At least, I have a hunch." He leaned his back on to the sofa he was sitting on. "Want me to enlighten you?"

"If it's not too much of a difficulty for you," she then put her pen down and then put forward her hand toward him, "Please do enlighten me."

"She doesn't trust me." He said it shortly.

"Doesn't trust you? What do you–, "she stopped her sentence all of a sudden and went quiet. She frowned a bit, showing that she understood what her senpai meant.

"Hmm, glad you could figure that out." Her senpai then returned to his work on his tablet.

"Is it because you are sent by the HQ?"

"Probably that. And if that is not enough, it seems she was just purely suspicious of me."

"Not to mention that you are able to beat two of my fleet girl in a split second." She referred to the chaos the other day that involved her two cruiser fleet girl after trying to search for another reason.

"Yeah, probably that too. Well, I'm quite used to that kind of treatment."

"…It's kind of painful when you say it like that, Senpai." She sighed after saying that. After that, she reached for her pen and continued her work.

"Painful or not, that is our job. You've gone through what I've gone through too. I'm sure you know that." He looked up to the ceiling as he gave his honest opinion. "Chances are, you have gone through that first time here too."

"…Yes, you're right." She stopped moving her pen for a while. But then she resumed her work. "Let's change the topic. It left me with bitter taste."

"Hmm, then what do you suggest?" He returned to his former sitting position and then also resumed his own work.

"Well, do you have any question about this base? How about that?"

"Questions about this base, eh?" He then stopped his work. For a few moments, Jurou just sat there without moving. But then a grin appeared on his face. "Okay, I have some questions for you, Admiral."

"Shoot." She replied without looking at him.

"Give me your opinion on your own fleet girl."

"Hmm? My opinion on my own fleet girl?" She paused for a while and then looked at him. "Why?"

"I need to know that too, don't you think?" He looked at her. "Let's just say that I need it to make my work here easier."

"You're planning something, aren't you?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"Who? Me? Never." He replied calmly.

"You have that scheming face on you, Senpai."

"Oh my, now even you suspected me? I'm hurt." He faked an expression of dejected.

"That won't work on me, Senpai."

"It won't?" He looked at her, grinning at her mischievously.

"If you promise not to stir trouble, I'll tell you."

"Oh, promise then I shall." He gestured exaggeratedly with his hand. But his grin was still on his face, making it very unconvincing.

"I don't trust that promise of yours, though." She sighed at him. "I hope I don't regret this later." She muttered under her breath.

"Hmm, did you say something?"

"No, nothing." She shook her head. "So, what do you want to know first?"

"Hmm, let's see." He picked up his tablet, tapping on it a few times, and then he read the page the device showed. "How about Tenryuu's team? I will meet with them later on. Might be useful for me."

"Tenryuu's division. Let's see now." She leaned back on her chair and touched her chin, composing words inside her head that will be spoken out later. "Let's start with their leader."

"Oh you mean Tenryuu, eh?"

"Tenryu and Tatsuta." She corrected him. "Both of them are the leaders. Tenryuu is the one that lead the battle directly while Tatsuta usually deals with tactic and logistic matter."

"I see. I see." The Major looked at her as he nodded repeatedly. "Why is that? Does it really need to be handled by two fleet girls at the same time?"

"I'm sure you realized that Tenryuu is not what you would call a strategist kind of soldier." At her explanation, he nodded. "Then Tatsuta, being as the same class, assist her in that matter. With that, Tenryuu can fight without thinking too much."

"A nice combination. So are you the one that decided that formation?"

"No, it was decided by the two of them. My only role was appointing them as the leader for the 6th destroyer division." She looked upward, trying to remembering the time she did that.

"The 6th destroyer division?"

"Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, and Inazuma." She spoke their name one by name while counting with her finger. "The four of them is always in the same division."

"Hmm, the four of them is also in the same class, right? Akatsuki class if I'm correct."

"Correct." She nodded at him. "Those four are all sister ship with each other, thus making them quite in sync with each other, improving their battle power and their teamwork."

"Okay, let me get that on my tablet first." He then typed what The Admiral just said. While still typing, he asked another question. "So, what is your opinion on each of them?"

"Let's start with their leaders, Tenryuu and Tatsuta. Is that okay?"

"Fine by me. Tell me what you think and I'll note that here." He kept typing while saying that.

"Tenryuu is…" she put her chin on her hand while moving her head to each side slightly, searching for the appropriate word. "Tenryuu is a bit wild. A nice girl, loyal, and caring for the little ones. But wild nonetheless."

"Define wild." He asked for more explanation.

"She is the type that will rush into battle with loud war cry, wreaking havoc here and there with tremendous vigor. Not caring if she will get hurt, but will panic if anyone in her division is hurt. Just like what she has shown the other day, Senpai."

"Hmm, yes, she does seem to be a hot headed battle loving girl. Well, how about Tatsuta?"

"She is the calmer one between the two. If Tenryuu prefer to charge head on, Tatsuta likes to use strategy and tactic in her attack. She will always advise Tenryuu to use the most appropriate tactic." She then tapped her finger on the table a bit before continuing. "But she has a habit of being a bit too sadistic. Well, Tenryuu is usually the victim, so I guess that's fine."

"Okay, wait a minute." He quickly typed her explanation. "Then now about the little ones. The destroyers."

"Akatsuki, the first one, is the polite one, trying to always act like a proper lady." She giggled when she mentioned that, remembering the day she introduced herself to her.

"Unfortunately that made her a bit too childish, eh?" The Major said to her.

"Yeah, it did. Then the second one is Hibiki. Cool and calm." The Admiral pulled back from her table and crossed her arm together. "She is a bit hard to understand. Although she seems to care about the other more than expected."

"Hmm…Go on."

"Then it's Ikazuchi. A cheerful and happy-go-lucky kind of girl. She seems to try to be an older sister figure to Inazuma."

"Inazuma is the 4th ship in her class, right?"

"Correct. She is a shy one. Polite and trying her best to show her potential. Not that she is weak or anything."

"Okay, wait a minute." He quickly typed the whole conversation. A few seconds later, he tapped the last letter and then looked at her. "Ah, thank you. That will be useful for later." He smiled at her.

"Then who else do you want to know?"

"For now I want to–" but he couldn't finished his sentence as a loud beeping sound disturbed him.

"What was that?" She looked around, trying to look for the source of the foreign sound.

"That's me." He said to her as he raised his tablet and pointed at it. "That's the alarm for my schedule for today." He then put the tablet into the pocket inside his shirt. She stood up, grabbed his sword on the table, and then walked to the coat stand near the door.

"What is your schedule for today, Senpai?"

"A review of Tenryuu's division's training," said the man as he put on his trench coat and hat "I need to observe them to learn their training regime."

"And where are you going to find them?" She inquired his destination.

"…The field?" He said with questioning tone, unsure of his own destination.

"As I thought." She shook her head at him. "Today they are probably on the shooting range. It's on the other side of the field."

"Oh, glad I heard that from you." He clapped his hand slowly.

"Just go on. If not, you'll miss them." She then grabbed her pen and then resumed her work.

"Okay, got it. See you later then." He waved slightly at her as he opened the door. "Don't slack off on those works now, Admiral." And with that, he left the room and closed the door.

"Geez, that guy is such a crazy character." The Admiral said that while shaking her head. After that, she continued her work.


"Now… where is the shooting range?" He hummed slightly as he exited the building. He pulled out his trusty gadget again and then looked for the file that showed the map of the base. He taped his finger on that file and then the image that depicted the layout of the base is displayed on the screen. He scroll left and right, searching for the word 'Shooting Range' on it. "Ah, here it is!" He exclaimed with a rather happy tone. He then looked to the pointed place on the map and traced it back to his current location. "A bit far, but not a problem." With that he closed the gadget and put it back into his pocket. After repositioning his hat, he walked to the direction of his next destination.

But before he moved, he noticed something out of place. He looked around with a wary expression on his face, trying to find out the cause of his uneasiness. After a while, he couldn't find anything wrong. He shrugged his shoulder and then resumed his journey.

With no one in sight, another figure entered the place where the man once stood. The figure, donning in a white serafuku, looked around while still confirming that the man is out of sight. Convinced that the man has left the proximity of the area, she breathed out a sign of relief.

"I thought I was found out that time." She then moved her camera around and maximizing the zooming function it could do, using it as a binocular. "And to think that he could feel my presence just then." But then her expression brightened up. "This going to be such a scoop!" She exclaimed happily at that prospect. "Just you wait!" And with that, she ran to chase Jurou with the camera still on her hand and a bright smile on her face.


On the far side of island a bit far from the Admiral's office, a few targets were floating on top of the water on a rather large pool. On the edge of the pool stood 4 girls with their main weapon on their hand and ready to fire. They were the 6th destroyer division destroyers.

"On my mark!" A shout came from behind them. It was one of the light cruiser fleet girl, Tenryuu.

With that shout, the 4 destroyers readied their weapon.

"Ready!" The 4 girls took their position. "Aim!" With clanking sound, their weapons were pointed at the target. "Fire!" Explosion sound came from their main turret. With each explosion, bullets were flying into their respective target.

"Again!" They started their shooting routine again. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" This time, there order was shouted out without pause in between. The girls shot their target again.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" The shout and the sound of explosion filled the area around them. The shooting and the shouting continued for several minutes.

After several minutes have passed, a different shout came. "Halt!" The clanking sound of weapon being lowered down was heard.

"Okay, that's good you guys! Take a five minutes break!" Her loud shout signify the end of the first part of the exercise.

"Yes, ma'am!" The girl gave a salute and then they took a sit not far from the shooting range.

"How did you do, Inazuma-chan?" Ikazuchi asked the girl with the folded ponytail.

"Ugh, I think I miss most of the shot-nanodesu." She looked dejected. "What about you?"

"Uhm, not that far from you, I guess. Maybe a third is a missed shot." She said that while crossing her arms.

"I think Hibiki hit the most targets among the four of us." The black haired Akatsuki commented.

"Not really. It is hard to do that." The silver haired girl also thought the same about the difficulty of the exercise.

Hearing that, the four of them sighed with dejected tone.

"Tenryuu-san will be angry at us." Ikazuchi said to them. The other only nodded at that, knowing how true her word was.

With that word, the four of them looked even more down than before. Looking at the other, Inazuma felt that she needed to brighten the mood.

"Well, then we just have to do better-nanodesu!" Inazuma said after looking the other depressed expression.

Then the sound of clapping came from near them, surprising the four of them. As the four of them looked to the source of the clapping, they saw a man with a gray trench coat and a hat was standing near them.

"Well spoken, Inazuma-kun. Well spoken." He praise the girl enthusiast effort to cheer her sister ships.

"Major!" The four of them stood up immediately and gave a salute to the base's independent auditor.

"Good morning, sir!"

"At ease, girls. At ease." He said while waving his hand at them. With that, the four girls relaxed their stance.

"What are you doing here, Major?" The one with the messy brunet hair asked him.

"I'm observing you, of course." He said that in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Observing?" Hearing that, Akatsuki's face contorted a bit, remembering the poor result they have shown in their latest marksmanship exercise.

"Ho? You don't look confident, Akatsuki-kun," said Jurou with a teasing tone.

"E-Eh?" Caught unprepared by his question, Akatsuki stuttered his words. "O-Of course I'm confident!" She said that while trying her best to look as convincing as possible.

"But Akatsuki-chan, didn't you just –Umpfh!" Ikazuchi failed to finish her words as she found her friend's hand covering her mouth.

"Hahaha! W-What are you talking about, Ikazuchi-chan?" She spoke with a rather panicky voice. Even though she tried to pretend to be calm, no one in there was convinced. But The Major ignored that and continued.

"Well, then how about a little challenge? I'm sure you don't mind, right?" He suggested that with a calm and relaxed smile on his face.

For a few seconds, the girls stared at him in silence.

"Err, did you just say challenge?" Akatsuki asked him in uncertain voice.

"Yes, I did. I'm sure there's a gun I can borrow here." He said with a grin on his face. After saying that, the girls looked dumbfounded.

"Uhm, Major." Hibiki called him. Receiving his attention, he continued. "I don't think Tenryuu-san will allow that, sir."

"Hmm, will she now?" The Major said that with a mischievous looks on his face, making the other felt rather worry. But before the conversation could move on, a loud voice came.

"Okay, break is over! Get back– Oh, Major!" Tenryuu who was about to call the other looked at him.

"Oh, good day, Tenryuu-kun." He then shifted his gaze to the other one. "And to you too, Tatsuta-kun." He said it with a slight bow.

"Good day to you, Major. A bit late, aren't you?" Tatsuta said to him with her usual half-singing voice and a smile on her face.

"Oh, I guess I am. I guess I am." He replied with a relaxed tone, devoid of any regret getting there late.

"Huh? Late?" Clearly didn't understand what her friend was talking about, Tenryuu looked at her with puzzled expression.

"Tenryuu-chan, did you read my report?"

"Eh? Report?" Tenryuu still wore her puzzled expression.

"Yes, my report." She waited for her reaction. But she just stared at her with the same expression as before. At that, she shook her head. "I left it at the desk in our room. Remember?"

"Uhm…" She closed her eyes, trying hard to remember. But a few seconds passed but she still seemed to be unable to remember.

"Geez, you are such a scatterbrain, Tenryuu-chan~" Tatsuta said that with her usual voice. But The Major could feel something was off from her tone. And it seemed that Tenryuu could notice that too as she took a step back from her sister ship.

"C-Calm down now, Tatsuta. I'm sorry, okay?" She lost her usual tough face and clearly scared of her friend, although Tatsuta didn't even show any change in her expression. It was just her usual smiling face.

"Hmm~ Are you sure about that, Tenryuu-chan~?" She leaned closer to her.

"Y-Yes! I'm sure!" She stuttered her response while taking a step back.

"Well, I trust you will, Tenryuu-chan~" She then turned around to face the man standing near them. "I'm sorry for that, Major. I'll make sure she will not repeat her mistake." She bowed a bit after that.

"That's fine, Tatsuta-san. I have to apologize to as I took too much time to get here." The Major also bowed to apologize.

"Why are you two so in sync with each other?" Tenryuu muttered that under her breath.

"Hmm, what is it, Tenryuu-kun?" The Major asked her, although he already knew what she said.

"N-Nothing, sir." She quickly evaded the question before she dig herself into a grave. "So, what are you doing here, Major?"

"Oh, if you read the report Tatsuta-kun has diligently prepared," he paused for a while, glancing a bit at Tenryuu who flinched a bit at his word. "I'm here to observe you. I have been assigned to observe your daily activity."

"Ah, I see, you are–What!?" Tenryuu shouted all of a sudden.

"Yes, thank you for the enthusiastic reply." The Major rubbed his ears a bit because of the pain from being shouted at all of a sudden.

"What do you mean by that!? I have never heard about–"

"Ehem." Tatsuta coughed a bit, earning her friend's attention. She then smiled at her.

"Ugh." She was silence in a matter of seconds. "Sorry about that."

"Ah, how nice to have an understanding comrade. Isn't that right, Tatsuta-kun?" He glanced to his side.

"Why yes, it is, Major~" She smiled back at him.

"…So, what are you going to do then?" Feeling a bit left out, Tenryuu tried to make the conversation moving again. "We are in the middle of a marksmanship exercise."

"Ah, yes. About that, how are the results?"

"The results? You mean the exercise result?"

"Yes, of course."

"Hmm, they are…not exactly what I could call good result." She scratched the back of her head as she answered him. "None of them managed to hit all of their targets."

"Hmm, I see." The Major folded his arms. "So what do you suggest, Tenryuu-kun?"
"Well, I guess more practice is at hand for them."

"Hmm…" The trench coat wearing man touched his chin, thinking a bit. "What do you think, Tatsuta-kun?"

"I agree to Tenryuu-chan's suggestion, but…" She paused a bit.

"That will not guarantee an improvement. Well, at least not instantly." Jurou said that to her. "Is that what you were thinking?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking, Major." She nodded at him. "It seemed that exercising alone will only help so far." She tilted her head while saying that.

"Then how about this?" He smiled at them, making them a bit taken aback. "A challenge. To shoot the most targets in a limited time."

"Huh? A challenge?" Tenryuu looked at him with suspicion. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a friendly competition."

"And how is that going to help them?" This time, it was Tatsuta that sounded her doubt at the plan.

"Well, a challenge will not do them any good if they didn't learn the proper way of shooting. There's a way to motivate them."

"And that is?"

"A reward for the one who can shoot the most targets. How's that?"

"And the reward is?" Tatsuta asked him.

"Let's just say that I have a surprise." He smiled mischievously. "So, how about it then? A little friendly competition." He gestured at them. "You might even win the prize."

"Well, Tenryuu-chan~" Tatsuta looked at her friend. "You'll decide, right?"

"Ehm,… I don't know…" She looked a bit hesitated to do that. Noticing that, The Major grinned at her. "W-What?"

"Are you, hmm…, I don't know," The Major leaned his body forward, making her took a step back. "Scared, perhaps?"

"S-Scared? M-Me? Never!" said the eye patched girl with confident.

"Then going to accept?" He pressed on.

"Err, I don't–"

"Scared?" He said again to her with the same mischievous grin on his face. With that, Tenryuu shot him with glaring eyes.

"Am not!"

"Then you accept?"

"Ugh, I, ugh…." At first, she was shaking her fist, but then she let go. "Okay, okay. You've got a deal."

"Wonderful!" The Major said while opening his arm, clearly satisfied that he was able to 'persuade' her. "Then let me be the judge for this little competition of ours. Oh yeah, the two of you also have to participate. It is to motivate them more." He said as he pointed to the two light cruiser fleet girls.

"Ugh, okay, okay. Got it." Tenryuu replied while having her arms limped, clearly far from excited.

"Okay~" Different from Tenryuu, Tatsuta seemed to be accepting that.

"Good! Now let's get the little ones here and I'll explain the rule, shall we?"

"I'll call them." Tatsuta volunteered herself and walked quickly to where the destroyers gathered.

"Now about the rule." He grinned at Tenryuu.

"…I have bad feeling about this."


"Okay, everyone's ready for our small challenge?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" Everyone, including the two light cruiser fleet girls, answered The Major question with loud voice.

"Good! Let me explain the rule. There's a target for each of you. Now here's the rule of this competition. You will have to shoot at the target. That's it."

"Eh? That's it?" Inazuma asked with confused look. Everyone there, except Tenryuu, also wore similar expression as her.

"Yup! Just shoot at the target. But here's the catch." Hearing that, one could see that they were a bit nervous. "You have to match it with the number of hit I make."

"The number of hit you make?" The destroyer fleet girls asked him in unison.

"Yes, correct. I'll try to shoot the target too. And I will have you follow my number of hit. Understood?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

"Good. Now we'll have five rounds. The first three rounds are a simple follow the number. The last two will need you to not only follow my shot count, but also my shot pattern."

"Err, sir." The black haired destroyers raised her hand.

"Yes, Akatsuki-kun?"

"You said you'll shoot the target. But you don't have any weapon, right? And I don't think we have a weapon nearby that you can use." After saying that, the other also nodded at her. It seemed they were also going to ask the same question.

"Good observation. Good question. And a good answer you shall have, my dear!" He said that with a smile on his face. Moments later, a loud sound came from above them.

"W-What was that?" Panicked by the sudden sound, the six girls looked up. All they could see was a glint on the sky.

"That's your answer, girls." With a calm expression, The Major extended his right hand.

A clicking sound came from above them. They looked up and saw something flashing.

"Watch out!" Hibiki shouted as she noticed that whatever was flashing seconds ago was falling toward The Major.

"Calm down, Hibiki-kun." The Major positioned his hand a bit to the back. Just as the flashing object came close, he swiped at the object. Wind was produced from the sudden deceleration of the object, making everyone there except The Major winced a little. "And here's your answer."

"What's that, Major?" Tatsuta, the one who managed to recovered first, ask him while pointing at the object at his hand. The object was a small sack of some sort which has the color of dirty green.

"This, Tatsuta-kun," he flipped the object, crouched down, and placed it on the ground, "is my personal weapon." He unzipped the sack and pulled out a long rifle. The rifle, about 43 inches long, fashioned a polished wooden stock on the back and grey colored barrel. The Major also pulled out a cartridge of bullet, put that inside the opened breech, and pushed the bolt handle to insert the bullet into the chamber. He spun the rifle once and then pointed his rifle at the target on the far side of the shooting range. The trigger was pulled, making the rifle shot out the bullet, producing a puff of smoke and also a loud sound of gunshot. After that, the sound of bullet hitting the target was heard from the far side of the shooting range.

But instead of stopping, The Major pulled back the handle, and readied another shot after the spent bullet launched out of the breach. He shot again, and again, and again, and again. He finished five shots and all of them hit the target. He pulled back the handle again, ejecting the last spent bullet and put the rifle on his shoulder.

"A small demonstration. Not bad, don't you think?" He grinned at the other. He waited for them to say anything, but there was no reaction from any of them. The six of them stood there stared at with widened eyes, some with mouth hung opened slightly. "Hello?" He raised one of his eye brows and looked at them with a mix of worried and confusion.

"UWWOOOHHH!" Suddenly a group of squeal came from the girls in front of him.

"W-What?" Clearly didn't expect that to happen, Major Jurou stuttered as he took a step back.

"That's so cool!" Surprisingly, the one who shouted the loudest was the group leader, Tenryuu. "That's so cool!" She shouted again.

"да (Wonderful), that's awesome!" Even the usually calm Hibiki couldn't help but shouted her amazement. Her eyes, just as the other destroyers, seemed to be sparkling as they looked at their superior's shooting demonstration.

"Well, thank you, thank you." Feeling that their praise has started to make his own head swell, he decided to stop them and continue with his task. "Enough of that for now. And now you just see that cover the part for my weapon. Now you'll have to hit the target as many as I hit. Understood?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" This time, they shouted their response with much more vigor, probably thanks to his skillful marksmanship demonstration.

"And now here's the good part. I have reward for the one that is able to follow my record."

Hearing the word reward, the girls looked to be excited. Murmuring of what's the gift will be was already present among them.

"What's the present, Major?" Akatsuki quickly asked the question in everyone's mind.

"Well, all of you eat curry quite often, right?" All of them nodded. "But have you tried, real, authentic curry, made from array of spices directly from their original country?" Against that question, they looked at each other.

"Uhm, is it any different from the curry we eat-nanodesu?" The girl with folded ponytail raised her hand as she asked their superior.

"Hmm, it used much more spices and also a bit spicy, although the level of spiciness can be controlled. So the taste is quite different. For me, it is more flavorful. The savory of the meat in it, the rich and thick sauce, and also the combination of many tastes is more to my liking. It is like a party of flavor in mouth." The Major explained with so much detail that he felt saliva building up inside his own mouth. "Ah, but the usual one is delicious too."

And it seemed that he was not alone on the part about the saliva. Some of the girls looked to be interested in his story that they have started to swallow their own saliva each time The Major explain his story.

"Wow,…that doess sound delicious." Tenryuu muttered that under her breath, trying to hide it from the younger girls.

"So the reward will be to eat that. I'll personally cook it for all of you using my own supply. How about that? I'll even add some naan if you want to."

"Naan?" Hibiki looked at him with confusion as she didn't seem to ever hear that name before. "What's that?"

"It's a traditional kind of flat bread. I'll make it for you later on. Quite easy to make, if you ask me." He shifted his legs, spun the rifle once, and then put the rifle's butt on the ground, using it as a support for his hand. "But there's a punishment for those who missed the target." Hearing the word 'punishment' quickly cooled down the girls' excitement.

"And that punishment is?" Tenryuu asked him.

"You have to eat my special spicy curry. Just a spoon for each three missed targets."

"…How spicy will it be?" The eye patch wearing girl asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"Well, you have to found it yourself. And that's why I suggest all of you to not miss the target. Got that?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" They gave a salute and shouted their reply.

"Louder!"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

"Good! Now ready your weapon and shoot on my command!" And with that, the girls readied their weapon.


"Uwah, not only he is a good fighter, he's a master marksman too?" A figure gave a comment on him while still keeping a close eye at him. "This is getting more and more interesting! Hehehe…"

The figure, with camera on hand and also a notepad ready to write onto, snapped a few picture of the man dubbed as the base's guest.

"And what was that thing that dropped his rifle? That doesn't seemed to be something we've seen here in the base. I have to know!" After finished snapping some picture, the figure wrote some lines on the notepad quickly.


The first round, Jurou hit the target five times out of five tries. The girls, including Tenryuu and Tatsuta, tried to match their superior's score. The one who was able to match it perfectly were Tenryuu, Tatsuta, and also Hibiki. Akatsuki has missed two, while Inazuma and Ikazuchi missed three shots.

"Ugh, this is not a good start."

"Hawawa, I don't want to eat the spicy curry." Both Ikazuchi and Inazuma already looked to be disappointed by their first result.

"Okay, that's the end of the first round." The Major looked at the target using an unattached scope he pulled out of the rifle bag. "I will give you five minutes to review your result. Don't be shy to ask for help from the other. Understood?" The man in the trench coat announced to the girls.

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

"Good, your time start now!"

"Oh, they're getting better." The figure muttered softly while writing it on the notepad. "Wonder what his secret that made them better?" As she wrote line after lines, she kept looking at Tenryuu's team with excitement filled eyes. "Oh, they're readying for another round?" The sound of gunshot was heard over the shooting range. The figure kept hiding and tried to look at the result. "Uh wow, he hit all of them again? This man is a master marksmanship!" A voice of excitement exited the figure's mouth as the hand kept writing.

Moments later, one could see that each of the six girls tried their luck at trying to follow the man's shot count. But just from their expression, not everyone was having a good day.

"Oh, this time Akatsuki-chan and Hibiki-chan also missed two? Too bad for them."

As the figure kept writing the review of the girls' competition, the six of them kept trying to do their best. Even the older light cruiser fleet girls were starting to show difficulty in following the man's perfect hit rate.


After the third round ended, the score was not looking good for any of them. Tenryuu and Tatsuta placed in first as they both only missed a total of three shots. After that, Hibiki placed the second as she missed six shots. Akatsuki and Ikazuchi tied in the third place with seven missed shot. And unfortunately, Inazuma placed the last with eight missed shot.

"Well, not looking exactly good now, are we?" The Major said as he reviewed the score of each of them. "Looking at the record, I'll have to cook a lot of my special spicy curry, don't you think so?"

"Ugh, that's not good-nanodesu." As the one with the worst score, she was the most worried one among them.

"But fear not, the last two rounds will be different. For every perfect complete set of on target shot, I'll deduct one missed count for everyone." That good news was greeted with a happy reaction from everyone. For everyone, this mean their effort will be able to save everyone. "Let's see. If you all complete the shot, that would mean no one will eat the penalty dish. So give it your all!"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" The once lost vigor was restored with the announcement of the possibility to prevent anyone from eating the feared penalty dish.

"Now pay attention. I'll only show you once." After that, Major Jurou Wakahisa readied his weapon and pointed at the target. As the first shot was delivered and hit the target perfectly, the girls pay close attention to follow the pattern of the attack.


"Oh, now it is a pattern shot? This guy's method is very unique. Well, I'm sure that this will be such an interesting news!" As she shouted that, the figure realized that there was some killing intent coming from the direction of the shooting range, making the figure crouched and hid behind the pile of crates nearby instinctively. "W-What was that!? That was so scary!" With her heart beat quite fast, she was too scared to check for the source of the killing intent. The figure decided to kept crouching and just wait for the marksmanship practice to finish.


After The Major showed a pattern of five shot, it seemed the task was proof to be much too difficult for them to follow. The only one who was able to finish the pattern completely was Tatsuta. Tenryuu missed the last one while Hibiki and the other missed it on the fourth shot. The last round was no different. This time, the only one that managed to follow it was Tenryuu. Just like Tenryuu on the last round, Tatsuta missed the last shot. Next was the little destroyers turn.

"Okay, so this is your last chance, girls!" The Major shouted at them. "Don't panic, be calm and take a steady aim."

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" They shouted their reply. But their voice was not as spirited as before.

"Okay, take your time and discuss your strategy. I'll give you ten minutes starting from….now!" And with that, the girls quickly huddled up to discuss their last chance to reduce everyone's penalty. While the four girls were busy with it, The Major beckoned the two group leaders to take a short walk away from them.

"What is it, Major?" Tenryuu asked him right away.

"The result is not bad, right?" He grinned at her. This resulted in a sour look from her.

"Ugh, hate to admit it, but yes. They've perform better."

"Is it because of the reward?" Tatsuta asked him.

"No, no, no. The reward is only a small part of it. The main thing is that they tried to improve each other."

"Ah, is that why you told them to ask for other's help moments ago?" Tenryuu folded her arms as she starting to see the whole challenge's purpose.

"Correct. And to top it off, they have a quite unified spirit. This tactic will only work if they have the will to help each other. If not, well, the reward will be the main motivation."

"And that will only go so far, right Major?" Tatsuta added.

"Yes, it is. Now did you see that?" He pointed to the huddled up girls. "They were trying to make the best of their time to reduce everyone's punishment."

"Yes. And their results were much better in the fourth round." Tenryuu said as she nodded. "Got to hand it to you, Major, your method work much better than I expected."

"Well, it's just something from my experience." He then looked at the timer on his gadget. "Okay, time to see how the girls managed to do this time."

"I'll call them." With that, Tenryuu walked first to the girls. They separated from each other and looked at their group leader. "You lot ready?"

"Yes, ma'am!" They shouted their reply. This time, there was confidence in their voice.

"Good to hear that! Now take your places!" She clapped her hand and the girls walked to their spot.

The first one was the black haired destroyers, Akatsuki. She took a deep breath and waited for the signal.

"Ready!" She took a shooting pose. "Aim!" Her weapon was raised. "Fire!" With that signal from Tenryuu, the sound of her turret resounded on the shooting range. Without waiting for the first shot to hit the target, she quickly moved her sight to the next target and shot it. After finishing the whole five shot, she waited for the result.

"Okay, let me see." The Major looked through the unattached scope at the target. "Hmm, missed the last one there, Akatsuki-kun."

"Oh no!" She looked disappointed at that. "…Sorry, everyone." Her expression was a mix of disappointment and shame that she was unable to help her friend.

"Don't worry, Akatsuki-chan. We still have three more chance." Ikazuchi tried to cheer her up.

"Ikazuchi-chan is right-nanodesu. I'll try my best!" Inazuma also joined her to cheer her up. Hibiki also nodded at her.

"…Thanks girls." She smiled at them, although her smile looked somewhat forced.

"Come on! Next shooter?" Tenryuu shouted the call.

"Oh, I'm next." Hibiki quickly walked to her position.

And just like before, she took the same shooting position as Akatsuki.

"Ready!" The white haired girl took her position. "Aim!" Clanking sound was made as she raised her turret toward the target. "Fire!" Consecutive shot was released as she followed the pattern inside her head. After finished, she lowered down her weapon and waited for the result announcement.

"Let's see." Once again, The Major looked through his scope. "Hmm, barely hit the last one. But…that doesn't count. Sorry." Hearing that, Hibiki looked a bit disheartened.

"Ah, that's too bad, Hibiki-chan." Inazuma said with a sad tone. "But don't worry, Hibiki-chan. We'll do our best-nanodesu!"

"Yup, we will!" Ikazuchi added with her usual energetic tone.

"…Thank you." The white haired girl only nodded at that.

"Okay, next!"

Ikazuchi took her position.

"Ready!" She readied her weapon. "Aim!" Her weapon was raised. "Fire!" Just like before, the sound of gunshot was heard exactly five times. After that, she quickly lowered her weapon.

"Okay, now the result!" With his usual scope, he judged the brown haired girl result. "….And…that's a miss on the last one. Sorry about that, Ikazuchi-kun."

"Ugh, and I was so confident." She kept her hand curled in a fist.

"Okay, last one!"

"Hawawawa! W-What am I going to do?" The amount of pressure was clearly evident from the girl's expression. With both hand trembling and her speech stuttered, Inazuma looked far from confident. But then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"You can do it." It was from the white haired girl. Hibiki tried to encourage her with her usual calm and cool tone.

"Yes, be confident, Inazuma-chan!" Ikazuchi said to her with a thumb up and a wide smile on her face.

"Just be calm and aimed carefully." With a serious tone, Akatsuki added that last advice.

"You girls…" She felt slightly more spirited as she heard the heartfelt encouragement from her close friends. "Yes, I'll do my best-nanodesu!" And with that last shout, she took her place.

"Ready!" Tenryuu didn't waste any time as she quickly shouted the signal. "Aim!" Inazuma managed to raised her weapons without her hand trembling. "Fire!"

"Eih!" A small yelp came from the little destroyer. A smoke puff was made as soon the booming sound of the cannon was made. Just like the other, she didn't waste time and quickly moved her aim to the next target in question. "Yaahh!" And another shot was made. And with that pattern she shot at all five targets in the sequence demonstrated by her superior.

"At ease!" Tenryuu shout signified the end of her turn. "Major?" The sword wielding fleet girl looked to the Major who was already looking through his unattached scope and waited for the verdict for the last of the four.

"Wait a minute," said the Major while still assessing the result of the last girl. "…Okay, got it." He then looked at Inazuma who was already being surrounded by her sister ships.

"D-Did I make it-nanodesu?" Her voice sounded very timid as she awaited the result. The other wasn't brave enough to ask him, only looking at him with anticipation.

"Okay, here's the result." The Major push forward his finger. "First target, hit." He raised one finger. "Second target, hit." And another finger was raised.

"Oh, nice." Ikazuchi already looked happy to hear that Inazuma managed to hit two targets.

"Shh!" Akatsuki quickly shushed her up.

"Third target, hit." Ignoring the girls, another one of his finger is raised. "Fourth target, hit."

"Uwo, хороший (nice)." This time it was Hibiki who voiced her happiness.

"T-Then, the last one?" Ikazuchi looked at the Major with hope in her eyes.

"Well, fifth one." He stopped and took a look at the girls' varied expression. As the one that hold the first ship of her class, Akatsuki tried to hide her nervousness, but that has made her looked to be the most nervous among them instead as she was fidgeting while looking at him. Hibiki who was usually calm also showed the same reaction as her. She stared strongly at him, waiting for the answer. Ikazuchi grip on Inazuma's shoulder was so hard that it started to make her clothes wrinkled on the spot where her hand was. Fortunately, the girl in question was concentrating so much at her last result that she didn't even flinched at the painful looking grip of her friend. He couldn't help to give them a smile. He then raised his hand and gave a thumb up. "Barely miss, but it's a hit." And with that, the expression of the girls turned immediately. "Congratulation, Inazuma-kun. You've hit five out of five. Perfect score."

The girls' shouts of happiness were heard out loud as the Major made an official announcement of Inazuma's result. Inazuma was hugged by her sister ships while uttering "Good job!", "You did it!", and also "Nice!" to her with a wide smile on their face. While being hugged and congratulated by the other, the girl in question just stood there with a look of a mix of disbelief at her achievement and relief that she was able to fulfill her friends' expectation. As tears started to appear on the edge of her eyes, she gave the widest smile among them.

"Well done, Inazuma!" Tenryu clapped her hand as she looked at the girl with the folded ponytail. "I'm proud of you!"

"Yes, congratulation, Inazuma-chan~" Next to her was the glaive carrying girl. She also joined Tenryu in congratulating her. Her usual smile looked somewhat a bit happier than usual.

"Attention!" A sudden shout from the Major made them flinched a bit. "Now let me read you the score!"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" The six girls immediately lined up with perfect stance in front of the Major who put the rifle on his shoulder with his left hand while his other hand was holding his tablet.

"Good! Tenryuu missed 3; Tatsuta missed 3; Akatsuki missed 5; Hibiki missed 4; Ikazuchi missed 5; and Inazuma missed 6." Hearing the score being read like that made them a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed. "And now for the pattern shooting score! The one who have made full and perfect shoot are Tenryuu, Tatsuta, and also," he glanced to the next girl on which name was on the list on his tablet, "Inazuma! Congratulation to the three of you!"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" The three girls shouted their response.

"Now with that, here is the new score. Tenryuu missed 0; Tatsuta missed 0; Akatsuki missed 4; Hibiki missed 3; Ikazuchi missed 4; and Inazuma missed 5. So with that, the one who will get penalty is Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, and Inazuma. So in this, the ones who can have the reward are Tenryuu and Tatsuta." The four destroyer fleet girls looked disheartened as they have failed to complete the challenge. Akatsuki and Hibiki held their head slightly down, making their face covered by their hat while Ikazuchi and Inazuma had their shoulder slumped. Tenryuu also looked a bit unhappy knowing that this might decrease their mood. Besides her, Tatsuta couldn't give a perfect smile as she also felt the same. "But I have an option for you."

"Option?" They stared at him as he said that.

"Yes, an option. I will change the penalty to which all of you have to eat one big bowl of my special spicy curry but all of you can also eat the reward curry that I have promised for the winner of the shooting challenge after finishing the penalty bowl. Besides, making just a small batch of curry is rather difficult. How's that sound to you?" He grinned at them. "Decided between yourselves what will it be. I'll give you, uhm, ten minutes? Yes, I think that's enough."

"I'll choose that option!" Tenryuu voice was loud as she gave that answer without wasting any time.

"Well, I'll choose that too~ " Tatsuta also gave the same answer with her usual singing-like voice. "Besides, I'm actually curious about how spicy it is."

"B-But, Tenryuu-san." Akatsuki quickly looked at her leader. "That would mean that both Tenryuu-san and Tatsuta-san has to eat the penalty."

"I don't mind." Tenryuu straighten her back, making her machinery made a slight clanking sound. "If I can take one for the team, I'll gladly take it any day."

"Yup~ Just as Tenryuu-chan said." Tatsuta leaned forward to look at the little destroyer fleet girl under her command. "And just like I said, I am curious at how spicy this penalty curry is."

"You lot has also improved greatly! I think that itself need a reward, don't you think so, Major?" Tenryuu golden eyes looked up to the man who was lifting his rifle on his shoulder.

"Yes, compared to the result before the challenge, your hit rate has increased significantly. Although not much and still far from perfect, an improvement is an improvement." He smiled again at them. "And that is also one of the reason I gave that option."

"You heard that, girls! Now the decision will be between you four." Tenryuu gave a wide smile to the four destroyer fleet girls.

"Ehm, how about it, Hibiki-chan, Ikazuchi-chan, Inazuma-chan?" Akatsuki looked and asked each of them.

"I'm fine with anything. But… I am curious about the reward." Hibiki gave her honest opinion.

"I'm with Hibiki-chan!" Ikazuchi said with her usual energetic tone.

"Nanodesu!" Beside her, Inazuma nodded with the same expression, making the machinery on her back clunk a bit.

"Okay, got it!" Akatsuki then shifted her gaze to the senior male officer. "We'll gladly take that offer, sir!

"Very good!" The Major shouted with a loud voice. A smile crept on his face. "I like that spirit of yours! With that out of the way, you will have one big bowl of penalty curry and also one regular bowl of reward curry for each and every one of you! Do you understand that?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" The six girls replied with spirited voice.

"And you're dismissed. You can get back to your schedule." He shifted back the rifle onto his shoulder. "And don't be late for dinner tonight."

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" They gave a salute to him. Short after that, they started to walk away from the shooting range. But the Major didn't follow them, instead walked away from them and proceed to rummage the bag on the ground. Noticing that, Hibiki walked to him and asked him.

"Uhm, sir, you're not going to follow us?" Hibiki stared at the man who was busy looking for something.

"No, Hibiki-kun," said the Major without looking at her. "I want to practice a bit. Besides, I need to cook for tonight, no?"

"Ah, yes, sir. Understood." She nodded at him. After that, she ran to join with her division.

With that, the rowdy shooting range was quiet. Only a single man stood with his rifle pointed at the target on the far side of the range. The Major insert the bullet cartridge into the breach and then pushed the bolt handle, inserting the bullet into the chamber. He aimed and then pulled the trigger, resulting in a loud sound as well as puff of smoke as a bullet was left flying into the target.


"Hmm, so I guess that means Tenryuu group is done on the shooting range? Hmm, now what is he doing?"

Another loud sound was heard on the shooting range. The figure, while still cautious due to the last killing intent she felt not long ago, decided to peek at the man who was shooting alone at the shooting range. She stared at him while still hiding behind the stack of crates as carefully as she could to avoid being found out. Another loud sound was made again as another shot hit the target.

"So is he just going to shoot here all day?" She wrote that in her notepad. "Well, I guess that–"

Her mouth stopped moving and her hand ceased to write as she felt something fly pass near her face. Besides that, she also felt some debris come flying in front of her. She immediately looked to the wall near her and found out that a bullet hole was there. "…T-That wasn't there moments ago….Right?"

"Of course it wasn't." A voice came from the direction of the shooting range. "I made that seconds ago, ojou-chan." After that, the sound of bullet flung out of the rifle was heard together with a sliding sound. "Now, follow my command or the next one might hit you."

"W-W-What hap-p-pened here!?" Shocked by the sudden turn of event, the figure stuttered her speech. "H-He found me?"

"Get out and show yourself." The man's voice was cold and emotionless, unlike the tone he used when he mentored Tenryuu's group.

"W-What should I do? Wait! I can still run away, right?" But before she could plan her escape further, another batch of debris started to fly in front of her. At that, she lost all color from her face. She turned her head to see the wall and she found another bullet hole. This time, it was closer to her.

"I see that you don't want to follow my command. Should I brand you as enemy then?"

"W-Wait a minute!" She get out of her hiding place. With shivering legs, she stood as she looked at the man eye to eye. " I-I am Aoba! I mean you no harm!"

"Hands in the air."

"Eh?" After she said that, another bullet flew pass her, making her violet colored hair sway. Behind her she could felt debris and dust flew. Noticing that, she lost all the color from her face.

"Hands. In. The. Air." The man repeated his command again as he prepared his rifle for another shot.

"Y-Yes, Sir!" She quickly followed his command and reach for the sky as fast as possible in fear of her life. "P-Please don't shoot me." Her feet trembled as she said that.

"Depends on your answer, Aoba-san." The Major walked closer to the girl who was wearing a white serafuku that was now littered with a bit of dust and debris here and there courtesy of his bullet. "Question number one. Who are you?"

"Eh?" The rifle's aim then tilted slightly to the direction of her head. "I am Aoba, Sir! I'm the 1st in Aoba Class Heavy Cruiser!"

"Hmm? A heavy cruiser fleet girl?"

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" She nodded while still having her hand up on the air.

"I see. Okay, I won't shoot you, Aoba-san." The Major lowered the rifle and used the strap to hang it on his back.

"T-Thank you, sir." Aoba said as she breathed in relief and lowered her hand. But then she was surprised by a sudden flash near her cheeks. "E-Eh?" She looked surprise as she felt the coldness of the object on her skin.

"Did I say that you can relax, Aoba-san?" While pointing his sword that he just pulled from the scabbard on his waist, the man in trench coat continued his question. At this, Aoba stretched her hand up in a hurry. The sign of relief that was on her face has vanished instantly. "Now, question number two. What were you doing back then?"

"I-I was…err…" While she was thinking how to answer his question, she felt the man has move the blade downward a little. This time, the blade was on her neck. Feeling immense pressure from that, she quickly confessed her work. "I was collecting information, sir! Please don't kill me!" The last part was delivered with a pleading tone.

"Collecting information, eh? Any proof of that, Aoba-san?"

"I h-have one, sir! B-But, may I put down my arm?" The violet haired girl looked to the man, waiting for his reaction. She couldn't see any visible change in his expression. From start until now, the man had worn the same cold expression.

"…You may. But one wrong move, I might, hmm,…'accidentally' move my hand," said the man as he moved even closer to her, making his sword made a clunking sound a bit with every step he made.

"I w-wouldn't, sir." Still shaking in fear, Aoba stuttered her reply.

"Then go on."

"Yes, sir!" She then quickly put down her hand and also rummaged her pocket in a hurry. "Ah, found it!" On her hand was a notepad she used to write the data she has collected.

"Give it to me," said the Major as he put forward his other hand.

"Yes, sir." She then handed the object right away without questioning him.

As he took the notepad, he looked at it carefully. "Turn around and face the wall."

"Face the wal–Y-Yes, yes, sir!" She was unable to complete her question as she felt the same cold steel pressed on her neck again. As she did what the man commanded her, she felt her heart beat even faster. The feeling of not knowing the man will do to her next was making her more and more scared with each passing seconds.

"Hmm,…" the Major hummed as he flipped the notepad from start to end. "So you have a hobby of looking for news, Aoba-san?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"So I presumed that you know each and every one's secret here?"

"Uhm,…not exactly everyone, sir." She answered with slight hesitation. "Just…a few."

"Oh, really now?" He put the notepad inside his pocket. "I'll be confiscating this for now."

"Confiscating? What!? My notepad!?" Hearing that her work will be taken just like that made Aoba instinctively turned around to face him. "Don't take–" Her sentence was once again interrupted. This time, the blade was placed in front of her neck. The man's face was only inches near her that one would easily mistake them that they were going to kiss, if one would disregard the blade that is.

"Don't what, Aoba-san?" Seeing his face so close has made her sweat uncontrollably and frozen in place. But he ignored that and continued to stare at her eyes. As if being stared directly at her own soul, Aoba felt that she was very small compared to the sword wielding man. "What you have done here is what I call privacy violation. Do you confess that you have snoop around to look for some if not all the personnel's secret?"

"Snoop around? I have neve–" And the sword was pressed again. "I have! I have snoop around to look for everyone's secret! Please don't kill me! I beg you!" As she said that, tear started to well up on the edge of her eyes. Even her voice was about to crack any minute.

"Now that wasn't so difficult, right?" He looked at her and received a weak nod from her. A grin crept on his face. He then took a step back and pulled the sword away from the poor girl who was on the verge of crying. "But now that you have confessed your mistake, I need to give punishment, right?"

"P-P-Punishment?" In that moment, Aoba's face has managed to become even whiter than before. "B-B-But, I was just…"

"Oh, don't think about your mistake against the other." He sheathed back his sword. "I can only deliver punishment for your snooping at me." After saying that, he swung the rifle that was on his back in a split second and aimed the weapon at the girl in front of him.

"S-Sir?"

"I guess the base will have one less fleet girl as in today." He gave her a smile. But to her, that smile was the same as the smile from the grim reaper. "Too bad, isn't it? Well, that is the dark side of the war."

"H-Hah!? Y–You're kidding, right? You w-won't do it, right?" She shook her head in denial at the grim situation she was at the moment, refusing to believe that. In her mind, she never expected that she would die at the hand of the guest of the base that she has just met.

"Care to wager that, Aoba-san?" The Major kept his smile at the girl who stuttered her word at him.

"T-The Admiral wouldn't let you do this!" She tried to act strong and give a reason, but deep down she was not sure since the information about the man appearance and purpose in the base was much too little for her to draw that conclusion.

"No, she wouldn't." Hearing that, she felt a slight ray of hope. But that vanished in a split second with the sound of him pushing the bolt handle on the rifle. "But she wouldn't know. Besides, this place is pretty far from her office right? And no one is here except you and me."

"W-Wait! I-I'll do anything!" She pleaded to him. "Just d-don't kill me, please!"

"And what is it that you can offer me, Aoba-san?"

"I can…I can…Uhm…" Being forced to think in the face of a death has made her unable to come up with anything.

"So you can't then?" He tilted his head slightly and smiled the same smile at her. "My condolence, Aoba-san."

"P-Please wait a minute! Please, I beg you!" She was practically crying. Not knowing what else to say, she could only beg for her life with tears fell from her eyes.

"Good bye, 1st of the Aoba class heavy cruiser."

"No, no, no!" She shook her head in fear. But the grim reaper in front of her ignored that and pulled the trigger. As the click of the trigger was made, she closed her eyes, gripped her hand, and prayed that at least her last time will be painless.

But the moment of her demise never came. The sound of the trigger being pulled was there. And that's it. There was no explosion sound, no smell of smoke, no nothing. She opened her eyes slightly and looked at the man in front of her. He was still holding the weapon that could kill her in a split second. But that she was there, alive and breathing.

"Okay, that's done," said the man as he pulled back the rifle and strapped it on his back again. "Got that all on my tablet here." He said to her with a wide grin.

"Eh? What? Got what?" She couldn't understand anything he said.

"Yup, I've got everything recorded. I have to say, Aoba-san, you looked pretty damn scared back then." A small laugh escaped his mouth after he said that to her.

"…S-So…y-you won't k-k-k-"

"Nope. I won't. You'll live, Aoba-san,"

"I-I'l live…." After saying that, she immediately slumped on the floor with tears flown even harder from her eyes. "Thank goodness." But after a slight feeling of relief, she remembered what the man just said. "W-Wait a minute! Did you just say 'recorded everything'?"

"Yes." He then pulled out his gadget that was placed inside his chest pocket. He swiped his finger on the screen and then tapped the screen once. After that, the video of the recent event that showed her pleading for her life and crying was played. "Man, this is something, you know?" He smiled mischievously at her.

"You…You tricked me!"She shouted while pointing her finger at him. "How dare you!?"

"Hey, hey, you're the one that spied on me first, right? But don't you think that it is a cheap price to pay instead of losing your life?" He looked at her as he put back the gadget inside his pocket.

"Ugh…" She could only sit there while groaning. Her hands were curled into a fist so tight that her knuckles started to become white. "Damn you…"

"But don't worry, Aoba-san. I have no intention to show this video to anyone."

She looked up to him. "You….won't?"

"Yes, I won't."

"Wait a minute." She immediately stopped and thought for a while. "There's a catch, isn't it?" Hearing that, the man smiled. Noticing that she was right on track, her face became sour.

"Very good, Aoba-san. Very good." To his praise, her face looked more and more annoyed. "I have two, conditions for this."

"The first one is?" She knew that waiting will not do her any good. She just wanted to end it as soon as possible.

"You will be my eyes and ear in this base. And judging from your work here," he patted the pocket on his trench coat that contained the notepad, "it is not such a hard work for you. Just continue doing it."

"…Second?"

"You aren't going to refuse it?"

"I don't have any choice now, do I? Let's get this over with." Sarcasm filled her voice as she said that.

A small laugh escaped his mouth again. "I like understanding person. Well, the second is that you will keep what happened between us a secret."

"Like I want to let anyone know that I was going to die."

"Good. Then that is all. Simple, isn't it?"

"Tch, and I have to do that without gaining anything."

"Ah, there's where you're wrong, ojou-san." He waved his finger at her. "To make it fair for you, I'll teach you."

"Teach me what?"

"Teach you how to become better to follow someone." He crossed his arm after saying that. "To put it bluntly, the way you stalk is very amateurish. You need to train some more."

"Ugh, to be told like that is…" She sighed.

"If this is an enemy camp, you will be killed at first sight. If not, you will be captured and tortured. You might even be forced to give important information about your allies. And by doing that, you are also endangering the lives of your comrade, not just yourself." His voice was serious as he explained his reason.

"…When you put it that way." She couldn't give any reply. "Okay, I understand." She nodded once. "I'll do it. Not that I have any choice to refuse."

"Good." He clapped once. "Well, this pleasant meeting of ours has gone far too long. I have to get back." He walked back to near the shooting range and grabbed back the bag on the ground. After lifting it up, he looked at her. "See you later, Aoba-san. I'll contact you later." And with that, he walked away, leaving the girl who was still too weak to stand up.

Aoba sat there while looking at the figure of the man slowly disappear from her sight. She was digesting the event that had unfolded in such an unexpected ways that at one point she almost lost her life because of her curiosity. "…His eyes were so serious. He was… really trying to kill me." She wiped her face and also her eyes. As she tried to put strength in her feet and also tried to stand, she noticed that her knees were far too weak and she came back down again in a split second. "I'll rest a bit." She then leaned back against the wall behind her, making the machinery on her back clunk and swayed a bit. As she patted her chest pocket she said "I better get a new notepad."


Inside the Admiral's voice, a knock on the door could be heard. Hearing that, as the sole occupant of the office, the Admiral looked at the door.

"Excuse me," a girl's voice accompanied that short after. "It's Tenryuu and my division."

"Come in," she said to the voice on the other side of the door.

"Excuse me, Admiral." The door opened and revealed a group of six girls.

"Good evening, Commander!" The four destroyer girls greeted her in a rather cheerful voice.

"Good evening, everyone." She smiled at them and she stood up. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, Admiral. Well," Tenryuu looked around for a second before continuing, "the only one missing is the one that invited us."

"Ah, him, eh?" The black haired admiral gave a smile as she realized that. "Just sit down first then."

The four little girls quickly sat on one side of the sofa while the two older light cruiser fleet girls sat on the opposite side.

"So I heard that you girls have done well in your latest marksmanship practice." The Admiral leaned to the sofa where the destroyer girls sat. "Is that true?"

"Of course we did well!" Akatsuki said with pride.

"Yes, we did. Thanks to the Major." Hibiki added as she looked up to the Admiral.

"Yes, yes!" Ikazuchi and Inazuma stood on the sofa with her knee as she looked at her superior. "Inazuma also managed to hit five out five targets!"

"Nanodesu!" The girl in question who stood beside Ikazuchi said with a happy expression on her face.

"Now, now, Ikazuchi-chan, Inazuma-chan. Mind your manner there~" As the calm one of the two, Tatsuta scolded the girl. "Sit down properly now~"

"Yes, Tatsuta-san!" Both the brunet girl replied as they return to their proper seat.

"Hahaha, good work all of you. And I heard that the Major is preparing something. Is that right?"

"Yes, correct!" A voice came from the direction of the door. As everyone looked at the source of the voice, the door opened and the man of the hour showed up with a service trolley in front of him. On the top one has two stainless steel pans with different sizes; one was much bigger than the other. On the second shelve was some metal plates and plenty of utensil. And on the bottom most of the trolley three covered container also sit quietly together with a few jars of water. "And this is their reward and their penalty."

"Huh? So you were planning to cook for them? Oh no, don't tell me." Looking at the two objects on top of the trolley, the Admiral's brows furrowed. "Is that, your–"

"Special spicy curry! Yup, you got that right!" In contrast to her, Major Jurou Wakahisa looked somewhat excited and happy with a wide smile as he explained it to her. This has made the Admiral's face a bit pale.

"Uhm, Admiral," Tenryuu expression changed. At first, she was looking rather anticipating the penalty, thinking that it wouldn't be such a scary thing. But looking at her superior reaction to the mentioning of the dish has made her a bit wary. "You knew about his special spicy curry?"

"Knew about it? Oh how blessed you are, Tenryuu." She shifted her gaze to the one who asked that question. "To not know what true horror a mere stew could bring. Count yourself lucky, Tenryuu." She delivered that explanation with such seriousness complete with the dramatic gestures that made it even believable. It made the whole atmosphere of the room changed.

"T-True horror?" "Ugh, don't like the sound of it." "Hawawa, w-what should we do, Ikazuchi-chan?" "S-Stay strong, Inazuma-chan!" The four destroyer girls already looked afraid and worried after hearing the Admiral's explanation.

"I-Is it that bad?" Even the usually calm Tatsuta looked a bit worried.

"Hmph! I-I'm sure we can take it!" Tenryuu tried to fake courage, but inside her chest she was feeling her heart beat rather fast. "Yup, we s-sure can!"

"Now that's the spirit!" Hearing the confident remark from her, the Major gave a small applaud. "Then as we agreed on, the first will be one big serving of my own special spicy penalty curry!" And he placed the smaller pan in the middle of the table which made a loud thud. "Now, let me get your plates."

"W-Wait a minute there!" Tenryuu raised her hand. "We have to finish that much!?" She shouted her protest as she pointed to the pan.

"Huh? Oh yes, of course." The man nodded immediately. "I did say one big serving, right?"

"That's too much!"

"Don't worry. You will have a lot of time. Besides, you have to share it among the six of you. You'll live." He paused for a while. "Probably. Yeah, you'll live."

"Wow there! What with the ominous statement!?" Clearly shaken by what he said, Tenryuu protested again.

"You're not afraid, are you?" The Major said as he picked up the piles of plate on the second shelf of the trolley. But that provocation of his has gone unanswered. Even as he divided the plate among the six, the only thing Tenryuu able to let out was a groan full of annoyance. "Well, here's the rice for this round. Feel free to finish it out. But do leave space for the reward curry." He placed one of the containers next to the pot and opened it, releasing the steam from the freshly cooked rice inside.

"Ugh, what are we going to do?" Tenryuu looked at the stainless steel pot in the middle of the table as if looking at a time bomb ready to explode any moment. She looked at the little girls in front of her. Akatsuki looked a bit terrified judging from the way she sat. Her stiff face and also beads of sweat on her forehead told enough story of her mental condition. Next to her, the white haired girl Hibiki didn't look much better either. Her usual expressionless face started to crack and show trace of her fear. The most worrying among them was the Ikazuchi and Inazuma duo that clung to each other's arm with tears started to well up on their eyes. Inside the eye patch wearing girl mind, she started to felt regret that she agreed to the condition of the competition. But then the thought that it has made her group improved clashed with her previous feeling.

"Tenryuu-chan." A hand was placed on her shoulder. "We…have to do this." She looked up the hand and found that it was none other than her comrade's arm. With eyes filled with determination, she looked to the golden eye of Tenryuu.

"…You're right." She stood up and placed her hand on the lid. "In the worse, we'll have to take more than the girls, right?" That question received a nod from the glaive carrying girl beside her. But even if she immediately nodded like that, trace of worry was evident in her eyes.

"That's the spirit!" The Major clapped his hand as he looked at the brave display of sacrificial spirit from the leader of the group. "Now hurry or I'll have you eat another pot or two," said the man with a joking tone. But it seemed that was not received as a joke as the party of six near the table looked somewhat more worried.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Tenryuu shouted with resolved in her voice. With one swift move, the lid was opened. At first, she closed her eyes, fearing something bad will happen. But nothing extraordinary happened. The only thing that happened was the appearance of a pleasant smell that permeated the whole room.

"Oh, it smells nice." Akatsuki said so while enjoying the smell produced by the dish inside the pot. "It is quite unique compared to our usual curry's smell."

"Yes, it is." Hibiki also agreed with her, joining her in taking a whiff of the aromatic smell in the air. "I've never smelled something like this before." And it seemed that the girls beside Hibiki also agreed as they did the same. The once afraid expression of theirs has disappeared and it was replaced by a relaxed expression.

"Geez, you have to scare us like that, eh, Major?" Tenryuu has opened her eye and looked at the content of the pot. There was nothing malicious or horror about it. Beside the smell, the color was the same.

"Well, if you say so, start eating. It will get cold otherwise." The Major, who has walked next to where their admiral was standing, said with a smile on his face. Beside him, the Admiral could only look at him with a wary look on her face.

The girls who have forgotten the fear and worried looked very relaxed and seemed to actually looking forward to eat their so called penalty. They hurriedly scoop some rice and some of the 'penalty' curry on top of it.

"Itadakimasu!" Cheers of the girls resounded on the whole room as they give thanks for the food. As they scoop their first bite into their mouth, the Admiral eyes twitched a bit together with a wary smile on her face.

"Uhm, yummy!" And once again, the girls around the table voiced their expression of happiness.

But among the happy expression, Tenryuu felt something wring and eyed the Major who somehow wore an evil grin on his face beside the Admiral who wore a complicated expression that says 'ignorance is bliss'. This has made her very uncomfortable. And it seemed her instinct was sharp as she heard the Major hummed something short after that.

"A one, a two, a three." Each word was complimented with a snap of his finger. On the count of three, the sound of laughter and happiness stopped, making Tenryuu looked around in confusion. She noticed that everyone has stopped moving and their spoon was on their plate. This worried her as she also noticed that the Major's evil smile grew even wider. But then she realized the problem.

"Guah!" Her spoon fell to the ground as she felt the effect of the dish. "HHHOOOOTTTTT!" The burning sensation has invaded her mouth. At first, she felt nothing wrong. But then the spiciness built in a matter of seconds. She finally understood what the count from her superior officer was. It was the count that was as same as the ticking of the time bomb. And as the count reached, the 'bomb' exploded in their mouth, releasing the horror which the Admiral has warned them.

Their reaction varied. Tatsuta who was usually calm covered her mouth while she sweated profusely. One could also noticed that the light on her mechanical halo has somewhat turned to a bright red, which surprised the Admiral and the Major, while the later one looked more amused than the former one. Tenryuu, who shouted moments ago, breathed air quickly, trying to reduce the searing pain inside her mouth. The light on her ear like apparatus on her head also showed similar reaction to Tatsuta, glowing with the same red light. While the two light cruiser fleet girls showed reaction with their light on their apparatus, the four destroyer fleet girls showed reaction with their chimney started to produce a bit of smoke. It seemed they have overheated considerably. The four of them has stopped eating and tried their best to endure the sudden heat of the food while each and every one of them started to show tears on their eyes.

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that the longer you eat, the spicy it will get." He said that with a mischievous smile on his face. "And also drinking much will only make the next bite become more painful. So you better finish it as fast as you could to lessen your pain."

"Hate to agree with Sen– I mean, Major, but he's right." The Admiral looked at them with pity. "And I know that you want drink a gallon or two to lessen the spiciness, but, just as he said, it will only help a bit."

"You heard her." He clapped his hand as he said "Finish that quickly and then you can move on to your reward. I promise you that it will help you."

"You! You! You tricked us!" Tenryuu howled at the independent auditor who has served them dish that could be said contained the heat of the netherworld.


"Hahahaha! Today was quite an amusing day!" A merry laugh filled the office which came from none other than the independent auditor.

"That was a bit cruel. Don't you think so, Senpai?"

"Really now?" Jurou snickered at that. "But in the end they managed to finish it. So I guess that was still in their ability to do so." He laughed again, clearly not feeling any shred of guilt after putting Tenryuu's division into a test of endurance.

"Yes, but I recalled that Tatsuta and Akatsuki was about to faint after their third spoon." The Admiral felt very concerned after remembering the previous commotion in her office. The only remain of the commotion was the smell of the curry. Thankfully, the Major had anticipated that and brought a room freshener to help with that problem. And it seemed it has worked quite wonderfully judging from the air on the office that has start to turned back into the normal air. "Good thing Tenryuu and the other girls managed to cover their share. Barely."

"It is a good experience for them. Besides, they looked energetic enough to chow down their reward."

"I guess they were affected by Tenryuu that said 'We've come this far so we have to get our reward!' or something like that," said the black haired woman as she recited what her subordinate said.

"Then it is another good thing. And it seems that they loved the naan." The Major leaned back to the sofa and looked to the ceiling. "It is quite worth the effort."

"That reminded me. Did you borrow the kitchen to prepare all of those?" asked the Admiral to him.

"Yes. I asked permission from… Who was it again?" He tapped his chin a couple of times as he thought. "The one that wore scarlet colored kimono and also dark hakama. Oh, and a ponytail too and also has a motherly feeling."

"Houshou?" She immediately knew the one he was talking about after hearing the characteristic he gave, especially the 'motherly feeling' part. "Oh yeah, she is on duty today in the kitchen."

"Yeah, her. I met her again when I returned the trolley. She immediately asked me about the girls' condition." A wide grin spread on his face. "Yup, motherly feeling. She certainly got that."

"And you told her what, Senpai?" Raising an eyebrow, the Admiral asked him.

"Well they are fine, of course. And also told her to use a little spice every now and then in the food. Make the food to have a bit of variety, you know?"

"Hmm, I guess I'll have to talk with her later. I don't want her to make something strange because of what you said."

"Yeah, you do that." He then leaned his body forward toward the table. He then picked up the cup of tea he had. After sipping it a bit, he continued. "Ah, this has really been an amusing day."

"Glad to have my girls as your entertainment, Senpai." It was a sentence delivered with a bit of sarcasm in it.

"But amusement aside, I'm really impressed at Tenryuu's division." He sipped his tea a bit. With his voice became a bit more serious than before, he continued. "Just a bit of a push and they immediately show result."

"That was because both Tenryuu and Tatsuta felt very responsible for those four." The Admiral commented on his opinion as she kept doing his work. "The two of them also has what you call a special bond with those girls. And the girls also felt the same with their leader."

"Hmm, special bond, eh?" As he put down the cup, he pondered that phrase. "I guess you can say that."

"So you're going to continue monitoring them for now?"

"For now, yes. I will also assess the paperwork of your base. After that, I'll send the result to the HQ."

"Ugh, I'm not…really confident about it." She paused for a while. "But then I don't have any choice, right?"

"No, you don't." He leaned back again. "This has been decided by the higher up."

"Okay, okay, understood." She placed the paper she has done aside and pulled another one. "By the way, I guess they didn't call you 'Auditor-san', right?"

"No, they didn't." He looked to her while still having his body hung slightly on the edge of the sofa. "Guess they have forgotten that I'm one."

"Just hope that they wouldn't start calling you 'Curry-san' after that."

"Nope, chances are they wouldn't. I think they will somehow want to forget the memory of eating my spicy curry." And then a wide mischievous grin appeared again. "If they really forgot about it, another batch will do nicely."

"Spare them, Senpai." She gave a sigh after that. "I still need them for a lot of mission in the future."


*In an unknown part of the world

N: Ah, to think about it, the view is very nice.

C : Sir, we're already on air.

N: Huh? On ai– Oh, yes, sorry about that! Well hello there, everyone! Nice to meet you again with me, N-san, in our little corner at the end of the show! And as usual, we have Camera-kun here with me!"

C: Hello there!

N: Sorry about earlier. I was enjoying the view from this submarine. As one who rarely travel on the sea, or even undersea, this has been such a unique experience for me. But enough about that, we have a guest here!...Or we should have one, but I don't see anyone.

C: I guess she's late, sir?

N: You don't say? Well, what now? Should we–

I: Sorry for the wait!

N: Oh, speak of the devil, we have our guest! Welcome, Imuya-san!

I: Ah, thank you, thank you! Sorry again for my lateness. I have difficulty looking for place to store my torpedoes.

N: Ah, you have difficulty placing your–

N & C : Torpedoes!?

I: Eh? Yes, torpedoes. Why so surprised?

N: Uhm, forgive me for asking, Imuya-san. But does this submarine have place to store something like that?

I: Oh? Of course! It is actually not far from this room. Just one room ahead from here in fact. And to think that I walked around the place just to find the room next to here. Funny, isn't it? Hahaha!

N: Err, please excuse me for a bit, Imuya-san. I need…to talk about some technical stuff to Camera-kun.

I: Please do.

N: Thank you, Imuya-san….Camera-kun, do you know about…that place?

C: No, sir. And you don't know too?

N: How should I know? I was only assigned into this submarine with the task of hosting this show. I don't know anything about something that dangerous!

C: S-Sir, calm down. Remember your blood pressure.

N: Ugh, and I already felt the effect of that.

I: Uhm, sorry for bothering you, N-san and Camera-kun.

N: Yes?

I: I don't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but if you were talking about the ammunition room, you have nothing to worry about it.

N: Ehm, really?

I: Yes, really. For an ammunition room, that place looked really secured and safe. Don't worry about it.

N: …. Can I take your word for it, Imuya-san?

I: Absolutely!

N: Well okay, if you say so. So, let's go with the show then.

I: Please do. And please relax. You're too stiff, N-san.

N: Forgive me for that, Imuya-san. I have never been this close to something so dangerous. Ah, I'm sorry if I offend you with that.

I: None taken, N-san. As it is our duty to risk our life that is a risk we are willing to take.

N: Oh, such a dedication. I'm touched!

I: Ehehe, thank you.

N: So let's start with our first question then. Have you met Aoba-san before?

I: I have. Almost everyone has met her. Quite a nice girl, if you can look passes her habit of asking about absolutely everything every now and then.

N: I see. So she is the resident reporter of your base? Am I right?

I: Hmm, you can say that. Rather than reporter, I think she is one of the most knowledgeable girls in the base. We usually heard the latest news from her.

N: I see, I see. But, what's the word I'm looking for? Ah, has she ever been nosy or something like that?

I: Nosy, eh? Well, I guess some of the girls on the base have complaint a few times, but I guess it was still on a tolerable level as there was no official complaint from our admiral about it.

N: Oh, understood, Imuya-san. Then let's go to the second question. This time it is about the Major. Heard any rumor about him lately in the base?

I: Hmm, I have heard a rather strange news that he is supposedly to be a good chef.

N: Okay, go on.

I: But at the same time there is another rumor that said he is a scary chef. Honestly, I don't know which one is the truth.

N: How about combing them?

I: Combining them? Hmm… Then he is a chef so good that he is scary? Now that has become more confusing for me.

N: Uhm, you're right. Let's put that aside then. Any other news?

I: Hmm, oh, oh, there is! There has been a gossip that he is a longtime friend of the Admiral. Some has even said that he was the Admiral's longtime lover!

N: Hahaha, that is very amusing news.

I: So, N-san, do you know the truth? I mean about him and the Admiral. I'm sure the girls back on the base will be excited to hear about it.

N: Ah, a shame that I have no information regarding him. But if I have one, I'll be sure to share it with you first, Imuya-san.

I: Really? Thank you, thank you!

N: Quite an amusing experience this is, hahaha. Well, I guess that's all for today's question. And since this is near the end of the show, it is time to read the comments! Let's see who the first one is!

C: Sir, we only have one this time.

N: Really? Well, even if it is only one, we are still going to read it. They are, after all, our precious viewer. Let's see. And this is from an unknown guest! Thank you for following the show and thank you for the comment! And, yes, we will continue the show, you have nothing to fear! Okay, that's all, right?

C: Yes, sir. That's all.

N: Then it is time to say good bye! Once again, thank you very much for coming, Imuya-san.

I: You're welcome, N-san. And don't forget to tell me if you have any interesting news, hehehe…

N: But of course! And do share if you have one of your own!

I: Certainly! You can count on me!

N: Hahaha, what a spirited girl she is. So see you later, don't forget to send us your comment (aka Review). Thank you for watching, have a nice day, and stay healthy, everyone! Bye!