Time: 06:00

Date: August 19th

Location: Izumi's Temporary bedroom

*BEEP**BEEP**BE-**CLICK*

*Yawns*

Today was going to be a good day, seeing as it is going to be my first day as an active ship girl. But that doesn't mean I can neglect my daily exercises that had been outlined for me by Doctor Mizu. So out of bed I got and I changed into my tracksuit, making note that I really didn't have the many clothes to my name.

'I've got to ask Auntie, if I can go on a shopping trip soon to get some more' I thought to myself as I left my room.

After leaving the building I made my way over to the train station, where I arrived at the base yesterday. The reason why I'm doing this is that I'm making a running route for me to follow, so I can better familiarise myself with the base and not get lost in it.

The run had lasted a good 30 mins and I was now currently in the middle of performing my post-run stretches in order to get rid of the aches and pains that had accumulated during the run. Speaking of the run the route I had made around the base satisfied me immensely because first off I had reinforced my memory on where everything on the base was, as well as finding new places, such as the archery range, that had not been made known to me on the tour yesterday.

Once my stretches were over I decided to head back to my room to fetch some things that I needed, but just as I passed Houshou-san's cafe the lights came on and out of the door popped Houshou-san herself. It seemed like she was getting started for the day.

"Good Morning Miss Houshou" I said gaining her attention

"Ara, ara a very good morning to you too Izumi-san to what do I owe this pleasure of your visit" She replied in a motherly tone.

"I just finished my morning exercises and was heading back to my room, before you came out and started setting up for the day" I happily replied

"Well, it seems someone is an early riser, would you like to come inside for a nice warm drink?" She asked gesturing to the inside of her shop, it didn't take long for me to come up with an answer.

"Yes, I would love too Houshou-san"

"Then go on ahead of me my dear and pick a seat, I'll be there in a moment" she said but I was having none of that and helped Houshou-san finish setting up much faster than she could do on her own.

"Why thank you for your help my dear, that was much appreciated. Now let's head inside shall we" Houshou said walking ahead of me

"You are most welcome and yes let's head inside" I replied following behind her.

Once I had entered the building my eyes went wide with awe and wonder, everywhere she looked reminded her of being right back at home, the whole place seemed to exude a homely aura and this gave me a very relaxed feeling as I walked over to one of the seats next to the counter.

"What would you like to drink Izumi-san?" Houshou said snapping me out of my trance-like state

"Ummm, some earl-grey tea please if you have any" I replied

"Very well, one earl-grey coming right up" Houshou-san said as she started brewing the tea

During this time I decided to ask Houshou-san about her time as the very first ship girl, as the tea had finished brewing Houshou-san had handed it to me and then she began to tell stories of her adventures, fraught with battles, training and getting used to the acknowledgment as a capable force against the Abyssals from all across the world.

Whilst Houshou-san was telling her tales I was wide-eyed in wonder and amazement been told, by the time she had finished her stories. I had gone through at least 3 cups of tea and some cakes, but for me that didn't matter at all listening to the stories was invaluable as I had learned many things about how the Kanmusu's came to be and how they had developed into what they are today.

"Wow, Houshou-san those were some wonderful stories" I said

"You are most welcome Izumi-san, you are always welcome to hear some more when you have the chance too" she replied

"I would love Houshou-san, but alas I must leave now and head to the bathhouse and then get changed for whatever Auntie has planned for me today, so I must bid you adieu for now Houshou-san" I said getting ready to leave

"Well I will see you soon I guess, so goodbye for now Izumi-san" Houshou-san replied

Once Izumi-san had left, I cleaned up the plates and cups she had used but putting them back on their respective shelves. I must admit Izumi-san is a very well mannered young lady and I will admit I've taken a shine to her. She just gives me the same feelings that Akagi and Kaga as well as the rest of the aircraft carriers give off when I look after them.

'Who knows, I may just end up doting on her as well' I thought as I giggled myself

"Houshou, you in there?" a voice said snapping me out of my musings

"Welcome, Admiral and what can I get for you today"

After I had left the cafe I went and proceeded to do exactly what I said I'll do, first was a nice long hot bath to which I thoroughly enjoyed and then I headed back to the main building making note of the fact that many ship girls were starting to wake-up, or in the case of Sendai, she was a really funny girl, going to sleep since she primarily did night patrol runs. Once I had reached my room I proceeded to get changed in a timely fashion and was soon standing at the door to the admiral's office.

"Come in" I said before she could knock on the door and so Izumi entered the office

"Battleship Izumi reporting for duty Ma'am" she said Saluting

"At ease" I said causing her to relax

"Well it seems you are very eager to start working aren't you" I said picking up a clipboard and pen and handed it to her getting a look of confusion in return.

"Your first job is to go around the base and check our supply levels, mainly from the resource warehouse, the cafe, shop and the arsenal. If Akashi is not present she usually leaves a request list outside the main door you should find it easily, now once you have collected all of the requests please return here with the requisition forms after lunch, do I make myself clear" I said with a stern tone.

Izumi looked a bit confused by her first job, but she had to learn and this was an opportune time to do so, she then gained a look in her eyes that said she didn't want to upset me, she then looked ready and raring to get to work straight away.

"Yes, Ma'am" she said saluting before darting out of the room to start her work leaving me and Ryuujou giggling at her antics.

Time: 12:05

It took all the way up to lunchtime in order to gather up most of the requisition forms from around the base, but I took it all in my stride as I got to talk with more with some of the ship girls and get to know them better, I especially liked speaking to Mamiya-san as she also carried a motherly feeling to her as did Houshou-san, plus I also got to try some freshly baked cookies and almost melted from happiness.

The last place I had to visit before heading to lunch was Akashi's arsenal. But when I arrived there was no Requisition forms tacked onto the notice board so I had to go inside and get them directly.

When I approached the door I could hear the sounds of someone grinding and welding something, So I knocked on the door….

"Hello is there anyone there" I asked

"Who is it?" a voice replied

"It's Izumi, I'm here for the requisition forms" I replied

"Oh, right come on in"

So went in a did and I finally saw Akashi for the first time, that bright pink hair was amazing and her hazel eyes, I think, really gave a knowledgeable air to her.

'So this is, the most powerful kanmusu on base now huh' I said to myself whilst giving the girl a once over.

"Ummm… Akashi-san the requisition forms…." she said snapping me out of my thoughts

"Ah sorry about that…. Here you go Izumi" I said rummaging around before pulling out a stack of papers and handing them to her

"Thank you, I also have a question"

"And what might that be" I asked

"Well what do you do here in the arsenal Akashi-san. Auntie told me to ask you when I got the chance to. As it's better to hear the explanation from the one who knows better than anyone else at least that's what Auntie said" Izumi told me

"And I will be happy to answer that question for you" I said getting a smile from her

"I will keep my explanation simple, basically I use improvement materials gathered from resource runs in combination with the resources we already have and use them to improve a ship girls weapons. Take this for example" I said holding up a piece of equipment that I was working on.

"This is a standard 12.7cm twin gun for destroyers, with all of the resources I had explained about earlier. I improve it so it then becomes a 12.7cm twin gun type-B kai 2. This means that it has mostly uprated firepower and anti air defense. So that is basically what I do here in the arsenal in a nutshell" I finished

"Wow, thanks for the information Akashi-san that really helps. But I now have to leave to go and get some lunch before turning in these forms to Auntie. So goodbye for now Akashi-san" Izumi said

"Okay then, see ya" I replied

But just as she left the room a bulb went off in my head as I realized something 'Crap, I knew I forgot to do something. I forgot to ask Izumi for details on her equipment' I said to myself sighing. I then started to work again on the twin gun, but something out of the corner of my eye got my attention.

I got up and walked over to where to my surprise, there was a pen drive with a sticky note attached. I picked the two up and then proceeded to read the note, it said 'Akashi-san here is the data for my equipment, Auntie told me you might need it for your work. I hope it helps. Izumi.' "You are one sneaky bugger Izumi, you know that" I said out loud.

I then loaded the information and my computer and whilst I was waiting for it to compile, I got back to finishing off what I was originally working on.

So now That I was finished at Akashi-san's arsenal, I could now go and give the forms to Auntie but first my tummy was growling and soon it was time to eat. I had decided to eat at the cafeteria and then head to Mamiya's for desert.

For today's lunch it was going tuna pasta salad with some orange juice and when I headed to Mamiya's for dessert I had a giant chocolate parfait which had filled my tummy to the breaking point.

After letting my tummy settle down I made sure that all the forms I had gathered were in order, for Ryuujou-san's sake, and the I proceeded to head back to Auntie's office, but just as I was about to knock I heard a large amount of voices coming from within talking about something I couldn't quite hear and they were loud too so I knocked once but couldn't hear anything in response so I went inside.

"Pardon the intrusion" I said heading into the room and what I saw could only be described at organised chaos, barring Auntie and Ryuujou there was at least 10 other people that were rapidly moving about the room going back and forth between the couches and the desks.

Auntie had noticed that I had come into the room and with a quick point of her finger towards Ryuujou, I understood what she had meant and started to head over to Ryuujou's desk.

"Here you go Ryuujou-san all requisition forms in order and on time" I said putting the files on the desk.

"Thank you for that Izumi-san, this will save me a lot of trouble especially with the current chaos that is going on right now" she replied sighing to which I could only nod in agreement as I looked around the room.

I had recognised every ship girl that was present in the room in an instant, Inazuma was with her sisters Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi and their guardian Tenryuu. The next lot of ship girls consisted of the entire kongou class with Kongou herself and her sisters Hiei, Kirishima and lastly my favourite out of the bunch Haruna.

The last person was a bit of a surprise to me as it was my elder sister Shinano, I then remembered that Auntie had said that sis was a recent transfer so she probably hadn't had a chance to explore the city yet.

"I guess this is one of the shopping days for the girls right?" I asked

"Yeah, they're going to be leaving soon and then I can get some peace and quiet" Ryuujou at this point had her head on he desk. A light bulb then went off in my head as I slammed my fist on the table gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"We have a big problem"

"And what problem is that?" Kirishima said adjusting her glasses

"We have no train driver, I don't think she's come back yet from her family emergency" I replied bluntly, shocking everyone and they all started to panic but Auntie managed to calm them down

"So what do we do then, the other DMU's we have are being maintained on the mainland, and the KiHa 25 we have no one has the training to run it safely" Tenryuu said causing everyone to realise that their shopping trip would be cancelled.

After hearing the bad news, pretty much everyone in the room was saddened at not being able to go shopping, but then I remembered something. 'Of course, why didn't I think of this before'.

"What about Izumi-san, she can take us" I said causing everyone to perk up and look at her causing her to sweatdrop.

"Ummmmmm….. eto"

"Izumi-san learned how to drive the train in 20 minutes yesterday that's how we both got home after we had found out the driver had left the station" I continued to explain, this had raised the spirits of everyone considerably knowing that there was hope for their shopping trip after all.

With all of the girls staring at Izumi-san even more intensely than before, she was starting to feeling uncomfortable, making her to want to bolt from the room as quickly as she could, but what finally stopped her dead in her tracks was when she saw the biggest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen coming from me and as a result she sighed in defeat.

"Yare, yare….. alright I give up I'll take you to town just stop with the pleading faces damn it" she yelled in frustration causing everyone else to cheer in happiness and we then all left the room in order to go and get ready.

It had taken less than an hour for everyone to get ready and to gather up at the platform, with Izumi already to roll waiting for the girls to board.

"Stay safe everyone" Aria said as the girls boarded the train and took their seats

"We will" They all said in return and with a final blast of the horn the train left Sado Island and headed towards the mainland.

Once again Inazuma decided to sit in the cabin seat, which Izumi was grateful for as she had someone to talk to rather than being alone in the cab of the train. The journey went much smoother than yesterday's and pretty soon they were all once again pulling into Hakusan station.

Once they had arrived, Izumi locked down the train and gave the keys to the station master before meeting up with the rest. They had decided to split up into groups and do their own things, the kongou sisters were one Inazuma her sisters and Tenryuu were another and lastly Izumi decided to go around with her sister in order to get to know her better.

For a little while I followed Shinano wherever she wanted ago, I also had a chance to point out a few places of interest that I had found the previous day on my own tour of Niigata. But when we came upon a clothing store we both decided to get some clothes, a lot of clothes.

We came out bags in hand, mainly regular clothes but also a few special outfits, such as a Touhou Marisa cosplay for me and a Reimu outfit for Shinano, which had surprised me as I had learned something new about my sister. We both liked our new outfits so much that we headed back into the store and changed into them. We then decided to stay this way for the rest of the day.

During the trip we had crossed paths with the other groups multiple times around town and what was funny is that they didn't recognise the two of us which made us giggle at our friends confusion.

The next stop for us was a planned one. It was shopping center on the other side of town, the reason being is that Auntie had texted me and said that my new room was going to be ready by the end of the week, so I needed stuff to furnish my room with hence the trip to the shopping center.

"Sorry for dragging you here sis, you can go and look around whilst I finish up if you like" I said in an apologetic tone

"It's alright, you've been with me for most of the day helping me with my things, the least I can do is stay here until you're finished with your things too" She replied giving me a big hug

"Thanks sis, I really appreciate you sticking with me"

"That's what family is for" Shinano smiled.

With everything large being put on order for delivery and with the smaller items in hand, Izumi's tummy once again roared so that had signalled that it was time for dinner. Once we looked at a clock of course.

"I swear I have a timer in my tummy or something" she growled with me trying and failing not to laugh causing the former to sigh in annoyance.

The other groups had already decided where they were going for dinner by texting izumi. It seems the kongou sisters had gone to a british restaurant whilst Inazuma and her group had gone traditional. But I decided to surprise her once again by asking to go a fastfood restaurant stating that I had rarely ever been to one except on special occasions and since our sisterly bonding time was considered very special that's where I wanted to go, so Izumi happily obliged and we both went to eat at a nearby Mcdonalds.

It didn't take long for us to be served and seated, with Izumi stating that it was the fastest time she had ever been served in one of these places, causing me to wonder what fast food restaurants were like where she originally came from before she became a ship girl.

We then had finished eating by making some plans for the next time we came to town and then we left and with Izumi looking at her phone, she then said it was at last time to head home, but not before we decided to pull a little prank by the two of us. So we took a taxi back to the station to get ahead of the others. We had arrived a few minutes earlier than them, so let the games begin.

The other two groups had converged on the train station and had discussed what they had done today, Hibiki on the other hand was sharp and had pointed out to the group that the two cosplayers, which was me and Izumi, were resting on a bench nearby.

Which startled the two groups as neither had known that they had both bumped into the cosplayers during their trip, causing the two of us to once again giggle at their confusion. A good 15 minutes had passed since then and Kirishima was getting annoyed.

"Where the hell are they" she said tapping her foot impatiently

"I'll go ask the station master, if she's seen them" Inazuma said speeding off into the station, only to come back a few moments later.

"Well?"

"Hawawawa….. the station master had said they had already came by and picked up the key to the train and are waiting…. somewhere near by…." Inazuma said trailing off when she noticed fairies were floating around the two of us causing her to puff her cheeks in annoyance

"Izumi-san, Shinano-san how could you trick us"

"Took ya long enough da ze!" Izumi replied with a goofy grin on her face whilst I was trying to stifle a laugh

"Wait you two were the cosplayers we ran into today?" Tenryuu said in shock and realization

"Yep, it seems we share a common interest and that is cosplaying" I said fixing my bow whilst Izumi calmed Inazuma down with a new flavour of her favourite sweets.

"Okay, Okay now we've had our fun and games but we really need to start heading home before the Admiral gets worried" Haruna said fidgeting, to which everyone agreed and picked up their bags and headed into the train station.

We all then piled onto the train and then we proceeded to head back to the island, with Izumi stating that she to go to her aunt to hand the receipts in for the big buys of the day for Ryuujou to process and she asked me to come along to show off our outfits. Then after that the two of us would then show our elder sisters and see their reactions to end the day.

When we arrived on the island and everyone went their separate ways. Both me and Izumi did exactly what we said we were going to do, first we visited the Admiral and Ryuujou to drop of the receipts and we both got complimented from the two on how we looked. As for our sisters, when we found them, their reactions to what we were wearing were so good that Izumi took a picture on her phone, before running away from an upset Yamato. Eventually after tiring themselves out we all hit the baths seeing as we had all already eaten either in town on the trip or on the base.

I could only stare out from my window when I got back to my room, looking back on how I had connected more with Shinano and I had really hoped to do the same with Yamato and Musashi soon as well. With that thought in my mind, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep wondering what the future may bring for me and the inhabitants of the Sado Island naval base.