CHAPTER 3: YOU GOTTA KEEP ON MOVIN'

Present Day, Kushimoto

"Fuck my life." The destroyer Hatsuyuki had just heaved atop the counter a pot that surely must have been half of her own height.

"You're a two thousand-ton warship, a pot of stew should not be a big deal for you." Hibiki was stir-frying vegetables in a wok on the other side of the galley.

"Yeah, let me go ahead and summon my rigging on land. Not." Despite Hatsuyuki's dismissiveness, it was sometimes done-being granted inhuman strength and the ability to use heavy weapons was occasionally worth absolutely wrecking whatever a shipgirl was standing on, whether it was a well-manicured lawn or the foundation of a large concrete building along with the bedrock underneath it.

Hibiki put on a slight smile. "Nobody said you had to make such a huge batch."

"I wanted to make it all in one go."

"Of course you did. And you're gonna say 'It's still worth it because I only have to clean one big thing instead of a lot of small things'."

"Oh crap." Hatsuyuki went wide-eyed once she re-examined the assumptions that had underlain that train of thought. "The big pot doesn't fit in the dishwasher... I'll have to scrub it by hand."

"Yeah..."

"Fuuuck my life."

The galley's double-doors swung wide open as Inazuma and Ikazuchi pushed inside with sacks of ingredients on their backs.

"You should really watch your language, nanodesu." She dropped her cargo of potatoes and onions in front of Hatsuyuki. "It makes you sound unprofessional and doesn't help your image."

"Tchk." Hatsuyuki raised an eyebrow and darted a glance at Hibiki. The girl in question had long since broken eye contact and was staring intently at her wok of vegetables.

"There." Ikazuchi dropped her load of flour besides where her sister dropped hers. Both girls stood still and looked at Hatsuyuki expectantly. They were met with silence.

Hibiki grunted from the other side of the room.

"Th-thank you for helping me, even though you didn't have to."

"You're welcome." Both girls bowed at her before turning around to rejoin Hibiki and continue their cooking lesson.

Hatsuyuki heaved a sigh. Two more weeks of this crap. All the downloading at McDonalds had gotten her at least a month worth of games and manga, so if she had been left behind at Kure, this would have been worth it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you looked at things like a normal person), her internet privileges at Kushimoto weren't revoked, so all that trouble had been for nothing.

When she found out her new posting would be under Hibiki's sister, she had high hopes. It was dashed by all the hard work she was expected to do, even outside the punishment for her final antic in Kure. She was starting to miss her stint in the replacement squadron, even with all its boredom and getting yelled at and looked down on.

"That girl is brazenly just leaving, nanodesu." Inazuma was craning her neck towards the doorway of the mess, which Hatsuyuki had just practically skipped out of.

"It's Akatsuki-chan's dinner time," said Hibiki, who hadn't looked up from eating her food.

"She wasn't carrying anything with her..."

"The CO's quarters have their own galley and pantry, remember?"

"Oh, right, I forgot." She'd also forgotten that the CO was also normally entitled to a personal chef. "Poor Akatsuki-chan, she couldn't think up of a fair punishment that didn't include having to survive on that girl's food."

Hibiki paused eating and looked up. "Sis. Hatsuyuki taught me how to cook."

"Eh?!"

Hibiki put her chopsticks down and got in the chow line, grabbing a plate of rice and beef stew to bring back to her table. Inazuma and Ikazuchi knew what was expected of them and each took a bite.

"T-that tasted a lot better than I would have expected, nanodesu."

"Now imagine if she wasn't just trying to push fifty people's worth of meals out as quickly as possible."

"Thanks for the meal!" Akatsuki rubbed her hands in anticipation of diving into the steak and fries in front of her.

Suzuya snorted. "Is this what you ate in America all the time? So jealous."

"Ehehe, I wish. The US Navy's dining halls specialized in things like burnt pancakes and mushy rice."

"Same as here, then."

Both girls threw their heads back and laughed.

"I did eat a few fine meals on-base before, befitting a first class lady." She took a bite and made a satisfied moan. "It was whenever I was invited to eat with the command team. I was really looking forward to eating like this all the time when I got my commission."

"Ah, I just remembered that Savannah told me she did that at your base."

"You know Savannah?!"

"Yeah, there's a kind of internet forum for secretary ships. She and I both posted a lot on it." Suzuya had cut back lately, as she had been busy with Kushimoto.

"We should do that here too."

"Agreed. Who will be our first guest?"

Akatsuki turned her head to the black-haired destroyer standing at parade rest off to the side of her dinner table. "Please take a seat, Hatsuyuki."

"A-are you sure?"

"You accidentally made dinner for three, so this is perfect."

The third had actually been meant for Yuubari, but there was a miscommunication and she was too busy to attend dinner with the CO that night. Hatsuyuki had, in fact, cooked four steak meals, with the last being a secret, illegal one for herself. Most maddening of all, the three steaks she had cooked for Kushimoto's command team were medium to well-done, as had been requested-most shipgirls had unsophisticated palettes. Her own stolen meal currently hidden away, that she would be too full to eat when she finally got it, was perfectly rare.

Why am I getting all the ironic punishments and self-owns this week?

"Huh. Who would have thought that girl was useful for something." Ikazuchi stared at the nearly two dozen shipgirls departing the mess hall with satisfied faces.

"Please don't be harsh towards Hatsuyuki-san." Hibiki had an agitated tone to her voice.

"But nee-san, I heard she hadn't sortied in almost two years!"

"And I'm halfway there myself."

"B-but you have a g-good reason!"

Hibiki cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know my reason or hers, or whether they're good or not."

"Well, you had an impressive battle record before all that, while she-"

"Enough!"

Ikazuchi had never seen Hibiki mad before. When she darted her eyes towards Inazuma, she was surprised that the girl was unfazed and had a bored expression on her face. D-did she just roll her eyes?

Hibiki turned towards her as well. "Flagship's assistant, please discipline this destroyer. Disparaging remarks towards a senior that undermines her authority will not be tolerated." She turned on a heel and left them behind in a huff.

Inazuma sighed. "She's right, nanodesu. I almost forgot that she was also a fellow flagship's assistant now." There was venom in her voice. "For punishment, um, uh, no pudding after dinner. Tonight only."

Dinner was already over. She already had her pudding.

Hibiki, Inazuma, and all the other flagships and flagship's assistants had been called to a late meeting, so Ikazuchi suddenly found herself without anything to do or anyone to be with before lights out. Nothing better to do, she decided to take a walk around the base to get some fresh air and admire the construction progress. She never even got past the barracks reception desk.

"Ah, hi there... Ikazuchi, is it?" It was Higbee, her new division-mate. She was tonight's Duty NCO.

"Right. Not Kaminari." She winked.

Hatsukaze, the Duty Runner, snickered.

"Eh? What's so funny, who's Kaminari?"

"It's just a kanji reading joke." Hatsukaze patted Higbee in the back.

"Riiight. Y'all are like old people, in love with your puns and wordplay."

The front doors burst open and Hatsuyuki flopped inside.

Higbee stood up behind her desk. "Welcome back Miss Hatsuyuki, is the meeting already over?"

"Huh? Oh, nah. They were just rehashing things from this afternoon. I don't have time for that crap, I have to wake up early tomorrow to make breakfast."

Higbee nodded and returned to her seat. "Looking forward to it."

"Speaking of which." Hatsuyuki dropped a carton on the desk. "Leftovers from the CO's dinner. If it's not enough for the whole night, I left the best midrats on the warmer in the galley, not the mess. Enjoy." She trudged towards the staircase, turning her head back at the end of the hall. "Don't tell anybody I gave you that!"

"Holy moly it's steak and fries." Higbee took a bite. "Holy moly, this is extra juicy."

Hatsuyuki crossed her arms. "The CO sure is living it up." She smiled towards Ikazuchi.

Ikazuchi gave a nervous laugh in reply.

"Hatsuyuki-senpai's living it up too. Breakfast my butt, she's probably in her room playing games. I bet you my half of the fries that we're gonna get a call in a few minutes asking where she is and why she's not at the meeting."

"I'll take it." Higbee munched idly on her half of the steak. "You've worked with her before, Hatsukaze?"

"Yeah... We were both in Kure's replacement destroyer squadron together."

A replacement squadron was basically a holding unit for two types of girls: new summons that had recently finished basic training, as well as experienced shipgirls that had been an extended time away from active duty. Usually, the experienced girls had just finished recovering from injury or completed complex overhauls. During their time as a replacement, shipgirls were expected to take classes, participate in exercises, and maintain their skills in general until a front-line unit had a spot to be filled. Usual tenures were measured in weeks and rarely lasted longer than a couple of months.

"I heard she'd been there for two years," said Ikazuchi. She thought about her own time among Sasebo's replacement destroyers. It hadn't been more than a week until Inazuma picked her up.

"So the rumors said." Hatsukaze leaned back in her chair. "But Shiranui-nee-san told me that was impossible because she was at Lake Biwa last year."

"Ah, I see."

"But it could be true in spirit-For sure she wasn't in a front-line unit before Lake Biwa, so she must have been a replacement, had a spell at Lake Biwa, then came back."

"She's unreliable and a bad influence on Hibiki-nee-san." Ikazuchi was just parroting something she heard from Inazuma over and over again. There was no certainty in her voice-at least not as much certainty as before dinner that day.

"You're telling me. I can't believe she tricked Shiranui-nee-san into covering for her."

"Aw, she doesn't seem all that bad to me." Higbee was staring at the half of the steak she left for Hatsukaze and all the fries. She was practically drooling.

*Riiing*

"Kushimoto Barracks Two, Higbee speaking. This line is unsecured. How may I help you?"

Hatsukaze and Ikazuchi watched her with baited breath.

"Yes ma'am, she passed through the front door ten minutes ago and went straight to her room. Alright ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

"Hah! Called it." Hatsukaze reached for the carton.

Higbee grabbed her hand. "Miss Suzuya only called to ask if she made it safely home."

Since Hatsukaze was at least half-correct, the fries were split 75/25.

7 Years Before
Changi Naval Base, Singapore

It was an important naval tradition that kanmusu ate with the enlisted men. Not in the chief's mess, not in the officer's wardroom, but with the lower ratings. There were only two exceptions. First was for the few kanmusu given officer's commissions (none were chiefs or warrants). Second was common sense-sometimes the enlisted mess facilities just overflowed.

On their second night in Singapore, the shipgirls of the ill-fated South China Sea convoy found themselves in the O-club for dinner. The main mess halls had been packed by the Singaporean sailors normally assigned to the base, the crews of the four convoy ships that were able to complete the journey, and the survivors picked up from RSS Formidable, JS Ariake, and JS Teshio.

"Looks like Akatsuki-chan hit a first class lady milestone tonight-getting drinks bought for her by gentlemen at a bar."

"Hibiki! How can you joke about that at a time like this?" Murasame did not approve. Those drinks were tokens of condolence from well-wishers, not icebreakers from lolicons. The Singaporean officers were buying them for other survivors as well, not just shipgirls.

Hibiki and Murasame were sharing a booth with Lieutenant Sugiura Michiko, who had been the Chief Engineer of JS Teshio. Across the aisle from them, at a table that was more exposed and visible to the rest of the club, were Akatsuki, Sazanami, and two JMSDF seamen. Their faces were a roller coaster of expressions-grateful smiles when they received a drink, exasperated annoyance when the giver left to finally give them a chance to eat, then back to smiles when they spotted a new gift-giver approaching after only a couple of bites.

Hibiki's table got drinks as well, but at a slower pace since they were somewhat hidden away and out of notice.

"I'm glad we're being allowed to actually eat our food unlike them, but I would love to get hammered." It was Sugiura. "It would be nice to have help putting that battle behind me."

Murasame exhaled a long sigh. "I'm kinda jealous too. I wish my senpai was here." Most shipgirls, upon being summoned and trained, were assigned an experienced mentor at their first posting in a replacement unit. Akatsuki's mentor had been Sazanami.

Hibiki's eyes twitched.

"Oh crap." Murasame's back straightened. "I'm so sorry, Hibiki."

The girl in question's mentor had been Shiranui.

"Oh come on, you're fine. I have the same wish as well."

"There go your gallows humor again..."

"Okay, now I feel like shit." Hibiki announced.

"What's up? Drank too much?" Asked Murasame. "Does it have to do with how you've been checking out your phone all night?"

"The second one. I messaged Shiranui-san's senpai this morning. It said message read when we sat down for dinner, but after a couple of hours she still hasn't responded."

"Yikes. I hope Hatsuyuki-san will be alright."

A/N:

This was a slice of garrison life, the next chapter will be more action-packed