*Kure Naval Base - Military Naval District Quarters*
Nagato snoozes away on the couch… until something gets thrown into her face, making it difficult to breathe… So with a bit of annoyance, she reaches with her hand to grab what seems to be a piece of clothing. She opens her eyes slowly… Light blinds her for a bit… it seems that the window had been opened.
"Did you have to open the window all the way?" – Nagato asks with annoyance…
"Yes, because it's almost noon." – Reply's Zuikaku, who is folding clothes, while sorting out to a pile, the ones that should be washed and another for the ones to be ironed.
Now that Nagato noticed, the jacket thrown her way is one of her jackets she typically uses around the base… Then she looks towards Zuikaku and can't help but smile at her, the latter upon noticing, shoots her a curious look…
"What is it?" – Zuikaku asks curiously…
"Oh nothing…" – Nagato says, retaining her smile…
"Come on. Out with it!" – Zuikaku demands with a smile of her own while pointing towards her…
"I was just thinking about the last time you "actually" cleaned any room." – Nagato finally declares, her smile turning to a smug grin…
"Heeeyyy!" – Zuikaku yells angrily, though her face blushes heavily. Without a witty comeback of her own, Zuikaku grabbed a book that was placed on the nearby desk and threw it at Nagato… To no avail, as she ducked her head and the book crashed straight into the wall, falling limply and releasing a photo off of it…
"It was just a joke, calm down Zuikaku." – Nagato says after a chuckle, approaching the fallen book to retrieve it, when the picture catches her attention…
"Huh…" – Zuikaku hears Nagato say, and after that silence… Nagato simply stood seated on the ground miring the picture, her eyes seeming to focus on the photo…
"Hey, are you alright?" – Zuikaku asks…
Nagato's eyes lost focus, and she sighs as she looks into nothing now, simply stating – "I don't know…" – with a sadden tone…
Suddenly a knock on the door can be heard…
"Miss "N". The Admiral requires your presence in his office as soon as possible." – The voice declares from the other side…
"Tell him I'll be there momentarily." – Nagato responds collecting herself off the ground and retrieving both book and photo…
"Shoot! I forgot to tell you!" – Zuikaku suddenly states with a nervous look in her eyes…
"What is it?" – Nagato asks, still miring the book…
"Well, let's just say that the bases guard wasn't too happy to know that a civilian was on base. And I had to accompany Osaka to the civilian side of the Harbor, and…" – Zuikaku got very flustered as she explained…
"You mentioned it was me who allowed such?" – Nagato looks at Zuikaku with a smirk…
"Y-yes…" – Zuikaku answers lowering her head and with a nervous tone, like she expected Nagato to berate her for telling the truth…
"Oh well… guess I'll have to put up with Admiral Tsujihara's reminders of "Military Conduct"…" – Nagato shrugs her shoulders and holds her smirk – "Well, best to not keep him waiting."
She puts on the jacket Zuikaku tossed at her just a few moments ago and leaves the room… Zuikaku for a moment gazed as she left, with a worried expression – "When did you became so reckless, Nagato?" – She ponders…
*Kure Naval Base – Military District Administration Offices*
"Admiral Tsujihara, you called for me?" – Nagato asks as she enters his office, performing a salute on the move…
"Yes I did, "N"!" – He states in an authoritarian manner, standing up from his chair to perform a crisp salute.
Admiral Tsujihara is not exactly what Nagato would call a conventional "Navy Men". The young but tough personality, combined with a tactical intellect made Tsujihara a force to be reckoned with, something that made Nagato have no doubt about his great future.
The twenty-nine years old Admiral showed great prowess in commanding a fleet. Nonetheless, Tsujihara is a man of traditions and of protocol… something that Nagato has, more or less on purpose, let go of…
"N", you really stepped out of line this time! Bringing a civilian into a military base!? What were you thinking?" – Admiral Tsujihara asks in a serious tone, his gaze never deviating from her red piercing eyes…
"She felt unwell and collapsed, what was I supposed to do Admiral? Leave her to cook in the afternoon sun? – Nagato counters with a smirk and a jolly tone, while placing one hand on her hip in a carefree fashion…
"Dammit "N"! I've said it before and I'll say it again: that attitude will get the higher-ups to go back on their word, sooner or later!" – Tsujihara states with a mixed tone of both concern and seriousness…
"Ha! Like a couple of old men with some ranks scare me." – Nagato retort's with a laugh and her calm composure…
"N", please, I beg of you! Be carefull! Their waiting for a slip up of yours as an excuse to send you away for good!" – Tsujihara can't help but state worriedly and with a concerned expression…
"Sincerely speaking, Admiral? I could not care for what they expect of me…" - Nagato states with disinterest – "And please stop calling me "N". It's a nickname that's been getting old… for about eighty years now."
The Admiral moves away from his desk, off to the massive windows that stand behind his chair. He crosses his arms behind his back and mires the sea, then speaks…
"It is the only name I am allowed to call you, "N". – He states in a very matter-the-fact tone – "You identity, your real "name"? They have been erased from the records! The "Mighty Nagato" battleship the top brass cared about was sunk eighty years ago in "Operation Crossroads". Your true name holds no value today, "N"!"
"Just like I have no value to them, in the end…" – Nagato states with a shrug of her shoulders and a disinterested tone…
The Admiral sighs and returns to his chair. He looks sadden by something, though his hard brown eyes would not reveal it…
"So tell me… Who is she?" – He now asks with a more gentle tone and a genuine look of curiosity…
"Her name is Osaka; she's a Tugboat ship-girl on the civilian side of the harbor." – Nagato states with a neutral tone…
"I see… So what caught your interest on her?" – Tsujihara asks with a curious tone and a smirk…
"I have no idea what you mean, Sir." – Nagato maintains her neutral tone, though mentally the question did left her wondering why he asked her that…
"I may not be Yamamoto himself "N", but I've known you long enough to know when someone draws your interest." – He says, maintaining his smirk, but a more joyful tone…
"Miss Osaka is merely a friendly acquaintance that I've made and nothing else." – She states with a stoic tone and a neutral look in her eyes…
"Very well…" – Tsujihara says with a smile, he reaches for one of the drawers on his desk and pulls out a little blue booklet to hold documents. He extends it to Nagato who observes the given item with confusion…
"Please give this to her, it's a simple courtesy." – Admiral Tsujihara states with a gentle tone and a smirk…
"Are you messing with me, Sir?" – Nagato asks annoyed, her eyes holding some show of anger…
"Very well, I shall rephrase that: It's an order "N"." – His tone turns more serious and his expression as well…
Nagato immediately loses her anger for feeling that the Admiral his playing her and gains a more "sailor" like composure… Somehow that was still the only thing which really stayed with her from the times of the war: orders are orders. Your superior orders you do it, you do it.
"Very well, Sir. I will give this to her." – Nagato states in a stoic manner…
They both salute and Nagato is excused from the Admiral's office… As she leaves, she wonders why the Admiral would give an entry document to a civilian…
"Well, obviously to mess whit me as usual…" – Nagato determines, as she walks out of the Administration Building…
*Kure Naval Terminal*
Meanwhile, Osaka had a pretty busy morning: From having to explain her absence from yesterday's afternoon to why someone from the military district was accompanying her out of the bases perimeter, her morning wasn't exactly a walk in the park… But after sometime convincing the "Boss" back at the pier, and swiftly having to return to the job, she finally made it to her noon break, and once more she was free to go about for another three hours…
Thus, she obviously chose to go back to the front gate of the base…
"Miss, you cannot be here. Please vacate the premise."
"But I know someone inside! Doesn't that get me at least a fair reason to enter?" – Osaka tries to argue with the guard, but it seems to not have great effect…
"Miss, if you tell me the name, all I can do is call the person to come here and confirm your story, but that still does not gain you entrance." – The guard states with a sigh…
"Oh c'mon! That's not fair!" – She protests…
"Ahff… Miss, I seriously don't have time for this. Are you going to give me a name or not?" – The guard says with an annoyed tone…
"Fine! Her name his Nagato!" – She says loudly and while trying to make a very serious and scary expression…
The name got a reaction out of the guard: he launched her a confused look and stopped writing on the paper he was fumbling about while talking… After that he chuckle a bit and speaks again…
"Alright, you're very funny, but you want to give me a serious name this time?" – He says with a more amused expression and a smirk…
"That's the person I know! Her name his Nagato! C'mon, caller down! She'll tell you about me." – She protests again, with a serious tone and a dead serious expression…
"Kid, I'm not about to call a wreck under the sea to give you passage, so be honest with me, alright?" – He says trying to make a serious expression, but trying not to burst out laughing…
"It's alright. I know her." – comes the sound of a gentle yet stoic voice from behind the security checkpoint…
Both Osaka and the guard turn to see who spoke… And there stood Nagato, one hand on her hip, her raven air flowing freely in the morning breeze as she held a kind smile…
"A-ah! M-Miss "N"! Apologies! I dint know she referred to you!" – The guard said with a nervous tone and performing a shaky salute on the spot…
Osaka just looks really confused as to why he called her "N", while Nagato approaches the checkpoint…
"She has been given special permission to enter…" – She answers with a joyful smile, while extending the blue booklet to her right in view of the guard – "This is yours Osaka."
"Awesome!" – She says as she snatches the booklet from Nagato's hand and eyes it with cartoonish stars in her eyes! She turns to the guard, now exhibiting a smirk and states with a smug tone – "Here is my documentation!" – She extends to him with her eyes close and with a smug grin…
The guard, very embarrassed, takes the booklet, inspects it and finally hands it over back to Osaka, declaring a bit nervous – "The document check's out… Y-You're clear for entry."
Osaka cheers with a jump, waving her hands up in the air while Nagato observes, shaking her head but smiling all the same… They pull away from the security checkpoint, all the while Osaka looking over the booklet and the documents inside it clearing her for entry on the base… "Wow! They even got my picture, and I didn't even provide one." – She observes astutely… But her eyes drift to Nagato walking besides her, specifically her hand, as she was holding a photo… she couldn't make out the figures on it as Nagato's finger blocked one of the three figures…
"Who are they?" – Osaka asks with curiosity, pointing at the photo…
"Hmm? Oh! The photo! I didn't even remember I had it all this morning…" – Nagato says with surprise, as she remembers retrieving both book and photo but leaving the book before leaving the room…
She hands it to Osaka, obviously because the Tug-Boat girl would very much ask to see it, so she didn't even gave her a chance to ask…
Osaka took the photo and held it with care… In the image there where three figures: Nagato in center, in a relaxed pose while holding a smile, flanked by two girls on the left and right, with warm smiles and a more traditional pose…
They both were white sleeveless miku dresses with detached sleeves held by a metal ornament a bit above the elbows, small red skirts and white stockings with their shoe-wear resembling sandals, and they sport a peculiar ornament on their hair… The only difference is that one has long hair while the other has short hair…
"Who are these two in the photo?" – Osaka asks…
"Ah… Fusou and Yamashiro… They were friends…" – Nagato says with a disheartened tone of voice, thou she retains a smile…
"Wait a minute-!" – Comes Osaka's response, as she quickly fumbles trough a little pack she brought along with her, when she pulls out a book…
At this point, Nagato is completely surprised to not have noticed that earlier… It's like a purse with a shoulder band, but it's a big bigger than a typical woman's purse, mostly for caring items of small importance… She observes as Osaka fumbles through the pages of what seems to be a WW2 encyclopedia, until she stops in a page, turns the book around and points at a picture…
"You mean these two! The "Fusou" and "Yamashiro" that escorted you on the day of… well… you know…" – She begins with a fascinated tone but nervously stammers the last bit…
The encyclopedia had an image taken hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor… A Japanese recon plane took that photo, where it could be seen the "main body" that followed the 5º, 2º and 1º Carrier Divisions in case they required assistance… There was Nagato, proudly standing in the waves, her rigging timeless, her guns pure as the sky, her sister Mutsu besides her and the flanks held by the "Fusou Class" sister's, Yamashiro and Fusou…
"Yes… Those are Fusou and Yamashiro, the same from my picture…" – she states stoically…
"I take it from your tone… they didn't come home really…" – Osaka says with a sadden tone, her eyes lowering to the ground…
"Death is bliss, Osaka…" – Nagato states sadly, as they turn a corner around the bases facilities…
Osaka is confused by Nagato's words, but when they turn the corner, Osaka looks at what's before her… A beautiful little garden has been made in the center of the Administrative Plaza of the base, where a beautiful pond is slightly brought alive by a koy-fish shaped fountain in its center… The cherry blossom trees around, mingled with other greener trees, and all the flowers that decorate the garden give it such a state of grace, that one would be forgiven if they thought this was a normal park and not a military district… And near one of the benches of this park, miring the birds nesting in the tree, in the lovely fresh afternoon of spring, is a woman, sitting on a wheel-chair, with black long hair and red eyes… And Osaka could see a peculiar wear in her hair… And her wear exactly like the girl from Nagato's photo…
"Is that…!?" – Osaka stammers with astonishment…
"Yes…" – comes Nagato's curst and stoical response, though she hides sadness in her eyes…
The woman, feeling observed, looks to her right and spots them, and a great deal of happiness seems to overwhelm her as she lifts her arm and waves to them with the most pure of smiles…
"Come, Osaka… She could use the company…" – Nagato says in a sad tone and begins walking ahead…
Osaka follows behind her, all the while, her incredulous eyes studying the woman that awaits them ahead… Finally, Nagato comes to a halt in front of the woman, and kneels before her, her red piercing eyes never deviating from the soft red eyes that receive her…
"Hello Nagato. It's so good to see you! How goes the war?" – the woman asks with the most warm and pure smile one could only hope see one day…
"Not good, Fusou… Not good…" – Nagato declares sadly… She takes Fusou's hands, embracing them whit her owns – "It seems the end is soon upon us. I'm sorry. I've failed you all."
Without losing her pure smile, Fusou turns to look at the fountain, her beautiful hair drifting in the breeze – "It seems that Admiral Yamamoto was right… "We awoke a sleeping giant, only to instill it with great resolve"… But I hope we make it… even if the punishment is severe, I wish you and I make it to see a world at peace…" – She declares innocently…
But then… she lost her smile, her expression turned gloomy and her eyes seemed to become foggy with confusion… It's like suddenly she forgot something… And her eyes became wide with realization… And she brought her hand's to cover her face and began to cry…
Nagato lowered her head sympathetically… But she had no tears to shed, only miserable thoughts of times gone by… But she said nothing, because in the end, she had no comforting words to offer her friend and fellow ship-girl…
Fusou wiped away her tears, then she gave a sadden smile to them, proclaiming – "I'm sorry… I forgot again, didn't I?" – She asked innocently, her eyes returning to a welcoming glow…
"It's ok, Fusou. I too, get confused sometimes…" – Nagato declared stoically…
Fusou tilted her head curiously, her gentle gaze now meeting Osaka's, as she stood still amazed at who appeared before her…
"And who might this be? I don't remember Nagato ever mentioning she had a friend?" – Fusou said with a little chuckle, now returning to a smile…
"Huh! I-I'm… My name is Osaka! A pleasure to meet you Miss Fusou!" – She declared very flustered, performing and exaggerated bow to hide her blush…
"A pleasure to meet you as well, "little" Osaka." – She said as she took Osaka's hand's with her owns, holding them gently…
Osaka's blush only deepened with this, and she could feel the temperature rise with such a gesture, her eyes met with the warm smile that Fusou exhibited, leaving her speechless and even more embarrassed…
She awkwardly pulled her hands away; now keeping them interlocked, she mired Fusou with a nervous look… It was like Fusou knew the way into her emotions…
"You're very shy, you know?" – Fusou stated with a chuckle, retaining her gentle smile towards Osaka – "You remind me of Nagato, when she was young."
Osaka could not handle that one; she gave into to a brief laugh as she thought of how that was very impossible for someone as collected as Nagato…
"I never get a brake…" – Nagato states, shrugging her shoulders, but holding a warm smile…
"I'm sorry, Nagato. But it's true!" – Fusou continues with a delighted tone, her smile becoming ever more joyful – "I used to do that to you many times, and you would pull away almost immediately. You never liked showing your sensitive side after all." – She said with a chuckle at the end…
"Well, at least I got you to smile as well." – Nagato declared with a tender tone, briefly winking an eye to Osaka, who nodded and smiled…
"So how did you two meet?" – Fusou asked curiously…
"Ah… well that… uhm…" – Nagato stammered a bit embarrassed, waving her hand in front of her…
"She got lost in the civilian side of the harbor." – Osaka "fired off" with a joyful tone and a heartwarming smile…
"I really can't get a break…" – Nagato declared with a sigh…
"My! My! Nagato got lost? Well, that certainly is a first one!" – Fusou declared after a brief giggle, her heartwarming smile ever present – "Thank you, Osaka. What would she do without you?" – Fusou told Osaka with her jolly expression…
"W-Well… It was nothing… I uh… Just wanted to help, that's all." – Osaka declared with a cute blush, with a smile of her own…
"And I thank her for it." – Nagato declared, shooting a warm expression at Osaka who became even more flustered…
Suddenly, Osaka's expression turned to one of surprise! – "Oh shoot!" – She declared, confusing both Nagato and Fusou as to what she alluded…
"What's wrong?" – They both asked inquiringly…
"I'm gonna be late for my afternoon shift!" – She declared with visible dread in her expression – "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fusou! But I have to go now!" – Osaka declared while performing another exaggerated bow to both of them.
"Stay safe." – Nagato told her with a gentle tone…
"Remember to visit again. I want to get to know you more, ok?" – Fusou declared with a jolly tone and a smile…
"I will! I promise! Goodbye!" – Osaka said with a smile, before bolting across the streets of the military district back to the entrance gate…
"She's very sweet…" – Fusou remarked with glee – "Kind of like you, Nagato." – She teased her with a smile and a little giggle…
"You're messing with me…" – Nagato declares, looking away to hide her blush…
"Pretty much, yes!" – Fusou declares with delight, her heartwarming smile never leaving her beautiful figure…
"I hate you." – Nagato says as she lifts her head, still turning away to hide her blush, with a dismissive tone…
"You love me!" – Fusou says with joy, as she catches Nagato in a heartwarming embrace, holding her tight…
"I do." – Nagato declares with a warmer tone, returning the embrace, her arms gently embracing Fusou, like a precious someone she would never let go…
*Author Note*
And that's another chapter! With so many views, I could not simply ignore all of you who decided to give my fanfic a shot. Thank you so much for the support! I'll keep them coming, as long as you keep asking for them.
Also I would like to clear up something, since you read this chapter before reaching this note: Yes, I will include some more characters from the Kantai Collection and some Original Characters as well… But the main focus will be Osaka, Nagato and Zuikaku (for obvious reasons). Once again I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next time ;)