Author: It's hard to be the young one in the family. Even wit my situation, I'm at least glad I get to have spare time which I use to relax and entertain myself.

Anyhow, next chapter is a confrontation chapter. Probably also a scene where Tirpitz begins to face the thoughts and feelings she chose to be ignorant about.

UPDATE: The upcoming Yuugumo class is a beauty. I like how she looks like the gentle and kind type.

How far will you stay human?

After a long battle with an Abyssal fleet, the Kriegsmarine shipgirls returned safely after the exhausting all day sortie. Every single of them are worn out, both their fuel and ammo are almost expended. Due to the damages of them sustained, they quickly head for the repair docks. Bismarck's body tingled as soon as she dipped her whole body into the warm bath.

"Hey, Tirpitz, how is it going for you?"

Bismarck slightly turns her head to ask Tirpitz who enjoyed bathing in warm water for someone who is used being in the cold.

"My whole body is in pain. A good bath like this...feels like heaven"

The lights ships are exhausted as much as the Bismark class battleships are. Along with the lengthy battle is the bad weather which made it difficult for the smaller ships to sail.

"I thought I was done for" Z10 sobbed and thankful she returned in one piece

"We managed to win because Bismarck take down the flagship" Konigsberg commented

"Yeah. That was very amazing how you blew their flagship with one shot!"

Out of excitement, one of the destroyers quickly stood up and unintentionally splashed the others. She went on and described the battle with worse and cartoonish sound effects.

"What can I say? I'm the best battleship Germany has to offer"

Bismarck could barely hold herself from the praises she's receiving. While she prefer to stay humble, she sometimes can't resist to flaunt her greatness when she receives such praises.

"..."

Tirpitz remained quiet, observing and listening as the shipgirls kept praising Bismarck while the latter hold back herself from boasting too much in order to look "dignified". Tirpitz is the only one who doesn't feel the same way. She clenches her fist and discreetly bites her lips, negative emotions dwelling inside her. After the long bath, the two sisters had just finished drying themselves up and exited the bath.

"That was one heck of a battle. We got hit by shells to the face, but of course we won because I'm there" Bismarck grinned

"Ha ha ha. Yeah..."

"I'm amazing, aren't I?"

"You were amazing back there. You took down the flagship with one direct hit"

Bismarck fails to realize the lack of happiness behind Tirpitz's words. Not even a hint. Tirpitz suppresses the mixed emotions poisoning her thoughts and her view towards her sister.

"You're lucky you have a sister like me"

"You're right..."

"...and I'm lucky to have such a wonderful little sister"

Treating Tirpitz like a child, she pets her head and almost messed up her hair. At this point, she's already used to be occasionally doted by her older sister.

"How about we practice a bit. I need to let out all of this energy" Bismarck suggested

"I'd rather not. I'm still tired so I prefer going back to the room instead"

"Okay. If that's what you want. I'll just Hipper or those U-boats!"

Bismarck quickly targeted the U-boats who ran away from her, thinking she is chasing them like a maniac.

"Perhaps there really is a part of me...deeply hates you. Because every time I look at you...it's all I can feel"

Fearful of her own emotions, Tirpitz somewhat admits of a feeling she refuses to accept as her true feelings. She could never think of letting her sister realize about these feelings of her. She would be willing to remains ignorant of her true emotions if it means maintaining her close relationship with Bismarck.

Tirpitz, stood silently on the cape even before the sun rises. The recent battle still bothers her, specially about Dreadnought Princess.

"That voice. That voice...sounded like Yuki's voice..."

When Dreadnought Princess changed her voice for a brief moment, it quickly struck Tirpitz. She could never mistake the voice for anyone else's. That voice only belonged to one person she knew. At that moment, she reminisces about her past.

"Why is it you don't always smile, Tirpitz?"

While enjoying their day off, Yuki asked a question she had been meaning to ask for quite some time. She always observes Tirpitz and every time she does, she takes notes of her particular behaviors.

"I do smile, you know"

"No - I mean...your smile...felt empty. It's like forcing yourself"

"..."

Tirpitz looked as the truth behind that aches her heart. To Yuki, having Tirpitz open up and admit what she truly feels will be a challenge considering her personality.

"I lost my best friend, Yuki..."

"Tirpitz..."

"Ever since I lost my dearest friend, I lost the reason to feel warmth"

Yuki empathized with Tirpitz and her loss even if she wasn't present when Tirpitz suffered the tragedy. Even so, Yuki being always there for her brings comfort even it couldn't heal her past wounds.

"That's alright..."

"Y-Yuki?"

At a quick moment, Tirpitz felt Yuki wrapping her arms around her startled body. She is unable to directly feel the warmth and softness of one's hand due to her gloves, but she is comfortable with this level.

"I'll try my best to let you feel warmth again, Tirpitz"

"..."

"You're someone important to me, Tirpitz. That's why..."

"You sound like Scharnhorst..."

Having being reminded of her deceased friend, it melded both emotion of comfort and grief. Tirpitz's firm hands gently clasps Yuki's gentle hands, making the latter fluster. Being with someone close to her, it's enough to bring a warm smile out of Tirpitz.

"That's a start..."

To help someone in need, has been always Yuki's primary desire and defining trait. This is the reason why everyone around her views has as a "reliable big sister" type of person. Perhaps she inherited this trait from the "big sister" she is based off.

"Could she possibly be Yuki?"

Tirpitz thought about the similarity of Yuki and Dreadnought Princess' voices. Even if it's not exact, she could never deny the similarity. After spending too much time staring at the ocean, Tirpitz decides to head back.

"Hmm?"

Passing by the practice ground, seeing the first fleet assigned for today's exercise had just finished. Bismarck enjoyed the warm up and praised her fellow shipgirls who all performed well. Of course she praises herself for performing splendidly.

"Once again, German engineering is number one" Bismarck takes pride both in her nationality and herself

"Good for you" Z3 is already used to it

"Hmm? Hey, Tirpitz. Just in time. The practice just ended"

"I can see that..."

When Tirpitz approached the fleet, the shipgirls quickly saluted and greeted their admiral who they were surprised to see. Usually Tirpitz is already in her office early morning, but there are times where she walks around the naval base when there is less work to do.

"You should have seen how I excelled the most ha ha ha"

"Yeah..."

"My little sister may be good in battle, but as the older sister...I'm better. Also as Germany's best battleship!"

Bismarck placed her hand on Tirpitz's shoulder who removed it seconds later right after Bismarck jokingly boasts again. She failed to notice Tirpitz's change in mood like every other occasions. It's best this way as Tirpitz prefers not to be noticed.

"Hmm? You're not going to watch me in the second round, Tirpitz? You'd see me outperform the competition, you know"

"I'd rather not..." Tirpitz muttered

"What?"

"Like always I have much work to do. I just happen to be busy this day because of a newcomer tomorrow"

Bismarck viewed this as normal behavior, unable to see through her sister's forced smile and restrained emotions. After leaving the area, Tirpitz released emotions she doesn't recognized and damaged the wall closest to her. She could not recognize her own emotions due to the fact she subconsciously represses he true feelings.

"I shouldn't...feel like this..."

Even after letting loose a hard, physical blow against a normal wall, it still not enough to pacify her anger. Her current mood can be compared to a child who is about to throw a tantrum, but sulked in a corner instead.

Later...

In a peaceful afternoon, Tirpitz takes her time off by drinking tea with Yamato, the shipgirl whom she tends to confide her personal thoughts to. While Tirpitz wants to complain about her annoying workload that proves to be as tiring as sortieng during her active days. Even a battleship like her is no match to the amount of paperwork an admiral has to deal with just about everyday. It's been six year, but it still tires and annoys her to this day.

"I noticed you've been less focused lately, admiral. Even Nagato-san noticed"

"Ever since the last encounter with Dreadnought Princess, I just can't stop thinking about it"

Tirpitz gently lowers the cup of tea, careful on not breaking it as she has a tendency to do so when she's emotional. Before further explaining, Tirpitz relaxes her posture, her muscles had grown stiff due to burying herself to her work non stop. This is already a sign that she's stressing herself to instinctively avoid confronting issues of her own/

"I immediately thought of someone I dearly knew when I heard it"

"Are you sure about what you heard, admiral?" Yamato is skeptical

"There's no mistaking it. There's no way...I would mistake that voice for anyone else..."

Every time Tirpitz would hear Yuki's voice, her smile is the first thing that would come to her mind. The image of the battleship with a gentle personality could never be forgotten. In the past, it elevates the feeling of comfort of happiness, but now it only reminds her of grief and loss.

"I shouldn't be distracted since I'm the admiral of this fleet. Besides, I have other than Abyssals to deal with"

"Other than Abyssals?"

"The shipgirl who was supposed to be temporarily assigned in Sasebo suddenly requested to be transferred here instead"

Yamato couldn't tell whether the admiral is unhappy or not with her conflicting expression. She guesses this mysterious shipgirl is someone the admiral knows just seeing at the emotions her admiral is expressing. With a clear observation, anyone can guess at what are the two's relationship in the past.

"Who might this shipgirl be?"

"A Project shipgirl from the Kriegsmarine. If the planned ship she embodies actually existed, she would have easily outsized and outweighed both you and Musashi"

Tirpitz laughs at the mere thought about a ship that dwarves the Yamato class in terms of size and weight actually existing, to a degree. It reminds Tirpitz how she and her sister are the successfully built ones out of the projects back in the old war. There planned predecessors, but all of them are cancelled.

"That girl would easily take the throne of being the biggest battleship built in Europe"

"It sounds like you knew her very well, admiral"

"I know her, but I wouldn't say we're very close. She and I are the same in a way"

"I can't wait to meet this shipgirl, admiral"

"Ha ha ha. I'm glad you're excited"

Looking at the bright sky, it reminds her of the serenity she enjoyed even before she discovered she is "Tirpitz". Sh never regretted choosing this path despite knowing the war that ravaged the whole world. She had grown accustomed to her life and surroundings even as the war grew fierce with each passing day.

The next day...

As she walks along the spacious hallway of the naval headquarters, she fixes her wrinkled pleated skirt and suit coat. She had to rush due to the ship arriving early than expected so she wasn't able to wear her uniform properly. It made her curious to why "that girl" seemed so excited she arrived two hours earlier than scheduled. She can't think of a specific reason, but she had some.

"That girl is just too excited. Probably because of what happened recently..."

Usually, the shipgirl going to be assigned to her reports on her base, but this time, the shipgirl reports to the headquarters first due to some circumstances. So in this case, she had to "pick up" the newcomer like a parent picking up their child from school.

"Ah!"

Saiki bay's officer in charge, rear admiral Rikawa Isomi accidentally bumps to admiral Suveran Schwarze. She stumbled back and landed in her rear. The documents she carried scattered all around the floor, mixing the documents she had just organized before picking them up

"I'm so sorry, admiral. I was in a hurry because these documents..."

"Ha ha ha. No need to apologize. Here let me help you"

Embarrassed someone with higher rank than her cleans up her own mess, Isomi grabs the scattered papers, picking up more than half of it in a matter of seconds.

"I've been klutzy lately. I'm so sorry"

(She really needs to stop being so apologetic...)

Even if admiral Schwarze couldn't do much about how Isomi felt so embarrassed, she helped the rear admiral stand up. At the moment the rear admiral felt her hand touched the admiral's she unintentionally peered something she could never comprehend.

"You look just like her. It's like you two are the same person..."

(What?)

"Just who are you exactly...?"

The rear admiral spoke in a trance like state after holding the admiral's hand.

"Who are you talking about, Isomi?"

It always like this whenever rear admiral Rikawa would come into physical contact with her. She would look like her mind was peaking to hers.

"D-did I say something weird again? Please ignore everything I just said!"

"...sure"

"I'll be on my way!"

"R-right..."

While admiral Schwarze doesn't fully understand the rear admiral, she finds her a bit adorable sometimes. Brushing off the small incident aside, she proceeded to head to her original destination.

"Sorry for being a bit late. There was a bit of a mishap..."

Admiral Schwarze enters the office and salutes, greeting the officer speaking with the shipgirl.

"Admiral Schwarze, there you are. This girl here had been waiting to meet you"

The officer steps aside and let the shipgirl walk towards the admiral. A young woman with long white hair patterned with red streaks on the right side and heterocrhomatic eyes nodded towards the admiral whom she recognized at first glance. The stitched Iron Cross on the back of her trench coat and a golden metal plated one on her cap identified her as a Kriegsmarine shipgirl since it's their official insignia that most of them have in their uniforms.

"Admiral Schwarze, this is Donitz, a Project shipgirl of the Kriegsmarine"

She knowingly smiles at Donitz who is already familiar with her. The two salutes at each other, formally exchanging their introductions.

"My name is Donitz, the Project shipgirl based on the an H class battleship, namely the H-44 project. I look forward working with you even if it's temporary"

"I am admiral Suveran Schwarze, the officer in charge of the Maizuru naval district. I'm pleased to have you in my fleet"

After the introductions, the navy officer went in between, laughing as he's glad the two seems to be friendly with each other.

"Admiral, since you're German yourself, I'm sure you two will get along just fine"

"We're both shipgirls of the Kriegsmarine so we're close comrades" Donitz answered

"What?"

The officer is puzzled to what Donitz meant, especially when she mentioned the word "shipgirl". This caused to quickly defend herself after Donitz casually respond, seeing Donitz is oblivious to her situation.

"W-what she means to say is that she sees me as someone like one of her fellow Kriegsmarine shipgirl. It's not like she's saying I'm a shipgirl"

"What are you talking about? Aren't you-" Donitz is cut off by the admiral

"I'll be showing Donitz around and make sure she performs well while she stays in my base"

To avoid risking having Donitz accidentally have the admiral be suspected, the latter ends the conversation. While the navy officer is confused, she let the admiral take over in handling the shipgirl assigned to her.

"You're still wearing the same type of uniform. Not that I hate it"

Tirpitz mumbled as she commented about Donitz's clothing preference. What she specifically referred is her uniform which also consisted of padded naval pants and black padded naval boots. Even her her undershirt is naval.

"Tirpitz, what was that all about?' Donitz is confused

"Don't just openly tell the navy I'm Tirpitz. They don't know who I truly am. Only my fleet and three other people do"

"Why are you playing the role of an admiral rather than fighting Abyssals out there?"

Donitz inspected Tirpitz's admiral uniform, scanning every detail. This caused the admiral to feel like an exposed prey being circled by a predator.

"I prefer to stay dead rather than go back like nothing happens. It's okay for most higher up and shipgirls, but not for me..."

"Eleven years later and you're still...lonely. Suits the epithet you hate so much"

Donitz didn't go as far as mentioning of directly, knowing it would upset Tirpitz. The latter dislikes anyone, even people close to her, mentioning it to her directly. It represents a part of her she wishes to overcome.

"You were supposed to be sent to Sasebo. Why transfer to Maizuru?"

Secrets is the primary thing Tirpitz dislikes, though it is hypocritical, Tirpitz is aware of it. She doesn't justify nor defend herself because she sees no reason to do so.

"Because of Dreadnought Princess..."

"..."

"I want to settle a long time score with her, Tirpitz. That's why when I see her again, I will make sure she will sink by my own hands"

The way Donitz states her desire to hunt down and sink Dreadnought Princess is no different from the Abyssal she is seeking to defeat. The fact the two are similar when it comes to the goals slightly terrified Tirpitz. It's as if she's looking at two beings who are bound to destroy each other.

"So you heard about my fleet encountering her a few days ago"

"Yeah. I thought you would have information about her as your fleet faced her more than once recently"

"Well I sortied along with my fleet a few times and faced her myself twice, but he ended up running away on both occasions..."

Tirpitz looked around before telling Donitz she sortied and managed to encounter Dreadnought Princess twice.

"You sortied?"

"I did, but I can't do it too often for obvious reasons. That means I can't actively participate like the old days"

"You sound like a retired old lady"

Donitz joked how Tirpitz is an old lady and in return, Tirpitz nudged her as the two Kriegsmarine comrades laughs.

"I'm a German shipgirl. A battleship like me doesn't get rusted that easily. You should know it too as a fellow battleship"

"Of course. We Kriegsmarine shipgirls are made of steel that doesn't rust and the fires in our blood never stops burning"

The Project shipgirl takes pride in her being a Kriegsmarine shipgirl even if she's an "artificial" one. She even raised up the silver chain necklace holding an anchor combined with an Iron cross with her name engraved as a pendant. As the two leaves the area, rear admiral Rikawa overheard their conversation.

"Admiral Schwarze...is a shipgirl?"

She clearly heard the admiral stating she's a Kriegsmarine shipgirl and Donitz referring her as one. Other than that, Donitz calls Tirpitz not by her human name, but by the name "Tirpitz" which rose her suspicion. She covered her mouth as she thought about what she heard, shaking her head in disbelief. It's just impossible to believe that an admiral is also shipgirl, yet no one is aware of it.

EXTRA

While Bismarck had dragged Graf Zeppelin, Prinz Eugen, Tirpitz, and the newcomer Donitz for a typical German drinking night in celebration of the latter's arrival in the naval base, Gangut and Montana had other things to take care off. For the past three days, she sought help from a Russian comrade who provided her with the intelligence she needed.

"I'm surprised your comrade who works for the KGB is helping you"

Montana quickly suspected since Arkhangelsk, the person they are tracking down, also works for the KGB.

"A lot of us lost our family because of those bastards. No amount of re education can ever compare to the desire for revenge"

The Russian battleship's eye blazed with pure fury, openly displaying her deep hatred towards the KGB. This both amazed and terrified Montana who saw this type of intense emotion to burn down everything in its path. Those kind of eyes - she had seen them before, so she feared Gangut may share the same fate.

"Molotov has been keeping track of Arkhangelsk ever since she came to Japan, but knowing Arkhangelsk, she already expected to be tracked down"

While Gangut doesn't fully comprehend Arkhangelsk's personality, she's certain Arkhangelsk had already expected to be discovered. She couldn't admit it to herself how it's completely impossible for her to win against Arkhangelsk in a one on one match. She sets that thought aside and focused on exacting vengeance against the ruthless killer for what she did to Tirpitz not too long ago.

"According to Molotov, Arkhangelsk isn't really be careful lately. She didn't bother covering her tracks. It's like she wanted to be found"

"Isn't that better? She saved us the trouble of finding her"

Montana beat her fists, primarily focused on tracking down and punishing Arkhangelsk. Her personal vendetta had clouded her rational thinking so she didn't even suspect about Arkhangelsk's careless movements lately.

"No, it's not. It means she is already expecting someone will be going after her. That means she's prepared to face anyone, even us, by now"

"So she set up a bait and only needs a fist to bite, huh. I guess we're the fishes then" Montana twitched her lips

"Arkhangelsk is powerful. She displayed strength that surpassed any other shipgirl I know"

"I haven't seen this Arkhangelsk, but she seems powerful the way you say it"

"There's something about her that doesn't seem right. Something just doesn't make sense" Gangut shakes her head

While the two further discuss about Arkhangelsk, Bismarck faintly heard their voice. She planned on heading back to her room, but she stopped the moment she overhears Gangut and Montana having a private conversation.

"At least we know where she is. I just don't know whether we will have the element of surprise or not considering how Arkhangelsk thinks"

"Even if she does know we're after her, she never met or face me before so that's an advantage for us" Montana is confident

"Then we'll proceed to the plan and make sure Arkhangelsk pays"

Gangut nods her head and leaned on the optimistic side there's a chance they can take on Arkhangelsk after seeing Montana can be on the same level as Nagato, the battleship who took down Arkhangelsk last year.

"What plan? What is this all about?"

Startled, Gangut jolted and turned around facing Bismarck who had overheard this discussion. Both Gangut and Montana are unable to respond due to the fact it was a secret until Bismarck coincidentally overhears them.

"What's this about making Arkhangelsk pay? What are you up to, Gangut?"

Right now, Gangut felt like she wanted to run as far as she can if it means evading Bismarck's question, but he's not stupid enough to think she can keep it a secret from Bismarck. Since they were caught, Gangut might as well reveal it.

"Montana and I tracked down Arkhangelsk because we want to make her pay for what she did to Tirpitz"

"..." Bismarck remained silent

"Don't stop us, Bismarck! I'll do what it takes for making that monster pay for almost killing my partner"

"I'm not planning on stopping you"

To their surprise, Gangut expressed genuine surprise at how Bismarck said the least thing Gangut expected.

"In fact, I want it"

"W-what?" Montana blinked her eyes

"You heard me. I want to make Arkhangelsk pay for what she did"

Bismarck had the same reason. She wanted to personally punish Arkhangelsk for hurting her younger sister twice. The incident a couple of weeks ago tore off the last of Bismarck's patience. After than incident, she desired to punish Arkhangelsk if she had opportunity.

"No one hurts my sister and gets away with it. Not even if it's a shipgirl..."

Bismarck's vendetta surpassed both Gangut and Montana which is terrifying in its own way. Gangut does understand how Bismarck feels since it's her younger sister that is involved in the situation. The only thing Gangut fear if Tirpitz were to find out about this. It will certainly cause a quarrel to escalate between the two siblings that might leave a long term damage to their relationship.