Akitsu Maru opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar roof over her head. As she sat up she looked around the small room and remembered what she needed to. She was in an abyssal base, deep under the ocean where she had been dragged by Airfield Hime after being found searching for the experimental shells she had been ordered to find. The situation was far from perfect, especially since the Himes that seemed to be in charge, were anything but what she had expected.
Both Seaport Hime and Battleship Symbiotic Hime, the two strongest Himes that seemed to reside in this base, had emotions and acted like nice people, unlike every report about them. It was a strange thing, especially since all of them seemed like nice people.
Sliding off the futon in the room she had been given to use for the night Akitsu Maru sighed as she stood up, fully clothed. She hated sleeping in her clothing, any clothing even. She always preferred sleeping with as little on as possible, mainly due to how heavy and warm her normal clothing and uniform were, though also because she just liked sleeping with little on. Because of the possible danger though, she had forced herself to sleep clothed, and as a result, her uniform was in terrible condition. The wrinkles were far from serious, but they annoyed her none the less, as an originally military ship she felt it was her constant responsibility to keep herself looking her best, especially as she went to so many different naval bases.
Making the futon the way she had found it Akitsu Maru looked around the room as she tried to tidy her uniform. Just as she had seen before she went to sleep, the room had nothing in it, no cameras, no sensors or anything. It made her all the more curious about her situation, especially since she had woken up on her own, and not from anyone doing something to her.
Feeling that her uniform was in at least semi decent shape Akitsu Maru picked up her equipment and attacked it to her belt, slid the door to the room open and peeked her head out carefully in case of ambush or attack. Just as she partially expected, there was no one in the hallway waiting for her, no traps anywhere in sight, and nothing out of the ordinary; except for numerous voices from the room down the hall, many more than just two or three. It could only mean there were numerous Abyssal there, more than she had met the night before.
Steeling herself for whatever could happen; Akitsu Maru carefully stepped out of the room and slid the door closed behind her, making her way down the hall as quietly as possible. None of the signs on the doors she passed could be read, all of them having strange symbols on them instead of kanji; except one that had Hiragana and kanji, Reading Kanmusume, Ship girl. Stopping at the door Akitsu Maru placed her hand on it and slowly slid it open. The room was just like the one she had been in, though slightly larger. In it lay two futons, but no ship girls, a simple thing that made Akitsu Maru feel relieved. The last thing she needed to worry about was whether the Himes at this base were keeping prisoners despite their seemingly happy and inviting manners.
Sliding the door closed so no one would be the wiser Akitsu Maru stepped away from it and headed back toward the main room from the night before. Despite not wishing to loiter in this place, she had no real way out of it, and if the Himes were serious about letting her out, she had to let them see her off.
Stepping up to the open doorway Akitsu Maru stood at its edge and paused, giving herself a moment to mentally prepare for however many Abyssal ships could be waiting for her inside; and then stepped into the doorway, and lost her breath in surprise.
The room itself had changed slightly, its far wall now gone revealing a small kitchen facility that seemed to be built into it. The Kotatsu had not been moved, but with people on all sides, it seemed much smaller than before. Sitting on its left side was Seaport Hime and Airfield Hime, as well as the extremely small Northern Hime sitting between them. On the side closest to Akitsu Maru sat Battleship Symbiotic Hime along with isolated island Oni as well as Aircraft Carrier Water Oni; and on the right side, sat Midway Hime. But while such a gathering of Himes and Onis was both startling and terrifying, what shocked Akitsu Maru more was the two people that sat on the Kotatsu's far side. Sitting with the Himes and Onis with smiles on their faces and food on the plates before them, was a Carrier Zuikaku, and a Heavy Cruiser Furataka. While Akitsu Maru did not recognize the Furataka, she did recognize the Zuikaku. She had been part of the Forty Third Southeastern Assault front from a year before. The assault had ended in failure with twelve of its twenty fleets having been completely sunk, apparently she had been found by the abyssal. At least that was what Akitsu Maru figured.
"Hmm, ah Maru! Good morning!" Symbiotic Hime called warmly as she turned to see Akitsu Maru standing in the doorway. "We've got lots of food, come and sit down, there's a spot right beside Midi!" Symbiotic Hime said, gesturing to the spots on either side of Midway Hime.
Akitsu Maru stiffened at hearing herself invited to sit with Abyssals, and cringed at the shortening of her name that Symbiotic Hime had just given her.
"Something wrong?" Seaport Hime asked as she set down a large cup of tea, easily large enough to be filled with over two liters of tea.
"Err, no," Akitsu Maru said quickly as she stepped into the room and slowly walked around the Kotatsu, sitting down beside Midway Hime, who merely looked at her and nodded quietly.
"Didn't expect to see you down here, Akitsu Maru. Did you sink?" Zuikaku asked casually as she picked up a cup of tea from in front of her and took a sip.
"Err, ah, no I just-," Akitsu Maru tried to explain, but found it hard with so many Abyssal's near. Did they all know she was a ship girl? Did only Seaport Hime and Symbiotic Hime know? Did the others think she was an abyssal? Or had they been told that she was a shipgirl? The questions worried her and tied her tongue in knots.
"Maru here was sent to look for something some other ship girls forgot, so she'll be heading back to them after breakfast!" Symbiotic Hime said happily, not seeming to notice Akitsu Maru's worry.
Despite her worry, none of the Abyssals said anything and continued eating their food as Zuikakau looked at her with a scowl, "Ah, that's so lucky! Our equipment got destroyed, so we couldn't go back up even if we wanted too!"
"Ah, sorry . . . um, how did you . . ." Akitsu Maru began to say, but stopped when she noticed Seaport Hime shaking her head side to side. "Um, never mind."
"Nah, it's no problem," Zuikaku said with a shrug, "I sank during the Forty Third Assault front last year, but I got saved by Sya. Furataka probably had the same thing happen."
"Probably? You don't know?" Akitsu Maru asked, looking to Furataka who shook her head.
"I . . . . don't remember much of anything honestly!" Furataka said happily as she continued eating the food in front of her with a smile on her face.
"Fura had amnesia when we found her two years ago, we were able to help her remember who and what she was and what we were, but her own personal memories never returned." Symbiotic Hime said as she looked up at a clock on the wall and then looked around the table, "You should probably leave soon, dears."
Isolated island Oni, Midway Hime, Airfield Hime, Northern Ocean Hime and Aircraft Carrier Water Oni all looked up at the clock and then to each other and then began getting up from the Kotatsu, saying quick goodbyes as they all left the room. Within a minute Akitsu Maru was left alone with only Zuikaku, Furataka, Seaport Hime and Symbiotic Hime, and still felt very uncomfortable.
She wasn't uncomfortable because there were now less abyssal in the room; less powerhouse abyssal's in the room made her less nervous by leagues. What made her nervous was that Zuikaku and Furataka seemed so content sitting at the Kotatsu with abyssal's. More than that, they both had small content smiles on their faces. It was a strange and almost alien thing, but worse than that, Akitsu Maru could almost understand it.
They had lost in battle and sunk below the ocean's surface, normally a fate considered by many ship girls to be worse than death. They had then been saved by the very enemies they had been facing, only to discover they were different only in their outward appearances. They spoke like they did, they lived like they did to some extent, and they had family and friends just like they did.
Akitsu Maru shook her head in disbelief at the entire situation. It was more than just ridiculous. If their enemies were just like them in almost every way, just what had they been fighting them for?
"Is something wrong, Maru?" Symbiotic Hime asked warmly, leaning an arm against her cheek and using her other to slowly and gracefully lift a small teacup off the table and bring it to her lips.
"Ah, uh, no I just –,"Akitsu Maru said, attempting to think of a reply. She hadn't expected such a question.
"Ah, I see. You must be homesick!" Symbiotic Hime said as she placed her cup back onto the table and moved her hands together in a small and barely audible clap. "I nearly forgot, I'm so sorry. I'll lead you back up to the surface, alright?"
Akitsu Maru was nearly shell-shocked and could do nothing but look up at Symbiotic Hime as she got up from the Kotatsu, her warm smile never leaving her face. She hadn't honestly believed that she would be let go, but she had to be careful just in case. "Ah, right, I'm still a bit sleepy, thank you." Akitsu said in reply as she faked a yawn and got up from the Kotatsu to follow Symbiotic Hime out.
Symbiotic Hime nodded and looked to Seaport Hime with a smile. "I'll be back in a few!"
Within a minute Akitsu Maru had followed Symbiotic Hime out of the room, leaving Seaport Hime, Furataka and Zuikakau alone with each other. No one said anything for many moments, until Zuikaku looked to Seaport Hime, "I'm surprised you let her leave that easily. Did you tell her anything?"
Seaport Hime shook her head and grasped her giant sized mug with a hand and took a sip from it, "No . . . we didn't. . . . Sya . . . thinks she'll be back."
"Eh, really? It doesn't look like she'll be saying anything about this place. But why does Sya think she'll be back?" Furataka asked putting down her chopsticks and resting her arms on the Kotatsu.
Seaport Hime nodded, "Sya says, that she just feels it from her. I think we can trust her too."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to see if she comes by again." Zuikaku said after a moment, throwing herself backwards to lay on the floor with a smile. In a matter of minutes Akitsu Maru would be back on the surface, and their life would go back to normal, at least until she appeared again.
Authors note: I was seriously tempted to have one of the Hime'/oni be one of the new ones from the event, but I decided it was best to use what people were at least more likely to know and ones that I knew of better.
And speaking of the current event, I've been getting that dam cat for going on 2 days straight now. It's annoying.
But enough of that, that's the fourth chapter, and as I'm sure you can tell, thing are not quite what they seem to be. I hope everyone has liked this chapter and is enjoying this story. Till the net chapter!