A/N:
It seems that my first entry was a bit too arbitrary to be understood easily. I apologize for a slightly confusing story.
The first story's synopsis was focused on Shimakaze and Amatsukaze after a devastating final battle in which they are the sole survivors. Amatsukaze, however, has already died, and Shimakaze is well on her way to join her too. The story was meant to capture Shimakaze's last thoughts before she, too, sank, but instead of describing the scene normally, I tried to replace as many of the elements of the scene with metaphoric details.
Stories like this that are not exactly written in the norm are what I aim to write. Therefore, they can be a bit enigmatic and hard to understand at first, though that isn't to say that I won't write normal stories. Because of this, I'll be putting in story synopses like this for the more "experimental" chapters so that my intentions behind the stories can be more easily understood.
Thanks for reading,
-Akyuu no Joshu
"Yamato-san, what are you doing out here this late at night?"
"E-Eh? Fubuki-san? I...I should ask the same of you, should you not be asleep in the destroyers' dorm right now? It is very late, you know."
"Er, that's...what I said, wasn't it..."
"Ah..."
"..."
"..."
"U-Uh, um...so! Anyways! Um...l-like I was saying..."
"Oh, um, yes, of course. I-I...I wanted to come out tonight because tonight is a full moon. Look..."
"Ah, yes, you're right, it is a full moon tonight. It's really beautiful tonight."
"Indeed, it is really - "
"...Yamato-san? Are you o...kay...? Er, what's...what's wrong? Why is your face so red?"
"N-Nothing! Please, don't - don't mind me!"
"Are you sure, Yamato-san? If...if you're not feeling well, I can...I can help you to the infirmary..."
"No, I am fine, I insist! Um, please, have a seat with me, if you don't mind - it's - it is better to watch the moon together with a friend, they say!"
"Ah, o-of course! Um, if I might ask, how long have you been sitting here? Isn't it uncomfortable to be sitting at the edge of the dock like this?"
"Not at all. I've...done a lot of moongazing before. Though, this is the first time I have the opportunity to watch the moon with a friend."
"A f-friend..."
"Why, of course. Are we not friends?"
"N-N-N-N-No, I-I-I didn't mean it like that, Y-Yamato-san! I'm just - I'm just really happy that you called me your friend!"
"But...we have known each other for a while now. I thought...I was under the impression that we were already..."
"Th-That's true, but - but - but I didn't think that we were were already, er, friends, you know?"
"Aw...what...what makes you say that? Perhaps...perhaps my behavior towards you was poor? If that is the case - "
"N-No, it's not that either! I - I just didn't know that - unnnnggg..."
"Th-Then, p-please, don't worry about it! I, I don't want to make you uncomfortable..."
"..."
"..."
"U-Um, Yamato-san?"
"Yes?"
"Can - Can I ask you something?"
"Of course...what is it?"
"It's only been two weeks or so since you've come here to this base, right?"
"Indeed it has."
"How do you like it here?"
"It is...wonderful. The Admiral is very kind, he cares for us, and everyone is happy. There is nothing that I can say to complain."
"..."
"...Fubuki-san? Is there...something wrong?"
"No. I-I mean, yes, yes there is something wrong...!"
"Huh? Oh - did I say something that offended you? I'm - I'm very - "
"It's - it wasn't anything offensive, but - Yamato-san, you're lying, aren't you?"
"Lie? But - but why would I - "
"Yamato-san, please listen to me. Tonight - tonight isn't the first night that I've seen you come out to the dock like this to watch the moon. In fact, for the past week, every time I looked out here when I was heading to my dorm to sleep, I've seen you sitting here. I don't know how long you've been doing this, but - but nobody just comes out here and spends the night watching the moon while everyone else is asleep just because they want to...right?"
"..."
"Er...well...so I thought that since no one else seems to know about this, I thought - that I might come visit you once and ask you what's wrong. And...and besides, shouldn't - isn't it better to go moongazing with someone else? It's...a bit lonely to watch the moon like this by yourself, right?"
"..."
"..."
"...I'm very sorry, Fubuki-san...yes, you're right. I was lying to you. I'm sorry."
"Well - well, I don't...mind that, but...but that must mean there's something wrong, right? But - but if you don't want to talk about it, I can - I can just leave - "
"No, please, don't leave!"
"...Yamato-san?"
"Don't leave me, Fubuki-san. Instead - instead, will you stay awhile and listen to what I have to say?"
"Uh...yes, y-yes, of course."
"I...ever since I have arrived at this base, I...I have never been deployed. I have been waiting these past two weeks to participate in a sortie, an expedition, anything - but Admiral has never deployed me. I understand that I am expensive to deploy, and that I consume lots of resources by myself, but...but if I am not even sent out on a single mission, then - then what was the point of me coming to this base?"
"Ah..."
"And - and please don't misunderstand, I am not angry at Admiral for this. The reasons why I have not been deployed yet are understandable, and I can understand myself that currently, Admiral does not have very many resources to spare. But...still..."
"Um...Yamato-san?"
"Yes?"
"...I...I know how you feel."
"Oh...?"
"Um...I...I actually was the very first ship girl deployed to this base. A 'starter' ship girl, I was called."
"Oh...! You were the first one here? I see..."
"Ehehe, yes, I was. Um...at the very beginning, it was just the two of us, me and the Admiral. Over the weeks and months, Admiral sent me out on all sorts of missions, and during that time, I found more friends out at sea and made more friends who were constructed here at base. But...things began to change."
"Change? What do you mean...?"
"Well...as we got more and more ship girls joining and living with us here, Admiral...started to focus more on the other girls, especially the more...erm...'exotic' ship girls. I - I don't mean that in a derogatory way, it's just that Admiral spent a lot of time and resources trying to acquire them, so that's why I call them exotic - but Admiral began spending lots of time on the other girls like Urakaze-san, Kiyoshimo-san, Asashimo-san, Amatsukaze-san..."
"Oh..."
"When I first started noticing this, I began to feel upset, because...because at first, from the beginning, it was just me and Admiral. Admiral would always focus on me, give me lots of attention...I felt like I was becoming more and more distanced away from him, even though I'd done so much for him from the very beginning. In a sense, I was the one who...who helped him build up this base to be what it is now. No one else can say that but me..."
"..."
"And so, eventually...eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I met Admiral in his office when no one else was around and asked him why he was starting to ignore me all of a sudden. It was great that he was trying to give everyone attention, and I knew that I couldn't monopolize Admiral all to myself, but I was beginning to feel really resentful towards the other girls."
"And...and what did Admiral say?"
"He...erm...this is a bit embarrassing...but he apologized to me first and foremost. He said that he was sending me out on all these sorties not because he was solely focused on finding new ship girls whom we would pick up on our missions - well, he did admit that it was definitely something he was trying to go for - but the main reason for them was because he wanted to have me reach Level 99. That's why I was feeling like Admiral wasn't giving me any attention, because I was always away on sorties and missions, and because I was away, the other girls were able to get closer to him. He said that he was keeping his true intention a secret so that it would be the biggest surprise as it could be."
"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"
"Look, Yamato-san."
"...a ring? Ah, I have seen you wear this ring before. Did you receive that from Admiral?"
"Yeah. He...he married me, Yamato-san."
"M-Marry - ?! Oh, my goodness, con - congratulations, Fubuki-san!"
"Aha...thank you so much, Yamato-san..."
"How long - how long ago was this? When did he marry you?"
"Just a few days before you came, Yamato-san."
"Oh...I'm so sorry I wasn't able to attend..."
"It's fine, please don't worry about it."
"So everything has been resolved between you and Admiral, then?"
"Yes, it has. It turned out that Admiral wasn't chasing after the other girls but instead had his mind set on marrying me as soon as he was able all along. So...so please, Yamato-san, please trust him. Please trust Admiral - I'm sure he knows that he hasn't deployed you yet. Like you said, we are currently low on resources, so practically speaking, we can't deploy you very easily, but - but please wait a little bit longer. Now that I'm aware of this, I'll do everything that I can during my expeditions to bring back as many resources as I can so that you can finally sortie with us."
"Eh? N-No, Fubuki-san, please - you don't have to feel pressured to do anything in particular for me, I was just - "
"Yamato-san..."
"...yes?"
"Please, let me help you. If I don't, I'll start having trouble going to sleep...knowing that you're sitting out here all alone every single night."
"..."
"A-And, besides, I've gotten really good at going on expeditions now! Now that I'm married, too, my level cap's been increased a whole lot, so I'm the strongest destroyer here at base - or, at least, one of the strongest. If you want to have the chance to sortie, Yamato-san, please let me help you gain that chance. We all need to fight as a fleet, after all."
"...is this really alright, Fubuki-san...? For a battleship like me to rely on you...I shouldn't have to burden you like this..."
"It's not a burden, Yamato-san. Admiral taught me a long time ago when we first met that eventually, with enough time and effort, even a weak destroyer like me can shoulder any amount of burden. After all, I carried this whole base on my back at one point. So this isn't a burden at all, Yamato-san. In fact, this is motivation."
"..."
"Yamato...san? Eh, eh!? Yamato-san, you're crying! Oh no, handkerchief, handkerchief..."
"...thank you so much, Fubuki-san...this...oh dear me...this...isn't the kind of behavior I ought to be showing..."
"It's okay. Everyone has to cry at some point. I...I cried a lot before too, whenever I didn't complete a mission successfully or came back with heavy damage, but every single time, Admiral never yelled at me or scolded me. He always told me that I did a great job, and that he was glad that I came back to base safe."
"..."
"..."
"Fubuki-san?"
"Yes?"
"...if...if this isn't too much to ask...which it might be..."
"Yes, what is it?"
"...would you like to...watch the moon with me like this every night until the day I can finally sortie?"
"...um..."
"I-It is fine if that's too much! I - oh no, I...I shouldn't have said this..."
"Yeah, Yamato-san, I'd love to."
"...erm...you will? You really will?"
"Yeah. You know, Admiral and I...we used to sit out here at the docks like to to watch the moon too on the weekends, but that was a long time ago, before there were many of us here at base. We stopped doing so since the amount of work Admiral has to do now has gotten to the point where he can't spend as much time with me as he'd like. So he told me that if I could find a replacement for him so that I could continue to enjoy moongazing, both for myself and for his sake, that would be perfect."
"...ah..."
"I'll bring something to drink next time. But no alcohol, though."
"Oh...thank you, Fubuki-san."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Fubuki-san?"
"Yes, Yamato-san?"
"The moon..."
"...what about the moon?"
"...it is beautiful tonight. Truly beautiful."
"Ah...yes, it really is."
"...erm..."
"...?"
"...especially because...I'm watching it...with...you..."
"..."
"..."
"...thank you, Yamato-san, but...I...erm...I already have Admiral..."
"...ah...oh...uuuuuuuu...I'm...I'm sorry...! ! ! !"
"D-Don't worry about it, Yamato-san! There's - there's no need to hide your face, really! I - I really appreciate it!"
"...now I probably seem like such a scandalous woman...I shall never marry..."
"There's no need to go that far...! But anyway, I don't - I don't mind being your friend, Yamato-san."
"...thank you, Fubuki-san. Thank you so much..."
"I hope we sortie together soon, Yamato-san."
"I hope so, too."