A/N:

The fourth entry was focused on the American WW-II light cruiser U.S.S. Phoenix. I've seen the Pacific Volume 1, and their original US fleet concept art is fantastic. Even the Chinese knock-off version of Kantai (the one I know, at least), Zhan Jian Shao Nyu, has fantastic original concept art for the various fleets of the era. You may have even noticed that I've blatantly used some of the designs, partly because I like their designs so, and partly because I'm not the most imaginative when it comes to original character design.

For the fourth entry in particular, upon researching the U.S.S. Phoenix, I found out that Phoenix fired the crippling torpedo salvo that disabled Yamashirou at Surigao Strait, eventually leading to her destruction. For this, I decided to write in a standard story format but focus on the interactions between Phoenix and the members of the fateful Nishimura fleet. Even the Admiral's name is almost identical, and the discourses between Nishimura's fleet and Phoenix are references to the battle of Leyte Gulf.

This is why I'm a history major. Because if, just if, in the case that historical figures and objects can be revived and pitted against one another once again in different circumstances, what they would say and how they would interact is a perfect field of literary exploration.

Something that I don't personally understand is why the Pacific Vol. 1 depicts Phoenix in a Chinese qipao. Perhaps there's a reference to that that I don't know about. Whichever the case, she has a flamethrower, so nothing else matters.

-Akyuu no Joshu

"Admiral? What're ya doin' out here?"

My heart skips a beat as soon as the voice of the one ship girl I didn't expect to hear at a time like this calls out behind me, so I turn around to see who's called out to me, even though I shouldn't, because I already know who it is.

"O-Oh, heya, Maya."

Maya, my beloved heavy cruiser and ship girl, frowns as she approaches me. I can hear the long, wild grass crunch underneath her heavy boots.

"Are you makin' fun 'a me?"

"Huh? How - wait, how was I even making fun of you?"

"Never mind...maybe I thought your tone towards me sounded stupid or somethin'..."

"What's that all about..."

"Shut it."

Maya takes the liberty of sitting down next to me. She sighs a bit.

"So, yeah, for your information, Marshal Admiral Yamamoto-dono just called, and he told me to tell ya that they're planning a complete naval fleet review in two weeks."

"Oh yeah? That'll be cool, we haven't had one in a while. I heard that Chief of Staff Hiroyasu-dono and Rear Admiral Inoue-san were discussing the possibility for the Emperor. It's going to be his birthday pretty soon, and he really likes the Navy, so..."

"I know, right. I'm sooooo lookin' forward to it. We'll all be out there, lined up 'n deployed alongside the big ships, and all the people cheerin' and playin' music at us - "

"Let's not get too carried away, here. I know you liked your first naval fleet review, but - "

"Sh-Shut up! It's exciting, is all! You'd do the same too, if you were there! You get caught up in the excitement!"

"Yeah...whatever..."

Only Maya and I know this spot we're sitting in. We're still technically inside the naval base here at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, but this's a spot only my old man, my grandfather on my mom's side, knew about when he was the former Admiral of this place. It's nothing special; just a bit of a grassy cliff with a single tree that overlooks the entire harbor here at Sasebo. You might be thinking, well, isn't that nepotism at work here, that my grandfather left the post of commanding officer here at Sasebo to his own grandson? Well, I mean...call it whatever you want, but I like to think of it as my grandfather leaving behind to his grandson a huge legacy.

Part of that legacy is Maya.

I hear Maya folding up her radar spikes, the clicking of folding metal popping lightly in my ear, and soon, I feel the side of her head rest against my shoulder as she leans against my big white winter naval officer's coat that I've taken off and set behind me as I sit leaning against the lone tree here.

"How did you know I was here?"

I can feel Maya's scrutinizing and piercing gaze drilling into my cheek.

"You idiot, where the hell else would you be when you just mysteriously go AWOL all of a sudden?"

I can't help but pop a shy grin.

"Sorry. I have my dumb moments, you know that."

"Yeah, I wish you'd have less of them. Remember the time when I came back from my mission to Micronesia? The way ya bawled out at me, cryin' in front 'a everybody, beggin' me not ta do stupid shit...that was a pretty dumb moment for ya, wasn't it?"

The quiet, peaceful sunny day of the early spring suddenly warps into that overcast evening day last year. The rains had stopped, and the harbor and piers and docks were all drenched. The sight of Maya that day makes me want to drink myself to sleep, and I hate alcohol.

"Admiral? Hey, Admiral, what's up?"

I jerk my head up a bit. I've been sinking into the ocean of quicksand of the dark memories of the past.

"Somethin' wrong, there? I can always give ya a hug, you know that."

I smile bitterly, not looking at Maya.

"Well...I was just thinking that my fiancee could be a bit more sensitive about what kinds of memories she kicks up in my mind."

I glance over at Maya after saying this, and I watch her cheeks flush at the fact that I called her my fiancee.

"W-What? It's not like - well..."

Maya looks away from my own less-than-amused gaze as she starts to feel the creeping guilt crawl up her back.

"Sorry. Okay? I'll make it up to you, so - so don't get mad at me."

"You will?"

I find myself smiling, and I can't control it.

"Yeah, but - "

So with permission granted, I get up from my seat in front of the tree, gently push Maya over in my old seat, and sprawl myself out on my back so that my head rests on her lap. Maya just giggles.

"This again? God, I swear, you're such a kid."

Maya proceeds to play with my hair, something that I remember my older sister doing to me back in my childhood days before she left for university. For some reason, having someone mess with my hair in a playful way gets me to relax better than anything else I know.

"I don't think anyone would want to grow up, if given the choice."

"Your granddad didn't help with that much, either."

"Yeah, I guess so..."

The soft spring gale coming in from the harbor rolls over like a soft carpet, and it gets me in the daydreamy mood.

"Hey, Admiral, I've always meant ta ask you this, and now that I got a chance now...how close were you with Captain Kato?"

"Grandpops?"

"Yeah. He was my last commanding officer who went down with me, back in the days when I was still a ship. I always heard Captain Kato talking about you and how he'd always wanted to raise you to be a fine officer just like himself and everyone else in the navy during and after the war. It got a bit annoyin', actually, but obviously that was before we met."

The memories of my grandfather and I walking along the beaches and piers of Sasebo over fifteen years ago rush back into my head.

"Grandpops was the man. I mean, the man. The fact that you always heard Grandpops always going on and on about me was because he knew that I always wanted to be just like him when I was a kid. Back when the war was still going on, I remember visiting this place as a kid and being granted special access because I was the base CO's grandkid, and all the soldiers liked to screw around with me. But I thought his work was really cool. Walking around in a big ol' fancy naval uniform and kickass coat, a sweet naval cap with a badass emblem, his awesome katana, and the cigar in his mouth, barking orders at the grunts...I wanted to be just like Grandpops. And when I went to my first naval review here at Sasebo - just outside Sasebo Harbor, to be specific - I saw Grandpops standin' at the helm 'a his ship, the Heavy Cruiser Maya, just before his final sortie, and that was when I knew that there wasn't going to be any other future for me but the one as a naval officer. And he knew that, and he nurtured that dream for me."

"Nurtured it?"

"Well, like, he convinced my family to send me off to naval academy to train as a naval officer, saying that 'this nation needs more able-bodied and able-minded soldiers and officers!' and stuff like that. My family wasn't too keen on sending me off to military school. They didn't like the whole pro-war national sentiment that was taking over the country back in the war days, and they didn't want to lose their only son, me, in war."

"So then how did Captain Kato convince them?"

"Like, for one, my tuition was going to be free, which it was, since I was getting in through Grandpop's connections. For two, the fact that the navy managed to defeat America at Midway pretty decisively convinced my parents, along with a lot of other people, that the war was going to end soon, and so my parents figured that the war would be over before I graduated, which turned out to be exactly the case."

I look up at Maya, and I can see her frowning down at me.

"But...didn't like...I didn't survive the war, and Captain Kato went down with me. You said it just now, that...it was his last sortie."

I give Maya a wistful smile. It's not really much of a smile, just a sad twist of my lips.

"Yeah...that's right, he did die with you. It wasn't surprising, really. He said that old, gallant soldiers like him needed to die in a blaze of glory before they grew too old to be of much use to anyone anymore. It's sad, yeah, and my family and I all mourned, but it's what he wanted. It's what the warrior spirit in him wanted the most, and he'll be proud to know that his sacrifice was what won the Battle of San Francisco."

I close my eyes, and soon, I feel Maya's warm fingers press lightly against my cheeks.

"Hey, don't try 'n act like a tough guy. It's okay to cry for your granddad. I won't laugh, I promise."

"Don't worry about me, I'm not gonna suddenly break down and cry in front of you. I've already cried my fill a long time ago, and it's a bit lame to cry about Grandpops' death now. And I wasn't trying to act all tough. I'm just saying things how they are."

"Yeah, right."

"Says the girl who came back from Micronesia with both of your kneecaps broken and was still trying to stand up straight."

Maya immediately pinches my cheeks and pulls hard on them.

"Ow, ow, ow, aaahh haaaaawwweeeee."

"Yeah, you better be sorry, ya little fuckin' prick."

She lets go, and I rub both of my cheeks, watching the clouds lazily tumble across the blue, blue sky.

"About Grandpops, though..."

"Oh? What about him?"

"How close was he to you? I just felt like asking that."

"I didn't think of him too much. I guess I could say he was the best captain I had so far, since he was a passionate captain who always believed in his crew 'n the goals that the country was goin' for durin' the war. Remember how I had a lot of captains before Captain Kato?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I can say that Captain Kato was the most manly outta all 'a my CO's. I know for a fact that everyone else woulda jumped ship if I ever sank. So when Captain Kato decided to stay onboard and go down with me, screamin' 'This battle is our victory!' or somethin' like that, it really hit me that Captain Kato was just a bit different of a CO than the others."

I grin up at Maya.

"So you're into older, manlier guys, huh? I guess I'm no good for you, then."

Maya blushes again. I love teasing her and getting her all embarrassed, it's so fun to watch her reactions.

"Sh-Sh-Shut up, you fucker! I'm not specifically into older, manlier guys! It's just - "

But she stops. And I want to know what she meant to say.

"Just what?"

She looks away from me. She doesn't want to answer. How cute. You're so damn cute, Maya.

"C'mon, finish what you were saying."

"It's because I saw a bit of Captain Kato in you, when you first became my new CO, okay? Now shut up already!"

How sweet of you, Maya.

"Those days, huh? I still remember them. Those were fun times, when we didn't get along. That's when we both knew who each other was, but we didn't know that we knew. Fun times. I couldn't believe that you were supposed to be the reincarnation of the same ship that Grandpops served aboard on his very last sortie. I thought it was fate...as dumb as I think fate is, sometimes."

Maya doesn't say anything back. Maybe because she's too embarrassed to comment on how we were like to each other back then, three years ago. So I take the liberty of reaching up to Maya's chin, which makes her blush a bit again.

"W-What do you want?"

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that. I know you like it when I do this."

Maya blushes even harder, because we both know she can't deny it. But my smile fades away slowly as I remove my hand from her chin.

"But still...real talk, Maya, that day when you returned from Micronesia from fighting those Abyssals, the reason why - "

"Oh, you're still on 'bout that? Seriously, drop it already, it's not gonna do anythin' but make you even more dep - "

"No, just listen to me for a second, Maya. It - when I saw you, in the condition that you were when you returned to Sasebo, it really reminded me of the day when the navy commander came to our home and informed us of Grandpops' death. He said that he was Grandpops' direct subordinate as a lieutenant, and that he'd been instructed specifically by Grandpops to escape the ship as it was sinking to survive and return to Japan to tell his family of what ended up happening to him."

At this, Maya's eyes light up.

"Captain Kato's subordinate...that must've been Lieutenant Sawatari. Yeah, he was one of the ones to escape me first when I started to go down, I remember."

"Yeah. So like, anyway, when I saw you that time...it kinda reminded me of the time when Commander Sawatari gave us the news. At least, I felt almost the exact same way both times. I didn't wanna lose you, and...and all the feelings I had from the time when I learned that Grandpops went down with you just kinda flooded over me all at once."

"Yeah, yeah, I know already, you told me, remember? And you know I don't like talkin' about mushy stuff like that..."

I grin again up at Maya.

"Then surely you remember that the evening that you came back from Micronesia, I confessed to you and asked you to be my fiancee?"

Maya blushes the hardest she's blushed yet so far today. She's so embarrassed at this that she can't even get out her thought properly. So I take advantage of her momentary state of stunned embarrassment to grab hold of Maya's right arm and rub her wrist against my cheek.

"Wh-What're you doin', you freakin' pervert!?"

"How am I a pervert when any loving fiancee would do this for their loved one?"

"Don't say s-such things all calmly like th-that!"

"You make it sound like our engagement's a bad thing."

"Well, i-it's not bad, it's just - it's just - I don't like the fact that you always try 'n find a chance to flirt with me!"

"But yet, you don't do anything to stop me. Why's that, I wonder?"

"Because if I try, I know you'll keep doin' it anyway just to tease me! It's a lose-lose whatever I do!"

"Then just give up."

"No!"

Sighing with a bit of disappointment, I let go of Maya's arm, but she doesn't pull it away immediately.

"But...do you miss Captain Kato?"

"Of course I do. What kind of a question is that?"

"I'm a ship girl, damn you. I don't know - we didn't know what it's like to have human emotions until we got reincarnated like this. So you're the only one I have feelings like this for...and I wanna know if what they say really is true, that...it hurts to have someone like you go away and never come back."

"Well, didn't you feel somethin' like that during the war? When your comrade ships got sunk?"

"Yeah, well, it was sad, yeah, but - but they were comrades. Now, they're friends, comrades, yeah, I get that, but...they're not you."

"I guess so. But yeah, I miss Grandpops a lot. He'd be an old fart by now, though, and even if he did survive the war, he probably would've ended up as a grouchy old guy like some of the veterans that live here in the towns surrounding Sasebo. Even though I do miss him, I still think the way he died was better for him, since that's what he wanted for himself. And seeing how much he'd done for me, I won't judge his decisions behind his own death."

"I see."

Something else, though, tickles my mind. Now that Grandpops got mentioned, something tells me that I'm forgetting something really, really important.

But what is it again? I need to -

"Ah, that's right."

"Huh? What is?"

"I remember the day before that last naval review, Grandpops took me up to this spot right here. He said that it was his own little hiding spot away from the rest of the base, and that since he was going off to war, he wanted to show it to me in case something happened to him. He said that if he made it back from the war, he'd give me a special present or something to commemorate the war. Obviously, since he died, I never ended up getting that special present or whatever. I kinda wonder what it was sometimes, you know?"

I look back up at Maya.

But...she has a weird face on that I've never seen her have.

"Hold on, Admiral."

Maya stands up, forcing me to sit up to let her get up, and she hurries away down the small hill, through the clump of dense vegetation that hides this little cliff away from the rest of the base. What the hell? Don't tell me that she somehow actually...

She comes back after a few minutes, and when I hear her walking back up, I turn to look at her. It's obvious the way she's walking that she's holding something behind her back.

"So, um..."

Maya sits down on my left, clearing her throat all official-like and stuff.

"So yeah, um...I...I wanted to keep this a secret from you, but...now that you mentioned it, I thought...y'know, that it might be a good time..."

"You actually have it?"

Maya nods.

"What happened was that...um, Captain Kato - as he ordered Lieutenant Sawatari to escape, he handed him that 'special present' he mentioned to you. He didn't just tell Lieutenant Sawatari to survive to go tell your family about his death, he also wanted him to keep your present safe."

I can't believe it.

"So, like, when...when I was first constructed, Lieutenant - er, well, I guess Commander now - Sawatari asked to see me, and he gave me the present, telling me to hand it to you when the time came. So...here...I guess..."

Maya shyly hands me what she's holding behind her back. It's a small but long white briefcase, and it's pretty heavy. I open it up and take out what's inside.

It's a 1:36 scale model of the Heavy Cruiser Maya, dated December 13th, 1944, a week before Maya was sunk.

I find myself frozen where I sit as I gaze at it, and I can feel my right eye welling up.

"Thanks, Maya."

That's all I can get myself to say at the moment, and I rub my right eye to stop the tears.

"H-Hey, don't you be cryin' on me now! I just gave you somethin', that's all!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got'cha..."

After inspecting the ship for a long time, I sigh and put it back in its briefcase. I'll set it up in my office back at base.

"Hey, Maya."

I grab my military coat and reach into my right coat pocket, pulling out a few folded papers.

"Yeah, what?"

"As thanks for this, I've got something that I wanna give you, too."

"I-Idiot, don't think that you owe me anything for this, I'm - I'm just doing what I need to do..."

"I don't care. Firstly, this."

"It's a two-parter!?"

But Maya takes the paper that I've unfolded and reads it. I watch keenly for her reaction, and sure enough, as soon as she realizes what the paper is all about, I watch her inhale silently and put her hand over her mouth, and the paper in her hand begins to quake.

"No...n-no, this - this c-c-can't be real...this - this's jus' an elaborate trick, i-isn't it..."

"You can see both my stamp and Marshal Admiral Yamamoto's stamp, can't you? It's not a joke, and it's not a dream, either, so stop pinching yourself. I'm having you remodeled in the Kai Ni Circle this weekend."

By now, tears are bursting out of Maya's eyes, refusing to be held back any more. I smile, because I know that the next thing I'm about to show her is going to drive the arrow home. I reach into the other coat pocket and pull out a small blue velvet box, so small that it sits on the palm of my hand as I extend it out to her.

"I didn't know how I'd be able to set up the atmosphere to give you this, but I don't think I'll have another chance at this."

I go ahead and open the small box up to show Maya what's inside, and I can tell she already knows what's about to hit her. A ring adorned with a bright blue sapphire in the center, simple but beautiful, sits inside the box, peeking out at Maya.

"This was Grandpops' wife's engagement ring that Grandpops gave to her way back when. When the news that Grandpops died came along, Grandma gave her ring to me, saying that I should give this to whichever girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. She said that it was only appropriate to give me something as a bit of a legacy as well to contribute further to her husband's contribution to my future."

Maya looks at me with trembling eyes that don't seem to know when to stop gushing out tears.

"I-I-Is th-that w-w-why - w-was this w-w-w-why e-everyone - everyone - a-a-at b-base - w-was talkin' a-about a - a - a - a w-w-w-wedding f-for - for the p-past w-week...?"

I smile at my fiancee, revealing the truth, and I gently lift the ring out of its box. I set the box down on the white briefcase in between me and Maya, and I take her hand and lift it up in front of me with the ring in my other hand.

"You know how they used to say that a captain is married to his ship? I wanna make that a reality for the two of us. Is that okay?"

Maya, struggling really, really hard not to just start crying outright, nods slowly with her free hand over her mouth.

"Will you marry me, Maya?"

Maya nods again, this time more emphatically.

"Y-Yes...!"

I put the ring where it belongs, and as soon as I fit the ring securely on her ring finger, Maya tackles me to the ground against the soft grass. She cries the loudest I've ever heard her cry, and it almost makes me wanna cry, too, but I fight the urge. Maya's heavy but comfortable warmth that I feel through her skin and her breasts is all I can feel, besides the moistness that's starting to accumulate on my shoulder where she's pressing her face, and I hug her the best I can in my awkward position on the ground. It takes her a few moments to settle back down.

"You fuckin' bastard, y-you were settin' me up for that, weren't you?!"

Maya still has a few furious stray tears in her eyes that she dabs away as fast as she can.

"Like I said, I was trying to think of a way to give these news to you, and it just so happened that our conversation went to a point where I felt I could pull it off as romantically as possible. You like romantic stuff, don't you?"

Maya grinds her teeth at me, and for a second I think she's going to punch me in the forehead or something, but instead she just lets her head fall forward against my collarbone.

"You goddamned idiot...you could've done this more normally...there wasn't any need to keep any of this a secret..."

"But you kept Grandpops' present for me secret, didn't you?"

"Sh-Shut up! I hate you! That - that's because I had to, you jerkface!"

Now that Maya's presenting me an opportunity to hug her, I take it and draw Maya close to me, and Maya doesn't resist. We stay like this for a good amount of time, and the spring gale makes me feel as though time's being slowed down to a negligible constant.

"About that model, what're you gonna do with it?"

"Set it up in my office, probably. That way, I can see you at any time even if you're not with me."

"Idiot, that's...that's not...that's the old me, you know."

"Maya is Maya, no matter what form you take."

"God, can you get any more lame..."

"I bet you like it when I talk smooth to you."

"Shut up...don't be goin' off doing perverted stuff to that thing when I'm not around 'cause you miss me or whatever..."

"Why would I do perverted crap to a model ship, when I already have you for that?"

Maya falls silent. All of a sudden, it's like the whole world just suddenly got real, real silent.

Before I realize what's going on, I look down to see Maya undoing her red sailor tie, letting her ample breasts sag forward some more.

"Whoa, whoa, Maya - I didn't mean now, I meant when we actually get married!"

Maya isn't listening to me. She sits up a bit and pulls off the left white shoulder strap of her sailor uniform top so that it hangs against the side of her left upper arm.

"You idiot, you spent all that time setting up a romantic atmosphere, and now you can't read the mood. Why can't we just do it now?"

I can feel my body surge up to the surface of my skin as I realize just how erotic Maya has made herself look. She draws close to me slowly again until her face is right up in mine.

"Isn't it your responsibility to make your wife happy? C'mon, you don't want me to be the one doin' perverted stuff to you, do you?"

She puts her warm lips over mine. I don't know whether to be more surprised than happy or vice versa, but I have other things on my mind now.

Thanks, Grandpops, but this wasn't exactly the way I had planned my proposal to go. But thanks anyway.