AN: Going to a chapter focused on Cole, Fubuki, and Akebono this time. To be honest, a lot of the fic probably will, because even when the other additions to the kanmusu compliment at Rotuma arrive, they're going to be torpedo focused ships, as that's what US force there is primarily lacking. Don't worry though; I will do some chapters focused on the capital ships. Midlothian, being the de facto secretary/admin ship will probably appear in one way or another just about every chapter. It's not like she's my favorite or anything! Fubuki may or may not be senpai-sexual in this fic. Oh who am I kidding? Of course she is.
"Ueh… I know we're supposed to be working together, but I didn't know that also meant we'd be getting shoved into the same room too," Akebono says, standing in the doorway the shared room for destroyers in the dormitories.
"You could choose to have a room of your own if you want," Cole says with a shrug. "I've been the only destroyer here since the start, so there are plenty of extra rooms in the wing set aside for destroyers."
"No, that's alright, Cole-san, really," replies Fubuki. "We shared rooms in the destroyer dorms back in Yokosuka, so this is normal."
"We shared room with our division-mates, Fubuki-san, not just any destroyer we happen to be on the same base with," gripes the Ayanami-class.
"Ah, you didn't hear, Akebono-san?" Fubuki asks. "We've been organized into Destroyer Squadron 1 (Provisional) by the Admiral."
"Riiiight… anyway, Endeavour already took your bags from the cargo the convoy you arrived with dropped off, so they should be in the footlockers near the empty beds," Cole explains, pointing to a pair of beds with untouched sheets and folded blankets on top of them. "We have about an hour of time to ourselves before dinner is served at the mess hall, so I figure we may as well get to know each other a bit better than the introductions you all gave to everyone."
"What is there to tell? Don't you think you're prying a bit too much into people's personal business, you sh-, Cole-san," Akebono says, barely catching herself before calling Cole a, "shitty destroyer", again. As she does, Akebono opens her footlocker to check on her bags.
"Eh? I didn't pick your for the cutesy pink bunny type, Bono-chan~," teases Cole, looking over top of Akebono's shoulder.
The Ayanami-class slams the top of the footlocker closed, almost visibly bristling as Cole's words. "I-It's just something from one of my division-mates, y-you shitty destroyer!"
Cole responds by bodily leaping onto Akebono's back, throwing her arms around Akebono's neck and rubbing her cheek into the Japanese destroyer's. "Aw, you really do love me Bono-chan~!"
"Get off, you shitty destroyer!"
The two days later
"Midlothian has been off duty since yesterday and for today, so I'll be the one delivering your mission briefing," says Endeavour, looking down at a clipboard which holds the details of Desron 1 (Provisional)'s first mission. "A minor convoy of supply vessels bound for Australia to rendezvous with a larger group on the way to Japan will be passing through our area of responsibility. Reports indicate the convoy's size falls beneath the threshold seen for major attacks by Abyssal forces, but the possibility for smaller raids by PT Imps or enemy destroyer groups is still present. As such, Desron One, Provisional, is to be assigned as the convoy's escort. Weathers conditions are forecasted to remain clear for the duration of the mission, but a squall may be inbound by the end during your return leg of the trip, back to base. Any questions?"
"No ma'am!" responds Fubuki with a salute.
"I've actually been meaning to correct you about that, Fubuki-chan," Endeavour says with a small chuckle. "Technically, the only ones on Rotuma with rank are the Admiral and Ajax. The rest of us are what the Navy refers to as 'provisional shipgirls', so we never actually received official rank."
"Don't overthink it," Cole whispers to Fubuki.
"She's bound to end up overthinking it even if you tell her no to," mutters Akebono, standing behind the other two destroyers with her arms crossed. She learns down and whispers into Cole's ear, "and whatever you do, don't let her decide you're her senpai."
"What was that, Akebono-san?" asks Fubuki.
"Nothing, it was nothing."
The group of four ships Desron 1 (Provisional) is responsible for are a pair of bulk cargo container ships, a refrigerator ship, and a liquid natural gas carrier. The group had been delayed in leaving the US Pacific Coast, and was now scheduled to meet up with the rest of the convoy's main body in Australia. Escort duty for the convoy is handed off to Desron 1 (P) by a quartet of destroyer escorts, let by the Fletcher-class destroyer, Stanly.
"Well, if isn't Cole. Surprised command still even sends supplies your way," Stanly says with a barely hidden sneer towards the Gearing-class. "Not so surprised to see you're working with Jap destroyers though."
"What did you say you shitty destroyer?" growls Akebono.
"Akebono, let it slide," says Cole, motioning with her hand for Akebono to back off.
"Oh, wait, don't tell me no one told you Japs why those things at Rotuma are kept separate from the rest of us shipgirls?" asks the Fletcher.
"Stanly, shut up, now." Cole delivers the words forcefully, staring down the other American destroyer, while the destroyer escorts remain by the cargo vessels. "Stop wasting both of ours' time and let us get on with this escort mission."
"Jeez, fine, fine, whatever you say, Princess," Stanly replies with a malicious grin, seeming to take extra pleasure in the way Cole bristles at the term "Princess".
The rest of the handover of responsibility for escorting the convoy goes as smoothly as could be expected, despite the hostile tension between the American destroyers. Fubuki and Akebono are left with plenty of questions about their squadron mate though, with Fubuki being especially curious about why calling Cole, "Princess", would bother her so much.
It isn't until approximately an hour into the escort mission, with no Abyssal incidents, and all three destroyers in their assigned escort positions, that Fubuki broaches the question which had been weighing on her mind since the encounter with Stanly.
"Anno, Cole-san, what did Stanly-san mean when she was talking about you being separated from the other Americans?"
Cole grimaces upon hearing the question, but relents with a sigh before responding. "I suppose you and Bono-chan deserve to know at least that much about me if we're going to be a Desron together. I'm sure the two of you understand summoning or at least the basics of it, put resources in, get a shipgirl who served in or very near World War Two out, right?"
"Uun."
"The summoning for all of us at Rotuma went wrong, according to some people. Others say they worked perfectly fine, but just grabbed the wrong ships. The problem boils down to none of us at Rotuma having a real ship which was our historical predecessor," explains Cole, scanning the horizon of her assigned watch sector.
"Eeeeh? So, that's why all of you have names which don't match up with normal naming patterns," Akebono muses.
"It goes a bit further. Take Midlothian, for example. She's technically a Pensacola-class heavy cruiser, but she has all kinds of upgrades and refits which were never applied to the real Pensacolas," Cole says, expanding upon her explanation.
"Like her 3-gun mount turrets, right, Cole-san?" asks Fubuki.
"Exactly, like her gun mounts, and her armor too. The other Pensacolas are pretty fragile in the armor department, but Midi has armor more like new heavy cruisers. She lost some speed in exchange though, but I don't think she minds too much," responds Cole with a shrug.
"Um, there's something else I wanted to ask you about, Cole-san," Fubuki relays with some reluctance. "It's about what Stanly-san called you, and the way you reacted."
Cole doesn't say anything as Fubuki speaks, but she visibly tenses up. The Special Type destroyer opts to push forward anyway, despite silent signals Cole is putting off telling her to let the issue go.
"Why is it that you were so bothered when she called you, 'Princess'?"
The American destroyer clenches her teeth and glares at Fubuki for a moment. Her expression softens quickly, but it was enough to clearly unsettle the Japanese destroyer. Akebono, who saw the murderous expression on Cole's face as well, feels her hand tighten around the handle of her hand-held gun turret, wondering in the back of her mind if a fight is about to break out among their Desron.
"The circumstances of our summoning led to rumors… rumors and theories about what we really were." Each word seems to be forced out by the Gearing-class destroyer. "Tell me something, if you were to summon a kanmusu at Yokosuka who didn't have any memories of their past life, and didn't even have a past life which belonged to them; if they only could express vague feelings of emotion, sometimes regret, sometimes anger, sometimes hate; if you were to have such a kanmusu arrive at your base, what would you think she was?"
Fubuki, quickly arriving at an answer, suddenly feels her face drain of color, but doesn't speak the thoughts within her mind, something holding her back. Akebono doesn't feel the same inhibition, however, and blurts it straight out.
"I'd think we'd have accidently summoned an abyssal or something."
"You and many others, Bono-chan," Cole says bitterly. "As far as some of the shipgirls back in the States care, all of us at Rotuma are something like Abyssal Princesses who were summoned by accident."
'They're wrong, right? I mean, it's just rumors, isn't it?" Fubuki asks, starting to put distance between her and Cole without meaning to.
"Who knows? They've never been able to confirm or deny anything other than us operating like other shipgirls," responds Cole with a cold voice. "Which means the only they've learned is that we also work the same way as abyssals."
An awkward silence spreads over the convoy escort group; with both Fubuki and Akebono no longer sure of how comfortable they are working alongside the American destroyer.
"So the destroyers are out on an escort mission?" Midlothian asks, taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs in the Admiral's office, rather than the chair directly opposite the Admiral's behind his desk. In the privacy of the office, with no one around to interrupt for the time being, both the cruiser and her Admiral drop much of the formality between them.
"Yes, they've been assigned to take over escort duty for a small convoy bound for Australia. It's a milk run, and should give them an opportunity to refine some of their formation work out on the water," Carter responds. "If there is any abyssal contact, it will be small groups of destroyers at most."
"It's been nice seeing Cole spend time with some friends." Midlothian has a small smile on her face as she speaks. "She's normally alone all the time, spending her time practicing."
"I'm more surprised by how well she's been getting along with Akebono," Admiral Carter says with a chuckle. "I had heard her use of the term, 'shitty', could mean a lot of things, but I'm inclined to believe that my friend in Yokusuka told me."
"And what was that, Admiral?" questions Midlothian.
"Shitty is a term of endearment in Akebono's vocabulary." Admiral Carter delivers his answer with a completely straight face.
"I am inclined to believe what your friend says," the cruiser says with a smile, which quickly fades. "Are you going to keep refraining from telling the arrivals about why we're sent off by our lonesome selves all the way out here?"
"I leave telling people about the truth up to you girls, Midi. Under the circumstances you have had to endure, I feel it's only proper that you and the others get to choose," Carter replies, his previous mirth evaporating. "Not even Endeavour knows as much about you girls' circumstances as we do. I've told you, you can tell the others everything."
"Yes, you have."
"But you haven't."
"No, I have not."
"Why?"
Midlothian averts her eyes away from her Admiral. "Endeavour… would be able to handle the truth, but she'd never be able to keep it secret from the others. I think Autumn would be fine, but, again, she would never be able to keep it to herself. I don't think Horizon would be able to handle the truth. As well as she performs in combat, she's fragile outside of it. As for Everest… I suspect Everest would fully embrace it, and probably end up… well, it'd be for the worst. Cole has probably figured out the truth on her own by now, or at least has suspicions, which I don't plan on confirming for her, not yet at least."
"You've certainly thought this over, Midi," Carter muses. "I leave it at your discretion."
"Thank you, sir."
Yup, another chapter posted. My posting will probably end up being rather bursty, so bear with me and my writing habits.