Author's note: Another looooong chapter but this time, it is pretty much RANDOM, jumpy, with strange pacing thanks to being made in split. But well, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kantai Collection or any of the songs I used in this fic. I do translate Japanese lyric myself unless stated otherwise.
If I give you some obstruction
be it in the form of mind, or morality, or law
if you just go around the high wall
look, "Hello"
T-Pocket feat Hatsune Miku - 1925
Sounds of pen scratching paper filled the main office. With the window all wide open, sunlight showered into the room, giving early morning warmth into the relatively empty office. It lighted the outline of papers stacked on one side of the Admiral's desk, the Admiral's body, and a teacup by the other side of her desk. Within the room, there were only the Admiral's desk, two shelves, and a secretary ship desk. A cuckoo clock hanged on a wall right behind the admiral. The strip of wall was pretty narrow, as it was sandwiched by tall windows on either sides. There was a considerable space in front of the admiral's desk, designed as such so that when the fleets reported there were room for everyone. Two rusty shelves filled the wall by the right, and on the opposite side of the wall was a map of waters around the naval base and also secretary ship's working desk. No one was sitting there now though. The only things there were some stack of folders and documents.
With all the space and the lack of any living being other than the Admiral, it did look quite lonely.
It was only the fourth month since Admiral Tendouji Airi's transfer to the small naval base. Autumn was coming, signified by the browning of the leaves and the decreasing temperature. Along with the new season, came different needs and readjustment of expenses. The ship girls dorms and cafeteria were at least patched up for now in preparation of incoming winter but they should ready some stock of fuel for heater as well. The cafeteria budget coming from the cooks also slightly changed. The Admiral should also take into account the possible needs of warm garments for the ship girls. Thus, all the recalculations of budgeting.
Oh, also Akagi and Kaga's rations.
Somebody knocked the door twice. The door clicked opened.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, Shouhou. Okaeri."
The light carrier bowed slightly before stepping in. Airi smiled at her, putting down her pen. Her secretary ship had a bundle of documents in her hands, but what she gave directly was just a rather thick brochure.
"The main office furniture catalogue for this month has arrived, Admiral. Perhaps you will be interested."
"Oh, thank you."
Airi took it, resting her back to the chair. Her other hand took the teacup, finding warm green tea ready for her to sip.
Monthly Furniture Catalogue
"Oh, it's pretty thicker than usual."
"Because the season has changed, Admiral. It seems they have some new items in."
"Hmmmm~"
Airi flipped open the catalogue, sipping the tea as she did so. She wasn't usually interested in these new furnitures, merely because she thought there was no need for that. There were more pressing matters at hand and allocating coins just to beautify her own main office, which was already functional in the first place, was a waste of money. The only thing she purchased since her transfer was an additional shelf and a better version of Shouhou's working desk. Other than that, despite how there was a closet down the hall, the closet remained relatively empty and the whole main office remained just like how it was, only a bit tidier.
Times like these, Airi suddenly wondered if she would turn out to become a strict frugal mother in the future that invest more for her children's insurance and education than entertainment.
"I think it maybe a good time to purchase something for the main office, Admiral," said Shouhou gently with a smile. "Maybe something to indulge yourself between work?"
"Do I even have the time for that," Airi laughed. "If I slack off even more than this, I will be fired."
"I highly doubt that will happen, Admiral. You have been working diligently every day."
"So do you. There is nothing special of what I do that gives birth to a need to congratulate myself."
Shouhou was about to say something to continue their courteous banter, but rushing footsteps came from the corridors. A second later, the door flung open and there came a tiny girl with pink hair and oversized white shirt. The sparkly eyes flew to the Admiral.
"Commander-sama! Commander-sama!"
Airi couldn't resist the urge to smile. She put down her catalogue and cup, eyeing the little girl who ran with her small feet to the other side of the table where Airi sat. Makigumo gave a wide smile then flung herself to Airi's lap, hugging the Admiral's belly.
"Commander-sama~~!"
"What's wrong, Makigumo? You're really early."
"Makigumo joined Kagerou-san and Shiranui-san in their shelling training this morning!"
"Ooh! Good girl!"
"Makigumo wants to get stronger!"
"Um! That's the girl I know. Admirable!"
Airi lifted Makigumo to sit on her lap, smiling when the small destroyer nuzzled to her chest in that instant. If anything, this one destroyer was so cute it was diabetic. She was a transfer like Airi as well, given to the small naval base for training when the other naval base said they had "too many destroyers" to handle after "failed ship construction attempts". Since the small naval base only had a small number of destroyers thanks to the previous admiral's hobby of not resupplying them and using them as meat tanks, Airi gladly accepted the small cute destroyer to her naval base to cut off expenses and avoiding scrapping her. However, she was the only Yuugumo class in the fleet.
Without her beloved Yuugumo-neesan, at first Makigumo spent most of her time alone, looking at destroyer groups from afar or something. That was why Airi let her come to the office from time to time so that she didn't feel alone. There was usually nothing exactly important but seeing the destroyer brushing away her own tears was enough as a reason to pause her work once or twice in a day. Her frequency of coming getting fewer and fewer progressively however, since the destroyer slowly blending in with the others. For Airi it was a good sign. She did feel a bit lonely though.
After a short while of nuzzling and getting patted on the head, Makigumo took notice of the brochure on Airi's desk. She took it and peered at the title, raising her glasses..
"Furniture…. catalogue….?"
"Ah yes! I was looking at this when you came."
Airi swiveled the chair to face the desk again. She guided Makigumo to put down the brochure on the desk so that they both, and also Shouhou, could look at them together. Still sitting on the Admiral's lap, Makigumo looked into the list of furnitures.
Airi watched the expression of the little destroyer and asked gently, "Which do you think will be good for this main office, Makigumo?"
Makigumo tilted her head, destroyer turned to look at Airi.
"But this is Commander-sama's office," she said. "Commander-sama should be the one who chose them! What does Commander-sama like?"
Airi sighed. She rested her chin on her palm.
"I don't have any particular preferences... I like this office enough, I guess."
"Heeeeeee… Commander-sama doesn't want to change anything?"
Airi nonchalantly examined the catalogue again. She saw a particular item then chuckled.
"Maybe this is the one that I will want the most," she said, placing her finger on a picture of a soft pink futon. Shouhou raised her eyebrows, putting down the documents she brought on the desk and bending her body to look closer. "Because if I have this, I can sleep here in case I work over time."
"Admiral, I don't think you need anymore items that will make you work harder…"
"Makigumo can sleep here too!"
"M-Makigumo-chan!"
Shouhou was the only one who seemed opposed to the idea. Airi herself laughed and patted the destroyer's head.
"If you don't mind sharing one futon with me. I think we should buy one more pillow for you too, don't you think?"
"A-Admiral!" Shouhou practically had both of her hands on the desk now. She seemed a bit panicking. "Admiral, that is too much!"
Confused, Airi turned to look at Shouhou.
"Eh? Why is that? It isn't like it's anything bad. You know you have times you don't want to sleep alone, especially in her age."
At least for Airi, when she was in Makigumo's size, she would crawl to her parents' futon to sleep with them when she had nightmares or feeling lonely. Eventually she ceased to do that though, because then her brother and sister were the ones crawling into her futon whenever they have nightmares.
Even though these ship girls somehow were born the way they are, but they sure exhibit the personality and mental capacity of girls their apparent size. At least most of them.
"It's not…" Shouhou struggled with her words. She seemed agitated. Makigumo blinked, watching her while covering her mouth with her small hand, seemingly afraid that she had said something wrong. "It's just… we're only…. your ship girls. We're not supposed to be.. taking your space."
Airi raised her eyebrows. These ship girls sure were always worried about those kind of things. Of course it was not a problem, not an important one at least, and very understandable. However Airi did wonder about how they viewed themselves. She also wondered how they viewed her. This formality wall was bothersome.
"I will leave it all up to you then, Shouhou," said Airi finally, grabbing her pen and wrote on a memo. She ripped the memo in one yank and gave it to her secretary ship. "Go talk with the others."
"A-Admiral?" the light carrier looked at the memo and back to Airi then back again, making sure she didn't read it wrong. "W-What…"
It was a written permission to her secretary to use all coin in their possession for room modification.
"I have nothing in mind for my office anyway," Airi shrugged. One of her hands patted Makigumo's head. "All of you may think of something to add here. Or if you don't want to, there is an empty room beside this office, also several other rooms in the building. If you and other ship girls needs any kind of room, you can use and modify it however you want. I think you are the ones who know what you really need."
"B-But this is for Admiral's…"
"It is still under my discretion," Airi moved her attention to Makigumo, who was now peering intently at the brochure. "Pick whatever you all think suitable. I think you better discuss with the others since I don't know what you need. I leave it all to you."
Shouhou's eyes were unreadable. But she didn't say anything else other than, "Understood, Admiral."
"Hmm, will you be going out again after this? If you would, perhaps I can ask your help to send these other documents to Ooyodo?"
Airi pushed a stack of documents towards Shouhou, which she had just reviewed and approved since last night. Shouhou nodded then took them. Airi's face lightened when she saw the documents now in Shouhou's hands. Somehow whenever that happened, this sense of accomplishment always came to her heart, the same satisfaction like marking a to do note for a job done.
Shouhou's presence was always like a walking billboard saying "Work" and now she got reminded of one other thing.
"Oh, also.. I haven't given the list for our first training this month, have I?" Airi snapped her finger. She almost forgot such an important thing. Her secretary ship nodded. Airi nodded at her silent reply, said 'right' under her breath, and took out a piece of paper she had been ignoring for the whole week. She glanced at Makigumo. "Makigumo, do you want to go for some vacation?"
Lights seemed to flare inside the destroyer's eyes at the mention of the word.
"Vacation?"
"This month's training will be at Yokosuka so we're gonna go there for about a week," Airi chuckled. Makigumo beamed.
"Makigumo will be in training team too?"
"Yep, why not? With Nagato and Choukai. You don't mind Ooi, do you? No? Haha don't make such a face, Makigumo. Ooi won't bite you out of the blue. Aaand Ooyodo and Maya in," She scribbled their names as she said them. "Alright, you're in! Here, Shouhou."
The light carrier took the memo with both hand, bowing.
Another work done.
"Okay, then!" Airi straightened up right away, smiling when she revert her attention to Makigumo on her lap. She swiveled away from the desk then give Makigumo a gentle push. "Off you go as well, sweetling. I need to do my job."
Enough cute and idling for now. She still had that budget planning to do after all. A bit of Shouhou and Makigumo were all she needed for a bit of work motivation boost.
"Gotta get these all done before vacation!"
~ Gift! For the Admiral! ~
"Excuse us, Admiral."
Shouhou bowed and closed the door, bringing with her some documents she had to send, the brochure, and also the Admiral's memo for the futon order. Walking away from the main office, Shouhou let out a long sigh.
"... Makigumo said something wrong?"
Shouhou glanced beside her, meeting the big round eyes of the destroyer. The look of fright on Makigumo's face was adorably heart melting and Shouhou found herself patting the destroyer's head before she knew it.
"No, you didn't, Makigumo-chan. Nothing was wrong."
"But Shouhou-san sounded angry back then…"
Obviously the destroyer didn't believe her. Shouhou lightly laughed. She heaved a deep sigh, throwing a look outside through the windows that lined up along the corridor. The leaves were changing colors outside. Some were falling, gently following the mild breeze.
"I just felt that the Admiral should distance herself a bit more from us, given her position. Maybe I am just being paranoid."
Makigumo titled her head.
"Shouhou-san doesn't like Commander-sama?"
Upon hearing the question, Shouhou pinched the destroyer's cheek.
"Awawawawawawa! Shouhou-san, that huuurts!"
"Why would anyone dislike Admiral Tendouji."
Makigumo turned even more teary eyed.
"T-Then Shouhou-san doesnt like M-Makigu- Awawawawawawawaw!"
It was even harder this time.
"Of course not, Makigumo-chan."
"B-But Shouhou-san sounded angry…"
"I wasn't angry. I was hesitant."
"Of what?"
"... You won't understand."
"Eeeeh! That's mean!"
Another pinch.
"Awawawawawa! Awwww, Shouhou-san!"
Shouhou couldn't hold her giggle. Makigumo was indeed, heartmeltingly adorable.
It wasn't exactly a "problem" per se, quite the contrary. However this proximity was foreign and Shouhou was uncomfortable with it. It was not only the issue that the Admiral was a human and they were ship girls, it was also because of their position as superior and subordinate. The Admiral clearly had the best intention to blur the gap between them. It was a kind gesture from her part but still… somehow Shouhou got the feelings that it was not supposed to be so. They were supposed to be the one who treated her good, not the other way around. All these times, it was always the Admiral who "served" them, not the other way around.
"Makigumo likes Commander-sama." Makigumo muttered, rubbing her sore cheek. Shouhou glanced at her. The little destroyer glanced up beyond her oversized spectacles. She suddenly seemingly realizing something when looking into Shouhou's eyes. She beamed. "Ah! Not just like, Makigumo loves Commander-sama!"
Love.
It was a big word, perhaps too big for both of them to really comprehend. However, Shouhou found herself smiling. There was nothing in the meaning of that word that she understood at that second that contradict the warm feeling in her own heart.
She patted Makigumo's head.
"I do too."
"Un!"
XXXX
"TONIGHT, THERE WILL BE NIGHT BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTLEEEEE!"
"Sendai, no shouting in cafeteria!"
Nagato's voice came reverberating over the numerous chatters of the girls. It was lunch time, almost all ship girls were present inside the spacious cafeteria. Benches lining up neatly, taking most of the space. Counters lined up on one side of the wall opposite of the window. It was filled with ship girls only, being located by their dormitory area. Human personnel had their own dorm and cafeteria. Congregation between human personnels and ship girls was quite uncommon especially in meal time. Admiral Tendouji had been meaning to devise one large common room so that they could have a meal together but so far she had put it on hold and instead opted to better the facilities around the base. Besides, they would still interacted during fitting, regular check up, maintenance, and so on.
"It had only been several months," Admiral Tendouji said one day to Shouhou, when she casted her look over the base from the rooftop of the main building. Construction sounds came from various places, the base was healing. Far away by the sea, gunshots echoed as several ship girls had their drill. Shouhou remembered the way the Admiral leaned to the railing, her black long hair moved with the mild sea breeze. "There are still time. We have a lot of time to know each other. Let's not rush it."
Shouhou understood how the Admiral wanted to mend the broken trust between ship girls and their human partners. The previous admiral left an obvious bitter taste that would sure lasted long in the girls' memory and crawled deep under their skin. For some, the wound lied even deeper. Shouhou herself knew that the girls accepted the new Admiral incredibly fast. Even inside the deep distrust that lied between ship girls and their admiral, the new Admiral took their hearts incredibly easily.
Her gender alone took them by surprise, giving them uncertainty upon meeting. Shouhou herself knew half of her was ready to reject the moment she was in front of the main office on that first day, but then the stark contrast from the previous admiral took her off guard. Her gender alone was shocking, her personality was even more. The surprise made her pre-made defenses crumbled before everything began, replaced by curiosity and expectation. Shouhou knew it was the same for many of them.
The military clearly knew their ground. It was sly of them to station her strategically like that. However, that same cunning granted them arguably the most compassionate admiral. Shouhou understood that she had never been under any admiral other than the previous admiral and Admiral Tendouji. However, it was hard to think of any other admiral as kind as her.
What kind of admiral would let their ship girl do whatever they want with room renovation coin?
Shouhou sighed.
"You seem pretty dispirited today, Shouhou," Nagato, who sat in front of her, took her miso soup bowl and stirred it with her chopsticks. Shouhou gave a weak smile while staring at her own rice that was half eaten. Still having the same expressions, she took some meat from her grilled saba fish. "Is the food that bad?"
"No… It's really delicious."
The food tasted superb compared to the usual sweet potato ration they used to have during the reign of the previous admiral. Lunch time turned so enjoyable once the new admiral was there. She tasted their meal, and berated the chef, saying, "If it is not something that we would like to have, it is not for them as well!" After that the meal made a jump in food quality and the ship girls now had their meal in glee. Being fair as she always was, the Admiral also inspected the human staff cafeteria, finding deplorable condition, and in the end allocated more for both cafetaria than what the previous Admiral would have ever do for their staff. Draining the last bit of the budget, all that Admiral Tendouji said was, "A meal is the beginning of every action."
With many ship girls going here and there, the cafeteria was really lively with chatters. So were Maya and Choukai who sat beside her, and the destroyer team on the benches around them. She could also hear Akagi's delighted laughter and Kaga's polite comment from somewhere behind her. However somehow Shouhou felt pretty much down.
"Is it about the Admiral again?" Nagato sipped her miso. She smiled when she saw Shouhou's exasperated expression. It seemed every single trouble that Shouhou had, always been something to do with her job as the new secretary and her overly kind Admiral. "What is it this time? I think the Admiral won't give you impossible work."
"Well, she just did," Shouhou stuffed her mouth with rice. Nagato raised her eyebrows. "She just told me that we can do whatever we want with all coins allocated for room renovation."
Nagato put down her miso soup.
"Whatever we want?"
"She said she doesn't know what to do with it so she let us do it since we are the know who knows best about what we want."
"Isn't this about Admiral's office?"
"Yes, but she said she liked it enough and have no idea what to add. She said we can use it also for the empty room beside Admiral office or anywhere else to our liking."
Nagato took her bowl of rice, titling her head a bit.
"Hmmm… but those coins are still for her office. She should use it for that, else she will have to file the report to the higher echelon."
"Yes... she only said she wanted additional futon to sleep, in case she worked overtime again."
The battleship chuckled.
"That is our Admiral for you."
Shouhou smiled.
"Our Admiral indeed."
The two of them ate in silence for a while. Nagato finished her meal first, clasping her hands before her and said, "Gochisousama."
She watched Shouhou eat her meal silently, sipping her tea.
"So, when do you think we should gather around to discuss about this?"
Shouhou groaned.
"We're going to?"
"It's still an order."
Shouhou sighed. Nagato's straightforward attitude was something she wished she had. How many times again she wished for Nagato being the secretary? Of course that did not mean that she hated her job. She just felt... unworthy at times.
"I just don't think it is right to use it for our cause."
"Who said that we're going to use it for our cause?" The battleship smiled. Shouhou blinked. "I am sure the others would want to give something to the Admiral as well."
Nagato put down her tea.
"Everyone! Gather around, Shouhou has an announcement!"
"Na-Nagato-san!"
Everyone had heard that though, and the chatters died down almost instantly. Everyone's eyes now fixated on their direction. Nagato smiled at Shouhou.
"We all have things we want to say thanks for to the Admiral, Shouhou. I am sure everyone will agree with me."
XX
Upon hearing that they would give something to their Admiral, every ship girl has her eyes glinting with excitement. From the gentle smile Haguro gave, to the confident grin courtesy of Maya, Shouhou understood there was a story behind every expression. After all, she was personally there for some of them, watching first hand the gentle ways of how the Admiral helped them get up again from the abomination that was their previous Admiral. There were many kind of pain, and equally numerous kind of medicine. However, it was clear that among the strongest medicine, was kindness. The Admiral had that aplenty. In these few months she slowly cured what was otherwise had been lost. Gratitude was the sentiment they all shared.
There was but one problem, however.
"Tea table!"
"Bar counter!"
"Whiskey rack!"
"Koutatsu!"
"Oh come on, new desk!"
"Wait, that desk is expensive!"
"Isn't that what money is all about? To be spent!"
"I need to talk seriously to you about that, Suzuya."
"W-Whaa, Takao-san. I don't think I get what you meeeeaaan~"
Who said it would be easier if it was all of them. Shouhou was pleasantly surprised when everyone was so enthusiastic in making it a gift for the Admiral. However they all have different ideas on what they want the office to be and it dragged on so long without finding one agreement. Right now, the destroyers started to go against the cruisers again. Kongou looked at the commotion with a grin on her face, saying things like, "everyone is lively ne!" while Nagato massaged her temples.
"E-Excuse me…"
Haguro's voice turned out nothing but a muffled sound. Ashigara, who was arguing with Sendai, turned to look at her little sister, who was struggling to raise her voice. Her sisters seemed to have something in her mind.
"E-Excuse—"
"HEY EVERYONE!" shouted Ashigara; so loud, her voice swallowed everyone else's and echoed throughout the whole cafetaria. The staffs who were tidying up the counters looked up at her for her booming shout and shook their heads. "HAGURO WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING!"
"O-oneesan!"
"What? You do, don't you?"
"Y-Yes, b-but…"
It was very very unusual for Haguro to say anything. Just by that sentence, everyone fell silent and looked at Haguro, who panicked right away. Nagato, sitting on the bench with her arms folded, said, "Haguro?"
"A-Ah! U-Umm... I'm s-sorry..." the heavy cruiser cowered, one hand grabbing Ashigara's sleeve. She seemed like she would love to hide under a rock or down a bunker if she could. Originally a very meek girl, her personality got even worse during the time of the previous admiral. Shouhou remembered how she practically disappeared after the incident with the previous admiral, unable to get out of the dormitory for months. Shouhou had heard from everyone else though, how Admiral Tendouji helped her to heal from the emotional wound. Haguro herself expressed that Admiral Tendouji had helped her and Ashigara beyond any kind of words could express. She was still jumpy, and still needed company especially in places with many males, but there was progress. At least she could normally go to the cafeteria to eat and sortie regularly. She still had problem going to the factory however. "I-I didn't mean to cut off t-the conversation..."
"It's okay. Let us hear your thoughts."
Ashigara gave a gentle pat at her sister's hand by her sleeve. After receiving a reassuring smile from her big sister, Haguro shyly looked up.
"I-I j-just thought we should stop thinking of what we want it to be a-and... and thinking of.. what the Admiral would have wanted it to be.."
Everyone went silent. Haguro saw everyone's change of expression and quickly hid behind her big sister, saying, "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry to have said something irrelevant..."
"No, Haguro-san, I think that is exactly the way we should have discussed it," said Choukai gently, smiling. She straightened her glasses. "What you said was true."
"But what?" Sendai folded her hands. "It isn't like Admiral said anything, right? Maybe something for night battles?"
Kiso made a rather disgruntled voice at the sound of "night battle", prompting Sendai to glared at her. With the two cruisers now glaring at each other, everyone somehow decided to act like nothing was happening.
"She did say she would like to have some futon to sleep when she worked overtime..." Shouhou smiled. Murmurs quickly came in the form of a buzz, something along "oh no.." or "sheesh". "But a futon doesn't match the office..."
"Weeeeeeeeeell, we can always use the room beside the office," Suzuya shrugged. Everyone now looked at her. She grinned. "Who said we can't bring the wall down?"
"Good idea, ne!" Kongou gave a thumbs up, eyes beaming with expectation. Choukai sighed in exasperation.
"Please don't bring destruction in..."
"On the contrary, it may work."
Kaga's low and emotionless voice turned their focus to her. Akagi beside her gave her famous kind smile and said, "We can connect the two room. Let's design a room where our admiral can rest now, shall we? It seems that is what she most desired. Let us think of what our admiral would have liked to have, and what can calm her down."
"But what? What does she like?" Kagerou looked at everyone. She eventually looked at Shouhou. "Shouhou-san, do you have any idea?"
Sadly, Shouhou shook her head. She slowly answered, "... All I know is that she loves green tea..."
Since the Admiral always asked for green tea and she always seemed really content whenever she sipped them. She also properly look at the state of the tea, commenting how Shouhou was really good in making them, and that it was her favorite, every time she was about to take her first sip.
"Well, that's one clue," Tenryuu shrugged. "Anyone?"
Silence. Some looked at each other, some looked down to the ground. Shouhou suddenly felt a pang of guilt. The Admiral always asked about them—what they were thinking, what they liked, what they would like to have. What they told her, she believed and considered. What they didn't say, she understood. Yet them, her ship girls, knew almost nothing about her, who had given them so many things. It was... sad.
"She once said she loves garden patches," said Choukai suddenly. She pursed her lips. "I... I don't know if this is an important information but she once said that to me when we were by the garden. She said she loves flower patches, because flowers speak to you about season and time… Maybe we can have a small hanging flower."
"That's two," Takao smiled. "I guess any information will do. Is there anything else that you know about her?"
And then they began to share their respective story—some, Shouhou knew, were a patch of their respective personal moments with the Admiral. All the infos were nothing more than fragments—mere fragments of information about the Admiral's brother and sister, the small garden she used to have, sunshine on her futon, a dog. They were the pieces she said to them in between their conversation, between drinks, between the space of one facility to another—something that they otherwise would think as unimportant. One by one, they said their reasoning of specific furniture, musing, discussing. Before they knew it, it was already way past lunch time. And what Shouhou thought was impossible, was now already right before her eyes.
Haruna finished writing everyone's ideas behind her white handkerchief by using one of the staff's pen for absentee and to do note plastered on the wall—they had no other writing material by the kitchen. She looked at everyone's expression—a mixture of nods and thumbs up or nonchalant raise of eyebrows. The battleship then passed her handkerchief to Shouhou, smiling.
"Here, the result of the discussion, Shouhou-san."
The handkerchief was soft. Somehow, it made Shouhou felt strangely calm... and touched.
"Onegaishimasu."
It was their gift. For their Admiral.
XXXX
They have decided that to make it a surprise, they should wait until the Admiral was out for a long time from her office: the training session. Thankfully, because of the amount of work she had to do she seemed to forget everything about room renovation. "I want to go to vacation without any work to do!" she said once to Shouhou. How a training session became a vacation, Shouhou didn't want to argue her on that. It was the Admiral's first ever training. Since her transfer, she was busy with all the work she had to do to repair the base and the military gave her three months to settle in. This was her fourth month, so finally the documents for training session came in. It was totally understandable that the Admiral was that hype.
During the previous admiral's time, training sessions were the only time they could get a "break". Although they would always be scolded for messing up, not meeting his expectation, or for making him look bad in front of his peers, at least in between training session they would get proper meal from the host and also at times meeting with their sisters from other base. Thanks to the amount of pressure and workload he gave to his ships, it was no surprise that none of them managed to give their all or being focus at all. Not that they wanted to at the very least.
On the day of the training, Admiral Tendouji was ready with her suitcase and wide smile, waiting by the gate of the naval base with her selected ship girls ready behind her. Shouhou felt a mixture of both giddy and loneliness. This will be the first time for her to be separated from her admiral for a long time, although it also meant their gift will begin construction today. She had to stay to take care of things while the Admiral was away; a big responsibility. She sure would ask a lot to Kaga, the secretary ship before her, during this one week.
When the military wagon finally drove off down the lane with the Admiral and the training team, Shouhou sighed. She could feel how the fairies jumped out of the bushes behind her. One fairy jumped to her shoulder, tying his small towel around his head. Shouhou smiled.
"Shall we begin, then?"
Even the fairies were excited.
XXXXX
Yokosuka Naval Base was among the biggest naval base the nation had. Housing not only ship girls but also warships—something that had now becoming a thing of a past, Yokosuka had always been the nation's base for almost everything concerning naval warfare. Numerous admirals from all over the nation gathered around Yokosuka once every three months, bringing their ship girls for a training session and also for gathering. Most of them brought along their new ships, hoping to increase her experience in warfare and also let her learn right away from the higher level veteran ships. It was also a common occurrence to meet admirals bringing only their two highest level ships, usually their provisional wives.
Makigumo seemed so very thrilled going to the new place. She was transferred from one small naval base to another so it was her first time getting to a big naval base. They were standing by the large field right after the gate of the naval base, facing the main building. Here and there admirals with white uniforms and their ship girls went about their way. There would be a banquet every night. The mood was a mood of gathering. It may have been a dark time for humanity but that did not mean they should lose the feeling of gratitude and festivities.
Makigumo's eyes sparked and she looked up at her admiral in enthusiasm.
"How many ships are there?" she asked, looking around in excitement. Admiral Tendouji folded her arms and answered lightly, "This is my first time to participate in training as well, but I see that admirals can bring from one to twelve ships... so the answer is.. many, hahahahaha."
The Admiral's answer was far from satisfactory and her humor made Ooi narrowed her eyes in disapproval but that didn't seem to affect Makigumo's excitement.
"I-Is Yuugumo-neechan here?"
Admiral Tendouji squinted her eyes, looking around.. She smiled at the little destroyer and said, "She may be here. I need to meet the Grand Marshal now, would you like to come with me? Maybe we meet Yuugumo as we search for him."
"Un!'
After telling the rest of her fleet that they were free to roam the place until the time of gathering, the Admiral went off with Makigumo at her side, holding hands. The two looked like a jolly mother and daughter, despite the pretty much offset setting. Watching the two walked further away, Maya folded her arms and clicked her tongue.
"Now what are we gonna do?"
Ooi made some unintelligible disgruntled noise that somehow sounded like "and Kitakami-san isn't here again..." while Choukai only gave a weak smile. Nagato sighed. Being the only battleship in the group, somehow she felt a latent leadership responsibility.
"Well, I guess we can only go around and talk with the other ship girls. Maybe we can meet our sisters."
She did feel a small desire to look for Mutsu. In the end for several minutes they only stood there, not sure whether going left to the sea will be good or maybe to the facilities. As they mused, two admirals walked passed them in slow steps, talking between themselves. At first none of the ship girls paid attention but Maya was the first to turn silent, raising her eyebrows when she heard of tactical conversation between the two.
"I bet Admiral Kudou will win most of the fight for this session again."
"He always has his submarines, those three submarines are a pain. Especially that i-198 wife of his."
"I heard he only brings one this session. He's bringing his aviation battleship along though."
"That man sure rules over submarines."
"Swimsuit, dude. Who doesn't love swimsuits."
One of them chuckled.
"That woman maybe."
His friend laughed, loud enough that Nagato and Ooyodo now ceased their talking as well.
"Hahahaha, you're right, that woman. Is that woman really here now? Does she even know how to assign ships?"
Choukai glanced quickly at their direction, noticing the topic. Her eyes moved right away to look at how Maya turned rigid.
"Perhaps she is the kind that put 46 cm guns on all of her fast battleships! "
"Hahahaahahaha, or pull an all battleship and heavy cruisers on submarines. I know at least three stupid new admirals doing that on their first run. I can totally imagine a newbie."
"She's from Tendouji main family lineage, right? I bet as heck she's using her family as stepladder."
"True enough. Why would a female become admiral anyway, they can't even tell the difference between destroyers and cruisers!"
"We can entertain her with baby dolls. Hahahahaha!"
"Dude, dolls? I bet as hell she will be more entertained by our "torpedoes"."
"Or maybe she became admiral by playing with higher up's "torpedoes"!"
"That's it," Maya dropped her folded arms and was about to turn around and shut the two admirals up, when Nagato caught her shoulder. The heavy cruiser grabbed the battleship's strong grip on her shoulder, trying to shrug it off. "What is it, Nagato-san?! They talk shit about Admiral! You just let them go?"
"Let them be," said the battleship, her lips formed a tight line of displeasure. "Let them talk."
"Are you fucking serious?!" Maya's reply bordered violent. She turned around so fast, her pivotal force made Nagato released her grip. "Saying shits about our Admiral right beside us, and we don't say a thing?! I will—"
"Let them know in battle."
Nagato's eyes turned hard. The rest of the ship girls looked at her upon hearing her steel cold voice.
"Let them know in battle. We'll show them who Admiral Tendouji really is."
XXXX
"Ah, there you go, Tendouji-kun!"
The Grand Marshal gave a wide, delighted smile when he saw Airi walking closer as he stood in the middle garden of the compound with several senior admirals. Airi bowed down when she got closer, then approached the group, gesturing Makigumo to trail after her. The small destroyer hesitated but eventually trotted behind her shyly. There would be a banquet on the first night, then followed by series of general meetings for report strategy and evaluation in the following nights. This formality gathering is only part of the week-long practice. Other than these troublesome meeting, Airi sincerely hoped she could catch some sleep. Because those meetings were scheduled, Airi was quite confused why the Grand Marshal specifically asked to meet him upon arrival. It wasn't as if this was Airi's first time coming to quartal training practice, even if it was her first time to participate. Admirals, even if they had not been stationed yet, was included in the meetings after all. There must be something else he wanted to talk about.
"I believe you have brought your best ships?" the Grand Marshal smiled, but his eyes evidently fell for Makigumo for a while. Airi gave a polite tug of her lips.
"Yes, Grand Marshal. I bring those that I believe will benefit from the trainings."
"I see. Splendid."
You sound pretty pessimistic though. Makigumo was not known as a "good ship" for her record in history, that much, Airi knew very well. Leveling Makigumo was not a favorable conduct most of the time. The Grand Marshal turned his attention to his group of senior admirals, who now had their attention on Airi. It seemed they were having a small conversation, which stopped when Grand Marshal noticed Airi's coming. One relatively young one among them, with a tidy goatee and moustache, smiled and raised a champagne cup he had in his hand.
"Admiral Tendouji, Miss, thank you very much for your help in the past campaign," Deep and handsome voice smoothly came from the man. His grey eyes twinkled when Airi gave him a rather confused expression. "I'm Kudou Soujirou. I am pleased to be able to meet you in person. The precise command you gave to your fleet have granted us great victory. I commend your prowess, Admiral. It was terrific."
"Ah, thank you very much, Senpai, thank you."
So this man is the famed Kudou Soujirou. Admirals in her years often talked about him, about "Kudou Senpai" and his particularly strong and stealthy submarines. Being a tactful person, Admiral Kudou ranked up really fast and in a short time stood among the senior admiral rank right under Grand Marshal. Airi knew him from ears only. This was the first time she met him in person and he—rather surprisingly—looked kind more than dominating or cunning. She had received Admiral Kudou's letter of gratitude so it was quite surprising how he still said that to her personally. Hearing Admiral Kudou's remark, the other admirals seemed to have taken more interest on her. There was one particular man with greying hair and goatee examining Airi with a lot of interest. He looked at the Grand Marshal, who in turn nodded at him.
"Ah yes, Tendouji-kun, the reason I am calling you is because Admiral Fukumoto would like to have a word with you," The Grand Marshal gestured towards the old man. "I believe you have not met each other? Admiral Fukumoto is the Field Admiral in charge of the southern waters."
Airi had never really touched Southern Waters since her station, that was quite strange.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Admiral. I am Tendouji Airi."
"Ah, no, no, Dear, no need to be so formal," The old admiral laughed and waved his hand. "My secretary ship would love to talk with you, is all, so I asked Izumo about you. Well, Izumo, I will be leaving with this young lady for a while, if you would?"
"Sure, sure, Fukumoto, we can continue next time." The Grand Marshal nodded. He smiled at Airi. "Just be careful not to end up as one of his wives now, Tendouji-kun!"
Airi could not even decide what expression to give upon those statements although Admiral Fukumoto laughed it off, walking while gesturing Airi to walk with him. After bowing at the Grand Marshal and the other senior, Airi caught up to Admiral Fukumoto. Makigumo trailed behind them and finally could not hold herself from grasping Airi's hand as she walked. Her Admiral gave a gentle grasp back, warmly holding the destroyer's hand as the three of them walked along tall column of pillars heading towards the main building. Admirals and Kanmusu alike passed them by, the compound was lively with so many people. Other than the factory and utility building near the port, the buildings were pretty much tall western buildings, with many inner gardens. One of the reason why this compound was chosen a lot as a place to congregate was simply aesthetic. It can house many people yet still appear really pleasing and comfortable.
They passed another inner garden in silence, with Admiral Fukumoto walking in front of them.
"Please do not mind Izumo, Dear. He is a steel hearted man, and has always been so since he is young. That makes him a good objective leader, however."
Airi only gave a "yes". Grand Marshal perhaps that kind of person indeed. His words and actions could be manipulative and more often than not it was hard to feel emotions in his conduct. However, he was not a bad man. At least that far, Airi understood. Airi had nothing against him, but she sure knew that behind those "warm" gesture, there are always tactical consideration. She had known him long enough to understand how heartlessly tactical the man was.
It was quite a curious things what he said though…
"I married a lot of my ships," Admiral Fukumoto chuckled. "In fact, I married all of my ships."
"Ah, I see."
Provisional marriage. It was not rare to find admirals marrying more than one ship, thanks to the advantages the marriage could give for the base. However marrying all ships still sounds pretty outrageous. A whole fleet of married ship was just too hard for Airi to comprehend, especially with her current thought of marriage. Admiral Fukumoto watched the changes in Airi's face and chuckled again.
"But for me, there is only one wife among all of them," he said, suddenly slowing down. They arrived in a room with tall windows and he walked straight to the door heading towards the foyer. "My secretary ship. It was her who requested me to be able to meet you. I cannot say no to a wife's request, can I now?"
A wife. So it was real marriage between this admiral now.
Airi had been wondering how would a ship and their admiral's marriage would have been. The first thing in her mind would be... life span. Admirals would get older and eventually died, but ships remained. Thus, Airi had always thought that the idea of provisional marriage is extremely emotionally heavy for the ship, perhaps more than the Admiral. For one, the ship would have outlived their husband. That sounded way too cruel. This was one of the reasons why even if she had a maxed level ship, she may still refuse to marry them.
Thankfully, being a woman, Airi had more than one reason to not marry her ships.
"Ah, there she is."
Admiral Fukumoto's voice turned bright after he opened the door to the foyer.
"Dear, I found Admiral Tendouji."
The wife certainly made Airi understood right then why she was called.
Standing near the railing of the foyer overlooking the pier, the nameship of Myoukou class was, if she had to find one word to describe, elegant. She did not have a striking beauty or breathtaking gorgeous feature, but she had this aura about her that showed gracefulness and professionalism. She gave a gentle smile when she saw Airi and she bowed, honoring an admiral like any ship would.
"Admiral Tendouji. I am Myoukou, the first ship of Myoukou Class Heavy Cruiser. As you know, I am Ashigara and Haguro's oldest sister. Thank you very much for taking care of my sisters."
"Ah, no, please, they are the one who has been supporting my fleet."
The ship's brown eyes turned gentler when she heard Airi's reply. She seemed to think of something else.
Myoukou looked at her husband, who nodded. Admiral Fukumoto spread his arms and said, "well, Makigumo-chan, do you mind walking me for a second?"
"Eh? Aaaa," Makigumo flustered, looking up at Airi. "And Commander-sama?"
Airi smiled, patting the destroyer's head gently.
"I will be here to talk with Myoukou. Go ahead with Admiral Fukumoto. I will see you later, sweetling."
"Un!"
Makigumo nodded, releasing her grip on Airi's hand. She bowed deeply towards Admiral Fukumoto and said, "I will be under your care!"
"Ahahaha yes, yes. Come here, I have something I wanna show you. Come, come."
"Un!"
Makigumo gave a beam and bounced towards Admiral Fukumoto. Both Airi and Myoukou watched the two of them walking away, further until they weren't within earshot range anymore. Suddenly a sigh came.
"... I have told him, to find a human wife."
Airi quickly turned to look at the heavy cruiser, who still had her eyes watching her husband tenderly. She gave a sad smile and unconsciously touched her own belly.
"I cannot grant him children, being who I am."
Ah.
It was hard to comment on that statement. Even harder, when Airi realized she had been taking her own body for granted. This was another issue from human and ship marriage. There had never been a case of ships getting pregnant, in fact it was proven they could not get pregnant. It was for the best, perhaps, because other issues will surface about the child. The military find it to be a convenient feature and decided to never expand anything to "trivial" matter such as pregnancy. There was also issues of ethics, rights, and welfare.
Yet, as a woman, Airi could feel that ache. The desire to give birth. To have children. To make a family.
Myoukou found her expression then smiled while bowing apologetically.
"Ah, I am sorry, Admiral, for making you feel uncomfortable."
"No, no, I…" These words, they turned out they remained true in so many situation. However this time, it felt so painful that her words dropped into almost a whisper. "... I want to listen."
The gentleness in those eyes were so deep, Airi felt like she could drown in them. Hearing her reply, the heavy cruiser's smile widened and she said, "I see now why you have the ability to help my two sisters, and I can understand why they speak of you so highly in their letters."
Breeze blew past them, and the heavy cruiser turned to look at the pier.
"I have been extremely worried of the two of them, especially when the news got to me about what happened in that base. In the past, it was hard to contact them. There was a period where I could not contact them at all. The period after the previous admiral was convicted and news got out, even Ashigara stopped sending me letters. I already asked my husband if there is a chance for us to come to your base. However, Grand Marshal has forbid us to."
Myoukou took a deep breath.
"I thought I lost them. 'Perhaps they have been scrapped.' was what I thought. To be honest, a part of me know that perhaps would have been the best for themselves. Also it was not as if I would lose my sisters, they would definitely be constructed again. In a way, I will never be able to lose my sisters. There is always a chance for them to come back again. Yet, I understand that their self will be erased."
The heavy cruiser turned to look at Airi once again. She smiled.
"However if they get reborn, I know precisely I will love them still. They will still be my sisters and no facts can change that. Admiral, we do wonder if our feelings and our devotions are merely conditioning. We wonder at times if any of these feelings are even ours, if we even have free will in the first place. We do at times wonder why do we have no other will but to fight for you, to devote our lives for you, to expel the Abyssals from the waters. Are emotions even real to us, as real as it is for you?"
She touched her wedding ring, then looked in Airi again.
"I feel so much gratitude to my husband, and I know without these memories I have with him, I would have been a different vessel. Even if we are born with a set of personality, who we turned out to be could be different. When the letters finally come to me again from Haguro, whom I had almost sure would have been lost, I never knew that I would feel this relieved and happy that my sisters survived instead of scrapped. And I see them changed before my eyes. I see them learn and I see them growing, and I feel myself loving them in each phase of their life. This means, this same change would have been true to myself as well. And I realized that yes, indeed, these feelings are real, ourselves are real, these are not conditioning. I could look into my husband and tell him firmly that I love him."
She smiled. Airi found herself holding her breath, clenching her fists, when Myoukou continued her words slowly.
"I am extremely grateful that you would give so much time and effort on my sisters. Memories are indeed precious, you remind us that it is worth keeping and it is worth living. That is why I would like to thank you personally, Admiral Tendouji, for everything that you have done for us. Thank you very much for saving my sisters. Even if it cost you your time, your energy, you give my two sisters and I precious memories and lesson. You gave my sisters chance. You thought us the value of living. Thank you very much, Admiral."
The heavy cruiser bowed deep and somehow Airi felt extremely guilty. She did not deserve gratitude when all she did was actually trying to make up for her own species' faulty decision.
"No, that is… that is my responsibility. You don't have to thank me."
The heavy cruiser smiled. She extended her hand, taking in between them Airi's right hand. Her hands were warm.
"A sense of responsibility that is born out of compassion is still kindness, Admiral. If you feel that you do not deserve this, I beg of you, please accept this selfish expression of gratitude. At least, please do believe in the existence of this feelings and please allow us to express it to you. I thank you deeply, Admiral. Thank you very much for saving my sisters and I. Thank you very much for giving value on our existence."
No.
She grasped it tighter.
"The sin of your people is not yours. Your kindness is yours. Please don't burden yourself with guilt. I will say that to my husband every morning and I would say that to you as well. Instead, thank you for letting us exist and create us. Thank you for showing us compassion."
XXX
The training session were divided into several slots where the admirals will be pitted against each other. They would have five battles each in the course of eight days, where their performance would be rated. The rating itself was beneficial more for the fighting admiral rather than the military because some admiral brought along their ship-in-training instead of their veteran ships. It was hard to actually measure fighting power of each admiral objectively with that in mind. Some admiral purposely sent their lower level ships. Lower level ships are usually accompanied by higher level ones so that they can gain experience. Still, an admiral that made clean sweeps on all of his or her battle would gain considerable recognition. To be able to bring lower level ship into the spar yet still wins, talked a lot about the ability of the ships and their admiral, especially concerning ship composition and strategy.
In a way, it was a game of who gains more experience than the others, rather than a game of win or lose. Admiral Tendouji was clearly among those who took advantage of the system. All that she said to her ships before the spar began was, "Watch and learn. Leech their knowledge as much as you can." but her fleet could not help but wanting to win.
They were born fighters after all. Even if their shells and torpedoes changed into mock shells and torpedo logs, a win was still a win. Besides, they had other reason why they wanted to win.
"All guns! OPEN FIRE!"
Waterspout rose, along with the sound of explosions and a shriek of a ship girl. Splinters of flight deck flew and splashed into the sea water. Shoukaku, fifth division aircraft carrier, could not regain her balance and fell onto her knees with a splash. She grimaced then looked up at the view of her fleet.
The rest of her fleet were in the same condition, down on the water surface—some of them struggled to stay afloat with broken main machine. Before her, Nagato stood strong with all her guns at them and the rest of the battleship's fleet by both of her sides. Makigumo and Ooi made wide circles somewhere around them, it was their closing torpedoes that hit the rest of Shoukaku's fleet.
A loud horn blew in the distance.
"End of day battle! Complete victory for Admiral Tendouji's Fleet!"
Nagato let out a long exasperated sigh. With this, finally all five battles were over. It had been a long one week...
The eight days considerably felt longer than usual for the ships, at least for Nagato. During the first few days of training, every evening banquet after battle turned into a fight for self control. Nagato had lost count of how many times she stopped Maya from jumping out at some random admiral who gossiped about their admiral. Choukai seemed to be getting tired of telling her sister the same thing every night as well.
At the end of the banquet on the first night, she sat with the rest of her training fleet to calm them down before they part to their respective lodgings. Even the usually uninterested Ooi seemed even more displeased than usual.
"They should not treat you like that, Admiral!" Maya was usually the first one to jump out with the intent to kill and it was no surprised she was the one who voiced her disapproval the loudest. "You are admiral just like them! You—"
"What they say about me will not affect me, Maya, calm down," The Admiral's voice sounded calm as she patted her heavy cruiser's arm. Maya scoffed, folding her arms and looked away. "They all need to adapt. I need too. Being angry will accomplish nothing."
"They have no right though!"
"That maybe so," The Admiral only smiled. She gently brushed off tears from Makigumo's eyes, who sat beside her. Makigumo looked like she would cry even harder instead and nuzzled into the Admiral's arms. "I apologize that you have to go through this when it should have been a refreshing week for you."
"They are the one who should apologize!"
All the high note from Maya's voice made the Admiral smiled again. She chuckled.
"Your feelings alone already makes my day much better, Maya. Don't worry about it. Come on now, I am alright, see? You all don't have to worry about it. Makigumo, Sweetling, you too."
They spent several more minutes talking about their displeasure on some of the other admirals' attitude towards her, which she quietly listened to. She did not say that they were wrong nor did she say they should do anything about it. She was merely there listening to them again. At the ship girl lodging, Nagato told them to brush off all condescending words about their admiral. It was not funny how their Admiral was the one apologizing to them.
"In the end she was the one patronizing us," Choukai straightened her glasses with a sigh. "The more we seemed disturbed, the more uncomfortable she would have felt..."
"That means we should just mind our own business," Ooi said, turning around. Her voice was bitter. As she began to walk, she added, "We can just torpedo everyone else away anyway."
As nonchalant as she was, even Ooi was upset.
In the end they endured those words. Thankfully, the majority of admirals were good people. Still, those little bitter pricks inside the whole stack was an annoying pain.
All those pent up anger paid off, however. Even if it wasn't a complete win for three of their five matches, but they scored an all win. For a newcomer, that was still something. After their first clean sweep win (which was partly thanks to their anger), their morale was boosted. With each win they did, the bad words considerably plummet down in every night after. It was a huge boost of motivation and self confidence. At the last day of training, they were at their peak.
"Commander-sama!"
Makigumo threw herself right into Admiral Tendouji's awaiting open arms. The Admiral spun her around, eliciting a laughter from the destroyer. The ship girls who watched the scene could not help but to smile, even the defeated Shoukaku fleet.
The aircraft carrier looked beside her, to Ooyodo, and said gently, "You seem to have gotten a good admiral, Ooyodo-san."
Hearing Shoukaku's gentle words, Ooyodo gave a genuine smile and answered, with certainty, "Indeed we have, Shoukaku-san."
"I see," She chuckled. Her eyes flew to her own admiral, a young man with white admiral cap who walked to them with a kind smile. When she returned to look at Ooyodo again, her tone changed. "We won't lose so easily next time. We too, want to give victory to our admiral. That is the only gift we can give them for their kindness."
Gift.
She was reminded of those back at the naval base right away, and their small surprise. Suddenly she understood, the many layers of emotions that enveloped the world and the dozens of possibilities it poses, what an abstract concept human heart really was. The cruiser smiled.
"Perhaps it is... but I am sure there are other things we can give them as well. Just like how their kindness comes in different shapes, I am sure our gift is the same. It must not always be victory, Shoukaku-san."
Shoukaku raised her eyebrows at Ooyodo's reply. Her lips tugged into a gentle smile.
"I see you have found a good admiral indeed, Ooyodo-san."
XXX
The first thing that Airi felt during the last moment of closing ceremony, was relief. Finally the arduous one week of training and meetings and training and meetings was over. She met her old friends and seniors from the academy, those were okay, but the little pricks, the small number of admirals not liking Grand Marshal's decision about her station, were enough to irritate her. She did not mind getting called this and that behind her back, but she did mind finding her ships disturbed by ugly rumors. These were old rumors, she knew it circulated since the Grand Marshal began calling her to come to his room personally and talked about her stationing. They said that she slept with the Grand Marshal (oh seriously, even if Airi were to dance naked in front of him perhaps he would only scoff), that she bribed him, that her family let her in. The last one annoyed her the most.
Her family name weighted some power. Tendouji house held a powerful place within the country, being the strongest religious party. Simply carrying the name Tendouji would mark you as someone powerful and influential. Being born as the first child of the second son of main family lineage automatically made her "someone". Being female, however, automatically crossed her from being listed as candidate to inherit the family temple. Airi had no qualm about that nor did she care. Among the list of reasons of why she picked the navy, was because the navy did not care about her background. Religious party power had nothing to do with navy, which made her felt more of herself. Even if her name did have power, Airi knew her super-strict father would never lay a finger on her career in the slightest bit. Tendoujis were steel hearted people. What you get would be what you were fighting for. That was true for every member of their family. In fact, instead of easing their career, this name would burden them thanks to surrounding people's baseless jealousy. Of course, it was human nature to begin empty rumors out of spite. As far as Airi knew, she had never had any kind of fight with anyone during her academy time. She had several close friends, many acquaintances, but overall her time in academy had been flat for all she remembered. Yet these kind of rumors spread without a single provocation. For a Tendouji, simply existing got you some enemy.
"Ignore them, Tendouji."
Admiral Kudou came to her in one of the nights' banquet with some campaign and words of consolation. He said he originally wanted to talk to her about surface fleet composition and her battleships, especially Kongou, but the bad words that spread about her irked him and he apologized for approaching her with that topic as an opening. He had nothing to apologize for, however. Being an influential man, his presence around her keep those people away like a bug repellent... although she knew the rumor would get worse somehow.
Being with the Kanmusu were better. They accepted her as admiral and that was that. They had no need to see her background or her family, nor would they inquire her about that. Her own ships' anger towards the rumors touched her heart. Even more when she saw how hard they tried to win for her. Admiral Kudou and Admiral Fukumoto expressed that they would be watching her training expectantly, which was both a really great gestures from them, as much as it was a pressure. Watching her fleet swept all five battles with victories, made everything worthwhile. Her ships made the whole week worth everything.
"We are born to fight for you," Myoukou said that gently to her during the time before they part. "That is their answer to your compassion, Admiral Tendouji. I wish you great luck."
It pained her how simple act of common sense and humanity was this much rare for the Kanmusu in many base. It should not be like this. They had heart.
She learned a lot in the whole week, of gradients of admirals that exist in the base. There were those who, like the previous admiral in her place, the sex offender Jiro, see them nothing more as weapons. There were also those who loved their ship, like Admiral Fukumoto. Then there were those who saw them as partners. Then lastly, there was the constitution.
Ship girls or Kanmusu are biomechanical female organism infused with the Soul of Warship for the purpose of defeating Abyssal Fleet.
Organism is such a wide wording. The constitution then listed their purpose, their specification, how to put in their existence log, but none of those actually say anything about their emotional capacity.
"We have our psychologist, our clinics, our research studies, to support our health," Admiral Fukumoto said to her during one of the banquets. He had his wedding ring on all times. "These ships, they only have us. And even then, some human still refuse their rights, and the navy did not even acknowledge that to defend them."
The old man turned to look at her and smile.
"Young admirals such as you and Kudou gave me hope. I know there is no need for me saying this to you but... when you get back to your base, hug all your girls and say thank you to all of them. We are just a family. Us human live too short, might as well do our best to thank them in our short span of life."
To thank them in our short span of life.
What Airi brought home in her suitcase after the week was determination. Renewed ones.
When she bowed then waved goodbye towards Admiral Fukumoto, she knew she was not alone.
XXX
"Uwaaaaaaah so this is how it turns out to be!" Suzuya peeked from the veil. She looked back at Shouhou, her eyes sparkling. "I wanna nap in here too later!"
"This is for the Admiral, Suzuya," Takao sighed. She smiled. "Although I am sure she would let you come and sleep in if you asked."
"Yeeeeesssssshhh!"
"At times I am wondering about your true motive, Suzuya-san," Kagerou said under her breath.
They peeked into the veil one by one-reactions ranging from "heeee" to "Waaaaa! This is amazing!" came from the girs. Based on the news, their admiral would arrive today at around dusk. They had begged the cook for some feasts, bargaining part of their salary. Kanmusu did not get paid as much as human personnel, only enough for some cup ramen or books, but times that with the number of the whole Kanmusu in the base, it was quite a nice bargain. That said, the cook did not mind if it was for the Admiral. After all she was the only admiral to amp up cafeteria budget. They then split their jobs. The battleships and carriers and the light cruisers would take care of the food while the rest of the heavy cruisers, destroyers, and Shouhou (being the secretary who is familiar with the room) would decorate the office room.
The office room turned stuffy since most of the Kanmusu wanted to see how the new place, connecting through a door near the shelves, would look like. The furniture fairies even jumped up and down trying to hold them off frantically. The room had just finished installing its refurbishment. Plus it would still be a while for the Admiral to-
The door suddenly clicked open.
"Shouhou, tadaimaaa~!—eh?"
All chatter died down into a shocking silence. All eyes turned around in horror, finding the source of the familiar voice.
Admiral Tendouji was standing by the doorstep with a suitcase in her hand, a look of confusion filled her expression. She blinked at the number of Kanmusu in her room.
"Uh…. What is happening?"
Eyes looked at each other, uncertain on how to react. She arrived several hours too fast. And now all the surprise are foiled. Scattered on one side were stack of papers they actually would use to decorate, then they had a box of pop. Eventually all eyes moved to Shouhou, who turned red.
"Why are all of you here?"
"W-Well…"
"WHOAAAAAAAA! IT HAS FINISHED?!"
Maya peeked behind the Admiral, her shout made the Admiral jolted. She came in with excitement, practically bouncing. Everyone now turned to look at her, while Choukai visibly looked frustrated, hissing, "Maayaaaaaa!" as she tried to catch her sister.
"LEMME SEE! LEMME SEE! WHOOOO!"
"W-what has finished? Eh? Eh?"
The Admiral walked inside slowly, confused. Maya stopped her jumping and looked at everyone then the Admiral then back to the others again. Realizing the mood, she scowled.
"Awwww man! You guys are no fun! Where is the hype?"
"W-well, we actually on the way for it but…"
"You haven't finished yet? No way!"
"W-We thought the Admiral would arrive by dusk so…"
"Sheesh, man, you're hopeless for this kind of things! I thought Suzuya would take care of it."
"Eh, what? Now it's my fault?"
"I mean, duh, aren't you the party goer?"
"Well, I GO to party, not making it!"
"What kind of excuse is thaaaaaaat!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait a second," The Admiral stepped in between the heavy cruisers, stifling a laughter. "Can anyone here actually fill me in? What is finished? What party? What's happening? Why are all of you here?"
"Ah."
Maya seemed to have just realized it. She hit her fist to her palm.
"Oh yes, you don't know about this, Admiral."
"Well… obviously I don't?"
"Sorry, sorry! It's a surprise for you anyway. Of course you don't know!"
"... eh?"
Several facepalms, but Maya was oblivious as always. She grinned.
"Yeah! A thank you gift! We're making a new room for you!"
XXX
What? For a while it felt as if her mind froze. Thank you gift? Her ships? A new room?
Shouhou eventually stepped forward.
"Yes, we… first I would like to apologize that we did this without informing you first, Admiral," She began, bowing slightly. "The coins you gave to us, we decided to use it for something that would be useful for you, so we thought about this new room. The construction began right when you went away for the training. W-We dont know if it is to you liking but…"
"We talked a lot with each other for this, Commander-sama!" Makigumo suddenly bounced inside, jumping up and down. "It will be suuuuper awesome! Makigumo wants to see it too!"
"It might be a bit random, though," Kagerou gave an awkward grin. "I mean, all of us had different ideas on how it should be, even after Haguro-san said it will be better if it is made with you in mind. Sorry for that, Commander."
"But we made up our mind together!" Ayanami flustered. She beamed. "And most importantly, it is finished!"
"We wanted to throw a surprise party and all, but you come home too fast," Suzuya sheepishly grinned. "Surprise failed? I guess?"
Ah.
Airi did not understand how to react. She had never gotten any surprise for such a long time. And this was the least she would have thought she would get upon arrival. Now that explained all the papers stacked on one side of the wall, and why everyone was here. And the veil she did not recognize near the shelves everyone was trying to hide from her. She walked towards it, and everyone made way for her. The construction fairies bounced around, jumping straight to her shoulder when she smiled at them.
Slowly, she opened the veil.
"This is.."
A room with wooden wall and elevated tatami floor, greeted her. The entrance was wooden, with proper wooden shoe box lining by the side, before the flooring turned into newly placed tatami mat. Wide rectangular window was on one side, by the sill were flower plants, still having a sense of smer instead of autumn. The bamboo blindfold was rolled up, showing the pier and the sea. A small low table situated near the window, while on the other side of the room was a small alcove, with sitting pillow, a hanging scroll with "Welcome home" written on it on the wall. Two small shelves lined up the wall on the opposite side of the door, and beside them, a small slide door.
"Is that the closet?"
"Yes, Admiral. On the top shelf will be your futon, while the lower shelf will have koutatsu for winter. We also have tea ceremony set in there, in case you would like to have it."
Airi blinked. Slowly she stepped in. She noticed the small wooden side cabinet by one side, a small potted plant on top. It was "empty" but at the same time full. Or perhaps it made her feel full.
This felt… extremely like her home.
Her home back in the temple. The small space she used to be during her childhood. A square tatami room, with low table for her to study and shelves, potted plant where she kept her flowers by the window, the bamboo blindfold, the alcove. Even the lamp was the same one she had in her home. Airi walked up to the middle of the room, feeling the tatami under her feet. This was awfully familiar. The smell, the vibe,everything.
Slowly she turned to look at the group of Kanmusu by the door, finding nervous or expectant glances of her ships.
"How do you know?"
Her voice sounded strange even to herself.
"How do you know how my home looks like?"
The ships looked at each other. Nervousness evidently had melted between them but it seemed each felt someone else would be more suited to tell their admiral. Ooyodo finally spoke.
"We discussed between ourselves about anything that you have told us about yourself. None of us actually know anything about you more than just a statement or two, but together we know a bit. You once said to me at the destroyer dormitory how you prefer tatami than marble flooring because that was how you house was. Or to Choukai that you love flower. So we gather them and this was what we eventually agreed on."
"We thought that if you want some place to rest, maybe you would like it to be something that is a bit like your home," Shouhou continued. "We... realized we know almost nothing about you,while you always asked about us. We just hope this room can be a place for you to rest. I mean, we cannot give anything back to you. We want to give our thank you, for all your kindness."
"No, you..."
To thank them in our short span of life.
"You all really don't have to thank me."
"But we want to," Maya said in a matter-of-factly manner. She shrugged. "Maybe we don't have to but we want to. You've been good to us."
We created you to fight for us.
"... this is all still my responsibility."
"Your effort and kindness is b-beyond... just responsibility, C-Commander-san," Haguro's voice came up, surprisingly. She still looked nervous, but her eyes were firm. "You go beyond what is required for all of us."
"Anyone in my place will-"
"Oh, come on, Admiral. It isn't that hard to accept, right?"
"The sin of your people is not yours."
Airi sighed. She could not help but to smile at Maya's daring return. Perhaps it was indeed that simple. Perhaps it was her who was wrong all along.
"Your kindness is yours. Please don't burden yourself with guilt."
Airi looked at all her ships then eventually spread her arms.
"Can I give you all a hug one by one?"
The ships looked surprised at her words.
Once she surrendered to her deluge of emotion which she rarely ever touched,everything just burst.
She had never smiled this wide before in front of them.
"I love you. All of you. Come."
The looks her ships gave were priceless.
Makigumo was the first to run to her, gleefully jumping into her arms, and in a split second everyone surrounded her in a chaotic group hug. Everyone's talks mixed into one that they were unintelligible, but with all the suffocation, laughter, weight, and cacophony, everything meant two things. Thank you. I love you. Thank you. Suddenly the door slammed open and a familiar voice went, "UNFAIR DEESU! I was in the cafeteria, you didn't tell me Admiral is here deesu!"
"O-Onee-samaa! W-Wait!"
Even the bulldozer-strength bump Kongou did to the mass only made them laughed harder. It continued for some more minutes, receiving and giving gratitude, and sometimes kisses on the cheek and or forehead. Airi did not know how long it lasted until she hugged Shouhou as the last one, patting her face gently, before then she looked back at her full squadron of ships—those in the cafeteria had come. They were laughing at each other, happy because the surprise, although it seemed like everything was foiled, still worked. The second batch seemed disappointed at the same time though after hearing the story from the first batch. They expressed them in scowls, then additional hugging to their favorite admirall.
They appeared... wholly human.
"Admiral! Let's have party at the cafeteria!"
"Cafeteria? Oh, then I will-"
"Don't worry, we pay! We pay!"
"Ahaha you all really planned this ahead, didn't you?"
"Of course, Commander-sama! It's for you!"
They were capable of emotions. Of sadness. Of love.
"Okay, then, to the cafeteria!"
They really did deserve to be treated and regarded better.
"Oooouuu!"
Emotionally. Ethically. Legally.
～ To be continued ~
Author's Note: The new names are:
Grand Marshal Izumo Takeshi: 出茂 武
Admiral Fukumoto Satoru: 福本 悟
Admiral Kudou Soujirou: 久道 宗次滝
Respective names with respective roles *nudge*