Rule 3929: welcome back Haguro, Atago, Maya, Mogami, from their biking trip in the U.S. They will be showing the helmet footage in the lounge after vetting from the Admiralty and a private showing with their classes. Thank you.
"Wait, I'm confused," began Kumano. "You four were gone for a month and a half. Yet there's only an hour of footage."
"This is just the highlights." replied Mogami. "The footage from all of our helmets combined totaled around forty-eight hours. And I've only been able to edit half of that so far."
"Ah."
"We're all looking forward to that." said Haguro. "Now, everyone ready?" Seeing nodding heads, she continued. "Alright, let's get this party started."
Video
"Okay, everyone's camera's are on, right?" said Mogami.
"The little red light's flashing." answered Atago.
"Good. Now, who's got the map again?" asked Maya.
"Right here. And, good news! I found us a short cut that should take about an hour off our trip." replied Atago triumphantly.
"We're doomed." groaned Maya.
Lounge
"Really, you added this part?" asked Atago while Maya snickered.
"Yep."
Video
The four were riding through a two-lane highway in a forest. It was scenic, but they could see that Haguro was glancing at her watch before signaling them to pull over.
"It's been six hours, shouldn't we be in L.A by now?"
Atago shrugged. "I don't get it. We followed Route 128. We should have arrived already."
"Let me see that map." said Maya.
Atago handed the map to her sister, pointing at a line on it. "See? Route 128 direct to L.A."
"Atago, that's Route 120 not 128. The zero's got a stain on it."
"Oh, oops."
"So, we're lost." said Haguro.
"Not completely." said Atago. "We just took a wrong turn. We just need to ask directions."
"From who? We haven't seen a car or town for forty-five minutes." groaned Maya.
Before she could continue, a car rounded the bend, driving towards them. "Never mind." said Maya as she walked onto the shoulder, waving. Instead of stopping, the car sped up, honked, left them behind. "Jerk." Maya grumbled as she walked back to them, just in time for the sound of another engine rumble from behind the bend.
"I got this one." said Atago as she took off her helmet and started waving. The engine in question belonged to a police Charger. The dark blue car flicked on its lights and u-turned, pulling up behind them. Before the cop got out, Mogami started giggling.
"What's so funny?" asked a confused Atago.
"Look at what's written on the car."
Three words, plain as day, were inscribed on the Charger's side: OREGON STATE POLICE
"Isn't Oregon north of California?" asked Haguro.
"Yep." grumbled Maya. "Which means we've been going six hours in the complete wrong direction."
Lounge
Atago's face was now a very deep shade of red.
"Nee-chan, I think it's time to ask Akashi to look at your navigation system.' teased Takao.
"It was a simple mistake." stuttered Atago.
"Shh, my favorite part's up next." said Maya.
Video
Back on track, the four were now cruising though a very beautiful valley, each of them taking the time away from riding to admire the scenery. Haguro's camera showed her signaling all of them to slow down as they came up to an intersection. A CHP Crown Vic and a motorcycle were sitting at the stop sign, waiting for them to pass. The cops had just passed Haguro's field of view when suddenly an engine revved beside her. Out of nowhere, a black Audi roared over the double yellow, cutting Haguro off only about five feet in front of her. She veered to the right and slowed to avoid the sedan, before getting back into the middle of the lane, shaking. About thirty seconds later, just as the Audi disappear, the Crown Vic passed her, lights flashing, followed by the motorcycle. The bike cop pulled up alongside her, asking if she was okay, to which she nodded. The cop pulled ahead to join his four-wheeled counterpart, and all four of them laughed as they passed the Audi receiving a ticket.
Lounge
"Hah!" laughed Maya. "Karma, sucker!"
"You okay, Nee-chan?" asked Nachi. The three older Myoko's had seen Haguro's trembling hands after the Audi had pulled that stunt.
"Oh, yes." answered Haguro. "I must admit, I may have had a small heart attack after what that idiot did, but that karma made up for it."
Video.
"Well, we leave tomorrow, anything any of you want to do until then?" asked Atago, back in the barracks.
"Well, said Haguro, "there's something I've wanted to do since we got here."
The video then cut to the four of them on their bikes again, riding on the Golden Gate Bridge. On one end, they saw Alcatraz and the skyscrapers of San Francisco casting shadows along the bay, while the other saw the sun slowly disappear over the calm Pacific.
Lounge
As the video ended, the eight shipgirls in the room looked to their sisters and started clapping.
"Wow, that was funny.' said Suzuya.
"And very beautiful." added Chokai.
"So, Mogami, when do you expect the whole footage to be edited?" asked Ashigara.
"About a week or so." was the reply.
"Great, because I want a copy." said Takao, grinning. "This would make for fine blackmail material."
Atago simply blushed and tried to sink into the couch.