Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking out the window, Yukikaze smiled at all the people that the vehicle was passing by and she knew some of her crew was doing the same. After all, despite the war going on the people she could see were still living their lives. Better lives then her own crew had known during the last war. And she was one of the ones protecting them.

It was a source of pride for the Destroyer, and she knew other shipgirls, that they would allow the people just outside the vehicle to continue their lives.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Yukikaze turned around in her seat to see Harry smiling at her. "Excited?"

Chuckling nervously, the Destroyer reached down and adjusted the bike shorts she was wearing. Why all the human personnel made such a fuss was beyond her, but she shoved those thoughts away. "A bit I guess... though I don't know what we're doing."

Harry only shrugged with a small smile. "I don't either, but White seems excited." Both him and Yukikaze glanced to where the small Escort Carrier was practically vibrating in her seat. "So it's probably going to be good."

Slowly nodding, Yukikaze barely noticed as the minibus they were riding in hit a pothole. It's suspension, heavily modified by the Kongou sisters along with the rest of it, barely noticing. "Well... you and Shinano-Sama would know better then me."

As they came to a stop, Harry slowly nodded but then became thoughtful. "So, um... by the way, did you like the muffins I sent you this morning?"

The memory of them caused her to brightly smile before she nodded. "I did, actually. Thank you for them, though you really didn't have to."

Only shrugging, Harry smiled back at her. "Well, I wanted to thank you for everything that you've done besides protecting Shinano-Chan, though that would be more then worth a few muffins." Seeing her confusion, he chuckled. "Mum told me that you've been investing some of the money my grandfather left me."

Eyes widening, Yukikaze had a small, but pleased expression on her face. "It's really not all that much for Yukikaze. Besides, I'm not really doing all that much with it, just putting it places where I think that it might do some good."

Shifting in her seat, Louisiana looked at her in surprise. "Wait, you're an investor, Yukikaze?" At the slow nod, the Battleship frowned a bit. "Huh... you know, I got some pay just laying around and it might not hurt..."

Yukikaze only smiled at that. "Just let me know and I'll see what I can do." It was then that she realized that the minibus was pulling into a parking lot and she craned her neck to try and see. "Are we here?"

Beside her, Isokaze jerked as she was startled from her nap. Pulling her headphones off, she blinked away some sleep. "We're here?"

Up at the front, White unbuckled herself before leaping from the seat with a cheer. "We're here! Finally!" Reaching over after Shinano had unbuckled herself, White began to pull her towards the opening door. "Come on, come on! We got to go!"

A small smile on her face, Shinano only nodded. "Okay, Kaa-San."

While unbuckling herself from where she sat beside Harry, Hamakaze glanced out the window and raised an eyebrow. "It looks like we're going to the movies."

Now grinning, Harry also unbuckled himself. "Cool! I wonder what we're seeing!"

Taking his hand and helping him out of the seat, Hamakaze only shrugged with a small smile. "Considering that White-San chose it, I suspect that it'll be a good choice." Another glance though caused her to become puzzled. 'Though I wonder... I've heard of 3D, but not...'

Once they were outside, Harry stretched out a little bit before he looked towards Natsumi who had been invited along. "So... how are we going to split the snacks by the way? We got four pairs here after all."

Just blinking, Yukikaze turned away from watching the minibus drive off to find a place to park. "Split the snacks?"

Isokaze placed her hands behind her head as the group continued to walk towards the theatre, obviously newly built. "Yeah, it's sort of a thing that we do here when we go out for groups to movies... or at least us smaller ships." She nodded towards a slightly blushing Shinano. "Less so for Battleships and Carriers, but still."

From where she was beside Louisiana, Natsumi snickered. "Besides, it's not like me or Harry-Chan eat a lot ourselves, so sharing with you guys doesn't bother us..." Looking at where Harry was going through his wallet, she tried to bite back giggles. "Or at least doesn't bother us except our wallets."

Much to Harry's surprise though, White bounced over and pushed his wallet towards his pocket. "Good thing that you're not paying then. My treat after all!"

A frown on his face, Harry gave her an unsure look. "Are you sure? I mean... you don't have to and I can pay for myself."

However, White just tapped him on the tip of his nose. "Nope! Just sit beside Shinano while we're watching the movie." Not quite sure, Harry only nodded as White walked up to Shinano. "Anyways, I call sharing with Shinano!"

Placing her arm on Harry's shoulder, Isokaze smiled at him. "How about we share, Harry-Chan? Don't touch my ice cream though!"

That caused Harry to grin a bit and then poke her in the side which caused her to squirm. "As long as you don't touch mine. Or else I'll be annoyed."

Simply shaking her head in amusement at her sister ship's antics, Hamakaze turned towards Yukikaze and gave her a smile. "Mind sharing with me?" When she nodded, Hamakaze gave her a slight tilt of the head. "Thank you."

Louisiana then grinned before reaching over and pulling Natsumi into a one armed embrace. "Well now, it seems that it is you and me, ma chérie. Perhaps a bucket of popcorn..."

All Natsumi did though was sigh as she found her face once more buried in the affectionate Battleship's chest. 'This has become a thing, hasn't it? It's become a thing.' Then she frowned in thought. 'Though... it is kind of comfortable I guess?'

The Battleship, almost as if she knew what she was thinking, tightened the hug.

Several minutes later found the group sitting down in various seats with large stacks of snacks. Espcially apparent were the large tubs of popcorn and cups of soda though the stacks of candy and hot dogs were also apparent. Or the tubs of ice cream the Destroyers had. However, as he unwrapped the 3D glasses, Harry looked over at Natsumi. "Have you been here before?"

Only shaking her head, the kitsune perched her own glasses on her nose. "Nope! I've heard about it since they opened about a month ago though. A lot of the others at school couldn't stop from talking about it. Oba-Chan said that they opened it to help take people's minds off, you know."

Harry only nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but I remember the newspapers talking about it, so..." Shrugging, Harry looked up at Shinano who was beside him with a massive smile on her face. "Excited?"

A small squeal came from Shinano who nodded even as one of her fairies came out with 3D glasses on it's nose. Something that made Natsumi blink and look at it in befuddlement. "Um... where did he get those from?"

Pausing as she handed the fairy in question a kernal of popcorn even as it was joined by others, Shinano blinked. "Get what?"

With a glance around, the kitsune stared as she noticed that the other shipgirls also had their fairies coming out with 3D glasses sized for them. "... The glasses." At the blinks, she pointed to the ones that she was wearing. "The ones that look like the ones that we're wearing? Where did they get them?"

Slowly blinking, Hamakaze frowned and looked at her. "We're wearing glasses of course."

Eyebrow twitching, Natsumi took a deep breath. "I know that, but where did your fairies get theirs from? I mean..."

The only boy of the group just raised his eyebrow with his next words coming out as if it answered the question. "Because Shinano-Chan and the others are wearing some? Where else?"

Opening her mouth, Natsumi was about to comment when she closed it. Mainly because, oddly enough, it really did answer the question which caused her to slump in her seat. 'Ugh... now I know why some people say shipgirls cause headaches.'

It was then that the lights dimmed and White pointed at the screen. "It's starting! It's starting!"

Soon after, the various trailers were done and the movie started. As it did so though, Isokaze felt wind slowly blowing her wind around and there was the smell of seawater and jet fuel which made her grin. "Okay... this is going to be so awesome!"

Nodding, Harry grabbed some of the popcorn to eat. "Yeah, it really is."

A sentiment that was shared by the others even as fog swept past them as on the screen, a F-14 flew through the clouds while the seats they sat on moved in various directions. Though they got amused looks as Harry, White, and Shinano all started to belt out the lyrics to "Highway to the Danger Zone" when it started to play at the beginning.

 

[darthcourt10]

You have the "Taigei is Hurt" threadmark twice with nothing distinguishing them, an unmarked omake post, and both times so far that St. Brendan's has appeared in a threadmark title, you've accidentally misspelled it as "Brendon's."

Click to shrink...

Fixed

And I Put together the list for SB1&2 together back in late 2020....

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A soft smile on her face, Rose glanced down at Haruna as she was riding on the Battleship's shoulder. With a slight sigh, she adjusted her feet which were laying on one of Haruna's turrets. "So there's strawberries on this island, Haruna?"

Haruna slowly nodded and smiled up at Rose. "Hai! Haruna heard directly from Montana that she spotted strawberry bushes here last year. She also said there were other berry bushes too and some plum trees."

Clapping her hands, the tsukumogami nodded. "That sounds wonderful, Haruna. That means that I'll be able to make all sorts of preserves and Kongou should get some as well."

Lips turning up in a grin, Haruna nodded. "Onee-Sama really likes fresh, homemade preserves for tea time. Haruna is happy to be spending some time with Rose-Chan though."

Face flushed, Rose leaned down and gave her girlfriend a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, I like spending time with you as well, Haruna."

Placing her fingers on her lips, Haruna looked at Rose who was looking upwards. In her imagination, her and Rose were already walking along the paths of the island. Then they were feeding each other strawberries with Rose sitting in her lap. From there, her imagination took her to Rose laying against her under a tree as her hands migrated to Rose's lap. Once there, those same hands took Rose's hands into themselves as their fingers intertwined...

Meanwhile, in real life Rose heard a sound and glanced to see Haruna with a red face and steam coming out of her ears. 'I wonder what that is all about now?' Before she could say anything though, she felt her cap taken from her head. "MY HAT!"

Quickly snapping out of it, Haruna turned to see Rose's hat being carried off by a bird. Frowning, she scowled at it. "Give back Rose-Chan's hat, Bird-San!" When it didn't drop it, she turned towards Rose with a nod. "Hold on, Rose-Chan. Haruna will get your hat back."

Shifting so that she was more on Haruna's rigging and placing a hand on one of the Battleship's guns, Rose only nodded. "Okay!"

With a frown, Haruna pulled a sharp turn and began chasing the bird. It didn't take long until they passed through some wards and Haruna frowned at the steep sloped island ahead of them. "Haruna thinks that must be where the bird lives!"

Only watching as the bird disappeared in the trees, Rose nodded. "Of course." When they reached a spot that had a path climbing up the cliffs, the tsukumogami hopped off and got onto the beach. "Now to find it and get my hat back."

Her rigging dismissing itself as she stepped onto the beach, Haruna searched the cliffs. "Haruna thinks that it must be deeper in the forest." Spotting Rose heading up the path, Haruna called out to her. "Don't go too far, Rose-Chan!"

Looking back, the tsukumogami only nodded. "Of course not. Besides, all these islands are safe." Then she took off up the path at a good clip and soon found herself in the forest. Slowing down as she pushed through various bushes, she frowned as she looked around and up into the trees. "Now where did you go...?"

Below the cliff, Haruna took a step forward when her foot hit something and she bent down to examine the object. It took some time, but she pried it out and her eyes widened. 'Abyssal steel? But...' Looking around, she narrowed her eyes and then quickly followed Rose. 'Haruna is coming.'

It was several minutes later that Rose entered a clearing and searched it. Hearing chirping, she focused on one bush and then Rose narrowed her eyes as she walked over. "There you are!" Once Rose reached the bush, she raised an eyebrow as she realized what happened. "Oh, building a nest are you?" The bird chirped up at her which caused Rose to sigh. "I'm quite sorry, Mister Bird, but you simply cannot use my hat for your nest. Not only is it not proper, you also stole it."

Unnoticed and unheard by her, some bushes moved and what was behind them stepped out. Watching Rose as she scolded the bird, it blinked and tilted it's head. Slowly, it walked up until it was right behind Rose, towering over her. This was the sight that Haruna came onto and rapidly paled. "R-Rose-Chan?"

Glancing over at her, Rose gave a small smile. "Oh, Haruna! Don't worry, I found my hat."

However, Haruna's attention was on the WO class that stood right behind her girlfriend. 'If Haruna summons her rigging, then it might catch Rose... and if Haruna doesn't...' Reaching out, the Battleship gave her a 'Come here' gesture. "Rose-Chan, come to me slowly."

More then a little confused, Rose frowned a bit before pointing at her hat. "Just a moment, Haruna. I'll just be getting my hat."

When the WO tilted it's head as it looked between her and Rose, Haruna gestured again. "Rose-Chan, Haruna thinks that it is very important that you come to Haruna right now."

Frowning even more, Rose just reached out and took her hat from where the birds had put it. "I do not see what the big deal is, Haruna. Now... since you need something for your nest, here." Taking out a hankerchief, Rose set it in the nest and nodded. "There we go, something to pretty it up. Just stop taking hats Mister Bird, as I said it is most rude." Behind her, the WO blinked and tilted it's head to the side. Meanwhile, Rose placed her hat on her head and turned towards Haruna. "Now what seems to be the problem. Haruna?"

Slowly, Hauna pointed behind her. "Be very, very careful."

Confused, Rose turned and so missed the WO as it stepped around behind her in time to the tsukumogami's own steps to inspect the bird's nest. Scratching her head, Rose blinked. "I don't see anything behind me, Haruna." Then she froze as she spotted the shadow that now covered her, one with a large, distinct silhouette for the head. "..."

Then she heard a word that caused her to swallow and feel as if all the tea in her was draining to her feet. "Wokyuu?"

Very, very slowly, Rose turned to find herself looking into the curious golden eyes of a WO. "Ah, an Abyssal... I see now." For several moments there was only the sound of the wind through the trees and the chirping of the birds. 'Don't make any sudden movements Rose... or any loud sounds...'

Which, of course, Murphy chose to take as a slap to the face. And that is why Rose's phone chose that moment began to ring. Every eye in the clearing, including Rose's, turned to her pocket. "Wokyuu?"

It took only a moment for Rose to place the ringtone and she raised one finger. "J-just one moment please..." With shaking hands, she took out her phone and pressed the button. "Y-yes, Hoppou?"

From phone's speaker, Hoppou's voice came drifting out. "Hoppou heard that Rose is picking strawberries! Is Hoppou going to have some?"

Slowly nodding, Rose nodded even though strawberries were furthest from her mind. "Of course, Hoppou..."

The reason that her voice trailed off being, of course, that the WO was now staring at her with wide eyes and a hopeful expression before it grabbed her hand. Haruna was already moving when the WO closed it's eyes in happiness and spoke into the phone. "Wokyuu!"

Haruna stopped though as a squeal of happiness could be heard through the phone that could only have been from Hoppou. "WOKYUU! Is that really you!?"

With a glance at Haruna, Rose slid her thumb to the video call option and then pressed it. Moments later, Hoppou's joyful face filled the screen and the WO began to cry and nod. "Wokyuu! Wokyuu!"

Another screech of happiness burst from Hoppou as she began jumping up and down. "You found her! You found Wokyuu! Hoppou is so happy, Rose! Hoppou will give you big hug and let you cuddle her Reppu!"

Reaching Rose's side, Haruna relaxed some though she was still ready to spring into action at a moment. "Hoppou knows this WO?"

On the screen, Hoppou began to nod. "Wokyuu is one of Hoppou's! Hoppou thought that she sank but here she is!" Then Hoppou gasped. "Hoppou must have been feeling Wokyuu! But why didn't Wokyuu contact Hoppou when she called?"

Much to the shipgirl's and tsukumogami's surprise, the WO flushed a bit and looked down as if ashamed. "Wokyuu wokyuu wokyuu wokyuu."

Now scowling, Hoppou wagged her hand at the screen. "Hoppou thinks that Wokyuu is being very silly. Wokyuu did not fail Hoppou and neither did anyone else!" The WO froze as Hoppou sniffled a bit and then wiped at her eyes. "H-Hoppou is just glad that Wokyuu is alive! Very, very glad! But now Wokyuu can meet Big Brother and Mommy!"

Tilting her head to the side, Wokyuu blinked. "Wokyuu?"

A frown on her face, Hoppou nodded. "Um... Can you bring Wokyuu home to Hoppou, Miss Haruna? Rose? Hoppou would like that very much and so that she can show her to Big Brother and Mommy."

Still knocked slightly off kilter, Haruna eventually nodded. "Haruna... thinks she can do that. But you need to let Nagato and Teitoku kn-"

Hoppou cut her off with a shout. "Hoppou will do that right now! Wokyuu, listen to Miss Haruna and Rose and don't fight, okay?" Getting a nod, Hoppou smiled. "See you soon!"

With that, she ended the call which caused the three to stare at each other. Finally, Haruna let out a small cough. "Um... Haruna is really sorry, Rose-Chan but..."

All Rose did though was place a hand on Haruna's arm and smile. "That's perfectly okay, Haruna. We can just go berry picking another day."

Even though she was still unsure, Haruna nodded. "Okay then, if Rose-Chan is okay..." Turning towards the curious Abyssal, the Battleship gave her the best smile she could. "Um, please follow Rose-Chan and Haruna."

Nodding, the WO did as asked and soon the three of them were at the beach where Rose got back onto Haruna's shoulders. Then they began heading towards Yokosuka with WO just smiling brightly.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Haruna, Rose and Wokyuu had not gone very far when they were met part way by Karakaze and Kiyokaze. Both Destroyers looked at the WO nervously, only to relax when Haruna only nodded. "Haruna is happy to have you as escorts."

Relaxing a little bit more, Karakaze took a deep breath. "Teitoku wants us to lay down a smokescreen as you come into the harbor, Haruna. He wants to prevent a panic from people seeing a WO class come in."

A little confused, Wokyuu tilted her head. "Wokyuu?"

From where she sat on Haruna's rigging, Rose blinked and then frowned. "Wouldn't that just attract attention?"

With a snicker, Kiyokaze shook her head. "Nope! Teitoku is placing it under a drill where in we need to escort an injured shipgirl all the way to the base during a firefight. Ou!"

Only nodding, Haruna smiled a little bit. "Haruna understands."

That done, the group continued it's journey and was soon joined by other Destroyers as well as Naka and Tenryuu who just sighed. "Never a dull moment, huh?"

Snorting, Naka grinned at her fellow Light Cruiser. "Like that bothers you too much." Then she became thoughtful as she looked at the WO who was looking around curiously, though without hostile intent. "Never thought that I would see this though."

It was Tenryuu's turn to snort before she turned away. "Yeah, same here. Glad to see it though."

Meanwhile, Johnston had gotten close with her fellow Taffies and was looking at the WO in awe before turning towards Rose. "So, wait... some bird snatched your hat, so you and Haruna chased it. You found it on one of those hidden islands that they're always going on about... And when you turned around, there was a WO class staring you in the face? But you didn't scream or anything?"

Beside her, Hoel nodded. "Even when Hoppou called you, all you did was answer the phone? All the while facing the WO's guns?"

There was a small bit of redness on Rose's cheeks as she looked at Haruna, who merely gave a smile. "Um, yes? I mean, I didn't want to make any sudden movements or some such after all."

After a moment, the two Taffies shared a look and then grinned as they looked back at Rose before speaking as one. "Bad. Ass."

Of course, that if anything increased the blush on Rose's cheeks. But before she could say anything, Tenryuu raised her sword into the air. "Okay everyone, get ready to begin laying smokescreens. In three... two... one... Now!"

From each of the Destroyers, smoke began to billow out as they reached the harbor and the sight of anyone on land. Soon, the entire group was hidden in it with Rose holding a hankerchief up to her mouth as she tried to see much further then her hand in front of her face. A task not easy through the dense smoke that surrounded and billowed around them. She jumped a bit as she felt a hand clasp hers. "Haruna?"

Even though she could not see it, Rose could imagine Haruna nodding. "Yes, Rose-Chan. Haruna is right here and will make sure that Rose-Chan is kept safe."

Blushing, Rose only nodded as she squeezed the hand right back.

The minutes continued to tick onward and the first sign that Rose had that they were close was that the smoke had started to lighten up. Then it disappeared mostly as they reached the boat ramp and started to climb up. Rose's eyes widened though at the sight of Nagato there with Hoppou beside her and Goto on the other side. Off to the side, Harry was also there. However, what caused Rose to gulp was the sight of various Battleships all with their rigging out and ready.

Within moments though, Wokyuu had climbed up the ramp and was now staring at Hoppou who was vibrating as she looked at her. Meanwhile, Goto nodded. "I am Rear Admiral Isoroku Goto and-"

He didn't get much further as Wokyuu rushed past him and then got down to her knees as she reached out towards Hoppou with tears coming from her eyes. "W-Wokyuu?"

All Hoppou did though was grin. "Hoppou is alright, and happy to see Wokyuu!" None of the shipgirls expected the cry that ripped out of Wokyuu's throat before she practically flung herself onto Hoppou who patted her back. "There, there, Wokyuu. Hoppou is here now." When she pulled away, she pointed at Nagato who looked rather bemused at the whole thing. "Oh! This is Hoppou's Mommy, she's called Nagato."

Only nodded, Nagato smiled down at the WO who seemed confused, but accepting it. "Pleased to meet you."

Blinking, Wokyuu tilted her head some. "Wokyuu."

Then Hoppou pulled her towards Harry and pointed at him. "And this is Big Brother, his name is Harry." Looking around, she gestured for Wokyuu to lean down before whispering at her. "Big Brother gives Hoppou all sorts of treats and gives great hugs. They make Hoppou feel really warm inside."

Harry only raised an eyebrow as he heard Hoppou clearly, but then found himself being hugged by the WO. After a moment of tenseness, Harry hugged her back. "Um, hi?"

With a smile, Wokyuu nodded as she felt feeling warmth seeping into her. "Wokyuu!"

Slightly confused, Harry just patted Wokyuu's back even as Hoppou smiled up at them. Suddenly, Hoppou gasped as she looked her over. "Wokyuu! You're hurt!" The small Abyssal seemed to almost teleport from place to place as she examined Wokyuu. "Hoppou will fix you all up!"

Just about to deploy her rigging, Hoppou was stopped as Goto coughed into his hand. "Hoppou." When she turned, Goto crouched down with a slightly amused expression. "You should really ask first. But before that... does she need to be fixed at this moment?"

Frowning, Hoppou looked back and then winced. "Yes, Hoppou thinks so... Hoppou can see that Wokyuu tried emergency repairs but..." Then she looked up in hope. "Can Hoppou fix Wokyuu?"

Goto just softly sighed. "I don't see much of a problem, as long as Akashi is there to observe and record. Is that okay?" After a few moments, Hoppou nodded which made Goto smile. "Then yes. Musashi?"

Nodding, the Battleship in question stepped up. "Yes, Teitoku?"

He then gestured at Wokyuu who was now holding Hoppou's hand. "Please take what shipgirls you think you need and escort them to Warehouse 36. It's mostly empty and will do for what Hoppou needs."

With a salute, she nodded and turned to Hoppou. "Follow this Musashi, please."

As she walked off, several shipgirls joined them as Hoppou continued to bounce besides Wokyuu, telling the WO class all sorts of things. Confused, the WO only nodded.
_________________________________________________________________________

On the screen, Richardson groaned and then rubbed his hand across his face. "You have got to be shitting me, Goto. Please tell me that you're shitting me."

Just snorting, Goto shook his head. "No, I'm not."

This time it was Admiral Settle who gave a chuckle on another screen. "You got some fucking balls, Goto. I'll give you that."

Richardson just gave the former Destroyer Captain a look as Hartmann frowned on his own screen. "I take it that you have already cleared this with your higher ups? From what I remember they were not too pleased when you took in Hoppou."

Leaning back, Goto sighed before shaking his head. "Yes, right up until she gave us some intel on how Abyssals operate. Hell, just having Akashi examine her at the time was a windfall... and then..."

At him waving a hand, Admiral Kirkpatrick shook her own head as she sat back in her own office in Australia. "And then Wanko stopped fighting us and is now allied. God, that was a surprise for us and it's freed up our own girls from trying to keep her contained. And all she wants is internet and books."

With a slight frown, Cunningham gave Goto a narrowed eyed look. "So what is going to happen to this Wokyuu once she's repaired?"

For several moments, Goto was quiet before he shook his head. "She wants to head back to her island and stay there. Apparently she wants to guard a nest of birds there." At the looks of surprise and confusion, Goto's lips twitched. "That was my reaction to it. She no longer wants to fight and allowed a tracking device be implanted, so that's not much of an issue. Not to mention, she's willing to act as a stationary radar station and give us warning of Abyssals. Needless to say..."

Settle gave a grunt. "The higher ups jumped at that. If it works, they can take some of the credit and if it doesn't... it's your head on the chopping block. Fuckers."

All Goto did was shrug at that. "What can you do? Besides, the amount of Intel we got from watching Hoppou repair her as well as her answering Akashi's questions... we now know a lot more about the Abyssal repair capabilities then we did. So it's already paid some major dividends. And yes, I'll be sending the information via the usual channels to each of you."

Tapping a pen on his desk, Williams frowned. "Hopefully they finish with negotiations soon on that treaty. The sooner, the better for all of us."

From each of them, there were nods of agreement before Hartmann cleared his throat. "As an aside, Goto... just a friendly warning but Eugen and Hanna will be heading to Yokosuka." Seeing the confusion, he smiled thinly. "After they heard about what happened, they wanted to head straight to young Harry. Needless to say, with everything going on they've been delayed. However..."

With a chuckle, Cunningham shook his head. "They're not going to be delayed anymore."

Upon hearing Goto groan, Kirkpatrick grinned. "Which reminds me... what's the pool for that group?"

There was more grins from the various Admirals as Goto just sighed and rubbed his nose while muttering about 'Old fogeys who need hobbies'.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

She hurt...

She hurt so much.

Each movement was nothing but agony. Each breath was like ground glass being poured down what counted as her throat. But despite that, she still laughed. She still roared her defiance best that she could.

And she knew that, slowly, she was dying.

In her pain, she retreated back to better days. Back then, she had served her Princess as an Destroyer specializing in AA. Even her sisters, best that they could with their near animal minds, were amazed at her ability to shoot down aircraft when the shipgirls got too close. The Northern Ocean Princess lavished affection on all of them, but she always held her head up a bit higher when she was complimented.

She was an Elite after all, a flagship for the other Abyssal Destroyers. Until... that day came. When They came. Fellow Abyssals who began attacking the Princess' fleets. Sinking her sisters, and the others. And then, she was among the last left mounting a defense. The last line between the Usurpers and her Princess. She would not, could not fail

But she did, and that caused far more agony then the physical pain she was in.

Even now, she could remember. As her sisters fell, each one granted her the last of their strength to go on. Then only she was left. Her last torpedoes used to attack one of the Battleship Demons, and sinking it as she had felt her Princess cry out and become silent.

She had laughed.

She had laughed with black, bloody tears running from her eye.

And had continued to laugh even as the Battleship Demon's enraged sister had picked her out of the water and snapped her keel. Had continued to laugh even as she tore her screws out. Laughed as the Battleship Demon had screamed in her face.

Then she had fired her last rounds blasting her back as they struck her face.

Instead of killing her though, they had brought her here. To some jungled island where they could take out their frustrations on her. Which they did. But nothing that they did could harm her more then her failure.

Despite that, she endured.

Yet now, she was laughing again even as she laid dying, a distance from the shore. Because while too weak to contact her, she could feel her. The Princess' older sister nearby, where one of the Traitor Princesses were. Soon after, she felt it. One of those who had commanded the fleet that killed their Precious Laughter was dead.

Still, she did not wish to die. Not yet, not when those other Traitors were still alive. And she fought. She fought harder then she had ever done so before as death tried to claim her. Pure fury burned in her boilers. Rage intensified even as her sight faded. The darkness she had gained from her sisters roiled and boiled deep within her.

But, her body was tired.

Reaching out, she grabbed the darkness she could. Trying to stave off the Last Breath. No, no, she would not die. She couldn't. Even as she felt her body weaken and give, she pulled more and more.

Then, finally, with a sigh, her body stilled and the light went out in her eye as she fell into darkness and dreams...
____________________________________________________________________

Chopping some plants, the man wiped his brow as he worked. "Fucking humidity." Turning, he called over his shoulder. "You sure that it's around here, Dave?"

With a snort, the man behind him checked his GPS and then shaded his eyes some. "Yeah, one of the guys spotted it via aerial survey. Besides, we could make a lot of money off it."

A shudder ran through the first man's body as he shook his head. "Fucking creepy, that is."

However, his friend only shook his head. "Yeah, but it pays well, Harold."

Only grimacing, the first man grunted. "Don't call me that." With a final hit with the blade, the last of the brush fell away and he stared. "Well, I'll be damned... they weren't bullshitting."

There, in front of him, laid the remains of an Abyssal Destroyer. Dave walked past him and slowly circled around it with a low whistle. "What type do you figure it is?"

In reply, Harold pointed at the mouth with bent and broken guns. "Looks like an AA Destroyer." Looking around, he frowned and scratched his head. "Though what one is doing way out here..."

Shrugging, Dave shook his head. "Probably dragged itself or something."

Eyebrow raising, Harold pointed at it's rear. "The flukes are gone, those are the screws, which means that it couldn't have reached shore."

Just scoffing, his friend rolled his eyes. "Look, the rest of it is gone, all the flesh." Kicking at a chunk of bone, he shook his head. "The carapace is probably the biggest piece left after all these years it had to be here for."

Nearly as one, they turned and looked at the massive shell that rose above them. Even now, it gave off a feeling that sent shivers down their spines while in a wide area around it, no plants could be seen. "Yeah, though what the boss wants with it..."

Dave just gave him a look. "Apparently there's people who will pay money for samples of Abyssal steel. Something about there not being enough supply to go around to everyone who wants to do research. So a little bit under the table and we get paid."

At just that moment, thunder boomed and both of them looked up to see clouds gathering which caused Harold to curse. "Dammit! Come on, mark it down and let's get out of here and back to camp before the storm hits. I don't want to be near this thing."

Pulling out a tablet, the man snorted as he shook his head and got to work. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Minutes later, the two of them left the clearing with the dead Abyssal. Hours passed as the storm finally broke as the Sun set behind the horizon. The wind picked up until it was a howling gale, branches ripping themselves from trees. In the pitch darkness, the only light came from the intermittant lightning as the rain lashed the island. But then there was a sound that could just be barely heard over the rain and the wind and the thunder.

A crack.

The sound countinued until, finally, a piece of the Abyssal Destroyer's carapace at the top broke off and a pale arm reached out from what had been it's insides. A hand clinching open and close as dark laughter echoed through the rain...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking over his shoulder, Harry gave a sheepish smile at the three Destroyers there. "I'm really sorry for not spending that much time with you, Akizuki-Chan, Hatsuzuki-Chan, Teruzuki-Chan. But I'm going to make it up to you!"

In reply, Teruzuki held up her hands and waved them around a little. "Ah, you don't need to do that, Harry-Chan. We've all been a bit busy."

Hatsuzuki nodded as she agreed with her sister. "She's right you know. We don't mind."

Much to her surprise, Harry only frowned at her. "It's still not right. I mean, you three are friends and it feels like I've been ignoring you." He then turned and smiled at them. "So I'm going to make it up by making you all pizzas."

Eyes widening, Akizuki swallowed a little bit. "P-pizza? For us?" At his nod, the Destroyer bit her lip. "Well, um... I don't mind."

That caused Harry to smile at her as he lead them to his section of the kitchen. "Great! Anyways, I've got all the stuff for stuffed crust ready to go. The dough should be good for making pizzas for each of you."

All three of the Akizukis stopped at that with Teruzuki blinking. "S-Stuffed crust pizza..."

It was Akizuki who finished. "F-for each of us? We're each going to get a pizza?"

Smiling, Harry nodded as he fought back a grin as he washed and dried his hands. "Well, yeah, that is what I said. One for each of you." Reaching into his fridge, he didn't notice how the three gave each other awed looks before clenching their hands close to their chests. When Harry did pull out the items though, he blinked at how they were biting their lips. "Something wrong?"

Quickly shaking her head, Hatsuzuki gave him a small smile. "No, nothing's wrong. But... are you sure that you want to make three pizzas? I mean... these are small ones right?"

Harry though just gave her a look as he set out three wrapped blobs of dough onto his counter. "Nope! Each one is going to be pretty good in size." He then pulled out a jar of tomato sauce and nodded before taking a spoon and dipping it in. Then Harry held it out. "Here, try some of this."

Leaning forward, Akizuki took a small nibble and then stood up as she worked her mouth. "Mmm, it's good."

With a slow nod, Hatsuzuki smiled at Harry. "It is..." But then she furrowed her eyebrows some. "Um, is there going to be enough?"

In reply, Harry glanced at the jar as he placed the spoon to the side and got a clean one out and then snorted. "We'll have plenty, I made sure to make a lot. Maybe we'll even have some to put in a container for you to dip the crust into."

Eyes widening, Teruzuki bounced a bit on the balls of her feet. "Dip the crust into sauce? We'll be able to do that?" At Harry's nod, she smiled. "Eee!"

Only shaking his head, Harry turned and began to work on the pizza dough, placing them in pans. After a few moments though, he blinked as Akizuki asked him if she could ask a question. "Sure, go ahead."

However, he froze at exactly what she asked. "Why do you like cooking so much?" Seeing him freeze though, she winced. "N-not that we mind..."

Much to her confusion though, Harry sadly chuckled. "Well... there's a lot of reasons I guess." Tilting his head back, Harry looked up at the ceiling. "Back when I lived with my aunt and uncle, they had me cook a lot you know? So that Aunt Petunia would have more time to gossip and stuff. If I did a good job, I might even get some... and that was before rationing. But she also had me make stuff for dinner parties and such, when she invited people over."

Blinking, Hatsuzuki watched as Harry turned back to the dough. "She did?"

He only nodded as he smiled slightly. "Yeah, she did. Sometimes I overheard her guests thanking her for the meal and she would, well, take credit for it. That was a thing, I never actually got thanked when I cooked something."

Eyes widening, Akizuki shared a look with her sisters before she turned back to Harry. "So... why cook for us? Shouldn't you dislike it?"

Pausing again, Harry thought back and grimaced a bit. "I guess that I should dislike it. But... I like doing it now. Seeing you all enjoy it and having you thank me? It makes me feel good, you know?"

To his surprise, all three Destroyers reached over and hugged him tightly. Sniffling softly, Teruzuki rubbed her head against his. "We really do appreciate you cooking for us."

On the opposite side from Teruzuki, Hatsuzuki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you make such great things for us, even if they should be made first for the Battleships. Like right now."

Blushing slightly, Harry gave them a small grin. "Well, you're worth it. Besides, I like feeding you." Internally, he continued. 'Especially to bursting for some reason.' Soon though, he shook it off and finished off the last pizza crust. "Anyways, now to make what we're going to stuff it with."

Just watching as Harry pulled out some mozzerella, some of his spices, and an container, Hatsuzuki leaned in. "So what are you putting in? Besides cheese?"

The black haired boy looked up at her with a small grin. "Well... besides the cheese, some spices. And this..." Opening the container, he showed them what was inside. "Bacon bits."

Practically bouncing, Teruzuki had an excited expression on her face. "Bacon bits?"

Slowly nodding, Harry grinned even wider. "Yup! So, while I'm mixing this... what do you want on your pizzas?"

All three Akizukis paused and then looked at each other unsure with Akizuki voicing their thoughts. "What... do we want on them?" When Harry nodded, she frowned. "Huh, that's tough..."

Giving it some thought, Teruzuki nodded to herself. "Some pepperoni would be nice... Oh! And peppers!"

Beside her, Akizuki and Hatsuzuki nodded as Harry made note of who wanted what even as he set up the crust filling. When all was said and done though, there were three slightly different pizzas which he put into the oven. "And now we wait." To his amusement, all three Destroyers crouched down to look into the oven and watch as their pizzas baked. Soon enough, they began to shuffle around in place which made him bite his lip to keep from laughing. 'At least they really like eating...'

Placing his hand on their heads. he just ruffled took turns ruffling each of their hair as they waited Each of them looked back for a moment and then turned back to the oven with the same thought in their minds. 'This is nice.'

However, when he finally brought out their pizzas, he was surprised as they pulled him to a table and then sat him down. On either side of him, Teruzuki and Hatsuzuki sat down "Um... is something wrong?"

Each of them had a smile on their faces before shaking their heads. "Nope!'

Teruzuki then winked at him and raised a finger. "You wanted to spend some time with us, right? What better way to spend time then to share a meal." Picking up a slice of her pizza, she placed it onto a plate and then laid it in front of Harry. "Here you go, Harry-Chan!"

Before Harry could say anything, Akizuki was also placing a slice from her personal pizza on his place. "Try this one too, please!"

And then Hatsuzuki placed a slice from her pizza. "And have a slice from mine as well, Harry-Chan."

For several moments, Harry blinked and then looked from one of them to another. "Um... but I made these for you. I thought..."

Having stopped right before biting into one of her slices, Akizuki set it down before reaching over and placing her hand on Harry's shoulder. "We have plenty. Besides..." She then closed her eyes and smiled as she tilted her head to the side. "Food always tastes better when shared with those important to you."

Eyes widening, Harry slowly smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." With a slight shake of the head, he looked down at the slices and raised an eyebrow. 'Though I don't know if I'll manage to eat all of these.' When he heard a hum though, Harry looked up to find Teruzuki happily munching a bite of her pizza, a look of bliss on her face. "Any good?"

Moments later, she opened her eyes and smiled. "Of course!" Looking at her sisters, she nodded. "It's really good!"

After glancing at Harry, Hatsuzuki ruffled his hair and then bit into her first slice as Akizuki did the same with hers. Both Destroyers had their eyes widen before they closed them as Harry tried not to chuckle at them. In the end, there was nothing left of the pizzas and even Harry finished his slices, much to the happiness of the three Destroyers.

Food was always better when shared among friends after all.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking across the grounds of the base, Harry looked up at Teruzuki who still had a smile on her face from lunch as she patted her belly. "You really enjoyed the pizza, didnt you?"

Just blinking, Teruzuki nodded as she smiled down at Harry. "Um, well, yeah." Clasping her hands in front of her chest, she gained a far off look for a moment. "There's just so much food now in the future!"

Beside her, Akizuki also nodded and had a similar look on her face. "And so many kinds! I like some of the canned meats especially, like that Spam! So goood..."

Hatsuzuki sighed a bit. "Or instant ramen..." All three nodded in agreement at that as Harry looked on bemused at them. A moment later though, she turned towards Harry. "But we like what you cook the best!"

Quickly hugging him, Teruzuki rubbed her cheek against the top of his hair. "You make us such good food all the time! And... and lots of it!"

Used to their signs of affection, Harry scratched his cheek. "You're very welcome, Teruzuki-Chan. Like I said, I like making food for you because you really enjoy it."

Only nodding, the three Destroyers settled into a happy silence as they walked with their friend. Each Destroyer being in their own thoughts, though Harry would have been rather confused if he could see them. Mainly because their day dreams involved him bringing them plates piled high with various foods, just for them. Not just Japanese dishes, but ones from around the world and especially desserts. The whole time the Destroyers ate with happy sounds and blushes on their faces.

Several minutes later though, Harry noticed a car pull up close to the Cruiser Dorms and blinked. "I wonder who that is?" When the door opened and a teenaged girl got out of the passenger side, his expression brightened and he waved. "Hanna!"

At seeing him, said Natural Born's eyes widened before she also smiled and then ran over. "Harry!" Laughing, she pulled him into a hug and twirled him around. "It's so good to see you!"

Tightly hugging her back, Harry only nodded though his voice was muffled a bit by her chest. "It's great to see you too, Hanna! I didn't even hear about you or your sister coming to Japan!"

Gently setting him down, Hanna didn't let go of him though she shrugged. "It was something that was supposed to be a surprise. We would have come earlier, but... things happened and we were delayed for a time."

Then she ruffled his hair which made him smile. "But we're here now!"

Coming up behind her sister, Eugen had an smile on her face that seemed partially of happiness and partially of amusement at her sister. "My kleine Schwester is correct, Harry. We'll be around though for some time." Her smiling becoming a small grin, she held out her arms. "Now where's my hug?"

Once he was let go, Harry rushed over and hugged Eugen with said Heavy Cruiser giving a hum. Pulling away, Harry suddenly frowned as he looked at the Duckys with his eyebrows furrowing. Almost as if she had guessed what was going through his head, Hanna looked towards the three Destroyers. "I suppose that Harry was going to spend time with you today?"

Slowly, Akizuki nodded some. "Um, yes?" Then she shared a look with her sisters and shrugged with a small smile. "But Harry-Chan can see us whenever and you came a long way."

What they did not expect through was for Hanna to pull them into hugs and shake her head. "Of course not! Besides, mein Schwester is always telling me to make new friends and come to know more people, so if it would be alright for me to join you, could I?"

It only took a moment, but they rapidly nodded with Teruzuki answering. "Of course!"

Eugen only smiled and then clapped her sister on the shoulder as she nodded. "Thank you. After all, perhaps soon you might even deploy with kleine Schwester soon enough."

His eyes widening, Harry turned towards Hanna in surprise. "You're close to fully manifesting, Hanna!?" At her nod, he blinked. "How close are you?"

Glancing around, Hanna pulled a stick of metal from her pocket and placed it between her teeth. With a snap of metal, the stick broke in half and Hanna chewed it up and swallowed. "I've started being able to eat metal now..." She looked down at the metal stick and bit another piece off it. "Surprisingly, it's not as bad as one might think, quite good actually."

With a slow nod, Eugen looked at her sister in pride. "She'll have to eat quite a bit though so that her hull will be fully built, but we're not too worried."

Just looking between them, Harry stared a bit. "You're not?" At the shakes of their head, he frowned. "But... if you need that much metal, wouldn't there be problems here in Japan?"

Placing an arm over his shoulder, Hanna only pulled him in close. "No, I'm needed here... and also, I've got one of those expanded chests which have plenty in it for me."

Slowly nodding, Eugen frowned a little bit. 'It was the least that Dumbledore could get for us in exchange for what they had my sister do.' Externally, she shrugged. "Also, it will take a year at best for her to fully manifest."

Not quite sure still, Harry only nodded. "That's cool, I guess." Then he put his arm around Hanna's waist and began to pull her along. "Anyways, we got so much to talk about!"

A small blush on her face, Hanna only smiled slightly as she let herself be dragged along. The whole time trying to ignore the extremely amused expression on Eugen's face... Something that she failed at.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Shutting a drawer in the quarters given to them, Eugen gave a nod. "And that would be the last of it."

With a sigh of relief, Hanna nodded as she flopped back onto the bed. "Finally." Opening one eye to see an amused Eugen looking down at her, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Just shaking her head, Eugen held out a hand that Hanna took before hauling her to her feet. "We should get ready for bed, after all there is a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Several minutes later, Eugen re-entered the room with Hanna, the two of them having gone through their usual routine pf brushing their teeth when the Heavy Cruiser spoke up. "May I ask you something, Hanna?"

Blinking, Hanna looked over at her as she began to get changed for bed and nodded. "Sure, what is it?"

The next words from Eugen though caused her to freeze. "Why did you not bring up the reason why we're here to Harry? After all, we had several hours when we arrived."

Hanna stared off into the distance before she sighed. "Did you see him, Schwester? He was happy when we arrived and..." Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "I... did not want to ruin that. Maybe putting it off is the wrong decision, but tomorrow will be hard enough."

Moments later though, she opened her eyes as she felt the two slender, but strong arms of Eugen around her middle. "I'm not judging you, Hanna. I would never judge you." Placing her chin on top of Hanna's head, she smiled a bit. "Besides, you would know far better then I would in this situation."

Relaxing a bit, Hanna leaned back with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry, Eugen. Even though I know that, it's just..."

All the Heavy Cruiser did was nod. "I know."

Something that was the truth as she did know why her sister had issues regarding disappointing her and the others. Despite them always telling her otherwise. Meanwhile, Hanna just hummed as she enjoyed the hug. "Thank you for coming, Schwester. I know that with what recently happened nearby, it could not be easy."

For a moment, a shudder went through Eugen's keel as she remembered the news about the explosion off shore several days earlier. And then it was gone as quickly as it had come. "It is fine, Hanna."

Only shaking her head, Hanna swallowed a bit. "No, it's not fine, Eugen." Turning, she looked into her older "Sister's" eyes. "But... why?"

Looking down at her, Eugen frowned before she smiled a bit and then kissed her on the forehead. "Because, Hanna, you need me. I, more then anyone know the burdens of the past. That you are willing to face yours to help Harry makes me so very proud. It makes all of us proud."

Just swallowing, Hanna looked up at her. "Really?"

With a nod, Eugen leaned down and placed her forehead against her sister's as she looked her directly in the eyes. "Really. And if you are willing to face your past, then so am I at your side. Because you are my klaine Schwester and I will be here for you when you need me."

Simply leaning against her, Hanna sighed. "Sometimes... I still think that this is a dream. That I will wake up in the cot and be all alone. Just me and Hans again in the cold."

Brushing some hair aside, Eugen shook her head. "If it is a dream, then it is one that we both are having. Because I can now put right the wrongs of the past and now have all of you here with me. And I will never let go of any of you, not again. I will gladly face the possibilities of those fires once more if it means that I can lift some of the burden from your shoulders, Hanna." Closing her eyes, Eugen kissed her on the forehead. "You will never be alone again, because you have us. You have your friends including Harry. I promise that you will never wake on that cot in that cold home ever again, because I will not allow it. Nor would any of our sisters or your friends."

Tightly hugging her sister, Hanna nodded. "I do, and that makes this wonderful."

Hugging her back, Eugen chuckled a bit as she patted her head. "Now then, we really should be heading to bed, hmm? You will have a long day tomorrow with your date."

And, just like that, the moment was ruined as Hanna turned red and began to sputter. "It's not a date!" At Eugen's amused expression, Hanna waved her arms around even as she tried to glare at her sister. Something that was doomed to failure due to how much she was blushing. "It's not! For one thing, he's not twelve yet and I am nearly fifteen!"

With an air of dismissal, Eugen shrugged and gestured with one hand. "Ah, my mistake then." Hanna began to relax some only for the Heavy Cruiser to continue. "For I thought that is what it is called when one spends time with a boy that they like."

Once more going red, Hanna looked like she was about to say something when she sighed and slumped against Eugen. "Why do you do this?"

Grinning, Eugen hummed a bit. "Because I am your große Schwester. It is my duty you see."

That got her a snort from Hanna who shook her head. "Perhaps I should start teasing you about you and Prince of Wales, hmm?"

However, she did not see the twinkle of amusement in Eugen's eyes before the shipgirl chuckled. "Well, if you wish to know more about what myself and Wales get up to, you only needed to ask. Though I did not think that you would be interested..." At the choking sound, Eugen let out a laugh which made Hanna groan before the Heavy Cruiser ruffled her younger, still human, sister's hair. "Perhaps one day you shall get the best of me, but not today."

All Hanna did was grumble as she was lead to the bed before the two of them cuddled up and drifted off to sleep. However, Eugen's mission was a success as her sister had relaxed and forgot about what she was going to do the next day.
____________________________________________________________________________

Laying on her back in bed, Natsumi grumbled to herself as she tried to sleep. "Dammit."

However, she found herself unable to do so which resulted her getting out of bed and hopping out her window. Instead of a girl that hit the ground, it was a fox which soon vanished into the underbrush as it took off. Leaning against a doorframe, Haru just watched with a soft sigh. "Ah, to be young again."

Meanwhile, the landscape seemed to blur around Natsumi in her fox form as she rushed through the brush. Every so often, she stopped to let a patrol move past or so that one of the personnel who was still awake could walk out of view. And then she was off again. It did not take her long to reach her destination though. Especially as she knew the route by heart after so many times walking there in her human disguise.

The Battleship Dorms.

With a sigh, Natsumi walked around until she under Harry's window and listened. Several moments later, she narrowed her eyes and then leapt upwards. Easily landing on a windowsill, she leapt to the next one, and then a final leap brought her to Harry's window which was opened a crack. That allowed her easy access and she hopped into his room with barely a sound. For a moment, Natsumi stood there watching as her best friend, and unknowing crush, laid in his bed tossing and turning. 'Oh, Harry-Chan...'

Softly walking over, she came to a stop near him and her tail swished in the air. At least until she brought it over with the tip touching Harry's forehead. Within moments, Harry's tossing and turning came to a stop and he drifted into more pleasant dreams. Unknown to Harry, Natsumi settled in for yet another night of guarding over her friend and her mind drifted back to when she had found out what happened...
___________________________________________________________________________

Groaning softly, Natsumi stumbled out of her room into the kitchen expecting to see her mother, only to blink in surprise at what she found there. "Oba-Chan? What are you doing here?"

With a small smile, Haru sipped her tea as she considered her niece. "Well, it would appear that I am here to have some tea." Then she looked up at the ceiling as if in deep thought. "And perhaps to have some breakfast from my Onee-San."

Only rolling her eyes, Natsumi gave a huff as she walked over and then sat down. "Oh, is that all then. Somehow, I am not too surprised."

Lips twitching, her mother gave her a highly amused look before turning back to the breakfast she was making, Behind her, five tales twitched a bit. "I would not be so sarcastic, Natsumi-Chan. After all, your Oba-Chan is here to pick you up and drive you back to Yokosuka."

Humming, Haru continued to sip her tea. "Though I suppose that I could just let you walk. Might be good exercise for you... Or you could take the train."

Natsumi only gave the two of them a level look before rolling her eyes. "Ugh, no thanks."

Rather amused at her antics, Haru shook her head. "Very well then." Then she turned fully to the younger kitsune. "So, I've heard that you're now proficient what you needed to learn?"

In reply, Natsumi groaned and laid her head on the table. "Don't remind me... Being tested on how well I can do the tea ceremony sucks. I'm not even sure that I still have my legs or if they've fallen off and what I feel are phantom limbs."

That got a laugh from Haru and a giggle from Sakuya. "Trust me, Natsumi-Chan, it was much worse when we were younger. Ah... remember those days, Haru-Chan?"

Still laughing, Haru nodded. "Hai, I remember. Our teacher did not take anything but absolute perfection..." Playfully shuddering, Haru shook her head. "I lost count of how many days we spent in Seiza."

At the memory, Sakuya grimaced. "Not fun at all, trust me."

Looking between them, Natsumi just raised an eyebrow not sure if they were pulling her leg or not. Chances were that they likely were, but considering some of their friends, she couldn't be sure. "Okay then..." Then she just poured some juice into a glass to the amusement of her mother and aunt. "What? I've had enough tea to last me for a while."

With a chuckle, Haru shook her head. "I suppose so. Though congratulations on passing your tests."

The kitsune only shrugged. "Thanks. But I can't wait to get back to Yokosuka so that I can see Harry-Chan again. I missed him coming back after all due to the training and tests." Getting silence, she looked up to find a pensive look on her aunt's face. "Is... something wrong, Oba-Chan?"

Putting her tea down, Haru shook her head. "I'm afraid that is the other reason why I have come now that things have settled down some at Yokosuka." With a deep breath, she let it out slowly before grimacing. "There's something that happened involving Harry-Chan, Natsumi-Chan. Something that I felt that I needed to tell you before you returned so that you would not be surprised and have some time to settle..."

Just swallowing, Natsumi couldn't help but feel that she would not like what she was about to be told. Not in the slightest. "What happened?'

As it turned out, her suspicion turned out to be correct. She did not like what she was told in the least.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

After a large breakfast, Hanna was walking along beside Harry when she spotted a bench looking out onto the harbor. "How about we go and sit down there, Harry?" Seeing his confusion, she smiled thinly. "I... want to sit down for a little bit."

Even though he was still confused, Harry nodded and soon the two of them were sitting down. Out on the harbor, a shipgirl patrol went past and Harry waved at them, with them waving back. "You know, this is a great spot to see shipgirls come in and out of the base."

Lips twitching, Hanna nodded. "Really now?" At his nod, she chuckled. "Huh, maybe I should come here more often then..."

Several minutes passed as Hanna tried to think of how to start the conversation only for Harry to speak up. "Hanna? Is... something wrong?"

Only sighing, the Natural Born shook her head. "Not... wrong, persay." She then frowned and looked up a bit. "I'm just trying to think of a way to break the ice I suppose." Chuckles then escaped from Hanna's mouth as she had a self-depreciative smile on her lips. "I had this all planned out from this morning, and yet... Now it's all blank."

Now really confused, Harry tilted his head to the side. "Poi?"

Finally, Hanna nodded. "Hmm... I suppose that it would be best to start at the beginning, Harry. I... heard about what happened at Hogwarts, which is why I came."

Wincing, Harry looked down at the ground. "Oh... I see." Swallowing, he closed his eyes. "I guess that I should have expected this, though thanks for at least telling me in person that... that you no longer want to be friends-OW!" Reaching up, Harry rubbed at the ear which was just flicked. "What was that for!?"

All Hanna did was snort at him with a look of annoyance on her face. "For being a dummkopf, Harry. I did not come all this way to stop being your friend, so you can forget that idiotic idea." Rolling her eyes, she grumbled. "Besides, I'm the teen, it's my job to be all mopey when stuff happens."

Still rubbing his ear, he frowned. "Then what did you come all this way that had to do with what happened?"

For several seconds, Hanna watched him before she turned back to the harbor. "Mainly so that I could have a talk with you about it. Because..." She then closed her eyes. "Because you did so for me when I needed someone to talk to. Someone's shoulder to lean on."

Confused, Harry looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Opening her eyes, Hanna turned to him. "Do you remember back in December? When I stayed at Hogwarts for several days? How I was moping around?"

Harry's expression shifted to one of surprised. "Um, yes? But I thought that you couldn't tell me anything...?"

Softly snorting, Hanna shook her head. "I can't go into details, but... I was on a mission at the time. And I killed several bad people during it, even though I saved a number from them and protected many more who will never know it."

A silence fell over them at that before Harry softly whispered, just low enough that Hanna nearly missed it. "And I... I helped you with that?"

Very slowly, Hanna nodded. "You did, Harry. Those days spent with you recovering helped me a lot and now it's my turn to help you."

It was easy to see that Harry looked like he was about to start crying as his eyes looked misty. Internally, Hanna felt her heart hurt at seeing the haunted look in his eyes. "How? How could I help? And... how could you help?"

Leaning forward, Hanna breathed in deeply. "By being here, someone who could give you a shoulder to lean on. After all, I went through something like it, so I can understand." Reaching over, she placed an arm over his shoulders and pulled him into an embrace. "But you need to let me help you, Harry."

Just blinking, Harry reached around Hanna's waist tightly. "I still see it, Quirrel crumbling to dust and ash as he reached out to me. Hearing his screams become a moan of pain as he died... feeling his flesh burn under my hand, skin blistering and then flaking..."

As he continued to explain, Hanna listened carefully but saying nothing. Internally though, her emotions swirled around in a storm. 'Dammit... dammit. Why you, Harry?'

Finally finishing, Harry leaned against her even more. "I know that everyone tells me that they don't mind, that they're happy that I'm still alive and here with them. And I'm happy about that too, it's just..."

Hanna slowly nodded. "It's just that it's only a bandage over the wound, ja? That you still have that small, nagging voice deep inside."

Blinking, Harry gulped a bit. "Yeah... Do you...?"

For several moments, Hanna was silent before she turned towards him and hugged him a bit tighter. "Have the same sort of thoughts? Yeah, I do." Letting out a sigh, she grimaced. "And I won't say that it will go away, or at least anytime soon. God knows that I still feel much the same now as I did months ago. But friends and family helps just by being there and... I imagine that having someone who both went through something similar and is sympathic helps even more."

Slowly, Harry tilted his head back. "Nightmares?"

Lips turning downwards, Hanna let out her breath. "All the time."

The two of them just sat there watching the harbor with Harry considering what he had been told. Eventually, he snuggled a bit more into the embrace. "Is there... anything that helps? Besides the fact that they'd rather me be here then not?"

Deep in thought, Hanna considered this before she slowly nodded. "Perhaps..." Feeling Harry shift against her, she continued. "Let us conduct a little thought experiment, Harry. Just myself and you, right here with what we know."

Nodding against her, Harry frowned. "Okay..."

With a deep breath, the German girl began. "Let's start with a basic assumption, disregarding whether you were involved or not. This Voldemort gets the Stone thanks to Quirrel, what happens next."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry just blinked in confusion. "Um... Well, he gets himself a new body and Quirrel dies? I guess..."

Gently, Hanna nodded. "I see, so if he got the Stone he would regain his body while Quirrel died. So, in either case, Quirrel would have died. But let us move on from that, shall we? Voldemort now has a Stone that provides immortality and endless gold. So he both is unkillable in a sense and has all the monetary resources he needs for whatever plans he comes up with. Knowing what you know, where would he go from there?"

Rolling it around in his head, Harry frowned as he tried to figure out where this was going. However, he was unable to and eventually shrugged. "Maybe regains his followers? After all, he's back and from what some people said they still follow him even though he's dead."

As she hummed, Hanna had a carefully blank look as she continued to guide Harry along. Letting him work itself out for himself. "I see, so he regains his followers, including those in prison I suppose? I read some history books while in Hogwarts and one of the things that came up was that they were often broken out of prison. Now, he is immortal, has infinite resources moneywise, and has his followers. Where does he go from here? Will he sit on his laurels or..."

Slowly, the black haired boy's eyes widened some. "He would restart the war. And... and he would start killing Muggleborns and those against him."

Now nodding, Hanna continued to push him along that road. "Ah, so he would restart the war. Which means that he would start killing those that he saw as 'Impure'." A blink escaped from Harry at the venom in the last sentence, especially it's final word. "Would that include only Muggleborns?"

Thinking, Harry shook his head. "No... anyone they did not consider human and... and non-magicals would be included. They'd kill them as well. And I guess that they would include shipgirls in that?"

Rather pleased with how he was following, even if the subject was distasteful, Hanna gave a thin smile. "I think that us shipgirls would be included in that one way or the other. But let's continue this line. So he starts killing non-magicals like he did during the last war, including in large groups. There's one small problem though as they can't modify memories anymore."

Breath catching in his throat, Harry's eyes widened. "Which means that the wizards and witches would be exposed with..."

A grimace on her face, Hanna grunted. "With their first major showing being that of a group of Nazis who seem to have a good portion of those in charge seemingly giving them tacit support. Said group not caring and seeing the normal person as nothing more then an animal. Something at best to be treated as a slave and at worst? At worst vermin to be hunted. How do you think the world at large, and Britain in particular, would react to that?"

Pale, Harry slowly swallowed. "Not well... I... I guess that witchhunts would happen all over again except supported by the military."

With a sigh, Hanna shook her head. "They'd try, of course, to not kill anyone innocent as they put down the Death Eaters. But Voldemort is immortal and would likely not think twice about, say, popping into the Prime Minister's residence and killing him. Or perhaps one of his followers. Many, many people would die who would be innocent. And if you had died there... how do you think that your mother would react? Hoppou? Wanko? Your friends? ... Or me?"

Shaking his head, Harry shuddered a bit as he tried to push away the images that dredged up. "Not well."

Just holding him close, Hanna stroked his hair. "Not very well at all." Closing her eyes, she rocked back and forth. "I'm sure that it does not help much, but your actions saved many lives down there. They might never know it, but it's true."

Voice muffled by Hanna's chest, Harry sniffled a bit. "No, it doesn't really help all that much, Hanna. But I guess it does help some... Um, but he's not dead and..."

Nodding, Hanna gave a sad chuckle. "He might return one day, right?" At Harry's nod, she just rested her head on Harry's. "Maybe. But now that we know he's alive, we can prepare for that day. Each time he's stopped from returning buys us just a bit more time to get ready. Preperations and time that can be used to prevent needless deaths from what might happen. He might return one day, but when that comes we'll be ready for him. All thanks to a brave, wonderful boy that I know and who will one day grow up into a fine Admiral..." In her thoughts, she continued the sentence. 'One whose fleet I would be happy to serve in.'
When Harry spoke though, Hanna went red as he unknowingly echoed her. "Maybe I'll have you in my fleet as well, Hanna."

Unseen by Harry, there was a flustered smile on her face. Eventually, she just nodded. "I... would be proud to have you as an Admiral, Harry. After all, you understand me as you know what it like to grow up the way we did."

Tightening the hug, Harry sighed some. "How long are you going to be here for, Hanna? If you don't mind me asking..."

Letting out a breath, Hanna smiled. "For some time at least. I wanted to give us plenty of time to talk after all, and my Schwester has a lot of leave saved up. She can still deploy though here if needed."

A smile was on Harry's face as he nodded. "Thank you."

With a small squeeze, Hanna nodded as she leaned back. "You're welcome, Harry. You're very welcome."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

With a grunt, Natsumi hit the wooden floor in a roll. Just was she was about to get to her feet, she looked up at a shout and found Shiromizu in her half-human form smacking into her. Both of them went sliding across the floor and it took a few seconds to get disentagled with each other. "Get off!"

Shiomizu yelped a bit as she felt Natsumi's hand go somewhere it was certainly not welcome. "Don't touch me there!"

Of course, that was when they noticed the shadow about to land on them and rolled in opposite directions as Haru lightly touched down where they had been. Twirling her Naginata in one hand with practiced ease, the older Kitsune smirked at the two younger beings. "Now, now, you'll never beat me if the two of you are always fighting each other. Maybe you might if you work together though."

Growling, Natsumi got to her feet and shifted into a stance as she blinked away some sweat. "We can't even touch you though."

For several moments, Haru looked at her even as Shiromizu got into a stance of her own with her wooden swords in either hand. "Perhaps. Experience certainly plays a part. But experience does not mean that you can't beat me if you're clever and resourceful enough as you work together. That said... that's not your only issue here." Using her tails, she opened the nearby cooler and then tossed the two surprised youngsters water bottles. "Here, we're taking a break."

A frown on her face, Natsumi glared at her as her chest heaved. "What?! Why!?"

Haru only raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled a bit. "Mainly because both of you look nearly ready to collapse. However... we also need to talk." Waiting until Natsumi practically tore her bottle's cap off, Haru sighed. "As much as I like that you are pushing yourself, I don't like the reason why."

Blinking, Natsumi narrowed her eyes at her aunt. "What do you mean by that, Oba-Chan? You know why I'm doing this."

Slowly, Haru nodded as she stared at the ceiling. "Yes, because currently you're angry. Angry at the world for what happened to Harry-Chan. Angry at the adults because they didn't stop it. Angry at him... and angry at yourself for not being there."

Off to the side, Shiromizu winced as the water bottle in Natsumi's hands was crushed, spraying water everywhere. 'Oh boy... Here it comes.'

Meanwhile, Natsumi ground her teeth a bit as her tail twitched. Only one word escaped from her mouth as she glared at her aunt. "What."

Utterly unconcerned, Haru hummed as she sipped her own water before tsk'ing at her niece. "You're getting water everywhere, Natsumi-Chan." Picking another bottle, she tossed it with Natsumi catching it in her own tail. "But yes, you're mostly angry with yourself over what happened with Harry-Chan. Because you were not there for him when you believe that you should have been."

Trying not to growl, Natsumi sucked in several breaths. "You don't have any idea how I feel, Oba-Chan!"

All Haru did though was chuckle as she shook her head. There was a note of sadness though that caused Natsumi to bite back her retort. "Actually, I do know." Her face took on a far off expression as she turned in the direction of the far off ocean. "Mainly because I felt much the same when my other half was taken by the Abyssals."

Eyes widening, Natsumi felt her jar drop. "Oba-Chan... You..."

Very slowly, Haru nodded as she looked at her practice Naginata. "Hai, I hated myself and was enraged. It took me months to calm down, or do you not remember how your Kaa-San told you that I could not see you for some time starting three weeks after Blood Week?"

It took a few moments of thinking back, but Natsumi remembered. After having heard about her uncle's death, she had asked her mother if they could visit Haru. She had thought it odd that at the time there was an odd look on her mother's face as she said no. But now... "What did you do?"

Silent, Haru sipped her bottle as she stared off into space before giving a chuckle that caused the hairs on Natsumi's neck to raise. "I actually did a number of things. At the time, the Ministry was in chaos since the Abyssals had practically decapitated them in their strike on Tokyo. So no one really cared about a one-kitsune army waging a war of her own." The light glinted off her actual Naginata from where it hung. "I killed a number of Abyssals, weak ones such as Artillery Imps and PT Imps that made it to shore. Even a Destroyer or two."

Not having known this fact, Natsumi swallowed as her throat felt dry. "You... were hunting Abyssals, Oba-Chan? But even for us kitsune..."

A sudden laugh from the four tailed Kitsune caused both Natsumi and Shiromizu to flinch. But what really made them feel cold was the look in Haru's eyes. There was a burning rage and hate there. But beneath... there was an ocean of coldness from grief that turned into nothingness. "Here's the thing, Natsumi-Chan... I did not care." Spreading her arms out, Haru let a tear slip out from her eye. "I did not care that they might kill me. All I cared about was killing the next one for vengence. There was nothing more in my life... until your Kaa-San, my Onee-Chan, caught up to me."

Shaken to the core by what she was hearing and seeing, Natsumi shivered. "Haha-ue? What did she do?"

Once more, Haru went silent. "We fought." That caused Natsumi to gasp and even Shiromizu stared at her with her jaw dropping. "We fought each other as I did not want to stop in those dark days. But in my anger, I made mistakes and your Okaa-San managed to trap me. And then... she shoved a picture of you, your Imoutos, and Onii-San in my face and demanded that I consider what I would do to them. How they would react if I got myself killed for something like vengence, or if I would like for you to go down that road. To start attacking Abyssals in retailiation for my foolish death." Another laugh ripped its way out of Haru's mouth as she shook her head, now more tears slipping out. "I have never felt so ashamed or foolish. It was shortly after that the Kami asked for me to prepare to take care of a shrine here. Something which I did, and gladly."

Ears dropping, Natsumi scuffed her feet. "Oh, um... I see."

Moments later, she felt a hand under her chin which tilted her head back. And there was her aunt with a sad expression. "I do not want you to fall into that dark pit, Natsumi. Not into that pit of anger and rage. Anything but that."

Blinking away her own tears, Natsumi's lips trembled. "Harry-Chan's not dead though. He's okay..."

Slowly, Haru nodded. "Hai, he is okay. But him coming so close to that point has frightened you, Natsumi-Chan. Has it not? The thought that you might lose him?"

A gasp escaped from Natsumi as she felt as if a cold hand had gripped her heart for a moment. "H-hai. I... I don't want to lose Harry-Chan. Y-yet I wasn't there when he needed me." She then grabbed hold of her aunt's kimono and shoved her face into it as Haru embraced her. "I wasn't there."

Gently, Haru stroked her hair as she nodded. "No, but that is not through any fault of your own, Natsumi-Chan. It's a hard lesson, but for all our power as kitsunes, for all our vaulted slyness, cunning, and intelligence, we cannot always be there for those we love. We can try our best to do so, even if it fails at times. Yes, Harry-Chan is okay this time. But that does not mean that you should let your anger rule you, either. Push, yet don't push too hard or far."

Slowly, Natsumi nodded as she sniffled a bit. "H-hai."

With a smile, Haru looked up at the slightly uncomfortable Shiromizu before chuckling. "Sorry, Shiromizu-Chan. But it seems that the lesson will be ending early today."

All the serpent did was shake her head with a slight smile on her face. "That's... okay. I don't mind." She placed her practice swords back into their places and was about to leave when she glanced over her shoulder. Natsumi was still there being hugged by her aunt who was whispering to her. Then Shiromizu left with a sigh and transformed back into her normal form as she made her way back to where the Battleship Dorms were.
_____________________________________________________________________

Sitting on the bed, Harry's legs kicked back and forth as he watched Rose place another item into the suitcase she was packing. "You seem pretty excited, Rose."

Only glancing over her shoulder, Rose smiled and nodded. "I am, Master." Clutching a shirt to her chest, she sighed. "And I'm not the only one! Haruna is pretty excited as well and our date should go perfect!"

Lips twitching, Harry watched as she placed the shirt into the suitcase. "Yeah, I noticed Hiei arrive to help her and the others out." Then he frowned as he looked at the calender which had a date marked off. "So... we'll arrive tomorrow with the event the next day?"

Rose nodded some as she handed him a booklet. "That's right. Naka is giving us a lot of support for this."

Flipping through the booklet, Harry chuckled a bit. After a few moments though, he bit his lip. "Um, I hate to ask this, Rose..." He waited until she turned to regard him. "But... is there anyway to get any tickets?"

After a few moments of thought, Rose nodded. "I am quite certain that you could. If not, then we can find you a spot." Musing, she frowned to herself. "Perhaps with Kongou and the others."

Just frowning, Harry shrugged a bit. "Well, I kind of already have a ticket thanks to Mum. But I wanted to take Natsumi-Chan too. After all, Louisiana and Hanna will be there."

That caused Rose to turn and regard him with an odd, knowing smile. "Miss Natsumi? Well, I can see what we can do in that case. Though..." Tapping her chin in thought, Rose nodded. "We may have to have her share a room. Hmm... would you mind much if she shared yours, Master?"

Blinking, Harry shook his head. "Nope, I don't mind." A thought then occurred to him. "What about you?"

A flush spread across Rose's cheeks as she hummed. "I believe that I shall share a room with Haruna. The hotels will be quite filled after all due to the event that will be happening." The image of her and Haruna cuddling under the blankets, and perhaps holding hands, caused Rose's blush to deepen even further. 'Oh my... That is strangely pleasant.'

Not knowing what was going through her mind, Harry only nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's going to be packed. I mean, Naka-Nee has been advertising it for some time... Though I am amazed that Goto-Oji let it through."

Scratching her cheek, Rose nodded some. "Well, after what happened with Wokyuu, he was convinced to let us have this date. Though the whole thing has been rather spontaneous I suppose." Then she nodded with her smile widening. "But I do have high hopes for it and I know that Haruna shall enjoy it as much as I will."

Only chuckling, Harry grinned. "Considering what it is? I got no doubt that she'll love it."

The tsukumogami's response to that was to close her eyes and smile as she nodded in agreement.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Grunting, Natsumi was on her back trying to ignore the giant ball that was on top of her. After several moments though, she grimaced before trying to push it back. "Get... off of me... now..." When the kitsune did get it off her finally, she blinked as it unrolled into a sumo wrestler. "... The heck?"

In front of her, the Sumo Wrestler got into a stance. "HA!"

Then it rushed forward with a wide eyed Natsumi shoving her hands forward. Each time striking the Sumo Wrestler in the stomach and preventing him from getting her. "Back... back!"

Meanwhile, in the waking world Louisiana opened one eye and tilted her head to find the sleeping Natsumi muttering as she put her hands on the Battleship's chest and was pushing. "'Ack... get..." After several seconds though, Natsumi fully opened her eyes and blinked at what she was doing, even squeezing. "Eh?"

Extremely amused, Louisiana whispered down at her. "Oh my... You're being rather forward this morning, ma chérie."

Several seconds passed as that percholated through Natsumi's mind as well as what she had been doing. Then Natsumi realized that she had been unknowingly feeling up the Battleship and her eyes widened while her face went bright red. "I-I-I... you... we... GAH!"

Blinking, Harry yawned as he woke up and sat up a bit. "Um, Natsumi-Chan?" Upon seeing Natsumi covering her face, Harry tilted his head to the side in confusion even as Hanna shifted from where she was cuddled into his back. "Did something happen?"

Simply patting Natsumi on the head, Louisiana smiled. "Non, mon chéri. Just us both awakening from pleasant dreams."

A choking sound came from Natsumi at that, but before anything else could be said, Louisiana pulled her into a hug. Not quite firing on all cylinders, Harry considered this before shrugging. "Okay, I guess." Glancing at the time found him laying back down before yawning. "We still got some time before we need to head out to beat the crowds."

With a chuckle, Louisiana nodded before she reached over and pulled him more into Natsumi. "Indeed, mon chéri. In fact, some more cuddling sounds rather nice, non?"

Grumbling, Hanna shifted until she was pressed back against Harry again. "Mmm'ine."

If anything though, that caused the Battleship to grin even as Natsumi sighed. 'Why me...' For a moment though, she could almost swear that she heard laughter. '... The Kami are laughing at me, I just know it.'

Meanwhile, in another room in the hotel, Haruna opened the door to the suite that her and Rose were sharing. "Haruna is back, Rose-Chan! And Haruna brought some light breakfast..." As soon as she walked in, Haruna trailed off at the sight that met her.

Said sight of Rose there in her underware as she pulled on something rather form fitting. One thought did manage to make it through Haruna's mind though as she watched. 'Is that... leather?"

Looking over her bare shoulder, Rose gave her girlfriend a bright smile. "Oh, that actually sounds rather lovely, Haruna. Just give me a few moments to get this on." With a slight frown, she pulled her arms through the sleeves and pulled up the zipper. "It is rather snug... and tight."

Haruna just stood there as her words drifted through her mind. 'Rather snug... tight...' Quickly shaking it off, Haruna took a deep breath even as her chief engineer warned her to lay off a bit before she popped a valve. Of course, then Rose did some stretches which caused the Battleship to feel steam leaking from her ears. "Urk."

At hearing that, Rose blinked and turned. "Is something wrong, Haruna?"

Slowly, Haruna shook her head. "N-no, nothing is wrong with Haruna." Swallowing the lump in her throat, Haruna gave her the best smile she could even as her eyes roamed. "Though Haruna wonders where Rose-Chan got... those clothes."

Blinking, Rose finished her stretches. "Oh! Kongou gave them to me before she left." Rose then tapped her chin in thought. "She stated it would be best if I wore them."

Her head going up and down, Haruna slowly nodded. "Haruna sees... and why did Onee-Sama say that you should wear them?"

With a soft giggle, Rose's smile turned bashful. "Well, she said that I may need them for protection for what we're doing." Looking herself over, Rose nodded. "I think that it looks rather good on me, though..."

Quickly snapping out of her daze, Haruna looked up at her. "Though...?"

Simply tilting her head to the side, Rose shrugged. "I don't quite understand why Haruna isn't wearing a similar outfit." A small blush grew on her face as she shook her head. "After all, I happen to think that you would look rather nice and we would match." Walking up to the stunned Battleship, Rose kissed her on the cheek before grabbing a croissant off it and biting into it. "Mmm... anyways, Kongou and the others have gone on ahead, but I wanted to wait for you."

Moments later though, Haruna set the plate down and grabbed Rose by the waist before pulling her into an embrace. "Well... Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan looks good as well and would like to spend some time with her."

All she got was Rose putting her arms around her neck with another giggle before Haruna kissed her on the corner of her lips. "Oh my, well, I'm not against that idea."

The two of them just smiled at each other before giggling.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reaching down to the clutch, Haruna gripped it and shifted into another gear. Almost immediately, she felt her car respond with an ease that made her smile as the engine roared and the sides of the road flashed by. The grin only grew as the radio shifted to another Eurobeat song and in Haruna's mind only one thing made this more perfect.

One thing that she heard shift the map said person was holding in her lap a bit.

Glancing to the side, Haruna took in the look of concentration on Rose's face as she considered the map she was holding. "How are we doing, Rose-Chan?"

Just blinking, Rose looked up and quickly checked their surroundings, just gripping onto the handhold in the roof as the car went into a drift around a corner. "We're doing quite well, Haruna, we're almost to the last leg."

Even as Haruna considered that, Rose grabbed the handhold as they roared up a hill and then went airborne for a few seconds before slamming down. "Hmm... Haruna sees."

Behind them, several cars made the attempt to keep up with Haruna while she slowly narrowed the distance between her and the leaders. Up in the air, there were two helicopters keeping base with them. One was for the race itself and the other was a JMSDF helo. Hundreds of miles away, in Yokosuka, Goto groaned as he held his face in his hands while Naka worked. "How did I let you bunch convince me to do this?"

Naka snickered a bit as she glanced at the livestream she was operating. On the screen was the view from the JMSDF helicopter with the other half taken up by a wide angle view of the inside of the car. Rose on one side and Haruna on the other. The Cruiser had even added a speedometer in the corner to show how fast Haruna was going. "Because Haruna gave you Destroyer eyes to let her join? Because it's easy and positive PR? Because Kongou threatened you if you made her sister sad and didn't let her go out on a date with Rose?"

With a blink, Goto pointed at the screen as they went through another turn, just missing the guardrail to cheers and exclamations. "I still don't understand... That's... a date?"

Snickering yet again, Naka nodded. "For those two, it is." She then winked at him. "Nothing is so romantic as a quiet, romantic drive in the countryside."

Once more, Goto pointed at the screen. "There's nothing quiet about that."

Meanwhile, Haruna took another turn with all the skill she had. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Rose looked rather worried about something. "Is something wrong, Rose-Chan?"

Biting her lip, Rose tapped the map. "We're coming up on a bunch of turns but there's a problem, Haruna!" Seeing the glance,she shook her head. "The first of them is a real hairpin turn tighter then any of the others... we'll have to slow down to make it, look, the front runners already are!"

Haruna blinked as she realized that Rose was right, the others had started to slow some. "Hmm..." Bringing her thumb up, Haruna began to think as she lightly bit it. "If we slow down... then we'll stay where we are. They will make their moves in the next few turns after, but if Haruna doesn't..." She then looked over to Rose. "Rose-Chan."

Innocently blinking, Rose looked over at Haruna. "Yes?"

The serious expression on Haruna's face though made Rose flush some. "Do you trust Haruna?"

For a moment, Rose had to parse the question before she snorted. "Of course I trust you! That is quite the silly question from you, Haruna!"

Even though she didn't say it out loud, those simple words caused Haruna's boilers to warm. But on Haruna's face, she began to grin before reaching for the clutch. "Good, now hang on, Rose-Chan!"

At Yokosuka, Naka blinked. "What is she... wait, she's speeding up!?"

Meanwhile at the finish line, Kongou, Hiei, and Kirishima looked up from the laptop that had Naka's livestream on it. All three were done up in their usual mechanic outfits, complete with oil and grease stains. On Kongou's face was a grin as she nodded and narrowed her eyes. "Go, Haruna..."

In the car, Haruna shifted gears and brought her foot down on the gas pedal as the speedometer rose. Having stuffed the map between her legs, Rose reached up and held on tightly to the handhold while her other hand grabbed the armrest. "Here comes that turn, Haruna!"

All Haruna did was narrow her eyes as she sped the leader who boggled at her. "What in the world.... did their breaks give out or something!?"

Beside him, his own navigator shrugged and shook his head. "Hell if I know, but no way in hell they're going to make that corner!"

However, Haruna's breaks had not given out and instead, she brought her car close to the inside of the turn before whipping the car into it. Throwing open her car door, which was facing the outside of the turn, people only had a moment to stare. And then Haruna slammed her foot down onto the road at an angle as she swung the car into the drift, pushing off the road.

Battleship steel met the asphalt at more then a hundred miles an hour as the car continued the turn at high speed. Inside the car, Rose was gaping at the huge cloud of sparks that shot into the air. In Yokosuka, Goto fell out of his chair while Naka's jaw dropped. On her livestream, she noted mostly silence though one person, who she recognized as the returned USS Taylor kept typing that it was bullshit, complete and utter bullshit.

Car shuddering, Haruna kept the steering wheel stationary despite how hard it was fighting. Then they were out of the turn leaving a line of flame behind them as Haruna brought her foot back in and closed the door. Looking behind them, Rose stared before she winkled her nose at something she could smell and glanced around. It took her a moment, but she soon spotted what was doing it. "Um... Haruna?"

Raising an eyebrow as they went into another hairpin turn, Haruna nodded. "Hai, Rose-Chan?"

Slowly, Rose brought up a finger and pointed at something out of view of the camera. "Um... your foot is on fire."

With a blink, Haruna looked down and then turned her attention back to the road. "Hai, Haruna knows her foot is on fire."

After a few moments, Rose just nodded. "Oh, never mind then."

Unknown to either of them, Goto only slammed his head into Naka's desk which got him a glare from said Cruiser. "Hey, stop that! I just cleaned it this morning!"

All Goto did was groan.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Natsumi was frowning as she looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on, Harry-Chan? After all, there has to be a reason why Iku asked me earlier to show up with my Miko outfit. There's no summoning schduled today after all."

Scratching his head, Harry looked away and coughed. "Um, well... you see..."

Walking into the room with Summoning Pool, she stopped and stared at the sight that met her. Mainly that of the Submarines taking items out of Harry's wagon and putting them into a pile. It took a moment, but Natsumi recognized rough steel bars, what looked like sheets of beaten metal, and bullets that they were putting into a group. "What in the world..." She then turned to Harry. "Is this going to be an unauthorized summoning, Harry-Chan?"

A chuckle off to the side caused her to turn and blink at the sight of Akashi who was leaning against the wall with a mostly healed Taigei in a chair. "Not exactly unauthorized, Teitoku does know that we're here and what we're doing after all. So you don't need to worry about getting in trouble for helping us."

Yet again, Natsumi glanced at the Submarines with a small frown. "Not unauthorized? Yet we're the only ones here? What gives?"

Tilting her head back, Akashi considered the question before answering. "It's an experiment I suppose. So think of it as being an off the books attempt, if that helps."

Now narrowing her eyes, the kitsune looked between her and the Summoning Pool. "Uh-huh. And he released the summoning materials needed?"

Much to her surprise though, it was Maruyu who spoke up having walked up. "Actually... these aren't summoning materials from the stockpile." At the look, she twiddled her fingers some. "We've gathered them up ourselves over the past week."

Gobsmacked, Natsumi looked between the piles and the small Submarine. Eventually she shook her head in utter surprise. "Wait, you gathered them all up yourself?" When she got a nod, Natsumi furrowed her eyebrows. "But... from where?"

Just glancing at Taigei who nodded with smile. "Go on, Maruyu-Chan. I am very proud of what you girls did after all."

Taking a deep breath, the Subgirl bit her lip a bit. "Well... the aluminum comes from drink cans we gathered up and then beat and heated into sheets in case we can get a small Carrier. The steel comes from steel cans we folded and heated until they became, well... steel bars with Akashi-San's help."

From where she was, RO nodded with a smile. "Yup! We're hoping that we have enough for some small escort ships for Taigei." Her expression hardened for a moment as she nodded. "We're not going to leave her get hurt again if we can help it."

With a glance at the flustered, though pleased Submarine Tender, Natsumi slowly nodded. "I see..." Looking at the pile of materials, she made a rough estimate in her head. 'Hmm... enough for at least a large Capital ship...' After a moment, she gave a small smile to them. "Then I woud be very happy to give a hand to your attempt. Though... this had to be a lot of work to set up. You had to gather up all these materials in the first place."

All Hachi did was give her a look as she set down a small barrel of oil, about the size of her hand. "Taigei-Nee-San is worth it."

Chuckles made them turn to see Akashi grinning at them. "Teitoku is more then happy to let you do so. And... he asked that I give some help." Seeing their confusion, she reached into her pocket and pulled out two small containers, the size and shape of her pinky which made their eyes widen. Mainly because one had a tiny, almost gem-like shard in it which seemed to sparkle with an inner light while the other had liquid that glowed. "Mainly these."

Rushing up, Imuya stared at them and then at Akashi before she pointed a shaking finger at the container with the liquid. "I-is that what I think it is? That... special Liquid of Birth?"

Slowly, Akashi nodded some. "Yup! With what happened to Louisiana, we got enough that Teitoku stated that a few millilitres being used as a 'Test' wouldn't be a huge issue." Then she frowned a bit. "We need a better name then that though..."

It said something that all the Submarines stared at her before as one they rushed Akashi and hugged her tightly. "THANK YOU!"

Only smiling, Akashi patted each of them on the head. "You're very welcome. Hopefully, we have a successful summoning so what happened... doesn't happen again."

As they pulled away, she found herself being hugged by Harry. "Thank you, Akashi-Oba. Now Taigei-Chan won't be in danger again."

Said Submarine Tender was heavily blushing to Akashi's amusement. 'And thank you, Harry-Chan... girls... for caring so much for me.'

Hearing a knock at the door though, Harry grinned. "Looks like the others are here!"

That got him blinks from the Subgirls. "Others?"

Walking towards the door, Harry opened it. "Well, yeah... if there's more shipgirls then the more successful the Summoning, right? And if we want escorts..." White then bounced in followed by DesDiv6, Tenryuu, Tatsuta, Hanna, even Louisiana and Shinano. They were followed by Hamakaze, Isokaze, Yukikaze, Yuudachi, Fubuki, and Mutsuki. "We should get those best at it, right?"

For several moments, Iku and the others were silent as they stared at the group before the blue haired Subgirl spoke, her voice thick with emotion. "Y-you're all here? T-to help us?"

Hanna just smiled and walked over to give Iku a hug. "Of course! Why wouldn't we?"

Off to the side, Fubuki gave them a salute as she smiled. "Fubuki and the others will do our best and help!"

Tearful, Shioi leapt at the Destroyer and hugged her. "Thank you... Thank you, you have no idea what this means to us!"

All Fubuki did was hug her back with a small smile. "I think that we do." Internally, she sighed. 'Besides, it's the least we can do after how we treated you.'

Several minutes later, Natsumi clapped her hands and nodded. "Okay, let's do this! People, take your places and we can start."

For the next couple of minutes, Natsumi lead them through the ceremony, memorized from countless times of both watching and participating as a assistant to her aunt. And as it finished, all of them watched with widened eyes as the pile of summoning materials disappeared into motes of light and flowed into the summoning pool. They were not the only things taken as the liquid in the container also glowed brightly and then vanished.

But the big surprise was the gemstone shard.

It began to pulse slowly as if it was a heartbeat and then glowed brighter and brighter until everyone had to look away. Then there was a flash of red light and it was gone. Before anyone could react though, the waters of the Summoning Pool broiled and frothed and Taigei staggered a bit, which caused Iku to grab her. "Taigei-Nee-Chan, are you alright?"

She just nodded as she held her head and tried to steady herself. "Y-yes, but I feel kind of weird..."

Of course, that was when Harry pointed at the pool below. "Uh, guys?"

Nearly everyone rushed to the railings and gasped as they looked down. There were several small, seemingly eight year old girls there with riggings standing on the water. One of them looked around in confusion before spotting the shipgirls and stiffening. "Ah! Escort Ship Shimusu and sisters reporting!"

Very slowly, Akashi nodded, though her eyes were fixed on the one girl that stood taller then the others. "Um, welcome back and..."

The girl that everyone was staring at blinked her crimson eyes and then bowed as her purple hair shifted along with her Kimono. "Light Carrier Ryuuhou! I'll try once again to do my best as a Carrier!"

Everyone blinked and looked between the wide eyed Taigei and Ryuuhou. It would have been hilarious how their heads whipped back and forth before one word escaped them. "Ehhhhh!?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Rubbing his forehead, Goto let out a sigh before focusing on Akashi fully. "Okay, exactly what the hell happened here? I thought that Kaga's... twin, was a fluke. And yet here we are with Taigei and her... conversion."

Slowly, Akashi nodded as she became thoughtful and stood up. "I've actually been looking into it and I think that I have an idea as to what is going on..." Walking over to the white board, she frowned before picking up a marker. "I'm not going to waste your time with going over the actual process of summoning a shipgirl, but... you know why we have a large group when we perform one, correct?'

Only nodding, Goto leaned forward. "Because of the amount of spiritual energy needed for a summon. I know this, so why bring it up?"

Akashi chuckled and then wagged the marker at him. "Mainly because what just happened filled in a couple of blanks." Having gotten Goto's attention as well as that of Haru's, Ryuujou's, and Junyou, Akashi tapped the marker against the board. "Such as the fact that the ritual it seems is being done on a partial basis up to now."

That caused Haru to raise an eyebrow and look at her in interest. "Oh? How so?"

Looking at her, the Repair Ship nodded some. "It ties back to us shipgirls mainly. Now, despite us usually going on about shipgirl magic, we're mostly formed from spiritual energies when summoned. But as I am sure everyone has noted, when shipgirls are there, the chance of a summoning failing also go down. On the opposite end though, each time a wizard has been involved, the chances of something coming through go up. I suspect that magic helps in the summoning process."

Rather intrigued, Junyou for once was sober as she watched Akashi. "Hmm..." Frowning, she looked at Ryuujou who also had an interested look. "You know, the kid did manage to summon both Hamakaze and Isokaze that time. And he only had himself, White Plains, and Natsumi there with him."

Becoming thoughtful, Ryuujou nodded. "That's... a good point. From other experiences it should have at best been a failed summoning. So how the heck did that happen?"

In reply, Akashi snapped her fingers. "Exactly! It took me a bit but I think I know." Uncapping the marker, she drew a circle. "Now, on our side of things, we mostly use spiritual energy to summon. But wizards... they use magic." Akashi shaded in part of the circle in a way that made them blink before she erased a small bit of the shaded area. "Us shipgirls though, I suspect, give a small portion of magic to our attempts." Placing a small, shaded area inside the unshaded one, she capped the marker and stood back. "Put it together and..."

Haru sat up in her seat a little. "Yin and Yang..."

Nodding at her, Akashi tapped the board. "Exactly! Magic and spiritual energy act as that for the summoning. Using only spiritual energy works only if some magic is mixed in and doesn't always work. Using magic generally works all the time, but does not always call what you want. As we've seen, using both will both increase the chances of getting something and that something being what you want."

Slowly, Goto raised an eyebrow. "It does? And your proof is...?"

There was a slight smirk on Akashi's face as she walked over and pulled several papers out from a binder. "Here, these are graphs which show summoning attempts that succeeded compared to failing." Placing several sheets on Goto's desk, she spread them out as everyone leaned in to look. "If you look here, all of a sudden the attempts here in Yokosuka increased in their success rate compared to the other bases roughly five or so years ago, which was when..."

Eyebrows raising a bit, Ryuujou nodded. "Harry-Chan came to live here. Are you saying he's somehow the reason."

However, Akashi shook her head. "Not him specifically. But rather the magic he has boosted the effectiveness of the summonings he was involved in. And it's not just him." She then pulled out another group of sheets. "It took some doing, but I got a hold of data from some friends over in Britain. "And wouldn't you know it? The base where Harry's friend Hermione, who is a witch, was stationed at also saw a boost in their success rate. And right here is the main base Warspite is at, often visited by Ronald Weasley. They also saw a boost in success rates each time he was on the base."

Frowning, Goto let his eyes roam across the information in front of him before he slowly nodded. "Hmm... okay, this is rather interesting. But..." Tilting his head up, he stared at Akashi. "But what does this have to do with how we now have two versions of Taigei or two versions of Kaga."

Once more reaching into her bag, Akashi pulled out two folders and placed them in front of him before opening one marked with Kaga's name. "It has a lot to do with their history. Let's start with Kaga... she was launched in 1921 as a Battleship. However, all work was stopped on her on February 5, 1922 due to the Washington Treaty. She had a crew all set up, but with her being placed on the list to be scrapped, they all went their separate ways. So she floated there until the Great Kanto Earthquake."

More then a little thoughtful, Haru nodded. "I remember that earthquake." At their looks, she shrugged. "I was in Tokyo when it happened... To say that it was not pleasant is putting it mildly."

Shrugging that off for later, Goto turned back to the information which included pictures of the unfinished Kaga. "Yes, and Amagi was badly damaged enough she was written off as being unable to be converted to an Aircraft Carrier as Akagi was. Because of that, they decided to convert Kaga." There was a shrewd look in his eyes as he glanced up. "So where are you going with this?"

With a small smirk, Akashi tapped one spot. "She was slatted to be converted in December, 1923. But no work was done until 1925. That means that there's several degrees of separation between Battleship Kaga and Aircraft Carrier Kaga. It may not mean much physically, but on a spiritual level?"

Deep in thought, Junyou slowly nodded. "Huh... you know what? You're right, on a spiritual level that makes a lot of difference."

All Akashi did though was open the other folder which had Taigei's name on it. "Yeah, but let's head to Taigei for now." With a deep breath, she began with a frown. "Now, firstly some background on her. Taigei... was not a good design to say the least. When she was built, the Navy designed her with the idea of being able to rapidly and easily convert her to either a Tanker, or an Light Aircraft Carrier from a Submarine Tender."

Goto just stared at her for several moments at that. "... Convert her to either a Tanker or an Light Aircraft Carrier... You're serious." When she nodded, he just pinched his nose and groaned. "Both those types of ships are entirely different in design. Why would you design a ship..."

In reply, Akashi waved a hand around. "Well, the Navy did also build ships that were both a Tanker and an Aircraft Carrier during the War, but that's getting off topic." Placing a finger on the papers in front of her, she tapped it. "The point is though, she was designed that way. So when Japan planned to go to War with the United States, she was brought in to be converted. Her conversion was supposed to take three months, but due to problems, it took a lot longer. She was brought in to be converted in December 1941, and did not leave as an Aircraft Carrier until November 1942. She was damaged during Doolittle, but not that much. A lot of it came down to issues with her design really, such as needing to swap out her engines entirely."

Nodding, Goto leaned back a bit and considered what he was told. "So a lengthly rebuild process along with a name change." At the looks, the Admiral shrugged. "I would assume that would matter on a spiritual level. After all, I remember being told it's bad luck to rename a ship."

For several seconds, Haru considered this and glanced at Ryuujou and Junyou who both nodded. "That makes a certain amount of sense. And it would provide a degree of separation between Taigei and Ryuuhou."

To their surprise though, Akashi shook her head. "There's more to it then that. You see, when she came in to be converted, she was placed under the command of one Captain. He was replaced as Commander in April by another Captain, who was himself replaced yet again in November shortly before she launched... And then when she was launched commissioned as Ryuuhou, she got yet another Captain. From start to finish, she went through four Captains without leaving the construction. So that's another large degree of separation."

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Ryuujou slowly nodded before closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. "Right. So in order to get 'Twins' like what happened with Kaga and Taigei, you need ships that have degrees of separation. And magic."

Akashi raised a finger. "A lot of magic. Kana was summoned when we had five wizards involved as well as most of the shipgirls in the base. Apparently, Akagi felt a twinge as well, though nothing more." That came as a surprise to the others, but the Repair Ship continued. "In Taigei's case, we also had a shard of that fake Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore gave us. Might as well call it Magicite considering that it's mostly magic in composition. Add in that the... Liquid of Birth, and fuck do we need a better name but it'll do for now, was involved? Something designed to create shipgirls? No wonder we got duplicates." With a hum, she gestured with a hand. "Though, Ryuuhou does have quite a bit of Taigei's knowledge. I think that's more down to magic, the more magic the more of the other shipgirl's knowledge they'll have."

Having become thoughtful, Goto slowly nodded while Ooyodo, who had been silent, spoke up. "What are you thinking, Teitoku?"

Just snorting, Goto shook his head. "That this explains a lot. But that we also have a number of shipgirls who were originally another class of ship, so I wonder if we can summon their... pre-conversion selves."
What he didn't expect was for Akashi to shrug. "Well, this is all mostly speculation and conjecture. Hopefully I'll have some new data points soon enough."

Utter silence met her as Goto stared at her. It was Junyou who spoke up though and asked what needed to be asked. "What did you do?"

Rolling her eyes, Akashi scoffed. "I shared some of my information and theories with other shipgirls like me. South Dakota is supposed to be running some sort of experiment on the American side with some shards of Magicite I sent her and her own samples of... that liquid." At the looks though, she narrowed her eyes. "She has the full backing of her Admiral to try you know."

All Goto did was close his eyes. "Well, it's not my headache..."
____________________________________________________________________

Grinning, South Dakota looked on as the Summoning Ceremony continued before glancing to the side. "By the way, Texas... thanks for getting in contact with those magical relatives of your crew."

Said Battleship just gave the much younger one a look. "Now, that makes me a mite suspicious of you, Dakota. After all, you told me that this was to be a hand reaching out to them."

With a chuckle, South Dakota nodded and raised her hands. "Whoa, it is, it is, Texas. The Admiral cleared it after all. And look at them, having them see and experience a Summoning? That's going to go a long way to making them relax a bit."

Her eyes drifting towards the rather uncomfortable large group of people, about fifteen of them, Texas hummed. "Maybe not all that relaxed. But better then nothing I suppose..." Then she fixed her eyes back onto South Dakota and narrowed them. "I'm still suspicious about you."

South Dakota squirmed under her gaze for several seconds before she sighed. "Okay, I'll admit, I'm running an experiment and I needed some wizards present." At the sight of Texas' eyes widening and her about to verbally lace into her, South Dakato rushed to cut her off. "But it won't harm, I swear! If it works, then great! And if it doesn't? They'll see just a normal Summoning Ceremony. And the Admiral signed off on it anyways."

Gritting her teeth, Texas let out a hiss. "Well, I will be having a chat with the Admiral after this, you can be sure of that! You should have told me that you were up to one of your zany schemes before now, Dakota! And if one of them gets hurt..."

The threat hung in the air with "Battleship X" just nodded even as she fiddled with the two vials in her pocket. "Y-yeah, they won't." Several minutes later though, South Dakota was looking rather annoyed as nothing had happened. Finally though, she cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted at the man standing beside Saratoga and comforting the depressed looking ship. "YO! JONES, HOW ABOUT YOU GIVE IT A SHOT WITH THAT SONG OF SARA'S? MAYBE HER SISTERS WILL SHOW!"

A hand then grabbed her shoulder and shook her as Texas growled. "Now you leave Sara's boyfriend alone, you hear me, Dakota?"

However, South Dakota grinned as the teacher-turned-writer shook his head with a sigh and then walked took an offered microphone. "Oh, I hear you, Texas. But I want to see if anything happens."

Sighing, the man cleared his throat and then took a deep breath. "She's the ship of happy landings..."

The man's voice filled the room as everyone listened to him continue. Partway through, the hairs on people's necks began to stand up.

"She's the Queen of our Great Navy..."

Feeling a pulse, South Dakota practically tore the vials out of her pocket and noticed that the liquid in one was glowing while the two shards began to pulse as if to a heartbeat.

"She's the Mighty Saratoga..."

Down below, the summoning materials began to vanish even as the light from both the liquid and the shard increased as the song finished until everyone had to look away. But when they could see again, there were four shipgirls standing on the water. Two of them looked nearly identicle to Saratoga and Lexington who boggled at the sight, even as they began to cry tears of happiness at the sight of their sisters. A grin on her face so big it hurt, South Dakota pumped a fist. "YES! It worked!"

Unable to believe what she was seeing, Texas pulled her hat from her head. "I don't know what you did... But I'm impressed, Dakota."

Just puffing her chest out in pride, South Dakota nodded even as she watched what was going on. Heck, there was Saratoga hugging her boyfriend as a matter of fact...

Which was when things went downhill as the Battlecruiser twin of Saratoga glared. "Hey! Who the heck are you and what the hell are you doing with my boyfriend!?"

One could nearly hear a pin drop in the room in the ensuring silence. A silence which was filled with a growl from Saratoga the Carrier. "Excuse me? He's my boyfriend."

Not a single person could tear their eyes away as Saratoga the Battlecruise rushed over to the ladder and practically flew up it. Then she began to stalk towards her twin before grabbing Jones and pulling him into a hug. "He's mine! I may not know what the heck happened, or how I got down there with... rigging not mine own, but I know who my boyfriend is, thank you very much."

Eyes narrowing, Saratoga the Carrier took a few steps forward until she was face to face with her twin. Sadly for her boyfriend, that meant that he was trapped between their bodies as the two began shouting. Blinking for a moment, South Dakota felt the glare from Texas and chuckled weakly. "I didn't expect for her to remember anything from the other..." Feeling the glare increase, she began to run. "I'll, um... take care of this right now!"

Thankfully, the shipgirls there managed to pull the two apart and release the author of 'Changing Destiny' who had been trapped between them...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As the Sun slowly rose, it's light stretched out across the grounds until it reached a particular spot and fell across two closed eyes. Said closed eyes twitched for several moments until they opened to reveal honey brown orbs that blinked before the mouth that was on the same face turned upwards into a smile. 'I thank you, Ra, for the wake up.' Yawning widely and showing fangs, the female's mouth closed. "Looks like another, lovely day."

Her eyes then turned sad as she looked to her side. "Another day without you, Arnold. Though I hope that you have been treated as well as possible."

The small, fifteen foot pyramid just stayed silent, guarding the small tomb that rested beneath it while the two sphinx statues, nearly identicle to the actual sphinx beside the tomb, sat watch. Moments later though, the sphinx turned at the sound of footsteps to see what might have looked like a young, Egyptian woman walking up dressed in clothing from ancient times. A woman, except for the odd construction upon her back and the small, human-like beings that could be seen running along her every once in a while. "[Good Morning, Wise-One.]"

Most would have gotten a riddle from the being that sat there, but all the sphinx did was bow her head as she spoke in a language passed down among the sphinx, unchanged from thousands of years before. "[A good morning to you to, Ancient One.]" She then tilted her head to the side. "[Forgive my rudeness, but I was not expecting company until I returned to the Pride.]"

With a soft chuckle, the Egyptian Sunship smiled at her. "[There is nothing to forgive... Amber.]" Even though the rest of the words were in the old language of Ancient Egyptian, the name was in English. Something that always bemused the Sunshipgirls after they came across the ancient oasis on their journey to find a place to rest after their battles with goblins and wizards. "[I only wished to see the tomb of one whom your pride has said they owed so much to. And to hear more about him.]"

For several moments, Amber was quiet until she spoke and when she did, there was a deep emotion there. "[It was many, many years ago as the humans count such things. The humans of this day and age, on the magical side of things, do not see us as anything more then beasts. Because the type of sphinx most know of, that is most common, can be quite violent. Ones such as myself and my pride have become far too rare... Which leads to problems as we have always been snatched by some, especially when young, by goblins and wizards. Mainly because we make such good guards.]" Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a shuddering sigh. "[I was but a young cub when my pride was attacked by some wizards. The adults were slain and I was taken to a place called America. We were not alone there as it seems that the wizard who owned the property wanted to use us to prevent people from coming onto it. We were fitted with collars that prevented us from going too far.]"

A frown on her face, the Sunshipgirl sat down. "[Sounds as if it was terrible.]"

There was a far off look on Amber's face. "[The family were of the type that Anubis would not think twice about tossing their hearts to Ahmet, possibly without weighing them against Ma'at... all but the youngest, Arnold. He had a good heart, a kind one and hated how his family treated us.]" Sadly chuckling, Amber turned to the Sunshipgirl to see her watching her. "[None of us had names, we were too young at the time. But he gave us the names we now carry, ones we will not change. Often after our... training, Arnold would sneak into where we were and heal us best he could. Sometimes he brought us books of riddles and puzzles as we recovered. His family knew and often jeered at him for caring so much, but he did not care. ]"

Now extremely interested, the ancient shipgirl leaned forward. "[So how did you come to be here? And with him?]"

With a chuckle, Amber gave the small pyramid a bemused look. "[Unknown to us, Arnold slowly planned. Years passed as he did so, even when he went to school. Then... the magical law enforcement hit his family hard. Apparently, they were involved in some things on the non-magical side which was highly illegal. The only one who did not get thrown into jail was Arnold himself as it turns out he had informed them. Of course, his family disowned him, but by then he was already heading to Egypt with us hidden away.]"

Slowly nodding, the Sunshipgirl hummed. "[And so, you came to be here, at this place then?]"

Lips twitching, Amber nodded. "[Yes, it was discovered some years before. An ancient oasis buried under the sands sadly. But for the next twenty years, Arnold used his magic to excavate it, to place it under protections even as dates and other plants were placed here. It became our home. None who threaten us could come here. Arnold was the only human though who was allowed to walk among us, to be part of our pride.]" Shoulders slumping, Amber looked at the Pyramid in sadness. "[It has been fifty years since his passing, and it has not gotten any easier. His death left a hole in us older sphinxes.]"

Moments later, the Sunshipgirl placed a hand on her furry shoulder. "[From what you have told me, I am certain that he lives again in the world after. For deeds such as his are to be rewarded and each time you speak of him, or think of him, he lives anew.]"

Gently, the sphinx bowed her head. "[I thank you for your wisdom, it comforts me greatly.]" Suddenly a laugh burst from her. "[Perhaps Sekhmet watches over him for what he has done for us.]" Only getting a nod, she slowly stood and then smiled. "[Now then... I suppose that it is time for us to speak more of the world and how it has changed. For one day, you shall need to speak with some out there.]"

That only got her nods from the shipgirl as she followed. "[It would be most wise...]"
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Crouched down, Harry frowned thoughtfully before narrowing his eyes. Very slowly, he reached out and knocked his hand against steel and nodded. "What do you think, Hibiki-Chan?"

Frowning herself, Hibiki walked around the object in question as she gave it a searching gaze. "Hmm... Da, I think that this one is a good one for you, Harry-Chan." Still frowning, she reached out and rocked it back and forth. "Good balance to it and decent steering as well."

Harry nodded before he sighed and stood up and put his hand to his chin in thought. "Yeah... but there's the color. I really don't like the silver, it gets dirty way too easily."

That got him a nod from the Destroyer who tapped her fingers against metal. "True. Perhaps there's another color around here with the same model. The price is good though with the deal we could get for it."

With a hum, Harry blinked. "Too, it's in my price range. And I really like the seating it has... Especially since I could take you with it as a passenger."

Nearly unnoticed by him, Hibiki blushed slightly though tapped her finger aginst her chin in thought. "I would not be against that, Harry-Chan..." Taking a deep breath, she let it out. "It does have some nice accessories."

Scratching his head, Harry continued to examine what was in front of him before walking around to beside Hibiki. "I like it, but there's some issues with this model."

A frown, Hibiki tilted her head and nodded. "True. But we could always get one of the Kongous to look at it. Or perhaps ask Akashi to make modifications to it."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry shook his head. "No, we can't." He then grabbed a paper and showed it to her. "See? That sort of thing would void the warranty on it."

Leaning in, a scowl replaced the frown on Hibiki's face. "I see... that is too bad. And it also seems that this store would void the warranty if we made any modifications to it. Even a new paintjob, or any adjustments..."

Only nodding, Harry looked over at her. "So... A bust then?"

Hibiki gave a grunt as she grimaced. "A bust. Perhaps the next place will have something better." With a sigh, she began to guide Harry away with a frown. "Do you really need to replace your old bicycle, Harry-Chan?"

Glancing back at the electric bicycle that they had been looking at, Harry nodded. "Yeah, I've had my old one since I came here. And, well... I am looking for something that will last me longer then a few years since I'm growing."

Slowly, the Destroyer took that information in before looking at her friend as they stepped outside. "Hmm..."

It was only several moments later, but Hibiki stopped and turned so that she was right in front of him. To Harry's confusion though, she stepped forward until they were pretty much pressed against each other as her eyes roamed from his head down and then back up. "Um... Hibiki-Chan?"

Not saying anything, Hibiki raised a hand and held it at the top of her head and then moving it towards Harry and then back. Realizing what was going on, Harry blinked and then smiled a bit. But before he could say anything, Hibiki blinked. "You're a little bit taller then I am now..."

That was a surprise and Harry looked up at her hand. "I am? You're sure about that, Hibiki-Chan?" At her nod, he grinned a bit. "Cool!"

Smiling, it took a moment for Hibiki to realize how close she was to Harry. Something that caused her cheeks to pinken before she hopped back to his confusion, though a moment later she coughed before gesturing to Harry to follow her. As she walked back to her own bicycle, Hibiki glanced over her shoulder in curiosity. "Harry-Chan? Why did you want me to come and help you today?"

With a blink at the, to him, odd question, Harry glanced at his longtime friend. "Why did I want you to come help me?" At her nod, he scratched his cheek. "Well... you, Inazuma-Chan, Akatsuki-Chan, and Ikazuchi-Chan know a lot about bicycles... and, um..." Seeing her blink, Harry chuckled a bit. "I haven't spent much time with you and I thought that we spend some time together now."

Much to his confusion, Hibiki blushed some as she pulled her hat's brim down some. But there was a slightly pleased smile on her face as she nodded as well. "Bolshoe spasibo, Harry-Chan. I..." For a moment, she bit her lip and then moved her hand so that the back of it was brushing Harry's. "I'm happy to spend some time with you."

Not quite sure what was going on, Harry only nodded some. "Same here." Frowning, Harry furrowed his eyebrows as they got closer to Hibiki's bicycle. "Um, where did you get yours?"

Somewhat thoughtful, Hibiki considered the question before she slowly nodded. "We bought ours when we escorted a convoy to America. But, um, I can see what I can do."

Grinning, Harry gave her a hug. "Thanks! Having something like you would be so cool!" Then he spotted something and his face lit up. "Hey, look at that, Hibiki-Chan! It's a crepe truck!"

Looking in the direction that Harry was pointing in, Hibiki felt her eyebrows raise. Sure enough, it was as he said: A food truck selling crepes. Even though she felt her stomach grumble, Hibiki sighed and shook her head. "I don't think that I have enough, Harry-Chan."

However, Harry only grinned and grabbed her hand as he pulled her along. "Don't worry about that, Hibiki-Chan, I'll pay for us both. Besides, it's the least that I can do for you coming out today."

Unknown to Harry, the Destroyer was practically luminescent as she was pulled along, but there was still a large smile on her face. After all, having some crepes with Harry sounded like a good way to end their trip.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

For most places in the world, the sight of a young boy in a boat offshore would have caused boggled looks. With the Abyssals having taken much of the sea, going too far out to see was dangerous for even adults in charge of fishing fleets. However, Harry had to advantages over most other cases. One, there were enough shipgirls in the waters around Yokosuka that Abyssal incursions were extremely rare. Two, not even five miles away he knew Wokyuu's island was located with the Abyssal keeping an eye out. Even if there was an Abyssal strike force, he could easily get to the island and safety under Wokyuu's watch in her bunker.

Thirdly, Haruna and Rose had come out with him as they wanted to visit Wokyuu on her island anyways. There was also a fourth reason why he was safe which was shown as the waters beside the boat were distrubed and Harry leaned over the side as a familiar Subgirl popped up. "Maruyu-Chan!"

Giggling, Maruyu grabbed her goggles and them pushed them up onto her forehead as she nodded. "Hai!" With a glance around, she blinked. "I hope that you're not bored, Harry-Chan just sitting in the boat."

In reply, Harry reached over and grabbed a book that he held up. "Nope! I'm catching up on some of my reading for school..." After a moment, he grimced. "I mean non-magical school, not magical stuff. But at least I'm keeping up!"

Slowly, Maruyu only nodded as she floated there with a small smile. "Well... you do need a normal education if you're going to be joining the JMSDF. Especially if you want to be an Admiral."

With a shrug, Harry put the book back and peered down into the water. "So what do you have for me this time, Maruyu-Chan? You were down there for a bit."

A bright smile on her face, Maruyu lifted her arm and pulled a mesh net that was full out of the water. "I managed to find a bunch of crabs down there. But... I only took the ones big enough, so that was what caused me to take so long. Had to go looking for them." Maruyu then passed him the bag and nodded. "Mind setting down the ladder, Harry-Chan?"

Only nodding, Harry grabbed the rope ladder and threw it over the side so that Maruyu could climb up it and grabbed the bag of crabs from her. Placing it to the side, he held out his hand and helped her out of the water and into the boat. "Up you go." After she was inside the boat, Harry turned to the bag as various claws snapped and clicked before shaking his head. "You got a lot of crabs, Maruyu-Chan!" Hearing her make a choking sound, he turned and blinked as she stared at him with a red face. "Is something wrong?"

Quickly though, the small Submarine waved her hands around. "Nothing, nothing. Um, just... can you do me a small favor, Harry-Chan?" Waiting until he nodded, she continued. "Just, don't say something like that again, okay?"

Blinking, Harry only shrugged slowly though he was rather confused. "Okay, Maruyu-Chan." Once they put all the crabs away, Harry glanced into one of the other coolers which contained some fish on ice. "I think that we got enough, what do you think, Maruyu-Chan?"

Simply looking over his shoulder, Maruyu hummed a little bit before she finally nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I think that we got more then enough." With a grin, she pumped her fist into the air. "I declare this resource expedition to be complete!"

Just laughing, Harry nodded as he moved to the motor and then yanked on the cord. Within a minute, the motor was running and he was making his way towards Wokyuu's island. "It shouldn't take too long before we're back home. You think that everyone will be happy with our catch?"

Glancing at the coolers, Maruyu nodded some. "Yeah, I think that they will be. We got plenty of shellfish, fish, and I even caught an octopus! So we should have some nice, fresh seafood."

With a sigh, Maruyu sat down next to Harry and then leaned against him a bit, Not really caring much about how she was still damp from the water, Harry blinked a bit. "You tired, Maruyu-Chan?"

Slowly, she nodded before yawning. "Yeah, with the others out hunting for that Abyssal with the floatplanes I've been kind of busy since I can't really help them." At Harry's look of concern, Maruyu shook her head. "I might not like the fact that I can't really fight at their level, but... I can take up the slack for them at resource collection."

Harry only hummed in thought at that as he continued to guide the boat towards the nearby island. Besides the gathering of manganese nodules, "Resource collection" also referred to how a lot of the shipgirl bases would send out some of the girls to catch seafood to use to pad out base supplies. It wasn't needed anywhere near as much now with the convoy routes finally clear, but it still helped out. Hence the "Mission" that they were out on. Glancing over at Maruyu though, Harry just smiled a little bit as she stretched again and rubbed at her eyes. "Well... it's going to be a bit, so if you want to rest some..."

Blinking, Maruyu turned towards him and raised her eyebrows some. "Really?" At his nod, she blushed a bit before shuffling closer. Before Harry could ask though, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. A smile though grew on her face as Harry placed one arm around her to keep her steady. 'This is nearly as good as headpats...'

It was roughly an hour later, after getting Haruna and Rose, that the group reached the base. Much to Harry's surprise though, Maruyu had not woken up once from her nap. Even though he didn't want to wake his friend, Harry still lightly shook her after they tied up. "Maruyu-Chan, we're back at the base."

After a few moments, the Submarine sleepily opened her eyes and looked around in confusion before she nodded. "O-oh, yeah... we are." Getting to her feet, she yawned and shook her head as she tried to wake up. "We should offload I guess."

However, a laugh caused her to look up to see a familiar face grinning down at her. "Nay, lass! Ye don't be needing to do such work."

Eyes widening, Maruyu blinked a little bit. "Kiso-Nee-San?!"

The Light Cruiser grinned as she nodded. "Aye, decided to come up and give yeh a little hand since yeh be here so much recently." She then winked a bit. "Even though the base be in fine hands with yeh here."

Blushing some, the small Sub smiled up at here nonetheless before she yawned again. "Just... give me a moment, Kiso-Nee-San. And I'll help."

With a snort, Kiso just hopped into the water and walked to the other side of the boat. "Did ye not here what I just said, Maruyu? Ye have done more then enough, let ye ol' Nee-San here do the rest o' the work for ye so tha' ye can rest them eyes of yours." Before Maruyu could say anything though, Kiso turned to Harry and nodded. "I be entrusting my Imouto to ye, Mister Potter. Make sure that she gets back ta her quarters where she can get some rest she so deserves."

Only nodding, Harry saluted her. "Will do!" Turning, he helped Maruyu out of the boat and onto the dock before guiding her towards the end of it. "Come on, Maruyu-Chan, let's get you home so you can get some sleep."

Simply watching, Kiso turned towards Haruna and frowned at the smile there. "Maruyu be a good lass, just a mite too stubborn at times. Needs ta be watched, ye see."

Taking one of the coolers, Haruna only nodded as she passed it to Rose who placed it onto the dock. "Hai, Haruna can see that Maruyu-San is a very hard worker. And Haruna thinks that Kiso-San should be very proud of Maruyu-San for all the work she does."

All Kiso did was softly snort. "Aye, I am. Of that ye can be sure." She then glanced to Maruyu and raised an eyebrow as she stumbled, only for Harry to grab her into a bridal carry. "A question for ye, if it not be too much trouble?"

Only nodding, Haruna could already guess what that question was, but smiled just the same. "Haruna will try to answer it."

Kiso fixed her with a serious look before narrowing her visible eye. "Tha' there boy there... Is he trustworthy to be around me Maru?"

Holding up a hand to forestall Rose's shout of indignation, Haruna only nodded. "Hai, Harry-Chan is more then trustworthy to be around here. Harry-Chan would rather harm himself then see her harmed in any way."

Very slowly, Kiso nodded at that. "I be seeing that, but just wanted ta make sure. Don' want me Imouto be hurt in anyway, ye understand." At their looks, she shrugged as she passed Rose another cooler. "Tha' there boy be who Maruyu often talks about back in Kure. But I not be knowing him well enough ta form an opinion quite yet on the lad. Not just yet."

That only caused Haruna to nod. "Haruna understands and thinks that Kiso makes for a very good Onee-San for Maruyu-San."

More then a little flustered, Kiso nodded as she scratched her cheek. "But of course I would." She then frowned a bit. "So I not be needing ta threaten the lad then?"

Softly giggling, Haruna shook her head. "No, Haruna is sure that Harry-Chan does not even realize it yet."

More giggling caused them to turn to Rose who shook her head. "Oh my, it will be rather interesting in a few years though. Master does remind me ever so much of Mistress Lily in that way..."

With a sigh, Kiso shook her head and went back to work. "Well then, no need ta be borrowing trouble I be thinking. So let's put our keels into this and get the work done."

A distance away though, Maruyu felt like her face was about to ignite as Harry continued to carry her. "Um, you can put me down now, Harry-Chan..."

Blinking, he looked down at her with a frown. "We're not that far from the Subpens though, Maruyu-Chan. And I'm pretty sure that I can carry you partway there at least."

Not really wanting to argue the point, Maruyu only leaned her head against Harry's chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his heartbeat. Something that slowly made her smile as it relaxed her with the rhythmic sound. Not long after, Maruyu dozed off with a happy expression on her face.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

More than a little excited, Harry examined what was in front of him in disbelief. Like the club house he shared with the Akatsukis, it was a former shipping crate modified into a small building. But that was where the similarities ended. Turning, he looked at Akashi who was leaning against the wall near a door to her workshop. "You did this... all for me? Really?"

Grinning herself, Akashi nodded and chuckled as she walked up beside him. "I did as a matter of fact." Crossing her arms, she looked over the small wooden shed and nodded. "Remember back during Easter when we got to talking about homework? And you mentioned that some of your potions homework might involve making the potions yourself?"

Slowly, Harry nodded as he did remember that talk. "Yeah, but..." Glancing at the building, he shook his head. "I didn't think something like this."

Only raising an eyebrow, Akashi gave him a knowing look. "You weren't going to brew them in your bedroom, were you?" At the sheepish look, she sighed in amusement. "Anyways... there's another reason that I built this here."

More then a little confused, Harry blinked up at her. "Really? Why?"

Tilting her head towards her workshop, Akashi ruffled his hair. "So that I can keep a close eye on you when you decide to make some potions. I'm within shouting distance after all so if something happens, I can be right there. Just remember, I'm giving you some trust so if you decide to make potions, let me know before hand so that I'll be close by, okay?"

With a large grin, Harry nodded. "Will do, Akashi-Oba!"

Gently chuckling, Akashi ruffled his hair again. "So then... how about we go ahead and have a look inside then, shall we?" At his nod, she walked up to the door and produced a key which she handed to him. "Now, this will be yours, Harry. I'll have my own just in case though if it's ever needed."

Taking the key, Harry nodded before he placed it into the lock and then, with a click, unlocked the small shed. Slowly, he opened the door and blinked before his eyes widened at the inside. "Wow..."

Just following him as he stepped inside, Akashi nodded as she looked around. "Yeah, not bad for a little work space." With a glance over her shoulder, she smiled as Harry looked around. "Now then, I might as well show you around a bit. Firstly, you'll notice that you have some portholes. Yes, they're actual portholes."

Quickly walking over to one, Harry's eyes widened some in glee. "Really? These are real portholes?"

Unable to help herself, Akashi let out a laugh before shaking her head. "Yes, they're real." With practiced ease, she opened one of them to the outside and air drifted in. "They'll let a lot of natural light in so you can see. Even better, you can open them to let fumes out." Then, Akashi gestured over her shoulder. "Which is also what the fan in the wall is for."

Blinking, Harry turned and stared at the fan which, sure enough, was embedded in the wall. "Wait, there's a fan here? Really?"

Only humming, the Repair ship nodded. "Yup, it leads to a chute to the outside. That way, if something happens, you can turn on the fan and it'll suck out any smoke or fumes. I've hooked it up to my workshop so that it can be powered. Close the door and the porthole for a moment and I'll show you."

Not quite sure, Harry did as asked and turned around only to see one of Akashi's fairies with a tiny device that was spewing smoke out. Tilting his head back, Harry could see it gathering near the ceiling and slowly filling up the room. "Uh, Akashi-Oba..."

In reply, she held up a finger as the fairy turned off the device. "One moment, now watch this." Reaching to the fan, she flicked a switch there and it spun up. Within moments, it was sucking all the smoke in the room outside and Harry's eyes widened as he felt his hair move in the breeze. "See?"

Grinning, Harry opened the door and looked out to where he could see the vent from which smoke was shooting out of. "That is so cool!"

As she shrugged and turned off the fan, Akashi snorted. "Like I said, if you're going to practice potions, then I'm making sure that you're as safe as possible when doing so." Moving a bit, she gestured at the two desks. "Now, these are for your actual potion preprations and creation. Both of them have stone tops to make it harder for any accident to harm you. The preparation desk is just a normal stone top, from what Haru told me it being stone means it's less likely to react to, or contaminate any ingrediants. Wood would have been fine, but..."

When she shrugged, Harry gave her a small grin. "You decided to go that extra bit. Thanks!"

However, to his surprise, Akashi winked at him. "I'm not done yet, Harry-Chan, Now, there's the table where you'll be making potions. LIke the preparation table, it's stone because it's going to be hard for any mistakes to, uh, melt through it and less likely to cause any reactions. But, I added a raised edge and the bottom is tilted just slightly. Any accidents will flow down the top and..." Crouching, she gestured for Harry to do the same and then pointed to the end. "Flow into that earthenware container right there that's attached to the drain in the table. Might still fail, but it'll give you enough time to get out."

Frowning, Harry looked around and then furrowed his eyebrows. "Um... how am I going to heat them though? I kind of need something to do that with."

Only shaking her head, Akashi stood up and walked over to a small cabinet. "That's what's in here." Opening it, she gestured at the items inside. "See? Some portable bunsen burners, mortar and pestile, and storage places for ingrediants. Heck..." Excited, she pulled out an object and then clipped it onto the edge of the preparation table. "I even got you one of those illuminated magnifying glasses!"

Jaw dropping, it took a few moments before Harry pulled himself together and hugged her. "Thank you, Akashi-Oba! Thank you!" When he pulled away though, he glanced around again. "Um... but isn't this a bit much?"

Tapping her chin, Akashi slowly nodded. "Some might think so, but safety first. But if it bothers you so much..." Harry only blinked as Akashi crouched down some and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can repay me by both using this place and letting me watch every once in a while, okay?"

His eyebrows furrowing, Harry frowned some. "You want to watch me make potions? Why?"

Softly snorting, Akashi grinned a bit. "Because it's something that I don't know about, Harry-Chan. That means that it's interesting and..." Looking around, she leaned in. "Who knows? Some of what you brew up here could help out some of the girls. And I wouldn't say no to that."

All Harry did though was nod before he smiled and hugged her. "Sure, I can do that."

With a smile of her own, Akashi hugged him right back. 'Heh, I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do, Harry-Chan. I can't wait.'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking over the map laid out in front of her, Katrina nodded at the positions marked. "Okay... so we're just about ready."

With a frown, one of the very few members who had any experience and who was made a Commander, tapped a spot with a claw. "I just hope that the bunkers on the cliff tops won't be spotted until they fire. And that the reinforced granite we made them with will take a decent enough bombardment."

Eyes roaming it, Katrina only shook her head. "They only need to hurt the Abyssals and buy time." When she looked up, she could spot each of the people in the bunker looking at her. "That's all we or anyone can do in this situation..." Another look though caused Katrina to chuckle. "I wonder if the Abyssals will fall for it."

As she grunted, one of them splayed out her crimson, feathered wings. "We can only hope. If they do... all the better for us." Then she frowned and looked at the cat woman. "You're positive with what will happen? That we weren't being lied to?"

Katrina slowly shook her head. "I trust Arthur a lot more then the other bastards in the British Ministry, Pheobe. But more then that, it's all we got to hope for at the moment."

Silence met her words as everyone there knew that she was correct. But before she could go any further though, the radio crackled and she turned as the radioman at the desk grabbed one of the magically modified walkie talkies and spoke into it. After a few moments, he turned and looked at them. "Azure's back from her patrol and is down at the docks!"

It took a few moments for them to realize the issue and they looked at the patrol schdule, a chill running down their backs. Pheobe slowly turned to the others. "... She's not due back for another three hours."

Turning, Katrina began walking a short distance from the table and then turned on her feet, vanishing with a crack. Reappearing on the docks, she quickly ran down the docks to where she could see Azure on her knees only barely being held up as she gasped and gulped down air. It took seconds for the cat woman to recogniz that her daughter was utterly, completely exhausted. "Azure? Honey?"

When she looked up though, Katrina felt her heart race at the sheer terror there. Then her heart froze at the words that came out of her daughter's mouth. "Mom... the Abyssals... they're coming straight at us with a fleet. I... I came back at full speed the whole way."

Quickly kneeling, Katrina pushed the worry for her adopted daughter aside for a moment. After all, going at her full speed meant that she likely was at the point of collapse. "How many, how fast? And how far?"

Swallowing another gulp of water, Azure's gills opened and closed as her body tried desparatly to absorb more oxygen. "I don't know how many of those Destroyers or Cruisers... but three Submarines... Four Battleships, four Carriers... and a Demon. Ten knots at the moment and they're about an hour out."

Even though she felt cold at that information, Katrina just put her hand on Azure's cheek. "Okay... thank you Azure, but you're done. Leave the rest up to us." Standing up, she snapped a claw at one of the people standing by. "You! Head to the sirens and have them activate them! Jeffery! I need you to get to the radios and go over them." Katrina gave a nod when both ran off and as one of the others began to pour potions into Azure's mouth to help her recover, even as she turned and grabbed a frightened Akeme by the shoulders. "Akeme? I need you to protect Azure, get her to safety. Can you do that?"

In the background, a siren not unlike that of an air raid one started up. "Y-yeah, I can do that." She then glanced at Azure. "I'll get her to safety, you can be sure of that."
Patting her on the shoulder, Katrina gave a small smile. "Thank you."

With a final bending down, she whispered something in Azure's hears before kissing her on the forehead. Then she turned and twisted before vanishing with a crack. Shaking off her own nervousness, Akeme crouched down and looked over her shoulder. "Well, come and get on, Azure. We got to get going." Despite wincing, Azure nodded as she climbed onto her friend's back before Akeme stood up and began to jog. Trying to joke, Akeme gave her a shaky grin. "Heh... you've gotten heavier, Azure."

Only softly snorting, Azure shook her head. "It's all muscle, trust me on that." That got her a laugh from her longtime friend as the two made their way quickly off the docks. By the time that they hit the main street, the last remaining residents were already streaming out from their homes with what they could carry on their backs. None of them were younger then teens or older then their forties as everyone else had long since been sent to the shelters. Watching them, Azure growled deep in her throat as she knew, just like everyone else, that their homes were likely to be destroyed in the conflict and that this would be the last time that they would be seeing their town as it was. "Dammit all... damn the ICW and the British Ministry... Dammit."

Nervously smiling, Akame adjusted her friend's position some. "W-well... At least we got help coming, right?"

Looking at her, Azure slowly nodded. "Yeah... I guess." After a few seconds, she shrugged some before looking up as the train station for the town came into view. There, on the tracks was a small train with smoke coming from it's engine as people boarded it. Something which gave Azure an idea. "So, uh... since you paid more attention in history and like trains, how about you tell me about the ones we got?"

That got her a look from Akame who guessed what she was doing, but took a deep breath. "W-well, the first railway was made of wood and mainly serviced the old mines. And they were pulled by the stronger members of the island. But after World War One in the Muggle world, there was a surplus of narrow gauge and we managed to get some and a couple of engines. Within a few years, we had the railway laid down through the major communities to make it easier for people and cargo to get around. The most famous engines are Little Red, Goldilocks, and Old Ben who was named for the Equine resident of the same name who pulled the original carts..."

As her friend continued to speak, Azure listened with half an ear as she glanced around. Sure enough, various people had begun to listen in as it distracted them somewhat from what was going on. It didn't take long before they reached the station and Azure tapped Akeme on the head. "Let me down, will you?" At her look, the shark girl gave a snort. "I'm still beat, but I'm not going to collapse."

Once she was let down though, she found her arm slung over Akeme's shoulder. Seeing Azure's raised eyebrow, Akeme just grinned. "Hey, you can lean on me you know." Getting a snort, the two of them made their way to the train and a short time later, Azure sat in her seat looking out the window. Hearing her whisper something, Akeme turned towards her with one raised eyebrow. "What was that?"

Simply continuing to look out, Azure glanced around to make sure that no one was within range to hear before taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I said... it's hard, you know? Leaving everything behind and knowing that it's likely not going to be back."

The whistle for the last boarding blew as Akeme leaned forward a bit. "Yeah... that's true." Looking out the window herself, she felt her eyes become wet. "A lot of memories about to be swept away..."

Feeling a hand on hers though, the unicorn girl turned to see Azure giving her a small smile before she squeezed Akeme's hand. "At least though we'll be here to remember and to make new ones, right?"

A watery smile on her face, Akeme nodded. "Right." Moments later though, the train jerked and she looked around. "We're moving!"

With a slow nod, Azure blinked. "Yeah, and we'll be at the shelters soon enough..." Internally though, she was more afraid then she let on. 'Please be safe, Mom...' Fifteen minutes later when the train pulled into a side track and came to a stop, she blinked. "What's going on?"

Eyes widening, Akeme tapped her on the shoulder and pointed out the window. "Look at that! It's one of the armored trains!"

Sure enough, passing at just that moment was another train, except it's carriages and engine had armor plating and were bristling with anti-air guns. Following it with her eyes as it headed in the direction that they had come from, Azure swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah... that's kind of impressive."
_____________________________________________________________________________
Reappearing with a pop, Katrina walked towards the dock where various people were already getting the ships ready to head out. The one that she was aiming for was a silver haired man who's ears rotated here and there as an otter tail moved behind him. "Bartholomew? Are you and the others ready to head out?"

With a sigh, he closed his watch and turned towards her. "We'll be heading out soon, Ma'am to meet these blighters head on. As for being ready..." There was a far away look in his eyes before he shook his head. "One is never ready for when the battle erupts, but they can be as prepared as they can be."

As she came to a stop beside him, Katrina looked out as one of the converted landing ships began to leave the dock, the cannons on it moving in their turrets as crews ducked under the armor that had been added to the forward bay. "There's a fleet of them, Bartholomew. Several Battleships and Carriers against our small force..."

Humming, the old salt reached up and twisted the end of his rather impressive mustache. "Yes, I suppose that they would come in force. But at least they gave us four days after the ICW and the British left." Then Bartholomew reached for the front of his jacket and tugged it into place. "No matter, if it's a fight they want, then it's a fight that we'll be giving them!"

Only closing her eyes, Katrina shook her head slowly. "Don't take any unnecessary risks, you old otter. All that we need to do is buy time for the arrival of the shipgirls and that's it. No need to do anymore then that."
For several seconds, Bartholomew was quiet before he turned to her. "There's always risks, Ma'am. Each and every one of us are volunteers and we know that better then some. As for buying time, we'll buy it. And the Thunderchild will be right there at the head of our fleet with me at the helm."

A shout though attracted their attention and a much younger man jogged up, this time with a dog tail behind him and came to a stop with a salute. "Sir!" He then gave a nod to Katrina who returned it. "Ma'am, we're all ready to cast off and head out."

There was a thin smile on Bartholomew's face as he nodded. "I see, good work Mister Smyth." Reaching up for his hat, he grabbed the brim and tipped it slightly towards Katrina. "Ma'am, we'll be heading out now. You get to safety and leave the fighting to us."

With that, he turned and began to walk towards the Thunderchild as Katrina stood there watching. One of the dockworkers then came over and gently tugged on her arm. "Madam Mayor? We really need to be leaving now."

However, she only shook her head as she watched the gangplank get pulled away. "No... I'm going to stay here until the last of them leave." For a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again. But this time there were some tears there. "It's the least that I can do for them."

Blinking, the worker only nodded and turned to see the Thunderchild hoist the flag of the island. It was rather simple, a medieval boat with a paw print above it, and stylized wings on either side of the paw print. Katrina then brought her hand up to her head and gave all the ships a salute as they headed out, the personnel that she could see returning them as they sailed out of the cove. Slowly, the worker nodded several minutes later as the last ship left the cove. "There they go."

Even as it vanished past the cliffs, Katrina nodded as she blinked away the tears on her face. "Yes... there they go to the deaths that I ordered them, brave souls one and all..." Closing her eyes, her lips barely moved. "May whatever higher beings there are watch over them on the dark seas that they now find themselves sailing."

For several moments, she stood there before finally turning and, grasping the arm of the worker, apparating out.
________________________________________________________________
Walking into the command center just ahead of Hartmann, Cunningham looked around and nodded. "What's going on?"

One of the Lieutenants glanced over her shoulder and let out a breath. "It's Saint Brendan's Isle, Sir! We've received word from them that they have a mid-sized Abyssal Fleet heading right for them."

His jaw clenching, Cunningham nodded. "I suppose that it was to be expected. The Abyssals wait for no one after all."

Taking up a spot beside his British counterpart, Hartmann frowned as he looked at the screen which showed the view from a drone. "How far away is Radetzky and her force? They should be close."

After a few moments, one of the other personnel spoke up. "They're about an hour behind the Abyssals, but they've already been contacted. They're pushing themselves as hard as they can, Sir and will be there, but..."

With a glance to where Hood and Bismarck took up positions by the wall, Cunningham sighed. "They won't get there until the battle is well and truly underway."

He then frowned at the screen as the drone punched through the edges of a storm cloud, the seas already turning choppy from the Abyssal's approach. Within moments though, the isle was in full view and Bismarck straightened a bit. "Well, that is a rather beautiful island, isn't it?"

Beside her, Hood only nodded as her eyes scanned the waves, though she glanced to the side where Dreadnought walked in. "It is... A shame that the Abyssals feel the need to ruin it for everyone. Rather rude of them."

That got her a snort from Bismarck and a sigh from Cunningham. But before either of them could comment, Bismarck frowned as she spotted what looked like ships sailing out. "What in the world...? Hood, do you know what sort of ship that is?"

Slowly, the Battlecruiser shook her head as the drone focused in on the ship at the head of the group. "The rest look like someone put armor and cannons on landing ships, but the one at the front? I don't have the foggiest I'm afraid. It does look rather familiar though for some reason, like I should recognize it..." A laugh though caused her to turn to Dreadnought who was shaking her head. "Do you recognize it?"

Nodding, Dreadnought frowned as she took a step forward. "As I should, that's a Torpedo Ram. Before my time somewhat, but I know one when I see it. Looks rather like Polythemus, but... the guns she has are more modern."

There was a moment of silence before Cunningham turned towards her in disbelief. "Are you telling me... that the islanders are apparently sending out a Pre-World War One relic to fight the Abyssals? That is what you are telling me?"

At the nod, Bismarck's jaw dropped. "You have to be joking, Dreadnought! There's no way... they'd be sailing to their deaths!"

For several moments, Hood was quite before she reached up and took off her hat. "I think that they know that. And they're doing so anyways to fight for their home, something that I cannot fault them for."

Staring at her, Bismarck finally shook her head as she turned back to the screen as the Abyssals appeared. "Mein Gott..."
______________________________________________________________________________

On the bridge of Thunderchild, Bartholomew nodded as he shifted as they plowed through the surf. "Steady she goes, Mister Smyth. Are the gunners ready?"

Gulping down some nervousness, Smyth nodded as he looked out onto the fleet approaching them as he lowered the small radio. "Aye Sir, gunners reporting that they are all ready."

With a hum, Bartholomew nodded as he continued to stare at his enemy. "They do seem rather confident in their chances, do they not? Bloody blighters."

Just blinking, Smyth nodded with a frown. "They do at that, Sir. Then again, I suppose from their view we're just ducks ready to be shot."

A bloodthirsty grin then crossed Bartholomew's face as he nodded. "Very well then, but we're ducks with fangs. Order the gunners to fire on my command! We'll wait a short time for the range to close a bit more first. Aim for those Wo class first, they are the most dangerous to the island. Load the GF Rounds."

Smyth nodded as he brought the radio to his lips. "Gunners, prepare to fire on command with GF rounds! Aim for the Jellyfish heads!" At the look of bemusement, he shrugged. "That's what the men and women call them, Sir. And it suits them I think."

Chuckling, the old salt nodded. "Aye, it does at that." It was roughly four minutes later when he finally nodded. "Fire at will!"

Quickly nodding, Smyth brought the radio up. "All ships, fire at will!"

Moments later, he was answered as all the ships in Saint Brendan's fleet fired, Thunderchild's the loudest. Even as the rounds sailed towards them, the Abyssals didn't bother dodging outside the Destroyers. None of the rounds were large enough to truly damage the Capital ships.

Something that turned out to be a big mistake as the WO class found themselves hit and soon screaming as the rounds set them aflame.

Even though the people of the isle were not allowed wands outside those who came from the outside due to being "Non-humans", they were able to learn and practice potions and alchemy. Centuries before, one of them had brought the secrets of "Greek Fire" to the island and, in the time since, the islanders had continued to develop it and tweak it to become more effective. And the fruits of their labors were apparent as the alchemical mixture rapidly burned through the Abyssal's hulls, melted, corrupted steel flowing like wax in the extreme heat even as a second salvo hit home with the same rounds. Soon enough, it reached their hangers were they stored ammunition and fuel for their fighters.

The explosions as they detonated and sank were enough to stun the Abyssals for enough time that the next salvo slammed home on several Cruisers and Battleships. And while the armor on the Battleships were able to withstand it, the same could not be said for the Cruisers which soon received heavy damage. Not even the Destroyer Demon leading them managed to escape from getting damaged. And then the Abyssals then began to fire back at the Defenders who began to attempt to dodge what was heading their way...

On the bridge of the Thunderchild, Bartholomew winced as he watched one of his ships practically disintegrate as one of the shells from the Abyssal Battleships struck home, the spells protecting it briefly flashing before they failed and allowed the rest of the shells to impact. With a quick prayer to those who just died, he grimaced. "All gunners! Pick your targets and keep firing! FOR SAINT BRENDAN'S!"

His answer were the crews to fire their guns once more, this time scoring a hit on an Abyssal Destroyer and sinking it as half became frozen and the other burned under the darkening skies...
____________________________________________________________________

Jaw slack, Hood stared at the screen as all noise stopped in the Command Center. Slowly, she turned to Bismarck who had a similar expression on her face. "Did... you did just see that, right? I am not imagining what I saw?"

Only blinking, Bismarck shook her head. "No, you did not, Hood. Or, if you did, then I am imagining things as well. They managed to kill those Carriers. But how?"

Grunting, Hartmann shook his head a bit. "Yes, but now the Abyssals know what to expect and will take them seriously. Still... an impressive showing nonetheless."

Hands on the table in front of him, Cunningham glanced at the map which showed the position of the shipgirls heading towards the island. 'Still forty-five minutes out.' As another defense ship blew apart, he winced. 'Hopefully, they can hold on long enough.'

Moments later, it seemed that prayers were answered as geysers of water erupted among the Abyssals. Without being asked, one of the personnel manning the stations in the Command Center spoke up. "They're firing coastal artillery at the Abyssals. Heavy caliber guns at that."

Slowly nodding, Cunningham frowned. "Yes, but if we know then so do the Abyssals and they'll be targeting them soon enough, or just avoiding them." Fifteen minutes later, as the ragged remains of the defense fleet pulled away to regroup under the shelter of the coastal artillery, the badly damaged Torpedo Ram among them, a group of Abyssals lead by a Battleship got around the coastal artillery and had landed on the island itself. Heavy Cruisers and Destroyers alike plowed through the forest as they looked to be trying to out maneuver the coastal guns and hit them from behind or target the main town which had smoke rising from several strikes. "Dammit."

Glancing at him, Dreadnought soon returned to watching. "Hopefully, they have more tricks up their sleeves."
______________________________________________________________________

Ear pressed against the dirt wall, a rather dirty woman hummed before she grinned showing buck teeth. Pulling back, she tapped the wall with a claw-like finger while her other hand adjusted an old mining helmet. "Well boys, it seems like the Abyssals are practically right on top of us!"

One of her crew snorted as he looked up as dirt shook from the ceiling of the chamber. "As if we couldn't notice by now. So... show time?"

The woman laughed and nodded. "Showtime!" She then pointed at another woman with rabbit ears. "Jen! Word from the others?"

Said woman snorted as she tapped on a pipe embedded in the wall and listened. It was several seconds later when she could hear returning taps. "Yup! All ready for each of us."

Each of them grinned as their leader walked up and lit a match. "Well then, we're not about to hang around. Grab that Portkey, fellows, we're heading out! Hopefully they like our little welcoming gift." Placing the match against a fuse to several sticks of dynamite, she put it down next to a pile of bags and other items. Moments later, she grabbed the rope and they vanished with a final word. "Bada-boom!"

Then the room was silent except for the hissing of the fuse, the dirt showering down from the ceiling...

And the several tons of high explosive the dynamite now sat on and which was underneath the marching Abyssals. Just one of several such rooms that were in the area and were now just waiting for the fuses to reach their ends...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Chunks of rock and earth were still falling from the sky as several clouds rose up from where the Abyssals had been moving across the island. A large number had been destroyed as the buried mines beneath them had detonated. Only those at the very edges escaped with only moderate damage. For those not in either group, they had been mostly crippled though alive and still trying to get out of what had turned into a grave for many of their number.

One of those was a Ne-Class whose keel had been broken by one of the detonations. Snarling, she gripped the dirt and pulled herself away from the craters, the whole time cursing the inhabitants. 'I'll kill them, I'll kill them all slowly and make sure that they suffer for this!'

Just as she reached the edges of the explosion's damage, she heard something and looked up. From inside the forest, shapes moved and then her jaw dropped as tanks, Shermans, came barreling out of the woods. At least five of them stopped and took aim at her even as she tried to bring one of her few remaining guns. Inside the of the tanks, there were grins though none so viscious as the Commander's. "TAKE AIM!"

Not even a moment later, another sound caused the Abyssal to look up and stare as what looked like WWII aircraft came flying over the tree tops, their bottoms just clearing the trees. Behind them, were members on brooms and flying carpers as they began to dump the contents of boxes and bags on the injured Abyssals. As the alchemical bombs fell and just before the tanks fired and blew off her head, the Abyssal only had time to say one thing. "Now that just isn't fair, dammit!"

Then it no longer mattered as several shells slammed in her face.

Elsewhere, another one of the tanks continued to move forward as Greek fire sprayed from it's turret, setting both ground and Abyssals aflame. In one of the lead aircraft, the pilot nodded as his bomb struck an Abyssal Destroyer in it's back, punching through the weakened armor and blowing it in half. Pulling out a radio, he took a breath. "Okay people, drop what's left and let's skedaddle. We're not going to hang around any longer then we need to!"

Several minutes later as the first Abyssal shells fired by the Battleships landed in the area, one of the Tank Commanders grunted inside his tank as it was shaken by the explosions. "Everyone, retreat and regroup on the double! We've done all that we can here. Throw out the smoke and cover us!"

Hatches popped open and cannisters were thrown out which threw out plumes of smoke which joined that spewing from the engines of the tanks as they reversed back into the forest and out of sight. Behind them, most of the Abyssals and six of their number, as well as two planes and six broomstick riders, laid dead.
___________________________________________________________________________

With the destruction of the WO class Abyssals, most of the Abyssal airpower was taken out of the equation before it even got the chance to be used. Most, but not all as they had sent up a CAP as they approached the island. A CAP that had survived the destruction of their Abyssal motherships and were now extremely angry. Said anger was focused on islanders as the remaining Abyssal aircraft decided to hurt the people of Saint Brendan's. Due to how the naval battle was going, they chose another target.

The main town of the island, which they flew at top speed towards.

On the portion of the train tracks which was perpandicular to the side of the town that faced away from the sea, a pair of omniculars were lowered as the stern looking face frowned. Two wings on her back spread out though as she snorted. "Kevin, get the others ready, we got an Abyssal fight coming in."

Saluting, the eighteen year old nodded with the best fearless face he could pull off, which wasn't that good. "Yes, Ma'am! Right away!" Grabbing the radio, he began to bark into it as sides of the armored train moved down and large guns slid out into view. "All gunners to position!"

Wings flapping, the hawk woman chuckled before she began to jog towards the train, reaching it just after Kevin. Holding out her hand, she got the radio and began to speak. "Okay people, this is no longer a drill. Raise those guns forty six degrees, aim for... South-Southeast, Fuses set for fifteen thousand and get ready to fire. Secondary gunners, hold steady!"

Nervously swallowing as he pulled his own omniculars out, Kevin trembled a bit. "That's... a lot of aircraft heading for us... Um, Steph? You sure that we can pull this off?"

For a moment, the hawk woman didn't say anything before she turned and gave him a wink as she tried to keep her own terror from showing, "Sure can, Kev. Now you just trust in our guys and we'll get through this. Hell! Since you just became legal I'll even buy you your first drink down at the pub."

Slowly nodding, Kevin nodded best that he could. "I-I'll hold you to that..."

There was a smile on Steph's face before she turned back to the approaching Abyssals and took a deep breath. Internally, she was calling up predatory instincts normally held down as the pupils in her golden eyes shrank to dots. Part of her mused it was so much easier that way to keep from gibbering in fear and provide an outward expression of calm. Slowly, she brought her radio to her mouth. "Steady... not yet..." Steph continued to watch the Abyssals get closer and closer. "Not yet... hold it... hold it..."

Looking between her and the Abyssals, as well as through the door to the armored train from which he could see the others looking scared nearly to death, Kevin whined a bit. "Steph...!"

Finally, she let out a sigh before screeching. "FIRE!"

Nearly as one, the guns fired and the armored carriages vanished behind clouds of smoke. By the time that the Abyssal aircraft realized the danger they were in, it was too late and the shells detonated in their path. Under most circumstances, flak, even from such old guns, would have damaged them. However, the islanders had pulled yet another alchemical trick from their bag. One invented by accident and normally used for showing off when used in small amounts.

They called it "Bottled Lightning", and one member of the ICW from America who had been stationed there called it "A thunderstorm in a bottle". Under most circumstances, it would be useless. The lightning inside, while powerful, couldn't be aimed. It would just jump wherever and was dangerous unless the user was a distance away. But here though, it had been used inside the AA shells and the bottles containing it had broken when the shells burst which discharged them...

Into clouds full of extremely conductive, metal fragments right in the path of the Abyssals.

Much later in an after action report, one of the Royal Navy members in the Control Center that Admirals Cunningham and Hartmann were using would make a comment: "It was as if the Abyssal aircraft were flies that had flown straight into a spider's web made of lightning." Bolts arched and leapt between the pieces of metal in flight. And from them, they struck the Abyssal aircraft, damaging them directly. But it was the ammunition that said aircraft carried which turned out to be their doom as the electricity set it off.

By the time the storm of bolts had faded, they Abyssals had lost at least half their number with the rest damaged. Just in time for the second salvo to hit them and for the secondary guns to begin firing.
Soon enough, the skies were clear of aircraft once more though one of the carriages had been hit, and obliterated, by an Abyssal bomb.
_________________________________________________________________________
Coughing as he waved away the smoke, Bartholomew shook his head as he glanced to see that the self-repair charms had slowed in repairing the damage that he could see. On the deck of the Thunderchild, one of her turrets was a smoking ruin and aflame. Even from here smell flesh being cooked. Elsewhere, there were other damages apparent. It was only the heavy use of wards and angled shields that prevented her from being killed. And in those cases, they only worked because of how long the islanders had been layering them and the size of the ship.

Most of the other ships were not so lucky.

However, all of this quickly passed through Bartholomew's mind as he growled and looked starboard. There, the Abyssal fleet continued it's way. They had guessed the range of the guns on Thunderchild and knew that they could not be hit any more by them. Now they were more focused on the shore batteries which they were firing on. With each passing minute, more and more of the batteries were silenced. And once they were... the Abyssals could make a landing and become entrenched.

Everyone watching knew, just knew that if the Abyssals managed that, it would turn into a long and bloody affair. Gently, the old salt brought out his pocket watch and flipped it open to gaze at it. A cough though caused him to turn to see Smyth get to his feet. "Still with us, are you Mister Smyth?"

Slowly nodding, the First Mate gulped down some air as he grabbed the wheel. "Aye, aye, Sir. I was just resting my eyes for a moment. Shant happen again."

A glance though caused Bartholomew to quickly make his way over. "Lad, you should get below decks. Why, you're missing your arm!"

Blearily blinking, the younger man glanced to his side where, indeed, his left arm was gone from midway between the shoulder and elbow. Shrapnel from an Abyssal strike just in front of the bridge having been the cause for it's removel. Even now, the tourniquet was dripping blood. "Just a scratch, Sir. Won't make a difference." Swallowing even as his face paled, he took a deep breath. "Orders, Sir."

For several moments Bartholomew stared at him before glancing around the Bridge where various people were either getting patched up or helping. Then he turned back to the young man and his voice, when he spoke, was soft. "You have a younger brother, do you not, Mister Smyth?"

With a jerky nod, Smyth nodded. "Aye, Sir, I do. He just turned nine... I love him so much, you know, he's an awesome little brother and I know that he'll grow up to be just as awesome a man. Wants to be like me."

Only blinking, Bartholomew let out a breath. "He's in the shelters now, right?" At the nod, he held out his open pocket watch to show that there was a picture of a little girl in it. "My granddaughter. She's... a lovely four year old at the moment and loves her grandfather to bits. Jessica is her name and she'll grow up to be a fine lass." Then the old salt clapped his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Let's make sure that they grow up."

Just swallowing, Smyth gave the best smile that he could. "Aye, Sir. Make sure that they grow up. Your orders then?"

Turning toward the wheel, Bartholomew glanced down at the pocket watch. "Tell the engine room that we need more then top speed, tell them to go to emergency power. We're making a run of it."

It was as if the bridge had gone silent before Smyth nodded and limped over to the pipe down to the engine room. Flipping the lid, he took a deep breath and called down. "Engine room! Emergency power! Full speed ahead!"

Down in the engine room, the main engineer paused as he heard the order and then slumped his shoulders. "Bloody bastards are doing it then. Well, nothing for it." Walking over to the pipe, he shouted back. "AYE, AYE! FULL SPEED, EMERGENCY POWER!" Then he ran over to the others and began to push them out the hatch. "Out! Out all of you!"

Not sure what was going on, one of the few women turned back to him. "What the hell, Elric are you doing!? We're fucking needed down here!"

All she got though was Elric glaring at her before he bodily picked her up and began to carry her to the hatch. "No you're not. All that's needed is me now and that's it. Plopping her down, he shoved her. "NOW MOVE DAMN YOU! AND SHUT BOTH THE INNER AND OUTER HATCHES BEHIND YOU!" Once the last was gone, he slammed the inner hatch shut and locked it as he felt the ship begin to tightly turn.
_________________________________________________________________________

Inside the Command Room in Britain, everyone was silent as they watched the battle unfold before them. More then one of them murmured prayers for those they were watching dying against the Abyssals. Jaw working, Cunningham let out an explosive sigh before he turned to Hartmann who could barely turn away from the video from the drone. "How long?"

Quickly looking at the clock, the German Admiral frowned and shook his head. "It's been thirty five minutes. Far better then expected, but... I doubt that Radetzky and her fleet will arrive before the majority of the Abyssal fleet makes landfall and begins to dig in even with how they're pushing it."

One of the Lieutenants only shook his head in disbelief. "They put up a bloody good fight though. Maybe they'll manage it."

Beside him, one of his fellow techs shook her head. "Like what? They'd need a miracle to stop the Abyssals from landing."

At just that moment though, Hood's eyes widened some. "The Torpedo Ram! It's turning towards the Abyssals!"

Eyes widened throughout the room while Dreadnought muttered to herself, eyebrows furrowing. "What are they thinking? They can't possibly get close enough to break up the fleet, so what could it be...?"
Softly snorting, Bismarck shook her head. "From what I have seen, it's likely pure insanity." It was then that she noticed that Hood had taken her hat on and laid it on her chest. "Hood?"

Hood just let out a deep breath and frowned. "I'm going to watch them, Bismarck. My eyes won't leave those brave souls whatever they do, they've earned that much."

Very slowly, Bismarck removed her own hat. "They have."

Frowning, one of the techs leaned towards his screen and frowned. "Sir? I think that I can bring up her name plate."

With just a glance at him, Cunningham nodded. "Do it, so that we can at least know her name." Moments later, one of the larger screens focused in on the ship's bow, which was slicing through the waves. After two seconds, the image cleared and they could all read the name there despite the damage. Hearing a sharp intake of breath from Dreadnought, Cunningham felt like both laughing and crying at the name there as he realized what they were about to do.

Thunderchild.
________________________________________________________________________________

Deep in Thunderchild's engine room, her chief engineer punched through a pane of glass covering a box. Unheeding the cuts and scratches on his arm, he grabbed hold of the lever there and pulled back. With a click, the valve that it was holding closed opened and an alchemical mixture sprayed into her boilers. Almost immedately, the temperture inside the engine room soared to levels that would have killed most people.
Thankfully, having dragon blood flowing through his veins, Chief Engineer Elric was not most people. Behind the ship, the water churned as the ship's speed increased.

Nestled deep in her fleet, the Destroyer Demon scowled as she looked at the island. It was supposed to be a quick battle. After destroying the shore settlements with Battleship cannons, and the inland settlements with bombs and guns of their aircraft, they would land the Destroyers and Cruisers. Said Abyssals would then hunt down and kill the remaining inhabitants while the Destroyer Demon set up a base to produce more Abyssals.

Abyssals that would then be used to strike at the shipgirl outposts on the Azores and Canaries before finally mustering enough to punch right through the line at the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean.

Yet absolutely nothing had gone right since they came within sight of the island. They were not supposed to have warships. Though, granted, once she saw what said warships were she was torn between laughing and being insulted. One antique and several converted landing ships. Compared to her fleet, they were nothing! They should have been nothing! But just as she was about to give the order to sink them, they had fired and the shells slammed home. Whatever that substance in them was, it melted though Abyssal armor as if it was hot water on butter. Minutes later, they had lost their Carriers and most of their Battleships had been damaged by that hellish flame. She herself could feel the burn that ruined one eye on herself.

Then had come the fire from what had to be heavy naval cannon being used for coastal artillery.

Which had caused them to try and circle around said batteries and hit a section of the shore that was not covered by them. Even now, the Destroyer Demon could see the smoke rising above the ruined area where her landing forces had been. The explosions had caused even her to flinch.

She would have killed the Abyssal who had given them such faulty information... If said WO had not be among those already killed in this fuckup. But she just knew that the Princess would be taking it out of her hide once they were done. Hopefully, she could blame the dead WO as a traitor and-

A screech from one of her accompanying Cruisers caused her to turn and she had to blink. The human ship, the old relic that had caused so much pain, was now heading straight for them. From its smokestacks gushed black smoke streaked through with flames of various colors as it built up speed. With a growl, she waved at it as her Destroyers listened. "Kill that bitch before she offends both myself and the Princess even more. Use your torpedoes and then kill any survivors."

With another screech, her Destroyers rushed forward before launching their torpedoes. Their bubble trails visible to all as they headed straight for the Thunderchild. Slowly, a laugh built up from the Destroyer Demon as she watched before she blinked several moments later. "What the fuck!?"

Inside Thunderchild's engine room, Elric grabbed a lever there that was midway pulled. Then he grunted with exertion, streams of sweat running off him in the extreme heat as he strained. Slowly, the lever moved further and further until it clicked into place and he collapsed. Glancing at the boilers which were glowing red hot, Elric chuckled and patted the floor, though the heat dissapated just a touch. "There we go, girly. You show those bastards what you are made of!"

The lever, in the position it was in, completed a magical circuit. Usually only partially opened, it lightened the ship enough for her guns not to bother her too much as well as powering the ward scheme that protected her. But now? Fully completed? Heat from the boilers not used for propulsion was now being converted to magic and flooding those spells laid into her. Everyone on board could feel their hair begin to stand on end as well as the shift as Thunderchild sped up and slowly lifted higher and higher in the water. While she might still be too heavy to fly...

She practically raced across the waves, barely touching them as her propellers continued to speed her along. The Abyssal torpedoes all missed, just passing harmlessly beneath her. Within moments, just before they punched through the Abyssal lines, Bartholomew glanced around the bridge. All he recieved were nods from each member there before he turned back as they found themselves surrounded by the Abyssals and took a deep breath, his deep voice echoing. "FIRE ALL REMAINING GUNS! LAUNCH SIDE TORPEDOES! GIVE THESE BLOODY BASTARDS EVERYTHING WE GOT! FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!"

Behind him, Smyth took a deep breath. "FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS!"

"FOR SAINT BRENDAN'S!"

As she sped past, both surprise and shock, as well as her speed, meant that the Abyssals took too long to react. But by then, her decks erupted in fire and gunsmoke as they picked their targets. Even the few machine guns opened up, all of them spitting out fury at the Abyssals. Meanwhile, her side mounted torpedo launchers expelled magically modified torpeoes as fast as they could. In tight among the Abyssals as they were, they could not miss.

It also turned out that neither could the Abyssals. Again and again, they fired, their shells flashing against the wards that lit up with the impacts. Some of the force still made it through, buckling hull plates and throwing personnel with bone crushing force. But through the smoke and hellfire, Thunderchild continued. At the wheel and straining to hold it steady alongside Bartholomew, Smyth coughed and noticed the edges of his sight begin to darken. "Y-you know. Sir... this makes me think of something that I read once... that seems rather right for this."

Grunting as his muscles strained, Bartholomew chuckled best he could as he could see the Destroyer Demon ahead of them snarling hatefully as she brought up her guns. "Well then, out with it lad."

Lips turning upward some, Smyth nodded. "T-to the last... I grapple with thee... From Hell's heart..."

Bartholomew nodded and continued as they got close enough to see the Destroyer Demon's fangs as she screamed at them. "From Hell's heart I stab at thee!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bartholomew could see what looked like a transparent woman with tears running from her eyes. Her clothes scorched and shredded with cuts and wounds all over, but standing tall. On her head, ears moved this way and that as a fox tail swished behind her. Then both him and Smyth, joined by a female voice, shouted the last line as they made a hard turn. "FOR HATE'S SAKE I SPIT AT THEE!"

The Destroyer Demon, at seeing them come close had brought up her guns to aim at the approaching ship. She guessed that it was going to use it's guns at close range to try and wound her with either guns or torpedoes, though she had aimed slowly to make damn sure that this time it would die. It would pass close enough for her to likely backhand it...

Which was why as she fired and blew the bridge apart, she was stunned as the ship turned hard towards her with the stern dropping into the water to raise the bow clear of the water. There, water streaming from it, was something that looked like a ship's version of a spike. Around it magic glowed powering the shield charms and piercing charms that overlaid it, together making it sharper and stronger then it had any right to be... Which allowed it to then punch into the Demon's chest, burying itself deep and pushing her back. Inside the Destroyer Demon, her crew of imps at the impact zone had just picked themselves up when the "Spike's" tip flipped up, revealing it was a torpedo tube moments before it fired one torpedo and then another down the corridor, the lid flipping close after the second. Several imps leapt out of the way only for their eyes to widen as they realized that said torpedoes were about to crash into a bulkhead, seconds before they were all consumed by the explosions.

Externally, it was rather more impressive as the Destroyer Demon seemed to expand before the explosions reached her internal magazine and she blew apart. Meanwhile, Thunderchild herself found the first twenty feet of her bow torn apart by the explosion. As she fell back into the water, spent, the shore batteries homed in on the panicking Abyssals while what remained of the Defense Fleet began to fire from both sides. And in the midst of it all, Thunderchild, wounded as bad as she was, began to float lower and lower, even as a woman appeared at what was left of her bow, glaring at all the remaining Abyssals.

Roughly ten minutes later, one of the Abyssals realized that Thunderchild still had not sank fully, her magic attempting to keep her afloat. The Battleship snarled as it turned and brought up her guns, ready to end it...

Just as several rounds slammed into her, punching through weakened armor and detonating. Moments later, there was just a burning oil slick as the Abyssals could hear music blaring on the radio and turned as a fleet of shipgirls, lead by a Pre-Dreadnought Battleship, Radetzky, holding a flag aloft. Within moments, the Abyssals found themselves under fire from the shipgirl fleet, which had several Battleships and Battlecruisers as well as other ships, the shore Batteries, and the very few defense ships that had survived.

Not a single Abyssal escaped that day.

And as she passed the slowly sinking Thunderchild, Radetzky blinked as she beheld a woman kneeling beside a dead crewmember and nodded before throwing her a rope. Taking it, the woman just held it as the shipgirl, soon joined by others, began to tow the flagship of Saint Brendan's back towards the shore. Two of them coming alongside with their anchor chains and pulling upwards to keep her as afloat as possible...

 

[darthcourt10]

this still makes me choke up

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Having been given the all clear, Katrina popped into existence on the shingle beach just outside of the town and stared as cobblestones shifted underfoot. For years, the islanders had used it as a source of cobblestone. But now it was mostly taken up by the hull of the Thunderchild, having been dragged up by several shipgirls. Hand raising to her mouth, Katrina could only stare as smoke still rose from where the bridge had been as well as the ship's other wounds.

And then she spotted where some of the shipgirls were helping members of the surviving crew off the vessel. Slowly, Katrina walked forward and reached Thunderchild in time to see the Chief Engineer come to the side. Even where she was, Katrina could see the burns that covered him and swore that his hair was smoking. But it was the tears that ran down his face that told the true story. Then he turned to the woman beside him and the cat woman found her eyes widening. Said woman was missing one of her hands midway down from the elbow and was covered in cuts, scrapes, and burns barely covered by her tattered clothing.

When said woman turned towards Katrina, she also realized that she had a rather gruesome head wound with a missing eye.

Much to Katrina's surprise though, Elric was the one lowered by the woman and once he reached the ground, she gave a glance around. Then she hopped off the side of Thunderchild and landed in a crouch before stumbling. Thankfully, she was caught by one of the shipgirls next to her and, even though Katrina could not hear their conversation, she understood the body language. But before she could get any closer, she spotted Elric walking towards her and cleared her throat. "Elric... Where's Bartholomew?"

Even though she already knew the answer, the shake of the head caused her to close her eyes and mutter a prayer. Elric took a deep, shuddering breath before letting it out. "I was down in the engine room so I didn't see it for myself. But... the Captain was on the bridge steering her when they killed the Demon."

Simply nodding, Katrina sighed and shook her head. "I was afraid of that... What about the injured?"

All that Elric did was point towards a nearby wagon which had several magicals with some medical experience and had stayed behind working on the worst of the cases so they could be moved to the island hospital. "They're working hard but... We lost two, Amy and Jake."

Only sighing, Katrina closed her eyes. "Two more letters that I will need to write." At the surprise directed towards her, the cat woman had a bitter smile on her face. "I was the one who sent them out there knowing that they would likely die, so it is only fair that I be the one to inform their families." Getting a nod from him, Katrina turned to regard the injured woman who was walking towards them, though she then blinked as she more closely examined her. It was obvious that she had been wearing the uniform for the Defense Fleet, closely patterned on the only Royal Navy uniforms at the turn of the century. But it was more her features that caught attention.

For one thing, she was rather shorter then normal height though that could be because due to her ears and tail, she was obviously of fox blood. Katrina hadn't seen one so... developed though before. Then she looked closer and realized that the woman's tail had scales from which fur grew. And there on her head were tiny horns barely hidden by her hair. Before Katrina could say anything though, the woman came to a stop and gave a shaky salute. "Saint Brendan's Defense Ship... Thunderchild, reporting Ma'am." Then she fell to her knees with Katrina grabbing hold of her and keeping her from falling any further. "I... I'm sorry, Ma'am... I tried, I tried to protect them and...."

Katrina just blinked and then pulled her into a hug, words coming from her even as she tried to shake off her shock at what she had just heard. "There, there... It's okay. You did your duty, far more then one could have expected."

Walking up, Radetzky placed a hand on the sniffling shipgirl and then looked at Katrina. "We should get her to a bath to heal..." For a moment, she looked lost before shaking it off. "You wouldn't happen to have any bathtubs available? We need to make some repair fluid for her to soak in."

The cat woman slowly nodded. "You can use mine, my house escaped the damage from my reports." Raising a hand, she gestured one of the people there over. "Ash here can guide you to it, and here's my keys."

More then a little surprised, Radetzky took the offered keys and nodded. "Thank you."

Only nodding, Katrina then looked down at Thunderchild who, even now, was attempting to get back to her feet. "It seems that we have our own shipgirl now, doesn't it?"
As he nodded, Elric turned towards Thunderchild's hull. "We do have a small problem and... I don't know what we're going to do." Hearing a snort, he turned to Radetzky who smirked a bit. "What?"

Lips twitching, the Pre-Dreadnought shook her head. "Actually, as she heals, her actual hull should repair itself." At their looks of surprise, she shrugged. "Happened with one of the American shipgirls, Texas I think. Her real hull got damaged but as she healed in the bath, it was also restored."

Glancing at the beached ship, Katrina only nodded. "That's a relief. She's... special to us, more so even now."

Just nodding, Radetzky slowly smiled before crouching down and helping Thunderchild to her feet. "It's not an issue, now then, we'll be heading to get that bath and you, my good friend, all healed up." While they walked off, Katrina could hear the Battleship ask a question. "By the way, are you named after that ship in War of the Worlds by any chance?"

Other then hearing Thunderchild laugh, Katrina missed the rest as Elric tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned, he gave her a frown. "Neither the Ministry nor the ICW will be happy with this."

All Katrina did though was snort. "Let them be unhappy, I don't give a bloody fuck. Not after what they did." Then she grinned. "Maybe it'll place a fire under that ass, Fudge."
_____________________________________________________________________

"THIS IS UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE!"

Leaning back in his chair, Dumbledore only raised an eyebrow as Fudge pounded his fist down on the meeting table. Also around it was Umbridge, Amelia, Arthur, and several other heads. But besides Dumbledore himself, the only other person there who was not part of the Ministry was Lucius Malfoy who seemed extremely unhappy. With a sigh, Dumbledore shook his head as he returned fully back to the meeting. After all, with word of what happened at Saint Brendan's, things had become explosive. "I'm afraid that there's not much that can be done, Cornelius. Not anything short of a full out invasion of the island itself."

For a moment, he looked like he was considering just that before Amelia spoke up. "And that would be foolhardy. I hardly expect that the islanders would be very happy with us at this moment and the shipgirls themselves very well might fight us as well. I will not be sending my Aurors to their deaths."

Dumbledore slowly nodded with a slight frown. "And it's much the same way with the ICW. A number of countries have already threatened to pull support if they send their Aurors from their countries there."

Slumping into his seat, Fudge groaned. "Then what can we do? And don't tell me nothing because this is the biggest breach yet!"

A huff escaped from Umbridge as she glared at her boss. "I told you, Cornelius! You should have gone with my idea and simply gotten rid of them."

However, Fudge only shook his head. "No, Delores, I couldn't. We couldn't relocate them all after all safely in the time we were given." Everyone there knew that was not what she had likely meant, but stayed silent. It didn't improve their view of Umbridge though. "Arthur, you're the closest thing we have on an expert on these shipgirl things. How did they know to show up? Did someone tell them?"

Frowning, Arthur took a deep breath before releasing it. "I've... spoken, to some of my contacts. And no, no one told them anything." At the looks he got, he shrugged. "They saw a rather large Abyssal fleet heading somewhere and so they followed. You can't expect them to ignore that. However, I do have some good news on that end."

It was almost as if Fudge was a man drowning offered a seat in a life raft. "Please, what news?"

Part of Arthur internally grinned at that. 'Hook, line, and sinker.' Externally though, he just grabbed a glass of water and sipped it. "Well... we can still cover up the island and some of those that I am working with will help, as well the islanders from what I have been told. The cover story is that the island was transported from another dimension here to Earth. Hence why the people look so different."

There was utter silence at that as Croaker, the head of the Unspeakables, turned towards his red haired collegue. "And the muggles would believe that? Truly?"

Arthur only nodded with a slight smile. "Apparently there was an incident somewhat similar a few years back that the shipgirls came across. I haven't been told anymore then that, but it's likely as good as we can get."

Eyes narrowing, Croaker nodded to himself. "I see... now that is interesting."

Meanwhile, Fudge muttered to himself as he got up and pulled his trademarked hat from his head. Spinning it in his hands, he frowned before finally sighing. "Yes, I suppose that is the best that we can do. But what can we do here! The people will want answers after all!"

Chuckles caused everyone to turn towards Lucius who shook his head. "Now that is rather easy, Cornelius. Simply lay the blame for all this at the feet of those who caused it, the ICW. After all, they were the ones who forced the pullback despite people telling them not to or that this would happen. Play that angle up and the Ministry will come out smelling like roses."

When he turned to Amelia, she sighed but nodded. "He's right. We don't have enough personnel to have covered the island ourselves even if we wanted to. Not do that and handle everything else. But, the ICW did tell us to leave with them, so they are at fault I suppose."

Finally, a smile grew on Fudge's face as he ignored the grumbles from Umbridge. "Yes, yes... that might work! No, it will work!"

The rest of the meeting passed with it consisting mainly on what sort of spin to place on it. Which was followed by a groaning Dumbledore leaving towards the International Floos. After all, there was still the actual ICW meeting itself. Thankfully, it passed much the same way, with the only difference being that the politicians who pushed for leaving the island got the boot and the blame.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Unlocking the door to his family's quarters, Harry looked over his shoulder with a smile. "Thanks for helping me, Louisiana. I really appreciate this because otherwise I would have had to wait for Mum."

Just holding a rather large box with one arm, the Battleship just grinned as she reached out and ruffled his hair. " As I already told you, mon chéri, I don't mind helping you." Shifting the box some, Louisiana examined the doorframe before nodding. "There should be plenty of room, you first though, mon chéri."

Quickly walking through the door, Harry turned and watched as Lousiana maneuvered the box to get it through the door. Then he walked over to his bedroom door and opened it so that Louisiana could get the box through it. "Still, thanks for this."

Flashing him a smile, Louisiana just shook her head. Once inside his room though, she glanced around and set the box down. Simply looking around, Louisiana took it in with a thoughtful expression on her face. "You sure do make a habit of inviting us girls to your room, don't you, mon chéri? Non?"

More then a little confused, Harry looked up at her before he shrugged to her amusement. "I guess? It's not that big of a deal."

When she laughed, he only shook his head before he grabbed a letter opener from his desk and slipped it between the edges of the cardboard. It only took a few seconds before the top portion had been loosened. At the same time, Louisiana crouched down to better watch what Harry was doing with an interested look on her face. "May I ask what is inside this, mon chéri?"

Glancing up at her, Harry grinned a bit. "It's something that I saw being sold online and I just had to get one for myself to relax in." Even as Louisiana raised an eyebrow at the non-answer, Harry continued to work until he opened the box. Then it was only the work of a few seconds for him to get the bubblewrap off and he threw his hands into the air. "Panpakapan!"

Unable to help herself, Louisiana snickered a bit before she turned to the mystery object and raised her eyebrows. "A chair? Not quite what I expected."

Harry just grinned up at her and shook his head. "An awesome chair! See? It looks like a shipgirl's rigging!"

Only examining it, the Battleship eventually nodded. "Yes, it does look like rigging, non?" Said seat sat on the floor as it had no legs, just a cushion while the sides and backing rose up. Said sides were grey at the top and antifouling red. But what made it more obvious was the fake plush "Turrets" that were sticking out to the side. A small smile crossed Louisiana's face as she shook her head. "It is rather cute actually."

With a blink, Harry shook his head. "Nah, I think it's pretty cool actually." Moving the last of the cardboard and wrapping away, Harry sat down in it and shifted around before placing his arms on the sides of the "Rigging". After a few moments, he grinned. "It's actually pretty comfy."

Slowly nodding, Louisiana gestured towards it. "May I try, mon chéri?"

In reply, Harry only got up and out of the chair before gesturing to it. "Sure, go ahead and try it."

Nodding, Louisiana moved and then sat down herself before examining it. "Hmm... it does have a nice backing to it." Due to her height, she was easily able to place her arms on the armrests, something that Harry still had some growing to do before he could do it as comfortably. "You know, mon chéri, perhaps I should get one of these for the quarters that I have been sharing with Shinano."

A small smile on his face, Harry only shrugged. "If you want, I can give you the website I bought it at."

Thoughtful, Louisiana finally nodded some. "I think that I will take you up on that." Then, she patted her thighs with a chuckle. "Now how about you come and have a seat, mon chéri?" After a few moments, Harry did as asked and scooted back until Lousiana reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Pulling him close, she smiled softly down at him. "There, is this not more comfy?"

Shifting a bit, Harry leaned back and nodded. "Yeah, it really is." Much to her amusement, Harry reached up and grabbed her cover before plopping it on his own head to her giggles. "What? I like it."

Just tightening the hug, the shipgirl shook her head as she was unable to keep the grin off her face. "And it looks good on you, mon chéri. Better then it does on me, I think."

Only snorting, Harry just looked up at her and snickered. "I don't know about that, Louisiana. I think it looks way better on you."

Leaning forward, Louisiana tilted her head until she was nearly able to touch his nose with hers as she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I think otherwise. In fact, I expect that in a few years you shall grow into it quite well and cannot wait for that day."

Somewhat bemused by what she said, Harry only shook his head as Louisiana straightened back up and closed her eyes. However, she opened them a few seconds later as Harry spoke up. "So... um, how have things been going? I mean, since you've been assigned to Shinano as an escort..."

With a light laugh, Louisiana leaned forward and placed her chin on top of Harry's head. "Ah, things have actually been going quite well between the two of us. And I will say that I get along with ma chère, Shinano, very well." Her lips twitched a bit with her next words. "In fact, I can see us as becoming quite close in the future, especially if you become our Admiral, mon chéri."

Not having caught the subtext, much to Louisiana's amusement, Harry just nodded. "Yeah, Shinano's an awesome friend. And so are you really, so no wonder you get along so well!" He then looked up at her. "Because you're both awesome."

Unable to help herself, Louisiana laughed out loud. "Oui! Shinano certainly is awesome as you say." Calming down, she looked down at the boy in her arms. "But I think that you'll be just as awesome in the future yourself."

Only nodding, Harry leaned back as the two of them continued to chat before Harry noticed something outside. "Huh, it's raining out."

Humming, Louisiana smiled a little bit. "So it is, mon chéri. Well, I suppose that I shall stay here for a bit until it calms down then." A moment later, she noticed that Harry was yawning and raised an eyebrow. "Tired, are we?"

Slightly sheepish, Harry glanced up at her. "Well... I've been sleeping better, but..."

Eyes softening, Louisiana only hummed a bit before she adjusted her position to be more comfortable for the two of them. "Yeah, not the easiest thing to get over." For a few seconds, she stared at the rain beating against the windows before looking down at Harry. "Want to know something, mon chéri?"

Interested, Harry nodded some. "Sure, what?"

With her lips twitching, Louisiana set her chin back on his head as she looked at the window. "The rain, I love the sound of it. To moi, it's a lullaby at times and relaxes me."

Listening himself, Harry's eyelids drooped a bit. "Huh... never thought of it that way. But yeah... it's pretty nice."

Only chuckling, Louisiana hummed deep in her chest. "If you want, you can take a small nap, mon chéri. I'll make sure that the nightmares will not bother you."

All Harry did was lean back and close his eyes with a small smile. "Thanks... and I do feel safe."

Moments later, he drifted off as the American Battleship just held him and continued to watch the rain and listen to it. "Rest now, I will protect you mon capitaine."
______________________________________________________________________

Walking into the meeting room that he had been asked to go to, Harry blinked at the number of shipgirls there. "Um... Hi?"

In reply, Junyou grinned at him and raised a bottle in salute. "Hey! Kiddo, glad that you could come. Now come on over and have a seat by your Junyou-Oba!"

Beside her, Ryuujou sighed and placed her head in her hands. "Why me..." However, she got up and moved one seat over so that Harry could sit down between them. With a glance to her fellow Light Carrier, Ryuujou leaned towards Harry in a stage whisper. "Thanks for sitting there, I need some space between us."

That got her a snort from Junyou even as she took another swing of her drink. "Aw, don't lie now, Ryuujou. Ya know that you love me." Grinning, she turned fully to Ryuujou. "Hey, Ryuujou..."

Sighing, Ryuujou turned towards her. "What, Junyou?"

A rather large grin on her face, Junyou snickered. "I bet that you have Takoyaki in your lunch for today. Hmm?"

For a moment, Ryuujou blinked before she shook her head. "No... I don't. In fact, I'm going to get my lunch later."

Only facepalming, Junyou turned towards Harry. "Let's try this again... Harry, I bet that you have Takoyaki in your lunch for today. Hmm?"

It took a moment, but Harry's eyes widened and he grinned. Then he wiped it off and made a chopping motion with his hand. "Whut yew mean?"

More then a little confused, Ryuujou blinked. "What are you two..." Then, everyone could see it click in her head as she slammed a hand down. "Are the two of you making a crack about muh accent!?"

Glancing at each other, Harry and Junyou tried to hide their grins as they shook their heads. On their faces were expressions that meant that butter could not melt in their mouths as they spoke as one. "Nooooo, of course not."

Eyebrow twitching, Ryuujou growled at them. "Screw you! Screw the both of you!"

Unable to help herself, Junyou finally broke down into laughter as the annoyed Ryuujou continued to shout at her. Meanwhile, Harry just looked around the room and blinked at the group of shipgirls that was there. Enterprise and Arizona stood out, if only because they were the only two non-Japanese shipgirls there. Other then her, there was also Hiyou and Unryuu which caused him to blink. 'Odd... aren't they supposed to be down in Kure?'

Before he could ask though, the door opened again and this time Goto walked in followed by Ooyodo, Haru, and Natsumi. Things quietened down as they newcomers all sat down with Goto clearing his throat. "Now, thank you all for coming, I understand that you might be a bit confused as to why you are all here."

Grunting, Enterprise just sipped the glass of water she was holding and snorted. "Yeah, a bit confusing. I mean, I'm seeing a lot of Light Carriers here, one human, two Mikos, and myself as well as Arizona. So yeah, we're confused alright."

A chuckle escaped from Haru who only shook her head. "If I may, Teitoku?" At his nod, she continued. "Now, the reason that you're all here is that I have finally finished my consultations with the Kami and they've revealed how we may purify the island with the ships in the caldera..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

And a little bit of a quick bit:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Utter silence met Haru at her declaration until Unryuu spoke up. "A way to purify that island? I hope that this does not turn out how I heard Nakanotorishima did."

A snort escaped from Haru as she shook her head. "Hardly." Leaning back, she smirked a little at the gathered shipgirls. "Nakanotorishima was brute forcing the issue. The way that I came across is a bit more... of a slow burn, I suppose the best way to put it would be."

Blinking, Harry tilted his head some. "A slow burn? How so?"

In reply, Haru reached into her clothes and pulled out an ofuda that she slid further onto the table. "This is a purification ofuda that I made under the direction of the Kami. Having gotten in touch with Albus Dumbledore, he was willing to part with a very small amount of ashes from Fawkes to use in the ink. And the brush that I used for them was from the set that you gave me, made from unicorn hair."

There were raised eyebrows from everyone there outside of Harry, the two American shipgirls, and Goto himself. Almost as one, they began murmuring among themselves. Then Hiyou spoke up in awe. "That... would be incredibly potent for purification."

Somewhat thoughtful, Ryuujou frowned as she looked at the ofuda and then up at Haru. "May I?" At her nod, she gently took it and examined it carefully, Harry doing so from beside her. "This... holy crap, this would purify just about anything. But even one or two would not..."

As Ryuujou trailed off, Junyou grunted as she crossed her arms and looked at Haru. Even she could see the small bags under the kitsune's eyes. "Wouldn't do enough. But if we have a lot more then just two..."
Lips twitching, Haru nodded. "Exactly."

It was then that Harry blinked and his eyes widened as he realized what was going on. "A lot of us can use ofuda... Is that why we're here?"

Proud, Haru grinned, but it was Natsumi who answered. "Yup! We're all going to place ofuda in particular spots on the island and then set them off. These ones won't go off like explosions but more an... aura, of purification." She then shrugged a bit. "The effects will overlap each other and extend it until it covers the whole island. All of you can use them, so we can cover and power more of them. Think of it as a slow burn rather then an explosion as it would take a few weeks to be done."

Suddenly, there was a cough and they all turned to Arizona who frowned from where she was beside Enterprise. "That's rather interesting, but it brings up one question though. Why us?"

Now uncomfortable, Haru looked at her directly. "I assume that you know the history behind the island, Arizona-San? In particular what went on there during the war?"

Even as the Battleship nodded, Enterprise frowned. "She might, but I don't. What's the big deal?"

For a moment, Haru was silent and then sighed. "It's... pretty horrible but..."

She then launched into an explanation and by the time it was done, Arizona's expression was stony despite having been told it before. Enterprise though stood up and slammed a hand, palm down, onto the table. "Are you fucking shitting me, Haru? Fucking prisoners of war were enslaved there with magic and forced to work until they fucking died!?"

Very slowly, the kitsune nodded. "That... is exactly what happened, I'm afraid." A grimace crossed her face before she shook her head. "I've been attempting divination to find where they might be buried so that they can be properly laid to rest once the SoS is broken and we can do so, but the interference from everything has... prevented me from doing so fully."

Unryuu had her eyes closed but nodded. "And I am assuming that their spirits are still there on the island. Restless and roaming about."

With a sigh, Goto nodded. "That's what I've been told. I didn't believe it but..." Turning to the disk player in the desk, Goto pulled a disk out of his pocket and then slipped it into said player. Moments later, the lights in the room lowered and they turned to the screen as he turned the player on. "Naka set up several cameras on the island and caught... well, this."

On the screen, there was an image of the interior of the island as it switched from different viewpoints. It was day time and the vegetation was moving in the breeze. Frowning, Enterprise just raised an eyebrow. "What are we looking fo-What the fuck was that!?"

However, Goto didn't replay it as it focused in on one of the spots where what looked like a shadow of a man could just barely be seen walking with no one attached. Then it went through several views and showed similar "Shadows" going about. In at least one of them, several of them were gathered around one and seemed to be attacking it.

But then the view switched to light and everyone outside of Goto and the two Miko, who had already seen it, sucked in breaths.

All across the island, orbs of light could be seen drifting or moving. Not one or two, or even dozens... but hundreds of them. Some of them were larger then others, with the two largest staying away from the rest and retreating when they came close. They dipped and flew everywhere. In the meeting room, Arizona's eyes roamed across the images which then went to thermal and showed that the air temperature was cold in the caldera, but the orbs were even colder, showing up as nearly black against the background. "My God..."

Goto slowly nodded with his lips set in a grim line. "That was rather my own reaction to this..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Enterprise, meanwhile, was just silent, though she knew that her crew was royally, utterly pissed off at the moment. However, one look at the Japanese shipgirls though caused her to relax some. Even her crew couldn't help but see how ashamed they look. 'Right... they came back to redeem themselves and right the wrongs of the past. Move it to the side, E. You'll have all the time you need in the future to deal with that.' Clearing her throat, she then looked directly at Haru. "That's a lot of ghosts there. So I'm assuming that is why you want myself and Arizona there? I survived the war and was well known enough while Arizona..."

As Enterprise's voice trailed off, Arizona grunted. "While I'm well known enough that my own forgiveness will go a long way." Looking back to the screen, Arizona shook her head. "It does make a certain amount of sense."

Slowly, Haru nodded. "It is both my hope and that of the Kami that you'll be able to convince them to move on to the afterlife. The ofuda will slowly erode the bindings for them in that time. Once that is done, the rest of the island can be purified in short order." Then she spread her hands out. "Or that is the hope anyways."

Rapidly drumming her fingers on the desk, Enterprise finally nodded. "That makes some sense." Glancing over at the thoughtful Battleship she raised an eyebrow. "So, you in Arizona?"

After almost a minute, Arizona nodded. "I'll help out best that I can." The Battleship then turned towards Haru with a frown. "You'll have to explain what we need to do however."

Only chuckling, Haru shook her head. "Simply speak with them, that is all that we need you to do. Hopefully, that will be enough to lay them to rest."

Coughing, Enterprise then spoke up again. "There is something though that I want." At their looks, she raised an eyebrow until they nodded. "I want Princess and Nagato there with us."

A frown on his face, Goto slowly nodded as he furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't see a major issue with either Nagato or... Yamato being there, but why?"

Leaning back, the Americans Carrier smirked. "Why? Nagato was the Pride of the IJN during the war. And Yamato was practically recognizable at a glance for any Japanese there. Arizona and myself sailing into view with them would get the point across to any ghosts. And if needed, they can pull that whole 'I'm a representative of the Emperor' stuff that I heard they can to any Japanese ghosts."

Finger tapping against her chin, Haru hummed a bit. "That would work rather well in this case, I think. Yes, I think that we can use that."

Meanwhile, Harry was examining a map that Natsumi had rolled out. Said map was split into "Sectors" for each of them to handle and Harry blinked at the one marked out for him. "Um... Haru-San...?"

Simply blinking as she looked over at him, Haru nodded some. "Yes, Harry-Chan? Is something the matter?"

There was a frown on Harry's face as he tapped the map. "Not really, just wondering something." He waited for her to nod before he continued. "You gave me where the ships are as where I am setting up the ofuda... Can I ask why?"

For several moments Haru was quiet before she shook her head. "Harry-Chan, you have a skill that the rest of us lack which is what we need here." Seeing his confusion, the kitsune smiled. "You're actually able to dive. I've encased the ofuda you'll be using between two sheets of plastic and sealed it to prevent water getting at them. However... we need someone to place them underwater before activating them and being as the only onmyouji user able to dive is you..."

Biting his lip, Harry considered this for several moments before taking a deep breath. "Do I just place the ofuda underwater against the wrecks? Or do I... go inside them?"

There was a grimace on Haru's face and she glanced at Natsumi who seemed to be worried. "You can place them against the wrecks, but it would be best to make it them inside. I'm not about to ask you to endanger yourself though and go deep into them. Someone will be right above you watching at all times though. Just in case... and while your Kaa-San isn't too pleased, she's willing to allow it as long as you feel you can do it."

Silence fell as they watched Harry who was examining the map. A scoff though caused them to all look up to see Enterprise smirking. "Tell you what, Kiddo, I'll make sure that you're covered while your working and aren't down there alone."

Eyes wide, Harry stared at her. "I didn't know that you dive, Enterprise!"

It took a moment before Enterprise snapped out of her surprise at what he said and shook her head. "Actually... I don't. Being underwater like that gives me the heebie jeebies something fucking fierce."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Ryuujou frowned at the larger Carrier. "But you just said that you'd make sure that he wouldn't be down there alone. If you're not going to be diving with him, then how?"

With a grin spreading across her face, Enterprise closed her fist for a few moments before turning and opening it. On the palm of her hand, several fairies stood examining the shipgirls. "These guys will be heading down with him."

Leaning for a better look, Ooyodo took a better look. "And who might they be?" At seeing the raised eyebrows of the fairies, she shrugged. "No offense."

Just snorting, Enterprise shook her head. "And you wonder why your DamCom was shit. These guys are repair divers. If I was damaged, it was their job to go underwater and make repairs. Dangerous as fuck, but they know their stuff and can have your back."

One of the fairies stepped off Enterprise's hand and then walked over to Harry. Coming to a stop in front of him, the fairy frowned before crossing his arms. "Hey, hey hey hey hey hey? Hey hey hey?"

Blinking, Harry frowned for a moment. "What depth can I go to?" After the fairy nodded, he shrugged. "Just did the course last year again, so... forty feet is about the limit that I'm qualified for."

Slowly, the fairy nodded before tilting his head. "Hey, hey hey hey hey hey."

With a snort, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Of course I'd listen to you guys down there. You're more experienced after all."

That only got him a nod from the fairy. "Hey."

With that, it walked back to Enterprise's hand and got onto it before she closed it. The Carrier then smiled at Harry before ruffling his hair. "Don't worry, kiddo. My boys will make sure that you're safe, you're in very good hands after all."

All Harry did was nod before he turned to Goto. "Um, Teitoku? You don't happen to have photographs of the area, do you? That way I know before hand what the area looks like?"

Chuckling, Goto nodded. "I'll make sure that you get them when you leave. Now then, moving on to the next area..."
________________________________________________________

Once the meeting was finally over, Harry headed back to the quarters that he shared with the rest of his adopted family. Coming into view of it though, he came to a stop. This was due mainly because he could see both Jane and Kiyoshimo in front of his door whispering. For some odd reason though, the black haired boy knew that he was going to regret what was likely to happen. And rather then walk away, he just walked towards them. "Hi, Jane! What are you doing here?"

Turning, Jane grinned before running over and giving her adopted cousin a hug. "Harry! We were just looking for you!" Still hugging him, she giggled a bit. "Anyways, I came up with Ari-Mama."

Beside her, Kiyoshimo nodded with a grin. "Yup! And now that you're here we can get down to business and talk, because we need your help for this."

Slowly, Harry raised an eyebrow before he nodded some. "Okay, just let me open the door so we can all go inside." Almost a minute later, Harry had opened his fridge and was rooting around in it. "We got some juice if you want it?"

All the two girls did was nod with Jane smiling. "That sounds great."

A few seconds later, he was sitting down and watching as the two girls practically vibrated in place. Before he could ask though, Kiyoshimo began to dig in a bag at her side. "You know the Duckies, right? And how they like food?"

Blinking, Harry just nodded. "Yeah, I know. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Grinning, Jane wagged a finger at him. "Because, Cuz, they bought books on magical cooking and stuff. And Kiyoshimo overheard them talking about one item in particular."

Before Harry could ask, Kiyoshimo let out a triumphant shout and pulled a book from her bag. "Got it! You won't believe what it is, Harry-Chan!"

However, Harry was focused on something else. "Did... did you two actually steal from Akizuki-Chan and her sisters?! Really?!"

Shaking her head, Jane sighed. "We didn't steal, we borrowed. Just like Albie taught me... They're also out on patrol so they won't miss it and I'll put it back when we're done. Anyways, that's not the important thing."

Harry was just about to comment when Kiyoshimo shoved the open book in his face and pointed at something. "Look right here, Harry-Chan! This could let me finally become a Battleship!"

All that could be heard was the slow ticking of the Yuudachi-Dog clock mounted on the wall, it's tail going back and forth. Finally, Harry blinked and pushed the book slightly away. "What."

Sighing, Kiyoshimo shoved the book back in his face before pointing at the same spot again. "Dragon milk cheese, Harry! Cheese, made from dragon's milk. Milk... from dragons!"

Once more, Harry blinked before he answered. "Okay, and so?"

Simply throwing her hands up into the air, Kiyoshimo turned towards Jane in exasperation. "Why can't he understand?! This is easy!"

The girl only shook her head before patting her friend on the shoulder. "It's okay, Kiyoshimo. You can't blame him for being dense, he is a boy after all."

Eyebrow twitching on his forehead, Harry gave her a slight glare. "I'm right here, you know." At her snickers, he rolled his eyes. "Okay, so you found cheese made from milk that comes from dragons'? That's... great and everything I guess? So what's the big deal?"

Still exasperated, the Destroyer turned towards Jane. "Can you explain it? Because he doesn't seem to get it."

Nodding, Jane turned towards Harry and sighed. "Okay, it's like this... Normal milk, from cows, makes you grow up big and strong, right? And if you drink a lot of it, you grow up really big and strong and get like, big boobs or something."

That got her looks from both Kiyoshimo and Harry. It was the Destroyer though who spoke up. "Wait, really?"

All Jane did was shrug before she shook her head. "That's what I overheard some girls saying at school. Don't know if it's true or not though."

Kiyoshimo just crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. "Huh... I've seen Musashi-Onee-San drinking a lot of milk, so maybe that's why she's got such big fuel tanks..."

With a shrug, Jane turned back to Harry who was giving them both weird looks. "Anyways, so normal milk makes you big and strong. So it stands to reason that magical milk does so even more! But dragon's milk? That would be the best!"

Quickly nodding, Kiyoshimo grinned. "Yeah! Dragons are among the biggest and most powerful magical creatures after all. So drinking their milk should do the same to us! And for a Destroyer like me, that means becoming a Battleship!"

Also nodding, Jane laughed. "And so will I! Heck, you can drink it and also become a Battleship!"

Head tilting to the side, Harry only blinked in confusion. "Um... I'm pretty sure that it doesn't work like that..."

While rolling her eyes, Jane waved him off. "Of course it does! And since you're a wizard, you can go and get us some, right Cuz?"

More then a minute passed as Harry slowly considered this. The logic was... extremely convoluted to say the least. But, there was an odd sense to it. Even if said sense only made sense to shipgirls and those who have grown up alongside them. Finally, Harry nodded. "Sure, I'll see what I can do then."

Now both girls practically launched themselves across the table to hug the black haired wizard much to hisnconfusion. But then he shrugged it off as it made them happy, even if he was still unsure about the whole thing. Several moments later, they lapsed into silence again until Kiyoshimo spoke up. "I just wonder one thing..."

Both Harry and Jane looked towards her in confusion with the female of the two speaking up. "Oh?"

Slowly, Kiyoshimo nodded before tilting her head. "How do you milk a dragon anyways?"

Harry just raised a finger. "Oh, that's easy." When they looked at him, he closed his eyes and smiled. "Very carefully."

All Jane did was reach for the book and lightly bop him on the head with it.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking out at the chaos, Kana only blinked before she slowly turned towards Fubuki. Said Destroyer's expression could be best described as "Cat who not only ate the canary, but drove the dog nuts, has a bowl full of cream, and a crown on her head". Needless to say, the Tosa Class Battleship only blinked. "Um..."

A pat on her arm though caused her to turn to see Mutsuki there with a slight smile. "Don't worry about it, Kana-Chan. Fubuki-Chan is just..."

Yuudachi then took over. "Enjoying some revenge, Poi."

With a blink, Kana turned towards Yuudachi with a confused expresson. It had been a simple convoy escort to the Philippines. Until, that is, they reached the local shipgirl base and Fubuki had unleashed chaos upon it. And now the Destroyer was just grinning madly as she watched. "Revenge...?"

Slowly, Yuudachi nodded and crossed her arms as she sighed. "Fubuki-Chan and Captain Darren... do not get along, Poi."

On Mutsuki's face there was a deadpan expression as she snorted. "That's putting it mildly, Yuudachi-Chan." Realizing that Kana was still confused, the Destroyer shook her head. "Captain Darren is always teasing and trolling poor Fubuki-Chan every time we show up here. And Fubuki-Chan... tries her best to ignore it, but sometimes..."

Eyes widening, Kana stomped one of her feet down and shattered concrete beneath it. "He makes fun of Fubuki-Sempai!? Why!?"

Just shrugging, Yuudachi shook her head. "Who knows? It's just who he is, poi."

Snorting, Kana then shook her head. "Then he deserves whatever is coming to him. He shouldn't be making fun of Fubuki-Sempai or teasing her! Especially since he's an officer."

There was a blush on Fubuki's face at this as she was still not used to being a "Sempai", let along one to a Battleship. It didn't help that Kaga had, personally, told her to take care of her little sister. At the moment though, she was just too happy with how her revenge was going and so reached up the best that she could and patted Kana on the head. "Thank you, Kana-Kun, I appreciate it."

Heavily blushing, Kana only nodded and leaned slightly into the headpat. 'Fubuki-Sempai is patting my head! Fubuki-Sempai is patting me on the head!' A sigh then escaped her. 'I will never wash my head again...'

Rather amused at the look of pure, Sempai derived bliss on the Battleship's face, Mutsuki chuckled a bit. Glancing at Yuudachi and seeing the grin on her face, Mutsuki snorted some. When Kana had been attached to them in order to help her gain experience, they had been rather confused. That had turned rapidly into amusement when they realized that Kana was like a Battleship version of Fubuki when it came to "Sempais", but directed at Fubuki unlike said Destroyer's focus on Carriers such as Akagi. The fact that Fubuki didn't quite seem to know how to deal with it had, if anything, increased the amusement. Shaking it off though, Mutsuki turned back to what they were seeing in front of them and frowned. "Sometimes Fubuki-Chan does give as good as she gets right back though... and when she is sufficiently annoyed, Darren usually regrets it."

Nodding rapidly, Yuudachi smiled. "Yeah, like that time that Fort Drum was looking for him, Poi. And Darren was hiding from her until Fubuki-Chan pointed him out. That really got under his skin."

Simply frowning, Mutsuki tilted her head to the side and hummed. "But this though..."

From a distance away, Darren's voice could be heard. "OH! GODOKA, SAVE US ALL!"

Tapping her chin, Yuudachi nodded some. "Yeah, this is a bit much, Fubuki-Chan..."

Just blinking and stopping her headpats to Kana, much to the Battleship's disappointment, Fubuki turned to her two friends. "It's not that bad." At their looks, she shrugged. "Really, it's not."

Bringing up a finger, Mutsuki pointed. "What about Murakumo-San? She's caught right in the middle of that! And she's your Imouto!"

However, Fubuki only clapped her hands in front of her face and bowed some. "I shall pray to the Kami for her soul and thank her for her brave sacrifice. And then I will carry on for her."

At that moment, Murakumo could be heard shouting. "THEY'RE MULTIPLYING! MULTIPLYING!"

Fubuki sighed and the went into a pose with her fist clenched in front of her face as she faced the sun. "Yes, I shall thank her. But there is nothing that I can do for her, sadly."

Eyes wide, Kana just stared at her. 'Fubuki-Sempai is so cool...'

Meanwhile, Mutsuki shook her head some and scratched her cheek. "Um..." Then she turned back to the chaos. "I'm still surprised that you... managed to keep some of those things until now."

Tilting her head, Yuudachi blinked. "But how are they multiplying like that? I don't remember them being able to do that..."

Only waving her off, Fubuki shrugged. "I... asked for some favors from some who know magic."

Then she turned back to see a freaking out Captain Darren attempting to club an Incubator doll, which then turned into two as it blinked at him, tail swishing behind. "So then, is that a no to making a contract with us?"

All it got was another scream and attempt to kill it while in the background, Murokumo was attempting to cut others apart.
__________________________________________________________________

Bored where she sat in the back of the Zodiac, Natsumi sighed some as she glanced around before catching sight of Harry bent over something. With a small blink, she shifted until she was facing him. "Are you checking your gear again, Harry-Chan?"

Glancing at her, Harry gave a small smile before he nodded. "I am."

Slowly, Natsumi raised her eyebrows as she continued to watch him. "This is what? Your third or fourth time checking it? Nervous?"

Just shrugging, Harry frowned. "Well, maybe a little nervous. But not that much really. And, well... I kind of got reason to be." Then he turned back to his work. "I'm mainly just checking everything to make sure that it works though. Can't be too careful after all."

Raising an eyebrow, Natsumi frowned. "Okay..." Looking over his equipment, she suddenly furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, shouldn't you have a wetsuit or something? Unless... you're just diving in your swimshorts."

With a soft snicker, Harry lifted up his shirt. "Actually, I'm already wearing it underneath my normal clothes. Don't want to get changed on the island after all."

That got him a nod from Natsumi who straightened out her Hakama. However, it was then that Nagato pulled in close to the boat and nodded at her son with a smile. "Are you ready for this, Harry?" Then with a sympathic look, she raised an eyebrow. "You know, you don't need to do this if you don't want to."

Harry only shrugged. "It really doesn't bother me that much, Mum. Besides... I can actually help out some."

Before either of them could say anything else though, Haru spoke up from the front. "We're nearly there! The entrance is about five minutes away!"

Getting up, Harry made his way up towards the front of the boat in time for it to slow down and reveal the "Crack" made in the magical protections. Also looking it over, Nagato frowned. "Hmm..." Turning, she shared a look with Arizona. "So... you and I shall go first, followed by Yamato and Enterprise then?"

After a few moments, Arizona nodded. "That sounds for the best. The others will follow us then."

With nods, Nagato entered first followed by Arizona who came alongside her. Then Enterprise and Yamato did as well with the others behind, but keeping the zodiac in the middle. It was only a few moments before they sailed through the massive opening in the crater wall and into the caldera itself. Looking around, Enterprise nodded as she examined her surroundings. "I got to admit, Princess, whoever chose this place did good work. Perfect for hiding things."

There was a frown on Yamato's face as she nodded and glanced up at the crater walls where something caught her sight. "Hmm... What do you think, Enterprise-San? Anti-Air emplacements?"

Now interested, Enterprise turned and nodded. "Yeah, looks like it. Wonder if it was for aircraft or for anyone flying on brooms and shit."

Only shaking her head, Yamato continued to glance around. But then she noticed that the two Battleships up front had stiffened and were looking at the shore. Narrowing her eyes, she also turned and looked in the same direction before her eyes widened slightly. "Do you see them, Enterprise-San?"

Grimacing, Enterprise nodded. "Yeah... I do." Then she sighed deeply. "Dammit... there's a lot of them there, isn't there?"

Neither of the two could see individuals on the shore, but there was a spiritual fog there of sorts. They could almost feel the stares on them as they sailed across the caldera, all four of the ships had gone all out and their flags and pennants flapped and snapped in the breeze. In the front. Arizona swallowed before she glanced down at the fairy band assembled on her deck, all of them staring forward. "It's time."

With a nod, her fairies began to play "Star Spangled Banner" as she cut her speed down. Once she was done, Nagato's band began to play "Kimigayo". After that died away, Arizona's band started up, this time with "Anchors Aweigh" with Nagato then taking over with "Warship March" once they were done. Coming to a stop just before the shore, Nagato felt her hair on her neck raise as she could feel unseen stares. Outwardly though, she didn't show any sign as she took a deep breath as she saluted. "Battleship Nagato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy!"

Beside her, Arizona also gave a salute. "USS Arizona, BB-39, of the United States Navy!"

From her position behind her, Enterprise also gave a salute. "USS Enterprise, CV-6, proud Carrier of the United States Navy!"

And finally, Yamato saluted the seemingly empty shore. "Japanese Battleship, Yamato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy."

Letting out a breath, Nagato then nodded as she continued to call out. "We are all here to inform you that the war... is over! It has been over for more then seventy years and no longer are we enemies."

Her gaze sweeping across the shore, Arizona nodded. "Indeed, not only that, but our nations are now the closest of friends and allies. Defending and shedding blood for the defense of one another, debts repaid in full. I forgave them long ago."

Enterprise glanced at Yamato and nodded. "Brothers and sisters in arms."

The Battleship smiled some.

For a moment, Enterprise and Yamato blinked before glancing at each other. Then, slowly, Yamato extended her hand and Enterprise did the same. But it was what was on both those hands that were the biggest surprise. On Enterprise's, was Halsey and on Yamato's was Yamamoto. The two fairies stared at each other before shaking hands quickly and letting go. With that done, Halsey turned towards the shore. "Hey! Hey hey hey hey hey hey!"

On Yamato's hand, Yamamoto nodded. "Desu! Desu desu desu desu desu desu!"

Yet again, Arizona let her gaze sweep the shore. "By the order of the President of the United States of America, I hereby bring the following message... You're all free. It's time to come home."

Nagato then gave a nod. "And by order of the Heavenly Sovereign, I, Nagato, bring the following message to all Imperial Japanese Forces. You are now relieved and may journey onwards from here."

Minutes passed as they waited there, just barely heard murmurs in their ears. Then, a breeze swept through the area and they all felt the oppressive atmosphere lighten. Relaxing, Arizona turned and nodded. "Everything's fine now, you can head in."

With glances around them, the Zodiac moved and then beached itself before Harry and the others clambered out. Lightly hopping out of it, Haru glanced around and bowed. "We are here to purify this island of the evils done. It will allow for all of you to move on..." After a few moments, Haru looked at the Onmyouji using shipgirls. "Let's go and perform what is needed. Natsumi-Chan? You're with Nagato. Harry-Chan? You're with Enterprise-San."

Getting nods, they all headed out with Arizona staying with Yamato and the Zodiac. It was a few minutes though before Arizona heard footsteps and turned to find transparent, twin teenaged girls standing by her. Each of them shuffled a bit nervously while they fiddled with their kimonos and Arizona's eyes widened some as she remembered the briefing. 'These... must be those Hitobashira...' When it looked like they were about to run, Arizona gave them the best comforting smile that she could and crouched down. "Hello there."

For a moment, they froze before one of them spoke up. "Are... are you really an American ship spirit?"

Very slowly, Arizona nodded with her smile still on her face. "I am as a matter of fact. Now then, how can I help you?"

Sharing a look between them, the other twin spoke up. "We're sorry for what happened here and want to make amends. And..."

As she trailed off, Arizona's eyes widened slightly before she reached forward and placed a hand on both their shoulders. Surprisingly, they felt solid though cold. "Look at me for a moment." When they did, she shook her head. "You have nothing to make amends for. You were not involved in the crimes that took place here."

Much to her surprise though, they only shook their heads as the first twin spoke up. "No, our job was to protect this place. What happened falls upon our shoulders and... we want them to be able to rest."

Beside her, the other twin nodded. "Yes, what my Nee-San said. And, that means a proper burial, correct?" At Arizona's nod, they nodded. "Then, we can take you to where they buried them, so that they can be brought home."

Raising an eyebrow, Arizona turned to Yamato who nodded. With her smile still on her face, Arizona held out her hands which the two spirits took. "Well then, take me to them and when we can, I will personally see to it that they will be returned to their home soil when the time comes to do so."

Only nodding, the three walked off with Yamato watching. Normally, she would have been against it. But even here, she could see that Arizona far out massed the two spiritually and so it was safe for the shipgirl to do so. Glancing to the side, she could see groups of her own fairies on the bow of the Zodiac, seemingly holding one sided conversations. But the fact that said area was in shadow despite the fact there was nothing making the shadows told her all that she needed to know.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking through a corridor in the incomplete Taihou Kai class, Harry swung his flashlight back and forth as he continued to walk through shin deep water. After a few moments, he frowned as he glanced at the laminated map in one hand. "Huh..."

Behind him, one of the American Marines that had accompanied him looked over his shoulder. "So where exactly are we, kiddo?"

Looking up, Harry hummed a bit. "Well... according this this, we're about two levels down from the hanger deck. Maybe... 200 meters from the above the engine room? She's a lot shallower then the others, so... I don't need to dive except maybe there."

A groan then drifted through the ship and the Marine frowned as he looked around. For a brief moment, he could have sworn that he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye, but there was nothing there. The only thing that he could see was the sloshing of the rest of some of the Marines who had accompanied Arizona and Enterprise to the island. Somehow, which was beyond him, Enterprise had convinced them to escort the kid. Of course, it didn't help that when they had asked Enterprise why she didn't go along with them, she looked them in the eye and gave an answer that did not help. "Would you like to go crawling inside a human corpse?"

However, the whole place creeped him out and not just things seen from out of the corner of his eye either.

The Marine swore that more then once when his own flashlight hit the water, there was a brief moment of seeing a face under the water looking up at him. Then they were gone. It went without saying that not a one of them could wait until they were out of there. "Yeah, kiddo? That's probably a good thing." Another groan then echoed through the corridors and he raised an eyebrow. "You think that she doesn't want us here?"

Slowly, Harry shook his head and then laid a hand against the wall and closed his eyes. "No, it's not that." After a few moments, he opened his eyes and the Marine gave a small shiver as they glowed in the dark. "She's... lonely. I don't think that Denryuu has liked being here all alone like this."

For a moment, the Marine blinked and then gave Harry an odd look. "I thought that she didn't have a name?"

Harry only shrugged a bit as an almost unnoticable tremble ran through the ship. "Yeah, but that name just popped into my head. Pretty sure that's her name."

Only shaking his head, the Marine continued to follow Harry as they went deeper and deeper into the ship. "Kid, hope that you don't mind me saying this, but... that's creepy as shit."

All Harry did though was laugh. "I guess, but not really." It was several minutes later when they entered through a doorway and looked across the flooded engine room. Playing his light across the surface, Harry sighed and shook his head. "Looks like I'll be going for a swim anyways."

Pointing his own flashlight dowards, the Marine frowned as he looked at the slowly rusting machinery that was revealed in the light. "You sure that you want to go down there? Sure that you can't put one of those paper things up here?"

The black haired boy shook his head as he pulled off his backpack and hung it onto a piece of metal. "Can't. I have to place more then one and for that, I need to get down there to do so." He then glanced over his shoulder. "It's kind of her heart after all."

Simply nodding, the Marine shone his light back to see the rest of his squad coming. "Okay kid, if you want to. Just let us set up the inflatable." Once the others arrived, it was only a few minutes before the Marines inflated the tiny raft with the one who was by Harry squeezing himself into it. "Join the Marines they said, travel the world they said... Kick all sorts of ass they said." Grunting, he finally managed it and grabbed the paddle handed to him by a fellow, grinning Marine. "They said nothing about squeezing my ass into a tiny raft in the middle of a haunted ship."

Laughing, Harry grinned at him behind his mask. "Sadly, they never tell you these things."

Before the Marine could respond, Harry had jumped into the water and was sinking towards the bottom of the engine room with his light able to be seen from above. "Little shit."

Flashlight pointing down to where Harry was swimming, another Marine shook his head. "A little shit who has some balls. I tell you something, you wouldn't find me alone down there."

Paddling slowly, the first Marine snorted. "You ever miss the good old days, El-Tee? Back then all we had to worry about was fuckers in Iraq trying to blow us up. Bad enough all the supernatural shit with the shipgirls, but this? Now we're dealing with wizards, magic, angry ghosts and all that shit. Fuck me, I've seen horror movies, I know where this is going."

The Lieutenant only grinned at him. "You have? And yet, there you are becoming separated from the rest of us inside a haunted, abandoned ship from World War Two, filled with the souls of the damned."

In reply, the Marine only flipped him the bird as he continued to follow Harry. "Fuck you, El-Tee. Fuck you."

However, all he got was laughter. But the laughter stopped when one of the other Marines tapped the Lieutenant on the shoulder. "Uh, El-Tee? The kid is the only one down there... right? I mean, he's only got the one flashlight, right?"

All he did was give the guy a look that asked if he was an idiot. "Yeah? What about it?"

Not saying anything at first, he pointed to where Harry's light was. "Then what are those other lights down there following him?"

It was almost as one that all the Marines turned and looked in the point that was being pointed at. They could all see Harry's silhouette slowly moving with the flashlight in his hand... And the two or three orbs of light following a distance behind, weaving in and out of the rusted machinery. There was a moment of silence before the Lieutenant groaned. "Fuck me, I cannot wait to get out of here, off this fucking island, and then get drunk off my ass."

Behind him, one of the Marines grunted. "Ah-fucking-man."
________________________________________________________________________________

Two hours later found Harry in pitch blackness besides the beam of his flashlight as he swam along a flooded corridor inside the Ishikari, the more complete of the two B-65s.With each kick of his fins, sediment stirred up into clouds that swirled around him. Both Cruisers had sank much deeper then the Carrier, though not as deep as Akashi's sister ship. Which meant that Harry had to head down into their depths in order to emplace the ofuda. Thankfully though, he was not alone. "Hey, hey hey hey hey."

Glancing at the fairy in a diving suit on his shoulder, Harry blinked behind his mask as several bubbles escaped from it. "Check the map?" When the fairy gave him a thumbs up, Harry reached into one of his pouches while handing the flashlight to another which took it. "Hmm... I think that we're here."

Slowly, the fairy on his left shoulder leaned over to look. Part of Harry wondered how it didn't tip over with the heavy brass, but then nodded as it pointed. "Hey, hey hey hey. Hey hey hey hey. Hey hey, hey."

Just leaning back until he was in a sitting position, Harry nodded. "Yeah, you're right." Checking the watch on one wrist, he nodded. "I got about another two hours left of air in these tanks, so we should finish this up." Getting a nod from the fairies, Harry began to swim along. He was still surprised at how long the air hoses seemed to be for the fairies, but that didn't bother him as the two told him stories. Though one of them caused Harry to gag. "That's... please tell me that you're joking."

Inside the helmet, the fairy smirked as it shook it's head. "Hey."

There was a disgusted look on Harry's face. "You mean to tell me that you knew a fellow diver who had to do a deep dive. But when down there, his pumps failed and air stopped being pumped into his suit..."

With a shrug, the fairy looked at him. "Hey."

Harry then continued. "And because of the drop of pressure inside the suit that was fighting the pressure outside... He was literally shoved up into his helmet." Once more, the fairy gave him a yes. "Ugh... thank you for that. What a horrible way to die."

From the fairy came some snickers as it shook it's head. "Hey, hey hey hey."

All Harry did though was give the fairy a look and was about to reply about how he didn't care that it was quick when he saw something and stopped. "Did either of you see that just now? Right down the corridor?"

Sharing a look, the two fairies shook their heads though they brought up their spear guns. "Hey."

On Harry's face there was a frown as he shone the flashlight down the corridor. But despite the brightness piercing the darkness, there was nothing. "Hmm..." Narrowing his eyes, Harry swam more slowly down the corridor until he reached the spot where he saw the shadow and then noticed a door beside him. "... How much do you want to bet that whatever that was, went in there?" After shining his light again down the corridor, he frowned. "Especially as it's the only door that's shut?"

The Fairy on his right shoulder only shook it's head. "Hey."

Reaching out, Harry took a deep breath as he grabbed hold of the handle and began to turn it with several grunts. Then opened with an ominous groan and when it was fully opened, Harry shone his light into it only to throw himself backward. "BLOODY HELL!"

Several moments later, one of the fairies hopped off his shoulder and propped the flashlight up to look better inside. The light then hit what had freaked Harry out so much: A grinning skull. Moments later, the flashlight was angled to better see more of the room and Harry paled behind his mask at there being more then one skeleton in the room.

A lot more.

Just swallowing, Harry swam up close to the door and looked around. Practically everywhere there were bones scattered around, likely when the ship had finally settled. His heartbeat finally settling down, Harry looked down at the fairies as he sucked in a deep lungful of air and released it. "Um, what do you think? Japanese or...?"

Moving the flashlight, one of the fairies pointed it at the inside of the door to reveal that the handle was there as well and there was nothing wrong with it. But what caused Harry to shudder was the scratches that could be seen. As if something had been trying to claw it's way out. Tilting it's head, the fairy gestured at it. "Hey? Hey hey hey hey?"

Only shaking his head, Harry frowned. "There's spells that can seal a door shut. If you cast it on a hatchway, then you can make it so that no one is going to open it unless you know unlocking spells.. or have magic. Only question is... which side was it? And which group was in here?"

For a few seconds there was silence before one of the fairies crossed himself. "Hey, hey hey hey hey. Hey hey hey hey. Hey, hey."

Nodding, Harry grimaced. "May they rest in peace..."

With another brush of the flashlight across the room, the black haired boy pulled out one of the ofuda, sealed between two pieces of glass with the holes sealed with epoxy. Then he pulled out a tube and squeezed some of it's contents out onto the door. One of the fairies tilted it's head. "Hey? Hey hey hey hey?"

Harry glanced at it and then pressed the sealed ofuda against the gel there. "Considering what happened in there? I'm not taking any chances and something wanted me to see them." Once he was sure that the ofuda was stuck, he reached up with one finger and ran it down it as he softly whispered. As his finger moved down, each character slowly lit up and began to glow, driving back the oppressive feeling. "And there we go."

Then Harry blinked as he heard a sigh of relief in his ear and what felt like breath. Twisting around, he looked around only to find nothing there. Slowly, he glanced down one side of the corridor and then the other. And then he froze as he felt two slender arms around his waist and two round objects press into his shoulders. "Thank you... for all that you have done... for myself and my sister as well as... the others. We can feel them becoming free at last. Thank you."

With a blink, Harry swore that he felt a pair of lips touch his cheek before the feeling of the arms and the body pressed against him vanished. 'Okay...?' Reaching up, he touched his cheek as the two fairies looked on before crossing their arms and shaking their heads. The rest of their journey through the ship passed rather uneventfully, though sometimes Harry caught something out the corner of his eye.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hermione sighed as she set down the cup onto the plate before smiling as Aquila held up a Moka pot. "More coffee?"

Giggling, Hermione only nodded and pushed her plate to the side. "Thank you, that would be lovely." As Aquila poured some more into her cup, the Cruiser looked around her at the small quarters that both Carriers shared. There were various photos and other bits of memorabilia around. For example, a model of what she knew to be a Airbus A320-200. However, it was one of the pictures that caught Hermione's eye was that of Graf in an Lufthansa Air Stewardess uniform with rigging out. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Graf giving her a raised eyebrow and her expression turned sheepish. "Sorry."

All Aquila did was smile and then jab Graf in the side with her elbow. "Stop making our guest so nervous, Graf." Seeing the pained wince on Graf's face, Aquila gave her a pout. "Don't tell me that hurt, Graf. Would you like me to kiss it better?"

Needless to say, Graf blushed as she looked away. "No... or at least not right now." Spotting that Aquila now had a blush on her face, Graf smirked before she sipped her coffee. "Though some more of your coffee would be good right now."

Just watching the byplay between the two, Hermione could only bite back a chuckle. Eventually though, she snapped her fingers. "Wait, I remember now! There was some sort of advertisement campaign with you in it for Lufthansa!"

Lips twitching, Graf hummed as she made her coffee. "That's right. I was a stewardess for Lufthansa before the plane I was on had been damaged by Abyssals and prevented from taking off. Opening that door and seeing several Destroyers heading toward the plane..." A far off expression crossed Graf's face before she shook it off. "I awoke as I needed to do something."

Frowning, Hermione nodded. "Now that I remember. I remember there being some controversy at the time."

Graf grimaced a bit at the memories, but then looked down at the hand being held by Aquila before she let out a breath. "Yes, there were some problems due to who I was as a shipgirl." Giving Aquila's hand a squeeze, she nodded. "But I had support when I needed it."

Expression soft, Aquila shook her head. "You could always count on me, Henrietta. You know that."

Having realized that she was missing something, Hermione frowned as she looked between the two of them. "Wait... but Aquila, you didn't show up until more then a year after Graf and everything that happened. How..."

Softly giggling, Aquila winked at her. "Well, us Natural Borns need to stick together, hmm?"

When it clicked, Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a Natural Born as well? I didn't know that!"

Only shaking her head, Aquila shrugged a bit before handing the Cruiser a cup of coffee. "I am, though it's not well advertised." Glancing at Graf who gave her a small smile back, the Italian continued. "Besides, Henrietta and myself have known each other since we were much younger." Aquila brought her cup to her lips and took a small sip before placing it back down. "We first met, in a sense, as penpals, though I was a few years older then her."

Taking over the story, Graf continued. "It was something of a mix up, you see. She was supposed to correspond with an older student but instead got me. We clicked, as the Americans would say, and continued writing each other even after the program ended." Becoming thoughtful, Graf turned to Aquila and raised an eyebrow. "In fact, we did not meet in person until I was in High School. One evening, the doorbell at my parents' home rang and I arrived to find Sofia there having arrived from nowhere."

More then a little sheepish, Aquila waved her off. "Scusa, scusa. I needed to get away from home for some time and Henrietta was the first one that I could think of."

Slowly, Graf nodded though her lips turned upwards in a smirk. "Mutter was certainly surprised, as was Vater. Though they accepted her into our home easily enough until she found a good university back in Italy. After that... we often visited each other and it was one of the reasons why I got a job with Lufthansa as it made it a bit easier to do so." Running one finger along the rim of her cup, Graf shook her head. "Sofia more then returned the favor, especially after I became a shipgirl..."

Leaning forward, Aquila winked at Hermione as she stage whispered. "She makes it seem like such a big deal. It really wasn't, but it's best to let her think so." Ignoring the snort, Aquila took one of the treats on the tray and nibbled it in thought. "In fact, she was the one who discovered that I was a Natural Born like her as she could see it. Henrietta actually tried to protect me from that fact."

With a sigh, Graf placed an arm around her fellow Carrier's waist, which Aquila leaned into. "It was one of our few bad arguments. But... eventually we worked it out."

Head on Graf's shoulder, Aquila looked up at her. "Yes, we did."

Only shaking her head, Graf turned back to Hermione. "As to your earlier question, once everything settled down, Lufthansa approached both myself and Deutsche Marine with an idea. I would become a... mascot, of sorts for Lufthansa in various advertisements, and in return they would donate so much to both the shipgirl funding. They would also offer discounts to shipgirls who needed transport from place to place when using them. Every once in a while I still do so, though not as often as before."

All Hermione did was nod as she continued to watch the two interact with each other as they shared a late coffee. Tomorrow, all three would be heading out on a sortie, but right now? Right now they were just three people enjoying some coffee and talking.
__________________________________________________________________________

Head popping out of the water, Harry blinked some before he pulled his mask onto the top of his head. Suddenly, a hand was there in front of him as Enterprise smiled down at him from where she was standing on the water. "Need a hand, kiddo?"

Grasping the offered hand, Harry only nodded. "Yeah, thanks!"

Easily lifting him out of the water, Enterprise settled him onto her shoulders. Meanwhile, the two divers that belonged to her slid down Harry's arm onto her shoulder and she nodded at them. "Welcome back, boys."

Both of them sat down on Harry's thighs as other Fairies took off their heavy helmets. Once that was done, they gave her a salute. "Hey!"

Snorting, Enterprise gave them a look. "Just make sure to give me a report on what happened down there, okay?" Then she gave a glance up at Harry's mask which had a small camera mounted. "Not that I think that will be needed."

A grimace on his face, Harry shook his head as they made for the shore. "Ugh... I am not looking forward to writing up a report. Especially with some of what we found down there."

That caused the Carrier to raise an eyebrow at him. "You found something down there?"

Harry nodded some as he shifted the air tanks on his back around some. "Some stuff... Including a room full of skeletons."

If anything, that caused Enterprise to raise her eyebrows. "A room full of skeletons, huh? Color me somewhat interested then." Grinning, she reached up and ruffled his hair. "Besides. if you're going to become an Admiral for shipgirls, get used to writing a lot of paperwork. Because as an Admiral that's what you'll be doing a lot of."

When Enterprise laughed at the expression on Harry's face, he huffed a bit and pouted. "I know, I know." Just a few minutes later though, he climbed up onto the dock and blinked as he saw a wide eyed Natsumi there which Harry smiled at. "Hey, Natsumi-Chan! All done?"

Swallowing as he opened a bottle of water and dumped it on his head, Natsumi gave him a small smile. "Yes, tight... I mean, the timing of everything was a bit tight, but yes."

Confused, Harry looked over at her as he grabbed a towel and began to dry his hair best that he could. "Is something wrong, Natsumi-Chan? You're kind of red... you didn't get sunstroke, did you?"

Quickly shaking her head, and ignoring the grin on Enterprise's face, Natsumi took a deep breath. "No, just a bit tired. It was a lot of work after all." Meanwhile, she kept glancing over him. 'What the hell? This is the first time that I've seen him in a wetsuit but... Dammit, I hate growing up!' After a few moments, Natsumi focused on his face. "So how did everything go on your end, Harry-Chan?"

Humming as he wiggled a finger in his ear, Harry tilted his head back some. "Not bad, though it was a bit freaky at times. But the ships seemed really sad and lonely, so I hope that this helps them."

Only shaking her head, Natsumi allowed herself to smile a bit. "That's just like you, Harry-Chan. Never change."

With a blink, Harry shrugged. "I'll try?" Then he frowned and turned towards her. "Um, I also used up all the Ofuda that Haru-San gave me."

That caused the kitsune's eyebrows to raise in surprise. "All of them?" When he nodded, Natsumi shook her head some. "Huh, not that it really matters really. Oba-Chan did say that the more we used, the better and considering the darkness that was here..." Looking out at the ships, she frowned. "It's probably for the best that you used them all. Everything feels much cleaner already."

Slowly, Harry nodded. "Yeah, noticed the same thing... though I wonder..."

Looking towards him, Natsumi frowned. "You wonder what?"

Not reply right away, Harry continued to stare at the ships, in particular the Ishikari. "I wonder how close they are to manifesting as shipgirls? Because some stuff happened down there that makes me think that they're a lot closer then some might think."

Somewhat confused about that, Natsumi tilted her head to the side when she caught a flash of something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she looked towards the wrecked Carrier and frowned as, for just a moment, she swore that she saw a girl on the flight deck who looked like Taihou on except her hair was a greyish red. Then she was gone. "... You know, I wonder that myself..." After that, she shook it off. "We should be heading back to the boat, it's getting closer to nightfall after all and we shouldn't be sticking around by then."

Only glancing around, Harry nodded. "Agreed." Walking up to Natsumi, Harry took her hand in his before pulling her along. "Anyways, let's get back as quick as possible. I'm starving."

Giggling, Natsumi only jogged beside him. "You're becoming a teenaged boy, Harry-Chan, isn't that normal?"

All she got was laughter from her friend as she grinned.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As they walked along, Natsumi kept giving glances to Harry before looking away. Finally, Harry just gave her a raised eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Natsumi-Chan?"

Blushing, the kitsune shook her head a bit. "I-it's nothing, Harry-Chan. Just that I've never seen you in a wetsuit before... And, um, should you be walking around in it?"

Harry only shrugged a bit as he looked to where the Sun was slowly descending towards the walls of the caldera. "My wetsuit's still a bit wet, and might as well not bother putting on clothes just yet. Besides, it's not like it's a big deal or anything."

Weakly chuckling, Natsumi nodded as she looked away. "Yeah... not a big deal or anything." Not long after, they came into sight of the Zodiac and froze into place with Natsumi swallowing nervously. "Harry-Chan... is that..."

Eyes wide, Harry blinked. "The Hitobashira? Y-yeah, I think that those are them." Sharing a look, they slowly walked towards the Zodiac and those by it. Two of them being ghostly twins dressed in pure white Kimonos. Despite them being transparent, their black hair shone in the light while they softly talked with both Nagato and Arizona, though the others stayed away from them. Getting close, and not noticing that Natsumi had fallen back some, Harry cleared his throat. "Mum?"

Turning, Nagato gave her adopted son a smile before gesturing to the two spirits. "Harry, I would like you to meet Sakura-Chan and Ume-Chan, they're the... guardians of this place."

Both of them bowed towards Harry as they spoke as one. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry-San. Thank you for coming to help."

In return, Harry also bowed towards them. "And it's nice to meet you two as well." Standing up, he chuckled a bit and scratched at the back of his neck. "Oh, and it's not a big deal, I'm just happy that I am able to help out some."

One of them, Ume he supposed due to the plum blossom hair ornament as her twin had one but with cherry blossoms, just tilted her head a bit. "Still, we truly do appreciate it." Then she brought her hand to her mouth a bit and tittered. "That is rather interesting clothing that you are wearing there, Harry-San?"

Just blinking, Harry looked down at himself and then shrugged. "I was laying some ofuda on the ships and... heh, I didn't want to get my clothes wet by putting them on until I was dried. Sorry about that."

The two seemingly fifteen year olds shared a look and a giggle before they turned back to him. Yet again, they spoke nearly as one. "We do not mind, Harry-San. We know that we have missed much on the outside world as both Nagato-Sama and Arizona-Sama have been telling us."

Spotting Natsumi behind him, Harry gestured to her. "Oh! And this is Natsumi-Chan, she's been helping out as well."

Much to Natsumi's surprise, the two looked at her and widened their eyes before bowing as deeply as they could. "We thank you as well, Natsumi-Dono, for all that you have done. We are in your debt."

A snort though caused them to turn to Enterprise who walked up with a small smirk on her face. "Hey now, no need for any of that. Anyways, I'm Enterprise."

Holding out a hand, she waited and slowly, each of the two spirits shook her hand. "We are happy to meet the Grey Ghost now that our nations are friends."

Softly snorting, Enterprise took them in and narrowed her eyes. "You know... it can't be easy being here all the time. And you look kind of sad."

Blinking, Sakura shook her head. "Perhaps, but it is our duty to watch over this place and to protect it. Something that we shall do to our best abilities... But yes, it is rather lonely at times."

Enterprise frowned a bit and crossed her arms against her chest. "Hmm... we'll have to do something about that then. It isn't right for you two to be left all alone." Shaking it off, she then reached into her pocket and dug around. "Whatever, that can be dealt with later. In the meantime... I think that I got something that will cheer you right up!" Moments later, Enterprise pulled out two ice cream cones and held them out with a smile. "Ta-daa! Strawberry ice cream, just what the doc ordered."

Mouths working, the two looked between Enterprise and the ice cream before they looked away. "We're sorry, Enterprise-Sama, but being as we are but spirits, we cannot-"

They were unable to get any further as Enterprise shoved said ice cream cones into their hands. "Don't give me any of that crap. Now, go ahead and enjoy some ice cream why don't you." She then went back to digging into her clothes. "I'm pretty sure that I have some hamburgers around here or something... You two are way too damn thin."

Unnoticed by her, the two spirits stared at her in amazement and then to the ice cream cones that they were holding. Slowly, they brought them up to their mouths and gave a lick only for bliss to spread across their faces. Then they both sniffled a bit and shared a smile. "So good..."

Looking up, Enterprise blinked as both of them looked just on the edge of crying. "Eh? Did I do something wrong?"

A tap on the shoulder caused her to turn to see Harry there. "Um, Enterprise? It's because they've been unable to eat since... you know. So being able to eat again..."

Eyes widening, Enterprise snorted. "Well, that's bullshit right there." Turning, she regarded Arizona with a frown. "Hey, Arizona, you don't happen to have anything for them, do you?"

There was a small smile on the Battleship's face before she nodded. "I think that I do actually. How about you, Nagato?"

Said Japanese Battleship gave a nod as she smiled. "Oh, I think that I got plenty off food that I can give out."

Boggled, the twins looked between the three shipgirls and this time they actually did begin to cry. "Th-thank you..." Wiping their eyes with their sleeves, they gave brilliant smiles. "Thank you so much!"

Reaching out, Enterprise gave both of them a ruffle of their hair. "Aw, it's nothing really. Now how about you give us a nice smile, hmm?" When the did so, she grinned. "That's the ticket." A sound though caused Enterprise to turn to see Haru walking back towards them with Ryuujou in tow. "Hey you two, we got some guests."

Both of them stopped and stared only for the spirits to stare at Haru with some terror before they bowed. "Haru-Dono! It is an honor to have you on our island!"

Confused, Enterprise looked between them as Haru gave the two a soft smile. "And a pleasure it is to be here. Thank you."

Within seconds though, Enterprise just shook it off and shrugged before she turned back to the two girls. "Anyways, you two are the Kami for this place or something like that, right?"

Sakura blinked before she giggled some. "Not quite, Enterprise-Sama."

To their surprise though, Enterprise wagged a finger at them. "None of that 'Sama' bullshit, just call me Enterprise if you want to be formal." Smirking a bit, she shook her head. "And maybe 'E' if you're feeling up to it."

Eyes wide, Sakura and Umi shared a look before Umi took over. "Perhaps later... but as to your question, we are the conduit for speaking to the Kami of the island. But they were... displeased, as were other Kami with what happened here."

With a sniffle, Sakura nodded. "We tried to tell them, but they just dismissed us. They said that the Kami would understand it was for the betterment of Japan... but the Kami disliked that even more."

Feeling a hand on their shoulders, they turned to see Arizona there. "And that is on their shoulders, not yours. Besides, you've been a help and showed me where our people now rest."

That caused Enterprise to give her a look before she nodded. "Then thanks for that. I think that I speak for the United States when I say that we appreciate that."

Haru then nodded with a small smile. "Yes, actions such as that are very much appreciated." Glancing to another part of the caldera, Haru slowly nodded. "We must be going soon though, we have to be back in Yokosuka this evening."

Seeing the sadness on the twins' faces, Harry cleared his throat. "But, um, people can visit them, right? After all, things are a lot safer."

At the hope on the expressions of the two girls, the elder kitsune chuckled. "I don't see any problem with that. And I shall let the others know as well."

Much to her surprise though, Enterprise shook her head. "Anyways... we got some time before we leave and I promised these two a nice, big meal to make up for the ones that they missed." Somehow, she pulled out a plate full of burgers and set it down on a rock. "So here you go!"

Then Arizona placed down some food in the form of cake with Nagato adding a bowl of rice. Their eyes practically sparkling, the two spirits bowed to them all. "Thank you very much!" And then they reached out and began to munch down on their first real meal in a long time, utterly happy.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Iku glanced around at her fellow Yokosuka Submarines and then back at the table. For a brief moment, she allowed a small smile at the sight of it bobbing in the waves. It had been a gift from Harry to them and they adored it, though it was nothing more then a folding table that had floats mounted beneath it. Then Iku shook off her thoughts and tapped her phone. "Okay, Harder, you're on Speaker."

For a moment there was silence before Harder's voice drifted out. "Well, we got some good news for you, we found the bitch and are tracking her. There might be a few problems though."

Grunting, Imuya crossed her arms. "There always is." With a glance at Hachi who pulled out a map, she huffed a bit. "So where is she?"

On the other end of the call there was a mutter before Harder answered. "She's about thirty miles northwest of Lot's Wife. Obviously she's sticking close to Abyssal held territory and got a small group protecting her." Yet again there was another mumble. "She's got about four Destroyers and two Light Cruisers. And we've also identified the ship she's based on."

Blinking, Iku frowned a bit. "Which one?"

As Harder sighed, the Yokosuka Subs raised eyebrows. "The Russian Cruiser Almaz. Pre-World War One and they've upgraded her design so she has twelve floatplanes."

Frowning, Iku turned towards RO who had checked her phone and was grimacing. "Fought at Tsushima, was converted during World War One to a Seaplane Tender for flying boats, and during the Russian Revolution, her crew joined the Communists and used her as a prison ship. According to this they formed a 'Tribunal' and tortured and executed those they saw as enemies of the Revolution."

Over the phone a snort could be heard. "Yeah, real fun past there. And Hachi? Don't go into a slump, you're better then this bitch. You came back on the side of the angels, not the devils."

Smiling slightly, Hachi nodded. "Hacchan thanks you, Harder-Chan."

All they got was a scoff. "Not a problem. Anyways, there's more. All four of the Destroyers have Floatplanes as well, which means that they're a variant of the Fletchers. So that makes it about sixteen in total which matches the number that you gave."

Closing her fist, Iku nodded. "Yeah... that matches what happened."

Several seconds later, they could hear Harder exhale before speaking up. "Right, so what's the plan? I got Archie and Albie here with me and I should be able to contact the other US Subs. You got most of us in the Northwest Pacific hunting for her."

Eyes wide, Shioi stared at the phone in disbelief. "Wait, you do? Why?"

When Harder spoke, it was with an undercurrent of anger. "We all like Taigei and she's always made us feel welcome in Yokosuka as well as treating us right. We don't forget that sort of thing and we're all pissed the fuck off in regards to what happened because of that. So don't you worry, we've got your backs."

In the background, Iku could hear a cheer that she knew was Albie's. "Thanks, Harder-Chan. Can you pass that along for us, if you could?"

There was a snort from Harder before she answered. "As if there was any doubt. Anyways, where exactly are you?"

Quickly checking the map, Hachi frowned. "We're about eighty miles East-Northeast of Sumisu Jima. If you're right about her being where she is..."

Chuckles could be heard from the phone before Harder spoke up. "Then our plan might work. We were going to sink the Destroyers but do it in a way that would make them think that we're doing a cut and run. Maybe surface for a bit to make them think that our batteries need charging and draw her in towards you."

Considering what she was told, Iku frowned but then Shioi spoke up. "I can take out the Cruisers actually." At their looks, she gestured to her hanger. "My Floatplanes can launch Oxygen torpedoes. If they're Light Cruisers, then one or two hits should kill them. At the very least they'll be crippled..."

Harder then finished the thought. "And wide open for us to take advantage and sink them. I like it."

Meanwhile, RO placed her finger on the map and nodded. "She'll have three choices then. One is to make a run across the open ocean to the Northeast until she hits Abyssal territory, hoping not to run into any more Subs or any other ships, she could also go South to the Bonins once again hoping not to run into anyone... or, run towards the Izu islands to hide in a bay or harbour and right into us. Of those, our direction is the shortest route to apparent safety."

Several seconds later, Harder spoke up. "Sounds like a plan. And if they try to run for the South, then they'll run into Bowfin's group and she's as pissed off as I am... Tsushima Maru was in a convoy that wasn't too far away from you guys when Taigei got attacked. Chances are, if Taigei had not been attacked, then Tsushima might have. But Bowfin is also pissed off that Taigei got hurt."

All of the Japanese Subs there winced as they knew how protective Bowfin was of Tsushima. Shaking it off, Iku nodded. "Okay... that covers some of ti. But we'll need to refine it a bit..."

Leaning forward in thought, Shioi placed her finger down on the map and then slowly brought it around. "Actually... maybe we can limit the options a bit." At their looks, she shook her head. "My planes have the range where I can have them swing around this way." Slowly, Shioi brought her finger in a look around where the Abyssals were. "And attack from the Northeast. They'll probably assume that I'm there and so avoid it."

While Iku nodded, Hachi blinked a bit. "Actually, we can add to it on our end as well."

There was a curious tone to Harder's voice over the phone as she spoke up. "Really? Like what?"

Grinning a bit, Hachi looked at Iku. "We both carry Floatplanes, once each, but we got the bombs for them. Goya and Nimu aren't too far off either and I know for a fact that they also got bombs for their Floatplanes. We also practiced skip bombing, remember?"

Slowly, Iku nodded as the plan slowly came into full focus. "They're not big bombs, but it would let us damage the Seaplane Tender and maybe stop it from launching any more planes... and it would give us seven, almost half the amount that they have." Eyes narrowing, she turned back to the phone. "What's their CAP like?"

A moment later, she got a laugh from Harder. "No more then four. You hit them hard enough and you'll be able to shoot those down easy. They won't be expecting an air attack."

RO grinned a bit as she nodded. "And with that many Floatplanes attacking, they'll assume there's a Seaplane Tender in the area. If they take damage, that means that they'll head straight for us."

Expression turning stony, Iku nodded. "At which point we'll send them to the bottom with every torpedo we have..."
____________________________________________________________________

Frowning, Goto leaned back in his chair as he took in what he had been told before slowly nodding. "I see." Gently taking a tablet, he looked at a still from the video of Harry in the wrecks with his lips thinning. "I'll send this to one of the forensic anthropologists. Hopefully, they'll be able to identify if the remains are Japanese or not from the pictures even if we can't tell them where it's from at the moment."

With a blink, Harry shifted a bit in the chair. "Um, what about Sakura-San and Ume-San, Teitoku? I mean... they are kind of lonely out there."

That caused Goto to hum in thought for a few moments. "That is a good question. Haru-San, how dangerous do you think that those two are? Truthfully?"

Haru considered the question before answering. "Truthfully?" At the nod, she sighed. "Truthfully, they could be pretty dangerous if angered. While the other spirits will be able to leave, they will not. And they've been there for so long that removing them is moot. However, that said, they would be dangerous if angry and they weren't. As Harry said, they're lonely."

Clasping his hands in front of his face, Goto frowned. "And would those that visit be safe from them?"

Slowly, Haru nodded as she chuckled. "Yes, in fact I would say that it would be extremely safe for them to be visited. Though... I would suggest it be done with at least one shipgirl present. I would actually encourage them to be visited from time to time."

Only nodding, Goto smiled a little bit. "Well, I'll just have to see what I can do. Thank you everyone for a successful mission and I expect your reports soon. Yes, including yours, Harry." Getting nods, he shook his head. "Dismissed." After everyone else had left, Goto raised an eyebrow as Haru was still in her seat. "Is something the matter, Haru-San?"

After so many years of her being on the base, Goto was not surprised in the slightest when Haru just grinned. "Oh, nothing is the matter per say. Though I expect that my niece may well become more annoyed sooner rather then later. But that will come when it comes."

Just sighing, Goto placed his hands on his desk and gave her a look. "Then how can I help you?"

Her expression shifting to one of curiosity, the kitsune lounged in the chair as she tilted her head to the side. "I suppose that you can help by satisfying a personal bit of curiosity." When he nodded, she leaned her cheek against one hand. "I can understand the shipgirls having to write reports, but I am wondering why you would have Harry-Chan do one as well."

Inscrutable, Goto gave her an even stare. "Why? Harry was on that mission as well and participated."

Snorting, Haru raised an eyebrow. "And so was Natsumi-Chan, and yet you did not ask her to write a report. So why Harry-Chan? He isn't one of your sailors after all."
For several moments, Goto was silent before he leaned back and considered her. "You know as well as I do that Harry wishes to join the JMSDF and become an Admiral, something that I personally don't have much of a problem with. However, there is the question of him becoming a Japanese citizen."

Haru raised an eyebrow at that. "I was under the assumption that the issue has been generally resolved and that he will be able to become one once he has become an adult. Or, at least that is what the news has been saying about some recent changes to the laws. There is also the fact who his adopted mother is and that there are a number of high profile shipgirls who would back him up."

Chuckling, Goto nodded. "And you would be right, with his support network and the changes he is extremely likely to gain citizenship, though I doubt very much that he will be able to keep his British citzenship. Duel citizenship maybe more then a step too far at the moment." With a frown, he looked out the window. "I am rather thankful for the changes to the laws, they've been a long time in coming. But there is a chance... which leads into why Harry is writing reports."

If anything, that really perked Haru's interest. "Do tell."

For several seconds, Goto was silent before he spoke. "A number of my superiors and a few politicians can see the writing on the wall in regards to the reveal of the magical side of things. One issue though is under the best projections, we won't really see any magicals in any real numbers joining the JSDF for at least a generation, maybe two. Human magicals anyways, which means that any problems will fall on those who do join to deal with or perhaps a separate branch of the military that's purely magical... which would cause issues, as I am sure you can imagine."

Nodding, the kitsune sighed. "Yes, the Japanese magical world is extremely isolationist in regards to contact with the non-magical side of things. Though that can be laid at the foot of the ICW and MACUSA back in the late forties, early fifties with their crackdowns. There's going to be a lot of distrust."

Just snorting, Goto shook his head. "That's putting it rather mildly. But we do want magicals to eventually join the JSDF. After all, it's almost a certainty that other militaries are going to try and get some to join, so we'll need our own. However... there's a few who question the usefulness or what they can do." Suddenly, he smirked a bit. "Someone though pointed out that we do have a magical who would gladly join up and might help us. And as a bonus, might help out already as long as it's non-combat related. Such as seeing what potions could do, or perhaps using magic to cleanse places that have been tainted. All of which lets us see what they can do. Of course, they would need to write reports..."

Eyebrow raising, Haru tilted her head some. "I see." Leaning forward, she smirked a bit. "Are you sure that you don't have kitsune blood running through your veins, Goto-San? Because that is both rather clever and sly of you."

Spreading his hands, the Admiral shrugged. "Not that I know of." Then his expression turned serious. "The reports that I have him write for instances like this, as well as other documentation, is seen by my superiors and several politicians. Needless to say, they are interested and intrigued with it. While it will never be 'Official', it is noted in his file above certain levels of access. It's almost certain that by the time Harry is old enough there will be very, very little resistance to him becoming a citizen. And most likely there's going to be those who very definitely want him to become a Japanese citizen if only because of what he can offer... as much as I dislike it."

Distaste on her face, Haru make a hacking sound. "Politics, I hate it."

Goto just sighed before shaking his head. "I agree fully, but it can be useful at times." With a glance at the clock, he rose up and stretched. "Sorry, but I need to be going. I have another meeting to attend to."

All of a sudden, Haru stood up and bowed. But when she straightened back up, there was a smirk on her face. "I see, well you answered my question, so I have little issue." Walking out, she paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and give my regards to Kongou when you see her at your 'Meeting'."

His eyebrow twitching, Goto grumbled to himself but said nothing else as Haru left. After all, she was correct.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

It was not quite dawn in the Western Pacific, but the horizon was starting to lighten. Back in Japan, birds were begining their morning chorus and more then a few early risers were enjoying it. But roughly twenty miles west of Tori Shima, there were multiple plumes of smoke rising from the ocean. Damaged, the Abyssal Seaplane Tender, Almaz, plowed through the waves as fast as she could as she headed for the island. Seeing it so close, she grinned revealing teeth stained with blood and oil as the Abyssal organism on her head and back, which resembled a cross between a cockroach and a Wo class' headgear, waved around it's one remaining arm.

Several miles behind her, her own remaining Destroyer escort continued to fall more and more behind due to it's own damage. But Almaz neither cared nor really noticed. Instead she was deep in her own thoughts as she considered what she was going to do next. First, she would need to land on the island until she repaired herself and then make a run for Abyssal territory. Once that was done, she would get new, more powerful escorts before coming back to Japanese waters.

If anything, her grin widened at the thought. How she hated the Japanese. Deep in her boilers, her anger and hate roiled as she remembered the defeat at Tsushima. The embarrassment caused by it and the shame. How dare they!? How dare they defeat her motherland!? But it wasn't her fault they lost, no, that was the fault of the damn Tsar and the bourgeois! Ultimately, the defeat, the shame, and the true Russian blood shed could be laid at their feet! It was them at fault. The memories of their screams and pleading for mercy at the trials and executions conducted on her made for wonderful dreams.

Almaz could not wait until she was able to strike at Russia and show them the error of their ways, for throwing out Soviet strength for the weak capitalism. But first, she was going to kill as many Japanese as she could. This despite killing a number in fishing boats, she would never be satisfied until she saw their cities burn for the insult they dared make against the Motherland. Of her most wonderful memories was that of the fat Submarine Tender that her seaplanes had struck and sank. Even though she didn't see it sink to her disappointment due to them having been shot down, there was nothing else that could have happened with the damage she had inflicted.

Her screams of pain and terror even now sent a pleased shiver up Almaz's keel.

But for now, she just needed to get to safety of the island ahead of her. It was so close... And then an explosion happened and she turned her head to see the remains of her last escort sink beneath the waves in confusion before she shrugged it off. No matter, it was already dying due to damage and had served it's purpose. Most likely the fires had reached something. Very similar fires had nearly killed her, touched off by bombs carried by seaplanes. If not for her imps throwing the remaining AvGas and seaplanes off, she might have gone up. However, she would survive, she would have her vengence on whatever Seaplane Tender had dared attack her. Her! And those Submarines so distant that had run off. American capitalist pigs, fat off the backs of the common man.

Unknown to her, of course, she would never reach the island. Just past where the Abyssal Destroyer had been, a periscope raised out of the water and focused in on her. Beneath the waves, RO frowned as she started doing calculations. Inside, her crew reloaded her torpedo tubes with the usual efficency and she smiled grimly as she had slipped fully back into her "Yuu" persona. A beep caused her to glance at the phone in one hand that was in a waterproof case. She could see that it was from the others. 'We're all in position, RO-Chan. How about you?'

RO's lips twitched as she quickly typed back a response. 'I am in position as well and torpedo tubes full. Just give the word, Iku-Chan.'

She could almost imagine her friend chuckling. 'Five minutes exactly, then fire all tubes. Imuya-chan is on one side with Shioi, Hachi and myself on the other. Then dive below depth in case so none of us get hit.'

Inside all the Submarines, the seconds ticked down as their crews kept an eye on the time. On the surface, Almaz grinned as she was now within ten miles of the island. Then all the Submarines opened their eyes at once as their tubes flooded nearly as one and launched all their torpedoes. One or two torpedoes mught have missed, it had happened before after all.

But four torpedoes from different directions? That could not be dodged by a damaged ship. Especially if they did not know it was coming.

In this case though, they launched all the torpedoes from all their tubes. And so 26 Oxygen torpedoes and 6 German ones headed straight at the Abyssal from three different directions. They were leaving nothing to chance in this case. All Almaz had time for was one of her Imps spotting RO's torpedoes by their bubble trails and she was just about to turn when they slammed into her stern, ripping it apart. Before she could even scream, the other torpedoes hit. A good number slammed into Almaz's sides with others detonating when they hit the shockwaves of the first. Some though managed to get through and pass by the Abyssal.

Needless to say, there was very little left to sink beneath the waves once they were done. After five minutes, Iku raised her head above the water and glanced around, not even an oil slick was left on the surface. Beside her, Hachi also surfaced and let out a breath. "Finally, she's gone."

Slowly, Iku nodded with a thin smile. "Yeah, she is." Glancing around, she noticed the other Yokosuka Subgirls had surfaced and waved at them. "Time to head home, girls. We've done what we set out to do... Imuya! Inform the others, will you?"

Only nodding, Imuya raised an eyebrow with a grin. "Will do, Iku-Chan! I'll also let Harder and the others know where they can bring our downed seaplane pilots to."

With a smile, Iku let out a breath. "That would be great, thank you." Just glancing around again, the group then began to swim towards Yokosuka as Imuya got in touch with their fellow Submarines. It was time to head home.
________________________________________________________________________
Nearing the end of his morning run, Harry began to slow down until he finally stopped close to the Carrier Archery Range. A quick glance at the watch on his wrist though caused him to sigh before looking at the Sun, which had risen over the horizon. 'Five-thirty...' Sure, he had been slowly sleeping better, but sometimes he woke up at a time when he might as well not bother going back to sleep.

His mother, of course, would disagree.

But just the same, he would head out and do a morning run just like he had been doing since he first joined Fubuki on hers when he was nine. If nothing else, it helped him wake up. Right now though, he was wiping the sweat from his brow while shaking his head. 'I can't wait for Fubuki-Nee to get back. Running by yourself is not much fun.' Harry then pulled out a bottle of water and was sipping it when he heard a sound that made him blink, that of airplane engines. Slowly, he turned to the archery range and frowned. 'I wonder who that is? Kaga-Oba and Akagi-Oba don't use it until after breakfast.'

Frowning, Harry entered through the door of the range and walked through the main building until he came to the target area. Mindful of the lessons that Kaga had drilled into him regarding safety, he stopped and then blinked. His curiosity soom melted to confusion as he realized who was using the range so early.

There, pulling back on her bow's string, Ryuuhou concentrated on the targets as she narrowed her red eyes. Moments later, she released and her arrow shot out before transforming in a burst of flame into a Zero. Said plane shot at one of the targets and only clipped it before it had to veer off, which made Ryuuhou's shoulder slump. "Not again..."

Holding out her flight deck, the Zero landed somewhat unsteadily as Harry watched. 'Huh...' As Ryuuhou placed the arrow back into her quiver and pulled out a new one, Harry frowned. 'I wonder...'

Meanwhile, Ryuuhou took a deep breath and brought her bow up. "Let's, um, try this again..." Pulling back, she took careful aim at the targets. Just as the Light Carrier was about to release, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye and glanced to see Harry there. Shocked, she released the arrow which was misaimed and came no where near the target. "Eep!"

Somewhat sheepish, Harry just raised a hand and gave her a wave. "Um, hi, Ryuuhou-Chan... Good morning?"

Blinking, Ryuuhou then blushed a bit as she realized what had happened and winced. "Um, good morning to you too, Harry-Chan." Moments later, she bit her lip and glanced to the side. "H-how long have you been there for?"

With a slight chuckle, Harry scratched at the back of his head before glancing at the Zero now doing some circles. "Just for a few minutes maybe?" He then pointed the way that he came. "I was just finishing my run when I heard someone practicing. Normally no one is until later in the morning so I was wondering who it might be..." To Ryuuhou's surprise though, Harry bowed a bit. "Sorry for interrupting your practice."

A blush still on her cheeks, Ryuuhou just gripped her bow. "That's... okay. I just didn't think that anyone would be around at this time of the morning is all."

Frowning, Harry blinked. "Why?" In reply, she just mumbled something and Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "I... didn't understand any of that."

If anything though, that increased Ryuuhou's blush as she looked up at her plane. "I said that, um... I was practicing this early so no one would see me. I'm not that good of a Carrier."

Now that reminded Harry of past talks with Shinano and he slowly walked up onto the platform. "Why would you think that, Ryuuhou-Chan?" He paused for a moment as she hung her head and sniffled a bit. "Ryuuhou-Chan?"

When he placed a hand on her shoulder, she sniffled a bit. "D-do... have you ever heard of what the Americans call the Marianas T-Turkey Shoot?" After he nodded, she gripped her bow even tighter, enough so that it creaked. "I was there and lost all my planes."

Eyes widening a bit, Harry winced. "Ah. Well, that wasn't really you're fault, right? It was how things were at the time."

Sniffling again, she shook her head. "No... but my pilots are still pretty bad and... and... How can I even be of use if my pilots have issues hitting a stationary target!? That's why I'm here, so no one can see how bad I am. Fat lot of good it did me though."

Much to her surprise though, Harry hugged her. "It wasn't that bad. From what I saw you were doing pretty good!" At her look, he grinned. "Really, you were doing great there!"

Just raising her eyebrow, Ryuuhou frowned. "Really? It wasn't that good... my planes couldn't hit a stationary target, let alone a moving one." Shoulders slumping, she shook her head. "What use am I? All I am is a bad conversion... and maybe have my planes act as a distraction to be shot down. That's why I was practicing so early, so that I could be gone before anyone showed up, fat lot of good it did me though."

Harry blinked and gave her a look. "But you're training them, right?" Slowly, she nodded and Harry gave her a smile. "Exactly! And they can only get better as you train them!"

Now surprised, Ryuuhou looked at him. "You really think so? I mean... that they can get better?"

Quickly nodding, Harry smiled at her. "Sure! Maybe we can ask Kaga-Oba and Akagi-Oba too, I'm sure that they would be willing to help."

Jaw dropping, Ryuuhou gave a squeak. "Ask CarDiv1 for help?! I-I couldn't! There's no way that either of them would even associate with a messed up Carrier like me."

Expression becoming bullish, Harry frowned at her. "Trust me, if ask, they'll give it. Or... you can ask Shinano-Chan and White Plains for help instead. They'd help as well."

Biting her lip, Ryuuhou shook her head. "I don't know..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As he frowned, Harry tilted his head a little bit. "Why not? White Plains often holds classes for various Carriers. Heck, Kaga-Oba and Akagi-Oba have gone to them."

That caused Ryuuhou's jaw to drop as she stared at him. "CarDiv1 has been taught by her?! Really?!" When Harry nodded though she looked away. "Then I really shouldn't go. After all, a messed up Carrier like me wouldn't fit in... or be welcome."

Much to her surprise though, Harry reached up with a finger and poked her. "That's a bunch of bull, Ryuuhou-Chan."

Rapidly blinking, she then turned fully to him. "Did... Did you just poke me, Harry-Chan?" When he nodded, she frowned and rubbed the spot in question. "Why?!"

Even though part of him wanted to giggle at her pout, Harry managed to keep it in. "Because I don't want you insulting yourself! You can be a great Light Carrier, Ryuuhou-Chan! And as for White Plains? The only reason she wouldn't want you there is if you don't want to work."

Voice becoming soft, Ryuuhou tilted her head to the side and swallowed. "But how, Harry-Chan? How do you know that I can even be a good Light Carrier?"

In reply, Harry smiled at her before he reached up and placed a hand on her shoulders. "How?" He then gestured around them with his free hand. "What were you doing just now? When I showed up I mean."

More then a little confused, Ryuuhou looked around with a small frown. "I was practicing. But... what does that have to do with anything?"

Smiling, Harry tapped her on the nose and made her go cross-eyed. "Everything, Ryuuhou-Chan! If you didn't want to become better, then you wouldn't be here! Just look at it, you're here super early in the morning just to put in the time to become better. To train! You could be sleeping instead!"

Blushing as she fiddled with her bow, Ryuujou glanced around. "U-um... but I'm a shipgirl, Harry-Chan. I don't really need sleep."

Softly snorting, Harry crossed his arms. "Well, yeah, I knew that. But every shipgirl that I've met likes sleeping. But here you are! Awake really early in the morning so that you can train."

There was a small smile on Ryuuhou's face as she nodded. "Well, that is true, I guess..." She then looked at him. "But you're up early too."

All Harry did though was shrug. "Yeah, I guess that I am. But I'm up early for my morning run. If I'm going to become a great Admiral, then I got to work at it! Which also means exercising because I need to pass physicals and stuff, Dess!"

Unable to help herself, Ryuuhou gave a giggle. "I see." Sitting down with Harry doing so beside her, Ryuuhou held out her flight deck and the Zero that she had launched returned, becoming a arrow once more after landing. Gently taking it between two of her fingers, the Light Carrier rolled it around a little bit. "Do... do you really mean everything that you said?"

Kicking his legs back and forth, Harry nodded as he leaned back. "Yup! If you work at it really hard, then I'm sure that you'll become a great Light Carrier." With a soft sigh, Harry tilted his head back to look at the sky. "You know, Akagi-Oba and Kaga-Oba train with their pilots every day for a few hours. And they're considered the best in the JMSDF. And Kaga-Oba told me that they're only that good because they train with their pilots as often as they do. Shinano-Chan also trains a lot with her pilots and she's awesome as well. And once, when I went down to Kure with Mum, I saw Zuikaku and Shoukaku also training every day while we were down there, though they also do it alongside Hiryuu and Soryuu."

Expression thoughtful, Ryuuhou looked out at the target range before sighing. "It's not easy though.
Actually, it's kind of hard for my pilots to get better."

His own expression not changing, Harry just shrugged. "I was told once by Fubuki-Nee that nothing worth it is ever easy. We just need to continue towards our goals and we'll get there one day."

With a small nod, Ryuuhou nodded. "I hope so." The two of them sat there for several moments only for their thoughts to be interrupted by a growl. Blushing, Ryuuhou put one hand to her stomach. "Heh... sorry."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry frowned at her. "Didn't you eat?" When she shook her head though, Harry frowned even more. "You should always eat before practicing! You need fuel and supplies after all!"

Still blushing, Ryuuhou scratched her cheek. "Normally it's not a problem because it's early so... there's not much in the mess hall."

If anything though, that caused Harry to scowl and glance at his watch. "Okay... how about I go and take a quick shower and meet you there? I was going to make Taigei-Chan the cinnamon rolls she likes since she's fully healed now to celebrate. So I can make some for you too if you want."

When he looked though, he already had his answer as Ryuuhou looked like she was drooling. "Cinnamon rolls? T-the big, soft ones? With lots of cinnamon and icing on them?!"

Rather amused, Harry nodded. "Yup! One in the same actually." Suddenly he blinked as something occurred to him. "Huh... you know, I forgot that you might like the same things as Taigei-Chan, Ryuuhou-Chan."

Now it was Ryuuhou's turn to be amused as she giggled. "Well... technically I am Nee-Chan, just... converted into a Light Carrier. So of course I would like the same things, Harry-Chan." She then blinked a little and frowned in thought. 'You know... Harry-Chan is one of the few who hasn't called me Taigei by mistake...'

However, she was startled out of her thoughts and blushed as Harry shook his head. "Not really, you're two different people after all. Like... twins actually." Quickly shaking it off, Harry reached out and helped pull Ryuuhou to her feet. "Anyways, I'll meet you and Taigei over at the Mess Hall and get started, okay?"

That got him a smile and a nod from Ryuuhou. "Hai! I'll see you there in about an hour."

With one final smile the two left, though Ryuuhou placed her gear away carefully first while also hiding that she had been there. However, unnoticed by them Kaga was just out of sight leaning against a wall deep in thought. The Carrier had noticed that someone had been using the Target Range early in the morning. Hence, that morning, she got up early and stealthily made her way to the range to find out who it was. In fact, Kaga was just about to confront Ryuuhou when Harry showed up and decided to simply observe and listen. And while she knew that it wasn't right to invade their privacy, at the same time it was more likely she would find out the reasons then if she had been asking herself. After all, Kaga, more then anyone knew of her reputation.

She was quite happy with her decision and, once Ryuuhou had left about fifteen minutes, pushed off the wall and walked inside. "Hmm..." A quick examination showed Kaga that everything was in it's proper place and she slowly nodded. With a final look around, she walked out herself. "Looks like I will be having a chat with Akagi. She'll know better then me how to approach this."

Moments later though, she came to a stop and looked in the direction that Harry had left in and smirked before continuing with an easy stride. "And I think that you just proved again that you'll make for a fine Admiral..."