The lasers zipped past Yukikaze as she simply charged forward. As usual, her luck is ridiculously high in these types of situations.
"I will not sink!!" (Yukikaze)
The lucky destroyer aimed her 12.7mm Twin Gun and fired a rapid volley of shells at the assailant, a greyish warship with orange markings scattered all over its body. The last mass-produced Siren ship has two planes on its aft and 4 forward facing secondary guns on both sides, and a twin gun mount on its stern. The shells made contact, destroying all 4 secondary guns and blasting a hole in its hull. Its markings glowed amidst the darkness, giving its location away.
"Nice shooting, Yukikaze!" (Moriyama)
The Kure admiral cheered.
"Ehehe~" (Yukikaze)
"It's not dead yet! Don't celebrate too early!" (Nachi)
Nachi and Ashigara fired another volley of shells, blowing up the enemy warship. That's that. Operation complete.
It has been a month since we got intel about the Sirens and how there are different classifications of them. We are still unable to identify which ship belongs to which category though. Nagato-chan didn't mention it and I didn't bother to ask that time. Judging by the planes on its aft, the last one could be a CVL or an aircraft carrying CL, if those exist within the Siren ranks. Right now, we just wrapped up a small operation to retake the Okinoshima Island Seas from these Siren ships. 12 fleets of these ships just appeared out of nowhere overnight and started patrolling the area. Utilizing a combined Surface Task Force, it took Maizuru and Kure three days to clear up the waters, 4 Siren fleets each day. The main fleet consisted of my girls; Yahagi, Sakawa, Mogami, Mikuma, Zuihou and Ryuujou. The escort fleet is made up of girls from Kure; Isuzu, Nachi, Ashigara, Yukikaze, Tanikaze, and Mizuho.
"Mission accomplished. Good job, everyone."
"That was easy. Why did it drag on till the night?" (Isuzu)
"Ugh..." (Zuihou)
"Sorry." (Ryuujou)
"Ah. No, that's not what I meant." (Isuzu)
"Well, it is true that we screwed up earlier. Thanks for covering us." (Yahagi)
"It's alright. That's what friends are for." (Nachi)
Ashigara let out a small moan as she stretched,
"Mnn... Let's head on back. Admiral Keita, are there any bars with handsome men in Maizuru?" (Ashigara)
"Wait, didn't you just go to a mixer last week? I heard from Moriyama."
"Oh, you know. The usual happened." (Moriyama)
"Admiral!!" (Ashigara)
So she didn't meet anyone again. What's new.
"Alright. That's enough. Lets return. Zuihou and Ryuujou are injured so we ought to head on back." (Nachi)
Zuihou and Ryuujou are the only ones that got hurt. Their planes missed most of the fleet and they were bombed by prop planes sent from a Carrier-looking ship with blue markings, putting them out of action early on in the battle. There was a large black one with red markings and 4 Twin gun mounts which tanked quite a large number of shots and torpedoes before blowing up. From there on, barring the missed shots, mopping up the others was considerably easy but the last two enemies had to be finished off by the Escort Fleet after the sun disappeared across the horizon.
"I have the fairies on standby in the canteen for you. Today's dinner is Tonkotsu Ramen with four slices of Chashu."
"Yay! I'm starving!" (Tanikaze)
"The two of you can enjoy it in the docks. I will get the fairies to bring it in for you."
"Ooh. Much appreciated." (Ryuujou)
"Ehehe~" (Zuihou)
"Moriyama, I'm closing the channel."
"Got it. I will see you girls the day after next. Be sure to get back here before lights out." (Moriyama)
"Does that mean we have a day off?" (Yukikaze)
"Yep. I don't want you rushing back here and tiring yourselves out. Just don't do anything stupid." (Moriyama)
"Yes! Time to hit the bars and find a man." (Ashigara)
"And fail to do so." (Moriyama)
"They are at it again..." (Isuzu)
"Admiral, if you don't shut up, I'm going to shove my 20-centimeter cannons up your-" (Ashigara)
"Moriyama out." (Moriyama)
"Oi!" (Ashigara)
And he's gone. I can see Ashigara seething right now on the monitor.
"I will get him when we go back." (Ashigara)
"Don't bother. You will just get thrown into the brig." (Nachi)
"Oh well. Great work on completing the operation. Come home. You all deserve a well-earned rest. No need to report to me immediately. We can do that in the morning. Keita out."
I closed the channel and switched off the monitor.
"I should get some dinner. I'm starving."
I switched off the lights in the Command Center and locked the door. It's only May but it's getting pretty warm, even during the night. I made my way to the canteen and got myself a bowl of Ramen. I informed them about the arrangement for Ryuujou and Zuihou and they agreed to send them each a bowl at the docks. At least, that is what I think he meant when the Chef Fairy gave me the thumbs up. It's slightly inconvenient when I can't hear these little guys.
It will be a while before the girls reach the base. Might as well use this time to take a bath while the docks are empty. I should really build a bath in my office. That way, I won't have to be afraid of walking in on anyone. It happened quite a few times already. I either get pinched or take a wooden bucket to the face when that happens. The only time I bathed with a shipgirl was with... Damn it Keita! You are doing it again!
I went back to my room to grab a set of pajamas and head to the docks. I met Kamikaze and Harukaze along the way and we had a little talk about putting them in the next sortie. They have been only doing expeditions and patrols for the past month so they are itching for some action. Of course, I agreed. The Kamikaze-class may be outdated compared to their fellow Destroyers, but they are still formidable with the years of experience they have on hand. I entered the docks and hung the blue 'occupied' sign at the door.
After washing, I dipped myself into the pool and let the hot water take my fatigue away.
{Admiral, you better not look this way. Okay?! Geez. Why do I have to do this?} (Zuihou of the past)
{You were the one that suggested this.}
{Kyaah! I said don't look over here!} (Zuihou of the past)
Kh... I really ought to stop this. I need to move on.
But how?
I took a deep breath and ducked underwater. When I could no longer hold my breath, I surfaced. That cleared my head a little, I guess. I stayed in the bath for a while more before standing up. Maybe I stayed too long 'cos I'm feeling a little lightheaded now. Meh. No biggie. Better get out of here before the others come in.
I dried myself as I walked towards the dressing room door.
"I want to take a long bath." (???)
Eh?
"Ah."
The door slid open and I felt something bumped into me. I looked down to see a small girl freeze in place. Zuihou slowly tilted her head upwards to look at me. Her face was red and her eyes were watery. She clutched a towel, covering only her front.
In contrast, my towel is around my neck. So I am fully exposed.
"A-A-Ad-" (Zuihou)
Wait. What the?!
I snapped out of it, backed away and quickly covered my important bit down there. What the hell am I doing? Where is she here? I swore I placed the occupied sign outside.
"This is not on me. All right?"
"N-n-n-Nooo!" (Zuihou)
I dodged Zuihou's punch and quickly moved out of the way. It was either that or catching the fist and flipping her. Of course I will pick the former. I exited the bath and slammed the door shut behind me. I think I caught a glimpse of a beautiful peach.
How long was I in the baths?
I changed into my pajamas and exited the docks.
"Ah. Ya' finally out, eh." (Ryuujou)
Ryuujou, in tattered clothes, was standing outside the docks. I looked at the door and saw the blue signboard hanging on its hook. I did put up the sign.
"I told her ta wait but she didn't listen." (Ryuujou)
"That was troublesome. Please make sure to stop her next time."
"Ya ya. Will try. Ya doin' alright?" (Ryuujou)
"Yeah. Why?"
"Don't know. But sumthin' tells meh ya got stuff on yer mind. Is tha' still botherin' ya?" (Ryuujou)
.....
"Don't worry about it. Just get yourself patched up."
"Ya can talk ta us, y'know?" (Ryuujou)
"Alright. I got it. Good night."
"Oi!" (Ryuujou)
I left the area quickly. If I start crying to her, who knows how the others will react?
I must be strong... I have to be strong... For both of our sakes.