It has already been 9 months since the end of the conflict against abyssals as the cycle of hate and sorrow is finally broken and both abyssals and shipgirls are finally free from that cycle of sinking.
And I was there as one of the witnesses to the end of that traumatic conflict, breathing a sigh of relief knowing the shipgirls everywhere can finally rest easy and live more normal lives as well as the few passive abyssals.
I am Admiral Shizuo Fujiwara, I joined back when I turned 18 and now I'm a few months off from my 19th birthday.
I find it quite funny how compared to other admirals, I am the one who got really close relationships with the shipgirls under my command. Some are like close friends and others feel like childhood friends, however I feel extremely close with my Starter ship and Secretary ship, Fubuki, and so I also got close with her sisters to the point they see me as another sibling of theirs and so do I.
And today is a bright and sunny day perfect to get some work done, as I sit down on my chair and begin to shuffle through my paperwork for the day, it's usually just mundane stuff like service reports, financial reports, supply records, mission reports and so on and so forth.
I breezed through my mostly quiet morning until 1052hrs, when I heard loud and fast footsteps and several more footsteps right after, then my office door swings wide open to reveal Kongo.
"GOOD MORNING ADMIRAL!"
Kongo ran and threw herself towards me, but I'm already used to this as simply I roll my chair a little to the left and watch Kongo fly out the open window as I give a chuckle.
"Kongo will be fine, she's a battleship after all"
As two more girls entered my office which was Miyuki and Fubuki.
"Ah, I see you have already dealt with Kongo as always."
"I sure did Fubuki, anyways what brings you two here?"
Miyuki smiles as she speaks.
"Here to invite you to an early lunch duh~"
"And what's behind your back Miyuki-"
Before I could even finish I just saw a pie hurled straight at my face as I saw Miyuki sprint out at full speed "Miyuki Special and I'm off!"
And Fubuki looks exasperated at her younger sister.
"Miyuki and her pranks" as she sighed and looks at me
"Hey atleast it was a custard pie this time" I scrape a little off my face and lick it off my finger which just made Fubuki let a small laugh.
"Let me get that off your face you dummy" She kept laughing a little as she helped me wiping the remnants of the pie off my face.
When we finally got my face pie free Fubuki took me by the hand and I basically got dragged away by Fubuki.
"How long were you holed in your office Shizuo?" Fubuki looks back at me as we walked to the cafeteria
"Well, Uhhh right after breakfast? Why?" And that earned me a light jab to the shoulder
"Don't tell me you'd start working yourself to death now, are you?" She was always so caring
"Nah, I won't. I just want to get rid of excess paperwork so I can take it easy after it"
We both share a chuckle as we finally arrive in the cafeteria which was already bustling with lif.
"Looks like lunch rush is already upon us" Fubuki states as we got into line
"So what's your plans after this since your paperwork is all but done" she asks me as we moved up the line.
"Since you and the rest of you and your sisters would be out on an escort mission till tomorrow" I remove my cap and stratch my head a little. "I guess, I might as well help around in the armory with Yuubari and Akashi since I have nothing else better to do"
We continued to talk as we finally got our food and sat down at an empty table, which slowly got filled one by one as quiet Isonami joined in, then respectful Shirayuki, the sleepy Hatsuyuki and this continued till the table was filled with the rest of Fubuki's sisters plus me as we shared a nice meal.
"So you girls will be off on a sortie later till tomorrow right?" I ask as I take another bite out of my meal
And I see them all collectively nod before Hatsuyuki complains "but it's going to be pain, come on admiral please assign someone else?"
I chuckle and pat her head before joking "Hey if I was able to go with you girls I would"
This got a chuckle out of all of them as I feel a elbow nudge from Fubuki "What? You'd put on some spare rigging and go with us" she joked
"If it was possible I would" I reply to her joke with another joke.
Miyuki ofcourse chimes in with her oh so energetic self "You're basically an honorary sibling to us at this point, amirite?"
Miyuki got nods from the rest of her sisters as they start to jokingly just call me by my first name and I just let them.
We all shared a laugh as we ate lunch and after a while the girls got up and I wished them luck as I got up myself and walked back to my room and changed into my tracksuit but deciding to keep my cap on before heading towards the armory.
I waved and greeted some of the other girls I happened to pass on my way there and once I got there I saw the door open so I let myself in.
"Yuubari!?. . . Akashi?! . . . Hello? Are you two in here?"
I wandered into the armory and saw a lot of spare riggings ranging from Battleships to Destroyers and sigh as I go grab some carts and trolleys then start to heave and place one rigging at a time on the carts.
"I swear they might be the heads of R&D yet they are the least organized" I sigh again as I filled the cart and one rigging is left on the floor.
"Huh, these looks like something Fubuki and her sisters use, welp someone's gotta clean up in the armory"
I grabbed it by the straps and braced myself for its weight but oddly enough it was light when I put it on my back.
"Huh I guess I overestimated it's weight it's probably stripped of it's heavier parts already" I said to myself as I push the carts off and find the right places to store them all.
As I finish putting away the cruiser riggings away with a little bit of trouble and when I was rounding a corner I finally see Akashi but I feel my cheeks get warmer since I saw her not even wearing her shirt and just in her bra.
"Oh admiral, I didn't even notice you getting in her-" I cut her off by taking off my tracksuit and throwing it at her face
"Cover yourself up damnit!" As I turn around and fix my shirt a bit since it got caught a little when I was removing my tracksuit. "SERIOUSLY AKASHI, YOU'RE THE HEAD OF R&D YET YOU LEFT THE DOOR WIDE OPEN, THIS PLACE IS A MESS AND HERE YOU ARE WITHOUT A SHIRT"
I just hear a soft chuckle from Akashi as she pats my back "Awww you are such a sweetheart for being so caring to everyone here and you can look now"
I just looked at Akashi with a slightly disappointed look as she apologizes before we continue our work
"So where's Yuubari? It's usually you two who are in this mess of an armory" I ask as I struggle to put away the last riggings into place
"Oh she's out on her day off today I think I forgot to tell you" I nod as I finally put away the last rigging which was the one I had on my back
"Is there anything else that needs cleaning around here?" I turn towards Akashi, waiting patiently for her answer
"Well there's the spares like parts, cannons, planes and in sinpler terms there's a lot" she looks embarrassed about it as I lightly hit her head
"Miss head of R&D everyone" I couldn't help but just joke about it as we start to clean up this messy armory from top to bottom.
That involves me getting on the very top of the storing shelves and literally dust the living hell out of every last one of them as I question myself when was the last time this place was cleaned.
Akashi on the other hand sorted the smaller important trinkets into their separate containers, I also saw how inefficient the sorting system of equipment so I painstakingly one by one undid my earlier work.
Dusting off their shelves, putting on new labels, and relocating some of them to atleast make it more efficient.
Akashi also helped me replace some of the busted lights in here, then she goes to work on the finishing touches as I finally store all the riggings again one by one, starting from Battleships, then Carriers, then Cruisers, Submarines and lastly was Destroyers.
"This is one tiring day" I said as I pick up that one oddly light riggings that Fubuki and her sisters are equipped with
"Seriously why are you so light?" I only questioned why of all the riggings this was so light as I had it slinged it on my back
I finally found an empty spot and placed the right rigging there and finished up for today.
"And we are finally done!" I wipe sweat off my forehead as me and Akashi marvel at the freshly cleaned and sorted Armory.
"Hey Admiral what about your tracksuit?" Akashi asks as she gestures at the tracksuit by tugging on it.
"Oh that, return it at a later time ok? I feel beat today so I'm heading down to Mamiya's for a quick meal and I'm hitting the hay as soon as possible" I say as I slowly walked towards the door "See you Akashi" I waved goodbye and left the armory.
'Ugh. . . Why do I feel extremely sluggish now? It's probably cause of fatigue' I say to myself as I enter Mamiya's shop.
"Good evening admiral, it seems you're quite exhausted today. Would you have your regular tonight?" Mamiya greets me as she asks for my order and I simply nod to just take my usual order.
I slumped myself on one of the stool feeling more and more sluggish for some reason 'Why do I feel like this?'.
After waiting a good while I got my usual order of a rice bowl, fried fish and Miso soup "Thanks Mamiya"
"Anytime Admiral" I see her handle the other customers that are beginning to come in as I ate my dinner in peace.
After my meal I tiredly navigate my way back to the living quarters and into my room, I can feel that I'm basically dragging my feet at this point.
I couldn't explain why but it seems like my body's temperature is flaring up. "Did I overwork myself? God Fubuki would kill me if I did"
I got into my room and tossed my clothes aside and take a long cold shower before wearing a comfy shirt and a pair of shorts as I basically drop myself to my bed.
I look at my phone 2213hrs. "I better go to sleep" I said as I wrap myself in a blanket since I can't stop shivering while also feeling like my body is burning me from the inside out.
"I wonder how Fubuki and the girls are doing?" Was my last question as I close my eyelids and slip into a slumber.
I wake up finding myself on a beach seeing nothing but said beach stretching as far as the eye can see, the water was crystal clear.
"Where am I? I asked myself as I walked down the beach till I see the very same rigging I saw in the armory, I stretch out my hand towards it and. . . I woke up in my bed.
That was a strange dream, I thought to myself as I shuffled to look at the clock on my nightstand.
'0945hrs' I stare, I blink and I stare again. Oh shit I accidentally slept in! Fubuki and her sisters must've already got home already she's gonna smack me I swear!
I quickly roll off my bed and grabbed my toothbrush and proceed to run into the bathroom to brush my teeth but as I was heading to the bathroom everything looked a little higher than I last remember and why is my hair longer than I remember as well.
When I got to the sink it felt a lot higher than usual, as I was about to brush my teeth I got a good look at my reflection and it wasn't me.
"Fubuki?" I blink as I look around and stared back at the mirror just to realize Fubuki wasn't here and it's just me. . . And that's my reflection.
"eh?. . . EHHHHHHHH?!!!?!"