Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

Original Threads Here

SpaceBattles

1. Harry and the Shipgirls - First Thread
2. Harry and the Shipgirls: Prisoner of Shipping - Second Thread
3. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Feels - Third Thread
4. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Feels Pt. 2 - Fourth Thread
5. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Fire Pt. 3 (Main story and Canonical Side Stories) - Fifth thread

Sufficient Velocity

1. Harry And The Shipgirls: A HP/KanColle Snippet Collection - First Thread at Sufficient Velocity
2. Harry And The Shipgirls: Prisoner of Shipping - Second Thread at Sufficient Velocity

Questionable Questing

1 Prelude 240K words
2 Year 1 A
3 Year 1 Xmas
4 Year 1 B

 

The Pre Hogwarts Years - Prior to September 2011

 

Harry Leferts

Hearing snickering, Harry looked up from the picture in his hands. Said picture had been taken by Bismarck after him and Hanna had hit Eugen a second time. That time, Eugen had turned to see a massive snowball heading for her just as she got the snow from the first attack off.

Which was why said picture showed Eugen's arms and legs sticking out of a pile of snow. Harry had never seen Bismarck laughing so hard as he had then. Especially as she had fallen into the snow after taking the picture with tears in her eyes. Moments later, her laughter was muffled though as Eugen stood up and dumped a bunch of snow on her head in retaliation. And that had resulted in an epic snowball fight between the Heavy Cruiser and the Battleship before Hanna and Harry had attacked again and it became a three way.

In the present though, said wizard was blinking as Fred was grinning at him. "What's so funny, Fred?"

Fred though stopped snickering for a moment and then shook his head as he muttered under his breath. "How does he do that...?"

Beside him, George grinned. "What my less handsome twin here wants to say is that we're wondering what is it about that picture that has your attention?"

Eyebrow raised, Harry held it up to show them. "It's a picture that Bismarck sent me of when Hanna and I got Eugen with snowballs."

The mention of Eugen and Bismarck caused red faces around the table on the boys, and some of the girls as well. It went without saying that Gryffindor Table had atttracted a lot of attention when the two had sat with the House, in particular beside Harry and Hanna, for dinner before they left with Hanna. And Harry also knew that a number of pictures had been taken as well.

Changing the subject as he coughed, Percy adjusted his glasses some. "Anyways... I would like to thank you again for inviting us to stay with you over the holidays. My parents also want to say thank you as well."

All Harry did though was simply shrug at that. "No need to thank me. Besides, it'll be kind of neat having you bunch around I think, and it'll be interesting to show you around."

Slowly, Percy smiled, though he shot a glare at his two grinning brothers. "Yes, well... at least you understand what is best in life."

What he had not expected was the words that came from an amused Harry's mouth. "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentationsof their women?"

Everyone just stared at him before Hermione sighed from where she was reading a book on the other side of the table. "Harry, you are not Conan."

Harry just grinned at her. "How do you know that?"

Raising her eyes just enough to look over the top of her book, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You are neither as muscular, nor covered in sweat or oil.... or go around in a loincloth.

A smirk on his face, Harry snickered. "I see..."

With a hum, Hermione turned a page as neither of the two paid attention to Percy mouthing 'Conan' to his brothers and getting shrugs. Then the witch looked up. "By the way... where the heck did you even know about that quote?"

Shrugging, Harry snorted. "Jersey had me watch the movie with some of the Taffies one time because she had lost her copy of Commando somewhere... turned out that Musashi-Oba had it."

That just caused Hermione to blink as she considered it and then shrugged. 'Not going to ask.' Shaking it off, Hermione shrugged. "I... see..."

Ron then spoke up as he swallowed his food. "So, uh... where are we going to be staying?"

Blinking, Harry waved a hand around. "Oh, you'll be staying in the Battleship Dorms in one of the guest quarters. There's more then are needed there after all and they're pretty comfortable."

Just nodding, Percy gave him a smile. "Well, thank you, that's a bit of a relief. Our parents did send us some money to spend while in Japan after all... you wouldn't happen to know of anywhere we could get some gifts while there?"

It took a moment, but then Harry shrugged. "Sure, there's a lot of places. Maybe we can even wangle a trip to Tokyo before Christmas. Akihabara is always somewhere to pick up gifts..."

Flipping a page, Hermione sighed. "You're just going to be amusing yourself by showing them things and confusing them, aren't you?" The grin was answer enough which caused Hermione to shake her head. "Just don't go overboard."

To the confusion of the Weasleys, Harry's grin widened some. "No promises."

And when Hermione shook her head, they all felt a chill run up their spines before Harry turned toward Ron. "Oh, by the way, Mum was talking with Warspite and she said that she doesn't mind dropping by on Christmas or New Years, your decision"

Frowning, Ron furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait... how is she going to get there?"

Simply shrugging, Harry waggled his hand back and forth. "She's probably going to take an airplane I think. Unless she has another way though."

All Ron did was slowly nod at that, happier that he was going to see his friend and mentor over the holidays.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

With a soft sigh, Rose pulled her fountain pen away and smiled down at what was on her desk. "Finally..." Stretching, she glanced at the time and then leaned back. "Haruna's present is all... done..."

Looking down at her with an amused expression was Kongou. "All done, Dess?"

Needless to say, Rose blinked and then nearly leapt from her chair out of shock. "K-K-Kongou!" Glancing at the desk, she felt her face grow hot and knew that she was blushing. "Um..."

Expression turning gentle, Kongou tilted her head. "May I?"

Slowly, Rose gave a hesitant nod. "I do not mind, just be careful as the ink may not be dried yet." All Kongou did was nod as she moved to better examine what was on the desk and did so for several minutes as the nervous tsukumogami waited. Finally, the Battleship pulled back and seemed to be examining Rose now which made her more nervous. "Is... is there something wrong?"

Kongou had an indecipherable look on her face as she watched Rose. "And you made this on your own? Whenever did you have any sleep?"

All Rose did though was blink before she looked down at her feet. "Yes, I made it on my own. Some of my Mistresses were quite knowledgable in what I needed and as to sleep... I do not have too much that I need to do around the base so I had plenty of time, I'm afraid."

What happened next though caught Rose off guard as Kongou pulled her into a gentle hug. "Haruna will love it."

Blinking, Rose looked up at her. "You're sure?"

Just looking down, Kongou still had that indecipherable look on her face though there was also a smile there. "Yes, I am sure that Haruna will love your gift. It shows just how much you care for her after all, Dess." Then she tilted her head to the side and chuckled a bit. "But then, Haruna would adore anything that you got for her and I suspect that it would be much the same for you."

Her face seeming to get even hotter, Rose nodded. "That is true, Haruna is very good at picking things out for myself."

Suddenly widely grinning, Kongou gave her a thumbs up. "I approve as Haruna's Onee-Sama!"

More then a little confused, the tea set tsukumogami looked at the desk. "Of what I made?"

Bringing up her hand, Kongou got into a pose with it on her chin as she smirked. "Among other things, Dess. Though if you want, you can call me... Kongou-Onee-Chan soon."

Even more confused by this point, Rose frowned. "Perhaps... at a later time...?"

With a grin, Kongou just nodded at that. "Dess!"

Shaking it off, Rose glanced around just in case Haruna showed up before she remembered that the Fast Battleship had left with Nagato to pick up Harry and his friends at the train station. "Kongou, may I... ask a favour of you?" After Kongou nodded, Rose continued. "If... Haruna should happen to return in the next two hours, could you distract her? I wish for the ink to dry before I wrap Haruna's gift."

Her grin widening, Kongou gave her a wink. "No problem, Dess. If Haruna returns early, then I shall distract her and keep her busy. Though Haruna will be a bit busy herself." Seeing the expression on Rose's face, Kongou shrugged. "Haruna is picking something up in Britain, so I know that she shall be away for some time."

A frown on her face, Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "I wonder what she's picking up then?"

On Kongou's face was a wide grin as she hummed. "Who knows...?"

 

Year One - The Power of Magicite Part 2 Christmas

START

 

Harry Leferts

With a blink, Harry looked up from the magazine he was reading to see Hermione with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, what?"

Just barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes, Hermione tilted her head at what was in Harry's hands. "I was just wondering if there was anything interesting in there. Naval news, right?"

Harry slowly nodded as he shrugged. "Most of it is just the usual things. The Americans launching their 'America Class' and new LCS for escorting as well as exporting them to other countries..." Frowning, he turned to one page in particular. "Then there's that Filipino, Captain Darren. Apparently he somehow managed to summon Fort Drum."

That caused Hermione to frown in thought before she suddenly blinked. "Wait... he summoned an Installation?!"

Waggling his hand back and forth, Harry shrugged. "I guess? Though she's more like a concrete Battleship. I heard about it from Fubuki who heard from her sister, Murakumo, so when I heard that they had an article..." Getting a nod, Harry then continued. "There's also an interview with the author of 'Changing Destiny'."

A squeal caused him to raise an eyebrow at Hermione as Ron wiggled a finger in his ear. "The bloody hell, Hermione?"

Simply huffing, Hermione shot him a glare. "It's one of my favorite series and the author does very good work. He certainly did his research."

Humming, Harry nodded as he turned back to his magazine. "Yeah... though from what I heard, Sister Sara is one of his fans and, well... she kind of really interested in him." At their looks, he shrugged. "I know a lot of shipgirls all over the world."

To Hermione and Ron that explained a lot, though Neville just looked utterly lost. "Uh... why would that matter?"

With a snort, Harry grinned. "Because while gossip spreads across bases and ships at the speed of light, gossip spreads among shipgirls faster then light."

Amused, the only shipgirl in the compartment nodded, a chuckle escaping her. "Wasn't there a rumor of one shipgirl somehow knowing about an incident before it happened?"

Snickering, Harry nodded. "Yeah, I heard that rumor as well." Then Harry turned to one page in particular. "But this is what I really wanted to read about as I am pretty sure that I heard Fubuki-Nee squeal from where she is in Japan as soon as the news hit."

Her eyebrow raised, Hermione leaned in and frowned. "A new class of Japanese Destroyers?"

While he nodded, Harry smiled. "Yeah, they're going to be among the largest in the world and with recent technological advances and the war, it's got things like railguns and lasers, some of the first in the world. And the first ship has already been named even though they just laid the keel." At Hermione's interested look, Harry's smile became a grin. "They're calling the first ship, the JS Fubuki in honor of Fubuki-Nee."

Chuckling, Hermione shook her head. "From what you have told me about her, that would certainly do it." After she took a glance out the window, she raised her eyebrows. "Looks like we're nearly at King's Cross."

Also looking out, Neville rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... guess that I'll see you guys after Christmas Hols, huh?"

That caused Harry to look over at him. "Still haven't heard from your Gran if you'll be allowed to come over for a visit? I mean, I heard that it's not that hard..."

Neville shook his head. "She hasn't said anything, but I'm hoping anyways."

Finally, the train slowed and pulled into King's Cross and Harry made one last visit to the last car to pick up the various things that the trolley lady had left. After how popular they had proven, Harry had asked again which she was happy to provide. Which how he found himself and Ron balancing several large boxes as well bringing along Hedwig's cage. Thankfully though, Nagato was there and she easily took them as did, to Harry's surprise, Haruna. "You're here, Haruna-Oba?"

The Fast Battleship gave him her usual smile. "Hai, Haruna had planned to come and meet Harry-Chan as she had business in London."

Surprised, Harry raised his eyebrows at her. "Really? What sort of business if you don't mind?"

If he had been surprised before, he became more so as Haruna flushed a bit and glanced around before leaning down. "Haruna ordered something for Rose-Chan that was custom made... what to see?" At Harry's nod, she pulled out a case and opened it with the eleven year old's eyes widening in awe. "Haruna just hopes that Rose-Chan will like it..."

With a snort, Harry shook his head as she put the case back into her robes, it disappearing out of sight. "She'll love it, Haruna-Oba."

Flustered, the youngest Kongou only nodded. "Haruna certainly hopes so." Then she looked over to where the Weasleys were as well as Hermione and Neville. "And these must be Harry-Chan's friends."

Nodding, Harry gestured at them. "Right! This is Ron Weasley and those are his older brothers Percy, and the twins. Their names are Fred and George, careful of their pranks." Said twins bowed and swept their arms to the side which made Haruna giggle. "And over here is Neville and Hermione."

Just giving the nervous Hermione a knowing look. Haruna nodded to both. "Haruna is pleased to meet with so many of Harry-Chan's friends."

After she got acknowledgments from them, Harry snapped his fingers and looked toward his mother. "Right, before I forget... Mum? Did the presents get through the owl box okay?"

Chuckling, Nagato nodded. "They got through just fine, Harry. And they've been hidden though I don't know where Tenryuu hid mine that you sent though..."

The slightly playful pout that Nagato gave Harry caused him to laugh and wag a finger at her. "Sorry, Mum. Can't tell you what they are yet."

If anything, the pout got worse as the Battleship reached forward and dug a finger into Harry's side, the boy jumping away with a laugh. "Mou, you're as bad as Mutsu, Harry."

Winking, Harry snickered at her. "I certainly try~"

With a blink, Hermione stared at Harry. "How the heck do you pronounce a tilde?"

This time, the eleven year old wizard winked at her. "It's not that hard once you know how~"

Lips curling upward somewhat as the Cruiser's eyebrow twitched, Nagato had to hold back a chuckle. "Anyways, it's been wonderful seeing you again, Hermione, Neville."

Having shaken off her annoyance, though she knew that it was going to bother her for a while, Hermione nodded and was about to say something when she spotted Dido and her parents. "Actually... how about you meet my parents and one of my sisters?"

Eyebrow raised, Nagato glanced in the same direction and nodded, though then Neville spoke up. "And I see my Gran over there."

Thoughtful for several moments, the Battleship hummed before sharing a look with Haruna. Then she nodded. "I think that we have enough time for a bit of a meet and greet."

It went without saying that due to having overheard Neville telling how his family was not sure he was magical and what they did, a part of Nagato was rather pleased with how the elderly woman seemed shocked and somewhat off balance when she introduced herself to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking around the room, Harry slowly nodded. "Well... hopefully this is good enough..."

After he set down his things, the eldest Weasley that was there only nodded as he looked around. "This is way more then what we were expecting, thank you." At the grumble from his stomach, he glanced at the time and frowned. "You wouldn't happen to know of a place to get some food..."

Slowly nodding, Harry jerked with his thumb. "The mess hall is open twenty four hours in case someone needs to eat something. Anything there though would be just toss it into the microwave and heat it up at this time of night."

With a nod, Ron just held his stomach as it grumbled. "I don't mind, mate, as long as I get something."

The other Weasleys agreed with that and followed Harry as he guided them toward the mess hall. As they did so, Fred and George looked around with one of them scratching his head. "I would have thought that there would be more activity and stuff on a muggle base...?"

In reply, Harry pointed out at the harbor where some lights could be seen moving across it. "There's always activity on base, you just need to know where it is. For example, there's patrols going on and I am pretty sure that some people are in the offices."

Percy frowned a bit and adjusted his glasses. "Still... pretty quiet."

Suddenly, the bushes next to them rustled before something in orange clothing burst out with a shout. "Which makes it perfect for YASEN!"

Just waving, Harry chuckled. "Hey, Sendai-Nee."

The Cruiser grabbed him in a hug with a grin. "Yo, Harry-Chan! Great to see you back and..." She trailed off and blinked as she noticed that Ron was just staring wide eyed while the twins were on the ground having fallen backwards out of surprise. Though it was Percy who was clutching at his chest which had her worried. "You okay?"

With a grimace, Percy nodded. "Yes, just... surprised is all..."

Giving him a nod, Sendai wagged a finger. "Of course! After all, surprise is important in YASEN!" Then she turned and Sendai patted Harry on the head. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Harry-Chan?" At his nod, Sendai leapt back into the bushes. "And now to see if there's any cute little Destroyer-Chans wandering around."

Quickly pulling apart the bushes, Fred blinked alongside George. "She's... gone?"

Harry only nodded as he began to walk away. "Yeah, Sendai-Nee is a ninja after all." From somewhere else on the base, a cry of "YASEN" caused him to pause before he shrugged. "Of sorts, anyways."

Another shout caused the Weasleys to look in that direction. "SHUT THE HELL UP, YASEN-BAKA!"

Only blinking, Ron shook his head before following his friend as his brothers just stared. Internally, Ron was snickering at them as being around Warspite kind of made him just a little used to their antics. Meanwhile, his brothers looked at each other and then hurried to catch up, now feeling like this wasn't their best idea...

 

Harry Leferts

Slowly waking up on the first day of his vacation, Harry blinked as he felt a weight on his arm and turned his head slightly to see that Hoppou had snuck into his room at some time during the night and was now cuddled up to his side. A smile grew on his face as she breathed in and out softly before she shifted a bit. That was when he heard the door open to see Nagato in the doorway peeking in with a smile which he returned as he whispered so he wouldn't wake his little sister. "Morning, Mum."

Nodding, Nagato only crossed her arms as she took in the sight before her. "Good morning, Harry." At the look Harry gave Hoppou, Nagato's smile grew a touch more. "She really missed you."

Just nodding, Harry's eyes softened. "I missed her too." Then he furrowed his eyebrows. "When did she...?"

With a hum, his adopted mother shook her head. "She got out of her bedroom about twenty minutes after you went to sleep and snuck in." She then glanced at her watch that Harry had gotten for her and nodded. "It's about ten in the morning if you were wondering. So if you want to show your friends around..."

Harry only nodded at that. "I'll be up in a few minutes." Once she had closed the door, Harry reached up with one hand and began to stroke Hoppou's hair. "Hoppou... I need to get up."

In reply, she only held on tighter and snuggled in. "No. Hoppou no want to get up."

Sighing in amusement, Harry shook his head and continued to stroke her hair. "Hoppou, I really need to get up." His expression then turned mischievous. "Besides... if I don't get up, how ever am I going to give my little sister some treats that I had some older years pick up for me?"

A moment went by, and then Hoppou opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Big Brother got Hoppou some treats?" At his nod, she frowned and seemed to consider it before she crashed back onto him. "Hoppou no care, Hoppou just wants Big Brother."

That caused Harry to roll his eyes and snort a bit, though he was pretty happy. 'Oh for...'

It was about twenty minutes later when Nagato got up to go to Harry's room when the door opened. Then she had to hold out snickers as Harry walked out. "Well now, about time you got up."

Giving her a look, Harry shrugged. "Had a bit of a problem."

Nagato then looked down at his leg where Hoppou was holding on like a limpet before she bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I can see..." Then she raised her eyebrow at him. "And get some normal breakfast into you and Hoppou before you give her any treats."

Looking down, Harry had to hold back laughter as Hoppou gave a pout at that. "Not a problem, Mum. I'll just head over and wake up Ron and the others. We'll get something to eat then I'll show them around."

With a nod, Nagato stood up. "Sounds like a plan." Striding over, she enveloped him in a hug. "I'm glad to see you home though, Harry."

Hugging her back, Harry nodded. "It's good to be back."

As he pulled away, he noted Rose there watching with a happy expression before he walked over and hugged her, the tsukumogami blushing before she hugged back. "Welcome home, Master." When he pulled away, Rose gave a short nod. "Now then, I'll make you a lovely cup of tea... do you know what your friends like?"

Once he told her, Rose busied herself with making said drinks as Harry walked out the door and down the hallway before knocking. The whole way, he had a giggling Abyssal glomping his leg who he looked down at in amusement. "Are you going to be doing this all day, Hoppou?"

She just blinked at him and then quickly nodded which made him shake his head before the door opened to reveal a dishevelled Percy. "Harry?" Looking down, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of the two red eyes staring back up at him. "And, um... Hoppou?"

Hoppou just nodded before snuggling back into Harry's leg. Seeing the raised eyebrow, Harry gave the older teen a shrug. "Hoppou missed me."

There was an amused expression on Percy's face as he nodded. "I see..." With another glance downwards, he shook his head. "Rather reminds me of how Ginny, our sister, reacted to when Bill came home from his two years of training as a Curse Breaker. He walked around for a month with her holding on."

Laughing, Harry shook his head. "No doubt."

As he smirked a bit, Percy held up one finger. "Just give us a moment."

When Harry nodded, the eldest Weasley there ducked back into the room and ten minutes later, the other three were staggering out with sleepy expressions. Before anyone could say anything though, Rose's voice rang out. "The tea's ready, Master!"

It was almost as one that all four Weasleys turned and blinked at the sight of Rose there balancing a tray of tea and tilting her head with a smile. Then George turned to Harry and pointed toward her. "Uh... Master?"

Before Harry could answer though, Rose nodded. "Yes, because Master owns me."

The sound of flesh meeting flesh could be heard as Harry groaned. "Guys, this is Rose, she's the tsukumogami of the tea set that I own.:

Slowly, Ron nodded as he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah... you told us about her." He then turned toward her and gave a nod. "Uh, hi, I'm Ron Weasley."

All the tsukumogami did was nod as she shook the hand that was offered to her. "I'm Rose Potter, and it's a pleasure to meet one of Master's friends, let alone four!"

Utterly confused, the others also shook her hand before they decided to just have a drink of the offered tea with Fred looking down at it in surprise. "It's exactly how I like it, how did you...?"

Rose just winked at him. "It's a secret, I'm afraid." Once they were done and given her back the empty cups, she gave a small bow. "I'll see you all later, after all I have duties of my own to attend to though I do ever look forward to chatting with you all once we have some time."

Just watching her leave, Percy turned toward Harry with a frown. "A... tsukumogami?"

Sighing, Harry nodded. "In Japanese legend, any object that is around for more then a hundred years can gain a soul. Rose is one example of that though her true form is that of a silver tea set that has been passed down through my family for years."

Nodding, Percy just frowned. "I... see..."

However, a few moments later they followed Harry out of the Battleship Dorms, though Harry and Hoppou took a moment to say goodbye to their mother. As they were walking along the sidewalk on their way to the mess hall though, they heard beeping and turned as a small, car-like object pulled up. When it came to a stop and the window rolled down, Harry had to blink. "Inazuma-Chan?"

A bright smile just split Inazuma's face as she nodded. "Hwawawawa! Harry-Chan! When did you get back?"

Chuckling, Harry walked up and gave Inazuma a one armed hug as she did the same. "Late last night actually." Then he pulled back and took in what she was in with a bemused expression. "And what's this? I didn't know that you could get a license..."

There was a proud expression on her face, Inazuma patted the door. "I don't need one for this, Nanodesu. It's actually an enclosed electric bicycle."

Eyebrows raising, Harry looked around inside. "That is a bicycle? Really?" At her nod, he shook his head. "That's so cool... Where are you going?"

Inazuma chuckled a bit and shook her head. "Actually, I'm heading home. I was picking up some food for Kaa-Chan when I spotted you." Then she glanced toward the Weasleys and gave them a smile. "Hello!"

Giving a hesitant wave, Ron glanced to Harry who nodded. "Inazuma-Chan, let me introduce my some of my friends from Hogwarts, Ron Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Percy Weasley."

The Destroyer did her best to give them a small bow from inside her vehicle. "I'm the Japanese Destroyer, Inazuma. Though I'm also known as Ami Matsuda, I mostly go by Inazuma."

Almost as one, the older Weasleys blinked. "Ami Matsuda?"

For their parts, Harry and Inazuma were confused and shared a look before the black haired boy cleared his throat. "You know about Natural Born shipgirls... right?" At their utterly confused expressions, Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Whoo boy..."

 

Harry Leferts

If it was not for the oppressive silence that had fallen, Harry would have likely fallen over in laughter at the expressions on the three older Weasley boys. Even Ron looked slightly surprised by what they had been told. As it was though, Harry still wished that there was some way of preserving the image.

Of course, that was when he noticed that Inazuma had a flash behind her eyes and knew she had taken a picture. Now all he had to do was figure out what she might want in trade...

Maybe one of his chocolate cakes?

Suddenly, Percy was the one who broke the silence as he looked between Harry and Inazuma. "You mean to tell me that there are muggles who are, unknown to them, shipgirls and can become full fledged ones?"

Part of Harry considered correcting him and stating that there were witches as well who could. But that would likely become more awkward and something told him not to let the fact that his birth mother was an unawakened shipgirl get around on the magical side of things. He didn't know what was telling him that, but his adopted mother told him to listen to his instincts. And that was not counting Hermione, so he only shrugged. "Pretty much.

Turning toward Inazuma, Percy took a deep breath. "And... you're one of these Natural Borns?"

A smile on her face, Inazuma practically chirped. "Yup!" Suddenly, her smile fell away as she noticed the time. "Oh no! I am so sorry about this, but I need to get home before some of the groceries spoil! I'll see you around, Harry-Chan! Nanodesu!"

With that she drove off as Harry waved goodbye, though Harry blinked at how her little car like bike had a vanity plate on it saying "Nanodesu" of all things. Then he shook it off and turned back to Percy and the Twins. "Anyways... we should probably head over to the mess hall to get some breakfast." Taking a step though, Harry blinked and looked down to see that Hoppou was still there holding onto his leg. "... You're still there?"

Of course, that got him an odd look from Ron, though said boy also seemed pretty amused by it. "Mate, she's been there the whole time. How'd you forget?"

Slowly shrugging, Harry ignored the giggles from his little sister. "Don't know."

Looking up at him, she gave a snort. "Silly!"

All Harry did though was just ruffle her hair which caused more giggles from her. "Maa, not that silly, Hoppou." With a theatrical grunt, Harry took a step. "Oof, this is going to be hard though, you're heavy."

Hoppou only looked up at him with a pout on her face. "Hoppou not heavy!"

On Harry's face though there was only a serious expression as he took another step. "So heavy... feels like my leg is going... to fall off... with every... step..."

Cheeks puffing oout, Hoppou glared at him. "Hoppou not heavy! Big Brother being very silly!" Suddenly, her expression changed to one of mischievousness. "But Hoppou know how to fix!"

More then a little amused, Harry just raised an eyebrow and ignored the snorts of laughter. "Oh? And how are you going to do that now?" Not even a moment later, his eyes widened as he got the answer via Hoppou scrambling up his body like a squirrel. "GAH! HOPPOU!"

Once she got onto his shoulders, Hoppou grinned in victory and crossed her arms. Though she did notice that Harry had grabbed onto her legs to hold her there. "Now Hoppou in third best place!"

Raising an eyebrow, and trying to ignore the laughter from the Weasleys, Harry frowned. "Third best place? Why third?"

To his amusement, Hoppou gave him a pat on the head. "Big Brother's shoulders third place because Mommy's is second and Big Sister's is first!"

Slowly nodding, Harry smiled as he began to walk. "I see... but what if I had you on my shoulders, while I sat on Mum's... and Mum sat on Big Sister's?"

Eyes wide, Hoppou tried to imagine it and then shook her head. "Would be best place of all..." Then threw her hands into the air. "Hoppou want to try when Big Sister come for Christmas with Revina!"

Bouncing her a little on his shoulders, and getting a squeal of delight, Harry nodded. "Well, if you can convince Mum and Big Sister, then I'll go along with it."

Just shaking his head, Fred chuckled a bit. "You got one odd family, Harry."

A grin bloomed on Harry's face as he chuckled. "And I would not trade them for anything."

Moments later, he felt Hoppou hug him around the head. "And Hoppou loves her family, including Big Brother."

Harry only reached up and patted her on the head. "And I love you guys, including you, Hoppou."

The smile that was on the Abyssal's face was near blinding before she spotted something heading toward them and narrowed her eyes. Pointing, she began to grin. "Big Brother! Big Brother! It's Zekamashi!"

Coming to a stop in front of them, Shimakaze scowled up at Hoppou. "Don't call me that! My name is not Zekamashi!"

As Hoppou and Shimakaze argued back and forth, the older Weasleys were focused on something else as George leaned toward his older brother.. "Uh... Perce?"

Giving a nod, Percy cleared his throat. "Yeah?"

It was Fred who spoke next. "Uh... is she wearing... a thong? And with clothes that..."

Once more, Percy nodded though his face felt like it was on fire. "Yes, she is." There was a beat of silence and then he took a deep breath. "We are not telling Mum what we saw."

That got him nods of agreement from Fred and George as Ron just looked at them in confusion and then shook his head. 'Bloody bonkers.'

Meanwhile, Shimakaze just huffed at Hoppou before she turned her attention to a highly amused Harry. "So, Harry-Chan, I heard that you got a really fast flying broomstick?" At his nod, she grinned. "Ou! Well, I'm at the top of the list for it! Hopefully it's not too slow!"

Snorting, Harry shook his head. "It's not. In fact, it's probably faster then you!"

Now grinning widely, Shimakaze nodded. "Can't wait to see! Anyways, got to go!"

With that, she ran off at her top speed and Percy coughed into his hand. "Well... she's an interesting person, I guess."

Hands behind his head, Harry only nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Shimakaze-Nee is pretty awesome. She's superfast on the water and stuff and so are her sisters."

Blinking, Percy frowned for a moment. "Uh... do her sisters, um... dress like her?"

Just blinking, Harry gave him a look. "Well, yeah, of course they do. They're her sister ships after all."

Yet again, Percy shared a look with his brothers. No, they were definitely not going to tell their mother this. None of them wanted to know how she would react to Shimakaze, or her sister's apparent, state of dress.

Several minutes later though, they entered the mess hall and just blinked at all the shipgirls walking around or at tables eating. Before they could pick a spot though, a shout rang through the room and Harry turned in time to see a mass of blue heading for him. "PANPAKAPAN! Harry-Chan's back!"

His face nearly disappearing in her chest, Harry gave Atago a thumbs up. Hoppou meanwhile just huffed and bopped Atago on the head and made the Heavy Cruiser blink. "Let Big Brother out!"

Giggling, Atago held him in a hug for a few more seconds before noticing the Weasleys staring wide eyed at her. Then she smiled. "Ah! You must be Harry-Chan's friends!"

With a slight smile on his face, Percy gave a chuckle. "We are and-"

Before he could say anything else though, his words were cut off, along with his oxygen supply, as Atago hugged him. "I'm Atago!"

Off to the side, Harry could only grin as one by one, his friends were grabbed by the Heavy Cruiser and pulled into hugs with accompanying "Panpakapans" happening. 'Well... at least they're not going to be bored...'

 

Harry Leferts

Coming to a stop at the end of the line, Harry blinked at the sight of a familiar shipgirl there. "Taigei?"

With a bright smile on her face, Taigei nodded as she tilted her head before reaching over and pulling Harry into a hug. "It's great to see you, Harry-Chan." Letting him go, she gave him a wink while twirling the tongs in her hand like a baton. "Now then, what would you like?"

After a moment of thought, Harry frowned before smirking. "Another hug would be nice."

That caused Taigei to blink and go red before she giggled a bit. "Maybe later then."

Behind them, Fred leaned in to whisper to Percy. "Uh... did Harry there just flirt with her or am I seeing and hearing things?"

Slowly, Percy just nodded. "He seemed to be..."

George pulled out a notebook and made a few notes in it. At the looks, he pointed at Harry. "Pass up this opportunity? I think not."

Both of the other two older Weasleys just nodded at that while at the same time, Ron just looked at them in utter confusion. 'What's all that about...?'

At the same time though, Taigei was still chatting with Harry as she placed some food onto his plate. "... Oh! And we've made up enough pudding this year too, Harry-Chan! Just like how you taught us."

For a few seconds, Harry blinked and then he smiled. "You did?" When she smiled, he shook his head. "Awesome. I know that you all did a great job then."

Yet again, Taigei had to smile through her blush before she nodded. Then she took in the line and leaned in to whisper to him while passing another tray to Hoppou who was still perched on Harry's shoulders. "We'll catch up later, okay, Harry-Chan? I got more people waiting."

Just nodding, Harry continued down the line as the others followed. Eventually though, the Weasleys had to follow him through the crowds of people and shipgirls in the Mess Hall. Before they got too far though, a hand shot into the air and was waving at them. "HARRY-CHAN! OVER HERE!"

Quickly maneuvering through the crowd, Harry came to one of the tables with a smile on his face as a girl in a swimsuit got up. "Iku-Chan!"

Carefully hugging him, Iku hummed happily before guiding him to sit between her and Hachi, the other subgirl moving a bit to make room. "I'm glad that you're here, Harry-Chan, now come on and have a seat!" With a nod to the others, they shifted so that there was room for the Weasleys to also sit down. Once he had sat down, Iku's grin grew. "Now where's my hug?"

With a chuckle, Harry reached over and tightly hugged the Sub, whose smile was nearly blinding. "Right here, Iku-Chan!" After a little bit, he let go and then twisted so that he could give Hachi a hug as well, much to her happiness. "And I got one for Hachi-Chan as well."

Once that hug was over, Harry turned toward where the other subgirls were and shrugged before getting up and hugging each one of them. Raising an eyebrow, Percy frowned as he glanced around. 'A lot of broken hearts are going to happen... though I hope that no one magical tries more extreme methods.' A look at the Twins told him that they were thinking the exact same thing. 'And I'm going to have to slowly let Ginny down gently...'

Meanwhile, Fred and George were looking around as various shipgirls were watching them and whispering. 'Is it because we're with Harry? Or is it because...' They took a glance to where Harry was talking with Iku and Hachi excitedly and felt themselves blush some. '... That we're with a bunch of girls in swimsuits?'

Suddenly, Shioi swallowed the food that was in her mouth and pointed her fork at Ron. "So from Harry's letters you've met some of the British shipgirls, right? Like Warspite?"

Quickly swallowing his own food, Ron took a drink of water before he answered. "Yeah... why?"

Leaning forward, Shioi gave him a smirk. "Met any British Subgirls?" At that, Hachi and RO groaned before the two shook their heads which made Shioi snort. "Oh, come on you two, there's nothing wrong with asking."

Ron coughed a bit and then had an odd hybrid of a smile and a grimace. "Yeah and they're... um... unique?" He was reminded of one of the times he met them and winced. 'Never saw Warspite use someone as a shotput before... and why they liked it I don't know why...'

Just about to say something, Shioi found her mouth covered by RO's hand as she went into what was known as "Yuu"-Mode. "You really do not want to meet them. They're verrücktes Mädchen." Then just as suddenly, she went back to the smiling RO. "Anyways-" Her voice trailed off and she glared at a grinning Shioi. "Did you just lick my hand?"

All Shioi did was grin more before RO began to shake her around, various other Subgirls laughing. Meanwhile, Iku and Hachi had their arms around Harry's shoulders as they watched. Then Iku turned to Harry with a thoughtful expression. "So when are you heading back to school?"

Blinking, Harry shrugged for a moment. "Uh... give me a moment..." After a few seconds, he nodded. "We're going to be heading back on the fifth."

There was a frown on Hachi's face as she adjusted her glasses some. "That gives us roughly two weeks... not that much time."

Harry just placed an arm around Hachi's waist and squeezed it in a hug as well as he could. "Hey, maybe Mum can get you to come and visit Hogwarts sometime?"

Expression brightening, the Subgirl nodded. "That sounds pretty good, actually!" Then she wrapped Harry into a hug and held him tightly. "It means that I'll get more time to spend with you."

Nodding, Iku hugged him from the other direction. "Yeah! And it really hasn't been the same without you being around."

Suddenly stopping partway through their fight with their fingers stretching out each other's mouths, RO and Shioi nodded. "Uh-huh."

From where she was, Imuya hummed in thought. "You know... we should have a sleepover sometime while you're here. Just you and us like old times, in a cuddle pile." She blinked though and turned to where Fred and George were choking on their food and Percy's face looked as red as his hair. "What?"

Waving her off, Percy coughed. "Uh, nothing... nothing at all."

At the same time, Harry was nodding. "Sounds pretty good actually." Then the young wizard looked around with a frown. "You wouldn't know where Shinano-Chan, Natsumi-Chan and the others are, would you?"

On Iku's face was a thoughtful frown before she slowly shook her head. "Well, we agreed not to bother you until you awoke-"

She was cut off by Harry frowning at her. "But you wouldn't have bothered me."

Then he blinked as a small hand bopped him on the head and he looked up at Hoppou. "Hoppou agreed! Big Brother needed sleep."

Now pouting, Harry grumbled a bit as Iku shook her head in amusement. "Anyways... Natsumi-Chan is over at the shrine helping Haru set things up, Shinano is out on patrol though she'll be back soon enough, and Maruyu is on a mole run but will be back by Christmas. I think that Rose-Chan is at the docks and Naka is setting up for later though... and the Kongous are bongou and setting up something as well for you."

Just snickering, Harry shook his head. "I'll make sure to keep some room for them then."

That got him some odd looks from the other Weasleys before they shrugged it off and turned back to their food
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Cold channel water streaming past them, Hood nonetheless felt warm as she glanced to her companion beside her. "Thank you for coming along, Bismarck. You really didn't have to."

With a shrug, the German Battleship adjusted her scarf, a gift from Hood the year after she had been summoned. "It's really nothing, Hood. I don't mind accompanying you on missions."

Rolling her eyes, Hood crossed her arms across her chest which empathized certain things and caused the German to blush a bit. 'Victory.' Clearing her throat, she waited until Bismarck was again looking her in the eyes and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You really don't need to worry about me so much. I'm not about to sink after all just by stubbing my toe."

In reply, Bismarck looked away. "Are you saying that I am overprotective?"

Hood just smirked a bit before holding her finger and thumb a short distance from each other. "Maaaybe just a little." Then she chuckled a bit. "Not that I mind much."

Behind them, Eugen and Prince of Wales rolled their eyes at the byplay before sharing a grin. If anything, that caused Bismarck to blush even more as she tilted the brim of her hat over her eyes. "Mein Gott, Hood, I am not that bad."

Tilting her head from side to side, Hood snickered. "That's not what I read online." Hearing the muttered swearing from Bismarck, Hood smirked but then stiffened a bit as she got notification from her crew. "We're nearly there."

Her back straightening, Bismarck turned her attention to the direction that they were going in. "I see. Do you know who we are searching for, Hood?" Not getting an answer, Bismarck frowned. "Hood?"

Softly sighing, Hood nodded. "I'm sure that you heard what happened to the Channel Islands when they Abyssals revealed themselves to the world at large..."

Grimacing, Bismarck nodded. "Ja, they suffered heavily in the original attacks from what I heard."

With a frown on her face, Hood shook her head. "It was actually worse then that, they had a few Abyssal Cruisers focused on bombardment. Most of the towns were razed and the survivors fled."

Bismarck frowned slightly as she remembered something. "I thought that they were evacuated though?"

Slowly, Hood shook her head. "Not everyone left the islands, I'm afraid. Some stayed behind despite the best efforts to get them to leave..." Taking a moment, she let out a soft breath. "Recently though, we've been getting some reports. Three Battlecruisers being lead by a what seems to be a French Battleship, but not one that the Marine Nationale have listed, have been hitting the Abyssals in the Channel and Intel states that they're based in the Channel Islands somewhere."

For a few moments, Bismarck frowned before her eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean...?"

Just nodding, Hood let it out. "From the reports... the Battlecruisers are Admiral Class... my sisters... which means that they're also likely Natural Borns."

Reaching over, Bismarck pulled her fellow shipgirl into a hug. "We'll get to them, come hell or high water, Hood."

With a soft sniff, the Battlecruiser nodded. "I know, and thank you." Pulling Bismarck's arm to rest against her chest, Hood gave her a smile. "I know that I can always count on my Teutonic Knight to help me."

Face red, Bismarck looked away even as Hood giggled. "Of course." Meanwhile, in her head she was grumbling. 'Mein Gott, Hood, have you no shame!?'

Meanwhile, behind them, Eugen and Prince of Wales tried not to let their amusement show too much. Glancing back, Hood gave them a wink. "Anyways, we're almost there, Bissy. Hmm? Then we can discuss what you can get me for Christmas."

As she laid her head on Bismarck's shoulder, the German stumbled a bit and gave her a small glare before muttering about crazy Brits and how they have no shame.

 

Harry Leferts

Walking along the well trodden path, Percy looked down at the path that they were walking on and frowned. "Is this dirt or stone?"

Just blinking, Harry looked up at him. "What?"

Percy glanced at him and then down at the road before patting it with his shoe. "The path. Is it dirt or stone? I mean... it kind of looks like dirt, but..." Hearing a snicker, he looked up at Harry and was grinning. "... What's so funny?"

Slowly, Harry shook his head. "Well... I guess that it's kind of both." At seeing the confusion, he glanced to where Fred, George, and Ron were looking at him in confusion. Then he turned back to Percy. "Do you know how much ships can weigh?"

Blinking, Percy frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

In reply, Harry only sighed. "Because of the shipgirls who use this path."

Even as Ron's eyes widened in realization, Fred shrugged. "Okay, but what does the weight of ships have to do with that? I mean, ships weigh a lot, but..."

All that the black haired boy did though was sigh and roll his eyes. "Remember Hamakaze and what happened at the Quidditch match?" Their widening eyes told him that they realized what he meant. "Yeah, shipgirls can choose to weigh as much as a normal human or bring their weight up to what they were as a ship. And considering that most of them were hundreds of tons, all of which would be concentrated in a small area..."

Looking down, Percy gulped. "So... when they walked along here..."

Harry slowly nodded. "Yeah, at first there was not much here for a path. But then the shipgirls on base began to apply their full weight and that compacted the earth. Each time it got down to a certain depth, they added more dirt from construction sites until you got... well..." He tapped a foot against the hardened material. "This pretty much. It's not really rock, but... it's not something that weathers easily. They've done it in other places as well." Ignoring the expressions on their faces as they looked down, Harry suddenly smiled. "And we're here."

With a blink, the Weasleys brought their heads up and stared at the red torii that was the entrance to the shrine. For his part, Ron blinked. "Wow..." Then he frowned and glanced around as something seemed to tickle at him only to see a red fox watching him curiously. "Um... mate? There's foxes here?"

Turning his head, Harry looked at the fox and nodded. "Yeah, there's a couple here at the shrine, no one really bothers them for various reasons."

Confused, George looked over at him. "Why?"

Softly snorting, Harry bent down and let the fox sniff his hand before it gave a yip of happiness. "Because one of the kami, Inari, uses foxes as his messengers as well as kitsune. And he's one of them enshrined here, so..."

Just watching as the fox danced around Harry in happiness, Percy only nodded. "I... see. And you believe in that?"

Frowning, Harry looked at him with a shrug. "Why not? The shipgirls are kami as well, if only of the ships that they represent."

A shudder ran through Percy's body as he suddenly remembered one night back in the war against Voldemort. His father had come home late that night with a horrified expression on his face and his uncles faces were also ashen. Bill and Charlie had been at school at the time and he was the only one of the children that were home and awake. He didn't hear much from the conversation. But it was something about a Death Eater raid against an old sacred grove and that they were trying to get something. And the only other thing he had caught was that a Green Man was involved.

Percy had never asked, but now on thinking back, he couldn't help but glance behind him. "... Maybe that's not a bad way of looking at things."

That got him a look from Harry, but Percy didn't say anything more on the matter. Meanwhile, just before they passed the boundaries, Hoppou tapped Harry on the head and made him look up. "Something wrong, Hoppou?"

Blinking, Hoppou shook her head. "No, but Hoppou want off."

With a bemused expression, Harry crouched down as she clambered off, part of him noting that the fox had taken off. "You know that Haru has told you that it's okay for you to come onto the shrine grounds, Hoppou. Especially as you've turned against the others."

However, Hoppou only shook her head again and looked up at the Shrine. "Hoppou doesn't feel like she's wanted. So Hoppou will wait for Big Brother out here."

Only sighing, Harry shook his head and gave her a pat on the head. "Okay, we shouldn't be long." With that, they passed into the shrine and Harry gestured them over to a basin filled with water. "Anyways, since this is your first visit I should tell you how to handle yourselves here."

Several minutes later though after instructing them, Harry was looking around the shrine when Ron interrupted him. "Uh, mate? Your eyes are doing that glowing thing."

Turning toward him, Harry gave a soft snort. "Yeah... just looking at the shrine from a different perspective now that I got more experience with this sort of thing. I think that it's a bit stronger now." Before Ron could say anything though, a shout caused him to turn. "Natsumi-Chan!" When she came into view though, Harry blinked as he noticed something and his eyes widened before she tackle hugged him. 'Is she...'

When Haru came into view, his eyes widened still more. For her part though, Haru blinked for a moment and then winked with a slight nod. 'Well now... he has improved.'

His arms coming around her automatically in a hug, Harry suddenly had several things click into place and he sighed. Hearing that, Natsumi frowned and looked up at him. "Something wrong, Harry-Chan?"

Chuckling, Harry only shook his head with a small grin. "Nah, just realizing something that I should have a long time ago I think." Before she could ask though, he tightened the hug. 'Something that doesn't really make much of a difference... though I can't tell her I know. If the stories are true, then letting her know means...' Feeling the cold hand of fear on his heart, Harry then shook that train of thought off. "Anyways, I've got so much to tell you about Hogwarts!"

Natsumi just nodded as she held his arm in hers. "Really? I've been wondering." At the looks from the Weasleys, Natsumi shook her head. "My family knows about the magical world even if none of us are... directly involved in it anymore."

All of the Weasleys just nodded as the same thought went through their heads. 'Ah, Squibs.'

 

Harry Leferts

Hands behind her head after giving a wave to the shipgirls "Escorting" them as they exited Philippine waters, Revina glanced over to the side. "What are you so nervous about?"

Clutching a drum of oil close, Supply Depot Princess glanced at Wanko who was only looking around. "J-just a little bit nervous I guess..." She then adjusted her glasses. "I've not had the... best... experiences with shipgirls."

With a snort, Revina barely noticed how her tail now had reindeer antlers on it's head which made the shipgirls boggle. "Pffft! You got nothing to worry about, Depot. These shipgirls are pretty nice and know how to party! Besides, you're with us so they won't hurt you."

Wanko then turned her head slightly and regarded her fellow Installation. "I... wished for you... to meet our... allies. They will not harm... you at all. This way... they recognize... you if they... meet you again."

Slowly, Supply Depot Princess nodded. "Right... that's a pretty good reason I suppose-EEP!"

Her sentence was cut off as Revina suddenly shoved her face close to her own with a shark-like grin. "Besides, if you come with us you get to meet that one shipgirl that's interested you... what was her name again..."

A blue blush on her face, Depot pulled away. "I... I..."

Just nodding, Revina snapped her fingers. "That's right!" Leaning in again, her grin grew. "Ooyodo~ OW!"

Very slowly, Wanko withdrew her hand from where she had given Revina a chop to the head. "That is... enough."

Even as Revina grumbled, Depot glared at her before adjusting her glasses. Though her intimidation factor was rather ruined by the massive blush she had on her face. "I will have you know that I only hold the highest respect for Miss Ooyodo! She is the only one that I have contacted who understands logistics and why they are needed!"

Putting her hands behind her head, Revina looked away. "Yeah, yeah." Suddenly, she grinned. "Hey, you got any cake? Because I could really use some cake! Or ice cream! Or ice cream cake! Ooo! Ooo! How about cake ice cream cake!"

Moments later, the Re-Class blinked as this time, Depot brought one of her massive fists down on the Abyssal's head. "What have I told you about just demanding supplies! You sign requisition forms for them first, and then I will see what I have before you sign the forms for me to release them to you!"

Revina only pouted and grumbled. "But paperwork is just so dull... Can't you just give me the stuff now?" Blinking as the fist came down on her head, Revina only said one word in reply. "Ow..."

Behind Depot, a sigh could be heard before a quiet voice sounded. "Sister..."

Turning her head, Wanko regarded the Re-Class that was also accompanying them. "Thank you for accompanying us, Regina."

In reply, the Re-Class gave an eep and then pulled her tail close, patting it's head. "I-i-it's okay, m-ma'am. You did ask for m-me to guard Supply Depot Pr-Princess... A-and I-I will..."

Pulling away from where her and Supply Depot Princess were pulling at each other's faces, Revina blinked. "Ah, come on, Regina! Stand back straight! You're a Re-Class and we're the biggest, baddest Abyssals afloat! We're all awesome!"

With a nod, Supply Depot Princess looked to her "Escort" and nodded. "You are very powerful. You nearly killed Light Cruiser Princess that one time before she fled."

At all the attention on her, Regina pulled her scarf up a bit more to try and hide her blush. "O-oh... b-but she was v-very scary..." Giving a sniff, she blinked away some tears. "V-very scary s-so I told h-her to g-g-go away..." Then Regina shifted a bit and bit her lip. "B-but shi-shipgirls are also s-s-scary... I hope that they'll be nice..."

Suddenly, Revina pulled her into a hug and made her eep before the more energetic Re began to regale her sister with tales of Yokosuka. Meanwhile, Wanko only shook her head and looked up at the sky. 'I wonder... what... Hoppou will... get me for... Christmas... when we... visit...'

 

Harry Leferts

Watching Haru and the Weasleys in the corner of the shrine that they were standing in, Harry only shook his head in amusement. "Well... she certainly seems to be pushing the charms onto them."

Softly snorting, Natsumi shook her head, her arm still around Harry's. "The charms are one of the ways that the shrine generates income for it's upkeep you know."

Just chuckling, Harry turned toward her with a grin on his face. "Want to know the really hilarious part?" Getting a shake of the head, he continued on. "I am willing to bet that she will sell some to at least Percy as he's doing his OWLs this year."

Blinking, Natsumi only had one thing to say to that. "Lewd."

It took a moment, but then the eleven year old wizard snorted and shook his head. "Not like that. They're some kind of test for Fifth Years. Ordinary Wizarding Levels... pretty much all the Fifth Years are freaking out over them."

That caused Natsumi to raise an eyebrow in askance at. "Really?"

Harry nodded as he smiled. "I think that they're kind of like entrance exams as they sort out what NEWT level courses you can continue in." At her look, he shook his head. "NEWTs are a test that the Seventh Years have at the end of the year. It stands for 'Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests'. And since both of them from what I read have a written and then a practical test..."

Wincing, Natsumi let out a hiss. "Yeah... I can kind of see how that might be a problem..." Then she gave a smirk. "I wonder if any others at your school would be interested..." Seeing Harry roll his eyes, Natsumi gave him a punch to the arm. "Hey, its a thought."

Once more rolling his eyes, Harry snorted. "Sure." Several moments passed before he sighed and glanced at her. "Um... Natsumi-Chan?"

At the odd tone in Harry's voice, Natsumi looked up to see him shuffle a bit. "Something wrong, Harry-Chan?"

What he did and said next though caught her off guard as he pulled her into a hug. "I really missed you..."

For a moment, Natsumi was frozen before she relaxed and hugged him back even as she felt herself blush. "I missed you a lot too."

Neither of them noticed Haru looking at them with a slight smile on her face before she turned toward the Weasleys. "Now then... how about I show you the koi ponds we have on the shrine grounds. They're not as magnificent as during the summer months, but they are still rather peaceful..."

Slightly confused, Ron blinked. "Koi? You mean those big goldfish?"

Chuckling, Haru began to subtlety guide towards the ponds and out of sight of both Harry and Natsumi. "Well, that is one way of putting them I suppose. But they really are interesting fish and rather nice to watch swim around..." Before she passed out of sight and around a building, Haru glanced back to see Natsumi leaning into Harry before nodding. 'I'll just give you two a little time alone... for once.'

Within moments they were out of sight and hearing range, though Haru did decide to tease her niece later on. Meanwhile, Natsumi just sighed as she enjoyed the hug before she softly whispered with a soft sniffle. "I was so scared when I heard that someone tried to kill you and... and I wasn't there to help."

Just blinking, Harry sighed as he rubbed the kitsune's back. "Hey, I'm still here you know and... well... I don't know what you could have done anyways."

Unseen by him, Natsumi's eyes flashed amber and then it was gone. 'Oh, I can think of a few things...'

Meanwhile, Harry just continued to rub her back. "Anyways, it all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Giving him something between a chuckle and a sniffle, Natsumi nodded. "I guess. Just... be more careful." She then tilted her head back. "I want you to be around for a long time, you hear me, Harry-Chan? A very long time."

Confused somewhat, Harry just nodded. "I'll try." Then he suddenly chuckled. "Besides, if Hogwarts: A History is right then I might be around for a very long time."

That caused Natsumi to blink and look up at him. "What do you mean?"

Harry glanced around then leaned down to whisper into her ear. "One of the former Headmasters is still alive as of the last Printing which was two years ago... and he was born in the 1600s."

It took a moment to sink in, but when it did the girl's eyes widened. "Wait, that means that..."

Slowly Harry nodded. "Yup! I might be around for a few hundred years." Then he blinked as she tightened the hug with a large smile on her face. '... Okay?'

Both of them just spent a few minutes like that before Natsumi pulled back. "Anyways... you better make it up to me for scaring me so much when I heard about it!" At his look, she smirked and tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Like, say... telling me what you got me for Christmas?"

A grin spread across Harry's face as he poked her in the side. "Nope! No can do, Natsumi-Chan.

With a soft squeal, Natsumi jerked away from the offending appendage and glared at Harry with her cheeks puffed out. "Mou! Stop being so mean, Harry-Chan!"

In reply, the eleven year old wizard only snickered in amusement at her. "Sorry."

Eyes narrowing, Natsumi huffed a bit. "No you're not."

Taking a moment, Harry looked up at the sky as if deep in thought before nodding. "Yup, not sorry at all." Not even a second later, Natsumi punched him again in the arm with him giving a theatrical wince. "Ow... that hurt, Natsumi-Chan."

All that Natsumi did though was wag a finger at him. "Then stop being so mean!"

Softly snickering, Harry slowly nodded. "Okay." Looking around, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Would it help if I told you what I got for Haru-San?"

For a beat, there was silence before the kitsune looked up at him with sparkly eyes at the idea of knowing something her aunt did not. If she was not disguised, her tail would have been wagging. "Yes. Please."

With another look around, Harry nodded. "I got her some calligraphy brushes."

That caused Natsumi to blink in some confusion before she slowly nodded. "Well, Haru-Oba-Chan might like tha-"

And then her friend continued and her thoughts froze. "With the brushes made of unicorn hair." Utter silence met him and he looked down to see Natsumi staring up at him with an open mouth. "Um... Natsumi-Chan?"

Slowly, Natsumi closed her mouth and then swallowed. "Harry-Chan... you got Haru-Oba-Chan calligraphy brushes..." Harry slowly nodded. "That use unicorn hair for the brushes..."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry nodded. "Yes?"

Taking a deep breath, Natsumi let it out. "Unicorn hair... for a calligraphy brush..."

Once more, Harry nodded as he became more confused at how she was acting. "Yeah...?"

Almost a minute passed as Natsumi stared at him and then closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Only you, Harry-Chan... only you."

Utterly confused, Harry scratched his head. "Okay..." Blinking, he frowned. 'I wonder what that was all about?' Then another thought struck the boy and Harry tilted his head to the side. '... I wonder how she'll react to me having gotten her some paintbrushes using unicorn hair? I mean, Hagrid did have a lot that were not suitable for wands that he let me use...'

Mutters meanwhile escaped from Natsumi before she pulled away from the hug entirely and began to pull Harry along. "Anyways, we should probably go and catch up with Haru-Oba-Chan and get your friends."

The only thing that Harry did was let himself be dragged along as he shook his head in amusement.

 

Harry Leferts

As they left the grounds of the shrine, Haru gave a wave to them as they waved back. Though a moment later she had to bite back laughter as Hoppou appeared from nowhere. Like a four limbed octopus, the small Abyssal climbed up her brother until she was once more perched on his shoulders, grunts escaping from Harry due to the sudden weight. Beside him, Natsumi just looked up at Hoppou in disbelief. And then Haru did laugh as Hoppou looked down at her neice and stuck out her tongue. Shaking her head, Haru walked back into the shrine though she paused for a moment.

With a frown on her face she looked first in one direction.

Then the kitsune looked in another.

Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she began to giggle and sat down before pulling out a tablet. Within moments she was logged onto her account for Touken Ranbu with a grin. "Time for some grinding before the next event..."

Meanwhile, Natsumi paused and glanced back in the direction of the shrine with a frown on her face. 'Why do I feel like I am missing a moment of teasing for Oba-Chan...?' Then she shook it off as she turned and continued walking with the group. 'Whatever, probably just my imagination.' Natsumi then turned toward Harry with a raised eyebrow. "So... where to next?"

Frowning, Harry looked up at the winter sky. "Well... today I was thinking of showing them around the base so that they know where they can go and where they can't." He then gave the Weasley Twins a look. "And I mean it. This is a military base and if they catch you somewhere you're not supposed to be..."

Before his brothers could say anything, Ron nodded. "Yeah, what did Warspite say? Something like shoot first and ask questions later?"

The Twins paled slightly at that before they nodded. "We won't."

Just shaking his head, Harry turned toward Natsumi. "So... anything of importance happen while I was gone?"

Slowly, Natsumi shook her head. "Not too much really. Though there was a recent incident where South Dakota and Akashi got together..."

Percy boggled at her as she told the story of the two ship's misadventure in disbelief. 'That... actually happened?' One look at Harry nodding along told him all that he really needed to know in regards to that. '... Right.'

It was then that Natsumi snapped her fingers with a sheepish grin. "Right, almost forgot to mention... you're not the only one who is going to have vistors over the holidays."

Eyes widening, Harry turned his full attention onto Natsumi. "Really? So who are you going to have over?"

Blushing slightly, Natsumi rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually? My Kaa-San, Tou-San, as well as my other siblings are going to be coming over to stay for Christmas."

There was a frown on Harry's face as he thought it over. "Huh... but do you have enough room for them in your place? I mean... Haru's house isn't that big after all you know."

A chuckle escaped from Natsumi as she shook her head. "It's actually plenty big enough for my family. And we've... had smaller places that we've stayed in before, so it's really not that bad." Shrugging, she gave Harry a wink. "So don't worry about us, okay?"
Even though he wasn't sure, Harry slowly nodded. "Okay..."

However, when he turned he missed the slightly nervous expression on Natsumi's face as she scratched her cheek. 'Especially as Onii-San wants to meet you personally...'
______________________________________________________________________________
Over the past few hours, Harry had shown the Weasleys around the base and was now returning toward the Battleship Dorms as Ron looked at him. "Uh, mate? Why are we heading back?"

Glancing at them, Harry gave the four a smile that for some odd reason caused them all to shiver. "You'll see...~"

Meanwhile, on his shoulders, Hoppou threw her hands into the air. "It's nearly three bong, Big Brother!"

All that Harry did was not at that with a slight smile on his face. Yup, nearly three bong."

Blinking, Fred glanced toward George who shrugged before turning to Harry. "You mean... three o' clock?" At Harry's nod, he frowned. "Uh, why? Does something happen at three?"

With a hum, Harry came to a stop and nodded. "Dess!"

Just adjusting his glasses, Percy frowned. "Yes?"

However, Harry shook his head. "No, dess."

Utterly lost, Percy glanced toward Ron who had a wide eyed expression. "Wait, what happens?"

All that Harry did though was raise one hand into the air and began to count down as Natsumi gave a slight bow to them. "I shall pray to the kami for your souls."

Meanwhile, Harry ticked off on his fingers. "Three... two... one... THREE BONG!"

Before any of the Weasleys could say anything, there were several white blurs and then the world spun wildly around them in ways that it really shouldn't. in fact, even Percy, who had travelled by Portkey many times couldn't make much sense. Then it stopped and he found himself sitting in a chair at a table piled high with various treats and scones. Off to one side was a smiling Rose holding a tea pot while a brown haired woman in robes similar to Haru's sat at the end of the table. "Thank you accepting our invitation to our tea party, dess."

George slowly raised a finger. "Um... what invitation?"

A glasses wearing woman with similar robes to the first held out two envelopes which Fred and George slowly opened. Though they noted that two others were giving similar ones to Ron and Percy... as well as how Harry was wearing the oddest top hat they had ever seen. Then opening it, Fred began to read. "'You are cordily invited to a tea party at three o'clock hosted by Kongou and her sisters."

Once more, George only had one response to that. "... What?"

However, Rose just smiled. "Thank you for coming."

Suddenly, the first woman stood up and pumped her fist. "Ah! How rude of us!" She then winked and twirled around as an image of Big ben at night rose up behind her. "I'm the name sship of the Kongou class... Born in England but raised in Japan" An silhouette of a Battleship appeared behind her as she went into a pose. "I'm Kongou, Dess!"

The silhouette then fired off it's cannons. before the smoke even cleared, one of the two short haired women thrust out a victory sign with a shipyard behind her. "Second ship of the Kongou Class, i won't lose in either love or war..." Then the shipyard was replaced by another ship's silhouette. "I'm Hiei!"

Yet again, it fired off it's cannons with her last words before she was replaced by the silver haired woman with a different shipyard behind her. "I'm the third ship of the Kongou Class." She then saluted and leapt backwards into a pose. "Haruna here, I'll give it my best."

After yet another ship shilouette fired off it's cannons and was replaced, a final shipyard appeared as the glasses wearing woman started to go into a pose. "Fourth ship of the Kongou Class!" She then went into a pose with one hand on her glasses as a silhouette appeared behind her. "I'm Kirishima, the brains of the fleet!"

In one voice, all four went into a pose. "WE ARE THE FOUR KONGOU SISTERS!"

Behind them, Kongou thrust out one hand before cannons fired off colored smoke. "DESS!"

For several moments there was silence as the Weasleys just stared with Percy's glasses slipping down his nose. Meanwhile, Harry just smiled and Natsumi was trying not to laugh at the expressions on the four British wizards' faces. Then Harry turned to Rose with a blink. "Hmm... wait, Rose weren't you also working on something?"

Said tsukumogami blinked and then straightened. "A-ah, yes! One moment..." Then she softly smiled and twirled as a image of a silver smithy appeared behind her. "Forged in England, but raised on the trains..." She then stopped and tilted her head to the side before giving a small bow as a silhouette of a tea pot appeared behind her. "I'm Rose Potter."

Then said tea pot sprayed out a burst of steam that sounded like a train's whistle and Natsumi blinked. "Huh..."

Rose then gave an unsure smile as she looked at Haruna while Harry clapped his hands. "Did... did I do that right?"

All Haruna did was clap her hands and smile as she nodded. "Yes! Rose-Chan did that very well! Haruna liked it very much."

Nodding as she adjusted her glasses, Kirishima smiled. "Very good, you've learned well."

Meanwhile, Hiei pumped her fists and Kongou nodded as she held a tea cup in her hand. Then they all turned as they heard a thump and blinked at the sight of Percy's head laying on the table. unseen by them was the expression on Percy's face as the same thought ran through all the Weasleys' minds.

'What in the bloody hell just happened...?!'

 

Harry Leferts

Blinking, Harry poked Percy and got no response from him. With a frown, he just shrugged. "I got no idea what's wrong with him."

At the same time, the Twins were just staring before they turned to each other and silently communicated the same thought. 'And here we were thinking that nothing interesting was going to happen at all...'

Ron, meanwhile, had shaken off his shock and then sighed before shaking his head. 'Warspite had warned me about other shipgirls, I guess...'

He was about to say something at that point when Kongou stood up and leapt to her feet and gave a nod. "Ah! I forgot Teitoku!"

With that, she leapt out of the window before Harry turned toward Rose with a smile and nodded at her and the remaining Kongou sisters. "You know, I did miss our tea time while I was at the castle."

Just softly smiling, Haruna nodded. "Haruna agrees and is very happy that Harry-Chan is back with us for a little while." She then held out a plate. "Gingerbread scones?"

Licking his lips, Harry politely took two and then sat back as Haruna offered some to Ron and his brothers as Rose brought over the tea pot. "How much tea would you like, Master?"

Softly chuckling, the eleven year old winked at her. "Just half a cup will do."

Percy was just getting up when he glanced to Harry and had to do a double take as said boy had a tea cup that was literally half of one in his hand. He could even see the inside... and then Percy realized that there was a piece of glass there making it appear as if there was nothing. "... What?"

While he sipped some, Harry turned and blinked at Percy. "Something the matter?"

It was then that Percy realized that Harry's top hat had on a size ticket that stated it was '3/4' in size which made him frown. "It's... nothing." Then he furrowed his eyebrows and took a scone offered by Haruna. 'Why does this remind me of something... but what?'

Shaking it off, he turned into the various conversations happening around the table as they waited for Kongou to return with... whatever a 'Teitoku' was. Kirishima adjusted her glasses as she regarded Ron. "So, according to Harry-Chan you have a rat as a pet?"

Quickly swallowing the food in his mouth, Ron gave a nod. "Yeah, Scabbers. He was Percy's originally, but when he became a Prefect, Mum and Dad got him and owl and he passed on Scabbers to me. But I left him back at Hogwarts because, well... I didn't think that bringing him to Japan would be good when he could be taken care of back there."

Listening in, Hiei frowned. "Aren't you worried about him? And what do you mean being taken care of?"

With a frown on his face, Ron shook his head. "Pets are taken care of at Hogwarts by... house elves, right, Percy?"

Now with them focused on him, Percy nodded though he internally cursed his younger brother. "That's right. Various students travel light during the winter hols so they leave their pets at Hogwarts and the House Elves take care of them."

Tapping her chin in thought, Kirishima frowned. "Huh, I see... these House Elves sound rather interesting. Harry-Chan did say that they were bound to Hogwarts with Haru explaining that they bind themselves to families and places... Do you see them often?"

For a moment, Percy frowned as he gathered his thoughts and then shook his head. "Not all that often really. Most House Elves pride themselves on doing their work and take it as a mark of skill to do so without their masters ever seeing them do work, but doing it so that it's known that it was done." Shifting a bit in his chair, he continued. "Though around Hogwarts you do see a lot of magical creatures thanks to both the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest."

Looking over, Ron nodded. "Yeah... hey, do you have any magical creatures living around here?"

Both Kongou sisters shared a look before they considered the question with Kirishima slowly shaking her head. "No, I don't see many magical creatures. Hiei? Haruna? Have you?"

Hiei shook her head and crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "Besides the odd thing out at sea? Nah."

Where she was sitting next to Rose, Haruna shook her head. "Haruna hasn't seen any."

At the same time, Rose shook her head though they all turned when Natsumi scoffed. "And you won't see any for the most part. Not in Japan anyways."

Interested, Percy leaned forward a bit. "Why is that now?"

Slowly, Natsumi raised an eyebrow. "... Seriously? You don't know why?"

With a shrug, Fred put down his tea cup. "We don't really cover Japan in lessons, so..."

Just rubbing the side of her head, Natsumi. "Long story short, Japan didn't pay much more then lip service to the Statute until the 1850s when the Japanese self-imposed isolation came down. Because of that, the ICW cracked down hard on the Japanese magical community. Most magical creatures were placed into reserves, usually forcibly with the largest being located in Aokigahara. There was a second period of crackdown during the occupation after the war. To put it simply? Most magical creatures and beings not in those places... will go out of their way to hide from wizards and witches."

Eyes wide, Percy frowned and shared a look with his equally surprised brothers. 'I... never knew that it was like that here...'

Meanwhile, Natsumi continued her explanation. "Needless to say, a lot of yokai loath wizards and witches, especially foreign ones and the ICW workers especially. So it's best that you don't meet with any."

All the Weasleys did was nod as they thought it over. Suddenly, the door opened and Kongou appeared with Goto held in a bridal carry. "And here we are, Dess!"

Looking at the four red heads staring at him, Goto just waved. "Hello."

Before it could get too far though, the door slammed open and an annoyed Ooyodo came in with a growl. "What do you think that you are doing, Kongou!?"

The Battleship just smiled as she sat down in Goto's lap and brought a cup of tea to her lips. "Just taking a break with Tei-to-ku~"

Narrowing her eyes, Ooyodo continued to walk forward. "Goto has a lot of paperwork to complete, Kongou. And it needs to be done as soon as possible."

Just wincing, Goto took a tea cup gratefully and tried to ignore the best as possible how Kongou was sitting in his lap....

Which was not helped by how she wiggled around a little bit.

A glance to the side showed Harry grinning at him. 'Cheeky little bastard.'

Ooyodo though just glared at Kongou from a few inches away. "Goto has work to do, Kongou. He does not have the time to spare handling your little 'tea time'. Especially with how close Christmas is!"

Sipping his tea, Goto looked up with a hopeful look on his face. "Well... I have been working since early this morning, including through lunch... a little break is not out of order."

Triumphant, Kongou smiled as she sipped her tea. However, the Cruiser was not to be stopped as she narrowed her eyes. "You still have a bunch of forms to sign and-" A throat clearing caused her to turn to see Rose standing there with an odd smile. "What?"

With Ooyodo's glare slipping off her like water off a duck's back, Rose shook her head. "It is tea time, which means that it is courtesy time."

Frowning, Ooyodo turned back to Goto. "Yes, yes, but-"

Suddenly, there was a grip on her shoulder and she was turned back around to see Rose seemingly looming over her. The same smile on the tsukumogami's face, but there was something else there that sent shivers down everyone's back. "Tea time is courtesy time..." It was roughly a minute later that Ooyodo was seated beside Goto as Rose held out a tea pot. "Tea?"

Glancing at her, Ooyodo only nodded. "Um, yes, thank you."

On Rose's face was a bright smile as she poured a tea. Then she turned toward Percy who was frozen and staring at her with wide eyes. "Oh! I would like you to meet Percy Weasley. Apparently, from the letters that I read from Master, he's what's known as a Prefect and is hoping for a job in government."

Perking up a bit, Ooyodo looked over at him. "Really?"

Still unsure of being so close to Rose after what just happened, Percy gave a nod. "Uh... yes, right. Once I'm out of school I am hoping for an Adminstration position with my grades..." Remembering what Ron once told him about how Warspite mentioned about procurement, he gave a nod. "It's a lot of paperwork, but I enjoy that sort of thing. You wouldn't happen to have any bits of advice, would you?"

Now really interested, and happy for the distraction, Ooyodo nodded. "I've got a few things that I can pass on..."

At the same time, Natsumi shivered a bit. "That... was scary."

Beside her, Harry just nodded though he noticed that Haruna was looking at Rose with sparkles in her eyes and a slight blush. 'Wonder what that is all about...'
_________________________________________________________________________
For most men out there, sharing a hot tub with seventeen women, fifteen of them being rather attractive girls in their late teens, would have been heaven. It was in a sense to Daniel Granger, but because it meant that all sixteen of his daughters, only one of whom was his biologically, were safe. Pausing as he sipped his drink, Dan blinked. 'Now isn't that an odd thought... I have sixteen daughters...' A glance to the side though where he could see his wife talking with one of the Cruisers they had adopted though only made him smile. 'Then again, i wouldn't trade this for the world.'

On the opposite side from Helen, Hermione looked up at her father. "Something wrong, dad?"

All he did though was chuckle and pull her into a one armed hug. "Just thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family."

The flustered expression on Hermione's face made him laugh before Cleopatra looked up from where she was playing with some bubbles. "Really? Huh... But we're even luckier because we got the best Dadboat in the whole Royal Navy!"

Ducking under the arms that Cleo threw into the air, Dido glared at her. "Enough of that!"

Just blinking, Cleo tilted her head to the side. "What?"

Snickering, Phoebe shook her head. "Don't mind sis, she's just angry that she couldn't ski straight if her life depended on it."

With a soft growl, Dido glared at her sister. "Shut up."

Eyes wide, Cleo turned toward Hermione with a horrified expression. "It doesn't right? I mean, we're not going to have to out ski snow sharks, right?"

It would have been hilarious from the view of any outsider as every conversation ceased and Helen turned towards Cleo. "... Snow sharks?"

Arms crossed against her chest, Cleo nodded. "Yeah! I saw them on a movie last night."

The sound of steel hitting steel could be heard as Bellona facepalmed. "Who the heck let Cleo watch SyFy again...?"

Even as various members sighed, Cleo just blinked. "What?"

Wanting to get off the subject, and not wanting anyone to know that it was her watching said movie the night before, Dido turned towards Phoebe. "Besides, not like you were much better. You were falling just as much as I was!"

Humming with a smile, Phoebe nodded. "Oh yes... but I was getting helped up by our ski instructor. Mmm..."

Face red, and not from the water, Scyla sank until the water was touching her chin. "Um... he was really nice... And he has a nice accent..."

Dan just pinched his nose and let out a sigh at the nods and dreamy looks on a number of his adopted daughters' faces. 'I am too damn young for this...'

Meanwhile, Helen grinned. "He was really nice, wasn't he girls?" Hearing the groan from her husband, she elbowed him in the side. "That's enough, Daniel."

Grumbling, the only male there shook his head. Then with a frown on her face, Spartan grunted a little. "It's just not that fair. Skiing is pretty hard."

From where she was, Hermione shrugged. "Well... it's not easy to learn..."

Good naturedly huffing, Black Prince raised her glass to her fellow Dido class. "You do make it look so easy though."

Hermione was about to answer when the waters in the middle of the tub burst upwards revealing Upholder there. "HUZZAH! BUT OF COURSE OUR LOVELY LADY OF TROY WOULD MAKE IT SO! SUCH GRACE AND SKILL SHE HAS WITHIN HER DIVINE BEING IS-URK!"

Quickly having gotten over her shock, Hermione reacted as per expected...

And promptly began to choke Upholder as she shook her. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Then she shoved Upholder under the water and held her there until she felt a tap on the shoulder and saw Dido there. "What?"

Coughing into her hand, Dido had an odd look on her face. "Uh, sis...? Hermione? She's a Submarine... holding her under isn't going to do anything to her."

It took a few moments for that to filter into Hermione's mind before she just blinked. "Oh..."

Then they noticed the odd look on Hermione's face and her mother sighed. "Let me guess... you accidentally let her go?" At the blush, she raised her eyebrow and looked at the other Cruisers. "Right... find her if you would so that I can have a little chat with her."

Several minutes later though. Cleo was scratching her head as they all looked around the hot tub. They had looked and even held each others hands as they walked towards the center, and yet there was no sign of the Submarine. "Where did she go?"

Just as Pheobe was about to comment, they heard a shout. "HUZZAH!" Turning, they saw Upholder there on the banister doing a bow. "I AM MOST SORRY, BUT I, YOUR FAITHFUL KNIGHT MUST AWAY! BUT NEXT TIME, I SHALL TAKE MY DRINK SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED! I NOW BID OUR LOVELY AND MOST GENEROUS LADY OF TROY, ADIEU!" Then Upholder grabbed a rope and swung past them and over the other banister. As one, the Cruisers all rushed there to see her land on the back of a snowmobile being driven by another Submarine. "AWAY, TALLY-HO!"

With a nod, the Subgirl revved the snowmobile as Upholder brought out two halves to a coconut and began to clap them together as they sped up. On the balcony, Black Prince pointed at them as they disappeared over a hill. "... How did they get a snowmobile there without us hearing them?"

Dido meanwhile just looked up. "I'm wondering what that rope was attached to."

And then Dan sighed and turned as he began to walk away. "And I'm wondering if we have anything strong enough for this."

Each of the Cruisers and Helen thought for a moment and then nodded as they followed.

 

Harry Leferts

The first sign that Yonehara had that something was up was when a pair of hands clasped over his eyes as a voice whispered in his ears. "Yo-ne-ha-ra-Kun... guess who...?"

With a hum, he tilted his head to the side. "Hmm... Rose Tyler?"

For several moments there was silence before the hands pulled away to reveal a very confused Ashigara who was looking at her boyfriend in confusion. "Who?" Laughing, Yonehara couldn't help himself as the Heavy Cruiser became even more confused at what was so funny. "Yonehara?"

Shaking his head, he grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. "It's nothing, just a reference to a television show."

After a few seconds of confusion, Ashigara just shook it off and snuggled in. "Whatever."

Just raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her, Yonehara snorted. "Comfy?"

Tapping her chin, Ashigara grinned up at him. "Well, I could use something else, if you catch my drift..."

Yonehara's lips twitched before he began to pat her on the head before he looked up at a exasperated voice. "Captain, must you?"

At her own desk, his own Secretary Shipgirl who was dressed in what looked like clothing of a merchant from the 1930s. Though said clothes strained at the buttons to contain what was inside of them. "Oh, relax, Aka. Besides, unlike Goto I got most of my work done."

Simply smiling, Ashigara waved to the Armed Merchant Cruiser. "Hey, Aka."

With a sigh, Aka, or Akagi Maru, groaned and banged her head onto the table. "I wish that I could get another name..."

Captain Yonehara shared an amused look with Ashigara before they shook their head at the antics of the converted shipgirl. It had surprised Yonehara when Goto had given him command of a group of shipgirls to help with the convoys between the various islands of Japan. But he was rather glad that his ships now had protection of their own even if said shipgirls were considered to be auxiliaries compared to the others.

Even they were able to drive off any hostile Abyssals that got past the various other shipgirl patrols.

Leaning his chin against his fist, Yonehara considered the shipgirl across from him with a bemused air. "Besides, we got most of the work cleared so we all got Christmas off. The last of the convoys are already docking last I checked."

Thoughtful, Aka turned toward the large white board which was plastered with various names of shipgirls for the Logistics Branch and slowly nodded as she checked the times. "Huh... you're right."

Ashigara smiled at the shipgirl who had an odd expression on her face. "You're welcome to come over on Christmas by the way."

Surprised, Akagi Maru whipped her head around and stared at the Heavy Cruiser. Though she did have reason to stare as when they had first met, Ashigara had been slightly cold towards her. That had only lasted though until the two of them had cleared the air and Aka had told her that she was not interested in the least in the Heavy Cruiser's boyfriend. Slowly, Aka blinked. "Really?"

Glancing up at Yonehara, Ashigara got a nod from him before chuckling. "I know how it feels when... you don't have your sisters around. Besides, no one should be alone on Christmas."

Quickly, Aka nodded as she blinked rapidly to clear some blurriness in her eyes. "Th-thank you, I think that I would like that very much."

However, the smile on Ashigara's face turned to one of surprise as she eeped and then turned to give a unrepentant Yonehara a flustered look. All the Captain did though was raise an eyebrow as he smirked at her. "Now, shouldn't someone be getting ready for our date?"

Eyes wide, Ashigara leapt up and nodded. "Right! I'll see you in a half hour, don't be late!"

With that she rushed off and Yonehara only shook his head. After a few minutes, he turned toward Akagi Maru who was looking at him amused. "What?"

She only snorted before she said anything. "Just that you don't have any shame... then again, neither does she."

That only got her a smirk before Yonehara turned serious. "Speaking of... did you pick it up?"

Aka rolled her eyes but reached into a pocket and pulled out a ring case which she popped open to reveal a ring there. "Surprised that you had me pick up an engagement ring for you. Not that I really minded, but still."

Sighing, Yonehara shook his head. "It's not an engagement ring, it's a Promise Ring. I can at least give her that much for putting up with me for the past few years."

If anything though, that caused Aka to raise an eyebrow even further. "Why a Promise Ring and not an Engagement one?"

His hands supporting his chin, Yonehara hummed. "I would like to give her an Engagement Ring, and I know that Goto would love to give Kongou one... but we're still trying to figure out if we're even allowed to give them that." He then nodded at the ring case. "We're at least allowed to give them a Promise Ring though, that much we've found out."

Surprised, Aka looked at him with wide eyes. "Wait... Goto is going to give Kongou a Promise Ring?"

Yonehara snorted. "Yeah, the bastard is copying me. But at least he won't be giving it to her on Christmas, he's given me that much."

For almost a minute, she just stared at him and then shook her head before glancing at the clock. "Anyways, you should probably be heading out if you're going to make it for your date."

Blinking, Yonehara looked at the clock and his eyes went wide. "SHIT! Hold onto that for me, will you? I can't let Ashigara find it!"

All that Aka did was nod and close the ring case with a snap before placing it back into her pocket, confidant that it was now safely in her onboard safe. Once he was gone though, she chuckled to herself as she turned back to the last bit of paperwork. "I almost feel sorry for those two... they'll need hip reinforcements by the time Kongou and Ashigara are done."

 

Harry Leferts

Slowly moving across the seafloor on her way to Yokosuka, Maruyu paused and looked up above her. Above the waves, the Moon shone brightly down onto the ocean. But it wasn't that which had caught Maruyu's interest despite the beauty.
It was the dark shape that disturbed the surface as it moved across it a distance behind her at a slow speed.

To most others, it looked like a slightly damaged ship and Maruyu could see the small amount of oil that was leaking from the medium container ship. But the small Submarine was not most. Kicking off the bottom, Maruyu rose upwards at a very slow pace, her eyes trained onto the stern of the ship.

Searching...

Looking...

At the same time she listened carefully to the ship's engines as she narrowed her eyes. It came closer and closer, not knowing that she was there below. Every sense was trained on the ship as internally her crew counted downwards. Then she could see the phosperence of the water being disturbed that she sat it.

Two spine-like structures that entended into the water where the propellers once were. Like the metal props, they pushed the hull through the water. A slightly bloodthirsty grin crossed the normally smiling Subgirl's face. Let the other Subgirls hunt their warships and get their kills... Maruyu had her own area of expertise besides being a messanger and delivering things from one base to another.

Unnoticed by the thing, Maruyu put on some extra speed and moved on a diagonal course to it, bringing her both ahead of the "Limping" vessel and to the side. And then she gently surfaced without a sound and stood on the water like other shipgirls. What was not like other shipgirls was how she pulled an odd object out of her hull. It looked like an oversized rocket launcher as she took aim with it over one shoulder, tiny green lights telling her that it was working.

Drops of water fell from her hair as the ship came closer and closer. Then she grinned before pressing the botton and there was a whoosh of flame as a Hellfire leapt out of the tube and rapidly closed the distance between her and the ship. By the time it impacted the stern and lit the area with flames, Maruyu had already stored the launcher and was diving.

Which was a good thing as an unholy screech echoed through the night and the ship's hull seemed to break apart revealing what looked like a demonic hermit crab. As chunks of it's former shell broke away, small, Abyssal guns could be seen in various places on the creature's body. Guns that already were firing where Maruyu had been less then a minute before.

Under the water, Maruyu easily dodged the debris as she noted that the Abyssal Armed Merchant Ship had come to a standstill, it's propelling legs having been mangled. It didn't take the small Subgirl very long to get some distance away as the Abyssal continued to fire on where it believed a surface ship was. Rising up out of the water, Maruyu went back into a crouch and pulled out another rocket launcher and took aim.

And this time, she aimed for one of the guns flashing before firing.

Streaking across the water, the missile impacted the Abyssal on it's turret and detonated, also causing the ammunition there to detonate which blew a massive chunk off. Once more, it turned and began to fire on where Maruyu had been only for her to submerge. Secondary explosions rocked the dying Abyssal as Maruyu snuck up behind and surfaced before taking aim with her normal guns.

Minutes later it was all over as the Abyssal's corpse sank beneath the waves and Maruyu let out a sigh of relief before smiling. 'Gotcha.' Radioing it, and what she knew of the hull it had been wearing as a disguise along with a name, Maruyu submerged and continued on her way toward Yokosuka. Sure, compared to the other Subgirls, she didn't have any real firepower for herself. That said, all that meant was that she had to get creative. And Akashi had taken it as something of a challange to help.

Which meant that while the other Subs hunted warships, Maruyu made sure to sink any of the smaler Abyssal boats and what they used as Armed Merchant vessels and Q-Ships. Both of which she had become very good at doing. Entering the harbour a few hours later, Maruyu was unsurprised to receive information that the hull the Abyssal had been using was that of a cargo vessel reported sunk months earlier. Something that caused shudders to run down her back and had horrified the other shipgirls the first time it had happened.

However, Maruyu got a pleasant surprise upon surfacing in the Sub pens to find Harry there waiting. "Harry-Chan?"

Expression lighting up, Harry grinned down at the small Subgirl. "Maruyu-Chan!"

Laughing, Maruyu practically leapt up the ladder and then ran over to pull Harry into a hug, which he returned. Neither of them cared that she was somewhat wet still from the water as they embraced. Looking over Harry's shoulder, Maruyu could see Iku there. The larger Subgirl just winked and gave her a thumbs up, which Maruyu returned with a smile. Then she pulled away some and looked Harry over. "I didn't know that you were going to be here..." Suddenly realzing how that sounded, she blushed some. "Not that I mind..."

In reply, Harry only shrugged with a smile. "Well, I asked Iku-Chan if I could sleep over tonight and she said yes."

A look at Iku had the Subgirl nod with a grin on her face which caused Maruyu to smile. "That's great!" Then her smile faded a little bit at the odd look on Harry's face. "Um... is something wrong, Harry-Chan?"

Blinking, Harry shook his head. "It's nothing, I just thought that I saw something." Before Maruyu could ask though, Harry grabbed her hand and began to drag her along. "Anyways, I was just about to make us a Christmas cake."

Eyes wide, Maruyu let him pull her past Iku. "Really?"

Just nodding, Harry tried to put out of his mind what he had seen, but still internally frowned. 'Was... Maruyu-Chan glowing just now?'
__________________________________________________________________________
Her hands in her pockets, Tenryuu glanced around the crowded train car with a bored expression on her face. As per usual when they left the base, the Light Cruiser was in her normal civilian clothing. Not even a moment later, she turned and regarded the four red heads beside her as they were jostled by the group of people. "Now then, I know how much you must hate having an escort, but please stay close. Akihabara is too easy to get lost in."

A smile on her face, Tatsuta nodded. "That's right. Though you do all know how to use the phones that were provided to you just in case you become separated, right?"

Each of the Weasleys nodded, though they did shiver a bit. Meanwhile, Harry was talking something over with Hibiki, who nodded every once in a while. Tenryuu was rather happy about that as Hibiki had been smiling the whole time. Though she did roll her eye at the sight of Hibiki holding Harry's hand. But... she was in a good enough mood not to tease her daughter until later.

Heck, she was also in a good enough mood to ignore how the man beside Tatsuta now had an expression of agony on his face as her sister tilted her head some. 'People never learn.' Eventually, though, the train came to a stop and Tenryuu nodded. "Okay everyone, let's head out." Ignoring the whimpers from the man who was now looking terrified at Tatsuta, Tenryuu walked out and into Akihabara. Hearing the gasps, she smirked a little at the Weasleys. "What? Are you impressed? Fufufu."

Looking around, Percy only nodded with wide eyes. "Um... yeah..."

Softly snorting, Tenryuu began to walk. "Well, if this impresses you, just wait until you see the rest." Then she heard a shout and turned only to facepalm as she spotted who was coming toward them. "Whoo boy..."

Harry though just grinned. "Wisky!"

Nearly as one, the Weasleys turned only to blink at the sight of the tall, nearly amazonian blonde women. What really caught there attention though was what looked like the yellow, skintight bodysuit that she was wearing. Then she grabbed Harry in a hug and swung him around. "Hahaha! You didn't tell me that you were going to come by Akihabara today!"

Just grinning as Wisky set him down, Harry couldn't see Montana facepalm and look around as if she just wanted to sink into the earth. "I didn't tell you? You didn't tell me!"

Sliding up to the blushing Montana, Wisky threw an arm over her shoulders. "Heh, Sis and I decided that we wanted to come on down. A little bit of late Christmas shopping."

If anything though, that only caused Montana to blush more. "Um... you wanted to come and... I'm not really your sis you know..."

All Wisky did though was slap her on the back. "Bah! The Montanas are close enough. Family is family after all." Then she leaned down and placed an arm over Harry's shoulders. "Hey, this new shop just opened up for shipgirl stuff, want to go and see?"

Slowly, Harry nodded and began to follow beside Wisky. After a moment, Tenryuu sighed and started to walk. "Might as well see what the big deal is I guess." She then made a gesture with her finger. "Come on you bunch."

Bemused by the whole think, including the song which had the word "Yamato" that Harry and the Battleship were singing, Ron chuckled. A thought then struck him and he frowned. 'I wonder if they have anything for Warspite there...'

At one point, the group was waiting near a crosswalk when Percy heard someone speak up. "Hello, Master. Would you and your friends like to come to our cafe?"

Turning, Percy frowned. "Master...?" He was about to say something when he caught sight of the cute girl giving him a smile. But there was more to it then that...

It was also because she was wearing what looked like a witch's outfit. If a witch ever wore something that skimpy. At his silence, she tilted her head to the side and held out a flyer, Master? Perhaps you might want to come to our cafe for a drink?"

Before the speechless Percy could say anything though, a hand grabbed him by the collar and began to drag him along as Tenryuu's voice could be heard. "Maybe later if we have the time for it."

The girl only nodded and handed him the flyer. "Then I guess that I will see you later then, Master."

Once they were across, Harry looked up at the still stunned Percy. "What's wrong with him?"

Giving the red haired wizard a glance, Tenryuu only snorted. "Him?" Highly amused, she snickered a little bit. "Our friend here just met his first advertiser for a maid cafe."

Finally having shaken off his shock, Percy coughed a bit and tried to regain his dignity. Only for the attempt to crash and burn as Harry nodded sagely at him. "Ah... one of those. Eh, should have expected it." Then he looked at Percy with a frown. "Which one? The Shipgirl one? The alien one? The Madoka one?"

Tone dry, Tenryuu tried to keep the laughter out of her voice. "The witch one."

Noticing the wide eyed looks that the Weasley Twins were giving the corner, Harry rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised. Eh, I think that I like the owl cafe back in Yokosuka better."

Eyes wide, Percy turned to him with a gobsmacked look. "Wait... there are more of those places!? I... how many?"

Simply raising an eyebrow, Harry sighed. "There's lots of them around. Anyways... we can visit one later."

That caused Tenryuu to finally lose it and start laughing as Percy blushed and sputtered in response.
________________________________________________________________________________

"SHINANO-CHAN!"

Her expression brightening, Shinano turned in time for Harry to fling himself at her and catch him in a hug. "Harry-Chan!" Pulling him into tight hug, she grinned a bit. "You really did come!"

With a scoff, Harry looked up at her and patted her head which made her close her eyes. "Of course I did, I promised you that I would, didn't I?" Then Harry pointed behind him. "Oh, I brought Ron and his brothers too."

Bringing his hand to his forehead, George let out a sigh. "You hear that, Fred, we're being treated as an after thought! Why, I thought that Harry cared!"

Then he fell into his twin's arms, who patted him on the back as he faked sobbed. "There, there, George. It's okay, everything will be okay..."

More then a little confused at how they were acting, Shinano turned toward Ron and Percy before she blinked. "Oh! You went to Akihabara!"

Nodding, Harry chuckled a bit as the giant shipgirl set him down. "Yeah, they picked up some stuff and I did too." Giving her a smirk, he crossed his arms. "Which you'll be seeing tomorrow."

Just pouting, Shinano looked at him. "You mean you won't tell me what I got?"

However, Harry was not to be moved and nodded. "Yup! You'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

Shinano though nodded with a smile. "Okay, I guess that you won't see your gift until tomorrow either." Giggling at the look on her friend's face, Shinano lightly blushed and then gave a bow to the Weasleys. "Um, oh! It's good to see you all again."

With a grin at the now pouting Harry, Ron snickered. "Yeah, same here."

Realizing the time, Shinano's eyes widened a bit. "Would it be okay if I walked with you? I just got back and... I really missed you, Harry-Chan."

There was a smile on Harry's face as he looked up at her and nodded. "I missed you too, Shinano. And sure, I don't mind!"

Having looked back, Harry got nods from the Weasleys and soon the group began to walk toward the Battleship Dorms just talking. Though the Weasleys themselves looked rather exhausted by their day. Not to mention all the strangeness that had gone on.

 

Harry Leferts

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Harry blinked and turned around from his nearly finished breakfast to see a slightly nervous Natsumi there. "Natsumi-Chan?"

At the various looks, Natsumi gave a slightly off chuckle and looked down at Harry's plate. "Um... I need to talk with you about something... you nearly finished?"

Harry wasn't quite sure what was going on, but just nodded all the same as he glanced at his plate. "Uh... give me a minute or two and I'll be done." Quickly, Harry polished off the last of his meal and then looked towards the four confused Weasleys. "Sorry about this... I guess that Naka-Nee can take care of you for a bit."

Nearly as one, they turned towards the orange wearing Cruiser who winked. "Hai, hai, Naka-Chan, idol of the fleet, desu!"

Internally, Harry laughed at their expressions as well as how he knew that Naka was doing a bit of a show for her own amusement. Before any of them could say anything, Harry grabbed his last piece of toast and began to walk off with Natsumi. "See you all in a bit."

Once they got outside, Natsumi barely held back a giggle as Harry began chewing the piece of toast in his mouth. Then she got serious once more and began to wring her hands together. "Uh... Harry-Chan?"

What she did not expect though was for Harry to reach over and place his hand onto her shoulder with a smile. "Hey, relax... now what's wrong?"

Seeing the worried expression on Harry's face, the kitsune took a deep breath. "I... my family arrived this morning and they're waiting at the shrine... Chichi-ue and Haha-ue want to meet you..."

For some odd reason, Harry felt a shiver run down his spine at that and frowned. 'What was that all about...?' Quickly shaking it off though, he shrugged. "Okay... who else?"

Natsumi relaxed just a touch before she frowned. "Well... mainly my Onii-Chan and Imoutos. Though if my Onii-Chan does anything then I'm going to hit him!" At the amused expression on Harry's face, Natsumi gave a weak grin. "What? I will."

Just snickering, Harry shook his head at her. "Never change, Natsumi-Chan, never change." Suddenly though, a thought occurred to him. "Um... should I bring something to welcome them to Yokosuka?"

A frown crossed over Natsumi's face as she gave it some thought and then slowly nodded. "That might help..."

Even though he was confused by her exact wording, as well as why she seemed so nervous, Harry shrugged it off. "Well, I have some of those chewy peanut butter cookies you and Haru-San like..."

That caused Natsumi to freeze and her mouth began to water. 'Harry-Chan's... chewy... peanut butter cookies...'

Having realized that she had not said anything, and had stopped, Harry turned and raised an eyebrow as his friend stared off into nothing with her mouth slightly open. "Uh... Natsumi-Chan?" Not getting a response, he began to snap his fingers in front of her face. "Natsumi-Chan... Earth to Natsumi-Chan..."

It was said snapping fingers that brought her back and Natsumi jerked before blushing at the curious expression on Harry's face. "It's, uh... nothing..." Feeling some wetness, she reached up and quickly wiped up the small amount of drool by her lips. "N-nothing at all."

Extremely amused, Harry raised an eyebrow. "You were thinking of eating those cookies, weren't you?"

Now Natsumi was brightly blushing. "N-no!"

However, Harry only became more amused at her. "Uh-huh." Shaking it off, Harry chuckled a bit. "Anyways, think that you're family might want some to welcome them?"

The kitsune blinked and considered it before realizing what he meant. 'Wait... if Harry gives some to them... then there's less for me! Less wonderful, lovely peanut butter... But it would give a good first impression! Though peanut butter...'

At the soft whine that came from her, Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. "Natsumi-Chan..."

Recognizing the amusement in his voice, Natsumi gave a huff to him. "Mou! Stop being so mean, Harry-Chan!"

Harry only laughed though which caused the embarrassed and blushing Natsumi to punch him in the shoulder. "Ow!" Grabbing onto his shoulder as if he was hurt, Harry gave a fake sniffle. "That hurt, Natsumi-Chan!"

In reply, Natsumi gave him a glare. "No, it did not!"

Nodding, Harry gave another sniffle. "Yes, it did!" He then moved his arm and gave a slight, though fake, wince. "I can barely move my arm now because of you."

With a sigh, Natsumi rolled her eyes and snorted. "Harry-Chan..."

His next words caused her to freeze though. "Maybe I shouldn't give you any cookies, just for that."

Eyes wide, Natsumi stared at her and clinched her hands in front of her. "Y-you wouldn't do that, right?" At his thoughtful look, she added a whimper and made her eyes go as wide as they could. "You really wouldn't do such a horrible, horrible thing to me, right?"

Rubbing his chin, Harry hummed. "I don't know..."

A moment later though, he stumbled as Natsumi leapt onto his back. "Pleeease, Harry-Chan! I need those cookies!"

With the weight on his back, Harry let out a grunt. "Gah! Natsumi-Chan! Get off!"

However, she only shook her head. "No! Not until you promise me that you'll be giving me some of those cookies!"

Unnoticed by them though as they continued their playful bickering, a female kitsune in the bushes were watching them with amusement twinkling in her eyes. Though she did wonder what the deal with the cookies though, even as the thought of peanut butter made her lick her lips.

She did promise herself to tease her daughter later on though.

 

Harry Leferts

Sighing, Natsumi's father turned toward Haru with a frown on his face. "Do you have any idea when they're going to arrive, Haru? I would quite like to meet this boy that my daughter is friends with."

A soft scoff escaped from his wife as she turned away from the conversation that she had been having with her sister after returning a few minutes before. "Come off it, Kensuke. You just want to scare the poor boy. You and Taichi both."

Haru then turned towards said teenage kitsune with a smirk on her face. "And I would advise you not to try too hard in scaring him or else Natsumi-Chan might get annoyed and... accidentally... let out some information... such as about your name?"

That caused Taichi to glare at his father. "If one word gets out... I still cannot believe that you named me after an anime character!"

Blushing, the older man adjusted his glasses. "I did not name you after an anime character."

However, his son only scoffed. "Which is why when I was working on my human disguise, you tried to convince me to make it in such a way that I could pass for his real life version, hmm?"

Moments later, the older kitsune's embarrassement increased as his wife smirked. "And that is also why our twin daughters are named Rei and Asuka, hmm?" Then she turned towards Haru and began to speak in a stage whisper. "He wanted to name Natsumi, Hikari, don't you know."
Even though she was greatly amused by the sputters from her brother in law, Haru just barely kept from laughing. "Fufufufu, oh, i remember that talk. That was when you stated he could name the next ones."

Now highly embarrassed, Kensuke cleared her voice. "Anyways... perhaps you can tell us more about this... Harry-San?"

Folding her arms into her sleeves, Haru took a moment and stared at the Sun. "Hmm... there is not much that I have not told you already. From what I have found out, he has a great destiny in front of him. One with trials and tribulations... and one that Natsumi-Chan has sworn to stand by him through."

Slowly, her sister nodded. "Something that I am quite proud of in regards to her."

That got her a nod from Haru. "And so you should be, Sayuki. Natsumi-Chan has, in my view, grown by leaps and bounds since coming here."

Perking up a bit, Sayuki nodded. "You mentioned as much... and that you are training her in the old ways."

Taichi blinked and then frowned as he looked towards his aunt. "'The Old Ways'...?"

All she did though was chuckle. "While some things have, indeed, changed over the centuries, some things have not. I have started to teach Natsumi-Chan skills that most kitsune no longer use, or sadly teach. Particularly skills that I, myself learned from an older kitsune when I was still a young kit."

Eyes widening, Kensuke stared at her. "Wait, wasn't your teacher a former Onna-bugeisha!?"

On Haru's face there was a thin smile. "She was."

Blinking, Taichi frowned. "Whatever happened to her?"

For several moments, Haru was quiet, but when she spoke it was with a voice that held an old pain. "She lived on Chichijima and was there during the Blood Week." The mention of the week when the Abyssals launched their attacks before the navies rallied caused Taichi's eyes to widen. "She held off the Abyssals to give time for the people to evacuate... She didn't make it off the island."

Expression tender, Sayuki placed her hand onto her sister's shoulder, which Haru reached up and grasped before squeezing it. If he had been in his normal form, Taichi's ears would have been flat against his head. "Sorry, Oba-San..."

To his surprise, she shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Tai-Chan. Aoi-Sensei is now with her husband once more. And those who escaped managed to escape obliviation by the magicals as well in the chaos, so her sacrifice is remembered." Then she took a deep breath. "As to Harry-Chan... he is loyal to an extreme to his friends and loved ones. So much so that he would be willing to do anything to keep them safe.'

Eyebrows furrowing, Kensuke cleared his throat. "When you say anything..."

Continuing to look into the distance, Haru let out a sigh. "Call it... a vision, or a feeling perhaps. But Harry-Chan would willingly walk to his death and greet it with open arms if it meant that those he cared for even had the smallest chance of being saved by it. His is a will of steel as strong as any Battleship's armor, and a soul that will drive that will through the fires of hell if needed. No matter what happens..." She turned and regarded her sister and her husband. "You can trust him with Natsumi-Chan."

Almost a minute passed before Sayuki nodded after searching her sister's expression. "I believe you, Nee-San."

Taichi though grunted a bit. "And the other girls?" At the mischivious expression on his aunt's face, he sighed. "Seriously? I've read enough in the letters to know where this is going."

Giggling, Haru just grinned. "Now that, Tai-Chan, will be interesting to see. And so very amusing to watch it get sorted out.'

That only made the teenaged kitsune grumble. "Sure, as long as Natsumi is not hurt."

Unseen by him, Haru shared a look with her sister, both females with grins that caused Kensuke to internally sigh. 'I do not know who I should ask the Kami to bring mercy for... Natsumi-Chan, or this boy she's friends with...' Glancing back at his wife, he shrugged. 'Most likely both.'

Suddenly, two twin girls rushed into view with giggles. "Natsumi-Chan's coming with her boyfriend! Natsumi-Chan's coming with her boyfriend!'

A growl could be heard as Natsumi walked into sight with a bemused Harry by her. "Harry-Chan is not my boyfriend!"

Meanwhile, Taichi looked over Harry with a slight frown. 'Che, don't see what Haru-Oba-San is talking about. Doesn't look like he's going to last long in any real fight.'

It seemed as if Haru could hear his thoughts because, as she passed, she flicked him in the ear which caused Taichi to flinch. Then she smirked at him as she whispered low enough for Harry not to hear. "Appearences can be deceiving, Tai-Chan."

Rubbing at his ear, Taichi scoffed, though he winced at the glare from Natsumi. "Oh for..."

Before she got far though, Haru paused and took a sniff which made her mouth begin to water. 'He didn't...' Hastily swallowing, she narrowed her eyes in a hungry look. "Harry-Chan... did you bring your peanut butter cookies?"

Those words caused the twins to stop with their heads whipping around to look at him with hungry expressions. At the same time, Harry nodded. "Yeah, when Natsumi-Chan told me that her family was coming for Christmas I baked up a bunch because she likes them." He then held up a large paper bag and shook it. "Hopefully it's enough."

Walking up, Kensuke fixed him with a look. "I'll try them first, if you don't mind."

Confused, Harry just shrugged. "Uh, sure, I guess..."

Kensuke nodded as Harry held out the bag before he reached in and took one. For several moments he examined the cookie through narrowed eyes and then popped it into his mouth and chewed. As he did so, Harry glanced towards Natsumi who was just holding her face in her hands as she muttered to herself. Before he could ask, though, he felt a hand clap him on the shoulder and looked up to the glasses wearing man who gave him a grin and a thumbs up. "I approve." Then he leaned downwards. "Just wait until she's much older to make it official."

Another glance at Natsumi showed Harry that she was now blushing and glaring at her father. "Um... okay..."

While Harry was doing that, Kensuke took another cookie and was about to eat it when his wife snatched it from his hands. Ignoring his whine, she smirked. "That one's mine."

Just shrugging, Harry held the bag so that Natsumi's little sisters could get some cookies which they thanked him for. Not even a minute later, Harry just blinked as Taichi bit into his cookie and then grunted a bit. "It's okay enough-OW!"

Removing her foot from where she had stomped his, Natsumi glared at her brother. "Stop being mean to Harry-Chan!"

Harry was just confused, though he had to smile at how the others seemed to be liking his cookies.
___________________________________________________________________________

Grinning widely, Naka waved at the camera. "Helloooo world! Naka-Chan, Idol of the Fleet here reporting to you live from Japan on this Christmas Eve. With me, I have my good friend, Harry-Chan!"

As he chuckled, Harry waved before adjusting his Santa hat. "Hi everyone!"

Naka then brought her face close to the camera and brought up one finger as she winked. "We also have... Natsumi-Chan! The cutest Miko-in-training! Along with her adorable little sisters, Rei and Asuka!"

When she noticed that the camera was focused on her, Natsumi had an odd smile on her face and waved as the twin girls cheered. "Uh... hey there..."

Once the camera was back on her, Naka cleared her throat. "Now then... let's check in on our watchers, shall we?"

The screen she was using minimized to show Akagi and Kaga with the stars in the background. Brightly smiling, Akagi waved. "From off the coast of Japan, Akagi and Kaga-San!"

A slight smirk could be seen on Kaga's face as she nodded. "Merry Christmas, and I hope that you all enjoy some turkey tomorrow."

Even as Akagi shot Kaga a bemused look, their screen minimized to show an older Battleship with a Submarine next to her. "Oklahoma and Bowfin reporting in from Pearl Harbour."

Bowfin grinned as she winked at the camera. "Glad to be here!"

Their screen minimized to join Naka's and Akagi's to reveal Wash and a coffee drinking Gale. "USS Washington here at Puget Sound on the West Coast."

Eyes wide, Gale blinked at the camera and coughed a bit. "Dammit... some warning next time so I can get prepared!"

As Wash turned to her girlfriend, the screen was minimized to reveal Iowa along with Willie. "USS Iowa is in the house this Christmas! And Willie D too!"

Said Destroyer waved before the view became one of Alaska who was pushing a Hot Wheels through the air with sounds. Beside her, Atago giggled and then pointed. "Um, Alaska, we're on."

Freezing in place, Alaska gulped. "Eep! Uh, Alaska here, Gulf Coast!"

Then it switched again, this time showing Haida as well as the shipgirl Alexander Hamilton. "HMCS Haida. Ready, Aye Ready."

Beside her, Alex sipped her coffee. "Alexander Hamilton, East Coast."

Suddenly, another shipgirl appeared. "HMS Lion here, reporting in from the Falkland Islands! May everyone have a Merry Christmas!"

As her screen minimized, it showed Bismarck and Hood, with the Battlecruiser grinning. "HMS Hood and Bismarck, North Sea!"

When their screen shrank, it revealed a shipgirl in a baret. "Richelieu, eastern Mediterrean."

Beside her, Roma adjusted her glasses. "Italian Battleship Roma, same."

On and on with shipgirls reporting in from various places until it ended with a tattooed shipgirl who looked like they were related to Kongou, but in a grass skirt and with an amulet around their neck. "HMS New Zealand reporting in from the South Pacific!'

The Carrier next her only shook their head, but then nodded. "And USS Midway, we'll keep the skies clear and safe."

Now Naka's screen grew with the others spread around. "And from all of us, welcome to this year's edition of Santa Watch. We'll be reporting on the jolly old elf's journey across the world while providing security on the sea and air while others are doing so on the ground and across the continents."

Harry then nodded and gestured to the side. "We'll of course be accompanied by music from the ever great, Yokosuka Fairy Orchestra!"

One of the fairies in an Officer's uniform raised it's hands. "Desu."

With a smile, Naka gestured at the screen. "We'll also be monitoring Santa's progress this evening via our friends at NORAD. Welcome... to Santa Watch! Enjoy the show!"

From in their quarters, Ron blinked and looked at Percy in surprise. "Huh... I thought that mate was kidding when he said that he does this every year..."

Percy only shrugged as he sipped his tea. "Same here."

 

Harry Leferts

It was a nervous Rose who stood in front of the door to the quarters that the Kongou Sisters shared at Yokosuka (when they gathered at Sasebo they mostly stayed at the Richardson Household... to Arizona's exhaustion). The wrapping paper of the present in Rose's hands crackled a bit which made her blink and look down before blushing. Easing off the pressure, she looked around the hall to see that there was no one there before she took a deep, calming breath. Having already done the gift exchange with her family, and wasn't that still new and amazing to the tea set, that she was now a member of an actual family!

Anyways, having done a gift exchange with them as well as shared some of her 'Christmas Hot Chocolate', Rose was ready for the next bit...

Which was to share a small breakfast with Haruna and exchange their own gifts. One question though that kept bouncing around in the tsukumogami's mind was why was she so nervous. And then she remembered the present in her hands and she could not help but wonder how the Fast Battleship would take her gift. That caused her to become nervous again and for the cycle to repeat.

Of course, unknown to her, on the other side of the door, Haruna was going through much the same thing. Every so often, the shipgirl looked down at the wrapped gift in her hands and bit her lip. What would Rose think of her gift? Would she like it? Then she would look over her shoulder to see Kongou giving her a soft smile, Hiei a thumbs up, and Kirishima... would be writing in that book of hers before looking up and nodding with a slight grin. 'Haruna... is not so sure about this...'

Finally, both sides gathered up their positions with Haruna opening the door at the same time that Rose brought her hand up to knock...

With her fist instead knocking against Haruna's breastbone.

Several moments passed as the two stood there frozen at what happened and then their heads turned to where Rose's hand now was. Then they looked back at each other's faces, which were steadily getting redder. Which was not helped as Hiei whispered to Kongou in a way that both Haruna and Rose heard. "Wow... didn't know that the two of them were that forward."

A moment later, Hiei grunted as a blurred something hit her in the stomach before stopping after it pulled away to reveal that it was Kongou's elbow. The whole time, the eldest sister's expression did not change. Kongou then tilted her head to the side a bit as Rose and Haruna leapt away from the other, though there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Would you like to come in, Rose-Chan?"

Glancing at the still embarrassed Haruna, Rose slowly nodded. "I... if that is okay..."

In reply, Kongou just swept her arm in a gesture towards the table which had a light, for shipgirls, breakfast on it. "That is perfectly okay, Dess. In fact, Haruna was about to go and get you."

Nodding rapidly, Haruna grabbed hold of that excuse. "Y-yes, Haruna was coming to get Rose-Chan."

Her thumb stroking the wrapping paper of the present in her hands, Rose felt a boiling sensation inside her that she knew was from equal parts embarrassment and happiness. "Oh... you didn't need to do that, Haruna."

Just shaking her head, Haruna finally recovered from what had happened. "Haruna didn't mind at all." Then she moved aside and looked at the present in curiosity. "You brought something?"

Glancing down, Rose nodded as she walked in. "I wanted to give you the present that I made you before the gift exchange..." Blinking, Rose glanced at the other Kongou sisters who were all smiling. "I'm sorry but I... didn't bring what I wrapped for you yet..."

Much to her surprise, Kirishima just adjusted her glasses. "We don't mind at all, Rose-Chan. Besides, Haruna was going to do much the same I think."

It was Kirishima's turn to wince as Haruna blushed, though that was mainly because Kongou was now pulling her foot back from Kirishima's. Afterwards, the eldest of the four gave a nod. "I'm afraid though that we cannot stay though, Dess. But Haruna has not eaten all her breakfast yet and I am sure that Rose-Chan is rather hungry herself so both of you enjoy yourselves and we shall see you at the gift exchange."

Confused, Hiei turned towards Kongou and was about to say something when she caught sight of her sister's eyes. After a few seconds, Hiei nodded. "That's right! We've already eaten after all."

With that, Kongou, Hiei, and Kirishima all left. Though not before giving the bemused Rose a hug and "Merry Christmases". Then they were gone with the door shutting behind them as Rose turned toward a slightly red faced Haruna. "I wonder what that was all about..."

Her eyes going to the door, Haruna coughed. "Haruna... is not sure." Shaking it off, she turned towards the nervous Rose and paused at the sight of the tsukumogami stroking the present in her hands while her head was bent a bit. 'So... cute...'

Biting her lip, Rose glanced towards the small table. "Um... do you wish to eat first or... exchange gifts."

Finger against her chin, Haruna considered this for several moments and then turned toward the able. "Haruna thinks that it would be best to exchange gifts first and then have some breakfast." Haruna then nodded and placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Haruna asks that Rose wait here while she goes and gets her gift."

All Rose did was nod and glance around as Haruna went off to one of the side rooms. It never ceased to amaze Rose all the little odds and ends that the Kongou sisters had. On one wall were the Union Jack and the Japanese flag side by side. There were also various black and white pictures of the sisters' various Captains and Admirals. One item was newer and that was a group of models of modern looking ships one of which Rose recognized as the Destroyer Kongou. "Huh..."

Suddenly, Haruna's voice came from behind Rose and caused her to jump a bit. "Haruna wonders if Rose-Chan likes the models?"

Hand against her chest, Rose took a deep breath and then turned. "Oh, yes. They're really quite nice..."

With a soft smile, the Battleship pointed at one in particular which had a hanger on the back. "Haruna likes that one the most... because it's the JDS Haruna."

Frowning, Rose thought it over and then blinked. "Wait... doesn't that mean that's your daughter if I remember how such things work out?"

A slight flush on her face, Haruna's gaze turned far off, but she nodded. "Hai, Haruna would be Haruna's daughter in a way... Haruna was happy to find out that her name was used." Her finger then came out and stroked along the bridge of the model as her expression became saddened. "Haruna is only sorry that she did not get to meet her, though Haruna is very proud of her."

It took a few moments before Rose gasped some as she remembered that the JDS Haruna was one of those that sank in the first few battles against the Abyssals, but not without taking an Abyssal Battlecruiser down with her. "I-I'm sorry for bringing it up... and my deepest condolences."

Haruna only blinked and then shook her head as she grasped Rose's hand in hers. "Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan has nothing to be sorry for. And besides, one day Haruna will see her again." Quickly shaking it off, Haruna held out a present towards Rose with a smile. "Anyways, Haruna has Rose's present."

Taking it, Rose passed over the present that she had for Haruna before opening it. Seeing the box, she frowned and then opened it only to gasp. "Haruna... is this..."

Now it was Haruna's turn to become nervous as Rose reached in. "Does... does Rose-Chan like it?"

Gently, Rose pulled out a pocket watch which glinted as it swung. "I love it..." Holding it in one hand, she popped it open to reveal it looked exactly like how the watches that the train conductors used when she was on the trains looked. However, she could tell it was a modern reproduction of one. Awed, Rose looked up. "It's... beautiful. But it must have cost a fortune."

Shaking her head, Haruna reached over and closed her hand over both Rose's and the watch. "Haruna does not care about the money, but thought that Rose-Chan would like it."

With a sniffle, Rose shook her head as she reached up and rubbed a tear from her eye. "Like I said, Haruna, I love it so much... thank you." Her expression then turned to one of nervousness. "Though now I don't know if the gift that I made is good enough..."

Eyes wide, Haruna shook her head. "Haruna is sure that Rose-Chan's gift is wonderful!" Unwrapping it, blinked for a moment at the box and then opened it. For several moments, the Battleship was quiet before she pulled out the book that was inside before opening it and just staring. Then she turned one page after another as Rose became more nervous. But before the tsukumogami could say anything, Haruna looked up and it looked like she was just this side of crying. "Rose-Chan... made Haruna a book of fairy tales?"

Just slowly nodding, Rose swallowed. "Um, yes... I remember how you told me that you loved them and my Mistresses used to tell their children all sorts of fairy tales. Hans Christian Anderson and others. I got the parchment from Master and found a fountain pen with which to write."

Very slowly, Haruna closed the book and placed it down with the utmost gentleness. "It must have taken Rose-Chan a long time to write it and to draw."

Lightly blushing, Rose shifted a bit. "Well, I do not have much work to do and so I had quite the amount of free time." She then held up one hand and rotated the wrist that was there. "It also helps if one's wrist is impossible to get tired." All of a sudden, the tsukumogami found herself in a tight embrace which caused her to blink. Then she felt some wetness and glanced up to see Haruna looking down at her with tearful eyes. "Haruna...?"

Smiling brightly, Haruna swallowed and brought one hand up to cup Rose's cheek. "Thank you... Haruna loves it so very much, Rose-Chan. It will be one of Haruna's most precious treasures."

There was also a smile on Rose's face as she looked up. "Really?"

Her thumb stroking Rose's cheek, Haruna nodded. Then she gave into impulse and bend down to kiss Rose right on the corner of her lips and, as she puled away from the stunned woman, Haruna flushed. "Hai... Like Rose-Chan."

Now Rose herself was brightly blushing and there were wisps of steam coming from her ears, though she did not pull away. "I-I see... I... I am glad then..."

Both of them stood there for several moments before Haruna turned toward the table. "Would Rose-Chan like to share some breakfast with Haruna?"

Tilting her head back, Rose seemed thoughtful for a moment. Then she stood up on her tiptoes and gave Haruna a kiss on the cheek. "Yes, I would quite like that, I think."

It was with an odd smile, though a happy one, that Haruna gently guided Rose over to the table. Though both of them sat down next to each other, their heads leaning against each other as they ate and quietly talked. At the same time, Rose's new pocket watch glinted from it's place on top of Haruna's story book.

 

Harry Leferts

It was a puzzled Hiei who glanced back towards the Battleship Dorms with a frown on her face and then turned towards Kongou who was walking with an odd smile on hers. "Onee-Sama... may I ask you something?"

Humming, Kongou looked over her shoulder. "Yes, Dess?"

Still puzzled, Hiei raised her finger. "Why did you want us to leave?"

Lips twitching a small amount, Kongou shook her head. "Because Haruna and Rose-Chan needed a bit of time alone to give each other their gifts from their hearts."

Kirishima adjusted her glasses a bit and grinned. "I see, Onee-Sama. With us not there, Haruna and Rose may perhaps finally show the burning love for each other which they hold within their hearts and do so brightly!"

Pumping her fists, Hiei gave a grin. "Really? Ha!" She then looked towards Kirishima and shook her head. "Though those two shouldn't be afraid to show it in front of us, I like Rose-Chan."

Beside her, Kirishima nodded. "Indeed."

A moment later though, Kongou sighed and let out one word that caused them both to blink. "No."

Coming to a stop, Hiei glanced towards her younger sister and then back to Kongou who had also stopped and now was turning towards them. "Uh... but I thought that you liked Rose-Chan, Onee-Sama...?"

Finally turning to face her sisters, Kongou gave a small sigh and shook her head in amusement. "I do approve of Rose-Chan, Hiei. And I like her quite a bit and look forward to when she joins our family, Dess. But what I meant was that neither Haruna nor Rose-Chan are ready to quite show their love for each other, let alone to anyone else."

Scratching her head, Hiei frowned. "I don't get it..."

When she turned to Kirishima, said Fast Battleship gave her a puzzled look back and a shrug. "Nor do I, Hiei-Onee-San."

Looking towards the eldest sister, Hiei noted that she was looking towards the window to their quarters with a rather odd, though peaceful smile. Still confused, Hiei crossed her arms. "Why not stay there and give them some help for showing their love to each other?"

Kongou just chuckled before she shook her head. "Because the love that Haruna and Rose-Chan share is a different one then what myself and Teitoku share." There was an amused twinkle in her eyes as she tilted her head towards Hiei. "Or you and Richardson-San..." Ignoring the flustered Hiei and the protests from her that they were not like that along with Mutsu and so on, Kongou turned her attention to Kirishima. "Or with Gale-San and Washington-San."

Feeling her face heat up, Kirishima adjusted her glasses. "Wh-what do you mean by that, Onee-Sama?"

Simply humming, Kongou's lips turned upwards into a soft smile. "The love that Haruna and Rose-Chan is not the type of burning love created and shown by firing all guns, Dess. Nor is it the one of charging into battle, boilers red hot. Or even by being struck by the shellfire of another... What the two of them share is a different love, though no worse nor better then what we three share with our special someones."

Thoughtful, Kirishima opened her notebook and began to write down. "Then what sort of burning love is it?"

Chuckling, Kongou held her hands out as if to gently clasp something. "Theirs... is a quiet love. It started with a small ember or perhaps a glowing coal. Slowly, they have built upon it like one might place some tinder against an ember. Gently blowing upon it to make it glow brighter and catch upon the tender that is their shared hearts. With the time that they spend together, that flame, their shared, burning love, grows brighter and hotter. Already, their warmed by it. But! One cannot blow upon it too much or too fast, or else they might blow it out back to an ember. Nor can one just pile logs onto it before it's ready. It needs to build up slowly until it blazes forth and truly warms them like the fires in the hearth."

Hiei frowned as she considered this and tilted her head to the side. "So... what you're saying is... If we were there and tried to help them with their burning love, then it would be like several people blowing on a small flame and maybe putting it out because they're blowing on it too hard?"

Beside her, Kirishima nodded. "Or throwing logs onto the small flame and starving it because it was not able to burn them yet?"

Nodding, Kongou smiled at them. "Exactly, Dess! Now you understand!" She then gave them a wink and wagged a finger at her two younger sisters. "Their burning love is the fire of the hearth that one warms one's bones beside while embraced. But worry not... in time, we shall be able to help them stoke that love of theirs, we simply need to give it, and them, time to properly build it up first so that it is ready, Dess!"

In response, Hiei punched her fist into her open palm. "Ah! I see now!"

With a bob of her head, Kirishima chuckled. "Truly, our Onee-Sama is wise beyond her years in the ways of love!"

Softly giggling, Kongou shook her head. "Now then... we shall head to the gift exchange together and wait for Haruna and Rose-Chan to join us there, hmm?"

Both Hiei and Kirishima nodded and began to follow Kongou towards the Mess Hall where the exchange was going to happen, happy for their sister.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As they walked up to the mess hall, Harry blinked as they passed the parking area. "Huh, that's Inazuma-Chan's bike! And..." He frowned a bit as he spotted the three others beside it. "Are those her sisters?"

There was a slight blush on Nagato's face as she took in the four electrically assisted bikes, each of them looking more like a tiny car then an actual bicycles. She didn't quite know how or why, but she found them extremely cute, especially when the Destroyers that owned them were using them. "Hai, those are theirs."

Frowning, Harry walked up to look at them from behind and then slowly nodded with a growing smile. "They're pretty cool! Inazuma-Chan was telling me all about them. Did you know that they have leather seats, radios, and even a cup holder that can keep their drinks cold?"

Nagato softly chuckled a bit but nodded. "I do..." Internally though, she was laughing. 'I still remember Tenryuu's response to them "Tricking out their rides"...'

His finger against his lips, Harry looked toward the Weasleys who were all somewhat tired, but looked interested in everything that was going on around them. "Now then..." Looking from one vehicle to another, he slowly nodded. "Well, I already know that the red one is Inazuma-Chan's... The deep purple one is Akatsuki-Chan's, the icy blue one is Hibiki-Chan's, and that means that the one with the lightning is Ikazuchi-Chan's."

Blinking, Ron glanced towards the bikes and furrowed his eyebrows. "How can you tell?"

Softly snickering, Harry shook his head. "Akatsuki-Chan's has 'Lady' for her vanity plate, Hibiki-Chan's is 'Khorosho', and Ikazuchi-Chan's is 'Raiden'."

That only caused Ron to scratch his head before he adjusted his maroon sweater. "Okay..."

All that Harry did was grin and shake his head. "Anyways... we should head on inside, everyone's waiting!" Running into the Mess Hall, Harry barely held back a grin from the group of trees that in one corner of it. No one was quite sure where they had come from, but they appeared each year in said corner looking as if they were a small forest. And after the first year, everyone knew to be careful as they might get lost in them.

It had taken Johnston a whole day to find her way out. No one ever asked how that was possible though.

No one really wanted to know.

Just the same, when Harry entered he could see that the outer trees of the bunch had piles of presents around them with various shipgirls and other base personnel walking around either eating some breakfast, drinking the hot beverage of their choice, or just talking. However, within moments Harry spotted who he was looking for and waved. "Hibiki-Chan! Over here!"

Also catching sight of him, Hibiki walked over as she balanced what looked like a coffee pot filled with a golden liquid. The normally dour Destroyer was wearing her traditional elf outfit and, upon reaching him, gave Harry a hug. "Merry Christmas, Harry-Chan."

Hugging her back, Harry nodded. "Merry Christmas, Hibiki-Chan!" Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see the other members of DesDiv6 walking towards them, though Ikazuchi was carrying a pitcher in one hand as she balanced a pot on her head. "How has your Christmas been?"

Slightly red in the face, Hibiki gave him a soft smile. "It has been very Khorosho." Then she looked upwards with an amused expression on her face. "I think that I know what you would like."

With a giggle, Harry watched as she poured the hot apple cider into a mug and handed it to him. "You know me way too well, Hibiki-Chan." As he held the mug, Harry turned and regarded the rest of DesDiv6. "Hey guys! I saw your bikes parked out front... pretty neat!"

Ikazuchi gave him a fanged grin before handing over the pitcher in her hands, which Harry immediately placed it onto his head on top of his Santa hat. "Yeah, they're pretty awesome! Mine's got the best paintjob though."

Just giving a soft scoff, Akatsuki shook her head. "No, mine is since it's royal purple. It's so lady-like and elephant! Right, Harry-Chan?"

Nodding slightly, though careful not to disturb the pitcher, Harry smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty neat, Akatsuki-Chan. Kind of wish that I had my own."

Beside him, Hoppou nodded. "Hoppou likes too and wishes that she had one." Neither of the two siblings realized why DesDiv6 became thoughtful and shared looks. Especially as Hoppou pulled out a mug that had '#1 Best Little Sisboat' on it and held it towards Ikazuchi. "Hot chocolate, please."

The Destroyer just smiled before bringing the pot off her head and pouring some into Hoppou's mug. "Here ya go, Hoppou! And don't worry, I got more if you want some..." She then jerked her thumb at herself. "You can rely on me having the good stuff."

Even as Akatsuki grumbled about how people outside the Kongou Sisters did not seem interested in the tea she had, Inazuma looked down at Hoppou and smiled. "That's a cool belt, Hoppou, where did you get it?"

Now noticing herself, Ikazuchi's eyes widened. "Oh, wow! That's so neat looking!"

Looking down with a blink, Hoppou played with the belt a bit. "Big Brother made it for Hoppou. Hoppou really likes Big Brother's present to her."

When the four Destroyers turned towards him, Harry let out a chuckle. "Hopefully you'll all like the gifts that I got for you too."

It was then that the Weasleys finally reached them and Percy just blinked at the sight that met him. "Um... Harry?"

Blinking, Harry turned and frowned. "Something wrong, Percy?"

Slowly, Percy raised a finger to point. "Why... are you all walking around with drinks perched on your head." A moment later, he blinked. 'Why are they staring at me like that...?'

However, Inazuma just frowned. "Why wouldn't we? After all people need drinks on Christmas, Nanodesu! So we're helping out by walking around with them."

Despite everything, Percy only frowned as it made sense, but he didn't understand how or why it made sense. Fred however noticed a flushed Fubuki coming out from the area of the trees with a giggling, though also flushed Yuudachi and a madly grinning Mutsuki hanging off her. "What's with the trees...?"

Beside him, George nodded. "And... why can I hear cymbals?"

Pausing, Harry frowned as he listened before shrugging his shoulders. "The trees show up every year... it's just easy to get lost in them."

Just as they were about to ask, the Weasleys noticed Kongou pick up Goto and run into the trees. The Admiral just sipped his drink as him and the Battleship, somehow, disappeared between the branches despite the trees taking up just a small area of the Mess Hall. Within the minds of the Weasleys, the same thought ran through their minds. '... What?'

Meanwhile, Ikazuchi continued the explanation. "The cymbals are from Akashi's monkeys."

That got her looks from the Weasleys with Ron clearing his throat and asking the question on his mind. "... Monkeys?"

Akatsuki nodded before gesturing with her hands. "You know, those robotic monkeys that you wind up and crash cymbals together..." For a moment, she listened and then shook her head. "Though it's not really all that lady-like since they don't play the same song." Then Akatsuki shrugged. "Akashi made them and they just end up in the forest each year..."

Once more, the Weasleys stared at her before looking at the forest, then back to them only to do a double take at Harry's next words. "Better then that time that South Dakota somehow made the evil, animated snowmen."

There were shudders all around as the red heads boggled in utter befuddlement.

 

SOngDOg13 Omake: "Christmas Caroling"

Omake: Christmas Caroling

CSS Hunley took a sip of hot cider from her thermos and tucked it back into her hull, then looked at her companions. Arrayed around the Confederate submarine were CSS Alabama and CSS Virginia, a full dozen Marines both American and Japanese, four sailors from a Canadian freighter, and HMCS Huron, of the Tribal-Class Destroyers. They'd all met at a karaoke club off-base from Yokosuka, singing carols to celebrate the holidays, and then decided to actually go caroling.

Their musical wanderings had led them up and down the streets and lanes until now they stood outside the mess-hall where the base Christmas party was taking place, the soft ebb and hum of conversation buzzing in the air. Hunley lifted her fiddle, and Alabama and Virginia readied their concertina and guitar, respectively. Hunley drew the bow over the strings and the others joined in, playing or humming as Huron's voice rang out rich and sweet in the chilly air, singing in French.

"Je serai à la maison pour Noël; Tu peux compter sur moi..."

Hunley sang the next line in fluid, rolling Gaelic, "Bíodh sneachta, agus mistletoe, agus bronntanais faoi bhun an chrainn..."

One of the American Marines and one of the Japanese Marines sang the next part together in Japanese, their arms on each other's shoulders. "Kurisumasuibu wa, ai no hikari ga kagayaku tokoro de watashi o mitsukerudeshou. Watashi wa yume no naka dake de kurisumasu no tame ni ie ni imasu..."

As the three musicians began the tune again, all the impromptu carollers lifted their voices as one and sang the song in English.

"I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me...
Please have snow, and mistletoe,
And gifts beneath the tree...
Christmas Eve will find me,
Where the love-light gleams;
I'll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams..."

 

Harry Leferts

Meanwhile, Kirishima was looking around in worry. "Where do you think that Gale-San is?"

Sighing, Wash frowned as she also looked around. "I really don't know... Normally she would be here waiting for me but..." With a shake of her head, Wash clapped Kirishima on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Gale might be angry about the pranks, but we're alert right now and we'll catch her before she does anything too bad."

Behind them, Borie chuckled. "Yeah, we'll see any revenge prank well before she manages to get it off. We're all on high alert after all."

Twisting around, Wash gave the Destroyer a glare as she was still not too pleased with what had happened with Gale. But before she could say anything, Wash caught movement out of the corner of her eyes and turned to see a black clothed figure rise up out of a bush with what she knew to be one of the paintball guns used for practice. In particular, the one used to simulate by humans during shipgirl dodging practice to simulate 16 inch shells.

In the time it took for Wash to process this, the now revealed Gale screamed out into the night. "THIS IS FOR ALL THOSE DAMN PRANKS, KIRISHIMA!" And then she started to fire paintball rounds into the yelping Kirishima. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Gale was good at marksmanship and it showed as each round hit a different spot on Kirishima. Of course, Gale didn't realize that those spots she was hitting would correlate with weak spots on Kirishima's ship hull. Once she had expended her rounds and pulled off her mask, Gale grinned down at Kirishima who stared at her in surprise. But before she could crow, Wash facepalmed. "Gale... Kirishima wasn't pranking you..."

Blinking, Gale looked between the two battleships in surprise. "Wash, I don't know what she told you but-"

However, Wash cut her off. "She found the prank and was trying to disarm it. Borie was the one pranking you."

Slowly, Gale turned toward Borie who was clutching onto England with a look of terror in her face. "I'msosorryIwon'teverdoitagainpleasedon'tbreakmykeel!"

For several moments it percolated through Gale's mind that she had targeted the wrong Shipgirl. And more then that, perhaps her plan was not the best advised if Wash's raised eyebrow was anything to go by. "Oh..."

Raising her eyebrow a few fractions of an inch more, Wash frowned. "Yes, oh."

Wincing, Gale turned toward the still downed Kirishima. "Shit, sorry about... That?"

The Yeoman had expected for Kirishima to be at least annoyed or, more likely, angry. What she had not expected was for Kirishima to be staring at her awestruck. "You... Snuck up on me in the night... When I was at full alert and looking for you... Then you fired on me, hitting all my weak spots..." Suddenly a blush spread across Kirishima's face as she held her cheeks in her hands, her glasses askew. "O-oh my.~"

Both Wash and Gale only had one thing to say and spoke as one. "... What?"
______________________________________________________________________________________

Kirishima's head snapped to the side from the finger flick from Hiei and snapped her out of her memories before she turned to regard Hiei. "What?"

Sighing, her older sister shook her head before placing her hands on her hips. "I've been asking you when you were going to open the presents from Gale-San and Wash-San."

Her glasses slightly fogged up, Kirishima looked down at the gifts and gave a sheepish expression. "Ah, right..." Quickly, she opened the one from Wash and blinked. "A book on how to build a hotrod...?"

With a blink, Hiei frowned. "Why would she send you that?"

There was a slightly sheepish expression on Kirishima's face. "Well... I may have made a comment or two about how I liked American engineering..."

Utter silence met her for a few seconds before Hiei facepalmed. "Right."

Quickly wanting to change the subject, Kirishima opened the one from Gale and found a note on it. "'Kirishima, apparently PR is now releasing figurines of various human personnel involved in the shipgirl program. I figured that you might like this one."

Confused, Kirishima reached into the box and pulled out a figurine version of Gale. Said toy had Gale with her usual expression and an oversized coffee cup in one hand. Looking over her shoulder, Hiei blinked a bit and tilted her head. "Huh... so that is how it looks from the other side..." Then she frowned. "I wonder when they'll come out with one for John..."

The only thing that Kirishima did was flush heavily before adjusting her fogged up glasses. Meanwhile, elsewhere DesDiv6 was now looking down at the presents in their hands that Harry had given them before Inazuma opened hers first. Gently, she pulled out a necklace that had a crystal pendant at the end. But it was what inside the pendant that caught her attention and made her look closer. 'A... feather?' Part of her was amazed as it almost looked like the feather had tiny bolts of lightning travelling up and down it even though it was sealed in crystal. But one had to look closely to see them. "What is it...?"

A smile was on Harry's face as he nodded. "It's a thunderbird feather, Inazuma-Chan."

Eyes wide, Inazuma's jaw dropped and looked between him and the feather. "Th-thunderbird? Those bird kami in America that made storms and such!?" At his nod, she just stared at the feather. "Wow..."

While she was doing that, her sisters unwrapped theirs and examined them with Ikazuchi tilting her head. "A tooth?"

Harry just grinned. "A dragon tooth to be exact."

That got a fanged grin from Ikazuchi as she hugged him. "Awesome."

Frowning, Akatsuki looked at hers and looked at Harry who nodded. "Unicorn tail hairs, perfect for a lady."

Gobsmacked, the name ship of the Akatsuki class gave a watery smile and then put it on immediately as Hibiki held up hers. "And what is this?"

Her sisters all turned to it and examined the reddish-gold feather that seemed to glow inside. There was a slightly nervous smile on Harry's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... it was kind of hard figuring one out... but then I remembered your, um, other name..."

Slowly, Hibiki's eyes widened as she connected the dots with Ikazuchi gasping. "That is so cool, Hibiki-Chan..."

With a slow swallow, Hibiki nodded as she felt the pinpricks of tears at the corners of her eyes. "Da." She then looked at Harry. "So it's a feather from a phoenix?"

Placing his hands behind his head, Harry gave a nod. "Yeah, I asked my Headmaster's phoenix, Fawkes, if he could give me a chest feather since those are smaller and would fit. After I told him why, he plucked it out and gave it to me." A moment later though, Harry had to frown as Hibiki held the necklace out to him. "Uh, Hibiki-Chan?"

There was an odd smile on Hibiki's face as she stepped closer, though her cheeks were slightly red. "Wo-would you put it on for me, for the first time?"

Not sure why she wanted that, or why her sisters were all leaning in, Harry just shrugged and gently took the necklace. Reaching around her neck, he moved some of her hair out of the way and then clasped it together so it fell against Hibiki's collar. Off to the side, Harry caught flashes from both his mom and Tenryuu taking pictures, though there was a massive grin on Tenryuu's face for some odd reason. Shaking it off, Harry gave Hibiki a smile. "There you go, Hibiki-Chan."

Once more holding the pendant in her hands, Hibiki nodded. With a glance around to see if anyone was watching, and noticing that only her sisters, mother, and Nagato were, Hibiki leaned forward. "Spasibo bol'shoye."

Blinking, Harry reached up to his cheek where Hibiki had just placed a kiss and blushed. "U-um, you're welcome..."

In reply, the white haired Destroyer flushed deeply and brought the brim of her cap down to cover her eyes, though one only had to look to see that she had a large smile on her face. Then Hibiki shuffled a bit. "I'll see you later, Harry-Chan..."

With that, she quickly walked off, though Inazuma hugged Harry before following. "Hwawawa, that was really nice, Harry-Chan!"

Soon enough, Harry was just standing there scratching his head in confusion. 'What just happened?' However, he shook it off and noticed Shinano off by her sisters as well as Hamakaze and Isokaze. "Shinano-Chan!"

The massive Carrier turned and her expression brightened as she caught sight of Harry. "Harry-Chan!" Bending down, she gave her smaller friend a hug. "Merry Christmas."

As he nodded, Harry's smile grew. "Merry Christmas, Shinano-Chan." Then pulled away and brought out a gift. "Here, I made this for you."

Shinano was surprised as she took the small gift and bit her lip before handing Harry hers. "And here's yours..." She waited until he had unwrapped it and gave him a nervous smile. "Do... do you like it?"

One Harry's face was an awed expression as he pulled out a Tanto. "Wow... thank you!" Putting it back into the box, Harry hugged Shinano again, though there was a smile on his face. "Though I don't think that Mum will let me carry it around."

Much to his surprise, Shinano only shook her head. "That's okay... Um, I just thought that you should have one, you don't need to use it."

Even though he was confused, Harry just nodded as Yamato and Musashi had slight grins on their faces as they looked at their sister, Shinano blushing once she noticed. Then Yamato spoke up as she tilted her head toward the gift that Harry had given. "Shouldn't you open yours now?"

Eyes widening, Shinano turned towards her present and then unwrapped it. Once she opened it though, she stared at it before bringing the pendant up to the light. Inside, a white feather was enclosed in the crystal. "What is it...?"

What she did not expect was Harry's answer. "It's a gryphon feather."

If anything, that caused Shinano's eyes to widen still further. "Gry-gryphon feather!"

More then a little surprised, Musashi leaned in and frowned as she examined the pendant. "Does it have some sort of meaning?"

Suddenly, they all jumped as someone popped their heads in. "Dess!" All of them stared at Mikasa who was now smiling widely as she looked at the feather. "Gryphons are part lion, part eagle. The King of the Land and the King of the Sky, so it's the King of Beasts and is drawn to fight monsters. It also symbolizes courage, strength, and military leadership, Dess."

Nodding, Harry looked up at the stunned Shinano. "Which makes it perfect for you."

All Shinano could do was blush fiercely as she felt like steam was coming out of her ears, though the massive smile on her face told how happy she was with her gift.

 

Harry Leferts

Somewhat intrigued by what Shinano was holding, Yamato cleared her throat and caught her younger sister's attention. "May I see it?"

It was with more then a little amusement that the Battleship noted that her Carrier sister seemed to truly consider the question before she nodded. Even then, Shinano seemed to not want to part with it as she laid it in Yamato's outstretched hand. "Okay, Onee-Sama... just be careful with it."

All Yamato did though was nod seriously with a slight smile. "Of course, I, Yamato, will treat it with the upmost care." Picking up the pendant portion between two fingers, Yamato examined it from various angles in interest. Finally, she turned to Harry with surprise on her face. "However did you get the feather into the crystal? I cannot find any seams."

Now it was Musashi's turn to lean forward as she muttered. "No seams..." Frowning, she raised an eyebrow. "Huh... this Musashi also wonders."

Looking from one to the other, Harry blinked before he rubbed the back of his neck. "I used my magic to make it actually."

Hamakaze turned away from looking at the pendant and blinked at him. "You used your magic to make it, Harry-San?"

Not quite sure what the looks were for, Harry slowly nodded. "Um... yeah..." He then gestured with his hands to the pendant. "I used some rock crystal because it's harder to break then glass and placed the feather on some. Then I used some transfiguration to make the crystal flow around the feather to seal it inside of the pendant. Pretty cool actually."

For several moments the shipgirls were quiet as they turned to the pendants and stared at them. Then, with a smile, Yamato handed the necklace back to Shinano. "It's very lovely, Harry-Chan."

Crouching down, Musashi grinned as she ruffled Harry's hair. "Yeah, good work."

Unnoticed by him, Shinano was turning the pendant over in her hands with an awed expression in her face. 'Harry-Chan... made this for me with his own magic...' Rubbing a her thumb against the surface of the crystal, the Support Carrier could just swear that she could feel a tingle from it. Almost as if she could feel Harry's magic permeating the crystal itself. Gently, Shinano reached back and placed the necklace on, the pendant coming to rest on the swell of her chest for all to see as it glinted in the lights from the ceiling. Then she reached down and hugged him. "Thank you so very much, Harry-Chan."

After a moment of indecision, she then kissed him on the top of the head as he blinked before pulling away. Blushing heavily, she tried to ignore the grins from both Yamato and Musashi. But it was the slight upturn of Hamakaze's lips that really said everything. Harry meanwhile just blinked and then looked up before smiling. "Thanks, Shinano-Chan!"

Several more minutes passed, with Harry giving Yamato and Musashi theirs along with Hamakaze's and Isokaze's before he noticed that Haru and Natsumi had arrived and headed off to meet them. Once he was out of hearing range, Musashi gave a smirk to Shinano which made said Carrier flush and play with her pendant some. "Um... is something wrong, Onee-Chan?"

With a deep chuckle, Musashi shook her head in amusement. "Oh, nothing is wrong..." Then she grinned at Shinano. "Though considering that you have both stated that he will be your Admiral in the future and he's already giving you such a thing..."

Needless to say, Shinano's face was bright red at the teasing, though a moment later Musashi flinched as Yamato sighed and flicked her in the ear. "That is enough of that."

Meanwhile, Harry had finally reached where Haru and Natsumi were with a grin on his face. "Natsumi-Chan! Haru-San!"

Both kitsune turned to regard Harry with a smile though Natsumi jabbed her brother in the ribs as he gave Harry a narrowed eyed look. Before Taichi could say anything though, Natsumi rushed forward and gave her friend a hug. "Merry Christmas, Harry-Chan."

All Harry did was hug her right back. "And a Merry Christmas to you too, Natsumi-Chan!" Once they pulled away from each other, Harry reached into the bag that was at his side and searched inside it before he pulled out a box. "Here you go, Haru-San!"

There was a smile on Haru's face as she took the box and gave Harry his gift from her. Then she raised an eyebrow as she noticed Natsumi's grin. "I take it that you already told Natsumi what you were going to get for me then?" In reply, Harry nodded which caused the Miko to sigh before she shook her head. "Might as well see what it is then."

Natsumi just snickered a bit and gave her aunt a wink. "I think that you'll like it a lot."

Simply humming, Haru nodded. "I am sure that I will." Once the gift was unwrapped, Haru raised an eyebrow at the polished wooden case before opening it. Then she smiled a bit. "Caligraphy brushes, thank..."

When she trailed off, her sister turned towards Haru who was now examining the brushes carefully. "Something wrong?"

Hearing snickers, she turned to Natsumi and raised an eyebrow. At mutters from Haru though, she focused her attention on her sister who was how feeling the brushes. "It feels like horsehair but... no, there's something else to them. Almost... pure?" Now frowning deeply due to her confusion, Haru sighed and looked up at Harry who had a wide grin on his face. 'I swear sometimes that he must have kitsune blood.' With another sigh, she shook her head. "Okay, what did you make the brushes with?"

If anything, Harry grinned even more. "Unicorn hair."

Outside of Natsumi, who pulled out her phone and was now taking pictures, the other kitsunes stared at him in shocked silence. Haru especially had a dropped jaw as she looked between him and the brushes that were in the box. "Unicorn hair..."

With a slight frown on his face, Harry glanced to Natsumi who was still taking pictures of her aunt. "Well, yes? I mean, I helped Hagrid gather them from the unicorns themselves... or at least from the brush that he used to brush them with."

That caused Haru's head to snap up. "You gathered the fur yourself?"

Slowly, Harry nodded as he placed his hands behind his head. "Um, yeah? I Mean, that's how I know for a fact that they're unicorn hair."

With a gentleness, the Miko ran her finger through one brush and felt a shiver run up from said finger and then down her back. 'These are... quite powerful I think.' Glancing back to Harry, she gave him a smile and then pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, I love them and they will be perfect for the Shrine and my duties there."

Once she pulled away, Harry gave her a grin. "That's great!"

Becoming thoughtful, Haru looked down at the brushes and then let out a hum. "Harry-Chan? Come to the Shrine after New Year's and I shall have some charms for you."

Confused, Harry only nodded before he snapped his fingers. "Right! I got you're present as well, Natsumi-Chan!"

Now it was Natsumi-Chan's turn to blink as Harry pulled out a box and handed it to her. Frowning, she pulled at the ribbon and opened it... before her eyes widened at the paint brushes inside. 'I...'

Leaning over to look, Haru's eyes also went wide before she shot a grin at Harry and began to explain. "After I made Haru-San's brushes, I had a bunch of unicorn hair left over, so I made you some paint brushes with them. I read up and they're supposed to impart magic to any paintings made with them and... Natsumi-Chan?" Harry was rather confused as Natsumi sniffled a bit and was rubbing at her eyes. "Is... something wrong?"

He glanced towards Natsumi's family, only to see them staring at him in shock. All of a sudden though, Natsumi flung herself at him and hugged him tightly. "Harry-Chan no baka."

If anything, Harry was even more confused. "Um... did I do something wrong, Natsumi-Chan? Because if I did, I'm sorry! I mean, you like painting and stuff so I thought that you would like brushes like that. Horse hair is good so unicorn hair is even better, right?" Feeling her shake, Harry became worried only to blink as he could suddenly hear her giggle. "Natsumi-Chan?"

Pulling away slightly, Natsumi gave him a wide smile with happiness sparkling in her eyes. "Nothing's wrong, Harry-Chan. This... is the best gift, thank you so much." Then she pulled him close and laid her head in the crook of his neck. "Thank you, I'll treasure them always."

Still slightly confused, Harry reached up and hugged her tightly back. Unnoticed by him, Sayuki leaned towards her husband and whispered to him. "So... any more concerns about him?"

Eyes wide, he only shook his head and whispered back to her. "No... not after a gift like that. Especially with how he didn't give it to her out of anything then pure feelings and wanting to give her something special."

A soft giggle escaped from Sayuki as she noted that Haru was now taking pictures of Natsumi and Harry. "No wonder she feels like that about him. Though I do wonder how he'll ever top that."

Her husband only shook his head as they went back to watching Natsumi practically crushing Harry in her happy hug.

 

Tiypo

Ok, snippet is finally done and fair warning, it ended up at convoy tier shipping. Please point out typos and such as there was plenty of rephrasing and additions to mess things up.


-=#=-

Harry waved in the distance, walking back towards base, and Natsumi had to admit that his meeting with her family had gone as well as it possibly could. She paused for a moment to take deep breath before she returned to an inevitable barrage of questions on the foreign boy who had captured her heart and families stomachs. Honestly, the meeting had been a success thanks to his peanut butter cookies. That seemed to be a thing between them… Each step they made together, somehow it always involved peanut butter.


~Three years prior~

Harry sat beneath the fall trees, enjoying the fall weather as he slowly ate his lunch. He had been in the school for a few months so far but his foreign features had left him isolated amongst his classmates, that was nothing new to him, what was a unusual was the girl that had seemingly decided that he was too lonely and was going to be around him all the time.

"Hi Harry-chan!"

The boy looked up at the girl leaning around the tree he lay against, her golden brown hair fitting in with the fall colours.

"Hi Natsumi-chan."

She twisted around the tree and sat across from him.

"So whatcha eating today?" she asked, pulling out her own lunch from her bag.

"Jus a PeeBeeNJay..." he struggled to answer with the sandwich attempting to seal his mouth shut.

She quirked her head to the side slightly, "A what?"

Harry took a quick swig of water to regain his ability to speak, "A peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

The look on Natsumi's face spoke volumes, "Isn't that that weird stuff that always gets sent over in the shipments but strange people grab while every else goes for rice?"

"It tastes really good, and it's healthy too!" he argued back.

Natsumi gave him a glare of suspicion.

"How about I give you a piece and you give me one of your omelette rolls?" he offered.

"Hmm... fine, but if this is gross you owe me a drink!"

Harry smiled and tore off a quarter from the half of his sandwich that was still untouched in his lunch and passed it to Natsumi as she dropped one of her omelette rolls into his outstretched hand. She looked at the unappetizing and somewhat squished lump of bread, strawberry jelly, and peanut butter before squeezing her eyes shut and shoving the whole thing in her mouth. She chewed a few times before the mix of savoury and sweet registered in full and a look of shocked awe dawned upon her face.

"This is delicious..."

Harry looked at Natsumi with a touch of confusion; he agreed that the sandwich was good but her reaction seemed a bit drastic. She continued to slowly chew, trying to savour it as much as she could, and practically looked to be in agony as she was eventually forced to swallow. Even then she seemed to bask in what after-taste remained for a good half-minute before she opened her honey-shaded eyes to look at Harry with desperation.

"Please... I'll give you my whole lunch! Just let me have the rest!"

"Uhh... no need to give me your whole lunch Natsumi-chan, you can have it..."

With a shout of joy she grabbed it and took a massive bite, a look a bliss settling onto her face. In her thoughts she reflected on her choice to befriend the lonely boy; she had just wanted a friend that didn't care that she wasn't so girly but wasn't rude like the rest of the boys, but instead she had found a friend who would willingly part with the world's greatest food, just because she had never had some.

As this all went through her head, Harry just sat there at a bit of a loss on what to make of his friends reaction.

"Poi?"


~Two years prior~

It was a little after school when Harry found Natsumi at "their" tree, her eyes her closed gently as she let the cool late winter air nurse the bit of a headache that had grown over the day.

"So how bad was it this year?" He asked.

A defeated moan was Natsumi's only answer. She was popular, and that meant White Day was always a mess. She would give out giri chocolate just to be nice and some of the boys would take it a bit too far with their return.

Silently chuckling he sat down next to his best friend, "That bad?"

"Takayama wouldn't take no for an answer. I’m sure any other girl would love to have a popular guy on the football team as a boyfriend; so why is he so interested in me when I already turned him down?" she grumbled.

"He’s probably thinking the same thing and counting you as ‘any other girl’ too; but it's obviously because you're pretty Natsumi-chan." Harry returned, saying it in such a tone that it wasn't much of a pick up line as it was stating a universally known fact like 'the sky is blue'.

She twisted to flop onto her back with her head resting on one of his legs, "You really mean that?"

"You are the only girl I've seen in the school that has looks that could compete with a Shipgirls." he replied seriously.

Natsumi quickly popped back up and spun to face further from him to try and hide her blush at the sincerity of the statement.

"S-so! What did you make this year O' master chef?" she stuttered out.

Harry pulled out a clear bag filled with little bite-sized chocolate pieces in a variety of shade before poking her in the side to get her to turn around.

“Happy White Day, Natsumi-chan!” he declared, passing off the candies, “I based them off of an American candy, I think you’ll like them.”

Pulling one out and looking it over the girl found nothing particularly strange, it looked like mini cupcake made of milk chocolate rather than cake, so she peeled off the wrapper and popped it in her mouth.

Harry started to suspect something was wrong when her eyes started tearing up and she started sniffling.

“Natsumi-chan?! Are you okay? Did you bite your tongue?”, he asked in alarm.

She reached for another, this time white, peeled off the wrapper ever so gently and ate it. At this point Natsumi was in full blown tears. Starting to fear that they were going to begin drawing attention to themselves, Harry moved his hand to keep her from grabbing a third and shook her shoulder with the other.

“Natsumi-chan! If it hurts you can’t keep eating them! We need to get you to the nurse!”, he urgently spoke, hoping it wasn’t an allergic reaction.

“Dusn’t hurt… Jus so gud…”, she choked out between sobs.

That threw Harry for a bit of a loop. Yes, he always tried his best when cooking, but he had never expected someone to be moved to tears by his homemade Reese’s Cups.

“U-ummm… let’s get you home before you have any more of them then, we don’t want anyone to tease you for crying in front of everyone.” he tried, hoping to get her away from less prying eyes before a misunderstanding happened.

Getting a nod in turn, he escorted her off of the schools grounds and towards the shrine. After several minutes passed Natsumi managed to calm down enough that tears weren’t flowing anymore, though her face remained flushed and she walked like a person impaired by a few too many drinks.

All along the way Natsumi couldn’t get over how lucky she was to have met the black haired English boy. The whole day just spoke of how good a friend he was; his casual acceptance of her whining over the other boys, the way he managed to accept her subtle supernatural beauty without it impacting their friendship, or how when she started crying his first reaction had been to help her. Even now when he could have just sent her on her way, he stuck by her side, making sure that she got home safely. Those oh so lovely peanut butter filled chocolates had just been cherry on top.

This year she had given him a fairly nice giri choco, but it had still been something just as a friend. Now with the feelings she felt bubbling within her chest, next year she would have to give him a honmei, even if he didn’t realize that it was one…


~Six months prior~

It was late morning on the mid summer day, the sun yet to be beating down from overhead, and the morning haze mostly burnt off save for a few patches that had survived to become low clouds. Harry walked up to the shrine, a thin three-ring binder tucked under his arm.

“Good morning, Haru-san.”, he greeted the older shrine maiden who was cleaning the front walk way.

“Good morning Harry-chan, I’m afraid you’ll find Natsumi is still sulking in her room.” she replied, guessing why he was here.

He sighed in return, “Well hopefully, this will help her be okay with me going to boarding school.”

He excused himself and proceeded up to the living section of the shrine and made his way inside. Coming to her room’s door he took a deep breath and knocked.

“Go away Oba-Chan!” she loudly and angrily grumbled out at the door.

“Am I not welcome either?” Harry asked.

The room went quiet, but half a minute later the door opened a crack and two reddened eyes peered out at him accusingly.

“I have a gift?” he offered, raising the binder.

Natsumi let out a tired breath before opening the door the rest of the way. She was still clad in her pyjamas, a simple grey and white striped top and bottom. She plopped down onto her futon and glared at Harry as he sat across from her.

“Here… I know you’ll want some of these while I’m gone, so I made this for you.”, he started while handing the binder over.

Opening the binder revealed two dozen dessert and sweets recipes, all involving peanut butter in some form, all foods that he had made and she had loved.

Natsumi’s eyes started to glisten with tears, “Stupid Harry-chan… I’m going to be lonely with you gone.”

She sat the binder down and crawled forward to hug him.

“I’m going to miss you a bunch too, but I can’t pass this up… I promise to take lots of pictures, send tons of letters, and I’ll come back for the holidays.” he muttered,starting to tear up too.

For a few minutes they sat there, Harry comforting Natsumi, letting her take comfort in that he wasn’t gone yet. Eventually she let go, some of the tension that had been built up in her body language gone, and scooted back.

“Okay, I’m better now.” she declared, more to herself then him.

Getting up, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

“Now you are going to teach me how to make those peanut butter brownies you made in Home Economics, or gods help me I will find a way to prank you halfway around the world!” she resolutely said.

Giggling, Harry let himself get dragged into the kitchen, “Sure thing Natsumi-chan, let’s start with checking if you have everything you need for them.”


~~~~~

Time and time again that wonderful substance the gods had seen to bless the planet with had brought them closer and closer; she could only wonder where it would take them next. For now though she stepped back into the shrine, ready to be questioned and heckled, knowing that her victory had already been won as soon as that plate of innocent looking cookies had passed through the shrine door.

 

Harry Leferts

Hoppou was playing with the new toy Reppu that she had been given when she noticed that Harry had reappeared from the crowd. Hopping off her seat, she rushed over to him and gave him a hug. "Big Brother!"

Laughing, Harry just picked her up and swung her up into a hug, "Having fun?"

All Hoppou did was nod with a smile on her face. "Hoppou have lots of fun, Big Brother!" She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the Hellcat that took up it's place over Harry's shoulders. More then one eye turned towards it with several people looking nervous, but then dismissing it when all the Abyssal fighter did was open it's mouth to pant with a orange glowing tongue. "And here's your gift again, Big Brother!"

Just glancing at it, Harry frowned a little. "Ah... by the way... I forgot to ask if it's got a name?"

There was a smile on Hoppou's face as she shook her head. "Nope! He doesn't."

For a moment, Harry blinked and then looked at the Abyssal Hellcat. '... Him?' Quickly shaking it off, he searched his memory before he came across one in particular. "How about... Barghast?"

Blinking, Hoppou turned her head to the fighter which tilted this way and then that before letting out a hiss with it's mouth wide open. Clapping her hands, Hoppou nodded. "He likes that name, Big Brother."

All Harry could do was stare at it as it suddenly whirled around before stopping upside down. "I... see. Okay then, Barghast it is." Suddenly, Hoppou stiffened and then turned towards where the water was with wide eyes. "Something wrong, Hoppou?"

The Abyssal only shook her head before grabbing Harry's arms and started to drag him out. "No, because Big Sister is here! Hoppou can tell!"

More then a little amused, Harry turned his head to his mother who was now following, along with the Weasleys who seemed more bemused then anything. It took them a few minutes, but they finally reached the edge of the water where Wanko was watching Revina. Then the giant woman noticed Harry and Hoppou and began to walk towards them with a smile. "Hoppou... Harry... Merry Christmas..."

Softly chuckling, Harry waited as Hoppou ran up and flung herself into Wanko's arms to hug her before stepping up and giving her one of the same. "Merry Christmas, Big Sister."

In Wanko's eyes, there was an odd glimmer along with happiness before she enfolded Harry into a hug along with Hoppou. Oddly, Harry didn't feel the least amount of fear, but rather safety instead. Behind them, Nagato simply watched with some amusement. After Wanko began to let the two go, Nagato walked forwards and held out her hand. "Welcome back to Yokosuka."

With a slow nod, Wanko reached forward and took the hand in her own massive claws before shaking it. "It is... good to be... back and to... see you... again, Nagato." Then standing to her full height, and ignoring Hoppou who was currently climbing all over her, Wanko gestured to the Abyssals beside her, two of which looked nervous. "Allow me to... introduce Regina and... Supply Depot Princess..."

Reaching out, Nagato held her hand which, after a moment, Supply Depot Princess took and shook as Nagato smiled. "Pleased to meet you now that we're not enemies."

Eyes wide, Supply Depot Princess looked down at the hand that she was shaking and then up at the kind expression on Nagato's face. "Um, yes, the same here." Turned to the new Re-Class, only to blink as it hid behind Supply Depot Princess. Seeing that, Supply Depot Princess scratched her cheek. "Ah, Regina is a bit.... shy."

That caused Nagato to blink and just stare as she tried to comprehend the idea of a shy Re-Class. Meanwhile, Harry slowly walked around Supply Depot Princess until he was within sight of Regina and then held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Harry." Using his experience from some of Shinano's bad days, he just kept smiling and his tone soft. "It's nice to meet you, Regina."

Unsure, Regina looked first at the offered hand and then up at Harry before reaching out and taking his hand. "I-it's n-nice to m-meet you too, Harry."

Suddenly, Revina leapt into view. "Okay, this is awesome now because everyone knows everyone! But why didn't you introduce me!?"

Wanko simply sighed as she looked at the Re-Class and, not for the first time, wondered what she was thinking when she made Revina her main bodyguard. 'At least Harbour Demon... does not need... to deal with... her.' Then she narrowed her eyes. "They already... know you..."

Giving this some thought, and rubbing the fake goatee that she just slapped onto her chin, Revina nodded and then shrugged. "Yeah, true enough. Heh, I'm sort of awesome that way. Though next time, I need an introduction with trumpets and vuvuzalas!" Ignoring the sigh from Wanko, Revina blinked a bit and then grinned widely. "Heeeey, sis, being rather forward there aren't ya?"

Nearly as one, everyone turned and stared as it seemed that Regina had been surprised by Revina's actions and jumped into Harry's arms with hers around his neck. Then she realized that everyone was staring at her and shrunk inwards as she covered her now blushing face with her hands and tail. "Ooou..."

Meanwhile, Harry just blinked in confusion as he looked at the Re-Class in his arms. "... Huh?"

With a sigh, Nagato rubbed her brow as Wanko chopped the grinning Revina on the head. "What am I going to do with you..." Another thought then passed her mind and she reconsidered what was going on. 'Wait... how is he even holding her?'

At the same time, Revina just rubbed the bump on her head before she shrugged it off with a grin. "Right! So I heard that there's a party going on? Because you all know that I love parties!"

Yet again, Wanko just chopped her on the head. Off to the side, the Twins leaned towards Percy with Fred whispering. "Are these really Abyssals? I mean look at them..."

Before Percy could say anything, another voice spoke up. "Yeah, I mean really... they're so weird aren't they?"

George slowly shook his head. "I don't know about that... though that Revina one really is kind of bloody cool. Crazy, but cool."

The voice gave a chuckle before it continued. "Heh, I know right? Though the two of you are kind of cute and Harry told me all about your pranks." Finally, all three Weasleys recognized the voice and turned to see that Revina had put her arms over their shoulders. "Iiiit's Revina!"

Faces paling, Fred and George were about to scream when Revina's tail came up and gave them both a lick across the faces. Slowly, their expressions became one of disgust and they scrambled to wipe their faces as Revina fell back laughing. At the same time, Regina who had been getting out of Harry's arms, leapt back into them at Percy's screech. "Eep!"

Stumbling back, Harry grimaced a bit, though he noticed Hoppou walk up behind Revina and start spraying her in the face with a squirt bottle. "Stop that. It's silly."

Only thing that Wanko did was hold her face in her claws as Supply Depot Princess raised a finger. "Ah... does this happen often?"

Trying to massage away the building headache, Nagato shook her head. "More often then you might think."

Her head tilting to the side, Supply Depot Princess only had one response to that. "... Oh."

Finally, Harry managed to set the heavily blushing Regina down onto her hooves before he turned to his bag. "Oh! By the way, i got some presents for you."

Surprised, Wanko placed a claw tip to her chin. "You got us... presents?"

Nodding, Harry began to dig around in his bag before he pulled out some wrapped objects, One he passed to Revina who grinned and the other to Wanko. Opening her's, Wanko blinked at the sight of a necklace made for someone of her size. Granted, instead of silver or gold, the chain was steel, but her eyes widened nonetheless. It looked like Harry had taken a shell of an oyster and then then wrapped a crystal around it so that the mother of pearl inside sparkled and glinted with all the colors of the rainbow. With his head tilted to the side, Harry frowned. "Wanko, you okay?"

The Abyssal Princess nodded and then bent down to hug him. "I shall... treasure it... Little Brother."

Gently, she slipped it on and the pendant sat on her chest for all to see. Suddenly, Revina's voice rang out. "Thanks kiddo! I got an awesome hat now!"

Blinking, Wanko turned and then closed her eyes at the colorful jester's hat that now sat on Revina's head, the bells jangling with every move. For some odd reason, it was done up in dazzle camo which made her eyes cross everytime she looked at it. Harry meanwhile gave her a thumbs up. "Glad that you liked it." Then he turned towards the other two Abyssals and held out some gifts as well. "Here, I, uh, only found out that you were coming yesterday so I kind of had to do a rush via catalogue, but... hope that you like them."

Eyes wide, Supply Depot Princess shared a look with a blushing Regina and unwrapped them. Looking at the small handbag, Supply Depot Princess frowned. "What is it?"

Just chuckling, Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "It's like one of those bags of holding from the games and such. You can put in all sorts of stuff up to a hundred pounds I think." Then he turned to Regina who was looking at the gloves in her hands. "Uh, hope that you like dragon hide gloves?"

Slowly, Regina placed the gloves on and felt them resize to fit her hand. "T-thank you..."

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Harry turned to see Revina with a grin there. "Awesome posssum, anyways... I was going to give you a mine, they make for sweet pets, buuut... Boss Lady said no for some odd reason." For a moment, the crazy Re Class pouted before she shrugged it off. "Whatever. Anyways, so I came up with... this!"

With a wide grin, she held out a necklace with the biggest shark tooth that Harry had ever seen on the end. "Wow..."

Her eyes glinting, Revina rubbed one fist against her coat. "Eyup, found this baby in the sand and figured that you might like it. Shark teeth are just awesome, see?" She then pointed at her shark-like teeth. "Maybe one day you might have set of chompers like these!"

Tone of voice dry, Harry shook his head. "Sorry, I don't want to be a Bond villain."

In reply, Revina only laughed as if it was the funniest thing that she had ever heard and fell back on her tail. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Harry turned to see an odd, black box that Wanko held in one hand. "Here, this is... a radio for... you. It will... work... anywhere. And will... pick up any... radio stations..."

A smile on his face, Harry hugged her. "Thanks!"

Suddenly though, he felt a tug and looked down to see Hoppou looking up at him. "Hoppou want to try perfect spot now."

For several moments Harry tried to puzzle out what she meant before his eyes went wide. "Ooo..." Turning, he regarded his adopted mother who seemed rather bemused. "Mum? Can you come here for a second?"

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato walked up and then looked down at her two adopted children who had wide smiles on their faces. "Now what are you two up to?"

However, Harry only pointed at Wanko who tilted her head. "Mum, can you get up onto Wanko's shoulders?"

Just blinking for a moment, Nagato crossed her arms as she looked at the confused Abyssal who stared back. "May I ask why?"

Sharing a look, Harry and Hoppou gave her Destroyer eyes. "Please?"

Despite everything, Nagato's defences were unable to hold against such a barrage and turned to Wanko. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Even though she was just as confused as before, Wanko nodded and within a few seconds, Nagato was on the Princess' shoulders. Then Harry walked over. "Okay... now help me up onto Mum's shoulder, Big Sister."

Once more, Nagato and Wanko shared looks of utter befuddlement with each other, but Wanko held out one hand that Harry stepped onto. Then she raised it up to Nagato's shoulders with Harry clambering on. Tilting her head to the side, Wanko blinked. "Now... what?"

She got her answer not even a second later as Hoppou climbed up her like a monkey. Within moments she was swinging herself past Nagato and then onto Harry's shoulders where she perched before looking down at Wanko. "Stand up, Big Sister?"

Carefully, Wanko stood up to her full height which placed Hoppou far above the ground. Looking up at her, Harry gave a grin. "Well?"

There was an awed look on Hoppou's face as she looked around. "Best spot... ever, Big Brother!"

Looking down at Wanko, Nagato only got a shrug as even the Princess didn't understand what was going on. Revina though was looking up in awe. "Hey, do you think-"

Wanko just looked at her as she interrupted the Re-Class. "No."

Pouting, Revina crossed her arms and then kicked at the dirt. "You never let me do the really awesome stuff."

Her tail only shook it's head from side to side.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

A chuckle from Goto caused Kongou to raise an eyebrow at him, only for the Admiral to tilt his head slightly. "Look who has finally shown up."

Turning her head, Kongou already guessed who he meant and, upon seeing Haruna and Rose coming in together, she smiled softly. If anything, her smile grew a bit more at seeing how the two were walking together closely with their hands brushing every so often. "Dess."

With a slight smile of his own, Goto shook his head. "Do you think that those two have realized it yet?"

Kongou's lips twitched a bit as she felt happiness swell in her at how happy her younger sister seemed. "No, I don't think that they have yet, though they are close." A wistful sigh escaped her as she watched the two. "Though I cannot wait for when they do realize it." Part of Kongou still chuckled at the fact that people had thought that she would have had more issues with Rose and were surprised when she had welcomed her whole heartedly. What most did not realize was that Kongou was far more observant then most would think and all she had to do was see Haruna's face and body language when she introduced Rose to her sisters. She was happy and had a weight lifted off her shoulders by the company of the tsukumogami. And each time Kongou saw them together, she saw that a little bit more of the weight of the past now no longer held her younger sister down.

If anything, Kongou was far more thankful to Rose having met Haruna.

Since then, the Fast Battleship had just sat back and watched their relationship grow and change. At the most, she would give quiet advice to Haruna when asked, but other then that she did nothing more then open her arms. And now, seeing the two of them walk in, Kongou had never felt so glad that she had as at the sight her own spirits lightened at the glow that seemed to be around the two. Happiness seen is happiness shared in her mind. Turning towards the hand that entwined with her own, she smiled a bit. "I'll be right back, Dess."

All Goto did was shake his head and chuckle as he watched Kongou bound off towards Haruna. For a few moments he watched before he shook his head and decided that it might be a bit. 'Now... where was food again...'

Meanwhile, Kongou made her way through the crowd which was slowly thinning as lunchtime approached and noted that Kirishima and Hiei were also heading in the same direction. Softly, she sighed internally at the two. She loved them with all her heart, but even she admitted that the two needed to learn to approach some things with a lighter touch. Haruna though spotted her first and gave a smile that seemed to brighten the room. "Onee-Sama!"

Chuckling, Kongou shook her head and gave Haruna a hug before pulling Rose in as well. "Welcome, Dess!"

Just then, Hiei came out of the crowd followed by Kirishima and walked over with a grin. "About time you two showed up, we were getting a bit worried."

There was a light blush on Rose's face as she looked down at her shoes. "Ah, that would be my fault... Before we left I wanted to check to make sure that Master brought all the presents to exchange..."

Giving Hiei a look, Kongou was about to say something when Haruna shook her head and placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Haruna disagrees with that, Rose-Chan. We both lost track of time."

It was a thoughtful Kirishima who was looking between the two before her glasses glinted and she nodded. "I see..." She then adjusted her glasses with a smile. "So, did you like the present that Haruna-Nee-San got for you?"

Quickly nodding, Rose smiled brightly as she looked towards Haruna who smiled back. "Oh yes, I quite like the watch she got me. It does remind me of the ones that I used to see on the trains." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out said watch and popped it open with practiced ease. "I must admit, it is very beautiful... though perhaps I should get better used to it to tell time!"

That got her several chuckles before Kongou shook her head. "Haruna did do a good job picking it out."

Hiei then hummed and looked over to Haruna who was smiling in pride. "So... what about Rose's gift then?"

For a moment, Haruna looked around and then reached into her robes before pulling out a book. "Rose-Chan wrote it for Haruna!"

More then a little surprised, Kongou leaned forward a bit before looking up at Haruna. "May I look at it?" Haruna seemed unsure, which made Kongou smile internally as that told her all she needed to know about how precious it was to her sister. But then Haruna handed it over to her eldest sister who carefully opened it. After a few pages, her smile became gentle. "My word... this has a lot of thought put into it." Looking up, she gave Rose a smile that was full of approval. "You should be proud of it, Dess."

Part of Kongou just barely kept from giggling as Rose tilted the brim of her hat down some above her eyes, even as she flushed. Kongou could tell though that the tsukumogami was pleased with her words. "I think that I am most happy with how much Haruna seems to like it."

Wagging a finger at her, Haruna's eyes just sparkled. "And as Haruna said, Haruna would have been happy with any gift from Rose-Chan! But Rose-Chan made Haruna a special gift."

Gently, Kongou closed the book and then handed it back. "It must have taken a lot of work and it shows how much you care for Haruna, Rose-Chan. A perfect gift made with love."

Both Haruna and Rose blushed at that before they glanced at each other. Out of the corner of Kongou's eye, she noticed their hands brushing together again as Haruna held the book close to her chest in one hand. "Haruna... thinks the same, Onee-Sama." Her eyes then glistened a bit. "Rose-Chan even placed Haruna's favourite stories at the front. The one with the black duckling and the one with the girl among the flowers."

Only nodding, Kongou placed her hands on Haruna's and Rose's shoulders before pulling them into a hug. "A perfect gift for our Haruna."

With a shy look, Rose just nodded as she held her hands in her lap before smiling. Then she looked around before giving a slight frown. "I wonder where Master is along with Miss Nagato and Hoppou...?"

Shaking her head, Kongou tilted it towards the doors. "It seems that Hoppou could tell that Wanko was coming with her friends and went out to greet them. They will be back in just a little while."

In reply, Rose relaxed a bit before she looked down at the packages that were in the bag at her side. "Oh, that's good. Somehow several packages appeared in Master's room after I left for him. So I brought them here so that he could open..." Frowning thoughtfully, she glanced at the other Kongou sisters and then nodded. "While we wait, do you want your gifts now?"

Now it was Kongou's turn to be surprised as she looked at the bag. "You got us gifts?"

All Rose did though was frown and tilt her head. "Of course I did, you have all been so kind to me how could I not?" Reaching in, she pulled out three items and handed them to each of the sisters as Haruna smiled at her. "I hope that you like them."

Opening hers, Kongou blinked and then smiled. "A tea box!"

Beside her, Kirishima opened hers and had to do a double take at the ink drawing of herself next to Washington and who she recognized as Gale. In the background were hers and Wash's hulls bow on. "I... thank you."

Her jaw dropping, Hiei examined the trinket box, which had a picture of the Richardson household inserted into a glass frame inside. "I... I don't know what to say..."

Suddenly though, Rose found herself with three gifts outthrust to her which she smiled at. "Oh... thank you!" Opening Kirishima's first, her expression became one of fondness at the sight of a black and white picture of a train like the one that she used to be on. "I... I don't know what to say..."

With a smile, Kirishima only shook her head. "It's the least that I could do."

After Rose opened Hiei's gift though, she chuckled at the British food recipe book that the second oldest Kongou had given, though she did make sure that it was an authentic one with a check. "I can use this, thank you."

Crossing her arms against her chest, Hiei ignored the amused looks she got and gave a nod. "From one chef to another."

However, when she opened Kongou's, she blinked in some confusion. It was a plain, old tea can, but it was what was inside that caught her attention. Glancing at Kongou, who motioned her on, Rose picked up one of the finger sized ingots of what looked like silver. "What is this...?"

Placing her arms into her sleeves, Kongou just smiled. "Goblin wrought silver, Dess. I asked someone I knew to buy it for me in England and send it over."

There was only confusion on Rose's face as she furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm... not quite sure what I am supposed to do with this..."

On Kongou's face there was an expression that said she knew something that the others there did not. "Eat one."

For a second or two, there was silence before Rose looked at the silver ingot in her hand. "I... eat it?"

Slowly the Fast Battleship nodded and chuckled. "You're like us, Dess. We can eat more then just normal food, we can also eat things like steel, aluminum, or in your case..."

Eyes widening, Rose looked down at the ingot and blinked. "Or silver..." Bringing it up, Rose glanced at Kongou who only smiled before she bit down on it. To her surprise, after a slight resistance, her teeth went right through it like it was chocolate.

And then the taste hit her and she closed her eyes in bliss as she chewed.

The sounds of enjoyment only made Kongou nod. "It's very good, isn't it? Hmm?"

Opening her eyes, Rose nodded. "It's very good! I... I never knew that such a thing could... be like this." With perfect manners, she put the rest into her mouth and quickly chewed it and swallowed. "But it's quite tasty."

Kongou then raised one finger and winked. "It has another benefit too!" She waited until Rose looked up as the tsukumogami chewed another ingot. "We use it in repairs for wear and tear. But for you, that silver will replace any of yours that is worn away. No need to worry about thinning or such from age, dess."

Now looking between the silver and Kongou, Rose's expression became one of amazement and happiness. "So it will replace any silver that I lose over time?"

All Kongou did was nod. "Dess."

Sniffing, Rose rubbed at her eyes a bit. "I... I thank you, Kongou. That does take a weight off me."

Expression soft, Kongou just pulled her into a hug. Internally though, she was smiling widely because now Rose would be around for a very long time due to the properties of the silver that she was eating.

 

Harry Leferts

Frowning, Nagato raised an eyebrow as she looked over the gifts in that Rose had brought from Harry's room before turning to regard the tsukumogami. "So you found these in Harry's bedroom then?"

All that Rose did was nod as she looked at the packages. "That's right, Miss Nagato. I don't know when they arrived, but they were there in a small pile in Master's room when I checked to see if there were any presents that Master had forgotten there just in case."

That if anything, caused Nagato to frown even more as even Wanko had narrowed eyes. Something that amused Nagato as it seemed that Wanko had become protective of Harry. However, the Abyssal then pointed to one package in particular which was wrapped up in eye searing paper. "That one... feels very... off."

Slowly, Nagato nodded as she glanced at said package herself which was why they were off in a room by themselves with the Weasleys. Before she could say anything though, there was a knock at the door and Nagato cleared her throat. "Come in."

When the door opened, Shimakaze was there and gave a salute as she placed Shiromizu down on the table. "Went and got her super quick!"

Reaching up, Harry gave her a pat to the head which made the Destroyer smile. "Thanks, Shimakaze-Nee."

Just ignoring that for a moment, Percy pointed towards a few that were off to the side. "Well, that's probably from Mum and judging by how it looks, it's probably a sweater and some fudge." At the looks, he shrugged. "Mum's like that."

Nodding, Nagato hummed. "If so, then I'll have to thank her."

Meanwhile, Harry was hissing softly towards Shiromizu with a frown on his face. "{Shiromizu... do you know where these came from?}"

With a tilt of the head, the snake pointed towards the packages. "{You mean those?}" At Harry's nod, she gave her version of a shrug. "{I was sleeping when I heard something and looked out of my home to see a burst of fire before a phoenix appeared there with several packages.}"

Eyes widening some, Harry stared at her. "{A phoenix appeared with them?}"

Slowly, she gave a bob of her head. "{That's right. It stayed for a few moments watching me before it gave a short song and then burst away in puff of flame.}" She then grumbled a little. "{I think that it was laughing at me for some reason... reminds me too much of Haru.}"

Not quite sure what to say to that, Harry turned towards his mother. "Shiromizu says that a phoenix delivered it. And the only phoenix that I know of is... well, the Headmasters."

Becoming thoughtful, Nagato examined the note on the oddest of the packages and furrowed her eyebrows as her fairies compared it to several pictures before nodding. "It is Headmaster Dumbledore's handwriting... though why would he send you a gift for Christmas?" Getting a shrug from Harry, she picked up the note and fully read it. "It says that this is something that belonged to your father and he used it in school... and that he had been holding onto it for you." Still not fully sure, she opened the package and a silver colored cloth spilled out with Ron making a choking sound as Percy stared open mouthed. Seeing that, Nagato raised an eyebrow. "You know what this is?"

Mouth working for a few moments, Percy just nodded. "That's... that looks like an invisibility cloak!"

Ron gave a nod as he stared at it. "Yeah, mate. And those are super rare!"

With a glance to his mother, Harry picked it up and examined it as the material seemed to flow almost like water. But there was also something else that Harry could feel, as could the shipgirls, Abyssals, and Shiromizu. Some kind of power in the cloth that felt ancient, but off. At that moment though there was a knock on the door and Kongou opened it to reveal Haru was there looking in. "Is something..." Her voice trailed off as soon as she saw the cloak and she could feel her hair stand on end for some reason. "What in the name of the kami is that?!"

Still examining it, Harry shrugged. "It's an invisibility cloak that Headmaster Dumbledore said belonged to my father..."

He glanced to his mother who looked back at the note and frowned. "He also says that it was passed down to your father from your grandfather who also had it."

That caused Percy to frown in utter confusion. "That can't be right..."

Raising an eyebrow, Rose frowned at him. "What do you mean? Now that I think about it, I remember Master James showing it to Mistress Lily and telling her that his grandfather had owned it and then passed it to his father and then to him."

If anything, Percy frowned even more at that. "That's not possible. Invisibility cloaks only last for twenty years and begin to wear out after ten. If Harry's father owned it then it shouldn't be... like that, let alone if his grandfather and great-grandfather owned it. Unless it was made with old family magic I guess... It's like something from a fairy tale really or an old legend if it's that old."

As he continued to explain, Haru just shuddered looking at the cloak as for some odd reason, it felt off. it was as if it should not be there and yet at the same time she could feel that it's magic accepted Harry as it's master. Then Harry put it on fully before them all and vanished from sight that she really stiffened as all signs that Harry had been there just vanished. She could hear him talking, but she couldn't sense him. 'What... is that thing...?'

Even Nagato was confused as she looked at where she knew Harry was and her various fairies boggled at her radar as Harry just up and disappeared from it. 'That's... interesting.' Then she frowned even deeper as she had a silent conversation with Kongou who shook her head, which told her that her fellow shipgirl couldn't feel it either. 'Very strange...'

 

Tristar

Lucius was tired exceptional so at that but, his work was never done as he released a suppressed groan. The party goers and members of the magical upper crust long gone his fellow retired Death Eaters long sense pushed out of the manor either by himself or the late hour. For a moment he just sat in his office chair listening as the house elves cleaned the mess in the morning none would know that there had been rather rambunctious christmas party. Lucius waved his wand idly casting a simple spell that brought a somewhat old newspaper into his hand, unfolding the yellowed paper he turned it's pages. Inside hidden under a number of what the muggles would call fluff pieces was a report on the increase in werewolf attacks buried discreately enough that most would consider it here say. Of course at the time Lucius knew better and unlike a good number of his compatriots he actually had more than two braincells to rub together Greyback was pushing his luck.

While it wasn't common knowledge just yet as Lucius had taken great pains to hide it for the time being he couldn't help but, smile at the knowledge that Greyback was dead. "What's that muggle phrase? Oh yes the nail that sticks out the most get's hammered down?" Tossing the paper way he didn't bother to watch as it was caught and incinerated tiny motes of ash disappearing into the cold night air.

There was a resounding pop as a House Elf brought him his favorite mug, and odd piece considering most of the fine china that was normally employed in the Malfoy household. It was simple enough mug no one would think it very special indeed in the muggle world it was fairly common mug mass produced in factories with the words #1 Dad printed in bold black letters. Even as he drank from the black tar within enough to keep him going for another hour possibly two he thought about how he recieved such a special mug. It was Draco's sixth year sense his birth not quiet the boys birthday just yet and at the time Lucius was taking a trip into the muggle realm.

He chuckled then too as the boy had discovered a muggle holiday of all things indeed Lucius and his dear wife had considered it such a silly thing when the boy had asked for a few muggle bills on that very same day. Only a few days latter on a day like any other during family breakfast the Draco had brought him the gift wrapped by hand not magic and said three very strange words, not to say the words themselves where strange it was the context of the whole affair. 'happy father's day.'

The crackling fire in office gave off strange shadows as Lucius set to work writing letters in his attempts to keep the Statue of Secrecy afloat a futile effort he knew all things considered but, he had to make an effort. As he spoke the enchanted pen on his desk scribbled away on the parchment indeed he found pens much more time effecient than quills though he would use the quill if required. As he sat sipping on his coffee he was reminded of the fact that he was on a sinking ship the statue of secrecy was failing left and right having been doing so for a very long time. Indeed he had been once invited to watch the muggles test they're silly nuclear devices out at sea, after witnessing such an event he had wanted to smack the man who had invited him then feed him to a dragon.

There was an old phrase he had been reminded of at the time. 'I am become death, destroy of worlds' The sheer destructive potential that he had witnessed at the hands of the muggles had nearly scared him witless but, at the time he took comfort in the knowledge that they had the SoS. He'd been so stupid then so enraptured with the glory of his dark lord he had failed to see the cracks that where already there. Of course he stilled believed in the inherit superiority of wizards and witches to muggle but, that believe had been tempered by time and knowledge on how destructive Muggles could be and how self-destructive wizards where. It was this reasoning that had him push for his son to get at least some form of muggle education this and the mug.

Of course his beloved wife bless her didn't see any reason for him to get such an education she was under the foul believe that he himself had enforced that the wizarding world's secrecy could be held. He held firm though relying on the sheer strength of What If to get Draco such an education indeed Lucius himself had pointed out that he had holdings in the muggle world and one day Draco would have to take over those holdings.

He waved his wand putting away the pen into it's holder. "With my right hand I make attempts to up hold something that's crumbling yet with my left I make plans to run." He gave a bitter laugh internally debating with himself as the mark itched. He wondered once again what he would do should the dark lord return and the statue would collapse would he be willing to put his family on the line to serve what by his reckoning was increasingly insane mad man?

He shook his head drinking that last vistages of his coffee out the special mug maybe a family vacation was in order when the school year was up? Yes, a family trip would do wonders.

 

Harry Leferts

Anyways, this wasn't quite done when I posted the last bit, but now it is... so get ready for a full spread of feels.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking up at the knock in the small, holiday cottage, Victory gave a snort as she called out to her visitor. "Come on in, you old coot."

Several moments later, Dumbledore walked in with a smile on his face as he took in the surroundings. Most would have expected that the famous Flagship of the Royal Navy would make her home off base in something rather opulent. Said people would then be surprised at the small and homely cottage that Victory called her own in the English countryside. Looking out at the rolling hills, several of which were wooded, Dumbledore gave a chuckle. "I must admit, it is rather peaceful here."

With a soft hum, Victory poured out a cup of tea that she offered Dumbledore who sat across from him. "Hence why I chose here..." Her eyes turned somewhat distant. "Some of my wood actually comes from these forests you know. It's... almost like being close to my place of birth and reminds me of when I was young."

As he sipped his tea, Dumbledore smiled. "And yet there are not any of those dinosaur creatures around, I'm afraid." Dodging the swipe from Victory, he laughed a little. "I have to thank you for the socks, they're quite nice."

Just snorting, she shook her head. "You have an odd way of saying thank you, Bumblebee."

The two just chatted as time passed, though finally Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as Victory kept checking the clock on the wall. "Is something the matter, Vicky?"

Giving him a glare, she growled at Dumbledore which amused him greatly. "Don't call me Vicky." Then she seemed to relax a bit and gave him a smirk. "We're waiting for one final guest so that I can give you both a gift that I've been working on." Suddenly, the silence was broken as a knock could be heard and Victory cleared her throat. "Come in."

Moments later, Albus' eyes widened as Aberforth stepped into view and then stopped at the sight of his twin. "Albus."

Slowly, Albus rose to his feet though internally he flinched at the glare he received. "Aberforth..."

Looking between them, Victory nodded. "Good, you know each other. Now, please have a seat."

A scowl on his face, Aberforth turned toward her with a glare. "I think that I would rather stand or perhaps... leave."

Ignoring the slight flinch from Dumbledore out of the corner of her eye, Victory only gave him a stern look. "I said... sit down." Not even a few seconds later, she was smiling again and pouring a cup of tea for Aberforth who looked rather put out as he was sitting beside his brother. "Thank you for coming."

Even as mutters came from his twin, Albus frowned. "Victory... why did you ask us both here..."

Victory glanced up at him before she hummed and put down the tea pot and began to put out some other items. Part of Dumbledore was amused to note the very tiny mug and the bottle of pumpkin juice. "You know about how us shipgirls can have our crews that have passed on return to us as fairies, hmm?"

His eyes narrowing, Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Yes, it's really quite interesting in all honesty. Though I suspect that you, more then some people, have a far larger crew then expected."

Chuckling, Victory shook her head. "All the way to Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson himself as a matter of fact." Placing a plate of various treats down, she stood up and smoothed out her uniform with her one arm the best that she could as her one eye twinkled. "How much do you know of your family history on your mother's side of the family?"

Simply glaring, Aberforth grunted a bit. "Our grandfather, mother's father, was in the Royal Navy." Then there was a look of realization on his face and he blinked. "I suppose that he is one of your fairies."

However, Victory looked rather amused at his question. "Oh, he is, but that is not why I asked for you to be here in all honesty. But do you know anything else about him? Or your family?"

Leaning back, Aberforth glanced to his brother and grunted. "No."

Giving a chuckle, Victory shook her head. "I see... well, you see, there are certain... rules, regarding our fairies and crews. However, like all rules, there are... loopholes, that those knowledgable of such things can in fact exploit. It just takes time to sort them out which is why it has taken me this long, Bumblebee."

More then a little annoyed, Aberforth turned to Albus with afrown. "She's as bad as you for taking her time to get to a point."

Albus, if anything, seemed rather amused but nodded. "True, it is rather frustrating."

That earned him a look from Aberforth. But before Aberforth could say anything, Victory extended out her hand and laid it out with the palm facing upwards. "Now then... i believe that someone has been waiting some time to meet you both again."

Her sleeve moved as a fairy climbed out and both Aberforth and Albus went pale as their hearts seemed to stop. Mouth opening, Albus looked up at Victory and could barely speak. "It can't be..."

Just shaking her head, Victory looked down at her palm. "It is."

On her palm, the fairy that was Ariana Dumbledore looked up at her older brothers with a soft smile. "Pip pip pip pip pip."

Laughing through his tears, Aberforth shook his head. "Well, of course we got old."

The two of them reached forward and paused with their fingers nearly touching Ariana. Said fairy then reached out and grasped them before sniffling as she rubbed her cheeks against them. "Pip pip pip pip."

Unable to quite believe what was happening, Dumbledore looked up at Victory. "How...?"

Waiting until Ariana had stepped off her palm, Victory just smiled at her friend. "Shortly after she was born, your grandfather called in a favor for her bapitism. He had been in the Royal Navy for a long time and had more then a few friends in high places. So... she was bapitised on me using my bell. You were maybe only three years old. because of that... I can call her back as part of my crew though it did take much longer then it might with others who did serve upon me."

Still blinking away tears, Dumbledore shook his head. "I... I don't know what to say..."

On smiling, Victory straightened her uniform and then nodded as she walked towards the door. "Well, I feel like going for a little walk. Do feel free to have any tea or snacks you wish... there's some pumpkin juice for Ariana." She then nodded. "I might be gone for a few hours."

Taking her hat off the door, Victory was about to walk out the door when Dumbledore's voice stopped her. "Victory... I... thank you."

For a moment, Victory didn't move or say anything and then she looked over her shoulder. "You're a friend Albus Dumbledore, there's no need for that." Placing her hat on her head, Victory walked out the door, leaving the reunited siblings at the table with a few final words as she closed the door. "Merry Christmas, Albus, Aberforth. And may God bless you."

And the door shut with a click as the two brothers fully focused on their returned sister who just hugged their fingers to her.

 

Harry Leferts

It was with a frown on his face that Percy looked over at a nearby table to see Fred and George looking unnerved as they sat beside Revina. And then said Re-Class pulled Fred in close as her tail wrapped around George. "Are... they going to be alright?"

Looking up from where she was eating, Supply Depot Princess gave a blink and looked in the same direction as Percy before shrugging. "They'll be fine, she won't do anything to either of them that will physically harm them."

Slowly, Percy turned towards her and frowned. "Physically?"

All the Abyssal did was shrug as she took another bite of food. "Physical... I won't comment on their mental states though."

With another look to his brothers, Percy finally nodded. "Perhaps that's a good thing." Shaking it off, and ignoring the pleading looks from the Twins, Percy hummed a bit in thought as he looked to where Ron was at Harry's table. All four of the brothers getting separated for one reason or another with Percy finding himself sharing a table with Ooyodo, Niyodo, and Supply Depot Princess. Speaking of said Abyssal, he turned towards her as she made a happy sound. "You seem to be enjoying the food."

Blushing, Supply Depot Princess scratched at her cheek with one massive, metal finger. "Ah... this is actually my first time eating human food..." Thoughtful, she took another bite and quickly swallowed. "It's surprisingly delicious."

Ooyodo frowned a bit as she put down her own food. "I have always wondered... what do Abyssals eat? Us shipgirls can eat most anything, but still."

Eyebrows furrowed, Supply Depot Princess waved a hand around. "Mostly raw resources or whatever can be scavenged from wrecks of ships. Or sea life that we can catch. Nothing like this though... And this oil is definitely better then the crude that I gather."

That caused Ooyodo to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "You drink crude? Straight crude?" At her nod, Ooyodo shook her head. "Unbelievable."

Softly sighing, Supply Depot Princess shrugged. "We take what resources that we can you know? Not like I ever got thanked by most of the bastards." Growling, she grabbed the tankard and sipped some of it. "It was hard enough to keep track of resources without them just taking them. Not even asking, just pointing their cannons at me when I tell them that they need to do paperwork!"

After a moment, she flushed as she realized that she was complaining to Ooyodo, but was surprised as the Cruiser nodded. "I know how that feels. All I hear mostly is... 'Ooyodo, we need more food!', 'Ooyodo, why are you being so stingy!?' 'Ooyodo, where did the bauxite go!?' Ugh..." Just shaking her head, she reached over and grasped her sister's shoulder before shaking her slightly. "That's why I am so damn happy about Niyodo here. With her help, I've actually cut down with my work!"

Both Supply Depot Princess and Ooyodo blinked and turned as Percy shook his head. "Lucky, though if what I have seen is true, I'll have my work cut out for me if I go into the Ministry. I've visited my dad there and let me tell you, most there don't seem to know how to file paperwork!"

Nodding along, Ooyodo sipped her drink before humming. "By the way... I overheard you mention studying?"

With a blink, Percy sighed as he rubbed his neck. "Yeah... I've enjoyed this vacation, but I cannot wait to get back to school and studying... I got twelve OWLs to study for after all. And that's not mentioning my Prefect duties either."

A frown on her face, Supply Depot Princess tilted her head to the side. "OWLs? Prefect?"

Percy nodded as he dipped a dinner roll into some gravy. "Ordinary Wizarding Levels. They're end of year tests in Fifth Year Each day is for a different subject with the morning being taken up by the written and the afternoon one being the practical where you show what you've learned. Though I'm having to double up."

Interested, Ooyodo leaned forward and placed her chin on her hands. "Oh? How many do people normally take then?"

Snorting, the red haired teen shook his head. "Usually five or six. But I want to be Headboy and then get a good job, so..." Shaking it off, he turned to Supply Depot Princess. "As for Prefect... it's kind of like, um... Hall monitors I think they're called." Percy gestured around with one hand. "We patrol the hallways after curfew to catch anyone out of bounds, help the teachers when needed, be a guide or mentor to younger students. Basically enforce the rules."

Now more then a little intrigued, Ooyodo glanced to Supply Depot Princess who was looking closely at Percy. "Not often that one meets someone with a work ethic such as your own."

The sigh that escaped from Percy made both Ooyodo and Supply Depot Princess blink. "Yes, well... it's not like it's easy. My brothers make sure to poke fun at me every chance that they can over it, not Ron as much, but..."

Both Ooyodo and Supply Depot Princess nodded at that before they continued to chat, both of them smiling at the red haired teen. Meanwhile, at Nagato's table, Ron was frowning at the food even as he ate. After a few moments, he finally shook his head in complete confusion. "Okay, mate? I got to ask a question about the food."

Looking up, Harry looked at the food himself and frowned. "Uh... is there something wrong with it?"

Nagato also looked over at him as she pretended not to see Hoppou mooch some food from Harry's plate. She also pretended not to see the innocent look she had one when Harry looked at Hoppou with a huff. "Is it the Japanese food?"

To both, Ron shook his head and waved his hands. "No. no, it's neither. I mean, the Japanese food is different, but not bad... except for that natto stuff that you ate, Harry."

All Harry did was shrug. "What? It's not bad."

Just giving him an unsure look, Ron shook his head. "Uh, yeah, sure... whatever you say..." Shaking it off, he pointed at one thing in particular. "Just... why that Kentucky Fried Chicken stuff?"

There was a pause as Nagato frowned and then scratched her head. "Well... it's considered a Christmas food here in Japan..."

Nodding, Harry chuckled. "Yeah, you have to book days in advance for it."

With a blink, Ron looked between Harry and Nagato. Seeing that they were completely serious, he shook his head. "That's bloody weird..."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once all the food was mostly eaten and gone, the tables were all moved to the side of the mess hall and Naka slid into view with a microphone. "Hai, hai, Naka-Chan, Idol of the Fleet here, Desu! Welcoming you all to the annual Yokosuka Naval Base, Shipgirl Christmas Bash! It's great to see all your faces out here and enjoying yourselves! But without further ado, let's all give a big hand for the Mix Blaster Master, the one who will make us howl in delight, the grand dropper of the bass, Yokosuka's very one... DJ... Big... Bad... WOLF!"

Behind her equipment, Ashigara pumped her fist. "Hey everyone, are you ready to kick some stern and tear up the dance floor?"

Nearly as one, practically every shipgirl shouted. "Yeah!"

Cupping a hand to her ear, Ashigara shook her head. "What was that? I didn't hear you?"

Yet again, they shouted to her. "YEAH!"

However, Ashigara only sighed. "Once more you bunch, and make sure that I can hear you this time!"

The shouts nearly caused her head to whip back from the sound waves. "YEAH!"

Chuckling, the Cruiser shook it off and grinned. "Great to see everyone fired up! But this year, I got something special! Due to our special guests..." The spotlight flashed onto Wanko, Regina (who hid behind the Harbour Princess), and Revina (who only clasped her fists together and shook them in the air). "We decided in the honor of the peace between us and the Timor Sea Abyssals and our alliance, to have one of their own come up. Now, I know what you bunch are thinking, but she is the real deal. So here is my partner DJ for the night... DJ POWERFISTS!"

Pretty much everyone boggled as Supply Depot Princess stepped up to equipment off to the side and nodded to Ashigara. "Thank you, and I'm ready to lay some Eldritch beats on the bunch of you!"

Now grinning, Ashigara flicked on her equipment as Supply Depot Princess did the same. "Now... LET'S DROP SOME BASS ON THESE MOTHERFUCKERS!"

As the music began to play, both Shipgirl and Abyssal working together, Goto groaned and held his head in his hands as Kongou comforted him. "Naka's probably livestreaming this... isn't she..."

Sipping her coffee, Ooyodo gave a shrug. "What year isn't she?"

Off to the side, Fred looked at Harry with a wince before shouting to be heard over the music. "BLOODY HELL, SHOULD I ACTUALLY FEEL THE MUSIC LIKE IT'S HITTING ME!?"

Harry only grinned as he noticed Shinano headbanging. "DESS!" Then he ran over and pulled the Carrier out onto the dance floor as it began to be filled up, though he noticed that Revina had grabbed Fred while her tail grabbed George before yanking them into a group dancing.

 

Harry Leferts

Slightly out of breath, though smiling, Shinano walked out of the crowd and sat down by one of the refreshment tables. Reaching over, she was partway through pouring herself a drink when she realized that she was next to a Re-Class who was twiddling her thumbs. "Um..."

Glancing over, Regina shrank into herself. "O-oh, sorry. Uh, I don't mean to disturb you..." She then looked around. "I, um, can leave if you want... it doesn't bother me any..."

Almost unable to hear her over the music, it took Shinano a few moments to get over here surprise before she shook her head. "No, no, that's okay. Besides..." Suddenly, Shinano blushed a little as she looked out on the dance floor. "I need a break..."

Just nodding, Regina brought her scarf up a bit more. "I-it looks fun, but... I'd be too nervous around all those people..."

With a nod herself, Shinano folded her hands in her lap. "Agreed... it took a while for Harry-Chan to convince me to, you know, join in. But without him I don't feel that comfortable..."

Both of them looked over to where Harry was being held up by Hachi and Iku, each Sub with an arm in their grip as they danced around with the laughing boy. Flushing, Regina shyly smiled. "He is... very nice and kind..."

As Shinano nodded, the two of them lapsed into silence for aa few minutes as they twiddled their thumbs. Finally, Shinano bit her lip and looked over. "Is... is this your first time at a place like this...?"

Slowly, Regina gave a nod as she played with her fingers. "Y-yes... I didn't expect it to be so loud though. I'm not used to it and people keep staring at me... B-but it's okay, I guess..."

Not quite sure what to say to that last bit, Shinano coughed. "Ah..."

Once more, they lapsed into silence before Harry finally stumbled out of the crowd in their general direction and slumped into the seat beside Regina which made her jump a bit. "Eep!"

When he turned to look at her though, she had pulled her hood up over her head to hide her face. "Uh, Regina, right?" Getting a nod, he smiled a bit. "I hope that you're enjoying the party."

However, when she just nodded with a hum, he looked over at Shinano who smiled kindly. "She's just a bit shy."

Thankful, the Re looked up at Shinano and gave a slight smile. "That's right... sorry."

Just waving it off, Harry poured himself a drink. "That's okay." After he got his own drink, he looked at her. "Would you like one?"

Blinking, Regina slowly nodded. "If that's okay with you, I guess..."

With a smile, Harry chuckled which made her blush some before he handed her a glass. "Here you go."

Gently, Regina took it with a shy smile. "Thank you..." Sipping it, the Re class felt rather warm as she looked between Shinano and Harry. 'They're so nice to me... just talking.' Regina could feel her cheeks heat up. 'I like this...'

It was then that Shinano spotted something and pointed. "Is that... Revina I think?"

Turning, Regina softly groaned as she spotted her sister now breakdancing. Though a moment later the Abyssal blinked. "Um... who's that beside her?"

Now it was Shinano's turn to blink. "I think that's Hiei... is she... challenging Revina to a break dancing competition?"

For several moments, the Abyssal just stared before she nodded. "Y-yes?"

Utter silence reigned as the two of them stared. Meanwhile, Harry was sipping his drink as he watched before movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. With a blink, Harry looked over to see Regina's tail less then a foot away from him. "Er..."

Having not noticed, Regina placed one finger to her chin. "They're... pretty good?"

Eyes wide, Shinano nodded though she tilted her head to the side. "I... did not know that Hiei could move like that."

Meanwhile, the black haired boy cocked his head to the side, the tail's head following his movements. 'Weird...' Then he leaned in a bit with a frown. 'So this is what a Re-Class tail looks like from up close.'

At the same time, Regina frowned and leaned forward. "W-who are the two Destroyers joining in?"

Her eyebrows raising, Shinano stared. "That would be... Ikazuchi and Inazuma..."

Glancing around, Harry noticed that no one was watching and frowned. 'I wonder...' Slowly, he moved his hands closer to the tail's head with said tail not moving away. 'What would happen if...'

Jaw dropping, Regina boggled. "They're very... coordinated."

Shinano only blinked. "Well, they are Twins..."

Just blinking, Regina just continued to watch the show before she felt something and stiffened. Moments later, she felt as if her face was on fire and she glanced to the side to see Harry petting her tail's head. 'H-h-h-he's...'

Not having gotten an answer, Shinano turned towards Regina and was about to ask what was wrong when she saw her trembling despite her posture being straight as a board. "Um..."

Then she noticed movement and leaned a bit to see Harry petting the Re-Class' tail's head, sometimes scratching it under the chin as he chuckled. "You're not so scary, are you? Heh... you're actually pretty nice."

It was then that Shinano noticed something. 'Is her tail... actually purring...?'

Unknown to her, Regina's thoughts were racing a mile a minute. 'He's petting and stroking my tail! He's petting and stroking my tail! He'spettingandstrokingmytail! He'spettingandstrokingmytail! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-'

Eyes going blank, the heavily blushing Re's mind had enough and shut down with her slumping against Shinano who only blinked. "Uh... Harry-Chan?"

Looking up, Harry's expression became one of shock as he realized how Regina had reacted and started to panic, not even noticing as her tail kept bumping him to continue it's petting session. "Oh no! I-I'm so sorry, Regina!" It took a few minutes of effort from both him and Shinano, but Regina regained consciousness and was unable to look at him. "I am so, so sorry, Regina! I should have asked or something, but it was just there and it looked like it wanted them."

Still unable to look at him, Regina twiddled her thumbs. "T-th-tha-that's okay, Harry... y-you didn't mean anything b-by it. And, um, it didn't hurt or anything... J-just ask, next time."

Rapidly nodding, Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Okay... but I still should make it up to you."

Folding his arms across his chest, Harry frowned in thought was Regina waved her hands. "Y-you don't have to!"

Somehow, the whole situation was rather amusing to Shinano, though she couldn't understand why. But then Harry gave a nod and caused her to pay more attention. "I know! I'll take you for a broom ride on my broomstick, everyone wants one because it's fun."

Choking a bit, Regina stuttered a bit. "R-r-ride, on your broomstick!?"

Beside her, Shinano suddenly nodded with a smile. "Yeah! Harry-Chan's got this magic broomstick that he can take you for a ride on. It's more then big enough for you both and when he takes you up, you'll be amazed. I know that I was when he gave me a ride and we went so high into the sky that... Um, Harry-Chan?"

With a blink, Harry nodded. "Uh... yes?"

Pointing at Regina, Shinano frowned. "Did... she just faint again?"

All Harry did was nod. "She did. Maybe she's afraid of heights?"

Neither of the two could understand why, later on, Revina nearly pissed herself from laughing when told what happened or why both Yamato and Musashi, along with Nagato, sighed and facepalmed with blushes on their faces.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leaning against the broom in his hands, Yonehara looked around the nearly empty mess hall. Pretty much everyone had left and it was after midnight with the only people there being himself, Ashigara, and her sisters. "Another successful Christmas party."

From where she was unhooking her equipment, Ashigara looked up and smiled. "Was there ever any doublt?"

Just chuckling, Yonehara watched his girlfriend with a smile. "Not with one of the DJs we had tonight. I got to admit, I was surprised when you invited Supply Depot Princess up to give a hand."

Ashigara only shook her head as she finished up and then leaned against her equipment. In the morning, she was going to drop by and pick it all up to put away, but she was done the preparations needed. "Well... I enjoyed myself and so did she. It was a lot of fun which is what is important."

Shaking his head, Yonehara was aware of the weight in his pocket and hummed. "By the way... do you remember what happened two years ago on this day?"

For a moment, the Cruiser was confused by his question and then quickly went through her logbooks. 'Um...' Suddenly, she blinked and then flushed a bit. "You finally told me that... you loved me and we got together."

More then a little amused, Yonehara leaned his broom against the wall and walked towards her. Pointingly ignoring Ashigara's sisters who were listening in, he nodded. "And we've been together for two years."

Not quite sure why, Ashigara only blinked as she felt something twist inside her. 'Wha... what? Why am I nervous all of a sudden?'

Then Yonehara came to a stop in front of her and reached into her pocket. "You know, there's one gift that I didn't give you today." Holding the box out, he popped open the lid to reveal a ring inside which caused Ashigara's sisters to drop what they were doing. "It's not an engagement ring, because no one has quite figured out what is allowed... but it is a promise."

Looking from the ring to her boyfriend, Ashigara just stared utterly in shock before lifting up a hand. Taking it, Yonehara began to slide on the ring with a smile as Ashigara stuttered. "A... a promise?"

Simply humming, Yonehara looked at her. "That, once we can, I am going to make you an honest woman, Ashigara, and it will be replaced by an engagement ring."

Eyes wide, Ashigara boggled at the ring and softly whispered. "Like hell you're replacing it... I'll wear them all."

As soon as the ring was on though, part of her noted that there was a sensation as if something had been broken through, but she ignored it in favor of the man in front of her. Chuckling, Yonehara shook his head. "We'll see."

Moments later though, he was forced against one of the tables as Ashigara kissed him. The Cruiser kept it up for what seemed like hours before a clearing throat caused her to look up to see the amused expressions on her sisters' faces. "Right..." Grabbing the still stunned Yonehara's hand, Ashigara grinned and began to pull him out of the mess hall. "I'll see you girls tomorrow... sometime."

Once they were gone, Haguro turned towards her sister. "So... who's going to tell base medical that Yonehara-Kun might need some painkillers in the morning."

Before she could do anything, Nachi and Myoko raised their hands and spoke as one. "Not it!"

Eyebrow twitching, Haguro growled at them. "You guys..."

 

Harry Leferts

Giving a knock to the door, Harry opened it to reveal the four Weasleys around something that Harry recognized easily and made him smile. "So... enjoying the kotatsu?"

With a blink, Percy looked up and chuckled. "I have to admit... it's something that is rather pleasant." He then frowned as he looked down at it. 'Which is odd...'

However, Harry only nodded at that. "Well, the kotatsu truly is powerful beyond anything that you have ever encountered. Many have challenged it and then fallen before it's might." Ignoring the odd looks he was getting, Harry nodded towards the door. "Anyways... since you're here in Japan, I realized that I forgot to show you all something that Japan is famous for!"

Raising an eyebrow, Ron frowned. "Uh... what?"

Now grinning, Harry raised a finger. "Why, hot springs. So... do you want to go to one of the hot springs? I've already arraigned transport for you all."

Percy missed how the Twins were looking at Harry suspiciously. "Well, I-"

Before he could get any further, a sigh cut him off before Tatsuta's voice spoke up. "And leave the kotatsu...?"

All of the Weasleys stared wide eyed as Tatsuta flopped out from under the kotatsu with a smile and a blush on her face. Harry meanwhile just blinked. "Seriously, Tatsuta-Oba? How long have you been under there?"

She just sighed though. "One can never be under the kotatsu too long..." With agonizing slowness, she slipped back under it. "For the kotatsu is love.... the kotatsu is life..."

Once she was back under it and out of sight, the Weasleys scrambled away and stared at the kotatsu. After several moments, Ron cleared his voice. "Um... maybe we should go with you..."

That only caused Harry to smile at him. "Great! I'll see you all outside, just grab your bath things and a change of clothes."

It was several minutes later that the Weasleys were in the parking area with Harry by what looked like a small bus. Percy could see that inside Nagato was talking with the person in the driver's seat as Regina, Revina, Hoppou, and Supply Depot Princess were waiting around it. Three Destroyers, or at least he thought that they were Destroyers, were looking around as they clutched bentos to themselves. Seeing where he was looking, Harry shook his head which caused Percy to raise an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

Humming, Harry looked over at him. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong. It's just that the Akizukis are really protective over the bentos that I made them." Fred and George were about to head for the bus when Harry stopped them and pointed towards a car that had Haruna and Rose by it. "Not enough room in the bus... so you two need to ride with Haruna-Oba and Rose."

Eyes narrowed, Fred stared at Harry. "And why are Percy and Ron going in the bus."

Despite the looks, Harry only smiled. "Well... firstly, Ron's one of my best friends, so of course he rides with me. Percy is because Supply Depot Princess wants to talk with him and Ooyodo who are coming." They turned and could see the slightly annoyed Light Cruiser walking towards them with what looked like a basket. "Teitoku ordered her to take the day off and accompany us." Suddenly, Harry's expression turned mischievous. "Though... if you really want to, I'm sure that we can squeeze you into a seat with Revina. She wouldn't mind."

Almost as one, the eyes of the Twins widened as they looked to Revina who grinned and waved before she gave them a wink. "We'lltakeHarunaandRose,thankyou!"

The Abyssal pouted as Fred and George ran over to Haruna and placed their items in the car's trunk. Then they got into the car before Haruna and Rose got into the front seats. Ron frowned a bit. "Huh... they seemed rather suspicious..."

Chuckling, Harry typed something into his phone. "Well, they did try to prank me this morning by having a fake rat they animated jump out at me from the cupboard in my quarters... but forgot that I can speak with Shiromizu who saw them do it and that it might have gotten Hoppou instead."

While shaking his head with a scowl, Percy growled. "I cannot believe those two... you going to try and get them back I suppose."

A moment later though, Harry chuckled which sent a shiver down both Percy's and Ron's spines. "I already did... I do hope that they enjoy the ride in Haruna's car."

More then a little confused, Percy turned toward him and away from the black and white car. "Why? What's wrong with the car?"

Upon Harry's face was a rather smug expression. "Oh, nothing's wrong with the car. After all, a 1986 Toyota is pretty nice... but, well..." At that moment the car could be heard starting up and then there was the squeal of tires as said vehicle went from zero to around eighty in less then five seconds. When it passed them, there was an odd dopplering effect to the screams of the Twins. Thankfully, the gate to the base was already open as the car slammed into a 180 degree turn and drifted into the turn and out onto the road. Then it was gone as Harry turned and walked towards the bus. "Haruna-Oba's version of driving on the other hand... though thankfully, Rose enjoys it like I do, we're both adrenaline junkies like that."

Sharing a look, Percy and Ron swore never to get Harry pissed off enough to try and get revenge on them.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So you ready yet?"

Zippering up his flight jacket, which Akagi had stared at and then rushed off to bother Houshou to get her one, Harry blinked at Shimakaze's question. "Almost... Just making a few last minute adjustments."

Just watching as he set up what looked like a light beneath his broom and then flick it on, the light flashing red, Shimakaze hopped from one leg to the other. "Ou, you're being slow, Harry-Chan! I want to race and see how fast your broom is."

With a hum, Harry shook his head. "I would have thought that you would want to fly more."

To his amusement, Shimakaze waved him off with a scoff. "Well, yeah, but that can wait until after we race." She then looked around with a frown. "By the way... where are your friends?"

Stopping in his work, Harry pointed to where Regina was chatting with Shinano as various other shipgirls watched in interest. "Uh... they're right there."

However, Shimakaze shook her head in bemusement. "I meant those red heads... uh, the Weasleys? I mean, they went to the hot springs with you after all."

All Harry did was shrug a bit. "Yeah, but when Mum and the others joined us they started acting weird for some odd reason. Don't see why though." Getting a shrug from Shimakaze, he placed one leg over his broomstick and rose into the air until he was floating head height to the Destroyer. In the background, he could hear gasps and talking between various people. "Anyways... I'm ready for our race now."

Grinning, Shimakaze pumped her fist into the air before leaping out onto the water with her rigging deployed. "Ou! Shimakaze, deploying!"

Softly snickering, Harry flew out until he was right beside her, Fubuki standing somewhat in front of them with cloth in her hands. "Harry, deploying!"

Fubuki waited a moment for Harry to bring his goggles down around his eyes before smiling. "Okay... you both know the route to take. It's a straight line from here, around Akashi, and then back here. First one to return wins. Now, get ready... set..." Both Harry and Shimakaze leaned forward with the Destroyer's turbines coming up to full and springing forward as Fubuki brought down her hands. "AND GO!"

Head whipping around, Fubuki watched as a rooster tail of water formed behind Shimakaze who rapidly sped up to full speed. On her radar and through her rangefinders locking onto his broom's light, Fubuki watched Harry keep pace the whole way. Meanwhile, Akashi watched them approaching and after several minutes, they came into sight. 'And there they are.'

When Harry reached her though, that was when he sped up and then rose up a bit higher to do a flip and shoot off the way that they came once he was around her. Shimakaze though just cursed as she had to turn and then tried to catch up, several precious seconds were spent though with her turning before she began to speed towards the shore. By the time she got there though, Harry was already standing on the shore with a grin and his broom in his hand. "Ou, Shimakaze-Nee, so slow!"

Growling, Shimakaze slowed to a stop and then stalked towards him. There was a glare on her face when she reached him before suddenly pulling him into a hug as her expression changed to a massive grin. "That... was so... awesome!" Pulling away, she made a motion with one hand. "Just whoosh! And you were already speeding away! Sugoi..."

On Harry's face was a grin as various watchers cheered. Then he stepped to the side as Shimakaze walked onto the land and then dismissed her rigging. "So... want to go up now?"

If anything though, that made Shimakaze's grin grow. "Are you kidding, Harry-Chan! Of course I want to go now! But you better go top speed or else!"

Laughing, Harry only nodded as he once more placed his legs over his broom stick and then motioned behind him. "Sure! Now hop on!"

Moments later, he could feel Shimakaze pressing against him with her arms around his middle. "Like this?"

All that Harry did though was nod. "Yup! Hang on!"

Within seconds, all that could be heard was cheers of Shimakaze demanding Harry go faster as they slowly faded away. On the shore, Inazuma was trying to see the clipboard that Niyodo was making notes on. "So... who's next?"

Frowning, Niyodo quickly checked and then nodded. "That would be... Fubuki, followed by Yuudachi and Mutsuki... then you and your sisters."

There was a frown on Ikazuchi's face as she looked out onto the water. "Wish that this was daytime though. That would be so much better because then we could actually see stuff."

Hibiki though only shook her head with a frown on it. "Nyet, you know that people would see Harry-Chan then and he would get in trouble with other wizards. This is cutting it close enough as it is."

Grumbling, Ikazuchi kicked at the gravel. "I know, I know... stupid Statute..."

More then a little amused, Hibiki and Inazuma shared a smile and then turned back to watching Harry flying via their radar as they waited for their turn.