Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

Harry Leferts

Flying just below the cloud bottoms, Harry grinned back at Iku who was holding onto him tightly. "Enjoying yourself, Iku-Chan?"

In reply, Iku only tightened her hold but nodded as she placed her chin on his head. "Yeah... though Submarines are not made to fly!" Then she looked down at the boy she was holding. "Though I know that you won't let me fall."

Harry only shot her a smile back. "Of course, I won't!"

Shaking her head, Iku only pressed herself closer as Harry went through a turn. Because of how tightly she was holding him, she was able to feel him suddenly stiffen. "Harry-Chan?" Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked down at Harry. "Something wrong?"

With a frown, Harry looked in one direction and then another as he brought his broom to a halt. "Did... you feel that just now?"

Not sure what he meant, Iku looked around but couldn't see anything. Even her crew was unable to see anything except for the odd cloud, the Moon and stars, and the ocean below. "... No..."

For several moments, Harry was deep in thought before he looked back the way that they had come. "Um, Iku-Chan...?"

He got a squeeze from her as she nodded. "I don't mind, besides, I'm the last one of the night."

Slowly nodding, Harry turned back and went back the way they had come slightly slower. This time, Iku stiffened and Harry gave her a nod. "You felt it that time?"

Eyes wide, Iku began to scan the area but couldn't spot anything. "Yeah... I did... a tingle. And... sadness and loneliness?"

Both of them shared a look and went back and forth over the same area. Internally, Iku's crew marked out the spots on a map until they had a rough idea of the area. Feeling a tap, Harry turned and looked back at Iku. "What?"

All that she did though was motion around. "Harry-Chan... whatever this place is, it's big."

Frowning, Harry glanced around. "How big?"

Her eyes narrowed, Iku frowned as she did rough calculations. "Going by when we felt it and when the feeling stopped... it's an area of at least ten miles in diameter." Within seconds though, she shook it off. "I have them marked on the map so all we need to do is tell Teitoku in the morning. In the meantime..." Iku leaned in with a smile. "We still got a broom ride to finish between the two of us."

With a slightly confused expression, Harry only nodded before climbing up through a cloud as Iku held on. Unseen by him though, Iku had a blush on her face as she could hear at least some of her crew were singing "A Whole New World", which made her curse at them.
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Goto frowned as he looked at the map on the wall. Most people would have been confused about the tiny little colored pins on it, or the small colored wires that connected several of them into various shapes. "How did we miss this one?"

Having glanced over at Ooyodo, the Light Cruiser pointed at one section. "Montana's group had not begun their search pattern in that section of the ocean outside the harbour. It's not surprising that we didn't know that it was there... that said..."

Arms crossed, Nagato nodded. "It's certainly the largest that we have found."

With a nod, Goto turned to the oldest shipgirl on the base who had a far off look on her face that he knew was her communicating with her fairies. "Any idea which one it is?"

Several moments passed before Mikasa pulled out a map from her pocket and spread it out. "I think... it's this one."

Each of them leaned over the map and Goto felt his eyebrows raise. "It's a caldera."

Bringing a finger down, Nagato placed it at one spot with a frown on her face. "There's an opening right here, see? Going by this... it's at least four hundred feet wide, easy for any ship to pass through."

Just frowning, the Admiral considered the map with showed a circular caldera with one section rising up above what he assumed was the water towards the rim on a gentle slope. "That would make it a perfect harbor... protected from storms or any tsunamis..." Then he blinked and frowned even more before looking at Mikasa. "Didn't you say that the magicals had a shipyard somewhere hidden on an island?"

Eyes widening, Mikasa looked down at the map which was dated to the 1610s. "Yes... one of the islands were supposed to have shipyards on them... You think that it was this one, Dess?"

Grunting, Goto nodded. "I would not be too surprised. It's large enough and that harbour would make it perfect. The only question is... how do we go and have a look with the spells hiding it? While I trust Wanko to be allied, I don't want to involve her with anything beyond what I already have."

Several moments passed before Mikasa shook her head. "I... may have an idea. But it will have to wait and I'll need Tenryuu and Tatsuta for it."

Despite the raised eyebrows, she didn't say anything more which made Ooyodo sigh and Goto's lips twitch a bit. Then he shook his head in amusement. "Just let us know when and I'll make sure that they're free for whatever you need for them to do. In the meantime... just keep silent about this for now."

There were nods from each of them and he glanced at the time and sighed. "Well... we have a Summoning Ceremony in an hour and from what I know, the Weasleys are going to be there?"

Nagato only nodded slightly. "They are, though how they work is not exactly a secret considering things."

With a slight snort, Goto shook his head. "The wizards already know from what Harry reported, if anything though I've heard that they keep... well, making mistakes."

Remembering the reports of various odd things, as well as the sight of badgers that tunneled through solid rock, Ooyodo pinched her nose. "Are you sure that it's a good idea to have them at the ceremony? If their own attempts have gone wonky..."

Much to her surprise though, Goto leaned back with a slight smirk on his face. "I'm counting on it as a matter of fact."

Utter silence met him before Mikasa raised an eyebrow. "Dess?"

Chuckling, Goto twirled a pen around in his fingers. "One word: Harry."

It took a few moments, but Nagato frowned. "What do you mean...?"

Still smirking, Goto pointed at Mikasa who blinked. "There's also Taigei as well as Hamakaze and Isokaze."

Eyebrows furrowed, the member of the Big Seven shared a look with the Pre-Dreadnought. "You think that Harry had something to do with that?"

Just shrugging, the Admiral walked over to his coat rack and began to put on his uniform jacket. "Your son was involved, somehow, in each one. And in the case of Isokaze and Hamakaze, somehow managed to summon two Destroyers almost entirely by himself. More then that... the right Destroyers for that specific job." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Call it something of an experiment if you will."

Frowning, Ooyodo handed him his Officer's sword which he put into it's proper place. "Something could go wrong."

Simply humming, Goto nodded. "True, but even with the mess ups that the wizards have made, it's worked out... Now we just got to see if adding them to a proper ceremony will have any effect."

All of the shipgirls shared a look, but then shrugged and followed Goto as he walked out, none of them expecting the usual ceremony...

 

Harry Leferts

Akashi was so absorbed in her that she barely heard the knock, but after the second just called out. "Come in!"

Walking into the shipgirl's lab, Fubuki glanced around at the various instruments. Some of them she recognized, others though looked cobbled together from parts. In one corner of the room, a mass of beakers, piping, and tubbing pumped various fluids and steam around itself. Part of Fubuki recognized the creation of Instant Repair fluid, but soon ignored it as she looked towards Akashi. "Um, Akashi-San? It's almost time for the Summoning Ceremony."

Just blinking, Akashi looked away from her notes. "Oh yeah... today we're going to try a summoning, aren't we?"

Slowly, Fubuki nodded as she was focused on something else. "Um, yes?"

Raising an eyebrow at how distracted Fubuki seemed, Akashi coughed. "Is something the matter, Fubuki?"

Quickly, Fubuki shook it off and felt heat in cheeks as she tried to keep her attention from drifting back to what had caught it in the first place. "Oh, it's... nothing..." Seeing Akashi didn't buy it, Fubuki pointed at the small vial that was glowing with a pink light. For some odd reason it kept attracting her attention. "What... is that?"

With a chuckle, Akashi gestured at the vial. "This?" At the nod, she shrugged. "Wish that I could tell you that, but..."

Fubuki only nodded. "But it's classified."

However, she was surprised as Akashi shook her head and laughed. "Actually, it's not." Turning to the vial herself, Akashi hummed. "I can't tell you what it is because I don't quite know what it is myself."

Now that answer caused Fubuki to blink. "You... don't?"

Yawning, Akashi internally cursed her late nights as she kept feeling tired. Getting up, she went to her coffee maker and poured herself a thick, sludge like substance that the Destroyer winkled her nose at. "Nope! Not at all and neither does South Dakota or Yuubari or anyone else for that matter."

When she glanced at Akashi, the Repair Ship nodded permission for a closer look. Coming up to it, Fubuki frowned. "But... if you don't know what it is... how did you make it?"

That caused Akashi to laugh and shake her head. "Actually, I didn't make it. What you're looking at there is a sample collected of a larger pool of liquid that was underneath the beach on Sarushima, wherre Montana, Niyodo, and Shimakaze's sisters were found." Walking up herself, Akashi leaned in. "Best that we can figure, they were submerged in it while they were... built, for lack of better words. Like some kind of shipgirl version of amneoitic fluid."

Grimacing, Fubuki racked her mind before frowning. "Like... that LCL stuff from that anime with the giant robots?"

A moment passed with Akashi's mug against her lips before she turned to Fubuki. "... I suppose...?" Then she gave the Destroyer an odd look. "When the heck did you watch Neon Genesis Evangelion?"

Face flushed, Fubuki rubbed the back of her neck. "Um... Wisconsin-Sempai needed to use our television because Musashi had broken hers..."

Sighing, Akashi pinched her nose. "Why am I not surprised..." Just shaking it off, Akashi turned back to the vial. "But kind of apt, I suppose in this case. That said, it's amazing in it's properties. The liquid, whatever it is in reality, is supercharged in both magic and spiritual energy. And I'm not kidding about that either."

There was a frown on Fubuki's face as she looked at Akashi. "... Does it affect shipgirls besides..."

Almost a minute passed as Akashi watched her and then turned back to the vial. "In all honesty? It's shown the ability to take a nearly wrecked shipgirl and repair the damage just by adding a quarter of what you see there to Instant Repair Fluid. But with so little, we can't do much. Which is a damn shame, but what can you do?"

Watching as Akashi picked up the stoppered vial and tipped it this way and that, Fubuki just blinked in curiosity. "Huh..." Then she glanced at the time and her eyes widened. "The Ceremony's going to start in a few minutes!"

For a moment, Akashi stood there alone before looking in the direction that Fubuki had gone in before looking at the vial in her fingers. The glow of it almost distracted her before she shook it off and considered the safe where the other samples were. After five seconds, she shrugged and dropped it into her pocket. "Che, I'll put it back after and it's perfectly safe with me anyways."

Briskly walking out, Akashi turned off the light and shut the door, making sure that it locked behind her before continuing on to the Summoning Chamber.
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Entering the Summoning Chamber, Percy looked around at the candles and various artifacts on walls. "Impressive..."

Harry only nodded as people and shipgirls continued to fill up the room. "Yeah, it really is something."

Only nodding, Ron continued to examine the room. He was not what one might call the most observant person, but something about the room caused his hair to stand on end. It didn't help matters that there was an odd weight that seemed to be pressing down onto him. 'Wow...'

Minutes later, the ceremony began and the Weasleys watched as the procession passed by them with Haru as the main Miko and Natsumi as her assistant. Finally, they reached the edges of the Summoning Pool that lapped against the walls that contained it. None of the Weasleys spoke as they continued to watch it progress and, after a little bit of time, became focused on it. For their parts, Fred and George shared a look, somehow managing to convey what they felt in regards to the summoning. 'This... is a lot more different then what we thought...'

At the same time though, each of the wizards felt almost a buzz as the atmosphere became more and more heavy. Then it began to crawl along their skin almost like a static charge, though only Harry was able to recognize what was going on even as he was glancing around. 'It's working!'

Various candles flickered in an unfelt wind, some of them brightening and then dimming only to brighten again. When Natsumi glanced towards Harry, she had to blink at what she was seeing just to make sure that it was really there. To her sight, tendrils of energy was slipping off them and it only took her a moment to recognize what was going on. 'Their magic is reacting and... boosting?'

Elsewhere, Akashi suddenly felt a warmth in her pocket and looked down to see that the vial was now pulsing in time to the brightening and dimming of the candles. It was almost like a heartbeat, but hypnotic. 'This... was unexpected.' Within moments though, the ceremony reached the crescendo and her eyes widened as the glow in the vial intensified and what looked like motes of light came off it and into the air. "What in the world...?"

That was not the only thing that happened though as suddenly Harry and the Weasleys felt like they had run a marathon while the summoning materials all vanished into motes of light that drifted down to the summoning pool, with Percy staring wide eyed. "Is...is that normal?!"

Slowly, Harry just shrugged, somewhat lost as the candles brightened. "Um... what is normal?"

Almost as one, the Weasleys turned to stare at him, but before they could say anything, the water sloshed in the Summoning Pool and attracted their attention as the water exploded up into the air and away from the center, the sounds of turbines and engines filling the room as everyone waited to see who had been summoned. With an agonizing slowness, the mist cleared away to reveal forms standing on the water and Goto only blinked in surprise. "Well... this was rather unexpected..."

 

Harry Leferts

Having finally settled, the mist revealed several shipgirls there. In front of the group where two younger shipgirls that were definitely not Japanese. One of them looked roughly around ten years old and the other about two years older. Both of them had their wide eyes fixed on Goto and the other Japanese shipgirls as they trembled a bit. Yet it was the shipgirls behind them that had the most attention. Three of the shipgirls had modified Miko outfits, somewhat similar to the Kongou Sisters but with longer skirts and shorter sleeves. However, it was the final two who really raised eyebrows.

Both of them had similar outfits to Nagato and Mutsu, except one they had blue skirts. Another difference between them and the two members of the "Big Seven" was that their tops were instead replaced with a breastplate that had straps in the back. The slightly taller of the two was examining their audience with a slight frown on her face as she narrowed her red eyes. However, when they noticed Kaga, those eyes shot wide open and she began to look between the shipgirl beside her and Kaga. A shipgirl who could have passed for a slightly younger twin to the Aircraft Carrier.

Not having noticed Kaga, said shipgirl snapped to in a slightly nervous salute as she fixed her eyes on Goto. "S-sir! Battleship Kaga reporting, I might not be experienced but I'll do my best!"

Slowly, everyone turned toward the exhausted Kaga who was staring at the two Battleships as if she had seen a ghost. 'What in the world...?' Quickly, she examined herself on a spiritual level and blinked. Her soul was still intact which meant that what had happened had not affected it. But then she realized that the tiny piece of her from before she was converted to a Carrier, that piece that had been what humans might call stillborn as she had sat for several years before they began to convert her. Her original crew moving to other assignments as she had been slated for scrapping, the work crews moving onto other projects which caused that part of her to die in the slipway...

A tiny piece that had never been anything but tenuously connected to her...

That piece was now standing on the water staring up at her in utter shock in a body of it's own.

Hearing something though, she turned and blinked at the sight of Akagi's hand flying to her nose and heard her fellow Carrier's words which made her sigh. "T-two Kagas..."

Sounds of various people and shipgirls facepalming told her that others had also heard Akagi. Suddenly, one of the Miko garbed Shipgirls gasped and took a step forward. "Akagi-Chan... is that... really you?"

With a blink, Akagi turned toward the shipgirl and opened her mouth. However, it was cut off by a choking sound as she took a step toward the railing. "It... it cannot be... is it... is it really...?"

Unbelieving of what her eyes were telling her, the shipgirl swallowed nervously. "Battlecruiser Amagi... reporting."

Beside her, the other two Miko garbed shipgirls shared a look of shock before they also snapped to and spoke as one. "Battlecruisers Atago and Takao, reporting!"

More then one shipgirl murmured to her friends about how the two who had just spoken did look similar to the well known Heavy Cruisers, except they had brown hair and red hair instead of the blonde and black hair of the Cruisers. However, that did not matter to Akagi as she literally leapt through the railing, the steel snapping as she plowed through it, and then landed in front of Amagi before sweeping her up into a hug. "A-Amagi-Onee-Sama!"

Not quite sure of what to do, Amagi did the only thing that came to mind and gently stroked the Aircraft Carrier's hair. "There, there, Akagi-Chan... I'm here now... wherever here is..."

Before the other two Battlecruisers could do much more then share a look, Akagi pulled them into a hug as well. Meanwhile, Kaga kept staring at the two Battleships before giving them a nod. "I... am the Aircraft Carrier Kaga."

Slowly, the larger of the two Battleships nodded. "I am the Battleship Tosa..." Glancing to the side to the Battlecruisers, she almost missed Kaga just stepping off the edge and then landing on the water gracefully. Making her way over, Kaga glanced at her twin and then back at Tosa before moving her jaw muscles. With a shaking hand, she reached up and placed it on the shoulder of the Battleship. For several moments, she didn't move until she turned towards Tosa who only nodded. "I'm real."

Within seconds, the two were in an embrace as the other Kaga looked on in confusion.

Deciding to give the reunited families some space, Goto turned his attention to the last two shipgirls and cleared his throat. Both of them turned to regard him with some hesitation. "And you would be?"

They just stared at him in silence as if afraid to move or say anything until movement out of their corner of their eyes caught their attention. If it was not for the seriousness of the matter, Goto would have laughed at their double takes at seeing Harry there with the Weasleys behind them. Finally, the smallest of the two raised her hand into a salute with a gulp. "HMS Moth... or, um... Suma?"

Beside her, the Destroyer also gave a salute. "HMS Thracian... though I guess you Japanese folk know me as Patrol Boat 101..."

Almost everyone turned toward Harry and the Weasleys with the black haired boy giving a shrug. Ooyodo just sighed though. "Well, I hope that you found this interesting enough..."

It was then that the room exploded into noise while Goto sighed.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking out of the window of her shared quarters with Akagi, Kaga blinked at the question and turned to her sister. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Tosa frowned slightly before she let out a sigh. "I was asking, what is going on. How are we... like this? Why are we like this?" She gestured to herself with a frown before glancing over to where Akagi still had a tight hold on Amagi. "We need some answers."

Once more, Kaga was silent before she softly sighed. "A lot has happened since you..."

Raising an eyebrow, Tosa hummed. "Since I sank?"

With a wince, Kaga nodded. "Yes, since then." Taking a breath, she turned to the other version of herself with a slight frown. "Before we get into that though... may I ask what the last thing that you remember is?"

Eyes wide, the other Kaga licked her lips in nervousness before taking a deep breath. "I... was on my slipway, my construction almost complete and my crew already picked and being trained to operate me. I was ready to serve Japan in whatever way that I could. But... then there was some treaty..."

Slowly, Kaga nodded. "The Washington Naval Treaty, yes."

Not really wanting to think on that, the other Kaga continued. "Um, yes... I somehow knew that I was going to be scrapped there and then, they were talking about it. My crew... drifted off to be on other ships and my workmen also left. Each day I... I felt myself slipping away more and more... I was so tired and just wanted to sleep. But I remember an earthquake though not much more before I... gave in and nothing more then that."

Despite what some might think, Kaga was not as cold as her personality showed and she reached across to grasp the hand of her twin. "I think that I can carry it from there...." Taking a moment to sort her thoughts, she eventually nodded. "That was the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, in it, Amagi was... damaged beyond repair." Kaga gave a wince as Akagi let out a small wail before pulling Amagi close. "She was to be converted to an Aircraft Carrier under the treaty, but due to the damage they looked elsewhere and... found us, I suppose. With Onee-Sama already gone, we were the best candidate for conversion."

Furrowing her eyebrows, the other Kaga's eyes suddenly widened. "You really are me... aren't you?"

Somewhat bemused, Kaga nodded. "In a way, I suppose, though it seems that the two of us are different enough as it is." Placing one hand on top of the other, Kaga let out a sigh. "We shall explain things better in a while. But... I served as an Aircraft Carrier into the Second World War."

Eyes wide, Atago stared at her from where Akagi was holding her close. "A Second World War... Who...?"

Her eyes closing, Akagi shook her head. "At first, it was against Britain and other European countries..."

That caused Tosa to blink and frown. "But we were allied with the British. Why would we attack them?"

Kaga only waved her hand in the air. "Things happened, and the situation changed. Part of it was that we had grown arrogant and prideful I will admit freely. We believed that we were so much better then the gaijin, that compared to us they were uncivilized barbarians barely worthy of the name of 'Humans'... Such fools we were."

More then one pair of eyes widened at the loathing in Kaga's tone before Akagi reached over and placed her hand on Kaga's shoulder. "Then we made the biggest mistake that we could have, we attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor. It was thought that doing so would cause the Americans to pull back and stay out of the war, maybe sue for peace after we invaded the Philippines. A declaration of war was supposed to be sent and received just before the attack... but the timing was off and the attack happened hours before the declaration. To the Americans, it was a stab in the back."

Snorting, Kaga folded her hands and placed her chin on it. "Both Akagi and myself were there and participated. But not even we could have believed the sheer fury that the Americans unleashed... because a few months later, both of us laid at the bottom of the ocean, sent there by the Americans themselves."

At that, silence filled the room as the recently returned shipgirls stared at the two Carriers. Then Akagi found herself being tightly hugged by her sisters before returning it. Biting her lip, the Battleship Kaga looked to her twin. "But... you know how it ended then."

With a shake of the head, Kaga sighed. "There's no real way to say it, except that we lost and badly. For every aircraft we shot down, the Americans launched another dozen. For every ship, five more took it's place. They fought us across the Pacific until they pushed us back to the Home Islands... They had several possible outcomes. One was to invade and the military was prepared for that... they had taught even school children to use a spear and pull pins on grenades, ready to kill American soldiers." That caused Tosa's head to snap up along with the others. "Pilots would use their own aircraft as bombs, plowing them into ships, or filling boats and Subs with explosives and ramming them into the Americans. The deaths from that would have been high."

Akagi then took over. "Another way was that the Americans might have starved us out. Mine the ports and destroy any fishing vessels that left shore. Bomb roads and railways as well as food depots... and the like. Within months, a good number of men, women, and children would have starved to death."

Looking out the window, Kaga frowned. "Instead... the Americans dropped two bombs, each destroyed a city. We surrendered." She then turned her attention to her sister who looked both horrified, but thoughtful. "We thought that we would suffer... instead, they helped us rebuild and our nations have been friends since then, over sixty five years ago."

Quietly, Tosa sighed. "But something has happened."

Not saying anything, Kaga eventually nodded. "That would be... correct." Reaching into her clothes, she pulled out a photo and placed it in front of her sister, only to watch her jerk back. "They're called Abyssals by most, but some have called them Sirens and other names. No one knows where they came from or why... and some recent evidence has suggested that they have been around for quite sometime, attacking ships and very isolated communities until Blood Week."

Raising an eyebrow, for some reason the name sent a shiver down Amagi's keel, though she didn't know why or how that was possible. "Blood Week..."

Just staring off into the distance, if anyone who considered Kaga cold was there they would have been shocked to see a small tear in her eye. "It's the name that was given to the Abyssals when they revealed themselves fully to the world. All across the globe, they launched their attacks on humanity. Battleships and Carriers bombarding coastal cities, Cruisers hitting island communities, Destroyers hunting down and sinking Cruise Ships and other civilian craft, Submarines attacking military ships... no one is sure how many died, and we'll likely never know fully, but millions did."

Akagi had a far off stare on her face. "Hong Kong, Los Angelas, Honolulu, New York, Miami, London, Rome, Rio, Tokyo, Sydney... there were too many."

Finger rubbing onto the table as she tried to ignore the horrified expressions as their sisters realized just how full the attack was. "The various navies were in chaos for about a week, hence the name, before they began to mount an effective resistance. They managed to hold the line alongside the armies positioning onshore and the air forces in the air... but only just. Humanity was still driven from the oceans. After six months, they were nearly exhausted trying to hold them back when us shipgirls appeared. Kongou was the first as was Haruna, Fubuki, and a few others appearing in the same group. They took out an Abyssal Battlegroup heading for Tokyo and saved the remaining JMSDF forces there. Myself and Akagi were summoned a year later. Others had been reborn as humans and have been awakened as shipgirls. In the seven years since though, we managed to push back far enough to give us all some breathing room and..."

Hands clinched hard enough to turn the knuckles white with a groan of strained metal, Tosa growled. "And...?"

When Kaga glanced at her, Akagi noted internally with some amusement that now they knew where Kaga got her usual dour expression. "We managed to turn some of them to our side. If you stay here in Yokosuka, you may meet one, a Princess class named Hoppou."

Before they could get any further, massive growls filled the room which actually shook the walls. It was with some amusement on her face that Kaga noted her sister and... twin... suddenly blush and wrap their arms around their middles. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Amagi and her sisters did much the same as Akagi just smiled and nodded. "It seems that someone is hungry."

Confused, Takao looked down in confusion. "We are... how...?"

Softly chuckling, Kaga shook her head. "While we may be ships, we also have... somewhat human bodies now. And human bodies can feel hungry among other things." She was about to get up when there was a knock at the door and she glanced at Akagi who shrugged. "Come in." When the door open, Kaga's lips turned up slightly in a smile at seeing who was bringing in a cart of food. "Harry-Chan."

A smile on his face, Harry came to a stop and nodded. "Kaga-Oba, Akagi-Oba, I brought some food for your sisters."

That caused Battleship Kaga to turn to her other self in confusion. "... Kaga-Oba?"

However, Kaga only nodded. "Harry-Chan is Nagato's adopted son. I consider him a nephew as he considers me his Oba-San."

On Tosa's face there was a considering look. "I see..." Moments later, that look became one of hunger as Harry set down the plate of food in front of her and did the same with Battleship Kaga as well as Amagi, Takao, and Atago. The two Carriers just watched with highly amused expressions, well, a slightly larger then normal smirk on Kaga's face but anyone who knew her would see that as a equivalent to a massive grin.

 

Harry Leferts

Sighing, Goto reached up and rubbed the side of his head and then put down the report. "So then, to summarize you brough a vial of the Sarushima Concoction into the Summoning Chamber and it reacted to the summoning? And in the process it was consumed by the Summoning like with normal materials?"

With a wince, Akashi nodded. "Hai, Teitoku."

Much to her surprise, he only leaned back in his chair and considered outside where he could see the Matsuda guiding Moth and Thracian. "Hmm... why did you bring it into the Summoning Chamber in the first place, Akashi? While you have gotten up to stunts before this does not seem like you." He then realized that she had bags under her eyes. "... Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Yawning, Akashi stopped and blinked. "Maybe? I mean... I've been tired though that's odd. us shipgirls don't need as much sleep after all."

For several moments, Goto nodded. "I see... as for the rest?"

Akashi shrugged a little bit. "Once everyone is in the Summoning Chamber, the doors are shut until it's finished. And there's the fact that the more shipgirls there are present, the more likelihood for there to be a successful summoning. At the time, I was in a rush and so decided that I did not have the time for putting away the concoction into the safe. Also... there has never been a case where something not set aside specifically for the Summonings has been used.'

Still leaning back, Goto considered this for a few moments before he nodded. "Well then... I will put it down to a lapse of judegment brought on by exhaustion and needing to be at the Summoning. it will go into your file of course because the Sarushima Concoction is extremely valuble due to the healing properties. Therefore, I will now lay down my punishment."

Back straight, Akashi only nodded. "Hai, I will accept full responsibility for what happened, Teitoku. And that includes accepting my punishment."

Now moving until he had his lower face hidden behind his hands, Goto waited for Akashi to become more nervous. "Repair Ship Akashi, it is by my order that you are to be locked out of your lab until two days after New Years unless I give the order for you to return there. You will also not be working in the docks until that time. Further more, you are to be granted a leave of absence and it is my suggestion that you perhaps spend it in your quarters with the curtains drawn each day until late in the morning or afternoon."

For several moments, Akashi blinked as she parsed what she had just been told before she gave Goto an odd look. "... Did you just order me to take a vacation and to sleep in?"

Lips twitching, Goto barely showed any signs of his amusement. "I fail to see how you got that idea, Repair Ship Akashi. Now then... I believe that a celebration is being set up in the mess hall for our recent summons. Dismissed."

Even though she was still not quite sure, Akashi gave him a salute and then left. Once she was sure that no one was listening, Ooyodo turned towards Goto with a frown. "Well... that was interesting."

Humming as he picked up one of his pens between his fingers and played with it a little. "That's certainly one way of looking at it... How are we doing on Summoning Materials and resources?"

It wasn't even a moment before Ooyodo answered him. "It took a massive chunk of our Summoning Materials I'm afraid, but resource wise... with the convoy routes clear, we should manage easily enough. The Australian ones give us a good chunk of space after all, though we're not out of the woods yet."

There was a slight frown on Goto's face before he raised an eyebrow. "What about those hydroponics that have been shipped in?"

Ooyodo smirked a bit before taking a seat. "They're working out well enough. But they're mostly for fast growing vegetables such as lettuce. Not really what we need, but if needed we can rely on them and they don't take much room as they're in a shipping container."

Grunting, Goto shook his head. "Then there are those experimental vertical farms in the mountains and in the old mines..." Shaking his head, he chuckled a bit. "Strange to think about how much things have changed thanks to the war. If it was not for the need for more food..." A moment later, Goto frowned. "Anyways, that solves one issue and I'll get in contact with Command to see more summoning materials sent out way. I doubt very much that anyone will have much issue with that after what happened."

Softly scoffing, Ooyodo shook her head. "No, I doubt that they will with the most successful summoning in a long time." Turning thoughtful, she hummed. "How much do you think had to do with the concoction and how much with the wizards being present?"

For several moments, Goto was silent before he shook his head. "Now that... is a question that I don't have an answer to." Suddenly, he stopped playing with his pen and gave Ooyodo a look. "Speaking of... try and see if some of our more descrete shipgirls might head out to Sarushima for the next while."

Eyebrows furrowing, Ooyodo was about to ask when it clicked and her head snapped up. "You're not actually thinking...?"

Goto only frowned as he looked out his window. "I don't know, but both Shimakaze and yourself were often exhausted and look at what occurred. And I do know that Akashi did have at least one sister planned, though not built."

All Ooyodo did was look out onto the base herself. 'I wonder...'
__________________________________________________________________________________

Over the past few days the base had been a hive of activity due to the excitement generated by the recent summonings. Part of Ron was amused by how his brothers often got confused and turned to him for answers as he knew the most about shipgirls out of the four of them. Harry wasn't much help because he was often roped into things including being a messenger

Though, part of Ron was impressed by his friend and how he acted. Having heard the boy tell him and Hermione that one day he was going to be an Admiral, the red head wasn't so sure. But seeing him now? Especially with how he helped the Destroyers and smaller shipgirls organize things? Ron wasn't so unsure anymore.

At the moment though, Ron was staring at Harry in utter confusion. "Uh, mate? What's with the get up?"

Looking down at himself, Harry shrugged a bit. "It's my kimono, anyways you guys ready to head to the festival?"

Ron blinked and he knew that behind him, so were Percy, Fred, and George. "Uh, festival?"

Slowly, Harry nodded. "Yeah, Shogatsu, or the New Year. It's December 31st, after all."

Just glancing at Ron, Percy frowned. "We... didn't know about any festival or do we have... well, um, Kimonos.'

When Harry held up some folded ones though, Ron became suspicious of him. "Harry... what are you up to?"

Blinking, Harry held one hand to his chest. "Whatever do you mean~"

However, Fred shared a look with his twin. "Because you got that grin on your face also you did that... thing with the words again."

Nodding, George glanced around. "And it never has ended well for us on this trip when you do that."

Looking almost insulted, Harry shook his head though all of them could see the twinkle of amusement. "Ara, ara~ That hurts... but I promise, you'll enjoy the festival. We have spent a lot of time setting it up after all."

Still unsure, Ron opened the door and let him in before closing it. Several minutes later, the four Weasleys all stepped out with Percy looking at Harry suspiciously. "... How is it that these fit so well?"

Harry just smirked though and shrugged. "Who knows? Now come on, the festival awaits!"

With one last look at their door, and possible safety, the Weasleys followed Harry down the hall and outside where several shipgirls also in Kimonos were waiting. And then one voice spoke up that caused Ron's eyes to widen. "Well, hello there, Ron. About time you come out." Turning, Ron blinked at the sight of Warspite there in a dark blue Kimono with her hand on a cane. Simply raising an eyebrow at him, she opened one arm. "Well? Aren't you going to come and give me a hug, Ron?"

Quickly shaking off his shock, Ron grinned before walking over and hugging her. "When did you show up?"

Lightly laughing, Warspite shook her head. "Actually... I arrived earlier but had some things which needed to be taken care of." Patting her friend on the shoulder, she gave a soft smile. "Now then, since I have my escort shall we be off? I heard that the fireworks display is to be seen to be believed."

Before she got far though, Ron grabbed her sleeve and gave her a blank look. "Where is your wheelchair?"

Glancing over at the amused shipgirls, Warspite gave a slight chuckle. "Well, I left it back at my quarters, I won't be needing it after all."

If anything though, Ron just raised her eyebrows. "And where is your quarters? Ground floor of the Battleship Dorms?"

Warspite was about to say something when Harry spoke up. "Ground floor, third room on the left facing the front."

Pausing, Warspite blinked and then turned towards Harry as Ron began to pull her towards the dorms. Silently, she mouthed 'Traitor' to him, which only made Harry grin. Minutes later, a slightly put out Warspite was pushed out by Ron as she sat in her wheelchair as she grumbled. "I can walk perfectly fine on my own, i will have you know, Ronald."

Face carefully blank, Ron nodded. "I know."

Eyes narrowed, she gave a slight huff. "Hence why I do not have need of this contraption nor you pushing me around."

Simply humming, Ron shrugged. "Maybe, but it would not be all that much fun if your legs gave out from straining them too much."

All Warspite did was grumble as they reached the group and headed off, though Ron's brothers were now giving him suspicious looks. Finally, Harry turned towards her. "So how long are you going to stay for, Miss Warspite?"

Turning her head, Warspite frowned. "I shall be staying until you go back to Hogwarts as I will be going back with you. Along with us, Moth and Thracine will be coming as neither are quite... comfortable... with being in Japan."

Nagato only nodded her head at that. "Understandable with their history, and I think that we all wish them the best."

With a gentle nod, Warspite gave a smile. "Quite." Then her smile turned teasing as she looked towards Harry, a thought crossing her mind for revenge. "By the way, Harry, I cannot help but wonder something?"

Just blinking, Harry turned his head towards her. "Yes?"

The smile on Warspite's turned into a smirk as she narrowed her eyes. "Have your friends seen you in a cuddle pile quite yet?"

Scratching his cheek, Harry found the question odd and was about to answer when Fred spoke up, his voice carrying across the hunger for teasing material. "Cuddle pile?"

Only humming, Warspite nodded. "Oh yes, it's when groups of shipgirls sleep cuddled up to each other. I have found Harry here in several over the years usually with Miss Shinano, the Submarines, and sometimes the Destroyers."

George was about to comment when Harry shook his head. "Actually... I don't think that they have." Then his eyes widened some as he snapped his fingers. "I get why you're asking!"

Blinking very slowly, Warspite frowned internally. "You... do?"

With a nod, Harry looked over his shoulder at Ron. "Well, yeah. I mean, you probably want me to explain things to Ron or something for when you're in one later. Though I don't know why, I mean, cuddlepiles are comfy." It took several seconds for the words to filter through Warspite's hearing as her face slowly turned red. Ron, on the other hand, was confused as to why it felt like his ears were hot. Meanwhile, his brothers all tripped. hearing muffled sounds, Harry looked over to see his mother just barely able to keep from laughing which made him confused. '... What?'

Then he shrugged it off and let Hoppou climb back onto him, after all, he only had a few days left of his vacation and he was heading back. Though for the next several days, Harry was slightly confused about why Warspite kept grumbling everytime she saw him. When he returned to Hogwarts though, he was met by people talking about some infamous werewolf being killed, but after a few days that died down as well.

 

fijkus

I've had this idea for too long...

=====

Once upon a time, Shimakaze was bored and was wandering around the base. She had found Naka, who was not streaming like normal. Instead, she was playing a racing game.

Shimakaze was not that interested in most video games. She was naturally very fast, after all. She would rather be out running, or sailing, tuning her machinery to get every ounce of speed. But Naka was playing that racing game, what she described as her 'fun, non-streaming game' while skillfully working pedals, wheel and gear shift. She even showed off a couple of virtual cars in her collection, assuring her that even the Mazda Miata was just a little bit faster than the civilian and military vehicles she had seen.

And the chair looked so sleek yet so comfy...

Shimakaze had loitered around Naka's part of the base, until the cruiser was called away because of the shipment. Slipping in, she sat down and began to tinker with the browser, thankful that Naka was still logged in, until she found the car she wanted (McLaren MP4-12C GT3) and the series that she wanted to race in. Those details set, she clicked the 'Race Now' button, causing the game client to launch into the qualifying round.

Shimakaze is naturally very fast, but driving did not come naturally to her. She had only completed one lap in qualifying, landing her in the middle of the pack. But her pride as a warship, as the fastest kanmusu, would not let her back down.

So she carefully stayed with the pack through the rolling start, before someone began to yelling a color over and over again in English, startling her.

"Shit, sorry," someone said, as they rammed into her car. The car began flipping over and over again.

"Naka, you Emperor worshiping moon faced assassin of joy WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!" a female voice screamed over the headphones. Shimakaze realized that there was not respawn and that the next race in the series would not be for hours.

"Why indeed," a flat voice ask, sending shivers down Shimakaze's spine. The racing chair was then forcefully spun around, bringing Shimakaze face to face with a very angry cruiser.

"You've made two mistakes, Shimakaze," Naka said, her features calm even as her countenance became dark. "The first was skipping the natural progression of the game to get into a B-class license match. If you had worked your way up in the ranks, you know that GT3s are gonna GT3. The shinigans caused by the low driving standards are a part of the fun.

"The second mistake was sneaking into my room, to get on my rig, and lowering my stats, while I got my part of the shipment to see what the whole 'Dorritos and Dew' thing is about. You know how hard it is to special order foreign junk food? And if my ears heard correctly, I will soon have quite a few angry PMs from Swayback Maru and the admins to deal with," Naka said, each proper noun and possessive particle hitting Shimikaze like a salvo from an Atlanta. Shimakaze was about to speak up, getting the first syllable out before Naka raised her hand. "Shut it. Not done yet."

Shimakaze promptly shut it.

"If you had only asked, I would have happily let you loose on another racing game. Or set up an account for you and give you a turn while we ordered your own rig. But you didn't, so now I must punish you," Naka said, a sadistic smile crossing her face.

Naka leaned forward, invading Shimakaze's personal space, causing the speed obsessed destroyer to shrink into the racing chair. "I am a merciful idol, unlike many false idols. I will let you off with a light punishment detail."

She then stepped aside, pointing at Harry and Hibiki. Hibiki starred silently while Harry gave a timid wave.

"You are to provide escort for these two for the next three hours while they play American Truck Simulator."

Shimakaze turned pale as a ghost.

"Now get the hell out of my chair."

 

Tristar

Tsu was a coward and she knew it even as she sailed with the supply battle group, she kept her head on swivel as they entered a thick fog bank around near one the lost islands. Consulting her chart she shuddered thinking about how close they where to Hawaii and how stupid group leader a battle hardened Tsu known as the butcher had been for sailing this close. Tsu couldn't blame the destroyers for how much they fidgeted around this place unfortunately the butcher insisted they keep going delivering the supplies to the Oni. Tsu remembered though remembered this particular demon, fearing and hating her in equal measure. Her massive hands ached as she remembered how she had surrender and the torture to ensure her loyal to her new princess the scars hidden inside of her closed fist.

It was the sound of drums that caught her attention first. "Ma'am I'm picking..."

"I have ears!" The Tsu in the lead snapped causing the scarred Tsu to flinch, all to much reminded of her place in the pecking order that even the destroyers ranked higher than her. "We're approaching the rocks stay close these supplies are important."

The sound of drums where soon joined by rythmic chanting and Tsu could have swore she saw flickering blue flames in the fog. Of course her visuals almost caused her to smash into a large rock. Of course this earned her a tongue lashing from the Butcher causing the poor Tsu to whimper. Of course there was a small silver lining as one of the Ro's nudged her almost purring she gave the scared destroyer a head pat with her massive hand.

The primitive almost primal drum beat quickly grew far to loud to ignore as figure appeared ahead of the convoy a ragged cloak figure. The butcher growled in annoyance as the cloaked abyssal appeared she didn't bother to take in it's appearance. "Out of the way Battleship this a supply convoy head for....." The angry abyssal didn't get to finish as her head disappeared from her shoulders splattering the cloaked abyssal in black ichor.

Tsu could only whimper as she took in the appearence of the battleship as the radar signature clearly indicated, she whimpered trying not to think about how a battleship had just gotten ahead of them. Radar clearly picked up now as a battleship ta class but, unlike a normal Ta's who's cloaks only covered on side this one enshrouded its entire body including a hood that left only the eyes visible. Tsu audibly whimpered as she saw the weapon the cloaked Ta-class wielded, a massive sword crafted from a Ru-class's battery it's jagged edges covered in battle scars and blood.

"ALL SHIPS FIRE!"

The screeching order came from the other remaining Tsu with the escorts answered with there guns blaring on the battleship. The Said battleship MOVED using it's massive weapon to created a destroyer kabob using them like shields. It was a slaughter that Tsu had only seen once before causing her to whimper faltering as the last of the escort fleet aside from herself fell. "Princess I'll join you soon." Then there was pain and all she saw was army of spirits joining the slaughter.

It was the heat of the morning sun that next woke her that and the sound of digging. Contrary to what might be known Tsu class abyssals did have eyes and what she saw was a battered and somewhat broken battleship working a garden and muttering to herself. She tried to move and just winced catching the attention of the battleship.

"Don't....bother....moving...." The words the way they came out it was like the battleship hadn't talked to anyone in a long time, what was worse though Tsu almost thought that she recognized the voice. "Broke.....batteries."

Tsu then looked down realizing why she was in pain, her guns had been smashed, no smashed wasn't the right word they had been carved. "W-w-w-hy didn't you kill me."

"Don't know....Could have used scrap" WIth those words the Battleship got back to work using it's massive weapon like a trowel.

There it was things lapsed into a uncomfortable silence as the battleship continued to till the field. It was in that silence in the day light that Tsu finally got a got a good look at the battleship shuddering as she realized the implications of the abyssals body. Her entire right arm and some of her shoulder looked to be grafted on from a Ru class indeed a entire chunk of the battleships conn tower looked like it had been repaired from a Ru streaks of black joining thick mass of silvery white. The infamous breathing mask of a Ka class submarine hung just below the Battleships chin and it was very much attached. Her legs from the knees down looked to have been wielded from an aircraft carrier water demon a patch job at best, see these things caused Tsu to whimper was she going to become part of this cannibalistic monster?

"Pieces of Ohana..." The battleship rubbed it's replacement arm. "pieces saved me.....made me....different....There crews part....of....me.....THose that MArch....in...the....night make....all work......Teach new....words....." As the battleship chimera spoke the Tsu could have sworn she saw ghostly images of warriors. "You....Familiar.....you ohana......" The battleship nodded like it was most correct thing in the world.

"The...others.....?"

"Took cargo....use to fix......Sent away destroy rest.....the....smell....of blood of Ohana......needed revenge.....still....." The battleship stopped in her work as she heard the growl of hunger. "Get...Food."

As the chimeric ship left the Tsu finally looked around and realized that she was in the remains of a burnt village. She shuddered recognizing the work of her fellow abyssals though it was old and partly over grown. In the distance she could see a hillside covered in freshly dug graves leaving her to wonder if the chimera battleship had dug them herself. Though as her attention was drawn closer she could see how the battleship had thrown together a small farm using available materials. As she turned her gaze from that she saw them....The Killing fields.

Dead Abyssals mounted metal pikes each and everyone of them familiar to the Tsu, aggressors each and everyone. They where the ones from that terrible night, the night where Tsu ran and begged on her hands to be spared, the night she was a Coward. She began to sob this creature it continued to fight even now while Tsu just ran and kept running right into the arms of the ones who had did it.

"Why crying?"

She looked up seeing the chimeric battleship holding a train of food and this brought another fit of tears and sobbing. Confused by this the chimeric battleship patted the light cruiser on the head. "There....There...."



---------------------------------

Whelp that was a thing....

 

Harry Leferts

So... originally I was going to end the whole Christmas Vacation arc in the last snippet, even though I was not quite happy with the ending. But after some discussion over on SV, I decided to... end it appropriately. Enjoy.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Having set out a blanket on the ground, Nagato laid down and pulled out a large basket. Almost immediately, Hoppou and Harry were at her side as they began to pull out various things from inside. From where he stood behind Warspite's wheelchair, Ron tilted his head a bit at the boxes. "Uh, mate? What's with all that stuff?"

With a blink, Harry looked up at him and chuckled. "They're Osechi-ryōri, traditional New Year's foods... each one has a meaning... a wish for the new year to come."

More then a little interested, and feeling somewhat hungry, Ron leaned forward. "Really?"

Pointing at a bowl filled with red and white strips of what looked like vegetables, Harry nodded. "This for example is kohaku namasu. It's daikon and carrots and symbolises celebration."

Slightly confused, Ron continued to listen as Harry pointed to different foods and explained their meanings as Warspite watched with a slight smile. Tilting her head back, she looked up at the starry sky with soft sigh. 'Another year over and everyone is still here...' Glancing at Ron, her smile grew just a touch. 'And hopefully will be for a long time yet.'

Meanwhile, a bemused Supply Depot Princess was looking around in curiosity between snatches of conversation with Ooyodo. To most people, the conversation would have been rather boring as it dealt with mostly supplies. Frowning, Supply Depot Princess blinked at what Ooyodo had just told her. "So... you mean to tell me that the humans have somehow packed a farm into a shipping container?"

Nodding, Ooyodo showed her something on a tablet and tapped it. "See? Most of these are usually hydroponics in shipping containers that need a power source for it. Useful for padding out supplies, but can cause issues unless you set up a solar power for it. As it is though, I still have to stop others from raiding them every so often."

As she nodded, Supply Depot Princess hummed. "Yes... I can see how that would work out actually. Genius really as you can fit a number into a place that normally couldn't have them. Though I'll have to look up more about these... hydroponics you called them?"

Ooyodo just gave a sound of agreement. "That's right. They've come pretty far from my day. However, then you have this..." Swiping her finger, she brought up another page. "The shipping container just contains everything needed to set up a farm quickly and easily with the container becoming a building afterwards." Thoughtful, Supply Depot Princess only brought one finger against her lower lip. For some odd reason, Ooyodo had to blink as she felt a bit of heat rise to her cheeks. '... Why does that look so cute?'

Meanwhile, Supply Depot Princess was thinking of something else. 'The humans have come with such interesting ways to create supplies... though I wonder if I could get some of these hydroponics?' A smell then reached her nose and she turned her head to see Percy there with a tray that had to large cups and one much smaller one. In one of his hands were several sticks of dango. "... Percy?"

With his head, he motioned towards the cups. "I got these since I thought some nice hot drinks would be nice."

Grateful, Ooyodo gave him a slight bow before taking one of the larger cups. "Thank you." Taking a deep whiff, Ooyodo let out a sigh. "Ah... coffee, whatever would I do without you? And the shipgirl version as well."

Percy then nodded towards the dango. "Same with these..." He winkled his nose a little bit but shook it off before looking at a smaller container. "I got some for us poor humans."

Eyes twinkling, Ooyodo took some of the dango sticks and bit into one with a hum of enjoyment which caused Percy to blush. "Mmm... diesel sauce..."

Blinking, Supply Depot Princess took the other large cup and sniffed it before her eyes went wide. 'Refined oil...' Tearing up, she sniffled a bit and took a small sip. "Thank you... so much..." Moments later, she took the other dangos and bit into one, this time a tear running down her cheek as she let out a moan. 'So... good...'

Now heavily blushing, Percy just coughed and began to sip his own coffee, taking a moment to sniff it to make sure that there was no oil in it before nodding after giving it a testing sip. "Not bad."

Still chewing, Ooyodo raised an eyebrow before swallowing her bite of food down with a swing of coffee as she tried hard not to pay attention to the sounds of the Abyssal Princess enjoying her food and coffee. "Wait... you like coffee as well?" At his nod, she blinked with a frown. "But from how Kongou is always going on about as well as some of the Royal Navy ships, I was under the impression that tea would have been more likely?"

Just shrugging, Percy opened up the container of his dango with one hand in a feat of dexterity. "I enjoy tea and black tea is good for keeping awake... but I do like coffee for when I need to burn the midnight oil, which is happening more this year then others."

A shudder ran up both girls backs as they remembered when he showed them his daily schedule for studying at school, and it was not a bad shiver. Shoving those thoughts to the back of her head, Ooyodo nodded. "I-I see... Perhaps I should introduce you to Black Blood of the Earth at some point, or navy coffee."

Thoughtful, Percy just nodded though he wondered why Ooyodo suddenly filled her mouth with some dango with her face red. "I think that I might like that." He only got a nod from the Cruiser. 'I wonder what that was all about...'

Some distance away on a small hill, Haruna watched as Rose poured some tea out of a thermos before handing it to her. "Thank you, Rose-Chan."

As Rose passed her one, Kirishima smiled. "Yes, thank you for the tea."

Gently smiling, Rose only shook her head not noticing that Haruna was staring as her auburn hair, normally bound tightly in a bun and under her hat was now free and moving gently in the breeze. It didn't help that she was wearing a kimono that kept drawing Haruna's attention to it. "Oh, you're both quite welcome. It does make me happy that you're enjoying it."

Having shaken herself free of her thoughts, Haruna giggled lightly. "However could we say no to Rose-Chan's tea?" Taking a deep whiff of the drink, Haruna allowed herself to simply savour the warmth that was seeping into her hands. Not all the warmth was a physical one though. "Rose-Chan makes her tea with love like Onee-Sama after all."

Even as Kirishima nodded, Rose flushed with a pleased look on her face. "Thank you, Haruna, Kirishima, that is very high praise to be compared to Kongou in such a manner."

Adjusting the backrest, created specifically for shipgirls by Akashi (and something that said shipgirl got a lot of money for), Haruna pulled out a pillow that looked like an onigiri and put it on the backrest. Sighing, Haruna looked up at an amused Rose and smiled back. "Haruna brought her special pillow."

Softly giggling, Rose only nodded even as Kirishima watched in silence. "I can see that." However, a moment later, Haruna held one arm out and Rose blinked. "Hmm?"

Haruna tilted her head towards the arm and giggled. "Come here, Rose-Chan, and lay back with Haruna."

Needless to say, the shipgirl didn't have to say things twice as Rose quickly made her way over and snuggled into Haruna's side, the arm wrapping itself around her waist. "Mmm... this is rather comfy." After a moment of hesitation, Rose kissed Haruna on the cheek which made the shipgirl blink and then brightly smile, even as Kirishima raised her eyebrows at what she had just seen. "Thank you, Haruna."

A smile that could have lit up the night on her face, Haruna only nodded. "You're welcome, Rose-Chan!"

From where she was, Kongou gave a slight giggle. "Oh my, dess."

Beside her, Goto raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Kongou just turned her head. "Oh, nothing is wrong. Just watching Rose-Chan and Haruna." Not answering his unasked question, she turned back to the harbour where she could see various shipgirls on her radar setting up for the fireworks display. Part of her wished that Hiei was there, but knew that since her sister spent Christmas with them, she was going to spend New Year's in Sasebo with the rest of the Richardson household. "Hmm... I wonder what Kaga and Akagi shall have for us this year?"

Goto shook his head and softly snorted. "Considering each year? It's a sure thing." Internally though he grimaced. Some of the Carriers kept ending up with Ohkas despite everything, which both pissed off and mortified people. Shinano especially was beside herself and no one knew what to do with them and so just handed them off to Akashi and others for disposal. That was until Akagi had overheard Midway grumbling about the 'Damn flying firecrackers' which had given her an idea.

Turn them into giant, unpiloted fireworks.

At the time, Goto had only stared at her in complete befuddlement. Then, after giving it sometime and asking Akashi for her input, he decided to allow for it. After all, it got rid of the stupid things and was strangely much safer as well as surprisingly simple. Besides, it was rather spectacular and Iowa had laughed her ass off when told. Speaking of said Battleship, Goto knew that Wisconsin was somewhere out there with various other gunned ships ready to start throwing coloured illumination rounds into the air, this time one of South Dakota's inventions.

Quickly, Goto shook off his ruminations and glanced towards Kongou as he felt for a certain weight. "Kongou." Having gotten her attention, he continued. "I am sorry about how we've been keeping our relationship as quiet as we have."

For several moments, Kongou shook her head before smiling kindly and then moving until she was leaning against him. "I don't mind at all, Teitoku~" At his cough, she softly chuckled before placing her head against his shoulder as she continued to watch the preparations even as the horn sounded to let everyone know to stay out of the restricted area around the fireworks. "Besides... I know that we may be pushing things as it is. And this is enough for me, Dess."

Grunting, Goto narrowed his eyes. "It shouldn't be."

However, Kongou only shrugged. "And yet it is. Such things happen and perhaps one day..."

With a slight glance, Goto slipped his hand into a hidden pocket. "Hmm... You know, I have been asking around, quietly. Things are still up in the air and there is discussion as there are a number of couples serving..."

Not quite sure what he was speaking about, Kongou frowned. "I see..."

Lips twitching as he could feel the curiosity from her, Goto for a moment imagined her with a cat ears and tail, with said tail twitching to show her feelings. Then he shook off the image. 'Where the hell did that come from...' With a slight smirk, Goto turned towards the water. "However, I did find out that some things can be allowed as a matter of fact."

Tilting her head, Kongou put her finger on her chin. "What?"

Suddenly, the horn blared again starting the five minute countdown to Midnight and the New Year. "Oh yes, and it was pretty interesting... Kind of like New Year's itself really. The old year may be gone... but the new one is here. One full of promise and hope, though we don't forget the previous year."

Her boilers pounding, Kongou blinked. 'Wait...'

Goto waited until the timer reached one minute and pulled out a small box that he flipped open to reveal a small ring. "Yonehara may think that I'm copying him, but I already thought of this. So... will you take my promise, Kongou-Chan? And start the new year with that promise for all to see?"

Looking from the ring to Goto and back several times, Kongou only nodded as she felt choked up. "I-I-I... Yes, Dess!"

With a smile replacing his smirk, the Admiral removed the ring from the box and took Kongou's hand before slipping the ring into place just as Midnight hit and the fireworks were launched to cheers. But Goto didn't pay much attention to that as he was staring at Kongou's face looking at the ring in shock. Inside, Kongou could feel as if something gave way and she could feel her veins running with power.

And then Goto's vision was blocked by brown hair as the Battleship leapt onto him and kissed him firmly as massive fireworks went off in the background. There was only one thought in Goto's mind the whole time.

'Worth it.'

 

This is the work of Harry Leferts and others.
Cross posted from SV and SB as each site has things exclusive to the other.
Permission granted by Harry Leferts and the Mods alethiophile, Megaolix and Biigoh

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

These are some of the Authors of Harry Potter and the Ship Girls on Sufficientvelocity and Spacebattles

SV/SB Names/Handles - Single name if same on both sites

Harry Leferts - Original idea/Core writer Generally a Snippet/chapter a day
SisterJeanne/Yellow Hammer - Backbone writer/Number 2
Kiyone4Ever/Kimasa
choco_addict
RCNAnon
Sakuya's Butler/Barricade
OnceUponWhatever/ NotHimAgain
sstabeler/harcroft
Warwolf117/Allard-Liao
dragon_cloud16/?
M1Garand8/?
drag0nsoldier/?
TempestK/?
Kab2 /?
ijnfleetadmiral/?

 

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

 

Harry and the Shipgirls is a Harry Potter/KanColle crossover fanfic written by Harry Leferts.

Decades before the start of the story, the first Abyssals came and attacked, and the event was covered up by wizards to keep magic hidden from the muggles. And then more Abyssals came and those too were covered up.

Then more and more came in greater numbers over the decades, stretching the wizards thin trying to maintain the Statute of Secrecy, and then the Dark Lord Voldemort openly started what would be later known as the First Wizarding War, forcing the wizards to concentrate all their efforts inwards. By the time the Dark Lord was defeated and the wizards had a first look at the muggle world in a while, the Abyssal attacks escalated into the Total War, and in response the muggles summoned the Shipgirls to battle the abyssal menace.

Judging the situation unsalvageable, the magical governments decided to double down on hiding from muggles and hope for the War to blow over, while trying to cover up magical beings that were coming out of the woodwork due to the war thinning the barrier between the material and the spiritual, while many others took advantage of all of this to act more overtly.


Then one day, IJN Battleship Nagato along with others were attending a social dinner at the Dursleys', owners of a company that supplies materials to the Navy, where they found a malnourished seven-year old boy locked in the cupboard. With the Dursleys arrested for ration fraud, Nagato took upon herself to raise Harry Potter.

 

Year One - The Power of Magicite Part 3

START
​

 

Harry Leferts

Hermione looked up as a smiling Harry and an exhausted Ron entered the cabin, both of them waving to her and Neville. "So... how was it in Japan?"

All Harry did though was smile. "It was a lot of fun and I loved seeing Mum and the others again." Then he blinked and grinned. "Did you get the gifts I sent you?"

Chuckling, Hermione nodded. "The book on Yokai? I did, thanks."

Where he sat, Neville nodded. "And I got your book on prehistoric plants."

Just rubbing the back of his neck, Harry grinned. "Well... you like plants and I wasn't sure what you might have in regards to how muggles see them, so..."

The normally shy boy only shook his head before turning to Ron. "Um... so how was the holidays for you?"

Several moments passed before Ron groaned. "Weird. That's all that can be said." Then he brightened a bit. "Though I saw Warspite again, so that was bloody great."

A grin on his face, Harry only shook his head. "It was hilarious to see you actually boss her around a bit though."

That bit of information caused Hermione to pause in opening her book and look up. The shipgirl could feel every one of her crew freeze and stare. "You... bossed around Warspite?"

Crossing his arms, Ron looked annoyed before Harry answered. "Warspite showed up for New Year's because some Royal Navy ships got summoned and to visit him. But as soon as he saw her walking around with a cane and going to do so for the rest of the night, he dragged her back inside and had her sit in her wheelchair. All of us were grinning at it and how she was pouting at being unable to win."

When Ron spoke up with a scowl on his face, a silent Hermione turned toward him. "Yeah, and? She knows what spending too much time on her feet will do to her. I don't want to see her in pain because she's stubborn."

Unknown to Ron, Hermione was stunned at this. '... Okay, I'm going to need to reassess some things then...' Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she had to sit back a bit. "Um... I've heard second hand that she hates her wheelchair and even her sisters can't get her to use it unless she's in a lot of pain..."

Ron only shrugged after a moment. "Yeah, but she knows that I won't take that."

Expression deadpan, Harry just looked at his red haired friend. "Mainly because you're even more stubborn then she is in regards to it."

Not saying anything to that, Ron only shrugged. "I don't like to see her hurt is all... and one day, maybe I'll be able to fix her legs so she won't be in pain. Don't know how yet."

Her expression being thoughtful, Hermione only narrowed her eyes a bit. 'I wonder...'

Meanwhile, the train just continued on it's trip when the doors suddenly opened to reveal a grinning Seamus. "Hey, did you hear the news?"

Sharing a look among them, Harry shook his head. "No, what news?"

If anything though, Seamus' grin grew and both Neville's and Ron's jaws dropped at his next words. "Fenrir Grayback and his pack are dead! They've finally been put down!"

More then a little confused, Harry looked towards his friends. "Uh... Fenrir Grayback?"

Looking toward him, Neville gave a nod. "He's a werewolf and a rather, um... infamous one at that. He was one of You-Know-Who's followers and Gran told me once that he liked to attack children to turn them."

From where he sat, Ron looked stunned. "Uh, yeah, dad told us the same thing actually. Said that he also killed a lot of wizards and witches sent to bring him in..." Suddenly narrowing his eyes, Ron turned towards Seamus. "Where'd you hear this now?"

Not put out at all, Seamus jerked his thumb behind him. "Just came over the Wizarding Wireless in a press conference held by Amelia Bones. Ha! Hope whoever did it made damn sure that the bastard hurt." At their looks, he scowled. "Got one of my favorite cousins on my Mum's side of the family... she didn't survive."

Wincing, Hermione only nodded. "My condolences."

Just waving her off, Seamus shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I'm just glad that he's dead and gone. Though I would like to shake the hand of whoever did it."

Simply frowning, Harry nodded. "When did it happen by the way?"

Blinking at the odd question, the Irish boy gave it some thought. "Sometime back in early December I think that they said. Some female squib was the one who took him out, though how I don't know. Don't really care either and I know me family won't. Mum's probably raising a drink to whoever it was right now."

Thoughtful, Harry slowly nodded as he frowned some. In the silence though, Ron scratched his head. "I wonder if that's why I heard Dad tell Mum and Ginny that he had to head off to some sort of meeting." Seeing them turn to him, he shrugged. "It's the kind of thing that happens I think when big news happens, Dad has to head in because of work."

After sharing some looks, everyone just shrugged and continued to talk.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Cunningham leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes at the sight of the two wizards that sat at the conference table. One of them, a red haired man, looked nervous while the older one looked at ease. On the opposite side of the wizards sat Warspite, who kept giving the red haired wizard by the name of Arthur Weasley looks that helped calm him down. Victory, who was beside Warspite, was more interested in flicking water from her glass at Dumbledore. Behind Cunningham stood the Battleship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, or "Lizzie" to some. Clearing his throat, Cunningham set down his glass of water. "Now then..." Having caught their attention, he frowned. "What seems to be the issue?"

Glancing at Dumbledore who gave the barest of nods, Arthur coughed a bit. "We... have need of your assistance regarding something."

That, if anything, caused Cunningham's eyebrow to raise while behind him, Queen Elizabeth snorted. "Odd that you would come to us for assistance. I would have thought that you would be more then capable of handling any issues."

With a wince, Arthur shook his head. "I deserved that I suppose."

However, Warspite fixed her sister with a look. "No, you did not Arthur."

Much to Queen Elizabeth's surprise, Cunningham nodded. "Perhaps not, you are a good sort after all from what I have seen and heard. However... that does beg the question of what you need help with."

Leaning back in his chair, Dumbledore sighed. "What do you know of Saint Brendan's Isle?"

Just blinking, Queen Elizabeth frowned. "The legendary island in the Atlantic?"

Once he nodded, Queen Elizabeth turned toward her Admiral and was about to speak when Cunningham chuckled and held up a hand. "Discovered by an Irish monk and his followers centuries ago, is supposed to be a paradise of sorts, and has been seen several times even though it does not actually exist. Though I suppose that since you brought it up, it does in fact exist."

Slowly, Dumbledore nodded. "I can confirm that it does exist, and more then that, it's populated. The anti-muggle and unplottable spells are more recent then the original ancient magic that hid the island from being seen, though in the past few hundred years that has been failing on it's own anyways."

At that Arthur stared at him. "I did not know that there was ancient magic involved..."

Lips twitching, Dumbledore gave his fellow wizard a shake of the head. "Very old magic indeed and to this day, I do not believe that anyone knows who cast it. Though at least one theory is that whoever hid Avalon from mortal eyes did much the same to Saint Brendan's Isle as the magics involved are very similar."

Eyes wide, Cunningham stared at him. "You mean to tell me that Avalon... is an actual real place?!" When Dumbledore nodded and opened his mouth, the Admiral shook his head. "Never mind, later." Taking a deep breath, he looked directly at Dumbledore. "Do you know why it was hidden at least?"

Thoughtful, Dumbledore leaned back. "That is much harder to determine unfortunately. We have found some ruins on the island hundreds of years older then when Saint Brendan discovered it, but no sign of the inhabitants. The local merfolk just stated that according to legend they all left for the mainland and those that remained behind died off over decades. We have searched the island many, many times over the centuries, but nothing else has come to light."

Clearing her throat, Queen Elizabeth frowned. "As fascinating as this is... I fail to understand why you would involve us in a... internal matter if there is indeed a settlement on the island."

Just reaching up to his forehead, Arthur rubbed the side of his head. "We have need of your help in protecting those on the island. I hope that maybe you can airdrop some supplies to them or even send some shipgirls to protect them."

Utter silence met him as everyone besides Dumbledore, who nodded, stared at him. Looking between them, Warspite blinked but before she could say anything, Victory spoke up. "What in all the Bloody Hell is wrong with you bunch, Albus!? If they're in that much danger, then you should have evacuated them!"

Knowing by the usage of his actual name that Victory was rather pissed, Dumbledore sighed and seemed to age several years. "I only wish that was possible. But the ICW as well as the various governments involved have decided to let them be. Partially because of the resources being taken up to keep them safe could be used... elsewhere." Everyone understood he meant keeping the magical world secret as well as what few fights were going on between magicals and Abyssals. "And that bringing them to the mainland could threaten the Statute. It has taken a lot to keep support going for this long I'm afraid."

Once more silence descended onto everyone there before Cunningham spoke up, his voice soft but carrying an edge. "Why would they decide not to evacuate them, Albus? How could they possibly threaten the Statute?"

For a few moments, Dumbledore was silent before he slowly spoke up. "I assume that you know about animagi by this point?"

That got him nods as Warspite spoke up. "People able to transform into animals I believe."

Nodding, Dumbledore took a drink of water before letting out a sigh. "Correct. The ability has been around for many, many centuries. Unfortunately, the method can be rather complicated and takes time. And as always, people try shortcuts even when warned that the consequences are dire. Then there are those who do not like their forms and try to change them, such as trying to gain a magical one like a dragon or a unicorn just to name two."

Slightly bemused, Queen Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "I believe that turns out very badly for them."

A snort escaped from Arthur before he shook his head. "To put it mildly..." He seemed lost in thought for a moment before he shook it off. "The two most common methods are either Polyjuice with part of an animal in it or using self-transfiguration. With the first, the person may find themselves trapped in a form that's part human and part animal, though thankfully they usually keep their mental faculties if not their speech. In the second though, they're often reverted to the intelligence of the form that they took. Of course, there were those that went in the opposite direction with transforming animals into people. I remember one wizard who did such with a particularly loyal dog..."

More then a little disgusted with the last part as they could guess where it was going, Cunningham coughed. "I see... and the island?" Suddenly, his eyes widened as the pieces clicked together. "Please do not tell me..."

Both Dumbledore and Arthur shared a look before the older wizard nodded. "Your suspicions are right." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Because of how hard caring for them would be, they would be confined to home and watched, it was decided at the time to be... I would not say humanitarian I suppose, but to give them something of a life by transporting them to Saint Brendan's Isle to live out their days in peace and among others like themselves. Being human, they of course often gathered together and formed couples and families with children. Even though we're talking a handful a year worldwide, it does add up over time. Of course, their children, grandchildren, and the like often have animal features to various degrees and so have to be kept out of sight."

Rubbing his forehead, Cunningham internally cursed. "How many?"

There was a pause before Arthur spoke up. "From the last census forty years ago, about a hundred thousand at least."

Suddenly, Queen Elizabeth snapped her fingers. "Wait a second... humans into animals and animals into humans? Shoved onto an island? That sounds an awful lot like the background to the Island of Doctor Moreau."

Chuckling, Dumbledore had a far off expression on his face. "Indeed. I believe that H.G Wells was informed about the island from one of his acquaintances and took some inspiration. It caused quite a stir at the time and helped raise some issues that caused improvement for those living on Saint Brendan's. There have been other historical incidents involving the people there which can be seen in stories and the like."

Warspite meanwhile furrowed her eyebrows. "Is there truly nothing that can be done from your end?"

As he grimaced, Arthur grumbled a bit. "I wish that there was really. However, the island has always been of low priority, not much more then sending over some supplies or getting magical herbs grown there by the inhabitants back as a form of trade. I suppose that the closest that you might understand is that the island is like the magical version of the Isle of Man. Officially, British Ministry rules over the island and is responsible for it though we have little to do with it. Unofficially, they might as well be their own little country under the purview of the ICW. They even have their own rulers. At the moment though, ICW forces are mostly a skeletal crew I believe that the term would be."

Beside him, Dumbledore nodded with a dismayed expression on his face. "I have tried my best, but with the Abyssals the ICW members are pushing to abandon them 'Until such time as the current crisis is resolved and we can return to the normal situation.' As I am sure you realize what may happen then."

The armrest creaked under Cunningham's hand as he clinched it tightly. "Yes, most likely the Abyssals would wipe out all life upon the island once they realize that they're defenceless." Closing his eyes for several moments, the Admiral frowned as he rolled thoughts around in his head. "Any idea for the final pullout? As I would assume that they will not bother past that."

Leaning back, Dumbledore gave it some thought before he slowly nodded. "I believe that I can have it delayed until July. Most likely no later then that though and it may be sooner though no earlier then March I would think."

Quickly doing some calculations in his head, Cunningham nodded. "That gives us a few months. I may be able to do something though I need time to plan, so any time that you can gain for us by delaying will help."

Both wizards slumped in their seats as if a great weight was taken off their shoulders, which it might as well have. There was a smile on Arthur's face as he nodded. "I can get you a map for the location which can see through the charms around it, or perhaps place one of those radio bacons that you use for finding your way on an official visit.

Cunningham looked up at that and slowly nodded. "That would help greatly, thank you." Standing up, he thanked both Arthur and Dumbledore for their visit and waited until they left. Once he got a nod from Queen Elizabeth that they were off base, he slumped down into his chair. "Well... this is a rather big mess that they dropped into out laps."

Slowly, Victory shook her head. "They wouldn't have come to us if they had any other choice though. And while I don't know Arthur Weasley as well as Bumblebee, I do know that he would want to try his best for those who are supposed to be protected. The man has good morals if nothing else."

Raising an eyebrow, Cunningham turned toward Warspite. "You know the man and his family better, your thoughts?"

For several seconds, Warspite thought it over but nodded in the end. "Much the same as Victory actually. Arthur is a very good man who, despite some issues, does try his best to stick with his morals. I can tell that this was eating him up from inside."

Behind Cunningham, Queen Elizabeth considered her sister before looking between her and Victory. "Out of curiosity... how much trouble could the two of them get into if this ever got out?"

Sharing a look with Victory, Warspite's tone became dry. "There would be those demanding the lash be brought back just for them. At the very least their families and names would be disgraced in the view of the magical public and they would not just lose their jobs, but also be imprisoned. I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur's children became blacklisted."

That caused a thoughtful silence before Cunningham clapped his hands together and began to rub them together. "Well then, I suppose that we should get back down to work then. We have a rescue to pull off and several months in which to plan it."

With nods, all three shipgirls began to pay close attention as they slowly started to brainstorm ideas.

 

Harry Leferts

Looking out the window, Harry grimaced a bit. "I hate this weather..." Outside, ice cold rain pelted the windows of the castle and wind whistled past even as Harry felt his breath fog slightly in the cold, damp air of the castle. Part of him couldn't help but be thankful for the sweaters that he was wearing as he continued his morning jog, the sun not having risen yet. It was then that he heard something and frowned. 'Is that... crying?' His eyes narrowing, Harry slowed down and listened and could hear sobs before he mentally mapped where he was and frowned as he was by a girl's washroom that was always closed. 'Well... it does sound like a girl crying.'

Slowly, Harry made his way closer and grit his teeth as he heard Peeve's voice. "Aw, is little Myrtle-kins going to cry? But Peevesy was only trying to make her feel better!"

For a moment the sobs stopped as a girl yelled at him. "By throwing dung bombs into my washroom!?"

Peeves only laughed. "But Peeves was making it smell like it should! Besides, it's not like anyone visits Myrtle!"

There was a pause as Harry's jaw dropped before he heard the stuttering voice. "Th-that's not true..."

Coming around the corner, the wizard tightened his jaw as he saw Peeves continue to mock the female ghost in front of him, including how no one cared about her or wanted to be friends. Now, there was a little known fact about Harry, he had a few buttons that no one wanted to press. Bullying in front of him was one way to get him mad. Mocking someone for not having anyone was another as he went for a long time without friends. So no one who really knew him would have been surprised as he strode forward with a glare he somehow had gotten from Nagato. "PEEVES!"

Said poltergeist turned to see Harry striding towards him and just grinned. "Is Harry here to be Myrtle's knight? Ah, but she's no princess! Though she might be a frog with those spots."

It didn't take long before Harry reached Peeves and raised one finger. "Apologize to her, now."

Tilting his head, Peeves looked rather amused even though Harry's glowing eyes unnerved him slightly, and he swore that he could see blue flame flicker near the corners. "Or what? Hmm? Hehehe." Suddenly, he grinned. "Oh! Peeves knows!"

His hand in his pocket, Harry reacted as he saw Peeves reach for something behind his back and, before the spirit could react, one of the ofuda that Harry had asked for Haru to make before he came back from holidays was slapped onto Peeves face as he gave a quick chant. Unfortunately for said spirit, said ofuda had been made with the brush that Harry had gifted Haru and he found himself frozen into place with a slight glow. Grinning darkly, Harry leaned in toward his face. "I warned you... now time for you to stay in time out for some time and think about what you done and about not being a dick."

With a deep breath, Harry calmed down a bit while hoping that his mother never found out about the last word he used and turned to see Myrtle staring at Peeves in pure shock and then looking at him before going back to looking at Peeves. Then she noticed that Harry was now looking at her and jerked back some. "U-uh..."

All Harry did though was hold his hands up. "Whoa, it's okay."

More then a little nervous. "You're... not going to do what you did to..."

Glancing at the still frozen Peeves, Harry just blinked. "Why would I do that?"

Finger raising, Myrtle paused before bringing her hands down to her lap. "Um... no reason..." She then frowned a bit as she saw him more closely. 'Why does he look familiar?'

Just scratching his head, Harry looked around before he held out his hand. "Oh, I'm Harry Potter."

Eyes wide as she realized who he was, Myrtle boggled. "Ha-Harry Potter?" At his nod, she blushed. "I-I'm Myrtle Warren." Looking at his extended hand, she giggled a bit as after a moment Harry realized why she wasn't going to shake it and pulled it back, his own cheeks reddening. "Uh... thank you."

However, Harry just waved her off. "It's no problem, I hate people like him."

Moving towards Peeves, Myrtle examined him as the poltergeist's eyes followed her. Said eyes were full of both rage and fear and Myrtle leaned in to examine the piece of paper stuck to Peeve's forehead. "What did you do and... is that writing on it?"

Simply shrugging, Harry looked at the poltergeist and shrugged. "It's just an ofuda that I asked for a friend who's a Miko make. She didn't see any problem with me making a couple." A small bit of Harry took a bit of joy at the fact that the fear in Peeve's eyes suddenly increased. The poltergeist had been rubbing him the wrong way since he had arrived to Hogwarts back in September. "He'll keep as all I wanted was to freeze him."

Myrtle turned toward him with a frown. "... Does that mean that you could do more?" When Harry nodded with a smirk, Myrtle felt a slight shiver run down her back before shaking it off. 'He deserves it.' Then she turned to him and grimaced. "Um... not many talk to me, so... could we..."

With a look towards Peeves, Harry frowned. "Do you want to do so here or...?"

As she looked towards the frozen poltergeist, Myrtle shook his head. "Not within earshot of him."

Nodding, Harry gestured for her to follow him and the ghost did so. Part of it was because so few people not only talked to her, but also because he had stood up for her. Something that very few had done since she died, or even when she had lived. Just as that last thought went through her mind, she froze as a old face rose up. 'He looks like... no, that's not possible.'

The silence causing him to look over, Harry blinked as Myrtle hovered close as she examined his face. "Is... something wrong?"

Suddenly pulling back, Myrtle blushed a bit as she remembered a auburn haired boy from when she was alive. "It's... nothing, you just... remind me of someone, that's all." Her gaze became far off. "Someone that I miss a lot."

Confused, Harry soon shrugged it off and continued to walk as he cooled down from his run as Myrtle followed, the two quietly chatting. Meanwhile, back with Peeves he was internally cursing only to freeze as a teenaged girl walked into view and became thoughtful as she looked at the ofuda. "Well now, this is rather interesting... I have never seen something like this before!" After a few seconds, she looked at Peeves and snorted at his look. "No, Peeves, I am not about to free you. I warned you back when you were shooting crossbows and blunderbusses at my children and threatening them with death! That one day someone would arrive who would not take any of your crap and would be able to back it up. You did not listen to me that day."

Peeves glared at her and he knew that she could hear what he was thinking.

Snorting, she only shook her head. "Oh, no, Peeves. I know that you came with the land and that I cannot get rid of you. But by that same point, you cannot touch me either... and I do not have to help you. Yes... on thinking about it, I will let this stand and perhaps you will learn your lesson. After all, if this magic can freeze one like you, then it's likely that he knows a way, or knows someone, who can get rid of you. Permanently." Walking off, she gave a jaunty wave of her hand. "Have fun, Peeves!"

Hours would pass before the Bloody Baron came across Peeves and after several minutes laughed and left. It would not be until after dinner that Harry returned and, after telling him that if he bothered Myrtle again he would be back, removed the ofuda so that he could reuse it again and walked off as the poltergeist took off like a monster was after him.

 

Harry Leferts

Hearing the scraping of a chair, Hermione didn't even look up from the massive history book that she was reading. "What is it, Harry?"

A moment later, she could hear the thud of a head against the table and raised an eyebrow. "Hide me, please."

Somewhat interested, Hermione raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up enough to see a wet haired Harry with his head on the table. Several moments of silence passed before Hermione gave a cough. "Let me guess... Wood?"

Groaning, Harry nodded. "Wood."

Rather amused, Hermione barely held back some snickers at her friend's exhaustion as she considered her choices. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how she would have dealt with this before she became a shipgirl but then shook it off. "And so you come to hide in the library?"

Harry only rolled his head a bit and looked up at her hopefully. "Don't you know of a way to hide me? I mean, there has to be come sort of secret rooms or something in the library that you found, right?"

Softly snorting, Hermione shook her head. "It's not L-Space, Harry. And there's certainly no orangutans around."

That caused Harry to blink and look at her oddly. "What do orangutans have to do with libraries? And L-Space?"

For almost a minute there was silence before Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Worse then I thought... remind me to show you some good books at some point." When he gave her an odd look though, she ignored it. "As to hiding you... you can stay here I suppose."

His answer, if anything, made her more amused as he bowed his head and ended up hitting the table. "Thank you."

Leaning her head against one palm, Hermione considered her friend and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Harry, I'm surprised that you haven't tried to stop him somehow."

Sitting back up, Harry glanced around and then leaned toward her. "Yeah... but then I would have to also go after the rest of the team."

Now intrigued, Hermione gave him her full attention and put her book down. "The whole team? You're certain of that, Harry?"

Once more glancing around, Harry only nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty certain of that. I mean... when they heard that Snape is going to referee the next match, they all went kind of nuts over it. Almost as if they think that he's going to try something right there in front of the crowd."

Humming, Hermione considered the question before shaking her head. "Well... I guess with his attitude they got some reason to worry from their point of view." Shaking off her thoughts, she gestured at the seat. "Anyways... just relax."

With one final look around, Harry pulled out his notebook as well as a book. "Ah..."

Several moments later, Hermione looked up only to do a double take at the book and frown. "'One hundred and one Convenient Cantrips for Crafting'?"

Looking up, Harry nodded as he made some notes. "They're mostly small spells that have use for crafting things for the most part. One of them creates a small, heated spot at the end of your wand that you can use to etch burn into wood without harming your wand. Another one can be used to harvest spider silk... that sort of thing. You can't really do anything big with them. Heck, there's one here that is used with the spider silk one to make into fabric."

Thoughtful, Hermione looked at the book in interest. "Huh... any ideas of what you're going to do with them?"

Just glancing at her, Harry soon turned his head back to the book. "Not quite yet, though it gives me a few ideas for gifts... but I found this neat potion that can be used for wood to both stain and preserve it. Apparently it can also repel dust and grime."

Now blinking, Hermione frowned a bit. "I... can see how that would be useful." Turning back to her own book, she gave a hum. "Any others?"

Unseen by her, Harry slowly nodded. "Yeah... there's one that will put a hole into a shell for a string without breaking it though it can also be used for things like sea glass. They're not anything really complicated, but..."

Hermione only chuckled. "Yeah." Pausing in her own reading for a few moments, Hermione looked over at him. "What about your homework though? Don't tell me that you're done all of it already?"

All that Harry did was nod some as he made a few notes. "Yeah... I already got it all done." He then looked up and raised an eyebrow. "How about you?"

In reply, Hermione snorted some. "Of course I got it all done." Part of it really amused her though. After all if she was who she was before becoming a shipgirl then it would be likely that she would be continuously panicking over everything regarding school work. But she didn't feel the real need to have to prove herself she did before. Odd that having become something that fought on the open seas would give her an odd peace with herself. 'I wonder how the old me would have reacted to the new...'
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Coming to a stop on the wharf at the end of her route, Fubuki took a few moments to take some deep breaths and slow her boilers down. She knew that her morning jog amused various shipgirls who sometimes watched her head out, but she found it rather enjoyable. For some odd reason, the Destroyer always found that it cleared her head and, by supressing her ship side, the run always felt pretty good. The one time that she had mentioned such to Goto, the Admiral had just nodded and stated that she was feeling a 'Runner's high'. More then that though, it gave her time to think by herself and sort out her thoughts for the day. And, as she stood there sipping at the bottle of water in her hands, Fubuki just smiled as she could just catch the light from the coming dawn coloring the sky. 'Beautiful...'

Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by the sounds of footsteps and turned around in time to see Kaga's twin walk into view with a slight nervousness. "Um... Fubuki-San?"

Like the other shipgirls, Fubuki was still not quite sure what to make of the Battleship. She seemed... softer, somehow, in personality then Kaga. It certainly did not help that she sometimes had a soft smile on her face at times and missed the bite that the Carrier had at times. Nonetheless though, Fubuki just smiled at her. "Ah, Kana-San, how are you this morning?"

With a blink at the name she had been given, a shortened version of Kanazawa, before giving Fubuki a nervous smile. As much as she wished that she did not need the name change, she had accepted it by now that it could have become very confusing between her and her twin. Seeing Fubuki raise an eyebrow as she waited for a response, Kana coughed. "Um, I'm actually doing quite well for myself, Fubuki-San."

Expression lighting up, Fubuki gave her a small grin. "That's great to hear!" That brought a smile to Kana's face as she nodded before she became somewhat nervous again which made Fubuki frown. "Is there something the matter, Kana-San?"

Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, Kana glanced around only to find that no one else was there. "Could we... have a talk, Fubuki-San?"

Raising an eyebrow, Fubuki dabbed at her forehead and placed the towel in her hands around her neck. "Sure, we can do it as we walk, hmm?" At the nod, the two of them began to walk along the path with Fubuki frowning somewhat. "What would you like to talk about?"

For several moments, Kana just looked around before she sighed. "I... things are so different now from what I remember and not just that I'm..."

At her trailing off, Fubuki gave a nod before looking at her hand. "Believe it or not, I understand." Knowing that Kana was paying attention, Fubuki continued. "I don't remember much after I sank but before I was summoned. But I do remember hearing voices crying out to me. Tens of thousands asking, praying for someone to come and save them. I know that I was unsure at the time, but I still answered for various reasons..." Fubuki didn't finish her internal thought out loud. 'Such as never really doing anything notable.'

Kana slowly nodded at that. "But after?"

Blinking, Fubuki turned to her and smiled. "Well... it was really odd when I realized that I had the body of a teenaged girl. Especially as I still had my spirits of my crew on me and they were all men. However, I would like to think that I grasped this second chance with both hands." Softly giggling, she shook her head. "I think that the culture shock was a bit worse though. Going from the 1940s to... well... this."

As she gave a sweeping gesture, Kana realized that she meant Japan and the world at large. "That's part of what I am having some trouble with."

With a small smile, Fubuki only nodded. "I'm not surprised really. It was bad enough for myself and I sank in 1942, you only remember the 1920s so I can't imagine how things are for you."

Eyes widening, Kana smiled back. "Exactly. Which is why I... want to ask you if you would help me adapt to this new world of ours."

That caused the Destroyer to stop and turn to regard Kana with an odd look on her face. "Wouldn't Kaga-San be better for that?"

On Kana's face there was a slight blush as she played with her fingers. "Nee-San has helped and is willing, but she stated that you would be one of the better ones to help when I asked..." Frowning, she cleared her throat and spoke in a voice that was identical to Kaga's. "'You can trust Fubuki-San when she speaks, for she is quite experienced in many ways.'"

It took a few moments as Fubuki parsed what was just said and the tone before she flushed a bit at the double meaning there as she also realized that the infamous 'Troll of CarDiv1' struck again. Then she smirked a bit as she realized the opening. "I suppose so, though I would say that you should tell Kaga-San that thanks to Akagi-Sempai, she is probably far more experienced in some ways then myself. Such as in night battles. In fact, just to avoid needing to say it more then once, it might be best to pass on my message when Tosa-San is there so that she'll know that she can speak to Kaga-San about such things if needed."

Quickly, Kana made a note in her logbook and nodded. "I see, I will pass on the message to Nee-San as you ask. In fact, I will be meeting with Nee-San and Onee-Sama for breakfast and will do so then." With a thoughtful look, she looked towards the Dorms and thus missed the evil grin that crossed Fubuki's face before it vanished. "Though... you do have more experience as a ship then I do, such as in battle. And also as a shipgirl... would it be possible for you to teach me?"

For several moments, Fubuki just blinked before she smiled and nodded. "Hai, Kana-San, it would be my honor."

Bowing, Kana let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Fubuki-Sempai, I will be in your care then."

Just chuckling, Fubuki rubbed the back of her head. "You're very welcome..." Trailing off, she raised a finger as her words fully filtered in. 'Wait... did she just...'

Unsure of the silence, Kana tilted her head to the side some. "Is something wrong, Fubuki-Sempai?"

An odd, strangled noise escaped from Fubuki at that. 'Fubuki-Sempai... a Battleship just called me sempai... a Battleship who looks like Kaga-San just called me Sempai...'

Not quite sure what was going on, Kana looked around to see if there was anyone who could help as Fubuki just kept staring into nothing before turning back to the Destroyer. After a few moments, Kana tilted her head as she felt herself blush a bit. 'Sempai is... kind of cute like that... Though I wonder if she could explain this Valentine's Day that so many are talking about...'

 

MagisterAurelieus

Woot. Nice job at warping Fubuki's reality Harry. So I'm going to post up all the Ship of Fools omake posts that I wrote over on SV.

Starting here with Episode 1 of Ship of Fools:

Part One - Just before Harry's Third Year

August 21st – Outside the entrance to Diagon Alley - just before the start of third year

-0-

The American destroyers USS Johnston and USS William D Porter stood outside the entrance to Diagon Alley with Hermione Granger, each girl with small shopping bags in hand.

“Thanks for taking the time to go shopping at Selfridge's with us Hermione. Especially since you still have to do your school shopping.”

“It's the least I could do for you two for all the AA training Willie D.” And two weeks free from the Diving Duo was a bonus. “It's fun to be able to just do girl stuff once in awhile.” It had been fun too. Even Willie D's falling down the upward bound escalator resulted in nothing more than slight embarrassment. What had taken Hermione aback was Johnston's interest in make-up. The woman at the cosmetics counter had helped and taught the tomboy destroyer how a light touch was best. Still, Johnston had not only bought make-up and several shades of lipstick, she had also bought and was wearing a navy blue blouse with a plaid burberry skirt. Only her respect for her friends kept Hermione from taking a picture. And especially not sending said picture to Akatsuki with a caption of 'A New Challenger Appears'. But the next time she and her sisters were able to have a slumber party she would have to remember to invite Johnston and Willie D.

“Well now, if it isn't Hermione Granger, loitering. I have to wonder if that's the only statute you enjoy breaking.” The smug voice broke Hermione's internal thoughts, followed by the appearance of Draco Malfoy, the blonde boy dressed in all black save the silver necktie.

“There is no statute about shopping with ship-girls Malfoy. Who are also friends of Harry. I have to wonder why you are out and about with nary a henchman or your father in sight?”

“I am quite capable without my henchmen” Draco retorted with a grimace, “and I don't need my father's permission to do what I want.”

During this exchange, Johnston merely observed the boy but then she piped in, “What do you think Willie D? A little too try hard?”

“Yeah kinda.”

“Too bad, his beginning salvo had promise but he just wasn't prepared for counter battery fire. He probably just needs lessons in badass.”

“What are you two talk...” Draco sputtered until he was interrupted by Johnston as she stretched her arms behind her head and then pointed at him.

“You need lessons in badass and must...” Pausing she looked down the street and grinned, “Unlearn what you have learned. And that will be a good start!” Johnston grabbed Draco's wrist and began pulling him down the street to a movie theater. A marquis sign advertising a double billing of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. “Hey Willie D, hold my stuff for me and I'll find you later!”

As the two left, Hermione and Willie D looked at each other, mouths agape.

“Did that just happen Willie D?”

“Uh huh.”

“I don't understand... Johnston is going to see a movie with Draco Malfoy, one of the biggest prats at Hogwarts.”

“Maybe Johnston thinks he's cute or something Hermione.”

Both girls then did a double take at each other and replied at the same time, “OmigodOmigodOmigod!”

-0-

 

MagisterAurelius

Ship of Fools - Part 2

August 21st – just before the start of third year – A movie theater in London

-0-

Draco Malfoy had approached the ever annoying Miss-Head-of-the-Class Hermione Granger and her obvious group of muggle friends for a bit of sport and embarrassment at Granger's expense. He had not expected his plan to backfire so thoroughly however. Now he was being dragged through the streets of London and the muggle hordes by a ship-girl friend of that Potter of all people to one of those muggle movie picture things. Draco's throat went slightly dry. If Father finds out about this he'll blow a blood vessel.

“What do you think you are doing? And who are you anyway?” After sputtering this out, the girl turned to regard Draco.

“My name is Johnston. You need lessons in how to be badass. Hermione burned you back hard and your comeback was... lame. So what's your name or do I have to act like a Drill Instructor and just call you maggot or shit-stain or something?”

“What?! I'm Draco Malfoy, of the House Malfoy, a house ancient with wealth and power beyond your wildest muggle dreams and you would dare....”

“Ummm...” Johnston pointed to herself, “American. Destroyer. Ship-girl. Member of Taffy 3. The only thing I wouldn't dare is switch the mess hall coffee to all decaf. That's a summary scuttling.” She shivered briefly at the thought. Then like a switch being thrown her mood returned to hyperactive. “But Draco is a kinda cool name. And you are kinda cute.”

As Johnston continued to chat happily away, Draco's mental processes focused solely on what she had described herself as. Ship-girl. She's a bloody ship-girl. Did she just say I'm cute? I am so dead. They're going to burn my picture from the family tree. Draco was so wrapped up in his internal monologue he failed to hear Johnston stop talking.

Did I break his brain? Did I say something wrong? Is he even breathing? Johnston pursed her lips and wondered. What would Musashi do? A very Taffy 3 grin broke out on Johnston's face. She crossed her arms under her bust and pushed up to attempt as much jiggle as her destroyer fuel tanks could muster. “I, Johnston am offended! What causes you to ignore the goddess before you!”

“Wha?” Draco blinked several times, not believing what his vision beheld. “What ARE you doing that for?” But as his eyes lingered on Johnston's bust his face slowly flushed crimson.

“To mess with you of course!” Johnston turned and looked to the clock in the ticket booth. “OH! Movie time now! Ogling time later!” She quickly paid for two tickets, grabbed the stunned and blushing Draco by the hand and dragged him into the double feature of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Draco exited the theatre with much on his nearly overwhelmed mind. Alright that was pretty cool. Darth Vader gives me ideas. So how am I going to pull off that force choke thing without a wand? Oh, and I'm going to have to ask Johnston about the whole Sith thing. That could be a neat little secret society to start.. with myself as... Slyth Lord Draco Malfoy. Yes, I like the sound of that... As he broke into a grin at his cleverness, the mental reverie was interrupted by the chirping voice of Johnston right next to him.

“So, what did you think? Is that not the best movie you have ever seen?”

“Umm.. to be honest Johnston. Those are the first muggle movies I've ever seen. My family doesn't approve of the muggle world much.” Draco shook his head and grinned at Johnston. “I liked them though. So is Darth Vader what you mean by badass?”

“Ooohhh.... so you like the Dark Side of the force then. Oh yeah, and the three original movies only really hint at how badass Vader was. You need read some of the books that fill in details. And watch Return of the Jedi but just... no.” Johnston stopped and shivered. “Spoiling Star Wars movies makes Haunted Hornet come and drag you to Hell.”

“Haunted Hornet?”

“USS Hornet is the most haunted ship in the US Navy. And she can do really scary weird stuff when she gets annoyed, like when someone spoils the Star Wars movies to someone who hasn't seen them. She's the one the admirals call in to discipline the battleships when they get out of line.”

The conversation was stopped by the loud growl from Johnston's tummy. “Rationing sucks... that wasn't nearly enough popcorn. Oh I know! Hermione said something about an ice cream parlor in the Diagonal Alley or something. Will you take me there? Please?”

Draco Malfoy had always thought himself immune to the methods of female persuasion. Johnston's antics kept confusing things though. Especially with the way she was now leaning forward towards him, face close to his, eyes shiny and pleading, with her lips pursed and.. and... and.. DANGER DANGER DRACO MALFOY! Jumping back a step, he stammered out, “Florean's.... yes, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor! I'll take you there.” Draco felt his sense of self preservation face-palm itself as Johnston sqee'ed, thrust her arm in his and half frog marched him to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

-0-

While the two got seated and ordered a party sized sundae at Florean's, in Draco's subconscious a mighty debate raged. Upon the metaphorical right hand shoulder, a well dressed Draco exuding supreme arcane power and nobility held forth on reasons many to disregard the ship-girl and end this farce. Family, prestige, power, punishment, and to not have a distraction in pursuit of becoming like Darth Vader. All these things the right hand Draco presented.

The Draco on the left shoulder, slovenly dressed with the light musk of brimstone about him, only sighed and got to his cloven feet. Dispensing with all eloquence he made only a single word as reply while pointing at Johnston. “Boobies.” Thunder cracked as the decision was made. The left Draco grinned victoriously and went back to his newpaper to the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the other.

-0-

“And we really got chewed out for the snow sculpture diorama last year. Ok, depicting Battleship Row during mid-attack might not have been the best idea at the time. I mean, no one knew that Arizona and Pennsylvania were going to be visiting! And Cassin and Downes even helped us to get it historically accurate.....”

As Johnston prattled on, Draco continued to listen and even got to eat a normal human sized portion of the sundae. Only having to contribute the occasional nod or 'uh huh' made things easier. He wasn't sure if he could even come up with something coherent to say. Some part of his brain was processing what Johnston was saying, and that made his new friend that was female dangerous to the extreme but also fascinating. The other part was just enjoying watching the girl sitting beside him. She's interesting... and... pretty.

Johnston was feeling warm and happy. She was having a lot of fun without the usual carnage and property destruction that she and her sisters usually got up to. Wearing a skirt and make-up was still new and kind of weird, but being able to make someone nervous without summoning her rigging but just by acting like a girl was interesting. It's nice to be able to just talk about everything without Hoel or somebody interrupting all the time. He seems to be a really good listener. And he's actually kinda cute too..

Looking over at Draco, Johnston's eyes slitted with mischief as she noticed a blob of whipped cream on his cheek. “Hey Draco, don't move.” She leaned over, putting her face as close to his as possible, and licked the errant whipped cream dollop from his cheek. As Draco stiffened in shock, she laughed. “Whipped cream is too precious to waste on a napkin.... what's wrong?” Her eyes followed Draco's slowly rising finger, and her face drained of color, as it pointed to...

Hermione Granger, hand to her mouth, in a futile attempt to hold back laughter. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley who were staring at Draco Malfoy with neutral expressions. But worst of all, there was William D Porter, holding up her camera phone with a grin befitting Mutsu in maximum tease mode.
“Ara~ Johnston, sorry if we're interrupting your cuddle time with your boyfriend.”

Johnston's tone was pleading, “Willie, please please delete any pictures. It isn't what you think. I was just licking some whipped cream off Draco....”

“Oh wow, Johnston. You're such a lewd woman. Now I have to email Jersey....”

Johnston just went even paler. Her eyes watered, lips quivered, and then she burst into tears and ran off. “I'M NOT LEWD! I HATE YOU WILLIE!”

“But... Johnston... I was just joking. I'm deleting it now! I swear.... Oopsie.”

“Oopsie, Willie?” asked Harry as Hermione went in pursuit of the weeping destroyer. “Don't tell me you hit 'send' instead of 'delete'?” At the ringing of his own phone, Harry answered it and looked at the message. “Oh no. How much is the all in Send All, Willie?”

“The whole US Navy and a big chunk of the Yokosuka and Sasebo girls...”

“Oh my.”

-0-0-0-

August 21st Twitter feeds

@jerseyblackdragon re: Johnston+bf!

Satan's Sweaty Ballsack! I am not dealing with this!

@heavenlydragon re: all personnel

Not it. I mean it. I already have to worry about DesDiv6 any day now.

@lewdoflewds re: Johnston+bf

I Iku will instruct Johnston!

@Goto re: Iku

OH HELL NO.

@pruderager re: Johnston+bf

sighs. I'll do it. Jane's getting close to that age anyway. And Jersey would only make things worse.

------------------------------

 

MagisterAurelius

Ship of Fools part 3

Harry's Third Year at Hogwart's – sometime mid-October

Harry sighed as he sat down at his desk to finish some letters home. Ever since Johnston had left Britain, Harry had to be the letter carrier of hers and Draco's correspondence. His suggestion to Malfoy to get his own set of owl boxes had been rejected out of hand. Apparently Draco did not have any direct access to his father's money other than a small allowance of petty crescents per month.

He had at least convinced Johnston to save up her letters and send them one batch at a time. Draco had accepted that condition after Harry told him that constantly showing up in the Slytherin dorms with perfumed and lipstick bedecked packages for Draco might start rumors. So it was just after delivering one of Johnston's care packages to her boyfriend that Harry finally felt he could get something done.

Not one hour later, Draco Malfoy burst into the dorm room. “Potter! Help me... you've got to...”

Harry was about to make an exasperated annoyed remark, but his mood changed when he saw Malfoy's expression. Gone was all superiority, snark and smug condescension. Draco looked panicked and scared. “Wait wait... slow down. What's wrong?”

After taking a minute to slow his breathing the blond boy held out a letter for Harry to take. “I was reading Johnston's letters and was admiring the Darth Vader poster she sent me, when I got to that letter. The last letter she wrote was from a week ago. But that telegram thing is dated just after her last letter! Potter you have to get me to Japan to see her. She's dying!”

“WHAT?” Harry looked disbelievingly at Draco and then started to read the telegram.

-0-0-
-From: USS Hoel
-To: Draco Malfoy

Dear Mr Malfoy, it is with regret that the United States Navy must inform you that USS Johnston DD557 suffered a tragic, disastrous, regrettable and unfortunate training accident. As the designated significant other, you may wish to visit Johnston at the Yokosuka Naval Base to ease her suffering in parting. In these times every moment is precious. Do not wait until it is too late.

For access to the base it may be necessary to coordinate with Mr Harry Potter regarding travel arrangements and security passes.

Sincerely in these troubled times,
USS Hoel
USS Heermann
USS Samuel B Roberts
-0-0-

Harry facepalmed and sighed. “Draco, I think you're being pranked. Hoel and Heermann are Johnston's sisters and fellow Taffy 3 members along with Sammy B. And they're infamous for pranks and mayhem.”

“But would they fake an accident Potter? I don't know that. I have to know that she's alright.” Draco stopped and grimaced. “I will beg if I must for your help Potter.”

“Draco, seriously that isn't...” and Harry stopped as Draco Malfoy of all people dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

“Please.”

“Alright get up. I'll help. I can't get you to Yokosuka that's just not possible. But I can do the next best thing.” Harry went and rummaged around in his chest and pulled out a decent sized tablet computer and metal flyswatter looking thing with a usb cable. Checking the charge on the tablet and humming positively, Harry turned to Draco. “So now we need to find a place outside the castle where I can get a strong enough signal.”

-0-0-

Draco looked at Harry with raised eyebrows. “Here?”

“Yup. With the signal booster Yuubari made for the tablet, I'm able to get a wifi connection here.” Harry internally chuckled at Hagrid's shack being a wifi hotspot, and the other app showed quite a few Pokemon as well. “Okay, calling home.”

On the screen of the tablet, Harry's Skype connection went active and in a few moments an orange traffic cone appeared on the screen. Naka yawned. “Ohayo Harry-chan... what's up?”

“Hi Naka, sorry to wake you..”

“Oh no problem chibi. I was just marathoning a Growlanser IV stream. Oh, whose your friend?” Naka leaned into her camera.

“This is Draco, and the reason I called. He's worried about Johnston because of a letter that Hoel and her sisters sent him.”

“Johnston? Worried? The only worry he'll have to do is if he comes over to Japan. Seriously, Draco-san. Over here you would have girls all over you. And then Johnston might go yandere and no one wants to clean up that mess.”

“Wait so Johnston is not dying?” Draco leaned forward towards the screen.

“Dying? Pfft!” Naka leaned over and reached for something. As she rose back up, she drug the sleeping black haired form of Johnston into view of the camera. “Sleeping yes, dead, no.”

“Johnston! You're alright!” Draco nearly tore the tablet out of Harry's hands.

“Huh? Whuzatt? Eh, ah OH! Draco!” It took Johnston about 30 seconds to fall out of Naka's grasp, slam her forehead into the table and then sit on a computer chair. “Ow... wait, why wouldn't I be alright?” As Draco told her the contents of the letter, Harry saw Johnston's face glower with rage.

“Oooo... I'm going to have to ask Tatsuta for ideas on revenge. Well, okay there was a minor accident. But that's because some dummy gave Willie Dee 55 gallon drums of napalm instead of depth charges for ASW training. And because Willie Dee just happens one of the drums landed on my head and burnt up my feather headdress. But that was it. A hour in the baths and I'm back to 100% badass.” Johnston's grin lit up the screen more than the backlighting. Naka off screen was merely holding her hand to her mouth, suppressing her laughter.

“Well, I'm just really glad you're alright. I... I was concerned.”

Harry realizing the opportunity for mischief leaned back into the picture. “He was so worried Johnston that he begged me to get him to Yokosuka to see you~”

“Potter!” Malfoy croaked, turning beet red in the process. Which was matched by Johnston's radiant blush.

Naka fell over, crowing, “Ohohohohoho... Johnston... for that sort of devotion you'll have to do more than just a lick the next time. Maybe let him get to second base, yes~?” As Johnston looked over with confusion at Naka, the traffic cone got up and whispered in her ear.

With an eep, Johnston shot up, blew Malfoy a kiss, and said, “OhcrapitslateIloveyousweetiegottagobye!” And promptly ran out of the room to Naka's howling laughter.

“But I didn't get to ask her what she wanted for her commissioning day...” Draco half mumbled.

Naka perked up with a cat like expression. “Oh...well Johnston-chan did lose her favorite headdress. Maybe something for her hair Malfoy-san.” She then winked. “It is late Harry and Naka-chan is tired. It was nice meeting you Malfoy-san. If you ever come over to Japan, I'll make sure to have you and Johnston on my podcast. But good night, morning, afternoon I think.”

“Thanks Naka.” Then Harry shut down the Skype channel and looked over at Draco. “I wonder what she meant about second base?” Draco shrugged equally confused.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

This was a freaking blast to write. Hope you all enjoy!

 

MagisterAurelius

episode 4 of Ship of Fools.

-0-
Once again Harry's third year at Hogwart's, the second day of Christmas break, the Malfoy manor.

"So, ummm, why do you need us to go with you to Japan Draco?" Henchman #2, otherwise known as Crabbe asked as he watched Draco finish packing his suitcase. Draco looked up to reply as he snapped the final latch on the suitcase shut but was pre-empted by Henchman #1 Goyle.

"He wants to have some privacy with his girlfriend, so we have been selected for wingman duty and keep her sisters occupied."

Crabbe looked dubiously at Draco. "How suicidal is this wingman mission? Some things are beyond even the bro code. How fugly or crazy are they?"

Goyle snorted. "Crabbe you git. Draco's dating a shipgirl. That means her sisters are shipgirls. Shipgirls just don't come in fugly. After seeing all the ones that hang around Potter?" He purposefully avoided the second part of the question however. "The main issue is going to be how many sisters we will have to deal with. Because that will determine just how much Draco'll be needing to repay us when we get back." He turned to Draco, "How many sisters?"

"As far as I know right now just Hoel and Heermann are with her in Yokosuka." Draco sighed. "So just two."

"Okay, now why is Potter okay with this? I mean you and he aren't exactly friends Draco. And what about your par..." Crabbe cut off as he watched Draco raise his arm towards his throat, hand acting like it was attempting to choke empty air. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?"

Draco dropped his arm to his side and muttered, "Still need more practice." He turned his back on his friends to pick up his suitcase, not noticing the movement of the door knob to his room behind them. "Potter is alright with things because Johnston is his friend and asked him if I could spend Christmas there. And because he has been decent about helping Johnston and I keep up correspondence, I am not about to antagonize him and screw up things with Johnston. Now what I told my parents....."

A sweet lilting voice interjected behind Crabbe and Goyle, interrupting Draco. "Yes Draco dear, do please tell your mother the real reason you want to spend Christmas away from the family~"

-0-

Crabbe and Goyle looked on at Draco's expression, something between mortification and a drenched cat, as he was trapped in his mother's embrace, sputtering as she mussed his hair. Narcissa Malfoy looked up at the two and smiled. "You boys do know that a mother always knows what her son is up to right?" As the two exchanged looks of confusion with Draco she continued, "Did you even think that Harry Potter would invite you to his home without his mother's permission? And that she wouldn't talk to all the mothers of the invited boys to make sure that everything was alright and had permission to stay in a foreign country over the holidays?" She giggled softly as all three boys winced.

"Mother...so just how much do you... " Draco trailed off as realization dawned upon him.

"Do I know? One, my son is dating. Two, he is dating a shipgirl. Three, he has already been licked by said shipgirl..." As Draco turned crimson, Narcissa twisted the knife, "Oh Draco, to deny your dear mother such a golden memory is almost unforgivable. At least Nagato was kind enough to send me several copies, so I will be able regale my grandchildren with tales and pictures of how their parents met."

"MOTHER!"

Narcissa's expression then turned from playful to completely serious. "Now Draco, your father and I have known you've been in a relationship with this girl for awhile now. But since you are going to be in close physical proximity to her without us being around. Well, it is a year or two sooner than he would have liked, but it's time. So young man, make your way to your father's study. You and your father need to have The Talk." Her smile then came back like sunshine. "Before you go Draco, have you gotten your girlfriend a Christmas present yet?"

"No, I haven't had a chance to yet. I need to find something special though. I want it to be for Christmas and her Commissioning Day gift."

"Any ideas on what she likes?"

"Umm... she did lose her favorite hair band thing a bit ago I think." He scratched his head. "Something about feathers too..."

Narcissa's lips pursed together in thought and a small grin came to them. "Hmmmm... I think I can help dear. Let Mother take care of that for you. Now off you go, and while you and your father chat, I'll hunt it down so then you boys can get going." Narcissa stood up and left Draco's room.

Leaving two very confused henchmen to watch their leader trudge his way to his father's study. Turning to Goyle, Crabbe opined, "His mum is one scary lady."

Raising an eyebrow, Goyle merely replied. "Mate, mothers are all scary."

-0-

 

MagisterAurelius

Ship of Fools Part 5

Once again the Malfoy manor, Christmas break of Harry's 3rd year at Hogwarts.

-0-

Draco and his father sat facing each other, Lucius behind his desk, yet with eyes deliberately avoiding each other. The silence continued until Lucius coughed.

"Well, now, do you have any questions Draco?"

"No... no.... I think you explained everything. There can't be more can there?" Draco finally looked his father in the eye, his expression a mix of embarrassment, confusion and incredulity.

Lucius sighed. "I had to be thorough Draco. No one deserves to experience the talk the way your grandfather imparted it to me. There are some things that even Obliviation cannot erase." In his mind Lucius recoiled from the memory of a scarring enchanted puppet show.

"I do have one question though." Draco steeled himself. "Mother mentioned that you both know about Johnston and me. You haven't hit the roof yet and I'm wondering why not."

Lucius steepled his hands and gazed sternly at his son. "It is true that the Malfoy bloodline is Pureblood, Draco, and if Johnston were a muggle I indeed would be enraged." Holding his hand up to forestall his son from objecting he continued, "Johnston is not a muggle but a shipgirl and thus a magical being. She has great power available to her therefore, which is useful to be on the right side of. Finally, her influence on you seems to be positive. She seems to have sparked ambition and a desire for power in you, and I approve."

Draco stepped back, ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous tic and was about to speak. Only for his jaw to drop open as his father continued with a smirk.

"Oh and one more thing. If you need to practice the Force Choke that's fine. Just try not to kill the House Elves."

"WHAT? You've seen....?"

Lucius shrugged. "Of course Draco. I saw the original with your mother before I married her. Oh, and if you are in one of those arguments, just take it from your father. Han shot first."

-0-

"Well Draco did you and your father have a good talk?~"

Draco shifted his feet. "Yes mother. It was very informative and complete."

Narcissa stifled the giggle in her throat at the sight of her son's growing embarrassed blush. She motioned to a side table where a dizzying array of hair ornaments in various degress of bejewelment and gilding lay. "Pick something nice for your girlfriend dear."

Draco took his time and slowly sorted through the various clips, bands, pins and broaches. Eventually he selected two from the throng and set them aside. His mother came up behind him and examined his choices.

"Both of them are beautiful pieces Draco. So have you decided which one to give her?"

"This one." Draco held up the less ornate of the two. It was a simple gold comb to be worn around the temple, with an array of four silver feathers sweeping up and to the back. Each feather was limned in gold with gold striations in black onyx. The feather tips were of white onyx and over the center of the comb was silver and turquoise inlay. "It was the closest to her hairpiece that she lost."

"Very thoughtful Draco. But why not the other?"

"It just seemed too much for right now, I think. And I mean it's covered in all those stones. It's too much to be real jewelry even though it looks really nice."

"Well, you are very perspective Draco. This heirloom is too much too soon for young love." Narcissa smiled sweetly with utter mischief. "But when you are ready to propose to dear little Johnston let me know Draco. A genuine Faberge piece does make for a wonderful engagement gift."

"MOTHER!"

-0-

 

Harry Leferts

Grimacing as he looked down at his newspaper, Remus sighed and rubbed his face as he just wanted to throw it into the fire. Life as a werewolf was hard at the best of times, and with how things were both in the muggle world with the war and in the magical one, he was just barely afloat. He couldn't even set up a chicken farm or such thing as the animals would panic some at his scent. Thankfully, he was able to live as a handyman by secretly using his magic to fix things. Add in the money that he was pulling in from fixing up various items and then selling them at flea markets and he was just able to stay afloat.

That did not mean though that he was prospering by any extent of the word.

As Remus looked around, his eyes fell on the mostly empty bottle of fire whiskey on his mantle place. Despite his money situation, he had bought it using some of his meagre savings at hearing Fenrir was dead at last. Something that still brought a slightly savage smile to his face every time he thought about it. With a sigh though, he put the newspaper down and picked up another one as he began to read the classifieds to see if there was some work out there. Before he could get too far though, there was a knock on the door which made him blink and then look up in confusion. 'Odd...'

Putting the newspaper down, he walked to his door with his wand hidden in one hand. Even though the world was supposed to be peaceful outside of the Abyssals, Remus had learned long ago not to take such things for granted. Undoing the locks on the door, he opened it a crack to see a woman there who was dressed right out of a muggle history book. "Remus Lupin, I presume?"

With a quick sniff, Remus paled. He may not have been the most informed in regards to various things thanks to his near hermit-like existence, even he recognized Victory if only due to the clothes plus the empty sleeve and eyepatch. The smell of timber, seawater, and gunpowder only reinforced it. "Yes... that's me. How may I help you?"

In reply, Victory only pulled out a letter and handed it to him in silence which he took. "I have an offer for you. A job, if you will."

More then somewhat suspicious, Remus brought up the envelope to his eye level and frowned at the loopy writing on it. He very recognized Dumbledore's writing on it as well as scent. Then he realized that Fawkes was on his fence post and relaxed. If Dumbledore was somehow involved in this... Fully opening the door, he gestured for her to come in. "Thank you, Miss Victory."

Simply walking in, Victory quickly scanned the small cottage with her eye and internally frowned. 'I know that Bumblebee said that it might be bad, but I did not expect this...' When Remus pulled out a chair at his table, Victory gave him a small grin before sitting down. At his offer of tea, she only nodded. "A nice cup would be lovely, thank you."

Taking the time he had making the tea, Remus tried to figure out what was going on as well as calm himself. Inside him, the wolf was whimpering and wanting to both submit and run as fast as possible from the shipgirl at his table. Every bit of his instincts just screamed that she could easily end him. But Remus was nothing if not used to such things and soon placed the cup of tea in front of Victory who took it gratefully. Sitting down with one of his one, he cleared his throat. "How... may I be of assistance?"

Gently blowing on her tea, Victory placed several sheets of parchment onto the table and a quill and ink pot. "I'm afraid that before we can get to that, I will need you to sign these... and please read them carefully before you do so."

Now really suspicious, Remus picked up the parchment and began to read them over. After he was done, he read them a second time and furrowed his eyebrows before looking up at Victory with a frown on his face. "These are magical contracts..."

Slowly nodding, Victory hummed. "They are, they're the basic non-disclosure contracts for certain lines of work."

Eyes narrowed, Remus finally opened the envelope from Dumbledore and read it a few times and then set it down as he frowned in thought. "May I ask what would happen if I don't sign these?"

Victory sipped her tea carefully and then smiled. "I shall enjoy my tea and then leave, that is all. Nothing else would happen besides that. If you sign them, then I shall give the offer that I carry and you can decide whether you wish to have anything to do with it or not. If you decide not to, then I will leave and it shall not be mentioned again as it is rather secret."

For several moments Remus stared at her before his curiosity finally got the better of himself and he quickly signed the contracts and slid them back over to Victory. "Okay, you have my attention."

There was a slight smile on Victory's face as she set down her cup. "Firstly, I'm sure that you have heard about the demise of a werewolf by the name of Fenrir Greyback?"

Narrowing his eyes, Remus only nodded. "I have as have probably every other werewolf in Britain. There were quite a number shocked by his death though there were also those who celebrated it. But why..."

When he trailed off and gave the shipgirl a piercing look, Victory only grinned. "Bumblebee did say that you were quite an intelligent fellow."

However, Remus frowned. "But every one reported that it was a squib that killed him and his pack... Not a shipgirl."

Victory only hummed. "Would it be surprising if I was to say that the young woman involved was both?"

Slowly, Remus' eyes widened as he put it together. "I thought that it was only a rumour that normal people could become shipgirls..."

Just shaking her head, Victory chuckled. "Oh no, I can confirm to you that it is not a rumour, but the truth. Of course, you can understand why this must be kept secret from certain people."

With a snort, Remus shook his head. "I can... but what does this have to do with me?"

Her expression becoming saddened, Victory shook her head. "Now we get to the real meat of the conversation. I am sure that being a victim of Fenrir, you understand who he targets the most?"

Feeling his breath catch in his throat, Remus swallowed. "Children..."

Turning towards Remus' window, Victory frowned. "The reason why we acted when we did was he began to really push matters. Due to the Aurors being often too busy, he had been using their distraction to attack more and more children. He even attacked a sibling to an American Natural Born. We don't quite know why, but..."

A snort caused her to look towards Remus who growled. "I can guess why. The various packs have been making noises about shipgirls for a while and there's fear about their power to where some have been suggesting approaching them. I have no doubt that Fenrir, hearing the same thing decided to prove his superiority... While I am not sorry it was what got him killed, I am sorry about all those he harmed."

Eye searching Remus', the shipgirl nodded. "That was what our intelligence group suspected, though we couldn't be sure. That said... our strike has seemed to wipe out his pack."

Raising an eyebrow, Remus frowned. "'Seemed'?

However, Victory waved her hand. "One can never be certain of these things, but we do think that we got them all with a few having been captured. That is all beside the point." Placing her hand on the table, Victory fixed him with a look. "Along with the adults, we found at least a fifteen children between the ages of two and twelve... Only five of whom have living relatives."

For several moments, Remus stared at her and then ran his hand down his face. "Merlin... how bad...?"

Grimacing, Victory shook her head. "One of them, a five year old, was badly beaten and might have died. From what we could get, Fenrir was trying to break them. All are recovering and we are bringing in specialists to help, especially those who have been involved in... deprograming children of cults. But that still leaves the issue of what to do with them which is where you come in."

That caused Remus to freeze before he slowly turned towards Victory with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean...?"

Most would have been somewhat frightened by the expression on Remus' face, but Victory took it in stride and sipped her tea. Though those who knew her would have been able to tell there was a slight approval on her face. "There is an old boarding school in the Welsh countryside which was converted from a manor. There's a wide area around it with full facilities. it has been empty though for a number of years now. Her Majesty's government is going to buy it and fix it up."

Now thoughtful, Remus leaned back in thought. "For maybe ten children? That is a bit much..."

Clearing her throat, Victory shook her head. "At first, we were going to set up a large house... but then we were told that there were a number of children in the Wizarding World who, after being bitten, were tossed out of their homes."

For several moments, Remus stared at her and then sighed. 'It's... an unfortunate fact, yes. Sometimes, they find a pack to take them in, but far too often they don't last long." It was then that he realized what she was suggesting and turned to boggle at her. "You cannot be serious..."

Her lips quirking upwards a bit, Victory raised an eyebrow. "I am, and don't call me Shirley."

At his confused expression, she shook her head and muttered about spending too much time talking with Constitution. Coughing, Remus brought her attention back to him. "You're suggesting somewhere for young werewolves to... stay?"

Leaning back, Victory nodded some. "That's right. And also to teach them."

Several minutes passed as Remus rolled that around in his head before he finally shook his head. "Why?"

If one looked closely, one could see that there was sadness in Victory's eyes that he had to ask that question. "So that they have a future and can be used as an example for the rest of the werewolf community to follow when the Statute finally falls."

There was silence as Remus looked at her and then shook his head. "So it's really going to happen then?"

Knowing what he meant, Victory nodded. "It's too far gone by this point. Some in the Ministry believe that it'll last a decade. However..."

Silent, Remus frowned as he looked into the distance. "How long do you think?"

Taking a deep breath, Victory let it out. "Five, maybe six years if we're lucky before something happens that will blow it all out into the open."

All that could be heard was the ticking of the clock on the mantle and the crackle of the flames before Remus let out a sigh. "I see... so why come to me? And how does this all tie into an offer?"

Having shaken off her melancholy, Victory smiled slightly. "We would like to hire you on as a consultant for a time. To help us set it all up and get it running. I assure you, neither the project nor yourself will have need of money. Though... there is another reason as well."

Just raising an eyebrow, Remus frowned. "Oh?"

Slowly, Victory nodded though she internally braced herself. "Considering that a number of those who will first arrive will be victims of Fenrir Greyback, you can act as a role model for them. Someone who understands what they went through to a better then average extent and be there for them. Albus suggested this as a matter of fact."

Frozen, Remus' thoughts raced in his mind. "You... want me to work there..."

Once more, Victory waved a hand. "As a matter of fact, yes. Only if you want, of course, but I have been told that having someone there to support them and went through the same general thing is best."

Glancing at her, Remus frowned. "You do realize that I am dangerous to have around children... or anyone, really."

However, Victory only nodded. "Then I suppose that it is a good thing then that these children are already werewolves and that we shall be setting up a spot for transforming on the night of the full Moon."

Eyes narrowing, Remus grunted. "That will help, some, but there is still the danger of escape."

Much to his surprise, Victory spread out her arms. "There will be several shipgirls available to provide security. Mostly ones such as myself who use sails instead of boilers, but we have a few ironclads who would be willing to help out. We'll also be assigning a hospital shipgirl as well for injury treatment." She then frowned. "We are looking for a potion's master to produce the Wolfsbane potion mind you, but-"

Remus then cut her off to her surprise. "I think that I know of someone." At the raised eyebrow, he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry... anyways, he's a Half-blood who's sister was turned by Fenrir's pack but escaped. I know that him and his sister are relieved that Fenrir is dead as the bastard kept trying to hunt her down. Even came close a few times... Anyways, he tries to provide her with the potion when he can, but..."

Softly snorting, Victory shook her head. "Get us in touch with him and I will personally make sure that he gets the needed funds to supply it to all of the children, his sister, and yourself."

Frowning, Remus raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say that I would join... but I can consult I suppose and use some of my connections."

Just smiling, Victory nodded. "That is all that I can ask."
_________________________________________________________________________

Looking up as Kana sat down, Kaga noted that Fubuki seemed a little out of it. "How did your talk with Fubuki-San go?"

What she did not expect though were the next words out of her twin's mouth. "Ah, the conversation went really well with Fubuki-Sempai. She promised to teach me as much as I wanted to know about being a shipgirl."

Beside her, Akagi choked a bit before she grabbed a glass of water to wash it down as kaga only blinked. "I... see..."

Then Kana continued as she took a bite of the muffin on her plate. "Mm-hm! You were right, Nee-San, Fubuki-Sempai knows all sorts of things due to being so experienced, especially with being a shipgirl."

Kaga felt some sweat on her neck as Akagi gave her a disapproving glare. '...'

After a few seconds, Akagi turned to give Fubuki an apologetic look, only to find that Fubuki was giving her one instead. 'Now why would she be...?'

She soon found out though as Kana took a sip of her tea with a thoughtful look on her face. "Fubuki-Sempai was kind of surprised that you suggested her though."

Eating, Kaga missed Yuudachi raising a phone and pointing the camera towards her. "Oh?"

Her twin's next words caused her to choke though as Kana crossed her arms and nodded. "Hai, according to Fubuki-Sempai, thanks to Akagi-San you're very experienced and know a lot of things. Like night battles!"

Around them, most conversations ceased as everyone turned their heads towards the train wreck. Akagi meanwhile had a red face and cleared her throat before speaking in a almost whisper as she glanced to where Amagi and her other sisters were listening in. "Sh-she did... and about night battles?"

Not having really taken note of the reactions, Kana continued. "That's right, I was sort of interested and asked her to explain a bit later. Fubuki-Sempai said that the two of you practiced a lot at night battles and that the ones that you were involved in together were long, drawn out affairs with lots of explosions as bombs went off inside hulls."

Face utterly red, Kaga was about to shoot a glare at the Destroyer when Tosa spoke up and caused her to freeze. "Night battles, hmm?" Slowly, the Battleship nodded and turned towards her sister with a smile. "Maybe you can teach me as well so that I can join you and Akagi-San in your night battles."

Things then went from bad to worse as Amagi nodded as did Akagi's other Battlecruiser sisters. "That's actually a good idea! We can all join in on the night battles then." Amagi was about to say something else when she took note of something and blinked. "Um... Akagi-Chan? Is something wrong? You're making a bit of an odd noise and why is your face so red..."

Eyebrow twitching, Kaga didn't even need to look to know that Akagi was likely living up to her name of 'Red Castle'. Especially if the odd, high pitched noise drifting out of her mouth said anything. Slowly, and ignoring that her own face likely could be mistaken for a tomato despite her stoic expression, Kaga turned to where Fubuki was. All the Destroyer did though was smirk... actually smirk, at Kaga and bow her head a bit before raising a glass in a salute. 'Touché, Fubuki... touché.'

However, Kaga had just gotten her blush under control about three minutes later when she received a text. Looking at it, she could see that it was from Zuikaku. Then her blush came back full force as she read the text. '{Hey, Kaga-San, so I just saw the video... going to have your Nee-Chans and Akagi's join you two in night battles, huh? How forward...}'

All anyone could hear was the sound of steel against steel as Kaga banged her head on the table while Fubuki just grinned widely.