Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A chime from Harry's phone as they walked away from the Summoning Room and outside caused Harry to pull it out. Glancing at it, he smiled a bit and Jane raised an eyebrow at him. "Something good happen?"

Only nodding, Harry held out the phone. "Yeah, Regina is going to be in Yokosuka in time for my birthday! Her, Revina, Wanko, and Supply Depot Princess as well as some others will be there. Apparently they're coming for a signing of a peace treaty between them and those fighting the Abyssals the week after."

Blinking, Jane frowned a bit. "Wait, I thought that they've been at peace with us for a few years now?"

Harry slowly shrugged at that. "Three years or so, but yes. They've finally hammered everything out and are holding it in Yokosuka so that Hoppou can sign as well."

Yet again, Jane blinked and then stared at him. "Why did it take three years? I mean, didn't we sign a treaty with them years ago?"

Shaking his head, Harry frowned a bit. "No, they had a Memorandum of Understanding with her, but that's it. Apparently this is a more binding treaty or something regarding the Abyssals lead by Wanko, Supply Depot Princess, and Hoppu. They're calling them the 'Yokosuka Accords' I think."

If anything, that caused Jane to become more confused until she scoffed and shook her head. "They should have did that years ago. Man, they take so long to do things."

All Harry did was shrug. "I guess." Then he frowned and looked over at Jane. "Didn't Uncle John say that there was something happening here as well?"

Jane scoffed a bit and placed her hands behind her head. "Yeah, some negotiations between countries that have shipgirls. Daddy won't tell me much about whatever it is." After a few seconds, she shook it off. "Whatever. Anyways, so I guess that we'll be seeing Wanko and them at your birthday party again this year?"

With a slight smile, Harry nodded. "Yup! And I can't wait! Also..." Looking around, he leaned in towards Jane. "I got a surprise for Regina."

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Jane glanced around as well. "A surprise? Really?" At Harry's nod, she grinned. "Okay, I'm looking forward to it." Unheard by Harry, she continued it internally. 'Nothing is so amusing as seeing a Re-Class get flustered.'

While he flipped through various things on his phone, Harry hummed. "So anything new on the scuttlebutt?"

Thoughtful, Jane considered things before tilting her head. "Well, there is one thing actually." Seeing as she had his attention, she continued. "I heard from my sources that Guam apparently has a boyfriend and confirmed it through others, though I only got his screen name of 'The Jumper'."

If anything though, that caused Harry to raise his eyebrow at her. "The Jumper? You're serious?" When she nodded, he sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder about people."

Simply shrugging, Jane frowned. "Anything on your end?"

Harry grinned with a snicker. "You didn't hear it from me, but apparently... Okay, you know how Sendai is trying to catch a certain someone back in the States, right?"

Bemused, Jane rolled her eyes. "Old Person, right?" At Harry's confused expression, she shrugged. "I know about it."

Unable to help himself, Harry's snickers became chuckles. "Apparently, there was an incident over in the United States. All I know is that Naka fell out of her chair laughing over it. Something about reenacting a marketing campaign for sunscreen."

Confused, Jane frowned and then crossed her arms. "I don't get it."

Shrugging, Harry shook his head from side to side. "Neither did I, all I know is that bite marks were involved. Somehow."

That only made the confusion worse. "Wait, bite marks? Sunscreen? What the heck did Aunt Sendai do over there..." After a few moments though, she became thoughtful. "I wonder if that was why Jintsuu-Mama was on the floor crying from laughing so hard..."

All Harry did was snort. "Maybe, it wouldn't surprise me in the least."

Both of them continued to walk until Jane shook it off and turned to Harry. "Oh! Before I forget, I got a new pet! Archie managed to catch it."

Head tilting to the side, Harry blinked. "Archie caught you a new pet? Really?"

Waving a hand around, the twelve year old nodded. "Yup! See, the screens in the house kept turning up cut. Daddy thought that it was someone trying to get in and so did Ari-Mama. She spent a lot of time outside patrolling the house at night. But the screens kept getting caught and letting in mosquitoes."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry frowned at this. "Wait, so what was trying to get in then?"

After a few moments, Jane shrugged. "I'm getting to that, now where was I...?" Suddenly nodding, she took a deep breath. "Anyways, Daddy was nearly at his wits end and even guards stationed outside couldn't catch who was doing it. But one night, I woke up in my room to Archie laughing as she held something in her hand and stuffing it into a cage."

More then a little curious, Harry gave her a look. "So...? What was it?"

Holding her hands out a distance from each other, Jane shook her head. "It looked like this shrimp, about this long. But it had really long, sharp pinchers and could fly! When Mutsu-Mama placed it into an aquarium with normal steel mesh, it managed to start cutting it's way through them. Daddy thinks that it's a magical creature, Jintsuu-Mama says that she's sure that it's some sort of Yokai. Archie is keeping it safe for me. I'm calling it Screener as he really likes cutting through screens and nets and stuff."

Only tilting his head to the side, Harry considered this for several moments. "Huh..." Blinking, he chuckled a little bit. "Okay, that's actually pretty neat!"

His adoptive cousin only laughed alongside him. "You have no idea, Harry. He's freaking awesome!" Glancing around, she grinned a little bit. "By the way, I picked the movie for tonight..."

Seeing the amused expression, Harry couldn't help but grin right back. "Oh? What movie are we watching tonight?"

Just raising a finger, Jane grinned. "What else? The live action Starblazers of course!"

For several moments, Harry tilted his head to the side. "Wait, you mean the one that Disney did? That's got about as much in common with the original as some of their other remakes?"

Unable to help herself, Jane allowed her grin to grow. "And involves the crew of the Space Battleship Arizona fighting aliens? Got it in one! Want to know what makes it even better?" When Harry shook her head, Jane snickered. "Ari-Mama is watching over us tonight."

Now amused, Harry choked. "You're horrible, Jane!"

In reply, she skipped ahead of him and turned before making a bow. "Thank you, thank you. I do try."

All Harry did though was simply shake his head. Despite it though, he couldn't wait to see the movie. More for the reactions from Arizona from seeing it. Of course, that was when he frowned as a thought hit him. "Wait... Has Aunt Arizona even seen this movie before?"

Looking more like a cat who had caught a canary, Jane shook her head. "Nope! It just came out as she was out on sortie and she just missed it in theatres. And since she's not really interested in such things, I don't think that she knows the first thing about it."

More then a little interested, Harry hummed. "So Aunt Arizona wouldn't know the first thing about the movie?" When she shook her head, he smirked. "Well now... even if it's not that good of a movie, I can't wait to see her reaction."

That got him a snort from Jane. "It's an okay movie really." Seeing his raised eyebrow, she shrugged. "Hiei-Mama took me to go see it in theatres when it came out. Sure, here in Japan it bombed, but it's not a bad movie."

His eyebrow raising some more, Harry frowned. "Sure it's not... We'll go with that I suppose." Rubbing his hands together, Harry began to run towards Jane's house. "Anyways, we should get ready for tonight then! Race you!"

Laughing, Jane turned and began to chase him. "Hey! Get back here, you cheat! You had a head start!"

In reply, Harry looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at her. Something that Jane was happy to see as she could remember when she had first met him years before. The difference between that shy, nervous boy and the more confident and happy eleven year old made her smile wide enough that it almost hurt. But Jane only laughed as she continued to chase him.

Maybe this time she would beat him back to her home.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sighing, Hermione stretched in the evening air as she looked up at the Moon shining down from above. There was a small smile on her face as she continued to seemingly skate across the surface of the Mediterrean. A shout though caused her to turn to where Cleo was pointing. "Hey! One of the planes are returning!"

Lips twitching, Hermione turned to where HMS Invincible saved from the scappers due to the need for hulls, had a aircraft vertically landing on the deck. "Well, looks like they're coming in for refueling."

Just coming up alongside her, Cleo grinned. "Doesn't make it any less amazing, Hermione! I mean... Back during the War, if someone told my crew that one day we would see jets landing like that, well. I think that they would be called crazy! But yet there they are!"

Chuckling, Hermione nodded as she looked back at the Aircraft Carrier, a similar plane landing on the nearby Italian Carrier, Cavour. "I suppose so. Though I will admit that I'll miss the Harrier IIIs once they replace them with the F-35Bs. They're lovely aircraft."

That got a huff from Cleo as she shook her head. "Of course they're lovely! They're British aircraft after all!" Hermione had to bite back a laugh and a comment that they were a joint American/British project. Meanwhile, Cleo frowned a bit. "I'm not sure why they're replacing them though... Didn't they just start building them a few years ago?"

With a hum, Hermione shook her head. "The Harrier IIIs were always going to be just a stopgap measure until they got the Lightnings fully functional. With Abyssals bombing airfield and Carriers being sank, they needed something with S/VTOL that could be flown from Amphibs and damaged airfields."

After a bit of thought, Cleo snorted a bit. "Whatever. I like the Harriers better." Then she spotted one of the Italian shipgirls and waved. "POLA! POLA OVER HERE!"

Hermione only sighed as Cleo took off towards Pola. "I should never have introduced those two..."

Snickers caused her to turn to where Aquilla was coming up alongside her. "I don't know about that, Hermione. The two of them when they get together are rather hilarious after all." Her and Hermione turned to look to where a confused Pola was listening to a chatty Cleo. "Especially when they go bar crawling."

Groaning, Hermione facepalmed. "Don't remind me... I don't want to remember what I had to go through the last time those two decided on a Pub crawl."

Unable to help herself, Aquilla laughed and patted Hermione on the back. "'Scuse, scuse, didn't mean to drag up such hilarious... I mean, horrible memories."

All the brown haired shipgirl did though was snort and roll her eyes. She then turned her attention to the horizon. "Anything going on?"

Crossing her arms, Aquilla shook her head. "No, no signs of Abyssal activity. The Med, she is mostly clear except for the odd small group." The Italian Carrier then turned back to Hermione. "You'll be heading back to Britain soon, right?"

There was a small frown on Hermione's face, but she nodded. "I am, after all I'll need to do my shopping for Hogwarts and, well... Vanguard has apparently been getting antsy without me there."

Only smiling softly, Aquilla nodded. "You do make a good, what is the word? Ah, Momboat for her."

Needless to say, to Aquilla's amusement, Hermione blushed. "I-I'm not a Momboat to Vanguard. Big Sisboat, maybe, but not a Momboat!"

Lips twitching, Aquilla tapped her chin. "I do not know about that, Hermione. She looks up to you as a Momboat after all."

Any sputters died as Cleo sailed up with a grin on her face. "Yeah! And besides, you're always acting like her Mum! Like that time she needed help and you-"

With a shout, Hermione tried to swipe at her sister, only for the other Light Cruiser to dodge out of the way with a laugh. "Get back here, Cleo! And face me like a shipgirl!"

That only got more laughter to her annoyance.
___________________________________________________________
Ron frowned as he sat back in the chair, his eyebrows furrowing. "So... you're going to Japan with Admiral Cunningham, Warspite?"

Slowly, Warspite nodded as she moved around the room to gather odds and ends. "Unfortunately, yes, Ronald." Unlike everyone else, for some odd reason Ron didn't mind if Warspite used his full name to his confusion. "We'll be signing a treaty with some Abyssals and it was decided that I would accompany him."

It took a few moments, but Ron realized who she was talking about. "You mean Wanko and, um... I forgot her name..."

A rich chuckle escaped from Warspite's lips as she looked over her shoulder at him. "You're thinking of Supply Depot Princess, or Supprin, as I believe she's asked to be called. But yes, several nations will be signing a treaty with them in a few weeks. And so, there needs to be representatives of both government and military there."

Grimacing, Ron leaned against one closed fist. "I'm going to miss you, Warspite."

Expression turning gentle, Warspite walked over and laid one hand on the red head's cheek. "And I am going to miss you as well, Ronald. But I shant be long in Japan, a few days at most." Then her expression turned thoughtful as something occurred to her. "Though, thinking upon it, I may have a solution."

That only confused Ron and he frowned some. "You do? What kind of solution."

Humming, Warspite looked towards the ceiling in thought. "I shall have to speak to Molly, but perhaps I can convince her to allow you to come along with me. Mayhaps with Percy as Supprin seemed to enjoy his company and it would help with PR as they call it."

Eyes widening, Ron looked at her with a hopeful expression. "Really? You think that you can convince Mum to let me go with you?"

Softly giggling, Warspite nodded. "Perhaps, though I shall try my best in any case." Part of herself was bothering the rest though. What, Warspite couldn't quite grasp but it was similar to those instincts that caused her to remember that her sisters, as much as she loved them, would have a teasing oppotunity. Then those thoughts went away as she felt a familiar, painful twinge in her legs. "Ah..."

Part of Warspite's wince was only due to the pain, the rest was due to how Ron's head snapped around and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Warspite... Is your leg hurting you again?"

Weakly chuckling, the Battleship's eyes slid to the side. "Ronald of course-" Another spike of pain caused her to wince again. "Um, perhaps just a smidgeon, I suppose."

A scowl crossed Ron's face and he got up from the chair and pointed at it. "I told you not to be on your legs too long. Even with the cane, there's a limit, Warspite. Now, sit."

Blushing, Warspite straightened her back and tried to promote a commanding presence. "I am not some sort of... Corvette, Ronald. I am a Battleship and I do not appreciate you acting any different."

Ron's ears went slightly red before he narrowed his eyes. "Warspite, take a seat right now before you hurt your legs even more." Seeing as she was about to say something, Ron then brought out the big guns. "Now, Warspite."

Several moments passed before Warspite's shoulders slumped and she made her way over to the chair and sat down. Somehow... Somehow she knew that her engineering crew were laughing and nodding their heads, the cheeky little buggers. It went without saying that she was not sure if the fact that they approved of Ron's actions made it better or worse. Once she sat down with a sigh, Warspite pouted. "I suppose that I should be glad that this time you did not go to Dreadnought."

Hearing, and ignoring both the tone and sniff, Ron just shrugged. "That's never out of the cards, Warspite." To the Battleship's confusion, he opened the bag he had brought. "Now where did I put it..."

Curious, Warspite tilted her head some to look. "Where did you put what, Ronald?" He didn't answer her and instead pulled out what looked like a small bottle filled with a purple liquid. "And what is that, Ronald?"

With a look towards her, he smiled. "It's actually a potion." Making his way to the foot rest, he sat down and then placed her legs on his. Moments later, Warspite blushed as he removed her stockings and shoes before he placed a small amount of potion in his hands and rubbed them together. "Quidditch players use it when they strain their muscles during games and need relief."

Blinking, Warspite frowned a bit as she fought to get the heat in her cheeks under control. "I... I see. And does it work well then?"

Just giving her a grin, Ron nodded. "Yeah, Charlie used it all the time when he was on the team and gave me the modified recipe he had been using. Now then..."

Seconds later, Ron placed his hands on her legs and began to massage them with the potion. From where she was on the chair, Warspite hissed a bit before relaxing. Somehow, Ron's hands seemed to go from hot to cold exactly as needed to relax them. At the same time, Ron hummed a small song with snitches of words. Warspite still did not know exactly where he had learned it, but according to him it was some kind of old magic. It did not help much, but did help some just the same.

Laying back, Warspite closed her eyes as she felt the pain in her legs subside. Deep inside her hull, her Chief Engineer listened to the reports coming in and only nodded with a smile as Ron continued his work. Hearing a small sound though, Warspite opened her eyes and froze. There, in the doorway looking in, were her sisters. While her younger sisters all had massive grins, it was the raised eyebrow on Elizabeth's along with the somewhat amused look in her eye that caused the "Grand Old Lady" to brightly blush. Then Ron's fingers found a spot and really worked at it which made her let out a small moan as it slowly relaxed.
Her blush only increased at the smirk on Elizabeth's face before the older sister gently pushed her younger sisters out of the door and closed it. All Warspite could do was close her eyes and curse her sisters as she knew what would happen next.

Bloody dammit.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Laughter filled the room as Jane fell back on her bed. "Oh my God! Did you see Ari-Mama's face during the movie!?"

Unable to help himself, Harry was also laughing as he laid on one of the futons that were set up. "I know! Especially during the part when Space Battleship Arizona rose into the air. I thought that she was going to explode at that point with how red she was!"

Still laughing, Jane rolled around on the bed. "Ari-Mama was just shaking!" Then she turned to look at Harry with a twinkle in her eye. "Then again, like Space Battleship Yamato's hull is based on Yamato's... Space Battleship Arizona's was based on Ari-Mama's! So when it rose up in the air..."

For a few moments, the two stared at each other silently. Then Harry twitched which made Jane snort, Harry giving one of his own soon after. Soon, their snorts became snickers which turned into full blown laughter. Finally, the two collapsed back on their respective sleeping areas while they panted. Faces red with wide grins that hurt as they looked at each other, nearly setting them both off again. Biting his lip as he continued to shake, Harry gasped some. "I... M-maybe we should b-be so mean to Aunt Ari..."

Just able to keep herself under control, Jane nodded. "Y-yeah, we really shouldn't be so m-mean to her. A-Ari-Mama is not for bullying. I-it was still t-too funny..."

Only nodding, Harry choked out a snicker. "Bloody Hell, w-was it ever. The movie was worth it j-just for that!"

Her eyes twinkling in mirth, Jane let out a guffaw. "Yup! And I t-think that M-Mutsu-Mama got video."

When the two looked at each other, they barely kept from laughing. Eventually though, they calmed down enough that they were able to talk normally without laughing. The image of Arizona from the movie was going to stick with the two for a very, very long time. Suddenly, Harry sat up and looked at Jane. "Oh! By the way, Jane, I was wondering if you could look at something for me."

Curious, Jane only rolled on the bed and nodded. "Sure, Cuz. What do you need me to look at?" Making his way over to his bag, Harry began to dig into it. As he did so, Jane sighed a bit as she watched him sink up to his shoulder. "You know, an expanded inside backpack would make things so much easier for school. I could carry everything then!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Harry shrugged. "Well... unfortunately with the Statute still in full force, I can't do anything. But once it falls, I should be able to get you something." Then he frowned a bit. "Hmm... you know, when we visited my family's old home, I think that I saw an old sea chest there. If it's anythng like a normal magical chest, it's probably got expanded insides and everything."

Suddenly perking up, Jane's eyes widened some. "You're not suggesting...?"

Harry smirked a little bit. "Giving it to you? Well, yeah, I am. Besides, it's not like you wouldn't use it."

Moments later, he found Jane hopping off her bed and then hugging him. "Thank you, Cuz! That would be beyond awesome! And having that would make me look more like an Admiral..." Finger against her chin, she furrowed her eyebrows and looked around. "Now where would I put it..."

With a look around, Harry shruggd. "I think that at the end of your bed would be good. Anyways, we got to get it first and that won't be for a bit. I'll ask Mum though when we can go back and I'll see if you can't come with us. Heck, maybe you'll find something else there."

Now thoughtful, Jane sat back and watched as Harry continued to look through his knapsack. "You're family is like, really old, right?" Once the black haired boy nodded, Jane hummed. "Do they have anything that could be used when Daddy marries one of my Mamas? I'm pretty sure that him and Mutsu-Mama are going to pop the question."

Slowly blinking, Harry tilted his head back and forth. "I think that we got some things that could be used. There's all sorts of jewelry and stuff after all and it would be nice to use it rather then let it collect dust. And Mutsu-Oba is family, so... Anything in particular?"

Looking up at the ceiling, Jane frowned. "Um... like headgear? Mutsu-Mama would look wierd without headgear of some sort."

After giving it some thought, Harry nodded. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure that I saw some tiaras and stuff. So we can mention it to Mum and let Mutsu-Oba pick something out. Hopefully it'll be before he lays a keel in her slipway."

That caused Jane to choke a bit before she grinned and gave him a small smack to the shoulder. "Harry!"

However, Harry was completely unrepentant. "What? It's true, you know. I heard Aunt Jersey mention it to Mum once. And she said that it needed to be done before Mutsu-Oba blew another turret... Though Mum hit her for that one."

Jane only nodded at that. "She deserved it, Mutsu-Mama doesn't like it when people make jokes about that. But Daddy won't be having a kid with Mutsu-Mama." She waited until Harry turned to look at her and held up two fingers. "He'll be having twins with her, and they will be adorable. No exceptions."

With a sharp nod, Harry grinned. "Yup! And I'll have two cute cousins." All of a sudden, he grinned. "Found it!"

Leaning over, Jane tried to see what Harry had only to blink in confusion. "A box?"

Only nodding, Harry grinned. "One with an expanded inside. What I want to show you is inside it after all."

Head tilted to the side, the twelve year old girl frowned. "Um, okay? Wait." Raising a finger, Jane's frown deepened. "I thought that you couldn't place something with an expanded inside into something else with an expanded inside or else bad things happen."

Softly snorting, Harry shook his head as he realized what she meant. "It's not like Dungeons and Dragons, Jane." His cousin only shrugged in reply as Harry grinned. "Right, so you're really good with models and stuff, right?"

Eyebrow raised, Jane looked at the various models around her room before her tone turnd dry. "I don't know about that, Harry. After all, I might only be okay..."

Rolling his eyes, Harry took the lid off. "Right, stupid question. Anyways, have a look at this."

Bemused, Jane leaned over and looked into the box before blinking. Tilting her head to the side, she raised her eyebrows. "Wait, is that what I think?"

Harry nodded. "A model of Iku-Chan's old hull? Yeah, I've been working on it along with Maruyu-Chan's. That's hers right there beside Iku-Chan's."

Giving Harry a look that he couldn't quite understand, though he did realize it was full of amusement, Jane nodded. "It looks pretty good, actually. But... where did you get all the pieces?"

A rather large smile on his face, Harry snickered. "Magic." Seeing her look, he shrugged. "What? It's true."

With her eyebrows furrowed, Jane frowned. "Magic? Really?"

Simply humming, Harry grinned. "Yeah, magic. I used the same sort of transfiguration that I used on the pendants to shape metal from pieces of steel for them. The plans were harder, but I found a couple and pictures as well. Akashi-Oba gave me some of them for it, though she kept laughing."

Only nodding, Jane snorted. "I wonder why..."

The black haired boy shrugged. "No idea. But yeah, I'm thinking of giving Iku-Chan's on her Commissioning Day, same with Maruyu-Chan. Or maybe waiting a bit and giving them all models on Christmas or something."

Chuckling, Jane shook her head. "So, how good are they? Because from where I am sitting, they look very detailed."

Hand wagging back and forth, Harry frowned. "Akashi-Oba had her fairies look from up close and they claim that it looks almost exactly like Iku-Chan's hull did, same with Maruyu-Chan. I just need to wait until we go back to Hogwarts and I should be finished soon after and get to work on Hachi-Chan's."

Eyebrows raising, Jane looked up at him. "How many are you doing?"

Shrugging, Harry scratched the back of his neck. "Actually? I'm going to try and make models of all their hulls and give it to them. Hanna's might be the tough one, but Jersey said that she would get me a plan for Eugen's hull that they might have around and I can use what little bits are for Hanna's online to fill in the gaps. Though she kept laughing for some reason..."

The only answer he got was Jane rolling her eyes before the girl went back to examining the model in the wooden box with a thoughtful gaze.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Pouring out a measure of alcohol into a glass, Goto handed it over to Kongou who took it with a small grin. "Thank you, Dess~"

With a chuckle, Goto sipped his own drink. "You're welcome, Kongou." A few sounds caused him to turn towards the karaoke stand where Haruna and Rose were looking through some of the songs there. "And it seems that they're enjoying the double date."

Just giggling, Kongou nodded some. "Dess! It took a bit of doing but it seems that Haruna-Chan is enjoying it and so is Rose-Chan." Running a finger along the lip of her glass, Kongou sighed in happiness. "I'm glad that Haruna-Chan found someone with whom to share her burning love."

Bemused, Goto reached over and placed his arm on his girlfriend's shoulder and pulled her close. "Like you?" That got him a nod as Kongou buried her face into his chest with a happy sigh. "Oh, come on, Kongou!'

The Battleship only giggled as she noticed that Haruna had stepped off the stage as Rose slowly nodded. "Looks like the two of them have chosen a song." Giving Goto an amused look, Kongou snickered. "Of course, that Rose-Chan can actually sing helps."

Grumbling in good humor, Goto shook his head. "I can sing."

Finger against her chin, Kongou hummed. "Dess, you can sing..." Goto smirked and was about to say something when Kongou continued. "Like a tomcat on a fence."

Hand against his chest, Goto winced. "Ouch, Kongou, you wound me."

It was then that Haruna chose to plop down beside them and pour herself a measure of alcohol as Rose took a deep breath. "Shhh! Rose-Chan is about to sing again!"

Lips twitching, Goto and Kongou shared a look before turning as the music began and Rose began to sway. The whole time she was focused on the screen with the words.
"Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope and glory
Hold to the truth in your heart"

A smile on her face, Haruna leaned forward as Rose continued to sing, now looking at her.
"If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I"

Goto just leaned back as he watched as Haruna began to sway with the song as well, unable to keep her eyes off her girlfriend. 'Those two really are perfect together.' Then he pulled Kongou close. 'And they're not the only ones.'

"Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I"
Meanwhile, all Rose had eyes for was Haruna as she put everything into the song. The look in the Battleship's eyes causing the tsukumogami to feel a warm bubbling in her chest. Haruna though got up and placed her arms around Rose part way through the song and began to sway behind her.
"When we are out there in the dark
We'll dream about the sun
In the dark we'll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I"

Sharing a soft kiss as the music faded away, the two only smiled.
________________________________________________________________________

As they left the karaoke place, Goto looked up at the cloudy sky with a small frown on his face. "Hmm... We should probably hurry along to where we parked. I don't like the look of those clouds."

With a look up herself, Rose felt her lips turn downwards. "No, it looks like we may have a spot of rain." Hooking her arm with Haruna's though, the tsukumogami just looked at her with her frown becoming a smile. "But then, it's a good thing that I have my umbrella..."

Moments later, as Rose giggled, Haruna raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan might be a bit drunk. She is awfully gigglely."

Fanning herself, Rose flushed some. "Oh my, perhaps you are right. But then, we did have a smashing good time."

That got her a nod from the others as Kongou grabbed Goto's arm. "Dess!"

For his part, Goto chuckled some. "True, we should do this again sometime soon." However, the peace did not last as they heard a shout and turned. "Hmm?"

A distance behind them, several teens were pointing at Haruna and Rose with scowls on their faces. "What the heck are you doing with Haruna-Sama!?" Behind him, his friends nodded their heads in agreement as he continued. "Take your hands off her right this moment!"

Blinking, Rose tilted her head and looked at Haruna who also blinked. "Um, why? Haruna is my girlfriend after all."

Much to Rose's confusion, that only seemed to anger the teens as they glared, though there was a smell around them like alcohol. "You lie! Haruna-Sama would never lower herself to being your girlfriend!"

One of them lunged forward to grab Rose with a growl. "Now let go of her!"

It was for not as Haruna stepped between them with a glare. "Leave, now. Rose-Chan is my girlfriend and Haruna does not appreciate what you are saying."

Several more times, various teens tried to grab at Rose to pull her away, only for Haruna to step between them. However, it was not just Haruna who was slowly getting angerier as a glance showed Rose that Kongou was also becoming much more angry. That was not helped by one of the boys shouting at Goto who calmly was muttering into a phone. Rose knew that neither Haruna nor Kongou could just grab the teens as it would reflect badly on them.

Then one of them said something that caused Rose to freeze. "What the heck would a damn gaijin have that we don't!?"

For a few moments, Rose's face was shadowed by the brim of her hat. Perhaps it was the alcohol in her, or maybe the frustration from their date being ruined, but Rose had enough. "What... would I have that you do not? What a bunch of ruffians have?"

Not sure why, but something told the teens to start running. But running high on emotions as well as alcohol, they ignored it. "Yeah! What the heck do you have that we do not!?"

Haruna blinked and looked over her shoulder as Rose took a few steps to the side and back. "Rose-Chan?"

Ignoring her for the moment, Rose held out her umbrella. "Manners, young man. After all, manners... make... the man. Do you understand me, you scoundrel?" The teen went to lunge only for Rose's umbrella to blur as she hooked it around a garbage can and flung it into the teen. As the teenager groaned, Rose took a step forward and raised her eyes. "Allow me to teach you a lesson then in the manners that it seems that you are missing."

One of them lunged for her, only for Rose to dodge and them bring her knee up into his stomach. Grabbing him, she practically threw him into one of the others before blocking another hit with her umbrella. Quickly moving, she brought her umbrella down and hooked it around the back of his knee and sent him flying on his back. Another one tried to grab her from behind, only for her to lash out with the hook of her umbrella to his solar plexus and drive the breath from his body. "Attacking from behind? Most rude of you."

Hooking the umbrella into his shirt, she swung him around into one of his fellows, sending them both tumbling into the ground. "Your parents must be quite disappointed in you all for your lack of good graces!" The first teen, having gotten up, tried to punch her, only for Rose to block it with her umbrella. Before he could react, she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, twirling around and kicking his knee to drive him to the ground... and right into the path of a punch from one of his friends. "Really? I must say, you are all a bunch of ruffians and scoundrels. Attacking a poor, defenseless woman while she is out with her beloved!" With a shove, she let the groaning teen drop and grabbed the extended arm of another and flipped him over her. "Is there nothing too low? The nerve!"

Meanwhile, Haruna was just watching with wide eyes as her breathing became heavy. "Rose-Chan..."

Kongou glanced at her sister only to facepalm as she noted the heavy blush on the Battleship's face. 'Really, Haruna? Really?' Glancing at Rose who had finally knocked the fight out of the bunch and was now lecturing them as two police officers made their way through the crowd, Kongou hummed. 'Good Bartitsu form though...'

At the same time, Goto groaned as he realized that various people were already likely uploading footage to the net. 'Great... just how I wanted to end my night.'

Thankfully though, after seeing the footage, the police let Rose go with a small warning as they put the groaning teens into a van. There were hoots though when Haruna grabbed Rose and pulled her into a heated kiss. Pulling away after a minute, Haruna grinned at the breathless look on the tsukumogami's face. "Haruna's knight in shining silver."

More then a few blinked in confusion at how there seemed to be steam coming from Rose's ears after that...

 

[darthcourt10]

Year Two - Secrets and Shipgirls.Prelude

START

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Bouncing a little bit in place in the small park, Harry had a wide enough grin on his face that it hurt. Utterly amused with how her younger adopted cousin was acting, Jane chuckled a bit. "You're really excited over this, aren't you, Harry?"

With a blink, Harry stopped and looked at her. "Why shouldn't I be? You know how long Hoppou has been stuck in Yokosuka? And now she gets to visit somewhere else!"

Her hands in her jean pockets, Jane snorted a bit. "And it's about time." Glancing around, she could see Arizona softly talking with Yamashiro as Fuso watched on in curiosity. Despite her sister's actions, neither Yamashiro nor Fuso really held it against Arizona. Nearby, Shigure was in a conversation with Tenryuu, though she kept looking over at Yamashiro and Fuso. To Jane's confusion, Fuso smiled at Shigure who blushed some. Said blush increased when, as Arizona was distracted by Mutsu asking her something, Yamashiro smirked and winked at the Destroyer. 'I wonder...'

Not having noticed, Harry nodded some. "Yeah, they should have gotten Hoppou off base before now." Smiling brightly, he shrugged and placed his hands behind his head. "But now I get to have some Sasebo burgers with Mum and Hoppou! She's really excited about it to."

Chuckling, Jane shook her head in amusement. "I can imagine, they are pretty good."

She frowned though at the amount of Marines who were trying to make themselves inconspicuous. As it turned out, Harry noticed as well. "What's with all the security? I can understand shipgirls because of Hoppou, but why so many Marines?"

All Jane did was shake her head. "There was a murder or something in a public bathroom around here a few days back, so no one wants to take any chances." Tilting her head, she noted a man she often recognized as he munched on something nearby. "And it looks like Mr. Taka is here too."

Harry blinked and looked over at the man in question who turned his head to look at Harry and Jane. For a moment, Harry's attention was grabbed by the rather large, beak-like nose, but then the elderly man smiled and nodded. "Um, he's the guy that owns that small store outside the base, right?"

With a chuckle, Jane nodded. "Yeah, he also runs a small dojo out the back too. Shigure swears by him when it comes to being taught how to fight." At Harry's look, she grinned. "I've been thinking about asking him to teach me some stuff. After all, an Admiral needs to know how to fight!"

That caused Harry to nod in agreement. "Yeah! I mean, I got Inazuma-Chan and Hibiki-Chan teaching me stuff, so why not?" His smile then turned teasing. "Besides, that just means that I'm ahead of you."

Snorting, Jane poked him in the chest. "For now, maybe. But give me some time and I'll be kicking your ass on the mat, Cuz." A car then pulled up and Jane nodded towards it. "Looks like Aunt Nagato is here."

Both of them shared a smile and began to walk towards it. They barely made it more then fifteen feet before the back doors opened and Hoppou came out. For a moment, the Abyssal looked around in excitement before she caught sight of Harry. "Big Brother!" Then she noticed Jane and bounced a bit. "Cousin Janey! Hoppou is here! Hoppou is here!"

Running over, Hoppou leapt into the air with a shout. "PO!"

A laugh bursting from him, Harry easily caught her mid-flight and twirled her around. "Hey, Hoppou!"

While she shook her head, Jane also nodded before reaching over and ruffling Hoppou's hair. "Hey there, Little Cuz. Welcome to Sasebo."

Happily smiling, Hoppou swatted Jane's hand away. "Leave Hoppou's hair alone!"

For her part, Nagato walked up to her sister and hugged her. On Mutsu's face there was a large smile as she returned it. "It's great seeing you again, Nagato-Nee."

Deeply chuckling, Nagato shook her head. "And it's great to see you as well, Mutsu." With a hum, she back up a bit and made a show of looking at Mutsu's muscled stomach. "Hmm..."

Blinking, Mutsu looked down and frowned. "Uh... Is something wrong, Onee-San?"

Still frowning, Nagato had a thoughtful expression on her face as she cupped her chin in one hand, the other arm propping that hand up. "Hmm... Nothing wrong, persay, Mutsu." Her tone then turned teasing with her next words causing Mutsu to go completely red. "Just making a note that someone has not had a keel laid in their slipway yet~"

With a groan, Mutsu covered her face to hide her blush. "Onee-San! I-I, that..."

If anything though, that made the grin on Nagato's face grow. "My, my~ Whatever is with that expression, Mutsu? Making me wait to become an Oba-San again." Before the sputtering Mutsu could say anything though, Nagato walked past her and was smiling as she waved at Arizona. "Ari, hope that you have been having a good evening?"

Amused at how her normally teasing friend was the victim of teasing of her own for once, Arizona smirked. "It's been going rather well so far." Glancing at where Hoppou was now on top of Jane's shoulders, the Battleship shook her head. "And you?"

Making a show of rubbing her legs, Nagato shook her head. "Rather well all things considered. The plane ride might not have been long, but with Hoppou it felt a lot longer as did the car ride."

Simply nodding, Arizona smiled a bit. "I can imagine. Destroyers are bad enough at times."

That got her a nod from her fellow Battleship. "I think that Hoppou might be worse, though that could be due to this being her first trip out of the base besides Hogwarts." She then glanced to Harry who was walking towards them. "Harry."

Hugging her around her middle, Harry grinned as he felt one of her arms around his shoulders. "Mum! It's great to see you."

Only chuckling, Nagato shook her head. "It's only been a few days, Harry. That said... I feel much the same way myself." Turning back to Arizona, she raised an eyebrow. "By the way, I have been meaning to ask if you'll be there with Jane for Harry's birthday?"

A smile on her scarred face, Arizona nodded. "We wouldn't miss it. Jintsuu will also be there with Hiei coming a few days later with John due to the Accords signing." Slowly shaking her head, her expression turned thoughtful as she looked back at Hoppou. "Did you ever imagine this happening?"

Looking in the same direction, Nagato shook her head. "No, I didn't. That said, I welcome it with open arms." With a smile, she turned her gaze to Harry. "So then, ready for some of the famous Sasebo burgers?"
Harry grinned up at her. "You bet! I heard that they even got ones for shipgirls now."

Eyebrows raising, Nagato turned towards her sister who was approaching. "A shipgirl sized burger?"

Smiling, Mutsu nodded. "They do have them, I've tried some. I have to admit, they're really good, though a bit hard to eat." Holding up her hands, she made as if she was holding something large in them. "After all, it's hard to get a big enough bite."

As her stomach rumbled, Nagato licked her lips. "Well then, I am looking forward to it. Not often that I come across something sized for those of us with above average appietites." Feeling a tap on her side, she looked down at Harry. "Yes, Harry?"

With a smirk, he chuckled. "But we're going to be taking pictures to send to Musashi-Oba, right? Just like Goto-Oji asked."

For a moment, Nagato blinked and then she grinned even as Arizona and Mutsu looked on in confusion. "That would be the plan, yes." She then turned back to Arizona with a thoughtful expression. "By the way, has Jane and Harry asked any of you or John about how they want to visit Harry's family property?"

Arizona slowly nodded as she shook off her previous confusion. "We discussed it and, in all honesty, none of us really see a problem with it. In fact, I might come along as it's been a while since I was in England and so might Jinstuu."

Humming in agreement, Nagato walked with the rest of the group towards a group of Marines who were taking orders for food. It was several hours later though that a problem happened. Hibiki had entered the public washroom in the small park when she called out to her sisters just outside as no one was allowed to be alone just in case for security reasons. "They're out of toilet paper, could someone get some?"

With a nod, Inazuma raised a hand into the air. "I'll go and get some, Nanodesu! Just in case anyone else needs it."

Both her and Ikazuchi took off as Akatsuki continued to stand by the door to the washroom. However, she suddenly could hear a man's voice inside the washroom. Eyes wide, Akatsuki turned to the washroom as he spoke. "Would you like the red toilet paper, or the blue toilet paper?"

As she blinked and tried to place why that was causing a niggling in her mind, Akatsuki could hear Hibiki sigh. "Da, either would be good. And then leave."

Just as she was about to head inside to give the obvious pervert a piece of her mind though, the eldest sister of DesDiv6 heard the stall door slam open. Then there was silence before the man's voice spoke. "Oh, shi-"

Next thing that Akatsuki knew, various noises could be heard inside such as screams of pain, shouts, pleading for mercy, and what sounded like the squeal of a pig. What she winced at though was the sounds of things being broken inside as well as crashes of something against walls. Thankfully, it ended right before Inazuma showed up with a roll of toilet paper. "I found some, Nanodesu!"

Peeking her head out the door, Hibiki had a dour look on her face as she took it. "Thank you."

Slightly conflicted, Akatsuki glanced at Ikazuchi who was frowning. "Uh, what's that sound inside? Is something broken?"

Quickly, the purple haired Destroyer pulled out her wallet and gave some money to Ikazuchi. "The washroom is out, could you go and get us some ice cream? Please?"

She winced though as Inazuma glanced inside through the slightly open door and paled a bit. Then Inazuma grabbed Ikazuchi and began to pull her along. "Sure! And.. uh, we'll tell Kaa-San to come over and have a look. We'll be heading back to the base anyways."

Ikazuchi just shrugged as she nodded. "Yeah, you can rely on us after all!"

Once they were gone for a few seconds, Akatsuki opened the door a bit and looked in. Moments later, she winkled her nose. "Ew..."

All she got as answer from Hibiki was grumbles.

 

[darthcourt10]

Vent Xekart

fredthebadger said:
What, the toilet paper Yokai?​

I can't take that seriously now, because I'm automatically thinking of this poor bastard.

Also, here is something silly I thought of in regards to Supply Depot Princess X Ooyoda X Percy Weasley, this takes place during Harry's second year.

====
Percy Ignatius Weasley couldn't help but feel like a rose between two thorns at the moment. He was in the hallways of Hogwarts, heading to the library to study when he was faced with the Abyssal Supply Depot Princess (Also known as Suppurin by her comrades) confessing her love to him while his fellow siblings watched. Fred and George seemed amused, as did Ginny and Ron much to his displeasure but things got even worse when he encountered someone else who also declared her love for him; The Japanese Ship girl and Secretary Ship Ooyodo who for whatever reason was red-faced and hiccuping as she tried to confess her love to him.

He didn't think that any girl would want to go out with him, oh no; he was much too busy trying to get ahead of his studies and join the workforce rather than get into a relationship. So he didn't really know what to do at this moment, especially when both girls realized they were meeting with him for the same reason. He quietly gulped, on one hand he could choose one of them which would lead to him having to turn one of them down or he could turn both of them down and move on. Both choices were absolutely terrible because if he turned down Suppurin he could potentially face the wrath of the Abyssal fleet which would not end well for him or anyone else but if he turned down Ooyodo, he would be faced with not only the ire of every Shipgirl in Yokosuka but also Harry James Potter who would most likely take after his Aunt Tatsuta. He shuddered at the thought of that purple-haired light cruiser, as there were many dreams and visions of cruelty behind that smile of hers. His musing was interrupted when he heard Ooyodo speak.

"I see how it is now..." She muttered under her breath as her hair overshadowed her eyes while Suppurin's eyes flickered between her and himself. Oh, this could be very bad...especially since his siblings nor his mother or father wouldn't be able to do anything to help him. Inwardly he wondered if he could make it to an empty classroom or broom closet and write his epitaph before either of the females tore him to shreds. However, those thoughts were blown away when Ooyodo brought her face up.

Oddly enough, she had a bright smile and with a brief hiccup, she raised her arms and declared:

"We're in a love triangle!"

Wait, what?! Where the hell did that come from?!

"A love triangle..." Suppurin said softly, a blush forming on her face.

Why was she so happy about this?!

"A l-love t-t-triangle?!" Ron sputtered.

Ginny furrowed her brows for a moment and then looked up to the twins before asking innocently: "What's a love triangle?"

Both of the twins grinned. Those little-

Suddenly his right wrist was grabbed by an excited Ooyodo while Suppurin took his left, though strangely Suppurin was deflecting Ooyodo's attempt to grab her other wrist.

"Behold!" The bespectacled shipgirl said with a small hiccup, "This is the start of our love triangle!"

Percy decided to finally intervene.

"Wait, no, no, no! S-Stop!"

Unfortunately, neither of them listened to him.

"Now sing along with me!" Ooyodo then began singing:

"Love Triangle! Love Triangle!

La-La-La Love Triangle, Love Triangle, Love Triangle!

La-Io! La-Io! La-Io! Love Triangle, Love Triangle, Love Triangle!

La-La-La Love Triangle, Love Triangle, Love Triangle!

Lo-Io, Lo-Io, One, Two-"

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOIING ON?!" Percy screamed to the heavens.
===
Percy awoke with a shout, panting wildly as he looked around only to find himself in the dorms, alone in his bed, the moon shining through the windows.

Finally he sighed to himself in relief.
"Thank goodness, that was such a bloody weird dream."

"Tell us about the weird dream, sweetheart~." His eyes widened, hearing the query from two familiar grinning individuals who were laying with him in bed; Ooyodo and Suppurin.

He screamed.
===

Is it wrong that I enjoyed torturing him in this omake?

 

[darthcourt10]

smthng

Outside, the first hints of dawn had started to turn darkness into a uniform gray, as Tenryuu shuffled through the dark, creaky hallways of the old school building. During her time in the service the light cruiser had had a chance to try out a large number of different kinds of accommodations ranging from 'a rock jutting out of a stormy ocean' to 'luxury penthouse in Hong Kong'. The school, while old and mostly abandoned for well over a decade was dry, reasonably warm, and not very drafty. Thus Tenryuu considered it very much okay to spend a night or two in. For longer visits she started insisting on a bed and a well-stocked kitchen.

Still, the recent run-ins with yokai had convinced Tenryuu that it was much better that her family stayed in the abandoned school than forcing any of the local garrison to relocate there in order to find beds for them. After all, they were going to stay in Shinchi for just one night. And the town had never managed to really rebuild after the earthquake before Abyssals appeared.

And if Tenryuu managed to absorb anything from the various lectures regarding yokai she had heard from Haru-san and the others, it was that the creatures were drawn to misery and destruction. Those were aplenty in the unfortunate Japanese east coast.

Thus, while Tenryuu wasn't worried about possible supernatural encounters, since yokai generally weren't match for the fifty-thousand horsepowers she had in her fingertips, she wasn't stupid either.

Thus Tenryuu had her sword with her as she trudged to the school's dilapidated toilet. She had her sword with her when she squatted down (honestly, just how old was this place?) to do the deed. And she had it with her when she washed her hands. After shaking the worst of the water off, of course she had forgotten to bring her tissue with her because who the fuck still required people to bring their own, she popped her neck and sighed.

It was almost a letdown that no yokai had bothered them through the night. Not that she particularly wished to suddenly discover herself without TP just to get her hands on an Aka Manto, but still. A long-abandoned school in the middle of a zone trying to recover from two huge natural disasters sounded just like a place that would contain at least one ghost.

Unfortunately there hadn't been anything. No animated anatomy dolls stalked the hallways, there was no school pool for mermaids to reside in, there was no statue of Ninomiya Sontoku to turn alive, and no...

Tenryuu's thoughts trailed off as she stared at the closed stall doors in the mirror before her. One, two, three, four, five stalls total. Doors neatly closed in all five.

Suddenly, the light blinked just long enough for the toilet to turn dark for a fraction of a second. Slowly, carefully, Tenryuu turned around. The third stall. It... couldn't be, right? It's not like it was a real yokai story anyway. Just a silly urban legend.

Still...

A few hesitant steps, and Tenryuu found herself in front of the third stall in the room. There was nothing weird about it, really. No sign proclaiming it to be out of order. The color was just as faded as the other four stalls'.

Still...The thing would bug her if she didn't at least try! Quickly, Tenryuu shook her head, and summoned her devil-may-care grin. Then she used her thumb to ready her sword to be drawn from her scabbard, and slowly raised her hand. And knocked three times to the door of the third stall in the girls' lavatory.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And then shrugged, quickly secured her sword back to the scabbard, and turned to leave.

"I... am here," a quiet, hesitant voice whispered, causing the light cruiser to freeze on her tracks and whip her head back to look at the stall door. She hadn't dreamed that, had she?

The light cruiser quickly licked her lips. "You are?" she asked, her voice not trembling one bit. Deep inside herself there totally wasn't a small, insignificant human part where the fear of the supernatural still existed. That totally wasn't the reason why she very carefully used her thumb to re-ready her sword.

"... yes," eventually came the trembling answer.

She most definitely hadn't dreamed that. Slowly, deliberately Tenryuu drew her sword. Then, just as slowly and deliberately, she rested it on her shoulder in a way that was both damn cool and made it easy to make an overhead swing should the situation call for it.

The fact that the pose stole something like eighty percent of the possible power of the move wasn't really an issue since it meant that she only had something like effective ten thousand horsepower in the swing.

For a few moments more Tenryuu just stared at the door, allowing her boilers to gather steam for emergency power. Then, very carefully, she used her scabbard to push open the door.

Inside, there was a small, black-haired girl in a white shirt and red skirt. She was looking at Tenryuu with big, teary eyes, and was trembling like a leaf. And she sure as fuck wasn't a human, even if she looked just like one. Of that Tenryuu was 120 percent sure.

For a few moments the ship girl and the yokai stared at each other. Then Tenryuu made a move to step forward, and the girl quickly threw her hands over her head. "Please don't hurt me!!"

Tenryuu blinked, and her sword slipped a bit. "Huh?"

"I'm not going to hurt anyone!" the girl continued. "The stories about me dragging people to hell are just that, stories! I'm not like Aka Manto, I swear!!"

The sword slipped a bit further. "Buh?"

The trembling girl shied back, still shielding her head with her arms, and Tenryuu's shoulders slumped, and her sword almost slipped from her slack fingers. In the last moment she managed to catch it, causing the girl to let out a high-pitched shriek.

Tenryuu eventually managed to gather her thoughts a bit. "Uhh... I'm not going to hurt you," she said.

The girl peeked at the ship girl from behind her arms. For a few moments more, Tenryuu just stared. Then she looked to the side a bit, and used her sword hand to scratch the side of her face. She then glanced at the sword she was still brandishing. A moment later, she sheathed the weapon, and managed to get her thoughts back in order. The baffled look was replaced with a friendly smile, and Matsuda Ryoko crouched down to the girl's level.

"Sorry about that, you startled me a bit there. I'm Tenryuu, want some hot chocolate?"

"Choco...?" the girl asked in a hesitant voice.

Tenryuu nodded. "Yeah, we have some in the supplies."

Again, there was a pause.

"O... Okay."

* * *

Tatsuta and the four Akatsukis stared at Tenryuu and the girl, who was currently using the light cruiser's mug to drink hot chocolate. The light cruiser turned and grinned at her family.

"Everyone, this here's Hanako. She's a nice yokai, so treat her well, okay?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Harry and Jane were jogging in the morning light when the two of them stopped as they caught sight of Dewey standing at the water's edge. The shipgirl had a puzzled frown on her face as she held some binoculars up to her eyes and was staring towards the mouth of the harbor. Simply giving each other a shrug, the two slowed down and Jane waved a hand. "Hi, Miss Dewey!"

Jumping a bit, the shipgirl pulled the binoculars from her eyes and blinked as she turned. "Oh, hello there... Um, Jane, right?"

With a sharp nod, Jane grinned. "That's right! And this is Harry, he's my adoptive cousin."

Somewhat confused, the shipgirl reached out and shook both their hands with a somewhat odd smile on her face. "Nice to meet the two of you."

Raising an eyebrow, Jane frowned a bit as she turned towards the ocean in confusion. "What were you looking at, Miss Dewey?"

A small blush on her face, Dewey coughed some. "W-well, I finished my orientation last night and Admiral Richardson gave me the next few days to familierize myself with... everything." She then turned towards the harbour and furrowed her eyebrows. "I decided to go for a walk this morning when I saw some odd boats heading out to the mouth and have been watching them. It looks like they're performing combat exercises but... they're a lot faster then the ones I remember."

Interested, Jane held a hand to her eyes and tried to see. Moments later though, she gave up and shook her head. "I can't see anything."

Chuckles from beside her caused her to turn as Harry pulled out some odd looking binoculars and handed them to her. Seeing her confusion, he grinned. "They're called Omniculars, they're a magical thing I picked up in Diagon."

Eyes wide, Jane grinned. "Neat! How do they work?" After Harry explained, she brought them to her eyes and turned towards the mouth of the harbour. Focusing them, she frowned before nodding. "Oh! Looks like the Riverine boats are performing Anti-PT Imp exercises."

That caused Dewey to turn back to Jane in time to see Harry nodding as he looked through the Omniculars that Jane held up for him. "Anti-PT Imp exercises?"

Jane slowly nodded with a small huff. "Yeah, PT Imps are like super annoying. The Abyssals love having them sneak into harbours to cause trouble."

Beside her, Harry nodded with a shudder as he remembered an incident from years before where he got a close up look at some. Thankfully for the much younger Harry, it was when he discovered that he could use shipgirl equipment right before he blasted them. "That's an understatement."

Only shrugging, Jane blinked as she continued to watch. "I guess. They've sent some into the harbour before." Pulling the Omniculars away, she offered them to Harry who took them. "Anyways, Daddy got a bunch of boats brought in from back in the US to fight them. He told me that they were to defend the harbour."

Looking through the Omniculars, Harry blinked as he spotted several small boats speeding through the waves before they shot at targets with machine guns. "I know that the USN up in Yokosuka got some too. Goto-Oji has been going on about getting some himself to help out with the only 1-Go he has to patrol the harbor."

Eyebrows furrowing, Dewey turned back to the exercise. "So they fight PT-Boats... Um, the Abyssal ones anyways?"

Slowly, Jane nodded as she took the Omniculars from Harry. "Yeah, it frees up the Destroyers to go after the heavier hitters if there are any. They can even hurt a Destroyer in a group."

Just as Dewey was about to ask how, she witnessed a jet of flame from one of the boats fly through the air until it impacted the target. Said target vanished moments later in an explosion, the sound of which they just barely heard. Eyes wide, Dewey stared in the direction of what she saw. "What was that?"

All Jane did though was just shrug as she watched the boats switch to a different target. "Looks like they used a Hellfire."

Turning, Dewey blinked and stared at her. "Hellfire? And what is a Hellfire?"

With a frown, Jane handed Harry the Omniculars. "A missile." Seeing the expression on Dewey's face, the twelve year old girl scratched her head. "Um, it's a guided rocket I guess?"

Dewey suddenly nodded with a smile. "Ah, I see now." She then turned back to the exercise going on. "Should they be doing such things in the harbour though?"

For several seconds, Jane thought it over before she shook her head. "Not really, but it's not like we can just do it out at sea anymore. No one wants to get caught by the Abyssals training. It might be a bit early though to be using missiles, but they're far enough out is shouldn't disturb anyone."

Considering that, Dewey only nodded. "I suppose not. And it seems that there's no other ships in the harbour at the moment, which makes sense..." Another target vanished from the water and she shook her head. 'The future is so very strange. Guided rockets on PT Boats... who would have thought it...'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Frowning, Harry looked over Jane's shoulder as she worked on a turret for her Mutsu model. "Is this normal?"

Slowly, Jane nodded as she soldered another bit. "Yeah, I don't know why but for some reason it's always the same turret that gets knocked out. It's always giving me problems."

Thoughtful, Harry opened his mouth. "Wait, the same one? And isn't that the turret that-"

All of a sudden, the eleven year old froze and his eyes began to search as Jane turned to him. "Cuz? Something the matter?" When Harry made a motion with his hands, it took Jane a moment to recognize that he was using the hand signals that a diver made and she stiffened a bit as she translated. 'We're not alone? Something is here with us?'

Gently placing the soldering iron down in it's proper place, Jane glanced around until she spotted a shadow that did not belong in her room. With a glance at Harry, who caught sight of the shadow as well, Jane took a deep breath. Almost as one, the two whipped around and blinked at the sight which met them. There, close to the bedroom door stood an odd creature. It wasn't very tall, even when Harry had come to Yokosuka the first time he was taller. But it had a big nose, two large eyes, and bat-like ears coming from the side of its head.

What confused Jane though was that it was wearing a dirty tea cozy for clothing. Her attention was grabbed though by Harry. "A house elf? Here?"

Blinking, Jane turned towards Harry with a confused expression on her face. "You know what this is?"

Even as he nodded, Harry's frown deepened. "Yeah, it's a house elf. You know, like the ones at Hogwarts that I told you about?" As Jane's eyes widened, Harry crouched down some. "Er, hello there."

A high pitched squeal escaped from the house elf as he bounced in place. "Oh! Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, Sir. Such an honor!"

Leaning forward, Jane frowned some. "I'm assuming that you're name is Dobby then?" Seeing the small creature nod, Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Dobby. I'm Harry's adoptive cousin, Jane Richardson."
Dobby gasped some and backed up. "Harry Potter's Cousin Miss Jane Richardson said that it's nice to meet Dobby! Dobby is so happy that Miss Jane Richardson is a great muggle!"

Even as Jane tilted her head trying to figure out if she should be insulted or not, Harry cleared his throat. "How about you have a seat in that chair and we can talk, okay?" Suddenly, the small being burst into tears. "Um..."

Rapidly wiping his eyes, the small being sniffled. "Oh! Oh! Dobby had been hearing how great Harry Potter was, but Dobby not knowing how great he be! Harry Potter is treating Dobby like he's an equal!"

Now really concerned, Harry shared a look with Jane even as Dobby wrung his hands. Wincing a bit, Jane took a deep breath. "I guess that you must not have met many decent wizards then."

His eyes widening, Dobby's breath stopped and for a moment the two thought he had died. Then he leapt to the wall and began to bang his head on the wall. "Bad Dobby! Bad! Dobby must not make his family look bad!"

Running over, Harry stopped Dobby and pulled him away from the wall. "Whoa now! No need for that!"

Jane for her part got off her chair and nodded. "What Cuz said, you don't need to, um, beat yourself up."

With a sniffle, Dobby shook his head. "Oh, Dobby is so happy to meet such great people as Harry Potter and Miss Jane Richardson. But Dobby must punish himself if he does something wrong. Dobby will also need to punish himself when he gets home as his family would not be happy with Dobby coming here."

Glancing at Jane, Harry cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think that you should. But... then why did you come here?"

For a moment, Dobby wrung his tea cozy. Eventually, the two humans managed to slowly get the story out of the house elf, though partway through Jane noticed a shadow just outside her door. Granted, they had to stop him from hurting himself several times. Then one of his comments about how Harry's friends wouldn't write him and Jane's eyes widened as she remembered a conversation several days back. "Wait, how would you know unless..."

The small creature winced. "Dobby... is sorry, but Dobby has been keeping mail from Harry Potter! It is most important that Harry Potter not go back to Hogwarts where he would be in danger!"

Narrowing his eyes, Harry let out a hiss as he tried to contain his anger. "Danger from what, though, Dobby? Unless you tell me what this danger is, I'm going back if only to protect my friends."

A few seconds passed as Dobby stared at him. "Dobby is very sorry then. But Dobby must stop Harry Potter from going to Hogwarts to protect him."

He raised one of his hands and Harry's eyes widened. "Stop! You can't use magic here or else I'll get expelled!"

Before anything else could happen, a flash of white hit Dobby and there was the sound of flesh meeting flesh before the house elf screamed in pain. Mainly due to how Hedwig, who had been watching, had reacted and was now digging her talons into Dobby and lifting him off the ground. Harry and Jane were frozen as they watched the two struggle until Hedwig finally dropped him close to the door. Dobby had just stood back up when a scarred hand grabbed him around the neck and he found himself staring into Arizona's enraged face. "You dare threaten Harry and Jane!"

Once more, Dobby screamed though this time it was more from fear then pain. Both Harry and Jane had their eyes widen. "Ari-Mama/Aunt Arizona!"

Suddenly, there was a pop and Dobby disappeared. For a split second, Arizona stared at her empty hand before she whipped around even as her radioman contacted the other shipgirls. "Where did that... Where did he go?"

Looking around, Harry frowned some. "I... guess he must have disappeared." Then he turned and frowned at Jane who was looking at Arizona's hand with narrowed eyes. "Um, that explains what's been going on with my mail...'

With a scoff, Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "But what's this danger he was going on about?"

There was no answer coming forth from either Arizona or Harry to that question. Of course, Arizona did not leave the room. Several minutes later, the front door to the house was practically knocked from it's hinges as Mutsu burst through followed by her sister, Jintsuu, and several other shipgirls. Richardson took up the rear as he rushed in as well, somewhat out of breath. "ARIZONA! JANE! HARRY!"

A small frown on her face as she kept scanning the room, Arizona leaned out the door to Jane's room. "We're all up here." With a glance at Hedwig who seemed to be scanning the room, as well as Smolzona and Minimu who were doing the same, the Battleship sighed. "And we're all okay for the moment..."

 

[darthcourt10]

smthng

Harry Leferts said:
I really, really like this. And this is also how Tenryuu managed to get a fifth daughter.​

Well, that's not quite what I personally had in mind. I mean, Hanako is a yokai, not a human (or a ship girl). She can't just go and live like a human. She needs her girl's toilet and her third stall.

* * *

Tenryuu put down the steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table, and leaned back to give her guest some room. For a few moments the yokai eyed the mug suspiciously, before hesitantly reaching for it. All the time she watched for any reaction from Tenryuu. When her small fingers had curled around the handle, the girl quickly brought the cup to herself.

Then she gingerly blew on the hot liquid before taking a tentative sip. The uncertain look on her face quickly melted into a small smile.

"Thank you," the young-looking yokai mumbled, causing Tenryuu's smile to widen a bit.

"You're welcome, Toire no Hanako-san."

The name caused the girl to startle and whip her eyes up to look at Tenryuu.

"That's who, or what, you are, right?" the cruiser asked in a non-threatening tone. The girl nodded. "Thought so."

The pair lapsed into silence, and for a few minutes the only sound in the room was the creaking of the old building, and the small sounds Hanako made as she sipped her chocolate. Eventually Tenryuu leaned forward a bit, causing the yokai to shy back. "You're afraid of me, aren'tcha?" the cruiser asked.

Hanako nodded, and Tenryuu quickly leaned back and crossed her arms. "Thought so. So why did you answer when I knocked? I mean, if you'd kept quiet, we'd never seen you."

Hanako blinked, and for a few moments stared at the ship girl. Then she put down her chocolate, and looked down to straighten her skirt. "I could not to," she eventually mumbled.

"Huh?"

The yokai fidgeted a few moments, before continuing. "I mean, it's sort of like if you're being tickled. You can't help but laugh, right? When somebody knocks at my stall's door, it's the same. I can't help but answer. Or, um, maybe it's more like when your home's really messy you can't help but clean it? At least if you're not a very messy person. I, um, couldn't help but answer."

There was a short silence, before Tenryuu replied. "So, your stall, huh?"

Hanako nodded.

"Is that your home?"

"Ah, not really. Not just the stall, I mean. The school's my home." Again, a small smile flashed on the yokai's face. "After all, I'm a school yokai."

Slowly, Tenryuu nodded, and looked around. "I guess the decor suits your kind here," she commented.

Hanako frowned. "I actually don't like it. It's really run-down, and there are no books, and all the time I worry when they're going to tear down this place. It's not nice when you don't know how long you can still live in your home."

"Books?"

Again, Hanako fidgeted a bit. "I like to read. Sometimes I sneak to the new library."

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow. "The new library?"

Hanako nodded. "The one they built after the tsunami. It's not very far, and there aren't any yokai living there so it's safe."

"Okay," Tenryuu replied. "Do other yokai give you trouble?"

Again, the young-looking yokai fidgeted a bit. "I'm small, and not very fast, and not very strong. This is my place, so nobody bothers me here, but when I go out... There are jikininki, and nyobo, and yurei, and onryo, and even funayurei around. I have to be careful."

"Sounds dangerous," Tenryuu commented. Hanako nodded.

"You've been living here for long?"

Hanako shook her head. "They tore down my old home after the tsunami. I was lucky to find this place."

"Wouldn't there be new schools around by now?"

"I think there are. But I don't know where. None are as close as the library, anyway, and I don't dare to go much further. It's scary being a small yokai out there, when you have no place to hide."

Again, there was silence. Then Hanako threw back the mug, before gingerly placing it on the table. After a few seconds, the daintily licked her upper lips free of cocoa. "Thank you for the hot chocolate, ma'am."

"We have more if you want," Tenryuu replied, nodding her head towards the supplies from where she had dug out the first batch.

Again, Hanako fidgeted for a few moments.

"Please."

Quietly, Tenryuu sat up to go and rummage for a new bag of instant cocoa. "So tell me, is there a Hanako in every school? Or are you the only one?"

The yokai quickly shook her head. "There aren't that many of us. Maybe a few thousand? It'd ruin the story if everyone could find a Hanako. And that'd be bad."

Tenryuu nodded. "And are all Hanakos as nice as you are?"

The girl took a few moments to consider her answer. "Um, are all humans nice?"

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow. "No, no they aren't. So some Hanakos really drag kids to hell?"

Again, the young yokai fidgeted. "I... guess some might try...?"

"Huh."

Upon seeing the look on the ship girl's face, Hanako's eyes grew big and she quickly started shaking her head and waving her arms. "But I would never do something like that, honest! I mean, a Hanako is basically a test of courage, so there's no need to do anything bad to those who try to find us! But that doesn't mean that some Hanakos might be meanies, just like some people are meanies! But I'm not!"

Tenryuu nodded, and poured the cacao powder to the mug, before adding hot water. "Okay. I believe you."

The girl let out a sigh, and gave the cruiser a small smile. "Thank you, Tenryuu-san."

The ship girl nodded, and handed the hot chocolate to the yokai. "Here."

"Thank you."

Tenryuu then sat down. "So, chances are there aren't any Hanakos in any given school?"

Hanako gave a hesitant nod. "I guess so?"

"But any school could have a Hanako?"

Again, the yokai nodded.

"And even if a school doesn't have, one could appear there one day?"

Another hesitant nod. "Yes."

"And if a school has a Hanako, you can find her by knocking on the third stall in the girls' bathroom?"

Again Hanako nodded. "Well yes, but it sort of depends. It's best if you're alone, and the school's not in session, and if you knock thrice. And call out my name. Some Hanakos might not bother to always answer, if you do things half-way."

Tenryuu nodded her head a few times. "And can a school have several Hanakos?"

"Only if it has several buildings," the girl replied. "One Hanako per school building. And the building needs a girls' toilet. One that has at least three stalls."

"And you didn't like living here, right?"

Hanako gave another hesitant nod. Then she scrunched up her face a bit. "Is there some point to these questions, Tenryuu-san? No, I don't like living here, but it's the only home I have."

"What about if I find you a new home?"

Hanako blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"See I'm from Yokosuka. Right next to the naval base there, we have a school that basically has all the soldiers' kids. Now that yokai have started popping up, I'm kinda concerned if some idiot yokai decided to move there and start harassing my friends' and collagues' children. And while the school's protected, we have ship girls, and there's a miko at the local shrine, I wouldn't mind stacking the deck further. Andyou seem like a friendly yokai, one who wouldn't hurt anyone."

For a few moments the two girls stared at each other.

"So...?" Hanako eventually asked.

"So, if there's no Hanako in the school yet, how about we have you move in? That way we can be sure no nastier Hanako tries to take residence later on. In exchange, you'd get to move into a well-maintained school that has a library and internet access. And have the protection of ship girls and miko from nastier yokai. How's that sound?"

There was a minute of stunned silence. "And that's all?"

Tenryu shrugged. "Well, I would be really grateful if you'd tell us if some nasty yokai tried to do anything at the school..."

Hanako nodded. "Okay, that... sounds good. But... umm..."

"Go on," Tenryuu prompted.

"What's internet?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Omake "Not what one expected"

Going to work, but have a quick omake inspired from something on SV...
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Staring at the somewhat static looking screen, the young man groaned. Being known as a nerd, a geek, meant that he was never really all that popular. He was bullied at times by other children of US military members, with the fact that he was an American in Yokosuka meaning that he couldn't really get along with the local kids who were not sure how to react to him. Needless to say, he lived a very lonely life.

One that usually ended up with him playing games on his computer or watching movies and anime.

And now...

He glanced back at the screen to see what looked like a girl crawl out of a hole. She wore a long, white dress that was plastered to her body in a way that made him blush despite the situation. After all, he was going to die here. Part of him wondered what her face looked like though.

Watching as she began to crawl towards him, he sighed a bit. Let it not be said that he wouldn't face his death without running, not that he expected it would help. He had heard the stories as well. Dammit, he never even got his first kiss!

It was then that an idea hit him as the girl on the screen nearly reached the other side. If nothing worse, it would give him a reason to laugh on the other side. And, hell, what did he have to lose at this point? You literally only live once after all!
______________________________________________________________

The screen bulged outwards as the ghost girl focused on her prey. It was a teenaged boy who seemed distracted by something else, but that wouldn't save him. At least it seemed that this one wasn't going to run. Nor was he backing away and trying to beg.

And for a teenaged Onryo such as herself, that was enough to get her respect. Not that it was going to save him after all, but she would at least make it quick.

Slowly, her face escaped from the screen and then her shoulders as she fixed him in place with her eyes as her long, black hair moved away from her face. She was about to let out a scream when something happened that she had not expected.
Spoiler: Definitely not what she expected to happen

Eyes wide and her face feeling hot for the first time in years, or maybe decades, the ghost girl just froze in place. Then the boy pulled away and blinked at her wide eyed, stunned look. She was just shaking off her shock at what he had just done when he chuckled a bit. "Huh, you're actually pretty cute."

That, if anything, caused her face to feel even hotter.
______________________________________________________________________

Harry stared at the computer repair man in front of him and then blinked. "Wait, did that actually work?"

Raising an eyebrow, the young man chuckled as he continued to work on the computer in front of him. Being a on-base repair man meant that he often had to repair computers due to shipgirls not being the best at taking care of them. "Well... I'm here aren't I?"

Blinking, Harry was about to say something when a screen behind the guy turned on to a bunch of static. The repair man didn't react even as several times the static cleared to show a young woman in a white dress that clung to her and long, black hair that covered her face. More then slightly freaked, Harry watched as she crawled out from the screen and then tapped the young man on the shoulder. Looking over his shoulder, the man chuckled. "I'll be home in time for dinner, Sado. This is my last stop of the day."

The ghost teen nodded a bit and smiled. "Good, I've made your favorite."

Eyebrows raising, Harry watched as the two shared a kiss before the ghost retreated back into the screen, which with a final burst of static turned off. Then the young man just began to whistle even as Harry shrugged. 'Huh, guess that they had more then... a ghost of a chance of making it work.'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Only a few days away from Japan, Wanko frowned as she continued to make her way through the waves of the North Pacific. Beside her, Supply Depot Princess muttered to herself as she worked on a tablet. Every once in a while though, the other Princess had to shove away a curious Abyssal Destroyer. Off to the side, Revina was whispering something to Regina. For a moment, Wanko considered what they may be talking about.

Then she noticed how there was steam coming from Regina's ears and the grin on Revina and shook her head. Long ago, she learned that there was some things that she was better off not knowing. For her sanity, at least if nothing else.

Needing something to distract her, she turned to the rest of their "Escort" and frowned. Even though each time they had come to Japan, they had a number of shipgirls alongside them, this time there was a number more. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned towards Fubuki was was grumbling about little sisters for some reason. "May I... ask why... there are so... many shipgirls?"

Confused, Fubuki frowned a bit and bounced the question around in her head. "You're wondering why so many of us are here escorting you?"

Just as Wanko nodded, Revina popped out of nowhere and threw an arm over Fubuki's shoulders, not seeing Kana twitch at the action and glare at her. "Yeah, what Boss Lady said! After all, we're all Okay-doki with each other now, so there's no need for all this to protect people from us!"

Biting her lip, and ignoring how Revina dodged a chop to the head from Wanko, Fubuki sighed. Her next words though caused all the Abyssals to turn to her. "We're not here to protect others from you... we're here to protect you."

Slowly, Wanko blinked. Before she could ask though, Supply Depot Princess spoke up. "Protect us? From what though? While I can understand that some humans may not be happy with the treaty, I doubt very much that they would attack us."

Yuudachi came up and placed one hand on Fubuki's shoulder. "It's not humans that you're in danger from, though." Frowning, she tilted her head back, Yuudachi blinked. "Um, a lot of Abyssals have been found dead in the area, Poi! And we don't want to take any chances."

Eyebrows furrowing, Wanko turned to her fully. "Abyssals... have been found... dead... here?"

Glancing at each other, Fubuki finally nodded. "Hai. At first we thought that it might have been some of your forces, but..."

Simply shaking her head, Supply Depot Princess turned to Wanko who looked back. "Not us, we have not sent anyone through here as per the agreement. How many...?"

Now unsure, the Destroyer shook her head. "A lot, not a patrol has gone through here without finding dead Abysssals. Um, a few days ago though, we came across a small atoll and, um..." Seeing the looks, she took a deep breath. "There were Wo class, dead. Their bodies had been blown apart and it looked like someone, uh, impaled them on wooden stakes as a warning, we think. There was also a number of Abyssal fighters hanging from them as well..."

Expression now turning thoughtful, Wanko blinked and looked out across the slowly darkening ocean. "I see... that is... very interesting... Miss Fubuki. And... you are here... to protect us... in case it... tries to attack...?"

Beside Fubuki, Yuudachi nodded. "That's right, Poi! And if it does then it can join us for a nightmare party, poi!"

Grinning, Revina jerked her thumb at Yuudachi. "I like this one, can we keep her Boss? I mean, she knows just the sort of parties that I like!"

With a sigh, Wanko lashed out and chopped Revina on the head. "No." Then she turned to the bemused Fubuki and slowly tilted her head some. "But in... that case... I must... thank you for... coming to... protect us. It shows... how serious... you are taking... this."

Hands waving in front of her face, Fubuki gave a sheepish chuckle. "Heh, that's okay. After all, we don't mind at all." Suddenly, she noticed that Wanko's head snapped to look off into the distance. A glance showed her that the other Abyssals were also staring in the same direction. Bringing up her turret, Fubuki noted with pride that Yuudachi, Mutsuki, and Kana smoothly followed her lead and did the same. "Is something wrong?"

Several tense seconds passed before Wanko slowly relaxed. "No, it's... okay. Just thought... I felt... something. But perhaps... we should keep... a closer eye... on things... here."

Relaxing some herself, Fubuki nodded though she noted that she was going to keep a much closer eye out. Unknown to her, twenty miles away there was a rock jutting out of the sea. Beside it, two red eyes were staring in their direction before a black, clawed hand came up for the head they were in to rest against. The other clawed hand tapped it's fingers on one of the "Heads" that were attached to the throne-like rigging. "Little Lady's sister? And with shipgirls? Fufufufufu. How... Interesting. I wonder why?"

Tilting her head back, the Abyssal closed her eyes as she allowed herself a moment to relax, white hair moving in the night wind. Opening them, she ignored the sounds of the Abyssal Destroyers behind her tearing apart what remained of a Wo-Class. "Hmm... perhaps she is helping them kill the Usupers and Betrayers? No matter." A wave of her hand caused the Destroyers to still and turn to her as she shifted her throne around to look in the direction that one of her scouts had noticed an Abyssal convoy moving in. One that was going to pass her in a few hours while the shipgirls and Wanko's group were far off. "Fufufufu, soon you'll have arrived. Soon you'll have arrived..."

Unknown to her, of course, Wanko continued to look back with a small frown on her face.
___________________________________________________________________________
Having returned to Yokosuka after the incident with Dobby, but with Jane and Arizona in tow, Harry had been exhausted. Not exhausted enough though to not enjoy the party that sprung up to welcome him back from a "Successful Mission". Nagato had gone back to their quarters with the sleepy Hoppou and left him in the care of the others and Arizona.

Needless to say, Nagato had not realized that someone had spiked the American Battleship's drinks and that Arizona was now utterly drunk. Something that Harry found somewhat hilarious as he leaned towards Jane as Arizona was shouting something about overprotective sisters. "Wow, so much for adult supervision."

Jane glanced at him and then jabbed him in the side. "Shush! No bully Ari-Mama."

Suddenly, Arizona was right there in front of them with her face red from the alcohol as she wagged a finger. "Be quiet! I am an adult already!"

Twitching a bit, Jane blinked. "Um, Ari-Mama? Maybe you should go and lay down."

Confused, Arizona stared at her for a few moments. Before she could say anything though, Iku spoke up. "Arizona-San! Speaking of adults, I have a question!"

With a blink, Arizona poined at her. "Sure! Go ahead!"

Nodding, Iku raised her hand. "Is it true that when it comes to adult relationships and everything... That they're really pervy and stuff?" At the disbelieving stares, Iku shrugged a bit. "What? I've heard stuff and I want to know."

Only leaning back, Arizona nodded. "Oh! Yeah, it's pretty pervy and stuff."

Eyes wide, Hachi adjusted her glasses and leaned in. "A-ah, really? How so?"

Raising up a finger, Arizona hummed. "Well, like..."

Arizona made hand gestures as she spoke while the various shipgirls listened in, with the Submarines at the forefront. Slowly, as the minutes went on, blushes sprung up on their faces as Arizona contnued her explanation. Meanwhile, Harry just sat where he was completely and utterly confused. Tilting his head, he turned to the side to find Taigei with a bright blush on her face looking away. However, Shimakaze, also with a blush, was beside him. "Um, what does that mean?"

The Destroyer just brought a finger to her lips. "Shh, you'll learn when you're older." With a blink, she turned back and flushed even more. '... Wow...'

Utterly lost, Harry just tilted his head to the side. "Poi?" Next morning though, after he had brushed his teeth, Harry frowned as he noticed Arizona muttering and holding her head. Not even the small swears that she was going to kill someone got much more then a blink out of him. Both him and Arizona though blinked as Taigei caught sight of her, turned red, and ran off. Shrugging it off, Harry turned towards Arizona. "Good morning, Aunt Arizona. Are you okay after last night?"

Blearily blinking at him, Arizona frowned. "Am I okay...? Did something happen?"

Suddenly, Harry brightened a bit. "Oh, I've been wondering if you could answer a question for me, Aunt Arizona?" At her nod, he frowned. "Well..."

Watching as Harry spoke and made various gestures, including hugging himself, Arizona's face became redder and redder. Meanwhile, her pupils shrank to pin-pricks as she continued to listen. "Urk..."

Finally, Harry finished. "So I was wondering what that meant?"

Moments later, Arizona loomed over him looking as if she wanted to strangle someone. "Harry... where did you learn that!?"

A snort caused her to turn to see an amused Jintsuu at the door sipping a coffee. "You. He learned it from you."

Even as she twitched, Arizona was about to ask what she meant when the Submarines walked by and stopped. All of a sudden they all bowed and spoke as one. "Ah! Arizona-Sensei! Good morning!"

Blinking, Arizona's mouth worked silently as each of the Submarines thanked her for the night before and that they fully respect her now for her knowledge. Twitching, Arizona turned from them to Jintsuu who wouldn't look at her. "I... you... what did I do last night!?"

No one would give her answers though.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As their Zodiac pulled away from the small boat as it entered the caldera, Harry turned to Jane who was just staring at the area around them. "Impressed?"

Slowly, Jane nodded. "Yeah... it's like..." For a moment, she furrowed her eyebrows and then shrugged. "It's like something you would read from a spy book."

There was a small smile on Arizona's face as she slowly nodded. "I suppose that it is, Jane. Just remember, stay close to me or Harry while you're here. That way, you'll be safe."

Grumbling a bit, Jane crossed her arms. "I've seen enough horror movies, Ari-Mama. I'm not about to act like a character in one of them." Once more looking around, she blinked a bit. "Still... this is the first time that I've ever met a ghost, let alone two, before!"

Harry just chuckled a bit and shook his head. "I guess that's true. But then, I've met a lot of ghosts in the past year, so..."

With a snort, Jane grinned at him. "That's because you go to magic school. I wish that I could go..." Just as Harry was about to comment, she continued. "But hey, at least I got you to show me all the cool stuff about magic."

That caused Harry to blink before he smiled. Part of him was reminded of when he asked Rose if she knew why Petunia seemed to hate him and his mother. The tsukumogami had gone quiet for a minute before she slowly whispered that it was mostly due to Petunia being jealous of Lily. It had shocked Harry to learn that Petunia had sent a letter to Hogwarts asking why she was not invited to the school, only to throw a fit when she was told that she had no magic. In the present though, the nearly twelve year old was just happy that he didn't have to worry about that with Jane.

Said girl was more excited for what Harry could do and show her then being pissed that she couldn't do it herself.

A cough though caused him to blink and look at Jane who poked him in the side. "So, you excited Cuz? Your birthday is in two days, time for the Big One-Two after all."

Placing his hands behind his head, Harry only nodded. "Yeah, I can't wait actually.It's going to be an awesome party from what I've heard. Heck, Ron might be there too! And Warspite mentioned that Hermione might be able to visit as well."

Lips twitching, Jane ruffled his hair. "Awesome! After those stories from you I want to meet them both. By the way, hope that you are looking forward to the cake, I'm making it myself!"

Eyes widening a bit, Harry stared at her. "Really? You're making it, Jane?" When she nodded, he hugged her. "Cool! Now I know that it's going to be great!"

Chuckles beside them caused them to both turn to where Arizona was smiling at them. "Jane is not the only one to be cooking. Like with her birthdays, I'll make a pot of my Chili con carne." Both Harry and Jane licked their lips at that which caused Arizona nearly laugh. "And I have heard that Louisiana will also be cooking."

Tilting her head though, Jane frowned a bit. "Um... isn't that going to be a lot of food?"

Arizona gave her a small nod at that. "It will be. However, most of the guests are shipgirls and John has stated that those of us shipgirls able to cook might be asked to cook some for the dinner after the signing of the treaty."

While the two continued to talk, Harry turned to the shore and smiled as he noticed what was there. Once they were close enough, he began to wave. "HEY! UME-SAN! SAKURA-SAN! HELLO!"

Both spirits waved back at him with smiles on their faces as Jane blinked with wide eyes. "Wow..."

Once the Zodiac reached shore, and both Jane and Harry hopped off with some help from Arizona, Ume and Sakura stepped forward and bowed. "Welcome back to our island, Arizona-Sama, Harry-San. It's great to have you here once more."

Then they turned to Jane and frowned a little bit in confusion. Much to their surprise though, the young American bowed to them. "I'm Richardson Jane, daughter of Admiral Richardson of the American Shipgirl Program. It's an honor to step upon your island."

Eyes wide for a moment, the two spirits then smiled and returned the bow. "And thank you, Jane-San. It is our honor to have you here." Sakura and Ume then turned to the small boat that the Zodiac had come from, and which was now loading something on the Zodiac. "May we ask what they are doing?"

Glancing over, Harry blinked for a moment and then chuckled. "Oh, they're just getting ready with the side scan sonar. It'll take them most of the day."

Confused, the two spirits looked between Harry and the boats. "Side scan sonar? But there is no Submarines in the Caldera waiting... So why would they need to use sonar?"

It took a moment, but Jane realized what they meant and chuckled a bit. "They're not looking for Submarines. What they're doing is mapping the bottom using sonar. That way they got a good idea of what it looks like if they ever need it."

That, if anything, made the eyes of the two spirits widen even more. "Such things can be done? And without needing the old rope and weight method?" At the nods, they slowly shook their heads. "Truly, things have changed since we were alive."

Leaning forward, Jane frowned as she examined them a bit. "Huh. You know, you two remind me sort of the Shobijin. What with being two supernatural twins and being the spokespeople of a powerful being."

Sakura blinked and then tilted her head a bit. "Sho... Bijin? I'm sorry, but I am unfamiliar with such things as is my twin." She then turned towards Harry who looked rather amused. "Is this something else from the future that we don't know about?"

With a light laugh, Harry shook his head. "They're characters from a bunch of famous Japanese monster movies from after the war. Um, they're these really small twin sisters who are priestesses of the giant monster, Mothra. Said monster is a guardian of the entire planet and all of humanity."

However, that seemed to confuse the Twins even more as they glanced at each other. But before Harry could explain more, they just nodded their heads slightly. "We defer to what you said, Harry-San." To Harry's confusion though, they blushed some and walked up to him. "Perhaps... sometime in the future you could share these movies with us? We do enjoy watching such things with you after all."

All Harry did was nod with a small grin on his face. "Sure! I don't mind." Hearing a snicker, he turned to see Jane who looked away with a massive grin on her face. Then he turned back to the Twins who were blushing even more. "I'll bring those movies the next time I come, okay?"

On their faces, there was a small smile on their faces. "We thank you."

The two spirits then turned to the boats and watched as the Zodiac placed something in the water and the larger boat began to slowly move, obviously towing the object behind. A few seconds later, Jane spoke up and caught their attention. "Um, Sakura-San? Ume-San? May I ask you something?" Once they nodded, she continued. "I was wondering if I could see the wrecked ships and take some pictures of them? If it's not much of a problem that is."

Sharing a look with her sister, Ume gave a small smile. "Of course, we don't mind."

Beside her, Sakura nodded. "Please, follow us. The island is perfectly safe."

It was several minutes later that they came around the wrecked side of a building to where the dry docks were located. There, sitting where they had been the last time that Harry was there, was the obvious forms of the B-65s and Super Taiho class. If he looked carefully, he could just see the tip of Akashi's sister ship causing small wavelets from where it was just below the surface. Walking up, Jane took a deep breath before giving a small bow. "I'm just going to take some pictures of you, I hope that you don't mind."

For a few seconds there was nothing, but then Ume nodded. "They do not mind you taking pictures, Jane-San. Not in the least." Seeing the wide eyes looking at her, she tilted her head some. "Is there something wrong?"

Quickly, Arizona shook her head. "No, nothing wrong. But... you're able to speak with them?"

Unsure of what the issue might be, the Twins nodded and spoke as one. "We can. All spirits on this island we can communicate with and be a voice for." They then looked at Harry and gave him a small smile. "Speaking of, they would like for us to thank you, Harry-San, for working to purify their hulls. They appreciate it greatly."

Slowly, Harry nodded and then turned to the ships. "It wasn't a big deal, but your welcome! Just please come back when you're able."

With a small chuckle, Ume and Sakura nodded. "They say... it would be their honor once they are cleansed to come back and to fight for Japan and the rest of humanity. And that they look forward to seeing you directly when the time comes."

All Harry did was nod at that as he turned back to the ships and where Jane was taking pictures of them. "Um, they're welcome, I guess." Several minutes passed as he continued to stare at the ships, though once or twice he swore he caught movement out of the corner of his eye on them. Only shaking that off, he turned towards Ume who was happily eating a cupcake that Arizona had given her, an identicle one in Sakura's hand. "You know, it's hard to believe that this whole place was built to build them." Harry blinked though as Ume and Sakura giggled some. "Did... I say something wrong?"

There was a small smile on Sakura's face. "You said nothing wrong, Harry-San. But did you think that this place was built just to build the ships in front of you?" At his confused nod, she shook her head. "No, the shipyard here was built to build ships in secret in order to get around the treaties at the time."

Ume then took over and pointed out onto the water. "Once the ships were done, they would be taken out and anchored in the Caldera. If war occurred, then they could be quickly crewed to the surprise of Japan's foes. However, the facilities were not complete until... 1939, I believe. It took them so long due to the secrecy needed from both magicals and non-magicals to prevent them from finding out. And these were not the first ships to have their construction attempted here."

More then a little surprised, Arizona looked over at her. "They weren't the first ships constructed here?" At their head shakes, she frowned. "What other ships had been built here?"

Frowning, the Twins considered the question, though they did shoot a glare off to the side for a few seconds. Then, slowly, Sakura answered. "When the slipways opened, they began to build ships, though it went slowly. One was to be a food ship they called Kasumi. Another was to support the Carriers called Tsurugizaki. There were also two Light Cruisers..."

Several seconds passed, and then Ume nodded. "They also began to build a Submarine called I-354. But due to shortages and need for secrecy, construction went slowly. A year later, they decided to build the ships in front of you instead and scrapped the others, using material that was salvaged to build them and speed up construction. It was also when they brought... the other workers."

At the wince from the two, Harry patted them on the shoulders with them giving him a thankful nod. Then Sakura frowned some and looked out on the water. "However... there were other ships here. Starting a month before the attack on this place, they brought these very small Submarines and Boats. We never knew what they were for as we were blocked from the places that they were holding discussions, though we do know that they were to be used to stop the Americans from invading somehow."

It took a few moments, but Harry grimaced. "Um, Sakura-San...? Ume-San? I think those were human torpedoes and suicide boats..."

Confused, the two stared at him. "Human torpedoes and..." It clicked then and their eyes widened as their faces paled. "O-oh... we see now. Then, it is for the best that they all sank in the attack rather then be used for such a thing."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Harry clapped his hands. "Right, um, let's forget about that for now. I brought some more movies for us to watch if you want?"

Seconds passed and then the two spirits gave him a grateful nod. "Yes, we would very much like to watch some movies with you, Harry-San as well as with Arizona-Sama and Jane-San."

With a small smile, Harry began walking with them as Jane and Arizona followed, though the Battleship did take note of what was said.

 

[darthcourt10]

sasahara17

Here's another snip from me… and I have to say that this one was probably a long time coming. Enjoy.

-=-

In a darkened corner of the warehouse district of the Naval Base, nefarious things were afoot.

It had taken months of planning and preparation for everything to fall into place. Months to convince a wizard to go along with her scheme. Months to secretly gather the ingredients and components necessary without the Admiral or her sisters noticing. Months needed to make her dream possible.

But now, after nine months of waiting and plotting, the time was upon her.

It was time for Kiyoshimo to become a Battleship.

"Finally, finally, I will become a Battleship!" Kiyoshimo grinned excitedly as she lifted the small bottle of polyjuice potion containing the key to her one way trip to Battleship-dom.

Kiyoshimo had heard of Harry-chan's prank on an unsuspecting HMS Hermione, where her friend had successfully used it to turn the anti-aircraft cruiser into a blimp. Upon hearing the story, Kiyoshimo knew without a doubt that this wondrous piece of magic was the miracle she was looking for. If someone could turn a cruiser into an airship, then turning a destroyer into a battleship would be child's play!

Although Kioyoshimo was fully aware that the effects of the potion were only temporary, she nevertheless knew in her heart that using it would be worth it. Even if it was only a short taste of what it would be like being a Battleship instead of a destroyer, Kiyoshimo knew the experience would be worth far more than any amount of money or gold.

And so, she had launched her plot.

The potion she now held in her hands had been discretely brewed by the Weasley twins using leftover prank ingredients and a strand of Musashi's hair, had been mailed directly to her via owl-post as part of her agreement with them. This polyjuice potion had cost her a pretty penny, but if it worked then it would be well worth the cost. She would become a Battleship!

"Bottom's up!" Kiyoshimo put the bottle to her lips and downed the contents with one enormous gulp!

Then, seconds after consuming the potion, Kiyoshimo felt her body changing.

"It's working! It's working! It's actually working!" Kiyoshimo said excitedly even through the intense sensations that wracked both her mind and body.

The distinct feeling of her body being stretched in all directions was also mirrored by the 'uncomfortable' sensations that came from within. She could feel her insides shifting, changing within her hull, as her internal layout shifted to an entirely new, and entirely different internal layout. She could practically her fairy chief engineer screaming in righteous anger as everything he knew about his ship was made unrecognisable by the potion's effects, sending all her other fairies running in terror…

Oh, er… she'd probably have to apologies to him later. It was all for a good cause anyhow, and some sacrifices had to be made for the greater good!

But the fact of the matter was that Kiyoshimo was changing, and she knew it… and the young destroyer couldn't be more excited about it!

"It's working! It's working! It's working! I'm becoming a BATTLESHIP, POI!"

…poi?

"Huh? Why did I say 'Poi' like Yuudachi-san, Poi? Eh? I said it again! What's going on?!"

Alarmed, Kiyoshimo whipped out a hand mirror from her handbag to see what had happened to her… and promptly let out a horrified scream. Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing the glorious visage of the Japanese battleship Musashi, poor Kiyoshimo was treated to the sight of another, fairly well known, blonde who, unfortunately, wasn't a Battleship.

"Oh, no! How could I have been so careless? I gave the wizards the wrong hair to use in the potion, poi," Kiyoshimo despaired as she realized the enormity of her error, "I've been turned into Yuudachi-san! I'm still a destroyer, poi!"

Months of planning, fruitless. All the money she'd sent to the Weasleys, wasted. All those nights she had spent dreaming of this day, in vain. The leave day she had applied for, up in smoke! This day, which should have been her moment of triumph over all the naysayers who believed she was a girl with her head in the clouds, was now a farce.

Oh, woe be to Kiyoshimo!

"I'm been turned into Yuudachi-san instead of Musashi-san! What the Poi I going to do now?" Kiyoshimo despaired, "I had such big plans today, and now I can't do any of it! I can't believe I have to wait out the potion until I turn back and… Poi? Oh, wow, Yuudachi-san has a pretty nice body, actually."

Now that Kiyoshimo took a closer look, Yuudachi-san was really, really pretty.

Long luscious blonde locks.

Shining ruby head eyes.

Face a fashion model would envy.

Perfect hourglass figure.

Boobs.

Yuudachi was a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life, a far cry from the childish body that Kiyoshimo had inhabited mere moments ago. In layman's terms, Yuudachi was SMOKING HOT, and because of that Kiyoshimo was now too… and that meant Yuudachi could do things that Kiyoshimo would NEVER be allowed to do.

"Oh, I see. I see now, Poi. I can work with this."

Kiyoshimo nodded slowly, a small grin working its way onto her features as the young destroyer slowly understood the possibilities that now existed before her. Maybe Kiyoshimo wouldn't become a Battleship this day, but that doesn't mean that she couldn't find that silver lining either!

"I think… I think I'm going to go for a walk, Poi."

With that, Kiyoshimo stepped out of her hiding place, and started walking towards the Naval Base's gatehouse. There was a lot of stuff outside the Naval Base that young Kiyoshimo wasn't allowed to go in after all… but perhaps, with some makeup, a change of attire and the proper attitude, not!Yuudachi might be able to.

This could be interesting.

-=-

A/N – Y'know, if shapeshifting potions like this existed, I expect they'd become the new fake ID cards for underage partygoers. Gosh, the chaos that would ensure, especially when many older siblings find themselves (unfairly) blamed for stuff they have no memory of doing.

 

[darthcourt10]

Omake Harry Leferts: "Date night for Jane"

Tiypo said:
Something interesting that came up on SV; Jane keeps her own chart, but Harry Leferts never considered what to do for shipping her, though he mention probably only guys.

So I just brought up Neville as a possibility, since he'd be interesting to her in various ways over time. For now, be it this summer or otherwise, he's a wizard with no experience in the Muggle world. This makes him fun to drag around and show stuff. In a few years time after he grows into the rugged handsome type with a heroic disposition she'd probably be very attracted too. Bonus sexy points for the British accent; I can confirm this is a thing from a UK family member visiting and guys tripping over themselves to try to hook up with her.​

Well, yes, I haven't decided what, if anything, would be done with Jane. As to shipping though, they have to worry about Richardson and the rest of the household giving him threats. Harry though? Nah, Harry doesn't threaten...
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Harry just smiled as he looked across at the boy who was looking distinctly nervous as they waited for Jane. Somehow, Harry was not sure how, Jane had gotten to agree to apparate her and her date from Sasebo to Tokyo for their date. Right now though, said boy was staring at him nervously. "Is something wrong?"

The boy grimaced a bit and stared at the stairs. "Um, just... after her father and, um, mothers... You're not going to threaten me or anything? Are you?"

To his surprise though, Harry chuckled. "No, no, I'm not going to threaten you." Much to his amusement, the boy seemed to become relaxed at that. A sound caused him to turn and he flashed out his wand. Several seconds later, there was a rat floating in front of him that he shook his head at. "I hate rats you know. My parents, my biological ones, were betrayed by a rat they thought was their friend and died for it." As he spoke, he waved his wand and the rat seemed to shift and change. "Never liked them myself." Ignoring the freaked out look on the boy, Harry continued. "But I suppose that they can be useful." With a small smile, Harry set down the vase that was once a rat and then with another swish of the wand filled it with water. Placing the flowers that the boy had brought for Jane, Harry noticed his cousin coming down the stairs and nodded. "Well, I'll wait for you and Jane outside. And don't worry..." He gave the boy a small smile as his eyes glowed. "You won't get any threats from me."

All the boy did was rapidly nod and gulp.
___________________________________________________________________________

Harry doesn't threaten at all.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Humming along with the song coming from his earphones, Harry slowed his bike down before coming to a stop in front of what looked like a metal wall built into a hillside. In the wall, there was a small man door, and a larger one that was for vehicles. Walking up to the vehicle one, Harry pulled out a card on a lanyard around his neck and swiped it on the cardreader. That done, he pressed several keys on the pad next to the door and waited. For a moment, there was silence and then there was a rattling as the vehicle door rose up to reveal a room with another door on the inside.

Just getting back on his bike, Harry pedelled it and the small trailer between the two doors and closed the first. Going through the motions once more, the inside door opened up. Crossing over the threshold, Harry gave a wave to the man sitting at a table. "Afternoon, Matt!"

The US Marine only nodded some as he chuckled. "Afternoon, Harry." Spotting the trailer behind his bike, he placed his magazine to the side and got up. "Making a delivery?"

Only swinging his legs, Harry nodded some and pulled out a clipboard from his knapsack. "Yup! Here you go."

With a hum, he took the clipboard and looked through it. After a few moments, Matt nodded and handed it back. "Here you go, Kiddo. I'll see you when you come back through." He then glanced around. "Maybe grab me some coffee when you do."

Giving a salute, Harry smiled. "Will do!" Placing the clipboard back into his knapsack, Harry swung it back over his back and, with a final wave, began to slowly bike through the tunnel. Even though he had been down here numerous times, Harry still looked around. Back during World War II, after the Doolittle Raid, the IJN had dug miles of tunnels underneath the base and the city. Mainly for use as bomb shelters so that they could continue to work even if bombs and shells fell on the base. There was even, from what Harry had been told a Midget Submarine factory alongside a power generation station and a hospital. But after the war, they had fallen mostly into disuse besides some use as a storage area during the Korean War.

However, things had changed with the newest war. Originally, the old tunnels in and around Yokosuka were supposed to be decommissioned. But then the Abyssals started to attack and those plans were shelved. The ones in best condition were rapidly repaired and used in the early days when one would never know when the Abyssals were going to strike.

Even the civilian ones were refubished extremely quickly as shelters for the populace.

And despite the fact that the last Abyssal attack was years before, both the USN and JMSDF had continued to slowly repair and refubish the tunnels. Some were claimed by shipgirls for various reasons (Harry had heard there was a bar hidden away somewhere as well as Junyou's legendary cellar), and so were outside the planned refubishments. Others found different uses then they had during World War II, one of which Harry was heading for. Coming to a stop in front of one door, Harry quickly knocked and then slid his card through the swipe. With a click, the door opened and Harry smiled as he looked in. "Afternoon, Kurosawa-San!"

Inside the large room, which had filing cabinets and shelves filled with books, there was a large desk in front of a small side room. At the desk, a rather mousy young woman with glasses looked up from a magnifying glass. "Harry-San?" Then she blinked. "Wait, afternoon? But it's only..." When Kurosawa glanced at the clock though, she started to chuckle weakly. "Um... Thirteen hundred?"

From the other desk in the room, there was a sigh as a small girl in a white button shirt and what looked like a fishing vest over it. "You lost track of time again, didn't you, Kurosawa-San?"

Blushing, the young woman shook her head. "Of course I didn't, Daigo-San! It's just, um..." She gave a sheepish smile and waved at the papers in front of her which Harry could see were plans for a ship. "These sort of caught my attention?"

Another sigh escaped from the shipgirl, but she only shook her head in fond amusement before getting off her chair and walking around her desk. "So what brings you here, Harry-San? Did Teitoku want you to deliver something?"

Slowly, Harry nodded as he jerked his thumb outside the door. "Yeah, the Intel guys got done with the things they recovered from the house where we found Louisiana. Teitoku convinced them to hand them over now that they were done with them so that you sort them here."

Clapping her hands, Kurosawa practically jumped up and rushed for the door. "Oh good! I was wondering when they would get around to handing them over. Seriously, there's nothing in them that could be classified besides the obvious."

Lips twitching, Harry called over his shoulder. "There's also some things from the hidden dockyard at the Caldera."

Interested, Daigo nodded some. "You mean that they released what they got from Ōkamashima?"

That caused the black haired boy to blink before he turned to the shipgirl. "Wait, 'Cauldron Island'? That's it's name?"

Only chuckling, Daigo shook her head as she watched Kurosawa happily bring in box after box. "Well... more like what we've taken to calling it. After all, no one can find the name for it and, from what I remember, the spirits there don't know it either?"

Harry slowly shook his head. "Um, nope. Ume-San and Sakura-San told me that they were never told it. Still..." Frowning, he had an odd look of confusion on his face. "Calling it Cauldron Island is a bit silly."

With a small grin, Daigo shook her head. "Maybe, but it does fit being in a caldera."

Moments later though, she froze a bit at Harry's next words. "Kind of surprised that you haven't gone there. Especially when they were doing sonar scans."

Daigo gave him a weak smile at that. "I'm... not very good with volcanoes, I'm afraid. Not very good at all." Then she clapped her hands as she spotted one of the boxes and took it over to her desk. "Anyways, I'll be handling the sonar scans."

Simply nodding, Kurosawa brought in the last of the boxes and looked them over in thought. "I'll sort the various other materials then. Eeee! This is so exciting..." Then she frowned. "But those Spooks better not have damaged any of these! They're precious considering some of their ages."

Rather amused at her love for old documents, Harry shook his head. He still did not know how, but somehow Mikasa had poached her from the Archives in Tokyo. Something about her skills not being put to the best use by her boss or something. Now, she worked alongside Daigo, who was a member of the Kaiyō No. 1-class Oceanographic ships. The Yokosuka Shipgirl Archives, which Kurosawa was in charge of, mostly dealt with old plans and such regarding the ships that the shipgirls were in their previous life. More then once, Harry had heard that it was considered an unofficial offshoot of the Archives in Tokyo.

Granted, since her summoning a year back, Daigo sometimes got grabbed by Akashi for some project or another. Usually in regards to research she needed to do. Something that annoyed Kurosawa each time it happened.

A glance though showed Harry the other offshoot to the room. Said entrance being something more akin to a bank vault. It went without saying that small shivers went down Harry's back at the sight as, even though he had never been in there, he knew that said vault contained things as Abyssal autopsy reports and such. Locked away in a safe area just in case.

Quickly shaking those thoughts off, Harry pointed at one of the boxes. "Um, those contain the items from the house where Louisiana came from... If that helps any."

With a small chuckle, Kurosawa quickly rolled up the plans on her desk and put them away. Placing the box onto it, she opened it with a hum. "Hmm... Want to see what's in here, Harry-San?"

Eyes wide, Harry nodded a bit. "Sure!"

Chuckling, Kurosawa gently pulled out a rolled up paper and tsk'd. "Baka Spooks, can't even put things away the right way... Why do I even bother with them sometimes, I'll never know." With deft movements, she opened and unrolled it only to blink. "Huh... This was unexpected."

Somewhat confused, Harry looked up at her. "What is it?" Instead of saying anything, Kurosawa only moved the paper so that Harry could better see it. "Wait... are these plans for Sendai-Nee?"

Kurosawa adjusted her glasses some but nodded. "Yeah, but there's a bit more to it then that. These are original plans for the Sendai class. See these notes? Those are handwritten. I wonder where the man responsible got these..." It was several minutes later that she felt her eyebrows raise again. "And these are plans for the Agano class."

About a half hour later, Harry was just scratching his head in confusion. "Um... these are a lot of different plans..."

From where she was examining one and making notes, Kurosawa shook her head. "That's putting it mildly, Harry-San. We have, from that one box, plans for the Sendai class, the Agano class, the Super Shimakaze class, and the Super Akizuki class... This is an incredible find."

However, Daigo snorted from where she was looking at plans from another box. "Then you're going to flip when you see what I have here..." Seeing that she had her friend's attention, she smirked. "Plans for Design A-150..."

One could have heard a pin drop before Kurosawa seemingly teleported and, with shaking hands, took the sheet. "Design A-150... this... this is beyond anything I expected." Slowly, a grin grew on her face. "Eeee! This is history that was lost!" Then Kurosawa froze and her pupils shrank. "We have to make sure that these are preserved... Daigo! Get me my materials! We have no time to spare!"

There was an amused look on the shipgirl's face as she glanced over at Harry and chuckled. "Hai, will do. Looks like another late night then..."

By the time that Harry was done with what was supposed to be a 'short' delivery, it was well into the late afternoon. After delivering some coffee to Matt, and heading out through the doors with his bike and attached trailer though, Harry blinked at the sight that met him. Mainly that of Willie glaring at Iowa who was currently being held by Davie bridal style. "Um... what's going on here?"

Growling, the American Destroyer jerked her head towards the smirking Battleship. "That is exactly what I am wondering, Harry. What the heck do you think that you're doing, Iowa!"

A smirk still on her face, Iowa shrugged. "What does it look like? Davie here is carrying me around." When Willie growled though, she raised a hand. "Whoa, he was the one who asked me! He's been carrying me around in his arms or on his back for the past hour, Willie."

Now confused, Willie turned to her twin brother, even though he looked like he was eighteen and her barely sixteen, and he nodded. Moments later, he spoke though Harry had to strain to hear him as it was barely just above a whisper. "She's right, Willie. And you're the first one to ask that."

Blinking, Willie looked at Harry who shrugged some. Then, turning back to Davie, she frowned and crossed her arms. "Davie...? Why are you speaking in a whisper?"

That only caused him to grin as he continued to speak at the same low level. "I thought that you would have known, Willie." Leaning in, his grin widened. "I'm speaking softly and carrying a big stick."

Several seconds passed before Willie groaned and facepalmed, the sound of steel hitting steel heard by everyone. For her part, it took a moment longer, but Iowa started howling in laughter as Harry snorted and tried not to chuckle while Willie shook her head. "Dammit, Davie... how long have you been waiting to use that!?"

Davie's grin was her only answer.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Shutting the door to his car and locking it, the man groaned as he felt his tiredness weigh him down. It was a long day of work and, if there was one thing that the Abyssals did not really change too much, it was that people still needed to go to work and get paid for a living. All he wanted right now though was to have a quick bite to eat, maybe surf the net while doing so, and then head to bed.

He was too damn tired for anything else.

Upon reaching the door though, those thoughts fled from him as he could hear music inside and smell something cooking. Slowly, narrowing his eyes, he reached out to the door and gripped the knob and found it to be unlocked. Very gently opening it, he stepped inside and then glanced around for something to grab as a weapon. Seeing nothing though, he glanced around the corner into his kitchen and stopped as a russet haired woman turned and gave him a smile. "Good evening, Steve. Dinner's almost done, so you can take a seat and I'll serve you soon."

It took Steve several moments before he managed to speak. "Muriel? Is that you?"

Giggling at his confusion, the woman nodded. "It is." Her eyes sparkled in mischief as the man walked around the corner fully. "Been a while."

That only caused Steve to frown. "A while? Try several years." Eyebrows furrowing, he shook his head. "I haven't seen you since... the first year of the war."

Smile falling from her face, Muriel nodded before sighing. "I know, Steve. There were... things... that happened and prevented me from coming back. My family were separated by the Abyssals after all."

Raising an eyebrow as he took a seat, Steve nodded. "I remember you telling me. Though that does not explain why you're back now or why you decided breaking into my home was a good decision."

More then a little sheepish, Muriel shrugged. "Well... you know what I am and you did extend an invitation for me to return whenever I want. Hence how I got in here. As for the rest? I made the decision as did my sisters."

Now confused, the man frowned as he leaned forward. "Wait, that works for you? And sisters?"

Only nodding as she went back to cooking, Muriel chuckled. "Yes, we do obey the same rules as the fair folk, though we're distant cousins. And we decided to settle in the area until the Abyssals are dealt with." At his confusion, she smiled. "We're several houses down, it took a while to set everything up without the wizards knowing. Now though, we're safe."

Grunting, Steve shook his head. "That's still a problem?"

With a bark-like laugh, Muriel nodded. "They are, though not as much of one as they think as they're too busy with other things. After all, you should see who they think we are back in Britain. Honestly, I got to shake my head at them as we don't look anything like that. But best not to tweak their noses too much."

Lips twitching at the familiar Scottish brogue, Steve chuckled some. "Well, that was why you said that your people moved to Canada. To get away from them and because there's fewer magicals here." Moments later though, he frowned. "That still does not answer why here though..."

Rolling her eyes, Muriel pulled away and wagged her spoon at him. "Because of what you did, you silly goose. Do you remember?"

A thoughtful look on his face, Steve nodded. "You mean finding you on the shore? After you had gotten separated from your family during an Abyssal attack?"

Simply shuddering, Muriel nodded. "Yes... We were trying to get out of their way and to safety when they attacked and..." Quickly shaking her head, she sucked in a breath. "Anyways, you were there and found me."

Just snorting, the man shook his head. "I remember, at the time I thought that you were just a seal. Fuck, I was shocked when your skin slid off to reveal that you were, well..."

Eyes twinkling, Muriel laughed again, a sound not unlike a seal's. "A selkie? I didn't have much choice at the time, desparate as I was and injured. You took my skin and placed it safely away while taking me to the doctors." Her expression became far off. "It took me months to recover, but you were there the whole time. Despite the pain, they were wonderful months. Then, when I was healed..."

Steve slowly nodded. "I gave you your seal skin back and watched as you went back into the ocean after you said goodbye."

Turning, she regarded him and nodded. "Yes, you gave it back to me. You knew the legends and could have kept my skin hidden away. I would have had to obey you and you could have had me marry you. But instead... you just gave it back so that I could go home with my family. We both know that according to the stories that we would have never met again except seeing each other from afar."

Now frowning, Steve snorted. "It wouldn't feel right to me to do something like that. Though... that begs the question of why you're here considering the stories..." Eyes widening as he realized he had put his foot in his mouth considering the look that Muriel was giving him, he swallowed. "Not that I mind, not really..."

Much to his relief, she only chuckled. "And that, right there is why I decided to come back. You only kept my skin long enough for me to heal and then let me go. So... here I am."

Several seconds passed as she spooned some food out onto some plates, but finally, Steve nodded and smiled. "And so you are..." On the other side of the table, Muriel returned said smile.
____________________________________________________________________________

Wanko had barely gotten on shore when a shout caught her attention. "BIG SISTER! BIG SISTER IS HERE!"

Only smiling, Wanko caught the projectile that was Hoppou with ease before hugging her. "It is... good to... see you again... Little Sister... and to... see that you... are well." Catching sight of Harry in front of her, she bent down and hugged him as well even as Hoppu clambered up onto her shoulders. "And it is... good to see... you as well... Little Brother."

A large smile on his face, Harry wrapped his arms around her best that he could and nodded. "It's awesome to see you as well, Big Sis."

Turning, Wanko gave a nod to Nagato who was standing there with a smile and held out a free hand. "I hope... that you... are well... Nagato."

With a chuckle, Nagato took the offered hand and nodded. "I'm doing well, thank you." Still smiling, she turned to Supply Depot Princess and held out her hand. "I hope that you're well as well, Supply Depot Princess."

Much to her surprise, Supply Depot Princess shook her head as she returned the gesture. "Call me Supprin." At the look, she snorted a bit. "'Supply Depot Princess' is a mouthful. So I decided to follow Lady Wanko's and Hoppou's path and have a shorter name."

Giving it a moment of thought, Nagato only nodded as it did make some sense. Meanwhile, Harry was talking with Regina. "It's great to see you again, Regina. And you're going to be here for my birthday as well."

There was a small blush on Regina's face as she nodded some, though she had a happy smile as well. "U-um, thank you, Harry. I can't wait until your party though..." For a moment, she frowned. "I'm still not sure why it is so important."

Seconds later though, she jumped as Revina appeared beside her and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Who cares? It's a paaarty! And parties are always awesome-possum... though I hope that there's not a possum here."Glancing around, she leaned in towards the bemused Harry. "Those things are just plain mean."

Having spotted Yuudachi though, Revina then rushed over to said Destroyer and left Harry and a confused Regina there. Only shaking his head, Harry looked over at her and gave a her a hug. Unnoticed by him, her face lit up in a bright blush before she relaxed some and returned it. "Anyways, it's still great to have you here for my birthday. Hopefully you'll like the party, Regina."

Expression softening, Regina nodded some. "Y-yes, I am sure that I'll like it, Harry." It was probably a good thing that Harry could not hear her internal thoughts. 'Especially as you'll be there.' Shaking that off though, she took a deep breath. "Though... I don't think that I'll like the other party that I will be going to as much."

Confused, it took a few seconds for Harry to realize what she was talking about and he nodded. "Oh! You mean the party after the signing of the treaty?"

Biting her lip, she nodded. "Um, yes... there's just so much pressure. I mean, there's going to be so many important people and they're all be watching us and... And it makes me nervous. Especially as I'm not exactly... presentable."

To her surprise though, Harry just gave her a one armed hug and chuckled. "Good thing that that Shinano-Chan and I have been working on something just for you! You won't need to worry about a thing, Regina."

Now confused, Regina looked down at him in confusion. "You... have? I won't?"

Harry only shook his head. "Nope! We got you covered, Regina. And you'll be awesome, trust me."

Slowly, the Re-Class nodded, though there was a thankful smile on her face even as she blushed and felt warm inside from how her friends cared. "Thank you, Harry. I trust you and Shinano and know that... that you won't do anything bad."

Beside Regina, her tail came up and rubbed it's head against Harry with a soft purr which made Harry chuckle. Though she had to heavily blush as Harry patted it after she nodded. Gently, he guided her towards the mess hall as the two of them continued to chat, though Wanko and Nagato shared a look and shook their heads.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Tilting his head to the side, Harry frowned a bit and narrowed his eyes. "Hmm..."

Across from him, Regina blushed some and shied away some. "U-um... O-oh my... Harry?"

If anything though, Harry's frowned deepened slightly as he raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Is something wrong, Regina?"

Biting her lip, Regina shifted some and took a deep breath. "Well... nothing's wrong, no. But, um... It's about this..." She then glanced away with her blush growing some. "Er..."

Expression turning gentle, Harry shook his head some. "Regina, look at me." When she did, she blinked at the caring expression on his face. "Is this bothering you?"

Only shaking her head, Regina took a deep breath. "N-no..." At his frown, the Abyssal gave him a shy smile. "No, it doesn't bother me at all."

Frowning, Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Then what's wrong? You didn't seem to mind so much before."

A soft whimper escaped from Regina as she glanced around. "That... it was so strange when you asked me if I wanted to do that. And, it confused me... But then we did it..."

Now becoming thoughtful, Harry scratched his cheek and blushed some. "Yeah... it was a bit of an odd question." Then his expression brightened. "But you seemed to really enjoy it!"

That only caused Regina's breath to freeze and her eyes to widen. For a moment, she was utterly still before a bright blush crossed her face. "I-I-I... Um, that is..."

Head tilting to the side, Harry blinked. "Regina?"

Still blushing, she turned away, though she kept glancing at him. "Well... I did enjoy it. And... and it wasn't bad..." Her blush deepened with her next words. "I... wouldn't be against doing it again."

Yet again, Harry smiled at her. "So what's the problem then?"

Regina chewed her lip some and glanced around. "It's just... so soon? We just arrived in Yokosuka yesterday after all."

Giving that some thought, the black haired boy nodded some. "I guess." Glancing to the side, he coughed. "I just want to make sure that you didn't forget anything."

Once more blushing, Regina shook her head. "I... I don't think that would be a problem, Harry." For a few seconds, her eyes glazed over. "Not a problem at all..." Quickly shaking it off, Regina took a deep breath. "Um, your birthday party is going to be starting soon too."

That gave Harry some pause. After some moments though, he shrugged. "My party's not going to start that soon, Regina."

Slowly, Regina looked to the side. "There's also that we're... being watched."

From where she sat backwards on a chair, Revina grinned and waved. "Hey, don't mind me you two! I pinky promise not to tell your secrets, stick a Hellfighter in my eye!" She then pulled out a bunch of leaves and stuff and held it in front of her face. "Pretend that I'm a plant."

Blinking, Regina turned to Harry who shrugged. "Um..."

Meanwhile, Revina shook the leaves in front of her face. "Oooo! No one here! None but us houseplants!"

Extremely amused, Harry just shrugged. "Right, nothing but houseplants." Seeing that Regina was still nervous, Harry sighed and reached over to take her hands in his. "Regina... Look at me." Once she did, he nodded. "You know that I wouldn't do anything that you wouldn't want to do, Regina."

Nodding slowly, the Re class gave him a small smile. "I... I know that, Harry. You're so nice to me." After a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay."

That caused Harry to blink before he lit up. "Really?"

With a small nod, Regina smiled brighter. "Yes. C-can we do this before I lose my nerve?"

All Harry did was give her a thumbs up as he leaned forward. "Sure. Ready?"

Swallowing nervously even as her blush deepened, Regina nodded. "Yes... I'm ready, Harry." Leaning forward, she bit her lip some. "Let's do this again."

Eyes wide, Revina looked through the leaves that she was holding up. 'Holy shit! They're actually going to do it! THEY'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT RIGHT HERE!'

Bringing up one hand, Harry smiled a bit as he took a deep breath. And then...

He flicked out a piece of chocolate that Regina's tail snatched out from the air. Flicking out another in a different direction, it chomped on that. One piece after another vanished down it's gullet as Harry flicked them in different directions until there was only one left which laid in the palm of his hand. Regina's tail though simply shoved it's head into his hand and licked the ate the chocolate. On Harry's face there was a wide smile as he patted it. "Good job!" When the tail looked at him, Harry shook his head. 'This is just so cool.' As the tail purred, he tilted his head some. 'Huh... I'm reminded of that movie, How to Train Your Dragon.'

Meanwhile, Regina was blushing up a storm. 'My tail likes him so much...' Softly smiling when Harry looked at her, she internally giggled as her tail was now nuzzling him. 'Not that I can blame her...'

Suddenly, the door opened and every one turned to look at it as Nagato looked in. Looking over the frozen tableau, the Battleship raised one eyebrow as she hummed. Then she shook her head with a snort. 'Not going to ask.' Turning towards Harry though, she gave a smile. "Harry? You're birthday party is nearly ready. We should get going before you're late for it."

Jumping off her chair, Revina nodded as she pumped her fist. "Yeah! The only thing worse then being late to a party is... Being late to your own party! That's super duper horribleness drenched in terrible! Like... like... putting shrimp and hot sauce on ice cream bad!"

For a moment, everyone stared at her as she nodded. Glancing at Regina who seemed just as lost, Harry mentally shook it off and got to his feet. "Um, right." Hand held out, he smiled at Regina. "Here."

With a blush, Regina took the offered hand and was helped to her hooves by Harry as in the background, Revina continued coming out with more and more horrible food combinations that being late to one's party was like. "Thank you, Harry."

Lips twitching, Nagato only shook her head with a chuckle before ruffling his hair. "Another year older, Harry. Happy twelveth birthday."

Seeing the nods from the two Abyssals, Harry grinned and straightened his back. "Thanks!"

Before he could do anything else though, Regina's tail snaked out between his legs and then lifted. Surprised, Harry slid down it until he came to a stop against Regina's back, which caused her to jump a bit. "Eep!"

All Revina did though, was laugh and clutch at her stomach. "Looks like your tail is not about to give up on it's Harry-Time, Sis!"

Heavily blushing, Regina stared at Revina, even as said Abyssal fell out of her chair. Then she turned to her tail whose's head was close to her head. It looked like the two were having a silent conversation. Whatever was said though, neither the confused Harry nor the amused Nagato knew. But when it ended, there was some steam leaking from Regina's ear. Swallowing, Regina took a deep breath and looked at Harry. "Um... C-can I give you a ride to your party, Harry?"

Eyes narrowing as he glanced at Regina's tail, Harry soon turned back to her with concern on his face. "Do you want to, Regina? Because you don't have to."

Slowly, Regina shook her head. "That's okay, Harry. I don't mind giving you a piggyback to your party... Um, if that's okay with you and everything." Expression brightening through her blush, she nodded. "Think of it as an early gift."

The reply from Harry was just a smile as he wrapped his arms around her middle and nodded. "Sure! It's perfectly okay with me, Regina."

Even though her blush, impossibly, deepened as he wrapped his arms around her, Regina took a deep breath. "Okay then." Reaching back, she adjusted him some before nodding. Several seconds later, she walked out as Harry continued to chat with her. Behind her, Revina only snickered and grinned as she placed her hands on the back of her head. Shaking her head, Nagato chuckled and took a quick picture as she shut the door and locked it.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Astride Regina's tail, Harry grinned as she jogged towards where his party was being held. "This is so awesome!" A weight on his shoulder caused him to turn to see the head of her tail now resting itself there. With a small smile, he scratched it a bit under the chin. "Thanks for this."

Not sure if he was thanking her or her tail, Regina only nodded as she smiled back at him. "You're very welcome, Harry. I'm glad that you're enjoying it."

Underneath him, her tail swayed a bit with each step, but in such a way that he barely felt the movements of the Re-Class' steps. "Yeah, it's actually really comfy." Part of Regina was glad that her hood hid the bright blush that crossed her face. A blush that only intensified as Harry hugged her around her middle. "Thank you."

For a moment, Regina had the image of her and Harry doing this on the surface of the sea before she shook it off. Then the Harry in the image grew older before he gently pulled down her hood and started to nuzzle her. Outwardly, small wafts of steam escaped from Regina's ears before her mind rebooted. Beside her, Revina grinned a bit. "Heh, you're going to have an awesome entrance to your birthday party, Kiddo!"

Blinking, Regina could see through her tail that Harry was nodding in agreement as she looked at her sister. "Um, he is?"

Softly snorting, Revina shook her head. "Cha! Of course he is! After all he's riding an awesome Re-Class into the party!"

Face flushed, though there was a pleased expression on her face, Regina nodded. "O-oh..." Several moments passed before she frowned. "Um... is making a big entrance important?"

Grinning, Revina nodded. "Yuppers! The bigger, the better!"

Head tilted to the side, Regina turned to look at Nagato who chuckled and gave a nod. "I suppose that making a big entrance for the birthday boy can be important." Seeing something in the look, her smile widened a touch. "And yes, if you want to do something as long as it does not hurt Harry, then it's okay with me."

With a thoughtful look, Regina looked back at Harry. "I... um... if you want I can give you an entrance, I think. If you really want it."

Smiling, Harry grinned and then pointed with one hand. "Then let's make an entrance, Regina!"

Unknown to Harry, somehow his expression and tone gave Regina a burst of courage. With a deep breath, her eyes narrowed some. "T-then we'll, um, make an entrance."

Somewhat curious, Nagato watched as Regina sped up a bit, her hooves clacking against the pavement. At the same time, she could hear the party nearby and, with her rangefinders, could see Naka on livestream. Naka had then spotted them and seemed shocked for a moment before grinning and gesturing at them. 'Hmm... I wonder what the reaction to Harry being on a Re-Class' tail would be...'

Regina's voice then caused her to turn towards them. "D-do you trust me, Harry?"

For his part, Harry gave her an odd look, but then nodded some. "Sure! You know that I do."

With a deep breath, Regina narrowed her eyes some. "C-could you, um, order me? To make an entrance?"

Confused, Harry frowned but then internally shrugged. "Okay? Regina, make an awesome entrance, as awesome as you are!"

Everything froze for the Re class as the breeze pushed her bangs and she could feel Harry's arms around her. More then that, she felt the absolute trust he held in her. Then it all restarted again and she tensed her legs. Nagato caught that and her eyes widened a bit. 'She's not...'

And then Regina pushed off as hard as she could into a jump. Pavement cracked under hooves with pieces flying out. On Regina's tail, Harry tightened his hold on his friend as the two of them shot into the air. However, the massive grin on his face told his real feelings as did his laughs. ""BLOODY WICKED!"

Just watching as she ate a burger, Iowa nodded at the sight of the airborne Abyssal. "Now that's fucking awesome."

It said something about the base that Iowa's reaction was about normal.

Meanwhile, Regina was smiling brightly as she could hear Harry's laughter in her ear and the wind whipped her poncho. Somehow though, not much was shown even as it swirled around her body. Having reached the top of her jump though, they started to descend and she moved her legs to take the impact. Seconds later, they slammed into the ground with Regina's hooves digging a groove through the soil as she absorbed the shock of contact with the ground easily. On her tail, Harry barely felt the impact and, once she came to a stop, he grinned so wide it nearly hurt. "That... was... bloody... AMAZING!"

Blinking, Regina was looking back at him. "I-it was, Harry?"

With a scoff, Harry nodded. "Well, yeah! We were actually flying through the air, Regina! You were like... Something from a Shonen manga!"

There was a blush on Regina's face as she brought her scarf up some. "Thank you."

Suddenly, she could hear claps and cheers and looked around only to freeze. Various shipgirls were grinning and giving her applause at her performance. A few of the Americans were even giving her whistles while Shinano gave her a thumbs up. Behind them, Wanko was giving her a nod while Hoppou was practically bouncing on her big sister's shoulder as she shouted with glee, Wokyuu looking confused beside them, though also giving them a smile.

It was then that she also spotted the grinning Naka with a camera and realized that someone was recording the whole thing. Upon that realization, Regina did the only thing that she could. Something that she often found herself doing.

Freezing in place with a soft eep of embarrassment as her face burned.

But then she felt Harry hugging her from behind as he kept going on about how cool her jump was and she slowly relaxed. After all, she had made her young friend happy on his birthday. And that was what was important, right?

Somehow, that made her feel happy and warm inside, which made her stand a bit straighter despite her normal shyness.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

From where he was watching Harry slowly get off the tail of the blushing Re-Class, Ron grinned. "Bloody brilliant."

Only shaking her head with an amused expression on her face, Warspite chuckled a bit. "Mind your language, Ronald." She then turned to the two beside her with a raised eyebrow. "You'll have you excuse Ronald, he sometimes slips up."

With a blink, the witch beside simply nodded some. "Quite, it's rather understandable. Being at that age, I am amazed that he does not have more." Augusta Longbottom, Dowager Longbottom and current regent of that Most Ancient and Most Noble House, turned to look at her grandson who glanced back at her. "I must admit though, I was not quite expecting this when my Grandson was invited to attent young Mister Potter's birthday party."

Humming, Warspite nodded some before taking note of how Percy was softly speaking with Ooyodo and Supply Depot Princess, or Supprin as she was now calling herself. "I suppose not. But then, you are handling things quite well, if I must say so myself."

Just chuckling, Augusta shook her head. "Ah, it takes much more then that, I'm afraid, to get more of a reaction out of me." There was a small twinkle in her eye as her lips turned upwards slightly. "Perhaps one day I shall explain how I recieved the nickname 'Nundu Eater Longbottom' from my time fighting on the continent against Grindlewald's forces."

That, if anything, only made Warspite raise an eyebrow. But curious as she was, the Battleship let the question lay for another time as she turned towards where Harry was walking towards them. Meanwhile, Augusta turned back to Neville with a very small smile. Having raised him after what happened to his parents, Augusta had worried over him for years and loved him dearly. Not that Neville fully realized this fact, something that hurt his grandmother and sometimes found her taking a nightcap. As much as she would have wanted to act otherwise, she needed to keep up the stern grandmother outlook and seem somewhat harsh on him. Not because she did not love him, for she did.

But because to do otherwise might as well have been tossing blood into the water.

Unknown to Neville, some of his relatives had been jockeying and sharpening knives as he had not shown any magic for years. If he was a Squib, they would have tossed him out and taken his birthright away from him. There was much power in the title of being the Head of the Longbottoms after all. It did not help matters that she had suspected all these years that one of their relatives had leaked the information about where Neville's parents had been to the Death Eaters. Oh, she couldn't prove a thing to her annoyance, but there was enough there for her suspcions. The Secret Keeper somehow being killed two weeks before what happened meant that all those who had been told suddenly became Secret Keepers themselves. Sure, the official explanation was that it had been tortured from the original Secret Keeper, but Augusta was not sure about that.

Hence why she cried when it turned out that he did have magic after Algie dropped him by accident. It caused all the rest of the family to back off. Though unknown to Neville, she then went and dropped Algie out the same window, this time not by accident. He had to spend several weeks in Saint Mungos due to all the curses, jinxes, and hexes she put on him.

Now though, she was glad and proud of him. Somehow, he had met and been incorpreated into a group which included Arthur Weasley's youngest son and Harry Potter himself as well as a young, though promising Muggleborn named Hermione Granger. That had raised eyebrows among the older members of the family, but also impressed them due to the political power that two of his friends possessed unknown to him. And looking around at the shipgirls as well as the Abyssals, Augusta internally snorted. Those fools did not know the half of it. She knew that the Statute was falling apart as did others, and had prepared by having Neville enroll in the muggle school system. It had caused some issues, but she pointed out that if he was a Squib, then he would need to survive in the Muggle World. Something that caused no end of beating herself up over it, but necessary.

And right now, looking around, she could only shake her head. Somehow, Augusta was not sure how, but Harry Potter had amassed a great deal of political power. There were those who would underestimate it, but when the Statute fell, it was obvious that the Potter household would survive it. And by tying himself to Harry through friendship, it seemed that the Longbottoms would as well, if only through her grandson. A worry that she could now lay to rest, especially with the invite.

Walking up behind Neville as he greeted Harry, Augusta put on her best "Stern Lady" expression. "Neville, aren't you going to introduce us?"

It amused her that Neville flushed some, but then he turned back to Harry and gestured to her. "Um, Harry Potter? May I introduce my grandmother, Augusta Longbottom?"

To her pleasure, Harry took her hand and then shook it firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. Thank you for letting Neville come, he's one of my best friends at Hogwarts."

Parsing what he had said, Augusta found herself nodding. 'Hogwarts, hmm? No, I suppose that outside of the school that you would have a number of other best friends.' Outwardly, she gave a thin smile. "It should be me thanking you, though Mister Potter. After all, it is thanks to you that my grandson has gained in confidence. Why, I do not believe that I have seen him as ever confidant as he was after meeting you. And also, thank you for inviting us to your birthday celebrations."

All Harry did was smile back. "It's not a problem." His adopted mother then came up and he gestured at her. "Um, right, this is my Mother, Nagato of the Big Seven."

Both women shared a small smile as they shook hands, with Nagato giving a chuckle. "We've actually met, Harry." At the confused expression on Harry's and Neville's faces, Nagato smile widened some. "Back when you first borded the train to Hogwarts, we had a small talk with each other."

Nodding, Augusta hummed some. "Quite, it was a rather enjoyable conversation." Her smile then turned somewhat fond as she looked down at Harry. "I must say, you do remind me quite a bit of your grandfather. Especially from the stories that my Neville have told me."

Surprised, Harry stared at her for a moment. "You knew my grandfather?"

That actually got a chuckle from the elderly witch. "I did, in fact your grandmother and myself were good friends when she was alive. We, as in myself with your grandparents, fought alongside one another against Grindlewald in the fight on the continent." For a moment, she seemed thoughtful. "If you want, I can always tell you some stories about them. I shall try to also find some pictures of them if you wish."

A bright smile on his face, Harry nodded. "That would actually be great, thank you." He then glanced to Neville and then Ron before looking at the three adult women. "Um..."

Much to Neville's shock, Augusta waved them on. "Go on, enjoy the party you three. You're only young once, after all."

With a slow nod, Harry grabbed his two friends. "Thanks!"

The three women watched as Harry guided his friends through the crowds towards the barbecue. One of which was a smoker that Louisiana was standing in front of, though said Battleship also had a large pot of something going on. Then they turned back to each other and began to quietly converse.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hearing something, Lily looked over her shoulder from where she was sitting with one hand on her pregnant stomach. "James? You're going out?"

James only nodded as he shrugged on the muggle coat and put the hat on his head. "I am, Lils. We need some supplies after all. Especially for cooking."

With a frown, Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "And I suppose that you're not going to let me go with you then?"

All her husband did was make a pointed look at her stomach. "You know why."

Growling, Lily glared at him. "Dammit, James! I am going stir crazy in here from being trapped so long!" She then snorted at him as he rolled his eyes. "Do you even know what to get at the store?"

For a moment, he paused. Then James quickly shook it off. "I know exactly what to get, Lily-Flower."

Eyebrow raising, she gave him a smirk. "You sure? We wouldn't want to have a bad thyme at our next meal after all."

It took James a moment before he shut his eyes in phantom pain. Mainly because right there was the real reason why he needed to get out of the house. "Lils..."

Leaning back, Lily stroked her stomach with a sigh. "Fine, whatever. Just hurry back because I'm so hungry I could eat a clock."

With a snort, James tapped his hair to change it's color. "That might be rather hard, Lily."

Suddenly grinning, Lily nodded. "It would be actually. Mainly due to it being so... time consuming."

Once more, James held back a groan before he reached for the door. "Okay, I'm out. Take care, Lily."

The red head only sighed before waving him on. "Fine, whatever. Leave the two of us here alone by ourselves. See if we care."

Rolling his eyes, he just pointed towards another seat with Remus in it smirking. "Mooney is right there, Lils. Like I'm about to leave you alone."

A pout on her face, Lily shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, we'll have a howling good time fur sure. Just be careful out there, James. It's rather muggy outside."

With a confused glance at his wife, James shook his head and stepped outside. Thus, he missed Lily bring a bowl of tea to her lips and take a sip as Remus raised an eyebrow. From the outside, James' voice could be heard. "OH FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, LILY! DID YOU HONESTLY HAVE TO PLACE ALL OUR MUGS OUT ON THE FRONT LAWN IN HOPES OF MAKING THAT PUN!?"

Smirking, Lily turned towards the door. "WOULD I BE ME IF I DID NOT, JAMSIE!?"

In his chair, Remus just held his face in his hands as he shook.
______________________________________________________________________

There was a large smile on Harry's face as he spread his arms at the end of the story as Jane laughed and shook her head. "Did that actually happen, Harry?"

Slowly, Harry nodded with a happy look on his face. "According to both my parents' diaries and journals? Yeah, it did." His expression softened some. "My biological Mum loved puns, and slowly I'm getting Mum to love them too."

Her expression completely serious, Arizona shook her head. "Then I feel most sorry for your father, Harry. And I shall pray to whomever might be listening that it shall not catch Nagato within it's grasp."

With a slow sigh, Nagato sipped her coffee. "Hopefully not." She then glanced at her sister who was also there. "Though if anything does happen, then I suppose that Mutsu may pun-ish me."

Nodding for a moment, Mutsu stopped and blinked as the words seeped through her mind. For his part, Harry grinned. "How would she do that, Mum? Perhaps sending you to the... Pun-geon? Or maybe the... Pun-itentiary?"

Both mother and son shared the same look of amusement as Mutsu groaned and Arizona facepalmed. Meanwhile, Revina collapsed in laughter as she clutched her stomach. "Holy shit! That was amazing!" Once she was able to sit up, she looked at Neville who did not seem to know what to do. "Hey, kid, something wrong?"

As Neville shook his head, Harry glanced at Neville and then at Revina. Very slowly, a grin crossed his face which Natsumi recognized. "Harry, no!"

Sadly, that only made Harry's grin widen. "Harry, yes!" Clearing his throat, he turned to Revina who seemed curious as she was about to give Neville a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't blame him, Revina. It's like that time I asked him the difference between a piano and a fish.'

Confused, Revina tilted her head though something told her it was going to be good. "Oh? What's the difference?"

Unable to help himself, Harry chuckled for a moment. "Well, it's simple. You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish."

It took a few moments, but then Revina collapsed in laughter again. Harry then to Jane. "Hey, Janey, what's the difference between ignorance and apathy?"

Only raising an eyebrow, Jane considered not answering before she sighed. "Cuz..." At his look, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I don't know."

Leaning back, Harry placed his hands on his stomach. "And I don't care."

Jane furrowed her eyebrows and then groaned as she shook her head. "Cuz, that one was a real rotten one."

All Harry did was grin at her. "Well, it did take me a while to compost it." That got him a playful swat to the shoulder. "Better then my fake noodle one."

Bemused, Neville looked over at him. "What about your fake noodle one? What was wrong with it?"

Simply shrugging, Harry chuckled. "It was an impasta." At the facepalms and chuckles, Harry placed his hands behind his head. "Ah, I still got it."

Her expression blank, Natsumi snorted. "Harry-Chan, I think that you lost it long ago." The only thing she got was a grin back before she shook her head. "Anyways, we should get going. It's time for presents and then more games!"

Getting up, Harry laughed as her and Jane began to pull him towards the table filled with various gifts. "I'm coming, I'm coming! If you pull much harder, then one might say that you're awfully... disarming."

With a look shared between them, Natsumi and Jane let go of Harry before picking him up and carrying him to a pool. "Okay, that's it! You need to cool off!"

Behind them, the adults shook their heads at that as well as Harry's response. "If you want, I can water down my responses. Or perhaps pool them for later! Grant you, I'll be soaked in puns by that time, though I might be rather dry at times as well!"

Anything else was cut off as Jane and Natsumi tossed him into the pool to laughter and groans.

 

[darthcourt10]

MagisterAurelius

Harry's Third Year at Hogwarts



Ship of Fools Part 7



The last part of Christmas break at Yokosuka



-0-0-



The aftermath of Christmas Eve had been uncomfortable for Draco Malfoy in several ways. The hangover at least faded in a day thanks to Johnston's tender ministrations. The wound to his pride lingered on, with the embarrassment of vomiting on Harry Potter tagging along for fun. Potter's mother Nagato had been mollified by Draco's explanation and apology and accepted that as an accident no harm had been done. To be fair it had helped that Junyou had also felt mortified by what had happened and had apologized even more profusely than Draco had. Potter had not expressed any anger and had been rather reasonably sympathetic.



It left Draco to wonder, Perhaps he's letting Weasley handle that. Ron Weasley had taken the opportunity to settle several scores with Malfoy since then. The barb that stung the worst was after Weasley's insistence on a marathon of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, leading to several so your hero is Mannequin Skywalker jibes. Despite so wanting to force choke Weasley for that crack, he said nothing in order to regain that sense of composure and self assurance forfeited by his drunken disclosures. It would be far worse to fail at choking Ron out, especially since he had yet to successfully work out such a wandless spell.



His musings were interrupted by a pair of arms wrapping around him from behind and pulling him into a hug.



"You gonna just stand around staring off into space all day, Draco? You better not be going emo on me..." Johnston then leaned her head forward of his shoulder and examined Draco's profile. "Okay, I don't see you wearing eyeliner and makeup so I guess everything's fine for now."



Draco's head swiveled to look at Johnston's face, only to stop with their lips mere inches apart. With both his and her eyes gone wide and a rising blush on their faces, he quickly turned his head back. "Umm.. I still don't understand that whole emo thing." Mind racing as his hand smoothed his hair in a nervous tic he attempted to shift the conversation. Okay Draco just say something innocuous. "Did you get a haircut? It really suits you." Really? How lame can you be Draco?



To his shock, Johnston, still blushing, took his other hand in hers.



"Thank you Draco. I wasn't sure you would notice. Pennsylvania cut it and said this was the style that would match the hair ornament you gave me." The destroyer girl touched the ornament now gracing her black bob cut. "It's such a pretty thing. I really like it Draco."



"I'm glad you like it. I thought you were going to miss your headdress so I was really glad to be able to find something that was close."



Johnston stepped in front of Draco and faced him with her eyes downcast. "Being able to see you and your gift really cheered me up." Her eyes then met his and her mouth smirked mischievously. "I still haven't give you your present yet."



"I consider what you did for me when I was hungover as my present Johnston. At least from what some of the Japanese girls told me later. I guess using your lap as a pillow is a big deal?"



"Ehhh its kind of a big deal in Japan, but that isn't your present. I wanted to wait until New Year's Eve but the convoy is heading back home tonight and I'm on escort duty, so I have to give it to you now." Johnston's face turned down into a moue. "Close your eyes" she ordered.



Draco closed his eyes. He felt Johnston put her hands on his shoulders. As he was about to ask what she was doing, he felt her lips contact his. Time seemed to stand still as Johnston's soft lips remained on his. His brain remained frozen even as Johnston drew her lips back slightly. Eyes now open, they held each others gaze. Until a voice broke through the moment.



"If you're done Johnston, we need to get going." Samuel B Roberts reinserted the Tootsie Pop into her mouth and pointed her thumb at the docks.



"Ugh. Way to kill a mood Sammie. I hate to go like this Draco sweetie. Call me on Skype!"



As Johnston and Sammie left for the docks, Draco turned back to the dorms in a daze. Halfway there he paused after tasting his lips. "Strawberry?"



-0-



Upon entering the dorm, Draco found his two henchmen each staring at a computer screen. Potter, Weasley and Longbottom were sitting around the card table playing some collectible card game. Standing behind Goyle, Draco peered at the screen of the computer Goyle was using.



"Who's that Goyle?"



"Oh! Hey Draco. Umm.. well..." Goyle stammered.



Harry Potter leaned over and took a look. "Oh. That's Takao-san. She's one of the cruisers on base and she's a really nice person."



Crabbe just snickered and said, "Yes, but I believe Goyle is more interested in her vast tracts of land over her personality."



"Tracts of land, Poi?"



"Shut up Crabbe" Goyle growled.



"No. You're just waiting for those pin-up posters you ordered to arrive from that photographer. You paid for enough of them to wallpaper the room back at Hogwarts."



"Wait, Goyle, you ordered posters from Aoba-san?"



"Boss, can I kill Crabbe now?"



Feeling a headache similar to his hangover coming on, Draco moved to Crabbe's computer. Looked at the screen and just stared.



"Crabbe, just what game are you playing?"



Crabbe furrowed his eyebrows. "It's called Yandere Simulator. Somebody suggested it as a possible solution to my arranged engagement problem. I've been playing it and even looked up something called The Internet Guide to Yandere Love. I think I see what they were getting at, but there are still some things I don't quite get....The only other option for me would be to discover 'artistic leanings', whatever those are."



Draco pinched his nose and retreated from the impending disasters that were surely going to attend to his minions. As he sat on the edge of his bed, he looked up at Potter who had pointed a question to him.



"So the base is going to attempt a summoning on New Year's Eve. Are you interested in observing Malfoy?"



Draco blinked. "What would I have to do?"



"Nothing really. Mostly it's just watching the proceedings. Having more wizards attend makes a summoning more successful."



"Huh. Alright then. Sure." After thinking a bit, he asked, "So Potter, how do you know what ship-girls will appear when you do these summonings?"



"Well, sometimes it's random, but if you ask for someone specific chances are good they will appear."



Draco started flipping through the latest edition of Jane's Fighting Kanmusu. For some reason one of the history sections caught his eye. The Washington Naval Treaty and USN Spring Styles of 1921. He skimmed through other sections, but he would return to one design sketch in that chapter.



Noticing Draco's interest in a particular page, Harry peered over the blond wizard's shoulder at the page. Thinking about it later as he got into bed Harry did wonder why Draco was interested in a rejected upgrade for the Colorado class.



-0-



An awkward silence echoed throughout the summoning chamber that New Year's Eve. The stacks of summoning materials and incense remained undisturbed and very present. The chanting of the Japanese priests had ceased as the Japanese summoning attempt resulted in nothing but calm still water in the pool.



Admiral Goto shrugged and looked at his American counterpart. "Guess it's your turn John."



The American admiral stepped forward and performed the invocations and pleas. Various rock songs were played with Naka at the sound board. The USN ship-girls singing along. After ten minutes Admiral Richardson stepped back. "No dice. Guess we aren't reaching anyone tonight."



"So that's it then?" All eyes turned towards Draco Malfoy as he interjected. Turning to Harry he asked, "Potter, you told me that if you asked for someone then it was going to succeed right?"



"Sometimes the spirits have to be ready to come back Draco..."



"But what if you aren't asking for the right ones? You seem to be asking for the ships who did things already, ships with a history."



Admiral Richardson frowned. "Yes. Because they have the experience..."



"They had their chance," Draco interrupted. "What about those who never got the chance? The unwanted, the discarded, or the forgotten? If someone asks for them to come, they just might. And it's not fair that Potter is the only one who can summon ship-girls. So I ask! I, Draco Malfoy ask the forgotten and unwanted to come back and take the life denied them before!"



The candles sputtered out as Draco finished. The summoning materials suddenly dissolved into motes. The blond boy staggered as if punched in the gut and doubled over. The pool's water roiled and rushed into a swirling geyser like column. As it fell back into the pool it revealed a girl standing in the middle of the pool.



She was dressed in a navy blue pinstriped suit jacket and pants. Black and white spats for shoes and a fedora hat completed the ensemble. She holstered her two Smith and Wesson Hand Ejector revolvers in their shoulder holster rig with laconic ease, the movement at the same time showing off her lines. Her hair was the color of burgundy wine, worn in a thick braid over her left shoulder and peek-a-bangs that veiled her right eye. The visible left eye with its grey iris gazed over the room, until it reached a blond boy just now recovering.



As she began to glide over to Draco Malfoy, Admiral Richardson spoke out to her. "Report!" She stopped and looked at him. John Richardson had remembered the unease he had felt when Pennsylvania had summoned. The feeling he got from the stare of this ship-girl was not the rage of Pennsylvania, this was icy controlled hate.



"You are US Navy correct?" The girl asked in a voice that reminded those that were listening of a mafia don talking to someone who was about to get whacked.



"Yes, I'm Admiral John..."



"Go to hell." She pointed at Draco. "He asked for me, not the United States Navy. Therefore, he is my admiral. Not some martinet from a navy that didn't even commission me and threw me away because of some damn treaty."



An angry Richardson tried stepping towards the girl, only to be stopped by the arm of Arizona across his chest. He looked at her to see her shake her head. In a low voice she spoke.



"Don't John. That's the baby sister of the Colorados, BB-47 USS Washington. If you doubt her right to be angry just ask Texas and New York about what happened to her."



Meanwhile the mind of Draco Malfoy was panicking. What did I just do?



-0-0-0-

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking down at Harry who was drying himself off with a towel and a massive grin on his face, Nagato could only shake her head in amusement. It was not helped by Hoppou wagging a hand at him. "Big Brother needs to stop being so silly."

As he snickered and let his towel fall around his shoulders, Harry reached over and ruffled her hair. "Sure thing, Hoppou, I'll stop being so silly." Turning to the gifts, Harry smiled a bit. "So, um, who's first?"

Much to his surprise, Warspite walked up and handed him an envelope. "Here you go, Harry. This is a combined gift from myself." She then gave him a wrapped package. "And this is from Hermione as she could not make it."

Taking both, Harry opened the envelope first and pulled out the papers with Nagato looking over his shoulder. After a moment, his eyes widened some. "Wait a moment is this...?" Harry then looked up directly at Warspite who smiled. "Is this what I think it is?"

With a chuckle, she nodded from where she was sitting in a wheelchair. "Quite. What you hold in your hands are the deeds to the property of your late Great Uncle. Miss Rose here." She gave a small nod towards the tsukumogami. "Told us his name as well as where she believed it was located. As it is, the property has fallen into some disuse, but it's being repaired. I have been told that it would make for a fine place to stay whenever you are in England, at least until such time as your ancestral property has been rebuilt."

Gently, Harry ran a finger along the paper and smiled softly. "Mum?" After Nagato hummed, he continued. "Once Myrtle can freely move, we got to bring her there. She'd probably be pretty happy."

Hugging him, Nagato gave a nod. "I agree, she probably would be happy to visit, or stay there if that is what she wants."

After a few moments, Harry opened the present from Hermione and chuckled a bit. "A book on European folklore! That's so Hermione."

Lips turned upwards a bit, Warspite nodded some. "It certainly is, I suppose. Of course, with some reports coming in it may be of great use in times to come." Seeing his confused look, her smile thinned. "There has been some talk of odd beings and such."

Flipping through it, Harry blinked. "Huh... It even talks about Selkies and Swan Maidens."

Confused, Natsumi leaned over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at a drawing of a woman seemingly bathing in a pool with what looked like a dead swan behind her. "Uh-huh. Swan Maidens?"

Simply nodding, Harry held the book towards her. "Yeah, see, they have two forms. In one, they look like a swan and one cannot tell that they're not. Then they can shed their swan skin or feathers and take human form. If you steal their swan skin, then they can't fly away and, um..." At the interested looks, Harry coughed and shrugged. "A guy who, um, does so can force them to marry him..."

Eyes narrowing, Natsumi glared at the picture. "I see..."

It was a few seconds later that Harry closed the book and then set it aside. "Uh, right! Thanks Miss Warspite! And I'll send Hermione a letter thanking her too." Softly giggling, Warspite nodded before Hanna walked up with an envelope of her own. "What's this, Hanna?"

The Natural Born glanced at her sister who slowly nodded with a smile. "Well... remember how you wrote to me about your family on the Potter side?" A bit confused, Harry nodded. "Well, through some research in old records, we managed to track down the Potter properties in Germany."

Head snapping up, Harry stared at her with his jaw dropped. "You found where my family lived? In Germany?"

Slowly, Hanna nodded though there was a small frown on her face. "We did, though it took some time and needing to look through very old records to do so. However, we don't know if there's much there though we did perform a flyover and there's buildings there, though they look in disrepair." She then cleared her throat a bit and moved as if to scuff her boot in the dirt, only to stop at the last moment. Moments later though, a blush bloomed on her face. "Perhaps... next summer you may come to Germany and we could have a look?"

Blinking, Harry tilted his head in confusion. A glance at Eugen though with the Heavy Cruiser having a small smile, caused him to blink again as she winked at him. Unnoticed by him was the looks being given to Hanna by several shipgirls, Natsumi, and Regina. Then Harry shrugged and smiled at her. "Sure! I wouldn't mind coming to visit."

Much to his befuddlement, Hanna relaxed some at that and then smiled. "That's good, Harry. I'll be looking forward to it."

As she stepped back, Iowa then stepped in with a box. "This is from all of us who know you, Kiddo. Thank Texas especially the next time that you talk with her as she was the one who commissioned it."

Interested, Harry opened it and blinked as he pulled out a knife. But what caught his gaze though was how it looked like there were bands of black metal alongside the grey that created patterns on the knife. "Wow... Where did Aunt Texas get this?"

For a moment, Iowa looked thoughtful before she shook it off. "That there is an American knife, Harry. You ever hear of James Black?" At the shake of his head, she snorted. "How about Jim Bowie?" This time, Harry did nod as even he had heard of him. "Well, one of his knives which carries his name was made by a blacksmith named James Black. According to legend, his knives were crafted through a secret method which made them far and away the best. Some say he rediscovered how to make Damascus steel in his workshop. Anyways... as it turns out, he had a son that was never documented and was a wizard."

Eyes widening, Jane stared at her as did Arizona, the younger of the two speaking up. "Wait, seriously?"

Arms crossed, Iowa nodded. "Yup! He learned the method from his Pappy at his knee. Then while he was away, his father was attacked by his grandfather on his mother's side after her death. James Black survived, but was blinded and his mind damaged enough he could never remember the method..." Iowa's expression turned stormy. "His son wanted to heal his father, but the authorities stopped him as it was against the law. According to Texas, MACUSA also wiped memories of him and destroyed the evidence he existed since that sort of thing was SOP back then for them as soon as a Muggleborn graduated school to cut all the ties with the non-magical side. Anyways, he had a daughter who he taught and Texas knew where she was and, well... commissioned that knife from her."

Jane examined the knife from where she was with an awed look on her face. "So freaking awesome! I want one!"

In reply, Iowa only shrugged as Arizona leaned in close before whispering. "All that you told Jane and Harry, is it true?" At the nod, Arizona slowly frowned. "Then it seems that I'll be getting in contact with Texas."

While Harry opened another present, a modified Searchlight from an extra bit of Akatsuki's rigging, Iowa softly snorted. "For a knife? Or an Officer's Sword?"

A serious expression on her face, Arizona frowned. "For now, a knife I think Jane would appreciate." Then she smirked. "But once Jane is close to becoming a Naval Officer, maybe the second."

That caused Iowa to chuckle before she snapped her fingers and turned to Nagato. "By the way, Nagato, Sister Sara wanted me to thank you for the whiskey you sent her. Though why you wanted it to reach her by the end of June, I won't know."

Behind her, Eugen let out a sigh and nodded. "Ja, it is very good whiskey though..." She then frowned. "Is it normal for smoke to issue from one's mouth after drinking? Or to belch out some flame?"

Nagato gave a snort and shook her head. "It is since it's a magical alcohol, there's a reason it's called firewhiskey." Seeing the narrowed eye look that Arizona was sending her, Nagato nodded. "Yes, I sent a bottle to Pennsy through Nevada along with her own after telling her not to say who it was from."

It took a moment, but Iowa's eyes widened and she gave Nagato a stare. "Wait, you sent bottles to Nevada and Pennsy? And Eugen?" When Nagato nodded, she frowned. "And end of June... Able? Why the heck would you send them a gift on that anniversary?"

On Nagato's face there was a far off look before she shook it off. "You... wouldn't understand, Iowa. But before you say anything, we're not celebrating it."

From where she stood, Eugen nodded with a frown. "Those of us who have returned... We became friends, of a sort. Perhaps during the war we were all enemies, but on those days we were equal. And so we'll raise a glass in memory, and for those who have not yet come back."

After a moment of thought, Iowa finally shrugged. "Yeah, guess not. Though no offense, but I'm pretty thankful that I don't understand."

Unnoticed by Iowa, Eugen and Nagato's gazes became distant as they relived for a moment Able and Baker. But then another, much newer memory came to their minds.
__________________________________________________________________

Rain and heavy winds lashed at Nagato as she held the badly injured Sakawa close to her. Around her, the unnatural storm raged, a typhoon unlike she had ever seen in her time as a steel hulled or even now as in the distance the forces of the Abyssal Princess in charge of Bikini Atoll fought the strange ships that had come through the portal. Almost invisible, Nagato could see Salt Lake City beside Nevada and several others.

Even Pennsylvania was there after grabbing one of the PT Boats belonging to the "Fleet of Fog" and ripping it in half with her bare hands and a scream of rage. "How... Ironic, Ja? That we would all end up here?"

Glancing to the side, Nagato's chest heaved but nodded at the sight of Eugen. "Irony is not something that I would use here. But we have done our part and lead them here. Though why...?"

For a few seconds, Nagato's cheek muscles twitched before she wiped some of the blood and oil away from her face. "Because... She said it's a trap." At the look from Eugen, Nagato shook her head. "The... Princess-"

Eugen snorted. "Saratoga you mean."

That got her a small glare from Nagato, though the Battleship sighed. "I do not know if it is her, despite how much she resembles her. But she has a plan, what that is..." She was lost for a moment and then shook it off. "We must still believe it to be true. Iona and the others are to destroy the portal, while we destroy these... Beings here."

Just as Eugen was about to say something, a bark of dark laughter caused her to turn to see Pennslyvania grinning. "And they will die, just as on that day!" Slowly, Pennsy turned to her and the grin look more like a rictus grin of a skull, not helped by how part of her cheek was missing. "After all... I saw what looked like an Abyssal Indy manage to get to the atoll."

It took only a moment for horror to fill Nagato and she turned back to the battle and turned her rangefinders on full in time to see the laughing Jellyfish Princess raise the Abyssal device in her hands as the massive... Ship that had been formed from several of the Fog ships merging blew through her lines. "I call upon... those who have died... in the flame! Come now... and damn them!"

Then there was a flash of light, composed of darkness that swallowed the Abyssal up. However, it a similar one from above that etched it in Nagato's memories. Both fireballs looked like someone had taken pictures of actual nuclear explosions and then made them into negatives. Where there was light was darkness instead with the clouds of smoke formed of light. But, the explosions were not made of flames...

Instead there were skeletons, human skeletons scorched of flesh. Men, women, children, by their untold tens of thousands both rose up from the sea and descended from the sky in identicle fireballs as if in slow motion with the Fleet of Fog ships caught between. Others were merely shadows in the shape of people, mouths open in screams heard over the storm winds.

And then all sound ceased as the two fireballs met and merged into one hellish conflageration that destroyed Abyssal and Fleet of Fog alike. The Fog ships' hulls, composed of material able to shrug off the best weapons of man, were ripped and torn apart by burned, skeletal claws. The tortured screams of their hulls unable to be heard above the rage and hate filled screeches. Eventually though, the fireballs faded as did the storm and revealing that Bikiki had been stripped of everything. The entire place was a field of molten, black glass.

There was no sign of either the Abyssal fleet or the Fog ships that could be seen...
___________________________________________________________________________
Suddenly coming back as she was shaken, Nagato blinked and looked to see a worried Arizona. "Nagato, is something wrong?"

Much to the American's unease, Nagato had a look in her eyes as if there was nothing there. In fact, one shared by Eugen. However, thankfully, the look vanished and Nagato took a deep, shuddering breath. "It's nothing, just some old memories." With a glance at Eugen, she gestured to where Harry was looking over what looked like a seaplane catapult as Akashi explained some things. "Best to make new ones though."

With that, she left the two confused Battleships as she walked over to where Harry was. As Harry showed his mother what Akashi had given him, Iowa scratched her head. "Okay, I'm lost. What the hell just happened here?"

Eugen stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Iowa? I am going to let you know something."

Slowly nodding, Iowa frowned. "Sure, what is it Eugen?"

The Cruiser blinked slowly and grimaced. "You should be thankful not to understand. Very thankful, my friend."

Leaving that, Eugen then went and joined her sister as Arizona narrowed her eyes. 'I wonder...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A bit of a short one, sorry.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Placing the floatplane catapult to the side after Naka told him she would help him learn and practice with it, Harry smiled as he opened another present to reveal that it was clothing from Mutsu. For some kids, receiving clothing on their birthday would have been a disappointment. But for kid like Harry who had never gotten any presents for years? Even clothing was an amazing gift. Not long after, he found the present from Ooyodo and quickly opened it. "Hey! Spice and Wolf box set!"

From where he stood, Percy frowned in confusion. 'Spice and Wolf?' At seeing the picture of what looked like a russet haired woman with animal ears and a tail beside a silver haired, scruffy man, the wizard frowned and glanced at Ooyodo. 'Odd, she doesn't seem the type.'

Suddenly, Iowa snorted a bit from where she stood. "In other words, 'Economics: The Light Novel'." When Ooyodo frowned at her, Iowa shook her head. "What? It's the truth!"

Nodding, Fubuki shrugged a bit helplessly at Ooyodo. "Um, she's actually right you know. It's really into the economics. Especially economics of the Middle Ages and such."

Yuudachi tapped her chin in thought before tilting her head. "I read it once and learned a lot from it, Poi!"

It was then that Supprin spoke up. "Economics? The books talk about it?"

Only sighing, Ooyodo grumbled a bit. "Okay, maybe it goes into economics. They're extremely enjoyable and informative. Sure, I have little free time, but when I do, I like to read them."

Somehow, that got her amused expressions from various others. After some thought, Percy leaned over and began to whisper in Ooyodo's ear. "There wouldn't happen to be any English translations, would there?"

Unseen by him, Ooyodo began to blush some as Percy's breath ghosted over her ears. Then his words hit her and she turned to him with wide eyes. "You... want to read them?" At his nod, she gave him a shy smile. "I can see if there are any available and send them to you."

Percy gave her a smile at that. "Thank you, I'll look forward to it."

Beside him, Supprin raised a massive finger. "I would like to read them as well, if possible." When both Percy and Ooyodo turned to her, she blushed some and shrugged. "Um, I could use some new reading material."

From where he was sitting, Harry grinned a bit as he listened to the three softly converse with each other. Part of him was happy with how Ooyodo seemed to be enjoying herself with Supprin and Percy, and how the stress seemed to be sliding off her. Then he blinked as another present was shoved into his lap and looked up into the nervous eyes of Regina and the grinning face of Revina. Then Revina chuckled a bit and tapped the package. "Go on, Kiddo! Open it! Open it!"

Chuckling, Harry quickly tore the paper from the package and blinked. Inside was a black, folded cloth of some kind. He looked up in confusion at Revina and Regina, only for Regina to pull her scarf up a bit and then motion him on. Pulling out the fabric, his eyes and others widened at a familiar looking poncho. "Is this...?"

Slowly, Regina nodded some as she shuffled in place. "Um, y-yes? If you think that it's a poncho like m-mine or Revina's... We made it for you and, uh, I hope that you like it..."

When Harry looked over at Revina, said Re-Class grinned and gave him a thumb's up. "Heard that it gets really rainy and cold up at your school, Kiddo. So Regina and I went and made this for you. It'll be sure to keep any cold and damp off you."

Quickly nodding, Regina smiled a bit. "It's also very tough and should protect you. Just in case something happens or anything... Do you like it?"

Only nodding, Harry grinned a bit as he ran his thumb over the tough fabric. "Well, yeah! Of course I do." He then looked over at Nagato who seemed unsure until she looked at Wanko and Haru. After a moment, Haru nodded as did Wanko. Once his mother did as well, Harry threw it on and then slipped the hood over his head. "Cool!"

Giving him a thumb's up, Revina gave a laugh. "Well, of course it's cool! We made it just like ours!"

After a moment, Harry frowned thoughtfully before he closed his eyes and then opened them to reveal that both were glowing and trailing flame. Eyes wide, Regina's jaw dropped as Harry grinned. "How do I look?"

Blush bright on her cheeks, Regina shuffled a little bit and swallowed. "Y-you look very nice in that, Harry."

In return, she got a smile from him which she returned.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Pushing back the hood, Harry didn't bother to take off the poncho as Hoppou bounced up with a box. Eyes closed, she held it out. "Big Brother! Big Brother! Big Sister and Miss Supprin made this for Big Brother along with Hoppou!"

Somewhat curious as to what Hoppou, Wanko, and Supprin had made for him, Harry took the box with a smile. "Thank you, Hoppou." He then shook his head in mock disappointment. "But you forget, you already gave me presents."

Confused, Hoppou tilted her head to the side. "Hoppou give Big Brother presents?" Frowning, the little Abyssal turned to look up at Wanko. "Hoppou does not remember doing that, does Big Sister?"

Equally confused, Wanko slowly shook her head. "I do... not remember... giving Little Brother... a present... either, Little Sister."

Lips twitching as he fought to keep his smile from becoming a grin, Harry chuckled. "But both of you went and gave me a birthday hug. And getting a birthday hug from my sisters is one of the best presents that I can get."

It said something that Wanko blinked for a moment before smiling. Meanwhile, Hoppou just threw her hands into the air in happiness. "And Hoppou will give Big Brother lotsa and lotsa hugs!"

As if to empathize said statement, she leapt on him and gave him a hug which made him place one arm around her and hug back. "Thanks, Hoppou." Turning back to the box, Harry opened it before blinking. Inside was what look like a bracelet made for a man, except it was formed from a triple helix. Bringing it out, he frowned as it was made from Abyssal steel and was cold to the touch, though it didn't feel wrong like most examples. "What's this now?"

From where she stood, Supprin cleared her throat. "It's sort of like one of those 'Identification, Friend or Foe' that humans use to identify their forces. What it means is that if you ever visit mine or Lady Wanko's territory wearing it, our fleets would recognize you as a friend and act as if you were a member as it would also if Lady Hoppou ever creates a new fleet outside of Wokyuu... At least in my case, they would only see you as a member." She then gestured at Wanko and Hoppou. "In Lady Wanko's it gives you the authority of a Flagship."

Seeing the stares, Wanko nodded. "You are... far too... young for... anything else. But... in time... I can upgrade... it. Also, it... will only... work for you."

With a slow nod, Supprin then gestured at Hoppou. "In the case if Lady Hoppou though, it's... More powerful." At the looks, she shook her head. "Any member of Hoppou's fleet if she builds any beyond Wokyuu, or if we come across any other survivors, would see you with the authority of what the humans call a 'Demon'."

Hoppou just nodded with a large grin. "Yup! Hoppou make sure that her fleet knows that Big Brother is awesome! Just like Hoppou knows!"

Anyone could have heard a pin drop as pretty much everyone besides the Abyssals and magicals turned towards Harry and just stared at the bracelet in disbelief. Then they heard the sound of flesh and steel hitting flesh and steel before turning to see Nagato holding her face in her hands as she slowly shook her head. "I do not believe this... I do not believe it..."

Despite being confused, the Abyssals shrugged it off as Harry closed the lid to the box and handed it, carefully, to Hoppou. It was then that a surprise in the form of a smiling Wokyuu stepped up and held out a bag. "Wokyuu!"

Pointing at himself, Harry blinked. "You got me a present?"

With a happy nod, Wokyuu held out the bag again. "Wokyuu! Wokyuu!"

Softly smiling at her, Harry took the small bag and then opened it. Reaching inside, he soon pulled out his hand to reveal it was full of sea glass which he chuckled at. "Thanks, Wokyuu. I can actually find some use for this."

Closing her eyes, Wokyuu's smile grew as Harry patted her on the head. "Wokyuu!"

Once she backed up, Haru walked up and gave Harry a small present. "Here, I saw this and thought that you might like it." As Harry opened it, she glanced at her niece. 'Wait for it...'

After opening the gift to find a novel, Harry blinked as he examined it. Noticing the title and the multi-tailed fox on the cover, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Kitsu-Ne?"

Her lips witching as Natsumi's eyes widened, Haru chuckled some. "It's a rather interesting novel with a kitsune character. Unlike most, it's from the viewpoint of the kitsune, not the humans... And of her romance with a human man she falls in love with at a young age."

That got her looks from various shipgirls, though they were amused by how Natsumi was glaring at her aunt. Said aunt, of course, just let the glares bounce off her with only a small smile. Then she winked at Natsumi and the young kitsune just barely stopped from growling and leaping at her. 'Damn you, Oba-Chan! Damn you!'

Sadly, she only got a smirk from Haru before she chuckled. "Needless to say, it's a good read and you might enjoy it."

While he nodded and glanced through it, Harry smiled. "Yeah, looks pretty neat, Haru-San. Thanks!" Moments later though, he found what looked like an envelope being held out by Natsumi. Seeing the nervousness on her face, he blinked. "Natsumi-Chan?"

Chewing her lip, she took a deep breath. "I know that it's probably not to the same level as some of the gifts you got, Harry-Chan, but... I hope that you like mine." Now curious, Harry opened it and slipped it out only to freeze as Natsumi continued. "I worked on it for a while but..." Suddenly spotting something, she blinked. "Harry-Chan? Is... is something wrong?" Then her eyes widened some at seeing his smile drop and his eyes begin to water. "Oh crud, Harry-Chan?"

Quickly wiping at his eyes, he sniffled a bit but then gave her a massive smile that seemed to brighten everything. Turning, he looked at Nagato and nodded. "Mum? Can you come over here?"

Utterly confused with what was going on, Natsumi looked towards her aunt seeking answers. But the older kitsune only shook her head and pointed at Harry and Nagato, with the Battleship now examining what Harry was holding. Nagato's eyes widened and she gasped with her hand against her mouth. "I... Oh, Harry..."

Now both nervous and confused, Natsumi swallowed. "Um, Harry-Chan? D-did I do something wrong?"

Only wiping at his eyes again, Harry gave a sniffle. "No, you didn't do anything wrong, Natsumi-Chan." Seeing the curious gazes, he turned the paper around to show that it was one of Natsumi's sketches. The young girl was well known for being good at sketching various scenes and was a common sight drawing. But the picture that Harry was showing caused various gasps and mutters. In the background, one could see the sea with a tree which had Harry sitting back against it. On one side, Nagato could be seen sitting with her arm around Harry's shoulders and Hoppou on her lap, and beside her Wanko could be seen. All three had happy smiles on their faces.

But it was what else was in the picture that caught their attention.

Mainly because on the opposite side of Harry from Nagato was none other then Lily who also had an arm around Harry's shoulders. Beside her, James could be seen grinning at the viewer with a similar grin to that often seen on Harry's face. It was basically a picture of Harry's whole family, biological and adopted. Swallowing, Harry looked up at Natsumi in awe. "How did you...?"

Shifting a bit, Natsumi took a deep breath. "Um, remember how you found some photos of your parents at... your old home?" After Harry nodded, she continued. "I asked Nagato-San if I could borrow some and used them to get a good image of what they would look like." Now shy, Natsumi gave a small smile. "Do... do you like it?"

To her confusion, Harry silently handed the picture to Nagato before he stood up and walked over to her. Something, Natsumi was not quite sure what, caused her to become more nervous as she felt heat rise to her cheeks at the look in Harry's eyes. Then, before she could react, Harry grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I love it, thank you, Natsumi-Chan."

And then, to her shock, he kissed her on the cheek before whispering his thanks again. If her tail was visible, it would have been shocked straight before wagging rapidly. Slowly, Natsumi reached around him and returned the hug just as tightly. "You're very welcome, Harry-Chan. I'm just glad that you liked it."

Harry snorted and his next words caused her blush to intensify. "Love it, Natsumi-Chan, not just like it... I love it."

Both of their smiles could have lit up a room with how bright they were.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Blinking, Ron turned to see Warspite holding up a cup of punch which he took with a nod. As he sipped it, he turned to Neville who was looking completely lost. "So how have you been enjoying things so far?"

With a frown, Neville had some of his own drink before shrugging. "Actually, it's been rather fun. Different from other parties and, um, more..."

Softly giggling, Eugen leaned towards him. "More lively, Ja?"

A blush on his face, Neville finally nodded. "Well, uh, yes? I mean, that's not a bad thing or anything just... Really different from what I'm used to." He then turned to a makeshift stage in confusion. "There is one thing though that I have to wonder about..."

Raising an eyebrow, Warspite gave him a smile, though she glanced to where Neville's grandmother was talking with Haru and Mikasa under some nearby shade. "Oh? Just one thing?"

Only nodding, Neville tilted his head to the stage. "What... is with all the dancing and singing?"

That got him chuckles from Ron who shrugged. "No idea, Mate. But in Japan they do that sort of thing a lot." Frowning a bit, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Completely and utterly bonkers though, the lot of them. It's way too hot to be doing that."

Just about to comment, Neville noticed Harry take the stage alongside Jane, Natsumi, and Ikazuchi. Behind them, the Submarines took up position as did a blushing Taigei. Unnoticed by any of them, Naka walked up behind them and tilted her head to the side in curiosity. As the music began to play though, her eyes widened. On the stage meanwhile, the shipgirls and Natsumi seemed to be hopping in one place as they sang along to the music, while twirling their arms. At the same time, Jane and Harry seemed to be strutting in front of them towards the middle, which made Neville blink. "Uh... what the bloody hell?"

Warspite blinked for a moment. "Language, Neville... and I have not the foggiest."

Laughs from behind them caused them to glance back to see Naka holding her phone up. "I never expected them to be doing Mottoke! Sailor Fuku! NOT BAD GUYS!"

Just as Ron turned back, he winced as Harry and several others did a kick which nearly touched their foreheads. A kick which caused Neville to whimper as Ron shook his head. "Okay... how the heck can Harry do that!?"

Humming, Naka continued to tape. "Practice and a lot of it, Ron. A whole lot of practice." As the song ended though, she noticed a smirking Kaga talking with a flustered Enterprise. To her confusion, Enterprise was shaking her head and waving her hands in the universal symbol of "Hell No!". Raising an eyebrow, she frowned. "I wonder what they're talking about."

While Kaga gestured at the stage, Eugen shook her head. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the card game the other night. Really, Enterprise should have expected such after what she did."

Interested, Naka turned to her fellow Cruiser. "And what did our favorite Grey Ghost do now?"

Grinning, Eugen snickered some. "She got quite drunk and challenged Kaga to a final card game after Kaga needled her. The prize was whatever the winner wanted... And considering that Enterprise could barely stand on her own?"

Several moments passed before Naka facepalmed. "Oh for... Of course, Kaga would be milking that one. Only question is what she wants." It was then that an annoyed Arizona walked over to the two Carriers and seemed to join their conversation. A blush grew on the Battleship's face as she glared at Enterprise and shot a look at Kaga who was now frowning. "Uh, was Arizona involved, Eugen?"

Now confused, Eugen nodded but then shrugged. "Kaga already got her bet out though." At the look from Naka, the Heavy Cruiser shook her head. "Apparently, her bet is a boxing match with Arizona..."

With a snort, Naka shook her head. "Wait, didn't Arizona turn that down though? Something about how it didn't need to be done?"

Rolling her eyes, Eugen sighed. "You know how Kaga gets. She wants a fair fight between her and Arizona, and I think that we both know how that will turn out."

Only wincing, Naka shook her head. "Kaga is not going to let it go until she makes amends." At the sight of Revina and Iowa, both grinning as they joined the group, with the American Battleship bringing a hand down on Arizona's shoulder, Naka blinked. "Uh-oh."

Lips twitching, Eugen snickered as Enterprise looked betrayed as she looked between an exasperated, and embarrassed Arizona and a madly grinning Iowa. "I believe that she has been outvoted."

Suddenly, Enterprise seemed surprised as Kaga shook her head and soon the five were on the stage. After a moment's conversation with Jane, the younger girl nodded and joined Arizona after speaking with Ashigara who looked shocked. Then the Heavy Cruiser shook her head as the six took positions before playing the music. As they danced though, Naka's jaw dropped. "They're doing Caramelldansen... Oh my Kami, they're doing Caramelldansen..."

A hand on her shoulder caused her to turn. Naka blinked though at the sight of Jintsuu snickering, "Please tell me that you're taping this. Please, John will love to see this."

Very slowly, Naka nodded some. "I am, oh am I ever because otherwise no one would ever believe it. No one." After a moment, she shook her head. "Though why Arizona is doing it..."

Just snorting, Jintsuu shook her head. "Obviously because she's forcing Enterprise to carry through on her bet. Ari hates it when people go back on their words... Though Ari doing it is likely why Kaga is also doing it, because she would not have Arizona do it normally."

Nodding, Naka frowned a bit. "I have to admit, Revina is not too bad. Neither is Iowa."

Expressionless, Jintsuu's voice was utterly dry. "Because of course they are. I wouldn't be surprised if those two practice it."

All she got was a shake of the head from Naka.

Meanwhile, Harry walked over to where Augusta was speaking with Mikasa, though the witch was giving odd looks at the stage. Once he reached them, Harry waited until she turned towards him and cleared his throat. "Um, Madam Longbottom? Could I ask a favor of you?"

Simply raising an eyebrow, Augusta slowly nodded. "You may. What do you need, Mister Potter?"

Taking a deep breath, Harry gestured at the slices of cake that were on the plate he was holding. "I... Was wondering if you know any spells to use on packages with cake in them. So, um, they don't get smeared and such all over the inside."

With a thoughtful look, Augusta slowly nodded. "I do know some spells for such, yes. I can also conjure a package to hold them if that is what you want?"

Eyes wide, Harry nodded and gestured at Shinano who walked over as Augusta did exactly that. "Um, Shinano-Chan? Can I have two bottles of Ramune, please?"

Confused, Shinano nodded some and produced said bottles and handed them to Harry who began to wrap them up. Once the cake was in the box, Harry did the same to it while attaching a letter and then held out his arm. It was less then a minute later that Hedwig landed on it and, soon after, she flew off with both the cake and Ramune. Raising an eyebrow, Augusta hummed a bit. "Was there someone you wanted at the party and could not make it?"

Slowly, Harry nodded as he brought his hands down. "Yeah, I wish that they were both here. But... hopefully they like this."

Despite the confused expression on Augusta's face, he thanked her for her help. Neither of them noticed the knowing look on Mikasa's and Haru's face. Sometime later, Hedwig landed on a large rock and waited. It didn't take long before Ume and Sakura appeared in front of her, curious about this new visitor to their island. "Hello, Owl-San, welcome to our island."

Hedwig gave a bark and gestured at her leg. Gently taking the package, Sakura read the note and her expression lit up as she looked at her sister. "It's from Harry-San! He sent us some cake and ramune since we couldn't go to his birthday party!"

Eyes wide, Ume let out a gasp before she smiled a bit. "He... sent us some cake?"

Only nodding, Sakura read the rest of the note before handing it to her sister. "Hai, he did. According to him, a shipgirl named Albie had her fairies bake the cake. So we can eat it if we want."

Sharing a look, they opened the package and slowly took out the two plates with large slices of cake. Bowing at Hedwig, they smiled. "Thank you for bringing this, Owl-San. And please, pass on to Harry-San that we thank him for thinking of us."

All Hedwig did was give a bark and then leap into the air before flying for the opening in the wards. Behind her, the two spirits each took a piece of cake and began to dig in with happy looks on their faces.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

At roughly forty-five thousand feet above the waves of the North Atlantic, a Royal Air Force operated Maritime Sentinal flew. Based off the Sentinal R1, it was outfitted with various sensors for Maritime patrol work. And thanks to it's range, it was able to cover a wide area of the North Atlantic though it was mostly used to pinpoint activity for investigation from other sources.

However, right now, it wasn't the sensors that were causing a stir.

Standing by the radio station, the RAF Officer furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "A mayday, you say? All the way out here?"

Only nodding, the Radio technician frowned as she worked at the various parts of her station. "I know, Sir. But there it is, I'm trying to triangulate the signal and clear it up, but... It's coming from somewhere within a hundred miles."

For a moment, the Officer frowned before shaking his head. "Odd that... We're too far out for anyone intelligence to come due to the Abyssals. And the convoy routes are much further north... Perhaps it's one of those bloody Abyssal Q-Ships pretending again?"

Just continuing her work, the Tech shook her head. "If it is, then they're an odd one. It's on an American Military frequency as well as several others."

That caused the Officer to snap his head to look at her. "An American military... Try and clean it up best that you can."

Grumbling, the Radio Technician scowled. "I'm trying, but the signal keeps fading in and out. Give me some time and I'll try to get it cleaned up enough to listen to..." Several minutes later, she shook her head. "I've cleaned it up best that I could, Sir."

With a nod, the Officer gestured at her. "Let's hear it then."

Moments later, the speakers crackled with interference. "Mayday, mayday*Crackle*Th*Crackle* Is USCGS *Crackle* Lightly damaged *Crackle* Taken six causalties. Last reading *Crackle* Repeat, This is *Snap, Crackle* -GS Eagle. We have-*Crackle* Unknown attackers. *Crackle* location is-*Crackle* Everything is strange."

Eyebrows furrowing, the Officer shook his head. "USCGS Eagle? I thought that the United States Coast Guard were running escorts just along their coastlines? What the bloody hell would they be doing all the way out here?"

Shaking her head, the Radio Technician shook her head. "No idea, Sir. But there's also an authentification code with the signal." With a look over her shoulder, she shrugged. "Maybe the Americans would know who it is."

Only snorting, the Officer shook his head. "Agreed, I'll bump this up." Then catching the expression on her face, he frowned. "Did something happen?"

Confused, the Radio Technician shook her head. "Signal just cut off."

Watching as she worked quickly, the Officer frowned even deeper. "Wait, it cut off? As if the ship was destroyed?"

However, she shook her head. "No, not as if it was destroyed. You would usually get something from the signal but it... Well, it just vanished, Sir. One moment there and the next gone. Rather odd."

Now thoughtful, the Officer shook his head. "If I wasn't going to bump it up before now, I am now. Let the higher ups deal with this."

As the plane flew onwards, somewhere else, a sailing ship was cutting through waves in a channel between two islands. It's white hull showed signs of light damage and it's sails flapped in a breeze. On the deck, a USCG Cadet watched as a raft was heading towards the ship from the shore. "Think that they found anything?"

Beside him, an older cadet lowered his binoculars. "No clue, but more important is if anyone has heard our SOS." Back past the stern, he shook his head. "Well... anyone but those things that attacked us."

Laughs caused him to turn before another cadet, this time a red haired girl patted him on the shoulder. "Look on the bright side, Jeff. We're alive and whatever those monsters were, they've left us alone." Her expression then fell a bit. "Alive, Jeff. Unlike some of the others."

With a wince, Jeff lowered his eyes a bit as he remembered the burials on the nearby beach with rocky carns denoting where fellow members of the crew of the Eagle now laid at rest. Members who were much less lucky then he was. And that was not counting the crews of at least one of the other ships that they had come across during the attack to relay assistance.

It was worse when he closed his eyes and could see hulls on fire before they detonated, spewing debris and broken bodies everywhere.

A look back though had him see various other ships in the wake of the Eagle. Ships that the Coast Guard ship had found and had followed it into the fog bank that sprang up to escape monsters that rose out of the deep. Fog that, as it turned out, enshrouded two islands with a channel between them. "I know, Sarah." Glancing around, he grimaced a bit. "But this place is just strange."

Softly snorting, Sarah shook her head. "Tell me about it. Monsters on the sea? Fog enshrouded islands that one can't tell how long it has been? It's something right out of one of those old Twilight Zone episodes my Grandad loved. It doesn't help that each time someone heads into the fog now, they somehow get turned around within minutes." Her gaze then caught sight of what looked like an older teen girl, except this one was wearing the uniform of an Instructor. "Though that's not the only weird thing."

Having caught sight of the same girl, the first Cadet frowned. "Um, do you think that she's telling the truth?" At their gazes, the younger teen shifted nervously. "About being the spirit of the ship, I mean."

For several moments, the older Cadets were thoughtful before Jeff shook his head. "No idea, Alan. No idea whatsoever, but with how much wierdness has been going on? I wouldn't, well... There's no way that I'm going to lie and say that I can't believe it."

Once more sharing looks, the three Cadets shook their heads and made their way to their other duties. They may have all been curious, but they were also worried about their situation as they had been here for nearly a week already. Just the same, they were happy that the fog seemed to be breaking. Every so often, sky could be seen through the fog though it was sometimes the blue of day and other times the starry expense of night.

They went back to work though to keep their minds off everything best that they could. The less said about the girl who seemingly spoke Icelandic they found by what looked like an old Viking ship, the better. Not one of them, none, could wait for this adventure to end and to be back on dry land where everything made sense. Where ships were ships, not girls, and where monsters did not stalk the ocean.

None of them could wait for that.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Well... not quite happy, but...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Standing in front of the door to Shinano's quarters, Regina raised a fist to knock only to pause. After a moment, she looked around and then slowly lowered it. 'Um... should I?' Feeling a bump to the back of her head, she looked over her shoulder to see her tail there. Somehow, despite it not having any eyes, she knew it was giving her a look. 'I-I know that they invited me, but... I don't know if I should or not..."

Once more, her tail bumped her and softly purred, which made the Re-Class blush before she pulled up her scarf a bit. With a deep breath though, she nodded and raised her fist again. This time though, she managed to knock twice before her courage failed her. Regina was just about to run when the door opened to reveal Shinano. "Yes?" Upon seeing Regina there though, the Support Carrier suddenly smiled. "Regina! You're here!"

With a small smile, hidden behind her scarf, Regina gave a small nod. "Y-yes, I came as you asked, though... I don't really know why you wanted me here."

Just smiling, Shinano moved to the side and gestured for her to enter. "Well... we have a surprise for you."

Puzzled as she was, Regina blinked before stepping inside and realizing Shinano's words. "But who..." She came to a stop though at the sight of Harry waving to her while both Atago and Rose stood to the side smiling. "Wha-what is going on?"

Getting up off the chair, Harry came over and gave her a hug. "You're finally here! Now we can get down to your surprise!"

Now utterly confused, Regina glanced between Harry and Shinano, both of whom were smiling, and then at Atago and Rose. "A surprise? For me? Um... what sort of surprise?"

Shinano barely held back a giggle at how confused her friend looked before shyly smiling. "Um, you know how the signing of the treaty is tomorrow, right?" After Regina nodded, she continued. "There's also the party after the treaty that you're going to in order to guard Wanko and Supprin, as well as Hoppou, right?"

Blinking, Regina nodded some. "W-well, yes, I will be going to the party afterwards... Though I'm not really comfortable with it or how there's going to be so many people..." For a second or two, she shrank in on herself. "Normally, that would be more Revina's sort of thing, but, um... She would get bored and then try to spice things up. Neither Lady Wanko or Lady Supprin want that. So, um, I'm to be there."

There were winces from the shipgirls and Harry at that. Bt then they shook it off as Rose took her hand and began to pull her towards the door. "That was why Master and Miss Shinano asked both Atago and I to make you a dress for the party. Master was most insistent as he said you wanted a dress."

If anything, that caused Regina to freeze as she remembered. Then she looked down at her hooves and scuffed them against the floor a little as she softly spoke. "Well, yes, that is true. But. um... no dresses really work for me." She then made a pointed look at her tail. "It can be a bit difficult for clothing after all."

Giggling, Atago opened the door and guided the nervous Regina inside. "And that is why Rose and I did some work! And Harry-Chan gave us some ideas including what you would like... After all, you need to look nice for the party!"

That caused Regina to blush heavily as she realized what it meant. "W-wait, Harry helped with th-the dress? A-and gave ideas?"

Simply smiling, Atago nodded. "That's right! He was a big help for us." As she pushed the Re-Class through the door, she winked at Harry. "Give us just a few minutes!" Then, with another giggle once Rose joined her, the Heavy Cruiser shut the door and both Harry and Shinano waited.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the doors opened. Leaning to the side, Shinano and Harry tried to see inside, however, there was only one response. "Eep!"

With a smile on her face, Atago leapt out the door and gestured towards it. "Introducing, the new Regina! PANPAKAPAN!"

Nervously, Regina walked out with a blush on her face as the wizard's and Support Carrier's eyes widened at the sight that met them. It was a black dress that contrasted with her pale skin with a few layers and some lace, the skirt ending a few inches above her hooves. Thankfully for Regina, it was not a strapless dress and very little cleavage was shown, though it worked with her usual bikini top making it more like a bra. Her expression turned bashful as Harry stared before he smiled. "Wow..."

At the motion from Atago, Regina slowly turned and revealed that her tail was coming out from a slit hidden among the layers, though there were small clacks each time it moved. "U-um, thank you, but... how does it look?"

Sharing a smile with Harry, Shinano gave her a bright smile. "It looks very good, Regina."

When Harry nodded, the shy smile on Regina's face grew some before she looked at where her tail came out. "My tail though, how is it...?"

Rose clapped her hands a bit. "How is it that you're tail is able to come out, but not show anything?" After Regina nodded, Rose moved until she was where the tail disappeared into the dress and tapped it. "Magnets actually."

That caused Regina to blink in confusion. "Magnets? I... don't understand..."

Brightly smiling, Atago shook her head. "There's small magnets inside the dress for the main slit. Like buttons, which allows for your tail to move them aside with them closing behind it while the other layers hide it. There's a bit of weight in the bottom of the dress though as well, so that it won't ride up either. Harry-Chan suggested the magnets though."

Seeing the Abyssal look at him, Harry shrugged. "There was this commercial on for magnetic buttoned shirts." Despite being more then a little confused by that, Regina nodded. However, moments later, Harry walked over and had her sit down before pulling a bag out of his pocket. "Just a few more things."

Jaw dropping, Regina stared. "Th-there's more?"

With a blink, Harry shrugged at her. "Well, yeah. Anyways..." Pulling out a necklace, Regina had to blush as she realized that it looked like the rock crystal ones that he had given Shinano and the others. But inside the crystal, there was instead a purple daisy. Once he had slipped it over her head, it settled just above her cleavage and then Harry pulled out a scarf and wrapped it around her neck. At the same time, Shinano placed a hair clip to help pull some of her hair away from her eyes. Pulling away, Harry frowned before glancing at her tail and smiling. "I got something for you too!"

Much to Atago's amusement, the tail jerked back and, somehow even though it was expressionless, it seemed embarrassed. For a few moments, Harry fiddled with something in his pocket before placing it on the side of the tail's head with a "Clack". When he pulled away and nodded, Regina could see it was a rock crystal containing a soft pink rose. "How is that staying there?"

A smile on his face, Harry chuckled a bit and winked. "It has a magnet at the bottom so it won't fall off." Moments later, the head of the tail was softly nuzzling him and he gave a laugh. "Glad that you liked it."

Still blushing, Regina turned towards first Shinano and then Rose. "Are the two of you going to be at the party?" Seeing their confusion, she clasped her hands. "I'd... like to have some people that I know."

While Shinano nodded, also with a shy look on her face, Rose smiled brightly. "I shall be there with Haruna as her date. And Master will also be going there, though I must say he looks quite good in his tuxedo."

Rubbing the back of his head as the attention was now on him, Harry chuckled. "Well, that's what Mum said anyways..."

Both Regina and Shinano thought it over and gave small smiles at the thought. Of course, that was when Atago pulled Regina out of her chair and had her stand in front of the mirror. It made the Heavy Cruiser's week to see the surprise and happiness on Regina's face at the sight of her reflection. Tears gathering in her eyes, Regina sniffled a bit. "Thank you... all of you." Closing her eyes, she placed her arms around her middle. "I'll treasure it, always."

In return, she just got smiles from everyone.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Standing by one of the walls, Shinano played a bit with her dress as she looked around. Earlier, the treaty between various nations, Hoppou, and Wanko's faction had been signed. It had not been a small event either as the major news organizations from around the world were present to record it, though security was tight. Not just the Tokyo police, but JGSDF forces, members of other militaries such as the US Marines, various secret service groups, and probably intel groups in the crowds. But those were overshadowed by the shipgirls themselves.

The outer perimeter was patrolled by various aircraft from the Carriers, including a Houshou and Shinano herself. Inside that, there were American Destroyer-Escorts alongside Frigategirls from other nations with Cruisers guiding them. Then, as an inner ring, were the Battleships. Supposedly, there may have been invisible magicals and disguised Yokai as well around with Nurikabe available at a moment's notice if what she overheard from Haru was correct. No one was taking any chances with possible troublemakers, which thankfully there were none so. Perhaps they had been scared off due to all the visible security.

With the treaty signed though, everyone found themselves at the party to celebrate the signing. Besides the reporters there to perform interviews with the guests, there were also politicians, high ranking military officers, shipgirls, and the Abyssals themselves. Security was still tight though, which Shinano could see as she glanced towards a group of hook-nosed people who were helping to provide it. The fact that she could just see ghostly wings behind them caused her to relax some about being off-duty for the moment.

One would have to be insane to attack a place guarded by no less then twenty Daitengu, though how Haru knew them or convinced them to help Shinano didn't know.

A tap on the arm though caused her to look down and suddenly smile. Mainly because Harry was there with two cups of punch in his hands, one of which he held out to her. "Here you go, Shinano-Chan."

Softly smiling, Shinano took it with a slight giggle. "Thank you, Harry-Chan." She then gave him a look over and blushed a bit at him being in a tuxedo. "And I like what you're wearing, Harry-Chan. That bow tie looks very good on you."

Reaching up, Harry grinned a bit as he adjusted it. "Bow ties are cool now." At her giggling again, his grin grew a bit and he nodded. "And I like your dress too, Shinano-Chan."

Her blush intensified a bit before she looked down and played a bit with her dress with one hand. "You really like it, Harry-Chan?" At his nod, Shinano smiled. "Thank you."

Wanting to hide her embarrassment, Shinano instead focused on the various things going on. Off to one side, she could see a nervous, but brave, reporter interviewing Wanko. In another part of the room, Supprin was in a group with Percy and Ooyodo. Shinano couldn't hear what they were saying, but Ooyodo was introducing Percy to someone. What made the Support Carrier smile though was how close the Abyssal Princess and Cruiser were to the wizard. Unknown to her, she was not the only one to notice and more then one reporter made sure to get a shot of them, which helped humanize the Abyssal.

Another tap on the arm caused her to look to see Harry tilting his head over at the dance floor. "Looks like Teitoku, Kongou-Oba, Yonehara-Oji, and Ashigara-Oba are enjoying themselves. And so are Haruna-Oba and Rose."

With a glance, Shinano blinked and then smiled. Sure enough, all three couples were on the dance floor slowly dancing with each other. Each of them also only had eyes for their partner which made her sigh softly. 'I hope that one day I am as lucky.' Quickly shaking it off, she smiled down at Harry. "They really do seem to be enjoying themselves." It was then that Shinano's smile dropped as she spotted something. "Oh no..."

Concerned, Harry looked around and frowned as he couldn't see anything. "Is something wrong, Shinano-Chan?"

Biting her lip, she glanced over to where she could see someone making their way through the crowds. "J-just someone who keeps bothering me, Harry-Chan." At the look on her younger friend's face, she shook her head. "He's a politician and, um, keeps asking me to dance." Looking around, her shoulders slumped a bit as her sisters were at the other side of the room and couldn't run interference. "I keep telling him that I don't want to and then he'll keep talking..."

Now having spotted the man in question, Harry narrowed his eyes in thought. While he was still young, Harry didn't want to see any of his friends being bothered. A plan quickly formed in his mind and he reached up and took Shinano's hand. "Shinano-Chan? I think that I have an idea..."

Hopeful, Shinano looked down at him. "HaI? R-really?"

In reply, the black haired boy gestured at her nearly finished punch. "Finish that up and I'll go and dance with you. He won't bother you out on the dance floor."

Eyes widening, Shinano froze in disbelief. But upon seeing the man getting closer with a grin, she quickly drained the rest of her drink as did Harry. Then she nodded with a small smile. "I-if you would, kind Sir."

Smiling, Harry nodded and guided her out on the dance floor. Part of Shinano was internally laughing at the expression on the politician's face at the sight of her and her dance partner. Then she dismissed it as she focused entirely on dancing with Harry as with their extreme difference in heights, she had to be careful. So focused she was, she missed how the politician walked off to the bar nearby for the fourth time that night. Granted, Shinano wouldn't have cared even though their dance was more like a slow shuffle, but from the smiles on both their faces, it was perfect.

Fifteen minutes later, Goto stumbled away from the dance floor alongside Yonehara as Kongou and Ashigara softly conversed. Spotting Richardson at the refreshment table, the two walked over and quickly got some drinks and gulped down half of what was in their cups. Much to the amusement of the American Admiral who softly snorted. "Thirsty?"

Only snorting, Goto shook his head. "Dancing is hard work, as you should know." Seeing the confusion, he grinned. "After all, I noticed that while Mutsu has had most of your attention tonight, you've still danced with Jintsuu and Arizona as well. Probably why you're hiding over here."

A groan escaped from Richardson and he shook his head as a sour expression crossed his face. "Oh, shut up. Jane asked me to give them dances tonight... she gives the exact same expression as her mother did whenever she was disappointed in me for not doing as asked."

That got him smirks from the other two before Goto tilted his head at Yonehara. "In Yonehara's case, it's probably because he's having trouble with his hips."

In reply, Yonehara glared at him. "Fuck you, Isoroku." Then he grinned a bit slyly. "Then again, that might get Kongou angry at me."

Eyebrow twitching, Goto considered smacking his old friend, only to shove the impulse down. After all, it would be just his luck for it to get caught on film. "Screw you, Yonehara." Wanting to distract them from their grins, Goto looked around and spotted someone. "Captain Tanaka, it's been a while."

Said Captain jumped a bit at being called out, but then walked over with a nervous chuckle. "Teitoku-"

Before he got any further, Goto threw an arm over his shoulder. "Now, what have I told you about that, Tanaka-Kun? You can call me by my name since we've known each other for years, just like Yonehara. And you're far more respectable then he is." At the eyeroll from Yonehara, Goto gestured at the Captain towards Richardson. "You ever met Admiral John Richardson? He's in charge of the shipgirls down at Sasebo."
Nervous, Tanaka bowed a bit before shaking Richardson's offered hand. "No, I haven't had the pleasure. I'm Captain Tanaka Kaito, Sir."

Lips twitching, Richardson shook his head. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain." After a moment of thought, he nodded. "You're in charge of the shipgirls at the base at Kushiro, correct?"

Surprised, Tanaka gave a nod. "I am, as a matter of fact. How...?"

Chuckling, the American gave him a small smile. "I make it a habit to know who's commanding the shipgirls in various areas. Just to make sure that I don't step on any toes and I have heard several good things in regards to your base."

There was a pleased expression on Tanaka's face as he nodded. "We may be small, but I'm quite proud of my girls. They work hard day and night and it's my honor to be their commander."

As Richardson nodded, Yonehara shook his head. "Even though you got Akebono and Kasumi? I may have only met them the once, but... they have gone through Commanding Officers pretty quickly."

Much to his surprise, he got a hard glare from Tanaka. "Yes, even Akebono and Kasumi. They both got their reasons for their attitudes and I'm proud to call them my subordinates. It's not their fault that others don't try to understand why they may have issues with their superiors." Unnoticed by him, the other three had noticed said Destroyers having walked out of the crowd in time to overhear Tanaka defending them. "Both of them work extremely hard as does my other shipgirls! And I will not have them disparaiged in my presence."

Both Destroyers stared at him with wide eyes before they flushed red and rushed back into the crowd. Much to the surprise of Tanaka, Yonehara chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. "And that, right there, is why Goto respects you and so do I."

Nodding, Richardson raised his drink a bit to the younger man who was now blinking owlishly. "Good on you, Captain. Always do good by those under you and you'll have my respect as well."

To Goto's amusement, Tanaka shot a glare at Yonehara who only grinned back. Unknown to Richardson, all three knew each other since Tanaka had actually worked alongside them before the Abyssals struck. What Richardson did know though was that Tanaka had a reputation for being able to deal with "Problem Kanmusu" such as Akebono. Meanwhile, taking some pity on him, Goto cleared his throat. "So, how are things up in Kushio? Any issues?"

Slowly calming down, Tanaka shook his head. "Not really, though if someone could help speed up requsitions that I made for my shipgirls to use off-duty..."

Rubbing his chin in thought, Yonehara hummed a bit. "For the entertaiment rooms and such, right? I think that crossed my desk the other day actually so I'll see what I can do for you, anything in particular?"

Only shrugging, Tanaka shook his head. "Not really, I'm trying to set up a place for them to unwind so things like game consoles and the like would help." That just got him a nod from Yonehara and Tanaka was about to sip his drink when he paused. "Actually... there is something else." When Goto gestured him on, Tanaka frowned. "Did you receive the reports that I sent you?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Goto slowly shook his head. "Hmm... no, I don't think that they've crossed my desk yet. Why?"

Glancing around, Tanaka nodded and leaned in. "Some of my patrols have been seeing some oddities happening up by the Aleutians recently. Nothing conclusive mind you, but Abyssal activity may be rising again."
That got him a look from Goto as now all three were paying him close attention, though he did glance to where Hoppou was beisde Nagato. "A rise in Abyssal activity? How so?"

However, the younger man shook his head. "Just some oddness while Akebono and the others are out on patrol. Every so often they'll just catch sight of something in the distance before it vanishes, though Kasumi did spot what looked like a small group of Abyssal Destroyers lead by a Cruiser close to Attu. But they disappeared before she managed to get a decent read on them. I passed it on to the Americans, but..."

Concerned, Richardson turned to Goto who had a thoughtful expression on his face. "This is the first that I've heard of it, though considering the reputation that Kasumi has, if she reported it..."

Grunting, Goto scowled. "They might ignore it due to her attitude unless confirmed from others." His expression then became considering. "Hmm... Well, with Wokyuu having turned up, there may be other survivors of Hoppou's fleet. Them staying out of sight also makes sense." With a frown, Goto grabbed a napkin and then took the offered pen from Yonehara. Quickly writing down on it, he handed it over to Tanaka. "Send any other reports regarding Abyssal activity to there. It'll get to me much quicker then from other channels." Turning towards Richardson, Goto nodded. "I'll make sure that they also get to you as this concerns American interests."

Richardson only gave him a small tilt of the head in thanks. The conversation then turned to other matters, though both Admirals kept what they heard near enough to the forefront of their minds for a conversation later on. Though a part of Richardson considered letting Settle know about it as his fellow American shipgirl Admiral would probably start ripping his way to find out who the hell dropped the ball.

In fact, he almost looked forward to watching the fireworks.

 

[darthcourt10]

Shaithan

Harry Leferts said:
Maybe, hence why I haven't included it one way or the other.​

Maybe as some kind of conspiracy theory?

Subthieves, Killer-Party-Boats and Lewdmarines, oh my (first occurance of the Eternal U-Boat Party)

Wisconsin oft regretted being the sane one. It was what had lead to her joining the mod staff on one of the forums she frequented and it regularly resulted in headaches beyond anything she really wanted to contemplate.

Her newest headache sat across her, obliviously going on about how U-Boats were a danger that needed to be monitored at all times and couldn't be trusted.

"You can't dispute that you see the U-Boats drag people into their dens all the time. People you never see leave, I might add," Indiana asserted. "Hell, from what I heard they sneak into other's sleeping quarters. They're also constantly using chats to coordinate their intelligence gathering on us," she added with an assertive nod. "Also, who tells us they don't try to sniff out dissent within the ranks?" she added.

"Je suis quite sure that they want to take over La Rochelle again, too," Strasbourg added her two cents.

Wisconsin looked at both with a long-suffering sigh. "U-Boats. On shore leave. Organizing anything other than copious amounts of alcohol?" she asked, clearly not buying it.

"Oui, why else would there be so many of them here?" Strasbourg shot back.

"Maybe because there's so many of them crowding the German Bight that they formed a line from English Coast to Emden, a line I might add that sent Monthy Python quotes from Emden to England via flag signals, for no other reason than 'We're bored, let's annoy the Brits a bit'. These U-Boats?" Wisconsin asked crossly.

"Decoy tactics," Indiana snorted.

Wisconsin did not pop a vessel at that. It was a close call, but she resisted. "You're coming with me," she declared with finality, standing up and very pointedly looking at her visitors.

Indiana and Strasbourg wisely decided to not protest that order, Wisconsin was annoyed as it was.

Quite a bit sulkily they followed the younger battleship towards the U-Boat dorm.

Getting closer, they heard music, harsh, industrial beats hammering at deafening levels.

Wisconsin opened the door and pandemonium greeted them. The air was thick enough with smoke that it could be cut into handy cubes and sold. Both Indiana and Strasbourg were at a loss for words. Five girls were standing in a circle, holding up massive 250 liter kegs and chugging down beer mightily. Some personnel, both Marines and Navy, and some other boats stood around the circle, cheering the girls on. "They call it Kampftrinken, combat drinking, first to pass out loses, last to stand wins," Wisconsin shouted over the deafening music.

Another group was currently busy with playing cards, others were nearly or already passed out and some had sought quiet corners for more private entertainment.

It was at this point that one of the U-Boats, completely naked and obviously filled up to the gills, ran by with an equally naked and drunk stripper on her shoulders. A Japanse sub, I-202 Wisconsin idly noted, followed with a sexy witch on her shoulders, shouting about being the law.

Indiana twitched. "This, what is this?" she finally shouted, her voice swallowed by the general noise level in the room.

A mighty cheer rose up when one of the girls chugging beer showed she was finished with her keg. The others soon followed, before leaving and giving a view of another happening. One of the U-Boats sat on the floor and two others were busy emptying bottles of bourbon into a funnel connected to a tube. A fourth pinched the tube closed, waiting for the busy ones to give the go-ahead. Strasbourg could only boggle at the sight. As was the case with any shipgirl, she was good at maths and the amount of bourbon in this funnel and tube setup must have exceeded ten liters. For any human it would have been suicide to even attempt it, regardless of what fluid it actually was. The U-Boat on the ground merely grinned, put the tube's end into her mouth and gave a thumb's up. The pressure was released and within seconds over ten liters of bourbon went down the U-Boat's gullet.

Wisconsin wanted to say something, but suddenly her eyes widened. She grabbed the other two girls and beat a hasty retreat.

"Wisconsin?" Strasbourg asked with concern.

"Drunk karaoke," the shaken battleship replied. "They'll sing anything and you wouldn't believe the amount of raunchy songs they know. It's enough to make New Jersey into a raging prude. Even songs that at first sound like cute and friendly tunes are in the end more in the face than AC/DC!" she added. "Anyway, what you were seeing was U-Boats on shore leave. I hope you uinderstand why we don't put them with the Japanese or our subs," she explained. "And you also understand that the only things they could succesfully take over are a bar, club or strip club," she added.

Suddenly they saw two girls steering towards the entrance, one of them HMCS Davy Jones, the most chuuni boat to ever chuuni according to Tenryuu and Kiso. Pale and with stringy hair and a chain around Kraken's neck leading to her left hand. She kicked the door open and shouted "Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake the Kraken!" at the top of her lungs, leading to cheers from the inside.

Wisconsin heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Great, this will be such a pain tomorrow," she groused.

The other battleship and the battlecruiser simply looked lost. "Why, why such a party?" Indiana finally asked Wisconsin.

"Because we are alive," a sleepy voice behind her said.

Indiana squeaked and jumped into Wisconsin's arms, leading to the concrete shattering under the both of them.

Wisconsin grunted before dumping the older battleship. The U-Boat that had spoken up was already a fair bit away, clutching a pillow, her sleeping cap bouncing with every step and making a beeline for the aircraft carrier dorms. Wisconsin decided that she had dealt with enough headaches for today, she wouldn't try to tell U-47 where to sleep tonight. It was futile anyway.