Part 4
Dinner that night had a different atmosphere.
Shiranui was not the only destroyer that was ordered to participate in the mission. The girls were eating their meals while talking loudly. Their reactions varied, with some eating more than usual, and some even not eating at all, probably because of their nervousness about the offensive operation.
In contrast, the destroyers on guard duty seemed to be more gloomy than usual. Perhaps they were tired of being envious to the shipgirls that participated in the operation, and after eating, they quickly returned to their quarters.
The 14th Destroyer Division, of course, was not the former. They were the first of the latter to finish eating and left in silence.
Kagerou wanted to wait for Shiranui, but she was not in the Mess Hall, either because of the preparation or still being briefed about the operation. Still, she waited, so she was the last of the destroyers to finish eating.
She returned to her cramped quarters. Satsuki was lying on the bed.
“Welcome back.”
“I'm home…… How unusual, your curtains are still open.”
“What are you talking about, Kagerou always dragged me out to talk, so now it has become a habit you know.”
“Is that so?” Kagerou muttered. In the beginning, she had forced herself to think of a topic to talk about with Satsuki because of the lack of communication. That’s why she also left the curtains open until she fell asleep.
She tried to crawl onto her bunk bed but then stopped. As expected, she didn’t want to sleep yet.
However, she had nothing to do. In the past, she would have written a letter in her quarters, but the person to address the letter was already nearby.
She leaned against the wall for a while in a daze, and then stood up.
She called out to Satsuki, “I'm going for a stroll.”
“Eh? At this hour?”
“Anytime is fine, isn’t it?”
“Are you lonely because Shiranui isn’t here?”
“No comment.”[1]
Satsuki half-raised her head.
“If you're bored, how about doing muscle training together? For the time being, let’s do push-ups.”
“I won’t.”
“Then, how about sleeping together tonight?”
“It’s gross, you know.”[2]
Then Kagerou said, “I'll be back before the lights go out,” and left the room.
The sun had gone down and it was completely dark. If you listened carefully, you could hear the sound of the waves. Normally, it would be noisy from the enthusiastic shipgirls who trained their physical strength and the sound from the arsenal, but at certain times of the day, it became so quiet that she felt lonely.
She walked aimlessly around the dormitory grounds.
Because it’s her free time, she wasn’t being warned by the guards, but after the lights was out, they would become stricter. Just one step outside the dormitory and you’d get an instant corporal punishment.[3] Even so, the shipgirls who were devoted to ginbai were always on the move at night, and they had to fight a fierce battle with the patrols. By the way, ginbai means to get a hold on food and other things via unauthorized means.[4]
Kagerou looked up. A short distance away was the cruiser dormitory and the battleship dormitory, while the aircraft carrier dormitory was on the other side. For now, the lights were numerous, but that number might decrease after the operation was over. It was a kind of inescapable fate for the shipgirls.
(What an ominous thing to think......)
She dismissed her thoughts. It was indeed too negative. The mission hadn't even started yet.
Then She wandered around.
“Huh......?”
There was a light on the first floor of a neat building. It was next to the procurement store.
As she approached, she saw a sign that read as ‘Houshou’ hanging on the wall.
‘Is this it?’ Kagerou thought. During the day, it's just a snack corner, but at night, it became an eating house that suddenly appeared. The proprietress of this restaurant was the light aircraft carrier Houshou.
In other words, it was a kind of club used by the shipgirls to relax, but unlike the so-called officers' club, it was open to anyone. The opening hours varied according to Houshou’s circumstances, but the closing hours coincided with the lights-out time.
Kagerou had never been inside before. To begin with, the destroyer shipgirls rarely came by. No matter how free she was, she had the feeling that it was the 'place for the respectable people like the battleships.'
But on this day, she just felt like going in.
She went through the curtain and opened the sliding door.
“Welcome.”
There was a calm voice.
It was a woman in traditional clothing[5] with tied up sleeves and braided up hair. It was hard to believe that this woman was an aircraft carrier, given her gentle manner and the quiet water-like atmosphere.[6]
Houshou smiled at Kagerou.
“Oh, a destroyer? That’s unusual."
“Uh…… I-I'm sorry. I shall leave if I’m bothering you.”
She tried to turn around, but Houshou chuckled.
“It's fine. Destroyer girls rarely ever come by. I’m glad that someone did come.”
‘No need to be shy,’ she said.
There weren’t many shipgirls inside. From what she heard, it seemed that the number would increase from now.
“Many girls will sortie tomorrow. You won't get any place to sit if you keep standing there, you know,” Houshou told her.
But as she was wondering where to sit, a voice called out from the counter.
“My, isn’t it Kagerou.”
The person sitting there was Takao. There were small plates of appetizers and simmered dishes lined up on the counter. There was also a bottle of beer and a glass.
“Why don't you sit down?”
Since she was told to sit down, Kagerou sat down next to her.
It was nice to be seated, but what should she order? There was no way cake or parfait would be served. Well, maybe it would be served, but she didn’t see any shipgirls ordering sweets.
“Want some?”
Takao picked up a glass of beer.
“No, I don't drink.”
“You will, eventually.”
“I prefer something without alcohol.”
Houshou, who had been listening to the conversation, showed her the menu.
“Please have a look at our menu. We have lemon-lime and ramune.[7] There’s also plain carbonated water.”
“Then I’ll have a lemon-lime, please.”
“Alright. But you’re really reserved, aren’t you? I think it was Satsuki-chan, but she has been here before to buy a beer, you know?”
“That girl is already…… Did she drink it?”
“No. She took it home with her like it was really valuable.”
She wondered whether it might be hidden somewhere. She had to confiscate it before the inspection comes and they all get corporal punishment.
Takao next to her had ordered oden [8] from Houshou.
“Please give it to this girl.”
Kagerou panicked.
“Ehh, you don’t have to…”
“Just quiet down and just let me treat you. Houshou's oden is excellent, you know. Though I don’t know whether it goes well with lemon-lime or not.”
Houshou chuckled as she took the order.
The lemon-lime and oden were placed in front of her.
Kagerou dipped her chopsticks into the daikon. It was split easily without much effort. When she put it in her mouth, the sweetness of the vegetables and the saltiness of the soy sauce mixed together, creating a mellow taste.
“Delicious……”
“I'm glad that younger girls like you could understand.”
Houshou then served grilled mackerel.
“Please accept this. It’s a service.”
“Thank you very much…… Houshou-san, are you not going in the current operation?”
“Well, I don’t receive any orders.”
“That’s…… Even though you're an aircraft carrier? Then perhaps someday.”
“I will be decommissioned soon, you know. There are a lot of girls who are better than me. And if I even have to sortie, that means the war situation is not going well. So I'd rather stay here and serve everyone a meal.”
She reduced the fire used to boil the foods.
“As for the rest, hmm that’s right, when the sea becomes peaceful, I hope the day where I have to open this restaurant will never come." [confused]
She sounded somewhat optimistic about the future.
Houshou was the oldest serving carrier in the Yokosuka Naval Base, and the shipgirls looked up to her like a mother. She used to be in Kure, but Kagerou had never met her there.
“You were reassigned from Kure, weren't you? A while ago, there was also a destroyer girl who had also been reassigned here.”
“Was it Shiranui?”
Takao answered it, “That’s right. She’s going to sortie together with me, so we did a celebration.”[9]
“What do you mean by ‘with me’, Takao-san?”
“It’s me, together with Myoukou, Maya, Isuzu, and also Shiranui.”
“Only five of you?”
“Because it's just a reconnaissance mission. The truth is, there should be more destroyers. It seems that the Admiral also wanted to bring in Yukikaze and Kuroshio from Kure, you know.”
What a surprise, that cheerful shipgirl who only spoke in Osaka dialect was also a candidate.
“Is Takao-san the flagship, by any chance?”
“Yes,” she said.
The flagship of a fleet was often the ship with the best communication skills. Of course they had to be trusted by the Admiral, but this woman had cleared all of those requirements.
“It's amazing.”
“I wonder about that, I guess I got lucky when I was freed from taking care of Akebono. But the next thing I know, I was already in charge of the vanguard.”
“...... I’ll take care of her in your stead.”
“Sorry about that. But as expected of the ace of Kure Base, you managed to organize the destroyer division properly.”
A thought suddenly popped into her head, but she restrained herself from saying it.
Takao smiled wryly.
“I know what you’re thinking. You're probably wondering whether it is possible for a shipgirl to lead Shiranui if she’s having difficulty dealing with Akebono, aren’t you?.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It's natural for you to think that. It's true that I’m worried about commanding a destroyer. There were times when I was given a lot of work and felt overwhelmed. That's also one of the reasons why I handed the secretary ship position to Atago.”
’It didn't seem like that now, but she must have a lot of things to worry about, huh,’ Kagerou thought. Even commanding a single destroyer was a dizzying task.
She wondered how much work it was to be not only the secretary ship, but also the flagship of the vanguard in the offensive operation.
“But I'm fine now.”
She asked for more beer.
Kagerou asked as she ate the flavorful hanpen.[10]
“What does ‘offensive reconnaissance’ mean?”
“That's exactly what it sounds like. We’ll just barge into Area E and do reconnaissance on the Abyssal Fleet. If a battle ensues, we’ll try to crush them. Just that.”
“That’s…… With just the five of you?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn't that dangerous?”
Rushing into the area where the Abyssal Fleet has appeared and examining their situation. That was a mission to investigate what kind of war potential they had and where they were patrolling. As such, it was highly dangerous, and only the shipgirls that were classified as ‘fast ships' were assigned to the mission.
After all, the enemy force was unknown, and it was possible to run into a large force from bad luck. In that case, the return rate would drop drastically.
“It was a mission that the SaseBase[11] was working on, but it seems that we can't afford to let them be worn out any longer.”
“But that…”
Kagerou kept her mouth shut. The video she had seen in the auditorium came to her mind. It was a scene that barely managed to be captured by the shipgirl who belonged to Sasebo Naval Base. She hesitated to say the kind of sights that shipgirl had gone through.
Takao sipped her beer and said, “It’s fine. We were chosen because we are good enough to come back.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Are you that worried?”
“The truth is…… Shiranui has a high temperament,” Kagerou said. “She may appear to be unconcerned, but if left unchecked, she will continue to attack for as long as she can. It's possible that she's too eager to attack for a reconnaissance mission.”
“Oh my, then I should feel sorry for the Abyssal Fleet.”
“There's no other destroyer that's as dependable as she is as long as you don’t let go of her reins. Besides, she's very devoted to her shipmates.”[12]
“Thank you. That's a good advice.”
She smiled and ordered another bowl of oden for Kagerou.
A few moments of silence followed, then Takao let out a sigh.
“...... You remember the time I was at the arsenal, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I've been thinking about getting remodeled at that time.”
“But wouldn’t that…”
“Have to be approved by the Admiral and the secretary ship? Of course I knew that. This operation… I vaguely knew that it was going to be a large-scale operation, and I was thinking of getting remodeled before it began. But the operation was launched before I could get approval. So I was just sitting there in a daze.”
“Why do you want to get remodeled……?”
“What do you think is the reason?” Kagerou was puzzled, but Takao continued, “It’s just like what Shiranui had said, ‘People undergo a remodel when they are aware of their own weaknesses or when they want to reach a higher level.’ For me, it’s because I wanted to be stronger.”
“Takao-san is already strong enough, you know. You are armed and armored.”
Kagerou glanced at the heavy cruiser's chest area.
Takao spotted the gesture.
“Hey, what are you looking at, I wonder?”
Kagerou shrugged, having no excuse.
Takao's tone was not angry.
“Doesn't my chest remind you of someone?”
This time Kagerou stared at them seriously.
“Atago-san?”
“Yes. You see, I wanted to protect that girl.”
“Protect?”
“Yes. To protect her.”
She suddenly remembered. This woman was the first ship of the Takao-class. Atago was the second ship.
Atago had a habit of saying "panpakapa~n" and trying to get the destroyers to call her 'Big sister.' Normally, everyone would pretend to respect her, but in reality they would dismiss her as ‘weirdo.’ In fact, Kagerou thought so.
But on the other hand, she was the secretary ship and had served as the flagship of the fleet for many times. She was a woman of great ability.
“She's not a weak girl. Rather, she is strong. It might be possible that she doesn’t even need my help at all……”
She drank the rest of the beer out of her glass.
“But maybe someday, she will need my help. There might be a time where I'll have to fight for her sake. Perhaps one day I'll be supporting her or even rescuing her. That's why I wanted to gain more strength. If I get remodeled, I’ll have more power.”
“......”
“Before that, I had to go to the frontline, though. That too, is fate.”
Kagerou listened to Takao with a glass of lemon-lime in her hand.
“Did you tell Atago-san about this?”
“No way. I'm the first ship. I can't let the second ship hear about it.”
“That's true. I understand that feeling.”
She was also the first ship of the Kagerou-class.
Kagerou hadn't ever been worried to the point of thinking about getting a remodel yet. She had understood some of the reasons why people would want to get it from the time when she was in the bathhouse and also in the arsenal, but it felt like something from another world to her.
She wondered if there would be a day when she, like this woman, decided to get a remodel.
She wasn’t really sure.
She was absentmindedly looking at the few remaining oden in the bowl.
Takao opened her mouth, “Oh, that’s right. You applied for a request for armaments, didn't you? It was accepted, you know? Atago told me.”
“Eh…… The torpedoes?”
“You’ll get the oxygen torpedoes. I think they'll be delivered tomorrow.”
Kagerou's face lit up at once.
Oxygen torpedoes were the latest weapons the naval base was proud of. Unlike conventional torpedoes, the wake was barely visible, and the amount of the explosive was huge. There was no doubt that it would increase the destroyers' offensive power.
Takao waited for Kagerou's joy to subside.
“But the radar has been rejected. There aren't enough of them yet, and so it seems that the radars won't make it to the destroyers.”
Kagerou was a little disappointed; although she had expected it, it would be a long time before she would receive that new armament.
“For now, please bear with it. We're pouring all of our budget and resources into this operation, after all."
“Yes, ma’am……”
The entrance opened. A group of shipgirls came bustling in. It was a group of aircraft carriers and battleships. She wondered if they were trying to cheer themselves up before the sortie.
With that opportunity, Kagerou stood up.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“You can go ahead and eat more, you know?”
“Thank you, but I'm already full.”
She became full thanks to the delicious food. She was so full that she had to leave over the remaining lemon-lime she had ordered.
It seemed that Takao would still remain there. She didn't leave her seat.
“As I said earlier, since I'm not with Atago this time, I suppose I'm going to use my power for the sake of the fleet. For everyone……and of course for Shiranui too.”
“I’m sure Shiranui will also be pleased.”
After saying ‘Thank you very much,’ Kagerou left the store.
It had become deadly silent. The outside was dark. The moon was in the sky. If you stretched your back a little, you could see the ocean in the harbor.
‘That reminds me, ‘Shiranui’ refers to a mirage in the summer night,’ she thought vaguely.
“......What a nice girl.”
Houshou said as she prepared some cold sake. There was a drinking party going on in the back of the room. It was her job to keep an eye on them so that they didn’t drink too much and get a hangover.
Takao replied, “They're all good girls.”
“When I was on the frontline, things were a lot more vicious as we tried to find a way to fight the Abyssal Fleet…… It was very reckless.”
“The data that Houshou-san and the others have collected that way is being used today. If it weren't for Houshou-san, the carriers wouldn't even be able to launch their own aircraft, you know.”
“I hope I've been of some help.”
She put the sake bottle and the cup on the tray.
Takao reached out to help.
“The girls in that destroyer division are so straightforward that they sometimes dazzle me. I even envy them.”
“Anyone would be desperate for the sake of someone they want to protect. I've seen it myself.”
Unintentionally, Takao asked.
“...... Houshou-san, have you also undergone a remodel?”
The woman in traditional clothing didn't say anything. She just smiled with an air of composure.
Note :
[1] : Written as it is in katakana.
[2] : Kimochiwarui in a literal sense means 'it make me feel bad' but often translated as 'disgusting.' In this case, it's more like 'that's shameful.'
[3] : Physical punishment. But from what I've read in Japanese sites, it's more like a torture in the Imperial Japanese military in the past. I guess in this novel it probably only a mild punishment but still enough to make the shipgirls consider it scary.
[4] : Ginbai or Gimbai or sometimes also called Gimbae. The term exist because there were cases when recruits had to take care of their Non-Commisioned Officers meals and the NCOs were being selfish and asked for stuff like soy sauce or miso, and since the superiors' order were absolute, they had to get it by asking or negotiating it with the cooks.
[5] : The Japanese generalized the type of clothing to 2 categories, traditional Japanese clothes (Wafuku) and anything else beside that as Western clothes (Youfuku). Since it could mean anything from kimono to yukata or even hakama, I left it as it is.
[6] : A literal translation would be 'calm as water surface'.
[7] : Cider and ramune, for some reason, cider in Japan refers to drinks like lemon-lime or lemonade or any kind of soft drinks of with fruit flavours, while ramune is carbonated drinks or soda. I know what you're thinking, 'What's even the difference?' The answer is, I also don't know. So I translated cider as lemon-lime.
[8] : One type of Japanese one-pot dishes (Nabemono), consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon (radish), konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth.
 |
| The cylindrical stuff the back is the daikon (radish), while the triangular brownish stuff in the front is the konjac, the right ones are tofu, while the left one is the fishcake. Just as an example |
[9] : Maeiwai, celebration in anticipation, which is done before doing something and wishing it to go well instead of the usual where you did the deeds first then celebrated it after. I don't find any equivalent words of it in English.
[10] : A type of fishcakes, it's white, square, triangle or round surimi product (fish or meat paste) with a soft, mild taste.
 |
| The shape and texture is a bit similar to tofu but hanpen is more chewier and not as soft as tofu |
[11] : It should be 'SaBase' but 'SaseBase' sounds waaay better. And it also rhymes.
[12] : Ryoukan, or 'accompanying ships' or 'consort ships.' There seems to be no words to describe other ships in same fleet so I used shipmates that originally meant for mate/friend/crew in the same ship.
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