"I dislike being dead."
Tatsuta commented as Mamiya nodded understandingly, Tatsuta having woken up and was sitting on the hospital bed in two hospital gowns which covered her front and back, the food supply ship taking some time off to accompany her.
The both of them were peeling apples with small kitchen knives that Mamiya had brought out of her apron and sleeves as a way to pass the time while being productive, the basket of apples sitting innocently on Tatsuta's hospital table.
As to why Mamiya was carrying knives in her uniform, Tatsuta assumed they were for self-defense purposes, since the food supply ship sometimes had to sortie in order to feed ship girls who were out on sorties and supply the human inhabitants on the Izu Islands and Guam, amongst other islands within the Safety Zone.
Mamiya soothingly replied,
"Well, I do believe that is the general consensus amongst ship girls. But at least we can be resurrected via the docks, so there's a silver lining for you."
Tatsuta nodding, noting her experience while she was unconscious and recollecting a very strange dream in the process.
"When I was still trying to wake up from that dark place, I felt like I was deep underwater, and the light was shining down from above the surface of the water. And even though I couldn't move in the bottom of the…"
Tatsuta struggled to find the words to describe where she was in the dreamlike limbo before her revival, and finally continued.
"Perhaps it was supposed to be an ocean, and I was on the seabed where my warship body is currently located, but in that dream, it felt more like a large pond which I laid in. And I assumed myself to be at the bottom of it, immobile but conscious of my current status of being dead.
But when I felt myself come alive, the world which was the entirety of the large pond began to shift around me. I was certain that I was still lying on the pond floor, but it felt like either the pond itself was being drained, or the ground itself which I laid on was being lifted by some unknown force. Either way, it did not feel as though I were floating upwards as I, in a supine position, broke the surface of the pond and awoke in this hospital ward. How strange, to think that we dream of such things."
Mamiya hummed in approval as she explained, still looking down at the apple as she dug the sharp blade into the juicy red fruit.
"Many studies have been conducted in order to understand these dreams which we occasionally experience, since quite a fair number of ship girls have all experienced the same dream. I do believe this is a normal dream to have when you die in this life and your body is resurrected, but you remain unconscious for a while since your mind and spirit needs time to recover."
Mamiya gave Tatsuta a sad smile as she spoke from experience, recounting.
"Ah, but note that not everyone will have this dream, since my first death and eventual resurrection was quick and dreamless. It mostly occurs after you've died for the first time, and after that, the chances of experiencing this dream again drops exponentially."
Tatsuta gave the food supply ship a small smile as she changed the subject so as not to make things awkward between them, asking the food supply ship about how her teammates were doing.
"And how is everyone doing?"
Mamiya's smile drooped a little upon being asked that, but she convinced the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser that they were mostly alive and well, while the others were on the road to recovery.
"Oh, don't worry. Ayanami, Tenryuu and Shigure-san are all working hard in order to get stronger in different ways. Hiei-san and Junyou-san have recovered for the most part, and the both of them are doing well enough to be up and about. I know this because Hiei-san attended breakfast in order to talk to me about Shigure-san being alive and well even after fighting an Abyssal Princess, and took the time to show the new arrival, Saratoga-san, around. And last I heard, Junyou-san, after downing a few drinks, went out to attend the bird carriers' training session as a spectator. At least, that's what she said in between downing sake cups."
Tatsuta nodded idly, before registering Mamiya's words and turning to face her, asking politely.
"I apologize, but did you say that Shigure-chan fought an Abyssal Princess?"
Mamiya nodded, noting solemnly as she met Tatsuta's gaze.
"Oh, yes. I do maintain good relations with the 8th Fleet and participate in sorties with them from time to time, so I'd know when they were sortieing. Shigure awoke on the 15th of April, and she was in time to sortie with the 8th Fleet in order to fight a Southern War Princess on the 17th."
Giving her a small but reassuring smile, Mamiya notified her about the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's condition.
"She's unharmed, although last I checked, she was sleeping soundly in bed after she participated in two night operations within a week."
Tatsuta nodded as she lowered her head and got back to peeling the apples with the knife in her hand, deftly inserting the blade into the apple at an angle to peel the red skin off without scraping too much of the flesh off, performing this duty with machine-like precision.
She asked.
"You say that there is someone called Saratoga who was with Shigure-chan.
If I remember correctly, she is a Lexington-Class carrier, of the United States Navy."
Her expression suddenly darkened as a shadow hung over her dulled eyes and false smile, her hands moving quicker than usual as she felt herself getting agitated from a blasted American being near her teammate, asking darkly as she skinned the apple with a vengeance.
"Why is an American carrier doing with Shigure-chan? And why wasn't I informed of this sooner so that I could 'greet' her the second she stepped into this base?"
Mamiya sweat-dropped as she recounted Admiral Haru's explanation over yesterday's lunch as to how the American carrier arrived at Yokosuka.
"Well, after the Southern War Princess was sunk, the spawn system messed up after the Southern War Princess deviated from her usual route. And instead of an IJN carrier, the system chose to resolve this error by spawning Saratoga, and the 8th Fleet brought her in without incident."
Tatsuta slowed down the pace of her knife as her eyes expressed genuine surprise that Saratoga wasn't roughed up by the infamous 8th Fleet.
"Hmm. Well, I expected the ship girls of the 8th Fleet to incapacitate her and rough her up before bringing her in. But I suppose if she does her job well, I don't have much to say about her."
Tatsuta's smile widened as she looked down at the next apple which she picked up, her gaze darkening as she got to work on the next apple with a silent fury as she hissed with a false smile plastered on her face.
"After all, my issue isn't with carriers.
It's with submarines."
Mamiya nodded understandingly since Tatsuta was sunk by the American submarine USS Sand Lance, while Mamiya was sunk by USS Sealion, making them rather wary of submarines in general.
Mamiya turned to face the door after hearing someone approach their room as Tatsuta's ears twitched, also hearing the familiar footsteps of a certain light cruiser approaching her room.
And as she predicted, Tatsuta was relieved to find that it was Tenryuu who walked through the door, her sister wearing an exercise singlet and shorts in lieu of her usual school uniform.
She was sweating from head to toe after some sort of strenuous exercise regime, which left her panting and wiping away the sweat on her forehead in order to make herself look presentable to Tatsuta.
Tatsuta, now breaking out into a warm, genuine smile upon seeing her sister visit her, greeted Tenryuu.
"Well, hello, Tenryuu-chan. You seem to be quite busy with your training schedule."
Tenryuu nodded as she scratched her head, visibly restraining the urge to hug her as she remarked sheepishly.
"Well, I was worried about you, but Kiso told me that I couldn't do anything while simply waiting around for you to wake up. She recommended that I take this time to get stronger instead of waiting here in my shredded uniform and living off of hospital food like a bum. Kiso said that it's probably what you would want, and as your sister, I knew that you probably wouldn't be happy to see me in a mess."
Tatsuta nodded in order to agree with Kiso's wise words as Tenryuu bowed towards a smiling Mamiya in order to acknowledge the presence of her senior, greeting.
"Good afternoon, Mamiya-san."
Mamiya nodded in order to acknowledge her greeting as she looked back down at the apple in her hand, a pattern beginning to emerge in her hands as she responded.
"Good morning, Tenryuu-san. It's good to see you up and about, training with Abukuma-san in an attempt to improve your physical condition."
Tatsuta looked to Tenryuu as she asked her about the newcomer in the base.
"Tenryuu-chan, what do you think about the American newcomer?"
Tenryuu, being a ship girl who wasn't too concerned with the finer details in life, shrugged as she answered aloofly.
"Meh, I'm a little miffed about her being American. But when I thought about it, she didn't have a choice in being created as an American, and also didn't choose to be spawned here. So I feel like giving her a chance and cutting her some slack, since I certainly wouldn't want the Americans around me blasting me for 'being a fuckin' Nip' if I were spawned in America by some mistake."
Mamiya nodded, looking a little surprised but extremely glad that her fellow ship girls were taking this new development with an open mind, noting.
"Yes, I did talk to Houshou-san about this.
Saratoga-san feels very alone in this foreign country, especially when you consider the... complicated history between our two countries. She needs friends to try their best to understand her plight and keep her company so as to help her overcome the loneliness."
Nodding, the two sisters lapsed into silence in order to relax and unwind together, and for sisters like the two of them, it wasn't necessary to talk in order to understand each other and appreciate the silent moments between them.
Tatsuta felt that Tenryuu made the wise choice in following Kiso's advice, because it was unanimously understood amongst the ship girls of Yokosuka that a major naval battle was about to take place, and a dark storm was brewing ahead.
They couldn't afford to waste any time on actions based on sentiment, and she was glad that Tenryuu had friends and mentors who could guide her on, even without her being there to keep Tenryuu's temper in check.
She wasn't under any illusion that she was invincible, as her death had previously illustrated.
She could sink on their next sortie or on the sortie after that, and despite her best efforts to keep herself for both her own and Tenryuu's sake, there was no predicting the future, and she wanted Tenryuu to be prepared.
She knew how being left alone after the sinking of a sister ship had hurt, since Tenryuu sank in 1942 while Tatsuta had sunk in 1944, and even if she were to sink, she now knew that Tenryuu would be well cared for.
Hiei, Junyou, Shigure, Ayanami, Everyone...
"... Tatsuta?!"
Tatsuta flinched as Tenryuu shook her awake, momentarily lost in her thoughts as she looked towards her worried sister, asking patiently with a gentle smile.
"What is it, Tenryuu-chan?"
Tenryuu, no longer wearing her eyepatch and mechanical ears, used both her eyes to look at Tatsuta with a serious expression as she asked in a no-nonsense tone.
"You're crying, Tatsuta. Does it hurt anywhere?"
Blinking in confusion before realizing the moist tears rolling down her cheeks which were stretched out in a small smile, she wiped her tears as she put the kitchen knife down on the blanket which covered the lower half of her body.
She tried to laugh the entire thing off as she did so, remarking.
"Oh, no. I was just thinking about everything I stood to lose, should the missile fly true to its target. The 1st Fleet, the Kuma and Nagara-Class cruisers, amongst others, the Akatsuki-Class girls… You… Dying for the first time really puts things in perspective, I'll tell you that..."
Tenryuu tried to reach out in order to console her, but Mamiya, being a ship girl who's lived for a full decade as a ship girl, interrupted the two of them as she gave her sagely opinion on things.
"Yes, you're right. As a ship girl, the first stage of 'growing up' is to experience death before being resurrected."
Looking down at her apple as she thought about the situation at hand, Tatsuta could see that the food supply ship was speaking from experience as she elaborated.
"As a ship girl, injuries are nothing to us simply because we can walk them off, given enough time. But death, in some sense, reminds us that we're not infallible, and that we have a lot to lose should we sink. But I do believe that this experience should be used to motivate us into improving ourselves in order to prevent this from happening again, simply because of how thin the line between dying and sinking is."
Tatsuta lowered her head as she dropped her smile, thoroughly agreeing with Mamiya's words, but Tenryuu sighed a little as she slapped a comforting hand on Tatsuta's shoulder, commenting offhandedly as she sighed in relief.
"Whew, so it's just Tatsuta being human? That's good, then. I thought that you were hurting somewhere and was trying to put on a tough front."
Tatsuta hummed questioningly as she sniffed and asked her sister about her words, giving her a tired smile as she did so.
"And pray tell, what do you mean by that, Tenryuu-chan?"
Tenryuu gave her a relieved smile as she settled down into a seat to make herself comfortable before answering wholeheartedly about how it make her feel relieved to see her sister not bottle everything up inside of her.
"Well, it kind of reassures me to know that my sister's still human, and she can still experience pain, sadness and even fear. So when I see that my fearsome sister can still express her sadness and pain freely around me and feel more natural around our teammates instead of smiling all her problems away, as your sister ship, it makes me feel happy inside since that means you're slowly opening up to everyone."
Tatsuta's expression shifted into one of slight surprise, before she retorted with a sly smile and with half-lidded eyes.
"Ah, Tenryuu-chan, I didn't know that you were such a closet S, hmm?"
Tenryuu's face, at first trying to wrap her head around her sister's statement while reviewing her previous sentence, exploded into a crimson red as she brought up both her arms in order to wave her palms wildly, her expression now panicked as she tried her best to explain herself.
"N-N-No, that ain't what I meant! I'm just happy that you're revealing your inner self to us and ARRRGHH!"
Realizing that her words unintentionally contained many innuendos within them to provide Tatsuta with more than enough material to work with, Tenryuu looked towards a giggling Mamiya as she asked of her senior, tears starting to form on the edge of her eyes.
"Mamiya-san! Please stop laughing, and explain to my sister that I'm innocent!"
Before she collapsed onto her seat while letting out a defeated whine and looked like she wanted to cry, her tough facade falling apart faster than a house of cards as she covered her luminescent-red face.
But outside the door were two voices, both of them getting progressively louder and overshadowing the ship girl trio's conversation as voice #1 asked,
"... wanna decide it over rock-paper-scissors?"
"Alright, then. No point delaying it further, doesn't matter if either one of us talks to the two of them anyway."
A period of silenced ensued before voice #2 shouted,
"YOU FUCKING CHEATED!"
Voice #1 sounded smug as he now sounded ready to screw voice #2 over, remarking.
"Well, you never said anything about no cheats, right?"
"Well, I got a fourth hand to play, here it is, fucker!"
A male cackling voice could be heard as voice #1 stopped in his tracks, mocking in a way that old friends would without any consequences as he made his way back.
"That's what salty motherfuckers play as a last resort. Well, it ain't all bad, hanging out and talking to two ship girls instead of working in the lab all day, right? I'll be heading back first now, hmm?"
Voice #2 sighed as he continued on his path towards Tatsuta's room, retorting.
"Whatever. At least I got you to get some exercise after walking from Engineering to the hospital, so it ain't all bad."
Voice #1 only chuckled as he left, his footsteps disappearing down the corridor as someone knocked on Tatsuta's door, the Tenryuu-Class cruiser answering.
"Come in, please."
The human engineer Akio popped up as the door opened, the bespectacled human leaning to ask politely.
"Tatsuta-san? Is—Oh, Tenryuu-san's here as well. What's up, Mamiya-san?"
Mamiya slightly lowered her head in response to the engineer's greeting, Akio scratching his head as he cocked his head towards the corridor, sheepishly asking.
"So from your expressions, I guess you heard everything, huh?"
Tenryuu nodded, cringing a little after hearing the exchange between the vitriolic duo as she remarked.
"Oh, hell yeah. You aiming to wake up the dead with your yelling?"
Smiling bashfully, Akio smirked as he raised a manila-colored folder with the red "CLASSIFIED" stamp on it, looking down at the food supply ship as he regretfully had to ask Mamiya to leave, despite respecting her immensely.
"Heh… Mamiya-san, I'm afraid this is for their eyes and ears only, so… Eh..."
Mamiya nodded in acknowledgement, understanding the need for secrecy if the engineers needed to talk to the ship girl duo about classified matters as she got up from her seat, picking up the basket of skinned apples and her kitchen knives as she placed the apple which she had been working on for five minutes on Tatsuta's desk for her to admire and eat, leaning in to whisper.
"Bon Appétit."
Tatsuta and Tenryuu's eyes widened slightly as Mamiya had used her knife to carve out the pattern of a 3-dimensional rose onto the side of the apple itself, a wrapping of thin apple-red skin and light-yellow apple flesh as they formed petals and seamlessly embraced each other in a circular fashion around the rose's center to form a complete flower.
Tatsuta looked up as a lone sweat drop rolled down the side of her face, giving the food supply ship a weak smile as she remarked.
"Mamiya-san, you're making me feel bad for having to eat this work of art."
But Mamiya, looking down at her two juniors while carrying the basket of apples under her right arm, formed a fist with her left hand and brought it up to her face, twisting it a little as she held the joint of her index finger close to the side of her left eye.
And like that, she mimicked the act of weeping as she gave Tatsuta a cheeky pout, as though to wordlessly communicate,
Tough luck.
Before bringing her hand down and giving them all a warm, maternal smile before passing Akio and leaving through the door as it clicked shut behind her.
Akio turned back towards the Tenryuu-Class cruisers with a slight blush after watching the admittedly curvaceous figure of the food supply ship from behind as she left, Tenryuu raising an eyebrow and gaining a knowing expression as she snarked.
"Like what you see, eh? Pervert."
And instead of denying the accusation, Akio raised his hands and the manila folder as he smirked and admitted in the face of two ship girls who possessed very sharp weapons at their disposal.
"Ok, I admit. Guilty as charged."
But as he sat down, it was clear that the engineer was no longer in the mood for small talk as Tatsuta lost her smile, a serious expression overshadowing everyone's face as Tatsuta asked in a no-nonsense manner.
"What is this visit about, Akio-san?"
Akio put the classified folder onto the hospital desk, beside the untouched apple art piece as he opened the folder to reveal the contents inside, beginning his little speech in order to bring the two light cruisers up to speed on what he, Kousuke, Aoba and several other Fairies had been working on for the past few weeks.
"You see, we engineers, Aoba and a few Fairies have been working on a little Project during these past few weeks..."