Hoppo-chan! Adventures ahoy!

Hi there! :3 I'm just dumping a random story here which I might update from time to time. xD Even though I know there are probably tons of stories out there with a similar set-up, I'd like to write one too! Leave a review to suggest anything! This story doesn't exactly have a plot yet, mostly just episodic chapters with various silly situations and problems caused by cute little Hoppo-chan! xD

I hope you enjoy it! ^^

Sortie 0

She felt numb as she laid among the broken wreckage of her gear. Her ears could barely hear anything else except for the ringing after the last shell had hit her and her vision blurring up became more frequent as time went by.

Within her field of vision she could see her miniature Akutan Zero lying just at the fingertips of her arm and yet she couldn't reach it. Her hand wouldn't move; it too weak to move. In the end after trying for so long, she gave up as her attempts seemed to make her even weaker. Blinking, her scarlet eyes slowly looked up into the skies as light broke through the clouds that had covered this part of the sea for as long as she could remember.

Even though she knew what was happening, it didn't frighten her. Instead she was calmer than what would be possible for such a situation if she was a normal girl. Was this what it feels like to be sunk?

If it is, it didn't feel as terrible as some of her older sisters say it was. Maybe this was just a dream and she was about to wake up from it. Maybe she would be awake and she would be enjoying a better life.

"…In a more fun sea…"

She murmured out without her notice, neither did she notice a shadow covering her until she felt gentle hands lifting her up from the small sinking island she had been staying on as far back as she remembered.

The one who lifted her up felt warm, evenly motherly as she cradled her against her chest, making sure she didn't feel uncomfortable even though the poor little girl couldn't feel anything aside from numbness.

She looked up faintly and squinted her eyes as the sun shone from behind the motherly figure, shadowing her face as they left the sinking island and sailed. Where was she going? Who was taking her away from that place? Why?

The ringing was now not as strong as earlier and she could hear a conversation taking place. Just barely.

"-shou-san! She's an enemy!" The girl could make out a girl that was probably in her teens protesting, most likely about her.

"It doesn't matter now. She is just a child now that we disarmed her and remember how frightened she was when we engaged her?" The one carrying her softly retorted, it was a mature tone and one fitting of a mother.

"B-but…She's one of them! What if she sabotages us from the inside?!" The other girl reasoned with a spiteful tone when she mentioned the almost unconscious girl as one of them.

"Then I will take responsibility for it and…" She could feel the woman's grip on her tighten slightly but still gentle and careful. "…I'll sink her myself…" The reluctance in the woman's voice was evident.

"As motherly as you are, this is slightly out of line, Houshou-san." A calm and stoic voice joined in with a slight tone of reverence hidden beneath. "And this was to be your last sortie before you retire to work in that izakaya you built with Irako-san and Mamiya-san."

"Yeah! The admiral would be furious about it!" The previous girl's voice agreed with a more worried tone this time. "Houshou-san! This could get you scrapped!"

The little girl couldn't understand anything they were saying. What did they mean she was the enemy? Are they the ones who attacked her? If so, why are they rescuing her now? Thinking so much fatigued her and she couldn't keep herself conscious any longer. Her eyes slowly closed as she heard the last of the conversation.

"We'll see."

She found herself comfortably warm and covered and she couldn't remember what happened before she had passed out. Her eyes refused to open for the time being as she wiggled around to find a more comfortable position and continued her moment of bliss.

She could fall asleep again from this~

But at the same time, she couldn't. A slight breeze brushed her from the side and tickled her nose.

"Chs…!" She tried in vain to fight back the urge but she sneezed anyway, much to her dismay as she rolled over to the other side and subconsciously tugging whatever was covering her up so that it covered her up to her nose.

It smelled nice, a foreign smell that was sweet; something that was foreign to her as all she had smelled and tasted was salted by the sea.

One of her eyes finally opened slowly, finally able to see what was covering her. It was a thick but comfy blanket with a color that she didn't recognize. It was a light colored red and it made the blanket look more fluffy and soft than it should. It was a complete contrast to the red she was used to seeing; a color that only instilled fear and rage in her.

Her eye trailed to the floor-where if she focused more-she could see these tiles being made of some sort of plant weaved tightly in a criss-cross pattern. When she leaned closer to the edge up the mat she laid on and sniffed the flooring, it was yet another foreign but calming smell.

She suddenly heard something flutter and the sound of chirping and on instinct snapped herself towards the sound only to see something that surprised her.

It was then that she realized she was in a room. But it had a homely feeling to it and right outside the room was an environment she had only heard or dreamed about. At the edge of what the opened side of the room was stood a large tree with its canopy filled with flowers that had a lighter shade than the blanket she was covered with. Once in a while, petals would fall gently down and it captivated the young girl.

Next was the sky, it was a bright and lively blue. When she used to look at the sky, it would always be blocked by malicious looking black clouds that would rain a large portion of the day. But to see a blue sky like this, the little girl could only believe she was dreaming.

Another breeze gently swept by and rustled the tree and causing the cascading petals to enter the room. One of them landed on her little nose and once again, she sneezed from the tickle.

A little chuckle caught her attention afterwards before she heard footsteps from the left edge of the opened side of the room. Two steps later, a woman in her late twenties entered with a motherly smile as she sat next to her.

"I see that you're up now, little one." The little girl somehow recognized that voice and she blinked at the woman curiously. The woman only giggled at such a cute reaction and gently stroked the girl's snow white hair. "I'm glad you're doing fine now."

The motherly aura coming from the woman was overwhelming, the girl could almost call her 'mama' at this point with how she was being treated.

"My name is Houshou." The woman introduced herself as she adjusted her sitting position better.

"Houhuu…" The girl attempted to say her name only to slur as she said so, causing her to blush slightly.

"Oh my." Houshou giggled. "Good try there. How about you call me what you think would make it easier for you?"

The girl's small eyebrows knitted as she began to think of something to call the woman aside from her name. It was hard. What could she call her? She barely knew anything that could relate to the woman aside from being motherly…

Motherly…?

"M…" The girl murmured as she seemed to sink deeper beneath her blanket, the blush from before growing slightly redder as her gaze trailed to the floor.

"Hmm?" Houshou hummed curiously as she leaned slightly forward to hear her better.

"Ma…ma…?"

Houshou gasped as one of her hands shot up to cover her mouth in surprise. The little girl flinched at the reaction and her cheeks flushed even more. If one was to look at her now, it wouldn't be a far-fetched comparison toward a tomato.

To be honest, it shouldn't really surprise the woman this much. She was told that she had this motherly look and aura about her and all the carriers in the fleet had always viewed her as a mother figure. Especially now that she had rescued an enemy who looked no older than a four old with probably the same mind as one judging by how she acted from each encounter even now.

Now that she thought of it, Houshou wondered if the poor girl had a mother figure to begin with. If that was the case, she wouldn't mind having the girl call her 'mother'. Actually, she could even adopt her if she could. But she would need to ask the admiral about this…It wasn't just her decision.

For now, it's best to go with the girl. She smiled and gave the girl's long white mane of hair another stroke. "Yes, you can call me that."

The girl seemed content about this and it seemed she wanted to sleep more as her eyes slowly closed again. Houshou stayed with her a bit longer until the girl's cute little silent snores could be heard before she got up and left, pausing at the edge of the opened to take one more look at the girl before she left with a smile.

"So she's awake now?" A gruff voice stated more than questioned as he stood looking out the window behind his desk that overlooked the entire naval base docks.

"Yes she has, dear." Houshou replied cheerily.

"I see." The man turned around, revealing a scar that crossed just below his eyes and across the bridge of his nose, barely missing them and a graying beard. He wore a battle hardened expression; stoic and serious that offered no jokes. He seemed to be in his late fifties. His eyes glanced at the ring on Houshou's hand and his eyes seemed to have softened.

"Oh and good news dear~"

That caught his attention as he looked up.

"Apparently, she likes to call me 'mother'."

The man choked on air as he heard that, causing Houshou to quickly walk over and look over him in worry. He waved her off dismissively as he regained his composure and stood back up before staring straight at nothing.

"…Admiral?" Houshou's concerned tone caught him before he got lost in his own thoughts before he looked back at her and cleared his throat.

"Houshou, please repeat what you just said. I think I misheard you." He started slowly, unsure and completely fearing what he had heard just minutes prior. "You just said that she called you 'mother'?"

The woman just nodded with probably the second most happy smile he had seen since the wedding a few months back.

He froze.

"…Dear? Are you alright?"

Just then, the doors to the office burst open as if a breach was happening and in sprinted in Tenryuu, Akatsuki, Hibiki and Ikazuchi.

"ADMIRAL!"

"Hm?" The admiral was slightly startled by the sudden entrance of the four but his composure didn't seem to have changed at all. He let out a small cough and turned to the panting ship girls. "What is it?" He then noticed the last sister of the Akatsuki-class wasn't present. "Where's Inazuma?"

"S-she's…" The light cruiser panted out as she rested her palms on top of her knees, supporting her up. "She's…Held captive by an Abyssal…"

"What?!" The admiral almost gawked at the news, he was certain he had seen their return from the expedition just earlier today and had made sure they were all there.

"An Abyssal had somehow infiltrated our base…" Tenryuu continued, her eyepatch was slightly pulsing in worry. "P-permission to equip our ship gear to engage and rescue Inazuma."

"W-where in the base?" The man enquired as he walked towards a shelf where various items and books were displayed.

"In the Destroyers' dorm. Everyone around the area are panicking like mad!" The light cruiser requested as they watched the admiral lift up a sheathed katana from the shelf.

"W-We have to save Inazuma-chan!" Ikazuchi pleaded.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Akatsuki agreed as she nodded her head frantically. Hibiki nodded as well in a calmer manner.

All the while, Houshou watched by the admiral's desk with a worried look. An Abyssal? Here in the base? How? She watched as the admiral calmly walked away from the shelf and headed towards the doorway with the other girls parting way for him.

"I'll handle it this time. This is my base, my responsibility." The man gruffly stated before turning out of sight with the girls following close behind.

Houshou wasn't exactly sure of what to do. She had been retired from ship duties and her new restaurant wasn't going to open for another two hours. It was early in the morning after all. She glanced at the morning tea she had brought in for the admiral before deciding that the tea will be cold by the time this situation was over so she decided to bring it back to Mamiya's and Irako's kitchen.

Come to think of it, she could bring something for the little girl to have a snack on.

It was then it hit her.

It's that little one!

Quickly, she set the tray down and rushed her way out the headquarters before meeting up with the group halfway towards the dorm. They insisted that she didn't need to come but stubbornly refused and insisted in following.

They soon reached the dormitories for the destroyers not long afterwards, all the destroyers that were not on sortie were outside with worried looks.

"A-Admiral!" Fubuki was the first to spot the admiral and the rest of Destroyer Division Six following behind him along with Houshou. "There's an Abyssal in the dorms!"

"I know." Was the curt answer the admiral gave. It was only during dire situations when the admiral use this kind of tone and Houshou was slightly worried about it. The man turned to her and soften his gaze as he stopped in his steps. "Maybe you should stay outside just in case."

"No." A simple answer with a serious face was all that was needed and they entered the dorm followed by the massive amount of curious ship girls that had gathered around the dormitories during the commotion.

As they reached the third floor, they could hear Inazuma whining down the hall.

"Nooo…Don't pull it nanodesu~!"

What came next was the sound of fabric tearing and that was the cue for them to rush towards the room where the four Akatsuki sisters stayed at.

They rushed past the dorm rooms…

301…

302…

Until finally they reached the sixth room where they heard Inazuma. With a quick breach, the admiral kicked the door in and rushed in with his blade unsheathed ready to face the dangerous foe-

…..

"Hawawawa!" Inazuma cowered as she stepped back slightly in surprise from the admiral's breach. She was in her light green pajamas hugging a smaller girl in front of her like a teddy bear. The small girl was still clutching the torn-off light blue window curtains with both hands as she examined it with curiosity. "A-admiral!"

"Inazuma!" Akatsuki and the rest of her sisters dashed in before they stopped and gaped. "W-Wha…What are you doing?!" The eldest pointed at Inazuma in an exaggerated manner.

"A-ah…" The youngest sister's gaze trailed down towards the smaller girl who looked back up with her cute scarlet eyes. "Funyaaa~!"

She squeaked in surprise and accidentally let go of the small girl who fell and landed face first on the tatami mats with a thump. Inazuma regretted it as she quickly sat the little Abyssal up only to see the young girl tearing up.

"Hawawawa!" The poor destroyer had no idea how to approach this situation. Why did she even sit the little girl back up right?

The admiral could only stare in confusion with his blade only a quarter out of its sheath. Houshou on the other hand immediately rushed towards the little girl and knelt in front of her just as she began to cry.

"Uwaaaaahhh~" The girl cried as Houshou tried to soothe her by placing her on her lap and hugging her in a motherly fashion. "Mamaaa!"

"H-Houshou-san?!" All the girls save for the admiral gaped at the retired light carrier as if she had grown a new head.

"There there…" The woman cooed as the little girl slowly calmed down before she shared a look with the admiral.

Knowing what was happening, the admiral sheathed his katana and adjusted his naval cap to the girls' incredulous looks and turned to face them. He looked a bit calmer than earlier and sighed before looking up again.

This was going to be hard to explain…

"Everyone, meet outside in the parade grounds. Now." The admiral ordered and the words were passed on quickly and all the girls present immediately obeyed and rushed to the parade grounds of the base.

As the girls left, he turned back to Houshou who was now carrying the little Abyssal girl in her arms while she clung onto her scarlet Kimono while still sniffling. He walked up to her and took a closer look at the young girl.

But the girl was too afraid and she quickly hid her face in her 'mother's' chest and tightening her grip on the fabric. For a slight reason there was a sudden air of gloom over the admiral after the rejection but Houshou merely giggled before they left the room as well.

"Have you figured out how to explain this to them?" Houshou asked as they walked down the stairs quietly. Apparently the little one fell asleep again.

"Not quite but I will manage to somehow." He answered with a gruff tone before sighing. "I'm more concerned on what would happen next." He turned to look over his shoulder at his wife and the child in her arms with worry. "For sure they would protest about you keeping her around."

"You know…" The light carrier began as they reached the second floor. "Aside from opening up a restaurant, I also wondered what it was like to raise an actual child of my own. I mean I still see the girls here as my daughters as well, especially the carriers but…"

"Don't worry. I understand." He sighed as they finally reached the ground floor. "Since she's stripped of any armaments and now living as just a normal girl, it shouldn't be any harm. Plus, we have actually did multiple checks on her already for a week or so before we even returned her here."

A relieved and gentle smile graced her lips. "Thank you."

They exited the dormitory and proceeded their walk to the parade grounds. Not far ahead, they could see all the girls lined up in the middle of the field. The two could tell the girls were already gossiping and discussing what happened earlier and the admiral grimaced.

"They'll listen." Houshou assured as she reached and gave the admiral's dry hand a reassuring squeeze. "You've been taking care of them so long already."

"I hope so…" He wasn't as confident as it seemed.

Once they reached the parade grounds, everyone stopped their whispering and straightened their stances. Some of them couldn't help but gawk at the sight of Houshou holding the little Abyssal while said girl was asleep.

The admiral stopped in front of the entire fleet, including the ones that just came back from sortie. Their eyes demanded an explanation on what has happened and that was what the admiral was about to do…

…Except he didn't quite explain it and instead announced something unbelievable.

"Attention!"

They all stood even straighter at the command and their eyes were immediately torn from the sight of Houshou stand just a bit behind the admiral with a child Abyssal towards the man himself.

"I would like all of you to welcome a new member of the fleet!"

Everyone gaped and Houshou stepped forward beside the admiral.

"Hoppousei-Ki…." The admiral trailed off as he looked at his wife and possible adopted daughter...Although he wasn't quite sure if her original designation by the military was a good choice of name for her.

The 'mother' gave him a questioning look before he switched down to look at the small girl and an idea popped in his head.

"Ah!" He abruptly had an eureka moment before he face the fleet again and with a stoic expression and loud voice, he announced:

"Hoppo-chan!"

…

…

…

"Eh…?"

"E-Eeeh..?!"

"EEEEEHHHHHHHH?!"