Chapter 31-Philippine Sea III

"Yuu-kun, get up you lazy ass," came a taunting voice.

The handsome young ensign stirred and grumbled in the already intolerable June heat. The only thing missing from the waves of muggy air coming in through the porthole in the junior officers berthing area was the haunting cry of the cicadas. Not that he expected to hear them out in the summertime ocean. He missed his parents and the homeland territory terribly even though the war was barely a half year old. He frowned, "Hiro-kun. Do you think we're going to get them to capitulate?"

His shorter, stouter friend grimaced as he handed over the morning ration of barley rice to his buddy. "The Allies?" He snorted in disbelief at his worrywart friend's scandalous question. "Those cowardly Americans got the shit beaten them in Pearl Harbor and the Philippine Sea. Maybe we had a minor setback at Midway. However the Brits are out of commission in Malaysia, and the tulip growing pansies lost the Dutch East Indies." The destroyer helmsman waved as he exited the cramped stateroom and shut the door behind him.

"Yeah, I know…I know. I know we sunk an allied sub and a few capital ships. We're doing great," he muttered to no one in particular with a troubled expression. He adjusted his plastic-rimmed glasses and sighed. He dexterously downed his barley rice and daikon radish with his chopsticks, and he barely noted the gentle side to side rocking of the nimble destroyer. Something eerie had constantly disrupted his equilibrium ever since he had set foot on the Shiratsuyu-class destroyer after graduating from the Imperial Naval Officer's Academy. It was something that he had never admitted to even his closest friend Hiro. He had tried to pass off his strange experiences as just his imagination for months; but he was now convinced the Yamakaze was haunted. There were spots in the ship, especially the bridge, chart room and his quarters that felt unnaturally cold. At least a dozen times he had spotted a petite female figure in a black kimono out of the corner of his eye. His dreams had been disturbed by a fragile girl's voice that had apologized over and over again for being weak and a discredit to her sisters. After finishing his breakfast, he looked around and made sure no one was still in the room. He opened up a piece of scrap paper and added another detail to his drawing of 'his' ghost that haunted the hallways of this vessel. He added the adorable black bow as a new detail to his composite sketch of 'Yama-chan'. She looked to be an extremely adorable, yet unbearably sad maiden with long cascading hair pulled into a long ponytail, and large mournful eyes. He tried to change her tight frown to a shy smile with his charcoal stick, yet quickly decided that altering that detail would not be fair to his spectral friend. He tucked away the paper in his coat pocket and donned his summer white IJN officer's uniform. Just before he left he asked in soft voice, "Coming, Yama-chan?"

A translucent girl dressed in a black furisole kimono tied off with a white and blue obi looked affectionately at her dear friend and nodded somberly. She was beyond grateful that at least one of her complement could sense the ship's soul locked inside its steel heart. Her green hair was eternally in disarray as her morose sea green eyes regarded Ensign Mizushima. She attempted a half-hearted smile as her wooden shoes clomped on the steel deck. She tailed the kind young man that had steadied her nerves through 6 months of relentless battle that reduced her to a quivering, nervous wreck. She spoke softly with painful hesitations, "Mizushima-sama, I am…sorry that I'm not as great a ship as my wonderful sisters…S-shigure and Yuudachi. I'm sorry." She followed him to the chartroom and watched as he checked their course just over 100 kilometers away from Tokyo. He then took out chartbooks and studied naval tactics as he sipped as his green tea. He checked his pocketwatch and noted his bridge watch was due at 0800.

After the short run to the bridge he saluted his captain, "Ensign Mizushima reporting for watch, Captain Hamanaka!"

The middle-aged captain gave a perfunctory nod, "Take your position."

"Sir!" He took out his binoculars and spotted off to the starboard wing.

The captain frowned, "Maintain at course 220, 12 knots."

"Course 220, 12 knots, aye," Hiro replied as he manned the helm.

Yuu got that familiar chill in on the back of his neck, and he whispered, "Yama-chan, do you see anything?"

The ghostly maiden strained to see through both her eyes and the ship mounted optics but could see nothing but a placid mid-morning summertime sea. She shook her head and sighed as she wrung her hands together. "I'm so sorry…I can't see anything." Why was she so edgy? She frowned and fretted as the sleek destroyer sliced effortlessly through friendly waters only a few hours sail from Yokosuka. Yamakaze's spirit restlessly paced the deck from starboard to port and back again; carefully walking around the calmly occupied bridge crew even though she could phase right through them. She turned to face the bow and looked over the painted white rectangle circumscribing a red circle adorning the roof of the #1 dual gun mount. It was the symbol of the rising sun, the flag of the Japanese Empire; it was there to dissuade friendly fire attacks from allied aircraft.

The captain accepted a cup of tea from a subordinate and calmly sipped as he consulted the course. "Steady as she goes men. We will surely make the Inland Sea by tomorrow morning. Alter course to 226. Maintain speed."

"Course 226. Maintaining speed, aye," Hiro replied with restrained pride. He was honored to show up these barbaric Westerners and prove that the Japanese Bushido spirit was ascendant.

Suddenly Yamakaze felt violent shivers as she raced to the starboard wing of the bridge and gasped. She shrieked, "Torpedo track! Mizushima!"

Yuu saw the fish in the water a split second after his ghost friend spotted it, "Sub! Torpedo tracks to the starboard, Captain! Evasive maneuvers!"

Captain Hamanaka cursed as he barked, "Left full rudder!" He ran to the voice tube to engineering, "Engineering, flank speed no-"

A massive fireball erupted all over the side of the bridge, and shrapnel shot up through the bridge space from below and decimated the unprepared crew. Hiro toppled over stiffly and lay motionless at the foot of the ruined helm. A second later a second explosion caved in the hull abeam of the #2 fireroom. A series of explosions sent shockwaves from amidships to both the stem and stern. As the ship seesawed out of control the keel snapped like a bone dry twig underfoot. As the fires from the detonations raged, the water was not far behind The boilers were quickly snuffed out, silencing Yamakaze's heartbeat. The broken halves of the ship quickly listed out of control. The ship's spirit collapsed numbly to her knees as she glanced around at the carnage. There was no time for the crew to escape. Over 200 souls were doomed to perish. Seawater poured in through the shattered windows and washed over the corpses. Massive detonations of the depth charges blew the remnants of the stern wide open. She cried in despair at the sight of her commander's body slumped over the plotting table, "C-captain…I'm so sorry." She started to sob as several bridge crew in their burnt dress whites climbed out the shattered windows onto the bridge roof in a vain effort to escape the sea.

She looked up as a faint voice groaned, "Y…Yama-chan."

She turned to see her precious Ensign Mizushima slumped against the hull with his left arm and leg mangled beyond recognition as black burns and crimson blood stained his starched white uniform.

Mizushima Yuki gaped at the transparent maiden through his shattered glasses. He couldn't feel his left arm or leg anymore, but he was in greater shock that he could finally see the ship's ghost! If only his estranged cousin Mizushima Makoto from the Shigure could see this, he rued. He groaned softly, "Yama-chan. I glad to finally meet you."

The girl sobbed inconsolably as she crawled along the blood and water soaked deck and sat by her friend, "I'm…sorry Ensign…I'm so sorry I failed…you."

Yuki smiled with calm certainty of his fate as he whispered, "Hold my hand Yamakaze."

Her pale translucent hand clenched over the Ensign's as the water rapidly filled the bridge of the capsizing Yamakaze as the stern pointed towards the seabed. Just before the water took them, she murmured through her tears, "Ensign…Your hand is so…warm."

…

Yamakaze shrieked as she awoke from her nightmare. The fleet maiden had stayed up late on her laptop researching ways to avoid her humiliating fate a second time. She rubbed at her eyes and stared with disbelief at the last link she had downloaded after she booted up the slumbering computer. On the screen, an American propaganda poster displayed her steel bow sinking into the waves while caught in the sights of the periscope of the USS Nautilus. Below that horror was artwork of two American submariners looking unduly pleased with their work of massacring her entire crew. She powered down the device and tore into herself for being so incompetent and cowardly. She left the chart room and walked into her empty bridge lit with red lamps to preserve her night vision.

Harusame linked urgently, Yamakaze, are you all right dear?

She hastily replied, Y-yes Harusame-neesama, I'm okay.

Call me if you need me.

I-I…will. Yamakaze sighed as Kongou-senpai led the fleet away from the Citadel in the dead of night to rendezvous with the Admiral's main fleet. She was not looking forwards to battling the Battleship Princess' armada; especially if included submarines. Remembering her humiliating last moments as a regular IJN destroyer made her cheeks burn with shame. Two well placed torpedo shots had sent her hurtling to the seafloor within five minutes. All 227 of her crew had died from the explosions or the inrushing ocean water. She eternally mourned them all, especially the kind officer Mizushima Yuuki. She clutched the helm with shaking fingers as she knew that Admiral Mizushima was undoubtedly related to her long dead comrade. Their faces were uncannily similar, and both had received identical injuries in a battle that neither had seen coming. After seven plus decades of slumber, her hull had hastily repaired itself and all the crew's remains had become one with her steel form when she was forcibly transmuted into a kanmusu. She could never admit that horrifying fact to her beloved Admiral; she was sure he would never forgive his fleet girls desecrating their own war graves in order to rise again in their anti-Abyssal roles. Her other eternally unanswerable concern was fretting whether the two Mizushima's shared the same soul. Her self flagellation was cut off by a sudden awareness of another ship spirit within her engineering compartment. How on earth had she missed it?

She raced down to the turbine room with a face holding back barely concealed terror. Had an Abyssal infiltrated her hull? What she saw made the breath leave her body. Lying sprawled out on the deck plating was the softly snoring human form of Kearsarge! All her previous gnawing worry dissolved as she blushed heavily at the sight of her beloved Craneship-1. Her stowaway could only be AWOL for one reason; he was risking his life for her. She silently knelt at his side and felt the irresistible urge to softly kiss him.

He groaned softly and suddenly his blue eyes made direct contact with Yamakaze's. The towering blond immediately flushed pink in his forehead and cheeks as he stammered, "Y-yamakaze-san. H-hello. You once…listened to my r-reciprocating steam engines. I was curious to hear…your turbines…in a-action…and I must have dozed off."

She looked at him with a deeply worried frown and shook her head. She was not going to believe that whale of a lie.

"O-okay. I was just…I am on a-an assignment to…I mean…I…oh darn it." He shook his head as he gave a shaky smile, "I b-broke the rules to be here…for you."

She moved back hastily as he stood back upright, dusted off his naval digital camo tunic and donned his ballcap with the block letters: USS Kearsarge. She burst into tears as she clung to him in a tight embrace, even though her head only came up to his chest. She blubbered, "W-why carelessly toss away your life…Kearsarge-kun? You were ordered to stay behind!"

He tenderly enfolded his muscular arms around her petite body and rested his cheek on her silken hair. Kearsarge realized that he could only sail forwards now, so he put everything on the line. He admitted bashfully, "If it is your fate to die in battle…I will go to the seabed…with you. I…I love you, Yamakaze-san."

She looked up in shock as more tears dripped off her cheeks, "I-I love you too."

He cupped her cheeks as he smiled shyly and gave his unimaginably adorable and brave destroyer a chaste kiss on her mouth. The two fleet warriors then bashfully walked back up to the bridge hand in hand.

Yamakaze was still terrified, but now she had a warm hand in hers that made her feel safe again.

Flanked by the Yamakaze and Suzutsuki, Kongou looked through the binoculars out of her portside bridge windows and beamed at the sight of the couple affectionately cuddling on Yamakaze's bridge. She giggled with her brownish grey eyes alight and spoke in a soft, amused tone, "Ah, burning love. Go for it you crazy kids."

…

Much later in the morning, a vast armada deployed just southeast of Yokosuka. Scout planes roared overhead heading southeast towards the Abyssal lines. Aboard the mighty Yamato in his JMSDF fatigues, Yuudai sighed as his shipgirls leapt off the side rails and assumed their battle forms. He had a weird passing idea in his head as he broke into a chuckle at his geeky thought.

Standing at her helm, the statuesque Yamato was deeply uncomfortable wearing the Digital BDUs with the rank insignia of Lieutenant Commander. She was rather girlish by nature and having her hair braided up and wearing pants was a new and unsettling experience for her. As a distraction she called out to her CO, "Admiral Mizushima? Is something amusing?"

Yuudai shook his head with a slight chuckle, "I was just making a nerdy reference in my head. I was thinking that 'Fleet Maidens: they're more than meets the eye'." He shook his head as he saw confusion in her deep brown eyes. He piped up with an awkward smile, "Pop culture in joke. My apologies Yamato-san."

She bowed humbly, and beamed, "Oh, its fine, sir. Would you like something to eat from the galley? The world famous Yamato hote-" She suddenly looked ashamed at her lapse, "Actually, I am not a hotel."

He had heard countless legends of her luxurious appointments including multi-course meals, live music during the officer's meals and air conditioned berthing. He was actually a little sorry to let her down. He rubbed his black hair awkwardly as he glanced away, "Erm…I'm very sorry, Yamato-san. I'm not at all hungry. I'm just a tiny bit scared out of my mind."

"Understood sir. I only ate just now to keep my strength up. Operating this massive hull burns a lot of fuel both in my body and out of the stack."

He patted her arm and smiled as he endeavored to steady his nerves. So much was riding on this battle. He was happy that three destroyers were deployed to protect the Citadel in his absence: The USS Mason with Etorofu aboard, the JS Akebono paired with Matsuwa, and the JS Samidare with Ooyodo as its liaison. Having shipgirls aboard the modern warships made them far more capable against an Abyssal sneak attack. He spoke to his flagship seriously, "Right now I am more interested in your massive firepower than in your amenities. Are you ready to direct the battle with the Yamato as the flagship to defeat both the Battleship Princess and your own little sister?"

She felt a fire burn white hot in her belly as she had been waiting endlessly to hear the order that meant that she would finally get the chance to fulfill the role she was built for…to turn the decisive blow right back around on the ex-Nagato's head. She stood stiffly at attention and barked, "Yes sir! I Lieutenant Commander Yamato will happily lay waste to the foes of our homeland at any price. My big guns will not fail you!"

Yuudai came to attention and saluted in return feeling positively giddy that he was about to order her to use her triple mount 46.0 cm guns to blow the crap out of the Abyssal fleet. Thousands of fans throughout the world would pay any price to possess his golden chance of commanding the Yamato in real ship to ship combat. He took a few breaths to calm down from his endorphin rush. "O-okay Yamato. Let's get to work. Load AP shells in all guns."

"Aye aye, Admiral!" She turned back to her ship's wheel and felt shivers of ecstasy as massive shells wended their way up to the breeches in her nine guns. She would do the emperor proud this time. Finally everything would be different. She linked with the fleet a single order, Flagship of the combined fleet, battleship Yamato speaking…battle formation!

Far behind Yuudai, the standard carrier Amagi tittered softly, "Akebono-chan, Ushio-chan, that's your cue."

The violet haired destroyer looked up with a conflicted face and massive doubt in her passionate purple eyes, "S-senpai, I thought the stupid Admiral was going to remove me from the combined fleet."

The brown-haired standard carrier patted the blushing girl's head, making her chime peal softly and soothed, "You are not an unlucky ship anymore. You are my shield Akebono-chan. I am relying on both you and Ushio-chan." Her brown eyes radiated affection, "Go out there and do your best, my friends."

Ushio nervously broke into a smile as she saw her sister display an unexpected soft side. Her light brown eyes displayed restrained joy at the sight of her luckless sister seeing her fortune turn around.

The two Fubuki class-Ayanami subclass destroyers saluted and ran off the bridge to enter the water as AA escorts to either side of their assigned standard carrier. Both ships had earlier landed their inadequate #2 gun mounts to ship newly installed CIWS Gatling cannons. Aboard her bridge, Akebono looked back at the brass memorial of her WWII crew mounted on the back bulkhead of her bridge and started to fiercely grin as she saw Zeros start to roar down Amagi's flight deck.

A few clicks to Amagi's southeast, the raven haired Katsuragi strained with all her might to keep up with her big sisters. Her engine telegraphs all indicated flank speed, as a heavy protesting shudder came from deep down in her machinery spaces. Her own power plant came from a destroyer rather than the scrapped cruiser engines that Unryuu-nee and Amagi-nee enjoyed. She perked up at Yamato-senpai's command. She beamed at her guardians, "Okay Suzutsuki-san, and Michishio-san, time to man the anti aircra-…I meant time to start escort duty!" She cursed at her lapse, as AA was all she had accomplished in her previous life; other than repatriation duty of course.

The silver-haired Suzutsuki simply nodded, saluted with a tight lipped smile and then lept off the bridge tower to deploy her hull.

The grumpy brunette destroyer crossed her arms and sighed, "It will be quite the pain guarding your backside, senpai."

"Oh I know Michishio-san. I'm far weaker than my awesome sisters and Zuikaku-senpai. Still I'll try my hardest," Katsuragi enthused with her green eyes afire. "Can I count on you," she asked before giving the flustered destroyer a mischievous hug.

"G-geez! Enough already! I suppose it can't be helped." She pumped her fist, "Michishio deploying!"

Katsuragi roared with delight as her fighters took to the skies.

A few kilometers at the end of the carrier line Unryuu calmly gazed at her petite protectors as her bleached hair blew in the wind and gave a quiet nod with placid golden eyes. She spoke softly, "Deploy to my flanks, Yamagumo and Asagumo. Good luck."

"Yaaaay! This is going to be so much fun~," Yamagumo gushed as she ran down to take her position on the port side, her silver hair blown back by the breeze.

The auburn-haired Asagumo saluted seriously, "We're counting on you, Unryuu-senpai. So count on us in return!" She took her position on the starboard side as Unryuu launched her attack force.

Ahead of the three carriers the main strike force deployed and fanned out. The linchpin in the center steamed the mighty Yamato with the light cruisers Yahagi and Sakawa protecting attacks from the side. Dispersed further out were her old Ten-Go escorts Hamekaze, Yukikaze, and Isokaze as an anti-sub screen. Further up on the line the former Nishimura Southern force battleships steamed ahead in the deceptively calm water. Both Fusou and her sister Yamashiro were ahead to the bow port and starboard diagonally ahead of Yamato. The heavy cruiser Mogami plowed through the waves between them. The twins' destroyer guard included the adorable Akatsuki, Verniy, Ikazuchi, and Inazuma. Finally ahead and off to the sides a little further forwards were the fast battleships Kongou and Haruna. The Shigure, and Yamakaze protected the elder sister; the Yuudachi and Harusame protected the younger sibling. Finally proudly scouting ahead was the fastest ship in the Mizushima fleet, the Shimakaze.

Shimakaze looked at her new uniform with disdainful grey eyes and huffed, "I have to wear this stupid thing? I wanna feel the breeze on every inch of my body!" The short blond eyed the horizon with binoculars and her newly upgraded radar set and groused to herself at being compelled to wear boots, and a tunic/pants combination covered with random patterns of blue, grey and black squares. She was only slightly mollified by the fact that at least the admiral let her keep her 'rabbit ears' headband. She heard the order and she activated her three separate quintuple mount oxygen torpedoes. She grinned with glee as she urged her magnificently restored powerplant on, "Faster! I wanna go faster!" She could now see a series of black dots on the horizon. Too many of them in fact. She was not deterred as she vowed to show up these Abyssal slowpokes!

Yuudai blinked in horror as he linked with the KanColle scoutplanes and saw for brief moments exactly how big the Battleship Princess' armada really was before the scouts were shot down. Counting capital, small and auxiliary vessels including five carriers, he now knew that that the ex-Nagato's boast was not idle.

He was outnumbered three to one!