___〆(･ω･ )
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"Did you compare the numbers on form H1-31.R with what was in file H-1941?" intoned Jintsuu's gentle, yet firm voice just as the target of her instruction had been about to sign off on a rather lengthy report.
"I..." Yamashiro paused and felt a ball of nerves settle in her belly. She didn't remember seeing that form. Her eyes widened as she began to frantically thumb through the stack of papers in front of her, not once bothering to look up and question the cruiser's words. "It-It's not here. But where then?"
Jintsuu chuckled while Yamashiro's pace quickened.
"It's not here. There's nothing that looks like it." Had she missed something so simple as a sheet of paper?
"That's because you don't know what it looks like." She paused. "And It's not part of that report."
"Eh?"
"You need A-150." Jintsuu plucked the file from the stack Yamashiro had passed over without a second thought. Indeed upon it were the magical numbers that were needed to help make sure the gears stayed greased in their little fleet.
Jintsuu would not laugh, nor chuckle at the defeated look the unfortunate battlewagon gave her in response. She would smile however. Yamashiro was doing her best in trying to learn how to fill in for herself and for Mutsu. Or any real command position, really. A curve ball here and there would help prod Yamashiro into making sure all her i's were dotted and her t's were crossed. On paper, that is.
"Check your procedures if you don't know and check them even if you think you know. It takes a lot of time and exposure before you can begin starting to go off your memory." Jintsuu leaned in and stage whispered a little morsel of information that she hoped would bolster the depressed woman. "I still use them and so does the Lieutenant Commander."
Yamashiro let a sliver of a smile cross her normally dour face. Okay, it was hard to argue with that. And she really did need to learn these things. If not for furthering the functionality of the war effort, then certainly for her sister. Fusou-oneesama would be terribly disappointed in her if she wasn't up to standard.
Couldn't have that, now could she?
"Do you have a copy, I... Ah. Don't have mine." She did not really want to admit having left it back at the battleship dorms.
"There should be one over here." They were using Mutsu's office as it had far better facilities for this sort of work than Jintsuu's own, but she still knew every nook and cranny like the back of her own hand. As testament to that it took only a few moments to locate Mutsu's copy of the massive tome. Tucked away behind a few inconspicuous photos, baubles, and unrelated books.
Jintsuu had been about to hand over the book when there was a tremendous crash. Both flinched as the door to Mutsu's office was all but blown off its hinges and then once more at the revelation of who had made such a violent entry.
Battleship Arizona.
Yamashiro all but whimpered at the sight of the... considerably angry looking Pennsylvania-Class. A powerful and experienced battleship she might be, but a raging standard was the stuff of nightmares.
Jintsuu on the other hand, blinked as the shock of seeing Arizona so furious gave way to confusion and then to a kind of baffled amusement.
"Where. Is. The Lieutenant Commander?" Arizona growled out as her chest heaved with each deep, ire-laden breath. Her red hair was all but alight and she looked as if she would burst a vein or maybe some piping with the slightest prodding. Both were certainly on the table. And the twitch in one eye couldn't be healthy.
"She's out with Kawakaze and Shigure." Jintsuu placed the form she had been holding back on the desk before tilting her head in thought. "I believe they wanted to try some kind of cake shop. And do a little Christmas shopping while they were at it."
She would liked to have gone, but teaching Yamashiro superseded that little luxury unfortunately. Along with the minute detail of her assigned day off being a day that was most definitely not today.
Missions were going to become even more frequent and likely even more dangerous if what she had heard was accurate. So in response to that, Admiral Richardson had scheduled a number of days off for the ships under his command. He had also added the promise of a bonus day if they could fulfill a specially assigned task. Her's was to make sure Yamashiro was at least competent in substituting for the role of Yeoman or XO by the end of today. One or the other.
So of course, she had decided to take it up to eleven and grind the battleship until she was skilled in both roles.
She'd have her extra day without question. There were movies to see!
And Star Wars. Without question, Star Wars. If another Abyssal task force reared their ugly heads, Jintsuu swore she'd choke them out by herself or drag them to the theater before doing so!
"Miss Jintsuu?" Yamashiro hesitantly prodded the suddenly silent cruiser. She could understand if Jintsuu was spooked by the American, but the violent determination and reddening cheeks coloring her expression did not really speak of fear. Rather something she really wasn't sure she wanted to name. "Miss Jintsuu, please."
"Yeoman?" There was a slight less fury in Arizona's voice, but it was hard to tell for the untrained ear.
Jintsuu coughed and shook the daydreams from her mind, her reddening cheeks turning into a full on blush of embarrassment.
"Oh, sorry. I-" Jintsuu halted as she once again took stock of what Arizona had done. ...And what she had barged in with. She snorted in a matter not unlike Mutsu before covering her mouth. "S-Sorry. But, what do you think you're doing, Arizona?"
"Something about decency?" piped up Aviation Cruiser Chikuma in her airy tone of voice. She really mind being carried underarm like a sack of potatoes by the battlewagon, but that was only because her dear sister couldn't see her in this unusual state.
"Ou! I was running laps and this lagwagon just-"
"Lagwagon!?"
"Yeah! This old slowpoke just yells at me and the next thing I know, I'm being dragged along at a snail's pace." Shimakaze folded her arms indignantly as she glared up at Arizona. She'd been making great time and this old biddy just had to interrupt her. How she got caught, she didn't know. But all she cared about was the fact she wasn't running right now.
"Oh, it's rare to see you this angry." Chikuma smiled amusedly as she glanced in the destroyer's direction. "Did she catch you running?"
"Hmph! Of course she did. What else would I... be..." Shimakaze's words slowed to a halt as she realized just what she had been about to admit. She, probably the fastest warship ever put to sea during the Pacific War, had been caught.
While running.
By a standard.
Both cruisers chuckled as the color drained from Shimakaze's face and her entire body went limp in Arizona's arm.
Yamashiro would have shared a look of resignation with Arizona, but a breeze made its way into the office and blew a not insubstantial amount of paperwork around. She let out a yelp of surprise as she leaped from her chair to grab hold of the now airborne sheets. Only for her movement to jostle yet more paper free and send them flying about the office.
Jintsuu sighed in defeat as the disaster zone expanded. At this rate Yamashiro wouldn't be fit to put postage on an envelope, much less fill out either of the duties being foisted upon her. Maybe she should lower expectations? No. Never! She must have her Force Fix!
"Arizona, why don't you put them down and have some fun with your day off," suggested Jintsuu with a sigh. Not all days off had been scheduled for the same day, hence why she was working while others were playing.
"But, Yeo-! Ji-! Miss Jintsuu!" Arizona swore she'd get it right on the first try one of these days. "I cannot stand by while such indecency runs rampant on base! A destroyer is running around wearing nothing but strips of cloth and string while a cruiser parades about with no undergarments!"
"I'm wearing something," protested Chikuma with a slightly embarrassed tilt. Well, kind of. It was just so much easier to move around like this. And something didn't quantify what. Or where. So it was still true.
"I saw nothing when that thing you call a dress was carried up by the wind!" Arizona's eye began twitching even more violently. And atop her blazing hair, a fairy stood with arms spread like an entertainer's. She turned her furious gaze back to Jintsuu, sending the fairy flying. "There must be some kind of dress code. Some regulation towards decency to be followed!"
"No..."
"There isn't."
"Sorry, but no."
"Have you seen Lieutenant Commander Mutsu's skirt?"
Arizona choked as the other ships in the room shot down her hopes in a rather swift manner. However it was Shimakaze's biting retort about Mutsu's ensemble that finally did her in. Without a comprehensible word, Arizona dropped her two hostages with a crash and stormed out of the office. A trail of very dated and despairing words of heated indignation followed her.
"She's a bit of a grump," commented Chikuma as she sat up on the floor, readjusting her dress in the process. She'd never met the American before now, and her first impression was less than pleasant. It'd have been so much nicer if she could have been assigned down in the Gulf of Mexico with her elder sister. Well, in a peacetime setting.
"Lieutenant Arizona has... very strong opinions about what she considers appropriate dress." If that wasn't the most polite way to say the redhead was a stubborn prude, Jintsuu would eat the Admiral's hat.
"She needs to lighten up. Unnecessary things will just slow you down!" Shimakaze frowned as she pulled herself back onto her feet. "Hmph!"
"Why... don't you put on some shorts and show Lieutenant Arizona around the city? E-Everyone's strung out and she's going to waste her day off doing pointless things at this rate. I think the results of the last battle affected her more than we realize."
As one, every set of eyes in the room was turned to focus on the younger Fusou.
"W-What?" Yamashiro sniped defensively. She was rife with many misfortunes and failings, but blindness was not one of them!
So long as it didn't involve paperwork.
"No, that's actually a good idea." Jintsuu cast a level gaze upon the blond destroyer, who now looked somewhat nervous. Yes, two birds with one stone. Help Arizona control her prude rage and get Shimakaze to interact with something other than a stopwatch. What could possibly go wrong? Many things, if she were honest about it. But she didn't get where she was by not taking chances. "Shimakaze, go change and find Arizona. I'd like it if you didn't have me make it an order."
"Hmhm. I suppose that's what you get," giggled Chikuma, still lounging on the floor.
She froze as Jintsuu's vision swept over her, lacking any hint of her usual kindness.
"And I have a few things I would like you to do as well."
"Oh. Ah..." The cruiser swallowed nervously as it became rather apparent that she should have kept her mouth shut. "Y-Yes, ma'am."
"Oh... fine." Shimakaze rolled her eyes in exasperation. Her day was shot. No more running and now she was stuck escorting the slowest ship in the fleet. Some day off this was. Granted, Yamashiro had a point. And she wasn't in the best of moods either. But still!
"Oh, Shimakaze!" called out Yamashiro as the destroyer began making her way out of the office with a halfhearted salute and a noticeable slouch. "...Try to have fun. You can run all you like when you get back."
"Ou!"
Yamashiro sighed and bent down to pick up some more papers after Shimakaze left. A frown was etched quite clearly on her face. So troublesome. So unfortunate. Why couldn't her sister be here? She'd make everything more bearable. More joyous. More anything that was good in life.
I was nice to have Shigure around, the destroyer's mood always brightened whenever she caught sight of her. And she would admit that, yes, she liked having the Shiratsuyu around as well.
She looked up when she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Jintsuu giving her a soft smile.
"Wh-What?"
"No. Nothing. I just feel that I've seen something nice today."
"...Can we please get back to work?" grumbled the battleship before pointing at Chikuma. "And what are you going to do with her?"
Jintsuu produced a list out of seemingly thin air.
"Grocery shopping."
"...Isn't that an abuse of power?"
"Not if she's securing supplies for the fleet."
Yamashiro was beginning to think she might have an idea why the light cruiser was so feared even outside the battlefield.
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"You're sooo slow!" bemoaned Shimakaze as she led Arizona about the shopping mall. She meant it with as much good humor as she could, but Arizona really was taking her sweet time in following her lead.
"If you did not insist on running around like a jackrabbit, then maybe I would be able to keep up." She was well aware just how fast the destroyer was on the water. But she hadn't anticipated that haste translating over onto land. Perhaps she should have. Or perhaps she should have brought a leash. Though that would means she'd have to find a way to actually bind the girl with it.
At least Shimakaze was wearing something decent. Not very, mind you. But she didn't need to worry about answering very, very embarrassing questions for the local authorities.
And her eye wasn't twitching anymore either, so that was a plus.
"Are you certain you know where you're going?"
"Ou! The most efficient path is the fastest." Shimakaze's declaration was accompanied with a sudden turn. Had she not taken Yamashiro's suggestion, she might have flashed a good number of mall goers. Fortunately jean shorts and tights were counter productive to indecent exposure. It didn't really matter one way or the other to her, so long as she got where she needed to got as fast as possible. "And then take it as fast as you can!"
"I cannot really argue your first point..." Arizona picked up the pace as best she could so as to not lose sight of her guide. Weren't escorts supposed to stick close? "Where are you leading me?"
"You wanted to do some Christmas shopping, right?" Shimakaze queried as she spun in place to allow the standard to catch up. "You haven't been here long and you're living with the Admiral, so that means you don't know anyone else well enough to get them anything meaningful. So! That's only five presents that you're gonna be able to think about. I know exactly the place."
Insightful and well thought out.
Arizona lamented that such a sharp and considerate mind was hidden behind such a lewd dress code.
Were she a more... open-minded warship, she might not have been so bothered that Shimakaze looked like a street corner special in her supposed duty outfit. But she wasn't. All those skimpy, scandalous, revealing... Nope, try not to think about it.
And there was that twitch again.
"Maybe you should get Parkson to look at that eye. Your directors might be on the fritz."
"No, this is something else." Arizona rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to will away her rage. Be calm. Be content. Do not dwell on the indecency so openly displayed in the modern world.
The lingerie store passing by on their starboard did not help.
"You should probably get some more underwear. All that fancy red stuff is nice, but-"
"What?!"
"Ouou! Loud. Really loud." Shimakaze winced at Arizona's outburst. Fortunately there was enough hustle and bustle that not one paid them anything more than a second glance. "Mutsu can help you out with that. She's the fashionable one."
"Why. Do you. Know what my undergarments look like?" she hissed angrily, her face taking on a color not too dissimilar to her hair.
Shimakaze gave her a flat look.
"Locker room. The docks. Clothing damage."
Arizona groaned and covered her face with both hands, unknowingly imitating her Admiral in his more exasperated moments.
"May... May we simply hurry up?" The sooner she could get this done, the better. Then she might be able to escape the madness. Maybe a book. A good manual on tactics or procedures. Or just throw caution to the wind and read something of no real worth. Anything to take her frazzled mind away from the insanity that surrounded her.
"We're already here though." Shimakaze would have prodded Arizona a bit more, but she was a plenty observant girl. You didn't live long as a destroyer if you weren't. And Arizona looked like she was headed bow first into that same crazy state that had somehow allowed the lagwagon to catch her. Better to just let it lie.
"I-Oh. We are?" she cast her grey gaze over the myriad storefronts in an appraising manner. "Toys and hobbies?"
"Ou. And there are other stores we can go by on the way back if you don't find anything here."
"I will one day figure you out."
"You're rated as a flagship. It'll happen eventually." She crossed her arms over her chest with a nod.
"I hope sooner than later." Arizona reached out and gave the destroyer an approving pat on the head. It wasn't Admiral-Grade, but it wasn't far behind. She grinned slightly. "At least by the time I convince you to wear something decent."
"Ugh, that'll take forever then... You'll have better luck figuring out Hiei."
"Do not underestimate a battleship's stubbornness."
"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's goooo-!" With a spin and a dash, Shimakaze ran about behind Arizona and gave the battleship a prodding shove towards the nearest shop. Understandably, there was no reaction until Arizona decided to play along. Maybe she should pester some of those tug captains about how to get a boat to move. So slow. Jeez...
There was the jingling of a bell as Arizona opened the door to the store Shimakaze had been attempting to guide her into. Despite the very modern, generic layout, the bell gave the store a comfortable air. People mulled about, browsing and playing and chatting away as commerce took place.
"Whoa. Busy."
"It is getting close to lunch. And it is the Christmas season."
"Yeah, but still." Shimakaze frowned as she handily dodged out of the way of a customer who couldn't completely see where she was going. "Let's just hurry up. See anything?"
"If my suspicion is correct, then I believe I have my gift for the Yeoma-for Miss Jintsuu." Arizona marched forward, her gaze firmly locked upon a very particular display. The crowds seemed to part as if the very sea itself for her approach. Her steely gaze and imposing demeanor no doubt helped her advance.
When she reached the display, Shimakaze hot on her heels, she reached out with a gloved hand. There was a pause as she scanned the items placed thereupon before nodding and grasping her choice. With a single deft movement, it was pulled free and held upright to be judged. Arizona's thumb ran over the uneven surface while her fingers readjusted themselves into a more comfortable grip.
"Yes. I think this will do."
There was a sharp hiss as the crimson blade ignited, illuminating the redhead's face with an ominous light.
"Yes indeed."
"Oh, she'll like that. And it's combat approved!" remarked Shimakaze as she looked at one of the other, shorter lightsabers for sale. She poked at the notice confirming just that on a Yoda model. "Not our type of combat, but it's not gonna break if she has a duel with someone. I bet some of those geeks in Intel would love that."
"I simply want to get her something she'd like." Arizona deactivated the lightsaber and held it at her side. She would not admit she might want to swing it around a bit.
"She will. Probably too much." A shudder ran down Shimakaze's keel as she imagined Jintsuu's reaction to such a gift. "But that was nice and fast. Who's next?"
"I will probably want to obtain gifts for the Admiral and Lieutenant Commander elsewhere. But I'm sure I can find something for Jane, Hiei, and Albacore here. Jane and Albacore at the very least." Hiei might be a bit more difficult, so she would have to see what options presented themselves.
"Albacore? The subthief teaching the lewdmarines how to submarine when she's not stealing Admiral Richardson's pants?"
"I... Yes. That's her." Really, that girl. "I owe her tremendously, so I should at least get her something with some thought put into it."
Shimakaze merely nodded in understanding. She'd read the reports. And with great haste!
The duo wandered about for a while longer, browsing and chatting relatively amicably. It wasn't too long before Arizona decided that an art store replete with a rainbow of gel pens would be the best option for Albacore's gift rather than many of the odd trinkets they had come across thus far. And Hiei would require a trip to the bookstore. It was rather hard to find a cookbook in a toy store.
"Oh!"
"What'd you find?"
"This."
"Ou..." There was a hint of awe in Shimakaze's voice as she beheld what Arizona was showing her.
"She enjoys building models, so I think one of these would suit her nicely." Certainly the plethora of kits Jane had shown her were a suitable inspiration. And there was a very distinct note of pride in the child's voice when she had told her about them in a few of the more jovial moments of downtime. And she didn't recall seeing either of the two she had grabbed off the very, very sparcely populated shelves anywhere in the house.
"Which one then?" Two was a bit much, even for Christmas.
"I'm not certain. I'll buy both and save one for her birthday. Or return one if needed." Arizona raised an eyebrow in a questioning look. "That would be the most efficient method wouldn't it?"
"She can be taught!" laughed Shimakaze with an air of mock seriousness.
"One of us at least."
"Hey!"
"Tit for tat."
"Erk!" In an effort to distract Arizona from the loss of face, the high speed destroyer pointed at the two rather complex looking models. "Why those two?"
"Oh? Jane's fleet lacks a solid air wing, so a carrier is a must. But it does not hurt to have another battleship. And I found it odd she lacked a model for one of America's most powerful battleships." Arizona spoke in a very matter-of-factly tone of voice as she gestured to the rather sizable boxes in hand. One of Saratoga and the other of Missouri.
"Hm! Good choices." She pointed towards the checkout counter. If the were done here, then on to the next stop! "Ready?"
"Certainly." A lightsaber for Jintsuu and a model for Jane. The day was turning around, especially after such a disastrous beginning. "If you wish to meet me outside, I do not plan to dally."
"Sounds good."
As Arizona made her way to the register, Shimakaze noted a third, much smaller box tucked carefully under Arizona's arm along with the lightsaber. Why hadn't she noticed it before? And it was a little odd that Arizona hadn't made any mention of it... There was a very distinct lettering on the parcel as well.
USS Arizona.
But why buy a model of yourself?
Unless...
Shimakaze froze.
"No way..."
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