Watching as three of the "Newly launched" shipgirls hugged Harry to them, her sister included, Taihou softly smiled in pure joy, 'He really will be a great Admiral for her and for them…'
A chuckle made her turn some as Akiyama came up beside her, a smile on his own face, "It seems that your Imouto is quite pleased."
Only nodding, the Carrier chuckled some herself, "Hai, Denryuu-Chan is no doubt happy right now." Her voice then softened a little, "How her… wreck… looked has always bothered her. And she admitted that she always wished to have been launched."
Head tilting some in acknowledgement, Akiyama stroked his beard, "Indeed, which she has just been… And launched by someone she deeply cares for as well."
Glancing at him, Taihou decided to satisfy some of her curiosity, "If it is not too rude… do you have much issue with…"
Lips twitching some, the wizard shook his head, "No, I do not." He then gestured at the group slowly walking towards them, though it missed no one's notice that Ishikari and Miitake held onto Harry's hand while Denryuu had her arms over his shoulders as they walked. In front of them were the very amused forms of Ume and Sakura with Mihara bringing up the rear with a grin on her face, "No, as long as my Onee-Samas are happy, then that is what matters." Akiyama then glanced at his wives and smiled slightly, "Besides which, if I had much issue than I would be something of a hypocrite."
Understanding on her face, Taihou simply nodded, "I see." Once her younger sister was close, she gave him a nod as well as a polite goodbye before walking over to her sister. Nearly as soon as she reached her, the older Carrier swept the younger one up into a tight hug, "I'm so happy for you, Denryuu-Chan."
Despite the light blush as she hugged her older sister back, Denryuu was smiling brightly, "Thank you, Onee-Chan…" Pulling back a bit, she chewed her lip some, "I… about how I looked…"
Eyebrow raised, the older of the two snorted as she cupped her sister's cheek, "As Harry-Chan continually has told you, and as I have, it was beautiful, just like you."
With that, Denryuu ducked her head a little bit with red staining her cheeks, "Thank you, Onee-Chan…" She then paused and furrowed her eyebrows some, "But how…?"
Chuckles escaped from Taihou as she shook her head with a slight grin, "Harry-Chan had Hedwig-San fly up to me and tell me what was going on. Hence, I had to quickly buy the sake needed and rush through the Vanishing Cabinets, though apparently he had somehow cleared the way for me as well."
If anything, that made the blush on the younger Carrier's cheeks deepen as she turned to look at Harry, who was currently being "Huggled" from behind by Miitake, Ishikari not letting go of his hand despite her own blush, "… That is just like Harry-Chan too…"
Hum escaping from her Taihou nodded some, "Hai, hence why I have said that he will be a good Admiral for you and the others."
Looking over at Harry, Denryuu nodded a little bit with a happy smile, "Hai, I know… and I cannot wait for him to sign in my Crew Register."
Simply smiling at that, her sister hummed a little before pulling back, "I think that maybe we should head over to where Harry-Chan is at, Denryuu-Chan, hmm?"
That got her a nod from her younger sister before they did just that. As they came within earshot, they could see Akiyama speaking to his older sisters as he rubbed one leg, "… I'm afraid that I am not quite as young as I used to be, Onee-Samas. Nor have I been on my feet as often as I have today, hence I think that I am unfortunately done for the tour."
Both former Hitobashira only shook their heads and bowed a little, looking distressed, "Our apologies, Aki-Kun, we have forgotten about such things."
Just chuckling, Akiyama patted them on the head, "It is fine, Onee-Samas. Easy enough to forget after all." Glancing at Harry, he continued a little bit, "But I believe that I should be heading back until another day." The older wizard then turned to the younger one and bowed, "I leave my Onee-Samas in your protection and care, Harry-San."
In reply, Harry bowed back to him, "Hai, and I will take care of them, Akiyama-San."
Moments later, he blinked as the older man chuckled with a slight grin and a twinkle in his eye even as his older sisters blushed, "Oh, I am sure that you shall, Harry-San. But thank you anyways…"
Not long afterwards the Twins pulled away from the hug that they were giving their brother before he left through the Vanishing Cabinet. Though they did blush and giggle some as both Hina and his Crane Wife Sora made mention of using some of the muscle ache relief potion that Harry gave them later on with their husband. It wasn't too hard for them to guess what was going to happen if the smirks and light flushes were any answer.
Once he was gone, Ume and Sakura than turned towards Harry before glancing at the door to the outside. They could just hear the sound of Ishikari and the others outside before they smiled and closed the distance between them and the teenage wizard. Doing so, they pulled him into a hug with him wrapping his arms around her and Ume kissed him, deepening it with a hum. Nearly as soon as she pulled back, she was replaced by her sister who did the same.
Breathing heavily as she pulled back, and enjoying the feel of the two pressed up against him, Harry blinked a little with his lopsided grin on his face, "Wow… Don't know what I did, but I need to do it more often."
Giggles escaped the Twins as they looked at each other and both gave him another kiss before smiling at him, "For what you did with Ishikari-Chan, Miitake-Chan, Denryuu-Chan, and Mihara-Chan, Harry-Chan. You have no idea what that means for them."
With a glance towards the door, Harry shook his head a little bit, "Actually? I think that I do know what it means for them." His expression softened a little bit, "I've overheard them once or twice wishing that they had been at least launched. So when I saw the chance…"
Very slowly, the Twins nodded with Ume answering for them both, "You did so."
Smile growing on their faces as he nodded some, they shook their heads, "We really should have expected that from you, Harry-Chan. You always go for the extra mile for those whom you care for."
Just shrugging a little bit, Harry looked towards the door once more, lowering his voice, "There is also how I know how they looked and the like bothered them, Sakura-Chan, Ume-Chan. If launching them as they should have looked helps them… then I have no issue doing as much as I can to help that happen."
Yet again, the two smiled at him and shook their heads in amusement at the purely Harry statement that was.
Rather than say anything, however, the two simply pulled him for another kiss as his hands went to their hips. After that, the three made their way through the doors to the outside where the others were waiting for them. Nearly immediately, Miitake came over and draped herself over Harry's shoulders happily, "Hey, Harry-Chan, ready to continue spending time with us?"
Chuckles escaping from him, the teen grinned up at her before stealing a kiss which made her flush, "Of course, I always am after all." Looking out over the base now, which had lights coming on as the Sun sank behind the rim of the Caldera, Harry considered it before turning to the Twins, "Just wondering… but is there anything that you'll be taking back with you when you dismiss your rigging?"
Now looking out over the base, Ume and Sakura had considering looks on their faces as they hummed, "We are unsure as of the moment, we're afraid. The smelter and foundry along with their ruins will disappear when we dismiss our rigging, for it does not serve much of any purpose in the modern day. We believe that they wish to build a warehouse there or two." They waved their hands a little bit, "We have already demolished the old prisoner barracks and replaced them with proper ones. Most of the core places will have been replaced by copies of the original when we dismiss our rigging, however. Though some such as the power plant will need to be restarted."
Sakura then spoke for them both, "Though from what we have been told, as soon as we dismiss our rigging, the JMSDF will be sending in engineers and surveyors to take note of everything and start some minor work."
Only nodding as they began to walk, Harry considered what he had been told. For the most part, however, he enjoyed simply walking with the Twins and three shipgirls with him, Mihara having chosen to go back to Yokosuka alongside Taihou. Passing past one unused building, the teenage wizard blushed a little as he remembered what it had been used for according to Ume and Sakura. Except, how, there wasn't any "Oiran" and "Geisha" lounging on the steps anymore…
Instead, he shook his head some and instead watched as various personnel went about their business. Some going to bars and the like after a hard day of work as it were. For the most part, it was relaxing to see and listen to.
Briefly, Harry had an image in his mind, of a much older him striding down the very same street, though the sailors and personnel had much more modern uniforms and clothes. At his side, like now, was Ume and Sakura who leaned into him as usual. Yet, what caught his attention was the fact that both of them had rounded stomaches and absolutely glowing complexions.
Then… the moment was gone and Harry blinked some before smiling, 'Well… that would be kind of nice, I guess…'
Of course, that was when he heard arguing and turned as he noticed Hideaki and Chika at one of the roadside bars. Part of him was amused by the flushed cheeks that both of them had, either from frustration, anger, the alcohol that they were drinking… or something else considering expressions that flitted over their faces. The Kitsune made a gesture with his sake bottle, nearly beaning the witch beside him as his glasses slipped down his muzzle. Ducking under the bottle, Chika scowled, "Watch it, you mangy throw rug!"
Grin on his face, Hideaki leaned in towards her as the witch's flush deepened, "That's not what you said last night~" His grin became downright perverted as his next words caused spittakes as he looked down at Chika's lap, "But if there is one possibly mangy place if you don't take ca-oof! Ow!"
Utterly red in the face, Chika began to smack him over and over, "SHUUUUT UP! Y-Y-YOU ERO-"
Before she could finish, the Kitsune dodged one of her smacks and kissed her, the witch blinking for a moment before relaxing. When they finally pulled apart, Hideaki chuckled, "Well, that is one of the reasons that they invented shaving charms~"
It took a moment, but soon Chika was back at trying to smack him as she realized what he had said.
Dodging around said hits with long time practice, Hideaki sighed a little, "Ah, but I tell ya, Chika-Chan, if only we could have finished those two ships! They would have been grand! But instead, we scrapped them because of those fucking morons…" Pausing for a moment, he tilted his head before shrugging, "Well, they wouldn't have made any actual difference, but would have been nice to see them set sail though."
Intrigued, Harry cleared his throat which got Hideaki to turn around and blink at him, "Hideaki-San? What ships are you talking about?"
For a moment, the drunken Kitsune blinked before nodding, "Oh yeah, you wouldn't know about them." He then gestured beside him, "Pull up a stool or somethin' and I'll tell ya about them…" A slight smile appeared on Hideaki's face, "Hopefully they show up with any luck."
The bartender rolled his eyes, but made a motion with his wand which made a barstool appear beside Hideaki. Sitting on it, Harry tilted his head some, "So, what sorts of ships are we talking about?"
Chuckling, Hideaki grinned a little as he took a sip of his drink, "Battlecruisers…" Trailing off, he furrowed his eyebrows some, "… Or were they Heavy Cruisers? Super-Heavy Cruisers? I mean, they were large and the Americans called those Alaska Class 'Large Cruisers'…"
Extremely amused by the drunken muttering, Harry cocked an eyebrow in interest, "So there were other Battlecruisers here?"
Rolling her eyes at how the Kitsune engineer blinked, Chika sipped her own drink, "Got it in one, Harry-San." Setting down her drink, the witch turned towards him, "You've met Yamatai from what I heard, right?"
Very slowly, the teenage wizard nodded a little even as he noted that Ishikari and Miitake were listening intently on what was being said, "Hai, she's actually one of my Sensei for Onmyoudo."
In reply, Chika blinked at that, "Huh, now isn't that interesting?" Shaking her head, she let out a breath, "Well, her design came from a series of Battleship studies done back in the late twenties by my own Sensei, Fujimoto-San, and Hideaki's Sensei, Hiraga-San. In particular, one for a twenty-five thousand ton Battleship. Had to do a bit of work to make it all, well, work, but…" The witch motioned with her hand and gave a "What can you do?" sort of shrug, "But the ones we're talking about were smaller at twenty thousand tons."
It was then that Hideaki spoke up some as he put his own drink down, "We knew that it was possible, mind. The Espana Class were even smaller and had eight twelve inch guns in four twin turrets. Damn slow and not that much armor on it though…" Grimace appearing on his face, he shook his head, "Sensei was brilliant, believe me, but we had a hell of a time making it actually work to say the least. We're talking a Battleship with nine, twelve inch guns in three triple turrets that's only twenty-thousand tons in displacement, and a speed of twenty-five knots. Hard to make work doesn't even begin to say it… Until, that was… I had a thought." Rubbing his chin, he grinned a little, "What if, instead, we tried to make a Battlecruiser from it?"
Leaning back, the witch had a fond look on her face, "Hideaki-Kun and I spend untold nights just working together on it, pooling what we knew." She made a motion with her hand and shook her head, "First thing we did was cut down the amount of guns from triples to just three, twin turrets. That gave us a lot of weight savings right off the bat. Secondly, we got rid of the underwater torpedo tubes and replaced two of the casemate five inch guns near the bow on either side with quadruple torpedo launchers. Once more, a bit less weight, which helped. As did with the fact that with metal strengthening potion, we could shave off two inches of armor from the belt, which meant lightening it more, while still getting the same amount of protection."
Another bottle of sake arriving, Hideaki poured some out and took a sip, "Finally, thanks to the fact that we were using doubles and not triples, we were able to stretch the design. It was basically done before we got word of the new boilers that the No-Maj were using in the reconstruction of the Kongou Class… those we grabbed examples of for them."
Softly snorting, Chika shook her head, "Though that led to several weeks of near sleepless nights as we were being driven to finish the design and quickly. But we managed and from all the tests, calculations and such… they would have been able to hit at least thirty knots, possibly up to thirty-three." Grabbing some nuts, she chewed them before swallowing, "Laid them down in 1936…"
Noticing the somewhat sour looks, Harry frowned, "What happened?"
Massive scowl on his face, the Kitsune shook his head, "Fucking Kamo is what happened when the war broke out." Rolling his eyes, he grumbled, "Bastard decided that they were not big enough, or strong enough with rumors of MACUSA having Cruiser-Killers of their own. So he ordered them scrapped and their materials to be used in building bigger, more powerful ships. And the two of them were nearly fucking done at eighty-five percent completion." A sigh escaped from Hideaki and he shrugged, "But, that was Kamo for you, bastard was a complete and utter fucking moron to work for at the best of times, always wanting more. They were not even the only ships scrapped at that time to make way for his 'Perfect, Heavenly Fleet', the prick. All that damn work…"
After a few more minutes of talking with them, Harry left with a look of deep thought on his face. Glancing at him, the Twins tilted their heads a little and hummed, "Thinking of the ships that you were told about?"
Very slowly, Harry nodded as he glanced at them, "Hai, I am… though…" He turned and looked at Ishikari and Miitake, "I'm kind of glad since otherwise I might not have met either of you, Miitake-Chan, Ishikari-Chan."
Flustered at those words, the Tsundere Battlecruiser looked away, "W-why do you need to say things like that!? Jeez…" After a moment, however, she turned her head and kissed his cheek before huffing, "But, um, thanks, I guess…"
Lips twitching some, Harry chuckled a little, "You're welcome, Ishikari-Chan."
That only caused the blush on Ishikari's face to deepen, even as her younger sister giggled some before giving Harry huggles as a thank you on her part.