This was pathetic, Kongou thought. She should not be having to sneak around the navel base like a thief in the night; yet here she was, tiptoeing down the corridor, with her eyes peeled for any sign of blonde hair. All she had to do was keep low and quiet, and she could avoid being attacked by horny foreigners.
It was days like this that she really missed her admiral. She'd have to prepare something for when they got back, something to show her devotion.
As always when she thought about the admiral, Kongou's attention drifted off into fantasy, and away from wherever she actually was. Which was probably why she didn't see the broken remains of the swordfish until it was too late. The brunette shrieked as the bottom of her foot was stabbed by the jagged pieces of metal and wood, and squealed as she lost her balance, and the world tumbled around her.
A sharp pain shot through her head as she hit the ground with a dull thud, and a myriad of colours burst to life before her eyes, before everything turned black.
For a moment there was nothing, like she was floating in the void, then the darkness receded and the pain returned. The shipgirls groaned, and as it felt like thunder rumbled inside her head, and her whole body felt like it was made of rubber.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Suddenly there was a girl standing above her. She was kinda pretty with long, blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes; funny, Kongou didn't remember seeing a girl like this around this around the base before. Then it struck her, the fall must have killed her, and this was an angel greeting her to heaven.
The angel's cheeks turned bright red. Huh, who knew angels could blush?
"Um," she said. "Do you need me to take you to the docks?"
She had a nice voice too, rich and thick, like honey. Ah, ambrosia!
The angel's blush got even darker.
"Here," she said, reaching out to help Kongou back to her feet.
Unfortunately, the smaller shipgirl's legs still felt like jelly, and she stumbled. Still, it's not all bad, it just meant that she needed to lean against the angel's soft body for support. Hmm, as well as a lovely voice, there was something to be said for her figure too.
"Hey Bongou?"
Then like the crack of a whip, reality reasserted itself. The voice that called through the hallway sent a chill down her spine, and she instantly remembered who it belonged to, and why she was here. The brunette's demeanour instantly shifted, as she grasped tightly at the front of the other girl's shirt, and stared pleadingly into her beautiful, blue eyes.
"Hide me," she begged, her voice little more than a whisper.
The taller girl just stared at her, obviously confused.
Gah, there was no more time, she could hear their footsteps coming closer! There was another door standing open directly behind the blonde, and with a sudden burst of near herculean strength, she pushed both of them through. She closed the door not a moment too soon, because the footsteps had clearly made it to the corridor outside.
The room turned out to be a bedroom, albeit one that looked to have barely been lived in. Boxes and suitcases were piled up all over, and a huge mound of clothes was sitting atop the sheets. In the moment Kongou did the only thing she could think of, and dove beneath the sheets to hide, scattering clothes everywhere.
Then there came a knock at the door.
"Nelson?" said a voice. It's different to the one that had echoed through the halls earlier, softer, more refined.
"Warspite?" the blonde replied. "Don't come in, I'm … not dressed."
There was silence for a moment, before Warspite continued.
"I was just wondering if you've seen Kongou?"
"Kongou? Who is that?"
"She dresses like a shrine maiden," Warspite answered. "And has brown hair, done up in ringlets."
The blonde spared at look at the brunette, who had peeked her head out from beneath the sheets to witness the conversation, or at least half of it. Kongou shook her head vigorously.
"Uh, yeah, I saw someone like that a couple of minutes ago," the blonde said. "I think they were heading towards the mess hall."
"Thank you," Warspite said.
There was a couple of moments of silence, then they could hear the sound of footsteps heading away from the door. It was only when those footsteps had completely disappeared, that Kongou allowed herself to breath a sigh of relief. She sunk back into the soft bedsheets, and their warmth enveloped her as she finally relaxed.
"Wow," the blonde said. "My first night here, and I all ready have a cute girl in my bed."
Once again, Kongou felt her own cheeks begin to burn. She flung back the covers she was hiding under, and sprung from the bed like it had just given her a shock. She sort of settled back down again when she saw that the blonde was smiling at her; it was an easy-going expression, with just a hint of mischief to it. She only "sort of" calms down, because for some reason her heart was beating a mile a minute.
"So you're Kongou, I'm guessing?" she asked. "Nice to meet you."
"And you're Nelson?" Kongou replied.
"Yes," she answered. "I just arrived today."
"Ah, then welcome!" Kongou exclaimed, trying to inject some of her usual enthusiasm into her voice.
She thrusted her arm out, and Nelson took her hand; she had a pretty firm grip.
Kongou's wasn't an idiot, and she knew that little scene had to have looked a bit strange. She needed to correct that if she wanted to make a strong first impression, and she always wanted to make a strong first impression.
"Hey, since you're new, how about I show you around?" she said.
Nelson raised an eyebrow.
"In the middle of the night?" she asked.
"Tomorrow then!" she exclaims. "For now how about we go have some hot tea, since you're such a hottie?"
For just a moment, Kongou is utterly horrified with herself. She wants to dive back into the bed, and smother herself with the pillow. She could feel the smile on her face become slightly more strained, and it takes a lot of self-control to keep it from breaking entirely.
Fortunately, Nelson takes the comment in good humour, or seems to; she laughs at any rate.
"I'll admit, I've not heard that one before," she said. "But why not. We'll have a late night snack, and you can tell me a little more about the base."
Kongou blinks.
"Hmm, nobody told you that stuff when you arrived?"
"Well, yes," Nelson replied. "But it was mostly standard orientation stuff, I wanted to hear more about the actual personality of the place."
Kongou smiled widely.
"Then leave it to me," she proclaimed. "I'm full of personality!"
Nelson chuckles.
"So I can see," she said.
Kongou just stuck her tongue out, before she sprung forward and linked her own arm through Nelson's and dragged her towards the door.