Section 1 : Paperwork and Other Matters of Life and Death

"If this booklet has been presented to you, congratulations! You have been chosen by lot to participate in the Peacetime Transition Committee's Shipgirl Adoption Program. Please report to the PTC office at Maizuru Naval Base and have the following documents ready: State ID or other official credentials, proof of employment, housing . . ."

"Adoption program, huh? With all this stuff they told me to bring, feels like I'm the one being adopted!" To be honest I, Hiroshi Tanaka the amateur historian and professional minion, never expected to be here. When they announced the adoption program, I filled out one of the opt-in cards, but so did everybody in my university class who had housing. It was just one of those things you did, a show of solidarity in wartime, like sorting through the trash one extra time to make sure all the aluminum scrap had made it to the recycling bins. But aside from that, we didn't really think about it. After all, the war with the Abyssal Fleet seemed so far away, it just didn't register. I mean, yeah, the price of food went up, and the Abyssals shot up all the undersea cables, so forget playing any kind of Internet game in real time against anybody anywhere else but Japan, but really, compared to what I had read of previous wars, that didn't seem like much. I mean, if you lived more than half a kilometer inland, the Abyssals couldn't even harm you, unless they could learn to walk on land somehow. I suppose they could, after all, our own shipgirls can walk on land, but if they ever tried it, it never made the news.

"Shipgirls"- such a simple word for such a thoroughly strange concept. When the Abyssal Fleet first attacked, they did so with humanoid weapons, little bigger than a grown man. It was almost comical, until you watched a Chi-class slide up alongside a fishing trawler and throw a handful of torpedoes at it, and then next month's dinner was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Our scientists figured out the trick and then we began building our own "daughters of the sea", and were able to fight back. I couldn't begin to explain the science behind it, but it seems that whatever it is that gives the girls life also translates their fighting spirit into actual strength. Our girls wear the names of old, honored vessels, and somehow they can draw upon the power of their namesakes. I would suppose that wherever the Abyssal ships come from, they do the same thing, but outside of taunts and insults, the two sides have never spoken as far as we civilians know, so there's no way to tell.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand . . . honestly, Maizuru isn't much to look at, more like a boarding school than what I would expect for a naval base. But then, the shipgirls are more girl than ship, I suppose you couldn't really tie them up along a pier. But now is not the time to focus on immaterial things. I paused for a moment with my hand on the door. The situation was about to get real. Well either that, or I was going to learn I was the target of the world's most elaborate prank, not sure which would be worse. Here goes nothing . . .

Of course, if I had been thinking clearly, I would have expected this outcome. A bureaucracy is a bureaucracy, after all, even when they're calling upon your sense of duty to do them a favor. After turning over my papers to a girl who had been seated at a big desk in the room I was directed to, I was told to wait while she checked things over. Half an hour later, and I'm still sitting here, and she hasn't told me anything, or even returned to the desk. At least it's a nice waiting room, with decently upholstered chairs and tea service, but nothing to read. I wonder if that girl was a shipgirl- she looked pretty normal. But then again, without her armaments installed, how would you tell a shipgirl apart from a normal human anyhow?

A glance at the clock shows that 34 minutes have passed since I first arrived in this room. Every time I go to refill my tea or add sugar I look again to be sure of the time. Unfortunately, that seems to be every minute or so. There's nothing to do here. Is this some kind of test? "You must be this patient to enter the program", that sort of thing? Maybe I'm just getting paranoid. If I turned out to be unsuitable for the job, they would have told me to go home, right? Right?

"The administrator will see you now," called out the desk girl, having reappeared when I wasn't looking. The sudden noise was enough to nearly scare me out of my skin, but somehow I managed not to throw tea all over myself or the immediate surroundings. "Sorry, I just had to," the girl giggled as I steadied myself. "Have to keep my sneak-attacking skills sharp somehow." I gave the girl a dubious look, and felt my eyebrows raise even further as she opened her uniform jacket, but then I saw she was wearing a standard-issue swimsuit beneath it, emblazoned with the tag "I-401", and things came together.

"Ahh, submarine corps, is it?" I asked, feeling stupid immediately afterward. Who else would wear a swimsuit with a hull number on it?

"That's right, Hiroshi-san!" the girl replied, which must have caused me to outwardly flinch once more, because it drew giggles from the girl again. And then I felt like an idiot for a third time- she was just looking at my ID and my application papers, of course she knew my name. "You can call me Shioi if you like."

"That's pretty informal, isn't it? Er, Shioi-san?"

"Well, maybe, but we don't really have surnames. At first, we tried using the names of the dockyards where we were born, but that didn't work too well. Having a dozen girls show up when you call 'Sasebo, please report to the Administrator' was hilarious, but not particularly useful. Speaking of that, you should probably get in there- our Administrator doesn't suffer fools or tardiness lightly."

I wanted to reply, but the only thing that came to mind was "then what am I doing here?", which would probably make Shioi laugh again, but wasn't particularly useful. Instead, I gave her a quick nod and headed for the office proper, trying to will away the feeling of impending doom.

The office was pretty plain, as things went, with a large and sturdy oak desk in the middle of the room and a couple of comfortable-looking chairs across from it. Tea service and a couch were pressed back against one wall and the opposite wall was taken up by a large window looking out over the sea. Overall, there were very few decorations in the room, but I could understand that, for no amount of decoration could hope to draw attention away from the woman behind the desk. She was tall and possessed a powerful build, with deeply tanned skin and blonde hair teased into wolf's-ears giving her an exotic look. A samurai's sarashi was the only thing covering her ample chest, which would have drawn my gaze in an unfortunate way if I wasn't already being held in place by her glaring red eyes.

"You're late. I would ask why you kept me, Musashi, waiting." There was a calm politeness to her words that was somehow more terrifying than if she had raised her voice in anger, and I found myself stammering for a minute. Finally, I made a bow of apology, mainly to break eye contact and try to guard myself from her overwhelming presence.

"My apologies, Musashi-san, I was exchanging pleasantries with your secretary and lost track of the time."

"More like Shioi started talking and wouldn't shut up, I bet. I should have expected as much. The 400s were created for a stealth attack on the enemy's heartland, but we never located such a place before the war ended, so Shioi and her sisters never learned firsthand the value of doing one's duty in silence." Musashi shook her head. "But you're not here to listen to Musashi complain about missed opportunities. You're here because of the adoption program."

"I am," I nodded with my reply, trying to keep it from turning into a question. There was a little voice in the back of my head that wanted to argue Shioi's case in the face of Musashi's dismal opinion of the girl, but the more sensible part of my mind was telling that voice to shut up, just shut up before you get a chance to find out if Musashi-san even needs her guns to blast you into little pieces! The friction between these two thoughts was starting to become uncomfortable, and I found myself fidgeting in my seat.

"From what I see of your records, you more than meet the gross requirements of living space, income and the like. That's all well and good, but not really relevant at the moment. The point of this interview will determine whether you are a good fit for the program. We don't want any of our girls stuck in an inappropriate situation, like an obsessive military otaku, or somebody who's only interested in finding out what a shipgirl is like in bed-"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have gift-wrapped your tits," I blurt out. Panic seized my heart in the next moment as Musashi's eyes widened at the barb. My parents always warned me about blurting out things which didn't need to be said, even if they might have been true. Especially when they're true, those are the worst sort, I can hear my father saying in my memories, and now, this bad habit of mine has gotten me killed.

"You would criticize me, Musashi, a super-dreadnaught battleship on her choice of clothing?" Here, in the last moment before my death, a sort of maniacal calm came over me, and I chose to forge ahead with honesty, not that it will save me from getting a brigand's burial in a cesspit. Assuming there's enough left of me to bury.

"W-well, it does draw quite a lot of attention," I stammered out.

"There are exceedingly few people who would dare to talk to one such as myself in such a fashion. It is a quality that will serve you well as an adopter, I think. We shipgirls were built to carry an abundance of self-confidence, as regardless of how we are dressed-" At this point, Musashi put on a slight grin and that was somehow even more frightening as she continued, "all of us wear naught but our skin for armor. In this particular situation however, as we begin the transition to a time of peace and work to find our place amongst our countrymen, this aspect of our character may turn out to be something of a hindrance, and so someone with the fortitude to act as a brake upon his adoptee's temper is essential for the success of this operation."

"Wait, you're not going to kill me?"

"No, you've passed with flying colors, Hiroshi." Musashi's grin became just a little bit wider, baring a bit of fang. "Of course, if you had tried to unwrap my 'gifts', I would have broken every bone in your body, but that's another matter. You may come to regret your candor, however; since you seem to have no problem talking back to a super-dreadnaught, I am going to assign to you one of the more high-spirited girls on my list. If you can keep your wits sharp, you'll do fine, but if not, you will find her to be something of a nightmare."

"I-I see. Is there anything else I should know?" I tried not to sound too pathetically relieved at having passed.

"I am certain there are many things you should know, but being able to adapt to conditions as they are presented is part of a soldier's duty. You will learn to do the same, or you will fail."

"I understand," I replied, and bowed deeply, and then I turned and left Musashi's office as quickly as decorum permitted, before she had a chance to change her mind and slay me anyway.

I was informed to go out front and wait. I expected there were last minute preparations that needed to be taken care of on behalf of the adoptee. I didn't expect, however, for there to be two girls coming out to greet me. Although on closer inspection, I don't think one of the girls expected there to be two of them, either.

"Tenryuu, I'm fine! Really! This isn't like a scouting cruise or a torpedo run, it's a civilian outreach program!"

"I'm well aware of that fact, thanks," replied the second girl, Tenryuu apparently, in a tone of sarcastic disapproval. She seemed to be the elder of the two, although whether that was actually relevant when the shipgirls left the shipyard fully formed was something I couldn't be sure of. Tenryuu had a second set of ears peeking up through her indigo hair, high-tech constructs that seemed to be sensors of a sort, and one eye was covered with a similarly-styled patch. Together, the enhancements gave her a ferocious air, although without the same massive presence as Musashi had. "But it has been my duty to keep you lot safe and secure when sailing into danger, and I don't intend to turn away now."

"Sheesh! I already have to make my weekly check-in calls, what more do you want? Yo, Civvy!" the girl called to me, and now that she wasn't turned to Tenryuu, I could see more than just her profile. The first impression I got was "mini-Musashi"; the girl also had red eyes and the same wolf-ear hairstyle- and it was even blonde as well- but there the resemblance ended. This girl was more petite, and also more girlish- she had the softer features of a teenager, rather than Musashi's adult sharpness. I wondered if there was a rhyme or reason to the apparent ages of the girls, something I should have looked up before jumping into the program, or at least asked during the interview maybe. Then I noticed the girl was staring at me, and I realized she was waiting for a reply.

"Uh, yeah?" I ventured, trying not to look any more the fool than I had to.

"You're not like going to go all weird on me later on, are you?"

"Uh, no- miss, I surely won't." It occurred to me right as I was fumbling for it that I had never been told the girl's name.

"There, you see, everything's going to be fine!"

"When did you join 6th Squadron?" Tenryuu replied, a remark that flew right over my head but apparently wasn't a compliment, considering the way the other girl bristled.

"Hey! What are you trying to say?"

"I believe the implication is that you're naïve and shouldn't be let out of dock without adult supervision." Tenryuu replied, archly.

"Um, I hate to butt in, but isn't that technically what I'm for?" I found myself speaking up without intending to, but hopefully my luck will hold as it did earlier. "Otherwise wouldn't it be the 'shipgirls renting flats program' instead of the 'shipgirl adoption program'?" My adoptee barked out a laugh at that, and Tenryuu scowled for a moment, but then she let out a small sigh.

"I suppose you are correct, and Musashi didn't tear you limb from limb, so you must not be too much of a deviant." Tenryuu turned and pulled the other girl into a sudden hug, drawing a squawk of surprise from her. "Go on, you, get!"

"Well that was fun," said the girl in a low voice once she got next to me. "C'mon, lets get outta here before Ten-chan changes her mind and decides to like, sic some recon planes on us or try to move in with you."

"Uh, yeah, good idea," I reply, swallowing hard. Just what sort of mess have I gotten myself into? I guess it's too late to worry too much about it though. May as well forge ahead. "By the way, my name is Hiroshi. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Oh, right! I'm Yuudachi, and thanks-" Suddenly it clicked, and I couldn't help but break out into laughter, which caused Yuudachi to pull up short and give me a perplexed look. "Hey, what gives!"

"Sorry, but something Musashi said in my interview just made sense. She said my assignment was going to be a nightmare, and here I have the Nightmare of Solomon with me."

"Hah! Okay, you get a pass this time, but that's so not like her. Weird."

"This whole project is supposed to be about finding your place in the peacetime, right? Maybe that's her way of doing so."

"I guess. It'd be nice if Ten-chan would like stand down from battle stations though. Putting me with the Kindergarden was a low blow." Yuudachi fumed.

"What was that all about?"

"Eh, it's a sort of fleet in-joke. The 6th Destroyer Squadron is made up of all Akatsuki-class, they're the smallest of us all. They're good kids, ya know?" Here I nodded, as I really couldn't say one way or the other. "But they're not really the kind you let go out on their own. Ten-chan got sent as their flagship a lot, and one day somebody remarked it looked like a school teacher leading a kindergarden class down the street, and the name sort of stuck. But I can take care of myself."

"Of course, but if you need any help, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

"Gotcha," Yuudachi nodded.

The shrine was on the other end of town, which meant taking a train, and there I got to see a side of my adoptee I never would have guessed. I had expected that a shipgirl who was part of the program wasn't quite going to be used to civilian life, else like I said to Tenryuu, it would be the "shipgirls-renting-flats" program, but I wasn't expecting the first crisis of Yuudachi's civilian life to be a train.

"Oof!" I grunted as Yuudachi crashed into me on the first turn. The impact was considerably more solid than what one would get from a normal girl of the same stature, but I at least remembered enough of my manners not to mention that. Instead I reached out a hand to help steady her, and to my surprise, she clutched on to it.

"Gahhh! This . . . thing is all wrong! It's like I'm used to being on the ocean and doing this," Yuudachi made an up-and-down wave motion with her hand. "And the train does this," which she indicated with a back-and-forth shimmying motion, before continuing, "and it's like not right! Sorry, Hiroshi, I'm really not a klutz, I promise!"

"Oh, trust me, there are a lot of people who still get thrown when riding. Just try not to judge me too harshly when it's my turn to stumble," I replied with a wink.

"Gotcha." After a few minutes of silence, Yuudachi turned back to me. "There's a lot of town here, isn't there?"

"Well, for the area, I suppose so. The major cities, Tokyo and Osaka and the like, they're a lot bigger still."

"Wowww . . ." Yuudachi stopped and just stared out the window in amazement. "I knew that we weren't just fighting the Abyssals cuz they were there, we were trying to keep them from attacking the people behind us, but they never told us there was this much behind us. It's a little bit, uh . . ."

"Nerve-wracking?" I suggested, seeing the frown on the girl's face.

"Yeah, actually. I feel worse now than right before my first sortee."

"It's called compartmentalization- knowing just how much was at stake would only make things worse, so you weren't told." I tried to make it sound like a good thing, and maybe partially succeeded, but it didn't entirely erase the frown from my adoptee's face.

"But . . . what if like they come back?"

"Then you'll just have to go out their and kick their asses again, won't you?"

"I suppose so," Yuudachi frowned again. "But what if they get stronger in the meantime?" At that moment, as I saw how the fear of the unknowable future seized the shipgirl, I began to understand the true value of the adoption scheme. For all that Yuudachi had the appearance of a teenager, and the brash confidence to go along with it, she had been alive, if that was the right term, for little over a year, and she had spent that year thinking only of the most immediate circumstances- how to win this fight, how to prepare for the next. Having fended for myself through four years of university and then living at the shrine, I was a wizened old soul by comparison, and I was supposed to impart some of that wisdom to my adoptee. Talk about nerve-wracking. Luckily, I had an answer ready at hand, at least for this situation, thanks to my friends from school.

"Well, as far as that goes, I've got some buddies who work at an engineering firm, and they're working on a new kind of torpedo for you guys. So Even if the Abyssals get stronger, you'll get stronger too."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Yuudachi replied, but she was smiling as she said it, which I counted as a victory for the moment.

The next surprise came after we arrived at the station, when a second train arrived, and the rush of air caused Yuudachi's skirt to flare out for a moment. "Whoa, what's that on your leg?" I asked, having only caught sight of the black strap for a moment, and not wanting to stare.

"Oh, this?" Yuudachi swept a hand against her leg and suddenly there was a black-anodized combat knife twirling through her fingers, the double edge glinting as though it were cutting the light. "Standard Mk. 9 combat knife. Every girl carries one as a last resort weapon, though some of our more aggressive members carry even bigger stuff. Ten-chan and Musashi both favor katanas, and Ten-chan's idiot sister likes to wade in with her naginata instead of using her guns." Yuudachi paused for a moment and looked side to side suddenly. "Uh, but please don't tell anybody I said that. Musashi probably threatened to harm you and looked all stern when she did it, but Tatsuta just calmly smiles as she politely tells you all the horrible things that might happen to you if you're naughty, and it's scary as hell." The tremor that shook Yuudachi told me everything I needed to know about that Tatsuta girl, and then some. "There was one time our CO disappeared suddenly, everybody was worried something happened to him, so we turned the base upside down looking for him . . . except Tatsuta's room. We were kinda afraid we'd find the Admiral's gnawed bones under her bed . . . and whoever made the discovery would've been her midnight snack. He's still alive, turns out he had just gotten distracted while taking a personal call and wandered off the base proper." she assured me quickly.

"I . . . see. Well, it's heartening to know we have such fearsome warriors guarding our nation from the Abyssal threat."

"Tell me about it- whoa! What is this place?" Yuudachi's exclamation startled me, and I looked up to realize we had made it home already. Well, this is going to take some explaining.

"This, uh, is the house." There seemed to be a sparkle in Yuudachi's eyes as she took in the sight of the place, so I tried to look at it with fresh eyes myself. Although I called it a house, it's really an inn, built to house visitors to the local shrine at the foot of the mountains. With eight guest rooms outfitted in traditional style (did I mention shoji screens are a bastard to repair if they get holes in them?) and a courtyard (which takes an unpleasantly long time to sweep, especially with the shrine's insistence on using traditional bamboo brooms!), and the standard-issue Zen garden and cherry tree (and let me tell you, whoever decided to name the cat of the house "Lucky" should have to scoop up his "contributions" to the Zen garden and see if the name still fits!). To me, it simply is, but I suppose to someone like Yuudachi, who spent all her time in the cinderblock mansion that is naval housing, it would seem new, possibly refreshing even.

"All this is yours? You live here? This is so cool!"

"Uh, not quite. See the shrine gate up there, at the base of the mountain?" I pointed along the pathway where it led from the garden and Yuudachi nodded along after a moment. "The shrine owns this place. It's technically an inn, but with the travel restrictions due to the war, very few people have come here. I work as the groundskeeper here, and the shrine owners give me free room and board. I suppose I would also be considered the innkeeper at the moment, but if we ever start getting a significant number of pilgrims, they'll probably hire a real innkeeper, or at least have one of the shrine maidens do it."

"Ahh, I see, I see." Yuudachi nodded. "Question; like what exactly is a shrine?"

"That's- uh- well, let's unpack and I'll explain over dinner." Nothing like a bit of a challenge to keep things interesting, right?