New player here. I'm just about mid way through world level 3 and I've been wondering what's the optimal team set up for my current units? There are just so many ships to choose from and I'm not sure where to begin on who to pair with who for the best synergy.

I have been kinda going off of whatever tier list I can find and just slapping the good ones together (albeit randomly) for now. Any tips or resources is greatly appreciated!

Additionally, how does one go to better understand the weapon types and best weapons to equip for each character? It's overwhelming and confusing.

Thanks!

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Even Shiratsuyu, her older sister, was clearly surprised just by how quickly Shigure managed to arrive at that exact conclusion.

「W-What is that supposed to mean, Shigure-chan!?」

「It simply means that this matchup does not work in her favor all that much, not to mention that her choice of equipment also puts her at quite the disadvantage. And this time around, the lack of Commander on the field is also being quite a serious issue.」

「...... The Commander?」

「Yeah.」

Shigure said while nodding her head slightly.

「Take a look. Can you see? Yuudachi's torpedo armament is a 610mm Quadruple Torpedo installation, right? It's a weapon that only shows its true value when the Commander guides all of its actions, such as movement and the timing of torpedo launches. But if you leave it to Yuudachi alone, it is not at all surprising that the moment her torpedoes are loaded, it would fire off a torpedo where no one is around for a while now.」

「W-Well then, does that mean that Ayanami-chan is......?」

「Hmm, let's see, let's see...... Ayanami's torpedo installation is...... Magnetic Torpedoes, huh? That's the worst possible scenario. It's easy to hit something with those even if you just shoot it randomly, so it's a completely losing battle for our Yuudachi. Ayanami should just pull back and focus on dodging Yuudachi's attacks, and when Yuudachi gets close, she should just intercept her with Magnetic Torpedoes and a barrage of gun bullets.」

「.........!!!」

Shiratsuyu was utterly speechless in the face of Shigure's professional analysis.

------ Was Yuudachi about to lose?

It was a rather cruel declaration, but even if Shiratsuyu did not have the same high abilities as Yuudachi and Shigure, there was nothing wrong with Shigure pointing out that she was at a disadvantageous position, and it was clear to see that Yuudachi was struggling against Ayanami quite a lot.

However, Shigure, despite the quite desperate situation, did not seem to think that the Yuudachi was in any kind of pinch and that she was going to lose.

On the contrary, Shigure seemed to be happy about this particular development,

「Oh well, isn't this nice, isn't this really nice? Because if she had not suffered any painful experience in her life, Yuudachi would never accept Ayanami marrying the Commander.」

「This is......」

「See, it's that thing. You know, "Mounting", I do believe they call it? That girl is a bit older than you, so I think it would be better for the future if you made it clear who's the superior one in that relationship. Besides, you know, sometimes things can only be resolved by fighting someone in earnest, that's how it is in the world of women!」

「No, I mean, it would be fine if they were fighting like you would normally do, but they are clearly firing torpedoes at one another......!」

「Oh come on now, let's not get all formal or into the small details here, huh? After all, torpedoes to a Destroyer are like fists to normal people.」

「Huuueeehhh...... That's the first time that I have ever heard about a saying like that......」

「Oh yeah! Small wonder you never heard of it before. Because I was the one who came up with it on the spot just now!」

With a devilish smile on her face, Shigure was clearly amused by this clash, while Shiratsuyu was the only one who was flustered and silently lamenting the seriousness of the situation.

「(Shigure-chan says that this is fine, but...... Is it really alright for us to be simply leaving things like this?)」

Shiratsuyu thought to herself.

In fact, there was nothing wrong with what Shigure was saying. Yuudachi was really stubborn and very impulsive. So Yuudachi would never change her opinion once she was dead set on something. She could clearly see her complaining that "It's not fair that Ayanami is the only one who gets the Commander all to herself!" no matter how much time would pass.

Which meant that Ayanami's only option here was to beat Yuudachi into submission (Of course, this was not about the normal meaning of "beating" as in with her "fist", but rather in the psychological sense of the word. Even though the tool that was to be used for said beating would be a torpedo). That should have a truly astonishing effect.

------ But then, was that really the right thing to do here?

Ayanami would win, and Yuudachi would lose.

Yuudachi would give up on her playing with the Commander all the time and would therefore become a little bit more mature ------ This would fit greatly with the concept of "Yuudachi's growth" and would serve as a pretty neat ending to things.

But still...... Shiratsuyu could not possibly imagine that this kind of ending would actually make anyone happy.

「(Because, in that case, I would feel so sorry for the poor Yuudachi-chan......)」

Shiratsuyu knew better than anyone else that Yuudachi was a good girl at heart.

So Shiratsuyu did not want to see Yuudachi look sad.

Even if it meant depriving her of an opportunity to grow, and Yuudachi would continue to be as unrestrained and as wild as she has always been, Shiuratsuyu honestly thought that such outcome would honestly be for the better.

But at the same time, she fully understood that the most undesirable outcome here would be the one that could possibly occur after this would be for Ayanami and the Commander's marriage to be called off.

It was unclear to them what kind of agreement the two of them were currently fighting under, but at the very least, it would be very bad if Yuudachi was to win.

Too bad, in fact.

But on the other hand, Shiratsuyu did not want to see Yuudachi lose to Ayanami, either.

In other words ------ if this battle would end in anything else other than a draw, there was a very high possibility that it would leave the loser with a deep grudge towards the victor!

「U-Ugh...... I knew it, this situation is just no good at all! Shigure-chan, I think...... I think we need to call someone in here! They need to stop this madness right now!」

Shiratsuyu declared forcefully.

It was extremely frustrating, but if they could not do anything about this fight by themselves, then the only possible solution for them to resolve would be to ask another shipgirl to step in and stop the duel at once.

However, when Shigure heard Shiratsuyu's suggestion, she frowned strongly and looked back at Shiratsuyu with a suspicious expression.

「Huuh? Call someone else in here to stop this...... Like, who exactly?」

「Hueh?」

Shiratsuyu could not help herself but to ask back in shock and disbelief. Although she had been the one who happened to vigorously bring up the idea of ​​calling someone else for help, she had not thought at all about WHO exactly they should call.

「Ahh...... Y-Yes, I see, that's right. Umm, so this is...... Shigure-chan? Who do you think that we should call for help?」

「Now look here, you...... The ones currently fighting are, of all people, Ayanami and Yuudachi. When those two start fighting for real, they don't pay any attention to what's going on around them and who might get in their line of fire. Even if I was to bring the Commander here, things would only get increasingly more complicated...... There's no one in here who can settle this situation once and for all.」

「Uh, uguh!?」

「But isn't it fine, basically? I mean, we have no way of stopping them now, so we might as well enjoy the show as it unfolds. Come on now, Shiratsuyu, why don't you sit down here too? Let's drink some oxygen cola and watch the show together.」

「N-No way......!!! Uuuhhh~~~!!!!!! I-I can't! There's just no way! I knew it! Shiratsuyu can't just sit idly and watch the poor Yuudachi suffer like that!」

As a result of that, Shiratsuyu had no other choice but to leave with a completely blank slate of a plan that would have to be totally ad-libbed.

------ Maybe it was not just Yuudachi who tended to act on impulse and without thinking things through, but Shiratsuyu was actually the same.

And thus, Shiratsuyu ran out to look for someone who could put a stop to this pointless duel with no particular destination in her mind, but in fact, the fact that she ran out without thinking about anything had a big meaning for her.

And that is because ------ Shiratsuyu had a particularly nasty habit of getting herself lost all the time.

This time around, because of the extremely tense situation at hand, this only served to agitate Shiratsuyu and lead her towards making a really bad call on the spot. Although Shiratsuyu was not someone who would actually daydream all the time, she had an extremely air-headed nature, sometimes losing track of what she was doing in the middle of the task or forgetting where she was or where she was supposed to be going next.

In fact, there were only a select few people in the entirety of the Home Port who could successfully settle this battle between Ayanami and Yuudachi.

However, even if their names had been mentioned in the previous conversation that she had with Shigure...... There was just no way that Shiratsuyu would have been able to go and meet them on time. Because she would have definitely gotten herself lost on the way to where those particular shipgirls would be.

But still......

「S-Someone! Anyone!」

「Muh?」

「Help! Please, help!」

「Wait a moment, Shiratsuyu. Who are you looking for? And why are you in such a hurry right now?」

「N-Ngh......! Y-You are......!?」

「Not to mention that your face is wet with tears so much...... Here, use this handkerchief for the time being. You are still young and healthy, unlike me, which is all great! However, if you have any kind of worries weighing down on your mind, I will be more than happy to help you out with anything.」

It was precisely because Shiratsuyu was running around so aimlessly right now with no particular person in her mind that she was ultimately able to randomly stumble across someone who could be more than capable of putting a stop to Ayanami and Yuudachi's duel. A sort of perfect person for the job.

And that person's name was ------  

***

Exposed to Ayanami's counter-assault and torpedo attacks, the damage to Yuudachi's hull and rigging was steadily increasing with every passing moment.

「Haah...... Haah..... Haah...... D-Damn it all! You are one hell of a sneaky little devil, Ayanami!」

「It's not being sneaky. It's called a "strategy"...... desu.」

「And there we have it! Every sneaky cheater out there says that their cheats are not cheats! Everyone knows that!」

Although she tried to make a bold statement like that to show her guts, by this time Yuudachi was clearly beginning to recognize that she was at a clear disadvantage here.

「(This is not good...... This is not good at all......!!!)」

Ayanami was not relenting at all in her assault.

Yuudachi rarely participated in the regular training exercises, so the majority of her time was spent sortieing in actual normal operations and commissions.

And when she would always go for the operations on the open sea, there was always the figure of the Commander who was there to support her at all times. But thinking about it carefully...... Yuudachi had almost no experience fighting without the figure of the Commander by her side. She would advance in the direction that the Commander instructed her to go, and launch her torpedoes at the command of the Commander ------ In other words, Yuudachi's own judgment was once again nothing short of immature.

On the other hand, Ayanami has had many opportunities to participate in various kinds of training exercises.

Training battles with other fleets were always conducted under the conditions where the shipgirls were set to act solely on their own judgment, without the orders of their respective Commanders.

That's why Ayanami had plenty of experience fighting on her own judgment accumulated behind her belt.

At least, at this point in time, the difference between the two's amount of actual skill and experience was as clear as a day, and it seemed like it could not be bridged that easily even with the greatest amount of both guts and effort, but ------

「(But still...... I can't give up just because of that fact alone! I don't care if I am going to be treated like a little kid...... I love the Commander, too!)」

Yuudachi's eyes were still burning with determination and drive, not even once losing hope.

------ Although Shiratsuyu and the others had taught her what marriage was, Yuudachi still did not think it was something that did not traverse over the matter of liking someone very much.

It would also be an entirely different matter if the Commander clearly disliked Yuudachi and he would openly admit that.

However, that was not the case here. Yuudachi clearly understood that. The Commander must have still liked Yuudachi, and even more so, the Commander must have undoubtedly cared about the other shipgirls besides Ayanami.

So why ------ why were the others so understanding of that matter?

The Commander clearly loved everyone in here. He cared deeply for all the shipgirls belonging to the Home Port's fleet, and considered them all to be like the irreplaceable members of his "family".

Then, why was it not alright for the shipgirls to like the Commander in the same way? Why was it not okay for them to talk, play, and interact with him anymore like they all used to?

Was that really such a bad thing?

Or could it be that there was something wrong with Yuudachi's thinking? Could it be that she was misunderstanding something?

「Nnnggghhh...... GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! Enough! I've had it! Why does Yuudachi have to think about so many things all at once right now!? Yuudachi just wants to do what Yuudachi thinks is best! Isn't that right, Ayanami!?」

「.........」

After a brief moment of hesitation, Ayanami answered Yuudachi's question quietly.

「It's hard for me to answer that when you drop something like this on me so completely out of nowhere......」

「The hell!? What's that supposed to mean!? That's boring! But fine! I guess that I will stop thinking and just focus entirely on acting! So come on! Let's do this!!!」

------ Engines running at full speed.

Yuudachi would then go forward at full speed, approaching Ayanami at an alarming rate in a straight line, without dodging or evading to the sides.

In addition to that, she fired the single-barreled cannons in both of her hands in rapid succession, unleashing a barrage of bullets. She then charged right at Ayanami instinctively, using her "All-Out Assault" that Yuudachi was so proud of.

「No matter how many times you try it, the result will always be the same, desu!」

However, Ayanami, just like Yuudachi, was a Destroyer equipped with a powerful mechanism of "All-Out Assault", with her shells, and at the same time, she was also skilled in intercepting charging opponents with her own torpedoes.

「OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH~~~!!!!!!!!!」

「Right there, desu!!!」

At that moment, Ayanami, judging that Yuudachi had already reached her top speed, retreated and fired the Magnetic Torpedoes that she had been fully equipped with.

In fact, it would only take a small instant for any shipgirl out there to reach the top of her cruising speed, and any shipgirl would have to stall after that. Moreover, in this state, even the most maneuverable shipgirls were still restricted in their movements and would become unable to maneuver properly even in the open field, and a shipgirl that was thwarted at the start would be left in a bind.

------ Or at the very least, that was supposed to be the case.

「Hehehe...... Just so you know, Yuudachi's power is not limited to speed alone!」

Yuudachi's cruising speed...... It had improved even further from what was already thought to be its peak. It was as if an extra top gear had suddenly been added on top of her already existing speed.

Yuudachi then accelerated even further beyond!

There was no stopping Yuudachi now!

And then, she increased her speed even further beyond that limit ------ and somehow she managed to avoid the Magnetic Torpedoes that Ayanami deployed while retreating right at her.

「Wha......!?」

Ayanami's eyes widened in shock.

In this situation, Ayanami was suddenly at a disadvantage. Using the homing capabilities of the Magnetic Torpedoes as a shield, Ayanami was hiding the slow initial speed when she started to retreat.

This time around the situation has been reversed ------ Ayanami was extremely slow while Yuudachi was moving extremely fast.

And then, the decisive moment finally came around. This was the only and absolute special move of Yuudachi, who was a Sakura Empire's Destroyer who was good at wild combat and showed her true strength under the extreme pressure and oppressive circumstances......

「This is the end!!!」

Torpedoes deployed!!!

Her gray hair collided head-on with the raging sea breeze, causing it to become disheveled.

In that instant, the fully loaded 610mm Quadruple Torpedoes of Yuudachi were all fired at her opponent. Since the maximum number of torpedoes was two torpedoes per volley, a total of eight torpedoes were fired at Ayanami.

At that moment, the distance between Yuudachi and Ayanami was less than two meters. Dodging the torpedoes from this position was impossible, no matter how you would try to look at it.

Therefore, it was the kind of attack that was guaranteed to hit.

And once it would connect and hit...... It would be a sure kill.

At that moment Yuudachi...... She was entirely confident in her victory.

However ------

「------ Demon Dance.」

In the next moment, Ayanami's body was enveloped in a crimson light and she moved at an insane speed. Just before the swarm of approaching torpedoes made a direct hit on her, Ayanami swept across the surface of the sea with her beloved Anti-Naval combat sword.

Never before has she even tried to cut the incoming torpedoes in half.

Even though Ayanami always carried a sword when she would go out to sea, the sword did not actually have that kind of function as an external weapon.

However, if someone was to think that Ayanami's actions were just a pretense, that would also be a wrong assumption, because all six torpedoes that appeared from the surface of the sea were being swept away by Ayanami's slash!

「HAAAAAAHHH!?」

Torpedoes are fired from torpedo tubes installed in the shipgirl's Rigging ------ that was so obvious that anyone out there would know it to be true, even the members of the general public that had nothing to do with the Navy or military.

But who would have thought that the torpedoes would appear from underneath the water's surface when you would swat it away with the use of a sword!?

They were not some random biscuits that would appear out of nowhere when you would magically tap your pocket, nor were they cookies that could multiply infinitely with a single click of a button.

Torpedoes were just torpedoes. As simple as that.

However, the shells and torpedoes that shipgirls fire in battle are not normal physical kind of ammunition.

They were simply constructs converting the energy generated by the Wisdom Cubes, which were the source of the shipgirls' power, into ammunition and firing it through the equipment installed in their Rigging.

In other words, even if Ayanami had created the special torpedoes from her sword, rather than from the torpedo tubes, it wouldn't be so strange of an action to begin with. Well, it would be rather strange and unorthodox, though.

That being said, since Ayanami's own torpedoes actually appeared from the tip of her sword and intercepted the close-range torpedo attack of Yuudachi, it could be said that Yuudachi had no time to doubt her own eyes and panicked.

But the battle would not end simply because some torpedoes had been fired.

Certainly, all the torpedoes that could be fired had been fired. The cycle of firing all the shots was already over, and Yuudachi did not have the equipment to be used in close combat like Ayanami did.

But even so ------ Her body still moved naturally and on its own.

Even further forward.

Two meters have shrunk to one meter, and then ------

「DAAAAAARRRIIIIIIYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH~~!!!!!!」

Ayanami's special torpedoes and Yuudachi's close-range torpedoes collided, creating several water columns that caused tremendous vibrations and explosions all over the place. The water splashed across the horizon of the two of them, mixing with the smells of saltwater, gunpowder, and iron, spreading the scent of torpedo warfare across the entire ocean.

The distance between the two was reduced to just a few dozen centimeters.

Yuudachi pointed the single-barreled gun on her right arm at Ayanami's face and fired a shot at point-blank range.

Certainly, the 76mm cannon was nothing more but a peashooter with no firepower to be expected behind it.

However, if a cannonball can be fired from point blank range against someone who completely does not expect it to be shot, it could be enough to bring about a decisive blow!

------ FIRE!!!

「Ayanami...... There is no way that I will lose!」

However, Yuudachi's point-blank shot ultimately ended up in a failure.

Ayanami swatted away the barrel of the 76mm gun with her own sword. The dull sound of metal clashing against metal echoed through the training grounds, which were filled with the explosions of violent lightning.

The pressure from that attack was so strong that it seemed to blow Yuudachi's right hand away.

「Same here! Yuudachi won't lose!!!」

But even so, Yuudachi met that blow head-on.

Yuudachi knew that Ayanami was the same. Her eyes, more red than usual, were wide open as she stared straight into Yuudachi's face.

「Guguguguguguh......」

「Uuuhhh, guuuhhh......」

That was the last clash in the "big fight" between Ayanami and Yuudachi.

What made the difference between their last attacks was not the matter of shooting, torpedoes, evasion, or speed. It was not the type of weapon, nor the presence or absence of special skills.

It was a pure Power versus Power situation.

The barrel of the single-barreled 76 mm gun equipped by Yuudachi and Ayanami's Anti-Naval Combat Sword clashed with each other, developing into a melee versus melee duel like the ones that you could see in the old samurai movies!

And then the sea returned to its normal, peaceful appearance.

The sound of the ignited gunpowder fell silent, and all that echoed on the sea were the heavy breathing of both shipgirls, the running of their Riggings' engines, and the hard sound of metal rubbing against metal.

Both of them gritted their teeth and put all their strength into their arms. There were no words exchanged between them, but they did not fall into complete silence either.

Their thoughts were dyed the blue of the sky and sea, and were sharpened to an extremely pure realm.

Deep, strong feelings welled up inside of them, as if they had come to understand each other deeply through their actions, something they had not really known before this fight.

And then, the next instance happened.

「------ THAT'S ENOUGH!」

This duel started suddenly, and it was also suddenly brought to a swift and abrupt end.

「「HUH!?」」

The voice roared across the entire training area, sending shivers across both Ayanami and Yudachi's hearts, like a sudden strike of thunder.

Even if the Commander himself had appeared at the scene, the ones who were so completely focused on the other person right in front of them would not have been able to notice his presence at all. But she, and only she alone...... She was one of the few shipgirls that could make such an impossible thing possible, and possessed the power of a strong presence required to do so.

And her name was ------

「I have heard everything from Shiratsuyu! Both of you, lower your weapons and cease fighting at once! This battle...... I am going to take care of this in your stead, or I am not Mikasa!」

Along with her wet black short hair, the four-colored "Z Banner" of red, yellow, black, and blue fluttered in the wind.

Mikasa.

The shipgirl in question was coming from the pre-Aircraft Carrier era of battleships, and was one of the oldest in the fleet and the most important vessels of the entire Sakura Empire ------

***

Thus, with Mikasa's appearance, the quarrel between Ayanami and Yuudachi was forced to an end. Even Yuudachi could not have possibly opposed her, as Mikasa was the key figure amongst the top brass of the Sakura Empire's leadership.

------ However, what was basically a private quarrel between the two shipgirls was now blown out of proportion and became a serious matter.

Furthermore, the Commander expressed deep regret over the fact that the battle had taken place in an extremely personal setting, without any permission from the superiors of the two, which he called an extremely heinous violation of the Home Port rules.

As a result of that, the Commander swallowed his tears and had to make a certain harsh decision.

The targets were the persons who were involved in this entire matter, beginning with Yuudachi. Shigure, who was watching the battle unfold while leisurely drinking an oxygen cola was hit as well. Although there was room for leniency for her because she went to call for Mikasa's help, Shiratsuyu was also forced to take the collective responsibility. In addition, the punishment also extended to Ayanami, who was the Commander's love interest and future marriage partner.

As for the nature of their punishment, it was the worst and the most severe thing imaginable ------

「Come on, come on, come on! If you have done something bad, then work hard and make up for it! Akashi will also be very ruthless and work everyone hard and to the bone without paying you a single cent!」

Later on.

The voice of Akashi, a Supply Ship of the Sakura Empire in charge of running the Fleet's various shops and businesses, echoed throughout the "Sakura Destroyer Maid Cafe" that was specially set up in the Home Port just for this exact purpose.

「U-Umm, umm, here is the MeiMei Maid Parfait that you ordered and ------ AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!」

CLACK!

The moment Shiratsuyu, who was serving parfaits from a tray to the customers, tried to serve them properly, she fell over with great force. The parfait flew into the air alongside its container, and the mixture of both ice cream and whipped cream fell onto the customers like water droplets.

「I-I-I-I am most terribly sorry for this! I-I am really clumsy, and I am not really suited for this kind of work at all......」

「Ha, ha, ha! Please, don't worry about it. Maids are supposed to be a little bit clumsy, so that's perfectly normal! I never thought I would get a parfait thrown at me out of nowhere like that, though! It's the perfect welcome service ------ Uwaah, Destroyers are really the best (lick).」

「Uuuggghhh...... I don't really understand what you mean, but...... Working like this sure is really hard......」

Shiratsuyu was so confused that she was praised by a strange and mysterious customer for some reason even though she had made a mistake like that, and she was constantly whining and complaining under her nose.

In fact, if she had not gone to call for Mikasa, the outcome of the fight between Ayanami and Yuudachi would have been a truly sad one, and some people thought it was a shame that she had to be punished alongside the other two despite not having done anything wrong ------

「But even so, the Commander said that he also wanted to see Shiratsuyu in a maid outfit for the first time in a while, so it can't actually be helped. Collective responsibility is the culture of the Sakura Empire, after all.」

...... This was all due to the judgment of the Commander who took the situation extremely seriously.

You could even argue that it was the choice of the world as a whole.

「Haah~~. Why should I have to serve other people as well? I knew how everything was going go play out from the very beginning. Yuudachi was certainly at a disadvantage compared to Ayanami, but...... She would not simply going to let things end like that. In fact, she would give Ayanami a valuable lesson, don't you get it? It was all because we trusted her to do the right thing.」

「Hey, you there! If you have the time to be complaining like that all the time, then you certainly have the time to work harder for others sake......」

「Uuuuuuhhhhhh...... Y-Yeah, yeah! I know, I know!」

Shigure kept on making excuses, saying that she was going to die if she was forced to work any harder than this, but when she was glared at by Shiranui, the other supervisor of the Home Port's store, the First ship of the Kagero-Class Destroyers, she reluctantly returned to work.

And then ------

「Uuuuuuhhhhhh...... I never would have thought that this would be such a hellish punishment......」

Just like the other two, Yuudachi had also been forced to change into a chic maid outfit and was completely exhausted from all the work that needed to be done.

This wasn't due to the sheer effects of her fight with Ayanami.

Yuudachi was purely concerned with her own actions. For Yuudachi, "food" was just something to eat, and having to cook and serve it to others was nothing less than a tremendous challenge that she somehow needed to accomplish now.

All the food sold at this Sakura Empire's Destroyer Maid Cafe looked very good and tasted truly amazing. Just looking at the food would make your mouth water. But if you would try the food at the cafe that was meant for the customers, you would get more than just a scolding from Akashi and Shiranui. So Yuudachi was forced to fight both the fatigue from her work right now as well as the loud rumbling of her own stomach.

It was then that someone spoke to the clearly suffering Yuudachi.

Unlike the other three, who were wearing black maid outfits based on the Shiratsuyu-Class uniforms, Ayanami was wearing a maid outfit based on the Fubuki-Class blue color.

「Yuudachi. That pain...... It surely is proof that the Commander truly understands you, Yuudachi.」

「...... What do you mean by that?」

Ayanami then said with a confident tone.

「Ayanami thinks that the Commander was able to come up with this particular punishment because he knows you so well, Yuudachi.」

「Huh!? But Shigure certainly said: "That stupid pervert of a Commander used this punishment as the opportunity to see all of us wearing some fetishistic maid uniforms!" Isn't that right?」

「That's not true at all. The Commander is not such a promiscuous person. That's why he came to the cafe today, ordered a lot of food, and supported Ayanami and the others.」

「...... Is that really how it is?」

Since they both started working at the cafe, Yuudachi and Ayanami have been talking a whole lot.

The two of them never actually returned to the matter of the fight that they had.

Sometimes Yuudachi would wonder out loud how the battle would have ended if Shiratsuyu had not brought Mikasa over, but...... Honestly, both of them thought that something like this did not really matter.

------ Until now, Yuudachi had thought of Ayanami as someone whose thoughts were unclear.

But at that moment, facing off against each other with the shipgirls' gun and Anti-Naval Sword, and spending that short, intense time together, she felt like she somehow began to understand Ayanami.

Despite her cold appearances, Ayanami had a passionate heart and some amazing special moves, and also...... 

She loved the Commander just as much as Yuudachi did.

So in the end, everything seemed fine to Yuudachi.

It certainly seemed unfair that only Ayanami would get to marry the Commander, but there was one thing that Yuudachi was certain of without any kind of basis or bias.

And that thing was ------

「...... Now that I think about it, the Commander said so himself. That even if he and Ayanami was to get married, Yuudachi could still continue to be the same as before with him, and that Yuudachi could come to the office and hang out with the Commander.」

Ayanami then turned her face away and spoke up, looking a little bit embarrassed.

「Oh......」

「That's why Ayanami also set a certain condition. If the Commander was to stroke your head or give you rubs, he would have to do the same to Ayanami in return. In other words, if it is head patting that you want, go for it. If it's the belly rubs that you want, go for it. By the way, Ayanami has never asked the Commander to stroke her stomach like that. It's kind of embarrassing to do, so, well, if the Commander is really okay with it, then......」

「Yeah! Just leave it to me! I will ask the Commander to take care of you on my behalf, Ayanami!」

It was precisely as Ayanami had thought.

What Yuudachi thought at first was not true. Everyone was overthinking this matter way too much. Just because Yuudachi's Commander was to marry a different woman, there was no way he would be a small-sighted person who would become a stranger to other shipgirls because of that. There was no way that such a small-minded person would be loved by so many shipgirls from many different factions.

So it was all good and well.

------ The Commander and the kind of relationship that Yuudachi had with him would not change so drastically anytime soon.

「...... Thank you, Yuudachi.」

「Hehehe, don't worry about it. I mean, you and I are basically friends right now, right, Ayanami?」

「.........!!!」

For a moment, Ayanami's shoulders shook and trembled. But soon her face changed and she bowed her head deeply.

「That's certainly true. So from now on...... I am looking forward to working with you, Yuudachi.」

「Yeah! So let's have lots and lots of fun from now on, the Commander, Ayanami and Yuudachi! Because I know it all! The Commander sure loves strong and good-natured shipgirls like you, Ayanami!」

「.........!!!」

Ayanami's eyes widened in surprise.

「I think that the Commander really likes that honesty of yours, Yuudachi. And Ayanami also finds that really nice......」

「Oh, is that so?」

「Yes, that's right.」

「Hmm, I see! I see! Eehehe...... Oh man, it really is embarrassing when someone is saying things like that right into your face like this! Oh well, not that I mind it all that much, though.」

Yuudachi seemed to be in extremely high spirits.

And when Ayanami was finally going to get married to the Commander, she wanted to celebrate the occasion with a bang...... Because that's surely what her duty as Ayanami's friend was.

https://preview.redd.it/jbr9aydogpzd1.jpg?width=1135&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b73e9e7707e9751efebfc12de9d65edbbe4d3ab

「...... Yes, no matter what, this is crossing the line way too much. You might not realize it yourself, Yuudachi-chan, but your body certainly has that kind of strong adult allure......」

「Yup, precisely that. And the fact that you yourself do not even tend to realize that fact, it makes it even more lewd and naughty than it has to be.」

Shiratsuyu blushed slightly, and Shigure spoke strangely animatedly about her personal views on the idea of "petting Yuudachi" and what it would actually incline.

Of course, Yuudachi did not even understand what the two were trying to say to her in the least. Yuudachi just liked having her head and stomach stroked by the Commander, and that was all there was to it. There was no deeper meaning behind that kind of thing, either.

「(But I guess that this whole "marriage" thing is no longer simply about Ayanami and the Commander. I can see it now, it is something that has a much deeper impact on everyone else around the Home Port as well...... But thanks to that, Yuudachi thinks that she finally understands what this "marriage" thing is all about! This basically means that Ayanami is soon to become the "top dog" around the Home Port, being elevated above all the other shipgirls, right?)」

In other words, Ayanami would soon become the "leader" of the Home Port's "pack".

This would also mean that Ayanami would basically be monopolizing a whole lot of the Commander's already limited time.

But that would mean......

「So this means...... That from now on, Ayanami will be the most special person to the Commander, so Yuudachi will have to step down and show restrain in way more ways than she was already doing?」

「Oh my, so even someone like you is finally able to get it, huh? Yes, basically what this means is that you won't be able to hang out with the Commander as commonly and as leisurely as you have been doing until just recently and also ------」

「Well, that is entirely not okay! It is not fair that Ayanami gets to hog the Commander all to herself just because she is getting married to him!」

Yuudachi almost immediately retorted, looking as though she was about to cry.

And seeing that really frank and honest display of emotions on her end, both Shigure and Shiratsuyu were really shocked and surprised.

「No, I mean, for you to use the words "not fair" here is a little bit much...... don't you think?」

「Yes, that's right. It's because those two are getting married that they are allowed to......」

「No, no, no, NO, NO, NO! This cannot be! Yuudachi doesn't get it! Yuudachi also wants to be able to play with the Commander a whole lot! Yuudachi had no idea that marriage would mean that Ayanami would get to have the Commander all to herself like that! It's absolutely not okay for only Ayanami to be able to marry the Commander like that! NOT FAIR, NOT FAIR, NOOOT~~~!!!!!! FAAAIIIRRRR~~~~~~!!!」

Finally understanding the seriousness of the situation that the change that their marriage would bring, Yuudachi's first choice of action was to throw a temper tantrum about it.

Impulsively, Yuudachi lay down on the ground, thrashing her arms and legs around, making a huge scene and throwing a fuss.

Her gaze was exactly the kind of stare that a small child would send its mother in front of the toy store where it would see a new toy being put on display (and knew perfectly well that she would never get it), and it was clearly showing just how upset she was that the Commander would no longer be able to spend as much time with her as he used to.

Every single time something like this would happen, both Shiratsuyu and Shigure felt like a pair of parents, hopelessly shaking their heads at the unreasonable behavior of their unruly child.

Shiratsuyu let out a short sigh while shrugging her shoulders, making the kind of expression that would clearly state: "Oh great, now I will have to buy you that toy that you want, because otherwise you won't stop".

「...... W-What are we going to do now, Shigure-chan? Seeing poor Yuudachi-chan like this, I really pity her for some reason~.」

「Yeah, I know. But that being said, is there really anything that we could possibly do in this kind of situation? I mean, it was just that Yuudachi was simply unlucky. And that being said, there are some things in this world that you cannot really do anything about, and stuff just happens. Didn't you already know that, Yuudachi?」

「A-And that is exactly what makes this entire situation even more pitiful......」

「NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR!」

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

「Uwaaah...... What a pain in the ass she is. ...... Alright. Since it has already come to this...... I guess that the best possible course of action is to basically leave her alone to her own devices.」

「HUEEEAAAHHH?」

Shiratsuyu was clearly shocked by Shigure's cold-hearted conclusion, and Shigure then cast a quick glance at Yuudachi and said with a nasty smile on her face:

「In the end, this is all your own fault, my child, and no one else's. Besides, if we leave her squirming for a while like that, he will get hungry, forget about Ayanami, and will only want to think about eating some meat for her 3 o'clock snack!」

「I-Is that's how it works? (Glance) ...... Y-Yeah, I guess that you are right. B-But still, I am feeling really sorry for her, since I think that you said a little bit too much, Yuudachi-chan...... I am really sorry.」

「NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! Yuudachi also wants to play with the Commander more and more!!!」

In the end, Shigure and Shiratsuyu decided to leave Yuudachi rolling around on the floor.

However, they thought it would be too cruel to just leave her behind, so they decided to just watch Yuudachi finish struggling from a safe distance.

And then ------

Fifteen minutes later.

「N-Not fair...... Not fair......! W-Why is it only Ayanami that...... Haah...... Haah...... Haah...... Haah...... Wafuuh......」

------ Finally, Yuudachi's movements started to slow down and weaken.

Now sprawled out on the floor, Yuudachi could only stare at the ceiling of the Tactical Classroom Building, breathing heavily.

Huge beads of sweat were dripping from her forehead, and the sweat that had poured out of her entire body had also made her short sailor uniform all sweaty and sticky, clinging tightly to her body. The thin fabric of the sailor uniform clung to her body, highlighting the extremely full and round shapes of Yuudachi's body, despite her young age and appearance.

In addition to all that, because Yuudachi had been moving around so restlessly all the time, her clothes had become quite messy, and they had practically almost abandoned their original role of clothing, which was to hide the important parts of the wearer's body from the view of others.

Right about now, Yuudachi was certainly a sight to behold, albeit in a sense that was quite difficult to put into words properly.

Both the "beast-likeness" and the natural "girlishness" that Yuudachi possessed, something that came with the fact of her being a shipgirl,  were perfectly fused together, giving off a suffocating sense of sexiness and allure.

With that being said ------

「S-Shigure-chan~. Finally, it looks like Yuudachi-chan is done with struggling on the ground.」

「Yeah, it looks that way...... But man, she certainly took her sweet time with it! Honestly, that stamina and resilience of hers never ceases to amaze me. I can't believe that she's been rolling around on the floor like that for fifteen minutes straight, and only NOW she is getting tired...... And that is without even mentioning just how big of a hot mess she has become now...... No, like, seriously! This is way too stimulating and unsightly! Shiratsuyu! Let's fix Yuudachi up before we do anything else!」

「Yup~. Roger that~.」

The three of them were of the same gender, and above all else, they had been watching Yuudachi throw a tantrum for fifteen minutes straight with a buddha-like determination in their hearts, so to them, getting Yuudachi all prim and proper took precedence before anything else.

Shigure and Shiratsuyu both quickly approached Yuudachi, who had stopped moving on the floor, and quickly began grooming her back into a presentable state.

Right now Yuudachi's clothes were completely messy and disheveled, and both Shigure and Shiratsuyu did their best to straighten them up as much as possible, then they wiped her sweat off with their handkerchiefs, combed her messy hair, and quickly applied some basic makeup onto her face. In a flash of teamwork that only an older sister shipgirls could provide, Yuudachi's outfit was back to normal.

「.........」

「Okay, all done. Now then, Yuudachi! Are you finally ready to start thinking more clearly? Or do you still need to take a few?」

「Yuudachi-chan...... I know that this might not really sound all that convincing to you, but look, the fact that someone is getting married does not necessarily mean that everything is going to change. So let's go and eat something delicious and take our minds off of things for the time being, alright?」

It was then that Yuudachi mumbled those words after a moment of a brief pause.

「------ Will things really remain unchanged?」

「Huh......」

「You know, Yuudachi was thinking for a while now. If we act now and cancel Ayanami's wedding ceremony ------ Then, as a result, the Commander won't belong to anyone in particular.」

「......... Excuse me?」

That declaration was way too straightforward, and in response Shigure could only let out a silly voice like that.

One could also argue that it was precisely this ability of Yuudachi to make such an outrageous claim without hesitation that made her so amazing in a certain sense.

Having finally been able to come to a conclusion like that, Yuudachi did not stop there. With a broad smile on her face, she nodded to herself once in apparent satisfaction.

「Yes, that's right! I should have done that from the very beginning! Ahhh~~~!!! Why didn't I think about it before? This was the only option I had left to me all along!」

Immediately afterwards, Yuudachi, who had been slumped over until now, jumped up. With a force that was hard to believe in considering the rampage she had been causing up until that point, she declared something outrageous once again.

「I have decided! I'm going to ruin this marriage for good! It is unfair that only Ayanami is going to marry the Commander! Okay, just you wait, Ayanami! I will show you where your place is!」

Yuudach was never all that good at racking her brain about stuff, but she was always pretty good at moving her body around.

There were many twists and turns before she even managed to properly reach this conclusion, but once she had decided where she wanted to go with it, Yuudachi was extremely quick to act, and as she called out Ayanami's name, she ran out of the Tactical Classroom Building with the speed of lightning.

「.........」

「.........」

The two who were left behind looked stunned for a moment, but quickly regained their senses.

For someone who was so impulsive, hasty, and lived her life entirely on wild instincts alone ------ What kind of action would Yuudachi take next?

***

On the same day.

「Uhm...... When it comes to choosing my main guns, Ayanami a;waus has a hard time deciding on one thing and sticking with it. 76mm gun or 100mm twin-barreled Type 98 Anti-Aircraft Guns...... Which ones would be better?」

Ayanami was inspecting her equipment at the nearby training ground.

At the moment, Ayanami was greatly worried about the main guns she was equipped with.

Ayanami was well aware of the fact that she herself was not all that good at shooting. In fact, if it were just a battle of their naval guns, Ayanami would not be even remotely comparable to the likes of Laffey or Niimi, the top-ranked "Royal Cannon-Type Destroyers", and would fall behind even the most other Destroyers as well.

However, even though Ayanami had the best torpedo attack power in the entire fleet of the Home Port, she felt really reluctant to just leave her one huge weakness as it was.

Ayanami was going to marry the Commander soon.

Although there were still some parts of this truth that she had not fully digested quite yet, it seemed certain that Ayanami's responsibility on the battlefield would be even greater than ever before, at least in the upcoming battles.

Therefore, Ayanami wanted to focus on improving the handling of her main gun.

After all, Ayanami really needed to hone her military skills more and more, so she could support her beloved Commander. In that case, it was also natural that she should hone her torpedo handling skills, which is what she would always be the most required to use in battle...... At the same time, she started to feel like she really wanted to improve her own main guns handling skills, which she had been neglecting until now.

Until just now, Ayanami had basically been equipped with a basic 76mm gun, so she had been dispatching to various missions and battlefields without really thinking about the firepower of her main guns all that much, but if she wanted a balance between loading speed and firepower, the 100mm Twin Type 98 Anti-Aircraft Gun was also a good and solid choice.

It was not that either gun was absolutely better from the other one, or anything like that.

It was partly a matter of sheer preference, and also closely intertwined with the question of what role Ayanami wanted to play in the battles against Sirens from now on......

「Mumumuh...... desu......」

Ayanami sighed deeply, carefully comparing the two cannons and having a hard time deciding.

「I knew it, choosing a proper weapon for yourself is really difficult. It might be best to just go to the Science Lab and discuss it with Yuubari there ------」

At that moment, a very loud and obnoxious voice suddenly rang out from behind Ayanami's back.

「There you are, Ayyanami! I finally found you!」

「...... Yuudachi? Is there something you need from me?」

「Yeah, you bet I do! It's about the issue of you marrying the Commander! It's not fair that you get to hog his attention all to yourself like that! So cancel the damn thing right here and right now!」

「........................... Muh. Muh?」

Even Ayanami couldn't find the right words to respond with right away.

When she heard her name being called out, she turned around and realized that the one calling her was none other than Yuudachi, but the next moment, she was being asked to cancel her marriage to the Commander for some mysterious reason ------

And if she was only going to look at the facts, it would look something completely unreasonable...... And to be honest, it all happened way too suddenly.

Ayanami honestly had no idea what Yuudachi could have been thinking right now.

------ In fact, both Yuudachi and Ayanami had little to no relationship with one another, and hardly ever spoke to one another.

There was the part about their fundamental personalities being way too different and incompatible with one another, and above all else, the fact that the two of them had very similar positions as Destroyers in the fleet was also a big factor to that. They were both hit-and-run Destroyers that have abandoned naval gunfire and are solely specialized in their torpedo attacks ------ in other words, the two of them had overlapping roles and things that they were good at.

Usually, the basic combat composition consisted of both the main fleet and the vanguard fleet. Each of those two fleets would have up to three members at a time: Battleships and Aircraft Carriers would serve in the main fleet, while the vanguard fleets was usually made up of Destroyers, Light Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers. All for for a total of six shipgirls, but because the vanguard fleet has an overwhelming number of ships compared to the main fleet, shipgirls with the same role tended not to be organized in the same fleet most of the time.

The one that Ayanami was the most often in formation with was Fubuki, the flagship of the Special Type Destroyers, as well as the First Ship of the Fubuki Class, who was a reliable older sister figure who would often bring out Ayanami's hidden power and would amplify it many times over simply by fighting alongside her. Ayanami would also often join forces with the members of the 6th Destroyer Division, mainly "Ikazuchi", "Inazuma", and "Akatsuki", but in this case, Yuudachi, who was not a Special Type Destroyer, was oftentimes excluded from the formation.

「(Since Ayanami does not usually have that much contact with Yuudachi, Ayanami does not know how to deal with her properly...... This is a real problem, desu......)」

Due to the circumstances surrounding the basic fleet formation, Ayanami did not know that much about Yuudachi to begin with.

Of course, since they were both the shipgirls of the same Sakura Empire, they would often exchange greetings when they would pass each other by at the Home Port...... But they had never had a proper conversation sitting face to face with each other. Not even once.

Therefore, right now Ayanami was left pretty much dazed and confused at what to do.

In the first place, she had no idea what Yuudachi could possibly be thinking or why she took such a radical action completely out of the blue.

「Become the seaweed at the bottom of the Solomon Islands!!!」

「Ngh......!?」

However, the situation began to rapidly progress forward beyond Ayanami's wildest imagination.

With a spirited shout, Yuudachi suddenly fired her cannons that she was equipped with right at Ayanami.

「 ------ HAH!」

However, even though it was a completely unexpected situation, for Ayanami, who had the sense for battle and the knowledge of the battlefield etched in her heart, it was a distance that she could easily handle.

Although she was unable to make an evasive maneuver, Ayanami managed to deflect Yuudachi's shot with a swing of her beloved Anti-Naval Sword. With a high-pitched "CLANG!" sound, the severed explosive shell rolled onto the stone-paved floor of the training ground.

The 76mm Gun used by both Ayanami and Yuudachi was a single-barreled gun with extremely specific characteristics: that it would only fire one shell per shot.

However, the next shot that would be fired would come extremely quickly ------ this was a major advantage of this weapon, as it would speed up the cycle of "All-Out Assault", a special move unique to many shipgirls around the Home Port.

But because of that, the trajectory of each shot was very easy to read, and there were many other naval guns that were way better than this one, earning it the mocking nickname of the "peashooter".

In the first place, even if Ayanami had been hit by one of those shots, it would probably not even have done that much damage to her in the first place...... But the fact that it was fired at an allied ship in the harbor without prior warning carried a very heavy meaning that this situation was vastly different from the lightness of the dummy rounds that would often be used in the training exercises.

This meant that Ayanami had to take the situation very seriously.

「(...... Demon Mode, Activate!)」

This also meant that she had to go all out, pulling all of her stops.

Normally she would talk with her friends, play video games with them, and spend trivial time with her beloved Commander ------ it was the kind of world that had nothing to do with the blood, smell of iron and ignited gunpowder, but it was something that she could not possibly get away from.

She was facing one of her brethren, the one who used to rampage all over the Solomon Sea and was nicknamed the "Mad Dog".

------ If Ayanami wanted to emerge victorious here, she would have to shift and change her heart into that of a merciless "Demon" and face Yuudachi head on.

In the same war theater that Yuudachi earned herself the nickname of the "Mad Dog", Ayanami also earned herself the title of the "Demon". Both Yuudachi and Ayanami fought valiantly during that conflict, Yuudachi during its first day and Ayanami during the second, but the two of them ultimately met a glorious end in that sea.

Ayanami then had a thought. What if ------ What if what was about to happen here was going to be the extension of that exact conflict from that time?

「What is the meaning of this, Yuudachi?」

Ayanami asked.

Right about now, there were two things that changed about Ayanami once she activated her "Demon Mode".

One change was the external one.

Once Ayanami would enter her "Demon Mode", her entire body would be covered in a dark-reddish hue all over.

Her blood-red eyes would become even brighter, taking on a brilliant hue reminiscent of the copper-red moon right after a total lunar eclipse. This not only changed the color of her eyes, but also affected Ayanami's skin as well. Ayanami's fair, porcelain-white skin would appear slightly reddish only when she was in this "Demon Mode".

The other change was the internal one.

Right at this very moment, Ayanami's mind was sharpened to its absolute limit, and she would approach a Demon in nature. If the instincts that were driving Yuudachi forward were dubbed as that of a "Mad Dog" across the Sakura Empire, then right now Ayanami's instincts were that of a genuine "Demon" as well.

Demons do not hesitate, they do not falter, and the only desire that drives them forward is to "destroy" and "devour". In her "Demon Mode", Ayanami would leave all of the decisions to her own wild instincts, which was a state that was unthinkable from the usual Ayanami. She would be impulsive, fleeting, and yet cold-hearted. Her crimson-drenched eyes are also burning with intense heat and fever.

There was a certain coldness to her right now. It was no longer as if Ayanami was the "ship" given the "human" form, but rather as if she has chosen to abandon all of that humanity in order to fully embrace her nature as the "Demon" and the "machine" instead ------

「What is the meaning of this, you ask?」

Yuudachi, holding her single-barreled gun with smoke still rising from it in her hand, threw that question right back at Ayanami with much vigor.

「This was only a simple greeting! Ayanami! You are going to fight Yuudachi right here and right now! And if Yuudachi ends up winning this fight...... You are going to give up on that ridiculous idea of you getting married to the Commander!」

「I don't want to, desu!」

「W-Woof? H-Huh? Huuuhhh......? Could it be that you don't like to fight that much? Or maybe is it that......?」

Having her proposal utterly rejected, Yuudachi had a very sad expression on her face.

However, Ayanami soon slowly shook her head and said:

「Ayanami is going to marry the Commander. That part is non-negotiable and will not change...... And Ayanami only agreed to that idea because it was the Commander himself who came up with this proposition. It is not something that Ayanami alone could possibly decline...... desu.」

「B-But...... Do you honestly think that just because you said so, I will just comply with it just like that!?」

「You might be right in saying that, but I would never dare to say something like that to the Commander just to force him to do something....... desu.」

「M-Muh! Mumumumuh!!!」

On the other hand, on the other side of the battlefield, Yuudachi showed no sign of flinching, even though she was facing the "Demon Mode" Ayanami.

「This is exactly the problem here! Even the Commander wants to be with you out of his own free will! And if Ayanami ends up monopolizing the Commander, then the Commander won't have time to play with Yuudachi anymore!」

「...... I can see that you have an awful lot to say about Ayanami, Yuudachi.」

「Huh?」

「Right now, Ayanami said that she has no intention of giving up on her marriage to the Commander. But......」

Ayanami positioned her body so that her upper body was loose and relaxed, her right leg was put slightly forward and her left leg was slightly pulled back.

With both of her hands firmly gripping her Anti-Naval sword, she started to spin around, and then she lowered her hips and held her "sword" at a very low position, close to her crotch. Of course, the tip of the sword was pointing straight towards Yuudachi this entire time ------

「Ngh......!? T-This pose, this is......!!」

Yuudachi's eyes widened in surprise. At the same time, Ayanami nodded her head slightly.

「...... This is the most traditional sword stance for Anti-Naval combat, passed down since ancient times.」

There was no doubt that a more powerful and dignified stance using the Anti-Combat Sword existed in this world.

And that stance told more about what was going on in Ayanami's mind than any words ever could.

In other words ------

「This is the "Demon God" stance! And once you assume that stance......」

「Yes, that's right. Now, even though Ayanami said that she is not going to give up on her marriage with the Commander, that does not mean that Ayanami won't pick up her arms and fight. So if you have something that you wish to say to me, Yuudachi...... You'd better show it to Ayanami with your own power and actions! As for Ayanami, as the Demon God...... will just face it head on!」

「Alright! Now them's the fighting words if I have ever heard one!」

Suddenly, Yuudachi's face lit up with enthusiasm.

And thus, even though the two of them were supposed to be comrades and allies, they ended up fighting against one another.

Both of them were experts in torpedo battles, and they were both among the best in the entire Home Port's fleet. How will this unprecedented "fight" between the two of them end?

***

It was Yuudachi who took the initiative.

「I won't go easy on you, so you'd better prepare yourself, Ayanami!」

As soon as they put on their equipment and moved from the training ground on the open sea, Yuudachi approached Ayanami with high-speed maneuvers, not wanting to waste time pointlessly glaring at each other.

「Here comes the attack, desu!」

Sea water sprayed all over and flew up as the choking smell of the sea salt hit Ayanami's nostrils. Approaching at high speed, Yuudachi fired a continuous barrage of bullets from the guns that she held in both of her hands. Yuudachi's equipment was the same 76mm gun that was used in the warning shot earlier. And strangely enough, Ayanami, who was wondering whether to choose new equipment or stay with the old one, also chose the familiar 76mm gun.

The 100mm twin Type 98 Anti-Aircraft guns were a powerful weapon to use in battle, but there was still the issue of Ayanami's lack of experience when using those. Although it seemed too risky to change equipment on the fly for the sake of the battle like that, the fact that they both adopted special ship guns such as the 76mm guns proved that their fighting styles were indeed very similar to one another.

Neither Ayanami nor Yuudachi was very good at shooting their guns, but they were equipped with powerful equipment, and had a great advantage in the powerful technique of "All-Out Assault" that could only be used when the energy in their Riggings would shine brighter by firing their main guns multiple times in a row.

But more importantly than that ------ The two were the best torpedo-using Destroyers in the entire fleet.

「(Most probably, the result of this battle will be decided with our individual torpedo attacks......)」

Unlike their naval guns, the two of them were equipped with different kinds of torpedoes.

Ayanami's torpedo armament was the prized "533mm Quintuple Magnetic Torpedo Mount," which was equipped with special functions such as homing, not found in any other torpedoes in addition to its pure firepower. On the other hand, Yuudachi's 610mm Quadruple Torpedoes were difficult to control, but they had the most destructive power of all torpedoes out there.

Both weapons have been reinforced to their limits with various custom parts, and their strength has been increased to the point where a direct hit from all of the torpedoes at once would be more than enough to sink even a heavily armored battleship-class enemy in one hit.

As Destroyers with little to no armor on them, the two would have suffered considerable amounts of damage if they had been hit directly by such attacks.

They would probably be able to withstand two hits, three at most.

Any further hits would most likely result in them sinking in an instant.

However, their difference in equipment created a very clear and specific difference in tactics for this battle. Namely......

「Oi! Come on now! Stop running away like that! that's cowardly!」

「It's disadvantageous for Ayanami if you approach her like that! So this is the only optimal and natural strategy for me to assume, desu......!」

Obviously, no matter how powerful a torpedo one can fire at their opponent, it is all but meaningless if you can't hit your target with it. In addition to that, compared to naval guns, torpedo attacks take a very long time to load and the speed of the ejected warheads is extremely slow, so the basic approach to a fight using them was to wait for the right opportunity and close the distance to the target as much as possible before firing your own load.

In other words, "Point-Blank Torpedo Attacks" were the most orthodox tactic for torpedo Destroyers like Ayanami and Yuudachi to utilize once they were in the open sea.

And that particular Destroyers' fighting style was the one that has been taken to the extreme here. Both of them would try to sneak through the barrage of bullets approaching with overwhelming speed, evade torpedoes, and fire their own torpedoes at their opponent right away.

Of course, it was all but impossible for the two of them to be able to avoid or evade all of the shots and torpedoes that were coming their way.

It was all but understandable that they would both have to suffer some amount of damage being inflicted on them.

But even so, there was not a single Destroyer in the Home Port Port that was so softly trained that it would be rendered inoperable by just one or two shots hitting them directly. Sometimes they would misjudge and take a painful hit that could potentially kill them...... But even so, everyone was convinced that the correct role of a Destroyer was to lead the main force and move forward at full speed at all times, no matter what.

------ Even if it would lead to their flesh being cut and their bones being broken.

This was especially true for the Sakura Empire's Heavy Destroyers, most of which are extremely weak against naval gunfire, it was thought that being able to demonstrate speed even by one knot greater and get even a step closer to their enemy would lead directly to victory, and dispel the impending defeat.

However, it seems that the strategy that broke this common sense of Sakura Empire's Heavy Destroyers was the use of the "533 mm Quintuple Magnetic Torpedoes" that Ayanami was equipped with, and at this very moment ------

「Here I go!」

While maintaining her distance from Yuudachi who was charging right at her at a tremendous speed, Ayanami launched the first torpedo attack of the battle.

And what's more, she managed to launch her volley shot all the while she was retreating back to safety.

「Uwawawawawah!!!」

However, even if the extraordinary torpedo attack did not manage to inflict damage, it succeeded in cutting off Yuudachi's charge and inflicting a blow onto her morale. To describe this action in one term, the term "Kiting Torpedo" would be the most appropriate description.

A normal torpedo attack was more like a "pushing" action. It just kept on going forward, without any regard for anything in its path, increasing its top speed to the limit, colliding with the opponent's turning trajectory, and then moving into a firing action once again.

------ Ayanami countered Yuudachi with the exact opposite movement from that.

She saw the moment when Yuudachi managed to reach her top speed, baring her fangs like a wild dog, as the best opportunity to launch a counterattack. And what made this skillful interception possible was the power of the "Magnetic Torpedoes" that Ayanami was equipped with.

In the first place, a torpedo is a weapon that combines a warhead with an engine and a screw, and it can only move in a straight line and has the property of spreading out widely in a fan shape as it goes forward.

In fact, this exact fan dispersion was a very troublesome aspect of torpedo operations.

Normally, if you were to fire a torpedo while retreating like this, most of the warheads would simply fly in different directions, and even if the enemy was standing still, you would probably only be able to hit it with one shot if you were to get lucky.

Moreover, the enemy would most likely begin to take evasive actions at this point, meaning that there was no way that a torpedo fired in such a desperate attempt would have any hope of hitting its target.

In other words, it was a complete waste of time, and throwing a torpedo that takes a long time to load into the garbage can would be the action with a similar result. However ------ if the torpedo that was fired was a magnetic torpedo, then the story would be vastly different.

「K-Kuuh...... Damn it! Don't follow me! Damn it all, what an annoying torpedo this is!」

------ The Magnetic Torpedoes were revolutionary weapons with powerful "tracking/homing capabilities".

Yes, this "tracking/homing" also involved the action of "curving".

Sometimes the curve would be small, and sometimes the curve would be huge.

The path the Magnetic Torpedos would take was kind of similar to the curved trajectory of the aircrafts launched by the Eagle Union's Bogue Class First Ship and Escort Aircraft Carrier, Bouge's launch method.

Their tracking performance was simply amazing. The detection sensors built into the torpedoes automatically captured nearby targets, and each torpedo would individually correct its own trajectory, approaching as if to devour its target like a hungry shark running through the sea. It was truly a masterpiece born from the scientific power of the Iron Blood faction, which was famous for being the best in the world when it comes to the various forms of warfare and military engineering.

As a result of that, Yuudachi had a bitter expression on her face as the torpedoes approached her as if they had a will of their own. Yuudachi had no other choice but to correct her movement, which had almost reached its maximum speed, and take evasive action instead.

「Now, desu!」

And Ayanami would certainly not miss that opportunity.

Just then, a sharp "Crack" sound came from the torpedo tube attached to Ayanami's waist. Loading complete...... It was the signal that the next torpedo attack was ready to be fired.

Yuudachi's movements were currently restricted while she was dealing with the torpedoes that were just fired at her.

So next, it was Ayanami's turn to go on the offensive here.

***

「Awawawawah! I-I knew it! This is getting out of hand really fast!」

On the nearby coast a few minutes after Ayanami and Yuudachi battle began in earnest.

Just as Ayanami dodged Yuudachi's reckless charge attack and was about to go on the offensive, two girls appeared on the coast line near the training ground.

It was Shiratsuyu and Shigure.

Needless to say, it was Yuudachi's sisters who happened to run after their younger sister who had run out on them in a hurry.

「Heeeh......? That's pretty interesting. It's rare to see Ayanami and Yuudachi duke it out head on like that. It's a big event in a sense. Big event~.」

「Shigure-chan, this is no time to have fun and look all excited! Awawa, what should I do? Yuudachi-chan, Ayanami-chan, it's wrong for you two to fight like that!!」

Shigure smiled wryly as she sat down on the bollard of the pier and crossed her legs.

On the other hand, Shiratsuyu was still teary-eyed from all the worrying and lamentations that she's been doing for a while now. No one had explained the situation to her, but it was clear that Yuudachi had picked a fight with Ayanami, and that a fight had ensued between the two of them in earnest.

And what's more, the current situation was actually ------

「Fuhn...... Hmm, I see. This is quite a disadvantageous situation for poor Yuudachi. If this goes on like this, Yuudachi will have no chance of winning, at all~.」

Shigure narrowed her eyes, slowly surveying the battlefield, and muttered to herself.

Shigure might have looked like a care-free person who only cared about taking it easy and being all stylish and fashionable, but throughout the Home Port she was known as the "Shigure of Sasebo", and was regarded as one of the select few great naval military strategists. The fact that she was also so clearly able to declare that Yuudachi was at a disadvantage in this battle was very significant.

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CHAPTER 2: THE DEMON AND THE MAD DOG

This incident took place a few days after the news of Ayanami and the Commander's marriage spread all over the Home Port base.

「GRRRRRRRRR......!!!」

「This here is the one and the only battle that I absolutely cannot allow myself to lose...... desu!」

The smoldering embers that looked about ready to explode at any moment littered their surroundings.

The deep blue sea. Reflecting the sunlight on its surface, their surroundings were illuminated with a sparkling, jewel-like glow and light. The pungent smell of gunpowder, mixed with the smell of the sea salt, covered the shimmering water's surface and irritated the nostrils.

Amidst all that, there were two shipgirls (KAN-SEN) facing each other in battle.

One of them had cream-colored long hair, deep crimson eyes, and was wearing a stylish, short sailor uniform. That girl was currently the source of the hottest gossip circulating around the Home Port base, and she was the Eleventh ship of the Fubuki Class ------ Ayanami, the Destroyer.

As for the identity of her opponent, she was ------

「You are a sly one, I will give you that...... But! I will never lose to the likes of you, Ayanami!」

A fierce-looking shipgirl with her instincts currently being on full display and making it seem that what you see was what you get about her ------ a girl who held onto two "76mm Cannons" in both of her hands, with long trails of pungent smoke coming out of both of its barrels.

She had grayish long hair and, just like Ayanami did, was wearing some extremely stylish and extremely short sailor uniform. And despite being the same class of shipgirl as Ayanami, her oversized and ample chest was almost completely exposed ------ and not her cleavage area, but rather the lower parts of her two ample hemispheres ------ making for an extremely eccentric kind of outfit to be wearing in the middle of battle.

And for a Destroyer, that girl was certainly unusually large.

Her sharp animal ears, characteristic of the shipgirls of the same Class, grew from the top of her head, and there was also a bushy and long tail growing out from her caudal bone, slightly above her butt. However, perhaps her greatest characteristic was that even in the midst of this wild and chaotic battle, there was still a hint of feminine sophistication looming about the entirety of her body. The nails on both of her hands were skillfully painted with a bright and stylish nail polish, and there was even a small flower tattoo on the side of her exposed stomach.

There was no doubt about the fact that she was the kind of a shipgirl that embodied both the concept of "Big" and "Feminine" inside of her, but the overwhelming impression that the "Big" aspect was making easily surpassed everything else about her. Her personality, her behavior, and even her "Rigging"...... Everything was screaming "Big" about her.

------ The name of that girl was Yuudachi.

She was the Fourth ship of the Shiratsuyu Class and a Destroyer, and was nicknamed the "Solomon's Mad Dog". She was also the kind of torpedo ship that could easily rival Ayanami when it comes to the title of the "Maximum Firepower" within the Home Port's fleet.

For some mysterious reason she looked to be extremely angry at the moment, looking as if her wild instincts were about to take over the proverbial wheel and she looked about ready to pounce at her opponent at any moment now. And it just so happened that all of those wild impulses of hers were directed straight at Ayanami. Ayanami, on the other hand, had a completely different expression from her usual blank one, and stared back at Yuudachi with a strong and firm gaze.

Cold splashes from the sea would blow up, wetting the blade of her sword, which she was holding in an upright position, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

SPLASH. SPLASH.

Droplets of the sea water trickled onto the surface of the sea below their feet. But Ayanami's stance did not waver at all. Her crimson gaze was fixed on Yuudachi's every move, and she was mentally focused so that she would be ready to respond immediately no matter when or how her opponent would choose to engage her. She had the presence of a wild "Demon" right now, ready to destroy anyone and anything that would dare to stand in her path.

And then ------

「Here I come, Ayanami! Be sure not to blink, or you will end up missing it!!!」

「Don't underestimate the power of the "Demon"! ...... Desu!!!!!!」

The Demon and the Mad Dog.

The curtain was about to rise on the battle between those two formidable opponents......

By the way, why would Ayanami and Yuudachi end up in such a fierce and serious battle in the first place?

The reason for this actually went back some time even before the outbreak of the war against the Sirens, but for this specific conflict it was important to point out to a certain day: the day when the news about Ayanami being married to the Commander began to spread all over the Home Port.

The actual trigger event happened a few days after that fact.

Some shipgirls were really happy about Ayanami and the Commander's union and wished them happiness from the bottoms of their hearts. Some shipgirls were taking this information really bad and were basically heartbroken over their chances to get closer to the Commander pulled right from underneath their legs. Some shipgirls did not think anything in particular about it, and did not care at all. And some other shipgirls were silently fuming and already formulating certain "plans" inside of their heads...... And after each and every single shipgirl has decided their own state of mind regarding the firm fact of the "marriage of the two in question," it was now the time for them, so to speak, to realize that "Huh? what do you mean it's already too late......?" ------

It was at this time that Yuudachi finally managed to realize the seriousness of the situation.

And the situation was REALLY serious.

***

「Fuwaaaaaahhhhhh......!!!」

On that day, Yuudachi finally woke up in the early afternoon and rubbed her still-sleepy eyes with her hands while looking around her room absent-mindedly.

Inside of the Sakura Empire Dormitory, Yuudachi was assigned to a large room in the part of the building where only the shipgirls of the Shiratsuyu Class were gathered.

Her roommates from the very beginning of her stay here were the Destroyers Shiratsuyu and Shigure, and recently, even the Ninth ship of the Shiratsuyu Class ship, Kawakaze, has also started living in the same room. However, since recently Kawakaze was tasked with serving as the personal guardian of the Sakura Empire's Flagship, the battleship Nagato, her lifestyle has greatly changed and it was different from the other shipgirls of the same class, which led to the fact that Kawakaze was rarely staying at the dorms these days.

So usually it was just Yuudachi, Shiratsuy and Shigure in the room.

「Hmm......? That Shigure and Shiratsuyu, where could they have both gone to......?」

But for the current moment, both Shiratsuyu and Shigure were nowhere to be seen. Both of them had already left the room, and only Yuudachi was left behind, still sleeping in her bed.

This was a highly unusual situation.

「I wonder if it will be alright if I leave my nails as they are now......?」

Since Yuudachi had a really low blood pressure, she tended to be really slow and weak in the mornings. She also seemed to be a chronically bad sleeper, and when she would usually wake up in the morning, her hair and tail fur were usually a complete and utter mess. To be perfectly honest, Yuudachi did not really care about what happened to her appearance all that much, but it seems that for her sister shipgirls that matter was extremely important, and Yuudachi's lack of care bothered them quite a bit.

So basically, Yuudachi's morning routine would always start by waking up Shigure in the morning, and Shiratsuyu would usually brush her hair and tail fur before going out for the day.

In addition, Yuudachi had arranged for Shigure to get her nails trimmed and painted in the morning as well.

Yuudachi had no idea what was so interesting about it in the first place, but Shigure, who loved to paint and draw on her nails all the time, would oftentimes refuse to let her take care of it herself, saying things like: "It's too early for you to do that on your own!", and Yuudachi would often be used as Shigure's guinea pig when it comes to new forms of nail art.

That being said, it seemed really strange and unusual for Yuudachi to see her own nails unpainted all of a sudden, and it was even stranger that when she looked at her plain light pink nails, she would feel as if something critical was missing from her hands. It was a truly bizarre feeling, one that would constantly nag at her and refuse to let go.

But where would the two of them go off to so early, and for them to even leave the poor Yuudacho behind without saying a single word?

First of all, it was obviously very strange and vexing that only Yuudachi would sleep in so late, and that Shiratsuyu managed to wake up and leave before her. Shiratsuyu loved to sleep so much that she even formed a club called the "Napping Club" with her fellow sleep lovers, and was really passionate about indulging in idle slumber as much as she could, for as long as she could.

So why was Shiratsuyu not dozing off even though it was not even in the afternoon? Maybe something terrible has happened, something that basically forced her out of bed?

Thinking that, Yuudachi would grown increasingly more worried, however ------

「...... Oh well, it doesn't really matter. Either way, first things first...... Let's grab ourselves something to eat!」

Since she had just woken up, Yuudachi decided that she needed to eat something first and foremost. Just as her sister shipgirls liked to dress up and take naps, Yuudachi loved food more than anything else in this world.

And then, it was exactly at this time that......

「Y-YUUDACHI~~~~~~~~CHAN~~~~~~!!!!!! IT'S TERRIBLE! SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED!!!!!!」

Just as Yuudachi's thoughts were starting to turn all meat-colored, the door to the room slammed open and a lone girl, looking incredibly flustered, rushed in at once.

Her light brown hair was tied in two high ponytails. Her trademarks were her white ribbons and her well-shaped animal ears. Looking at her surroundings with her big blue eyes ------ She was Shiratsuyu, the First ship of the Sakura Empire's Shiratsuyu Destroyers Class.

Although she was a very kind-hearted and cheerful shipgirl who tried to act as the older sister for the entire Shiratsuyu Class, she would oftentimes get lost in her own thoughts and wander around until getting lost, which honestly made Yuudachi pretty worried about her most of the time.

「Huh? What is it, Shiratsuyu? What's all this commotion all about? Did you happen to lose something yet again?」

Yuudachi asked her sister shipgirl while seemingly being in a bad mood.

Honestly speaking, she did not care in the slightest that Shiratsuyu and Shigure had left her behind and gone out on their own, and right now she just wanted to eat her lunch in peace as soon as possible.

「I-I didn't happen to lose anything THIS TIME AROUND! But more importantly right now...... It's terrible! It's huge news! Something really big has happened! Are you listening to me, Yuudachi-chan? I am going to tell you all about it right now!」

「Something huge...... What's up with that? Could it be that...... Ngh!? D-Don't tell me......!!!」

Yuudachi opened her eyes wide in shock and exasperation.

Because it was probably about the worst possible scenario of her mind actually coming to pass, her voice trembled with despair as she called out:

「T-The cafeteria......!? Could it be that they have finally run out of meat to serve......!?」

「What, no! It's nothing like that! It's like, something even more amazing has happened!」

「S-Seriously now!? I-Is there anything more amazing than meat disappearing from the cafeteria in its entirety!?」

「Y-Yes! Yes, there is! And I just so happened to learn about that from Shigure-chan just now! So listen up! A-Actually......」

Shiratsuyu then took a deep breath, and after a few seconds of catching her breath and getting her thoughts in order, she said:

「T-The Commander is actually going to marry Ayanami-chan!」

「.................. Huh?」

Unable to help herself from doing that, Yuudachi only let out a dumbfounded sound from her mouth.

The Commander. Ayanami. Marriage.

Out of all of the words that came out of Shiratsuyu's mouth, Yuudachi was able to only register those three. In other words, those three words when connected together were making the perfect sense. The Commander was the Commander. He was the most important person to both Yuudachi and everyone else around the Home Port, and he would always play with Yuudachi and pet her in various places when she would do a good job. And although she would oftentimes be rather shy around the Commander and would sometimes have trouble with expressing herself properly around him, Yuudachi cared about him a whole lot.

However, when the words "Ayanami" and "Marriage" are suddenly involved together with the "Commander", the story started to take a rather strange turn. Which is to say ------

「Huh. What the? ...... That's actually not all that big of a deal at all. If it is Ayanami that we are talking about, then let her do as she pleases and that's it.」

「...... Hueh?」

To put it bluntly, Yuudachi only scratched her head in apparent confusion, looking all listless and coming off as having the "It doesn't really matter to me at all." kind of attitude.

「Well, I mean, it's fine, really. It's fine if the Commander and Ayanami get married. Don't tell me, was that what everyone was making a fuss about as of late? I swear, people nowadays tend to be so worried about such trivial things, for crying out loud......」

「Huh!? HHHHHHUUUUUUHHHHHH!!!???」

「And what's more, lunch is way more important than that! So come on now, Shiratsuyu! Let's go to the cafeteria! On the double!」

「Hueh!? Y-Yeah, right, but...... I guess it's true that lunch is also a very important matter, but...... Hueh? Important...... But still...... Huh? What the......?」

Yuudachi then pulled Shiratsuyu's hand, her eyes strangely dimmed and devoid of life, and the two left the room just like that.

At that time, Yuudachi really did not see anything wrong with the current state of affairs.

Everyone around the Home Port knew precisely what the term "Marriage" meant, so why was it that everyone chose to make such a great deal of fuss about it?

「(Goodness gracious, Shiratsuyu and Shigure! They are such little kids deep down inside. HThey always treat Yuudachi like a small kid, but when something like this drops down, they are the first ones to lose their cool all of a sudden.  Fufufun~! But Yuudachi does not get upset over something like this so easily! But anyways...... I will eat my lunch and then I am going to pay the Commander a visit so that he can play with me a whole lot!)」

However, at this precise time, Yuudachi had not yet realized that her understanding of "marriage" was significantly different from the one that the reality in front of her was bringing ------

***

「...... Well, that's certainly strange.」

One day has already passed since the news about the Commander and Ayanami getting married began to spread all across the Home Port island.

In the lounge set up in the building where the Tactical Classroom was located.

Yuudachi was feeling particularly restless amongst all of the cheerful chattering that surrounded her.

「Hmm, oh my......? What is it, Yuudachi-chan? Is something wrong......?」

「You should probably leave her alone for the time being, Shiratsuyu~.」

Since Yuudachi only mumbled something incomprehensive in response, it was Shigure who actually took it upon herself to answer the question.

It was really interesting in a sense, because even their reactions to such a casual remark revealed their personalities to the fullest.

Shiratsuyu had already turned towards Yuudachi with genuine concern in her eyes ready to give her sister advice if there was anything that she would like to discuss with the two of them, while Shigure, the second ship of the Shiratsuyu Class Destroyers and sister ship of Yuudachi, was exuding a very indifferent aura towards the entire matter.

「Since this is Yuudachi that we are talking about here, it is probably something really pointless, like the fact that she should have eaten more for lunch, or whether she should have gone with pork or beef to her rice, or something like that.」

Shigure proclaimed while applying a coating agent to the nails on Yuudachi's right hand.

Incidentally, Shigure was also a sister ship of Yuudachi, but she had more in common with Shiratsuyu than she had with Yuudachi herself. For example, the chest area, which was a characteristic trait of the entire Shiratsuyu Class Destroyers, was clearly visible through the short sailor uniform that exposed the majority of their stomachs, and it could be clearly seen even through the thick fabric.

By the way, this was a physical feature that was entirely unrelated to Shiratsuyu, the eldest shipgirl of the entire Shiratsuyu Class.

However, Shiratsuyu was the only one that had this "flat" feeling to herself. Because of this, even though all three of them are wearing almost the same type of sailor uniform, with slight differences in design and color, Shiratsuyu was the only one who looked as if she was wearing her uniform the proper way, without any sloppy looks ------ an extremely cruel phenomenon taking place.

「Muuuh! That is clearly not the case here, Shigure-chan! Because look! Yuudachi-chan had clearly eaten the entirety of her lunch and then even some more! And besides, Yudachi-chan is not the type who would ever regret choosing one option from the A Set of the lunch menu over the B Set! I know I would certainly not do that!」

「Yup, you! You can say that again! That pork saute was truly something in a league of its own.」

「Seriously, Shiratsuyu. You have to learn how to play along with the joke, even if the joke is not there. Well, that being said......」

Shigure sighed at the way too carefree reaction of her eldest sister.

However, the reason why she did not ignore Yuudachi's mutterings, which was the beginning of this entire exchange, was probably because, in the end, she was second to none with her caring nature.

After a while, Shigure put her manicure tools back into a small pouch where she would usually keep them stored away and turned towards Yuudachi.

「So......? What is it that is so strange as of late?」

Shigure then asked.

「Oho?」

「If you feel like talking about it, I am going to give you some proper advice, and I am sure that Shiratsuyu is going to do that, too. Well, that being said, I can pretty much already imagine how that is going to go, but still...... Right, Shiratsuyu?」

「Fueh? A-Ahh, yeah, right. Yeah, that's right. If I had to guess...... it would be about that, right......?」

Shiratsuyu nodded her head as Shigure glanced at her. Shigure then agreed, saying:

「Yup, you can say that again. It's been a full day since then, and it is really strange that Yuudachi has not said anything about the Commander at all......」

「Oh!」

Yuudachi's ears suddenly perked up. As expected of the sister shipgirls that spend most of her time eating and sleeping together. The two of them seemed to understand perfectly what Yuudachi was thinking right now.

「Yes, that's it, that's precisely it! That's what I'm talking about! Listen to me, everyone! I actually went to visit the Commander's place  yesterday and today, and ------」

「「HUH!?」」

For a moment out there, both of them had shocked looks on their faces, and then, just like Yuudachi earlier, both of their ears perked up at once.

However, what could be seen on their faces was a clear sign of shock. Shiratsuyu, with her eyebrows furrowed slightly, looked really troubled as she stopped doing what she was doing and decided to address the issue.

「Y-Yuudachi-chan......? We both thought that you were not interested in the matter at all, but you actually did go to see the Commander!? T-This is really bad, you can't just go and do something like that...... No matter how you try to look at it, this timing must have been really unfortunate for the Commander and......」

「Y-Yeah, that's definitely true...... I mean, the Commander can surely be slightly dense, or even to a fault sometimes, but if Yuudachi just waltzes like that right into his office, even I would find it hard to wrap my head around how to react......」

「Hm? No, not at all. The Commander did not seem to be bothered by my visit in the slightest? I mean, sure, at first he seemed to be a little bit surprised to see me, but then he would play with me like he normally does and he would even rub my belly and ------」

「HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!? H-H-He would give you belly rubs......!?」

「W-WAAAH!?」

Shiratsuyu screamed out loud, interrupting Yuudachi's words. Her lips trembled slightly, and for some reason her big eyes were welling with tears, showing just how shocked she was right now. Shiratsuyu then raised her voice even more, still with a sorrowful expression written all over her face.

「T-T-T-This is even worse! Y-Y-You can't do something like that, Yuudachi-chan! Think about the poor Ayanami-chan! You can't do something like this to her!」

「...... I am actually astonished! That stupid Commander! He knows that he is married to Ayanami-chan right now, so he should only be having this form of close skinship with her and her alone! It's not right to be doing something like this! To propose marriage to one girl and then offer belly rubs to the other girl so soon, that's just...... That's just......!」

「Y-Yes, that's right...... Shiratsuyu does not want to see her beloved Yuudachi-chan getting caught up in the middle of an adultery case with Ayanami-chan......!」

「Well, to be perfectly honest, I am actually kind of interested in seeing how a thing like that would actually play out. Because we are talking about all of that gooey, slippery and sticky kind of nasty business, right? That honestly sounds like much fun in its own right.」

「FUEAH!?」

「FUFUFU...... FUFUFUFUFUFU......!」

Shigure was now smiling suspiciously, and Shiratsuyu was being tormented by her sister's remarks, becoming even more tearful than ever before.

「......... Hm?」

Meanwhile, the conversation had already started to go in a strange direction, and while thinking about it for a moment, Yuudachi decided to continue the story that Shiratsuyu had interrupted before.

「But seriously though, I am not really all that great at listening to that kind of stuff. You two! If you could kindly listen to what I have to say right until the very end, please! Sure, the commander wanted to give Yuudachi her rightfully earned belly rubs, but before he was able to do just that, he was stopped for some reason by Jintsu, who is supposed to be the Secretary shipgirl for this week. So in the end, the Commander was unable to do anything to me. What a shame!」

「......Oh my.」

「I-Is that so? That's what happened? ...... Boy, am I glad!」

Both Shigure and Shiratsuyu raised their eyebrows in shock and disbelief.

And then both of them let out long and deep sighs for some reason.

「So what, it was just some unsuccessful attempt, huh? It is certainly a boring development, but oh well...... I'm just glad that it did not turn into any kind of sticky and gooey and messy trouble. Hoo boy, am I glad that Jintsu was the Secretary ship for this week!」

「Yeah, I really am glad to hear that...... If it was not for Jintsu-san being on secretary duty for this week, I don't think that there would be anyone in there who could have stopped Yuudach-chan in her tracks...... (Phew).」

「Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why the heck are the two of you acting so relieved!? It was clearly Jintsu who was acting strange here! I mean, until just last week, when Yuudachi would go to see the Commander, she would say stuff like "You know what they say about Heroes, right? They come in many different shapes and sizes" and would not complain at all!」

Jintsu was a Light Cruiser that was the First Ship Sendai Class of Light Cruisers, and was a military strategist nicknamed the "Indomitable Jintsu," and was respected by many shipgirls as one of the most powerful people in the entire fleet, supporting the Commander with her military and everyday "wisdom."

With Jintsu's swift and responsible actions, Yuudachi's request for skinship action with the Commander was thoroughly rejected. That was the reason as to why Yuudachi seemed to be so puzzled and worried, because to her Jintsu's actions seemed to be utterly incomprehensible ------

「...... W-Well, maybe that kind of thing really depends on a week to week basis. Wouldn't you say so, Shiratsuyu?」

「Y-Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, in the end, there is also the notion that the Commander is going to marry Ayanami-chan. B-Besides, I do realize that the Commander tends to be a rather friendly, or should I say proactive, person when it comes to things like that, but you know, Yuudachi-chan...... Once those two are going to be married to one another, things are bound to change around here quite a lot. Do you realize that?」

「Yeah, I guess so~. Still, it's a little bit disappointing that I will no longer be able to tease that Dummy of a Commander by touching me and then threatening that I will report him to the authorities for the inappropriate behavior, but...... Oh well, I guess it's something that cannot be helped. After all, those two are getting married.」

With some ever so slightly melancholic expressions on their faces, the two nodded their heads in agreement.

「No, I mean, even if you keep on saying that it is something that cannot be helped......」

Seeing both of her sisters acting in such a weird way, Yuudachi could only frown her brows.

Shigure, Shiratsuyu, and Jintsu were all the same, as in, they were acting all weird. Everyone changed their attitudes drastically after the announcement of the Commander and Ayanami's marriage. And not only those around her changed their attitudes towards those two, but they also demanded that Yuudachi should also change her attitude towards the Commander, even though she did not want to do that at all.

That was exactly the part that Yuudachi was so confused about.

------ Why would the fact that those two were getting married mean that everyone else would have to change?

That was the kind of question that Yuudachi simply could not stop asking herself.

「...... Well, I mean, in the first place, marriage means becoming very close with someone, right? In other words, you can go see the Commander any time, you can break things and he will easily forgive you, and if you ask nicely, he will let you eat anything delicious that you would ever want, right......?」

「Huh?」

「Ehh?」

Hearing her say all that, both Shigure and Shiratsuyu looked at Yuudachi with rather baffled and difficult expressions.

------ Could it be that they have unintentionally made some sort of a huge mistake?

Feeling that she might have actually been onto something here, Yuudachi quickly continued speaking.

「Umm, which is to say, if they are getting married, doesn't that mean that Ayanami and the Commander will become even closer than they already are? So like, Ayanami will no longer get in trouble for playing video games late into the night, or something like that......」

「「.........」」

Finally, both Shigure and Shiratsuyu became utterly speechless.

However, the silence did not last that long. For a moment, Shigure gave a wink towards Shiratsuyu as if she was trying to say "Just leave this to me" and Shiratsuyu only nodded silently in agreement. Then, Shigure, who had once again adjusted her posture and cleared her throat, turned towards Yuudachi and said:

「Yuudachi. It is as clear as day that your understanding of what "marriage" means is basically wrong!」

「W-What was that!?」

Yuudachi stood up from her seat and let out a cry of pure shock. Shigure continued, as if laughing and mocking her sister.

「While it is certainly true that marriage is about becoming really close with one another, that's not all! Your perception of marriage is...... Yes. To be honest, it's about the same as that of Mutsuki or Kisaragi...... It's on the same level! How pathetic for someone your age to be like that!」

Mutsuki was currently the youngest of the entire pool of Destroyers stationed in the Home Port's fleet.

Moreover, Mutsuki herself was a very playful and cheeky child with a very silly personality to herself.

Being compared to someone like that and being said that she was on the same level as her was the kind of insult that even Yuudachi could not possibly keep quiet about.

「Now wait just a minute out there, Shigure! Are you saying that I am on the same level as Mutsuki is!? Hah! No way! Even if it is you who said that, Shigure, there are some things in this life that even I won't be willing to forgive! You are going to regret treating Yuudachi like a small child!」

「Oho? And why is that? Is it because Yuudachi is not a small~ child~?」

Shigure then laughed in a mocking way.

「Surely you think so too, right, Shiratsuyu?」

「Fueh?」

Shiratsuyu suddenly jerked all over and her eyes widened in surprise as she was suddenly asked about her opinion on the situation, and she looked around as if trying to ask anyone else for help.

And then, she miraculously managed to find someone out there who could possibly bail her out ------

「Huh, umm, this is, I mean...... Ah! There! There she is! There she is! You two, look! It's Mutsuki-chan, and she's right there! In situations like this one, it is always best to ask the person in question directly!」

「Oh...... Hey, you're right! Alright, let's go and ask her what she thinks about Yuudachi, shall we!? Heey~!!! Mutsuki!!!」

At times like this one, Yuudachi was surprisingly enough way faster to act than everyone else involved. Yuudachi ran towards Mutsuki, who happened to be passing by, with the speed of sound.

「Hmm? Oh my? If it isn't Yuudachi-onee-chan! What's wrong? Did something happen?」

「Good day...... Yuudachi-onee-chan......」

The ones passing by were actually Mutsuki alongside Kisaragi.

The two of them were wearing the same kind of clothes as they were wearing on day to day basis, which was their kindergarten uniforms. As for Mutsuki, who was licking some of her favorite hard candy, she looked up at Yuudachi in pure puzzlement. However, she seemed to realize something was up right away, and while shielding the candy she was holding with her own body as if she was trying to stop it from being taken by Yuudachi, she said:

「Ah......! Could it be that you want to grab some of Mutsuki's precious candy for yourself? No dice! This is the special kind of candy that is only given as a "Get along" gift to people who are about to be married, like Ayanami-onee-chan! So you can't have any!」

「W-Wauh!?」

When Yuudachi heard the words "Get along" and "married", her entire body stiffened for a moment. It was a reaction born purely out of instinct. However, even if she was the older one, she shouldn't have been intimidated by the words like that, especially when the one saying them was the younger child.

But Yuudach then regained her former momentum, and then said:

「Huh...... Hey! How about you treat your elders a little bit better, huh!? And why would you even assume that I would want to steal your candy from you, huh!? I just wanted to check something with you really quick, that's all!」

「Hueh? Something that you wanted to confirm?」

「Yeah! Well, I mean, I don't have any particular expectations for this thing, but I'm sure that both of you do know that Ayanami is supposed to be married to the Commander, right, Mutsuki and Kisaragi? But honestly, I don't really understand what this entire "getting married" thing means in the slightest! What about you?」

No matter how you were supposed to look at it, it seemed impossible that such carefree little girls would understand something as complicated and complex as the concept of "marriage," something that even Yuudachi herself did not quite understand very well.

「(Fufufu...... No matter how you look at it, it's obvious that both Mutsuki and Kisaragi have no idea about the meaning of the word "marriage"! Did you see that, Shigure! Mutsuki is the same as she always has been, so you would do well to treat your sister better in the future! And don't you dare to compare me to a little child ever again!)」

Yuudachi laughed out loud inside of her mind, almost ending up laughing for real.

------ But then,

Mutsuki looked at Kisaragi with a puzzled expression, as if Yuudachi asked her about something that was so obvious that it did not even require any explanation at all.

「Of course I know! Right, Kisaragi?」

「The ones who told us all about it...... Were Shouhou-san and Javelin-onee-chan.」

「HUH......!?」

「Yes, yes, that's right! Umm, what was it again? It is something that you can only do once you have become an adult? That is something about becoming good friends, but that's not all there is to it! There is even more ------ "Getting along" with your significant other, I believe?」

「And in order to be special to someone, you need for love to mutually be between the two of you...... And that is why both Mutsuki and Kisaragi cannot marry the Commander themselves quite yet......」

「Y-You have to be close with someone......!? A-And "love" has to be there and be involved, too......!?」

「Yup, that's right. And that is why, you are not able to marry the Commander quite yet either, Yuudachi-onee-chan! Only Ayanami-onee-chan gets to do it for the time being, because she is special for the Commander and the Commander is special to her!」

Yuudachi was absolutely shocked to hear this. That's how unexpected the words that came out of both Mutsuki and Kisaragi's mouths were. And then there was the word "Love" and Yuudachi heard so much about it.

She heard a great lot about it, but she never actually understood the concept.

But those two would speak of love with little to no hesitation. It was as if they knew all that there was to know about love, and that this particular concept was not even all that special to them. 

Those two were supposed to be way more childish than Yuudachi was!

But, for some mysterious reason, both of them seemed to be so mature to Yuudachi that she could hardly even believe it ------

***

「Waaaaaah!!!!!! Uuuhhh~~~......!!!」

When Mutsuki and Kisaragi already left the scene, Yuudachi had no other choice but to simply howl in defeat. 

Both Shigure and Shiratsuyu came right next to the miserable-looking Yuudachi with bitter smiles on their faces.

「...... Well now, color me surprised, too. I did not think that those two would be able to understand the meaning of "marriage" to that extent...... Well, even though there were clearly some parts that they understood a bit wrong, but still.」 

「Ahh, yes, that's right. The part about the age limit, right? Because when it comes to "Oathing", age doesn't even matter all that much.」

「Yeah, yeah, that's right. But that being said, for Mutsuki and Kisaragi to know so much about "marriage" at their age, this is a bit...... You know? No matter what you think about it, I believe that it is WAY too soon for them to be thinking about that, like, ten years too soon...... But once they get to be our age and appearance, it should actually be okay for them. And if someone wanted to marry them way before that moment, that would be a huge red flag and the sign of ultimate perversion if I have ever seen one!」

Lifting her eyebrows up a little bit, Shigure declared in a very assertive tone. There was also a glimpse of her strong will to never tolerate lolicons of any kind and sort in those words of hers.

And ------

「...... Hey, Shigure? Shiratsuyu? What was that bit about only Ayanami being able to marry the Commander just now?」

Yuudachi asked her sisters in a clearly grumpy voice.

Yes, that's right. That was exactly the part about the entire "marriage" institution that Yuudachi had the biggest misunderstanding about. Because all this time Yuudachi was sure that marriage was simply just an extension of "friendship".

And then, Ayanami was clearly Ayanami, while Yuudachi was clearly Yuudachi.

No matter how close Ayanami would become to the Commander, Yuudachi has always thought that this would not influence her own relationship with the Commander in any kind of way.

However, in reality ------

「Y-Yeah...... I mean, marriage is already something that only the two people who love each other deeply should be doing. And if the Commander and Ayanami-chan like one another that much, then there is no way that any of us should really be getting in between them and trying to separate them. Because it's true, right? For the Commander, Ayanami-chan is the most important person from the entirety of the Home Port. And I am sure that for Ayanami-chan, the Commander is that the most important person......」

「Ngh......!」

「Yeah, that's about it, really. So there you have it, Yuudachi: the reason as to why Jintsuu stopped the Commander from giving you belly rubs was not because of some sort of hidden malice that she might have towards you, but rather because it was recently announced that the Commander and Ayanami are going to get married, and she did not wanted to see any kind of problems arise because of your irresponsible behavior. Especially with that already lewd body of yours. A little bit of skinship would never hurt anyone, but giving you belly rubs when he knows that he is already going to marry Ayanami, this is just...... Surely you get it, right?」

Hello, I have major problemos, I am a free to play and I have this neat little issue of LACK OF DOCK SPACE, I have no room for the memento gem grind, and I am stuck in chapt 9 because of the lack of space that I need to clear out ships every single little sortie is done. FYI I have event, legendary, ultras, and retrofit ships in my sock , excluding metas. Anyway to help to get dock space or am I going to sack a few events ships?

【Violet Tempest, Blooming Lycoris Rerun】

The event "Violet Tempest, Blooming Lycoris Rerun" will be available after next maintenance on 11/14. "Your safe haven is here."

* Thanks to the artist kir (@kir14868670) for creating this amazing piece of artwork.

Musashi artwork

Wanted to get the new Atago skin, but I was waiting as she has not shown up for me in the monthly pick yet. Didn't notice skins went away. Curious if they rerun the seasonal themed ones outside of that set time of year, or is it going to be next October before we see that one again?

Thanks

Hi guys, i just started this week and am looking for advice.

1. Based on what i have? What should my main party be?

2. In adventure, what are the colored triangles above ships?

3. When doing auto search, my ship goes directly to the boss, even when i have "all enemies" option selected. Is this intended? Is it optimal for farming stages?

4. Whats the upcoming must have ship i should save for?

5. Whats war archive?

6. Should i faem normal or hard stages?

7. What to do with dupes? Im getting several houshou meta from quests for examples but dont know what to do with them

8. In general what should i be prioritizing?

Thanks in advance fir your guidance

Hello

I'm stuck at 14-4, please help me buil fleet. Thanks

https://preview.redd.it/76z4zi1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=7fe22a8799ea3a3e56962c119d17c0752819efba

https://preview.redd.it/1bif1j1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b30edf116ef90abf88521cebf8331dee3d4952b

https://preview.redd.it/iol7ci1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=00ecd8e04abdaef97514edc8306b625ebe47d5d1

https://preview.redd.it/p2lppb2bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=2253842e97b18ced6895df95b9a564b162821bce

https://preview.redd.it/t0jf5p1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=92429a6fc401adbe5b4dd433e1bd16ca348287f4

https://preview.redd.it/x3gxfi1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=f435073d54db6c6d12034a4155a295a507760082

https://preview.redd.it/t4ubbj1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=8fc28a6d47f9b87a4489378a1169345f2934810a

https://preview.redd.it/gpq4zi1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ac940b6e19fb0a70e2d95f7e2c7a9ebb9a32dd1

https://preview.redd.it/n29ggi1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=05494272a2e4577e74d197dda5c4f4214e99e57a

https://preview.redd.it/xv2wki1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=45252c838c1e1647cdf6442409fd966411d82310

https://preview.redd.it/nb1bbj1bnizd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=ea6f51e3129010826461df31417bccb25ab7ce67

I gotta wait a whole 'nother year just for a shot at her AND I'll have to look out for the next Tempesta ships.... Why is it so hard to get the "rate up" Elite ships?

Anything of worth in this next update cause I'm planning on skipping it to farm more cubes?

The latest JP patch notes contain this section:

【予告】

次回以降のメンテナンス時に下記内容を更新する予定です。

• 期間限定海域イベント「赫の涙月　菫の暁風」復刻開催

• 期間限定建造の復刻開催

• 着せ替えの復刻販売

If you're like me and can't read Japanese, Google Translate renders this as:

[Notice]

The following content will be updated after the next maintenance.

• Limited time sea area event "Scarlet Tear Moon, Violet Dawn Wind" will be held again

• Limited time construction will be held again

• Costume sales will be held again

You may not recognize the translated event name "Scarlet Tear Moon, Violet Dawn Wind," but we can look at JP wiki to see that the Japanese name 赫の涙月　菫の暁風 is the same event as Violet Tempest, Blooming Lycoris. I don't know if this is just Google Translate being weird or if the EN name is actually slightly different, but it doesn't really matter.

Presumably, the "next maintenance" means the rerun will start after maintenance on November 14 (UTC-7). If so, expect to see an announcement on the EN social media over the weekend or early next week. If we don't see one, then it should be November 21.

All regional servers have been synchronized on events and reruns since the start of this year, so there's no reason to expect this will be a JP only release. I only tagged this JP because the announcement is specifically from their patch notes.

When deciding how many cubes to spend going for Musashi, be aware that while there's no confirmation like this for the upcoming collab, we're expecting it to start shortly after Musashi's rerun. All but one collab event had its initial run start just before Black Friday and last into December.

Thanks to /u/GreyGhooosey for pointing this out to me. I felt like it deserved it's own post since she's a highly sought after ship.