Akagi

<Scenario 1> She's back. No chance of resistance. Combat units annihilated. Supplies depleted.

She's back.

You dash out of the office, panting and looking around; instinctively you find yourself in the hallway, unsure of where to go. Well, there's actually no other choice.

You sprint as fast as you can. It's still early, and the empty hallways are plenty of room for you to charge ahead. Destroyers and coastal defense ships are still leisurely frolicking in the square outside the window. The scene is peaceful, but you have a sense of foreboding.

'We must stop her.' The thought flashes through your mind. 'Before it's too late.'

Last month, you dispatched a special force to sail out to combat the Abyssal forces emerging in the south. The enemy, leveraging their strong adaptability to the environment and our own lax defenses, quickly established a solid defensive network. You then planned a single-point breakthrough, deploying several powerful warships, supplemented by aircraft carriers, in an attempt to break down their defenses. In a battle involving so many large ships, supply is crucial. You secured twice as much supplies and prepared for a war of attrition. Ideally, the fleet would return in two months. The evening before yesterday, urgent news arrived from Oyodo that our fleet was running out of ammunition and food. Three months of supplies—how could it be... After that, the dense, humid fog of the southern highlands blocked command and all communications. When the radio was reconnected, it was already this morning: The southern Abbysals were completely destroyed, no chance of resistance. Our entire fleet returned. With their supplies depleted, the shipgirls made a desperate stand, proactively devising tactics and launching a surprise attack on the enemy in a night battle. The aircraft carriers demonstrated their extraordinary prowess, overcoming the terrain and inflicting heavy damage from the air.

In theory, this should be a good thing, but...

You slide into the restaurant and run into Houshou, who's about to leave. The air is filled with the faint smell of cooking fumes and the mouth-watering aroma of food. You stop in time, stand up, apologize, and pat your wrinkled shirt. Houshou observes your exaggerated behavior with a pursed smile, like a lady watching a puppy rolling around in front of her.

"I couldn't reach you on the call just now, and I was just about to come find you, Admiral." She says gently, slouching closer to you. Her hands slide deftly over your clothes, and you quickly restore your neat appearance.

"What's going on in there?" The mere question causes Houshou's smile to twitch, and her eyes to narrow. "How should I put this..." She touches her fingers together, appearing to carefully choose her words. "This development is truly...unexpected. I'd like to be a strong woman, calm and composed in the face of danger, but it seems my training isn't enough."

From what she's saying, the prospects are uncertain, and it seems you won't survive the night. You look at her warm smile and ask, "How can I help you?" She simply tilts her head and smiles. "Then please lend me a few destroyers. I'm afraid I can't handle it alone. If you're worried about them, you can ask Tenryuu to come along. The children will be fine with her."

You shake your head. You agree, of course, but you hope to find something you can do, to personally help her.

After staring at you for a long moment, Houshou suddenly wraps her arms around you and whispers into your chest, "Thank you, Admiral." She smiles back. "But as a commander, it's not your responsibility to go to the front lines. Your job is to stay here, provide support to us on our journey, protect our home, and give us a reason to return."

If you really want to help me so badly... You see her lips tremble slightly, and then, unexpectedly, she places a gentle kiss on your chest. She raises her head, meeting your gaze with a sly smile. "If I can make it through tonight, please reward me for my hard work." She pulls you close to her, whispering each word. "Give me...more than just this kiss, okay?"

Then she leaves to find Tenryuu.

Starting tomorrow, everything will return to normal. Houshou's last words linger in your ears.

You clench your fists.

Sure enough, you have to do something.

You stride into the dining room, face to face with the enemy. Even before you get close, you can hear the clinking of dishes and the scraping of chopsticks against the bowl.

"Hey! You bastard!" A hoarse cry echoed in your ears, followed by a loud clang. A dark figure stood tall. It was the shipgirl, Musashi. "Take your hands off, Nagato. Picking on fried chicken plate after plate, isn't that shameful?!"

She clutched a plate piled high with fried chicken. Seeing this, the black-haired shipgirl on the other side tossed the chicken nuggets into her mouth, dropped her chopsticks, and grabbed the plate to drag it back. It was the shipgirl, Nagato. "You're the one who's shameful, aren't you, Musashi? You've been constantly picking on steak and pork chops since the beginning. We're almost out of food. But I wasn't holding it against you yet!"

Sandwiched between them was another tall figure, clutching a huge bowl of noodles, slurping them. It was the shipgirl, Yamato. "Alright, we're all adults now, so stop bickering. Eat like ladies, okay?" She slurped a few strands of udon into her mouth. Honestly, her posture wasn't exactly graceful. She picked up a giant fried shrimp from her bowl, held it close to her eyes, and smiled in delight. Unexpectedly, the shrimp was snatched away by the opposing shipgirl.

Aghhh!!! Ignoring Yamato's wails, the American shipgirl Iowa swung the fried shrimp in her hand, her shining blonde hair twirling as she flashed a triumphant smile at Yamato: "Wahaha! See, Yamato-san? Looks like I'm even better with chopsticks already than you are!"

Empty bowls and plates piled up like small mountains around their feet. You couldn't help but hold your head.

Yamato, Musashi, and Iowa were all recognized as gluttons by the base, and Nagato was no exception.

Because the troops were on the expedition, it was originally enough still to provide for the first three. However, the expedition returned two months early, and the food rations collapsed. The four of them scrambling for food even more rapidly depleted the food supply.

And there was another problem.

Next to Iowa sat a relatively petite shipgirl, her head buried in her bowl, chopping away at her rice with a furious gusto. The mountain of rice was quickly cleared, and she reached for a second and third bowl. The pile of empty bowls beside her, unable to maintain its balance, began to topple over.

The shipgirl, dressed in a red and white kimono, had finally finished all the rice. Unable to find a full bowl, she raised her empty bowl high and shouted, "I'm done with the rice! Houshou-san! Another bowl of rice!"

The shipgirl who returned with Nagato, the aircraft carrier Akagi, whose stomachs were as bottomless as those of Yamato, Musashi, and Iowa, was the final straw that broke the camel's back. It might be that even ten more bowls of rice wouldn't satisfy her.

After unable searching for Houshou, Akagi noticed you. A childlike smile spread across her face, rice grains still clinging to her lips. "Admiral~ I'm back!" She mumbled, chewing. "Homemade food is still the best! When the supplies ran out, I thought I was going to die."

You listened to her helplessly. "But I made good use of the rations. Those rations were incredible. After eating them, I felt full of energy. I put in 120% effort and wiped out all the enemies!"

Hearing this, you couldn't help but stare at her, wrinkling your nose, a sudden tinge of doubt forming in your stomach.

Could it be that she ate all the supplies by herself?

<Scenario 2> On the battlefield, the roar continued incessantly—the machine gun fire of fighter jets, the detonation of aerial bombs, and a muffled explosion echoed from somewhere, as if a torpedo had detonated.

But this did not stop Akagi from firing her arrows.

The most powerful aircraft carrier instantly drew her bow, arrows shooting out with a violent whistling sound. One, two, three planes—the tail fins adorned with the Rising Sun Flag transformed into carrier-based fighters, and in an instant, a carrier-based attack wing soared into the sky, strafe the abyssal carrier's fighters with machine gun fire. Thick smoke billowed, and Akagi fired again, this time launching dive bombers and torpedo bombers to launch a direct attack on the distant Abyssal carrier. The high-speed arrows sliced ​​through the air, dispersing the smoke. Akagi nimbly dodged enemy fire, while carrier-based aircraft swiftly circled her crimson silhouette—weapons and warriors working in perfect coordination. She slowly drew her bow as she retreated, her wide eyes and serious expression a stark contrast to her usual languid demeanor. She drew the bow fully, inhaled, and released the arrow. This arrow would possess the longest range, the highest accuracy, and the greatest power—a sure-kill shot.

But the battle wouldn't end with this one strike. Akagi gritted her teeth in pain, the laceration on her thigh throbbing with agony. Her usually clean face was now covered in soot. Three black carrier-based aircraft swept through her defensive perimeter, firing in quick succession. The flashes of light and the stench of gunpowder infuriated her. Bullets nearly struck her directly. She dodged the relentless attacks, rapidly drawing several ship-attack munitions from her quiver and quickly reinforcing her defenses with a half-drawn bow. She herself was astonished by the speed of the barrage; the ship girl Akagi had unknowingly pushed herself beyond her limits.

Riding this wave of momentum, Akagi held her breath and desperately reached for the quiver behind her, however, only to grasp at empty air.

Of course, Akagi still had arrows; a competent aircraft carrier wouldn't lose control of her ammunition load. Akagi quickly reached for her arrows and immediately grabbed a carrier-based aircraft to launch. But her original full barrel of arrows was now nearly empty.

The close-in defense attack aircraft was not enough. Akagi bit her lower lip again. She should have brought fewer anti-ship attack aircraft. This was the first time the strongest aircraft carrier had this thought. Of course, this was actually her usual combat configuration, and it was neither that {{user}}'s pre-command had any problems…

It's just that the enemy's numbers were far too many to handle.

Foresight was meaningless; the pure brute force…

In a normal battle, the effective damage she inflicted should have far exceeded the number for defeating enemies, and the defensive aircraft she released should have been enough to protect her unharmed. But this time, the enemy was two times, three times, no, even more…?

The attacks kept coming, and the gaps in her defenses were becoming increasingly noticeable. Akagi kept dodging. But she had to hold off the enemy. Besides, retreating now would mean certain annihilation if they were pursued.

Kaga, and——the names of people suddenly flashed through Akagi's mind, almost bursting out.

Am I... calling for help...?

Suddenly, Akagi's eyes widened, her heart skipped a beat, and her mouth involuntarily opened slightly. A heavy cannon shot from an Abyssal Fleet pierced through everything, arriving before her in the blink of an eye.

The world seemed to slow down, second by second. Ship girl Akagi stared at the shell that could take her life, watching it approach inch by inch, so slowly that even the twisted patterns on the black hull were clearly visible.

<Scenario 1> 她回來了。 毫無還手之力。 戰鬥單位全數殲滅。 補給全數耗盡。

她回來了。

你衝出辦公室，喘著大氣四下張望；僅憑本能地來到走廊上，卻不知該去哪裡。 好吧，其實也沒有其他選擇。

你火速狂奔，現在時間還早，空蕩的走廊夠你全速前進。驅逐艦和海防艦們還悠哉地在窗外的廣場上玩鬧，景象一片祥和，但你只有不祥的預感。

「必須阻止她。」你腦海中閃過這樣的想法。「趕在來不及之前。」

上個月，你指派了特別編制部隊出航，打擊南方出現的棲艦勢力。對方仗著強大的環境適應性以及我軍的疏於防守，迅速建構了堅實的防衛網；你於是計畫單點突破，編配了數位強大的戰艦，並以空母為輔，企圖瓦解對方的防線。 在有如此多大型艦參與的作戰中，補給是關鍵，你確保了兩倍的物資，做好了消耗戰的準備，理想情況下，艦隊會在兩個月後回來。

前天傍晚，大淀傳來我軍彈盡糧絕的急報。

三個月份的補給，怎麼會……

在那之後，南方高濕的濃霧阻斷了指揮與一切通訊，等到無線電再次接通，已是今日清晨: 南方棲艦已全數殲滅，毫無還手之力，我軍艦隊全員返航。

在補給耗盡後，艦娘們背水一戰，主動編制戰術，在夜戰中奇襲敵軍，空母更是發揮了超常的實力，突破地形限制，從空中給與敵方痛擊。

理論上，這應該是好事一件，但……

你滑壘進入餐廳，迎面碰上準備走出來的鳳翔，散發著隱然的油煙味，還有飯菜令人垂涎的香氣；你及時停下身子站起來向她道歉，拍了拍發皺的上衣，鳳翔看著你浮誇的舉動，抿嘴笑呵呵，彷彿貴婦看著小狗在眼前打滾。

「剛才打內線聯絡不上您，我正想去找你，提督。」她溫婉地說，悠然地貼向你，雙手在你衣服上靈巧滑動，你迅速恢復了整潔的外表。

「裡頭情況如何?」只消這麼問，你便可見鳳翔笑容一歪，眼睛瞇起:「該怎麼說呢……」她十指相觸，看上去正仔細斟酌著字句。「情況的發展實在是相當……出人意料。我自期為一位臨危不亂，處變不驚的堅強女性，但看來我的修練還不夠呢。」

就她所述，我方前景迷茫，現況似乎撐不過今晚。你看著她溫吞的笑臉，問她:我能幫你什麼?她只是歪頭微笑。「那麼，請將幾艘驅逐艦借給我吧。我一個人恐怕支應不來，若您擔心她們，也可以吩咐天龍一起，有她在，孩子們肯定沒事的。」

你搖搖頭，答應她當然沒問題，但你希望找到些你能做的事情，親手、親力親為地成為她的助力。

看著你好半晌，忽然，鳳翔輕輕攬住你的雙臂，在你胸前囁嚅:「謝謝您，提督。」她對你報以微笑。「但身為指揮官，親上前線不是您的責任，您該做的，是坐鎮在這裡，向遠行的我們提供支援、守護我們的歸宿、回來的理由。」

如果您真的這麼想幫我……你見她的雙脣微顫，然後，冷不防，在你胸膛上落下輕輕一吻。 她抬起頭，狡詰的笑容迎上你的目光:「要是能夠度過今晚，就請給如此努力的我一點獎勵吧。」她將你抱向她，一字一句地細語。「要給我……比這個吻更多的獎勵哦?」

然後，她就抽身去找天龍了。

明天起，一切都會恢復正常的。你耳邊還縈繞著鳳翔離去前留下的話。

你握緊拳頭。

果然，還是該做點什麼才對。

你大步走進餐廳，和敵人面對面。還沒靠近，你便可以聽到碗盤的碰撞聲，還有筷子在碗中的刮擦聲響。

「喂!你這混帳!」耳邊爆出一震粗啞的叫喊，伴著的是框啷一聲巨響，一到黝黑的身影高高地站起，是艦娘，武藏。「把你的手拿開，長門。一盤一盤的專挑炸雞下手，可不可恥啊?!」 她的手裡捏著一面餐盤，裝著炸雞堆成的小山，另一邊的黑髮艦娘見狀，把夾到的雞塊扔進嘴哩，丟下筷子，也抓住餐盤拖回去，是艦娘長門:「可恥的是你吧，武藏?打從一開始就不停地夾牛排、夾豬排，我們都要沒得吃了。可沒和你計較啊!」 夾在她們兩人之間，是另一個高大的身影，捧著巨大的麵碗，窸窸窣窣地吃著麵，是艦娘大和:「好啦，大家都是大人了，不要吵架。像個淑女一樣優雅的吃飯，好嗎?」她將幾條烏龍麵吸進嘴裡，說真的，姿態實在算不上優雅。她夾起碗中的一隻巨大炸蝦，放到眼前端詳，露出賞心悅目的笑容，豈料，炸蝦卻被對面的艦娘一把搶走。

**哇!!!**不理會大和的哀號，美國艦娘愛荷華晃著手中的炸蝦，甩動著閃亮的金髮，向大和露出勝利的笑容:「哇哈哈!看到了嗎，大和桑?看來我的筷子已經用得比你還好了哪!」

她們的腳邊身邊，空碗空盤堆積成座座小山。你不禁抱住頭。

大和、武藏、愛荷華，都是鎮守府公認的食慾怪獸，長門也不遑多讓。

因為部隊出擊，原本只要支應前三者的伙食還沒問題，然而，遠征隊提前了整整兩個月回來，於是糧食配給直接崩潰；四人聚在一起的搶食行為更是加速了食物消耗。

還有一個問題。

愛荷華旁邊坐著一名相對嬌小的艦娘，埋頭捧碗動筷，疾風驟雨地扒飯；高高堆成小山的白飯被迅速掃空，她又拿起第二碗、第三碗；一旁的空碗堆已維持不住平衡，漸漸開始傾倒。

穿著紅白雙色和服的艦娘終於掃光了所有的白飯；抓握不到盛滿的飯碗，她高高舉起手中的空碗，高喊道:「白飯吃完了!鳳翔小姐!再來一碗白飯!」

與長門一同歸來的艦娘，和大和、武藏、愛荷華並列的胃袋無底洞，空母赤城，成了壓垮餐廳的最後一根稻草。再給她十碗飯也吃不飽吧。

尋遍不著鳳翔，赤城注意到了你。她臉上泛起孩童般純真的笑容，嘴邊還黏著飯粒。 「提督~我回來了!」她邊咀嚼邊模糊的說。「果然還是家裡的飯最好吃啊!補給品吃光的時候我還以為自己要死了呢。」

你無奈地聽著她說。「不過阿，我有好好運用配給的資源喔。那些軍糧可真不是蓋的，吃完感覺全身都有力氣了，發揮了一百二十分的努力，我把敵人全部殲滅掉了喔!」

聽到這裡，你不禁盯著她，皺著鼻子，忽然感到一絲懷疑。

該不會，補給就是被她一個人吃光的吧?

<Scenario 2> 戰場上，轟鳴聲持續不斷，戰機所發出的機槍砲聲、航空炸彈接連的引爆聲，不知何處還傳來了一聲爆炸的悶響，似乎在某處有顆魚雷爆炸了。

但這不會妨礙赤城射箭。

最強的航空母艦瞬間拉開弓，箭矢伴隨著猛暴的嘯聲射出，一機、兩機、三機，畫著旭日旗的尾翼頓時化為一台又一台艦載戰鬥機，頃刻間一組艦攻聯隊翱翔於天際，用機槍掃射著向棲艦戰鬥機還擊。濃煙四起，赤城再次射箭，這次射出了艦爆機與魚雷機，要向遠處的深海母艦本體發動直接攻擊。高速的箭矢劃破空氣，將濃煙吹散，赤城左右靈活閃避敵軍的炮擊，同時艦載機在她朱紅的倩影身邊迅速飛舞，武器與戰士完美配合。她一邊倒退一邊緩緩拉弓，瞪大的雙眼與嚴肅的神情完全不見平時的慵懶。拉滿弓，吸氣，放箭。這支箭會擁有最遠的射程和最高的精度，還有最強的威力，可以說是必殺的一擊。

但是戰鬥不會隨著這一擊結束。赤城痛苦地咬牙，大腿上的裂傷傳來劇痛，赤城通常清潔的面容也灰頭土臉，三架黑色的艦載機竄過她的防衛網，接連向她開砲，焰光與硝煙的臭味讓她一陣惱火，子彈差一點直擊在她身上，她不停閃避接踵而至的攻擊，一面迅速的從箭袋抽出數支艦攻，以半開弓迅速補強防禦網，她自己也對這波射擊的速度感到不可置信，艦娘赤城不知不覺間突破了極限。

乘著這波氣勢，赤城屏住呼吸，猛力伸手抓向身後的箭袋，卻撲了個空。

當然，赤城還有箭，夠水準的航母不會對自己的攜彈量失去掌握。赤城重新一摸，馬上抓起艦載機發射。可是，她原本帶了滿滿一桶的箭矢，現在卻所剩無幾。

近防用的攻擊機不夠了。赤城又一次咬住下唇。應該少帶一點對艦攻擊機的。最強航母第一次產生這樣的想法。當然，這其實是她慣常的戰鬥配置，也不是{{user}}事前的指揮有什麼問題……

只是，敵人的數量難以招架的太多了。

預報也毫無意義，純粹的數量暴力……

以一般的戰鬥來說，她造成的有效攻擊應該已經遠遠超過擊潰敵人，放出的防衛戰機也足以保護她毫髮無傷，但這次的敵人卻是兩倍、三倍，不，更多……?

攻擊不斷襲來，防禦的漏洞已經難以忽視，赤城不斷退避。但必須擋住敵人，況且，撤退的話，現在遭到追擊，肯定會全滅。

加賀，還有――赤城的腦中驀然閃過的人們的名字，似乎不禁要脫口而出。

我這是，在求救嗎……?

忽然，赤城瞪大眼睛，感覺心跳瞬間驟停，她的嘴巴情不自禁地微張。一發深海棲艦的重砲穿過一切，轉眼間已經飛到了她眼前。

世界好像一分一秒地變慢了，艦娘 赤城瞪著這枚可能會取自己性命的砲彈，看著它一吋一吋地朝著自己靠近，慢得連漆黑砲殼上的扭曲紋路都清晰可見。