Hanalei, the small town where I found myself, was a bit touristy; however, it was positively gorgeous with its taro fields and the deep, verdant mountains off in the distance. Although small, it didn’t seem to lack restaurants or other places to eat, which gave me pause. Although it was almost lunchtime, I wasn’t particularly hungry. The oddity that I hadn’t had water or food in nearly three days wasn’t entirely lost on me.

Being a ship girl had its advantages, but eventually, I would need supplies. Could I even eat regular food? How does that work? Well, that was something for future Akagi to worry about as I didn’t have any money, and I wasn’t about to break into anyone’s business.

It's a good thing, too. Turning a corner, I spied a military convoy slowly moving down the street. It included a dozen US Marines checking doors and calling out. Their shouts alerted me to their presence, dragging me away from the temptation of the delicious-looking cookies in a bakery store window.

Ignoring the thought of chocolate goodness, I realized that I had almost summoned my rigging. With a deep breath, I smiled and called out, “Konnichi wa, watashi wa sukoshi mayotsu te iru you desu. Watashi wa tasukeru koto ga dekimasu ka?”

"Sorry, ma'am, can you repeat that in English?" One of the Marines, a Corporal, requested as she approached.

"I apologize." I found myself bowing. "Force of habit. I can speak English. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Do you really not know?" A second Marine asked incredulously, then stammered as I smiled at him. "I mean, the governor called for a total evacuation of the island a few days ago."

"Is it because of the storm?"

"Yes, ma'am," the Corporal replied, almost rolling her eyes at her companion before the two began to escort me toward one of the vehicles. "And the attacks."

"What attacks?"

However, someone interrupted us before I could get an answer. "Who do we have there, Corporal?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

I turned and bowed toward the officer. "My name is Takijirō Akagi, Lieutenant. I'm sorry; perhaps I should say Akagi Takijirō. The nice Corporal here was telling me there was an attack."

The officer nodded, ran his finger over a tablet, and then frowned. "I don't have you as a resident, Miss Takijirō."

"I'm only visiting."

"Strange time to be a tourist," one of the other Marines commented.

"The island is quite beautiful," I countered with a smile, then turned back to the officer. "I lost my purse, phone, keys, pretty much everything, so I came to town looking for help. I thought I could borrow a phone to call my parents."

"Well, walk with us, Miss Takijirō; I'm sure Corporal Anders can tell you what's happening. Currently, communications are a problem, so contacting your parents will have to wait."

He typed a few things into the pad in dismissal before slipping back into the vehicle. With a shrug, I followed the Marines as they returned to hammering on doors and calling out to anyone who hadn’t left.

Satisfied that her troops were all doing their jobs, the Corporal turned to me and said, "Well, it seems you must have been here a while since tourists haven’t been allowed on the island since the attacks in Europe. The governor called for a voluntary evacuation then, but you can imagine a lot of people stayed."

"I see, and what do you mean by attacks?"

"It's going to sound like I'm making it up, but about a month ago, monsters crawled out of the sea and shelled almost every major European port. At the same time, fishing boats, cruise ships, and even warships were attacked and sunk by demons who looked like women."

"Until they ran into Belfast," one of the Marines near us chimed in.

"Belfast, the city?"

"Jacobson," the Corporal warned.

"She can look it up on the web; it's not much of a secret anymore," he replied, pulling out his phone and showing a picture of another eerily beautiful girl firing her six-inch guns. "Not the city but the ship, well, a girl too."

"She’s in a maid’s outfit," I commented dryly, getting a better look. Remembering Kongou, I knew English ships were odd, but at least the photo confirmed I wasn’t alone.

"Where did you get the picture?"

"Reddit, Corporal," he said with a laugh.

"Well, I heard most of those demon girls who took on the NATO fleet off Dogger Bank were also some sort of warships," one of the other Marines added.

The Corporal gave her men a look, who took the hint and immediately scurried back to their jobs before she continued. "Three days ago, Manila, Singapore, Port Arthur, and several places in Japan were attacked. Everyone expected Hawaii to be next."

"Japan?" I asked worriedly.

The Corporal nodded sympathetically.

"I did hear that a warship girl appeared in Tokyo Bay?" Johnson, who walked near us, added.

"Do you know who?"

He shook his head. "Connecting to the web's been a bit wiggy."

"So, this strange weather has been interfering with communications? Even cell phones?"

"Cell phones, radios—only the landlines connecting us with the mainland appear unaffected," the Corporal confirmed. "And these storms have appeared right before every attack."

"So that's why the governor is evacuating the island."

"Most people have already left, but we’re still finding a few stragglers like yourself."

"Can't believe you haven’t heard about any of this." One of the Marines who’d been listening called out.

I waved towards the northwest. "Not a lot of people to talk to out there."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Oh, you’ve been camping." The Corporal looked at me and shook her head. "Sorry, but you don’t seem like someone who enjoys the great outdoors."

That caused me to laugh. "Well, I can say I much prefer the ocean."

We didn’t walk far, traveling through the rest of the main street before stopping at a restaurant parking lot overlooking a river. Another group of Marines was waiting for us, along with a handful of civilian stragglers sitting in the back of a large truck.

"All right, Akagi, we have about a two-hour drive to Nawiliwili Harbor."

"Thanks for the escort, Corporal."

"My pleasure. Oh, and don’t worry, we’ll stop at least once for a break, but we need to get you civvies out of here," she said, laughing as I looked at the truck apprehensively. Of course, she had no idea I was more concerned about popping the tires than the trip as I climbed in.

Three hours later, we reached Papaloa just north of our destination. During the trip, we had picked up over half a dozen stranded motorists, two more trucks full of stragglers, and six more—what I was told were Humvees—for our little convoy. Although not totally her fault for the delays—this was our fourth break—one of the other truck passengers was a pregnant woman who seemed about as excited to be in one of these vehicles as I was.

However, I did manage to pick up a limpet named Chloe during my travels.

"Miss Akagi, I got a water bottle for you," she cheerfully ran towards me.

"Arigatou gozai mashi ta," I said, giving a slight bow, which caused her to squeal.

According to her mother, Chloe had been taking Japanese language lessons since one of her friends gave her some anime shows for her birthday. It was not even a subbed version, so they had no clue what the cute little pocket monster characters were saying. She was adorable, like one of my fairies, and had decided that I would be the perfect person to practice with, spending every moment doing just that.

"Don’t encourage her, Miss Takijirō," her mother, Katheryn, chuckled, walking up beside us. "Did you use the bathroom, Chloe?"

"Hi," the young girl announced.

Opening the water bottle, I downed about half of it in one go. Although I wasn't particularly thirsty, my human side relished the cool liquid running down my throat. By then, most other civilians had gathered around, commiserating about the trip and our dislike of the trucks. Much like my companions, I found this mode of transportation quite uncomfortable. For me, as a ship, it felt particularly unnatural.

As we drank water and shared some fruit moments later, other group members began to wonder about dinner plans. With all the restaurants closed and MREs being mentioned, we'd likely get something to eat on the boat.

"I know I’m a bit of a worrier," one of the women announced while splitting a banana with her husband, "but I asked Private Bentley again about the ships, and he said they were holding one for us."

Her announcement brought smiles all around. Phone coverage was spotty, and the military hadn’t been very forthcoming. With the airport officially closed, no one knew if ships were still waiting for us. But there was no need to worry. The Navy had accelerated the evacuation process.

Although spending the next few hours on a truck didn’t seem ideal, I glanced past the greenery toward the ocean. If I walked across the parking lot, I could be in Honolulu in about three hours. But should I go with the flow, allowing the US government to evacuate me and others trapped on the island?

But by now, along with a strong wind blowing things around, dark clouds had covered the sky, making it look like evening. Far to the north, the horizon glowed with an unnatural green and red hue. With it clawing its way toward the island, it felt like I was running away, which was unacceptable.

As soon as we unloaded into the parking lot, the Marines who escorted us went on high alert. Being professionals, they weren’t panicking, but something serious must be happening. Most of the civilians remained oblivious until a convoy of heavy military vehicles raced past us. It was only after a couple of helicopter flights flew over that everyone began to worry.

"Are we almost there, Mommy?" Cloe asked suddenly, causing several adults in our group to chuckle.

It was amusing, something I used to ask my parents in the car, but I was no longer paying attention to the conversations around me.

"Akagi, do you know where we are? I’m not as familiar with this part of the island."

I then realized that I was being spoken to. "Oh, sorry, we’re pretty close, maybe half an hour, but with all this traffic, I’m not sure how long it will take."

"Oh, looks like it's time for another history lesson," one of the others announced as a familiar Navy officer approached.

Commander Carlyle joined our little convoy right after our first break. During breaks, we had an ongoing history discussion. No one complained; it was interesting and broke up the trip's monotony.

Lucy, the pregnant woman I mentioned, leaned over and whispered loudly, "I think he’s sweet on you."

"Naww, he’s just happy to find someone interested in the same thing," her husband disagreed. "Kinda like talking about sports but with history nerds."

That caused laughter among us.

"Konnichi wa futatabi, senchou," Cloe called out.

When he didn’t reply, I stepped forward. "Are we ready to leave, Tom?"

"Can I speak to you privately, ma’am?"

Oh, that’s not good. Gone was the good-natured smile; now, he was all formal Navy on me.

"Of course," I replied, kneeling. "Keep an eye on everyone for me, okay, Cloe?"

"Hi," she beamed.

Once we were away from the others in the middle of the car park, he said, "Ma’am, two Coast Guard cutters reported after coming under fire that the towns of Princeville and Kalihiwai were in flames."

Nodding, I clenched and unclenched my right fist. I looked in that direction and then back. We had passed through both on our way down here.

"Is this something you really should be telling me, Commander?"

I had my bridge crew send an alert to the hangar, and my pilots began preparing, but I needed more information before taking action. He had some idea of my true identity. I knew it wouldn’t remain a secret for long, especially if these demonic creatures appeared. I just didn’t expect it to be revealed on the way to the harbor.

"Ma’am, you might remember that I plan on teaching history after I leave the Navy."

"I do; we spoke on several topics during our stops, and as I mentioned before, I was impressed with your knowledge. I think you will be a fine teacher."

During the last break, we delved into an in-depth discussion about the Washington Naval Treaty. Ah, I see; my insights and information on it had been rather detailed but one-sided. You could even say personal. Well, I was a Japanese ship, but could it be that obvious?

"Thank you, ma’am. Military history is one of my passions, especially the Pacific War. I’m sure you know that Taijiro Aoki was the captain of the carrier Akagi during Midway."

Okay, I’m not entirely obtuse. It was odd that he just showed up. However, part of me thought the Commander might have just been flirting. Our conversations had been pleasant, and all the civilians who listened mentioned they had learned something, too. Instead, it seemed he was trying to figure out my identity. My fault, really. I could have called myself anything else, but that felt wrong. I wouldn’t sail under a false flag, but my little obfuscation of using my Commander’s surname didn’t make a difference.

"He was," I replied with a warm smile. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"Only that he survived the war, ma’am."

"Thank you. That’s good to know," I said, letting out a small breath I didn't know I was even holding. "Obviously, you believe that I might be something more. Maybe like Miss Belfast?"

The Commander glanced back as more Marines arrived at the park, including a couple of officers who began to approach.

"We hoped so. Although it hasn’t happened every time, warship girls have appeared during the attacks by these sea demons. And it’s not just what you know, ma’am. You have a presence, an aura that all warship girls seem to have, and you’re quite beautiful."

That made me laugh. It was nice to see he noticed, but still. "Thank you for the compliment. I will say you’re very perceptive. I imagine it also didn’t help that I just showed up on a beach with no ID and no record of a Takijirō Akagi entering the country either," I replied in my native tongue—well, native for Akagi, anyway.

"Yes, ma’am, although your modern knowledge kept us guessing. We have been ordered to assist any warship girl that appears in any way we can. Obviously, you wanted to keep your identity secret, but someone would have approached you in Honolulu anyway," he said in perfect Japanese.

Switching back to English, I voiced my concerns. "Mainly because of my history, Commander, my presence on the Hawaiian Islands might not be entirely welcomed."

"I don’t believe that will be the case, ma’am; that war has been over for eighty years. And from our discussions, you seemed to know that our two countries are now allies."

"That we are," I said, then turned toward the two new officers. "Gentlemen."

The older of the two looked at the Commander, who nodded. Satisfied, he greeted me with a salute. "Major Alan Hittle, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines."

Stepping back, I returned the salute and proudly proclaimed, "IJN Akagi, Flagship, First Carrier Division. How may the Japanese Navy assist the US Marine Corps today?"