*Day 4*

Was it me, or did my dress feel tighter today? No, it wasn't my dress. It was something else. Honestly, it was probably my imagination. After all, it didn't look like there was any change between today's dress and the previous one.

Either way, I needed to hurry. If I could get my displacement under control by tonight, I would finally be able to sleep in a bed! A sweet, sweet bed!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

*Day 5*

Okay, I was hallucinating. Either my brother's posture had taken a hit, or someone had slipped something into my food. Sitting down, I was about at his eye level, which had not been the case for quite some time. Puberty had hit him hard, and even with my considerable head start, I know I wasn't able to keep up. Certainly didn't do it the first time around.

He turned to face me, noticing my stare with a slight smile, looking down on me like usual. So it was my imagination after all. Should have known.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

*Day 6*

Damn you! Budge! This wasn't that hard! I've been able to get this stupid thing to latch the past few days! What's with all the trouble now?

Finally, with agonizing slowness, with a soft click, it fell into place.

Oh, thank goodness. That had taken far longer than it had any right too. The tightness around my chest was even more notable than it had been over the past two days. So it wasn't just my imagination running haywire. Still, this should be enough to get through the day.

No sooner than the thought found its way through my mind, there was a loud pop, as the piece of cloth shot across the room, landing in the ever-growing pile.

Well, that's great. Just great. Okay, that's what, the fourth, fifth, one? Okay fine, the next one will be the charm.

And, well. That's a considerably larger issue. It seems that was the last one I packed. Okay, realistically speaking, I could just try and wear one of the dirty ones, but it was past time to put a pause on the insanity.

"Mom! I think I'm going to need this day off!" I said, with the door creaking open slightly. She looked between the pile of mechanically defective clothes laying in a pile at the other end of the room, and me.

"I can see why," she said bluntly, thankfully grasping the gravity of the situation at hand. "Do you want me to ask South Dakota has any clothes for you to borrow?"

My face began to shift towards a vibrant shade of pink. You get a picture of me using her muscular arms as a pillow one time, ONE TIME, and you're going to use it to tease me the ends of the earth! I hope this isn't some form of perverse revenge if Grandma and Grandpa teased you about dating dad! Because that is not okay! At all!

"Yes," I muttered. What? Most of the other ships were cruisers or destroyers, so their clothes certainly wouldn't fit. Even if South Dakota's clothes wouldn't be a snug fit either, I'd take something baggy over something too tight.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So, Kathrine has finally noticed her growth spurt?" Admiral Keeneth paused. It was inevitable, he supposed. But to take nearly a week was a bit surprising. Of course, she was also running herself ragged, so her distraction was understandable.

"Yes sir. I'm assuming you have plans for this?" that he very much did. Kathrine was not the oldest natural-born discovered. Oldest as a ship, yes, but far from the oldest human.

He knew what to expect, to an extent. Being a Pre-Dreadnaught might change a few things, but overall, a Pre-Dreadnaught was still a battleship. Which meant the result would likely be akin to that of a battleship. Which in this case, meant growth. Nearly six inches in just as few days, if his estimates were correct.

Still, the lateness of this notice had benefits. Without a doubt, the largest being her parents wouldn't have to be buying two separate sets of clothes. They would be reimbursed anyway, and Kathrine didn't appear to be the type to be overly extravagant or excessive in the first place.

"Has South Dakota requested permission to join her?" Admiral Kenneth frowned slightly. Such a request from South Dakota was likely, though he was reluctant to grant it. Kathrine's growth spurt would certainly help keep her anonymity, alongside the other changes from becoming a shipgirl. Placing her alongside such a famous, especially locally, shipgirl could easily sabotage it.

Of course, sending her out all alone with only her parents was something he couldn't do for numerous reasons. Kathrine was still a hot button topic right now given the events surrounding her awakening. It wouldn't surprise him if people were frothing at the mouth to interview her.

Something Kathrine was by no means ready for. Not through any fault of her own, far from it. Some people tried to treat shipgirls like celebrities, rather than simple human beings serving their country. Anyone from big names like Enterprise, Yamato, or Warspite to even smaller and lesser-known vessels such as Fletcher and her many sisters.

Natural borns tended to be little darlings especially. Kathrine even more so, given how the whole situation around her smelled of scandal. Of course, that probably wasn't the only issue. Even if significant headway had been made on that front since the start of the war, and even with there being no local chapters he was aware of, it wouldn't surprise him if they thought a natural-born Pre-Dreadnaught was an easier target.

They thought the same about Porter. As it turned out, a Destroyer with several five-inch guns was a far more formidable combatant than a crazed lunatic with a knife. Kathrine, who could now look her nearly six-foot brother in the eye and strong enough to be able to turn most assaults into pretzels was far more intimidating.

Which, while potentially amusing and given those particular individuals, deserved, would still be problematic, for numerous reasons.

"She said she would be awaiting your orders, sir," which meant she wanted to go but expected him to decline. He expected her to see that writing on the wall, as bitter as it may be.

Of course, there was a possibility that South Dakota could keep an eye on Kathrine while keeping attention off Kathrine herself. Possible. After all, most people would think Kathrine was simply a newly summoned shipgirl. Not an inherently correct assumption, but close enough to the truth. But that would still draw a fair bit of attention.

No. Ultimately, he wasn't going to be able to permit that. As much as he thought South Dakota and Kathrine got along quite well, the younger grabbed too much attention for such to be worth risking on such a task. Which was a shame, as he knew South Dakota would have loved the excuse to baby the older battleship.

Still, who else did he have? Denver and Kathrine were on terms where he trusted neither enough to be subtle. They'd throw too many jabs at each other for any attempt at that. Probably didn't help that as a Cleaveland she was still fairly recognizable, and Denver did have a reputation. Phoenix was also out. She generally didn't head into town, so that wasn't the issue.

Rather, she was far more obsessed with getting into fights than much else. A flaw she mercifully recognized. Which made Phoenix somehow even more likely to cause an incident.

But with the rest of his cruisers out on varying patrol runs, that left him with only destroyers. Which was far from a bad thing. As childlike as some could be, they mostly retained the same military discipline they had as ships. Still, he'd prefer something a bit more inconspicuous than a destroyer screen.

Maybe there was another option he hadn't considered? Admiral Kenneth found his eyes flipping to a report. This was.

Oh. This was perfectly timed, and the destroyer screen sounded like a marvelous idea. Maybe find a way to get them to see a movie. Both Kathrine and the destroyers deserved some type of break.

Hopefully, that would give them enough time to get South Carolina to calm down.

As unlikely as it would be.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

So this is what it felt like to be protected by a destroyer swarm. Okay, maybe a swarm was overselling three Fletcher class destroyers. It was strange seeing them in civilian clothes. Even more so how we weren't getting any weird looks. How was nobody recognizing the destroyers exactly?

Though, given both my and my mother's hair colors, the smaller girls with their mixture of red and brown hair likely passed off as sisters. Like a cute little family.

There was a little ting that went through my heart. Internally, family was certainly pushing it hard, but to an untrained observer? The destroyers were certainly playing it up, looking through shop windows with stars in their eyes. To the unobservant, we probably passed off as a family of tourists.

Which, to be fair, was partially true. Even with my family's frequent trips to Disney before Abyssal's showed up, this was not part of the state I'd been in. Even if we had though, I likely wouldn't recognize it. Sure, there was plenty of foot traffic, but at the same time, there was a feeling of emptiness.

Numerous shops looked run down, ratty, abandoned completely. What storefronts remained looked pleasant, sure, but the contrast was clear. Even with the Abyssal's in the Atlantic making the first move on the state in years, nobody seemed too alarmed. Yeah, sure, it was further down the coast, but still. Credit where it is due, but the people who remained on the coasts were quite brave.

Sure, many had fled into the countries interior, but many had also stayed on the coast once girls began to turn the tide. Given the volume of cities on the coastline the United States had? Not just major ports, but smaller cities and even towns? Numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. Each holding tens if not hundreds of thousands of souls.

Even if several smaller towns had been wiped off the map.

Still, that didn't mean the area was untouched. Honestly, excluding the start of the war, America's interior had remained mostly unassaulted by Abyssal forces. We weren't exactly unaffected by the war. People had come in from the coasts, hoping to start anew, followed by companies looking for safer places to research and develop new technologies to help fight in the conflict. World War Two style gardens had made a resurgence, as did resource drives and while rationing was not as bad as Japan or Britain, it still existed.

But the physical signs? The anti-air guns at the upper floors of tall buildings? Abandoned storefronts? Those weren't there. They simply weren't. It was like being in a completely different world. I mean, I knew they existed. I'd seen the pictures. But there was a difference between seeing a picture, and seeing the actual thing.

Though I was going to have to get used to it. San Diego probably had dozens, if not hundreds of scenes just like this.

"We don't have those back at home," mom elbowed me gently, head pointing towards the emplacement I'd noticed.

"No, we most certainly don't."

"Really? You don't?" the one I recognized from a few days ago, Kidd, asked, turning her head towards us.

"Kansas City might have had some early on," I frowned, looking towards mom as she shook her head, red curls swinging. "Or not."

"Why not?"

Good to know destroyers were just as good at asking hard questions like children.

"Well, they could probably go to better use elsewhere," which was true. A gun emplacement left sitting that far inland was one that wasn't shooting at Abyssals. Or in other words, effectively useless. Plus, given that the only reason Abyssal bombers made it that far was a combination of their attempted push up the Mississippi and willingness to crash and burn. They were only even to get that far in the first place due to that push. So why waste the resources that could be going elsewhere.

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

"Plus, the interior is pretty safe anyway," I concluded. The hum Kidd responded with was not what I'd been expecting. Was she accepting the reasoning? Or was she disagreeing and knew something I didn't.

The rest of our walk was dominated by a gentle, but somewhat uneasy silence.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Yes! Finally! Clothes that weren't dresses! I immediately began booking it towards the men's section. Yes, men's section. Firstly, have you ever tried women's pants? Most shops didn't seem to carry anything with actual pockets! Which, to be frank, was dumb as hell!

Secondly? I was like six-foot now, or close enough to it. Unless they carried shipgirl sized pants on the regular, the odds of me finding a fitting pair wouldn't be great.

But yeah, mostly because I wanted pants with pockets.

"Ka-Kathrine," I turned, a handful of pairs of shorts already hanging from my arms, prep for trial and error. Was it Strong? I looked down, the tuft of red hair confirming it was Strong. They were remembering to call me by my name, which was nice. Even if they were stumbling.

"I'd think you'd look nice in this," holding up an article of clothing for inspection. The snicker I heard from my mother was probably not the best of signs. But ignoring Strong would be rude, so I decided to humor the two.

And I already regret my choices in life.

Sure, it wasn't exactly a short skirt. I'd seen shipgirls wearing shorter. Iowa, mostly. Seriously, what was up with that microskirt?

But I wouldn't wear anything like that. I could wear dresses, or skirts if I needed to or even wanted to. If I was going to, it would be longer. Certainly longer than this red abomination.

"Sorry, but that's not in my taste," I frowned, trying to let down the destroyer gently. However, I paused, noticing the twitch in Strong's month. She was smirking. I shuddered. I knew what was coming. This was a trap. An expertly laid trap of mice and men. Best ruse since Death Star two. How was mom able to set this up so quickly? Truly, insidious powers were at work with her today.

"But you'd look so nice in it," I scowled at my mother, making my displeasure as apparent as I could. Against my mom, it probably still had all the effectiveness of a kitten trying to stare down a lion.

"Look, at least try it on," she gingerly took the skirt from Strong's hands, the destroyer barely bothering to hold back her snickers at this point, before placing it atop my pile of shorts. "Please?"

Oh, I'd make sure I'd get Strong back for this one. Somehow. But for the time being, I was just going to deal with it.

But if I was going to be wearing this thing, I'd be doing it my way. So I made sure to grab something else to go with it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After making sure my numerous fresh pairs of shorts fit, which was all I particularly cared about on that front, I now had to face the red skirt. I'd find some way to throw it into an incinerator one day.

If there was one thing I'd learned from anime. No, scratch that, if there was one thing I'd learned from Railgun, it was that Misaka is smarter than 99% of her fellow anime heroines. Seriously, I never would have thought of wearing pants with a skirt otherwise. Absolutely genius.

"I told you that you'd look nice," was my mom's comment, hardly missing a beat as I stepped out of the stall. Strong sounded a bit more disappointed in comparison.

"You're still wearing pants under there," I was thankful we were the only people in this section of the store because that probably would have gotten us a few strange looks.

"You don't?" I raised my eyebrow, sensing an opportunity to at the very least tease the destroyer back. "It's really good when you find the need to kick something."

I wanted to show off a bit, but I didn't want to create a scene, swinging my legs all over the place. Plus, I just might end up putting a hole in the store's floor. Which, would, well, be completely lacking in subtlety.

Strong's mouth went into a little o, as if my statement brought forth an epiphany.

Still, all I needed to do was change out of this thing, and get on to shirts.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

This one looked just about the right size. I picked up the shirt, unfolding it before looking down at myself. Yeah, it would fit, though it might be a size too large. That was more than acceptable. Even if it was larger than I thought, I could still use it as a sleep shirt.

Sleep shirt? That reminds me, I should probably check to see if they have pajama bottoms here. I mean those things were freaking amazing. Comfortable, great for lounging.

Hold on, this shirt looks nice. I frowned. I had six already. More than enough to last the few more days until vacation ended, where I would go back home, before being sent out to California. After which I'd need to just buy whatever I could. Sure, I could do it at home, but something told me the house was already swarming with reporters, and it'd only get worse if I stepped off the property.

Yeah, maybe I should get it here. That way I wouldn't have to deal with flashing cameras and a horde of people watching me pick out clothing. Though I didn't have an unlimited amount of suitcase space, so I was going to have to be picky regardless. And pray than California was far less starstruck about shipgirls than Kansas was going to be.

I reached out towards the shirt but paused at the last second. There was a feeling in my gut. One of those ominous feelings that just builds upon itself. Immediately, I began to scan the area around me. I spotted Kidd first, remaining close by while Strong was with my mother. Then I saw another person.

Their back was turned, so I couldn't make out any distinguishing features, but their posture just screamed at me. Like they were trying to hide something.

Maybe I was just being paranoid, but that's what it looked like to me. Why though? Did they have some type of camera? Phones still weren't exactly what they used to be by a longshot, but they still took decent enough video. Even if they had reverted away from more smartphone-like designs to being built more like a brick.

I shifted my head slightly, to give the impression that I was turning around, though my eyes remained locked on them. As I thought, their head began to swivel around as well.

Well, whoever they were and whatever they wanted, they certainly weren't particularly subtle. Nor did I want to be, either, but starting a confrontation wasn't something I desired either. At this point, the shirt I wanted to pick up remained forgotten, as I went to make sure everything would, in fact, fit. While making sure whoever it was got the message behind my glare that I didn't want to deal with them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Stepping out of the changing room, I once again looked around, hoping to relocate the individual and see them at a better angle. But either they improved at hiding, or it probably had to do with Kidd whistling none to inconspicuously in the corner.

Yeah, sure Kidd, I completely trust that you had absolutely nothing to do with it. I turned away, my eye's doing orbits in my skull as I rolled them. More like I wasn't going to ask questions.

However, I might just send a thank you card. Discreetly, of course.

So long as she didn't do anything drastic. Or scandalous.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

No, no, absolutely not. Horrifying. No. No. That? That much pink should not be possible. No, ick.

Okay, where do they keep the pajama bottoms? I was hoping to at least get something out of the women's section today, besides the bare essentials. But if I had to go back to the men's section, I'd do it. I wasn't making ideal threats here.

Scowling at the offending articles of clothing, fingers wrapped around my hand. Looking down, I noticed the Destroyer that had mysteriously gone missing mear moments after we arrived, who was blinking the sleep from her eyes. That? That was adorable.

Slowly, she began to pull me along. Okay, maybe pull was too strong a word. She wasn't applying that much force. More like she was guiding me along. As if she knew exactly what I wanted.

I almost cried when I finally saw it. Sure, some were far more vibrant and gaudy than anything I'd ever be caught dead wearing. But most were simply good enough for me.

"Thank you, Nicholas," I grinned at the sleepy destroyer, who merely nodded tiredly. After giving her a few pats on the head, I began to pick out what few I would tolerate wearing.

Oh, that one's blue. A keeper by default.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

My mom's breath was sharp as the bill finally rang up. I wish I was surprised that the skirt was nearly a fifth of the total, but that would make me a liar. Of which I was most certainly not. I mean, I looked at the price tag. Mom was going to pay for recommending that article of clothing, I knew that much in advance.

Still, this was a bit more expensive than I would have liked it to be. But given how I was pretty much completely out of clothes, this was always going to be something that cost a considerably pretty penny.

Finally, we exited the store, my arms laden with bags. Everyone was pitching in, so I could at the very least see where I was going.

Though I wasn't sure why we were heading towards a movie theater. What was that about?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The movie was okay, I guess. It was a bit of a kiddy flick, but the destroyers liked it, so that wasn't too awful. They deserved a bit of a thank you.

I just used it as an excuse to snarf down as much popcorn as I possibly could. Popcorn was something I loved, movie popcorn even more so. Though I did stop after my second refill. The lady behind the counter was giving me a serious stink eye. I probably could have eaten more, otherwise.

But honestly, even with a shipgirls appetite, three whole buckets was enough for me to say I was done, anyway. I knew mom was certainly not going to live it down, but I was content with myself. Probably wasn't going to get the chance to do something like that any time soon, so there shouldn't be an issue indulging myself just a bit.

Still, I hurried along. There was more than plenty of time to get things washed before tomorrow. At the very least, the bare minimal essentials of what I needed. I mean, it wasn't that late in the day. Throw it in before dinner rolls around, then afterward throw it into the drier. Easy.

I mean, it would be easy. There was just one small problem. Okay, maybe not a problem. More like a question and curiosity.

Why was I hearing a sound consistent with the doppler effect? That didn't make any sense unless someone had managed to get a jeep into the halls, and I felt that I'd be hearing a lot more noise if that was the case. Were the halls even big enough to fit a jeep in the first place?

I knew better than to ask why someone would do such a thing. Alcohol and shipgirls made for a considerable joint mess. Combine that with nonsensical magical properties, and the recipe for disaster was already mixed and ready for ignition. Quite frankly, it was now just another reason why I'd never touch the stuff, even after I got to legal drinking age.

Either way, if it was an emergency, someone would come to find me. Or otherwise, contact me, I hadn't exactly been shy giving out my contact information.

Still, was it me, or was the noise getting closer?

The sudden addition of weight in my arms removed the thoughts from my head. After all, I had other things to worry about.

Like why I was suddenly bridal carrying a stranger