[SFW, Genderswap]

The birds were chirping on the windowsill, as the gentle rays of sunshine slowly started covering one man’s bed. He didn’t react to the warmth washing over him, his body still exhausted from what he had been through. Not pained, far from it, just exhausted. Even his eyes hadn’t opened fully, despite the fact that he was clearly awake.

Tanaka Tetsuya. One of the mechanics that worked at Tokihana, the Navy Base where nothing ever really happened. Most of his jobs involved constant maintenance of one of their three ship girls and their rigging, ensuring that they would never get caught off guard. No matter how peaceful the region was, no matter how small the chance was for them to be attacked, he would be there to make sure that they could stand up against those that wished them harm.

And he certainly did. He remembered it vividly. When he noticed that Shiranui, the ship girl serving as his partner, wasn’t in any condition to fight back against a sudden invasion by the Abyssals… He did the first thing he could think of. The backup rigs that had been sent to them in case of an emergency, the ones that never got a partner… He managed to equip it. Using his own ingenuity and the element of surprise, he managed to send the Abyssals packing, saving his partner and the base in turn.

Of course, he passed out not long after that. All of his muscles were burning, his hair was getting in his eyes, and the adrenaline that let him bond with the rigging had run out. Judging by his current surroundings, he had to have been picked up at some point, so that he could have a chance to recover after everything he and his friend managed to accomplish.

“Heh… Fancy that. I was just like one of those Super Robot pilots, saving the day in the nick of time.” Tetsuya grinned to himself as he clenched his fist, his eyes opening a little wider as he looked out the window, down on the rest of the base to see how it was doing.

Besides a few scrapes here and there, no doubt from the long range artillery that some of the Abyssals possessed, Tokihana was intact. And it was thanks to his brilliant idea. If he could see the face on Shiranui now, it’d probably be one of the rare times she’d blush and tell him that he was right. Or she’d try and slap him for being smug, she did that sometimes too.

The man sighed as he leaned back into his bed, his body still aching causing him to groan a little. It wasn’t painful enough to stop him from moving, but it definitely meant that he still had to rest. Otherwise he’d just make it all worse. He knew that much from one of his younger years, when he and his sister got into an accident. They recovered, but not without a few complications due to their childish instincts.

“Just gotta wait until it all blows over then, huh?” He mused to himself, looking over to his other side as he slowly closed his eyes once more… only to open them once he noticed a little something standing on the desk next to his bed. He hadn’t noticed it before, but he really should’ve.

It was a vase full of flowers, the kind that only grew in his and his sister’s hometown. Not only that, but a bottle of the town’s home-brewed alcohol stood right beside it, seemingly freshly acquired too. All topped off with a little card resting between the two gifts, with onl a few words written on top.

“Get better soon, little brother. Love, Ren. (Jun helped!)”

This wasn’t the first time that she had helped in him some way. Far from the last either, as he vividly remembered the day when she came home after his graduation and offered to get him a place to work. Their relationship had grown ever tighter since then, despite the way that they had drifted apart during his college years. At least she still cared about him lots, despite the woman that she had now become.

“Heh. Leave it to Ren to get me exactly what I need to cheer up.” Tetsuya chimed as he yawned, about to close his eyes once more. The gift was nice and everything, but he really needed to rest. He wasn’t going to get better if he didn’t get a healthy few hours… Even though he had probably slept the entire day away or so, thanks to all of the existing stress he had built up. Still had another day or so to rest through, before he’d be in tip-top shape.

Unfortunately, as much as the tired and satisfied mechanic wanted to just sleep the rest of the day away, the noise right outside his room kept him awake. It was a familiar noise, though only partly, as it was a set of voices. One of them definitely belonged to his apprentice, but the other didn’t resonate with him as much. He knew of it, but it wasn’t one that he concerned himself with often.

“I’m telling you, Kou, you can’t go inside yet. He still has to recover.” The not-so-familiar voice said from beyond the door, the lackadaisy way of speaking mixed with those serious words providing an even more unfamiliar feel. “Can’t you come back later? He did just save you all, give him the chance to-”

There was a knock on the door, presumably belonging to that apprentice of his. “B-Boss! Please! I wanna see you! May I?” The excited and rightfully worried tones of Ogasawara Kou, the boy that he had taken under his wing and taught him everything he knew, echoed from beyond that flimsy looking door. Maybe next time he got injured, he’d ask the Admiral if she could get some soundproofing installed, just for this occasion.

“Kou, you don’t just knock on somebody’s-” The unfamiliar voice spoke up, before she seemingly just gave up. “Alright, sure, it’d probably be good medicine for him anyway. Go on in, say hi and all that. Just remember to let him sleep, he still needs that.”

The other presence left the general vicinity of the medbay as Tetsuya’s understudy entered the room. “Ogasawara, entering! Boss!” He cried out, being the same kind of dork that he always was. Acting like he was a subordinate in some sort of robot anime…

He laughed as soon as he saw the young man being himself, even after seeing his boss bedbound. “You never do change, do you, Kou?” He chimed, pulling himself up a bit while the blanket stuck to him. “So, what’s so important you had to disturb my beauty sleep? Got something you want to say? Something you want to confess? Spit it out, I’m listening.”

“W-Well, Boss, I…” Kou blinked a couple of times as he got closer, a blush covering his cheeks. “I was just… Y-You know, I…” He stammered and stuttered, as he realized that he probably should’ve thought things a bit more through before he went and disturbed a patient’s rest. “I.. I…”

Tetsuya sighed as he watched the worry on his pupil’s face, before he motioned for him to step closer. Only once he got close enough did he raise his arm over the blanket and onto that head of his, ruffling through his hair like he always did whenever he got nervous. “Come on, Kou. Just let it out. I know you’ve got something important to say.”

His slender-bodied student took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he clenched his fists… “Boss, you… YOU WERE SO COOL! YOU SAVED SHIRANUI AND THE BASE AND YOU TOOK OUT ALL THOSE ABYSSALS WITH NOTHING BUT YOUR GRIT AND GUTS! OH MY GOODNESS YOU JUST PULLED OFF THE CRAZIEST STUFF! EVEN MY ANIME AREN’T AS COOL AS YOU! PLEASE, BOSS! TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT!”

And there was the Kou that he knew. “Alright, alright, that’s more than enough of that. I thought you were worried about something, and here you are gushing about me? What, you think I don’t know that I’m cool?” The strong-hearted mechanic laughed, bringing his arm back under the blanket once more. “Still, gotta give you thanks, Kou. Never thought I’d hear praise like that ever in my life.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Boss! I’m just glad that you and Shiranui are okay. Akira too! You should’ve seen the look on his face as he woke up, he looked like he had seen a ghost and never stopped firing. In fact, all the ammunition we put in his rigging had been depleted by the time he returned, so…” The younger man explained, giving a bit of insight into what had happened while he was knocked out.

So, Ishikawa Akira, the Office Cadet that he had roped into all of this, had woken up before him. He had to admit, the suppressing fire that he put out with the Oyashio rig was something else. It was like he was possessed by a demon when he kept unloading on the Abyssals. He would hate to ever be on the receiving end of that barrage…

“He’s up and about, eh? Wasn’t as damaged as I was?” Tetsuya asked, clenching his fist a bit. It felt smaller than just yesterday, but he chalked that up to his muscles still being sore. But there was one thing he could definitely feel…

The texture of the Abyssal whose mask he punched. The one that nearly got Shiranui. The one that dared hurt his partner. A grin snuck onto his face, satisfied that he managed to drive them back. Not with the power of the rigging, but with his own. In the end, he was the one who ended up saving them, not anything else.

“Nope, he was actually really fine! He was just a little shaken, and he kept on tossing and turning in his bed. Even if he wanted to recover, he couldn’t stay. So, he’s been up and walking for a couple of hours and the Admiral’s keeping tabs on him. Can’t say I blame her, he looked completely out of it…”

Kou blinked a couple of times as he finished talking, now that he finally got a good look at his boss. There was something about him that felt a little… Weird? Off? He didn’t know how to properly describe it. Like when he looked at him, and compared it to the mental image of the man that taught him everything, it seemed to not properly coincide. Not just because he looked tired beyond all belief, but…

His body seemed smaller? His face was less rugged, and the slight stubble that he had wasn’t there. In fact, a lot of the features that he had built up over the years, according to both himself and his sister Ren, didn’t seem to be there? Not only that, but when he felt his hand rubbing through his hair, it was smoother, smaller and… girly?

“What’s the matter? Something on my face? Didn’t you learn never to stare, Kou?” Not to mention, his voice was just a few octaves higher than usual. It was all so unsettlingly wrong, but… To bring it up to him now wouldn’t do. It would just be rude. Especially since he already interrupted his nap.

The young man shook his head. “No, nothing, Boss! I was just admiring my hero a little, you know! The man that could probably pilot something like Great Cygnus, only to jump out of the cockpit to beat the villain of the day with your bare hands!” He chimed, shaking off his worries as he let his inner nerd shine through again.

“You and your Great Cygnus. Tell you what, when I get outta here and the medics say I’m all clear? We’re gonna marathon that thing. If the main guy’s a great dude, maybe I’ll try and see if I can’t mimic his looks. You’ve earned that much of a reward for your consistency, Kou.” Tetsuya laughed as his understudy’s nerdy interests overlapped with his own, as he slowly sunk back down onto his back. “Now get outta here, I wanna catch a few winks.”

Kou quickly raised his arm to salute his Boss, grinning like the geek that he was. “Order acknowledged! Rest well, Boss!” He chimed as he left the side of his bed, assured that his Boss would be fine. He even apologized to the one waiting outside the room, for interrupting his rest for something so inconsequential.

“Heh. Even after everything I’ve taught him, he still goes ahead and compares things to his favorite cartoons. Heck, I don’t blame him. Those guys are always the shining example of justice, even when they go a little crazy. Just like me, I guess.” The tired man muttered as he pulled the blanket all the way up to his neck, yawning as his eyes fluttered. “Not like that’s gonna stop me from getting that sleep I need. He can talk for hours, that kid.”

One more yawn echoed throughout the medical bedroom, before Tetsuya fell asleep and let his dreams take over…

---

Later that day, as the evening hours were starting to roll in, the setting sun continued to shine its rays through the window. Even as the man that had saved them all rested away, the sun still blessed him with its light and warmth.

Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to continue resting, the gentle sound of a page being turned was enough to rouse him from his slumber. “Alright, who is it this time…” He muttered as he slowly sat up in bed, his mind even more sluggish than earlier in the day.

“So, you’ve awoken.” The voice of one familiar girl started echoing through his ears, one that made him groan. Sure, he liked the sound of it, and he liked the owner, but this wasn’t really the time to end up getting into an argument with her. It always happened, so he just braced himself for the worst.

The girl, Shiranui, was busy reading one of her favorite stories. It was something that she did in her spare time, whenever she had a moment to breathe and some privacy. The fact that she held enough respect for the man to just read it as she sat by his bed was telling. After all… It was the kind of story that he enjoyed. About those big robots that his pupil was interested in.

“Get on with it, Shiranui, I’m trying to sleep the soreness away…” Tetsuya yawned as he stretched, accidently knocking the blanket off his body. Without even realizing the truth of the matter, something that had been progressing since he slept. If he just were to look down, it’d all make sense.

The pink-haired ship girl closed her manga and put it on the windowsill, clearing her throat as a tiny blush appeared on her cheeks. An uncharacteristic blush, one that carried a lot of weight considering it wasn’t one made from embarrassment. “...Well done, Tetsuya. Your swift action in the face of danger, and the conviction you displayed when you rescued me, both were commendable beyond the ordinary.”

“...Hold on.” The mechanic rubbed his eyes a couple of times, making sure that he was actually seeing things. No matter how much he rubbed them, the pink-haired girl didn’t disappear. “...Alright then, who are you and what did you do to the Shiranui that never gives me the credit I deserve?” He asked, utterly dumbfounded by her behavior…

She shook her head. “I put her to bed for a while. She’ll be back once you recover.” Despite her praise, she still cut deep whenever she wanted to tease her partner. “At any rate, I have a question. How do you actually feel?”

“What do you mean, how do I actually feel? I feel like I’ve been slept on by a ton of bricks, leaving me so sore that I can barely hear myself think sometimes. That’s how loud the muscles are whenever they throb in pain.” He replied, sighing as he clenched his fist. “I did real good out there, huh? Was it nice, getting saved by the guy who keeps fixing you?”

Shiranui just gave him a stare. A long, quiet and telling stare. Not a single word was necessary to make the sweat run down the man’s forehead as he realized that his joke fell flat. “Alright, alright, blame me for wanting to feel good for once.” He muttered, crossing his smaller arms, resting them right under his chest.

“Be a bit serious this time, Tetsuya. How do you feel. Physically, not just in regards to your body being sore.” The pink-haired girl asked once more, her stare growing softer as he stopped trying to tease her.

Tetsuya rubbed his chin a little, tilting his head back and forth. “I do feel like I’ve gotten a bit smaller? Like, last time I got thrown in a hospital bed, I could see over the windowsill. Now I can just barely do that, and I can’t even reach it without sitting up properly.” He explained, looking at his hands. “It’s like... “

“It’s like you’ve become something new.” Shiranui finished his thought, clearing her throat as she stood up from her chair. “Please explain to me how the rigging process functions, and what dangers can arise from it.” She asked once she stood at the far end of the bed, looking straight ahead at the man who had saved her.

He nodded as he put his memory to good use. “The rigging process, as described by the Professor’s notes given to the navy, allows a human with enough aptitude to bond with a rig that has the spirit of a former navy vessel imbued within it. Not only does it allow them to arm themselves with the vessel’s weapons in a compartmentalized fashion, but it also increases the firepower they can output depending on the user’s will. However, without immediately disposing of the bond with the rig, there’s a large chance of something going wrong.” He explained, roughly summarizing it all. “So, that’s what you wanted to hear?”

“It could be explained better, but yes, that’s roughly it.” The pink-haired girl nodded as she pointed straight towards the man. “Now, explain to me, what are you currently?” She put the ultimate question down for him, waiting to see how he would react.

Tetsuya blinked as he looked down at himself, finally noticing a few too-feminine traits about him. However, there were a few things that stopped him from properly realizing that things were worse than he thought. Namely, his sleepy mind keeping his eyesight from being without a bit of fuzz, his body still aching all over, and his partner generally caring for him. All of that made him think it was more of a dream, and if he knew anything about dreams he should just nod and go along with it.

“I’m… A gal?” He rubbed the back of his head, grinning a little. “Yeah? Filled with the spirit of the ship, turned into a girl, that’s about it?” He said, nonchalantly as he looked towards her. “Or is there something else?”

She shook her head, smiling herself. “Well, since you’re accepting it, I guess it won’t have to be that difficult in the future. When you’re done recovering, I want to see you perform like you did when you saved me. Got it?” The pink-haired girl asked, as she went to grab her book.

“Gotcha. I’ll knock you out during training if you leave your guard open!” Tetsuya shouted with gusto, pumping his feminine arm into the air as he watched her leave. “Tell the others that they better watch out too, I won’t let being a girl get in the way of my normal self!”

Shiranui nodded as she slowly closed the door to the medical room, closing her eyes and sighing as she walked down the halls. She saw right through him. She knew that he didn’t believe it, and that he just played along to make her stop worrying. Just like he always did…

“You’re an idiot, Tetsuya…” A small teardrop rolled down her cheek. She was fully prepared to go out with a bang that day, but he had to save her. She had no right to be saved, not with everything she had done before she became a ship girl. Until the day that she’d sink, she’d keep those times deep within her heart.

Now, she had to shoulder the burden of getting him up to speed. Once he finally realized that he was a girl, and rather permanently so, he would need somebody that understood what it was like. As they were partners, now perhaps more so than ever before, it was her duty to serve as his senior. If he kept up the performance on that day too, then it wouldn’t be an issue.

She had to hold out hope. At least for a little longer. She couldn’t let herself falter, now that she owed him.

“Being a girl, huh.” Tetsuya muttered to himself as he looked down at his feminized body, frowning just a little as he palmed his chest for a few seconds. “You’d think that with all that I’ve done throughout my life, I would be a bit bigger where it mattered.” A blush reached his cheek as he reached further down, exploring himself just to make sure that he really had been turned…

Only to stop right before he went too far. The blush that had been covering his cheeks now consumed his whole face, as he carefully pulled the bedsheets over him completely. “Alright… That’s… That’s enough for now. If this really is a dream, then I’d probably make things way more complicated if I tried something down there…”

Instead of bothering to explore his new body, the one that he still thought was just a product of his dreams, the man decided to close his eyes and drift back to sleep. “Maybe if I give it another few hours, I can tell Shiranui about this really weird dream…” He muttered to himself, his eyes fluttering until they shut completely.

Of course, once he’d wake up again, things would fall into place…

---

The morning light shone in through the window, the birds chirping once again. All while the man who saved the base yawned and slowly stretched. His body was much less sore at this point, proving that he really did just need to sleep the entire experience off.

“Aaahhhh… Man, I slept like a babe!” Tetsuya chimed with a gleeful grin on his face, stretching and twisting as much as he could. If he could, he’d probably exercise until his muscles ended up sore once more, but he knew better.

While the Boss continued to make sure that his body was as limber as it could be, he heard the door to his room open up, revealing the face of Kou. “Entering, Boss!” He announced, carrying a plate with a bunch of breakfast on it as he made his way over to his bedside, putting it down on the table…

Only to finally make the proper spotcheck, realizing that his Boss had neglected to wear the blanket this time around, which caused him to bare his new feminine body for the whole world to see. “B-B-B-Boss? C-Could you, uh-”

“Could I what?” Tetsuya asked, tilting his head as he looked towards his pupil with the most confused look that he could muster. “What, do I have red marks all over my face? Did I sleep on my arm or something?” He asked, not realizing the true issue. He still thought that the events last night were all a dream.

All that Kou could reliably say or even do was just point downward. “C-C-C-C-Cover…” He muttered, shielding his eyes as he kept on mumbling ‘Im sorry im sorry’ on repeat for peeking at a naked girl’s body…

The Boss finally looked down at his body, noticing his meager breasts and his hips, as the clock inside his mind finally struck twelve. His expression went from sleepy, to wide awake, to utterly panicked, as it all finally erupted.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Today was going to be a long day…

---

There were times when Ishikawa Akira wished that he was dead. Most of those times were after long days of studying where he then barely passed. He never felt that the reward was worth the effort, usually causing him to retreat into hiding for a few days. Similarly, whenever he got into an argument with a coworker, usually Ren due to the way that she kept on trying to tease him, he tried to hide away after it all. Those were times where he wanted to just pass on and leave this mortal coil behind.

Not this time. This time, he genuinely felt like he was a dead man walking, his eyes having trouble looking through the lenses of his eyewear, while his posture and his steps were all off. Every time he took a step, it was like he was about to trip, despite being certain that there was nothing that should make him able to. It was just his body not responding well to the damage that it had gone through.

Truth be told, Akira hadn’t really been damaged in the fight against the Abyssals a few days prior, but his mind certainly had. He had never before wanted to fire a gun of any sort, yet now it was the only thing that his mind was going to allow him to focus on when he fell asleep. The sound of his gunfire whizzing through the sky, his own screams to protect the people he loved. All of that haunted him, preventing him from getting a good night’s sleep.

If he ever managed to stay asleep past that, his dreams always got worse. His bullets ran out, leaving him at the mercy of the Abyssals that made swift work of Tanaka. He barely got a chance to try and grab one of them before they disappeared into the distance, and the flames of despair rose from Tokihana’s direction. It would all be because he never managed to kill anybody with his tantrum-like sprays. His fault and his fault alone that his friends all perished…

“Why won’t this accursed dream leave me alone…” Akira muttered to himself as he nearly collapsed against one of the walls in the hallway, gasping and panting as his head turned red. Mostly from the warmth within him, as well as his mind overheating thanks to all of the visualizing he had to do.

The Officer Cadet wiped away some of the sweat running down his brow, closing his eyes as a single image appeared before his eyes. Not the Abyssals, nor the fires that lit the base aflame… But his Admiral. His Teacher, Tokinaga. In an unusual position. The one solitary dream that had brought him some sort of solace and protection.

She’d hover him as he laid paralyzed in bed, watching him from above. Asking herself if it was alright to do this, or if she should even be here. If she should’ve kept him from walking into the dock on that day, and if all of this was her fault. Then she’d lean in, ever closer, to the point where he could feel her breath brushing against his skin…

Just as she came close, he’d wake up. And just the same, he’d lose sight of his mental image, opening his eyes to see that same damned hallway he kept walking down. Every day. In and out. Now that he was delirious, and potentially risking his health by being up instead of in bed… He hated it. He hated it a lot.

“Why did I agree to help him, it’s brought me nothing but trouble…” Akira muttered to himself as he wiped away more of the sweat, and even a couple of tears, off his face. He wanted to eventually learn how to be an Admiral, so that he could give the sickly Tokinaga a chance to relax and live as a normal person for once in her life… But now?

How would he be able to replace her if he was arguably in even worse health? That question lingered on his mind as he accidentally jabbed his foot down on part of his pants’ leg, causing him to trip and fall onto the floor, rolling onto his back moments after. All while he had an empty, almost dead look in his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling…

“Imagine… Imagine if Ren could see me now.” He muttered in his incoherent haze, his eyesight getting blurrier by the minute. Was it because of the tears, or was it because of his splitting headache? He didn’t know. “I bet she’d laugh at me, or tease me, or call me names, or… or…” He sniffled, slowly rolling onto his front as he buried his face in his arms.

He was at his very lowest. Instead of sticking to his bed, like he should’ve done, he got out and walked around. He thought he was stronger. Instead, his mind made him deeply aware of his weakness. How useless he was. The only thing he had done was suppress the enemy. It was nothing compared to what Tanaka did, it was just… just..!

As he raised his fist to slam it into the ground, he heard a single step get taken towards him. And then a familiar voice grace his ears. A voice that slowly made his mood improve, just by it caressing against him.

“Ishikawa.” The soft voice of Tokinaga, his Admiral, echoed through his ears as the short Admiral made her way towards the young man laying on his stomach. “You should be in the medbay. Why are you here? Why are you laying down, crying your heart out?” She asked, partly admonishing him for disregarding his health… And partly genuine curiosity, wondering why he would go this far.

The bespectacled youth slowly reached up to push his glasses onto his face, like he always did whenever he was nervous… “Admiral Tokinaga… You saw me, huh…” He mumbled as he slowly got up, grimacing as his body’s center of gravity was still so unusual. “I… I’m not sure I can explain, I’m sorry…”

His Admiral narrowed her eyes as she reached her hand out, offering it to him. “If you don’t believe that you can, you don’t have to. Take my hand.” The Admiral didn’t want to see her staff in pain. Especially when she could do something about it.

Akira didn’t hesitate, taking her hand and slowly helping himself up, only to nearly collapse against the wall thanks to the imperfect grasp on his center of balance. “S-Sorry, Admiral. I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since I sortied, I…”

“I know. The medical staff told me as much as they knew, and even they could see that you’ve been having nightmares. That’s why you’ve been trying to walk it off, whether you know it or not.” Tokinaga explained as she kept a tight grip on the youth’s hand. “I wouldn’t know how to get rid of dreams like that, but I don’t blame you for disobeying protocol because you were plagued by them.”

He looked at her, slowly wiping away the sweat and the tears as her calm speech made his heart beat much slower. Instead of worrying, he just listened. He always felt at home whenever he was being ordered around or whenever she tried to guide him. Even when she gave her the hardest tasks to perform, her presence kept him… well, it kept him from boiling over like this.

“...Sorry that you had to see me like this, Admiral Tokinaga.” He apologized as formally as he could, as he looked towards the end of the hallway. And the door sitting right there, leading to the Admiral’s office. Ah. That might’ve been why he wanted to wander this way. To apologize, just like he did now…

Tokinaga shook her head. “We all have our moments of weakness. If you asked Ooi, she could tell you about many of my own. I’m sure the others have their fair share as well.” She admitted, slowly walking down the hall as she used her meager body to support him. “For now, I want you to focus on your recovery, rather than letting the nightmares overwhelm you. If that means that you have to stay by my side, then so be it.”

“A-Absolutely not…” The young Officer Cadet pushed his glasses up with his free hand, while sliding along the wall as they made their way towards her office. “I cannot permit you to show that much pity towards me. An Admiral shouldn’t lower themselves to the level of… of…”

She just looked at him. Not with a sharp look, but a pitying one. “...Akira. We’ve talked about this before. You don’t have to act like you’re stronger than you are. The most important quality in any officer in the Navy, is their honesty.” Her words were the same that she used whenever she lectured him, trying to teach him what it meant to be a model officer in the navy. But her voice was the gentle one that didn’t blame him for anything. This was less intended to be a scolding, and more a show of support, in her own way.

“Admiral…” Akira muttered, looking down at the floor as he felt even more disappointed in himself. “But… What am I supposed to do? I… I feel hopeless. After what Tanaka did, saving Shiranui, I… I…”

Tokinaga let go of his hand for just a moment as she patted him on the back. “He couldn’t have done it if you didn’t provide him with the opportunity through your suppressing fire. Thanks to you holding off the reinforcements, he managed to send the main assault force packing. That was all your doing, not his.” She assured him, as he held his hand once more. “Keep going, Akira. I have a few questions to ask you, once we make it into my office. Just bear with me for a little longer.”

He stayed silent for a few seconds as he followed along, before nodding silently. “...Yes, Toki…” He muttered, a soft smile slowly making its way onto his face. Her encouragement was working. It was removing the cloud of doubt over his mind. A cloud that was doing its best to choke out any sort of positivity inside him. Now, with her trying her best to help him, a ray of light was finally parting those clouds…

Once they made it into her office and they both took a seat, they could each breathe a sigh of relief. Now that they were sitting, the physical half of their issues were solved. Whether it was Toki’s frail body, or Akira’s current inability to deal with his body’s center of gravity. Neither mattered as they sat down…

“What did you want to ask me about, Admiral Tokinaga?” Now that he had calmed down, he could use the formality that he was always known to do, his instinctive nervous twitch of pushing his glasses up returning rather quickly.

The Admiral rested her head on the back of her hands, looking the young man over. “First and foremost… You can’t see a thing with those glasses anymore, can you?” She was quick to point out the obvious, noticing how fogged up the lenses had gotten. Mostly because of the previous few minutes where he had been crying his heart out.

“I... “ Akira paused before nodding, slowly taking them off. “I have not been able to see much of anything with them on, despite my prescription. Did my eyes change after that skirmish, or…” He paused, before shaking his head. “It’s like my eyesight got clearer, but since I’m so used to wearing them, I…”

His mumbling and ruminating on the subject was cut off as the short-statured Admiral handed him a set of glasses that she had saved for just this sort of occasion. “Wear these. They complement your eyes.” She said. A totally honest and not at all loaded statement.

The Officer Cadet nodded as he slipped them on, only for his eyes to widen as the lenses didn’t kill his eyes. He could see straight through them, almost as if they were just there for cosmetic’s sake. “Thank you so much, Admiral Tokinaga!” He cried out in delight, immediately pushing them as close to his face as he could…

“Consider that a ‘get well soon’ gift, and be sure to get the rest you need by the time we’re done here.” Toki replied with a soft smile. Seeing him cheer up made her day all the better, especially after all the paperwork she had to do concerning his and Tetsuya’s antics…

She then cleared her throat. “In any case, I have about seven questions for you. Answer them all as honestly as you can, and we will be done here before you know it.” She explained, a sharp glint in her eye peering straight into his. “Are you ready, Ishikawa?”

“Ready as can be, Admiral Tokinaga!” The bespectacled youth replied, not noticing that his newfound energy made the changes to his body stand out a bit. Namely in the chest department, the bulges on his shirt bouncing ever slightly.

Toki took a deep breath… “First question. What is your name?” She asked, keeping an entirely serious expression despite the ease of the question.

“Oy-” Akira spat a little before shaking his head, not understanding what just happened. “Ishikawa Akira, Ma’am!” He cried out, assertive in his answer. Though, a little bit of worry did coat his expression. “You… You didn’t give me an easy question just to test me, right?”

She ignored it before stating the next question. “What is the name of the base?” Another easy question, especially since she had explained the significance of the name before to him.

“Tokihana, ma’am!” He tossed out the answer like it was nothing. “It was originally just a nickname that Kitakami thought up for you, given that you’ve bloomed like a little flower, but you took a certain liking to it and asked for the base to be officially redubbed to give it a unique flavor!”

She nodded, pleased with the answer. “You’re quick on the uptake as usual. She still calls me that from time to time, as much as I’ve told her to stop.” The Admiral explained, looking at her hands for a second. “Anyway, my relationship with her isn’t important. The next question is! What date is it?”

Akira’s expression froze as he started to count on his fingers, blinking a couple of times. “It… It is… Mmmmmonday?” He sounded genuinely bewildered, but he did his best. “It was… it was Thursday when we were attacked, so…”

“Unfortunately, you are wrong.” She replied, making a casual ‘X’ with her hands. “But I don’t blame you for forgetting the date. You were out of it until I found you.” Her smile remained, despite it all. “Next question. Name every employee on this base. Regardless of your feelings towards them.”

The young man cleared his throat as he started listing off the names. “Tanaka Ren and Tetsuya, the Mechanic Sister and Brother pair! Ogasawara Kou, Tetsuya’s apprentice! Takahara Jun, the leader of the Mechanics! A-And… And…”

“Your memories aren’t in the best condition, I see, I see…” Tokinaga took a deep breath, sighing in relief. ”You remembered all the Mechanics however. That’s good, that’s good. That’ll count. Next up… What do you do in your own spare time?”

This brought a pause to Akira’s lips, as he started looking down at the floor. “I… I study. I don’t like spending a lot of time around the other people that work here, since they all rub off on me in the wrong way. I just want to shut myself away and get better. That’s what I do when I’m not following orders.”

“We need to work on that. With your new role, it has to change. Otherwise, we may run into bigger issues than your personality clashing with others.” The words that left the Admiral’s lips were a bit more serious than before, indicating the gravity of the question she just posed. “Second to last question. Assuming that you’ve read the Professor’s research, what can you tell me about the process of making a rig bond with a potential candidate?”

The Officer Cadet swung his legs from side to side. He knew this, he experienced it, even if he wasn’t a candidate. “Upon equipping the rig, the user is able to use it to its fullest effectivity. But only for a certain amount of time, afterwards it will start linking to the user’s subconscious, and then…” He paused, sighing as he had to come clean. “...I didn’t read all of it. I just know what I went through. I’m sorry, Admiral Tokinaga.”

“You’ve done everything you can, Ishikawa. I don’t blame you for not reading all of it, most of it didn’t pertain to your area of expertise. I just wanted to see if you understand what you had gotten yourself into.” Tokinaga explained, as she took one last deep breath. “Lastly… What gender are you, Akira?”

He blinked a couple of times as his mind tried to process what she just asked. “Gender..? M-Ma’am? I’ve always been a man, are you… What are you saying?” He asked, a few droplets of sweat running down his face. She wasn’t about to imply that he had somehow overlooked something as drastic as his penis, was she?

“...Please unbutton your shirt, Akira. And tell me what you see.” It was best for him to slowly understand what happened. He wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it himself.

Akira carefully nodded as he unbuttoned his shirt, keeping his eyes closed in fear of what he was about to see. He dreaded it, feared it, even worried himself to near death about it. What exactly… What could she have meant by any of that?

Once he saw the rather large breasts hanging off his chest, his expression melted from worried into pure disbelief. And then right back to bliss as he almost collapsed in his chair, utterly befuddled. “This has to be some sort of wicked dream. I’m dreaming, and I’m refusing to wake up. A-Admiral, please. Pinch me and prove that I'm just seeing things. Please. please.”

Tokinaga sighed as she got up from her chair, deciding that it would be best to help him out. By reaching over and squeezing him on the cheek, causing him to yelp from the mild pain. And the dawning realization that this was definitely not even close to a dream terrified him.

“Oh god. Oh my god. Oh this isn’t a dream. This is real. I’m… Oh no. Oh goodness, I… A-Admiral! Don’t look!” Akira cried out as he whipped himself around once she let go of his cheek, yanking down his pants to try and see if even his precious place was bare. If it was, then all hope for him staying normal was lost…

His head hung low as he saw absolutely nothing in his pants. Not a thing. Just a slit where his precious partner should’ve been. “My… Oh no… Oh, what am I going to do… I… I…” He started hyperventilating, his glasses nearly falling off his face as he tried to compose himself.

The Officer Cadet had become a ship girl. More specifically, since he… no, she, remembered the designations of the rigs, she had turned into Oyashio. That would explain her excessive bust. Which then meant that Tanaka had no doubt turned into Arashi, which would… also explain the scream she heard earlier.

“Akira. Look at me?” Tokinaga asked, and the ‘young man’ turned around, her shirt and pants worn appropriately once more. She couldn’t let herself be exposed, even to somebody that she trusted with her life. “Do you now understand why I asked you all those questions?”

She slowly nodded, pushing her glasses up. Glasses that she now understood had to be cosmetic, because the transformation into a ship girl cured some of the physical handicaps she had to deal with. “They… They were to lower my nerves, ensure that I was ready to hear the terrible news. As well as clue me in, something I didn’t pick up on until it was too late. Is… Is that the reason?”

“Almost. You got most of it right, but there was one thing I was concerned about, especially considering that those two rigs have seen a fair amount of use over the years.” The Admiral explained as she grabbed one of the papers laying on her desk. “According to the research the Professor carried out, once a person has been bonded with the Rig, it never forgets them. Even if they pass away. I just wanted to make sure that the girl that came home after that skirmish was still my pupil, Akira, and not somebody from the past.” She explained, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

The newly transformed ship girl nodded and sighed herself. “I… I suppose that’s a good reason to be worried, Ma’am. But, I… What do I do now?” Akira asked, rightfully wondering if she could return to her normal duties.

“Like I said before we came in here, I want you to head back to bed until we’re sure you’ve fully recovered. After that, I’ll request Ooi and Kitakami to help you get into the swing of your new form. You showed great proficiency with the Oyashio Rig, so you should be able to adapt quickly. After that…” Tokinaga explained, as she turned to look towards the window in her office. “I will need to register you and Tetsuya as Oyashio and Arashi, to officially recognize you both as ship girls. Then, we’ll see what the future brings, alright?”

Akira, or rather Oyashio as she would be known from that point on, nodded as she got up from her chair, still not quite used to the center of mass being different. “I understand.” She said, trying to remain as firm as possible as she pushed her glasses up one last time. “Admiral Tokinaga. I, Oyashio, will do my best to adapt to this situation! You can count on me, like you’ve counted on me many times before!”

“So formal, even when you don’t need to be. Thank you, Akira. Now get going, get the rest you need. I’ll see you when you’re ready.” The Admiral dismissed her, as the bespectacled girl slowly made her way out of the office. It would take some time, and she’d trip a few more times on the way back to the bed, but she was invigorated now!

Toki breathed a sigh of relief as she took her seat once more, watching the former boy trip outside her office, exposing a bit of that additional curvature that her body had gained from the transformation, leading her to conclude a single thing within her mind, as a blush snuck onto her cheeks..

“She really is as cute as ever…”