[Weight Gain]

“Mogami. You wanted to inform me about something?”

The early morning sun shone in through the window at the Naval Base Quiet Rest, with its admiral, Kurogawa Mari, barely illuminated as it brushed over half of her body.

“M-Mmhm. Sorry to trouble you this early, Admiral Kurogawa. I know you need extra rest due to your condition, but… It’s a bit important.” Standing across from her desk was her Secretary and pupil, Mogami. A ship girl who had been loyal to this base, even when they had a different Admiral. The change in leadership didn’t change much for her, at least in terms of daily duties.

The Admiral nodded slightly as she pulled herself up, her left sleeve knotted to prevent it from blowing around too much given the lack of anything filling it. “You showed concern despite your actions, which is good enough for me.” The woman said, as she slowly adjusted her cap, letting part of the light brush against the left hand side of her body… The one that had been damaged in the previous war.

“Of course. Thank you, Admiral Kurogawa.” Mogami replied and bowed respectfully, before letting a few sweat drops run down her face. “As for what I wanted to talk to you about… You’re aware of the transfer that’s happening soon, right?”

Mari nodded. “New ship girls, recently bonded with the rigging produced over at the Doll’s Cradle. I left it to you to keep an eye on the progress of this transfer, as part of your training. What, has something gone wrong?” She said, raising her less-charred eyebrow as she leaned forward ever slightly.

“Wrong would be overblowing it, but… I think it’s best if you just meet the new staff yourself, and form an opinion based on what you see.” The ship girl said as she walked around the desk, helping her Admiral onto her feet.

The Admiral wasn’t a fan of her arrangement. But it was the cost she paid for being part of the first Abyssal war. And though she could still feel her phantom of an arm, and hear the cries of those that were lost in the battles they fought… She still stepped forward, with the help of her pupil. So that she might live another day, and tell the tale of what had once been.

Naturally, even being in a war like that left her completely unprepared for what she soon saw…

---

For Admiral Kurogawa Mari, there was little that could still surprise her. Being part of a war against monsters from the depths of the ocean did that to a woman like her.

...Having four young girls, barely looking adolescent at that, standing in her dock awaiting orders? That was enough to make her pause, as she very nearly left in a huff.

“Admiral. You can’t just leave.” Unfortunately, Mogami stopped her, the black-haired secretary doing her best to act not only as her aide, but also keeping her focused on her duties towards the greater navy they were a part of.

Mari grit her teeth. “Mogami, you’re not about to tell me that you want to send them out to sea.” The venom, the unrestrained wrath in her voice, was palpable. There were very few times where she got this angry, and this was one of them. She didn’t want children as part of a war, even if they were merely turned this way as a result of bonding with their rigs.

“I’m not. But you need to show them that, Admiral. Without your guidance, they’ll be lost. And that’ll be exactly where they end up.” The ship girl said, smiling slightly. “You’ve done it for me and the others, Admiral. You can do it for these four young girls, can’t you?”

The Admiral clicked her tongue. Her secretary was right. How did she teach her to be such an effective negotiator? She didn’t know, and frankly she didn’t want to dwell on that for too long. “Fine. Allow me a few moments with the four, if you would.”

Mogami nodded as she let the Admiral step into the docks on her own, watching from afar as the partly charred veteran took a good look at the four that had been sent to her.

A cursory glance and comparison between the four made it clear that they were of the same class. And Mari recognized one of them, that being the white-haired one amongst the four. Akatsuki-class Destroyers. Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi and Inazuma. Each looking adorable, despite the fact that they were basically weapons of war.

“Heeeey! Look, there’s our new Admiral!” Ikazuchi, the shortest and spunkiest of the bunch, grinned as she waved towards the black-and-white-haired older woman. “Heeeey Admiral! Sorry we took so long, we had to deal with all the paperwork! You don’t know how hard it is to deal with a transfer!”

Her direct sister ship, Inazuma, nodded as she bowed her head slightly in front of the older woman. “P-pleased to meet you, Admiral. I-I’m Inazuma. I hope we can work well together. I-I know a few tactics that I can pull off with Ikazuchi, if we need to coordinate an assault against an Abyssal…”

“Don’t worry, Inazuma.” Akatsuki spoke up, smiling softly. “You don’t have to worry about fighting. Nor adequate performance. If everything I’ve heard about Admiral Kurogawa…” She paused, bowing respectfully towards the older woman, before continuing. “Then we’ll just have to do our best when it comes down to it. The rest comes naturally.”

Hibiki, the quiet white-haired girl of the lot, looked up at her new Admiral. And solemnly looked at the floor. “I’m sorry.” She muttered. They had both been in the same war, even if the current Hibiki wasn’t the same as the one that sailed alongside her back then.

The Admiral took a deep breath as she looked at all four of them. Memories of her time at sea, when she took an active role against the abyssals, started to flood into the forefront of her mind. And the memories of losing her arm flashed before her eyes. She didn’t even react, preferring to turn her eyes towards the four once more.

“Welcome to Quiet Rest. Akatsuki, Inazuma, Hibiki and Ikazuchi.” She said with as much authority as a dusty armless crone like her could muster, before smiling slightly. “You’ll be relieved of your duties while you stay here. So don’t worry about fighting.”

…

“E-Ehh? W-What do you mean by that, Admiral?” Inazuma was the first to speak up, jittering as she came closer-

Only to be pulled into a hug, the one-armed Admiral kneeling down slightly to kiss her on the forehead. All while the others watched as she kept the nervous ship girl as close as she could.

“I meant what I said. You four, the Akatsuki-children, are not to enter combat under any circumstance. Your bodies, reinforced as they may be by your rigging, is wholly unprepared for the dangers of the abyss underneath. Frankly, I’m surprised that somebody even decided to dig out rigs based on your parameters.” Her words were warm, yet harsh at the same time. She didn’t trust in their abilities to defend themselves, nor did she give them an attempt to prove themselves.

Ikazuchi huffed a little as she came closer. “Weeelllll... “ She let the idea of being idle at the base linger on her lips, before grinning. “What about taking care of you then, Admiral? You don’t look like you’ve had the best life. So if we’re gonna stay here, we’re just gonna make sure you’re having a good time to make up for it. Right, Akatsuki? Hibiki?”

“M-Mmhm. That’s… Yes, that’d do nicely.” Akatsuki spoke up in turn, smiling. “If you want us to stay away from combat, then that’s what we’ll do, Admiral Kurogawa. Assuming that it’s fine with you, of course.” The black-haired Destroyer and ‘eldest sister’ said, bowing respectfully once more.

Hibiki nodded as well. Without saying a thing, as she came closer to the Admiral that she now served under.

“W-Well… I-If that’s what you want, t-then..!” Inazuma said as she hugged her Admiral back, clinging as tightly as she could. “T-Then we’ll do it all as best we can. R-Right, everyone?” The nervous girl cried out, and her fellow ship girls raised their hands in agreement.

The Admiral smiled, as she turned her head towards the door leading into the rest of the base. “Mogami. Prepare the meal. I want to congratulate the newest part of our family for making it all the way here.”

“Right away, Admiral Kurogawa.” Mogami replied from behind the door, as she scurried away as fast as she could. All while missing out on all four of the cute Destroyers reacting to the idea that they’d be part of their family…

So many blushing cute cheeks, so little time to admire them all…

---

What had originally been a mere congratulatory feast turned into something more, as it ended up becoming a recurring event. The generosity that the older woman displayed on their first day was seemingly endless, because every meal that they had was the most fulfilling thing that they could ever think of.

From simple breakfasts lasting an hour with everything that the older woman had her secretary cook up, to lunch requiring the girls to nap to try and calm down their tummies after digesting everything they had to eat, to being spoon-fed by the Secretary and the Admiral at dinner time. It was almost… a little too much?

And yet, it didn’t come from a place of malice. Far from it. It was easy to tell that all of this was simply because their new Admiral cared far too much about them. She didn’t want to see them hurt, even if they were older than their bodies indicated.

It didn’t take long before the plans that the Destroyers made to try and cheer up their Admiral became little more than hot air, and that wasn’t because she was having trouble getting through life. No, the fact that they were here with her, getting fed by her and her secretary… That was enough to make her smile. So they didn’t need to worry about going through an elaborate plan just to make her happy.

Of course, Ikazuchi, the girl who wanted to give herself something to do, was probably the most affected by this development. She was a girl with a lot of energy, and she actually did want to go fight. But at the same time, something about the older woman’s touch, and the love that she showed her and her sisters… Well, it made her grow complacent. It was okay that she didn’t do a lot anymore, because it felt really nice when she got fed…

Inazuma wasn’t much better in that regard. She was very nervous, repeatedly making remarks about the fact that their skills would atrophy if they kept going like this. But every time she’d end up silenced by the food being shoveled into her mouth, whether it was by Mogami or by the Admiral herself. And then she’d usually calm down and melt into a nice cozy little girl, happy to have her tummy satiated…

As the most mature of the lot, at least at a glance, Akatsuki was a little unused to being spoonfed. Much less spoiled in such a fashion as her younger sisters were. She tried to eat all on her own, but her abilities grew weaker and weaker as time went on. And thus, she became more and more dependent on her superiors, but… That was alright. Because they cared for her. Like a Mother and an older sister would.

Hibiki originally didn’t eat much. Partly because she didn’t have an appetite, and partly because she was still a little too ashamed of what had happened in the past. Even if she wasn’t the same Hibiki, she had still sunk right in front of the older woman’s eyes. But… It didn’t matter. Not to her Admiral. She got the same sort of loving treatment, even if she was the splitting image of the girl that fought alongside her back then. Because she wasn’t going to fight anymore. She was going to be loved, just like her sisters.

The way that Mari filled their bellies over and over was proof of the love she had for them. It was proof that she wanted to treat them the best she could. And with Mogami’s excellent cooking skills put to the most extreme test it could possibly endure, it was astonishing that she didn’t end up collapsing at any point.

Maybe it was the happy smiles on the young girls’ faces as they were fed that kept her going. Maybe it was the equally happy smile on her Admiral’s face that kept her going. It was hard to tell. But one thing was certain. That black-haired girl would do anything to see them as happy as they could be.

But eventually, all good things must come to an end. And the end came, as their chairs started to break…

---

Mogami had been fast as Inazuma nearly collapsed to the ground, keeping her from making contact with the ground as the chair went flying all over the place, pieces smacking against the walls as their lovely breakfast came to an abrupt end.

“A-Ah…” Inazuma muttered, a little bit of drool running down her chin. She knew that this would happen at some point, but she never really thought about how quickly the day was coming.

Maybe it was because of how lethargic she had gotten. All of that food, going straight to her gut. Ruining a completely slim and petite figure, leaving her a walking butterball. Hell, could she even walk? Most of the time, she asked either the Admiral or Mogami to carry her, and the latter was happy to lend a hand.

Ikazuchi let out a bit of a giggle. “Ina fell! Ina fell!” She chimed, as she opened her mouth as the airplane, the spoon that her Admiral held, slowly floated towards her tongue. Once it had poured the sweet powder onto her tender muscle, she swallowed it and licked the spoon clean, letting out a wonderful little cry.

Just like her sister, the formerly spunky girl could hardly be called that anymore. She was like a big slab of lard, barely masquerading as a girl at this point. Sure, she had limbs and she looked like one, but she could hardly move without assistance. That was how fat she had gotten. And the worst part of all was how much she actually adored it, because of the love that her ‘family’ had poured onto her.

“Admiral, can… Can I have sixths?” Akatsuki spoke up as she watched her sister ship get spoonfed, a bit of drool pouring down her chin in the process. It looked so nice, to be given a spoon and to just suckle on it like it was a lollipop, suckling all the flavor off it…

Unlike the two sisters that looked nearly identical, the black-haired girl was slimmer. But that was because she had been trying to stick to her idea of adulthood. As the most mature of the ones that had been rigged, she didn’t want to be seen as a child. But the love eventually became too much for her, pulling away the layers of adulthood until she was little more than another fatty. And while she could use her legs, she preferred not to. The warmth of her family was too much to pass up.

Hibiki didn’t ask for anything. She just took another bite, popping it into her mouth with a smile. There was so much food left on the table, and both Mogami and the Admiral were busy with her sisters. So why not sneak a couple extra bites when they were busy?

That kind of almost greedy behavior was why she had grown to be the biggest one of the four. And yet, she had been smart enough to ask for two chairs underneath her at all times. That meant that they were sharing her burden, and that meant she wouldn’t fall on her ass too early, even when she was pigging out.

Slowly but surely, the meal came to an end… which meant that the four girls couldn’t help but slowly whisk themselves off to dreamland, the weight on their bodies keeping them from moving without help. And when they couldn’t move or focus on something like food, or playtime, or the like, they just liked to sleep.

“Admiral Kurogawa.” Mogami quietly whisked the older woman out of the dining room, closing the door behind her so that the two didn’t disturb the thoroughly satiated Destroyers. “I… I’ll admit, I’m a little worried about their condition. Are you sure that they can handle being this big?”

Mari gave her pupil a single look, nodding softly. “You’re right to be worried, Mogami. But let me raise you this.” She said, as she pulled a set of photos out of the tied-together sleeve that still lacked an arm to fill it. Each depicted the fattened girls… being happy. Not nervous, not proud, not anything. Just happy as they could be. “They’re enjoying themselves. Let’s not worry them, when they’re just living life like they’re supposed to.”

The black-haired Secretary blinked, before giggling a little. “I’ve never seen you this happy, Mari.” She dropped the formalities, bowing slightly. “I’ll… I’ll just try and keep an eye on ways we can ease their weighted burdens. Just so they don’t end up having more problems with their weight. Is that alright?”

“Very. Thank you, Mogami.” The Admiral, who had been scarred in the past, was beaming with happiness. Something she didn’t though she could, but those four has healed her just as much as she had spoiled them. And for that, she couldn’t thank them enough.

Maybe she should make an extra big feast tomorrow, just to reward them one more time...