Tatsuta was standing in the naval base's kitchen while in the presence of the food supply ship Mamiya as she thought about her various teammates.
Hiei was training with the major battleships on the 10th of April after coming out of the docks, by which time she would have recovered from whatever injuries she may have unknowingly sustained during the sortie.
The Nagato, Kongou, Yamato, Ise-Class battleships and even Bismarck, the German transfer that was brought in from abroad to improve the base's firepower, were going out on the training grounds on that day to keep their skills sharp.
This was going to be a major step forward for Hiei, who was naturally nervous about being in the big leagues and was going to be learning alongside two of the most heralded battleships of their time.
She had to be comforted as the 1st Fleet reminded her that not only was she going to be representing the Kongou Sisters, but she was also going to represent the 1st Fleet itself and had to keep her cool.
She had to calm herself down in order to learn from the more experienced battleships that were Nagato, Ise and Hyuga, all of them the pillars of strength that she, Yamato, and Musashi were going to have to strive towards.
Ayanami was being coached by Tone, the heavy cruiser possessing a lot of experience from her previous base where she had been on countless sorties, and was more than willing to help the Ayanami-Class destroyer out in improving herself.
Tenryuu and Shigure were off doing their own thing as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer tried to know other ship girls better and learn more about this world, doing her best to improve herself in her own way by learning from the experiences of the older ship girls to avoid making the same mistakes.
As for Tenryuu, Tatsuta knew that her sister ship would be trying her best to learn from the strong and respectable ship girls of this base, understanding her sister well enough to know that she was entirely capable of swallowing her pride to ask them for advice or mentor-ship should she see a desired trait or skill in a senior ship girl.
But back to the present.
Mamiya was busy fixing lunch for the entire ship girl population of Yokosuka as she skilfully slid the sharp edge of the kitchen knife beneath the skin of the salmon meat that was mounted on a milky-white cutting board before her that had been scarred with diagonal knife marks and was slightly discolored due to constant use over the years.
Besides Mamiya, Tatsuta could see several sailors and ship girls at the end of the kitchen who were also preparing the afternoon meals, using anything from a wok over a mild fire to using chopsticks to beat eggs that were cracked and poured into a bowl.
The kitchen was a place of bustling activity because unlike the Shinsengumi , Houshou's quiet establishment which was run almost entirely by herself, the kitchen was a place where they had to try and feed more than eighty ship girls, a good number of them being carriers and battleships who required tonnes of food and resources in order to fuel their superhuman bodies.
This meant that the cooks in the kitchen had to prepare for the next meal almost immediately after the previous one was served, the kitchen also possessing dozens of electronic food warmers to make sure that the food didn't become cold before the stipulated serving time.
And considering the fact that there were several dozen ship girls and hundreds of sailors in the base, it wouldn't be surprising that Mamiya would have several ship girls and human sailors to help her out in the task of trying to feed everyone on time, Tatsuta now stepping into the kitchen in order to offer her services and to seek the food supply ship's mentor-ship.
"You want to help me out in the kitchen?"
Mamiya's surprised voice was soft as Tatsuta stood before her with the proposition of lightening her workload by offering a hand.
"Yes."
Tatsuta confirmed.
She wanted to make herself useful, and Akashi recommended her to try and learn how to wield knives from the elder food supply ship, as dissecting and cutting up slabs of meat might help as a form of catharsis.
She also explained that kitchen was a place of activity, something which could help take her mind off of things by focusing on preparing meals for the ship girls of the base, thereby keeping herself busy instead of sitting around idly and brooding over dark topics.
Besides, Anti-Abyssal knives were available as weapons of self-defense to be used out on the ocean, and Akashi had revealed a few interesting things about the hospitable food supply ship...
She repeated the notion of wanting to help the supply ship before her, making sure that she understood the underlying reason why she wanted to learn from her.
"I've developed an interest in knives, but I want to learn from someone who can teach me to use them to their fullest potential in and outside of combat."
Mamiya tilted her head, and reminded her with the gentle tone of a senior ship girl.
"But I'm not a combat ship, and I wouldn't be able to teach you any combat uses."
Tatsuta shook her head in response as she tried to clarify her intentions while dropping the name of the ship girl who sent her, slightly regretting having to play the next card.
"Not according to Akashi."
As expected, Mamiya's knife halted in its movements and hovered over what remained of the piece of salmon, Tatsuta unable to discern the food supply ship's current state due to her hair covering her eyes, continuing on as she observed the senior ship girl.
"Akashi-san recommended that I help you out, because not only are you arguably the best wielder of Anti-Abyssal knives in this naval base, you're also the backup surgeon in this base, Akashi-san being the chief surgeon. I understand that you know how to wield knives to create meals, heal wounded ship girls and kill Abyssals. And I wish to learn those skills to not only help you out by fixing meals for the ship girls of this base and also utilize them in combat against the Abyssals, but I'm also taking lessons from Akashi-san to be a surgeon-in-training."
Mamiya nodded at that, silently accepting Tatsuta's words as the food supply ship turned to look at the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser.
Tatsuta was somewhat taken aback by what she saw next, Mamiya now allowing her killing intent to seep into her mild demeanor as she still held the kitchen knife.
Her eyes narrowed and her smile was tight as she exuded a bit of killing aura that only Tatsuta could detect, suppressing it with an admirable amount of control so as not to unnerve the other occupants in the kitchen who were too occupied with their cooking to notice.
She simply commented,
"So… Was that all Akashi-san had to say about me?"
Tatsuta nodded with a slightly uncomfortable smile, herself being no stranger to ship girls who possessed intense killing intent, yet feeling understandably wary in their presence when they focused that intent into a suffocating aura that was exuded from their very being.
What made it even worse was the ship girls who lived long enough to hone their skills and attacks to take down Abyssals in the most efficient manner possible, this being heavily reflected in the way they carried themselves on and off the battlefield.
She knew that the food supply ship had sortied many times over the course of her life, having been created and stationed at Yokosuka ever since it was renovated to be a base for ship girls ten years ago.
She had an entire decade to learn to protect herself and train herself up in other ways since her stats were considered pathetic, even when compared to some of the higher-tier destroyers.
For auxiliary ships, fighting conventionally was out of the question since that meant that they'd be sunk almost instantly due to the disparity in stats, often resorting to Anti-Abyssal weapons and fighting using extremely pragmatic and sometimes even underhanded tactics to achieve victory at all costs.
The 8th Fleet of Yokosuka was the epitome of this concept, and Mamiya being a closely affiliated backup member of that fleet was all that needed to be said about her unorthodox combat techniques.
It wasn't exactly accurate to say that Tatsuta was scared of the food supply ship when she dropped her friendly persona to become laser-focused, but the closest term that would most accurately describe her current mood was, Unnerved.
Mamiya sighed as she finally relaxed and finally saw all that she needed to see in Tatsuta, her aura dissipating as she reverted back to the motherly and affectionate food supply ship that everyone knew, bemoaning the light cruiser's enthusiasm and keen interest about such sharp and dangerous tools.
"You aren't going to give up on this, are you?"
Tatsuta smiled warmly, her her half-lidded eyes regarding the supply ship with immense respect as she rested her palms together on her thighs and bowed towards her, explaining herself.
"I just want to learn from you and help everyone out in my own way."
"I'm not teaching you just to have you hurt another ship girl."
Tatsuta pulled herself back up, shaking her head again as she tried to dispel that notion that she suspected was causing Mamiya to hesitate as the elder ship girl considered taking her in.
"I may be rather bloodthirsty, but that only applies to Abyssals.
I'd never hurt one of my own comrades."
Mamiya shot her a glance, now professionally cutting the salmon meat into thin slices without even looking down at what she was doing, her ship girl functions coming in very handy to ensure that she never hurt herself with the kitchen knife and doing her job as a background activity in her mind.
Tatsuta gave her a look that implied her confidence and self control, Mamiya genuinely curious about her decision to inquire if she could help out with a chore as mundane as cooking, asking curiously.
"It seems rather interesting that a ship girl like you would want to learn how to cook.
Would you mind sharing with me the exact reason why you would want to learn how to cook, Tatsuta-san?"
The Tenryuu-Class light cruiser nodded, not finding much of a reason to keep secrets from the ship girl that was to become her mentor, taking on a slightly wistful look as she explained herself.
"Well, I understand everything has a start and end, and that the food we cook as chefs will ultimately be devoured by our comrades, lest they be left out to be admired and ultimately spoil. But I think that it's actually something that we have to accept as par for the course, for nothing lasts forever, and food is meant to be fed to our comrades in order to nourish them.
Should the food that I created with my two hands be able to sate the hunger of a starving ship girl, I won't regret having cooked these delicacies for my comrades and having helped them in some way off the battlefield."
Tatsuta smiled, feeling a little more confident about her own newfound resolve and her desire to dissociate herself from the bloodshed that she loved to partake in, giving Mamiya a genuine smile as she admitted.
"And besides, it's not healthy for a ship girl to be without hobbies and spend all her time out on the field mindlessly killing Abyssals, yes? Strangely enough, I'm a little different from other Tatsutas in that I actually don't want to indulge in my sadistic, bloodthirsty persona all the time, and I'd like to dabble in the crafts to apply myself in ways other than combat.
After all, sauce and flour are easier to clean off your hands than blood."
She stood there for a while as she waited for Mamiya to come to a decision after having dropped that last line as a heavy ending to her request, finally hearing the food supply ship speak up after a while.
"Alright, I'm a big softie at heart, so I suppose I can trust you not to do anything foolish, dear. Now why don't you come here…"
Nodding beside her as she worked on the next piece of salmon, inviting Tatsuta to stand beside her.
"... Where we can get you started on your learning journey and teach you how to correctly and safely wield a knife?"
Tatsuta bowed again, grateful for the supply ship for believing in her as she made her way to stand beside and observe Mamiya while picking up a kitchen knife for the first time, the food supply ship starting her commentary and lesson.