Meeting her sisters was the last thing on her agenda before she left, the repair ship having spotted them heading to the Shinsengumi, likely in order to get something cool to drink in this summer heat.
Shigure had talked to them previously, but she truly wanted to be closer with her sisters this time round, thinking about how they had become more and more estranged from each other the longer the previous war went on, and how it hurt despite understanding the need for her to carry on like a soldier.
The fact that she had such a colorful past didn't help one bit, wanting to notify and reassure them before she left.
She saw that the three of them were sitting at a wooden table with another red-haired ship girl, but when Akashi notified her about her identity, Shigure's eyes widened at the revelation before struggling to contain her smile as she approached them, Akashi walking to the bar counter where Houshou patiently stood to order something before the sortie.
Shigure observed the newcomer sitting with her sisters, before kicking herself mentally and reminding herself that the newcomer was also her sister.
Kawakaze was a fiery ship girl who was much like Yuudachi, seeing that they were leaning towards each other despite sitting opposite each other, and despite Kawakaze's larger-than-life personality, she tried her best to include all of her sisters in the conversation, making sure that Samidare and Murasame could give their opinion on things.
Her hair was red like a burning inferno, complementing her personality to a tee as she used quite a bit of hand gesturing to get her point across, her expressions animated as she had the perfect balance of being a veteran that had fought many battles, and yet retained a fair amount of her indomitable spirit that was likely from her pre-Kai Ni days.
Her striking golden-yellow eyes added to her entire "fiery ship girl" persona, and it was a nice aesthetic choice to accentuate her features with complementing colors in order to make her stand out as a Kai Ni ship girl, Shigure moving into position while noting that her red hair stuck out behind her and resembled a fox, remembering from her studies that most of the Shiratsuyu-Class's Kai Ni forms had hair that resembled dog ears.
The tip of the hair flaps were grey-tipped, and her uniform was unique in that she had on something resembling a sleeveless version of Shigure's black uniform that exposed her shoulders, along with a sick-looking black and white scarf around her neck, the spot on the scarf near her chin sporting the upper half of a golden four-leaf clover that acted as a throat guard.
Her uniform had red and gold trimmings along with primarily black finger-less elbow gloves, and on her uniform was a red neck handkerchief worn as a decorative ornament, her sleeveless uniform flaring out at the ends as it was unbuttoned, a large white stripe running down the length of the front zipper and continuing around her uniform along the flaps.
She wore a black miniskirt that revealed her toned thighs that were thankfully covered by similarly black pantyhose that ended with her dull red loafer shoes that were shaking about restlessly, no doubt eager to sortie.
Her hair had two long strands beside her face, reaching down to her stomach and were swishing around freely as she moved, and behind her head were two red ribbons that held up her twin braids with green beads at the end to prevent the whole thing from unraveling.
Along with a red-white hair-band to hold back her hair (although it failed to contain her ahoge ) and with her bangs parted above her right eye, she looked significantly older than everyone, as a Kai Ni remodel also meant a physical maturation as well.
Shigure greeted them with a wave, which got their attention as they stopped their conversation to look at her as she approached them, sitting herself down on a free chair.
Kawakaze piped up with a greeting as her energetic voice sounded out with a touch of familiarity due to their past together.
"Yo, Shigure! Kawakaze here, I guess we'll be sortieing later today in the same fleet, right?!"
Shigure nodded, unfortunately remembering the Battle of Vella Gulf as her confidence deflated somewhat and she looked away abashedly.
Feeling a little ashamed at being the sole survivor of the disastrous battle that sank her sister and several other ships then just made things awkward between them.
Picking up on the uncomfortable atmosphere between them, Samidare asked Shigure about her battle with the Abyssal Elites and Princess.
"Um, Shigure… I just want you to be careful out there, alright? Abyssal Princesses are extremely dangerous..."
But Shigure nodded, understanding why they would be worried about her safety in a battle like this, because her high luck was never going to be something that they would rely on to get her back in one piece, and wanted nothing more than for her to be safe regardless of whether they won or lost.
She had indeed faltered before this, after seeing comrades dying and sinking so violently and had a meltdown in the midst of battle, but that was why everyone was there to support her.
The ship girl spirit, despite being immensely powerful and capable of withstanding adversity, was also unpredictably fragile in that it could be broken by the death of a close one, a traumatizing event, or extended periods of extreme stress.
But that was why friends and family were there, to help you up whenever you fell.
And even though her spirit had deflated a bit from remembering unpleasant memories, looking at her sisters sitting beside her and being more than happy to help her out made all the difference in the world to her.
"I will do my best to come back here and be with you all again. We're all back together again after so long, and it would be irresponsible of me to leave you all when we've been granted a second chance at life as the reunited Shiratsuyu-Class, right?"
Her sisters all nodded, Yuudachi reaching out to grab Shigure's arm to reassure her.
"Don't worry, Shigure! We'll be here if you have any troubles on your mind, Poi!"
Murasame nodded at Shigure's reassurance, remarking as she leaned forwards to face Shigure.
"Shigure, we'll always be here for you.
And even though I'm an expedition ship, I won't hesitate to take your place on the 1st Fleet if you feel like you need to take a break from the action!"
Shigure raised an eyebrow at that and wanted to retort, but Kawakaze tried to stand up for her by putting a hand on their shoulders and explained on Shigure's behalf.
"Now, now. I know that you all mean well, but I'm sure Shigure-Aneki doesn't want you to take her place in battle and get injured as a result. That's why she pushes herself so hard, you know? To get stronger so that she can protect you all."
Samidare politely objected to this, turning to face her Kai Ni sister ship as she responded questioningly.
"And why should she feel obliged to do so? We are warships, and we can hold our own in battle, having all been through the same war. I will admit that we may be the weaker ships of the Shiratsuyu-Class, but I must say that even though we may allow our stronger sisters to bear our burdens with us, we do not wish for them to bear our burdens for us."
Kawakaze conceded the point, but still tried to convince everyone that Shigure meant well as she started.
"Well, you're right about that, but—"
"No. I understand."
Shigure cut Kawakaze off, and she turned to face them all as she explained how she couldn't suffocate and bury her own siblings with her protectiveness.
"I understand that I can't protect everyone from everything under the sun, so I won't bother trying. Just like how I want you all to trust me when I say that I can take care of myself, I have to do the same for you all when the time comes, and can only offer my help and protection when you need it."
She then shifted her gaze to her redhead sister, smiling as she officially greeted her.
"But I digress. It's good to see you again, Kawakaze. And if you don't mind me asking, where were you this past month?"
Yuudachi piped up at that, proudly proclaiming her redhead sister's accomplishments after obtaining her Kai Ni remodel.
"Oh you wouldn't believe it! Kawakaze nee-san sailed down to New Zealand to fend off an Abyssal invasion! She's been back for a few days, and she visited you when you were still unconscious in the hospital."
Kawakaze nodded at that, looking at Shigure and puffing out her chest as she explained herself.
"I visited you in hospital when you were unconscious, so it's completely understandable if you didn't remember my visit. I needed some rest because of the time zone difference, and I had to set sail in the middle of the night in order to intercept the Abyssal fleet in time."
Shigure's eyebrow raised at that, asking with a touch of concern about her sister's well-being.
"Are you sure you should be going for another sortie so soon?"
But Kawakaze thumped her chest in a manner that inspired confidence with an assuring grin on her face, boasting.
"Don't worry, Shigure-aneki! I've been through worse than this, and your sister's a Kai Ni ship girl! I was fine after a dip in the docks and a few days' rest!"
Yuudachi then innocently asked a question about her own words.
"But what's worse than fighting two Princesses back-to-back? Three Princesses, Poi?"
Kawakaze's smile drooped a little at that and her eyes struggled to remain calm in the face of bitter memories, but she still kept up her heroic smile as she turned to Yuudachi and answered truthfully whilst rubbing the blonde's head with a gloved hand.
"Well of course, Yuudachi-chan! I've fought many Princesses, like most of the seniors in this base! This won't be hard for me, so don't you worry!"
Yuudachi nodded affectionately in response to Kawakaze's confident answer, Shigure noting that Samidare and Murasame remained silent upon hearing Yuudachi's question.
Excluding Kawakaze and herself, she remembered that Samidare was the oldest and had already achieved her Kai remodel via sorties, and Murasame was the second Shiratsuyu-Class who arrived here, being quite active on expeditions while Samidare allowed other, stronger ship girls to take her place in the 4th Fleet as the base grew in manpower.
Yuudachi arrived before Shigure, which would explain her more laid back and innocent attitude when compared to her other sisters, Samidare, Murasame and Kawakaze being the mature foils to the blonde destroyer.
This would mean that Kawakaze, likely being as old as Samidare since a Kai Ni remodel needed months or even years to achieve, had been the heavy hitter of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers and had participated in several Princess battles before this, Shigure's heart feeling a little heavy at that realization and respectfully remained silent.
Kawakaze then noticed someone behind Shigure as she stood up and pushed her chair back, the chair legs scraping on the floor of the bar as she nodded in Shigure's direction.
Shigure got the message that Akashi was behind her, also pushing her chair back to leave the Shinsengumi while looking at her sisters, giving them her winning smile as she nodded and reassured them one last time.
"Don't worry, sisters. I shall return."
Samidare's expression softened, sighing as she gave a tired smile and expressed her support.
"I believe you. Please be safe out there on the battlefield, and watch each other's backs."
Murasame didn't seem like she had anything to say, but her eyes hardened as she gave Shigure a tight smile and nodded, to which Shigure returned the gesture gratefully.
Yuudachi was the most vocal one of the seated trio, waving her clenched hands about and exclaiming as Kawakaze feebly gestured for her to calm down.
Shigure couldn't help but allow her smile to widen at Yuudachi's energetic demeanor as she voiced her support.
"Go, Kawakaze and Shigure! Go and kick the Abyssal Princess' ass for us!"
Shigure turned to exit the bar with a smile on her face as Kawakaze walked beside her and followed Akashi out the front door while Houshou gave them a small wave, to which they both reciprocated out of respect for the senior light carrier as they left.