Elder brother's garrison

Little White extended his hand and shook hands with Washington.

Just then, a little girl with fluffy white hair like wings came out of the house, touched the wall and looked curiously at Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai sensed the girl's gaze and looked back at her.

"This is North Carolina. She's a ship girl I met when I came out of the naval base to travel." Washington introduced her to Xiaobai when he saw Xiaobai and North Carolina looking at each other.

North Carolina?

"Ah."

"Is she a ship girl with an admiral?"

“No, she’s been alone ever since we met,” Washington said.

Xiaobai looked at the little girl in front of her, who was about the same size as Fubuki, and was somewhat surprised.

The North Carolina and Washington are exactly the same ship type, both being battleships. Logically speaking, shouldn't battleships all be tall and slender women?

Xiao Bai was puzzled for a moment.

Oh well, Tirpitz and Veneto are both battleships anyway, so there's no need for me to be so conflicted.

North Carolina saw Washington introducing herself, so she quickly ran up behind Washington with small steps and reached out to hug her waist.

Xiao Bai smiled.

“You’re like her older sister, Washington,” Little White said.

Washington paused for a moment, then shook his head: "She's not a sister, she's my friend."

The woman holding Washington, North Carolina, pursed her lips slightly, revealing a shy smile.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Having a cold is so painful...

Chapter 371 A True Man

Washington led the little white girls into his home.

A long time ago, Xiaobai had wondered if there would be all sorts of troubles if the ship girls suddenly integrated into human society, since they had only been instilled with some common sense knowledge and had not personally experienced living in human society.

Then reality told her that her girls truly lived up to their reputation as ship girls; they were indeed outstanding. Even without exceptional professional skills, ship girls like Veneto, Akagi, and Washington could still thrive in human society.

Washington's house is very large. Including the yard, the area is about the same as the garrison headquarters in Yuxiu, which Xiaobai remembers.

"Washington, did you buy this house?" Xiaobai asked.

“Yes, it cost quite a bit of money,” Washington said. “Have you eaten?”

"not yet."

“Let’s eat together,” Washington said. “But I can’t cook anything, just some simple pasta or something. You don’t mind, do you?”

"I don't mind, I don't mind," Xiaobai shook her head.

With Little White's permission, Washington rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen.

“Here, here!” North Carolina seemed to like Xiaobai a lot. She took Xiaobai’s hand and led her to the dining table.

The dining table is separated from the kitchen by only one wall, and sitting here you can faintly hear the sound of stoves coming from Washington.

Xiaobai sat down next to North Carolina.

In front of North Carolina's seat was a plate of pasta, barely touched, its bright red color emanating the sweet and sour aroma of tomatoes.

North Carolina twirled the pasta with a fork and then held it to Little White's mouth.

"Eat!" North Carolina gave Little White a pure smile.

"Admiral, you seem to be quite popular with children." Akagi, Bismarck, and Yamato Akagi naturally didn't receive the same treatment as North Carolina. They sat on the other side of the table, looking at them with smiles on their faces.

Xiao Bai felt a little embarrassed by their affectionate gazes.

However, Fubuki and others at the naval base do indeed like Shiro.

Little White opened his mouth and ate the pasta that North Carolina offered to him.

North Carolina looked at Little White's bulging mouth and sat back down contentedly.

"It's delicious, thank you," Xiaobai said gratefully.

“Mmm!” North Carolina laughed happily.

Washington cooked very quickly; in just a short while, he came over with a large plate of spaghetti: "It's too much trouble to divide the food into plates. Just take as much as you want to eat."

Washington glanced at North Carolina, who was affectionately interacting with Little White, and his gaze lingered on North Carolina's innocent expression for a moment.

“North Carolina really likes you, Admiral.” Washington sat down on the other side of North Carolina.

"I'm probably quite popular with kids," Xiaobai said.

“Little kid…” Washington muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

"What's wrong?"

“Oh, it’s nothing, you’re quite right.” Washington nodded, then picked up his fork and started eating from his plate.

There's a subtle feeling that Washington is rather cold towards North Carolina?

Little White looked at Washington with a puzzled expression.

"So, what kind of work does Washington do here?"

“I didn’t do any work,” Washington replied.

"Huh? Ah...aren't you bored?" Xiaobai asked.

Ship girls of Washington's caliber certainly don't lack money, after all, they've even bought houses. But while it's nice to not have to worry about money at first, it gets boring after a while. Look at Akagi, she eventually found a job.

"Boring? Not at all," Washington replied. "A small fight every three days, a big fight every five days, this wretched place is quite lively."

"...Fight?!"

"Don't worry, I don't kill people. At most, I'll take off an arm or two or something." Washington said nonchalantly. "Oh, speaking of work, when I first came here two years ago, I got into a fight with a bunch of thugs on South Street. After that, I don't know why, those bastards started calling me 'Big Brother' whenever they saw me, and they even sent me money every month. If a job is about getting paid regularly, then I guess this counts as my job?"

"Huh?!" Xiaobai was stunned. "Getting money regularly every month... isn't that protection money...?"

"That's it."

"How can we accept that!"

"I didn't want it, they just forced it on me." Washington was also helpless about it. "Oh, by the way, speaking of which, didn't anyone cause you any trouble when you came, Admiral?"

Upon hearing the words "causing trouble," Bismarck and Akagi immediately became alert.

"No," Xiaobai shook her head.

Washington thought for a moment: "Actually, this place is quite chaotic. As you just mentioned, there are a lot of people collecting protection money."

"what……"

“Of course I don’t get involved in these things,” Washington said, emphasizing his position. “But I’m not going to pay protection money either. I don’t know why no one has come to me to collect it. I’ve just been living my life here normally. But yesterday someone came to my door.”

"Yesterday?" Xiaobai thought for a moment. "Are you talking about the time you broke someone's leg?"

"...You guys know?" Washington looked at Little White in surprise.

"Someone told me," Xiaobai said. "What's the story behind it?"

“The last time I went grocery shopping with North Carolina, some idiot took a liking to her.” Washington’s eyes flashed with barely suppressed rage. “That guy actually wants North Carolina to be his mistress?!”

Xiao Bai looked at North Carolina sitting next to him, eating spaghetti with an innocent expression.

Admittedly, this child is very cute and innocent, but her physical appearance is just that of a little girl about the same age as Fubuki. People who like her might at most hug her, rub her head a couple of times, and kiss her a couple of times. But to think of her as a wife would be a bit too much.

"What a terrible person..." Xiaobai said.

"The more important thing is that I said I didn't want to be in office anymore, but damn it... oh, sorry, these people still came up and tried to take me away. So I couldn't hold back my temper and went up and hit each of them with an axe (back view)." Washington still seemed unable to contain his anger as he said this.

It seems she has a really good relationship with North Carolina.

Xiao Bai smiled.

"Why didn't they come to me! Why did they have to come to some kid who hasn't even grown his first hair yet! I was standing right next to North Carolina at the time!" Washington slammed his hand on the table and said angrily.

Eh?

Xiao Bai opened his eyes in shock, looking at Washington's grief-stricken expression.

"Am I not pretty enough?! I'm a ship girl too! Don't I have a girlish heart?! Losing to a bunch of girls next door who can embroider, sing, and do laundry is one thing, but losing to a little kid is just ridiculous!" Washington slammed his head hard on the table.

The spaghetti on the table was so jolted into the air for half a second by Washington's headbutt.

"..."

For some reason, a strange silence fell over the scene. Only North Carolina was still happily eating her pasta.

So, so that's how it is...

Looking at Washington slumped on the table, Xiaobai thought to himself.

"So... does that mean it would have been better if we had contacted Washington instead?" Xiaobai asked cautiously.

"Hmm...it's better than looking for North Carolina, isn't it..." Washington became unusually shy.

"Would you agree?"

“Definitely not.” Washington sat up and cleared his throat. “But he wouldn’t be so angry that he’d break his legs.”

Akagi covered her mouth, lowered her head, and her slender shoulders trembled incessantly, as if she was enduring a great deal of laughter.

"What are you laughing at, laughing at the Japanese!"

"No...it's nothing." Akagi gave Washington an apologetic look. "This is the first time I've seen you like this, Washington."

"What does it look like?"

"You actually got upset over something like this?" Akagi covered her mouth. "Have you reached the point where you care about women's charm?"

Washington's face flushed almost imperceptibly.

“You’re so long-winded,” Washington muttered, turning his head away. “I’m not… Besides… you guys…”

"Ugh, this is so annoying!" Washington slammed his hand on the table. "I'm not talking about it anymore!"

Washington glared at Akagi with resentment.

Akagi's smile was like a hundred flowers in full bloom, captivating all who beheld her. Her gentle and amiable nature flowed from her eyes into the hearts of the viewers like water, slowly melting their bones.

Washington also wanted to be like Akagi, whose smile would make people want to call her "wife." He was a woman too, and of course he wanted to have a higher level of femininity and charm. But for some reason, he just couldn't smile in the same way as Akagi.

It's fine if I don't laugh, but if I do, people will inexplicably call me "big brother".

"Let's get down to business!" Washington shook off all the thoughts in his head and looked at Little White.

Xiao Bai was wiping the corners of North Carolina's mouth, which were smeared with ketchup, with a tissue.

"You've come to take me back to the naval base, haven't you?" Washington asked.

"Mm." Xiaobai nodded.

“Hmm…” Washington thought for a moment, seemingly troubled.

"Is there any difficulty?" Xiaobai asked.

“Well, not really, but…” Washington looked at North Carolina sitting with Little White.

Washington is Shiro's shipgirl, and she went back with Shiro, but North Carolina isn't. With Washington gone, North Carolina is all alone.

"Oh, are you worried about her?" Little White noticed Washington's concern.

“Kids are quite difficult to deal with.” Akagi nodded. “Does North Carolina have an admiral?”

“I don’t know.” Washington shook his head.

North Carolina had never mentioned her admiral, and when Washington asked her, she would shake her head and say she didn't know. Washington himself wondered if North Carolina had just popped out of a rock.

Chapter 372 Grown Up!

Who the admiral of North Carolina is, or whether there is an admiral at all, is, in a sense, North Carolina's personal privacy. Even though she is a little girl, Xiaobai and the others did not force her to talk about it when she did not want to.

After everyone finished eating, Washington and North Carolina carried the plates of noodles that everyone had finished eating back to the kitchen.

“Washington and North Carolina are on equal footing.” After the two men went into the kitchen, Yamato Fukami said quietly.