Shigure was now standing before Room 23, having climbed up the stairs to reach the second level as she wondered about what the repair ship had said about her, and how much of it was true.
Having received reassurances from the ship girls surrounding her that no physical harm was going to befall her, which meant quite a big deal to her as she was rather apprehensive about a repair ship who knew the ship girl anatomy inside and out, and had more than enough experience in dissecting and patching up her fellow ship girls.
But her fleet had instead warned her about the psychological aspect of the treatment, everyone from Nagato giving her a concerned look to Tatsuta, the one ship girl that Shigure least expected to say anything to her informing her.
"Shigure, Akashi-san is sincere in wanting to help you, but you need to be honest with yourself to this to truly work. And we know that we can't help you in the way that she can, but I want you to know that we'll be here for you every step of the way."
Shigure looked down at the floorboards, reflecting on their words and how true they were, that despite their enthusiasm and dedication, there really wasn't much they couldn't do to help her get over something that had happened more than half a century ago other than be there for her whenever they could.
Honestly, when Shigure thought about it, there also wasn't much that she could do to actually help her teammates should something from their past crop up, the past being set in stone.
But that wasn't a reason for her to give up on even trying, knowing that ship girls were not chained down by their pasts and that there was no reason why they couldn't rise above the events that they had been through in their past life.
But reflecting upon her own past, Shigure wondered if she possessed the strength to practice what she preached, thinking back on all her comrades that had died while she had lived, feeling rather bitter about her own lucky streak during the war and wondered if any other ship girls felt this way.
But there was no point in putting off the inevitable, Shigure exhaling as she knocked on the door to signal her presence, and entered after she heard the repair ship respond with a dry:
"Come in."
The room was simple, with a couch for the ship girl to lie down on, and a chair for the occupants to sit on, Shigure noting that Akashi had already made herself comfortable on the chair she was sitting on, the room comfortably sized so as not to make a ship girl feel claustrophobic, but also retaining a tight size so as not to overwhelm a ship girl upon entering, with a small shelf with story books stacked on them, and a fake potted plant to the corner of the room to occupy the room without overcrowding it.
Shigure looked at the couch before the repair ship, Akashi looking at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer and motioning for her to lie down on the couch to make herself comfortable, Shigure bowing politely to greet her senior as she pressed her own skirt in to lie down.
Akashi clapped her hands together to start the session, explaining herself to Shigure,
"Right, I'm Akashi, the repair ship and base psychologist, and this here's the first session of therapy for you."
Shigure did a double take at that, blurting out as she wondered out loud about how this was just the first of many sessions as her eyes widened.
"'The first'?! I need to train, Akashi-san!"
But Akashi raised a hand to get Shigure to be silent, and revealed a bit about the data that was gathered over the course of 20 years concerning the various psychological states of ship girls and the possible mental and psychological pitfalls that many ship girls had unfortunately fallen victim to over the decades.
"I believe you understand me when I say that there's a lot of bad memories about the war that can affect us adversely in various ways. But what you fail to comprehend is simply the fact that despite the best efforts of some our brightest minds working on diagnosing and helping scarred ship girls recover via therapeutic psychological treatment, there are simply too many ways that the ship girl psyche can fail, and too many ship girls for us to keep track of at all times."
Shigure narrowed her eyes as she looked away, unable to retort as she knew that Akashi was right; that there was simply no way for her to predict how any ship girl, much less someone like her who has been through so much in her past life would react upon being thrust into the heat of battle under adverse conditions.
But perhaps there was some sort of morbid curiosity that welled up within her, shooting the repair ship a glance as she asked inquisitively.
"So when you say 'psychological treatment', I assume there's a hospital of sorts to house them, right?"
Akashi tilted her head to the side as she lifted an eyebrow, clarifying.
"Well, medical and psychological care has progressed since the 40's, and we prioritize the welfare of the patients to help them recover, but we also try our best to help healthy ship girls through whatever issues may arise..."
Akashi looked back at Shigure, causing her to flinch a little at how serious the repair ship was about helping her, ensuring that the entire 'prevention is better than cure' motif stayed true as she continued.
"... Since it's easier to help you out before any issues arise or to guide you through them, instead of helping you after you've been hurt by whatever comes up and screws you over."
Shigure nodded at that, having heard of Akashi's argument that she likely wasn't fit to participate in night battles, something that she wasn't keen on herself and only having been in training sessions and practice bouts in the daytime.
Shigure nodded, and Akashi comforted her by saying,
"Well, don't worry about today, since I just want us to get to know each other better.
I do believe that that step's essential in helping us be a little more comfortable in exchanging information with one another as well as making sure that we both get to ask our fair share of questions. And just to be a good sport, I'll go first and answer a few questions of yours."
Shigure narrowed her eyes upon noting that this might be a ploy on her part to try to allow herself to look nice as she answered Shigure's questions to make Shigure feel as if she was compelled to answer Akashi later on in the session, but her curiosity won out in the end as she asked simply.
"So, about those hospitals, or rather, mental asylums..."
"Institutes."
Akashi raised her left index finger at that, Shigure again flinching at how seriously Akashi took her job as she added.
"Remember that these are institutes where psychologically tormented ship girls are sent, a large part of them having been through traumatic situations, suffered damaging breakdowns, and they never asked to become who they are today.
And if you're going to address the place where I once worked at, please use the appropriate term."
Shigure paused for a while to consider the repair ship's words, before nodding apologetically as she corrected herself.
"The mental institute where you worked in… How did it work?"
Akashi lifted her eyebrow again at that, folding her arms as she leaned back in her chair and elaborated.
"Well, for starters, you need to understand that we need to ensure the safety of our doctors and orderlies, so we use non-chafing rubber restraints for light cruisers and below, and straitjackets for heavy cruisers and above in the most dire of circumstances."
Shigure blanched again at that, cringing a little at that treatment as she commented.
"That seems a little… excessive."
Akashi shrugged as she retorted,
"Hey.
When you consider the fact the hospitalized ship girls aren't exactly in their right minds to follow orders and restrain their strength, they do possess an ever present threat to the human personnel, and especially to themselves as some of them have resorted to self-harm to cope.
And you tell me how you're going to hold back a Hiei or a Nagato without the use of powerful restraints that are admittedly tailored to ensure some degree of comfort, without compromising their ability to restrain the fearsome strength of the adult ship girls."
Shigure shivered at that, wondering how she was to even stand a chance against even a heavy cruiser, remembering the physically imposing Maya that looked as though she could kill Shigure with one punch, conceding the point as she asked the next question.
"So how bad can things get? I'd like to know some of the cases that you worked on when you worked there."
Akashi smirked, now resting her right cheek on her right fist while her right elbow was placed on the arm rest.
"Ah, ah. Patient confidentiality."
"But you're not naming specifics, and besides, didn't you say that you'd 'answer a few questions of mine'?"
Shigure retorted, causing Akashi's smile to droop a little as she considered the Shiratsuyu-Class's question, before answering with brutal honesty.
"If you insist. Arashi is commonly known for causing the sinking of the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division back in the day when the Americans followed her wake as she regrouped with the carriers.
One Arashi was escorting the same carriers as they died around her in the present day, causing a mental relapse on the spot and she almost succeeded in self-termination. Quite curious, that the trembling of your hand on the gun can cause you to miss your brains and only shoot out your optics, making all the difference between life and death."
Akashi formed a gun with her free hand's index and middle finger and her thumb, giving Shigure a shit-eating grin and letting her tongue out as she put the "gun" to her temple and mimed pulling the trigger, resuming her resting position before continuing.
"There was also a Kongou who suffered from a broken heart as her Admiral broke up with her, and her emotional breakdown was, well, let's just say nothing short of legendary. And let's just say that, speaking in a purely utilitarian manner about the responsibilities of being an Admiral, you don't need the use of your limbs to lead a base, just a mind to think up of a plan and a mouth to communicate your thoughts."
Shigure raised her eyebrows to agree with that point, slightly squirming in her seat upon hearing her own comrades acting in such ways upon being thrust in traumatic or unfavorable situation.
But Akashi formed a fist with her free hand and extended her index finger, leaning in close to Shigure and pointing to a point on her forehead as their eyes met, and Akashi's tone was dead-serious about the last case as she explained.
"Right here, through the forehead, is where a cannon round punched through the head of a Kai Ni Shigure, and a little like the curious case of Phineas Gage, her personality was warped so much from a well-adjusted leader of the base into someone with barely any personality, and no remorse about shooting her own teammate for hindering her fleet's progress."
Shigure's eyes widened at that, covering her forehead with both hands in a defensive gesture as Akashi leaned back, intertwining the fingers of both her hands as she explained herself.
"You may have heard a few things about me from your teammates, and I couldn't really bring myself to care about what they say about me behind my back, be it good or bad. But know that I do want to prevent any harm, be it physical, emotional or psychological from befalling you in the first place, instead of sticking around to pick up the pieces after the damage has been done, which, sadly, happens far too often despite our best efforts."
Shigure drew back a little our of surprise as Akashi leaned in, the repair ship relaxing as she asked, giving the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer a warm smile and doing her best to look approachable as she leaned back.
"So I know that you might have been expecting this, but I'd still like to ask you this generic, but well-meaning question.
How are you doing today, Shigure?"