Hiei was sitting in her room, laying down in the darkness on her bed as she heard the tell-tale signs that her sisters were sleeping, with her Onee-sama snoring resoundingly, Haruna mumbling almost inaudibly in her sleep and Kirishima being deathly silent save for her steady breathing.
Haruna had turned in for the night after learning first aid from Akashi and the various orderlies around the hospital, having heard that her sister ship wanted to expand her skill sets and not simply be a machine of death, being able to treat and help her teammates on the battlefield instead of simply pushing forward.
Kongou had come in around the same time that Hiei did as the 7th Fleet that was the Firepower Fleet had also trained throughout the day, and her Onee-sama was exhausted after a hard day's work as she collapsed on her bed and promptly fell asleep, leaving her sisters with the responsibility of removing her sweat-drenched miko clothes with heavy breathing on Hiei's part as she tried to stay her hand.
Kirishima was the last to arrive as usual after a hard day's work and tinkering with her equipment in the workshop as she too, changed clothes and went to sleep after a productive day, leaving Hiei alone in the dark, awake on her bed and clutching her Kongou Onee-sama dakimakura with a blanket covering her body.
Hiei had considered her training session with the esteemed Nagato, thinking about the words they had exchanged as Hiei admitted to the battleship her desire to become stronger and protect her comrades, and especially the battleship she wanted to match in terms of strength in order to fulfill that goal.
"You're tired. We'll take a break here."
Nagato turned away from a panting Hiei, who was resting her palms on her knees as she tried to get up, the fast battleship struggling to get the words out of her gasping mouth, feeling sweat drip from her chin and run down her head as she exclaimed.
"Not... yet...!"
Hiei could feel that considerable superficial damage had been inflicted on her body courtesy of the stronger Nagato-Class battleship, most of which could be repaired in less than half a day as practice rounds were being used, and Hiei had reacted fast enough to avoid being hit by her large-caliber cannon shells full-force and potentially taking her out in one-shot.
But Nagato turned around and Hiei could see that she had hit Nagato a few times with her own shells, her own 35.6 cm Twin Gun Cannons smoking as she noted that Nagato's uniform was ruffled with a few bruises on her abdomen and her gloves smoking from having punched a few shells out of the air.
Nagato was giving her an unrecognizable look, and Hiei wiped the sweat from her forehead as she listened to Nagato's words.
"You don't understand. If you fight constantly without rest, especially when going up against a superior opponent, it's only going to wear down your stamina and send you to the docks prematurely."
Hiei shook her head, thinking about how she wanted to surpass her current power level as she tried to straighten up her body, and laying her eyes upon the long-haired battleship striding towards her.
And was powerless to stop the smoking fist flying towards her face as Nagato's gloved fist blurred.
It stopped a centimeter from Hiei's stunned face, a slight gust of wind that was produced by the flying fist blowing her hair back and ruffling it as Hiei felt a chill go down her spine despite knowing that the Nagato-Class battleship wasn't going to hurt her.
Hiei collapsed onto the ocean floor as she looked up at the proud and immovable battleship, heaving as she caught her breath and tried to muster the strength to fight on, despite having been utterly drained of stamina due to having fought the Nagato-Class battleship all the way into the afternoon.
She could feel her muscles aching, although in a good way after a good workout had stretched her muscles and pushed them to the limit after a period of inactivity.
This was something that battleships often suffered from since one, they didn't always get the chance to sortie on a weekly basis like the rest of the ship girl population save for carriers due to their high fuel and ammo consumption, and two, even when they did, most of the work was done by their large-caliber cannons and thick armor, and they didn't get to physically exert themselves like the destroyers and light cruisers did.
But this was a good fight, Hiei wanting to fight to the end despite feeling rather fatigued as she had to physically evade the slow battleship's cannon shells and trading physical blows without giving out, considering the prospect of fighting on even when Nagato leaned down and extended her hand to help her up.
She eventually relented as she raised her hand to accept Nagato's offer, and slowly struggled to get up as Nagato leaned back to use her own weight to pull Hiei up, Hiei complaining about her own incompetence and inability to secure a win.
"Shit, I can't seem to match your might, no matter how hard I try. Is this the limit of a Kongou-Class battleship?"
Nagato blinked at that, pointing out and talking as one esteemed battleship to another as Hiei stabilized herself, speaking curtly.
"You and I are created for different purposes, where you're a fast battleship who can move fast while I'm slower, but can carry more armor and firepower as a result. So why are you so driven to defeat me?"
Hiei looked away, wondering about whether she should reveal her goals to the waiting Nagato-Class battleship, ultimately not seeing much wrong with it as she revealed.
"IwanttofightonyourlevelNagatosan."
Nagato blinked again, raising her hand to gesture to her in a placating manner as she requested of Hiei.
"I'm sorry, come again?"
Hiei inhaled deeply, and looked into Nagato's red eyes as she repeated herself while slowing down her speech.
"I want to fight on your level, Nagato-san.
I have a Kai Ni remodel, and being a fast battleship, I have every right to believe that I can make that dream a reality!"
Hiei waved her clenched fist around, ready to prove a point if the need arose, but the slow battleship lowered her gloved hand and simply replied with a blank face,
"Alright."
Hiei blinked at that, unprepared for the slow battleship's immediate acceptance of her stated goals, Hiei waving her hands around as she tried to get the Nagato-Class ship girl to respond in the manner which she expected, retorting.
"But aren't you going to tell me that it's not possible since, well, y'know, I'm a mere battle-cruiser and can't compare to a real battleship, or something along those lines?"
"So? It's a whole new world for us, and we can't simply narrow our mindsets by thinking that a fast battleship can't fight on par with a slow battleship."
Hiei drew back at that, never having thought of things like that and was unable to interrupt the slow battleship's small monologue as she continued.
"I've seen skilled light and heavy cruisers defeat slow battleships via 'Death-of-a-Thousand-Cuts' without the use of torpedoes. And weapon-wielding ship girls like Hyuga, Tenryuu and Kiso, amongst others, change the game as their Anti-Abyssal weapons possess the tremendous potential to cut through almost any Abyssal skin if they train hard enough."
Hiei looked away at that, having known the presence of Anti-Abyssal weapons, requiring intensive training to unlock their full potential.
And Hiei was confident that Tenryuu and Tatsuta, despite being mediocre light cruisers on paper and not possessing Kai Ni, would be able to find a way to stay relevant and fight on even when they had to go up against stronger opponents in the future.
But back to the present, where Nagato was looking down at her, due to the slight difference in height as she continued,
"Besides, right now, your stats can't compare to mine, and yet..."
Looking down at her third 41 cm Twin Gun Cannon that was deemed inactive as Hiei had likely hit a vital spot, the flank of the cannon spotting a nasty dent caused by Hiei's shell impacting it.
"... You were able to hold out for a few hours and get some good shots in.
If you keep this progress up and achieve Kai Ni, where the difference in our stats save for luck are pretty much negligible, I do believe you can fight on par with me."
Hiei's eyes widened at the possibility of her goal being fulfilled, and Nagato huffed as she pointed out a slight obstacle that stood in the way of that lofty goal.
"Of course, there's no getting round the fact that you need to train harder than me, and sortie more often to achieve Kai Ni."
But Hiei clenched her fists, undeterred by the long path ahead so long as she could reach the end and protect her sisters and friends with that newfound strength as she broke out in a silly grin.
But Nagato must have seen through something within her, as her eyebrows creased and she asked Hiei politely.
"And I don't wish to interrupt whatever thoughts you may have about your own odds of success, but what is the reason that drives you to seek this strength?"
Hiei's smile was wiped off her face as she blinked, taken aback at that question before responding coolly.
"To protect my friends and family, of course."
Ngato's eyes narrowed as she tried to peek into the fast battleship's heart, which made her a little uncomfortable as she racked her mind for possible reasons that would drive her to achieve Kai Ni.
And she remembered the obvious reason why she would work to obtain Kai Ni, adding to her answer as she faced the battleship.
"I want to make Kongou Onee-sama and my sisters proud. I mean, that's not a bad reason to achieve Kai Ni, right?"
Nagato tilted her head as she lifted an eyebrow, before resuming her default stoic expression as she pointed out in order to give Hiei something to think about.
"I understand that you love your sister ship Kongou, but I know her to be a larger-than-life ship girl. And as I understand it, you want to protect your friends, but also want to make your sisters proud, first and foremost."
Hiei's eyebrows creased at that, and she saw how the battleship might get that idea, which wasn't wrong anyway, but she kept her mouth shut as she listened obediently.
"I might not have any right to ask you this, but would your sisters approve of you prioritizing making your sisters proud over protecting your teammate? I mean, you're the eldest ship girl of your fleet, and in the eyes of the 1st Fleet, you're now considered the representative of the Kongou-Class battleships, so wouldn't it be more appropriate of you to strive to grow up and be an 'Onee-sama' to your comrades?"
Hiei was silent at that, never having thought of things that way and mutely listened to Nagato elaborating on her point.
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't make your sisters proud or anything like that, but as a name-ship, I think I can safely say that seeing your sister ships mature and branch out to achieve independence on their own. It reassures us when we see that our sisters can take care of themselves, instead of constantly worrying about them. I mean, that's why your other sister ships, Haruna and Kirishima both signed up and are now working in the medical and intelligence departments respectively to help out the base in other ways, right?"
Hiei couldn't argue with that, and quietly sailed back towards the base as training ended, various thoughts running through her mind and having been thrown into disarray by Nagato's opinion on things.
Hiei looked back at her sisters, watching the peaceful, resting faces and figures of Kirishima, Haruna and Kongou as she thought about the slow battleship's words.
She knew that the Kongou Sisters as they knew it, where the days where the four of them were in the same fleet were no more, and they had split up to pursue their own paths.
And now, watching the prone, sprawled body of her sister, she considered Nagato's words that were spoken as a name-ship, and could thus empathize with another name-ship's feeling about not having to worry about her sister ships when they grow up and become independent.
Hiei now knew that to achieve Kai Ni was a noble goal, and to strive to perform above your limits was a lofty, yet not an unreasonable goal that she had eventually learnt to share Nagato's view on and accept it as a possibility that could come to fruition only if they worked hard enough to close the gap in power, something which she was grateful that she had communicated to Junyou to inspire her to perform better.
But Nagato's point about her Onee-sama worrying about Hiei's dependence on her also made sense, Hiei remembering how Kongou sometimes broke character to look at her with worried eyes that Hiei had never been able to comprehend, especially when she coddled and hugged her sister ship affectionately (outside of battle, of course; she considered herself to be mature enough not to show that on the battlefield).
And now that she thought about it, perhaps that dependence was what was holding her back, since their lives were fleeting and life was unpredictable, where ship girls could die and sink at any time.
And perhaps her Onee-sama was worried that Hiei wouldn't be able to brave the loss of Kongou, which put that much pressure on her to keep herself alive while trying to get Hiei to become independent by dissolving the Kongou Sisters.
Hiei almost wanted to cry upon seeing that she had placed such a burden on her Onee-sama, but reminded herself that she was now taking the next step in maturation, and she now had to be a pillar of strength to support her own teammates instead of always depending on her sister ship and being perfectly content to stay in Kongou's shadow.
Hiei looked back to her dakimakura, which had her Onee-sama on both sides and she was currently looking at the image of her sister which was far less lewd, and she planted an affectionate kiss right where her sister's lips were as she slowly felt her consciousness fade, falling asleep as she hugged the dakimakura with all her might, promising to do better tomorrow.