Junyou sat in her hospital bed, a hospital table rolled up in order to allow her to eat her breakfast as she was surrounded by the various carriers of the Yokosuka Naval Base, the Zuikaku Romance Planning Committee surrounding her and was either seated or was standing whilst leaning on the hospital walls.
Junyou's meal consisted of buttered toast, a cup of finished yogurt, a plate of rice, white broccoli and eggs with a helping of lettuce, and two fruit-flavored jelly cups with fruit slices in them, Junyou hungrily devouring them all with a small flask of whiskey to wash it all down after healing up in the docks, and sitting through an operation had sapped her of her stamina.
The fact that every carrier had eaten their breakfast and allowed her to heal faster by eating her fill was a blessing, since none of them eyed her food with overtly lustful eyes that she likely had to fend off by shielding her food with her arms, not that they'd actually ask to "sample" her food, since they respected her need to feed herself in order to heal up faster.
As usual, someone had to run interference to ensure that Kaga was occupied, and this time, Akagi had offered to take the bullet by arranging a hospital visit on the same day which the 1st Carrier Division had a training session.
And since there were quite a few carriers in this base who had sessions "conveniently" arranged around this week, Kaga made a hard choice by attending the training session in order to get some practice in before participating in the upcoming large-scale naval battle, although Junyou was extremely accepting of the Kaga-Class carrier's apologies since she was the one who engineered this "coincidence".
But Zuikaku had an annoyed expression on her face, her right eye twitching and a vein bulging on her left temple as she called everyone out in the presence of an extra carrier in the room.
And she was American.
"WHY IN THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES IS SARATOGA HERE?!"
While pointing to the silent Lexington-Class carrier seated beside Junyou, it was understandable that the Twin Cranes might possess some feelings of animosity or at least feelings of intense rivalry for a carrier who had tussled with her and Shoukaku in the previous war along with Enterprise.
However, Shoukaku already seemed as though she were accustomed to the American's presence and didn't share Zuikaku's negative feelings towards Saratoga, so poor Zuikaku was pretty much alone in that regard.
Hiryuu lightly slapped her on the crown of her head, lifting a finger towards her lips as she remarked.
"Come on, Zuikaku-senpai. The more carriers we have on our side, the better. Besides, and no offense, Saratoga-san, but would you rather have a wild card that is a foreigner barging in at the wrong moment and mess up our plans?"
Saratoga nodded understandingly as she lifted a palm to rub the spot of hair on Zuikaku's head where Hiryuu slapped, earning the Shoukaku-Class carrier's ire as Saratoga saw Hiryuu's point.
"I understand, Hiryuu-san. It is understandable that you would at least attempt to control every known factor when attempting to help a maiden win the heart of her loved one. After all, love is fickle, and that alone is enough of a hassle to deal with as it is."
Shoukaku nodded sagely as she supported her left elbow with her right hand while her left hand was on her chin in a contemplative pose, adding.
"Yes, indeed. But love, in a sense, is somewhat like war. With Saratoga-san's presence here, at least on the surface, the hornet's nest will now be stirred amongst the carriers, and by extension, the entire base. The fact that Kaga mentioned Saratoga's presence before attending the training session probably means that she aims to challenge and beat you in a 1v1, impress you and establish the pecking order here. But is this a sign that we should take things a little slower so as not to jeopardize our chances of victory?"
But Junyou shook her head, almost seeing the golden opportunity amidst the ensuing chaos in Saratoga's wake as she lowered her utensils, gesturing for everyone to come closer as she noted.
"Nah, Saratoga's appearance may actually be a godsend. We should try to think outside the box in order to use this seemingly chaotic and unfavorable situation to our advantage."
Gesturing for Saratoga to come closer, Junyou explained herself and the situation at hand, taking the time to observe the American newcomer up close since her eyes still weren't completely healed.
"Sorry 'bout this, Saratoga, but my eyes are still bad from my last sortie, so I need to lean in close in order to see what you look like. Anyway, first things first, Kaga's competitiveness will hit an all-time high with Saratoga's arrival, so that's something we need to note. Second thing, how can we catapult Zuikaku-chan into the spotlight while using current events to our advantage?"
Souryuu noted,
"Well, these days, a lot of bird carriers are taking up the training grounds to practice for the upcoming large-scale battle, so can we use that to stage a confrontation between them? After all, I believe Kaga-senpai will want to see Saratoga-san's skill level through a duel, despite being newly spawned."
Saratoga, freezing up upon seeing Junyou's slightly damaged and dull eyes studying her facial features and being close enough to smell the stench of alcohol on the Hiyou-Class light carrier, gave the Souryuu-Class carrier an aside glance as she asked innocently.
"I-Is there really going to be a large-scale battle so soon after my arrival? If so, then I need all the training I can get, and I need to clock in as many hours on the ocean as possible in order to gain experience quickly. But after knowing that Kaga might challenge me to a duel in a training session…"
But Junyou had other ideas, instead rolling with the Lexington-Class's hypothetical scenario, building off of it and suggesting.
"No, actually, I think we can work with that.
After all, what better way to earn some affection points by being catapulted into the limelight and make Kaga proud by taking her place in the duel?"
Everyone's eyes turned to the younger sister of the Shoukaku-Class, and Zuikaku's face lit up as she considered Junyou's last sentence before retorting.
"Oh, no! We're not doing things like thi—"