"I can't believe we're doing things like this."
Zuikaku had a deadpan expression on her face as she muttered under her breath, having grudgingly accepted Junyou's plan after she outlined its details for them to follow to the letter.
And now here they were, three days later, on the ocean with their equipment on them as they sailed towards the training grounds in order to participate in the large-scale training session that they had planned for everyone.
There, the carriers and light carriers could train their planes and themselves in order to prepare for the upcoming large-scale battle that was slated to take place in the Sagami-nada Sea, since carriers were said to play an important role in providing air support.
Saratoga had been training relentlessly these three days, because despite Zuikaku possessing a one-sided rivalry between them, the American carrier genuinely wanted to win this duel with the Lucky Crane, and by training herself up, it would mean that the battle wouldn't be as one-sided in Zuikaku's favor since the Kai Shokaku-Class carrier possessed a boost gauge, a vital tool in a mano-a-mano duel.
Saratoga was a respectably strong carrier in her own right, but there was no substitute for practice and experience, and if she didn't go all out in the duel with Zuikaku, Kaga might suspect that something was up with them and question the victor.
The time was 8.45 a.m. in the morning, and Zuikaku was now sailing with Shoukaku, Hiryuu and Souryuu while Kaga and Akagi led the three carrier divisions toward the training grounds, where several bird carriers and Saratoga were present, helping her improve on the performance of her planes.
Kaga was looking unnaturally serious about challenging the American carrier, and it looked as if no one was capable of convincing her otherwise, since as the strongest and most senior carrier in the Yokosuka Naval Base, she saw it as her responsibility to break the newcomer in and gauge Saratoga's strength.
And that's where Junyou's plan to catapult Zuikaku into the spotlight came in.
Reaching the training grounds on the ocean, Zuikaku could see several bird carriers surrounding Saratoga, namely Zuihou, Amagi, Unryuu, Chitose and even Houshou on the ocean with the American.
Ryuujou was predictably absent since she was sunk by the Lexington-Class carrier, and she probably couldn't handle meeting Saratoga so soon and dredged up bad memories in the process.
Zuihou wore a green kimono top with her long sleeves attached over white cloth and had a lattice trimming on her cuffs, her chestplate possessing a generic camouflage pattern in order to help her distinguish her Kai form from her unremodeled one.
Her similarly green, pleated shorts reached down to the middle of her thighs, and she wore a red-striped white headband to hold up her fringe as her light-brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she, like the rest of the bow-and-arrow carriers, wielded a red-white-striped bow in her left hand with her arrow quiver integrated into her rigging.
She wasn't very well-endowed unlike the various carriers standing beside her, wearing white socks with red slippers as she had the characters "づほ" on the left leg of her shorts in a white font.
Zuikaku picked up on everyone's skittishness around the Lexington-Class carrier save for Houshou, who had already built up a rapport with the American simply due to her maternal aura and amiable personality which everyone could connect with.
The rest of them tried to help her by guiding her planes onto the right path towards hitting the still bulls-eye targets, the moving clay models of the Abyssals and the airborne replicas of the Abyssal bombers, but never really knew what to talk to her about and loitered around her in an awkward silence whenever they weren't needed.
Zuikaku could see Kaga making a beeline for the American, eager to challenge her in order to personally witness the ability of an American carrier, everyone following behind her as Kaga introduced herself and her fellow Japanese carriers to Saratoga.
"Greetings. I'm Kaga, and this is Akagi. The both of us make up the entirety of the 1st Carrier Division. Hiryuu and Souryuu here are the two carriers of the 2nd Carrier Division, while Shokaku and Zuikaku here are in the 5th Carrier Division. Welcome to the Yokosuka Naval Base."
Everyone gave the American carrier a Japanese bow in order to formally welcome her to the base, and Saratoga was a little embarrassed by the welcoming gesture as she put her right hand forward to wave her palm, meekly commenting.
"Oh, don't worry. You don't have to bow… ah, you're already bowing…"
Houshou giggled as she commented on the discipline and manners of the three carrier divisions, having spent a majority of her time in Yokosuka caring for them before they came into their own as the legendary carriers of Japan.
"Oh, they're well-behaved children, Sara-san.nDon't mind them, they're just being polite."
Zuikaku, as well as every one of the arriving carriers, noted the affectionate nickname Houshou used to address the American carrier, but Saratoga nodded warmly upon Houshou's reassurance as she commented.
"Ah, I see…"
And like everyone predicted, Kaga was direct in issuing a challenge to the newcomer, at least attempting to appear as non-confrontational as possible as she requested.
"Saratoga-san, forgive me for thinking that this is too sudden of me to ask, but I'd like to request a duel with you in order to ascertain your skill and strength as an American carrier."
But Saratoga was looking even more embarrassed that the Kaga-Class carrier was giving her this much credit as she scratched the back of her head and commented, looking down at the ocean sheepishly.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself famous for being in any major event other than Operation Crossroads…"
Everyone looked a little perturbed at how the carrier immediately brought up Crossroads while downplaying all the naval battles and campaigns that she participated in, but Zuikaku could now detect Junyou's ship girl signature approaching them on the radar, Kaga attempting to salvage the situation by stating.
"Well, regardless, as an American, you should be a little more proud of representing your country in a foreign land. And about that duel…"
But Junyou appeared at the most "inopportune" time to intervene on Saratoga's behalf, shouting.
"HOOOOLLLLLDDDD IT!"
Everyone turned to see the hospitalized light carrier dropping in with her two hospital gowns covering her body, a flask of alcohol in her right hand as she hobbled towards the crowd of carriers, commenting in a lazy drawl.
"Yo, what the hell am I lookin' at here? Some sort of 'new girl bullying' routine here?"
Everyone held their breath upon hearing that, looking between the Kaga-Class carrier and the Hiyou-Class light carrier as Junyou was indirectly addressing the stoic ship girl of the 1st Carrier Division.
Kaga, possessing quite a fair bit of patience for the hospitalized light carrier, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Junyou as she asked.
"It's great to see you here, Junyou-san.
But pray tell, why are you not staying in the hospital and taking dips in the dock to recover as soon as possible?"
Junyou closed her eyes and furrowed her brows in distress, remembering the extended periods of time where she had to sit in the docks or in her privatized hospital ward by herself, with no one to accompany her save for several visits from her teammates and other carriers.
"Aww! I just felt so lonely in my privatized hospital ward despite my teammates and several of you carriers visiting me whenever you take the day off. And besides, when better to temporarily leave the hospital in order to hang out with my fellow carriers and the new girl than today, when you all congregate together in order to train, amirite?!"
Kaga leaned away from Junyou as she rested her head on her shoulder, desperately wanting to shake the light carrier off, but didn't want to look bad in front of everyone by treating a hospital patient with anything less than absolute patience, respect and kindness.
Junyou was obviously drinking (obviously not to the point of being wasted; Junyou knew her limit), so she had the stench of alcohol on her which made Kaga recoil.
Hiryuu raised her palms to jokingly comment about Junyou's improved vocabulary as Souryuu eased a tipsy Junyou off of her senior's shoulder.
"Woah, 'congregate'? Get ready girls, because when drunk Junyou can still use such complicated words, I think that's a sign that the Apocalypse's nearing."
But Junyou took the initiative as she put on an innocent expression and asked the next question, knowing from personal experience that drunk people sometimes had a "Get out of jail free card" that others didn't, at the price of being stigmatized as drunkards (not that Junyou particularly cared about her image, she had more important things on her mind which mandated her attention).
"Yo, but isn't the gap in levels too far between you two? You get off on pickin' fights with ship girls who're weaker than you?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to her words, and Junyou gently shook off Souryuu's guiding hands in order to stand on her own two boat slippers, albeit wobbling a bit after feeling a dizzy spell coming on, elaborating as she pointed towards a silent Kaga.
"Kaga-san, no disrespect, baby, but I don't think you're suited to fight this battle."
The crowd's attention was now fixated on Kaga, the Kaga-Class carrier starting to sweat despite her expression never wavering from "stoic hitman" as she coolly asked.
"And please enlighten us. How am I not qualified to have a duel with Saratoga-san? I am a proud member of the 1st Carrier Division, the most senior member of this base save for Houshou-san…"
Nodding in the light carrier's direction to acknowledge her seniority and presence, Houshou nodded back before Kaga continued whilst looking down at the ocean.
"I possess an excellent track record in both World War 2 and in the Abyssal War, and…"
But Junyou's extended hand slowly started shaking when Kaga started listing her resume before everyone, quickly transitioning into a circular motion to motion for Kaga to get on with her speech as she interjected.
"And that's exactly why! You're overqualified to fight Saratoga, who hasn't even achieved her Kai remodel!"
Kaga stopped mid-speech, considering Junyou's words as Junyou went on the offensive and explained the situation.
"Look, I know that you want to test the power of an American carrier, and maybe you still feel a little salty after getting pwned at Midway and want to prove your superiority to a Yank here in order to establish the pecking order. But you easily run the risk of crossing the line into being a bully lording your seniority over the newcomer with your ensemble of lackeys backing you up when Saratoga's only gotten several days of practice."
Bringing up her arms to swing them around to gesture to everyone, Junyou got everyone whispering amidst themselves as she asked, making full use of her apparent "drunkenness" to make sure that she never came off as condescending in the process.
"Look, Sara here…"
Saddling up to the American carrier and slinging an arm around Saratoga's curled-in shoulders.
"Seems to me like she's the protagonist in some anime high school drama, and you're, no offense, a queen bitch with her lackeys behind her. And I perfectly understand that you want to gauge Sara-chan's abilities, but you can't simply ignore the difference in power level, dominate the match and humiliate her in front of everyone, y'know?"
Kaga lowered her gaze upon seeing Junyou's point, evading everyone's gaze as she muttered loud enough for everyone's enhanced hearing to pick up.
"I didn't mean for my challenge to be interpreted that way…"
But Junyou raised a placating hand to try and repair the situation as she told Kaga about her suggestion.
"But y'know, I ain't exactly shooting down your idea of a challenge. Giving Sara-chan a bit of a challenge isn't a bad idea, but you gotta choose the right candidate so as not to overwhelm her or make things unfair, a'ight?"
Nodding, Kaga looked to Akagi as she gave her opinion on their predicament, Junyou realizing that the gluttonous carrier giving advice would be a good idea to get through to Kaga, although it had to be presented as a natural response in response to the situation at hand.
"Well, I do believe that the both of us can't duel with Saratoga-san, because we'd crush her with our experience and superior stats. Hiryuu-san is already Kai Ni, and she suffers from the same problem of being overqualified."
"And Souryuu?"
Souryuu herself answered honestly, raising her arms up in a faux-surrendering gesture as she noted.
"Well, the difference in experience between me and Hiryuu-chan isn't that drastic anyway, and I'm getting my Kai Ni within a few weeks, so…"
Kaga nodded in acknowledgement as she added,
"So it comes down to Shokuaku and Zuikaku, since Saratoga-san should theoretically be able to defeat a light carrier or the Unryuu-Class carriers with ease…"
While giving the pale-haired nameship carrier an aside glance, but Unryuu was looking rather nonchalant about how Kaga added the term "theoretically" since Unryuu herself would destroy Saratoga with her merciless fighting style.
But everyone brushed that comment aside as Zuikaku raised her hand to offer herself as a candidate for the duel, Kaga slightly raising an eyebrow as Junyou gave the Shoukaku-Class carriers a big grin, knowing that everything was going according to plan as she pointed to Zuikaku and commented.
"Well, come on, Kaga. Pick Zuikaku as your representative in this duel and let's get on with it."
But Akagi was the one to question Junyou's judgement, although this was for the sake of making the argument flow naturally in order to make Zuikaku being chosen seem like the natural choice in this situation.
"No offense, Junyou-san, but why choose Zuikaku-san and not Shoukaku-san?"
Junyou shrugged with an innocent, wide smile on her face as she leaned in towards Saratoga, feeling the American's large bosom squeeze against hers in the process as she retorted as per the plan.
"Well, because Sara-chan here's a lucky carrier since she survived the war, and we don't need no unlucky carrier to go up against her, lest Shokaku-chan's bowstring snap before she even launches her first plane and forfeits, amirite?"
Shoukaku was visibly struck and leaned back from the blow as everyone started to giggle at the thought of Shoukaku's bowstring snapping due to her bad luck, allowing Zuikaku to take her place in the duel anyway.
Unryuu snorted softly in what passed as a laugh for the aloof carrier, while Kaga respectfully hid her snicker behind a false coughing fit, and in a superb performance, Shoukaku dramatically collapsed onto the ocean surface, lying down on her side in Amagi's heavily damaged pose as her dull eyes focused on nothing, monotonously intoning.
"Ah, Zuikaku, I understand if this is a duel between lucky carriers. So please don't this unlucky elder sister's bad luck rub off on you…"
Zuikaku exclaimed as she stood over her sister's body, trying to motivate her elder sister into action.
"C-Come on, Shoukaku-nee! I need you to cheer me on in the duel!"
But Souryuu turned to look at Junyou, and as per the plan, she asked the next question in order to redirect Kaga's attention.
"But Junyou-san, is there some sort of reason why you're taking Saratoga-san's side, other than being nice to the new girl? Could you perhaps be trying to get into Saratoga-san's good graces in order to get her to do your bidding and allow you to slack off?"
Junyou visibly flinched upon hearing that as everyone's imaginative minds conjured up the image of a half-naked Junyou who was surrounded by empty alcohol bottles and was absolutely wasted as a genuinely loyal Saratoga attended to her, cleaning up her room and disposing of the wine bottles while asking in a polite, respectful tone.
"Yes, Junyou-senpai?"
Junyou would receive a message for her to sortie with the 1st Fleet, and would give the obedient carrier an order as she shook her head to clear her mind while waving Saratoga away.
"Ahh, the 1st Fleet's sortieing again. Sara-chan, go take my place in the fleet and tell 'em I'm unavailable."
Junyou, in everyone's mind, would then pour some more sake into a cup while popping open another can of alcohol, muttering with half-lidded, bloodshot eyes as she mimicked the behavior of an alcoholic mother in everyone's over-the-top imagination.
"There's a bit of blood left in my alcohol stream, and I aim to correct that. So get moving, and you'll be sleeping in the corridor if you don't get MVP and wipe out the enemy, you hear me?!"
Before taking a shot, while Saratoga happily obliged since Junyou stood up for her in practice and gave her a room to stay in, an obedient dog's wagging tail appearing on her hind and twitching dog ears fitting on her head in everyone's mind as she cheerily replied with a bright smile.
"Yes, Junyou-senpai!"
Everyone turned back to Junyou in real time, who was visibly sweating buckets, was evading everyone's gaze as she looked around shiftily, and was wildly gesturing with her hands while epically failing to defend her case, uttering a shaky,
"Wha-Wha… What could you possibly be talking about, Souryuu-san? There's no way t-that could be true, I'd never stoop to taking advantage of a fellow comrade's loyalty in order to make my life easier, ahahaha…"
Everyone sweat-dropped as they gave her the "Bruh" look, which denoted apparent disappointment and the slightest bit of disdain, Saratoga innocently smiling as she looked confused as to what was going on.
All part of the plan.
The plan was to avoid arousing Kaga's suspicion about getting Zuikaku to replace her in the duel, and the first part of the plan was to point out how unfair it was for Saratoga to go up against a far more experienced and powerful carrier without much prior training.
The second part was to ease Zuikaku into the spotlight whilst keeping Kaga's attention occupied, first on Junyou calling her out, then onto Shoukaku's dramatic response to being called an unlucky carrier and back to Junyou pathetically trying to justify her actions.
The Hiyou-Class light carrier had to deliberately ham up her acting and make it look bad in order to draw everyone's attention while the Lexington-Class carrier had to look confused despite understanding everyone perfectly, and as she predicted, Kaga was the one who tried to bring the situation under control by clearing her throat and stating.
"Well, if no one objects to the pairing, then the duel between Zuikaku and Saratoga-san will commence in five minutes. Junyou-san will coach Saratoga-san before the battle, and I shall have a few words with Zuikaku."