Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 5: Lexington Squared

This time, the commander actually was on inspection.

He was standing out by the harbor and watching one of his projects take shape- a vast upgrade of the port's defenses and detection equipment. The research that had allowed them to bring ships like Friedrich, Monarch, and Neptune into being had also reaped great dividends in improving the other armaments and technology of the fleet, and he planned to make use of it as much as possible. He was going to be caught unawares by his enemies. After all, that privilege was reserved exclusively for his friends.

And if he hadn't been so focused on the construction, he might've noticed he was being approached by something... Pink.

In fact, he was unaware until the interloper draped her arms over his shoulders. "Guess who, commander~"

He went through the possibilities. The clothing was too different from Atago, and she was too tall to be Saratoga, and Enterprise was definitely not this playful. And like this, he quickly went down the line. "Hello, Lexington."

She released him with a giggle, and came around him to where she could be seen. "Mmm. Glad you haven't forgotten me, now that you're famous."

While Lexington was not the merry prankster that her sister was, she still had a playful side that allowed her to come up with things like that. While he was largely unknown outside of his command in comparison to his much more vibrant subordinates, Lexington herself had herself a nice side hustle as an independent idol with her own following. It helped that her stage persona and her real self were largely one and the same, as she liked being big sister to everyone when she could get away with it- and people tended to let her get away with it.

"I won't forget the people who helped me get here, obviously. And I'm not going to call them 'little' people, either. Not even the destroyers."

She giggled. "Even commander can't make it without each of his fans, after all."

"I guess you can see it that way-"

Tug.

Someone was tugging on his uniform.

Tug. Tug.

He looked over to see who was getting his attention- it was Cygnet. She was a good girl, but the destroyer was mainly known for her uniform having some of the hardest-working buttons in the fleet. "Commander...? I have a diplomacy question."

Lexington smiled. "Don't worry commander, I'll let you do your job~"

He blinked. "Diplomacy...?" That seemed a bit higher-level than what Cygnet usually thought about. "Well, what about?"

She needed a moment to collect her thoughts. "One of the Sakura destroyers invited me to a tea party. And I know it's probably different than Illustrious's kind, so..."

He finished her thought. "You have worries."

She continued. "Yeah... Like, what if I say the wrong thing, or eat too much and look like a slob? What do I do, commander?"

The different Sakura ships had different temperaments, so there was one truly important question. "Who invited you again?"

"It was Ooshio."

The commander knew exactly what that meant. If Ooshio is involved, she probably wants to hand-feed Cygnet herself. But you can't exactly put it like that. "If it's Ooshio, there's nothing to worry about. She probably invited you because she likes you for you."

She calmed down briefly. "Really...?"

"Yeah, she probably thinks you're cute."

"Uwah!" She squeaked, and turned bright red. She took sharp, hard breaths before regaining some part of her shaky composure. "S-So... It'll be fine?"