Chapter Text
06:30 am, Korea Standard Time
Stateroom #3-24-4-L, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
After getting back to the carrier and a quick shower, the only thing Lieutenants (junior grade) Myoui Mina and Minatozaki Sana want to do is sleep; the best thing about working on an aircraft carrier is everyone , from the cooks to the aircrews, must have eight hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. For other warships though, their crew members only have seven hours of uninterrupted sleep every day - after two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers of the 7th Fleet colluded with civilian ships in two months, that is. (Mina always found it amusing that it takes two fatal collisions for the higher-ups in the surface warfare community to realize adequate sleep is crucial to safety.)
“Hey Minari, how’s your first flight op?” Changing to her Service Khaki, Lieutenant (junior grade) Hirai Momo, a Naval Aviation Supply Corps officer and their bunkmate at both the Naval Academy and Ronald Reagan, asks the pilot. A superb swimmer and dancer, she was admitted into the Naval Academy solely because the Naval Academy really wants to beat other civilian universities in sport competitions, despite the fact her high school grades were atrocious . At her fourth year, then-Midshipman Hirai applied to both Naval Aviator and NFO programs, but was turned down by both, since there were more qualified candidates at that year.
“Terrible. The North Koreans managed to bypass our jammers, and I think we evaded five or six SAMs before the strike package could take them all out. On a positive note, the CAG is nominating everyone in the strike package a Distinguished Flying Cross.” Mina yawns while changing to her favorite pajamas. She knows it’s quite far-fetched, but Mina is strongly suspecting the North Koreans are putting some sort of home-on-jam equipment on their SAM batteries.
“Holy crap, another DFC? I thought you two already got one - wait a minute here Minari.” Looking at the pilot’s pajamas, Momo suddenly has an awkward feeling. “Don’t you think your pajama is a bit too…… short ?” As open-minded as she is, there are plenty of moments when she can’t look at Mina’s pajamas with a straight face.
“Well, this is my favourite one. Besides, it’s not like I’m wearing it in public.” Mina casually replies, as she gets into the lower bunk and closes the curtain, “Good night everyone.”
Momo then turns to Sana, “Satang, am I the only one who thinks her pajamas is too damn short from time to time?” To the Supply Corps officer, the most weird thing about Mina's pajamas is it looks perfectly fine most of the time, but sometimes she is too embarrassed to look at it - even though it is the same pajamas worn by the same person . She once asked a psychiatrist onboard Ronald Reagan why would that happen, and they had no idea either.
“I think so. For me, her pajamas are perfectly fine.” Changed to her own pajamas, Sana climbs to the upper bunk then closes the curtain, “Anyway, today the dirty shirt is offering a Japanese breakfast; you better get there before -”
“Gotcha Satang, I'm gonna move right now! See you folks later!” Before Sana can finish her last sentence, Momo runs out of the stateroom. After eating western cuisines for two damn weeks, this is exactly what the LTJG looks for.