According to the game's storyline, Helena—nicknamed "Mama Sea"—had a swimsuit called Heart of the Ocean, which she got by ambushing Yamato during her vacation. Poor workaholic. That was the outfit that led Hikaru down the irreversible path of poking Helena's very impressive chest—fuller than many capital ships'.
Thinking of that, Hikaru's expression softened. He paused, then leaned forward and gently hugged Fletcher by the shoulders.
"All right. I remember now. I won't ever forget you again."
Fletcher's head hid behind his shoulder, trembling slightly, and a faint sound of sobbing could be heard.
After a while, she finally calmed down. Her eyes red, she looked up at Hikaru with a nasal tone. "Commander, don't lie to me. I'm really easy to fool. And it's really hard being an older sister… Every day, my little sisters ask me: 'Where did the Admiral go?' 'Has the Admiral abandoned us?' I really didn't know how to answer."
Hikaru gently wiped her tears. "I'm not lying."
Fletcher smiled through her tears, rubbing her cheek against his hand before shyly turning to dump the water basin.
Watching her cheerful figure bounce away, Hikaru's mood grew heavy. Shipgirls really were beautiful, wonderful beings. To bear such deep emotion from them made him feel a bit undeserving.
But what happened next instantly snapped him out of that melancholic mood.
"Fletcher—y-you—" Hikaru was speechless for a second before dropping his voice to a whisper. "What are you doing?"
Fletcher replied with righteous confidence. "Sleeping. Commander, you should go to bed too."
Hikaru was dumbfounded. Fletcher, blushing yet determined, dove onto the bed and pinned him down.
"Don't get the wrong idea. Fletcher just wants to sleep with the Commander. If you want to do anything else, you'll have to marry me first."
She was obviously extremely embarrassed but still bravely pulled the covers over all three of them.
Half-asleep, Glowworm was stirred awake by the shifting. She groped around drowsily until her hand found Hikaru's. Hugging it to her chest, she mumbled, "I love you most, Commander…"
Fletcher's face turned bright red. "I've never slept in the Commander's arms before… I-I won't hold back then."
Saying that, she wrapped an arm around Hikaru's waist and curled up like a kitten by his side, eyes tightly shut.
Hikaru didn't dare move—he felt like a block of wood.
Such overwhelming heat... Once Lexington arrives, she's definitely going to give Fletcher a proper lecture. This can't go on.
Even Hikaru himself didn't dare examine whether, deep down, he might actually be a little… happy about it.
The next morning, Hikaru was awoken by Glowworm's indignant yelling.
"Commander! Look! Look at Fletcher! She stole my spot! She hugged you in her sleep!!"
Glowworm clung to his arm, shaking it furiously with a pout of betrayal.
Hikaru didn't budge, eyes closed. I'm asleep. I'm a log. I didn't hear anything.
Having a beautiful girl cling to him all night—Hikaru needed some serious mental cooldown.
Glowworm, unsatisfied, gave him a shove. "Don't pretend! Commander, I saw your eyes open!"
Elizabeth's knock at the door marked the start of a new day. After some awkward but blissful morning chaos and a quick breakfast, they set out for another sortie.
Yesterday had netted them seven kills. Today, Hikaru aimed to push deeper into the black sea, ideally running into a patrol of small fry to rack up the count quickly.
"You're all acting weird," Elizabeth muttered. "Forget it. Fletcher, can I try your equipment? I've never seen gear that amazing—it's like something out of a myth."
"That's up to the Commander."
Elizabeth, probably seeing that as an opening, tries to appeal directly to Fletcher anyway, asking if she can try it.
"Call me 'big sister' and it's yours."
Without a shred of pride, Elizabeth chirped sweetly, "Big sis~"
By the end of July, Hikaru finally hit the 100 enemy kill mark. He returned home triumphantly with Fletcher and Glowworm in tow.
The whole thing had taken longer than expected, mostly due to a sudden disturbance among the abyssal flagships. Panic spread through nearby bases, and Elizabeth even banned Hikaru from going out for safety reasons. Luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm.
Riding the surf atop a giant lance—Hikaru's idea of "sword-riding ascension"—Elizabeth found it just so-so. She snorted, "That's half a month's worth of meals you owe me, don't forget!"
Sitting on the shield beside her, Hikaru thumped his chest. "I won't back out."
"Hmph, better not." Elizabeth crossed her arms and frowned. "I've got a question though. You weren't sortieing for resources, and your girls didn't gain much EXP from fighting these weaklings. So why kill so many abyssal? Just for fun?"
Defeating abyssal ships can yield loot. At the very least, you can salvage parts of their armor for steel. But Hikaru's group hadn't taken any—carrying steel slabs mid-fight was a terrible idea. And the small amount of scrap wasn't worth the effort.
To Elizabeth, his actions seemed utterly nonsensical. Not farming materials, not grinding levels—just killing for the heck of it? What could be more enjoyable than staying home with AC and hot pot?
She squinted at Hikaru. He quickly deflected with a question of his own. "Uh, how's Yuji doing? I feel like his shipgirl's been giving me weird looks."
Over the past ten days, Hikaru had been refueling Fletcher and Glowworm through Aunt Ran. Just two days ago, they ran into Takao (IJN Takao) on patrol—she'd pulled Elizabeth aside for some hushed chat that made Hikaru very suspicious.
"Bah, forget him. Yuji, huh? Well… he tried to build Fletcher. Failed the big construction. His warehouse is so empty mice could live in it. Nearly jumped off the roof."
Hikaru winced in sympathy. In the game, Fletcher was a reward from a long chain of collection quests—you couldn't build her at all. Apparently, the same applied in this world.
"But even failing the big build, he must've gotten something right?"
Elizabeth gave him a complicated look. "Uh… he built Anthony and Cassin Young—Braine's sisters. So in a way… he did get two Fletcher-class shipgirls."