Greetings from SeekerMeeker.
This is my first stab at getting out of my comfort zone, a topic that is a lot more "out there."
In other words, it is M-rated with good reasons.
Why is it M-rated? You will have to see. Good luck.
Girls und Zwitter
Chapter 1: Salmacis
Niedersächsische Universität, Germany
7:00 PM; April 13, 20XX
A tall, serious-faced girl sat in a library desk, frowning at a book.
"This is...not very easy to understand," she mumbled. "Even my German language is a little rough."
Shaking her head, she then rummaged through her bag, and took out a picture on a frame. She smiled at it.
Two girls were smiling in the picture: one was herself, tall and noble, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, as piercing as they were beautiful. On her right stood a girl, who looked like her, but with light brown hair and light brown eyes, more orange than brown. A little shorter than herself, the light brown-haired girl nevertheless looked cute and sweet.
"Miho," she mused, smiling at her, touching her face with her fingers. "You know, I am so happy for you."
"Guten Tag!" a voice roared behind her.
Maho resisted the temptation to roll her eyes, although she did look up at the ceiling, as she hid her picture frame quietly. Behind her, the source of the voice approached from a distance.
"Sofia-san," she said in a calm voice. "This is a library, please be quiet."
A tall, blond bombshell strolled towards her, smirking. Both girls were wearing the university uniform, which looked like something based on a German military uniform.
"No need for 'san,'" said Sofia, leaning next to her. "This is Germany, not Japan."
Maho sighed.
"What are you studying?" Sofia asked. "Still struggling with German?"
"Ja," she replied. "German is different from Japanese, after all."
"Cheer up," Sofia replied. "Say, have you heard of a rumor?"
"Huh?" she responded, suddenly taken aback.
"Throughout Europe," she whispered, her voice eerily small in the library space, as she leaned very close to Maho's left ear. "There is some kind of a secret conspiracy. You heard of Nazis, right?"
Maho slowly nodded, knowing full well that even Sofia was careful with what she said.
"That the Nazis conducted horrific experiments," Maho curtly answered.
"One of them," Sofia whispered. "Is that a Nazi group allegedly found a strange pool in Greece or Turkey, which is said to grant unusual powers. However, the pool apparently can be transported, as long as the pool is drained into a container. The Nazis have drained enough water to store it into 12 tanks."
"Tanks?" Maho asked.
"Not the tanks we drive," Sofia whispered a little angrily. "The gas cylinders-oh, sorry! I man the storage tanks, the containers that store liquids or gases. After they lost, the Nazis allegedly destroyed most of them, but a few went missing."
"And?"
"And now," Sofia whispered, a grin spreading over her face. "There are rumors that a few of these are found, and now numerous secret organizations are trying to get a hold of them!"
"What's so special about the pool?" Maho asked. "And I am studying here."
Sofia groaned, rolling her eyes and making a facepalm.
"This is something serious!" she whispered furiously. Maho winced, moving her head a little to the right, in order to avoid the amplified whisper.
"Have you heard of Salmacis?" she asked.
"Salmacis?" Maho pondered. "I heard...something about it from Greek mythology?"
"Correct!" she boomed.
"Quiet!" a librarian hissed, as she passed by. "Please! And respect Fräulein Maho, please."
Sofia hid her frown, as the librarian passed by.
"Well," she whispered again. "Salmacis is the pool in which Hermaphroditus bathed in, and the nymph of the name then tried to...engage him."
Maho made a face, clearly disturbed.
"Then," she continued. "The woman prayed to the gods to be with him forever, and Hermaphroditus-"
"Became a hermaphrodite," Maho interjected. "And he cursed the pool, so that anyone who bathes in it becomes one like him."
"Correct," she replied, giggling. "Whether that's true or not, it's not important. The truth is: one of our German professors here spilled the beans. He confirmed that the German government is currently looking for the storage tanks, and they are cooperating with your former high school."
Maho stared at her, almost gawking.
"What?" she asked, taken aback. "What does Kuromorimine have to do with this?"
"Remember your school's history?" Sofia asked. "How after WWII, the German government, being confused and torn apart, decided to ship large numbers of tanks and experimental hardware into your old school?"
Maho slowly nodded, fearing what she was getting to.
"Yes," Sofia smirked. "That's right; some of those 'hardware' are still inside Japan."
Maho turned away, pondering.
"But do you have proof?" she asked, turning to face her friend.
"I have," she grinned, taking out an old piece of paper. "The professor gave me this, and I was so glad."
"How did you get it?" she asked, startled.
"He was careless," she curtly replied. "To be honest, he threw it into a trash bin, assuming that no one will rummage inside. However, learning about the rumor, I decided to actually check it, and voila!"
Maho then took it, and read it.
"Are you serious..."
Ooarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
12:00 PM; April 13, 20XX
"Are you serious..."
Miho pondered, as she watched the scenery, her upper body up in the cupola. Her tank slowly drove out, and the others behind her followed behind.
"Free time," Mako groaned. "Finally, we can sleep after a while."
"Alright girls," Miho called through her radio. "We are all free for the day; I have no plans right now, and so let's enjoy this rare day of free time."
"YAY!" numerous voices roared, as the tanks landed and moved inland. The Panzer IV ausf H. slowly marched through a street, while the Type 89 of the Duck Team sped off like a bullet. The Hetzer lazily entered another street, heading towards a sweet potato shop.
"Will you stop eating potatoes?!" Momo's voice blared from the tank.
"Sweet potatoes," Anzu's voice snickered, correcting her. "And we're free for now, so why not?"
Hearing her voice, Miho nodded and understood. While they were getting ready for school hours ago, the schoolship suddenly announced a ship-wide warning. Although the danger was not lethal, something got broken from inside of one of the engines of the carrier, forcing the schoolship to land at the port of Ooarai. Due to this, the school administration decided to cancel all classes, which was why they were all rolling out with their tanks.
The M3 Lee proceeded towards a beach, with the girls dressed in their swimsuits.
"Beach time!" the girls squealed with delight.
Behind them, a StuG III and a Char B1 bis slowly followed.
"It's D-Day again," Erwin declared, watching the beach, half-exposed with her swimsuit on.
"Or the Operation Neptune," Caesar joined in, with her own suit.
"Or the Invasion of Normandy," Saemonza noted.
"How about the Battle of Normandy?" inquired Oryou.
"That's right!" the others declared.
"Will you stop this nonsense?!" Sodoko yelled, opening a door to glare at the girls. "This is still school day, you know!"
"We're free today," Erwin snickered. "Former Public Morals President."
"I am now the Committee Adviser!" she screamed. "So I still have authority!"
"Then who's the President now?" teased Saemonza.
"I am-no, we're still-wait...who's President again?"
Her closest aides, Gomoyo and Pazomi, merely shrugged from inside of their tank.
"Boy," Caesar snickered, as Sodoko raged. "We have another Momo again."
"Or the Operation Bodyguard," Erwin declared.
"That's right!"
Behind them, the Type-3 Chi-Nu suddenly lurched, then screeched to a halt.
"Aw man," Nekota groaned, coming out of her cupola. "Our tank had it again?"
"Ah, sorry!" Nakajima shouted, coming with her Tiger (P). "We missed a spot, and we've been wondering where it was!"
Miho smiled, as everything around was as lively as before. Vendors sold all kinds of merchandise, while children played in the streets, only to be captured by their parents and guardians, allowing the tanks to traverse safely by.
"Where should we go?" asked Saori.
Miho smiled.
"Let's go to the Boko Museum," she answered.
"Really?" Mako groaned.
"Do you...have any other plans?" asked Miho. "That's the only one I can think of, since we are totally free for the day."
"..." Mako said nothing.
"Please!" Saori groaned. "So yeah, we'll just go to the Boko Museum, unless we have something else to do, right?"
The others nodded.
"For someone good with pep talk," Yukari noted. "You seem to have a hard time leading."
"I-I am not good at commander!" she roared, throwing a small fit. "Remember Maginot last time?"
"Yeah..." the girls agreed, remembering how after Miho had to join for a special meeting, Saori was "forced" to become the temporary commander. Unfortunately, if the leader was bad and panicky, the whole team suffered.
"And we got shot down by even the Type 89," Hana admitted the "forbidden" fact, and Saori threw another small fit in response.
"But at least," Miho tried to diffuse the situation. "We won against impossible odds."
"We won the 63rd National High School Tournament!" Yukari declared with enthusiasm.
"And the annihilation match against the Selection University," Mako said nonchalantly, although she nodded her head in clear approval.
"And now," Saori sighed, calming down. "Three of us-me, Hana, and Yukarin-are the new Student Council."
"Boy," Mako mumbled. "The Student Council is interesting-ah. That means that we can use that private spa too, right?"
"Oh yeah!" Saori cried out, clapping her hands. "We can do that!"
"But we have responsibilities," Hana noted. "I am still figuring out my role as President."
"At least the Student Council taught us," Yukari noted. "Although the workload...ehehehe."
"I will help with collecting your tank models," Mako uttered. "As long as you do your job well."
"Th-thanks!" Yukari blurted out, blushing. "You are really nice!"
"In return for eliminating my-" Mako began, but Saori easily "wrestled" with her.
"Mako!" she growled. "No bribery of authority, for personal gain!"
"Aw..." she quietly groaned.
Miho giggled, as her tank drove through the town, and up into an old road, one that led to them discovering a local Boko Museum.
"I saw it on news," she said, starting to squeal with excitement. "That the Boko Museum is finally renovated, so that it should be better than before!"
"You're still into Boko," Saori noted. "Although you seem to cling less."
"And you are surprisingly happy," Yukari said. "Despite your sister being in Germany."
Miho smiled.
"I guess that's what happens," Miho answered. "Once you find your true purpose in life. You know what to do, and you are not ashamed of what happened in the past. We move on, and find new mountains to rise, and we will go together as a team, as a school, and as a family."
The girls suddenly clapped in response, while Mako snapped her fingers, since she was driving.
"Eh?!" Miho gasped, blushing bright-red. "It-it was nothing that profound or something!"
"There is a reason you are the Commander," Hana remarked.
"Thanks," Miho replied. "Isuzu-I mean, Hana-san."
"I am not your President," Hana said, as she watched the horizon with Saori and Miho. "I am your friend."
"Aw..." Saori groaned. "I can't top Miho's words or yours."
Suddenly, Miho fell silent, standing on top of her feet, watching something in the distance.
"What's wrong?" Saori asked.
"Mako-san," she suddenly barked, her voice serious now. "Do you see something?"
Although she had sharp eyes, Miho knew that Mako had some of the best eyes in the school, so she wanted to confirm it.
"Hmm?" Mako responded. "I see this usual old, asphalt road...and a dirt road?"
All five girls looked. On the usual path towards the Boko Museum, there was a dirt road, which was slightly covered in weeds.
"That is strange," Hana noted. "When we came by here, there was no detour of sort, just a long, single road."
The tank stopped, as the girls stared.
The road sure looked like a real one, the kind used by farm trucks as they plowed through some vegetation.
"It appeared to be a road to a shrine," Hana noted.
"A shrine?" asked the girls.
"But I do not recall any shrine on this road..." Saori fell silent, pondering.
A blue truck rumbled towards them.
"Ex-excuse me!" Saori called out, waving her hands.
"Yes?" a middle-aged man, who looked like a farmer, asked, stopping his truck to stare at the girls.
"Do you know this road?" asked Saori.
"Yeah?" he replied innocently. "What about it?"
"I mean that road," she clarified, pointing at the dirt road, which snaked into a patch of forest.
"Ah," he responded, suddenly growing quiet. He frowned, stroking his small beard.
The girls waited quietly. After a while, he finally spoke.
"That road," he said. "Has been here quite a while. I know of it, only because I pass this road a lot. However, it's not on any map; even the elders here know nothing about this."
"Has anyone visited this before?" asked Miho.
"To be honest," he uttered, scratching his head. "I have very vague memories; the only one I know is that this road leads to a shrine."
"I knew it," Hana mumbled.
"However," he continued. "That shrine has some weird history...hmm...from what little I know, this shrine is forgotten by even the priests around. I asked them, but they have no recollection of this shrine."
"Has anyone even noticed this?" asked Saori, aghast. "Shrines are sacred, no matter how small they are!"
"There is one."
The girls stared, tense but curious.
"A single miko priestess," he explained. "Went through this road. She recorded everything; apparently, it was a shrine, but she was disturbed...by the lack of any yokai, ghost, or any phenomenon."
"Not haunted?" asked Mako, ready to shiver.
"No."
Mako sighed in relief.
"But that's what makes this so strange," he admitted. "Now that you all say it, a few months ago, I saw this place open. Then, suddenly, some storm came by, and somehow moved a patch of forest into this road."
The girls turned to stare. Sure enough, there was some vestige of some trees and bushes, which appeared to have been moved as if by a landslide. Unlike the trees in the forests, the plants that were moved did look like as if they were bulldozed through.
"Now that you all are here," the man continued. "We had another storm, a weak one. Suddenly, the downpour became violent at this location, and the road cleared out."
The girls stared at him, perplexed.
"I am as confused as you are," he admitted. "In fact, after this, that same miko then entered this, and was just as confused."
"Did something happen?" Miho asked with concern.
"Actually no," the farmer remarked. "In fact, she refused to approach it, not because it's cursed, but because she realized that it's not a Japanese shrine."
"Huh?!" the girls gasped.
"She saw the writings on signs nearby," he continued. "She realized that the shrine was not a typical Japanese shrine. Although the buildings and the roofs were designed as Japanese, the pillars were too white to be Japanese, and the gates were not torii."
The girls stared, confused.
"Ah!" he suddenly cried out, rummaging inside of his truck. "If I have it...I should have a picture of it. I was the only one vaguely interested in holding it; I like to keep souvenirs."
He came out, landing on the road with an old picture in hand. He then handed it over, and the girls stared at it, with Hana holding it in her hands.
"That is not a Japanese shrine," Hana declared.
She was right. Although the buildings and roofs, even some of the garden spots and a single cherry blossom tree, were clearly Japanese, the rest was not. The "torii" gate, which functioned as a "gate" to the shrine, had more of a "round popsicle" hole, instead of the more usual torii gate's rectangular opening. Its ornamentations were also exotic, covered in strange writings.
"I recognize that!" Saori screamed. "It's actually an arch from the Greco-Roman architecture!"
"And the pillars!" Yukari blurted out, gawking. "Are actually modeled after those of the Parthenon and other Greek buildings."
"That's why the miko priestess," he remarked. "Refused to enter. Or more likely, there seemed to be some 'force field' that blocked her away."
"And...?" the girls asked, even more confused. Mako shivered.
"Ah," he realized, clearing his throat. "After the miko found it out, she went away and reported to her superiors. They thought that it was a faux shrine, so they left it alone. I forgot the miko's name, but she then basically passed away, and everybody has pretty much forgotten about the shrine since. One thing is for sure: the shrine is completely safe, she specified that, but that she was 'unworthy' to enter or something."
The girls were now more confused than ever before.
"I know," he admitted. "I think you girls should check out the road, before it closes again...mysteriously."
He got into his truck, revving up its engine. It coughed, then roared.
"But I have to go to work," he replied. "I will be back, though!"
He suddenly punched the gas, and the truck started to speed away.
"W-wait!" Miho shouted. "What is your name?"
"I am Henry!" he cried out, before disappearing in the distance.
The girls stared, as the calmness of the forest and the sky dominated the surroundings. Winds blew gently, causing the grasses and the trees to sway gracefully.
"Wait a minute," Saori said, after blinking. "His name was Henry, right?"
The others nodded in response.
"That is not a Japanese name!" she uttered, and the others gasped.
"What is this mystery?" Yukari gasped.
"It is a small world..." Hana remarked.
"I-I-eh-let's go home," Mako stuttered. "P-please?"
They all then stared at the road. It was obviously something like a nature trail, and it was welcoming, not creepy at all.
"Th-this is creepy," Mako groaned again. "Wha-at is this place? It-it's not haunted, but so..."
"Mysterious," the others replied.
"Well," Miho said. "Let's check it out."
"Really?" the others asked.
"This may be the best time to check," said Miho. "Before the road can close."
The others could not argue against that, since they were all curious too. Even Mako, despite shivering, revved up her engine, and then pushed the tank into the road.
"I-I trust you," Mako blurted out. "But-but be careful, p-please."
The tank then turned, and slowly crawled into the dirt road. Weeds crunched, pulverized by the massive treads beneath, as the girls entered the cool, dark forest.
"What is even there..." all five were pondering.
Ooarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
1:00 PM; April 13, 20XX
"This is odd," Hana noted, inspecting the shrine with a keen eye.
The girls parked the tank at an apparently abandoned parking lot, which was quite small. They all disembarked, and looked around.
"Strange," Saori said. "Was somebody here?"
Despite the dense vegetation, there was a nice, clear area, allowing for the shrine complex to be weed-free. It was wide but empty, the hard, clean stone covering the grounds. Several roofed structures surrounded a single building. All of them had Japanese-style roofs, but the pillars and columns were clearly Greek in origin. In fact, there was only one real building, the shrine building, with Japanese-style doors and walls touching the Greek-style pillars.
"This is so strange..." all of them remarked in unison.
Behind the shrine building, a large cherry blossom tree loomed over the roof, the flowers open wide and pink. They swayed in the breeze, looking like dancing fairies.
"So beautiful..." Hana remarked.
"Wait a minute!" Saori gasped. "It's not cherry season!"
The others looked at each other, then looked around. Although the trees still had green foliage, some leaves were starting to fall down, their brown, red, and yellow colorations decorating the dark ground below.
"This is nuts!" Yukari blurted out.
Miho, however, approached the building, and the others, to a various degree of obedience and reluctance, followed. She then raised her right fist, but decided to call first.
"Hello?" Miho called out.
Nothing responded.
She then knocked lightly on a wooden pole. She was taken aback, as the sound was a lot louder than expected; it appeared as if the wood was quite strong and solid.
She knocked again. Nobody answered. It was silent for a while.
"Say," Mako said. "I see this."
She pointed at an inscription, its wooden block hanging on a nearby wall. The others looked at it, and it read:
PLEASE COME IN. USE THE SHOWERS. BUT ONE OF THEM IS SPECIAL.
"That's it?" Saori asked.
"I know that we perform ritual washing at shrines," said Hana. "But this one is weird. There is no one here, yet the area is clean. The shrine does not look really Japanese..."
The girls looked around more, in order to inspect more before getting in. Saori went one direction, while Hana went to another. Yukari checked out a Greek-style column, while Mako clung tightly to Saori. Miho, however, went around the building, in order to check out the cherry blossom tree.
"Cherry blossom at this time of the year," she pondered, staring at it. "So strange, but so beautiful..."
The tree said nothing, yet seemed to speak, its pink blossoms dancing in the wind. A few petals fell down, causing something to ripple below. She looked down, and realized that there was...
A pool.
A single spring of crystal-clear water reflected the image of the trees above, especially that of the cherry blossom tree. A few rays of sunlight managed to strike the pool, and its surface sparkled fantastically.
Miho knelt down, gazing at the pool in awe and wonder.
"Wow..." she gasped, reaching out to feel the water. However, she stopped, as she noticed the tree's roots. All of them were snaking into the pool, which she found quite odd.
"Cherry blossom trees normally are grown," she noted. "Away from any still body of water. Why is this one rooted into the pool?"
She looked down. All of the visible roots of the tree flowed right into the pool.
"Hmm," she noted. "I wonder...is this pool the reason why the tree is in bloom?"
She reached down again, intent on touching the water.
"Miporin!" Saori called out.
"Huh?" she responded, getting up. Her hand almost touched the water, but did not.
"Let's wash ourselves!" Saori shouted. "Hana said that if the inscriptions say so, then we should do it as a token of respect!"
"O-OK!" Miho replied, running to the front of the building, as the pool rippled from behind.
Miho caught up to her friends, with Hana in the process of sliding a door open. They all entered, and looked around.
"Everything looks like a Japanese interior," Hana noted, pondering.
"But," Mako said. "Look."
They all looked in front of them, and noticed a...shower room.
"A shower room in the middle of the building?" Saori noted. "This is NOT a typical Japanese shrine!"
"Who made this place?" Yukari wondered.
"The man who told us," Mako said. "Was Henry; we better go back to the town to ask about this Henry-man He may know more."
The others nodded in agreement.
"For now," Hana said, getting into another room. "Let us undress."
All of them followed, and all five girls approached the shower rooms, totally naked.
"There are soaps, shampoos, and all kinds of hair care products," Saori noted. "While these are all great, aren't they out of place for a shrine?"
"We will just do as the instructions say," said Hana. "Then, we can leave this in peace. And let us pray and bow, too."
They did so, as customary for a shrine. Then, they all checked out the showers. All of them went for the spots with the clean, silver-looking shower head. Miho, however, innocently went for one with a rusty-looking head.
"Miporin!" Saori called out, as she turned on her shower. "You can use mine, after I finish!"
"No," she replied, smiling. "There are five of these showers, so it makes sense to use them all. Maybe we will be blessed for using all of them."
She then turned on her shower.
It gurgled, as if coughing.
Then, it came out.
"Eww," she responded, as a little sludge-like mass of dirt came out, but soon a stream of clear, refreshing water came out, covering her.
"Wow..." she sighed in relief. "Oh...this water feels very relaxing, calming, even...soothing."
The others stared at her. They had never heard Miho groan so...enthusiastically.
"She sounds like Hana," Mako blurted out.
"I have never seen Miho enjoy herself," Hana noted.
"That's so weird!" Saori declared.
"But she's Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari uttered, washing her mass of hair. "Maybe it's the best water ever!"
"It is," Miho replied, enjoying the water greatly. "I have never felt water this so...amazing...ah...ah..."
Miho continued to shower, the water cascading down throughout her whole body. The tiny rivers of cooling liquid sparkled on her whole skin, while falling down into the black marble floor below.
Soon, the girls turned off their showers, and dried themselves with clean, white towels, which they then tossed into a nearby bin.
"That's it?" Saori asked, as they dressed up and went out. "Nothing else?"
"There is nothing else here," Hana remarked. "Except for the cherry blossom tree, which I feel is quite sacred, there is nothing to even..."
"Do anything else," Mako remarked nonchalantly, yawning.
Yukari also yawned in agreement.
"Let's go home," Mako plainly said, and the others agreed, following her towards the tank.
Miho followed them, but turned around, sensing...something.
There was no one there. Not even a thing.
"Miporin!"
"Coming!" she replied, turning around and running. She then jumped up, surprisingly high, landing on top of the cupola in one leap.
"Huh?" she responded, startled. "How did I..."
"Ready to go?" Mako's voice echoed, snapping Miho out of her thoughts. She climbed down, and the tank roared, moving back towards the asphalt road.
"Should we go to the Boko Museum?" asked Yukari.
"Oh!" Miho replied. "Maybe not; let's just go back to the town, and enjoy there. I am...not thinking about Boko right now."
The others nodded in understanding. The mystery of the shrine took almost all of their interest in Boko out, so that the girls decided to just go back. The tank slowly disappeared from the shrine's location...
The shrine stood still, the wind blowing through. The lone, cherry tree swayed, its dark green leaves and bright, pink blooms dancing with the breeze. The pool rippled, then...bubbled. It then stopped, becoming calm, as a single sprout grew from the edge of the pool.
Ooarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
9:00 PM; April 13, 20XX
"Nothing else happened," Miho noted, entering her apartment. "We had fun and everything great, but the shrine..."
She dressed into her pajamas, then proceeded to check what she needed to do, such as homework and some paperwork. Although she was not a part of the Student Council, she volunteered to help alleviate some of their work. She sat down, and started to work on her documents.
"Plus," she said to herself, as she wrote. "We tried to find Henry, but decided to just enjoy the day."
Suddenly, she scratched her groin.
"Ouch?" she wondered. "What...huh?"
She scratched her own chest, then got up to check herself.
"Growth spurt?" she pondered. "Must be so, since I am going through puberty."
She noticed that her chest was a little larger than usual.
"Maybe so," she said to herself, shrugging. She then got back to her homework, scratching once in a while.
"There."
After finishing her work and cleaning up, she then lied down to sleep, but fidgeted.
"What...?" she moaned. "Why am I feeling...itchy?"
She kept scratching her chest a little, then her groin.
"Wait a minute," she uttered, getting up. She stretched out her legs.
"My legs feel a little longer too," she observed. "Oh well, it's just puberty."
She lied back down, trying to sleep.
However, something felt weird right there...
Tune in to next chapter. Feel free to review, like, follow etc.