Authors Note: The obligatory; I do not own Girls Und Panzer or anything by its creators applies, which also applies to any subsequent chapters.

Chapter 1: Notebooks and Confessions.

The week following the University Selection match had been a whirlwind for the students, staff, and residents of the Ooarai school ship. With classes starting shortly, albeit delayed a little, everyone was working long days in order to get the ship and school back into fully operational condition. So when Friday night came around most of the students found themselves at home taking a much-needed break. Miho, however, had been plugging away at her computer in her dorm room, having finally been to able to unpack and settle back into her tiny dorm completely. Her strategy notebooks lay scattered around her as she looked for the most recent one amongst the pile. It had been a project she was working on for quite some time and felt that she was, at least for now, close to having it completed. It all started all those years ago when she was challenged by her older sister to find her own Sensha-do, and shortly after had taken the habit of keeping individual books for all the battles she found herself in, and all the decisions she made in them, going all the way back to her earliest days riding in a tank. After the 63rd National High School Sensha-do Tournament and her declaration to her sister that she had found her own Sensha-do, she began diligently compiling all of her notes, formulating what she believed to be the foundation of her style. One of the key components to her style, however, was adaptation, and as such, it felt like it was a never-ending work in progress.

After searching frantically for the missing notebook for over ten minutes, she finally paused

"I must have left it in the Panzer."

Not wanting to risk the book becoming misplaced again she gathered her things and headed out of her dorm. Double checking that she had locked the door behind her she slowly made her way to the tank sheds. The streets of the Ooarai school ship had finally returned to a somewhat normal state compared to their busy nature over the last week. Less and less moving trucks were parked curbside as families and staff completed offloading them, and the vehicles returned to shore. If she recalled correctly, they needed to be off the ship by Monday afternoon anyway as they were scheduled to return to the sea. The work being mostly done for the day, and it being almost the weekend, not many people were left outside. In fact, she hadn't seen a soul along her journey to the tank sheds.

It wasn't until Miho arrived at the tank sheds that she encountered the first sign of activity. The smaller personnel door on the massive sheds was left open, and she could hear the distinct sound of boots atop a tank followed by the noise of a hatch opening, curious Miho continued towards the sheds at a quicker pace. Entering she began eyeing the parked ex-war machines looking for where the offending noise had originated from, her eyes finally settling upon an open hatch, atop her very own Panzer IV. Taking a deep breath, Miho let out

"Umm… He-HELLO!"

The resulting banging sound followed by a small expletive-filled cry of pain caused Miho to quickly climb atop her tank and peer into the commanders' hatch. Her eyes finally finding the source of the noise, it took Miho a second to comprehend what she saw. Yukari, with watery eyes, was holding her now bleeding head in an attempt to stop the flow of blood that was slowly trickling down it.

"Oh! Yukari-chan you're hurt!"

Finally realizing who was peering down at her Yukari stammered out a quick "It's okay. I have first aid supplies in my… pack. which I left at home, damn."

Miho not wasting any time quickly grabbed her notebook and with a smile and a blush offered her hand to Yukari

"Common, my place is closer than yours. We can go there and get you patched up."

Yukari blushing to match Miho didn't hesitate to take the proffered hand. Still holding her head to prevent the blood from spilling out more she fought back her shyness realizing that if she wanted to continue putting pressure on the wound she would need assistance getting out of, and off, the tank.

Safely on the ground and heading back towards Miho's dorm room it was lost on the two that they continued holding hands the entire way.

Once back to Miho's dorm room she lead Yukari over to her desk chair and sat her down. Tossing her notebook atop the others she quickly made her way into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit, popping out only seconds later. With all the assurance of a person who has done this before, Miho then grabbed the armrests of the chair and pulled it, along with a startled Yukari over to her table where she had laid the first aid kit out and sat down.

"Okay, I need you to move your hand now. It may bleed a little bit more but that's okay. I need to clean and close the wound. I'm sorry, this may sting a bit."

Blushing furiously now but staying silent Yukari simply nodded once and quickly moved her hand. Miho concentrating on the task at hand was relieved at what she saw. It was a small cut and wouldn't require stitches, but still needed to be cleaned and bandaged. With a look of determination on her face, she quickly got to work, having done this many times in the past, it was all over before Yukari even realized it.

Opening her eyes she didn't realize she had been holding closed so tightly she noted Miho was already cleaning up.

"There you go! Good as new, it shouldn't leave a scar thankfully."

"Wha- Wow Miss Nishizumi that was fast and I didn't feel a thing!"

"Well back at my old school, Sensha-do practice was quite rough at times, and we were all required to take advanced first aid our first year so we would know how to deal with situations like this quickly during a match."

"Oh I see"

The conversation, as it usually did when Miho brought up her time at Kuromorimine, quickly died. Miho, still focusing on the task of cleaning up and Yukari never really doing well with silence in the presences of others, looked around the dorm room for another conversation starter.

"Say, why are all your strategy notebooks out? Do we have a match coming up?!"

"Oh... No… I'm… Well… I'm… continuing to develop my own style of Sensha-do! It's why I went to the tank sheds. To get the notebook I left in the Panzer from our match against the University team so that I could incorporate them." Not wanting to get into more detail just yet Miho quickly diverted the conversation "Say… Why were you in the tank sheds Yukarin?"

She froze solid. What she figured was a safe topic amongst them had quickly turned against her. With Miho, she just thought tanks were a safe topic, but she miscalculated. Of course, her friend would inquire as to their chance meeting, and Yukari, injured, hadn't considered a cover story for her earlier visit to the tank sheds. She wasn't sure if it was the loss of blood or the bang to the head, but she couldn't find a plausible excuse. Should she lie then? No! She could never do such a thing to such a kind and honest person such as Miho. Sure she omitted things, but outright lying was unthinkable. Then what to do? Maybe omitting would work. It had to — the truth. Well, she wasn't sure she ever wanted the truth to come out. If Miho reacted poorly, it would devastate Yukari. The risks… Refocusing her eyes, she noted a patient but concerned looking Miho staring at her. Hoping her commander wouldn't inquire further after her response she steadied herself, knowing one of two courses of action was about to unfold. She would be found out, and once again cast aside from any meaningful social interaction. Sure they would remain friends. Miho was too kind not to, and she would continue to do Sensha-do with her and her teammates, but it would become strained and professional, not friendly and fun like it was now. Or it would be left alone, and everything could return to normal. Praying for the latter, she finally broke the silence.

"Oh, I uh… left something behind that I needed to get"

"Same, but you already knew what I went to retrieve. I'm curious what could draw you back at such an hour?"

There it was. The follow up question Yukari didn't truly wish to answer.

Bowing her head in shame, she reached behind her back and produced an envelope. And after only hesitating for a second, but resolved to get it over with, she offered it to Miho.

Instinctively Miho took the envelope and opened it, her eyes widening slightly at what she found inside. Even though it wasn't anywhere near February a vintage, perfect condition, Boko Valentine's Day card was revealed. They hadn't produced them in many years, and Miho, loving everything Boko had been keeping her eyes open for one. Quickly she looked at Yukari but saw that her head was still bowed. Why would she be ashamed! This was such a thoughtful gift if it was meant for her. Realizing that maybe she didn't fully understand the situation, she continued to investigate the card. Opening it caused a small piece of paper to fall out, it was clear that Yukari didn't want to write in such a rare card. Miho carefully picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it.

"Oh…"

That one utterance of a syllable hurt Yukari more then she thought possible. It was all over now. Everything would change. Miho would no longer want to be around her. Sure she made comments in the past, but the rest of their friends semi-covered for her by a quick comment or joke. Now it was out, her feelings unmistakably written in her own handwriting. The note itself couldn't even be relegated into one for a friend. In all her stupidity Yukari had, in so many words, wrote a letter that professed her romantic love for her commander and her desire to be more than what they were. Yukari was now fighting back tears and wanted nothing more than to get up and run away. How could she face her commander now? When she went to do just that, she noticed for the first time something, resting on her leg. Opening her eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw. There on her knee was Miho's hand. Not wanting to be placated by her kind friend, and in a bout of emotional pain she shot up.

"I'm sorry!" she bowed as she started to hastily make her way towards the door. She was quickly trying to put on her shoes and half out the door when finally she dared one last look at Miho. What she saw confused her, and instantly had her worried. Miho stood where Yukari left her, and she was crying, clutching the note to her chest.

"Miss Nishizumi! Are you okay! I'm sorry I didn't…"

Through her tears, Miho stammered out "Did you mean it, what you wrote in this note."

Thinking the damage was done, Yukari stood up straight to face the music. "Yes… Every word."

"Then why are you leaving? Did I do something wrong?"

"What, NO! I just… wait… you… you don't hate me?"

"Yukari… I… I… I FEEL THE SAME WAY!"

One shoe on and half out the door Yukari froze. This couldn't be. It's not possible. She's dreaming. Miss Nishizumi really did confess her love for her!

A/N: Don't ya just hate cliffhangers? Stay Tuned.