Gunslinger Girl-Upotte Special:
Vacation Time!
"Wow! This is great! I'm so excited!" Henrietta was so stirred up as their Alitalia flight took off. She cannot settle on her chair as she looked outside the window.
"Now! Now! Be a good girl and sit down, 'Etta!" Triela said to Henrietta to no avail.
Meanwhile, Rico was in her seat, stretching her legs while happily humming some unintelligible notes. Angelica was on the back of the Henrietta-Triela-Rico seat and she too was staring outside the window—albeit quietly. Besides her, Claes was reading a book. Beside Claes was Giuse who was sleeping. Jean, who was on the first seat beside Giuse after the aisle, was watching the passengers around. Since it was a vacation, only two Handlers were sent by the Agency to be the girl's chaperons.
As the plane levelled off into the sky, Henrietta became relaxed—but not for long. She kneeled on her seat and glanced back at her friends and Handler. "Hey, aren't you excited? This is our first time out of Europe!"
Angelica nodded and Claes merely remarked, "I'll get excited when I get there, Henrietta. Why don't you sleep first?"
"Claes is right, 'Etta," Giuse said as he was stirred up from his sleep. Henrietta blushed, worried that she woke Giuse, "the flight to Japan is around fifteen-hours, 'Etta. Get some sleep first."
"Y-yes, Giuse! Sorry for waking you up!" Giuse assured Henrietta that it was okay and he flashed a smile—he cannot help but be amused by Henrietta's excitement. Henrietta began to sleep, much to Triela's delight.
Rico took out the picture of her Seishou friends from her hand-carry luggage and regarded them—especially Funko—elatedly. It's been eight months since the student exchange program and Rico was grateful for the Agency for allowing their vacation to be in Japan. At last, I'll be able to see them, Rico though, smiling very happily indeed.
Some very long time later, the Alitalia flight landed in Japan. At the airport, Sig, Funko, Sixteen, and Elle were waiting eagerly.
"Look! Look! Rico's flight has landed!" Sixteen pointed to the arrivals screen. For the past few minutes (or even hours), this "Rico" had been the talk of the group. Sig was deeply intrigued as to who Rico is. She saw the pictures and heard stories but for her, meeting this Rico would be the best. She waited, both excited and anxious.
Some minutes later, Funko shouted, "It's Rico! And there are here friends!"
Sig looked at the direction Funko was indicating and saw a group of five girls and two large men. As the group approached theirs, Funko, Sixteen, and Elle ran to give Rico an embrace. The Japanese Teacher met with Giuse and shook hands. The girls then made the introductions. Rico introduced her friends first as well as Giuse and Jean, "my teachers." Then Sig introduced her buddies as well.
As the "teachers" were talking, Sig regarded Rico with an unwavering eye. She felt her heart thump-thump-thump fast. Oh my, she looks just like X! Sig thought, is she really a she?! Sig unconsciously reached Rico (who was by the way wearing her boyish clothes) and touched her chest. Sig felt a very faint hump—but yes, it was there. Alright, Rico is a girl! Sig's suspicions were dispelled. However, Rico eeked and jumped in surprise; Sig did too. Everyone looked at them in wonder.
"Go-go-gomen nasai!" Sig stuttered and stammered.
"Uhm, did you want to talk with me?" Rico looked clueless and merely scratched her head. Clearly, she didn't mind someone touching her breasts and misinterpreted it.
Sig took advantage, "H-h-hai!" she said as she blushed and laughed nervously. Then the two started talking.
"Sig is acting strange," Sixteen grinned, "looks like Rico charmed her as well Funko!"
After talking, Giuse approached Sig's group, knelt down, fumbled in his bag and produced four plastics bags which he gave them.
"Here are some souvenirs from Italy's famous Beretta," Giuse smiled. The girls opened the bags and saw each of them had a Beretta Pistoia 8oz hip flask covered in brown leather with Beretta's logo in it. Etched in it were their names. They were awed and overwhelmed. "Thought you might like them and hope you do."
Before Giuse knew it, the girls—sans Sig—jumped at him and hugged him, saying "arigatou" all over again.
"Rico, you didn't tell us you had such a nice and handsome sensei!" Sixteen even shouted. Giuse just laughed at them. Away from her friends, Sig bowed and said formally, "Domo arigatou gozaimasu!" Giuse nodded and smiled in return.
"So where to now?" Jean asked the Japanese Teacher.
"To Seishou Academy, sir. You'll stay there as our guests. You see, the school is on vacation so we have the whole place for ourselves. I'll take you there."
And so the group headed off, using a single black Academy van which was filled with the chatter and laughter of the Agency and Academy girls.
Seishou Academy, Undisclosed Location, Japan
The host and visitors proceeded to the dormitories where Rico and Henrietta shared a room and Triela, Claes, and Angelica occupied another room. The "teachers" went to the teachers' quarters. After they arranged their stuff, the girls huddled together in Sig's room (this is because hers was the tidiest so far). The girls ate sweets while chatting. Again, Sig was with Rico while their friends exchanged stories about weapons and battle tactics.
"Rico, I'm sorry again for what I did earlier. I really didn't know what I was doing back then…" Sig began.
"Don't worry, it's nothing, "Rico shook her head and smiled, "my friends told me how you saved them, thank you, Sig."
"It's really nothing, Rico, you saved my friends as well so, uhm, thank you too!"
"I heard how you fought back there, and from what I heard, you're a good sniper. You know, I prefer sniping too…" and so the two talked about sniping and their preferred weapons. As Rico talked, Sig's mind was distracted and she was looking at Rico's moving lips.
Those were the lips that stole Funko's for the second time! Sig thought, well, at least she saved my friends, unlike that airy Sako…I wonder how Rico's lips feel…they look kinda soft…Again, Sig was starting to get close to Rico. She was to close the distance between them when she felt a hand land on her shoulders. Again, she jumped in surprise. It was Sixteen.
"You alright Sig? Or Rico has already enchanted you?" Sixteen gave her usual malicious smile.
"N-no! You're wrong!" Sig blushed.
"Yo! Sig's got a crush on Rico! What now Funko, you have a rival!" Sixteen teased out loud.
"N-no!" Sig and Funko protested simultaneously. The Agency girls were obviously bemused but they giggled at what they were seeing.
"Looks like our Rico is famous with girls, right 'Etta? Maybe because she looks like a he," Triela remarked while snickering. Henrietta nodded and laughed.
"Before you two start fighting over Rico, let's have a little contest!" Sixteen said. "These two are great long shots so let's have a sniping game! What do you say?"
"Sounds interesting," Henrietta said and the others nodded. When all the others agreed unanimously, Rico and Sig gave way and agreed. The girls then headed towards the outdoor range.
When they reached the range, Sixteen announced the rules, "The game is simple. It's a simplified poker version. Up the mountains, there are hidden cards. Each one takes turns to find and shoot a card. If a player finishes a combination first, that will be your combination for the rest of the game. That means that your combination can be beaten unless of course it's a royal flush. So be wise at what you shoot!"
"So, what will be the prize or the punishment for the loser?" Triela asked.
"Hmm…let's see…aha! The loser's team will get to dance the anglerfish dance around town! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Sixteen laughed so loud that she almost started rolling.
"The anglerfish dance?" Henrietta said, puzzled.
"Oh, gomen! You're not from Japan. Here, let me show you," Sixteen got her camera and showed the Agency team the dance, "It's the latest craze here you know, after the Oarai Girls' High School danced it in the Sensha-do semis…"
"Huh?" Henrietta muttered.
"Oh, never mind that, just watch!"
After a minute, the clip ended, "Well?" Sixteen asked, "How about that for the losing team?"
To Sixteen's surprise, it was Sig who protested, "That's cruel! And besides, what if we lose?"
"Oh, we won't, right?" Sixteen grinned.
"And we won't lose either!" Triela retorted, "Rico, show them what we're made of!" Triela's tone was stern and Rico felt pressured.
"Siiig, it's up to you if you don't want to dance anglerfish!" Sixteen laughed but her expression quickly changed into a devilishly angry one, "I'm serious Sig. Win this."
The contestants made their preparations. Sig equipped her SG550 with a scope for long-range shooting and made adjustments as well. Rico, to be fair, will not use her SVD Dragunov but instead opted for a standard FN SCAR-L to match Sig's 5.56mm ammo and maximum effective range (after adjustments) of 400 metres. They got Giuse as their spotter and judge. Who will go first was decided by a coin toss made by Giuse. The girls positioned themselves at the designated places at the foot of the mountain. Both dropped down into a prone position.
"Rico. You will go first. At my signal, that's when you will start," Giuse began. Rico nodded and braced herself, "on the count of three. One…two…start!"
Rico scanned the heights. Need to finish this quick, I'll aim for a royal flush, she though while scanning. She found her target and shot: a ten of clubs.
Then, it was Sig's turn. She seems to be aiming for a royal! If she gets that, I'm done for! Got to take out the aces. Sig took her time scanning the heights carefully and saw what she was looking for: an ace of clubs.
My club royal is gone! Could she be blocking me? Rico shot a ten of spades.
I shouldn't let her think I'm blocking her! Sig took out a nine of hearts. But before that, she examined the surroundings and took note of the position of her next targets.
What's she thinking? I don't get her! She could still make a royal! Rico shot a Jack of spades. For Sig's turn, she took the ten of hearts. Rico then sniped at a queen of spades. In her next two moves, Sig picked at the remaining aces (first the spade), rendering Rico unable to make a royal flush. The race for combinations went on, each attempting to form the highest combination and feinting one another.
Finally, Rico closed her combination with a straight flush with a queen of diamonds being the highest. Sig is aiming for the highest straight with a king. But not even my perfect cyborg eye can see it so how could she?
"Rico has entered a queen of diamonds straight flush," Giuse announced. Her teammates crossed their fingers, hoping Sig won't come up with a higher flush.
"Gomen ne, Rico," Sig said and then she fired.
"Sig has entered a king of hearts straight flush. Everyone, stand up and lower your weapons," Giuse instructed. Henrietta, Triela, Angelica, and Claes look flustered and their mouths nearly dropped open. Funko, Sixteen, and Elle looked relieved and were now able to smile again. The players approached each other and shook hands.
"How'd you find the king, Sig?" Rico asked, visibly amazed.
"My trick was simple. I use every turn to locate cards. So I know where to always shoot," Sig smiled. Rico's mouth opened in admiration and she gave Sig a hug. "Kakkoii!" Sig blushed and felt hot. For a moment she thought her hammer was to fire. But Sixteen interrupted her thoughts.
"So what about our bet?" she laughed as if she were the Devil himself.
Later that afternoon…
"Come and see, Europeans dancing the Anglerfish!" Sixteen's voice boomed through the bullhorns on top of the flatbed military truck which was roaming the streets of the town. The Anglerfish Song played even louder and the Agency girls were on the back, wearing the pink anglerfish suit and dancing to the tunes. For some strange reasons, Rico and Claes looked particularly funny.
Besides the truck, a military jeep was following. The Japanese Teacher was driving it and Giuse and Jean were the passengers behind. Giuse was recording the whole thing, "God, they look so funny! Too bad the others aren't here!" Giuse commented. Even Jean could not suppress his laugh at the sight of the tough girls doing the hilarious dance, "Marco and Hirscher will love this, make sure you film every second of it!"
"Rico you idiot! Giuse is seeing me like this! He'll never like me again! This is sooo embarrassing!" Henrietta cried out loud while dancing.
"I'm gonna kill you for this Rico!" Triela remarked heatedly.
"Rico. I couldn't believe that non-cyborg outwitted you. If you only read books, you'd have enough knowledge!" Claes who was beside Angelica (who seems to be enjoying the dance) shouted.
Rico merely laughed as she continued dancing, "At least we get to move our bodies! And look, we're so popular, don't you love it?"
At the sight of the people looking at them, all her friends shouted at the same time, "R-I-C-O!"
The girls spent their vacation playing and touring around famous spots. The days passed by quickly and before they knew it, it was the last day. On their last day, they decided to camp and sleep outside. It took the Handlers some convincing to let the Agency girls be alone but in the end, they relented ("Giuse, you have cyborgs and guns camping, you think we can't deal with lousy perverts and thugs?" Triela argued).
Early in the morning, when the sun was still rising, Funko and her friends bought their guests to where they usually camped which was somewhere by the river below a railroad bridge. When they reached the site, they set up their tents and when they were done, the girls stripped to reveal the swimwear they wore underneath their clothes. Rico was wearing a yellow and green striped two piece swimsuit while Sig wore a green two piece as well. The girls leaped towards the cool water and swam as well as played games. Sig and Rico—who became close in the past days—played water volleyball and also splashed each other with water. They also ended up wrestling which looked more like they were hugging each other (which in fact what Sig wanted so she used the "wrestling" as the pretext). For some reasons, Sig was making her "moves" and "advances" toward Rico always conspicuous to Funko. Sixteen were always teasing the two as a "couple" already.
After retrieving the watermelon which Elle cooled in the river, they had the usual crack-the-watermelon game with Sig being the one with the blindfold. Yosh, another chance to hug my Rico and make Funko more jealous! Sig thought as she deliberately went towards Rico's direction. She raised her bat (even though the girls were shouting that she was in the wrong direction) and thought she'll just "slip" so that she'll land on Rico's chest. As she "slipped" Sig fell but not on Rico's chest but on Henrietta's. When Sig opened her eyes, she saw where she was lying and repeatedly said apology (while blushing heavily) to an awkward Henrietta and to the disapproving tut-tut-tuts of Sixteen.
"Hey, why don't we start fishing for our lunch already?" Henrietta said, changing the subject much to Sig's relief. Their growling tummies couldn't agree more. So while Elle, Claes, and Henrietta fished, Angelica, Triela, and Sixteen were preparing the fire and other ingredients. Meanwhile, Rico, Funko, and Sig lied on the stone, sunbathing.
After a few minutes, Henrietta exclaimed, "I can feel something, and it's heavy!"
Claes, who was the expert in fishing, instructed, "Pull it out, 'Etta! Harder!"
And Henrietta did just that. She pulled and pulled and pulled until she fished out what she got which was a large chunk of seaweed. In shock, Henrietta lost control and lied flat on her butt while the seaweed flew towards Funko's face. Funko immediately stood up and threw the seaweed back to Henrietta who dodged it and hit the back of Claes' head. Claes threw it to ground with a disapproving expression while Henrietta gave apologies to an angry Funko.
"Don't you have any fish yet?" Sixteen complained, "I'm getting hungry already!" Elle shook her head. "To hell with this!" and Sixteen brandished her M16 and fired at the water.
"Oi, don't do that!" Triela exclaimed as she stopped Sixteen who finally settled for some chips that Angelica gave from her bag.
After a while, Claes was calmly able to catch a huge fish and Elle, three medium-sized fish. "Patience is a virtue, you know," Claes murmured. The girls grilled the fish and some other food and they ate.
When it was dusk, Sixteen bought everyone to their secret hot spring. Sixteen undressed completely and went down the hot spring. The Academy girls followed. The Agency girls were shyer and hesitated.
"Come on, no one will see us!" Sixteen said, "and it feels so good, you're missing a lot!"
Rico and company then unclothed (but only after the Academy girls agreed that their weapons are within grasp). As Rico started to strip, Sig's heart and hammer gave a nervous thump and lurch. I'm gonna see Rico! And when Rico was all bare, Sig looked at her immaculately white skin, curves and a rather flat chest. Oh no! Sig was screaming in her mind as Rico dropped into the water.
"Hey, Rico! Here, besides Sig!" Sixteen shouted and Rico obliged. She then positioned besides Sig and their skins touched. Sig felt herself turn hotter and redder. And when Rico gave her a smile—and a very cute one—Sig felt her hammer fire albeit not spectacularly. Crap! My hammer fired! I lost control! Why?
"Oi, Sig, you okay?" Sixteen nudged Sig who was already red as if she was boiling, "or has Rico's skin set off your hammer?" Sixteen chided and Sig shot her a look while she lowered herself in the water. "Hey, you want to get even with Funko? Kiss Rico! She's beside you and all yours!" Sixteen whispered and gave a malicious smile.
"You perv! I'd never!" Sig mouthed. But in her mind, she saw Funko kissing Rico and being kissed by Rico and Sako and she flared up. That pervert! Maybe Sixteen is right I should get even! But no! I can't possibly…as she was thinking this Sig saw Rico's legs beneath the water and she felt a drive to do it. To hell with it, I'm getting even Funko!
Sig rose from the water in front of Rico and Sixteen knew from the look on Sig's face that she'll do it. Sixteen grinned widely and reached for her camera and readied it to the surprise and wonderment of everyone. Then Sig faced Rico and grabbed her shoulders. "Ri-Rico…suki desu!" and pulled Rico towards her, their bodies pressed against each other. Then Sig gave her a very passionate kiss which lasted more than ten seconds. As she kissed Rico, Sig felt her hammer fire (and what a fire it was!), her spring pop off, and her firing pin drive through her primer.
Funko nearly drowned when she saw this and Triela gave out a low whistle while Henrietta's, Claes', and Angelica's mouth gaped wide open. "I guess our little boy really is so popular with everyone!" Triela exclaimed and laughed.
As Sig pulled away, she bombarded Rico with "gomen nasai!" as she turned as red as though all her blood were put in her head. Even Rico was blushing so hard as her face gave a mixture of surprise and cluelessness. Rico just scratched her head as she gave Sig a nervous laugh. (After this incident, Funko did not talk to Sig for days)
After the hot spring, the girls went back to camp and had dinner (they were so lazy to cook that they called a fast-food to deliver food much to the delivery boy's surprise that girls with guns met them on the train bridge). After dinner, they snuggled inside their sleeping bags. Rico was between Funko and Sig and both held her hands.
"It's a clear night, good for stargazing," Henrietta, who was beside Funko, said. And she was already pointing at the skies, "I see the two bears again!"
"And there's Cepheus," Rico pointed, lifting Sig's hand.
"And Cassiopeia!" Sig moved her hand which was with Rico's.
"And Draco!" Funko pointed, lifting Rico's other hand.
And thus, the girls' vacation ended by watching stars, enjoying each other's company as they didn't know when such fun will happen again.
Authors Notes:
1. The Anglerfish song, Oarai Girls' High School, and Sensha-do are from the anime Girls und Panzer.
2. As for the simplified/modified sniper-poker game, the idea was inspired by the 2003 movie S.W.A.T. featuring Collin Farrel and Samuel Jackson.
3. In case you're wondering how come there were cards already at the mountains in the outdoor range when Sixteen just announced that they want a competition, Sixteen and her friends already set up the cards by secret the night before the Agency girls arrived. They had been plotting the whole thing since Rico called them they would come over.
4. The camping took place exactly at the place where the Upotte girls camped in the OVA.
5. The part about the hammer, spring, and firing pin was from episode 06 when T91 was teasing AUG of her obsession towards Funko.