Erwin couldn't recall a single time in her life when she felt worse. Sweat dribbled down her face, her cheeks were flushed and her gut felt like it was on fire, and it felt like she was trying to throw up but couldn't. Dammit, why did she have to be so greedy?
Erwin had already gotten stuffed from eating huge helpings of Yukari's mother's excellent dinner and then her father had offered her cake, and being the shameless, impulsive sweets eater she was, she couldn't refuse. No matter how full she was, she had to have just a little bit.
A little bit had turned into one large piece of cake which had been intimidating at first but the first bite had seemed to soothe her aching middle so she thought it would be alright and continued. By the end of the piece however, the pain had returned and worse than before, but her greed, or ambition as she prefered to phrase it, got the better of her and she asked for another she was deeply regretting that decision.
Her stomach felt like it would rupture at any moment, distressing noises emanated from her middle. She had a hand on her gut, rubbing it gently to try and ease the pain. It felt quite hot, sticky with sweat, and the bulge was quite firm as well. She didn't want to think about how far it was sticking out, she would worry about that later.
Erwin had to all but force her mouth open as she slipped another forkful of cake inside. She groaned softly as she slowly chewed. The cake was still delicious, but it was a small consolation to her tortured stomach.
'This is like El Alamein for me. I've overextended and my ambitions were finally too great.' She stared at what remained of the piece of cake on her plate and wondered if she should continue. Would this be the breaking point? Would this be the point at which she would break against the enemy? On the other hand, if she could just beat this little bit, she would take the prize, she would do what most would have declared impossible.
Erwin swallowed the last of the cake in her mouth and grunted as her esophagus forced it into her densely packed stomach. She then ventured her fork forward to grab the last piece and she heard a gasp.
Yukari stared at her from the adjacent side of the table, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. She seemed shocked that she was going to actually try to finish the cake in spite of how full to bursting she clearly already was. Erwin heard her inhale as she brought the last bit of cake up to her mouth. Yukari's eyes were wide with a mix of disbelief and fear, but then her expression changed to one of determination and she held up one fist in a show of support. Erwin managed a strained smile and then slowly and painfully opened her mouth.
Just opening her mouth had taken a large amount of effort, as every cell in her body seemed to be screaming at her to not do what she was attempting. She even started to have second thoughts as the fork slowly began to pass the line of her pearly white teeth.
She glanced over at Yukari, perhaps hoping that she would stop her from what might be committing suicide, but Yukari, if anything, seemed to be encouraging her more. Her eyes glistened, the determination on her face as great as ever and her fist was white knuckled. 'Ah how very like her to cheer someone on.' She stole a quick glance at Yukari's father who was holding up a food tray like a shield and cowering behind it; not encouraging.
Erwin shut her eyes tightly and closed her mouth around the end of the fork, touching the cake with her tongue. The wet appendage seemed to jerk away from it, like a hand from a hot surface. Erwin fought through it, wrapping her tongue around the sweet and began to chew it thoroughly. She had to try and make it as digestible as possible.
'The enemy is in my mouth' She told herself. 'I'm chewing him up, I'm devouring him!' Thinking about it that way actually gave her conqueror's heart a little thrill.
Erwin steeled herself as she prepared one last almighty swallow, the final thrust of her attack that would either make her or break her. Literally in this case. She swallowed bravely, feeling the lump of cake travel down her throat and she gripped the arms of the chair tightly, waiting to find out what would happen.
Her stomach let out an ominous groan that reverberated around the kitchen, causing both Yukari and her father to flinch anxiously. Erwin clutched her stomach and hissed through her teeth as the pain in her stomach increased, and then slowly subsided. The blonde let out a sigh of relief and moaned softly as she leaned back in her chair and tried to massage her aching stomach.
"Yo-you did it!" Yukari exclaimed. "That was amazing Ms. Erwin!"
"Ugh, just Erwin please." Erwin felt both elated that she had won, she had accomplished her goal. She had taken the fortress but now she had to struggle to hold onto it. She felt like her stomach was trying to force the food inside it right back out the way it came but didn't have the strength to. It felt so tight and hard; and it ached horribly.
Yukari's mother peeked into the kitchen and seemed relieved to see Erwin still intact. She stepped inside and began to gather the empty dishes. "Well, you girls certainly did your best."
Erwin covered her mouth with one hand. "I-I'm sorry for making such a pig of myself. It was all so good I couldn't stop." The woman chuckled.
"No no, I'm happy that you enjoyed my cooking so much. Besides, it would be a shame for so much to go to waste, and leftovers only keep for so long anyway." Erwin managed to smile, more of a grimace really, and uncovered her mouth.
"Well I was happy to. Um, can I help you with the dishes?" She tried to stand up but a sharp lance of pain wracked her midsection, eliciting a painful grunt and forcing her to remain seated.
"No it's alright. You're our guest, please just relax." Erwin nodded, grateful to be allowed to remain seated for the moment.
Yukari gave her a compassionate smile and Erwin managed to return a small grin of her own. She appreciated what Yukari had done, eating along with her, despite her own fullness; trying to lend her support. She doubted she would have managed to eat nearly as much without that. Then again, maybe that would have been better since she wouldn't feel like she was about to explode like she was now.
Yukari tried to get up to help her parents with the dishes but her face contorted with pain and she almost completely stopped halfway up.
Her mother put a firm hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down onto her chair. She said nothing but gave Yukari a look that seemed to convey her intentions to her offspring and Yukari obediently remained seated.
The two girls spent roughly an hour sat at the table, nursing their overburdened bellies, making small talk and encouraging each other between moans and groans.
When the dishes were finished, Yukari's mother went over to her daughter and helped her up to her feet. "Why don't you girls go upstairs while we finish cleaning up. I'm sure you'd like to lie down anyway. I put the old jammies in the washroom for when you girls have a bath." Yukari nodded and walked towards Erwin.
"Here, let me help you." Yukari gently grabbed Erwin's arm and slowly tried to pull her up. Erwin inhaled sharply through her teeth and held her eyes firmly shut as her middle felt like it was being ripped open, causing Yukari to stop. "Are you okay?"
Erwin grunted. "Ungh, j-just a little more slowly please."
"Ah right, sorry." With delicate care, Yukari slowly began to lift Erwin up out of her chair. While Erwin was again wracked with pain she clenched her jaw and consciously prevented herself from grunting or crying out. Eventually though Yukari's got her to her feet and they slowly staggered towards the stairs.
Erwin let out a tiny burp as the movement jostled her stomach contents. She put one hand on her gut, as if to try and keep it steady and then gazed up the stairs with a mournful expression. "Guderian, I don't think I'm gonna make it." She went weak at the knees, forcing Yukari to hold her up. "Go on without me, I'll only slow you down."
"Never!" Yukari wrapped a strong arm around Erwin's torso between her breasts and belly, holding her up securely. "A good soldier never leaves a man behind." She glared up the stairs as if it were a towering foe and took a deep breath to steel herself. "We can do this."
Yukari hauled them both up to the first step and they immediately ran into a problem. The stairway was rather narrow, too narrow for them to comfortably fit side by side together. This forced the two of them against each other, causing their sides to rub against the walls, making it more difficult to get up each step. This squeezing together also aggravated their sensitive and aching stomachs, eliciting more pain, compounding their problems.
Yukari grunted as she fought off the first pang in her tortured midsection and then looked at Erwin who seemed to be faring no better. Her face had lost most of its original colour, looking rather green, and her free hand was gingerly rubbing her middle. Yukari looked at the top of the stairs and then back at her.
"I think they only way we're going to do this is in one almighty thrust through the enemy centre." She said. Erwin glanced at her, looked at the top of the stairs and then looked her in the eye with renewed determination.
"Yes, one last mighty push; then we will be Moscow." Yukari grinned and nodded.
"Yeah." The two girls stared at the top of the stairs and then nodded at each other.
"One, two, three go!" The two girls cried out as they forced themselves up the stairs at a steady rate. Their stomachs cried out in agony and the girls' faces contorted with pain and effort as they hauled themselves up the stairs, supporting each other and almost screaming as they fought through the pain and effort.
They reached the top of the stairs and Yukari guided them towards her bedroom, pushing through the curtains of her doorway and with the last of their energy, wobbled over to her bed and lowered themselves onto it.
Erwin whimpered and lay on her side, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She was in a lot of pain. Yukari's own stomach ached terribly, prompting her to lay on her side facing Erwin, but her pain was at least tolerable and she doubted Erwin could be much more susceptible to pain than she was.
"Are you okay?" She asked through heavy breaths.
"I'll… live…" Erwin grunted. "I think it's getting better now that it's had some time to digest. Ooh I hope I didn't give my stomach a charlie-horse." Yukari managed a weak chuckle.
"Ah no I think you'll be fine. Thanks for that by the way. Mom really appreciated you eating so much of her food, even if she didn't want you to push yourself so far, she's flattered; really."
Erwin managed a small smile. "Yeah well, it's been a long time since I had such a good home cooked meal. My mother isn't the greatest cook and at home here we usually only cook battle food so not exactly gourmet." She huffed. "I think that if I ate here every day, I wouldn't be able to fit through the door in a month."
Yukari laughed. "Well you haven't tried eating some of Mom's 'healthy meals'. But yeah, she is a really good cook and I'm normally not a big eater unless it's something I especially like. I'm amazed how much you were able to eat. You ate almost twice what I did."
Erwin groaned and rolled into her back. "It surprised me too; believe me." She pulled the hem of her shirts up to her chest, exposing the distinct bulge in her middle. It was noticeably flushed and glossy with sweat. It moved up and down slowly with each of the blonde's laboured breaths.
Erwin reached around to her left thigh and unfastened her skirt, letting it slide a couple inches downward and let out a long sigh of relief. "Oooooh that's better. Skirt was digging in a little bit." She rubbed her lower abdomen where the skirt's waistband had left a red mark, helping to ease the pain.
Yukari decided to follow suit, unfastening her skirt and feeling the relief come with the dramatic reduction in pressure on her middle. A hand gently rubbed the top of her tummy, but it wasn't her own.
Yukari cooed softly as Erwin's hand gently massaged and soothed her aching gut. It did wonders to ease the pain and discomfort. She felt the tension in her body subside and her stomach muscles unclench and relax.
The fennec haired girl grinned cheekily. "Awww you have such a cute little tummy Guderian. The fruits of your conquests. As expected of you." Yukari's cheeks warmed at Erwin's teasing and affection. Having another girl give her a tummy rub was more than a few steps out of her comfort zone, a leap into an area of physical intimacy she had never been to before, with no frame of reference. The only thing she thought that was anything similar was how Mako would sometimes touch or rub Saori's breasts, despite there being no physical relationship between them. Was this what was called 'skinship'?
Swallowing her nervousness and fighting the redness in her cheeks, Yukari tentatively stretched out her hand towards the small dome sticking out of Erwin's middle. Her hand flinched when her fingertips brushed the sticky surface of Erwin's swollen middle and her face flushed with renewed verve but she heard no protests from Erwin and so she tried again, this time placing her entire hand on the swollen dome.
It was sticky from Erwin's sweat and it reminded Yukari that they needed a bath. She also noticed how firm her stomach was, much firmer than her own it was actually rather hard. No wonder her stomach hurt so much; it was packed tight. It was a lot bigger than hers too, by at least two times.
'Going to make it hard for her to do crunch-ups' she thought. She started to rub gentle circles across Erwin's skin, eliciting gentle moans from her friend.
"Ooh, that feels nice." Erwin sighed, a slightly glazed look in her eyes, and Yukari's face flushed redder, but she couldn't stop now or it could lead to something even more awkward. Maybe some light conversation would ease the tension.
"I-it seems like the bounty from your own conquests are even more substantial than my own. You very nearly over extended." Erwin managed a weak chuckle.
"Yes, I would even say I did overextend. Fortunately I had reliable allies." Yukari smiled back.
"Well that's what friends are for. Ah, we should probably have a bath while we still have the energy. If we stay here much longer, we'll fall asleep. You can go first."
Erwin chuckled. "You think I'll fall asleep before you?"
"Well your body has been, and is, working harder."
Erwin shrugged. "Point taken." She grunted and tried to sit up, her face turning red as she fought against the bulge in her middle. Yukari slowly sat up and then gently pulled Erwin into a sitting position, eliciting a small burp from her and then helped her up to her feet.
"Do you need help changing?" Yukari asked tentatively. She felt like she might be infringing a bit on Erwin's sense of independence and was worried about offending her. On the other hand, Erwin really couldn't do a lot by herself right now; not in the state her body was in.
Erwin sighed heavily. "Yes, I suppose I will have a lot of difficulty doing that on my own. Just bathing myself will be a chore at this rate." Yukari opened her mouth to speak but Erwin raised an open palm. "I would still rather bathe myself. At least permit me some shred dignity Guderian." Yukari grimaced and rubbed the back of her head.
"Sorry."
Erwin smiled. "Well maybe we should just go in the bath together. It'll speed things up and it might be our last chance to talk before we fall asleep." Yukari blinked.
"Huh, oh yes, talk. Yes that sounds good. Um, what do you wanna talk about." Erwin laughed and then winced as the action wracked her body with more pain.
"Uh, let's just see what comes out of our mouths. Sometimes it's best not to have a strategy." Yukari chuckled.
"Funny thing to hear coming from you. Alright, I'll take you to the washroom."
One thing that Yukari had always been thankful for about her home was it's ample washroom. In addition to the large rectangular bathtub, it had a separate shower nozzle mounted on the wall next to it, with a small stool underneath and positioned in line with a mirror.
It had taken a lot of care but Yukari was able to get Erwin undressed and help her into the tub of warm water.
"Ooooh this feels so nice." Erwin sighed. "I can feel my body finally relaxing."
Yukari smiled and began to undress herself. "My mother left the pyjamas here in the bins. She anticipated us having a bath before bed."
"Well it is fairly normal." Erwin agreed. "Still, mothers sure are amazing with how they can sometimes anticipate everything their children or husbands do, or where they put things. With such a skill you'd think there would be more female generals in history."
Yukari shrugged. "Well at least tankery has made female commanders more prominent."
"But they don't have the beneficial experiences of motherhood and marriage." Erwin pointed out. "There is a difference that is made, even if she sees her soldiers as her children."
Yukari smiled and scratched her cheek. "Like Takebe-san." Erwin laughed lightly, not experiencing pain this time.
"Yes, I suppose so. The Rabbits do seem more like her little ducklings don't they? Imprinting on her; although I've noticed Azusa seems to be looking more and more at our captain."
Yukari winced. "Y-yes I have noticed that. W-well I suppose since she is a first year, she would be one of those who could lead the team after Lady Nishizumi graduates."
Erwin raised an eyebrow as she examined Yukari's downcast expression, the sagging in her shoulders, the way she turned her head away and seemed to be peering deeply into her own thoughts.
"Guderian." Yukari was stirred from her inner thoughts and looked at Erwin who beckoned her into the tub. Yukari grimaced and made her way over, stepping carefully into the warm bath and lowered herself into it, careful not to bump her guest.
"What's troubling you?" Erwin asked. Yukari's mouth fell open slightly but she quickly recovered with a little shake of her head.
"N-nothing, really nothing. It's just that…. When I think about how much fun I've been having since I joined tankery, I… I worry about what happens after we graduate. I-I've never really made any plans about my future and I'm not sure what Lady Nishizumi is planning now either. Ah, I'm sure she could get a sports scholarship to university with a good tankery program but as for me…." She pulled her knees up to her chest and shrunk a little. "I'm not sure I'll be able to follow her."
Erwin chuckled. "Well you know, maybe you shouldn't. If you just keep following her, you'll just end up staying in her shadow. I'm sure she'd rather you tried to become all you could be. Perhaps she would even like to battle you one day."
Yukari gawked. "Me? No! I could never challenge Lady Nishizumi! S-someone with my abilities… challenging her would be an insult!" Erwin shook her head.
"Yukari" she began, grabbing the other girl's full attention with the rare use of her real name, "it might not be my place to say this, but don't you think that you're being too modest? It's nice that you're so loyal to Miho but you automatically agree with everything she says simply because she's the one who's saying it. Loyalty is great but it is sometimes a subordinate's duty to suggest alternative courses of action, give their commander more information and ideas to work from."
Yukari frowned at her, not quite a scowl but certainly less than friendly. Erwin didn't shrink from her position though, she felt like what she needed to say needed saying. It was more to force Yukari to talk about the underlying issue than to antagonize her, but they hadn't quite reached that point yet, so Erwin went on.
"You are a very capable leader and Miho trusts you implicitly. The fact that she relies on your knowledge and infiltration techniques is proof of that." She smiled and hoped that the little bit of levity would help alleviate any feelings of hostility in her companion.
"But you see how Azusa is growing? Lately she's been asking all sorts of questions, going up to Miho with questions about formations, different strategies and tactics; even different aspects of operating tanks." Yukari's frown now formed into a full on scowl and her eyes dropped from looking at Erwin to mildly glaring at her feet under the water.
"While I understand her curiosity, I feel like she could grasp the basics from talks on the internet or from books instead of taking up so much of Lady Nishizumi's precious free time. We second years have exams and things to study for after all and she has the team's administration to worry about too." Had Yukari still been looking at Erwin's face she would have seen the befitting fox-like grin spread across her face as the kernel of an idea formed in the blonde's mind.
"Indeed, she's even starting to follow her around wherever she goes like a puppy. Always eager to do anything to help or please her; always asking questions, even trying to take on some responsibilities regarding the operation of the tankery team." She leaned her head against her hand and awaited Yukari's response, the gist of it already predicted in her mind.
"It's so presumptuous of her!" Yukari protested. "She's only a first year and yet she believes that she can act so close to Lady Nishizumi and even goes as far as telling her that she can take over some of the administrative and training duties for her. It's outrageous, thinking that she can already partly run the team when she's so junior!"
She looked up at Erwin expecting her to chime in but the blonde was just smiling at her, an eyebrow raised. "Funny", she said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you sounded jealous." Yukari's mouth fell agape and her face flushed a bright crimson.
"J-j-jealous? No, impossible, I.." She fidgeted and looked down at her feet again, her voice becoming quiet. "I have no reason to be jealous..."
Erwin sighed. "I think it's best you be honest with yourself. You liked being the first person Miho usually went to when she needed help with something regarding tankery, but now she has her new protégé she wants to raise so you feel a bit neglected, like a kid after a new baby enters the family."
Yukari frowned and her lips formed into a pout. "I don't think that's right." Erwin waved her hand dismissively.
"Well you're an only child so maybe you don't understand, but basically I think you feel displaced by her. Like your position or role has been annexed." She permitted herself a small chuckle. "Ambitious little rascal isn't she?" Yukari snorted derisively and turned her head away.
Erwin sighed. "Look, it's not just regarding the tankery team, I think you need more ambition in life. You need dreams Yukari and the drive to pursue them. Don't just be content to live in the shadows of great people, try to become a great person yourself." She chuckled. "You're mother's a great example. She was ambitious enough to cook all that food and we were ambitious enough to eat as much of it as we did."
"Ah, but ambition can go too far." Yukari countered, gently prodding Erwin's bloated gut under the water, eliciting a grunt from the blonde.
"Touché" she replied. "But I think it might be worth it. Sometimes you just wanna find out how far you can go." She rubbed her stomach with both hands, feeling the smooth and stretched skin around it. "And it can feel amazingly satisfying, knowing that you were able to go so far, that you could accomplish so much and be everything you could be. I could name some generals from history but it might be more effective to use Miho herself as an example. Look at what she accomplished after getting out from her sister's shadow. Sure she had to be led and coaxed along but now she's her own person, not just another Nishizumi."
Yukari swallowed inwardly. Unlike Erwin, she knew just how much Lady Nishizumi had risked, like almost being disowned by her mother. Knowing that secret and having been with Miho during the entire journey through the tournament, being elected to command the temporary Char B1 crew during the battle against Anzio, even doing the reconnaissance against Saunders, among others, it all made her feel special, like she was someone irreplaceable to Lady Nishizumi.
She had no objections to Azusa succeeding her once she graduated but she couldn't help but feel like she was sucking up to Lady Nishizumi somehow, and it irked Yukari to no end, but what irked her even more was that it didn't seem to bother their captain at all. Lady Nishizumi seemed all to happy to bring the freshman girl under her wing as her new right hand, and as Erwin said, displacing her in the process. Maybe she was a little jealous after all. She had been feeling a bit directionless of late, but what dreams did she have?
"What are you going to do?" Yukari asked her companion. Erwin blinked
"Me?"
"Yes. What are you going to do after graduation. What are your dreams?"
Erwin scratched her head. "Well I'm going to sound like a bit of a hypocrite but honestly I'm not sure. I want to do something but I'm not sure what yet. Tankery is nice but I don't want it as a career. I was maybe thinking…" Yukari blinked in surprise as the normally unfappable Erwin suddenly reddened with embarrassment and was unable to make eye contact.
"Ah, you can tell me!" Yukari insisted, taking Erwin's hand between her own. "I won't tell." Erwin smiled.
"W-well it's nothing bad really it's just…. well I was thinking of maybe becoming a…. Well I wanna… bake cakes." Yukari's eyes went wide in shock.
"You… you wanna be a pastry chef?"
Erwin shrugged. "I guess so. I'm still not sure. I do love baking when I get the chance but I don't get to do it often." Yukari tilted her head confused.
"Why's that?"
"Because the other girls argued that it doesn't 'suit my image'; but actually it's more like they can't resist eating it so they told me never to make it."
Yukari chuckled. "Aha, I see. I do hear that dieting is rough."
Erwin laughed. "Well Oryou's boobs didn't get that big on their own, and Saemonza's so skinny, it shows if she eats so much as a potato chip." Yukari laughed too, and the conversation shifted away from the earlier serious subject and into jovial small talk. All at once it seemed like the troubles of their future and the pain in their tummies floated away.
Well this is a bit long and I'm worried it might have meandered a bit too much in the middle but I think this chapter was worth it. I hope you enjoy it and hopefully you won't have to wait as long for the next and final chapter.
Originally this was only going to be a one-shot but like most of my "one shots" it tends to grow. See you next time and thanks for reading.
~Rogue