A/N: This scene was NEVER supposed to be this long. I just started writing it, and before I knew it, it turned into this. Much bigger and longer than I ever predicted. Hell, I was actually planning to start the battle this chapter too. But oh well! I'm sure you guys will love it anyways! After all, I'm sure most of you are here for the interaction between the boys and girls.
So I need to ask something. What do you guys prefer? Shorter chapters (around 5,000 words or so) with more updates, or longer chapters (around 7,000-10,000 words or so) with longer update times? For reference, this chapter is 9,000 words literally exact.
Also, massive shout-out to Praporshchik Vostok, who beta'd this chapter for me and has really been an enormous help.
Bold = Stress of a word
Italics = English/Another language/Text message or written text
Italics and underlined = Thoughts
Reviews
NewtypeAuthor346: I do have some plans to add in a few new tanks to Saunders arsenal. But I won't spoil what they are.
MulticamWeeb: Thank you. I'm glad that's the case.
Countryboy93: I hope you like it.
Arpeggio GTA Collection: All pairings I certainly have no problems with.
Captain Smollett: I'm glad you liked it and found it funny.
DJDrake: You're starting to freak me out a little, lol.
Thorthemighty321: Perhaps. Perhaps. We'll see how things go. Because honestly, I only have a general idea on how I'm currently going to write the battle. But Ooarai certainly has a new toy to play with.
American Dream
Saunders Start Location
4:00 pm
A pair of dark brown eyes stealthily gazed out of a bush. They studied each and every tank situated in the clearing intimately, almost immediately affiliating each tank with their respective identity... Or rather, identifying all but four. It appeared that someone had been anticipating her arrival, as two of the closest tanks had a yellow tarp situated atop them, fastened with bungee cords, concealing their exact specifications from the tank enthusiast.
Combing through the clearing, Yukari spotted two pairs of tracks leading away from the collection of tanks, surmising the duo of tanks could not have wandered far off. Turning her attention specifically to St. Gloriana's lineup, she noticed the absence of their Crusader Mark III from the meticulously organized line.
It was a huge blow to Yukari. She had promised Miho she would come back with some sort of information on their opponent's new tanks, and they were covered! She had no way of identifying them correctly without seeing them with her own eyes. All she could tell from their shapes under the tarps was that they were both bigger than a Sherman and that one shape was bigger than the other. Off the top of her head, she felt like the tanks may have been a Pershing, and a Super Pershing. That is if they were indeed American tanks and not from another nation. She held a strong suspicion they were, but she still couldn't be certain.
Yukari forcefully restrained herself from stomping her feet in frustration, still wanting to remain undetected. Nishizumi-Dono was counting on her intelligence! She couldn't return to Miho with just an assumption! She had to know!
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and looked back out at the clearing. Excluding the four mystery tanks, she could see every other tank on the team. St. Gloriana had brought their Churchill Mark VII, four Matildas, and four Crusaders if she was correct in assuming what she thought the missing tank was. As for Saunders, they had brought to the match four Shermans, one 76mm Sherman, one firefly, and then the two covered ones and the final missing one. She could identify every tank in the clearing; every tank that they would be facing in the upcoming match. Except two!
Even as her mind screamed that she go out there and tear off the tarps concealing the two Saunders tanks, a few important details kept her from doing so.
All the tanks were in a linear formation, side to side, in an almost completely open clearing. The clearing was surrounded by a dense forest, lush trees and thick burley bushes making the majority of foliage. These perfect conditions made it laughably easy to hide and observe from the treeline. While it made her concealment in the forest to observe much easier, it would make it even easier for those loitering around to spot her the moment she left the cover of her bush.
There were a few people randomly situated in the clearing. From their uniforms, she could tell some were Saunders - With the absence of their male counterparts - but most were St. Gloriana. Their tasks ranged from working on their tanks in some manner, to simply sitting on their hulls and conversing with one another. Fortunately, none of them were really around the concealed tanks. But that didn't coerce her into recklessly rushing out to peak under the tarps.
Yukari inhaled deeply, the scent of the Azalea bush calming her nerve, tension slowly giving way to a relaxed state of mind. She had to remain undetected, lest her reconnaissance efforts are for nothing, losing Ooari the advantage.
She looked out through the leaves, carefully watching the people in the clearing. None of them were looking in her direction, but one Saunders student was situated on the back of a nearby Sherman, peering into its engine block. Yukari knew that if she moved out of cover, all the girl would have to do was turn her head and catch Ooari's infiltration expert red-handed.
And so, she patiently waited. She watched for a few minutes as the girl tinkered with something in the tank's engine block; until the girl finally sat up, whipped sweat from her brow, and hopped off the opposite side of the tank.
Now was her chance!
As quietly as she could, she removed herself from the bush and kept her body low as she rushed to the closest tank, the larger tarped one. She worriedly kept an eye on a group of St. Gloriana girls sitting on top of a Matilda. But fortunately, they seemed to be too engrossed in their conversation to bother looking around.
After a stressful twelve second stealthy jog, Yukari managed to get right beside the tank without being spotted. She allowed a large grin to grow on her face, and she couldn't help but feel proud of her skills. But she didn't let her excitement get in the way of her plans and quickly set to work.
Still operating as quietly as she could, she knelt down on the grass and unhooked the three bungee cords which held the tarp tightly onto the tank and set them aside. With a giddy sense of anticipation, she bundled up two handfuls of the yellow tarp, carefully raising it above her head. "Almost... Just.. a little more-"
Yukari froze in place, seemingly suspended in time, as a cold metallic object pressed against the back of her neck.
"Don't move." A masculine voice with an accent she didn't recognize said from behind her.
She had seen enough movies to know that when someone told you not to move and pressed something against the back of your head, that something was probably a gun. Maybe it was her overactive imagination, but she decided not to take any chances.
"Let the tarp go." The voice said, devoid of all emotion.
As her heart tried to beat its way out of her chest, Yukari quickly let the tarp go, holding her hands up in a universal sign of surrender.
"Good... Turn around."
Not wanting to risk standing up and provoking the stranger, Yukari turned around on her knees, setting her eyes upon the stranger as she did so. Her eyes settled on the object in his arms, which indeed, appeared to be a gun. She instinctively yelped, recoiling backward into the side of the tank.
Yukari's eyes were focused directly on the black pistol aimed at her, mustering whatever willpower was left, she tore her eyesight away from the sidearm to the stranger himself.
The boy was about her height with brown hair and equally brown eyes. He wore the typical Saunders dark green tanker jacket with a black collar and white star on the sleeve, accompanied by a pair of dark blue shorts. Unlike what she had expected from the source of the emotionless tone, his face was not cold and hard. Rather, it was filled with a look of almost concern and worry, with a dash of slight anger and irritation too, which Yukari expected more of.
Upon seeing her leap back from him, his face took on a look of strong contemplation. He lowered the gun in his hand, reverting to a much more relaxed posture.
"Now then." he said, his calm voice making her flinch as she was dragged out of her thoughts, "What were you planning to do to our tank?" He asked.
Yukari's mouth was gaping wide open, closing moments later like a fish, trying to formulate the words to explain herself. Her mind temporarily turned to mush, Yukari's explanation came out as a garbled mess, contrary to what she attempted to communicate.
"I-I-I uh, I was just-, I-I wanted to-was asked to uh, I m-mean I w-wasn't, I only was g-going to ah, t-to um look a-a-and I was n-not uh-, I r-r-really wouldn't, would never uh-" She stuttered horribly as she tried to force her thoughts through her fear. But no matter how hard she tried, all she could do was stare at the weapon in his hand that had been pointed directly at her, leaving her mind to babble unintelligibly.
Following Yukari's gaze to the sidearm in his hold, noticing the way she shook with fright. He sighed, taking a knee in front of the girl.
"You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly and reached out to her in an attempt to offer comfort. But Yukari only pulled her legs up to her chest and pressed closer against the tarped tank in an attempt to get away. But she paused as she saw a glimmer of what almost looked like hurt in his eyes when she pulled away from him.
Sighing, he moved the gun in front of him and removed the magazine.
"Take a look. You see? It's only a paintball gun. You don't have to worry." He explained, showing the magazine to her.
Her eyes hesitated, doubtfully on him for a moment before they slowly moved to the magazine, blinking owlishly at the string of orange balls inside it. It was.. a fake? It was nothing more than a sports gun? Then why was it made to look so realistic!?
Realizing that the "gun" actually wasn't a real gun, and her life was not in danger by a madman, she visibly calmed down. Her body stopped shaking and all her muscles relaxed as she gave a deep breath of relief.
Seeing her visibly calm down seemed to satisfy him, and he inserted the magazine back into the mock gun, tucking it into the back of his shorts. He rose to his feet and held out a hand to her.
Yukari stared at the offered hand, looking up at him, and back down again. She hesitantly reached out and grabbed it, hoping he wouldn't comment on how sweaty her palm was, as he pulled her to her feet.
He took a step back and looked over her with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.
She was somewhat startled by the genuine concern in his voice, something Yukari wasn't expecting. This was, after all, person who had just pointed a paintball gun at her, and made her fear for her life. But she nodded nonetheless.
He exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his short brown hair. "That's good.. Look, I'm really sorry I scared you so much. I did not expect you to react like that. It's just.. I thought you were going to mess with our tank and, truth be told, I lost my cool. I wasn't thinking straight.." He explained apologetically.
She shuffled her feet nervously. "Um, i-it's okay. I understand, I think... Just p-please don't do that again... It really frightened me." She replied, mumbling the last part. But he heard her anyways, twisting the metaphorical knife a little deeper into his chest.
He opened his mouth to say something, hesitating momentarily, before continuing through. "Again, I'm terribly sorry." He held his hand outwards, putting on his best smile. "I'm Duncan."
She politely took his hand and shook it. "M-my name's Yukari Akiyama." She replied, internally wincing at the stutter that refused to leave her voice.
Duncan, as she now knew him, noticed the stutter. "I'm still really sorry for scaring you, but what are you doing here? And why were you trying to get at our tank?" He asked, his voice still apologetic, but now with an accusing tone underlying it.
Yukari looked down at her feet, fidgeting with her hands simultaneously. As much as it pained her, Duncan had caught her red handed, it'd only be fair to tell the truth. "I was trying to find out what kind of tank it is. So that we would know for the match.." She explained.
He raised an eyebrow. "So you were spying on us?". Yukari couldn't bear meet his eyes, instead settling on nodding her head.
She wasn't quite sure what to expect from the American. Maybe he would give her a verbal warning? Maybe he would restrain Yukari and bring her before Kay. Or maybe he really would shoot her with the paintball gun, now that he knew what she'd been doing. Of all the possible scenarios her mind thought up, amused laughter was not the response she'd been expecting.
Her head shot up to meet his eyes as he chuckled loudly. Noticing her confused gaze, he reduced his amusement to a smile. "I have to admit, you did pretty well. I'm gone for just a few minutes and a spy already shows up. And without being spotted by anyone else. You managed to get here completely undetected and only got busted at the last minute. I won't lie, I'm impressed." He praised.
A compliment was the last thing she expected, and Yukari was completely unprepared for it. Blood rushed to her face, a crimson red blush emanating from her cheeks, turning to face away from Duncan. "T-Thank you!" She attempted to say, though it came out more like a squeak. Despite the embarrassment she felt from his comment, she also felt a strange giddy feeling build in her chest that she'd never felt before. It made her feel oddly happy, and she couldn't stop a small smile from showing on her face.
He grinned at her, though seeming to contemplate something at the same time. "The way I see it we're even now."
Yukari blinked. "Huh?" She replied, confused.
He shrugged, stating, "Well, you tried to spy on our tank, and I scared you for it. I'd say that makes us even, wouldn't you?"
Yukari paused for a moment, deep in thought. She supposed it did make things even. After all, her information would've robbed them of a great advantage if she'd succeeded, and his earlier 'threat' hadn't actually put her life in any danger. She didn't want to end her first meeting with an American by making someone dislike her. So she decided to put the incident behind her, nodding to Duncan.
Forgiveness seemed to ease the tension in the air around them, allowing each other a much easier time at relaxing.
"So, you said your name was Yukari?" He asked, making her wince internally. She didn't want to correct him saying that in Japan. People referred to each other by their last names only if they were close friends or family. It might've embarrassed him, and she didn't want to do that or seem like she was trying to make him follow a culture that wasn't his own, so she just nodded and went along with it.
"That's a nice name. So tell me, Yukari, where did you learn how to be covert? Does your school teach a course?" He questioned.
"Um, no. I learned on my own so that I could infiltrate other schools." She explained.
He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Really? That's impressive, teaching yourself." He commented, making her blush again.
"Thank you. But, um, may I ask a question?" She asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous about the boy. Their actions had been forgiven and were there to play a friendly game of Sensha-Dou with their teams against one another. So there was no reason for her to be so anxious. So why was she?
"Sure, go ahead." He replied with a shrug.
She nodded, staring, "Um, you said you thought I had come to sabotage your tank. What makes you think I would do that?" She asked. She didn't think she had a 'sabotage' appearance to her.
Duncan appeared to enter a state of deep thought for a moment, then sighed. "It appears I also forgot your rules for Tankery are a lot more strict here. That was my own stupid fault. But to answer your question, it's because back home in the US, sabotage is allowed. It's heavily frowned upon, but not illegal. And unfortunately, it's happened to us before. Before a match, someone from the other team snuck up and sabotaged our differential cylinder. It was a giant pain in the ass to deal with." He explained, scowling at the memory.
The tank enthusiast blinked, shocked. People were allowed to sabotage each other's tank before a match in their country? That was horrible! How could anyone do that to a tank!?
Oblivious to Yukari's internal feelings, he continued. "So when I saw that you removed the straps for the tarp and were about to go under, I thought it was so you could reduce our ability to fight. After that, I just got angry and I overreacted. I'm sorry about that, again." He apologized, looking down at the ground.
She shook her head rapidly. "N-no! It's okay! I get it! If I saw someone trying to damage our tank, I would've done the same thing!" He looked up and stared her in the eyes, making her consider exactly what she had said. "O-okay, maybe not the same thing, but I definitely would have protected our tank too! No matter what!" She exclaimed passionately, with a face of determination.
He stared at her for a few seconds, then smiled. "You sure are something, aren't you? Covert operative and tank enthusiast; like two different personas wrapped up in one." He joked.
She could only look away and sport a heavy blush in response to the all too accurate compliments. Once again, she could feel the giddy feeling from earlier grow in her stomach as her heart began to thump loudly.
Upon seeing the dark shade of red appear on her face, Duncan's smile disappeared, a look of concern replacing it. "Are you okay?" He suddenly asked.
She blinked. "Huh? Y-yes, why-"
Yukari's entire body stilled as his hand came up and pressed against her forehead. Her face completely froze, and every muscle in her body felt like it turned to stone as his warm, soft palm pressed against her head. The sensation was not unfamiliar; her parents did it all the time to check her temperature to see if she was sick. But for some reason when he did it the feeling felt so much different, and she could feel her mind go instantly blank as a tingling sensation spread over her skin.
"Your face keeps turning really red, and your temperature feels abnormally high." He remarked. "You don't look sick, but do you by chance have a cold? Or maybe the flu?" He asked in a surprisingly professional tone.
She couldn't give any form of a response. He was asking a simple question and she only had to give a simple answer, but her mind refused to cooperate. She couldn't process the simple 'no' she knew she had on the tip of her tongue. It felt like her brain was melting into putty.
Duncan didn't notice her internal struggle and continued with his observations. He moved his right hand from Yukari's forehead to her neck, pressing two fingers against it. "And your pulse is through the roof."
He wasn't wrong. She could feel her heart beating so fast it almost hurt. Her body continued to remain motionless but increased in temperature as his hands pressed against her neck. Despite her body feeling frozen in place, she felt incredibly warm, even with the normal temperature and gust of winds outside.
Duncan wasn't put off by her lack of response and moved her head sideways, pressing two fingers gently into the skin behind her jawbone on her neck. "Well, your lymph nodes aren't inflamed, so you aren't fighting off a disease. Hmm... Maybe you're just overheating. Wait here, I'll get you some water. Please don't betray me by looking under the tarp while I'm gone." He pleaded, before removing his hand from her face and disappearing around the edge of the tank.
She could only stand there, her flustered and scrambled mind attempting to process what had just happened. In fact, her brain was so preoccupied with the storm of thoughts rolling around inside the prospect of taking a glimpse under the tarp didn't even occur to her. For the following thirty seconds, she just stood there.
"Confused, huh? I don't blame you." Yukari was abruptly torn from her mind when she heard an unfamiliar female voice behind her. She shook her head and turned to see an almost carbon-copy of Duncan leaning against the back of the tank. A girl with brown hair and eyes, wearing the typical Saunders Sensha-Dou uniform, and just a little taller than her. Her facial structure was almost perfectly identical to Duncan, and Yukari instantly assumed that they had to be siblings.
"But you shouldn't take it the wrong way. Duncan's just a little... odd." The girl continued and stared at her.
Yukari mentally noted the girl's appearance, comparing her similarities with Duncan's, she didn't say anything back. Her mind was too occupied by her thoughts to realize the girl was waiting for a response.
The girl walked up, snapping her fingers in Yukari's face. "Helloooo? Anyone home?" She joked with an amused grin.
Her face flushed, not having realized how intently she'd been staring at the girl. "Uh, yes! I-I'm awake! I mean-" She cut herself off when the girl giggled, making Yukari avert her gaze to the ground as another heavy blush crept up the back of her neck.
The girl punched her shoulder lightly, making her flinch. "Hey, relax. I'm just having some fun. I'm Blaire, Duncan's older sister." She introduced, holding out her hand.
Yukari reached up and shook it, hiding the grimace and surprise at the newly-known Blaire's tight grip. "Um, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Yukari Akiyama." She responded.
Blaire nodded knowingly. "I know, I heard you two talking earlier. Saw your little moment too." She teased, causing another blush to appear on Yukari's face. But Blaire just chuckled, saying, "Don't worry about it, okay? We Americans are just a little more touchy-feely than you guys." She explained, smirking. "Also, Duncan's kind of a social outcast. He doesn't really pick up on the 'unwritten rules' of society and does whatever he feels is right. He's odd like that." She finished, a look on her face that almost resembled something apologetic, but not quite.
Inside her mind, Yukari saw how they could relate. She had once been a social outcast - she more or less still was actually - and knew what it was like. Although for her, it had been more like an almost constant isolation. She had tried to make friends in the past, but her obsession with tanks and warfare always chased them away. Those friendships never lasted long. It was only after beginning Sensha-Dou that she made some real friends and really learned what it was like. But for all that she knew about social isolation, she couldn't quite identify what it was about Duncan that made him different. Perhaps it was simply his personality? There was nothing wrong with that. She certainly wouldn't be one to judge another's personality considering her own tank-obsessed mindset.
If Blaire noticed her descent into deep thought, she ignored it as she continued. "Plus, he's training to be a doctor. So when he sees something sick or injured, it's like he instinctively has to assess it. Look it over, identify the symptoms, and try to find the probable cause. Something about it being part of the training that he takes way too seriously." She said thoughtfully. "In this case though, you're lucky he doesn't recognize embarrassment all that well." Blaire joked.
Yukari chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "He, um, yeah. I guess I am." She replied, thoughts of him asking her why she was so flustered and embarrassing responses flooding her mind.
The girl took a step back, placing her hands on her hips. "So, now that that's out of the way, onto another topic. You're a spy?" Her facial expression didn't change with the question, and the tone wasn't accusing or angry. It helped keep Yukari's heart somewhat calm, but she still couldn't stop herself from wondering if the girl was just concealing her true feelings hidden.
"U-um, yeah. I gues- I mean, yes. I am." She fumbled.
Apparently noticing her anxiety, Blaire gave her another light punch in the arm, causing Yukari to flinch. "Hey, relax. We don't have a problem with spies where we come from. It's sabotage that crosses a line. You don't need to worry about any hard feelings from me or the rest of my American friends." Blaire explained with an honest expression.
Yukari still wasn't quite sure how to take the girl's explanation. But Blaire's relaxed facial expression and sincere tone slowly helped the doubt leak out from the back of her mind. As it left, she allowed her tense posture to slowly relax.
Noticing this, Blaire nodded happily. "So, what's your position?" She asked.
"Huh?" Yukari asked, confused by the vague question.
"Your job in your tank. What is it, and in what kind of tank?" She clarified.
"Oh, I'm the loader for our Panzer Four Ausf D." The tank enthusiast explained, delighted to finally be talking about a subject she confidently knew well.
Blaire smiled at the obvious joy in her voice. "Not bad. A little light on the armored side compared to other Panzers, but still, not bad. I'm a loader too, same as my brother. We keep this bad boy armed and dangerous." She said and patted the large tank under the tarp.
Blaire may not have realized it, but she had just given away a critical piece of information. Yukari now knew that, whatever the tank was, it required two loaders to efficiently load it. There were only a handful of tanks in World War Two that required two loaders, and even fewer American tanks which did. As a result, the detail narrowed down the list of suspects massively. She also knew that normally the reason for having two loaders in a tank is because the ammunition was too heavy or difficult to deal with for one person. Additionally, it meant that the gun had to be of considerable caliber to have shells too difficult to handle for one person. This detail helped narrow the list even further.
But as her mind began to conjure up all the possible tanks that matched with what she knew, she was reminded of where she was.
"Yukari? You okay?"
She blinked the fog out of her eyes and brought her thoughts back into focus. Blaire was staring at her with a questioning look as she waited for an answer.
"Oh! Uh, yes! I'm fine. Sorry, I was just thinking." Yukari explained, hoping she wouldn't question any further.
"What about?"
She sagged. So much for that.
"Um, well, i-it's nothing important r-really. I w-was just, er, reflecting!" Technically it wasn't a lie. She was thinking back on her memory about what the tank could be.
Blaire's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, likely in response to the sudden nervousness and stuttering. "Reflecting on what?"
A cold sweat broke out on Yukari's forehead. "Um, w-well, I-I was er, I mean, I w-wasn't uh, it's not-"
"Yes?" Blaire drawled, her tone of voice now sounding lined with a hint of suspicion.
Her eyes darted around nervously, looking for some sort of inspiration to fuel an excuse. Forest? No. Grass? Silly. Tanks? The one thing she was trying to avoid.
Finally, her eyes landed on Blaire, and like flipping a switch an idea suddenly sparked inside her mind.
"Are you going to answer or just keep staring at me?" Blaire questioned.
Feeling exceptionally nervous by the girls' calculated stare and insistent tone, and with a vague and barely considered idea in her mind, she blurted the first thing the could think of.
"Duncan!"
The awkward silence that stretched between them would have made a bat question its hearing.
"Really?" Blaire asked, the suspicion in her voice quickly being replaced by sly amusement as a poorly hidden smile graced her face.
Yukari swallowed thickly, realizing that there was really no way she could take it back, she nodded.
Said smile instantly evolved into a Cheshire grin as a mischievous twinkle shone in her eyes. "Well, who would've thought. My little brother has his first crush. And so soon no less." She walked up closer to the red-faced short haired brunette. "So? What was it?"
"H-huh?" She squeaked, the implications of her earlier unconsidered answer just now beginning to flood her mind.
Blaire tilted her head playfully. "Was it his looks? His personality? His hands? What's fueling this sudden desire for my little brother's heart? Or is it... His body?" She said suggestively.
If Yukari's face turned any redder, she could've been mistaken for a fire hydrant.
Blaire looked up tapped a finger on her chin. "Hmm, I guess now I know why you spaced out there for a minute." She met her eyes. "I'm betting you were thinking of him loading shells, huh? Shirtless, sweaty, muscles rippling as he's loading them into the breach. That's what you were thinking, weren't you?"
As the temperature of her face reached what medical experts could consider unhealthy, she couldn't halt her mind from imagining those very things. The results of the images left her mind primarily focused on displaying her embarrassment, a small portion was wondering just how salacious the girl had to be to be saying such things about her own brother.
As if the universe had some sick twisted sense of humor, taking pleasure from Yukari's situation, it was at that very moment that Duncan came back. "Here, I found some- Oh, Blaire. What are you doing here?"
Blaire looked Yukari in the eye, giving her a quick wink. The older girl then took a few steps away from Yukari and shrugged in response. "Just having a little chat with your new girlfriend." She joked, Yukari's face flushing red yet again for the who-knew-what time that day.
Duncan rolled his eyes in response to his sister, sighing. "Ha-ha, you're hilarious." He said sarcastically.
"I know. You don't need to tell me that." She continued to tease, turning her back to them. "All right, I have to get back to work. You two have fun, alright? Just make sure you use protection!" She hollered as she rounded the tank and disappeared.
Yukari's hands swung up to cover her face, now colored the brightest red possible, as her temperature soared so high she felt dizzy. She couldn't help but wonder if all Americans were so... lewd!?
From behind the improvised cover of her hands, she heard Duncan sigh and mutter something in what she suspected was English.
"I'm sorry about her." He apologized. "She's just a little... Crude."
"So one sibling is socially awkward, and the other is crude? What a perfect fit."She thought to herself humorously, simultaneously lowering her hands.
"Anyways, here." He handed her a cool bottle of water. "This should help you cool down."
She took the bottle from his hand, thanking him, taking a long gulp from the bottle. Truth be told she did feel like she was overheating a bit. It was rather warm out, and her earlier embarrassment didn't help either.
"I hope she didn't cause you too much trouble." Duncan said, an almost sheepish look on his face.
She smiled and gave a light chuckle that betrayed the nervousness she was actually feeling. "It's fine. We were just... talking."
He nodded and stayed silent. As the air around them began to fill with an awkward silence, Yukari tried thinking something up to get rid of it.
"So um, what happens now?" She asked curiously.
"Hmm?" He raised a confused eyebrow.
She scratched the back of her head and stared at the ground. "W-well, you caught me trying to spy on you, a-and I've never b-been caught before. So what do we do now?"
He stared at her for a moment, then turned his head down with a look of contemplation. "Well, if I'm accurately assuming there aren't any rules in Sensha-Dou regarding spies," he paused to look at her, and when she nodded a confirmation at his assumption he continued, "then I suggest we fall back on the only other set of rules I know. The American ones."
A feeling of apprehension rose in her stomach and Yukari gulped. Based on what she had seen so far between the two Americans she had met, she knew that they liked guns, were quite friendly, and some were perverted. So she was honestly somewhat nervous to hear exactly what the rules entailed.
Duncan mistook Yukari's silence to be of patient curiosity and continued. "The rules state that in the event of an enemy spy being captured, they are to be brought before the Chief Commander for sentencing and punishment. So in this case, the Chief Commander would be Kay." He finished, looking back to her.
Yukari felt her heart drop, and her hands fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt. "W-what kind of p-p-punishment?" She stuttered, unable to stop a sense of dread from growing in the back of her head.
Duncan shrugged. "Well, back home it could mean immediate eviction of the spy from the ship, or detention until a day before whatever match was being prepared. Here in Japan, I can only guess, but I don't imagine it'll be anything serious. I mean, this is Kay we are talking about here. From what I've heard from around Saunders I don't think anyone's ever even seen her angry." He chuckled.
The tension seeped away as she realized he was right. She had been identified as a spy before, by Kay, and nothing bad ever happened. In fact, she actually invited her to come back to Saunders some time! She realized that if Kay was willing to let her go the first time, it was unlikely she'd do anything this time. She let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear." She said quietly.
He nodded. "Well, come on. There's no point in delaying it." He did a full one-eighty and began walking, motioning for her to follow him.
She blinked, and after a second she quickly ran up to walk beside him.
For the first few minutes, as they left the clearing and walked down a dirt road, neither one said a word. As the silence stretched on for nearly five minutes, Yukari began to periodically glance over at him, hoping he would say something. But after the first few glances of what she thought were stealthy head movements, on the fifth, he moved his eyes in turn with hers and locked gazes.
She quickly averted her gaze and focused on the ground she was walking on. It was embarrassing to have been caught, but she hoped it would now at least make him say something.
She was unfortunately proved wrong when he just stared at her for a few more moments before turning his head back to look down the road.
She cringed. It looked like it was up to her to break the awkward silence. Something she had been hoping to avoid since she was usually horrible when it came to making small talk. Especially when it came to new people. But she would give it her best shot.
"What were the nodes you were talking about earlier?" She blurted, cringing on the inside. Just thinking about the event caused the funny feeling in her stomach and the thump in her heart to return full force.
His face lit up a little at her question and he wasted no time responding. "Lymph Nodes. They're little organs in your neck, under your chin, in your armpits, and in your groin. They usually swell in one location when you have an injury, infection, or tumor develops near the area. The glands on either side of the neck, under the jaw, or behind the ears commonly swell when you have a cold or a sore throat, which was why I checked them since you kept getting so red." He explained, apparently pleased that he'd been given a reason to describe his advanced understanding of the human body.
In response, Yukari blinked owlishly. "Oh, uh, I see." She answered dumbly, still trying to process exactly what the boy said. "I think your sister said something about you learning to be a doctor."
He nodded. "Yep, that's my plan. I'm already learning the stuff I need to. I decided to choose the different parts of the human body as my first study since it's the thing I'll be dealing with all the time. So every chance I get I try to put my knowledge to use and make it stick in my head. You know, so it's easier to remember." He explained.
She nodded, understanding as much as she could. "I understand. There must be a lot to learn then."
He nodded. "There is."
A few more moments of silence followed them.
"So Yukari." She turned her head to look at him. "What do you like to do?" He asked.
She blinked. "Huh?" She answered.
Duncan shrugged. "Just making conversation. What do you like?" He repeated his inquiry.
"He's better at small talk then I am." She thought to herself as she quickly built a list of things to tell him.
"Oh, uh. I like tanks, reading comic books, watching movies, making and collecting models and other World War Two relics, and spending time with my friends." She listed, wincing slightly afterward. She hadn't meant to mention her near-obsession with collecting World War Two relics and models, but it had slipped out.
But if Duncan cared in any way about it, he didn't express it. Instead, he just nodded. "Cool. We share a lot of similar things then. I also like movies, comics, tank models, and hanging out with my friends. I also play Baseball. Do you play any sports?" He asked.
Yukari kept the cringe off her face as she shook her head. The last time she had tried to play sports had... Not ended well.
He hummed. "Shame. So is your school staying in the dock for the night? Or are you leaving right after the match?" He questioned.
"We're staying the night and most of tomorrow actually. Our ship is leaving late tomorrow night." She explained.
He nodded. "Saunders is staying the night too. Leaving tomorrow morning. In that case, you want to hang out later?" He asked.
Yukari nearly stumbled. "Uh, h-hang out? What do you mean?" He wasn't asking what she thought he was asking, was he?
Duncan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I still feel a little bad for scaring the crap out of you and nearly shooting you with a paintball gun, and I'd like to make it up to you. I saw a comic book store on our way through the town to get here. Sometime after the match, you want to go and take a look? I'll buy." He jabbed a thumb at himself.
... Was this... Was he... Should she ask?
"U-um, y-you mean like... Like a... Date?" She finally forced out.
In response to the straightforward yet infinitely complex question, Duncan merely shrugged. "If you want to see it like that, sure. I'm just offering to buy you some comic books to make up for my mistake."
She wasn't sure if that was a yes or no, and if she should be relieved or embarrassed. So instead of struggling to wonder what to think and feel, she recalled that she already had plans to hang out with her friends after the match. They were going to go to the bathhouse, like normal, then go and check out a tank store. So she, fortunately, or unfortunately she wasn't sure, couldn't accept the boy's kind offer.
"S-Sure..."
But UNFORTUNATELY, her mouth chose to betray at that exact moment and make the choice for her.
A smile broke out on Duncan's face. "Great. Let's exchange numbers. That way we can sort out the details after the match."
As the two students exchanged their phone numbers, Yukari's mind was left alone to run rampant.
"WHY DID I SAY THAT!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?" She took a few deep breaths. "It's okay! Everything's fine! I can work this out. I just need to explain to Duncan that I already had plans... But then he might think I'm just making up excuses, and I don't want him to hate me... Alright, I just need to tell the girls that something came up and I can't come with them to the store. There. Simple... But what if they ask? What do I say instead? Do I tell them the truth?" Thoughts of relentless teasing and 'advice' from Saori instantly flooded her mind. "Okay, so just keep things quiet. I'm sure I can come up with some sort of excuse... Hopefully."
"Okay, there we go." She was roused by her thoughts as Duncan finished typing his phone number into hers and handed it back. "Numbers exchanged. I'll call you after the match is over, and we can sort out the details."
She could only nod.
"Okay, now we'd-"
She stopped as the all too familiar sound of a powerful tank engine echoed through the forest.
Both students stopped in place and glanced around, attempting to find the source. But their searching proved needless as a light blue Crusader suddenly tore through the brush a dozen meters ahead of them.
It smashed through the shrubbery lining the sides of the path, lurched to a stop in the middle of the road, and turned ninety degrees to face them. less than ten seconds later, an M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer emerged from the bushes, dragging a tree with it resting on its roof. It pulled up beside the Crusader and both commanders emerged. The Hellcat commander having a noticeably harder time due to the tree on the roof.
Yukari stared as the male Hellcat commander appeared to yell something at the smug looking Crusader commander, her face dotted with an innocent smile.
"Oh, it's Yin. I wondered where he disappeared to. Come on, I'll introduce you." Duncan said before sprinting towards the two tanks. Yukari stared for a moment longer, then rushed after him.
As she got closer, she was able to make out what they were saying.
"-us into a tree! If it hadn't been for that, we would've beaten you!" The boy shouted loudly at the seemingly unconcerned Crusader commander.
Said commander shrugged at the boy. "All's fair in love and war. If you didn't want to hit the tree, you should've moved over." The St. Gloriana student said happily.
"We couldn't! It was you on one side, and more trees on the other! Where would you have liked us to go!?"
"How about behind?"
"You mean willingly give up first place? NEVER!"
As the two commanders argued, Yukari tuned them out. She was already too busy ogling the American tank and going over it in her head. It was an M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer; she had never seen one in person before, but she knew its specifications to heart. It had a 76 mm gun, torsion bar suspension, automatic transmission, thin armor with a max of 25 millimeters, and a Continental Wright R-975 which allowed the tank to reach 90 kilometers per hour. It was absolutely perfect as both a scout and a tank destroyer.
"HEY!"
The boy, girl, and Yukari all jumped as Duncan's voice rose loudly over them.
"What the hell is the problem?" He asked, noticing he had their attention.
The boy scowled and pointed at the girl. "This... This... Brit rammed our tank into a tree during our race, and made us lose!" He yelled angrily. Based on his tone, she figured she didn't want to know what the foreign word meant.
The female commander rolled her eyes. "When in combat, you do whatever you have to do in order to win. Can you say you wouldn't have done the same thing in our position?" She questioned.
"Oh, I undoubtedly would've done the same things as you." He admitted. "But that doesn't make me any less pissed!"
"Okay! Enough! Yin, you lost fair and square, now knock it off." Duncan commanded. The boy grumbled something she couldn't make out, but crossed his arms and remained silent.
Duncan nodded, satisfied, and turned to the girl. "And you, stop looking so smug. If you hadn't rammed him into the tree, he probably would've beaten you. The Hellcat was and still is today one of the fastest tanks ever made. You may have won and it may have been clever, I'll give you that, but without that action, you'd be the loser."
The girl shrugged and let her smile slip slightly, but not by much.
"Good. Now we're going to be playing soon, so I suggest you both park your tanks back and get ready for the match."
Both tank commanders stared at each other, then looked away. The St. Gloriana girl disappeared into her tank while the boy just yelled something down into the hull. A moment later, the Crusader peeled away and drove past them, leaving just Yukari, Duncan, and the Hellcat.
Looking down, the Tank Destroyer commander asked, "So, who's the girl?"
"Oh, Yin, this is Yukari. Yukari, this is Yin." Duncan introduced with a hand motion at each of them. Yukari waved, and Yin nodded his head. He continued, "She's a girl from the other team, was attempting to spy on us. Luckily I caught her before she could see our tank."
Yin raised an eyebrow, giving her a slight glare. "Oh really?" He drawled carefully.
Yukari felt herself shuffle in place under the boy's gaze. She didn't like the look he was giving her.
"Yeah, she was. And before you showed up, she had no idea what any of our tanks were. So nice job." Duncan said blankly, his face only betraying his voice slightly with a look of annoyance.
Yin frowned, looked down at the tank, and sighed. "Oh. Yeah. Right... My bad."
Duncan just shook his head. "Whatever. It's not like there's anything we can do about it now."
"Oh, I can think of something." With that ominous statement, the boy disappeared into the tank. A brief moment later, it moved. The turret gave a rolling grumble as it rotated twenty degrees to the left and lowered its gun, giving Yukari the unique opportunity to see right down its long barrel as it was aimed at her.
Yukari flinched as the 76 mm gun was leveled at her head. "Ummm..."
Meanwhile, Duncan merely rolled his eyes and stepped in front of Yukari, staring down the barrel. "Yin, that's not funny. She doesn't know you like the rest of us, so she probably has no idea you're kidding."
"Oh come on!" A voice came from down the barrel. "There's no way she could possibly think I'm being serious!"
"Yin." He growled.
A sigh of exasperation followed. "Oh, all right! Fine! Just has to ruin all my fun." He grumbled the last part before the turret returned to its forward and level position. A moment later, Yin emerged from the turret again.
"Alright, so why not just ask her to keep quiet?" Yin asked.
Duncan scoffed. "You can't just ask her to keep valuable information from her commander just because we asked her to. Would you?"
"Of course not. But she's not me. Besides, this is Japan. People are nicer here. Isn't that right?" Both boys looked at Yukari.
She shrunk under their combined gaze, and couldn't find something to respond with.
"You know what, forget this. We're just making her uncomfortable. This conversation is over." Duncan snapped, with a tone of finality to his voice that there was no arguing with.
Yin rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Now, do you mind getting off the road? I'm gonna head back."
"Could you give us a lift first? We're heading to base to hand her into Kay." Duncan nodded at Yukari.
He paused to consider the request, then sighed heavily. "Sure. Hop on." He said and climbed back down into the turret.
Duncan motioned for her to follow and climbed up onto the tank, using the tracks as a ladder. He leaned back down and offered her a hand.
She smiled at the kind gesture and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her up.
"Okay, we're on. Let's go." Duncan called down, taking a seat on the hull beside the gun barrel. Yukari copied and took up the other side.
"Okay, hang on." The tank's engine revved and shook as it did a full 180 and proceeded to zoom down the road.
"Hey, uh, do you think I could take a look at the inside of the tank?" Yukari leaned over and asked.
Duncan shrugged. "I doubt he'd have a problem with it." Leaning back, he yelled down into the tank, "Hey, do you guys mind if Yukari comes down and takes a look?"
"Sorry, but girls aren't allowed in our tank." Yin's voice came back up.
His statement was quickly followed by the sound of a loud slap, and a cry of pain from Yin. "We're girls you douche! Let her come!"
"Okay! Fine! Jesus Kelly, you didn't need to hit me." He complained.
"Maybe not, but it felt nice. Come on down Yukari." The voice of who she presumed was Kelly said. Yukari smiled gleefully and clambered down into the tank.
A/N: All done! Sorry this took so long. I've recently become very interested in another category on this site. Specifically, the web series called Worm. I'm really loving it, and reading the stories is taking up lots of my time. I'm not sorry about that though. I spend my time how I want, and I wanted to spend it reading.
Yukari has always been one of my favorite characters, and I'm happy that I got to write a scene about her. Speaking of the scene, what would you guys like to see from the situation regarding Yukari and Duncan? Do you want to see it progress further or just leave it to background information?
Anyways, next chapter will be a short interlude before at the MBV base before I FINALLY start the match. I hope you guys didn't mind that this chapter was all just one huge scene.
Please review, and tell me what you think. And as always, I'll see you next time.
