Chapter 11: Freedom and Slavery
Life returned to normal for Miho and her schoolmates at Oarai, yet they were hardly at ease. While they celebrated yet another victory over the STU, they also began to wonder what the STU would plan next. With two defeats under their belt out of four, they would likely alter their strategy. And given that they had attempted to challenge the Nishizumi school, the next battle might not be in Oarai's hands at all.
Miho discussed matters with the Student Council, in a few meetings over the course of several days. Unfortunately, no more people were willing to sign up for tankery, even with the incentives being offered; Miho remembered that she had to temporarily crew the Char B1Bis with crew members from other tanks, and it was only luck that Anteater Team arrived after they found the Chi-Nu.
Few clubs were forthcoming with funding that could be used to buy more or better tanks, since the fate of the school was no longer on the line. Yukino sadly said that this was essentially a matter that concerned tankery itself, so few outside it would be interested in the outcome. Furthermore, if the Student Council reallocated more funds to tankery, doing so would not only require cutting the funds from somewhere else, at a time when everyone was urged to lower their expenses, but would also be seen as a potential conflict of interest given that the Student Council was on the tankery team.
Miho, noting that having recruits or new tanks would be of little use if they lacked the other, simply concluded that the only solution they had was to defeat the STU with what they currently possessed; making do with less than optimal resources was what Oarai had always done.
But even without the STU, Oarai's routine could only be described as a "new normal," with the presence of boys at the school, and the efforts that all concerned, male or female, those who were new or those who were returning, students or faculty- had to make in a school that, for all concerned, was no longer quite like the one they were at the previous year
After class ended one day, the students proceeded to tankery practice. Saori and Mako, on their way there, overheard some male students talking.
"These damn reports are killing me," Aizawa said as he passed by Saori and Mako. "Don't we have enough homework as is?"
"Honestly, Aizawa, you're almost as lazy as Reizei-san," Ukita said. "It's just once a week, and it's easy enough to get through it by writing 'everything's great' or some such in the blanks."
"Yeah, I'm not doing that much for it," Aizawa said. "But seriously, if you could just get by with half-assing it by doing that, what's the point of it?"
"You got me there," Ukita said, before walking far enough into the distance so that Mako and Saori could not hear them.
"Those jerks…" Saori said to Mako, annoyed. "What gives them the right to rag on you for your laziness in that way? For all you like to sleep in, you regularly do your homework" She then turned to Mako, who said nothing in response, and noticed that she was most likely not listening. "What? Is something wrong, Mako? It's not like you to get down over a comment like that."
"I couldn't care less what those guys think about me," Mako said. "But surely you heard it, too? They said the boys had to do their reports once a week. Garai said he does his every day."
"Who knows, maybe they're slacking off?" Saori said. "Or Garai's going beyond the call of duty."
"I actually thought you would know," Mako said. "Even if we're not allowed to date the boys, there's no harm in talking to them, right?"
"I've only really talked with Garai, and he said he doesn't have any male friends here," Saori said. "He seems less than sociable, and slightly out of his element, like Miporin was when she first came here. But he said he believed a lot of the boys are hanging out in their social groups, and aren't as willing to approach girls they don't really know, much less us. A few members of Rabbit Team have been talking with the boys, but they're still working on breaking the ice."
"They're doing better than I am," Mako said. "Pretty much all my friends are you and people I met through you. And maybe I am being lazy this time, but it would seem troublesome to make friends here if you'll only be here for a year."
Saori sighed. Mako was intelligent and analytical, but also pessimistic, meaning that she could identify hard truths, and the fact that she was fairly blunt meant that she had few compunctions about telling them to others. But Saori was often guided by her heart, as well as her mind, and she refused to accept that the newcomers were doomed to spend all of their time at Oarai, whether for one year, two years, or all three, out of place an struggling to adjust.
"You know, Mako, I can't really argue with the logic behind that, but you could think of it another way," Saori said. "They could be making the most of their time here, living each of their limited days to the fullest."
"That's one thing you often remind me of, Saori," Mako said with a slight smile. "Life isn't as much of a drag when you actually live it."
Haruka sat at her desk, making one last call to the liaison in charge of the boys attending school at Oarai.
"Hello, this is Takei," Haruka said. "I was calling you to let you know that a sizable portion of the students are apparently shirking on their reports."
"Yes, we are well aware of that, Takei-san," the liaison said. "The students send their feedback to us directly, so we are well aware of how many are not doing so. All feedback is anonymous, so we cannot identify who did or did not do their reports; it is a matter of individual responsibility."
"But… are you not concerned about the students' lack of participation?"Haruka said, somewhat caught off guard and confused as to how to respond to Kiyoshi's indifference.
"The information sent is beneficial to us," the liaison said, "But for us, it is ultimately a secondary objective, less important than the actual results, in order to identify possible concerns and areas where we should focus our efforts. Feel free to make an announcement of some sort on this matter to the school if you wish, or if you believe that it will spur the students to action, but other than that, don't concern yourself with it."
"Yes, sir," Haruka said, resignedly.
"Please let me know if any pressing problems require our attention," Kiyoshi said. "Until later."
"Goodbye," Haruka said, immediately before Kiyoshi hung up.
Haruka sat back in her chair with a sigh, letting off the pent-up frustration from the comment, and turned to Gomoyo, who had been waiting there while she called, listening and waiting for the result.
"I should have let Shizune do this," Haruka thought. Shizune's mother had been particularly strict with regards to manners, to the point at which Haruka had difficulty getting Shizune to call her "Haruka" instead of "Takei-san" once they became friends. But Shizune also had a talent for getting along with people who were otherwise unpleasant, and being polite even to people who would not show her the same courtesy.
"So, does the liaison not consider this a problem?" Gomoyo said.
"It seems that way," Haruka said, with exasperation seeping into her voice. It was personally difficult for her to remain polite to someone who not only made life difficult for her, but treated her condescendingly. "Gotou-san, if you somehow find out that someone is not doing their reports, please speak to them individually- I'm afraid that is all you can do at this point."
"Understood, Vice President," Gomoyo said. "I can only imagine what Sodoko would think about this," she added with an amused smile on her face, hoping to cheer up Haruka a little.
Haruka chuckled. "She had her hands full dealing with all the female students," she said. "I can only imagine how difficult it would be with the student body increasing by about 33 percent, but most of those newcomers not knowing the rules."
Gomoyo paused a moment; Haruka's seemingly casual comment had given her something to think about. "I wonder if the students are having some difficulty adjusting here? One male student, whom I escorted to detention, said he wouldn't have gotten that punishment for what he'd done back at his old school."
"That's plausible," Haruka said. "They've been uprooted from the schools they're used to, and put into one in which the majority are girls. Many of the rules are the same, but there might be a different degree of enforcement- like the difference between the laid-back Saunders and the very strict Black Forest. Whenever something happens that they don't like, whether they can no longer do the same things that they could before, or they get punished more than they think they deserve, they compare it to the way things were before. Normally, one would say to them that if they don't like it, they can leave for some place more their liking, but the students from Higashizawa can't very well go back to their old school now that it's been shut down, can they? The only thing they can do is learn to adjust, but that's not exactly an easy thing to do, nor is it something that you can easily convincingly tell others to do."
"To think every female student in Oarai was faced with being relocated and having a similar adjustment before…" Gomoyo said. "I understand what many of them are going through is the same as what we faced, but without having experienced it myself, my words would sound hollow to those boys. And whenever I catch someone and hand down a punishment, I feel as though I'm only addressing the symptoms of the problem, like putting a bucket beneath a leaky pipe rather than fixing the leak."
"What you said is true, Gotou-san; you and I can only do what we can in these times," Haruka said, and checked her watch. "Come along now, it's almost time for tankery practice."
Yukino then walked into the room, looking pale, and accompanied by the similarly distressed-looking Shizune.
"Ah, there you are, Vice President," Yukino said.
"Good timing, President, public relations rep," Haruka said. "We were about to head over to tankery practice."
"Before you do that…" Yukino said, "we should call Nishizumi-san over. The STU is making its next move."
"So, Garai, what do you think?" Saori asked Garai regarding the inconsistency between the frequency of his reports and those of the others, when they met with him at tankery practice.
Garai shrugged, not having heard about what they were talking about, and not knowing about other students doing theirs less often.
"I don't know, I've never really talked with my male classmates," Garai said. "Some of them don't like my doing tankery, and as for the rest, a lot of them have their own social groups, much like we have ours, so it's hard to mingle with them."
Saori sighed, disappointed that her investigation had gone nowhere.
"I guess we'll assume that the others are slacking off for now," Saori said. "But has anyone seen Miporin? I think she told us she had to take care of something."
Saori's cell phone beeped, and she quickly pulled it out of her pocket, checked the caller ID, and saw that it was from Miho.
"Hello, Miporin," Saori said.
"Hello, Saori-san?" Miho said. "Could you please come to the meeting room? We've received word that the STU will be challenging us again."
Saori let off a surprised gasp.
"I got it," Saori said. "Mako and Garai are with me; I'll bring them over."
"Ok, I'll see you there,"
"See you in a little bit, Miporin," Saori said, and hung up. She then turned to Mako and Garai. "We need to head to the meeting room- the STU will battle us again."
Mako's face adopted a surprised expression, and after a moment, Garai did so as well.
"Let's head on over," Garai said.
Miho and the rest of Team Anglerfish gathered in the meeting room, in advance of the actual strategy meeting, to discuss an e-mail Miho had received from the Advisor.
"It appears things may be more difficult this time," Miho said. "The enemy commander is one of the STU Council- also known as 'The Subjugator'. After Shirosame Academy lost to my school, and the Ohtori school lost to my sister and the students of my family's school, the STU Council may be taking matters into their own hands."
"What's so special about that Subjugator guy?" Mako said. "What does he do? How did he get chosen for his position? People like that who hide behind their exclusive clubs and their pretentious titles… I'd hate them if I didn't find them so laughable."
"Still, I don't like what they're planning," Miho said. "We're going to have to win this time and stop them."
"True, they are a threat," Mako said. "But that doesn't change the fact that they're a rather pathetic club house full of arrogant and entitled idiots, not unlike my first impression of Black Forest. I'm almost tempted to proclaim myself God Empress of the 'SUE' to make fun of them and their group. But apart from that, I don't want to lose to someone like him, so you can count on me to give my all as driver."
"But you have to wonder, Mako-san," Miho said, "Just how can they afford to act the way they do?"
"My guess is the people they lord over let them," Mako said. "But it could be that there's yet another ability in play, like the one your sister faced. I can only hope we'll be able to deal with it, its user and his army when the time comes."
As Oarai reached the battlefield, a large and wide-open plain near the coast, they saw the Subjugator walking over to greet them prior to preparations. The more optimistic members of the group expected him to taunt them or gloat. The more paranoid members suspected that he had something planned.
"Greetings, Nishizumi Miho," the Subjugator said. "I am known as the Subjugator, and I have an offer for you. Swear allegiance to me, and your school will never want for money again."
Miho immediately found the apparent generosity of what he was offering suspicious, even apart from knowing that he was the enemy. The previous student council had gone to great lengths to recruit her, but that was only because of her past experience in tankery. In this case, he needed only her allegiance to crumble the Oarai fighting potential, and once Oarai fell, he would not have to honor his promise.
"I refuse," Miho said. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what the conditions of this are, and have no reason to believe you will even follow through on your end. So what reason would I even have to say yes?"
The Subjugator sighed. Clearly, Miho was more canny than he had given her credit for- had she been told about what he could do?
"I suppose you are correct," the Subjugator said. "Most would have refused what I had to offer at the beginning. But once they accepted, all of them would do it all over again if given a chance. Allow me to introduce you to one such individual."
The Subjugator stepped forward and gestured toward a kimono-clad woman standing behind him. Few had noticed her, due to her standing behind him, and that she had not spoken before in that encounter.
"This is Kimura Kyouko," the Subjugator said. "From just looking at her, you would not be able to tell that she was once a juvenile delinquent. At 18, after knifing a rival gang member, she got arrested and was facing a prison sentence." He produced a mug shot of Kyouko, in which she wore a leather jacket, a shirt that exposed her midriff and short shorts. "But I made a little… deal with the judge, and Kyouko was, in lieu of imprisonment, given community service as my maid, under a law in the world where I come from that allows for work placement for sentenced criminals in lieu of prison."
"Is that even legal?" Miho thought, although she knew better than to expect anything resembling an honest answer, and so chose not to ask.
"Now, then," the Subjugator said. "Where did it all begin?"
Some time ago, in the Subjugator's world
Kyouko sat in the visitors' room at the detention center. While jaded and cynical, having watched more than one of her friends' lives cut short, she had to admit that she felt somewhat afraid at the possibility of going to prison, especially since she was once again reminded that she was a mere neophyte on the streets. But there still seemed to be hope for her, in the form of a contract to be signed, promising to get her out of prison if she merely signed the paper.
"This thing looks pretty shifty," Kyouko said.
"Kimura-san, I can assure you that you will be convicted if you go to court," her lawyer said. "I believe the prosecution has one of the other gang members, who has accepted a plea bargain and is testifying against you."
Kyouko looked over the contract, and saw a large amount of legal jargon that she did not fully understand. Toward the end, however, one part that caught her eye was a suggestion that any changes to the arrangement would also have to be approved by the signatory herself.
"Anything's better than going to jail," she said, having already had enough of being locked up in the detention center. She then signed the sheet, and her lawyer signed to signify his status as a witness. The Subjugator smiled.
"Now for one last part to make it official," the Subjugator said. "Kimura Kyouko, do you swear to pledge yourself to my service? If you accept, you need only say, 'Yes, Master', and it will be done."
"Two words, and I get out of this dump," Kyouko thought.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"I have you now," the Subjugator thought with a smirk as his powers take hold.
"Very good, Kyouko," he said. "After you are released, I will pick you up and bring you to where I live, so that you can start your service." Unbeknownst to Kyouko, those who were responsible for overseeing those case, as well as those responsible for overseeing said individuals, had either been paid off or tricked into signing the Subjugator's contract. There were those who found the Subjugator's influence suspicious, but he and his network were working to stonewall their efforts to find out more.
"Thank you, master," she said.
"Let's go, Kimura," a guard said as she started to escort Kyouko back to her cell.
"Yes, ma'am," Kyouko said.
The guard was surprised at Kyouko's sudden humility and politeness. "If everyone was that well-behaved, my job would be easier," she thought. "But then again, perhaps if everyone was that well behaved, we wouldn't need to build places that lock people up."
The Subjugator glanced at his newest acquisition. Her hair, once dyed yellow and unkempt, was now its natural dark color and styled in a bun. She had cast aside her leather jacket and other clothing for a brown kimono that the maids of the house wore- a uniform not unlike the one she detested wearing to school. Her former habit of truancy whenever she was not in the mood to attend school was gone, and she was now willing to work 12 hour days. Once she had signed the contract that put her in his thrall, she was more than willing to accept a re-negotiated and permanent contract regarding the terms of her service, which she would have never accepted, no matter how desperate she was before.
"I will retire to bed for the night," the Subjugator said. "You should go to bed as well, Kyouko; you have an early morning tomorrow."
"Yes, master," she said.
As the Subjugator entered his room and changed into his pajamas, he thought about the things he was able to do with his power. He was able to compel his employees to do anything for him, from working long hours, to doing illegal things and taking the fall without incriminating him if they got found out. Once they consented to him, they would do anything else he wished. Only those unable to suspect anything in the arrangement or too desperate to refuse would accept, but the Subjugator had no shortage of followers.
Eventually, the time came when the Patriarch caught wind of his talent, and charged him with forming and training a tankery team. The Subjugator accepted; tankery had always fascinated him, although he, for all his power, was unable to make inroads into it due to it being dominated by females, which was yet another reason he loathed women. Finding the men was fairly easy; all he needed to do was find men who would do anything for his help, or who did not fully understand the contract, and convince them to sign up. Many of his recruits were ex-military, and all of them, once they signed the contract and uttered the words he asked them to, were unfailingly loyal to him.
Filling the tanks was the easy part for the Subjugator, but the difficult part was bringing the crews up to speed. But the Subjugator was confident that thanks to his power, they would subject themselves to all manner of hellish training, and would follow his every order regardless of whether it led them into harm. Once everyone was under his power, there would be very little he could not do, and through the STU, he hoped to gain even greater power over tankery.
"Kyouko was once rebellious, but now she knows her place," the Subjugator said, after concluding his story. "You, too, will come to see things her way if you swallow your pride long enough to accept."
"Again, my answer is no," Miho said. "Not only do we have little reason to trust you, the enemy, but we also have our own identities and personalities. If we were to accept that, we would sacrifice all that we hold dear to become a mindless puppet, so none of us will ever say yes."
Miho's forcefulness was in part fueled by the desperate fear that any of her companions would say yes. She was in part afraid that one or moreof them might be swayed into abandoning her side and becoming an enemy, but more so that they would sign away their lives and freedom.
But when Miho turned back to her companions, she saw them standing firm, emboldened by their commander's words. None of them were even willing to consider the offer. Miho turned back to the Subjugator whose face had twisted into a frustrated glare.
"So Nishizumi Miho refuses to follow me?" the Subjugator thought. "That's the Achilles heel of my power; they only accept being my slave if they willingly consent to it, at which point they'll consent to anything I tell them to do. But only those who make that first act of submission will make the ones after that, hence why it is more difficult to ensnare people than it should be."
"So be it," the Subjugator said, his voice dripping with menacing intent. "You will come to regret your decision after your defeat."
The Subjugator then began to walk off, but after a moment, noticed that Kyouko was not following him. "Kyouko! We're leaving!" he called out.
"My apologies, master, I am coming," Kyouko said, walking as quickly as her kimono would allow.
As the Subjugator walked away, Miho let off a sigh as the tension drained away. She missed the friendly conversation she had with her counterparts from Shirosame, the laid-back informality of the top brass of Saunders' team, and the gracious and ladylike courtesy of Darjeeling and her companions. Even when she was confronted by the more competitive and ruthless Anchovy, Katyusha and Erika, she realized that there was a difference between their uncompromising drive for victory, and the STU's desperate lust for power, explicitly expressed by the Council, and shown by the minions they sent forth. And while Miho had always been willing to devote herself to winning, within reason, this time, she dreaded what would happen if she lost.
The two sides assembled to meet each other yet again, and Ami walked out to explain the rules. This time, like the last, would be a match with flag tanks, but the rules had been changed to match the semi-finals; each team could field up to 15 tanks from their respective organization. The Subjugator could field tanks and use crewmen from his personal tank company, but not from the rest of the STU or any affiliated organizations. Miho could use all of Oarai's tanks and team members.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Ami said.
"You're going to be judging this match?" The Subjugator said, with thinly disguised contempt in his voice.
"Yes, sir," Ami said. "Two other female judges will be alongside me. They have years of experience judging high school and professional-level tankery matches; I have seen their work and can vouch for their skill, knowledge, impartiality and professionalism."
"Women?" he said.
"If you have any complaints, please call this number and ask for my superior officer, Colonel Seki Subaru," Ami said, handing him a card.
The Subjugator glanced at Garai with contempt, a visceral disgust temporarily overcoming rational thought. In his mind, man should be the one to rule over the women and guide them, and seeing Garai not only serving alongside girls, but serving under one filled him with disgust. Perhaps it would only last until the STU succeeded, but the very idea of it went against the Subjugator's beliefs about tankery and society.
But to the Subjugator, these setbacks were of no concern to him. Those who did not bow before him would be forced to their knees. That which they did not give to him, he would take for himself. He would succeed where the others from the STU had failed and become the driving force behind the new generation of Tankery practitioners.
Omake
"Allow me to reiterate that I am pleased to have you join our cause," the Patriarch said to the Subjugator at his first meeting of the STU Council. "But we must establish some ground rules regarding your powers."
"To put it quite simply," the Centurion said. "The STU is an organization that is founded on cooperation; we all make compromises in order to achieve the organization's goal, and with it, our individual ones. Your ability gives you the ability to bend others to your will, and as such, we must be certain that if you use it, it will be for the good of us all, rather than merely your own."
"Fair enough," the Subjugator said. While he was less than confident that the members would not try to betray each other or cheat their way out of their obligations, he knew that they would at least expect him to pledge his cooperation.
"First, you will be held responsible for the actions of any of your subordinates under your command, should they interfere with our mission, intentionally or otherwise," the Patriarch said. "The severity of your punishment will depend on how damaging and how deliberate the subordinates' interference is."
"I accept," the Subjugator said. Having once boasted that those in his thrall "do not so much as breathe without my permission," he was well aware that the Patriarch would know that if any one of them did anything that seemed like treason, they did so by the Subjugator's command.
"Second, you are not to enter any member of the STU, or any of our affiliated organizations besides your own into a binding contract of obedience to you," the Patriarch said. "If you are discovered to have violated this rule for the purpose of subverting any members' loyalty to the STU, you and those you contracted will be considered enemies of the STU."
"I will do no such thing," the Subjugator said.
"Very well," the Patriarch said. "I hereby welcome you into the STU."
The meeting continued as usual, and afterward, the Storyteller contacted the Patriarch for a private discussion.
"I have to wonder how loyal the Subjugator will be to us, or how effective he will be," the Storyteller said. "He's arrogant, he looks down on women, and he is not the kind of person who would willingly bow to others."
"The sexists are distasteful, but they have their uses as far as overthrowing the women in charge of tankery goes, especially when certain women in tankery, of whom I'm well aware, are quite arrogant themselves" the Patriarch said, fully aware that the majority of women would not accept his plan, even if they weren't satisfied with the status quo. "As for his arrogance, that is where you come in. If he steps out of line, it is up to you to permanently deal with him."
The STU was an alliance of convenience between its council members. But they all realized that a single victory was needed for success, and so were willing to do whatever was necessary to secure that victory, as all their goals had that as a common prerequisite.
Author's Notes
Gomoyo seems to, from her reactions, be more easy-going than Sodoko is, although she is also committed to keeping the rules, as she comments in OVA 6 that she's worried that there will be chaos if another team wins the grand prize.
The Subjugator represents characters who are arrogant and expect others to fall in line behind them, often succeeding in doing so, as well as the tendency of relative newcomers to look down on the canon characters and express the controversial and often bigoted views of their authors.
Ending Theme Team: New Leopon Team