[A/N]: Well hell... I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but it would appear I do.

Life and work have got more hectic, and sadly I don't have much time to write anymore. That doesn't mean I'm giving up, but it's gonna be even longer between uploads. Writer's block has hit me hard too.

With that, I present to you my progress since my last update. I hope you enjoy, and if anyone has any ideas as to how I can extend the time between matches, please shoot me a PM.

"I mean… I can do it, but why do you want me to sing? My singing voice isn't that good." I ask Kay over dinner, looking at a music and lyrics sheet beside my plate of casserole.

"Because you've known English since you were little, you've done this song before, and your singing voice is much better than you think. I've seen the videos." She says with her trademark smile, knowing she's got me cornered. "You only have to sing for this song. I won't ask any more from you."

I think back to the last time I sang the song while I chew a bite of food, and sigh before stacking the papers. "I'll do it, but when and where are we performing?"

"Two days before our next match. We're going to have a bonfire and a tailgate party to blow off steam before the match."

"So that's… a little less than two weeks?"

"Yeah."

I hum in thought for a moment before my attention is finally brought to my aunt, who is glaring at me, having repeatedly stomped on the foot of my prosthetic. "Yes?"

"Can we talk about something at dinner other than tankery?"

"Sure. What would you like to talk about?" I ask, putting her in the spotlight.

"Well there's uh…." She tapers off for a minute, her face progressively turning more red until she huffs. "Fine!"

I smile and turn back to Kay. "Sumiko had an idea for a command element of a couple heavier vehicles to accompany the Panther. Two Pershing's."

"Isn't that the new girl with the eyepatch?"

"Yeah. We know each other from when I was in the hospital. Her sister's a platoon commander for the All-Stars team."

"Well, do the Pershing's fit into the doctrine?"

I think for a moment and nod slowly. "A bit loosely, but yeah."

"Then I'll have two pulled out of storage. Though…. The all-stars usually buy up most of the parts…. So getting parts might be a bit difficult…"

I finish my dinner and sit back in my chair. "Do what you can. I don't think we'll need them ready for the next battle, but if we get into the finals we'll definitely need them. While my mind is on the subject, who is our next opponent?"

"Bonple High. A Polish-based school, but they bought some Shermans from us during the off-season."

"Lend-Lease…." I grumble, excusing myself from the table and carrying my dirty dishes into the kitchen. Once my dishes are in the sink I go to our room and sit on my bunk, starting my research on Bonple.

X-Three days later-X

"X multiplied by the denominator of C… Carry the five..." I mutter to myself while I'm doing homework, my headset over my ears and my computer on the floor beside my bunk. "If C is…. wait…. what?"

{'User joined your channel!'} The automated voice peals through my headset, jerking my attention away from the excessively long math equation.

"Hello?" I ask in English, hoping it's one of my American friends.

{Hey! Where you been?}

"Hi Brandon. Sorry for not dropping in more often. I've been busy with school and Sensha-Dou."

{It's all good, I've been getting more hours at work. How you been?}

"I've never been better. Kay made me operational team commander, I won my first official Sensha-Dou match, and it turns out I do have some blood family in America."

{Congratulations! Does that mean you'll be moving to America?}

"Maybe, I don't know yet. I'm trying to-"

{'User joined your channel!'}

{She lives!}

"Hi Goodwin."

{'Sup.} The Canadian chuckles.

"Oh, just the usual. Been really busy."

{Haven't we all. I'm just stopping by to say hi. I'm off to work. Later!}

{'User disconnected from your channel!'}

"Anyways. As I was saying, I've just been trying to get a feel for how my aunt ticks. She's nice and all, but I get the impression she's not a fan of tankery."

{Yikes. She been trying to get you to quit or something?}

"No, nothing like that. She doesn't like it when Kay and I talk about it at dinner, and she doesn't want my cousin to join the team, despite the fact that they're here for a couple months." I respond while trying to figure out the problem, debating if I should peek at Kay's notes or not.

{ . . . . Hey take a look at the link I'm about to send you. Look's like you're gonna be famous.} Brandon says before the chat pings with a notification.

"Eh?"

I pull my computer up off the floor and open the link, finding a picture of me taken after the previous match, my legs hanging off the turret and my prosthetic in full view while I wave at the crowd. The title is what surprises me.

'Saunders' New Commander?'

"What's this?"

{People caught on quick that you're the new commander. I just was looking for the footage of the match when I found that.}

I start scrolling through the discussion page out of curiosity, and find multiple people providing evidence towards the claim, backed up with timestamps for the multi-perspective video that the Sensha-Dou team released. Others ask questions like 'where'd this girl come from?', to which there's a ton of speculation, some of which is really out there.

"Wow, this discussion is huge."

{No kidding. There's two branches from it as well.}

I continue scrolling through the various posts under the discussion for nearly half an hour until Kay walks in, flopping down on her bed.

"Hey Sis', come look at this." I say in Japanese.

"Do I have to?"

"I'd prefer if you did, it's a discussion page about our match."

{Hi Kay!} Brandon cheers loud enough to make me cringe.

"One of my American friends says hi."

{Unplug your headset, I wanna talk with her!}

I sigh and do as he asks, unplugging my headset and pulling it down around my neck while Kay stands up and walks over. "He wants to talk to you."

"Okay. Hello!"

{Hello Kay! You're awesome!}

"Awe, thank you! Where in America are you from?"

{I'm from Virginia.}

"Wow, how'd you get to know Chris?" Kay asks, scrolling through the article with an intrigued expression.

{We met playing on Arma. She kinda tagged along with our group, and after all the fighting was done we asked if she wanted to join.}

"Mainly because I'm a girl." I tease him.

{N-no! Er…. okay maybe a little, but also because you were really good.}

"For a girl."

{ . . . I plead the fifth.}

I roll my eyes and sigh. "Figured."

Kay giggles and sets the computer down, going over to her bed and grabbing her paper, comparing answers with me while Brandon excuses himself, going to do something away from his computer.

"You messed up on that one, that's why you're confused."

"Eh? Let me see how you did it . . . Oh! I see. Thank you."

I start working on the problem again, erasing what I already wrote and redoing the equation. Once I actually have the problem set up, everything falls into place and I move onto the next equation.

"So what did you think of that forum?" I ask Kay, starting to crank out the rest of the equations.

"People have definitely done their homework. They know what to look for."

I nod and finish the last problem on the page, then put the paper in my bag. "How long until we have practice?"

"Two hours. Then we've got maintenance and prep after that. I was just about to send out a two hour heads-up."

{I come back and all I hear is Japanese.} Brandon states calmly.

"Got a problem with that?" I challenge jokingly.

{Nope. Though I'm half expecting subtitles to pop up on my screen somewhere.}

Kay and I both sigh as my phone goes off. I pick it up and unlock it, looking at my messages.

[Sumiko: HQ platoon warm up before practice?]

[Me: Eh… okay! Meet at the garage in 30 minutes.]

[Sako: I'll pick you up in 15 Chris.]

[Tamaka: Suki and I are boresighting the gun right now.]

[Me: If you wait, I'll help!]

[Tamaka: No need, we're almost done.]

[Me: . . . I'll be there in a bit. I wanna walk.]

I lock my phone and put it in my back pocket, grabbing my jacket and putting my prosthetic on, having not bothered to remove the boot. "The HQ platoon is going to practice before practice. I'll see you there."

"Oh okay. Can I use your computer?"

"Sure." I say with a nod, picking it up and disconnecting from the voice lobby before carrying it over to her desk. I throw my jacket on and walk into the hall, finding Alison already there.

"Hey. I was just about to go for a run." She says with a knowing smile, hiking a small backpack up on one shoulder.

"Me too. Did you clear it with Kaylee?" I ask.

"Nah."

"Okay then." I giggle as I open the front door and wave her through, following close behind and gently closing the door. We both jog down the stairs and start up the street towards the school, passing the general store and theatre a block from the house.

"I wanna help the team with maintenance. I don't care what my mom wants." She huffs from beside me.

"I'll help cover for you as best I can." I huff back, enjoying the run. "But she'll bust you eventually. There's no hiding the smell of steel and oil."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"So how are your classes?" I ask, since she started as a temporary transfer student recently.

"They're . . . Going. I'm having trouble keeping up with how fast the teacher is talking. People really follow stereotypes though . . . it's like being in Japanese class all over again, just . . . reversed." I snort in amusement before she continues. "I want to join the Sensha-Dou team, but mom won't let me, so I joined the mechanic club."

"That's good. You'll be able to help us with less suspicion from your mom then." I pat her on the back before I slow down, now only a block from the school.

"Yeah . . ." She pants, looking at the massive red building, " . . . I can't get over how big this school is."

"Yeah . . . . It's one of the biggest schools in Japan." I sigh happily, running out of things to talk about. We cross the street and pass through the gate, then I notice some students walking out of one of the auxiliary buildings, and promptly steer Alison in the opposite direction. "This way~"

"Huh? Why?"

"Don't worry about it, just walk faster!" I hiss as we round a corner. We quickly walk through one of the alleys, then enter the garage through a side entrance.

"What was all that about?!" Alison yells once we're inside.

"That, was the cowboy club. In the interest of time and sanity, it's best you don't encounter them."

"Cowboy club…?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"They dress up like cowboys and use very bad accents. They're so cringey it hurts."

"Oh… thanks." She mutters with a disturbed expression as we approach the rear of Unicorn.

"Christina-sama!" Sumiko's voice peals from between Unicorn and one of the Pershings. I grab Alison and pull her back, just in time for the one-eyed girl to come sailing out of the gap, stumbling and falling face-first on the concrete when she doesn't collide with either of us.

"Hi Sumiko. Tone down your excitement a little please. You see me every day."

She merely pouts as she gets up and walks over, giving me a quick hug, then climbing up onto her Pershing, lowering herself into the commander's hatch.

"Chris! We've got the practice area reserved! Let's go!" Sako yells from the front of the Panther.

"Alright! Command element, load up!"

"I'll be in the weight room. See you after practice." Alison says with a smile, saluting me before she jogs off towards the opposite end of the garage, opting to use the back door through the equipment and parts storage area.

I clamber up onto the engine deck of Unicorn and lower myself into my cupola, giving Tetsuki a friendly clap on the shoulder before putting my headset and helmet on. "Start it up, Sako!"