Chapter 21 - Of mice and men

The day started fairly normal for Toshiro. He woke up refreshed at 0500, and went outside to do his usual morning jog. After he jogged up to the point from which he could see Mio training, but something was different today in his feeling.

Her moves are slower… And a bit forced… Could it be that… No… No… No!

Toshiro ran up to Mio, which stopped swinging her sword and said:

"Oh, hello Toshiro, what brings you here?" She asked.

"Mio, is everything alright?"

"Fine, as usual? Why do you ask?"

"After yesterday's training, or should I say full on battle, I know your sword technique too well. You are forcing yourself today..."

"So you noticed… Don't fret, nothing a little pain to strengthen a warrior, haha… ugh…" Mio tried to laugh her usual way but curled up in pain halfway.

"Mio, damn you! I told you to get that fixed by Yoshika! But no! Sure, 'embrace the pain', but what if I fractured a rib of yours, and you'll end up with a pierced lung or even both?! What then?! You are the only one holding this unit together and if you die…" Toshiro looked down for a moment. "Well, putting aside my personal feelings, you probably imagine what Maloney would do with such a godsend?"

"Maloney... Well, fine, be it your way. Let's go and wake up Miyafuji."

"Should I carry you?" Toshiro asked with a smile.

"Don't push your luck…"

"Haha!" Toshiro laughed.

They slowly went inside the base. While climbing the stairs, Mio suddenly asked:

"Toshiro, did you think about fighting the Neuroi with a sword? After yesterday I'm confident enough to let you try."

Toshiro stopped on the stairs and thought for almost a minute

"I must say, the perspective of flying over a thousand kilometers per hour at the enemy with a blade sounds like the ultimate dream of a warrior, but I must decline."

"Why so?"

"Did you by chance took into consideration that I could go berserk on one of the girls?"

"No…" Her face got a grim look while she was thinking.

"Let me put up an example: I have a katana with me. We get some guest that does not know me enough, let's say... some general. And by chance, I trip and fall on the general, and he somehow insults my family. I go berserk, grab my katana, dice up the general into bits, and get the whole unit and myself in trouble. I know, it's pretty farfetched, but still possible, don't you think?"

"I didn't think of it that way… So what you want to say is that you won't pull out a sword in combat or outside of it, until you are perfectly sure you won't kill anyone?"

"Correct. But now is not the time to talk about me, let's go to Yoshika already."

They arrived before the door to Yoshika's room.

I have such an urge to kick down the door and scare the proverbial pants off her, but…

Mio opened the door before he could finish his thought. Toshiro followed her inside.

Yoshika was lying on the bed uncovered, in a messy position, with her nightgown almost revealing her girly parts. Her arms were extended upwards, and she was slowly doing a groping motion with them. Mio and Toshiro sneaked closer to her, and they could hear her muttering:

"Shirley… soft... big…"

They both looked at each other with faces full of consternation.

"Mio, I'll wake her up." He whispered.

Toshiro grabbed her shoulder and started shaking her gently.

"Yoshika… Yoshika… Wake up…" He said rather silently.

She started to open her eyes.

"Hey, Yoshika, I hate to interrupt your lewd dreams concerning the voluminous chest of Shirley, but we have quite the situation here…"

Her eyes widened, as she comprehended the current situation.

"What?! Who?! No! I wasn't…" She locked her eyes onto the Major. "Oh, Miss Sakamoto is here too?"

"You see… That little incident from yesterday… Let's say the bruise Mio has is not the only thing to worry about…"

"Oh!" Yoshika gasped and covered her mouth.

She stood up immediately, and approached the Major.

"Miss Sakamoto, please, lie down, I have to examine you!" She said and pulled her over to the bed.

"Okay, okay…" Mio said and lied down on the bed.

"Um… You will need to remove the uniform and swimsuit…" Yoshika said and blushed madly.

"Fine…" She said and started to undress.

Yoshika looked at Toshiro, then at Mio, back at Toshiro, and finally on Mio.

"Eh… Miss Sakamoto… Wouldn't it be… inappropriate to undress before… you know…"

"Oh, that… No, I'm fine with that. I am proud of my body, and besides, Toshiro already saw me naked during yesterdays… private mixed bathing session… And to be honest, I also saw him naked in Fuso…"

"Well yeah, Mio kind of surprised me yester…HEY! I was naked back there in the infirmary?!"

"Well… Yes… The doctors wanted to examine you thoroughly and I sort of barged in…" She blushed slightly.

"Okay, okay, don't say anything more…"

Mio pulled down the upper half of her swimsuit. Yoshika gasped at the sight. The bruise did yellow up on the edges, but there was still a violet line going all the way through her rather well-endowed chest.

"I believe Mio could have a broken rib..." Toshiro said quietly.

"Miss Sakamoto, please lie down, I have to heal you immediately!" Yoshika shouted.

"Good…" Mio said and lied down.

Yoshika started to use her healing magic right away. The bruise started to fade away slowly, but she soon started gasping and sweating.

"Any help?" Toshiro asked.

"Please… Help…" Yoshika said gasping for air.

Toshiro stepped up to Yoshika, laid his hand on Yoshika's shoulder and activated his magic power.

The healing spell immediately increased its potential, healing Mio's bruise and whatever physical ailments at hand.

Yoshika deactivated her magic, and collapsed on Mio.

"Incredible… Toshiro, what was that?" Mio asked.

"Dunno… I seem to have some connection to Yoshika, but I can't quite figure out its meaning…"

Toshiro turned his head, and he saw a framed photo on Yoshika's nightstand. He picked it up, and looked closer at it. It was an old photo, tarnished by time. There was a Striker Unit hanging on chains in the middle, and various people in lab coats around. In the foreground, you could see a handsome looking man in glasses and a small girl with an eye patch.

"Major… Is that…"

"Yes, Toshiro, it's me when I was young. The man on the right is Ichiro Miyafuji, Yoshika's father."

"Wow…"

"There's also one other person in this photo who you should know about…" Mio said with an emotionless voice.

"Oh? And that would be?"

"The man right behind Ichiro…"

It was a rather burly man in a lab coat, with dark hair and a big mustache, holding a file.

"Yes? Who is it?" Toshiro asked truly interested.

"It's your father…"

Toshiro's eyes widened, and his hands started to shake.

"F-f-f-father…" he stuttered

"Yes, Lucas Andrew Edelweiss…"

A single tear rolled down his cheek, and dropped on the photo.

"Father… Well, he surely was a manly man, you could say…"

"Toshiro, I'm sorry I didn't show you this photo earlier… I…"

"Better late than never, Mio…" He said and smiled.

Yoshika started slowly gaining consciousness.

"Hmmm… Whaa… Oh, Miss Sakamoto… You are all well…" She said a little groggy, and turned her head to Toshiro "Toshiro… Why are you so happy?"

He turned the photo to her, and pointed out his father.

"See this guy?" He asked Yoshika and pounded his chest with pride. "My father!"

"Oh… Did you never see any photos of him?" She asked.

"No… I waited for seventeen years to at least see his face…" Toshiro said with a melancholic voice.

"I'm glad you finally did…" Yoshika said with compassion.

They were sitting just like that for the next few minutes.

"Uwaaah… Oh, sorry, I'm kind of sleepy…" Yoshika said.

"We have to go anyway, right Toshiro?" Mio said.

"Yeah, time to go. Take a nap, Yoshika" Toshiro said to Yoshika.

"Sure…" She said and dropped on her bed.

Mio and Toshiro went out of Yoshika's room and closed the door.

"Thank you, Mio…" Toshiro said suddenly and went in the direction of his room.

"To…" She wanted to say his name but stopped.

What she couldn't see, was that Toshiro's face was already wet from tears.

Thank you, Mio… Thank you…

He went to his room, dropped on the bed and just stared emptily at the ceiling with wet eyes and a big grin.

After a few hours, he decided to go down and take a bite. After a short while, he would hear a scream, and see Perrine running towards him with terrified face.

"AAAAAAIAAAA!" She screamed.

"Perrine? What hap…" He didn't finish because she jumped on him and held his neck.

"I-i-in my room! C-Come quickly!" She shouted with a stuttering voice.

"Okay, okay…"

Toshiro ran to her room with Perrine hanging from his neck. When they entered, she pointed at her bed.

"There! There it was!"

"What are you talking about, Perrine…" Toshiro said irritated.

"Oh, just look!"

"Then unhand me for crying out loud…"

"Oh, okay…"

She dropped to the ground, but remained tense. Toshiro slowly walked up to the bed, and peeked under it. Under it was a demon straight from hell, at least Perrine though so, but in reality, it was a small grey mouse. Toshiro almost exploded with laughter, but instead caught the mouse by its tail with a swift move.

With the mouse hanging by its tail, he stood up, and turned around. When Perrine saw the mouse, she lost it.

"EEEEEEEK! MON DIEU! A MOUSE! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!"

"Perrine…"

"EEEEEEEK! KILL IT!"

"Perrine…"

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

"PERRINE!" Toshiro shouted from the bottom of his lungs

She stopped screaming immediately.

"Are you trying to tell me, that the Pride of Gallia, a witch fighting the Neuroi in one of the best squadrons in the world is afraid of mice?!"

"Well… Um…"

"I can understand an unorthodox, one sided relationship with a superior, I can understand bitching on the new girl, but being afraid of a mouse, while you battle monsters the size of barns… Mind blowing… Fetch me some stale bread or some cheese…"

"But…"

"Now!" Toshiro said angrily through clenched teeth.

Perrine immediately ran away.

Absurd! Impossible! I'd expect death rather than such a development…

Perrine returned, and stood before him out of breath. She had a little rectangular piece of cheese.

"Okay, crumble the cheese into smaller parts on my hand."

Perrine did what she was told.

"And now…"

Toshiro placed the mouse on his other hand. Perrine and the mouse both froze at the same time, but the mouse had guts, and started nibbling on the cheese after a few seconds of sniffing around.

"See? Was that so hard? And you wanted me to kill it, barbarian…"

Perrine looked at Toshiro with a sorry face.

"Now we will release it outside, come with me."

Toshiro and Perrine went out of the building and near the shooting range. He put down the mouse on the grass.

"Quest completed."

"You are such a kind man…"

"The concept of karma: good things come back, same as the bad ones… Say… I always wondered what the 'H.' in your name means…"

"Well... Perrine is actually a name I use not to undermine people with my aristocratic roots… My full name is Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann…" She said silently and blushed.

"Perriette-Henriette… Yeah, has an upper class ring to it as far as I can judge… But Perrine is just cuter, like the whole of you…" He said with a smile.

"Oooh you… Flatterer… You really think I'm cute…?"

"Yes, absolutely. When you're not bitching about everything around that is." Toshiro said with irony.

"Ruffian!"

"Hahaha! The two polarities of Perrine… Hey, I have to leave you now; I have to eat my breakfast."

"Oh, hey, we can go together, I still didn't eat because of that mouse…"

"Sure, let's go."

They only found Yoshika and Lynne in the kitchen, cleaning up after the breakfast.

"Aaaaw… We're too late…" Perrine mumbled, obviously disappointed.

Yoshika looked at her curiously and said

"Oh, Perrine… And Toshiro… Don't worry, we saved some sandwiches for you, and Lynne can make some tea." She said with a cheerful voice.

Lynne turned her head back, nodded agreeing and went to boil some water.

"Hmmph…" Perrine pouted. "Not that I expected anything else…"

She went to take a seat, and Toshiro followed. While he was passing Yoshika, he whispered:

"Thanks, Yoshika."

Yoshika was startled, but covered her emotions quickly. She went to the kitchen, rummaged in the cupboard for a while and pulled out a platter with sandwiches. Afterwards, she returned to her two hungry guests, and placed the platter between them.

They munched their sandwiches in silence, and when Lynne brought them tea, Toshiro thanked her with a nod. That was enough to put a smile on Lynne's face.

He finished his breakfast, and went out of the dining room saying:

"It was delicious, thanks girls!"

Both Lynne and Yoshika turned their heads around and smiled at him brightly.

Toshiro went back to his room, wanting to finish his book, which only had a few dozens of pages left.

After reading for some time, he closed the book and triumphantly said to himself:

"Done! I have to return it to Minna now.

He slowly went to her office, and knocked on the door.

"Come in." He heard.

Toshiro opened the door, and slid in.

"Hi, Minna. Finally read that book, and I'm returning it now."

"Oh, good for you. Please, just place it on my desk, and pick up another one from the shelf if you want." She said with a smile.

"No, thank Minna. I'll be studying the tech docs Ursula brought me; it might prove to be of worth later on."

"Well, commendable effort, Toshiro. But for now, I believe you'll want to go out to the entrance steps." She said with a mysterious smile.

"Oh, do I? Well, if you say so…" Toshiro said and winked.

Toshiro turned back, opened the door, but he was stopped midway by Minna saying:

"But check in on my once everything is over, we have to talk…"

I don't like that tone… Did she get wind of yesterdays?

"Okay, Minna, will do." He said and exited the room.

He ran out to the main door, and went outside. There was nothing there.

Did Minna trick me? Or maybe… Well, might as well wait a few minutes...

After about five minutes, a car approached the entrance. The driver was unknown to Toshiro, but the passenger on the other hand was another story.

The car stopped, and the passenger got out.

"Trude!" Toshiro shouted with joy.

"Oh, Toshiro!"

They hugged as if she wasn't on a trip not for a day but for a year.

"Hey, so how was it?" Toshiro asked.

"Chris… Chris was conscious for an hour! When I came into her room and grabbed her hand… She suddenly awakened…" Trude said with glittering eyes.

"Woah! Great news! How is she?"

"As cute and cheerful as ever! I bought her a new dress and some candy using your money, and she almost flipped! Oh, wait, I took a photo with her!"

Trude was simply ecstatic when talking about her sister now. She pulled out a photo out of her pocket, and gave it to Toshiro. He glanced at it. The photo showed Trude sitting beside her sister on a hospital bed. They both were smiling.

"You shat me not saying she's cute and similar to Yoshika…"

There's no way her little sister is that cute!

"Isn't she? Isn't she really?!" Trude continued being a diehard siscon.

"Yeah, sure, but you know…" Toshiro wanted to back out somehow, but he got unexpected help.

"Truuuuudyyy!"

A blond flash went past Toshiro and went at Trude. It was Erica, and she probably wanted to squeeze the soul out of Trude.

"Hi, Erica, nice to meet you after… a day…"

Toshiro seeing an opportunity ditched the girls, and went back to Minna. As soon as he entered, she quickly approached him.

"So, Minna, what…"

SLAP!

Minna slapped him on the face so hard it truly hurt him. Toshiro was surprised at first, but then he said:

"You squeezed out some info out of Mio, did you...?" He said with a voice bearing no trace of emotions.

"Yes… You really went overboard yesterday…"

"Sorry… But Mio agreed to be more careful when training with me… I could say the same…"

"Your power level is truly a mixed blessing…" Minna placed her hand on his cheek and looked him in the eyes "But I believe you will harness your powers someday, and on that day, you will become an even better person…"

"I will tr…" Toshiro couldn't finish because of what happened

Minna suddenly kissed him on the very same cheek she hit.

"That is for you to remember this conversation." She said and smiled.

"Yes ma'am…" Toshiro said with a distant voice.

"Now, you can go."

"Yes ma'am…" Toshiro repeated.

He went out of her office, and went to his room. Toshiro just dropped on his bed, and stared into the wall.

For the rest of the day, he studied the documents from Ursula, starting from the Striker Unit manual and servicing instruction, only going out to eat something. The things he found out put up a smile on his face.

When it got dark, he went for a bath. This time however, he was undisturbed for almost an hour. After he got out, he went back to his room, and fell asleep.

Notes:

Photograph – the same one as in the anime, a clever way to place Toshiro's father there

There's no way her little sister is that cute! – kind of obvious jab at Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

Siscon – a word you will hear just too much in the aforementioned anime, basically means "sister lover"

If you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]

Also! Make sure you pop-in on our Discord server! We have other Strike Witches authors, and more! Link in my profile.