Just a heads up! Italics while speaking indicates another language! This chapter features German and French!

Looks like I left the rights to GUP in my other pants, so...I don't own Girls Und Panzer.

Chapter Five: Selection, Please!

It hadn't been long since they had taken off from the carrier. Since it was just the two captains who needed to be at the drawing, there was no sense in steering the entire ship to the meeting. So Jack and Darjeeling were flown there in a de Havilland Albatross.

Darjeeling watched Jack from across the plane, wondering if he was sleeping. He was sitting against the wall with his head back and eyes closed. His breathing was even and measured. It certainly seemed like he was asleep.

But every so often his face would twitch. It was almost imperceptible, just the slightest movement at the corner of his mouth. It was this that caused Darjeeling to doubt he was sleeping.

They suddenly hit some turbulence, causing the plane to shake. Jack's eyes flew open, his hands gripping the armrests of his seat.

Apparently he hadn't been sleeping.

Darjeeling giggled at the spectacle. Yes, it wasn't very lady-like of her to do so, but she couldn't stop herself. Usually Jack was very calm and collected. Yet now he seemed jumpy and uneasy. The contrast was rather amusing.

"I'm glad at least one of us is having a good time," Jack quipped.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Darjeeling responded. "Don't like flying?"

"I'm just more comfortable with 35 tonnes of steel beneath me than I am with 5,000 meters of air."

Darjeeling simply laughed once more at his statement. While she didn't have any problems with aircraft, she could understand the sentiment. It just felt right being in a tank.

Jack looked around in wonder as they approached the building where the selection was held. He never thought he would find himself there. He was resigned to his role as a bystander. Then the rule change came, and he was here, walking into a building with the schools he had so long watched.

Of course, being a boy, he drew a lot of attention. In fact, Jack didn't think he saw a single other male there. Which made sense. With tankery being a female-only sport for so long, a male commander was quite a radical change.

"Guten Tag, Mechaniker."

Jack stopped upon hearing that. German. The voice. And there was only one person in the world that called him "Mechaniker". Smiling, Jack turned around to greet the blonde that called out to him.

"Guten Tag, Erika," he replied. "It's been a while. How are you?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Darjeeling interjected, thoroughly confused.

"We met while he was helping Kuromorimine," Erika said.

"I was there on an internship," Jack explained. "Long story short, to be close to tankery I joined the Heavy Mechanics course at St. Thomas'. Kuromorimine offers internships to students in the course to work on their tanks. I was assigned to Erika's Tiger II."

With that explained, the group then proceeded into the auditorium. It was amazing for Jack to think that all of the commanders were here in this building. Many had even brought their Second-In-Command with them. It was a surprising amount of people there.

Of course, with many people, there are also many differing opinions. Especially concerning boys and tanks. As Jack was about to discover, some of those opinions weren't very supportive.

"Beurk! Who allowed this scélérat to enter here?"

None of them understood the French, but the tone of the voice made the intention clear. All three of them turned to face the speaker. She wore a BC Freedom High School uniform and a sneer on her otherwise pretty face.

"Pardon?" Jack said.

"You don't belong here. Don't you know?" The girl narrowed her brown eyes. "Or are you just here mess around?"

Whoever this blonde stranger was, Darjeeling quickly decided that she didn't like her attitude. Yet before she could step in, Jack put a hand on her shoulder. A gentle shake of his head was all he gave her.

"Not worth it," Jack said, walking away.

It was then he spotted someone he knew.

Although only the commanders really needed to come to the selection, the entire Anglerfish crew made the trip. It was a bit of a fiasco to get Mako on the plane, considering her fear of heights, but she soon fell asleep once they were on their way. Miho smiled as the group approached the building.

"Miporin, there's a guy!"

"Of course there is, Saori," Miho responded. "They're allowed to do tankery now, too."

"No, I mean he's coming over here," Saori clarified.

Miho looked over where Saori was focused. Sure enough, there was a boy walking towards them. His uniform was one that Miho had never seen before. He was wearing a blue collared shirt with the first few buttons undone, a white t-shirt, and black slacks. However, there was something about him that seemed very familiar.

It was then that Miho recognized the jet-black hair.

"Jack?"

"You know him?" Saori said, looking at Miho with surprise.

"He interned as a tank mechanic while I was at Kuromorimine," Miho explained.

Saori looked back at the approaching male. Good looking and was also interested in tanks? That was almost too good to be true. Saori quickly did a once-over of herself, trying to look as good as possible. She could feel herself blushing, but that was okay. In her experience, guys find girls who blush a lot cuter.

"Hi there, I'm Miporin's friend Saori…"

She trailed off as he went right by her and straight to Miho.

"Guten Tag, Miho! Wie gehts?" Jack greeted her.

"Mir geht es gut, Jack," Miho responded with a smile. "You're German is getting much better."

"Ms. Nishizumi, you speak German?" Yukari exclaimed.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Saori moaned.

A tone rang out over the speaker system, signaling that it was time to enter the auditorium. The doors were opened, and everyone began to fill in. Jack shrugged and grinned at Miho.

"We'll catch up later, okay? You better introduce me to your friends, too!" he said as he ran off.

"St. Thomas' Academy draws number fifteen!"

Jack looked back at the display to see who their opponent would be. Unfortunately, that spot hadn't been filled yet. Jack simply shrugged and walked off the stage. He returned to his seat, Darjeeling sitting next to him.

"Did you know that in a 3x3 magic square, all directions add up to fifteen?" she asked as he sat down.

"Let's hope our debut in the tournament is just a magical," Jack quipped.

Darjeeling struggled to contain her laughter as the next school's representative took the stage. She was somewhat surprised to find that it was Mika. Darjeeling was under the impression that Mike mostly did her own thing, regardless of the federation.

"Jatkosota High School draws number sixteen!"

Jack watched as the school's name appeared next to St. Thomas' Academy. Now he knew who he would be facing in the first round. Unfortunately, he didn't know much about Jatkosota High School. He turned to ask Darjeeling a question, but stopped when he saw her face.

It was full of pity, as though the match had already been decided.