In which we continue with our preparations for the upcoming match. Alliances will be formed, loyalties tested, and Miho might finally get to second base.
Miho Nishizumi was, for the first time she could remember, finally alone with a boy at her house. What's more, it was her own little student dorm/apartment, and her family wouldn't be coming in, seeing as how they were at a minimum a hundred nautical miles from the nearest shoreline. To say she was excited would be an understatement; to say she was nervous, even more so.
Sure, Joshua was only over to watch a few movies with her and have dinner; He seemed to enjoy her Hamburger steaks (she'd have to thank Onee-chan for teaching her how to make them! Though how and why Maho, who didn't care for the dish, could make it so well was a mystery) but she was still in bliss snuggled up to her new (in her mind) boyfriend's chest, feeling his warmth as he rested his head on her chin. He'd even stopped profusely sweating after only two hours, which for him, was a huge improvement!
Speaking of the apple of her eye, she felt him shift his weight and his chest vibrate as he spoke
"Miho-chan?"
Miho rolled her eyes, "Joshua, I told you, it sounds weird when you say that! 'Mee-hoe Chay-uhn'. I appreciate the thought but just Miho is fine"
"Fine, fine, Miho, I was wondering if you had seen our newest team in action yet."
The girl nodded, "Yeah, Actually. Sodoko got a few of her friends to help man the tank, and our newest girl Nina seems to be working out great too. I swear she must have done Sensha-Dō before, but I didn't wanna pry..."
Joshua nodded, the motion causing Miho's head to bob in time with his chin
"Sometimes it's best to leave the past in the past, yeah?"
Upon hearing that, Miho snuggled closer into her boyfriend's chest, reaching over and placing his arm around her before he continued
"You know, this is nice. No tanks, no team, just us."
"Are you saying you don't like practicing with me?" she answered, mischief in her eye
Balking, Joshua scrambled to correct his apparent mistake before she took pity on the awkward boy
"Relax, Joshua, I'm teasing!"
"You're evil, pure and simple."
She grabbed this arm and pulled him tighter, "Maybe, but you love me anyways!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm just glad we can keep it all business at practice. it makes is all the sweeter when we're together like this!"
Miho only nodded, not trusting herself to reply; She'd die of embarassment if he knew about Hana and Yukari teasing her for almost leading her tank into a ditch, only saved by Mako's intuition, because she was distracted by the sight of him leaning out of his tank, one arm propped on his machine gun as he looked forwards and the sunset shone across his features... Just thinking about it made her heart flutter a bit. Why did he have to be so romantic tonight?
Turning, she quickly pressed her lips to his, but to her very pleasant surprise, he didn't pull away and smile bashfully at her like most times. Instead, she felt him deepen the kiss, his hands running through her hair as he rolled on top of her.
"Mmmph?!"
He smiled, rolling around so Miho laid on top of him before pulling away and rubbing his hand on her cheek
"Permission to continue, Mi Capitán?"
Miho, meanwhile, could only respond with a confused "uwah?!", her mind buzzing too much to feel embarassment as he chuckled
"You sounded like an anime girl when you're flustered, you know. It's adorable."
Shaking her head, she stared up at him, as he ran one hand up and down her side, the other alternating between stroking her hair and the side of her face
"P-Panzer vor! Panzer Vor!!"
The two dove back into eachother, just as Hearts of Iron: Love On The Eastern Front played in the background
Ilse sighed in annoyance; She'd seen this movie a hundred times before, just like every single girl into Sensha-Dō had before. It's affect on most people was well documented, and any girl who wanted to increase her partners affinity for romance always put it on.Some suspected hypnotism, others aphrodisiac dosings by particularly amorous tankers, with the movie as an excuse, and others explained it as just a good, romantic piece of Tank cinema. Regardless, it was a favorite for the world of Sensha-Dō, and Ilse had many fond memories herself of it. But, watching it through a bedroom window as she was perched up on a tree outside of her targets house, like some kind of pervert, certainly made it less enjoyable. When the American boy turned to kiss Oorais commander, she blushed and looked away; Agent or not, she would NOT peep on those two while they did... that! She didn't even know how far they'd go, and frankly, she didn't care to!
Jumping down from the tree, she made her way through the small walkway between houses quickly, turning a corner
"Frau Erika will understand, and there is no useful information here!"
Nina blushed as her two targets started making googly eyes at eachother, flying her drone away and back to her. She almost got some information when they started talking about her new team, but the conversation had quickly... changed, and she wanted no part of that!
Grabbing her drone as it landed, she quickly stuffed it into her backpack before walking away quickly, making for the narrow walkway between Miho's house and her neighbor's.
Just as she was about to enter it, she was barreled over by a tall girl walking away in the other direction.
"Sheiße! Watch where you're going, shorty!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't see... you... there..."
Trailing off, the two girls met eachothers eyes, recognition flashing through them as they processed who they ran into
Ilse had been briefed on the various agents of other schools daily as her job; Though Nina was a new addition to Pravdas NKVD, word of her tutelage under the mysterious Klara, codename 'Die Weiße Katze' had reached her ears. Her mission had been unknown, but it was fully expected that she would try to infiltrate her school before their ultimate match should Oorai lose, and she had prepared accordingly
Apparently, Nina had received similar training, as both girls scrambled away from eachother with wariness in their eyes.
"W-what are you doing here!? You're not even a student of Oorai!"
Nina steeled her gaze, "I-i could ask you the same question! Kuromorimine isn't even supposed to fight Oorai until after our match! At least I have a mission to be on here! What were you even doing, and why are there leaves in your hair!?"
Ilse refused to give up her secrets, simply crossing her arms and turning away
"That's none of your concern! You were spying on the commander and her boyfriend, weren't you!?"
Caught, Nina began sweating, before her own eyes widened
"And how would you know she had her boyfriend over? Huh!?"
Ilse cursed under her breath; Damnit, now she knew why she was here!
Thinking quickly, she appraised the shorter girl in front of her; There was no doubt that Nina now posed a significant security risk to her cover. But, she posed the same risk to Nina; moving against her would result in her own cover being blown, and vice versa. Calming her voice, she spoke again
"Look, why we were here or what we did or did didnt see doesn't matter now! Our missions aren't opposed to eachother, as far as I can tell, and we both are in an awkward position. Now, I'm going to walk away, and you're going to walk away, and we're going to pretend this never happened!"
Nina nodded, still wary of the German girl, before the two slowly picked up their dropped things and began walking. Much to Ilse's annoyance, Nina began walking in the same direction as her, and showed no signs of stopping
"I told you to get lost!"
The shorter girl huffed, "I am! My apartment is this way!"
Ilse rolled her eyes, ignoring the short girl and walking ahead. Arriving at her apartment, she fumbled with her keys in annoyance, dropping them on the ground. As she picked them up, she heard someone behind her grabbing their own keys before the nosie caused her to pause
"I don't have any neighbors!"
She whirled around, ready for an Oorai counter intelligence agent, before spying the source of her recent annoyance opening an apartment door next to her.
"You have GOT to be joking!"
She turned away from Nina, angrily throwing her backpack on her table and slamming her door, before throwing herself on the couch.
"Frau Erika had better know what she's doing..."
"And you are sure that the two are intimate?"
Nina nodded, watching as Nonna and Klara thought hard on her laptop screen.
"Hmm... Nonna, perhaps she could seduce him? Should Oorais commander suffer heartache, they may be rendered much less coordinated."
Nina blanched; she would do WHAT!?
Nonna shook her head, "No, no... there is not enough time, and she risks ostracizing herself from the team..."
Nina sighed in relief; Thank you Nonna!
"... Besides, her breasts are far too small. He is American after all, and we are unaware if he has a lolita complex."
"Uwah!?!"
Klara nodded and put her hand to her chin, deep in thought, though Nina flushed red in embarrassment and shame.
"I-I'm not flat! I'm not!!"
Further thoughts were interrupted as her two handlers discussed further options. Nina decided to interject when they began discussing the possibility of her seducing Miho instead
"E-excuse me! But I also learned at a team meeting that they're planning an infiltration of our school!"
Nonna narrowed her eyes; "That would be problematic. Though I am sure we could stop them from gleaning any information, there always exists the chance that these spies could be lucky. they've proven quite crafty. And then there is the possibility of sabotage..."
Klara's eyes lit up, and she began rapidly conversing in Russian with her counterpart. Once the two seemed to reach an agreement, they turned to Nina
"Nina, we have a new objective for you..."
"So, we just need a fresh team to head over there!"
Yukari looked across at the gathered tankers; unlike most meetings, this one was being held by the entirety of the team.
Anzu spoke, "Pravda is very crafty! They more than likely have files on all Japanese students that have been here for more than about a year, so any undercover work will have to be done by a first year!
All eyes turned to the Rabbits, who looked away nervously
"P-pravda is so cold though! And their Nonna is scary!"
Yukari frowned; the Rabbits, if unwilling, were their only real options left... unless...
"Joshua! Your team only got here recently, correct?"
The American started before responding
"Yeah, within a year. But if you didn't notice, we all kinda stick out, ya know? And we sure as hell can't send Sam or Michael to go around chasing every skirt they see, I'm obviously out because they for sure know me, and Rachel is compromised because Anzio had info on her. So that only leaves one..."
The team all turned to the large loader, who shook his head.
"Hun, I don't know if y'all noticed, but I'm a bit too unfeminine and unjapanese to be on a GIRLS SCHOOLSHIP without attraction attention."
Azusa spoke next, "Hector-san! We don't need to disguise you as a student! You're big and tall!"
"Yes, sweetie, but that doesn't mean-"
"He could be a Sensei! A foreign English teacher, they won't vett you as thoroughly that way as well! it'll be perfect! And we have several costumes Saki picked out that would fit you!"
Hector looked at his adopted little not-sisters
"Hun, why do you guys have-"
"It's settled!" Anzu interrupted, "Now, we just need one first year volunteer! Cmon Rabbits, Akebi! We need you guys!"
A voice floated up from the direction of the newly formed Mallard team, as a short girl raised her trembling hand
"I-I'll do it!"
And so, the cold war gets a little hotter. Also, no, Joshua and Miho didn't sleep together. Contrary to many popular beliefs, people can just make out and fall asleep afterwards, especially pure innocent tank commanders.
Our next journey will take us to Pravda, where allegiances will be tested, and some people will be found wanting. Hector's loli-protection instincts may yet prove to be his downfall, or his saving grace.
I also like to imagine a sit com style apartment complex where two opposing spies who aren't activly working against each other at the time being neighbors. Will Ilse keep her end of the bargain? Will Nina? Who knows.
