Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm clock rang, filling the apartment with an irritating noise. Like a crowing rooster, it reminded Yuna Fujiwara to wake up. She groggily reached out a hand and turned it off and the room was silent again.
A few minutes passed, the alarm clock rang once more. Yuna groaned as she stirred in her bed. She used her pillow to muffle out the sound.
Another few minutes later, she grabbed the clock from the table where it sat and dropped it to the ground, forever silencing the pesky alarm clock.
Another couple of moments passed, and Yuna finally woke up, slowly opening her eyes and adjusting them to the darkness of the room she was in.
After 5 minutes of staring at the ceiling, she sat up on her bed, wrapping her blanket around her body to shield herself from the cold, early morning wind.
"Mmm what time is it?" Yuna mumbled while rubbing her brown eyes. She looked down on the floor to see the alarm clock face down. She picked it up and checked the time.
"3:00 A.M, I still got time to play." she remarked before placing the clock back on the table beside her bed.
Yuna then stood up, fixing her bed before wandering around her dark room. She used the light of the moon that entered her room through a window to find the light switch. She soon found it and with the flick of a switch, the lights turned on.
The single lightbulb in the ceiling revealed the girl's room. Various posters were plastered on the beige walls, all relating to Sensha-dō, the martial art involving tanks. Two short wooden shelves to the left side of the room were filled with video games and movies all relating to tanks or World War 2. There also stood multiple figurines of Panzer IV Ausf. H's, all having a girl with short light brown hair on the cupola. The tanks also had a strange symbol which resembled a fish of some sort. A television stood atop a desk placed between the two shelves.
Yuna went over to the shelves and picked a game to play. "Time to play Dream Tank Match!" she muttered to herself so as to not wake the neighbors.
She inserted her game in the console and began playing.
As she played her tank game, she thought to herself, Man, I wish I could be in a tank. I wish I could be like her... I wish I didn't live in this boring carrier.
A few hours of gaming and chatting with her online friends later, Yuna looked at her watch. "7:15 A.M, I should get ready for school now." she then turned off the TV, stood up the floor, turned her TV off, and headed towards the bathroom to fix herself up.
She gave herself a quick rinse, then she fixed her long light brown hair, then she brushed her teeth, and finally she put on her school uniform which was a white sailor uniform with a green trim, a matching green skirt, and a black neckerchief; The standard uniform of Oarai Girls Academy.
Yuna went over to the kitchen which was to the right of her room next to the bathroom door. She opened her fridge, hoping to find at least one or two eggs or maybe some leftovers from dinner, but instead she found only a couple water bottles stacked next to each other.
"I guess I'm buying from the bakery today..." she muttered with a sigh of disappointment before she closed the fridge.
After that, Yuna made some other preparations for school, like checking if she had any missing textbooks, or if she had enough money for the day on her. Once she was done, she left her apartment and went down the flight of stairs next to it but not before making sure that her door was locked.
She walked along the lively streets of the Zuikaku with a pep in her step. It was just gonna be another day in boring old Oarai; At least that what she thought.
She soon reached a bakery, a bakery that she always goes to when she's hungry. She ordered her usual Yakisoba Pan and then resumed her saunter to the school.
While Yuna strolled around town as she nibbled on her bread, she felt uneasy all of a sudden. It was like someone was watching her.
She looked around her surroundings to spot anything odd but all she saw were her fellow students making their way to school, same as her.
After a while, she let her guard down. It must've just been her imagination.
But then, she heard a mutter from beside her. "This coffee stinks."
Yuna jumped in surprise. She saw someone walking beside her. It was a bespectacled girl with light blonde hair and silver eyes. She was holding a half empty can of coffee while she walked beside Yuna nonchalantly.
"Ayano-chan! You scared me!" Yuna exclaimed.
Ayano was startled too. "O-Oh crap! I-I'm so sorry Yuna! I-I didn't think you'd be... I'm sorry for being a horrible friend! I-I can-" she stammered.
Yuna breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't worry Ayano-chan." she reassured with a smile, "I'm not mad, just surprised! Next time, just let me know that you're beside me okay?"
"Y-Yeah... okay..." Ayano replied with a small smile. She pushed her glasses up her nose before continuing to walk with Yuna, her best friend.
The pair soon made it to the school gate where someone from the Public Morals Comittee was scolding a student for not wearing their uniform. Yuna and Ayano stopped a few meters away from them.
"I told you to wear your uniform Ishikawa-san. Why aren't you wearing it?" the girl who wore a black armband said with a fake innocent smile on her face.
"I already told you I'm wearing it under the jacket." the other girl, much taller, responded casually. She was wearing a blue leather jacket.
"Do you want me to cut that filthy jacket into pieces Ishikawa-san?" she said, keeping her smile and reaching behind her back like she was going to pull something out.
"Alright alright! Geez, I'll take it off." Ishikawa said, now threatened. She backed away from the girl who had a menacing aura and she quickly took off her jacket, revealing that she indeed had her uniform on. Ishikawa gave the leather jacket to the girl before walking off into the school building, defeated.
The Public Morals Comittee girl noticed Yuna and Ayano looking at her from a distance and she turned to them, wearing her ever innocent smile. "Is there a problem?" she asked, tilting her head.
"N-N-No ma'am!" Yuna said in frightened tone. She held Ayano's hand and hurried along to the school.
"The Public Morals Comittee is scary!" Ayano whispered.
"I know, it's like they're the school's police force or something!" Yuna replied as the pair made their way to the main school building.
The two friends reached their classroom where they went over to their seats and put down their bags before sitting down. Now, all they had to do was wait for their teacher to arrive.
"So, did you talk to that boy from yesterday?" Yuna asked Ayano as she reclined in her seat.
"W-What?! Boy?! You know I don't-" Ayano exclaimed in a hush tone before being interrupted.
"Yeah right, I saw you yesterday stalking that guy from the ice cream shop we met last weekend!" she countered.
"He... He wasn't... I'm not..." Ayano stammered, her face beginning to turn redder and redder by the moment.
"Hey if you wanna talk to him, maybe I'll help you out?" she offered. Ayano wasn't exactly a social butterfly so she relies on her friend, Yuna to do most of the talking.
"M-Maybe... Don't tell anyone about this okay?" she replied as she covered her tomato red face.
"You got my word!" she replied with a grin. Soon after, their teacher arrived and the once chatter-filled room was now silent. Then the class started.
The class was pretty normal, so much so that it was boring. The peace was interrupted however, when a trio of girls burst into the room. Everyone jumped in surprise, except for the teacher who seemed unfazed. Instead of questioning why these girls were here, she sat down her chair without a word.
It's the fifth time these guys've busted in here! And they always do it on a Wednesday! Yuna thought as she stayed in her seat, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.
The three girls walked over to the teacher's table. Everyone recognized them the instant they entered the room: Akira Kawashima, Makoto Nagama, and Izumi Saikawa. They were the Student Council.
"Listen up maggots!" Akira yelled at the classroom. She was easily recognizable due to her monocle. When asked why she wears it, she says that her mother gave it to her.
Yuna raised an eyebrow. Maggots?
"You will attend the school meeting in the gymnasium later at 6:40 P.M sharp! We will be discussing a very important subject. Tardiness will NOT be tolerated! That is all." and just as quickly as the trio arrived, they left.
"Geez they could've just said that on the speakers!" said Yuna who was relieved that they were gone. She spoke in a hushed tone since their teacher was doing a lecture. They sat in the back of the class so they didn't worry about getting scolded for being too noisy.
"What do you think the school meeting's gonna be about?" Ayano asked in a whisper.
"I don't know. But it sounds important. I mean, the Student Council themselves barged into our room! They only do that if it's something important about the school or if it's about something bad I did again."
"I've heard a few rumors. People say that our school's reviving Senshadō again." Ayano whispered.
Yuna's eyes widened. She stood up her chair in surprise. "What!?" she yelled which got the attention of the entire class. "O-Oh sorry!" she apologized before sitting down again.
She leaned towards Ayano's seat. "Where'd you hear this from?"
"Some of the third years are talking about it. They said that our school was over-budgeting so we were gonna get shut down. But our headmistress made a deal with the Ministry of Education, that if we win the 77th National Sensha-dō Tournament, then our school won't get closed down. But that's just a rumor!"
"Damn, the school's closing huh?" Yuna remarked, "Hey didn't we have the same problem like a decade ago? With the 63rd Tournament?"
"Yeah. They won cause of Miho Nishizumi. She's like, your idol right?"
"She's more than an idol Ayano-chan. She's my hero! You know sometimes I dream about meeting her and sometimes even riding a tank with her. I've made a few fanfics about that too you know? Wanna see em?"
"L-Let's talk about that later!" Ayano said nervously as she caught a glimpse of the teacher. It seems that she was going to notice them at any moment so she wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible.
The class continued peacefully soon after.
A few hours later
The students of Oarai gathered at the gymnasium. Everyone from every club and clique sat together. Yuna sat down on the cold stone floor next to her friend, Ayano. But unlike her who didn't want to be in such a claustrophobic room with about a hundred students, Yuna was beyond excited for the Student Council to confirm her belief that Senshadō would be revived.
Soon, the three girls of the Student Council appeared on the stage of the gym.
"Good afternoon mag- Good afternoon everyone. We have gathered you here today for an announcement. The Ministry of Education has decided to stop funding our school. They have deemed us as underperforming. That is why today, we will be reviving our Senshadō Club in order to save our school."
Everyone exclaimed in surprise. It had been two years since anybody has heard of that word. Senshadō, the sport that saved Oarai, was now back again.
Yuna stood from her seat and yelled, "Yeah I knew it!"
"Fujiwara sit down!" Akira yelled.
"Oh, sorry about that!" she said with a nervous smile as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment before sitting back down next to Ayano.
"We encourage you to pick Senshadō as an elective. We need crews for the tanks. If you decide not to join, then consider making a small donation, so that we would have funds for tank maintenance. Any help is appreciated."
"We will now present to you, the Introduction to Senshadō." Izumi added.
The president and her two companions walked off the platform. The room turned dark and a projector opened. It played a film of a tank getting decimated by an anti tank rocket before abruptly turning off. The lights quickly came back on.
The room was left in stunned silence. Yuna's brown eyes sparkled in delight as she saw a tank get vaporized. Ayano was just as surprised as everybody was.
"That was friggin awesome!" yelled a disembodied voice. Soon, the once silent crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
Akira returned to the stage along with Makoto and Izumi. "Selecting Senshadō as an elective also has its benefits. Vice President." the monocle girl then gestured to her vice president
"Those who participate will receive 200 lunch coupons, 100 discount coupons for dried sweet potatoes, and 200 pardons for tardiness." Makoto said.
The crowd cheered once again in amazement as a response.
"Alright maggots! You're all dismissed!" Akira yelled.
The school day had ended. Yuna and Ayano left the school to go home.
"This is the greatest day of my life!" Yuna exclaimed as she and her friend walked the streets. She seemed more cheerful than she was earlier in the morning.
"You're joining the Senshadō club Yuna?" Ayano asked.
"Of course Ayano-chan! I'm gonna be just like Miho Nishizumi herself! I hope we have a Panzer IV in one of those warehouses behind the school building!"
"What about you? Are you gonna join too?" Yuna asked.
"I... I don't really know. We're gonna be with other people right? I can't really communicate with them properly and I'm very awkward. I'd probably just be a liability." she replied.
"Oh come on! You can be my loader! I need you Ayano-chan!" Yuna said as she nudged her friend's shoulder, hoping to encourage her. "If you do, then that boy you're stalking would probably notice you!"
Ayano's eyes widened. She suddenly held Yuna by her collar and lifted her up. "Really?!" she exclaimed loudly which was unusual for Yuna since Ayano barely raises her voice.
"Y-Yeah! They said it on the introduction video!" she said, suddenly flustered by her friend.
"Let's do it then! I'm gonna sign that paper!" she said, her eyes sparkling in resolve.
Yuna soon split up with Ayano and reached her apartment. The first thing she did when she entered was she took her shoes off, then she turned the lights on, then she made a dive into her bed.
She squealed as loud as she can into one of her pillows and rolled around her bed.
"I'm gonna be a tank commander!" she yelled into her pillow which muffled the sound. Soon she began quickly pacing around her apartment. She used her phone and typed with lightning speed as she went through every social media site she has access to, posting about her joining the Senshadō club.
Then she grabbed her laptop and opened up Discord. She went into her friends' Discord server and started screaming in chat.
"Wtf is going on?" asked one of her online friends.
"I'M GONNA BE A FRIGGIN TANK COMMANDER GUYSSS!1!1!1!1!" she quickly typed in.
Her friends cheered and congratulated her.
"Nice I'm a tank commander too!" one of them replied.
"You do Senshadō too?" Yuna asked.
"I live in Pravda! Participating in Senshadō is like a necessity here!"
"We can fight together someday!"
"Yeah!"
She closed her laptop and dropped to her bed, now exhausted from all the running around. "My fanfiction is actually about to come true. I'm gonna meet Miho Nishizumi, and Darjeeling, and Kay, and every other Senshadō ace!" she muttered.
Yuna took a few moments to rest in her bed. Meanwhile, she kept thinking about what would happen tomorrow.
What tank will I command?
What would my team be called?
Which school are we gonna fight first?
All of these thoughts and many more circled in her mind.
Meanwhile
The rays of the sunset pierced through the blinds, giving the office a nostalgic orange hue. The light from the setting sun revealed mountains of boxes stacked on one another, all having files cramped inside them.
Sat on a desk inside the office, a man donning military clothes sat. He was slowly sipping on his glass of whiskey as he stared blankly in the distance. The melodious drone of the ceiling fan above him and the muffled conversations outside his room gave him comfort in some way.
He was slightly surprised when he heard a series of light knocks on his wooden door.
"Come in" he said before putting away the bottle of alcohol. The door opened and a woman with light brown hair entered the room. She wore the JGSDF uniform. The woman went over to the desk and sat down on a chair.
"You called for me Colonel?" she asked, showing slight nervousness in her voice.
"That's right." he replied, "Due to your... constant errors as Pravda's Senshadō class instructor, I have decided to reassign you to a new school."
The woman looked down on her lap and clenched her hand in embarassment. She is, or used to be, Pravda's Senshadō class instructor. But after a particular event, involving a vehicular accident with a T34, she was dismissed.
"You'll be hmm..." the commander shuffled through some of the files laid out on his desk. "Ah here it is. You'll be reassigned to Oarai Girls Academy."
Her eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, "O-Oarai?" she stuttered as she leaned forward on the colonel's desk in both curiosity and surprise.
The colonel raised an eyebrow as he averted his eyes on the piece of paper to her. "Hmm? Is that school familiar to you?"
The woman calmed down. She leaned back on her seat. "I used to study Senshadō there sir. It was 11 years ago, when I was only a high schooler."
"Ah I apologize for forgetting. Your old school was the champion of the 63rd National Sensha-dō tournament 14 years ago right? They were also the ones who beat that University team?"
"Yes, that's correct." she answered.
"Well, that's good for you." he said in a monotone, trying his best to smile, "Their team would be pretty easy to teach right? They are a veteran school."
"W-Well... The thing is sir, is that Oarai's Sensha-dō team disbanded two years ago. They ran out of funds for the tanks and so they abolished the club."
The colonel was slightly surprised. "Oh... Well, I'm sorry for them. But since you're going to be their instructor, they'll probably get back on their feet and become champions again right?"
"I hope so sir." Miho nodded.
"Well then," the colonel leaned on his desk, "You're dismissed. Get some rest, you'll need it for the 12 hour flight tomorrow, and I suggest you think up of a nice opening line, to impress the kids you know?"
She gave a small nod. "Yes sir" she said with a tiny amount of resolve hinted in her voice before standing up on her chair and leaving the dark office space.
After the woman left, the colonel picked the bottle of whiskey back up from beneath his desk and proceeded to pour himself another glass. He then resumed drinking alcohol in the ill-lit room.
The next day
It was lunch time. Yuna left the premises of her classroom, leaving Ayano behind to eat by herself; She didn't mind though. The brunette couldn't keep herself waiting anymore. She had to get the answers to her questions regarding Senshadō. Akira would be the best to ask.
She met a group of third years who stood outside a classroom. Since Akira was a third year, Yuna thought asking them would be a good idea.
"Hey excuse me!" she said as she walked up to the group of four third years. She was a little nervous.
"Hey what's up?" replied one of them. The group stopped their talking and turned to her.
"I was wondering if you've seen Kawashima-senpai?"
She replied, "Oh the SC president? Sure she's in the library." the third year pointed towards her back, a sign reading "Library" was next to a nearby door. "What're you gonna ask her for?"
"I joined the Senshadō club! I'm gonna ask her some questions about it!" she said cheerfully, her brown eyes showing her excitement.
"Senshadō eh? That's nice! Good luck being commander!" the third year made a thumbs up accompanied by a grin.
"Thank you!" Yuna nodded before briskly walking off towards the library.
The third years all saw her go. One of them whispered, "Did she say she's joining Senshadō?"
"Yup" said the one Yuna talked to.
"That kid's gonna die."
"Definitely" she replied as her and the others shared worried faces.
Yuna opened the library door rather loudly, causing the librarian to silence her on the way in. She gave a quiet apology before continuing into the room. The library was filled with a dozen students. Yuna began to scout for her senpai.
She found a girl reading a novel as she sat on a table. She had a distinct monocle on her, meaning that she was the one Yuna was looking for.
Akira was at peace at the moment. The library was completely silent, save from the sounds of turning pages and the low rumble of the AC unit. She didn't mind it though.
Her state of tranquility was soon interrupted when someone sat down a chair next to her and loudly whispered "Senpai!"
She jumped in surprise, dropping her book to the ground. "Fujiwara!" she cursed in a whisper. "What the hell do you want?!" she picked up her novel from the ground.
Yuna leaned towards her senior to whisper something. "I joined the Senshadō club!"
After hearing that, Akira settled down and relaxed back on her seat. "Ah, that's good for you. You didn't have to come here to tell me that you know?" she said calmly.
"I wanna chat with you about that!" she whispered enthusiastically.
"Chat? Sure, I have nothing to do today anyways."
"Alright." Yuna stopped leaning forwards and sat back down her chair next to Akira. "What tanks do we have? I wanna ride on the Panzer IV!"
"We don't really know what tanks are left in the garages and how many there are. The Senshadō veterans don't know either." the student council president answered while she read her book.
"Veterans... Hey senpai, why did they abolish the club? Did something wrong happen?" Yuna asked.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I never joined the Senshadō club, and when I decided to finally do, it was too late."
"Do the other third years know?" Yuna asked while she shuffled through some books laid out on the table.
"A few do, but they don't want to talk about it. Don't try to ask them either. They don't like getting pressed with questions."
"Noted" Yuna replied.
"Alright, next question. How many people do we have?" she asked.
"Well, there's the four members of the History Club; There's another four from the Volleyball Club; There's six freshmen, their leader being in Class 1-B; There's the three of us Student Council members; And there's you and Ishii. We still need a few more crews though." Akira answered, now finally looking at Yuna.
"We're just like the crews from the 63rd Tournament!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"You're really obsessed with the 63rd Tournament huh?" the monocled girl remarked.
"It's the very first Senshadō tournament I saw when I was a kid. My mom recorded all of the matches on her camera. It was the greatest tournament in the sport ever!" she replied.
"Alright last question, what schools will we be fighting?" Yuna asked.
"We don't know yet, the Tournament hasn't started. We will be participating in a few practice matches with some schools." Akira answered.
"Which schools?"
"Like I said I don't know!" the president raised her voice. She was then shushed by the librarian. She made a quiet apology before turning back to Yuna.
"Is that all?" Akira asked Yuna.
"Yup" she replied.
Akira put down her book. "Alright, since you're here, I need you to do me a favor."
"What? A favor?"
"It's repayment for interrupting my reading session."
Yuna grumbled, "Fine"
"We're having practice later this afternoon. Tell the other crews to gather at the tank garages after your classes. I forgot to give them the memos." Akira said before she stood up her seat.
Yuna stood up too. "Alright, sounds easy enough." she accepted the offer.
Akira gave a quick "Thanks" before leaving the library. Yuna soon left too.
Yuna navigated the crowded halls and arrived outside an unfamiliar room. Unlike the other club rooms, this one's windows had green curtains covering them. It was the History Club for sure.
Yuna knocked on their door. A girl with gray hair opened the door for her. Weirdly, she wore a samurai's chest armor as well as a shoulder guard on her left arm. She also wore a red headband which was tied into a ribbon. The girl's most peculiar feature though, was her crimson red eyes. Yuna had not seen a person with that eye color before so she was taken aback when the girl stared at her.
"What can I do for you?" the girl said sternly at Yuna as she stood on the door entrance.
"U-Uh, y-you're part of the Senshadō team right?" a flustered Yuna asked.
"Why of course!" she answered with a small smile. "I'm with my crew right now."
"Well, the Student Council president said to meet at the tank garages later this afternoon." said Yuna.
"Then we shall arrive there later. You have my word." she assured. After their little conversation, Yuna bid farewell to the samurai girl and continued to find the other crews.
She went downstairs to the ground floor and headed to Class 1-B. She opened the door of the classroom which got the attention of every first year there. Everybody began murmuring.
"Hey uh, anyone here part of the Senshadō club?" she asked the room.
A girl quickly stood up from her seat while the others kept murmuring with each other.
She walked up to Yuna. She had long, light red hair tied into a ponytail.
"Yes?" the girl asked as she stared at Yuna with her brown, dead fish eyes.
"You the commander?" Yuna asked.
"Yeah that's me." she replied monotonously with a blank expression.
"Could you go to the tank garages later this afternoon? Tell your crew too. We're having practice."
"Sure senpai" she replied. Yuna then bid farewell and continued on her day. The redhead closed the door and turned around, only to see that her entire classroom looking at her.
"What?" she asked nervously. She started to sweat.
"Ryu-san, you're part of the Senshadō club?" asked one of them.
"Y-Yeah! Didn't I tell you guys?" Ryu answered, now becoming more nervous. She was afraid that her classmates would ridicule her.
The room was left in awkward silence before erupting into conversation. Everyone seemed to be talking about Senshadō and how cool it was.
Ryu made a sigh of relief. "At least they're not making fun of me."
Yuna made her way to the gymnasium where the Volleyball Club was. As soon as she opened the door to the gym, she was hit directly in the face by a volleyball. She fell to the floor holding her nose in pain.
Someone soon rushed to her. "Are you okay dude?" she asked worriedly as she knelt next to Yuna.
"Yeah... I'm fine!" she assured before standing up.
"I'm so sorry about that man." the girl apologized. Yuna noticed that the girl was taller than her. She had short dark brown hair and black eyes.
"It's fine, I don't mind."
"So why'd you come here for my mans? You wanna join the Volleyball Club?"
"Volleyball Club? Didn't they disband last year?" Yuna said.
"Y-Yeah..." the girl averted her eyes from Yuna.
"I'm from the Senshadō club. We're gonna have practice later." Yuna announced.
"Oh Senshadō! I totally forgot about that! Sure dude, we'll come! I'm Shizume by the way!"
"Yuna" she introduced herself. "I'll see you later Shizume!" they shook hands before Yuna left the gym.
Shizume's other teammates walked up to her. "We're gonna revive the Volleyball Team someday right captain?"
"Of course we will!" she turned to her teammate with a confident smile.
With her tasks done, Yuna returned to her classroom and resumed with her day.
Later that afternoon
Yuna and her friend, Ayano arrived just in time for practice. They stood at the back of the crowd that was gathered around the Student Council.
A girl came rushing to them soon after they arrived. Neither Yuna nor Ayano knew who she was. The girl stopped right in front of the pair, out of breath. She had short ginger hair and light brown eyes.
"Am I... Am I late?" she said as she panted from the exhaustion.
"You're just in time." Yuna replied.
"Whew! I'm good." she then reached out a hand to Yuna. "My name's Eiko. I'm seated in front of you, Fujiwara-san."
Yuna was surprised. "Really! That's so cool! Let's be crewmates!" she said, shaking the girl's hand. "Just call me Yuna from now on!"
"Yeah sure! Anyways, what tank are we driving?"
"We're about to find out." The three then looked towards the Student Council who was standing in front of the tank garages.
It was a windy afternoon. The sky was clear of clouds and the streets were empty like a ghost town. The time was 6:20. The student council stood in front of the now abandoned tank garages. A number of people from different clubs and cliques were also gathered there.
Akira flipped through the pages of her clipboard. She scanned the various names of the people who decided to participate in the Senshadō club.
"Is this all of them?" she muttered to herself.
"I believe it is Madam President." replied Makoto who was looking at the different people, inspecting them. The gathered students could easily be set apart due to them wearing their club's clothing.
Akira averted her eyes from the clipboard and took a look at the crowd. "What do we have?" she asked the vice-president.
Makoto started pointing at the various groups gathered. "There's Yuma Fujiwara and her friend and it looks like they made a new companion. Then there's the history buffs. They seem to be the most eager to join out of everybody here. There's the last four members of the old volleyball team. They say they joined in order to revive the Volleyball Club. And..." Makoto made a look of disdain at a particular group of five. They didn't wear any special clothing but Makoto knew who they were. "Oh God, it's a group of freshmen." she muttered.
Makoto went up to Akira to whisper in her ear. "I believe the freshmen would be liabilities Madam President. We need to dismiss them."
"We can't. We're fighting for our school here, everyone counts. Just give them a chance will you?" Akira replied calmly.
The vice president backed off, sighing.
"Alright, this is good enough. Oarai's won with less right?" she asked Izumi, the PR Manager who stood to her right.
"Indeed they have." she replied as she looked on at the groups who were conversing with each other. She wore a smile on her face, like a proud mother looking at her children.
After Akira confirmed everyone's attendance, she called them all to attention.
"Everyone! I thank you all for deciding to join our club. Today we will commence our first training session. We will be joined today by a special instructor who was requested by the headmistress herself." everyone began to converse with each other. They were very eager to learn who this "special instructor" was.
"She will be arriving..." Akira then looked at her watch. She was obviously waiting for something, but what?
"Now"
Right after that, a Kawasaki C2 military transport aircraft appeared out of the sky. It made an overhead flight on the crowd of students before opening its cargo doors and dropping a Tiger I heavy tank out from inside. The Tiger landed on the parking lot not far off the tank garages.
The Tiger slid on the ground and accidentally hit a rare Ferrari F40, a faint "Sorry!" being heard from inside the cupola. After a few moments, the tank's engines sputtered to life and it began to make its way towards the students, stopping just in front of them on the other side of a tall fence.
Everyone was in awe at the German tank's spectacular entrance. Yuna could not believe what was happening. A Tiger H1 was in front of her instead of being locked inside the screen of her TV. She left her mouth agape.
The cupola of the Tiger opened, revealing a young woman who looked to be in her thirties. She had short light brown hair and had light brown eyes. She wore the uniform of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force.
To any normal person, she would look like an average tank instructor. Someone whose face you'd likely forget as soon as she leaves the carrier after training. But to Yuna, it was someone she thought that would be impossible to meet, not in a million years. The young girl believed that the woman just had a striking resemblance to Miho Nishizumi, and it was just pure coincidence that she would come here. But after she said an awkward "Hello!" as she wore an equally awkward smile and tilted her head just a bit, she was convinced it was her.
"Miho?!" Yuna yelled at the top of her lungs, her heart on the verge of bursting due to the excitement.
Miho made a silent gasp as soon as she heard her. Everyone then quieted down. Akira, who stood next to Yuna, turned her head to the girl.
"You know her?" she asked.
"I'M HER BIGGEST FAN!" Yuna yelled as she hopped in place in exhilaration.
"You are?" the president and Miho said in unison. The two made a quick glance at each other before returning their sight to the girl.
"I am! I have ten figurines of her in her Panzer IV Ausf. H! Every poster on my wall has her face on it! Heck, I even have a body pillow of her that I hug all night!" she said without an inkling of shame.
Miho was flustered by the girl. Each secret she revealed made the commander blush a little, especially about that body pillow. They still sell those? she thought to herself.
"Wow dude, you just told everyone your deepest darkest secrets." Shizume remarked from a distance.
Now realizing, Yuna gasped in shock before she faced Miho and made a Dogeza pose.
"Please! Forgive my degeneracy oh great Nishizumi!" she exclaimed.
"No! No! It's alright! Please, stand up." Miho quickly said right after to reassure the girl.
Yuna soon followed the order and stood up, her friend Ayano helping her.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, let us begin our practice!" Miho announced, now switching from awkward schoolgirl to serious commander.
Everyone moved out of the way as the Tiger drove through the fence which separated Miho from the crowd. Miho noticed the doors to the tank garages were rusty and unopened. The sight of the old green doors gave her a small rush of nostalgia. She paused for a moment to reminisce her past before continuing with her present one.
"How come the doors are closed?" Miho asked the crowd.
"W-Well, because of the rust, we are unable to move even an inch of it open. So we decided that we wait for you as you could blow them open with your tank." Akira replied from the sidelines.
Miho gave an understanding nod. "I see. I'll blow it open then. Everyone stand back!" she motioned everybody to take a few steps back.
Yuna stared in amazement as Miho pressed her throat mic. "Fire!" she yelled. The tank obeyed her command and fired its 8.8 cm cannon on the rusty doors.
Like an old chest, the entrance blew open and a heavy amount of dust was kicked up. What treasures did it hide?
The smoke soon settled and the crowd gathered on the entrance of the garage. Miho got off her tank and made her way to the front of the crowd.
The midday sun cast its light onto the decrepit room. In the center of the garage, being slightly illuminated by the light of the sun, was a hunk of metal left unused for many years. Its powerful guns lay in wait to be fired again and its engines were waiting to be started up once more.
Yuna squeezed herself through the tight crowd, holding Ayano in her left hand. She froze in place as she saw the vehicle in front of her. The legendary tank made from the mightiest of steel. It was a tank that could place fear in the most valiant of men. It was...
"THE BOB SEMPLE?!"
Author's Note
Thank you for reading the first chapter! I thought up this concept a few weeks ago and I decided to write a fic about it.
If you want to, you can leave a review. Positive or not, it will seriously help me with writing.
Unlike my other story, this one won't have an upload schedule since I want this story to be the best it could be.
Anyways, that's all for now. See you in the near future. Adios