Alice

At Sensha-do practice today, the Jatkosota team was going quite... well, swimmingly. You hear that? Yes. Swimmingly.

When I first entered my sister's BT-42, I felt a strange feeling. It's not unfamiliarity. Sure, I was used to a Centurion, but the feeling wasn't of unfamiliarity, but rather, something that I couldn't quite grasp. But I know that I was doing the right thing.

Finishing the Säkkijärven Polka.

That was the dream my sister had always dreamed of. The Säkkijärven Polka, the renowned style of Sensha-do that could, in a literal sense, be compared to the Nishizumi style or the Shimada.

This morning, I found a few things addressed to me inside Mika's drawer. They consisted of a series of cassette tapes, labled in a series. Naturally, I pulled out the one labeled with the earliest date and plugged it in. Obviously.

"Hello there, my little Alice-chan," the tape began. Undoubtedly it was the voice of my sister Mika. Undoubtedly.

"How's school going? I hope that you've got yourself a nice cute boyfriend, would you? Things are quite nice here in Jatkosota. How's you?"

The recording went on to describe in full detail Mika's life as she had. And asking about mine. Like sisters separated from each other.

Everyone was telling me that I was a Shimada, and Shimadas don't cry, but I figured that, if you're a human then there's at least one time where you would be crying. Like right now.

Hearing my sister's voice for the first time nearly four years sent me a fresh wave of tears especially as the tapes were labeled with the dates of my birthday from 2016 onwards.

Some quotes from that I found inside a single sheet of paper folded in half, which I am now keep inside of my pocketbook.

I'm right now, sitting in the BT.

Youko has jabbed a 114mm into the breech, and I've sighted the target. Over the years, I've been hard at work, improving my shooting. Eventually I can now easily grab up a Colt M911 and nail the bullseye with a .45 caliber. Easily. While I suck at aiming a tank gun, the BT-42's sight somehow made it feel like my Mika was nearby, with her hand on my shoulder.

I pulled the trigger. The 114mm fired an APBC round straight into the target, throwing up a thick cloud of dirt and dust that completely enveloped the target, and I issued orders for Mikko to maneuver over to the next target. That the earlier target, a mock-up car made of canvas over a wooden frame was obliterated was the least of my concerns. That I fired at over two thousand meters also was what I was indifferent to.

I soon developed a habit of stringing up the Säkkijärven Polka on my kantele while practicing. Thing is, it helps me focus. Also, it makes me feel that Mika's there with me.

One of her quotes stuck with me as my personal motto:

"When you advance, advance without falter."

Interestingly, Mika's obsession over computer games also affects Jatkosota in a way: She named her BT Pillar of Autumn and painted a big PILLAR OF AUTUMN along with C-709 on both sides of the assault gun. She also kept an MA5B inside her room. I can see it, mounted on the wall.

And her callsign is "Noble Six".

Pretty crazy, huh?

Anyways, I'm planning to enter Jatkosota into the national tournament. Thing is, I promised myself that Jatkosota's first victory in that would undoubtedly catch the eye of some influential people in Sensha-do and I can use that as leverage to tip the scales in favor of the Säkkijärven Polka being an official style in Sensha-do.

I had a fight with my mother over this.

After Youko told me of Mika's style in the works, I began to formulate the plan which I now set in motion. However, when I told them that I wanted to transfer to Jatkosota, my mother offered fierce opposition. One thing led to another, and it ended with her insulting Mika's memory and dismissing the Säkkijärven Polka as nothing but a pile of scrap and that Jatkosota was a disgrace to Sensha-do, and I refuted with hotly stating that I would return with Mika's dream realized, and never before. And delivered her a suckerpunch to the gut. Hard.

Anyways, that's the end of my life at All-Stars.

I have no regrets.

I knew that I did the right thing in upholding my sister's memory, and that I'll leave sooner or later.

Yeah.

Youko

I met Alice at practice today.

She appears cold, and emotionless. All of today, her face was a mask, like, a poker face. If it was then it was the most perfect poker face I've ever seen.

And I know that the wound was still raw for her.

It's been only a couple of months since Mika was killed in a freak accident. I came to her funeral. Mikko was sobbing uncontrollably, and I myself actually cried there. Alice, on the other hand, was calm. Stoic, emotionless. Her face then was the same poker face as it was today.

Like she was containing it all in, and refused to let others know.

But one can just look at her steel gray eyes and see a myriad of emotion as she stood by her sister's grave, when the entire world crumbled around her. A few months won't dampen the grief.

Some injuries can heal by themselves, but others need a special hand to do so. my mother would often say.

Even the heir to the Shimada style would long for a tender touch every once in a while.

Mika entrusted me with a single large binder which prescribed in detail every single part of the Säkkijärven Polka. On the dedication page, she wrote; To my beloved sister, Alice.

I'll hand it to her tomorrow. I've got lots of things to do now. I hope that the book helps her state. She deserves a hug. And, Makoto also deserved one. Now, the plan is simple: pull the strings to get Alice and Makoto together. I'm sure that Alice dosen't blame her.

So I am.

A/N:

Originally I intended to post this much later on, but then, there's this common sterotype on Quora:

EDIT I CAN'T RESIST

Next, when I posted this, I made some last-minute changes, including this note, and yet this site has a bad habit of not embing things properly. Chopping off the original note and half of a sentence, the quote that Youko attributes to her mother.

So yeah, see you later!

PS: A Tale of Two Countries's next chapter's first draft is already written, I'm currently making edits, so that leaves me with a lot o' free time for this side story.

Again special thanks to CrabbyCakes for helping me make this happen!