Miho Nishizumi stared out the window of the plane as it taxied to the gate, yawning slightly and squirming. She squinted. It was a beautiful day, but the tarmac was clearly not designed to reduce glare.
Shining white airliners, sporting more markings than she could keep track of, bustled about between the gate and the taxiway, coming and going as they always did. So this was the airport that served Niedersächsische Universität, Europe's leading school of tank sports. This was where Maho had landed some months prior, preparing for the start of her university education. One of the greatest commanders Sensha-dō had ever seen was now in Germany's hands.
The plane halted at last and the door slid open, then the jet bridge met it and created a safe pathway for the passengers to disembark. Miho stood up to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment, bumping into a few people as she did so.
"Sorry, sorry," she murmured, focused more on the task at hand. Shiho Nishizumi had sent her overseas to help Maho with the process of moving in. Maho already had a good understanding of the area; the thing she lacked was a place she could call home. Seeing as Miho had managed to make the Ooarai Girls' Academy her home, Shiho had reasoned that she would be able to help Maho find and settle into a place of her own.
Miho was a third-year at Ooarai now, renowned already as the creator of a great success story in the previous year's Sensha-dō tournament. Her name was all over now-old headlines and Yukari Akiyama was all over her every hour of every day. The Nishizumi family was reunited at last, even if Miho would never return to Kuromorimine. She was already working on her application for Niedersächsische Universität, hoping to join her sister once more in the highest levels of tank sports. All in all, Miho Nishizumi's life was at an all-time high.
The tidal wave of passengers in the aisle nearly prevented Miho from getting out of her seat, but she battled her way into the line. She didn't even have to move—the sheer force of a hundred bodies surging forward towards the exit in their rush-hour frenzy was enough to sweep her along. Before she knew it she was already through customs and searching for any familiar signage that might point her to the baggage claim.
"Excuse me," she said to the first airport staff member she saw, "which way's the baggage claim?"
The reply was in German, entirely unintelligible to Miho's ears, but based on the hand signals the man was giving her, she could find a sign that had the words "Baggage Claim" written on it in bold English. She was just able to recognize the English words from the signs she had seen at the Tokyo Narita airport. There was also a little suitcase icon next to the lettering, which told her everything she needed to know.
"Danke schön," Miho said, pulling out what little German she knew and bowing slightly before remembering that German culture did not in any way resemble what she was used to in Japan. She blushed and hurried off to the baggage claim.
"Welcome to Niedersächsische Universität," a female announcer voice proclaimed over the loudspeakers, with as little emotion as synthesized speech could convey. "The time is 15:27. Please reset your watches if necessary." Then it repeated this message in a variety of other languages.
Miho approached the frosted-glass sliding automatic doors over which there hung a sign announcing the baggage claim. The little red light on the sensor started blinking rapidly and the doors slowly slid open before her.
Eight enormous baggage carousels were spread evenly around the room, and each was obscured by the passengers huddled around, beady eyes ogling every piece of baggage that came around. Miho searched the arrival boards for the words "Kumamoto City," finding them on the board suspended over Carousel B. As the first few bags came up the conveyor belt and slid onto the moving metal panels, she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard someone say, "Hi, Miho."
She jumped and spun around to see who it was. To her surprise, it was not one person but two—Maho Nishizumi and a familiar face, a bespectacled girl a head shorter than Miho with her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Kaede-san?" Miho gasped. "What are you doing here?"
It had been ten years since the Nishizumi sisters had seen Kaede last. She was a year older than Maho and had gone to their school in Kumamoto City when Miho was in second grade and Maho in third. They hadn't known her for very long when her family moved away, and even then just as someone from around town whom they happened to know. Miho had never thought she'd see Kaede again, but here she was.
"That's basically what I said when Maho-san showed up a few weeks ago," Kaede quipped. "But anyway, it's great to see you! Maho-san was telling me about all that's happened since we saw each other last. Which carousel are you picking your bag up from?"
Miho started, realizing that she had forgotten to grab her suitcase. Red-faced, she rushed back to the carousel just as her large black bag disappeared around the other side. Maho and Kaede were hot on her heels.
"Oh, bad luck!" Kaede exclaimed. "We'll catch it on the next cycle."
And indeed, the suitcase came back around, and Miho breathed a little sigh of relief as she yanked it off the carousel and set it down. She pulled up the handle and wheeled it outside to the parking garage, getting in the elevator with Maho and Kaede.
None of them said a word all the way up to the fourth level. They only got talking again as Kaede loaded Miho's bag into the back of her little silver Volkswagen Beetle.
"So Maho-san was telling me about how your mother sent you over here to help her pick an apartment," Kaede said, her voice echoing off the concrete of the garage. "Why'd she really send you?"
"Uhh..." Miho searched for an answer. "I don't know."
"Let me answer for you," Kaede said. "She wanted to get you out of the house for a little bit before school starts. It's what I'd do if I were her. But anyway—"
"Slow down, Kaede-san," Maho chided. "I think you're scaring her. Come on, get in the car. We don't have all day."
As they drove down the web of ramps to get out of the parking garage, Kaede broke the silence that had once again settled over the trio. "So, Miho-san, Maho-san was looking in a particular neighborhood with a lot of places for rent and we wondered whether you might shed some light on which of the options she should take."
"Cat's out of the bag now, isn't it?" murmured Maho. She sat stock still in the passenger seat, squinting as the car exited and sunlight bathed her face.
"Well, she hasn't even seen the options!" Kaede protested. "Also, why is it even a secret?"
"You don't have to be so forthcoming, you know," Maho said with a smile.
Miho listened without saying a word. Maho and Kaede seemed quite close even after only a short period of having rekindled their friendship. Erika would be jealous, wouldn't she? Miho chuckled to herself at the thought.
After a while spent driving through the streets of Niedersächsische and looking at curious passers-by, the car pulled up in front of a building. Kaede shut off the ignition, pulled out the key with a flourish, and turned around to look at Miho. "This was the first option on our route. We were wondering if you'd like to take a look at it, tell us what you think."
The girls got out of the car and headed towards the door. Miho struggled to translate the German on the sign outside. "B-Bauer Apartments? Am I reading that right?"
Maho, stoic as ever, nodded, and they went inside the dimly lit lobby. In spite of the effective blindness that resulted from going inside after being out in the sun, Miho noticed that Kaede had one eye open, the other tightly shut. "Kaede-san? Is everything all right?"
"Old military trick," Kaede replied. "Shut one eye outside, switch inside so that you always have one eye acclimated to the lighting. Works like a charm."
"Huh. I've never heard of that before." Kaede was really something else.
"Anyway," the older girl chirped, "there's one open in this building. Let's go up. Maho-san, you come too. It's your housing we're talking about."
They ascended the stairs, which were far too steep. Not that they cared, since the Nishizumi sisters were accustomed to living on a ship and Kaede had taken up climbing when she was younger. When they reached the top, they took a left and entered an open apartment door.
The place was very simple in its tastes, with a very plain set of furniture that probably didn't cost its original buyer that much money. A desk sat in a corner with a lamp casting a warm glow over the vicinity. Sunlight streamed in through windows overlooking a central courtyard.
It would suit Maho perfectly, Miho realized. Simple, not overdone, very geometric to fit the Nishizumi style, but with the flexibility that everyone was always telling Miho about as a necessity for college. Plus it was close to the university and the surrounding area looked like everything was easily within reach.
She turned around to look at Maho, who was staring impassively at the wall. "Nee-san," she said, catching her older sister's attention, "I don't think we need to look any farther than this."
For the first time in a long time that Miho could remember, Maho Nishizumi looked genuinely surprised. "So that's it, then? We'll take this one?"
"Sure, why not?"
"I'll go get the landlord," Kaede said. "In case you were wondering, Miho-san, I live a couple floors up in this building. The landlord's awesome. Game night every Friday."
Miho smiled. "Go for it."
"Don't you mean 'Panzer vor'?" Kaede laughed, causing Miho's face to flush bright red as she started back down the stairs.
The girls had just finished making the trips back and forth between the hotel where Maho had been staying and the apartment, dropping off her things, when the apartment floor started vibrating.
"What's that?" Miho gasped, surprised.
"One of the garages is literally right under our feet," Kaede answered without missing a beat. "That should be Reinhard getting home right about now." When Miho and Maho looked at her in confusion, she quickly added, "He's my neighbor."
The sound of the garage door opening stopped and the faint sound of a car door punctuated the silence that momentarily settled over the room.
"There is one other person to keep in mind," Kaede announced. "Her name's Heidi, or so the landlord tells me, and she's moving in today as well."
"What do you mean?" Maho asked.
Kaede grinned. "You know how there's a second bed in here?"
Maho's eyes, for her face remained unchanged, went through a whole range of expressions, and after a few seconds of this, she sighed. "All right. I'll move my things over."
"Now that that's settled," Miho said, "I'm getting hungry. Anyone up for some dinner somewhere?"
Kaede raised a hand. "Driving Maho around all day makes one a little bit hungry, you know. I've got a place in mind."
Kaede sat across from the Nishizumi sisters in a booth in a cafe right in the heart of the Niedersächsische Universität campus. "Full disclosure time," she said, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper. "I want to know everything that's happened in your lives since we last met."
"Well," Miho replied, "I'm assuming you want to hear about Sensha-dō. That's a long story, and I'm not sure if I should share it..."
"No detail is too small!" Kaede cried. "Pray continue."
Miho squeezed her shoulders together, looked at Maho, and told Kaede the story of how she had saved the lives of Koume Akaboshi and her crew in the finals of the 62nd Annual Sensha-dō Tournament at the cost of the match and Kuromorimine's shot at ten consecutive titles, how she had been all but disowned by her family as a result and forced to transfer to the Ooarai Girls' Academy, and how she had raised their Sensha-dō team from the dust into a surprise victory against not only the Nishizumi style but also the Shimada style.
As Miho told her story, Kaede was furiously scribbling notes, stopping only to look up and reestablish eye contact. When Miho mentioned that Ooarai had defeated the All-Stars University team, however, Kaede suddenly stopped.
"Y-you actually beat them?" she asked, taking off her glasses. "With your little team?"
"We had help," Miho admitted. Gesturing to Maho, she added, "Lots of help."
Maho smiled. "They called in every high school that ever made a name for itself within Sensha-dō. It was a conglomeration of them, us, St. Gloriana, Chi-Ha-Tan, Pravda, and Jatkosota. I'm surprised you never heard of that match."
"Now that you mention it, I seem to remember hearing something about it," Kaede said. "I heard about the Winter Continuous Track Cup. One of my classmates followed that one closely."
Miho cleared her throat. "So now that we're all up to speed, don't you think we should actually get some food?"
"There is that," Kaede conceded, putting her glasses back on and pushing them up her nose. She stood up and headed towards the counter, with Miho and Maho following suit behind her.
When they had returned to their booth with a tray of food, the glasses came off again. "It occurs to me," Kaede intoned with mock imperiousness, "that I have extracted as much information as I can from you while offering virtually nothing about myself. So what do you say it's your turn? Maho-san, I haven't even filled you in on everything yet, so feel free to listen. Here goes.
"So when I was in the eleventh grade—Maho-san, you were a first-year—I got the opportunity to join my school's Panzerfahren team. I snapped it up eagerly because of scholarships related to it—full rides here if your team wins the tournament. Well, my school swept Europe. Craziest experience I've ever had, but my parents and their wallet have been kissing my feet for a year now."
Miho and Maho chuckled at this.
Kaede went on. "Applying here was easy enough. I mean, just look at me. Am I a nerdy Asian girl or what? Anyway, I'm part of the Niedersächsische Panzerfahren team now, and let me tell you, we're killers in the field." She looked at Maho. "No pressure."
Maho chuckled. "I'm used to a little pressure. It's how we Nishizumis get our motivation."
"Not to interrupt," Miho cut in, "but is anyone besides me actually hungry?"
"Ah—I almost forgot—again!" Kaede laughed as she tore into the food with reckless abandon. Maho and Miho did the same, though much more calculated and precise in their consumption of calories.
Back at the apartment, Maho closed the door and suddenly perceived a figure sitting on the couch. She almost jumped out of her skin, but she was a Nishizumi. She knew better than to lose her cool. Drawing in a breath, she asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm your roommate Heidi," a distinctly American voice answered her. "Landlord let me in." There was a sound like gum being chewed as she spoke.
Shrugging off Heidi's display of American manners, Maho hung her Kuromorimine Sensha-dō jacket up on the coat rack and took a seat on the couch with her roommate. Heidi wordlessly grabbed the TV remote and turned on some crappy channel or other and the two sat in silence in their new apartment on the nice side of town.
Miho sat in the car with Kaede the next morning on the way back to the airport, rubbing her eyes. It had been an early wakeup and she was still groggy.
"Look sharp!" Kaede said as she pulled up to the dropoff zone. "You can sleep on the plane."
Now I get how Mako-san feels, thought Miho. She yawned and stretched. "Did Onee-san wake up at all before you came to get me?"
"No, she's as asleep as you wish you were," Kaede replied. "Call her when you get home."
"I will. By the way, why did I have to come over here? Couldn't she have just gone with your advice?"
"Eh, her mother didn't know I'd be here, and besides, I don't mind getting a second opinion."
"Well, then, I'm glad I could be of some help. Send my love to Onee-san."
"I will. Now hurry, you don't want to miss your flight."
"But it doesn't leave for two hours!"
Kaede laughed. "Trust me, check-in and security are nuts here. Go on. Don't take chances with this airport."
"I like taking chances," Miho replied with a smile. "What do you think Ooarai was?"
"I'll give you that. But not here. Again, call your sister when you get home." Kaede's voice turned to mock menace. "Now go before I drive off with you."
Miho chuckled, got out of the car, and grabbed her bag, then turned back to Kaede. "Bye, Kaede-san. Till we meet again!"
Kaede waved, then pressed the gas and pulled away as Miho ran through the doors to check in for her flight.