Accepting one's Mistakes!
'Oh that was way too close,' ran through Noriko's mind as she wiped the sweat off her forehead after having narrowly escaped their pursuers, it had gotten dangerously close when an enemy shell had slammed into the rear of their tank though luckily the rear mounted skid took the brunt of the force, its twisted, mangled form a stark reminder of just how lucky they had been. 'We need to get away from this place as quickly as possible, I don't think we're going to be that lucky a second time and we-.' Pulled from her thoughts as another volley of shells caused the vehicle to rock back and forth Noriko shouted to Shinobu to give it everything she got.
"Use whatever cover you can get between them and us, we can't afford to get hit again!" climbing up in her cupola she began to search for anything that their tank could use to shield itself not only from the incoming fire but also from the enemy's sight.
"What should we do now?" Akebi could be heard asking as she had a look through the rear hatch as well to assess the damage. "Whoa, they almost got us there didn't they?"
"Yeah," Noriko said underneath her breath as she thought of what to do next, they already had the enemy's fullest attention and likely they were bearing down on them as they spoke. "Taeko, let the captain know that the enemy has spotted us and that we're retreating to a safer location. Also, report that we took some minor damage but otherwise we're okay," she relayed her orders to her radio operator up front, the first thing that Noriko wanted to do was to gain a better understanding of their current situation.
As the next incoming salvo never came the diminutive girl began to wonder if the enemy had given up on bombarding them, listening to try and pick up any sounds that would betray another incoming round it remained deceptively quiet, a little too quiet, for her comfort.
"Do you want me to return fire on them?" the blonde haired gunner asked as she resumed her position at the gun's sights but Noriko was quick to inform her that under no circumstance she was to open fire on the enemy team. The firing of their main gun was going to give their position away and right now they needed to break contact fast, up ahead a series of rocks looked like the perfect spot for them to gain some cover. Noriko grinned as she felt her blood was up.
A quick gaze at her watch told her that it had been close to five minutes by now since the last shots had rocked their tank, somehow it felt wrong to think that the enemy team had given up all of a sudden. It was true that they had managed to break visual contact with the enemy and that they were no longer spotted but it didn't make much, if any, sense that on the drop of a hat everything was quiet.
Bringing up her binocs she was scanning their surroundings for any signs that the enemy might be coming after them, with any luck one of the commanders might be overcome with the desire to kill which would allow Duck team to turn this situation to their advantage. "Come on, show yourselves, and don't tell you already lost your appetite."
Listening she could tell that their opponents were still on the move, the distinct rumbling of their engines combined with the telltale clattering of their tracks told Noriko that all three of the enemy vehicles were on the move but she was struggling to pinpoint their location or from which direction they were coming but as she concentrated on them she could tell they were coming closer. "Could it be?" she asked herself as she quickly scanned their immediate surroundings before the girl cursed herself the moment she realized their predicament. "Dammit, Shinobu gun the engine and get moving before we're surrounded!"
If her hunch was right then the enemy had likely split up and was even now working their way forward in an effort to cut of Duck team from the others, it was a clever idea, their Type 89 stood no chance against even one of the enemy tanks and if they had to deal with all three of the enemy tanks would spell certain doom for them. She had to hand it to Azusa for coming up with it, to think that she hadn't even noticed it sooner. 'I hope we have enough time left.'
Barely had she finished that thought or the rumbling noises grew louder right before the Chi-Nu rumbled into view, cutting off one of their routes of escape, its large turret already slowly turning in their direction, the distinctive shape of its muzzle break coming into view as it sought to bring its gun to bear on them.
But before it had the chance to fire the large shape Mallard's Char B-1bis ploughed onto the scene, its dual armament opening fire on the unsuspecting Japanese tank, while its shots went wide it didn't take long for them to find the range as the shot crept closer and closer to Anteater until one round smacked into the side of the turret but to no effect. Suddenly aware of the new and immediate threat to their side Anteater reacted accordingly, turning their hull to have their frontal armor facing the French tank while their own turret swung around as Piyotan worked frantically in an effort to get the Char in her gun sights. Coming to a halt, the Char resumed fire, making the most now that both gunners enjoyed the increase in accuracy as they brought down a barrage of 47mm and 75mm shells on the Chi-Nu though the relative weak penetrating performance of their two guns meant that they were doing little than damaging Anteater's paint job. But they had at least succeeded in drawing their attention away from Duck
"Duck, can you hear me? This is Mallard. Get out of here as fast as you can, we'll keep them busy while you pull back. Rendezvous with the captain." Came in through their radio, the voice of the French tank's commander loud and clear. They had been given an opportunity to escape, they had better not let it go to waste although Noriko felt a little reluctant about letting Mallard take on the daunting task of engaging Anteater.
"Shinobu, you heard them, get us out of here," the diminutive tank commander relayed her orders to her driver, the sound of tanks exchanging fire audible, they needed to leave now as no doubt the rest of the enemy was likely to show up at any moment now. Throwing one last look at the French tank fighting of Anteater she wished them the best, they were going to need it, and she lost sight of them once the Type 89 disappeared around a corner.
Kicking up a cloud of dust as their StuG kept going forward as fast as Oryou felt comfortable with, Hippo was rushing forward in an attempt to prevent the enemy from linking up, they were aware of the Type 89 being somewhere to their right but they had decided to keep on pushing forward in an effort to cut off the lighter tank.
Their decision remained unchanged as news got in that Mallard had been spotted and was even now engaging Anteater, feeling confident that the gamer girls were going to handle the Char they continued their advance.
Their side held the advantages in firepower and mobility though that didn't mean that they could be reckless as the opposing side had the great equalizer in any training match, Anglerfish, and their panzer IV. Inside her own thoughts, Caesar agreed with Azusa's plan on trying to take down Duck and Mallard first, isolating them from the rest of the team and taking them out before Anglerfish could come to their aid, those two tanks were deemed as the weakest link. Of course neither of the two was going to make it easy for them and already Duck had proven to be a tenacious opponent though it didn't come as a surprise as they had all seen how the members of the Volleyball Club were during a match, unfazed, unshakable and not afraid of taking on tanks bigger than them, it was what made them such a fearsome opponent. For a brief moment, the loader pondered on the question what would happen if that team were to be given a more potent vehicle than the hopelessly outdated Type 89 they had.
"A terrifying thought isn't it?" Erwin remarked as she read Caesar's face, the same thought had surfaced with her as she pondered on what Duck was going to do next as they had to be aware that the other enemy tanks were closing in on them.
"They're not gonna make it easy, I feel like we're the ones walking right into a trap, not them, like the Battle of Krasnogvardeysk," she continued as there was a bad feeling in her stomach.
"If we're not careful it might become more like the Battle of Teutoburg Forest," Caesar said in return, feeling a similar eerie sense at how their advance was progressing, it wasn't made any easier with the knowledge that Duck had appeared which was actually the slowest of the enemy tanks so it didn't make much sense that they hadn't seen the panzer IV so far, and in her mind that could mean only one thing. The sense of tension in the air was thick inside the vehicle's cramped fighting compartment. "Erwin, take a look at our surroundings, I don't like it that we haven't seen Anglerfish yet. Keep your eyes open for any signs."
Too busy with navigating the difficult terrain Oryou chose not to participate in the conversation going on behind her, right now she needed all of her concentration in order to keep the vehicle straight as the terrain was proving difficult to traverse.
Behind the silent driver, Saemonza felt similar, although she found herself irking to make a remark, but she had more pressing issues as she constantly peering through her sight in order to try and catch a glimpse of an enemy tank, given the various side roads they might not even get a warning until they were virtually on top of it. She would need to react quickly, even more so if that tank were to be Anglerfish.
Opening her hatch and climbing up, Erwin brought up the binoculars that hung around her neck and peered through them in an effort to try and locate their opponents, much to her relief there was nothing out there. "Oryou, turn right at the next crossing," Erwin remarked as she noticed a point just up ahead from where they could turn, and hopefully, intercept their quarry. "Alright, everybody look sharp, we might get only one shot at this so we-." She didn't get to finish her sentence, profoundly cursing their ill-fated luck, as through her binoculars she caught sight of something far more worrying.
"Ambush!" Erwin cried out as she reported it to Caesar, voice rising in urgency as their problem was about to become a whole lot worse. Through her binoculars the blonde-haired reki-jo had seen the one tank they had been trying to avoid, the panzer IV, it meant that they were in a tight spot. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as she saw the tank react to them, putting their situation rather eloquently, snapping her binoculars down as she ducked back inside the tank's armored interior right before Anglerfish fired. Grasping the microphone's neckpiece, she reported it to Azusa, debris clattered across the outside, a testimony to how close to them the shot must have been.
And right then the small Type 89 appeared behind them, trapping them. "Well, this escalated pretty quickly," Saemonza remarked when she and the others noticed it, their little fubar situation had just got even worse.
"Pull back, senpai! Don't engage Anglerfish!" Azusa almost shouted through her radio when she received the news that Hippo was currently engaging not only Noriko's Type 89 but also, and far more worrying, Miho's panzer IV which was anything but what she wanted. "Break contact with Anglerfish at the earliest opportunity and make your way to a safe location, Anteater and us will come to offer support once we've finished Mallard."
This wasn't good; she had hoped that she could have taken out the other two tanks before Miho would get involved as she knew that she was going to need the combined firepower of all three of her tanks in order to even have a chance of taking down her captain. "We need to take down Mallard as soon as possible, otherwise Hippo won't last long, they can manage Duck fine but I fear that Anglerfish will be too dangerous for them to handle on their own. We can't allow Hippo to be taken out by captain Nishizumi!"
The atmosphere inside the tank was becoming tenser after Azusa having mentioned Miho's name, the first years acutely aware that there was a massive gap when it came to skill and the prospect of having to go and take on the captain's tank with only two of their own scared them. "Karina, pick up the pace, we need to wrap this up as quickly as possible."
"Right!" came the response from the driver as the vehicle's engine noise became louder. Up high in her seat, Azusa could even feel the tank tilt a little as Karina whisked it in a tight circle, perhaps even tighter than the brunette felt safe with.
"Karina, get us there as fast as possible. Aya, Ayumi, Saki, get the guns ready. We need to take out Mallard as fast as possible so we can link up with Hippo," she informed the rest of her crew, they needed to act fast or they would risk losing their most powerful vehicle. Though to be honest she was painfully aware that it might already be too late to save the StuG, it presented her with a difficult choice, either rush to finish of Mallard and then hurry in trying to reach Hippo and risk rushing into a trap or to be certain that Mallard was out and risk losing Hippo. Neither was a particularly good option but a choice had to be made.
"Make sure that you get those rounds loaded as fast as you can, we need to take them out as quickly possible so make your shots count. I don't want to waste more time that we have to in taking out Mallard, Hippo is counting on us," she ordered before turning her attention back to observing the situation from the cupola, right now she needed to have a firm grasp of the situation and direct her own tank and Anteater as efficiently as possible.
Although their main gun wasn't the most powerful gun in Ooarai's arsenal, it was more than adequate for taking out a tank like the Char, of course if possible Azusa would prefer to be able to get a shot to their enemies' weaker side in order to increase their chance of taking the tank out of the match. That said she felt a little disappointed in the fact that Anteater hadn't been able yet to dispense with the Char, and the young girl was having trouble in hiding her frustration at this setback but there was little that she could do about it.
All there was left for her was to pray that Hippo could hold out long enough for the others to catch up with them, she had rolled her die, now she would abide by the results of that throw.
Though to be honest she dreaded the most likely outcome of this little training session, standing up in the cupola of her tank she began to notice that she was having trouble with keeping herself standing, somehow it felt like there was something wrong with her legs.
Were it her nerves that were playing parts on her, or was it merely the first sign of something far worse, either way, she couldn't waste time on such matters, and as such she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.
Despite the clear benefits of their shooting, the fact that in order for the Char B-1bis to use its twin guns effective it had to remain stationary also meant that it was an easy target for any kind of return fire, a short moment later this was made clear when Rabbit came rounding a corner and began to add its firepower to that of Anteater, both tanks training their 75mm main guns on the heavy French tank, opening fire they led out a deafening barrage of shells.
Within the armored hull of their tank, Sodoko and her two compatriots were struggling to remain in their seats as several shells found their mark and slammed into the vehicle.
"I'm so going to report this, this is against the rules!" Sodoko gritted her teeth as she was nearly flung from the commander's seat following a particularly violent hit that seemed to shake their entire vehicle, still rocking back and forth as the noise outside seemed to die down she led out a sigh of relief. Seconds later, a horrible sounding shearing noise came from somewhere up front, Sodoko knew instantly that something bad had happened.
"Oh no!" Pazomi cried out, confirming the commander's fears as she did in the process, "They knocked out the main gun, we can't use it anymore. What should we do?!"
It happened all so abruptly before any of the three girls had any idea what was going on they were literally flung, in a rather violent manner, throughout the tank's interior. Outside the armored hull it sounded like somebody had unleashed Hell on them, one round after another smashing against the steel plates that made up the tank's armor, her ears were left ringing as shell after shell struck their vehicle and Sodoko pressed her hands firmly against her ears in an effort to dampen the noise but to little avail, her relief not coming until the bombardment died down.
Inside the now inoperable vehicle, a few mumbled groans gave away the disgruntled state of the tank's crew, the two enemy tanks hadn't exactly been gentle with their fire and that last hit had been particularly nasty. Clutching her head between her knees Sodoko felt like she was about to throw up as a nauseating sense washed over her. "I guess… that's it… for us…" she breathed underneath her teeth, a throbbing sensation at the front of her head causing her to want to close her eyes and grab some rest, she was glad that for them it was over.
Righting herself she brought her hand up and pressed the neck of her microphone in order to radio the status of her tank to Miho, for them the fight was over, and that meant that the others would now have to deal with all three of the enemy's' armored might.
"… Captain, we're out, we did what we could but they teamed up on us… we did get them to expend a lot of ammo on us… good luck. Mallard out," she said before she turned off the radio, leaning back in her seat and felt with her hand at the spot where she still felt the throbbing sensation, sure enough, it was a nasty bruise where she apparently had hit her head. "Let's head back, I'm tired," she informed the other two members of her crew, their part in this fight was over, the others would determine the outcome of this fight, all that was left for them to do was to wait for the recovery vehicle to come retrieve their stricken vehicle and bring them back to the garage. There they would find out who had won.
"Miporin, I just got word from Mallard, they're out," Saori said as she looked over her shoulder towards the tank's commander, informing her friend of the situation, and of the loss of one of their tanks. "From what she told me they kept both Anteater and Rabbit busy but I guess they're already on their way."
Nodding her head in response as she acknowledged that information Miho wasn't surprised with that outcome, the main guns on both the M3 and the Chi-Nu were more than capable of knocking out the Char from the front at most ranges though she was impressed that it had required the combined might of both tanks to finally silence the Renault. "Alright then, let's take care of Hippo as quickly as possible."
"Shell's already loaded," Yukari informed the other turret crew and Hana in particular, "You know, I'm kind of feeling bad for Hippo in that they ran into us first. We're likely the last ones that they wanted to have run into."
"There's not much we can do about it," Hana said in return as she briefly looked away from her gun's sights, "There's no telling who you might run into during a match, all that there's left is for us to knock them out. Or for them to get lucky and take us out."
"Hana-san's right," Miho joined the two girls. "It's simply us or them, and this match isn't going to end until one team is taking out. It might be unfortunate for them but it's their own fault because they were being a little reckless in their pursuit of Duck. There's also nothing wrong with them losing, as long as they've learned from this then I'm happy."
The others listened carefully to what Miho had to say, reminding them once again that the goal of this match wasn't for one side to win, but rather for the other teams to act a little more independently and come up with their own plans. Most of all were for Azusa to gain more experience in commanding a larger group, something that was going to be done for several others later on as well. Well, that would be something for another day, first things first, and that meant bringing this little training session to an end.
Once everybody was back at the tank sheds Miho was planning to go over what had happened with each team individually, she was also playing with the idea of letting each tank's respective commander write down their views in a report. Hopefully, that would help them in reflecting on their actions and decisions, a way to enable them to let it sink in with them and learn from it, Ooarai needed to become even stronger for next year.
As at the moment they could not count on new team members or new vehicles the only thing they were left with, for the time being, was to train the current existing crews. Experience and training could act as a force multiplier though it could only take the team so far, Ooarai needed reinforcements and it needed them badly.
"Let's take care of Hippo first," Miho remarked, signaling for Mako to get their vehicle into position before letting her hand rest on Hana's shoulder, she signaled that the graceful gunner could open fire whenever she was ready.
"This is really starting to resemble the Battle of Okehazama, the battle where Oda Nobunaga and his troops executed a brilliant ambush against Imagawa Yoshimoto before slaughtering them all," Saemonza suggested as their vehicle lurched hard to the side, "Though with the way this battle is going, we'll be the ones suffer the same fate as Imagawa Yoshimoto and his men."
"To be honest the massacre at Kurikara comes to mind," interjected Oryou as she struggled to get the StuG to turn in order to bring their gun to bear on the target, with the way that Anglerfish kept maneuvering the limited traverse of their long barreled 75mm was becoming a real handicap as they didn't get the opportunity to line up for a shot.
"Anglerfish is making this damn hard," Erwin gritted her teeth, "I would've preferred it if this battle was more like the one where Unteroffizier Horst Naumann was able to knock out 12 enemy tanks in a single action using his Sturmgeschütz during the fighting in the Demyansk area. But I doubt we're going to be anywhere near as lucky as he was."
The StuG's fate was sealed when a lucky shot from Duck destroyed their idler wheel, causing the vehicle to throw its tracks, and leaving it stranded with no longer any means to bring its main gun to bear on its opponents, with that it was left defenseless.
"Well I guess that's it," Saemonza said underneath her breath as she pulled back in her seat, there was no longer any point to peering through the gun's sights. They were done for, and as much as it pained her, she accepted their fate. "Wish I could've land a shot on Anglerfish."
"We've stopped dead in our tracks and much like how it went at Bibracte, the Romans are waiting patiently for the onrushing Gauls!" Caesar declared, folding her red scarf over her shoulder as she made herself a little more comfortable, they all knew what was coming.
Shaking her head in disapproval Saemonza shot her a glance and asked, "Can you please stop using analogies where we're the ones taking the role of the losing side? Ah just forget it."
Presented with such an easy kill Anglerfish was quick to deliver the killing blow, removing Hippo from the match in the process, and reducing Azusa's forces while denying them the further usage of such a powerful vehicle.
"I see, thank you for your efforts, senpai," Azusa said, offering her thanks to the crew of Hippo, but it was yet another painful setback that she could ill afford at the moment. The message wasn't the kind of news she had hoped to hear, after having taken out Mallard she really wished that Hippo had been successful in intercepting and eliminating Duck but from what she had been told the StuG had run into Miho's panzer IV instead, with a rather unsurprising outcome.
She had been counting on being able to use all three of their vehicles in order to take out Miho but now that plan was no longer an option and Azusa questioned on whether or not the remaining two tanks were going to be enough for the task at hand.
Briefly, she considered if forfeiting the match was an option but as she gave it some thought she could only come to the conclusion that it was not the way to end this match, it was not the way that Miho had taught them all. 'The captain would never give up, I can't give up either, I'd embarrass the captain after she picked me to lead the team, and yet…'
She wasn't left with any other option other than to continue and to attack Miho and take her out to or to get taken out while trying, that was her only choice, even with the odds stacked against her Azusa became aware that she needed to be bold. 'If we attack fast enough then they might not expect it. Would that really work? Wouldn't the captain expect that anyway?'
No doubt Miho would already be on the move, advancing quickly in order to strike her next target before they could react or reorganize their forces. It shouldn't come as a surprise, their captain made full use of the mobility offered by the tank, the longer that Azusa kept pondering the closer Miho would get to their position.
'I need to make a decision, I need to decide what we're going to do now,' she thought, being reminded how different it was to command a team compared to when it was just a single tank, this team was just three tanks, which paled to what Miho had commanded against stronger opponents, which only fueled her admiration for said girl.
"Hey Azusa, what do you want to do next?" Aya asked her as she reached out and tapped her commander on the shoulder, the brunette had been a bit too silent far longer than she was comfortable with.
"Hey c'mon, we can't stay here and wait for the others to show up," the twin tail said.
Finally snapping out of her thoughts Azusa looked and found her staring her gunner in the face, looking further she noticed that the rest of her crew had also been waiting for instructions. Without a doubt, the crew of Anteater was likely also awaiting further orders.
Letting out a frustrated sigh she told herself that she was just a terrible leader, now when it was so crucial to give clear orders and be an example to the others. Giving herself a quick slap to the cheeks she pulled herself together.
"Karina, we're moving towards Hippo's last known position, keep us going at a steady pace. Yuuki can you call Anteater for me and let them know that we'll be taking point. They are to follow us and bring up the rear, also tell them to have their turret rotated to the rear just in case Duck might try to sneak up on us," she gave out her orders, this was going to be it.
From the vantage point offered by the cupola of her panzer IV Miho could see the enemy tanks moving, much as she had expected Azusa had reorganized what remained of her forces and was moving together. "Clever, you did the right thing there. Still, it took you a bit longer than you had to, well you'll get better at it with more practice."
Noting the composition of the formation she was again impressed by the choice made by Azusa, with its main gun fixed in the hull it made sense to have the M3 take the lead while having the Chi-Nu to cover the rear using its turret mounted armament.
"I guess we're going to have to keep this short," Miho mentioned as she had a quick look at her watch, already this practice match had lasted for longer than she had expected it to be, hard to imagine that it had already been a few hours since they had left the tank sheds.
"So Nishizumi-dono, what are you planning on?" Yukari asked as she climbed up from the hatch on the loader's side of the turret, holding onto the handrails, she had gotten a little curious on what their next course of action was going to be. "I think it might be a little cruel if we were to take on Azusa-san and the other first years, still you have to admit they did a pretty good job."
"Not as good as us," Mako chimed in on the conversation, standing on her seat the diminutive driver barely got her head past the open hatch, "Otherwise they'd do better."
"Don't you think that's a little harsh on them?" Hana remarked, in her usual polite tone, as she joined in as well, "I mean they're up against us so I think it's a little unfair to expect too much of them. Like Yukari-san said, they did really good this match."
Not to be left out of it Saori was the last one to join, adding her own opinion to the matter though it did little to get the conversation going any further. There still remained some mixed views on the performance of Azusa as a team commander though as it had been pointed out this was only her first time so the expectations had to be kept a little down.
"She'll get better at it eventually, it's not easy being in command of an entire team as there's a lot more work the commander has to do," Miho summarized, "Next to commanding her own tank she also has to command and coordinate the others tanks and that task only gets harder the more tanks are in the team to command. I really had a hard time when we fought against the University. Azusa-san's, making a few mistakes here and there but that's to be expected, all in all, she's doing pretty well. Now let's go down there and see how she's going to react, Mako-san can you try and keep the noise down? I want to take them by surprise."
"Sure." Was the response as the driver acknowledged the order and slid back down her seat.
Seeing as they were going into action the others all got back inside the tank, closing their hatches behind them, all of them except for Miho. She was looking forward to how the first years were going to react to a sudden but ferocious surprise attack, one way or another this practice match was going to end. Pressing the microphone on her throat she gave the order, "Panzer Vor."
Inside her tank, moving in synch with the gentle rocking motion of the vehicle as it traversed the uneven ground, Azusa had her head clutched between her knees, ever since she had regained consciousness she had been feeling ashamed at how her actions had been directly responsible for her team's loss.
Just in front of her Aya wasn't sure what to make of her commanders continuing silence, sure they had lost but then wasn't this kind of to be expected given who they were up again. 'It's not like it's a bad thing that we lost to the captain, I mean she's the Ace of Ooarai. I think it's actually great that we managed to last that long against them given how much they stand above us.' Exchanging looks with Saki she was left with the impression that the normally quiet girl didn't know what to do with their commander's sudden reserved mood.
'Still, I don't like this,' ran through her mind as she risked a glance across her shoulder, seizing up her commander and noticing much to her disappointed that nothing had changed. 'This really isn't good, I hope she manages to pull herself out of it, I wish there was something I could say to cheer her up. Maybe we should take her somewhere nice.'
Not saying a word Karina had decided to keep herself focused on getting the tank back in the garage, Azusa's continuing silence had an unsettling effect on the mood inside the tank but there was little that she could do about it at the moment. Maybe her commander would be better once the tank was back inside and they could all exit the vehicle, however that would have to wait until the metal beast was back where it belonged.
Behind her, she could hear how Yuuki and Ayumi were talking in a hushed tone to avoid their commander hearing them though Karina herself guessed that with how withdrawn Azusa appeared to her that she questioned if said girl would notice anything at the moment.
The mood inside the steel hull was becoming dark and even the breeze of fresh air that came in through the open hatches could do little to expel the damp atmosphere that had taken hold.
It had all gone wrong so fast, one moment they were advancing at a good pace and the next they found themselves in what could only be described as a knife fight against both Anglerfish and Duck. After that, it simply had gone from bad to worse.
The part that shamed Azusa most was that she could barely remember what had happened during those last crucial moments, for some inexplicable reason, her mind went numb. At a critical moment, her tank was left without a commander to direct the flow of battle, with a predictable if yet disastrous, outcome. Both tanks had been taking out within split seconds by the enemy, taking full advantage of the momentary lapse in orders.
It was her fault, she was the only person to blame for this outcome, she had been picked as the team's commander by Miho, and she had not only failed her own team but her team's captain as well. The one person she admired the most and this way how she how she returned the gesture and confidence that Miho had placed in her.
It was enough to make Azusa feel sick, a knot stuck somewhere in her stomach, already she wasn't feeling that good when she thought about having to face Miho during the debriefing.
'I don't think she's going to be happy, no doubt she's going to be disappointed with me. She gave me command of the team and we lost. I don't think that she's going to scold me or anything, still, I don't like it, I don't want her to tell me that I disappointed her.'
"Well, we're there. The sheds are just up ahead." She could hear her driver mention, those were the kind of words that she wasn't so keen on hearing at the moment as it meant that she could no longer avoid the inevitable. She was going to have to face the verdict of her captain and it was one she feared, there was no denying in her mind that she had messed up.
'I don't want to go through with this. But I can't avoid her, I can't prevent her from seeing us and giving us her opinion, no matter how hard I might try she's going to tell us what she feels. There's no way for me to avoid this, I have to face it, even though I'm scared…'
While the rest of her crew seem relieved that they could finally relax and get some rest after the debriefing she was anxious about it, she hated the idea of having to face Miho, she just wanted for it to already be over so she could go home. Leaning back in her seat she craned her neck up, letting her shoulders drop, as she found herself gazing upwards through the open hatch of the tank's cupola at the blue sky.
Ooarai school carrier – Student Council office - 16.20h
"Well, it seems like they're all back," Yuzu remarked as she watched how the last of the tanks drove into the sheds, reporting things to Anzu and Momo as she saw fit, "I guess it must've been a pretty rough match, some of the teams look like they went through the grinder."
"Serves them right!" the monocle-eyed girl proclaimed loudly, shaking her fist in the air as she did, "That'll get them into shape, our training should be harder than the actual battles we fight. They'll need to get a lot better as we won't be there to help them next year, it's a shame but there's not much we can do about it. Furthermore, we should-."
"Kawashima, too long," Anzu interrupted her then and there, still chewing on her favorite snack she gestured that there wasn't any need to repeat something that they all know. And they did have other matters to focus their attention on. "Besides the losing team was fighting against Nishizumi-chan, it's not like they had a lot of chance of beating her. We all know that."
She hadn't bothered to read which side had lost but she felt confident in her own judgment and had reasoned that the better side with the better lead team had won, in that case, it was rather simple. Of course, she would be pleasantly surprised if somebody had managed to take that girl out, which would bode well for the future of the team.
"If only Shimada-san had decided to stay instead of transferring to another school," Momo remarked, pinching the bridge of her nose as she recalled what could only be described as a rather painful moment.
"Don't worry about it Kawashima, what's happened has happened. I would've been really great if we have Shimada-chan here as well along with Nishizumi-chan, but oh well," the diminutive twin tail said while waving around with a piece of sweet potato. That was until she turned to her left and turned her gaze on the brunette and asked, "Oh Koyama, have you heard anything from that store where we placed the order for the new gun?"
Skimming through the notes she always kept at hand Yuzu gave the answer. "I'm afraid not, I'd hoped that they'd have it by now but sadly it doesn't seem to be the case. If you want I can give them a call tomorrow and ask how things are going, they might have an estimate for us."
"Great idea," Anzu said in return, giving her approval to that suggestion. It was only a small increase in performance but it was an improvement nonetheless, one that was still welcome.
"While it will have to suffice for now, it would be good if we could further enhance some of our other vehicles as well," Momo interjected as she pointed out one of their other problems that needed to be addressed before a new student council would take over.
"I don't think we'll need to worry about it," the twin tail replied before turning around in her chair, leaning forward she reached out and picked up one of the photo's that were on the desk. "Given that the new student council, whoever they may be, will love this school as much as we do they'll help Nishizumi-chan wherever they can." Anzu wasn't worried anymore about the future of the school, they had made sure of that, still, the thought of leaving this school once she had graduated was something that made the diminutive girl feel a little sad.
"Ehm Prez," Yuzu called her out gently, she had seen that said girl was deep in her own thoughts so she really didn't want to disturb her but the fact was that they still had a certain matter to discuss. "We still have those to look into."
"She's right," Momo joined her, adjusting her pose as her eyes rested on a trio of envelopes, each containing a letter from a respective school, lying on Anzu's desk. They had been delivered earlier that day but so far they hadn't the opportunity to go through them. "We need to decide which one we'll accept first, I doubt we'll be able to handle all three requests at the same time."
Still nibbling Anzu didn't share Momo's opinion, in her mind it was rather easy to accept all of the requests, it just required for them to look closely at what was being asked. "We'll pick this one first," she said as she rested her hand on the one to her right, "This one is just a request for us attending their upcoming match, we can simply go there as visitors and not participants, which'll make it a lot easier for us."
The envelope she was holding was the one sent to them by Maginot, it had been a request made by their team's captain, Éclair, and after reading the letter carefully it seemed that they had a matched planned against Chihatan next week. It would be good to go and see the match, even if was just for the purpose of maintaining relationships with the other schools.
A handful of students could go, Anzu didn't see much reason for the entire team to go. "Koyama, could you pass it on to Nishizumi-chan and tell her that she can pick four people to go with her," Anzu filled her in, holding up four fingers to emphasize the number of people that could go and accompany the team's captain. That would be enough, and besides, there were still classes to be followed so not everybody could be allowed to be absent.
"What will we do then with the one we received from Viggen?" Momo asked as she held up the second letter, having read it closely she was aware of the rather odd request having been sent in by the school, Viggen apparently wanted for Ooarai to sent over a couple of students from Ooarai's tankery team to come and help train Viggen's own team, which apparently was struggling. Still, Momo wasn't entirely convinced by the reasons given in the letter as she felt hesitant about their students going and helping out another team.
"Let's try and first learn a bit more about what they can field, with any luck we might not need to send any tanks at all," Anzu answered it, it was only an invitation for setting up a training method though there were no further details given in the letter which meant that they would need to gather more info so they could come up with a strategy.
With the note board pressed against her chest Yuzu was now staring at the third and last of the letters sent to them. A letter, delivered to them, from a school that they hadn't heard of before.
"So what will we do with the last one? Do you think we should ask Nishizumi-san first?"
Nodding her head Anzu explained that it would likely be best if they did just that, they knew almost nothing about this school, so discussing it with Miho first was deemed as the best course of action. "Also try and figure out a little more about this one, I'd like to know who Tarczay High is. There's got to be a reason as to why they contacted us all of a sudden."
"Understood," Momo said, nodding her head, before turning around and making her way to the door. She was going to have to do some digging in order to learn more about this currently unknown school, once she had the information they would discuss it with Miho and formulate a plan before they would give their reply to the request for a friendly match. She would first go and look up with the schools registered for Tankery for any kind of information with regards to this Tarczay High.
Ooarai school carrier – Tank sheds - 16.10h
"Wow, they sure did a number on her," Hoshino let out as she had a good look at the damage that Mallard had been subjected to over the course of the training match, they were going to have their work cut out for them. "I know that training's important and all but did they really have to be so rough on her? Oh well, at least we've got something to keep us busy with."
Already with a wrench in her left hand Tsuchiya appeared next to her. "Yeah, this is gonna be fun. I've been waiting for a chance to pick her apart and see how that crazy system that connects the tanks drive to the traverse mechanism works. This'll be fun, I can't wait."
As the other two remaining members of their little group joined in as well a particular conversation was taking place as the four girls began to discuss various technical aspects that were simply lost on most of the other students present in the building. Not that it mattered.
Watching the odd conversation unfold Midoriko wasn't really sure what to make of it but she had learned never to interrupt the members of the automotive club when they were having such talk, and besides, there was no way that she would be able to effect repairs so she wasn't left with much of a choice. Besides, there were other things that she wanted to invest her time in and once Miho came to the front and had given the team her overview of the battle she would take her leave. In anticipation of that she and the other members of her crew already stood at the attention, waiting for what was going to happen soon.
They would not have to wait for long as Miho and the other members of Anglerfish took up their positions, the debriefing was about to begin, every student present feeling a slight sense of anxiety as they had never really gotten criticism from the commander before.
Normally the student council would shoulder that task but it seemed that as they were not present today that Miho took over the role, though given that she as the commander of the team had a far better insight on how to operate tanks it was only natural that she would be the one doing the debriefing, being less intimidating and more respected than Momo for instance, certainly would make it easier for the arrayed students to accept the captain's words.
Addressing the ranks of students present Miho, somewhat hesitant, first spoke out her thoughts on the match. "You all did really well today, a lot of you showed good tactical thought and insight. I'm really impressed by how you all performed, I think that we're definitely on the right track but I also want to point out that some mistakes were made."
Remaining silent for a moment to take in how this affected the girls Miho continued, "But that is nothing to be ashamed of, mistakes are made all the time, even the best teams make them. What's important is that we learn from our mistakes today, so that we won't repeat them again, as long as we keep striving to improve ourselves I have no doubt that we'll stand a really good chance to win the Nationals again next year. You can do it."
Seeing as the praise she gave them prompted a slight improvement in the demeanor from the girls as they registered the sincerity of the words addressed to them, Miho smiled, to them, it meant a lot to be praised by the girl they all adored and respected so much.
"Now I'd like for all tank commanders to write a report on today's match, please make sure that you describe your thoughts on how thing went for you, note as many details as you can. If you feel that something could have been done better then don't hesitate to write it down."
It seemed that this stirred a reaction as confused looks were being exchanged between several of the girls, some of them didn't seem to understand what was being asked of them. Besides this was something that none of them had done before so they had no idea what was being expected of them or these reports, next to the confusion about what one should write down in these there were also some worried concerns being expressed that one might get into trouble if they were to write down the wrong things.
Seeing it, Miho further explained what she wanted from the tank commanders, furthermore, she also gave her reasons for making this request, stating that by writing a report they would become more aware on how they had acted during the match. The team's captain also stated that in no way was anybody going to have to feel ashamed about any poor performance of terrible decisions, they were all part of the learning process.
Furthermore, she also reassured to all of the students that there would be no consequences if anybody were to be highly critical or write down the wrong kind of things, these reports were not meant to get students into trouble but to locate mistakes and to learn from them. Anybody was free to write down as they saw fit, without any fear of consequences or repercussions.
"If possible I'd like for you to hand in your reports before the end of tomorrow," Miho added to her earlier explanation before she continued, "Also if you think of something important then do add it, we'll be using these reports to create a training system so that any new members next year will have an easier time to catch up. Also, I'll be having a detailed talk with each individual team after you've handed in your reports."
Seeing as there was no further need of criticism with regards to the match's performance Miho decided to wrap things up, they had been at it for long enough now, the debriefing had been going only for well over twenty minutes by now. "Again I was really impressed by how you all played, it makes me feel proud of being in charge of a team with such great people in it. We keep on training like this, and keep on giving our best, we'll definitely have another shot at winning next year. Now I want to thank all of you for your efforts today, practice and this debriefing is now over. I wish you all a good day," Miho said as she made a bow towards the arrayed girls present, sincerely thanking them for their efforts today.
Making a bow in return the assembled teams began to disperse, splitting off and going their own separate ways. The trio of girls belonging to Mallard went back towards the main building, no doubt their responsibilities of the Public Morals Committee requiring for them attend to several matters, Duck, as usual, decided to go and visit the gym instead as they were still fired up from the match and they needed to get some good exercise in order to wear themselves down.
The remainder of the other teams split into smaller groups, evidently heading home. The other four girls that made up the rest of Anglerfish, however, stayed where they stood, and gave a rather expectant look to Miho.
"So, Miporin, you look a little tired. Are you feeling any better now?" Saori remarked, in her usual kind tone, as she noticed the somewhat exasperated expression on her friend's face. The kind-hearted ginger could understand if her friend was a little exhausted as it was after all the first time she had done such a debriefing. "Just make sure you don't strain yourself, right?"
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Miho let out in a sigh, visibly relaxing now that the debriefing was over. "Also, thank you for worrying about me but it's not that bad actually. I just didn't think it would be this hard but I'm already looking forward to getting their reports tomorrow and read-." She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as a shout came from somewhere outside which caught their immediate attention, turning their heads to each other they looked in confusion as at first, they didn't understand what was going on. That was until they heard it again.
Hearing it the five of them rushed towards one of the large doors to see what was happening, wondering if some students had gotten into a fight, or had somebody hurt themselves? As they got closer they could hear the shouts getting louder, but also easier to recognize, it made them quicken their pace as they were starting to worry.
"That sounds an awful lot like Azusa-chan from Rabbit doesn't it?" Saori asked as she was the first one to recognize the voice they heard. "Don't tell me that she's in some kind of trouble is she now?"
"No," Hana said, doing her best to keep up with the rest, "I don't think that's it but there is something going on, it almost sounds like… she's… crying…"
As they rounded the corner they could see the six girls making up Rabbit standing there but what drew their immediate attention was Azusa, the young girl was crying, tears running down her cheeks, her red-stained eyes staring back at her friends and classmates. "Why won't any of you just leave me alone?! I didn't ask you to come with me so go away! I want to be by myself right now!" the girl shouted before she spun on her heel, and before any of them had a chance to react, ran away.
Ooarai school carrier - streets - 17.35h
"I wonder what was wrong with Sawa-san," Yukari remarked as the five of them left the store and turned left after the exit, ever since leaving the school grounds they had all been wondering what had prompted Azusa to react like she had.
"Do you think something happened during the match? From what we were told she must have been pretty upset," Hana added, her long hair trailing behind her, trying to come up with a reason. It was clear that the young girl had been unnerved by something all of a sudden, no doubt the reason for it lied in the match.
Saori asked the question that was on their minds though she also seemed to be a bit defensive of the younger girl. "You don't think she was upset because her team lost, do you? Please don't tell me it's like that, she's not that kind of person you know."
Mako let out a retort, "Nobody said that." Without even turning her head as she kept on walking, right now she was more preoccupied with getting home and grabbing some rest.
"Nishizumi-dono, what do you think happened?" Yukari asked, directing her question to Miho as she wanted to hear her opinion on the matter. "Do you think that we should go and see how he's doing? Or would it be better if we left her alone?"
Remaining silent for a moment as she contemplated about her answer Miho finally broke her silence, "I think it's best if we give her some space right now, the other members of Rabbit have already gone after her. I don't think that Azusa-san is going to feel any better if we're there as well, it might even have the opposite effect on her. That said I would like to know if she's okay or not."
It didn't sit well with any of them, not knowing how the younger girl was doing at the moment. They had all seen the look on her face, a look that portrayed how depressed she must have been and a look that compelled any who saw to go after her and comfort her. Furthermore what had happened had surprised them all, none of them had expected such an outburst from Azusa or for the young girl to suddenly run away. Still, there had to be a reason to explain her sudden actions, something must have happened to cause the young girl to run away like that.
"Well if you want I can send a message to them, I have their numbers on my cell phone," Saori remarked as she pulled out her phone and held it up for the others to see. "I don't think that sending one to Azusa-san is a good idea but I can do the others and ask them?"
It was a kind gesture but one that really wouldn't tell them anything but at the very least would offer them some measure of comfort, they would all feel a lot better if they were told that Azusa was simply at home.
None of them believed that the younger girl was going to do anything stupid, she was a sensible person, pretty smart, very observant, so the chance of her doing something reckless was almost nonexistent. Even so, they just wanted to know how she was doing.
"Then how about we go and see her first thing in the morning, we can leave a little earlier so that we have some extra time so we…" Saori suggested but she trailed off as her suggestion was quickly shot down by a very disapproving glance from Mako who wasn't all that keen on having to get up even earlier than usual.
"Let's just wait until tomorrow, we can still decide on what to do then," the black haired gunner remarked in response, adding a suggestion of her own. "I'm certain that if even we get a little late in class our teachers will understand. Besides even we get in a little trouble I think it'll be worth it. Helping out another is the right thing to do after all, am I right?"
The other four girls nodded their heads in agreement, the teachers are their school were pretty understandable, so explaining to them why they were a little late for class was likely going to prevent them from getting into too much trouble. In the event that they did get a stern lecture or additional assignment, well it would be worth it if they knew that Azusa was fine, that mattered a lot more to them, which was far more important.
Then it was agreed on, first thing tomorrow morning they would go to the younger girl's class and see how she was doing. And even though Mako voiced her objections to the issue of having to get up even earlier she nevertheless conceded as she too wanted to find out as well how the girl was doing, well she would manage somehow, perhaps she could get the others to carry her.
Continuing on their way to their respective homes the group began to split up as each girl had to go in a different direction, eventually leading to Miho being by herself as she covered the last part to her apartment alone, alone in her own thoughts she kept asking herself what she could have done to helped Azusa, somewhere a part of her was feeling a little guilty over what had happened.
Ooarai school carrier – Miho's apartment - 20.20h
Blinking as she heard somebody ring the doorbell Miho got up from the couch and, feeling a little confused at first as she wasn't expecting any visitors for the night, she nevertheless went to the door of her apartment. "I wonder who it could be. The others didn't say anything about coming over tonight. Maybe it's a surprise visit from them, ah but I don't have any snacks for us. I guess that I'll need to go to the store then and get some though knowing Saori-san she likely brought some with her."
Pausing at the door for a moment to listen if she might be able to recognize the person's voice it got silent, had she been mistaken perhaps. With her hand resting on the door handle she asked through the intercom, "Ehm excuse me, who's there?" and waited for an answer.
She didn't have to wait long as through the intercom she could hear a somewhat hesitant sounding Azusa.
"… Ehm… captain Nishizumi… it's me Sawa Azusa from school." She could hear the younger girl say, but she could also tell that something felt strange in the way that she was speaking. "… Can I… come in…? I'd… like to talk… if that's alright with you?"
Opening the door in response Miho was taken aback by what she saw, the expression on Azusa's face coupled with her posture told Miho that something was weighing heavily on the younger girl's shoulders. The way that Azusa was doing her best to avoid Miho's gaze only reaffirmed the older girl's suspicions. No doubt the young brunette had come here to talk about it with somebody because something was troubling her and she wanted to get it off her chest.
Faced with that Miho felt that the only thing to do was to let the girl stay here and listen to what she had to say, that was the right thing to do. "Please come in, Azusa-san," Miho said as she gestured for her to come inside and make herself comfortable, "Have a seat, I'll get us something to drink in the meantime."
Just nodding her head without saying a word Azusa stepped inside and took off her shoes before moving further into Miho's small apartment, taking it all in she was a little surprised at first to see that this was where the team's captain and the Ace of Ooarai resided.
Briefly, the older girl gave some thought if she should call her friends and have them come over but a quick glance over her shoulder, and seeing the state in which the younger girl found herself, convinced her otherwise. Having her friends here as well was only going to scare Azusa, making it even harder to get her to calm down and explain what had happened earlier. Looking at from that side it made the most sense for it just being the two of them, that way the young girl would hopefully find herself more at ease than when she was confronted by five older girls. Miho wanted for her to feel comfortable, her first priority now was to make sure that Azusa would relax a little and open up to her. If they could just have a talk with each other than Miho felt certain that at some point that the younger girl was going to tell her about her problems, after that they could look for a way to help her. She felt confident that with a little understanding and caring she could help the young tank commander with her problem and come up with a solution. But for now, she would need to make the girl feel at home, she wanted for her to feel more at ease so that it would be easier to have a little talk.
Clutching her chest Azusa felt a little anxious at first as she wasn't sure if she had done the right thing by coming here, slightly worried that her captain, a person who she had come to idolize, would think badly of her after what had happened during the training.
Looking around her she was a little surprised to see that the room had a rather kind atmosphere to it, which did help her to feel a bit more ease though she couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling that maybe she shouldn't have come here in the first place. From the small kitchen she could hear that the older girl was busy in getting them some drinks and likely something to eat as well, however to Azusa it felt that such kindness was wasted on her.
"There we are," Miho said as she came back from the kitchen and entered the room again followed by her placing a small tray holding their drinks on the table, having poured one for Azusa she placed it in front of the younger girl before taking a seat opposite of her. Waiting for a moment in order to give the younger girl the chance to start the conversation it dawned on Miho, when the silence went on for far too long, that she was going to need to force the talk. "So Azusa-san, I guess you must be feeling… ehm… a little disappointed about what happened today, am I right? Is that why you decided to come and see me?"
With her head cast down, her eyes trained on the glass in front of her Azusa didn't dare to look Miho back in the eyes as she gave, somewhat reluctant, her answer. "… W-Well kind of… I just… feel terrible about it…"
Gently pushing the glass to the side, as she wasn't that thirsty, to begin with, Miho leaned forward a little and asked, "So why do you feel so terrible about it then, Azusa-san? You shouldn't feel bad about what happened; you did everything that you could've done. It can happen to even the best of us during a match. We all make mistakes sometimes."
"But not you, you don't make mistakes," Azusa blurted the words as she looked up with tear-stained eyes. "You've never make any mistakes captain, you always know what to do. Even in the most difficult situations, you've… always managed… to…pull through… unlike me…"
Shaken her head gently in response Miho informed Azusa that the younger girl was mistaken if she honestly thought that Miho had never made any mistakes in her life. "Actually, I've made my share of mistakes as well. I think the biggest one being that I nearly quit Sensha-do, luckily all of you made me realize that I was wrong. I've also lost plenty of training matches against others back at Kuromorimine, and to be honest some of them were really embarrassing. I'm not as infallible as you think I am, Azusa-san." And with that Miho began to give some examples of the many mistakes she had made in the past, one more embarrassing than the other and recalling them made Miho feel a little uneasy about her past. That said she also found strength and confidence knowing that she had learned from her past mistakes and they had helped to shape her into the person she was today, a person that she felt proud of.
It wasn't all that much but at the very least it did make Azusa feel a little better about herself though she couldn't for the life of her imagine her captain making mistakes when it came to anything related to tankery, somehow it just didn't fit with the image that she had of the older girl. It was just in such stark contrast to the Miho that she had come to know and respect, shuffling back and forth a little as she had no idea on how to react the younger girl just stayed quiet.
"Did I really surprise you with that?" Miho asked as noticed the somewhat surprised expression on Azusa's face, slightly tilting her head before she continued. "Making mistakes is a part of life, you can't live your life without making mistakes but there's nothing wrong with that. Just make sure that you learn from your mistakes so you won't repeat them again."
Reaching out for her glass she had a short sip from it, after all of that talking her throat was starting to feel a little dry. Yet somehow reminiscing about her past mistakes was making the older girl feel a little nostalgic about herself, she told herself that she could do that later as right now her focus had to be on helping Azusa.
"… Ehm, captain Nishizumi?" Azusa asked as she dared to look up, so far she had been avoiding Miho's gaze on purpose but after having heard all of that she was starting to get a little curious about what her commander was thinking. "Do you really think that there was something for me to learn from what happened? I don't even know where it went wrong, it just happened…"
Getting up from her seat Miho walked over towards the younger girl and kneeled down in front of her. "It's alright Azusa-san, you don't have to get worked up over it. Just relax a little and I'm sure that the answer will come to you," she said as she wrapped her arms around Azusa before she began comforting the younger girl. "It's going to be alright, I believe in you Azusa-san, I know that you gave it your best today. There's nothing for you to be ashamed of, just keep giving it your best, that's all I'm asking of you."
"…E-Ehm… c-captain…" Flustered by the suddenness of this sincere gesture Azusa was struggling to express herself, stumbling over the words as she tried to find the right ones to say in response to her captain's comforting words. "I… I-I… c-captain…"
"Also, I think you did really well today, you showed good tactical insight. Your strategy was sound, you realized the nature of your team and the terrain and planned accordingly, you anticipated a forward dash by Duck, and you even did your best to coordinate your team to attack together against the same target. You have every reason to be proud of yourself, please don't doubt yourself or your decisions."
"…" Azusa tried to speak but the words were stuck, this was becoming a little too much for her to handle, her throat starting to feel dry. "… C-Captain…"
"Oh, one more thing," Miho said in return as she leaned back a little. "You don't have to call me captain when we're not on the team, you can be a little less formal with me."
Hearing those kind words addressed to her Azusa couldn't hold herself together any longer, she broke down crying, burying her face against Miho's chest. No longer able to keep them back the tears came running down her cheeks, murmuring something underneath her breath and even though Miho couldn't clearly hear the words the younger girl was saying and yet the movements of her lips were obvious.
"… I-Is it alright… if I stay a little longer…senpai…?" Azusa asked with a quivering voice as she dreaded having to go back to her home at the moment, she wanted to stay a little longer. There was still so much for her to learn but being able to be here with Miho and having the older girl praise her was helping her to process what had happened. She still felt guilty over what had happened but now at least she was feeling less ashamed about it.
"Sure," Miho said in return. "Do you want to have something to drink, I can get you something else if you want? Also feel free to turn on the TV if you want to watch something to help you take your mind off it."
"Ah no thank you," Azusa politely declined the offer as she still had enough and she hadn't been that thirsty, that said she felt relieved in hearing that it was alright or her to stay. "I'd much rather continue talking with you… if that's alright with you… senpai?"
"I'd like that, Azusa-san. I didn't get the opportunity to get to know any of you better so I'm glad to have the chance for that now. If possible I'd like to get to know all of you a little better."
Hearing those words, feeling the sincerity behind the gesture Azusa finally regain her courage, reaching for the handkerchief that laid on the table she wiped her tears, her eyes remained red but at least she was feeling better than she had before. Carefully picking up the glass she took a sip from it as she cleared her throat, there was a lot that she wanted to tell Miho about, just thinking about it was enough to bring a smile to her face.
"You definitely look a lot cuter when you're smiling, Azusa-san," Miho giggled as she spotted the smile that caressed the younger girl's features, complimenting her as she felt that a smile suited her much better than tears. "You're a pretty girl you know."
Hearing that Azusa's couldn't help but blush in response, her face taking on a few hues of pink, as she wasn't mentally prepared for being complimented by the captain, let alone being called cute by her, but it didn't feel like an embarrassment. Regaining her composure she met the gaze of the older girl and said. "Thank you, senpai. You're also pretty cute when you're smiling." The reaction this prompted from Miho made it all the more worthwhile.
After the two of them had a few good laughs and had a chance to settle into a more comfortable atmosphere Azua took a deep breath and began to talk about her life, where she came from, what her family was like, her interests, her friends, her ambitions in life, and much more. Once she began she found it hard to stop, she felt so eager about telling about herself.
This was the first time in her life that an older student took such an interest in her, it was new, it was refreshing, it was exciting, and Azusa just couldn't get enough of the attention she was getting from Miho. It was definitely a new kind of experience for her but one that she liked, even cherished, talking like this also made her aware that her captain for all of her virtues and skill at tankery was also just a simple girl much like her. A girl that she wanted to get to know better as well, perhaps they even had some things in common beyond participating in tankery.
Leaning back against the side of the bed Miho silently asked herself how long she and Azusa had been talking by now, she hadn't paid much attention what time it had been when the younger girl had first appeared at her doorstep and by now she had completely lost track of the time. That said, she didn't mind, on the contrary, she was really glad to have had this opportunity for a nice private talk to the younger girl. There had been so much that she hadn't been aware of, things that she would never have sought behind Azusa's kind face, she was hoping that she would get to spend more time together.
An evening like this was a welcome change of pace, it was somewhat similar to the talks she had with her closest friends, but those were people that she saw daily and had a lot more contact with. Others such as Azusa were the kind of people with whom she had very little contact with outside of the team, so a more intimate talk like this was a rather pleasant change. For that Miho offered a silent thank you to the younger girl who sat opposite of her.
"Ah! I can't believe it's that late!" Azusa gasped all of a sudden as almost by accident she had a look at the clock and noticed what time it already was, nearly jumping up. "I'm so sorry for having stayed this long, senpai. I didn't mean to waste your evening on me. I-I need to go!"
Leaning forward Miho grabbed her by the arm and told her, "It's alright Azusa-san, you don't need to apologize to me, I had a great time tonight so you being here wasn't a waste at all."
Still, it seemed that despite Miho's kind words Azusa's mind was made up, she wanted to go home, in part because she was genuinely tired but also because she felt that enough was enough for today, a lot had happened and she needed some time to let it all sink in.
"I see," Miho said in return as she noticed what the younger girl meant when she had said that, with that, she got up from her seat and escorted Azusa to the door. "I guess you're right, it's already getting late and we do have school again tomorrow. Still, I really enjoyed this evening, I had a lot of fun tonight, Azusa-san. So thank you for that."
Azusa just nodded her head as she donned her shoes but inside she shared the sentiment, this definitely had been a very pleasant evening for her. It felt like the anxiety she had been through earlier had been worth it though, to be honest, there had been nothing that she needed to be afraid of, her fears had been unfounded.
Standing at the door Miho couldn't help but smile as she offered her thanks to the younger girl. "Thank you for having come over Azusa-san, I've never had the opportunity to get to know you any better so I'm really glad that I got the chance to talk to you today. I really feel like I got to know you better, I hope that you can come visit me again soon. I'd love for us to get together like this again"
"… I… did too… senpai," Azusa said underneath her breath as she felt her chest swell with pride, the sincerity of the gesture easing the emotional load on her shoulder. Quickly wiping away a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye she took a cautious step forward. "… I'm glad… that I got… the chance… to talk to you… that you… listened to me… I feel so much better now… thank you… senpai…"
Author's note: Hey folks, sorry that it took so long to post an update and there's really no excuse for it. Won't stop me from trying though so please bear with me, then again, we all know what an absolute royal pain in the neck life can be at times.
In March this year my father was diagnosed with a benign bone tumor in his upper jaw, scans done at the hospital showed that the tumor was the size of an orange and due to the type of tumor this one couldn't be treated by either chemo or radiation so the only option was to have it surgically removed. Originally my father's surgery was planned to be on the 2nd of May, then it was changed to the 25th of April due to another patient possibly falling out, after that it got change back to the 2nd of May again and last week it got changed to the 9th of May. Yeah, we weren't exactly thrilled with all of the shuffling they were doing as we just wanted to get the damn thing over with.
By now he's back home after he has spent the last 3 weeks in the hospital, he was supposed to have come home sooner but pneumonia meant that it took a little longer than what we had hoped for although we've been informed by the staff that they did expect this.
We're all glad that he's back with us and that his recovery is going well, that also means that I have a bit more peace of mind and can devote a bit more of my time towards my stories. I've been driving up and down to the hospital every day for the past 3 weeks so luckily that's over.
I've also lost a weekend to the Militracks event which is held each year, this year it was again damn crowded and despite getting up early I had a blast, I got to see an actual Panzer II Ausf. L 'Luchs' driving around and it truly is the cutest tank in the world, and no, this is not up for debate, at all.
Met Jon as well, who some of you might know as the infamous 'Welderbeast' who restored an early model StuG III Ausf. D on his Facebook page, I had a terrific time talking to him about the project and sharing our love for old armored vehicles, even though the StuG didn't drive around anymore and was parked away Jon offered me the chance to have a seat in the old girl which I was only too happy to accept. I'll say this, damn the inside is crowded, I'm roughly 1.80m tall and I had trouble in getting to sit in the driver's seat, gunner's position was just as bad and if you're the commander you can't sit at all when the vehicle needs to button down. It really is a cramped vehicle and there are four blokes in it. Still, I loved being able to say that I got to sit in an actual StuG III Ausf. D, not too many can say that.
Well, going to leave it at that before these author's note start to become a thesis on their own, I should have the next chapter up a lot sooner than that it took me this one, a good portion of that chapter has already been written so with any luck you won't have to wait as long as you had to for this one, for which I again wish to apologize.
Enjoy the chapter, have a good time, and take care.
