On Our Way to the Battlefield!

Ooarai school carrier – tank sheds – 18.00h Tuesday

"Ah, I'm tired," Saori let out, her voice betraying her exhaustion, before stretching her arms after she had pulled herself out of the tank. With the vehicle now parked at its usual spot in the garage, the day's training had finally come to an end and the ginger-haired girl was keen to let her friends know that she was anxious to enjoy the remainder of the day. "So what do you all say if we got our stuff and head to the bathhouse?"

"What, now?" Yukari asked as she was surprised by the sudden proposal about leaving this very moment, they had barely left their tank and already it seemed that her friend was keen to get herself treated to a good bath. "Takebe-dono, don't you think that's a little soon?"

Looking down from on top of the turret Miho could do little but agree with Saori as she too wanted to get there as quickly as possible, after that she would head over to Azusa's place like she had promised. "I think it's alright to go, the sooner we leave the longer we can stay."

"Ah that's right, you're going to see Azusa-chan aren't you, Miporin?"

"Well, in that case, why don't we go then?" Hana suggested, and seeing as there was nothing left for any of them to here they might as well make the most of the opportunity and get to leave. Besides, it was already pretty late so it would be best for them to go.

"Ah shoot!" Yukari cried out as she wanted to retrieve her bag. "I think I left my books back at the classroom, I must've forgotten about it after our break… sorry…"

The other four girls were just smiling, taking a little enjoyment from seeing their friend a little distressed but they meant no harm with it.

"Just go and get it from the classroom then, we'll be waiting for you at the entrance of the bathhouse, alright?" Miho said as she let the brunette know that it would be alright for her to leave, they would wait for her. "We'll be waiting for you there, till then, Yukari-san."

Expressing her gratitude by making a deep bow, one that drew several comments from her friends, Yukari said her goodbyes. Turning around followed by her making her way towards one of the large gates she came to a halt and turned around one last time to wave at her friends.

"So I guess that means we'll be going as well?" Hana asked the obvious question as she made her way over to where she had left her bag.

"Yep, we still have to get to our home and get the stuff that we're going to need, but are you sure that it's alright for us to go now?" Saori added to the question, kinda answering it and kinda not answering it at the same time. "I mean I do have a lot that I need to bring with me."

"You bring too much," Mako said dryly, "It's too heavy and you're going to slow us down."

"Hey! Why did you have to say that! Plenty of that is also meant for you!"

"Miho-san, do you want to leave or wait for a bit?" Hana turned her question to the only other girl of their group, reasoning that she was not going to get much of an answer from the other two who were bickering.

"Ah sure, I'll need to collect my stuff as well for when I go and visit Azusa-san," the other girl said in return. "Also, do you think we should do something about those you?" Her finger pointing at the pair who seemed to still be stuck in their little argument.

Hana nodded her head, signaling that they definitely needed to do something about it so that they could get on their way. "I think we should, I feel it would be pretty rude of us if we were the ones to keep Yukari-san waiting. Just let me handle this."

Not saying a word Miho's attention was pulled somewhere else when she noticed Anzu waving for her from the corner of her eye, apparently, there was something that the smaller girl needed to show her. "Excuse me, Hana-san, I'll be right back."

Not knowing why Anzu was signaling for her to come over, Miho nevertheless made her way towards the girl in question.

"H-Hana, c-could you give me a hand, Mako just fell asleep," Saori cried out as all of a sudden she found herself struggling to keep up the weight of the smaller girl. "S-She's heavier than you think… I-I need… some… h-help… p-please…"

The long-haired girl remained where she stood, a devious smile etched on her face, seeming to take a certain delight in the other girl's struggle. With her hand covering her mouth, she was feeling the irresistible urge to tease her friend. "My, my, my, should I? I don't really know if I should. I think you should be fine on your own."

"Oh c'mon!" Was the reply that the ginger-haired girl shot back in return as a way to express her frustration, and if her friend was thinking that this was the moment to be funny than she was going to be gravely mistaken. "Hana!"

Still with a somewhat devious smile caressing her face the graceful girl made her way over towards the girl in distress in order to lend a helping hand, they were still friends after all, and as much as she enjoyed teasing the ginger-haired girl she could not deny that a part of her was feeling a little sorry for said girl. Well, only a little.


Ooarai school carrier – class 2-C – 18.15h Tuesday

Going back into her classroom Yukari was relieved to see that the bag containing her precious books was still where she had left it, letting out a deep sigh she rushed over to her desk in order to retrieve it. "Ah thank goodness, it's still here."

Feeling better now that she had recovered her prized books, Yukari turned on the spot and was about to leave the classroom when she came to a sudden halt.

"Oh, Akiyama?" Maika said as she appeared in the door opening and found herself as equally surprised as the fluffy haired brunette standing in front of her. "Didn't you have Sensha-Do?"

Yukari was taken aback, she hadn't really expected to see Maika again so soon already, she had really wanted to take advantage of the evening and think about what her answer was going to be.

"… W-Well...we just finished with training, I just came back to get my book…" Yukari said in return, feeling a sense of guilty shame wash over her at being confronted by the black-haired girl. "… So did your club run late?"

Said girl gave a curt nod in return, "It did but I'm glad it did because that means I get the chance to see you already. So Akiyama, have you thought about what we talked about before?"

"… Well, I ehm…" she stammered as she had no immediate answer for the other girl, as much as she hated to admit it, she would need to give her an honest answer now. There was simply no way that she could get away this time with another excuse. "To be honest, I have thought about it… but I'm not really sure… I'm sorry… I can't."

"Ah, is that so? Well, that's a little disappointing though I shouldn't be surprised at it," Maika said in return, her voice betraying her disappointment. "A shame really as I wanted to ask you for your opinion but I guess it can't be helped."

Yukari blinked. "Huh? M-My opinion?" This was something that she hadn't expected, why did the other girl want her opinion and about what did she want her opinion about? "What do you want my opinion on then, if you don't mind me asking?"

"…Nothing," Maika remarked bitterly as she headed towards her table and grabbed her bag. "Never mind it, just forget about it, okay? Have a good night, Akiyama. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care."

Dumbfounded, and watching as the other girl quickly left the classroom until she disappeared from her sight, Yukari was left speechless by what had just happened. Her mind still trying to fathom as to what had just transpired the brunette went to the door opening and looked if she could still see the girl in question, something about what had just happened didn't sit well with her.

"… That was weird, I don't understand…" she said underneath her breath, noting that, much to her own disappointment, Maika had already disappeared. Grabbing her bag she wasted no time and set off in pursuit of the other girl, with her curiosity piqued she wanted to know what that was all about. "I need to hurry before she gets to leave the school grounds."

Quickening her pace as she began to run through the hallways of the mostly empty building Yukari did her best to take the shortest possible route towards the main entrance of the school, which would offer her the best chance of getting to see Maika before she would leave.

'I need to hurry, ah I wish I did better during PE class.' She lamented her lack of speed, guess that being stuck in a tank loading heavy shells wasn't all that good of an exercise for her legs, even though it had done wonders for the muscles in her upper body.

With the loud clacking of her heels echoing throughout the empty hallways Yukari took a sharp turn as she went down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her, stumbling she was barely able to keep herself from crashing headfirst into the nearest wall. "Pfft, that was close."

Regaining her footing she pressed on, pushing herself to go even faster.

'I can't let Minase-dono leave without at least knowing what it was that she wanted to talk about. I don't believe that it was nothing, it doesn't sit well with me if I let this happen.'

Jumping, in the air, she landed on her feet, making a roll forward before recovering and getting back up on her feet Yukari took some satisfaction knowing that she was now on the ground floor, from here on it was only going to be a short piece before she would reach the entrance.

"… A-Akiyama…san…? A voice gasped in surprise.

At first, it hadn't registered with her, it wasn't until she heard it again that it dawned on Yukari that she had arrived, coming to an abrupt halt she pressed her hands against her knees, heaving heavily as her body was keen on catching its breath. Looking to her left, somewhere where the voice had originated from she was pleasantly surprised to see that she had made it in the nick of time. "… I… made it… just in time…"

"W-What are you doing here? Look at you, you're all sweaty and out of breath. Have you been running?! What has gotten into you? Hey, can I at least get an answer from you?!" Still appearing to be somewhat surprised at the brunette's sudden appearance Maika was giving the impression that her mind was still trying to process what was happening.

Coughing Yukari signaled to the other girl that she needed a moment to regain her breath, all that running had apparently done a number on her. Once her breathing was starting to slow down, as well as her heartbeat lowering she allowed herself to smile.

"Are you alright? Don't tell me you hit your head in that mad dash of yours, have you?" Maika asked, her voice betraying her irritation at not having gotten an answer yet. "Listen, Akiyama, I need to get back to my apartment, I've got plenty of homework to do and I need to go grocery shopping. I'm pretty busy and I have little time, so can you please give me an answer, what are you doing here?!"

"To apologize to you Minase-dono, because I wasn't able to give you an answer, and it seems that because I wasn't able to that I upset you," Yukari said, her tone as sincere as it could be, she was aware that her answer had probably been the worst one to pick. "I think what I said is wrong, I really should've been more honest with you. I don't know if I can but I'd still like to hear what you what it was that you wanted my opinion on."

"D-Didn't I tell you to drop it?" Maika asked her, sounding a little irritated about hearing the reason as to why the fluffy-haired brunette had chased after her, her black hair swinging back and forth as she shook her head. After letting out a sigh which gave away her frustration she went ahead and asked, "…Honestly, why didn't you wait for tomorrow then?"

"… Ah well… I kinda do want to know," Yukari said in return, fiddling with her fingers as she felt the uncomfortable look of Maika bearing down on her. "… And besides, I got the impression that it meant a lot to you as well…"

Her explanation was followed by another sigh, the words pulling a reaction from the other girl who seemed to be getting increasingly impatient for some reason.

Picking the end of one of her pigtails, Maika began to fiddle with her hair. "… Alright…"

"Huh." A surprised and confused Yukari found herself staring back at the other girl after hearing that, that had been a little unexpected. "Could you repeat that, Minaese-dono?"

"Alright! I said alright! Did you hear that?! Oh man, you're just terrible, Akiyama."

A perplexed Yukari was looking, not really sure what to make of what the other girl had just said, and also if she was supposed to be insulted or not. "You think so?"

"Arrghh…" A frustrated howl escaped from between Maika's lips, "This is why I really didn't want to ask you. Do you even know how frustrating you can be? Just give me a second."

Pinching the bridge of her nose Maika gestured for Yukari to be quiet, for now, allowing her to regain her composure. "Alright, rather than telling you about it, why don't you come and see for yourself. It'll be easier that way."

"Great!"

"Ugh! Just come and see me after class ends tomorrow, I'll show you then."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Guh!"


Ooarai school carrier – student council office – 19.00h Tuesday

"Are you sure Prez, shouldn't you have told Nishizumi-san about what's happening?" Yuzu asked as she expressed her concerns with Anzu's decision of not having informed Miho about the upcoming matter. "Isn't this going to cause her problems later on? I feel that you should've told her more."

"Nah," Anzu replied in between chewing on her snack, "Nishizumi-chan is gonna be fine, and besides we don't really know all that much either. We'd just be troubling her."

"Until we have the additional information it would be best if we kept it to ourselves," voicing her opinion the black-haired girl chimed in as well, to Momo it only made sense to keep quiet about the matter for now and not cause an unnecessary commotion.

That did not sit well with Yuzu, who remained convinced that it would be best to inform the others at the earliest opportunity otherwise they might risk unforeseen consequences. They were going to have to announce it soon as they were slowly running out of time, an announcement that was so crucial couldn't be postponed for much longer.

"Perhaps it would be best if we waited with the announcement until after the school festival," Momo made a suggestion, explaining that right now all of their attention and effort should be directed at the upcoming school festival, and as it would be their last it would be in their best interest for them to make sure that it would also be their finest.

"Well…" Yuzu mumbled, feeling that her opinion was being been sidelined. "… I guess you're right, everybody is so focused on the festival right now and there's still so much left to do it'd be a shame if it all went to naught in the commotion and chaos. But do you think people will accept it?"

"It'll be alright, they're all looking forward to it," Anzu said, still at the head of the group as they turned right at the junction, steadily making their way back towards the office. "Let them all enjoy it, we can worry about announcing this matter afterward, I'd hate for them not to be able to enjoy our last festival because of it."

"Even then, we still need to make sure that all of the preparations are in order," Momo interjected, her finger tapping on the reports that she had been holding, "There's a lot that we need to go over before everything is in order. This might just be our greatest challenge."

"Momo-chan, I think you're making this sound bigger than it really is."

"Don't call me that!"

Not saying a word Anzu was just silently enjoying the little argument that was going back and forth just behind her back, this was definitely something that she was going to miss, after so many years it simply had become something that she had gotten used to.

"Anyway, our priority should go to making sure that the festival is going to be a hit," Anzu finally let out, breaking her previous silence as she stated what her plans were. "This will be our last festival at this school so I wanna make it a big one, also I want everybody to go and enjoy themselves. We're going to get a lot of people to visit our school; I want them to have the best impression of what our school is all about."

"Still," the monocle-eyed girl said, "A lot of people are going to come because of Nishizumi, because of what she was able to achieve. We need to fully capitalize on that."

Yuzu nodded her head in agreement, her ponytail swinging back and forte. Much like her colleague she was only too aware of what was going to be the main reason for many people to come and visit their school during the course of the festival, their tankery team, and its legendary commander, the fabled Miho Nishizumi.

"Exactly~," Anzu said in an exciting tone, made apparent by the slight smirkon her face, which was really just a display of her enjoyment of the moment. "People are gonna come because of Nishizumi-chan. And when they'll do we're gonna show them what our school really is all about. When you think about it, Nishizumi-chan is really just the bait~."

Momo and Yuzu could do little but exchange some concerned looks with each other, what the diminutive girl had just said just sounded wrong in so many ways. And it was made all the worse by the wide grin etched on her face.

It was enough to make the other two girls have some sense of pity for the school's tankery team commander, oh how the poor girl was unaware of the troubles that were awaiting her.

"I just hope that this isn't going to turn into a PR nightmare," Momo remarked, expressing some of her worries as the last thing that she wanted to see happen was for things to go sour. "Prez, please keep in mind that we shouldn't put Nishizumi through too much trouble. She already has a lot that she has to put up with it, and I fear that it's only going to get worse before the festival begins. We really are forcing her to bear a lot on her shoulders."

"True," Anzu admitted, there was no surprise that a lot of the success about this upcoming festival was going to hinge on the success of the fabled Miho Nishizumi. After all, that was exactly why the diminutive girl had gone through so much effort to capitalize on that. "Even Nishizumi-chan's name alone gets things done. Kinda makes you wonder what she could accomplish if she were to really give it her all this festival."

Yuzu's eye twitched at the mere thought of that. "I'd really don't dare to imagine that, plus I think that'd be really unfair to Nishizumi-san. She does deserve to enjoy this festival as much as every other student in our school."

"Well, we can't make any promises here~."

"That's a terrible thing to say."

"Nope~."

As if her twitching eye wasn't already worse enough Yuzu was wondering if it was even going to be possible at this point to try and come up with a way to make it up to the poor girl. As if she wasn't having already enough pity on the girl. Letting out a desperate sigh she was asking herself if there was ever going to be able to forgive herself for all of this.

Anzu was just smirking with delight. "Don't sweat it~. It's all going to work out fine, and as for our precious Nishizumi-chan, she's going to have a blast at the festival for sure!"

Neither of the other two girls was convinced by that statement as they both had already heard far too much but at this point, there was little that either of them could do to stop the machinations of the diminutive girl in front of them. One way or another, the festival was going to happen according to Anzu's vision.

What that exactly was going to mean for the youngest daughter of the Nishizumi household was anybody's guess.


Ooarai school carrier – streets – 19.05h Tuesday

"Everybody, I'm so sorry I'm late!" Yukari shouted as in the distance she could make out the distinct group that were her closest of friends. Seeing as they were still waiting for her she was overcome with a sense of joy and yet there was also a sliver of shame at having held them up for so long.

"Ah Yukari-san, we're glad to see you,' Miho said as she was the first one to greet the brunette, welcoming her back to the group. "To be honest, we were getting a little worried as you were taking so long. Are you alright?"

"Ah ehm, yeah I am. Thanks for asking, Nishizumi-dono," the other girl was quick to say in return, her cheeks taking on a hue of pink at the thought of her idol's concern for her. "Ehm, shall we go inside then, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course," chirped the ginger-haired girl, "We could've gone in sooner but we just wanted to wait for you, it's more fun this way, don't you think?"

"Finally," was the only remark that could escape from Mako's lips before forcing herself to get back up on her feet and making a somewhat drunken approach towards the entrance of the bathhouse, leaning from left to right as she seemed to be struggling with keeping her balance.

"Ah, Mako! Look out! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Saori yelled as she rushed over to help her friend, and taking the opportunity to lecture her.

"Looks like Reizei-dono is in trouble, again…" Yukari whispered to the others besides her, keeping her voice down for fear of risking the wrath of Saori. "Guess we're going to follow them then?"

"Of course we are," Hana answered the question, her long graceful hair trailing behind her, "After all, that's why we're here, isn't it? I think it would be pretty rude of us if we were to go home."

Following the taller girl, who by now had taken the lead, Yukari and Miho followed her example, walking past the struggling couple that was Saori and Mako, who were having some apparent issues in getting to the entrance, in a straight line.

Once all of them were inside the trio was heading towards the changing room so they could get out of their clothes, it had been a long and exhausting day and the prospect of a hot bath was more than enough motivation for them to make haste.

"H-hey! W-Wait up! D-Don't leave me here! Hey! Hey! Heeeeeyyyyyyy!

With a somewhat guilty expression on her face as the source of the cry for help was growing ever more distant Yukari dared to risk a glance across her shoulder. "Ehm, shouldn't we go back and help Takebe-dono?"

"She'll be fine." Was the only reply that the long-haired girl made, still acting as if nothing was going one just outside. The voices outside becoming ever fainter with every step they took. "Don't worry, we'll go back and help them in a little while."

"Ah, am I glad that Mako woke up again," Saori let out in an exasperated voice, reaching for the top of one of her typical long black socks before she gently slid her hands down her leg, after she had taken it off and flexed her toes she repeated the process a second time. "Now I just hope that I can relax a little. I'm just tired, you know…"

Throwing a nasty glance at the others girls who were present in the dressing room she said, "No thanks to all of you though. What took you so long? Do you have any idea how long I stood there? You sure took your time before coming back to help me!" A disappointing look flitting across her face.

Oh, my," Hana, who has in the process of tying her hair, let out, "Are you still going on about that?"

"Hey! Don't try and pretend that it didn't happen!"

"But I didn't."

"Why you!"

Watching the two girls bicker Yukari leaned a little closer to Miho next to her and whispered to her, "You'd think that by now that Takebe-dono would've let it slide."

Miho could do little but let out a nervous laugh, in reality, she wasn't really sure on how to react to this, this kind of teasing and bickering that would always go back and forth between either Saori and Mako, or in this case Saori and Hana, was something that had become rather common in her almost everyday life. And besides, to her, the amicable bickering was in its own unique way almost relaxing.

Eventually things began to settle down, neither of the two girls in question opting to continue any longer with the argument, instead opting to make the most of the available time as they had set their sights on their goal, the reason they had come together to the bathhouse.

"Oh, this feels great, I finally feel alive again…" Saori said underneath her breath before letting out an exasperated sigh as she submerged herself up to her shoulder in the hot water of the bath. "… Ah, this is just what I really needed… being in a tank is nice and all… but at times it can also be so exhausting… you know what I mean?"

Hana chuckled, seeing an opportunity, "Is that why you're suddenly sounding like an old woman? Oh, wait, somehow I get the idea that we've been here before. I wonder why?"

Shooting up from her spot the ginger-haired girl was pointing an accusing finger at the dark-haired girl. "You meanie!" Pouting as she continued with pointing a threatening finger at the other girl. "Meanie! Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!"

"Oh, my," Hana said in response, chuckling as she did as she was visibly enjoying the lively reaction she was getting out of the ginger-haired girl. "It seems like I upset you a little, didn't I?"

"H-Hana!"

Mako, who was quite comfortably resting in one of the smaller baths, opened one of her eyes in response. "They're back at it again," she said in a flat delivery, which earned her a glare from the two offenders in question. "So tiring…" And with that, she turned around.

"Oh my, is that so?"

"H-Hey! Don't turn your back on me! I'm here!"

"My, my, my, my…"

Leaning back Miho didn't say a word; there was no need for her to do so. She was just sitting there watching the playful banter kicking it up a notch, craning her neck up in order to have a look at the ceiling she found her offering a silent prayer of gratitude for having met such wonderful friends.


Ooarai school carrier – dormitory entrance – 19.55h Tuesday

Waiting at the main doors that formed the entrance to the building Miho was a little surprised by seeing the size of the dorms, she knew that these were present on the school, as they were on most schoolships to help provide sufficient accommodation to a large number of students. But that did not take away that they were still fairly imposing buildings.

"So this is where Azusa-san and the others live," she said underneath her breath as she stepped inside, marveling at the interior of the building which gave off a warm impression.

"Welcome, how may I help you?" a woman said as she appeared from around the corner in order to greet Miho. "Are you here to see anybody?"

"Ah, ehm, yes. I'm Nishizumi Miho, pleased to meet you," Miho said as she introduced herself to the woman, making a bow as she did, "I'm here to see Sawa Azusa, she's a member of our school's Sensha-Do team."

"Pleased to meet you too," the woman said in return before introducing herself. "My name is Sagara Misae, I'm the resident manager of this dorm. So you must be the Nishizumi Miho over who I've heard so much, you've got quite a lot of fans amongst the residents here."

Chuckling a little it was obvious that the older woman was having a bit of fun with her guest but as she stood there smiling, Miho, on the other hand, could do little but let out a short nervous laugh. It was yet another thing that she had not expected.

"… Do I…?" she asked as if wanting to have confirmation of that statement. Then again would this be any different than what she had seen when Mikan had come to see her, the younger girl had certainly appeared to be somewhat of a fan of her, and she had heard from other people that they were looking up to her. In hindsight, it should not have come as a surprise.

"Sure do," Misae said in return. "There's quite a few of them in this dorm, and I've heard from them that even in the other dorms you've got quite the fan base. You're pretty popular it seems, well given that you're the one who saved the school from closing that shouldn't come as a surprise. Oh and don't worry, I won't bother you for an autograph."

It made Miho blush, her cheeks taking on a few hues of pink, after hearing that, to be honest, it was a little embarrassing. One would think that by now she had gotten used to it, guess she still was struggling with the praise she would get from people.

"But I digress; you came to see somebody, am I right? It was Sawa-chan isn't it? She lives on the second floor, room eleven. Feel free to go ahead. The stairs are just to your right."

"Ah thank you," Miho said as she quickly made a bow to offer her thanks to the woman, "That's really kind of you. Then if you'll excuse me, have a good night." With having said her goodbyes Miho turned to her right, as the woman had instructed, and made her way to the staircase that would take her up to the second floor.

Going up the stairs she took in the sight of the building's interior, it was nothing special but it appeared that its residents had gone to some effort in making it feel a bit homier. She could understand why the people who resided here wanted to make the place look a little more comfortable than it would do without the additions that adorned it.

"Let me see, it was room eleven where I need to be," Miho reminded herself as she reached the second floor before turning left, taking note of the room numbers as she passed them until she found the right one. "I guess this must be it, this should be her room."

Reading the nameplate Miho was feeling better knowing that she had gone to the right room, it would have been a little embarrassing if she had accidentally picked the wrong one.

"I hope that she's home, I did come a little earlier than I said I would," Miho told herself as she had a quick glance at her watch, apparently the walk here had been shorter than she had thought. "Oh well, since I'm here anyway I might as well see if he's home."

Pressing the buzzer she began to wait until there would be a response, it did not take long before she could hear footsteps approaching from the other side, it seemed that the younger girl must have been expecting her already.

"Ah senpai, please come in, you're a little earlier than I expected but please," Azusa mentioned as she opened the door and saw, much to her own surprise, that the girl she had been waiting for stood already on her doorstep. "I was just busy in making some snacks for us, they're not yet ready but if you want you can have a seat while I get you something to drink, senpai."

Gratefully accepting the younger girl's offer Miho went further inside the room, taking in the sight of the interior which, much to her own surprise, was somewhat different than she had imagined it to be. "You really have a nice place, Azusa-san."

"Oh ah, well ehm, thank you, senpai…" Azusa mumbled, the words seeming to stumble across her lips, the words of appreciation from the older girl had taken her by surprise. "… It's nothing special… I just wanted to make it look a little, you know… comfortable."

"So do you watch a lot of TV?" Miho asked when her curiosity was piqued by the, somewhat; reasonably sized TV that stood there. "We never had those on our rooms when I was still at Kuromorimine."

"Ah yes," Azusa said, turning her head to look in the direction as indicated by the other girl, "We come and watch here often, we've been friends since we first enrolled at this school so often it's been pretty normal for us to come together and watch movies with the six of us." After that, she began to explain a little of the movie nights that she and the other members of Rabbit-team held on a regular basis."

"That sounds really nice, I envy you a little for that," Miho said in a gentle tone, a warm smile caressing the features of her face, "Even though I've got a TV at my place I've never really thought about watching a movie together with the others, we're always busy with something else. Maybe we should give it a try."

"Ehm senpai, there's also a cinema nearby you could go to instead. I've found that it starts to get a little cramped when the six of us are here." Leaning forward just a little the younger girl offered a warning based on her own experiences, at times it was getting really tight in here with her friends gathered and snacks all over the place. "I think your place is about the size of mine, so there's that."

"Oh, is that so," Miho said in return as she nodded her head, accepting the words of advice she had just been given. "Thank you for the advice, I'll keep it in mind."

Well, going to a cinema with her friends would likely be just as much fun as watching it at her place though if space was an issue then they could always go to Mako's home which was far roomier than Miho's own apartment. That was something for her to think about on her way home.

Just as an uneasy silence was about to settle in Azusa got up from her spot and made her way back to the kitchen, not long after which she made her return holding a tray upon which Miho could see a pair of glasses and some snacks.

"Thank you, Azusa-san." Offering her thanks Miho sat there and watched, as the other girl resumed her place after she had placed the drinks and the snacks on the table. "They look tasty. I've haven't seen them at the store I usually do my shopping?"

"Ah, t-thank you," the younger girl said in return, her cheeks taking on a hue of pink in response, "There's a small store nearby that I usually go to, it's not a big store but they have some really good snacks that you won't find anywhere else on the ship, and I really like the ice cream they have there. We often go there after we're finished with school."

That did explain that even though it was, for the most part, irrelevant, even so, Miho still found it rather enjoyable to talk with the other girl about such small things.

"So ehm, what is it that you want me to do? Do I need to do anything special for it?"

"Huh?" a surprised Azusa let out, caught off guard she was left without an answer.

Miho just blinked, almost as surprised as the girl opposite of her seemed to be. "For the portrait I mean. Is there any place you want me to sit?"

"Oh, ah, that's what you mean, senpai..." A nervous-sounding laugh came from the younger girl before she began to scratch the back of her head, with her regaining some of her composure it was dawning on her what the older girl had just asked her about. "… There's nothing special you need to do actually, i-it's fine if you stay where you are. Just let me get what I need and we can get started."

"Okay," Miho said, watching as Azusa went to grab the material that she was going to need. Just watching her like this the older of the two girls found herself getting a little curious as to how this portrait was going to turn out to be. Come to think of it, nobody had ever made a portrait of her before, it was an odd sensation. "Azusa-chan. Thank you for asking me. I'm really looking forward to how it's going to turn out, I've never done this before but I'm having fun already."

"Ah… y-you're welcome, senpai." Even if her captain was doing her best not to make the younger girl not feel nervous she was still failing at that, by a considerable margin. For Azusa all of these words of praise were not helping her calm her nerves, in contrast, they were doing a great job of making it worse, her anxiety starting to getting the better of her. 'You're not being fair, senpai.'

Taking a deep breath, before letting out a deep, exasperated sigh Azusa did her best to calm herself. Her hand placed against her chest she repeated it again several times, doing her best not to let the other girl find out about it.

Grabbing the utensils and paper that she was going to need Azusa got back to her spot at the table and resumed her seat. "Alright, let's do this then, senpai," she said as she placed it all in front of her. "You just need to sit still, senpai. The rest will be up to me."

"I'll be in your care then, Azusa-san."

"… Here goes…"


Ooarai school carrier – student council office – 20.10h Tuesday

Overseeing the city from up high in her office Anzu's usual carefree attitude had changed to a more sober one, her arms folded behind her back as she kept on gazing through the glass. The reason for the shift in her demeanor was still lying where she had left it, on her desk, a letter.

"I didn't think they'd be this quick to contact us, so what is it that you're after?" she asked herself, pondering about the content of the envelope, "You wouldn't contact us out of the blue, there's got to be a reason for it. So what are you up to this time?"

Apart from her, the office was devoid of people, right now, that suited her best as she needed to think about her response to the letter and the request that she had gotten. It was not that she hadn't expected for such a request to show up on her desk at some point but she had to admit that she was a little surprised by it having appeared now.

"I don't like it," she said underneath her breath before turning around when the sound of the door opening caught her immediate attention. "Ah Koyama, what gives?" she asked when she noticed the brunette with the ponytail coming into the office.

"Actually prez, I wanted to ask you about that," the girl in question said as she hinted at the envelope lying on the desk. "Given who send it to us I'm a little worried. What do you think they want from us? Don't tell me that they've gone back on their word?!"

Shaking her head the diminutive girl filled her in over the nature of the request that they had received, it was nothing like what the brunette was fearing, it was something entirely else.

"But why? Why would they ask for us to have a meeting with them all of a sudden? I don't understand," Yuzu said as she expressed her concerns once more as she was having her reservations about the intents behind the meeting, "Don't you think that it sounds a little strange, prez? A little too suspicious?"

"Nope~," Was Anzu short reply, waving her hand she gestured that there was little for them to worry about at this moment. "Besides, you'd really think that they'd be up to something so soon? Doesn't seem like a smart thing to do."

"… Well, I guess that's true," the taller girl admitted, a somewhat troubled sounding sigh betraying that she was not entirely convinced but for now there was little she could do. And besides that, there was also another matter that needed to be discussed, a rather important one at that. "Also, there's something else I'd like to talk about?" Yuzu said, trying to keep her voice down so as not to let others hear her speak.

"You mean about making the preparations for the next student council? Well, I suppose we should. Feels weird though when I think about, can't believe that it's been three years already."

The brunette gently nodded her head in agreement, letting out a somewhat heavy. "Yeah…"

For them it was a strange sensation, for the past three years they had been performing their duties, and now after these years, it was finally coming to an end for them. It seemed almost surreal but in a couple of months they would resign from their position and hand over the responsibility to a new student council.

"I wonder what it'll be like when we're gone," Anzu remarked, turning around in her chair before looking Yuzu in the eyes, an unmistakable hint of sadness in her eyes before she blinked and it disappeared. "We've done so much for this school, I can only hope whoever it'll be will continue with our work. I want to see this school continue to exist after we're gone."

"I don't think we'll need to worry about that, prez," the brunette said in return, a warm smiling gracing the features of her face. "With everything that we've all done to save this school I don't think it'll go down that easy, not anymore."

Anzu began to smile, taking a certain delight at hearing that answer; it was one that she agreed with wholeheartedly. Their school had been able to make a name for itself, all that would be required of the next student council would be to maintain that name.

"So prez, about making those preparations as we got a little sidetracked. Do you want me to get started on them tomorrow? I think we should be able to get everything ready and set up by the end of next week. Would that be alright with you, prez?"

"Sure," the diminutive girl nodded her head in approval, signaling that it was fine with her. "Let's make this happen, ah I can't wait to see how this is all going to work out for us~," she added to her earlier remark before leaning forward and reaching for the bottom drawer of her desk, pulling from it a bag of her cherished sweet potato snacks.

"I'll be going then, prez, Have a good night," Yuzu said, before making a bow and with that she would take her leave as she had other work that she needed to attend to. Gently turning on the spot she made her way towards the door, leaving the other girl by herself in the office.

Again left to her own devices Anzu's attention shifted back to the letter lying on her desk and to what the exact nature of the request could amount to. "So what will I do with you?"

Raising an eyebrow she pushed herself up from her seat, before leaning forward just enough to reach out and press a button on the screen of the pc in front of her as she had an important call to make.

"Time to find out how what you're planning," she said to herself before selecting one specific number from the contact list, after that she was going to have to wait, hoping that the person she was looking to contact would be available. It did not take long before somebody on the other side answered the phone. "Hey, it's me, we need to talk. Something has come up."


Ooarai school carrier – Azusa's room – 21.05h Tuesday

They had been at it for well over an hour by now, all that time Miho had been sitting still, or at least she had been trying to sit still, which had proven to be harder than she had initially thought it would. Even then, she could not ignore that she was impressed with the commitment that the other girl had displayed.

"Azusa-san, would it be alright if we took a little break?" Miho asked the younger girl, hoping that there would be an opportunity for her to stretch her legs a little as she had been sitting still for so long that her right leg had gone to sleep. "I need to walk for a bit if that's alright with you? I promise that it won't take long."

"Ah sure," Azusa let out in response, her own voice giving away that she was as much in need of a break as Miho was. Having spent that much time sketching and then later refining the lines her hand could use some rest as well, not to mention that her neck was starting to feel a little stiff. "Can I get you something to drink, senpai? I've still got some snacks left that I could get as well if you want? Or, if it's alright with you we can go for a walk, there's a park nearby."

Shaking her head Miho said in return that there would be no need for them to make the walk that long, just a few times up and down the hallway would already suffice to get her leg awake again but she appreciated the offer nevertheless.

"Still I wouldn't mind having a look at your drawing, I haven't seen anything yet so I'm a little curious," Miho said before she would lean forward just a little. "You've been so busy, so I'm kinda wondering what you've been able to draw so far. Can I have a look at it, Azusa-san?"

The younger girl wasted no time and firmly pressed her sketchbook against her chest in an effort to keep it away from the girl opposite of her. "N-No! Y-You can't! I-It's too embarrassing! D-Don't look! D-Don't! I-I-It's not ready! P-Please, senpai?!"

Taken aback by the sudden outburst of the younger girl Miho pulled back her hand and went back a little to create some distance between herself and a nervous looking Azusa, allowing said girl to have some breathing space.

"Ah, I'm sorry if I upset you, Azusa-san. I'm sorry," Miho offered an apology, keeping the tone of her voice gentle. It was starting to dawn on her that she might have been a little too eager to see what the girl in question had drawn. "It's alright if you don't want to show it to me yet. I won't be upset about it."

Still trembling the younger was slowly regaining her composure, after hearing a few more comforting words from the older girl Azusa was starting to feel a little ashamed about her earlier refusal to have shown the drawing.

"A-Ah! I-I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!" she cried as she dropped to the floor, the tone of her voice rising up a pitch or two. Letting out a whimpering sound as she did not dare to raise her head for fear of what she might see Azusa was starting to feel terrible, a wave of shame washing over her as the realization sank in with her.

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize to me." Was Miho's response to the sight before her, in her mind the girl had done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing that demanded an apology. "I guess I must've caught you by surprise, didn't I? It's alright if you don't want to show it to me yet because it's not finished. So please, you don't have to apologize to me." Leaning forward just a little Miho stretched out her hand.

"… I-I don't…?" a surprised Azusa gasped in her disbelief as she found herself staring at the outstretched hand held in front of her, and just beyond that, a kind face with caring eyes staring back at her, urging her to accept it. "… I see…"

After that an awkward silence began to settle in between the two girls, that was until Miho made a decision to get up and get a better look at Azusa's room, opting to change the mood by talking about a different topic. "I know I've already said this before but your room is pretty nice, Azusa-san. I really like how you made the most of the space you have."

With her utensils still in front of her, Azusa was just keeping to herself, not really sure what she was going to say after what had happened. She had briefly considered if the other girl wanted something to drink though given that both of their glasses were still, for the most part, full there wasn't really much point to it. 'I never thought I'd be feeling this way, but maybe it'd be better if Nishizumi-senpai were to leave…'

"What's this?" Miho asked as her eyes came to rest on an unfamiliar looking book, reaching out and grabbing it, she turned it around to have a look at its front page. Once she had a good look at the title Miho found herself having to admit that she was a little surprised by this particular book. "Is this what I think it is? You actually got a book about Hungarian tanks? I didn't know you had one."

"I ehm, I actually wanted to know a little more about what we might get to expect," Azusa said in return as she began to explain her reasons for having the book in her possession. "I know that we already got a good explanation during the briefing but I felt that it might be good if I went and look to see if I could find more."

"Did you?" Skimming through the book a number of post-its had placed next to the image with notes of the vehicle's technical details. It seems that the younger girl had been doing her best to supplement the available information.

The younger girl nodded. "To some degree, I think, there was also some stuff that I found online but I don't understand most of it given that it's written in languages that I don't really understand. I'm already having trouble with English as it is but Hungarian is even worse, nothing of it even looks familiar. I used an online translator for some of the notes but I don't know how accurate they are."

"I know," Miho voiced her agreement, "I know that a lot of the European languages are pretty hard to understand, still I think it's really impressive that you've been able to find more on your own, Azusa-san."

"Thank you."

"I'm really glad to see that you're working hard on your own accord, you're definitely going to need that if you ever want to climb up further in Sensha-Do. I'm really proud of you."

Reaching up with her hand Azusa plucked away a tear that was forming, before giving the other girl a warm smile she said, "… You're really mean senpai."


Ooarai school carrier – student council office – 21.35h Tuesday

Leaning back in her seat Anzu had to admit that she was getting a little intrigued by what she had just been told by the woman on the other side of the screen After she had read the letter the diminutive girl had opted to make use of her connections and had contacted Ami Chōno and filled her in about the contents of the letter addressed to Ooarai's student council, right now the two of them were discussing the matter.

"I was contacted about this a couple of days ago, it seems they were pretty anxious to get my cooperation before contacting you," the older woman mentioned, appearing to take a sense of satisfaction at how things had been going.

Her hand supporting her chin Anzu gave her reply, "I see, so then it would appear that they are not trying to set us up or anything. But then it raises a question, why do you think they're suddenly so eager to arrange a meeting with us?"

Shaking her head the woman made it clear that the reason for the meeting was something that she at this point could not divulge. "I'm afraid that I can't answer that question at this time, I was kindly asked not to leak any of the details but suffice to say they have no ill intentions towards your school."

That gave the twin-tailed girl something to think about, her initial reservations about the letter's content had proven to be unfounded but she still remained in the dark as to the exact purpose of this meeting, and that was something that was annoying her.

"However," Ami said, breaking her silence, "There is something that I feel I should tell you in advance, just so you're prepared for the meeting. You see, your school's recent victory, well there's been some unforeseen side effects to it. The Federation has found itself in a bit of a pinch, so to say, because of it. In short, you people made quite a scene."

What the woman had just said was enough of a cause for Anzu to raise her eyebrows in response, she did find it a little hard to believe but she had no reason not to trust Ami's word. But if it was true what the older woman had just said to her than somehow Ooarai's victory has had another effect other than their school remaining open. But what could that be?

It was an intriguing matter but until she could gather more information it would all remain speculation though a part of her was convinced that some answers were staring her in the face, looking again at the screen she felt confident that the woman on the other side knew more.

"I don't suppose you're willing to tell me more now, are you?" she asked the question, she could already guess what the answer was going to be but she knew that she had to ask. This was a matter that she would like to get resolved as quickly as possible while she was still the president of the student council, it would be wrong to thrust such a burden on the shoulders on the shoulders of the new council.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question, Kadotani-san. Please keep in mind that what I just told you should remain confidential, MEXT does not want this information to get out just yet."

With her curiosity piqued Anzu was struggling to restrain herself from trying to ask again, she was getting anxious to learn more about what exactly was going on but for the time being, for now, she was going to have to take satisfaction with the knowledge that the school was in no imminent danger.

"Is there anything else that we should take into consideration before this meeting?" she asked, keen to make sure that she would be fully prepared for a meeting that was bound to come sooner than later.

"No, I don't see any need for any of you to do that. Anything that you might need is already at your school. Given what they want to discuss with you, I do feel that it would be best if you make sure that Nishizumi-san will be present at the meeting as well."

"I see, thank you for the information," Anzu offered her thanks as it would seem that for the time being they were all set, but that did not take away that they would need to keep a close eye just in case there was to be a sudden change. "I trust you'll keep us informed should anything happen? We'll do what we can on our side but we don't have the connections you do."

The woman on the other side of the screen offered a smile before she said, "Of course, it's only natural that I'll help you in whatever way I can. The success of your school has set an example to all schools who are struggling with Sensha-Do, it's in our best interest as well to make sure that you'll be able to continue the way you have."

"Alrighty then~," she said in a cheerful manner, appearing to be in a good mood as she gave her farewell to the older woman and offered her thanks for all of the information that said woman had provided her with. "I'll be seeing you then again soon, take good care of yourselves."

"Likewise, take good care."

Once the connection, and therefore their little conversation, had come to an end Anzu turned off the monitor as well. Leaning back in her seat the diminutive girl found herself staring at the ceiling as she began to ponder on how she was going to make the most of the knowledge she had just gained. This was going to be a difficult situation, and at the same time, one that had piqued her interest.

"I guess things are going to get a little exciting soon~," she said, smiling as the prospect of what would soon unfold held the promise to be an exhilarating one, there was no telling what the outcome could possibly be but to be a part of that, that was something in itself. "We're definitely going to have to tell Nishizumi-chan about this, well, it can wait until I've gotten a little bit more information. I need to make sure that we've got everything sorted for this one, otherwise, we might get into a little bit of trouble."

Turning around so her gaze would fall upon the city underneath once more Anzu was reminded again as to why it was going to be so important for them to get everything in order, taking in the sight of her cherished school, the many fond memories she had of this place coming to mind, she made a vow to do whatever lied in her power to make this a success. Blinking for a moment Anzu was a little surprised she when felt a tear run down her cheek.

"Guess even I can get a little emotional," she said to herself as she began to smile, deep inside she was feeling a little sad about leaving this place after so many years, but that was just a part of growing up, at some point people were going to have to let go and move on.

"For us, it won't be any different, still I know that we'll be leaving this place in good hands. They love this place as much as we do, no, perhaps even more than we do…" With that knowledge she was confident that the school she had come to cherish for all these years would be left in the right hands, the people that she had in mind for taking over the student council were just the people who would guarantee that.

Feeling that she had spent long enough reminiscing Anzu got up from her seat and made her way towards the door that led to her office, before closing the door she had one last look at her office, a gentle smile caressing the features of her face before she would close the door and lock it. For tonight her duties were over.

"I think I'll treat myself to some sweet dried potato, yeah, that'll be nice~."


Ooarai school carrier – class 2-A – 9.45h Saturday

"So Miporin, have you heard anything yet?" The ginger-haired girl asked as she appeared next to Miho. "You've been going to her place for the past couple of days, right?"

Their class was just coming to an end, and while Hana had excused herself as she needed to make use of the toilet while Miho and Saori had said that they would wait for her there. After that, the three of them would go to pick up the others before heading towards their usual spot in the tank sheds.

"Ah yes," the other girl said once it dawned on her what her friend was hinting at, apparently she was asking about the work that Azusa had been busy with, the portrait she had drawn of Miho. If the girl wasn't mistaken than today was the day that the younger girl would turn in her work.

"I haven't seen it yet myself so I'm a little curious," she continued, "Still I don't know if it'll be alright for us to go and have a look without letting her know, I'm worried that we might scare her by just showing up."

Saori blinked. "You think? I thought she would've liked it if the rest of the team were to show up and cheer her on. Then again I'd be pretty nervous myself if I were to have to present something like that, I guess a lot of people will be curious given that she was able to draw you, Miporin."

"Really? Why would it make such a difference if she did a portrait of me?" Miho was a little surprised at hearing that, until now she had not really given it any thought. She could not imagine that just because the younger girl had done a portrait of the tankery team's commander that the work itself was going to be any more special. "It'd be really silly, don't you think?"

"Yep," Saori said in return, nodding her head as she gave off the impression that she was in agreement. "It'd definitely be silly, but you know Miporin that you've gotten quite a reputation with some of the teachers here, so you never know."

"Yeah…" Looking at her watch Miho had to admit that she was starting to get a little nervous, her reason for wanting to go to the other classroom was rather simple; she wanted to see for herself how Azusa had done with her assignment.

"Anyway, do you want to wait for Hana to get back? Or do you want to go ahead on your own? It's alright with me if you want to go. I'll wait here and let Hana know."

"Thank you, Saori-san," Miho got up from her seat before thanking the other girl for her understanding. "I'll be going ahead then, please let Hana-san know that I'm sorry."

"No problem, Miporin."

Standing at the doorway Miho had one last look at her friend before she would leave, but as quickly as she gotten ready to leave she was also halted in her stride as she heard something.

"Nishizumi, ah there you are!" The cold voice of a particular person could be heard coming from somewhere up the hallway as Momo Kawashima called her out. "We need to talk."

"Ah Kawashima-senpai," Miho said in response as she caught sight of the older girl who was making her way over, from the expression etched on her face Miho could already deduce that there was something important that the other girl would want to talk to her about. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Not at the moment," the monocle-wearing girl answered the question, "I just came to inform you that we've hit a snag with the procurement of the new gun that we've ordered. It seems like there are some delays so we shouldn't expect it to come our way anytime soon. A shame as we really could've used it for the upcoming match. Guess we'll have no choice but to have Rabbit use their tank as is."

"Ah right," the team commander said in return as she heard the news, not that it would really make much of a difference as the increase in penetration wasn't all that big, to begin with. And besides that, Miho was happy that it was now certain that the gun was not going to make it in time as that would mean that there was no need for them to rush the installation of the new weapon. "If it's alright with you Kawashima-senpai, then I'll inform Rabbit about this."

"Sure," the older girl replied, agreeing that it would be better to let the team's commander take care of the matter. "I'll leave it up to you then. Good luck with it, Nishizumi."

Saying their farewells to each other the older of the girls turned on her heels and left, heading in the opposite direction, the report still firmly clenched underneath her arm.

"Wow, I guess that Kawashima-senpai must be in a hurry if she leaves just like that," Saori suggested as she appeared next to Miho, both of them looking on the direction that the other girl had gone, "So I guess that means that we're going to the Rabbits now, are we?"

Miho nodded her head in return. "It's likely for the best if we told them this right away, they're likely going to be a little disappointed at hearing it though."

"Because they won't have the new gun?"

"Yes, when I was talking to Azusa-san yesterday I got the impression that they were all pretty anxious about getting the increase in firepower," was the answer that Miho gave to the earlier question, still it was not going to make a difference for the upcoming match. Rabbit had been able to take out strong opponents before, and as they were not expecting anything as strong as before she was confident that Rabbit was going to be fine this match.

"Anyway, shouldn't you get going, Miporin? Weren't you going to look how Azusa-chan's been doing? Give her my best wishes."

Accepting the girl's advice Miho did once more offer her thanks, and with that, she left in search of the younger girl's classroom.

"Well, "I guess I should head back and let Hana know," Saori said, waving her friend off until she disappeared from her sight, after that she turned in the other direction and began to gradually make her way back to her own classroom.


Ooarai school carrier – school grounds – 10.00h Saturday

Sitting there in the shade, offered by one of the many trees that lined the square Miho and Azusa had retreated to a more quiet place so that the two of them could talk without making too much of a commotion as it seemed that the commander's sudden appearance in the younger girl's classroom had caused quite the commotion.

"Ah… I'm sorry about that Azusa-san," Miho apologized once more, "I didn't think me showing up in your classroom was going to result in that… happening…"

"It's okay senpai, so what brought you to me?"

Miho smiled. "I came to ask you about how it went with the portrait that you had to submit. Have you heard anything yet from your teacher? To be honest I'm really curious."

"Ah right," Azusa said in a tone that betrayed her nervousness about the whole matter, "… The truth is… I ehm… haven't submitted it yet…" Looking away in an effort to hide her shame and embarrassment, it took her a few moments before she would try and explain.

Sitting there, not saying a word or giving out the impression that she was going to judge the younger girl Miho knew in her heart that now was a moment of patience and understanding. Eventually, she broke her silence and offered a few words of encouragement, "When you're feeling up to it, Azusa-san, I'll listen to what it is that you want to say. Until then, I'll be waiting here for you."

There was a reaction coming from the other girl but sadly it did not seem to be the reaction that Miho had been hoping for, there was likely a very good reason as to why Azusa had not yet submitted her work. Right now it was obvious that the reason for it was hurting the younger girl, enough to the point that Miho was concerned about her.

"You don't have to force yourself, Azusa-san. You can tell me when you're ready."

"… Do you… mean that… senpai…?" she asked without even looking at her, her stuttering, as well as her hand gestures, giving away that she was trying to wipe away her tears. "… You won't get mad at me?"

"Why should I? I'm sure that you've got your reasons for it," Miho said in a calm and gentle tone, there was no apparent reason for anybody to get upset about the girl's decision. "You can trust me, Azusa-san. No matter what, I'll listen to what you have to say."

Turning around Miho could see the tear-stained eyes of the younger girl staring back at her, she had obviously been crying, it was to be expected.

"… You promise… senpai?"

"I do."

Taking a deep breath, before letting it all out Azusa gathered what courage she could muster and said, "… I didn't submit my work because I wasn't happy with it. You came to my place for the past week to let me draw a portrait of you, just for my sake, and I couldn't even make a decent drawing. It was a mess, it didn't look like you, nothing of it felt right. I wanted to impress you, to impress my classmate, even Shiina-sensei but I failed, I failed miserably."

Now it was beginning to become clear to Miho, the girl's reason for not having submitted her work was something that she could fully understand but even so, she felt that it was wrong by not having it submitted it when they had been told to do so.

"So what now, Azusa-san? What are you going to tell your teacher? Don't you think it'll be a little unfair to your classmates if you were allowed extra time for yours?"

"No, but what am I supposed to do?" Azusa asked in return, it was clear that she saw no other way out of this problem. "How could I possibly turn in that awful drawing, I'll just fail the assignment for sure."

"You don't know that. It might be better than you give it credit for. But if you don't turn it in you'll fail it anyway, am I right?"

"Well yeah…"

Leaning forward a little Miho reached out and folded her arms around the younger girl, holding her gently, there was no for her to feel sad about what had happened, even if the drawing had not turned out the way she had hoped that it would that was no reason for not submitting it.

"May I see it? The drawing I mean?"

"B-But it's awful."

"Let me decide that for you, okay?" Miho whispered into the other girl's ear. "Will you let me have a look at it, Azusa-san?

Another sigh answered the request, the younger girl seeming to give in as she asked if the older girl could let go of her as she needed to reach for her bag where Azusa had hidden the drawing. "Just promise me that you won't show it to anybody, senpai."

"I promise," Miho reassured her, she had made the decision for herself that she was going her best to support Azusa in this, and offering a silent prayer that the girl had been smart enough to bring her bag with her, though it was more likely that she did not want anybody to have a look.

Accepting the sketchbook that Azusa had given her, Miho slowly turned the pages as she took in what the girl had drawn so far. Until she reached the final page and also the page that contained the portrait that Azusa had tried to draw, or at least her attempt at drawing one.

"So this is what you drew?" she asked, seeking confirmation from the other girl.

"… Yeah, that's the one…"

Even if Azusa was giving off the impression that this was a failure, Miho could tell that the younger girl had put a lot of effort into it, she had seen it for herself how diligent the girl had been. Even if the paper had been wrinkled, the edge of the sketch rough in certain places, smudges across its surface, there was no doubt in her mind that despite everything Azusa still deserved to be praised for all of her efforts. "You know, I really like this drawing."

"B-But why? It's a failure?"

"Simple, because you drew it. And I can tell how much effort you put into this, even if it's not perfect it's clear to me how you poured everything you got into this drawing. That's enough reason for me to like it." Giving her answer Miho smiled, "But there's one thing that we have to do. We need to give this to your teacher."

"N-No! Y-You can't! Please don't senpai!"

"You have to." Shaking her head Miho was making it clear that for all of its flaws Azusa still had an obligation and that meant handing in the drawing to her teacher.

"I can't!"

"You don't have to do this by yourself if you don't want to. I'll come with you. Regardless of what happens, I'll be there for you."

Standing there, her body trembling, Azusa without knowing what she was supposed to do was still hearing Miho's words echoing in her mind. As reassuring those words were, she could not ignore the doubts that were swirling at the back of her mind. She was scared of what her teacher might have to say. "I don't want to go. I don't want to do this."

"I know you do, but it's going to be alright. I'll be there with you." Getting up from the bench as well, Miho had made her decision to go and accompany the girl to the teacher's room. If they were lucky then perhaps they could find the teacher in question there. "Shall we go then?"

"No, I'll do it on my own…" Azusa whimpered, keeping her head, giving in to the request of the other girl she was aware there would be no going back. she knew from first-hand experience that her commander, on she had made her resolve, would not be deterred. In this case, it would be better to just accept it but she could not bring herself to have the girl she admired share the responsibility of her own mistake.

"Are you sure about that? Don't you want me to go with you?" Miho was surprised by this all of a sudden coming from the girl opposite of her. That said, it also made Miho rather proud of her, for being willing to face her problem on her own. "Will you be alright? You don't have to force yourself."

"… I-I'll be fine. And senpai, thank you for everything," Azusa said before she picked up her bag and said her farewells to Miho, thanking her for having taken the time to listen to her, and for having been so understanding of her plight. There was little that needed to be said.

"Take care of yourself, Azusa-san."

The girl nodded. "You too, senpai. I'll see you than at training. Until then."

Watching the younger girl leave, Miho couldn't help but admit that right now, she was feeling incredibly proud of Azusa, what said girl had decided upon was an act she could rightly take pride in. "Good luck, Azusa-san, you deserve it. I'll be rooting for you."

With that behind her and taking a glance at her watch it became clear that she was going to have to head back to her own class, she would get her chance to learn how it had gone for the younger girl somewhere during today's tankery training. "I should get going as well; the others are waiting for me."


Ooarai school carrier – tank sheds – 19.00h Saturday

"Alright everybody, listen up!" Momo's shriek could be heard echoing throughout the building as she began to address the assembled members of the tankery team, with the day and thus their training coming to an end there were still a few matters that needed to be given some attention.

"First of all, thank you very much for your efforts today! Second, we're having our match against Tarczay Academy tomorrow. Make sure that all of you are present tomorrow morning at the train station by 07.00 hours! We will load up the tanks on railcars and depart by 08.00 hours."

There were some muttered responses coming from the assembled crews but other than that nobody seemed to object to the appointed time. Well, with the obvious exception of one individual in particular.

"Egh," Mako protested, expressing her disdain for having to get up early on a Sunday. This was not to her liking at all. Her remark prompting a collective sigh from the other four girls that made up Anglerfish, all of them could already see the writing on the wall so to speak.

"I think that we'll have to offer some assistance to Reizei-dono tomorrow morning," Yukari pointed out, as it was becoming obvious that a contingency plan would be in order.

"I had hoped that by now she would've gotten used to it."

"Now, now, Saori-san. We could say the same about you and your… well, you know." Hana was only too keen to remind her friend. But she would not divulge any of the details, no she gave preference to just giving the ginger-haired girl a little tease, taking quite a delight in watching said girl squirm.

"Isuzu-dono, what are you talking about?"

Hana looked, feigning innocence. "What do you mean Yukari-san? Is there something wrong?"

"Ah no, it's nothing. Never mind," Yukari said in return as she opted to not press any further as there was something odd about the normally graceful gunner, in this case, it was becoming obvious that discretion would be the better part of valor here.

"I swear, Hana. One day, I'll get you for this," Saori was mumbling underneath her breath, although she had been beating at this point, she did make a promise to herself that she would exact some measure of revenge against the tall girl next to her someday.

Not paying that much attention to the bickering that seemed to go back and forth between her friends Miho was instead paying more attention to another girl to her far right. Ever since her private talk with Azusa, she had been curious how the younger girl was doing but with her standing there she was under the impression that said girl was doing apparently better.

'I'm glad to see you're feeling better. I hope that you were able to go and talk to your teacher. Hopefully, it all worked out for you.' She made a quick mental note to go see her later this night, or if that wasn't going to be possible to give her a call at least.

"Alright then! Everybody is dismissed! Make sure you get your vehicles prepared for tomorrow's transport! All major maintenance needs to be taken care of today! Get to it!"

The students arrayed here snapped to the attention, made a bow and said in unison, "Thank you for your effort!"

With that out of the way came the signal for the arrayed student to break ranks and head over towards their respective vehicles in order to get everything in order for the transport by rail tomorrow.

Watching as Azusa, along with her crew, were making their way over towards the familiar form of the M3 Lee the team's commander was smiling. Briefly, she found herself wondering if it would be alright for her to go and have a talk right now, but then she dismissed that notion. Feeling that it would be too soon, and anyway, Rabbit's thought and focus were on getting their vehicle prepared for tomorrow morning. It gave them a sense of purpose, something that they could focus their attention on, that was important.

'I'll go and talk to her after we're done, it'll be better that way.' Satisfied with her own decision and what she was seeing Miho made the decision to go back to her own crew, much like the other team, they too still had some chores left that they needed to finish. "I guess I should get going as well, I can't let the others do all of the work," she said to herself, smiling as she did before she spun on her heels and gradually made her way to the pleasant company of her four friends who were waiting for her.

"Nishizumi-dono, did anything happen?"

"Huh." Miho was surprised, curious why her friend was asking that. "What makes you think anything happened, Yukari-san?"

The messy-haired brunette got up from the tank and said, "Well, kinda because you're smiling all of a sudden. I thought that maybe something good has happened."

Miho was unaware that she had been smiling to the point that one of her friends had noticed it though, to be honest, there was definitely something that had happened to give her reason to smile, another reason to be proud of a certain girl.

"Well, I guess you could say that it did," Miho said with a satisfied smile on her face. Yeah, there definitely was a good reason to explain the joy and happiness she was experiencing at the moment.

"Ah right. Can I ask what it is?"

Shaking her head Miho was feeling a little teasy all of a sudden as she said, "It's a secret." Before giving a little wink as she did.


Nagano Prefecture – train – 07.50h Sunday

Sitting on the train that would carry them to their destination, the crews of Ooarai's tankery team was making the most of the brief respite they had, some of them taking advantage by catching up on some much-needed rest while others engaged in various activities.

Looking over towards the other side, where a group of six girls was perched on their seats, Miho took a certain delight seeing that one of them, in particular, appeared to be in high spirits. Just to see that expression on her face was enough reason for her to feel that the effort she had taken last night to have been worth it. 'I'm really glad to know that she's already feeling better, I hope that she'll have a good match so she can feel proud of herself again.'

After the match was over and they had gotten back to the ship she would go and pay the younger girl a visit, she would also bring along some of the snacks that Azusa had shown her. 'I think she'd like that, something to celebrate though I can imagine that hew crewmates will likely already take her away for some celebrating of their own.' If that the case, and there was a good chance that it was then there would be little reason for her to go as well.

'I'm really glad that I have her a call last night. Seeing her like this she's definitely feeling a lot better.'

Lost in her own thoughts the quiet girl had remained unaware of the fact that one girl, in particular, had been doing her level best in order to get her attention. That was until said girl decided to opt the volume a little.

"Hey, Miporin! Do you think we're going to be okay?" Saori asked as she turned away from the diminutive girl whose head was resting on her lap. "We don't know anything about this school besides the tanks that we think they might use."

With her head leaning against the side Miho was still gazing at the ever-changing landscape outside, upon hearing her friend's question she looked away from it and turned her head to address said girl's question. "I think we're going to be fine, and besides this is just a practice match, it's not like we're going to be in a competitive match."

"Miho-san does have a point," Hana chimed in, gently closing the book that until then she had been reading, "Even if we don't know what they'll be using against us, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Also, I think it'll be a little more exciting this way."

"But still…" the ginger-haired girl protested before she let out a sigh as she realized that her friends had a point, there was little reason for any of them to worry about this match. "I guess you're right. Still, I would feel a lot better if we knew what we could expect from them. Ah well…"

Every now and then a soft snore interrupted their little talk, the driver of their tank giving no impression that she was going to wake up anytime soon.

"Mako-san looks like she's happy," the graceful gunner remarked at the sight of the other girl moving just enough so she was comfortable again.

Keeping to herself, Yukari was fully immersed in her own line of thought as she kept going through the messages that were appearing on her screen. That was until a familiar voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"So Yukari-san," Miho said, speaking the words gently so as not to startle the fluffy-haired brunette as she had gotten the impression that her friend had been preoccupied with something important. "How are you feeling about this match, are you still disappointed that I didn't let you go out on one of your reconnaissance missions? You've been rather quiet."

She had a long talk about this with the brunette a few days ago, as this was more of a friendly match and not one tied to a competition Miho had felt that there was no reason for her friend to go out on a risky trip.

"Ah no… well yeah, actually I am, Nishizumi-dono. It's just that I was well… you know…" Yukari answered in return, tumbling over the words as she sought to give an explanation for her absence from the talk that had been going on. "… I was just… doing some research…"

"Huh, what kind of research," Saori asked, being the first one to react, "Don't tell me that you're trying to find out what the other team is going to use, are you? Isn't it a little too late for that now? I mean the match starts in a couple of hours."

"Ah no, no, no," the other girl was quick to say in return, waving her hands frantically to emphasize her words. "I wasn't, I was looking for any info on something else."

Miho raised her eyebrows. "Oh, about what then?"

Seeing the curious look in her friends' eyes Yukari took a deep breath before folding down the screen of her laptop. "You all still remember what I said a few weeks ago when we were having hotcakes at Reizei-dono's place?"

"You did?" Saori remarked, a puzzled look in her eyes that gave away that she could not recall the conversation they had back then. "… I'm kinda sorry, Yukarin. But I can't remember it…"

Hana made a similar remark. "I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I sadly can't recall what it was about. I'm terribly sorry about that, Yukari-san."

Letting out a short sigh which gave away her disappointment about the fact that her friends could no longer remember, Yukari turned towards her idol, hoping that the girl in question would at least still be able to remember what it was that they had briefly talked about. "… N-Nishizumi-dono?"

"Let me think…" Miho said in response, noticing the somewhat anxious look her friend was giving her. "I think it was about an exchange program between various Sensha-Do organizations, am I right?"

"Yes!" Yukari beamed, and in response, she opened her laptop again and showed her friends what it was that she had been preoccupied with. "It's true that that is a variety of exchange programs running between various countries when it comes to Sensha-Do. But it's not just in our country, there's also between individual schools as Saunders, for instance, has several active exchanges programs running with a number of schools in the United States."

"Makes sense," Saori remarked, making a comment that added very little.

Scraping her throat before she would continue after that unneeded interruption Yukari picked up where she had left. "As I was saying, there is a pretty big exchange program between our country and the continent of Europe; it's one that is on a biennial basis, which means once every two years."

"Oh, I remember that," Hana said as she raised her hand, "You mentioned this before, am I right? I believe you had said back then that the previous turn a team from Japan had gone to Europe so this time a team from Europe would come to our country, did I get that right?"

Nodding her head Yukari confirmed it, "Yes, this year a team from the European competition will attend various leagues in Japan but I don't know which ones. They haven't brought out any details, which is why I've joined several online groups that have been working hard to find information and report their findings."

Going to a page Yukari clicked on a photo to enlarge it before showing it to her friends. "This ship you see here arrived in the port of Yokohama about a week ago, people have already been able to identify it as belonging to the UETSA which means that this is likely the ship that'll bring the team from Europe over."

The other girls, minus Mako, were all staring at the screen but for the life of them they could not really see what Yukari was going on about, sure they could make out a ship but the image wasn't good enough for them to get any of the details. The only thing that they could say for certain was that the ship in question, although nowhere near as massive as the school ships, it was without a doubt a very large ship.

"I don't know," Saori said, her eyebrows rose, "Can you even say for certain that this ship is carrying them? I mean what if it is just bringing stuff here, and besides won't it all be over the news if a team from Europe were to arrive? We haven't heard anything in the last week."

"Saori-san has a point; if such a team were to have arrived than shouldn't we have heard about it?" Hana raised her hand as she presented a question of her own, much like her friend she too was having some doubts about this topic. "It's not that I doubt you, Yukari-san, but it's just that maybe the people on that group have gotten it wrong."

Letting out a sigh the fluffy-haired girl turned down the screen of her laptop and said, "Well, I can't deny that they haven't been wrong before. And you're right, Isuzu-dono, it's a little weird that we haven't heard anything about it as it is normally big news."

"So I guess it might be better to let it rest for now," Miho commented, seeing as there wasn't all that much left to discuss with regards to this topic, and besides that, she wasn't really all that concerned with it anyway. From her own experience, she knew that in general the teams that were sent over often consisted of college or university students so it was not like any of them would ever come to face such an opponent.

'Still, with what onee-chan told me, I wonder what it would be like to meet such a team, would they have the same approach to Sensha-Do as we do, or would they treat it differently. Maybe it would be best if weren't going to across such an opponent.'

Talking about a team from Europe brought another memory to Miho. 'Ah that's right, Emi-san is also from Europe, given that she went back to doing Sensha-Do in Germany she might also be eligible to participate in the exchange program. I wonder if she might be part of the team coming to Japan. I'd be great if I could see her again. I'd really like that.'

Turning her attention back to the world outside, the gathering of dark clouds up ahead caught her attention, seeing it with her own eyes was giving Miho an ominous feeling. Something about this upcoming match just didn't sit well with her.


Author's note: Well, the latest chapter for you to read.

As for an explanation for the long time that's between the previous chapter and this one, well, to be blunt and short, two reasons.

First, I was really, really, not in the mood for writing the raw version, let alone editing and all that in order to make a chapter readable as I simply did not feel, and I still feel that way, that all of the energy and time spent on it are worth the effort. I did not really enjoy writing this chapter and I feel that this is a weak chapter, something I would much rather dumb in the trash than post it.

Second, I have been making a lot of overtime at work, in no small part due to the gross incompetence of my boss to recognize the shit situation that he created himself by doing stupid stuff that caused seasoned, and experienced, employees to quit. For most of us that stayed our workload basically doubled, as did our overtime which left me, for the most part, exhausted when I got back home. What scant spare time I had left was something I wanted to spend on fun things to relax and ease my mind rather than sit down and write.

In more enjoyable and somewhat uplifting news, and an apology in advance as these author's notes might get a little long in the tooth because of this.

Another edition of Militracks has come and gone, this was a great one even though I felt that it was simply far too crowded. From some talks I had with the staff there, it seems that they were in agreement as well and that it was an issue that they would look into for next year.

Highlight of this year was the presence of the Tiger II, kindly lent by the tank museum in Saumur and I happened to have been able to score a ticket for being allowed a ride in it, a short ride as in 50m forwards and then 50m backwards I should add, but it was a ride in a Tiger II nonetheless. A really unique experience as you climb on top of this beast and the people from Saumur were really nice to talk with.

Another highlight for me was that I ran into Mr. Hilary Doyle, a name that if you have an interest in German tanks of WWII should sound familiar to you. I personally own a lot of his book as well as those from Jentz. Now, Mr. Doyle was there as a guest and I had a brief conversation with the good man, sadly I had not thought about letting him sign my newest book so I only have myself to blame.

Tankfest 2018 was a superb weekend, we had tickets for the full 3 days of the event and that meant that we were able to enjoy it to our heart's desire.

It wasn't as crowded on Friday so we were able to get to see everything inside both the Vehicle Conservation Centre and the main museum itself, if you've been to Bovington than I don't have to tell you at just how awesome this museum is for anybody with an interest in tanks. Near the end of the first day I stumbled into my first stroke of luck as purely by accident I actually met Quickybaby, a YouTuber who posts mainly about WoT, and his wife Tanya, we had a short talk for a couple of minutes before we each went our own separate ways.

The Saturday went off to a great start that only got better from there on. First up was a meet and greet with none other than the glorious and supreme Gnome Overlord of the salt mines, the Mighty Jingles, I greeted both him and Rita, shook their hands and presented Jingles with a prized gift from my country. Now as I am from the Netherlands there is one delicacy that I am almost obligated to bring with me, and for those of you who listen to his talks, you'll know that there is one delicacy from my country that Jingles absolutely loves, our famous stroopwafels. Oh that ear to ear grin on his face as he saw them, it was priceless.

As I left the hall where the meet and greet was taking place I had a stroke of luck that was simply unbelievable as standing at the exit where none other than Squire, David Fletcher, and Nicholas Moran. Now Squire is another YouTuber much like Jingles though he comes from the War Thunder community, Mr. Fletcher is a renowned historian with regards to British tanks and if you watch any of the tank chats that the Tank museum regularly puts up on their YouTube channel then you know who he is.

Mr. Moran is also a gentleman who should be rather well known to some of you, if you play WoT, watch his YouTube channel, or have one had a good look at the end credits of der Film than you should have a pretty good idea who he is. If not, go watch his channel The_Chieftain now! Really nice guy, and as luck would have it in that I had a copy of his book Can Openers (by luck this had arrived the day before I left for the UK) which he was only too happy to sign for me. Had a brief chat with him before we each had to go our separate ways.

Outside I had a quick brief chat, in rather broken French, with the fine gentlemen of the Saumur tank museum who had brought along their recently restored Char B-1bis and during the talk I was offered the rare opportunity to have a peek inside while the good man explained to me the inner workings of the machine.

Had an unexpected run-in with Jon, the infamous Welderbeast as he had brought along his trusty StuG, even though he did not recognize me at first we had a good talk and Jon kindly offered me to have a look inside his Marder III Ausf. M. Lovely restoration even if it is not yet entirely finished.

Rest of the event was what you could expect, and if you've been there this year than I really don't need to say anymore. Otherwise, go and check the multitude of videos that people have put up and see for yourselves what makes Tankfest such a great event.

Now as for the big question, when will the next chapter be posted? Only thing I can say for certain at this point is, don't expect too much, don't expect it anytime soon, it'll save you some disappointment.