A Hard Day's Work!
Ooarai school carrier – tank sheds – 09.10h Monday
"Everybody listen up!" Momo shouted to get the attention of everybody present in the hall. "I've got an important announcement to make! First of all, on behalf of the Student Council and the Festival Committee, I wish to thank each and every one of you from the senshado team for all of your hard work and efforts this past weekend! We could not have done this without you!"
They had, of course, all heard that yesterday but it did feel good to hear it a second time, especially now that it was a bit more personal. Everybody here knew just how much they had given to do their part - the tank sheds had been a hive of activity with guests coming and going.
"Now that the school festival is behind us we can all turn our attention back to our regular practice and all. There are still some matters that need to be dealt with but as there are no immediate prospects for any upcoming matches the team may take it slowly!"
There was a chorus of people speaking and celebrating, as many were feeling good in the knowledge that their hard work and efforts were being appreciated. Everybody was keen to find out for themselves how this would affect the team next year; it gave them a sense of excitement and optimism.
"Ahem! I wasn't finished!" Momo cried out to silence the others. "As I was saying, the team may take it slowly in the coming weeks but that doesn't mean you can just forget about your responsibilities. Practice will continue as is planned. Keep in mind that while there will be no competitions there will still be the need for us to continue training for next year!"
Some muttered complaints could be heard but nothing serious, overall it seemed that the team accepted the prospect of further practice even though their exams were coming up soon.
"Now I am certain that all of you are still in a festive mood and that you are more concerned with enjoying this free day you have got but be aware that today is not for partying or anything! No, today there will be various activities that we expect you to partake into the best of your abilities!"
Some more complaints could be heard though this did not come as a surprise, everybody knew yesterday that there would be more cleaning up the day after. It had simply been far too much to ask of the students to have gotten all of that done in just a few hours.
So it came as no surprise to anybody that today had been set aside to allow all of the students to clean up and get the school ready again for its purpose of educating. Luckily very few students seemed to have opposed this so overall the process had gone smoothly.
"Now, as for today, while most classes will be busy with cleaning up, the members of the senshado team have been given special absence from those chores. Instead, you will work towards maintaining your vehicles! All vehicles are to have been serviced and cleaned before the end of the day! Dismissed!"
"Uugghhh..." Stretching her back a little Saori let out a soft moan as it sank in with her that they were going to have a rough day ahead of them, gazing over towards where their tank was she could already tell this was not going to be an easy one.
"Look on the bright side, Saori-san," Hana said to her while she let her hand rest on her friend's shoulder. "At least this isn't going to take us all day, the tank isn't that dirty so the cleaning shouldn't take us long."
"What Isuzu-dono says is true. And besides, the tank was fully checked last week so I doubt we'll have much to do with regards to maintenance, just the regular stuff we always do anyway."
Although she could not deny that what her friends had said was true Saori was still somewhat reluctant to work on the tank again as she was still tired. Even with having slept late Saori was still in need of some peace and quiet. "I really just want to have a break..."
"We can do that once we're done with cleaning the tank," Miho said before she set off in the direction of the lockers so she could change her clothes. "Come on everybody, let's change into something better suited for cleaning the tank. If we all work together I'm sure we'll get this one in no time, and once we're all done I'd like to go for ice cream with all of you."
"N-Nishizumi-dono..." Yukari said, already having dropped to her knees in awe of the inspirational speech her idol had just given them. "I-I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth!"
Hana was quick to hide her smile behind her hand, she did not want to come off as being mean or anything but the sight of Yukari kneeling on the floor and acting like Miho had just said the most inspiring thing ever was a little too funny for her to ignore.
"Hana..." Saori shot her as quietly as she could. "... Mind your manners..."
Recomposing herself Hana put on an air of feigned innocence as if she had not just been having some fun at her friend's expense. With her face being only graced once more by the kindest of smiles the black-haired girl went on with her business.
"I so hate it when you do that..." Saori pouted as she saw it. "I can't believe you did that."
"Is that so?" Hana once more feigned innocence.
Quickly pinching the bridge of her nose Saori made the smart decision to not further comment, instead opting to just ignore and pretend otherwise, that would serve her better in the long run. Right now, she had other priorities.
"Let's just go and get the tank sorted, shall we?' Saori asked the others while ignoring Hana in the process in the vain hope that the sooner they got to work the sooner they could go home. "This isn't gonna be easy for us but I'm sure that if we all join in we should manage."
"Hmm," Yukari remarked. "I wouldn't mind staying a bit longer here Takebe-dono, I kinda like to spend some time with our tank since I didn't really get the chance for this weekend."
Saori had the look on her face as if she had just been slapped with a wet fish, much to the amusement of Hana, though to the girl's credit she did make an admirably quick recovery, and just feigned annoyance. She huffed, puffing her cheeks out. "Well, I guess that was to be expected."
Miho could not help but chuckle a little in response as it was an amicable sight though she could understand the reluctance to get to actual work that seemed to be going through most of the students. Looking across her shoulder she could see that the others groups were also struggling to get to grips. Guess it was not much of a surprise that the students here wanted to take things somewhat easy.
"Well, let's get to it then shall we? I believe the best course of action would be for us to don our overalls before we get ourselves dirty," Hana quickly advised, something that they all agreed to.
And with that, the quintet of girls made their way to the lockers where they could change into something better suited for cleaning and servicing their armoured beast. Once all changed and ready for anything, they attacked the task with gusto, descending upon the tank with an almost frenzied vigour.
Having been busy for well over an hour or so by now Miho began looking forward to enjoying a quiet afternoon with her friends, it was a thought she had been cherishing all day. She had heard from Saori this morning about a nice cafe that served some of the best cakes on the ship, so she was keen to find out for herself; tea and cake did sound like a great way to spend an afternoon with her friends.
"Well, that takes care of the running gear and the tracks," Saori explained while she hinted at those parts of the tracks. "I guess we're lucky that it didn't rain these past few days so there wasn't any mud on the course."
"Yes, we would've had a lot more cleaning to do if there had been mud all over the tanks," Miho agreed with her friend as she knew from firsthand experience that cleaning a tank covered in mud was quite the chore. And given the weather outside she was not keen on having to do that outside in the cold.
"We're lucky that it's just some dust and other stuff, with any luck we'll be done with this in no time and then we can enjoy what remains of the day." Saori gave off the impression that she was rather chipper despite their hard work, somehow something had gotten her in a good mood, one that was also pretty infectious.
"Ehm Saori-san, you're really looking forward to going to that cafe, aren't you?"
Her friend froze on the spot, so Miho had the bull by the horns so to speak. "I knew that you were excited about going but I didn't think you'd be this excited? So is it that good of a cafe? Though it didn't seem all that special from the photos you showed us."
"... I erm..." the girl admitted. "... I kinda do, you see Miporin, they just introduced a new limited edition lemon chiffon cake that is to die for this weekend so I was kinda hoping we'd be able to go..." By now Saori was already dragging her foot across the ground.
This was unusual, it was not normal for Saori to be this anxious to go to a cafe; it would be one thing if this came from Hana but from Saori, this was something new. Then again maybe she was just overthinking it.
"Limited edition huh?"
"Yeah, yeah, as in really limited edition. Today's the last day they're having them and I'm afraid there's going to be a lot of people there so we definetely need to hurry and get there in time if we want any hope of getting our hands on that limited edition lemon chiffon cake!"
"Okay, well I guess it can't hurt to finish up things here as quickly as we can then," Miho said and gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Let's give it our all so we can go to that cafe and enjoy that lemon chiffon cake together."
Saori was a little flustered but before she had the chance to actually react to that a certain voice rang out through the building.
"Ah, Nishizumi!" Momo shouted as she made her way towards the tanks. As she drew closer, she could see that the crews' hard work had paid off as the tanks were looking as good as ever. However she was here for a different reason, and one at the behest of Anzu.
Miho stood there, looking a little puzzled about the girl's sudden appearance. She thought nothing of it at first, just thinking that she had come here to inspect the tanks. That line of thought was quickly dashed when Miho realised that the girl in question was not just walking towards her crew, but more specifically, towards her in particular.
"Nishizumi, can I have a moment of your time?"
Miho just nodded. "I guess so. Is there something I can help you with Kawashima-senpai?"
"There is, yes, but this is not a matter that should be discussed in public. Now if you would be so kind as to follow me to the Student Council office." Momo gestured for the other girl to come with her.
Saying her goodbyes to her friends Miho went with the mono-spectacled girl, wondering what it would be this time that the student council had in store for her. Just another day for her at Ooarai Girls' Academy.
Ooarai school carrier – tank sheds – 10.40h Monday
Having kept a watchful eye on what else was transpiring inside the tank sheds, Azusa had been feeling somewhat sad when she saw that Momo had come just to pick up Miho and lead her away. No doubt the Student Council had plans for the girl.
"Hey Azusa, are you still sulking about Nishizumi-senpai being called away? Aya asked as she caught the somewhat melancholic expression on her friend's face. "C'mon, don't tell me you're still moping about that? It's likely just the usual that they want to talk with her, like they always do, you know."
The girl shrugged her shoulders before she replied. "Yes, I guess you're right, Aya. But say what do you think they would want to talk with her about then? Kawashima-senpai looked like she was in a bit of a hurry."
"Beats me." Was the reply she got, and it did not seem that her companion was all that interested to begin with. And besides, they had their own chores to content themselves with rather than thinking about matters that did not involve them.
"Want to take a guess?" Azusa on the other hand was not going to drop the matter, so she asked a question with the hope of keeping the conversation going. "What do you think the Student Council wants to discuss with Nishizumi-senpai?"
"I don't know, maybe they just want to congratulate her for how things went with the school festival. Yeah, I bet that's gotta be it! That makes the most sense anyway!"
With a dejected look, Azusa could barely make a response to that. "Yeah... I guess you might be kinda right..."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the twin-tailed girl shot back.
"Ah nothing, nothing important anyway," Azusa said in disappointment, guessing that there was no way after all for her to keep the conversation going. Maybe it would be better if she were to turn her attention back towards cleaning up.
"Hey Azusa, you think you could give me a hand here?" Ayumi came to ask for some help as the poor girl had been trying to lift some of the spare track links that had been placed but they were too much for her to carry by herself. "Could really use a hand or two you know."
"Sure, just give me a moment."
Rushing over to help her crewmate Azusa was happy for the little distraction, with any luck the chores would keep her occupied for a while, or at least until Miho would come back. She would honestly feel a lot better if she could just see her.
"Alright then, on the count of three."
Ayumi nodded. "Got it."
"One. Two. Three!"
Both girls lifted with all their strength, still the track link was heavy and they both had to watch their steps to make sure neither of them would stumble. Even with their combined strength, this was no easy feat, and it took them a while before they could finally lower the single piece of track.
"Y-Yes..." Ayumi stammered as she sought to catch her breath. "That was easy don't you think? Want to go for another?"
"E-Easy?" Azusa asked underneath her breath, the girl was still panting, her lungs burning. "You call that easy? I think you're a little crazy if you think that was easy."
"Well, we did manage it didn't we?"
Azusa shook her head. "Ugh..."
Ayumi began to laugh. "Hey, at least it got your mind off things for a bit didn't it? You were looking pretty gloomy while you sat there. Honestly, I don't think it's good to spend that much time worrying about something you can't do much about."
"H-Huh?!"
"Come on, don't tell me you thought that we hadn't noticed," the girl explained. "It's written all over your face that you're worried about her since she left. I know you're fond of the captain and such but don't you think you're maybe, I don't know, kinda obsessing here."
"..."
Putting her hands on her hips Ayumi was trying to figure out what to tell her friend next, she was not the right kind of person for this kind of talk but she would still give it a shot. That said, she would feel a lot better if some of the others would give her some help.
"You all think I'm obsessed with Nishizumi-senpai?"
"Kinda yeah," the girl said. "Listen, we all know that you really admire her and such. We're okay with that but, ehm, maybe you wanna make sure that you don't act like Akiyama-senpai does."
"... I see..." Those words stung, Azusa knew that she had a lot of admiration for the youngest daughter of the Nishizumi household but she did not view herself as being obsessed, or going a little overboard like she had seen the loader of the Panzer IV do at times.
"I-I'll keep that in mind."
"Glad that's out of the way."
Having cleared a little of what was on their minds the two girls were slowly making their way back towards the tank and the rest of their crew, saying how they should look for a cart to put the track links on so they would not have to carry them all the way.
"Geez I do wonder why everything on a tank needs to be this heavy," she complained as she strained her back the moment she lifted another piece of track. "C-Couldn't they like, you know, make these things not so heavy?"
Azusa just eyed her with a disappointed expression on her face. "It's a tank, of course, it's going to be heavy, and that armour that it has for protection weighs a lot you know. The components need to be big and heavy so they can support all that."
Ayumi froze on the spot. "Woah, I kinda hadn't thought of it that way. So a tank is heavy because of its armour, and to carry that heavy armour it needs heavy components, yeah that kinda makes sense. You're pretty smart Azusa."
"..." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Azusa made the smart decision to not say anything in return; it would only frustrate her further. And just when she was starting to feel better, guess that was just how things went.
"Say, do you know whatever happened to that longer barrel that was ordered?"
"Huh. What?"
"That's right, we ordered that a while ago didn't we?" Aya chimed in on the conversation at hand, forgetting all about her own chores in the process. "Akiyama-senpai went to order, didn't she? You think we should ask her if she knows anything. Or would it be better to ask the Student Council instead?"
Given that some thought the group of all had by now stopped doing what they had been doing, all of their attention now turned to the subject of their improved firepower. Aya had actually made a good point on who they should ask.
Adopting a thinking pose, Azusa had to admit that she was without an answer. It did make sense to ask the student council as they had the last say on the matter but she would rather not.
"Ehm, excuse me," Yuuki interjected as she raised her hand. "Wasn't it kinda supposed to have been delivered by now? Didn't they say that it wouldn't take long to get it? Shouldn't we have it by now?"
"Hey, she's right."
"Yeah!"
Ayumi was just starting into the endless distance as the thought of having a more powerful gun became the sole thought in her mind, no words could describe the urge she was experiencing to fire that gun the moment it was mounted in their tank.
Ooarai school carrier – student council office – 10.55h Monday
"Ah Nishizumi-chan, welcome," was the first thing that the diminutive president of the Student Council asked the moment she saw the girl in question walk through the door. With a smile on her face, it was clear that she was happy to see Miho again.
"It's good to see you again. So how's it going with you, did you get any sleep last night?" she asked while she treated herself to her favourite all-time snack; a piece of dried sweet potato dangling from her mouth. "Hope that today has allowed you to take it a little easy."
"Ah President," Miho said in return before making a bow. "Thank you for your concerns. Yes, I did have a lot of fun this past weekend though I have to admit that I'm still a little tired from it all."
Anzu gave her a warm smile. "Well, you make sure you take it easy today then, Nishizumi-chan~."
"I have brought Nishizumi as you requested, Prez. Will that be all for now?" Momo asked, her notebook still firmly clenched underneath her arm.
"Yes, thank you, Kawashima," Anzu affirmed the girl's request, offering a small nod as well. "That will be all for the time being, if you want you can return to your duties."
Momo just nodded in acknowledgment before she said. "Then with your permission, I'll take my leave now, there are still other matters that require my attention, and there is still some paperwork that needs to be sorted."
"Okay, well good luck with those then. Oh, and Kawashima, if there's anything I can do to help then please let me know, okay? Take care now, until later."
"You as well Prez, until later. Then I will be off." With those words, the black-haired girl spun on her heels and made her way towards the door that led out of the office and exited it. The moment those doors closed shut, an odd silence settled in the room.
"So, Nishizumi-chan, how's your day been?"
"Oh uh, it's been, good President. We've gotten most of the planned maintenance done, there will still be some requirements here and there but since none of the tanks were subjected to anything harsh I don't expect there to be any problems. But there's still the issue of Rabbit's M3 being out of commission."
Nodding her head in acknowledgment while she was listening to what the girl opposite her desk was saying, Anzu was glad about the state of progress the team was making. Nothing of it really came as a surprise to her, and she did expect all of the work to be done by the end of the afternoon, but it was still good to get confirmation of it.
"We're all glad to hear that Nishizumi-san," Yuzu commented after she had taken in all the information. "The team is really pulling through even though we did ask a lot of them, but it does seem they all know what to do even without you being present to direct them."
"That is true but going maintenance on the tanks and operating them during a match are two entirely different things, Koyama-senpai."
Yuzu agreed. "Yes, and that is why we would like for you to start making a more concentrated effort for training suitable candidates to take on the role of second in command. Our own command structure thus far has always been pretty flexible for it does have the major disadvantage that it is centred around you. That is a weakness in our senshado team."
"Yes, I understand," Miho said. "In that case, I'd like to recommend Sawa-san for the role. She has been really picking up on how to give out orders and she is pretty good at reading both a map and the topography of an area."
"Noted, and thank you for your honest opinion."
"As for the M3, that matter should be resolved before the end of the week. We have already gotten a phone call from the Federation to inform us that a team of inspectors will arrive on the ship this Saturday to do their investigation."
Hearing that news Miho was visibly relieved at knowing that actual progress was being made on this particular matter, and to think it could already be done this weekend made it even better. "It'll be great when we're cleared of the accusations and we can have the tank back into service, the team can really use the extra tank."
Giving her a sly smile Anzu sprung a little surprise on the poor girl. "Especially now that we have a friendly training match scheduled in about two weeks this will be a great help."
"Huh, what?" Miho was confused as she had not thought that there would already be a match so soon for them. "B-But why, Prez, isn't this a little too soon to already schedule a match?"
"Nope~. And besides, both sides can do with this match. For us, it'll be a great opportunity to have the M3 go through its paces and at the same time see if Sawa-chan can manage."
Yuzu took a step forward to reassure her that there would be no repeat of the previous match. "Don't worry Nishizumi-san, we won't be going up against an unknown school this time, we're all very familiar with them already. Rest assured that we do not take lightly what occurred last time."
Miho felt a little better. "So then against whom will we be having the match?"
If Anzu's grin, that ran almost from ear to ear, was anything to go by then Miho could already guess.
"Saunders," was the answer that Yuzu gave. "The head of their senshado team made an appeal to the Prez yesterday for wanting to have another go against us. It seems they also want to try out a few things and they felt that we would be the best opponents for the job."
"Oh, okay," was Miho's reaction to that, the request made sense, and she was beyond grateful that Saunders was going to be their opponent for this match. Already it felt like a burden had fallen off her shoulders at hearing that news.
"I'm keen to have a good match against Saunders again; it has been a long time since we last faced each other during the National Tournament. This should be a good opportunity for all of us."
"We all agree with that," Anzu told her. "And that is also why I welcomed Kay's request for a friendly match between our schools. We'll be up against people we know so we won't have to be afraid of a repeat of the last match, this should be a good, clean, one."
"That does sound wonderful."
"It will be, believe me, Nishizumi-chan when I say that I don't want to have any of you ever be put through that again. I won't stand for it."
Not saying a word as there was no need for any of them at the moment Miho knew in her heart that what Anzu was telling her was nothing but the honest truth. That was just the kind of person the diminutive girl was, she might look lazy and uninterested at first glance but in reality, she cared more for the students under her care than any person Miho had ever met.
"Now Nishizumi-san, if I may have your attention I'd like to present you this," Yuzu remarked while she made her way over towards one of the cabinets. Grabbing a key she had been holding she opened one of the drawers and pulled out an inauspicious-looking report. "I'm certain that you likely have an inkling of what this is but I want to remind you that we are all under an NDA that we have signed with the Federation."
Letting out a troubled-sounding sigh Miho knew what the report contained; that was the one that their school had been given barely two days ago, and the one that had all of the available information they had at the moment on their future opponents, Wolfshund.
"So that is why you asked Kawashima-senpai to come and pick me up from the tank sheds, am I right?"
"Yes," Anzu was quick to answer. "I know that this may seem rash to you but I'd prefer it if you could begin with forming an opinion on this team as we need to start making a strategy for how we're going to face them next year. You know what that means, right?"
"Y-Yes." That did confirm some of Miho's fears, this upcoming match was not going to be before the end of this academic year, and as such her school was going to lose a good portion of its current senshado team.
"Then you understand why it's important for you to start with this at the earliest opportunity. I'll do whatever is in my power to help you while I'm still the Student Council President but you should know that the clock is ticking. I don't have much time left."
"I understand," Miho acknowledged. "I'll see what I can do for you Prez but I won't make any promises, there's just too much we don't know about them."
"We understand that Nishizumi-san." Handing her the report Yuzu understood that they could not ask for miracles from Miho, much like she had just said, there was simply far too much that they did not know and the window was just too short. But they would still try.
"Please have a seat, Nishizumi-chan~."
Ooarai school carrier – tank sheds – 12.35h Monday
Wiping away some of the sweat on her forehead Yukari let out an exasperated sigh while she took in the fruits of their labour, the tank was looking as good as the day it rolled out of its factory. "I'm glad you're looking this pretty again, this has been worth it."
"It's good to see you're smiling, Yukari-san," Hana remarked as she came to stand next to her friend, her overall still covered in grease and dust. "You were looking quite distressed not a short while ago?"
"Yeah, that's true Isuzu-dono," the girl admitted while leaning on the broom she had been using. "It just felt wrong to be that the Student Council would just waltz in here and take Nishizumi-dono with them just like that... just don't like it you know..."
Raising her arm and letting it rest on her friend's shoulder Hana told her. "I understand how you feel, Yukari-san, and believe me when I say that all of us felt the same. We had plans to go with Miho to a cafe and have some tea and cake together, that was our plan."
Nodding silently Yukari knew, they had after all discussed that before and everybody had been looking forward to it. But now their friend had already been gone for a while and nobody had any idea when she would be back.
"That said, I do believe that Miho-san would want us to keep on doing our best until she can rejoin us. So I believe it is likely for the best that we finish off the last bits on the tank and then get ourselves refreshed, I'm certain that she'll join us at the earliest opportunity."
"You're right Isuzu-dono, as always."
It made the black-haired girl blush a little, as well as give her friend a pouty face. "Please, don't say something like that. I've been wrong on plenty of occasions, you know."
Yukari chuckled a little, she did recall that.
"Hey, could the two of you help us out here! We're already short-handed as it is!" Saori shouted as she shot up from her hatch. "The interior isn't going to clean itself you know!"
Both girls just shrugged their shoulders in unison, which was their cue to go back to work lest they dare anger their friend any further.
"Guess it's time to get back to work for us, isn't it Isuzu-dono?"
"I fear so."
"Takebe-dono is pretty harsh on us, working us to the bone here," Yukari joked.
Hana smiled and just went with it. "Yes, that is a terrible thing that the evil Saori-san is inflicting upon us poor souls."
"Just what are the two of you going on about?! I'm not evil I'll have you know!"
"We know," both girls said in unison before laughing about it. Their friend's face was just too funny not to laugh at, and as cruel as it may seem right now, they would thank her for lifting the mood.
"So Takebe-dono," Yukari asked. "How do we want to go about doing the interior?"
"H-Huh?"
Hana turned away to have a little chuckle, just another threat for her to savour. Once she had straightened her face she turned back and partook again in the conversation, although she had high hopes there would be some more entertainment in it for her.
"Well," Saori uttered, averting her eyes. "Isn't it normal that we do it just like we always do? I mean this isn't the first time we've fully cleaned the tank from top to bottom, right? Just do what you always do, c'mon!"
She had a point there, they had all done this a dozen times before, and most of them could likely do this with their eyes closed. That said, it would be best for them to get back to work as at least it would take their mind off their friend for a while.
"Say Takebe-dono, do you think that the guests had fun riding the tank?"
The girl raised an eyebrow in return. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden, Yukarin?" It was a bit of an odd question in her mind, surely it should be obvious that the guests had a lot of fun. Saori had not seen anybody who was not smiling.
"Well I guess so," she said, keeping her answer a little vague so as not to hurt her friend's feelings, despite the odd nature of the question. "I mean people were all smiling so I think it's only fair to assume they were all having fun, wouldn't it? I mean, people don't smile if they're not having fun, right?"
"That's true," Mako remarked as she popped up from the driver's hatch. "Nobody complained so all's good."
Yukari had to admit that what her friends were saying made sense. "I guess you're both right with that. It's just, well, that I'm a little curious, I mean you all know that it's really important that we get more people to practice senshado next year."
"Yukari is right there, the goal of this year's school festival has been to offer as many people as possible with an incentive to come and study at Ooarai. And I can imagine that quite a good portion of the young ladies we saw based their decision on how the senshado team treated them."
Making an exasperated sigh, Saori did not look happy with that statement. "You know, I could really do without knowing how much they were expecting of us. C'mon that was just way too much pressure they put on us. I had a lot of fun at this festival but I'm also glad that it's over."
"I agree with Takebe-dono, while meeting all of these people was fun and all, I much rather be having a quiet school life."
That was something they could all agree on; being a normal school girl was simply just the best.
Ooarai school carrier – student council office – 14.20h Monday
Sitting down on her seat Miho was a little surprised at first with just how quiet it was in the office now that Anzu and Yuzu had left, maybe a little too quiet if she was being honest. She was used to a quiet room but that did not mean she was enjoying it.
"Well, I guess that means I can read this at my leisure," Miho remarked to nobody in particular as she continued perusing the report. "A shame as I wouldn't mind some company but I guess they have responsibilities of their own. Still, I wouldn't mind having somebody here with me..."
She had been called to Anzu's office with the intent of reading through the report on the German team that had come to Japan under the exchange program, a team that she now knew her school would have to face at some point in the next year. It was a scary prospect.
"There's no way that we'll pull this off," she said while taking in whatever information she could to get an idea of this opponent even though there was little to actually help her in that regard. It was almost frustrating, this lack of concrete information.
Letting out a troubled sigh as she turned her attention back to the page she continued with reading. There was more information within the report than she had thought but some of it was not as usable as she would have liked.
"Oh, I guess their team is older than I thought," she remarked as she had a look at what the page had to say about the origin and thinking behind the project. "Wow, they started with this quite some years ago, that's pretty interesting. Hmmm, that is a little unexpected, guess it does make sense given what they told us this weekend..."
The information was again pretty interesting, and again it really was not all that useful for her, not for what Anzu was expecting of her. Of course, the background information did allow her to gain insight into the team history and maybe even shed some light on the wider aspect of maintaining and supporting a sizable senshado team but this was not what she was after.
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. "Yes?"
"Hello Nishizumi-san," Yuzu greeted her as she opened the door and stepped inside, carrying with her a small tray. "I thought you might be thirsty so I came to bring you some tea. You prefer milk tea, right?"
"Ah yes," Miho answered the older girl as she accepted the cup of tea. "And thank you for bringing this Koyama-senpai. Thank you."
"It's nothing, you've done a lot for us so it's the least I can do for you."
She nodded,
"So how's it going with the report? Did you learn anything from it, Nishizumi-san?" Yuzu asked as she sat down next to the younger girl. "I've read it myself, well, to be honest, I tried reading it a few times but there's a lot in there that I'm struggling to understand."
Casting a glance at it Miho knew that it was a sizable report so she could well understand how the other girl had to feel. There was so much information compiled into this report that it made her wonder how long the people who wrote it had invested into it.
"So do you think this is going to help us, Nishizumi-san?"
Shaking her head, Miho spoke. "To be honest I don't know. There's just so much written down that I don't even know where to start, I mean the reason why that team was formed in the first place is that they have a different take on senshado in Europe."
"Do they now?" Yuzu asked, finding herself a little curious now. "Didn't they tell us that the differences were only minor? Could it be that they were wrong in their findings?"
"Well, I don't think they were wrong," Miho answered while going through the report again. "To me, it seems more like the way that the matches are played is where the difference lies, or at least that is how it appears to me."
Yuzu blinked a confused look in her eyes. "I don't understand."
"Here let me show you," Miho said while she gestured for the other girl to come a little closer. Turning to a page she said. "It says here that at a point they were having the same problem with the sport as what those representatives of MEXT told us, people were losing interest in the sport as tournaments were getting won by the same teams over and over."
"I see." Nodding her head in acknowledgment of this information, Yuzu could understand that such a matter would have a detrimental effect on the sport's popularity. Just like any other sport, senshado was also a form of entertainment to many people and the same teams winning all the time would make it predictable and ultimately boring.
"I guess that makes sense."
"From what it says here this seems to have been a problem for them for even longer than it has been in Japan. I suppose that given how many teams there likely are in Europe this isn't much of a surprise, as a continent it is far larger than Japan."
"That is of course if what they say is true," Yuzu remarked. "I wonder..."
"Huh? I don't understand senpai."
"It's nothing, just forget it said that."
"Okay..."
Yuzu had a closer look at the page herself, her mind asking a question as to how much they could even trust this report. Of course, she had nothing to prove her theory but at the back of her mind there was this nagging sense that maybe this report might try and inflate the problems that foreign countries and organisations might have with the sport. She knew that any prestigious sport could be used as a political tool.
"Please continue, Nishizumi-san. How did they solve this issue in Europe then?"
Going back a couple of pages Miho went ahead and showed it to her companion, luckily this was well explained in great detail so there would be no need for Miho to further elaborate.
"So if I'm reading this right, it seems like they went with a different format for their matches? Because there was a decline in viewers and participants, they decided to change the way that a match could be played, huh?"
Miho nodded. "Yes, that is my take on it as well. More than anything it seems that their goal was to make the matches more challenging for the participating teams, thereby increasing its entertainment value to the general public. And judging from what it says here, they were successful in that."
Yuzu did have her reservations. "I don't know, it still sounds pretty drastic, almost as if they were desperate to make a change. It just feels, you know, like something that would make me feel uneasy about. Honestly, I don't know if I could take up senshado if they did something like that here."
Nodding her head, Miho could understand the sentiment that the older girl might have, though she had to admit that she herself did not feel the same about it. What was done to the sport in Europe and possibly other countries might have been necessary to prevent the sport from disappearing, which was something far worse in her mind.
"I guess that the people there must've had their reasons for doing so. Even then, it does seem that the change did bring the result they were after.
"It did? Wait, where does it say that?"
"Huh? Well, it does mention that here in this part," Miho answered as she began to explain her understanding of what was written in the section she had hinted at. "It says here that in the first year or so after the implementation of the change this was only showing modest improvements but after its second year there were notable developments as the meta began to shift towards other teams than had won in previous competitions."
Adopting a thinking pose by letting her chin rest on the back of her hand Yuzu was trying to wrap her head around what she had just been told, it was a lot for her to take in. But from what she had been able to understand it seemed that it took some time before the changes brought about the progressieve changes in the sport again that the people in charge had been hoping for. "This is interesting; I am a little surprised that the changes were accepted that quickly."
"That might have to do with them being less tradition-bound than we are," Miho explained and gave several examples of cases in Japanese history where there was heavy resistance and opposition to changes being suggested for the sport. "In Japan, there is strong opposition to anything that can be interpreted as being against the traditional form of senshado."
Yuzu looked at her companion with a concerned look in her eyes. "I won't lie, that sounds kinda scary to me. I mean strong opposition that sounds like that people might do something crazy or even dangerous in time to prevent change."
"Yeah..."
Both girls grew quiet as they let that sink in for a moment. Strong opposition to change and a determination to stick to tradition could be a dangerous combination; it could even be seen as an actual threat for any future progress if it went unchecked.
It was a scary prospect, and one that both girls could agree on that they should not dwell on.
"So ehm, Nishizumi-san, what exactly does this mean?" Yuzu asked as she had her sights set on the name, writing in German, and having experience with reading the language she was struggling to read it aloud.
"What part do you mean?"
"Uh, this one."
"Universitätsausbildungssonderverband Wolfshund? That is what you want to know?"
Yuzu gently nodded her head in response. "Yes, what does that name even mean? It's quite a mouthful."
"Ah I see, let me think for a moment." Even for Miho with a decent understanding of German, this was kind of a difficult one to answer as while it was only a single word, that word actually had multiple meanings and all of that depended on one's interpretation.
"I, ehm, I think it means University education special-purpose group or something like that though University special training team might also be viable here. It would be a fair assumption to make that they are not your average team."
"With a name like that, it's not hard to see why," Yuzu joked.
Perusing the report any further Miho froze as she came across a certain passage. "Ah I see, I guess that kinda matches with the team's nature. This is a collective effort of several institutes."
"Wait, does that mean what I think it does?"
"You're right, it does. This team isn't from just a single university... It says here that they're a composite team composed of students from several universities which are participating in a joint partnership..."
Both of the girls fell quiet after that, neither of them sure what to make of this but they both understood the meaning behind this; Wolfshund did not have the financial backing of just a single institute behind it but several which meant that its ability to procure powerful tanks was far in excess of what one would expect.
"Oh, this doesn't bode well for us," Yuzu let out as she rested her chin on her hand.
"No it doesn't," the girl said with a reassuring voice. "But we've been through worse before. Just as long as we think carefully and trust in ourselves we should be able to find a way."
"Yes, yes you're right, Nishizumi-san..."
Closing the report Miho could feel that perhaps now would be a good time as any to call it a day, the girl next to her did appear as if she had heard enough for the time being, and truth be told, so was she.
Looking outside she could see that it was already getting late; the sun was starting to settle, casting an orange glow across the ocean, the carrier, and the city itself. It was a rather tranquil and comforting scene to watch.
"It really is peaceful, don't you think?" Yuzu asked with a somewhat melancholic expression on her face. "I'm definitely going to miss this place, I've spent so long here and now it's all of a sudden coming to an end. Should've seen this coming though I guess I was just enjoying the moment more than I should have."
"… Koyama-senpai, are you sad about leaving Ooarai?" Miho asked as she noticed the somewhat melancholic tone in the other girl's voice. "I mean after you graduate."
"A little, yes," Koyama admitted before she took a deep breath and pushed herself from her seat. "Anyway I think that is enough for today, you can go back to your friends if you want Nishizumi-san. I'll inform the others that you left. Thank you for your effort."
"No, no, I've not done all that much. I've barely even gotten started with the report, there's a lot more for me to go through," the younger girl tried to be as modest as possible.
"You can always do that tomorrow, you can visit the office whenever you want to use the report; that has already been agreed upon," Yuzu informed her as it was obvious that there simply was far too much information within the report to digest in one afternoon for any person. Nobody in the student council expected Miho to do that; it would not be fair to ask of her.
"Thank you, Koyama-senpai," Miho responded as she stood up and bowed to the older student. "Ehm… Koyama-senpai, I know that this may seem selfish of me but I'd like to request something for tomorrow. It's a personal but important matter for me."
Hearing this got Yuzu somewhat curious as it was rather rare for Miho to make a request for herself, let alone one that from the sound of it could be seen as being selfish. She was interested to learn what it exactly was.
"What is it, Nishizumi-san? Please, let me know what your request is."
Taking a deep breath, Miho calmed her nerves as she did not feel easy about making this request but she knew that she had no choice. It was something she should have done sooner, she knew that she was late with this request and that she had nobody to blame for it but herself.
Letting it all out she made a deep bow and made her request.
Ooarai school carrier – cake shop cafe – 18.10h Monday
"Welcome, please take your seat where you want!" a girl greeted them as Miho and friends entered the cafe followed by her directing them to one of the available tables. "A waiter will come to take your order once you're seated. Please keep in mind that it is rather busy but we will be with you shortly."
Putting down their bags and taking off their coats the quintet of girls was glad that they had made it, the cafe that they had all been looking forward to. After their hard work in the tank sheds it only felt normal for them to come here and claim their reward; the limited edition lemon chiffon cake.
"Oh, I'm so glad that we're finally here," Saori ushered as she plumped down on her seat, the poor girl looking like she was utterly spent. "I never thought we'd make it here, not with all of the work that they piled on us."
"Look on the bright side," Hana remarked. "We were able to get everything done and get here anyway, sure it is a little later than we had planned but I can't say that we should complain about how things have gone. Anyway, let's enjoy and make the most of it since we're all here now."
"Isuzu-dono has a point!" Yukari voiced her agreement with what the black-haired gunner had just said, she was just happy that the five of them were together again and could enjoy this wonderful opportunity between them.
Minding her own business Mako was more occupied with perusing through the menu and see what would tempt her appetite though she knew that it had been agreed that they would all get a piece of that special lemon chiffon cake, which she had to admit looked pretty good.
Miho was just glad to have a moment with her friends, and the cosy atmosphere in this little cafe was a welcome one, somehow she felt almost like she was home. "This place feels really nice; it just looks and feels so comfortable and welcoming here. I'm glad that you recommended this place, Saori-san."
It made the girl blush. "Hehe, don't mention it, Miporin. I'm just lucky I overheard some senpai mention this place yesterday, and looking it up online I knew we just had to come here. They get a lot of good reviews as well so the place has to be good."
Having a look around to take in their immediate surroundings the others could only agree with that opinion, the interior and the decorations gave the cafe a warm and homey feeling, one where customers would feel at ease and could enjoy their meal in comfort.
"Takebe-dono has really outdone herself this time!" Yukari beamed as she was somewhat overwhelmed by how nice the place felt to her, sure it was no tank shed or a museum filled to the brim with rare and exotic tanks but she could not deny that this was a nice place to be.
Once they had all been able to place their order the quintet of girls was anxious to find out for themselves if this limited edition lemon chiffon cake was as good as they had been led to believe.
As one of the staff came with their order they could barely contain their excitement, the cake just looked far too good. Everybody was keen to dig in and have a taste of it, something every one of them was excited about.
"Thank you for the meal," the five of them said in unison, giving their thanks for this meal before they would dig in.
"Hmmmm," Miho let out bare moments after she had taken her first bite. "Oh this tastes so good, Saori-san you're right, this is good."
"I know Miporin, it's even better than I thought it'd be," the girl replied, savouring the surprising taste of the piece of cake, she had been a little sceptical herself at first but she could not but admit that the reviews were true. "She could not believe how good it was."
With a treat that went past their expectations, the group relaxed into a comfortable mood and began to chitchat about various topics while enjoying their cake to the fullest, a second order of cake only furthered the festive mood.
Enjoying the tranquil atmosphere Miho had a sip of her milk tea, feeling how the warm liquid ran down her throat, now that it was getting colder in the evening this was very welcome. It almost felt like the warmth of it was soaking into every inch of her tired body.
"Ah, this tastes so good..."
Warming her hands on the cup she was feeling like all of the exhaustion of today was ebbing away, what concerns or reservations she may have had disappearing.
"Oh this black tea is better than I thought it'd be," Yukari remarked as she had a sip of hers. "I think it's just as good as the one we got from Gloriana."
The others could not help but smile at the comparison though they did have to agree with the fluffy-haired brunette's opinion; it was a good cup of tea, and it went so well with the cake. A peaceful air reigned over the table
Emptying what remained of the black tea Miho placed the cup back on the table. She had not told her friends about her plans for tomorrow, somewhere she had been scared of telling them, but now she was going to tell them.
She had waited long enough, postponing something that she really should have told her friends sooner. This may upset some of them, if that was the case she would expect it, but that would not deter her anymore.
"Um everybody, there's something I'd have to tell you. It's about tomorrow, it's pretty important for me."
"Huh?"
"What is it, Nishizumi-dono?"
"Please tell us Miho-san," Hana said right before a sizable part of the soufflé cheesecake she had ordered simply disappeared; the bittersweet taste of the berry sauce that came with it was a perfect match with the cheesecake, and Hana was cherishing every moment of it. It was a perfect harmony of flavours. And it paired even better with the black tea than the lemon chiffon cake did.
"You can say whatever is bothering you, Miporin. We're your friends."
That was true, and that gave Miho the confidence to say what had been troubling her. "Well, it's ehm about my sister. She is going to leave for Europe, tomorrow she has her flight."
There was a collective silence around the table as the other four girls dropped what they were doing; their full attention now directed towards what their friend had to say.
"And um, well, um, I'll be going to see her off tomorrow."
X
Author's note: Well, people there you have it, another chapter to add to this story and also the last one of this year. I hope that you'll all enjoy it. So have at it then.
Want to apologise for not having been able to post as much this year as I have done last year. I am truly sorry for that, for having kept you waiting, for not being able to offer you more than what meagre amount I have only been able to produce this year.
Well, it's almost Christmas and with that the end of this year is almost upon us, and what a year it has been for all of us. A lot of things have happened, some good, some bad, it certainly has been a very hectic year.
For most of us it also means that we're very close to being able to see the third episode of das Finale, with that we'll be halfway into the series but also means that we still have 3 more episodes that we'll be waiting for. With any luck the fourth episode will come somewhere next year though yeah it will still be longer for those of us outside of Japan.
Well, that is enough rambling from me, I will leave you with the wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays for the coming period, and my best regards to all of you for the New Year. I hope that you will be able to spend the upcoming holidays with the people that matter to you, your family, loved ones, and friends.
Take good care of yourselves, and I'll see you all again next year.
