Mikasa's heart seemed to flutter every time Nishiya spoke to her. A lot of their classmates shipped the two, and constantly tried to get the two together.

Not that Mikasa and Nishiya didn't like it.

Most of the time, the two saw each other in WoWS, and Mikasa even got some of her friends into the game. The two usually sat together during lunch and often tried to out-quiz the other in their favorite subject: History. Sometimes, Mikasa won, usually with her more detailed questions. Sometimes Nishiya won, though his questions were rather vague they had a broader range of events.

At least those that ship the pair could recognize that writing a fanfiction about the two was going a little too far (This one doesn't count). One day, the two walked back from school when some of Nishiya's friends ran up to them.

"Hey look!" Noriyuki said. "It's Arimoto and his girlfriend!"

Nishiya used silence! Noriyuki became confused!

"Wait... you're not going to deny it?"

"No," replied Nishiya, with a sarcastic face. "She's a girl and she's a friend." Noriyuki facepalmed himself.

"That was not what I meant..."

The group arrived at the bus stop. Noriyuki then turned to Mikasa.

"Ever been to Arimoto's house yet?" he asked. Nishiya blinked in surprise.

"What the hell are you..." Noriyuki put a hand up, silencing Nishiya.

"Well?"

Mikasa shook her head. Noriyuki smiled.

"You don't have a curfew, do you?" Mikasa shook her head again. Noriyuki fist-pumped in triumph.

"Then come with us! Were going to this guy's house!" he exclaimed while pointing at Nishiya.

"Hey!" Nishiya said. "I didn't agree to this yet!" Noriyuki pointed at Mikasa.

"I think you're gonna have to," he said mischievously. Nishiya took a glance at Mikasa, who blushed lightly, and sighed.

"...Fine..."

Everyone immediately logged onto the nearest computer.

"What are we playing?" Mikasa asked. "WoWS?" Noriyuki shook his head.

"The next best thing," he replied. "Because not all of us have access to WoWS." The login screen of World of Tanks appeared on his screen.

"Team battles?" Nishiya asked. Noriyuki nodded.

"Team battles."

Nishiya and his group, excluding Mikasa, used to live in Pennsylvania. They went to school there for some time, and most of the time they met to play WoT.

A proof of that was displayed on a nearby shelf.

A third prize for the Wargaming League North America Silver League. They were the only team that was organized as an extracurricular activity by their school. They were rather well known as Emmaus High School's E-Maus Tankery Team.

When they arrived in team battles, they found that most of the opponents were easy to steamroll. Enemy teams tended to be made up of members randomly put together, thus proved to be rather disorganized during battles.

Mikasa watched these battles and was rather impressed with some of their tactics. They usually entered combat with a team of four T-54 Lightweights and three AMX-13-90s, five T-54 Lightweights and two LTTBs, or the occasional five TOG IIs and two T-54 Lightweights. When the TOGs appeared, they would employ tactics that were rare in tank combat, such as advancing line abreast. The TOGs would absorb damage from enemy tanks while the T-54 Lightweights would go in for the kill.

There were a few times that Mikasa herself had a go with the tanks, obviously in random battles. She proved to be rather good at higher tiers, while failing hilariously at low tiers.

Soon, the other members of the E-Maus team left for their homes, afraid that their parents would kill them for being late. So it was just Nishiya and Mikasa left. Mikasa got up to leave.

"Well," she yawned, "see you tomorrow." Nishiya got up as well.

"I'll come with you," he said. "Not exactly the best of ideas for a girl to be walking around by themselves at night." Mikasa smiled.

"Thanks."

"Are you really okay with this?" Mikasa asked. The two were walking down the street to where the naval base was.

"Yeah," said Nishiya. "My parents won't care."

"Speaking of your parents," she said. "Where are they? I didn't meet them when I was at your..." Mikasa trailed off when she saw the sad look in Nishiya's eyes as he stared off into the distance.

"... Sorry," Mikasa said a few seconds later. "If you don't want to talk about it..."

"No," said Nishiya. "It's fine."

Nishiya started talking. His mother died when he was born. Five years later, his father's merchant vessel was fired upon and sunk by accident by the Chinese navy, who mistook the ship for a Japanese warship. Nishiya missed them. He really did. But one thing let him pull through all the sorrow and death.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Nishiya looked over at Mikasa and finally saw her expression. She was covering her mouth as tears were streaming from her eyes.

"Hey, are you..."

"I'M FINE!" Mikasa snapped. She then bolted off towards the naval base, leaving a shocked and confused Nishiya behind.

"...Did I say something wrong?"

Mikasa barged into her room. She dropped her stuff on the floor and broke down onto the bed, sobbing silently. He reminded her of the other boy. Too much. The painful memories were flowing back. The suicidal thoughts were coming back. The two were so similar.

Mikasa never believed that reincarnation was a thing, but at that moment, she couldn't help but wish that it was real.

Author's notes: That moment when your behavioral grade is worth more than your finals exam...

I got a 10% on the writing portion of my Spanish final and my quarter grade is a 92%.

... dafuq?

Also, for those of you that came to this story expecting action: This is my first attempt at something not centered around action so, you have been warned. There may or may not be some death and destruction, though.

Also: who's good at drawing? If you are, I would like to ask you guys to draw some concept art of what Mikasa and Aurora would look like. I need a good cover for this story.

Note: This is a joint production with Russia.

Russia: Become one with...

Belarus: BROTHER!

Russia: GO AWAY! *runs*

Karl: Danke Aurora.

Aurora: Pozhaluysta. (you're welcome (google translate))