Dein Weg ist Mein Weg
Chapter XVIII
The Opponents
"...You should have just stayed at the bottom of that river with the rest of them. That would have been right."
Azusa didn't entirely understand why she was acting the way she was. She had never considered herself violent or prone to anger. She resolved conflicts with reason, kindness, and understanding. But at the sound of the white-haired girl insulting Maho like this, she became quite open to a different way of doing things. She was going to intervene.
"I said; You don't talk to our Commander like that," she growled through gritted teeth, with a determination she didn't know she had in her, as her hands balled into fists. "The Commander has done nothing wrong, and you're not going to go around and spread lies about her. She's twice the tanker you'll ever be!" She let whatever this newfound determination was course through every fibre of her being, her body tensing up with anger.
"Why, you little…" the older girl snapped back and stood up from her seat. The surprise at seeing the girl rise so unexpectedly, combined with the realization that she was a fair bit taller than herself, caused Azusa to take a step backwards.
"Azusa, I said stay out of this…" Maho said in a low voice from her seat beside where Azusa stood.
"No, Commander. I won't," Azusa replied, not shifting her glare from the other girl for a moment. She drew a quick breath and steeled herself anew, locking eyes with her foe. "If you want to insult my commander, you're going to have to go through me first." She felt an uncharacteristically cocky smirk appear on her face as she spoke. "I would say we'll settle this in the finals, but someone like you probably wouldn't last that long."
The girl's face turned from one of petty amusement, to one of rage and fury in the blink of an eye. Not that Azusa blinked to miss it. "You insolent rat!" she snapped back. "I'll teach you not to meddle in things that don't concern you!" The girl raised a hand to slap Azusa across the face, but before she could do so, Maho had caught her arm. Azusa didn't flinch, but that was more from her not having time to react than anything else.
"I said, this is between you and me," Maho growled from her seat, not looking up from her coffee. "And if you hurt so much as a hair on her head, I'll make sure you don't live to tell the tale."
The girl wriggled free from Maho's grip, her attention momentarily shifting away from Azusa and retargeting on the Commander. "Oh, I'll show you hurt…" she growled back, but was interrupted mid-sentence.
"Erika! That's enough!"
The girl, whose name was apparently Erika, immediately and without question snapped to attention at the call. "Yes, Commander Nishizumi!" she said robotically in response, which Azusa found strange. Maho hadn't said a word, and yet this girl who just a moment ago seemed to hate her with a burning passion called her Commander?
Looking over Erika's shoulder, Azusa saw a girl walking over towards the three of them. Presumably it was her who had called on Erika to stop. She had light brown hair under a black and red side cap, matching the red skirt and black jacket of her uniform. After a moments thought she recognized it as Kuromorimine's, the school Miss Akiyama had pointed out at the ceremony earlier. A set of double gold bars attached to the shoulders of her uniform seemed to match the black one's sown into Erika's grey jacket, leading Azusa to the conclusion that they were both presumably second-years, and the golden oak leaves fixed to her collar seemed to denote her as the team's commander. Azusa wouldn't have been surprised if the girl would have cut a striking and imposing figure in even the most dire war-zone. She most certainly did here.
But what took Azusa aback the most was the newcomer's staggering likeness to Maho. Calling them similar-looking was an understatement, as the likeness was truly uncanny. Only the color of their hair, their clothing, and their general expression set them apart. While Maho often had a dour, bitter, or even cold expression, there was always a hint of warmth behind it if you looked close enough. At least that's how Azusa saw it. But this girl was different.
Her expression was cold and stiff, almost robotic in it's mirthless efficiency. As if showing even a miniscule amount of emotion was a waste of time and energy. There was not even the slightest hint of a warm and gentle smile, nor a cold and bitter frown. And yet, despite the utter absence of emotion, her expression conveyed the complete disdain in which she seemed to regard her surroundings. As if the world and everything in it had been created solely for her enjoyment, and she was utterly unimpressed by whatever higher power had created it for her.
Returning her glare to Erika, Azusa could see what looked like fear in her eyes, but there was something else there as well. Something she couldn't pinpoint. But whatever it was, it only became more prominent the closer Maho's emotionless doppelganger came. The newcomer took place shortly behind Erika, and began speaking to her in a low voice, almost whispering right into her ear.
"You waste time with pitiful creatures such as these? I believed that I had trained you better. Perhaps you need to be reminded of your lessons?" She didn't speak with affection, nor did she speak with any apparent hatred. It was different than that. There was an air of dismissiveness to her voice and yet it simultaneously seemed possessive, as if she considered the girl a toy, or perhaps a somewhat unwanted pet.
"N-no… hah... Comma-hah-ander…" Erika shuddered as the girl spoke, seemingly spellbound by her words. Her eyes seemed to lose focus and her breathing grew heavy, almost panting, as she answered. At times she seemed to have difficulties speaking, her words interrupted by her heavy breaths. "B-but I… I just… I was going to… to… to show these… these upstarts… mhhh…" She, seemingly involuntarily and without her own knowledge, bit her lip. "Th-that they… they… hah… they don't belong here…"
"Oh, but my dear, sweet, Erika…" The girl wrapped her right arm around Erika's waist, putting her hand very close to the edge of Erika's skirt,, while grabbing her chin with the left, leaning forwards over her shoulder to lock eyes with her. "Have I not told you this before? Just like a tiger cares not for the opinions of mice, a true Nishizumi cares not for weaklings and failures." The girl gave a pointed glance towards Maho as she said the words; a true Nishizumi.
"Y-yes… Co-hah-commander…" Erika almost appeared to be in a trance, all anger and rage from before gone in an instant, and instead she had somehow turned into a helplessly lost puppy, shaking with excitement and bliss at the slightest attention. Azusa almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. First there was of course the fact that the two girls would act so intimately in public. But the fact that the other girl seemed to hold Erika completely within her grasp, like a snake might charm its prey before consuming it, was completely beyond belief to her.
"Miho…" Maho said and nodded to the newcomer. "I'm surprised you're treating Erika like this. She must be quite valuable to you as a Vice Commander for you to show her such… affection." She spoke in her usual dour tone, but there was a hint of mockery to the voice.
"Oh, she has proven herself to be quite useful. Not to mention loyal." The hint of mockery entered the other girl's voice as well, and was accompanied with a superior smirk. "Haven't you, my darling Erika?"
Erika swallowed, and stared longingly into the other girl's eyes. "Y-yes, Commander Nishizumi…"
Nishizumi… Why did Erika seem to insist on using that name? She clearly wasn't talking to Maho, so why the name? Was she so entranced by the other girl's presence that she was misspeaking? No, that wasn't it. She had said the name before as well. Azusa supposed it was possible that there were more than one family carrying the surname, but considering the two commanders' likeness, that didn't seem very probable. They clearly knew each other... But Maho had told Azusa her sister had died, so perhaps they were cousins?
"So," Maho continued, the mockery leaving her voice for a moment as she spoke, its place being taken by sad seriousness. "How was the funeral?"
"Nothing but a nuisance. An honor they didn't deserve." The girl let her gaze move from Erika back to Maho, looking down at her with clear disdain, and what seemed like a burning hatred, if only it hadn't been so cold and formal. "I have far better uses of my time than considering stubborn fools who won't fulfill their function. But I suppose you never learned that."
"You changed, Miho. And it's not for the better."
There was that name again. Miho. Azusa hadn't caught it the first time, thinking she must have misheard, but now she was certain she had heard correctly.
"I became stronger, as opposed to you. You were the one who cracked and broke." She let her eyes turn back to Erika. "Don't you agree, my sweet? You used to care for her so deeply when she was the Commander. All that affection going unanswered. Such pain she must have caused you when her fraud was revealed. But you know the truth, don't you, my little tiger cub? Strength is the only thing worthy of respect, isn't it? "
Erika, seemed to snap out of her trance somewhat at the suggestion, even if she nodded obediently and affectionately at the girl's every word. "Yes, Commander… She really is a pathetic weakling. Not like you, Miho. You're truly strong. Not some fraud like her…"
Miho… Miho… wasn't that what Maho's sister's name had been? Azusa's thoughts were racing, trying to put the pieces together. Just who was this girl, and what was her connection to Maho? She eliminated possibility after possibility until soon, only one remained. The same surname, the incredible likeness, and Maho's sister's name.
"What…" Azusa interrupted. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She stared daggers at the girl, whose identity she was now certain of.
Miho Nishizumi, which was clearly the girl's name, didn't seem to pay Azusa any mind, and spoke instead to Maho. "Oh, I see you can't even keep your subordinates in check. Is this your replacement for dear Akaboshi? I hope she'll keep you happy just like that weakling did. Such a shame that she was so easily corrupted by you. With some proper guidance and the right… training," Miho glanced at Erika with a smirk, "she might even have made a passable Vice-Commander. If you had allowed me to break her in, that is…"
"Azusa, don't…" Maho started, but it was too late.
"What kind of horrible person are you?!" Azusa said more forcefully before Maho had time to stop her, clenching her fists until the knuckles became white. "How the hell can you act like this towards your own sister?!"
For the first time since coming over to them, Miho seemed to acknowledge that anyone other than herself, Maho, or her toy Erika even existed. She let go of Erika, casting her to the side and took three quick, efficient strides over to Azusa. Within moments, Miho had grabbed her by the chin with one hand, and her wrist with the other. She lifted Azusa's chin to peer at her more closely, as if she was nothing but a strange curiosity. Even though she wanted nothing more than to stare a hole right through the girl's skull, Azusa averted her eyes against her will, and she could feel her cheeks grow warm. Almost as if she was embarrassed, even though she felt nothing close to it. Now that she was closer to the girl, she realized the aura that surrounded her, cold and overpowering. It felt like being trapped in the eye of a hurricane, for even though there was calm and quiet, Azusa could feel that a single misstep would bring deadly ruin down upon her.
"I see that the crumbled shards of a girl you call commander hasn't taught you the proper way of things." She looked down at Azusa with eyes that didn't betray even the slightest emotion, only acting as amber gateways to the void within. "Subordinates are supposed to be seen, not heard. When trained properly, they shouldn't even be seen. They should merely fulfill their function." She looked over her shoulder to where Erika was still recovering. "Isn't that right, Erika my dear?"
"Y-yes, Commander…" She nodded enthusiastically as she answered her Commander.
Miho looked back to Azusa. "Let me make something perfectly clear, little bunny." If her tone had been cold and inhospitable before, now it was downright deadly, almost as if a single syllable could slice Azusa's throat open. Still, it wasn't exactly malicious, nor was it dismissive or superior. That would have implied that she cared about what Azusa was saying, or that there was subjectivity to be found in her words.
But no, instead the girl's voice made it seem that even thinking about questioning her words was an act of insanity. Like claiming the sky was green and the oceans red. Her statements were merely facts to be observed. "I don't have a sister." She spoke slowly and pointedly, making sure that her every syllable was clearly understood. "Now, what was that you were saying?"
Azusa wanted to retort. She wanted to strike back against this demon in the shape of a girl. She wanted to answer with the most cutting insult she could think of, if only to prove that she too could make people bleed with her words. But for some reason, she couldn't. She could only feel cold and trapped, as if a hundred frozen hands held her in place and silenced both her words and her thoughts.
"What a shame," Miho said with a dismissive tone, and let her go. "For a moment I almost thought you might be worth even the slightest of my time. It seems I was wrong." She turned on the spot, and began walking away from them, stopping a few paces past Maho. "Humiliating the Nishizumi style has consequences. You might have escaped them once, but you won't be so lucky again." She glanced at Erika. "Erika, come. Because of your failure, I've had to waste time on these rejects. It's high time I gave you another lesson." Erika swallowed anxiously, giving Miho a quick confirmative nod.
"Y-yes, Commander…" Whatever these 'lessons' entailed, Azusa didn't want to know.
Miho smirked. "Oh, don't look so glum, my precious. If you behave yourself properly, I might let you have a reward." A look of excitement and anticipation appeared on Erika's face as she again stared longingly at Miho.
"R-really?! I-I mean... Y-yes, commander. I-I'll behave…I promise!"
"Good." Miho began walking away, clearly expecting her subordinate to follow. Instead, now seemingly free of whatever spell had entranced her, Erika's smug superiority returned as she glared at Azusa, as if Miho had never appeared to interrupt them in the first place.
"It's too bad you're going to be annihilated by Saunders in the first round. I almost looked forward to getting to crush a pathetic upstart like you myself. It's been too long since I got to have a real turkey-shoot on the field," Erika said to Azusa with a superior smirk as she prepared to leave. "Instead I'll have to make do with Chi-Ha-Tan."
"Oh I wouldn't worry," Azusa shot back, answering with a confident smirk of her own. "I'll make sure to set aside a 75mm shell with your name on it until then. If you can even make it to the finals, that is."
"You arrogant…" Erika began to snap back, but was quickly interrupted by Miho.
"Erika. We. are. leaving." The repeated command was short and cold. There was no room for arguing. Erika gave Azusa and Maho a final glare, and turned to follow Miho towards the exit. "Yes, Commander!"
Whatever warrior spirit it was that possessed her and compelled her to act the way she had, it left Azusa just as quickly as it appeared the moment Miho and Erika left the café. It was as if she had sapped her own strength to maintain her confidence and speak out in their presence, and now she was paying the price. Her knees felt weak and her legs wobbled slightly, before she sank down to the floor, catching herself with a hand against the stone tiling.
"Azusa?" Maho asked and got up to lend her a hand, kneeling down beside her. "Are you ok?"
"Y-yeah… I'm fine…" Azusa answered, even as she struggled to breathe. "I… I just need a second…" After a few seconds more, she accepted Maho's hand, and let the older girl help her to the seat opposite her own.
"Azusa…" Maho started, but it quickly seemed like she ran out of words.
"Don't… don't worry. I'll… I'll be fine…" Azusa answered, her breathing becoming more steady as her strength slowly returned to her.
"Yeah, but you might not have been," Maho shot back, with an almost accusatory tone. "Don't ever do something that stupid again."
"What are you talking about? Don't do what again?" Azusa tilted her head to the side slightly. Perhaps it was just because she was light-headed from what had just happened, but she really didn't understand what Maho was referring to.
"Don't ever stick up for me like that again," she clarified with a serious look in her eye. "You don't know those girls like I do. You don't know what they might have done, and besides, what people think of me is my problem, not yours. Am I being clear?"
Azusa looked at Maho for a moment, not certain whether she was joking or not, but ultimately answered. "No, Maho."
"Well, I don't know how I can be any clearer. Don't ever put yourself in harm's way for my sake like that again."
"No. I understood you the first time, and I'm saying no."
"Azusa…"
"If we're friends, you can't expect me to stand idly by while someone stands there and insults you. Who do they even think they are?" Maho didn't answer this, and only averted her eyes from Azusa's. "Maho, who were they?" she repeated, perhaps more insistent on an answer than she had any right to be, but she needed to know.
"I don't want to talk about it." Maho's interruption was swift and struck the conversation with the force and speed of a whip, but Azusa shot back.
"Too bad. I do." It would appear that some of that uncharacteristic bravery still remained in her.
Maho glanced over at Azusa and raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at the conviction with which she led the conversation. After a few seconds Maho sighed, and began answering, still gazing out the window. "Erika Itsumi and Miho Nishizumi. Two of my old teammates from when I still studied at Kuromorimine. I was their commander for several years, both in middle school and high school. And well… let's just say that we didn't exactly part on the best of terms."
"So," Azusa said, trying to formulate a question she already had the answer to, "that horrible demon of a girl… this Miho, she's… she's your sister?"
"Yeah… In a manner of speaking," Maho said wistfully, still looking out the window.
"And she's their commander, right?"
"And Erika's her Vice-Commander. She was a good tanker back when I was in command. They were both really good actually. I just didn't think they had the temperament to lead. Which is one of the many reasons I don't want you to make an enemy of them. Miho might not have noticed you were here if you hadn't forced her hand, but Erika would have destroyed you on the spot. Although, that was before. I haven't seen either of them in almost a year, and it seems a lot has changed. Seems Miho tapped into Erika's reverence for strength and the Nishizumi style. Considering how she seems to be wrapped around Miho's finger." Maho paused for a moment, staring at something unseen in the distance, before looking back at Azusa. "What were you even doing here?" she asked, changing the subject entirely, thus making it clear that she had no interest in answering any more of Azusa's questions.
"Oh…" Azusa said in a low voice. "I was… I was waiting to meet up with my friends," she lied, hoping Maho wouldn't notice. We were going to get some sweets before getting back to the Zuikaku. Why… uh… why were you here?" She didn't trust her ability to deceive for long, so shifting the subject back to Maho seemed her best bet.
"I had to be alone. I'm going to need all the peace and quiet I can get if I'm going to come up with a way to beat Saunders."
"Oh… right... Uhm… Maho?"
"Yeah?" Maho sighed. She was clearly not happy with her situation, but Azusa was curious, and she guessed that Maho was the only one who she could ask.
"Is… I mean... I know we lost against St. Gloriana, but, uh… Are Saunders going to be a problem for us?"
"Well, to be honest with you, it didn't really matter what number I drew. We were going to be fighting an uphill battle no matter what. Freshly started teams with only five tanks don't exactly fare well in tournaments, not to mention the National championship. But yes, Saunders is a big problem."
"Why… why is that?"
"Ever heard of 'Quality over Quantity'?" Maho asked.
"I have," Azusa nodded back, even if she wasn't quite sure where Maho was going with this.
"Yeah, Saunders doesn't exactly believe in that. They're the richest school in the country, and if there's one thing they love above all else, it's showing off that fact. Supposedly there's a saying that 'What doesn't exist at Saunders can't be bought for money'. They own over a hundred Sherman medium tanks in god-knows how many variants, as well as a bunch of other tanks as well, and they have three fully-equipped teams."
"So it's not going to be like when we faced St. Gloriana..."
"Bingo," Maho sighed. "At least the first round's limited to ten tanks per side. But still… we're pretty badly outnumbered and outgunned."
"So we're really facing the worst-case scenario, aren't we?"
"Not anywhere near, we could have faced…" Maho said, but stopped herself. "No, nevermind."
"What? We could have faced who?"
Maho sighed again, and looked out the window. "Forget I said anything."
"Maho? Who would have been worse? Didn't you just say we were in hot water no matter who we faced, so what could be worse than facing Sau…"
"We could have faced Kuromorimine, OK?!" Maho snapped at her. "We could have faced Miho and Erika, and then we wouldn't just have lost, we would have been utterly annihilated."
"Oh… I'm… I'm sorry…" Azusa looked away, feeling stupid for not having seen the answer coming, or being able to figure it out on her own. "I'll… I'll let you think and plan by yourself…" she got up from her seat and walked over to grab her bag.
"No, I'll go. You're waiting for your friends, aren't you?"
"Oh, uh, r-right…" Azusa stammered. Crud. She had been hoping to sneak away without Maho discovering her lie. "Actually, it seems they found another café a couple blocks away, so I'll go meet them there instead," she lied anew, gesturing to her phone and acting like she had just gotten a text message. Seeing Maho shrug and return her troubled gaze to the table before her, Azusa took her opportunity for escape and left the café, heading back towards the ferry terminal.
As the ferry to the Zuikaku left Tokyo harbor, Maho didn't do much. She simply sat and looked out the window. In the seats surrounding her, Saori, Hana, and Yukari were having a discussion about something, while Mako had stretched herself out across a whole row, falling asleep the moment she laid down. Maho didn't pay the discussion surrounding her much mind, blocking most of it out. She did catch the occasional sentence or exchange though. Saori blabbering about how cool and handsome Tokyo-boys were, Yukari talking about this autograph or that she had scored at the ceremony, or a new model kit she had bought in their free time, or Hana speaking about some sculpture she had seen or how inspiring this or that had been for her flower arrangement.
"Hey, Maporin!" Saori said after a while in a voice that made it obvious she was repeating herself.
"What?" Maho grumbled in response. "And don't call me Maporin. My name's Maho, and either you'll call me that, or you can stop talking to me all together."
"Are you doing OK, Maporin?" Saori continued, blissfully ignoring what Maho had just said. "You're really quiet."
"Did I really think that would work?" Maho muttered to herself, before answering. "So what if I am? It's not like I'm the chattiest person around under the best of circumstances."
"I guess not. Still, something's off about you."
"Did something perhaps happen during the ceremony?" Hana asked.
"Yeah, or did you run into an old ex?" Saori followed up, and despite her inquiry being as ridiculous as usual, Maho couldn't help but find irony in how close she was to the truth.
Saori gasped, looking like she had just cracked a decades old murder case. "Ohmygod! Did you suddenly switch bodies with some stranger in the countryside?"
There it is, Maho thought. Idiocy as usual. Saori's head seemed to have refilled with air, and everything was back to normal. She was about to answer, against her better judgement, but Yukari cut in with a solemn tone.
"It's Saunders, isn't it?" Suddenly the entire situation flipped on its head, as Yukari stared out through the window at the ocean beyond while the rest of the group looked at her in surprise. Her usual excitement and enthusiasm for tanks and Sensha-Do having vanished without trace. "You're thinking about how we're going to face Saunders. Aren't you?"
Maho sighed, but answered. "Yeah… Even if we had a full ten tank-arsenal we wouldn't exactly be going into an even game. We never faced them back when I was at Kuromorimine. Not that they would have been a challenge, but that also means I have no idea how they fight. They're sure to bring Shermans, but since I don't know which variants or how they're going to deploy, I can't do anything with that info."
"Wait, what do you mean 'variants'?" Saori asked, as if the idea was completely foreign to her. "If we know they're going to use Shermans, doesn't that just mean they're bringing ten identical tanks?"
This question, posing an opportunity to 'educate' about tanks, revived Yukari back to her old cheerful self, and she launched into her explanation with vigor. "Well, all tanks are different, and even tanks of the same model can be more or less different tanks. For example, 'Anky' may be a Panzer IV, but she's an Ausf.D, with a 75mm KwK 37 L/24 gun, as opposed to if she was an Ausf.H with the more powerful KwK 40 L/48. The Ausf.H also has a number of improvements to its armor, bringing in armor skirts and…"
With Hana and Saori preoccupied by trying to follow Yukari's frantic explanation, Maho took the opportunity to withdraw from the conversation and back into herself, staring out the window and trying to figure out if there was perhaps some miracle she could pin her hopes on.
A few rows down, Azusa was sitting much like Maho, looking out the window at the sea passing by, and not paying much attention to her friends as they talked.
"Hey, Azusa?" Aya asked and poked her in the side. "You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need some fresh air."
"Want me to come with you?"
"No, it's okay. You stay here, I won't be long." She got up from her seat and made her way to the deck. Leaning against the railing at the aft of the ferry, she watched as the wake from the ferry was eaten by the waves, melting back into the sea once again. They had only been in Tokyo for a few hours, and yet it felt like her entire world had turned upside down.
"What sort of horrible person are you…" she said in a low voice to herself. "Was that really the best I could come up with?" She felt pathetic. When Erika began insulting Maho, she had felt so angry. She had understood the pain and fury Maho must have felt when she punched Kawashima. Azusa was pretty sure she would have punched Erika if they hadn't been interrupted. But then Miho showed up. Miho showed up, and suddenly Azusa had seemed like nothing more than the insignificant rabbit the older girl treated her as. She had faced a devil, who could seemingly end her with a word, and only been able to strike back with a toy gun. She sighed, and kept staring out across the sea.
After a few minutes, someone appeared beside her. "So…" the student council president said with her usual gleeful tone, leaning back against the railing. "How's it going with our little secret? Any progress?"
Azusa pondered the question for a moment, and sighed. "Yeah… I guess…"
"Anything I ought to know?"
"How much time do you have?" is what she wanted to answer, but she didn't. For now she would keep her and Maho's meeting with Kuromorimine's commanders to herself. If nothing else so she could work through what she had learned. Instead she said "No. She seems to trust me though," in a dour tone not unlike the one Maho usually spoke in.
"Great work, Azusa!" the President exclaimed, and patted her on the back. "I knew I could rely on you! Here, have some!" She reached out the opened bag of dried sweet potatoes towards Azusa.
"Yeah… thanks…" Azusa answered as she reached into the bag and picked up a chip. She took a bite, mostly to be polite, and was instantly reminded that she hated the taste of sweet potatoes.
"Now that you've managed to get close to her, it's high time we move on to the second step of the plan."
Next week on Dein Weg ist Mein Weg: Preparations are made for Ooarai's first match of the Championship
Author's Notes:
And so, we return to the present. Writing this chapter mainly from Azusa's point of view gave me a really nice chance to provide another lens for the story, and also to explore the not necessarily interplay between her, Maho, Miho, and Erika, but it definitely allowed me to bring out some contrasts in their characters. It also proved an excellent opportunity to bring up Anzu's little scheme again, whatever it is. Still, I really did not expect this chapter to become as long as it did. For the longest time I thought I was going to end up at maybe half the length of this, but sometimes the spirit of writing just grips you.
If all goes as I think it will, next week will be a bit of a slower and quieter chapter, with the leadup to the Saunders-match, which ought to start just before the new year.
I guess this is just one of those weeks where I don't have a great deal to say, but I look forward to hearing your opinions on who Miho has become in this universe. She is not the same cheerful girl she is in the canon-timeline, that much is certain.
With that, I'll only say that reviews are extremely welcome, and I'll see you all next week. Aloha!
/Rihno