They received the recording of the Oarai-St Gloriana match and Anzu insisted they all watch it together in the Sensha-do hanger. It was a good choice as the smell of oil and metal added to the experience given by the screen and projector. Yukari tried to hide behind her collar at the awed murmuring following her opening shot striking the Matilda, repeated from several different angles and in slow motion. No one cared that her two subsequent shots missed.
The murmuring that followed them springing their ambush on their own tank came with blushes and embarrassment that dwarfed Yukari's and Erika noted that Momo set her jaw and stared pointedly ahead while Yuzu looked embarrassed. The president meanwhile idly munched on one of her dried sweet potato chips and Erika wondered how the girl wasn't a beach ball with the number she put away.
When it reached the St Gloriana assault on their position, she thought the editor had done a great job of emphasising the intensity of their fire with particular focus on the misses that sent rocky shrapnel flying against their tanks. The squirming First Years didn't want to relive the experience and seemed to be collectively praying for the gods to spirit them away as they were shown fleeing their pink tank and running into the woods in a sequence that didn't end until they were revealed to have hidden themselves up a tree for the rest of the match. Yuuki looked as if she was going to cry. Karina was.
Every lesson she had ever learned at Kuromorimine told her to ignore this display of weakness while every itch and throb of her cheek she had felt since the accident made her reach out and place her hand on the girl's shoulder, making her start. Karina didn't look around to see who it was though, she just leaned on the fingers squeezing her clavicle. Now it was Erika's turn to try and hide, tossing her hair across her face and trying to ignore Yukari, as well as Hana, Mako, Miho, Saori and the particularly smug expressions of the history girls.
She watched the 38(t) throw a track and reverse into a hole, leaving it for all appearances immobilised and therefore overlooked by the St Gloriana force who pursued the others. When her tank took to the trees, the aerial drones were unable to follow and so the footage followed the other three tanks being pursued into Oarai with the four Matildas and Churchill nipping at their heels. She saw how they had dispersed, leading St Gloriana to likewise split up and the neat ambush laid by the StuG. It was a textbook execution.
The same couldn't be said for the Type 89. Their use of a parking lot was certainly unconventional and definitely creative. Unfortunately, they were doomed from the start as they simply didn't have the firepower to defeat a Matilda. Even at point-blank from the rear. Something they hadn't known.
Their own takedown of the Crusader seemed textbook too even if crashing across a golf course was unusual. The Crusader commander, Rosehip, had been correct. It was an impressive shot for someone just starting out and Yukari had every right to be proud of it because unlike her earlier fluke hit this one demonstrated clear instinctive talent. Meanwhile Momo had managed to miss at point blank and Erika had no idea how that was physically possible short of Momo being blind or the 38(t)'s barrel being curved in a cartoonish fashion.
Finally, she understood the events of the final confrontation. When Saori had radioed for them to draw the Churchill's fire, Miho had been trying to circle around and attack them from the rear; the one part of the behemoth that was vulnerable. Instead, Erika and Yukari had been pasted against a wall and the Churchill had been able to swing around to take Miho's attack in its thick flank, before wiping the Panzer IV out. The way Erika saw it, the only way they could possibly have defeated the Churchill would have been to disable its gun and its tracks and then to have kept firing into its soft spots until eventually it was registered as a kill.
It wasn't the overwhelming defeat she had predicted. She had believed they would be wiped out and instead, three teams had been given a chance to shine, and learn. The Volleyballs girls had shown their guts despite commanding a paper box armed with peashooter. The history girls had pulled off an ambush, and learned just why putting flags on your low-profile tank destroyer was a bad idea. Miho and her team meanwhile had taken down two Matildas and Miho had been able to assert herself as captain. It was a true learning experience which was exactly what she had hoped for.
With the show over, it was decided the remaining time would be spent on the range. A little shooting practice before sundown to wind up the day before going home.
"What?" She demanded of a smiling Miho.
"You know." Miho said smugly.
"Shut up."
"Softie."
"Shut up."
"Big softie."
Erika reached for Miho's neck and the threatening gesture only made the girl giggle. Either she was losing her touch or Miho really was that happy these days.
"Why do you worry about the First Years?" Miho asked seriously.
"Do you remember our First Year?"
Miho hummed her understanding. The pecking order of Kuromorimine was a firmly established pyramid with First Years at the murky bottom, rarely seeing any action in tournaments and relegated to training. Tank commanders were always Third Years and they didn't tolerate back-talk even from Second Years. Everyone had their place.
"This isn't Kuromorimine. We don't need to treat them like… Vermin. And besides, there's only twenty-two of us. If they quit, we lose a quarter of the team."
"Three of B Team are First Years." Miho pointed out, meaning Akebi, Shinobu and Taeko.
"I know. Frightening isn't it?" She shook her head. "Not exactly built for tanks are they?"
"They're stronger than us. They're the ones who don't complain their muscles ache after training."
"No, they go and play volleyball for a couple of hours instead." Erika shook her head again. "Amazing club we have."
"It's fun!" Miho beamed.
"True." Though having fun would not save their school. "I wanted to talk to you about that."
They went to Miho's room because they always did. Miho would not have been comfortable in her spartan chambers though Erika couldn't say she was exactly at home in a room full of maimed bears. She didn't however want to be the person who objected to a plushie with a plaster on its face because it reminded her of her own injury.
"There's got to be more tanks out there." She emphasised by slapping her fist into her palm. "If they could find them in a pond and in a cave in a cliff while we found mine in a hedge and the 38(t) in the woods, there has to be more. An M3 in a rabbit hutch?! There has to be more."
"No one's said anything about any more tanks."
"It's a big ship." Erika pointed out, though mercifully not as big as some. "Hana had her scavenger hunt theory and Anzu told me she believes the tanks we have are left over from the original club." She didn't say they were the dregs they couldn't sell. "I think Hana's right and they did disperse them for people to find. There's no other reason to have hidden them all over the place. They could have just left them in the hanger with the Panzer IV otherwise."
"You want to do another tank hunt?"
"I found my tank in a hedge." Erika said again. "Who knows what else we might find? We need to look at least. Before we actually enter the tournament. Would you want to go through the first round, lose, and find out we had some decent firepower hidden in a… In a… I don't know, some unused classroom or store room below decks. We've got to look. And keep looking."
"You're getting passionate about this." Miho said with just the slightest hint of reproach.
"I want the best for the team." Erika replied, knowing what Miho was hinting at. "I'm not trying to replicate Kuromorimine. But at the moment, we're lacking the firepower to take on heavy tanks without the StuG. And the numbers. If we don't get more vehicles, we'll be outnumbered almost two to one in the first round and the second. And if by a miracle we reach the third? We need to strengthen our line up."
"Very passionate."
"We're all good at something. I'm good at Sensha-do. I care about this."
"Do you think the others want to go scouring the ship again for tanks?"
"I think they enjoyed it last time. I know Yukari would love to go tank hunting."
"Who would crew these new tanks?" Miho asked. "You're already at half strength."
"We'll leave that to the Student Council to figure out. I'm sure the President can… Press-gang… Some new recruits."
"I think we should start with repainting the tanks we have."
"I think they'll want to do that themselves." Erika smiled thinly. "Yukari thinks you should repaint your tank too. Olive Grun."
"You like Akiyama-san."
Erika rolled her eyes. "I respect her. She knows tanks." She thought about it. "She loves tanks." She amended. "If she wasn't so bloody shy I'd have her give a lecture to each team about their tank."
"Is she going to keep coming to strategy meetings?"
"Anzu put us in charge of tactics so I'm choosing to bring in an advisor."
"You like her."
Erika glared at her "I liked you more when you didn't say anything." She declared, making Miho giggle.
[][][][][][]
The Second Great Oarai Tank Hunt was launched following a review by the Student Council. Yuzu was invaluable in this respect, having dug up the records of the former Sensha-do club. Erika couldn't say she was surprised the files had been left in a filing cabinet gathering dust for a couple of decades, it was likely the school had records going back to when it was first launched that no one had gotten around to digitising and disposing of. Yuzu, working with Hana, had determined that there were more tanks left at Oarai but they had no details. The only tank whose location was given in the files was the Panzer IV.
During the school day Erika and Yukari explored every last leaf of foliage on the school grounds to see if the T-50 hadn't been alone but it seemed that it had. They scoured all the roofs as well, checking out the vantage points to see what they could see with Yukari using her binoculars. They even secured a drone to do a fly-over of the town to check other roofs of public buildings.
For the Sensha-do lesson itself, the volleyball girls teamed up with Erika, Miho and Mako to search the school's clubhouses which to Erika's eye looked more like a shanty town. Some of the buildings had been repaired crudely with rough pieces of timber, others had windows held together with duct tape with some pre-emptively taped in expectation of them breaking. Some had no glass at all and plastic sheeting in its place. This was where students were encouraged to hang out. The sight of it all made Erika wonder if perhaps the ministry had a point about closing down these small, impoverished schools.
On the other hand, the interiors were warm and vibrant. Whether it was chess or manga, the girls had made the space their own; a celebration of their favourite hobby. They might not have enjoyed the wealth of Kuromorimine or Saunders but they knew how to be happy.
They picked through the buildings and Erika wondered how Yukari was doing with the history girls or Saori with the First Years. They had all chosen to scour the woods further though as they didn't have Hana with them acting as a bloodhound for the scent of iron amidst the greenery, she wasn't sure how successful they would be. A tank with the right paintjob with nearly twenty years' worth of growth around it would be nearly invisible.
The final clubhouse was unused unless mice counted. As Erika poked a mildewed cardboard box that contained some objects that were completely unidentifiable with mould growth, Mako opened the window to help with the smell and then asked an odd question. "Which club hung laundry out here?"
The bizarreness of the question asked in Mako's vaguely annoyed tone made the six girls crowd around her. Erika felt a combination of emotions, starting with annoyance of her own, weariness at another display of Oarai's eccentricity and then elation. Outside was the most unlikely clothes line imaginable; a 7.5cm KwK 40 L/43 gun.
"Is that?" Miho apparently did not believe her eyes.
"It is!" Erika put her arm around her neck and gave her a hug which made Miho squeak. "Yukari is going to love this."
"What is it?" Noriko asked.
"That! Is a big gun for a Panzer IV." Erika answered and the volleyball girls stared at her blankly. "That! Can penetrate 90mm of armour at two thousand metres. A 110mm at a thousand metres. That! Would have annihilated St Gloriana's Churchill." She wrapped her other arm around Noriko's neck. "That! Has just drastically increased our firepower."
"Eririn." Miho protested weakly. "I can't breathe."
"Oh! Sorry, captain." She was immediately contrite. Suffocating her commander was bad form.
"I've never seen you happy." Noriko extricated herself.
"This makes a big difference." She pushed the others out of the way and climbed through the window. The gun would transform the Panzer IV from being only able to take on light tanks at range and medium tanks close up, to being able to take on heavy tanks at range. It could face Shermans and T-34s. The StuG and Panzer IV would have equal firepower, once the gun was installed. It was quite beautiful.
[][][][][][]
The four volleyball girls were freakishly strong and could probably have managed the gun alone but the seven of them all contributed to return it to the hanger where a surprise was waiting for them.
Yukari and the history girls had found another tank. Erika recognised it but couldn't name it and the history girls let Yukari do the honours.
"A Renault B1 bis!" She squeed with her fists raised to her chest. "A French heavy tank with 60mm frontal armour, fifty five on the flanks, fifty at the rear and 56mm all around for the turret."
Which would have put it a similar league to St Gloriana's Matildas. "What about the guns?"
"47mm which can penetrate 47mm of armour at five hundred metres, isn't that nice and easy to remember?" She gushed and everyone was smiling at her enthusiasm.
"And the big one?" The casemate gun was short and stumpy.
"75mm. 50mm at five hundred metres."
"That's all?" It seemed rather pointless.
"The B1 was meant to be a self-propelled gun. They added the turret so it could battle other tanks." Which explained why the turret looked rather incongruous on the hull. The whole thing looked like an upgraded Great War tank. "But it means at five hundred metres you get two chances to make a kill." Yukari suddenly noticed her rapt audience and blushed furiously.
"Is this a good tank?" Akebi asked, having apparently not followed anything Yukari had said.
"Yukari." Erika prompted.
"It's a great tank!" Yukari declared and Erika knew she would have said this about any tank. "It's slow, but it can really take a beating. Light tanks will struggle if they can't get close, so will early medium tanks."
Which meant against Saunders Shermans, Pravda's T-34s and Kuromorimine's Panzer IV H's and Js, it would be a clumsy sitting duck. It was however a considerable step up from the Type 89, though she decided not to mention that to the volleyball girls, and the 38(t). It brought their line up total to seven and against other minor schools, they could be said to be on a par now.
Saori and the First Years had also made a discovery to improve one of their tanks. It wasn't game-changing like the 7.5cm gun for the Panzer IV but it was something.
"Shoe… Shoe…" Saori had apparently been reading up on her tank knowledge though she had no skill at German. "Schurzen!" She finally managed.
They had found a pile of junk out in the woods and at first assumed it was just fly-tipping until Saki had noticed a faded Oarai logo on one of the pieces of metal. Saori had recognised the armoured skirt from her reading and so they had brought it back.
"I think this is for a StuG." Miho inspected the metal. "Not a panzer."
"An improvement for two then." Erika mused, wishing they could switch out her T-50's engine for something reliable. "Where's the Automotive Club now?"
"Rallying." Someone said.
They were all pleased with the results of their search, with their improvements for their existing tanks and their big new tank. Their big new rusty tank that had been found in a pond just like the StuG though fortunately not at the bottom of it.
It was a good day.
[][][][][][]
After scouring all the clubhouses and carrying a Panzer IV gun, she was more than worn out. After a shower she struggled to remain standing through, she dropped off easily into a rested sleep.
At first she thought she was dreaming but then realised she was awake now. Her weary brain struggled with her exhaustion, with what she heard in her mind when she was alone in the dark and with what her ears were hearing.
She leapt up, tangled in her duvet and scrabbled at the chest of drawers for a few seconds before opening the top drawer, her hand closing around a key chain and then she lost the duvet in her dash to the door. They had given each other a spare key for emergencies.
Miho was calling for Koume. Over and over. Loud enough to have woken Erika through a solid wall but not herself.
"Miho!" She grabbed her and shook her. "MIHO!"
Miho yelped awake and yelped again at the sight of Erika and her maimed face. It cut into her but she knew it was because it seemed her nightmare had entered a sudden visceral reality.
"You were dreaming, Miho! Dreaming."
"Dreaming?"
Erika sat down. "Dreaming. Just dreaming." The words meant nothing to Miho who stared at her with teary eyes before turning away, her legs drawing up into the foetal position. "You were just dreaming, Miho. Just dreaming." Erika repeated, having the same dream herself. Over and over. "It's just a dream, Miho. Koume's fine. Koume's at home. Koume's doing Sensha-do just like us. She's fine." Whether she was as 'Fine' as they were, she didn't no. She couldn't imagine she had just brushed off the experience but she had never had the opportunity to find out. She couldn't just send an email asking how she felt after being stuck in a sunken tank, thinking it was the end as her lungs filled with water, before being mercifully rescued. "She's okay."
Miho said nothing.
[][][][][][]
It was a Saturday so they had nowhere to be. Nowhere to go. No need to get up. It meant she could lie staring at the ceiling until Miho finally worked past her awkwardness and embarrassment to say something.
"Why did you stay?"
Erika had been asking herself that question since she had woken up. At first it had seemed like the right thing to do, to keep her company until she was comfortably asleep but then it had become clear she was staying because she didn't want to go back to her own room and be alone with her own recollection of the events that had led to Miho screaming in her sleep. "I was lonely."
This was not the reassurance Miho wanted. "Erika…"
"You were screaming in your sleep, Miho. Because you have the same nightmare I have all the time. Except it's not a nightmare, it's something that actually happened to us." Miho made one of her anxious noises and Erika interpreted it as agreement. "Koume's fine. I'm fine. You're fine. Except we're not."
"Koume… I never got to speak to her."
"You left before she came back."
"Did you speak to her?"
"What would I have said?" Erika asked. "I'm glad you're alive, it wasn't your fault, that also wasn't your fault and this isn't your fault either?" She stared at a Boko with both arms in slings. "I wouldn't know where to start. Neither did she because she never tried to speak to me. But no one did. They didn't dare."
"Do you think we should talk to her?"
"What would you say?"
Miho hid most of her face beneath the covers. "I don't know."
"Neither do I." She looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe that's what we need to do. We can all just sit and not say anything to each other." She knew such a thing was Miho's idea of hell. "Or we can just hope we'll feel better in time."
"I don't feel better."
"You've looked better. Ever since you came to Oarai you've looked better." She laughed dryly. "Miho, you've said you've enjoyed being around tanks. That you wanted to win your next match. You couldn't even hear the word 'tank' without having a breakdown before." She turned to look at Miho's hair; the only part of her still visible. "You're doing better."
"I don't feel better." Miho repeated.
"You're just having a bad day… Or night…"
"What about you, Eririn?"
"I survive."
"Eririn-"
"Don't worry about me. You just take care of yourself."
"You said you were lonely." Miho's eyes emerged from the covers, large and round.
"I'm used to it." She said and Miho continued to gaze at her, boring into her. "I'm fine when I'm in my tank. With Yukari. She's good people, and she can talk for both of us." Miho continued to stare at her. "I'm fine."
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"Obviously." Erika sighed.
They both gazed up at the ceiling of Miho's room. There was no magic fix for them. No combination of words that would suddenly give them catharsis over what they had endured. What they were still enduring. It didn't work that way. It hung heavily over them that there was nothing they could actually do to 'fix' themselves except to keep going and to snatch what joy they could in between the nightmares and the intrusive thoughts.
"Eririn… You're in my bed."
"Don't get excited."
"I'm not excited!" Miho squeaked.
"That's not what I'm hearing."
"Erika!"
"I don't think you should be crying out my name. People might get the wrong idea."
Miho turned a brilliant red and vanished beneath the covers and Erika wondered if somewhere Maho was feeling a sudden inexplicable sense of regret for telling her to 'stay close' to Miho.
[][][][][][]
The Automotive Club, some of the cheeriest and friendliest people around and in Oarai that was saying something, had a gripe. Anzu's machinations meant they had taken a crash course in tank maintenance and then had to read up on each individual model, learning a ridiculous amount in a short little time. Having come to an understanding of a German Panzer IV and a Stug, a Japanese Type 89, a Soviet T-50, an American M3 and Czechoslovakian 38(t), they now had a French B1 bis to overhaul. They politely asked if it was possible for them to bring in tanks similar to those they already possessed or even better, identical. It was going to take time to fix up the new tank.
The logistics of Oarai's tank fleet must have been a nightmare, Erika knew. Fielding tanks of different models made maintenance difficult, let alone different nations. Then there was the different ammunition they required; only the StuG and Panzer IV used the same shells. Her T-50 had a 45mm gun, the Type 89 a 57mm and the 38(t) had a 37mm which wasn't compatible with the M3's 37mm. She had to give the Student Council their due; providing everything needed to operate each of the individual tanks was nothing short of amazing.
On that note, the internal communication equipment had finally arrived meaning they no longer had to shout at one another or kick to communicate. It drastically improved training and gave them, not just herself, a sense of professionalism. That same sense led to the others finally overhauling their vehicles. The red and gold paint and the flags mercifully vanished from the StuG and the skirts for the tracks went on, giving the tank destroyer a bulkier, even more intimidating appearance.
However in the way that only Oarai could, they decided they didn't care for the letter designations for their teams. They decided instead to adopt an animal motif and Erika was amused that Hana, Miho, Mako and Saori decided to own their shameful forfeit by adopting the Anglerfish for their team. She had no idea what animal represented her tank; a Russian bear certainly wasn't an option. The choice was made for her.
Someone daubed an emblem onto the turret and hull of the T-50. A wolf sitting back and howling. It had a fluffy brown coat, and a blonde head with blue eyes. Erika took a few moments to take it in and then fixed Yukari with her best death stare. She didn't flinch, instead she inclined her head to the right, and flicked with her eyes. At the First Years.
They had repainted their tank back in its proper green colour and the only remnant of its florid pink days was an emblem of their own; a pink rabbit holding daggers. They were watching her but trying, and failing, to make it look like they weren't watching her. Or giggling.
"You know wolves eat bunnies!" She called, and then ran at them. They promptly screamed, scattered and fled. Except one. She turned and looked vaguely surprised to see Erika before raising her hand and waving gently at her.
"…Hey, Saki."
The history girls chose a Hippo for their emblem with the painting cheekily mooning onlookers; complete with winking anus. The Student Council went with a Turtle which she found amusing considering how thin-skinned a 38(t) was though she supposed that a turtle was fast and agile in the water, just as a 38(t) was on land. The Volleyball girls meanwhile had adopted a Duck for themselves. A white duck with its wings spread with a head and bill that resembled their Type 89's general shape. She thought that they would have chosen a more aggressive animal considering their physicality but it certainly suited their tank. Anglerfish, Duck, Hippo, Rabbit, Turtle and Wolf. She couldn't think of a stranger collection of animals.
The restored and newly baptised Oarai tanks rolled out of their courtyard and proceeded to their training ground in a smooth column. Captain Chōno had been called back to work so they had been left to their own devices for the time being. It was yet another challenge for their rag-tag team. They had a makeshift tank fleet, ramshackle crews for them and now they were relying on their training from two Second Year girls formerly of another school and a third who was a tank otaku. It was crazy.
It was a straightforward practice session. First they performed a series of manoeuvres in formation to test their coordination and with the new headsets communication was much smoother. No more Momo with her loudhailer. After the manoeuvres came practicing firing on the move and simultaneously. As no single tank was likely to make a hit by itself, firing together and saturating the target increased the odds of landing a blow. Erika and Miho both knew this; it was a standard tactic of Kuromorimine. Ten, fifteen or twenty tanks concentrating their fire on a single target, firing together to produce a single clap of thunder before the different velocities of their shells meant their enemy's ordeal would last several nerve-shattering seconds.
They finished with static gunnery practice which allowed Erika to switch off the engine and load for Yukari. It had caught fire during their first practice, threatened to catch fire during the match against St Gloriana and in the practices since, either overheated or had some component break down and require replacement. Yukari said the engine was unreliable but not to this extent and Erika suspected that twenty years sitting in a hedge had done it no favours and the best thing to do would be to replace it. They couldn't give it a better engine, the rules of Sensha-do were clear on that. Tanks had to use the engines they had been designed with regardless of their flaws like being underpowered for their job, though there was more flexibility with motors. Replacing the T-50's old unreliable engine with a new unreliable engine might have improved their odds though.
"It just needs some minor adjustments." Nakajima insisted when they were brought back ignominiously by their truck once more.
"Minor adjustments." She took the girl's oversized wrench. "I'll give it some minor adjustments."
It took all four members of the Automotive Club plus Yukari to restrain her and prevent her giving the Soviet engine the thrashing she knew it deserved. It said volumes about its problem child nature that none of the other teams batted an eyelid at the sight of Erika being dragged to the ground and held there until she calmed down. It was just a regular part of a practice session now.
"How about this?" Nakajima had a knee pressing down on Erika's right arm. "How about I join you when you're out there so I can listen and figure out what's happening when it's running?"
"You can do that?"
"Sure! If you have a good ear, you can tell what's wrong with an engine just by listening."
Erika took a moment to think about it, lying in the dirt of the Sensha-do hanger with Yukari sitting on her back and her arms and legs pinioned by four girls in jumpsuits. Nakajima could diagnose their mechanical issues and she could be put to work. "You want to drive?"
"In the fastest tank we have? You bet!"
"Great. Miho!" She called.
The rest of the club paid no attention to their little drama but Miho predictably found it awkward to see her pinned to the ground like a murder suspect. "Were you trying to be violent again, Erika-san?"
"Don't worry about that. Nakajima had the idea of supervising our engine so I'm going to make her our driver and I was thinking, the others could fill the slots on the other tanks too. If they're going to be fixing them all the time, it'd work out if they're on board and getting a feel for them so they figure out what's going wrong. And we get some extra crew."
"Would you all be okay with that?" Miho addressed the Automotive Club who all made noises of assent while still restraining Erika. "But who goes where?"
"The Bunnies need another loader, so do the Student Council and you. Saori wouldn't have to load then and you'd have a full crew."
"Hey! How come she gets to drive and we're all stuck as loaders?" Tsuchiya asked with a laugh.
"Because it was my idea." Nakajima replied and released Erika's arm. They all let her go and she had to lie there for a moment as the blood shot back into her limbs before they picked her up. "And maybe later we can have our own tank?"
"One's available." Erika pointed at the still stricken B1 bis.
"It's not our style."
"How do you know? You've never operated a tank before."
"Trust us." Hoshino patted her on the back. "We'll know our tank when we see it."
[][][][][][]
The Automotive Club integrated swiftly into their positions. The three loaders had no trouble learning their trade and their strength from working with vehicles gave them an edge. This was particularly true in the M3 where Tsuchiya was loading the 75mm. She had been placed there because she was a Second Year and therefore less likely to make Asuza feel like her authority was being undermined though Erika and Miho both agreed that giving them 'adult' supervision was a good thing for their still unsteady nerves. Suzuki had joined Miho while Hoshino had drawn the short straw, lost the coin toss and the arm wrestling to decide who would join the Student Council. She had however been cheerful when Erika asked her to spy on the Council for her, and ostensibly for Miho. Miho wouldn't have approved of such a thing so Erika hadn't told her but she wanted to assess their skill and readiness and Hoshino could tell her.
After driving for as long as she had at Kuromorimine and here at Oarai, taking the command position felt strange. She slipped into loading for Yukari like a comfy pair of shoes but commanding once more and not as fodder for the Third Years; she hadn't done that since junior high. It felt strange but it felt good.
Nakajima took to driving a tank like a toddler to mud and with as much glee. Erika considered herself a daring driver but she was a 'fraidy cat compared to the gearhead. The T-50 was a nimble machine and Nakajima really put it through the wringer as she got the measure of the engine. The engine which caught fire again after she put them at full speed and threw them all around the training field. They were prepared for this fire though. She ultimately concluded, just as Erika had, that it needed replacing.
She took the request to the Student Council. To Anzu in her throne room.
"You want funds for a whole new engine for your tank?" Momo was as suspicious as she was pedantic. Or maybe it was the monocle that made her seem that way. "Why can't you just repair it?"
"Nakajima tells me that if we keep repairing it, we'll end up replacing every single part of it in the end. And that'll be more expensive than a new engine."
"We haven't had this issue with any of the other tanks."
"None of them have this issue. They're all reliable machines. Mine is a failed experiment that led to better tanks. It didn't work properly for the old Sensha-do club and twenty years in a hedge did it no favours. We need a new engine."
"Get her the engine, Kawashima." Anzu was lying back in her chair, like she was sunbathing on the beach.
"Engines are expensive." Momo was not convinced.
"Can you put a price on saving your school?" Erika asked darkly, earning yet another death glare from Momo while Yuzu was upset she would play that card.
"It's still going to cost a fortune."
"Find the money. You're already getting free labour from those wrench wenches, and they've joined the team so we're almost fully crewed now."
"They should have taken the new tank."
"It's not ready yet." Erika replied and smiled in a way she knew would infuriate Momo. "And it's not their style."
"Style?" Her eye, enlarged by the monocle, seemed to bulge further.
"Find someone else to crew the B1. I don't know if we'll find more tanks before the first round but even if we do, we won't have enough people to crew them so the seven we have will have to do. And the B1 is hard meat, especially compared to the Type 89 and your 38. We need it."
"How is our line up?" Anzu asked, even though she seemed to be asleep.
"Depends. Against a minor school they'll hold up. Against a major school… We're going to have to be very unconventional to make these tanks work together."
"You have such a bleak outlook, Itsumi." The president giggled to herself.
"You're the lunatic who wants a bunch of girls with no experience and old tanks left to rust for decades to win the championship. I mean, for FUCK'S SAKE!" Erika's patience snapped. "Do you even know what you're asking?!"
Anzu didn't even open her eyes. "How is Nishizumi?"
"Good days and bad days."
"I heard she was screaming in her sleep."
"How do you know that?"
"We have our sources." Momo answered imperiously and Erika made a note to scrutinise all the neighbours. Someone couldn't mind their own business. "They said they saw you go into her apartment in the middle of the night and not leave until morning."
Erika didn't have hackles but she felt that the hair on the back of her head stood up warningly at the insinuation. "I kept her company."
"Are you keeping her well though?"
"She almost drowned saving another girl from drowning. You don't just get over that."
"Clearly." Anzu replied, meaning her and not Miho. "I know we're asking a lot of you both, but either of you having a nervous breakdown would be terrible for morale."
"We'll try to be considerate then." Erika growled with dripping sarcasm. "And have our episodes quietly at home."
"Good good!" Anzu chirped and now she opened her eyes to grin at her.
"Just get me my engine. Maybe cut back on the snacks to pay for it." It was a low blow but in her present mood, she could have struck lower.
[][][][][][]
The club all worked together to prepare the B1 bis and to overhaul the Panzer IV. Restoring the B1 was little different to the work they had done before with the other tanks, except for the B1 being bigger and heavier. The Panzer IV meanwhile was being upgraded from an Ausf.D to an F2 which meant installing the new gun and changing the armour. This wasn't difficult because Sensha-do tanks were built to be easily modified so that they could comply with contest restrictions without teams having to own every model of a tank. In this way, a Panzer IV D could become a more heavily armoured F2 or J and then be returned to its D configuration. The same could be done to Shermans and T-34s. To any tank designed for the sport.
The end result was the Panzer IV looking formidable with its new thicker armour and long barrelled gun. Like a proper tank. For the moment it retained its grey colour though Miho's team were all enthused about the prospect of painting it green.
And with the B1 bis restored, the Student Council found more people to crew it; the overzealous hall monitor Sodoko and what seemed to Erika's eyes to be her identical sisters. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust and realise that they weren't related but from their uniforms being literal and with their matching kappa cuts they were pretty well camouflaged together.
True to her role in nature as a chaos gremlin, after introducing them and making a point of calling the hall monitor by her hated nickname, Anzu told Mako to begin instructing them on how to operate their new vehicle and it was readily apparent she made the choice knowing of the turbulent relationship between Mako and Sodoko. Erika could see her sly smile as the two of them immediately began bickering and wondered why she did it. Did she think the two of them arguing was just harmless fun and it amused her to watch? Or did she think they actually loathed one another and it amused her to watch that? Maybe she was forcing them to work together in order to make them get along for the sake of the club, and the mission. Yuzu had said Anzu wouldn't let herself believe that it was possible to actually achieve their aim, so it was hard to say if she was actually helping them or sabotaging them. Or even if she knew which herself.
Three crew for the B1 bis. A driver, a gunner and a commander who was also doubling as another gunner. It was not optimal. But no one wanted to take the Automotive Club away from their new positions, least of all the Automotive Club. For the moment, Sodoko and the rest of the Public Morals Committee were on their own.
Sodoko wasn't invited to the first strategy meeting following the restoration of the B1 bis because the meeting was ostensibly about her, although they politely began by discussing the Panzer IV.
"Everything's complete. Isuzu-san is going to take a few sessions to adjust to the new gun." Miho shrugged and everyone knew that Hana would adapt quickly.
"It brings up our capabilities significantly." Erika added. "With the StuG and the Panzer IV we can take on heavy tanks. Together they could take out Darjeeling's Churchill easily." As they had all seen that green behemoth in action, it was the best example to give. "We don't know who we'll be up against in the first round but we probably won't face multiple heavy tanks, if any."
"Who would we like to face?" Caesar inquired.
"Chi-ha-tan." Erika had the answer. "They only have one tactic; charge. We could just choose a defensive position and let them break themselves on us."
Miho was nodding. "Chi-ha-tan are predictable. We could easily take them on."
"And if we don't face Chi-ha-tan?" Anzu asked with her apparent disinterest.
"Blue Division?" Erika offered. "Or the Koalas. They would be a good match up for our line up, even while we're still outnumbered."
"Does the B1 make a difference?" Noriko spoke up now.
"They're still learning the basics of how to drive and shoot. Maybe they'll pick up enough skills by the first round to hold their own but mostly, they're just adding weight."
"Do you agree, Nishizumi?" Momo asked.
"We still have time to train but…" Miho hesitated. "They won't have the experience of facing St Glorianna to draw from. If we have more practice matches amongst ourselves, it won't compare to facing another school."
"But the B1 bis is a powerful tank." Momo protested.
"A tank is only as good as its crew." Yukari spoke up now. "And their crew is inexperienced and shorthanded. If we found a Panther tomorrow, we wouldn't be as effective as we are in our T-50."
"Fewer fires." Erika remarked, thinking how odd a Panther would look alongside their motley collection of vehicles.
"How is your expensive new engine?" Momo's tone was icy.
"Nakajima is teaching us its song." Erika used the gearhead's words deliberately to annoy Momo. The words made sense though. They were learning to listen to the engine and for the warnings it gave. Nakajima had sharp ears and a natural instinct for when she could push it hard and when she had to back off and she was trying to pass those talents on.
"Is all this going to win us the first round?" Anzu asked sharply and her tone made all their ears prick. Erika knew she was heading off another quarrel between herself and Momo but to the others, she was suddenly being authoritative. Reminding them who she was.
"It depends who we face." Miho replied, bringing the conversation full circle. "And we don't know yet."
"We could win against St Gloriana now." Azusa suggested.
"Perhaps." Erika allowed, imagining the Churchill, the four Matildas and five Crusaders spearheaded by the cheery pink haired girl bearing down upon them. With the Panzer IV up-gunned it would be less of an uneven contest but they had far more experience. "We'd all have fun." Unlike if they went up against Kuromorimine. She had to fight not to imagine one of their Panzerkeils ploughing straight through them and rolling over the molten scrap their guns had reduced the Oarai tanks into.
"Fun's good. Winning is better." Anzu replied and her words were obviously carefully chosen to appeal to all of them while carrying another meaning. The others heard that it was better to win while Erika knew she was being told to win. "The date for the drawing is set and then we'll see who gets the honour of being defeated by Oarai for the first time in twenty years!"
The others cheered with Miho hesitantly joining in while Erika silently raised her fist and stared at the floor. If anyone noticed her, she looked like a brooding commander contemplating the battle to come. In truth, she was just tired. Tired from overhauling the tanks. Tired of knowing the stakes and the odds of success. Tired of life vomiting up hurdles in her path and that even if she stumbled over them, she was left with bruises that made the next obstacle even more difficult to overcome. She was so very tired.
[][][][][][]
Every school sent a deputation to Tokyo for the drawing. Oarai chose to send nine students; the Student Council, the Anglerfish team members of Miho, Hana, Mako and Saori, herself and at her insistence, Yukari. Suzuki had declined to come and made up a very transparent excuse about essential maintenance to the Panzer IV to excuse herself when Erika knew for fact she and the other Automotive girls were planning an endurance race. Mako hadn't wanted to come either but Saori had insisted, using her powers to force her along although now she was peacefully napping on Saori's shoulder. Yukari who adored all things Sensha-do needed to be there otherwise she might well have imploded from disappointment. Erika had spent the journey musing which would be more destructive; Yukari exploding with excitement or imploding from disappointment. Either way, she didn't want to risk it.
The nine of them were vastly outnumbered by the other schools. Even Anzio High had sent nearly their entire club to this place and they were famously impoverished, although they had set up a few food stalls outside and looked like they would actually turn a profit from the trip. The Pravda contingent meanwhile looked more like an invasion force and she had made a point of ignoring them, not that they had paid any attention to Oarai. They had been too busy exchanging death stares with the Kuromorimine delegation. Another group she had avoided looking at. So many directions she was avoiding looking at that she had chosen instead to gaze at the Blue Division detachment and to wonder inanely if the school had a minimum cup size requirement for new students to suit the plunging neckline of their uniform.
They watched the other schools draw. They watched Anzio and Maginot Girls' College exchange polite nods and friendly grins as they were matched to one another. They watched as St Gloriana nonchalantly sipped from their tea cups as the girls of BC Freedom turned on one another for the bad luck of being drawn against Gloriana. For a few minutes as security subdued them, Erika stared at the thirteenth slot which Maho had drawn and didn't know whether it would be good or bad fortune for Oarai to pick fourteen and face them in the first round. At least in that first contest, it would only be seven against ten.
Instead she watched Viking Fisheries pick Koala Forest as their adversaries for the first round and knew the former would be praying for a snow swept battlefield while the latter hoped for the desert. Fate than decided to be cruel as Nishi Kinuyo, the commander of Chi-ha-tan whose long dark hair rivalled Hana's, plucked out fourteen and Kuromorimine was granted an easy victory. The only way Erika could envision Chi-ha-tan defeating Kuromorimine was in a jungle environment at night where Kuromorimine would be denied the advantage of the range of their guns. Perhaps then Chi-ha-tan could eliminate Kuromorimine's flag tank. It was unlikely. It relied too much on luck and Kuromorimine didn't allow luck to factor into their battles.
Miho was a shy girl so it seemed unfair sending her on stage to be stared at by hundreds of people but she was Oarai's team captain and it was her responsibility and duty. A hard duty. If she picked four, they were up against Pravda. An eight and it would be Saunders University High School. Fifteen and they would face Continuation High; the most dangerous of the minor schools. That only left twelve which would set them against Yogurt Academy which would be the most palatable option considering Yogurt's budgetary issues meant they would have a similarly motley line up to Oarai.
Fate however was no more on their side than it had been on Chi-ha-tan's. Miho drew an eight. Saunders. The room reacted to it the same way they had to the Chi-ha-tan-Kuromorimine pairing; as if the outcome was already assured.
"Are they strong?" Saori asked, having no clue at all.
"They're one of the favourites for the title." Yukari answered bluntly and cheerily. As she didn't know the stakes, Erika knew that Yukari was only thinking about the excitement of facing Saunders in battle. The thrill of seeing their Shermans in action.
She looked down on the Saunders girls who were still whooping. "Look at them. Cheering like they've already won." The Saunders girls didn't even make a pretence at decorum, revelling in the pick of the draw putting them against a no-name school with no experience on their first outing. It was starkly contrasted with the Kuromorimine contingent who hadn't even blinked as they were drawn against Chi-ha-tan and certain victory. The Saunders girls kept cheering and Erika caught the eye momentarily of a freckled girl. It was only a moment but enough for the smugness in that girl's smile to course through her veins like fire. "Bitches."
Yukari was startled. "Itsumi-dono?"
"We're going to eviscerate them, Yukari. We're going to make them pay for looking down on us." She saw the alarm in Yukari's eyes and didn't care. If they were to defeat Saunders then they needed her ruthless streak.
[][][][][][]
In the short time she had known them, Hana and Saori had shown off a considerable sweet tooth. She had never complained because any day that involved strenuous Sensha-do training was made good by a hearty dessert afterward. Mako too shared their desire for sweets and she guessed the sugar fuelled her sleepy head. Miho and Yukari shared the joy of simply being out and enjoying the company of others.
So it was they inevitably made their way to a café and Hana ordered them all cake. Cake in a tank themed café. She tried to imagine such frivolity at Kuromorimine, and could not. Sensha-do was serious business there. They didn't serve cake made up to resemble tanks with servers in military themed outfits. They went the other way instead, serving food to their students which wouldn't have looked out of place in a military mess hall except on those special occasions where they served fare that would have been home at a state dinner.
The arrival of cake didn't shake her loose from her thoughts but the inevitable self-flagellation of Miho did.
"I'm sorry." She said. "Because I drew a bad number, we have to face a strong team in the first round."
"How the hell is that your fault?" Erika asked before the others could speak. "Do you think you're unlucky? If a monkey picked the number, would you blame the monkey? We're not blaming you. No one had any luck in this drawing except the school that doesn't believe in luck." She knew Miho would understand. "I would have preferred Anzio or Maginot, but every school is a strong team compared to ours because they all have more experience than our club."
"Is Saunders really that strong though?" Hana inquired politely.
"They're a very wealthy school." Yukari answered. "They have more tanks than any other school. Some say more than the next two combined."
Saori was understandably alarmed. "Do we have to face all of them?"
"During the first round of an official match, you can only field ten tanks." Miho explained.
"So why have so many?"
"Maybe they're compensating for something." Erika offered, making Hana and Saori titter. She saw Mako looking annoyed that the conversation was preventing her from eating and she was too polite to start before the others.
"Are they stronger than us though?" Hana pressed.
"Depends on the tanks they field." Erika mused. "Saunders loves its Shermans and they have every variant ever designed. If they wanted to, they could field nothing but the heavies and wipe us out." She knew she said this with too much relish but her mind was on the heavies used by Pravda and Kuromorimine. "But they won't. They don't need to. Their regular Shermans can do the job well enough."
"And we only have seven against their ten?" Saori pouted. "It doesn't seem fair."
"Could be worse. Could have been six against ten with the Panzer IV still in its D configuration." She pictured the Type 89 and 38(t) in her mind's eye. If Saunders decided to equip whichever Shermans they fielded with fifty calibre machineguns, they could take out those two tanks without even bothering with their cannons.
"So do we stand a chance?" Saori pressed and Miho it seemed couldn't shake her bleak thoughts. She drooped.
"My attendance credits?" Mako asked.
"We won't get those if we lose." Saori answered her.
Mako's response was to take her fork and impale the turret of her tank cake before taking a proper munch. It was tempting to do the same but she had already taken her stand and she wasn't going to wallow in self-pity. Saori wasn't going to let them either.
"The national championships are broadcast on TV, aren't they? Maybe I'll get a bunch of fan letters!"
As Hana told her only the final match was broadcast live, Erika considered some of the fan mail they received as Sensha-do players. Some was from fans like Yukari while others contained marriage proposals from people Erika didn't want to think about.
"Then let's try to make it to the finals!" Saori gushed, obviously imagining her prince charming would see her on screen. Saori hoped Sensha-do would bring her true love, Mako needed it not to be held back, Duck Team hoped that the prestige of winning the tournament would improve Oarai's fortunes and lead to the return of an official volley club and the Student Council had pinned the survival of the school on that victory. Erika thought for a moment that it could all be written up as a tragic play. "Erika! Miho! You eat too!" Saori commanded and both of them obeyed her motherly tone but scarcely had Erika begun to lift the fork to her mouth when she dropped it and rose to her feet and stood rigidly to attention with almost no awareness of what her body was doing as she stared in shock.
The girl who had silently approached the head of their table was only an inch taller than her. One inch. But Erika felt she had always looked up to her as if she was a head taller. She had read that respect, and fear, led people to perceive others as being bigger than they really were. If Erika felt she looked up to her, she didn't like to imagine how it was for Miho. But as Miho's eyes resembled an especially alarmed owl, she could take an educated guess.
"I thought you had quit Sensha-do." Nishizumi Maho didn't waste time with pleasantries.
"… Onee-chan…"
Was it really a shock to them? Maho's hair and eyes were darker shades of brown, she was taller and more mature but beyond that, the resemblance between the two sisters was striking. Yet Hana and Saori reacted as if they were in a soap opera while Mako showed a rare emotion. Yukari seemed shocked too which was inexplicable considering her knowledge of Sensha-do meant she knew exactly who Maho was on sight, and then Erika realised her expression wasn't shock but concern for how Miho would react and she had completely misread Maho's tone.
She stood too and it wasn't with Erika's ingrained training. She stood for Miho. "With all due respect." The fluffy-haired girl declared. "I believe Miho made the right decisions during the final!"
"Yukari!" Erika snapped. "Be silent!"
Hana and Saori stared at her aghast while Yukari slumped and sat down. "… Sorry." She addressed the table.
"Captain." Erika involuntarily used the rank and forced herself to start again. "Nishizumi. We returned to Sensha-do at special request." She stressed these two words. "Of the Oarai Student Council."
Maho's eyes turned on her and not for nothing was that gaze considered worth a platoon's worth of strength. As sharp as the eyes were, the mind was sharper and she understood Erika's meaning. "Itsumi." She nodded curtly. "Miho." To them this second nod seemed just as brusque but Erika knew better. Unlike Miho. The Captain of Kuromorimine turned away and headed for the exit and Erika realised she had not surveyed her surroundings since the engagement had begun, bungling one of the first rules of combat, and as she looked toward the door she saw a glimpse of reddish-brown messy hair that hid from view. The last time she had seen that hair, it had been sopping wet and soaking a stretcher.
"Erika!" Saori snapped her back to the table. "That was so mean!"
"So rude!" The serene calm that had been with Hana as she was disowned by her mother was not with her now.
They meant Yukari who was still staring at the table. Perhaps they had become used to Miho's brooding and anxiety and so Yukari's crushed spirits took priority. But they didn't know what she did and why Miho had to be her priority.
"Miho. She was just checking in, that's all. She had to. And she knows the facts now."
She was trying to sound soothing but all she heard was frustration and as nothing seemed to penetrate Miho's shell of malaise, she gave up. She sat down. If one defensive point was too strong to attack then obviously the key was to attack where the line was weaker; her friends.
"We came to Oarai to get away from Kuromorimine, and away from Sensha-do. Because during the finals of the 62nd National Tournament, one of our tanks had the ground give way beneath it and it fell into a river. It went all the way to the bottom and only four of the crew got out of it before that happened. Akaboshi Koume did not. She was still inside when it hit the bottom. She was still inside when Miho swam down to her. She was still inside when Pravda destroyed our flag tank. The tank Miho abandoned to save Koume from drowning. They were both still in that water when I ran down the bank to… ask… Miho what the hell she was thinking… Then I saw them surface. I saw Koume… You know it took nearly two minutes for them to revive her? Two minutes to make her cough up all the water in her lungs and start breathing again. And while she was doing that, Miho was drowning too and I was in the water with her. Getting this…" She felt her face. "Koume survived. Her team survived. We lost the match. And some people, a lot of people, cared more about one than the other." She had been speaking to her tank cake but now she spoke directly to Miho. To the hair of her bowed head anyway. "Maho didn't. What she cared about was that she almost lost an entire crew under her command and her sister." This made Miho look up. "I know because she told me. She told me when she learned I was going to Oarai. When she told me to watch out for you."
"… Onee-chan… She told you-"
"Of course she did!" The inability of the Nishizumi family to communicate was a sledgehammer on her raw nerves. "She's not going to give you a big hug, she's going to do what she just did. Check in, get her answers, and go. That's her way. She doesn't need to pat you on the back to be watching it. That wasn't about the finals. That was about you going back to Sensha-do. She's not angry at you, she's worried about you." She looked around the table at the others. "Now you know." Except for one thing.
She had already told Hana the facts and Yukari had known everything but the personal drama. Only for Mako and Saori was it all a revelation and while Saori was unexpectedly speechless, Mako raised a hand to ask a question. "May we get more cake?"
They all stared incredulously at her but Erika was the only who laughed. She laughed as she hadn't in a very long time and until her chest and scar were aching. It felt good.
[][][][][][]
The Student Council were friends. She wasn't sure how that was possible considering their clashing personalities although the same could be said for Mako and Saori. But they were sat at a table in the ferry's restaurant and apparently having a good time. She was not having a good time, she was on the bow and being hit hard by the freezing sea breezes. It was bracing but it was also punishing.
"Eririn, come away from there!" Saori would not go any further up the rail.
"Why?"
"You'll freeze to death! You're so pale!"
"I'm always this pale." Erika mused but stepped back anyway. Her face was now pleasantly numb. "Why are you here?"
"Yukari's talking to Miho so I'm talking to you. You both went off to brood." Saori was teasing and yet she made a good point. The only difference between the two of them was that Miho completely lacked any aggressive tendencies when the desire to brood overcame them.
"How's Yukari doing?"
"You scared her but she's used to that. I think she feels she let you down."
"Why? All she did was stand up for her captain when she thought she was being attacked. How was she to know it was something else?"
"Yukari wants to be liked."
"I've noticed. The Sensha-do club means everything to her."
"Yukari loves tanks. She's crazy about tanks. But she's much happier about having friends now."
"Stop using your powers."
Saori giggled. "Why do you think it's magic to understand people?"
"Do I look like a people person?"
"Not when you're being wrestled to the ground to stop you from beating your tank with a wrench."
"That was a group activity though, wasn't it?"
"If you say so." Saori was hugging herself to deal with the cold whipping wind. "There's better ways to tell Miporin her sister loves her."
"Is there? I thought I made it clear."
"Brutally. You didn't make it sound like she cares about her, only that she's protecting her through you. It's not the same thing. It's not what Miporin wants, or needs."
"It's not Maho's way. She's obedient to the Nishizumi Style." Her shiver had nothing to do with the cold. "We left because people cared more about the result of a high school sports match than our lives and Miho's mother…" She trailed off with uncertainty.
"Does she care that much about the results of the finals?"
"I don't know. I don't know if she's upset Kuromorimine's streak was broken or that Miho isn't strong like her and Maho. Or if she just doesn't know how to say how she feels. But she's not my mother so I wouldn't know. I just know she let Miho get away from it all but Miho doesn't know if she was allowed to walk away or asked to walk away… I don't know… I don't know! I just know how Maho feels."
"She told you, but not Miho?"
"She didn't tell me with words." Erika grasped for how to explain it. "You saw how she was in there? She was like that with all of us, all the time but every now and then with Miho…" Erika reached out with her thumb and forefinger. "You saw this little crack in the shell. Just a sliver of light. Warmth… That was just for Miho…"
"Envious?"
"Of course I was! We all were! We all wanted her approval but again, the Nishizumi Style… They don't praise you because you're doing what you're supposed to do. Yukari taking down that Crusader and hugging me; you don't do that at Kuromorimine! We wouldn't have said anything; we would have just driven on."
"You prefer it here."
"Stop analysing me!"
"I'm worried about you. You, Yukari, Miho, Hana, Mako. You all need help."
"And you don't?"
"I'll ask for help." Saori replied cheerfully. "None of you will."
"You're using your powers again."
Saori rolled her eyes. "You need to trust people, Eririn. As people. Not your crew."
"Why not both?"
"Because you spend more time as a person than a tanker."
"So what? More shopping trips?"
"You're still wearing that hat from Yukari taking us to the Sensha-do store and you made your tank more comfortable. Now we just need to get you to make some purchases that aren't Sensha-do related…"
"Good luck with that." She turned to look up at the rising wall of steel of the carrier. "I don't do shopping trips." Looking at the Oarai schoolship however, she knew Saori was right; she did prefer it here.
(10,970)
Author's Notes: I've had a hard month. I worked twelve days in a row in a place that makes me yearn for the days I used to cycle 8-10 miles a day for a paper round. Five of those days were twelve hour shifts. My hands are currently moulting from mild chemical burns. Without that fortnight spent doing that, I would have had this chapter out sooner.
This one was difficult. All the pieces were there but I couldn't get them in the right order. I've gone back and forth and think this is the best. The tank hunt to improve Oarai's line up for the first round, giving them the F2 and B1 before Pravda I said would happen. A more powerful tank to face Shermans, the B1 to improve the odds and a cosmetic improvement for the StuG. This last part may seem odd but I thought it somewhat unfair only the Panzer IV gets upgrades and the 38(t) gets converted. Why not give the StuG some skirts and make it bulkier, like a Hippo.
I admittedly didn't give much thought to naming Erika's team. Wolf/Okami came naturally to me, given Yukari's fluffy hair and frequent comparisons to puppies/attack dogs and Erika's tendency to bark and snap. Also suits the T-50's speed and Oarai's close-quarters tendencies.
Shake up of the teams. The Automotive Club have always been there in the background during the show before taking the Porsche Tiger for themselves so having them join sooner and be dispersed to make up the numbers and gaining some experience as they do isn't too much of a game-changer.
This chapter is about the scars Erika and Miho have from the accident. Their shared nightmares and their inability to truly help each other through them. While I like the scene where Yukari helps Miho feel better about it all, trauma isn't so easily dismissed. It takes time. And better memories. There's no magic fix for Erika and Miho. There'd be no story if there was. Obviously there's some fanservice with Erika teasing Miho about being 'excited' they shared a bed. I note while I'm reading my work that I'm using male gaze so there are times when Erika seems… Interested… In other girls. I suppose that can't be helped.
The sequence in the tank café puts all the principle characters on almost the same page. Maho is a daunting figure for Erika and Miho and so her interaction has to be as brief as it was in the series. But instead of Erika being an antagonistic force, she's doing what she can to make Miho understand her sister a little better. Unfortunately, that's not an Erika talent.
Erika's musing about the thinness of the 38(t)'s and Type 89's armour making them vulnerable to heavy machine guns is not a shout out to that unspeakable evil. I'm just explaining the point of allowing machinegun armed tanks and tankettes to compete.
Anyway, that's enough wittering from me.