Blazepanzer here, and I'd like to thank everyone who has read, favorites and or followed my story, your support really encouraged me! And Wow, 161 views? That is amazing!
I'd also like to thank my reviewer Wolfman-053! I'm glad you like the story, and I've also made certain to include some more backstory in this chapter.
At any rate, enjoy! Note: Blazepanzer does not own Girls und Panzer.
Hanoashi let out a quiet sigh as she reluctantly agreed to mark Sensado on her list. "Seriously, I never figured out why girls like tanks so much, but sure, since we have a Sensado Team here...why not?" Besides, if Maho has already agreed to join, why shouldn't I? She added silently.
"Yes! Miho smiled. "This is going to be awesome! All three of us in a tank, the three Katoni sisters...think we'll become legendary?"
"We would have been legendary if Kuromrimine hadn't sunk," Maho muttered.
"You and Miho would have been legendary, I'd be stuck in Nishmari, living the quiet life, and that's the way I'd prefer it," Hanoashi corrected pointedly.
"Ah come on sis...don't fight," Miho pleaded innocently. "Of course we'd welcome you into our ranks, Blaze."
"Would you have even know me if Kuromorimine hadn't sunk?" Hanoashi dared to ask.
Maho shook her head. "Probably not, and besides Miho, it would not be up to us." Pausing, she let out a quiet smile. "Still, it's nice, living in a quiet Nishmari suburb, not having to hear lectures of Sensado and the..." Maho suddenly lowered her voice. "The...Nishisumi style," she whispered.
"Say that a tad louder...I don't think everyone heard you," Hanoashi deadpanned sarcastically. "Still, that sounds like a drag, being trained in Sensado everyday and such."
"Guys," Miho whimpered again.
"Relax Miho, we're not really fighting, are we Blaze?" Maho soothed.
"Oh we're totally fighting," Hanoashi joshed, causing Miho to shiver and Maho to give her the Nishisumi glare. "No, we're not really fighting, Miho," she soothed after a bit.
"Just being a tad prickly," Maho muttered, though a slight quiet smile betrayed her amusement.
"But you and Blaze are always prickly," Miho whined.
"Maybe it's a Katoni thing," Maho shrugged.
"Could also be a you know what thing," Hanoashi chuckled.
"Hey!" Maho gasped.
"Lol," Hanoashi smirked, literately saying lol like a texting layabout.
"It's just the way they communicate, don't let it get to you," a girl with long brown hair and extremely light green eyes sat next to them.
"Hey Rikona," Maho and Miho simultaneously chorused.
"Hey Autumn, how's the tanks looking?" Hanoashi asked.
"All restored and ready to go, once those two pass their entrance exam," Rikona smiled.
"Lol, there's three of us signing up now," Hanoashi laughed.
"Still stuck on that lol thing?" Rikona gaped. "Never mind, thanks for agreeing to join by the way," she added.
"No problem, but Miho wouldn't stop pestering me and I kinda thought it might be a good idea to join with them, even if it does mean giving up Archery. Are...we going to be put on the same team?"
"Not in the name of the Spirit of the Maus," Rikona laughed. "We've already agreed to assign the teams randomly, aside from making sure that former club mates and siblings don't end up on the same team."
"Ah Geeze...I wanted to share a tank with Blaze and Maho," Miho pouted.
"That's kind of you Miho...and don't get me wrong, I've love that more than anything," Maho began gently. "But...we're growing up and someday, no matter how much we may not want these things to be, we're going to have to go our separate ways. Me, You, Hanoashi...we can't stay in the same house all our lives, and we each must find our own way in lives. Starting families of our own."
"But..." Miho paused mid-whine.
"It's hard, I know. And we'll always be an important part of your life Miho, but someday our time living together will come to an end. That doesn't me we won't see each other, and occasionally even stay together overnight on occasions, but our time as children is quickly coming to and end, and as adults, we must move out on our own," Hanoashi whispered, placing her hand on Miho's shoulder.
"I...just wish things could stay the same," Miho sighed. "But you're both right, we're growing up. I...just can't wish wanting more time together," she added gently.
"I think we all do," Maho smiled gently.
"Hanoashi...Hanoashi!"
"Yes Asuza?"
"Can...you tell me if Sensado is dangerous?" Asusa gasped. "I just turned in my sign-up sheet...and well...I'm kinda getting worried...so..." Asusa paused, wanting to say more, but wasn't sure how to say it.
Hanoashi nodded. "You...probably should have asked that before you joined, but yeah, it can be dangerous if you do something stupid. But as long as you know and follow all of the rules and procedures, it's as about as safe as any sport," she explained.
"Do you think...Saki will be okay though? I mean...she's so quiet...And Karina's so..."
"Asusa...breath." Hanoashi muttered, interrupting Asusa. "For starters, being quiet doesn't really have much negative effects on one's Sensado performance, and Saki only seems quiet because she's still working on her Japanese speaking skills. She's quite talkative in English, but wants to master Japanese, so she tries to speak solely in our native language."
Pausing, she continued. "And Karina's excitable-ness will have to be tempered, but plenty of people who are excitable are perfectly fine in Sensado from what I've heard." She then paused again for a moment. "You really ought to worry about yourself first," she added.
"What do you mean?" Asusa gasped, looking concerned.
"First, you need to both bulk up and gain muscles. You're too skinny and weak in case you're assigned to loading or driving. Same goes for me in fact, but I've already began excising, so yeah."
"Hanoashi!" Asusa whispered indignantly. "But...I like being thin!"
"Sure...but you won't appreciate a broken bone, which is more likely to happen with your arms so thin. Don't get fat, obviously, but you need more meat on your arms. Ribs too, I've never really seen you in a swimsuit, but I'd bet you ten dimes that your ribs would show at least a little bit."
"How'd you know?" Asusa gasped, genuinely surprised.
"When you have a sister and cousin both planning to go into the medical field, you understand this stuff. Well, at least Rikona was going into the medical field until she and Hitomi were chosen to inherit Ooarai...so yeah."
"Ah, that makes sense," Asusa admitted.
"You bet it does," Hanoashi laughed. "But seriously, you need to bulk up and exercise, just like me. Say...how bout we start hitting the gym after class?"
"Sure, that sounds fun!" Asusa smiled briefly, before frowning. "How...do you know so much about Sensado?"
Hanoashi sighed. "I spent a year studying what I needed to do in order to get ready. Unfortunately Mother said no when Miho got caught in that barbed wire, but...to be honest I'm just glad that Miho is still here with us. I'd rather have her and be forbidden to join Sensado in middle school than to be allowed to have joined "Sensado then and not have Miho."
"You really do care about her a lot, don't you?" Asusa smiled.
"Yes...Asusa," Hanoashi paused briefly. "Listen...when you nearly lose your sibling, you gain a different perspective. Yes, it's easy to get annoyed at your sibling, and sometimes it's easy to say things you don't mean to say, but once you come close to losing them, you realize how much they mean to you."
Pausing, Hanoashi continued. "Miho nearly lost me a year before I nearly lost her. We have a certain understanding of what we mean to each-other, because we nearly lost each other."
"I think I get it," Asusa smiled.
"It's so exciting that we're taking Sensado together!"
"Er...yeah," Miho smiled, though she was kinda getting nervous around Karina's hype. I never knew a girl could be this excitable, she mused silently. Karina had started hanging out with her and Saki after she discovered they were also taking up Sensado as their club elective.
"Yeah..." Saki whispered.
Or quiet, In Saki's case. At least when speaking in Japanese, get her talking in English and she's a bonified chatterbox, Miho mused in reference to Saki. Still, it's nice that I'll get to do Sensado with my fellow classmates, even if they are polar extremes...unless we all get assigned to different tanks.
"So, seen any good movies?" Karina asked Miho.
"Er...Boko..." Miho struggled.
"Isn't that the stuffed bear who always get into fights and loses," Karina mused.
"That's what makes him Boko!" Miho gasped, her eyes shinning in glee.
"Seems like he's kinda a bully," Saki whispered.
"Take it back!" Miho hissed, the delight from her eyes gone in what she clearly viewed as an insult.
"Nope," Saki stared into the distance. "Though he is kinda an adorable bully," she added quietly.
"He...is...not...a...bully," Miho growled viciously. Saki paid her no attention other than to laugh quietly. No fair, getting under my skin like that! Miho fumed, gazing away crossly with her arms folded.
"Er...any other movies?" Karina asked, trying to diffuse the situation.
"What about the Butterfly Effect?" Saki asked quietly.
"Have you really seen that movie or you just going on about butterflies again?" Karina asked.
"Nope. Never saw it," Saki whispered.
"Milo and Otis?" Miho asked.
"Isn't that an old VHS Type? No...seriously, you still use VHS tapes in 2021?" Karina gasped in shock.
"Well...my parents have a massive collection of VHS types...so...er...yeah, we do watch them from time to time," Miho shrugged.
"Seriously Miho, your parents need to get with the times and switch everything to Blu-ray," Karina huffed.
"It's on DVD...cute movie," Saki sighed out of nowhere.
"You need to have it on Blu-ray," Karina huffed, before her eyes turned dreamy. "Ah...those gorgeous 4K colors and details!" she sighed lovingly.
"Er...we don't even have a flat-screen at our house, much less a 4K TV," Miho shrugged.
Karina deflated. "You...you're...insane. No, seriously, what is wrong with you," she gaped.
"So...any reason why you hate German tanks?" Yukari asked.
Maho sighed. "My...birth parents died onboard Kuromorimine," she admitted. "Don't ask me the details again," she added softly.
"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't know," Yukari whispered.
"No no, it's okay Yukari...just...I kinda a bad association with that school and Panzers."
"Can't believe the instructor set off the ship's reactor like that."
You just had to bring that up, didn't you? Maho growled inwardly. Guessing you're in the Anti-Shiho camp then. Not going to blame you on that one since I'm kinda suspicious of my old mother's actions. Maus, I hate even referring to that bitch as mother.
No one know what Shiho was doing that evening, some people speculated that she was desperately trying to avert a reactor meltdown. Those were in the Pro-Shiho camp. Still, most believed that Shiho had been trying to detonate the reactor, those in the Anti-Shiho camp.
"To be honest...I'm not too sure about Shiho's intentions, and it doesn't really matter, my parents died that night. She either killed them or failed to save them, regardless they're not coming back." Mother's never coming back, though in all honesty, Yu is a much better mother than Shiho ever was, Maho added silently.
"So...favorite tank?" Yukari asked.
"To be honest I never really thought of one," Maho shrugged. "Maybe the Sherman, I know it's not the best tank, but it does look rather strong, at least for it's time period."
"That's a popular favorite tank, Mine's the two turreted version of the Polish 7TP," Yukari smiled.
"You...come again? I've never really heard of that tank before," Maho admitted.
"Ah...it's a Polish light tank. Not that powerful...but..." Yukari trailed off. "You...collect any tanks?"
Maho shook her head. "No...but my sister, Hanoashi, she has a Panzer IV H model in her room," Maho admitted.
"She likes...wait...Hano...Ashi...?" Yukari paused.
"Yeah yeah, I know, Plant foot isn't exactly what you'd think, but she was the firstborn in the Katoni, which only consisted of my now mother and father. They...wanted Hanoashi to the the first step in restoring the family...so...yeah."
"But...isn't she...oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about saying that..." Yukari gasp.
"About what?" Maho asked, frightened.
"I...just realized I know where I heard you're name from before," Yukari whispered. "I...didn't mean to insult you're birth mother like that," she added more quietly.
"No no...it's fine," Maho held her hands up. "Yukari...my..." She paused, glancing around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. "No one really knows what Shiho was doing that day, and I've suspected she could have been doing both in the past. Just...kinda keep it under wraps, okay?"
Yukari nodded. "Don't worry Maho, I'm your friend, and I know this is something we should keep to ourselves. You being..." she paused, quieting her voice. "You being Shiho's daughter doesn't matter, you are Maho, and should be judged for what Maho does, not what Shiho may have done."
"Thanks," Maho sighed. "You're a good friend," she added quietly.
"Friends don't put out bad information about their friends, right?" Yukari smiled quietly. "Anyways, would you like to stop by the tank shop with me on the way home?" she asked gently.
Maho smiled. "Sure! Though...I do have a question," she added. "How did you realize who my birth mother was?"
"I used to be a big Sensado fan, and I quickly took to Kuromorimine's style of Sensado." Yukari explained. "At the time though I only had my mother's old recordings of Sensado matches, and I only found out when I was twelve what actually happened to Kuromorimine, but I just remembered that in the pre-match shows one of the judges mention that she was eager to see what you'd bring to the sport."
"Ah, that makes sense," Maho smiled in understanding.
"So...how exactly did you end up being adopted by the Katoni?" Yukari asked.
Maho shuddered. "Well, after the incident at Kuromorimine, no one in our family wanted to adopt us. It was bad enough that we were Nishisumi, but being the daughter of one suspected of blowing up an academy ship only made things worse. So Miho and I ended up in several orphanages in our youth, since every time the kids would turn against us once they found out who our mother was."
"That's terrible!" Yukari gasped.
Maho sighed, and lifted up her shirt, revealing a long scar. "I got this when a worker tied to kill me and Miho by tying us to a bed and cutting us with a knife. Said we had no right to live after what Shiho did. Thankfully, the director of that orphanage caught the worker and had her arrested, while sending us to a small orphanage near Ooarai. That's when..." Maho paused, breathing a bit.
"Are you okay?" Yukari asked, alarmed.
Maho nodded. "Sorry, bringing up my scar kinda spooks me." She explained. "At any rate, once we transferred to the orphanage in Ooarai, things kinda calmed down for us. Some of the orphans became our friends, most others just ignored us. But...one day Yu and Drake came into the orphanage, looking for a sibling for their daughter, Hanoashi.
Maho suddenly felt herself remembering that day quite well, and began pouring out what happened in vivid detail.
"Doc...is it going to heal more?" Maho asked gently.
The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry Maho, but you're lucky enough to be alive after that cut you've suffered."
Maho glanced over at the door, noticing two adult gazing in. "Come to mock the daughter of Shiho murderer Nishisumi?" she muttered.
"No dear," the woman, a woman with light brown hair, almost ginger, walked forward. "What happened to you," she asked gently, kneeling down.
"Some idiot tried to murder me because she thought I didn't deserve to live," Maho muttered, pulling down her shirt.
"That's not true, you deserve to live," the guy growled. "Both you and your sister, no child deserved to be judged for what their mother may have done."
"Maho...wasn't it?" the woman asked softly. "Is...your sister here?"
Maho nodded slowly. What's all that about? She asked, unsure of the couple's attention.
"Go and get her then, you're coming home with us," the male smiled.
"You mean...?" Maho gasped, finding it hard to believe she was finally being adopted after a year.
"Yes...welcome to the Katoni, my daughter," The woman smiled.
Rushing over to fetch Miho, she smiled. "Come on sis, we're being adopted!" she smiled.
"For real...but I don't want to leave you!" Miho cried.
"Miho, we're being adopted together, come on!" Maho urged.
"That's great!" Miho smiled.
Rushing with her sister, they found their adopters waiting for them. "Here's Miho," Maho huffed, slightly out of breath.
"Miho, it is nice to meet you," the woman began. "I'm Yu Katoni and this is my husband, Drake Katoni."
"We'd love for you to join our family, if you'll have us," Drake smiled.
Miho smiled. "You bet! Oh thank you so much!"
"Maho smiled and bowed. "Thank you for adopting us," she smiled.
"So...that's how it happened?" Yukari asked.
Maho nodded. "Probably the best day of my life," she smiled.
Hanoashi smiled as she scrubbed the desk, glancing at Asuza who was frowning slightly as sweeping the floor. "Something wrong?" she asked.
"No...it's just...I don't mind sweeping, but on the third day?" she asked quietly.
"Asusa...when you're an adult and living on your own, chores like these won't wait for when you think it's convenient," she cautioned.
"You're right, thanks Hanoashi," Asusa smiled.
"You can call me Blaze...if you like remember?," Hanoashi smiled
"Oh... why is that you're nickname?" Asusa asked.
"Yeah...cause of my ginger hair," Hanoashi laughed. "Used to be more of a red than ginger though."
"Ah...you Irish?"
"Only genetically, my father's family hailed from Ohio before migrating to Nishmari after the war." Hanoashi explained.
"Isn't that the town to the south of Ooarai, the one United States helped fund after the war?"
Hanoashi nodded. "You've heard of it?"
Asusa nodded. "Family moved there about five weeks ago, to a small village called Kesao," She admitted.
"Kesao...never been there before. I live closer to Nishmari Proper, in the Suburbs," Hanoashi shrugged.
"I think I may have seen you once on my way to the local Wal-mart., you were with Miho and your other sister. Maho, right?"
Hanoashi smiled. "Most likely that was us then."
"Ah...I see. You know who their mother was...right?"
Hanoashi frowned. "Asusa...I swear if you try to make something of it..."
Asusa quickly raised her hands. "No no...that's not what I meant. It's just that...some people might have some...er..."
"Sour feelings, yeah, that's happened before," Hanoashi sighed. "Really pisses me off," she ranted.
"I'd feel the same if they were my siblings," Asusa reassured her. "Anyways, I'd really like to meet Maho someday," she added kindly. "I've good friends with you and Miho now, but I've never really been around Maho much."
"I don't know what she'll be doing after class, but I think you'll like her," Hanoashi smiled. "And I think we're done with the cleaning," she added.
"Whew! You were right Blaze, I really need to toughen up." she added.
"Well, Radio operators can kinda get away with more than other members, but even they need to build strength," Hanoashi smiled. "Now, about that Gym?"
Maho gazed at the building. "I...never knew that they had a shop like this one," she admitted.
"Yep!" Yukari smiled as she opened the doors, taking a breath as she did so.
"Pine incense," Maho noted. "Nice...though I'd prefer cherry blossom," she added.
"My brother likes to switch incenses each week of the year." Yukari smirked.
"Let me guess...Yukaro Akiyama?" Maho noted flatly.
"You know him?" Yukari gasped.
"Yeah...he and my sister Hanoashi are apparently head over heels for each other."
"Even though he's an adult? Yukari gasped.
"Mostly writing each-other and an rare movie-night at the house. Mother and father don't care as long as they don't date outside of the house until Blaze is of age. Which she is...so yeah...how bout a coffee?"
"Blaze doesn't like caffeine, you know that Sakura?" A voice called over.
Maho rolled her eyes. "Duh...but you'd know that, wouldn't you Barber's son?"
"Whatever you say Panzer-born," Yukaro smirked.
Maho snorted. "Yeah yeah, rub it in, will you."
"Wait...you know each other...oh...right...you went to Nishmari, didn't you?" Yukari slapped her head.
"Something wrong sis?" Yukaro asked.
"I thought you were making that stuff about having a girlfriend up," Yukari gasped.
"Well, I'm not. At least you're making good friends with our future Sister-in-law," Yukaro smirked.
"Only if Blaze says yes. Maus damn it, she's going to say yes, isn't she?" Maho groaned.
"Out of luck Sakura," Yukaro stuck out his tongue.
"Something going on between you two?" Yuakri asked confused.
"I lost a bet," Maho groaned. "And Yukaro also thinks he can use my favorite flower as my nickname for some reason."
"What kind of bet did you make?" Yukari asked, glaring at Yukari. "You know Mom hates it when we made bets."
"Nothing serious," Yukaro raised his hands up.
"Just that I'd have to accept it if Hanoashi agreed to date him." Maho sighed.
"You...don't like him?" Yukari asked quietly.
"I don't exactly trust any guy with my sisters. I know he's more or less trustworthy now, but back then, I had my doubts. Some idiots want gingers for nothing than their...looks if you know what I mean. Something foreign. Not to mention Miho can be a bit on the gullible side sometimes."
"Ah...but I do like how gingers look," Yukaro teased.
"Oh Maus," Yukari balked.
"She was a red head when you first dated her!" Maho hissed.
"All the more reason why you know I truly love her," Yukaro laughed.
"Oh shut up," Maho muttered annoyingly. "You're supposed to be flirting with Blaze, not me," she added under her breath."
"This is all very interesting...but...can we go shopping now?" Yukari begged.
"Sure...I'll tell Blaze you said hi," Maho smiled.
"Thanks...also tell her to stop by, I'll give her a discount on her first purchase!" Yukaro smiled.
"That's nice of you," Maho muttered under her breath. As she walked with Yukari, she let out a smile. "You know your brother and I are just joshing each other, right?"
"I kinda got that, but seriously, the thought of him getting with a girl and one three years younger than him..." Yukari shuddered.
"Two," Maho sighed. "Blaze's birthday is April eighth, and she's sixteen. For the record, I'm also sixteen and my birthday is on July first, while's Miho is 15 and her birthday is on October twenty-third."
"Ah...so Miho's the youngest then," Yukari noted, "While you're the oldest."
Maho nodded, before bending down to pick up a tank model. "This one's a cutie," she smiled.
"Oh, that's a roof-modded Panzer II with the 5cm cannon. Used as an alternate scout in the co-ed high school academies. The real tank only has a canvas covering though..."
Maho promptly sat the tank down, a sickly look crossing her face. I...I touched a German tank...a model nonetheless...but still. And I thought it was cute...
"Um Maho...is everything alright?" Yukari asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I think I am," Maho muttered, before practically snatching up a Sherman with a tan paint scheme.
"Ah, Maple Academy's Sherman model...good choice," Yukari smiled.
"Thank you," Maho smiled. "Now...shall we look around some more?"
They didn't spend too much more time shopping, and they soon went to check out. However, as Maho was in line, she noticed a young boy pick up the Panzer II she had handled earlier. "Mommy, what about this one?" he asked.
"No...that was just handled by a Nishisumi," she ushered, slapping the tank out of his hands and onto the floor, damaging the model. That promptly earned a glare from Yukaro.
Maho stared at the model, then at the boy and mother, who where oblivious to the store-owner's glare. Before she knew it, she bent down and picked up the damaged model, carefully sweeping up the pieces in a small bag she carried before picking out some model repair glue.
"Maho?" Yukaro asked gently.
"I'll pay for the broken model, Yukaro." she whispered.
"Don't, it's not you're fault," Yukaro whispered gently.
"Maybe not, but I feel partially responsible for the incident," Maho then smiled. "Besides, I kinda want to rebuild this model, so yeah, I'll pay for it."
"I couldn't possible...er...at least let me give you the repair glue on the house," Yukaro offered.
"But..." Maho began to protest, but Yukaro simply held his hand.
"Maho...you may not realize this, but repairing that tank model is going to go a long way in helping you to come to terms with your past. Let me help too."
"Thanks Yukaro..." Maho whispered as she opened her purse, surprised to see that he still only charged her for the one tank. "Yukaro..."
"Go on Maho, give Sweifunf a good home on the house, okay?" Yukaro smiled.
"O...Okay then," Maho smiled, paying for the tank, before exiting the store with Yukari.
"Maho...I...I'm so sorry," Yukari burst out.
"It's okay Yukari, I'm used to it." Maho smiled. "So...wanna hang out again tomorrow?" she added cheerfully.
"Sure," Yukari smiled.
Hanoashi glanced at the machines, before targeting the bench pressers. "Guess I'll start here," she smiled.
"Wait, I'll go with you," Asusa smiled.
Taking her tee-shirt off revealing her sports bra, Hanoashi laid down on the bench, gazing at the various wights, before deciding to start off with the nine Kilo weights. Eighteen Kilograms, lol...weak, she muttered inwardly, though she wasn't too sure if she could handle a thirteen Kilo set...yet.
Gazing as Asuza, she nodded as she indeed saw her ribs slightly. "Don't start off too heavy Asuza," she warned. "It's important to build up your strength gradually."
"Okay, the five kilo or the nine kilo set?" Asuza asked.
"Start off with the five, and if that's too easy move on to the nine. Once you're confident with the Nine, move on to the thirteen. You...probably don't need to go past the eighteen set, unless we have a Maus or KV-2, both of which are very unlikely."
"Why unlikely," Asuza asked as she put on the Five Kilo weights.
"Well, different reasons," Hanoashi remarked as she finished setting up, and began to do her bench presses. "The Maus, for example, is exceedingly rare, only eight replicas are allowed in Japan, two for the high school league, two for the collage league, two for private collectors, and two for museums. It also cost a lot, about a Billion yen, and it's slow with exceedingly large tracks, so no one outside of museums want one."
"And the KV-2's?" Asuza asked, having started her bench presses as well.
"Big and Bulky. Not as powerful as a Maus, though not nearly as big. You'd be better trading it for a T-34-85." Hanoashi admitted. "Especially since the shells are heavy, in fact you need two loaders since one historically had to load the charge and the other the shell. For obvious reasons the shell and charges are combined in the Sensado version of the tank, but...you still need two loaders. Not to mention the turret is turned via hand crank, so yeah, lots of exertion."
"Ah...I really hope we don't have a KV-2," Asusa fretted.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Rikona would not have chosen something too demanding for beginners," she reassured.
"Achooo!"
"Rikona...are you okay sis?"
"I'm fine Hitomi," Rikona rubbed her nose, quickly wiping her hand on a towel before rubbing some hand sanitizer on her hand. "Probably one of my adorable cousins talking bout me," she added.
"Ahh...that old adage, you're telling tell me that you really believe that?" Hitomi gazed at her quizzically. "Never mind. But seriously, you still want to use the Porsche Tiger? It can catch on fire easily..."
"Well, mother says that we can't exactly trade that one, and we'll lose respect among the Matsumino if we lose a match just because we're too sissified to use the tank." Rikona countered.
"Still, would be better to trade this for a Tiger." Hitomi muttered.
"Eh...beggars can't be choose. Maybe if we get a few wins this year our elders will allow us to trade some of the tanks for different models," Rikona shrugged.
"You know how many different companies I've had to order parts from?" Hitomi sighed.
"Lol."
"Rikona...don't let Hanoashi's textspeak influence you!" Hitomi hissed.
"Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off...lol!"Rikona laughed, sounding like a but of a maniac.
"Rikona!" Hitomi hissed.
"Sorry, couldn't help it," Rikona sighed, recovering from her laughing bout.
"Mom will wash out your mouth out with soap if she caught you saying that!" Hitomi hissed gently.
"Or I'll make her clean the tanks the first month, in a bathing suit," a new voice boomed.
"Mother...I..." Rikona flinched.
"Told you," Hitomi snickered.
"Hitomi...don't smirk at your sister's plight," Shelia warned sternly, before turning to Rikona. "Though since that was actually kinda funny, I'll...let you off. You can ask your cousin Hanoashi, and only her, to help you wash the tanks every time for the first month," Shelia nodded, before turning around and walking off, chuckling a bit at her daughter's antics.
Shit...Rikona mused silently.
"So...you going to ask her or not?" Hitomi asked gently.
"Blaze will be kinda mad at me if I didn't, especially since we don't get to hang out too much lately," Rikona admitted.
"Fair enough," Hitomi sighed. "Remember when Miho and Maho were adopted into the Katoni?"
"Like it was yesterday!" Rikona smiled. "It it was so sudden, I remember Hanoashi called that night and couldn't stop gushing how great they where. Miho was very nervous about being all the call and Maho was..."
"Just cautious." Hitomi chuckled. "Remember how relieved she sounded when we reassured them that we wouldn't just them biased off of what their mother did?"
"May have done," Rikona warned. "There's no proof Shiho was trying to blow up Kuromorimine."
"True. It's a shame we don't have a German academy anymore," Hitomi sighed. "I really wanted to go there." she added.
"Yeah...isn't there a German academy still though? I seem to recall you going there..."
Hitomi sighed. "You're thinking of SchneeWüsteSenke academy." she sighed.
"Er...come again?" Rikona gaped jokingly. "Did you say Snow Desert Sink?"
Hitomi sighed crossly. "You know what it means Rikona...Snow desert valley, not Snow Desert Sink, And it's based off of East Germany, not Germany. Besides, it only has T-50's, T-34 1942 models, and KV-IB 576rs."
"I wish we had a T-50 instead of a type 89," Rikona huffed.
"Like I said, get a few wins and we might be able to trade up some tanks," Hitomi chuckled.
Miho smiled as the door to her appointment opened. "Welcome home Blaze," she smiled.
"Thanks Miho," Hanoashi plopped down. "You do anything with Saki?"
Miho shook her head. "I was a bit tired, so I came home to rest. You and Asusa?"
"We went to the Gym to work out," Hanoashi smiled. "You should join us...and bring Saki and Karina," she added.
"I'll...talk to them about it," Miho sighed.
"In the meantime...wanna cuddle like old times?" Hanoashi smiled.
Miho nodded, lying on the bed and given her sister room. "So, what brought this about?" Miho asked.
"Just...reminiscing about all the times we spent together, and how we're going to separate in a few years. Kinda made me a bit sad," Hanoashi admitted.
"So you do know how I feel," Miho laughed. "Can we never separate?" she pleaded.
"Sure...is what I'd like to say, but we both know we have to eventually," Hanoashi sighed, petting Miho on the head.
"Think I can get a good husband like you?" Miho whispered.
"Yukaro haven't married me yet!" Hanoashi chuckled. "and you have well over a decade before you really have to worry about it," she added more seriously.
"I guess..." Miho paused as Hanoashi's phone went off. "Better check that," Miho chuckled.
Hanoashi nodded, widening her eyes and showing it to Miho.
"Poor Rikona...at least she'll have you to help her out. Almost wish I could go too," Miho chuckled.
"Yeah," Hanoashi chuckled. "Would be fun to have you and Maho with us. Well guess I'd better pick up a swimsuit and some sandals on the way."
"You'll be okay though, right Blaze?" Miho asked worriedly.
Hanoashi just laughed. "Miho, there isn't going to be any cone snails or a high chlorine content in the water. I will be fine," she mused before getting up. "Tell Maho where I've gone when she gets home, okay?"
"Sure thing Blaze," Miho smiled. Watching her exit the door, Miho suddenly felt slightly lonely, but shook it off. Maus dammit Miho, you need to overcome your attachment issues! She scolded herself.
A few moments later the door opened and Maho came in with a sack of some sort. "Is that takeout?" Miho asked hopefully?"
"Sorry sis, just some tank models. Was just going to pick up a Sherman...but something happened and I ended up getting a Panzer II 5CM."
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Miho backed up. "Maho...you...bought a German Panzer?" she gasped.
Maho sighed. "It's been a long day Miho," she went over to her desk and pulled out the broken Panzer and glue. "Give me a bit to fix this and I'll tell you what happened."
"Oh, okay then," Miho watched silently as Maho repaired the tank model. Why is it broken like that? Did...she drop it.
"Ok, now we just need to let it dry for a bit, and it'll be almost as good as new." Maho smiled. "Now...long story short, I didn't know this was a German tank until Yukari mentioned it. I promptly sat it down and picked up a Sherman, but before I could check out, a young boy picked up the same Panzer II and asked his mother about it. Guess what she did?"
"What did she do?" Miho asked hesitantly, already not liking where this was going.
"She slapped it out of the boy's hands, claiming that tank was held by a Nishizumi," Maho growled.
"She didn't!" Miho exclaimed.
"She did," Maho nodded, before sighing. "I offered to buy the damaged model and some repair glue, but Yukaro, the store owner, refused to charge me for it. Called it something in German, and told me to give it a good home."
"Wait...Yukaro's a store owner?" Miho gasped. "Does Blaze know?"
"No idea if she does. You know we agreed long ago not to pry into whatever love letters they wrote, so she may know, or she may not. Either way, he said to tell you and Blaze hi and that he'll give Blaze a discount on her first purchase." Suddenly, Maho realized that her other sibling wasn't here. "Where is Blaze anyways?" she asked, gazing around.
"She went to help Rikona wash tanks for a month. In a bathing suit. Lucky." Miho muttered, though she was really only a little envious.
"Sounds like Rikona got into trouble again." Maho sighed. "She's usually more careful about that kind of stuff."
"Isn't she an adult though?" Miho asked. "I thought your parents couldn't do that to you when you are an adult.
"Things are different for Heiress, Miho." Maho reminded her. "As a Heirress or Vice Heiress, you are still bound by your parent's rules both on and off the ship until one of you takes over as headmaster."
Hanoashi wandered into the building, dressed in a light gray one piece and sandals. "Rikona...you called?" she asked.
"Hanoashi, over here!"
Hanoashi walked over, noticing Hitomi and Rikona both in swimsuits. "Um...We're going to wash tanks, right Rikona?"
Rikona smiled. "Yes, but Hitomi's been tasked with observing us, plus she made us some sandwiches. Come, sit with us."
Obeying, Hanoashi sat across from her two cousins. "So...it's been a while since we've last hung out like this," she began, feeling a tad awkward.
"We'll be seeing each other a lot more, especially since Yukaro's took over the Tank shop store," Hitomi smiled gently.
Hanoashi's eyes widened. "Yukaro's here? And owns a storefront?"
"Well, yeah, of course he is," Rikona muttered, passing Hanoashi a sandwich. "We is gunning for you, after all."
Hanoashi smirked before taking a bite of her sandwich. "I'm gunning for him to, so it's fair."
"Hanoashi...you do realize what marriage means, right?" she asked slowly.
"It means you live together with someone you love very much, to become one family. Of course it's not always easy and...dude! Not at the table!" Hanoashi gasped, realizing what they meant. "But yeah, I get that too," she added more calmly. "You don't need to worry about me."
"Just looking out for ya is all," Hitomi smiled, going back to her sandwich.
After a bit of time they had finished their food. "Thanks for the meal," Hanoashi smiled.
"It's no problem," Hitomi smiled, then glanced at Rikona. "Isn't it time for you to get to washing the tanks?"
"Ah, but aren't you supposed to wait thirty minutes before going for a swim?" Rikona whined cheekily.
"You're not going for a swim sis, so get to work!" Hitomi hissed, before turning to her. "Hanoashi, come over here and I'll teach you how to wash this Type 89," she added.
Hanoashi walked over, gazing at the tank. "Isn't this a little...weak for the high school leauge?" She asked.
Hitomi sighed. "Tell that to my superiors," she grumbled. "Anyways...you noticed Rikona isn't wearing her wedding ring?"
Hanoashi gazed at Rikona, who was grumbling over by the P-40. "I guess I never paid any attention," Hanoashi shrugged, just now realizing that the silver band Rikona would wear was missing.
"I've noticed she's been a bit...sporadic about it," Hitomi shrugged. "Of course I wear mine all the time, but...I believe you've opted not to wear one once you get married."
Hanoashi shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with rings, it's just that I hate the sight or feel of something stuck on my fingers, so I'm opting not to wear one."
"That's fine, but you'll have to be on the look out for guys trying to catch you. Not that this gold wrapped around my finger helps me any," Hitomi muttered, flexing her left hand a bit in clear agitation.
"Aren't you going to teach me how to wash tanks?" Hanoashi asked, growing bore of ring talk.
Hitomi shrugged. "Now, you have to make sure everything is out of the tracks, and you have to make sure that no water gets into the turret." Hitomi began. "Now, don't freak out if it does get into the turret, but you'll have a mess inside the tank to clean if you do, so best to avoid it if you can."
"I think I've got it," Hanoashi smiled.
"Good. I'll reach you how to clean the cannon once you get done with this washing this tank, so have at it!" Hitomi smiled.
Hanoashi went around the tank, spraying every nook and cranny with care. After about four minutes, she turned off the hose. "I think I'm done," she nodded.
Hitomi gazed at the tank and nodded in approval. "You're done with the power washing, but now you've got to do the scrubbing. Just to keep things spotless." Hitomi handed her a bucket and sponge. "Just scrub the soapy water on the tank and wash it off again, and we can move on to the final step."
Hanoashi mentally sighed and went to scrubbing the tank. Kinda wondering why I'm doing this, but still...as much as I like hanging out with Rikona and Hitomi, washing tanks is a bit of a drag. Hanoashi suddenly growled inwardly. Shut up Blaze, you are a Katoni, this is what you're supposed to do! Charity though work, remember?
It took her about four minutes to finish scrubbing the tank, and as she washed the suds off, she let out a small smile at how pristine the tank looked. "That looks a lot better!" she mused.
"I know right?" Hitomi smiled, bringing over some sort of dry sponge and bristles, both on a six foot stick. "Now, you place the bristle down the barrel and slowly scrape any of the residue. Be careful not to go too fast with the scratching, as you can cause some of the power to discharge, it won't kill you or anything, but it can be quite messy."
Hanoashi nodded, climbing onto the tank and gingerly placing the bristle into the barrel, slowly moving it back and forth. "How will I know it's been enough?"
"Just give it a good scratching, there's no real way to tell once the cannon is clean," Hitomi urged.
Hanoashi nodded, continuing to scratch for a few minutes. "So these are Ooarai's old tanks?" she asked.
"Yeah, except for the Stug III, we had to buy a whole new one since the old one was stuck in the middle of a lake," Hitomi admitted. "We also replaced all of the engines, treads, wheels, transmissions, and cannons, to they are very much like brand new tanks."
"Must have cost a lot of money," Hanoashi admitted, carefully pulling out the bristle.
"So, for this next part, you take the sponge and ram it down the barrel. Then you gently twist it, and slowly pull it out while twisting the sponge."
Hanoashi nodded, carefully performing the next step.
"As for the cost...The Stug was about sixty-four and a half million yen, and the other tanks cost anywhere between five and twenty-five million yen each. So about...a couple hundred million yen? I'd have to ask Rikona for the exact cost..."
"Three hundred and forty five million yen plus some change," Rikona called out.
"That's...quite a lot of money," Hanoashi mused. "What's that...like three million in us Dollars?"
Hitomi nodded. "That's why we have to use the tanks we have now," she admitted. "I'd like to exchange some of the tanks, like the Type 89 for a T-50, the Char for a Panzer III J, the Porsche Tiger for a regular tiger, and the M3-lee for a Sherman. But...we have to take what we can get. Us Matsumino may be millionaires, but we don't have that much money to be frivolously wasting money on better tanks."
"Why exactly did you start the Sensado team again?" Hanoashi asked, "It seems so sudden..."
Hitomi frowned. "Well...it was one of the conditions to keep Ooarai open," She admitted.
Hanoashi nearly dropped the sponge she had just pulled out. "Ooarai's closing down?" she gasped.
Hitomi shrugged. "Not anymore, but the Ministry of Education insisted that both of Ooarai's academies restart their Sensado team. Along which me and Rikona married the Heir and Vice Heir of Ooarai boy's academy, so yeah. Plus, all Nishmari students have to attend Ooarai if they don't attend another high school."
"Are you and Rikona happy with the marriages?" Hanoashi dared to ask.
"Me and Kazuto get along well enough, and he's pretty good in bed, so I'm satisfied." Hitomi shrugged.
Yeah...right...Hanoashi mused immediately, not buying it for a moment. Why do you sound so misrible then...
"Rikona on the other hand secretly liked the vice heir of Ooarai before the agreement took place, so she's beyond happy. Except that he refuses to tie her up, which she's always grumbling about."
"Seriously, that's what she's unhappy about?" Hanoashi muttered. "Never mind."
"She should consider herself lucky he'd willing to go along with the handcuffing thing," Hitomi chuckled.
"I can hear you two over there!" Rikona protested hotly.
"Well, this tank is done, so I'll let you and Rikona finish the rest. Have fun!"
Hanoashi chuckled and walked up to Rikona. "So, which tank next?"
"I'd say the Porsche Tiger, since it's the biggest...or maybe the Mark V?"
Hanoashi just noticed the mark V and slapped her head. "Seriously, out of all the tanks you'd need to replace, you didn't replace this one?"
Rikona shrugged. "I tried to convince grandfather, but he said that he's only interested in keeping what we have at the moment."
"Well he spend like three and a half million already, right?" Hanoashi mused.
"Rikona chuckled. "That's Chump-change compared to what he spend on the boy's acadmy sensado team."
"About how much?" Hanoashi asked.
"Well, he bought three Shermans, three T-50's, three Panzer III's and Three panzer IV G's, which totaled to about...one billion and 42 million yen, though he bought them from a US manufacturer, so he paid about...nine and a half million in US dollars. Not including the cost of support equipment, fuel, ammunition, maintenance supplies, and so on." Rikona admitted as she began to spray the tank.
"Wow...no wonder he didn't want to replace our tanks," Hanoashi mused, joining Rikona.
"Well...he did replace the Stug III, it was so rusted that it was very close to suffering a hull break, but yeah, grandfather had to buy thirteen new tanks, twelve since that's what the co-ed and male academies require in order to participate in their tournaments, and our Stug replacement."
"But still, well over a Billion yen is a lot of money to spend," Hanoashi noted gazing around at the tanks. This is going to take a while, she realized.