Chapter 23: Trouble in Paradise
After his antivenom treatment was complete, Joseph slowly stepped out of the medical tent. His crew immediately jumped up and ran over to him. "Are you okay?" they asked.
Joseph took a deep breath. "Yeah, once you get past the shock, snake bites are fairly easy to treat," he said. He looked around for a moment, noticing Elliot's absence. "Where's Elliot?" he asked.
Miho stepped forward. "Before we answer that question, I want to hear it from you. Did you attack the flag tank on foot with your Tankgewehr?" she asked with a stern stare.
Joseph gulped. "Yes, but we only-" he started.
Miho frowned. "No, I don't want to hear any excuses!" she snapped, "I gave you explicit, clear orders not to dismount your rifle from your tank and use it on foot! This isn't a world war, we can't do that sort of thing!"
Joseph clenched his jaw, but sighed and looked Miho in the eyes. "Miho- Captain Nishizumi, I'm sorry I attacked the enemy flag tank on foot. It was dumb of me and it won't happen again," he apologized.
Miho's eyes somewhat softened, but she still stared at him sternly. "Okay, I accept your apology, but there will still be consequences when we return to the garages."
"I understand," he replied. It did little to lift the somber mood and repair the damage. "Now, where's Elliot?" Joseph asked, "y-you didn't yell at him too, d-did you?" His eyes fell onto Elliot's discarded helmet and he picked it up.
"I did," Miho replied, "he apologized and went to your tank."
Joseph's eyes widened. "Why did you go off on him?" he asked, feeling his own anger starting to rise. "Don't you know he's on the spectrum?" he asked.
"Spectrum? What?" Miho asked.
"ASD! Autism Spectrum Disorder!?" Joseph exclaimed. "Don't tell me you didn't know!" he shouted.
"W-what? I had no idea," Miho said.
Joseph glared at her. "No, that's BS! It's on his file, the student council should have told you, it's something you should have!"
Miho stepped back. "W-well yeah as captain I do have some access to teammate's information," she stuttered.
"Then how the hell did you not know he's autistic and react a bit more accordingly!" Joseph shouted, "you've got that big impressive memory, you've memorized everyone's names and birthdays! This is something you should have fucking known!" He took off his helmet and slammed it against the picnic table. "Haven't you noticed?!" he ranted, "there is a reason Elliot is on my crew, why he's MY radio operator! Don't you see how he never hangs out with anyone else, why he doesn't do school projects with anyone but my crew and I? How he hardly ever interacts with others?! Because it scares him half to death! He's not good with people, he only feels comfortable around us because he trusts us!"
"I-I didn't know!" Miho cried, now her own tears started to fall, "If I had known I would've- would've-"
"Bullshit!" Joseph yelled, "I am fully ready to accept punishment for MY actions, but he doesn't think like us, he likes following orders because he trusts me to give them without getting him in trouble, so punish ME for MY orders, not him for following them! He wasn't even at the meeting where you told everyone no foot combat. Yes, it's MY job to tell him that, but since I didn't, I should be yelled at, not him!"
Everything went silent as if the world outside of the picnic tables nearby never existed. Everyone was too afraid to move as they stared with gaping mouths and wide eyes. Joseph threw his helmet angrily onto the ground. "You've messed everything up," he accused while turning away and walking towards the T1E1. When he stopped outside the tank, he could hear sobbing on the inside. He tried to open one of the hatches to find that it was locked shut. He's just going to need to let it all out until he's got it all out… he thought sadly. His head started to hurt from the shouting and exhaustion, so he gave one last glare back at Miho and the team before walking off on the gravel. "I'm going for a walk, don't bother waiting for me," he shouted.
As he walked, the tense atmosphere faded somewhat and the world seemed to return to some semblance of normalcy. He was only accompanied by the soft crunching of gravel under his boots. God… this is all fucked everything up he thought bitterly. He sighed and looked up at the orange evening sky as he wandered. His legs started to feel weak as the exhaustion of the day's match and treatment took hold. He didn't know how far from the medical tent he was before he sat down on the side of the road, facing the endless jungle beyond the ditch on the side of the road. He rested his arms on his knees and just sat listening to the sounds of the jungle.
He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him. He didn't care to check who it was until they were right behind him. "You're on Oarai's team right?" Tamada asked.
Joseph turned to look up at her. "Yeah, and?" he asked before turning back to the jungle.
"Why're you out here by yourself, sitting on the side of the road?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
"I could ask you the same thing," Joseph replied bitterly.
"If I tell you why I'm out here, will you tell me?" she asked.
"Sure, go for it," he answered.
"Well, I got into a fight with one of my friends. I needed some time to cool my head," Tamada explained.
"No kidding," Joseph said unemotionally, "same."
"What'd you fight about?" she asked.
"I'll tell you if you tell me," Joseph mimicked with a small smirk.
Tamada sighed. "Alright, my friend Fukuda, she commanded the flag tank in our match," she explained, "when we charged your force at the golf course lot, Maiko, the commander of the 9TP, and her laid back. Maiko tried to sneak up on your flag tank while Fukuda ran away. When we got back, I got really mad at her."
"Sounds like a smart move, the Type 95 isn't much to look at," Joseph commented.
"Hey!" Tamada started, "it's the Chi-Ha-Tan spirit that she stepped on by running!" But then she frowned, "And yet, out of all of us, it was her who knocked out the most tanks, despite running when we charged."
Joseph snorted. "Maybe running straight at a superior enemy isn't the best tactic," he said.
"Maybe, but it's how Chi-Ha-Tan does everything. We never shy away from a battle, it would be dishonorable."
"Is it not dishonorable to recklessly throw your tank into fire knowing you won't win?" he asked.
That got Tamada to stop and think. "I mean, maybe. Honor isn't necessarily dictated by number of kills though," she replied.
"But it is an indicator of good performance, and that's something to be proud of," Joseph said.
Tamada sighed again. "And here I was thinking our charges were beginning to work since we made it past the first round," she murmured.
"It makes sense to close in on the enemy though," Joseph pointed out, "your tanks just don't have the firepower to fight at long distances so the only way you can take out the enemy is by getting close. What you guys need to do is develop your tactics so that you charge at the right moment and use your tanks to their fullest."
"How can we make our charges work?" Tamada asked.
"Use better timing, get the enemy when they least expect it, like today when you jumped out of the jungle, you managed to knock out Hippo Team," he explained, "next, use every tool in your arsenal at the right time. Smoke shells, machine guns, anything you have to give yourself the advantage."
"Like when you jumped out of your tanks to use your anti-tank rifles when your tread got knocked off by Fukuda?" Tamada asked.
Joseph winced. "D-don't leave your tank to engage on foot… I let my drive to win and adrenaline take over and I got in some hot water because of it," he said.
"And that's why you're out here?"
"Correct," Joseph answered. "Our captain was absolutely clear about not dismounting my Tankgewehr and attacking tanks on foot, but I didn't listen to her."
"And you got hurt," Tamada said.
Joseph nodded. "We won, but at the cost of my health and her trust. I fully deserved to be yelled at and punished, that wasn't why I got into a fight with her."
Tamada tilted her head in confusion. "Then why did you fight with her?" she asked.
"Because while I was in the medical tent, she publicly scolded my radio operator for joining me. Publicly scolding someone already, in my opinion, is a scummy thing to do, but regardless…" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "She went too far on him, he's on the Autism Spectrum and something like that can turn into some nasty business. He didn't even know we weren't supposed to use them on foot. I just let him have it because he was so fascinated with them when I ordered them. I initially just wanted them in storage as backups, but he asked to have one in the tank with him to fiddle with during downtimes in the match."
"So he didn't have the rifle with the intention to follow you on foot?" Tamada asked.
"Yeah, I just took advantage of it when I ordered him to join me. I feel horrible doing it, but it should've been me she yelled at, not him."
"That must suck. How's he doing now?" she asked.
"When I left, he had locked himself up in the T1E1 and was crying," Joseph answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Tamada whispered.
"Yeah…" Joseph replied. The two sat in awkward silence for a while.
"What're you going to do now?" Tamada asked, breaking the silence.
Joseph shrugged. Tamada silently nodded and stared off into the jungle. "I don't know either…" she whispered. As the sun started to set, crickets started to chirp deep in the jungle. "How's your snake bite?" she asked.
"Still a little sore, but the doctor said it'll heal in a few days," Joseph answered.
"That's good…"
"Yeah…"
Tamada slowly stood up. "Well, I think I'll go apologize to Fukuda for lashing out now. If you'd like, you can join me. Afterward, I can take you back to your prep lot in my Shinhoto since our lot is closer from here to yours, by a bit anyway," she offered.
Joseph climbed to his feet as well. "Sure, sure, I could use some more time away anyway and the jungle is starting to get boring," he said.
The two started walking down the gravel road towards Chi-Ha-Tan's prep lot. After a few minutes of walking, they reached their destination as the sun finally disappeared under the horizon. They walked through the central pathway with Chi-Ha-Tan's tanks beside them, where the crews were relaxing, eating, and waiting for the order to drive back to the schoolship. Tamada and Joseph stopped in front of Fukuda's Type 95 Ha-Go. "Hey, do you guys know where Fukuda is?" Tamada asked.
"Yeah, she and Nishi went to go see Oarai's captain," Fukuda's driver replied from her position in the hull.
"Okay, thank you," Tamada replied with a bow. "Alright, I guess we'll head over to your lot a little earlier."
Joseph just shrugged. "Works for me," he simply said.
The two went over the Tamada's Type 97 Shinhoto, where her crew was sitting at a table next to it. "I'm gonna take the tank over to Oarai's prep lot," Tamada informed and climbed into the driver's position. Her crew just nodded and paid them no mind as Joseph climbed into the hull gunner's position. The Mitsubishi V-12 motor fired up after Tamada flipped the ignition switch. She pressed down on the steering levers and drove the tank out of the prep lot and onto the gravel road.
000
"Huh? Where is everybody?" Nishi asked as she stood in front of Oarai's prep lot. All the tanks were there, haphazardly and sloppily parked in their stalls except for the T1E1.
"Maybe they're all still at the medical tent?" Fukuda proposed, standing next to her commander.
"Oh yeah, I thought I heard that someone was bitten by a Habu," Nishi said, "well, I think the medical tent isn't far from here anyway." The two commanders walked through Oarai's prep lot to the other side where another gravel road led to the main spectator area, where all the temporary official buildings, concession stands, and the medical tent were slowly getting packed up. After a short walk down the gravel road, they approached the main spectator area and the service area.
When they approached, they were completely shocked at the complete disarray and dismay of Oarai's crews. I expected them to be a little concerned for their friend, but this? Something else has to have happened… Nishi thought as she approached. A few of the teams who silently sat at the farthest away picnic tables looked up as she approached. Some of them were half-heartedly trying to eat something from the concession stands or trying to occupy themselves with their phone or a book, but nobody looked even remotely okay. They hardly looked like the victors of the match, rather they looked like they had just been completely demolished.
At the two tables closest to the medical tent were Hyena and Anglerfish Team. Anglerfish Team huddled close to Miho, who was crying into her arms on the table while Hyena Team seemed to mindlessly stare between Miho, the T1E1 parked across the road, and down the road. Initially, Nishi was there to congratulate the winners and inquire about which tank they would like to take as their trophy, but seeing the state they were in, her priorities obviously changed. She stepped towards Miho. "Miho, guys, what's wrong?" she asked softly.
Miho didn't look up, but Hana did. "I-it's difficult to explain right now," she explained distraughtly.
"I understand," Nishi replied and knelt next to Miho. Because she was taller than average, she was level with Miho. "Hey, Miho," she said with concern.
"W-what," she managed to stutter between sobs.
"What's wrong?" Nishi asked with warmth and concern.
"I-I feel horrible, I've f-failed as a captain," Miho cried.
"Why?" Nishi asked.
"I-I lost my temper, I l-lashed out at one of my teammates a-after the match a-nd Joseph and I-I got into a f-fight," Miho stuttered.
"Miho, can you look at me for a moment?" Nishi asked. Miho slowly raised her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was red, and her face was streaked with tears. Nishi took her into a motherly hug. Miho buried her face into Nishi's shoulder, gratefully accepting the comfort. "What did you fight about?" Nishi asked.
"H-he attacked your flag tank on foot with his Tankgewehr. I told him not to and got really mad… I was just concerned about their safety," she managed to say before bursting into another fit of sobs.
"Everything will be alright Miho, just take a deep breath and let it all out," Nishi comforted.
"But t-then while Joseph was in the medical tent I-I scolded his radio operator who joined him on foot and I let my anger out on him," Miho sorrowfully explained, "but I went too far… I didn't know he was autistic and now he's upset and Joseph's gone."
Nishi released Miho from her hug and held her firmly on her shoulders. "Then what you need to do is take responsibility and make amends. You need to clear your head and keep moving, just like a tank under fire would," Nishi advised, "sometimes we let our emotions take over, we're all guilty of that, but when the emotions pass, it's our responsibility to pick ourselves back up and put things back together. Our actions after the fact are what really matters in the end."
"How can I do that?" Miho asked, wiping away her tears.
The sound of a tank approaching interrupted their conversation. Everyone turned to the gravel road as a Type 97 Shinhoto passed the T1E1 and parked in front of them. From the hull hatches, Joseph and Tamada climbed out of the tank and started walking towards the group. Nishi smiled reassuringly. "By starting with him," she advised.
Miho shakily nodded and stood up. She slowly walked towards Joseph and met him halfway between the Shinhoto and the picnic tables. "Joseph, I-I'm sorry I lashed out at you and Elliot. I was out of line, even if you disobeyed my order to not attack tanks on foot, I shouldn't have let my emotions take control and shout at you like I did."
"And I shouldn't have done the same," Joseph replied, "I'm sorry, the things I said weren't necessary. You have a lot on your shoulders so something like Elliot's disability could've easily slipped out of mind. But still, I would like you to apologize to him as well."
"Of course, and since you're the most familiar with his condition and how he is, what's the best way to approach him?" Miho asked.
"Well, once he's calmed down, just go to him, say what you want to say, and don't drag it out. He probably won't want anything more than that, because of his social anxiety," Joseph advised.
Miho nodded and looked at the T1E1. She slowly approached the heavy tank and listened for any noise from within the tank. When she heard nothing, she gently knocked on the radio operator's hatch. "Who is it?" Elliot asked.
"It's me, Miho," Miho replied, "I want to apologize."
The hatch unlocked with a click. Miho stepped back to let it open and Elliot poked his head out. His face wasn't much better than Miho's and his hair was ruffled and messy. "Elliot, I'm sorry that I yelled at you earlier. I didn't know about your condition, but that doesn't excuse my actions. Can you forgive me?" she asked.
Elliot just nodded and shrunk into the tank again. Miho turned to Joseph. "Is that all?" she asked.
Joseph nodded, but Elliot rose from the tank once more, this time with a damp washcloth. He silently offered it to Miho with an extended arm. "Thank you," Miho said before taking it and wiping off her face. He simply nodded in response.
Near the picnic tables, Tamada approached Fukuda. "Hey, Fukuda," Tamada began.
Fukuda turned to her teammate with a wary face. "I'm sorry for yelling at you early for retreating during our charge. In the end, you knocked out the most tanks out of the entire team, so I think that shows you didn't do it out of cowardice," Tamada apologized, "you really have the spirit of Chi-Ha-Tan, probably more than some of us do."
Fukuda looked up to her taller teammate. "T-thank you Tamada," she replied with a hint of embarrassment.
Nishi smiled at her teammates. "I'm glad that you two have smoothed things over," she said, "I'm proud of your effort as well Fukuda.
Fukuda blushed more. "Thank you Captain Nishi!" she exclaimed with a bow.
As Miho and Joseph returned to the group, Nishi stepped forward to meet them. "Now that everything's starting to be smoothed over, I'd like to congratulate you on your victory, Captain Nishizumi," she said, reaching out a hand.
Miho took her hand gratefully. "Thank you, Captain Nishi, it was a pleasure," she replied.
"So, who would you like to take as your trophy tank?" Nishi asked.
Before Miho could respond, Fukuda spoke up, "Um, if I may, could I join your team, Captain Nishizumi?"
Everyone turned to Fukuda with surprise. "I promise to try my best!" she exclaimed, "I'd really like to learn how to be a better tank commander from you!"
Miho smiled. "We would love to have you, Fukuda!" she replied cheerfully.
"Welcome to the team," Joseph said with a smile.
000
With the moon shining bright in the sky, each of Oarai's tanks was returned to their garage spot one by one and were shut down. While the team slowly began to file out of the garage, Joseph waited just outside of Garage 2 when Miho left the garage, shut the large, green doors, and locked them. "So, what do you want me to do as a punishment?" Joseph asked, "clean all the tanks with a toothbrush?"
Miho grimaced. "Ew, no, that sounds awful," she replied, "I was thinking I'd just let it go since we're both even because well…"
"I don't think we are," Joseph said, "just because you made a mistake handling the situation doesn't excuse my actions. So what'll it be?"
Miho sighed. "If you insist… You can work on cleaning up the old club headquarters instead of commanding your tank during practice for this week. Your team should be fine without you," she conceded.
"You only chose that because you already know I wanted to do that," Joseph replied, "but if that satisfies you, then it satisfies me." He walked over to Garage 1 and unlocked it.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Miho asked, joining him.
"Getting supplies," Joseph answered and opened the door a bit.
"Are you really going to start now?" Miho asked, "it's nearly ten o'clock!"
Joseph turned to Miho with a small smile and put his hand on her shoulder. "Let me tell you something my dad always used to tell me," he started before clearing his throat and adopting a deeper voice, "'When a David fucks up, he must immediately do what he can to unfuck up.'"
"Oh," Miho whispered, "wise words… I suppose."
Joseph chuckled. "Yeah, he truly has a way with words. Oh well, it's the message as that counts," he said. He pulled the Tankgeweher crate out of his office and threw the third rifle he had aside and dumped the packing peanuts into a large trash can. He put the crate in the back of the M6 tractor and started loading it with cleaning supplies and tools. While he worked, Miho awkwardly watched in the garage doorway. Once he was finished, he started climbing into the tractor when he noticed Miho's presence. "So… you gonna head home?" he asked.
"Um… actually can I join you?" Miho asked, "I-I still don't really feel like I've done enough to make things right with you and Elliot."
"Sure, I guess, hop in," he offered.
While Miho climbed into the passenger seat, Joseph fired up the engines of the tractor. He turned on the headlights which illuminated the doorway of the garage and in the doorway, to their surprise, were their crewmates.
"What are you guys doing with the tractor this late?" Saori asked.
"Better not be planning to start any 'punishments' without us," Kass said with a smirk as she stepped forward, "we didn't exactly do anything to stop you from chasing that Ha-Go, so I think we need to be 'punished' too."
"And we didn't try to defuse the situation at the medical tent," Hana pointed out, "so let's be 'punished' together."
Joseph buried his face in his hands and chuckled. "I can't hide anything from you guys, can I?" he asked.
"We've known you for long enough to know that you'd want to start right away on whatever Miho was going to punish you with," Morgan said.
"Alright, alright, hop in, or get in the back with the supplies, we've got a job to do," Joseph said. Everyone quickly climbed aboard the tractor, squeezing into every space they could find.
000
The old Sensha-do club headquarters looked even worse up close. The headquarters was separated into two fairly long buildings with a walkway on the second floor between the buildings. The structure looked stable, but some of the siding was hanging off, many of the windows were broken, and overall the building was in a state of disrepair.
"I mean… it could be worse. At least it's still standing," Joseph commented as he parked the M6 tractor in front of the building.
Miho shrugged. "I guess, but we should still take a look around and make sure it's stable before we begin work," she said.
Joseph nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's split up and take a look around, if you find anything interesting, let me know," he said. Everyone nodded and split up to search through the abandoned building. Miho and Joseph entered the first room on the right side. The floor was plain concrete and the walls were plaster with holes and scratches scattered erratically. "Looks like a basic office, nothing special," Joseph noted.
Miho walked over and investigated the bare steel desk. A classroom chair was completely pushed in and all the drawers were empty. She pulled out the chair and noticed a switch on the inside of the desk. "Hey, come look I found a switch," she said.
"I found one too," Joseph replied while flicking a switch on the wall. An old light bulb hanging from a thin wire lit up the room dimly. "Funky."
"Funny, should I flip this one?" Miho asked.
"Can't hurt to test out the wiring in this place," Joseph commented.
Miho shrugged and flipped the switch. Initially, nothing happened, until the loud clanging and sound of heavy machinery filled the area. The two left the room to investigate.
Everyone gathered at the back of the building on the central concrete pathway where, to their surprise, a ramp had extended into the ground and revealed an underground section of the old headquarters. "An underground section? Sick!" Joseph exclaimed.
Mako was shivering and her feet were stuck to the ground. "B-but what if there's g-ghosts?!" she asked in a complete state of panic.
"Relax, ghosts don't exist, at least, unless you drink enough," Morgan reassured.
"Um… okay, I guess we can check this out now," Miho suggested.
"What if there's a tank down there?!" Yukari suggested. She couldn't help but build up a burst of energy and run excitedly down the ramp.
"Hey, wait up Yukari!" Miho yelled while running after her. The rest of the group followed them into the new section of the headquarters. Without any sunlight and artificial light, the section was completely dark, until Mako was able to find a light switch illuminating the hidden garage.
In front of them was a tall, large tank. The mere sight of it made Yukari's knees weak. Its specifically crafted manganese armor could deflect bullets back at the enemy, its many machine guns protected it from all angles, and it boosted an engineering sophistication that made the brightest tank designers swoon and envy.
In front of Anglerfish and Hyena Team was the genius creation of a former Minister of Public Works who served the great country of New Zealand and its Labor Party. There was a reason Japan never invaded New Zealand and it stood gallantly in front of them in all its strength and glory.
000
And thus comes the end of another eventful chapter. I wonder what super secret super powerful tank has found. As we all know, New Zealand is well known for their proficiency in designing armored vehicles so there is a great many great and powerful vehicles to choose from. Only I know however, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter! Thank you all for the favorites, follows, reviews, and views! It's been a blast so far, so let's just keep going, shall we?
Next time on Girls und Panzer: Tank Aces!
Chapter 24: Learning How to Swim!