Chapter 25: Baiji and Bystrokhodny
The volleyball match between Leopard Team and Duck Team was getting intense as both sides hit the ball over the net and to the other team. They traded the ball back and forth and the score was close at 24-25 with Duck Team ahead by one. However, to win a game of volleyball one team must be ahead by two points. Jody ran forward to spike the ball into the sand on the opposite side of the net. As she got close to the net, however, her foot slid on smooth warm steel instead of sand and flew back further than she expected. With a shout of surprise, she fell to the ground and face-planted into the sand. To add insult to injury, the volleyball landed next to her, winning a point for Duck Team and ending the game. She picked herself up and shook the sand off her face. "What in the world?" she asked as she turned around to examine the steel plate that caused her to slip.
"Are you alright, Jody?" Chloe asked as she ran over.
"Yeah, but look at this," Jody replied and brushed some more sand from the plate. To her surprise, the steel was not a simple flat slab, but rather a hatch! She was able to pry it open and peer inside. Immediately she was able to recognize that she was looking inside of a tank turret. The gun breech and rusty ammunition were dead giveaways. "It's a tank turret!" she exclaimed.
"A tank turret?" Noriko asked as she ran over.
Jody dove into the turret head first. "Yeah, a whole tank's buried here!" she answered, "get Yukari!"
Duck Team ran across the beach to grab Yukari, who ran over with Miho. "You guys found a tank buried in the sand?" Yukari asked excitedly.
Jody poked her head through the turret. "Yeah, it's got a gun and everything!" she answered, "do we have any shovels?"
"I think our vehicles should have some shovels stored away," Miho said.
"I always bring an entrenching tool in my bag!" Yukari added.
"And when all else fails, use your hands!" Chloe added while she started digging into the sand next to the turret and throwing it behind her. Many students on the team equipped themselves with shovels and began to uncover the mystery tank that Jody fell upon. After half an hour of sand digging, the tank was mostly unveiled, revealing a boxy hull with sharp edges and a piked front hull. Unfortunately, the treads were gone.
"So Yukari, what tank is this?" Jody asked.
"This is a PT-1A, a Soviet amphibious light tank based on the chassis of a BT-5! It's got all the BT-5's trademark features, adequate 45mm gun, speedy Christie suspension, well sloped but thin armor, I could go on and on about the BT series! To finally see one is so, so cool!" Yukari cheered.
"Another amphibious tank huh?" Miho said, "I mean… we are at a beach." She giggled.
William examined the tank with curiosity. "The real question is… how did a PT-1A get buried at a public beach in Okinawa?" he asked.
Canaveral sat at the edge of the sandpit before snapping with an idea. "You know, this place used to be a landfill! It got restored and the trash removed a while ago, but I remember my parents telling me about it a while ago. The PT-1A must have been dumped here and sifted under the sands before the beach was reclaimed," she proposed.
"I guess that would make sense," William replied.
Joseph drove the M6 behind the PT-1A and parked with the rear of the tractor facing the tank. "Well, finders keepers right?" he asked.
"Well it's clearly property of Oarai," Momo pointed out, pointing to the logo of Oarai on the side of the turret.
"Perfect, no need for the bureaucrats to get involved!" Joseph joked while he and his team hooked up the tank to the M6.
"Wait, we can't just drag it over the streets with no treads," Miho pointed out.
"Actually we can! The Christie suspension was designed to be able to drive without its treads and the wheels have rubber lining so it can drive on roads," Yukari explained.
"So it'll be fine to take it back without the treads?" Miho asked.
Yukari nodded. "Yeah! To think we'd find two new tanks here…" she said dreamily.
Miho giggled. "Yeah, but wasn't this trip meant for us to take a break from tanks?" she asked.
"Looks like we can't get away from them," Ross said, watching as Natalie crawled up to the tank and observed the large suspension wheels. She pulled herself onto her feet and patted on the rubber. "Do you want up on the tank?" Ross asked as he knelt next to her.
"Up!" Natalie babbled. Ross smiled and picked her up before awkwardly climbing onto the tank. He climbed down into the turret and stood in the hatch.
"Isn't this cool? It's your first time in a tank!" Ross said.
Natalie nodded happily and grabbed onto the edge of the hatch opening. She pointed forward eagerly. "Ire!" she ordered before waving her hands and making childish explosion noises.
"Aren't you a little young to be giving orders?" Ross asked with a
smile. Natalie giggled and shook her head.
"And!" she ordered.
"And?" Ross asked.
"And!" she demanded, pointing back to the ground.
"Oh, you want to go back to play in the sand," Ross realized. The two climbed down from the tank and went back to their umbrella while Joseph pulled the PT-1A to the rest of their vehicles. With everyone's help, the hole where the PT-1A was hidden was filled back up quickly and everyone could return to swimming and playing around. While a lot of them went back into the water or continued fighting with their water guns, Miho drowsily grabbed her towel from the Panzer IV and spread it out on the sand. However, in her tired state, she forgot to spread it out in the shade and laid down, letting the sun shine over her unhindered. "Mmm, warm," she mumbled.
Ross and Natalie were building a sandcastle when she fell asleep on her towel. Well, Ross was doing most of the building, Natalie was more than content just patting mounds of sand together. He looked over and noticed Miho laying in the sun. He blushed lightly, before shaking his head and standing up. That's a great way to get a terrible sunburn, he thought. While Natalie was preoccupied, he pulled up the umbrella and moved his stuff over the Miho so she could be shaded from the sun. "Let's go over here for a bit," he whispered before putting a finger over his lips, "but we gotta be quiet, let's not wake Miho up."
Natalie didn't raise any objections and happily crawled over the sand and over to their new spot. She simply started padding together mounds of sand again. Ross sat down on his own towel and watched Natalie play in the sand.
The wind gently blew across the sands and everything was peaceful. The air was fresh and salty and the sun nice and bright. Nothing was wrong at all. At least until a menacing robot crab attacked once more. Ross lazily turned to the remote control crab that Chloe and Jody were using to harass him. The little crab was pinching at his feet with mechanical little clicks. He rolled his eyes and tossed it lightly away, only for Jody to have it crawl back to him. Ross glared at Jody and Chloe, before grabbing it and holding it up as if he was saying, "I'm going to turn your toy into crab legs if you don't back off." He once more tossed it away and resumed supervising his daughter.
The crab scurried off and Ross was relieved until it came back with a notecard in one of its pincers. Aww, aren't you three cute together, like a happy little fam- Ross stopped reading and facepalmed, before throwing the crab back to Jody and Chloe, who were snickering to themselves and throwing the card in a trash bag he had.
The crab returned once more with another card and a small piece of chocolate taped to it. Valentine's Day came early! Why don't you- he stopped reading and threw the card in the trash and the crab back at his crewmates. He did, however, take the chocolate and ate it while glaring at them.
Once more, the crab returned with another card. That wasn't for you! It was for your girl- Ross facepalmed again and repeated the process. His crewmates were persistent and the crab returned with another note. Just admit it! It read with a little heart at the end. Ross threw the notecard away and again tossed the crab away irately. However, he decided to take more action. He took a small water balloon he had secretly bought out of its package and filled it with water from the ocean. "Screw off!" he shouted while throwing the balloon at Jody and Chloe, who finally scurried off. "Annoying brats…" he mumbled. He returned to his towel and sat down.
Miho slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes drowsily. "Wha…" she mumbled.
Ross turned to her. "The beach can be tiring, can't it?" he asked.
Miho slowly nodded, gathering her senses. "Yeah I guess, I didn't sleep much last night though. I was out with Joseph renovating the old headquarters. It's still not done, but we did some good work."
"Out with Joseph huh?" Ross asked. He felt his heart tighten and a hint of jealousy pang. No, don't get jealous. You aren't in a relationship, she isn't your- He shook his thoughts away and tried to force the jealousy away. "Oh yeah, sounds like fun." You couldn't do that if you were with her you know, you have to stay home and watch Natalie… an intrusive thought burst into his head. He grit his teeth and imagined himself beating away the intrusion with a stick, a funny, but effective visualization technique he learned from Pastor Barnes.
"You okay Ross?" Miho asked with concern.
Ross snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh… yeah I'm fine," he replied.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
Ross froze. "You know… stuff," he replied lamely.
Miho tilted her head in confusion. She's cute when she does that… Why do I keep thinking like this?! Ross questioned himself. Chill out dude, you gotta focus on school, Sensha-do, Natalie, everything else but romance- "Are you sure you're fine?" Miho asked, "you looked troubled."
"Uh, yep, everything's fine," he managed to awkwardly force out.
"Are you sure? If you need to let out your thoughts, I can listen," Miho said reassuringly.
You have a kid already, who would want to date someone with a kid in high school?! "Well actually, I could use a second opinion," he said. No! You've doomed yourself!
"What is it?" Miho asked.
"It's kinda personal, but how would you feel dating someone who couldn't really give you everything he could because he has previous obligations…" SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!
Miho blushed. "Oh…"
COVER YOURSELF NOW! "I'm uh… a-asking f-for a friend," he stuttered.
Miho couldn't help but giggle. "Oh I see," she said before her smile suddenly faded. Does that mean he likes someone? That's kind of a poor excuse… she thought, who could he like? Someone on the team? Her heart started hurting at the thought; however, she pulled herself together to answer her friend. "Well, I don't think that should matter," she answered.
"Huh?" Ross asked.
"What I mean is, so long as you two are happy and genuinely love each other… then who cares if you can't spend every moment together? That just makes the moments you are together more special," she answered with a growing blush, "just be happy and do what feels right."
Ross stared out to the open sea with a blank gaze, thinking about Miho's words. "And who knows… maybe that obligation will become a special part of the relationship, like working together or studying together. After all, aren't menial things like that better with people you love?" she asked.
I think I can say, as a fellow girl, that she'd rather have something over nothing, Jody's words echoed in Ross's mind, sometimes, it's your heart that knows better than your head. Who knows, maybe Miho will love Natalie just like she loves you, like a happy little family. "Thanks, Miho, I'll um, be sure to pass the message on."
"To who?" Miho asked, "maybe you could direct them to Saori! She's an expert on love."
Ross laughed and leaned back against the umbrella. "I'll be sure to let them know," he replied. Suddenly, the umbrella fell backward and pulled itself from the sand. Ross shouted with surprise as the edge of the umbrella hit the ground and caused it to fold in on itself, trapping Ross inside with only his legs poking out. Miho moved out of the way just in time.
"Are you alright?" she asked, suppressing giggles. Natalie blatantly laughed and clapped her hands at Ross's misfortune, who continued to struggle against the umbrella.
000
The afternoon slowly transitioned into the evening and the sun just barely peaked above the horizon casting an orange glow over the waves. With Natalie, tired from a day of activity, laying in his lap fast asleep, Ross watched as everyone started packing up their things. The temperature was starting to drop, so he had carefully put a plain white t-shirt on without disturbing Natalie and wrapped her in a dry towel. She leaned into him as if thanking him for the extra warmth. He started carefully packing up his things with his free hand when Miho stepped in and helped him put some of his stuff away. "Thank you," Ross said to her.
"Don't worry about it. It would've been hard to get everything put away with only one hand," Miho replied.
"Well, thanks anyway," Ross said as he climbed into the M6 tractor. He settled into the seat and leaned back against it, feeling exhaustion take hold. Tandy hopped into the driver's seat next to him while the rest of the crews began hopping into the seats behind them and in the cargo bed.
Just before Miho climbed into the turret of the Panzer IV, Ming ran over to her. "Hey, Miho, wait up for a moment," she requested.
Miho turned around and jumped down from the hull. "What's up Ming?" she asked.
"I just wanted to thank you guys for letting us hang out with you guys. It's definitely making your offer more tempting," Ming answered with a bright smile.
Miho blushed. "Oh, your welcome," she replied timidly, "it was our pleasure, honestly."
"Well then, shall we meet you guys after school tomorrow for the LVT(A)?" Ming asked.
"Sure, if you guys are free," Miho answered.
Ming flashed a bright smile and waved. "Well then, see you then!" she cheerfully said before turning and walking away.
"Bye, see you tomorrow!" Miho replied with her own wave before climbing into the commander's cupola.
Inside the turret of the Panzer IV, Yukari could hardly contain her excitement and wanted to share it with Miho. "I can't believe we found two more tanks!" she exclaimed, "how do you plan to use them Miho? I could see the PT-1A as an amphibious support and scouting tank. I can't wait to see it in action, it'll go so fast!"
Miho giggled. "Well, amphibious scouting could definitely be useful. To be honest though, I'm just glad we found a tank body for 'Bodiless Adna.'" she said.
"I get the bodiless part, but why Adna?" Hana asked, "Seems like a weird name to choose."
Yukari piped up again, "Oh, it's because of Adna R. Chaffee Jr! He was a U.S general who advocated heavily for mechanization in the US Army. The Light Tank, M24, was nicknamed after him because of it."
"Oh, I see," Hana replied, "Well it looks like it'll have to be called 'Floating Adna' now."
Anglerfish Team laughed together. "That was a good one, Hana," Miho complimented.
"So, what should we put on the radio guys?" Harriet asked over the connected intercoms.
"Just put on something good, I guess," Miho replied.
"Oh, giving me full control huh?" Harriet asked smugly, "alright then."
A heavy riff of an electric guitar followed closely by the fast, aggressive beating of drums flooded the radio. "Now there's a standstill in the war, repeating what's been done before! It must come to an end, a few will transcend!"
Maybe we should give her a suggestion next time… Miho thought, but she only turned down her radio a bit as they began their journey back to Oarai.
000
The next day, work on the LVT(A) and the PT-1A began at Oarai's Sensha-do garages after school. However, the team who volunteered to help clean up the PT-1A had some struggles to overcome. "I swear to God, if I find any more fucking sand in this fucking tank, I will melt it down and turn the sand into glass!" Jody shouted angrily while tossing another entrenchment tool full of beach sand out of the turret.
"Hey, watch your language!" Ross scolded while wiping down the turret, "you're the one who volunteered us to restore the tank!"
"Well yeah, I found it, why wouldn't I want to restore it?" Jody replied irately.
Ross rolled his eyes. "Then stop complaining," he said.
"Oh look at me, I'm Ross Huot, I'm all high and mighty because I'm the command-" Jody mocked before Ross tossed his washcloth at her.
In Garage 3, Fukuda and her Type 95 joined Duck Team and the Swimming Team. She stood next to her tank and admired her new uniform. "It is sort of nice to try something new on," she said.
"You look great Fukuda," Miho complimented.
Fukuda blushed shyly, "Oh, thank you Captain Nishizumi. I am in your care, and I hope to learn a lot from your guidance!" she exclaimed while bowing.
Miho smiled. "I'm sure you will Fukuda, and just Miho is fine," she reassured.
"Woah really? You're on a first-name basis with your subordinates?" Fukuda asked with surprise.
"I don't really think of you or them as subordinates," Miho explained, "more like fellow commanders."
Fukuda's eyes shined with admiration. "To be on a first-name basis with a Nishizumi, it's such an honor," she stated.
"Being a Nishizumi doesn't entitle me to respect. That's one thing about being a good commander, you have to earn your rank and respect," Miho advised.
Fukuda scrambled to pull out a small notebook and pencil to write notes in. "You must earn your rank and respect…" she whispered while furiously writing. When she was done she put her things away in her jacket and saluted. "Thank you for your advice Captain- I mean, Miho!" she exclaimed.
Miho couldn't help but giggle at Fukuda's passion. "You're welcome. If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask," Miho assured.
"Of course!" Fukuda exclaimed. She took a breath and calmed herself down. "Sorry, I'm just excited and a little nervous, Oarai is pretty different from Chi-Ha-Tan. Anyway, I noticed that you have little animal mascots on your tanks, why's that?" she asked.
"That indicates our call sign. Each of our tanks has a mascot, like Anglerfish Team for my tank, Leopard Team for Ross's, Rabbit Team for Asuza's, and so on. You'll need one for your tank as well, do you have any ideas?" Miho asked.
Fukuda stopped to think for a moment and hummed to herself while trying to decide on a name. "I think I'll go with Pheasant Team since it's the national bird of Japan!" she decided.
"Pheasant Team? Okay, I'll put you and your crew down for that. Whenever you're free, you can paint your logo on your turret. All the supplies you need are in this garage. If you need any help finding something, feel free to ask, okay?" Miho offered.
Fukuda nodded and ran over to the front of her tank while Miho smiled before turning to other matters. "Alright we're Pheasant Team now, so we need to do our best and memorize everyone else's call signs," she instructed.
Fukuda's driver, Tatsu Hasegawa, opened the front hull hatch of the Type 95. "Cool, I can hardly wait for our first match with Oarai. This is going to be fun!" she exclaimed eagerly.
Fukuda's gunner, Hanako Hirai, leaned on the hull in front of the machine gun. She had a single black braid while Fukuda had two and Tatsu had her hair down to her shoulders. "Well, at least we can still make it to the finals, even if it's no longer for Chi-Ha-Tan…" Hanako said.
"That's a good way to think positively, Hanako," Fukuda complimented, "our chance at glory isn't lost. No, I think we'll do great here, and we can go back to Chi-Ha-Tan as more experienced tankers!"
"Yeah, and then you can be the vice-captain Fukuda!" Tatsu suggested.
"Maybe even the captain once we become third years," Hanko added.
Fukuda blushed. "Oh jeez, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
In Garage 3, Joseph chained the M24 Chaffee turret to the garage's heavy-duty crane carefully. After double-checking each connection he grabbed the control remote from a table against the wall. "Alright guys, the turret's connected and going up, stay clear of the area near the LVT(A)!" he warned.
Everyone backed away and watched as the crane slowly pulled the turret into the air. This is going to be one heck of a job… Joseph thought as he slowly and carefully guided the turret through the air and over the LVT(A). When the turret ring and turret were lined up, Joseph slowly lowered the turret into the hole. The metal clanged when they came together, but the turret held on to the body. He let out a breath he was holding and set aside the remove. He grabbed a tool kit and climbed into the M24 turret to begin the process of hooking up the turret to the LVT(A).
While he worked on the tank, the Swimming Team stood back and debated joining the team. "We may as well at this point, they're willing to give us a turret for the LVT and we shouldn't just leave them with nothing to show for it," Mei said.
Suzu frowned. "I still don't trust them… somethings up here. Oarai goes 20 years without a Sensha-do program and they suddenly start it up, bring in some prodigy, and American transfers? What's going on here?" she replied.
Yoichi rolled her eyes. "It's not really suspicious if you ask me," she countered.
"I agree," Ryota added, "probably just a coincidence."
Anzu approached them from behind with the student council while chewing on a dried sweet potato. "What's suspicious?" she asked.
Suzu turned to face them. "So what's up with this Sensha-do team? Why'd it get restarted? In fact, why are you here? Don't you have student council things to do?" she questioned.
Anzu smiled and put a hand on Suzu's shoulder. "Come on, don't be so uppity!" she said with fake cheer, "we just want to help our school grow its programs! Isn't that the job of the student council?"
Suzu narrowed her eyes. "I don't buy it," she challenged.
Anzu's eyes grew firm and stared down Suzu. "There is nothing more to it," she stated, "now, why don't you cooperate a little and join us?"
"And why should we?" Suzu asked.
"We need everything, Suzu, I don't think you know every little thing going on here, so just work with us, 'kay?" Anzu said intimidatingly.
Ming stepped forward. "Alright, alright, Miss President, we'll join the team," she decided.
"Alright!" Mei cheered.
Anzu and Momo smirked, while Yuzu gave them a friendly, genuine smile. "Well then, why don't you go let Nishizumi know, and be sure to tell her your team name!" Anzu exclaimed before waltzing off cheerfully.
"Team name?" Ming asked, but she didn't get an answer from the Student Council. Noriko walked over from her end of Garage 3 which she now shared with the PT-1A and LVT(A)-24. "Oh, nobody must have told you yet. Each tank goes by a team name. Each is a different animal," she explained.
"Animal huh? Well then, how about Baiji?" Ming proposed.
Mei looked down sadly. "The Baiji… such a loss for conservation…" she whispered.
"The Baiji is not lost yet! The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia, so there still could be some left!" Ming argued.
"The Baiji? What's a Baiji?" Noriko asked.
Ming turned to her with gleaming eyes. "I could tell you all about it! It's a beautiful freshwater dolphin that lives in the Yangtze river-"
"Lived," Mei corrected.
Ming's eyes flared up with passion. "No lives, it could still be brought back!" she countered. She cleared her throat and refocused on Noriko. "Anyway, it's a dolphin that's 'allegedly' gone extinct due to Yangtze river industrialization, but I have hope that one day a live Baiji will be found. That's why we're Baiji Team now, to raise awareness for this noble cause to find the Baiji and restore its species!" she exclaimed.
"The last Baiji in captivity died in 2002," Mei pointed out, "poor Qiqi."
"In captivity! That means there still could be Baiji left," Ming argued, "you know, a lot of animals have been declared extinct but reappeared like the Coelacanth, the Black-Footed Ferret, and the Night Parrot."
Mei sighed. "Well I guess it's not impossible, just incredibly unlikely," she replied.
"Anyway, don't listen to her," Ming said while turning to Noriko, "animal and habitat conservation is pretty important to me, and my love for the Baiji comes from that. It's another tragic story of an animal being driven to near-extinction by reckless industrialization."
Noriko nodded with a smile. "It's good to have something to be passionate about. We've only got one planet right?" she added.
Ming nodded in agreement. "Only one, so let's try to share it and make the most of it!" she said.
Next to them in the PT-1A's stall, Jody had finally cleared out most of the sand, and all the pieces were put back together. Miho joined them in the stall to observe their progress. "You guys are doing great on the PT-1A, keep up the good work!" she encouraged while inspecting the vehicles.
"Engine's looking good, there's not much wear. Mechanically everything should be working. How does the wiring look, Chloe?" Tandy asked, working on the engine deck.
Chloe finished one last look over the interior compartment. "Looks alright to me, we had enough spare wires to fix everything up. It should be fine for a while," she reported while climbing out of the tank.
"I don't wanna see any more sand for the next ten years!" Jody complained, picking sand out of her nails. She leaned against the hull of the PT-1A and sulked.
"Oh get over yourself," Ross scolded, climbing down from the tank followed by Alex. "So Miho, do you know who's going to crew the PT?" he asked.
Miho frowned. "I'm afraid not, Hana put up some notices on bulletin boards and reached out to some people she knew, but nobody has joined yet," she said.
Ross bit his lip. "Well that's going to be a problem," he said.
"Yeah, we might need to ramp up recruitment efforts and fast if we want to field it in time for the third round," Miho added.
"When's that?" Chloe asked.
"Just under two weeks from today, so not next weekend, but the weekend after that," Miho answered.
Jody's mood changed from sulky to excited. "We get this weekend off? Great! Anyone wanna go to the farmers market together?" she suggested.
"Mmm, fresh sweet potatoes," Chloe said, her mouth-watering.
Miho giggled. "I'll see if the rest of Anglerfish Team would like to join us, but that sounds like fun so I'm in," she said. She looked at Ross with a small blush. "Would you and Natalie come with us?" she asked.
Ross smiled. "Sure, sounds like fun," he answered.
Miho nearly squealed. "Alright guys, that sounds like a plan, but let's get back to work!" she encouraged.
"Yes ma'am!" Leopard Team replied with a salute. Miho giggled and waved them off to attend to other matters.
000
Jody rubbed her eyes with one hand while the other held a stack of papers. The morning sun the next day had just started to rise as she and Hana waited for students to arrive so they could hand out applications and flyers for the team. Hana hummed peacefully and showed no sign of drowsiness, while Jody could barely keep her eyes open. A few early students walked past them, so Hana stepped forward to offer them a paper. "Oh man… this is gonna be a long day…" Jody mumbled while she stepped forward in a haze. Although her vision was slightly blurry, she could still at least try to do her job.
"H-hello, would you like to join the Sensha-do Team? We have a new tank that needs crew members," she asked to a pair of students in front of her.
Ross looked at Jody unamused while Miho stifled giggles. While Jody looked blankly at them, completely not noticing that she was asking a member, her commander nonetheless, to join the team. Ross rolled his eyes and flicked her forehead, causing her to stumble backward in surprise. "Ow, what the he-" she started, her senses returning to her. She stopped once she realized who was in front of her. Jody growled and whacked Ross with her stack of papers. "What the heck Ross?!" she asked.
"You're the one bumbling around asking me to join the team I'm already on," Ross replied.
"Just get going! I've got important work to do!" Jody demanded.
"Whatever," Ross said, starting to walk off.
Miho smiled. "See you at practice, Jody!" she said cheerfully.
Jody lazily looked over to her. "Wait, what? When did you get here?!" she demanded.
Miho giggled again. "I was always here, Ross and I walk to school together every day," she answered.
"Oh…" Jody mumbled. Miho just waved again with a smile and followed Ross into school. "Wait, what!?" Jody shouted with surprise. She didn't get an answer as the two were already gone. "Yesh, those two are getting lovey-dovey already. So much for not wanting to get attached, Mr. 'I Have Responsibilities and Can't Date.'" Jody stuck her tongue out at the entrance and turned back to recruitment. She rushed over to a solitary blonde girl with a pitch-black bag and held out a paper. "Good morning, would you like to join the Sensha-do team? We've just acquired-" she was interrupted when the girl snarled and slapped the papers upwards into her face.
"Why would I want to join the Sensha-do team, bootlicker!" Sayuri growled.
Jody stood in complete shock as her papers fell to the ground. Her face grew dark and her eyes turned from drowsy to furious. "What the hell is your problem!" she shouted.
"You and your Sensha-do Team are the problem. We don't want your boys here, so get lost!" Sayuri yelled. The fight was starting to attract attention as students started stopping and staring. "Do we need to teach you brats another lesson?!" Sayuri yelled.
Do we need to teach you brats another lesson… the thought echoed in Jody's thoughts and she made the connection. "Y-you bitch! You're a fucking blackshirt!" Jody shouted, "stay away from my friends!" She threw a swift punch at Sayuri which crashed into her jaw. Sayuri stumbled backward.
Sayuri looked up with a line of blood slowly dripping out of the corner of her mouth. "Looks like you Americans are as brutish as people say…" she growled and lunged at Sayuri. The two grabbed at each other and threw poorly coordinated blows at each other before Sodoko and the Morals Committee broke through the crowd and separated them.
"Let me go!" Jody demanded, wildly flailing against Sodoko's grip. Sayuri followed in her footsteps, flailing against Gomoyo's grip.
"Stop this fight at once!" Sodoko ordered, "both of you are in big trouble now."
000
"Miho Nishizumi and Ross Huot, please come to the Student Council's office immediately. Repeat, Miho Nishizumi and Ross Huot, please come to the Student Council's office immediately," Momo's electronic voice commanded through the school's intercom.
Ross lazily looked up from his notebook, which was slowly filling up with notes. What in the world? What do they want? He thought. He closed his notebook and packed up his things as his classmates stared and whispered amongst themselves. As he walked to the front of the room, the teacher called the room back to order and he left to see completely empty halls.
"Ross, there you are!" Miho exclaimed, running to him, "do you know what's going on?"
Ross shook his head. "No clue," he answered. The two rushed to the Student Council's office as fast as they could. They shoved open the doors with concern and confusion, where they saw the Student Council leering over three of their fellow students. Hana stood stiffly between Jody and Sayuri in front of the desk while Sodoko, Gomoyo, and Pazomi watched them closely, making sure they didn't move a muscle. As Ross and Miho stepped into the room, they could see that both Jody and Sayuri were scuffed up and Sayuri had a bit of her lip patched up.
"Okay, we're here, what's going on?" Miho asked, anxiously stepping forward.
"It would seem that your subordinates, Miss Nishizumi, have picked a fight with a fellow student during a recruitment activity this morning," Sodoko informed.
Miho and Ross gasped. "Hana is that true?" Miho asked.
Hana nodded sadly. "Yes, I was there and saw it all," she answered with a hint of distress.
"Jody, what the heck?" Ross shouted.
"Don't blame me, this filthy Blackshirt was being a complete bi-"
"Enough!" Anzu shouted, "I will not tolerate shouting and fighting in this office!" She glared at Sayuri and Jody. "You two have violated this school's code of conduct, and you, Sayuri, are accused of being a part of a gang that has attacked and harassed my fellow students. Is that true?" she asked.
"Of course not! I would never associate with them!" Sayuri argued.
Ross stepped forward. "That is a lie," he stated, "she is definitely a member and was part of the group that assaulted me, Joseph, and William."
"You're just accusing me of that to save your crewmate's hide! I knew you lying boys are the scum of this Earth. Get off of our ship!" Sayuri shouted.
The Student Morals Committee and Momo encircled Sayuri and glared at her menacingly. Sayuri glared back and readied herself for a fight. "Miss Masoni, you do realize that we keep track of incidents between students and have a criminal record if it is necessary," Sodoko stated. She held out a piece of paper that detailed Sayuri's record. "We know that you are lying right now and we will not tolerate any delinquent behavior on our campus. You can't hide in Johannesburg now."
"T-that's not right, Yuko said she'd clear our records, she knew how to get us clean!" Sayuri stuttered with panic.
"That would've been the case," Momo stated, "but now we know how your gang is interfering and manipulating our records. The games end here."
Gomoyo and Pazomi seized Sayuri's arms, preventing her from retaliation, and began to haul her out of the room. As they passed Ross, Sayuri gave him one last spiteful glare before they left the room. "H-how was she not expelled if you guys knew about her involvement in the gang's attacks?" Ross asked shakily.
Anzu looked down at her desk in front of her with an angry glare. "You think we have the power to do that?" she asked, "If I had it my way, every single one of those girls would be hauled off this ship…"
"B-but didn't you threaten me with expulsion-" Miho started.
Anzu slammed her fist against her desk and looked up. "You really think they'd give a student the power to expel other students? We don't have that power! It was a blind bluff!" she yelled.
Everyone looked at her with shock and surprise. Anzu wiped her eyes and tried to calm down. "My apologies," she said, "It's just… those girls don't know what's at stake here…"
"What's going on? What's at stake?" Miho asked.
Anzu grit her teeth and looked away. "Sorry, t-that's not something for you to worry about…" she said.
Momo cleared her throat. "Anyway, I believe we should settle the matter of Jody assaulting Sayuri. Although Sayuri is by no means innocent, it was an unprovoked attack and we'll have to deal with it," Momo stated.
"What's there to deal with? That bi-" Jody started before Ross gave her a hard glare.
"Jody, that's enough," Ross ordered, "just because she mildly provoked you doesn't give you the right to attack her."
"He's right. It's wrong and our image as a team is already strained here…" Yuzu added.
Jody narrowed her eyes and glared at them, becoming tense. "S-so this is the thanks I get," she started and stormed up to Ross's face. "I've had your back since we've met, I tried to defend your image while you were off prancing around with Nishizumi when that- that bitch needed some justice served for assaulting you, and I find you all a new tank, and this is the thanks I get?!" she ranted.
"Jody, please calm down," Ross pleaded.
"I'll show you calm!" she screamed. The sound of her hand slapping Ross's cheek rippled through the room. Hot, fiery tears streamed down Jody's face while everyone stood in stunned silence. As Ross silently brought his hand to his cheek to feel his stinging skin, Jody took off running and quickly escaped from the office.
000
Hello! I'm back with another upload. I've had a burst of inspiration lately, so all I can do is write, write, and write! I'm sure you all will enjoy that. Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and follows. They mean a lot! And just thanks for reading as well. This story's going well so far, hopefully, everyone will continue to like it as the main action is going to start heating up!
Up next on Girls und Panzer: Tank Aces!
Chapter 26: We Know Who We Will Follow!