AN: The description used to say that this story takes place right after the 63rd Tournament. But I changed it to after the events of Der Film instead. I feel like it's easier that way. Anyway, some trivia! Most of it is made up using things I've seen in the OVA, not much research was done!
Edits: I changed some things in Chapter 1: the KV-1S is now a KV-85, Kuroiyama is now Kurowashitsume, and the Balkenkreuz on Kenji's hoodie is now a Reichsadler with a shield shape in the middle with an Iron Cross inside it.
Text = Normal text.
"Text," = Dialogue.
Text = Character's thoughts. Certain terms or nouns will also be italicized.
"Text," = Speaking through radio or phone, or speaking in a foreign language.
[Text.] = Communicating through text or email.
This doesn't apply 100% of the time. Yous should know what something means when you read it.
[At a certain school ship…]
A gentle breeze blew past her as she walked down the sidewalk. She could recognize the unmistakable smell of fresh bread and sure enough, she passed by the local bakery, gazing inside and taking in more of the amazing smell. As much as she wanted to step inside and take with her a couple of buns, she was almost late for school.
Miho Nishizumi thought it was going to be a good day. They had successfully defended their school once again and now it was just a matter of working to become even stronger in order to resist whatever else was thrown at them. But she knew that whatever it may be, they'll be able to overcome it.
"Miporin!" A voice called out.
Miho looked in the direction of where the voice came from and smiled when she saw her four best friends: Saori Takebe, Hana Isuzu, Yukari Akiyama, and Mako Reizei who was doing her best not to pass out. The orange-haired girl of the group was the one waving at her.
"Hey, girls, good morning!" She greeted with a wave.
"Good morning!" They all replied with Mako's sounding a bit lame.
"So, what's the agenda for today, Nishizumi-dono?" Yukari asked.
"Just a debriefing and equipment maintenance. We just got our school back, I want to relax a bit," Miho answered.
"Mhmm!" Mako agreed.
"Aww, I wanted to do some more practice runs," Yukari pouted.
"It is not good to be pushing ourselves so much. We've endured such a great trial, it's nice to be able to breathe normally now," Hana said.
"They're right you know. And I'm just glad that it's all over!" Saori said.
"I guess," Yukari said.
"Don't worry, Yukari. While I'm allowing everyone to do whatever they want, next week I want to start going by the regular schedule again," Miho told her.
Yukari seemed to light up from that and she raised a hand in a salute.
"Understood!" She said.
They all laughed in amusement at Yukari's enthusiasm and continued to talk more as they walked to school. School went by as normally as it could be and it was finally time for Tankery class. Every member of the team stood in the tank depot while talking amongst themselves as they waited for the debriefing to start.
Miho was listening to Saori complain about something when she decided to eavesdrop on the conversation of Anteater team just a few feet away from them. It sounded like they were talking about some video game they were playing, although it didn't sound pleasant.
"Argh! Damnit, I told you to spawn in a plane because a Pe-8 was coming!" Nekota exclaimed.
"I didn't have enough spawn points, we spawned in an ongoing battle! I was sniped by a camper the moment I left spawn!" Piyotan argued.
"Same here! A stupid Tiger got me too!" Momoga added.
"Why didn't you spawn in an SPAA then?!" Nekota demanded.
"There were assholes trying to flank us! Momoga and I had to deal with them while our braindead team was too occupied trying to kill a stupid Puma!" Piyotan answered.
"Argh!" Nekota growled. "Normally I won't be angry. That game was cancer since the beginning, and I'm used to it. I just had +500% boosters and Golden Eagle wagers on me. I thought it was my day. Sorry."
Momoga and Piyotan calmed down and apologized too before shifting their topics to something more lighthearted. Meanwhile, Miho just had the biggest question mark on her head.
Wow, I have no idea what they were talking about but I never knew that video games can be so scary, She thought.
A minute later, footsteps were heard, and they all turned in their direction to see their instructor enter the hangar.
"Hello everyone!" Ami Chouno greeted with a wave and received greetings as well while continuing forward to the front. "Is everyone here?"
"Yes, Instructor Chouno," Miho answered.
"Splendid, now we can get down to business! First of all, I'd like to congratulate you again for overcoming such a great trial! I don't think I've heard of any other school pulling off anything similar to what you've done. You've all made a mark in history, I hope you know that," She told them.
There were cheers and applause coming from the crowd in celebration of their victory with Chouno herself giving them small claps.
"Now, there's really not much else I could say that isn't already. In terms of the class, there won't be any practice for the rest of the week besides briefings and maintenance. I've discussed it with your Commander, and we've agreed that you all deserve the rest and respite," She announced and there was a round of cheers. "However, once next week comes, it will be back to the regular schedule. We want to keep your skills sharp, after all. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" They all replied.
Chouno nodded. "Good. You're free to do whatever you want during our time for the rest of the week, just please refrain from making any sort of mess. That is all, you're dismissed."
They all bowed and went about their separate ways. Some left the hangars, some stayed, and some even boarded their vehicles to take them out for a spin on the grounds. Miho walked to her Panzer IV and leaned on the side. She closed her eyes and sighed, thinking about all the things that had happened.
"Tired?" A voice asked.
Miho opened her eyes and turned to see Chouno leaning on the tank beside her with her signature grin on her face.
Miho just snorted. "Yeah, a bit."
"I'm not surprised. When I was practicing Sensha-do in high school, I was put into lots of tricky situations where I had to invent a way out. But nothing so hectic and threatening as what you've gone through. I'm sorry you had to go through that, and that we couldn't help you more," Chouno said, a slight frown forming on her face
Miho stiffened up and shook her head while putting her arms up awkwardly.
"T-There's no need, Instructor Chouno! You guys did all you could, the same with us. And we pulled through despite everything. I can never be more grateful, and I can never wish for a better outcome. Thank you," She said with a bow in the end.
Chouno smiled a bit. "You have a point there. And I think that you're lucky in a way. What you experienced can pass as a lesson to all of you and to the future on how to deal with such things."
"Huh, yeah."
The JGSDF officer smiled before stretching.
"Well, I've got nothing more to say so I'll be taking my leave. I'm going out drinking with my gal-pals! See 'ya later, Commander Nishizumi! Have a fun time!" She said with a wave before leaving.
Miho waved back and continued leaning against the tank. She smiled as the thought of how strong they'd all become entered her mind. She doesn't feel like she deserves much credit, after all, her prior training would allow her to push through almost anything, but her comrades' growth throughout the whole year was unprecedented and was truly worth the praise. But now they face the unknown which is full of dangers still lurking so they have to identify them and find a way to deal with them.
They have gotten stronger. Now, they have to work to keep it that way.
A sudden commotion brought her out of her musings and she followed it to see Rabbit team making a lot of noise in the corner.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"We've got intruders!" Azusa yelled.
From behind a bunch of crates, three girls wearing the Oarai school uniform came running out while being chased by the rest of Rabbit team. Although, these weren't Oarai girls. They were Pepperoni, Carpaccio, and Duce Anchovy from Anzio High.
"They're still here?! Get them!" Momo ordered.
"We forgot to leave! We're sorry!" Anchovy yelled back.
"Aaaaaahhhh!" The other two screamed as they were now chased by Duck team who had deployed their Type 89.
"Oh yeah, the girls from other schools stayed here for some time last week. Looks like some of them forgot to leave," Yukari said as she took a position beside Miho.
"I guess," Miho said with a sweat drop on her head.
"We'll cook you pasta! Please be nice to us!" Anchovy yelled in the distance as they were continued to be chased.
The next day came, and they were all back in Hakodate's tank depot.
Kanagawa inspected each tank carefully. There was the Tiger I, as well as a KV-85 heavy tank, T-34-57 (1943) medium tank, M4A3 "Zippo" medium tank, M6A1 heavy tank, Panzer IV/70 (V) tank destroyer, M24 light tank, and a BT-7M light tank. All of them added up to eight tanks; eight very capable vehicles, ready for action.
But there was a problem. He quickly did the math in his head and the total number of crew required to fill every position in all the vehicles was thirty-seven. But looking at the number of people present in the hangar, he could only count thirty-two, and it doesn't look like anyone else is coming. That means some positions in some tanks would be left unoccupied. He sighed and rubbed his face.
"What do you think?" A voice asked.
Kanagawa turned to it to see it was Tetsuo "Georgy" Yamamoto, history club president and Vice Commander of the Sensha-do team. The dude also liked to partially cosplay Marshall Georgy Zhukov it seemed. He then exhaled and spoke.
"We've got some good stuff, and we can definitely make something out of it. But we'll probably need an upgrade soon," Kanagawa said.
"Hmm, well all the tanks here, besides the Tiger, are from within the ship. We just found them lying around and then restored them. They say that the former team hid parts, modules, and whole tanks all around the school ship. Considering this, we'll just look for them if it comes to it," Georgy explained.
"That makes sense. And another thing is the crew. We've got too few applicants for a full crew, so some tanks will have people missing in them… Ah, whatever, as long as there's a gunner, loader, and driver the tank can work. I also think we should put them in tanks where they'll be with people they're familiar with to avoid any other problems," Kanagawa explained.
"Mhmm, that makes sense. The boys and I crew the T-34, the Automotive Club crew the KV, and the Student Council has the BT-7. We'll start crew assignments within the day, but what tank do you want to drive in?" Georgy asked.
Kanagawa rubbed his chin and thought very hard about that. Not really. He walked over to the Tiger and put a hand on the hull.
"I've always liked German stuff, I'll go with this bad boy please," He said as he patted the hull.
"Alright, the Tiger is yours to play with, Kanagawa-san. Who'll be your crew?"
Kanagawa looked to the side seeing Yoshima and Nakasone listening to something Fujimoto was rambling about while Katayama slept on top of some crates. He pointed to them with his thumb and spoke.
"Those four idiots over there will be my crew. I think they can do a good job," He said.
The three stopped their discussion and Katayama snapped awake to turn in his direction.
Georgy nodded and wrote some things on the clipboard he was holding.
"Alright then, that makes four of eight tanks with crews. Now I've got to deal with the rest. Welcome to the team, Kanagawa-san!" He said with a salute.
Kanagawa nodded. "Thanks, Georgy-san."
After that, they went their separate ways with Kanagawa heading to his new team.
"Wait, what?" Nakasone asked.
"You four are going to be my crew. You guys know how to follow instructions, right?"
"U-Um, yeah, duh!" Nakasone replied.
"We're just surprised that you'd pick us over anyone else here," Yoshima said.
"Well, it's not like I have a lot of choices, to begin with. We've only known each other for a few weeks, but I think you guys are capable in Tankery. If not, then you'll become capable, a lot of us here are inexperienced, anyway. We've all got a lot to learn," Kanagawa said.
"Well, in any case, it's an honor to be part of your crew, Kanagawa-dono! I'll help you elbow drop the enemy if it ever comes down to it!" Fujimoto said.
"We're a tank crew, we all have to do our part or we'll just drag each other down," Katayama said.
"That's right, I'll be sure to do my best too," Yoshima said.
"Me too," Nakasone said.
Kanagawa said. "Alright, I'll do my best in commanding you guys too."
They all smiled and turned to their new tank, gazing at its beauty.
"So, who's doing what in the tank?" Nakasone asked.
"The Tiger Ausf E requires five crewmembers: a commander, gunner, loader, driver, and radio operator. Since there's five of us, that's a full crew, but who'll do what?" Fujimoto asked.
Kanagawa approached the tank and climbed it in a blink of an eye. His friends stared in awe as he pulled open the hatch and hopped inside.
"Wow, he's good," Nakasone remarked.
"Uh-huh," Fujimoto nodded.
Once inside, Kanagawa inspected every part of the interior from the driver's seat to the ammo racks and found all of them to be where they were supposed to be. A bit dirty but they're all there. Nodding to himself, he popped out of the commander's cupola and looked down onto his friends.
"Everything's where it's supposed to be, but it can be a bit cleaner," Kanagawa said before hopping down from the tank. "As for positions, well, hop inside and pick the job you think you can do the best."
Their eyes lit up at that and thanked him as they tried to climb aboard the tank. It was a bit difficult since they had never done it before, but with some guidance from Kanagawa, they were all able to climb inside. The new commander stood by and watched them from outside as they all messed around with the tank.
"So, what now?"
Kanagawa turned to see Kaede beside him with his arms crossed, also observing the four guys.
"You called for an instructor right, when will they get here?" Kanagawa asked.
"Tomorrow, it was supposed to be today but there was a delay. They said that they're sending someone top class, one of the best apparently," The President replied.
"Oh really, huh."
"Got any idea who it is?"
Kanagawa just shrugged. "I have a few guesses. They're pretty good at their job and they take it seriously. I think we'll be fine."
"That's good to hear!" Kaede said.
The Student Council President then signaled to his VP who nodded and walked to the center of the hangar and cleared his throat.
"Okay, is everyone assigned a tank already?" He asked and everyone nodded. "Good. In that case, man your vehicles and take them out for a spin on the maneuvering grounds. The instructor we requested is still coming in tomorrow but it's best that we already know something before then. Drive your tank around and shoot at things, but be careful at what you shoot at and what you drive on. Understood?"
"Hai!" They all said and Ishihara nodded.
"Well, I gotta go refresh my Tankery skills. See ya later, Kanagawa!" Kaede said.
As Kaede left, Kanagawa climbed aboard the tank looked into it through the commander's cupola. He saw his friends messing around with the inner components of the tank.
"Well, how does it feel?" He asked.
"It's kinda cramped, but it's okay," Nakasone replied from the radio operator position with the others agreeing.
"Good. So, what do you want to do in the tank?" Kanagawa asked again.
"Is there an instruction manual for this tank?" Katayama asked from the driver's seat.
"Give me a sec," Kanagawa replied, hopping out of the tank and disappearing for a moment before coming back and perching down next to the driver's hatch and handed Katayama a small book. "Here."
The drowsy young man flipped through a few pages of the book a few times before putting it down and getting comfortable. He reached for the ignition, and with a turn of the switch and a press of a button, the Maybach HL230P45 V-12 engine roared to life, awakening the big cat from its slumber.
"Alright! We're in business! Panzer vor!" Fujimoto yelled from the loader's spot with a pointed finger.
"Pants are what now?" Nakasone asked.
Kanagawa chuckled. "'Panzer vor', it's an order for all tanks to move out."
"Oh."
"Well, you heard it, Katayama. Panzer vor!" Kanagawa repeated.
"Got it," Katayama replied.
Right after his reply, he released the brakes, shifted the gear, and made the tank lurch forward. The fifty-seven-ton machine slowly crept out of the depot and into the training grounds. Kanagawa covered his eyes from the blinding light of the sun as they exited the depot. He looked behind him to see the other vehicles slowly following behind.
"Take us into the proving grounds and follow the little road. There's a driving course and a shooting range, let's go to the course first," Kanagawa ordered.
"Roger," His crew replied.
The proving grounds were a forested area with hills, valleys, plains, rivers, and lakes. It shows how massive massive Hakodate really is despite it being one of the smaller school ships. They followed the little road until they arrived at the driving course which is a flat area with things like obstacles, zigzag roads, sand traps, mud traps, trenches, and hills.
"Alright, Katayama, show me what you've got," Kanagawa said.
"You got it," He replied with a neutral voice and drove forward.
Ten minutes later, the Tiger drove out of the course having finished it. Katayama parked the tank at the free space at the end of the course and looked up to see his friends staring at him with wide eyes.
"What?"
"That was awesome! Where'd you learn how to drive like that?" Yoshima asked.
"I told you guys that I know how to drive tractors and cars, right? Well, I just translated the skill to tank driving. It wasn't hard, to be honest," Katayama answered nonchalantly.
"But tanks are a completely different animal from though. There's no way you could've done what you did," Fujimoto argued.
"That's because this guy is simply built different. He has the ability to memorize and learn anything just by looking at it a few times and then implementing those skills like he's been doing it for a long time. That's why the guy has the highest grades out of everyone," Nakasone explained.
"You're one hell of a human, Katayama," Kanagawa remarked.
"Thanks, I guess. It's not really a big deal to me," Katayama replied.
"Heh, I guess we're clear in the driving part then."
They watched for a moment as the other teams, especially the newbies, struggle with the course. The M6A1 that was crewed by a bunch of first years drove into the when they tried to cross it incorrectly. Now, the other tanks were trying to get it out while a little traffic jam ensued.
"Those who are ahead, just continue! We'll catch up!" Ishihara announced as his team managed the recovery operation.
"Okay, next stop, shooting range!" Kanagawa announced. "Katayama, follow the road and take a left."
"You got it."
The tank moved again and headed down the road. They arrived at a little valley area where there were firing positions and dirt mounds acting as targets set up. The targets ranged from one hundred to two thousand meters out. Katayama parked the Tiger on one of the firing positions with the Panzer IV/70 taking position next to them. It was just those two tanks there, apparently.
Nakasone popped out of his seat at the same time one of the crewmembers of the tank destroyer came out as well. They turned towards each other and gave their faces a brief look.
"Eh?! Ueda, you're here too?!" Nakasone exclaimed.
"You only noticed that now? I was at the gathering for the whole of yesterday," He replied.
"You just don't strike anyone to be the type to be into stuff like this, so we never realized," Katayama remarked, raising his voice just a bit so it can be heard through the distance and the noise of the engine.
"Now that the Sensha-do team is filling up again, someone has to keep an out for potential troublemakers and put them in line. Like you," Uedareplied, eyeing Katayama carefully. "Besides, you guys clearly need the help. This tank has four seats, but there're only three of us. Me, Takai, and Yasui."
"I'll make sure these guys don't get into any trouble. You can count on me. And thanks for the help," Kanagawa told him.
Ueda nodded. "Thank you to you too. And the Public Morals Committee is glad it can help."
Kanagawa nodded and then an idea popped into your head.
"Hey, since your tank's a German one too, why don't you tune in to your radio and I'll tell you guys how to shoot along with my guys?" He offered.
"That sounds good, we'll be listening. Thanks again!" Ueda said before descending into his tank with Kanagawa doing the same.
"Nakasone, give me a microphone and turn on the radio," He ordered.
The new radio operator gave him a microphone and fumbled around with the radio, figuring it out shortly after.
"Ueda, you guys hear me?" Kanagawa said into the radio.
"Loud and clear, just explain it to me, I'm shooting the gun," He replied.
Kanagawa grunted a response and leaned towards Yoshima.
"Okay, Yoshima, this is where you shine. Put our eye in the gunsight and move the big triangle until it's on the hundred-meter target. That crank over there is for horizontal control, the other one is for vertical," He told him.
"Alright," Yoshima said and fumbled with the controls and brought the sight to bear on the target one hundred meters away. "It's on it."
"Okay, Fujimoto, Panzergranate laden," Kanagawa ordered.
"Affirmative, loading AP!" Fujimoto said before grabbing an 8.8 cm Panzergranate 39 armor-piercing shell from the rack and putting in the gun. "Gun loaded!"
"Yoshima, is your eye still in the sight?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, this is how you use a German Zeiss Turmzielfernrohr gun sight. The triangle in the middle is four Strich, the ones on the sides are two Strich, and the gaps are one Strich."
"The hell is a 'Strich'?" Nakasone asked.
"It's a unit that measures angles. You calculate the distance by taking the width of your target, divided by Strich, times a thousand, giving you meters," Kanagawa explained.
"The target is one meter across. So that's, uh, one divided by ten, times one thousand, so one hundred meters!" Nakasone answered proudly.
"That's correct, but the ranges are already marked on the targets, so you can just use that instead. Good read though," Kanagawa remarked, and the others laughed.
"Shut up!" Nakasone yelled.
"Now that you have the range, you now have to elevate the gun to fire that far. The range values are marked by the little circles around the edge of the gunsight. The values move in a circular motion once you turn the crank. Move the circle of the desired range value until it lines up with the black arrow on the top center of the sight," Kanagawa explained.
Yoshima did as instructed and turned the crank until the value for one hundred meters was in line with the arrow.
"It's done."
"Okay, all that's left now is to shoot the gun. On my command 3, 2, 1, feur frei!"
Yoshima exhaled and pulled the trigger. A loud bang was heard a fraction of a second later as the gun fired. It was followed by the shock of the noise which reverberated across the whole shooting range. The shock made Fujimoto, Nakasone, Yoshima, and Katayama freeze in place as they had never heard a cannon fire so close to them before; Katayama who was close to dozing off was snapped awake by the loud noise.
Yoshima slowly backed away from the sight and leaned against his seat.
"That felt… really good," He some.
"... Yeah," Nakasone.
"That was pretty awesome," Katayama said with some amusement.
"A Tiger I just fired a shot while I'm inside it. I'm officially ready to die now, I've seen all I need to see," Fujimoto said with stars in his eyes.
Although, while the four of them were awestruck by the display, Kanagawa seemed to be unaffected by the whole thing as he stood calmly in the commander's cupola with a neutral expression while looking through a pair of binoculars. He exhaled and crouched into the tank.
"That was pretty badass, wasn't it?" He asked them.
"BEST FEELING EVER!" Fujimoto exclaimed and the others agreed.
"It's a very thrilling experience," Yoshima stated.
"I'm glad to hear that because you're all gonna feel it again."
Just as Kanagawa said that another loud boom was heard. The Panzer IV/70 next to them sent a 7.5 cm round down range which gave its crew the same feeling of euphoria as the Tiger crew. Kanagawa popped out of the cupola again looked through his binoculars.
"Ueda, your shot's a bit short, give it a bit more elevation," He said into his radio.
"Got it, this is awesome!" Ueda replied.
"I know," Kanagawa said and looked down. "Hey, das geschütz laden!"
"A-Affirmative!" Fujimoto blurted out before scurrying to put another round into the gun.
"Yoshima, your elevation is good but the round strayed to the side and missed. Adjust your aim to the left just a bit," Kanagawa ordered.
"Got it," Yoshima said and made the corrections.
"Gun loaded!"
"Feur frei!"
The gun fired again, the whole cannon recoiling back, and sending another reverberation across the field. The 8.8 cm shell crossed the distance in a fraction of a second and hit the target dead-on.
"Volltreffer, nice shot! You hit dead on!" Kanagawa praised.
"Thanks."
"Okay, let's go for a slightly more difficult one now. Bring the gun to bear on the 250-meter target."
"Actually, can I shoot the thousand-meter target?" Yoshima asked.
Everyone turned in his direction and those who could just stared at him. Kanagawa raised an eyebrow for a moment before nodding.
"Sure, if you can do it then why not?" He said.
"Alright," Yoshima said before putting his eye on the sight again and adjusted the aim.
While he was doing this, Fujimoto ejected the empty casing and put another shell in as quickly as he can.
"Gun loaded!" he said.
"Gun on target, ready to fire!" Yoshima said.
"Feur frei!"
Yoshima inhaled and exhaled, then pulled the trigger. The gun fired once more with a deafening bang. This time, Fujimoto instantly ejected the shell and put another one in. While he was doing this, the 8.8 cm shell sailed across the range for a moment before slamming onto the target. Kanagawa looked through his binoculars and surveyed the hit. His eyes widened and he gave them a rub before looking again to make sure he was seeing it correctly.
"Holy shit, that's a hit!" He announced.
"HAAAAA?!" Fujimoto and Nakasone exclaimed.
"It's a solid hit! He bagged it dead center!" Kanagawa clarified.
Fujimoto and Nakasone were still recovering from the shock, Katayama's eyes widened a bit from feeling impressed, while Yoshima leaned back on his seat and took a deep breath.
"I think I just got lucky," Yoshima remarked.
"Hey! Quit acting so humble!" Nakasone rebuked.
"There's another shell in the gun, let's test it out," Fujimoto said.
"That's right, Yoshima, make any adjustments you think are necessary and fire again," Kanagawa ordered.
"Okay."
Not more was needed to be said as Yoshima pulled the trigger again and sent another round downrange. A moment later, the shell impacted the same target a thousand meters away with a cloud of dirt. Kanagawa whistled.
"I think the shell hit the same spot," He said and they all cheered.
"Alright! We've got ourselves a top-class driver and gunner! We'll become unstoppable for sure!" Nakasone yelled.
"What do you think, Commander?" Fujimoto asked.
Kanagawa froze. "C-Commander?"
"Um, yeah, you're the Commander now right, at least for our tank?"
"M-Me? Commander? I, uh…" He trailed off.
His friends looked at each other in confusion before looking back.
"Kanagawa, is something wrong?" Nakasone asked.
Kanagawa blinked and shook his head.
"N-No, I'm fine. That was weird," He said and chuckled. "Right, I'm your Commander now!"
They all looked amongst themselves again in confusion and wordlessly agreed not to delve into it anymore and get on with the exercise.
"So, uh, what's next?" Katayama asked.
"Uh, you're a good driver and Yoshima's a crack shot, and everything else can be done from the side. Katayama, park us over at the side while we wait for everyone else to finish," Kanagawa said.
"Got it."
Katayama reversed from the firing position and parked the tank at the sidelines. The others had started to catch up and began their gunnery training. Kanagawa dismounted and lent a hand where he could since he wasn't as familiar with anything that isn't of German origin. Regardless of that, his help was appreciated, and it did a lot. At first, their shots were poor but they eventually got better and better until they were good enough shots.
An hour and a half later, they all drove back to the depot where they held a discussion for tank-related stuff, especially for those positions that didn't mean driving or shooting. Working the radio, loading the gun, strategy, exercises, almost everything. Kanagawa led the discussion and he spilled everything he could. It was quite amazing to see him talk so passionately, in retrospect.
"You know quite a lot about this stuff, Kanagawa-san. Where'd you get all of it?" Kanai Isao asked. He is a first-year student and the commander of the M6A1.
Kanagawa froze. "Um, what?"
"Come to think of it, you talk and act like a true sportsman. How and why though?" Nobu Higuchi asked. He was the captain of the (former) basketball club and the commander of the M24.
"U-Uh…"
"The answer to that is simple," Kaede said from the side while munching on some potato chips.
"What the hell? President?!"
He ignored him as he stepped forward and slapped his back.
"You guys want to know why this guy knows so much about tanks?" Kaede said and gave him a smug grin. "It's because this guy is a giant tank nerd!"
"Huh?"
"Yup! As the Student Council President, I have to review the records of every incoming student. This guy's record said he was a tank nerd, so I personally scouted him and pulled him into our ranks," Kaede explained.
"We're going to need every tank nerd we can get if we want to win. It's all hands on deck for this one," Ishihara said.
"A lot's at stake, but we can do it," Terada said.
Kanagawa looked around and saw that everyone seemed to accept the Student Council's words. He was surprised but glad and thankful.
"As it stands, Kanagawa here seems to know more about Sensha-do than the rest of us, so we will listen to whatever he says. Is that alright?" Kaede asked.
Everyone nodded and it was the end of it. Their discussion lasted for a bit longer until they had to be dismissed. Kanagawa was left alone in the depot to do after operation checks on his tank. The rest of his crew left to get some snacks and will meet with him later. Once he was done and was moving to leave, he ran into Kaede who had a bag of chips with him.
"Hey, Kanagawa! Late to leave, I see," He greeted while munching on the chips.
"Yeah, just had to do some checks. Why are you back here, Prez?"
"Just forgot something and went to grab it."
"Ah, okay."
"So, how's your first day of real Tankery class here in Hakodate?" Kaede asked.
Kanagawa shrugged. "Pretty good actually, although there were some close calls."
"It really seemed like you were in your element back there," Kaede remarked.
He sighed. "I was assigned my own little team to be used a flanker, we were quite effective. And I was also the Unterkommandant for some time until we had to reorganize our fighting style."
"Wow, you really are something else, huh?"
"I do my best."
"Of course, you do, but you just being here is already a big help," Kaede said and sighed as he crossed his arms. "Another thing is we can't cover for you forever, eventually someone will find out. Actually, I'm pretty sure someone already knows but just decided to stay quiet about it. It's not like information like that is classified."
Kanagawa sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for covering for me, but if it gets out then just spill everything. I'll also find a way to come clean to everyone about me."
"Well, you better figure it out quick. Things like this don't remain in the dark for long. Do you know this old saying: 'the truth always comes out?'"
"Heh, you're starting to sound like the commander of St Victoria and his female counterpart," Kanagawa said. "Don't worry, as I said, I'll deal with it."
"Okay, I trust you, Kanagawa," Kaede said before turning away. "You're our trump card in all of this, we might have to put all our hopes on you soon. Hope you know that!"
"Yeah, I do."
Kanagawa left the depot and walked to the front gate. It was already getting dark and there weren't many people around anymore. He saw his friends gathered at the gate and walked up towards them.
"There you are. Here, take this," Nakasone greeted, handing him a yakisoba bread.
"Thanks," Kanagawa said.
They all quietly walked away from the school as they ate their snacks until one of them spoke again.
"You seem to know so much about Sensha-do in general, Kanagawa," Yoshima remarked.
"And not to mention, you seemed so passionate about it too," Katayama added.
"Where's this coming from?" Kanagawa asked, confused about the sudden remark.
"Nothing really, it just seemed so natural for you, and pretty awesome too," Nakasone said.
"That's right, and I'm pretty glad to have another tank nerd to talk to," Fujimoto said.
"We'll be doing more tank talk in the coming days. Don't worry about it."
"Well, we'll be sure to do the best we can then, Commander."
Kanagawa was silent for a moment but a small smile was creeping onto his lips.
"Right. I will too."
"Speaking of tank stuff, our instructor's gonna arrive tomorrow. Do we have any idea who they're gonna be?" Yoshima asked.
"The Prez told me that it's straight from the Sensha-do Federation's top, so someone really good," Kanagawa answered.
"But do we know who it exactly is? Kanagawa, you said your family has a history through them, any ideas?" Nakasone asked.
"Hmm, there're are a few that I know but never really met. They're pretty good, so maybe? But the Federation literally has a whole building full of instructors, so yeah, maybe."
"Well, if they're as good as the Prez says they are, then we have nothing to worry about right?" Fujimoto said.
"We'll just have to see tomorrow," Katayama said.
AN: And that's chapter 2!
The first review I've got here stated that the ideas I'm using ideas that aren't new or refreshing. But before you get any ideas, I'm not mad or anything and I'm a hundred percent aware that the ideas I'm using aren't original. Like I said in the last chapter, this story is supposed to be different in genre compared to all the other things I wrote. I'm actually, probably, going to take some ideas from other stories and inject them into mine, I'll be sure to put an acknowledgment though.
To the person who posted that comment, there are no hard feelings. I always appreciate the reviews.
Also, if you haven't caught on yet, this story will basically be introducing the (kind of) gender-bent versions of almost every character in the series. So, kind of just like in the show, there will be a lot of characters so you will most likely not be able to keep track of all of them. I'll try to make it as simple as I can, however.
Anyway, thank you guys for reading, and I'll see you in the next one! Peace out!