Prologue

Location: Student Council Office

Time: Aug 25. 1805 HRS - The evening after the Celebratory Exhibition Match

Never before had Anzu Kadotani felt the urged to commit murder as much as she did right now.

Merely watching the man standing in front of her made her want to abandon all notions of civility and just lunged at him and tore off his throat with her bare teeth. Of course, actually doing such a barbaric act was a surefire way to earn herself the title of the youngest person to be sent to death row in Japan. However, right now, at this moment, she firmly believed it would be the most satisfying thing she would ever do in her entire life.

Forcing rationality into her thoughts, the Student Council President closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath to bring down her cholers. If she snapped right now and gave in to her rage, then she could kiss all her year's worth of effort in saving their school goodbye.

When she opened her eyes, the fire burning within her was gone. She no longer felt her blood boiling with anger, and the shaking on her hands had stopped. Now, she felt nothing but ice coursing through her veins, with cold, logical cogs beginning to spin inside her calculating mind.

In front of her, the man stood silently, nonchalantly staring at the cool summer evening behind the Student Council office's glass wall. How he got inside their office, she didn't want to know. He hadn't made known his intentions or uttered any sound, but there was no doubt as to why he was here.

"We already made a deal." She started, her voice calm and monotonous, betraying none of the emotions she felt only a moment ago.

"We made mistakes, you and I," the man replied, not even turning to face her. "Nothing to be ashamed of, I assure you. After all, we are simply humans. We all make mistakes."

"You gave us your word." She pressed. "You said if we win the Senshado tournament, then you would spare our school from being decommissioned."

"I did, and that was my mistake." The man placed a hand on the glass wall. "Your mistake was not to put it in writing."

Without even realizing it, Anzu's hands balled into tight fists.

"Your word is your honor," she reminded him.

"And if it only was about honor, I wouldn't be here at all." He countered. "Such a wide-ranging deal simply could not be done in mere words. It must be put into… How do I phrase this… In a more permanent circumstance."

"Then why agree to a deal with us in the first place?"

The man finally turned to face her, revealing his usual black business suit, combed hair, and soft-framed glasses. In an everyday setting, he looked like a typical salary-man strolling in the busy streets of Tokyo. He looked like the full embodiment of bureaucracy and everything ill about it.

"Because you were not supposed to win." He revealed.

And there it was, straight from the devil's mouth.

Anzu summoned all her willpower again to maintain her cold, calculating demeanor, lest she would once again feel the need to tear this bureaucrat a new one. However, the man was right. It was a mistake on her part not to put their agreement in writing. She should have recognized this flaw back when this man revealed to her of their school's closure. She was too eager to jump into saving their school that she forgot the actual legality of their agreement. It was too late for blame now.

Now, she had to reap the consequences of her mistake.

"There are many high-profile individuals both in the Seshado Federation and the Ministry of Education who are not all too pleased that an unknown school won such a prestigious tournament." He continued. "They say your win is a farce, an insult to the tenets of Senshado."

"We won fair and square." She countered. "We won against those elite Senshado schools and soundly beat them."

The man shrugged.

"Be that as it may," he paused to adjust his glasses. "The powers that be are not happy with the results. They demand retribution for such an inelegant win."

"This would be a scandal of the highest degree," Anzu warned, still maintaining an almost emotionless facade. "What would the public say once they realize the championing school of the Senshado tournament is to be shut down? Do you think the reputation of the Federation or that of MEXT would survive undamaged?"

"Ah," the man held up his hand to clarify. "That is where you are wrong."

Anzu didn't respond. She stood silent against this bureaucratic spawn, with every cell in her body remaining defiant.

"The higher-ups demand retribution, but they also acknowledge this school's Senshado club as having raw potential." The man again adjusted his glasses as a way to prove a point. "The higher-ups want to disband the school, but spare the members of your Senshado club."

Anzu's brows furrowed with confusion. "I… I don't understand."

The man's lips formed into a wide grin before turning his back at her to stare once more at the cool summer evening outside.

"I hear that in your Senshado club, there are individuals who are… talented mechanics." The man revealed. "I surmised their talents could be better suited for a more promising school like Bellwall Academy. I also heard they have a promising automobile club."

Anzu slowly breathed in deeply to douse out the rage that was once again starting to swell up inside her chest. She needed to maintain her calm. She needed to detach herself from her emotions.

"I also heard you have a team composed solely of avid history buffs." The man continued. "I am a fan of history myself, and I believe such budding young historians would be better off if their thirst for knowledge is quenched inside more traditional schools such as BC Freedom Academy or Anzio."

The student council president didn't respond.

"Or how about the first-year members of your club?" The man placed his hands on his back. "They are young and full of untapped potential. I heard that Pravda has reinstated a program where they invite actual Russian tankers from the Russian military to train their fresh recruits."

Now Anzu had to summon all her reserved willpower just to maintain her cool. Still, she didn't respond.

"And what about your ace commander? The rising star of Ooarai?" The man turned to stare directly into her eyes. "A Nishizumi breaking away from the Nishizumi style is already a scandal in itself. Many prominent Kuromorimine alumni are outraged at the result. This cannot go on, and they demand the errant Nishizumi sister be returned to Kurmoromine at once, or she be expe-."

"Stop it," Anzu growled through gritted teeth. Without realizing it, her vision had started to blur. "Enough. Please…"

The man didn't continue. For what seemed like an eternity, both remained silent. Anzu curled her hands as tight as she could to steady herself. She blinked a couple of times before resuming to glare at him.

Finally, the man grabbed his briefcase and started to walk towards her.

"The ship is already impounded. Students that are not from the Naval Studies Department are allowed to grab their belongings inside the ship until midnight. By dawn, the ship will sail." He said as he approached her. "Housings for stranded students have already been arranged. You need not worry about the transfers. All have been taken care of."

When they were already standing side by side, the man stopped. Both didn't bother to look at each other.

"All members of this school's Senshado club will be divided by each of the prominent elite Senshado schools." The man mentioned as a matter of fact. "Worry not. They will all be given priority treatment in their registration. I hear your club is fairly acquainted with your opponents, so I'm sure the transfers will proceed smoothly."

The man didn't wait for a reply as he started to walk toward the door.

Anzu could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. She had a hundred questions she wanted to ask this sly creature of bureaucracy, but she knew they would never get a response.

However, there was only one thing she needed him to answer.

"What… What will happen to the ship?" She asked just as she heard the large mahogany doors of the Student Council office swung open. "Where will you take it?"

Silence.

Anzu didn't move nor even turned to look at the man. She stood her ground and waited for a reply.

After what seemed like a minute or two, the man responded.

"The ship is scheduled to be scrapped and broken." The man revealed. "Delegates from a Philippine school will take charge of the school carrier by midnight, and by dawn, it will sail towards a ship-breaking yard somewhere in the Philippines. Of course, the Naval Studies students will remain to crew the ship until they reach their destination. Any other questions?"

Anzu shook her head, though she knew he too was not looking at her. "No. That was all."

"Hmm," he grunted. Then his voice seemed to soften as he gave her one last piece of advice. "You fought hard, President Kadotani. You may not believe this, but I genuinely admire your commitment to saving this school. It's over now. You can finally rest. I shall put a good word in your recommendation regarding your exemplary work. Worry not, you will have no problem entering any university of your choice. This time, you have my word."

She heard the doors slammed shut, and immediately her legs gave way.

All of her strength had evaporated. She couldn't move or even get up. She felt weak and completely vulnerable. Gone was her mask of cold indifference, replaced instead with a torn veil stained with shame and defeat.

Now all alone inside the Student Council office, she finally gave in to her emotions, bursting on the floor crying.

She closed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth but still, the tears and the sobs wouldn't stop. She felt her heart beating furiously with unchanneled rage.

She was angry. She was angry with that glasses-wearing bastard, with the school for being old and underachieving, with the old farts in the Federation, and in MEXT for being such sore losers.

She was angry with everyone.

But most of all, she was angry with herself.

The thought of being a failure was unbearable. She screamed at the ceiling and threw out rims of documents into the air. What was the purpose of all of this? What was the point of even trying to change an unchangeable outcome?

She had done everything in her power to save their school, and still, it all meant nothing.

For a minute and two, she allowed herself to cry. She allowed herself to be vulnerable and to give in to raw and illogical emotions. Gone was her firm and assured persona that others saw in her. Instead, what sat inside this office of power was a short, normal girl who foolishly fought the system and lost.

She allowed herself to cry all the way to the third minute and into the fourth. However, at the stroke of the fifth minute, she finally forced herself to stand up.

Her eyes were still wet, her nose was still stuffy, and her chest was still aching. However, the self-loathing within her had finally stopped.

Once more, with tears still falling down her closed eyes, she opened her mouth and inhaled a deep breath to calm herself. The next minute she did nothing but continue to take in deep breaths until she had successfully balanced her humors.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The cold, logical, and calculating Anzu Kadotani was back.

She then strode towards the Student Council office's glass wall to survey the school grounds below. It was early evening, and every building had already gone dark except for the lamp posts in the streets.

"This isn't over," she muttered to herself. "This isn't yet the finale."

Still gazing out of the glass wall, she took out her phone from her pocket and dialed in a number given to her by the head of Ooarai's most secretive club.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

"Lord President?" a low voice of a girl answered on the other side.

"A man just exited out from my office," Anzu began, her voice now masked from any sign of emotions. "He is carrying a briefcase with him that contains valuable documents that I need."

The other side of the phone remained silent.

"Splinter, I need you and your fellow ninjas to bring me that briefcase at all cost."

A wave of static could be heard from the other side before Anzu heard a reply.

"Acknowledged, Lord President."

The call ended.

"The school can still be saved," she muttered to herself again.

Her mind had finally changed gear from self-pity to something more productive. Even now, in her subconscious, her mind raced to pick up minute details of her conversations with that man that she could use against him in the future.

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to ease the pain of a looming headache.

She needed to come up with another plan to save the school from getting scrapped. The last deal with that man was only made verbally, which meant this time she needed to forge a new written deal with prominent officials as witnesses.

This would mean she needed to once again pull the strings from behind the curtain and gather allies within both the Senshado Federation and MEXT. For starters, the first person she needed to convince was their instructor, Ami Chono.

Now their instructor might appear like a carefree individual, but Anzu knew it was only a farce to mask her cunning self. The Student Council President had no doubt their instructor would prove to be an indispensable ally.

Convincing Ami Chono to be on her side was just one step of her ultimate plan. She still needed to move the heavens and the earth before she could save their school.

In fact, the very first step she needed to make was to move the sea.

Again she dialed another number in her phone that belonged to an individual heavily indebted to her PR Manager, Momo Kawashima.

Normally, collecting debts wasn't something she was fond of doing, even though this individual once insisted they call her if they needed to do things that other people would call shady.

Still, now was not the time to adhere to proper decorum when their opponent would go so far as to scrap a ship just to satisfy their hurt pride.

The plan forming in her head had two parts. The first part she could handle. Planning for another match, this time on a written deal, was something she could do. The second part, however, deals with the ship never reaching its destination for scrapping.

For that, she needed a specialist who knows more about ships and sailing than her.

Anzu finally heard the other side picking up her call.

"I told you to never call me again," the voice on the other side warned almost sounding threatening. "You are not Momo-sama. I should not be doing favors for you."

For the first time this evening, Anzu Kadotani smiled.

"Hey there, Captain Ogin, long time no chat."

A/N:

Ever since World of Warships got released in 2015, I always wanted to write a Girls und Panzers story that revolves around ships instead of tanks. I even attempted to write just that a few years ago with OCs as main characters until they nerfed the Fubuki destroyer in the game and torpedoed the inspiration of my story to smithereens.

But then Das Finale came out and we're finally introduced to a team that is from the Naval Studies Department.

And thus, this is my second attempt at writing a Girls und Panzers story about warships instead of tanks.

Enjoy!

Revision History:

- Originally published on Oct 10, 2020