Note: Not properly proofread as of yet.

"Really?"

Yukari nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes, really!"

Saori took a deep breath, let it out, and continued walking through the long trench. It was now a little after three in the morning, and the drill was still running. Apparently, this trench was part of the course Sergeant Dodger had set up for them on the way to the lake. Only part of it, though. And since it was pouring rain, the trench was flooded.

Hana tried her best to force a smile. "Congratulations, Yukari."

Saori finally nodded. "Yes. It's a milestone in life."

Katyusha's rifle poked Yukari in the arm. The shorter girl quickly climbed up Yukari's back and audibly gasped. "Katyusha can't breath down there!"

"And Yukari can't move anymore!" Yukari shouted at her. "Get off! Get off!"

"If Katyusha falls in the mud it'll be your fault when Katyusha's gun gets dirty! These should all be AK-47's anyway!"

"I'm an adult now! I don't have to do what you tell me!"

"Katyusha just needs to use you to find Nonna!"

"My body my choice! Get the fuck off!"

Dodger appeared above her. "Your body belongs to the Army now! Quit bitching and get a move on!" She looked at Katyusha, as if just now realizing she was on Yukari's back. "Can you not swim, Private?"

Katyusha shouted back. "Not without getting Katyusha's rifle wet, ma'am!"

As if on cue, Nonna ran up to them. She sloshed through the muddy water until she could pick Katyusha off of Yukari's back. "Sorry I took so long."

Dodger frowned, but it was directed at Katyusha. "What will you do when she's not there?"

Placing Katyusha up on her shoulders, Nonna answered for both of them. "I will always be there for Katyusha."

As this was going on, Hana led her friends further down the muddy trail. Once they were far enough away to have their own conversation again, Hana turned around and pointed at Yukari. "Don't think I didn't catch that, by the way."

"Catch what?"

Saori elbowed her. "You were swearing." Hana nodded in confirmation.

Yukari looked between them in disbelief. "Was I? Sorry, I guess it just slipped out."

"Well, I won't allow it." Hana continued, leading them further. "Not in my tank, not while I'm in charge."

"Wait, since when are you in charge?" Saori and Yukari chorused together.

"Since we were without a tank commander. Someone needs to take charge."

Yukari dashed ahead as best she could in the deep muddy water. "Hold on. I'm the oldest, so I should be in charge."

"Wait, what?" Saori stormed past them. "I thought I was the oldest."

"I just turned eighteen. Are you eighteen?"

Saori stopped and thought about it. "Huh? When did your birthday move? I was older last year."

"That's not how it works." Maho bumped into Saori from behind. "All of you get a move on."

Saori glared back at her. "I'm sorry, are you part of our team?"

"My papers say I'm the leader of your team." Saori was stunned into silence, so Maho walked past her. "My sister told me to keep the four of you safe, so I'm going to do that." She reached into the mud ahead of them and pulled Mako out. They hadn't even realized she was there. Maho continued. "All four of you. Just don't go thanking me for it."

As Maho turned to lead them further on, Mako mumbled under her breath. "And how long are you planning on being a prick?"

"What was that?" Maho turned back to them. "Who said that?"

Dodger appeared, putting her boot on top of Maho's head and pushing her down into the mud. "Oopsies! Someone forgot who's in fucking charge here! Don't forget that yelling at your fellow ameobas is my job, not your job, Private Fuck-up!" She let Maho up to cough and sputter. "These are your sisters in arms, you ungrateful shit! Worthless for all purposes besides wasting the enemy's bullets, maybe, but you share that future in common! Give them the respect you think you deserve!"

A corporal they didn't really know ran up behind Dodger. "Sergeant. Important message."

"Oh, for fucks sake! What is it?"

She turned away, and the girls started moving again. They made their way around Maho quietly, trying not to make eye contact. She wiped the mud off her face with one hand, then wiped down her rifle as best she could while completely covered in mud. Caesar and Saemonza pushed past her a moment later, holding their rifles over their heads.

Saemonza looked at Maho's dirty rifle disapprovingly. "That'll cost you marks, not-Miho."

Caesar nodded. "You probably have to fire it at least once at the end of the course to prove you didn't get it all… dirty."

Arisa shoved through between them, followed by a couple Anzio girls and Lime. "What, you think they're handing out ammo at the end? There's no way these guns are already loaded." She turned around and pointed her gun for show. She didn't look nearly as imposing as she might have otherwise, since she was covered almost to her shoulders in flood water.

Maho backed out of the line of fire. "Even so, you shouldn't point it at anyone here."

"Ah, screw off! I know what I'm doing with this!"

"She said-" The sound of a gunshot split the morning. It took everyone several seconds for the sound of rain to return to their hearing. Lime stood in front of Arisa, holding the end of her rifle up so that it was aimed at the sky. Lime finished her sentence. "Don't point that at us."

Dodger stormed over to them. "Who the fuck is firing their weapon off already?! Private, what do you think you're doing?!"

Arisa looked about to cry. "I… I didn't think… it would be loaded…"

Dodger looked to Lime. "Where did that shot go?! Is anyone hurt?1"

Lime shook her head, shoving Arisa back. "No ma'am. It fired into the air."

The sergeant began relentlessly bearing down on Arisa. "You fucking moron! You could have gotten someone killed with your total lack of brains! You better believe you're going to be doing pushups every spare minute of the next month! You're getting off lucky, Private! If you'd hit someone and I had my way, you'd be hung! Turn around and march, Private! Double time now! And you can kiss your dreams of being an officer goodbye!" Dodger gave one look back at the remaining girls, then turned and walked back to the corporal. They briefly caught her say something of some concern. "Are you sure about that? It can't wait?"

Caesar patted Lime on the shoulder, taking note that she winced at the impact. "You've got quick moves. You alright?"

Maho walked on. "Shake it off. We have ground to cover."

Lime shrugged her off. "Don't make me stab you, Caesar."

"And don't make me squeeze you, Lime."

"Just leave me alone and focus on the task at hand. You don't need to worry about me."

Dodger jogged ahead of them suddenly, and they could see how bothered she was. It wasn't just annoyance, though there was certainly a lot of that. The other emotion on her face was one they hadn't seen from her before, and as such it was hard for them to tell exactly what it was.

Mako looked over her shoulder. "Oh shit, here comes the sergeant. Heads down." She then simply sank below the surface, right in front of her friends.

Saori cried out in surprise and started searching around for her with one hand, keeping her other hand high and dry with her rifle. "Not here, Mako! You can't die here!"

Dodger stopped beside them, kneeling down so she was more level with them. "Akiyama. Get out. You're done."

Yukari had to do a double take before she realized that Dodger was serious. "Wh-what? But I was just-"

"Get out of there, Private! The exercise is over for you!"

Hana slung her rifle over her shoulder and started helping Yukari out of the trench. She looked up at the sergeant. "What's going on? Did Yukari do something wrong?"

Mako's face surfaced behind them. "She turned eighteen. Once you're an adult, you're no longer welcome in the military."

Dodger grabbed Yukari's rifle, then took her hand and pulled her out. "Follow me. You three keep going."

Saori watched them leave, then turned to Hana. "Should I be worried we'll never see her again, or that she'll be back later?"

"In just over two weeks, Saori will leave us too."

"Can it, Mako! It's not because it's her birthday!"

When the girls reached the end of the course, after the long muddy trench, and then navigating barbed wire in more mud that they sank into, and then a number of wooden logs that they had to balance on in the rain, they were met with a dark, dingy, and damp shooting range where each of them had to fire one shot from their rifles. Hit or miss, the ability to actually fire the shot would affect their grade the most. By the time they reached that point, they were all soaked, freezing, filthy, and miserable.

Arisa, of course, had already fired her shot and was completely unable to do anything. Most of the rest had little trouble. Many of them missed their targets, but that wasn't the objective. Firing their rifle was. Each of them, after firing off their rifle, was told to head for the showers.

Caesar stood up, handed over her rifle, and gave Lime a pat on the shoulder as she walked by. The European girl flinched and misfired, hitting the cold dirt right in front of her. The corporal standing over her ordered her back to the showers. Grumpily, Lime stood and handed it over, then headed after Caesar. She caught up as they entered the building.

"Hey, maybe you could leave me the hell alone."

Caesar wasn't quite sure why she was upset, but she could see something was bothering her. "Um… okay. I'm just trying to be friendly, but if you just don't want friends…" Lime just shook her head and started down the hall to their barracks. "Hey. We're supposed to take a shower. You need one after that just as much as I do."

She didn't answer, but she did stop and turn around. She walked in ahead of Caesar and sat down on one of the benches. Caesar waited for her to get ready for the showers, but eventually gave up and just got herself ready. After tossing each piece of clothing, she looked back to see if Lime had moved at all, and also to see if she was still there. She wasn't running out, so there was that, but no guarantee she wouldn't leave the moment Caesar went in.

Darjeeling walked in, spotted Lime, and walked over to her. "I heard about your little tale of heroics. I didn't realize you could move that fast."

Seeing that someone else was here to keep an eye on her, Caesar moved on to the showers. She couldn't wait any longer for it.

Lime looked up at her former team commander. She looked around, seeing that not many girls were in the change room at the moment, and let out a long sigh. "Yeah… not quite so quick, it turns out." She lifted her shirt just a little.

Darjeeling's eyes went wide. "Oh my Lord."

Yukari followed Sergeant Dodger into a building she hadn't really been in before. She'd actually been in one room, but she'd entered by removing the wall. This time, she was completely covered in mud, barely dressed, and eighteen years of age. She was also tired, but everything going on around her was pushing that to the back of her mind.

The sergeant opened a door and ushered her in. It was a small room with a desk, several pieces of communication machinery, and a young officer that looked around three years her senior. Dodger pointed to the chair, and the officer stood. She briefly saluted, then left the room. Yukari looked to Dodger for some sort of explanation.

The sergeant just shook her head. "You've got a call." She closed the door.

Whatever this was, it was starting to make Yukari's skin crawl. She sat down and picked up the phone, which had been left sitting on the desk. Holding it up to her ear, she spoke into the mouthpiece. "This… this is Yukari Akiyama. Who's calling?"

"Yukari, dear? Are… are you alright? I've been trying to get in touch with you for hours."

"Mom? We were in the middle of an early morning drill. What's going on?" Her mom sounded worried, even scared a little, but hearing her voice was some great comfort all on its own. If her mother was calling her, though, she had to wonder what could have happened. Had the war reached Japan?

"Yukari, we… Miho and I are at the hospital right now. Your father… he had a heart attack. We've been waiting all night to hear anything, but they still haven't come out."

Yukari collapsed back into the chair when the news hit her. Her body started shaking all over. "B-but… but he… he's still… alive… right?" A doctor would have come out and told them if the worst had happened. She was sure that meant it would be all okay.

"We hope so, dear. We just… don't know."

"Alright, Mom. You hold out, okay? He'll be back up and about in no time, you just wait and see. I promise… I promise I'll be home to see you as soon as I can. You and Dad, together. I'll come see you soon."