Author's Note
Once again sorry for the late update. Please don't kill me because life is already doing that and succeeding at the moment. Right, enough of my nonsense. On with the story!
Also any review would be awesome.
Chapter 5
"Seriously?" I asked as I sat up on my chair. It's been three days since the visit from the representatives of Senshado. In theory, it should be smooth sailing, or close to it from here on but evidently someone up in the clouds decided that more plot is needed and threw a wrench in my plans."You are not screwing with me on this are you?"
"As much as I like to...No. I am sorry." Mr Kenshin answered from across his desk with a groan. His frustration with the matter at hand is clear to me at this point. He is not fooling around. "In normal circumstances it wouldn't be that big of an issue for the school's committee. But between the recent budget cuts and the extra renovation cost for the old buildings...ugh...let's just say that the committee thinks that now is not the right time for something like this. It's experimental...it's new...the committee thinks that now is not a good time for anything that may end up failing. Wasting funds and all."
"Well, can't say that I am pissed. But I am not exactly thrilled either." I finally expressed after several minutes of processing. "It was a long shot anyways. Pretty sure that having me and the gang doing it isn't really motivation for the committee either."
"I am sorry Keiji. With no fundings, you have no tanks. With no tanks there is no match." The old man said as he stood up and paced his room. "There is an emergency fund but the committee is not going to release even a part of it. I told them we can raise half the funds ourselves and that we just need a partial funding but they are still adamant. They won't release fund for something that may fail."
Mr Kenshin then begin to angrily grumble on how education is all about funding these days and how ridiculously expensive it is to run a school carrier. It all went off like a rocket from there. He then began to rant on the government's decision to implement school carriers and how no one in the government thought that it was so stupid that even a kid would question it. By the time he got to how someone came up with that idea I decided to it tune out.
So funding is in the toilet. Should have thought about that. Well it's a miscalculation on my part. So now I have to scrape that road kill of a plan off the road and figure something out I guess. From what the old man said, the issue here is that the committee is not sure that it would work. So we just need to show them a demo. But for that we need tanks but that needs money. And with that we would be in a loop. Not having the funds is the issue here. Damn it how can we get some of it? No...even with the funds, we still need to get the tanks. So how do we…
"I am sorry Keiji. I am out of ideas at this point. It looks like you won't be able to save anyone at this point." Mr Kenshin interrupted my thought as he exhaustedly sat back on his chair. "What you have was a noble idea. But there is just too much working against us."
"Just curious here. When did that recent budget cut come in?"
"Some time after meeting with the Senshado people." Mr Kenshin answered giving me a tired look. The long years of running the school has clearly taken a toll on him. How he manage to carry on is nothing short of a miracle. "What is the use? It's over. I can't even keep the students from deviating from the school's spirit. What makes me think that I can do this is? I failed as your principal"
"You are tired old man. You did your best but you should let the younger generation to take the lead once in a while. And you didn't fail. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you and neither will the school. Heck I know that me and some guys on this boat are here because we believe in what you and the school stood for." I said as I stood up and pat the tired man on the back. "The school's spirit demand that we fight to the last and the last I checked we still have a month before the matches start. It would be a damn shame if you, the driving force of the school, gave up now."
"Huh. You are damn right it would. Thanks. It's been a while since anyone came up and tell me that." Mr Kenshin said with a smile coming back to his face. "This is all encouraging but do you have a plan?"
"I always come up with something." I said with a confident smirk. "Tell me sir, do you know about the Lend-Lease Act?"
"Not much. It's an act to loan...Oh...Ooooh...I see where you are coming from." Mr Kenshin said stroking his mustache.
"Can you do it?" I asked with a bigger smirk.
"I am the principal of the most stubborn school aren't I? It be a damn shame if I don't keep trying." Mr Kenshin said returning my smirk with a confident smile.
A phone call and three days later~~~
"So that's why we are going to Hera High School to train up for some training." I said concluding a long explanation to my Senshado team. "Questions?"
"Yea. Are you completely you insane?" Ryoji asked casually. "You do know that it's an all girls school right? And the girls in the school...to put it kindly..."
"Yes I know that is a girl's school and their tendency to look down at problematic students. That is why I called for this meeting. They sent us their rule book and we should thoroughly go through it. When we are there, they would be watching our every move so let's not give them any excuse to kick us out." I cautioned everyone.
"I think we are missing the elephant in the room here." Ryoji said as he flipped through the rule book that was handed to him. "We are going there because the committee refused funding because we are a bunch of washout right? Not that I thought of backing out but what the committee did really piss me off."
The atmosphere in the room went from a five year old birthday party to a funeral in a blink of an eye. Though everyone present were thinking that, we were trying to avoid the subject and just take it as another obstacle. But to announce it out loud really brought reality crashing down on us. We had expected to be shunned but for it to be brought out into the open really stung all of us.
"Yes. We were denied fundings by the school's committee so what?" I asked looking at each and everyone in the room. "Is there a problem with it?"
"No problem here. I just don't like that we are sidestepping that fact." Ryoji stated. "I'd rather we face it at the get go and straighten out any uncertainty."
Adding weight to his point, I can see a few uncertain and disappointed faces in the room. Fukuda cannot be more right in his reasoning. If we were to fight for the school with such feelings in our ranks, it would only be a matter of time before some of us end up snapping and go back to our rebellious ways. I have been thinking of it but that was the least of my concerns until I saw the expressions in some of the member's faces. This has to be addressed now!
"All of you know even now that there is little backing for any of us here even if we do this. That is the cold reality. If you think that what we are doing now would wash away what we have done and the school's rooted view on things then you have to think again. For the moment that is fantasy. A fantasy that we will make reality with our blood,sweat and tears." I said and paused for reality to set into everyone. "Three days ago, everyone here was a stone's throw away from being kicked out because no one would fund us. But the old man fought for us. He twisted and turrned so that we can have a shot to get the funding we need. Gentlemen, we will repay the old man for his efforts, even if we have to go there then so be it. What say you?"
"We fight!" Tetsuo yelled out the school's cheer. The cheer then reverberated through the room as everyone else yelled out in response to my question. There is no way in hell that we will just sit back and do nothing. Acknowledging the cheer, I settle down the group and got to briefing them on the arrangement of this one week exchange along with that school's rules and regulations.
"They will watching us closely so don't give them anything to complain about." I reminded just before the group was dismissed.
Two more days and a plane ride later~~~
"Afternoon gentlemen. I am Kuribayashi Miaski, the headmistress of Hera's Girls High School. On behalf of the school I welcome you." An elderly lady greeted after we disembarked from our transport. "I have read all your files and I have one advice for all of you. Obey the school's rules and we will not have any conflict. I don't know how things are run in Sparta High but we strictly follow the school's rules here. No exceptions. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am!" We replied in unison. I then stepped forward and introduced myself as the one Mr Kenshin has put in charge of the group. The lady nodded and allowed the student council and moral committee to take over from there. We were showed our accommodations and given a tour around the school.
Class in the next day was uneventful. We were initially treated as oddities but the curiosity about us eventually died down. After class we gathered at the tank garage and introduced ourselves to the school's Senshado team.
"For the record, I was against you and your crew coming to this school at all. Troublemakers like the lot of you should just drop out and save your school the trouble." Yamato Kyouko, the school's Senshado team captain, said keeping her hand crossed and ignored my gesture of a handshake. "And to participate in a girl's sport is just ridiculous. I rather not entertain the lot of you but the headmistress has spoken and unlike any of you we do what we are told."
"Charming. If you feel so strongly about us then could you kindly point us to our vehicles so we can get out of your hair?" I asked in a civil manner.
"That garage over there is yours. Besides the tank there are tools to maintain them are in there as well. I am bound to offer my assistance to you by the headmistress but please do avoid bothering us. Your training area is also marked on the map in the garage, keep your distance and we will do the same. Your instructor would be coming tomorrow so try not to blow yourselves up until then." The Senshado captain said before leaving us.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too." I replied not bothering whether she heard me. I then turn around and looked at my team of misfits. "Right, guys let's check out the garage and get started. I can give you guys a brief run down on operating a tank before the instructor arrive."
"While we are on that topic, who is our instructor?" Soujiro asked out of curiosity.
"The old man said she is Miss Chomu? Chomou? It's somewhere along that line." I answered trying to remember the name.
Opening the huge garage doors, we were all greeted by the silhouettes of five tanks. Turning the lights on, the sights of a German Panzer 3 Ausf J medium tank, a Russian BT-2 fast tank and three English Valentine Mark 4 Infantry Support tanks greeted all of us.
" will do." I commented still admiring the tanks. Some were less impressed by the tank's appearance. The Panzer 3 still have winter camouflage from possibly years ago while one of the Valentine is not painted at all and the rests have their camouflage half removed. However, everyone soon get pass the issue with the appearance and come to appreciate the tanks. The most excited is probably Tetsuo and his crew of gearhead. Upon switching on the lights, the three of them immediately went to the tanks and begin to check every tank in no particular order. When one of them discovered something exciting in a tank he would called out like an excited child and the other two would crowd him to have a look.
Once the three of them settled down, we begin to allocating the tanks. Me and my friends got the Panzer 3, Tetsuo and his gearheads got the BT-2 and the other groups all got a Valentine. Luckily for all of us, all of the tanks were in working order and I got down to instructing each group with some help from my crew that I have taught a bit ahead of time.
Everyone soon got used to the temporary arrangements in this girl's school and went about as normal students. The instructor, Chouno Ami, came on the second day and advised us. Our progress from there on skyrocket. Tetsuo and his crew quickly became adept at handling the BT-2 and even taught the rest of us on vehicle maintenance, Fukuda became a pro at long range shooting and the rest of us improve in everything in general.
On the day before the demonstration match with Hera's High School's Senshado, we were conducting our practice like season Senshado members. At the end of practice, we held a meeting to discuss on the match's strategy.
"Okay guys, final maintenance and strategy done and we have practice all we can in the time period given to us. Go get some rest and fight our hearts out tomorrow. There is no need to worry about the outcome because the match will speak for us;." I said concluding the meeting and dismissing everyone.
Some distance away from the Sparta student's garage~~~
"They've improve so much over the week Captain Yamato. There's a chance we may have a fight on our hands." a Senshado member commented to her club's captain.
"Yes. That is why we are going to do reconnaissance I will be damned before I let them win." The captain said calling a teammate. "Hello. It's Kyouko. Get the girls ready. We are reconning their garage tonight."