The Legends Still Live On

Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!

Kapitel Sechs: Katjuscha Tagebuch

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Katyusha was currently snooping through Nonna's room like the curious child-like girl she was, but she stopped upon seeing a lone book face-up on the desk.

The book had the title 'Katyusha Diary,' and listed as the author was Nonna. Listed as additional contributors were Sasha and Nudelmann.

Katyusha stared at the book for some time as she debated to snoop through it or not, and the debate in her head was driving her mad.

'Just do it already!' her thoughts screamed at her body, but her body only just barely moved. Her arm started to reach for the book.

"Hey, Katyusha," Sasha spoke up from behind her with a smile. "What are you doing in Nonna's room?"

"Ah!" Katyusha jumped in great surprise. She then slowly but nervously turned around. "I-I-I-I-I-It's nothing!" she stuttered out in great nervousness. "Nothing!" She nervously laughed before she coughed in a similar manner. Sasha simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Katyusha then began to skip out of the room. "It's time for my noontime nap!" she declared still with nervousness. "S-See you!"

Sasha just watched Katyusha run off in curiosity. When she got out of the room, he hardened and pulled out his phone. "We may have had a leak just now of the secret documents. Remain on alert, tovarishchi," he spoke into his phone.

"Da, tovarishch," he heard Nonna and Nudelmann both reply.

Outside of the room, Katyusha was in deep thought as she walked on to her room.

''Katyusha Diary?!'' she thought. 'Just what could be written inside?! Just what?!'

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Soon after, Katyusha finally turned in for her nap within her sleepwear, which was a nightshirt with Pravda's version of the hammer and sickle on the upper left part of the front. As she lied in her bed asleep, she began to dream.

She was still sleeping, but a shadow started being cast over her as someone else entered the room.

'13:00 hours,' Sasha thought as he approached and brought his face super close to Katyusha's. He also slithered his arms underneath her. 'Katyusha is having a pleasant noontime nap...'

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"Uwah!" Katyusha cried out as she woke up. She then looked around in paranoia, but she found nobody in the room with her. "A-A dream?" she wondered as she started calming down.

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Later, Katyusha yawned while riding atop Sasha's shoulders. Nonna and Nudelmann were also beside as the group walked along.

"Are you lacking sleep, Katyusha?" Sasha asked from below after hearing the tiny Russian girl above him yawn.

"Ma-Maybe just a bit," Katyusha replied with a bit of sleepiness as she rubbed her eyes.

Katyusha then looked around at Nonna and Nudelmann, and she found them with their typical calm demeanors. She also managed to sense that Sasha wasn't acting any different than he usually did, either.

'They're all acting as usual,' Katyusha thought. 'Surely I'm overthinking this...'

She then grew a panicked look as she looked ahead. "Wa-Sto-!" she tried, but she also ended up reaching for Sasha's face during her panic. She ended up poking her fingers into Sasha's blue eyes.

"Ah!" Sasha yelled out in pain as he immediately sunk to his knees and grabbed his face. Katyusha ended up falling off his back harmlessly in the process. "Suka blyad'!"

"Sasha!" Katyusha cried out in a panic as Nonna and Nudelmann quickly rushed forth to help Sasha. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

Katyusha continued staring on in fear at Sasha as Nonna and Nudelmann started helping the Russian ace stand up.

Katyusha then fearfully imagined what she thought was going to happen soon.

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She imagined Sasha, Nudelmann, and Nonna all in a room writing in the so-called 'Katyusha Diary.' Also in the room was a picture of Katyusha with darts and arrows chucked at it and resting on the wall behind after cleaving holes through the picture.

'Noon,' Sasha began writing. 'Stabbed my eyeballs. Grudge: an additional 25 rubles.'

'Evening,' Nonna began writing. 'Noisily ate dinner. Grudge: an additional 10 rubles.'

'Cheeky despite being small,' Nudelmann wrote. 'Grudge: plus 50 rubles.'

'Katyusha,' Nonna began writing again. 'Current grudge: 8,500 rubles. One of these days: Purge.'

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Katyusha then came back to reality after she finished imagining her fate. 'The-The-The-The-They'll kill me!' she thought in terror.

During her thoughts, Nudelmann and Nonna had helped Sasha stand up on his own. Sasha then turned his head toward Katyusha.

"I'm good," Sasha notified as he rubbed his eyes with a slight smile.

"Let's get you to the nurse for some eye drops," Nonna suggested. She and Nudelmann then started leading Sasha toward the nurse's office.

Katyusha had widened her eyes seeing Sasha be relatively okay with her stabbing him in the eyes. As Sasha left the area with Nonna and Nudelmann, Katyusha looked on at the three with an expression that effectively combined confusion and fear.

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Some time later, Nonna and Nudelmann walked out of the nurse's office with a completely healthy Sasha behind.

"Oh, you waited for me Katyusha?" he asked upon seeing Katyusha outside.

The tiny Russian girl was currently on her knees and bent forward so her arms supported her against the floor. She was holding up a white flag, and in front of her on the floor were some things Nonna had given to entertain her. Notably among them was a toy KV-2, along with Nonna's wallet that now had its contents disorganized plus her pocket of change.

"Just spare my life at least..." Katyusha begged as she shed a few tears and awaited her fate.

"Chto?" Sasha wondered in confusion as he saw the state Katyusha was in. He then picked her up and put her on his shoulders again. "I'm not angry with you at all!" he assured with a smile as the four Pravda leaders set off again.

"Really?" Katyusha asked in a bit of confusion and hope. "You don't hate being together with me?"

"Being by your side is my-no, our pleasure!" Sasha then looked to his left and right at Nonna and Nudelmann. "Da?"

"Da," the two taller Russians replied in confirmation with their calm smiles.

"Sasha..." Katyusha said again as she grew a relieved smile. She also simultaneously grew a blush hearing everyone's reassurances.

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Katyusha then flashed back to a very specific day she remembered very well.

"Please take a look at my strategy proposal!" Katyusha requested. She was talking with two people that were within the Arts of Warfare programs of Pravda, and she was showing them a clipboard with her strategy on it. From the shadows watching on was Sasha. "I'm sure-"

"Da, da, we'll hand it over to the komandir," one of them interrupted and dismissed.

"Please take a proper look at it!" Katyusha insisted. "I'm sure that with it our school will-!"

"I get it, I get it, little one," one of them interrupted again. "Now see you later." The two then turned to walk away. Katyusha looked much discouraged upon being rejected as she slumped her shoulders.

"Hey!" a voice angrily called after them. Katyusha looked to it in surprise from its volume, and she discovered it was Sasha who was angrily heading after the two.

The two from the Arts of Warfare programs stopped and turned to the disturbance.

"How dare you speak to a comrade that way!" Sasha angrily continued. "Don't you see how much we could benefit from someone of her knowledge?! We could-!"

"Sasha, for the last time, we're not making you a pilot," one of them interrupted. "We already told you that Pravda's aviation needs mechanics just as badly as it does pilots. That situation has not changed at all since then. Now get back to work."

Sasha lost his fire upon hearing the order. "Da, tovarishch," he replied affirmative without any enthusiasm as he slumped his shoulders.

Soon, though, a loud shot rang out and shaved the hair off the top of the heads of the two Arts of Warfare members. Both Katyusha and Sasha ducked and turned to the source in surprise.

"What is this?!" one of the members cried out as they ran away with haste and desperation. Another shot rang out and struck one of them straight in the ass.

"Ouch!" the one hit cried out. Yet another shot rang out and struck the other one straight in the ass as well.

"Ouch! That hurts, blyad'!" the other cursed as they were hit. The two under attack finally managed to scamper away to safety and out of sight.

Katyusha and Sasha kept looking on at the source of the two members' troubles: Nudelmann, who was currently armed with a PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle. The Russian sharpshooter looked on toward the area of his foes with a cold gaze as he silently dared them to come back.

Katyusha then felt herself getting lifted up by her shoulders.

"Huh?! Chto?!" she wondered as she was set down atop Nonna's shoulders. "Nonna?! What are you-?"

"With this, you're no longer a 'little one,'" Nonna interrupted with her calm demeanor.

Katyusha also noticed Sasha and Nudelmann come beside her new perch, and the group of four then set off.

"More so..." Nudelmann began with a calm grin.

"You're a much greater person than all others, Katyusha," Sasha spoke up in continuation with his confident smile.

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'Right!' Katyusha thought in a reassuring manner back in the present after her flashback. She was now back at home in Nonna's room again. 'Since the bond that Sasha, Nudelmann, Nonna and I all share is a strong one!'

She then turned to the desk as she grew an idea. She hesitated for a bit, but she then took a breath and determinedly reached for the Katyusha Diary she was so curious about. 'There can't be any bad things written inside!' she thought.

She grabbed the book and started looking through it, but all she found were completely white pages.

"But... What?" she uttered at a complete loss as she flipped through the book completely filled with white pages. "White pages? There's nothing written-"

"Ah, so you finally saw it, Katyusha?" Sasha began with a smile as he set his hands on Katyusha's shoulders.

"Ah!" the tiny Russian girl jumped in surprise. She quickly turned around and found Sasha was present along with Nonna and Nudelmann.

"It's just a notebook," Nudelmann calmly notified as he held up the open book with a hand.

"Don't use such a puzzling name!" Katyusha barked at the other three. She then started to head out of the room. "Really now!" She then sighed in relief after finally solving her mystery.

The three other Russians stayed back and let Katyusha go. Nonna was currently holding another book behind her back. This one was supposedly the real Katyusha Diary, as it appeared identical to the other book, but it had the addition of being chained.

"She is never to know about this book's existence," Nonna stated after the three were alone.

"Da, tovarishch," the two Russian boys agreed.

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Next time: Ooarai's Summer!

Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.

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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. Any references made belong to their respective owners.

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