The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Neun: Es ist Weihnachten!
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"Ah, today is the long-awaited Christmas day!" Saori happily revealed with admiration in her voice. Her hands were together as she wore a Santa hat. "Snow is falling, couples are arm in arm with each other… This is the best day of the year! Perhaps something great awaits me, too!"
"Man, Saori's going all out this year, huh?" Anton wondered with a grin. He also had a Santa hat on. He then turned around. "But regardless, why the hell are we below the equator?!" he yelled out with a look saying he wasn't happy about it.
Around him were many of his other friends plus the sports groups, some of the freshmen, and the entire student council. All were in swimwear. All of his friends there included Saori, Miho, Erich, Herz, and Hana. The entire student council plus all of the present members of Anglerfish Team and Messer-Ein were also wearing Santa hats. The girls of Anglerfish Team took it a step farther and wore part of the outfit Santa is known for wearing. It only included the uppermost part, which covered just the shoulders, along with some long gloves styled the same way that reached halfway up the lower arm. All members of Anglerfish Team and Messer-Ein also had on red swimwear to fit the theme.
The sports groups were having an intense game of beach ball using one of the large fake snowballs that were hung up on the palm trees. Both Noriko and Ron were scaling the trees and throwing the large fake snowballs into the play area from near the treetops. The freshmen were messing around doing childish things that were totally expected from them. The student council was lying in the sun.
"Well, there's no winter in the southern hemisphere," Anzu informed nonchalantly as she raised her sunglasses from her eyes. She was relaxing against Aprikose once again.
"We're probably somewhere around here," Zitrus informed as he held up a globe and pointed to a spot on it. They were east of the northernmost tip of Australia, in the westernmost areas of the Coral Sea. In the meantime, Pfirsich was also trying to follow the Zuikaku's route on a map as he sipped on some lemonade.
"That's an advantage of living on a ship!" Aprikose informed with his typical laid-back attitude. "There's no need to stay in cold places."
"But there's not a fragment of romance!" Saori whined in response.
From nearby, David and Mako had stopped eating some cake and looked over to Saori with deadpans. They were wondering if she seriously just said what she just said, considering there indeed was romance present. They were both in the same Christmas outfits as their other friends.
"Besides, it's not like you were kidding or anything when you tricked us into these Christmas costumes!" Saori continued lamenting. "Jeez…"
Anton was nearby as he listened to her rant of sorts, and he just rolled his eyes at her antics. The both of them also had some large sacks they carried for the moment, as did Herz and Hana nearby. Both Herz and Hana just looked on at Saori with smiles on their faces. They knew this was just Saori being Saori.
"Saori! Anton!" they both heard Ayumi and Mesut. They looked over to find all of the freshmen had lined up in front of them with excited looks.
"We were all good kids, so can you please give us some presents?!" Julius asked for all of them.
"Oh, my!" Saori reacted in pleasant surprise.
Anton laughed a bit merrily for a bit before he responded, "Of course! Line on up!"
From nearby, Nathan, Yukari, Miho, and Erich were watching the scene of Saori and Anton getting swarmed by the Christmas-spirited freshmen. The two upperclassmen were generously giving out presents within their sacks. Yukari and Nathan each had on the same Christmas outfits as Miho and Erich respectively.
"Looks like Miss Takebe and Anton are having their popular Christmas," Yukari noted.
"Though, it's not really the kind of popularity they wanted," Nathan also observed.
"What's inside?" Erik wondered as he got his stocking.
"Oh, it's a snack?" Christoph predicted as he felt his own stocking.
All of the freshmen then dug into their stockings to find them loaded with dried sweet potatoes. They simply looked on at the gifts with blank looks for a bit.
"Oh, yeah, that's what Anzu offered everyone," Erich observed with a smile as the freshmen started throwing the dried sweet potatoes at the student council. "I have to admit that I loved her gift."
"Yeah, but it seems like the student council is going to be the ones to eat them up," Miho observed.
"Hey! Stop it!" Pfirsich barked as many of the dried sweet potatoes hit him.
"We can talk about this!" Momo tried to reason with the freshmen, but it was in vain. Anzu just put a hand to her head and didn't even bother trying to fight a losing battle with the freshmen.
"Oh, Bubi and Lady Nishizumi, did you guys ever do anything for Christmas back at your home?" Yukari asked with some intrigue.
"Yeah, we did, but it was usually modest," Erich informed with his signature calm smile. He and Miho also had their own gift sacks that they held as they were kneeled to the ground. Erich then looked up to the sky in thought. "But I wonder how things are over there this year for Bruder…"
"Yeah, I wonder how Schwester is doing now…" Miho similarly wondered as she leaned against him and also looked up to the sky with him.
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Far, far away on nearly the complete opposite side of the Earth, snow was prevalent in Weissach, Germany, the location of the Nishizumi residence.
Within the halls of the large manor, one student in the Schwarzwaldspitze school uniform was running through the halls as if on a mission. He was also one of the members of Schwarzwaldspitze's Jägermeistern team. He flew the Ta 152.
Upon reaching one room, he sighed in relief. "I made it on time," he remarked with a relieved look.
He noticed in the room some of his comrades from the team already waiting at a table along with some girls from the Panzerkraft team.
One of the other guys noticed him. This one was recognizable as the pilot for the Ho 229. "'Made it on time,' like hell you did!" he barked at the Ta 152 Pilot. "You're even later than she was!" he informed as he pointed over to the Jagdpanther Commander that was looking a bit shameful of being late.
The Ta 152 Pilot looked on at the scene in confusion before it sunk in that everyone else there was also part of Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare programs. He then started getting nervous at the implications.
"The reason we were called by herr Staffelkapitän to come meet him at fräulein Kapitän's home is…" another pilot mused. This one was the pilot for one of the Bf 109Fs.
"There's no mistaking it," another pilot began with a look of defeat. This one was one of the Fw 190D pilots. "… Both of them are going to scold us directly about the blunders we committed during the battle against Ooarai."
All of the members present then began reflecting on what they did wrong in the fight. The Panzer III Commander remembered getting taken out effortlessly after getting too cocky without taking anyone down in return. The Jagdpanther Commander recalled being tracked twice by the Jagdpanzer 38(t). The Maus Commander remembered the annoying I-Go that refused to get off of her super heavy tank. The Panther Commander recalled losing her nerve upon discovering the Jagdpanzer 38(t) was beside her.
All of the pilots were also similarly recalling their blunders.
The Bf 109 Pilot recalled having been humiliated upon being taken out right after saying no one could take him on. 'If only I could've taken someone out…' he thought with a miffed look.
The Ta 152 Pilot had regrettably remembered getting his left wing blown off twice by the Fw 190 D-12. He remembered being angry enough to swing his fist at the offending Dora.
The Ho 229 Pilot bitterly remembered being constantly harassed by the Ki-10 after getting part of his wing cut clean through by the Fw 190 D-12.
'Weiß-Elf, Weiß-Fünfzehn, the enemy Dora's behind us!' the Fw 190 Pilot recalled screaming over the radio in panic upon seeing the enemy Fw 190 D-12 approach from behind.
'I don't think that's it, though…' Koume Akaboshi thought as she looked on at everyone with a smile. She was also in attendance with her comrades, but she wasn't the same with regards to her attitude. She was far more calm and happy.
"More importantly," the Ho 229 Pilot began somewhat unnerved as he held up his phone. "I haven't stopped shivering in fear ever since I got his message to come here."
The message itself said, 'Those without any plans for Christmas, come to fräulein Kapitän's place.'
All of those except for Koume imagined their summoning messages being sent by extremely angry versions of Maho and Alfred. Koume just laughed awkwardly seeing everyone's looks.
"Oh, I'm so scared… so scared…" the Fw 190 Pilot trembled in fear. He and the Panther Commander held onto each other as they tried quelling their fears of their Kommandeuren, but it was to no success as they continued shaking.
"Ich möchte meine Mutter…" the Ta 152 Pilot despaired as he also shook in fear.
"It's over!" the Ho 229 Pilot despaired as he sank to his knees. "I'm a dead man!"
'Well, considering neither of them say anything more than what's absolutely necessary,' Koume thought as she looked on at her comrades shake in fear.
Soon, two more people came into the room. One of them was Erika in her school uniform, and the other was a special herr Rentier. In other words, it was Hans in a reindeer costume.
"Au, you guys are all here already?" Erika wondered as she and Hans stepped into the room. "You're early, you know."
Both she and Hans looked on at the current state of affairs in the room. They noted everyone else being in their school uniforms. They soon came to a realization as they both started sweating nervously.
"Wait a minute…" Hans began. "This isn't… a Christmas party?"
"Hans?!" everyone cried out in shock upon seeing Hans in his reindeer costume.
"This is a review meeting, no matter how you think about it!" the Fw 190 Pilot yelled with a nervous manner.
"We've now increased our blunder count by one!" the Ho 229 Pilot yelled in extreme dissatisfaction and terror.
"Gah, what do I do?! What do I do?!" Hans started freaking out.
"Did you forget why you're in Schwarzwaldspitze?!" the Bf 109 Pilot screamed at him with a fearful look.
"Ah!" the Panzer III Commander managed to briefly cry out upon discovering two more people come into the room.
"Frohe Weihnachten!" both Maho and Alfred proclaimed as they set off some fanfare in their hands. All of those in the room looked to the two German Kommandeuren in shock and confusion.
Maho had on a similar Santa-like outfit as Miho had on all the way on the other side of the Earth, but opposite of Miho's, Maho's outfit included everything but the portion that covered the shoulders. She also had similarly-styled sleeves that were not attached to the main dress-like upper garment. Similarly, her leggings left a bit of her upper legs visible for all to see. Rounding out the outfit was a Santa hat along with similar gloves.
Alfred had on a similar outfit, but his was far more fit for a guy. It consisted of a traditional Santa outfit in full, but he did not go all the way with it. He did not take up the white hair and beard, and he did not go for the Santa belly, either. The outfit was also lighter than would be considered normal, considering everyone was indoors and bundling up wasn't necessary.
For a short time, Maho and Alfred stared on at everyone in the room with blank looks as the others stared back while sweating. Both of the German Kommandeuren then turned around and got some more fanfare out of a bag they brought.
As the others saw the larger amount of fanfare they both had, Hans chose to stop them. "W-We get it, guys," he said to them as he held his hands up in a fitting manner.
"Those getups…" the Ho 229 pilot muttered in wonder as the other Arts of Warfare members looked on in a stunned manner.
"With the Frohe Weihnachten…" Hans also said while stunned.
"Wait, you mean this isn't… a review meeting?" Erika asked with clear confusion still mixed with the earlier fear.
"A review meeting?" Alfred wondered as he and Maho stood before everyone. Both of them had notably less formal stances now than was considered usual for them. "What, you all want one?"
"N-No, that's not what she meant!" Hans denied while sweating in fear.
"Well, all I can say is that you all performed your duties as expected and followed both of our orders without fault," Maho began anyways. "So that being the case, we're the ones who are liable for not achieving victory."
"We should have been the ones protecting the marked man and flag tank," Alfred similarly stated. Both he and Maho then bowed their heads to the group. "Our sincerest apologies."
"Nein, bitte herr Staffelkapitän, fräulein Kapitän!" Hans began as he held his hands out to try and stop the sight. "Please, don't lower your heads in shame!"
"We didn't mean to…" the Ta 152 Pilot similarly tried getting the two German Kommandeuren to stop.
"Let's hold the party!" the Fw 190 Pilot suggested to bring them out of their mood.
"Yeah, the party!" the Panther Commander agreed in a similar manner.
At their statements, both Maho and Alfred raised their heads in confusion as they looked to everyone start getting fanfare of their own. After watching them for a bit, both of the German Kommandeuren chose to get fanfare, as well.
"Well then, once more…" Maho led off.
"Frohe Weihnachten!" everyone cheered as they all set off their fanfare.
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A short bit later, everyone then sat upright at the table in the room. For a little while, no one said anything.
"So…" Alfred finally broke the awkward silence. He then looked over to Hans on his right. Maho was on his left. "What do we do now?"
"Herr Staffelkapitän?!" Hans cried out in utter shock upon hearing such a statement from his superior.
"We already made some noise anyway," Maho began similarly. "And since taking care of these sorts of things was always left to Miho and Bubi…"
"You mean you have no plan?!" Erika also cried in shock.
"Um…" Koume began as she raised her finger. "How about we start by having a toast with some drinks, and then have some cake?" she offered.
"Well… did anyone bring any drinks?" Alfred asked.
"Everyone brought some Bier," Koume revealed as everyone started pouring their own glasses of beer like the true Germans they were.
"Now then, who will lead the toast," Koume began. She then gestured to Maho. "Fräulein Kapitän, bitte!" she invited Maho to lead with a smile.
"Um…" Maho began in a manner that at first seemed like her typical emotionless tone. But everyone could tell she was actually nervous a bit about leading off the toast. "Sorry, but I'm not really used to such things… Um…" She then turned to Alfred and had a quiet conversation with him. "Wasn't there something Miho or Bubi would say to skillfully manage a scenario like this?"
Alfred then entered thought to find something like what Maho asked. He then lit up. "I know," he stated. He then raised his glass, and everyone else followed his example. "Beifall zu Ooarai für den Gewinn der Turniere!"
'Waaaaaas?! So it's a review meeting after all?!' all of those in attendance minus Koume thought as they held nervous grins.
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Back on the other side of the Earth in the Coral Sea, the Zuikaku continued steaming along amidst the bright sun.
"Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Hana, Herz, and Anzu!" Erich, Miho, and Aprikose wished as they all held cakes for Hana, Herz, and Anzu. The rest of Hana's and Herz's friends followed behind along with the student council.
"Oh, thank you, everyone!" Hana, Herz, and Anzu thanked with genuine smiles from the offering. Anzu also had on the same outfit additions as the rest of the Anglerfish Team girls. Her shoulders were covered with the same article and she wore the same gloves.
"I'm glad, even though we already celebrated mine the other day!" Hana added as the cakes were set ahead of the three on a table. Her birthday was previously celebrated on December 16th.
"Same here, even though mine's a week away," Herz agreed.
"I'm glad you all actually remembered," Anzu thanked the three cake bearers. "Even though mine's not for another week." Both Anzu and Herz actually shared a birthday with each other. They were both born on January 1st, exactly a year apart from each other.
The three then blew out the candles on their respective cakes.
"Thanks a lot, Aprikose," Anzu genuinely thanked her fellow council President again with a smile mixed with a bit of a blush.
"Hey, it's nothing that I wouldn't do anyways, Anzulein," Aprikose returned with a generous smile.
Anzu then offered him a slice of cake. "Still, thank you so much," she reinforced the notion with her smile.
Hana then lifted up a stack of five cakes. "I'm also glad I received this many cakes!" she said in clear happiness. Her large appetite was already thanking her. David and Mako were drooling a bit at the sight of all the cakes present now.
"Passt scho, passt scho," Aprikose dismissed with a wave.
Yuzu and Zitrus then came up with some more cakes in hand. Yuzu also had the same Christmas additions as Anzu now had. "We brought a lot of them since the pastry shop aboard couldn't sell them all," Yuzu informed.
"They don't last very long, so eat them while they're good!" Zitrus suggested.
"Wow, so they really don't sell well when it's hot," Aprikose remarked as he ate his piece offered by Anzu. At the same time, Mako and David were trying to find any slices to eat for themselves and satisfy the sweet tooth both of them possessed.
"But that's an opposing effect!" Anton spoke up as he ate a slice. "That's why we need to go somewhere cold!"
"Guess we'll have to have a food fight after all this…" Anzu figured with a sigh.
"Absolutely not!" Lemu and Sodoko denied. Both of them also each helped themselves to one of the massive numbers of cake slices. Both also had on a Santa hat.
"Oh, come on!" Saori complained. She then took a bite of her slice. "The snow… the couples… the romance…"
"I'm really enjoying this, though!" Hana happily spoke up as she ate another slice of cake. "This is the first time I've had such a hot birthday!"
"Hey, Erich!" Aprikose spoke up as he waved a hand.
"Yes?" Erich replied as he turned over to him. He was over by Miho enjoying the moment.
"Did you and Miho send out those things?"
"Those things?" Miho wondered as she heard them.
"Oh, yeah we did!" Erich replied. "Along with the other things we both sent over."
"What are those things?" Pfirsich asked as he and Momo looked on. Momo also had on the same Christmas additions that Yuzu and Anzu had on.
Upon receiving the affirmative, both Anzu and Aprikose chuckled mischievously.
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Meanwhile on the other side of the Earth in the Nishizumi household, Maho and Alfred were looking on at everyone there. Everyone was at varying degrees of tenseness.
"Because I came in late…" the Ta 152 Pilot breathed out as he felt the shame weigh down on him.
"Verdammter Doppeldecker!" the Ho 229 Pilot quietly brooded as he simmered in greatly restrained anger.
"What's wrong with everyone?" Alfred asked Maho as both looked on at everyone. "For some reason, they're all feeling down…"
Maho lowered her head in thought for a bit. She then lit up with an idea in her typical impassive way as she raised her head back up. "There's some cake for us," she revealed. "Let's cut it."
Alfred nodded. "I'll get the cutting knife," he stated.
Maho looked over to Alfred with a raised eyebrow. She was curious as to why he immediately insisted on cutting the cakes.
In response, Alfred rolled his eyes. "Just trust me," he said to her as he left to get a cutting knife. Maho shook her head and returned to her normal look as she got the cakes she had received.
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Later, Maho set two cakes down on the table, and Alfred now had a cutting knife.
"All right, here we go," Alfred began as he raised his knife.
He then quickly sliced each cake into six perfect slices with an unparalleled amount of precision. It only took a few seconds to slice all of them up.
Everyone looked on at Alfred's handiwork stunned for a bit before they all started cheering, save for Maho who held her impassive looks. She politely clapped, though.
"Awesome cutting skills, herr Staffelkapitän!" Hans praised as he ran up with his plate.
"Let's dig in, herr Staffelkapitän! Fräulein Kapitän!" the Panther Commander suggested as she also came up with her plate.
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Later, everyone had finished their cake, and Maho had chosen to wheel in a karaoke set her family had.
"We also happen to have a karaoke set," she revealed as she wheeled it to a stop at the front of the room. "I'm not very well-acquainted with the most recent songs, so please put in all of your favorites."
And so everyone chose to put their favorites in. Erika chose to, ironically, put in Erika (Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein). The other Panzerkraft girls chose to put in Panzerlied. Hans chose to put in his favorite, Ghost Division. Alfred chose to insert his own favorite song, Wehrmacht.
Maho looked on with a blank look as everyone else besides Alfred dug into their school's song book. Why they were looking through such books was because all of the songs put into the set were also theme songs for Schwarzwaldspitze High School.
Maho then turned to Alfred. "I know you love that song, but did you really have to join them?" she asked with her blank look.
Alfred looked to the screen in response. "… Oh, I see…" he finally responded verbally as he realized the common link between all of the songs everyone put in.
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Later, Maho and Alfred chose to put on a hidden talent contest, and they were doing imitations at the moment. Alfred currently had his hair hastily dyed blonde and made to be very tidy in appearance. He ironically looked a lot more like Erich right now. Maho had her hair in French braids as both held cups of tea.
"Do you know this saying?" Alfred began as he lowered his cup from his lips. "'To be a successful fighter pilot, one needs to have both a great weapon and luck.'"
Maho lowered her own tea as she replied, "Galland, wasn't it?"
Almost everyone clapped awkwardly at the display. Koume clapped more naturally, as she actually enjoyed the show.
"Maybe they're accepting it a little?" Alfred quietly remarked to Maho as the two of them looked on at everyone besides Koume huddle up.
"The Staffelkapitän being awfully friendly is dreadful," the Ta 152 Pilot observed. "This is a first, and including the Kapitän, too?"
"I wonder what kind of punishment awaits us…" the Bf 109 Pilot dreadfully mused.
"Um…" Koume entered the huddle with a raised finger. "Perhaps the Kapitän and Staffelkapitän just want to enjoy a normal party with the rest of us?"
"Koume?" Hans wondered in confusion. He, along with the others there, was unable to comprehend the idea of their Kommandeuren being laid-back at all, even during such a time as Christmas.
Koume then chose to walk up to the two German Kommandeuren. Both Maho and Alfred had some gift sacks as well that they were now digging through. While the others were huddled up, both of them had returned their hair to normal.
"Fräulein Kapitän and herr Staffelkapitän, those costumes of yours look very nice!" she complimented. Maho and Alfred turned over to her in response. Neither of them expected such a compliment to be handed to them. "Where did you get them?"
"Oh, well Miho considered the situation and made the smart move of sending these to us," Maho revealed.
"I don't really know why Erich sent this over, though," Alfred added with a shrug. "I can easily guess for Miho, though."
"Since mine and Miho's parents are busy a lot, we only had each other and the Hartmann brothers for celebrating Christmas," Maho continued on for Koume.
"Yeah, we only had each other," Alfred confirmed with a bit of a reminiscent tone. "Mine and Erich's parents are always busy with their school, so we were similarly lonely for Christmas. But we at least still had the Nishizumi sisters to keep us company and have some fun with."
"This year, I figured we could call our Kameraden from Panzerkraft and Jägermeistern to see how it would work out with a crowd…" Maho continued. "But it appears to be difficult to stir them up…"
The others looked on at them as they all grew a realization.
"Wait, wait!" Hans finally spoke up as he waved his hands in front of him. "S-So you mean today really is a Christmas party?" he asked in great confusion.
"Haven't we said that since the beginning?" Alfred asked in response.
"That's what that getup is for…" Maho muttered under her breath. She was referring to Hans' reindeer costume.
The two German Kommandeuren then brought forth their gift sacks to the middle of the group.
"That's also why we'd enjoy it if you relaxed and accepted these," Alfred stated. "Looks like all of these are presents to be exchanged with all of us."
"We don't know what's inside, though," Maho stated.
"They go to such great lengths!" Koume awed with praise. "I'll have to express my gratitude to Miho and Bubi!"
"So these gifts are meant to be exchanged, but…" Alfred continued. "… How do we decide how they're exchanged?"
"Uh…" everyone else besides the two German Kommandeuren and Koume said as they tried to think.
XXXXXXXXXX
Clearly, the students of Schwarzwaldspitze are not used to the idea of messing around and having fun. They finally managed to devise a way to exchange gifts.
"I believe it goes something like this…" Maho began as they formed a large circle.
After that, everyone passed the gifts around the circle while singing Jingle Bells. It was awkward how the exchange went, as everyone besides Maho and Alfred held awkward looks while they clumsily sang the classic Christmas song.
"Halt," Alfred finally ordered after some time, and everyone stopped passing the gifts around.
"So this one is mine…" the Ta 152 Pilot observed as he held his gift. "Time to open it!"
He then excitedly tore into his gift, only to stop upon seeing what it was. It was a die-cast model of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-12.
The pilot was currently imagining Aprikose giving him a sly thumbs-up signal. He then imagined slamming the box down over the Bavarian's head in great anger.
Of course, he was just imagining things, and he soon came back to the real world to see Alfred looking over toward him.
"I-I'l assemble it with great care!" he promised nervously as he held the box. "Since it's a gift from Bubi…"
Alfred smiled satisfactorily in response, but he had no idea what the Ta 152 Pilot was thinking prior.
'Poor bastard,' the Ho 229 Pilot thought as he looked on at him. He then tore into his own gift. "Looks like mine is…" he trailed off upon seeing his gift. It was a die-cast model of a Kawasaki Ki-10-II.
A vein popped in the Ho 229 Pilot's forehead as he started imagining what he would do if he could see the Ki-10's pilot at that moment.
"Hello!" he heard Ron, the pilot for the biplane, greet as he literally popped into existence ahead of him in his Ki-10.
In response, the Ho 229 Pilot tried to slam the box against the side of the plane's cockpit to try and break apart the plane itself.
"Ah!" Ron reacted in response as he tried backing away on instinct.
"Ho 229… sorry…" the Bf 109 Pilot regrettably said as he held his gift. His gift was a die-cast model of the sole Horten Ho 229 V3. "If I had stuck with it… Then it wouldn't have…"
"Why is there a second Dora?!" the Fw 190 Pilot angrily yelled out as he held his gift. His gift was a die-cast model of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-12. He had also instinctively turned around to look behind him. "That's all kinds of fuckery!"
Hans had opened up his gift as well, which was a die-cast model of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4. 'Ugh, you're killing me with this stuff right now, Bubi…' he thought, but he held no hostile reaction to his gift.
As for the girls' gifts, Koume had received a die-cast Panzer IV H, the Jagdpanther Commander received a die-cast Jagdpanzer 38(t), the Maus Commander received a die-cast I-Go otsu, the Panther Commander also received a die-cast Jagdpanzer 38(t), and lastly, the Panzer III Commander received a die-cast Maus.
All of the other members besides Alfred, Maho, and Erika lined up with their gifts in hand and simultaneously proclaimed, "We'll treat it with great care!" Koume and Hans were the only ones who weren't looking highly frustrated or crying from the torture.
"I'm glad to hear that," Alfred responded with a satisfied grin.
"They're so happy that they're crying," Maho remarked quietly.
"Jeez, what's with all those gifts?" Erika wondered as she opened her own gift. "Don't tell me this is a trap from Ooarai…" She then opened up her gift and found it as one of the anglerfish costumes that Ooarai's girls were well known for wearing with their Anglerfish dance. "… Was zum Teufel ist das?"
She then looked back and found Maho looking at her. She then grew alarmed and tried to not offend her Kapitän. So Erika chose to put on the outfit.
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A little later, Erika was fully in the costume.
"She's wearing it…" Koume observed with an awkward smile.
"W-What kind of presents did the Kapitän and Staffelkapitän get?" Erika wondered with some embarrassment from her outfit.
"Well, let's open mine up and see," Maho determined as she picked up a large sack.
"Man, that's huge!" Hans noted with some surprise.
Maho then reached down into the bag and felt what was inside. "Hm?" she wondered. "It has a particular feeling to it…"
"Let me do it instead!" Erika insisted as she tried rushing forth.
"Are you okay?!" the Maus Commander asked Maho in a panic.
"Is it alive?!" the Jagdpanther Commander asked amidst her own panic.
"If it's dangerous, then running away is the…" Hans spoke up, but Maho had already pulled out her present entirely for all to see.
Her gift was a toy Araippe, unique as being distinctly from Ooarai. All of the others besides Alfred looked on in complete loss as to what Maho had received.
"J-Just what is that creature?" the Jagdpanther Commander asked fearfully.
"Ein Untier?" Erika guessed.
"Wait, monster?" Hans wondered as he also looked on at the Arraipe.
"So niedlich," Maho remarked with a small smile of satisfaction.
"Was?!" many of the others reacted in surprise.
"Okay, okay, I think we've had enough freaking out for today!" Hans declared as he crossed his hands in front of him. "Can we just see what herr Staffelkapitän got and end the torture?"
"Oh, that's right," Maho spoke up as she looked over to Alfred. "You didn't open your gift yet."
Alfred raised an eyebrow at her. "… Alright, if everyone wants to find out so badly," he finally acquiesced.
He then reached over for another large sack. "I wonder what Erich got me this time…" he wondered aloud as he reached his hand inside.
"It better not be another of his Scheiß-Streiche," Hans muttered to himself as he and everyone else looked on.
Alfred then pulled out a potato from the sack. He reached back in and pulled out another. He then grabbed some more from the sack before he dropped them all back in and gave everyone a great view of the sack's contents.
"Agh! Was für ein Kind!" Hans exploded upon seeing so many potatoes in there. "I've had enough of seeing gottverdammte Kartoffeln!"
"Mmm…" Alfred said in delight as he looked at all of the potatoes with a satisfied grin. He also held a procedure from inside the bag for letting the potatoes ferment to use later with making whiskey. "He knows my tastes just right."
Hans stopped his tirade in surprise as he saw that his Staffelkapitän actually liked the gift. He then clenched his teeth as he muttered, "Au, fick dich, Bubi…"
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As the snow continued to fall around the place, all of the Germans there minus Koume, Maho, and Alfred were looking either embarrassed or mad. Koume, Maho, and Alfred were in high spirits, and Maho was fiddling with her phone for the moment as everyone held their gifts. Alfred was devouring some of his potatoes just like his younger brother would while he set aside some for fermenting later. It shows that they really are brothers.
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Over on the HMS Ark Royal, Christmas was also being celebrated amongst the British. Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, and Assam were enjoying the moment with Arthur, Dennis, and Douglas as they all had some tea and cake.
"Speaking of Christmas, do you know this saying?" both Darjeeling and Arthur began as they raised fingers.
"There's this Christmas joke…" Assam and Douglas both began. During that time, Orange Pekoe and Douglas chose to tune the others out and just enjoy the day.
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Aboard the USS George Washington, the Americans were celebrating Christmas with their typical amounts of excess. Kay and Chuck were leading the charge to delivering presents to every single person using a sleigh. Both had on Christmas outfits, but Kay's was unique in its style. It had a short skirt that barely covered her up along with a bra that was strapless. She topped it off with a Santa hat, some gloves, and some boots. Chuck had on a Santa outfit much like Alfred's.
Upon stopping at their current destination, they ended up plowing Alisa and Ray into some cakes that were on a table nearby face first. On another sleigh that came to a stop beside them, Christian was busy playing the role of a ladies man within his reindeer costume as some girls flocked to him. On yet another sleigh that came to a stop behind, Naomi was dancing in a suggestive manner atop it in a similar outfit as Kay's. She was doing it as a bit of a gift of her own for all of the guys aboard.
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Over on the Kiev, the Russians were also celebrating Christmas. Much of the gift giving was with the various gifts Nonna, Nudelmann, and Sasha had all gathered to give Katyusha. Katyusha herself was in a Christmas outfit sized to fit her small size, which combined both Maho's and Miho's outfits. That is, she had the shoulder section that Maho's outfit lacked.
Sasha also had a Santa outfit on like the one Alfred had worn. He was currently giving Katyusha a great hug from a present he had gotten from her. It was a set of blank blueprints. Katyusha was blushing from the hug out of surprise, as she did not expect what she saw as a halfhearted gift to be accepted so well. All the while, Nudelmann and Nonna looked on at them with their calm smiles.
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Christmas was also being celebrated by the Italians aboard the Aquila. While they did not have the money to buy any gifts for each other, Franco, Anchovy, Carpaccio, Pepperoni, Furio, and Fernando each greatly felt the sense of friendship from Christmas anyways as they all stood outside and watched the snow fall around them.
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Aboard the Zuikaku, all of Erich's and Miho's friends had gotten to the phase of opening presents under the tree. The rest besides Erich and Miho had opened theirs, and everyone was currently eating some more of the many, many cakes they had gotten.
Miho lit up upon hearing her phone go off, and she quickly swallowed before she pulled her phone out.
"You got a text?" Erich asked her. Both were beside each other by the tree.
"Yeah!" she replied with a smile as she looked at her phone. "It's from Schwester! There's even a picture, even though she's not so good at these things…"
The message itself read, 'Thanks really happy please wait expectingly for return gift.' The picture was one that included all of the members that had shown up to the German Christmas party.
The Panther Commander, Panzer III Commander, Maus Commander, Jagdpanther Commander, Fw 190 Pilot, Bf 109 Pilot, Ho 229 Pilot, and Ta 152 Pilot were all kneeled on the ground with their gifts in hand as they held dark looks. Standing behind them were Erika, Hans, and Koume. Erika looked at the camera with as much of a stern face as she could while wearing her anglerfish costume. In his reindeer costume, Hans was still boiling in anger as he held his gift, but he restrained himself for the photo. Koume gave off an awkward wave as she held her gift. Maho and Alfred were at the very front of the photo with their typical impassive looks. Maho had her Arraipe while Alfred had a few of his gifted potatoes in hand.
Miho looked at the photo with a bit of a blanked-out look while Erich started chuckling. "Oh, man, that's fantastic," he remarked upon seeing the photo. "It looks like I got Hans with that one!" He then looked to Miho. "But it looks like they had plenty of fun, don't you think?"
Miho snapped out of it upon hearing her lover speak to her. "Oh, yeah!" she said with an awkward smile.
"But anyway, there are still more gifts to be exchanged, you know," Erich reminded her. Neither of them had yet given gifts to each other.
"Oh, right…" Miho began as she grew shy again. She then grabbed her gift to give from the tree nearby and hesitantly gave it to him while blushing up a storm on her face.
"Man, and I thought you got over that phase," Erich remarked with no harm intended upon seeing her. He then opened her gift, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise upon seeing what it was.
Miho's gift to him was a digital picture frame loaded with a photo album that showed practically their entire lives together in pictures. It was even more special considering some of those pictures could no longer be found as physical photographs.
He remained silent for a bit as he scrolled through the album and took it in. Upon not hearing him respond, Miho sighed in defeat.
"I'm sorry, Bubi. I know it's not a great gift, but it was the best I could think of," Miho apologized while looking discouraged.
She then felt herself getting hugged greatly, and she grew surprised at the contact.
"This is fantastic, Miholein," Erich told her as he held her close. His eyes were closed as he had a great smile. "I couldn't possibly ask for a better present."
Upon hearing his praise and being assured, Miho smiled once again and returned the hug. "Oh, thanks, Bubi," she responded with her kindness. "Frohe Weihnachten."
Soon, they released each other, and Erich moved to hand over his gift for her. "And now, I give you this," he said with a calm smile as he handed the gift over. "Frohe Weihnachten."
Miho took it and tore into it. She found it as being a box, so she then opened the box, and she gasped and widened her eyes in great surprise upon discovering what was inside.
Erich's gift to her was an extremely rare Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern, und Brillanten, but this one appeared a bit different. She could tell that the center emblem had been changed a number of times during its existence, from the original and now forbidden Hakenkreuz to other emblems over time. Judging by the papers in the box, this Knight's Cross was a genuine one, one of only twenty-seven of its ilk to ever be awarded. The papers also revealed it had quite the history. The emblem in the center was currently that of an anglerfish, specifically the one on Miho's Panzer IV H.
Miho then looked up at Erich. "… How…?" was all she could say. She was very much speechless at the extremely rare gift.
"My family likes to hand down my great-grandfather's Ritterkreuz to new generations," Erich revealed with his typical calm look. "It's one of the most valuable and symbolic things we own, so we want to keep it in existence as long as our family lives."
"Wait, you mean this is his?" Miho asked as she held up the box in emphasis.
Erich nodded. "Yup," he verbally confirmed as well. "It was handed down to me just before we started out at Schwarzwaldspitze. And the reason I gave it to you…" he began. He then moved to sit beside her and wrap an arm around her. "… Is because I get the feeling that you'll also wield the Hartmann name soon enough," he quietly told her.
Miho blushed at the implication, but she didn't offer any counter as she looked down at the rare Knight's Cross that now belonged to her. "… Am I really this important to you?" she shyly asked.
"Miho, it would be impossible for me to try and determine exactly how important you are to me," Erich told her. "The simplest way I can say it is that you are my reason for existing. I do not even want to imagine how my life would be without you, because I know it would not be anywhere near as great as it is with you right now."
Miho looked over to him as she stared into his blue eyes with her same deep blush. Erich could already sense in his mind what was to come, but he chose to play natural and lean his head forward as Miho did the same. They then closed their eyes and made contact with each other's lips as they started a slow, gentle kiss.
Farther away, all of their friends were watching with smiles. Saori was crying at the sight, but she tried remaining presentable by wiping her face with a cloth.
"Good God, you've already seen this before, so why are you crying?" Mako said in her typical deadpan tone. Saori pushed her in response, but Mako took the push as she grinned in satisfaction.
Finally, Erich and Miho broke apart. "Thank you," Miho told him in an extremely sincere manner. She also had tears in her eyes to emphasize how touched she was. "For everything."
"It's my pleasure seeing you so happy," Erich replied with a smile. "I love seeing you smile, and I'll do anything to see that brightly shining smile."
He then reached over to the box with the Knight's Cross and took the cross itself. He then prepared to put it around Miho's neck, but he stopped before he could. "May I?" he asked for her permission.
Miho nodded, and so Erich then donned what was now her Ritterkreuz over her head and around her neck. It may have been extremely rare and worth a fortune, but Miho did not care. She would have been damned if she didn't proudly wear something her lover had chosen to gift her. Even though he knew just how valuable it was, Erich had chosen to gift it to her anyway. As Erich removed his arms from her, he leaned back to behold her new appearance.
"It looks fantastic on you," he complimented after taking her appearance in.
Miho shyly giggled a bit as she continued to blush out of embarrassment. "Thanks…" she replied with her shy tone as she looked down at the Ritterkreuz around her neck.
Erich then looked around the room for a bit before he nonchalantly commented, "You know, it just hit me, but I wonder how Dziubek and Alice are doing."
Miho looked to him in surprise, but she then grew a longing look upon hearing the names of two of their best friends. "Oh, right… Alice and Dziubek…" she said with a similar longing voice. "… I wonder how they're doing now…"
Erich looked over to her upon sensing her getting a bit sad, and he prepared a response for her.
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"I'm sure they're doing just fine, Alśka," Dziubek Skalski answered Alice Shimada's concerns over Miho and Erich.
The both of them were also celebrating Christmas at one of Selection University's many campuses spread out around the world. They were in their dorm room by themselves at the British campus, where the falling snow was plentiful. Dziubek himself was in a Santa outfit much like the one Alfred had worn, but it was sized to fit his smaller stature.
Alice sighed at his response. "I know, but it's just… I really miss Miho and Erich…" she spoke up with a longing tone as both of them sat on the only large bed within.
"You're not alone," Dziubek replied understandingly. "I miss them, too. But I'm sure they feel the same way. We are friends with them, you know."
Alice hesitated to reply, but she finally sighed as she nodded in acceptance. "I guess you're right…" she acquiesced. She paused a bit before she spoke up again. "By the way, do you happen to know where the Bermuda Trio went?"
Dziubek looked up as he entered thought. Shortly after, he answered, "I remember hearing something about them going off to a bar with the Three Spearheads…"
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Over at one of the bars off-campus, or a pub as the locals liked to call them, Azumi, Megumi, and Rumi were all heavily drunk along with the Three Spearheads, also known as Georges, Jack, and Nils. All wore Christmas outfits. The girls had on the same full outfits that Katyusha also wore. The guys had full Santa outfits like Alfred's. All of their outfits were full in the sense that they were fit for cold weather with their thicker liners.
"And we'll all drink stone wine when Johnny comes marching hoooooooome!" all six of them sang together while absolutely hammered. They were all supporting each other as they stood up as best they could. They all then laughed with each other after finishing the song.
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"Yeah, I kind of figured Nils and Rumi would go off to get hammered," Dziubek voiced his thoughts in his and Alice's room. "I mean, they are Finnish, and that sounds like something they would do. For Azumi and Georges, I'm not too sure. I don't know a whole lot about how the French drink. And I wonder why Megumi and Jack are with them, considering they're not legally allowed to drink under America's laws, last I heard."
Alice laughed awkwardly upon hearing where the six of their lieutenants were. Dziubek then looked over to her.
"Oh, I'm not sure if I said it already, but I like your outfit," he complimented with a calm smile.
Alice blushed and looked away as she embarrassingly smiled at the compliment. She was currently wearing the same Christmas outfit that Katyusha was wearing, in the same small size. She looked like a cute, festive little girl in her outfit. "Dziękuję Ci bardzo," she shyly replied.
Dziubek silently chuckled seeing her so adorably shy again. "Anyway," he began. "We still haven't exchanged gifts with each other, you know."
Alice looked up to him in surprise. She had forgotten they were going to exchange gifts as well. "O-Oh, right!" she stuttered out as she rushed around the room to find the gift she had gotten Dziubek.
As he got up to his feet, Dziubek looked on at her in amusement for a bit until Alice finally brought up her gift for him. At that same time, though, Dziubek already had his gift for her offered forth.
"Did you really forget, Alśka?" Dziubek asked with amusement in his voice.
Alice looked away again as she grew an embarrassed blush.
Dziubek chuckled at her appearance. "But here you go, Alśka," he said as he offered his gift to her.
Alice took it as her embarrassment wore away. She opened it, and she gasped in surprise of it.
Dziubek's gift to her was a very unique Boko doll. This one had the armor and distinctive wings of the famous Polish Hussars that throughout the 17th century decisively conquered their foes while often greatly outnumbered themselves.
Alice finally looked up at Dziubek with wide eyes. "How did you get this?" she asked him. She did so in a way that suggested she was nearly speechless. "I haven't ever seen one like this…"
"I actually made it myself," Dziubek admitted with a bit of a bashful look as he held the back of his head with one hand. "I know you love Boko a lot, so I wanted to try and find one of the dolls that you didn't have yet. But it was pretty hard considering you already have so many, and the few you didn't have were either way too expensive for me to get with my own money, or were so rare that they were impossible to find."
"So I decided to try and make one myself. It started out as one of the normal dolls, and I modified its appearance to, well… that," he said as he gestured to Alice's new Boko doll. "I noticed that they hadn't made a Hussar model, so I figured why not make it myself?"
He immediately felt Alice launch herself at him in a massive hug that nearly toppled him over.
"Dziękuję Ci bardzo, Dziubek!" she enthusiastically thanked him while she gave him her massive hug. "I love it!"
Dziubek looked a bit embarrassed at getting hugged so passionately by her, but he returned it anyway. "It's no problem, Alśka," he humbly responded as he held her close. "Wesołych Świąt."
Alice finally broke away after some time and offered forth her gift. "And here's mine, Dziubek," she offered with a bright smile.
Dziubek took it gently and unwrapped it. The gift was in another small box, and he opened that as well. He then raised his eyebrows as he looked on at his gift in surprise.
Alice's gift to him was two tickets to the next upcoming Sabaton cruise. The specific event picked out was their scheduled performance at Woodstock Festival Poland in Kostrzyn nad Odrą. Dziubek also noticed that the tickets were those for spots at the very front by the stage.
Dziubek looked over to Alice in surprise. "But… These aren't even on sale yet," he said in disbelief at her gift.
"Well… I decided to call in a few favors from some people and got the chance to get these early," Alice shyly revealed as she looked down while twirling one of her pigtails with her finger.
"But why did you get two?" Dziubek asked her as he held up the two tickets in emphasis.
"I know you love Sabaton a lot, and seeing you so excited about it…" She grew a blush as she hesitated a bit out of shyness. "… I wanted to come with you to experience it, too." She then looked up at him with just her eyes as she held her head down in her shy demeanor. "Is that okay?"
Dziubek stepped forth and wrapped her in a great hug that caught Alice off-guard. "Of course it's okay!" he granted without any doubt in his voice. "I'd be honored to have you come along with me!"
Alice had grown surprised from the sudden hug, but she then grew relaxed as she let herself be wrapped in his arms. "Thank you," she said to him with a smile. "Wesołych Świąt."
Soon, the both of them drew their heads back so they could look at each other. They ended up looking directly into each other's eyes. Dziubek stared into Alice's light brown eyes and Alice stared into Dziubek's hazel eyes as they both grew silent and locked gazes with each other.
Alice had grown a blush from embarrassment of her current situation, but in spite of that, she did not back down from it. The Polish tank prodigy then decided to do something brave of her, and she started slowly leaning her head towards Dziubek's. The Polish fighter ace had grown a blush as he saw Alice lean her head to his own, but he did not back away at all. In fact, he met her halfway as he unconsciously leaned his head closer to hers.
As they closed their eyes, the both of them then contacted the other's lips and shared a long, gentle first kiss. It seems that they had both gotten another Christmas gift from each other as they continued on. Eventually, Alice had entangled her hands in Dziubek's short gray hair as she started kissing more fervently. Dziubek let her continue on as he held her by the waist.
The two longtime friends soon broke their kiss while they continued holding onto each other. Their faces each had heavy blushes on them as they once again looked each other in the eye. They were recovering their breath for a bit after sharing their first kiss.
"Kocham Cię, Dziubek," Alice finally breathed out softly as the two held their gazes with each other.
"Ja też cię kocham, Alśka," Dziubek also breathed out in reciprocation with their faces only centimeters apart.
Alice then grew a hopeful look at his words. "Does this mean that… you'll be my boyfriend?" she asked.
"Only if you want to be my girlfriend," Dziubek countered with a grin.
"Tak!" Alice gladly accepted with an excited and elated smile. She chose to celebrate by giving Dziubek another kiss. This one was also fervent on her end like the first one as she messed with what was now her boyfriend's hair using her hands. Dziubek had no choice but to be similarly passionate with what was now his girlfriend as he held her by the waist and returned her kiss.
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Overall, everyone within the Arts of Warfare programs around the world was having a large amount of fun, and there was also plenty of romance being had during yet another very merry Christmas!
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.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.