The Legends Still Live On

Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs

Kapitel Zwanzig: Held der Zeitalter

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The near-constant flashing of cameras and the equally-incessant amount of gossiping were the only things Erich bothered to even acknowledge at the moment.

No. He was not at a fashion show, and he was certainly not there by his own will. He refused to even think such thoughts that even remotely considered he was at all enjoying being, in his words, 'held captive' at an Anzio fashion show that the Italians were gracious enough to invite Ooarai's student body to.

No. Such thoughts were absurd, ridiculous, unfathomable.

That was the common consensus within the mind of Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, who was sitting beside Miho Nishizumi with an eternal pout bestowed on his face and arms crossed like a grumpy child. He purposely chose to remain in his casual attire of black pants, white shirt, and black Luftwaffe jacket as an act of defiance against the light brunette girl that batted her eyelashes and spoke in that way that always caused him to bend to her every whim, including the present whim of attending the Italian fashion show alongside her.

'Lucky bastards, Anton, Herz, Nathan, and David all are,' the blond-haired ultra-ace broodingly thought of his friends that were spared from being dragged with him. 'At least they don't have any special girls that'll use every trick in their book to convince them to do something that they absolutely do not want to be within a kilometer's radius of.' Erich soon remembered, though, that Anton absolutely prided himself on trying to be a ladies' man, and amended his thought. 'At least, not yet.'

From her seat beside him, Miho could sense the foulness of her Freund's thoughts, and shot a sidelong glance at him that conveyed the all-too-often repeated message of 'oh, grow up' in response to his behavior. Unlike the blonde, Miho chose to at least freshen herself up a little bit for the fashion show she had mercilessly convinced him to accompany her on and wore a fresh Ooarai school uniform.

The light brunette had at least hoped before that Erich could try to be civil for her sake and not raise a fuss about going with her to a fashion show, but hindsight showed that was far too much to ask from him.

So she let that go for now and turned to her right to strike up a conversation with Anchovy, who was in her Anzio school uniform accompanied by her black mantle. "Wow, you guys really put on a great show!" she commented, genuinely into the show.

"Well, we like to take pride in our tastes!" Anchovy proudly responded while also keeping an eye on the show. At the moment, the stage was occupied by a handful of girls wearing some unconventional, custom outfits created by the fashion department of the school, most of which were multipiece outfits. "Because we stage these fashion shows regularly, our models have really honed down their technique, and the fashion department never disappoints with their creations!"

"Haha, I can see that!" Miho laughed a bit in response, agreeing that the outfits were not disappointing in the least. "I always had the impression that you all had very sharp senses of fashion!"

"But of course!" Franco interjected from Anchovy's right. Unlike Erich, Franco actually held an interest in the show, mostly because it was his school putting it on, and also unlike the resident blond-haired ultra-ace, he had kept a lid on his attitude, which came in handy while hosting Ooarai's students over. It kept him from bragging about Anzio more than would be considered appropriate from him.

The attention of Anchovy and Franco was soon drawn over to someone else who was coming on-stage from the backstage area. "Eh?" Anchovy raised an eyebrow in confusion. She then squinted a bit and better identified the new arrival. "Oh, it seems like there's a guest from Ooarai participating, too."

"Wait, what?" Miho sat up slightly, now on alert. She had not expected anyone from her school to participate, so she was completely lost as to what was going down.

At the same time, the unexpected appearance of an Ooarai student in the show gave a reason for Erich to start paying attention to the show. He sat up in his seat and started actively looking out for anyone he recognized being from Ooarai.

"Wait, Yukari?!" Miho identified with a massive shock jolting her up to her feet.

Indeed, it was Yukari Akiyama that was the guest in the show, and her outfit definitely fit the unconventional theme of the show. The outfit was also the same reason Miho had such a shock upon sight of Yukari, considering it was the Anglerfish costume, made infamous for its association with the Anglerfish dance.

"Whoa, now this just got interesting!" Erich observed as he grew a grin. He had also stood up to get a better look, now genuinely into the show because of the hilarious-to-him irony. He knew that his light brunette girlfriend had certain issues of hers triggered by her experience with the Anglerfish dance, and he relished the opportunity that she was rendered sputtering and unable to think coherently because of that trigger. The irony was sealed up by her insistence that both of them go to the show, making a very in-depth package of the most ironic of ironies.

"Whoa!" many of Anzio's students stood up to give applause. They were quite impressed by Yukari and giving her a great applause for the outfit and the performance. "So new!"

"Wait, why is that getting a standing ovation?!" Miho questioned in bewilderment when she noticed the applause her loader was getting.

"I need to record this!" Erich determined with a grin as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Upon hearing her Freund's words, Miho wheeled around to face Erich directly, but she stopped when a thought struck her, and she locked gazes with the blond-haired boy. She just realized that fate was apparently fucking with her without mercy. After all, that was the only possible explanation as to why she felt like she was duped by dragging Erich to a fashion show, when she had thought beforehand that it would be him feeling that way.

Erich grew a shit-eating smile in response to Miho's attempt to melt him down with her eyes. "Maybe we should attend more of these, huh?" the blonde proposed. "I think I'm starting to like these things."

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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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