The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn
Kapitel Achtzehn: Nach dem Untergang
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The day's order for the Zuikaku was not an entirely friendly one this time.
Why was that? Oh, nothing sinister, rest assured. It was just quite windy this day aboard the ship. That was to be expected while sailing up in the Bering Sea in the middle of autumn. Sea breezes up there could easily become full-on snowstorms if it was so willed. But they, thankfully, remained on the level of just mildly intense winds.
Such conditions were unfavorable to many people of Ooarai. But there was at least one person aboard who wasn't overly fond of such extreme levels of cold and wasn't afraid to let the world know it.
"Bah, warum gibt es so Scheißwetter…" Erich-Dietrich Hartmann groaned and whined about why there was such shitty weather. The strong breezes left him twitching slightly from the wind chill, and with that, left him more irritable. "Ergh, ich HASSE diese eiskalte BRISEN!" He made a show of his detestation of the chilly winds by inflecting his voice just so and throwing his hands down in a fit.
Miho Nishizumi, by his side and completely tame, simply rolled her eyes at the dramatic performance. "Careful about ranting, Bubi," she said. "Otherwise you might become like herr Präsident."
Erich looked to the vibrant brunette by his side with a raised eyebrow, not comprehending for a second. "… What does Aprikose have to do with anything?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Miho rolled her eyes again, but this time grew a smile, finding the blonde's confused expression cute. "No, not him," she responded. She then looked back at him. "Our past herr Präsident." She was sure to emphasize 'past.'
After a few seconds of deep thought, Erich seemed to understand. "Oh, him…" he went in realization.
The 'him' they were both referring to was the Student Council President, or Schulratspräsident to be technically correct, of Schwarzwaldspitze while they were there. According to Maho and Alfred, he still held the position today. But what made Miho bring him up was because he was well known for flying into rants. A good number of them were harmless, being mainly about more trivial things like how there was a shortage of his favorite type of sausages or how his computer crashed. The rest of the Schulrat often pulled pranks on him just to get him to go on a tirade, because his rants were very entertaining. They were found to be very amusing for how over-the-top they were, especially compared to the often-trivial subjects that incited them in the first place.
Miho could recall at least one of those times, however, where his rants were genuine and filled to the brim with venom. And that instance was what stopped her from wanting to even think his name.
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It was after the lost battle against Pravda last year. As if everybody wasn't on edge enough as is, the fact that the Schulratspräsident had called a mass meeting with the leaders of all the Arbeitsgemeinschaften – or AGs for short, the term used officially for clubs – brought even more tension into the arena.
"… und dann hier wir waren umgeben von Prawda, wo wir unseres Ende trafen," Maho finished her report on how the battle with Pravda had unfolded in detail from the ground, before standing up straight, away from the map of the battlefield that was brought onto the table for her to use in her explanation. Directly to either side her were Miho and Alfred, similarly straight in posture and, also like her, wearing their black and red battle attire. Around and behind them all were the rest of the AG heads.
"Ich möchte danach… mit dem Staffelführer sprechen," the Schulratspräsident spoke, voice quiet, but everyone knew this docile version of him was ready to turn into the ranting leader they all knew. The fact that he wished to speak with Erich afterwards was foreboding in its own right. The black-haired Präsident sitting on the other side of the table from the three warriors, who himself also wore some stylish glasses and Schwarzwaldspitze's gray suit uniform, had made some hand gestures whilst speaking with a hand that held a couple of pencils, giving off an image saying he couldn't be bothered presently with the matter.
Miho shot a glance at Maho, knowing what was likely to happen if it was discovered they had held back on information regarding Erich. That was where the elder Nishizumi dared to speak up again, "Herr Präsident… Hartmann…" While her facial expression changed hardly any, it was still obvious she was hesitant to speak.
"Erich ist an Bord nicht mehr," Alfred summoned the courage to say what Maho didn't have the heart to admit: that Erich was no longer aboard the Graf Zeppelin, and in fact nowhere to be found at all. "Des Weiteren, er ist nirgends zu finden."
For several seconds, everything inside the room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop with clarity. And everyone could feel how the energy focused in the Präsident. This was a familiar scene to many of them, but it still left a chill in the air whenever it occurred.
The first sign was a twitching of one of the Präsident's eyebrows. Then, with a hand that was trembling with pent-up energy, he shakily removed his glasses and set them down as gently as he could, before speaking up in a deathly quiet voice, "Es bleiben im Raum: Nischisumi, Nischisumi… und Hartmann."
Somewhat unrelated, the pronunciation of the Nishizumi name was difficult for any of the Germans to get correct as-is, so a phonetically-spelled version, using the sounds characteristic to the German alphabet, was created to make it easier. In short, 'Nishizumi' written phonetically in German ended up as 'Nischisumi.' Both were pronounced the exact same, but 'Nischisumi' was a lot easier for everyone else to get. That name was only used to help with pronunciation, however; 'Nishizumi' still appeared on all official documentation.
Anyway, with the order given, all of the other AG leaders shuffled back out of the room, with Maho, Miho, and Alfred staying behind as commanded. Alfred had a face of the toughest Krupp steel as he stood there, head held high. Maho was similar, though she did take a breath to prepare herself. Miho glanced at her sister again, as a way to calm herself before the inevitable. She herself wasn't feeling so confident in herself after shouldering her own burdens as a result of her own maverick-like behavior that match. Well, that and it was usually Erich who grounded her in moments like these. Now that he had disappeared, it was a tall order for her to remain strong.
Also staying behind were two of the Präsident's lackeys, demonstrating their loyalty by standing off to the side behind him, yet wisely staying out of the impending line of fire. When the last person left and shut the door, the Präsident looked up at each of the three warriors, and all hell was unleashed.
"Das ist unglaublich!" the Präsident began with anger coloring his voice at the unbelievability of what happened, the hand holding his pencils brought up in a fist. "Dieses lächerliche Verhalten ist UNGLAUBLICH!" He became more animated with his hand as his ranting prowess resurfaced once again, looking as if ready to throw his pencils across the room. He was absolutely pissed off at the ridiculous behavior he saw as unbelievable. He raised his hand up to point as he continued ranting. "Wer ist er, dass er es wagen, sich seinem Dienst zu widersetzen?!"
Just outside the door, the rest of the AG leaders and some other lesser Schulrat members were listening to their Präsident's massive tirade against the Nishizumis and the Staffelkapitän. They heard how the Präsident had questioned who Erich thought he was, to go against his duties. "So weit ist es also gekommen?" the rant continued as the Präsident wondered if this was what it has come to. Everyone outside looked amongst each other in concern for what was happening.
One of the girls there started breaking down as she started to silently sniffle, eyes scrunched tight at having to hear such poisoned words, knowing that those on the other side had done nothing to deserve it. Another young woman nearby leaned in with a gentle hand to give comfort to her, though she herself was also worried about what was happening.
"Der Staffelführer hat verlassen!" everyone standing outside heard the proclamation that Erich had deserted. All they could do is hope for those on the other side to survive the encounter.
"Und er hat uns alle runtergebracht," the Präsident continued ranting with a shaking fist, saying the blond-haired ultra-ace had brought them all down with him. He then got up and started slowly pacing on his side of the table, continuing his tirade in the meantime, being sure to wave his fist around also. "Das unreifes, unausgegorenes Kind ist nichts mehr weiter als ein niederträchtiger, TREULOSER FEIGLING!" He looked at the three of them as he said those words, with his fist swinging at 'treuloser Feigling.'
Hearing Erich be referred to as an immature, callow child, and furthermore as nothing more than a vile, faithless coward, was where Miho drew the line. She would not let anyone refer to her best friend, and crush, in such a disrespectful way, even if he was public enemy number one as he seemingly was presently to Schwarzwaldspitze. How dare they dishonor him so when he had bled for them all, literally. So she spoke up, talking fast in hopes she wouldn't get cut off, "Herr Präsident ich kann nicht zulassen, dass mein Freund, die für uns alle blutete-"
"Nichts als ein FEIGLING!" the Präsident fiercely cut her off with a wave of the hand holding his pencils in the younger Nishizumi's direction, stopping his slow pacing. Nothing but a coward, he insisted. "EIN VERRÄTER, EIN VERSAGER!" In the midst of his raging tirade, he saw fit to call Erich a traitor and a failure as well. He was on a roll.
"Herr Präsident, was Sie da sagen, ist ungeheuerlich!" Miho responded, being sure to speak quickly again to reduce the chances of her getting cut off. Finding it pointless to argue further, she settled with respectfully countering with a claim that what the Präsident was saying was monstrous. Both Maho and Alfred glanced over to her. The elder Nishizumi in this moment was proud of her sister for standing up for her beliefs in the face of such adversity, while the Black Devil was simply thankful that she was willing to defend his brother, even when no one else would.
"So Sie sind ebenfalls ein Geschmeiß des unseren Volkes," the Präsident spat out with a poison tongue to rival a snake, ending with fiercely throwing down his pencils onto the table. Each of them bounced off the surface and then went off who knew where. It didn't matter to him when the brunette in front of him was also the vermin of their people for her willingness to defend Erich. "SIE SIND OHNE EHRE!"
A beat passed where nothing was said after the exclamation that the younger Nishizumi had no honor, but that passed quickly enough when the Präsident continued his rant, looking into the vibrant brunette's similarly-colored eyes, "Sie nennen sich eins von unseren Krieger." He brought up a finger as he continued. "Aber Sie Jahre an einem Verräter vertraut haben, einer, der es weiß nicht, wie man Messer und Gabel hält!" His hand came up partway through and flung around a bit showing how pissed he was, with the last half of his sentence being said in an even angrier tone.
Miho was proud to call herself a warrior of Schwarzwaldspitze, but hearing that young man on the other side of the table saying she had trusted a traitor for years, one that knew not how to wield a knife and fork… it got to her. Her exterior still stood strong, but in her head, she was crying to make it stop.
"So lange hat dass Feigling unsere Aktionen nur verhindert!" those outside in the receiving area heard loud and clear. One concerned young woman that had just entered the area slowly padded closer to hear better, shuffling her way past the others. That was quite a phrase to hear upon just entering the area, that for years a coward had been hindering their actions.
"Er hat uns jeden nur erdenklichen Widerstand!" the Präsident continued, heavily smacking the table twice with one of his hands at 'Widerstand' as he closed with Miho in particular, pausing for only the briefest of moments for air. "In den Weg gelegt!"
The dark brown eyes looking up into the Vizekapitän's own bright brown irises were full of sheer malice. Again, he was bashing Erich tremendously, claiming that he had only put every conceivable obstacle in Schwarzwaldspitze's way.
Lifting up a fist to his chest, the Präsident continued, "Ich hätte gut daran getan…" A brief pause, then he continued, becoming animated once again with his rage, flinging his hand out with his ranting again. "… vor langer Zeiten dem Staffelführer zu Russland zu schicken, MIT KATJUSCHA!" He flung out his hand very aggressively at 'mit Katjuscha,' even more angered at having to mention the leader of Schwarzwaldspitze's biggest foes by name, especially after being defeated by her.
As the Präsident calmed down enough to sit in his chair again, Miho found herself holding her tongue. She wanted to say that Erich was worth quite a lot, that it would've been a stupid idea to have sent him to Russia a long time ago like the ranting leader had just expressed his desire for. But the girl did not speak up, as she knew she would only add to the fire.
"Sie sind unser ganzer Stolz," the Präsident spoke, in a quieter, calmer, more weary voice to Maho, Miho and Alfred together. He brought his hands up, gesturing to the three of them. "Und Sie waren so nah." He made a few light taps of the table with his hands. "Allein auf Sie gestellt…" He then lifted his hands into fists. "… hat die ganze Welt fast erobert."
They were all told that the Arts of Warfare programs were Schwarzwaldspitze's entire pride, but it was immediately embittered by the reminder that they had come so close to conquering the world's competition. So close, yet so far.
Miho took the following silence as an opportunity to glance at Maho and Alfred. The two of them were still standing strong, which paradoxically made her feel worse. It stung to her that the two of them couldn't speak in defense of Erich unless they wished to jeopardize their positions.
"Gottverdammt…" the ranting young man on the other side of the table sighed before turning in his chair, facing the wall to his left and lowering his head.
That calm didn't last long as his ranting prowess resurfaced, "Alle wegen ihm an sind wir so verraten und betrogen worden!"
Though it was impossible to tell visually, it took quite an effort for Maho and Alfred to hold their tongues with that most recent accusation. All Erich's fault that they had all been so betrayed and deceived? Yeah, no. That wasn't Erich at all, not one bit.
"Es war ein ungeheuerer Verrat geübt vom einem Feigling!" the ranting Präsident continued, further claiming it was such a monstrous betrayal from a coward. Miho had to breathe again to keep herself from breaking. Whether she would've broken into anger or tears, she did not know. Perhaps she would've done both, had she not been able to calm herself.
"Aber dieser Scheißverräter wird bezahlen," he swore to make that fucking traitor pay. He let out all the hostility in him with his next two statements. "Mit seinem eigenen Blut wird er bezahlen!" He looked to all three of them again. "Er wird ERSAUFEN in seinem eigenen BLUT!"
Everyone outside heard the Präsident claim Erich would pay for his betrayal with his own blood, and, furthermore, that he would be drowned in it. Those two statements were enough to make one of the girls listening in start audibly sniffling. The girl next to her saw. "Bitte, mein Freund!" she quietly pleaded with a hand on her back. "Jetzt beruhig dich doch!"
Surprisingly, the girl did calm herself down immediately as asked, though she still shed tears over how toxic the air was with one of the few serious rants the Schulratspräsident had. The air felt like it could choke everyone outside simply through how poisonous the Präsident's voice was.
Inside, the ranting young man himself faced the side again. The tirade was at last over. "Das Junge ist in den Wind verloren…" he said, voice quiet and weary now, how Erich was lost in the wind. "So viel… Talent hatte er auch, was das noch trauriger macht… Es ist aus."
Hearing that he was also upset deep down about Erich disappearing was almost enough to make Miho break. She unconsciously held a hand over her chest, as if to help herself breathe. The Präsident had just pulled a huge one-eighty, going from craving his blood as payment for his betrayal to sorrowful about the loss of someone with so much talent and potential in them. That last phrase – 'es ist aus,' or 'it's over' – resonated within her in a sour way. It made her feel like she had given up on finding Erich, who was long gone by now.
Looking to Maho and Alfred, she saw how they were only just able to hold that sourness from their own faces. Maho looked to her left and right to see how her sister and friend were holding up. She was unsurprised to find Miho nearly ready to break down, nor was she caught off-guard by Alfred's stony face. The elder Nishizumi knew that there were several emotions swirling through all three of them that threatened to level the entire room, but they were all well-disciplined, and as such were able to hold it together.
"Bubi… ist verloren," the Präsident declared in a very weary tone, using the nickname Schwarzwaldspitze's Jagdstaffel had coined for Erich. The symbolism was not lost on any of the three present warriors.
Miho fingered her collar shakily, feeling incredibly uncomfortable and upset with the whole situation that had just unfolded. In this moment she could now understand the Anglo-American philosophy of drinking to forget, as such a prospect sounded extremely attractive presently. She could only hope that wherever Erich was presently, that he was safe and happy.
Recalling the experience later on, she found herself referring back to that point after the Präsident declared Erich lost as the moment she decided to go after him. Her goal was to bring him back home or, if he had no desire to return, to join him and leave Schwarzwaldspitze behind. Whichever path she went down, she would not, could not, let him be all alone.
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"Yukari, what the devil is that?" Erich's voice brought Miho out of her flashback.
With a brief shaking of her head to clear it, the Panzerkommandeur looked in front of her to find Yukari with what appeared to resemble Schürzen fastened to her arms in the manner of shields, with a band on each one going around her upper arm and a handle down lower where her hands rested. Glancing at Erich out of the corner of her eye, she saw how the blonde was stupefied by the whole setup.
"It's some special equipment I created for severe winter storms!" the tank guru began, looking proud of herself. "The windproof Schürzen!"
Just then, a gust of wind came through, and Yukari took this occasion to demonstrate by taking one hand off of one Schürze and pressing it against the other Schürze that was bearing the frontal force of the wind.
"They'll guard me from any cold, fierce wind there is, even in the middle of Siberia!" she boldly claimed. And it appeared to be worth its merit, as she was holding up well in the winds. "How about a pair for yourself, Lady Nishizumi?"
"Um…" the vibrant brunette indecisively went, very much unsure if that was safe. "Well… that's pretty…"
She never got to finish, as Yukari was hit by an even larger gust of wind that literally lifted her off the ground, at least a few centimeters. Erich nearly dashed forward to grab a hold on her, but stopped himself at the last moment, seeing she had regained control.
After the breeze passed, Yukari numbly slipped off the Schürzen and paused for a second. "… Actually, on second thought, I take it back, Lady Nishizumi," she contradicted herself, raising a hand to scratch the back of her head awkwardly. "It seems there's a very serious design flaw in the Schürzen, which has made them too dangerous to use…"
Miho simply smiled with mirth at Yukari's apparent oversight. "You know, you shouldn't underestimate nature like that," she pointed out. "Nature doesn't very much like it when it's defied."
"Yes, of course…" Yukari returned with a smile before gathering up her Schürzen and walking off. "God, what was I thinking…?" she was heard muttering as she left.
Miho watched her leave, but she felt another pair of eyes on her. Turning, she discovered Erich staring at her. It felt odd this time, because unlike most times, he was not smiling this time. It felt like he was boring straight into her soul.
"Darüber werden wir später sprechen," he told her, referring to that flashback moment and how they would speak of it later. It was concerning to the blonde that the Panzerkommandeur had zoned out like that, and from what he could tell it was still bothering her.
Miho frowned to herself at getting caught flashing back to then, but she couldn't say she hadn't expected him to bring it up anyway. "Nur wenn du sprichst auch," she countered as she turned to face him fully, offering to speak only if he would talk as well. After all this time, she just needed to know what drove him to make such a drastic choice as disappearing without a trace after the defeat.
She noticed how Erich tensed in response. He had never spoken to her – or anyone, really – of the finer details of what happened in Russia, and he clearly had no desire to speak of them now. It put him in between a rock and a hard place, as while he wished to help Miho with her own problem, he wasn't so keen on letting her help with his own. He was so terrified of losing her trust that he refused to speak of his experiences, because he feared exactly that happening. He didn't wish to be pitied, nor did he wish for sympathy, because he was just so stubborn. He didn't believe Miho should ever have to lower herself down to him.
She lightly touched his cheek with the palm of one of her hands, the left one in particular, where she recalled seeing a huge splitting of skin back when he had returned to Schwarzwaldspitze after Pravda's attempts to break him just before the battle. He tried to shy away at the touch, but he found himself unwilling to upset her by pulling away. She always hated how the blonde was always so blind to how people saw him. He always assumed the worst from everyone, even if he did a fantastic job of not caring most of the time.
But Miho knew that she was the exception to that. She knew Erich genuinely cared about her opinion of him. After the whole ordeal with Pravda, it became obvious that was the case. Why else would he run away from her if there was a possibility she would dismiss him simply because it was believed he had turned traitor? He genuinely thought she would have assumed the worst from him upon finding out he was the reason they lost, regardless of whatever explanation he could provide. That was a reality he could not live with.
For several seconds, Miho looked into the blonde's gaze. She could see in his expressive blue eyes a lost little boy in this moment, and it made her heart ache. That was why she chose to lay herself bare to him through their locked gazes, letting him see completely into her and her intentions, hoping that she could convince him she was there for him.
Erich soon sighed. "Fein…" he acquiesced. Looking into those pleading bright brown eyes, he added one last bit. "Später." He made it clear he wished to only speak of it later, not immediately.
Miho nodded in acceptance, knowing he was practically at war with himself over this. She wouldn't rush him, but she wouldn't wait forever either. It was about time they faced this problem head-on. She just needed to know why. Why he left so abruptly, why he felt he couldn't talk to her about it, why he fled to the other side of the globe, why… so many whys… She just needed closure on the subject. It had tormented her night after night, and she would not take it any longer.
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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.
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.
Also, the author regrets nothing.