The progress keeps on coming! Busy times, took me awhile to write this, and I am amazed I was able to even find time to be be able to sit down and write The Gift's third chapter. That's quite something else in it's own right if you even knew half of the craziness surrounding this previous week. But now I'm back with a brand new chapter for you people to read. Thanks for the reviews which are coming in a greater quantity then I initially thought and I always like them. Criticize the work though please, because it's always welcome and I am always trying to improve.
By the way, the only reason I'm not using all the honorifics is to provide a bit more realism to such. Hence why Erica said "Schlagen sie den Ball" (Hit the Ball in German) and Francessca said some of the things she said in Italian when she was eating breakfast. I didn't feel that even though the show is entirely in Japanese to really have everyone use Japanese honorifics, especially when only two characters are Japanese. It's just the way I try to write things, and I understand it sounds weird but I always go for a more realistic approach whenever possible.
So enough with the info and disclaimer shit. Lets get on with the new chapter now, shall we?
From,
Symbiotic
Perrine could not believe what Yoshika had told her. Lynette could believe what she had heard come out of Yoshika's mouth. Erica could not believe what Yoshika had said. Neither did Gertrud, Francessca or Charlotte. None of them could believe a single word that came out of Yoshika's mouth when she translated the kanji that was written in the box that represented today's date. None of them could believe that Mio had taken note of her own birthday and did not want to celebrate it. To all of them, they looked forward to their individual birthdays. They even looked forward to each witch's birthday just because it broke up the monotony of sitting around base and waiting for the neuroi to attack. Though it had been awhile since they last celebrated anyone's birthday, it still would be welcome for them to have a party. The trouble was, was Mio really upset by the fact today was her birthday?
"I don't get it?" Erica stated perpexedly. "I mean, it's her birthday. Who doesn't like their birthday?"
"I'm going to have to agree with Erica on this one," Charlotte stated. "Who wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday?"
"That's the thing," Yoshika stated as she looked at the calendar, just as confused as everyone else. "Why would Sakamoto san not want to celebrate her birthday? It just doesn't seem right."
"What do you mean it's not right?" Perrine flusterly shouted in Yoshika's face. "It's completey right. Sakamoto san is distraught by her birthday, probably because no one ever recognized it!"
"But how could we have recognized it if she didn't tell us Perrine san?" Yoshika asked curiously. "Sakamoto san never said anything about her birthday coming up, so how could we have known?"
"You only know because you took the major's personal calendar," Gertrud reminded Perrine firmly, making Perrine swallow at the prospect of Gertrud telling Minna what Perrine did. "How else could any of have known if we hadn't dug through her room?"
"And it's late anyway," Erica said, looking up at the sun, noticing that while it was not anywhere near sundown it was still noon by now. "There's not much that we can do for Major Sakamoto by now."
Perrine felt her anger boil up at Erica's statement. She couldnt' believe that Erica had the nerve to suggest that they not do anything for Mio when it was her birthday just because it was late in the day. As she saw it, there was plenty of time to do something for Mio's birthday. Just because it was noon now didnt' mean that nothign could be done. In her mind, Perrine saw very much could be done. She envisioned a massive party, with all the witches gathering up in the base's main living room to celebrate Mio's birthday. There would music, dancing, food, maybe some games, to Perrine's imagination the possibilities seemed almost endless. However, Yoshika interrupted Perrine's train of thought with her voice, until Perrine heard what she had to say.
"No," Yoshika said quickly. "It's not too late Hartmann san! Listen, I know it seems like a tall task, but I bet we can do something for Sakamoto san's birthday! Maybe we did neglect the fact that it was her birthday, and maybe that is making Sakamoto san upset. Even if that isn't the cause of what is making her upset, I still think it is better then doing absolutely nothing for Sakamoto san!"
Perrine was awestruck. Yoshika had said what she wanted to say, but was too afraid to. One one side of her mind, she was a bit angry at herself and Yoshika. Perrine wanted to be the one to suggest to the other witches present that they do something about Mio's birthday. In a way it did make her rather upset that she did not get to take the glory for suggesting to do something if it was to happen and happen suggestively. That way, Perrine could have a greater chance of having her greatest desire fulfilled by Mio. That fulfillment of that desire only appealed to be growing closer and closer, and it was impressive to her that it was. But on the other side of her mind, Perrine thanked Yoshika for being the one to break the news. That way she didn't have to give any hints away, hints that she knew could compromise the nature of her greatest secret.
"I agree with Miyafuji," Perrine stated proudly. "We need to do something for Major Sakamoto's birthday. It's the right thing to do. She would have done it for you if it was you're birthday!"
"But Perrine..." Erica began to say.
"Don't you 'But Perrine' me you little slob!" Perrine growled ferociously, making Erica huddle behind Gertrud a bit in fear. "If none of you will do anything for Major Sakamoto's birthday, I'll just do it myself. God, all of you are so inconsiderate. You won't even owe the major with a birthday party for her. Fine, if you people won't do anything for Major Sakamoto's birthday then I'll do something for her by myself!"
With that, Perrine stormed off back towards the base, leaving the others behind at the baseball diamond, taking the calendar with her. All of them were a bit stunned by what just happened. They had learned that today was Mio's birthday, a fact that none of them had known before, and they had seen Perrine completely blow up in their faces about it. They had also seen Yoshika defiantly stand up on Perrine's side, something that they rarely saw anyone do around the base. Inside, all the witches were feeling a bit morose. Perrine had went through the trouble of taking Mio's calendar just to show that it was Mio's birthday today. All of them had not known that it was Mio's birthday today, and they all had thoughts now of being very inconsiderate towards the twenty year old witch who had become the first strike witch and valiantly flew into battle again and again when she was technically the most vulnerable out of all of them. All of them wanted to break the silence, but none could find the courage to do such. That was, except for Yoshika.
"I really think we should do something for Sakamoto san," Yoshika stated. "It is the least we can do for her to throw her a party."
No one spoke at first, making Yoshika feel that her words fell on dead ears. Not even Lynette, her best friend in the 501st and probably the best friend she had ever made, was saying anything. None of them could even bring themselves to say anything. Then in a surprise that Yoshika never saw coming, one of them spoke up. While she had thought it would initially be Lynette to do such, she was surprised to find out that Gertrud was the first one to speak up.
"Miyafuji is right," Gertrud stated firmly. "In some way or another, we all owe our lives to Major Sakamoto. I don't think there is a better way to show that we owe her and care about her then doing something for her birthday."
"But 'Trude..." Erica began to say.
"But nothing Hartmann," Gertrud said firmly. "We need to do something for Major Sakamoto's birthday. Don't tell me you can't recall one incident where Major Sakamoto didn't do something that she went out of her way for, just for you."
Erica began to think hard about that. Even if she was never Major Sakamoto's wingman once in her entire tour of duty with the 501st, Mio had done some things that truly struck out to her in particular. When Gertrud was often putting her down or berating her for various things, Mio was the one who often got Gertrud to stop, something that Minna was not willing to do most of the time due to sheer intimidation on her part. In combat, Erica had grown to hugely respect Mio, believing that in many aspects she was stronger then all of the witches combined here. Plus there was the fact that Mio was such an amazing leader and a valuable assett to the 501st. In her mind and heart, she knew that Mio had done very much for her, even though the two were not necessarily anything more then allies in combat. Feeling content that she had an answer, Erica then spoke up.
"Alright," Erica said slowly, looking down at the ground with a guilty look as she said such. "We should do something for Major Sakamoto's birthday."
"I agree with Yoshika, Erica and Gertrud," Lynette stated with enthusiasm. "I think it will be fun for us to celebrate Major Sakamoto's birthday."
"Yeah we probably can really pull something together for her," Charlotte proposed eagerly. "A real hootinany!"
"A great shindig!" Francessca stated with glee, smiling widely and jumping up and down in excitement.
"Sometimes I'll never understand you two," Gertrud sighed as she shook her head with one hand on her forehead. "But yes, lets throw her a real party."
"I think first though we should go apologize to Perrine san," Yoshika said. "We did kind of blow her off like that before."
All the other witches thought about doing that again. By the end of their brief moment, they all agreed with Yoshika. Perrine had done something that could have gotten her in serious trouble all for Major Sakamoto. None of them would have probably done what Perrine did just to find out what was wrong with one of their friends so they could correct it. Though it did put forth some suspicions and questions that none of them had ever considered before, they did all agree with Yoshika's proposal to go apologize to Perrine and agree to help her out with doing something for Major Sakamoto's birthday. It was the least they could do for both witches who they were thinking of at the time.
"Alright we'll get to that," Gertrud stated. "Miyafuji, don't you have flight training today with the major?"
"Yes I do Barkhorn san," Yoshika replied back. "Why do you ask?"
"Use that time to try to get something out of Major Sakamoto so that we can get some idea of what to do for her birthday," Gertrud ordered. "Also try to prolong your training for as long as possible. That way we'll have plenty of time. We'll listen on what you guys are saying via your communicator, we know how to do it."
"Hai!" Yoshika stated firmly, before running off quickly before she went to go to her training with Major Sakamoto. Meanwhile the other witches went to go find Perrine, and start planning out what to do for Mio's birthday.
Other then what happened with Perrine earlier, Mio's day had appeared to go by so far without any major problems. As she saw it, many other things could have gone wrong and she could have been feeling much worse about what was happening today then she was now, but she was not. That made Mio rather content on the inside. It felt good not to have to worry about her secret that she held about today to anyone else and no one was being suspicious about her. That made her feel a bit more relaxed then she did this morning. Still, Mio refused to let her guard down. Even if it was noon, there were still twelve hours left in the day when someone could offset her and find something out. That was a prospect that inside, part of Mio refused to risk. Mio was absolutely horrified by the possibilities of someone finding out the secret that she was witholding from the rest of the withces today. If it got out, she did not know what she would do about it.
But another part of Mio desperately wanted to let someone she trusted know what was going on. That same part of her also believed that she was making much too big of a deal over today. Even if for a variety of reasons she did not want anyone to know what was going on, she did think that maybe telling someone would alleviate the stress. I mean, it was only her birthday and as she thought about it, some of the reasons why she was worrying were pointless. Plus there was the fact that many of the witches had not done anything that was both fun and gathering for them in quite some time. Mio pondered that for a second as she stood in the 501st's hangar. Could they have fun celebrating her birthday? Could all the witches truly enjoy doing something that was not even aimed at all of them but at one person. Mio did not quite no, and hearing her last name get called out by Yoshika as she stood around made her break her train of thought and focus towards other things on her mind now, like today's training with Yoshika.
"Ah, Miyafuji," Mio called out firmly as she saw Yoshika run closer, "You're late by five minutes. Care to explain yourself?"
Yoshika stopped hastily at Mio's feet, panting heavily and holding herself on her knees just barely. She had sprinted all the way from the baseball diamond Charlotte had created in the field to the hangar just so she could be as timely as possible. Finding out she was late not only made her feel that she let Mio down, but also a bit scared of what could come of her training. Mio liked to have everything followed puntucally and Yoshika knew that from the very first day she joined the witches. Every time she committed even the most minor infraction within Mio's presence, Mio tended to unleash her disciplinarian personality to the fullest extent on Yoshika, and sometimes that was more then enough for Yoshika. Though she knew that Mio went well with her discipline, she was still afraid of getting the discipline and thought sometimes it borderlined on sadistic abuse, sometimg that scared Yoshika beyond physical belief.
"Gomen nasai Sakamoto san," Yoshika panted frantically. "But Minna san said I could play a baseball game with Lucchini chan, Lynette chan, Shirley san, Barkhorn san and Hartmann san. I knew I had training today and I tried to get here as fast as possible and left in a timely fashion. I'm very sorry Sakamoto san!"
Yoshika expected to feel Mio's fist come down upon her in a second or less, the typical way Mio berated Yoshika for various infractions as she saw fit. But instead of getting hit, Yoshika got something else. Inside, Mio did not feel like hitting Yoshika right now since it was clear the younger Fuso witch had clearly made a fully efforted attempt to make it to Mio on time. But what Mio did do was laugh. Starting as a pleasant giggle, Mio began to let out a whole hearted hysteria driven laugh, her signature laugh, out into the air for Mio to hear. Yoshika felt bamboozled. She had not heard Mio laugh at anything she did in a very long time. In fact, she had not heard Mio laugh at anything in a very long time. So the fact that she was laughing as she was at the fact that Yoshika was begging for mercy made the young girl quite confused, but did not ease her fears very much.
"Do not worry Miyafuji," Mio said as she calmed down from her fit of laughter. "Minna told me what you were doing with the others, so it's alright. I was actually thinking of going to just get you myself, but I figured I would first wait to see if you could make it. It's good to see that you're disciplined and committed to put aside your game and sprint all the way here for training. That's very admirable Yoshika."
Inside, Yoshika's feelings changed. She now felt quite accomplished, feeling good that she was able to do something that would make Mio happy. Yoshika had learned from early on, just as all the other witches had, that Mio was a rather difficult person to please. The fact that she had made Mio happy enough to commend her made Yoshika feel warm inside.
"Arigato Sakamoto san," Yoshika said respectfully, bowing her head in a kind gesture.
"Right Miyafuji," Mio said firmly with a bow of her own. "Now, are you ready for flight training?"
"Hai!" Yoshika spoke loudly and firmly, following Mio into the hangar as she waited to board up in her striker unit.
Put in place by the technicians and ground crew who helped man the 501st's base of operations in Britannia, Yoshika's striker lied in it's containment unit, ready to be deployed once Yoshika stepped inside. Climbing up on top of the unit and then stepping inside, Yoshika could feel the magically powered flying machine strap itself to her legs and grip them just enough so that they would stay on but not hurt Yoshika. With that, Yoshika focused herself and activated her magical power. As the ears and tail of a Shiba Inu sprouted from her head and rear end respectively. After grabbing her Type 99 machine gun in her hands, Yoshika looked over to see Mio prepping her striker unit.
She watched as Mio stood over the striker unit and just looked at it, further confusing the younger witch about what was wrong with her Major. She then watched Mio activate her magical power and sprout the features of a Doberman Pinscher before getting into the striker unit, something they were advised normally not to do for fear of starting up the striker by accident. But this time, things appeared to be different. Mio was not acting as Yoshika normally saw her act, something was clearly irking her, and Yoshika wondered inside if it really was her birthday that was bugging her commanding officer inside. Yoshika called out to Mio at this, quicly getting Mio's attention.
"Sakamoto san is everything alright?" Yoshika asked.
"I'm fine," Mio growled quickly, shocking Yoshika as she hastily got out of her striker's container and then moved out onto the runway, almost taking off without Yoshika. Yoshika struggled to follow in suit, meeting Mio halfway on the runway.
"Are you sure everything is alright?" Yoshika asked as she struggled to catch up with Mio and get into the air with her commanding officer.
"No one said you could ask me questions Miyafuji," Mio growled even more angered then before, making Yoshika gasp a bit. "Learn to speak when you are permitted to do so, not out of turn!"
As they continued to ascent into the clear blue Britannien sky, their weapons armed and ready for any sudden attack and their striker's carrying them forward through their magical powers. Yoshika began to increasingly worry about Mio and what was making her upset, wondering if it truly was her birthday making her upset. Driven by her own suspicions and the orders she had received from Gertrud, a witch she did not want to go back on for fear of facing the eighteen year old Karslander witch's wrath, she then spoke up.
"Stop Sakamoto san," Yoshika said firmly. "I want to stop right now!"
Putting her legs forward, Yoshika stopped in her place and hovered in mid air, thousands of feet above the English channel and the surface that she had been propelled over. Standing their firmly and clenching her gun even tighter to relieve the stress and fear of flying with an angered and distraught Mio, Yoshika watched as her commanding officer looked behind her and came at her quickly, clenching the hilt of the katana that she carried onto her back into battle time and time again. Yoshika gulped at this, but continued to stand firm. She knew that if she showed weakness, Mio would be allowed to berate her further and she would never get what she wanted out of the major. So she continued to stay hovering and look on as Mio flew at her and stopped right in front of her, keeping the hands on the katana hilt ever so firmly, and making Yoshika sweat in fear.
"Miyafuji," Mio yelled out loudly. "How dare you defy your superior officer! What do you think you're doing?"
"Sakamoto san," Yoshika gulped. "I-I demand to know if you are upset today about the fact that it is your birthday? Tell me truthfully and without any witholding of information Sakamoto san, and tell me now!"
"That is none of your business to know how I feel about today," Mio shot back at the younger witch quickly. "You are in severe trouble Miyafuji, you will be punished."
"I don't care," Yoshika stated fiercly. "I want to know if the fact that it is your birthday is making you upset?"
Mio held her position in thin air silently. Neither her or Yoshika spoke. The only sounds were that of the slight breeze they were feeling and their striker's humming in the sky. Both of them stood and stared each other down, not knowing what each was going to do. Inside though, Mio could feel an internal battle between her divided mind on the issue of her birthday being waged. One side of her wanted to tell Yoshika nothing and beat the girl senseless for defying her orders and not partaking in any of her training. But another side of her wanted to tell Yoshika what was going on and just get it out. Mio did not know which side to choice at first, struggling between her militaristic and disciplinary half and her more kind and caring half, the half she first showed to Yoshika when they first met. After much deliberation in the span of a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, Mio let her hands off the sword grip, and began to speak.
"Yes," Mio stated unemotionally. "Today is my birthday Miyafuji, and yes it is making me rather upset if you put it that way."
Yoshika gave Mio a caring stare and them moved towards her slowly with her striker unit so she could better hear Mio's words. Mio did not bother doing anythign to stop the girl. She had decided to tell Yoshika what was bugging her, and now that she had chosen that course of action there was no backing out of it. Swallowing hard, Yoshika listened intently as Mio began to speak to her.
"See," Mio began to say. "No one, and I mean no one, has ever celebrated my birthday. In fact, no one has ever cut anything out for me. It seems like from day one, as far back as I can remember, I've just been training and fighting. Honing magical powers as much as I could, helping and testing the developmental striker units and fighting the neuroi almost constantly. No one ever wanted to stop and do anything for me on my birthday. All they wanted to do was fight and defeat the neuroi, which I was proud and happy to do but I always wanted them to simply recognize me in a way more then another witch fighting the neuroi and a test subject. But I guess that will never come. I just wish that for once, someone celebrated my birthday."
As she looked on and took in all the words, Yoshika felt rather touched on the inside. She had never known anything personal about Mio other then that she was the first witch to fly a striker successfully and knew her own father, as well as knowing Mio's age of now twenty one. Now she appeared to know a bit more, and that made Yoshika feel more special and a bit more important then she had ever felt before. But she still was not done, and she knew what she had to do next for the major she was flying with now.
"Sakamoto san," Yoshika said soothingly. "It's alright if you're upset. I know I would be upset if no one celebrated my birthday ever. It's okay if you're angry about it."
"I'm not angry," Mio told Yoshika, a small tear coming out of her uncovered right eye. "I'm just, I'm just, oh I don't know what I am, I just wish someone would recognize today as a day for me and didn't think I was just some device."
"I don't think you're a device Sakamoto san," Yoshika told Mio with a smile. "I think you're my friend and a great mentor as well as a valuable combatant against the neuroi and a hero. I bet a lot of others feel the same way."
"You think so?" Mio asked, now looking Mio directly on instead of looking down like she was before.
"Of course!" Yoshika blurted out rapidly. "I know others about you feel the same way that I do. There's no other way around it! In fact, how would you like it if us witches threw you a birthday party today just for you?"
"Well," Mio said as she smiled a bit, leaning her head in thought. "Well it would be nice, but I think it would be too much of a distraction for us that we cannot risk right now. But if we could, I think I would really like having a birthday party. It's a nice thought Miyafuji."
"You're welcome Sakamoto san," Yoshika said happily. "I'd do anything to make you happy."
"Well right now I would be really happy if the two of us could just fly," Mio said with a smile. "Is that agreeable?"
"Of course," Yoshika replied back to Mio, watching her commanding officer smile and then begin to fly, Yoshika pursuing her all the way along.
"Hope I got enough for you guys," Yoshika thought in her mind as she smiled and flew along after Mio. "Lets give Sakamoto san a gift she will really never forget."
