"Ok. Dinner. What to do. What do I take to the dinner? What kind of food will I make?" so many questions, so little time. But Ina had to do one thing first, gather up the others. Who to go to first? Maybe go alphabetically. Noriko first? Wait, let's see… A, B, C… M, N. Yes, Noriko first. But where did Noriko live again? Maybe she should call her. Or maybe go to someone else first? Satomi? Yume? Yuuki?

Ina sat down, wiggling her feet. Go to Yuuki, then? Or Yume? So, so many things she could do. Maybe she should just not go, say she got ill. But she wants to be friends with Miho too. Maybe she should ask Satomi, she knows best.

No, she shouldn't. She needs to become independent from Satomi, not even more dependent upon her. It's time to do something, without her. Alone. Everything alone. She'll cook alone. Well, with the Ooarai girls, but not with any of her closest friends.

Ina stood up, and walked to the nearest supermarket; buying all kinds of food: meat, vegetables, fish, spices, sauces. She didn't know what she would make yet, though. A lot of different dishes, or one big one? She had enough time to think, it would take at least an half hour before she was at Miho's house. These carriers are massive.

She decided to text the girls while walking towards Miho's house, just having left the carrier. Nothing fancy, just the time and place of the dinner. Time to pick up the pace, it'll take a long time to get to Miho. She's not even half-way, the Ooarai carrier is just that massive. Then she saw someone walking to the carrier. She was not sure who it was, but she recognised the rough body shape.

As they got closer, she realised who it was; it was Yuuki. Ten kilometres left between them.

That doesn't sound right. It's probably less. A kilometre? A couple hundred metres, perhaps.

"Hi Ina.", she heard Yuuki say, weakly. "I'm sorry. But I need to talk to you.", she quickly added, before bursting out in tears. What was going on? What to do?

"Did I do something wrong?", Ina thought. No. Don't think, it's time for action.

Ina put an arm over Yuuki, looking around, seeing a bench some distance away. "What happened, Yuuki?", She asked. Ina didn't like seeing Yuuki in such a state.

"One of the Oaarai girls said and then she and she was mean and she hurt me…", Ina could barely make out anything from the things Yuuki said, "And she called me a 'stupid waste of human resources who should never have been born, be-because I'm in Ishikuma, and…", Yuuki started crying really hard, into Ina's shoulder. They had finally made it to the bench, so they could sit down.

Ina wasn't sure what to do, Yuuki seemed really upset about all of this. What should she do?

"It's alright. She's gone now.", she said, hoping to comfort Yuuki. "I'm here. You'll be safe from her." She hugged her tightly. Yuuki was still crying into her arm. Ina felt weird, she had a feeling of happiness that Yuuki was crying into her. Because it meant that Yuuki trusted her.

Seconds passed, and seconds turned into a minute. A minute of nothing, no sounds except the wind blowing, the waves crashing into the dock and Yuuki crying. Ina wasn't sure if she should talk. Maybe Yuuki liked the silence Ina offered, she was a shy girl and very silent, after all. Or maybe she's disappointed by the lack of questions, and her not trying to find out what happened.

"Which one of the Ooarai girls did it?", Ina finally asked.

Silence. Yuuki responded with silence, a deafening silence for ten seconds. "One of the little ones. I don't know which tank she is in.", she finally said. A first year student? Ina didn't know, but she wanted to protect Yuuki from the girl. Maybe even get revenge. That girl never will hurt Yuuki again. Never.

But Ina had to go on to Miho's place, she had a lot to cook. But leaving Yuuki alone in this state was not an option. Should she take her to Miho? Maybe Yuuki could help her with the food... But it may not be the best time to suggest such a thing. Maybe Yuuki needs some time on her own, and doesn't want to go to the Ooarai carrier after what happened. Or, alternatively, it would be a good thing to go to the Ooarai carrier and show that it's just the one girl? Miho seemed quite nice, and so did the other two girls.

"Umm, Yuuki?", Ina asked, regretting it immediately. "Do you want to go to Nishizumi's house with me?". She didn't know how Yuuki would react, but she should ask anyways. She'd rather know for sure.

"Ok.", Ina didn't know why Yuuki wanted to join her, but was glad the girl did. She stood up, and gave her friend, on who it was still very visible she had cried, a big hug. It was time to move on, or she'd be late to make the food.

"Should I ask about what exactly happened before the Ooarai girl got so mad? Or will that just make Yuuki sad again?", Ina thought, considering the consequences of such an action. "Or should I tell her about how good she is at her job as a radio operator? That might be a nicer thought for her." Ina took up the pace, Yuuki seemingly enjoying the silence. Ina didn't know why, but she wanted to protect Yuuki. She felt like Yuuki was like a little girl who needed help, even though she was older than her by months and the same height as her.

They had been walking for minutes now, and they finally reached the Ooarai carrier. Ina was still silent, not knowing what to say. But perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. She enjoyed the silence. But it was time for it to be broken, not by her, but by a certain black haired girl with a armband that would make you think she was a Nazi, followed by two of her friends, with the same hair-style, boasting the same armbands.

"Who are you, why are you here?", the girl asked them, seemingly angry.

Ina was shocked and didn't know what to say. Who were these people? Did they do anything wrong?

"Umm, I'm Kobayashi Ina, and this is Kita Yuuki.", she said nervously, not knowing what would happen. "We are here to visit Nishizumi Miho.", she quickly added, realising she also had to respond to the second question.

"And why should we believe such a thing? You could be spies!", one of the girls behind the girl said. "Yeah, how do we know you aren't spies?", the third one added.

Ina didn't feel comfortable being interrogated like this by these weird nazi girls. What did they want anyways? Maybe Ina should just walk on and ignore them. Yeah, that might be a good way to deal with the situation.

"Yuuki, follow me.", she said, however it sounded more like a command. Ina walked onto the carrier and just walked past the weird nazi girls with Yuuki, and continued on going to Miho.

When the girls were far enough away from the nazi girls, who were pretty upset, Ina started talking.

"They probably are some girls acting tough anyways. Nothing to be afraid of.", she told her friend, who seemed to be scared of the girls. They walked on towards Miho's house. They would be there in minutes now, she hoped. But then the realisation came: Yuuki still didn't know about her plan. Should she tell it to her? She'll know it now or in a couple of minutes, anyways. Maybe Yuuki can help, she'll have to do a lot.

Ina looked at a map: almost there now. Just a couple more corners to go around, one or two streets to cross. It was time to tell it.

"Yuuki? Do you want to help me cook?", she asked, when she realised she couldn't hide it any longer.

"Umm… yes.", Yuuki answered, silent as ever. Ina knew that Yuuki rarely showed any positive emotions and wasn't surprised by the lack of visible enthusiasm.

Finally, the two Ooarai girls arrived at Miho's apartment. Ina knocked on the door. Seconds passed: nothing. Seconds turned into a minute, and the door still hadn't opened. Ina worried if she came at a bad moment and Miho was away. She waited another minute, and Miho still hadn't opened. It seemed that she really was away, perhaps at the store or something.

"Let's go and wait outside until Nishizu-", Ina said, before being interrupted by the door swinging open. She saw the Ooarai commander, smiling at her, hair still wet and clothes put on hastily.

"Oh sorry, I didn't expect you to arrive this early.", the girl said, still somewhat tired of having to hurry so much. "Umm… come in. Your friend can enter too!".

"I-I'm Kita Y-Yuuki.", she stuttered. "N-Nice to m-meet you."

When Ina walked into Miho's apartment, she noticed it was smaller than hers; a lot. Of course, some students at her school had problems with claustrophobia and other needed quite extensive medical equipment, so rooms were bigger to allow for those things, but this room was really small. She couldn't imagine eleven people in here! That wouldn't go well at all.

Small tables, a TV, a computer, dozens of books, and some old bokos flanked by some newer ones. Her apartment seemed to be small but very personalised. Seeing this made Ina feel closer to Miho; she had shared a little part of her. Ina's apartment however, felt empty and devoid of character. She was hiding her books, her miniature tanks, her posters of former national champions of sensha-dou in their heyday, many of them now old and have given in to their bodies becoming used and deteriorating in physical capability.

Miho was her most recent addition to that collection; the chosen one to lead Ooarai to victory despite all their disadvantages, and in the meanwhile defeating her own older sister. A great triumph that no one could have expected, one to go down in memory for years to come. If Miho could take a school of inexperienced girls and lead it to victory, she should surely be able to take a school with experienced members, combined with some good tanks and do the same? Ishikuma had beaten Ooarai once already, maybe, just maybe they could win the tournament. She'd be amongst her idols, she'd have achieved something with her life. Her life would have some meaning…

"Kobayashi-san? Is something wrong?", Ina suddenly heard, being broken out of her thoughts. Ina put her hand on the back of her neck.

"Oh, yes, I am. I was just thinking about our match. I had a lot of fun!", she said.

"Is this appropriate? Does she want to talk about the match she had just lost? The Nishizumis are quite known for not being able to handle losing…", she thought.

"Oh, we had too!", the ginger said, really comforting Ina. Perhaps Miho was not like the other Nishizumis. Not obsessed with fame, glory, a victory streak lasting a thousand years.

Ina put her bag on a table and looked at Miho: the sun slightly above the girl, reflecting off the water in her short, ginger hair. It was a truly beautiful sight to see. Miho was truly beautiful to see. She then took out her vegetables and started cutting some for the dinner. Yuuki silently went along. Ina had trouble understanding Yuuki, it frustrated her. She didn't know what to do, if Yuuki liked her at all, if she wanted to go home. Her face was so awfully neutral and she never saw even the slightest amount of difference.

Ina saw Miho walking back into the room from the bathroom, she had tidied up a bit. She was even more beautiful than just minutes before.

"Is this normal? Am I normal? Why am I having these desires?", she thought. "No, this can't be right. I can't be in love with Miho Nishizumi, can I? Is this love? Is this what love feels like? No, it's not time to think. It's time to cut vegetables."

She had been cutting vegetables for two minutes now when Miho joined in, standing next to her. Ina looked at her, blushed, laughed awkwardly and went back to cutting.

"Is something wrong?", Miho asked.

"Oh god now you've done it Ina. She knows! What to do, what to do.", she thought.

"It's just that I've always looked up to you and now I'm here, cutting onions next to you." Ina said, barely being able to keep her eyes off the orange-haired girl next to her, elegantly using her knife with her soft but firm hands.

"Oh, that reminds me of Yukari… except she seems to love me more than looking up to me.", the beautiful Ooarai commander responded.

"Shit. She has someone else already.", Ina thought. "Or does she? She never said she also loves her. Perhaps it's a one way thing. Perhaps this is a one way thing…".

"Yukari was one of the girls I met this morning, right? She seemed pretty excited about the match.", Ina responded. "Or was she the sleepy one? I'm not too good with names."

"The sleepy one is Mako.", Miho responded. "Yukari is the excited one. The only thing she loves more than me, is tanks."

"Probably not as much as I do… for my entire childhood I've loved tanks. I've been bullied for liking them so much.", Ina said. "I wasn't even sure if I wanted to take up sensha-dou when I got to high school. I was scared of tanks. Or rather, of liking them.", she continued, almost cutting into her finger.

"I didn't want to take up sensha-dou anymore when I got to Ooarai. Thankfully, my friends talked me into taking it up again. And I love doing it.", Miho said, smiling with a small tear in her eye. It seemed that she was happy.

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Oh, they must be here already!", the ginger suddenly said, excitedly walking towards the door. Who was there? Ina looked at the door, wanting to see who is there.

"Hello there Miporin!", Ina could hear. "Miporin?", she thought, not sure who that was. She could see the Mako girl standing next to the other girl, who Ina could barely see because Miho stood in front of her. She must be a good friend of Miho though.

The two girls entered, and Miho walked towards the two Ishikuma girls, still preparing their food. "This is Kobayashi Ina, commander of Ishikuma, and this is Kita Yuuki, a friend of Kobayashi-san.", Ina could hear Miho introduce them to the two girls. "Nice to meet you, Kobayashi-san and Kita-san! I'm Takebe Saori and this is Reizei Mako!", the girl said.

"Hello.", Mako added, clearly not wanting to talk. Five people were in this apartment and it already was practically full, how would they fit another six in?

"You're adorable, you know that?", Miho's fellow ginger friend told Ina, making her blush. "You must be plenty popular at Ishikuma, and get all the guys!", she continued. Ina blushed even more, never getting any compliments about her looks. Was she really adorable like this Saori girl said?

"Thanks!", she responded. Should she compliment Saori back? Yes, she should.

"You look good too, Takebe-san."

A couple of minutes later, more knocks. Isuzu Hana, Akiyama Yukari, Nishi Kinuyo. Still no Ishikuma girls, as Ina noticed, much to her delight. One more hour until the dinner would start; and aside from Yuuki, everything went according to plan. Ina opened up the gas and started cooking. Plenty to do, so many people, talking and sounds all around her. But it didn't bother her, like it usually would. Was it because of the situation? Or was she just ignoring it? Perhaps she's overthinking it. She has a tendency to overthink everything.

Cooking, cooking and more cooking. How many minutes have passed? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Ina didn't know. She only knew she was almost done. Seeing the eight girls prepare the dinner was something beautiful; Hana making flowers, Saori cooking and Yukari making ice cream. Miho was setting up extra room to eat on, Mako testing the comfiness of Miho's bed and Kinuyo just helping everyone a bit.

As the last three girls arrived at Miho's apartment, the dinner could finally start. It was half six; Ina had been cooking for almost three hours. The thought of finally getting to eat excited her, having made eleven plates of the dinner her mother always made; chicken mixed through baked potatoes and lots of different kinds of vegetables. Ina thought it was delicious… she hoped the other girls would think it was too. What if they didn't like it? What if they thought it was absolutely disgusting? No time for those thoughs. Puppies, hugs and comfy blankets. Other happy things.

Ina sat down; Satomi and Kinuyo sitting next to her and Miho across from her. Next to Miho sat Mako and Yukari, those being flanked by Saori and Hana respecitvely. Yuuki and Noriko sat left of Kinuyo, and Yume right of Satomi. The "tables", as far as you could call them that, some of them were plastic boxes that were used when Miho moved into the room and one of them used to have a PC on it just an hour ago, were completely filled with all kinds of food and decorations. The food Ina made, flowers Hana had prepared, some kinds of soup, some pre-warmed food Mako had put in a microwave at the last moment after Saori told her to go make something.

"Itadakimasu", the eleven girls said. Saori, likely the only extrovert sitting at the table, was the first to talk. "I hadn't heard of your school until our match, could you tell me about it?", the ginger asked the Ishikuma girls.

"What do you want to know? The school, the sensha-dou te-", Satomi responded before being interrupted by Yukari. "Tell about the sensha-dou team, please.", she said.

"Our sensha-dou team is relatively young, only a decade or so. We were supposed to be one of the thirty two schools to participate in the national sensha-dou championship last year, but couldn't enter because your school took our place. We've had plenty of battles outside of that though. We lost most of them…", she told, the other girls listening or eating. "This is the first time we'll be participating in the national league, but we're likely not going to win. You're the only major school we've ever managed to beat. The other ones just beat us easily every time."

"You almost beat us.", the Chihatan commander responded.

"We beat half your team because of our armour. no other reason.", Satomi said after taking a bite of her food. "And even then it was because your tanks don't have the best guns. If they were a bit better you'd have completely crushed us. Saunders, Kuromorimine, Pravda; they'd all have beaten us. And those are the kinds of schools we'll have to fight soon…", she said, a little bit depressed.

"Armour insufficient. Guns insufficient. Remember. Need to fix to win.", Ina thought. "Don't worry so much Satomi. Remember that we thought we'd be completely crushed by Ooarai? We won instead.", she said. "Even if it was a pyrrhic victory. We just need to do our best."

"Never give up, sometimes you do win.", Miho told the Ishikuma girls. "We also won against all odds. We should have lost to Kuromorimine, Pravda and Saunders.", she continued.

Ina shook her head in agreement, they can win. They will win. She'll show the world she's not useless. That she's not a failure. That she's a success, a hard-working girl who can get things done. Even if it'll cost her her sanity for the time being.

Many other conversations happening all around them, the girls finished their food. The dinner had taken more than a hour, but Ina didn't dislike a single second of it. She's learned a lot from Miho. Miho was not only beautiful, she was intelligent, funny, wise. She had added the girl on the chat programme, and she was excited to talk more to her. However, the best part came from Isuzu Hana, the student council leader; Ooarai had a KV-1 in the past, and they still had some twenty-five mm armour plates for it lying around taking up space. This would increase the KV-1s hull armour to a hundred millimetres. And they got it for free, as it took up space Ooarai needed. Their automotive club delivered it to Ishikuma's carrier. Was the armour situation fixed now? Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe she should fix the gun situation, Ishikuma had a lack of guns that really packed a punch...

A school in Australia had also closed and they put up a AC IV "Thunderbolt" for sale. It was a medium tank designed and built by Australia, with strong angled frontal armour and the fearsome British 17pdr gun. They got it for almost nothing, although it needed some repairs. But after a couple of weeks it was ready for combat. And so was Ishikuma for her very first tournament. First opponent: St. Gloriana.