KAPITEL ZWEI: Eyes and Ears

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"So, how do you picture him personally, Miporin?'

"Yeah, Miho-san; it must be quite a heartwarming experience to meet someone as gentlemanly as him."

Miho was blushing badly when Saori and Hana egged her about that young man she met at the Fish Market. And this is while they were in the middle of helping out the Automotive Club in tweaking their Panzer IV Ausf H inside the tank garage.

"Um, pardon for being a bit rude but could you guys not pressure me too much about him already? I only just met him once."

"You need not worry that much, Miporin," Saori replied. "I mean, if I were in your shoes at that time, I'm pretty sure I'd be sooooooo head-over-heels for him."

"Well, this is the very first time we've seen Nishizumi-dono this flustered," Yukari added. "Clearly he must be quite good-looking, right?" Miho remained silent, the redness of her cheeks becoming more pronounced.

Mako then came out of the driver's hatch, having finished her share of tweaking their tank a few minutes ago and was just stirred up from her power nap. "Would you girls mind keeping it down? I'm trying to get some shuteye."

"Sorry about that, Mako-chan. We just could not contain ourselves because Miporin just met a cool guy and is flustering quite badly."

"She's just lovestruck, am I right?" Mako said in a dry, deadpan manner. This caused Miho to really blush very brightly.

"Anyways, have you guys actually met him?"

"Um, no; but we got a picture of him from the vice-president. She even gave Miporin a copy of it!" Saori squeed as she handed the picture to the still-drowsy Mako.

"He's not that bad, if you ask me. So, can I have my power nap now?"

Just then, Tsuchiya approached Mako. "Hello, Reizei-san. Just wanna ask if you found any faults as to the tank controls."

"Not much. Why?"

"Well, we've been having trouble with refitting the rollers on the Panzer IV ever since that awesome drift you did during the finals. I fear that some of the connectors on the rollers may be a bit loose."

"I'll test it later after catching some Z's. Anything else?"

"Well…" Tsuchiya twiddled her fingers out of hesitation. "I was wondering of you could teach me how to drift the Tiger (P)."

"Um, I thought you already know that. You did force that big tank to do a wheelie in the finals."

"After seeing that epic drift though, I had this feeling that getting our Tiger to drift would be a lot more awesome."

Mako grunted lightly as she felt that she got a few hours of nap time robbed again. Then she let off a sigh.

"Okay, okay. But we're not taking that tank for a spin, understand?" Tsuchiya nodded in response as Mako exited the Panzer IV and joined her.

"Seems Mako-san has become a bit more open to others," Hana noted.

"Ever since Sodoko fulfilled her promise of deleting Reizei-san's tardiness record, she has been slightly more active," Yukari explained.

"But she tends to steal some sleeping hours in between classes," Saori complained. "Last time I saw her skipping English, she was sleeping on top of our tank."

"It can't be helped though," Miho uttered after having regained her composure. "She is one of the smartest here in Oarai, and is our top tank driver, but she is still the same, sleepy Mako we know."

"Easy for you to say, Miporin. You're our very headstrong squadron commander, yet you're the same cute, clumsy girl we all love. And from the looks of things right now, having that ffated encounter may have made you a lot cuter."

"So this is what love can do, don't you agree Miho-san?" Hana said to her, smiling. Miho blushed again, as the rest of Anglerfish Team giggled.

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"So… a Panzer IV Ausf H, a Porsche Tiger, a StuG III, and a Hetzer…"

Not far from Ōarai's tank garage were three girls hiding behind the thick bushes on the other side of the field. One of them was looking through a pair of binoculars, while the other two were taking pictures of the tanks, and processing vital info about them.

And all three of them wore identical black eye patches on their left.

"Who would think that sneaking up on this ship would be such a breeze, right Elda?"

"School ships like these are basically protected under post-war multinational treaties, Freya. It's unlikely that they have any reliable weapons apart from the tanks they use for sports."

"I was expecting a bit more hostile resistance when we got here."

"Keep it down you two," Clarissa ordered them. "We cannot compromise this mission until we have found out the last tank they'll be fielding."

"But can we just assume that they'll be using the B1 Bis or the M3 Lee, Vice-Captain?"

"Until we see the last tank, we're not to assume anything."

Just then, a member of the Morals Committee approached them from their left. "Um, what are you guys doing in there?"

"Crud, we've been spotted!" Immediately, the three girls high-tailed out of the forest to avoid getting captured, as the MC member picked up her radio and contacted her superior while in pursuit.

"Sodoko, I've spotted three suspicious persons spying on the Panzers. They're headed towards the ship's bow."

"Good work, Pazomi; I'll inform the rest of the committee. Take a few members with you and corner them there."

Just then, Pazomi felt a sudden gust of wind from the direction where the spies headed. Then she saw three figures flying away.

"We have a problem, Sodoko; they escaped by air."

"That cannot be possible!"

Anzu then connected to Sodoko and Pazomi on their radio. "No need to fuss about it, you guys. They're just visitors."

"But President-"

"Hey, as long as they haven't seen the full roster we'll be fielding, we're good."

"Whatever you say, Kaichou," Sodoko replied. "Pazomi, continue with the usual patrols."

"Roger that." Just then, she saw and picked up a patch stuck on the bushes. It depicted a black rabbit with an eye patch and an assault rifle, as Pazomi read the words embroidered in it.

"'Schwartzer Hase'… I better take this to Sodoko and Kudotani-Kaichou…"

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Meanwhile, the three girls who bolted out of Ōarai Academy are now over the high seas in their IS suits. Mid-flight, Clarissa contacted Laura while Elda transmitted the data they compiled from their recon mission.

"We're sorry, Captain Bodewig. We only figured out four out of the five tanks they'll be using."

"That's alright, Clarissa; the info we need is enough. Return to our Asia-Pacific Satellite Base and pick up the StuG III I have reserved there, then meet us up at the IS Academy within 36 hours."

"Roger that, Captain…"

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