Chapter 8 – Shorty and Short Fused

A beautiful woman with dark long hair, clad in a crimson kimono was wandering across a lush green field, shouting, "Maaaamiiii! Where are you!"

"Somewhere!" a mature female voice replied from afar.

"Stop hiding, damn it! I told you we have a reunion!"

"Naaaah, don't wanna! I'm lazy!"

The dark haired woman pinpointed the direction of the voice, and she simply teleported in that direction, but she projected her voice as if it was still back in her original position, "Oh come on!"

"Nope!" the hiding woman replied from almost arms reach from behind a big boulder.

The dark haired woman jumped behind the boulder, and saw a two meter high, also dark haired, woman in a miko outfit, clutching with her back towards the boulder.

"Found ya!"

"Gwah!" the one found shouted in panic. "Who are you?!"

"Keiko Katou, who else, you nitwit?!"

"But Kei has brown hair! And she hates kimonos!"

"And Mami Inagaki has only 137 centimeters!"

"One hundred thirty seven AND A FUCKING HALF, YOU GODFORSAKEN TRICKSTER!"

Two other black haired girls teleported to their position, looking a bit confused.

"Grandmaaaa? Why are you two meters high all of a sudden?" the taller of them asked.

"And who are you?" Keiko asked. "I know Aya, she's quite the celebrity here now, but you? Waaait… Wait…." she looked at the two highest girls. "Hey, are you related to Mami?"

"Kinda…" she mused.

"That's my granddaughter, you oaf…" Mami sighed, and suddenly she was at her original height.

"Kawaii…" Aya gasped. "Can I hug you?!"

"Woah, what the hell?!"

"You… You're so small that you look like a doll! I want to hug you!"

"ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M SO SMALL THAT A DIME COULD COVER ME WHOLE?!" Mami yelled and tried to rush at Aya with her fists, but Keiko just held her back with one hand.

"Sorry, Mami has a height complex…" she sighed. "Mami, show some respect, this is Toshiro's granddaughter and the second most powerful goddess in this universe."

"Heehee, they don't know I'm actually the MOST powerful one… But Ami needs her authority more than I do," Aya thought.

"Seriously?" Mami looked dumbfound at Aya. "You don't look like it…"

"Everyone tells me that," Aya giggled and extended her hand. "Aya von Edelweiss, Goddess of Celestial Order, pleased to meet you."

"Ah… Mami Inagaki, Nami's grandmother and a good friend of your grandfather," Mami extended her hand, but then Aya just swiped her off her feet and cuddled fiercely.

"Cuuuuudlyyyy!" Aya cheered.

"Waaaaah!"

"Is she always like that?" Keiko asked Nami.

"She has to find something VERY cute to be like that…" Nami smiled and forwarded her hand. "Nami Ranmaru, pleased to meet you."

"Keiko Katou, also a pleasure," Keiko shook her hand and suddenly her hair went brown and shortened itself into short-medium length.

"Oh?"

"I try to find a new look, but most of the people say that my original haircut from the SNW suits me best."

"Well, you ARE kind of cute in it, heheheh…"

"Heeeeeeeeelp!" Mami moaned in the clutches of Aya.

A new person appeared all of a sudden, clad in a uniform remembering the 1940's, yelling, "What's going on here?!"

"Whoops, the police…" Keiko said quietly and turned around, but the person grabbed her by the collar.

"Ara, Cousin Trude?" Mami asked. "Saaaaaaveeee meeeee!"

The person called Trude looked at her, than at her assailant, and said, "Pfff, I heard your cry from the far edge of this realm, and what do I see? You're just dicking around with Aya! Go to hell!" she looked at Keiko. "And you're allowing this?"

"Come on, it's just horseplay…" Keiko muttered.

"Still, Mami is screaming as if she's skinned alive. Aya, just let her go…" Trude sighed.

"Okay, Cousin," Aya cheered and let Mami go.

Trude shuddered from pleasure and said, "There you go. Okay, I'm going."

"Hey, you're not coming with us to the 31st's reunion?" Keiko asked, still gripped by the collar.

"Why should I? I have literally no connection to that unit."

"Bawwww, but Couusin…" Mami sulked. "You have me."

"Ah pshaw…" Trude's cheeks gone red. "That's not enough…"

"Well, there's always Marseille…" Keiko grinned mischievously.

"Shut up!" Trude yelled.

"Oh, Cousin Trude! Tell us a story about Hanna Marseille!" Aya waved her hand.

"W-Why should I?!"

"Because…" Aya made puppy eyes. "You're my dear cousin…"

"Nami, help me on this one!" Aya asked telepathically.

"I'd look grotesque doing that!"

"Come on!"

Nami joined into the negotiations, trying to look as sweet as possible.

"For fucks sake…" Trude muttered. "Okay then, okay…. Sheesh… I'll tell you one particular story… It's a bit personal, so don't pass it on, okay?!"

"On one condition," Keiko said calmly.

"Huh?"

"Will you finally release me?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry…" Trude loosened her grip.

"Story time!" Mami cheered and sat on the ground. "Come on, Nami!"

"Yay!"

Aya silently joined the two and stared a hole in Trude.

"Damn you all… So this is a story when I was still in active service in the 501st."

"Oh, will Grandpa be staring there?!" Aya asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes… Let me start!"

"Okay…"

"So…"

Rhein-Main Airbase

Frankfurt, Karlsland

December 13, 1945

"Hey, Toshiro…" I said shyly and approached Toshiro sitting behind the desk in the office all alone.

"Yes, my dear cousin? What's the matter?"

"Heh… I still feel fuzzy when you call me that…" I smiled. "I want to make a call…"

"Where to? Or rather – to whom?" Toshiro asked slyly.

"It's not that person you're thinking of, Toshiro, although I should do it someday. It's actually…" I clenched my fists. "… Marseille…"

"You want to call Hanna?" Toshiro asked absolutely surprised. "I want to hear that!"

"Then let's go to the comm room…" I mumbled.

Toshiro grabbed my hand, and despite my vocal protests, he whizzed on to the comm room as quickly as possible.

"I saw a light at the end of the tunnel…" I muttered confused. "Oh, we're here… Can you do the usual rituals?"

"Of course," he smiled and after a minute, we heard a very familiar voice on the loudspeaker. "Katou."

"Sup, Kei?" he said to the microphone.

"Oh, I remember that!" Keiko raised her hand.

"Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to interrupt?" Trude asked a bit irritated.

"Ah… Heheh, sorry, I just got fired up, remembering what's after that…"

"Everything in moderation."

"Ah, Toshiro! What's up indeed? Wait! You know, right?"

"About who's the lucky girl today?" he mused.

"Heheh, you do know. Did you call specially to talk to Hanna?"

"Not only me," Toshiro smirked. "But fork her over, could you?"

"Sure thing, you hotshot. Oh and… I just wonder who gave all those promotions…"

"Eheheh…" Toshiro laughed dryly. "I just turned the right eyes in the right direction."

"Yeaaaah…" Keiko snickered and her quiet voice could be barely heard, "Hanna, to my office, guess who's calling?"

After a few seconds, Marseilles distorted voice said, "Who?"

"The guy you owe your promotion, you dingus. Now double time!"

"Woah, immediately!" Hanna shouted.

"Do you perhaps have a two-way PA system?" Toshiro asked curious.

"Of course, Toshiro. This way we can efficiently communicate between the buildings, now that we don't have tents that are as good in stopping sound as tin foil is good at bouncing Neuroi beams."

"Good analogy, Keiko," Toshiro grinned to himself. "Hey, is there anybody there beside you? I hear a typewriter."

"I thought you wouldn't ask," Keiko said and after a few crackles, another familiar voice said, "Hello, Toshiro, how are you?"

"Very good, Rai. Did you light a candle on the altar of your idol today already?"

"Heeheehee…" Raisa giggled loudly. "Of course I did, as every day," she said trying to sound serious. "We have something planned for later and… Oh, and do I have to thank you specifically for that promotion?"

"I just recommended you, that's all."

"And I'm just thanking you, that's all," she giggled quietly. "Ah, Miss Marseille, I warmed up the phone for you."

"Hah, now that's new!" Hanna's laugh rang across the speaker.

"Damn her…" I muttered quietly.

Another crackle or two sounded off, and Hanna cheered, "Toshiro, my man! How's life?"

"We're holding out, we have it warm, our bellies our full – plain stabilization you could say."

"Well, that's boring… But hey, we are in the same boat in that regard! This new base is reaaaaally cozy!"

"And of course you probably have your own barrack, which you decorated like a fucking saloon?"

"Lookie here, we have us a mind reader!" Hanna laughed. "I reused some of my old stuff, but mostly it's totally new furniture!"

"And I do hope that Matilda has a proper place to sleep right now. Riiiiight?"

"You don't have to guilt trip me into anything, Toshiro, I gave her a quarter of the barrack just for her. At first she was reluctant, but I said that, "It's the will of the Eagle", and she accepted. Of course it's a bit rough in terms of decorations, but I see that she's happy about her new bed…" Hanna said softly.

"Not bad, Hanna, you're learning. So, how are you feeling as a Major?"

"Bah! Like a million Reichsmarken! Or maybe two, haha!" she boasted proudly. "So, anyway, what brought you to call me today?"

"You'll be surprised, but I'm not the one that initiated this call."

"Huh? So what, you were ordered to?" Hanna asked confused.

Toshiro waved me in, and while passing her the mic he loudly said, "It was just a simple request from a mutual friend…"

I took a deep breath and said, "Hi, Marseille…"

"Hi, Trudy…" a sensual voice came to Trude's ears from point-blank range.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she yelled surprised and turned around with her fists raised.

"Hey, don't be like that, Trudy, it's just me," the newly appeared beautiful witch with blonde hair and a cheeky smile said.

"Marseille!? What the hell?!"

"Keiko and Mami are damn tardy, so the rest sent me to check up on them, that's all. I see you're trying to tell the story of my most glorious battle?"

"Pfff… Now that you're here, why don't you tell it yourself?"

"With pleasure! But come on, all of you, there's a soiree in waiting!"

"We too?" Aya and Nami asked in sync.

"Yeah, sure! And of course you too, Trudy, the more the merrier!"

"If you're inviting… Lead the way, Marseille…" Trude sighed.

Hanna sent a mental ping to everyone and disappeared. The rest swiftly followed suit.

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