Karl sat in the middle of the room, his back turned to the door. His head bobbing up and down to a beat as he listened to music through his earphones.

"Itsuka ki mi~ni sasageta uta~ ima ja kanashii deke no ai no uta~ *humming*"

About two months had passed since the school year started. The battle team's training continued smoothly. Maya's skill had advanced to the point Karl was sure she could be a good second-in-command. She was moving up the tiers rather quickly, as she already possessed on tier seven vehicle.

Maya heard the singing coming out of one of the practice rooms near the band room. It was faint, sure, but was definitely there.

The singing sounded fairly average to her, like the person was simply singing for fun. Not that that was a bad thing.

The bell rang.

When Karl walked out of the practice room, he was greeted by some quiet applause. He wheeled around in embarrassment.

"You were listening!?" he exclaimed. His face turned a deeper shade of red when he noticed it was Maya who had been listening.

"Sure I was," Maya replied. "It sounded decent."

Karl sighed.

"Nah, not really," he replied. "My singing sounds pretty monotone."

Maya knew what he meant, but pretended to not exactly understand.

"It didn't sound too bad," she countered. Karl sighed and showed her his phone.

"A certain aspiring singer told me so," he said. "I've been trying to improve since."

Karl expected a response, but none came. He noticed Maya staring intently at the screen, her eyes slowly widening.

"Hey…" Karl waved his hand in front of Maya's face. "You okay?"

"You…" Maya's eyes widened even further. "You're friends with Tune!?"

Karl jumped in surprise.

"Uh, no," he replied. "I just like her singing." Maya frowned.

"Oh…"

"…Are you a fan or something?" Karl asked. Maya's face brightened.

"Yeah! I am!" Karl smiled. Then he looked at his watch.

"You better get going," he said. "Ninth period is almost starting."

Karl walked away from her before turning around.

"Why are you here, anyway?" he asked. Maya blinked in response.

"Oh, I'm here to see Mister… um…" She hesitated.

"…The band teacher," Maya finished. Karl sighed.

"H-dog is over there," Karl said as he pointed towards the door behind him.

"H-dog…?" Maya said confused. Karl shook his head.

"It's a marching band thing. Don't worry about it," he replied.

Karl walked into the band room while Maya walked into the band teacher's office. When she walked in, the teacher turned around and smiled.

"Oh, hello," said he. "You must be Miss Nagase?" Maya nodded in response. Fortunately, her English had improved over the past month or two, so her guidance counselor began to allow Maya to take some classes other than ESL.

"I'm Mr. Harrington. I'm in charge of all band-related programs."

Maya waited as Harrington reached down for a blue folder and a green folder. He handed both folders to Maya.

"The blue folder has music for concerts and competitions and the green one has easier middle school crap for playing in front of a bunch of old people," Harrington said. Maya, though slightly confused by his description, nodded in response.

"Right." Harrington clapped his hands. "Do you have your instrument here?"

"I was told I did not need it today," Maya replied in English. Harrington nodded in response.

"Well, pretend it's a study hall then," he said. Then he walked out his office into the band room.

The disorganized noise in the band room made Maya think she would lose her hearing at first, but Harrington silenced everyone. He looked through the blue folder he was holding and mumbled something. Then he closed the folder shut.

"I don't feel like doing anything today," Harrington said, to which everyone laughed. "Sectionals!"

Everyone got up, except the rhythm section, and moved towards their respective sectional locations.

"Hey trombones!" one of the trumpet players exclaimed. "You're with us today!" One of the trombones, a short blonde girl, grumbled in complaint.

Maya brought out her homework she needed to finish. She sighed as she stared at her AP Computer Science notebook.

"Why does this have to be so hard…" she muttered to herself. "It's not like I need to program a computer when I grow up or anything…"

"You might need to program an automatic targeting and guidance system later in your life," a voice said. Maya nodded.

"Yeah, maybe…" she said. Then she realized she was not talking to herself. She jumped a centimeter or two into the air before looking up.

"Did I scare you that much?" Karl asked. Maya sighed in relief.

"Yes," she playfully slapped Karl's forehead with her notebook. "You did."

Karl chuckled nervously as he played around with the Baritone Saxophone hanging from his neck. A voice called for him from across the hallway.

"Oops," he said. "Got to go! Remember, next Saturday is the practice match! Ready!?"

Maya nodded, her lips slowly curling into a smile.

"Always."

XXXXX

The Japanese Language School of Philadelphia was founded in 1972 as a non-profit organization recognized by the State of Pennsylvania. Its Battle Club predates the rest of the US by around two years.

XXXXX

The day before the practice match, Maya walked into her apartment, dropped her bags, dropped onto her bed, and sighed. Philadelphia was around an hour away by car.

And Maya didn't have a car.

She tossed an instant dinner into her microwave and sat around as it cooked.

Maybe this was not for her at all.

Maya assumed that there would be school transportation to Philadelphia, but she was wrong. Because this was a practice match, such transportation would not be provided.

"What in the world am I doing…" she said to herself. The flashes of her Panzer III sinking into the river resurfaced.

"Nope," Maya said. "Let's do something productive."

She grabbed her violin, some sheet music, and a microphone. Maya's laptop flashed to life as she plugged in her recording equipment. She grabbed her headphones, shaped in the fashion of World War II era headphones, and placed them over her ears.

Maya clicked on a red button on her laptop's screen.

"Find a reason to sing, 君に逢いたい～、歌うこと教えてくれた君に～。"

The phone rang.

Maya tore off her headphones and ran towards the phone. In her hurriedness she knocked the headphones out of the laptop's headphone jack. The background instrumental part of the song she was singing rang out through the room.

"Hello?" Maya answered. There was a brief pause.

"Hey," a voice replied. "You doing okay?"

Maya giggled.

"'Course I am," she replied. "What's up, Ogawa-kun, calling at a time like this?" Maya looked at the time and found it was still seven o'clock.

"That must have sounded stupid…" Maya thought to herself. Then she remembered.

"Oh yeah," Maya began. "About tomorrow's practice match, I don't think I can be there."

There was a pause.

"I mean, I can probably participate from here, but…"

"About that," Karl cut her off. "I think I have a solution."

Maya smiled. Why did it sound like Karl was embarrassed about this? Hmm…

"Okay," Maya replied. "I'll see you then."

She threw the phone, and herself, onto the bed.

"Nah," Maya muttered to herself as she drifted off to sleep. "Can't be…"

Author's Notes: ... and she forgot her dinner. Derp.

Hey y'all, Karl the arty here. I have no idea when I can upload the next chapter. BUT, until I do, enjoy what crap I have already splurged onto the screen.

See you in the next chapter ;)