Chapter 53: Between revelations, remorse and suspicions.
"The Kuromorimine has been eliminated!"
That news shocked both Kay and Katyusha.
"You… You said eliminated?" Katyusha asked.
"Are you sure, Naomi?" Kay asked her.
Naomi nodded.
"Kuro's flag tank, a Tiger, has been eliminated by the Churchill of Darjeeling!" She explained her.
Fuck… I never expected such an outcome!
Kay thought.
Katyusha from her side commented:
"Well… What a stroke of luck for you, Kay! The opponent won't be so tough!"
"I wouldn't be so sure… Darjeeling is not a beginner, but a good commander. Underestimate her could be fatal!" The Saunders's captain replied.
"You too Kay. I'm sure the next one will be a titanic battle!" Her deputy intervened, with conviction.
"What are they talking about?" Sodoko wondered, intend to observe the scene from afar.
Anzu, sitting beside her, shrugged.
"Are you asking me? I don't have super hearing!"
Having said that she took a handful of fried potatoes from the plate in front of her and ate them.
I should have moved to Saunders… French fries are hard to find at Pravda!
She thought, then glanced at her partner, who had resumed eating her cheeseburger.
After Ooarai closed, for a while, she, Gomoyo and Pazomi fell into depression… Luckily they seem to have recovered.
She thought.
"Sodoko, where are your colleagues?" She asked.
The dark-haired girl emitted a snort, glaring at her interlocutor.
"President... Indeed, Anzu, I have already told you not to shorten my name." She remembered her.
"Just answer my question." The redhead replied, and then bit into her hamburger.
Really stubborn, really… Between her and Mako, I don't know who is more stubborn.
"They are with the girls of Wolverine Team, former Rabbit Team."
When she had finished chewing, Anzu nodded.
"I understand… I'm glad that, despite the separation, we ex Ooarai continue to be friends." She declared, smiling.
A slight smile also formed on Sono Midoriko's (Sodoko's full name) face.
"Yeah… Even if fate has divided us, closing our school, we will remain friends forever." She declared.
Anzu looked at her harshly.
"It was not fate, but the MEXT. I tried to save her, but… I failed miserably."
She looked down as her remorse came back to haunt her soul again. Faced with the ministry's decision to close the school, she had gone all out, recreating the sensha-do club and recruiting Kuromorimine veteran Miho Nishizumi to captain the newly reconstituted team. Her goal was to win the 63rd national tournament, a seemingly impossible feat for a ragtag team. And unfortunately she had turned out to be like that… Not even the first round had they passed, because they had the misfortune of being faced with Saunders, numerically superior and much stronger than her, one of her favorites, who had defeated them. Thus end of the tournament for Ooarai and also end of the aforementioned school. She remembered the farewell day, May 24, in which she and her companions had said their last goodbyes to the Ooarai ship.
Start flashback
The girls of the sensha-do team were gathered on the pier where the Ooarai, their old school, now evacuated from its inhabitants and destined for demolition, was moored: the teams were Anglerfish (orphan of the deceased Miho), Turtle, Hippo, Duck and Rabbit. Each of them had their own luggage with them. Anzu was in front of the others, and either side of her were Momo and Yuzu. The sky was cloudy, the sea calm.
Looking closely at the small crowd, she noticed that everyone was sad and down in the dumps. The closure of the academy, combined with the fact that they had failed to save it, had broken their hearts. The most heartbroken were the girls of the Angherfish team: not only had they not been able to save the Ooarai, but neither had Miho, their captain and great friend, who committed suicide a few weeks earlier.
Here we are… The moment we dreaded so much has come.
She thought.
"We're all here, right?" She asked.
"Yes!" Yuzu answered her, bitterly, while she looked at a folder.
As the ship set sail on her final voyage to Chittagong, Bangladesh, some members of the team talked to each other.
"Our school leaving port..."
"Is this goodbye?"
"It's our fault... We couldn't save her... Nor Miho!"
Anzu saw Yukari break down in tears, as Hana, Saori and Mako tried to comfort her. As the ship took off, the girls of Rabbit Team chased after it, shouting phrases like:
"Do not leave!"
"Be well!"
At one point they stopped, shouting:
" FAREWELL!"
Anzu clenched her fists as a single tear streamed down her face.
I'm sorry, girls… I'm so sorry!
After a few seconds a light rain began to fall from the sky.
Anzu waved silently as the Ooarai moved away into the horizon. Around her the girls were divided into those who wept (Tsuchiya, Yukari) and those who suffered in silence.
End flashback
"Anzu!" Sodoko called her, rousing her from past memories.
"What's up?" She asked.
"We have visitors!" Her interlocutor answered, indicating three girls.
One was Natalia, Miho's "clone"; the other two of hers she did not know.
"Natalia… And who are they?" The redhead asked.
"I introduce you to Ekaterina and Olga, students… Actually, former students of Pravda. Ekaterina led the sensha-do team before me." Was Natalia's answer.
Anzu rose to her feet and shook hands with them both.
"How can I help you?"
"We would like to speak with Katyusha." Olga answered her.
Sodoko stood up in turn, saying:
"The commander is feasting on her Saunders counterpart. Follow me, I'll lead the way."
"…Jajka is still cursing from the defeat we inflicted on her in the first round!" Katyusha said, with satisfaction.
Easy to win when the opponent has only light tanks…
Kay thought, but didn't say it.
She didn't want to argue… Katyusha was quite a vain and braggart girl, and she wouldn't have liked a sentence like that. Furthermore, Saunders herself had made it through the first round by defeating an outnumbered rookie team.
Which now no longer exists. And also because of me.
That thought of her hit like a punch in her stomach, extinguishing her smile. Her remorse for having (unwittingly) brought about the end of Ooarai came back to haunt her from time to time. And the fact that they was probably going to be eliminated sooner or later anyway only partially mitigated that.
I am responsible for what happened… I will never forgive myself!
She thought.
Katyusha, noticing her change of mood, asked her:
"What is it, Kay?"
Saunders turned to look at her.
"In what sense?" She asked.
"You have a funeral face… Did something happen?"
At first Kay hesitated, but then she replied:
"I was thinking about Ooarai Academy."
"Ooarai… Of course, the academy closed recently. The one you defeated in the first round of the tournament. How come you think about it?"
"Because I caused them to close…By defeating them I destroyed their only opportunity to save their school."
And probably Miho's life as well... Or would her suicide just be postponed? After all, her mother had long since disowned her.
"Ah, I see…" Kat replied with a bored look.
She snorted.
"If you want my opinion, those girls were really stupid… Signing a pact like that, not even written! They should have known from the start that their task was doomed to failure. They were newbies, and with just a few tank."
"I do not agree. Those girls showed talent, both against my school and against Maginot and St. Gloriana." Naomi intervened.
Katyusha was about to reply but at that moment the trio was joined by Sodoko, in the company of Ekaterina, Natalia and Olga.
"Sorry to disturb you, Comrade Katyusha, but you have visitors." The president of Pravda's morality committee said.
Katyusha turned to the newcomers, assuming an annoyed expression.
"Are you here to lecture me?" She asked.
Ekaterina shook her head.
"We need to talk…"
She looked at Kay and Naomi.
"…In private."
Katyusha let out a sigh, then turned to the two schoolgirls.
"Please excuse me for a few minutes."
Kay stood up.
"No problem. Come on, Naomi."
When the two girls had moved a few meters apart, Ekaterina turned back to Katyusha.
"Didn't you notice anything strange during the match?"
The blonde looked at her puzzled.
"What?"
Katyusha chose not to mention that she had fainted during the match. Already now, returning to Pravda, she would have had to put up with Nonna's sermons.
"Saunders thwarted your plan to corner them. What I wonder is: how did they understand your intentions?" Olga wondered.
Katyusha folded her arms, assuming a thoughtful expression.
Did Saunders guess my plan? No… she knew it beforehand. But how…
Suddenly an expression of shock formed on her face.
"A spy!" She exclaimed.
Natalia nodded.
"You got there, Kat… Someone passed information to your opponents before the match."
Still shocked, her interlocutor looked at her.
"How is it possible? My students are all trustworthy girls!"
"I wouldn't bet on it... I'd examine your ranks carefully if I were you." Ekaterina advised her.
Katyusha ran a hand over her face as she made up her mind.
I had only confided my plan to a small circle… Nonna, Nina, Mako, Sodoko and Alina. So one of them is the culprit… But who? Nonna is to exclude, she is loyal to me. The same goes for Nina and Alina. Instead, Mako and Sodoko come from Ooarai… And their ex-schoolmates have joined other schools. For example, I know some of them have joined Saunders. Did they convince their friends to pass the information on to them?
She assumed a grim expression.
"Everything okay, Katyusha?" Ekaterina asked her, noticing her silence.
In response, Katyusha stood up and gave the trio a short bow.
"Thank you for passing on this important information to me. As soon as I get back to Pravda I will question her suspicions." She said.
The three girls smiled at her.
"Duty, Kat." Olga replied, winking at her.