Chapter 7 – April Fools gone wrong
Toshiro and Yoshika were led outside by the twins. While on the way to the runway, which was big enough not to be missed easily, Toshiro asked something.
"So, girls… How is it going?"
"Cool! After the plane got us here, we were transported to a small island, to that Anna Ferrara lady… Ugghhh… What a hag…"
"But she trained us so good, that we overcame all our fears and can now battle the Neuroi like pros."
"Um… One thing… Girls, which of you is who?" Toshiro asked.
They stopped and looked at him with angry faces.
"I'm Anne-Marie." The one on the left said.
"I'm Karen-Ophelia." The one on the right said.
"Toshiro, just differentiate between them using magic… They are perfect twins; I can't see one difference…"
"Good idea."
Toshiro analyzed their energy signatures, and now he really knew who is who. And he confirmed that they indeed had red panties.
"Okay, now I will know who is who. Sorry…"
"Oh, don't worry. After we got here, the girls needed a month to adjust to us, heehee." Anne-Marie said.
"And you've only seen us for what, a day?" Karen-Ophelia asked.
"Not even… " Toshiro mumbled silently.
As they arrived in the center of the runway, Karen-Ophelia said, "Now watch."
Bulldog ears came out of their heads, and two small flames started hovering over their hands.
"Oh, nice!" Yoshika said amazed.
"Wait a second, Miss Yoshika, the fun is about to start!"
The two girls put the flames together, and formed a ball of fire with a diameter slightly bigger than half a meter.
"Heave… ho!" They both shouted and threw the ball into the air.
It got up about half a kilometer and then it exploded like a mortar-fired firework on a festival.
"Certainly is flashy… What about the effectiveness?" Toshiro asked.
"That boom is not just for kicks, it really packs a nice punch." Anne-Marie said.
"I could probably do better if I wanted…" Toshiro teased them.
"Oh! We will not be discredited so easily! Come on, Anne-Marie!"
"Let's show Toshiro our ultimate technique!"
Hook and sinker…
The girls held their hands together, and a big magic circle appeared over them. Toshiro could see that the ether flow around them got very intense, swirling like a small tornado.
"Amaki gave us an idea for this one."
"Both the name and execution."
"You are pulling a rabbit out of a magic circle?" Toshiro teased them even more.
The girls furled their eyebrows and shouted.
"NOBORIRYUU!"
Suddenly, a flaming Manchurian dragon shot out of the magic circle and into the sky. The dragon started swirling around in the air, and once Toshiro pulled his shit together, he saw that Anne-Marie was waving her hand according to the motions of the dragon, and Karen-Ophelia was supporting the magic circle. He looked at Yoshika, and she was ready to explode from excitement.
After doing a few roundabouts, the dragon disappeared, and the girls started to be a bit wobbly.
"Everything okay there?" Toshiro asked.
"Yeah, we'll manage…"
"But how was it?"
"Very… artistic... Any real combat value?"
"We used it only once in combat…"
"But we nabbed twenty Neuroi in one go!"
"Impressive…" Toshiro muttered.
"Cooooooooooool! So coooooooooool!" Yoshika shouted excited.
"But we should probably go back, Yoshika. We have a really long way ahead of us."
"Oh, right…" She said silently.
The four of them got back to the entrance of the castle, and saw Mio, Junko and Federica waiting for them.
"Nice performance as usual, girls." Federica praised them. "Now say goodbye to your friends and go rest."
"Yes ma'am." They said in unison. "Goodbye, Toshiro."
They gave him a double hug, and Toshiro saw Yoshika furling her eyebrows. But before he or Yoshika could protest, she also got a double hug.
"Aiaaa! You don't have to…" Yoshika protested, but she hugged them back with a caring face. "Take care you two…"
The twins went into the building and Federica said, "We really owe you one, Toshiro."
"For what?"
"You giving them lollipops, telling them they can find refuge in the army and sending them to Ferrara netted us two of the most promising witches I've ever saw."
"So you know everything, huh?"
"Pretty much, heh… What would you say if we revisited you sometime in the future? We owe you big time for those supplies."
"I don't have anything against it… Do you, Mio?"
"Nope."
"Then it's settled."
"Goodbye you three." Junko said.
"Goodbye, Hero of Karlsland, heheh…" Federica said with a wry smile.
"Oh pffff, don't tease me…"
Toshiro, Mio and Yoshika went to the truck.
"Hey, Mio, maybe I should drive this time?" Toshiro asked
"You know the route already; it would be a hassle for me to learn it." Mio answered.
"Whatever…"
They sat the same way as before, and just as Mio was about to start the engine, they saw the Fire Twins running to them with some kind of package.
"What could this be about…?" She muttered.
They ran up to the truck from Mio's side, and gave her a package.
"Lunch for you."
"We made it super tasty!"
"Thank you girls." Mio said. "Now scoot, you need to rest."
The girls ran away and Mio gave Toshiro the package.
"I'll take it." Yoshika said and took the package from Toshiro. "Concentrate on the map, Toshiro."
"Bleh…" Mio mumbled.
She started the engine, and they drove off back to the base.
A short while after they left the base, Yoshika asked, "Miss Sakamoto, I've heard about something called Operation Trajanus from the Romagnan soldiers in the hangar. What was it about?"
"A spectacular failure, Miyafuji. They tried to communicate with the Neuroi, just like you did back in Britannia."
"Oh, and what was the result?"
"They tried, but they failed. Right before they were about to initiate contact, a new Neuroi appeared and completely destroyed the humanoid Neuroi."
"Huh? A Neuroi destroyed another Neuroi?" Yoshika asked surprised. "Why would it do that?"
"I don't know." Mio responded. "What I do know is that only Captain Takei, along with those who you saw in the dining room and that damn guard survived the onslaught."
Yoshika was shocked by those words.
"The 504th is currently reorganizing, but recruiting Witches will take some time, and as you saw, some are still injured. All the while, the Neuroi push farther south, from Venezia into Romagna. The ground forces are holding them back, but when the Neuroi decide to attack for real, it'll be up to us Strike Witches to fend them off."
"Miss Sakamoto, I will fight too!" Yoshika suddenly shouted with resolve in her voice. "I will fight and defend Romagna!"
"Hahaha! That's the spirit, Miyafuji!" Mio said cheerfully.
"Yes ma'am!" She said and looked at Toshiro. "And I will fight and protect my Toshiro!"
"Oh come on, Yoshika, you're making me blush…" Toshiro said.
Ten hours after setting of from the base of the 504th, with the sun setting over their heads, they arrived back home.
"To think those girls would make us such a good obento…" Mio muttered.
"Surprising, huh?" Toshiro asked.
"Yeah… I feel that I will need a bath, Toshiro."
"Oh, I'll need one too!" Yoshika shouted after a second of pondering.
"Then let's do this together, Miyafuji!"
"Yes, let's!"
"You two really got along better…"
As Mio parked the truck inside the hangar, Toshiro saw that Francesca was running around with a fishing rod, a straw hat on her head and a big octopus in her hands. Yoshika got out of the truck, and Toshiro after her. They approached the cheering Francesca.
"Oh, Toshiro! Look what I got!"
"An octopus, no doubt about it."
"Yeah! Yoshika, make some octopus Carpaccio out of it!"
"What's Carpaccio?" Yoshika asked.
"You pound any kind of meat so thin you can see through it, and season it with olive oil or vinegar." Francesca explained.
"Oh, so you want me to make pickled octopus?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, then we'll have pickled octopus for supper."
"Yay! Oh, Toshiro, you might want to check up on Minna…"
"Why?"
"See for yourself, she's probably in her office."
"Okay."
He went up all the way to Minna's office. When he knocked on the door, a faint voice reached him "Come in…"
After Toshiro opened the door he saw Minna smoking two cigarettes at one go, and a big pitcher with coffee on her desk. When she saw him, the cigarettes fell out of her open mouth; she rushed to him, fell on her knees before him and started begging.
"Please… Toshiro… Don't ever leave the base as off now… I beg you!"
Toshiro helped her stand up and asked, "What the hell happened, Minna?"
"After they announce you being alive on the radio… All hell broke loose… Every damn newspaper, from every damn country in the world phoned… I answered so many calls that I probably have the receiver imprinted on my right ear…"
"Sssshhh…" Toshiro embraced her and started stroking her on the head. "There, there… I'm here already…"
She pressed her head against his chest and sighed silently.
"Thanks, Toshiro… Mind if I take a bath today?"
"Not at all… But I have to check something in my room, okay?"
"Okay."
He went up the stairs to his room, and opened the door. When he wanted to go inside, something stopped him. He couldn't release the door knob. He pulled slightly, to no avail.
Glue… How mature…
He pulled a bit harder, but no dice.
Oh well, seems I have to pull out the doorknob…
He concentrated his magic and gave the knob a good yank. Unfortunately, the door knob was bolted to the door mechanism so hard, that instead of the door knob, the skin of his hand came off.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
Toshiro roared like a wounded animal, which was very close to reality.
"Oh fuuuuuuuck... Owwwwww…"
He looked at his hand, and saw that most of the skin of the palm of his hand was ripped off, as he moved his fingers, he could see the tendons and muscles moving together with the bones. Toshiro glanced on the doorknob, and saw the skin from his hand.
"I will skin the stupid shit that did this…" He muttered angrily.
"Ayaaa… That looks ugly… I've constricted the blood vessels around the wound, but please get this to Yoshika."
As he slowly came down the stairs, he heard footsteps. Minna came out running to him.
"Toshiro! What happened?!"
He showed her his partially de-gloved hand, moving his fingers slightly. She opened her eyes wide and fainted.
"Heh… April Fools…"
He picked her up with his left hand and placed her by the wall.
Surprisingly, while going down the stairs further he didn't hear or see anybody.
This place must have really shitty acoustics…
He went down into the hangar, and found Mio, Yoshika, Lynne, Francesca and Erica.
"Oh, hi bro! Sup?" Erica asked.
"Oh, nothing… I just damaged my hand and it hurts like fuck… Meh… Nothing special…"
"You… What?" Erica asked shivering a little.
"Look for yourself." Toshiro showed her his damaged hand.
"Oh my… Oh fuck… Oh shit… Oh crap… Oh Mein Gott…"
"Erica… Do you by any chance know who in his right mind poured glue over the doorknob to my room…?" Toshiro said a loudly.
Heads turned in his directions, with Yoshika turning around from slicing the octopus.
"Mmmmm… Mmmmm…" Erica whimpered silently.
"I repeat… Who poured glue over my door knob, in a shitty attempt to make an Aprils Fool joke, which cost me THE WHOLE FUCKING PALM OF MY HAND?!" Toshiro shouted as he raised his hand so everyone could assess the damage.
Lynne fainted immediately; Francesca took a few seconds to process what she just saw and did the same. Even Mio reacted somehow, opening her eyes as wide as physically possible.
Yoshika suddenly stabbed the kitchen board on which she sliced the octopus, and ran up to him.
"Who did this?! Who did such a cruel thing to my beloved Toshiro?!" Yoshika shouted furiously. "Hartmann, do you know anything about this?!"
"I…. I did it…" Erica whimpered silently with a sea of tears in her eyes.
Something that shocked everyone who was conscious in the hangar happened. Yoshika slapped Erica in the face so hard that the latter fell down on the floor.
"Miyafuji!" Mio shouted.
"You… What have you done...?!" Yoshika spoke angrily through clenched teeth. "Toshiro treats you as a sister, and that's how you repay him?!"
"Yoshika, stop…" Toshiro said with a cold voice.
"But…"
Toshiro saw fury in her eyes, something he never saw in them before.
"Stop… Enough… I don't recognize you, Yoshika…"
The fury in her eyes faded away immediately, replaced by sadness.
"I'm sorry…" Yoshika picked up Erica from the floor. "I'm so sorry, Hartmann… I lost it…"
"Heh… It seems you love my bro a bit too much…"
"Sssh, I'll heal that bruise…"
Yoshika pulled up her healing magic, and the bruise on Erica's cheek faded away.
"I'm so… so sorry…"
"Heal bro now, he needs it…"
Yoshika started healing his wound. His skin started regenerating visibly, building up from the edges with a green glow. Toshiro gave her a boost, and the skin started regenerating threefold. After a few second, Yoshika finished.
Toshiro moved his fingers a bit.
"Looks fine…" He muttered. "Erica, bring me the glue you used…"
"Okay…"
She ran off as fast as she could in the direction of the storeroom.
Mio approached them in the meantime.
"Miyafuji, what did I witness just now?"
"I… I don't know… When I saw that Toshiro was hurt… I just… flipped it seems…"
"Ugh… Toshiro stopped going berserk, and now you take his place… Well, at least nobody witnessed it, and you don't have exactly the destructive power of Toshiro… You will train so hard tomorrow that your asscrack will be a sea of sweat, do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am…"
"Good… Toshiro, why did you send Erica for the glue?"
"I have a suspicion that she used something rather ill-suited for such pranks…"
"What's that?"
"You'll see…"
They waited a minute, and Erica returned with a small tube.
"Here… This is the glue…"
Toshiro picked the tube from her hands and read the label
'Cyanacrylat Kleber 100ml - Achtung: mit höchsten Beachtung benutzen!'
"As I thought…"
"What is it, Toshiro? Spit it out already!"
"I've heard that in 1942 some Liberian scientist made a synthetic glue that bonded with everything upon touch with great strength. The government of Liberion saw no use for it, so the scientist leased the patent to the Karlslander R&D Department… Heh, I didn't even know we had this stuff here… This is basically the strongest adhesive know to man."
Mio approached Erica from behind and smacked her on the back of the head with her open palm.
"You've really overdid it, Hartmann… You'll be running laps tomorrow, with me on you back."
"Yes ma'am…" She said silently.
"Erica…" Toshiro said.
"Y-yes…?"
"Get a rag and some acetone, and clean that doorknob of mine from the glue and my skin."
"Yes…"
"Oh, and one thing more… Come over here, closer…"
Erica walked up to Toshiro, fearing the worst, but he simply ruffled up her hair a bit and said, "Don't be so gloom, everything's okay."
She looked up to him and gave a faint smile. Then she went to find she supplies needed for the task.
"I suppose I should return to that Carpumcho or whatsitnamed…" Yoshika said.
"I'll go see Minna." Toshiro said and turned around.
He went up the stairs just in time to see Minna regaining consciousness.
"Huh… What happened…?" She mumbled.
"It was probably the stress of today."
"Yeah, probably… So what about that bath?"
"Bring your bath accessories and we are good to go."
"Okay, they're in my room. Be right back."
Minna went down the stairs, and Erica went up them, conspicuously hiding the cleaning supplies.
"Come on, Erica, you know the way."
They went up the stairs and before the door to his room. Erica poured some acetone over the skin-covered doorknob, and started scraping it through the rag.
"Ughhhh… Why does acetone have to smell this badly…?"
"So you'll remember the lesson better."
"I told you I'm sorry already…"
"Yeah, yeah… But I'm worried about Yoshika… How did she get so… possessive?"
"I was really scared back then… What kind of demon possessed her? I can't believe she loves you so much she'd go into extremities…"
"It's really weird… I also saw that she was rather discontent when the twins hugged me back then…"
"Back then when? Twins?"
"Oh right… Remember the orphans that we took into our base in Britannia?"
"Oh, those two?"
"Yeah. It seems they wound up in the 504th, and are progressing rather well."
"Who would've thought…? Oh, there, your doorknob is squeaky clean now."
"Thanks."
"No problem. See you at later, bro."
"I will, sis."
They both smiled at each other, and Erica went down the stairs, passing Minna on the way down.
"What was Erica doing here? And… ugh, why does it smell like acetone here?"
"Oh, just some cleaning… Come on in." Toshiro opened the door for Minna.
"Why thank you, heehee…"
Toshiro went in behind her and closed the door. He ran the water and sat on the bed.
"Uuuugh… Two ten-hour trips in one day… Flying for the whole day over the ocean, I could at least stretch my bones and sleep… Or walk…"
"So what happened on your trip?"
"Wait a second, I want to tell you while you are bathing."
"Ah, okay."
They waited for tub to be filled to an appropriate level, and Toshiro stopped the water flow.
Minna touched the water, and shivered.
"Brrrrrrrr… Cold… You want me to bathe is something like that? You must hate me…"
"Guheheheh… Pick a temperature, and I'll heat it up."
"Fourty degrees."
"Your wish is my command."
Toshiro placed his hand in the water, and after a few seconds, he pulled it out.
"Check it now."
She put her finger in the water and quickly pulled it out.
"Oooh! Hot! Nice trick you've learned…"
"Heheh…"
"Okay, time to get undressed." She said while starting to unbutton her uniform.
"Should I turn around or something?"
"Why bother, you'll see me fully naked anyway, right?"
"Infallible logic…"
She threw her uniform on Toshiro's bed, and she was standing like that in her white panties and bra just like that. Then she unhooked her bra, releasing her moderately big breasts. Afterwards, she pulled down her panties and got into the tub.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhh… Lieber Gott (Dear God)… So good… Let me soak in for a few minutes, okay?"
"Sure, Minna…"
"Toshiro… What is this?"
"Oh, you weren't here… I agreed for the girls to use my bath, under the condition I oversee it, and maybe help them."
"I should make you pop your dick vein in an instant… How did Yoshika react?"
"She wanted a bath too…"
"Weird… She goes psychic when you are hurt, but she doesn't give a fuck when you watch your comrades naked… Oh whatever, I'm a modern and tolerant snake now, I suppose I should tolerate this… Of course if you try something funny…"
"Yeah, yeah… I'll rue the day my father's balls produced the sperm from which I grew…"
"So, Minna, how may I serve you today?"
"Hmmm… You know what? A simple backrub will do, I don't feel that dirty… Just lying like that for a few minutes healed me…"
"Okay, gimme your back then."
Minna sat in the tub and let herself be massaged by Toshiro.
"Ohhhh… So good… Yeees…"
"Stop moaning like that, jeez…"
"My my… Toshiro is afraid of someone misinterpreting my moans… When did you get so modest?"
"I was always modest, just some… developments occurred sometimes…"
"You really are somebody different, Toshiro…"
"I don't know if I should blush or try to drown you now, Minna."
"Oh, you wouldn't drown your cute underling, right?" She turned her head back and gave him a radiant smile.
"Oh don't get me started… By the way, maybe this is a bit late, but happy birthday, Minna."
"So you still have that cheat sheet of yours, huh?"
"Got it memorized, Minna."
"Thanks… Remember about Trude, Toshiro."
"Oh yeah, she had her birthday nine days after you… So, was that a good backrub?"
"Very good. Now let me dry up, clothe myself and we go to should supper. Do you by chance know what's on the menu?"
"Pickled octopus."
"Oh, something I haven't eaten yet."
"You would eat a lump of coal if it was seasoned!"
"True, heehee…"
They got down to the hangar, just in time as Yoshika started handing out the pickled octopus.
"Bleeeeeeeh… It looks… Uggghmm…" Shirley said with disgust.
"Hey, Shirley, don't fuss around." Toshiro said as he took a seat.
"But… But…"
"Ugh… I'll permit you to make a sandwich, but you have to tell me one thing I've been pondering about…"
"What is it?"
"What's your middle name? Even when I peeked into your file, I only saw that 'E.' in the middle."
Shirley sighed and said, "Well, I never mention it, because it's not as nice as Charlotte…"
"Well then, tell us!" Erica cheered.
"It's Elwyn. Charlotte Elwyn Yeager Is my full and unabridged name…" She mumbled.
"Elwyn…" Toshiro pondered. "Sounds… mystical. It's certainly an uncommon name. You should be proud of it, Shirley."
"Nah… I'm good with everyone calling me Shirley. If everyone would call me Charlotte or…" She shuddered. "… Elwyn all the time, I would go nuts."
"Okay then, Elwyn, eat up that octopus." Toshiro said with a wry smile.
"But!"
"Don't be disrespectful to my girlfriend. Or we will call you Elwyn for the next month. Right girls?"
"Right!" They answered in accord.
"But I can't…" She squirmed. "It's so… bleh…"
You didn't have qualms while sucking me off…
"Then I'll feed you with it." Toshiro said while standing up.
"N-no! No!" She protested when Toshiro sat took a piece of octopus from her plate.
"Close your eyes, please."
"Okay…" She gave up.
"Open wide."
She opened her mouth hesitantly.
Toshiro gently placed a piece of octopus on her tongue.
"Now close it."
She closed her mouth and immediately opened her eyes.
"Itsh gewd!" She shouted with her mouth full.
"See? You didn't have to make such a ruckus…"
"Heheh… Sorry, Miyafuji…"
"Oh, no, you don't have to apologize…" Yoshika said visibly troubled.
"Well then, let's return to our normal meal." Minna said.
"By the way, how did you spend today's Easter Sunday?" Toshiro asked.
"Ah, I thought you'd never asked." Minna responded. "All of us, except for Sanya, went to mass in Pescara. You know, even the biggest sinners go to mass on Easter Sunday… We even had a festive breakfast and dinner. We really took it slow today."
"Oh, Sanya, why didn't you go? Nobody would kill you for being an Orthodox…"
"Someone had to take care of the base and… I would feel a bit weird, so I didn't go…"
"But it's miraculous that Eila didn't stay with you…" Toshiro asked with a wry smile.
"I wanted to!" The silver haired Suomi shouted. "But she shooed me off…"
"Hahaha! Well, the girls and I had a nice breakfast at the 504th, so it's not that we didn't celebrate in some way. Although, we are all from another faith…"
After supper, Toshiro asked Mio, "So, want that bath?"
"I won't be taking it today, and neither will Miyafuji."
"Is it about what happened before?"
"Yes."
"Okay… I'll be in my room or something…"
Toshiro went up to his room, opened the big door and sat on the balcony he had, that was circling his room. The sun has set already, and the starts were starting to show up. After sitting there for a few minutes, a he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." He said.
He heard to door being opened, closed, and shy footsteps coming his way. Then somebody hugged him tightly from behind.
"Hi, Yoshika."
"Hi, Toshiro…"
"Want to talk to me about what happened?"
"Mhm…" She mumbled.
"So, what happened?"
"I… I just don't want to lose you, Toshiro… I can't afford to lose another man I loved… You are the meaning of my life now…"
"But you overreacted, Yoshika. Erica was truly sorry, you could see that in her eyes, and yet you bitchslapped her, despite knowing that you could heal me easily… You can't take away other's people happiness, or cause them harm to satisfy your desires… Promise me, that you won't hit anyone again."
"I promise…" Yoshika said with a remote voice.
"Good… Now come here!" Toshiro pulled her in front of her, so she faced him. She immediately wrapped her legs around him. They kissed passionately under the early night sky.
"Toshiro…" Yoshika said afterwards. "You should slow down a bit…"
"Kissing is just fine, right?"
"Well, yeah… But once a day should be enough for now, okay?"
"As you wish, my princess."
"Heehee… Okay, I have to go now or Lynne will start looking for me. Bye, Toshiro."
"Bye, Yoshika."
After Yoshika went out, Toshiro sat there for an hour, and he called it a day after taking a bath.
Noboriryuu – lit. Rising Dragon
Shirley's middle name – now, this is interesting. The name is obviously non-canon. However! Some fans found it logical to derive the name Elwyn from her archetypes middle name, which is Elwood. I just couldn't give up on the possible lolz this creates.
And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]