Chapter 41 – Detention

Minna and Toshiro followed Tina and Erica to the office. Minna took her chair, and sat beside Toshiro behind his monstrous desk. Erica and Tina were standing before them clueless.

"Now… Tina… What was that supposed to mean?"

"What? Pointing a gun at Hartmann? I've done it eight times before…"

"Are you trying to jest, Captain?" Minna asked.

"No, ma'am."

"She was detained each time she pulled that off, Minna." Erica explained. "She thinks it's some sort of game…"

"A game… How funny… Well, imagine this, Tina… Imagine, for example, that your finger slipped… Imagine, that a bullet was fired accidentally… Imagine, that Erica got shot. You'll probably say "Shit happens, you have Yoshika to heal her." But what if you'd shot her in the head or heart? I know what would happen. You wouldn't kill just Erica, you would sign your own death certificate personally, because Trude would rip out your spine as soon as you'd land…" Toshiro said with a voice colder than a winter night in Oymyakon. "And that's why, you need to learn a lesson. You're hereby confined into confinement until tomorrow morning. But don't worry, Erica will keep you company."

"Huh, what?! What did I do?!"

"You need to work it out between the two of you, so you'll be locked away with Tina. I know that your relationship ain't all fluffy kittens and rainbows, but you have to get along somehow for the sake of the operation. Don't worry, Erica, I will reimburse you accordingly."

"I hope that that reimbursement will have a lot of carbohydrates in it…" Erica mumbled.

"Of course, hahaha! As additional punishment, Tina, you'll get the beds for the both of you. I'll guide you there."

"Yes sir…" Tina said silently.

"Oh the paperwork I'll have to do…" Toshiro sighed. "Let's go…"

The four of them went to the back of the dorm. As Yoshika said, the bed frames and matrasses were there. Tina picked them up and followed Toshiro. Lured by an amazing smell, he peeked into the kitchen. Yoshika was tasting soup from a pot by which Mami was standing.

"Delicious, Mami!" Yoshika shouted.

"Hah!"

"Hey, Yoshika." Toshiro said.

"Oh, what's up, Toshiro?"

"Where's that room Lynne was talking about?"

"Just by the end of the corridor."

"Kay, thanks. Can you fetch me the sheets and pillows now?"

"Sure thing!" Yoshika cheered and ran up to him.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour, cousin!" Mami shouted.

"I won't miss it no matter what!"

Toshiro returned to his detainees, and guided them to said room, while Yoshika ran for the sheets and pillows. He opened it with the key that was inside the lock. The room was indeed clean, and empty, with a standard window.

"Place the beds however you like, Tina. Yoshika will be here with the sheets and pillows shortly. You know how detention works?"

"Remind me, maybe something changed since 1942…"

"That's the last time you were punished like that?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah…"

"No wonder you're so wild…" Minna said.

Tina placed the two beds in the center of the room beside each other, and Toshiro started explaining.

"You are to remain in this room until 0600 tomorrow. You can only leave after obtaining permission from me or Minna, and with escort from either us, or our two Captains. You can only leave for dinner and supper, for an evening bath and to the bathroom. Use your transponders if you want to communicate a request, or shout really loud, maybe somebody will hear you. Understood?"

"Yes…" Tina mumbled.

"You too, Erica?"

"Same shit as usual…"

"Okay then, try to get along you two. Dinner will be in approximately and hour. Come on, Minna."

"Sure."

Minna and Toshiro exited the room, and the latter closed it.

"Awfully lenient of you, Toshiro…" Minna said. "I'd confine her to the end of her stay…"

"I know what a good punishment should look like, Minna. Tina will rack her brains out how to get to Erica, and the latter will be all "Meh, don't care" to her advances. So they either get along, or Tina will go cuckoo."

"Haha…"

"And besides, she's our guest… I can't let her spend the whole two and something days in one room, right?"

"I guess you're right… Let's do that paperwork already, I'm starving by just inhaling that smell from the kitchen…"

"Not only you…"

They went to the office, and did some light paperwork. Minna insisted that Toshiro make a report on the incident.

"But why, Minna? Why bother with throwing shit onto her record?"

"You'll have a wildcard in case she starts behaving badly again."

"Aaaah… So I write a report, but don't file it? Just to keep her at bay?"

"Yes."

"Clever… Clever… Ah well, let's go, dinner's probably ready, and I have to let out the two from their jail."

They went to the dorm, and split up before the dining room. Toshiro opened the door to the temporary jail and looked inside.

"Hmmm… Nobody dead or wounded… Come on you two, dinner time."

"Finally…" Erica moaned and went past Toshiro.

Tina didn't utter a word.

"Not going well, huh?" Toshiro asked.

"Hartmann always had a different value set then me… For me the only thing that counts in a fight is victory, she wants to have fun… Ugh, I'm so gloomy I could use a puff…"

"You still smoking weed, Tina?"

"No, would you believe it? After I reconciled with Yari, my anxiety attacks went away. But I still smoke tobacco through a shisha, and you didn't give me my luggage…"

"You brought a water pipe with you…"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Ugh, nothing I guess… If you won't kill anyone during dinner, I'll give you your bag…"

"Much appreciated, Toshiro. Now let's go, Mami's cooking is driving me mad already!"

Toshiro entered the room with Tina by his side. Somebody was so thoughtful to place two additional chairs, both by the sides of Toshiro's usual spot.

Good, at least Trude won't be near Tina…

"Come on Tina, I have a spot for you already."

Toshiro went to his chair, and pointed out one for Tina. She sat and said, "Mami, what's for dinner today?"

"Variety soup!"

"So what's in it today?"

"Thick cut potatoes, cut fried sausages, boiled and deboned meat from ribs, carrots and beans."

Toshiro could literally hear everyone's stomach churning. Mami probably also heard it, because she giggled and said, "It should be done already, wait a second everybody."

"Um, don't you need help with that big pot?" Lynne asked.

"Are you perhaps implying…"

"Shut up, Mami…" Toshiro said and sighed deeply. "Lynne just wanted to help you."

"Oh, sorry… No, I don't need help. I'm already a master of moving around with a pot full of soup that's almost as big as me. But you can actually help me with serving everyone, if you'd like."

"Mhm!" Lynne nodded and took a ladle from the kitchen.

After everyone got their soup, the eating began, only interrupted by praise towards Mami's culinary genius.

"Eheheh… It seems I nailed it…" Mami laughed dryly while scratching her head.

"Just don't get full of yourself, or Yoshika might me jealous…" Toshiro whispered into her ear.

"I heard that…" Yoshika said. "Tomorrow, dinner, duel!"

"Bring it on, Yoshika!"

"Huh, what's happening?" Erica asked.

"One of the best things that could bless a soldier's life – a cook-off by two genius level cooks!" Toshiro explained with passion. "We will stuff our guts with ambrosia I say!"

"How do you know, Toshiro?"

"I had witnessed such an event while I was still a mechanic in the IFN… A simple soldier, Gojiro was his name I believe, said that our master chefs yakisoba sucked. They almost beat up each other, however, the next day, a duel between them occurred in the kitchen. Since they were cooking double the amount of food, we were lying with our bellies rounded for the next hour after dinner."

"Wooooah! Let it be tomorrow already!" Francesca shouted with fire in her eyes.

"Hahaha!" Shirley laughed. "That's Lucchini for you… Thanks for the meal, Mami, I missed your cuisine."

"Me too!" Francesca cheered.

"Heheh, the pleasure is on my side… But we need to restock if we want to do a cooking duel…"

Minna approached Toshiro and whispered, "Toshiro, we need to buy stuff for the event on the 11th…"

"Ah, yes, I'll go after breakfast tomorrow. You can go with me, Mami. Maybe Tina can also go with us, if she behaves…"

"Whatever…" She said. "Where's my bag, Toshiro?"

"I think you left it in the aula…"

"No, I have it in my room." Yoshika said. "I picked it up because it was lying on the ground just like that."

"I suppose you did good… Can I have it back?" Tina asked.

"Sure! I'll go fetch it!"

Yoshika ran away quickly.

"Okay you two, back in the brig for you." Minna said.

"After I get my bag back, Toshiro promised me it."

"So be it then…"

Yoshika ran inside the room like a thunderbolt, but she tripped over something.

Oh shit, the shisha!

Toshiro rushed to Yoshika with time slowed, and caught both his dear lover and the bag.

"Wheew… I made it…"

"Heh, thanks, Toshiro…"

"Don't mention it…"

Toshiro stood up, and gave Tina the bag.

"Now let's go you two."

"Sure, now I can go with pleasure."

"Just open the window…"

Toshiro led the girls to their prison, and locked them away.

"Cousin! Cousin!" Mami shouted from behind.

"What is it, dear Mami?"

"Can I shoot off that cannon of yours? Pleeaaaaaaaaseeee!"

"Yes you can, just let me accompany you."

"Heehee, lead on!"

They went to the hangar, in which Mami took the cannon on her own.

"Toshiro, could you give me some ammo?"

"Sure thing, Mami. I can give you one HE round. I saw one target that the girls didn't remove somehow, so it's a test of skill for you."

"Hoho! Don't worry, I know how to use the scope to dial in on a target!" Mami boasted shamelessly.

"Well, I don't know really…"

Toshiro approached the ammo boxes, and pulled out one orange banded shell.

"Come on, Mami."

The two went to the middle of the runway.

"See the target, Mami?"

"Hmmm… Ah, I see it, one o' clock dead."

Toshiro placed the shell inside of the cannon.

"You know what to do."

Mami pressed the autoloader button, and the pneumatic mechanism rammed the shell inside the breech.

"Ooooooooh… A pneumatic autoloader… Fancy…"

"Ain't it? Aim and fire, my dear cousin."

"Roger!"

Mami pulled up the sights and started dialing in the distance.

"Okay cousin, I'm firing."

"Go for it."

Mami pressed the trigger, and the cannon fired, kicking up a small cloud of dust. The empty casing clanged on the runway as it jumped and tumbled. The projectile didn't need more than three seconds to reach its target, blowing it up into smithereens.

"Toshiroooo…" Mami turned around to him with her mouth opened as wide as her eyes now were.

"What?" He asked with a smile.

"Want…"

"Sorry, only for personal use. Not for sale, rental or public sharing."

"Aww… I kinda knew that… I'll just wait until you get another upgrade, heehee…"

"Maybe I'll get one, maybe not… I think I only have two gun candidates right now…"

"And those would be?"

"They could adapt the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 from the King Tiger or… I believe I heard something about something called the Jagdtiger recently… Uuughh… It was the… 12.8 cm NjK 44 L/55 I believe…"

"A 128 millimeter cannon? Want…" She said as if her throat dried out suddenly.

"Sorry, Mami, but even I would have problems firing such a behemoth if I had your weight nullifying magic…"

"I imagine… The shells are probably two piece already… The whole thing would probably be about nine meters… One can dream though, heheh… Okay, let's go back."

"Don't want me to show you my Striker?"

"Nah… I'll wait till tomorrow, so Tina can also see it."

"How kindhearted of you… Do you have something to do?"

"I'll go hang out with Shirley and Francesca!"

"Haha! You missed them, huh?"

"Yeah… We got really close while you were in coma…"

"One man in coma for nine days and so many relationships improved… Incredible…"

"You're special, Toshiro, heheh…"

"Maybe… Oh, tell me one thing – will you be doing supper?"

"I don't feel like it… I'll gather my power for tomorrow, heehee…"

"Just don't be to mean to Yoshika, okay?"

"Of course I won't… She's almost family to me…"

"As if our umpteenth degree of cousinship were any better…"

"Of course it is, dummy! We're blood related! Don't you like me anymore or something…?"

"Of course I like you my dear Mami…" Toshiro said while stroking her head. "But you know, Yoshika has a slightly deeper relationship with me…"

"Ah yes… Well, I won't deny that a physical relationship like that has its perks…"

"What? You want me to bang you? I believe it would be legal…"

"IDIOT!" Mami shouted and slammed him in the face with the cannon's barrel, sending him to the ground. "Oh shit, Toshiro! What have I done… I'm sorry!"

"Uuuuuuuugh… Serves me right for spouting all this pervy bullshit… I'll go to Yoshika, you find Shirley and hang out with her…"

"Are you okay?"

"Besides the fact that I've been slammed by a one and half ton gun? Swell!"

"I see what you did there…" Mami said and giggled.

"Oh, that was random… Okay, I'm going now, have a nice day."

"You too, cousin."

For fucks sake… Ouch… Yoshika… Yoshika… Ah, there you are…

Toshiro found Yoshika in the small forest. She was doing pushups with Mio on her back.

"Sup, girls?"

"Wah, Toshiro!" Yoshika shouted and ran up to him, dropping Mio off her back. "What happened?!"

"Oh, divine retribution for being a pervert… If you could heal that… It stings a bit…"

"Ahem, Miyafuji…" Mio cleared her throat.

"Wah, I'm sorry Miss Mio!"

"Whatever, heal Toshiro, take the sword from him and let's go on."

"Yes ma'am! Hold still, Toshiro…"

"I know the drill, sweetie… I've been in this position way too often for my own good…"

"Heehee…"

Yoshika quickly healed him, and kissed him in the cheek.

"There you go. Now give me Yumemaru, so I can practice."

"Already there…"

"Huh, where, how…"

"On the top of your head."

"I see…"

Yoshika swiftly jumped back and grabbed the sword midair.

"Bravo… Not bad... I see you're improving…"

"Stop yapping, Miyafuji…" Mio sighed. "I know you want to spend time with Toshiro, but you'll have all night to fuck around. Now is time for training!"

"Yes, yes! Coming!"

"I'll watch."

"Then I'll train even more intensively!"

"You go!"

Watching how Yoshika swings her sword works… oddly relaxingly. Her fierce look, combined with her cute face and small body… The grunts she's giving off with each mightier swing… The random flickers appearing on Yumemaru… The precision of her movements… A true show of might and magic…

Of course she's fumbling epically sometimes, heheh… But at least she knows how to do it so neither of us gets their head cut off.

Yoshika finally fell down on her bottom and she dispelled Yumemaru.

"I see you have enough for today, Miyafuji. Good work, but you're still leaking magic a bit sometimes."

"I'm sorry, Miss Sakamoto…"

"Don't be sorry, improve yourself. Go take a bath, our guest can do the supper for you."

"Mmmm… Oh okay… I'll indulge myself in selfless pleasures, heehee… Toshiro, coming with me?"

"AIn't it a bit too early for snuggling?"

"It's never too early…"

"Go get a room you two…"

Toshiro was so immersed with the walk with Yoshika that he forgot to tell Mami that she should start preparing supper. They both showered together, and walked out to the bath. Just as they were about to get in, they saw the micro Fusojin witch from behind. Toshiro silenced Yoshika with a hand gesture, and snuck up on Mami. He lowered himself and licked her earlobe.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She shrieked as she jumped up. "C-C-Cousin! What are you doing here?!"

"I want to take a dip with Yoshika."

"B-but your naked!"

"Well, duh, it's hard to bathe in my clothes…"

"Oh, wait… I see it now… The girls here aren't ashamed in front of you, right?"

"I wouldn't say ashamed but they're not afraid to bathe besides me. The fact that Yoshika relieves my urges probably helps a bit, heheh…"

"Aaaaahhh… Okay… Then come in, I wanted to get out anyway…"

"Don't force yourself, Mami. If you want to stay – stay. It's not like Yoshika and I will make out in front of you…"

"Or will we…" Yoshika said with a sly smile.

"I'll go anyway…"

"Ah, crap! Could you make supper for the girls? Yoshika is tired after training hard."

"Well, why not… Have a nice bath, perverted cousin. Licking my ear, dayum… What a perverted fetish does one have to have to do this…"

"That wouldn't be the only weird place I licked…" Toshiro said with an innocent face.

Mami ran away with her face red.

"Really now, Toshiro… You should be gentler…"

"She's family, I can be a bit meaner to her, heheh…"

"I guess… You sure adapt quickly… I wonder how I would react if I discovered a new family member, even so distant like Mami is to you…"

"I have a lot to catch up to, Yoshika. You're an only child, we have that in common, but you also had your dad for circa ten years, and your grandma up to today and who knows how long… And you have Micchan…"

"Poor Toshiro…" Yoshika hugged him. "You've experienced so many hardships… But don't worry, I'll heal you from your trauma. I won't leave your side till my or your dying breath…"

Toshiro started stroking her hair and they sat like that for a quarter of an hour. Then they went to the dorm. Yoshika ventured to the dining room, and Toshiro went and let out the prisoners.

"Ugh, it smells like a fucking bar in here… I told you to open the window…"

"Erica smokes like a chimney."

"She does?"

"I was bored, bro…" Erica said and coughed. "And we played cards…"

"I should have checked the contents of your luggage, Tina, but I'm no fascist… Let's go you two, supper time, and then bath time."

"You'll be supervising us?" Tina asked with a blush on her cheeks.

"I bathed already. But don't worry, I'll assign you an appropriate guard, heheh…"

During supper, Toshiro asked, "Who would like to volunteer to guard the two mischief makers while they take a bath?"

Minna raised her hand immediately.

"Ohoho! Total control I see?" Toshiro asked with a devilish grin.

"I don't see anyone more fit to do it than me. Trude would make it sour for Marseille, Shirley would fraternize too much, and Mio would make it sour for both."

"Well thanks for the summary…" Mio grumbled.

"And what about the rest?" Toshiro asked.

"The rest would be incapable of capturing Marseille if she attempted something funny."

"No offence, Minna, but how could you catch Tina?"

"By the power of authority. If she tries something funny, I will file this…" Minna pulled out a familiar piece of paper. "The report on the incident from earlier. Surely some grime in your records would mess things up, right, Hauptmann?"

"How unpleasant…" Tina mumbled.

"Oh, oh, I have a question!" Mami raised her hand.

"What is it… hmmm… can I call you Mami?" Minna asked.

"Of course! Where will I sleep?"

"Good question… Maybe you could use Erica's bed for today?"

"I could but… It would be a hassle to pack and repack and move and stuff…"

"Then I have a good solution." Toshiro said.

"I agree!" Yoshika shouted.

"Damn, girl! You developed mind reading powers?!" Toshiro half-seriously asked. "Yes, I was about to propose for Yoshika to live in my room for the course of the mission preparations, and for Mami to sleep with Lynne. Tina can sleep in our makeshift brig."

"I don't mind…" Lynne said. "Mami looks so… cuddly… heehee…"

"Hey, don't compare me to a teddy bear just cuz I'm small! But on the other hand… Who wouldn't like to tuck into these jugs…? I'm in!"

"And since I can't say anything in this matter, I approve." Minna said.

After supper, Yoshika led Mami to her and Lynne's room. She took some clothes, and went to Toshiro's room.

"Wooow, I'm so excited I can officially live with you in one room!"

"As if you needed an excuse like this…

"Well, better not push my luck… You may be the boss man here, but… Someone could file a report behind your back…"

"I trust the girls not to do something like that. Besides, I would weasel my way out of everything, heheh…"

"If you say so… So, should we start snuggling already?"

"Why so serious? Just do it!"

"Oh you!"

Kyoukai no Kanata reference… somewhere :P

NjK – Neuroijägerkannone – Neuroi-hunter cannon

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 :]