Chapter 8: Driven By A Sense Of Purpose
Oarai's first battle in the tournament was not until midway though the first round. The match scheduling was a complicated affair, beginning with the battlefields being chosen by roulette, which was then followed by the more difficult process of arranging a time and date for the matches.
The process was further complicated by the extra match, with Bosporu and Rinkai, competing for the right to reach the same point where the all the other schools started. The tournament organizers wanted those matches to happen at the earliest possible convenience, so that the victors would have time to repair their tanks and prepare for their second opponent before the quarterfinals.
While Rinkai had more opponents than most of the contestants, their victory in the first tournament was never truly in doubt, and on the day of the match, it quickly became clear why.
The Bosporu tank team, with all ten tanks moving together, advanced through the snowy and hilly battlefield until they saw five of Rinkai's tanks on the side. Bosporu noticed the enemy tanks too late, though, as Rinkai's guns were already trained on them, and fired as they came into range.
A well-executed attack by and a salvo of gunfire by a group of tanks under Satoha's leadership- a Type 4 Medium, a T-34/85, a Char B1 Bis, a Semovente and a Turan III- took out two of Bosporu's 9TPs and a 10TP, without any of their tanks being able to hit them. As the sound of the explosions faded, and thy heard the white flags raise, the remaining Bosporu forces realized that they were now leaderless. Confused and, as a result of the 10TP's loss, leaderless, the Bosporu tanks quickly retreated.
Too late, they realized that they had fallen into Rinkai's trap, as the remainder of the tanks- a Panzer IV, a Chaffee, a SU-100, a Cromwell and a StuG- under Emi's leadership, fired on them, while they quickly returned fire. Their desperate counterattack succeeded in disabling a Grizzly, but at great cost.
Five shells from Rinkai tanks found their mark in Bosporu's remaining tanks, causing five almost simultaneous explosions that each took a tank out of the game. One of them, a 10TP struck by the SU-100, was the enemy flag tank.
"Rinkai wins the match!" the announcer said.
At the post-game ceremony, Rinkai's tankers and their defeated enemies exchanged bows and the commanders shook hands before parting ways. They had all come from different cultures, with different ideas of post-game ceremony, but they all believed in good sportsmanship and winning gracefully, which meant that they adhered to the customs and showed their opponents the proper respect.
Still, their minds returned to their past experience once they had left, particularly the realization that the match had been easier than most of their battles where they had come from.
"That was quick, if a bit boring," Emi said as Rinkai loaded its tanks onto the ship after the post-game ceremony. "Honestly, Satoha, none of the schools back home went down this easily; as it is, it's hardly worth telling Miho about."
Emi and Miho had spoken on Skype a few times since they had met in the tankery cafe, catching up and sharing stories that they did not have time to in their brief encounter back then. Emi was glad that her first match in the Japanese high school tankery tournament was a victory, but realized that it would not make for much of a story for Miho, who had practice with her team and could not attend Emi's match. Emi was understanding, and knew that while each of them were interested in how the other was doing in the tournament, they were also had to train and make preparations of their own to win their own matches, and to face each other in tankery battle.
"I can't really argue with that, Emi," Satoha said. "As much as I acknowledge the possibility of underdogs rising up, exceeding expectations and dethroning the champions, I realize that, practically speaking, not everyone can do it. There are many reasons why quite a few of the schools' performance remained mediocre or worse even after Black Forest's defeat two years ago."
"Well, that is why they're called underdogs," Megan said. "This isn't a tournament where everyone who shows up gets a prize."
"You make a fair point, Megan," Hao said, "but I honestly had not expected the disparity in tank strength to be this much of a disadvantage."
"It's not an insurmountable one," Nelly said. "If they'd been a few seconds faster on the trigger finger, the match wouldn't have ended so soon."
"Speaking of not insurmountable disadvantages, I heard Maginot vs. Pravda is next," Emi said. "I wonder how the former will do, assuming that they don't end up surrendering."
Emi paused short, as she noticed a few of her teammates glancing at her disapprovingly, and Satoha cleared her throat.
"Sorry, Myeonghwa," Emi said. "I forget that you're half-French sometimes."
Myeonghwa simply shook her head with a smile. She had gotten used to Emi's bluntness and tendency to speak her mind, just as Emi had realized that Myeonghwa, while well-intentioned and polite, was not always used to Japanese etiquette.
"It's alright, Emi," Myeonghwa said. "When the high school I attended while I was in France faced a school that had recently taken the championship, morale plummeted. Luckily, we were able to gather our resolve by time we faced them, and we won in the end."
"I see," Emi said. "I suppose I'd have felt something like that in that situation."
"So would I, which is why I sympathize with those who try as hard as they can," Myeonghwa said, "and why I respect their determination by countering it with my full efforts."
The others silently concurred. They all had their individual reasons for wanting to succeed, as well as their shared commitment to the school, but they also saw the truth in what Myeonghwa was saying. For them, doing their best was the surest way to achieve their goals, what they owed to the school, and a matter of good sportsmanship, so there was no reason not to fight with the same resolve that helped them win victory abroad.
Elsewhere, the battle between Pravda and Maginot raged over a rocky and barren wasteland. Most of the tanks had been disabled, but only the flag tank was left.
Kinue remembered Maginot well, as the first school her mother had faced while commanding her team. But while the school was the same as it was back then, something about its tactics seemed strikingly different. They seemed more mobile, more aggressive, and less reliant on the defensive strength of their tanks.
Kinue then realized, as a small detachment of Maginot tanks attempted to attack her from behind, that she could not rely on the ways her mother and those before her had used to deal with opponents. As she ordered her tanks to take down her attackers, and they quickly responded by striking them with shots to the side, forcing up the white flags, she realized that thinking on her feet was less difficult than she thought.
Over time, Pravda, under Kinue's command, was successful in whittling down the Maginot forces, while only losing two of their own to unexpected attacks. Having removed most of her opposition's tanks, including those with the greatest firepower, Kinue went in for the kill.
In the end, Kinue's forces cornered the Maginot flag tank in spite of its efforts to escape, and defeated it with a barrage of heavy shells. As the smoke faded, the Pravda onlookers noticed the heavy damage on the light French tank- a broken gun barrel, a snapped track and several charred spots on the side, before they noticed the white flag, almost superfluous of the tank and its school's defeat.
"Pravda wins the match!" the announcer said.
The two sides met after the match and exchanged bows.
"Felicitations, Mademoiselle Atago," Eclair said, extending her hand for a handshake.
"You did quite well, too, Eclair-san," Kinue said, shaking her defeated opponent's hand. "Although I must say that it's quite different from Maginot's fighting style when my mom faced your school about 23 years ago."
"Mais oui," Eclair said, "but the change is more recent than you would think, Mademoiselle Atago. It started last year, after I won the command of the team in a duel with my friend and senpai, Madeleine-sama, while essentially wagering my membership in the tankery team."
"I'm honestly surprised things came to that between you two," Kinue said. Her sister aside, she could hardly imagine fighting a battle with her current vice captain, who was a friend as well as a subordinate, with the loser forfeiting her position.
"For Madeleine-sama, it was a matter of principle," Eclair said. "My stance on this matte was not only in opposition to her, but also to Maginot's traditions, which dated back to the time of the 'old' tankery team. If I could not stand by those traditions or change the team, there was no place for me on it. It was also a way of introducing an element of personal risk for me, since it's all too easy to criticize a leader when you have nothing on the line. She had to stake her reputation and the faith her subordinates had in her on traditions, so I had to do the same with my ideals."
As Eclair made her comment, Galette, a tank commander who had a close, albeit solely professional, relationship with Madeleine, silently seethed. She had frequently criticized Eclair, particularly with regards to her new tactics, although she rarely came out and explicitly worded her criticisms openly. As such she wondered if Eclair was referring to the passive-aggressive approach she favored.
But even as Eclair's second-in-command, Fondue, let off an exasperated sigh at Gallette's nonverbal reaction, Eclair herself was undeterred. She had her fair share of critics since assuming command, and had become accustomed to dealing with them.
"In spite of how things turned out, I have no regrets about my decision," Eclair said. "Maginot has to change with the times, and I believe this tactic has given us more success than our old one."
"I agree, Eclair-san," Kinue said. "You fought well today, as you did last year."
"Merci beaucoup," Eclair said. "But I do have one more question for you, Mademoiselle Atago. Do you ever feel pressured to live up to your mother and your older sister?"
"Sometimes," Kinue said "I am in the same position they once occupied, after all, even if they seem so much more talented than I am."
"I see," Eclair said. "Then let me share a story with you. Are you familiar with the Nishizumi family?"
"Yes, possibly more than most people," Kinue said. "Miho-chan and Maho-san are friends of mine, and I... am acquainted with... their mother, Instructor Nishizumi Shiho."
Eclair nodded.
"I'd long looked up to Shiho-sama," Eclair said, "and believed that her daughters had inherited her skill and style of tankery. As such, the prospect of facing either of them was dreadful enough to give me stomach cramps."
Kinue sighed and shook her head. While she was unaware of the fact that Eclair had a stomach condition, and experienced stomach problems as a result of stress- which was quite common given her position and circumstances- she believed that Eclair was similarly ignorant of the newest generation of Nishizumis, particularly Miho.
"To be honest, Eclair-san, if you think of them that way, you do not truly know them," Kinue said. "Maho-san views being heiress as a means to an end for her sister's sake, and Miho-chan is very much unlike Instructor Nishizumi, in terms of personality and tankery style."
While Kinue worried for a moment that her answer had been overly blunt, her fears were dispelled when Eclair smiled in response.
"Then you understand the point quite well, sooner than I did," Eclair said. "In the end, just as Nishizumi Miho-san won her own way, you, too, can only live and do tankery your way. Bonne chance, Mademoiselle Atago; I'm looking forward to seeing how you do."
With a final handshake, the two commanders parted ways. Each deviated from tradition in their own way, doing what they believed they could, and time would tell how their approaches fared in the tournament.
Kinue watched as the tanks were loaded onto the ship. Only three of them had been disabled, and the rest had only minor damage, a better outcome than Kinue had originally envisioned.
Anastasia, a girl with shoulder-length dark hair, walked up to Kinue. While not as small as Katyusha, she was relatively petite for a Pravda girl, and was almost two centimeters shorter than Kinue.
"Good work out there, Comrade Commander," Anastasia, Kinue's vice-captain, said.
"Thank you, Anastasia-chan," Kinue said. "I had spent some time worrying about how to do this match, and how it might be different from when Mom faced Maginot. But in the end, I realized that I could only go with what worked."
"In the end, I'm glad that you did," Anastasia said, "and not just because we won. You're a different person than Instructor Atago, Assistant Instructor Atago, or Funakubo-senpai."
"I'm glad to hear that," Kinue said, "especially from someone who studied under my mom and sister."
"I actually do relate somewhat more to you," Anastasia said. "I was a middling student at the Atago school, and the Instructor and her eldest daughter seemed so far ahead of me, both in terms of status and experience. You could say it was a bit like I was a peasant and they were a tsaritsa and a tsarevna, respectively."
Kinue sighed. Anastasia was an avid fan of Russian history, almost as much as Kinue's second cousin and her teammates from Hippo Team were, so Kinue wondered if she was exaggerating slightly. In spite of that, Anastasia's point was not lost on Kinue.
"My sister would be somewhat sad to hear that," Kinue said. "First, she gets along easily with those who some would consider 'beneath' her. Second, she says that one of her favorite parts about being a teacher is bringing others up to her level. If they're her allies, they'll support her better. If they're her rivals, they'll give her more of a challenge."
"I never thought about it that way before," Anastasia said. "But now that I do think about it, it does explain the former commander's attitude."
"Many of the people I looked up to, my sister included, have now graduated," Kinue said. "It's now up to us to prove ourselves in their stead, and fulfill the responsibilities they left to us."
"That's essentially what I'm planning on doing," Anastasia said. "I wonder if your friend, Nishizumi Miho, ever felt about it this way."
"Miho-chan learned long ago that even though she idolized her sister, she could not follow her path of tankery," Kinue said. "It's time I started doing the same."
Elsewhere, at Rhineland University, Maho was busy training her tankers. Her new school had a similar national theme as her high school and middle school, but bore relatively few similarities. It was relatively strong, but not as influenced by the Nishizumi style as Black Forest had once been, so Maho's being appointed commander in her first year was more due to her accomplishments than her connections.
"How have things been going, Maho?" Sumire said as she met with Maho in the tankery garage.
"Quite well, Sumire," Maho said. "Our university may not be as dominant as Black Forest was, but most of the people around here are skilled and committed."
"That's good to hear," Sumire said. "Coach Mihirogi doesn't seem to mind Black Forest's failure to win the previous tournament, saying that it's something they have in common with Rhineland."
Maho's mind went back to her coach, Mihirogi Uta, a relatively petite woman with a fondness for kimonos. She granted Maho a fair amount of autonomy, but was by no means soft, and often provided Maho with surprisingly good insights, albeit ideas that Maho had not heard while at the Nishizumi school.
"She's certainly no Nishizumi disciple," Maho said, "not in demeanor, coaching style or dedication to victory. But she's still effective in her own ways, and that's why Mother can't complain about her."
"What about the coach?" Sumire said. "How does she feel about your mother's perception of her?"
"She's relatively fine with that," Maho said, "although she did once give me some advice to never lose sight of what I wanted to accomplish. It's a good point, and was nicely driven home by the fact that she took on a completely serious tone that she didn't often use."
Sumire simply nodded. Uta was generally laid-back, easygoing, and left the command to her students, but there were times when she gave insightful advice. Sumire respected Maho's serious and professional demeanor, but noticed that when Uta became serious, it tended to leave more of an impression on people.
"Is something wrong, Sumire?" Maho said after a moment of silence.
"I'm just thinking about Teru," Sumire said. "Before she saw Saki again, she had been able to press on after the tragic events of four years ago with an uncommon determination and sense of purpose. But now that she's started to question herself, she's lost that sense of purpose, and I can only hope one day that she'll rediscover it."
"So do I," Maho said, as they let the conversation drop. The question of what reason Teru could have to resume doing tankery was one that only Teru herself could find the answer for.
Saki and Teru stepped off the bus, near the apartment building where their father lived, which was a smaller apartment in the same complex. While Saki had last been home a few weeks ago, Teru had not been there since the day she and her mother had moved out. The sisters had planned an outing together on a day off for both of them, and that led them back to the home they once shared.
"We're here," Saki said.
Saki rang the doorbell. Her and Teru's father, Miyanaga Kai answered the door, as the only one home at the time. It had been years since Saki's parents had lived under the same roof, but only a few months since the Miyanagas' divorce had ensured that those days would be nothing more than a memory.
"Good to have you here, Saki, Teru," Kai said.
"Hi, Dad," Saki said.
"It's been a while, Dad," Teru said. "I don't think I've seen you since graduation."
"That sounds about right," Kai said. "Why don't you two make yourselves right at home? Lunch is in 45 minutes."
Saki and Teru looked around the two-bedroom apartment, which was relatively small, mainly serving as a place for Kai to live, and where Saki could stay during school breaks.
"So this is Dad's new apartment," Teru said.
"Yes, it's where he and I lived since you and Mom moved out," Saki said. "I heard there's a new family in the one where the four of us and Mizuho-chan used to live; a married couple with a toddler and another child on the way."
Teru sighed, slightly disappointed. A part of her had hoped to go back to her old apartment and see it again. There had been a time when she believed doing so would merely reopen old wounds, but now, she had hoped to return to the home where she had grown up. Teru had always known that the Miyanaga family's relations with each other were often turbulent, but she had also come to remember the good times, and found it difficult to accept that the family would never reunite again.
"I suppose I know why you felt the way you did about our family, Saki," Teru thought, "and why you were so desperate to get us back together."
Lunch was relatively brief, and the conversation mainly dealt with Teru's life at university. Tankery never came up in the course of the conversation- not even Teru's decision to abstain from it.
As lunch ended, Saki and Teru got up to leave.
"It was nice seeing you, Dad," Teru said, "but we should get going, to reach... our destination."
"I see," Kai said. "Take care, girls."
After saying goodbye to their father, Saki and Teru then left the apartment and walked out onto the street, following a map they had printed out. Their walk took them past the apartment, and through a walking trail that they had gone on with Mizuho while they were young children.
"So, Onee-chan, how was it?" Saki said as they passed beyond the apartment building. "Seeing Dad for the first time since your graduation."
"A bit awkward, to be honest," Teru said. "Of course, he and I were estranged for about as long as you and I were, but the difference lies in how much we connected before and after it."
"I know," Saki said. "You and I had to have several conversations before we could get to the point at which we could comfortably talk about Mizuho-chan. And I know you and Dad haven't talked that much."
"That's true, but I wasn't just talking about after our separation, Saki," Teru said. "Tankery was always a large part of who I was, while it was the thing Dad seemed to detest. I don't know what sort of common ground we have now, apart from being father and daughter. As I've said before, you can have a meaningful bond without being related by blood, but might not have if even if you are related."
Saki paused, trying to consider how best to answer it. To her, the best solution would involve speaking to basic truths.
"Maybe this sounds idealistic," Saki said, "but Mom was pleased to see me again when I visited you and her before school started up this year. I think Dad was also glad you stopped by today, regardless of how close you and he were before or are now."
"Perhaps," Teru said. "Of course, Mom has no reason to doubt your skill at or commitment in tankery after you defeated my school. You certainly are living up to her standards, so there's no reason for her to disapprove."
One more question gnawed at Saki, but she decided to keep it to herself, as she and Teru arrived at the cemetery.
Teru led Saki through the rows of headstones to find Mizuho's grave. Her name was officially Miyanaga Mizuho, a distant maternal relative of theirs whom their mother had taken in, and on this day four years ago, she had died in an accident in the first round of her middle school's tankery tournament. Due to various circumstances- for Saki, it was the difficulty in coming to terms with Mizuho's death, and for Teru, it was due to physical distance from the rest of the family- this was the first time Saki and Teru had visited their relative and adoptive sister's grave.
Teru and Saki knelt down in front of the grave, and Saki clapped her hands to get Mizuho's attention, wherever her soul was, before delivering her message.
"Mizuho-chan, this is Saki," Saki said. "I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to come here to visit. It was hard to accept what happened to you, partly because I, on some level, blamed myself. But I remembered what you, who were so grateful to have a family again in spite of our differences, had taught me, and set out to reconcile with our sister and bring our family back together. This outcome- my sister and I are speaking again but our parents are divorced- isn't quite what I hoped for, but I'm once again doing tankery and truly enjoying it. I really wish you could be here with us..."
Saki's voice broke and she trailed off, at which point she reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue, using it to dry her eyes. Teru laid a hand on her shoulder before clapping her hands and speaking to Mizuho.
"Hello, Mizuho, this is Teru," Teru said. "It's been a while; I'm sorry I didn't visit more. Since you died, I've still been doing tankery, going to Black Forest and even winning the tournament once."
Teru's voice had a certain amount of pride. Unlike the Nishizumis, she did not take her wins for granted, and saw her victory in her first year of high school as a great accomplishment. But she, at times, had to wonder what value they held for her, and now found it difficult to understand why she wanted to win, no longer as driven by a sense of purpose as she once was.
"But somewhere along the line, I lost sight of why I was doing tankery," Teru said. "You were gone, and Saki had given up on it, so instead of doing it with the people closest to me, I decided to do it to overcome the pain of losing you, blaming Saki and distancing myself from her to dull my own pain. In so doing, I lost sight of my original reasons, and distanced myself from the pleasant memories we shared."
Teru paused, lost in thought.
"I'm not especially religious, but I do believe that you're watching over me from somewhere," Teru said, "and hope that someday, after Saki and I pass on, we'll see you, as well as each other, again. More than anything, I... I miss having you around, and would like to speak with you again, as well as be forgiven by you."
A tear slid down Teru's face as she said it, and Saki offered her a tissue from her pocket, holding a used one in her other hand. Teru accepted it with a grateful nod and wiped her eyes.
"We'll be back next year, Mizuho," Teru said. "I hope I'll have found an answer by the time i return."
On the way back to the docks, and their respective schools, Saki and Teru discussed Mizuho, whom Saki was finally starting to remember, sharing stories about their time together. Finally, they reached the docks, where Teru's boat back to her university ship was scheduled to depart.
"I appreciate you coming with me, Saki," Teru said. "It was nice to have you around, to talk to you once more the way we used to."
"I feel the same way, Onee-chan," Saki said. "Let's meet again soon."
With a final embrace, the sisters parted ways. They had their separate lives, but their parting did not have the same sense of finality that it did when their parents separated four years ago. It would still be a while before they were as close as they were before then, but both of them were working toward that point together.
Saki realized that her first match of the tournament would be coming up soon, not long after the next match, which was between Anzio and Saunders. While she was no longer trying to reach out to her sister, she was fighting for a different purpose now, to help remind her sister of what she enjoyed about tankery and help ensure that the fun she had with her friends would be shared by future generations of Oarai students.
Elsewhere, at a restaurant at Hiroe and Kinue's university ship, Kinue sat at the table her older sister, her cousin, and a few of her senpais. The Pravda alumni at the table had relatively little in common, and certain members of the group contrasted in various ways. Katyusha was a hot-tempered diminutive tactician, and Nonna was a cool-headed, exceptionally tall and a crack shot. Onjouji Toki was a melancholic and sickly girl, Shimizudani Ryuuka was cheerful and energetic, and Eguchi Sera was laid-back and tomboyish. In spite of those differences and their quirks, they worked well together, and some of them were close friends. Kinue enjoyed their camaraderie and felt confident in her chances of winning while fighting alongside them, even if she sometimes felt inadequate in comparison.
Unfortunately, for Kinue, they, some of Pravda's finest tankers for the last three years, had left and moved on to do tankery at Romanov University. They had their own battles now, just like Kinue did. As such, after telling them about her victory over Maginot, Kinue was interested in hearing how they fared.
"How have things been going at university, everyone?" Kinue said.
"Fairly well," Hiroko said. "We won the first round, but our opponents this time were entirely new, making them somewhat unfamiliar. I tend to do better against opponents we've faced in the past, when I have actual data on them I can use."
"That's true," Kinue said. "Of course, I find it somewhat easier to face an unknown enemy than one that I have struggled against before."
"Well, you're not the only one," Hiroe said. "I tried for five years, but I wasn't able to succeed- at least not without unforeseen occurrences in my favor. The same goes for when you go up against Oarai."
Kinue solemnly nodded.
"A lot of the people on my regular team are new this year, Onee-chan," Kinue said, "and many of the especially talented ones have left by now. You, Hiroko, Katyusha-senpai, Nonna-senpai, Eguchi-senpai, Shimizudani-senpai, Onjouji-senpai... I'll have to do what I can without all of you."
Katyusha had a cocky grin on her face. She enjoyed riding on Nonna's shoulders, but the pedestal people like Kinue placed her on was far higher than even her tall friend.
"You flatter Katyusha-sama," Katyusha said.
Nonna silently nodded in agreement. She enjoyed teasing Katyusha, particularly when her ego needed to be curtailed, but she knew what Kinue said was true, and offered a "спасибо, Kinue," in humble appreciation.
While the others nodded in agreement, Toki, however, had a somewhat skeptical expression.
"It's odd that you're putting me on a pedestal when I only got onto my team in my third year," Toki said, "which means you're better off in that regard. If not for the fact that I graduated ahead of you- and I might still be here if I'd missed more school last year- you wouldn't even have grounds to call me 'senpai,' since you've been doing tankery for longer."
"You have a point, Onjouji-senpai," Kinue said. "Then again, my sister and Hiroko had to call the older members 'senpai', even though the two of them had more experience coming into the school."
"That's true, Kinue, but none of the people you admire started out as skilled tankers- I least of all," Toki said. "Do you remember how we met?"
"Yes," Kinue said, "we met while training together with the rest of the benchwarmers."
"Back then there were many who were better than us in various ways," Toki said. "But we never gave up on improving ourselves, or trying to be of some use to the team, even if few expected much of us."
"That's right, Toki," Ryuuka said, before turning back to Kinue. "And Kinue, I'd like to emphasize that Toki's saying 'few', not none. Sera and I always believed Toki would become quite skilled, and there are many who feel the same way about you."
"Thank you for the kind words, Shimizudani-senpai," Kinu said.
"Yeah," Sera said, "And there are a lot of other people who are just now getting their start on the team this year, so I'm eager to see how they do. Perhaps they'll succeed where we failed. Maybe the defeat last year has inspired them to improve more in their remaining time at the school and surpass us."
"That is certainly an encouraging prospect, Eguchi-senpai," Kinue said. "I suppose when you think about it that way, it becomes easier to be confident in yourself."
"Even when I haven't accomplished something yet, I am, as always, confident that I've got what it takes to do it," Hiroe said confidently. "And I have that same belief in you, Kinue."
Kinue smiled. Her time had come to not just prove herself useful to her sister, but also prove herself in her own way, so that when she rejoined her sister in university, she could stand alongside her on more even footing.
"I won't let you down, Onee-chan," Kinue said.
"That's the spirit," Hiroe said. While neither of the sisters' teams were nearly as much of an underdog as Oarai was, they realized that the goals they were seeking to accomplish were quite ambitious and difficult by most people's standards. In spite of that, they did not let that deter them, determined to reach heights that most believed were impossible for them to reach and succeed where many had failed.
After practice, Caesar returned home to Hippo Team's shared house in the suburbs of the school ship. Going into her room, she turned on her laptop, and, once it was started up, began a chat with a friend of hers from Anzio, Carpaccio. The two had known each other since they were young, and used abbreviated versions of their given names; Takako and Hinami for Caesar and Carpaccio, respectively.
The two friends talked for a little while, before getting to the main news that they wanted to discuss
Taka Oarai: Sorry to hear about your school's loss, Hina-chan.
Hina Italia: Thanks for the support, Taka-chan. But given how tough Saunders was for you, we were expecting something like this.
Taka Oarai: I get what you're saying. Of course, your leader didn't exactly take losing to us very well.
Hina Italia: Duce Anchovy always hated the idea that people looked down on us, or could defeat us while only fighting halfheartedly. Of course, she lost to a school that was even more of an underdog than hers, but because you took things seriously.
Taka Oarai: That's true. I may not come from a powerhouse school like my second cousins from Pravda do, but I believe in proving myself. I don't run from challenges, the same way Caesar himself didn't run from crossing the Rubicon or going to the Senate on the Ides of March.
Hina Italia: It's nice that you have that spirit. Duce Anchovy and Kobashiri-senpai hoped that the ones who beat them would endure onward. But be warned; another underdog school defeated us earlier this year, and they will soon face you, to see if they can succeed where we failed last year, and so many strong schools have failed since then.
At Joghurt, Kazue, along with her vice-captain, Yukiko watched a recording of the match between Saunders and Anzio in her office. Joghurt did not have an especially large budget for tankery, so the two leaders of the team, lacking a room to show match recordings to the others, sat at Kazue's desk, watching the match on Kazue's personal laptop computer.
The match was not completely one-sided, but it was evident that it could not have concluded any other way. Anzio put up a good fight, but quickly was forced onto the defensive as Saunders attacked. By the end, the few remaining Anzio tanks were fleeing Saunders' onslaught, before getting picked off one by one, concluding with the flag tank being disabled by a well-placed shot from Arata's Firefly.
It was clear to Kazue why Saunders had made it to the semifinals the previous year, as well as why they had defeated Joghurt in the first match, but even they had fallen to Oarai. Many questions came to mind, but the one that Kazue found most relevant was why Oarai had succeeded where Joghurt had failed. To Joghurt, their victory over Anzio in a recent practice match was something to be proud of, but they had made little progress in bridging the gap between them and Saunders, much less the opponent that had defeated Saunders under unfavorable circumstances.
Kazue's mind shifted to the present. Rinkai had a great deal of hype surrounding their arrival, and they, at least so far, had lived up to it. While hardly anyone expected Oarai to even win the first round the previous year, their stock in the eyes of the public had risen over time.
A part of Kazue was disappointed that hardly anyone had any such confidence in Joghurt, which was neither an established powerhouse nor a promising newcomer. But having spent an entire year at Joghurt, and faced off against Saunders herself, Kazue was painfully aware of her school's limitations... and determined to surpass them.
"The larger schools do not seem to have lost their touch," Kazue said to herself, loudly enough for Yukiko to hear, "at least not to the point at which it would make a difference for us."
"Is something on your mind, Commander?" Yukiko said.
"I have been thinking, Maya-san," Kazue said. "For you, even a humble tankery team like this is worlds beyond the one you came from, is it not?"
"That's true," Yukiko said, "although the same could probably be said for any school. Even considering the way things are, I'm glad to be of use to you and the others."
Kazue nodded, glad that Yukiko was quicker to gain this perspective than she had. Of course, there were people out there with very different mindsets, including those who had forfeited or stepped down from prestigious positions at well-regarded schools for a variety of reasons, as well as those who were content to follow, rather than lead. Kazue had once believed that those people lacked ambition, but after working alongside her dedicated and loyal second-in-command, she was no longer so sure.
"What if the opposite is true?" Yukiko said. "What if a high-ranking member of the school that was the champion until recently, left and joined a school that had no tankery team at the time she submitted the paperwork to transfer? What sort of reasons would she have for making that decision? Did she ever think she could win? And how, then did she win? Those are all things I would very much like to find out."
"So how are you planning on doing so?" Yukiko said.
"It's quite simple," Kazue said. "I am going to request a meeting with Nishizumi Miho-san."
Author's Notes
This chapter was meant to develop some of the characters outside Oarai, and transition to Oarai vs. Joghurt, since they're not first this time. It also shows some of the other matches, since Oarai isn't going first this time, and so far, three of the contenders have been eliminated.
It also brings the focus back to the Miyanaga family, to show that they're struggling with issues that are longer-term, and may not necessarily be resolved this year.
I had to modify it slightly to take Maginot's new doctrine into account, since doing so also gave me an opportunity to use Eclair. It's also nice to contrast Maginot in the past to Maginot now, to show how different Kinue's challenges are from those her mother faced.
Caesar and Carpaccio's usernames are from the OVA. I decided to incorporate their friendship this time around, partly to show how Anzio has changed since last time, even if Anchovy in the OVAs is quite different from Anzio in the manga.
Edited to fix a few minor mistakes and clarify that Maginot's tradition is from the "old" team.