So, I started working on this a while ago. Hope you all like it! I'm doing my best, and switching around the focus a little. I know nothing of the military, so Yukari is hard to write for.
Erwin paced around her room, bored for the fourth hour strait. If someone walked in at that moment, she might actually consider talking to them…and being civil about it.
"No one's going to come in Riko~."
"Why do you just vanish randomly and then re-appear? Like, that's weird, even for people who are actually crazy. Or…I think. I don't know." Erwin continued to pace around her room, the apparition of Caesar sitting on her bed.
"Why do you continue to talk to me even though you know I'm not actually here?" The illusion countered, smiling the same way Caesar did whenever she won an argument.
"Because it's something to do." Erwin spoke as if she were discussing nothing more than the weather. Her pacing continued, her tail waving gently behind her of its own accord.
"Hey, Riko." The blond stopped her pacing to look at the imaginary person she called a friend, her hair unconsciously still flowing despite no wind. "What would you say if you turned into something more powerful?"
"What do you mean?"
Caesar stayed quiet, ignoring the question the blond asked. The brown haired apparition waved her hand, indicative of dismissal. Erwin fell silent again and resumed her pacing, adding a small spin every now and again as if she were performing some other worldly dance with music only she could hear.
"That would be pretty awesome." The blond stated after quite a while. Her pacing was filled with more spinning than actual walking. Caesar simply smiled, watching her companion as she spun around the room.
"Thought you might like the idea." The apparition stated after another minute. Erwin continued to pace her room, humming to herself as she marched around. "That's the same song you sung with Guderian when you two went on recon during our match with Pravda, right?"
"That's correct." The blond confirmed, resuming her humming. She suddenly picked up the manual provided for her and began reading it, being mildly bored.
"I wonder if your team would replace you?"
Erwin stopped her reading and looked up at the apparition. "Why would you say that?" She questioned.
"Well, you have been missing for a while, soooo…"
"Then Miho would have to replace Guderian, and I'm willing to bet she doesn't want to do that." Erwin countered, as her version of Caesar pointed out the obvious.
"You never know Riko~." The overly bubbly fake girl spoke, smiling sweetly as if she hadn't just insulted Erwin.
Erwin huffed quietly and resumed reading the manual, her tail and ears flicking every once in a while. "I like to think I'm more important than that." Erwin replied after some time, still reading.
"We can't just replace them!" Caesar hissed, glaring at Anzu. The shorter girl had been informed that Erwin had been kidnapped, and Yukari had gone after her. And her immediate response was to inform everyone that they were going to participate in the tournament this year again, and that stand-ins would be required for both tanks.
"Well, we can't just sit out of the competition. Our school is still in the grey zone even with all the deals we've made." Miho pointed out. She didn't really like the idea either, but from a logical standpoint, there was no option. And she figured Erwin would be quite pleased to have a home to come back to after everything she could possibly be put through.
Caesar growled. She was still upset at Yukari; Saemonza and Oryou thankfully shared the same sentiment; but she was also worried about Erwin.
People were…Irreplaceable. Sure, they could probably find someone to man the radio, tell them when to fire, and relay instructions and plans before the tournament season started, but no one would do it with the same enthusiasm as Erwin. Sure, people would laugh at them and potentially catch on to their jokes, but who could come up with parts of a haiku on the spot, or state a comparison from history that- while maybe not totally accurate- fit the situation well enough for everyone to understand?
"Fine! But we get to make the final decision!" Caesar stated, throwing her scarf over her shoulder. The final statement in this conflict that she would not budge on.
"I agree to this. We have to get along with them if we are forced to work with them day in and day out." Oryou supplied, kicking her legs idly from her perch on their tank. Saemonza grunted her approval, nodding her head from her own perch on their tank.
"Well then! I suggest we get the interviews underway to find you four another teammate!" Anzu cheered, waving her arm in the direction of the cargo doors.
Standing there were a few dozen girls fidgeting nervously, each one looking only partially excited to be part of the tankery team. Caesar was more than happy to introduce her face to her hand.
"And then, one of anteater's team members shows up, all soaking wet from the rain and looking creepy. And everyone screams. In hindsight it was hilarious!" Erwin continued, Schrödinger was sitting on her dresser, watching her as she paced about her room and talked about the various adventures she had had with her team. "Then, Saemonza had the brilliant idea of trying to help her with the scary story she was trying to tell. Hindsight: hilarious; at the time: very effective at scaring us." Erwin laughed, straightening out her uniform.
"Well, they do sound fun!" The cat boy stated, perking up a little at the girl's improved mood.
"They are awesome! I mean, it's so much fun to tease Oryou because she makes the most adorable angry faces; she's just one of those people. Then there's Saemonza who is awesome at telling scary stories! Like, I don't even know how she does it, but she does! And Caesar can speak Latin and Italian! I didn't even know you could still learn Latin!" Erwin cheered, gushing about her teammates. "Commander Miho is an amazing strategist, and she always puts her heart into it! Saori is pretty flighty, but she's a good person at heart. Mako is the best driver on our team and the smartest person in school!"
"What about you?" Erwin turned to look at Schrödinger, her ears perking up subconsciously in curiosity.
"What do you mean?"
"Well…" Schrödinger sighed, stretching before hopping off the dresser that had been his perch for the past half hour, "you talked about all your teammates, but skipped right over yourself. I'm sure they all know they're good at those things, but what about you Erwin?" He asked, leaning forward with his arms behind his back like a female who was trying to seduce a man for information would. "What is your hidden talent?"
Erwin was quiet. She didn't really have a secret talent that her team knew of; and sewing didn't count, a bunch of other girls on the team were really good at that too. "Um, nothing really. I'm just average." Erwin replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"Eh~? I don't believe that~!" Schrödinger sang, hopping over to her and hugging her. "You have to be good at something that people aren't normally good at!" Erwin growled as she tried to pry herself from the cat boy's grip.
"I'm good at sewing, but so are a bunch of other girls!"
"So~? I'm sure you make awesome things!"
"They are garbage!" Erwin hissed, finally pulling free of Schrödinger. With a sigh, she thought of anything she had ever tried or could do, and they all had an unfortunate thing in common. They were either boring or…
"Bad choices. I'm really good at making bad or stupid choices." Erwin stated tiredly; her ears and tail drooping. She didn't want to think about how she always screwed up, or how she always made a fool of herself.
Schrödinger stared at her, an ear flicking as he remained silent. "I highly doubt that counts as a special talent." He stated at last, crossing his arms over his chest. "Surely you have to be good at something else other than making mistakes."
Erwin shrugged. If she was good at something, she had no idea what it was. That was mostly fine with her, it wasn't like a special talent was required. Schrödinger huffed, stomping his foot and uncrossing his arms. "Well, then lie to me about something!" He groaned, throwing his hands up in over-exaggerated exasperation.
"Hey, when you figure it out feel free to tell me." Erwin replied, lying on her bed as Schrödinger stood by and watched her.
She was strange, so normal, but she also held so much potential. If Doc had just messed up even a little, they'd all be dead by now. Too bad this wasn't one of those timelines.
