May 27, 2033

Friday

The Anglerfish Trio spent their lunchtime in the cafeteria. This time, they were accompanied by another girl who had twin braids, grey eyes, and a pair of glasses.

Eiko was the one to introduce her to her crew. "Yuna, Ayano, this is Yoshida Shiori. She's a friend of mine-"

"-Used to be a friend of yours," she rudely interrupted, surprising the two.

"O-Oh yeah, I forgot…" Eiko scratched the back of her head and everything quickly became awkward. "She'll be our driver from now on."

There was a short pause before Shiori said, "I'm only here because I want to do Senshadō, so I would appreciate it if you guys don't bother me."

"Ohh, a fellow Senshadō fan! Great to meet you!" Yuna exclaimed, leaning over to her.

The newcomer was taken aback by this. "Uhh, g-great to meet you too…"

Afterwards, the brunette immediately asked, "Hey, Shiori-san, who's your favorite commander?!"

"You've met her for five seconds and you're already asking her about this?" Eiko said.

"I don't have any favorites when it comes to commanders. I do, however, admire Reizei Mako very much."

"Ooh, based!"

"No way you just said that in 2033…" the redhead retorted disappointedly.

"Anyways, what're we doing later this afternoon? Is it just gonna be another target practice session? That's the only thing you guys've been doing since the club revived," Shiori asked, resting her head on her hand.

Yuna stuffed her face with food before replying, "Well, Nishizumi-sensei said we were gonna spice things up today. I wonder what that means…"

"We're gonna have a mock battle," Akira suddenly popped out from nowhere, startling the Anglerfish Team.

"Wah! Akira-senpai!" exclaimed Yuna.

The people on the neighboring tables quickly packed up and walked away out of fear, but the Anglerfish Team was used to the SC President's face by now.

Akira sat between Ayano and Eiko, facing Yuna directly. "I see you've recruited a new volunteer to your party?"

"Yeah man! We-"

"It's 'Yes Kaichou'" she corrected the commander, "Just because we're in the same club, doesn't mean you can talk to me however you want."

"Uhh right, Kaichou, sorry!" Yuna replied with a chuckle. Afterwards, she introduced Shiori to Akira.

"We also got someone to fill the gunner role," Eiko said.

"Where is she then?" the president asked while stealing an onigiri from Ayano's bento box.

"Uh well…" the commander hesitated to answer the question for a moment, but a glare from Akira got her to talk. "I-Ishikawa-san's in the Johannesburg right now. She doesn't really like company…"

"The Johannesburg? We can't have a delinquent in the club, you know? It'll seriously damage our reputation."

"No, no, you don't have to worry about anything, Kaichou, she won't cause any trouble!"

"She better not," Akira said before stealing another onigiri from Ayano. "...Because if anything bad happens, it'll be on you."

"I pinky promise!"

"You sound like a child, dude," Eiko remarked.

After giving Ayano her remaining food, Shiori told the president, "Mock battles alone won't prepare us for the tournament. We have to have a match against another school, right Kaichou?"

"That's already been arranged, Yoshida-san," she replied, pausing to take a sip from Eiko's soda can.

"Hey, what the hell!?"

Yuna leaned over to the president and exclaimed, "You mean we're actually gonna fight another school, Kaichou?!"

"Keep your voice down, Fujiwara. Yes we're having a match. It's scheduled next weekend on Saturday so we have plenty of time to practice. Oh, and speaking of practice, don't be late to the mock battle later, else you wanna get on Nishizumi-sensei's bad side." the Student Council President then stood up. "I'll be going now. Thanks for the meal."

"See ya, Kaichou!"

After Akira left, the tables next to the Anglerfish Team's were populated again.

Yuna breathed a sigh of relief and eased up. "Whew, that was some good food. I'm stuffed," she remarked before glancing at her watch, "Looks like the Fifth Period's about to start. Come on guys, let's get out of here. Oh, and thanks for coming over, Yoshida-san! You're welcome to sit at our table from now on, alright?"

"Yeah whatever..." she replied in a mutter.

The Anglerfish Team packed up and left the cafeteria, making their way to their respective classes.

That afternoon, the five crews gathered at the tank sheds, eager to start the day's session.

The Anglerfish Team arrived late as usual and they joined the crowd of people gathered before Miho Nishizumi who stood atop her Tiger H1.

While making her way towards the front by squeezing through the tightly packed crowd, Yuna encountered Bunko there, to her surprise.

"Wh-Whoa! Senpai?! What are you doing here?"

"Weren't you the one who called me here in the first place?"

"Y-Yeah, but I didn't expect you to arrive here before us!"

"I know my way around the Zuikaku. Hey, what the hell are you wearing?" Bunko asked as she noticed Yuna's dirty Oarai Senshadō jacket.

"It's Sawa Azusa-san's jacket from twenty years ago! Kaichou gave it to me since the school has no use for it."

"Well, if Azusa-san was here, she'd want you to clean that thing wouldn't she? Like, look at it. That thing's dusty as shit."

"I know it's dirty! I-I just wanna preserve it you know? I-It's got Azusa-san's blood on it, her tears... her- her sweat..." a perverted smile grew on Yuna's face. "I-It even smells... like her..."

Feeling creeped out, Bunko stepped a few feet away from her. "Umm, a-alright…" she paused for a second before asking, "Anywho, who's that on the tank?"

"That's our instructor of course! Nishizumi Miho! The legendary tank ace!"

"Miho who?" Bunko asked with a raised brow before her attention was grabbed by the instructor who was about to finish her speech.

"...Before we can even start this mock battle, you all first need to do some last-minute checkups on your tanks, see if anything's out of place. Afterwards, you're gonna make a drive towards your designated starting points inside the forest, marked on your maps. Now keep in mind, all of you need to use the knowledge you've learned from these past exercises. I know there's not a lot I've taught you so far, but we're only here today to see how you operate in a real battle. We can learn about strategies, weak spots, and concealment later. I'm counting on everyone today to do the best they can. Dismissed!"

Afterwards, the crews dispersed and mounted their tanks. Miho on the other hand drove over to the surveillance tower overlooking the tank sheds to get a better view of the match.

As the instructor waited patiently on the tower, Yuna led Bunko and Shiori over to the Panzer IV F2. Eiko and Ayano were doing checkups on the tank, checking if its tracks work, if its turret turns, or if it's fueled to full capacity.

"This is your tank? A Panzer IV F2?" Bunko asked.

"Yep! Found it ourselves!" replied Yuna proudly.

"Just like what Mako used to drive, huh…" Shiori muttered, adjusting her glasses as she took in the sight of the German medium. She then hauled herself up the tank and entered through the driver's hatch.

"I guess you weren't lying after all. You get to keep your money for now," Bunko crossed her arms. "So where do you need me?"

"Well… I was thinking you should be the gunner. You know, seeing as you used to be in the old Senshadō Club, and since the gunner's kinda the second most important role…"

"No dice, I'm thinking radio operator."

"Wh-What? But we already have a radio operator!"

"Reassign her to gunner then."

"E-Eiko can't shoot! I'm the commander here! I should be telling you where to sit!"

Bunko got irritated by this so she pulled out her stiletto from her leather jacket. Yuna squealed at the sound of it flicking as the blade revealed itself.

The brunette backed away while Bunko approached her. "You listen here dumbfuck. Just 'cuz you're the commander 'round here don't mean you're free to throw your weight around. Remember, I volunteered for this. You don't get to push me around like the lackeys you dragged along with you, understand?"

Yuna was backed into a wall, the knife inches from her skin. "I'm telling you I can't do it! Even if I wanted to, I can't! We've already been assigned our positions since day one, changing them would be breaking the rules!"

"Three minutes people! Hurry up, we don't have all day!" yelled Miho via a megaphone.

"O-Okay listen, how 'bout this? Five thousand! I'll give you an additional five thousand yen! How's that sound?" Yuna bargained. This was her last chance, though she slightly hoped for Bunko to refuse, seeing as she's flat broke right now.

The delinquent thought long and hard, so long in fact that it took her exactly three minutes before coming up with an answer.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll be the damn gunner..."

"G-Great! Thanks Ishikawa-senpai! N-Now is it okay for you if I pay by installments-"

"No, pay 'em by next Friday or you can forget working in the Donzoko."

"Oh come on!" the brunette whined before she was startled by the Bob Semple revving its engine. "Oh shit, we're moving! Come on Bunko-senpai! Before Nishizumi-sensei yells at us!"

The two mounted their tank just as the engines began to cough and sputter to life. Yuna entered through the commander's hatch, and this time stayed in the commander's seat instead of shifting over to the gunner's. A large grin was plastered on her face as she was finally in the role she wanted to have most. Bunko, on the other hand, squeezed through the turret's side hatch and sat on the gunner's seat.

"Everyone aboard? All right, Panzer vor!" Miho ordered all the tanks to move.

The Hetzer got out of the sheds first, followed by the StuG, then the Chaffee, then the Panzer IV, and finally the Bob Semple who was the slowest out of all the tanks. They all entered the forest and disappeared from Miho's watchful eyes.

The Panzer split up with the other tanks, just as the others did the same. Their destination was at Sector B-8 atop a small hill.

Whilst the German medium trod the rough terrain, Yuna stood outside her cupola in pure bliss as a warm wind blew on her hair. Today was a good day for a Senshadō match!

Yuna took a breath of fresh air to calm herself of her excitement, mixed with fear and anxiety.

Deep breaths Yuna... You can't be a tank ace if you're always on the brink of passing out... Deep breaths... You mustn't disappoint Nishizumi-sensei. You need to show her you're deserving of the commander position. You need to set a good example for your friends too! Who knows? Maybe one of 'em will follow in my footsteps when I grow up- the brunette was suddenly tipped forward as her tank began to slow down.

"Wh-What the heck's happening?!" she asked her crew via intercom.

"Take a guess," replied Shiori in a mildly annoyed tone.

Yuna turned around, only to be faced by a smoking engine. "Aw crap we broke down! Eiko get out here!"

"Alright hold on I'm coming!" the radioman's hatch opened for Eiko to crawl out. She took out a repair kit from inside the tank before hopping off and walking over to the rear of the vehicle to then climb on top of it again.

"Dammit this is the fourth time this week! I'm starting to think the Automotive Club's not doing their jobs..." Eiko complained as she opened the engine's hatch to start working on it.

"You know, if you're tired of being our engineer, I could just assign someone else," said Yuna who watched over her friend's labor.

"Nah, it's fine. I like getting my hands dirty from time to time. Beats sitting around in the operator's seat all day listening to the other folks' babble."

"W-Well alright, suit yourself. Anyways, I'll leave ya to it okay?"

"Sure" the redhead replied. Meanwhile Yuna sat down in the commander's seat, leaving the hatch open.

"So how's everyone doing? Ayano are you alright? You're gonna be loading plenty more shells than usual you know, so if you're having problems we can just switch."

"I-It's fine Yuna. I'm pretty used to lifting shells now. I've been... lifting weights at home," the bespectacled girl responded with the last part being in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"Look at you! Lifting weights? Pretty soon I'm gonna be the one hiding behind you!" the brunette said with a chuckle.

"Y-Yeah thanks…" she replied with a hint of a smile.

"Well how about you Ishikawa-senpai? How's being the gunner faring for ya?"

"It's nothing, " the delinquent responded with her arms crossed as she looked outside through the open side hatch. "The sooner I get out of this metal death shack the better."

"How come you don't like Senshadō? You're a veteran right? I heard a few of my senpais talking about you. They called you 'The Hawk' or something like that."

"How come you're always trying to butt into other people's lives? Don't privacy mean nothin' to you?"

"I-I'm just trying to get to know you..."

"Well give it up. I'm only here 'cause of the money. Not to be part of your little friend group."

Afterwards, Yuna heard footsteps above her right before Eiko hopped back inside. "The engine's all patched up. We can go now," she announced.

"Great! Advance, Shiori!"

"Gotcha commander," the driver replied rather unenthusiastically.

Yuna then took a look at her watch. "Nishizumi-sensei said we had twenty minutes to get to our positions... It's 5:13 right now, so I'm guessing we have about ten minutes to get there before the match starts."

The Panzer's interior was engulfed in silence for a while before Bunko succumbed to the boredom and decided to talk with Yuna

"Oi Yuna, lemme ask ya something real quick."

Yuna, who was lost in thought, humming the tune of Panzerlied, suddenly snapped out of it. "Wh-What? Oh Bunko, what is it?"

"How come you always go on and on about this 'becoming a tank ace' shit? The hell is that so special to you? And why the hell do ya need to remind everyone every single time? It's so fucking annoying, I just wanna know why you do it in the first place."

"Well..." the brunette paused as she stared at the metal ceiling. "I guess you could say I'm following in my mom's footsteps."

"So you're trying to be as irritating as her, if not even more?"

"What? No! My mom used to be a Jagdtiger commander in Kuromorimine, then a Hetzer commander when she transferred to Oarai in '13. She fought beside Nishizumi Maho and Sawa Azusa, Ishikawa-senpai! If that's not a person whose footsteps you wanna follow, then who is?"

"If you wanted to do Senshadō so bad then why not just transfer to another school? Saves me the trouble of meeting you in the first place."

"Well it's 'cause I'm broke! You took all of my money remember?"

"Ask your mom then."

"My mom's dead, asshole!" Yuna exclaimed in more of an annoyed tone than an offended one.

Bunko paused for a second. She must've regretted saying that. Nevertheless, she continued, "Your dad then?"

"He moved out a few years ago, shortly after mom died. I know he's still out there though, and I know he's gonna come back someday."

"So that means you live alone Yuna?" Eiko joined in.

"Yep! And it's great! You should try it sometime, Eiko!"

"I'd… rather not. Doesn't it bother you to be alone at such a young age?"

"Not at all. It's like living in paradise, Eiko! You get to choose which food you're having for dinner, you can sleep whenever you want, and you don't have anyone reminding you to clean up!"

"You sound really immature with that statement, Yuna."

"Hey! I'm 16? Whaddya expect?"

"For you to be less naïve? You're over here sounding like a five year old!" the redhead said with a chuckle.

"Aya-chan, come back me up here! Tell our good friend Eiko how nice it is to live on your lonesome!"

"I-I guess it's fine? I mean, I have more privacy and stuff..."

"Goddamn, am I the only one in this tank with parents?!" the ginger-haired radioman asked.

"Yep," the other four replied in unison.

"Oh, uh... Forget I asked then."

The crew went back to silence promptly afterwards. Over the course of the next six minutes, they slowly lost their patience. Getting to the starting position seemed impossible at that point.

Then all of a sudden, Shiori stopped the tank in the middle of the road.

"Hey uh, Yoshida-san, why'd we stop?"

"I'm uhh... I'm kinda lost," the driver admitted.

"Great..." Bunko muttered.

"Umm... Alright hold on, I'll take a look outside, check for landmarks," Yuna stood up and poked herself outside the cupola. Ayano and Eiko did the same using their respective hatches.

"So much for landmarks. It's just forest everywhere we look," the radioman remarked.

They suddenly heard a loud pop and turned their gazes heavenward. Up in the sky was a bright green orb which quickly fell to the ground. The three immediately realized it was a flare.

"Welp, the match just started," said Eiko.

A few seconds after the faint pop of a flare gun was the loud bang of a cannon. The Panzer IV was hit from the front but the shell bounced. Yuna and the others immediately retreated back inside.

"How'd they find us this fast!?" exclaimed the commander.

Bunko replied calmly, "Doesn't matter. We have a StuG directly in front of us," before she peered through the gun's sights and fired a shot.

The brunette jumped at the deafening shot. "Ah crap, I forgot to put on my earplugs!" she said, wincing from pain as she searched her pockets, fumbling for her ear protection. She soon pulled out a pair of olive and yellow-colored earplugs and hastily shoved them in her ears.

"A-Alright what's happening?!"

"They're getting away! You gonna do something about it?!" yelled Bunko.

"O-Oh right! Get after them, driver!"

"Ain't that a bad idea-"

"Just go!"

"Alright!"

Yuna stood up and poked out again. Her Panzer deviated from the dirt path and instead followed their enemy tank deeper into the foliage. Another shot came from ahead of them but missed the Panzer by a mile.

"Yuna! Get down here, you're gonna hit your head!" exclaimed Ayano.

"No, no it's fine! I got thi- oh shit!" Yuna put her arms up to shield herself from an incoming branch, resulting in the sleeve of her jacket getting ripped. The brunette learned her lesson and withdrew inside.

"Ishikawa-senpai why aren't we shooting!?"

"I can't shoot something that isn't there, dumbass! Fire some damn tracers for God's sake!" the delinquent exclaimed irritatedly.

"Eiko, you heard her!"

"I-I can't, the machine gun's friggin' loud!" she refused, but after another shot came from the StuG that grazed the tank, she quickly concurred.

What followed next was a never-ending stream of machine gun fire directed at the trees ahead of the Panzer. Yuna vigilantly searched for any indications of the StuG's location using the cupola slits, while Bunko used her gun to find her prey.

Eventually though, Hippo Team revealed themselves by firing another shot. Bunko saw the flash of the cannon and used the opportunity to approximate the StuG's location and fire off a shot of her own, but it never came.

"Wh-What the hell?! The gun's not loaded, what the fuck!?"

"Ayano! Load the gun!" the commander yelled.

"Sh-Shit! I'm- I'm sorry I forgot! I'll do it right away!"

"Stop apologizing and start loading dammit!" the gunner yelled, even more infuriated.

As Ayano bent down to grab a shell, Yuna somehow caught sight of the StuG through the dense vegetation. For some apparent reason, it was stationary, yet its gun still homed in on the Panzer.

"G-Gun ready!" Ayano announced.

"Alright, halt!" the brunette ordered, and the Panzer screeched to a halt. But before the commander yelled the order to fire, the StuG shot first, the shell merely grazing its mark. Yuna was given a second chance by God and she did not put it to waste.

"Fire!"

Bunko took a deep breath before pulling the trigger. The whole tank recoiled, causing Yuna to hit her head on the hull before Ayano ejected the shell casing out of the gun breech.

The tall bush behind which the Panzer hid was blown asunder, paving the way for the path of the shell. The StuG was directly in sight of the Anglerfish Team, clear from any obstructions. In the end though, the shot only bounced off the assault gun's roof.

"Shit, I've gone rusty..." Bunko muttered.

It was the StuG's turn to return fire again but thankfully, Hippo Team had an unskilled gunner as their shot missed completely and instead hit the ground near the Panzer. Shortly thereafter, the assault gun was suddenly shot in the back, ending its rather short life.

"What the hell?!" Yuna exclaimed before standing out of the cupola. In front of her was the smoking husk of the StuG III F. Behind it, obscured by the trees, was a sizable body of water that glistened in the sun.

We're at the lake! she made a mental note.

The two hatches on the sides of the Panzer's turret then swung open and out came Ayano and Bunko, who both had equally confused faces.

"Wh-Who could've killed that thing?"

"Must be a tank behind it," the delinquent replied before she quickly withdrew back inside. She was right, as Yuna heard the rumbling of an engine before the Student Council's Hetzer emerged from the trees into view. Its sides were fully exposed only for a moment before it quickly faced its tough frontal armor towards the Panzer.

"Another tank destroyer. Just great..." sneered Bunko as Ayano punched in another shell into the gun breech.

"Let's end this here! Fire!"

The loader covered her ears just as Bunko pushed the trigger. Ayano expected Yuna to be yelling her lungs out in victory then, but she was suddenly sent reeling onto the floor, causing her glasses to launch themselves from her face.

The Panzer was hit directly in the front by the Hetzer, resulting in its defeat.

Yuna once again hit her head on the hull and she sat dazed on the commander's seat, rubbing her aching head.

"We've... We've been totaled!" the brunette said in between grunts of pain.

"Yeah no shit," Bunko replied, her arms crossed as she sat on her seat unharmed.

"G-Guys! I lost my glasses!" exclaimed a panicked Ayano as she fumbled around to find her spectacles.

"Ugh... my friggin' head..." Shiori moaned groggily.

"How'd that even happen? We shot first!" Eiko asked before she opened the hatch above her and crawled out. Shiori followed suit, Bunko did the same using the side hatch, and right after Ayano found her undamaged glasses and put them on her face was when Yuna got out via the commander's hatch.

Yuna hopped off the Panzer IV and walked over to the destroyed StuG where its crew was also crawling out of. Beside it was the Hetzer, also destroyed, though its crew much preferred staying inside. Not because they were too ashamed to show their faces, but probably because they didn't want to spend any more energy and just sit around; as expected of the slothful Student Council.

"That was a good match Takeda-dono! You really got us with that sneak attack in the forest," complimented Yuna, looking up at the samurai girl as she pulled Sherman out.

"We... We could've beaten you, you know? If only... Wittmann was less of an idiot and actually managed to hit something," Takeda threw Sherman off the tank and Joan came next.

"How'd you even know where we were going in the first place?" the brunette tilted her head.

"Warrior's Intuition," she replied but Joan told the actual answer.

"Nah, we were just kinda sitting there, waiting for anyone to pass by. It kinda worked I guess."

The brunette covered her mouth and giggled as Takeda sighed, hiding her embarrassment, before dropping Joan to the ground. She then hopped off and let Wittmann crawl out by herself.

The samurai girl noticed the destroyed Hetzer beside her as well as Yuna's broken Panzer in the distance and was left puzzled. "Wait, if your tank is destroyed, and the Student Council's tank is also destroyed... then who won?"

"I guess the guy who shot first?" answered Yuna.

"We can't determine who though. There's no cameras here who could've taken a video," Sherman said.

Suddenly, Akira popped out of the Hetzer's commander's hatch and said, "Rabbit Team won."

Yuna and Takeda then turned to the SC president. "What was that again?" asked the brunette.

"I said the freshmen won. Nishizumi-sensei reported it on the radio herself."

"How is that possible? They only have machine guns as armaments," the samurai girl asked.

Akira propped her chin on the palm of her hand and replied, "I dunno. They must've hid somewhere discreet and waited for us to kill each other. They should consider themselves pretty lucky."

"What about the old Volleyball Team?"

"Hmph, we killed them pretty easily." answered the president with a smirk.

"Hey guys can we get out of here? Place's full of mosquitoes..." Yuna said as she swatted a few bugs in the air.

"Hold on, I'll call in the tow truck," Akira replied.

It took a few minutes before the tow truck came and picked up the three crews along with the Panzer IV. Once they arrived back at the tank sheds, they hopped off and found out that the Chaffee and the Bob Semple were already there.

The Bob Semple sat motionless in the middle of the field, its engines smoking as the six crewmen danced on top of it like a bunch of Russians at a campfire.

The Chaffee's crew on the other hand were just silently sitting on theirs as they each held ice-cold bottles of water, some using them to put pressure on their bruises.

"Well, that's my job done... I'm outta here." Bunko then walked away from Yuna and the others.

"Hey wait, Bunko! Where are you going?!"

"Where else? The Donzoko Bar. Don't ask me to come here ever again."

The brunette commander then ran over to Bunko to try and stop her. "Wait! Wait! I paid you! You said you'd be my gunner right?"

"Yeah, for one battle. Now leave me alone and go back to your friends. And don't ask me for anything again, got it?" the delinquent pushed Yuna away and she in turn stopped following her.

"B-But I need a gunner!"

"Do it yourself. You look capable enough."

"Fuck..." Yuna sighed in disappointment before she went back to her friends.

"So what happened?" asked Eiko.

"She quit..." Yuna answered despondently, her head bowed down.

Ayano, who stood beside her, gave her friend a reassuring hand on the shoulder. "Don't worry Yuna, we can still manage."

Shiori joined in, "Yeah, you weren't doing much on the commander's seat anyway. You can at least make yourself useful as a gunner."

"Hey, looks like Nishizumi-sensei's about to make her closing speech," announced Eiko, "Let's talk about this later alright?"

The four went over to their instructor, who had gathered the other crews as she stood atop her Tiger H1.

"Good work today, ladies! You're almost ready to compete in an actual Senshadō match. A few more mock battles and we'll be set. Now there's a lot we need to work on, and we will work on it, so make sure to rest aplenty this weekend. As you know, we'll be having a match with Bellwall next Saturday, so we'll be having a ton of practice in the following days. Dismissed!"

"Thank you for your hard work!" they all bowed.

As Yuna and Ayano made their way home shortly after club activities ended, the bespectacled girl noticed Yuna had been wearing a somewhat melancholic expression ever since they left the school grounds.

"Uhh, Yuna? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh Aya-chan, it's- it's nothing. I-I'm just feeling overwhelmed is all."

"Overwhelmed?"

Yuna sighed, "Yeah... This week has been friggin' crazy Ayano. So much has happened that my mind can't process it all! It's like my brain's overheating from all this information I'm absorbing!"

"I can feel you on that," Ayano replied, "Our lives have suddenly come to a drastic change ever since the Senshadō Club was reintroduced. I think everyone's feeling the same as you, though they're just hiding it better. A-Anyways, it's Saturday tomorrow so there's that. You should take a rest, Yuna. Clear your mind of the stress the responsibility of being a commander has put on you okay?" she then gave Yuna - who was significantly taller than her - a headpat.

"Y-Yeah sure," a smile formed on the brunette's face. She then turned to Ayano and said, "Thank you Aya-chan. I'm grateful for being your friend."

"And I'm grateful for you too, Yuna! Now come, let's get to the station. We can buy you tons of Yakisoba Pan there!"

All semblances of energy seemed to have returned to Yuna as she heard those words. "Hell yes! Come on, before they're all gone!" she took Ayano by the hand and began to run.

"Wa-Wait my glasses are gonna come off again!"

Suddenly being assigned to be the commander of the Senshadō Team out of the blue had placed a lot of stress and anxiety upon Yuna. She hoped the weekend would help to ease her mind and give her some breathing room to think for next week, she needed to prove herself worthy of such a position.

To be continued…