Quick Note : To avoid confusion, words that are spoken in a foreign language are formatted in Italic like "this"
Words that aren't in Italic are being spoken in Japanese a.k.a Oarai's primary language.
Wednesday, 3rd Week of June, 2033
It was a day like any other. Yuna had just boarded the morning train to the Mito District. She held a Yakisoba Pan in her mouth as she searched the train car for any vacant seats.
Today was a slow day it seems, as the trains were emptier than usual. It wasn't like it bothered Yuna, she actually preferred this more than the claustrophobic nightmare she was accustomed to.
Once she found a nice spot to sit in, the brunette pulled out her phone and began tapping away, closing herself off from the outside world until she arrives at her station.
As she did, someone sat beside her and from the looks of it, the person wore the Oarai Girls' uniform too. Curious as to who this person was, Yuna turned her phone off and decided to open up conversation with the stranger.
Yuna's eyes widened though, at the sight of an unfamiliar face: a foreigner! The brunette knew it as so. The girl who stood before her was much taller than her, taller than any normal girl in Oarai for that matter. The foreigner in question had long wavy shoulder-length blonde hair and eyes that were as blue as the seas the Zuikaku sailed in.
As Yuna gawked at the stranger, the blonde girl began to take notice, so Yuna immediately turned away. It was too late though as she was found out.
The foreigner then spoke in perfect English, "Ayy, what's good my G? I see you're part of Oarai too? What class you in?"
Yuna paused in confusion for a moment as she stared dumbfounded at her fellow schoolmate. Crap! I should've taken that English Proficiency Test more seriously! Too late now! I need to talk or else this conversation will turn awkward! she then opened her mouth and uttered a few words. "U-Uh... M-My name is... Fujiwara... Yuna... H-How are you?" immediately, she noticed her fault. Crap! I should have said 'Nice to meet you' first!
The foreigner tilted her head as she didn't get the answer to her question. Nonetheless, she continued conversation.
"Uhh, I'm... fine, thank you..." she said awkwardly.
Yes! At least I got that right!
"U-Umm, wha- what is your name?" Yuna asked next.
The foreigner paused for a second, she was now just as confused as Yuna was. "Umm, Kelly. Kelly Anderson. Nice to meet ya!"
Damn, she's so good at pronouncing R! A-Anyways, American people say their surnames last right? Yuna then replied with a smile, "N-Nice to meet you too, Anderson-san."
"Huh? It's just Anderson, not 'Anderson-san'."
Panic set in to Yuna again. Shit! D-Did I call her the wrong honorific or something? Goddammit, I can't do this anymore! Where's my dictionary when I need it!?
The two then sat in awkward silence for about a minute as they didn't know what to say next. Kelly then broke the silence when she said, "So uhh... What class you in bro?"
Yuna flinched in surprise, Ah crap, not again! I think she's just asking the same question again... "Umm... 2-C... Class 2-C. Wh-Where is your class?"
"2-C?! Ayy that's only a couple rooms from mine!" Kelly then suddenly placed a hand on Yuna's right shoulder and pulled her in for a hug of sorts. "Yessirrr, we finna be homies my G!"
Wh-Why's she so clingy?! Is this how Eiko feels when I do this? Yuna pondered as she was embraced by the foreigner.
Pretty soon, the two made it out of the station and now walked their way to the school. On the way, Kelly was bombarding Yuna with questions, all relating to school. Yuna didn't understand most - if not all - of them so she just gave half assed answers.
Soon enough, they made it to the school gate, but there they were faced with a difficult obstacle to get through: a Public Morals Committee member.
Upon seeing the girl standing beside the school gate, Yuna quickly grew a sour expression, Dammit, I'm friggin late...
"Hey uhh, Fujiwara?" Kelly, who stood beside her, asked, "Who's that? And why's she yelling at that other girl?"
"Umm... That... is very angry... gate lady. She yells at us if we are late."
"Ah, a Public Morals Committee girl eh?" the blonde then for some reason rolled up her sleeves and began stretching, "Don't worry my G, I'll take care of her. I'm like a femme fatale in this bih." she walked over to the Committee girl determinedly.
Two minutes later and Kelly failed to suave her way into school grounds. She was now getting pressed by the Committee member.
"...And who the hell are you anyway? Your face doesn't look familiar..." she said with an inquisitive look and pressed further. "You haven't even given me a name ever since you got here! This is looking suspicious..."
"I-It's Kelly Anderson man, relax! I-I'm a foreign exchange student!" the frightened foreigner said.
The Committee member's eyes widened in confusion and she immediately backed off. The student she was confronting had just spoken a full sentence in English; a language she had barely no knowledge of.
"U-Umm, w-wha?" the Committee member tilted her head.
Kelly didn't know what to do as well. She looked around for some way to advance this confusing conversation and noticed Yuna standing a few feet behind her. She turned around and pointed at the schoolgirl. "H-Hey Fujiwara, get over here!"
Yuna flinched in surprise. "M-Me?"
"Yeah! Come over here!" Kelly gestured for her to come to which she reluctantly did. Once close enough, Kelly grabbed the girl by the shoulder and dragged Yuna in front of her, showing her off to the confused Committee member.
"Fujiwara-san?" asked the Committee member.
"Uh yeah! Fujiwara-san here, is a friend of mine. A-Ain't that right?"
What the hell is she saying? both Yuna and the member thought.
Dammit, I can't get through this girl! Kelly gritted her teeth in frustration. Should've bought one of those language books they give tourists!
The three stood at the gates in a minute of pure confusion. No one understood each other so no one moved a muscle. It would seem the three would turn into statues but they were interrupted by Akira Kawashima – the Student Council president – who conveniently walked by. She appeared behind the Committee member with a face of perplexity similar to theirs.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked.
The Committee member gasped in surprise and her tone completely changed. She was the one who's panicked now. "K-Kaichou! I-I'm reprimanding these two! They've shown up to school late. S-Surely it's a just cause for punishment?"
Akira crossed her hands and glared at her. "Well, how about you stop blocking their way before they get late to class? Don't you think you're the reason they're late all the time?"
"O-Of course, Kaichou..." the Committee member quickly followed the President's order. She moved aside and let Yuna and Kelly in. The foreigner quickly thanked Akira before hastily moving on with her day. Yuna did too but she was given some parting words by the President.
"You owe me one, commander."
Yuna looked over her shoulder and nodded as she walked in a brisk pace into the school building.
After the two left, Akira had to now deal with the Committee member. The president turned to her, causing the member to flinch.
"Hey, you know who that tall blonde girl was?"
"N-No idea, Kaichou! I don't recognize her face from anywhere."
"Hmm... weird" Akira muttered before taking a glance at her watch. "Well, first period's about to start. I'll just look into that... odd girl later."
It was now lunchtime. Eiko and Ayano walked to the cafeteria without their commander - as Yuna had decided to go ahead of them - and along the way, they caught stares from the students standing by the halls. The two could hear their names be mentioned from their murmurs so in a way, it bothered them.
"W-What's up with them? Why're they looking at us like that?" Ayano whispered as she retreated behind Eiko as if that would ever do anything to hide her.
"Calm down this happens all the time. It's 'cause we're in the Senshadō Club. Pretty natural since we're going up against one of the most popular schools in Japan."
"Saunders?"
"Yep. Word on the street is they're the ones we're going up against next. Everyone wants nothing more than to meet someone from Saunders. Students there are like movie stars; they even look like 'em. We're one of the few who're given the chance to face 'em so you know... cheer up!" Eiko comforted her friend with a smile.
The two arrived at the cafeteria and looked around. There was an abundant amount of students who had their lunch there but a particular pair stood out.
Over at one of the tables by the large windows of the cafeteria sat Yuna and with her, the foreign girl from earlier. The Senshadō Club's commander had four Yakisoba Pan as lunch while the blonde girl had onigiri.
"Oh so there she is." remarked Eiko upon seeing the two. "Seems like our commander really can strike up a friendship with anyone."
Ayano came up from behind her and said, "Hey I know that girl!"
"Huh? You mean blondie over there?"
"Yeah" she replied with a nod. "There's a rumor going around. Says she's a spy from Saunders."
"And where'd you hear this from?" Eiko tilted her head.
"Muranaka-san from the Broadcasting Club. She's a walking encyclopedia of rumors."
"Huh... I thought Yuna was your only friend."
"Muranaka-san and I aren't friends." the bespectacled girl denied, "W-We're more like... associates."
"Uh huh... Anyways, this spy girl got a name?"
"Anderson Kelly. People say she's actually one of Saunders' vice commanders in disguise."
"Wait, if she's a vice commander why doesn't anybody recognize her?"
"Eh you know, she just has one of those forgettable faces."
"Wow, that's a bit harsh..." Eiko paused for a second when her stomach groaned. "Hey, let's talk about the rumors and stuff later. I gotta eat."
"S-Sure, me too Eiko."
The two then walked around the cafeteria and found an empty table to sit in where they ate their bento as they chatted about the mundane. Meanwhile, over on Yuna's table, Kelly had two whole onigiris in her mouth. She swallowed the entire stuff whole as if it was nothing. Meanwhile, Yuna just stared in awe at her friend's mouth's absolute size capacity.
She's like a gulper eel...
After licking her fingers clean, Kelly noticed Yuna still had one Yakisoba Pan in her hand.
"Hey uh... You gonna eat that?" she asked, pointing to the sandwich.
Yuna directed her eyes to where Kelly was pointing. "Oh uhh... Y-Yakisoba Pan! V-Very... oishī!"
"Uhh what?" Kelly raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Uhh, how to say... Very... good taste!" Yuna then rubbed her belly, gesturing that the piece of bread is actually edible.
"I... I know. Could you like, give it to me? I-If you want to of course."
Yuna's eyes then widened in realization. "Ohhhhh right! H-Here!" she finally gave Kelly the sandwich which she devoured in an instant.
"Mmm that shit was 'bussin' bussin' on God! You eat this stuff everyday, Yuna?" Kelly exclaimed in satisfaction, leaning back on her seat.
The commander was left in awe once again. She could barely make up any words and only uttered, "H-How..."
"Hmm? Well, once you get used to shoving three burgers up your mouth eveyday, any other food is like oatmeal."
The two had a moment of silence so that Yuna's brain could catch a break from translating every word Kelly said.
Never thought I'd see the day I'd be talking to an American person... I never thought it'd be this hard either...
Yuna was pulled out of her thoughts when Kelly exclaimed, "Ooh! Hey look at that!" as she pointed outside the window.
Yuna looked and saw one of the Senshadō Club's tanks - the StuG - driving around, clearly trying to show off. The remaining students at the cafeteria who hadn't returned to their classrooms rushed to the windows to observe.
"Ah, the Senshadō Club. Looks like Hippo Team's on advertisement duty today." the commander remarked.
Kelly turned to Yuna, her eyes gleaming of exhilaration. "Hey, I didn't know you guys had a Tankery Club! C-Can I join though?"
Yuna was once again left in confusion. "Tankery?"
"You know! The thing that you saw just now! That tank in the window!"
The heck's a 'tank'? the commander thought.
Kelly sighed and pulled out a pen. And with that pen, she drew something on her palm. She then showed the drawing to Yuna. It was a tank drawn crudely with a small little star on the turret.
The commander's eyes widened when she saw the almost unrecognizable scribble. "Ahh so that's what she meant." she then looked up at Kelly. "Y...Yes, uhh... I take you to... tank... parking place."
"You mean your tank sheds? Sure!" Kelly stood up. "Lead the way!"
But Yuna stayed in her seat and waved her hands around, gesturing denial. "No! No! No go! Later, after uhh... period!"
"Oh uh, sure. I can wait!" replied Kelly with a smile. After that, she noticed her watch beeping. "Oh, looks like 5th period's boutta begin. Aight Imma head out. I'll catch you later B." and with that, Kelly walked out of the cafeteria.
"Uhh yeah. Bye... B..."
With the foreigner gone, Yuna leaned back on her seat and let out a loud and exhausted sigh.
Holy crap I really should've taken those English Proficiency tests seriously! This is painful!
After a few minutes, Yuna got up and headed to her class.
50 minutes later...
The fifth period had just ended and now the students populated the halls and lounged around in their classrooms.
Inside Class 2-E, people sat around, minding their own business. Some stood in the corners and formed little circles. Some were at their seats, chatting with their peers. You could say that they were... vibing.
This peace however, was quickly broken when one of the doors of the classroom slid open and in came Akira Kawashima, instantly recognized as the Student Council President due to her sporting a monocle of sorts. Along with her came Makoto Nagama, the Vice President.
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and sat down. Akira emitted an authoritative aura, meaning she wasn't here for a casual chat.
The President stood behind the blackboard, her hands behind her back and her demeanor like that of a drill sergeant.
"Good afternoon everyone! I'm here on official Senshadō business, so don't waste my damn time! Where is 2nd Year Student, Anderson Kelly's seat?"
One of the students raised her hand which got the President's attention. "Um, Kelly-san sits next to me, Kaichou. I-Is she in any trouble?"
"And you are?"
"S-Shirai Misaki ma'am."
"I suppose that empty desk next to yours is Anderson's?"
"Uh yeah. She's gone out to 'meet a friend' or so she says."
Akira and Makoto looked at each other and nodded in agreement to something. They then went over to the vacant desk next to Misaki. There was a bag laid on the chair, assumed to be in Kelly's possession. The president brought it up to the desk and opened it, revealing a bunch of books, papers, and other school items. Among them was a notebook, small enough to fit in one's pocket. It had a green leather cover.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?! Y-You can't steal her stuff!" Misaki exclaimed.
Makoto quickly shut her up by slamming her hands on Misaki's desk. "We won't have any problems now would we?" she said to which the girl nervously nodded. "Then shut your yap and let her search."
Akira opened the small book and skimmed through it. Unfortunately, the writing was in English which she couldn't comprehend save for a handful of words and phrases.
"Panzer IV F2 v...variant. Possible... flagtank... High... pr...priority target. Hey Makoto, you know what 'priority' means?"
"Sorry ma'am, no clue."
"Hmm, either way... these are very peculiar notes. Not one that a normal, average student would be writing. Something's up here..."
After trying to read and pronounce a few more excerpts from the book, Akira turned around to Makoto and told her to "Get this book translated. We need to know what Anderson's up to. Ask around the library, if no one's able to, then talk to that history buff cosplaying as that American general. Maybe she knows." the President handed her the book.
"Alright, I'll try my best. What'll you do, Kaichou?"
"Well, I'm gonna have a small chat with our friend here. See what she knows."
The Vice President nodded before walking out of the classroom, leaving Akira to the interrogation.
The President pulled up a seat and sat in front of Misaki. "Alright, we're pretty short on time. The 6th Period's bound to begin any moment so you better answer my questions, quick. Otherwise, the Student Council's gonna take an interest in you."
"I-I'll tell you what I know, Kaichou. I promise I won't lie."
Akira gave the girl her usual stern look and said, "You better be..."
"So firstly, what's your relationship with Anderson-san?"
"Relationship? Well, I'd say we're acquaintances. We met a few days ago at the uhh... place where they sell tank parts, and figures, and other stuff. It's the one near the market place. After the little conversation we had over there, we've hardly talked since. It's not the first time I've seen her though. I've recognized her in my class before, I just didn't bother talking to her."
"So what happened at the tank store?"
"I found out she shares the same interest as me; that being Senshadō."
"Interesting... So what exactly did you talk about, regarding Senshadō?"
"Oh nothing much. We just talked about the upcoming Saunders fight. The conversation didn't go anywhere though. We just went around in circles debating the outcome of the match. In the end we agreed that it'll be a draw."
"So she didn't ask you anything about our Senshadō team?"
"Uh... no, not exactly. Only question she asked me was how to join the club."
"We found a notebook inside her bag. It's in English but I could still understand a few sentences from it. Do you know anything about it?"
"Uhh... n-no, not exactly. Kelly-san kinda keeps to herself. I've only known about that notebook since you pulled it out."
"You're being economical with the truth, Shirai. Anderson's a social butterfly. She's only met Fujiwara Yuna a few hours ago and now they're already close friends. A person like that couldn't possibly 'keep to herself'. What do you have to hide?"
"I-I'm not hiding anything!" she said before sighing, "That notebook's actually her journal of sorts. She doesn't want anybody looking or talking about it other than her."
"You expect me to believe that, Shirai?!" Akira yelled to force her to confess.
"Y-You can believe whatever you want! I'm telling the truth!"
Dammit, this is going nowhere. This girl's tough. Either she's in kahoots with Anderson and just won't tell it; or she really doesn't know her at all. Only thing left to do now is to check out what happened with that book...
"You're off the hook for now, Shirai. But don't think we're done." said Akira in a threatening tone before standing up. And with that, the investigation ended. The President left the room right before the teacher entered.
A minute later, Akira met Makoto in the hallways.
"I've managed to translate a bit of the book Kaichou. Turns out it's a journal." she said before handing Akira the notebook.
"Yeah, Shirai told me. Tell me what you found out."
"Well, unfortunately... She's not what we thought she was."
"What?"
"Yeah. That part with the Panzer was just her giving her thoughts on the match. Turns out she's just a really big Senshadō fan. Maybe even bigger than Fujiwara is."
"You're sure?"
"Yes I'm sure. I asked the people from the library like you told me."
"Huh... I guess those rumors about her were just rumors at the end of the day. Geez, Oarai just gets weirder and weirder everyday. First we got girls cosplaying as old people and now we have students who can't even speak our language..." Akira then sighed in disappointment. "Welp, that's 10 minutes of my life wasted..."
"So what now, Kaichou?"
"Just get back to class. Oh, and don't forget about practice. I wouldn't want the Vice President to be late."
"Hey, don't even worry about it. I'm never late." Makoto replied before she walked away.
After 6th period ended, those who were in the Senshadō Team made their way to the tank garages to start their daily practice. Their overall commander, Yuna was first to arrive with her newly acquired friend, Kelly.
The green, rusty doors of the garage slowly opened, revealing the Anglerfish Team's Panzer IV causing the blonde girl to gasp in awe.
"That's one big ass tank!"
"Uhh... yes! This is... Panzer IV, Ausf F2. Very... strong tank. C-Come! Please look!" replied Yuna before leading Kelly in, giving her a closer look at the pride of Oarai's Senshadō Team.
"A Panzer IV F2... 7.5 centimeter KwK 40 L/43 cannon, 50mm thick armor, and it even has a small little fish symbol on the turret! This thing's beautiful!"
What the hell did she just say? thought Yuna with a puzzled expression. Meanwhile, the history buffs arrived.
"Hey, who's this?" asked Takeda upon arrival. She and her three other comrades cast their curious eyes at the blonde girl near the Panzer IV. Kelly returned the favor and stared at them in confusion too.
"Uhh, are you guys cosplaying or something?"
"Hey, William. What'd she say?" Takeda whispered to Sherman.
"Something about... cosplay?"
Upon seeing the Hippo Team arrive, Yuna quickly walked over and stood between them and her friend.
"G-Guys! This is Kelly! She's a foreign exchange student! I'm just showing her around."
"Exchange student? What is this, a slice of life anime?" Wittmann joked.
"It's true! You heard her speak English right?" said Yuna, not noticing that Kelly was climbing inside her tank.
"English? I thought she was speaking German?"
"Since when did you come to that conclusion?" Takeda asked.
"You're a dumbass Michael." Sherman said with chuckle.
"Speaking of which, where is this 'Foreign Exchange Student' you speak of?" Jean d'Arc - the Hippo Team's driver - said.
"Huh? She's right behind me." Yuna turned around to see no one. "U-Uhh, where is she?"
She then jumped in surprise when Kelly suddenly popped out of the Panzer IV's hatch like a rabbit from a magician's hat. In her hands was a green JGSDF officer's coat which was stained and had a mild scent of alcohol.
"Hey guys, what the hell is this?" the American asked.
"That looks like the instructor's officer's tunic." said Wittmann.
Soon, Miho herself walked in on the situation. "Okay people, practice is about to start, stop horsing around and get ready to... Uhh... What are you guys doing? And who's that on my tank?"
Yuna was the first to notice Miho. "U-Uhh, N-Nishizumi-sensei! Th-This is... This is Anderson Kelly! Sh-She's new here! She's uhh... a foreign exchange student..." the brunette said in incoherent stutters.
The instructor ignored Yuna and turned her attention to the blonde girl in the tank. After squinting her eyes, she could see her old officer's tunic in her hands. "Is that my coat?"
Miho walked over to the tank after which Kelly gave her her uniform back. "Huh... I thought I lost it." she then gave it a sniff. "Hmm, this was from that night with Emi. I guess I forgot I left it here." Miho then turned to Yuna who stood frozen. "This is one of my only two coats you know. You should've given it to me when you found it."
Throughout this whole conversation, Miho stayed calm, showing no sign of hostility or suspicion whatsoever but for some reason, Yuna felt the need to apologize by doing a Dogeza pose. Everyone was equally confused.
"Forgive me Nishizumi-sensei! For I have dirtied your sacred clothes! I will accept any punishment that you give me."
"Wait what? Hey, hold on there, calm down, no need to pull out the Dogeza. Now what do you mean by 'dirtied'?"
"I uh... I might have used it as m-material..."
Everyone paused for a second to process what she just said.
"Hey Michael, what's that supposed to mean?" Takeda whispered to her companion.
"She must've been trying it on when she's alone. You know how delusional she is with the Instructor."
"Damn my G. You are down catastrophic!" said Kelly before bursting into laughter.
Never in my sixteen years of being a Senshadō Instructor have I ever met someone like this. Something is wrong with this girl... *sigh* What did my generation do wrong? Well, she is going through puberty. God knows the messed up shit I've done back then. I guess I'll give her a pass, this time.
"Apology accepted kid, get up." Miho gestured the girl to get up to which she immediately did.
Yuna was filled with shame. If these were the olden days, she would've committed seppuku on the spot. She wanted nothing more than to apologize a thousand times for her scandalous actions; but now's not the time.
"Anyways," Miho turned around to face Kelly. "Remind me, who are you?"
"Uhh... I'm Anderson ma'am. Kelly Anderson. I uhh... I wanna join the club."
The instructor paused for a second before she uttered a confused, "What?"
"Sh-She wants to be a part of our Senshadō Team ma'am." Jean d'Arc interjected.
"Wait, Joan you know English?!" Wittmann exclaimed.
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you guys? That was the first thing I told you when I joined."
"But you told us you were French-"
"Quiet down you two, save your banter for later." Miho silenced them before turning back to Kelly. "So you wanna join the club. Which role you good in?"
"Umm... I guess... I'm a good gunner."
"Hey you uhh... Joan. What'd she say?"
"She says she's a gunner ma'am."
Miho smirked. "Ah a gunner you say? Well, you came at the right time. That tank you're in right now; my old one. It's missing a crew member and it just so happens that that member in question is a gunner, so I'm assigning you there. Welcome to the team Anderson." the instructor then turned to Yuna - who was beside her.
"Fujiwara"
The girl flinched. "Y-Yes Nishizumi-sensei?"
"You're just a commander now. I hope you're good at issuing orders as you are with the cannon. But I doubt it so you'll have to prove your worth today in training. Everybody else, practice your shooting; you guys remind me of old Momo back in high school. Now get ready, we're already five minutes late for practice."
At this point, while Miho and the others were having their little hullabaloo, all the other teams had already started up their tanks and were raring to go and have a mock battle. The Hippo and Anglerfish teams noticed this so they quickly mounted their tanks too.
One by one Oarai's tanks left the safety of their garages and into the wide field outside, leaving the uncrewed Type 3 Chi-ha inside. Yuna now proudly stood in the cupola, her long brown hair waving like a flag in the wind. But it wasn't as majestic as it seems; in fact, it was the opposite. Yuna's hair got into her mouth and eyes which immediately killed the vibe.
I'm gonna have to get a haircut... she thought to herself.
One of the hatches on the side of the turret - specifically the left one - opened up and Kelly poked her blonde head out.
"Nice weather we're having commander!"
"Uh, yeah. Nice... Nice weather. Very sunny."
"So what we bout to do today, commander?"
"Uhh, we do... fight. Fight with other team."
"Ah, a mock battle! It's boutta be lit then!"
"Uhh yeah... lit!" Yuna replied with an awkward giggle for she knew nothing more to say.
Once everyone had cleared out of the garages, Miho radioed in.
"Alright folks, you already know the drill. Get inside the forest, drive to your positions, and then go shoot at each other until one remains. Meanwhile, I'll be up here enjoying my sake. Happy hunting girls. Miho out."
Up on the tower near the garages, Miho leaned on the railing with a hand on a bottle of sake wrapped in a paper bag. She wore a thousand-yard stare as she faced the vast forest of Oarai.
Miho was pulled out of her state of dissociation when she heard a faint and constant chuffing noise. She turned to the source of the noise and there it was: a UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" hovering above the field.
With a curious look, Miho slowly walked over to the other side of the tower to get a closer look at the helicopter. The five tanks below her also halted to a stop and their commanders poked out their heads from their hatches.
Upon closer inspection, the Huey bore the emblem of Saunders University High School.
"The hell are they doing here?" the instructor muttered to herself.
Back down on the ground, the three members of the Student Council stood atop their tank.
"It's Saunders... Well that's a pretty brash way of spying on us." Akira remarked.
"We should shoot it down, Kaichou!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Are you goddamn crazy?! That's murder Vice President!" she objected.
"Well then, what do we do?! We can't just let them stand there unopposed!"
"It's too late, Makoto. They must've taken pictures by now. They got us."
The three SC members' attention was then directed towards the Panzer IV where a commotion was going down. Kelly was climbing out of her tank using the hatch on the side of the turret. She could barely fit so she was wiggling like crazy.
"Hey! Kelly! What are you doing?!" Yuna yelled.
"Hey umm, my ride's here! And uh, Imma need to head out. Sorry for lying to you by the way."
Yuna barely understood what she said. Soon enough, Kelly squeezed her way out of the small hatch and dropped to the ground. She patted her skirt before running towards the helicopter which dropped a rope ladder. After Yuna put two and two together, she crawled out of the cupola, hopped off her tank, and ran after Kelly.
The other tank crews gave chase too but they were too late as Kelly had already grabbed onto the ladder and the helicopter was beginning to ascend. Yuna though, managed to catch up and grab onto the ladder too.
The others could do nothing as the Huey flew out of the airspace with their commander. They were all understandably shocked. The teams stood around their tanks, unsure of what to do next. Then Miho radioed in again.
"A-Alright... since Yuna's absent today, the uh... samurai girl will act as a temporary overall commander. And don't worry. They'll probably give Fujiwara back to us once the match ends. To your positions people. Miho out."
And so the day continued as if nothing happened. In the end, the Bob Semple won again by merely hiding. On the Anglerfish side of things, Ayano had become the team's commander, loader, and gunner, placing the Panzer IV at an even bigger disadvantage as their reload time has increased and their accuracy decreased.
Meanwhile, Yuna and Kelly were hoisted up to the Huey which was now headed back to the Saunders schoolship, the USS George Washington. The spy mission was a success but the pilot wasn't satisfied with it.
"Kelly Anderson, you are the worst spy that I have ever met. Please, remind me not to assign you a spy mission ever again. Not only did you leave your thousands of dollars worth of equipment in your classroom, but you also kidnapped! A fucking local! Now could you please kindly explain yourself before I decide to kamikaze this chopper into the goddamn ocean!?"
"Hey, hey calm down man! It ain't that deep. Now yes, I will admit, I left my equipment in my bag, but! I did note down all of their tanks in a notebook! And it's in here..." Kelly patted her skirt pocket. There was nothing there.
"O-Oh uh, I mean here!" she patted her other pocket. There was nothing there too. That's when Kelly's heart dropped.
The pilot facepalmed. "God kill me now..."
"M-M-My fault OG!" she stuttered with a nervous smile.
"Nah, ain't no 'my fault'. When we get down, you better run them pockets else Imma save Mari the trouble of beating your ass."
"Ay! I said I'm sorry okay?!"
"G-Guys, please... stay calm!" Yuna interjected which made the two pause.
"Oh right, what we finna do with this one? Should I send her back?" asked Kelly.
"Nah, she a POW now. I ain't comin' back to Saunders empty handed with your dumb ass."
"Just promise me you'll be gentle with her aight?"
"Ain't promisin' nothing to your stupid ass..."
To be continued...