Review Response:

Richard Scepton: Thank you for your continued review-man ship! Your words greatly flatter me. Not to say I didn't think to put a lot of weight into each chapter and each word, but still, I'm glad that you can find what I'm writing. Now, regarding your second matter, I assume you mean to put break lines between each scene? I understand that, I have used that in other stories. However, I don't use them here very intentionally. I want to create a genuine sense through the writing that everything we see here is entirely from Jizo's bias perspective. That what we are reading isn't some outside pov looking in, but pov looking outward from within Jizo herself. So, by not putting break lines, I felt like it would create a feeling that we are living Jizo's everyday life, and everything she experiences. When I get onto the first real tank battle, hopefully it will become clearer what I mean. Maybe this strategy is a bit ineffective, that will remain to be seen, but right now, I'm a bit satisfied with out it currently is. Thank you though, for the recommendation. I did actually take some time to consider if I should just go ahead and use them. O7

Now, let's get on with the first real conflict.

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Chapter Three: First Conflict, Part I

Disclaimer: People who are suffering from mental illness are not inherently more violent, nor are they precondoned to any sort of behavior. Like all people, they are products of the ways people treat them, and are deserving of the love and kindness any other person should get. They need help and support, not condonement or shunning.

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Khin had made good on her promise, and came over early the next morning to her house, with a large stack of books and papers in her hands. "Here," Khin said, "These are just some things we had in the back about the basics of tankery, and also, some historical first hand accounts, they can be useful, somewhat." Jizo took them from her as they stood at her front door, "Thank you," Jizo said, bringing them in. Khin was about to leave, before she stopped and said, "This is your house?"

"Yes." Jizo responded.

"I see… Well, we meet today at four, but, the first hour or so is just prep, we only start driving after that. So, come around five."

"Alright," Jizo said.

It was because of what Khin said that Jizo arrived at the Sensha-Do track at five, as tanks were already starting to roll out onto the large training field.

As she walked out onto the track, she was found by Cahya. "Jizo! I was waiting for you, man, you came here late'as hell. Is this payback for that time I made you wait for me after a match? Ah', I'm just joking, no need to take it seriously."

Jizo was sure she didn't say anything.

"Come on, follow me, let me take you to my tank, she's right up ahead." Cahya said, as they walked through the grass, which was salted of all snow the day before. Approaching the massive metal machine, judging from its appearance, Jizo had read that it should be a Tiger tank.

"This big cat is my tank, a beautiful Tiger I, one of the best tanks ever made during its time. Only our top tankers get to ride in a panzer of this caliber, and we are going to be using it to help you with your practice, so, you're welcome."

"Oh', thank you."

Cahya smiled, "Hehe, you are a good listener. Speaking of which… Hey, Evonne!"

From one of the hatches on the chassis of the tank, a girl quickly popped out. "Ja?" The girl, Evonne, said.

"See that target, about seven hundred meters away? Blow it up for me."

"Gerne." Evonne answered, as she quickly re-entered her tank.

Jizo watched as the Tiger turned its gun about 30 degrees to the left, in the direction of the aforementioned target, and then made some slight adjustments. As it did that, Cahya looked to be thinking of something. "Hey, lil' Jizo, open your mouth."

She did just that, but then, why would Cahya ask her to-

The Tiger fired, and Jizo thought of nothing more, as her ears were filled with ringing. The grass was blown around, and the little hat Jizo wore was thrown right off her head some distance away.

When she could hear again, she heard Cahya laughing. "Sorry, lil' Jizo, we all have to go through that. Alright," Cahya said, as they climbed to the commander's seat, "Hop in for a second, let me introduce you to the crew."

Walking over to pick up her little hat, Jizo then went back to the Tiger. And followed Cahya up the tank, nearly falling over as she tried to climb it. When she did climb, Cahya opened the hatch which was at the very top of the tank, and directed Jizo to sit down on the leather seat. Above her, Cahya looked in. "The one on your right is my loader, Lea, down in the left corner is my driver, Gerhardina, I just call her Dina'. Right under you is my gunner, you just saw her, Evonne, and next to my driver is my radio operator, Halfrid. Say 'hi."

"Hi'," Jizo said.

"… Hello."

"'Hi' yourself!"

"Guten Tag."

"He~y."

"Okay," Cahya began, "I just want Jizo to try out all the standard positions on a tank, so, Lea, take a hike."

They started with the loader's job, which Cahya had said was simple, self explanatory. Load the tank shells into the gun. They all came in one piece, so it was just open, slot in the shell, and close. Jizo surely could have done it, if she had the strength to actually pick up the shells, let alone load them at any effective speed. She actually dropped the first shell on her foot, and Cahya laughed at her yelp of pain. So, Cahya had her move onto trying the radio, yet once again, Jizo had no idea how to properly use it. She said that she hadn't gotten to those parts in the books she read, so they skipped that. They also skipped driving. Cahya said that she actually needed prior training in a driving school to be allowed behind the wheel, so that was that. Finally, the only thing left was the gunner. "Alright, lil' Jizo," Cahya said, from her spot on the commander's seat, right above her. "Being the gunner is actually quite the simple process." She had said that about everything. "You just have to determine distance based on the size of the object, using a formula, and fire. Simple." Jizo did just that, with a shell loaded, she looked out through a lot of the tank forward to a large red target some ways away. It took her exactly one minute and forty three seconds to aim properly, as she adjusted constantly for a perfect shot. She would've taken longer if Cahya hadn't said, "Uh', if you are having trouble, it's alright to just shoot." So she shot, and her ears rang, but the target was hit. Just barely, that is, as the shell grazed over the top of the wooden target, blowing right past it, and hitting the ground behind it.

"Well, that was a decent shot, all things considered." Cahya said, "If only you could go faster."

A few minutes laters, Jizo was sitting in the commander's seat once again, as Cahya stood down on the ground, and the rest of her crew were in their assigned positions.

"Alright, uh', it's about going as well as I thought… Still, this is kind of a mess. Well, Jizo, I'm sure you can get better by your second year… Maybe not. And, I mean, I doubt you have even been enjoying this at all, so you can probably just stay on the sideline for the semester, then hopefully next year try to find a different elective. That's probably best…" Cahya rubbed the back of her head, "I'm sure I can talk the Kommandant into that."

"Do you think that's best?" Jizo asked.

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Hold on," As Jizo turned in her seat, she thought Khin would have still been busy with her own practice, but there she was now, sweating slightly through the cold.

"Oi', sis', what are you doing here?"

"My crew have finished our daily routine, so I decided to give them a break."

"Heya', don't'ya know that you have to ask permission from a superior to go on break? Like me?"

"My bad." Khin walked toward her sister, "Can I go on break?"

"Hmm," Cahya hummed, "No."

"Okay," Khin said, however in contrast to her words, Jizo saw, Khin was going nowhere."

"What? Did you come here to watch lil 'Jizo's first practice?"

"Sure, how has she been doing?"

"About as well as you can expect a first year with no experience… I'm just thinking of having her sit on the benches for the semester, to make it easier on her and Saku- Well, I think it's best that way."

"Really?"

"Yep, alright, Jizo, come on down-"

"Hold on a second, sister, have you let her try the commander's position?"

"Why would I do that? She just started, Khin."

"Give it a shot. Nothing wrong with trying new things, right?"

"I don't know."

Khin waved her hand, "Jizo!" She shouted, "If you read some of those books I gave to you, you should get the basics of commanding. How about just rolling around the track, try ordering a few shots, it's really not as difficult as it sounds."

That drew a confused look from Cahya, "Look, Jizo, just come down from there. You might get yourself hurt, also, I bet there is still some ice and snow on the tracks, it's not the best conditions."

"Ice and snow? No, they salted this entire place hours ago, it's as dry as a desert."

"Still, she can end up running into someone else." It seemed to Jizo that they were talking to each other rather than to her.

"Do you not trust your own crew to think they would make a rookie mistake like that?"

"Accidents happen, even during real battles. She isn't ready. She isn't strong enough to load shells, she doesn't have any clue on how to drive a tank, and can't operate the radio. The only thing she's even decent at is being a gunner, but she can't stop flinching after every shot. What makes you think she can command?"

Khin stared at her, "Jizo, get the tank moving."

"Jizo!" Cahya shouted, "Don't!"

From the commander's seat, Jizo had watched the two sisters argue, waiting patiently for someone to tell her what to do. However, now, she hadn't a clue what was best. But, this moment made her think of something that once happened to her, a dilemma she had to solve. She was almost out of peaches, and in front of her, there were only two. One peach was still raw and stale. It would no doubt be hard and stale. The other peach was ripe and raw. It, too, would be slimy and sour, but she had to choose. Which one did Jizo choose to eat? Which did she prefer? She had forgotten.

However, before she could give any answer, or make a real decision, it was decided for her.

From below Jizo, someone yawned, "I'm getting tired of watching them."

"You're right about that, Lea! I say we just move, it will be fun driving through the snow!"

"Kämpfe nicht den Kampf, wenn du nichts für den Sieg gewinnst."

"Alrighty~, let's get this tank moving!"

And just like that, Jizo's entire body rocked back, as the Tiger I picked up speed, and its tracks began to move. Jizo saw Cahya try to yell something to her, but she couldn't pick up a thing through the roaring engine, and eventually, she couldn't even make Cahya out as they moved at a steady speed away.

Lea sighed, "We are… Going kinda fast… It's hard to rest with all the bumps."

"Well, it's just some wet grass we are driving over, but still! The speeds we are going at is something the Tiger was never designed to go, you know that! You'll just have to deal with my bumps on the haul." Gerhardina responded.

"Das ist nur eine Ausrede für dein schlechtes Fahrverhalten, aber das macht nichts, ich werde meine Schläge immer treffen."

"You can say that again, Evonne~. It takes years of experience to operate this radio through all this." Halfrid said.

"Ja."

Jizo wasn't too sure what they were talking about, she didn't really notice any bumps from her spot.

"Alright, Unteroffizer," Gerhardina said to Jizo, "Approximately one minute until we get to the shooting range! What are your commands?"

Commands? She had read a little bit about tank commanding. "I… Just continue to head forward."

Lea looked back, "Any… Specific Target?"

"A target?"

"We~ll kiddo," Halfrid answered, "We were obviously going to keep going forward, and stop whenever you tell us to stop. Sure, the driving ca~n take their own discretion, but not at a time like this. If you have something in mind for us to do, you have to say it."

"I see…" Jizo trailed, "Then, do you see that target, hung up on a branch of that pine tree?"

Gerhardina looked out, "The one roughly… Man, I can't tell how far it is at all!"

"It's about 1400 meters away," Jizo responded without pause.

"Is it? Hey, Evonne, is that right?"

Evonne answered the driver with a nod, "Ja."

"Nice eye…" Lea yawned, "Better than most..."

"Okay," Jizo said, "Get within range, a thousand meters, and stop-"

"Woah there, Unteroffizer, is that all? Well, I don't mind having free range, but aren't you missing something here?"

"What am I missing?"

"Well, look outside, figure it out, Unteroffizer."

Jizo, from her spot on the commander's seat, peaked out through the hatch of the tank and looked around at the area they were to drive to. It was mostly a grassy plain, which was surrounded by different kinds of trees with snow on and around them. The path they were taking was clear, and from what she read, the Tiger would have no trouble crossing it. She didn't see any other obstacles in the way… What was she not seeing?"

"I don't see anything."

"Hmm…" Lea yawned, "I meant good eye… In a literal sense."

"Look, Unteroffizer, " Gerhardina said, "You can't get tunnel visioned on just one target. Hey, Evonne, do you see anything?"

"78 nach links, ein Panther."

"Hmm… Oh! Yeah, there it is! Sneaky thing, do you see it now?"

Jizo looked left, and there, behind some trees in an opening that was just large enough, a Panther tank was laying in wait. It was camouflaged with white and gray, halfway buried in the snow. Jizo doubts she would've ever found it if it wasn't pointed out. "I see it now," She said, "Why is it there?"

"Well, to get the jump on us, like a predator should! The Kommandant always leaves some crews to do these ambushes, even during practice, to make sure our senses are always sharp!"

"It's rather…" Lea sighed, "Annoying."

"Okay," Jizo said, "A Panther is capable of taking Tiger I out from the front at… 1200 meters? That's close to where we are. So either we engage it now at range, or try to go around it."

"If you are asking us… I say we… Go around. The Panther will destroy our Tiger." "Now ho~ld on, Lea, I'm sure at this range, we can take a fight and win." "Do you think… We can hit it through all that snow? From 1400 meters? Before it can," Lea yawned in response to Halfrid, "Get in a decent range?" Evonne suddenly coughed. "Don't give me that… You empty headed gunner… Even if you did hit them, will it even pierce their glacis plate? I don't think so." "Actually," Gerhardina budded in, "Really, if we get the first shot, which I think if we start bickering and just fire, we will, then we will probably win." "Fire first?" Lea yawned, "Well… You are taking after Nishizumi. Well… If our acting commander wants to." "Haha, so, Unteroffizer, what are your orders?"

Jizo thought for a second. Would she rather eat a raw peach, or a rotten one?

"Aim, and-" She stopped herself, trying to remember the word.

There was quiet for a moment, with the only sound being the turning of the tank's turret.

"Ziel erworben." Someone said, but Jizo was too lost in her own head. Ah' that was it, she remembered now.

Jizo took a breath, and said, "Aim, and Feuer!"

Click, boom, and the whole tank flung back. Jizo's back was slammed into the rim of the hatch, with a sharp pain shooting up her spine, as her ears rang once again. Maybe she would eventually get used to it, but now, she had to close her eyes shut as she tried to bear with the sound. After a few seconds, she managed to open her eyes, and looked over to where they shot. The Panther tank was turned to their direction, but the smoke pluming from it was obvious. They had managed to shoot it's side, a critical shot, and after a few seconds, the tank stopped moving, and from the hatch, came a small, white flag.

"Ziel zerstört." Someone, Evonne, said.

"Are they…" Jizo asked, "Are they alright?" From the Panther, Jizo saw some girls scrambling to escape the smoking tank.

"They're fine~," Halfrid responded, "We do shoot live rounds, but they are used with an emphasis on safety."

"Oh, okay." That was that.

"Alright, Unteroffizer, now that the road is clear, let's go shoot that target."

"Okay, move forward."

They continued to drive around the large training area, shooting different targets from different angles, and Jizo was sure to look out for any ambushes. Eventually, Gerhardina said, "You know, Unteroffizer, are you sure this is your first time in a tank?"

"Yes, I have never driven in a tank before this moment."

"For this being your first time, you are pretty damn calm, especially for being up top."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, come on, firstly, this is a massive metal machine of death capable of killing every single person in a mile radius. Anyone riding in it is bound to get nervous. Secondly, people tend to start complaining about being uncomfortable if they aren't used to it."

"This is a little uncomfortable, and you were all complaining about the bubby road earlier." Jizo said in a flat tone.

"Hmm?" Lea yawned, but stared directly at Jizo, as Jizo stared back. "Are you… Making fun of your seniors?"

Jizo stared at the loader.

"Ha… No need to give me that look… I was just joking."

"Nevermind Lea!" Gerhardina interrupted, "Look, we can complain because we've been at it for so long, a newbie complaining is just pathetic… Also, I know it feels uncomfortable riding in this, but the fact that you can hold it in is, well, a plus." She smiled.

Jizo still didn't get it.

"Wir haben also Ihr erstes Mal genommen? Das ist ein Grund zum Feiern."

"I~'d bet, if you had actual training, you'd make a decent commander with that coo~l head."

After that, Jizo drove all the way back, but at some point, someone did say, "Hey, ladies, I got us some tickets to a firework show for the new years, are you all gonna be free?"

"...Sure."

"Ja."

"I'll be the~re."

"Alright! Now we just gotta get Cahya to join us."

Eventually, after a short while longer, they made their way back to the hangar. Driving through a large open shuttered gate, Jizo saw many other tanks lined up in position. It seems that they were the one of the last crews to get back. As they themselves parked, and the engine was shut off, the crew exited out of their respective hatches. However, it did take Jizo some effort to shuffle her own way out, as she nearly tripped trying to get off.

Jizo saw Cahya approaching them.

"You all took your sweet time." Cahya said, shaking her head.

"Well, hey, Vice-Kommandant, blame your little first year friend, she just kept ordering us to shoot more and more targets!"

From behind Cahya, Khin walked up as well, "Speaking of, how was Jizo?"

"The Unteroffizer? Hmm, well, she was hopeless. Didn't know a thing, I imagine it's how students who learned nothing about tankery outside of old timey German books and manuals would think tankery is like."

"Well," Khin said, "That's a given, it's just-"

"But!" Gerhardina interrupted, "She's got a cool head on her shoulder, and she's a fast learner!"

"So…" Lea added, with a yawn, "Better than you, Cahya."

"Alright,I think that's enough fun for one day. You're all dismissed." Cahya said to her crew. "Let me talk with Jizo in private."

"Goodnight… Then."

"'Dismissed' yourself!"

"Gute Nacht."

"See ya~'."

The four girls of Cahya's crew exited the hangar together, which left Jizo alone, standing in front of the Tiger I, with the two sisters.

"Jizo… I told you not to take my tank…" Cahya spoke flatly, a way Jizo hadn't heard from her before. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

"Well…" Jizo trailed, "Khin told me to command it, so that's what I did, but, also, I didn't give the order to drive, your crew decided to start moving."

"But," Cahya responded, "You could've told them to stop, they might be a hassle, but they would've stopped if you told them to stop. Did you ask them to stop?"

"No."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why would I?"

"What do you mean, 'why'? Because you never commanded a tank. You could've damaged it, you could've hurt someone, you could've hurt yourself."

"…" Jizo paused, "So, all of that means I shouldn't drive it?"

"Yes!" Cahya's voice grew.

"Why?"

"Oh' for fuck's sake-" Cahya rubbed her head so tightly, it began to get red. "Because, Jizo, it's a bad thing."

"It's a bad thing?"

"Yes, Jizo, yes. Can you stop being so slow-… Nevermind, forget I said that. it's a bad thing, that's all."

"But, didn't you say it yourself?"

"Say what?"

Jizo thought to remember Cahya's exact words. "'Do what you can get away with.'"

"Thats-" Before Cahya could say anything, Jizo heard a loud snort from behind her, followed by a chuckle. It was Khin, who was stifling her laughter.

"What are you laughing at, Khin?"

"Hehe, nothing at all, sis'. I'm just laughing at what she just said. Chickens coming home to roost, right?"

"Who's side are you on?" Cahya asked.

"It's got nothing to do with sides, Cahya, it's just funny that when your own philosophy comes back to bite you, you get all frustrated and angry. Why don't you spend a lot of time thinking about that, sis'.

"Khin… Shut up, please."

"No, I think I'll just stay here and laugh."

"…Khin, wegtreten!."

"Hey there," Khin laughed once again, it seemed she was having a lot of fun. "Go pull rank on someone who cares. Just because you're angry with J-, doesn't mean you should take it out on me."

"'J'? When the hell did you get so friendly with Jizo?"

"While you were busy being a damn-"

Jizo had been watching them silently, waiting for them to stop, or someone to ask her something. Were they arguing about her, or were they arguing with each other? She wasn't sure. Jizo didn't know what to feel, so she just waited, maybe the answer would reveal itself on its own, eventually. Yet, before the sister's argument could go on, a new voice shouted something out, one Jizo had heard before.

"Man, can you Both stop shouting? I'm trying to work on my fucking Jagtiger!" From a far corner of the hanger, standing atop a tank, Jizo saw Alfonsine shouting.

The two sisters stopped and looked each other for a second, before Khin turned away.

"We'll finish this later." Cahya said.

Khin didn't give a response, as she walked out the hanger.

Cahya sighed, "Alf'y, what do you want? If you want to work on your tank, then work on it in silence."

"Hey, hey, I would like to do just that, but I can't work over you all shouting," Alfonsine shouted, as she approached Cahya, "I love to watch two hormonal second years arguing over bullshit, but man, it's just so pathetic that the Vice-Kommandant of the team can act in such a manner."

"Why don't you mind your own business, Alf'y?"

"Ha! If you say so, but, enough about you, what about the first year over there."

Someone finally acknowledged Jizo.

"What about lil' Jizo? She's a part of the team, get over it."

"Oh', I get it, it's fine. But, weren't you saying that she served in the commander position in your tank? I heard them say she wasn't all that terrible, even."

"Maybe, I didn't watch her command, what's yer' point?"

"The year's about to start, and you know, and right before the semester starts we have all the different years face off in a free for all, 'just for fun.' So, why not have her compete? Get a real assessment of her skill in a battle."

"Alf'y, I'm not gonna have someone with no experience get thrown into a real battle after her first time riding a tank."

"What are you so scared about? I hope you don't plan on bringing that meekness into the nationals. There's still plenty of time to practice until then."

"I don't think so."

"Is that so? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter what you think in this situation." Alfonsine turned to Jizo, "Hey, first year!"

Jizo was nearly startled, "Yes?"

"Do you want to fight in a real match?"

"Alf'y, that's enough."

"I'm not fucking asking you, Cahya, no one is talking to you right now, So keep yourself out of the god damn conversation. Now, first year, what do you want?"

Jizo was in pause, "I don't know-"

"How the fuck do you not know what you want? Gott, I'm tired of dealing with you all, I'm just gonna go directly to the Kommadant and get her to join in the match."

"Wait…" Cahya said, "… Leave the Kommandant out of this, would'ya? Fine, I'll get her to join the match, just so it can appease you."

"Hmm? The hell is with that change in attitude? I wonder what the relation between this new girl, and the Kommmandant even is, maybe I'll ask her myself-"

"Alf'y, you got what you want, go home, already." Cahya said.

"… Whatever," Alfonsine said, "I don't care too much about it anyways. But, you, first year… Watch your back, when you hang out with Cahya. Don't let her walk all over you, or that other sister, either, for that matter."

Alfonsine turned away, and walked out of the hangar, leaving just Cahya, and Jizo.

"… Cahya-" Jizo tried to say.

"Scheisse!" Cahya yelled out loudly, as she grabbed her black hat that was standard for all Kuromorimine students, and threw it to the ground. Jizo recoiled back in response. Before Jizo could say anything, Cahya yelled out again, and stomped out the hanger, slamming the door on her way. Leaving Jizo alone in the cold. She looked around, there was no one now to dismiss her, so, if there was nothing else, she would just leave. However, just as she was about to go, something caught her eye. It was that same, old, gray cat she first saw yesterday. She looked at it, and it looked at her, before the cat rushed away. Jizo took that as a sign of dismissal, and not long after, left the hanger herself. She would need to spend the next few days doing nothing but reading, if she was going to get a good grade in this elective.

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Author's Note

Hello!

Another chapter out of the way, and I would just like to briefly say that this is a shorter chapter for two reasons. One, because I wanted to get a chapter out by the first week of the new month, that seems to be the schedule I can work at, so I want to keep it going, and two, because I felt like this was a good place to end this chapter. Of course, this is only the first part of what can be considered the third chapter, as next time, we will be seeing Jizo's first time commanding a tank.

Also, a few more things, my power has been going out constantly become of some heavy rain, and in 90 degree weather, it just doesn't leave a person in a state in which they want to write, or can write anything effective, so that hurt this chapter's progress. Also, I had to do some actual research into tanks, in how they would interact and their capabilities. I don't know much about anything about World War Two tanks, or tanks in general for that matter, so I'm working from scratch. However, I have found some decent resources for that information, however, if you have anything better I can find, or notice a historical error, feel free to point it out.

As always, thank you for reading.

Yours Truly.

A.A