The scrimmage with Saunders proved fruitful in many ways to Transcendence. Officially it had proven their strength as a team and individuals.
Virtanen and his staff, however, had taken much more from it. They now knew that although skilled, their crews lacked proper reaction times and judgment. These were the focal points for their training over the following weeks accompanied by intense personal training for all cadets and commanders. This training, needless to say, was orchestrated by Kaiser Who seemed unphased by their recent success.
He appeared as the ever-strict commander they knew him to be, yet his long-time peer Virtanen could see past the thinning facade and was beginning to notice the strain in his eyes. As the days passed and training remained constant his exhaustion was undoubtedly from lack of sleep and overexertion.
The seasonal drawings had come quickly and it seemed he had been overworking himself in preparation. In an act of sympathy and desperation, Virtanen had ordered Kaiser to take a leave of rest while he took Knight as a temporary substitute in his place. He had wanted his most trusted asset prepared and well-rested. After all the drawings were the next day.
At least that was his intent. Kaiser had run himself ragged finishing the next day's work, worried Knight wouldn't be able to handle it. Any hope for a peaceful sleep when he returned home was dashed as he, unfortunately, stayed late to help Piper and the mechanics club once more. They had fallen behind on last-minute preparations and repairs from practice for their first upcoming match.
The mechanics had opted to finish their work a few days early so as to have some free time. Having an overload of work, however, had pushed the team to beg Piper to find more capable hands. Cue Kaiser's assistance, as he finished his work faster than some of them. The preparations were more time-consuming as they needed to maintain performance and be aesthetically pleasing for a short parade on ship that would precede their first sanctioned match. To his annoyance, it had been decided by the school staff to promote support for the team. It was one moment of very few he couldn't say no.
As soon as he arrived home late in the night, he had hoped his day off could be filled with as much beloved sleep as he could fit within the remaining hours. His mind drifted comfortably, at ease knowing when he awoke they would be docked in Japan and Virtanen would return from the drawings with the name of who they were to face. He had no work left and no duty to monitor his cadets ashore.
He had no worry of infractions or inter-school fights either. Due to the size of the school ships, only so many were allowed to dock at any individual port. Thanks to their school's smaller size, they received a smaller port to dock in by themselves. With no other schools present, there was a low chance of any incident occurring, if there was he wouldn't be needed for anything so minor.
All these assurances combined gave him the premonition of a morning he could enjoy. "I'm glad Virtanen's overcoming that stage fright of his. Now I won't have to attend tomorrow" he thought, drifting off into a deep slumber.
A familiar ring awoke him. He felt as if he had just closed his eyes and blinked at the sensation. Again his doorbell rang. He glanced over at his phone. It read 06:00 on its screen. "There had better be a death, otherwise I will cause one" he muttered, emerging from his sheets. He had gotten no more than a few hours of sleep after staying later than most of the actual mechanics to finish up.
Walking towards his front door stretching Kaiser looked at a mirror on his wall. 'Who would visit me this early? Who even knows where I live?' he thought to himself as he looked himself over. The sight was less than admirable. He was still wearing a black tank top tucked into a pair of grey mechanics trouser's he had been given for being an "honorary" mechanic as they put it. A glance upwards revealed his normally styled hair disheveled. A mess pointing in all directions, bobbing to and fro.
For once he didn't care for his appearance. Opening his door he wondered who it was, leaving early and late every day left few to witness him arriving home.
On any other day, the sight before him would have drawn his approval. Virtanen and Knight stood across him, the former with a forced smile and the latter with an awkward half-smile.
They were wearing their parade uniforms, filled with awards and regalia. Their black trousers were bloused into shined black boots instead of the typical dress shoes. Upon their chests were decorations from junior high years for Virtanen and a few recent awards decorating both.
Virtanen's eclipsed Knights with a myriad of colors and his silver commander's cords draped across with medals to boot. On their blouses were dress belts accompanied by ceremonial sabers on their left. On their right were their sidearms generously lent by the Marksmanship team. Virtanen's Colt .45 while Knight preferred a Smith and Wesson revolver.
His eyes drifted to their caps pinned under their arms. Normally only Kaiser regularly wore one. Regular cadets weren't issued such covers, only the officers were. Most preferred to wear garrison or ski caps as opposed to the larger barracks cover and its "crush cap" variant.
The final observations were the absence of Virtanen's missing silver-framed glasses. Perhaps he had forced himself to wear contacts? Even Knight's usually long, disheveled hair was neatly combed. Kaiser immediately noticed all of this with a tired glance and had one thought. 'It's too early for them to have even left'.
"Why aren't you around yet?" Asked Virtanen innocently as he stepped forward to enter Kaiser's home, ushering Knight with him. Kaiser merely responded with a more despondent than stern glare. "Come now we'll be late if you don't hurry, we have half an hour till we-"
Without warning, Kaiser slammed the door shut with a loud thud. However, his door found itself stopped by a foot wedged in between. Releasing his hold slightly, Kaiser expected to see Virtanen's pained face. The force was certainly enough to hurt someone even ln boots.
Instead, he saw Virtanen's frown and Knight's struggling to maintain his quiet in the morning. A glance down revealed Virtanen had kicked his foot into the path of the door.
"Well that wasn't very nice, you'll scuff his boots," chirped Virtanen, attempting to push his way inside. Kaiser ceased his resistance, allowing one to tumble inside and the other to nurse his latest injury. Virtanen groaned, straightening himself out once more before crashing down into a recliner. Knight hobbled into a seat himself, removing his boot to relieve his foot.
"No," stated Kaiser, straight to the point.
"What do you mean?" asked Virtanen, evasively glancing about.
"The reason you're here" snapped Kaiser.
Virtanen gave up any pretenses. "But you're essential! We can't attend the ceremony without you. Even with your personality, you're our best chance at sliding in naturally! Especially with these already established schools!"
Kaiser's eyes narrowed. The glare he gave roughly translated to 'Cut the bullshit'. "If this is because you got last-minute stage fright," he warned through tired eyes.
Virtanen shrunk under the pressure of being caught. "Alright, fine! I didn't want to admit it but speaking in front of a couple of peers and underclassmen is completely different from being in front of thousands, wouldn't you agree? Let's not forget those watching on television!" he exclaimed.
Kaiser's stare began losing its ferocity not out of sympathy but to how pathetic his peer was acting. He had heard it before.
Virtanen felt a new pressure from Kaiser's eyes. "Please! You've always done this stuff, we need you. Or do you think Knight and I can talk to strangers without missing a beat?"
Kaiser sighed, crossing his arms in thought. "Isn't this why you were placed as commander?"
The comment no doubt stung. Kaiser let silence set in a moment of reflection before Following with another response.
"Is it an order?" Sighed Kaiser loosening his posture as he closed his eyes and leaned against a wall. This question received an exchange of confusion among his peers.
"Pardon?" Asked Virtanen after a short pause.
"Is it an order?" repeated Kaiser. "From Superior to subordinate, are you giving me a direct order to attend?"
Virtanen struggled to answer. Known as the friendly commander who never demanded anything he had a reason for such a laid-back approach. He loathed superiors who forced subordinates into awkward or stressful positions. If an alternative was available he preferred to take it.
Kaiser was an exception in terms of stressful work as he felt he could rely on no one better. Despite this exception, he had never outright ordered him to do anything. The thought of having to now was unappealing to him, to say the least. It was even less so as he considered him a friend even if Kaiser didn't outright admit it.
After no reply from Virtanen, Kaiser cracked open an eye at Virtanen as he fought his inner turmoil.
Kaiser rolled his eyes "I've told you about hesitation. If it's an order then so be it." Kaiser's words were only partially honest. After their previous argument, Kaiser had decided to show Virtanen his perspective of things, ordering a subordinate to an unfavorable order was a mere taste. He was prepared to make his points even in his discomfort. To give an order that went against his basic principles was something Virtanen never wanted to do. Kaiser would see that he would.
Virtanen looked up at Kaiser whose gaze had eased up now to an apathetic expression. Usually, Virtanen wasn't the most perceptive but he seemed to have caught Kaiser's true intention. Virtanen steeled himself unwilling to back down. "Yes. It is".
Kaiser slowly nodded his head once. Resigned to the fact that he had to go now. Without any argument, he raised an open hand. "Five minutes," he said, stepping towards his restroom. One last glance was shared between him and Virtanen. Their eyes refused to give.
"I won't cave" Virtanen's seemed to say.
"You already have" snickered Kaiser with a roll of his eyes.
Virtanen averted his eyes having caught the insinuation of having to order him amidst his already ordered break.
Knight had observed the entire exchange, He had seen it all but was confused nonetheless. To him, it seemed that Kaiser's talk of issuing and following orders was just a case of one person forcing another to admit he needed help. He had completely missed their subliminal messages.
-Transition-
Kaiser was impeccable with his timing. Five minutes passed and he stepped out showered, shaved, and dressed in full uniform. Excluding small details such as his personal luger and saber, he matched in head to toe black. He was luckily always prepared for last-minute events such as this. His numerous awards eclipsing even Virtanen's were placed immaculately upon his body. The only thing inferior to his appearance was his lower rank of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel to Virtanen's Cadet Colonel.
"Well then," said Kaiser walking past his guests towards the door. "Let's be off". Grabbing his cover off the nearby rack he placed it atop his head, gesturing to them to exit. His peers were caught off guard by his expediency and sprang up from their seats after finishing their drinks that Virtanen had 'liberated' from Kaiser's fridge. Once outside, a short series of honks and a familiar voice shouted at them.
"Get yer arse down ere!" it yelled. Kaiser looked over the catwalk railing to see O'Diveley and Sokolov leaning out of the seats of the Mercedes staff car with their own clean pressed uniforms and covers.
Before they could shout back a fellow sleep-deprived student a floor below Kaiser snapped back. "Shut it! It's six in the morning!"
O'Diveley exited the vehicle and began shouting from below the catwalks, disapproving of the tone the stranger had taken. "Oi, why don't you shut yer trap!?"
Silence then followed, much to the relief of the other residents. Unfortunately, it had not been resolved by words.
As Kaiser ushered his peers downstairs to get O'Diveley he went to diffuse the neighbor. Said student leaned over the catwalk to shout back only to be struck in the head by a hefty-looking bottle from below. With a reverberating "thunk" Kaiser rushed to catch the victim. Kaiser looked down gritting his teeth to see O'Diveley dancing below to catch the unscathed bottle before being wrestled into the car by Sokolov and Virtanen.
Knight waved his arms to signal they had it under control allowing him to cover their tracks. Placing the boy back in his room with an ice pack he hurried downstairs hoping to avoid having to explain the ruckus to the apartment manager.
The five students departed quickly to debark from the ship. On their patient drive across the ship to the loading bay, Virtanen's low chuckle and O'Diveley occasionally muttering his disdain for his victim was most apparent. Even Sokolov spoke up to sarcastically congratulate O'Diveley on his throw.
Once off the ship, they drove through the small port town noticing the obvious lack of students amidst the early morning buzz of the docks. Through town, there was not much to see other than the few passing waves and stares from the locals at their vehicle and the strange attire. They began their two-hour trip toward the designated location for the season's match drawing. The location was designated by the Federation to be convenient to all schools no matter where they had docked and large enough to hold a massive crowd of students and guests who made the trip to visit.
-Transition-
Around 0830 the group had arrived at the arena pulling in to see a parking lot filled with various vehicles. An obvious expectation but a nerve-racking reminder for Virtanen of the number of people present. They were soon ushered in by traffic officers through a rear entrance into an underground parking garage reserved for each school to park inside.
Though their entrance was calm and orderly O'Diveley had seen to it that they would arrive as fast as possible. Sokolov had remained glued to his seat, frozen stiff as Knight and even Virtanen struggled to convince him to obey at least one traffic law. Kaiser had missed out on the debacle as he slept through the ordeal comfortably in his seat.
Pulling to a stop Kaiser awoke with the gentle lurch of parking and stepped out of the vehicle to stretch his limbs. Turning around, still outstretched, he saw his comrade's poor state. Their reactions to feeling solid ground were amusing, to say the least.
Virtanen quickly exited the vehicle, looking at O'diveley as if impressed yet fearful of his driving 'talent'. At a glance, Sokolov seemed unfazed but upon closer inspection, his white-knuckled fists gripped onto his seat showed he had no tolerance for adrenaline rushes. Knight perhaps was the most dramatic. Hunched over, he leaned against a pillar, taking slow deep breaths as if having a panic attack.
O'Diveley meanwhile, reclined in his seat, hands behind his head, and taking a swig from the bottle he had 'used' earlier in the morning.
Kaiser walked over to Sokolov who began relaxing. His calm demeanor had not changed but the blood flow in his fingers began returning.
"Sokolov," said Kaiser. "Knight and I will attend the ceremony with Virtanen. I want you and O'Diveley to wander around and how do I say this… perform some 'espionage' upon the other school's students. Use whatever you can to get some info. Cunning, charms anything short of violence here."
Sokolov seemed confused as he looked up. "Are you saying we should hit on girls from other schools to get information?" He seemed to dread the prospect but O'Diveley gave a smarmy grin as he listened in.
"It's called seduction when there's intel involved, don't ya know?" asked O'Diveley rhetorically.
"If that's what you're set on then be my guest. Just don't make an ass out of us. Here lies the situation," said Kaiser, his tone turning serious as he leaned onto the car door. "Each school has its representatives for this event but there is a vast amount of regular students including those who are a part of their senshado programs."
Sokolov gave a single nod as O'Diveley glanced over now interested. Kaiser pressed on. "Now many of these boys and girls will be exploring the town before and after the event."
Sokolov's face paled slightly as O'Diveley sneered at his sentence. Kaiser picked up on their distaste, raising a hand to cease their thinking.
"I don't intend for you to seduce the males, simply be friendly and if need be O'Diveley can go outdrink them for all I care. Any and all information from all schools will be helpful no matter how seemingly irrelevant. I am leaving this to you two understand?" A resigned nod came from Sokolov as O'Dively took a swig and gave a short "roger" with a belch.
Sighing, Sokolov gave a small grievance. "To be honest Sir, I think you're better suited for this line of work".
Kaiser understood his discomfort but explained the necessity. "Sokolov, look around. Knight would fumble at making eye contact, Virtanen is his own set of problems and I need you to watch O'Dively and reign him in just in case."
"Oh," no offense taken" chuckled O'Diveley at the backhanded comment.
"As for me, I'm not exactly known for sociability now am I?." Sokolov attempted to interject but was hushed. " I've heard the rumors of myself" he muttered.
"Probably not all of them" interjected Sokolov.
"You know I can put up a facade, so I'll do what I can on my end but I have some babysitting to do". Both he and Sokolov looked over to Virtanen jumping back from Knight who heaved a little. Both sighed in mutual understanding as O'Dively jeered at them. "Just some casual information gathering through casual chat, nothing more" finished Kaiser.
Sokolov understood the logic and gave a short "Aye". He and O'Diveley then stood out of the vehicle and made their way up out the parking garage, the two wingmen discussing their possible tactics along the way.
'It would be troublesome getting little to no information out of this event.' Worried Kaiser as he joined Virtanen and Knight.
"Finally ready to head in?" Asked Virtanen helping Knight stand upright.
"I should be asking that of you." retorted Kaiser as he eyed Knight's shaky stance.
Virtanen let out a slightly nervous laugh. "I'll be fine"
-Transition-
After checking in with a few officials they learned that each school had been assigned a room to wait and prepare for the event within. Naturally, they were also encouraged to explore and mingle with others at their discretion. This was if they would not be late didn't cause disturbances.
With an excess of time, the trio, now that Sokolov and O'Diveley had gone their own way, had agreed to explore before returning within half an hour. The arena was large, its main stage surrounded by thousands of seats stacked multiple stories. The glass exterior exposed multiple floors and walkways, vendors and souvenir stands. It was a reasonable amount of time to find their way back.
The rooms they were quartered in were on the top floor with access to V.I.P booths overlooking the interior. Inside the small but spacious room were two light tan couches. One a three-seat and the other a loveseat with two matching footrests. Tan walls and ornately designed tiling decorated the floor. They were even provided a restroom to themselves and a mini-fridge. On the wall was a large television streaming the stage so they would know when they were due to appear.
The three had taken their dress jackets and covers off. Only Kaiser kept his tie fastened as he sat looking over the schedule of events and layout of the arena while Virtanen loosened his own and watched the screen. Knight followed suit, undoing the top button as he sank into the couch.
Kaiser watched them with a sigh before growing bored and turning to clean his pistol.
"So the usual game plan sound about right?" asked Virtanen rather quickly as he scanned the mini-fridge. To his disappointment finding only water. With a lack of cola, he sipped at a bottle while checking his subordinate's responses.
"Umm, sir?" asked Knight sheepishly.
"Yes, Knight?" responded Virtanen with an arm over his eyes.
"What's 'the usual'?. You haven't said a word since we got to the main floor".
"That so?" asked Virtanen with a nervous chuckle as he turned to Kaiser.
Kaiser nodded with closed eyes as he wiped down his pistol with a small rag. "He tends to lose all thought when in a large crowd Knight."
"Sorry" apologized Virtanen. "I'd forgotten you're not always with us. It's like Kaiser said. And as for 'the usual' he and I have a mutual understanding about these situations."
Knight looked to Kaiser who returned his sidearm to its holster. Virtanen took the moment to throw away his trash in which Kaiser shook his head with a frown.
"The plan is that Kaiser, being more experienced with these situations takes over for me and nobody will be the wiser or care for that matter. No rule states that it has to be the commander," he explained feeling refreshed at the thought.
Knight caught Kaiser's sharp glare, one which Virtanen was pointedly ignoring as he spoke. "Once our school is called up we'll march out onto the stage, face the audience, Kaiser will draw for us, express our thanks, shake hands, and bug out!"
"Wow, you'll actually stand on the stage? Big steps~" snarked Kaiser.
"Knight you go first," offered Kaiser, leaving the floor to Knight.
"Umm, well. What do I say? It certainly is a plan" Knight fretted, looking around the room for any inspiration. "Wouldn't it make you seem weak-willed back on the ship? Not to mention most already know of you giving the Lieutenant Colonel time off, so if he's the main attendee wouldn't it seem he was forced?"
"I was," commented Kaiser blandly.
Virtanen's face remained frozen in a fragile half-smile at his plan being shot through. A small twitch appeared at Kaiser's remark. Seeing as there was no rebuttal Kaiser took the lead.
"I said I would follow orders but I also said I would help you get over this mundane fear of yours. So relax, go wash your face. No commander of a prestigious academy should be looking as red and ragged as you."
Taking a deep breath of relief Virtanen did so. Knight looked to see Kaiser casting a wry grin as he stood, dressed, and left. Once again he felt somehow left out of their conversations, only smiling along to be left confused. It almost seemed comedic to him how lost he would be around the two.
Not too long after Virtanen exited the restroom. He saw Kaiser was gone while Knight lay on the couch watching the ongoing setup for the ceremony.
"Where'd Kaiser Go?" Asked Virtanen.
"I'm not sure. He just stood up and left" answered Knight.
"Well, no worries. He'll be back before the ceremony" Virtanen confidently stated.
-Transition-
Kaiser had slipped out to explore. No more than 10 minutes later, he had seen a fair amount of the stadium and had exchanged greetings with students from other schools. The large shifting masses of people were draining on him, to say the least, yet despite his high hopes for Sokolov and O'Diveley, he felt he had to act as well.
His calm remained steadfast and he acted casual yet the stares rained down on him just as they did in Saunders. A fair amount of students and passersby gawked at his uniform. His plentiful awards glinted in the light, his saber and sidearm sticking out noticeably in comparison to the other modest uniforms around him. Even other Senshado uniforms paled, it was a first that he felt overdressed. It was lucky his less social peers had taken a more private route to their room
Some bystanders even made the honest mistake of believing he was a male student of Kuromorimine. Other whispers as he passed revealed that most noted the lack of red on his uniform and deduced he must've been from another program if not an official.
Transcendence was still rather unknown by many. The Saunders scrimmage was written off as just that, a scrimmage. Though its outcome was announced and shared it had not received much attention. Kaiser himself had even seen online commenters say that it was rigged to boost his school's confidence.
'As if Kay would throw a match' he chided internally.
Despite the constant wave of stares and whispers, he kept an eye out for any persons of interest. Those to interact with and those to avoid. Soon he found a small black mass moving amongst the crowd of colors. A small group of Kuromorimine students had left a small food stall serving Italian food.
It was to his amazement that he saw two of Anzio's commanders working behind the counter in a hurry. They were targets of interest as well but seeing their panicked work, he decided they would've been too busy to speak.
. Instead, he approached the group of Kuromoromine students. Three girls and two boys were satisfyingly chatting about their meal. 'Should be an easy source of casual intel' he decided.
The eldest girl wore a garrison cap on top of her shoulder-length straight, brown hair and a red-trimmed jacket on top of her uniform. She seemed to be a part of the senshado team and the group's eldest. She had bitten into a thick cannoli as he approached her group with the best 'charming' smile he could muster. He made eye contact which seemed to surprise her. As he closed in she looked down at her mouth, agape, and mid-bite, before turning to cough in embarrassment.
Her friends patted her back asking what was wrong as Kaiser made his appearance known.
"Hello there, are you okay?" he asked politely, feigning concern for the still coughing girl. She let a small "eep" out as he leaned into her line of sight. Their group had settled against a wall in the large hallway to avoid foot traffic where she took the opportunity to tug on her friend's sleeve for help.
After eyeing their friend questioningly, a smaller female spoke up.
"Ah she's okay now, I'm sorry for that scene Mr?" The question was sent with questioning and suspicious looks from the males, along with the polite smiles from the younger girls paired with their shy senior's curious glances.
"Kaiser, Adam Kaiser. My peers and teachers refer to me by last name but call me as you wish. We're all around the same age." The friendly words rolled off his tongue without trouble even if he was opposed to others using his first name if they weren't family or at least close.
The statement of being the same age sent a unanimous look of surprise across their faces as they assessed him up and down.
"Do my looks betray me?" he asked with a small chuckle.
"N-No we just assumed with the uniform and your appearance you might have been from a college or even a young instructor," responded the small junior once more.
"I' am not a college student and sadly I don't have the privilege of instructing students such as yourselves." The remark gained smirks and grins from the junior girls, as well as mounting suspicion from the boys.
Keeping his calm he continued speaking to them all, ensuring not to exclude the males in hopes of not earning their ire and giving them an excuse to leave. "I am actually from a new academy called Transcendence," he clarified. After this event, everyone would know of their affiliation but at the moment the students were somewhat on guard.
Playing innocent he gave a false explanation. "I'm sorry to interrupt your fun, I'm somewhat of a curious soul and saw that you were from Kuromoromine. I was hoping to ask about your school and then I caught your friend choking. I was a bit concerned at that as well" he laughed.
The senior girl couldn't face him as she turned red at her embarrassed coughing being mistaken for choking. "We may not see each other after today but may I ask your names?" He was growing tired of not being able to address them individually.
"Oh sure I'm Hannah," stated the junior who was the only one to speak so far. "This is Larissa, our senior by one year, speaking is not her strength so please forgive her, but she's one hell of a driver, maybe Kuromoromine's best." she jested
Kaiser acted impressed by her praise, turning to see said driver shake her friend at the sudden attention. "I'd love to see her performance someday." Though he knew it would most likely be as adversaries.
The tallest male, standing as tall as Virtanen interrupted at this point. "Larissa is even one of the candidates to drive one of our newest prototype vehicles."
Kaiser continued his acting as Larissa shook her hands trying to silence her friends who laughed at her distress. 'Whether it's embarrassment or she's trying to maintain informational security, it's a blessing she can't speak openly' thought Kaiser.
The boy's comment earned an elbow to his ribs from Hannah. "The lanky loudmouth here is Eric the short quiet one is Jared, a freshman. Finally, this flamboyant little one is Jessica." Each summary was followed by a wave and greeting. Eric nursed his side as Kaiser chuckled at their friendliness.
"I have to admit you all are a close bunch," he commented.
"You seem rather friendly yourself," responded Jessica stepping towards him, eyeing him closely. "Well I wouldn't say I'm well known for it" he chuckled. "In fact, you'd be surprised what you would hear about me." He continued for a few more minutes exchanging small talk and laughter, easing into their guard, even refuting their insistent questions on his position at his school. He even went as far as to say his awards were no more than show, it did little to sway their beliefs.
Even the shy Larissa eased into the conversation speaking casually with him. Limited on time, Kaiser had to cut the conversation short taking with him what knowledge he was able to squeeze within the few minutes they spoke.
With a wave of farewell, he received waves from the group as Jessica and Hannah harassed their senior over her behavior while blushing. Soon the group of black meshed into the multi-colored crowd and Kaiser pulled out a small handbook and pen. Quickly writing the fresh information he had gathered. 'Prototype vehicles, new maneuvering doctrine, elastic defense practice'. Each was a minor slip, a few words, but revealed much.
Kuromoromine had learned from last year's Orai match. They were becoming flexible, testing new leadership and doctrine, even new vehicles from what was proven.
Once finished he ran a hand over his face. It was thoroughly exhausting for him. Pulling his watch he checked the time. Not much left before the event began and still so many schools to chat with. Reluctantly, he made haste to a smaller and more manageable crowd of three females in black skirts with white shirts and leggings sitting at the Anzio stand.
-Chapter End-