"" Dialogue

'' Thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own "Strike Witches", so this is just a fan made.

Chapter 7: About the future

A bit more than a week passed without any major occurrence, Yoshika and Hattori spent the days helping at the clinic or with the chores and when she had time, she also studied the few books she brought from Europe. During these days, there was something Yoshika noticed, Hattori seemed to be more interested in cooking, thus, she became Hattori's cooking teacher, while she had improved since that disastrous day in Gallia, she still had a long way to go.

Hattori wanted to become a better cook and she followed Yoshika's instructions rigorously and she seemed to be improving but she still relied too much on her supervision. Yoshika had already planned a way to overcome it, an exam. She would have to cook the dinner for her family and for Michiko too and they all must give her feedback.

It went better than Yoshika or even everyone expected, but the dinner was fine at best. Hattori was a bit disappointed, but Yoshika assured her that she also was not great a cook when she went to Europe, she told her that Perrine even hated her food, but with the help of everyone, she improved a lot. When they finished preparing lunch, they went to the school to pick up Michiko so they could spend the evening together.

This routine was something unfamiliar for Hattori as she never had to do chores at home, her father used to tell her that it was not her duty nor she had close friends to spend the time with, but she treasured every moment she could spend doing more trivial things and together with Yoshika of course.

That was they did for a couple of days until a Witch arrived flying by the morning looking for them, she said she required to hand them personally two important letters for each one, Hattori and Yoshika knew that it eventually would happen, and they were not surprised at all.

Before opening their letters, they already knew what to expect but after reading them they were a bit still surprised though, the 501st JFW were going to Venezia once again but to a more inland base. They were going to take down the neuroi hive in the southern Karlsland, in Ingolstadt thus they were going to be stationed in Bolzano as it was the closest place non-controlled by Neuroi.

They also had to be reunited with a Major Sakamoto at the base by tomorrow at nine hundred hours so they could fly to Venezia the same day, a military truck would pick them up. That was way sooner than they expected but there was nothing they could say about that matter.

Yoshika told her family the news and they were a bit disappointed that they had to leave so quickly, but even though they did not tell Yoshika, they were worried that something might have happen to her, they knew what war was like, but it did not deny the fact that their own family was going to be deployed in the frontlines, again, for the fourth time.

And this time, after hearing what the Major told them, they could not help it but be even more unsettled about this upcoming operation, but this was not the time to show worriedness, they had to stay positive for both girls and thus, the morning routine continued mostly as usual.

When they arrived at the school, Michiko was already waiting for them, but before they could say anything, she had already noticed they had a more serious look on their faces. She also realized what was going on but nevertheless, she still asked them, "did something happen?", "It's just that we are going back to Europe" Yoshika said with sadness in her voice but with a smile on her face, "When are you going to depart?" asked Michiko "Tomorrow" replied Hattori with more boldness in her voice than Yoshika, "That's… sooner than I hoped, let's go then, I have something to show both of you". Yoshika and Hattori exchanged glances, but they did not say anything, just followed her.

After half an hour of walking, they arrived at what seemed like some sort of hotel, but as they had a better look, they realized it was a hot spring resort. Yoshika and Hattori were kind of surprised when they realized where Michiko had taken them, but they both enjoyed hot baths, so it was a rather pleasant surprise.

When they entered the resort, it was dim with not much decoration, so it seemed empty and it did not help it that there was just one man inside behind the desk, he greeted them and showed them the dressing rooms and pointed them where the baths were. He also told them they were separated, so they were relieved after hearing that. Yoshika then remembered she had already heard about the place, but she never came until this day.

The man went back to his deck, and they were left alone in the dressing room. They unclothed, and wrapped themselves in towels and went through the curtains to where the spring was, and it was bigger than what they expected. The interior was surrounded by bamboo and there was a lot of steam thus it had a pleasant aroma. It had hot water flowing through the rocks forming a stream that ended in a small fall creating a pond.

The trio were carefully making their way through the slippery rocks but before they submerged themselves, Michiko wrapped her towel in her head, while Yoshika left it in a rock nearby, thus, leaving them bared and then, the duo dipped in the hot water.

As Hattori was behind them, she could not help but peek Yoshika as she submerged in the water. She had already seen Yoshika like that but this time, something was different, but she could not tell what it was and even though she did not notice, she was blushing.

"C'mon Shizuka" said Yoshika while slapping the water, "It feels so nice", she added without noticing Hattori's redness "Yes, of course" answered Hattori trying not to look at her, but she could not avoid it, then she also submerged in the hot water, covered in her towel, she stretched herself trying to get rid of the blush and she more or less did, still she sighed as it was the water so relaxing, just as Yoshika said..

Meanwhile Michiko seemed thoughtful and introspective 'I wonder what she is thinking about' thought Hattori.

Michiko had a rather small smile on her face, but it was deceiving as she was thinking about how dangerous the frontlines were, while neither Yoshika nor Hattori told her how she got her magic back, twice, Sayaka did. It was not easy to get her to told her how Yoshika were, but she insisted and persisted, and she finally told her the story, but she made her promise to never tell Yoshika that she knew.

She was more than petrified when she heard the story of how they almost died, and also, she was kind of disappointed that Yoshika did not trust her enough to told her what she really encountered since she went back to Europe supposedly just as an exchange student, but Yoshiko assured that she did it so that they did not worry about her.

And now, Yoshika and Hattori would be going deployed again, in the frontlines and who knows what dangers they would be facing and though she always wanted to go by Yoshika's side to help her however she could, she knew it simply was not possible, but she promised herself that she was going to find a way to help her.

Meanwhile, Hattori was not just dipping in the water but in her thoughts too. She was trying to realize what she was feeling regarding Yoshika, even before she met her, she had admired, even idolized her and even if she was not a perfect soldier by any means, she had come to admire her willingness to give everything and to trust her instinct no matter what.

And, after hearing her struggles since becoming a Witch, in the battle of Brittania, in operation Mars and now spending more time with her just by the two of them, she had come to feel different about her, but she was not sure what she was feeling. Nevertheless, she was trying to not look at Yoshika now, who was just floating in front of her, but the truth was the Yoshika also seemed to be lost in her thoughts just as Michiko as she did not even look at her.

At the same time, Yoshika was floating in the pond moving with the flow of the water with her mind coming back to the conversation she had with her grandma, 'sometimes things will not go the way you expect no matter what you do', and she had experienced just that, more times that she would have liked to and it worried her but then she recalled what she said later 'but give your best so you don't regret it later' and like always, she was going to give her best to protect her friends and everyone no matter what it costed her, nevertheless after the encounter with Shindou, she knew she still had room for improvement, thus she promised to herself that she was going to resume her training in Europe.

Regardless of that, Michiko had taken them to this place to enjoy themselves, so she better start with that, so she splashed water into them, making the duo stop daydreaming, and thus initiating a small water battle in the pond, splashing, laughing, and just chitchatting they spent the whole evening there. It was not only after noticing their wrinkled fingers that they decided to get out, but that did not matter, they just laughed about it.

After thanking the administrator for his attention, they all went home though Michiko promised them that she would be there the next day to say goodbye to both of them.

When the duo arrived, they noticed that Yoshiko and Sayaka had almost finished preparing dinner and they helped to finish and to serve it. The duo talked about what they did earlier that day and even though they wanted to talk a bit more, they had to pack their things for tomorrow and they also need to sleep soon as the next day would be a long one and they had to be ready early in the morning.

In their rooms, after they finished packing, they both put on their nightgowns and went to their futons, Hattori was thinking about what they would be facing, after all, it's only the second time she would be commissioned with the destruction of a Beuroi hive.

"Yoshika, do you think everything would be fine?" "What do you mean? We're all going to be fighting together, so there's nothing fear" "I hope you're right". Hattori, looking at the ceiling, was still a bit worried about the upcoming battle, but she was going to be fighting alongside Yoshika and that was something she was looking forward.

Yoshika, on the other hand, had been training tirelessly since the liberation of Berlin, hoping not to ever feel helpless again, 'I… want… to protect… everyone….' she whispered before both fell asleep. The night went without any problem.

The dawn had not even come yet, but the girls were already waiting for the truck outside the Miyafuji clinic with their backpacks, after having breakfast of course. Sayaka and Yoshiko were with them and after a few minutes, the military truck had already arrived, though Yoshika was sad that Michiko could not make it, but she could not blame her, the truck arrived even before the first rays of sun appeared.

"Please be careful both of you" said Yoshiko "and Hattori, please take care of her" said Sayaka "Don't worry, I'll protect her" replied Hattori "we'll be careful", promised Yoshika and both hugged Yoshika.

They had already put their luggage on the truck and where ready to get into before they could do it, Michiko came running, "Sorry for being late" she said breathing hard as she tightly hugged Yoshika, "Don't be, I'm just happy to see you but, but we have to leave now" and she tenderly put Michiko's arms down as she climbed into the truck, Michiko also grabbed Hattori hand before she got into the truck "Don't let her do anything reckless", pledged Michiko "I'll make sure of that", promised Hattori.

"Goodbye everybody, we'll be back" Yoshika said as they disappeared, "please be safe out there" mourned Hattori before she rushed back to the school as it would take a bit long to get there, not before saying goodbye to Sayaka and Yoshiko.

The witches finally have a new assignment and they are going to Europe once again.