Part 6: Saemonza

IJN Zuikaku

Sensha-do garage

Present Day

While most of the team had gathered near Oryou, Saemonza stood quietly with Yukari next to one of the wood stoves. She idly smoothed out her makeshift eye patch while listening to the fire crackling. It was surprisingly peaceful, yet not enough to subdue a burning irritation inside the Gunner. She found herself becoming angry at the presence of her former friend.

Since coming home from Saunders, Oryou had taken the term 'malignant narcissist' to a new level. She hardly spoke, and when she did, it was only about how miserable she was, or how depressed she was about her injury, or yelling at someone who had offered help or sympathy.

"She doesn't know how good she actually has it."

Caesar had taken the role of, at least attempting to be, Takeko's caretaker. Checking on her throughout the day, helping her get around, and so on. Thanks to one rather heated conflict, which left the team not hearing from the Driver for a number of days, Erwin dedicated herself to keeping Saemonza away from Oryou. The point of the argument had been simple, at least in Kiyomi's mind. You can still walk, you have live-in friends, and you don't live in a barn. Keep your room somewhat presentable.

Or at least stop hoarding all the dishes.

Saemonza had tried to offer help, but her voice fell on deaf ears.

"What was I supposed to do? Make rice in the coffee pot?"

At her side, the Ankou Loader seemed perplexed. As if she wanted to join her friends, but something was stopping her. Eventually, she revealed what that something was.

"Saemonza-dono?" Akiyama asked. "Is… something wrong?"

Sugiyama shook her head, staring into the rumbling fire. "No, Guderian. Everything is fine."

"Really? Because I noticed that, since Oryou-dono walked in, you seem-"

"It's fine, Akiyama." Saemonza growled.

Around the same time, the door opened again and caught everyone's attention. The members of Anteater and Rabbit shuffled into the garage, to a hail of warm greetings. Oryou appeared relieved to be out of the spotlight, and she stayed with Caesar as they moved towards the Stüg. Saemonza tracked them with her eye, watching Oryou cautiously climb aboard and tug open her Driver's hatch.

"Weren't you part of the mission to help Oryou-dono with driving the Stüg again?" Guderian asked.

"I was." Saemonza nodded. "Then, the Federation followed everyone else's lead with not continuing Sensha-do. On top of that, Oryou never expressed much interest in driving anymore, so the little project fell apart." Her piercing eye landed on Nogami again. She was watching Caesar climb into her own hatch, a somewhat nervous expression on her face. "Well… I mean, she did. But every time it was brought up, she'd come up with one excuse or another. At least she can walk again…"

"What is the conflict between you two about?"

Saemonza shook her head. "Nothing you need to be concerned about, Guderian."

"Well, you guys are my friends. And I feel like I understand what you, or specifically Oryou-dono, are going through. I am concerned."

"We can handle it." Saemonza insisted through gritted teeth, becoming more annoyed by the second.

"Oryou-dono has a pretty serious issue. Respectfully, Saemonza-dono, I think you should lay off of her a bit."

"Oh, are you her best friend now, too?!" Kiyomi snapped, silencing the garage and making Yukari jump. "She has no idea how easy she has it right now!"

"Saemonza!" Erwin crossed the garage bay in an instant. "We talked about this." She hissed.

"Well… blame Guderian! She's the one trying to be the armchair therapist." Matsumoto shot her Ankou friend a look.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Yukari said defensively. She instinctively stood up and backed away from the pair, eyeing Saemonza cautiously. "I just asked what was going on between her and Oryou-dono."

"I already talked about it with this one." Erwin stated, gesturing to the Gunner. "We weren't going to have this conversation in front of the team."

"Well, I've changed my mind." Kiyomi declared. "We're all here. We're all adults. Why not settle things?"

"Girls, please." Miho sounded disappointed, as if she was worried about something like this. "Not here. This is supposed to be a happy gathering."

Leaning against the Jagdpanzer 38, Kawashima Momo tensed up at Saemonza's outburst. If this conversation was going where she feared it was, this was definitely not the place.

"I agree." Oryou declared. She ignored Nishizumi, climbing down from the Stüg and shaking off Caesar's attempt to stop her. "What is your problem, Saemonza?" The Driver marched up to the Gunner, stopping only when their noses were inches apart. Erwin stepped back in surprise.

"You! My problem is you!" Saemonza shouted, jabbing her finger into Nogami's chest. "You have all these friends, an entire team of them!" She gestured to the small crowd. "Myself included, contrary to popular belief, who want to help you! Why are you letting one simple injury get to you? You're letting your life fall apart, Oryou!"

"Losing a limb isn't as simple as you might think, Saemonza!" Oryou shot back, tugging up her pant leg and exposing the synthetic skin. "I have night terrors every night about being left behind in that damn trench. On top of that, I've been living in fear of losing my position as Hippo's Driver!"

"Alright, girls." Erwin attempted to step between the pair, but Sugiyama stiff-armed her and shoved her backwards. "That's-oof!" Riko's hat flew off of her head.

"Oh, stop it! I was there when that thing was designed! Ask Erwin! Getting a prosthetic for you was my idea! It's meant specifically for driving! You are such a baby! Some of us have actual, career ending problems!"

"Yep." Kawashima thought. "She's really about to go there."

"What are you talking about, Ze yo?!"

"Caesar can breathe with a patched lung, and so can Kawanishi! Yamagou, Sakaguchi, Oono, Hephaestus, Guderian and I can still do our jobs, despite having been beaten, shot and blown up. You can walk and drive with a fake leg. Well guess what?!" Growing more furious with every word, she pulled her Sanada band off, revealing a perfect eyeball surrounded by scars on her brow and cheek. "I can't see with a fake eye!"

Stillness descended upon the Ooarai Academy Sensha-do garage. Every girl's eye was locked onto the Hippo Gunner, who slowly glanced around after a moment, as if just now realizing what she had said.

"Fake eye…?" Koyama Yuzu asked after several seconds, stepping away from the 38t. "What does that mean, Saemonza-chan?"