Part 23: Oshida

BC Freedom Academy ship Beárn

Okayama City

Watching the sun set behind a soupy haze of clouds, Ruka Oshida stood on one of the many balconies hanging from the Student Council Palace. It had been an unsurprisingly long several months since the 'June Crisis', which thanks to Saunders, had inadvertently involved the largely neutral BC Freedom. While Captain De Gaulle, Marie, and Oshida herself had sympathy towards the Coalition, BC Freedom had opted to stay out of the conflict, as did many other schools in the fleet.

Rumors had recently surfaced of Jatkosota aiding Kuromorimine by way of infiltration and sabotage behind enemy lines, but they were just that. Rumors.

Oshida shook her head, raising a glass of wine to her lips, opting to focus on the view directly before her.

The cleanup of the crashed plane from Saunders was still ongoing, though it wasn't all bad news. The two factions of the fractured Academy, who were ordinarily at each other's throats, had found some semblance of unity when it came to rebuilding. Both groups had been affected as well, as the aircraft had crashed along the center boulevard, plowing a hole directly through the Wall.

The Palace thankfully hadn't been damaged, despite its close proximity to the crash site.

"What's the view like today?" A voice asked. Ruka turned her head to find her beloved companion and arch rival Rena Andou approaching. She offered a small smile before looking forward again.

"Not much change." Oshida replied. "There's still pieces of that metal beast everywhere, apparently. A lone tire was pulled out of the library on Rue Robineau this morning." As Andou stopped at the railing, Ruka picked up her bottle, pouring another glass. After a moment's silence, the Examiner glanced at her friend, mildly surprised to find a wineglass being offered to her. She gratefully accepted it, using her free hand to light a cigarette.

"I heard that they found the Black Box yesterday." Rena said, turning her head in the direction of an ambulance siren somewhere on the ship.

"Mmmh." The Escalator murmured, picking up a baguette slice from the platter between the girls. She gnawed a large bite out of it before continuing. "That's a recording I could go my whole life without listening to." Oshida, a lover of historical audio recordings and transcripts, muttered through a mouthful of bread.

"Somebody has to." Andou shook her head, trying to scatter the memories of nearly being killed by the subject plane. "And I'm sure plenty want to." She drowned the thought with a large gulp of wine.

"Why would someone want to listen to that?" Oshida demanded, pointing at the demolished buildings and scattered crumpled wreckage.

"How many times have you listened to those fire department transcripts, Miss Fukushima?" Her friend shot back, deflating the Escalator slightly.

"Well… this is different. It hits so close to home. Literally."

"I'm sure the people of Okuma feel the same."

Silence fell over the pair again, with Andou taking multiple drags from her cigarette. Oshida clearly wasn't in the mood for their usual bickering, which she understood. The pair had been first responders to the crash, and while nobody from BC Freedom had been seriously hurt, there had been a tremendous amount of death and destruction witnessed by the girls that day.

Ruka eyed the deck directly below where a Simca 5 rolled down the otherwise empty street, towards what was being called 'Le Cratère'.

"There goes Asparagus." She observed. Andou hummed in agreement.

"Has she left the site since day one? Like, at all?"

"I don't think so. She's even beaten Captain De Gaulle with her attendance record."

Following the Simca, a small convoy of Laffly S15s puttered by, towing covered wagons and tanker trailers.

"What? Is she trying to rebuild the carrier all by herself?" Ruka asked no one in particular, sipping from her wine glass.

"Sure looks like it." Andou replied. After a moment, she glanced at her companion. "Should we help?"

"It's our day off." Oshida said, with a slightly indignant tone. "Mine, at least."

"Hmm. I thought a busy body like you would be all over the rebuild, helping wherever you could." The Escalator's calm expression slowly morphed into a glare, which she leveled at her Examiner counterpart. As she continued, Andou responded with a grin. "I guess I was thinking of somebody else."

"Okay." Oshida murmured. "I see what you're doing." In one quick gulp, she drained her wine glass, setting the empty cup down firmly. "We'll go offer help. But not because it was your idea."

Rena took one last drag from her cigarette before flicking it over the railing. "Keep telling yourself that." She turned to follow her companion, reaching out to smack her on the rear. Ruka froze for a moment, but didn't give in to the temptation to slap her beloved.

The pair ventured downstairs to where their respective vehicles were parked. Oshida's being a Renault 9, which had been a rather unreliable project car for a number of years. As she climbed into it, Andou leaned against her own Motobécane LT 125, knowing they would likely need it. When Ruka's car quietly chugged a few times and she began growling and muttering with frustration, Rena opened the trunk and retrieved her friend's helmet, a simple, older style with an open face. After a few more attempts, Andou silently approached the driver and held up the helmet. Oshida sighed reluctantly and stepped out, following the Examiner to her motorcycle. As she pulled the helmet on, Andou mounted the bike and flipped out the kick pedal, starting it nearly effortlessly. She folded up the kickstand with her other foot, and Oshida climbed aboard, gently holding her shoulders.

"Ditch that piece of junk." Rena said with a grin, strapping on a pair of goggles. "Get one of these. I could use a riding partner."

"I'd say you already have one." Ruka shot back, kissing her driver on the cheek. Andou's smile grew wider as she revved the engine and peeled out of her parking spot.

A/N: Hey, all. Just checking in

As I said, I'm hoping to touch on a few of the other schools in the fleet. Who were involved, either directly or otherwise, in the war. As we know, Pravda pulled in lots of help from its neighbors...

I'm putting the finishing touches on Kay and Katyusha's confrontation at the prison, trying a few different approaches. I will say that it will draw inspiration from a few places, like Law and Order, 9-1-1, or maybe Criminal Minds. Not gonna lie, climaxes like this are tough to write, and the ideas I have for future chapters are kinda distracting

(You'll see what I mean later on)

Now, a special welcome to new follower JC43599453. Welcome to the show!

Thank you all for reading, and be well