Chapter 5: The University Select Team, part 2
"We are the University Select Team."
Miho was speechless: the University Select Team, also known as All Stars, was considered the strongest sensha-do team in Japan, and was made up of students from the main academies (Kuromorimine, St. Gloriana, Pravda, BC Freedom and others). The team used more modern tanks than the high school teams, such as the M24 Chaffee and the M26 Pershing.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
Earl Gray replied:
"We're on a trip. We camped here about three days ago."
At that moment Megumi entered in the tent, and said:
"The commander is coming!"
Azumi turned to look at her and smiled.
"Well."
After a couple of minutes, a girl with light brown hair held in two shoulder-length blonde ponytails, tied with black ribbons, and eyes of the same color entered the tent. Seeing her, the students of the team paid attention to her, while Miho was surprised by the girl's appearance, apparently younger than her.
"Rest, girls." The newcomer said with a benevolent smile.
She then turned to Miho:
"I am Alice Shimada, commander of the University Team."
Miho was initially speechless. She instinctively grabbed Alice by her shoulders, leaving her stunned.
"Did… Did you say Shimada? Are you Chiyo's daughter?" She asked her.
"Hey, get your hands off her!" Onizuka ordered her.
Miho ignored her.
"Answers! Are you Chiyo's daughter?" She asked again, turning to Alice.
The latter, slightly confused, nodded.
"Yes… How come you care?"
"Is she here with you?"
Alice shook her head.
"No… But do you know her?"
Miho nodded. She had never met her personally, but she had occasionally seen her in the company of her mother, Shiho. Chiyo Shimada was a top figure in the Sensha-do Federation, one of the richest women in Japan and a master of the style of sensha-do known as the Shimada style, as opposed to the Nishizumi style.
"You must lead me to her as soon as possible!" Miho said.
Maybe I still have hope...
She thought.
"Calm down, baby… Why do you want to meet her?" Manami asked her, suspicious.
Miho stared at her determinedly.
"If my mother rejects me, maybe Chiyo will take me in!"
"Do you mean to be… Adopted by her?" Earl Gray asked.
The brunette took on an insecure look.
"At least host me…"
Alice looked at her as if she had gone crazy.
"What makes you want to ask my mother for hospitality? You have a family of your own!"
Miho shook her head.
"Not anymore… My mother disowned me!"
The confusion on Alice's face was replaced by an expression of pure shock.
"Why?" She asked impulsively.
"Because in the final of the last tournament I caused the defeat of my team, abandoning the flag tank to the mercy of the Pravda tanks."
"But you also saved the lives of the crew of a Panzer III… Your dear mother knows this, doesn't she?" Azumi asked her.
"Without sacrifice you can't win… That's what she told me." Miho replied.
That sentence scandalized Alice and the others quite a bit.
"So those girls could have died for her!" Azumi said, sounding disgusted.
"If I catch her she'll end up in a wheelchair for the rest of her days!" Onizuka commented, increasingly furious.
Miho looked down.
"Anyway… Do you think your mother will take me in?" She asked, turning to Alice.
The little girl let out a sigh, looking at her interlocutor with an uncertain expression.
"I don't know... My mother is a good woman, but I don't know if she will accept to host a stranger in her house."
Noticing Miho's dejected look she hastened to add:
"However, there is no harm in trying."
Miho nodded, while maintaining a depressed look.
At that point it was Manami who spoke up.
"Do your companions know you were headed here?"
Miho shook her head.
"No… Because otherwise they would have tried to dissuade me, or hinder me."
"Did you happen to meet any acquaintances of yours on your way here?"
Miho thought about it.
"Yes… Darjeeling, St. Gloriana's commander." She answered.
Earl Gray frowned.
"If my doubts prove to be well-founded, your friends will be scouring the school looking for you by now. When they will understand that you are not on board they will contact other acquaintances of yours to find out if you are with them." She stated.
Miho looked at her confused.
"And thereby?"
"Darjeeling will say she saw you at…"
She paused.
"Where did you meet her?"
"In Shizuoka city. She gave me a lift to the train station."
"Did you tell her where you were going?"
Miho nodded.
"Yes, but I didn't tell her my true intentions. She thinks I'm visiting my aunt."
Azumi snorted.
"Aokigahara is one of the most infamous places in Japan. If your companions find out you are here they will move heaven and earth to find you." She said.
The second daughter of the Nishizumi family looked alarmed.
"No… No, no! Absolutely not!" She exclaimed.
"No what?" Onizuka asked her, looking at her in surprise.
"They must not know that I am here, in your camp! Otherwise they will force me to return to Ooarai, and I will not be able to carry out my plan!" Miho explained.
Alice nodded.
"Right… So if they come here and ask questions we will have to deny seeing you."
The brunette nodded.
"I don't do it willingly, but it's necessary."
Alice nodded again.
"I understand…"
She turned to her subordinates.
"If any of you lets out a word I will expel them from the team! Was I clear? And spread the word!"
The girls jumped to attention.
"Yes, commander!" They exclaimed in unison.
Miho let out a sigh of relief.
"Arigatō on'nanoko. *" She thanked her, with a bow.
Alice gave her a bright smile.
"I can't deny help to a girl in difficulty. You will be my guest here at the camp for the rest of the trip, and then I will take you to my house, where you can have a talk with my mother."
Hoping she accept…
She avoided adding.
*Thanks girls.
Alice nodded again.
"I understand…"