Maho was sure of a few things in life. A steely gaze and set jaw could power you through any number of difficult situations with people as they struggled to even maintain eye contact. The trick was not to look at them but through them. It was a trick she had learned from her mother who had learned it from her mother who according to family legend had learned it from an IJA tank commander. She knew that a solid conviction could overcome anyone who wavered in the slightest, especially if they knew your reputation for succeeding and that reputation had grown to the point where some questioned if you were a regular human.

And she knew that her mother was a regular human.

There were many jokes that her mother was a vampire or witch. A popular theory was that she was an oni and that was why she associated herself with a school with a prominent German 'thunder and lightning' theme. But as fearsome a reputation as she had cultivated, her mother actually was a human. She had very human weaknesses. She could drive a tank, load and fire its gun or command all those operations and do so in a way that brought terror to a battlefield before it was even a battlefield. But parenting was a whole different skill and not one she had been able to master.

Maho accepted this. It was easy for her mother to be a parent to her because she was an easy child. She had never had doubts. At least, not until recently. Her mother merely had to speak encouraging words to ease her along a path she had already chosen for herself and was determined to reach the end of. With Miho, there was no such certainty. It had been easy when Miho was young and she had been determined to fill the house with legions of frogs and insects she caught. That had been Miho's goal and little would dissuade her from it, whether it was their mother's screams as yet another frog leapt onto her bare foot or their father's yells as he discovered another jar of unspeakable creepy-crawlies in some random place, like his sock drawer or toolbox.

But then Miho had grown up and left her world of bug and frog catching behind and entered the human world which contained very few certainties. Frogs were fairly limited in their behaviour; people were unpredictable. Miho had never liked that unpredictable quality. It made her anxious. And that anxiety made her shy of interacting with others which then made everything else difficult.

Their mother hadn't known how to address anxiety. A lifetime of masking any of her doubts and her own mother having done a good job of programming her to have none anyway meant that she couldn't relate. She could however recognise that she didn't know what to do. People might judge her mother as a cold woman but Nishizumi Shiho was wise enough to know her own shortcomings and her failings as a parent and knowing this had always made Maho respect her, even if there were times she couldn't say that she liked her because of this failing. Her mother wanted Miho to grow stronger, to find her strength and all she had been able to do was tell her to find it. She couldn't actually do anything to help her find it because she didn't know how but she was smart enough to know that telling Miho to stop being anxious would only make her more anxious.

Though of course, Miho's inability to find that strength had made her feel like she was failing their mother and their mother's terrifying reputation had put Miho on a perpetual edge.

Maho thought that ironically the worst experience of Miho's life, the incident at the 62nd National High School Sensha-do Tournament, had released her from a heavy burden and improved her life drastically. At least, until Oarai had conscripted her to command their reformed Sensha-do team. But Oarai and its schoolship were far from Kuromorimine and their mother and so being forced to return to Sensha-do hadn't led her to flee home to seek another transfer. It had been good for her. She had been able to take her own approach to Sensha-do with people who weren't conditioned to think a certain way. The astonishing accomplishment of defeating Saunders University High School spoke for the soundness of that approach, even if it had all been decidedly unorthodox.

Unfortunately, unorthodox was not acceptable for a Nishizumi.

Kuromorimine's attention had been on their own campaign to reclaim their place as champions and they had not been concerned with the results of the first round beyond who their next opponents would be. Chi-ha-tan had barely been a passing thought while Keizoku had necessitated a certain amount of caution, given the penchant of Continuation High to wreak havoc on far more powerful foes despite their underpowered tanks.

Maho's concern had been her second in command. Koume was not who she would have chosen as her second, even before the incident. There were other commanders with more experience and personalities better suited to the Nishizumi Style. Koume hadn't even wanted to return to Sensha-do. The Chi-ha-tan match had required nothing from her. Then they had witnessed the Oarai-Saunders match and everything had changed.

Itsumi Erika had always concerned her. She had always been volatile and given her family history, that wasn't surprising. Itsumi Leona had left her with two difficult legacies; to be a ferocious Sensha-do practitioner, and not to curse out the school and everyone in it along with everyone connected with it. Some said Leona's profanity could still be heard echoing through the corridors at night. It had seemed to Maho that Erika had wanted to kill Miho on sight for being Vice-Captain and even though she knew it was envy born from missing her own sister, that understanding had not bred ease within her.

And yet the accident had done to Erika what her mother's criticism had done to Leona. It had shattered her illusions about Kuromorimine and the attitudes it fostered. Maho knew what they were and she knew the harm they could do. She also knew they were effective. Not for nothing was Kuromorimine rated for its high grades as well as its renowned Sensha-do team. The competitive spirit drove them to succeed and to exceed all boundaries. But not everyone could be leaders and some people would stumble on the path. It was unfortunate that they were taught to leave them behind rather than let them slow them down by helping them…

So Erika had been perfectly placed to help Miho. Maho had made it a command to take care of her and she didn't know if it was ingrained loyalty to her former commander or a regret to not have a big sister who looked out for her that had made Erika accept that command. Erika had told her they had been coerced back into Sensha-do. 'Special request'. Maho could easily imagine how a Student Council could have intimidated Miho back to the sport and she knew Erika would have re-joined to help her, no matter how difficult it may have been for her. And whatever she had done had seen Miho lead Oarai to victory over Saunders.

And in the aftermath of that match, she had also managed to restore Koume. It had not been her intention to force the three girls into a reunion but it had worked a minor miracle on Koume. She was still unsure of herself as a second in command but she wasn't unsure of herself as a Sensha-do practitioner. A lack of confidence in an unfamiliar position of command was immensely preferable to a fear of the actual sport. And this was thanks to Erika, the last person Maho would had guessed would be effective at tackling mental health.

Koume had been restored following the Oarai-Saunders match and Miho's activities had come to the attention of their mother. It took a lot to crack her professional exterior but Maho had seen it when she had looked at the match reports and seen her youngest daughter's name and her face looking up at her. But she had proceeded as if she hadn't seen anything and so Maho had been forced to stay quiet. She didn't know of a diplomatic way to broach the subject and as it seemed her mother believed Oarai would lose its next match and become irrelevant, it wouldn't matter. But then Oarai had faced Anzio and despite a few setbacks had overwhelmed them and the conclusion of that battle had not been far from the style of Kuromorimine.

With Oarai facing Pravda, neither of them could pretend not to know what they knew, although her mother was far better at pretending it was new information.

"You knew about this?" She had asked.

"Yes." Maho had heard her voice quaver and she did not like it. Part of their training at Kuromorimine was to identify their own personal weaknesses, whether it was second-guessing themselves or impatience. Maho knew her weakness was Miho.

There had been a long silence and Maho did not know if her mother was marshalling her thoughts or drawing out the tension to test her. She had let leave Miho leave Kuromorimine to find herself and while it had been embarrassing for the family, she was the younger daughter and not much attention was paid to her while Maho led Kuromorimine. But now Miho led a school and that mattered. To all the world, it looked like a challenge. An act of defiance against Kuromorimine, and to their mother. "Why?"

"I was told she was coerced by the Oarai Student Council." Maho told the truth and had braced herself for the response she knew was coming.

"We are Nishizumis! We are not coerced!" Her mother hadn't raised her voice. She never raised her voice outside the battlefield where the firing of guns made it necessary. She didn't need to. It was the tone of her voice that was her strength; not the volume. "We are leaders; not the led!"

Maho had only been able to sit in meek silence. What her mother said was true and it had been a bitter experience to lead Miho and hear her agreeing with everything she said and doing everything she was told regardless of whether she disagreed. She hadn't been following the chain of command but shying away from any possible conflict. She had been scared to disagree. Scared to press her own thoughts and ideas. It had been easier to just let herself be swept along.

"Why?" Her mother had asked bitingly. "Why after everything that happened would she allow this?"

Maho had no answer. And that was unacceptable.

"She has abandoned her obligations as a Nishizumi. She just does as she pleases." She could keep the anger off her face but not out of her voice. "When she leads another school and she does so against the creed of the Nishizumi Style; she challenges you. She defies me." She was saying what all the students of Kuromorimine were saying. What their parents were saying. "I won't let her disgrace our family any further." Her mother had declared and then the anger had softened. "I will go watch the semi-finals." She had announced, meaning the Pravda-Oarai match. "I will tell her about her disinheritance." Meaning that she felt obliged to tell her in person rather than send a cold, impersonal message.

And so Maho had gone to Oarai to tell her herself. To spare Miho the shock of being confronted by their mother, only to learn she was no longer her mother. And it had been an enlightening trip. Miho had been alarmed by her but so much of her meekness had simply vanished from her character. She had been able to look her in the eye for a start. And whatever silent argument she and Itsumi had had, she had apparently won it. All with a few shakes of her head.

Going to Oarai had fortified her for the experience of watching the Pravda-Oarai match with her mother. It had not however prepared her for Oarai unexpectedly, and insanely, deciding to have a match against Maginot days before their struggle with Pravda.

To say her mother was disappointed her youngest daughter would commit to such a foolish battle was an understatement. To say she was humiliated Oarai had had one of its best vehicles crippled in that battle so that its strength was severely sapped for the real battle was to suggest she hadn't spent hours pacing the house to exhaustion. To say she was furious that Pravda had then sent a mocking replacement gun for that crippled vehicle was to completely downplay the day she had spent using her own personal Tiger to reduce targets to kindling and to crush old cars into the dirt beneath its armoured treads…

All in all it was a good thing that the weather was so abysmal for the semi-finals. Her mother could literally cool off… Unless she found fuming as she observed the match to be a good way to stay warm…

She approved that Miho did not allow herself to be lured into Pravda's trap, or at least she appreciated that Miho did not embarrass the family by being drawn into such an obvious trap. Maho paid attention to the T-50's role in scouting ahead to recognise that trap and she wondered how Erikia and Miho worked together. If there was any greater proof that Miho could lead rather than be led, it was that a firebrand like Itsumi was her willing second-in-command.

Neither of them were impressed with the long lull in action though her mother conceded that the blizzard made it impossible for them to do anything but wait for conditions to improve. For the spectators this was extremely dull as they had no idea how the tankers were coping with the cold because there were only vague establishing shots of Pravda's position while Oarai was entirely invisible in theirs. It was smart to shelter in the woods although it did come with the risk of being snowed in.

Finally the weather let up and Pravda were on the move. It intrigued Maho to watch them in action after the weather last year had made the finals impossible to observe despite being in the middle of that action herself. The thirteen Pravda machines were not nearly as impressive as a Kuromorimine Panzerkeil but versus Oarai's assortment of mismatched tanks, it looked particularly ominous.

They watched Oarai ambush Pravda's scouts. Maho saw her mother frown as the Oarai machine that scored the knockout blow on one of them was a Type 3 Chi Nu and she couldn't tell if her mother was impressed by such a tank eliminating a T-34/76, or if it offended her to see the sworn enemy taken out by a far less sophisticated machine. She was not impressed that Miho immediately began to withdraw.

"She should press her advantage." Her mother declared.

That was what Maho would have done. Ensured her full firepower was pitted against the two remaining tanks to either eliminate or cripple them and only then withdraw. There was time before the main Pravda force arrived but Miho was more cautious than that. She had to be. Maho was used to commanding tanks that could take punishment while Miho's force was decidedly flimsy. "It would be foolish to expose her best tanks to the entire enemy force just to eliminate two more tanks."

"She risks them now." Her mother replied, watching the screen as the StuG and Type 3 withdrew and then were followed by the Panzer IV and the T-50 which raced ahead and then took a wide flanking path to observe Pravda. Pravda did not know how few tanks they faced otherwise, the two scouts would have attacked the fleeing vehicles. It seemed obvious while watching from multiple airborne angles on a giant screen but on the ground, Maho knew how difficult it was to know what was happening. "Running away." Her mother said under her breath.

"Tactical withdrawal." Maho replied with pointedly more volume.

Her mother got her way when Pravda met Oarai's entire strength and a ferocious exchange began. It was an exchange so heated that neither side succeeded in harming each other as they focused simply on trading metal and while the T-34s slowly closed on Oarai's position, they were rightly wary of the 7.5cm guns of the Panzer IV and StuG F. But Maho paid her attention to the IS-2 lurking in the rear and that attentiveness proved correct. The IS-2 chose its target and eliminated it. A drone was perfectly placed to capture the impact and a ripple went through the crowd as they witnessed the Type 3 being thrown backward by the shot. The announcement that it had been eliminated was quite unnecessary and pedantic in its way but it was followed by footage revealing that Oarai's M3 Lee had had its 37mm gun damaged which the crowd could not see.

The elimination of the Type 3 prompted Miho to begin withdrawing again and while her mother was unreadable, Maho believed it was prudent. The StuG claimed a T-34/85 and her mother smirked at the irony that Pravda's gift now had two kills to its credit. It distracted her from Oarai's withdrawal; fleeing in the face of the enemy. Again. They left behind the Type 3. And the 38(t).

"What are they doing?" She couldn't help but think aloud.

"They're immobilised by a fallen tree." Shiho answered. "Pravda will eliminate them soon." She stared hard at the screen. "And Miho has left them to their fate."

"Miho…" Maho began and then stopped. It seemed her mother was right. Miho was not trying to rescue another stricken tank but instead she was abandoning it. That was… That was not Miho.

Pravda did not waste time and Maho had to fight hard not to reveal her anxiety as they raced after the retreating Oarai units, fully intent on annihilating them before they could go to ground once more. The wider tracks of the T-34s gave them the advantage and they gained ground swiftly and then something totally unexpected happened. The 38(t) was not eliminated and it came from behind the T-34s and if Maho didn't believe it; the Pravda girls didn't either because they seemed to freeze as the little tank launched itself at them with all the ferocity of a wolverine and the fearlessness of a mother weasel defending its kits from a fox. Maho saw her mother's glamour fail as she couldn't rein in her astonishment over such a puny tank willingly throwing itself against such an overwhelming force. And yet, Maho remembered the Saunders match where Itsumi had done the same thing in her T-50.

And there on the screen was the T-50 speeding into the midst of this chaotic melee where a dozen Pravda tanks were trying just to get their eyes on the interloper amongst them, let alone shoot at it. As the 38(t) whipped around, the Pravda tanks were left trying to follow it and not collide with each other. The 38(t) wasn't trying to eliminate them it seemed but to disable them and its 37mm gun was taking a punishing toll on Pravda's wheels and treads. They scored a hamstringing blow on the Pravda flag tank, and didn't seem to notice its identity, and then the T-50 eliminated a T-34/85.

This seemed to make Pravda aware of the second infiltrator although the chaos continued. Maho could only compare it to the way that Keizoku fought except they launched such attacks in groups and they were coordinated whilst this was just pure anarchy. This actually seemed to make it worse for Pravda because if their attackers didn't know what they were doing; how could Pravda?

She winced as the IS-2 claimed the 38(t). The devastation to the little tank by the hit from the heavy tank was total and it reminded her painfully of the utter ruin she had brought to Chi-ha-tan at the start of this tournament. Their victory had been assured from the start but Chi-ha-tan and their bull-headed ways meant it had been necessary for Kuromorimine to utterly destroy them. There was always satisfaction in victory but not much when you left your far weaker opponent almost literally in pieces and you felt like the very worst kind of bully. Her mother meanwhile had become impassive again and they silently watched as a lone T-34/85 chased down the T-50. The T-34 impressed her by reacting swiftly to the T-50's sudden manoeuvring and instead of being wrong-footed; the T-34 smashed into the T-50 head-on and then blasted it at point-blank. It was an ugly, brutal finish but completely successful.

Pravda had nine tanks remaining but the majority were disabled and needed repairs. Oarai had five tanks left but only two were capable of tackling Pravda's remaining units. She couldn't see what value the B1 bis and partially destroyed M3 Lee could be now, except to draw fire away from the Panzer IV and StuG, and Pravda would know that. Katyusha was a wily opponent and though her temper was probably a ragged ruin by now, that wasn't likely to impair her judgement too much.

"This match is over." Her mother declared and stood to signify her intent to leave.

"This match is not over."

Her tone startled her mother but not as much as her disagreement. "Maho?"

"Miho is not done yet."

(3,610)

Author's Notes; A little glimpse into Maho's mind and I notice me channelling quite a few thoughts I have about my own mother. Not intentional but during the proof-read I noticed I was projecting. Shiho gets a lot of flak though and I've always defended her by pointing out that the culture is different and that Shiho doesn't know Miho's motives. I do not believe Shiho would know that Oarai's fate depended on this tournament and if she did, it would be a plot point in the show. But it's too dark for her to know and to pit her daughters against each other regardless, so it's not in the show and so it's not in this.

Writing Shiho is difficult. A lot of people take the route of turning her into a savage disciplinarian who beats her daughters which is alarming. I take a softer path. Something I like in the show is that Shiho doesn't shout. It's all about her tone which is something she does share with my mother. My mother was a social worker and you can't yell at residents so you learn to have a commanding voice. My mother could stop a brain-damaged ex-boxer in his tracks with a simple 'Sit down, Raymond.' Not yelled, just firmly spoken. Like Shiho does to Tsuji when they meet and slams the glass down on the table.

Maho is tough to write too. She's a stoic and stoics are not fun to write unless they're being compared to people who are the opposite. But we needed to see where she's at with Kuromorimine and why she visited Oarai and how she's reacting to this match. This chapter feels rambling but it needs to exist as we press on.