"" Dialogue
'' Thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own "Strike Witches", so this is just a fan made.
Chapter 28: This Is It
(The Aftermath)
"Yoshika, wait!" Lynette exclaimed trying to catch her, yet she lost her balance and stumbled, scratching her legs in the process. Perrine helped her to stand, and though Lynette tried to catch her once again, she could not as she was limping a little now.
"Lieutenant stop, that's an order," Minna stated as firmly as she could, slowly making her way towards Yoshika who also stumbled, "I already sent a distress call."
Yoshika did her best to stood up, "I won't, that was my responsibility." And continued sluggishly heading towards her Strikers yet she was stopped in her tracks.
Shizuka was now wrapping her arms above her waist, "Don't do it, you can barely stand on your feet," though to her surprise, Yoshika did not tussle at all.
"Twice in a single day, Shizuka."
"Huh?"
"First from the hive and now again," Yoshika muttered with kindness in her tone, "you're pretty good saving me."
"Y-Yoshika."
"Let me go, please, I don't need you to save me now. I'm just going to rescue Major Sakamoto," Yoshika added with the same kindness her tone usually possessed, "don't worry, I am not going to engage it, that will be suicide."
Shizuka slowly took her arms from Yoshika as she turned around and looked her deeply into her eyes.
"I care deeply for you and for everyone," Yoshika held both her hands, "and you're right, I'm afraid, terrified even, that you, that anyone of you could die but it's- it's natural to feel like that, isn't it?"
Shizuka lowered her gaze, "It- it is."
"But there's something that scares me way more, is staying idle knowing that there's something, anything I could do to save someone." Yoshika stated firmly, the rest of the group were already behind the two Witches, "and I will protect no matter what the cost is."
Shizuka looked now at her eyes, as Yoshika put both her hands on her shoulders, "and you're not hurting me, this who I am, and I don't want you to walk away, don't leave us, don't leave me."
"I am aware," a few tears started to form on Shizuka's eyes, "but please, I'm begging you, don't- don't make it more difficult than what it is."
Yoshika began cleaning her tears, while Minna, Lynette and Sanya now had confused expressions on their faces.
"There's no way to change your mind, is there?" Erica chimed in.
"Of course there is none," Perrine added with some enthusiasm in her tone.
"She's the immovable Yoshika after all," Charlotte added.
Eila tried to grin a little in despite of her tiredness, "we better tag along, then."
"Yeah!" The group said in unison.
Yoshika smiled at the group, "I wouldn't want it any other way."
A few minutes later
Once again, in the cloudy, orangish and greyish sky, the whole 501st were flying in V formation with Minna leading the group. Though they all still had the same enthusiasm from before, yawns were becoming more common as time went on, and their flight pattern was becoming sluggish as well.
Sanya lowered her altitude for a few seconds, then she rejoined the group.
"Do you need any help?" Eila flew to her side, "I can carry you."
"I'm alright, I recovered some magic energy after napping for a bit," Sanya politely replied.
Eila sighed still somewhat worried, but she flew back to her position, "Let me know if you need help."
Both Shizuka and Lynette continued staring the Witch behind them, Yoshika, who had a worried yet lost expression on her face, and as precaution as well as faint smoke were coming out from strikers until something else caught their attention. Minna's strikers stuttered and Erica rushed to catch her, though to her surprise, Minna put her arm over her shoulder and allowed herself to be carried.
"With some luck, Major Sakamoto had already evacuated the fortress," Erica carefreely commented.
"I couldn't get in touch with her," Minna dreadfully added.
"I- I hope the Major is fine," Perrine added with a troubled tone.
"I wouldn't worry too much about her if I were you, it's Sakamoto we're talking about," Charlotte reassuringly added, "I'd worry more about the base, we may need somewhere else to pass the night."
"I can sleep anywhere!" Francesca exclaimed.
"But we can't Francesca," Charlotte retorted, "and no, I'm not gonna try it again, my back sore for days!"
"Everything's gonna sore for days, weeks even," Erica interrupted them, and they continued flying without muttering anything for a bit.
Sanya's blue magic antenna lit up a little more for a couple seconds then it lowered its intensity, "I cannot sense anything, I'm sorry."
Eila sighed, "Well, we're still a bit far, not too surprising."
"Group Captain," Yoshika called her from behind, yet she grabbed everyone's attention, "I'm going to get ahead."
"Shirley, stop her," Minna ordered her when a wind gust blew the whole Joint Fighter Wing away.
"What?" Charlotte was about to say as everyone tried to regain their balance, "…the heck?"
"Yosh…ka…" both Lynette and Shizuka clinging into nothingness as only a smoke trail was left behind that quickly vanished.
"That's very fast," Francesca added.
"And there's no way I can catch her now," Charlotte retorted, "where the hell does she keep that much magic energy?"
"That's an easy one, it's Yoshika we're talking about," Erica commented.
"We- we have to hurry," Lynette worryingly added.
Half an hour later
The dining hall door was shoved open as both Perrine and Minna rushed their way to the kitchen. The former stopped halfway there while the latter stumbled yet Mio caught her before she fell.
"Mio!" Minna tried to regain ger breath, "I'm glad you're alright."
"Major," Perrine heaved a sigh, hands resting on her thighs.
"What's got into you?" Mio surprisedly asked both commanders.
Minna was regaining her balance, "the- the bomber."
"The Neuroi vanished just before it made it here. I saw it with my own two eyes when I was about to… evacuate." Mio stated as the rest of the Witches made it there, "After I came back, HQ reached me, I tried to contact you just in case, but I wasn't able to."
"Huh? Nice dinner," Charlotte said not really paying attention, noticing that several plates were already served, and even faint steam was coming from them.
Francesca took a deep breath, "It smells like Yoshika's cooking."
"Indeed, she wanted to make something special for you, to celebrate the liberation of Karlsland," Mio stated firmly, "We knew you will succeed, she just- she just wanted to be sure of it, congratulations about another successful operation."
Lynette, on the other hand, continued looking at every side of the dining hall and the kitchen, "And where's Yoshika?"
"I bet she's taking a bath," Charlotte chimed in, laying on the couch, "We all needed it."
"She was pretty bruised," Sanya quietly added.
"And her butt was scarred too," Erica commented as she laid on the couch next to the window.
"What did you expect?" Eila added, "She protected us from that shockwave, twice."
"She may need medical attention," Perrine commented, also resting on another couch, beside Charlotte and Francesca.
"She will, Captain" Minna added, "in your homeland."
"Nah, what she needs now it's hot relaxing bath," Erica commented, setting her eyes on Lynette, "and then someone to look after her until she's at hundred percent, she really deserves it, she saved our butts."
Lynette slowly started to leave the room her cheeks started to redden a little, "I-I better check if she needs any help."
"Be careful not to fell asleep there, eh" Charlotte exclaimed playfully, making Lynette stop now gazing at the group, playing with her fingers.
"And clean her thoroughly," Erica commented teasingly, "if you know what I mean."
Lynette gulped now as embarrassed as she could be, "I'll- I'll do what I can."
"Miyafuji, Miyafuji hasn't come back yet," Mio announced.
"What?" The group exclaimed in unison as they paled as snow.
Lynette, instead rushed to the hangar, yet she slipped and fell on her chin, biting her lip in the process. She stood up once again only to be stopped by Minna who grabbed her hand from behind.
"Seargent Bishop, stop, that's an order."
"I have to find Yoshika," Lynette argued back.
"You barely made it here, if you run out of magic energy, we have to find you as well."
Lynette turned around, shaking off her hand, "I don't care."
"Lynne, I understand how you feel, believe me I really do, but it's far too risky for your own self," Minna concerningly added.
"You don't understand," Lynette gazed her intensely on her eyes. "Yoshika was feeling pretty dizzy, and she was also having a fever. She could be lost or… something worse, I can't- I can't just stay here."
"Her Strikers were overheating too," Shizuka quietly muttered.
"I'm going no matter what," Lynette cleaned the droplets of blood from her chin, "you can punish me later, Group Captain."
"I'll- I'll go too." Shizuka added.
Erica got up from the couch, "I better go too."
"She saved us, it's the least we could do, right?" Charlotte added as she sat and so did Francesca.
"Yeah," The group said in unison as they stood from their places.
"We must hurry; the sun is about to set," Perrine stated as they gathered by the door.
Noticing the girls' enthusiasm, Minna stepped in front of the group, "Sanya, you'll be on charge, your magic ability will be of great aid to find… Yoshika."
Sanya nodded, "Understood."
"I will speak with HQ to request a search team," Minna added
A few minutes before
A thin trail of smoke was left behind as a Witch passed through clouds, flying as quickly as she could.
"Pull it together Yoshika, I must be close now," Yoshika said to herself, trying to keep her eyes open yet she struggled to. "I'm so dizzy."
After several aileron rolls, now close to the ground, she shoved her eyes open, "that was too close," Yoshika said worryingly to herself noticing she was barely above the forest. Though, she also somehow felt lighter, so she passed her hand from the shoulder to the chest, "My- my gun is gone? I'm-I'm so sleepy," Yoshika shook her head repeatedly, and rubbed her eyes, "I must hurry." Yoshika blasted off again, though she tried to regain altitude, she was not able to, something was different.
Just one of her units was running and blueish smoke was coming from the other one.
"What the- what the heck…?" Yoshika opened her eyes wide, trying to understand what was happening, "it's- it's so hot!" She tried to pull the emergency release cable, "it's- it's burning me!"
Several branches being snapped echoed followed by a dull silence. Yet at the distance, the flow of a river could be, if faintly, heard.
Later that day
Eight Witches were flying in V formation at really sluggish pace. As ordered Sanya was leading the group, Perrine was on her left side, followed by Lynette and Shizuka. On her right side, was Eila followed by Erica, Charlotte and Francesca.
They continued searching for the missing Witch with their eyes as they overflew the dry forest, calling her name as loud as their lungs allowed them to.
Charlotte took a deep breath, then rubbed her nose, "Just what we needed," Charlotte extended her right hand, "it's going to rain."
"It's far too cold," Sanya raised her head as her magic antenna lit up a little more for a couple seconds then lowered its brilliance, "it's going to snow."
"That can't be good."
Both Shizuka and Lynette had even more dreaded expressions and so did the rest of the squad.
"We really gotta hurry," Erica exclaimed, grabbing the squad's attention, "Yeah, I know I always say she's gonna be fine, but she's still just a girl after all and she was really tired."
Sanya looked at her left side, noticing that Lynette continued searching every place with her eyes and so was Shizuka, "We need to cover more ground."
"We shouldn't split," Perrine responded her back, "we're far too exhausted and we could get lost as well."
"Agreed, we must do it in groups of two, it would be more efficient in that way," Sanya stated, "Eila, you're with me, we'll retrace our route," Sanya stated as everyone looked her attentively, "Shirley, Francesca, you'll search northwest." she ordered, "Perrine, Erica, northeast." Sanya made a pause to look at her left side, "Lynne, if Yoshika got disoriented, she could've gone straight past the fortress. Therefore, you and Shizuka will cover the south. As soon as the sun sets, we should go back, we don't possess enough magic energy to search during night."
"Understood," most the group said in unison as they split up to their new objectives and soon everyone left leaving both Sanya and Eila alone.
They both continued flying and searching for Yoshika just above the forest.
"Lynne looked so worried," Sanya commented softly.
"I can understand how she feels, I mean she's really in love with Yoshika," Eila said, now setting her eyes on the Witch next to her, "Just like…"
"Like…?"
"Shizuka," Eila took a deep breath, "I mean that, Shizuka cares deeply about her too, not that, you know."
"I am aware," Sanya added stoically with a trace of discontent in her tone, "But did you know she wanted to leave the squad?"
"I-I overheard Perrine talk about it, but I thought I mishear her." Eila replied as convincingly as she could, "But it seems I wasn't wrong."
"Do you know why she made such decision?"
Eila looked away, "I… I really don't."
Sanya kept staring at her, "We need to talk with her."
Eila sighed, "Y-yeah, we could do that."
Meanwhile, in the northwest part of Ingolstadt
As they were asked, Francesca and Charlotte were sweeping the terrain, following a river path that crossed a few houses here and there that seemingly were abandoned.
"Yoshika's fast as heck," Francesca commented.
"Yeah, that was something else, at the expense of her magic energy though." Charlotte added seriously.
"It really drained the last time you tested them, and now she was pretty tired."
"That's what worries me the most, she could've fallen unconscious speeding up," Charlotte added with a pensive yet worried expression, "like it happened with Barkhorn back then."
"Don't you think she crashed," Francesca looked worriedly at her.
"I don't want to believe that" Charlotte lowered her gaze, "but it looks like it's what happened…"
Meanwhile, in the northeast part of Ingolstadt
Both Erica and Perrine were overflying somewhat above the ground as the terrain consisted of dirt with no vegetation in sight, just a tree far in between. With the little light that was there and with the cold weather, it even seemed that place itself was lifeless.
"It's too breezy and cold," Erica took a look at her torn uniform and Perrine's too, "and these clothes don't do much."
"I realize that." Perrine nervously added, hugging herself, "It should start snowing anytime from now."
"And Yoshika's swimsuit was even worse, and I don't think she's really used to this kind of weather."
Perrine stopped midair now with guilty look now, "Do you think she…?"
"I didn't mean that, Yoshika's far too stubborn to let herself die like that," Erica exclaimed boldly "She went to Fuso by herself, she knows how to survive on her own. She must have taken refuge somewhere."
"I- I hope you're right." And both Witches resumed their flight.
In the south part of Ingolstadt.
Both Shizuka and Lynette had been flying side by side since they separated from the rest of the group, they had not exchanged a single word. They had passed the fortress and since they were not able to find Yoshika, they continued going south, passing above bald trees, and they did so until Lynette got a bit closer to her.
"Is it true you want to- you want to leave the squad?" Lynette nervously asked her, but nothing was muttered in response for a quite a bit. Lynette took a deep breath to gather the courage to ask her again, "Does it- does it have something to do with me?
Shizuka stopped midair and so did Lynette, just a bit further ahead of her. Lynette turned around to look at her, "Does it change something?"
"It- it doesn't, I think," Lynette lowered her gaze, "But th-thanks for coming."
"It's a Witch duty to protect her superiors," Shizuka began flying again and passing her without giving her a second glance, "and I'm doing it for Yoshika."
With nothing else to add, Lynette began following her and nothing else was heard other than Strikers' engines and the wind blowing.
Now that the sun had almost completely set, darkness was the only thing that wrapped them, and now the only source of illumination was their navigation lights, yet soon their surroundings glowed a little as snowflakes began to fall.
Not long after, some lights became visible below them as they were now overflying what seemed to be a city.
Shizuka stopped midair as something caught her attention. "There's old our base." Lynette just passed her as if nothing had been said. Thus, Shizuka flew a little faster to caught her, "We have to go back, Master Sergeant."
"Just- just a little more, please," Lynette said without really looking at her and she passed her and continued going south.
Shizuka just sighed and began following her. She did so for a quite bit a more and though, she was worried about Yoshika, something more important caught her attention, the Witch in front of her. Lynette's flying pattern was becoming sloppier as the seconds went by.
"Master Seargent, Master Sergeant," Shizuka called her, but Lynette just continued going south as if nothing had been said. Thus, Shizuka speeded up to catch on her, "Lynette, we need to go back, we're too far from the fortress."
"Yoshika, please be okay, please" Lynette mourned as some tears glided on her face, and she continued flying, looking everywhere, "please."
"Lynette please," Shizuka raised her voice, "I also want Yoshika to be okay but there's nothing we can do now."
Lynette just started to lose altitude and Shizuka caught her, as her Strikers stopped running completely.
"She's exhausted," Shizuka looked at her, realizing that her breath was barely audible, and she was pretty cold to the touch, "I need to go back now."
Meanwhile, in the fortress
Minna was alone in the hangar, now wearing a clean uniform with a more determined demeanor if guilty. She was looking outside until someone entered the hangar.
"For the look on your face, there are no news." Mio stated as she went beside her, "I didn't expect this to happen."
"No one's blaming you, Mio," Minna said as reassuringly as she could.
"I feel responsible."
Minna turned to look at her, "It's not the first time something like this happened, is it?"
"I- I guess so," Mio added after an uncomfortable pause.
"There are risks being a Witch and you more than anyone should know this," Minna took deep breath, "And Yoshika's recklessness doesn't really come as a surprise."
Though before Mio could reply something, the sound of Striker engines filled the hangar as six Witches struggled to fly into the hangar.
"What happened?" Minna asked the group, and all of them lowered their gazes.
"We- we were not able to locate neither Shizuka nor Lynne, Group Captain." Perrine announced, breathing heavily.
"I was fearing something like this could happen." Minna stated worriedly, "You need to rest, I will look for them myself."
"U-understood," some of them muttered as they reluctantly descended onto their respective launching units.
After being sure that all of them were safe-ish, Minna headed to hers. Just as she was taking off, navigation lights became visible in the distance accompanied by the sound of a Striker Unit.
Seconds later, Shizuka slowly entered the hangar as everyone watched her now worriedly in fear of the scene. Minna flew towards her noticing what she was carrying.
"She- she depleted her magic energy," Shizuka said, struggling to carry Lynette, to breathe and even to continue flying.
Minna took the girl from her arms and soon as she did so, Shizuka collapsed not before being caught by Charlotte below.
"And so are you, good work Shizuka." Minna sighed somewhat relieved.
The next day
Lynette shoved her eyes open and looked everywhere, as confused as she could be, "Where am I?" She took a look at herself, realizing that she was wearing a hospital gown, "Y-yoshika!
She hastily left the infirmary and rushed to the hangar, almost slipping again, though this time, she managed to regain her balance.
Now in the hangar, Lynette squinted her eyes due to the brightness outside, yet she could notice that everyone's Strikers, but Yoshika's were there. Just as she jumped on hers, she realized that she was no longer alone.
Little it mattered to her as a magic circle appeared, as she revved up her Striker Unit, creating a wind gust.
"At least put some panties on," Erica carefreely commented, "we can see your bits."
Lynette embarrassedly put down the hospital gown to cover herself as she reddened a little, "I didn't realize..."
"Lynne, please come with us." Sanya firmly stated, as the rest of the Witches gathered behind her, "we need a plan."
The magic circle disappeared as Lynette sighed, then she followed the group, reluctantly.
Now, the whole 501st was in the meeting hall, with Sanya and Minna in front of the group, while Mio was near the door. She turned off the lights and turned on the slide projector.
A map was shown on the projector screen, that displayed Ingolstadt, Nuremberg, Regensburg and even the northmost part of Munich
"I've already traced a map where you Yoshika could be," Sanya pointed a place of the map, "Here the terrain was mostly used for agriculture but since the Neuroi occupation, it's basically empty. It should not take that much time to scout there."
Erica put her legs on the table, "We searched there yesterday."
"I am aware but since we were exhausted, you could've missed her."
"She's right," Perrine added as Erica sighed.
Sanya pointed out at another part of the map, "there's this part, the terrain is far more irregular as a river passes by, and there are small, abandoned settlements."
"Also, remains of what was left of battles that were fought before Karlsland fell," Minna announced.
"Finally, there's the path we followed yesterday but we should've seen something when we were coming here," Sanya said, retracing that route.
"General Patton's forces are searching there as we speak," Minna added.
"That's something, I guess," Charlotte commented.
"We should focus our efforts here," Sanya pointed out the course of the river Altmühl, "Yoshika could have taken refuge somewhere nearby here, or she could've crashed there."
"But I don't …" Lynette tried to say.
"We don't want to believe that Lynette, but it is a possibility," Mio interrupted her from behind.
"Yeah, it was kind of a mess there," Francesca exclaimed.
"And I hate to say it, but we could've passed her without really seeing her," Charlotte added.
Lynette took a deep breath to calm herself, "I understand."
"Therefore, Shirley and Francesca, you will check this part." Minna pointed out where the empty terrain was, "While the rest of you will check near the Altmühl's course."
"Understood," most of the group said in unison.
"What about where Master Seargeant Bishop and I searched yesterday?" Shizuka asked her superiors.
"I will search there," Minna stated from the podium.
Minutes later
Six Witches were in the sky again, scouting the irregular terrain, calling for the missing Witch. somewhat split.
"It's pretty cold," Shizuka commented, heating up her hands with her breath.
"It is but we're kinda lucky," Eila lightheartedly added, "the snow barely piled up."
"Yeah, I guess that's something, Flying Officer."
Sanya stopped midair above a small village beside the river and so did the rest of the group, though, they continued searching with their sights.
Sanya crossed out the map, "Perrine, Erica, please check the buildings," Sanya ordered them, "while we check the river's surroundings."
"Roger that," and both Witches headed to the houses while Sanya continued searching, now followed by three Witches.
Quite a bit later, they split again into the same groups from the day before.
Both Sanya and Eila stopped just above the forest somewhat close to the river. Sanya's magic antenna began glowing intensively as she continued spinning slowly while Eila closed her eyes.
"Let's see if I can foresee something," Eila shoved her eyes open and slowly headed deeply into the forest, "Huh?"
Meanwhile, both Lynette and Shizuka continued searching around the river and even checking what seemed to be trenches around the river.
Though, Lynette continued searching for Yoshika, she could not help but stare at the Witch nearby her. Noticing that she had stopped, Lynette headed to herslowly and reluctantly, from behind.
"Shizuka, th-thanks for carrying me back to the base, yesterday," Lynette nervously said.
Shizuka slowly turned to face her, "As I said, it's a Witch duty to protect her superiors, that includes you, Master Seargent."
"But still, I wanted apologize for…" Lynette was about to say, yet Shizuka passed next to her, looking a bit surprised.
"Officer Juutilainen seems to have found something," Shizuka commented as now both headed towards them.
As the four Witches slowly overflew the forest, they could now see a few snapped branches.
"Huh? There's no snow back there," Eila said noticing the somewhat small depression that seemed to be a trench next to a tree a bit ahead from them.
Thus, all of them steadily headed there, avoiding the branches that still remained, yet soon enough, they saw one wrecked Striker Unit.
All of them speeded up and seconds later, they all halted on their tracks.
"Yoshika!" Everyone exclaimed in unison, noticing she was there, covered in dry bushes, most of her swimsuit was gone, and the small parts that remained were stained in dry blood, and there were scratches all over her body. On her left leg, there was a partially destroyed Striker Unit with several pieces missing. There was nothing on the other leg yet, it also was reddish and even smaller blisters had appeared all around it.
Sanya was left in disbelief.
"She- she is," Eila was about to say.
"Her- her ears and tail," Shizuka interrupted her, yet it did not ease her fear and confusion, noticing that they could see them.
While Lynette threw herself to her and hugged her as tightly as she could, "Yoshika!" Lynette cried as tears started to spill, yet soon she felt something else that confused her, "She's- she's burning with fever."
"She needs medical attention immediately," Sanya stated as securely as she could, yet also a few tears started to glide on her face, "I- I already speak with Group Captain."
Lynette took off her coat and covered her exposed body as much as possible with it. She then lifted her up as cautiously as she could, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back, yet as she did so, the Striker that remained on her leg fell off, spilling oil in the dirt. It did not matter to her at all as she began heading back to the base, scouted by Eila and Sanya.
Shizuka, on the other hand, remained there, watching what was left of both units, "this is all my fault, I should've warned her." After a few seconds that felt like a lifetime to her, she picked up what was left of both units and headed back to the fortress as well.
Later that day, by the evening
Most of the Joint Fighter Wing were in the living room, resting, laying and sitting in different places with worried expressions on their faces. Soon, they all got up noticing that someone was coming there.
"Her wounds had been taken care off," Minna announced, "And she's stable, there's nothing to do now but to wait until she wakes up."
"How is Lynne?" Sanya asked her.
Minna sighed, "She's looking after her now."
"Minna, she needs some time off," Erica firmly stated, "she must be exhausted."
"And so are all of you," Minna stated, "why don't you all head to the bath?"
"It's a good suggestion, I guess," Charlotte reluctantly said, "but what about Lynne...?"
"I'm going to ask her to join you as well," Mio interrupted her from the corridor, yet all of them were a bit surprised noticing that a familiar face was next to her.
"Ursula, what are you doing here?" Erica asked her.
"I called her to find whether Yoshika's Strikers had something to do with her accident," Minna announced.
"Indeed, sister," Ursula stated politely as Mio headed to the infirmary, "I've been informed of the accident. Therefore, I'd like to gather more information, aside from what you already told me regarding the issues she had since you began operations, is there something noteworthy you can tell me?"
Most of the girls just exchanged glances, while Shizuka lowered hers.
"Yeah, I guess there is," Charlotte added.
"If you- you excuse me," Shizuka muttered, as she also headed to the infirmary, passing next to the group without giving a second glance to anyone else.
Meanwhile, Mio made her way to the infirmary and cautiously opened the door. Inside, she could see that Lynette's head was resting at the bottom of Yoshika's bed, seemingly sleeping and even though it was pretty cold, she was still not wearing her complete uniform, her coat was on a gurney, somewhat stained.
On the other hand, Yoshika was resting in supine position, seemingly sleeping, most of her was covered with a blanket but it could still be seen that she was wearing a hospital gown. From her right thigh down, she was exposed as smaller blisters as well as scratches were there yet nothing more concerning could be seen.
Mio took a seat on the other side of the bed and started to read a newspaper that was there.
Quite a bit passed until Lynette slowly got up, yet she became a bit confused, noticing that she was no longer alone.
"Lynne, please you need to some time off," Mio comfortingly said but Lynette did not seem to be open to the idea, "I'm going to stay here, don't worry. I'll call you when Yoshika wakes up."
Lynette sighed, "I- I feel fine."
"I notice but there's nothing to do now," Mio replied back, "Yoshika is just sleeping."
Lynette looked at Yoshika, who was indeed, resting on her back, seemingly sleeping, "Yeah but…"
"Everyone's waiting for you in the bath," Mio added, "it will help you to recover your energy."
With nothing else to add, Lynette stood up from her seat and left the room, hesitantly, not without giving a second, if guilty look to Yoshika.
Mio continued reading the newspaper, and though its headline talked about the liberation of Nuremberg, and it even showed a picture of the 501st, that even included her and Gertrud, she could care less about it now.
Not long after, Shizuka slowly entered the infirmary, and bowed, "is it okay if I stay here for a little?"
"It is an order for you as well, Hattori," Mio politely told her.
Shizuka sighed, "Yes, ma'am." And she left the room afterwards.
Mio was left alone once again, next to her seemingly unconscious recruit and she said, there was nothing to do now.
Moments later, another person joined her as well and took a seat where Lynette was just moments ago.
"Surviving on the snow, unconscious and injured," Mio sternly said, "Miyafuji is lucky to be alive."
"It's thanks to her magic power," Minna made a pause, "but I am afraid there's more than that…"
Meanwhile in the bath
Through the foggy window of the bath, it could be seen a somewhat light snowfall, yet it was quite contrasty to the steam filled bath, as seven Witches were submerged in the hot water.
"…"
Charlotte took deep breath, "I guess it should've run out of oil and got stuck."
"And she should've lost control of it," Eila added.
"If it was given maintenance as you stated Lieutenant Yeager just two days ago," Ursula stated. Flight Lieutenant Miyafuji pushed it beyond its capabilities."
Then the door slid open, as everyone watched it, wondering who was coming, yet soon enough, they were given an answer. Lynette headed towards the bath just with a towel over her head, yet it also made some of them a bit nervous.
"How's- how's Yoshika?" Sanya asked her.
"She's sleeping, her body temperature is normal as well as her heartrate," Lynette stated somewhat positively as she entered the bath, "and also her ears and tail are gone."
"Her familiar must've kept her safe when she crashed, he must be exhausted," Eila added, "and so is Yoshika, it wouldn't surprise me if she sleeps for a few days straight."
"I guess so," Lynette then gazed at the whole group, "you- you were talking about Yoshika's strikers, did you know if something was wrong with them?"
A few uncomfortable seconds went by, as the group exchanged glances.
"Don't get angry with us but we kinda did," Erica stated.
"Why would I?" Lynette said with a guilty and regretful expression, "it was an accident… and I guess, I shouldn't really be really surprised," she lowered her gaze, "Yoshika was afraid that an accident could happen, and I guess she was right after all." Lynette then a looked at the group again, "So what was the issue with them?"
Shizuka slid the door opened, "They overheated and consumed oil," she said as she also made her way to the bath, wearing a towel. "But I- but I've never warned Yoshika about it," Shizuka added as firmly as she could, entering the bath, now with the towel over her head.
And a few seconds went by, until Charlotte cleaned her throat, to break the uncomfortable silence, "As I was about to say, we all have pushed our strikers to the limit, that's why there's a magic limiter."
"There's no magic limiter," Ursula stated, catching everyone's attention, "it was not designed with it in mind as it requires a lot of magic energy to properly run."
"Which Yoshika obviously has but it is not supposed to overheat," Charlotte argued back, "and Yoshika seemed to do it effortlessly, but we were not able even to warm it up."
"Yeah, and Shirley and Shizuka could barely stand after they tried it," Francesca added.
"And Yoshika wasn't fazed at all," Erica commented.
Shizuka put her hands below her breasts, "And their Strikers even burnt… to the touch."
"You mean she was overheating it in a daily basis, without overstraining herself?" Ursula questioned the group.
"Yep," Charlotte stated.
"I- I never noticed that," Lynette muttered.
"Why didn't you inform us?" Perrine asked the whole group.
"We were not really sure actually if something was wrong with them and we still aren't," Erica claimed, "and Yoshika was grounded from flying so it's not like we have many opportunities to fully test them."
"If what you're telling me is right, Lieutenant Miyafuji was feeding too much magic power into her Striker Units" Ursula announced as everyone stared at her, "but since the Shinden does not possess a limiter, it was the only unit she could fly with."
"So that's why she broke my unit," Eila rubbed her chin, staring at the girl next to her, "It seems, you were right after all Sanya."
"I wish I wasn't," Sanya muttered.
"Too much magic," Erica retorted, "yep, that sounds like Yoshika."
"But Yoshika is able to control her magic pressure," Lynette stated.
"Her broom exploded, you told us that and we all saw her bruised face," Eila recalled.
Lynette's eyes widened in bewilderment, "that- that can't be."
"Now the question is, does heartbeat have something to do with it or with her fever," Charlotte loudly wondered, now worrying Shizuka and Lynette.
"We can't really be sure of that," Perrine firmly said, noticing that.
"Maybe so," Erica noted, "Yoshika's sickness seemed to have something to do with her overwhelming magic power."
"We must not rush to any conclusions before Yoshika is thoroughly analyzed," Perrine wrapped up, raising her voice.
Nothing else was said, as the girls now tried to relax themselves in the hot water, yet they also had other things in mind.
The next day, in the morning
The curtains of the meeting hall were wide open. Nine Witches were sitting in their respective places while Minna and Mio were in front of them.
"I have two announcements to make," Minna began, "as it happened the last time, the reconstructions efforts of Nuremberg are going to begin in the next few days at most."
And nothing else was said for quite a bit, the girls then looked at each other, wondering what was going on.
"What's the second, Minna?" Erica asked her.
"There are no orders regarding the liberation of Prague and Ostmark," Mio made a pause, "therefore, there's no need for this Joint Fighter Wing."
"Most of you have already received notice regarding your next steps and I am afraid I do not possess any say in that matter with our superiors," Minna regretfully announced, "As for me, I'm going to stay here aiding with the reconstruction of Nuremberg as well as looking closely at Yoshika's recovery which I'm sure would take a few days at most, and the medic is coming back as we speak."
"I'm going to stay here as well," Mio added.
"Group Captain," Lynette raised her hand, "I'd like to help you with whatever I can in Nuremberg, and also to stay close with Yoshika."
Shizuka stood up from her seat, "Me too, if it's possible."
Eila also stood up, "Sanya and I spoke, and we'd like to stay here too."
"We'd like too," Charlotte added as Francesca and Perrine nodded.
"Perrine, Francesca, Shirley, you need to talk with your superiors," Minna stressed out, "as I stated, you're no longer under my command."
And nothing else was muttered as the three girls sighed.
"I'm not going to stay here," Erica stated as everyone watched her, "I'm going back to Berlin to speak with Trude and to help Ursula to find exactly what went wrong with those Strikers."
Minna took a deep breath, "That wraps it up for now then."
"So, for now ladies, this is it," Mio stated as everyone stood from their places, they started to head to the door, but then, someone knocked.
"It's open," Minna said as the door was slowly push opened and a man in his early or mid-twenties entered the meeting hall.
"Hijikata," Mio said somewhat surprisedly.
And a smaller girl also entered the meeting hall just after him, yet she was somewhat hidden by Keisuke.
"Who are you?" Charlotte asked her.
The girl took a step to the side to show herself.
"Michiko," Perrine, Shizuka and Lynette muttered quietly in unison.
"Who?" most the group wondered.
"I'm Michiko Yamakawa."
"And she's Miyafuji's second cousin," Mio announced.
Michiko just continued staring at the whole group as if she was looking for someone, "Where's Yoshika?"
Yet to everyone surprise, Shizuka fell to her knees as tears spilled onto the carpet, "I'm so sorry, I- I couldn't protect her."
"Wh- what happened with Yoshika?"
Author Notes:
And yeah, this is it, the last chapter of the first part of the story, but don't worry, this is far from over.
And about time, Lynne and Shizuka exchanged some words all alone, it's been 12 chapters since the last time they spoke in case you didn't notice it.
From now on, I will post shorter chapters, interludes, about the various members of the 501st.
After I'm done with them, the sequel will begin.
Thanks for the favs and follows.
Finally, sorry for the late update, but I've been really busy plus lots of things had gone wrong that out of my control.
Edit: I added an extra scence, it's when Mio went to the infirmary.