Blazepanzer here...and you've probably noticed that the original 444th and The shattering of the duck fanfics have been...well...removed. With the 444th rewrite following both originals, the original Shattering of the duck wasn't needed given that it served as a prologue of sorts to the original 444th.
So then...why this rewrite? Well, two reasons, one is that I wanted to explore a scenario where Ooarai was shut down earlier, as well as show a somewhat more realistic response to them entering a populated city. It's still a prison fic, and I intend to keep it shorter than the current 444th Sensado squadron, but none the less, I hope you enjoy!
Note that the Blazepanzer does not own Girls und Panzer!
"Our first kill!" Noriko shouted.
Taeko let out a small shout of joy of her on, before opening her eyes, a thought coming across her mind. What if we missed? She asked herself.
That notion was eliminated when she heard a loud bang, followed by her tank vibrating. Her eyes widened as she heard a rather loud, "Get out of the tank!" from a loudspeaker.
"The RCP?" Noriko Gasped.
"The what?" Taeko asked.
"The Riot Control Police," Noriko whispered, and as Taeko gazed up at her she found her captain climbing out of the tank. Waiting for Akibe and Shinobu to do the same, Taeko shakily followed.
"That's it, hands on the wall," a officers noted, motioning from her to the elevator wall.
We're being arrested!? Taeko screeched inwardly, beginning to visibly shake, but she forced herself to obey as she walked over, placing her hands on the wall while she gazed up at her right wrist. Never thought that this would happen...she whimpered silently as she felt her left wrist being pulled back, her eyes widening as she first felt the metal ring clasp on her wrist, then saw the officer take her right wrist and pull it back.
"So, Tochigi Prison?" one of the officer asked.
Prison...Taeko's heart sank at those words.
"For now, our fellow officers are taking notes on the situation, and we'll have to interview the girls," the officer who currently had a hold of Taeko's now cuffed wrist noted.
"What are we being arrested for?" Taeko asked nervously.
"Namely public discharge of a fire-arm and trespassing," the officer noted.
"But that could be up to fifteen years!" Taeko gasped.
"Tough, should have listened to your instructor," the officer noted.
"But instructor Chono didn't teach us," Noriko protested.
"Troubling, but even so you know better than to publicly discharge a gun in public like that, and as their commander it's your responsibility to keep your team within the rules, regardless of whether they are Sensado match rules, safety rules, or national and local laws.
Taeko had to stifle a sigh as she felt herself being moved, and to her surprise the crew of the St Gloriana team was also being dragged into the police car.
"We're both at fault here," a girl with braided hair noted.
"We shouldn't have gone into the city like that," Noriko apologized.
"Wish you two had realized that sooner!" the officer dragging Noriko growled, pausing at the transport vehicle. "Right, in you go, we'll strap you in and we can be on our way."
"Um, how long until we get to see our parents?" Shinobu asked.
"As long as they don't wish to disown you, probably not too long, though some time after processing," The guard guiding her noted, before placing her in beside Noriko.
"A few rules, there is to be no talking during transport, no fighting, no accusing, and you are to keep your gaze lowered," the guard noted as he loaded Taeko in last, seeming to isolate her from the others in her group, and shut the door. Taeko felt her heart sink further as she watched the garage fade from the scant view she had from the metal-clad windows of the van.
I wish I could go back and do something...make myself sick, jump off the school ship...okay maybe that's a bit harsh...heck even getting suspended would have been better than arrested like this. And for discharging a firearm...yeah real stupid Taeko! Granted, you weren't the one who discharged it but still...
She wiggled her wrist a bit, frowning as she realized how hard it was for her to move them. This really hurts...she mused. Physically and mentally... She gazed out of the window, frowning as cars would follow and turn off. Can they see me as easily as I can see them? She wondered to herself. Would...can they recognize me? That'd be embarrassing...though I suspect that plenty of people will find out that I've been arrested...
On and off the truck would slow town or stop, sometimes for a light, sometimes for a turn, or waiting for another vehicle to turn. I wish I knew how long we have to be in this awful prison van...she wailed, snififng a bit as her body's desire to cry threatened to take over. At least the academy forbids makeup, and I suspect that it'd be removed at the prison anyways. Never was one for wearing skin protection...she noted saidly as she shut her eyes, the tears beginning to fall.
This can't be happening...I can't be going to prision, not for over a decade...my parrents are going to disown me! She felt herself panicking, and felt her chest began to heave from the panaic attack.
"Try to calm down," the former Matilda II commander whispered.
"I...I'll try..." Taeko took a few deep breaths. "Thanks," she whispered, giving her a grateful look before returning to gaze outside as the truck once again began to slow.
The girls and I were going to go to the beach and play beach volleyball after the match...and it was such a nice day for it too...
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a gate opening, and she kept her gaze down, as she felt the truck begin moving again, albeit this time is much slower than before. Her breath kept catching in her breath as she heard the truck breaks squealed and then the engine shut off before the doors opened and a female guard approached. "Alright then, let's get you through processing," she noted.
Nodding as she was unbuckled from the seat and half dragged, half guided out of the van, Taeko glanced around as she saw the thick gray walls of Tochigi Prison. So this is my life now... her heart now sinking lower than she ever thought possible as she was guided into the building.
"Inmates, undress!" A female guard hollered once they were in the room. "Anything and everything must go, jewelry, underwear, hair accessories..."
Takeo flinched when she mentioned hair accessories, and took off her hair bandanna before taking off her clothes, shuddering. At least they aren't any boys around... Her mind frazzled as one of the female guards drug her to the showers.
"Hair die removal," she growled, handing her a bottle of die removal. Sighing, Taeko obeyed, rubbing the die in firmly before walking into the shower, flinching at how cold it was. She washed down, reaching the die removal in and our of her hair as she desperately tried to ignore the prickling feeling the cold water was having on her.
"Step out of the water," the guard commanded.
Taeko nodded, expecting to be done, but the guard began to lather her hair again with the die removal. "Not a single speck is to remain," she growled, before releasing her. "Wash again," she growled.
Stifling the urge to resist, Taeko once again stepped into the shower, gritting her teeth at the cold water. She stepped out again upon command, and this process went through five more times before the guard nodded. "Strip search," she ordered.
Oh no... Taeko shuddered as the guard began doing all sorts of probes, searching her ears, teeth and mouth, under her breast, in her behind. This is super embarrassing... she muttered, barely managing to avoiding socking the guard in the face over this invasion of privacy.
"You're clear, join the others," the guard barked, and nodding, Taeko walked out of the showers and to her surprise there was a box with her stuff in it, along with a sort of beige-white short sleeve dress which went down to her calves. There was a thicker part of the uniform with a metallic attachment point gangling on it and she suspected that it was some form of belt, not that it appeared to latch anywhere.
On top was a very rudimentary and thick piece of underwear, no markings or coloration other than to match the color of the uniform. There was also a pair of sandals, nothing fancy or anything, with built in socks that appeared to be stitched into the shoes.
Understanding flooded through her as Taeko put it on, grateful that it was at least short sleeve and somewhat comfortable, albeit the lack of a bra made that very somewhat. Moving her arms a bit she grimaced as she felt the cloth brush against her unprotected breast. My dress for at least the next decade most likely, she frowned, already missing the looser exercise wear she normally wore.
"Pick up your box and follow the guard, do not make things worse on yourself!" the guards noted.
Obeying, Taeko picked up her box, and followed the other girls quietly, keeping her gaze at an ever so slight angle downward in submission, but not so downward that she couldn't pay attention to where she was going.
"Good, you girls seem to understand the gravy of the situation," the officer nodded in approval as they arrived in a locker room. "Write your name on the plank and then place it along with your box in one of the empty slots," the guard nodded.
Sitting her box down, Taeko wrote down her name, and placed it on her box, before carrying it over to an empty slot, and sliding the box in first, then placing her name plank on it. She stood still for a few moments.
"Right, now we'll be cuffing you for this next bit," the guard noted as the escorting officers produced handcuffs and began to cuff the girls.
Taeko presented her wrist as she was approached, and to her initial surprise she was handcuffed in the front, but before she could say anything else the handcuffs were latched into a metal loop on her uniform. So that's what that is for...Taeko noted to herself.
"Right, we'll be finishing the intake and then giving you the tour and dinner, and after that you'll spend the rest of the day in your cells," the guards noted. "Handcuffs are mandatory for transport, so get used to this position," the guard escorting Taeko noted, before stepping back.
Nodding, Taeko struggled not to fight against the bounds on her wrist as she followed the girls into a photography room, where her wrist were released. Walking up to the table the guards grabbed her wrist then she began dipping her fingers into the ink for fingerprinting, one by one to make sure that they got all of her fingerprints. Once done, she wiped her fingers before handing her a plank with her name, and date on it, directing her to go to the photography stand.
Raising the board to her chest, she struggled not to let the deep, despondent sigh erupt from her breath. This is like super embarrassing... she muttered inwardly as she lights flashed, and she turned to the side, blinking as the lights flashed again.
Before she knew it the photography session was over, and she watched as her friends also got their mugshots, and she was being lead outdoors.
"We'll show you the courtyard," the guards noted, escorting the girls toward the area. "As long as you cooperate, you get to spend a few hours out here on the weekends, however most of that time is spend in the class rooms," she added.
"During the rest of the week you'll probably be working," another one of the guards noted. "Of course that'll be at least a week for you lot as we try to get things situated."
"So, um..." Akibe began, before lowering her head. "S...sorry," she whimpered.
"Good girl," one of the guards noted. "And now we'll show you the mess halls and then the class rooms ," she added.
As they walked, Taeko couldn't help but noticing how scared the other girls looked. Akibe was shaking badly, the commander of that Matilda, now with straight brown hair, was trying to act brave, but it was failing. Her crew was clearly trying not to let their hostility show toward Noriko and their former commander, though they were failing. Come on girls, last thing we need is a prison fight...Taeko urged silently, but returned her focus to walking forward.
"These are the mess halls," the guard noted as they entered the room, undoing their cuffs, and nodding to them. "We'll go into more details during orientation, but the gist is that you grab a tray, sit anywhere you like, and eat. There's no celebratory greeting or religious ceremony, aside from housing the religious books in the library and a small chapel we don't do that stuff," she added.
Nodding, Taeko made her way into line, trying to appear like it wasn't her first day. The girls in front of her however must have sensed her unease as she turned to her. "You must be new," she noted, her amber eyes gazing at her with a mix of scrutiny and sympathy.
"Um..yes...I'm..."
"Stick to your name and age, max," she suggested gently. "And don't get too open with people right away, I made that mistake when I came in last year," she added, before turning and focusing on the line.
Okay...maybe I shouldn't tell people what I did...unless I really can trust them...but can I trust anyone in prison? Can I even trust the guards? Taeko wondered as the line moved forward, and she found herself presented with a bottle of water and tea, along with a set of rice, fish, green beans, and containing a side dish of sliced oranges, three wedges. Guess that's our version of cake or candy, she mused, walking over to an empty place.
She took a first bite before a ginger haired girl sat beside her. "I saw what happened on the TV," she mused, before biting into her own rice.
"It was televised?" Taeko gasped.
"Well...they cut it off when you entered the city," the girl mused. "Shame, I was supposed to go to Koala forest this year, but then that had to happen and...well..." she shrugged. "Name is Hanoashi by the way," she added.
"Taeko," Taeko nodded.
"It's the Irish looks but Japanese literacy, isn't it?" Hanoashi noted.
"Just curious as to why you're being friendly," Taeko mused.
"No need to be so hasty," Hanoashi noted, making her voice seem silky.
Er..."
"Your last name wouldn't happen to be Kondou, would it?" Hanoashi asked.
"How'd you guess?" Taeko gasped.
"Brother's letters mentioning that he dated you back when you were in America," Hanoashi shrugged.
"So your last name is Katoni?" Taeko guessed.
"Went from being Katoni to Matsumino then back to Katoni," Hanoashi shrugged.
"There you are cousin," A Dutch brunet sat next to the Irish girl, her long hair slowing a bit in the raw air conditioning. "So who's this?" she asked, gazing at the girl.
"You were both Matsumino..." Taeko whispered, gazing down. "I'm sorry...that must have been hard on you," she added in sympathy.
"Heck yeah it was," the brunet muttered. "Finding out that our entire family were fraudsters...and then those under fourteen being adopted and us being over arrested, yeash."
"Hey at least they only gave us two thousand days," Hanoashi muttered.
"Only," The brunet sighed.
"Only?" Taeko gasped quietly.
They used a lot of money on us," Hanoashi shrugged. "Oh, and this is Rikona Katoni...since her father's a real scumbag they let her take my father's family name instead of his."
"Thank Maus..." Rikona muttered.
"So um...do they let you cell together?" Taeko asked.
"Not really," Hanoashi muttered. "They allow us to eat and exercise together, but outside of our free time period we're separated."
"And we're housed in the gijin block," Rikona muttered. "Dispute us being Japanese in every way but looks," she added.
"Oh..." Taeko mused.
The three finished their meals quickly, before being handcuffed and lead to their perspective classes. Taeko found herself being seated next to one of the ST:Gloriana girls, she had short brown hair, with brilliant blue eyes, and appeared to be of Japanese and French decent, though more Japanese then french, which only her lighter skin tone and blue eyes betraying that she was half foreigner.
"Welcome to intake 101, for the next week you girls will be receiving instruction on what it means to be in prison, as well as receiving visitation from families, or letters of disownment," Their teacher paused, grimacing at that word.
That's not good, Taeko muttered to herself.
"As well as information on your court dates. For the record, you're being charged with reckless endangerment with a Sensado Vehicle, and a class three count of discharging a gun in the city, as well as deliberate trespass of a Sensado vehicle. As for as any other details, that's all we have for now." Their teacher nodded.
"When I call your name, please stand up," she added. "Noriko, You'll be rooming with an Aacob Aliceia, she's a bit of a rough one, so tread carefully round her. Get on her good side though and she'll see you through."
"Akibe, You'll be rooming with a Rikona Katoni in the foreigner section, since you are a natural blond and all."
"Yes Instructor," Akibe knowledge.
"Taeko, Risa, you'll be rooming together," Their instructor added.
Gazing to her left, she noticed that Risa was sitting next to her. The girl gave her a small nod, though she kept her exact feelings to herself.
"Now that that is taken care of," Their teacher noted. "The schedule of this prison is as follows, from Monday through Friday you'll be working. Your job will be selected at random, and no you may not switch. Saturday and Sunday will be spent in school, for you it'll be for graduating high school. However, your first week, like I said, will be for getting antiquated for prison life. You'll also begin basic education for your in prison career path."
Sounds like we'll be busy...that could be a good thing, Taeko mused to herself.
"Now that you have been arrested, there are some things to note. First off, your evidence level is currently listed as a nine point two on a ten point scale. That's bad for you because it means we know you did it, but good for us in determining how much to integrate you into our prison before your official sentencing," Their teacher continued.
As the evening bell rang, Taeko stretched, and waited as the guards came in and cuffed them, guiding them back to the cafeteria. There she repeated the earlier process, but to her surprise Risa followed her.
"Is everything okay?" Taeko asked.
The girl shook her head rapidly.
"It's alright Risa, I don't bite," Taeko tried to reassure her.
This had the opposite effect. Risa gazed down, though Taeko could see her anger. "Part of me wants to be friends with you, or friendly, but what you did to me and my friends..." she noted quietly.
"I...I'm sorry," Taeko apologized, taken aback at the sorrow filled anger in Risa's voice.
"No...I'm sorry...I really do want to get along with you, but...just know I'm still trying to adjust, okay?" Risa admitted.
"I don't blame you," Taeko whispered as it was her time to get food, and she instinctively sat next to Rikona and Hanoashi, Risa following.
"Guess you took a liking to us," Hanoashi smirked. "Is she your cell mate?" she added.
"Yes...think you got...what's her name...I forgot..." Taeko mused.
"Well...I'll ask her when she comes to my cell," Hanoashi smirked. "Maus having a cell mate is either going to be the best or the worse, but it will be good to have another soul with me in the prison. "
"That soul is Milina, my tank captain," Risa shrugged, glancing up from her food.
"Milina?" Taeko asked.
"She went by Rukuriri, but yeah..."
"So she was a part of the infamous Tea Garden then..." Hanoashi mused.
"You're a fan?" Risa asked.
Hanoashi shook her head. "Too pretensions for me, wouldn't catch me in it to save my life," she noted with a small snort.
"More so because she's diabetic and going into the tea garden would have made things an awkward conversation," Rikona teased.
"I'm not Diabetic in that way," Hanoashi scoffed. "And I've tried these cakes, I'm not impressed," she muttered.
"I guess ages of eating beef jerky and crackers instead of regular sweets does that to you," Rikona shrugged, before taking a bite of her curry.
"All well, the Matsumino would have never covered that kind of educational cost for us anyways," Hanoashi scoffed, taking a swig of her bottled tea.
"Weren't they rich though?" Taeko asked.
"Pah! Please, they were scammers, stolen wealth isn't wealth at all," Rikona scoffed.
"They could, but they preferred sending their students to more intermediate schools," Hanoashi noted. "Hence why Rikona here and I was planning to go to Koala forest before my arrest," she added.
"Why Koala?" Risa asked.
"I wanted to become a high school teacher, and Rikona wanted to become a Nurse practitioner, and Koala had both a good nursing and English course. Not that I needed to get better at English given how much I practiced beforehand mind you," Hanoashi admitted.
Taeko found herself enjoying the conversation, but all too long she found herself along with Risa being escorted to their cells, which was a bit of a surprise for Taeko. The cells were pretty bare-bone, only having a toilet-sink combo, which had a sort of paper mirror above them, two twin size tamali mattresses, and two small bookshelves bolted to the ground. Right now aside from a file folder they were empty except for a small care kit on the side which contained a toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, and a small vial of hand soap.
"Right, in you go," the guard noted, uncuffing Taeko first and shoving her in slightly, before doing the same to Risa and then closing the door.
Gazing out as the guard walked off, Taeko let out a small sigh and closed her eyes. "At least give me bars to hold on to," she sighed.
"I prefer these wired windows," Risa admitted.
"Feels like a cage to me," Taeko sighed, opening her eyes and allowing herself to sit down on the tamali mattress. "Wonder how long we'll get...a decade," she muttered.
"Surprised they put me with general population and not the foreigner section," Risa shrugged, before copying Taeko, but unlike Taeko who sit cross crossed, she leaned against the wall. "So...what made you decide to go into Sensado?" she asked.
"They shut our volleyball club down, so the girls and I concocted this idea that if we supported the Sensado club and did well, we might get the volleyball club restored," Taeko admitted, before realizing her hands were frigidity. "So much for either now," she sighed ruefully.
"So you're also an athlete like myself," Risa admitted.
Gazing at her, Taeko realized that she could somewhat see the muscles on Risa's arms, not that it was easy to do. While their uniforms were short sleeve, they were that short so to speak.
"I've always loved sports, and thus when I had to go to St:Gloriana, I decided to join their Sensado team. Sure, they gave me a spot as a loader due to not having any experience, but I was proud to be a member of their team," Rise smiled.
"I'm sorry," Taeko whispered.
"It was my team's decision to chase you into the town. Granted, I am sore about it still...but..." Risa gazed at her. "Taeko, can we be friends?" she asked hesitantly.
"Sure, I'd love to be," Taeko smiled, though her voice felt a bit shy.
"So...what position did you play?" Risa asked.
"Radio operator," Taeko noted, repositioning herself to also lay against the wall, folding her hands behind her back. "It was fun at the time, but looking back..."
"Yeah, lots of regrets now," Risa sighed, before nodding. "Well, we cannot go back, so let's try to make the most of things, after all if Rikona and Hanokashi can enjoy themselves like that then why not us?"
"I think it was Hanoashi," Taeko mused. "But yeah, we're probably not going to be let off the hook, so as much as prison sucks, let's keep our heads down and enjoy what we can."
"Going back to sports, how long have you been into volleyball?" Risa asked.
"Since I was eight, began playing in the little league and never stopped until I went to Ooarai. Actually I'd have never stopped if Ooarai had their volleyball club remaining, un...unless...Nova and I reunited. Maus I miss him," Taeko sighed.
"Nova?" Risa asked.
"A boy I met over in America," Taeko confessed. "We...kinda dated back then, but then I had to move back to japan and...well my father worked as a foreign business overseer of a company, so I've moved from Japan to Korea back to Japan to America and now back to Japan." She let out a small amused sigh. "Looks like I'll be staying here for a while though," she teased.
"You must have really like this Nova then?" Risa guessed.
"He's the only boy I'd have given up my dream of being a professional volleyball player for," Taeko nodded earnestly.
"Ah, I see...there was a guy I wanted to get married to, but he refused to even meet with me, something about not wanting an arranged marriage, so yeah," Risa sighed. "Probably going to get disowned over this," she added.
"Same," Taeko gazed downward.
"Your family high class?" Risa guessed.
"Fairly strict and somewhat traditional," Taeko shrugged. "They barely tolerated me playing in Volleyball," she added sigh a huff.
"Ah, my parents were loose, father loved watching my tennis games back in the day. Though for me, I just loved excising and seeing the fruits of my labor in a more...exciting way than just increased muscle mass and such," Risa shrugged. "But being arrested, yeah...no that's not gonna fly."
"Any siblings?" Taeko asked.
Risa shook her head. "No, mother went barren after I was born, and father was...well he's so close to his nieces and nephews that my absence probably won't be missed much."
"A brother...little brother at that. He's about...seven now...we were in Korea when mom conceived and so we moved back to Japan from Korea," Taeko noted. "Named Hatsu," she added.
"Nice. Wish I had a little brother," Risa sighed.
"They can be annoying sometimes," Taeko cautioned.
"So, I like a little annoyance every now and again," Risa smirked. "Just...don't take that as a license to annoy me," she added, her blue eyes growing wide at how open she had just been.
"Don't worry, I'm usually a bit of an introvert," Taeko reassured her.
"So, how did you and Nova meet, aside from you moving to America?" Risa asked.
"Well...not much to it, he saved me from an abduction attempt, we did a group project together, and just began hanging out and such, eventually be began holding hands and such." Taeko shrugged.
"Abduction attempt?" Risa shuddered.
"Not fun, I was so scared at the time, had nightmares for weeks," Taeko shuddered. "Worse was the fact the old lady was ranting on how I'd make a good girlfriend for her grandson."
"Grandson? It was an elderly lady who abducted you?" Risa gasped.
"Yeah, but she got drooped kicked by Nova. Rough introduction I know, but according to him one always has to be prepared to fight in America, especially considering gun laws in California are atrocious. Well...maybe not as bad as in Japan, but then again we're not as likely to be abducted as they are," Taeko shrugged. "And the lady was in her early fifties...fifty three if I recall from the arrest reports mom and dad received."
"Ah...seemed like you became good friends after that," Risa noted. Just then the lights began to dim.
"Guess it's night time," Risa noted.
"Right," Taeko stifled a yawn, before lying down on the bed, winching as she realized that she was going to have to sleep in what amounted to an indoor cage embedded in glass.
"Hey Taeko...thanks," Risa whispered. "You know, for being kind to me on my first day..."
"Yeah, you too..." Taeko whispered back as sleep begin to take over.