"" Dialogue
'' Thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own "Strike Witches", so this is just a fan made.

Chapter 4: The Arrival

(Or demonstration)

Fifth day

As the songbirds began singing, Yoshika slowly opened her eyes and now she could have a better look at the hot spring she spent the whole evening in, and it was way more mesmerizing than what she realized. No wonder the time flow when she bathed on it but when she took a look at her uniform, it could not have been a more different appearance in comparison to the spring, as it was pretty unclean to say the least, so she began taking it off but as she undressed herself, Yoshika took another look at the spring.

'It wouldn't hurt to take a bath another, would it?' she said to herself, but she knew she would not have the will to get out just like yesterday and she wanted to arrive today, so she finished dressing, picked up her backpack and began flying again once again, hopefully one last time before she arrived at Fuso.

It was still pretty early in the morning and half an hour later, she finally could see something different besides an endless forest.

"The ocean," Yoshika sighed, "at last." so she continued flying alongside the coastline until a peninsula could be seen and as she ascended to have a better view, she could notice there was an island at the other end.

"Yoshika here, I can see Hainan." She said through her intercom.

"Copy that, let me know when you depart to Fuso." Minna said with more relieved tone as Yoshika had not faced any problem and now, she was very close to her home country.

"Understood." Yoshika replied but she did not land and continued flying as she was not feeling tired, thus, there was no reason to stop. There were several small islands near the coastline and long after, isolated islands further way could be seen, "that must be Fuso," she happily said as now part of her home country could be seen. Yet, she knew there was still some distance to cover before the main island appeared and so she began crossing over the ocean north.

She flew for quite some time over the bluish water and though it was sunny, big waves could be seen as the wind blew strong. Nevertheless, she had flown in worse conditions so this was nothing Yoshika could not handle, and while she had now been accustomed, even fond to the sound of the Shinden, there was a new sound accompanying her, her stomach had started to growl.

'Maybe I should have eaten something at Hainan before crossing the sea.' She thought, she still had a few candies in her backpack, but they were not enough, and she had almost eaten all of them these past few days.

'Where's Fuso?', she wondered, she did not expect it to be that far, and she was getting nervous of falling into the ocean due to the lack of energy, but a couple of minutes later, she saw something in the distance 'that's a, that's a… ship' she thought as she squinted her eyes, 'what a relief'.

Meanwhile, in the ship, the barrelman also saw something in the distance and when he noticed that it was a Witch who was flying towards them, he communicated the captain.

"This is Flight Sergeant Miyafuji Yoshika from the Fuso Navy, requesting permission to land," she asked through her intercom.

"Permission granted." a man with a now familiar tone of voice said.

"Copy that", and shortly she landed in the battleship where the crewmen signaled her to.

She got out of the Striker Unit and was asked to head to the bridge to speak with the captain. As she headed there, she noticed the ship looked a little different in comparison to the rest she had boarded, it somehow looked comfier but then her thoughts were interrupted as she arrived at the bridge and a man in his forties was there, wearing the standard Fuso uniform.

"I'm Imazato Hiroshi, the captain of the Hōkoku Maru, it's pleasure to meet one of the Witches of the 501st."

"And I'm Yoshika Miyafuji from the 501st, but… you already know that." Yoshika said with her face slightly red, "thanks again for letting me land."

"You're welcome, Pilot Officer," the captain said but as he gazed her, he could notice she had messy-ish appearance, "excuse me officer, I mean no disrespect but why is there a Witch flying alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and one who was deployed to the European division, nonetheless," the man asked.

Yoshika chuckled nervously, "I'm... I am heading back to Fuso" she made a pause, "it's just that… I was getting tired and ran out of supplies."

"There's a cabin available if you want to rest, I'd be glad if someone from the legendary 501st stayed here." He added with a familiar tone.

"That wouldn't be necessary…" Yoshika replied as she played with her fingers as her cheeks became slightly red, "I'd prefer to eat something if it's possible."

"Not at all, follow me officer," the captain said, and both headed there and as they entered it, Yoshika noticed they were still preparing food and thus, she was going to grab an apron that was hanged there, until the captain interrupted her standing between her and the piece of cloth.

"What do you think you are going to do, Pilot Officer?" The Fusoan captain asked her.

"I'm going…" Yoshika made a pause not knowing what the captain meant, "…to help them?"

"Officer, you know that's not one your duties, you must behave according to your rank." the captain scolded her.

'Not again,' Yoshika said to herself as she had almost forgotten that bothersome custom of some military personnel.

"Take a sit, as soon as the food is ready, you will be served." The captain added.

Yoshika sighed in disappointment, "thank you." and headed to the dining table.

"I will be at the bridge, let me know if you need something else." The captain said as he left the room.

"Thanks." Yoshika replied as she rested her head on the table and a few minutes later, she had started to doze until the sound of the metal food tray bumping into the table awaked her. And in no time, she gulped through it as well with the glass of juice.

"May I have seconds?" she asked the cooks, who gazed at each other as they had not seen a Witch such petite with such appetite, "please!" she added with puppy eyes, waggling her tail cheerfully.

And she was handed a second of everything, and also ate it quickly to the puzzlement of the cooks.

"Thank you, it was so good." She said finally having something Fusoan to eat after so many months of European food, and then she took both food trays back to them and she left kitchen and went back to the bridge, but as she was heading there, she found the bathroom, there she cleaned herself up a little, and then, she headed to the bridge.

"I hope it was of liking, officer," the captain said.

"Yes captain, it was delicious." Yoshika said as she touched her belly, "and I'm ready to continue," she energetically added.

"Are you sure you rested enough? My offer is still available." The captain remarked.

"I really appreciate it, but I want to arrive at Fuso today." Yoshika politely declined her office because even though she wanted to rest, the desire to arrive home today was stronger.

"All right then." and both headed to the hangar platform where many personnel were watching curiosity as by then, they had heard a high-profile Witch was on the ship. Though Yoshika did not notice that they were watching her, and then, her tail and ears appeared, she jumped into the striker unit.

"Miyafuji, taking off" Yoshika said as a magic circle appeared and she began flying once again, "thank you everyone!" she weaved them, and she headed north again.

Sometime later, Yoshika was not sure how much time she needed to reach her destination but soon enough, she was giving an answer.

"Land, I can see land" she beamed as she had made it, she had traveled to Fuso all the way from Europe, from Britannia nonetheless, tears of joy went down her cheeks, as she even herself did not believe but there she was, in her homeland, though she was still pretty far from her home, but this was her homeland.

"Commander Minna, I've made it, I can see Fuso." Yoshika squealed.

"I'm happy to hear that Yoshika, congratulations, now take some vacations, you deserve them and that an order." Minna said with serenity in her voice.

"I will Commander Minna and thank you for everything, please let Lynne and the others know that I've arrived home safely, Yoshika out." She added and shortly she approached the port of Sasebo, and there, she could notice that a few ships were stationed there. "This is Yoshika Miyafuji from the Fuso Navy, requesting permission to land." She happily said, still not being able to contain her happiness.

"Permission granted, it's good to hear you again, Miyafuji." Mio greeted her pupil.

"Sakamoto!" Yoshika beamed, "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Why wouldn't be I here? It's a special occasion, after all." Mio stated.

"I guess you're right." Yoshika added not sure what she meant, and, in the distance, she noticed that there were a few people waiting for her, she could recognize Mio, Shizuka, Hijikata and a Witch about the same height of Mio, wearing a uniform like the one she used to wear but she did not know who she was.

Shortly after, she flew to hangar and landed and after getting out of her striker unit, Shizuka rushed and gave her a hug from behind.

"Yoshika, I missed you." Hattori beamed as it has been more than five months since she was with her.

"Shizuka, hi, I missed you too. Yoshika happily replied but as she turned to return the hug, Mio was there already behind her with Hijikata and the unknown Witch.

"Long time no see, Yoshika." The major said, but Shizuka had not noticed that her superior was already behind, so she instantly stopped hugging her and, she posed instead.

"Yes, we missed you, Ensing Miyafuji." Shizuka said nervously.

"Hello Miyafuji, it's pleasant to see you again" Hijikata stated.

"I missed you too guys." Yoshika told all of them a little overwhelmed as she was not expecting them here.

"Good afternoon, Ensign." Greeted the Witch as she got closer to her.

"Good afternoon to you too.", the aspiring medic replied.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Squadron Leader Shindou Mie, I am member of the 508th Joint Fighter Wing a.k.a. the Mighty Witches." She stated.

"I think I heard about them." Yoshika commented but the truth was that she was not even sure how many Joint Fighter Wings existed.

"Now, you may be wondering why my presence here." Shindou added.

"Actually, yes, a bit." Yoshika replied quizzically.

"Major Sakamoto told me everything about you, and also about the special training you had with Wing Commander Minna, so I was wondering if we could have a mock battle at the training academy." Shindou asked.

Yoshika was kind of surprised after hearing that request, but she should have been expecting something like that, after all, it was not the first time Major Sakamoto had arranged a mock battle for her.

"That's it, of course if you are not too tired after your journey, this would serve as a demonstration for the cadets, to inspire them." Shindou added.

Mio was giving her a rather persuasive gaze while Shizuka had sparkling eyes, thus, there was no way Yoshika could refuse to have that mock battle, "No prob." she said enthusiastically.

Thus, the crewman loaded her Shinden on a truck and then the group headed to the training academy. During the route, Yoshika told them everything that she did since they went their own ways and how her five-day journey went though, she avoided to tell them what happened over the Ostman desert.

Meanwhile, as they traveled, the crewmen inspected Yoshika's strikers and as they disassemble it, they found out the oil had become darker which was normal, but they also found something quite unexpected, the spark plugs of both strikers had melted partially, they did not have spare parts to replace them, so they reuse them. They needed to report this to Major Sakamoto, but they were not sure when or how. Still, they knew that it something went wrong in the battle, the blame would lay sorely on them.

As the truck entered the facility, Yoshika could notice that quite a lot of people were there, many of them did not even seem to belong to the school. When she got out of the truck, the crowd started to gather behind the fence, then she realized that they were waiting for her and even some of them were asking for her autograph, 'that's new' she thought.

'They must have heard Commander Minna speech' Yoshika said to herself, 'but why they are here?' She was the one who usually asked for autographs, for example Marceille's or the girl that one time she went to Liberion, what was her name, Elizabeth?

'Never mind that' she thought as she had something way more important ahead of her right now as she was guided by Hijikata to the hangar and she could see that Shindou was already equipping her striker unit, one that she knew pretty well, a Shiden.

Meanwhile, Mio was watching Yoshika heading to her Shinden and one of the crewmen came to her, "Major Sakamoto, do you have a minute?".

"Yes, of course, what is it?" Mio asked.

"It's about Ensign Miyafuji's striker." the man pointed the reason of his intromission.

"Is something wrong with it." Mio asked with surprise.

"It seems that the spark plugs had melted partially" he stated.

"How could that have occurred?" Mio asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"That will require a more thorough investigation." the man announced.

"But is it able to fly?", she asked him while directly looking at his eyes, making him nervous.

"We… we think it should not have any problem, but it will be better if it is inspected meticulously afterwards".

Mio noticed the uneasiness in his voice and she herself became hesitant about the letting the event continue and she did not even reply to him anything as she herself was not sure how to proceed.

"I guess this could wait until tomorrow." Mio sighed as she decided that Yoshika well-being was more important than was just a spectacle after all, thus she decided to call off the event and she was going to tell them but, after seeing Yoshika's enthusiasm and how she was getting herself ready, she decided to let the battle continue, 'I hope I don't regret this' she thought, as she went to Shizuka's side.

Meanwhile, Yoshika was stretching herself up before the match started, she was feeling a bit tired as she had been flying for most of the morning without eating. She had rested a little in the Hōkoku Maru and she believed she still had more than enough magic energy for this demonstration, and then her ears and tail appeared, and she jumped into the Shinden.

"Are you ready Ensing?" she asked.

"Let's do this" Yoshika replied enthusiastically.

"Three rounds with guns loaded with paint balls" Shindou stated as the guns came out from their sides.

"Understood." Yoshika answered as she breathed in and out.

Then, two magic circles appeared, and they took off creating quite the burst while the crowd and the students watched with amazement, after all, seeing two full-fledged Witches having a mock battle was something that rarely occurred.

As Yoshika took off, she could notice right away that Shindou was specialized in dogfighting, as she was on her tail, trying to shoot her, but Minna had prepared her for that, and she needed to make distance.

To Shindou's surprise Yoshika avoided her either doing hard turns or diving way to close to the land to the awe of the attendants and when she could not, she used her shield.

Shindou was expecting her to be a challenge, but she was something else, she even thought that the way Yoshika dodged her shoots was reckless, unpredictable even but as the battle continued, she noticed that all her movements were seemingly calculated.

With her inherit magic, she noticed that Yoshika was in her blind spot, and knowing she about to shoot, she dodged her only to be shoot in the place she moved to.

"Thanks Lynne." Yoshika softly said, panting a little as it was one of the first things she learned from an actual battle.

Meanwhile, Shindou could not believe that she was covered in paint, and neither could Mio, but the battle still continued, and they both pushed their strikers to their limits.

'She's though.' Yoshika said to her own head as she had tried the same strategy a couple of times to no avail, nevertheless, she still had some tricks under her sleeve.

Yoshika tried something new, she deceived Shindou making her believe she did not notice that she was in her blind side. And thus, Shindou began her assault but to her surprise, she blocked the paintballs with her shield.

Still, she continued with her assault but now below her, "now I got you" she exclaimed as she had a clear aim on her, but to her surprise, Yoshika put out a second and a third shield, almost completely surrounded herself in shields, blocking all her paintballs in the process.

"Three shields?" Shindou astounded claimed, that was something unexpected for her and for almost everyone as the crowds' gasping could even be heard on the sky.

Yoshika then went upside down and spined towards her surrounded by her shields and began shooting her and though she summoned her shield, it was too little too late as Yoshika shot her from multiple sides and hit her a few times.

"It really worked." Yoshika said relieved yet, she had started to pant even more, but Shindou did not seem to be tired in the least, just surprised, and she began her assault once more while Yoshika tried to make some distance.

Meanwhile, Shizuka was watching in awe how Yoshika used her multiples shields like that, this was the second time she had seen that, but it still surprised her just like the first time her and it reminded her why she admired her so much.

On the other hand, Mio was feeling more prouder than surprised, at least not as Shizuka, since Minna had told her how hard she trained since they left.

She knew Yoshika had a lot of potential since the day she recruited her more than three years ago and all the experience she had gained in these years had been paid off as she had put on a remarkable show to say the least.

Though Yoshika improvement was not the only thing different in her, "Miyafuji's ears and tail seem to be different Major, don't you think?" Shizuka asked.

"Indeed, her tail seem to have grown." Mio replied.

"Also, they seem to be whiter too." Shizuka added.

"We better ask her after this is over." Mio stated.

As the last round continued, the tiredness had started to catch on Yoshika as she was breathing even harder, but she tried to hide it the best she could, and she tried to avoid letting Shindou getting on her tail, but her flying pattern was also getting sloppier by every minute the match continued.

It was too late when she realized that Shindou was not behind but above her and when she shot her, there was nothing she could do, and she lost the last round. Shindou was underwhelmed by how the last round went but she lost two out of the three rounds, thus she accepted her defeat.

While Yoshika was slightly disappointed, she lost the last round, she was feeling relieved, glad even, the match had finally ended as she really needed to rest, she was more than drained, and she could not wait to land as soon as possible.

"You are an impressive witch, Miyafuji." Shindou praised her.

"You… too." Yoshika struggled to answer.

"Let's go to the hangar, so we can talk" Shindou added.

"I'm… I'm right behind you", she panted as she followed her.

As she flew back to the hangar, she noticed that Mio and Shizuka were already waiting for them, and she tried her best to land safely and both Mio and Shizuka were close to her with joy on their faces.

'They seem… to be happy', she thought as her mind started to faint.

"Miyafuji, you've improved quite…" but before she could finish the sentence, Yoshika almost collapsed into the floor not before being caught by Shizuka.

"Is she…. is she hurt?" Shizuka asked worried, recalling what happened the last time Yoshika collapsed not long ago.

"She seems fine." Mio replied with a hint of concern in her voice as she started to feel regret about what just happened.

"It looks like she was more exhausted than what she told us;" Shindou added, "quite an apprentice you have Mio.", and then medical personnel arrived and carried her to the infirmary so she could be thoroughly checked.

The doctor examined her but she was not able to find anything out of the ordinary and for now they only could only wait until she woke up so she could be better assessed. After the medic left, both Mio and Shizuka were the only ones left in the room with a seemingly sleeping Yoshika in the bed.

"Let's go Hattori, Miyafuji just needs to rest." Mio said as she looked at Yoshika still feeling regret.

"I want to stay with here, in case she wakes up." Shizuka said as she got closer to a sit next to the bed.

"I'm sure she's gonna fine." Mio added with a reassuring tone.

"It would not hurt if I stayed here for a little more, would it?" Shizuka pledged.

Mio sighed, "I guess not." And she left the room afterwards.

The next day, in the morning

As Mio came into the room, she noticed Shizuka was still there, with her head resting at the bottom of the bed. But Yoshika had not moved at all as she was in the same position she was left yesterday, though it seemed she was snoring a little now.

"Hattori." Mio whispered to wake her up, but she did not.

"Shizuka." She tried again but this time she moved her a little and she succeeded.

"Major" Shizuka said as she tried to remember what happened, "Yoshika!", she added as she looked at her.

"She's fine, she's sleeping" Mio sighed, "listen to her."

And Shizuka did so, and she could her that she was snoring softly.

"Keep in mind she just come from Europe, and she needed to rest after such long journey," she added, 'If only I had let her yesterday,' she said to her own head.

But Shizuka did not reply as she was still worried that something may have happened to her as Yoshika had not moved since yesterday.

"Get something to eat, I'll stay here in case she wakes up." Mio added with a comforting tone.

"But…." Shizuka added but then Mio took a sit on the other side of the bed, "I guess I should." Shizuka added and left the room afterwards, still hesitant.

Half an hour later

Yoshika slowly opened her eyes, and squinted as the room was really bright. "Where am I?" she asked as she did not recognize the place.

"At the infirmary, you passed out." Mio replied with comforting tone, as she stood up from her sit.

Then Yoshika looked at herself and noticed she was now wearing a hospital gown. "Really? I don't remember anything, other than flying with Shindou." She answered with a bit of disappointment on her voice.

"You put quite an impressive show yesterday and you even won the match." Mio stated.

"I think I remember a bit of that too." Yoshika said.

"Ha, ha, ha, Shindou is one of the best Witches in Fuso, Commander Minna had trained you well." Mio congratulated her.

"Thanks to you too, I'd not have even been in a Witch if it weren't for you." Yoshika reminded her.

Suddenly, the door opened. "Yoshika, you are awake" Shizuka said with a smile in her face and teary eyes, then she hugged her.

"Shizuka." Yoshika exclaimed still wondering what happened to her, but she hugged her back.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Shizuka.

"I… I think so." Yoshika replied and then she stretched her arms over her head and in front of her, "I feel fine."

"I thought you overused your magic again." added Shizuka.

Yoshika did not reply and stayed speechless for a few seconds. "Don't worry, I'd never let that happen ever again." she stated with boldness in her voice, making Mio and Shizuka exchange glances but before they could say anything, Shindou entered the room.

"I'm glad you are awake Miyafuji, please get dressed, we need to talk, in the meeting hall." and with that she left them in the room being followed by Mio.

"Do you know what this is all about Shizuka?" Yoshika asked.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me anything." Shizuka replied as convincing as she could.

Then, a medic came to check into the room and began checking on Yoshika's vital signs and she did not find anything out of the ordinary.

"Try to you use some magic." the medic requested.

"All right," Yoshika replied in a neutral voice, and she stood up and her tails and ears appeared and Shizuka could finally have a better look at her tail.

'It is different.' Shizuka said to her own head, confirming what they saw yesterday but she gave it no more thought as she was relieved that Yoshika could still use her magic, effortlessly after what happened yesterday.

"It seems it was tiredness after all, you're free to leave." The medic added.

"Thank you." she replied, and the medic left the room and then Yoshika got dressed to her usual uniform with the help of Shizuka, and afterwards they went to the meeting room.

When they entered it, they could notice that they were already waiting for them and at the end of the room, there was podium. And as they headed to the only two available seats, they also noticed that there was another Witch there.

"Lieutenant Karibuchi, good morning." Yoshika greeted her, wondering why she was here or why they were all here for what matter.

"Good morning to you too, Yoshika, I'm glad to hear you're fine." Takami added with a polite smile on her face.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Yoshika and Shizuka also introduced herself, and they both took a sit. She was trying to remember where she heard that name before, 'Karibuchi, Karibuchi, of course, the hero of the Battle of Libau.'

'It seems she had met her before' Shizuka said to herself, 'it would not hurt to ask, would it?'

"She seemed happy to see you." whispered Shizuka.

"I guess so." Yoshika cluelessly replied, still thinking what the meaning of all of this was.

'That… did not help, like at all', she thought, 'I better ask her more directly.'

"Have you met her before?" Shizuka asked.

"Actually yeah, I have, she was seriously injured a few months ago but I helped her to recover." Yoshika answered with low voice, almost whispering.

'That's new.' She thought; Mio had told her lots of stories about Yoshika's feats and she even herself collected lots of articles of her, but she had never heard or been told that Yoshika healed the hero of the Battle of Libau who was one of Mio's oldest comrades if she recalled correctly. But her thoughts were interrupted as Shindou was at the podium and started the speech.

"We have all assembled here today to celebrate the promotion of Miyafuji Yoshika. Although the ceremony was originally scheduled for yesterday, unforeseen circumstances prevented its execution." She continued. "Nevertheless, in recognition of your courageous actions in defending Europe and your decisive role in helping to destroy not one, not two, but three Neuroi hives, I am pleased to announce your promotion to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Please step forward."

Yoshika was speechless, stunned and still on her sit, not grasping what she just heard. It was not only after Shizuka slapped gently on her leg she came back to her senses, "Yes…, yes of course" Yoshika added, and headed to the podium.

By the time she was next to Shindou, she was handed a new uniform and then she proceeded to with her speech.

"Guys, I don't, I mean I… I just want to thank you guys…, I'm just so happy I can protect everyone being a Witch, and I wouldn't be even here if it weren't…., if it weren't for you, thank you again." Yoshika said stuttering while blushing slightly, then she bowed a few times, put on her new uniform. "Thank you."

They started to applaud, and both Witches went back with the rest and toasted. While Yoshika was happy about this whole promotion, she wished the rest of the 501st could be here, celebrating with her. Though, she realized that had left the down when she passed out; this was supposed to take place yesterday. Nevertheless, there was nothing she could do now, so she better celebrated her promotion with the rest of the Fusoan Witches.

Meanwhile, Shizuka was happy to see that Yoshika was rightfully promoted but she was still curious about her mind was still thinking about what she spoke with Yoshika before. She noticed that Major seemed to be alone now, and she walked towards her.

"Major Sakamoto, do you have a minute?" Shizuka asked.

"Of course, Shizuka", Mio answered with a smile on her face.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question regarding Lieutenant Karibuchi?" Shizuka asked.

Mio was rather curious about what Shizuka wanted to know about her, "I don't mind at all" she replied.

"What happened to her, I mean Miyafuji told me that she healed her, but I've never heard anything about it." Shizuka asked but she noticed that Mio dropped her smile.

Mio was not sure what Takami told her, but she rather not went into detail about it. "After the battle of Britannia, we were disbanded and Miyafuji left the militia for a few months." she added, tried to maintain her composure as she answered her, but she could not help it but remember the whole incident, "and when she was stationed here, in Fuso, she was called to heal her."

Though, she avoided to tell her the reason why Yoshika was in Fuso. This was something she would rather forget, it did not have anything to do with Yoshika or Shizuka or Takami for all what matter, but rather with what happened before, during the liberation of Gallia and the reason why Yoshika was in Fuso to aid Takami on the first place, but that was something she was thankful as she was one of her best friends.

She being injured in the battle was something she could only blame on herself, she should have been more cautious. Mio of course, never ever blamed Yoshika for anything, she knew she was reckless from the very beginning if anything, she should have been more vigilant of her.

If someone was to blame, it was Air Chief Marshall Maloney because unless someone else was in immediate danger, Yoshika's disobedience was an internal matter and only Minna and herself could discipline her however they agreed it was appropriate to. She also abstained of telling her that Yoshika's retirement was not willingly but forcedly as she was dishonorable discharged.

It was not only after healing Lieutenant Takami that the discharge was removed and only then she could join the Fuso Navy again had she desired to. That was something only her and Minna knew, and had promised to never tell anyone else, it would just create discomfort among the girls with their respective brasses.

"I knew that the 501st were disbanded but I didn't know that Yoshika actually retired." Shizuka pointed out.

Then the Major recalled that even herself was in trouble after the whole incident but eventually, everything went fine afterwards, so it would be better if they left that topic in the past.

"Indeed, she did, a few months later she heard a distress call from Lynette, and she joined again the Fuso navy and if I recall correctly, you know the rest, isn't that right Hattori?" she replied as politely as possible.

"Yes, I do know that, thank you Major." Shizuka replied but she could not help but wonder.

Moreover, even nowadays, she sometimes wondered whether Maloney was working alone. Or was he working with someone else. She did her own research, but she could not get further or gather more information of what everyone at the 501st knew.

The warlock was a state-of-the-art machine, and it would require lots of research to develop and it was unlike that only a small group of scientists could develop it. Even with intervention of Adolfine, the top brasses never seemed willing to cooperate, and her research leaded to nowhere. But this was not the right time to think about that and there was no need to be bothered by that, she left those thoughts behind as the celebration still went on.

Meanwhile Shizuka was still left with more questions, 'Why Yoshika retired? sure it was understandable when she lost her magic, but why at that time.' she thought. It seemed that there was something she did not knew, sure, it may not be important, 'it would not hurt to ask, right?' she made a mental note but now it was not the appropriate moment, so she went to Yoshika's side to celebrate her promotion.

Hours later

After the event ended, there was still a couple hours of sun left, Yoshika was ready to go home, a military plane would carry her or rather them as Yoshika had asked Shizuka whether she wanted to stay at her home for a while, and she thoroughly agreed, of course.

They all packed their things and were ready to depart but before they got into the plane, Mio stopped Yoshika.

"Miyafuji wait." Mio said.

"Did something happen Sakamoto?" Yoshika asked with curiosity.

"Try to use some magic, there's something I need to see." Mio requested her.

"Okay." the promoted Witch replied and so her ears and tail appeared, and both Shizuka and Mio nodded in agreement confirming what they saw yesterday. Mio then proceeded to grab her tail which caused Yoshika to shiver violently and Shizuka gasped in surprise as she was not expecting her to do that.

"What is this all about!?" she roared with her face red as a tomato.

"Your tail looks different." Mio stated.

"It seems to have grown and it's whiter too." Shizuka added.

"And so are the tips of your ears" Mio said and then touched her ears, but this time Yoshika did not shiver, at least not as intensely as before.

"What!? I didn't notice that, but I don't feel any different." She replied, as her blush started to fade away.

"That may be because you are growing older." Mio commented.

"You think?" Yoshika answered with not much certainty in her voice while moving, trying to have a better look at her tail. "You're right, it does look different, but I feel better than ever, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Yoshika asked, but they gazed at each other, not sure what to tell her.

"I guess not." Mio added.

The plane was already waiting so they better be in their way, she thanked the major for everything, and they got into the plane, and they departed to the Yokosuka base. During their way, Shizuka wanted to ask her lots of questions about what the Major told her before, but she could not as there were more people there.

Author Notes:

This took a bit longer than what I expected but here it is.

The next chapter will be ready before the next weekend, that's what I hope.