Dein Weg ist Mein Weg

Chapter 10: The Advisor

Ami Chono leaned against her desk in Ooarai's tank garage, and flipped between pages in a book. A month had passed since she had arrived on the Zuikaku and started her time as staff advisor to the school's newly reborn Sensha-Do team, and things were going as smoothly as she could expect. Not smoothly enough for what the Student Council had planned of course, but smooth. She simply couldn't see a way for this newly started team to win the national tournament, no matter how set the girls were on their goal.

She had tried to advise restraint, and that the team should perhaps instead aim to be able to win an exhibition match with a similarly sized school in a few months time. But Anzu Kodatani, the Student Council President, had been adamant. They were aiming to win the national tournament.

The team had just finished the day's training session, and everyone was improving at a rapid pace. Far more rapid than Ami had expected. When the Federation called her and asked if she wanted to take on the role of staff advisor, she had assumed it would involve laboriously training absolute beginners for months on end, but here she was. A month, and these schoolgirls were already showing promise. During their practice match on her first day most of them could barely manage a tank, and handling it effectively was off the table. The girls manning the M3 Lee had even left their tank in sheer panic.

That had given her a baseline to work with, and through their daily training sessions every afternoon, they had improved at a tremendous rate. They were still nowhere near as good as they would need to be to be able to participate effectively in the national tournament however. Nor did they have enough tanks or members to field an effective fighting force. And so she was looking through every textbook and article she could find in search of solutions. Glancing over her shoulder she could see the pile of books she still had left to read on her desk.

Practical Application of Military Tactics in Sensha-Do, Sensha-Do and You: A Woman's guide to Self-improvement, The Nishizumi Style, Tankery Across the World, Way of the Shimada, Armor Rusts: A Treatise on the Desensitizing Nature of Sensha-Do, and A History of The Japanese National Sensha-Do Federation and 50 years of The National Tournament. Deep down she knew they wouldn't help, but she clung to what little hope she had left for these girls. They had impressed her so deeply in their improvement, that she felt obligated to do her best to help them in return.

She took a deep breath, turned to her desk, and put the book down beside the others, before shaking her head a few times, and rubbing her eyes. She grabbed the coffee cup that stood atop the pile of books, and took a sip. Sadly, it was empty. She sighed, and yelled over her shoulder, "FAYA!!!" There was no reply from her aide de camp. "FAYA!!!" she yelled anew, before stopping and chuckling to herself, realizing her mistake. She still hadn't gotten used to being without Faya. The young girl had stayed behind in the JSDF, snapped up by Major Anzai to handle her office. Ami sighed again as she returned the empty cup to its pedestal.

She was perfectly capable of handling the job herself of course, and having an aide at a small school like this would have seemed pompous and snobbish, to say the least. Still, she missed the energy Faya brought to her surroundings. The company certainly made dealing with problems or late nights far easier. Perhaps their relationship didn't quite follow the JSDF's regulations for officer-subordinate relations, but they didn't pay it much mind.

The sound of a faint knock on one of the pillars holding the roof up pulled Ami out of her reminiscing.

"Excuse me Miss?" a voice said behind her, and Ami answered while taking a few seconds to compose herself.

"Ah, yes. Anzu told me there would be a late joiner to the course. But don't worry, I'm certain we'll have you up to speed in no time. I'm the staff advisor for the course, and my name is Ami..."