Girls und Panzer and the Wundermotor

A Wounded Tigress:

"Good job with practice today, everyone! You're all dismissed!" Erika said aloud for the Kuromorimine Sensha-do team to hear. On this particular day, they had practiced drills on how to counter light and medium tanks with their own, and improving the skills of the individual commanders and their crews. That way, the tactic of dividing and conquering wouldn't be as effective against them. Or at least that was what Erika hoped. The team dispersed, whether to go take showers, return to dorms and get some rest, or to go out and have some fun. In the end, only two people were left in the tank hanger, Koume and Erika, sitting atop their respective tanks. "Uguuuuu..." Erika groaned as she unceremoniously lay on the turret of her Tiger II.

"What's up?" Piped up Koume as she finished inspecting the tracks and suspension of her Panther G. "You've been groaning like that for a while now, Erika."

Erika sighed deeply, covering her face with her Sensha-do cap. "No, it's just...practice, today. We've all got a long way to go before we can even come close to calling ourselves good in solo situations. We're all just so...reliant on Maho. Like, you saw it, right?" Erika sat herself up to look directly at Koume, who was now sitting on the edge of her Panther G, listening. "Everyone just kept hesitating, they all kept asking me for confirmation and advice...It's driving me insane!" Erika yelled, flopping back into a lying position. "It's just...I'm next in command after Maho graduates, and I don't want Kuromorimine to be left in the dust...but Maho is still in the hospital and everything."

Koume looked down at the ground. "Yeah, it's a shame. Who's going to teach us until she gets out?"

"That's rich, Koume, coming from you." Erika replied bluntly. "You've been getting all those one on ones with Peter, and now you're like his shadow or something when it comes to skill." Koume blushed a little, giving Erika some satisfaction as she continued to laze about. "What'd he tell you? He seems like a good teacher."

Koume scratched her face with one finger, thinking back to all the lessons and training exercises she and her crew had with Peter and his own crew. "Well...I think it's all about efficiency. Peter told me that when you're by yourself you have to learn to shut out all distractions. That way you can command with 100% of your attention."

"Interesting. Go on."

"He told me that in order to do this, he created this separate battle state of his, he goes into it whenever he needs a tactical approach to everything. You've noticed it, right?"

Erika paused from examining her nails. They were getting dirty. "You mean when he suddenly gets way more serious? That?"

Koume nodded, a smile beginning to grow on her face. "Exactly. He says it's like a mental switch for him, which is why his personality changes when he's in battle. It's 100% concentration, that's what he says."

"Concentration, huh? Sounds like something Maho does..." Erika muttered, her mind beginning to wander off to...other things. Before Erika could say anything more, a phone rang. "Eh? Who the hell is calling me? Hello?" Erika asked curiously as she answered the caller, not bothering to see who it was.

"Erika? Are you there?"

"C-commander-I mean, Maho!? W-what's up?" Erika blushed furiously, obviously caught off guard by the surprise phone call by her beloved Maho.

"I'm being released from the hospital today, and I was thinking you could help me? The doctors told me that I shouldn't do any sort of heavy lifting for a while, so I thought you could...?"

"O-Oh yeah, of course! Do you want me to come right now?"

"Yes please. I'll see you soon." click.