"Taichou!!"
"They're overwhelming us with those pesky drones!"
"What should we do, Taichou?! They'll take over the island before we could even make a successful counterattack!"
"Have faith in our Type 10s, everyone! Penetrate that weak spot at 1 o'clock in a single-line saturated fire. On my command!"
"Yes!" "Roger that."
"On my mark, let's do our best until the very end, everyone!"
"All tanks, forward!"
"AAAAAA—!!!"
*BOOM!*
*RATATATATA!!*
*BOOM!*
…
I slowly opened my eyes as I felt a very soft cushion on my back, trying to embrace me back to sleep.
I looked at the digital clock on my right side as it said "5:30 AM" on it, so I tried to go back to sleep again.
But a few moments later…
"ACK—!!!"
I immediately held my head with such excruciating pain from within my brain. I don't know as to why I'm experiencing such an event right now, but I'm also feeling something that's fusing with my mind.
Although it seemed like a long time had passed, I looked at the digital clock again, but the time was only around 5:31 AM, which meant that only a minute had passed since that hellish pain.
As I'm feeling my sweat dripping from my forehead, I sat upright on my bed and noticed that, while this room's lights were off, the moonlight started to fade as the night sky started to brighten signifying sunrise, giving the room an ethereal feel.
Reminding me of what has elapsed, and all of somewhat newfound information that I just knew that it happened, I looked at my hands immediately.
"Are these my hands… they seemed small—ah!" I muttered to myself before noticing that my voice sounded a lot more childish than what was my voice back then.
"I should go to the bathroom first…" I muttered to myself sternly.
I then scooted myself from the bed and started running towards the bathroom adjacent to what seemed to be my very big bedroom as if I already knew where to go.
After turning on the lights, I went to the bathroom mirror to check my appearance.
"H-Huh…" I muttered to myself as the appearance in front of me is of a very delicate-looking girl with fiery red eyes, a red curly hair with my bangs swaying towards the left side, all while I'm also wearing a light pink one-piece nightgown.
As someone who had played the game in my younger years, I almost forgot about it.
Though if I thought that I'm inside the world of P5R, I would've believed it immediately if it were not for the fact that I remember being placed inside a turret hatch at the commander's position while this girl's father is driving me around in our residence's private training field.
A memory before my arrival then came to mind.
…
"Papa! Papa! Where are we going?!" I excitedly asked.
I'm being carried by my father, who shows much of my resemblance except for his brown eyes, towards what seemed to be a large barn after walking for quite a while.
It seems that I was a little over 8 years old at that time, but I'm still quite small for such an age for whatever reason.
"Your Papa will show you something amazing, Runa-chan." he smiled.
He then got me down from his arms as he then carried the wooden lock away from the handles of the gigantic doors, letting the doors open just a tiny bit.
"Runa-chan, what do you think of your Mama when she was still with us?" he asked me with a reminiscing smile.
Ah yeah… I remembered that the girl's mother has a weak body constitution. So when she gave birth to this body, the mother's condition turned to a worst-case scenario, but ultimately survived through postpartum.
But that didn't really last long as when this child was 4, the girl's mother passed away after battling an aggressive form of sarcoma found on her ribcage near her spinal cord.
"Mama… she's still Mama whether she went up to the skies or not, am I right?" My young self said in an innocent manner.
He chuckled for a bit before patting my head.
"That's right… Aoharu would still be Aoharu even when she's up in the skies now."
He said as he then opened the door. What came before me is the smell of metal permeating my olfactory senses, but its smell is awfully addicting.
What came to my sight next were a set of giant beasts of steel. Tracks that were like chains that kept the wheels from rampaging, yet it would be something alluded towards moving such beasts fast in all terrain. The guns that were pointed with direction and ferocity to those that stand opposite to it, and the giant masses of steel that house such guns.
"Wanna hop on it, Runa-chan? Your Mama plays with these vehicles during her younger years all the time." My father invited me with a smile as he pointed at a black Centurion tank. Of course, my younger self wouldn't have known that.
"Is this the reason why Papa fell in love with Mama?" An unexpected retort came from my younger self's mouth, which caught the girl's father off guard.
…
When I got out of the bathroom after washing my face, the sunlight peered through the window as the daylight hours had started.
"The roaring of the engines, the wind that flew past while I was placed on the turret hatch. Senshado, huh…?" I muttered to myself before a smile unconsciously appeared in my lips.
"It's definitely not a dream, isn't it?" I muttered again.
But not before long, I heard a knock from the door and a voice then spoke from the other side.
"Haruna-sama, it's morning now. You need to wake up early." A mature-sounding woman spoke over before opening the door.
When she went inside, I saw her getting surprised that I wasn't in the bed, but I cleared my throat which turned her attention towards me, who just went out of the bathroom.
"Good morning, Isshiki." I smiled at the girl's… or I guess, my personal attendant now.
Goodness gracious, I can't believe that Haruna's family is that rich, both in money and also Senshado.
Not to mention the fact that Isshiki herself wore a very Victorian-style maid outfit which matches well with her brown short hair with asymmetrical bangs, and deep brownish-golden eyes. She sure is an eye candy to observe.
"Your luggage is currently being carried to the school's helicopter, Haruna-sama. There's still an hour before our departure to Sado High School, so let's get you ready." Isshiki said with a smile on her lips.
"Yes, I shall do just that." I responded with a smile as well.
…
After getting ready, I was about to go outside the house when a familiar person appeared at the front door.
"Runa, you look beautiful in your uniform." this girl's father… or I guess my father in this world has come to greet me before I leave.
I had my hair tied to a ponytail with a red ribbon while wearing a uniform composed of a black collared, red-buttoned, long-sleeved jacket that has the school's logo on the jacket's left side with a white long-sleeve inner wear, and also a black skirt with white and red checkered patterns. I opted for red leather-like shoes and wore black stockings to cover my thighs.
I chuckled lightly at him as I responded back "Thank you, Dad. Even though I already knew that."
His appreciative smile then turned into a concerned kind of smile as he then asked me "Are you sure you don't want to move to Yokohama or even study at Chiba, near with me?"
I laughed awkwardly as when the time had passed, my father had tried to spoil me more with everything else. Though for some reason, the girl who occupied this body before had quite a rebellious attitude growing up.
"Don't worry about it, Dad. I'll continue doing Dad's work after I graduate in Sado." I answered with confidence.
Although my mother had connections to the JSF (Japanese Senshado Federation), and was a player in the Professional League alongside the legendary Chiyo Shimada and Shiho Nishizumi, my father is a world-renown successful Swedish interior designer who had some interest in Senshado, which is the reason why my family's on the wealthier side.
I guess, there's no wonder why I really am quite beautiful for my age since I'm half-Swedish and half-Japanese.
I then approached my father as I initiated a hug for him. "Don't worry about me, Dad. After all, Isshiki-san will also follow me to the school dorms anyway." I added.
With no way to retort back from that hug, he just accepted it with a smile as he patted my head.
"If that's the case, then I'll be waiting for you in Yokohama this summer." He replied.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it." I answered with delight.
After releasing my hug, my father kissed my forehead before bidding goodbye to me. When he's done talking to Isshiki, me and her made our way outside the house as I was met with the grandeur of the morning daylight with the temperature of a cold spring morning.
In front of the two of us is a tandem rotor helicopter which is awfully-shaped like a banana.
"A Piasecki H-21 Shawnee…" I muttered in daze as I'm amazed that such a machine could still be operable today.
Noticing this, Isshiki asked with delight "Oh~?"
"What is it, Isshiki-san?" I asked in surprise.
Noticing my inquiry, she responded "I'm amazed that Haruna-sama knew this antique."
"Dad often teaches me about these alongside the tanks that Mama uses during her younger years." I said with a reminiscing tone.
After that exchange, the two of us went inside the helicopter as when it's all cleared, the helicopter's tandem rotors had started spinning. A few moments later, we took off from the courtyard.
…
Since the house… or I guess, the manor, is around a few tens of kilometers inland from the coast, the helicopter has quickly started its approach towards Sado Island.
"It's really that big, huh…?"
I muttered to myself, my utter fascination hushed by the roaring engine strokes of the Piasecki helicopter, as I looked out of the window from my passenger seat and saw Sado Island from a distance.
What's interesting is that I also saw the silhouette of an out-of-place artificial structure, that is half of the island's top two highest peaks except for its masts that almost reach Mount Kongou, anchored in one of the two bays as it almost covers the bay in its entirety with the ship's sheer gargantuan size.
The Niigata University-affiliated Sado High School ship, based on the WW2 Japanese aircraft carrier Amagi. Such a sight to see.
"So this is my home for the next three years, huh? This is gonna be exciting." I muttered to myself once more, being hushed by the Piasecki helicopter's engines.
The helicopter then landed at a parking lot on the main deck of the Amagi , near to Sado High School. When the two of us got out of the chopper, we were greeted with a bunch of uniformed personnel bearing the school's shield-shaped insignia.
With them were two individuals, a confident-looking green-haired girl with spectacles and a boy whose looks made him like a delinquent which includes the unkempt uniform and his blonde hair, approached me and Isshiki.
"You must be Haruna Yoshinomiya Bergendahl, am I right?" The green-haired girl greeted us first with an amicable tone.
"Yes, that would be me." I answered as I then made a showing gesture towards Isshiki as I added "This someone beside me is Isshiki, my attendant who would be staying here with me for my three years at this school."
Noticing this, Isshiki slightly bowed at them with a slight smirk on her face.
"Greetings to the two of you. I'm Isshiki Kurahashi, Haruna-sama's personal attendant. I may look young but I'm a decade and a half older than you all." She said without any inflections from her voice.
"I'm Sayuri Kurodate, this year's Student Council President, and the one beside me is Shinji Nakamura, the Vice President. Despite his scary face, he's actually a soft-spoken softie."
"Don't tease me like that." the guy in question scratches his head whilst failing on trying to make a typical awkward face. I guess it's a unique trait of anyone's.
I slightly bowed my head as I responded back "Nice to meet you two, President Kurodate, Vice President Nakamura. Thank you for taking your time off for such hospitality."
"Don't mention it~!" President Sayuri remarked as she added "It's the job of the student council to greet everyone, after all."
"Sayuri, shall we show them the dorms?" Vice President Shinji initiated the change of topic.
"Ah, yes yes~! Good thing you remind me of that, Shinji-kun." She said to him, "I'll show you two around!"
Sayuri excitedly exclaimed as the four of them followed the uniformed personnel who were moving our luggages to a 3-storey apartment complex.
After walking for 5 minutes, we arrived at the dormitory. What's surprising though is the amount of space our room has.
"The school has been more focused on reliability and practicality like our sister school at Viggen High School as we're all under the banner of Niigata University, hence the concept of shared living spaces with the exception of your own bedrooms." Sayuri explained.
It's similar to that of an in-university housing, which is something that I can cope with easily.Though not everyone has the same opinion as I do.
"Haruna-sama, are you sure about this arrangement? I don't think it's sui—" before she could continue voicing her opinion however, I responded to the President.
"These look suitable enough, President." I smiled.
"I'm sure that you'll find this place suitable enough for you to feel like home." Sayuri responded with a gleaming smile.
It was then that Vice President Shinji said this to the President "Sayuri, we have overstayed our time now. We still have some paperwork left to be done by today."
Sayuri looked at Shinji while pouting "Boo… I don't want to deal with them today."
"You can't. The official start of the school will happen tomorrow. We have to complete those by afternoon." Shinji maintained his resolute tone, which made Sayuri sigh in defeat.
She then looked at me with a smile and said "I'll see you guys around tomorrow then."
"Likewise, President, Vice President." I answered.
"Just call us by our given names, we don't mind~" Sayuri waves her hand as she says that.
"Then you can call me by my given name as well, Sayuri-san, Shinji-kun." I smiled.
"Alright then, Haruna-chan, Kurahashi-chan. Shinji and I will get going now." Sayuri said as the two of us waved them goodbye.
After they were gone, Isshiki asked me "If I may, Haruna-sama?"
Sensing that it's something about what has happened earlier, I furrowed my eyebrows.
"They're taking their time off to show us, and even before that when they've processed our paperwork. I already like this kind of living setup, so let's keep it that way, yes?" I explained to her, which surprised her.
After composing herself, she responded in a stoic manner "Yes, if that's what Lady Haruna wants, then I have no other reason to worry as much."
I smiled at her as I added "You don't have to attend to me all the time during school days, though if you want to help me with doing the chores for the dormitory, then I'll have to rely on you for the next three years as well."
Hearing this made Isshiki smirk "Yes, Haruna-sama. I'll take care of you and everyone else."
…
After the two of us successfully unpacked our belongings and placed them in our respective rooms, I noticed that the dormitory's on a 6SLDK format.
This meant that there's 6 bedrooms, a storage room, a living and dining area, as well as a separate kitchen area. Getting something big like these would have been quite expensive, but since this building is owned by the school, it's also covered under the miscellaneous fees of our tuition for those that chooses to reside within the in-university housing.
I sat down on the couch while reading a tank manual for a M4A1 Sherman when I heard the door opening.
"Ah, by the way! I haven't watched the practice match between Jatkosota and St. Gloriana? Who won?" A girl's voice asked as she focused on talking to the other three.
"St. Gloriana won, but it's a really close call between the two schools, you know?" Another one of them responded. With a full view of the four of them, I can see the four of them were focused on their topic instead of the surroundings.
There's a pink-colored long-haired maiden with ample bosom who probably brought up the topic involving the match while the other one who responded to her is a blue-colored, shoulder-length hair girl with glasses with a smaller than the pink-haired girl but still relatively large bosom against an average girl as well.
"Ueh?! Seriously?! How close?" A girl with very short, boyish hair with tanned skin responded as enthusiastically as the pink-haired one.
"Within two seconds. The prodigy from the Shimada Style really came close to defeating Jatkosota's flag BT-42 and the KV tank defeating the St. Gloriana's flag Churchill tank!" the blue-haired girl answered with a smile.
Meanwhile, a maroon-colored short-haired girl who's wearing a side ponytail looked at me with a surprise on her face. I gestured to her to not talk as I noticed that the girl herself is quite meek.
The heck is with this friend group composition, this literally reminds me of that one light novel. Did the author not have enough ideas for unique characters?
"Do you think it's possible that Jatkosota could've won that match? Their match was in an airfield like their match with Saunders during the Winter Continuation Cup's quarterfinals, am I right?" the tanned girl asked, which broke my train of thought.
I think it's my time for me to interject into this fun conversation.
"It's not surprising that St. Gloriana won that match. They must have prioritized getting Youko the White Witch first using their cruiser tanks before getting their heavier Matilda IIs and their main force to clean off the Jatkosota's remaining tanks. They're running their Centurion as the hammer, hammering the final nail in the coffin, which the Shimada style is specialized on such hit and run strikes from their heavy tanks." I interjected into their conversation.
Seeing the surprised look on their faces, I closed up the tank manual and put it on the coffee table before standing up on my seat.
"My apologies for interrupting your conversation earlier. It seems that you four haven't been notified by the President earlier." I said with a worried tone.
Hearing this, the maroon-haired girl gestured anxiously "N-No, that's not t-the case at all!"
"We were messaged by Sayuri-chan that we would get a roommate while we were out of the dorm, so we had to come back here immediately." The blue-haired girl with glasses responded after.
"Is that so?" I asked before smiling as I added "Very well, then. My name's Haruna Yoshinomiya Bergendahl. Let's take care of each other in the future." I introduced myself with a slight bow in front of them.
"Bergendahl? As in Erik Bergendahl from that Bergendahl-style interior design?" The tanned girl asked in disbelief as the three of them looked at her.
"Beru—what?" the pink-haired girl asked in confusion as the blue-haired girl tilts her head in confusion as well.
"Erik Bergendahl, he's an architect, a world-renowned interior designer, as well as the legendary designer of multiple furniture that is currently being sold in IKEA!" The tanned girl exclaims as I awkwardly scratched my head while chuckling.
When I found out through my memories that my father is such a famous man and even went as far as designing such furniture that I have been using back home, there's no way that those aren't just expensive.
"Y-Yeah… that's my father's job." I awkwardly responded as I then asked "I'm surprised that you know him quite well. Are you studying interior design as well?"
"Yes! It's my dream job to become an interior designer!" The tanned girl exclaimed, which made me smile.
"By the way, what do I call you four?" I asked, to which the four of them looked at each other before smiling.
"I'm Itsuka Mizuhara. You can call me Itsuka. Nice to meet you, Haruna-san!" The tanned girl's the first to introduce.
"My name's Kaguya Kobayashi, you can call me Kaguya-chan! It's nice to meet a fellow Senshado enthusiast like you, Haruna-chan~!" the pink-haired maiden is next in line.
"I'm Ayaka Aomori. I'm of the same sentiment as Kaguya-chan, Haruna-chan." A simple introduction came from the blue-haired girl.
"I-I'm Runa Sarashina. E-tou… I-It's nice to meet you, Haruna…" the maroon-haired meek girl is the last to introduce within the group.
At the same time, Isshiki came out with a big plate full of sliced chicken-mayo spread sandwiches and a pitcher of orange juice.
"Oh? There's a lot of you now." Isshiki commented with a smirk on her face.
Seeing the surprise that the four had when they spotted Isshiki, I had to introduce her to them.
"Everyone, she's my personal attendant, Isshiki Kurahashi. If you need anything regarding keeping up with the house, you can count on her to help with some of our chores."
"A personal attendant?" Ayaka became intrigued so much that her eyebrows lifted in surprise.
"If she's here, then the board of directors must've approved of her stay in the dorms." Itsuka shrugged as I then explained it to them.
"She came with me because of a certain doting father of mine, so I have no choice but to bring her along. Since the school allowed it, I don't have any choice, do I?" I jokingly said.
"It's because he's much worried about your health like how he did with Lady Aoharu. And besides, you are following in your father's footsteps, yes?" Isshiki commented.
"Aoharu… Haruna Yoshinomiya…" Ayaka muttered to herself before asking me "Haruna-chan, is your mother's maiden name Yoshinomiya?"
Seeing where the topic is going, I smiled at her and answered "Yes, it's my mother's maiden name. Her name was Aoharu Yoshinomiya before she became a Bergendahl."
Hearing this, both Ayaka and Kaguya looked at each other in disbelief. But what's surprising is that the two of them weren't the ones who voiced their realization.
"Aoharu Yoshinomiya, she's well-known for fielding her Centurion tank in professional Senshado leagues internationally for a short amount of time." It was Runa who actually spoke up.
Ayaka, who recovered from her shock, added her own comment. "That's right. What distinguishes her from the legends to the likes of Shiho Nishizumi and Chiyo Shimada is the fact that she mentored the 2 legendary women during their university."
I lifted my eyebrows in surprise since I have never known such information like this in both of my lives. Information like this wasn't known in the original material, lest I would've found that out during my transmigration.
But the memories that I possess are not clear enough about my mother in this world. I only heard stories about my mother doing Senshado during my younger years from my father, but even he was quite tight-lipped about it after he brought me out to drive that Centurion in the backyard.
"Her overwhelming victories in all terrains except in urban warfare made her known as 'the Queen of the Maneuver Warfare'. But there has always been a saying during the matches when the other teams were pinned against your mother." Runa explained further in a serious manner as she then looked at Ayaka with a smirk on her face.
Ayaka, knowing this rare gesture from a meek Runa, supported her by adding Runa's commentary.
"If your tank is in the forest and you've spotted something red, you better run away immediately or you'll be caught victim by the Red-Eyed Witch."
Honestly, that kind of reputation is so freaking cool.
…
Throughout the day, the five of us got to know ourselves together. What I just knew from them is that, Runa and Itsuka were actually a year higher than the rest of us, which kind of surprised me.
Other than that, I'm currently at a loss as to why the girl I'm inhabiting the body of, would choose interior design when she has quite an attachment towards Senshado.
So on the first day of school, I went to the Student Council room to ask about Senshado after being given directions by Runa and others.
Though the group's responses about Senshado in the school weren't up to my expectations.
Flashback
"There's no Panzerfahren elective in this school?!" I asked in disbelief.
The five of us are in the cafeteria at the moment during our lunch time.
"Yeah… I don't know why, but the Student Council doesn't allow the formation of a Senshado team despite the other schools doing the same nowadays." Ayaka shrugged before pushing back her glasses back to their initial position.
"Others have tried, but they still didn't allow it since the school would then have to pay for all of the necessary stuff to run a team."
Kaguya somberly explained as Runa then added. "And besides… Let alone operating the tanks, even finding one is a rarity nowadays."
Runa shrugged as I sighed in frustration from the answers I've heard from reality. It was then that I got a bright idea.
End of Flashback...
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
"This is Haruna Yoshinomiya Bergendahl. May I come in?" I knocked on their door. Immediately, a voice answered back.
"Come in, Miss Bergendahl." A motherly-like voice responded to my question.
After I opened the door slowly, I was met with both Sayuri and Shinji who were sitting on the seats while working through paperwork.
What's surprising though is that there's also a blond-colored long-haired woman wearing spectacles and a white lab coat that's covering her office uniform.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the daughter of the infamous Erik Bergendahl. I'm Yurisiel Romanova, the adviser of the Student Council." the teacher introduced herself.
I slightly bowed at her for acknowledgement as she then added. "You can call me Yuri-sensei. How can I help you?" the teacher introduced with a slight smirk on her face.
I maintained my composure as I'll go straight to the point now.
"From what I've heard, there's no Panzerfahren in this school's electives, which I had no prior knowledge of before enrollment. Why does the school not allow Senshado?" I asked with a resolute tone.
This question garnered the attention of Sayuri as she looked at me in disbelief before she then looked at Yurisiel-sensei for answers.
"It's not within the school's interest to compete in such a sport unlike our sister school, Viggen." Yurisiel-sensei commented with a neutral tone.
I curtly furrowed my eyebrows as I asked "What do you mean by "the school's interest", Sensei?"
Yurisiel-sensei sighed as she explained "There's already a lot of schools forming their own senshado teams after Ooarai's miraculous victories within just the last year, which raised the prices of spare tanks and tank parts in demand.
"Because of that, they have allowed Viggen High School, which doesn't have heavier tanks, to have a lot more funding, and they deemed that support enough to compete in the Nationals alongside our University's team."
"They? The university's board of directors?" I asked once more.
Yurisiel-sensei nodded, answering my question as I added "I see, then I assume that they would reject a proposal from a student alone, yes?"
She looked at me with interest and responded "That's right, but I know that you won't go down from just that rejection, right?"
"Sensei, please don't underestimate my willingness…" I responded with a smile as I added "If I have to, I'll sponsor the tanks, and fund the necessary equipment and facilities needed for our school's participation in the tournaments myself."
Hearing this, the three of them looked at me with surprise.
"Are you serious…?" Sayuri asked with a tone of disbelief.
I looked at Sayuri with determination. "Yes. Since it has come to this, I would like to formally petition to the university's board of directors for the creation of the Panzerfahren elective."
I didn't know at that time, but my impulsiveness towards this would change my life completely.
=============================
Hi, author here. This is a work that I have made before the umamusume fanfic that I'm currently releasing right now. As for the status of that fanfic, I would still post a chapter within this week. I hope you'd like this work of mine. Thanks for reading!
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