De-Icing (Girls und Panzer)

Aftermath

Arthur sat alone on a wall by a few trucks. The joyous noises from the party could still be heard. He sat quietly, enjoying the peace of the moment. However, he quickly turned around to see a very quiet Miho stood in utter amazement at him. She didn't say anything. Arthur gestured for her to sit next to him. She hesitated at first before sitting down next to him.

"That Oarai uniform looks cute on you." He commented as he gestured to her serafuku.

"Thank you." She quietly replied.

A silence fell upon them. Miho wasn't sure what to think, and Arthur was too exhausted to think. Eventually she plucked up enough courage to ask him. "Why did you do this?"

Arthur looked at her. "Cause she hurt you." Was his response. Miho looked down slightly. "Hey..." He said softly. "You've not done anything wrong, sis."

"Arthur, you'd never have done this if I had never...lost so badly." She muttered before pulling her legs up into a foetus position.

"Listen, Miho. I make exceptions for certain people. And that bitch had it coming. So don't put any blame on yourself." He said before sighing a little. "There's a few more people that need a good kicking."

Miho went to say something but stopped herself. She gently rested her head on Arthur. Arthur looked down at her and smiled a little before rubbing her back. "Nobody hurts you sis, not with me around."

"Thank you." Miho mumbled. She felt a sense of relief with Arthur around.

"Congratulations Commander." Said a voice from over his shoulder. "You did amazingly well."

Arthur looked back to see Maho stood a little bit away. "Thank you Commander. A friend gave me some advice."

Maho looked at Miho then at Arthur. "She came then?"

Arthur nodded.

"That's good, I suppose." Maho said awkwardly.

Miho looked back at Maho. They both didn't say anything to each other.

"I'm going to return and give my report to Mother." Said Maho as she quickly turned around.

"Mah- alright..." Arthur said, disappointed.

Arthur shocked his head a little bit. "Why you two have started acting so distant I'll never know."

Familiar voice called over. "It's the big winner."

Both Arthur and Miho looked over to them. Arthur suddenly perked up. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Depends if you are happy to see me,"

"When am I not?" Arthur asked.

"So who is this then?" Asked Miho.

"Miho, meet Youko." Said Arthur with a little pride.

Youko nodded. "Miho." She said, getting closer.

"Nice to meet you ." She said. "You two like friends?"

"Best friends." Said Arthur without hesitation, causing Youko to smirk a little at Arthur.

Miho noticed this. "I suppose I should leave you best friends to it." Said Miho slightly teasingly as she stood up.

"Thanks Miho." Arthur replied. "You'll take care of yourself, right?" Arthur asked.

"I will do."

Arthur stood up. "If you ever need anything from me."

"Thank you Arthur." Said Miho as she hugged him tightly.

"O-oh." Arthur gasped in, surprised. He hesitated a little before slowly hugging her back. "I love you so much sis." He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"I love you too." She replied before letting go. "See you." Miho waved as she ran off.

Arthur smiled as she went. However, his smile slowly faded as he thought back to the awkwardness between Maho and Miho. Youko slowly walked over and placed her arm around Arthur's waist.

"Hey cheer up a little bit." She said softly. "You hunted a great prize today. You can be sad about other things later."

"I guess you're right." He said.

"Surprising, you're listening to me."

"I always listen to you Youko." Arthur looked down at her. "I've got alot to thank you for."

"How come?"

"All the training you've given me the last few weeks." Arthur replied. "You've helped me become a much better Commander than I believe I could ever have been."

Youko looked up at him. "Listen Arthur. You don't need to thank me for anything. I should be thanking you really."

"Not much to thank me Youko."

"No...no Arthur there is." She said, turning to face him. "You've treated me so well Arthur." Arthur looks down at her. "I-" She sighed. "I've found it refreshing to not have someone judge how I live."

"Youko you should need to than-"

"But I do." She cut him off. "I do Arthur. I need to thank you for being a great person to me. You're the best thing to happen to me in years and yet I've only known you a few weeks. But you've also given me alot to think about myself." She felt her cheeks heat up. "I m-mean when-n we woke up together." She muttered a little.

Arthur wrapped his arms around her.

"Listen, Youko, I've had so much fun with you. You've not treated me like another Nishizumi. But like I'm actually someone else. Guess we are both in need of someone like that in our lives."

Youko nodded a little. "How about we spend even more time together?" She asked.

"Of course we can." Arthur smiled. "Will we be able to share the bed again?" He asked with a wink.

Youko smiled and blushed. "You'll have to buy me dinner first."

"It's a date then." Said Arthur as he offered Youko his hand.

She took it with a smile as the pair walked off together hand in hand.

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Gonna end it there. I don't feel I can or even should add anything more to this. Arthur and Youko are far to reserved for that. Thank you so much for read. Any feed back is greatly welcome.