Yukari's Greatest Battle (Yukari, Girls und Panzer)

New Friends, New Allies

After a few minutes Mr Kluge concluded.

"So we've still got some of the lesson left so lets continue where we left off. Ben, you can go and sit down, at the moment I'm just giving feedback to your classmates about a recent assignment. You can talk to Riko and Yukari until the class is over."

"Okay, thanks sir" Ben replied.

He then turned around and made his way towards the front row desks, looking everywhere but directly at Yukari. Once he arrived at the desk Riko jumped up and said,

"You're a smart one aren't you?"

"Maybe a little..." He said, being his usual modest self.

"A little huh, from what I saw you seem to know quite a lot" Riko proclaimed.

"I don't know... The questions weren't that hard..." Ben said, darting his eyes all around trying not to meet Yukari's eyes.

"H-hey, my question was hard, no-one had ever answered it before you came along..." Riko said, defiantly crossing her arms.

"Hahaha, I guess he just knows more than all the others Riko, maybe even more than you..." said Yukari, causing Ben to finally look directly at her. They locked eyes for a moment before they both looked away.

Riko opened her mouth to retort, but then thought of a way to get back at Yukari...

"Ah, that reminds me. Yukari really wanted to get to know you better and maybe discuss some World War 2 history with you Ben." Riko said trying to hold back a laugh. Both her and Ben looked at Yukari when she softly gasped in shock at the position that Riko had just put her in.

"R-really?" He asked, feeling a bit shocked and a bit happy at the same time.

"W-well I-I suppose, if you w-want to" Yukari said shakily, feeling herself blush as she said it.

"Ah, okay then..." He said, feeling heat rise to his face.

He was then surprised when Riko approached him and grabbed him by the shoulders from behind and pushed him towards the seat next to Yukari which she had just been sitting in.

As she pushed him into the seat he asked, "isn't this your seat?!"

"Yeah, but its your's from now on. Good luck." she replied, whispering the last part. Giving him a wink and a small smile as he looked back at her over his shoulder.

Ben made himself comfortable in the seat and then tentatively looked over at Yukari who was nervously shuffling all over. She had never sat this close to a guy before, especially not one who enjoyed the same things she did, she didn't know what to say. 

Little did she know that Ben was suffering from a similar problem, while not as out rightly obvious in his nervousness, he couldn't think of a thing to say to her either. For the first time in his life he found himself unable to find something to talk about. 

He had struggled to just answer the questions in front of the class knowing she was in the room. The only thing that made it easy was the fact that he was talking about a topic which he enjoyed so much, it was almost like second nature. So, avoiding the whole 'getting to know each other' topic, he moved straight to his fall back, World War 2 history...

"So, what part of World War 2 History do you find most interesting Yukari?" He asked looking at her as she turned to face him.

"W-well it would probably be the history of the tanks used in World War 2" Yukari said, praying to herself that he would approve of her interest.

"Really! I'm fascinated by tanks from World War 2! I wish I could find more people who shared that interest that I could talk about it with". Ben said looking Yukari directly in the eye, losing some of his nervousness due to him feeling happy that he had found someone else who was interested in the same things he was.

"Yeah me too! I wish I had more people to discuss it with as well, the only person I really talk about it with is Riko" Yukari said, her face lighting up upon hearing that Ben was also interested in the same thing that she was.

Ben saw this and found himself smiling widely at how cute she looked, with her eyes widened and a big smile on her face.

"I-if you want we could talk about it some time, if y-you want to" He said feeling himself blush, he couldn't believe what he had just said.

"Sure, I'd like that" Yukari said looking away to hide her blush.

Yukari soon looked back, and her and Ben stared into each others eyes for a moment as Yukari's blush grew. Ben felt the heat rising to his face even more, he was blushing and wanted to stop it but how could he? He was looking the cutest girl he'd ever met directly in the eye...

"Yukari, your turn!" The teachers words broke the moment and shocked both of them.

"Coming sir!" she replied hurrying out of her seat, wanting to hide her face from him. In her rush, she tripped on a chair leg and almost fell, Ben reached out to help her but she recovered and hurried over to the teachers desk.

"Haha", He softly laughed to himself, "even when she's clumsy she's cute..."

"So you like her? Don't you?" asked Riko mockingly, shocking Ben back into reality.

"huh, ah, n-no of course not" He said closing his eyes, he heard the stutter and was sure Riko would...

Riko heard he stutter alright, and decided to have a little fun a Ben's expense.

"Ok then, I'll tell her that you don't like her at all then..." Riko said looking over at him with a smirk on her face.

"W-wait, d-don't do that!" He said hearing himself raise his voice.

"Haha, gotcha!" proclaimed Riko pointing at Ben.

They then sat in silence until Riko decided to help him out, "don't worry... she likes you too".

"I don't know about that..." Ben said flatly looking back at Riko.

"Trust me" said Riko, Winking at him. He gave her a small smile and softly said, "thank you..."

"No problem" Riko replied, "You know, you're the first guy to ever talk to her this much and seem like you're enjoying it. Most guys immediately leave the second she mentions that her main interest in World War 2 history."

"Really? Well that won't be a problem for me, I could have a conversation about it for hours, and with a girl as cute as her, maybe even the whole day..." Ben said trailing off, surprised at what Riko had said.

"You should save sappy stuff like that, for her". Riko said tilting her head towards Yukari sitting at the teachers desk.

Ben looked over to Yukari again and found himself thinking, "have I finally found a girl who I feel really happy to be around?"