Dein Weg ist Mein Weg

Chapter 3: the Memories

"What did you just call the president?" The black-haired girl asked, clearly furious at the comment.

"Momo, calm down, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," the brown-haired one said as she tried her best to hold her friend back from attacking Maho. In the meantime, the pipsqueak of a president just laughed.

"Oh, don't you worry about it. I like her style," she said to her companions and patted Maho on the back as if they were merely old friends bickering for fun. This unearned familiarity, as well as her knowledge of what tended to happen to people who became this friendly with her, made Maho's tone even more bitter.

"If there was nothing else, 'President'," she said, putting a cold emphasis on the title. "Then I suggest you leave. Our next period is about to begin, and I'm sure the teachers at whatever kindergarten you escaped from are looking for you." Both Maho's tone and expression made it clear that this conversation was over. She could feel the darkness surround her once again, but this time she was allowing it inside. Letting it shape her actions as it had once done. And she hated every second of it.

"Well, I suppose they are, aren't they?" The president said in a joking manner. "But I haven't given up on you, so you'll hear from us again. Come on ladies, we have other things to attend to." The small girl began to leave the classroom, and after a second or so of looking at each other, her two friends followed. Maho sat back down, and the teacher entered to begin the next period.

Letting the darkness guide her once again had helped to turn away the student council, but much like a vampire or unwanted guest, once Maho had invited it in, it was a cumbersome tenant to evict. Whenever it managed to find perches to grab at her soul, it was next to impossible to rid herself of. Much in the same way as Hana and Saori had proven to be.

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Returned to it's old lodgings and once again settled in, the darkness wasted no time submerging Maho in the void inside her. She didn't even notice the class taking place around her, as she fell further into the nightmare than she had in months. Gone were the walls and desks of the classroom, gone were the teacher and her classmates. There was only the rain, the battle, and the river.

The freezing rain chilled her spine as she ran through the raging battle, shells flying all around her as guns from both sides gave off their deafening roars. As she ran past the white-flagged wreck of a Panther, its crew huddled safely inside, she slipped and fell face first into the mud. She got up again as quickly as she could, and continued to race towards the river. She would not be stopped this time. Perhaps this time, if she could just reach the Panzer III a little quicker, if she didn't hesitate before running to help, if she didn't stop to look back at her beloved Tiger, the flag tank, as it fell from a well-placed shot from one of Pravda's tanks. Perhaps if this time she did none of those things, if she truly acted on impulse, maybe she wouldn't be too late. She braced herself for the raging river as she leapt off the cliffside the Panzer had left behind, and dove into the ice-cold water below. The dark and murky river made it next to impossible to see, but in the depths, she could just make out the headlights of the Panzer III as it sank. She swam towards it as fast as she could, but her legs felt sore and useless. Slowly the Panzer grew larger as she made her way towards it, but as she swam deeper to follow it further, she was blinded by the headlights as the tank turned to face her.

"Hey, Maho," Saori whispered from behind her, slowly pulling Maho back to the classroom and the present. The shining beams of light from the Panzer III gave way to the well-lit classroom, the bubbles of air surrounding her shifting shape into desks and classmates, and sounds of the raging battle above the surface exchanged themselves for the sounds of a high school on a normal day. She was not quite back in the real world before the teacher spoke up, her voice full of concern.