Darjeeling goes on a date

What started out as a one-shot present for a friend has now gone completely out of control. I won't claim that this is accurate to the Girls und Panzer canon or Japanese culture, for reasons that will probably be obvious as you keep reading. This is also my first work in this genre, so don't expect anything fancy.

Darjeeling hadn't expected the ruckus to be so loud, so here she was, picking out her clothes in her bedroom instead of the main room. Assam and Orange Pekoe were playing that bloody tank game again, and as expected, Assam was uncharacteristically pounding her fist on the table with anger, shaking the laptop that had a smoking tank displayed on its screen. Next to her was a worried Orange Pekoe, armed with a similar laptop. She would have asked for the girls' input on her clothing choice, but they were too engrossed in their game to care. None of them had even bothered to ask why she had picked up her clothing and disappeared into the bedroom. If she was inviting them into her dorm, then she wouldn't expect them to cause so much noise…

"Assam, there's no need for that!" Orange Pekoe cried, attempting to pacify the livid girl. Assam was normally such a calm and sweet girl, but this game threw her into episodes of fiery rage.

"But that artillery!" Assam raged, swinging at the table again. She yelped a bit when she felt Orange Pekoe's cold hand close around her wrist, keeping her arm in mid-air, accompanied by a stern "that table looks like it cost a lot of money".

"Girls, will you please calm down?" Darjeeling asked from the other room, closing her fingers around the dial of a radio and twisting it, increasing the volume by a bit. BBC Radio 2, her favourite station. She stood up from the fluffy sky-blue bed, walking over to a pristine oak cupboard and clenching at the next row of coat hangers. It bothered her that she had never decided to buy any casual clothes – all she had were school uniforms and other similar clothing. Digging through the rack of identical clothes, she finally chose a white dress shirt with an emblem of a little shell on it. Fuelled by the music in the background, she folded the shirt over her forearm and neatly placed it on the bed.

As soon as the game ended and the platoon was sent back to their garage, Assam was immediately on the prowl. "Rukuriri, come join us!" Assam asked, positively seething. In an attempt to seem calm, she righted her position on the wooden chair instead of slumping on it, which was a clear sign of her aggravated nature.

Rukuriri's indifferent brown eyes flicked over to Assam, initiating a stare that would throw even the mightiest of warriors off her gaze. She leant back against the leather sofa, focusing her eyes on the black phone cradled in her hands. "I'm trying to watch Doctor Who," she mumbled annoyedly, to which Assam replied with a defeated frown. "I don't even like that game."

"Why don't you just watch it on the television?" Assam asked, extending her arm, and pointing her pale hand at the black flat screen television. It was situated next to a bookshelf full of Darjeeling's favourite books and the doorway into the kitchen, which Darjeeling was never allowed to cook in, based on her past experiences with cooking. She ate store-bought meals.

"We don't have BBC on the television," Rukuriri replied in a tone that implied it was obvious that that they couldn't get the British Broadcasting Channel in Japan. "I'm using BBC iPlayer with a VPN," she replied, her voice clouded by a mist of arrogance. As if they would know what a VPN is!

"Assam, do you want to try a different tank?" Orange Pekoe suggested. "It's clear that your expertise doesn't lie in heavy tanks, dare I say."

"But I'm a crew member of a Churchill…," whined the opposing girl, shaking her head.

At that time, the radio that the other girls could hear suddenly stopped, and Darjeeling emerged from the room, her arms crossed behind her arched back, which may have made her bosom stick out a bit too much. She was wearing a rather thin white dress shirt, which involuntarily exposed the whiteness of her bra beneath the shirt. She rubbed her hands together, deeming her appearance good enough. Accompanied by a hearty smile and a wave, she said, "Good afternoon, girls!"

Immediately, the three other girls' noses caught onto the stench of some particularly pungent perfume. The aroma specifically teased Assam's nose, whose blue eyes shifted onto Darjeeling in reaction. Her dress shirt had been buttoned up to the top, where it would normally be accompanied by a black tie, but she had not chosen to wear it for whatever reason. Her shirt was tucked into a black pleated skirt, coupled with some black tights and shoes. Her blonde hair was tied into a French braid that comfortably sat by her right side. She donned no noticeable make-up, save for some red lipstick, which looked as if it had taken hours to be perfected, right down to the last nanometre. Darjeeling always cared about her looks immensely.

"O-Oh!" Assam gasped dazedly, stunned by the appearance of her commander. She got up (despite the protests of Orange Pekoe, who didn't hesitate to inform her that they had loaded into a game), looking straight into Darjeeling's pretty eyes. "What's the occasion, Darjeeling?" she asked, trying her hardest not to look directly at her chest.

"I'm going on a date," spoke Darjeeling, straightening her back. Her incorrect posture was related to the pools of apprehensive sweat amassing in the palms of her hands, and she absentmindedly made a futile attempt to wipe the sweat on her skirt. She internally cringed and shunned herself for being so unladylike. She was nervous.

At that point, Assam's world (and heart) shattered into a few million pieces, which was evidenced in part by her face suddenly distorting into a number of elaborate, clearly painful contortions. Her eyes trailed downwards to her feet and then back to Darjeeling, who had a sweet, although puzzled expression on her face.

"Is there something wrong, Assam?" Darjeeling asked worriedly, watching her friend pull a vast array of faces. Her head tilted slightly, and her eyes darted down to meet the face of a silver watch, which gleamed brightly under the light of the room. She realised that she still had a few more minutes to go before it was required that she release herself into the cold world, and she felt her muscles relax. Why was she tensing them? She didn't even notice…

"N-No… everything's fine," replied the blonde-haired girl, whose expression implied her statement to be the absolute contrary. All sceptical eyes (except for Darjeeling's, as she had no suspicion what was happening) set on Assam, whose response was to frown and sheepishly sit back down at her laptop.

Darjeeling nodded, smiling at Assam, who desired nothing more than to sit in a cave, become a recluse and cry her eyes out until her body became deprived of water. "Well, I hope you enjoy your game! If everything goes well, then I will be platooning with you two later." With that, she turned away from the two girls sitting at the table and walked over to the door. She briefly turned her neck to look at Assam, who gazed back at her with a wobbly smile and forlorn eyes.

"Goodbye!" she called, inciting a wave from Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri (though, her wave was nothing more than a raise of the hand), but without a wave from Assam, her expression quickly darkened. She looked back to the door, opening it, and leaving.

Did she do something wrong?

"Assam! I got the Centurion Mk. I!" Orange Pekoe gleefully announced, looking at her partner, who looked like she had spent a day in Stalingrad. She was sliding off her chair, and had the appearance of a baby that had been slapped just a few times. "…Assam?" repeated Orange Pekoe, her lips curling into a frown.

"…Yes!" Assam nodded perhaps a few too many times in a futile attempt to hide her disappointment. Bringing up a shaky hand to rub one eye, she straightened up and assumed the correct sitting position, placing her hands on the table. "You've done very well, Orange Pekoe…" With a tired sigh, she said, "Let's keep playing."

"Of course!" Orange Pekoe nodded gleefully, her voice full of spirit. Assam looked like she wanted to die, but she still attempted a smile. Despite this, the way she looked at Orange Pekoe was something of a tired soldier, haunted by the horrors of war. Assam had initially been very excited to play when Orange Pekoe had asked her to play, and the enigmatic smile that she gave her was something Orange Pekoe had not seen in a long time.

Rukuriri looked up from her phone, casting a glance at Assam, who looked like a broken toy. "Better luck next time, Assam." She tapped her thumb on the phone, pausing the video. "If you want to stop playing, you can always watch Doctor Who with me," she said with a smirk, shuffling in the seat slightly, crossing her legs, and patting the empty space on the sofa. She was looking at Orange Pekoe when she said that, but it was Assam who responded with a slow nod.

Darjeeling had not quite expected it to be so cold. Her arms were crossed, but that did little to protect her from the elements that threatened to make her go back inside of her dorm and awkwardly ask Assam for her scarf. So, she pressed on, cursing herself for not choosing to listen to Rosehip's words earlier in the day: "If you're going out, be sure to dress up warm!" Then, she left the dorm without a reason...

She was now exiting the large ship and was walking across the docks. She stopped to look for a particular ship stationed in the docks, and her eyes only widened and her lips parted into a little grin as she spotted it. She would definitely be there. Why wouldn't she be?

Her target was the traditional British tea shop – the only one she knew of. It was just a few blocks away from her location. She had left early, so she could take her time with walking to her destination.

Darjeeling hadn't had much experience with love, so she was really nervous. Uncontrollably shivering, she thought about what she was going to say. Should she have gotten flowers? Should she speak with the utmost eloquence or should she try and be as normal as possible? Was she even normal?

…Should she try and use any proverbs?

It was a good tea shop. Darjeeling went there all of the time with her crewmates; so much so that all of the staff referred to them by name. She assumed that her date was not a connoisseur of tea like she was, so she would have to guide her… yes, her. Darjeeling swung that way.

Good God, it was cold. Darjeeling was surprised that there wasn't any snow amassing on the ground. She continued to walk forwards, eventually coming up to the street that had the tea shop in it. It was fascinatingly picturesque, like it had been fetched straight off the streets of London – although, she had only seen pictures of London. Her lifelong dream was to go there with her crew and enjoy a holiday. She was even learning English for the occasion.

It was agreed that they would meet at the entrance of the tea shop, where they would then order some tea and a nice cake or something. But, when she arrived at the tea shop, walking in between rustic metal chairs and tables, she realised that nobody was there. She opened the door, hearing a familiar bell chime as the top of the door collided against it.

"Darjeeling!" spoke a young man behind the brown, shiny counter, who had a cloth draped over his hand, stuck in a clear glass. The man smiled at her, and she returned it. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"They're back on the ship – I'm actually looking for somebody," replied the girl, scouting the inside of the tea shop for a certain somebody. Other than the chairs and tables, there was not much place to look. "She's not here," she murmured defeatedly, walking up to a chair, pulling it out and sitting down. Putting her elbows on the table, she looked out of the large window that was next to the door, watching the cars drive on the street.

She may just be a little bit late, thought Darjeeling. Her head turned upon hearing the bartender say, "So, do you want a cup of tea?"

"I'd love a cuppa," she stated, as per her British dialect protocol. She took out her purse, unbuttoning it and fetching a few coins. She got up and walked over to the counter, placing the coins on a table with a clink. "I would like the usual, please."

The man nodded wordlessly, understanding what a "cuppa" meant from Darjeeling's countless uses of the word.

As he began to create the tea, Darjeeling thanked him before sitting back down. She took out her phone, turned it on, and pressed on the messenger app with one finger. Why didn't they just meet at the docks? Wow, Darjeeling really was a bit of a ditz.

There weren't any messages from her. Darjeeling began to tap a message out, inquiring about her location, but before she sent the message, the little bell rung out like an angry mule had forcefully kicked it. Standing in the doorway was Kay, with a guilty grin on her face, caused mostly from Darjeeling's presence, but also from the bartender's disdainful look at her accidental attempt to kick the door off its hinges.

"I am so sorry," exclaimed a very ashamed Kay, both to Darjeeling and the bartender. She walked over to the chair adjacent to Darjeeling's chair and sat down, focusing her light-blue eyes on hers. "Alisa delayed me. She… was trying to bend the rules again," she growled, her eyebrows furrowed.

Kay was wearing an unzipped American World War II tankers uniform, with a triangular patch on the shoulders. There was also a circled white star on the front of the jacket, situated on a pocket. Under the coat was a woolly black jumper. Immediately, Darjeeling felt envious of the girl, as she was still shivering, despite being inside a building. Kay looked warm as ever. She was also wearing some brown trousers and white sneakers. She carried a scent of expensive perfume.

"It's okay," replied Darjeeling, placing the phone down on the table. She looked at Kay and smiled. "I thought you were not coming!"

"Ahh, well, you know me," responded Kay, "I'm normally quite laidback about things. Though, I wouldn't miss this for the world." She smiled widely, which caused Darjeeling's cheeks to warm up a little bit and resulted in her looking down at the floor for a moment.

This was their first date. It had become increasingly clear to Darjeeling that her thoughts about Kay were not just those of a friend – and it finally clicked for her when she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, and then realised she was dreaming about Kay. It was an interesting night, to say the least. This date was a result of a mishap at a party. It was much unlike Darjeeling to get so invested in a party, especially under the influence of alcohol, which had been Kay's fault. Unfortunately, there was no tea, so Kay had suggested an alternative…

She had abstained from alcohol since then, and the incident was never brought up again, but the two girls would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy what happened. "That's good to hear," she murmured once again, nerves creeping up her back like itchy vines. "Now, shall we discuss the tea situation?"

"Of course, Miss Darjeeling," replied Kay, speaking in a highly exaggerated and perhaps downright offensive British accent, to a sensitive Englander. "I'll be honest; I don't remember the last time I drank any tea. So, this should be an eye-opening experience for me, getting a lecture from a tea aficionado like yourself."

"I am not giving you a lecture. I will simply be suggesting some suitable teas that you may want to try," said Darjeeling, who felt the sides of her mouth involuntarily curl up into a subtle smile. Kay's choice of words was funny. She would rather call herself a "connoisseur" or an "appreciator" of tea, but "aficionado" worked too.

Just as she said that, the bartender arrived with a cup of tea, gently placing it down on Darjeeling's side of the table.

"Thank you," she said, focusing her eyes down on the cup placed in front of her. On the white, floral plate was the cup, a packet of sugar and a silver spoon. Regardless of Darjeeling's opinion towards sugary tea, the packet was still there. Contained in the white cup was a clear, orange liquid. Darjeeling took the opportunity to let the rich aroma of the tea soak into her nostrils, and with a satisfied sigh, she returned her gaze on Kay. "Such a sweet scent…"

"What're you drinking?" asked Kay, stretching forwards, sniffing the tea with a twitching nose.

"Well, as one might expect," replied Darjeeling, wrapping two fingers around the handle of the teacup, bringing it into her mouth and taking a subtle sip, "the tea I am drinking is my namesake."

"'Darjeeling?'" Kay spoke aloud. "Oh, of course! Because your name is tea."

"Indeed." Darjeeling gently placed the teacup on the plate, interlocking her hands on the table. "I will begin with the Indian Assam black tea, which is one of my personal favourites. Coincidentally, all of my crew love the tea that they were named after. Assam is well known for loving Assam tea, I am well known for loving Darjeeling tea, and so on." Darjeeling paused to pick up the cup and take a short sip from it.

It was then that Kay realised if she let Darjeeling continue talking about tea, she would be in there for at least five hours discussing it. She had to act fast, lest that Darjeeling began on a tangent. "I'd like to have what you're drinking, Darjeeling," she said with a hearty smile.

"Oh? Really?" Darjeeling asked. "Hm, you are a quick thinker! I can appreciate that." Darjeeling took some money out of her purse again and handed it to Kay. "Here you go. Go buy some tea."

"I have my own money, Darjeeling," responded Kay, shooing away the money, but Darjeeling insisted. "All right, fine," she muttered, taking Darjeeling's money and getting up. "Thank you."

"It is customary to be polite when one is on a date with somebody else." Darjeeling took another sip. "It is my pleasure."

Whilst Kay was occupying herself with buying some Darjeeling tea, Darjeeling could slowly feel herself begin to turn into ice. She continued to shiver, and she made a desperate attempt at keeping herself warm in the form of downing her tea. She cringed as the hot fluid went down her throat, singing its delicate walls and almost making her choke. Instantly, she felt the hotness flush down to her chest. It felt nice, but it did nothing to combat the coldness lingering around her.

"You look a bit frozen there," mentioned Kay as she sat down, noticing Darjeeling's shivering.

"It is a bit cold, yes," muttered Darjeeling, rubbing her hands together to create some warmth.

"I can fix that." With a subtle smirk and the screech of a chair skidding along the floor, Kay was next to Darjeeling, and without considering personal space or social barriers, she threw her jacket around her, making her feel a bit warmer, followed with her arms. Kay rested her shoulder on Darjeeling's shoulder, and the latter quickly felt both extremely comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. It felt so wrong, but so right at the same time.

"Kay…," Darjeeling murmured, looking to her right.

"Yes?"

"…Your tea," said the tea aficionado, alerting Kay of the bartender who was standing next to them, a cup of tea in his hands.

"Oh… sorry!" Kay spoke with a rope of embarrassed guilt constricting her voice, hastily taking the teacup and placing it down on the table. Her blue eyes focused on it and the steam rising out of it. "Looks delightful!" she said, taking herself off Darjeeling and reaching forwards to take a sip.

Darjeeling shuffled in her chair to adapt to Kay taking her weight off her, and took her own teacup.

"So, are you still cold?" Kay asked, her tongue immediately recoiling from the heat of the tea upon contacting it. She set it on the table with a yelp. "Well, if I ever was, I'm not now. Or at least, my tongue isn't…"

"Well, I was warmer when you-"

"Aww! Say no more, Darjeeling!" Kay interrupted, sending her arms around Darjeeling like rockets. Darjeeling's muscles tensed up and she initially recoiled, but they soon loosened. That was definitely more forceful than the last time. "Are you okay now?"

"…Yes," replied Darjeeling, her voice taking on an almost embarrassed tone. There was absolutely something wrong with this. But, she couldn't help but oblige. They weren't even dating, and yet Kay was touching Darjeeling in the manner of how she would fondle a Centurion tank at the Bovington Tank Museum. It sounded lewder than it actually was; Darjeeling only wanted to hug it over and over.

"How about some cake?" Kay asked, rubbing her stomach intently.

"You can go if you want, but I'd rather sit here." Darjeeling slumped back against the chair, sighing. Unbeknownst to the other girl, Darjeeling was only choosing not to go because she wanted to stay like that with Kay. In reality, she longed for a stack of cakes that she could gnash on, but Kay's influence was too strong!

"Mm… never mind, then," Kay responded, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh! I was meant to meet you at the carrier ship, but Alisa kept me back. She was trying to find loopholes in Senshadou by looking at the rulebook and saying that it is encouraged to tap into the enemy's communications – which it isn't, of course…," sighed Kay as she recalled the past events in her day, unable to hide her disappointment for Alisa's "inventive techniques", as she would defensively refer to them.

"Oh, that's disgraceful," replied Darjeeling. "Senshadou is an honourable art, and no such trickery should be used, lest that it destroys its sanctity. Your choice to reduce the amount of fighting tanks after her act during the battle against Ōarai Girls High School was very honourable."

"Well, it was a cause of our loss," murmured Kay.

"It's the thought that counts." Darjeeling paused to take a sip from her cup. "Miho Nishizumi's team did very well to win the tournament. I wonder if she enjoyed the tea I gave her."

"I heard that the school was closing down and their victory stopped the school from being shut down. Something tells me that won't happen, though."

"I don't think they would settle for that," responded Darjeeling. With a final sip, she finished her tea, which had been a long time coming. "It looks like that is the end of my tea." Without saying any more, the two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, quietly appreciating each other's presence.

Kay quickly broke away, swore under her breath, and got up, placing her hand on a shocked Darjeeling's chair to pull herself up, facing two girls who had just entered the tea shop. "Alisa… Naomi! W-What brings you here?"

Darjeeling's cheeks were as radiant and hot as a nuclear fireball, and the pigment of her cheeks did little to counteract that statement. With a shocked expression, she turned to see Alisa and Naomi; the former was grinning and the latter's blank face told Darjeeling nothing about what she was feeling.

"We were just going to go shopping, and we see you here – cuddling with a girl!" Alisa chortled, ignoring the stern look that Darjeeling was now giving her.

"Come on, Alisa," Naomi growled, curling an arm around hers and forcefully dragging her off, out of the shop and out of sight, despite her protesting.

"That's going to be all over social media later," sighed Kay, distraught apprehensiveness painted on her face. She turned towards Darjeeling and said, "I'm so sorry, Darjeeling. Alisa just gets a bit… excited sometimes," she continued, her teeth grinding and her voice taking on a slightly edgier undertone. She walked over to the table, downing all of her tea and setting the cup down forcefully on the table. She didn't care about the hot liquid sliding down her throat, even though it hurt.

"It's okay," Darjeeling replied assuredly. "Should we… go?"

Darjeeling could feel the weight of Kay shift against her, and during the process of accommodating for the changed weight, she somehow found herself staring into Kay's shiny eyes. Her brain quickly went into damage control mode as she assessed her options and thought about how she would turn this around. Kay was now facing her and had her legs parted around Darjeeling's chair.

"No."

This situation was a bit dire. Kay appeared to have completely forgotten about the incident with Alisa, and was now honing on her like a pest control agent, armed with a flamethrower, finding a colony of hostile insects.

Kay thought she had nothing to lose. Despite her coolness about the situation, she actually wasn't experienced with romance, so she didn't know if advancing this quickly was wrong or not. Every single girl whom her brain had created a crush for – they were all straight. So, when she found out that Darjeeling was not straight through… unknown means… she tried harder with her, which involved the party. Sinful things happened at that party, but she hadn't planned the alcohol. She had known Darjeeling for a long time now, so it wasn't like it was wrong. Right?

Oh no, this wasn't happening, was it? Kay was smiling, almost smirking, as she silently leant in, until Darjeeling could feel Kay's warm breath on her face. She had her lips pouted…

They weren't meant to kiss on the first date! This broke all of the barriers and rules and stuff! The Anglophile's blood pressure and heart rate increased noticeably, to a point where she was almost expelling heat at twice the rate of a normal human being. In comparison, Kay was calm, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

What a horrible thought! She would prefer not to think about Kay being with other people…

Darjeeling hesitantly moved forward at the speed of a paraplegic snail, until her lips met Kay's like a battleship ramming into a cruiser. It was only for a few seconds, but Darjeeling felt like she had sprouted a set of angel wings and was slowly ascending into the clouds. When they both disconnected from the kiss, it took Darjeeling a few seconds to regain her senses. That was worth it.

Kay smiled sweetly and moved back into her chair, looking into Darjeeling's dazed eyes. "So, how about some more tea?"

The date had gone according to plan – well, for Kay, anyway… Darjeeling was still hyperventilating a little bit. Darjeeling rubbed her belly once more, barely being able to contain all of the tea and cake in it. She had to find excuses to stay there with Kay – and she couldn't think of anything else other than prolonging it by asking for more food.

They were now at the docks, illuminated by the beautiful sun, which was slowly descending below the horizon. It was time for the two to part ways. Kay immediately went on the offensive, and having shattered any barriers with an iron fist, she threw her arms around Darjeeling, who reciprocated.

"I really enjoyed this," she said, her head resting on Darjeeling's shoulder. "And we'll be doing it again, won't we?"

"Of course," responded Darjeeling.

"And it'll be the tea shop again, unless you have any other plans? It turns out I really like tea!"

"That's excellent!" replied the tea lover, her voice taking on a cadence of excitement. "Oh, yes, I must show you all of the flavours. I have a tea stash in my room, so I can treat you to a tea party, if you want. The other girls will want to be there too, though."

"You can all teach me!" Kay said, missing the disappointed intonation of Darjeeling's voice in the last sentence.

Darjeeling returned with a smile. Kay liked the way her head innocently tilted and her face dimpled as she smiled. "Yes," she replied.

"Awesome!" Kay grinned. "Now, if I want to stop myself from being teased for the next month, I'd better put my guard up. Thank you for your time, my lady," she continued in an exaggeratedly posh British accent (or at least, her horrible interpretation of one). To keep up with the British 'act', she took Darjeeling's hand and softly kissed it.

Darjeeling could not control the two flaring suns encased within her cheeks, and she could feel a blush of an atomic magnitude release. It was only then that she realised the time, by looking at the watch on her wrist. "O-Oh my, the time, Kay…"

"Don't worry! We'll talk again later." Kay winked at Darjeeling and gave her a thumbs-up. "Stay safe in your Senshadou, will you? I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Kay, the tanks are-"

"I know, I know! They're made to be safe. But still, stay safe!" Kay sounded genuinely worried for a second there. St. Gloriana's next match was going to be with a tough competitor, and Kay apparently knew this, judging from her reaction. She smiled and started walking off, waving towards Darjeeling as she moved onto the ship.

Darjeeling was sad to see her go, but they could see each other again soon. The ships were going to be docked there for a while… it was also extremely heart-warming to know that Kay cared about her. After a lot of walking, she found herself at the door to the room, slowly opening the door with the intent of jumping on the sofa and having a lie down. As soon as she entered, she spotted Assam sitting at the table, her face planted into the keyboard of her laptop. On the screen was the beautiful image of a smoking tank, with a tank destroyer's gun sticking out of a bush in front of the tank.

"It w-was p-point blank range! How could I not see it?!" mumbled Assam, her speech mostly blocked by the keyboard smothering her face.

"Assam, are you okay?" asked Darjeeling, closing the door behind her. "Where are Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe?"

"No! I'm on a ten-loss streak! After Orange Pekoe stopped playing with me, I started losing again and again! I think she carries me," replied Assam, turning on her chair to look at Darjeeling. She had a forlorn, crestfallen expression painted on her face, which made Darjeeling frown slightly.

"But where are Orange and Rukuriri?" Darjeeling repeated. "Where's Rosehip?"

"Apparently, Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri are watching Doctor Who in the bedroom, but I think that's a lie! Orange Pekoe just wanted to stop playing with me, so she said she'd have a quick Doctor Who break. It's been…" Assam took a short pause to check the time on her laptop, "…at least two hours, and she still isn't back. Rosehip is… somewhere. You know how she is."

"I suppose I'd better go check on them, just to be sure that they're fine." Darjeeling walked over to the bedroom door, but Assam asked her something before she entered.

"Did your date go well?" she asked spiritlessly, trying her hardest to ignore the tank on her screen that was producing an effect similar to fireworks as it exploded. She had somehow joined another game and died within the space of a few seconds… Assam was spectacularly bad at the game.

"It went very well. Thank you for asking!"

"That's good to hear," spoke a clearly irritated Assam, her teeth grinding together like two bad players trying to get a good tank on the game. It would take them a lot of grinding… "By the way, Darjeeling, you shouldn't go in there. They might be-"

"Assam, if you're getting angry, then it may be a good idea to stop playing," Darjeeling interjected, rather unhelpfully. She assumed that Assam was going to start talking about the game again. Then, she closed her hand around the doorknob, twisting it to open the door and revealing the contents inside. The light was set to a dim level; just enough for a shocked Darjeeling to see Orange Pekoe's ginger hair, which was also illuminated by a few red cheap candles dotted around the room. To the left of her was a long braid of brown hair placed over the duvet, with Rukuriri's head sticking out. On top of the mound that was Rukuriri's body was a black phone, which didn't appear to be turned on. "Girls?" Darjeeling said.

Darjeeling's single word caused an immediate reaction from Rukuriri, whose braid flew into the air as she partially pulled herself out of the covers and sat up, with the duvet covering her lower half. "D-Darjeeling?" she murmured, her eyes looking up to the blonde girl. She was wearing a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Darjeeling's attention immediately went towards the couple top buttons not fastened, even though she hated looking at it…

Orange Pekoe was the next to wake up, with her blue eyes blinking a few times before widening at the sight of Darjeeling looking down on them. She began to rise out of the covers, but Rukuriri spotted her doing so and quickly pulled the cover over Orange Pekoe. Rukuriri's expression was one of intense embarrassment, guilt, and pain.

Darjeeling immediately apologised. "I am so sorry! If you two were sleeping or something – though I don't remember saying you could use my bed – then-"

"Calm down, Darjeeling; it's not what it looks like," Rukuriri explained nonchalantly. She grabbed the phone on her lap and pushed on a button. The screen flashed to life, displaying an image of a robotic-looking contraption and a play button. "We were watching Doctor Who and we fell asleep. Don't you see the Dalek?" She extended her arm, showing the phone to Darjeeling, who took it with confusion on her face.

"Oh… right." Darjeeling took a brief look at the paused video, and then gave it back to Rukuriri, who placed it on her lap. "I'll, uh, be leaving you two, then." Darjeeling awkwardly turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind her. It wasn't late. Why were they sleeping?

"That was too close…," Rukuriri sighed. "Who knows what Darjeeling would think of that uncultured show. I would rather not have her know about it at all. Do you want to watch some more?"

"It's quite cultured, actually – it comes from Britain! But I would love to watch more, since we are both awake now." Orange Pekoe grabbed the phone off Rukuriri's lap and sat up, revealing the Doctor Who t-shirt that she was wearing. It was a black shirt with a grey image of a vector Dalek imprinted onto it. Rukuriri's face turned from mild worry to full panic when she saw Orange Pekoe fumble at the phone and accidentally open the list of tabs…

"'How to Seduce Your Best Friend'? Well, whoever he is, he is lucky to meet somebody as nice as you, Rukuriri."

"Give me that!" Rukuriri yelled, snatching the phone, and placing the browser on the correct tab. "You really must be careful with my phone," she continued sternly. Was Orange Pekoe really this stupid?

"But you were the one who snatched it from me…," muttered Orange Pekoe, deflated. Her timid eyes looked around the room. "Why do we have those candles, anyway?"

"They were always there," replied Rukuriri defensively. "I'm more intrigued as to why Darjeeling didn't question it."

"You didn't answer my question…"

"Y… I-you… let's just watch it," sighed Rukuriri. She shuffled up next to Orange Pekoe and comfortably nestled her head on her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind Rukuriri's contact. In comfortable bliss – and doubly so for Rukuriri, the two continued to watch Doctor Who.

"You were right, Assam. Well, they were sleeping, but they were watching Doctor Who as well," Darjeeling said, walking over to Assam, whose tank was firing at a heavy tank.

"How can they be watching Doctor Who and sleeping at the same time?" Assam asked sceptically, quickly manoeuvring her tank to avoid a tank's shell.

"I don't know," Darjeeling responded, her face being illuminated by the nuclear explosion that Assam's tank produced when a rather large artillery shell hit its engine deck. "Do… do you need some help there?"

Instead of spouting out a few curse words and an insult, Assam decided to slam her face onto the keyboard again. Darjeeling could see how her head kept jerking, which indicated to her that she was crying. "Assam? Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No… I'm so bad… I'm so bad! I can't believe it…," wailed the broken girl, lifting her fist to slam the table, but her strength failed her and she gently set it on the table.

"I'll help you," Darjeeling responded, sitting at the table with Orange Pekoe's laptop. "She won't mind if I use her laptop, will she?"

"…No," Assam murmured. She took her face off the laptop and smiled as warmly as she could. "T-Thank you, Darjeeling." Her smile quivered and her eyes shot down to her feet. She was really happy that Darjeeling was going to play with her, as Orange Pekoe had been showing less interest in the game, Rosehip liked a different tank game, and Rukuriri didn't seem to like Assam or the tank game at all. "Nobody wants to play with me." She paused for a second, but it felt like ten minutes for Darjeeling, as she could feel the rising tension in the room. "W-We aren't really like a team anymore."

"Assam, what do you mean?" asked Darjeeling, logging into the computer. "We're about to play now, aren't we?"

"We never go out to the theatre anymore, Rukuriri is trying to take Orange Pekoe away from us… I don't remember the last time we had a sleepover!" By this point, Assam was bawling. Darjeeling frowned in worry.

"Assam, it's okay." Darjeeling got up from the chair and hugged her tightly. She wasn't exactly sure how she had deteriorated into this; she hadn't noticed much wrong with the girl! Assam reciprocated and cried into her shoulder for a long time. Slowly, Darjeeling realised the weight of all the little things that had happened over the past few days: business splitting apart the group, Darjeeling's worrying about her date, Rosehip's sudden disappearances, and Rukuriri's attempts to place one of her only friends into her clutches… and also, that strange reaction that Assam had, relating to Darjeeling talking about her date.

Darjeeling, Rosehip, and Orange Pekoe all had other friends to rely on. She was uncertain about Rukuriri, but she knew that Assam did not have many friends other than Orange Pekoe, Rosehip, and her. Her social media did not list many friends, and her gaming account hadn't gained any trophies for friend quantity. Darjeeling thought that being in the crew of the commander of St. Gloriana Girls High School's Senshadou team would make her popular enough.

Eventually, the two disconnected from the hug (though, it seemed that Assam didn't want to let go, indicated by her strong hold on Darjeeling), and Darjeeling, instead of sitting back down, went to go retrieve her phone. She grabbed it, and she knew what she needed to do. Assam looked at her confusedly. "What are you doing with your phone?" she asked as Darjeeling sat back down at the table.

Opening the messenger app and pressing on Kay's face made Darjeeling feel warm. She smiled at her phone, and then to Assam, whose eyebrows raised with even more confusion. "My friend and I are going to make you feel better," she answered with a smirk. At the same time, she selected her tank, entered the game, and started typing a message to Kay with one finger.

Isn't everything just so sweet? Well, mostly everything. I'm going to try and put mostly every character into this at one point. There will probably never be a defined ending; I'll just keep going until I get bored of it.