Foreign Dominion

Chapter 21 - Research at Midnight

Calm.

Peace and calm.

Delilah laid back across her bed and stretched her arms out. As much as she loved Tankery, being able to relax in her room after cleaning up from practice was one of the best moments of the day. Being able to completely remove all thoughts of work and stress from her mind was something she considered necessary, even if things weren't that difficult right now. The grind of school was just far enough behind Delilah that she was keeping ahead of it, but it was still there, and days sometimes melded together.

What day is it anyway?

Chi-Ha-Tan's match had been last weekend, the day they'd all switched was Monday, the President had shown up that evening, and Amy's discovery was Tuesday... that was yesterday... no... the day before that. It was Thursday.

Already? Nearly a whole week goes by without feeling like it really happens.

Delilah's phone buzzed and she lazily half-turned her head to see it. All she could tell was that it was Ayame. Worry sprang up inside her. Was Ayame okay? Was something else happening?

"Ayame, is everything okay?"

"What?"

"You called me, is there something wrong?"

"No..."

"Ah. Then what's up?"

"This weekend, it'll be the number of schools we won against."

Delilah sighed. Ayame's attempts at corny humor were... interesting.

"I'm sorry. You're saying what?"

"We've got a match this weekend. Know why?"

"Because that idiot, what do you call her, the Bird? The Bird is making us play a match randomly again?"

"Anzio just challenged us to a match."

"Oh..."

For the tired tank commander, it took a half second to register.

"Wait... they what?!"

"We just got challenged to our first match ever."

"Bloody hell. So that's a first for Dominion?"

"Yeah, it is. We're always the ones asking for skirmishes against other schools. Looks like our luck is changing and we're finally getting some attention!"

"That's really great to hear, Ayame. Listen, tell the rest of my crew and then we'll let the whole team know tomorrow, okay?"

"On it!"

Delilah hung up and laid back down onto her bed. Or more accurately, she flopped down and sighed. Another match meant having to get ready on short notice once again.

Why can't we just have a normal match cycle for once? It'd be nice to finally get some proper training and practice in, not just getting ready for what's happening in just days.

In reality, it wasn't too bad and she'd done worse before, but still. Being tired and thinking about this sort of thing don't mix well. Generally, it makes a person have one of two reactions: either they stress and won't stop thinking about the issue or they get even more tired from trying to think. In this case, Delilah was the latter.

Darkness. Shortness of breath. An odd smell and strange noise. What the hell? Delilah couldn't figure out where she was or what was going on. After a moment, she tried to move.

Oh. You fell asleep and face planted into the covers. Dumbass.

In Delilah's hand, her phone vibrated twice. It was one in the morning; she'd been asleep for five hours. Who was texting her at 1 AM?