Gunslinger Girls and Maria-sama ga Miteru belong to their respective owners. I have no intention of profiting in any fashion from this story
Bloodstained Rose - A Gunslinger Girls/Maria-sama ga Miteru Crossover
"Why am I the one who has to do this?" muttered Triela as she tried to straighten her long skirt and fingered the knot on her ribbon for the umpteenth time since she had put the uniform on that morning. Surrounding her were more teenage girls in the same green and white uniform, all walking with a surprising amount of reserve and grace for girls their age down a beautifully landscaped wooded pathway. And none of them were fighting with their skirts, either.
"We've been over this three times, Triela," Hilshire said through the earpiece, sounding exasperated, "You're the only girl who looks old enough to fit in here. Everyone else looks too young."
"Claes looks old enough!" Triela hissed softly. Then she tripped on the edge of her skirt and had to flail wildly to catch her balance; much to the amusement and scandal of the girls around her.
"This mission requires a Fratello, Triela. We're to watch over and cover each other, as always. I'll be undercover starting tomorrow, as you know. Claes could never work and live with someone as closely as we can. You know that just as well as I do," he lectured.
Triela snorted, but kept her opinion on that remark to herself. She wasn't uncomfortable per se about this mission, but it just felt awkward. Part of it was the skirt. Definitely the skirt. But this was a long-term undercover mission. The girls of the SWA as almost a necessity didn't take long term missions. They weren't trained for them. But here she was, working in a foreign country illegally for at least weeks, possibly months with no support except her handler. Well that wasn't entirely true. Henrietta and Jose were in Japan as well, but in a much more official capacity. They were the emergency back-up if things went really haywire. Unless that happened, there was to be no contact.
"Remember your mission, Triela. You are here to observe and hopefully befriend Sachiko Ogasawara. She's the daughter and heir to the Ogasawara Group who the SWA has been observing for some time. We've intercepted several Padania shipments with Ogasawara labels on them back in Italy, as well a representative from their group. We have strong suspicion that they are directly involved with Padania, as well as other terror groups. Whether that support comes through funding, weapons, or even direct support is unknown. We don't think they know that we suspect them yet, but we want an agent near the Ogasawara girl just in case things go south." Hilshire grimly said.
"So what? I'll be kidnapping her? Killing her? Torture? Which? I hate not knowing what to do here, Hilshire." she muttered irritably.
"Maybe all three…Or none at all. We might even choose to cultivate her as an ally, depending on how much she knows. Just get close to her for now. Become friends with her if you can. We want to know as much about her as possible. Jose and Henrietta are pursuing things through the official channels. They're working with the National Police Agency to track the shipments and the payments. When they get concrete details, then it'll be time to move."
Triela sighed, and played with the knot of her ribbon once again, but found to her surprise it had come undone. Irritated with the whole thing, she didn't even bother to fix it. As long as it didn't fall off, it would be just fine. It wasn't like anyone would care, anyway. She could be stuck here for months while the investigation went on, and no one would care.
She hurried forward, despite the disapproving glances that followed her the entire way, doing her best to get out of the crowd. It was a little nerve wracking to be surrounded by so many girls her age. At the
agency there was Henrietta, Rico, Claes, Angelica, and Beatrice when she was in. But even then, she spent most of her time with the handlers and adults of Section Two. She didn't think she had ever spent much time with girls her own. She found it a bit intimidating, to say the least.
She felt their eyes on her back, and it made her nervous in a way that no terrorist had ever managed. She wasn't like these girls who were pampered and educated. They lived in a soft, insulated world where nothing could harm them. Their only concerns were their grades and their social status. They knew nothing of her world. She lived in the real world. There was death. There was pain. There were others things as well, but only those two were constant. She didn't think she would ever be able to feel comfortable around these oblivious people.
Ahead of her, she could see groups of girls stopping in front of a small statue of someone before continuing on up to the main school building. As she approached, she felt a smile grow on her face as she recognized the statue. It was of the Virgin Mary. She was placed in a beautiful little garden that felt more like a shrine than anything else. The girls who stopped treated her with respect and reverence. Lillian School for Girls was a Catholic school after all. Just seeing the statue brought back memories of Rome…and of home where statues of the Holy Mother were prevalent just about everywhere. Even here in the middle of Japan, it was nice to know that there was a little piece of Italy. It immediately put her back at ease, and she slowed down and matched the others' gait. She even managed to smile at those who looked her way.
She approached the statue reverently and joined the line of girls in silent prayer. She didn't ask for much, as usual. A quiet day. Safety, for herself and her handler, Claes and everyone else at the agency. A quick painless death. Simple things. A sinner such as her could hardly ask for anything more.
She finished her prayer, and turned to head towards the main building, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze; her entire body stiffening in the effort to not instantly turn and incapacitate the one who had grabbed her. It was hard to resist an action like that. Even Hilshire knew not to touch her without warning. There were simply some instincts that had been programmed in too well. But it certainly would be out of character for a school-girl to do something like that. So she quivered silently, and tried to calm herself.
The girl who had touched her seemed to not notice. She merely sighed, tutted softly, and slowly turned Triela around to face her. Then she began to work on her ribbon. She was of average height and average looks, but the rest of the girls standing around the statue seemed to give her space. "I don't think I've seen you before, but that doesn't forgive you for not having your ribbon tied. If my onee-sama saw you, you'd get a lecture of a lifetime."
The girl's face suddenly lit up into a huge smile, and Triela almost took a reflexive step back, but the girl blocked it nearly effortlessly and continued to work on the ribbon. "It brings back memories you know," the girl said wistfully, turning to stare at the statue while her hands continued to work, "Tying a first year's ribbon while Maria-sama is watching over us. Onee-sama would be proud."
With a final gentle pull, the girl finished her work, and looked it over with a critical eye. Nodding to herself, she smiled once again at Triela, and then patted her on the head almost affectionately. Triela had to repress the urge to flinch, but the girl noticed. Fortunately, she seemed to take it as a sign of shyness rather than one of repressed violence, and her smile softened. "Gokigenyo, little one. I hope to see you around. Welcome to Lillian." With that, she turned gracefully, and walked towards a small building near the main one.
Triela watched the strange girl go warily, and then let out a small sigh. It was only after a moment that she realized the rest of the girls who crowded around the Virgin Mary's statue were watching her. And strangely it seemed as if they looked…jealous for some reason. But for what reason? Was the other girl important somehow? She didn't look all that impressive, though she did have a…dignified aura surrounding her, Triela supposed. The rest of the girls had certainly given the girl space.
"Umm…," she ventured, turning to address the crowd, "Who wa-"
"Gah!" interrupted one of the girls nearby, "Why would Rosa Chinensis en bouton pay attention like that to a new student?" her scathing tone suddenly changed to something more petulant, "…I wish she'd pay attention to me…"
There were murmurs of agreement from the surrounding girls, but one of the other girls shushed them, and then turned kindly to Triela. "Forgive them, please, they mean no offense. Its just that," the girl's expression change to one of dreamy admiration, "it seems so hard to get close to one of Yamayurikai…They're all so pretty, graceful, smart…Well, we're jealous of anyone who gets their personal attention."
Triela looked blankly at them, puzzled by some of the unfamiliar terms, and then just asked the simple question that she wanted to ask in the first place. "Who is she?"
The crowd of girls goggled at her, before giggling amongst themselves. Then the first girl who had spoken answered her. "I guess a new student wouldn't know huh? That was Rosa Chinensis en bouton, Fukuzawa Yumi. She's the petite soeur of Rosa Chinensis, Sachiko Ogasawara, and a member of the Yamayurikai, our student council."
Triela couldn't believe her luck. It was either amazingly good, and had presented her with a golden opportunity. Or it was so terrifyingly bad that it had just ruined the whole mission in one fell swoop. And Triela had no clue which it was.
I guess I lied. --;;; This idea came up in a forum I belong to, and I just couldn't get it out of my head. Its shorter than I'd like, but it ended in a spot I felt worked really well for its purpose, and I didn't feel like adding an intro would do anything that it wasn't already doing. Plus I just like this idea.
Throwing a Gunslinger Girl into a situation with lots of normal people has a potential for tragedy and confusion that I find terribly attractive as a writer. And a school for girls? Only adds to it. When it comes down to it, the Gunslinger Girls aren't terribly good at living.
Anyways, don't expect work on this for a while. --;;; I will work on Something to Die For...if it kills me! Laughs
Edit: Fixed an embarrasing misspelling. Thank you, Akuma-sama!