AN: Greetings, this is a short story celebrating the birthday of our shy tsundere gunner, Rosemary! Before we start, I would like to give special thanks to Sharky and Rihno for the proofread and to MusashiBear for creating the cover. And with that, we should be good to go!
So sit back and relax, and enjoy the show!
HMS Ark Royal
Rosebush Residence
The night before the 29th of September
11:43 PM
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock
Rosehip was lying in bed, dressed in nothing but an oversized shirt and some shorts, wide awake. The noise of the clock on the wall seemed loud to her ears, pounding against her brain as she waited…
Knock-knock-knock
Hearing the signal, she tried her best to remain quiet as she kicked off her blankets and jumped out of bed, trying to make sure the damned thing didn't squeak.
It's showtime.
Despite sneaking around not being her best suit, Rosehip tiptoed across her room and threw open the door to find her friend Roselle, dressed skimpily in a camisole that hugged her slim figure tightly, waiting for her outside in the corridor.
"'bout bloody time Elle," she whispered, as the two of them sneaked past Rosemary's room, thankfully Roselle took her boots off for this occasion, otherwise her footsteps would have sounded like a stallion. Eventually, they made it through, without as much as a peep coming from their teammate's bedroom, and they ran down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
Always the early bird, their loader, Rosemallow, was already in the kitchen, surrounded by maps and mugs, making final preparations for their grand plan for tomorrow, a proper send-off to the case they had been working on for weeks now.
The Scarborough Affair
Based on a 20 day-long festival that happened annually in Gloriana, the affair came to light when they noticed their bespectacled friend making excuses and going off to do some errands. After a bit of snooping around, with them pulling some strings to have GI6 unofficially help out, they found out that Rosemary was enjoying her time at the fair…
...with a boy
Messy jet-black hair and piercing purple eyes, paired with untucked shirt and hands always stuffed in pockets. All of it spelt nothing but trouble and if there's anything that would unite their unlikely trio, it was to keep their friend away from harm.
And so began a month-long clue-gathering quest, collecting incriminating evidence on their friend and her partner, all of it was now lying on their kitchen table; the fruits of their labour. Photographs, surveillance videos, audio recordings, everything that would be needed when it was time to confront Rosemary.
Before anything else though, Rosehip grabbed two mugs from a cupboard and filled both with hot water, prying open a tin of tea powder to add to the boil. Once she was satisfied with the amount she had added, she poured milk into both mugs and added a teaspoon of sugar, before adding another teaspoon to her own mug.
She passed the other mug to Roselle and the pair of them joined Rosemallow at the table, where a large map of the fair was spread out, the edges held down by jars and bottles from all around the kitchen. On it, the various stalls of the festival were carefully marked; each one having been frequented by Rosemary and her boyfriend in the past, with photographs taken as proof taped on it:
The two of them sharing a stick of fairy floss
Them buying some of Kangra's deliciously sweet strawberry jam
Playing shooting games and even winning a Boko bear
All in all, it was the culmination of their surveillance campaign and all of it was because of a boy.
"Alright, ladies, let's go over the plan one more time," Rosemallow started when all three of them were present. "Operation Bandersnatch will happen at exactly 1700 hours tomorrow, not a minute less. We'll lure the couple into the west, where our hold on the perimeter is tighter," she reiterated.
"Cranberry and Vanilla should do their job properly since we're paying them handsomely for this," Roselle replied, rubbing her hand as she spoke.
"Once they have nowhere to run, we will confront them," Rosehip finished for her, earning her nods from the other two; after all, this operation was her brainchild.
"Let's review our disguises once again. I'll go first, I'm Parsley…." Rosemallow said, the parsley necklace that was part of her disguise already slung around her neck.
"I'm still Sage," Roselle followed, spinning in her finger a bracelet made out of wooden beads. Her long lilac-coloured wig sat loftily on the table.
"And I will be Thyme yet again," Rosehip finished as she balled the green scarf that she wore to hide her vibrant hair.
These disguises were part of the equipment they needed to conduct their surveillance, always tucked away in their school bags so they could change into them easily. On the table still was the other equipment they needed: binoculars, radio earpieces necessary for communication, quick-drying hair dye and contact lenses; all of which were the property of GI6, who didn't know they were being quite so helpful.
"That's it then, I believe we're ready." Rosemallow summarised. "Well, It's almost midnight, so we should go to sleep as well. We still have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," she concluded and the three cleared up any evidence of their meeting before going back to their respective rooms.
HMS Ark Royal
Gloriana Campus
29th of September
3:32 PM
The classes that day went by like a breeze as the trio tried to maintain the minimum amount of attention so as to not incur the wrath of their teachers. But with the tolling of the bells of Tiny Ben still fresh in their ears, they knew that it only meant one thing; the school day was finally over and it was time to change into their disguises one last time.
The group selected three different bathrooms around the campus and from their school bags extracted their disguises, which included the props from last night as well as a fresh change of clothes, ones that were bought cheap from a clearance sale back on the mainland. Once all three were done, they made their way to the fair, which was set up in a large open space in the middle of Hydette Park.
Weaving between groups of girls of her age, Rosehip gripped the green scarf tighter around her neck, not only to keep out the biting coldness of the early autumn winds but also to prevent anyone from recognizing her.
The black letterman jacket Rosemallow had picked up for her was a size too small and she had to regularly pull up the zipper or else her embarrassing "Hope to a now" shirt would be in full view of the public (one of the pros of studying at an English-accredited institute was that she was exposed to how horrible the "Japanglish" her fellow denizens were guilty of and, while it was funny most of the time, she didn't particularly find it funny now when she was wearing it).
This discomfort was balanced by the fact that their costume allowed her to wear some shorts and trainers; something that made her feel in her element.
The same couldn't be said for Roselle, who was clearly uncomfortable wearing a blue pinafore dress, her brownish-coloured hair dyed lilac and now tied into a bun. Rosehip's driver was grumpily munching on a Cornish Pasty, sitting on a bench that overlooked the main entrance of the fair.
Rosehip raised her hand to the side of her head, which to a casual observer looked as if she simply brushed aside her hair. In reality, she pressed her earphone and spoke into it all in a matter of seconds.
"Any visual on the target yet?"
"*nom* *nom* No… *nom* None yet," Roselle spoke through the airwaves, hardly audible due to the noise of chewing.
"Quit talking with your mouth full!" Rosemallow reprimanded, hijacking the frequency to deliver a whopping to their driver. Rosemallow, who had been the brains of the operation, had set up shop at the side entrance to the fair, currently disguised as an old croon selling aromatic candles.
This booth had been their field headquarters for the entire duration of the fair, stocking it high with wirelesses and supplies so they could carry on their surveillance with full stomachs.
"Sorry…."
Rosehip turned her attention back to the crowd, which was thicker than usual considering this was the closing day of the fair and there would surely be some sort of explosive ending to the whole affair. She split ways with the girls and began patrolling some of the off-beat paths of the fair, doing her best to not look out of place as she perused the items being sold just like all the others.
She checked the time on her wristwatch and was stunned to find that it was already almost four in the afternoon and their targets were still nowhere in sight.
Perhaps they had already skipped town? Had all their efforts been for nought?
"Got my eyes on the target," Cranberry notified everyone. The girl's photography skills made her eyesight sharper than all of them combined. Rosemallow had put this to good use by positioning her on top of a bird-watching tower, equipped with high-resolution binoculars, which was a gamble that had just paid off.
"The two just emerged from a photo booth in the northeast, near the fish and chips stall." Rosehip caught herself looking at the tower, barely able to spot the photographer from her vantage point, but that was because she knew where to look.
She sensed someone coming in close from behind her and it took her all her focus not to flinch.
"Oi Hippu! Stop giving away Cranny's position!"
Rosehip turned around and saw her patrol partner for today, Vanilla. Along with Cranberry, Vanilla was one of her deputies that they had recruited to help in their endeavour and was the one who came up with their new personae in the first place.
She had argued that because they were the ones closest to Rosemary, their quarry had a significant chance of seeing through any disguises they donned on, hence why she suggested they alter their looks as well.
Vanilla led them through the fair, cutting through crowds with efficiency and looking quite dapper even when wearing a disguise herself. Gone was her striking jewellery and in its place were Yves Saint Laurent designer sunglasses, whose sandy tints hid her green eyes well. She paired this with a honey-coloured Burberry trench coat, which only highlighted her almond-coloured hair, worn long with the help of extensions.
They reached the location Cranberry had indicated and Rosehip saw that Rosemary was still dressed in their school uniform, looking a bit frumpy. Meanwhile, their male mark was dressed in his usual garb; baseball cap, tracksuit jacket, capri pants and trainers.
Classic chav look.
The pair began tailing the couple from a distance, always tagging each other so the two lovebirds would be none the wiser. They replicated the actions of two, ducking into booths whenever the couple did and if possible, even trying to purchase the same products or services the pair got. This was not always the case, however. In the past, they attempted a few interactions with the two, be it promoting goods they had acquired from random stalls or serving as a substitute for stand attendants.
Roselle joined them after a while and the three of them formed a "ring" of surveillance around the two; a trio of hounds following the scent of two does, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Zero hour came closer as Rosehip saw that it was just a few minutes before five in the afternoon and with the sun getting dangerously low on the horizon, it would be harder tracking the couple in the dark. They had to act now, or else they'd be forced to use the night vision devices they "borrowed" from the agency, which they tried to use as little as possible because they needed to replace their batteries so as not to arouse suspicion.
Like clockwork, the last bits of the puzzle slowly slotted into place as the go-time for Operation Bandersnatch came closer and closer: Cranberry came down from her watchtower and took Rosemallow's place in the booth, allowing her loader to join the hunt alongside them. Vanilla detached from the group to change into her last-minute disguise and went to her position as the linchpin of the entire operation.
The Rosebush minus one started to tighten the ring around their fellow and her plus one, allowing them to hear snippets of conversation between the two.
"Hey Mary… I really do appreciate the time we've spent here," the boy said, pinching Rosemary's cheek, causing the girl to blush.
"Hmph! It's Rosemary, remember? " their gunner replied, berating her boyfriend in typical tsundere fashion.
"Right right, okay Mary," he replied, teasing Rosemary as they rounded the corner, where Rosehip knew Vanilla lay in wait.
The two disappeared from sight and Rosehip, now alongside Roselle, hastened their steps and saw the couple about to walk into Vanilla, who had changed out of her Burberry trench coat and into a pristine lab coat, paired with an elegant black pencil skirt and a stylish pair of non-prescription tortoiseshell glasses.
"Greetings!" Vanilla began, a clipboard in hand and a line of vials on her belt. "May I interest you two in some perfume?" she asked, as she took one of the vials filled with a golden-coloured liquid and removed its cork, releasing its minty fragrance to the air.
"Oh my, this smells amazing!" Rosemary let out, sniffing some of the scent, obviously enjoying it.
Even Rosehip, who was a couple of feet away from the two reading a menu leaflet of a nearby pastry shop, was able to catch a whiff of the cologne and was enthralled at Vanilla's superb skill at concocting perfume.
"Glad you liked it, ma'am, now if you would please follow me inside," Vanilla offered, being a gracious host as she parted the curtains that hid the inside of another booth they rented out.
The couple and the perfumer disappeared inside, where, as the plan stipulated, Rosemallow was already inside, sitting behind the perfume organ. Meanwhile, Rosehip and Roselle would bring up the rear, making sure the two couldn't make a run for it. Roselle had originally suggested that Vanilla make chloroform and they use that to knock the couple unconscious and take them to a black site facility somewhere onboard the carrier. Rosemallow shot this idea down before it could take flight, stating that Rosemary would hate their guts and that Roselle should stop watching too many movies.
In the end, what was agreed upon was a classic encirclement, so elegantly planned that Darjeeling would have been proud. Rosehip looked over to her driver, who was leaning against a lamppost, holding a newspaper bouquet of fish and chips, and nodded. The two started walking, pulling out their standard-issue Webley revolvers as they were about to close the net on the two lovers.
She and Roselle reached the outside of the booth in no time and were simply waiting for the signal. The two seemed to linger around forever until they heard Rosemallow inside saying the pre-agreed word.
"...as a friend of ours would say, 'Perfume is like a new dress, it makes you quite simply marvellous'.''
"Freeze!" Both of them yelled, pushing through the curtain, with Roselle looking like a nutjob as she held her food in one hand and pointed her revolver on the other.
"Agents Thyme and Sage, GI5, both of you are under arrest-desu-wa," Rosehip announced, trying her best to not stumble over her part in this charade. The couple looked ever so bewildered as the boy put himself in front of Rosemary, shielding her from the two of them.
"GI5? Arrested? Desu-wa?" Rosemary asked a barrage of questions, popping her head from behind her boyfriend, confusion evident on her face before a look of clarity replaced it.
"Wait, Rosehip is that you?"
Goddamnit!
"No, my name's T-thyme!" Rosehip hastily replied, afraid that her cover was already blown. "Please, step away from your boyfriend!"
In an instance, the two blushed fiercely as a poppy and Rosemary's look of clarity was quickly replaced by a look of outrage.
"Boyfriend?!" Rosemary angrily retorted, "You mean him?" she pointed at the chav in front of her.
"That's my brother, you nitwit!"
"Your brother?!"