Disclaimer: I do not own Gunslinger Girl or Maria-sama ga Miteru and I have no intentions of profiting from this story.
Bloodstained Rose – A Gunslinger Girl/Maria-sama ga Miteru crossover
Chapter 6 - Breakthrough
Triela had taken to eating her lunch in the Rose Mansion during the preparations for the festival. There she could eat and work while avoiding her fellow students. She was not interested in answering any awkward questions about herself or the student council members. The rest of the Yamayurikai also frequently ate their meals there, which meant that she was never short of company, even if they were all busy with their own work. Even with the festival over, Triela still found herself walking towards the impressively named building at lunchtime. It had become such a habit that she hadn't even thought twice about it when the lunch bell had rung.
She noticed that the building was uncharacteristically quiet as she climbed the stairs to the meeting room. The normal hustle and bustle of people running in and out of the building was strangely absent. She found herself missing it, for some reason. Perhaps with the festival done, the council members had returned to whatever served as their normal schedules. That made her sad for a moment, but she shook the feeling off. It didn't matter. She wasn't here to spend time with and make friends, anyway. She'd eat her lunch in peace, and then go back to class.
With a little more force than was absolutely necessary, Triela pulled open the door to the meeting room and walked in. The room was still a mess from the festival, and three steps in she almost tripped over a spare roll of wrapping paper. Barely keeping her balance, she cursed, and kicked the thing away from her. It bounced a short distance into a pile of plastic tableware, scattering them all about. She would have cursed more, but the sound of laughter startled her.
She whirled about to face the table and was surprised to see Ogasawara sitting there, drinking a cup of tea and, judging from the food in front of her, eating her own lunch. Triela looked between her target and the door in irritation. She was getting soft and too concerned with her own petty troubles! She hadn't even noticed the girl's presence when she had entered the room. This place was getting to her, causing her to her edge. She'd be comfortable in the damn skirts in no time, at this rate.
"As usual, you demonstrate Yumi's innate talent for comedy, Triela." Ogasawara commented with a small smile.
Only the greatest self-control kept Triela from audibly grinding her teeth. Instead, she curtsied politely to the upperclassmen and apologized for the disturbance, "I am sorry for the sudden intrusion, Rosa Chinesis. I did not realize that there would be anyone using the room. I also apologize for the… display."
Ogasawara nodded and smiled, "That is fine. I've accepted that, despite Yumi's and my best efforts, you will never act as a lady should. Please, sit. I see you've brought your lunch to escape the crowds as well."
Ignoring the insult, Triela quickly cleaned up the mess she had made, cleared a spot at the table for herself, and sat at the table. Watching her target out of the corner of her eye, Triela quickly dug into her lunch. She wasn't quite sure how to start a conversation with the girl. After all, they had rarely ever spoken with each other alone. They had eaten together at the family gathering only two days ago, but she wasn't sure if Ogasawara wanted to hear any more about the festival. Triela had quickly become irritated by the constant questions from the other students about the 'behind the scenes' work that went into the festival. Most of them seem to think that something sordid was going on somewhere. Where the hell they got that idea, Triela didn't want to know, but she had a sneaking suspicious that the nosy senior from the Newspaper Club was behind a lot of the rumours.
"I have a question, Triela, if you do not mind?" Ogasawara asked, breaking the silence.
Triela quickly swallowed her food, "Feel free, Sachiko-sama."
"You do remember Ricci-san from the other day, correct?" Triela nodded, "Well, it seems as if he has… gone missing. Did you or your uncle see him after everyone left? I know that you both chose to walk home. My father said that Ricci-san also chose to walk."
Triela frowned, "I don't remember seeing him. We live fairly close to campus, and I think I remember Ricci-san heading in a completely different direction. He was staying at the big hotel near campus, right? That's not anywhere near our apartment."
Ogasawara sighed, "I didn't think that you had, but thank you. My father has been near frantic since Ricci-san did not show up for their meeting yesterday. When I left this morning, he was considering whether to call the police or the consulate and report him missing," she frowned slightly, "He also asked me to inquire around campus to see if anyone had seen anything."
"We all left fairly late, if I remember correctly. Most of the students would have already gone. Maybe check with the classes that had clean-up duty? They'd be the only ones who might have seen something," Triela suggested.
Ogasawara nodded, "Yes, I was going to visit those classes during one of the other break periods. However, I do not believe that it will produce any results…" she trailed off, looking uncertain. Triela wasn't sure if she'd ever seen that expression on the girl's face before. She generally gave off an aura that suggested nothing could bother her.
"Was this deal important to your father, Sachiko-sama?" Triela asked.
Ogasawara nodded, looking very troubled, "I believe so. Millions, possibly hundreds of million of dollars worth of product is on the line. At least, that is my impression. My father is generally very close mouthed about business around the house… For him to give away this much… A great deal must be riding on this agreement. This, of course, is why I am doing my best to look into things for him here. It is the least I can do."
Triela nodded sympathetically, barely concealing her joy. This was the kind of thing she had been sent here to learn. She couldn't wait to get back to Hilshire. He'd be just as excited that they were finally making progress. As she had expected, Ogasawara didn't seem to have any idea of what her father was involved in. Of course, she didn't have any way to prove that, and Ogasawara was probably more than capable of lying with a straight face. However, what would be the point? Unless Ogasawara somehow suspected her, there would be no reason to lie. The girl would have to be particularly paranoid to believe that Triela was trying to spy on her. As that was exactly what she was doing made the situation all the more ridiculous.
"Did you check with the guard at the gate, or with one of the local police boxes? They could have seen him as well," Triela asked.
Ogasawara hesitated, and Triela had to stop herself from moving to the edge of her seat, "… No, not yet. My father seemed rather reluctant to talk with the police, despite being as worried as he was. It was strange. For now, I will keep my inquires to the student's only."
"Don't worry, Sachiko-sama. I'm sure he'll turn up. We Italians are always getting ourselves into trouble, but we've managed to live this long. I'm sure that he's probably okay." Triela said, cracking a smile. Her father was worried about going to the police, huh? That was certainly very suspicious.
Ogasawara raised an eyebrow. "Just who is the older sister here? I do believe you attempted to comfort me, Triela. Perhaps there is some hope for you, after all. Shall we teach you how to speak softly and politely next? Or maybe how to properly walk?"
Triela scowled, "I talk perfectly fine. How many languages do you speak?"
"Three," Ogasawara replied pleasantly.
"Five," Triela shot back, restraining the urge to stick out her tongue. The girl was frustrating, no doubt about it. But they were finally getting somewhere with this mission.
After judo practice, Triela was surprised to find both Yumi and Touko waiting for her outside the changing rooms. Neither of them belonged to any of the clubs that used the dojo, so it felt a little strange seeing them there. She wasn't the only one who thought so, either. A small crowd of girls had not-so-subtly stuck around after practice, most likely in the hopes of picking up some sort of gossip. The Lillian rumour mill was, as always, ready to swing into action at a moments notice.
Yumi, as soon as she saw Triela, waved her over with a smile. With a repressed sigh, Triela strode over to them. Touko, as normal for her, simply ignored Triela and pretended like Yumi had tried to get her attention, instead. Triela was used to the girl's behavior by this point, and returned the favor by ignoring her as well. She bowed. "Good afternoon, Yumi-sama. How was class today?"
Yumi reached over and ruffled her hair lightly. "Other than math class, it was as fun as usual. And how was yours?"
Triela smiled back, "Not too bad. My uncle was no more embarrassing than usual. Also, I talked with Sachiko-sama for a while during lunch. I think it was the first time we've sat down and talked about something that wasn't school related."
Yumi's eyes lit up, "You talked with her? Good! How was she?"
Triela's eyes darted between Yumi and the groups of girls that were hanging around and doing their best not to appear to be eavesdropping. "Let's head towards the gate. I'll fill you in on the way."
Yumi looked uncertain for a moment, but Touko was no idiot. She was just as used to the girls' antics as Triela was. She grabbed Yumi's arm and gently pulled her onto the path towards the gate. Triela could almost hear the sighs of disappointment from the girls. A few even tried to follow along, but Triela glared at them until they grew embarrassed enough to hurry ahead of them.
"What was that about, Triela, Touko?" Yumi asked, sounding more amused than worried.
"It is simply nice to occasionally have some privacy, Yumi-sama," Touko replied, scorn heavy in her voice. Triela couldn't have said it better herself.
Yumi frowned and when she spoke, her voice held an edge that Triela had heard only a few times, "Why? Are there girls giving either of you trouble? Just tell me who, and I'll talk with them. There is no reason that they can't leav-"
"Yumi-sama, we're both fine," Triela cut in before Yumi picked up too much momentum, "We're both used to this sort of thing by now. Didn't you want to talk about Sachiko-sama, anyway?"
Yumi didn't look happy, but she didn't look like she was planning an intervention either. Triela didn't need Yumi prying around her life anymore than she already was, and Touko, as much as she seemed to crave the older girl's attention, also seemed to appreciate at least a little space. So when Yumi seemed to accept the change in subject, Triela was relieved.
"So how was she at lunch, Triela-hime? I only spoke a little to her this morning, but she seemed a little… off," Yumi asked.
"She was also very quiet the rest of the weekend. The whole family was, actually. Her father even refused an invitation to dinner from my father. That almost never happens," Touko added.
Triela nodded, but inside she was doing some quick calculations. Should she tell them about what Ogasawara had said? Both were worried about the girl, but was there any advantage to telling them or not telling them? For the first time in the entire mission she had some solid intel. If she told them, was there a possibility that she could get some additional information? Both girls were extremely close to Ogasawara, and Touko was familiar with the girl even outside of school. She had known they could be good information sources if the right situation ever came along.
Plus, they were simply worried about their friend. Even Triela could see that. What harm could it do to give them a little information?
"She was a little bit worried, I think. Do you remember Ricci-san? He was the Italian man that Sachiko-sama's father brought to our picnic. Apparently he's missing and her dad is really worried," She said.
"That's terrible! Do they have any clue what happened to him?" Yumi asked, sounding genuinely worried.
Triela shook her head. "Apparently, he never showed up for a business meeting the next day. Sachiko-sama said her father thinks he didn't make it home after the picnic."
Yumi nodded, thinking deeply, "Right, he walked home, didn't he? He walked as far as the bus stop with my family. After that, we separated. It was kind of dark out, I suppose. He was only two or three blocks away from the hotel, though."
"Maybe he got lost?" Touko asked, "He is a foreigner, after all. Just because he can speak the language doesn't mean he can read or write it." she glanced snidely over at Triela, "Just look at Triela-hime. She speaks like a native, but reads like a third grader. Maybe he took a wrong turn and went somewhere he shouldn't."
Triela ignored the barb, "It's possible, I guess. I'm not sure why Sachiko-sama was so worried about it, though. I suppose it is her father's business."
All three were quiet for a moment as they pondered that. It was a perfect chance for a leading question. Today was just getting better and better. "Yumi-sama, how involved is Sachiko-sama with her father's company?"
Yumi puzzled over the question for a few moments. "Not very much, I think. As far as I know, she is the heir, but for now she's simply going to school. I know she is planning on going to a business school for college, so maybe she's planning to work her way up from the bottom? I'm not real sure. She doesn't always talk about her home life," she sighed, "There is still is so much I don't know about my soeur. Do you have a better idea, Touko?"
The other underclassman shook her head, "I am sorry. I know as little as you. For a while, I know she was attempting to be more involved, but I think her father discouraged her. From what I heard from her mother, he told her that he wanted her to go to school and have fun while she could. She was very disappointed. Despite everything else, she really does look up to her father."
"'Despite everything else?'" Triela prompted.
Touko opened her mouth, but shut it almost immediately, "It really isn't my place to say."
Triela was surprised. Touko usually took every opportunity to lord over her if she knew something that Triela didn't. She looked to Yumi, who looked extremely uncomfortable, but the older girl also shook her head, "That's something very private, Triela-hime. I'm sorry. Touko shouldn't have even brought it up."
Triela sighed. That sounded like it could be a crucial bit of information. Perhaps she could dig it up elsewhere. "Well, either way, Sachiko-sama seems to be pretty worried about her father."
"Well, why don't we think of ways to cheer her up?" Yumi suggested.
Touko agreed, and Triela smiled, slipping back into the ease of simple conversation for the rest of the walk. They bandied about ideas, before eventually deciding to see if Ogasawara would join them at a cake buffet that Yumi liked. That, of course, degenerated further into talk about their favorite kinds of sweets. By the time they reached the gate, all three girls were giggling madly, and had once again attracted a small crowd of hangers-on. This time it was almost pleasant.
However, a familiar voice calling her name startled her. She hadn't heard that particular voice in a long time, so it took a moment to fully register. Even then, she still didn't quite believe it. She spun around in complete surprise just in time to catch a crying blur as it crashed into her.
"Triela! Triela! I'm so glad to see you! It's been so long!" bawled Henrietta.
"This is a friend of yours, Triela-hime?" Yumi asked curiously.
They had retreated to a small café near the school gates. At this time of day, the place was packed with girls from all levels of Lillian, from kindergarteners with their parents to college students. It was a popular meeting spot, and had over the years, as far as Triela could tell, evolved into an almost exclusive space for Lillian students. It sort of felt like the bar Hilshire had once taken her to, where the Welfare agents went to drink after work. Only classier, with more women, and without the smell of gunpowder in the background.
Triela looked up from patting Henrietta's head affectionately. The girl had stopped crying, which was good, but she still refused to let go of her. 'Etta had always been the most touchy out of all the girls, the complete opposite of Triela and Claes. "Yes, Yumi-sama, this is Henrietta. If you couldn't have guessed it, she is Italian like I am. We're old friends, I guess you could say."
"We used to live in the same dorm," Henrietta added, "Before we both left we saw each other all the time!"
Triela did her best not to flinch when Henrietta opened her mouth. Henrietta was also the girl least suited for undercover work. She just wasn't able to keep her mouth shut or tell a lie convincingly. Triela supposed in the normal world, that sort of trait might be looked on positively, but in their world it was a liability. That was one of the main reasons that Triela had been assigned to the undercover mission, despite her own unsuitability.
"Ah, at one of the other schools that Mr. Hartmann taught at?" Touko asked.
Triela held her breath, but Henrietta merely thought about it for a second before answering. "Yes! Me and Triela, Claes, and Rico were all taught by Mr. Hartman. Geography and History and those kinds of things. He was very good at it, too." Thinking back, Triela realized that it was true. Hilshire had been the one in charge of those topics in the girls' curriculum. No wonder he had taken to this job so easily.
"And what brings you to Japan? You didn't come all the way here just to visit Triela-hime did you?" Yumi asked with a smile.
Henrietta blushed, but shook her head. "My… brother, Jose, works for Interpol. It's kind of an international police group. He's been got moved here so he could work as a liaison with the some of the people at the… the… the National Central Bureau, I think is what it's called. We just learned that Triela and Mr. Hartmann were in the country, so we came to visit." She tried to snuggle deeper in Triela's side, something that Triela found more than a little awkward. 'Etta had always been touchy, but not this kind of touchy.
Yumi, however, seemed to find to find it cute, judging by her smile. Well, Henrietta did look several years younger than her, so Triela supposed Yumi was daydreaming about some sort of soeur-type relationship or something like that between them. Henrietta was a coworker, and probably a friend. Triela didn't think about it any more than that. She wasn't even sure about the friend bit. Henrietta, in the end, always put her partner, Jose, above everything else. That was the purpose of the agency's cyborgs after all, even if Henrietta did seem to take it further than the rest of them.
"Isn't that nice? How long will you be staying? I'm sure the rest of us would like to meet one of Triela's friends. Rei and Yoshino would both find you positively cute! Onee-sama would, as well, I guarantee," Yumi laughed, then seemed to think for a second, "I've just had a great idea! Why don't you come and have tea and cake with us on Thursday if you're still here? We'll invite the rest of the Yamayurikai. We were going to take Sachiko-sama out with us, but we can make a party out of it!"
Touko looked less than pleased at the idea, but nodded in agreement quickly enough. Henrietta looked a little uncertain, a feeling that Triela certainly shared. So many things could go wrong with that. She had enough trouble dealing with small groups. She wasn't sure that Henrietta could handle it, especially without being used to it and without Jose being there. "I'm not sure if we'll still be here or not… but thank you for the invitation! I'll ask Jose if I can come."
With that, all four girls said their goodbyes to each other and Triela and Henrietta began to head back to the apartment. Triela waited several minutes to clear the majority of the crowds before speaking. It came out a bit harsher than she wanted it to, but given the circumstances she thought it warranted it, "So what brings you here, 'Etta? Did you and Jose dig up something?"
Henrietta looked surprised at her change in tone but nodded. She glanced around warily, but the few people on the street were clearly only paying attention to their own business. Triela almost rolled her eyes. If they just kept the conversation looking casual, no one would even bother to listen. "Jose says that we've managed to trace several transactions back to known Padania sympathizers. Jean and Rico have tracked down a few of them back in Italy. Rico said it was very messy."
Triela could imagine. "Rico always does things messily. I think that's how Jean likes it. He's got no finesse. Do you know if we have enough for a warrant?"
Henrietta looked at her a little strangely, "… As far as I know, Triela, no . But Jose thinks we'll soon have the information we need."
Triela blinked, "From where? I've only recently begun to get information out of Ogasawara. And Hilshire and I have only recently made contact with the father. Did you guys find another information source?"
Henrietta smiled widely and nodded excitedly. "We picked him up over the weekend! Hilshire gave us a tip, and we picked him up. Jose and I haven't been able to get much out of him, so that's why we're here. We wanted to see if either of you had any luck before I killed him."
Triela flinched at that. It had been several months since she'd heard casual conversation about killing someone. It made her feel distinctly uneasy. Now she knew she was becoming soft. At this rate she really was going to become useless to Hilshire.
"Why did Jose think that we'd have any better luck?" Triela asked.
Henrietta thought about the question for a moment, "Well, Hilshire is more skilled than Jose is in interrogation techniques, I guess. Jose didn't want to just resort to beating the man till he talked. He says that intel gotten that way isn't always accurate," she shrugged, "I'm not sure. Maybe he just wanted to come see you guys? I think he's been pretty lonely since we came here."
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Triela wasn't sure how she felt about Henrietta's sudden intrusion into her mission. Sure, she was excited that she had finally gotten information out of Ogasawara, but she wasn't sure if it had sunk in that it might change the current status quo. Despite meeting a possible enemy agent only earlier in the week, she had still been proceeding as she had every day for the past month and a half. Henrietta's appearance had thrown that into brutal focus. Things were going to be changing very soon.
"… So were those girls… Were they your friends?" Henrietta asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Triela answered absently, still trying to come to grips with recent events.
"… Ah… What's it like? To have friends? I have you and Rico and Claes, and maybe Beatrice, but I'm not real sure if we're really friends, you know… Jose isn't the only one who's been a bit lonely, I think." Henrietta said, trailing off.
Triela realized what she had said and winced, "I… Of course, we're friends. Don't think about it too much, Henrietta. They aren't really friends. They are people who are close to my target. I've become friendly with them because it was necessary to get close to her."
It sounded like a lie, even to her, but for some reason, it reassured Henrietta. The rest of the walk home was spent catching up with each other. Triela tried to ignore the sudden feeling of distance between her and the younger girl. They had been fairly close at the Agency, but now, after months of separation, she wasn't sure how she felt about her. They were comrades, but Henrietta seemed to be even more concerned with finishing the mission than she was. Triela had spent the last month attending school, trying to pretend to be normal, while Henrietta had been shadowing Jose across the country tracking down leads. She wasn't sure what had changed in such a short period of time.
They arrived at the apartment building without incident and climbed the six long flights of stairs to the Hartmann apartment. She shouldn't have been surprised to find a bleeding man lying on a tarp in the middle of her kitchen, but she was. Jose and Hilshire stood over the man with grim looks on their faces, and on the kitchen table were various things that were covered in blood. She also shouldn't have been surprised that the man on the floor was Ricci-san, the man whom Sachiko had been worried about only hours ago.
As I keep saying for most of my stuff, wow it's been a while. It doesn't feel that long to me, but I guess that's laziness speaking.
As far as story wise, wow, Henrietta wrote herself in there something fierce. Original plan didn't have her showing up till the last paragraph there, and she suddenly appeared halfway into the chapter, crying of all things. Not sure where she came from there. Grr… And the dialogue is really killing me in this story. I have to watch how everyone speaks. Triela speaks plainer than everyone (except when talking business), while Sachiko is on the completed opposite speaking relatively formally. You know its bad when you are counting contractions and spending ten minutes thinking if you show take one out or not, and if the sentence still flows naturally without it.
See ya next chapter!