HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSEHIP!
To celebrate this joyous rosy occasion, here's the next chapter on our ongoing adventure through the land of clovers. Do enjoy and see again at the end of the chapter, toodle-oo!
Chapter XI
Don't Threaten Me With A Goody Time
Shamrock Lounge Room
25th of April
11:31 AM
"Come in!" Clare announced, being a gracious host as always, leading them inside one of the structures on the team's training field.
The crowd had already dispersed without much fanfare and the Senshadou team and its esteemed guests made their way to the warehouses. The tanks went to the first one, along with most of the team, while Rosehip and her entourage went to the second one.
The inside of this building looked nothing like a warehouse, instead, it was a decked-out lounge area, where one would assume members could spend their time off doing their own thing. The place was furnished with crude but comfortable looking sofas, desks covered with textbooks and homework that needed to be done, and even a small kitchen area in the back. The brick walls had been painted a pastel green to hide the veneer of an old industrial facility which served as a perfect backdrop for shelves filled to the brim with loafers and lockers that held everyone's personal belongings lined up against them.
Despite it being her first time here, Rosehip already felt at home, more so than in the Tea Garden back aboard the Ark Royal, where the fragile teacups and plump cushions only served to reinforce her feelings of insecurity; of not belonging. Here, however, the brash and unrefined atmosphere perfectly mirrored the room where she and her 'garage gals' hung out.
There were already some people around the room, but not one of them looked to be particularly in a hurry. On one of the armchairs, she saw a lone girl with long brown hair sitting, a high stool set before her and a crystalline ball placed loftily on it. The girl looked up from her reverie and proceeded to stare at them.
"It would appear the heavens have opened," she mysteriously proclaimed, her hands hovering over the cloudy orb.
Clare, appearing to know the person, decided to ignore this and simply greeted her, "Hey Shimna, why weren't you watching the spectacle outside?"
"I already knew who would win before it even began," the girl declared, tossing her wavy brown hair over her shoulders as if to show off.
Rosehip felt something hard poking her side, and found Roselle trying to catch her attention while pointing at a pair of bespectacled girls, one of whom was nursing a swollen foot.
"Look at the tootsie of that gi-" her driver was whispering when Rosemallow swatted her arm away.
"It's bloody rude to point, you know!" the redhead scolded, and the two proceeded to bicker as usual.
Rosehip looked at Assam, who was keen on listening to their hosts' conversation and so she followed her lead.
"-do tell me then," Clare replied, cracking a smile.
"The visitors lost, didn't they?" Shimna confidently said, staring at all of them with her apple-green eyes.
"Try better next time, these gals right here won! And quite spectacularly I might add!"
"I wasn't referring to the match," Shimna grumbled before she took her ball and took off.
"Don't mind her, she's just a peculiar girl with an affinity for gazing at balls," Clare explained before taking a seat at the now vacant armchair and kicking up her boots on the stool.
Roselle snickered quite audibly before an elbow to the side put a stop to her antics.
"Get your mind out of the gutter…." Rosemallow rolled her eyes.
Clare, who had been silently watching the exchange, said, "Why don't you all take a seat?" Her tone was gentle as she motioned them towards the sofas.
They glanced at each other at first before nodding hesitantly. Heeding her words, they all deposited themselves on the sofas, careful to avoid any loose pieces of uniform or scraps of paper carelessly scattered around the room.
Rosehip had a good look at her driver as she came crashing next to her and noticed that she was wearing only her white undershirt, which was in stark difference to the eye-catching red Gloriana Senshadou jacket.
"Where did your jacket go?"
Roselle, who immediately closed her eyes as soon as she peacefully laid back on the seat, opened an eye and gave a shrug, "I lent it to that girl we found in the tank 'cuz her clothes were ruined. I could see her nips threatening to slip out.
Rosehip saw Rosemallow on her other side roll her eyes, "Of course you would be looking at her nipples."
"Hey!" Roselle said, jumping up in protest, before looking sheepishly and carrying on, "It's hard not to stare…. now I'm not sure if I will even get it back."
"Don't worry, I could ask for it back from her," Clare chirped in, probably not wanting to be a passive observer anymore.
"You could? Thank you!" Roselle turned so rapidly that she might have broken her spine.
When the brunette had calmed down and seated herself once again, she turned to Clare and asked, "Do you know her?"
A gloom came to their guide's face and with a grim expression on her face, she replied, "As a matter of fact, yes and she happens to be my outspoken rival"
"Eh?"
"She hates my guts for some reason, always out to get me, it's frustrating honestly…."
With this newfound information about Erne, Rosehip tried to remember much of the talk the two of them had last night, but she hasn't had the foggiest due to the clouding effect of the alcohol.
Wait…
If Erne was just as hammered as her last night, but still able to take command of a tank, then that would mean she either had quite the recovery rate…
Or she was just acting drunk.
But to what end? Rosehip further thought. What could be her motive to go to such lengths? Why bother tricking her just for a simple prank. It just doesn't ma-
"Hey, answer her question!" Roselle nudged her shoulder hard, interrupting her train of thoughts.
Rosehip noticed everyone looking at her, with her senpai being as pale as her blonde hair. "Uh, I-, could you repeat your question?
"I said how's your stomach doing anyway?"
"Why? What's wrong with her stomach?" Assam asked.
Rosehip's ears perked up as she heard the question from her senpai, seeing a look of concern on her face at the same time,
"Idiot puked her guts out a while back," Rosemallow answered for her, causing Assam-senpai to worry more and for Roselle to crack a smile.
"A blonde girl promised us some medicine but she became busy tending to others and I lost track of her," her loader finished.
"Blonde? The one with the green cross on the white armband, right?" Clare chipped in, where both Rosehip and Rosemallow nodded their heads.
"That's Callan, Let me just call her up," the tall redhead replied before going off to a door that Rosehip could only assume connected the two warehouses.
"Are you alright?!" Assam-senpai asked, rushing over towards her and placing her hand on Rosehip's forehead, feeling her temperature and staring deep into her soul.
Rosehip's breaths became heavier as she felt Assam's cold hands pressed against her skin, their proximity closer than ever as she felt herself drowning in her senpai's purple eyes.
"I-I'm fine, se-senpai…" she managed to let out, being pinned down on the sofa as Assam's hand moved on to her neck, tickling her for a bit and causing her to jolt.
"No stomach pains? No dizziness?" Assam-senpai continued to inquire, whereas Rosehip only answered back by shaking her head, feeling her cheeks warm up hotter than the surface of the sun.
"That's great to hear…" the blonde concluded, turning around and returning back to her seat.
Rosehip breathed a sigh of relief, both glad and disappointed that Assam-senpai disengaged; glad because at any moment she would have burst out in happiness like an airship and disappointed because she realized how desperately she needed the skinship of others.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed her two teammates staring intently at the scene that just unfolded. Roselle was giggling intensely, lowering the mobile phone Rosehip assumed was used to record what just happened.
For a brief moment, the whirring of ceiling fans was the only noise inside the room and Rosehip used the time to gather her thoughts and reboot her mind that had just been fried from the intimacy.
"So…. Did you watch the match?" Roselle, probably sensing her scramble for mental clarity, decided now was the perfect time to throw another wrench in by asking her a question.
"Yea, but I had to dip out in the end," Rosehip answered, barely remembering what had just happened and still feeling a bit light-headed after spewing out her stomach.
"It was fun!" Rosemallow answered back, what little enthusiasm Rosehip's answer had, all the more her loader's made up for it. "Assam-san was wild! She was able to react quickly and turned the tables against those cheats!"
Rosehip saw it was her senpai's turn to blush furiously as Rosemallow fiddled with her sling bag. "I have it all on video, with the help of Clare-san."
"Say, why did you smoke them out anyway?" Rosemallow asked, as she bought out her tablet and played back the match, which piqued Rosehip and her driver's interest.
Assam looked at Roselle, who unexpectedly looked flustered and began twiddling her thumbs.
"Where do I even start… Our hosts offered us a few shells but one of those got stuck, just like Assam-senpai warned, so she needed the time to find a way to get it out," Roselle sheepishly explained.
"How did she do that?" Rosemallow, for which the loading of the six-pounder was her main responsibility, had a frown upon her face as she raised the question.
"Well… she told me to drive up a slope," Roselle replied.
"You're kidding, right?!" Rosehip found herself asking.
"Not quite! We would have been crumpets had it not been for Assam-senpai's quick thinking!" Roselle replied, admiration sparking in her eyes.
Her tone immediately shifted as she looked at Rosehip. "Just don't go challenging other people to duels and having us fight them for you ever again!"
The door swung open and Clare walked through and went back to her seat with a sigh. "Callan's about to go off to buy some medicine, she told me you needed something to fill up your stomach. In the meantime, would you like a goody?" the redhead asked, already standing up once again.
Roselle next to her sat up at the mere mention of an offer and, even though she wasn't the one being offered, the brat had the guts to be the one to ask the first question. "What's that?"
"Well…" Clare looked up at the ceiling pensively. "It's a pudding made by boiling bread in milk seasoned with sugar and spices. I usually throw in some chocolate drops to make it better. It's sometimes given to children with an upset stomach, so it should be perfect for you," she finished.
"That sounds delicious! I want one as well!" Roselle flared up again, replacing her sheepishness earlier with raw excitement.
Their host had a twinkle in her eyes at the sight of this and nodded before going to the kitchen at the back and donning an apron. "Might as well make one for everyone, wanna help?"
"Sure thing!" Roselle responded, running to join Clare behind the counter.
Assam-senpai giggled quietly, taking Rosehip by surprise, "Roselle-san's quite enthusiastic today, don't you think?"
While the pair busied themselves in the kitchen, with pans and cups banging around the worktop, the Rosemallow and Assam struck a conversation as they waited. Rosehip still felt a little too unwell to make sense of what was being talked about, and so she mellowed in silence. Fortunately, she didn't have to suffer from the taste of vomit in her mouth, which was thankfully already taken care of by the refreshing ale from earlier.
In the stillness, Rosehip heard a faint noise that was distinctly different to a set of regular footsteps and turned around to look at the source of it. The door where Clare had come through was once again thrown ajar and a girl with dishevelled jet black hair, its blackness tainted with red dye, emerged. The reason for her uneven footfalls could be explained in that her right leg was wrapped in a white cast that had been scribbled on with various coloured markers.
The cripple, dressed in a drab frumpy grey dress, hobbled into the room and slowly but surely limped to the sofa, where she pointed at the seat vacated by Roselle and asked: "Mind if I share you a seat?"
Rosehip shook her head and replied, "Not at all, go ahead."
"This leg is killing me," the newcomer grumbled, pointing to her wrapped-up leg.
"What happened?" Rosehip inquired.
"Dancing injury."
"Tell me about it," she replied, having had her fair share of injuries due to her obsession with running around. "What are those writings all over it?" she further queried.
"Signatures from everyone, this one is my favourite." The raven-haired girl pointed at one in particular, which Rosehip reckoned was a sketch of a bunny. "It's quite cute, don't you think?"
"Quite so!" Rosehip replied, captivated by the combination of signatures each written out in its own unique shade and interesting style, most noticeable being the intricate string of clovers that snaked across the cast.
"So, you're one of the red coats then, those Gloriana students, right?" the girl nonchalantly asked, twirling her cane around mindlessly, as if to say that she was totally bored.
"Yes."
"You're lucky someone took the fall for you, and that someone happens to have more brain cells than those two idiots in the Valentine combined," the girl with the jet-black hair told her out of nowhere, tapping her working foot on the floor as she went.
"I'm sorry?" Rosehip asked in bewilderment, caught off guard by the sheer randomness of the previous statement.
"Tell me, what right do you think you lot have when it comes to messing with our school's affairs, huh?" the girl put forward, her tone changing into one of accusation, which put Rosehip on the edge as she felt herself being interrogated.
"I-i don't know what you're talking about!" Rosehip replied. If she was perplexed earlier, she was now confused more than ever.
"Isn't that grand? You continue to beguile yourself into thinking you're innocent when in reality, you have blood on your hands just like the rest of them."
Rosehip could feel herself shrink into a small ball as the unnamed girl continued her tirade of hostility, pointing fingers at wrongdoings that she did not know of. Tiny beads of sweat continued to form on her forehead as she steeled herself for a whole host of questions.
"How did it feel? When you caused that accident, an accident that resulted in the crippling of a poor lamb," the girl raised, causing Rosehip to pause as she processed what was said, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe all of a sudden.
She knows….
"H-huh how did you y-you know about that?" she pleaded, begging to know how this random girl from another school knew of her dark secret from all those years ago.
Maybe it's time to ask for help? Assam-senpai and Mallow are just there, right?! Maybe if I just…
But she couldn't move a muscle. It was as if she was back in front of that van again, frozen in time, just shaking and sweating in fear.
The black-haired girl chose to ignore her inquiry and continued on with her oratory.
"I must warn you, there will be consequences for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, so you best be careful lass," she finished, staring at Rosehip with loathing with her teal-coloured eyes.
A lightly tanned girl with two differently coloured eyes came along, pushing a contraption of sorts that looked as if a bicycle and a scooter somehow had sex and gave birth to a child. The black-haired witch stood up and looked at Rosehip squarely in the eye, those eyes of acid staring at Rosehip intently as if she wanted to melt her.
"See you around, Rosehip," the girl said, taunting her one last time before she sat on the contraption, treating it like a throne of sorts as the pair rolled away.
And just like the witches from tales of the past, the unnamed girl left as soon as she delivered her piece, leaving behind a foreboding warning that sent chills down her spine.
Rosehip felt as if she fell into a chasm of despair. She shouldn't have come here! It was foolish of her to think that she'd accomplish anything here. If word got out about this, she would be ruined…
But how! How does she know…?
That girl… Maybe that girl was here but that would imp-
"Rosehip!"
"Are you alright?!" Rosemallow shook her vigorously, grasping her by the shoulders and snapping her out of her thoughts. "You look like you've gone through hell and back with your stare."
"Y-yea, that… that girl, sh-sh she said w-we should be careful," Rosehip stammered out and watched as the colour drained from Rosemallow's face.
"What else did she say?" her loader inquired, urgency in her voice, jerking Rosehip once again, shaking her to her core.
"She knows… she knows about m-my accident…" Rosehip whimpered, quite miserable that this had to be the way she would have to tell her friends about her tragic mishap.
As she expected, confusion was etched on Rosemallow's face as she investigated her, "What accident?"
Before Rosehip had the chance to respond, her cheery driver reappeared, bearing with her refreshments, with, she noticed, a proud Clare watching right behind her.
"Careful, it's hot…" Roselle announced as she shuffled towards them, balancing a trayful of cups all the way. "Why the long faces? You two look like you went to a funeral parlour," she jested, before quickly becoming disappointed that her joke didn't land.
Rosemallow flashed a look of irritation before breathing a deep sigh. She took one of the mugs as Roselle placed the tray on the desk. "Why don't you grab some food first…"
Rosehip grabbed a hold of a steaming hot cup, quite surprised she didn't drop it with how much her hands were shaking.
The mug was overfilled with a rich gooey mound of brown stuff, sprinkled with chocolate shavings and even in her time of sorrow, the promise of sweetness and soothing calmed her soul.
Maybe it was time to come clean…
To confront her past and be able to sleep peacefully at night.
"Where's Assam-senpai?" Roselle asked, pulling Rosehip from her thoughts as her fellow speedster pointed at the unclaimed cup as she carried the now-emptied tray back into the kitchen.
Rosemallow paused blowing at her goody, and pointed at a wooden door on the far back. "She went to Shannon-san's office."
The office of the Senshadou Commander of Shamrock was a weird mix of a storage room and a tailor shop, Assam thought, with some dressed up mannequins hastily pushed into a corner to make the place look more presentable. In the centre of the room, alongside an old and battered sewing machine, was a wooden desk. Behind this desk, towering over piles of documents, design drawings and cloth samples, was none other than Iona Yoshimura, who was busy clearing these articles aside.
On the far wall was a large map of Ireland, labelled as the Emerald Isle. The map in question had some small writings on it and while Assam waited, she took a closer step in order to examine it. Red Xs were written with felt-tip markers all across the map, right next to the names of what seemed like various rivers all over the country of Ireland.
Shannon... Erne... Clare... Inny... So that's where their names came from then, clever!
Assam turned her attention back to her counterpart, who had just finished making her desk somewhat more presentable and was finally ready to meet her. "Ms Yoshimura-"
"Please, call me Shannon!" the twin-tailed girl replied, looking quite regal on her office chair as the midday sun came shining through the window, giving her quite the presence; before she threw this image out of the window, by wildly spinning around on her seat and slowly coming to a stop looking a bit dizzy.
"Uhhh… This is quite a nice office you got here," Assam said, not really sure what to make of what just happened as she approached the desk, a small file case on her person, which Rosemallow had been gracious enough to stow inside her sling bag in the meantime.
"I used to have a broom closet for an office, you know?" Shannon divulged. "It was just me, my laptop and Zoe!"
"Who's Zoe?" Assam inquired, truly curious about the possible presence of a foreigner in their ranks.
"This is Zoe!" the lass proudly proclaimed, affectionately patting the worn-out black sewing machine, whose chipped lacquer clearly showed that it was well-used and probably quite antiquated.
"She's been with me from the very beginning and she and I have spent many nights together!" the seamstress beamed with pride. "Why Zoe, you might ask?" she continued, taking Assam's question from her lips even before she had a chance to release it. "Zoe… Soey… Sewy! And what does she do? She sews! Brilliant, ain't it?"
Assam had to do a bit of mental gymnastics to reach the degree of thinking Shannon did and her perplexed look must have disheartened her host.
"Oh! Please take a seat!" The sewing bee quickly recovered, finally noticing that Assam was still on her feet.
She gladly sat down on the wooden chair in front of the desk, bringing her to eye level, or the closest thing to that, with Shannon, whose sparkling green eyes were wide with excitement for reasons Assam didn't know.
From there, she noticed more trinkets on the desk, each one telling her more about this commander than she could ever tell herself; a small wooden modelling doll wearing paper clothing, a brass paperweight modelled after what Assam could tell was the battleship, Mikasa, still flying her famous Z-flag, and a new, certainly out of place laptop that sat atop pieces of paper.
Assam was also on the lookout for any packets of dried sweet potato that the green bean's Ooarai look-alike was well known for and was quite glad to not have a dried sweet potato placed on her forehead as a seasickness cure.
"That was until the Council offered up this place…. Ah, she's quite a beauty, isn't she?" Shannon followed Assam's gaze and laid her hands on her laptop. "It's a graduation gift from my parents. I was just calculating the cost for repairing the Valentine," she said, a small frown replacing her energetic smile.
"Ah, well, sorry about that..." Assam apologised, imaginary hat in hand, as she knew she was the one responsible for the damage.
"No, it's fine, you won fair and square, but yea… the main cannon alone is going to cost a fortune." Shannon threw up her hands in defeat, pushing back from her desk and rolling around the room. "This is that Viggen deal all over again…" she let out with a sigh, gloom replacing the bubbly mood she had earlier.
Assam's eyes flashed. This was news to her. Viggen was never high on the GI6's radar but it was their goal to be able to tune in on whatever dealings every school had with one another. And besides, what connection would a school like Shamrock have with Viggen in the first place?
"Oh?" she asked tepidly, doing her best to not sound too interested in the matter.
"The money we used to buy the Valentine in the first place was supposed to be used to buy two of Viggen's Landsverk L-60s," Shannon cordially explained, revealing more and more information that only helped Assam piece together a clear picture of the black void this school once was.
"Ohhhhh just like what real-life Ireland had back in the inter-war period," she replied, in the hopes of keeping the ball rolling.
"Exactly! But a freak accident caused one of them to burst into flames, nearly killing my top lieutenant," the twin-tailed girl explained, taking one of her tails in hand and toying with it.
She must be referring to Clare.
"Was she alright?" Assam asked, real concern in her voice as she could only dare to imagine the scorching heat that one must endure in a situation like that.
"Yea, she was able to escape unscathed with her acrobatic skills and all, but the tank was totalled, so Viggen pulled out of the deal, and left us with the cheque," Shannon dejectedly replied, taking the modelling doll and using it to create various poses.
"That brings me to our agenda here," Assam shifted the topic, not wanting to go through the valley of tears while the day was young. "We would like to extend our hand in peace, providing you with materiel and…." she paused for emphasis, knowing fully well the responsibilities her next words would entail. "...financial support. In exchang-"
"Deal!" Shannon jumped up, taking Assam by surprise, as the redhead's rosy personality returned without a beat, pure unadulterated excitement evident on her face.
Assam was perplexed. She had represented Darjeeling in countless envoys before, meeting firsthand the commanders of formidable schools like the stone-faced Nishizumi Maho of Kuromorimine or the insufferable Katyusha-Nonna duo who ruled Pravda with an iron fist, but never had she seen one so eager to jump on an agreement. Not that St. Gloriana had any ulterior motives that Shannon should watch out for, she thought.
"Don't you want to hear first if there's a catch?" Assam asked for her, so she could say she warned her and therefore be free of consequences if that ever happened.
Shannon shook her head fiercely, sending her twin-tails whipping around wildly, "No, where do I sign?"
Seeing no point in holding back the carrot top, Assam sighed and acquiesced, retrieving the cream-coloured contract that certified the cooperation between their two schools, which she helped Darjeeling write, especially the parts that involved Darjeeling's pet project and her own intelligence department.
The document outlined the mutual partnership between Saint Gloriana Girls' College and Shamrock School for Girls, involving matters like materiel, information and tactics. Additionally, Shamrock would be the first member of Darjeeling's Commonwealth project, which aimed to unite all schools that had influences rooted in the dominions of the British Empire.
As with any legal document, she needed to have a copy to present back to Ark Royal for documentation, and with no copier in sight, she was glad that she had already thought of a solution beforehand.
From the same file case, she took out a second copy of the treaty, before extracting a sheet of carbon paper from within, placing it on top of the clean paper and then placing the certificate at the very top.
"May I?" Assam asked, referring to the Mikasa, whereas Shannon only nodded. Grabbing a hold of the battleship paperweight, she checked its underbelly and found that it was hollow.
Perfect!
With sleight of hand, she took something from her pocket and placed it inside the ship, making it slightly heavier, which was perfect for her purpose of using it to weigh down the paper sandwich. The commander of Shamrock was none the wiser as Assam passed the documents over the desk.
"Here," she stated as she gave the pieces of paper to Shannon, pointing out the part that needed her signature penned.
The seamstress took out a green-coloured pen with a peculiar plumage at the end and pressed it against the paper, signing her name with a flourish.
Assam was left dumbstruck, seeing one of the rules drilled into her by her parents violated right before her very eyes. "...you didn't even read it."
Shannon returned back to her seat, performing a short spin before returning back to her desk, "It's too long and besides, do I need to?"
"... No," she replied. The orange-haired girl had a point, and Assam found that it was best to simply drop the matter, rather than to argue and risk jeopardising the deal.
"Your turn to sign." Shannon pushed the papers towards her. "Do you have a pen?"
Receiving the contract, Assam was not the least surprised when she saw her counterparty's signature looked childish, complete with a small smiley face at the end.
"I have this one from earlier," she replied, searching her person for the ballpen left behind by a fan. "Where is it..." she said to herself as she turned out her coat pockets multiple times, but to no avail. "I'm afraid I may have dropped it somewhere."
"Here you go!" Shannon enthusiastically replied, handing her the cheap green pen with a feather on its end.
Assam signed her tea name opposite that of Iona's river name and took a second to admire her handiwork. With the formalities complete, she stood up and extended her hand, which Shannon snatched and vigorously shook.
"Say, would you mind if I have someone from the team give you a tour of the carrier?" the twin-tailed girl asked, a tempting offer that wouldn't hurt for Assam to accept. "Maybe even grab lunch while you're at it?" she continued, still shaking Assam's hand.
"That sounds wonderful!" Assam replied, prying her hand loose and walking away, shaken to her core. She managed to reach the door without incident but before she had a chance to close the door behind her, Shannon shouted something that she was barely able to catch.
"Could you call Clare-san for me? I need to talk to her about something."
Author's Notes: After four months of waiting, we finally have the next instalment of the story! Hope I managed to scratch your SAS itch, so please leave a review if you ever wish to tell me your thoughts.
Special thanks to Sharky for the assistance in writing this chapter and to Rihno for being kind enough to proofread even though he's busy with his own work.
Until next time, cheerio!
