Briiiing. Briiiing.
Suzaku snorted and snapped out of his daydream. "I shouldn't get distracted like that on duty…Right! The phone!" He pulled out his cell phone, which gave the identity of the caller as Euphemia.
Suzaku answered the call. "Euphy?"
"Suzaku!" Euphemia sounded uncharacteristically distressed. "Listen, you've got to come down to the Central Tokyo Hospital right away!"
Suzaku's drowsiness instantly disappeared. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No, just come quick!" Euphemia hung up.
Suzaku pocketed the cell phone and hopped down from the scaffold from which he'd been repairing Lancelot's knee joint. "Cecile-san, something's come up. Could you finish up here?"
She replied with an "Okay", but Suzaku was already out the door.
----
Hopping out of the car, Suzaku rushed into the hospital and managed to articulate the question of Euphemia's whereabouts to the woman behind the front desk. He promptly rushed up to room 207, seeing Euphemia just outside.
"Euphy, what is it?"
"Oh, Suzaku, it's Lloyd! He fell and sprained his ankle!"
Suzaku blinked. "Is that it?"
"'Is that it!?'"
"Well, Euphy, a sprained ankle isn't very dangerous…"
"Maybe not, but he still shouldn't be so reckless that this kind of thing can happen!"
Suzaku held up his hands in submission. "All right, all right. I'll talk to him."
Suzaku and Euphemia walked into the room, and were greeted by a female doctor.
"Nothing to worry about." The doctor said, smiling. "Just have him keep off of it for a few days."
"Thank you." Suzaku said. "Would you mind…?"
"Sure." The doctor left the room.
Suzaku walked over and crouched next to the bed, Euphemia standing close behind him. "Hey, Lloyd. How are you doing?"
"Lousy. I thought you were supposed to get a lollipop when you saw the doctor."
Suzaku noted the lollipop partially hidden beneath Lloyd's pillow. "Well, I'll get one for you on the way out. How's your ankle?"
"It doesn't hurt any more."
He has his mother's smile... Suzaku thought. It seemed that Lloyd had inherited all of Suzaku's physical traits, but made up for it by being otherwise like Euphemia in every way. "Well, that's good."
Briiiing. Briiiing.
This time it was Euphemia's cell phone which rang. She picked it up. "Hello? ...How many? ...Oh dear." She glanced worriedly at Suzaku. "No, I'll come right down."
"Trouble?"
"There's some kind of disturbance in the Tokyo settlement."
"Oh. I'll be along in a bit then."
"Right." Euphemia left the room.
Suzaku turned back to Lloyd. "So, ready to go home?"
"Yep!"
Suzaku helped Lloyd to his feet. Lloyd grabbed his crutches, and they left the hospital.
Suzaku snapped his fingers. "Oh, wait. I forgot something. Could you wait here a minute?"
Lloyd nodded, and Suzaku walked back inside, emerging a minute later. He knelt next to Lloyd. "I got you a lollipop, like I promised."
"Yay!"
Lloyd reached for the lollipop, but Suzaku pulled it back and held up a hand. "Now, Lloyd, I know you already have a lollipop."
Lloyd didn't respond.
"Now, the receptionist at the desk knew that too, but she gave me one anyway. Do you know why?"
"Because you're a Knight?" Despite the mood, Lloyd's eyes still gleamed whenever he said the word.
"Well..." Suzaku smiled. "Close enough. Now, if I wanted, I could have asked for as many lollipops as I wanted and I would have gotten them. But that wouldn't be very fair, would it?"
"...I guess not."
"Okay." Suzaku held out the lollipop again.
Lloyd blinked. "But I already have one."
"This is for learning your lesson."
"You're not going to punish me!?"
"Nope." Suzaku smiled again, and Lloyd accepted the lollipop. "Besides, you're already going to get enough from Euphy."
Lloyd's smile disappeared. "Oh..."
Suzaku put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, it won't be so bad. Now, I'm afraid I need to go take care of something, so I'll drop you off at home, okay?"
"Okay." Lloyd walked off to the car with surprising alacrity, humming.
Suzaku sighed and shook his head, following. "Kids..."
----
With a start, Suzaku awoke. He glanced at the clock; it read 03:23. Next to it sat his badge of knighthood.
His eyes saddened, and he spoke softly in the silence. "Euphy..."
Suzaku clenched his fist.
"Is this what you do, Zero? Is this what you would do to achieve your goals?" he thought to himself. "I can't allow that. No...I mustn't allow that. I will stop you. No matter who you are beneath the mask."