Author Note: This was inspired by a piece of artwork recently posted by Nuts Takahashi, a comment of my fiance's, my burning need to post something, and the wonderful ushering in of autumn. Please forgive any egregious typos.
"Don't you wish," Milly asked Lelouch, "that you could untie all those ropes?" Her voice rang out twice, echoing itself; it blared across the Ashford grounds.
The students that crowded the sidelines roared, while Lelouch felt his face drop yet another shade of color. He flexed his wrists inside his bindings.
No use. He would stay lashed here, to the tree.
"I don't suppose you'll reconsider."
"Absolutely not!" Milly was pleasant. She lowered her microphone. "You should have helped us do the paperwork. Then you could have chosen not to volunteer for this position."
"I was sick," Lelouch replied. He struggled again, refusing to count watching faces.
Milly shook her finger. "Wrooo-ong!" she sang. "Suzaku said that you were out, but you came home in time to eat dinner with him."
Suzaku. Lelouch glared across the school lawn.
Milly followed his gaze and hummed. "He doesn't look so great with that bow, now does he."
It did not make Lelouch feel better. "Suzaku doesn't do bows. He trains with a sword."
Lelouch watched Suzaku fiddle with an arrow. Suzaku scratched his tousled hair, before knocking the arrow to the bow experimentally.
"I'm sure he won't harm you," Milly answered him, preparing to raise her microphone again. "But if, by some small chance, he misses, and shoots off a few strands of your hair, so it sticks up all funny for a couple weeks…" Lelouch could not imagine that fiasco. "…then it will serve you right for skipping meetings, Vice President. APPLE TIME~!"
Milly drew an apple from behind her back.
Golden Delicious, Lelouch's mind supplied – the part of his mind not mired in his horror. Weren't the apples in these situations typically meant to be shiny and crimson? Red apples made for brighter targets. It was autumn now, as well; the leaves on the tree Lelouch stood lashed to shimmered golden yellow – just like the leaf that had fallen and sat resting now upon his shoulder. Also, another leaf curled in his hair…. Lelouch shook his head to free it, trying not to make the motion wild.
If the apple was the same color as the leaves around Lelouch, then wouldn't the apple be harder to see? What if Suzaku aimed for a leaf instead, by accident?
That was assuming Suzaku could shoot well, even if he did manage to see like a hawk to the place he should aim for.
"Shirley," Milly called, throwing an arm out to the redhead, "can you do the apple honors? Nice and tight, now, to Lelouch's head."
Lelouch looked his classmate in the eye. "Shirley. Please change places with Suzaku."
Shirley held the apple aloft, hesitating. Lelouch noticed, to his dismay, that the kerchief she'd been told to use to secure the apple to his head was black.
It would blend with his hair. And the tree bark, a little.
This damn game was rigged. Lelouch had to escape.
"Suzaku is the better archer, Lelou." Shirley very gently placed the apple on his head.
"What do you mean, better? He's never done it!"
"I've never done it."
"Then—but—! Shirley. I trust you at a sport more than I trust him." Just because Suzaku possessed physical talents did not mean that he knew how best to employ them.
Shirley flushed, but under Milly's gaze, she began to tie the kerchief snug under his chin. The apple was a somber weight atop Lelouch's head. A crown of doom.
"I don't have the necessary, um… upper body strength to control a longbow. The President agreed. It's all right, Lelou." Shirley had almost completed her knot.
Lelouch noticed Rivalz riling up the crowd, tossing them candy. How dare they enjoy this? Lelouch had only a few precious seconds, before he might just lose an eye.
"Besides," said Shirley, "Suzaku is your friend. You trust your friends, don't you, Lelou? You trust him." Her tone said, You especially trust Suzaku. Was that jealousy that he detected?
Lelouch had no time to analyze it.
He tensed and swallowed. Trust Suzaku? Suzaku had ratted him out to the Student Council! Lelouch had been skipping meetings, to do work as Zero… but he'd still made time to invite Suzaku to dinner with Nunnally. This was how Suzaku repaid him? Putting Lelouch into Milly's sight, as a target for a reckless game of archery! And taking up the bow himself!
"Traitor," Lelouch breathed out, shaking. A far-distant Suzaku pulled his bowstring back and twanged it. Students cheered.
"You'll be okay, Lelou," Shirley told him.
Lelouch found her eyes. "Shirley. You know that this is dangerous." Don't leave me.
"We have medics on site," Milly announced, gesturing proudly at them. Lelouch felt himself go twice as pale. What good would medics do, if a sharp and feathered arrow found his throat? His shoulder? "Back away now, Shirley. Everyone? It's time to see if our champion archer is ready!"
"Champion of what?" Lelouch exclaimed. The apple wobbled on his head.
He watched Milly traverse the lawn, leaving him behind, helpless. Trapped. Shirley joined the edge of the crowd, far away now from Lelouch's influence. If only C.C. had come outside this time, he could have given her a signal. Surely she would have helped him. Wouldn't she? Was there a chance C.C. might still appear?
Lelouch wondered if he'd be given a warning. How long would Suzaku take to find his aim, once the bowstring was drawn back? Would Lelouch know when to freeze and shut his eyes?
What if his eyes never opened again? What if Suzaku killed him?
"N-Nunnally…."
His sister's name came shaking to his lips. Lelouch could see her, on Suzaku's end of things. He didn't mind that his little sister had chosen to support Suzaku instead. Perhaps… perhaps she'd help Suzaku to focus.
At least, no matter where Nunnally was, she wouldn't see the damage when Lelouch inevitably took it.
"Ready!" came Milly's loud call. Lelouch's heart pounded like tribal drums, reminding him that this game seemed plain barbaric. He would get dizzy, then he would be sick, then he'd possibly die here. Was this entertainment?
Or. Wait.
A ray of hope found him. Maybe Suzaku's arrow would fly so far off that its tip would burrow in the grass, away from him.
Lelouch laughed, a little madly. Would he have such luck? Could he hope for it? If Suzaku missed the apple, was it inevitable he'd hit Lelouch instead, or might he miss the tree completely?
What it came down to, Lelouch realized, was how badly Lelouch expected Suzaku to suck.
A lot? How much? No. The answer was clear. Suzaku would either be awful enough to miss and look purely foolish, or enough to make a more fatal mistake. One that Lelouch wouldn't recover from.
What would Nunnally do without him? What would the Black Knights do, robbed thusly of their leader, Zero?
He tried his bonds again. Still holding.
And Suzaku was taking aim.
"He's notched the arrow," Milly said. "Hold your breaths! Prepare to be amazed and dazed…."
"Suzaku." Lelouch whispered Suzaku's name. In the moment of stillness, he tried for eye contact. To plead. Please don't kill me. He wanted to live.
If Suzaku registered Lelouch's gaze, his emerald eyes weren't focused on it. He seemed as if he strained to see the apple. Lelouch couldn't reach him at this distance.
Suzaku pulled back the bow string. "Steady," Milly murmured. "Steady…."
Lelouch fought a plethora of thoughts. He hadn't yet helped Sayoko pick out a dress for Nunnally. They were all supposed to go to the opera tomorrow evening. He hadn't yet spoken to Kallen about that new tweak of the Gurren's. Suzaku with his bow looked elegant…. Lelouch hadn't tried that new ice cream flavor at the shop with Shirley like he'd promised. And... and how would his accomplice react to his death? Would C.C. take advantage of the confusion to buy endless pizza? Lelouch didn't want to die in his school uniform, either. How utterly common.
Suzaku with that bow now looked imposing. Oh god – he was pulling back the arrow farther.
"The moment is up to you now, champion," Milly whispered on the microphone. She slowly backed off from Suzaku, presumably to let him concentrate.
The entire crowd fell silent.
"Suzaku." Lelouch said, hoarse. He fancied he saw Suzaku suck in a breath.
Instinct told Lelouch that Suzaku would fire, milliseconds before Suzaku did so. He heard the angry, buzzing flight of the missile, and realized he squeezed his eyes tight.
Thud.
Lelouch shook, but made no sound. He felt the vibration tremor through the tree.
Then cheers erupted. Lelouch opened his eyes to see a group of the tree's leaves fluttering down in a curtain, shaken off their branches by the impact.
He let out his breath in a whoosh. Was anything injured? No. No. Gods of Geass….
Suzaku, Milly and Shirley ran toward him. Lelouch leaned forward – or tried to – but only choked on his next breath.
"Easy," said Suzaku, trotting up. "Lelouch, I'm sorry. I shot through the bandana also."
Ah. The kerchief was pinned to the tree. So Lelouch would keep choking, if he tried hard to pull away.
Suzaku was reaching up above his head, and suddenly he and Lelouch were quite close. Suzaku's chest blocked Lelouch's sight of the roaring crowd, and of grinning Milly also. Lelouch breathed some more, noting Suzaku's pleasing and yet sweaty scent. "You didn't kill me," he murmured.
"What?" Suzaku freed the arrow. It seemed to take him four or five breathless tugs. He fell back, dropped the arrow, and reached for Lelouch's kerchief next. "Of course not! Look at me, Lelouch."
Lelouch, still weak, found his friend's green eyes. Suzaku held half the golden apple in one hand, and the torn black kerchief in the other.
"How did you do it?" Lelouch asked it, sighing. "How did you manage? I didn't feel anything." Except, of course, for his gut-wrenching terror.
Suzaku appeared torn between freeing Lelouch of the ropes that still lashed him to the tree, or supporting Lelouch as he sagged further forward. "What do you mean? I'm the three-time longbow champion in the East Meets West Cross-Disciplinary Archery Contest."
"You're what?" Lelouch croaked out the question. He saw Shirley nodding, looking guilty, and Milly bent over while laughing her guts out.
Suzaku's gaze softened, and then he frowned. "They didn't tell you?" He glanced at the others.
"Rightful punishment!" wheezed Milly, still trapped in her giggling.
"Ah." Suzaku leaned in again. Lelouch – like a child woken from the heat of a nightmare and rescued – let his forehead fall on Suzaku's shoulder. "Hey. Just a minute, Lelouch. I'll untie you."
"You can shoot a longbow," Lelouch uttererd.
"It's not my favorite discipline. But yes. Hang on just a sec. You're still…." Suzaku's warm fingers worked hard on the knots.
"You learned archery, in all the years we didn't see each other."
Shirley said something, but Lelouch tuned it out. Suzaku smelled familiar, despite the new, foreign aspects of him Lelouch had only just become aware of. He turned his head in, to face Suzaku's neck.
"I learned a lot of things, but this was just a passing hobby. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of rusty." Suzaku fumbled with the ropes, and inched away from Lelouch's face. "Can you—"
"—not be dead weight? No. This all was terrifying."
A moment of silence passed. "It was mean of them," Suzaku decided, loud enough that he was overheard, "to let you think I'd do this if there was a chance I'd really hurt you."
Milly straightened. "It was in good fun."
Lelouch could feel Suzaku's stiff shoulders. Was it worth argument, after the fact?
Lelouch was simply glad to be alive. He felt his wrists come free of all the bindings.
Suzaku stepped away from him. "I'd never risk your life, Lelouch. Or Nunnally's, by risking yours." Lelouch just stared.
He supposed he should have known that.
"Lelou," said Shirley, above the crowd that had begun finally to disperse, "I didn't think we would scare you this much. I thought you'd trust Suzaku, so it wouldn't matter. I'm—"
"No need to apologize, Shirley." Lelouch regained some small semblance of himself, like a fern unfurling after a night storm. "I'm alive, and therefore perfectly capable of forgiveness. Can you fetch Nunnally to me? President, I hope this means I'm off the hook."
"Off the tree," Milly answered, and laughed, gesturing toward his fallen bonds. Lelouch took that as permission to ignore her.
"Lelouch," Suzaku said, softly. "You didn't trust me? You thought I would harm you?"
Lelouch massaged his aching wrists. Then he patted his head, checking for damaged hairs. He stretched himself, looking next at the ground.
Suzaku had dropped the black kerchief and the apple half he'd held. Now Lelouch found the other apple half. He picked it up.
"I know better than to doubt you now." The apple had been sliced cleanly. The seeds made up a star inside. "Only you would be capable of something as impressive as this."
Suzaku made a little sound. "Mn." Lelouch was not sure whether it was embarrassment, approval, agreement or uncertainty. Suzaku still looked stiff. Uncomfortable.
There was no need to acknowledge aloud that Suzaku had been nervous, too. No matter how good Suzaku was at shooting, there had still been a risk present. Lelouch had smelled the sweat on Suzaku's skin, the evidence of Suzaku's trepidation and his realization of it.
He was glad that 'rusty' had only resulted in the loss of one black kerchief.
It made Lelouch feel good to know that Suzaku balked at aiming arrows at him, too – even when certain they wouldn't do harm.
"Will you be all right now?" Suzaku asked him.
Lelouch brought the apple to his lips. "I don't think," he said around a juicy bite, "relief has ever tasted so delicious."
For a moment, Suzaku looked startled. His green eyes watched Lelouch gnawing the apple. Then he said, "This is a golden opportunity to experience it."