Hey everybody! So, here's the deal. I've got a BUNCH of ideas for Code Geass fanfics, but NO time to write them. I've decided to publish the first chapter of 3 stories wondering around in my head and see how you guys respond to figure out how to proceed. If you like this story and want me to continue it in the near future, please follow, Favorite, or at least leave a review. It you think I need to hang this up for a while and focus on other stories, don't do anything. If you are interested in adopting this story or being a co-author so I'm not doing all the work, please PM me. Here's the catch: I only plan on focusing on one of the three fics I'm putting up today if I'm going at it alone. If you want more info on this or the other stories I am planning, check out my profile under the "Code Geass" part of "Future Stories."
Also, additional info on this story: It is very character heavy, with both Cannon characters and next-gen OCs. This chapter wasn't able to show as many of the characters as I'd like, so just warning you that there are a lot of other people that haven't been introduced yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass
"Naoto Stadtfeld, please read the next few paragraphs of the reading."
"Yes sir," the 17 year old student with black hair and violet eyes replied, pulling himself out of his silent musings of the past. History was one of his least favorite subjects at Ashford Academy, primarily because reading about ancient kings and wars reminded him of his personal history. It certainly didn't help matters that the class was currently discussing that particular event he most desperately wanted to forget. Lazily he found hi s place on the page and began to read.
"After the mysterious death of the 98th emperor, Charles zi Britannia, the world was stunned by the sudden reappearance of the 11th prince and his even more sudden rise to power. Lelouch became the 99th emperor with the help of Emperor Charles's Knight of Seven, Suzaku Kurorugi. Almost immediately he began to launch drastic reforms including the stripping of the nobility of their positions in the hierarchy, the abolishing of the number system, and Kurorugi's unorthodox title Knight of Zero. Emperor Lelouch began recognizing the independence of certain areas, claiming that they '[had] been stripped of their pride and unique cultures, and therefore deserve the right to regain what they have lost'. The UFN quickly annexed these new, tiny countries and eventually allowed the Holy Britannian Empire to join them with the treaty of Tokyo during the 2nd year of Lelouch's reign. Britannia was required to give each separate area their own representative as well as merge its own military with the Black Knights (with a few exceptions). By the time he married Kallen Kouzuki, one of the oldest and most well-known Aces of the Black Knights, the Emperor had had very little actually power but the support of the masses."
A man, clothed in an elaborate white robe, smiled down at the children playing in the garden around him. A knight in matching white garments stood at attention to the side, his eyes both searching for potential threats and enjoying the children at their games. A woman in a black uniform sat on a bench next to the man in a white robe and entwined her fingers in his, enjoying the present company. They looked like opposites of each other, but that opposition seemed to fit together, like yin and yang. Everything was peaceful; no harm could come to this little sanctuary of family and friends.
Naoto blinked away the liquid memories in his eyes and continued reading. "13 years after the treaty of Tokyo, Prince Schneizel gathered former members of the Britanian Militiary who had refused to join the Black Knights and staged a coup-De-at to take the throne from his brother. The battle was brief, but bloody. Schneizel timed his attack perfectly; the majority of the Black Knights were gone to their base in Tokyo to honor the 15th anniversary of Zero's death. Schneizel's men were met with little resistance and quickly took Pendragon. Lelouch was publicly executed, and most of his supporters imprisoned. Schneizel took his place on the throne, and has reigned ever since."
Blood. Blood was everywhere. Splattered on the pristine white walls, staining the royal purple carpet, dripping from the corpses of guards. A young 10-year-old boy clutched his younger siblings, trying to both protect them from the murderers that stalked the halls and hide from them the horrors that he could not forget. They were huddled under an old, ornamented desk that was now destroyed with bullet holes and bloodstains. The 8 year old girl, usually rambunctious and impulsive, now sat frozen, clutching her brothers for support. A little 5 year old boy shivered, trying not to make any noise as his sobbed into his older brother's chest.
"Thank you, Naoto. You may sit back down."
Naoto released a breath he hadn't realized his was holding and set the book down, trying not to get to worried by the wrinkles in the textbook from where he had clutched it to tightly. He was starting to wish he hadn't come to class today. Then at least he would be free from these constant reminders of the worst day of his life as well as the government-sanctioned curriculum. Ever since Japan had been reconquered by Schneizel's Britania 5 years ago, the school had been forced to teach courses that slanted toward viewpoints that favored the Emperor. Naoto lost interest in the teacher's attempt to explain how Schneizel had done a good thing for the world and unwillingly drifted back to memories of the past.
The boy ran into his little brother, who stood frozen, unable to move from the delicately decorated pillar he had hidden behind. The older boy caught sight of what had shocked his younger sibling: a girl with the same face as the sister clutching his back lay on the ground with a bullet hole in her small scull and her killer standing over her. The older brother barely spared a moment to mourn his little sister before dragging his remaining siblings in a room where they might be able to achieve relative safety.
Naoto was saved from reliving more of his worst memories and listening to the teacher justify Shneizel's wonton murder by the bell. It rang through the halls like an alarm, interrupting the instructor's sentence.
The History teacher sighed and closed his book while his students gathered their belongings. "Read the rest of the chapter by tomorrow. And don't forget, your papers on the benefits of Britanian expansion in the late 20th century are due on Friday."
Naoto packed up his supplies and put them in his book bag, making a mental note to finish his paper tonight. He had already written it – well, a version of it anyway – but since it was full of personal opinions in direct opposition of the teacher's beliefs, it was going to need a lot of revising.
Before he left the classroom, Naoto checked the desk next to his to make sure the occupant was ready to go. It was a good thing he did, since his best friend Takeshi Nu was fast asleep, drooling on the textbook he was shamelessly using as a pillow.
Naoto gently nudged his friend. "Come on, Takeshi. We need to get to our next class."
The other boy groaned. "What's next again? All these dreary lectures blend together for me."
"Japanese," Naoto informed his friend curtly.
This caught Takeshi's attention. "Crap! Dad will kill me if I'm late again." He grabbed the textbook on his desk and his bag before dashing out the door and down the hall.
Naoto smirked and followed his best friend. The Nu family was an anomaly at the Ashford Academy. At one point, the Academy had made an effort to hire and enroll teachers and students from all ethnicities, but it was forced to rethink its policies in recent years. Although the occasional Japanese student wasn't that uncommon with all the scholarships available, Mr. Nu was the only remaining teacher who was of Japanese descent. According to Takeshi, the school Chairwoman refused to let go of such a talented teacher despite pressure from the school board, especially since the subject he taught was none other than his native language. Mrs. Nu, Takeshi's mom, was also a teacher at Ashford, and had supposedly been born in the Britanian Homeland. Naoto had always wondered how the marriage had worked out, especially since he knew they must have gotten married shortly after the independence of Japan.
Since Naoto wasn't looking where he was going, he didn't realize someone was about to run into him until he felt a female body collide with his own. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you were there…" Naoto started to apologize before he looked down and saw who he had unintentionally knocked down. "Shirley? Are you OK?"
Shirley Ashford rubbed her right elbow, apparently the part of her body that hurt the worst from her little tumble. "Ow! That was my funny bone!" She looked up at Naoto. "Why do they call it a funny bone anyway?"
Naoto shrugged. "Sorry, I have no idea." He noticed that several loose pieces of paper where scattered across the floor from where Shirley must have dropped them. He started to gather up and hand them to her. "Has your mom got you running errands for the school office again?"
Shirley nodded. Her mother was the Chairwoman of Ashford Academy. Since Mrs. Ashford also worked at a prominent TV station to make sure the school wouldn't go bankrupt, a lot of the responsibilities that normally went to the Chairwoman were thrust on either the other staff or Shirley. Naoto sometimes wondered how his friend found time to do it all, since in addition to her mother's workload Shirley was heavily involved in both the Engineering Club and Student Council, the latter of which being where she knew Naoto from.
"Are you going to make it to the Student Council meeting tonight?" Naoto asked as he finished gathering the scattered papers.
Shirley smirked. "Of course. The Physics fair that we'll be organizing then was my idea after all." She grabbed the remaining papers in Naoto's hands. "By the way, how's your brother doing? Is he going to be well enough to participate in the meeting?"
"It's one of his better days," Naoto answered. "He has been working on all the schoolwork he missed when he was bed-ridden last week, and I think he'll want to come just to get out of his room."
Shirley nodded. It was well known across campus that Rolo Stadtfeld, younger brother to Naoto and Yuki Stadtfeld, had delicate health. This was the reason why the Chairwoman had given the siblings special permission to stay in the Student Council clubhouse rather than the dorms, since the siblings needed to be able to care for their younger brother. There were a lot of theories the students held about how the 12 year old had gotten such a condition, ranging from being born prematurely to recovering from a refrain overdose. The school records said that had been hurt in the accident that had claimed their parents' lives, but even that wasn't the whole truth.
The younger boy was running as fast as his little legs could carry him, running away from the terrors, the soldiers, the images of his beloved older sister bleeding out on the ground. His two remaining older siblings were chasing after him, calling out his name, urging him to stop and wait. But the younger boy only knew he needed to get AWAY as fast as possible, and as such didn't notice the oncoming explosion until he was thrown against a marble pillar with shrapnel digging into his chest.
"Naoto? Earth to Naoto Stadtfeld?"
Naoto shook himself out of memory land again. "Oh, sorry. Just zoned out for a bit. What were you saying again?"
Shirley sighed. "I said, don't you have class or something to get to?" As if to reaffirm her point, the one-minute bell rang through the hall.
"Uh, yeah. Guess I do. See you at the meeting tonight, Shirley!" Naoto bolted down the almost empty hallway and managed to barely get through the door by the time the final bell rang.
"Perfect timing, Mr. Stadtfeld," Kaname Nu commented.
Naoto sighed. "Sorry, Sensei." Due to the presence of both Mr. and Mrs. Nu, a lot of students had created nicknames to distinguish between them easier in usual conversation. Most of them where variations on racial slurs and weren't ever actually used in class, but Naoto felt like Sensei was appropriate for his Japanese teacher. Apparently, Mr. Nu didn't mind since he hadn't ever chastised Naoto for calling him that.
Naoto took his seat toward the front of the class next to Takeshi. Despite his usual tardiness and tendency to skip lessons, Naoto was one of Mr. Nu's prize students. This was most likely due to the fact that he, unlike most of his fellow classmates, had been taught to appreciate the Japanese culture by his mother. Of course, nobody except Naoto and his siblings were aware of this fact. Everyone else just assumed that his interest in Japanese came from his close relationship with Takeshi.
Mr. Nu opened his book and started to teach the class. Naoto took notes, but his heart really wasn't in it. His mind was still lost in the past, where dark memories plagued him. Every time he was forced to relive his past was like this. No matter what he did, Naoto would never be able to change what had happened back then, and the way things were going, he wouldn't be able to change the future either. As much as he wanted to, he just didn't have the power to do anything significant.
Unknown to the students at work in Ashford Academy, a young, green-haired woman looked over the campus and lightly smirked. "So, this is where you've been hiding little Prince. You certainly take after you Father, Naoto."
There you go! Please remember to Follow, Faovorite, or Review if you are interested in seeing more of this in the future. And go check out the other two stories that are in this contest: Son of a Demon and the Demon Prince.