August 10, 2010. Britannia invaded Japan "today." Not a happy occasion, but important, so thus I wrote this quick drabble. I'm not sure how good it actually is, since I wrote it rather quickly, but enjoy anyways!

As usual, I do not own Code Geass or any of its characters!


Cicadas. The sound became the backdrop of my summer. Their noise was there nearly all of the time, filling the air and our ears with its distant noise.

The cicadas chirped like any other day. The sun shone, the leaves rustled, the birds sang. Like nothing was out of place. For nothing was out of place.

We were running through the trees, the sound of our feet hitting the earth mixing with that of the cicadas. I lagged behind and he smiled, shouting a good-natured taunt at me. I quickly returned the favor and we both ended up laughing away, smiles all around.

Nunnally had insisted on it, that we go out and have some fun without her. I tried to convince her that it didn't bother us, having to push her wheelchair, but she was resilient. In no time, Suzaku had pulled me out the door, with Nunnally waving cheerfully, encouraging my friend.

So there we were.

And before I knew it, I was enjoying myself. My worries, my fears… for the time being, were all disappearing into the wind, drowned out by the sound of chirping cicadas.

We ran and ran, laughing and talking, higher up into the forest, surrounded by the tall stalks of brilliant sunflowers, until a rock face began to come into view.

Suzaku charged ahead, shouting about the view from up there. I sped up, trying not to fall behind. He leapt up it without missing a single beat; I on the other hand struggled. He knew, and turned around, reaching his hand out as far as he could until he had a firm grasp on my hand, and then helped me up that rock face.

Such a little thing, such a small moment that now holds significance that I never predicted. Such innocence, such pure friendship. Yet at the same time, it was where our childhood ended, and this time it was for good.

We turned around, bent over and panting. Suzaku looked up first. I didn't need to look at his face to know something was wrong. I could feel it from him. And I could hear it in the distance. I looked up, and all of those worries came rushing back.

Britannian aerial forces.

There was another sound in the air. It wasn't cicadas.