When Suzaku Kururugi, Japan's greatest traitor, Britannia's Shinigami, was dragged in chains to the Ikaruga, the Black Knights cheered. With him out of the way, it was smooth and straightforward to rescue the Tianzi from her forced marriage, and use her (through Kaguya's friendly manipulation) to form an alliance with the Chinese Federation.
The Eunuchs fought against it, temporarily, but the army rallied behind Xingke, and the people rallied behind their Empress, and it was a done deal by the next morning.
With the Britannians having made their escape, and China dealing with a bureaucratic overhaul, the Black Knights had some downtime. Zero, still standing tall despite the fatigue he must have felt after working for over thirty hours straight, announced that he would be available only for emergencies ("Real emergencies, Tamaki") for the next ten hours, and retired to his chambers.
After asking for Suzaku Kururugi to be sent to them.
Kallen and Ougi shared a concerned look as Diethard stepped up. "Zero, not to be too obvious, but do you think it's a good idea to be alone with a Knight of the Round?"
Zero hesitated, his body language oddly uncertain. He must have been more tired than he seemed.
"I need to speak with Suzaku before I can rest. Restrain him however you feel you must, but send him to me."
It was unmistakably an order. Kallen stepped forward. "I'll see to it, Zero." His safety was her main concern, as captain of his guard.
Ougi grabbed Kallen's arm before she could go, pulling her aside as Zero left. "Kallen, are you sure…"
"Not at all," Kallen admitted. "But an order's an order." Zero – Lelouch – had gambled on Suzaku before, and his gambles almost always paid off. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that he's safe."
Ougi still looked uncertain, but let her go. There were more than a few ex-military and ex-policemen in the Black Knights, and most of them knew how to restrain prisoners properly. Kallen grabbed one of the better ones and took him down to the prisoner's hold, watching Suzaku carefully as he was cuffed with his hands behind his back and his ankles shoulder-width apart, his wrists connected to his ankle cuffs by a chain that was pulled taut whenever he flexed his arms even a little.
It would have to be enough.
"Zero would like to see you," Kallen said.
Suzaku's eyes, blank and emotionless up until that point, flared with something. "Oh, would he?"
"If you hurt him, I'll kill you."
Suzaku laughed, and it sounded oddly bitter. "Oh, Kallen. If I wasn't planning on it before, you might have just sweet-talked me into it."
The Black Knight restraining him grabbed Suzaku by the hair and yanked his head back. "Watch your tongue, traitor." Suzaku's eyes glittered angrily, but he didn't answer back. Kallen jerked her head towards the door, indicating that they should bring the prisoner to Zero.
"You had your chance, in Japan," Kallen said. "That's the only reason I'm allowing this. I don't think you actually want… Zero dead."
Suzaku glared. "You don't know me that well. I'm not the same person who was willing to listen to your justifications, who was willing to bend the rules after I found out you were a Black Knight. I've changed, Ms. Stadtfeld. And so, I think, have you."
"So has he," Kallen said softly.
Suzaku just shook his head. "Take me to him, then."
Their route was strewn with gawking Black Knights, whispering anxiously after them. Kallen knew a little of Lelouch and Suzaku's history – more from C.C. than from Lelouch – and even she wasn't sure what good could possibly come of this.
Before she let Suzaku into Lelouch's room, she did a quick sweep. The room was neat; bed made, minimal clutter; but there were still more than a few items that could be used as weapons. It made her nervous.
"Zero, are you sure…"
Zero nodded sharply. "Leave him here. Thank you, Kallen."
An order was an order. Kallen let Suzaku go and backed out of the room.
After the first hour, she was joined by Toudou and Ougi. "He's still in there?"
Kallen nodded. "I haven't heard anything, and the door isn't soundproof. The first sign of conflict…" She brandished her gun, alert and prepared. Toudou nodded approvingly, but Ougi still looked worried.
"I remember when Zero tried to rescue Kururugi before. There's bad blood there."
"You have no idea," Kallen muttered under her breath. When Toudou and Ougi both turned towards her, she forced a smile. "Do either of you know where C.C. might be?"
Ougi frowned, looking even more concerned. "She was in the mess. Do you think Zero needs her?"
"I don't think… I don't know how much help she would be," Kallen admitted. It wasn't as if C.C. could protect Lelouch from a Suzaku determined to kill him. Sure, she could take a bullet for Lelouch, but Suzaku wouldn't stop there if he really meant business.
Toudou looked towards the closed door to Zero's quarters. "I know Zero wasn't to be disturbed for anything other than an emergency, but perhaps a short interruption…"
Both Kallen and Ougi were shaking their heads, for different reasons. Kallen knew there was a chance Lelouch had unmasked himself to talk with Suzaku. While Ougi… "Zero doesn't take well to interpretations of his orders." …he'd been on the wrong side of Zero before for taking unasked-for initiative when Zero had been unable to relay changes to his orders.
"Give him more time," Kallen said. "There's no excuse to barge in now. If we hear something, on the other hand…"
Within the next hour, more and more people trickled in. Diethard, then Xingke, then Kaguya, and even Tamaki.
"What could they be talking about?" Kaguya asked curiously after the two-hour mark.
"Philosophy," Kallen suggested wryly.
"I don't like it," Diethard, who didn't like anything he didn't know everything about, said.
"Me neither," said Tamaki who was, Kallen would swear it, totally jealous.
Xingke didn't say anything, but his silence was foreboding, especially considering he essentially controlled the Chinese army.
Finally, C.C. showed up. "Suzaku's still in there?"
"Yup," Kaguya said cheerfully. "Going on three hours now."
"Huh." Before Kallen or anyone could do anything, C.C. opened the door, revealing their presence outside Zero's rooms to Suzaku and Zero.
Who was masked, fortunately. Kallen breathed out a sigh of relief.
It was only then that she noticed how mussed Suzaku's hair looked, how rumpled the front of his uniform was (and Zero's costume), and how flushed his face was.
"Am I interrupting something?" C.C. asked apathetically, moving past them without waiting for an answer.
Suzaku swallowed and his face returned to its natural colour.
Zero waved at Suzaku, turning away to follow C.C. "I'm done with him. Take him back to his cell."
Suzaku didn't wait for an escort, storming out of the room and forcing Toudou and Xingke to follow him to make sure he got to the prison without any untoward delays.
Kallen stared at the door as it closed in her face. There was no way… There had to be some other explanation. That couldn't have been what it looked like. Sure, if Zero had still been some anonymous mysterious man, but he wasn't; he was Lelouch. And Lelouch would never… Suzaku would never… They wouldn't ever…
And not with each other!
She looked up at Ougi who was carefully looking at everything and anything but her. His cheeks were tinged pink as well. Kallen felt her stomach turn at the realization that those same thoughts were running through Ougi's brain as well. Suddenly, she couldn't bring himself to look at him either.
"Uwah," Kaguya said, sounding impressed. "Three court ladies aren't enough for the intrepid Zero! If this doesn't prove his incredible virility, I don't know what would."
Kallen only then realized she was blushing, as her body tried to blush harder and found it physiologically impossible. Kaguya was completely shameless!
"I don't get it. What's everyone going on about? C'mon someone spill!"
And Tamaki was completely clueless.
At least that was a nice constant.
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The next day, Zero busied himself with meetings all morning, and left orders that Kururugi was to be relieved of his Britannian uniform. He didn't leave any instructions about what he was to be offered instead, only that he wasn't to be forced into anything until Zero had the opportunity to speak with him.
Which left Diethard with some interesting options. His personal preference was to dress Kururugi in the Black Knight's uniform. But there would be more than one Black Knight who wouldn't get the mockery, and would feel that Diethard (or, even worse, Zero) was elevating the Honourary Britannian to the level of Japanese.
Diethard had left before Zero had sent Kururugi back to his cell, but not much happened that didn't make its way through the grapevine to Diethard's ears. He heard the rumours that Zero's interests in Kururugi were somewhat broader than merely strategic, but he didn't put much weight behind them. Zero was driven, a force of nature. He wouldn't allow something so base and sentimental as lust to distract him.
But showing Kururugi anything that looked like favour was a bad idea. Still, the idea had so much appeal to Diethard, that he decided to leave it up to the prisoner himself. The uniforms of the Black Knights were more comfortable and would fit better than the prison garb, but the choice would rest with Suzaku Kururugi, setting the boy knight up for mockery no matter what he chose.
The first thing, of course, was getting him out of his current uniform.
"If Zero wants me naked, he should be man enough to make it happen himself."
Diethard didn't smile. No matter how funny it was, even funnier because Kururugi seemed genuinely peeved and serious about it.
"Zero's orders are clear. If you won't remove your uniform yourself, I'll have it removed for you."
Kururugi's eyes dared him. Diethard sighed. What a child.
The cell was gassed, and fifteen minutes later two guards entered and securely chained a weakly struggling Suzaku. He was still conscious, and still able to fight back enough that simply undressing him wouldn't work. Under Diethard's watchful gaze, they cut off the top layers of his uniform, leaving just his underwear.
One of the guards looked questioningly at Diethard who hesitated, then shook his head. This wasn't supposed to be (so obviously) about humiliation. The underwear could stay.
The guards gathered up the mostly white rags that had once been a proudly-worn, hard-earned symbol of Kururugi's station. There were some shallow nicks on Suzaku's skin where the guards had been less than perfectly careful, but otherwise, he looked fine. A little woozy, but fine.
Diethard placed the two outfits he'd selected in the cell and the guards carefully unbound the prisoner and slipped out before Suzaku fully awoke. Zero was due to visit soon, and Diethard was hoping that he'd still be around to watch, to assess the accuracy and validity of the rumour mill.
Either way, he'd do what he could to squash the rumours before they spread too far. No matter how Zero chose to entertain himself, Diethard was dedicated to his reputation.
Suzaku gave a long, slow blink, and then looked at the piles of clothes. "What is…" Only then did he see how bare he was. He flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react to cover himself up. "Were your orders to drug me?"
"No. Drugging you was just necessary to following my orders," Diethard said. "Now you're out of your uniform. The next step, of course, is dressing before Zero comes."
Suzaku, oblivious to any innuendo or double meaning scowled. "Let him come."
Diethard had to admit, his lips twitched at that one. "He'll be here any minute now."
"I'm not putting on anything that marks me as his prisoner or as one of his people," Suzaku snapped. "And if you force anything like that on me, I'll find a way to tear it off."
Diethard sighed. "Very well." It wasn't his problem if Suzaku was desperate to appear naked and vulnerable in front of Zero. In fact, there was a significant part of Diethard that was interested in seeing what came of that.
Zero was slightly late, no surprise considering the heavy weight of the negotiations he was engaging in, and Diethard had a moment's regret (sort of) when Zero saw Suzaku standing next to nude in his cell, and stopped dead in his tracks.
Torn between wishing he'd warned Zero and longing to see his face in that moment, Diethard stepped forward. "My Lord Zero, as you can see, the prisoner has selected a third option from the two I gave him."
Zero nodded at Diethard before turning from him, towards Suzaku. "Suzaku…"
"I'm not your freaking pet."
"No."
Zero opened the cell and moved towards it. Diethard felt his heart jump into his throat. "Zero, you shouldn't – he's dangerous and irritated…"
Suzaku glared at Diethard and took a step towards him, held back by Zero's hand pressing firmly against one of his pectorals, just to the side of his nipple. The touch of the leather seemed to calm Suzaku, and he relaxed, letting his arms fall to his side as Zero slipped into the cell.
"The uniform would suit you."
"I'll find a way to burn it off."
Zero laughed, warm and amused, and Diethard realized his hand was still resting lightly on Suzaku's chest. "I'm sure you would."
Suzaku slapped away Zero's hand. "I'm serious. You can't expect me to act as anything other than I am – a Britannian noble, with no family to ransom me, looking for any opportunity to escape."
"I'm not asking you to act as anything other than what you are – a captured soldier, given to your enemies by your royalty, struggling for some kind of dignity."
Zero placed his hand on Suzaku again, his shoulder this time, in a seemingly less intimate gesture. Until he leaned in, and Diethard thought for a second (despite the mask, despite Suzaku's expression of wary distain, despite the utter inappropriateness of it) that Zero was about to kiss Suzaku. His body language was dominant, but yearning, while Suzaku's was permissive but guarded. A kiss, an earlobe nip, a grope – they all seemed possible, and any of them seemed imminent.
But Zero just spoke again, low enough that Diethard couldn't hear him. Suzaku flushed at something Zero said. "Why would you bring that up now?"
"Suzaku," Zero said, chidingly, and then continued too quietly for Diethard to overhear again. Suzaku looked a cross between embarrassed and annoyed, but he finally nodded, and Zero pulled away.
"I'll be right back."
Diethard hung around after Zero left, watching Suzaku pace his cell, clearly mentally going over his conversation with Zero in his head, restless and fretting.
"What did he say?" Diethard asked.
Suzaku's head snapped up. "None of your business."
Diethard laughed, as if that didn't bother him. Zero would never tell if there was no reason to spread it around, so the odds of Diethard ever finding out, if Suzaku wasn't going to tell him, was close to… Well. Zero.
When Zero returned, he was carrying another set of clothes, dark but not the Black Knight's uniform. The pants were dark grey and there was a short leather jacket that was a deep red. Only the shirt, sleeveless, was black.
Suzaku took one look at the clothes and snorted. "You leant these to Kallen. I've seen pictures."
"Then you know they're not unflattering," Zero said calmly, opening the cell again to hand Suzaku the clothes. Suzaku looked momentarily nostalgic before his expression hardened again and he dressed quickly and efficiently.
Well, as best he could. The pants fit well enough, just a little tight just below the waist, but the shirt was nearly skin-tight, straining against his pectoral muscles, and he couldn't even put the jacket on over his broad shoulders.
He looked… young. Like the seventeen or eighteen (Diethard would have to recheck his notes) years old he was.
Zero made a soft noise of approval as Suzaku smoothed a hand down the front of his chest. "Acceptable?"
"Could be worse," Suzaku allowed, raising his head to try to meet Zero's gaze, despite the mask, his hand slowly moving lower and lower…
Diethard nearly choked on the sexual tension in the room. He made a mental note to squash those rumours as quickly as possible, because they seemed to be even worse than envious slander.
They appeared to be nothing more than the truth.
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If it didn't have gears and an engine of some kind, Rakshata generally ignored it. But Suzaku Kururugi was one of the parts that made Lloyd's Lancelot such a brilliant Knightmare, and she couldn't help but have some curiosity.
So far, she was unimpressed. He'd managed nothing more than changing clothes and starring in rumours since he'd been captured. He must have been a great pilot, to turn Lloyd's monstrosity into a viable Knightmare, but Britannia had a dozen Knightmares modeled off the Lancelot that required only excellent devicers, not superlative ones. He was an outdated part, a museum piece. No wonder Prince Schneizel had been willing to barter him to Zero.
And, if the rumours were even partially correct, no wonder Zero had taken his offer. And his king.
At first, Rakshata had dismissed the rumours as unimportant, if not improbable. But she hadn't seen Zero and Kururugi together personally, and didn't particularly care to.
And now she was. And, outdated part and unimportant rumours aside, watching them together was entertaining.
Zero acted like he couldn't believe Kururugi was really there. Apparently, Kururugi had sworn some kind of oath that Zero trusted, and was allowed to walk unrestrained, as long as he was by Zero's side (and close to Zero's bodyguards). But seeing him didn't seem to be enough for Zero; he needed to touch him whenever possible, a hand on Kururugi's arm, his shoulder, and on one memorable moment, his hip.
It was possessive and clingy at the same time, and Kururugi suffered through it (on the rare occasions he noticed it consciously) with amused distain. It was obvious which way desire flowed in their relationship.
What had started as entertainment turned into a potential problem when Zero sat in the command seat of the Ikaruga.
There was no chair beside him, and Suzaku, whether he stood beside or behind the chair, seemed to loom threateningly over Zero.
Apart from the issue with the optics, the position had the potential to push Kururugi over the edge of his restraint and towards actually attacking Zero. He'd be dead before he got very far, true, but it was a risk that no one felt comfortable taking.
There were a few moments of consultation between Zero and Zero's guards and Kururugi. Kallen seemed awkwardly emphatic, while Kururugi held himself apart from the discussion as if it didn't concern him.
The conclusion had Kururugi kneeling beside the chair, the position hitching his shirt up just over the waist of his pants, exposing a line of skin.
His position was far less imposing now. If anything, Rakshata would have called it demeaning. But he tolerated it well, with as much grace as a resentful captive could, until Zero, in a moment of distraction, reached out and stroked his hair.
Rakshata watched as Kururugi tensed, seemingly pulled between leaning into the gentle touch and flinching away. As Zero's gloved hand settled on the back of his neck, Kururugi relaxed and let it happen.
If it didn't have gears and an engine of some kind, Rakshata generally ignored it. But Suzaku Kururugi, like Kouzuki Kallen, was an exception because he was an integral part of a system that couldn't function without him, like any essential part. Zero, on the other hand, was only an exception during exceptional moments, such as approving experimental additions to the Kightmares and promising India's liberty.
This counted as an exceptional moment. More than entertained, Rakshata was edified.
This explained so much. Zero was likely Britannian, given the areas he was able to worm himself into, but he worked tirelessly, producing miracle after miracle for the Japanese. If he was doing it out of a sense of love (if unrequited) towards a Japanese boy, that gave him a legitimate motivation.
It was better than Rakshata's current guess at Zero's motivation, that he was using the Japanese for some political ends of his own.
There was a strange familiarity with which Kururugi accepted Zero's touches, though. Maybe it wasn't so unrequited…
Rakshata wasn't one for the rumour mill, and kept her non-mechanical opinions to herself, but even she was beginning to suspect there was something between Zero and his captive.
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It had taken three days, but word of Zero's infatuation finally penetrated through the ranks of the Black Knights and into Tamaki's thick skull.
At first, Tamaki simply hadn't believed it. Zero had his woman, and Kaguya, and maybe even Kallen. What could he possibly want with a treacherous Brit dog like Suzaku Kururugi?
But the evidence was undeniable. Zero had tried to rescue the ungrateful brat before he'd even formed the Black Knights, and now he was treating him like a favoured pet. Tamaki snorted into his cup of tea – not so much a Britannian dog now. More like Zero's dog.
Even with that clear evidence of favour, Tamaki wasn't at first sure why everyone (especially the girls) thought that Zero was in love-love with Suzaku. Yeah, he made Suzaku trail after him everywhere he went and, if the rumours were right, he was dressing Suzaku in his cast-off clothes. But that didn't mean anything necessarily. And, yeah, he seemed to be unable to stop touching Suzaku, but none of the touches were sexual or romantic. And, yeah, alright, he spent more time with Suzaku than with any member of the Black Knights, including that woman of his, but…
But.
Zero and his new entourage – Suzaku and the two guards who were necessary because of Suzaku – entered the mess. Zero picked up two plates and passed one to Suzaku. "The main courses for supper are pork and a noodle-vegetable dish. Which would you prefer?"
"Doesn't matter," Suzaku said, apathetic, as if being allowed out and eating the same food as the Black Knights, ya know, those guys who hadn't betrayed Japan, who fought for Japan and the Japanese people, didn't mean anything. Zero just chuckled and started filling both plates with food, as if Suzaku's ungrateful attitude didn't bug him.
It bugged Tamaki.
"Zero, if I might have a moment…" One of the Chinese soldiers approached Zero, appropriately humble, and whispered something in his ear. Zero nodded once and turned to Suzaku and his guards.
"This should just take a moment. I'll be right back." The guards nodded, Suzaku didn't react in any way. Zero reached out and touched his arm. "Be sure to eat something."
Suzaku looked away. Zero let him go and left, leaving Suzaku alone with the two guards and two plates of food.
None of the guards moved towards the plates, keeping their hands free to deal with Suzaku if necessary. Tamaki approved. Suzaku picked up both plates and brought them to a table, sitting down and ignoring everyone around him as he sullenly started eating.
That was more than Tamaki could take. He stood, abandoning his tea, and marched over to Suzaku's table.
"Oi, brat."
Suzaku ignored Tamaki, much as he ignored Zero and anything else he didn't want to notice, and kept on eating.
Tamaki slammed his hands on the table. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." Suzaku continued to ignore him, but there was something in the way that he held himself that reminded Tamaki of something, from before the Black Knights even. "Hey, you're that guy from Shinjuku, after the battle. The one who stopped me from teaching those Britannian kids a lesson." Suzaku continued to ignore him, but Tamaki was certain now. "Yeah, you were with that girl…" Suzaku flinched, the first reaction he'd shown. Tamaki grinned and leaned in. "That pretty little Britannian girl. You were showing off for her, like a dog doing tricks. Did it work? Did she spread 'em for you?"
Suzaku stopped eating. Tamaki was in the middle of congratulating himself for getting a reaction, when Suzaku turned on him, with eyes that burned with some kind of repressed emotion, hidden behind a thin veneer of calm. "Don't talk about her."
Ha! Suzaku had a Britannian girlfriend! This would show everyone that those rumours were false. "Aww, whazza matter? Miss her?" Tamaki snorted. "'Snot like that makes you special or anything. Lotsa guys here have girls back home, waiting for them. They'd be with them now if we hadn't had to leave Japan in exi–"
In a single smooth motion, Suzaku dropped his cutlery, stood up, and punched Tamaki in the face.
The fight was brief but ferocious. Tamaki wasn't completely flat-footed, and he'd been raring for a fight (verbal, not physical, but whatever) from the moment Suzaku walked into the mess. He got in two (three, if you counted the grazing kick) good shots, while Suzaku blacked his eye, broke his nose, bruised at least a couple of ribs, and knocked the wind out of him.
He remembered that too, from Shinjuku. Suzaku was good at close-quarters combat.
Things could have gotten more serious – Suzaku didn't seem like he intended to stop at any time, and Tamaki wasn't one to stay down – if the guards hadn't done their jobs and interfered, tranquilizing Suzaku with what seemed to Tamaki to be a massive dose of drugs before he went down.
Tamaki's blood sang in his veins. Knightmares aside, it had been a ridiculously long time since he'd gotten into a good, old-fashioned brawl. He stood over the unconscious Suzaku, holding his side to protect his bruise ribs, and crowed.
"Take that, Brit-lover."
"Sir," one of the guards said. "What are your orders?"
Ah, right. As the highest-ranking Black Knight, Tamaki was making the calls now.
"Take him back to his cell," Tamaki said, his commanding voice only slightly muffled by hand staunching the bleeding from his nose. The guards immediately moved to follow his orders, hoisting Suzaku up by his well-dressed shoulders.
Tamaki followed them, thinking up more orders. "When we get to his cell, strip him." It bugged Tamaki that Suzaku was wearing Zero's old clothes. "And keep him chained, just in case." Zero had a tendency to enter Suzaku's cell, and better safe than sorry.
The one thing Tamaki had forgotten, in the chaos of suddenly being in charge, was to leave a message to let Zero know where his pet had been taken. Even so, it only took a few minutes from the time Suzaku was stripped and chained and locked in his cell, only just barely waking up from the sedation, for Zero to arrive.
He took one look (albeit a long one) at Suzaku before turning to Tamaki. "Explain what happened."
"I was reminiscing about our past, and your pe… prisoner decided to turn rabid."
"Euphy…"
Zero turned sharply at the slurred moan from Suzaku, his entire body tensing. "Was that all?"
"Yeah," Tamaki insisted. "That's all that happened. He's feral, Zero, ya shouldn't trust him at all."
"Is that true?" Zero asked, now clearly addressing Suzaku. Tamaki wasn't sure why he was bothering; Suzaku had taken enough tranquilizers to numb a horse. Two horses. There was no way he was going to respond in any meaningful way.
"Talked about Euphy. About girls waiting at home. About being special…"
"I see." Zero moved towards the cell. "You're still stuck on that."
Suzaku shook his head, as if to clear it, and strained against his chains, the metal of the cuffs indenting his wrists and ankles where it dug in. "You expect me to let that go?" His voice was a little slurred, but only a little, as if he was mildly drunk rather than tranqued up.
"I expect you to move on," Zero said, resting one hand against the outside of the cell. "With me."
"I don't want you," Suzaku snapped.
Zero chuckled. "And yet where would you be without me? You'd still be a private in the Britannian army, helping to keep Elevens in line. Or dead. You need me, Suzaku, you've always needed me, since the day we met. The yin to your yang, the side opposite yours of our coin. I helped make you into what you are today."
"A prisoner?" Suzaku demanded, releasing the tension on his chains only to let them rattle in emphasis.
"My prisoner," Zero corrected. "And didn't I treat you better than Britannia when they had you." Zero's hand folded into a fist where it was pressed against the cell. "They don't have you anymore, Suzaku. I have you now."
He turned away, abrupt and harsh, walking with clipped, staccato steps to the door, before pausing.
"And I'm not letting you go."
Suzaku groaned, and the sound sent shivers (oddly nice ones) down Tamaki's spine. Sweat had beaded just above his lip as he watched Suzaku and Zero, and his pants felt just a little too tight.
Maybe he had to offer the girls an apology. It seemed they were right after all.
After he took a… side trip to the bathroom.
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As a teacher, Ougi had witnessed several demeaning pranks kids played on each other. Many of the other teachers had counselled him to let 'boys be boys', but there were limits, and Ougi didn't mind being that hardass teacher who made sure those limits were adhered to.
Seeing Suzaku Kururugi, not much older than the students Ougi had taught, naked and chained in his cell had worried Ougi more than he wanted to admit. After asking around, he found out that it had been Tamaki's order (not overly surprising) and that Zero knew of and condoned the treatment. Which was more surprising.
Ougi had always thought that Zero had more honour and maturity than that.
To his credit, Zero listened patiently as Ougi expressed his misgivings over keeping an adolescent chained in his cell without the simple dignity of clothing, no matter how rude he'd been, or how many of Tamaki's ribs had been bruised. If beating Tamaki was enough to warrant that kind of punishment, the cells would be full of naked Black Knights.
Zero hadn't laughed at that, but he had made a choked, stifled sound that could have been suppressed laughter or agreement.
The next day, Ougi was pleased to see Suzaku out and about again, at Zero's side, albeit in chains.
He smiled and nodded to Zero as he passed, not wanting Suzaku to know who had advocated for him, but wanting Zero to know that he appreciated being listened to.
Chiba stopped him just as Zero passed, a gentle hand on his arm. "You look happy."
Ougi flushed. "I just didn't like seeing Kururugi treated that way."
Chiba snorted. "Another way in which you differ from our fearless leader." Ougi frowned, perplexed. "Haven't you noticed; the way Zero acts around Kururugi, the way Kururugi acts around him?"
"Yes…" Ougi said, shaking his head as Chiba shook hers. "No?"
"No," Chiba confirmed. "It's game between them, with Zero setting limits and Kururugi pushing them. And it's a game they've clearly played before. Zero didn't leave Kururugi chained and naked in his cell out of casual cruelty, or because Tamaki set it up and he didn't want to undermine Tamaki's authority." Both Chiba and Ougi smirked a little at that thought of Tamaki having enough authority to undermine. "He did it because he was asserting his dominance. It was what he wanted, and he made sure that Kururugi understood that that was what mattered."
Ougi had noticed that Suzaku had looked rather sullen, like a sulky child who had been reprimanded.
"Zero got a lot of concessions out of him before he allowed him out. The chains, his constant supervision, those clothes…"
"What's wrong with his clothes?" Ougi asked. They had seemed perfectly normal to him.
Chiba laughed. "It's a phys-ed uniform. Short-shorts and a tight white t-shirt. He's allowed Suzaku to dress, but only in pseudo-fetish gear."
A gym uniform? Fetish gear? Sometimes Ougi wondered if he was the only normal person in the Black Knights.
"Besides," Chiba continued, "he's won even more suggestive concessions from Kururugi. I hear he's made Kururugi accompany him to the bathroom, and he plans to chain him to his bed while he sleeps."
Ougi couldn't believe that. "I don't think Zero sleeps with his mask on."
Chiba looked at him, her expression rather exasperated. "Kururugi knows Zero's secret identity. He'd have to, they have way too much history together." Her voice grew more excited as she spoke. "Toudou-sama knew Kururugi as a young child, and his father kept him isolated, he wasn't close with anyone. Kururugi must have met Zero after the invasion, probably in the military. I bet he's a transplanted Number from one of Britannia's more placid and accepting Areas, and he couldn't take it, so he came to Japan to reignite our fighting spirit."
It wasn't the most ridiculous rumour Ougi had heard (the most ridiculous being that Zero was an estranged Britannian prince or one of Charles's bastards, lashing out at his unjust family) but it was up there. Even if that explained Zero's strategic mind, and his willingness to see the Japanese as more than mere Numbers, his desire to see them free and autonomous.
Even so… "I still doubt it."
"Suit yourself," Chiba said. "But it's as obvious as the afro on your head. Kururugi and Zero aren't enemies. They're something far more intense."
Chiba's words tickled the back of Ougi's mind for the rest of the day. Indeed, he saw himself that Zero wouldn't let Suzaku out of his sight, even when he went to relieve himself, and that Suzaku occasionally shifted uncomfortably in the slightly too small, too tight clothes, making his chains rattle musically.
He also saw how most of the female Black Knights, and more than a handful of the males, flushed and averted their eyes after staring a little too intensely at Suzaku in his new outfit.
Zero wasn't caressing Suzaku like he had been, keeping a steady distance between himself and his prisoner, leaving Suzaku alone and somewhat isolated. That had to be a good sign, unless he was delaying gratification for that night…
Great. Now Ougi was doing it too. He tried to push those thoughts out of his mind as he slept, but he couldn't quite manage it. When he woke up the next morning, poorly rested and earlier than he would normally rise, he immediately headed to Zero's rooms.
His nervous energy wasn't quite high enough for Ougi to do anything more than knock on Zero's door and wait, fidgeting, for an answer.
He breathed out, oddly relieved, when it was C.C. who opened the door. "Yes?"
"I just wanted to see Zero this morning," Ougi stammered out. "It can wait, sorry for…" C.C. opened the door further, and the words dried in Ougi's mouth.
Zero was sitting at a desk, not doing paperwork, as Ougi might have expected, but simply sitting, crosslegged, watching his bed.
Or, rather, the boy chained to the bed, leaning against the bedpost as he slept in what looked like an incredibly awkward position, his shirt riding up to expose his stomach and lower chest.
"Kururugi…" Ougi whispered, half in awe at the… artistic image in front of him, half in simple horror.
Suzaku slept on, while Zero finally looked up. "Ougi. Was there something you wanted?"
Ougi swallowed. "I didn't… what's going on here?"
Zero shrugged. "He could get on the bed if he wanted to. He's just being stubborn." He sounded fond, not at all upset.
"His… his lips are red…"
"He bites them in his sleep," Zero said, matter-of-fact. "Was that what you came to talk to me about?"
"No, not… do you have any idea how this looks?"
Zero looked at Suzaku again, and even with the mask on, Ougi could see him taking Suzaku in, from head to foot, and imagined Zero's eyes lingered on the faint trail of drool at the corner of Suzaku's mouth, the small motions of his muscles as he breathed, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly as he dreamed.
"Awkward? Uncomfortable?" Zero guessed, sounding less than certain. "You needn't worry; he's quite flexible. If you want, I promise to help him work out his kinks when he wakes up."
Ougi made a choked, near-strangled sound. Zero visibly cocked his head.
"Was there something else?"
"Why is he chained to your bed!?"
"So that he doesn't escape?" Now Zero sounded completely uncertain, like a student worried that their answer was too obvious to be the right one.
Ougi couldn't believe what he was hearing. If there had ever been a less convincing lie (and this from Zero, whose silver tongue was as much to credit for his success as his miracles) Ougi had yet to hear it. And he'd taught schoolchildren.
Still, there was no way of getting the truth, however obvious, however self-evident out of Zero through normal means.
Ougi gave up, made a strategic retreat, and considered his options. "Right. Of course. So-sorry for the interruption. I'll just let you… yeah. I'll leave now." He backed out of the room, unable to resist a final look at Suzaku, shifting awkwardly in his sleep to reveal a half-hard erection, before closing the door behind him.
So that he doesn't escape. What did Zero think he was, a fool? Naïve to a fault? Ougi was used to the hormones of teenaged boys (and girls, which could very easily be scarier) and he knew what was what. At least when presented with incontrovertible proof right before his eyes.
He needed to get Chiba, and whoever she might think knew about what Zero was doing. Ougi wasn't a fan of moving behind his leader's back, but sometimes it had to be done. There were limits, and Ougi knew it was more important now than ever, now that the Black Knights were gaining legitimacy, to ensure those limits were adhered to.
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There were more than a few regrets in Toudou's long life. The girls he'd left behind to pursue a military career, the men he'd lost, the men he'd killed. Absolutely every single thing to do with Suzaku Kururugi.
It had been heartbreaking and heartwarming to see his former student piloting the Black Knight's bane, the Lancelot, in service of Britannia. Toudou had feared Suzaku's spirit broken by what happened with his father, by being abandoned afterwards, by the burdens forced on him at a very young age.
But he hadn't been. He'd been changed, willing to work with Japan's oppressors, but he'd still had that inner strength, that drive that Toudou would have feared lost forever, if he'd let himself dwell on Genbu's son.
Now, as Zero's prisoner and possibly (probably) worse, that drive seemed to have waned.
He'd worried, but he hadn't felt like he could take action on his own. Not against Zero, the hero of the Japanese.
But he wasn't alone.
The group was small, but elite. Ougi had brought together enough Black Knight leaders that a full mutiny might break out if the rest of the Black Knights had to choose between them or Zero. Diethard, who was concerned about how this made Zero look; Kallen, who worried for Zero's safety (and, likely, sanity); Chiba who, like Toudou, couldn't stomach seeing a brave foe brought to this. Fewer than half a dozen, they were some of the oldest and most revered of the Black Knights.
And they all agreed on one thing: Suzaku Kururugi needed to go.
Yes, they'd be letting one of their most fierce opponents free, free to fight against them, maybe even setting up future failures. But the only other options were letting this… abuse continue, or killing Suzaku outright, which only Diethard and Chiba seemed to have the stomach for.
And no one had the stomach to allow Zero to continue what he'd been doing with Suzaku.
Toudou regretted letting it get this far. Suzaku had always been touch-starved, by his own father, by the servants who essentially raised him, even by the distant Britannian Prince who had stayed at the Kururugi shrine just before the summer of Britannia's invasion. Zero's caresses and seductive tongue were no doubt confusing the boy, making him feel and think things that went contrary to his sense of self, his very being.
It was nothing less than a subtle form of brainwashing, and it made Toudou sick to witness it, especially knowing that it was exploiting weaknesses that Toudou had watched festering inside of Suzaku and had done nothing about.
But it was too late to do anything about that now. Now, all Toudou could do was save Suzaku as best he could, from Zero and from his own confused desires.
It took some doing, with Kallen distracting Zero by bringing up Viceroy Nunnally (which worked surprisingly well) while Toudou and the others spirited Suzaku away in one of the smaller submarine vessels, designed to hold at most six people, and just comfortable holding five.
They'd had to sedate Suzaku for the trip, worried that he might try something if he felt that they were attacking him. They landed on one of the small contested islands between China and Japan, and let him out.
"Should we just leave?" Chiba asked.
Diethard shrugged. "I'd like to talk to the boy first, get his take on everything. I doubt he'd lash out at us once he realizes what we've done for him." He eyed Toudou speculatively. "He'd have too much honour for that, wouldn't he?"
Toudou nodded. "We are essentially unarmed." Chiba had two guns, and Toudou himself had one, but they were all safely holstered. "He won't attack without provocation." Or orders.
"I want to talk to him too," Ougi said softly. "I want to apologize for not…"
For not getting there sooner. Toudou nodded, in full agreement with the sentiment.
So they stayed, hoping Kallen's distraction could buy them enough time to get the story from Suzaku, and then return to Zero, to once more fight at his side without worrying about his treatment of a prisoner he had a disturbing attachment to.
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Suzaku was kind of sick of being drugged. As long as it wasn't deadly, his geass didn't care, and left his natural constitution to bring him out of it, complete with nausea and confusion.
He'd been drugged more in the past week than he had in all the years leading up to the past week. At least it wasn't Refrain.
When he opened his eyes this time, he had just enough sense to expect to see the walls of his cell, a handful of guards, and Lelouch dressed as Zero, ready to lecture him.
What he actually saw, was a small hill with two trees and a bird.
Great. What was Lelouch playing at now?
"You're awake."
Suzaku recognized that voice from his childhood, and it was enough by itself to have him scrambling to a kneeling position, despite his pounding head. "Yes, Toudou-sensei."
It wasn't just Toudou. There was a tall, blond Britannian man (not Gino, definitely not Gino), the afro-haired leader of Kallen's rebel group, and a Japanese woman Suzaku barely recognized from military briefs.
"What's going on?" Suzaku asked, wary.
The afro-man, Ougi, stepped forward. "We're letting you go. We just wanted… I just wanted to say I'm sorry that we let things go on for so long. There's no excuse, it's not that we didn't see it, we just didn't believe it at first and we–"
"Wat?" Suzaku managed to get out.
The woman whose name escaped Suzaku stepped forward. "You don't have to lie, Kururugi. We all witnessed it, the isolation, the humiliation, the way he used you…"
Suzaku blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"That first night," the blond Britannian said. "When Zero took you to his room. What did you talk about?"
They'd talked about betrayal and pain and duty, about Nunnally and Euphy, about Schneizel and Kaguya, about geass, about the past, about what Lelouch wanted in the future, about what Suzaku didn't want. Suzaku had lost his temper an few times and shook Lelouch until his teeth rattled, while Lelouch had fought back as effectively as ever, swatting at his hair and pulling at his clothes until Suzaku remembered himself, remembered that they weren't friends scuffling, they were enemies.
And then they'd been interrupted.
But Suzaku wasn't about to tell all that to a complete stranger. "We talked politics."
Diethard didn't look convinced. "And those clothes?"
Suzaku flushed. Those had all been Lelouch's, and they'd all been outfits that Suzaku had complimented Lelouch on, including the gym uniform. Lelouch had a long, vengeful memory. But, honestly, they'd been nice. Tight, as was to be expected, but better quality than most of the civvies Suzaku had worn since joining the military and attending Ashford.
Except the gym outfit. That had just been Lelouch being childish because Suzaku had complained about the clothes smothering him.
"The petting?" Diethard persisted.
Suzaku hadn't hated the petting. Lelouch had been treating him the same way he treated Nunnally, casually affectionate, and it spoke more to Lelouch's own loneliness than Suzaku's craving for physical attention. And every time Lelouch caught himself, Suzaku could imagine the irritated grimace on his face as he pulled his hand back.
"The way he chained you to his bed!" Ougi burst out.
Ah. Now that had been embarrassing. As children, Suzaku and Lelouch had shared a bed, and Lelouch had invited Suzaku to do the same. Suzaku, still rather prideful and stinging from Tamaki's callous comments about Euphy, had refused, instead sitting on the floor beside the bed until Lelouch's steady breathing and his own fatigue made him fall asleep right there.
And then he woke up with a hard-on from the weird pressure on his butt, that sent tingles shooting down his spine and made his cock stand up. Lelouch had actually yielded a little, and allowed Suzaku the privacy of Zero's bathroom to deal with it, but Suzaku felt like he was being mocked.
But none of that seemed worth breaking him out. Still, he'd take what he could get.
"I hope no one minds, but I'm going to escape now."
The four Black Knights stood aside, and Suzaku escaped at a sedate walk, bemused but not displeased at the weird, dysfunctional way Lelouch's minions worked.
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"She's lying."
C.C. had been listening to Kallen weaving a tale about Nunnally and the potential for assassination once the Black Knights returned to Japan, and some contingency plans she'd made up, and had been internally debating back and forth between telling Lelouch that Kallen was lying through her teeth (fairly well, the girl had improved since playing at being a sickly student) and just letting Kallen play Lelouch like a well-tuned flute.
Eventually, no matter how entertaining the show was, C.C. had to come to the conclusion that her alliance was with Lelouch.
Kallen's head snapped in C.C.'s direction. "What? I am not!"
"C.C.…" Lelouch ground out, in that adorable voice that was meant to be threatening and was really just petulant.
"She's trying to distract you."
"From what?" Lelouch asked, exasperated.
C.C. shrugged. "Ask her."
Kallen looked furious, and just a little ashamed. Lelouch wasn't bad at reading people, at least not when his baby sister wasn't involved, and he caught the shamed flush as well. "Kallen…"
"I'm sorry! But you've gone mad with power! It's just not right!"
Lelouch gaped. C.C. had to admit she was a little taken aback as well. Lelouch had taken China, one of the strongest military forces in the world, but he'd been relatively hands-off and even magnanimous about it. He'd saved their Empress and charmed their military leaders, and destroyed their bloated bureaucracy, and then he'd stepped aside and allowed Kaguya and Xingke and Toudou to hash out most of the details of Zero's grand plans.
The UFN would be unveiled soon, but Zero wouldn't even be the head of that organization. He wasn't mad with power – far from it. He was finally figuring out how to wield power through proxies, delegating effectively and efficiently. Well, relative to the way he'd done it before.
Still, despite his shock, Lelouch rallied rather well against Kallen's accusations. "Is this about the marriage thing? Because that was Diethard's idea, I'm all for Tianzi marrying whoever she chooses. If nothing else, it'll keep Xingke happy."
"It's about Suzaku," Kallen said. "It's about the way you… how you… the things you…" Her face was getting redder and redder. C.C. leaned forward, fascinated.
"Suzaku?" Lelouch echoed. "What about him?"
"You know." Kallen's voice was actually cracking, she was so nervous. "You treated him special."
"He is special," Lelouch said, his voice hardening.
Kallen threw up her hands. "Lelouch, you can't just take people if you want them! Suzaku has feelings and dreams and wants as well, and you can't just force yourself on him, even if he's a prisoner. It's wrong."
C.C. suddenly understood what Kallen was getting at, and did her best to hold back her laughter until Lelouch got it as well.
"Force myself?" Lelouch asked, confused. "He didn't have to be with me. He could always have stayed in his cell."
"But threatening people to get them to sleep with you is forcing them," Kallen insisted. "Suzaku was never in a position to say no without getting punished, so you shouldn't have asked."
"We slept together before, as children." C.C. had to clasp her hands over her mouth at Lelouch's naïve retort.
"That doesn't make it okay! Things have changed since then between you two. This isn't the way to get him to love you, Lelouch. It'll just make the resentment worse." Kallen reached out and patted Lelouch's shoulder, awkwardly. "When the war's over, when Japan is truly free, you and Suzaku can work out everything between you and maybe you can be lovers again."
Lelouch's slack-jawed expression was almost too much for C.C. to take. "Lovers!?"
And that was it. C.C. howled with laughter, at the irony of Lelouch being lectured on this by Kallen, the only other person C.C. knew who was almost as naïve as he was, at the expression on Lelouch's face, at his indignant squeak at Kallen's label, at the fact that he probably still didn't get it, and likely never would until someone explained it bluntly and indelicately, which Kallen would never be able to bring herself to do.
It was too funny. Lelouch's obsession being exposed like this, to everyone with eyes, invisible only to himself, and likely to Suzaku.
It was so funny, it was almost a little sad.