Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Yami no Matsuei or Code geass....... don't I wish.

Ginger: I hope you guys like this story. It'll be confusing for a while, my stories usually are, but I promise if you guys give it a chance you'll like it. As always, please leave a nice review if you like it, if not... I don't give a damn about your opinion and you don't need to be reading past chapter one. Anyway, enjoy!

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Hisoka had to admit, he didn't get much sleep during the night, so the plane trip had become something of a blur to him as he drifted in and out of consciousness, using Tsuzuki's shoulder as a pillow. It had been a nearly twenty hour flight, and that was non-stop.

Hisoka was feeling some serious jet lag as they arrived in Virginia in the middle of the night, practically loosing a whole day. Or did they gain a day? He was so confused he didn't even want to try and think about it.

"Wow….. Talk about a time difference." Hisoka yawned as they stepped off the plane in Reagan National Airport. "I'll never get how business people can stand going across so many time zones."

He shook his head after another yawn, but winced as his head began to pound.

"You alright Soka?" Tsuzuki asked concerned as Hisoka swayed slightly.

"My head hurts." Hisoka muttered grouchily as they walked through the concourse.

"I'm sure it does."

Hisoka starred at Tsuzuki who was grinning.

"Why aren't you affected by jet lag?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know. I'm just not." Tsuzuki shrugged. "I suppose it's best that one of us can still walk straight and function properly."

Hisoka felt Tsuzuki grasp his arm as he started to sway again.

"I guess you've got a point." he sighed.

They were both quiet as they walked through the security check point out to the main concourse, Hisoka wincing at the noises surrounding him, making his head worse.

"Now where's Alistair?" Tsuzuki muttered, looking around, "He said he'd meet us here."

Hisoka looked around, unsure of how such a large man would be able to blend in, especially in his black silk uniform.

But then they heard the familiar British accent.

"Asato! Hisoka! Over here!"

They turned to their left and saw a large man running up to them.

Hisoka starred.

The man looked like Mr. Alistair, but he was in what looked like a green flight suit and as he got closer, Hisoka could see the tags on it which read, 'U.S. Navy' and 'Cmdr Leon Berkenbridge'. There was a patch on his shoulder which had a picture of a top hat with gloves and a cane and said 'VFA-114 Tophatters.'

"Sorry I was running a little late, I rushed here as soon as I got off work and NAS Oceana is a good two and a half hours away."

"Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka mumbled tiredly.

The man smiled and gently lifted Hisoka onto his left shoulder. "It feels strange to see you after nearly twenty years." he said with a smile.

Hisoka starred down at him. "Twenty years?! You disappeared from the medical department a couple of months ago!" he said, his green eyes wide with confusion.

"To you. The reason I disappeared was because I was taken by the high elder. I was reborn a half mortal, and I've been one for the last twenty one years. Angels can bend time in very strange ways."

"I'll say." Hisoka sighed, resting his head on his arm which was nestled in Alistair's white and blue hair.

"Just so you know, my name has changed too. I've been Leon Berkenbridge for the last thirteen years."

"So then what do I call you, Mr. Berkenbridge?"

"It's the name I'm used to now, and Asato, you can just call me Leon."

"Leon? That'll take some time to get used to." Tsuzuki mumbled as they began to walk through the airport, people starring at Hisoka on Alistair…. Make that Leon's shoulder.

"Jet lag Hisoka?" Leon asked kindly, patting Hisoka's knee.

"Yeah." Hisoka muttered. But he paused when he saw something on Leon's finger. He lifted the man's giant hand for a closer look. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, turning the thick platinum and gold ring.

"What do you think it is?" Leon asked with a smile.

"A wedding band?"

"Then yes, it is what you think it is. I got married last spring." said Leon honestly.

"That's nice, what's her name?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Sahara Millameton . She's an officer in the Marines. We have daily quarrels over who's better, Navy or Marines."

"I'm finding it somewhat strange that you're suddenly in the U.S. Military." said Hisoka slowly.

"I've been flying for nearly eight years." said Leon honestly. "It's a living."

"A living…..?"

"Alright, a living and a hobby. I love to fly. It makes me act like Tsuzuki around sugar." said Leon giggling suddenly.

"And I thought you were weird Tsuzuki?" Hisoka sighed feeling somewhat strange about the giant's childish giggles. "What do you fly?"

"F-18s. I fly off of aircraft carriers. Nothing beats the rush of being launched off a ship going from zero to two hundred and fifty miles and hour in three seconds. Well….. There's playing chicken going mach two after breaking the sound barrier, but only a couple people are brave enough to do that with me." he said honestly.

"Oh gee, I wonder why?" Hisoka muttered sarcastically.

"You know, you remind me of a scene from one of my favorite movies." said Leon. "It goes as such. 'Now the world is full of things I'm sure we should all be as happy as. But are we? No. Definitely no, positively no, decidedly no! Uh uh. Short people, have long faces."

Hisoka starred as Leon made a strange face.

"'long people have short faces.'" he said, scrunching up his neck. "Big people have little humor." he said stretching himself upward. Then he scrunched himself up. "And little people have no humor at all!" he said quickly.

Tsuzuki laughed so hard he almost toppled over and Hisoka just felt like he was riding on the shoulder of a giant child.

"I'm lost." Hisoka sighed.

"It was well before your time." said Leon with a chuckle. "To be honest, it was well before my current time. It was from a song called 'Make 'em laugh.' sung by Donald O'Connor in the movie 'singing in the rain.' It came out in 1952."

"Well you definitely made Tsuzuki laugh." Hisoka muttered, resting his head on Leon's again.

"You're tired Hisoka, why don't you go to sleep?" Leon suggested as Hisoka let out a tired yawn. "Especially because we have a two hour drive home."

"I think sleeping is a wonderful idea." Hisoka mumbled, resting his cheek in Leon's fluffy hair. With one more tired yawn, he drifted off to sleep.

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Several hours later, Hisoka woke up to someone covering him with something like a blanket. He opened his eyes to find that he was in a room with a dim light above his head. He looked around to find that the light was coming from several small paper lanterns strung along the wall above the headboard of the bed he was in.

"Go back to sleep Hisoka. It'll help with the jet lag."

Hisoka looked up to see Leon who had tucked him into a large bed.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"We're home." said Leon with a kind smile, gently patting Hisoka's chest.

"Where's home?"

"The historic district of Yorktown Virginia."

"Mr. Berkenbridge….. Why are we here?" Hisoka asked, finally voicing his curiosity.

"Because I need Asato's help with something that I consider very important. You on the other hand, are just here for the summer."

"Why? What am I supposed to do if not work?" Hisoka said stubbornly.

"Make some friends. Explore, be a kid for once Hisoka."

Hisoka paused, remember the questions that Tsuzuki had been asking him lately.

"Hisoka, do you ever wish that you could be a normal kid for a while?" Tsuzuki had asked. "If you had a chance to be a kid for a day, would you take the opportunity? Wouldn't you like to be a normal kid, with friends that only spend their summer days wondering what to do instead of wondering who's soul you have to take next? Don't you wish you could have the life of an average teenager for a little while?"

And his answer had been, "An opportunity like that never really comes along in one's life."

He looked at Leon with a bewildered look.

But Leon just smiled and gently ran a hand through Hisoka's hair. "I think you'll get along well with my son and his friends."

"Your son?"

"His name is Lelouch, and he was rescued from another world. His past isn't exactly happy either. But I think you'll like him. He needed a chance to be a kid too, just like you."

Hisoka couldn't tell what he was feeling at the moment, his body was really too tired to react. But he felt very strange. "So I'm just here to be a kid for the summer?" he asked slowly.

"Essentially yes. Even Seiichiro and Chief Konoe agreed that it would be a good idea for you to accompany Asato out here and have a nice summer for once."

"And back home?"

"I had Malachai send a couple of our subordinates out there temporarily to take your places. I think Seiichiro will be pretty happy with them. Jonathan and Alexis have an incredible work ethic which means they'll get all of their paper work done before Seiichiro can ask for it."

Hisoka finally smiled a little. "I think if that's the case, Mr. Tatsumi wouldn't want us back, he'd want to keep your subordinates."

"I wouldn't doubt it." said Leon with a chuckle. "Now go to sleep Hisoka, you've got a long day ahead of you."

"Okay." Hisoka said, letting himself relax and sink into the soft mattress. "Goodnight Mr. Berkenbridge."

"Goodnight Hisoka."

Hisoka closed his eyes with a sigh, but then he felt an odd weight on the bed next to him and he sat bolt upright just to see a large orange tiger laying down beside him. He tensed up and felt himself shake a bit.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." said Leon quickly, trying to reassure him. "This is Shasta. She's one of the family guardians. They originally came from the Shinichiro family in Japan, now they're in our family. She's here to protect you in all aspects. Physically, mentally, and emotionally."

"Emotionally?" he asked, slowly leaning away as she tried to sniff his face.

"Yes. If you're ever sad or upset over anything, she'll do her best to make you smile. Though be forewarned. She loves attention and affection. Especially kisses on the nose."

Hisoka felt himself scoot dangerously towards the edge of the bed. "If I kiss her on the nose, will she bite off mine?" he mumbled slowly, balancing on the edge of the mattress.

"I wouldn't do that! If I bite off your nose you won't kiss mine!" the tiger said in a shrill girly voice.

"She talks!"

"Of course she does. They all do. Lelouch has a guardian named Sandy, and I have Shasta's mother Topanga. We call her Topi."

"Kiss please?" Shasta asked, rolling over onto her back, her head in Hisoka's lap.

Hisoka cautiously leaned forward, and quickly touched his lips to Shasta's cold nose.

"That wasn't a kiss!" she protested, rolling over onto her stomach.

"It…. It wasn't…..?"

"No! That wasn't even a peck!"

"Then…. What do you consider a kiss…..?" he asked slowly.

Hisoka jumped and tensed up when he felt fuzz and whiskers and the tip of Shasta's tongue press against his cheek with a loud, 'SMACK!' as she kissed him.

"That's a kiss!" she said happily.

"Oh…. Umm… okay…." he said. He gave her a small kiss with a light smacking sound. "Better?"

"Better, not quite a big kiss, but it's progress." she said snuggling against him.

Hisoka gasped as she wrapped a large paw around his waist and pulled him closer to her, away from the edge of the bed.

Leon just chuckled from his spot by the door. "Take good care of him Shasta."

"Promise Mr. Berkenbridge!" she said cheerfully.

"Goodnight you two." he said with a smile, then he left the room.

"Lay down Soka! You need to go to sleep." she said sternly.

Hisoka slowly did as he was told, not wanting to anger the large guardian with sharp teeth.

"Goodnight Soka." she said, giving him another whiskery kiss.

Hisoka felt slightly nervous. He couldn't feel any emotions from anywhere in the house, figuring it meant Leon had put up a large barrier.

"I won't bite, I promise." she said kindly.

After a few moments, Hisoka felt too tired to protest, so he quietly drifted off to sleep, curling up against the guardian's warm furry chest.

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Ginger: Okay, we're finally getting somewhere, so keep reading guys, it'll get better!