Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. It belongs to Clamp and Sunrise. I don't own Ave Maria either. The idea of a smoker!Suzaku comes from Serena the Hikari of Love's SuzaLulu fanfiction called Disconnected Modem. I highly recommend that fanfiction, it's worth a read :D
"Well, look at this… a sore puppy stuck out in the rain."
He looked up irritably, facing one of the last people on earth he wanted to see him in this state. His eyes widened from surprise and then narrowed. C.C., the very woman that Zero had all of the Black Knights chasing after, was staring at him, amused and unafraid of Suzaku's homicidal urges to strangle her for making his entire gang act like idiots. Didn't she know that Suzaku could have her pinned down in an instant and brought before the very man she was now eluding?
"Before you attempt to apprehend me," C.C. drawled with disinterest, "you might want to hear out my proposition."
"…Why would I want to listen to anything you have to say?" Suzaku spat out, his loyalty to his gang and Zero, fuelling his dislike of the woman.
She smiled, looking at Suzaku eerily. She had noticed the motorcycle that stood limp by the wall beside Suzaku, and the single duffel bag, now drenched from the rain, filled with Suzaku's few possessions and clothes. It made C.C. hold her own umbrella, borrowed from Lelouch ("Lelouch-sama, why are you all soaked from the rain?! Did you forget to pack your umbrella?!"), closer just to mock the biker before her. He was soaked, no umbrella in sight, seated in front of a shabby looking three-floor apartment building in the ghetto.
Then there was the unmistakable stench of human blood… the wound that Suzaku was hiding in his side.
It was obvious to C.C. what had just befallen the young man. The idea of leaving him here to get killed by the Holy Assassins gang was tempting, since C.C. had no care for what happened to this biker of Zero's at all. Whether or not he lived mattered little to her, she would hardly bat an eyelash for this insignificant individual.
But maybe the two months living with the Lamperouges had given her an odd sense of gratitude, an obligation to pay it forward.
Maybe she was just trying to defy her creator, her very nature to be secluded and uncaring.
Either way, Suzaku was lucky that she was having this mere whim, or he'd have been left to fend for himself.
"I can let you into Lelouch's place," C.C. told him blankly, "he'll be sympathetic to your cause."
Suzaku's eyes, filled earlier with suspicion, were now surprised. A flicker swam beneath his gaze at Lelouch's name. Unanswered questions were on the tip of his speechless tongue.
C.C. smiled without any real mirth. "Did you think that I wouldn't know you were kicked out of your own home, Kururugi?"
Walk On In
-1- Rent
"Shit!"
The Holy Assassins first-rate killer, Gino Weinberg, paced back and forth in front of the expensive looking living room, adorned in modern and abstract art. His normally cheerful and happy face was plastered in a deep scowl, tears held back behind blue eyes. His blood braid, bounced back and forth against his back, and his standard uniform, dark purple, laced in gold, white pants. A gun was hidden in his purple coat, knives concealed all over his body.
On the sofa, was Anya, her pink hair lying lifelessly as a cushion, eyes closed. She seemed to be in deep rest, but there was a machine hooked up to her arm, checking for her heart beat. The machine was silent as if there was no heart beat. That was because there was no heart beat. The girl was dead, dead about three hours ago from massive blood loss. Bandages had been wrapped around the wound in her chest to no avail. It had done no good. She was dead now.
Gino was alone.
Well, he had Rolo. But he'd never gotten along well with him. The three of them, Gino, Anya and Rolo had made up a special division within the Holy Assassins as their 'corps' of lethal killers. The leader sent them out whenever he wanted someone from another gang silenced for good. Normally, Anya and Gino did the killing. Rolo didn't care to do it, unless he felt like it.
Rolo was strange, killing only when he had the urge to do so. Often Anya and Gino would have to cover for the boy when he stabbed random strangers he met in the street for reasons he kept to himself. He never flinched when he killed either. Gino could understand enjoying the kill, the battle... but he couldn't understand how Rolo could just do it all so... mechanically. The kid had irked Gino for a long time, but it didn't matter any more.
Not when Anya was gone.
The other night, they had staked out after one of the Black Knight's aces, Suzaku Kururugi since Kallen Kouzuki's place of residence hadn't shown up in their information banks. Rolo had not come, claiming that he wasn't interested.
Needless to say, they had failed. Gino had been seriously injured, so had Anya. They both fled back to the apartment... by the time they got there, it was nearly too late. Anya had been wounded far more seriously than they had thought.
She had died from blood loss.
Gino wept.
But this wasn't the time to be crying. This was the time to call Rolo and set out on a very personal vendetta.
He was going to go after the Black Knights. He was going to find Suzaku Kururugi and kill him.
Lelouch Lamperouge was not at all happy. Well, perhaps this would've been a bit of an understatement.
Lelouch Lamperouge was suffering from extreme shock, outrage and a surge of anger that he was now familiarizing with the very disturbance, standing in front of him, dressed in his clothes, and using his toothbrush, declaring—what Lelouch hoped was—utter crap. There was no way that the Japanese biker he had met only three months ago, barely had any relationship with, had just announced, out of the blue, that he was now living with Lelouch.
Correction, living in the same house as Lelouch, as living with Lelouch, implied that they were on much closer terms. They were just mere acquaintances who saw each other at a coffee shop and it was supposed to be nothing more than that. Suzaku couldn't just walk in to his life and claim his house as his new living quarters. Lelouch would not let him.
"This is a nice flavour of toothpaste, strawberry," Suzaku said, clearly not bothered by Lelouch's hostile reactions towards him. "I didn't know that you used lilac-scented soap either."
This led to Lelouch, currently hurdling his plastic globe at Suzaku's head, only for Suzaku to evade the blow without even trying. Suzaku merely continued brushing his teeth with Lelouch's toothbrush while stepping from side to side to avoid the increasing amount of misses from Lelouch. The biker's eyes were silently amused at every attempt Lelouch made to hit Suzaku, playing at the fact that Lelouch wouldn't be able to hurt a fly with his lack of upper arm strength.
Lelouch shouted at the top of his lungs, his hair dishevelled, eyes still a bit baggy from exhaustion, clothes wrinkled, only defining that Lelouch was in no way at all a threat to Suzaku's safety. Actually, Lelouch looked utterly ridiculous, holding throw pillows and desk lamps as his next objects to hurl at Suzaku's irritating face. He felt like a mad man, shouting curses and all the swear words he knew off the top of his head.
"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, you idiot!" Lelouch yelled, his eyes blinded by blurry colours, he couldn't think straight except to spout out what ever came off the top of his head. "You came here to rob us didn't you!? Where's that C.C?! Did she let you in?! Why are you using my toothbrush, you moron!? What the heck do you mean, you're living here?! Get out of my house, you felon, you damn—"
"Lelouch-sama?! What's going on?! Did something happen to—who are you?!" Sayoko had burst through the door upon hearing the commotion. Her hair was curled up neatly and she was wearing her maid uniform (even when Lelouch told her she could wear casual clothes, she was part of the family after all) proudly in tip-top condition. First impression suggested that she was a mild-mannered woman, what one would expect from a maid.
Still half-way in between the world of reality—trying to murder Suzaku—and dreams—trying to convince himself that he was hallucinating all of this—Lelouch merely blinked up sleepily at Sayoko, temporarily halting his rampaging.
Suzaku peered up at the maid with partial interest and partial distrust. He paused for a moment, guarded, and then spat out the foam from his mouth into the sink. Then he stared at Sayoko again with the same expression on his face. His eyes darted from the fuming (and tired) Lelouch to the stunned Sayoko. Then after some a moment's hesitation, Suzaku extended his hand cautiously, figuring that her reaction couldn't be as extreme as Lelouch's.
"Hi. I'm Suzaku—"
Before Suzaku could finish, Sayoko had changed her attire, throwing off her maid uniform to reveal a tight ninja jumpsuit underneath, decorated with shining knives and kunai. Suzaku gaped and before he could move, Sayoko had efficiently thrown several ninja stars at his face, all of which narrowly missed him, barely scrapping the side of his face and neck. The ninja stars were engrained dangerously thick into the bathroom tile wall.
Suzaku gaped at the recent attempt on his life and looked up at Lelouch, who seemed only mildly disturbed.
"Huh… first time she attacked an intruder within three seconds of meeting him…" Lelouch commented sleepily, returning back to his sleepy denial of Suzaku's appearance into his house.
"What are you doing in Lelouch-sama's bedroom?" Sayoko's stance was perfectly lethal, her hiss laced with poison and loyalty towards her charge.
Lelouch's eyes widened. That sounded so wrong…
She scanned the situation quickly—coming to the worst conclusion—seeing that there was a gun on the counter where the scrunched up tube of toothpaste was. Suzaku was holding Lelouch's toothbrush and wearing her master's clothes, to the side Lelouch seemed livid with a sleep-deprived mixed anger. Did he… did this strange man do things to Lelouch before planning to…? Sayoko's bloodlust doubled, the kunoichi silently promised vengeance. She would not let Lelouch die.
Did that man send you to finish the job that he couldn't?! Well, I won't allow you to touch either of the Lamperouge siblings, Sayoko thought mercilessly.
In a flash, she was moving. She pulled out several knives, one between each of her fingers, darting quickly so that Suzaku wouldn't escape.
Lelouch's breath caught in his throat as he snapped out of his sleepy and angry stupor, realizing that Sayoko was intending to slit Suzaku's throat. His heart sped up as Lelouch abandoned all thought and rushed forward to stop this misunderstanding gone very wrong.
"Sayoko-san, stop…!" Lelouch grabbed desperately for the hem of her dress, which was wrapped around her shoulders, his fingers barely touching the fabric as he cried out, "He's not here to assassinate anyone, he's a friend—I just panicked and—"
There was a deafening crash as Sayoko fell over, her body toppling on top of poor Lelouch in an inelegant somersault. Lelouch yelped from the sudden weight on top of him as well as the compression of his lung, being unable to breathe. He wheezed, trying unsuccessfully to crawl out from the bottom of Sayoko's writhing form.
He looked up to meet the dangerously glinting eyes of Suzaku with slight shock. Privately, Lelouch didn't know if he should be glad that Suzaku was unharmed from his overprotective kunoichi maid or terrified that Suzaku was capable of overpowering his friend and bodyguard so easily. Suzaku had made it look effortless to block one of Sayoko's charges. But Lelouch knew it was not easy—an almost impossible feat—for Sayoko was an elite ninja, trained as one of the highest ranking martial artists in Japan.
Fighting had seemed natural to Suzaku, in a way that he could defend himself instinctively, without thinking, as if he had done so his whole life. Maybe, Lelouch mused, Suzaku got into a lot of fights as a biker in his Japanese gang. A small shiver involuntarily ran down Lelouch's spine when he saw Suzaku's eyes, instinctively growing dark as he eyed Sayoko, prepared to fight back if she should stand.
Stand up, Sayoko did, hardly ruffled at all by Suzaku's counterattack. She merely locked gazes with Suzaku, acknowledging his apparent fighting skills, prepared to throw more knives at him.
"Wait!" Lelouch pulled himself upwards, free from Sayoko's weight, "Stop! It's ok, just put the knives away!"
"There is no need to defend your pride, Lelouch-sama; I know this man was trying to take advantage of you last night!"
Lelouch fell over, face entirely red. Suzaku had burst out laughing, holding his stomach, tears forming in his eyes. At this point, Lelouch really did hit him, hard in the stomach with a lamp.
"Sh-Shut up, idiot!" Lelouch spat out, his face still tinged pink. He turned to Sayoko and huffed, "No, he was doing no such thing. He's just a guy that I know from a coffee shop who has broken into our house."
"Then I see no reason not to use these," Sayoko raised her kunai again, face blank and ready to strike at Suzaku, who sobered up and took up a fighting stance of his own. The tension between the two was fierce. Lelouch knew he never wanted to fight either of them, or he'd probably lose… badly. "You have no permission to be in our home. You must leave now for disturbing the peace."
"Who says I'm disturbing anything? I was minding my own business, I believe that throwing kunai however, would serve as a better example of disturbing the peace," Suzaku murmured low, taking on the persona of an unbeatable tough biker like he was putting on a second skin.
"You don't have what it takes to defeat me, boy."
"I've been in more battles than you can imagine… sensei."
"For god's sake, stop acting a bunch of mafia associates and put down your weapons! Yes, Sayoko, that means that knife and Suzaku, this isn't a freaking ally way, don't put your hand near that gun you brought with you!" Lelouch shouted at them, finally losing it.
Looking at it from his perspective, when your acquaintance-not-quite-friend shows up in your house claiming to live in it and your maid/bodyguard who was like family to you start to pull out knives and guns, threatening to kill each other in the middle of your bedroom over a silly misunderstanding at about six o' clock in the morning, you would be pretty livid yourself.
At the truly livid look on Lelouch's face, Suzaku and Sayoko, despite knowing that Lelouch could never really harm them in anyway, felt true fear in their veins and conceded without any argument. Sayoko dropped the kunai reluctantly on the floor.
Lelouch pinned them with his murderous gaze, seething with all of the passion of the fires of hell, "Alright, now let's go downstairs, like normal people, and have Kururugi-san," Suzaku flinched at the stoically polite use of his name, "explain to us kindly what the hell he's doing in our home."
Suzaku shot a sour look at Sayoko, who was lightly smirking at him triumphantly.
Normally the kitchen area was serene and peaceful. With Lelouch and Sayoko taking turns cooking in the kitchen day to day, the surfaces and counters were always kept crystal clear, a pristine white without a speck of dirt or food on them. Both of them were perfectionists when it came to a clean kitchen, making sure that no mould or spills ever befouled the atmosphere. Light blue curtains added a nice touch to the white and royal blue tiled walls along with the vase of daffodils which Nunnally had picked with C.C. the other day. It was here that the 'family' would spend the most time together, making cranes at the wooden kitchen table peacefully, chatting over a cup of tea or enjoying one of Lelouch's or Sayoko's meals.
As soon as they had entered the kitchen through the living room stairs, the putrid smell of smoke ruined the nostalgic feel of the room. Lelouch whipped around to face Sayoko and Suzaku, his piercing glare meeting with the lighter that was held innocently in Suzaku's right thumb and the cigarette that was just a few inches away from his mouth. Suzaku blinked up at Lelouch a bit too innocently, popping the nicotine stick in between his lips with that same goddamn smile.
"What?" Suzaku blinked at him again; Lelouch wondered if it was just himself who was picturing Suzaku as a pouting puppy at the moment or if he was just feeling a tad bit insane this morning from the shock.
He hoped it was the latter.
With a quick swipe, Lelouch yanked the cigarette out of Suzaku's lips and waved it at him, "What is this?!"
"…Um, a cigarette?"
"I know what this is; you don't need to tell me!"
"But you just asked—"
"That was a rhetorical question, you buffoon! What the hell are you doing smoking in my house?!" Lelouch swung the white cigarette in front of Suzaku's face, looking like the mad hatter with his murderous eyes, (At this point Sayoko was happily seating herself at the kitchen table, watching Suzaku get berated by Lelouch.), "This is a death trap, are you trying to get cancer?! And turn off that lighter; you'll start a fire in here!"
"But I get really really bad without a smoke; it's not nice to see. I kind of get nicotine cravings all the time. Smoking helps ease my nerves, you know?" Suzaku tried to explain weakly, eyeing his stolen cigarette with obvious longing. A puppy aching for his favourite squeaky toy.
Damn it Lelouch, he cursed himself, stop comparing people to adorable animals!
"Well, it elevates my nerves, so goodbye Mr. Cigarette. God never liked you." Lelouch tossed the cigarette into the trash bin by Sayoko's side of the table.
Suzaku glared at Lelouch, wounded, and pulled out another cigarette, lit it and placed it in his mouth. When Lelouch tried to say something, Suzaku puffed a breath of smoke right in his face, making the pale boy wheeze, backing away to protect his lungs.
Ha, I win, Suzaku's smirk told Lelouch.
In the aftermath of his coughs, Lelouch cursed his tired brain and the fact that he had never considered that maybe Suzaku owned an endless supply of cigarette packs. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Suzaku merely blew more smoke in his direction. Lelouch coughed and scowled at infuriating smoker.
"Get that damn thing out of your mouth and tell us what the hell you're doing here, you bastard!" Lelouch was at wit's end, pissed beyond belief.
"You know, I could always get my kunai out," Sayoko pointed out cheerfully.
"…It's tempting, but I don't feel like washing blood out of the carpet later," Lelouch answered sarcastically.
"Pizza slice?" C.C., who had been sitting there for the whole time next to nine empty Pizza House boxes, offered the last slice to Lelouch as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
At this point, Lelouch was tempted to bang his head against the table, but he settled for staring at her blankly. "Do I look like I want a pizza slice, C.C.?"
Monotonously, C.C. said, "No."
"Then I don't want one," came the icy reply.
There was silence as the four occupants at the table stared at each other. Sayoko was humming happily to herself, sharpening the many knives concealed within her clothes for when Lelouch gave the order to gut the biker's heart. She obviously didn't trust the biker… at all. Understandable, really. C.C. ate the last of the pizza lazily, even though she was the sole cause of this awkward turn of events in the first place. Suzaku was sending glares to Sayoko and C.C. while smirking at Lelouch with his cigarette burning at the tip from his mouth, daring the boy to try and take it from him.
As for Lelouch, he was trying his hardest not to scream and break windows but to discuss the situation like a mature and fully capable adult. Deep breaths, he told himself, clenching his fists before relaxing each joint to look up at Suzaku's face.
"I'm not going to ask why you're here," Lelouch decided finally, surprising the other three at the table.
Sayoko had been hoping for an excuse to assassinate Kururugi on the spot, C.C. had wanted to see more of the aggravated Lelouch (perhaps the real motive in the first place?) while Suzaku had been expecting the long chore of explaining himself without revealing the entire truth of what exactly had happened to himself last night.
"Let's just get right to the point: I'm pissed, I'm tired and I have no patience whatsoever to deal with whatever is going on in your personal life at the moment," Lelouch deadpanned. "I don't know how you got past the security system, into the house and I don't care. Just get yourself freshened up, hang around for a bit, and get out of my house by the end of day, ok? Ok. Now I'll go eat breakfast and continue on with my life."
"Are you sure we can't just—"
"No, we're not assassinating guests, Sayoko-san." Lelouch called out, back to disinterest in his surroundings, now poking his head in the refrigerator for something to eat.
Disappointed, the maid cast a contempt-filled look at Suzaku before joining Lelouch in preparing the morning meal.
This left C.C. and Suzaku alone together.
"Well that was boring," C.C. commented blankly.
Suzaku glared at her, lowering his voice to a whisper so that Sayoko and Lelouch could not hear him, "You're the one who told me I could stay here, why didn't you stand up for me? Now where am I supposed to go?"
"It is of no concern of mine, I only gave you entrance into the house and told you that Lelouch would be sympathetic towards your cause, which I notice, you have failed to explain to him," C.C. replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "You figure it out."
"Is that what you did?" Suzaku looked at her with disgust, "Play the pity card and trick him into letting you stay here, away from Zero?"
"What does it matter?" came her disinterested reply, which revealed nothing.
Suzaku found his dislike of C.C. growing more and more as time went by. "I could always tell Lelouch here who's after you, what you've done to other innocent people…"
Something flashed in C.C.'s eyes, too quick for Suzaku to catch.
C.C. smiled up at him bitterly, calm, quiet iciness in her voice, "If you did that, you'd have to reveal your own dark connections to mine, and thus to Zero. Wouldn't want the public getting wind of Zero's existence before the black king has made his move, would you? Besides, you don't need dear Lelouch to think badly of you because of your involvement in bloodshed, do you, Kururugi?"
She held his own icy gaze for a long time, before getting up and leaving him alone in his own thoughts and the smell of his cigarettes.
"Onii-sama, we're late for choir practice!"
The thin teenager stumbled out the door, kicking on his shoes and barely adjusting his black coat before jumping down the steps towards the small girl in the wheelchair who was waiting for him. As Lelouch looked at younger girl, his very aura calmed down into a gentle affection, shown by the special smile that he only reserved for the girl. His hand reached out to cup her smooth cheek and ruffle her long cinnamon locks with care before Lelouch clasped the handlebars on the back of the wheelchair, moving it out of the walkway to the sidewalk.
She was his sister, Nunnally—his precious younger sister. Nunnally gave a soft happy sigh as she heard her brother approach and give her the usual greeting. Slowly she reached up with her own hand and found Lelouch's on the wheelchair handle bars, to touch the smooth creases of her brother's skin, feeling secure with the familiarity. Nunnally smiled happily, knowing her brother was here now; everything would always be alright with her brother.
Nunnally pouted a bit, her amusement apparent as she said, "What took you so long, Onii-sama? You're always lecturing me about being punctual, and yet here you are, holding us up."
Lelouch laughed lightly; Nunnally loved hearing that laugh, to confirm that her brother was truly here, there with her, today. To the side, Nunnally heard Sayoko's skirt rustle. The maid was most likely carrying the binder of sheet music that Nunnally would require for today's practise. It was always most reassuring to hear and to touch, to affirm that this happiness wasn't ever going to disappear into the darkness.
He twisted his fingers to clasp hers tightly, Nunnally could practically feel him smiling down at her, the smile he only showed her and her alone. The smile that made her feel loved and pampered from the person she loved most.
"Sorry, Nunnally, I had to deal with an unexpected guest today. Not to worry though, he'll be leaving shortly this afternoon," Lelouch told her.
Her curiosity piqued a little at the news. She craned her neck up to hear Lelouch's comforting voice a little better. "A guest? Was that the cause of the commotion in your room this morning?"
It had been surprising to hear her usually docile and somewhat stoic brother swearing so loudly in his room. Having woken up on time, unlike Lelouch who adored sleeping in 15 minutes in, Nunnally nearly had a heart attack when she had heard crashes and other disturbing noises from Lelouch's bedroom. She had been in the middle of changing into her clothes. Distressed for her brother's condition, she had called out to Sayoko to check up on Lelouch, but of course the maid had already gone the instant she had heard the crashes. After a long silence, which Nunnally had not known meant good or bad news, Sayoko returned, assuring Nunnally that her brother was unharmed, helping her get into her wheelchair.
The embarrassment and worry in Lelouch's voice gave away his facial expressions. Nunnally could picture the blush plain across his pale face as well as the startled look in his violet orbs. Another one of those times where Nunnally wished she could open her eyes and just see her brother's face again, the seventeen year old face, instead of the eight year old one she always ended up reverting back to for reference.
God was cruel sometimes. Was it too much to ask for, to be able to see again? Wasn't it enough that she was crippled? Not for the first time, Nunnally buried her negative emotions within herself, only expressing her love for her brother. She didn't need to weigh anyone down with her own personal woes. She could only smile and endure it, hoping that God wouldn't take anything else away from her if she stayed a good girl.
"I'm sorry, Nunnally, did I wake you up?" Lelouch asked her as he pushed the wheelchair down the gritty sidewalk, she could feel each tiny bump as the the mobile wheels turned; Lelouch's voice was always sincere with her. "I didn't mean too, I just kind of lost my temper when our guest... dropped in. He's a bit... different."
That probably explained the uncomfortable smell of cigarettes when she had passed by the kitchen this morning, Sayoko being very assertive in getting Nunnally out of the house as soon as possible.
"I'm guessing he isn't one of the student council members, I don't recall there being another boy besides Rivalz and you Onii-sama," Nunnally mused out loud. "Is he your friend?"
Sayoko paused slightly in her steps, curious.
"Well...," Lelouch said carefully, "we're acquainted. I see him at the coffee shop I go to every morning, and he's taken the habit in the past few months of talking to me."
A rustle above her head, told her that Arthur had followed Lelouch out of the house again, perched on Lelouch's shoulder. The cat enjoyed trailing her brother everywhere, like a lost duckling. He had stopped complaining about it weeks ago, giving up.
Nunnally smiled softly, "You sound like friends to me."
Lelouch grunted quietly, and Nunnally took that as a reluctant yes. Honestly, she sometimes thought of Lelouch as the softie between the two siblings, never openly admitting his true feelings unless they had to do with her.
No one else was closer to Lelouch than her, Nunnally always let herself soar on that feeling.
"Why was he here this morning?" Nunnally asked him. "It's rather early to be visiting." The amusement was there in her voice.
For a minute, Lelouch was silent, and the silence unsettled her for a bit. Hearing nothing, feeling nothing, all of that unsettled her, but none more so than hearing nothing from Lelouch. Speak, she thought to herself after several minutes passed, please speak.
"I... I guess I never asked...," his soft whisper barely reaching her ears.
She hadn't heard him talk so softly since... since that day. Slight alarm rang through her head, her world of black.
Was this 'guest' truly that different?
"Onii-sama?" Her voice gave away her slight panic.
She felt him smile that special smile, reserved for her alone. She felt him tighten his fingers around hers reassuringly, felt him breathe slowly.
"Don't worry about it, Nunnally. I'm fine."
That was all the reassurance Nunnally needed to know that he was there.
"Nuna-chan is so cute, Lulu," Shirley gushed with awe, watching the blind and paralysed girl in the front row of the church benches, reviewing a hymn with a small group of girls her age. The Ashford Middle School Choir was made up of about two dozen girls from ages ranging from eleven to fifteen, always part of the musical processions at weekly masses and occasionally competing at prestigious musical competitions in Area 11.
They usually practised singing each Saturday in St. Lumiere's Church—the patron saint of Ashford Academy, for the religious. If you were atheist, like Lelouch, it mattered little who St. Lumiere was. Lelouch did appreciate the elegant architecture of the Victorian style church, with it's pillars and detailed paintings of angels and demons, the marble walls and floors. He liked the stained glass windows with their rainbow hues, shining down onto the floor. But what Lelouch liked the most about the church, if anything at all, was the Japanese-made grand piano which stood to the side of the altar, to the opposite of the benches on the other side where the girls were practising and currently socializing.
The one thing that Lelouch had always admired about the Japanese was the beautiful craftsmanship with which their pianos were manufactured. To him, no other countries could compare in making such wonderful instruments. It was shame that Britannia forbid Japanese (Elevens, to all Britannians) from manufacturing any more pianos, only importing instruments from the so called great and holy homeland. That order disgusted Lelouch, an obvious attempt at assimilating Japanese culture, destroying it, erasing it forever. Another thing to take away that the Japanese had always taken pride in.
He was grateful that Milly and her grandfather had insisted on keeping this grand piano.
The girls were at break time, in the middle of choir practice. Most of the girls were polite to Nunnally, making small jokes with her, but Nunnally's closest friend, to Lelouch's knowledge, was Alice. Alice was a small lithe girl who enjoyed pushing Nunnally in her wheelchair during school; she had long blonde hair and colourful eyes. Lelouch trusted Alice to take care of Nunnally for him when he couldn't. He and Alice got along quite well.
Not really paying much attention to the assistant choir master, Shirley Fenette, his disinterest was shown as he played with Arthur, waving his blue ball point pen in front of the cat, watching the cat swipe forward eagerly with his paws. The red-head, Shirley stopped talking and put her hands on her hips with a frown. She leaned over and tapped Lelouch on the skull, not so lightly.
"Lulu!" Shirley frowned deeper, "You should pay attention when I'm talking to you. I'm not even lecturing you this time."
Lelouch rubbed the spot absentmindedly; he smiled contently at the cat in his lap. "Look, Arthur finally got the pen from me."
Shirley rolled her eyes, "Oh Lulu, you and that cat."
"What?" He puffed up his thin chest indignantly.
Shirley's mirth only increased, causing her to burst out laughing. "Never mind, Lulu. I'll leave this alone from you only for today."
Which, in Shirley speak, meant that she would probably gossip about this to the damnable woman Milly Ashford later. Lelouch glared at Arthur who only mewled up at him. These strays were going to get him stuck into some insufferable scheme plotted up by none other than Milly herself one of these days. And he was guessing that he wouldn't like it.
Knowing better than to throw Arthur off his lap unless the cat wanted to get off, Lelouch merely huffed and directed his attention towards the girls. Sayoko was chatting with the choir master, Shirley's mother, while she passed out the new sheet music for this week's new composition. Shirley gave a small gasp and skipped down the aisle to join the others.
"See you, Lulu," Shirley waved to him, getting ready for the second half of practise to start.
He nodded at her in response, a small wave of his hand to indicate that he had understood. Arthur snuggled up on to his lap, curling up into a ball to slumber. The cat was fond of taking naps on Lelouch's lap, for what ever reason, making it hard to move the cat off of him without getting clawed when Lelouch needed to get up and go somewhere. Silently, he hoped that the cat wouldn't take another humungous slumber again. He wanted to go and stretch his legs soon.
Then, as he was busy musing, the choir master raised her voice and the Ashford Middle School Choir began to sing sweet music to his ears. Visibly relaxing against the oak furnished bench in the empty congregation, Lelouch leaned back and just listened.
He loved music. More than anything.
One of the things that Nunnally and Lelouch shared was a passion for music, be it classical, tradition, church or just a simple tune. Nunnally was the singer, the one who got involved in music openly. Lelouch suspected that it filled a void for her that her blindness had left open. But for Lelouch, music was more personal, intimate. He kept his awe for it hidden, playing the piano in the house whenever he was alone... and for other reasons.
Coming to Nunnally's practises always washed his troubles away, allowed him to melt into a place that was neither here or there, a place where he wasn't a Britannian hiding from his father, where his mother had never died, where Nunnally had never been condemned to a wheelchair. It was a place where the world was perfect and anew, leaving him in peace.
Lelouch smiled to himself, letting the rest of the world fade away as he did what he always did at Nunnally's choir practises—enjoy the music.
They were singing one of the more famous songs—Ave Maria, in a procession of sopranos and altos, making one float away on the rush of voices. Marianne, Lelouch's mother, used to sing it often. It was one of Nunnally's favourites to go through at home, to Lelouch it sounded like an ascension of angels. A very peaceful yet heart wrenching piece. The entire church acted as the body of an instrument, resonating within the very chorus of voices.
"I hate it."
The abrupt interruption came from Lelouch's left. Opening his eyes slowly, Lelouch saw a young boy around Nunnally's age who was standing in the aisle by Lelouch. The boy hadn't made a sound coming in, his footsteps as silent as a fallen angel's steps. Upon closer scrutiny, Lelouch thought that the boy looked like a masculine version of Nunnally, with the same cinnamon coloured hair and violet eyes.
There was of course several differences between this boy and his sister, the boy's skin was certainly fairer and the boy's eyes... were a thousand degrees colder. Right now, the boy was watching his sister's choir with a fierce arctic coldness that made even Lelouch shiver a bit. This boy just radiated creepiness, and Lelouch hadn't even heard him walk in.
"What's there to hate?" Lelouch felt a bit irritated that the boy thought so low of Nunnally's music.
The boy didn't even glance at him, making no sign that he had heard Lelouch speak at all. Lelouch frowned.
Fine, if the boy didn't want to answer, it wasn't his business to pry.
But surprisingly enough, the boy had pinned him with a frigid connection of stares. "Everything. It sounds pointless."
Lelouch tilted his head curiously at the boy's dead and emotionless aura. "Pointless? How so?"
"I do not understand the purpose of this noise. Many other targets gather together to partake in these ritual-like gatherings to make noises such as this... but it does them no advantage whatsoever." The boy explained blandly, his voice as emotionless as everything else about him. "I feel nothing from it."
A snort made the boy's head turn sharply to stare condescendingly at Lelouch, who wasn't going to wipe the smirk off of his face any time soon.
The boy's eyes narrowed sharply, growing colder by a few more degrees. "You... find that funny?"
Still smirking, Lelouch straightened himself up, forgetting Arthur was on his lap. As he stood up, the cat yowled and dug his claws into Lelouch's lap, making Lelouch curse slightly and stay put, refraining from his decision to stand up. Instead, Lelouch merely looked back at the boy, unaffected by the cold depth he saw there.
"This isn't noise, boy, this is music," Lelouch couldn't stop the warmth from entering his voice as he lectured the kid, his hand reaching out in an unnecessary hand gesture.
"There is little differ--"
"But there is. You just hadn't figured it out. Do you want to know the difference between mere noise and mere music?" Lelouch asked the boy.
If possible, the boy's eyes went even colder.
But Lelouch continued, "The difference is... we, because we are human, interpret music according to our own souls. The difference between noise and music, is soul." When he saw that the boy was still staring at him coldly, Lelouch shrugged, "We play because we have souls. That's why we play music. So we can feel."
"...That is illogical." Lelouch's speech had done little to crack through the boy's icy exterior.
Lelouch merely turned away and stared wistfully stained glass windows above the altar, the sound of the uplifting Ave Maria surrounding him and the boy.
"I suppose it is. But it doesn't change the fact that it's why I feel." Lelouch smiled softly at the boy, "You should try playing an instrument someday, and maybe you'll understand. I bet you could be a great musician, you just haven't used your full potential yet."
The boy turned away quickly, and Lelouch was a bit amused to see a tinge of pink on the boy's face before that. So, the cold boy had a warmer side after all.
"Why don't you come back, next week?" Lelouch offered, "The choir practises every Saturday. You don't have to do anything. Just listen. Maybe you'll learn to appreciate some of the choir pieces by then."
Coldly the boy replied, "I have no reason to."
This prompted another laugh from Lelouch, "When you feel like it, then."
Without a word, the boy strode out of the church, as quietly as when he had first entered.
It came as no surprise to Lelouch to learn, at the end of Nunnally's choir practise, that no one had seen the boy at all. It was as if the boy hadn't even existed in the first place.
"That smell... is it your friend from this morning, Onii-sama?" Nunnally questioned him, as he pushed her wheelchair up their home walkway.
A whiff of smoke had met their noses. The garage door was open, and a shining white motorcycle was inside.
"He's a biker, I see," Sayoko commented, disapproving.
Lelouch sent a small glare which she ignored easily. Nothing seemed to faze that maid of his except danger to himself or Nunnally, which she perceived as the form of Suzaku.
Nunnally gave a small delighted gasp, "How exciting. He rides a bike everywhere?"
"No, Nunnally-sama, he doesn't ride a bicycle... Kururugi's a Japanese Gangster. He rides a motorcycle," Sayoko explained cheerfully, knowing that this was irking Lelouch the more she spoke of Suzaku. "The statistics show that 85% of Area 11's gangsters commonly carry a knife and gut people for their money. The statistics also show that gangsters have a habit of killing innocent people such as your brother."
"How horrible! This Kururugi-san wouldn't really hurt you, would he, Onii-sama?" Nunnally's voice was hysterical with the thought of her brother being in any danger.
Shooting a glare at Sayoko, who was obviously being too overprotective for her own good, Lelouch brushed his hand on Nunnally's hair gently, "Those statistics are biased, Nunnally. Suzaku wouldn't hurt a fly."
Though Lelouch had his doubts about that.
Sayoko's smile widened when she saw Lelouch's flicker of doubt. He glared at her again. That maid was too good at her mind games. He shuddered to think of what measures Jeremiah would go through if he were home 24/7 in order to keep his 'precious prince and princess' safe from the outside world. Thank goodness that man worked on an orange farm during the day and often didn't come home during the daytime, only in the evening and overnight, or Lelouch would never be able to skip school with the ease he did now. Or do anything at all.
Arthur, perched on the top of Lelouch's head, mewled once again—his ever present and annoying chaperone. The cat lifted his paws and ran towards the house, scooting through the small cat door made especially for him. It seemed like the cat had grown hungry again, which was one of the only reasons why Arthur would ever consider leaving Lelouch's side. That feline was a plain stalker.
Lelouch turned back towards Sayoko.
"Why don't you take Nunnally inside the house, Sayoko-san? I'll see Suzaku off," Lelouch told them both.
"If he does anything suspicious to you, I'll be out with my—"
"Yes, Sayoko-san, I know you'll stab him with your kunai...," Lelouch drawled lazily, brushing her off with his hand. "I'll be fine."
With that, he walked over to the garage which normally housed Jeremiah's orange truck overnight, where Suzaku's white and shiny motorcycle was parked. Cigarette smoke met Lelouch's nose in an onslaught. Lelouch wrinkled his nose, trying not to think about the bad memories which came with the smell as he searched for Suzaku.
The biker was busy packing up his single duffel bag with his newly washed clothes and a towel. There was nothing else in his possession, Lelouch noted, and for some reason it bothered him.
"You didn't bring anything else with you?" Lelouch enquired just over Suzaku's shoulder.
Suzaku whirled around, arm moving for a punch. Lelouch yelped and stepped back before Suzaku's fist stopped just mere millimetres in front of his nose, looking up to see Suzaku's shocked emerald eyes.
The biker grabbed Lelouch's trembling hands and shook his head repeatedly, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It was a reflex, I swear! I didn't mean to—well didn't I guess, but—Oh god, I could've seriously hurt you. Holy shit. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't... I'm sorry."
"Suzaku, shut up." Lelouch's witty remark rounded up. He breathed in slowly, letting his heart calm down a bit.
"I'm so sorry, Lelouch, I didn't mean to—"
"Stop apologizing!" Lelouch snapped at him, "You're giving me a migraine. It was an accident, that's great. Let's move on in our lives, shall we?"
Nodding slowly, his devastated eyes making Lelouch wonder how anyone could ever be scared of this guy when he acted like such an adorable (No, Lelouch did not think Suzaku was cute. At all.) idiot all of the time.
What was more annoying was the way Suzaku was hovering over Lelouch, fretting over his sudden reflexes and making a big deal over Lelouch's safety. Seriously, was this guy really a tough violent gangster or not? Sometimes Lelouch wondered if he had some sort of split personality: one was the puppy-like Suzaku who chain-smoked; the other was the more intimidating battle-addicted gangster Suzaku who also chain-smoked.
Lovely, Lelouch thought sarcastically.
"Right, so, um," Suzaku fumbled with his sunglasses, his cigarette hanging from between his chapped lips, hand in between his chestnut curls.
"...I was asking you if that was all you brought with you..."
"Oh yeah, thanks Lelouch," Suzaku literally glowed at him. Lelouch's glare did not shift. "I don't have a lot of belongings... you know how it is..." Suzaku's eyes darkened with an intense loathing, "with Britannia and all that Eleven shit."
It was silent as Lelouch stared uncomfortably at Suzaku, shame directed towards himself for being insensitive to the obvious problem and towards his country for enforcing such monstrous racism.
Lelouch had always known that the Japanese (Elevens) were treated less than human in Area 11. He had seen such treatment in Shinjoku whenever he passed by the ghetto with Rivalz. Lelouch always tried to break up any conflicts between Britannians and Japanese, even when the odds were against him. Nunnally, Sayoko and Jeremiah would always lecture him about it when he came home with dark bruises or broken limbs because he stuck his nose somewhere he shouldn't have. But Lelouch couldn't help it. It was part of his prideful nature to step in (or if you wanted to believe Sayoko's words, kind-hearted.).
But Lelouch didn't see himself as kind or merciful. He saw himself as just as guilty as other Britannians, guilty of being unable to change the world or views of the other Britannians who lived in this country with him. He saw himself just as guilty, just as disgusting, for their crimes.
He could even see the visible hatred Suzaku held for Britannia, the way Suzaku spoke, the intensity in his eyes behind the sunglasses if you stood close enough to look. It made Lelouch wonder again, why Suzaku didn't treat him with the same hatred that Suzaku obviously felt.
I'm just as bad as other Britannians..., Lelouch thought to himself, I didn't listen to what he had to say, did I? He probably has good reason to be over. He could be in a lot of trouble.
"What happened to you, anyways? Why were you in my bedroom this morning?" Lelouch asked him casually.
Suzaku blinked up at him curiously, "You wanna know?"
"Might as well hear it."
"You didn't seem interested this morning..." Suzaku pointed out, sceptical.
Huffing, Lelouch retorted, "I was tired and angry. I had a right to be, you know. It's not every day someone sneaks into your house in the middle of the night, puts on your clothes and uses your toothbrush."
"...Your clothes are comfy, they smell nice."
"...Suzaku."
"What?"
"Just tell me what goddamned happened to you."
The biker grinned at him and blew another puff of smoke into Lelouch's face, which didn't make Lelouch any happier.
"Well... I guess you could say that I couldn't pay the rent. The landlord was getting really pissed off when I gave him excuses; I told him I'd pay soon as soon as Ze—I mean, I soon as I found a new job. But when... some more gang stuff happened, the landlord got fed up and kicked me out of my apartment, telling me never to quote 'bring my sorry ass back here again'," Suzaku recited with some omissions.
For some reason, Lelouch didn't feel too surprised about this. But he still had questions. "How come you didn't just go and stay with one of your biker friends...? Ohgi or Tamaki?"
The biker took another drag off his cigarette.
"Don't get me wrong or anything, Lelouch. This isn't the first time that I've been kicked out of board and room. I've stayed over at their places for too many times than I can care to count. I was just a bother to them. Ohgi has to deal with his day job; he has a girlfriend and an important position within our gang. Tamaki has a lot of younger siblings to take care of. They're as well off as I am, barely able to pay off the bills for their homes. I'd just be another burden to take care of," Suzaku explained, not quite looking at Lelouch, but instead, bitterly looking at his duffel bag. "A lot of my gang are in the same boat."
The knowledge burned in Lelouch's heart like a wild fire. The world just wasn't fair.
It was common knowledge the Japanese (Elevens) were barely making it by. It didn't make it any easier for Lelouch to contain his own silent angry at their treatment. And it didn't take Lelouch's burning shame away.
Suzaku really had no place to stay.
Seconds later, Lelouch asked smoothly, "Then why'd you show up in my house?"
"C.C. let me in," Suzaku spat out sourly, his cigarette smouldering. "She found me sitting in front of my... well, what was my apartment building. She suggested that I stay at your place... she said you wouldn't mind." He looked sheepishly at Lelouch, "Guess she lied, huh?"
The biker tentatively peeked at Lelouch's face, to see his reaction.
Lelouch's violet eyes were not looking at him. They were drifting off to the corner, as the young Britannian student was deep in thought. Suzaku sighed. Maybe he'd said too much, made Lelouch uncomfortable.
"...I don't mind." Lelouch said quietly.
Maybe he shouldn't have come, even if he had an attachment to the violet-eyed boy he couldn't—wait, had Lelouch just...?
Suzaku's cigarette dropped to the floor in a dull thud. Lelouch blinked at it, about to tell the biker off for dropping sparking cigarette butts like a litter bug when he was jerked upwards. The biker had stepped forward and gripped Lelouch's shoulders firmly, forcing him to look up at his face.
It burned to look up at those intense green eyes, which were hesitantly filled with that strange look that only Suzaku gave him, all over again. Lelouch felt his heart skip a beat, the garage was getting too hot... and the door was open.
"You... you mean...?"
The thin student pushed his way with difficulty out of Suzaku's grip, scowling at him, "Yes, you can stay Suzaku, but only until you find another place to live in, ok?"
That annoying smile of Suzaku's was getting slightly infectious. Lelouch had already begun damning it to the deepest pits of hell along with the darkening cigarette butt on the floor. Before Suzaku could speak up, Lelouch cut in.
"There is one catch, you can not smoke in my house," Lelouch pointed at him dramatically, "or you really will be out in the streets, I don't care. You better not upset my family, either or I'll kill you!"
Suzaku just nodded happily and went along with it, his enthusiasm nearly overflowing from his body and soul. He did laugh a bit at Lelouch's threat, as if the thin boy could actually kill him. Maybe if he had a gun, but Suzaku doubted Lelouch owned one.
Giving a hefty sigh, Lelouch rested his fingers against his forehead, "Now I've just got to smooth things over with Sayoko-san, Jeremiah-kun... my sister Nunnally..."
"Oh thank you Lelouch!" Suzaku beamed, scooping the protesting teenager up in a massive bear hug, spinning the irritated boy around in circles. He was unable to contain his joy at the opportunity to be living with the boy who he had grown an attachment too.
"P-put me down, Suzaku before I change my mind!" Lelouch hollered from the top of his lungs.
"Thank you so much, you are so wonderful!"
Apparently Suzaku wasn't listening.
"Suzaku, I said, put me down!" Lelouch yelled at the top of his lungs.
"I don't wanna!"
"Do you want me to regret letting you stay?!"
"...Not listening!"
"Suzaku!"
"A ha!" Sayoko had burst through the door, ninja outfit in hand, "You have decided to try and defile Lelouch-sama yet again, Kururugi! Prepare yourself!"
... And the battle of Sayoko vs. Suzaku with Lelouch stuck in the middle began yet again. As Lelouch was dropped to the floor, finally, he found his life in mortal danger (all these death threats kept starting because of that damned Suzaku!) as several kunai narrowly missed his head (Sayoko had been aiming for Suzaku, but he had deflected them somehow.).
"Could you stop throwing kunais in the house!?"
Never mind, Lelouch was already regretting it.
Outside a skyscraper-like apartment, a young boy sat in front of a lamp post, watching cars go past all of the soaring business buildings, people who were chatting and carrying shopping bags walk by, the various sales in the near by shops. The boy's emotionless eyes hardly flickered; he kept his scarf close to his face.
Rolo was waiting for his partner Gino Weinberg to tell him to kill Suzaku Kururugi. After hearing about Anya's death, Rolo had felt a slight pang in his heart. Was it sadness? He believed so. He hadn't minded the girl. She hadn't bothered him with any useless emotions, focused on her objectives. Somehow, Rolo missed that. He wouldn't mind paying the one who killed Anya off back in blood at all. It would only be another mission—just with the bonus of closure.
Human beings were mere objects to Rolo, targets to shoot down. The sight of blood didn't bother him any more.
It used to. Rolo used to scream every time he saw blood. He wouldn't stop screaming. His uncle found a solution though. His uncle beat him until he went silent at the sight of all that red.
Since then, he had abandoned the need for mere emotions. Baggage that got in the way of a perfectly logical decision. To push the knife in, or to not push the knife in. It was more intimate that way, using a knife.
His uncle had used a knife once too.
Everyone he met was just a possible target.
Especially anyone who beat their kids.
A flicker of violet passed his eyes, and Rolo was reminded of the smiling face of the boy at the church. The boy who talked about souls and music. The boy who had smiled at him, hadn't be scared of him. The boy who thought Rolo had potential to play music.
"Do you think a brat like you could ever play music? All you're good for is fucking up people's lives!"
"As a killer, you should abandon any silly dreams you have of becoming a musician. It will only weigh you down, like your emotions. Get rid of them."
"I'll kill you, by smashing your beloved cello against your head!"
He bowed his head down, looking at the corpse at his feet and his bloodied cello. He would never play again.
But...
"Come back next week."
Rolo wanted to see that boy again. Rolo wanted to hear him talk about music again. Rolo… wanted to come back and hear that boy laugh again.
Was this normal?
In his head, the melody of Ave Maria wouldn't fade, no matter how much Rolo shook his head, trying to cloud his thoughts over with a blank slate.
Music has soul, that boy had said.
Assassins didn't have souls.
-
-
-
First of all, R.I.P. Anya, I totally love you. I'm sorry for not having a bigger role for her (tears). Second, I can't spoil anything for you, but I'll say this: I love Gino. Third, Sayoko needs more love. She is awesome. Fourth, I'm sure you're all still very confused. More shall be revealed as time goes by…
Thank you everyone for all your kind reviews: Crispy Rice, Serena the Hikari of Love, dragonmaster, Eevetta, Arkaham, 2stupid, Rathka95, CGRD, Yamiro and YazooValentine.
Next time: Zero makes his first appearance by addressing the Holy Assassins threat before moving on in his master plan to liberate Japan. He has a small chat with Suzaku. Meanwhile at Lelouch's place, Suzaku has yet to face Jeremiah-kun…
Thanks for reading :D Please point out any grammar/spelling mistakes, and if you can, review :D