Lelouch had his mind full, after all, his real memories just resurfaced yesterday. His main source of concern at the moment is the whereabouts of his baby sister, Nunnally. From what C.C. had told him, she was kidnapped by someone named V.V. during the Black Rebellion. Since the enemy has Nunnally in their midst, it's important for him to act as Lelouch Lamperouge who has no memories of being Zero. Another big problem was Rolo, his so called little brother.
"To think that they'd have the audacity to replace Nunnally with a puppet, how dare they?" Lelouch thought grimly as he looked at the quiet boy eating his breakfast,
"Is something wrong, brother?" Rolo asked with concern. Lelouch replied with a fake smile to absolve his worry.
"It's nothing, Rolo, I was just thinking about yesterday, and how thankful I am that we both got out without a scratch," the little brother nodded, a smile displayed on his face. Once he returned back on eating his breakfast, Lelouch eyed the boy with suspicion.
He took note of the massive transfer of students from Ashford Academy after the rebellion, so it was normal for the new students to have no knowledge that he has a little sister. What surprised him is the fact that none of the student council members remembers Nunnally. He thought of his bastard of a Father and came to the conclusion that he must have used his Geass on them.
"A Geass that distorts memory, how fitting for a man who usurp his power through lies and deceit," thinking about his father made him lose his appetite. He excused himself, and told Rolo he'll head out first. The younger boy nodded, but not without a hint of suspicion, as Lelouch noticed from his pretend brother's eyes.
There was one more thing that concerned Lelouch, and it pertains the person who talked to him the other day, a day before he regained his memories. Lelouch closed his eyes to clearly remember the event.
Lelouch was walking through one of the empty hallways of Ashford Academy after deciding not to attend his P.E. class. His mind was formulating an excuse that he could use in case he got in trouble with his teachers. He was put to stop when a girl, a head shorter than him, halted him in his stride. She stood there in front of him, unmoving with her amber-colored hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing the school's uniform, so he quickly thought of her as a student, but this was the first time he'd seen her.
"You're Lelouch Lamperouge, am I correct?" she started, her sharp expression slightly intimidating the carefree Lelouch. With his pride not liking the intimidation, Lelouch countered with the same expression.
"And what of it?" and as a small revenge, he answered her question with another question, like a barking puppy.
"Nothing," she shrugged her shoulders, acting like this was boring her. She then turned around before saying, "Talk to me when you're Zero."
Lelouch just raised his eyebrow in confusion, not understanding what the girl just said. He decided to just label the girl as somewhat of a weirdo and continued his entourage in cutting classes.
But now he was left suspicious. Who was that girl? How did he know that he was Zero? Did he misheard her? He quickly dismissed the idea. A lot of thoughts and assumptions flooded Lelouch's paranoia as he tried to guess the identity of the girl.
He continued on walking through the school's campus, only to be surprised when he saw the mysterious girl playing volleyball with a group of students. It was just a light game to pass the time as they were just passing the ball playfully, squeals and laughter mixing in the game. Lelouch looked at the girl and was dumbstruck at the normalcy she's portraying. It made him question his meeting with her. As thoughts continued to make way into his mind, one person approached him and commented on his intense stare at the girl with red hair.
"Like what you see?" Shirley said, bringing Lelouch back out of his thoughts.
"What? No, I was just curious, I hadn't seen that girl before," he spouted in his panic.
"That's because she just transferred the other day," Shirley explained, to which Lelouch's eyes widened.
"Transferring at such a time? This is getting more suspicious," he thought as he looked back at the girl laughing along with her friends.
"Is she your type Lulu?" Shirley suddenly appeared in his line of vision, surprising the boy with her question.
"What are you talking about, Shirley?" he said before walking off.
"How cold," he heard her say. He started walking towards their classroom with Shirley tagging along.
Unbeknownst to him, the girl who's taking most of his thoughts at the moment looked at his passing figure. Distracted, she was then smacked in the face by a volleyball aimed at her. Screams of apology and worry followed as her world turns black.
Deciding that he's too cool for school, and that he has a rebellion to plan, he went off to the one place he knows he won't be surveilled for the time being, the school's clinic. After a fortunate movement by the student body, pertaining freedom and liberty, the amount of surveillance cameras were reduced at the school. But at the same time, Lelouch knows that there may be some still hidden, just for his sake.
Not wasting time the moment he gained back his memory, he did an extensive search around the school yesterday when he came back. Rivalz was free so he made him tag along to lessen the suspicion of him surveying the school. There were plenty of rooms that has no hidden cameras, but Lelouch was worried that someone will be sent out to watch over him instead, so he gave up on the idea of having a safe haven in school.
That is before he saw Villetta Nu, his current P.E. teacher, talking to Shirley. He's certain the pretend teacher is a part of the people surveilling him. With that in mind, he went ahead to tell her that he's ready to make up for the classes he skipped. Shirley made a comment about how proud she is of Lulu turning over a new leaf, Villetta on the other hand has surprise eminent on her face. Since news of Zero's return is spreading like wildfire, her surprised expression was expected. Lelouch laughed inwardly at noticing her shock, he then called Rolo at the same time to complete his alibi.
But Lelouch still has one more motive in approaching Villetta. Since Zero is out there and Lelouch is in the gymnasium, Lelouch expected someone to come over and discuss something with the pretend teacher. Moments later when the nine people in the court with him was busy playing basketball, he saw the school nurse come over to Villeta with a hint of unease. Lelouch smirked at the oddness of the situation before a ball hit him in the face, leaving him with a bloody nose.
Unfaltering, he used the lucky accident as an excuse to go to the clinic. Ever the actor, he exaggerated the pain he felt so the pretend nurse couldn't help but play her role as a school nurse, and escort him to the clinic. The clinic was one of the place not guarded by a surveillance camera, so when they arrived, he dramatically turned around, took off his contact, and used his Geass to turn the pretend nurse into his slave that will do any of his bidding. He first made the woman answer all his questions, and true to his suspicion, she was indeed part of Villetta's stalker team. She told her that she's the one in charge of monitoring the area around the clinic, and with that information in mind, Lelouch ordered her to ignore his presence and anything he's about to do whenever he's in the clinic unless he called out to her. He also made sure that whenever the pretend nurse is to make her report, she'll report that nothing out of the ordinary happened and that Lelouch is still the same. With that, he claimed the clinic as his temporary base.
Lelouch savored the memory of his success as he stood in front of the clinic. That success further fueled his confidence as Zero, since he's slightly worried he'd gone rusty after staying cooped up as a normal student.
His victory over that lousy viceroy and the magnificent trick he pulled out on the media ridden Lelouch of his worries for the moment. His mood was on its peak, and he wanted to laugh like the magnificent bastard that he is. After seeing that no one was near the area, combined with the delusionary feeling of grandeur, Lelouch laughed maniacally at the memories of his consecutive victories. He opened the door to the clinic, knowing that the only person inside is the nurse who he ordered to ignore his presence.
"What the hell was that laugh about?" with a mixture of confusion, shock, and slight disappointment, the mystery girl that took hold of Lelouch's paranoia, stood before him.
Lelouch felt like he was caught with his pants down. His thoughts were jumbled up and he couldn't think properly, leaving him in a stuttering mess.
"W-W-What are you doing here?!" he pointed at her and demanded, holding the expression of a boy who's porno stash was discovered by his little sister, "Thank god, Nunnally's blind," a random passing thought appeared in his mess of a mind. He quickly dismissed it and crushed it for his subconscious to forget, eliciting his self-pity to the max. But he has no time to mentally hang himself for the damaging intrusive thought, as the source of his concern grinned like a devil.
"S-S-Sorry, W-W-What was that?" mocking Lelouch's stutter, the little devil held out her ear, pretending not to hear what he just said.
"Y-You…" ambushed by the mockery, Lelouch couldn't find a proper retort against the she-devil.
"M-Me?" she continued with an innocent voice and an innocent face.
"Stop it!" Lelouch called out, his pride and magnificent bastard status taking a massive hit as he criticized himself for falling to the girl's provocation. The girl just laughed in response, leaving Lelouch to clench his fist out of shame, and the girl holding her stomach for laughing too much. The thought of using his Geass to force the girl to forget the event came to his mind, but before he could ponder on doing it, the girl stopped on her laughs, seemingly content at what she just saw.
"So this is the Great Lelouch, huh?" she started, wiping a tear on her eye, "Seriously, what's with the laugh earlier? Are you planning to audition as a Bond Villain or something?" she let out a small chuckle before trying her best to take control on the smile forming on her face. This just irritated the boy further, but since time had calmed him down of sorts, he decided he doesn't have time for petty grudges.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" he demanded, this time with the tone of a ruler. The girl admiring his seriousness, mirrored the same expression on his face.
"I'm Annella Corabelle, nice to make your acquaintance, Lelouch," the boy just scowled in response, portraying a cold exterior, "As for why I'm here…" she looked at the nurse who she noticed had been ignoring their loud exchange, she grinned the same way she did earlier, and held her posture confidently, putting her right hand to her hip, "I've been waiting for you, Zero."
Lelouch's eyes sharpened, his suspicions was correct, she knows his identity. Their amethyst eyes staring at one another. Zero scowled, and the mysterious red-head smiled mischievously in response. They both stayed like that for a few seconds before a trail of blood came out of the girl's nose.
"Your nose is bleeding…" Lelouch casually pointed out.
"Ah…"
What can I say? Like father like daughter, both being graced with fortune after getting a bloody nose.
Expect an update this Saturday, or don't expect it.
Feel free to review, criticize, or whatevs.