Phoenix: Alright! Sounds to me that people like this story and so far, everything's working as it should. So enjoy!
Suzaku snored on as Leah flicked the lights on. She stood over him, phone against her collarbone and newspaper in her other hand. She was dressed in a pair of faded denim tight jeans, a white blouse and a gold vest hanging loosely on her shoulders. She glared down at the teen, silver sparks flashing in her eyes.
"Wake up please," she said, a little loudly. The Japanese boy snored on. She smacked him with the newspaper. "Su-za-ku!" she said, emphasizing each syllable with a repeated smack. Finally the teen began to wake up. She set her hand on her hip. "About time."
"Whoa!" he yelled, backing up against the opposite arm of the sofa. "Oh…S-sorry Leah I just-"
"You just woke up, I arrived late last night and I resemble a dead friend of yours. I get it," she said, glare dying down somewhat. She extended the phone to him. "Someone on the line says they're your boss and they need to talk to you." Suzaku nodded and took the phone. "I made coffee. Want some?"
"Straight black please," he said as he put the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"
Leah came back to a troubled-looking Suzaku a few minutes later and handed him the coffee. He was nodding and affirming whatever his boss was saying, adding a word or two in between sips as Leah sat next to him.
After a few minutes, he hung up and sighed.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Just some work I have to attend to today," he said before he finished his coffee.
"So you're going out today?"
"Yep."
"Can I come with you?" she asked eagerly.
"Sorry but no. Its some boring meetings, some tests on the Knightmare I pilot and then I have to escort those men from the news last night to court. And some of my friends are coming up to take you shopping for clothes and anything else you'll need."
"But I have nothing to pay with," she objected as she and Suzaku went to the kitchen.
"Think of it as a birthday present," he suggested.
"But I don't know when my birthday is," she pressed.
"Well then, until you get your memories back, we'll just say today's your birthday. I'll even see what I can do about getting a cake to celebrate tonight, alright?" Leah nodded as Suzaku rinsed out his cup and left to get changed. Leah sat down on the couch and looked over at the glassy mess she'd made the night before with a sigh.
Suzaku came back a few moments later, changed into his rusty-colored uniform and attempting to properly tie his tie. Leah cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Its uniform," he explained. She nodded as he pulled his hands away from the slightly crooked knot. "Three years of doing this, you'd think I should know-" Leah got up and straightened the knot.
"Harder to do it on your own when you've just woken up," she said pointedly. "I'd comb my hair if I were you. You know, trying not to look like you slept in the couch and all. And speaking of that, until you can get a guest room or I find other accommodations, I will not be kicking you out of your room. If it really matters that much to you that I sleep on a bed, we can alternate which means, you get the bed tonight and I'll get the couch." Her tone left no room for argument so Suzaku nodded as he grabbed his Lancelot key, his I.D. card and his wallet and headed for the door.
"Oh. My friends' names are Kallen and Millay. They'll knock and my spare key is on my dresser in my room so you'll want to take that. And ask for the safe word, its Lancelot. If there's any other word, just tell the people you're calling the police, alright?" Leah nodded. "Otherwise, do not leave this apartment unless its an emergency, understood?" Leah nodded.
"Have a good day and be safe!" she called as he shut the door. She sat down on the couch and sighed to herself as she turned on the television and started channel surfing.
It wasn't ten minutes later that a sharp knock came from the door. Leah turned off the TV and waited, staring at the object.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?" a girl asked from the other side. Leah darted back to Suzaku's room and grabbed the key, tucking it into her pocket as she went back to the door.
"We're Millay and Kallen here for Leah?" called another girl. "Will you respond to Lancelot?" Leah cautiously opened the door, catching the flickers of surprise as they flashed over the faces of the blonde and red-headed girl who'd come to collect her. The blonde smiled. "You're Leah right?" Leah nodded. "I'm Millay Ashford and this is Kallen Kozuki."
"Nice to meet the both of you," Leah said as she stepped out of the apartment. Millay handed her a bag and Leah looked in at a pair of black boots and socks, a coat and scarf. Unconsciously, she touched the bruises on her throat. "Thank you Millay," she whispered as she started putting the items on. She knew both girls had seen the bruises but she was very thankful that they didn't ask about them.
Millay sat the three of them down in a booth at the mall food court. Each girl was carrying six or seven bags each so it was no wonder they were exhausted.
"So," Kallen started. "We've gotten shoes, socks, shirts, sweaters, pants, dresses, gloves, jackets, a coat, some hats, and toiletries...anything else Millay?" Millay pulled a list from the sky-blue jacket she was wearing and looked it over.
"Next is lunch!" The three giggled a bit as Millay returned to the slip of paper. "Then there's getting the party decorations and getting Rivalz over to Suzaku's and then getting the food for Leah's party."
"Listen, I really appreciate what you two are doing but I don't want to be a bother," Leah said softly. Millay threw her arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Oh come off it Leah. You're a friend of Suzaku's and he's our friend and as the saying goes, 'The friends of my friends are all friends.' So this is what we always do for a friend in need," she said.
"If you insist," the ravenette sighed as she got up. "I have to go to the restroom, I'll be right back."
"And I'll go get us some lunch," Kallen said as she walked off to wait in line. Millay reclined on the bench and released a long sigh before glancing to the side. Just behind the corner of a shop were three boys in black jackets and torn jeans glaring in her general direction. Her eyes narrowed.
"Those three...didn't I see them just after we left the first shop?" she wondered. Her hand went to her pocket and pulled out her phone, tapping parts of the screen as if she were texting. She watched the clock on top of the screen until a few minutes had passed and looked back. The boys were gone. She shrugged and turned towards the bathroom. There was no line. "does Leah need help with anything?"
"Millay, don't tell me Leah's still in the bathroom," Kallen said as she walked over with a tray of food. Millay looked back at the door and sighed.
"I'll go check on her. You stay with our stuff, alright?" Kallen nodded as Millay stood and walked towards the restroom. She froze just outside the door and bent down to pick up a tiny golden key and the scarf she'd given Leah just that morning. "Leah?!" she called, scanning the crowd before dashing over to Kallen.
Suzaku sighed to himself as he checked the time again and his stomach growled. It was only a little past one so if the court hurried and he did too, he could stop somewhere, get a quick lunch, a cake for Leah and be home before her and the girls. His radio beeped and he pressed the button to respond.
"Yes?"
"Suzaku, return to base immediately," Llyod said in his usual bored tone.
"But I thought I was to transport the prisoner to prison once the jury passed their vote," Suzaku said a little hesitantly.
"Well, we've got orders from the Empress herself saying you have to get home. Gino's coming to relieve you."
"Why?"
"Suzaku, listen carefully but try not to react too much." Llyod's assistant, Cécile, took over the line. Suzaku tensed a little. He knew that when she used that tone, something had happened and like any mother-figure, she didn't want him hurting himself when he heard the news. "The Empress said she received a call from Miss Millay Ashford. Your friend Leah's gone missing."
"What?!" he roared as he started the engines.
"Apparently its was done by a few members of an Anti-Britannian gang. These people live only in the buildings that make up old Japan, are against any Britannians being on Japanese soil and as such, are believed to be responsible for the human traffickers you were watching. We managed to find the approximate area where they may be hiding but its still rather wide. But your orders are to return to base and then go home in case this is an attack against you."
"Forget going home. Tell me where the location is. The Lancelot can help narrow the search and I promised Leah these people weren't going to hurt her anymore, that she was under my protection. If I don't at least make an effort to find her, how can I honestly tell her that again?!"
"Suzaku..."
"Miss Cécile, I know you worry about me, but please, Leah is my responsibility. I can't and won't let her down. Now please, tell me where you think she is." A sigh came through the radio.
"He's a stubborn one alright," Llyod said.
Leah whimpered a little as she felt a rope be tied around her wrists behind a chair. She looked to each side, only seeing the inside of a burlap bag.
"Please, what do you want? I don't have anything, I swear," she pleaded, voice cracking as tears started slipping down her face.
"Eh, shut up!" someone yelled before something hit the side of her face, hard enough to nearly send her tilting back in her chair. A few voices started laughing at her before the bag was yanked off her head and someone's fist connected with her cheek, sending her and her chair onto the floor.
"Tell me, Britannian, how's it feel to have the boot on the other foot?" someone asked before a foot connected with her stomach, sending all the air in her system right out and she vomited what little she'd had that morning for breakfast. She held her head up, trying to keep her face out of the bile.
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know if I am Britannian! I don't know who I am! Please let me go!" Someone stuffed a rag in her mouth.
"We said, shut up!" Leah continued to sob, unable to stop herself from shaking. "Have you any idea what your kind has put us through?" Leah shook her head, tongue moving to try pushing the rag out of her mouth. "Thousands of our brothers bleed in the streets trying to keep your filthy nation away from our borders!" Leah spat out the rag.
"That has nothing to do with me! Its not my fault Britannia came here! You wanna blame someone, blame the person who sent the troops here to invade in the first place!" Someone else landed another kick to her diaphragm and she vomited again.
"Keep your mouth shut Britannian dog!" someone screamed before more kicks and punches landed on her. She started crying out, screaming and kicking and struggling to get away as the men attacked her.
"Stop it!" she screamed as her hands slipped from their ropes and her arms covered her head. "I said stop!" She curled into a ball. These were hardly any different than the beatings she'd get from her traffickers but there were more this time and they were solely focused on her. "Knock it off!" she screamed before one well-placed kick made her body go limp. Her head smacked against the cold, unforgiving stone as grey began to appear at the edges of her vision. She glared at one large, stout man who was standing away from the group, watching them beat her as her senses began to fade away, leaving her staring with half-lidded eyes at the man while she herself fell into a blissful, senseless darkness. "Suzaku...Millay...Kallen...someone help me please," she mentally begged.
Her left eye glowed red, the Geass bird flapping once inside the iris as the reflection spread over the floor like blood.
Phoenix: Am I evil? Well, evil or not, here's a couple of questions I want you all to answer if you leave a review, or at least answer a few of them.
1) What did you like about his chapter?
2) What didn't you like about this chapter?
3) What do you think will happen next chapter?
4)Did I have any grammar or spelling errors that you saw?
Love you all and later!