Chapter Two

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I didn't explain well enough last chapter that Cornelia had thought Euphemia was pleasuring herself. Sorry! I'm making that correction right now. Again, I'm sorry for the confusion.

Suzaku slipped out of the bedroom later that day and stood guard while Euphemia slept. He kept a straight face while inside, he cursed himself ten times over. It was so stupid to do what he just did! Why, why, why did he have to do it? He cursed again, and then fell silent as he stared at the floor in front of him.

After ten minutes, Suzaku quickly pulled out a weapon as someone approached. It was only another guard, who gave Suzaku an odd look. "Private Kururugi, what are you doing here?" the guard snapped as they paused beside Euphemia's door.

"Sub-viceroy Euphemia asked me to keep guard, sir," Suzaku answered quickly, his hand dropping to the side.

"Did she now? I'll have to relieve you now. You're needed upstairs."

"But, sir," Suzaku began, but was interrupted by a CRACK! It took Suzaku a moment to realize what had happened. His superior's right hand was up and suddenly there was a horrible stinging pain in his cheek. Blood trickled down his neck, under his uniform.

Despite the embarrassment of being slapped, Suzaku simply watched the girl in front of him quietly. She growled and snapped. "Go to the Viceroy! She wanted to see you." She scowled, glaring at Suzaku. "I'll keep watch over the sub-viceroy."

Suzaku bowed his head and walked away. Once he was far enough away, Suzaku touched his cheek lightly. He grimaced. "Well, this day keeps getting better," he grumbled softly, rushing upstairs.

When he arrived upstairs, Darlton was waiting for him. Suzaku bowed his head and apologized for being late. Darlton gave his cheek a glance and then asked Suzaku to follow him upstairs.

Euphemia woke up in her bed, alone. She sat up with a frown, and looked around the room. "Suzaku?" she called softly. The door outside opened and a woman smiled.

"Sub-viceroy, I'm sorry, but Suzaku had to go to the viceroy. I dismissed him and took guard over you."

"Well, then, you can be excused," Euphemia said sharply and got up. Angrily, she threw on some decent looking clothes and walked out of the room. That girl was still there. "I told you you were excused."

"I'm never to leave someone unattended," she began.

"I'm going to the viceroy. You are dismissed or your ranking shall be dropped." Never in her life had Euphemia been so cruel, but she was pissed! How dare Suzaku leave her like this without so much as a note!

"Milady, I can't-I'll go," she sighed and walked off. The look on Euphemia's face kept her from arguing.

Euphemia walked up to Cornelia's throne room, where her sister was, and knocked on the door. For several moments, she stood outside the room and then the door opened. It was Suzaku as he walked back. He froze before he could walk outside and then backed up, crouched down, and bowed as well. "I'm sorry, Sub-viceroy, but I must leave," he murmured.

Euphemia hesitated. It wouldn't be good to attract attention to her and Suzaku. "Of course, Sir Kururugi, you may go."

He nodded and walked past, catching her eye. He pleaded her with his eyes for a second before he was gone. She hesitated, then turned to walk into the throne room.

Suzaku was sitting at a table, wincing as Lelouch pressed some ointment against his cheek. "Careful Lelouch," Suzaku frowned, pulling away from the raven-haired boy. Lelouch smirked.

"I've never actually known you to be such a wimp, Suzaku. I think you're losing your strength," Lelouch said calmly, taking out some Band-Aids. He pressed it against Suzaku's cheek harsher than needed and apologized.

"I'm not a wimp," Suzaku frowned. "I just had a lot on my mind."

"How did this happen anyway?" Lelouch continued, turning to his child-hood friend.

Suzaku hesitated. "I was watching over Euphy and my superior came over and told me I had to go upstairs. Well, as a soldier, I'm never supposed to leave my post and I argued over it with my superior. She slapped my pretty good and told me I needed to go talk to Cornelia. She gave me the next several days off. I have no idea why, but I wasn't allowed to ask."

"Yeah, Cornelia's like that. How's Euphy anyway?" Lelouch said.

Euphemia stood in front of her sister, nervous about why she had come up here. Had she heard anything? If so, had she fired Suzaku? "Euphy, why are you so nervous?" Cornelia laughed as she got off her throne.

"What happened with Suzaku?" Euphemia wondered.

"Well, it was time to give Private Kururugi some time off. It's a requirement for all soldiers at least once a year." Euphemia invisibly relaxed. "However, I did hear you." Euphemia noticeably froze. Cornelia laughed again and put her hand on Euphemia's cheek. "Next time you want to give yourself some pleasure, please do it more quietly." Euphemia blushed and luckily, Cornelia thought it was because she was embarrassed she had been caught. It was also good Cornelia had sent Guilford and Darlton away.

"I'm sorry, sister," Euphemia mumbled, looking away. It was better than having her sister think it was Suzaku doing that. Even if that had been the case… "Do you need any help with anything?" Euphemia asked quickly before Cornelia could ask anything else herself.

"No, Euphy, I should be okay. Why don't you go train with some Knightmare Frames? You haven't done that in a while."

Euphemia nodded. "All right, sister." Euphemia walked out of the room

For the next several days, Suzaku actually stayed in school all day long and was there three days straight. It was a miracle really, and Suzaku expected at any time to have Lloyd or Cecile come up and tell him he was needed. Either it was for work or it was because Cornelia decided it was time to execute him because she caught on about him and Euphemia.

He spent time with those in the Student Council and also spent a lot of time with Nunnally. He'd tell her all sorts of interesting things about the Japanese, mostly because she asked, but he also loved talking about Japan.

Lelouch noticed how tense Suzaku was while he stayed with them and finally cornered the boy. "Okay, what's wrong," he demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

"You know, you trying to get to information out of me is stupid. I could easily get you down."

"You wouldn't do that to your friend, would you?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything."

"…" Lelouch sighed and moved away for Suzaku to be able to walk again. Suzaku joined Lelouch and sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell you part of it. I can't say everything because someone might overhear."

"Well, what is it?" Lelouch pressed, walking slightly closer to Suzaku. Suzaku hesitated. He had no idea how to put it to words. "You can tell me. It's not like you lost your virginity to someone or something like that." The look on Suzaku's face told Lelouch everything. His eyes widened and then he burst out laughing.

Suzaku hit Lelouch on his head, glaring. "It's not funny!"

"So who was it?"
"Someone you don't know." Suzaku figured it was better than telling Lelouch it was Euphemia. Who knows what he would do? He might be as protective of Euphemia as Nunnally. Well, maybe a little less…

"Will Nunnally and I get to meet her? I'm curious to see who managed to get Suzaku Kururugi in bed."

"You wouldn't want to."

"It's a Britannian."

"…" Suzaku didn't answer. A grin formed on Lelouch's face.

"It is." He laughed again, causing Suzaku to smack him once more.

"Like I said, it's none of your business," Suzaku snickered while Lelouch nursed his sore arm.

"You don't have to hurt me about it," Lelouch grumbled.

"That I do."

Euphemia sighed as she sat at the desk, looking at the piles of paper again. Why couldn't she do something more than just paperwork? She picked up the next document in the pile. Her eyes widened. It was a document, stating that a Britannian and an Eleven, no, Japanese wanted to marry and that they should just give up on each other and move away to opposite ends of Area 11. Euphemia stood up and quickly tucked the document in her dress. As she walked out, a soldier stood up, but she quickly ordered them back down and continued walking. She went to the legal documents area and greeted the man warmly. "I want legal marriage papers made up for these two," she said, putting the document down in front of him.

The man looked uncomfortable. "Sub-viceroy, there's an Eleven involved with this-"

"Are you going to argue with me?" Euphemia wondered, folding her arms over her chest.

"No," he mumbled, quickly grabbing the papers and handing them to Euphemia. Smiling, Euphemia walked out of the room and went to her bedroom. She changed into less recognizing clothes and went into the Tokyo settlements to talk to the two.

"Lelouch, I'm going to make a Japanese dinner tonight if you don't mind," Suzaku had said before he had walked out of the school and into the Tokyo Settlement as well. He was trying to kill some time and think a little about what had happened between him and Euphy some more. If only he could figure out exactly what Euphy thought…

Euphemia was walking around, looking for the home. It was easy to spot, actually, since there were some squads patrolling their home. Euphemia breathed in deeply and then walked forward, hoping she would be able to give herself enough courage to stand up to everyone there. She was stopped almost instantly by a guard. "I am Sub-viceroy Euphemia and I want to pass," Euphemia said calmly, surprised how confident she sounded.

The guard bowed his head, probably expecting her to tell the others to come out. It was hardly that. She walked up to the house and knocked on the door. "Please, allow me in. I have some documents you need to sign," Euphemia said softly, already knowing someone was at the door. Slowly, the door creaked open and a woman looked out. She closed her eyes, already knowing it was the sub-viceroy. "I wanted to come in person to congratulate you on your marriage."

Suzaku noticed Euphemia twenty feet away. He wanted to know exactly what was going on and was surprised when he heard Euphemia order everyone off the grounds of the home. She paused, allowing everyone to leave. And then she caught sight of Suzaku. Suzaku kept her gaze, noticing her anger, but also… a certain passion. He couldn't help, but smile. Euphemia hesitated, then gave Suzaku a 'stay there' look. He nodded and sat down on the sidewalk.

Ten minutes later, Euphemia was finally done. She started walking off and signaled for Suzaku to follow. Suzaku stood up and followed as asked. Once Euphemia turned down an alleyway, Suzaku picked up his pace and sprinted after her. She was running, glancing behind her and giggling. Once she saw Suzaku, she smiled, turned around, and continued to run.

It took two minutes for Suzaku to catch Euphemia. Every time he just about caught her, she slipped right through his fingers. He finally wrapped his arms around her waist. Euphemia giggled and turned around, her arms going around his neck. They stared at each other; soft violet eyes meeting dark green eyes when suddenly, Suzaku looked way. Euphemia let go of Suzaku and stepped away. "Why did you leave, Suzaku?" she demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

"…" Suzaku couldn't lie to her. "I thought you would regret it," Suzaku admitted.

"Why would you think that?" Euphemia asked gently, stepping closer.

Suzaku looked away. "I hate to say this," he said softly, glancing back at Euphemia.

"Forget the reason then," Euphemia said, wrapping her arms around him once more. She rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes and listening to his heartbeat. Suzaku hesitated; he shouldn't be afraid of her being regretful; it was himself he was worried about… He shook his head and finally took Euphemia in his arms. He made his decision as she looked up at him. He'd protect her with his life…

With a tender smile, Suzaku lifted her chin and kissed her gently.

~Author's Note~

Well, how did you like the sweet SuzaXEuphy ending and the Suzaku doubting himself? REVIEW!

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