The Human Element

Chapter 3


Most of the time, school was a boring and dull affair. Lorraine's marks were already at the top of her grade, and many of the staff members predicted that by the time she graduated, she would be the valedictorian. However, just because her grades were high didn't mean that the Ice Princess of Ashford enjoyed sitting around for hours on end. To her, classes were boring. They were just a repetition of the things that she already knew. Today would not be one of those days.

It was the first class of the day, Mathematics. While it wasn't as boring as History, it was tedious. Lorraine had already mentally prepared herself for a boring class because after all, she was an expert at sleeping during lessons.

The professor entered the classroom, and all the buzz coming from the students quickly quieted down. The man paused before the blackboard and coughed awkwardly. "Before our lesson," he began, "I would like to inform you of a new student who just transferred in to our class."

The whispers and murmurs of curiosity grew in volume. It was not every day that a student transferred in. Lorraine simply raised an elegant eyebrow, but otherwise remained impassive.

"You may come in now."

"I'll be joining you all here at Ashford Academy starting today. I'm Suzaku Kururugi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The classroom was completely silent, but Lorraine's eyes widened. Despite the quietness of the classroom, Suzaku marched to an empty seat by the back of the classroom, one row behind Lorraine. As he passed by his childhood friend, his eyes widened in shock after seeing Lorraine alive and well, despite the events that happened in the Shinjuku Ghetto. Lorraine, noticing his stare, quickly shook her head almost unperceivably. Suzaku got the message and continued his march and sat down. Nobody spoke until the end of the lesson.

As soon as the class ended, the whispers emerged once more at full force. Unlike the curious tone they had just moments ago, these ones were full of prejudice, suspicion, and aggression.

"Why's an Eleven here?!"

"Wasn't he a suspect in Prince Clovis' murder?"

"But the teacher said it was a false arrest!"

"Even so, he looks kind of suspicious, doesn't he?"

Suzaku didn't bother to pay attention to what his new classmates were saying. It didn't bother him too much. Of course they would be suspicious of me, an Eleven. It's understandable of them to think that way, he reasoned internally. So he continued to unpack his things as whispers and rumours swirled their way across the classroom.

Shirley, the ever-positive person that she was, decided that he wasn't scary at all. "We shouldn't just be scared of him! If we talk to him, we can see what he's like!" she said to Rivalz and a scared Nina.

Before she couldn't approach him, Rivalz grabbed the orange haired girl's arm. "You tend to come off a bit strong," he reasoned with her.

Lorraine had enough. It was understandable that his classmates were suspicious of Suzaku, but to talk about him like he wasn't even in the room was offensive. Yet at the same time, she couldn't come to his aid. If she did, it would draw too much attention to Suzaku and to herself. It was something that she didn't need right now. Lorraine stood up quickly, earning a look of surprise from both Shirley and Suzaku. But before she passed the doorway and entered the hall, she looked back at Suzaku briefly and fixed the collar of her blouse.

Suzaku was shocked. He understood the code gesture perfectly fine, of course, but he didn't expect Lorraine to be using it after so long. He waited a couple more minutes to pack his bag before he, too, left the classroom and made his way to the roof.


The rooftop of Ashford Academy was almost spotless. It seemed like an elegant place to relax after classes, with beautiful railings and a smooth granite floor. It provided a wonderful view of the school grounds and the charming water fountains and gardens. It was not a place that Suzaku was used to. He had always been a military man, and this show of wealth and power was unknown to him. He was lucky to be able to attend this school, and he knew it.

Suzaku looked over and spotted the long, dark locks of Lorraine vi Britannia as she leaned over one of the railings that overlooked the grounds. He walked over to her, knowing that she wouldn't like it if he kept her waiting.

Lorraine turned towards the Japanese teen and smiled. "It's been seven years since we used that signal."

"Let's talk in the attic, right?" Suzaku responded as he smiled back.

"Yeah."

"I'm so glad you're okay," Suzaku said happily. He was very glad; Lorraine was, and still is, his best friend. After the events in the Shinjuku ghetto, Suzaku had been very worried about his best friend's survival, and it had been noticed by Lloyd, even though he didn't know anything about her.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't protected me then…" Lorraine's violet eyes darkened as she remembered how the corrupt Royal Guard had shot Suzaku in the back for not killing an innocent. They were despicable.

Suzaku smiled in an attempt to ease his friend, "I was just returning the favour. From seven years ago."

Lorraine simply frowned and looked away. She still felt guilty that is was her family, her father, that bombed the Kururugi household and destroyed the lives of so many Japanese. She would also feel guilty about that.

Suzaku sensed the dark haired girl's uneasiness. "What about that girl? The one in the capsule!" he asked in attempt to change the subject.

"We were…separated during the fighting," Lorraine admitted slowly. This, of course, was a lie. Lorraine hated lying to her best friend, but it was a necessity. She didn't need to involved him any further in to what was happening. He had already been through enough. "Wouldn't you know more about her?" she asked the soldier.

Suzaku frowned, "No. It looks like only the Royal Guard knew anything about her."

But the Royal Guard is now dead, thanks to me, Lorraine thought. "I see..."

"And your name…do I still call you Lorraine?" Suzaku asked the girl.

"Since the records list my former identity among the dead, I go by the name Lorraine Lamperouge now," she responded curtly. She didn't want anyone to overhear such sensitive information. "But you can call me by my real name in private," she smiled ay him.

Suzaku blushed slightly. "I see…"

"And you? What happened at your court martial?" Lorraine asked gently, before her tone changed in to something more suspicious, "And why did you enroll in this school?"

"I'm just as surprised!" Suzaku exclaimed brightly. "I had no idea you were here. You see, someone arranged for me to get a proper investigation. They said that a 17-year-old should be in school."

Someone high up would allow a Japanese man to attend a Britannian school? Lorraine thought suspiciously. Nobody would do that…besides Euphemia. Of course.

"That was very kind of them," Lorraine smiled. "Now I get to see you every day."

Suzaku frowned at that. "Lorraine, I…" he began hesitantly.

"Don't worry, Suzaku," was all she said before pulling him in to a tight hug and held him closely.

"L-Lorraine?!" he exclaimed in surprise. Suzaku was pretty sure that his cheeks were probably as red as tomatoes by now.

"Oh, shut up," she laughed. "This is probably the only time I will show affection, so just appreciate it." She punctuated her statement by holding him a bit tighter.

Suzaku, on the other hand, felt as if it was almost too affectionate. Right now, he was in a state of shock, and the only things his body registered was that…softness pressing against his chest. He might be naïve, but he knew exactly was that was. However, he knew that he would have to hug back, or else this torture would never end. So he put in arms around her like she expected him and held her close. Lorraine is right, he reasoned, this might be the only chance we get.

After a couple moments she pulled away from him, with a light blush adorning her face. However, it didn't compare to the redness on his cheeks. "Thank you, Suzaku," she said gently before she coughed. "Now let's get back downstairs, before people start suspecting things," she ordered in a more neutral tone.

"Yes ma'am!" he saluted her jokingly.

She laughed at him, the same laugh that he heard 7 years ago, and Suzaku knew that everything was going to be alright. Like they once said to each other, in the attic of the Kururugi household all those years ago, that the two of them together could accomplish anything.

The two of them began to walk back to the doors that led to the lower levels of the academy. Before they reached it, Lorraine turned to look at her best friend. "Let's visit Nunnally this evening, okay? She would love to see you after all this time."

Suzaku smiled at her. "Sure thing."

Some things never changed, and their friendship was one of them.


Author's Note: Oh my god, I'm back! Hey everybody, sorry about the massive delay that it took to finally finish this chapter. I know its been way too long for a 1k update, but I'm sorry. I've been busy these first couple of weeks with university, and even though I'm staying in town, it's still a rough period of transition. A 40-minute commute has turned in to a 2 hour one and I hate it. However, I think I'm getting a bit better now in terms of time management. Honestly, it wasn't as fun as I expected it to be in first week, but now I'm starting to enjoy it as I've made more friends and getting in to work that I'm actually enjoying. Media theory is so boring though.

However, I hope that you enjoyed this latest update for The Human Element. Next time, I'll be working on the next chapter for Thoughts of Truth and I also have a new idea for a one-shot. Hopefully it won't take a couple weeks.

Sorry about the delay once again, but things are getting a bit better. Thanks for reading this update, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Please review if you enjoyed!

DYFM out!