Chapter 2

There were sounds of commotion surrounding them. The noise started out blurry and faint but grew louder and clearer as he started to wake up. He felt the coldness of concrete pressed against his cheek as his eyes slowly opened. Itachi glanced around for a moment with hazy vision. He pushed himself up off the ground and sat up, holding onto his head. He closed his eyes tightly and reopened them, able to see clearly again. He looked around and saw he was in a place that was alien to him. There were large, tall concrete buildings, sidewalks, streets made of asphalt. There was also debris lying around everywhere and some of what appeared to be bloodstains. Hatone lied on the ground several feet away. Itachi stood to his feet and rushed to her side. He rolled her over so she was on her back and her hair fell away from her face.

"Hatone," Itachi called her name as he started to nudge her awake. Her eyebrows furrowed and she moaned a bit before opening her eyes. Like Itachi, her vision was blurry when she first woke up, but was able to shake it off. Itachi helped her sit up. She looked around the area in wonder and amazement. To her this was all very much like a dream state.

"Where are we…?" Hatone asked faintly as she brought her gaze back to Itachi.

"I don't know," Itachi replied. The two got to their feet as they continued to look around at the foreign place. Hatone also noticed the debris and the red stains on some of the rubble.

"It looks like there was some kind of… war." Hatone observed.

"I was thinking just that. If this is a battleground, we should probably get out of it." Itachi told her. Itachi took Hatone by the hand as they wandered around the streets. Neither of them had any idea of where to go, but they had to go somewhere. As they walked there was less and less rubble and blood lying around, which meant they were heading out of the "battleground". There was a very large flat screen TV on one of the buildings; on the TV was a reporter. Itachi and Hatone brought their attention to the TV, in hopes they would learn something about the place they were in. The reporter kept mentioning words like "Area 11" and "Britannia", both of which made no sense to either one of them. There was one word, however, that caught their attention: Massacre. Hearing the word made Hatone jump a bit and Itachi's hand twitch. The reporter was also talking about a "Princess Euphemia", but that was unimportant to them.

"Where do you think we are?" Hatone asked Itachi, looking up at him.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Itachi responded.

The two proceeded on their journey to find out exactly where they were. They cut through alleys, around buildings, through parks and so on. The streets started to fill with people the more they went on. This worried Hatone; afraid that someone would notice them, who they were. No one spoke to them. A few people gave them strange glances, but nothing more than that.

Nightfall was approaching rather quickly and the two seemed to be getting nowhere. They knew they would have to eventually stop and rest for the night; but even finding a place to rest was complicated. Itachi didn't trust the place to go into a hotel or rest stop and there was so sign of a forest near by. They kept walking until they happened upon a nice looking building with pretty landscaping. It had a fairly large courtyard with trees, bushes and a fountain. There didn't appear to be anyone in the building or around the area. Itachi brought Hatone into the courtyard. They did a quick check around the area to make sure no one was there before Itachi turned to face Hatone.

"We'll stay here for tonight and try to find answers in the morning." Itachi told her. Hatone barley glanced up and him and nodded a bit. Itachi cupped her cheek and brought his face down at the same level with hers. "What's the matter?" Itachi asked, becoming concerned. Hatone blushed faintly but her expression remained the same.

"It's just…" Hatone couldn't quite find the right words, but Itachi understood her.

"I know. I'll find a way to get us back home, Hatone. I promise." Itachi whispered softly to her. Hatone closed her eyes and blushed just a bit more.

"Ok," she replied. Itachi looked up at the tree they were next too and waited for Hatone to climb up it before he did. They rested on the branches towards the middle; Hatone on a higher branch than Itachi. The trees in this place weren't nearly as big as the ones they were used to back home, but they had to settle for it.

Kikuhana sat with her back against the wall, her knees in her chest, eyes tightly shut. Her hands pressed firmly against her ears. There were still the sounds of screaming and gun shots echoing in her head, even though it was long over. The horrifying images flashed across her mind once more as she pulled her knees deeper into her chest. Kikuhana starting trembling.

How did this happen? Where did things go wrong? Were the only questions that kept replaying in her head like a broken record. Hours before things were going so well, and now it was a living horror. Tears started to slowly roll down her face; she didn't want to be in the room alone and scared. She wanted be with Lelouch or Suzaku…but she couldn't she was fearful to see them …especially after this.