Chapter 3: Ohayo Japan, Ohayo Area 11

Lelouch was pissed. Nay, he wasn't pissed. Pissed was too weak a word. No, he was gut-wrenchingly furious! Being stuck in an enclosed space and unable to do anything about it wasn't helping his mood either, for that matter.

Currently seated in a world-class airplane, mentally raging was all Lelouch could do to stop himself from childishly hitting at the seats in front of him. No, had thought the young boy, I refuse to act like a childish brat. Of course, that didn't stop him from doing the mental equivalent of it.

If there's one good thing that going to Japan is going to bring, it's that I'm probably going to see Milly much sooner than I thought I would, thought Lelouch, bad mood lifting slightly.

If the situation wasn't so dour, this would be almost amusing, thought the young boy's guard as he gave a slight mental chuckle, said guard seated directly across from him being Jeremiah Gottwald. The young prince may talk like a man, but his exterior? Oh no, Prince Lelouch still acts his age no matter how much he refuses to voice it.

It was certainly true, for while the Prince's mind may have been a raging maelstrom of righteous anger and helplessness, his appearance betrayed his mind, mostly by not doing it justice. Slumped against his seat, a slight scowl that looked more like a pout adorned his face, and his angrily crossed arms didn't help either. The boy prince far more resembled a boy that had his favorite toy stolen, than the mature, furious young man he pictured and styled himself as.

And yet, it's true, in a way, thought Jeremiah sadly. His friends and family, save for his sister have been taken from him, every possession save the clothes on his back denied to him, and his house, exiled from. There's not much for it though, until the Emperor chooses otherwise.

Jeremiah, despite the bleakness of his thoughts, was still slightly optimistic. The Japanese, he knew, valued respect and courtesy highly and would treat the young prince well. And it wasn't as though they were to be exiled forever; temporary exile had long been a staple of punishment amongst the Royal family. Take Lelouch's older brother Alfred fi Britannia, 6th Prince of the Empire, for example; his shameless mismanagement of Area 5 caused the Emperor to exile him for 5 years to Turkey. He would be due to return to Britannia within 2 years, if all went well. While Lelouch and his sister hadn't received an exact length of time that they would be exiled, it was unprecedented, and therefore, unthinkable, thought a small voice in the back of Jeremiah's head, that a Prince and Princess of the Empire would be banished indefinitely. He'd gladly take his own eye before he bet against the two young royals returning in due time.

Regardless, no matter how long the vi Britannia siblings were exiled, Jeremiah had pledged to them that he would remain by their side until a greater power said otherwise. He could clearly recall the day, for in actuality, it was a much cherished memory that he doubted would ever leave his conscious. His young charge and his sister had been playing earlier…


/A Week After The Emperor's Decree/


Lelouch and Nunnally were depressed. There was no other way to describe the haunted looks Lelouch carried everywhere, or the red-rimmed eyes that had become such a normalcy on his sister's downcast face. While no one(save Lady li Britannia) had been actively avoiding them, it had become unvoiced amongst those who lived in the house to give them their space. Save for herself, of course, and their bodyguard too. Cornelia couldn't bear to stay in the same room as them, for she blamed herself for what had been handed to them. It was SHE that had backed Schneizel's plan to try and reason with the Emperor, it had been SHE that had entertained Lelouch's notions of even considering approaching the Emperor, since the day after his mother's death. She had never seen her sister look so down or defeated in her life.

While she hadn't been there herself, she had more or less figured out that her three older siblings had a falling out of sorts. Clovis had been furious, and had turned the full blame of the situation on Schneizel. Schneizel, while he had blamed himself, had remained adamant that while the results were terrible, it had to be done, and that Lelouch would have inevitably confronted the man on his own. Clovis had snorted derisively at that and had stormed off and the two hadn't spoken since. Cornelia, meanwhile, had folded into herself and shouldered the full share of the blame on her own consciousness. It tore at her heart to see her sister so, so different from the fiery, brash, yet kind and caring sister she knew.

While Euphemia's thoughts didn't exactly follow that exact trail of thought, she had subconsciously pieced together those same conclusions in much lighter terms, due to what her own eyes had shown her. The little nine-year-old girl was determined, however, to change what she saw. She had been trying, ever since her siblings had returned wearied and defeated. Every waking moment that she could, she had tried to spend it with her siblings. Cornelia had half-heartedly tried to humor her little sister, but she knew that deep inside she was still as troubled as ever. Nunnally had grabbed onto their time together with both hands, but she knew that she was still scared and that her heart wasn't fully in it. Lelouch meanwhile, had point-blank apologized profusely, before he told her that he was in no mood to play and that she should stop trying to cheer him up.

While startling to hear that from her once gentle brother's mouth, or her sisters' discomfort, Euphemia persevered. In the nine-year-old's mind, it was all worth it whenever Cornelia would chuckle lightly at her antics, for when Nunnally would lose herself and embrace the lightheartedness of the moment, and when Lelouch's face would break from his somber mask to crack a small smile. Seeing her siblings happy truly brought Euphemia happiness, a rarity in this world.

It currently was two weeks before Lelouch would depart in the middle of Euphemia's latest scheme to lighten his heart. The two were playing still, after Nunnally had begged out in favor of getting something to eat, though both knew that she was just not up for games at the moment. Lelouch wasn't either, but he had been doing his best to cooperate with his younger half-sibling these last two weeks. Angry, frustrated, and down he may be, but the depth of his caring for his two younger sisters was indestructible.

They were currently playing a game of tag, and predictably, Euphemia was winning. Hide and Seek, Chess, or anything that required an ounce of brainpower would have been right up Lelouch's ally. But of course, his sister had to pick something that involved physical activity. Panting, Lelouch bit back a word he had heard Clovis say once that had earned him a lighthearted smack from his mother. If she was trying to cheer him up, it certainly wasn't working. On the other hand, if she was trying to murder him, her plan was working splendidly.

"Lu-Lu

Hold still

I just want

To tag YOU!"

Cackled Euphemia in a sing-song voice as she ran right on his tail. Lelouch knew that she was enjoying watching him squirm. Perhaps his thoughts of death by pink evil weren't so unfounded? All thoughts stopped as he felt his foot hit a rock and the floor suddenly got closer and closer to his face. With a thud, Lelouch faceplanted into the dry, soft, and warm grass. Another thud could be heard, this one much louder, as Euphemia decided that now was as good a time as any to land directly on top of him.

Lelouch silently cursed, or did the sheltered 10-year old equivalent of it, as he felt Euphemia's hands land solidly on his sides. Despair filled him, knowing full well what was to come.

"TICKLE FIGHT!" shouted Euphemia in a half-laugh as she began to run her wildly moving fingers over his sides. Lelouch fought, he truly did, but the devil's fingers knew no pause. Lelouch burst out in laughter as he tried to get his sister off. "Euphie! Stop it, this isn't funny! We've got to go find Nunnally anyways!"

Logic and reason be damned, Euphemia would get what she wanted. "~But Lulu, you haven't been yourself lately. You owe me two weeks' worth of Lulu time at this point, you've been neglectful!"

Wondering how Euphemia had even learned the meaning of the word neglectful, Lelouch tried to rock back and forth as his torture continued, now mixed with unwilling tears of laughter as he fought to get his sister off him. "Alright, alright, I swear I'll act normal again. For the love of Eowyn, just STOP! Please!"

Having claimed what she wanted, Euphemia slowly got off the now-spent Lelouch as he grunted in approval. After having dusted himself off, Lelouch turned towards Euphemia, face cast downwards and hidden by his hair. "Euphie…."he muttered, eyes invisible to her.

"Lulu! I thought you said you would snap out of it!" responded an indignant Euphemia. All that effort, and for nothing! Turning his face up, Euphemia noticed the face-splitting grin plastered on Lelouch's face. She didn't notice the twinkle in his eyes that should have been a sign to book it and run. "Thank you. For putting up with me," Unknown to them, Jeremiah had finally managed to hear their voices after having spent the last ten minutes looking for them and was now slowly walking towards where he could hear their voices, obscured by trees. He was taking his time; it was clear the two were playing and didn't want to be disturbed. Perhaps the young princess had even made a breakthrough in his prince's harsh disposition?

"…But now, I've got to return the favor," cackled Lelouch as Euphemia's face quickly went pale and her eyes widened. But it was too late, for Lelouch had managed to push her backwards into another dense patch of grass and had her legs pinned with his own. The smirk on his face was beginning to terrify her, and Euphemia was starting to panic. She was about to get revenge dished out first-hand, and Lelouch had always been an 'Eye for an eye', even when he was 6 after she accidentally pushed him into a pond in the Aries Villa. He had pulled out a toad and dropped in on top of her head, and she had fainted. She woke up a few minutes later to the sight of a cackling Marianne, a fuming Cornelia, and a much more apologetic Lelouch with a bump on the back of his head. Nunnally had been eyeing Cornelia with deer in headlights look for the next two weeks.

At his young prince's words, Jeremiah paused, shrugged, and continued walking. Odd choice of words to be sure, but they had to be taken out of context.

"Ah! No! Don-Oh God!"

"Yeah! How do you like it now!"

"It…It feel-AH!"

"Come on Euphie, answer me! From that smile on your face, you'd think you were enjoying this!"

"No! It's not like tha-," a high pitched shriek cut through the woods as odd sounds, grunting and squealing, could be heard beyond the trees.

Jeremiah was rooted to the ground, eyes bulging and mouth slack as he looked in the direction of the two siblings. There's no way…., thought the paralyzed guard.

"No, stop! If you keep it up, I'm going to-" Cue more high pitched shrieaks, and Jeremiah began to walk a bit faster.

"But isn't it what you want? I'm only returning the FAVOR after all!"

Jeremiah's steps turned into a fast-walk.

"No! Not like this! I can't!"

Jeremiah broke out into a light jog.

"What's the matter? Worried what the others will think if they found out what happens? You should have thought of that when you were doing this to ME!"

Jeremiah's jog turned into a run.

"Stop! Stop! I'm about to-!"

Jeremiah's run turned into a sprint as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"MY PRINCE! STOP! YOU MUSTN'T!"

Breaking into the clearing, Jeremiah saw a sweaty and disheveled Euphemia panting with reddened cheeks, and Lelouch had a diabolical grin on his face. Lelouch was lying top of Euphemia, and his hands were gripping her sides, preventing her escape.

"Jeremiah, stay out of this. You have no idea how badly I want this," responded Lelouch as Euphemia shot the young guard a pleading look for help.

"No, my prince! I can't allow you to do that! It's inappropriate!" shouted out Jeremiah, who was currently sweating bullets.

That made Lelouch stop. "What's so inappropriate about a tickle fight?"

Jeremiah looked on in shock…mentally berating himself all the while and swearing to himself that he would never open a dirty magazine again.

"…Nothing, my prince, I was wrong. I was looking for you because it's almost time for dinner…" replied Jeremiah weakly.

"Oh, alright. Thank you, Jeremiah." The prince slowly got up off his sister and offered a hand, helping her to her feet. As soon as she was up, Euphemia quickly took her hand back and smacked him. "Lulu! You almost made me pee!"

Realizing that there was a witness, she blushed scarlet and refused to look at him, instead focusing her anger on her brother, who wouldn't be her brother for very long at this rate because he'd be dead for pulling stunts like this.

Grinning lopsidedly, Lelouch kept walking as Euphemia fumed, but shrugging, ran up to catch up with him as Jeremiah picked up the pace. Losing them once was bad enough, he had no interested in a repeat…performance.


/After Dinner That Night/


Lelouch had called Jeremiah into his room, and surprisingly, Nunnally was there too. He had been expecting to receive further instructions in what to do with the vi Britannia assets. While most of it was legally property of solely the Emperor, the Villa included, there were some things, such as Marianne's pay from serving as the Knight of Two, or things that had been bought by Marianne herself, that were directly inherited by Lelouch. 2 million pounds and a few pieces of furniture were comparatively little to an offspring of Charles zi Britannia, but Lelouch had been actively inverting that money and splitting up what wasn't invested amongst Japanese and Britannian banks. That the young prince had learned enough in three and a half months so as to independently invert his remaining wealth quite frankly blew Jeremiah's mind away at the prince's intelligence. All of these decisions had been kept from his sister, to his knowledge, because she was too young to be interested, let alone realize the impact of them. The boy had told him that the money was being invested 'just in case' things don't turn out exactly as planned.

"What do you wish of me, my prince?" asked Jeremiah.

Lelouch sat quietly on the couch, contemplating his words as he held his sister's hand. Finally, he began. "As you know, Nunnally and I will soon leave for Japan. I will cut to the chase; I want you to come with us."

Shocked was one word that could be used to describe Jeremiah at that moment. Baffled was another. "Not to question you, my prince, but why would you and your sister need a guard? Surely Prime Minister Kururugi will ensure your safety, as his guests?"

"It is not from Japan that I fear for my sister's safety. No, I fear that what happened to my mother…will come back to finish what it started."

At these words, Jeremiah understood perfectly. The prince remained guarded, even after all these months without incident. "I see. Yes, I shall accompany you, my prince, for as long as you will have me as your guard."

Nodding at his words, Lelouch spoke his one remaining doubt. "Excellent. I would have you knighted-" At this, Jeremiah's eyes widened and his heart beat went wild, "But circumstances prevent that currently. Know that once it is feasible, you will receive your due. Know that as much as you are my Knight, you are my sister's as well" At this, Jeremiah's pulse blood pressure went down, but only slightly. To a Britannian, knighthood to one of the royals was the highest honor possible, only short of being a Knight of the Round. To be a knight to two…well, it was simply unheard of, but in a good way.

"I assure you, my lieges, it is fine," breathed out Jeremiah once he felt he had enough composure to do so. "On to other matters then," continued the boy prince. "While I do not doubt your abilities in the slightest, Jeremiah, I need someone else. One man cannot guard two people, who will at times be forced to separate. Do you have any ideas who you could trust, that you have the utmost faith and confidence to protect me and my sister, should you give the word?"

Temporarily stumped, Jeremiah's eyes glazed over as he contemplated the question. There were only two candidates that came to mind, Villeta Nu, and Kewell Soresi, his friends and fellow graduates from the same military class. Kewell and Villetta were both currently assigned to the 3rd Home Army, currently stationed in the County of Vancouver. While not a doomed career per se, as they would undoubtedly see action what with the current war with the European Union soon enough, any rise in rank would be slow and undoubtedly take time. The question was which to choose; Kewell was his best friend and the better shot, but Villetta was more disciplined and a better tactician. For the specific role of security, Villeta was undoubtedly the better candidate, and such, his choice was made. It pained him, to basically have the decision of elevating one friend and damning the other out of a position that they were easily both qualified for. Perhaps one day, Kewell would forgive him.

"I have a candidate in mind, my lieges."

/Current Day, An Hour From Japan/

It was for this reason that Villetta Nu currently found herself opposite Nunnally vi Britannia on the flight bound to Japan. Upon hearing the boy prince's offer over the phone, she had jumped upon it as like a starving predator. Thankfully, Kewell didn't know that they had been promised knighthood; and so he thought himself the lucky on, not being sent to Japan? Jeremiah shook his head at the thought. What could possibly go wrong? They'd be here for a few years, and they would return the Homeland, knighted and proud to serve the vi Britannias.

"How much longer, big brother?"

Ah, yes. Nunnally, bless her little heart, had recovered enough that she had basically returned to being Marianne in light brown-haired chibi form. Sadly for her cabin mates, it included the impatience that came with it. Lelouch could only imagine what would happen if Nunnally were forced to use a wheelchair, even for a week; He would go mad.

"Don't worry Nunnally, we're almost there. You'll see."

Even angry and raging, Lelouch's heart melted at his sister's voice, even when she was being slightly obnoxious. The same couldn't be said for Villetta, who had been the target of most of the little brunette's inquiries the whole trip. The twitching eye spoke for itself, and Jeremiah inwardly wondered if it had been such a good idea to bring Villetta along instead of Kewell. Thinking about what would happen if loud, proud, brash, and stubborn Kewell met Lelouch made him instantly stop that line of thought. They'd be lucky if the two didn't kill each other within the week.

Oh how Jeremiah's thoughts kept foreshadowing, this time about a certain little Japanese boy that would drive his liege up the wall.

The next hour passed more or less silently, save for Nunnally's occasional breaking the silence. In that time, Lelouch's mind had wandered back to earlier yesterday, when they had said goodbye to their siblings.

Euphemia had been crying uncontrollably, Cornelia gnawing her lip off as she held Euphie back from chasing after her two departing siblings. It was clear that she too wanted to stop the two from departing, but knew she had no choice. The embraces and kisses the two sisters had given the two would simply not tide over the pain they felt within their hearts at seeing them go. Schneizel had shown up and had embraced Nunnally, trying to comfort her, and had slipped a piece of paper into Lelouch's hand as he offered him his hand to shake, finally pulling him into a brief but meaningful hug and wishing him the best; he had made it clear point-blank that he would do his best to ensure the two returned swiftly, with all the power he could muster as Prime Minister. It was Clovis that had surprised Lelouch the most; his eyes had been wet and angry the entire time, and his disgust at what was happening had been clear on his face. But it wasn't that which shocked him the most, no, it was when Clovis had clasped the two departing siblings together into a hug when he had whispered into Lelouch's ears. "Rest assured little brother, I will see you return. Even if I have to topple the Emperor himself and take the crown to see it done."

Those words had been haunting Lelouch the entire trip. To topple the Emperor? It was surely a very far-fetched idea. He was one of the most firmly entrenched Emperors in Britannian history, now more so than ever that the technology existed to better safeguard him, not to mention his Knights of the Round. Yes, admittedly, the Emperor had toppled his father in order to take the crown, AND had killed off the vast majority of his siblings; the few that had escaped were in hiding, as not even foreign nations such as the Chinese Federation or the EU would shelter them. But his acts had precedence, right by conquest had occurred a few times throughout Britannian history. The biggest question was if Clovis was truly contemplating it. Clovis was by no means incompetent; he was the picture of the modern-day Renaissance man. He was talented in the arts, in the sciences, had a knack for wordplay, and was even a decent fencer. While by no means without flaws, Clovis would make for a competent Emperor, assuming his obsession with painting didn't draw him away from governing. It was more a question of whether Clovis could manage to take the throne in the first place; their father was in his 60s, but frankly acted like he was in the prime of his life. It was highly probable that he would live into his 80s, maybe even beyond. And for a man like Charles, handing the throne would be unthinkable. He would simply have to be either overthrown or be forced to name a formal successor, something he so far had refused to do.

Then there was the competition itself; Schneizel was undoubtedly top of the list. While by no means a dab hand at the arts or at combat, Schneizel was a man who's tongue the devil would envy and a man with genius intellect. He could cut for an imposing figure, and his influence as Prime Minister ran deep. He was without a doubt the most likely successor. Then there was Odysseus, Crown Prince, and presumable heir to the throne. While a gentle man and therefore the antithesis of whom the Emperor would approve of, he'd make a competent placeholder Emperor as well, and was the favorite amongst many nobles who saw a lax hand as their best bet in strengthening their own power. And that was only scratching the surface of it; Lelouch had far more siblings than he cared to think of that could possibly contend for the throne, some of whom were undoubtedly sticking to the shadows or hiding their abilities for now. It was partly why Lelouch had been kept out of the public eye for so long; Marianne hadn't wanted him to become the pawn of a noble and had wanted him to grow up happy and with peace of mind. Then there was the fact that most of his siblings remained within their teenage years. The battle for the throne would only heat up as more and more became adults.

So much for that idea about a peaceful life mother, but thank you for trying, thought Lelouch remorsefully.

Lelouch's current reverie would have to be contemplated at a later time as he felt the bottom of the plane touch solid ground. It was time.


/Three Hours Later/


Their reception hadn't been extravagant, but was by no means rude. They were met by several representatives of Prime Minister Kururugi and had been informed that they would be living at his estate, to their surprise. They had been met by surprisingly solid English-speaking representatives and already the collective opinion of the small group of Britannian expats was surprisingly positive. The car they were riding in was a black limousine, supposedly used only when ambassadors were on their way to meet with the Prime Minister. They were currently very close to the Prime Minister's estate, having just reached a mountain the representatives referred to as Mount Fuji.

In the meantime, the representatives had filled them in on a lot of information they would have to know. While they were no prisoners, they would have to inform the Kururugi family whenever they chose to leave the estate, they would not be permitted to carry armaments within the estates(much to Villeta's consternation), that though many individuals within the estates were more or less proficient in English, but that they would be expected to learn Japanese, and finally, that they would be sharing a rather spacious single room. That had made Villeta cringe. Stuck with two brats and Jeremiah of all people? Somebody, anybody! Save me! The representatives had been quick to assure them that they would have dividers available at seeing Villeta's panicked expression.

Finally, the car came to a halt and the driver announced that they had arrived at the Kururugi Shrine. Before them was a rather large estate and in front of them was a small welcoming party. The most notable individual was a tall man with bushy eyebrows and a stern expression on his face. He appeared to be fairly fit, and wore Western-style clothing. Behind him was a small girl that seemed to be hiding behind the man dressed in a small kimono. Next to him, decked out in traditional Japanese clothing was a boy whose brown hair matched the color of the bigger man's. Besides them was an old man leaning on a cane, also dressed in traditional clothing. Lelouch swallowed in trepidation; the older man was most likely the Prime Minister.

It was to his surprise that the tall man greeted him with hand outstretched, introducing himself as Genbu Kururugi, Prime Minister of Japan. Also greeting Nunnally courteously, he nodded his head at the two bodyguards, asking for their names and giving polite greetings in turn. This was not what Lelouch had expected from a man with such a serious expression.

He had then proceeded to try and introduce the remainder of the people with him, and that, was when everything went to hell in a handbasket. First up had been Taizo Kirihara, owner of Kirihara Industries. The man was polite, friendly even, but distrusting. It was obvious he did not agree with the idea of housing them in the Kururugi Shrine. Next had been the little girl, introduced as Kaguya Sumeragi. She had remained quiet the entire time, eyeing them all nervously, until her eyes met Lelouch. Then her face had turned red, and she hid her face deeper into the man's pants, much to his amusement. Finally, he had introduced his son, Suzaku. He introduced himself in acceptable English and had greeted Nunnally courteously, but had shot Lelouch a look of dislike. It was clear he had some issues with him being here as well, and Lelouch had no problems returning the favor.

"That's enough, you two," broke in Genbu. "Let us head inside; it's time for dinner."

Dinner wasn't what the Britannian expats had been expecting. For one, the table was low. So low that the Prime Minister didn't have chairs, but rather, small mats called tatami in Japanese. That wouldn't have been so bad, until they were told they had to sit on their haunches; Lelouch knew he was in hell. Then there was the food; all of it was fairly alien, and they were expected to eat with wooden sticks? Looking to his left and right, he saw that neither his sister nor his bodyguards were having much more luck than him. Genbu was carrying on conversation with Jeremiah at this point, mainly that he'd have to drop off the guns the two bodyguards were carrying in his office later. Kaguya was eating rapidly, making him double-take at the sheer velocity someone could eat with 'chopsticks'. Kirihara was eating quietly but diligently as he listed to the Prime Minister go onto a tangent about his appreciation for Britannian liquors, and Villetta was doing her best to explain to Nunnally what the way to eat with chopsticks was while failing miserably to do so herself. Suzaku meanwhile, was taking a great enjoyment in seeing Lelouch struggle. Despite only having known Lelouch for all of half an hour, he was confident that the pampered Britannian brat's pride wouldn't let him ask for a spoon. The worst part was, Lelouch knew what he was thinking, and even worse than that, that he was right.

He was broken from contemplating how to murder with his eyes alone when Nunnally's voice broke in. "Excuse me, Mr. Kururugi? Would you happen to have a spoon I could borrow?" asked Nunnally timidly.

Genbu's face broke into a wide grin at her words, telling her to check under the table. Moving her hand underneath, she felt cold metal on top of the polished wooden floors, and pulled out what she had touched. Four metal spoons greeted her eyes. "I was curious when one of you would eventually ask. Making you to eat solely with chopsticks on your first day in Japan would simply be too cruel." Taking the hint, Nunnally handed out a spoon to each of the Britannians at the table as they all proceeded to eat. All but one, as he steadfastly continued to futilely try and eat with chopsticks. Genbu once more laughed. "I don't know who's stubborn, you or my son. Both of you are as thick as foundation this place is built on."

Both boys took their first shared action as they both gave Genbu indignant glances. Irony is, both were more indignant at being compared to each other than to being called thick. Still slightly annoyed, Lelouch reached for the spoon as the door to the dining room slid open. "Forgive me for being late, Prime Minister. The dojo was left filthy," shifting his eyes slightly to Suzaku, "-and I lost track of time."

"No worries Tohdoh, allow me to introduce our guests. The young boy and girl are Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia, respectively, and their two guards, Jeremiah Gottwald and Villeta Nu. My guests, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, lieutenant colonel of the Japanese military and Suzaku's personal instructor."

Bowing slightly in greeting, he took one of the remaining empty seats and quietly began to eat as his eyes slowly glanced over each of the newcomers, eyes finally stopping on Lelouch. "So you are the boy prince, my newest pupil."

Eyebrow rising, Lelouch was about to ask what he was talking about before being beaten to the punch by Genbu. "In the mornings, you will be joining Tohdoh and Suzaku in the dojo, where you will undergo physical training. Afterwards, your tutor will arrive and teach you and your sister what you would normally be required to know, by Britannian schooling standards, as well as teaching you both Japanese. You will have the afternoons off to yourselves." Turning his head towards Tohdoh, he continued. "I actually hadn't had the chance to inform him of his schedule yet."

Lelouch absorbed it fairly well; they were not asking much of him, just that he learn their language and continue his studies, all the while his brain steadfastly refused to acknowledge the part about physical exercise. Nunnally appeared to be fine with it, and it went unspoken that Jeremiah and Villeta would be there to keep an eye on them. "Any questions? No? Excellent, I'll have one of the maids show you to your room; I'm sure you must be tired from such a long journey."

Five minutes later found the four in their room; the aide hadn't been kidding when he said it was spacious. There was enough room that had there been proper walls, four small rooms would have comfortably fit. Taking the initiative, Villeta quickly began to hang the wall dividers from the ceiling. By the time she was finished, she had her own third of the room to herself, while the two siblings would share most of the space. Jeremiah had opted to set up his own area in the corner, leaving himself only enough room for a bed and dresser to barely fit. Finally, they had put some dividers to block off view of the two siblings directly from the door.

Lelouch had almost gotten indignant on Jeremiah's behalf until said man cut him off by telling him that with the way the room was set up, Villeta was in a perfect position to guard them while Jeremiah was a barrier in between the two siblings any potential intruders. This had appeased the prince, and the unpacking began. Four small dressers were in the rooms, as well as four 'futons' and they had quickly been dealt out. The two futons the vi Britannia siblings would use were positioned right next to each other, as Nunnally had insisted. Once the unpacking was completed and the room was more or less ready, the four took turns in another small alcove that they had formed using dividers and changed into their nightwear. After a quick visit to the bathroom to take care of his ablutions, Lelouch muttered goodnight and plopped into the floor-level bed, his sister already in her own. Tired and exhausted, Lelouch was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow.


The next day had seen Lelouch rudely awakened by the angry Japanese boy. Poking his side with his foot, he hissed at him. "Hurry up. You are late, Tohdoh is angry." Lelouch cracked open bleary eyes and looked up to see the frustrated boy taking his leave past Jeremiah, who was only now rousing from his sleep as the boy marched out. Eyebrow twitching at the fact that his guard had failed to stop an intruder, and a ten-year old intruder at that, Lelouch tried to get up and rush out to meet his instructor. Or at least, he would have until he realized that his sister had him in a death grip. Arms wrapped around him, he realized that the two had met halfway where the two futons met and that they were now in a tangled pile of arms. Nunnally's head was resting on his shoulder and had an arm wrapped around his chest. Lelouch's own arms were trapped under Nunnally, and the other holding her head, respectively. Lelouch decided to take the easiest way out and slowly tried to wake Nunnally. Grumpy eyes opened to meet his own. "What time is it?" asked the grumpy owner of said grumpy eyes.

"No idea, but sorry for waking you. I have to go meet Tohdoh, he's waiting outside." Shifting off his shoulder, Nunnally tried to go back to sleep as Lelouch stood up and grabbed the clothes that he had found inside one of the dressers. Rushing towards the alcove, he found Jeremiah to already be there, dressed in his own larger version of the clothes. Answering his liege's unspoken question, he answered "Tohdoh took me aside after and told me that he expects me to be dressed suitably if I am to keep watch over you while you're in the dojo." The slightly distasteful expression on his face spoke clearly of his dislike of the strange clothing.

Nodding, Lelouch hurriedly dashed into the alcove and dressed, making a few mistakes as he tried to slip on the alien clothing. Finally satisfied he had it on right, Lelouch slipped out and walked briskly towards the room exit, Jeremiah on his heels. Leaning on the wall directly across the door was Tohdoh, Suzaku at his feet doing sit ups. "Good, you're here. I've had Suzaku doing sit ups since he got back from waking you. By my count, he's at six and a half minutes; you'll be doing double that later." Lelouch could only whimper at the thought as he followed his new instructor and his out of breath pupil.

After walking for a few minutes they came to a stop in front of a small building. Opening the doors, Tohdoh lead them inside to find polished wooden floors and wooden swords resting on the walls. Turning towards the young prince, he began. "I am going to be teaching you the Japanese art of self-defense. You will need three things to learn; dedication, strength, and the ability to take punishment and come back for more." Turning to Jeremiah, he continued, "If you wish, you may join the prince in his training. Otherwise, I will ask you to sit against the far wall over there." Nodding, Jeremiah responded, "I believe I will watch at first. If it's as strenuous as you say, then I will have to know what to expect; if I am too tired to guard my prince, then I am a failure as a guard, my duty first of all above all others."

Nodding approvingly, Tohdoh waited until Jeremiah had sat down before beginning. What would follow would haunt Lelouch's nightmares for the rest of his life; Kyoshiro Tohdoh had earned his unending fear for his life after the first day; by the end of the week Lelouch would only be able to dream about his life before Japan and wonder if a world without pain and exhaustion was just that, a dream. Of course, Suzaku would inevitably show up in those dreams and mock him for his lack of physical abilities. That boy was a monster; anything Tohdoh threw at him he would do perfectly, and he wouldn't show a sign of exhaustion until Tohdoh announced their training over for the day. But the entire time, he would hold a smirk on his face that would haunt Lelouch and made the training twice as unbearable. Tohdoh threw more exercises at Suzaku for his lack of self-control, but Suzaku didn't mind, as long as he could continue to torture the prince with his damnable smirk.

After being physically defeated, Lelouch had gone to meet his sister, and awaited the arrival of their tutor. He had been regaling his sister with tales of his inhumane torture, to her amusement, when a soft knock was heard on the door. Getting up with a wince, Lelouch hobbled his way to the door and slid it open. A Japanese teenager with dark brown hair and pretty yellow eyes met his gaze and smiled politely. She was dressed in a maid's outfit but had the eyes of a predator; Lelouch's stomach knotted into a ball. If Tohdoh was anything to go by, the Japanese were going to kill him through sheer exhaustion. Bowing deeply, the woman spoke in fluent English, "Hello, my name is Sayoko, and I shall be your tutor and guard for your remainder of your stay in Japan. I'm pleased to meet you," she finished, with a small smile and tilted head.

Sayoko, much to his surprise, was not trying to kill him. Well-learned and friendly, she had begun teaching Nunnally multiplication tables and had introduced Lelouch the basics of Calculus; he had taken over from there, to her slight surprise. Sheltered he may have been, but ignorant, not even close. She was also a very patient Japanese instructor, taking the time to teach them the many nuances and minor points that would ensure that they spoke it well. Or at least, that's what she hoped, for today was only their first lesson. Villeta and Jeremiah had started paying attention once the Japanese lessons began. After several hours, she had decided that it was enough, and with the same gentle smile, said goodbye to the pair and proceeded to leave the room. During that time, the settled down and relaxed. Lelouch decided pulled out the chess set he cherished so dearly and began what he had been doing just before their mother's death; teaching Nunnally chess.

An hour later, they would join the Kururugi family for lunch, after which Genbu had ushered the three children into the gardens and insisted that they play together. Suzaku had just sneered lightly at that when his father had turned away to go back inside and had wandered off. Lelouch had shrugged and decided to play hide and seek with Nunnally.

The months carried on as such in a lazy routine. Jeremiah had decided to join Lelouch in the third day of his physical training(read: torture sessions) and had taken to them with gusto. After the third week or so, Nunnally had decided to join in, and Villetta's hand was forced; she too joined in with Tohdoh's grueling training sessions. Lelouch and Nunnally had become proficient enough in Japanese in those three weeks that they could hold rudimentary conversations amongst themselves; surprisingly, it was Villetta that was most proficient amongst the four Britannian expats in Japanese. She was able to converse easily with Genbu and the young children. In the meantime, Kirihara's distrust has gradually eased, to the point where he was openly conversing with the Britannians at the dinner table whenever he was present; as an advisor to Prime Minister Kururugi, his face was a common sight in the Kururugi Shrine. Kaguya had managed to overcome her shyness towards the funny looking foreigners and the handsome boy, and had proven to be quite bold and friendly; she and Nunnally had quickly become good friends and she had made it a habit to go and play with the two siblings after lunch. She would have to leave early though, because as the last Sumeragi, she had to attend additional etiquette and business lessons, the fact that she was seven be damned. Orphaned in an industrial accident when her parents had been touring one of their manufacturing plants, she had been delivered to the house of her uncle, and under Kirihara's guidance, she was to be raised to assume her role as the heiress of the Sumeragi conglomerate.

Sayoko had become much closer to the two siblings and had begun doting on them not long after their classes had begun. She took a great joy in casually teasing Lelouch and doting on Nunnally as though she were the little sister she never had. She had told them that her remaining family, her parents, lived in Nagoya and that she left once a week to visit them. She had also found a good friend in Villetta; being the only (adult) woman that Villetta interacted with, she had grasped on her like a lifeline, and Sayoko had been very willing to be that lifeline; the two could often be found chatting away, and Sayoko had quickly become a very regular visitor to the Britannian expats' room.

She had also incidentally dropped an interesting piece of information about Milly. She had told them that she had been considering applying for a position as a maid to the Ashfords before deciding that she would rather work in the home of the Prime Minister. She had gone for interviews and had even been around Ashford Academy, which had triggered Lelouch's curiosity.

"Old man Ashford told me that he would be building a school here on his way out of Britannia, how could he have built an entire school in three months?" wondered Lelouch aloud. "Oh, you didn't know?" inquired Sayoko, "-Ashford Academy has been around since 1917 a.t.b., about ten years after Commodore Perry arrived in Japan. It's the oldest non-Japanese school in Japan, and also the preferred choice of Britannian expats. Who knows, you may even go there someday." Lelouch could only muse more at this unexpected piece of information. While he had absolute faith in the Ashfords, he'd certainly have some question for the old man once he saw him again.

The only person that Lelouch had yet to be able to relate to, or even get along with, was Suzaku. The boy had continued to ignore him whenever possible, unless they were at the dojo, where it appeared that his suffering only served to fuel Suzaku's perfection in physical capabilities. Three weeks in, things changed.

It was only as the sun was going down that said boy had appeared and confronted him. He had been in the middle of sneaking away from Nunnally in another game of hide and seek when Suzaku came around to ruin the game, and his day. "Why are you even here, Britannian?" Looking at Suzaku with clear distaste, Lelouch replied "None of your business. Why were you so rude to me from the beginning?" Not one to beat around the bush, Suzaku was straight and to the point. "I don't like you. You're a spoiled royal brat and have a better-than-thou attitude, and you care for nobody but the Britannians with you."

Lelouch could only stare at the boy, but he wasn't going to deny a word. He knew fully well that as a royal, he had a far more spoiled upbringing than others would. He knew he had an attitude; that kind of went with being a royal. And the last one was the most obvious. Despite his pleasant demeanor, for the most part, he truly did not want to be in Japan. If he had his way, he'd be back in Britannia with his siblings(although maybe he'd bring Sayoko with them). And so he said nothing, starting calmly at the boy, who only got more and more riled up as he tried to hold his frustration with the indifferent Britannian boy back. Finally fed up, the boy let loose a yell as he punched Lelouch in the gut. Lelouch fell like a sack of bricks, and Suzaku looked at his hand in shock. He hadn't meant to hit him…although he didn't exactly feel sorry at the moment.

THWACK!

Now, he was certainly sorry. Standing over him was the boy's 7-year-old sister, fist in the air. She had hit him squarely in the back of the head, and he was now flat on the ground next to the Lelouch, face-first in mud. "Apologize, now!" shouted Nunnally. Gentle and sweet at times, but a scarily intimidating demon the next; yep, Nunnally had certainly recovered from her mother's death if she was back to dishing out punches on her brother's behalf. Granted, the only person she had ever hit was Clovis, but that's simply semantics.

"You too, brother!" Now Lelouch looked up at his sister in incredulity. She wanted him to apologize to him? Seeing his expression, Nunnally continued. "You've both been mean to each other since we got here! Knock it off, get along, and become friends! I'm not moving till you two are bestest friends!" Knowing a lost battle when confronted with one, Lelouch's head turned to meet Suzaku, who's mud-covered face was already facing him. Nodding in defeat, Suzaku stretched out his hand. "Hello, I'm Suzaku Kururugi, I'm 10 years old, Japanese, and currently in denial that your little sister just decked me." Blushing at his words(It was supposed to just make him listen to me! I'm not violent!), Nunnally turned expectantly to her brother. Stretching out his hand as well, Lelouch took Suzaku's offered hand and shook it. "I'm Lelouch vi Britannia. I'm also 10 years old; I like my siblings, my guards, and Sayoko. Right now, I can't feel my stomach."

At his words, a slight smirk appeared on Suzaku's face. Lelouch's face twitched in annoyance until his attention was once more brought back to Suzaku's mud covered face. The outside of his lips almost unnoticeably turned upwards. That was all it took for the two to burst in laughter, laughing at each other heartily. Nunnally even joined in with their laughter, having realized what the two were laughing at. "Oh my god! Your face! You look so funny with all that mud on you, like you just crawled out of a warzone!"

"Me? Have you seen how weak you are? I barely even hit you and you folded like a house of cards!"

Having broken their handshake, the two continued laughing, tears running down their faces in glee at the ridiculousness of it all. Lelouch was pounding the ground with his fists while Suzaku was kicking his legs in the air. Finally snapping out of their amusing hysteria, the two used each other as support to get back on their feet. Together the three walked back slowly towards the Kururugi Shrine, but halfway there, Nunnally tagged both of the boys on their backs and ran off. "Not it!" she shouted.

Looking at each other and nodding, the two began chasing after a laughing Nunnally doing their best to corner her. The three would have played the night away, the sun having long fallen, until Genbu himself came out to drag the three back in sometime around 11. They had long since missed supper but neither of the three cared, for it was on this day that the three planted the seeds of an unshakeable friendship; it was truly a night that would change the world.

The day when the Caliphate declared war on both Persia and Rome, or the day when the leaders of Washington's Rebellion came together to proclaim the Bill of Rights and their independence from Britannia; When Constantinople fell, or the day of Cnut's invasion of Britannia came; none of these days would rival the significance, the world-changing effects that this day would hold in the hearts of the three children, whose friendship would soon be forged into something unbreakable via baptism of fire. It was only years later that the three would realize the irony of the expression, 'Their friendship meant the world to them.' It was a phrase that would be proven to be true, time and time again.

Lelouch had quickly fallen in love, from that day onward. She was beautiful, she was calm, peaceful, and managed to make him forget the pain that he had experienced in Britannia. Her name was Japan. The little island nation had managed to rob him of all of his worries as his life had become one free of stress, free of the weight and tension he had been forced to experience back home from his mother's death onward. The days were routine; and yet that was what Lelouch had valued the most out of them. They were normal, and they were happy, and that was what meant the world to him.

His happiness was there for the rest of the Kururugi Shrine's residents to see; Kirihara had come to care for Lelouch and Nunnally almost as much as he did for Suzaku. He had become very fond of Nunnally, claiming that he saw some of what he saw in his own daughter in her. Suzaku and Kaguya were great, friendly to the two siblings, and the closest friends they had ever had, outside of their family. He had even managed to surpass Milly due to just how much time the three were able to spend time together; from dawn to dusk almost everything they did was together. "Lelouch and Suzaku," Genbu had remarked over dinner, "are the closest friends I have ever seen in my life," Much to the two boys' embarrassment and much happy laughter at the table.

Lelouch had even managed to convince the man to let him invite his sister Euphemia over to visit; he knew she was by far the most anxious of his siblings to visit him and Nunnally. Perhaps he'd invite Clovis over later on. After having had Genbu clear it with all the right diplomatic channels, the princess was set to arrive on August 7th, 2010 a.t.b. Pulling off a further coup, he had managed to convince the man to allow Milly to visit the Kururugi Shrine for the first time.

When they had arrived, it had been glorious. While Euphemia's visit would only last a week, the two reunited girls had spent every waking moment with the two siblings. They had even insisted on positioning their futons next to the two siblings' beds; the end results, as you can imagine, are very predictable; Lelouch woke up drowning in a pile of female limbs every one of those days the two had been there. The now 10-year-old Euphemia had wasted no time in keeling the two siblings over the first time she had seen them; thankfully they had been sitting on their futons at the time, or they had no doubt a piece of the Kururugi manor would have a large hole in it. Milly, now recently turned 13, had been quiet shy and awkward around Lelouch for the first day, despite wasting no time giving him a crushing hug and a kiss on the cheek. He was completely unused to a red-faced, nervous Ashford heiress, and he was glad that she had returned to her normal self after the first day. The two had also both taken a liking to Suzaku and Kaguya, and the six children had wasted no time in playing their days away; Tohdoh, miracle of miracles, had even given them the week off from training so that they could enjoy that time to their fullest.

That entire week had promised to be a magical time for Lelouch and Nunnally. Truthfully, the first three days had been. It most likely would have been, were it not for one little thing.

Peace would soon be shattered for the two young siblings, as Britannian bombs began falling on Tokyo on the beginning of the fourth day.


AN: Glad to have my latest installment out, and so ends the Prologue. Now that we've covered the background of everything that needs to be covered, expect action, knightmares, and the Earl of Pudding coming to a future near you.

Things to note; I've de-aged only one character, Cornelia. In the original timeline, she's as old as Schneizel, 27, and 20 when Marianne dies. I made her 16 when Marianne died, and there's a very good reason for this. No, at the moment, my reasoning has nothing to do with the harem.

I've also completely reorganized the Areas; Japan is still Area 11, obviously. Here's my modified take on the Areas, to suit history and geography over random groupings, such as having all of South America under one Area but having Greenland or Iceland as their own individual Areas. So without further ado;

Area 1: Quebec, capital Montreal

Area 2: Mexico, capital Mexico City

Area 3: Caribbean basin, capital Havana

Area 4: Artic territories, capital Reykjavik

Area 5: Colombia, capital Bogota

Area 6: Peru, capital Lima

Area 7: Hawaii and Pacific Islands, capital Honolulu

Area 8: La Plata, capital Buenos Aires

Area 9: Brazil, capital Rio de Janeiro

Area 10: New Zealand, capital Auckland

As of yet not fully incorporated:

The Philippines

Papua

Next, there are many, many references and snide allusions to the original plot of Code Geass. A cookie to whoever can list me the most.

Let's see…what else is there to cover. Ah yes; with this chapter, I'm close once again to nearly doubling the amount of words in the story. This is getting kinda crazy, no? This should be about the biggest my chapters will get though, and it's part of the reason why it wasn't out yesterday, or rather, earlier today.

Before anyone calls in saying that my characters are acting out of character, think about how they're acting, and think about what they've experienced differently than they did in the original timeline. I'll give an example; Nunnally's not crippled and utterly dependent on her brother, therefore, she's far more outgoing. Jeremiah and Villetta have yet to face the horrors of war, or had to suppress the Japanese, so they're far less jaded and much more tolerant of Japan, and even accepting of it.

Sayoko is really the only one that could be reasonably argued is being OOC, but that's mainly because we have no background on Sayoko; I have to work with more or less nothing here.

Anyways, thank you for reading, please review with your feedback, criticism, whatever. You know, and I know, that I want to hear/see it.

And since I haven't done this yet so far, I don't own Code Geass. Nope, not even a little bit.