Phoenix: Oh my gosh! A review! Okay its from (Guest) namelessnameguy and they say, "Amazing. Its written so well. I love it." Thank you so much! I really appreciate your time for reading and reviewing and I hope to see you again in the future! Enjoy the show!
Leah stared at the tall buildings that made up Ashford Academy, somewhat bored. Students were running around the campus but some would stop and stare at her. She pulled on the high black collar of the Ashford jacket she'd borrowed from Suzaku. The matching pants had been rolled up a few times so they fit but other than the slight sag in the shirt due to the differences in size between her and the Japanese teen, the clothes fit perfectly.
Millay was going on and on about different faculty members, various students, and the latest gossip on campus but Leah was hardly listening. Her fingers gripped and relaxed around the small collection of pencils she'd grabbed from the apartment and her other hand was tucked into her pocket, holding the handheld music player inside while purple headphones hung around her neck; one of the presents she'd gotten from Millay and Kallen.
Her violet eyes flicked towards several of the tiny cliques that had gathered near her, whispering at each other and some even outright pointing. She started fiddling with the cord of the headphones.
Millay noticed the action and sent a glare towards the groups. A few dispersed but some remained, matching the blonde's harsh look.
"Let's go inside, okay? Mrs. Ohgi will be administering your test today. Do you remember everything I gave you in the study guide?" Leah nodded, eyes still glancing warily at the students who sent her harsh stares, or whispered to the surrounding kids about her. "Alright. Now, if you forget anything or you just don't know something, just skip it. It won't hurt your grade. This is just to see how far your education has come and how much of it you remember. You never know, maybe taking a test will jog some memories," Millay said, excitedly.
Leah nodded again as Millay lead her into an empty room.
"You've got all day to take it and Mrs. Ohgi will explain a question to you if you need it, okay?" Leah nodded as she took a seat at the only chair with a small packet of papers, a calculator, protractor, pencils, plenty of scrap paper and a large eraser in front of it.
"Thanks for this Millay. I hope its not too much trouble," Leah said with a sigh. Millay smiled warmly.
"Like I said, you're with Suzaku and that makes you my friend. You're no trouble at all. If you finish early, have Mrs. Ohgi call for me and I'll take you on a campus tour and then maybe we can go shopping before school is over. Then you'll be back, ready to go with Suzaku to work and he'll be none-the-wiser to our little outing." Leah smiled as Millay left.
She was alone for only a few minutes before a silver-haired woman with golden eyes and tanned caramel skin walked into the room. She was dressed in a red shirt with gold lining on the collar and down the front and a black skirt that reached her knees. She also wore a pair of black flats and a hand was resting on her slightly-swollen stomach.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully as she crossed to the desk, rubbing the small of her back as she did.
"Morning," Leah replied as she started playing with a few buttons on the calculator.
"I trust Miss Ashford filled you in on the details of the test?"
"Helped me study too," Leah finished.
"Alright. Now, I just need your name and you can get started," Villetta said as she sat down.
"Leah Lamperounge." With that, Leah picked up her pencil and started to fill out the test. Villetta looked over at the student every now and then over the edge of her book. Her hand covered her pregnant stomach out of instinct.
She didn't want to feel the constriction of fear that was growing in her chest whenever the girl would almost meet her gaze. But the more rational part of her mind was scolding her. The girl bore a strong resemblance to Lelouch and Millay and Suzaku probably just gave her the last name alias the Demon Emperor had used out of nostalgia. He may have become a demon, but he'd been a human in the beginning and had been their friend. But none of that meant that she or her child were in any danger. And even if she were, one of the founding members of the Black Knights was only the push of a button and a hallway away.
Leah unbuttoned her collar a bit and the livid bruises became evident on her throat. Although they weren't nearly as bad as a few days prior, some were still a deep shade of violet.
After a small while longer, Leah closed the packet, reorganized her things, collected the packet and walked up to the desk.
"Finished Mrs. Ohgi," she said bored. Villetta took the test and pulled the key out of her desk. "May I wander around a bit? Like find the library or something like that?" Villetta nodded.
"Just don't disturb any classes. And remember your way back, alright? This shouldn't take me more than an hour and a half, okay?" Leah nodded and stepped out of the room. She sighed to herself and leaned against the wall.
"Why do I have the feeling that aside from Millay, Kallen, Rivalz and Suzaku, no one in this school trusts or even likes me?" she muttered as she started down the hall.
"Don't be so hard on yourself!" someone said as they half-landed on, half-draped themselves over Leah's back, pitching her forward a few steps to regain her balance. Three familiar blonde braids fell over her shoulder.
"Gino?" she said, turning her head to see him grinning at her.
"Bingo!" he said with a playful flick to her nose. Leah giggled a little. "And how's the injury?"
"Kinda hurts right now. You're heavy and I think the stitches are pulling." Gino straightened up and backed away a few steps as Leah pressed her hand to the wound and was relieved to not feel any blood.
"Sorry. I just saw you looking so upset and figured you could use some cheering up," he said. Leah smiled.
"Thanks. Mission successful, Knight of Three," she joked with a salute. Gino chuckled a bit.
"What are you doing here anyway? And dressed in the boys' uniform of all things?"
"I'm taking an entrance exam. I just finished and Mrs. Ohgi is letting me explore a bit, so long as I don't disturb any classes. And as for the uniform, Suzaku let me borrow it so I'm not hassled by security." Gino nodded and looked over Leah's shoulder at a pair of girls who were whispering and pointing at Leah. His eyes narrowed in warning and his wrist flicked in dismissal. The girls bolted around the corner. "What's wrong?"
"I think security is the least of your worries if you keep wearing that, Princess," he said, all joking gone from his tone. Leah looked over her shoulder but Gino grabbed her arm, a smile back on his face. "That means for now, I'll just have to be your bodyguard. We're gonna have a blast!"
"Hush! We can't disturb any classes," Leah pressed before the blonde Britannian began pulling her down the hall.
"Then I'll show you a place where you can be as loud as you like and no one can hear a peep!" he cried as he bolted outside, partially dragging Leah behind him. He looked back at the girl and stopped in his tracks. Leah bent over and started panting for breath.
"What's- why'd we stop?" she nearly wheezed out.
"Can you run a little bit for me?" he asked, earning him a confused look from the ravenette. "I wanna spot how you run." Leah shrugged and bolted forward. Gino almost wanted to groan.
Leah's arms were flinging themselves to her sides, her feet were going in any and all directions, landing on the flat of her foot, and gasping air into her hunched-over body every step.
"Stop!" Leah froze and turned back.
"Well?" she asked as she bent over and panted for air again. Gino walked up.
"First of all, don't bend over after a run unless you're puking. Instead, stand up straight and put your hands behind your head. It'll help stretch your lungs and let them expand to full capacity." Leah did as ordered. "Second, when you're running, stand up straight. Don't make fists but keep your hands as straight as possible like you're about to karate-chop something. And don't swing your arms or legs everywhere or that's where your energy is going to go. Instead, push them straight forward. Don't breathe on every step, instead, try breathing in for two steps and out for two. And land on your heel and push off with your toes. Got it?" Leah nodded as she lowered her arms.
"Running is complicated," she breathed. Gino shrugged.
"Its just physics."
"Right now, I kinda hate physics." Gino chuckled a little.
"Got your breath back?" He didn't even wait for a response as he grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind him. Leah's attention shot to how she was running and she righted her movements, almost surprised by how much easier the task became when she did.
"You really know your stuff, huh?" she asked as he pulled her into another building and down a few halls. He yanked her into the room, both laughing a little, and shut the door behind them. Leah placed her hands behind her head and started panting a little as she looked around. There were a couple benches next to her that lead to a window replacing the wall, allowing for anyone to see into the courtyard where there were senior students sitting around gossiping and on-break faculty enjoying some fresh air.
The room itself was rather empty aside from the benches. There were black instrument cases against the wall opposite the window and in the middle of the room was a large, black grand piano with the lid open, strings exposed towards the window and the Ashford Academy symbol on the lid.
"These are the music practice rooms. The walls are soundproofed so no one will hear any noise. Some students back in the day tried taking advantage of that so that's why we've got the window over there." Leah nodded as she walked over and sat down on the piano bench. "You play anything?"
"I don't know," she said with a shrug. Gino walked over and pushed on the high E then the D sharp below it. Leah turned as he started pressing random keys.
"Try it." The blonde moved and sat down on the bench. "Heck, try any of the instruments. Maybe something will jiggle a memory loose." Leah smiled and turned to the keys. Tentatively, she placed her fingers on the ivory and pressed down on the middle C, followed quickly by an F and G.
Gino's fingers began to tap out a beat on his knee as Leah continued to play, her other hand picking up on notes as they came to her head. About a minute or two into the song, he started chuckling and Leah cut off, holding down a B flat and G with her right hand and a G below low C with her left.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"The song you're playing. Its ironic I think," he chuckled.
"Why?"
"It's a piece called 'Coming Home' by Cory Gabel." Leah chuckled a little to herself.
"I was just playing the notes as they came to my head," she said with a shrug. Gino shook his head.
"Its fine. It's good that you learn everything you can about yourself while you remember things. And even if you don't remember who you were before, you have a good opportunity here to become a totally different person. I mean, you've got Suzaku, the Student council, Millay Ashford and me her for ya!" Leah giggled again and smiled at the Knight of Three.
"Thank you Gino. I'm glad I can call you a friend." Gino smirked and held his head up, obviously very proud of himself.
"Of course, princess. You need something fun to do, you give me a call, alright?" Leah nodded, a little puzzled. Gino noticed the look. "You live with Suzaku. I worked with him for about a year and he was a real stick in the mud. I know he's loosened up some but he is still the head of Empress Nunally's guard and the Knight of Zero. Sometimes, he can slip back into the stony guy I knew before the Demon Emperor."
"So…Nunally was Lelouch's sister?" Leah said as she started fiddling with the cord of her headphones. Her eyes looked down at her hand still on the keys.
"Yea. So?"
"So I can't imagine how much she hurts every day. I mean…does she have any family left?"
"She thinks of Suzaku like a big brother, and then there's all those other kids Charles vi Britianna had…like somewhere in the 70s at least. But Lelouch was the only one who shared a mother with her."
"Then I would imagine I should keep my distance from Nunally," Leah said as she started picking at dead skin again. Gino sighed.
"You hungry?" he asked after a moment. Leah shrugged.
"Suzaku's been reintroducing me to food slowly over the past few days. He said if I wanted to, I could start on some shellfish like mussels or shrimp if I wanted to. What's on the menu?"
"Don't know. What's something you know you like?" Gino asked as he headed for the door.
"I like chicken." The blonde smiled, winked and sent her a thumbs up.
"Keep on playing, maybe you really will remember something!" Leah nodded and started playing the song again, eyes closing as her extremities took over themselves. Her eyes closed as her head began to bob to the beat her toes were tapping out. She felt a warmth ghost over her right hand, following her fingers as she played. A smile played at the corners of her lips.
"Is this a memory? Have I played this song before and someone hold my hand like this while I played?" The song came to an end and Leah's eyes slowly opened. She looked at her hand, truly covered by a small pale hand. Leah followed the arm to see a young girl, probably a freshman, sitting in a pink wheelchair. She had long dirty-blonde hair and big violet eyes that were beginning to tear up somewhat. "Are you alright?" Leah asked, noticing that Gino had left the door open.
The girl nodded and wiped at her eyes.
"I was just remembering something is all." Leah smiled warmly at the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What's your name? I'm Leah Lamperouge." The girl's eyes widened a little.
"My name's Nunally. Nunally vi Britannia." Leah's eyes widened.
"Empress?!" she yelped in slight surprise as she jumped up, knocking the bench back, startling both girls. Leah immediately fell to her knees. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem so rude or to startle you. Were you going to play?" Nunally placed her hand on Leah's shoulder, getting the girl to look at her, her eyes just a little sadder. Leah's heart clenched painfully.
"I can't play the piano. Try as I might, I just can't. Its just..."
"I look like your late elder brother...correct?" Nunally nodded and began blinking furiously, a single tear slipped down her cheek. Leah reached up and brushed it away tenderly. "I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt anyone or bring back any unwanted memories." Nunally shook her head.
"I loved my brother and I know that what he did, good and bad, was all because he wanted a better future for me. So it does hurt to think about him sometimes, but I know he's in a better place right now." Leah smiled a little more. "And I'm glad you look like him. I only got to see his eyes for a short time and I had almost forgotten how they looked. So thank you for having my brother's eyes."
"Empress...I..."
"Please just call me Nunally. And please stop bowing, I get enough of that after school and while I'm here, I just want to be a normal kid like everyone else, okay?" Leah stood up and put the bench back where it belonged and sat down.
"Since you said you can't play Nunally, is there anything in particular you want to hear? Or you can tell me the opening notes and we can see if I can remember it?"
"There's one I remember really well. I heard it on the radio the other day. I think it started with a very low C, D and E on the left hand and middle C, E and G on the right in a B flat scale. Is that helpful?" Leah pushed on the keys and soon, the song was filling the room and Nunally was clapping to the beat as both girls hummed along to the tune.
That was the scene Gino walked in on a few moments later with Suzaku in tow. The two stared at the girls as the song came to an end, they started giggling and shared a hug.
"That was so much fun!" Leah giggled, pushing some hair behind her ear, only to have it fall back over her face.
"I agree. We need to do this again. We also need to find out who taught you to play so well." Gino knocked on the door.
"We've got lunch!" he called as Suzaku stepped in and shut the door. "And I see you've met Nunally…" Leah's eyes narrowed.
"You didn't shut the door and you directed her right to me, didn't you?" Gino put a small plate and a bowl on the bench next to Leah and chuckled.
"Maybe, maybe not, Princess. But now you've got another friend." Nunally giggled and Leah's foot began to tap on the floor.
"When Gino told me where you were, I went and told Mrs. Ohgi. She's just finishing up some things with the Dean and then we'll have the results to your entrance exam," he informed. Leah smiled as she picked up the small, pink shrimp off the plate.
"Take a bite. Its shrimp," Gino encouraged. Leah nodded and started eating.
The next half hour was full of small talk, Gino's storytelling of when he and Suzaku first met and the year that followed, and more music. Only to be interrupted by Mrs. Ohgi popping her head into the room a while later. She motioned for Leah to come with her and the ravenette nodded and obeyed.
Leah twisted her little finger in her other hand as she followed the teacher to the end of the hall. The silver-haired woman handed her a brown box.
"Congratulations. I talked with my husband about your scores and he said they're the best ones he's seen in his entire career as a teacher. Inside this, you'll find your uniform, the rules you have to agree to and a list of classes you can take. For the first few days, you'll just be with me. These are to give you grades and an overall GPA for the years you're skipping, after all, Suzaku is a senior. You choose the classes you want to test in and I'll get them ready. I'd recommend taking the harder ones first and if you don't pass them, you can come in and take an easier exam, alright?" Leah nodded, ecstatic.
"Thank you so much Mrs. Ohgi," she cheered, wrapping her arms around the woman gently. She pulled away after a moment. "I have to go tell the others. Thank you so much!" Leah turned and darted down the hall, stopped halfway and turned to face her teacher again. "And congratulations!" She turned back and vanished into the music room.
Viletta couldn't help but smile as she rubbed a hand over her stomach and turned to leave.
"Looks like things are about to get very interesting around here," she murmured to herself.
Leah giggled and laughed as Millay fawned over how the uniform looked on the girl. Kallen stood off in the corner smiling in approval and Nunally was sitting at the table looking excitedly at the girl. Rivalz, Gino and Suzaku were standing near the window with a pink-haired girl who was glancing around, looking extremely bored.
"And Mrs. Ohgi said you get to choose the exams you get to take?" Leah nodded as she dug into the box and pulled out the sheet, laying it out on the table.
"She said I should start with the hardest ones first. Then if I don't pass them, she'll just give me the exam for the class below it. So…"
"Leave this to me!" Millay said. "So the highest courses available are all AP or Advanced Placement courses. Our school actually has connections with colleges and a college on campus that allows for a high enough exam grade to shave off a semester of college class for that field. So if you took AP Psychology and got a 3, I think, you would have a semester of social sciences covered and it'll save you from some student loans and a lot of headache." Leah nodded.
"So I would say AP Calc is the highest math we have, and then there's…" Suzaku glanced over at the girls and smiled a little as Millay explained a few classes to Leah and they started circling exams for her to take.
His eyes flicked to the box where the sleeve of his spare school jacket had gotten caught on the corner. He looked back at Leah and felt himself relax a little more. She had a long way to go to simply make people stop looking at her like she was a piece of road kill on the bottom of their shoe, but she was already making progress.
Leah looked over at him and smiled, fiddling with the end of her tie as she did. He smiled back. Gino bumped him with his elbow.
"What?" he asked.
"This just occurred to me but has Arthur met her yet?" the blonde Knight asked. As if on cue, Leah yelped as a familiar dark grey cat with a black spot over an eye sunk his teeth into her Achilles tendon.
"Arthur!" Suzaku scolded as Leah started giggling again.
"He's just being playful, aren't you Arthur?" she cooed as she somehow managed to bring Arthur's attention to her finger and picked him up. The cat purred contentedly as he rubbed his face into the crook of her arm, pawed at her elbow and her long, pale fingers stroked down his spine, occasionally scratching behind his ear before returning to petting him. "You're a real sweetheart, aren't ya?"
"He's Suzaku's cat. But last week, he got busy with work and we let him crash here when that happens," Millay explained.
"And that work cleared up this week so I can take him home if you like," Suzaku said as he moved to stand next to the ravenette. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Really?! That's awesome! You hear that, Arthur? You're coming home with Suzaku and me," she purred at the creature. The feline fixed his golden irises on his owner as the Japanese reached out to pet him. The cat snapped his head up, sinking his teeth into the fingers closest to him. Suzaku winced but chuckled.
"He's just ticked that I left him here on his own," Suzaku explained as he pulled his fingers out of the mouth. Arthur meowed indignantly, as if to say 'That'll teach you!' Leah giggled a little and started petting the tiny black creature in her arms again. "If Lelouch hadn't been born a prince, if he hadn't felt such a need to do what he did, could this have been his life?" Leah picked up Arthur so he was facing her and the cat lapped at her nose, causing her to giggle. "What am I thinking? Lelouch is dead. Leah is the one who's here. She's the one who needs my attention. Its not the time to go wandering into the world of what ifs."
Leah looked up at Suzaku as he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Leah smiled at him before Arthur mewed and batted a paw at her face, demanding her attention again. She giggled and scratched at his chin.
Phoenix: Okay, this was a bit of a slow one...huh? It was more for Leah and Nunally and for Leah to get into school. So, how about next chapter, we learn a little of what happens when Leah...No, won't tell you yet. Please review! Want to see some more sweet moments between Leah and Nuna? Review below! Want some more Gino? Review below! Want to see something else between Leah and another character? Review below!
