If I own Code Geass, this would not be called fanfiction. Unfortunately, it is.
Chapter 4 - The Lesson
It is a warm feeling. It seems like something I haven't felt for such a long time, so nostalgic, yet so painful. Have I really missed such a comfort? Just when I thought that I have gotten used to this icy solitude, fate really has to tempt me and weaken my resolve. Right now, I don't even know what it is. Where is it coming from? But this fleeting warmth feels so precious that if I even doubt its existence for a moment it will disappear, just like a dream. Am I dreaming?
"I guess I shouldn't have asked that." I slowly part my eyes, regretting the fact that my curiosity for both the warmth's reality and identity has ripped me apart from a longed for illusion, once again.
"I guess I shouldn't have asked the one before that either." I curse at myself, after seeing what triggered that hated dream.
I immediately see Zero's back. His cream turtleneck shirt is defiled by blood, my blood. He seems to be laying face down beneath me, with his eyes closed and his face writhing in pain. I slowly lift myself up with my left hand while I try to get a hold of what is happening. That's right, I shot him, and all of a sudden there was an explosion. I remember very little after that though, well, aside from excruciating pain which I would rather forget.
"But why am I here? What are you talking about? That's impossible. He wouldn't try to help me. I am technically his enemy. Besides, I tried to shoot him."
Tried? I close my eyes as I try to pull out the last piece of memory from what happened. Ah, yes. I succeeded. I glance at his body. It seems he is bleeding from his lower left torso. So is he dead? I gently clasp my hand around his neck and check for a pulse.
"So what if he is still alive? Why should I help him? He isn't exactly the most convenient person to keep around, with what he knows about me, and even Lancelot." I pause after I notice that covering my shoulders is his black jacket. I practically wore nothing underneath it though. My own jacket was probably torn to shreds by the blast. Around my left shoulder is what is left of my shirt, wrapped as if used as makeshift gauze.
"What a spoiled brat. Honestly, who tries to save an enemy who tried and almost managed to killing you?" I mutter to myself this time.
Add to that carrying a person on his back while bleeding from a gunshot wound and taking that would be enemy all the way to his home, it seems that I was not mistaken in choosing Lancelot. At least he was professional enough to not mind killing if necessary. Really, this boy just disappoints me.
"Now, where do you keep your first aid kit?" I ask him, of course not expecting an answer.
Having no other choice, I decide to wear his jacket for now. The size is off by a wide margin, an expected outcome with over half a foot of difference in height. I stand up to search the place. I find myself near the door of a simple apartment. It looks just like any ordinary apartment. If anything serves as a distinction it is the sheer lack of it. With dark blue walls and really rudimentary furnishings, it seems almost too barren for use.
Having no idea where he keeps anything, I search blindly throughout the apartment. I eventually find a first aid kit inside the overhead drawers of the small kitchen on the east side. I go back and drag him from doorstep and towards the couch.
I hear a loud thud.
"Ngghh." He grumbles in pain. It is understandable, since I banged his head on the living room table. I chuckle a little. I don't apologize though. Apologies are for the sake of appeasing the other party's feelings. Being unconscious, I doubt he cares either way.
I lay him down on the couch. He is lucky that the bullet went clean through. I guess he is fortunate to have been shot at such close range. Well, maybe not.
"This should be simple enough." I say, glad that this isn't going to take as much effort as I had expected.
About thirty minutes pass.
I finish the treatment by wrapping the gauze tightly to prevent the wound from reopening. The bleeding has stopped, and the antiseptic I applied should prevent infection. He seems to be a bit pale from the blood loss, but otherwise he will survive.
I sigh in relief when I feel a slight buzz on my left breast. I check what the odd tingling sensation is. Apparently, a mobile phone is inside the left jacket pocket, and someone seems to be trying to contact it. If this is Zero's personal phone, the person calling him should know something useful about him. I decide to answer the phone to get some information.
A beep sounds after I press the receive button.
"Hey, this is Millie." A lively female voice comes out from the slim black phone.
I decide not to answer, siding with caution.
"Lelouch? Are you there?" The voice asks worriedly.
Is that Zero's real name? It could be another alias he uses for his associates. But judging from how worried the voice sounds, it is no mere associate calling him.
"A lover?" I whisper to myself. For some odd reason, it sounded sharper and louder than I intended it. I hope the phone didn't pick it up.
"Lelouch? Please answer!" she seems to be getting more and more suspicious. If this woman knows about this place and decides to come over, it might ruin my chance to investigate Zero's place thoroughly.
I put the receiver near Zero's mouth, and then I give his gunshot wound a slight press.
"Ngghh." He mutters as he squirms in pain.
"You should answer quicker if you're there. I'm calling to thank you about the job a week ago. My father finally realized that the security on the Ashford Enterprise main building is insufficient. I swear, it would take an actual terrorist infiltration to wake him up, and it did. Of course, compensation will be given the usual way." The voice on the phone quickly replies, finishing with almost no pause.
Another press.
"Nggghhh…" His moans of pain seem to be getting longer, or it might be my fingers are pressing progressively harder. I should ease up a bit. He did try to save my life, as unnecessary as that is.
"Oh don't complain. You receive more than enough don't you? Besides, I don't really see what you would need that much cash for." The woman on the other end seems to interpret the moans as she wants. I'm not sure if Zero is always this tightlipped with her, or if she just likes to talk a lot. I can almost imagine her completely pushing him around while all he can do is nod. I guess she really is his lov-
"Hey Lelouch. Are you by any chance with a girl right now?" This comment jolts me back to reality.
"Not answering means that you are! I can't believe that you are actually dating! I thought that you would stay single forever. Who is she? Come on, introduce me!" The teasing voice from the phone came in waves, only separated by short burst of giggling.
"So she isn't his lover." I blurt out.
"That is a girl's voice! I knew it-"
I press a button to end the call. I'm really not good with those types. As long as she is convinced that she was talking to this "Lelouch", then there should be no problem. Besides, I have a much more important call to make. I dial a set of numbers like it was second nature to me.
"Hello? Yes, I would like to order a pizza."
After I finish giving the address for the apartment which was fortunately written on his license, I take out enough money from his wallet to pay the Pizza Hut guy later. He after all, was supposed to buy me dinner.
I finish ordering and put the phone back into the jacket pocket. I start investigating the stuff inside the apartment, looking for clues on Zero's identity. According to his license, he seems to go by the name of Lelouch Lamperouge. I have no way of making certain whether that is his real name, but at least it is a start. Now that I think about it, It wouldn't be strange if it is his real name, for as long as he keeps his Zero persona a complete secret, living a normal life with his original name should work out fine. It may even be ideal, since it lessens suspicion that may arise from fabricated papers and the like. The best way to not leave a trace is not to tread the path in the first place.
I enter the first of the two bedrooms of the apartment. The interior doesn't really differ from the rest of the place, with only a bed, a table and a closet as furniture. There is a laptop computer on the table, but the protection is incredibly tight, as expected from a person who can shutdown high-level security for five minutes. Without the right software, it is just about impossible for me to break in. I try my luck and type in the only possible password that comes to mind. N-U-N-N-A-L-L-Y, enter. With a tone of confirmation and a welcome note on the screen, I get past the first level of security on the computer. I try checking the files that can be accessed at this level of access, but I find nothing of any real importance. He only has several incomplete computer programs on disk.
"A computer programmer?" I wearily conclude. It is a logical day job for him, since if he works freelance, he can work from home. And with his skills, it should take virtually no time at all.
I check his online records. It seems he frequents online chess tournaments. Despite having firsthand knowledge of his tactical skill, I am honestly surprised at his 574 – 0 win lose record. I'm pretty sure they bet money on these games. He must be making quite a bit from this.
"Is Nunnally his lover?" I wonder, since she seems to be very important to him. A sister perhaps?
This is as far as I can go with this password. I decide to check the remaining room for any other clues. I walk out the room and step towards the bedroom door a few meters away. I grasp the doorknob and open the door as I did the one before.
"Brother?" a soft female voice greets my intrusion.
I stop at my tracks, regretting how careless I can be. I assumed that Zero lived alone in this apartment, particularly because of the nature of his work and the lack of signs of life.
"Hello, Nunnally." I reply as soon as I can, so as not to arouse suspicion from the girl.
She seems to be in her early teens. She immediately tries to straighten her white dress out as soon as she notices me. Her long wavy light brown hair flows down her pink vest and rests on top of the bed as she remains seated.
"Oh, a visitor? You must be brother's friend!" She answers, with a hint of excitement in her voice. Her cute face seems to form into a smile, but her eyes remain closed. Is she blind? It seems so. A stranger walking into your room wearing only a black jacket with nothing underneath is not really something to overlook.
"Yes. I was with your brother until just a moment ago. He said that he will get something to eat. I'm sure he will be back in a bit." I hesitate to use the name Lelouch since if it is an alias, this girl definitely knows the real one.
"I see. Oh how rude of me, please be seated. I am sorry I cannot get you anything to drink." Her eyebrows seem to slant sadly, but her smile remains vibrant. She seems so pure that looking at her is like staring at clear flowing water. I can almost never get tired of it.
I take a few more steps into the room. The moment I look around, I am immediately taken aback by what decorates the entire room. It is the exact opposite of what I believe to be Zero's room but just as, if not even weirder. When I was staying in Japan a few years ago, I remember coming across a belief that if a person folds one thousand paper cranes, their wish will come true. What kind of wish does this girl want granted with a hundred thousand of them?
I take a seat on the wooden chair across the bed. The room is almost like a nest for the innumerable paper cranes. I can't seem to shake of the unnerving feeling that they are all looking at me, especially the ones on the high shelves that surround the room. Even on the table beside me, there is probably around fifty paper cranes all lined up. I pick one up out of curiosity. If there is perfection in origami, then this must be it. All the folds are flawlessly aligned, and there is not a trace of unnecessary creases on the paper. I guess with that much practice you have no choice but to become this skilled.
"May I ask what your name is? You seem to have heard about me from my brother so…" Nunnally politely asks as she shyly bows her head, as if she forgot something important.
"I'm C2."
"What an interesting name. Are you my brother's co-worker?"
"Your brother and I have been through matters of life and death together." Her eyebrows suddenly rise in surprise at my response.
"I see. Why didn't he tell me that he has such a nice girlfriend? He could have introduced us earlier." She answers, slightly but playfully pouting.
"He couldn't help it. We only formally met tonight." I explain truthfully. Again her eyebrows climb in amazement.
"Is that so? Amazing. I didn't know brother can be that quick." She retains her saintly smile as she tries to contain her shock.
"Do you like origami?" I ask an obvious question to change the topic.
"Maybe, I am not really sure. It is just that I have nothing else I can do so I keep doing it. Maybe I have grown to enjoy it." She gives me a completely unexpected answer.
"Would you like me to teach you? Oh, that is if you do not know how to do it yet." She continues.
"Okay. Teach me how to fold the crane." I say as I stand up and walk towards the bed.
While I know how to do origami, leaving right now would be very suspicious. Besides, a girl who can fold such a faultless crane will definitely be worth learning from.
"That's great. Please take a seat on the bed." She replies as she opens the drawer beside her bed and takes out two sheets of folding paper and a pair of scissors.
I sit beside her on the bed as she starts explaining how to make the paper crane. Since she can't see, she feels the edges of the paper and aligns them before she folds. I guess using touch to measure can be much more accurate than sight.
"What do we need the scissors for? Isn't the whole point of origami to not cut the paper?" I question her, sincerely interested.
She doesn't answer immediately. We both finish our paper cranes, and she gently takes my work and examines it with her hands. Then she takes the pair of scissors and cuts off the wings of the cranes we just folded.
"Why did you do that?" I ask stupefied.
"Imperfect cranes do not deserve to have wings." She answers without emotion, but still smiling.
I close my eyes for a moment. I feel a sense of pity towards her, but I immediately realize that I have no such right for I am in a similar circumstance. She crumples the failed origami we just made.
"Can you please take out two more sheets of paper from the drawer while I throw this away?" She requests, again in her almost overly polite tone.
I almost instinctively nod my head and reach for the drawer. Since I was sitting on the far end of the bed, I have to reach over her to open the drawer and get the sheets.
"I am such a fool." Was all I could say when I realized my naïve mistake. The sharp point of the scissors is already lightly piercing my neck while the innocent-looking girl has her left arm around it.
Such a move would normally never work on me. But I was completely off-guard when I moved near her. It took but a split second to get me into such a position.
"You are not my brother's acquaintance. He has never brought anyone, much less a friend, home. You are not his co-worker either. My brother tries to hide it, but I know what he actually does. It is the exact same reason I am kept hidden in this room. There is no way my brother would just carelessly talk about me to anyone. Just who are you? And where is my brother?" She still speaks in her sweet child-like voice while keeping the scissors partially embedded on my already bleeding skin.
I guess the problem with clear water is that one can never tell how deep the bottom is.
"You're brother is in the living room asleep. Aside from that, everything else I told you is the truth." I opt to be honest. Getting her excited and receiving my second fatal wound in one day is something I would like to avoid.
"Please do not underestimate me. I may be blind, but I am not stupid. What did you do to my brother?"
The last thing I would ever do is underestimate this girl again. From the moment that she said "A visitor?" she has planned out everything. Asking the usual questions to get me relaxed, inviting me to do origami to reduce the physical distance between us, giving the excuse for taking out the scissors that now serves as her weapon, and asking me to get new sheets of paper to get me in a position where it is difficult to defend myself, all of it has been part of her scheme. I guess I really have been taught a lesson this time.
I have only one chance. I have to provoke her, and try to twist the scissors away from her hand when she gets agitated and breaks concentration. At worst she may stab my neck, but I'm pretty sure I can break hers before I lose consciousness. My fate comes down to only one moment, and the second time tonight at that. She really is her brother's sister.
"I shot him." I say matter-of-factly, while I turn my head slightly to get a glance at her reaction.
Her smiling face contorts to a frown. She tightly grits her teeth and knits her eyebrows. If her eyes were open, I'm pretty sure she is glaring at me right now. This is my chance.
A swishing sound cuts the air.
The bedroom door swings open. Standing in the doorway is Zero, with his abdomen still bandaged up. He is holding his left side and his shoulders are heaving in pain while he tries to keep breathing and standing. He freezes the moment he sees what is happening. His eyes widen along with his already gaping mouth.
An almost girly scream echoes in the room.
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Again, another cliffhanger.I know this chapter took a while to come out, but that is because it is the first of two parts. The continuation willprobably comeout in a few days. For another excuse, I used up quite a bit of time making a promotional picture of sorts for this fanfiction. For those who are interested, please write down shinta-hikari. deviantart. com on your address bar, without the spaces of course. (What I mean is please please check it out,and comment if you can).
Again, comments and criticisms are welcome (especially about the Nunnally change). Thanks for the reviews. It is practically a miracle that I have kept this story going for 4 chapters now, considering my innate laziness. I owe those people who are expecting updates. It is your comments that keep me going.