Turn 04

Something was very wrong with the school, and Milly Ashford was not happy.

The blonde Ashford heiress hummed, pacing around the student council room with her arms crossed, deep in thought. She was starting to hate how things worked in her family's academy; Britannian students were always bullying the poor Elevens, and no one was batting an eye. Not even her grandfather, the headmaster himself.

Of course, she understood very well why this was happening. The Ashfords had been disgraced ever since Lady Marianne's death, leading to the downfall of their family and the waning of their political influence. Ruben K. Ashford had to please the families of the Britannian students then or else they wouldn't be able to entice a prospective husband for Milly to marry and regain nobility staus. It left a bad taste in their mouth utilizing this kind of method; they may be Britannians, but they were human beings as well. And boasting of their social superiority was not something they would usually do.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do much other than to remain as neutral as possible without compromising the safety of both parties. The school body generally let the self-proclaimed Ashford Self Defense Force do what they want as long no students were harmed and the school wouldn't be dragged to whatever scandal they may have in the future. It might not be enough, but it served to keep the ASDF from taking more drastic actions while the Ashfords stay in the middle ground.

But there lay the problem; though the ASDF were strictly prohibited to inflict physical injuries, they were not forbidden from implementing other methods - namely, bullying.

She would always notice it even though she took great care not to pay attention. Eleven girls were often verbally harassed, and picked on, especially the vertically challenged ones. And she kept witnessing boys being shoved unceremoniously without reason by passing Britannians. It made her blood boil seeing her fellow students become a subject of discrimination, and there were times when she wanted to use her influence as Student Council President to stop the harassments.

However, Milly knew the possible repurcussions should she attempt that, and there was nothing else she could do except to shut her mouth and keep walking as if nothing was happening. This was one of the reasons she frequently hosts festivals and school activities. Because those were the only times when the Elevens could enjoy being a student, even if only for a day. And as their beloved Prez, it was her job to give them that.

"You know, Milly, pacing around in circles will not help you solve your problems."

Milly glanced to her left where Lelouch was sitting opposite Suzaku, reading a recipe book. Beside him, his ever-present little brother, Rolo, sat with a reserved expression, twirling the heart-shaped locket attached to his cellphone.

The heiress shook her head. "No, it won't. Not unless you could suggest an idea on how to reduce the ASDF's bullying on the Elevens."

With a sigh, Lelouch said without looking at her, "Milly, this is your school. Not mine. I'm just the Vice-President of the student council. Even if I tell you a dozen ways to help the Elevens, nothing would change if you do not want to listen."

"But that's just it!" she exclaimed. "You are my Vice-President, so you should help me fix this! When I graduate from this school, you'll be taking my place."

"I plan not to," Lelouch grunted before closing the recipe book. Turning toward her with a serious expression, he said, "You sure you want my advice?"

"Yes."

"Then tell your grandfather to disband the ASDF and prevent the Britannians from harassing the Elevens. Threaten them with expulsion if necessary."

There was a long silence. On the corner, Arthur mewled as if in agreement.

Surprisingly, it was Suzaku who reacted first. "But that would mean angering the families of the students!" he protested. "And in turn, it will just worsen the situation between the Japanese and Britannians! They will harass them even more."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "And what would you suggest, Suzaku? That we let your beloved people be discriminated?"

"Of course not! But neither do I want more conflicts between them!" Suzaku turned to Milly. "President, If I may suggest? Why not have the Japanese students interact more with the Britannians? Let them do joint activities. Group studies and research. Things like that."

"How can they study together if the textbooks themselves are biased against the Elevens?" Lelouch snorted. "Besides, I doubt if it will work. As long as the ASDF is here, nothing will work."

"You can't remove them entirely, though. They need protection as much as the Elevens do."

"Protection?!" Lelouch's voice rose in disbelief. "Since when did Britannians need protection against the very people they had subjugated?"

"You can't be too sure!" the Knight said. "Look at the Black Knights! At Zero! Who would have thought that a mere resistance cell will turn into a large scale terrorist group that has killed thousands and nearly captured Tokyo from Britannia?"

For a moment, Milly thought she saw a hint of hatred flashed across Lelouch's expression. But it soon vanished, as if she had just imagined it.

"What does the Black Knights have to do with the situation in this school?" he demanded.

"Nothing! It's just an example!"

"Then choose an appropriate one! Besides, it's not as if the Elevens will stage a revolt inside the school, will they? Especially not if the hero who should be protecting them is also an Honorary Britannian and a Knight of the Round."

This time, it was Suzaku's turn to flush red in anger. "What does my position have to do with this?"

"Nothing!" the exiled prince snapped, mimicking the Knight's earlier response. "It's just an example."

"Lelouch, I'm not protecting the Britannians!"

"Didn't say you were."

"But you were implying it!"

"You also implied that the Elevens might revolt!"

"No, I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

Milly glanced between her arguing friends in bewilderment. She didn't expect that asking for advice would lead to this! And now, it seemed that the situation was giving her an idea of what would happen should she improve the relationship between the Japanese and Britannian students.

Are we really that different from each other? She thought.

When she couldn't bear to see the two having a shouting match anymore, and when she saw that Rolo was just sitting there watching silently, the Ashford heiress finally had had enough. Slamming her palms on the table, she shouted, "TIMEOUT!"

It had the effect she wanted. Suzaku and Lelouch both stopped with their mouth partially opened and quickly turned to look at her. Expressions of anger immediately morphed into embarassment, then shame. Subdued, the two looked away from her, avoiding eye contact with each other.

Milly smiled. "Now that was not so hard, was it?"

A quick shake of their head was the only answer she received.

Sighing, Milly sat down and rubbed her temples. "Lulu, Suzaku, if you two are going to help me, please don't do it by arguing, okay? This is the very situation I want to avoid with our fellow students. And you boys should be an example. However, if you two are having arguments too, then nothing will really change in this school. Do you guys understand?"

"Yes, President."

When it was apparent that neither of the two would speak unless asked to, Milly shook her head once more. Boys, she thought. If only Shirley was here, things wouldn't have gotten out of hand. But the young Fenette was doing an errand for her father. She missed the days when Nina and Kallen were still around, thus balancing the ratio of girls and boys in the student council; it seemed females were the only ones who thought rationally nowadays, and boys had nothing else in their brain except flaunting their egos.

She needed someone to help her. A like-minded individual who valued the students, no matter what position they held in society. And it had to be another girl to balance the council. Preferably a stranger because she doubt if any of her friends thought the same as her.

Suddenly, as if someone had just answered her prayer, she heard a knock on the door. It opened a fraction of an inch, and someone spoke between the crack.

"I-Is this the student council room?"

Milly turned toward the sound with excitement. It was unmistakably the voice of a girl. A girl!

Instead of answering, she quickly stood up and strode toward the door, throwing it wide open and greeting the person with a wide smile.

Her smile slowly turned into a surprised and startled expression.

The girl was an Eleven. A foot shorter than her, she was a pretty little girl with wavy, black hair and hazel eyes. She had a timid air surrounding her, and a shyness that seemed adorable for her appearance. Sadly, she realized how hard it may had for her to study on the school; the girl had fulfilled more than one of the criterias for the ASDF to bullly an Eleven.

"Yes! How may your President help you?" Despite her initial shock, Milly tried to look as friendly as she could. No doubt, the girl was probably thinking that the student council president was worse than the regular Britannian students.

"Um, are you President Milly?" she mumbled, keeping her gaze directed on the floor. She hugged a folder tightly to her almost non-existent chest, as if afraid of losing it.

"Yes, sweetie," Milly said with a smile. "Do you need something?"

Fumbling with her words, the girl replied, "W-Well, Secretary Rivalz asked me to deliver this to you." She offered the folder with trembling hands.

"Oh. Are these the documents detailing the school's annual budget?" Milly took the folder and opened it, peering inside.

"I think..." The Eleven girl seemed uncertain.

"Mmmm," the President nodded as she pulled out a paper and read the content. "Yup, these are definitely about the annual budget."

"Milly?"

The Ashford heiress glanced back over her shoulder and saw Lelouch frowning at her. "Ah, Lulu. Do you mind if you help me review these? Rivalz has just finished calculating our budget for next year."

"Sure. But..." His gaze seemed to look past her. Recognition flashed in an instance across his face, then his eyes widened in surprise. "Haruna?"

The Eleven girl stepped back with a startled expression. "Mister Lelouch?"

"Wait! You two know each other?" Milly glanced between the two of them.

For a moment, both were silent. "Yes," Lelouch nodded after a minute. Without hesitation, he quickly told her what happened.

When he was finished, Milly closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. It's getting worst, she thought. The ASDF was getting bolder. Sooner or later, they would resort to physical abuse; she had to prevent that from happening.

But how?

Milly opened her eyes. Smiling apologetically at the girl, she said in sympathy, "Sorry to hear about what happened earlier. The ASDF are really like that to newcomers. Although," and here she frowned, "this is the first time they have harassed an Eleven in that way."

There was no logic behind it. But then again, there had never been any logic to the actions of the Britannian students toward the Elevens.

"In any case," Milly smiled once more, "I hope you'll be alright soon. It takes time, but eventually you'll get used to situations like that in here."

The girl nodded, but remained silent.

As she continued to gaze at the girl, an idea suddenly struck Milly. It seemed absurd... no, it was absurd. But it may be the only way, the solution to her dilemma.

Her mind raced as she glanced all over the girl's body. She was really small, but that didn't matter to what she had in mind. Her being an Eleven would certainly cause problems, and that was one reason why she had to do it.

"Say, why not come inside...Haruna, was it? I'll introduce you to some of the council."

The girl immediately squeaked in fright. "Is it ok with you? They might-"

"Oh, come on! There's no harm to it, is there?" Without waiting for a response, Milly grabbed the girl in the right hand and dragged her inside.

The introduction was short, and in Lelouch's case, none since they already knew each other. Suzaku didn't seemed to mind a fellow Eleven in the room, and they had quickly conversed in their native language, albeit in quiet voices. The only one who looked indifferent was Rolo, though he kept glancing at Haruna, as if he found her unsettling.

When they were finally done, Milly cleared her throat to gather their attention. What she was about to say could prove shocking, and she had to be careful if she didn't want them to faint.

"So, Haruna, would you like to become a member of the student council?"

A deep silence engulfed the room, and Milly could have sworn her friends were all living statues when they remained still for over a minute. As the clock continued to tick and a minute passed, Haruna finally broke the silence.

"J-J-Join the Student Council?" she stammered. "But why?"

"Yes, Milly," Lelouch said in disbelief and annoyance. "Why indeed?"

Suzaku shook his head as well and protested, "President, stpp joking! How can Haruna join us if she's a Japanese?"

"You are an Eleven as well, aren't you, Suzaku?" Milly smiled widely, though her voice was laced with a cold edge. When the only response she had received was a groan, the heiress crossed her arms over her bust and sighed.

"Look, boys," she began, "I know it seems absurd, but this might be the only way to stop the ASDF from harassing anymore Japanese students. If another Eleven joins us, one that is not an Honorary Britannian, we may be able to change their views about them."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Suzaku asked. "You know how much the two hates each other!"

At this, Milly hesitated. "Well, that's up to Haruna now, isn't it?" She turned and smiled at the girl.

Haruna gulped. "Me? But I only know how to cook desserts. I don't think it would help at all."

"Nonsense," Milly said with a huff and a wave of her hand. "The fact that you can cook already means a lot. Most of the boys here has a sweet tooth, believe it or not."

Of course, said boys included Lelouch himself. Though the former prince had no clue at all, but Milly knew that he kept a stack of chocolates hidden somewhere within his room.

"So, what kind of desserts do know how to cook?" She asked, interested.

Haruna hesitated for a second. Then in a small voice that Milly almost missed her answer, the girl said, "Pudding."

The Ashford's eyebrows rose, even as Lelouch perked up in interest. "Well, what a coincidence! I know two people who loves pudding. And guess what? One of them is Lelouch."

Haruna looked at Lelouch with an odd expression. "You like pudding?" she said. Strange enough, Milly detected a subtle hint of amusement in her voice.

The exiled prince shrugged. "I always make some for... Rolo, whenever I'm not busy." Beside him, Rolo nodded wordlessly. "But yes, I like pudding."

Milly could have just imagined it, but she thought she saw a faint smile touched Haruna's lips. But that's not all. Her expression had changed in a flash, filled with something close to longing and joy.

"So am I," she said softly.

Then it vanished as if it was never there at all, and she wondered at what she had seen. Ah, perhaps I'm just sleepy and tired, she thought.

"Well, that settles it, then!" she clapped her hands and grinned. "We'll change how the ASDF think of the Elevens through the power of pudding!"

Even as she said this, she was already forming ideas in her head. There were a lot of things they could do; Eat-All-Pudding-You-Can Day; Pudding Festival; cooling giant puddings. The possibilities were endless!

Off to the table, Suzaku groaned as he seemingly percieved the ideas Milly had.

"So," the Ashford heiress dared to ask one last time, "Haruna, do you want to join the Student Council?"

This time, the girl answered without hesitation.

"Yes."

Argh! Sorry for the long delay and short chapter! Real life got in the way, as usual. T_T ThaT,

and I'm starting to write my first original novel. So I've been bust lately.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, short as it was. I'm not really sure when I can update this, but I'll try before the second week of December. Hopefully. XD

Please Read & Review!

Until next time!