Class was just beginning, and I was already having trouble staying awake. I drifted off into my mind. Several things passed in my head, like last night's incidents with Cornelia and Suzaku. Suzaku kissing me kept creeping back into my mind, and every time it did, I would smile to myself. Each time that thought left, it seemed like the thought of me pointing out each one of my scars came right after it. I knew I had to tell Suzaku, but I wasn't quite sure how.
After what seemed like a few seconds to me, the class ended, and students began to gather their books to leave. "Hey, Annmarie." I lifted my head up sleepily. I heard someone laugh at me. I rubbed my eyes to see Rivalz pointing at me, laughing, Shirley yelling at him, and Lelouch staring at me like he could care less about what was going on. He reached forward and pulled a sticky note that was stuck to my face off.
He handed it to me saying, "Here." I was so tired that I got overly excited and grabbed the small piece of paper, and I stood up and hugged Lelouch.
"Thank you Lelouch! It's the best gift I've ever gotten." Once I stopped hugging him, I looked at all of my friends, including Kallen who had just walked over. They immediately started laughing. Rivalz looked like he was about to pee his pants, and Shirley had burst out laughing and her eyes were lined tears. Kallen was laughing pretty hard as well even though she hadn't heard the entire conversation, and Lelouch seemed be trying very hard not to laugh.
He sighed and turned around, just so the others wouldn't see him laughing. I knew why too. The rest of us would hold it over him for the rest of his natural born life. I finally started to wake up and began talking with my friends. Apparently there had been an announcement that I wasn't awake for. According to Rivalz, classes had been canceled for the rest of the day. My phone buzzed, and everyone sighed.
"What?"
"Nothing," Shirley began.
"It's just that," Rivalz tried to finish.
"Every time your phone rings or vibrates, you are called off for a phone conference with someone or something along those lines."
"I'm sorry, but I have royal duties too. Besides, it is very, very rare that I would have phone conference."
"Yeah, but the last time you were called away, you ended up in the middle of the battle in Shinjuku."
"I know, and I'm sorry about that." I waved to them and went out into the hall. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. A text. From an unknown number. I sighed. Who could it be now? It read: Meet me by the wash area by the track. I decided to not even bother with thinking about who it was. So, I started to head towards the track when about six or seven guys confronted me. "What do you guys want?"
"Is it true?"
"What?"
"Is the rumor true?"
"What rumor? Is what true?"
"Is it true that you have a boyfriend? A reliable source said that they saw you kissing a guy yesterday."
I smirked and said, "How do you know it was a guy? What if it was a girl?" They began to think about it very carefully. Heh, it is fun to play with their heads. As they continued to try and figure out if what I said was true or not, I left them bewildered and continued walking to the track.
I was almost to the wash area by the track, when I happened to glance out the window. Suzaku was by one of the sinks scrubbing something roughly. He lifted up his gym shirt. I read the horrific writing on his shirt. "GO BACK TO YOUR GHETTO, ELEVEN!" I rushed outside and stopped a few feet away from him. He looked up and saw me standing there. "Oh, hey…" He looked at where my eyes were looking and laughed a little. "Oh, this, don't worry about it. I'm used to being treated poorly." Horror flashed over my face.
"You're used to it?" He turned his face back toward me. "How can you say that? Are you just going to let people trample all over you your entire life?"
"Things will turn out better," he stated simply.
"And what if they don't?"
He smiled. "Then I have you." I blinked and blushed ferociously. I looked down and walked over to him. Taking the shirt, I began to scrub at it.
"Were you the one that texted me?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't you have like a caller i.d. thing?"
I nodded. "I keep forgetting to put your number in my phone." I heard him laugh slightly. He wrapped his arms around me and placed his hands over mine to help me wash his shirt. I felt my blush increase. Closing my eyes, I stopped scrubbing and leaned back into Suzaku. His lips brushed against mine, and I smiled. He continued to kiss me, but as he stopped, something cold and wet was dumped all over me. I flinched, and then opened my eyes, which locked onto the bucket Suzaku was now holding.
"You know you really shouldn't lower you defenses around me. By the way, are you awake now? I noticed you fell asleep in class." I turned on my feet and started walking in the opposite direction. "Wait, Annmarie. I only did it as a joke." I heard him running up to me. Once I reached my destination, I bent down to pick up the nozzle of a hose and placed my hand on the handle to turn it on. Looking back up at Suzaku, I smiled at him.
"What do you say?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
I softened my expression. "Okay, I forgive you." Then I turned the handle to the hose. I heard water begin to stream through the hose.
"Wait, wait! You said that you forgive me!"
"I do forgive you, but now it's time for payback." I pointed the hose toward him when the water should have started soaking him. He flinched, but the water didn't come. I shook the hose some, but still no water came out.
"Ahem." I turned around to see Milly behind me. She was holding a hose with a spray nozzle attached to the end. "You didn't turn on the right switch." She then pointed the nozzle at me and began spraying me. I blocked it from hitting me in the face and kept yelling for Milly to turn it off. When she finally did, my clothes were so wet that my skirt clung to my legs, and my uniform top had been sculpted to my figure.
"You guys that wasn't funny. Now what am I going to do?" I pointed to my clothes. "I don't have a spare change of clothes here on campus. The only thing I have are the clothes for gym, and they were sent to get washed today."
"We can get your clothes dried at the clubhouse. By the way Suzaku, if you want your boyfriend/girlfriend moments to be private, you might want to make sure no one is around." I turned to Suzaku who was rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh, and Annie," she started. "I could easily figure out you two were in love, and I think you should stay in those clothes. It shows how sexy you are."
Both mine and Suzaku's mouths dropped. We looked at each other, and then we looked down at my wet body. My face went from pink to dark red. I screamed a little and crouched down covering my chest. Suzaku immediately started apologizing while looking away.
"Okay, here, I'll help you Annie. Stand up and take your jacket and blouse off."
"Wait, in front of Suzaku?!"
"He won't be looking! Right Suzaku?" He nodded his head and turned around. "Okay, Suzaku, while she is taking care of her top clothing, take off your school jacket."
"Are you trying to embarrass us in front of each other?" I glared at Milly who just smiled back.
"Do you want to get sick?" I tried to object, but then I realized that I couldn't say anything back. Milly laughed some. Once my top layers were gone, I covered up as much of my chest as I could and shivered. "Okay Suzaku, you can bring your jacket over here now."
"Okay, but I'm covering my eyes." He turned around and with one hand over his eyes and the other one out in front of him, began walking toward us. After he walked almost the entire distance between us, Milly stepped out of the way. I reached out for her arm to bring her back to where I was. Before I could ask Milly why she moved, Suzaku had closed the distance between me and him. "What's this?"
My mouth was open, ready to scream, when Suzaku removed his hand from his face to look down. He followed his arm up to his hand where it was resting on my breast. A scream ripped from my lungs. I snatched the school uniform jacket from Suzaku's hand and turned around to put it on. My face was so red now, and I was on the verge of crying. Some tears dropped to the ground. Suzaku was saying he was sorry and was trying to make it up to me. Soon, I was bawling. I didn't hear anything but my own sobs.
Suzaku spun me around, and he placed his mouth over mine. I froze in shock, and after I had settled down, Suzaku backed away. He placed my head against his shoulder. "Well, my work here is done," I heard Milly say. I looked up to glare at her. She handed me my uniform and explained where some dry clothes could be found at the clubhouse. She skipped away saying something about going to harass Lelouch some more.
I led Suzaku to the Student Council Clubhouse. We found the dryer so my clothes could be dried off, and eventually found the spare clothes: a black tank top, white zip up hoodie, purple short-shorts, white, knee-high socks, and purple tennis shoes. After I had changed into the clean, dry clothes, we sat near the dryer and waited for my clothes to finish drying. Neither of us spoke for the longest time, until finally I said, "Cornelia knows." I felt Suzaku's gaze on me. "Cornelia knows," I repeated to him.
"Wait, what do you mean she knows?"
"She knows about us being together." I turned to see Suzaku. His face held a terrified look. "It's okay. She isn't going to tell anyone unless it involves my well-being."
"What do you mean your 'well-being'; what are you talking about?"
"Suzaku, I need to tell you something. It is a very serious matter, and I don't want you to see me in any other way than the way you see me now." He nodded, and I continued on. "Suzaku, I have to take several medications each day. Sometimes there are side effects, like me getting really dizzy like yesterday. I am also required to see a psychologist every week. I am constantly under close watch, just so my family knows that I am okay. I am not allowed to pick up sharp objects or have any near me for that matter."
"What are you getting at?"
I sighed. I was going to have to tell him eventually. I breathed in. "Suzaku, I have dysthymia or chronic depression. It isn't the most serious type of depression, but it is a close second. Instead of having to experience this for several months to a year or two, I have to live my life like this. There is no way that I will get completely better. To top this all off, I have suicidal thoughts. It hasn't really been affecting me recently, but it can pop up at random times."
Suzaku was looking at me with an upset face. "You don't seem like you're depressed to me." I smiled at him shaking my head.
"I know; it never seems like I am. I put up a façade. I try to not let anyone see me that way. Everyone is worried enough about me, being a princess and all, so I hide the way I feel. So far, you have seen me get pretty upset, but not as depressed as I was when I did this." I rolled the sleeve of the jacket I was wearing up past my elbow. Six or seven scars were visible.
"Annmarie, why would you do such a thing?" I took a hold of Suzaku's hand. With it, I took his index finger and pointed it at several spots on my arm.
"… Three, four, five, six, seven,…" Continuing to point with Suzaku's hand, I finished up counting all of my scars including the invisible ones. "… fourteen, fifteen, sixteen." I pulled the sleeve back down. I stayed quiet, and Suzaku was speechless.
"Annmarie…" He wrapped his arms around me gently. "Please don't do anything to hurt yourself; I don't think my life would be the same ever again." He resituated us so that I was sitting on his lap now. I placed my hand on his cheek and gently kissed the other. He looked down into my blue, water-like eyes. A few tears escaped them and flowed down my cheeks.
I resituated our position so that he was still sitting, and I was still on his lap but with me facing him. My lips glided across his. I wrapped my arms around his neck bringing myself closer to him. A buzzer went off, signaling that my uniform was dry. At first, we both ignored it. After a few more seconds, I backed away from Suzaku. He looked at me questioningly.
"My clothes are dry." I stood up and got my school clothing out of the dryer. All of a sudden, Milly came on the PA system.
"Attention everyone! Lelouch is chasing after a cat on the campus. The cat has something important to him. At all costs, find the cat and retrieve the item it has. As a reward, the person who captures the cat will receive extra funds for the club they are in and get a kiss from someone in the student council. Bring whatever the cat has to me!"
I shook my head and sighed. Milly, not again. I turned to look at Suzaku. "Do you want to go look for it?"
"I don't know. Do you?"
I smiled and nodded my head. "Yeah, I haven't gotten to run around in a while. This'll be fun." I grabbed his hand, and we left the Student Council Clubhouse. Everyone on campus was running around like crazy. "Come on." We started toward the bell tower on the campus. I don't know why, but I had a feeling something was going to be there.
As we arrived at the bell tower, Lelouch ran into the same area we were now in. "Lelouch!"
"Ah, Suzaku. Annmarie. Where's the cat? Did you see it?"
"Meow!" The three of us looked up. We heard the meowing continue. I ran toward the staircase and started running up the flights of stairs to where the cat was. Once we all reached the top, we didn't see the cat.
"What if it got onto the roof?" Lelouch went over to the window that lead to the roof. He opened it up to go onto the roof, but Suzaku pushed him out of the way.
"Suzaku!"
"You know that you will end up killing yourself if you go out there."
Suzaku climbed out. Lelouch followed, and I looked out the window to see what was going on. I couldn't see well and ended up climbing onto the roof as well. Suzaku was almost able to reach the cat, and Lelouch was close behind. Just as Suzaku was reaching for the cat, I said, "Be careful, waaahh!"
I slowly began to slide down the roof. Before falling, I was able to grab the gutter but with only one hand. "Annmarie!" I heard the two scream along with everyone below gasping. For a brief moment, the idea of letting go popped into my head. I ignored that thought though, and I was able to bring my other hand up to grab the gutter.
"Lelouch, get back in and grab my legs!"
"But-"
"Just do it! You won't be able to pull her back up, and I need someone to hold me steady."
"Yeah, but Suzaku-"
"Guys! This gutter won't hold me forever." The sound of metal creaking was heard once I finished speaking. I screeched slightly. I tightened my grip on the gutter, only causing it to give more to my weight, and I weighed less than a hundred pounds. If the royal family were to find out about this, then Ashford Academy would be put under some serious pressure. "You guys! Please hurry!"
"Lelouch go!" All I heard was some shuffling. Eventually, I felt Suzaku's hands grabbing mine. I latched onto him and held on for dear life. I was slowly pulled back onto the roof, and once back on the roof, I heard some cheers below. The three of us went back into the bell tower. "Annmarie! Annmarie, are you okay?" Adrenaline was coursing through my body.
"Annmarie?"
I looked at Lelouch and Suzaku who stood in front of me. My breath finally caught up with me, and I snapped back to reality. Tears fell from my eyes to the floor beneath my feet. I ran and grabbed onto the both of them. I started to sob, and after a few minutes, it felt like that was the only thing I could do.
"Come on, let's go," Lelouch said. Suzaku picked me up, and we all went back down the stairs. As we emerged from the bell tower, a crowd encircled us.
"Annmarie!" The members of the Student Council came forward. "Are you okay?" I looked to see Shirley, Kallen, Milly, Nina, and Rivalz in front of me. I nodded.
"She is still shaken up by the whole thing," Suzaku said. I reached out for Kallen. This was a time where I needed my best friend, especially since I knew that she would be able to get me to calm down faster. Suzaku put me down gently on my feet. He helped me regain my balance, and once I did, I went over to Kallen. She embraced me like she hadn't seen me for a while. I was still crying softly.
"Lelouch, do you know him?" I turned my face to see surprise on both Suzaku's face and Lelouch's. Lelouch relaxed and nodded his head in response.
Nina, who stood behind us all a little, quietly said, "B-but, he's an Eleven." At this remark, I let go of Kallen and stepped in front of Nina.
"Nina, I know that we don't really talk, but I cannot believe you said that." She flinched some.
"B-but…"
"He is not an Eleven. He is Japanese." Everyone around me stared wide-eyed. Nina nodded shyly and apologized. I walked up to her and gave her a small hug. "It's okay. I'm sorry that I got angry with you. I just don't like it when people say someone is an Eleven."
"Madame President," Lelouch said. "Would you allow Suzaku to enter the Student Council? Everyone should be in a club after all." Milly thought for a second and then smiled.
"I guess I can't say no since you're the Vice President." Everyone from the Student Council began to introduce themselves. "Oh, by the way, what happened to the cat?"
"I don't know," said Suzaku.
"Meow." We all looked down. The cat stood by Suzaku's feet. He reached down and picked up the cat. Everyone just stared at first.
"Looks like Suzaku caught the cat. So, I guess since you are in the student council now you can kiss anyone you want to," Milly said.
"Alright then." Suzaku walked over to me and lifted my face to his. Our lips collided, and I stood there in surprise. All the students still gathered around were silent. Suzaku ended the kiss and backed away. Everyone around me gasped, and I held one hand up by my mouth and looked at the ground. People began to whisper to each other, and the members of the Student Council came up around me and Suzaku.
"Everyone," I yelled. "Just to clarify things, Suzaku and I are… um… dating. Before you all decide to gossip with your friends, I have a request of you all." The people around me were quiet. "Please do not let this leak to media. My father doesn't know yet, and I don't know how to tell him. So please, just don't tell anyone." All the students began to walk away after I had finished speaking.
"Looks like a happy school romance." I turned to see Milly and Shirley. Kallen walked up, and Nina was keeping her distance from us. Lelouch and Rivalz were talking to Suzaku a few feet away. I smiled and thought to myself Looks like everyone is going to get along fine.
"Lelouch," a soft-spoken voice said. We turned around and saw Nunnally. "Is everything okay? I heard someone almost fell from on top of the roof."
"Yes, everything is alright now. Annmarie had a really close call, but she's okay."
"Annmarie?"
I walked up to her and grabbed her hand. She could tell my hands were still shaking. "I'm fine Nunnally. I was saved by Suzaku and Lelouch. Thanks to them, I'm not even hurt." Relief washed over her face.
"Okay, good."
"Hey, you guys," Rivalz said. The Student Council turned to look at him. "We have Prince Clovis's memorial to go to now."
The memorial went on as planned, and a few minutes into the broadcast, the Emperor of Brittania came onto the screen. I didn't really pay attention. I was more worried about the fact that I had to speak to the students after my father was all done talking. My eyes darted around the gymnasium. A couple of times my eyes located my friends. The first person I found was Shirley. After that I found Rivalz and Milly.
While looking around, I began to feel strange. I started to feel another dizzy spell starting, but this one seemed different than the ones I had had before. I looked around the gymnasium for the school nurse that knew about my condition. With a little bit of effort, I saw the nurse by one of the doorways to gymnasium.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Princess?"
"I need the nurse right now."
"I understand." The teacher whispered to the person next him. That person immediately went to get the nurse. I looked back out to the sea of students in front of me. Deep emerald eyes met mine, and I zoned in on the person looking at me. Suzaku had an angered look, but after a bit his face softened. He finally smiled at me. I waved back, but the dizziness began to take a hold of me.
"Princess Annmarie?" The nurse stood next to me. I brought my hand to my forehead and grabbed the nurse's shoulder for support. She started to ask me many questions, but I started to fall. The nurse and two teachers near me caught me and slowly lowered me to the ground.
"Annmarie!" One of the students ran towards me. I wasn't sure who, but I had an idea.
"Mr. Kururugi, you must not run onto the stage platform in the middle of an important service. Please return to your place on the gymnasium floor."
"No, I can't. I have to help her; it is my duty to do so. Viceroy Cornelia appointed me to make sure that Annmarie was okay at school." The teacher seemed irritated and reluctant to allowing Suzaku to come over to me.
"Princess Annmarie, is this true?"
Even though I barely heard or even understood what the teacher had just said, I nodded my head. The teacher let Suzaku by, who then ran up to me.
"Annmarie, what's wrong? Is everything alright?"
"I got dizzy. I think that I just need some fresh air." He nodded and then picked me up to take me outside. The sunlight from outside hit me all of a sudden, and I turned my face into Suzaku's shoulder. He walked to the nearby fountain and sat me down on a bench.
"Better?"
I nodded. "A little." I placed my hand on the bench next to me motioning for Suzaku to sit down next to me. He sighed and came to sit by me. I ended up lying my head down on his lap. "Suzaku, I haven't eaten much in the last few days."
"Why not?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, but now I'm really hungry." He smiled a little. I sat up and looked at him.
"What do you want to eat?" I smiled a bit with a blush on my face. "What?"
Jokingly, I said, "I want you Suzaku." My lips touched his gently, and he intensified the kiss almost instantly. Then, I did something that even shocked me. I licked Suzaku's lips and opened mine. His tongue dashed in to meet mine. We familiarized our taste buds to each others. Eventually, I broke the kiss.
"There you are Annmarie! Are you okay?!" I looked behind Suzaku to see the members of the Student Council running towards us. Kallen reached me first. She hugged me immediately. "I've told you to be careful with your health. Mine is bad enough. I don't need to be worrying about you."
"Kallen, you do realize that one of the reasons you get sick easily is because you do worry about me."
"I know…"
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine you guys. It's probably just stress due to everything that is happening right now."
"You need to take better care of yourself. I already have Nunnally to worry about."
"Lelouch, relax."
"I know, but we worry about you. Anyways, I have to go back home to get Nunnally started on her homework so Sayoko can go grocery shopping."
"You need to stop babying her."
"Yeah, and you need to stop ignoring your health."
"Touché." I smiled. Shirley left for Swim Club practice. Milly, Nina, and Kallen left to go work on the Student Council budget. Rivalz told them he would catch up to them. He wanted to do a little work on his motorcycle first.
"Mind if I join you, Rivalz?"
"Sure, Suzaku. It'd be nice having the company."
"Is that okay Annmarie?" I smiled again at the fact that Suzaku was trying to make friends at Ashford.
"It's fine with me."
When the three of us reached Rivalz's bike which was parked outside the Student Council Clubhouse, Suzaku set me down on the raised floor outside the main level of the building since he had been carrying me on his back. Rivalz and Suzaku started up a conversation, and I quietly sat there to listen.
"Oh, I see. So Lelouch came over during summer break when you were kids. That's how you met."
"Correct, however we did not spend a great deal of time together."
"Um, listen… when we talk, can you try to be, well, not so formal? We're classmates, you know?" Suzaku looked a little self-conscious.
"Oh, um, sorry."
"No problem."
"That's what you get for joining the military at such a young age." Suzaku put a hand over my mouth.
"Well, this is a first for me. I never met someone who knew Lelouch when he was younger. He never talks about it; like it's off limits. Eh, I don't know. Can you hand me that twelve millimeter wrench?"
"You need a ten millimeter, don't you?" Rivalz smiled.
"Hey, you're right. You really know this stuff." Suzaku picked up the wrench Rivalz needed and handed it to him.
"BMC RR-1200: it's a cool bike."
"Wow! You're into it, huh?"
"Mine are cooler."
"Shut up, Annmarie. Most of us don't have unlimited money to buy whatever we want."
"I don't have unlimited money. Since I'm adopted, I have a limited amount each year. I just use most of it for weird things. Usually stuff a princess wouldn't have." Suzaku put a hand over my mouth again.
"A long time ago, before I joined the army, someone who helped me out had one. It was my job to keep it in good condition. I never got to ride it. She told me if I ever took it out on the road, she'd kill me."
"Wait, she?! It was a woman?!"
"Yeah."
"Was it your girlfriend?"
"Uh, Annmarie is my first girlfriend." That made my lips curve into a smile under Suzaku's hand.
"Your big sister, then. Don't tell me it was your mom!"
"No, you're wrong. I don't have any family. And she, the woman who was helping me, she's gone now, too." Rivalz made an odd face.
"Ooh, awkward… sorry for bringing that up."
"Don't worry about it. It's just the truth."
"So do you have a home?"
"No, the unit I'm assigned to is renting space at the university across the way. My quarters are there. It is a little cramped, but…"
"You should come live here in the dorms. Look, I don't have a roommate now. If you don't mind…"
"No, no, I couldn't." Suzaku waved both of his hands in defense. "The thing is, I have my work."
"Then you should stay at the palace with Annmarie."
"I already offered, and he said no." I got down from the ledge and stood next to Suzaku. "He just doesn't want to bother anyone." Suzaku wrapped an arm around my shoulders to cover my mouth again.
"Do I have to keep your mouth covered?"
"It's true," I said, my voice muffled by his hand.
"It was my choice to join the army, after all."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah, still, thanks for the offer Rivalz."
"Hey!"
"You too, Annmarie." Suzaku kissed the top of my head. "Anyway, I better get going. I have to get to work."
"Ah, alright. Don't work too hard. You need to take it easy every now and then."
"Yeah, I know." Frustrated that his hand was still over my mouth, I licked it. Immediately, Suzaku moved his hand away. "Annmarie!"
"She hasn't done that to you before?"
"I never had to keep her quiet like that before." Rivalz laughed.
"Annmarie doesn't like being kept quiet."
"Why?"
"Probably because I had to keep quiet for years back in Pendragon."
"Makes sense. What would you do if I had done the same thing to you?"
"I probably would have threatened to bite you, and if you had still done it, I would have bitten you." Suzaku and Rivalz laughed. "I'm not kidding."
"We know. That's why it's funny."
"Come on; you said you have work."
"Yeah, I know."
