(Ichigo: ...this has been done for awhile...
Aki: But we wanted to try and write some more chapters so updates could be more frequent again...and since Chapter 8 is, finally, a few pages short of being done...we're sharing Chapter 7!
Ichigo: On that note, expect Chapter 8 soon! And enough of this authour's note stuff, enjoy!)
Disclaimer: We don't own Code Geass. We wouldn't be here if we did...
Chapter 7: Mix-Ups, Misunderstandings, and Just Plain Misplaced
Now, Aurora was all for going to extreme lengths to get a leg-up on any competition when it comes to pursuing the heart of a certain raven-haired, high school heartthrob but this was just ridiculous.
Though, in hindsight, this is what happens when she become best friends with someone with a short fuse and the physical prowess to manhandle her. Particularly when the aforementioned best friend seems to be going through a mild identity crisis(which Aurora would get to the bottom of, that was a guarantee…once she solved the mystery of Kallen Stadtfeld and Lelouch Lamperouge).
Speaking of which…
Cautiously, Aurora peaked out from behind the plant and, finding Lelouch had entered, dared to tiptoe over to the door and press her ear to the cool surface.
"I'm sorry about them," said Lelouch, his voice quieter through the door. "They're so boisterous…"
"It's fine," Kallen replied, her voice silenced even more by the shower causing Aurora to squint her eyes in concentration and flatten her side against the door. "I enjoy such simple pleasures once in a while."
"Are you okay with wearing my clothes?"
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," Kallen said, causing Aurora to scowl since she was not fine with it. "That was fast. You went all the way to the boys' dorms, didn't you?"
"Actually, I live here. It'd be too difficult for my sister to stay in the dorms, so we live here with the Chairman's permission."
"I see."
"Well then…" Lelouch said, an air of finality in his voice.
"Wait!" Kallen cried, causing both Lelouch and Aurora to stop their progress (and causing Aurora to slide and crash onto the floor in the process).
Grumbling, Aurora pulled herself onto her knees and pressed her ear against the ear.
'Kallen better have a good reason for shouting like that!' she thought.
"Could you bring me that pouch over there?" Kallen continued, the curtain shifting slightly.
"Sure," Aurora heard the sharp click-clack of his uniform shoes on the tiled floor approaching her and then returning in the direction of the shower. Suddenly there was a loud plop as something hit the wet surface of the tub.
"My," Lelouch said, amused and almost pleased. "You're more aggressive then I thought."
Finally, eight years of reading, watching, living and breathing romance finally caught up to Aurora and her mind was filled with images of Lelouch being pulled into the tub and things she would rather not think about occurring.
Frustrated, upset, she ran back down the hallway towards Marina and the other council members.
When she arrived she buried her face in the back of Marina's jacket and refused to move until she was sure her tears were stemmed and the redness was gone.
He had been afraid of this. Kallen had him figured out, and she was acting on what her reasoning and instincts told her. Fortunately he had a plan to throw off her suspicions but…
He'd have to tread carefully from now on. Once the seed of suspicion takes root, it is almost impossible to fully eradicate. One day, when it is least expected, it could sprout and grow, and another situation like this could occur…
"Hey! Are you going to answer or not?" Kallen tightened her grip on the pouch she held tightly; ready to use the blade of the knife protruding from the pouch to elicit a response if necessary. "I asked you if you were in Shinjuku that day."
Lelouch feigned innocence. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb!" she snapped. "Why did you mention Shinjuku to me?"
"Is there something wrong with Shinjuku?" Lelouch once again feigned innocence. From the corner of his eye he saw anger flash in Kallen's eyes. He was playing with fire…but if he held out just a little longer then…
"Don't answer my question with another question! Answer 'yes' or 'no.' That's all I want to hear from you. Understand?" Lelouch stayed silent, even with the tip of the knife blade against his blazer. "Answer! Do you understand or not?"
Lelouch's lips parted (finally an answer), but the phone on the wall began to ring shrilly, and Lelouch was forced to hide a smile. It was time to put Kallen's suspicions concerning him to rest.
"If I don't get that someone will come. May I?" Without waiting for a reply, he reached behind him and answered the phone. "Yes? Ashford Student Council….Well, I…" Kallen blinked. Was he…surprised? Before she could decide whether or not he was, Lelouch was offering her the phone. "It's for you…he says you'll know who he is…"
Suspicious yet curious, Kallen carefully deposited the pouch on the floor of the tub and took the phone from Lelouch. "Hello?"
"I'm glad you got out, Q1."
Shocked, Kallen glanced at Lelouch who had his eyes politely adverted. The mysterious voice wasn't Lelouch…?
"Who are you!? Are you the one who gave the order to withdraw?!" Instead of answering her, however, the Voice began giving her instructions. "Hey! Don't hang up!"
Click.
Too late…
"What was that order to withdraw?" Lelouch asked. Kallen froze. "You seem to have some awfully weird friends. Maybe I should play. You were talking about a game, right? An online game?"
"U-Um, yeah…" Kallen said, relieved to such an extent that she released Lelouch's wrist. "I've been holed up at home for so long, you see…"
"I told you not to mention Shinjuku because there are people here who would like to deceive you," Lelouch explained as he massaged his wrist. "By the way…I can see…"
Kallen blinked. See? What did he mean? It was then she realized that when she jerked hard on the phone cord when The Voice had hung up the phone the curtain had been pulled open enough to reveal her.
With a shriek she ducked down and stayed there until Lelouch excused himself and left.
"We might be the student council, but we don't do much real work," Lelouch explained as he and Kallen, dressed in his clothes, headed back towards the main hall where the rest of the student council and Nunnally awaited. "It's just some occasional paperwork and planning various events.
"Stuff like a fancy ball or a completely silent party or going to class in swimsuits or something like that. The president has weird tastes. She'll come after you one day so be prepared-" Lelouch paused when he noticed Marina was glaring at him from the other side of the room, where everyone was gathered around the television. "You might want to watch out for her…she's not someone you should cross."
Marina snorted and turned back towards the screen.
"Big brother!" cried Nunnally when she realized he was nearby. "It's terrible!"
Lelouch rushed over. "What is it?"
"Prince Clovis has been murdered," Milly explained.
That's when Lelouch realized the television was displaying the news, and he fell silent to watch. His act had finally reached the media…
"We've just received information that a suspect has been arrested!" announced the television reporter. "According to sources the suspect is an honorary Britannian citizen by the name of Suzaku Kururugi, a private first class in the Britannian military."
Lelouch's heart stopped beating. Suzaku? They were arresting Suzaku? Why? He had expected they would conduct an investigation, but to arrest Suzaku.
Thud!
Suddenly there was a flurry of movement as all turned to the source of the noise and, to their surprise, they found Marina has fallen to her knees, and was pressing her hands tightly over her ears shaking her head back-and-forth, back-and-forth.
Lelouch was the scene, detached. He didn't really hear any of the others words of concern, or really notice what had happened until he realized Marina was looking at him, silent.
Lelouch's heart started beating again, fast and furious. The look in her eyes, the silent question she was asking him was causing sweat to gather on the back of his neck.
She was looking at the screen in horror, her eyes screaming, 'Why? Why would they do this to him?'
For the briefest of moments, Lelouch felt like he had made a connection with Marina; because he had a feeling his eyes were asking the very same thing.
Marina still had that look the next day. It had more despair in it; more panic and worry, but the questioning look hadn't completely faded even though she tried her hardest to look normal.
It only got during the service for Prince Clovis, broadcast on television and viewed by all the students at Ashford Academy on a large screen erected in the courtyard.
It was after that ceremony and the Student Council members were leaving that Marina finally snapped.
"'Purists?'" Shirley asked, confused by the term that had just been used.
"People that think that Britannia's army should be entirely composed of only true Britannian citizens," Lelouch explained, ignoring whatever Shirley may have said in response to glance at Marina and Aurora ahead of them.
He felt nervous. Ever since the night before, Marina's actions had been unpredictable and counter to what he expected from someone with her personality.
Further compounding this, Marina suddenly abandoned all pretence of acting normal and ran off. She collided with a third year students whose eyes showed a flash of recognition. Before he could ask what was wrong, her hand had delved into his coat pocket and she had ran off, her hands curled tightly around the keys she found there.
Lelouch's face courted into a frown, eyebrows furrowed.
Someone had swapped out one of his pawns for another piece.
Which piece the pawn had become, he couldn't discern, however.
"Will you be fine on your own?" Lelouch asked Aurora once the area had cleared and it was just the two of them in the covered hallway. "I have something I need to take care of."
She smiled. "Mm! Of course! Go on ahead!"
Lelouch looked at her for a long moment, as though he were trying to see right through her causing her to shrink away slightly. Eventually, he seemed content and turned, walking off.
Aurora continued to smile as she watched his back grow smaller, and smaller. Eventually, when she couldn't see his back, and the sound of his shoes on the stone floor of the yard disappeared, she squatted and hugged her knees tightly, resting her chin upon them.
She had wanted him to stay. She had hoped he would see through her fake smile and stay with her or take her with him.
"Tch! What a loser!" Aurora jerked in surprise at the masculine voice, tears that had been clinging to her lashes falling from the sudden movement. "A gentleman doesn't leave a lady on her own! Especially when she doesn't want to be alone!"
"Who's there!?" she cried, leaping to her feet and spinning around. She couldn't find anyone.
The voice was chuckling. "Up here~!"
Aurora looked up and, for a brief moment, saw someone sitting on one of the beams used to support the roof. Before she could discern who it was, the person had jumped down and was staring down at her.
"Hi there~!"
Aurora gasped and startled back. The stranger laughed again. He was tall, very tall. He was easily over six-feet tall. His chestnut hair was messy and wild and looked like it hadn't been brushed in a long time. His clothes were equally messy and dirty and looked almost too small for him.
What startled Aurora most were his eyes: a bright, piercing gold, like the piece of amber she used when looking at the world outside her bedroom window as a child.
"Who…Who are you?" she gasped.
He grinned mischievously and straitened, forcing her to look way up to keep those amber pools in her sights. "Glad to see you got out of the subway, okay."
Aurora's eyes widened as she remembered the golden eyes that lead her and Marina out of the tunnels. "T-That was you?"
"Yep!" he winked, his grin widening for a moment before his expression softened and he looked almost apologetic. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you out more. You see…I didn't want to end up like my friend. That girl, ya see? We met once upon a time and I owed her a favour so…" he trailed off, looking uncomfortable at having to explain why he had been following a truck across town.
A soft smile flitted across her face. "Thank you."
"Actually," he looked over her shoulder, directly at the spot where Lelouch's back had disappeared. "Since it was your friend that, technically, helped her I wanted to do a favour for him. But since he's taken off..."
Aurora watched in fascination as his, apparently, trademarked smile slid back into place on his face. "I guess I could do you a favour instead! I'd much rather do a favour for a pretty girl! So, what do you want?"
She was about to reply in the negative, that his offer was generous but she didn't really need anything so him doing her a favour was pointless. Her protests died however, when he spoke again, asking 'Do you want that cold fish to notice you?' Her answer must have been clearly written on her face since he continued,
"I can do it, you know. I have a special power that can give you a special power! I don't know what it'll be…but I bet it'll be useful to that guy you like! You see," he crooked his finger at her and bent down to whisper in her ear when she obediently moved closer. "I know your sweetheart is planning something big to get his friend out of the pinch he's in. If you have a special power and help him free his friend, I know he'll be grateful."
"E-Eh!? Really!? You can do that?!" Aurora gasped in delight when he nodded. She had always been spellbound by the mysterious and the supernatural, so even though the logical half of her brain was telling her she shouldn't trust this strange man, she completely ignored it in favour of childlike wonder.
"However," he raised one finger, promptly stopping all the sparkles and gleeful coos from Aurora. "In exchange you have to grant me one wish when I ask for it. Don't worry, I won't abuse it! I'll let you know when I'm using my wish, okay?"
Aurora nodded, barely processing what the stranger said, barely acknowledging this could be a bad move, being bound to this man by a promise, that this could be a bad move.
"Alright…good girl…" he said, his entire demeanour changing. His playful eyes grew hard, his body straightened, the smile slipped off his face and was replaced by a scowl. Before she could ask what had caused the sudden change, he had raised a hand, the pads of his middle and thumb pressed together mere centimetres from her right eye.
"One…two…three…"
On the count of 'three', he snapped his fingers and pain erupted inside Aurora's head as images and voices flashed through her mind, showing and speaking of things and places she had never heard of or seen before.
By the time the storm had calmed and the pain subsided, she felt strong arms wrapped around her. A quick glance upwards showed it was the man embracing her, his piercing gold eyes staring down at her.
"Good girl…" he whispered, turning her towards a nearby window. "Here…"
There, in the glass, she could see that a soft violet with a strange and bird-like shape had replaced her eye…
"He's at the Tokyo Tower. By the time you get there, he'll be exiting. Show him your eye and no matter what he says, keep insisting you help him. He'll be on a time constraint, he'll eventually be forced to take you with him," he whispered in her ear, his arms wrapped around her shoulder fondly. His eyes seemed to glow as he spoke, smiling as though he were a cat who had caught its dinner. "If you run into trouble, just shout 'A.A.' and I'll be there…"
