Author's Note: Thanks, everyone for supporting my mere stupid story! n_n I have enough confidence to continue it anyway. For those who were worried about Lelouch's absence, don't worry. I shall never forget our hero's existence in here. =D
Again, I do not own Code Geass. Only this fanfiction's original concepts are my own.
And the Geass story involved is FAN-MADE; no direct connection with the anime's story.
Summary: It's all about the bonds of destiny people have known as friendship.
Though he shared the same electric shock from the other Frame, Mikhail kept his grasp onto his arm controller; his Knightmare holding Zero's unit tighter. It was getting darker and darker as they went deeper and deeper into the ocean. Due to the shock he felt, he was beginning to lose consciousness, but his eyes kept looking at Ares.
"Naa... Suzaku.
I told you a long time ago, that you have to live.
That's why you can't die in here...
I won't let you..."
Code 9: Yuujou (Friendship)
Jade eyes were staring blankly at the white ceiling. Finally, Suzaku regained consciousness twelve hours after he was rescued, but his body still ached from the electrical shock. If he didn't use that curse, he might have... He smiled to himself, "Wow... I am really convinced. You really forbid me to die... Lelouch..."
The automatic door slid opened, and the main staff of Black Knights who basically knew who the man was behind the mask came in with some flowers, baskets of fruits and a bad news.
"Vietnam... doesn't want to lose hope," Subaru did his best to make it a good one, but his frowning didn't help much.
Cecile continued Subaru's initial report. "MIR Movement has infiltrated the Vietnam borders effectively, and our faction there made an action so late. Like what they've done to Cambodia…" she chose to end her statement there, giving Suzaku a chance to guess the right conclusion on it. And seemed that their leader had an idea what had happened.
"And about you," Lloyd switched to his ex-subordinate. "You have slight nerve damages so you won't be able to engage in any battle for weeks to come, young man. You've exhaust yourself too much."
Kallen sighed, "Just when we are thinking of a nice way to explain it to him, you go burst in nonchalantly, Lloyd-san."
The chocolate-haired guy smiled a little, only for a while since his face hurt with his muscle moving, "No it's fine. I like that, straight forward and—" He suddenly changed topic, "What happened to me, back there? I could barely remember what happened..."
People around him looked at each other, waiting for a volunteer to comply on Zero's request.
On the other side of the facility, Gian looked so bored while peeling an apple while sitting beside Mikhail's bed. "Why am I doing this for you like I'm your girlfriend?"
"Visitors ought to make services to poor hopeless patients, no? And you actually visit me today. Your fault, probably."
Mikhail explained it with such cold voice. The visitor sighed painfully as he transferred the peeled skin to the other plate. "When you hit me with your reverse psycho-thing, I can't help but to wonder if you only use your flashy IQ with retarded remarks like that."
"It's not even psychology. It's just a simple logic, Gian." The bespectacled boy changed topic. "So how's Lord Zero?"
"Well, he miraculously survived that. If you didn't bash in quickly and the current stayed longer inside Ares, he could have been killed with electrocution. Good thing some of the shock converted to your Frame. A better news, you actually survived that one too."
"We fell right into the ocean and the current escaped through the water away from us. Well, theoretically..."
The boy with highlights handed Mikhail the apple, "They have upgraded their Frames in a short time. Their troops looked pathetic in Cambodian clash, and now they left a scar into the army. And I do heard that... the Float System they used to their frames... was Rakshata-sensei's original concept."
Mikhail glared at the peeled fruit from under his lens, "And there's no way Cambodia could support that project with their used up technology after making the F.L.E.I.J.A. twenty years ago..."
Silence embraced the teenagers for a moment, only to be broken by Gian's sudden topic shift. "Speaking of project, Lloyd-sensei and Rakshata-sensei will again join force to create a new version of Energy Wings for the 21st Generation Knightmare Frame. We even started the calculations for the countermeasure to the enemy's Aerial Disturber."
"We?" The elite boy blinked, but had a little idea of what his friend was talking about. "You mean..."
Gian winked, "Yup. I won't fit as a Devicer; it's too dangerous, it's too much for my nervous heart to handle. But staying inside Lloyd-sensei's laboratory is more appealing. Besides, didn't we swear that we'd rescue Ric and Patricia from MirMo? Let's split up; you as my Devicer and I as your scientist."
Mikhail blinked with wonder. "M-MirMo?"
"Saying their group's name leaves me breathless, it's too damn long."
Mikhail chuckled, "A cute name for a terrorist group. Good job, Kozuki Naoto."
The Chiefs of Science explained the findings Gian had presented to them to Suzaku. It was about the use of copperdite to kill the frequency and the entire communication lines produced by sakuradite. Zero looked up at them with a skeptical face, "So you mean MIR Movement is a group of African rebels?"
"No, I don't think so." Subaru commented with his arms crossed. "Cerise doesn't seem an African to me." He closed his eyes. "And I don't remember the genius mentioning that she wasn't African. He has seen her; he testifies that she is a Caucasian."
Suzaku narrowed his eyes with doubt, "This is really intriguing. Kaguya is through negotiating a peace talk with the remaining EU members six years ago. Aren't Africa used to be an EU territory?"
Rakshata waved her pipe, "If the Second Supreme Council Chairwoman had done it, so we are suspecting one of the UFN state to set such rebellion?"
"No, no," Hirota shook his head. "UFN will never end up disliking Zero. We'll stick on the first opinion. Still remember the rebels we caught from Cambodia? They ARE Africans after all."
"So..." Kallen spoke out, looking around other leaders, "If the terrorists are Africans and the copperdite used as the sakuradite blocker is from Africa, it means that Cerise Butterfly is a foreigner that controls them?"
"Most probably. Among continents, Africa is the poorest with low agricultural and industrial rates. Most of its countries are in poverty line, so it's not that difficult to wheedle such people," Cecile analyzed.
Zero was reminded of Mikhail's interesting testimony for Cerise Butterfly: A conceited brat that lost her candy and desired to devastate the playground just to find it. From the theories and opinions of the Black Knights leaders, it seemed that a lady from an unknown country is controlling the poor Africans to rebel; with the abducted youths she collected to complete her body of armed forces. "We still aren't sure about that. But for now..." Suzaku looked at his legs covered with a white blanket, "... we can't go head-to-head with their Aerial Disturber and that Electric launcher. I do look forward with the researches you'll do, Lloyd-san, Rakshata-san." He shifted to Subaru, "I leave the rest you, Commander Sumera-" He paused from talking as a familiar face had shown from the automatic door. The others looked at the same way, and saddened to see a worried Nunnally with Sayoko and Jeremiah at her back.
"Suzaku-san..." cried the empress as her maid pushed her wheelchair closer to the man's bed. She immediately held Suzaku's hand, and pressed it against her cheek. "Thank goodness, you're just fine..."
Suzaku felt a warm feeling inside his heart, but got worried to see Nunnally cry. The scene needed privacy, so Kallen and the rest decided to leave the newcomers alone with the unmasked Zero.
His hand slowly reached the sovereign's cheek, "I'm sorry... I made you worry about me, Nunnally. Please, don't cry. Lelouch will surely scold me if he'll find out that you shed tears."
"Suzaku-san..." Her Majesty looked at her dear one's fainted smile, and tried to smile back. She leaned closer and let her forehead touch against his.
"I heard from the Deputy Commander hours ago that you'll be staying here for a long time, enough for your body to return to its normal reflexes," said Lord Jeremiah while leaning his back on the wall. "It was a severe attack; it's just a miracle that you stayed alive."
Suzaku sighed and looked down, "It's all thanks to Lelouch, I guess..."
Nunnally blinked and parted from Suzaku for a moment. "Onii-sama did?"
Zero smiled, "If not because of him in the first place... I could have died so many times before this..."
"Speaking of Lelouch-sama," Sayoko exclaimed. "Commander Sumeragi informed us that the 'Lelouch Lamperouge' was the one who saved you from mortality."
Suzaku nodded. "I couldn't believe it when they told me how that boy saved me from death. But before that, I witnessed how he drove the Darlton Knightmare with excellence with just a mere day of initial training. He's really something... that Mikhail Luschia..."
Nunnally looked back at Sayoko and smiled at each other. They felt that the same amusing feeling. The empress rubbed her beloved's hand gently. "Well, he is our adopted child after all."
From the window of Mikhail's room at the Ashford Academy clubhouse was the Void Area, and under the crimson scuds, it appeared to be gloomier than seeing it with a fair sky. The Japanese decided to leave the crater at the heart of the settlement; it became a memorial of the hardships they struggled to get their freedom back, and a reminder to all UFN members that sacrificing millions of lives could never bring peace to anyone, with fear living within them. C.C. silently gazed at the ground zero, and back inside the room. The area she was staying in was renovated, since the original form vanished with the explosion of F.L.E.I.J.A., together with Nunnally's room and the half of the Lamperouge residence. She even looked at the wallet-sized family picture Mikhail forgot when he went out two days ago.
Her bare feet walked at the soft carpet scattered on the room and paused beside the bed to stare at the picture. A smiling father, a lovely mother, a happy sister— seemed that the boy she accused as 'Lelouch' had no trouble with his family. But why did he have such lonesome, guilt-filled eyes? She could tell; she had seen a lot of it. "Mikhail Luschia is not Lelouch Lamperouge... but is Lelouch Lamperouge not Mikhail Luschia?" She smiled. "Life is not about searching for the things that could be found; it's about letting the unexpected happen and finding things you never searched for... naa, Lelouch?"
Quietly, Sakura was watching how Gian did his calculations in his Notebook, her head rested on her folded arms. She was amazed on the solutions that were solved with a breeze that she did a smile. "Wow, Onii-chan! You do love mathematics, don't you?"
"Oh, this one?" The older guy smiled. "It's just a piece of cake. Back at our previous school, Mikha— I mean, Lelouch and I used to have longer equations to solve. We always end up competing on the board." He suddenly changed mood and faked a rage. "And he always yawns while writing the solutions, like he's mocking me or something! So bad for my heart!"
Sakura was laughing. "Lelouch-niichan loves math too? "Onee-chan, too. She helps me with my homework everyday. Even in my reviews before examination day. You two are the best sibling combination for a slow learner like me!"
Kaye heard what her little sister said as she stood behind the door. She felt a little sad— she was teamed up with that guy once again— but like Winona had suggested to her, maybe she had to quit teasing Kozuki Naoto. After all, he wasn't a bad guy. She entered the study room, looking a little 'irritated' with her arms crossed. "I'm not happy, being compared to this... boy."
"B-B-Boy!" Gian shot a glare at Kaye, "Like you're older to call me a boy!"
She hummed. "Whatever, Kozuki."
Sakura looked at her sister, then at Gian and after that, she chuckled. "Seemed that you're finally getting well, Onii-chan, Onee-chan!"
Both blushed and grunted, "W-WHAT!"
"Well, your quarrels aren't that bad anymore. You're exactly the best sibling combination ever!"
"C-Combi my ass! There's no way I'll get along with an extra council member who suddenly cuts council works two days after he's appointed a Treasurer!"
"L-Like it can be helped, I'm a soldier boy! Well, I'll never EVER befriend a macho girl, heh!"
Kaye groaned. "W-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"
The younger Spencer was enjoying the scene before she looked at her brother's notebook once more. "A substitute... for Sakuradite project..?"
Suzaku was surprised with his next visitor, and he wasn't expecting to see the blonde inside the Black Knights headquarters. "K-Kaichou..." came his soft greeting to the lady. Milly smiled and settled the basket of goods she brought to the table. "Man, that nickname never left my back. I wonder if you're calling me as a Principal... or still a Council Chairman..."
"Both... I guess."
Milly placed a playful punch on the left cheek of Suzaku, who slightly jolted with a mere pain, but smiled at the Ashford Principal, and they laughed together. "My real target is Mikhail-kun. I got the permission from Lord Sumeragi to enter and pick him up tonight."
"I see. How's he anyway?"
She did a wave movement with her hand. "Oh, no need to worry. His injuries weren't that bad unlike yours. Better look out for yourself first, Suzaku-kun."
"Okay, okay. I understand."
"So..." The ex-weather woman looked serious as she stared at her ex-schoolmate. "Now that you'd be confined here longer, what will be your next step? I mean, your operations will not freeze with this incident."
"Of course, we'll still handle the entire army. I have a Deputy Commander to fit the obligations I'll temporarily leave. But..." Milly noticed it; Suzaku's eyes held hesitations. No, it had worries on it. She stayed calm as he continued, "... I just hope that the Black Knights will not collapse with Zero's absence in the battle line. So is the entire UFN. They might go worry with the disappearance of their favorite hero on the screen. It... worries me..."
Thought so, Milly said to herself. She really had known that man so well; Suzaku wasn't that vocal when his feelings were concerned, but she had cornered him and there went his negative thoughts. She looked at him with gentle eyes, but suddenly grinned and yelled as loud as she could, "GUUUUUUUUUTS~!"
Suzaku's arms flew right at his ears, not minding the muscle pain at all since he just thought his eardrums would explode. "K-Kaichou...?"
Milly smiled wickedly. "My magic words might come in handy in this time of crisis. My, you never changed at all, Suzaku-kun." She shook her head. "You still have all those worries. Grow up, man. You can do surpass this. You're Kururugi Suzaku after all." The blonde gave her friend a tap on the shoulder.
The younger man displayed a thankful smile at the blonde, and nodded to agree with her.
On the other side of the door, Kallen heard Milly and she chuckled. "Looks like Kaichou's play mode hasn't changed as well." She suddenly frowned. "Who could guess that she had faced crisis herself when she divorced her husband three months ago...?"
Amethyst eyes were quivering with disbelief; Her Majesty was right in front of him and he was overwhelmed. "Y-Your... Majesty..." he shyly called the lady.
Nunnally smiled and grabbed his hand, holding it firmly within her soft hands. "Your Majesty? Is that how you call your mother, child?"
Her eyes were shining, expecting for Mikhail to utter that word, and the teen shook off his worries and complied with her unspoken request. "M-Mother..."
Nunnally smiled, sated with what she had heard and embraced Mikhail.
Lord Jeremiah walked closer to the bed and looked down at the boy, "I learned that it was your debut in the battle field yesterday as a Knightmare devicer. And both Commander Zero and Deputy Commander Sumeragi praised your performance back there. You are now a real Black Knights member, Mikhail-sama."
The teen slowly shook his head, "N-No, it's not like that, Lord Jeremiah." He avoided eye contact. "I... I just did... what I had to do there..."
Nunnally shifted her head toward Sayoko and both smiled at each other. Her Majesty inhaled enough breath before looking back at Mikhail. "Mikhail-kun, I shall go accompany you tonight with Milly-san as she picks you up to go home— going back to the Ashford Academy."
"T-There's no need for you to go, Mother. I mean, do not trouble your—"
She shook her head. "I am willing to spend a night inside that campus once again... with you."
Under the moonlight at the Cambodian borders stood an entity clad with a dark cloak, quietly watching the busy war vehicles of MIR Movement that were preparing for more battle scenes. A sturdy knight-like man had shown up, standing beside her.
"So, what are we doing here now?" His deep voice came as his silhouette vaguely displayed the features of his face.
"The Princess whom I revealed about my premonitions with... She had just met with His Majesty...
... and she's here."
"Are you meeting up with her?"
"Yes. She will inform me His Majesty's whereabouts… so that we can finally meet…"
Next Code:
The old Japan that sheltered him when he was banished from his own homeland; that Area 11 that molded him into the man that would change the entire world with his poisonous words and a freed Japan that his life had created— Lelouch Lamperouge inside Mikhail will realize that no matter what the name is, it is still the Land of the Rising Sun.
Reference:
• Just so you know, The Black Knights learned their lesson, so was Suzaku. So instead of hiding the real identity of Zero, Suzaku changed Lelouch's old way, and revealed who he really is to the main staff of the Order. That way, nothing suspicious will going to happen between the Commander-in-Chief and his men. Of course, the main staff does trust Suzaku, like Lloyd and Cecile.
• Mikhail calling Nunnally his 'Mother" wasn't my plan. It just popped out of my head while writing the scene where C.C. was looking at Mikhail's family picture. My original concept is to improve Miraizha's relationship with Mikhail first before he could accept his royal identity as a Prince of Britannia. But other sorts of things played in my mind (like Lelouch inside Mikhail doesn't want to be what he used to be) and I went with a complicated one. Well, Nunnally spending a night inside Ashford again would somehow have a connection to my next Code's title.
A/N: Haha. Codes 8 and 9 are short, but Code 10 will be my longest so far. Well, a lot of things will happen. Like...
Anyway, that's it for a while. n_n
And thanks to the following for reviewing my story: Velshard, tailedfox225, KarantheStoryteller, mikage, and Gravenimage.
I shall accomplish the following codes soon to answer all of your queries. YOSHI! GAMBARIMASU YO~ =3
~M i k a z u k i . S a k u r a~
