Nunnally of the Insurrection
Part Ten
"I clearly shouldn't let you go out alone," CC noted as she much more lazily prepared for class, "you just get into trouble."
"It wasn't my fault," Nunnally said with a sigh, the brown haired girl adjusting the academy uniform and checking her hair was neatly braided back.
Unlike Nunnally CC let her long green hair flow free, her expression amused as she saw her expression and guessed, "Got lectured already?"
"Oh yeah," Nunnally agreed, remembering the recent meeting in the tunnels beneath Shinjuku ghetto....
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You did WHAT?" Ohgi yelped, the black haired man looking at her in disbelief. They stood in a side chamber of the underground, one of several that had been partitioned off. With surplies from Kyoto along with materials others brought in they were fortifying and upgrading the tunnels into a base, but it was still a rough life.
"I'm sorry, Ohgi," Nunnally said contritely, "if there was anyway to contact you, I would. But there was just no time."
"It was pretty crazy," Kallen agreed, the redhead standing nearby. She gave Nunnally a glare of her own, "I nearly died when you volunteered to be the next hostage to be killed."
"I had to get away from everyone and alone with a soldier," Nunnally said. She looked at Ohgi, "I gave a higher up a recognition code from Kyoto, which they accepted. I managed to talk my way up to the generals, and convinced most of them this operation would only get them killed, not accomplish their goal of a general uprising."
"We might have won," Ohgi noted, "but Brittannia has way too many reserves. They'd just come back and squish us flat."
Nunnally nodded, and made a mental note not to underestimate him. Ohgi might not be as smart as she was, but he clearly wasn't stupid either. "If we're going to win we have to time a uprising just right," she said, "hit them when they're having trouble elsewhere too."
"Like the ongoing wars in Europe and China," Kallen agreed. "So what do we do about the JLF members still out there?" she asked.
"We can absorb some of the ones trickling into Shinjuku," Ohgi decided, "and serve as a underground railroad to transfer others to other resistance cells."
Nunnally nodded but added, "We might want to try to hold on to some of the better trained ones, maybe put them to work training our own people. You can only get so far on guts and basic urban warfare skills...."
Ohgi gave her a long, thoughtful look, but finally nodded. "All right," he agreed, "we'll hold on to who we can."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Back in the hallways of Ashford Academy, Nunnally used the ambient noise as cover. "Ohgi wasn't happy about my acting alone, even though he agreed there wasn't much choice," she said.
"Just be careful," CC said as she gave Nunnally a frowning look, "if you die, you won't be able to keep our agreement."
"Of course, my witch," Nunnally smiled as they entered class.
Rivalz called out a greeting as usual, and Nina gave them a shy smile. There was a rumor going around about a new student, and shockingly he was a Eleven. The reaction in the class seemed mixed, with some reflex prejudice, but also a fairly strong vein of curiosity.
"Why do you think they're letting in a Eleven?" Rivalz wondered as he tried not to peer to obviously as CC's breasts.
"He's probably a honorary Britannian," Nunnally guessed, imagining some poor fool being tricked to fight for the homeland. 'Or he might just be ambitious,' she admitted.
There was a murmur from the students and Nunnally saw someone walk in. She turned to look, and only iron self control kept her jaw from dropping. 'SUZAKU?!' she thought, stunned as the brown haired young man walked to a empty desk and sat down. She had seen him shot in the head during the attack on the ghetto, how had he...?
"You've gone bone white," CC noted.
"He's a old friend of mine," Nunnally answered honestly, "but I thought he was dead."
As Suzaku settled into his seat there was a visible amount of shuffling away from him, mixed with disdainful looks. Kallen had that angry look in her eye, but Nunnally knew the other girl's pose of a sickly Brittannian wouldn't let her act. So, that left her.
"What are you...?" Rivalz started as Nunnally got up.
Nunnally felt the eyes of her classmates on her as she walked to where Suzaku sat, her head high and steps confident. "Suzaku," she offered her hand and smiled, "it's been a long time."
Suzaku looked surprised, then smiled. "Yes, it has," he said as he took her hand, "I'm glad to see you well, Nana."
Nunnally laughed, "No one calls me that anymore./" She tugged uncomfortably on her tie as she added, "We'll have to catch up later."
"Will do," Suzaku nodded as Nunnally returned to her seat.
"You two know each other?" Rivalz asked, surprised.
"I visited Area Eleven before the war," Nunnally said, pitching it loud enough so everyone nearby could hear, "and met Suzaku then. He was a good friend, especially considering everything that was going on at the time."
The nearby students soon passed that along to the rest of the class, and before the teacher arrived the class was much more favorably inclined to the boy. The teacher came in, formally introduced Suzaku, then they went into the usual run of boring classes, at least in Nunnally's opinion. It didn't help that 'history' was pretty much pure pap promoting the Empire...
By the time lunch rolled around, Nunnally was already bored out of her skull. She got up and smiled at CC, "Can you grab lunch by yourself, today? And don't have just pizza."
"Spoil sport," CC smiled as they watched Suzaku leave. She dropped her voice, "Are you sure things will be all right?"
"I can handle it," Nunnally promised.
The halls were busy as Nunnally made her way up the stairs, crossing through various sections to reach the roof. She opened the door to see that familiar figure looking out over the school, his brown hair now slightly messed up by the breeze.
"Nunnally," Suzaku looked up, smiling.
"Suzaku," Nunnally hurried over, then swiftly punched him right in the gut. As he doubled over, gasping for air, she glared down at him and demanded, "Damn it, why didn't you contact me! I thought you were dead!"
The boy wheezed a few moments, but finally got his breath back. "I'm sorry," he croaked, "I thought you were dead, too. The Ashfords did too good a job hiding you...."
"Point," Nunnally admitted, watching him leaning against the half-wall circling the roof, joining him as they looked out over the school.
Nunnally smiled, thinking back fondly of the serious young man who had been stuck with her practically grim younger self. To him had fallen the unenviable task of 'entertaining' a grief stricken young lady who only wanted to hurt someone, and he had suffered under her fists several times.
"What happened to you after the invasion?" Nunnally asked him gently.
"I was taken in by my cousin's family," Suzaku said quietly, "I lived with them up until I joined the Brittannian military."
"That's why you're here," Nunnally guessed, "you earned honorary Brittannian status." She fought down a surge of anger as she asked, "But why do that? You knew from my stories...."
"The military and Lords are riddled with corruption and graft," Suzaku nodded, "I know, I've even seen it myself." He looked at her seriously, "But the only way for someone like me to change things is to join the system, for better or worse."
"Maybe," Nunnally nodded, "but there are countrymen of yours who would disagree."
"The rebels," Suzaku agreed, sighing. "I can even see their point, but...."
"Hmm," Nunnally thought about what she had to say to him. He knew her too well to be dishonest, that she was sure of. "Do you remember what I said, that day we saw the first Knightmares landing during the invasion?" she asked.
Suzaku smiled faintly, "You bunched up your little fists and swore to destroy Brittannia."
"Obliterate," Nunnally corrected him.
"All right, obliterate," Suzaku conceded. "What about it?"
Nunnally calmly said, "I meant it then, and I still mean it now. I'm determined to obliterate the structures and society of my homeland, and I'll do whatever I have to to see that happen." She looked at him, "Is that going to be a problem?"
Equally calmly Suzaku said, "Just make sure I don't catch you at it."
"Fair enough," Nunnally agreed, the two shaking on it. She peered closely at the side of his head, seeing a white line through his hair, "What happened?"
"I was injured in a recent operation," Suzaku admitted, "and got my brains rattled arpound a bit. I don't remember much of what happened."
"I see," Nunnally said, realizing that she had seen him getting that injury. 'Wonder if he;s telling the truth?' she wondered, then decided not to worry about it. "We'd better get back to class," she said as she started to the door, "the two of us disappearing at the same time will raise questions."
"They'll think we're dating?" Suzaku guessed. "I can think of worse rumors," he mused, "are you seeing someone?"
Nunnally snickered softly, then shrugged, "Yeah, I guess you could say I am." She gave him a sly look, "Her name is Cynthia Cunningham."
"Congratulations," Suzaku said promptly.
As they walked back to class together Nunnally mused, "One of the rules we have is that all students must join a club. Got any in mind?"
"I could think of a few things," Suzaku admitted, "but wouldn't they be reluctant to take me?"
"Maybe," Nunnally admitted, "but I was going to suggest trying the Student Council. I'm a member and I can probably talk the president around."
"Isn't that job kind of important for a new student?" Suzaku asked dubiously.
"Nah," Nunnally waved that off, "you see, not many people want to be on the Student Council." She dropped her voice a bit, "You see, our leader is kind of... eccentric."
"I HEARD THAT!" a woman called from up the hall.
Both of them turned, and Nunnally hid a smile as Suzaku's gaze was inevitably drawn to the breasts straining against the school uniform. Milly's breasts had done that so often to male victims Nunnally had threatened to nickname them the 'hypno-boobs.'
Milly pointed at Nunnally, "Don't believe anything she says, she's a pathological liar."
"Madam President," Nunnally rolled her eyes. She gestured to Suzaku, "I'd like you to meet Suzaku Kururugi, honorary Britannian and a old friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you," Suzaku bowed, managing to look away from her breasts.
"Charmed, I'm sure," Milly grinned.
"He's going to have some troubles with clubs, I suspect," Nunnally noted, "so I was wondering if he could join the Council."
"I could use another minion," Milly noted and asked teasingly, "are you a good henchman, Suzaku?"
"I hench with the best of them," Suzaku answered bravely.
Milly laughed, "I'll take him."
To be continued....