A/N: Crap and a half. I wanted to have the next chapter ready before ACTs, but holy shit, it fought be every step of the way. I rewrote it FOUR TIMES. Ugh. I don't know how the writers of Code Geass can write two full seasons of wham episodes and I can't even write one chapter OTL
Back inside the house, the other geass user was just awakening. After last night's restful sleep, he felt reguvinated and revived. He wasn't sure why, but he had slept really well last night, even with Nezumi's usual sleep habits. Nezumi appeared to already be out and about, another thing he had grown used to, and he was almost positive that he was the last one still in bed.
After changing and washing his face in the bathroom he managed to find, he made his way to the kitchen, assuming everyone was having breakfast. He was shocked to find that the kitchen was completely deserted. With a glance at the clock, he realized that he had slept through breakfast though now he had more important things to worry about. Where had everybody gone?
He decided to head out into the backyard to look for everyone, but he ended up simply sitting on the back porch waiting for everyone to show up and admiring the beautiful trees and gardens. He soon got bored of sitting around and started wandering down one of the paths. He decided to stick to the main path that led to a smaller looking building. Maybe they had gone in there.
As he walked further down the path, he started to hear the sounds of a fight coming from inside the building. Worried for whoever was inside there, he rushed onto the small porch of the building, but hesitated right before opening the door. He opened the door as quietly as he could and peeked in.
He let out a sigh of relief at what he saw. Inside, he saw Suzaku slashing at a battered dummy with a sharp sword. "Oh, hey Suzaku!"
He tensed into a defensive position before recognizing Shion and lowering his sword. "Hey Shion. What brings you out here."
"I couldn't find anyone, so I went for a walk in the backyard. I heard someone fighting in here and I got a little curious. What're you doing?"
"Kendo. I've trained in it ever since I was a kid. Back then I could only use wooden swords, but now I have a set of real swords that I can use if we're ever attacked. Since No. 6 was a bit reluctant to give us weapons, I had to go all the way to West District to get them. Not too cheap, but definitely worth it." He could almost see Shion's excitement at seeing a real sword. "Do you want to hold it?" Shion nodded vigorously. Naturally, weapons such as these weren't allowed in No. 6 and very few people in West District could afford to have more than just a knife, so this was Shion's first time seeing one in real life.
"Wow~! I can't believe I'm seeing one in real life! I've only seen pictures in museums or at school." Suzaku grinned at the naive boy's reaction to his most basic katana. "Well, within the Brittanian Empire, nearly anyone with status had their very own sword on them for special events. Even princesses got to use them for knighting ceremonies. Eventually, I got my own, but I couldn't take it with me here. Though the royal ones are a lot fancier, these are just fine for my purposes."
Shion reluctantly handed the sword back. "Oh. I guess I got a bit distracted from what I came out here to do. Do you have any idea where the others are?"
"Yeah, Lelouch checked in really quick and told me he'd be over in the gazebo if I needed him. As for C.C. and Nezumi, I have no idea. I could help you find them if you'd want."
"That sounds grea- whoa. What it /that?" Shion spotted another sword above the door he came in.
It had a golden handle and tip and coming from the sides of the handle was a set of wings. The beginning of the blade was an odd magenta with green stones decorating the side. It looked just like the royal swords that Suzaku had described, but it also looked deadly enough to kill someone in an instant. There was absolutely no way it was from West District or even the museums of No. 6.
Suzaku kind of wished he hadn't let Shion in now. This wasn't a story he enjoyed telling at all. Shion whirled around to face Suzaku again, "Where did you get that!" Suzaku's face had darkened again, but he simply said, "That's a very special sword that I swore I would never ever use ever again." His face looked down tiredly but fondly at Shion. "I really don't want to talk about it now, okay?"
Shion nodded and followed Suzaku out, but his eyes never left the jewel encrusted blade.