"I've made my choice. I'll follow you to the very end." Esile heard Kallen as she walked in on the scene.

"I'm grateful, Kallen." Lelouch replied and Kallen ran off, ignoring the other girl, with a smile. Esile took in a sharp breath and walked over to the raven head. He slowly looked up at her and smirked. "Did my little dog have a nice nap?"

"You could say that. I just needed to gather my thoughts, that's all... And to tell you that I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for."

"I know but if I had given you a warning then-"

"What's done is done. You can't change the past. Now, everyone's waiting for us, Cerberus." He changed back to his Zero persona and led the two of them into the cramped Knightmare. Esile didn't mind the close contact, though. She felt relaxed sitting on Lelouch's lap and didn't even know she was in a frenzy until she heard Ohgi through the receiver. "They have to be careful around their precious Sakuradite." The raven head looked at his remote for a brief moment before Ohgi spoke again. Lelouch cut him off and pressed the remote. At this point in time, Esile blocked out her surroundings to gather her thoughts.

Alright, soon Suzaku is going to attack us. Meaning Lelouch is going to knock out and Shirley will find out he's Zero. All I need to do is make sure I don't knock out, keep Lelouch's mask on and stall enough time before C.C. comes and saves us. Sounds good! But wait... Dammit, I forgot about Villetta. Think, Esile, think!

Esile was knocked out of her thoughts when Suzaku attacked them right on schedule. She knew she didn't have much time left to think up a plan for Villetta. Fuck it, I'll just do what I can for now. She felt Lelouch and her go airborne when Suzaku launched something towards the two. They quickly went for the eject button and felt the electric shocks from the cockpit. Esile didn't feel as much pain as Lelouch did, to the girl's relief. When they finally crashed down, Lelouch went out cold and Esile made sure his helmet was on his face as she dragged his body out from the machine. When she successfully got them out, she heard the sound of a gun and looked to see the source.

"Then with this, I'll repay you for my father!" Shirley screamed while Esile hissed at her.

"Watch it, girl! Only a coward would kill someone who's unconscious." The brunette barked making the orangette flinch.

"Is that Zero?" Their attention was brought to the older woman that was making her way towards them. Esile shielded Lelouch with her body and glared at Villetta who simply saw her as dirt.

"Get the hell away from us!" She growled as the older woman smirked.

"How cute? A little pup protecting his master. I bet its bark is worse than its bite." She kicked Esile in the gut and Esile flinched as the pain coursed through her body. Even though it was unbearable, she looked up towards Villetta with a face saying 'That all you got?'

"I have to praise you for your determination and idiocy." The older woman once more graced Esile with a kick to the stomach and the brunette couldn't help but clench onto it. This left an opportunity for Villetta to brush the brunette off to the side and Esile winced when her head hit the pavement. Her eyes were begging to close shut. She saw the older woman remove Lelouch's mask and Shirley let out a gasp.

"Lelouch..." And her eyes shut tight.


"There were at least two of them. One who fired and one who got shot. Two." Esile heard as she woke up. She blinked her eyes for a moment taking in her surroundings. Then her memories came rushing back.

"Lelouch!" She screamed as she jolted up wincing as she felt the pain in her head and stomach. Lelouch kneeled down towards the girl and C.C. stared blankly at her.

"Esile, calm down. Is everything alright?" The brunette stared at the boy in disbelief.

"What do you think? Of course everything isn't alright! My brain is pounding a mile a minute and my stomach is wanting to throw out my intestines."

"Can you stand?" Esile let out a groan and Lelouch took that as a 'no.' He picked her up and carried her off to the Black Knights base, C.C. quietly following.


Lelouch got off the phone with Suzaku when the brunette boy was being attacked by Arthur. Esile was still writhing in pain but it was slowly subsiding after taking pain killers.

"Esile," the said girl looked to Lelouch and C.C., "Tell me, what do you remember from last?"

"Well... After we crashed, you were out like a light but I was okay. I dragged your body out from the cockpit and made sure your mask was on when I heard the sound of a gun. It was Shirley, and she wanted revenge for her father. Another person came, Villetta, the woman who gave you her Knightmare back in Shinjuku. She's the reason why my body is in unbearable pain. I was trying to protect you but I couldn't ignore the pain. She threw me off to the side which caused me to hit my head and knock out. So, basically, Shirley and Villetta saw your face." Lelouch gave it some thought and finally made his decisions. Esile knew what was up ahead so she quietly complied as they made their way to girl dorms more specifically Shirley's room.


"Why should I have to go rifling through some girl's underwear? This going to cost you." C.C. complained. Lelouch was irritated by her while Esile simply smirked. The raven head found a box as the brunette was reading her diary.

"Welp, nothing in her diary, it stops the day her father died. Why are we even here if I told you Shirley saw your face already?" the brunette asked monotonously.

"Just to be sure," the raven head replied causing the girl to groan. Lelouch attempted to open the box but dropped it in the process. Inside were photos of him. C.C. commented how Shirley was too sweet to be a suspect to which the raven head saw it as sarcasm. He found a book on the orangette's desk and noticed Narita had been boxed.

After the little search, Lelouch decided for them to go Narita by train. Esile and the raven head sat one side of their compartment whereas C.C. sat opposite of them. The brunette and green haired girl both changed clothing. Esile dressed as a more modern Cerberus. Her bangs were covering her right eye where she would usually have her medical eyepatch. She wore a blue t-shirt with grey sleeves, black jeans, black sneakers and to top it off her favorite newsboy cap.

"Why must you dress as Cerberus?" Lelouch asked.

"Really? You're more worried about my attire than our current situation?" the brunette questioned, earning a glare from the raven head. "Well, if we ever cross paths with Shirley, at least this way she won't know that I'm working under you, Zero." It was silent in the compartment before C.C. broke it with a question.

"So, do you love her? This girl called Shirley." At this time Esile blocked out their conversation and decided to take a small nap.

A good amount of time passed and they landed in Narita. Though, when they went to the memorial, they didn't find Shirley which didn't surprise the brunette girl.

"We'll have to split up and look up for her," C.C. said.

"Do you even know what Shirley looks like?" Lelouch asked with a hint of irritation.

"What's with you now? Esile will come with me, then, if you're so worried." The green haired girl grabbed the brunette before either of them had a say in anything. The two went on from asking various people all telling them to ask the police. The results were either them leaving the person without another word or C.C. politely telling them they dislike the police.

The sun began to set and the green haired girl and brunette met with a guy on a motorcycle. This let the latter know that soon they will be meeting up with Lelouch soon.

"Are you familiar with Balinese art? I don't have a photo but I can paint her in Batuan style," C.C. informed the male but like all their encounters, he rudely told them to ask the police or climb somewhere tall and search. The green haired girl took notice of the cable car moving and saw Lelouch inside along with Mao. Her eyes widened at the sight of the silverhead male. Without a second thought, she attacked the man on the motorcycle and succeeded in pushing him off. She hopped on the vehicle and Esile quickly followed suit. The green haired girl started the engine and the two were off. It wasn't horrible to start with but as they went up the hill, Esile clung onto C.C. for dear life.

Finally, the two reached their destination. C.C. commanded Esile to make the cable car go down the moment Mao goes inside. The brunette obeyed as the green haired girl pulled out the gun she'd been hiding. Esile took notice of Mao getting inside the car and prepared his rifle gun. She activated the system to close the doors of the car and commanded it to start moving downwards. She turned around and made eye contact with a confused Mao. His face quickly brightened up as he noticed C.C.

"I just knew it! We finally meet again!" He threw off his glasses and headphones. C.C. slowly moved to the side never keeping her gaze off the moving car or dropping the gun. "You look beautiful, C.C. I love that new look. C.C. I'll come to see you as soon as I can! I promise, I promise!" He was completely out of their sights.

"Mao... I never thought you would come out among people." Esile stood next to the green haired girl as she looked to see Lelouch comforting Shirley. She wanted to hug her as well to tell her she didn't kill Villetta. Though, she knew she couldn't without having her secret being discovered. She continued watching the scene unfold before.

"Shirley, I'm sorry about your father. If I can be reborn into a new life I would."

"Lulu? No, don't!" Lelouch gave his command to Shirley so she would forget everything about him. Esile slowly closed her eyes as she clenched her fist tightly. Even though she knew this whole situation wasn't entirely her fault, she held responsibility for not preventing it. Then, her thoughts were brought back to the confused look Mao gave her as they made eye contact.

Come to think of it, wouldn't he have known what I was doing from reading my mind? The only way that could happen would be- That can't be true, right?


Yay! Another poorly written chapter! Comment what you think. Until next time my lovelies!