Mao Returns


Melody

Everything was running smoothly in the rebellion; maybe a little too smoothly. I don't know…I have no experience with this stuff.

Then I noticed Lelouch acting frantic. I finally found him and Suzaku running around. When we got into the lower levels, and Nunnally, Nunnally was trapped under a bomb! I glanced at Lelouch. "What's going on?"

"I think I know…I'll explain later. You do your best to help Suzaku."

"No. I've got to help you with this, Lelouch!"

He studied me. I guessed at what was going on in his mind. Probably something along the lines of, "I can't control her with my Geass, so I'll have to convince her some other way."

"Listen, Grandstander, Suzaku's a big, bad soldier, and doesn't need my help. But you do need my help!"

He gave me a slow nod. Then he simply told me, "Go back outside and wait for me. I'll fill you in on your part of the plan when I come out."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, but I did as he asked. A few minutes later, he joined me. "So what's up? What are we going to do?"

"Number one, we need to find Mao."

"Mao? Didn't he get killed?"

Lelouch sighed. "No. And that was my mistake." He glanced at something in his hand and said something under his breath. Then he looked up again. "Come on. I think I know where Mao is, so we need to find him."

"O-okay."

"And one thing I need to ask you: do you know how to play chess?"

"Huh?"


We walked over to the…was it the bell tower? When we went in, sure enough, there was Bandage-boy himself, sitting and smirking. "Well, if it isn't Casanova!"

A chess game. That was what this whole thing came down to – a chess game!

"Oh, I see," Mao suddenly said, "you're going to have your girlfriend play, since the last time you tried to face me in chess, you had just about lost."

I glanced at Lelouch. Oh, that's why you wanted to know if I knew how to play chess.

"Yes, Melody, that's why!"

I jumped – that was Mao! Then I glared at him. "Let's start the game, already!" Then I glanced at Lelouch again. "Are – are you going to help me at all?"

He sighed again. "I…might. In the meantime, I'll keep my opinions to myself."

Oh, thanks a lot, Lelouch.

Mao laughed and started applauding. "Why, Melody Serrano, I do believe I heard sarcasm!"

I rolled my eyes, grabbed a random pawn, and set it two squares forward. If I start the game, will you shut up?

"Not likely."


The game progressed about like that: me moving pieces pretty much at random, with no strategy at all; Lelouch getting tenser and tenser; and Mao making wisecracks at both of us about what we were thinking.

After about ten moves, Mao suddenly started laughing as my strategy came through. "You're planning on clearing the board? You don't play that much at all, do you? Oh, wait," he suddenly started laughing even harder as he captured my second bishop with a knight, "you've only played five times in your life – and you haven't won once! You didn't know that, did you, Lelouch?"

I spared a glance at Lelouch. Judging by his expression, he didn't. Well, of course he didn't – I hadn't told him that.

"You asked if I knew how to play. You never asked me how good I was."

Mao just laughed even harder. "Yes, Lelouch, Nunnally is as good as dead right now!"

I picked up my remaining knight. I considered throwing it at Mao's head.

"I wouldn't."

"We do have a time limit, Melody," Lelouch reminded me. He even sounded tense.

Like I need any more pressure! I glared at Lelouch.

"Oh my," Mao wisecracked, "the songbird is stressed!"

I felt like crying – "songbird" was my mother's nickname for me. I hadn't heard it in years. But now what?

Don't worry, Lelouch; I won't let you down.

"You really are in love, aren't you?"

I brought my head down on an empty space on my side. He was giving me a headache.


Several moves later, I touched the king. I hadn't moved him since the game started.

"Are you sure?" Mao asked me. "Really, truly sure?"

I glanced at the scale. My side was awfully low…not in the red yet, but only one more piece would push it into the "bomb-explodes-and-blind-girl-dies" category. I couldn't do that to Lelouch!

Lelouch was sweating, and he looked ready to faint. Why? Didn't he know what was going on? What was going on? Why doesn't he tell me anything until after everything's over?

"Oh, there's no secret here," Mao laughed. "You're terrifying him."

I looked at what I was holding again. I took a deep breath, started to lift the king –

Lelouch set his hand on top of mine and brought the king back to the board. "Mao…please, just stop this!"

I looked up at him as I let go of the king. He looked, and sounded, ready to cry!

"You've beaten me!" he finished.

Mao took that with a big show of amusement. Then he picked up the king and tossed it onto my side of the scale!

Lelouch cried out in anguish, gripping his chest! I just stared in horror. I couldn't grasp what had happened. Then when Mao checked his spy-toy, evidently something was wrong.

I remembered to breathe after Suzaku came crashing through the window. He'd disabled the bomb!

Glancing at Lelouch, I noticed that he looked confused for a second. Then he suddenly got the most evil smirk on his face, and his expression screamed that he was thinking something at Mao. Maybe he'd think something at me and actually clue me in later!

Then suddenly, Mao taunted Suzaku! Something about him being a father-killer, and how he charged into danger to try to wash the blood off his hands!

I wasn't thinking anything in my shock.

Mao nearly escaped, but C.C. was waiting for him outside, and she shot him in the temple.


As we left the building ourselves, I asked, "Lelouch, what happened back there?"

He smirked at me. "After I told Suzaku the plan, I used Geass on myself so that I wouldn't remember what I'd planned."

I stared at him. "That works?"

"Yes, which is why I had to tell you to leave the room – I already used Geass on you, so I couldn't make you forget."

"And with Mao as the opponent, the less I knew the better."

He nodded.

"For the record, though, I don't like being kept in the dark."

"Noted," he retorted with a smile on his face. Then he cocked his head. "Songbird?"

"My mother's name for me." I felt like crying around there, but I kept it back.

"Ah." He left it at that.

After about a minute of silence, though, he suddenly remarked, "And the first thing I'm going to do is teach you how to play chess."

He surprised me into laughing at his sudden right turn of conversation. I needed to laugh so badly after that crazy situation...

"I'm serious."

"I know you are! That's what's so funny!"


A/N: The next chapter's probably going to have a conversation over a lesson.