Yo. I'm back with chapter twenty-one of this. I've spelled it out too many times already, so no more title name. Anyway, last chapter, I realized I only got four reviews for it. Why? I don't really care, though, because I'm not a review junkie. I'm actually just wondering where all my regular reviewers have gone. Meh.
Also, thank for all the reviews/favorites/follows last chapter. It makes me happy. And the beginning of this chapter is lighthearted because I've been making the chapters sort of dark lately, and humor is tagged on the genre, so yeah.
And sorry for the late update! I was so stuck on what to write! This chapter is also Jia, Akira, Mao, and C.C. centered. Mostly Akira, though.
Enjoy! :)
P.S. And the title name... You can't blame me. I didn't know what to name it. Unless you guys can come up with something better... Honestly. Anyway, you can read now.
Akira cracked her room door open, poking her head out the door a little. She closed it, grabbing her robe and putting it on before stepping out into the halls. She let her golden eyes roam the hall first, making sure no maids or butlers were around. She sighed in relief, and began making her way down the halls to her home office.
She knew she wasn't supposed to be out of bed, but she just couldn't go a day without working, so she had to do some of her work away from home. The butlers and maids were supposed to make sure she stayed in bed while her son was at school, but luckily for her, everyone was on the main level right now.
While turning the corner, she ran into one of her maids. She bit her lip, waving. "Good afternoon, Ella." she greeted.
"Mistress Akira," Ella started, furrowing her eyebrows, "Aren't you supposed to be in bed? Where are you going?"
"Me?" Akira said, pointing to herself. She swore everyone was downstairs. She didn't hear any feet walking through the halls. "I was going to the bathroom."
Ella didn't look convinced. She raised an eyebrow, saying, "But there is a bathroom in your room, Mistress Akira. Why would you come out to find one of the hall bathrooms?"
The brown haired women didn't even think about that fact before she came up with the excuse. Rubbing her neck, she started, "I mean, I was walking around the house for a bit, and now I have to go to the bathroom."
"The bathroom is the other way, though," the black haired maid pointed out. "This is the way to- Wait. You aren't trying to get to your office, are you?"
Why did she have such an intelligent maid? Now there was no way she was going to get to her office! "No. I mean, I have been having bad headaches lately, so I must have forgotten the way today. Who would've thought the bathroom was that way?" The normally regal CEO let out a nervous laugh.
Ella ignored her mistress, taking a step forward. "The doctor said you are supposed to stay in bed, and that you cannot do any work. I'm going to have to ask you to go back to bed, mistress." The intimidating maid crossed her arms.
"But-"
"Master V.V. wants good reports on you when he gets home. You are also disobeying the doctor's orders. We don't want you having an episode when we're not anywhere near you, mistress."
Akira sighed in defeat, reluctantly going back to her room. She opened the door, and walked to the edge of her bed, sitting on it. The moment she sat down, her head started to throb. She started to massage her temples, trying to get rid of the pain.
A couple of minutes later, a knock was heard on her door. Before she could even answer, a woman with black hair and red eyes walked in. Akira's eyes widened in a surprise, a look of confusion upon her face.
"Jia?"
The Chinese women smiled, crossing her arms across her chest. "Hello, Akira," she greeted. "I see that you must be sick. You did not show up at our appointed meeting."
"I'm sure I called my secretary, and told her to tell you that I canceled it." Akira explained to the black haired woman, curling a strand of hair around her finger. "And I didn't show up because the doctor has put me on bed rest for a couple of days."
"Bed rest?" Jia repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"I've been getting these really bad headaches lately." the brown haired woman started to explain. "And if it's an extremely bad headache, memories flash through my head. So, I won't be at the company for a few days."
"Don't you need someone to watch over it, though?" Jia questioned, getting an idea. "It's not safe just to leave it like that. I'm sure Mao would welcome the chance to help you by filling in while you're gone."
Akira instantly shot the idea down. "No, I would only entrust my most elite employees with a task like that. And even then, I would still only be comfortable if V.V. was keeping a close eye on everything. Thank you for trying to help me, but sorry to say, I don't trust you nor Mao to watch over my company." She said, standing up from her bead.
Jia sneered, placing a frown on her red lips. "Well, I was just trying to help. I see that you tend to trust us with your children, though." A smirk replaced her frown.
"I mean, you practically handed C.C. over to me that last time before she ran away. But she attacked me when all I did was propose that she become part of my family."
A look of confusion crossed the CEO's face, causing her to tilt her head to the side. "What are you talking about? A part of your family? Jia, I clearly stated that C.C. and Mao were not going to have an arranged marriage." If I ever find her again.
"What?" the Chinese women waved her hand in front of her face. "How could I ever forget that? I respect your opinions, Akira. My Mao respects your opinions, too. I was just remembering that day, that's all."
Akira crossed her arms, a frown on her face. "Well, please refrain from remembering that day. May I ask, though, do you know any reason why C.C. would run away?"
"No," Jia answered, putting on a fake look of concern. "I'm sure you told me you all had a fight a month before. What other reason would it be?"
"Jia, I'm starting to think that I have something to do with it. I mean, it would only make sense since I didn't believe a word she said that day. My headaches show me flashes of C.C. when she was younger. Someone is hurting her, but I don't know who. That person is all black. The person couldn't be me, could it?"
"What makes you say that? I know you would never hurt your daughter."
"I could have. It made no sense that she would wake up every morning, and ask me: 'You don't remember?' I think that she had people in school who bullied her, but when I came home, she wouldn't have them. She did have a few on her arms and a scratch on her neck, but this isn't making any sense. I'm confused."
"I'm sure you'll find out soon. Besides, didn't you say Mao had a location on her? What was it? Tokyo, yes?"
Akira turned her head to the black haired women. "Yes, Tokyo. I don't remember telling you that's where she was, though. Mao must have told you."
Jia chuckled quietly, brushing her fingers against her cheek. "Yes. You know Mao always tells me if he found something about C.C.'s whereabouts. We are worried about her too."
"Yeah," Akira raised an eyebrow, searching the Chinese woman's eyes for any lies. For some reason, one half of her was telling her to believe Jia, the other half wasn't. Coughing, she said, "Can you leave, Jia?"
"What?" the women asked in confusion.
"I said, can you leave?" the CEO repeated. "I need to think, and you're not helping. I'm confused right now."
Jia humphed, making her way towards the door. "Why I was only trying to help, Akira, but seeing as you don't need me, I'll be on my way." Before opening the door, the women looked back at the CEO who was patiently waiting for her to exit the door.
The brown haired women stood up, opening the door for the women who had yet to open it. "Good evening, Jia." she smiled. "I enjoyed your stay."
"Yes..." Jia started slowly, exiting the room. "Me too."
After confirming she left, Akira closed the door behind her, but not before a knock was heard. Sighing, Akira opened the door with a blank face. "Ye- Oh, You're back from school." she said, instantly perking back up.
V.V. stood at the door with his arms crossed, a smirk plastered on his face." I told you you didn't like Mrs. Liang."
The CEO couldn't help but smile at her son.
…...
C.C. sat on her bed with her knees pulled to her chest. She rocked back and forth, making the bed creak. She didn't go to work nor school all week, too frightened to do so. If Shirley had something to do with Mao, she didn't want anything to do with her. And if she told Lelouch, wouldn't he be heartbroken? She was his girlfriend after all.
Then there was her mother. She wasn't going to admit it out loud, but although that woman didn't believe a word she said during the incident, C.C. missed her family very much. Even her. The one that made her leave….
At the door, she heard a knock, making her jump slightly. Walking out her room, she walked to the door and looked through the peephole. Lelouch?
Opening the door, she saw him leaning against the stair railing, hands in the pocket of his jacket with a hoodie on his head. He looked over to his friend, greeting, "Hey."
"H-Hi," she answered quietly. She stepped to the side, welcoming him in without words. "What are you doing here?"
Lelouch walked inside, turning around to C.C. just as she closed the door shut. C.C. noticed a slight look of concern was on his face. "I came to check on you. You haven't come to school or work all week, so I closed early to stop by. Everyone was worried about you," he said.
The green haired teen fiddled with her hands, looking down at the floor. "I... I just didn't want to go out the house today," she mumbled.
"Are you still frightened from being stuck in the elevator?" Lelouch asked, taking a step towards her.
"No. I... I'm fine, really." C.C. gave him a strained smile.
Lelouch wasn't convinced at all. "C.C., I know you. When something is bothering you, you get quiet and start to distant yourself from everyone. So, tell me, what's wrong?"
C.C. kept quiet, squeezing her eyes shut. She wanted to spill everything to Lelouch. She wanted to tell him about the promise she made with her mother, that she ran away from home, how she knew Mao…. Just everything!
She felt big warm hands touch her face, making her open her eyes and look up. The raven haired teen in front of her had a look of concern and confusion on his face. " You're... You're crying?"
The green haired teen slowly brought her fingers up to her face, feeling the wet droplets flow down her hand. Her eyes widened, not even realizing she had been crying until now"" Oh. I'm sorry. I don't know what overcame me."
"Yes, you do. Something is bothering you. Please, C.C., if you keep whatever is bothering you inside, it might hurt you someday, and... and I don't what I would do if you were hurt."
" If I told you, you would think different of me. It's better that you don't know."
Lelouch leaned his forehead against the girl's in front of him. "No matter what, I will never think of you any differently. Now tell me, what's wrong?" he repeated to her softly.
The green haired teen opened her mouth, but closed it just as quickly. "I'm sorry, but I... I... I can't tell you..."
"That woman," Jia muttered angrily.
"Mao, is your plan going to be put into action soon? Akira seems to be suspecting me for unknown reasons. She's just like that brat of hers! If I hadn't convinced her to drink that tea, she would still be here, and it would be easier for me to get that company!"
"Now, now, mother," Mao started from his seat behind the desk, "Do not speak ill of C.C. She will be your future daughter-in-law one day. And it will happen soon. I just need my spy to get that boy away from my dearest C.C."
"The young man that's around her 24/7? Ugh, he has a girlfriend! Why does he spend so much time with Akira's daughter?!" the Chinese women shouted angrily.
"I'd get rid of him, but wouldn't it look strange that the son of Charles and Marianne Lamperouge, the owners of Lamperouge Industries, has all of a sudden disappeared? Getting arrested is not a part of my plan," Mao explained to his angry mother.
Jia growled, stomping her foot like a child not getting what she wanted. "Mao, I want C.C. back here in Osaka now! I don't care what you do! Kidnap her, drug her, do whatever you want! Just get her here, you fool!"
Mao smirked, clasping his hands together. "Be patient, mother. The plan is has been put into action. Just like I wanted, C.C. has lost the trust of the girl that's working for me."
"Well," Jia started, "Since that's over with, what are you doing now?"
"I have that all worked out. Soon, I'll be marrying C.C. Just wait, mother, because my rival in love will be disposed with, and C.C. will be back in Osaka with me."
…...
"My head hurts really badly," Akira muttered into her pillow, clutching it tightly. "V.V., do we have anything to take the pain away?"
"Nope," he answered. "You just have to withstand the pain."
The brown haired woman nodded into her pillow, trying to find ways to make the pain go away. She turned her head to V.V., head still throbbing, asking, "Is my phone still in your room?"
The blonde haired boy nodded. "Yeah, I'll go get it," he said, motioning to stand up.
"No, no. I'll get it," Akira offered. "I need to walk some anyway. I haven't really stood all day, and I need to put some feeling back in my legs." She stood up from her bed, but almost fell over as her vision blurred.
"You need to sit down, mama. Are you dizzy?"
"No," Akira lied. "I'm fine. I'm just wobbly on my legs because I haven't walked today, really." She walked towards the door, and grabbed the knob, opening it. She hurriedly walked out before her son could stop her.
Leaning against the wall for support, Akira slowly walked to her son's room. Opening his door, she rubbed her eyes to try and clear the blurriness, but it did not work. Looking over at his dresser, she saw a hole next to it, but her vision got more blurry the closer she walked to it.
As she walked towards it, she had to use her hands to feel for the hole. Finding the hole and resting her fingers on it, she felt the pain in her head become even worse. She grabbed her head in her hands, kneeling over on the floor.
"Ow!" the young girl screamed as her head hit the wall. She held it while it throbbed in pain. "M-Mama?"
Akira's face turned into a look of confusion and pain, wondering what these flashes were. She hissed in pain again as another unknown scene flashed through her head.
The brown haired woman laughed darkly, a smirk on her face. "You woke up your little brother, sweetie. You'll have to learn to keep quiet while he is taking a nap. Let mama help you feel better if it hurts."
Akira could not make out the women nor the girl in these flashes. The voices sounded very familiar to her, though. One sounded like C.C.'s and the other... her own?
Before the young girl could react, her mother grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her backwards. She winced in pain as tears stung her eyes. "Mama, stop it, please. This isn't you."
That was the second time the girl called for her mother, but now, it was as if the girl was talking to her mother. The first time, she said it like she was calling for help. Akira was terribly confused. Where were these flashes coming from? And why to her? There were some details she couldn't recall after her husband died, but she didn't have any idea where these flashes came from.
"Of course, it's me, my pretty little darling," the woman said, tracing her jaw with her nail. "I'm just teaching you a lesson. I told you before, haven't I? I do not want you in your brother's room while he is napping, understood?"
"Y-Yes." C.C. choked out.
Akira's eyes widened, the girl's face now clear. It was C.C.'s. If that was her daughter's face, then the mother was... No... it wasn't...
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Tears pricked at Akira's eyes, the women in these memories becoming clearer. The woman, in her flashes, that had been hurting C.C... All along... it had been... her? It couldn't be her! It couldn't! There was no way she would ever hurt C.C.! Not physically!
More flashes came of her beating C.C. for no reason. She clutched her head tighter, starting to scream from the pain. As she screamed, the memories came back slowly, making her tears flow down her cheeks.
The door slammed open, V.V. and Elizabeth rushing towards the woman. "Call the doctor!" V.V. shouted. The maid quickly ran out the room in a rush to the nearest phone.
V.V. looked at his screaming mother, trying to stop her screams. Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and his mother laid motionless on the floor. For minute, he thought she passed out until she slowly sat up.
Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at her blond haired son. "It's my fault..." she croaked. "It's all my fault, V.V."
"What? What's your fault?"
She continued to cry, saying through her cracked voice, "It's my fault! It's my fault! It's my fault! It's my fault! It's all my fault!"
Ella ran back in the room, confusion on her face. "I called-" the maid stopped at the door, turning her eyes to her mistress who kept repeatedly saying 'It's my fault'.
"It's my fault! It's my fault! It's all my fault!"
The black haired maid bent down next to V.V., placing her hands on the older woman's shoulder. "What's your fault?!"
Akira only repeated the same thing. "It's my fault... It's my fault... It's my fault... It's all my fault..."
…...
"Are you sure you can't tell me anything?" Lelouch asked in concern, removing his hands from the girls face and stuffing them back in his pockets.
"Well," she started quietly, "Can I ask you this? If you got into a fight with your mother after she didn't believe something you said and believed the person who got to her first, what would you do? Especially if you were a person who never lied and the person you thought was your friend lied about their side of the story."
The sudden question surprised Lelouch. He didn't know how to answer it. They were plenty of times when he had lied to his mother, especially when he got his ears pierced, so it would be normal for him if his mother didn't believe something he said. Despite that, though, he decided to answer the question on the positive side.
"Well, if she didn't believe me, I would sort of feel sad and hurt that she believed my friend over me. Like you were saying, because they were the ones who lied about it, I would lose all my trust in that person."
"If you and Rolo were out of the picture and Nunnally was the only child, what... What do you think she would do if that friend tried to violate, or rape her, and when she went back to tell her mother, the woman didn't believe a word she said?"
The raven haired teen did not want to think of something like that happening to younger sister, but answered her question anyway.
"My mother is the type of person to sit and hear our side of the story first, but for this example, I don't know what Nunnally would do. She does seem like the type of person that wouldn't want to go outside the house or near boys ever again, though."
C.C. nodded in understanding at her friend's answers. "What about if she ran away after that and didn't see her mother again until over a year later? What if her mother still didn't believe her when they met again? What if she befriended a person that was now working with that supposed 'friend' who had raped her?"
Lelouch's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Why are you asking me these questions?" He was starting to put the pieces together, but kept denying the reality that was put before him.
But he couldn't deny it any longer when he saw tears running down the usually enigmatic girl's face.
"C.C., don't tell me..." he trailed off , eyes widening. "The reason you never talk about your family... Why you're so scared of Mao... Why you were so scared in the elevator a week ago... You were..."
"Almost..." she said through her cries. "I was at their house, and we were so close, but I had always been iffy of his mother and I knew Mao had been acting strange that day. I wasn't sure why until they drugged me. It was horrible, Lelouch..." C.C. managed to say through her cries.
Lelouch couldn't believe his ears. He knew he didn't like Mao, but this just made his dislike for him turn to hate. How... How could he do that to someone that trusted him? And then her mother not believing a word she said? There had to be something behind this.
"I had no evidence when I ran to my mother, but it was clear with my tattered clothes. Then our relationship just went downhill from there." Tears still poured from C.C.'s eyes, but her voice and eyes were dull.
These words made Lelouch remember something he heard similar to his friend's words.
The lady let out a heavy sigh. "When she was fifteen, we got into a big argument. I don't know what happened. Our relationship went downhill from there," she explained quietly.
No, Lelouch thought, They just happened to say the same words while they were telling a story.
"So, now I bet you think differently of me, don't you?" C.C. asked quietly through her cracked voice, turning her head away from Lelouch.
"C.C., no. I told you, no matter what, I will never think differently of you. None of this is your fault," he told her, wrapping the crestfallen girl in a hug. "I would never abandon you over something like that."
She leaned her head on his chest and closed her eyes. I'm sorry, Shirley, she thought, But I've fallen in love with Lelouch.
…...
"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Yukimura is not allowed to have any visitors yet." The nurse tried to look sympathetic and calm as she attempted to get rid of the two blondes in front of her.
"But, why?!" The one with green eyes stomped. "That's our sister-in-law in there!"
"Only because our little brother was adopted, though," the one with grey eyes mumbled, but then looked up to the nurse. "Please. This is our first time seeing her again in over nine years."
"Well, I am sorry about that, but no visitors right now. Doctor's and her son's orders."
"Will you move for money?" the green eyed one asked.
"Camellia, I would think you had learned to not flaunt money around by now." The grey-eyed blond gave a hard glare at her twin sister.
Camellia rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Azalea. I rarely do it now. You realize that your daughter does it too sometimes, right?"
Azalea raised her eyebrows, not knowing that little piece of information at all. She decided she would talk to her daughter later, and turned back to the nurse. "Please. Just ten minutes. That's all I-"
"We-"
"Ask for," Azalea finished, ignoring her technically older sister.
The nurse sighed. "Fine. Ten minutes only. I'll be out here waiting to tell you when your ten minutes are up." The nurse moved a bit to the side and opened the door for them.
"By the way, you guys didn't happen to see this on the news did you? We tried to keep this as quiet as possible, away from the paparazzi and everything."
Camellia answered before stepping inside. "Oh, yeah. We did. In big, underlined letters on the news: 'The famous CEO, Akira Yukimura, has been rushed to the hospital'. That's why we flew here, to Osaka, as quick as we could. Well, see ya for now!" she smiled, closing the door.
The two blondes observed the room before looking over to the little blonde boy who was glaring at them. "Who are you?" he hissed, crossing his arms. "I said no visitors."
"Well, we're special visitors. You might not remember us, though, seeing as you were only two days old when we met." Azalea smiled softly.
"I don't believe you. If you aren't lying, do you know my birthday and her birthday?" V.V. asked.
"Why the little brat is interrogating us," Camellia mumbled.
"I don't blame him. He never knew us." Azalea glared at Camellia. Turning back to V.V., she answered, "Your birthday is October fifteenth while your mother's is April eleventh, am I correct?"
"Yes, you are." V.V. mumbled. "How do you know my mother, then?"
"Your mother? Well," Camellia started, "Your father is our little brother, but only by adoption. Our father knew your father's father. When your father, Christopher, was twelve, his parent's got into a plane crash, so he had nowhere to go. Well, technically he did. That huge mansion you live in now-"
"Off subject, Camellia," Azalea interrupted.
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, after that, our father adopted him into our family, so me and Azalea officially had a little brother, and his name was now Christopher Ashford. So, he ended up taking over his father's company when he was eighteen, and believe me, for a while the little guy was a workaholic."
Suddenly hearing about the father he never knew, V.V. found himself curious. Before the two rambling sisters got even more off topic, the young boy abruptly stopped them with a question.
"So how did he meet my mother?"
"Oh! Of course, you would want to know that part." Camellia sounded more than a little annoyed at being interrupted.
In a much gentler tone, Azalea answered for the two of them. "He met your mother one day by accident. We went to an orchestra performance, and Christopher - he was a little clumsy guy - spilled champagne all over your mother's dress before the performance. And the thing is, only at sixteen years old, it turns out she was one of the players. She was on the piano."
"She was not happy," Camellia laughed, having already forgotten V.V.'s rude change of topic. "She literally shoved his face into the champagne bowl, no matter if he had apologized at first. When Christopher was able to breathe again, he grabbed the nearest piece of cake and just made her dress even worst. Akira got a cup, went to the chocolate fountain, filled it up, and poured it all over Christopher. The guy was so angry, he grabbed the bowl of champagne and poured it all over her."
"By this time," Azalea smiled, "They officially hated each other. The two got physical eventually, rolling all around the floor, and he did the stupidest thing ever. He stole her first kiss on purpose while they were having that fight on the floor. By the time our parents and Akira's parents broke them up, they were throwing cuss words at each other and were all discombobulated. Akira's dress was ruined and torn and she lost her heels. The same thing was with your father except he also lost his suit jacket in the fight. We would've and should've broken them up..."
"But," Camellia continued.
"It was too amusing to watch," Azalea finished.
"We got it all on tape, too, from the security cameras. We still have a copy of it for proof, if you don't believe us," the green eyed blonde grinned.
V.V. let this all sink in. He was only three when his father died, but he never thought of him as such a rash, spur-of-the-moment kind of person. The story amused him quite a bit though, and he saw no reason for these two ladies to lie.
"So, you two are my aunties?" V.V. voiced the question as if he couldn't believe that he was related to them.
"Yep. You also have one cousin at home, and one on the way in eight months," Camellia smiled, patting her flat stomach. "And we came here to visit Akira after we saw the news. So, what happened to her?"
"She's been having these headaches lately, and the doctor said she had to rest. It was as if she was trying to remember something. Then yesterday, she had an extremely bad headache. She went to get her phone out my room, and a couple of minutes later I found her on my floor screaming. She did, but all she kept repeating was 'It's my fault'. She had fainted by the time the ambulance got there, and she hasn't woken up since," the mature nine-year old explained quietly.
"Well, she must have remembered something horrible if that's all she was capable of saying." Azalea frowned slightly, trying to figure out why her sister-in-law would break down in such a way.
Camellia walked over to V.V., putting a shoulder on his hand. "Don't worry, hon. Everything will be okay. Let's just hope she wakes up soon, okay?"
"Yeah..."
"By the way," Azalea started, as if recalling something important. "Where's your older sister? And if you want proof again, C.C. is her name, and her birthday is December twenty-seventh"
"I don't know. She ran away over a year ago," V.V. said quietly. "Have you ever met her?"
"Yes, we have. Like you, only once when she was born. And she ran away? For what reason?" Azalea asked in concern.
V.V. looked at his mother who was sleeping quietly. "She and my mother had a fight about something. I honestly have no idea what it was about. After the fight, she disappeared a month later."
Camellia started to fidget, biting her lip very hard. Azalea noticed this, raising an eyebrow at her older sister. "What did you do? You only fidget like this if you did something or happen to think you saw this person."
"I was never good at remembering faces anyway!" the green eyed blonde stomped, sticking her tongue out at her younger sister. Turning to her nephew, she smiled nervously.
"What does your sister happen to look like right now? You never know…. people change their appearances." Camellia muttered that last part to herself, as if afraid of being caught.
"Long, silky green hair, golden eyes, pale skin, long legs..." he trailed off. "Why?"
"I think she's one of Milly's friends," the green eyed blonde squeaked out.
"What?!" V.V. jumped. "You know where in Tokyo she is?"
"I have no idea where she is. But I think Milly knows where she lives. Milly and a group of girl friends were helping me move the boxes down to the lobby, and I think C.C. might have been in the group," Camellia explained.
"You can't be serious, Camellia," the gray eyed blonde mumbled, palm-facing.
"So, you don't know where she is?" V.V. said quietly.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault. If only I was good at remembering faces," Camellia apologized. "And we can't ask Milly. We decided to stay here until your mother gets better."
"Oh."
Right at that time, the nurse came in. "Excuse me, but your ten minutes are up."
The two blondes gave him an apologetic look, but V.V. grabbed on the hem of Camellia's shirt. "No. Stay." he turned to the nurse. "I want them to stay."
"We can stay?" the two blondes asked together.
"Yes. Even though you forgot what we look like… you're still my family, aren't you?"
"Well, in that case, you are not staying in here all day!" Camellia declared. She seemed determined to somehow make up for her mistake as she grabbed V.V.'s hand, lifting him from the chair. "Let's have some fun! Get some ice cream, go to an amusement park, see a movie!"
"Camellia, no," Azalea said.
"I... I would like to do it," V.V. spoke up. "I've been sitting in here with my mother all day."
Azalea looked down at him, sighing. "I guess it's fine if you're okay with it. But we're only getting ice cream."
"Oh, please. Like I'd listen to you. Let's go!" She rushed out the room with V.V.'s hand in hers.
Azalea stomped her foot. She ran out the room behind them, her heels clanking on the floor. "Camellia! V.V.! No running in the halls! Camellia!"
"Mao, are you sure about this?" Shirley asked, looking at the silver haired man in the driver's seat in the parking lot of his house. "He was at her house yesterday, and she told a totally different story than you did. Is she lying?"
"Of course she is," Mao smirked. "I love C.C. too much to ever do something like that to her. She's just trying to get his attention away from you. She's a very manipulative person."
"I was friends with her for a while, though. She seems nothing like that." Shirley was not sure about this. How did Mao even have a video of where her boyfriend was last night? The man seemed stalkerish, but it was only because he was trying to protect her, right?
Mao didn't answer. He took out a knife, showing it to the orange haired girl. "You don't happen to know how to use a knife on someone without killing them, do you?" he asked, smirking.
"Wh-What?" the orange haired girl stuttered.
"It's just a joke, a joke," Mao laughed, touching the tip of the knife with his finger. "Honestly, though, would you ever kill someone?"
"No. I wouldn't do anything like that." she answered, sort of frightened by these questions.
"Hair... C.C. has pretty hair, doesn't she?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Maybe that hair could be mine one day," he laughed darkly. "Are you willing to injure someone for the protection of your boyfriend?" the silver haired man took out the knife again, stabbing the side of his chair with it, and making Shirley jump.
"I told you, I won't hurt or kill anyone," she said quietly.
"Too bad. I'd do it," Mao said. He took a hold of Shirley's hand, putting her fingers to his mouth.
"If your boyfriend really loves you, would he be jealous of me doing this? I think he's falling for my C.C."
I know he fell for her.
"Well..." the orange haired teen trailed off. She didn't know how to answer this question. When she looked at Lelouch, his gaze towards C.C. looked more loving than his gaze had ever been towards her. Maybe her boyfriend really had fallen in love with this girl. Or maybe he had already been in love with her before they started dating….
"Can't answer it? I know how it feels to have the one you love in love with someone else. It hurts doesn't it? Don't worry. We start with the plan in two days. Though, I'll do something tomorrow on my part," Mao told the girl next to him.
"The plan? Mao, I don't want C.C. to go nuts just because she can't get out a small, dark place. I'm not sure if I want to do this. Hurting C.C. is one thing, but won't I just be hurting Lelouch too if I hurt her?"
"Don't worry. You'll be far from hurting him," Mao smirked. After all, nothing can hurt him if he isn't alive.
That was a long chapter... I'm going to have to get use to writing these long chapters...
Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter. It had a good balance of seriousness and humor in it. Neither one overpowered each other. And I love Camellia and Azalea! They're too funny, honestly. I got their names based off of Japanese flowers and what they mean in English. Like Camellia's name comes from the Japanese flower Tsubaki while Azalea's comes from the Japanese flower Tsutsusi. I actually love both flowers, but Camellias are my favorite!
Also, not to saddened you readers, but this was chapter one of five before the end, so only four more chapters left. So, I'll just leave you guys to take that little piece of info in.
Read and Review! :)