Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Code: Geass or Naruto.
"You didn't have to react. I wasn't going to kill her." Lelouch said as he, C.C. and Naruto walked back to Lelouch's home.
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean you should have pulled a gun on her, especially since she had done nothing to deserve it." Naruto countered. "From I saw if Euphemia was the one in charge of Britannia then all the crap they spew wouldn't exist."
Lelouch agreed but didn't voice it. "You have an idea that uses Euphy, don't you?"
"I don't use people, Lelouch, but if Zero really plans to be a champion for the commoners and the weak we'll need more than just Japanese resistance fighters as allies. Like I said, understand your allies and enemies and their reasons to fight and you'll be able to bring them together. You saw it as clearly as I do as to what kind of person Euphemia really is." Naruto answered.
"In other words, perhaps we should look into seeing if Princess Euphemia can help us." C.C. commented.
"She cannot know." Lelouch stated with a fierce look as they stopped in front of the gate. "I will not let her know about me and Nunnally."
"We didn't say that. Your secrets are your business. We're talking about the Black Knights business." C.C. replied. "And Naruto has a point; we need more allies than just freedom fighters."
"And what can Euphy do?" Lelouch asked.
"As the Sub-Viceroy she has access to a lot of Britannia's dealings inside Japan, including military operations." Naruto answered, making Lelouch look at him. "With Cornelia running the rest of this country's resistance groups into the ground it'd be a major boon to be able to predict her moves. And we found a place to set up shop."
"What?" Lelouch looked confused.
"The Ashford family still keeps the equipment they used to design for Britannia in an abandoned factory." C.C. answered. "Milly's grandfather was very open to the idea."
"Milly's grandfather? He knows!" Lelouch exclaimed in shock. "You told him?!"
"Relax. We didn't tell him anything but the old man is smart." C.C. answered.
"My family's previous occupation?" Ruben asked as C.C. sat down. "What do you mean, Miss Senju?"
"Please don't play this game, Principal Ashford. I know the Ashford's family and the reason they lost their nobility." C.C. answered. "I'm interested to see if you've kept anything from your previous position."
Ruben sighed. "So… Lelouch has finally made his move."
C.C. raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think Lelouch has anything to do with this?"
"I'll ask you not to play this game, Tsunade Senju, if that is your real name. I took Lelouch and Nunnally in and let them stay in the clubhouse of this school and Milly even knows their true identities but she doesn't know about Lelouch's other secret. But when I looked at the TV during Kururugi trial, I knew. I knew this day would come." Ruben smiled softly. "I knew he'd been hurt and angry when his mother died and when he and his sister showed up, looking for shelter I saw that look in his eyes, the look that told me he was ready, ready to go after everyone who wronged his family. I'm old but I'm not blind and for all of Lelouch's brilliance he never learned how to truly hide the anger. The cold and distant school boy that all the girls crush on but he can't open himself up, can't let anyone in and show his real self."
"And you, Principal Ashford? If you believed he was you know who why haven't you said anything? You'd have your family's nobility restored." C.C. pointed out.
"Unlike Milly's parents and like Milly I have no interest in restoring our nobility, not after the Emperor stripped us of it for supporting Lady Marianne and the war that claimed the lives of many Japanese friends that helped us through our dark times. Does this mean Lelouch wishes to use my family's resources since we designed his mother's Knightmare?" Ruben asked.
"Lelouch doesn't know. Our partnership is strictly business and though Lelouch has an impressive tactical and keen mind his ego often causes him to make mistakes, such as going to war without preparing himself." C.C. answered with a small grin. "My only question is that would you be willing to help us?"
"Only as long as my granddaughter will never have to be terrified like she was when the war happened seven years ago. Lelouch is not the only one who desires revenge but I dare not do anything as long as my family is in possible danger." Ruben nodded. "Now then, Miss Senju, let us talk of this rebellion…"
"In short, we now have a Knightmare factory with a Knightmare prototype that was never given the chance to show itself to the world." C.C. finished her tale. "And not only can that but the computer systems allow us to even access Britannia's systems to find out all the Knightmares they are designing. It seems the Britannian military never considered the fact that a disgraced family could sneak past their security to look at sensitive information, even a library on every combination of Knightmare frames."
Lelouch was silent in shock as C.C. finished her tale. "And Principal Ashford is fine with this? If the military finds out he's helping us he and Milly will be in danger."
"He's not worried, Lelouch. He wouldn't have given us the factory if he thought he and Milly would be in danger. You're not the only one with someone to protect." Naruto said as he walked forward to the clubhouse with C.C. holding his hand. "If the Black Knights do become a legitimate threat to Britannia we'll need all the help we can get."
Lelouch watched as they walked forward before following after them.
"Wow. Look at this place."
The mobile base of the Black Knights parked inside the abandoned Ashford factory and they were all staring at the place that Zero had brought them to.
"What is this place?" Ohgi asked.
"It used to be a weapons factory owned by the Ashford family but they abandoned it following their fall from nobility." Zero asked as he stepped out the van.
"The Ashford family?" Kallen asked, thinking of Milly and wondering how the family of that crazy girl could design weapons for the military.
"Yes. When they lost their nobility they fled to Japan and established the Ashford Academy but they kept whatever military technology they had left." Zero explained. "The factory is still in good shape and I managed to acquire some old designs for some third generation Knightmare frames. I've sent those designs to a friend to look over."
Actually it was C.C. who had taken the designs and sent them to the person who had designed Naruto's and her Knightmare Frames.
"With the proper resources and equipment the Black Knights will soon be a legitimate threat to Britannia." Zero said as the group looked around the factory. "It has all the parts we need to create Knightmares that can stand up to Cornelia's forces and her Gloucesters. I have decided to make this the primary headquarters when we're not using the mobile base. My knights have already made use of it and as you can see the Ashford family left a little something."
True to their word Naruto and C.C. had brought their Knightmares here instead of the secret garage underneath Ashford Academy and both Knightmares were hidden in a secret hangar underneath the ground floor of the factory. Zero didn't mention this as the Black Knights were staring at the Oberon Frames lining in the interior of the factory.
"What are they?" Kallen asked.
"I present to you the Oberon Frame, the last Knightmare Frame to be built by the Ashford family before losing their status. It was built to compete with the Sutherland and Glasgow Frames but were built with heavier and thicker armor that can shrug off bazookas and machine guns." Zero explained. "Due to the armor they are slower than the Sutherland Frame but the shields they carry are meant to increase protection."
"Seriously?" Tamaki asked, a grin forming on his face.
"Wow." Inoue whispered.
"Seizan and Shinryoku's Knightmares will remain here along with any other Knightmares we steal or design. This will be perfect for repairing the few stolen Sutherlands we have but in the meantime we can develop infantry weapons and the Knightmare simulators left here to help train pilots." Zero announced, earning nods of agreement from the rest of the group. "One more thing, we should wait until we have more resources and manpower before we start using these Knightmares."
"Uh? Why?" Tamaki asked, wanting to test these Oberons out.
"To put it simply Cornelia would be forced to call in more reinforcements, possibly elite pilots like the Knights of the Round if she discovered we suddenly gained access to a number of Knightmares that for the record never made an appearance. She may start to believe we have the capabilities of building our own Knightmares which we now have but we are still too few with only two advanced Knightmares as our main force." Zero explained.
"I see. You want to wait for this group to get more man power so Cornelia won't know what hit her." Kallen said, figuring out what Zero meant.
"Precisely. Her pride won't let her call for any help from any experience tacticians but from the losses she suffered she'll no doubt call for more pilots are on the reserve list from other areas while ordering an increase in Knightmare production. For now, we stick to the shadows and maintain ourselves as a group that for the most part has limited resources." Lelouch nodded.
He had already made plans to make use of this factory by calling on the numerous favors he gained from the nobles in the Settlement and with the help of his Geass he could make sure none of it was traced back to him or the Ashfords.
"You heard the man. Let's set up." Ohgi said.
The group quickly got to work in exploring the factory, seeing what it had and what they could use. In the meantime Zero turned and walked to the elevator, pushing the button for the basement and waited as it took him down.
"Well, despite being considered the prime of a bygone age these are still impressive designs. With a few little modifications they'd be perfect, next to my perfect children of course." Rakshata looked over the schematics the Ashford family never got to build. "So, you want me to design them?"
" Well, I had another idea in mind. You've completed the Shadow Clone Jutsu yet and the Henge yet? " Naruto asked.
"Yeah?" Rakshata slowly answered.
" The Black Knights obviously needs someone who knows who to operate the equipment. Lelouch might have an idea but he's more strategist and chess master than actually building. " Naruto explained.
"So you want me to send you a Shadow Clone of myself to supervise the constructions of Knightmares for the Black Knights." Rakshata suddenly grinned excitingly at the idea of more than one Rakshata Chawla building state of the art Knightmares. "Oh, why didn't I think of it before?! One me here and the other me in Japan, both coming up with new and more deadly children!"
Suddenly a lot of people in the facility shivered.
" We both got an idea for an alias your Shadow Clone can use and to see how good your skills in Iyro-ninjutsu have come. And let's hope you're good at acting. " Naruto continued.
"Oh, do tell." Rakshata leaned forward with a smirk.
There were times Naruto wondered if Rakshata was Baa-chan's dimensional sister or something when she smiled.
It had been two week since the events at Lake Kawaguchi but Zero and the Black Knights had remained the main topic of any gossip between Britannian or Eleven. The Britannians and Honorary Britannians were worried about what Zero and the Black Knights planned to do with their way of life while the Japanese supported Zero in his endeavours.
" Clearing the last of the debris from the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel. It has been two weeks since Zero unveiled his Black Knights but there is still no insight as to the man behind the mask. "
" They weren't able to track his escape route? "
" They let the hostages go and somehow made it to the other shore. "
Kallen laid face down on her bed with her clothes scattered across the floor, not bothering to change into night clothes when she came home last night or turn the TV off. She had skipped classes before to take part in her other life but now she was so exhausted that she wondered if she'd end up quitting school before the year was out. Since the debut of the Black Knights they had been working to establish themselves as Knights of Justice like Zero said, executing minor raids that involved stopping drug rings run by Britannian nobles exploiting the helpless Japanese, liberating woman forced into prostitution, and dealing with smugglers. All done to build up their reputation as champions for the people that would flock their cause.
Kallen would have continued to try to sleep if not for a crashing sound was heard outside of her room. She quickly threw on a gown before she opened the door and looked out into the hall. A woman dressed in a maid's outfit was kneeling down next to a broken chandelier, looking startled and disappointed as Kallen opened the door.
"Kallen-I mean Mistress, please forgive me. I didn't wish to awake you." The woman quickly said when she noticed Kallen.
"Again." Kallen whispered with a tone of irritation in her voice.
"I'm sorry, it was the step ladder this time, it broke." The woman explained sadly.
"Well just clean it up and be quick about it. I have to go to school soon." Kallen simply said.
The woman seemingly perked up for some reason. "Mistress, you've been attending school quite a bit lately. Making any friends?"
"I do not see how that's any of your business." Kallen said sharply as she closed the door, not missing the woman smiling despite how she was being treated.
Back inside her room Kallen sighed and leaned against the door. "Just go will you."
She hated treating her mother like this but she needed to realize she was better than being a servant to the bitch of the house and was better off just leaving this house. Her weak will would become weaker if Kallen treated her like an actual human being than a pathetic servant to someone who didn't give a damn about her.
"I know it's for wealth fare but why waste it on the Elevens?"
"That's why I'm selling it to you my friend. The Eleven population could use a little thinning out if you ask me."
Outside the warehouse a three cloaked figures followed by man and woman dressed in black ran across the catwalk leading to the upper floor of the warehouse.
"Your payment will be transferred to your wife's account." The broker said with an amused smirk.
The group of strangers stopped in front of the door to the warehouse.
"Princess Cornelia is a soldier; this sort of thing doesn't interest her all that much." The buyer said with a smirk.
The two men looked up as the lights suddenly went out and gun shots rang out through the warehouse.
"Hit the lights! Someone turn them on!" The buyer cried out.
The drug dealer made it to the breaker and switched the lights back on. When he did both men were greeted with the shocking sight of the Black Knights standing catwalk above the truck.
"You're-" The buyer stuttered in shock. "You're the…"
"The Black Knights!" Kallen suddenly sat up.
She wished she hadn't as she realized she had fallen asleep and woken up to see everyone staring at her and then laughing.
"That's not like you, dozing off in class like that." Shirley commented when class was over.
"Well I'm…" Kallen tried to think of a reasonable excuse.
"You could learn a thing or two from Lelouch. He's an expert at sleeping in class." Rivalz pointed out.
"Uh?" Kallen turned and looked over at Lelouch who was staring out the window. "He's not sleeping now is he?"
"One way to find out." Naruto smirked as he held up a soda can and walked over to Lelouch and held it over his head.
"Do it and die." Lelouch muttered as he opened his eyes.
"Guess that answers your question, Kallen." Naruto commented.
"I don't know what he's up to night after night. But he sleeps through half of them these days." Rivalz smiled.
"Oh." Kallen raised a single eyebrow.
Her previous suspicions came back but she shrugged them off.
"The E.U. is starting an offensive along the Alamein front. We can't go on dragging our feet around here. I want to solidify domestic affairs. It's high time Area Eleven was made a satellite nation. For that to happen we need to stomp out terrorism." Cornelia said to Euphemia as they stood in front of some cargo trains. "But another problem is the rampant use of Refrain amongst the Elevens. Productivity from the Elevens is plummeting. It is coming from in on the Chinese Federation's Kyushu route. We have to put an end to it."
"Yes, but be careful." Euphemia said, always one to be worried about her sister.
"You as well, I don't want you leaving the settlement." Cornelia replied, having become paranoid since the hostage crisis.
"Cornelia, what about Zero and the Black Knights?" Euphemia asked curiously.
"I will let them roam free for a bit longer. I owe them that much for saving your life." Cornelia's gaze softened as she reached and softly caressed her sister's cheek. "However, upon my return, once I clean up this area I'll entrust it to you. Try to stay out of harm's way from now, alright Euphie? Zero might not have killed you at the hotel but he still used you as a political tool in his crusade. That pathetic dog Kusakabe wouldn't say anything about Zero and the information about the JLF was false, making us waste our time meaning they might be working together somehow even if Zero helped rescue you and the other hostages."
"All right, sister." Euphemia nodded.
As Cornelia walked away Euphemia could not help but think of that night.
" Because Clovis was an offspring of the Britannian Emperor. That reminds me, " Zero pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her. "You're one of his children too, aren't you?"
"That is enough." Suddenly Seizan was in front of Zero with his hand on the pistol. "I will not let you kill her."
'When he spoke to me that night what was he alluding to?' Euphemia thought. 'Suzaku, what would you make of all this, what's Zero's doing and of me?'
"Man this double life is killer." Kallen yawned as she walked up to the door to the Student Council room, leaning her hand against the wall.
"Suzaku, Rivalz, hold him down!" Milly's voice shouted on the other side of the door.
"Damn it, Suzaku. Cut it out!" Lelouch yelled.
"Oh come on, Lelouch. I'm sure you'll look cute all dressed up like that." Tsunade's voice teased as Kallen opened the door.
"Sorry Lelouch but it's the President's orders." Suzaku said.
"Yeah like you're not enjoying this at all?" Lelouch retorted.
The scene was not what she was expecting.
Almost everyone was wearing cat theme costumes as Suzaku and Rivalz had Lelouch tied down to a chair so Shirley could paint whiskers on his face.
"Would you hold still?" Shirley asked irritably as Lelouch struggled to get out of Rivalz and Suzaku's grip.
Nina was wearing a yellow cat head that covered her head and mid back as she continued working at her computer, seemingly ignoring everything else. Suzaku was wearing a blue hoot cat costume with a spot painted over his right eye and cat whisker marks drawn on his cheeks.
"Good-meowing." Milly waved a pawed hand at Kallen with a mischievous smile.
Milly had black cat ears and pars with a black furry outfit that showed off her figure with white fur along the chest, black mid-thigh stockings, and black boots with slight pink edges.
"Good morning, I guess." Kallen said carefully.
She had been on Student Council long enough to know of Milly's crazy schemes.
"Oh, hi Kallen." Shirley finished drawing on Lelouch's face.
Shirley was a pink cat outfit that showed off her mid-rift, pink shorts with a tail, fur-lined boots, arm-warmers, and pink cat ears with her hair in pig tails.
"What is all of this?" Kallen asked.
"What do you mean? It's a welcome party for Arthur and Tsunade's cat, Matatabi." Rivalz answered while said cats yawned from their spots.
Arthur sat on top of a scratching post while Matatabi rested on C.C.'s lap.
Rivalz wore a yellow hooded cat costume with various brown spots and the top half of the cat's head on his face.
"Sounds like fun." Kallen commented quietly.
"Well classes are postponed so we might as well do something fine." Milly replied.
"I set some stuff for you." Shirley pointed to a rack full of cat themed costumes. "Over there, to make up for me getting upset with you before. Go on, take your pick."
"Yes, Kallen. What do you think your costume would be?"
Kallen looked the other side of the room and saw C.C., wearing black cat ears, a tail, and a black sleeveless cat-like dress that reached down to her thighs. Her yellow eyes seemed to go perfectly with the outfit and her grin sent a shiver through Kallen's body.
"Tsunade, don't tease her."
Kallen looked and saw Naruto at the other end of the room wearing… fox ears and paws with a fox tail. "Naruto?"
"Don't ask." Naruto answered Kallen's unasked question.
"I never believed Naruto was a cat person so I asked Milly to get him a fox costume." Tsunade smirked. "Doesn't he look so much better than a cat?"
"You tricked me." Naruto sulked, looking so much like a pouting fox.
"Oh, he's so cute!" Milly ran up and hugged Naruto. "And those whisker marks…"
She ran a hand across the marks making Naruto groan and make…
"Naruto, are you purring?" Milly asked with a very interested look.
"No!" Naruto quickly said.
"He loves it when someone does that." Tsunade said with a smile so mischievous it actually made everyone safer around Milly. "He sounds like a kitten and looks so cute."
"Sounds it like you're speaking from experience." Milly grinned as Naruto blushed.
"I do. It's the reward I give him for giving me a fully body massage or when I wake up him up in the morning." C.C. said, smirking as almost everyone turned red.
'Too much information.' Kallen and Shirley thought.
'Doesn't she know anything about restraint?' Lelouch thought, not needing to know what they did under the same roof as him and his sister.
He actually wished Nunnally was still blind so she didn't wheel in on them doing something and get mentally scarred.
"Oh." Milly's grin widened as she kept on stroking the markings on Naruto's cheeks. "So if I do this can I get a massage?"
"Sure. Come on over tonight and we can both get one." C.C. smirked at the gob-smacked expression on Naruto's face. "But if you ask for anything more you'll have to get us ramen and pizza. His service is not free."
"That lucky dog." Rivalz whispered to Lelouch who was considering moving Nunnally and himself to an apartment.
The way C.C. was looking it was like she was literally inviting Milly to have some 'fun' with her and-
'Oh crap now it's in my head!' Lelouch shuddered. 'Get out, get out, get out!'
"Well, then hurry and pick your costume, Kallen." Milly said, gesturing to the rack.
"She doesn't need a costume." Lelouch spoke as Shirley finished painting his face. "You're already wearing a mask, right?"
'Way to be subtle, Lelouch.' Naruto rolled his eyes.
"You really are a riot, you know that?" Kallen said, equally irritated with Lelouch as Naruto. "You ought to be on television."
"What do you think Miss TV star?" Rivalz asked, glancing at Shirley.
"Oh, I thought she meant Lelouch." Suzaku commented.
"Would you quit joking about that? The whole thing's a huge pain in the butt. We've been hounded with questions day and night. Even in the bath." Shirley complained, shuddering at all the times she and the others had been asked questions about the Black Knights. "We haven't even been able to leave school grounds in a week."
"Not that I don't feel for you but I don't see why we can't leave either." Rivalz pointed out to Milly, speaking on behalf of himself, Lelouch, Suzaku, Naruto, and C.C.
"Hm. That's the prize of friendship. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it matters not that we were born apart, upon this day we die as one." Milly crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she smiled.
"Is that your idea of a love poem?" Rivalz questioned.
"If I go down then we all do." Milly smirked as she waved her paw at Rivalz.
"That's a little dark. Right Suzaku?" Rivalz looked at Suzaku. "Uh?"
"I'm glad." Suzaku for some reason was tearing up. "That we could all be together again. You know like this?"
"Geez, Suzaku, man up. No one likes a cry baby." Naruto rolled his eyes.
Lelouch smiled and would have said something if not for the fact that Rivalz grabbed his shoulders and hopped over him and pulled Suzaku into a head lock. "Come on! We're supposed to be unwinding here!" He tripped and both him and Suzaku fell onto the ground causing everyone to laugh.
"That's what so refreshing about Suzaku though." Shirley smiled.
"Yeah but once in a while you just want him to get a clue you know?" Milly asked.
"Oh, sorry about that." Suzaku said as Rivalz pushed his cheek.
"Aw, you love it putty cat." Rivalz said in a baby tone that made everyone, including Nina laugh.
'It's so funny to think I helped save their lives.' Kallen smiled as she thought what had happened in the last few weeks. 'Ever since we made our big splash at the hotel jacking the Black Knights have taken the world by storm. We've become a friend to the weak just as Zero proclaimed we would. Terrorists who involve civilians and overbearing military, criminal syndicates and corrupt politicians and profiteers. If the law would not punish them then we would. In the blink of an eye, we've become heroes. Support for us has swelled; we've even gotten our hands on some Knightmares again. Of course no one could show that in public because…'
Kallen remembered how a mother scolded her child for pretending to be Zero.
'Because our leader Zero had killed Prince Clovis. There are many in our ranks who wish to know his true identity and the identity of his two Knights, Seizan and Shinyroku, myself included. But if we push too hard I suspect that they would vanish. And without them I'm fairly certain we'd be finished.'
"By the way, everyone I should let you know something." Tsunade spoke up, earning their attention. "My mother's applied for a job as the school doctor here and the Principal approved when he looked through her background."
"Your mother?" Lelouch asked, not expecting something like that.
"Yes. She's a doctor, a very skilled doctor. Enough that even Britannian clients have asked for her help." Tsunade nodded.
"You mean she's…" Shirley trailed off causing Nina to glance from her computer.
"Yes she is. I told you before, I'm half Britannian." C.C. shrugged. "Not that my father really cared when he met my mother, especially since she saved his life."
"Saved his life?" Kallen asked, now sounding curious.
"He was struck by a rare illness that would have resulted in a slow death with declining health if my mother hadn't been able to figure out how to treat it. Before Britannia established Area Eleven she traveled all across the country studying up on how to be a healer. Her medical skills have attracted numerous Britannian nobles who have gone to her secretly but led her to building up a lot of favors." C.C. explained. "My father offered her a private clinic, believing her skills would be better spent inside the settlement than in the Ghettos where she would have been in danger if anyone had figured out she both treated Elevens and Britannians."
"Why would she treat both?" Lelouch asked, playing along.
"Doctor's oath." C.C. simply answered. "She's healer first and she sticks by it. Personally I think she's just coming as an excuse to check up on me for the whole hostage incident. She can be quite… the handful."
"Makes sense to me." Suzaku offered, apparently approving of C.C.'s mother for her convictions. "Nice to know she's doing so well."
"Yes, if you mean having to work behind closed curtains." C.C. sighed as she stood up with a resigned look on her face. "The only reason I believe she hasn't left because father compromised with her that if he set up a clinic for her and kept herself hidden she'd get free reign to run it in any way she wanted with all the funds at her disposal. Wouldn't be good for nobles to hear that the best doctor in the settlement was an Eleven now would it?"
They all watched as C.C. walked out of the room.
"She seems a little upset." Shirley said with a sad look on her face. "Is something wrong?"
"Not really. She's just hoping her mother doesn't embarrass her too much." Naruto shrugged with a small smile. "Call me crazy but the life of a noble ain't always as cracked up as it sounds."
'Don't I know it.' Kallen thought as she stared at the door Tsunade had left.
Lelouch was staring at the door too but for different reasons. 'What are they up to? That story… Did they call someone here without telling me?'
None of them knew that Naruto and C.C. were mentally snickering in their heads. When the war was done they should think of taking a career in acting.
"Oh, looks like she's here." Naruto spotted a car stopping in front of the school. "Want to say hi?"
"Sure, why not?" Milly asked with a smile. "She sounds like an interesting woman."
The car stopped in the parking lot as Principal Ruben Ashford walked out with the Student Council behind him to greet the new employer at the school. As soon as the driver door opened the person stepped out, allowing everyone to see her.
"Holy…" Rivalz jaw nearly detached itself from his face. "She's… she's… hot!"
"That's Tsunade's mother?" Kallen asked, feeling a little insecure.
"Wow." Milly commented with intrigued smile. "I wonder if she has some kind of formula that lets her grow those."
"Madame President! Don't say things like that!" Shirley scolded but secretly wondered the same thing.
"Wow." Suzaku actually blushed and covered his eyes. "Mustn't stare. It'd be rude."
Lelouch was silent but he had to struggle not to stare…
For C.C.'s so called mother was drop dead gorgeous.
She had brown eyes with blond hair that fell mid-back and was tied in twin pigtails. She wore blue pants, a white shirt unbuttoned at the top with a green jacket. Her skin was smooth and fair with a touch of pink lipstick on her lips but what caught everyone's attention(especially Rivalz's) was the size of her large bust barely hidden by her blouse.
"Welcome to Ashford, Mrs. Senju." Ruben offered her hand which she shook. "I heard many good things about you."
"Ah, knowing my daughter half of it was not true." The woman laughed as she looked at the crowd. "Speaking of which…"
"Here we go." C.C. sighed dramatically and walked out of the crowd. "Hello, Mother."
"TSU-CHAN!" The woman rushed forward and picked C.C. up in a tight hug. "There you are!"
"Holy crap!" Rivalz envied C.C. very much right now. "Look at them! That hugging…"
"Have you found someone else, Rivalz?" Milly asked, a sudden hint of steal in her voice.
"Uh-no! Not at all!" Rivalz quickly answered.
C.C.'s mother finally put her down, allowing the green haired a girl a chance to breath but she didn't seem bothered at all. "So, tell me. Have you and Naruto taken the next step? Will I be expecting little grandchildren to spoil?"
"HUH?!" Shirley and Kallen gaped. 'Did she seriously ask that question?'
"No, Mother. We agreed until after graduation." C.C. answered, completely calm despite the outrageous question. "For now it's just massages and the occasional quickies."
That made everyone blush with Nina taking a step back as her face went tomato red.
"Oh dear. I was so looking forward to the good news." The woman looked at the Student Council. "So is this Student Council you've told me about?"
"Yes. The walking stick is Lelouch, he offered to let us stay at the clubhouse." C.C. pointed at Lelouch who frowned but offered his hand.
"A pleasure, Mrs. Senju."
"Mito. Just call me Mito." The woman shook his hand. "Now then, shall we get my office set up?"
"Of course, Mrs. Senju." To his credit Principal Ashford didn't seem affected by the woman's antics, probably because of the antics of his granddaughter. "This way please."
"Oh, a gentlemen." Mito smiled as she followed him into the school.
"She's an interesting one." Suzaku commented with a nervous smile.
"Yeah." Lelouch watched as Mito walked away. "Very interesting."
As they walked away Mito shared a grin that Naruto mirrored while C.C. had a small mischievous smile on her face as C.C. and Naruto's eyes turned into the Rinnegan while Mito's eyes became turquoise for an instant.
Screwing with Lelouch and the students was fun.
"What are you up to?" Lelouch took off his cat ears as he followed C.C. and Naruto onto the roof. "I know the person that's here is not Tsunade's 'mother'."
"Don't act so suspicious, Lelouch. We're just asking for 'someone' to come who will be a great help to us." Naruto said in a reassuring tone.
"And you're only telling this now?" Lelouch narrowed his eyes.
"Better now than later." C.C. shrugged.
"Who is this person?" Lelouch wanted to know who it was they called.
"No spoilers, even for the great Zero." C.C. waved one finger at the former prince. "You'll just have to wait and see along with everyone else."
Lelouch grunted, not liking it when C.C. or Naruto did something like this. As war advisors they had both proven themselves to highly effective and valuable but at the same time they liked to go off on their own from time to time leaving him to wonder what they were scheming and it was sometimes very frustrating.
"What about you? What are your plans regarding Cornelia? So far she's stopped targeting Japanese resistance groups since what happened at Lake Kawaguchi. Either she's planning a new strategy or something's caught her attention." Naruto changed the subject.
"Hmm… It's obvious she's focusing on the shipments of Refrain." Lelouch replied, ignoring Naruto changing the subject. "With the Black Knights dealing with all known criminal activity in Area Eleven she's leaving us alone for a bit since Refrain decreases productivity from working Elevens. Cornelia's a soldier; she doesn't have time to deal with small time crooks."
"And the Chinese Federation is the most likely suspect for smuggling in Refrain." C.C. offered her own views. "It's easy for nobility to be bribed to look the other way."
"Great. What does this drug do anyways?" Naruto asked.
"It allows the user to re-experience the happiest moments of their life and like all drugs it forces them to become dependent on it." Lelouch answered.
"Who designed a drug like that?"
"Knowing V.V. it was probably a product of the Geass Directorate." C.C. answered causing both to look at her.
"And why is that?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"The Geass Directorate has been studying Geass for a long time now and in that time many of its members of produced unique Geass that V.V wished to study and he has no qualms about experimenting on them to the point that they would die." C.C. explained.
"So this Refrain could have come from someone who's Geass made people relive happy memories." Naruto scowled. "They must be selling it to the Numbers to use them as test subjects."
"Not for long." Lelouch spoke up. "We're ending it."
"Why would the mass flock around those who saved Euphemia?" Shogo Asahina asked, annoyed by the fame of the Black Knights.
Kyoshiro Todoh and the Four Holy Swords, members of the Japanese Liberation Front sat together in an important meeting, discussing the Black Knights.
"Even Kyoto said that they would send the Black Knights the Guren Mk II." Ryoga Senba muttered.
"To those would be Robin Hoods?" Kotetsu Urabe scoffed.
"They're not part of the resistance. Handing Kusakabe over to Cornelia to be tortured and interrogated was proof of that." Nagisa Chiba stated.
"It's not like he was coming back after the stunt he pulled." Senba pointed out.
"In any case, Lieutenant Colonel Todoh, we can't let this stand." Urabe pointed out.
Todoh however remained silent with his eyes closed in thought.
"Mistress Kallen. Mistress Kallen."
Kallen walked down the stairs as the maid called out to her and saw the front door was open with someone waiting for her.
"Madam President? Naruto?" Kallen asked when she saw Milly and Naruto.
"I just dropped by to give you something." Milly shrugged.
"And I offered to come along because I had nothing better to do." Naruto smiled.
"Where would you like me to show them to? The parlor perhaps? Or maybe-" The maid asked.
"We'll be in my room." Kallen answered coldly.
"As you wish." The maid bowed her head.
"Oh." A voice made them look up to see a woman walking down the stairs.
She had long blond hair held up straight with a red band with a strand falling over the left side of her face while dressed a purple dress that showed off her status and she stared at them with icy blue eyes.
"I thought I heard voices and I see you have brought friends over, one of them even being a boy. Is he the reason you've been out all night and missing school, not to mention all your visits to the Ghetto. You're lucky your father's back in the homeland." The woman said rudely. "No fighting one's blood is there?"
The maid flinched and took a step back. Naruto glared at the woman with a harsh look, instantly hating her.
'Great, another rich obnoxious bitch.' Naruto thought.
"You're the one enjoying Dad not being here, aren't you?" Kallen countered with a scowl.
The woman scowled at Kallen's tone and would have said something if not for the sound of something breaking.
"Oh dear. What have I done?" The maid gasped as she looked down at the broken vase.
"What's wrong with you?" The woman demanded angrily.
"Forgive me, milady, forgive me." The maid pleaded as she started to pick up the pieces.
"Can't you do anything right? Besides selling your body that is." The woman sneered.
Kallen threw one look at the maid before leading Milly and Naruto up to her room. Naruto glanced at the maid, sensing feelings of anger, sadness, regret, and,
'She's happy.' Naruto thought as the maid smiled up at Kallen when the red haired girl wasn't looking. 'She's happy about Kallen.'
"Quite the complicated home life you live, isn't it?" Milly asked with a weak smile.
"So what is it you wanted to give me?" Kallen asked, changing the subject.
"Grandfather asked me to pass this on." Milly pulled a smaller letter out of her bag.
"You mean the principal?" Kallen asked curiously.
"Your transcripts since middle school." Milly slid the letter across the table to Kallen. "I thought I'd better give them to you off of school ground."
Kallen gasped slightly as she stared down at the letter before looking up at Kallen. "So my secret's out then, isn't it? That I'm actually an Eleven and Britannian half breed. That was my stepmother down there. My real mother was that clod of a maid who knocked over the vase."
She finished transcripts and slid them back to Milly.
"And your father, is he the head of the Stadfeld family?" Milly asked.
"My mother is such a fool. In the end she wound up a servant. She doesn't have any real skills, no matter who's ridiculing her all she can do is laugh like it's nothing." Kallen looked down at the table with disappointed look on her face. "She didn't have to choose to stay in this house you know? She's just clinging to some old lover who's jilted her."
Milly heard the anger in Kallen's voice at the end. "You really hate your mother don't you?"
"I just find her depressing." Kallen picked up the tea pot and poured some tea to calm herself down and for her guests.
"Well this is getting a little heavy." Milly looked out the window. "Imagine, the wife, the daughter, and the other woman all living together."
"Yeah, I'm not going there." Naruto shook his head.
"Ah, could be worse." Kallen shrugged it off. "Three square meals and a roof right? I mean it's not unbearable, most of the time anyway."
"That's good." Milly smiled. "Have you told Naruto or Tsunade about this? I'm sure they can relate."
"Yeah except we don't have a bitch for a stepmother living in our house." Naruto quickly pointed out and glanced at Kallen. "No offence."
"None taken. And Tsunade did after all have no problem talking about her parents. I wonder though, if she's at all happy with the way her mother's living. Forced to work behind closed door and probably only being a doctor anyone who's important." Kallen thought back to the way Tsunade's mother had been when she arrived. "She seems… free spirited."
"Yeah. Not what you expected at all, huh?" Milly chuckled. "Tsunade must be really use to it if she didn't even react."
"Everyone's family has their own baggage." Naruto commented. "Tsunade hasn't had to put up with too much grief but she doesn't talk about it with anyone and I've only seen a few glimpses."
"Still, some things in life we can bear on our own, but when you add 'em all up they eventually break you." Milly said thoughtfully as Kallen looked at her. "Oh don't worry. I won't lie, I'm always hungry for secrets but I'd never talk about this."
Milly took a sip of her tea.
"I can't believe you teared up." Lelouch said from the Student Council table while reading a magazine. "It's embarrassing."
"It's called honesty." Suzaku retorted, flitching as Arthur bit him again.
Matatabi purred and mentally smirked as Arthur was put on top of the fire place next to her.
"Well good thing the Black Knights were to save 'em. That's all I can say." Lelouch glanced over his shoulder for a second.
He noticed Suzaku seemingly freeze for a second.
"If they wanted to catch criminals they could have joined the police force you know." Suzaku pointed out. "Why don't they I wonder."
Lelouch glowered as the cat meowed and looked back at his magazine. "They probably don't think the cops are up to the job. I tend to agree."
"The police may not be effective right now but they could evoke change from within." Suzaku turned around, sounding frustrated from the endless talk of Zero and the Black Knights.
"Yeah and in the process they get all tangled up in red tape and bureaucracy." Lelouch answered swiftly.
"If they had done everything in their power to change things that might hold water." Suzaku said as Matatabi waved her paw at him, seemingly trying to smack him. "As long as they don't then all of it's just self-righteous posturing."
"Self-righteous?" Lelouch looked back at Suzaku.
"And what constitutes evil in their eyes? What standards are they using? It's nothing but self satisfying gratification." Suzaku would have continued if the door hadn't opened, allowing Shirley to walk in.
"Oh, it's just you two?" Shirley asked as Suzaku stood up.
"Anyways, I guess I gotta go back to the base pretty soon. See ya around, Shirley." Suzaku smiled at her as he walked out of the room.
"Later." Shirley called out with a smile as Suzaku left.
Lelouch watched as Suzaku left and turned back to his book.
Turning around to face Lelouch Shirley tried to draw upon her confidence.
"So Lulu," The orange haired girl began, trying to once more ask Lelouch out without freezing up. "I was, um, I was thinking if you had some time, you and I-"
"'Back to base,'" Lelouch muttered, cutting Shirley off, anger clearly evident in his tone of voice. "Now that was an interesting choice of words."
Shirley saw how annoyed Lelouch was and was surprised by how differently he was acting from his usual self.
"'Go back', implying that's where he thinks he belongs." Lelouch spat.
"Refrain?"
Kallen had gone to the shopping district of the Tokyo Settlement, needing to get out of that woman's house and get some fresh air for a bit. She called Ohgi, wondering if Zero had another mission for them yet.
" It's a psychotropic, makes you think you've gone back to the past. " Ohgi answered.
"Must be all the rage here in Japan." Kallen remarked in distaste at the Japanese being further exploited,
" Yeah, well who doesn't long for the days before the occupation, right? " Ohgi remarked humourlessly.
"Hm." Kallen frowned.
" The stuff was specifically targeted at the Japanese so we can't very well ignore it. Soon as the Burais are stocked we move. "
"Supplies keep rolling in and I hear lots of people are ready to join us. Black Knights sure are popular, huh?" Kallen remarked.
" Well, we are the Heroic Knights for justice. I'll call you when the ammo gets here. "
Kallen nodded, even though Ohgi couldn't see her and hung up.
She could finally take the fight to Britannia, rather than attacking from the shadows while Zero's personal knights fought the Knightmares. She decided to leave because she would have a long night and needed to get as much rest as she needed. She didn't get far though.
She spotted a group of Britannian street thugs beating on a Japanese man wearing a Hotdog Vendor uniform.
"Come on Eleven, say something," A Britannian, who had his jacket open and hanging off his shoulders, said as he kicked the downed Eleven.
"You are sorry, aren't ya?" A second Britannian said who had a grey vest and short cut grey colored hair.
"Bowing your heads is what you Elevens do best, right?" A third Britannian added snidely, this one had blonde hair that went just above his shoulders with a vest and tie over his reddish colored shirt.
"Eleven," Kallen muttered, ready to attack but a hand on her shoulder stopped her and she whirled around in response to see a familiar head of raven hair and violet eyes. "Lelouch?"
"No, there's five of them." Lelouch pointed out to her. "You wouldn't stand a chance at all."
"So you think I should just ignore it?" Kallen asked him, barely managing to conceal her anger.
"Go on," Lelouch said gesturing to the vender with his head. "Take a good look at that Eleven."
While Kallen unhappily did as he asked her, and turned to look at the scene just in time to see the Eleven being kicked in the head. She looked at the hotdog on the man's uniform and the hotdog cart just a couple feet away from where he was lying, being kicked by the five Britannian males.
"If we intervene and help him win, he wouldn't be able to sell a thing tomorrow." Lelouch observed indifferently, "It was his choice to become a Britannian slave, that's just the price you pay for working in the settlement."
"Well even so…" Kallen murmured.
"It's not easy to have to sit back and watch someone suffer like this." Naruto's voice said from behind the two of them, catching her and Lelouch by surprise.
Behind them Naruto was holding a few bags with C.C. looping one arm around his left arm. Naruto was wearing a black T-shirt with a black and orange jacket with blue pants while C.C.'s hair was out of its pony tail and she was dressed in a white and blue sundress and white sandals on her feet while a white hat covered her head.
"I'm no stranger to this and it really pisses me off." Naruto stated with a cold look at the punks attacking the vendor.
"You got a problem over there?" Kallen turned and saw the thugs walking over to them. "You're not feeling sorry for this Eleven are ya?"
"Nah." Another said. "They feel the same way we do, don't you guys?"
"Not quite." Lelouch chuckled as he activated his Geass. "But you're tired of beating up on Elevens, aren't you?"
Naruto and C.C. both watched as Lelouch's Geass easily took hold of the thugs while Kallen had no clue of what was going on.
"Yeah, this is boring." The first Britannian said, as he and his friends turned to leave.
"You guys wanna hit the arcade?" The second member asked.
"I got no cash." The third complained.
"Well they got bored pretty quick, huh." Lelouch said amusedly.
'You're just lucking she wasn't looking or she might have figured what was happening.' Naruto thought, wondering why Lelouch would bother when he could have just let Naruto give their asses the kicking they deserved.
Kallen didn't pay Lelouch much attention, as she rushed past him to help the injured Hotdog seller.
"Hey, are you all right?" Kallen asked gently.
The Hotdog seller was at first surprised that anyone was helping him, but when he looked up the first thing he noticed was the Ashford crest on Kallen's tie.
"Huh, a Britannian student!" He greeted with a forced smile. "What can I get for you, how about a nice California hotdog, miss?" He then noticed Lelouch, Naruto, and C.C. "Are these your friends? I can get them something too. I have ice cream if you like."
"Here." Naruto slapped several dollar bills onto the counter. "We'll each have a scoop of ice cream please."
"Yes sir!" The vendor quickly handed four ice cream cones to the teens while Naruto slapped several dollar bills on the table. "Uh, sir-"
"Keep the change." Naruto said as he and C.C. turned and walked away. "Have a nice day."
"Th-thank you." The man stuttered in shock.
"Did you tip him with a hundred dollars?" C.C. asked, earning Lelouch and Kallen's surprised attention.
"I thought it was just a few twenties." Naruto said with a foxy smirk.
Kallen was surprised that Naruto would do such a thing but offered a small smile as she licked her ice cream. "Why'd you do that?"
Naruto took a lick of his own ice cream. "Do what?"
"Help him like that. Why would you do that?" Kallen asked.
"Why not? It's not like I support the whole Number system. In fact I find it to be completely foolish and self-destructive." Naruto shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Kallen wondered suddenly just who was Naruto and his girl friend.
"The whole reason the Japanese or the Elevens as the idiots in this town call them are fighting is because not only was their land stolen but so was their pride, history, culture, and even their name. It's actions like these that foster hatred that is passed down from generation to generation, creating terrorists and resistance fighters that would do anything to see Britannia forced off their homeland, even it means committing heinous acts, like killing unharmed civilians and god forbid not caring if they were Britannian citizens or Japanese." Naruto explained.
Kallen flinched as she knew of several resistance groups that had done that. She may hate Britannians but she never condoned attacking civilians, especially children. She then stopped and realized Naruto had said Japanese, not Elevens.
"It can't be helped though." Lelouch sat down on a bench. "It's not the vendor's fault his family were born as Elevens and it's because of that he's lucky to scrape by. It's sad, though because in some ways Area Eleven is better than the old Japan ever was."
"What?" Kallen gaped at Lelouch, wondering what would make him say such a thing while C.C. raised one eyebrow and Naruto glanced at Lelouch.
"Being made a colony of the Empire has stabilized the military and economic position in the world. Elevens can even attain full citizenship through the legal process. It's easy to become an Honorary Britannian, it's just a question of pride really. Though, I can certainly understand why they resist." Lelouch explained.
"It's actually a lot more than pride, if you consider how eager the military was to pin Prince Clovis's murder on Suzaku. If not for Zero they would have executed an innocent man, all because he's not a true Britannian. Becoming an Honorary Britannian doesn't really change anything; you're still an Eleven, thus making you lower than trash and it makes things convenient of who to blame if and when things go wrong." Naruto pointed out with a small scowl. "Who wants to believe an Honorary Britannian being innocent of a crime when he's accused by a full blooded Britannian? And the government just expects them to accept it, not caring if they will fight because in their mind the Elevens aren't capable of anything since they 'lost' the war. That's the kind of thinking that breeds hatred and causes wars even if it's just small scale resistance."
Kallen looked at both of them. "And?"
"Hm?" Naruto and Lelouch glanced at Kallen.
"Knowing all that, what do Lelouch Lamperouge and Naruto Uzumaki think about it at all? What do you wanna do?"
"Wanna do? Are you asking us if a bunch of students plan to do something about it?" Naruto asked with a curious tone in his voice as he looked at Kallen. "And what makes you think we can do anything about it? We're just a trio of students, two of us being half-breeds. What good are we?"
"That doesn't answer my question. What do you think you should do?" Kallen asked, pressing forward slightly.
"Nothing." Lelouch answered. "There's no point to it."
Kallen narrowed her eyes, glaring at Lelouch. "You know, you've got a lot of brains but you don't seem to be doing much with them. It's all Shirley talks about, saying how intelligent you are but how you ever really apply yourself."
"That's why I don't do anything." Lelouch shrugged. "The Eleven back there could tell you. He could lead a better life as long as he bows his head to Britannia."
'That's funny, considering he does the opposite when he's Zero.' Naruto thought as Kallen slapped Lelouch across the face.
"You must think you're pretty cool huh?" Kallen said angrily. "Just playing critic and judging the world from the sidelines. Shirley is wrong to expect anything more from you. And I thought you were a better man this, but I guess I was wrong."
She stomped off, leaving the three to stare at her as she left.
"Wow… For someone who's got tons of girls crushing on him you suck at dealing with the female gender, huh?" Naruto commented with a small smile.
"Seems so." Lelouch smirked as he rubbed his cheek. "At least that'll erase any lingering suspicions she has about me being Zero."
"You did that just because she still might have thought you were Zero? And here I thought you were open to having a social life." C.C. remarked.
"Zero can't afford to be discovered by anyone. It's too soon to even consider the chance." Lelouch replied.
"Even if she doesn't put two and two together that you somehow made the bullies stop attacking the vendor by simply asking them she might think you were using the same power Zero said he could use when making eye contact." Naruto pointed out.
"Zero's power commands, all I did was offer a suggestion." Lelouch answered. "And with Kallen's dislike of me she won't believe that I have any connection."
"And now what?" Naruto asked. "Locate those drug dealers and stop their operations?"
"Yes. With the Refrain productions stopped the nobility in Area Eleven will be unable to continue getting dirty money from desperate Elevens." Lelouch nodded.
"And if we steal the money we could use it for our operations." C.C. pointed out which Naruto and Lelouch agreed.
Money and resources were needed to finance the Black Knights and their resistance movement.
"What about Cornelia? Won't she be cracking down on these drug dealers?" Naruto asked, wondering why Cornelia hadn't been arresting the drug dealers herself.
"Cornelia's more of a soldier than a politician. She has no patience for this kind of stuff and she probably has left Euphemia in charge of trying to deal with the corruption in the justice system." Lelouch frowned.
"Great, a war hawk with a moral code with no patience for politics what so ever." Naruto closed his eyes. "On the plus side that's a major improvement but unless she cleans up this mess it won't matter if she defeats Zero and the Black Knights because this corruption will still be here."
"Which works to our advantage." Lelouch smirked.
"Sir, about this Orange thing." Villetta started.
She and Jeremiah were both at a bar, enjoying a few drinks to take their minds off the stress they've endured for the last few weeks. They had been working to discover just who might be under Zero's payroll and to their disappointment they hadn't found a single person who displayed any strange or erratic behavior that would make them a suspect. It was annoying to say the least since Cornelia was giving the Purists a second chance and they were not making any progress.
Jeremiah grunted and Villetta quickly tried to calm him. "Sorry to bring it up. Is it true though? That you can't remember about when Private Suzaku Kururugi was taken?"
"I don't expect you to believe me." Jeremiah answered with his eyes closed.
"No, it's just that… During the whole Shinjuku Incident I suffered some sort of memory lapse also." Villetta explained.
"You did?" Jeremiah glanced at her with a surprised look on his face.
"By the time I regained my senses my Sutherland had been stolen. But right before that entire gap in my memory I remember running into some high school kid." Villetta looked down at the counter and then back at Jeremiah.
"So you think it was that student?" Jeremiah asked.
"I can't remember his face but those two advanced Knightmares that helped Zero rescue Private Kururugi were with him. There might still be a way to get to the bottom of this." Villetta said, a plan forming in her mind.
"What the hell is Zero thinking? After all his talk of bringing down Britannia. He's just got us running around, helping the police." Tamaki complained as the Black Knights waited behind a warehouse for Zero to show up.
"It still feels good to have the will of the people behind us though." Ohgi pointed out.
"Yeah, he's right. We're totally heroes on the net." Kento agreed.
"Are we in the right? I don't know anymore." Kallen muttered, hiding behind the group with her jacket draped over her back.
Lelouch and Naruto's words had been echoing in her head for the whole day, even now she could hear them.
"Kallen…" Ohgi glanced at her, wondering what was wrong.
Before he could ask her everyone spotted a blinking light in the darkness on the other side of warehouse.
"There's the signal from Zero." Yoshida whispered.
"I can't believe he got in there." Kento commented.
"How many tricks does this guy have up his sleeve anyway?" Tamaki wondered.
Inside the warehouse workers were unloading the shipment of Refrain they had received.
"Is the shipment for Nagaya ready?"
"Nice and safe here in the Settlement huh?"
That was when their work was interrupted by bullets blasting through the steel door, taking out several Britannian workers as they scattered, crying out in shock. The door fell over, allowing the attackers to step in.
"The Black Knights have arrived!" Tamaki said as he began shooting.
Several guards tried to shoot back but as a red Knightmare, the new Guren Mk-II wheeled into the warehouse, firing its gun off at the Britannian drug dealers.
"A Knightmare?!" One of them shouted as they turned and ran for their lives.
"These Knightmares really are amazing. Each one is an army unto itself." Kallen nodded as she blasted through a door that tried to close. "Huh?"
The room was dark but Guren was equipped with night vision sensors, allowing Kallen to get a clear image of many Japanese people in the room, not one of them even glancing at the Guren's sudden entrance.
"Japan! Japan!"
"That's right; I'm getting married next month!"
"I'm being promoted!"
"Leave it to us! Japan is on the vanguard of technology!"
"Refrain…" Kallen muttered, now seeing its affects in action.
Her eyes spotted the same hot dog vendor she, Lelouch, Naruto, and C.C. met earlier today. "I'm studying abroad! I can't believe I got in!"
Kallen couldn't help but remember Milly's words. 'When add them all up they eventually break you.'
"That's right, which is why I'm here." Kallen declared, filled with anger for what was being done to all these people.
"Careful, it's dangerous to run like that."
That one voice made Kallen gasp as she recognized it instantly. The Guren's sensors angled down as someone stepped out in front of it.
"Mother?" Kallen asked, seemingly make the woman trip.
Kallen acted on instinct, catching the woman with the Guren's hand and lifted her up, in front of the cockpit.
"Really, Naoto, please. I need you to keep an eye on your little sister." The woman continued, still under the affects of the drug.
Kallen gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. "My god, how weak of a woman are you, Mother? First you give into Britannia and then into a man and now this. My brother is gone forever, let him go."
She was so focused on her mother that she didn't react in time as the Guren's right arm was shot off by another Knightmare.
Kallen looked over and spotted the perpetrator. "The Knight Police?!"
She quickly wheeled off as it fired at her again.
"Isn't that a police unit?" Minami asked as the rest of the group came into the room.
"They're in on this deal?" Ohgi looked over his shoulder. "Tamaki!"
"Don't look at me! When I checked there wasn't any police involved!" Tamaki retorted defensively.
"Corrupted filth." Zero spat.
Kallen wheeled through the warehouse, dodging the bullets being fired at her and was about to fire the gun on the Guren's left arm when she spotted her mother. "You're in the way! Damn it! I don't need you! I don't want you!"
She was sorely tempted to toss her mother to the side but she never got the chance as the white Glasgow fired at her legs and managed to make it trip. It skidded across the floor but suffered no damage as Kallen's mother fell out of the Guren's hand.
"Kallen… Naoto…" The woman muttered.
Kallen gritted her teeth as the Glasgow shot at her back.
Zero and the others made it around the corner to see the Guren down and under attack.
'My Geass won't work on a Knightmare.' Lelouch thought and turned to Naruto and C.C. "Seizan! Shinryoku! Hurry!"
"Hold on, Zero." Naruto stated, making no move to attack nor did C.C.
"Huh?" Lelouch gaped.
What was Naruto thinking? Why won't he move? The Glasgow finally stopped firing, tossing its gun aside and stomped over the Guren.
Kallen opened her eyes and looked at her mother. "Go on… Run!"
Her mother sat up and looked at her.
"Get moving you idiot!" Kallen shouted, not understanding why she wouldn't move.
"I'm here for you." Those four words made Kallen freeze. "I'm here for you, Kallen. I'm here as I always have been."
Kallen's eyes widened as her breath escaped her. All the images of her mother staying with her, being abused flooded her mind but the one thing that stood out was…
Her smile.
"Then that's… That's why you stayed in his house? You stayed there for me?" Kallen whispered with widened eyes as tears threatened to fall. "You fool!"
She grunted as the Guren shook while the Glasgow behind her pulled out a sword to finish her. That seemed to bring her back as she spun the Guren around and grabbing the Glasgow's arm before it stabbed her.
"Or maybe… I'm the fool." Kallen murmured as she opened her eyes.
She fired her Slash Harkens out and when they went through an open hole in a nearby shelf and into the wall she retracted them, pulling the Guren and Glasgow forward. The Guren slid through the hole while the Glasgow was slammed into the shelf, tearing its head off.
"Kallen!" Ohgi shouted as he and the rest of the group ran to the Guren.
Kallen opened her eyes and looked over to where her mother was.
"I'm so happy for you. You can finally become a Britannian now, Kallen. Nobody will ever be able to hurt you now, darling. And you're free to travel and use the phone anytime you want." The woman continued in her drugged state.
'So this… is her mother?' Lelouch wondered as he glanced at Seizan. 'Is that why you did not help, Naruto?'
"She needed to face this on her own. She now understands why her mother never left her, why any mother would never leave her child." Naruto answered.
'False tears bring pain to those around you. False smile brings pain to oneself.' C.C. thought as they simply stood and watched as Kallen ran over to her mother grabbing her in a tight hug as she began to cry.
"It's an after effect of Refrain. She's unable to talk much. She'll recover eventually but it will take time." The nurse said.
Kallen simply looked at her mother who stared down at the bed. The nurse left to give them both some time alone.
"Mother, your sentence. You got twenty years." Kallen said, struggling to keep herself calm and quiet so no one would hear her. "But you wait! I'm working to change things when you get out. I swear to you, I'll make a world where you and I can live a normal life again. So please, mother…"
Kallen was about to tear up but stopped as her mother's hand reached to hers. "Hang in there."
"Uh?" Kallen looked at her mother.
"Hang in there, Kallen. My little girl." Her mother didn't change her facial expression but Kallen didn't care.
She held her mother's hand as she smiled. "I will… I promise you."
Kallen left the hospital, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes as she walked down the street back to her home.
'At least she won't be bullied by the bitch of the house.' Kallen thought optimistically.
As she walked she had suddenly had the feeling she was being watched and she looked behind to see if she was right. However no one was following her, at least she couldn't see anyone behind her. She resumed her walking and made a quick turn into an alley as she reached for her pocket knife.
"Is that really necessary?"
Kallen spun around, ready to use her knife but stopped when she saw who it was. "Shinryoku?"
One of Zero's two personal Knights, the woman dressed in her black and grey armor, gray cloak, and avian mask covering her face stood in front of her. Kallen wondered how the cloaked woman was able to move so fast without being noticed but she supposed this woman's skills and her own immunity to Zero's Geass was what made her so valuable.
"Your mother… Will she be all right?" The masked woman asked, not sounding concerned even though she asked.
"Yes. She will be. I'll make sure of it." Kallen nodded, switching into 'soldier' mode. "Why have you come?"
"Come with me. I would like to show you something." Shinryoku held out her hand.
Kallen stared at the hand for a second before reaching out and touching it. Shinryoku dropped a kunai on the ground and in a flash of yellow light they both vanished.
Kallen had no idea what happened to her but she moment her feet touched the ground she had the urge to throw up. She stepped back, groaning as she put a hand on her stomach.
"Don't worry. It happens to all first-timers." Shinryoku said casually.
"Wha-what was that?" Kallen managed to stand up straight and looked around. "This is…"
She was standing on the roof of Ashford Academy!
"Impressive, isn't it?" Shinryoku asked. "Able to instantly move from one location to the other."
Kallen looked at the masked woman. "How? Is this related to how you and Seizan are Zero's personal Knights? Does this have something to do with his Geass?"
"You are smart." Shinryoku commented as she took a step forward. "The answer to your question is yes but not completely. And right now this is about you."
"Me?"
"Why did you choose your Japanese heritage over your Britannian heritage?" The masked woman asked.
"Uh?" Kallen wasn't expecting that question. "What would ask me that? It's not like it's any of your business."
"You abused your own mother to make her leave when she was treated lower than trash by your stepmother while your father remains in the Homeland. I can't imagine him deciding to marry a bitch like her, meaning it must have been an arranged marriage after Britannia conquered Japan and reduced the Japanese, including your mother to mere Elevens."
Kallen bit back a growl in her throat but she glared at her leader's Knight. "How'd you find out?"
"Zero keeps us around for a reason. Now then, it's your turn." The woman said.
Kallen narrowed her eyes. "… I fight because my brother fought for Japan's freedom. He formed our group and he led us, kept us going… and he died." She trailed off for a moment. "I fight for my brother and his dream, for my mother and her wish to be with me in a normal life. I fight for my friends to make our dream of a free Japan a reality."
"A lofty goal." Shinryoku commented. "Now then, are you willing to give up even your own soul to fulfil your dream?"
"Huh?" Kallen was confused. "Of course. I'd give it my all. Why do you ask?"
"How do you think Zero achieved his Geass?" Shinryoku asked rhetorically. "Do you believe he was born with it or was he given it?"
Kallen's eyes widened. "Did you… you gave him that power?"
"And I can give you that power or another power as well that can help you in your quest to defeat Britannia. The power will be shaped by your desire in return for a favor." Shinryoku stated.
Kallen took a step back. "And what favor do you want from me?"
"I do not know yet. When the time comes I will tell you." Shinryoku held out her hand. "Do you accept this contract?"
"And what is this other power?" Kallen asked, wondering why she would be offered the kind of power Zero.
Shinryoku reached up to her mask and seemed to remove it, causing Kallen to gasp, but she only moved to the side to show her left eye.
An eye with a purple sclera with multiple black rings expanding out from the pupil in a ripple like manner and a purple bird like symbol glowing around the black dot that was the pupil.
"Wha-what is that? Is that Geass?" Kallen took a step back.
"It's a fusion of Geass, the Power of the King, and the Rinnegan, the Eyes of God." Shinryoku put her mask back on. "Both of which I and Seizan possess, allowing us great power that no one would believe could exist."
"Rinnegan?" Kallen whispered.
"Yes. And we can grant one of these two powers to anyone who chooses to accept a contract with us." Shinryoku said but in reality she was the only who could grant Geass or the Rinnegan.
The power of her Code left over from fusing her power with Naruto's.
"You have proven you what it takes to use one of these powers and so I offer to you, the Power of the King or Queen in your case or the Eyes of God. We shall see which power you earn if you accept."
Kallen stared at the hand and at the woman's masked face. "… I accept."
She shook Shinryoku's hand and in an instant the world as she knew it changed forever.