Grr, the pre-chapter for this chapter isn't my best work. It's supposed to introduce Dimitri but, for some odd reason, it just doesn't seem that great.
Bakura: naturally, it sucked
Shut up, Bakura. Anyway, (glances at the date of the last update) August 13th? Sweet, up in less than a month. Next chapter will be up on Sunday. This time, I promise you that it will be up on Sunday.
Hmm, eleven people reviewed the last chapter. You guys are awesome! Thank you to Shadow-Shinobi666, Determined Savior, ewertondragon, Otaku-Nation666, Risembool Ranger8, Hufflepuffkat, PiroWolfxL, davycrockett100, DYnoJackal19, squeegywing, and Shimmering-Sky for reviewing the last chapter. And a quick thank you to Suzululu4moe for reviewing the first five chapters. You guys are awesome!
Bakura: you already said that, baka
Cállate, estúpido idiota!
Bakura: you just called me a stupid idiot, didn't you?
Where the hell did you learn Spanish?
Bakura: I have my ways
...You stole Kaiba's Rosetta Stone, didn't you? (I don't own this)
Bakura: are you really surprised?
No, I suppose not. Anyway, here is the introduction of Dimitri, a little bit of long-distance Lulu/Shirley (grins), a tiny bit with Lulu's new fangirl, and a look into Naoto's perspective. Yeah, that's pretty much it. And now that I have spoiled this entire chapter, enjoy and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
. . .
. . .
August 10, 2015
Duncan Manor, Osaka Settlement
Dimitri Duncan peered out the large window of his room with narrowed eyes. The streets were eerily empty, though Dimitri knew that was only because of the terrorist attack that had occurred earlier that day. Five years had gone by since the invasion of Japan, now called Area 11, and terrorist always seemed to attack on the anniversary of the start of the invasion.
It was for that reason that Dimitri was indoors, even though he would much rather be with his parents. His parents had left the day before to go hiking to the Minoh Falls and Dimitri hadn't wanted to go with. Even if he did enjoy the outdoors, he just didn't feel like it.
Now, he wished that he had gone.
He didn't like being cooped up in the house with virtually nothing to do. While he was eighteen and could leave the house if he wanted to, he knew that it would be suicide with how active the terrorists where.
And the fact that Osaka, like Tokyo, was a hotspot for terrorist attacks on the anniversary.
He sighed and got to his feet, walking out of his room. He decided that if he couldn't go outside then he could, at least, find something to do. So he headed for the library; his parents library was large and held many kinds of books that proved interesting.
Dimitri was going not for the books, this time, but for the maps.
Ever since he was little, Dimitri enjoyed looking at maps and drawing various landmarks he found on them; drawing, by itself, was something an old friend of his had gotten him into as a hobby since she did it as well. He was good at navigation as well as he had once helped his parents find their destination after they had gotten lost when they were going to visit Akita.
Maps and navigation weren't the only things that he enjoyed looking at or doing though; he also enjoyed working with computers and had taught himself how to navigate his way around a computer system. He could even hack various places and without his parents knowing at that. Granted, he didn't do that often but he did keep in mind that it might come in handy, at least according to Gabriel, who was a friend of his parents and a computer genius.
"Um, Lord Duncan, would you like something to eat?" One of the Eleven maids that worked in the Duncan household said as Dimitri walked past her.
"Not right now," he said dismissively.
"Um, okay, sir."
Dimitri disappeared into the library and headed toward the geography section. He scanned the books and atlases that were located there until he found the book that he had been reading the last time he had come in here.
He pulled it out and made his way to a spare table, opening the book up to the page where he had stopped. The makeshift drawing of the map that Dimitri had been making was lodged between the pages.
He removed it and began flipping through the book, reading about the landmarks and historic sites that filled the area that the map was based on. That was another thing that he enjoyed doing; he enjoyed reading about history and historical landmarks.
He has always been a history buff as well.
The door opened and Dimitri looked up as the maid from earlier came into the room. "Um, you have a call, Lord Duncan," she said nervously, wringing her hands together as if afraid something bad would happen since she interrupted him.
Nothing bad would happen. Dimitri may have been raised to be discriminatory against Elevens but he didn't hate them and he always gave them a chance to prove that they weren't a threat. Not all Elevens were terrorists and, while many Britannians might believe that isn't true, Dimitri wasn't among them.
"Who?" Dimitri asked.
"Your father."
"I'll be up in a minute."
"Yes, sir." The maid left and Dimitri sighed, putting his makeshift bookmark back into the book, figuring he wouldn't be able to come back to his hobby until later. Putting the book back in its proper spot, he left the library to go and see what his father wanted.
. . .
8
Navigating Terrain
May 2, 2016
Basic Training Camp
Dimitri joined the rest of the acquaintances that he had made since he started at basic training in the barracks after drills that morning. While he still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the two Honorary Britannians, they had proved themselves to be dedicated to the training, even if Akiyama was a bit of a lazy slacker at times. He also knew that the other one, Kururugi, was a good friend of the resident member of the royal family, though he had no clue how.
There also wasn't much formality between Prince Lelouch and the rest of the acquaintances that he had made, Dimitri being the exception. Even if the prince preferred it that way, Dimitri couldn't exactly let go of how he was raised.
"So how's Nunnally, Lelouch? And how'd that bake sale go?" Kururugi asked, sitting down beside Lelouch on the bunk as the prince scanned the letter he had been given during mail call earlier.
"It went well, according to Nunnally, and she's doing fine. She wishes I could've helped with the treats they were selling though," Lelouch said, folding the letter and returning it to its envelope.
"You can bake?" Akiyama echoed, lips quirking in amusement.
"I didn't know that," Kururugi said, also looking amused.
Lelouch huffed. "Nunnally wanted some cookies one day, about two years ago, and Sayoko wasn't there to bake them so I did for her. She ended up loving them," he said.
"Ah, well, glad to know that you got better at cooking and you're not burning down any kitchens anymore," Kururugi said with a grin.
Lelouch glared. "That was your fault, Suzaku, and you know it," he retorted.
Kururugi tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah," he said with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, Dad was not happy with me at all after that." His voice seemed to catch a little when he said that and he looked away when Lelouch gave him a curious look.
Dimitri watched the interaction between Prince Lelouch and Kururugi, brow furrowed in slight puzzlement. Their friendship was something that still took Dimitri by surprise; it was hard to believe that a Britannian Prince and an Honorary Britannian could be such good friends. He didn't know just how they met, though their words suggested that they had known each other from before the invasion of Area 11.
Dimitri only figured that out because Kururugi had mentioned his father and everyone knew that it was the suicide of Genbu Kururugi that ended the month-long war that turned Japan into Area 11.
"Hey, maybe you can teach me some tricks to baking, Lelouch," Rayne suggested, moving over to sit on Lelouch's other side. "I've been wanting to get better 'cause Kay says I suck at baking."
"You do," Kay said bluntly, flipping the page of his book and ignoring Rayne who stuck out her tongue at her twin.
"How did you learn how to bake anyway?" Kururugi asked curiously, glancing at Lelouch who smiled a small, sad smile, his amethyst eyes filling with remembrance.
"My mother was a pretty good baker and taught me a few things," he admitted and shook his head, turning his gaze back to Rayne, though not before quickly composing himself. "If you wish, I can give you a few tips."
Rayne grinned. "Thanks, you're the best!" She said, slinging her arm around Lelouch's shoulder and nearly knocking him off his bed.
Dimitri frowned at the blatant disrespect and lack of formality but Lelouch didn't seem to mind. He just gently pushed Rayne's arm off his shoulder without a single word and straightened, stretching his back. It was odd that a member of the royal family would actually prefer this kind of friendliness from the people who were likely going to be his subordinates someday.
Dimitri felt he should be used to this kind of treatment from the others who trained alongside him after dealing with it for the past few weeks and yet he wasn't.
Later, the group entered the mess hall for dinner and, after grabbing their trays of food, made their way over to a nearby empty table. As they sat down, they were joined by Erin who was happily plopped into a seat beside Lelouch, the same seat Rayne had been about to sit in. The blue-haired girl scowled and went to sit by her brother.
"Hello, Your Highness," Erin said with a bright smile. "How was your day?"
"Fine," Lelouch said, a bored expression on his face as he ate.
"That's good!" Erin said and started chatting with Lelouch, or rather at him. It was clear, by the bored expression on Lelouch's face that the prince wasn't really paying much, if any, attention to the woman next to him.
"Doesn't she see that he's not interested?" Akiyama murmured to Kururugi.
"Doesn't she see that this is not a school and she should not be flirting with someone she's training with?" Lila said as she swallowed a bite of food.
"I find it amusing that she's being given the cold shoulder and isn't even realizing it," Rayne mused, leaning over so that she could talk to them without being heard by Erin. But then Erin seemed to be in her own little world, talking mostly about herself; how her parents were nobility, how she admired Marianne vi Britannia, how she was going to be the best knightmare pilot of all the recruits.
All the while, Lelouch just listened and ate, though it was unclear whether he was really doing the former.
However, when he was taking a drink of water, Erin mentioned something about marriage to unite her family with the vi Britannias, and he proceeded to choke on his water, it became clear that he was listening to what Erin was saying.
"Are you okay?" Erin asked.
"Fine," Lelouch said, once he managed to get his breath back and stopped coughing. "Where did the idea of marriage come from?"
"Oh, it's just something my parents mentioned in a letter they sent me when I told them that I was training with you. I've never agreed with arranged marriages though and Mom and Dad have agreed not to arrange any marriages for me. I'd like to find a husband that likes me for me, not because we have to get married," Erin said, looking distant at the thought of getting married in the future. She shook her head and turned to Lelouch. "What about you?"
He blinked at her. "What about me?"
"Have you ever thought about marriage?"
Lelouch blinked again. "Not really," he said.
Erin tilted her head to the side. "Really? I'm sure you have plenty of girls falling over themselves to be near you," she said and she stood up. "I'm gonna go find my friends and I'll introduce you to them." She jogged away.
Lelouch pushed his tray away and banged his head against the table. "Seriously, how the hell do I have fangirls in the military of all places?" he muttered and then glared at Kururugi when the Honorary Britannian began to snicker.
. . .
Suminoe Ghetto, Near the Osaka Settlement
Naoto guided the car along the road, heading toward the city of Osaka in the distance, Ohgi was seated in the passenger's seat, scanning the map in front of him and occasionally glancing out the window. "We should be reaching the turnoff soon," he said, scanning the decrepit buildings that they drove by.
Naoto nodded and scanned the area, noting that the ghettos seemed to have gotten worse since the last time he had been in Osaka. But then, not much had changed for the ghettos since the invasion. He had only been thirteen when Britannia had invaded Japan but he could still remember it very well. He and his sister had been lucky enough that their father was Britannian and was able to shield them from the horrors of the war, though he knew Kallen resented their father for divorcing his Japanese wife to marry a Britannian noble.
Naoto did as well and he hated his stepmother just as much as Kallen did; the woman really was a bitch and has hated Naoto and Kallen since she first met them because of their half-Japanese heritage. By the time that Naoto was eighteen, he finally had enough and, after telling his parents to 'fuck off', he left and hadn't returned since.
He started his resistance six months ago after seeing a particularly gruesome display of Britannian superiority that resulted in the death of one of the friends he had made in the Shinjuku Ghetto and her family. He wanted Japan to once again be free and no longer under the control of Britannia; he wanted everyone to have the chance to live their own lives while not being discriminated against.
And, more importantly, he wanted the Japanese the chance to be able to enjoy their lives and not live in fear that they would not get to see the next day.
It was that death of his friend that truly made him want that for all the Japanese and so he started his resistance.
Kaname Ohgi, who was another close friend that Naoto had made when he went to live in the Shinjuku Ghetto, was the first one he recruited. Naoto had first met Ohgi when he witnessed him patiently teaching some kids a few years younger than Kallen in an old abandoned school building. They had started talking and soon became good friends; Ohgi was the first one to agree to join Naoto's resistance when he started it up half a year earlier and Naoto had named him his second in command, despite being the younger of the two.
"Here," Ohgi said, pointing to a narrow dirt path that Naoto probably would have driven right past had Ohgi not been paying attention.
He turned the car and began driving along the narrow, winding dirt road, heading deeper into the Suminoe Ghetto near Osaka.
"It seems the city itself is still repairing itself," Ohgi noted and Naoto observed the city that they drove past and saw that Ohgi was right. The buildings at the edge of the city seemed about ready to collapse and there were pieces of destroyed knightmares and tanks laying scattered on the streets.
"Yeah. From what I know about the battle, it was pretty one sided," Naoto said, observing the wreckage. "How far?"
"Another mile," Ohgi said.
Naoto nodded and they drove in silence for the remaining mile before Ohgi told him to turn off and they headed toward an abandoned building. Naoto pulled into the side street next to the building once Ohgi told him that they were there and climbed out. Ohgi climbed out as well and the two of them made their way into the abandoned building. They walked across the empty first floor and toward the door at the back that would lead to the basement.
Walking down the stairs, they reached the door and Naoto stepped up to it, knocking three times, waiting, and then knocking once. There was a click and the door opened up, revealing a short, broad-shouldered brown-haired man in his early thirties.
"Come in," the man said, stepping aside and Naoto and Ohgi walked into the basement. It was littered with spare parts, pieces of metal, stacks of paper, and books that appeared to have avalanched at some point.
"So what can I do for you, Kozuki?" the man asked, taking a seat in a ratty old armchair.
"We need some parts," Naoto said, taking a seat across from the man and fishing out the paper Tamaki had given to him two days earlier.
"Oh? What for?"
"We managed to salvage an old Glasgow Knightmare frame and just need those parts in order to get it functional again," Naoto said, holding out the paper. His contact took the paper and scanned the list, nodding.
"I have all of these parts but it's gonna cost ya," he said.
"How much?"
"Fifty."
"Fifty?" Ohgi repeated incredulously.
"Each," the man said.
Naoto raised an eyebrow. "That seems like a lot for a bunch of spare parts," he said.
His contact shrugged. "Gotta get by somehow and pay bills and all that," he said.
"How about thirty each?" Naoto suggested.
His contact shook his head. "I can go as low as forty five," he said.
"I don't have that much on me. I can go to thirty-five," Naoto suggested.
His contact pressed his lips together. "Since ya've been such a good customer these past couple of months, I will go was low as forty for you," he said.
Naoto pretended to think about it for a moment but he had expected the price to be around that and had brought enough to cover it if he managed to convince his contact to go that low. "All right. We've got a deal," he said, holding out a hand.
His contact took it and shook it. "I would like the money upfront however," he said.
"Of course," Naoto said and reached into his pockets and pulling out the money. He counted out the appropriate amount and handed the pounds to his contact who counted them himself and then stuffed them away. He walked over to the pile of spare parts and began pulling out the ones that were on the list.
Ten minutes later, Naoto and Ohgi were heading back to the Tokyo Settlement.
"At least we got those parts," Naoto commented as he guided the car down the streets. "Though there really isn't much we can do now. I have some spies keeping an eye on Clovis and General Andon right now but, so far, they haven't reported anything of use, other than the fact that Andon might be retiring soon."
"He's going to be retiring soon?" Ohgi echoed. "Isn't that a good thing?" General Andon was the Commander-in-Chief of the 11th Division and held absolute military control of all of Area 11. He was the one in charge of all the battles that occurred between the Britannian forces in Area 11 and the terrorists that chose to attack, the most recent one being the Crimson Sakuras. While he was not the Goddess of Victory Cornelia li Britannia, he was a dangerous and intelligent enemy who has succeeded in outthinking many of his enemies.
"Perhaps but that depends entirely on who is chosen to replace him," Naoto said. "But he won't be retiring for a while, according to that spy. He just said that the General was thinking about it."
Actually getting a spy in the military base had been one of the hardest things that Naoto ever had to do. It was much easier to get spies in other places than in something as secure as the military base. But then the only reason he got a spy in the military base was because he had approached Naoto himself; the spy was a Japanese who watched his family get killed in the early days of the invasion and wanted revengeyg but decided to get it from within, hence why he joined the military.
No one but Naoto knew that his spy in the military base was an Honorary Britannian. He knew that the rest of his resistance wouldn't take too kindly to that, since they saw all Honorary Britannians as traitors. Naoto didn't, at least, not entirely. Many of them had a good reason for joining; protecting their families, feeding their families, and so on.
It was their choice and Naoto couldn't fault them for their choice. They had the right to choose what they wanted to do with their lives and Naoto refused to condemn them for their decision or force his views on them.
But some didn't see things the way he did.
"I see," Ohgi said and turned his gaze back to the road.
. . .
May 3, 2016
Forest Around Basic Training Camp
Lelouch scanned the map in front of him. Today was the second day of the navigation course of basic training in which the recruits were taught how to navigate and use maps. It was a good thing that he already knew how to read maps; the geography classes that he took at Ashford certainly came in handy.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" Tadashi asked, looking up from his map.
"Find our way to the rendezvous point," Rayne said.
Tadashi frowned at the map. "This map just doesn't make any sense," he complained.
Kay wordlessly reached over, took the map, turned it over, and handed it back.
Tadashi blinked. "Ohhh, that makes so much more sense. Thanks, Kay," he said brightly and began studying the map again, paying so much attention to it that he didn't see where he was walking and walked into a tree. "Ow!"
The exercise was done, once again, in squads and, once again, Lelouch found himself in the same squad he has been in since he started training. They were tasked with navigating their way through the forest to their assigned rendezvous points; this exercise was to test their skills at map-reading and navigation.
"All right, so where do we go now?" Rayne asked, glancing toward Lelouch.
"Might I make a suggestion, Your Highness?" Dimitri asked.
"Of course, Dimitri," Lelouch said.
"I suggest we take this path," Dimitri said, pointing to a path on the map. "It will be the easiest path to travel and will take us directly to the rendezvous point without much obstacles so long as we keep heading west."
"And which way's west? I got turned around by the time we got here," Tadashi said.
Dimitri looked at the sky and pressed his lips together before nodding and pointing directly in front of them. "That way is west," he said confidently.
Lelouch studied him before nodding. "Then we'll go that way. Dimitri, take point. Erin, Nathan, bring up the rear," he ordered calmly.
"Yes, Your Highness," Dimitri said.
"Sure thing," Erin said with a bright smile and dropped back to the rear of the group.
"Yes, Your Highness," Nathan said with a bow and joined Erin at the back of the group.
Dimitri took the lead and led the way through the forest, eyes occasionally going back to the map in front of him or to the sky or to the trees. He would tell them when to turn as they made their way through the winding trail deeper into the forest and, occasionally, he would stop and mark a tree with a tree branch.
They reached the rendezvous point within the allotted time but then were tasked with navigating their way back to the camp without the use of a map.
"And just how are we gonna do that?" Tadashi complained.
"Just retrace our steps," Dimitri said. "I have marked the trees that line the path we took to get here so we simply have to follow the marked trees."
"That was good thinking, Dimitri," Lila said.
"Thank you," Dimitri said.
The group began heading back the way they had come, following the marks on the trees that Dimitri had thought to make.
"I used to do this all the time when I went hiking with my parents," Dimitri said when Lelouch asked him why he thought to mark the trees as they walked past a few trees. "I used to be the one to lead them since they have a terrible sense of direction. I like maps, especially drawing them, but I guess I find it easier to navigate using the sun and landmarks as opposed to relying on maps."
"A good skill to have in case you end up in a situation in which you don't have a map," Lelouch mused thoughtfully.
"I agree, Your Highness," Dimitri said.
"So ya like drawing maps, Dimitri?" Rayne asked, falling into step on Dimitri's other side as they continued to move through the forest.
Dimitri nodded. "Yes. I find it relaxing," he said. "I mostly just draw maps of places that I know and mostly from memory."
"From memory? Nice. Do you have a photographic memory or something?"
"Or something," Dimitri said. "I'm just good at memorizing details, that's all."
"Photographic memory is actually really rare," Kay put in, glancing over his shoulder at them.
"Lelouch has a photographic memory," Suzaku said.
"You do?" Rayne said, glancing at Lelouch.
Lelouch nodded.
"Cool!"
"Why don't we focus on finishing this part of our training instead of chatting about something that has nothing to do with what we are doing?" Lila said dryly.
"Ah, lighten up, Lila. We're just passing the time by talking. Ain't nothing against that," Tadashi said with a cheerful smile. "And there really isn't. I actually looked at the rules and it says nothing about talking during exercises unless they require you to not talk and this one doesn't."
Lila sniffed. "Yes but I believe it would be best if we talked about the actual exercise," she said.
"We were," Rayne deadpanned. "We're talking about maps and this whole exercise is about navigation."
"Still. Can we focus on completing the exercise? We will end up being the last group to arrive if we keep this up," Lila said flatly.
Lelouch knew that being the last group to return wouldn't be a good thing for Lila, Rayne, Tadashi, and Suzaku, mainly because the Drill Sergeant would blame them for their squad being the last one to arrive. They had done it before during one of the Teamwork Courses they had to fulfill, even though they were only last because Nathan and Rayne had gotten into an argument.
They got into trouble for that and it was only because they didn't, technically, break any rules or regulations that they weren't reprimanded. But Rayne took most of the blame for it, further proving that Sergeant Greene really was sexist.
"Lila's right. We should get moving," Lelouch said out loud.
The rest of the group nodded and they set out again.
. . .
May 5, 2016
Meeting Room, Student Council Clubhouse
Kallen made her way into the meeting room and noticed that it was almost completely empty. The rest of the student council weren't there; the only ones that were there were Nina and Nunnally, the latter of whom was happily working on an origami crane while the former was typing away on her computer.
Nina looked up. "Oh, hey Kallen," she said and returned her gaze to her computer.
"Where is everyone?" Kallen asked as she took a seat. "Didn't we have a meeting?"
"We do but everyone's running late I guess," Nina said quietly.
Kallen nodded and turned to Nunnally, noticing that the princess seemed to be concentrating on making the appropriate folds for the origami crane she was working on. Already, she had three resting on the table in front of her. "How many have you made so far?" she asked curiously.
Nunnally turned her face toward Kallen. "I dunno. I lost count after two hundred," she said with a smile.
"You certainly are making a lot of 'em," Kallen noted.
"Well, yeah, I want my wish to come true so I'm gonna try and make a thousand of them," Nunnally said, turning her gaze back to the crane while Kallen bit her lip, frowning to herself.
She actually believes that old tale?
Kallen had stopped believing in the supernatural a long time ago, during the invasion to be exact, but she was surprised that Nunnally actually believed a Japanese story. She was Britannian after all. She and her brother were members of the royal family and, while they didn't pose a threat at the moment, they were still Britannians.
"Here you go, Kallen," Nunnally said, holding out the origami crane that she had just finished. It was made out of red origami paper. "This one's for you."
But then the rest of the Student Council was also Britannian and Kallen had come to tolerate them more than the rest of the student body.
She accepted the origami crane. "Thanks," she said, noting that the crane, while a bit lopsided, was actually pretty well folded.
The door opened and Kallen looked up to find Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley making their way into the meeting room.
"So sorry we're late," Milly said with a bright smile as she took her seat at the table, plopping the stack of folders that she had been carrying while Shirley and Rivalz took their seats. "My grandfather wanted to speak to me, Shirley's meeting with the swim team lasted longer than she thought it would, and Rivalz had to make up a test he did poorly on."
"So what's on the agenda for today, Milly?" Shirley asked.
"Not much, honestly," Milly admitted. "The clubs' financial crisis has been taken care of. My next festival isn't going to happen for a couple more months and the only real thing we need to do is make sure the clubs have submitted their updated member list and that shouldn't take that long."
"Well, do you wanna hear how Big Brother's doing?" Nunnally suggested.
"I'm sure Shirley would love to know what her boyfriend's been up too," Milly said with a grin and Shirley went red.
"He's not…I mean I…uh…" Shirley stammered out.
Milly laughed.
Nunnally pulled out the letter and held it out. "Sayoko read it to me in the morning," she said.
"I'll read it now," Milly said and took the letter before opening it up. Clearing her throat, she began to read:
"Dear Nunnally,
Things have been going good for me here. We've started a unit in which we're being taught how to navigate and so we're spending quite a bit of our time outside. It's actually really nice and reminds me a lot of the time before the invasion. Remember the incident with the river that I told you I would never let Suzaku live down? I haven't yet."
Milly paused as Nunnally began giggling. "So what's the story behind that?" she asked curiously.
Nunnally controlled her giggling and smiled. "Long story short, we got lost, Big Brother and Suzaku were arguing about which direction to go in, Suzaku went in one direction and ended up tripping and falling into a river," she said and started giggling again.
That was another thing that had Kallen confused. It sounded as if Lelouch and Nunnally had been friends with a Japanese boy and, according to this letter, it sounded as if they had been here before the invasion had begun.
But why? What were they doing in Japan before the invasion? And why didn't they return to Britannia when the invasion began? The more Kallen thought about it, the more she felt like she was missing something important and that the clues that were present in the letters Lelouch was sending Nunnally were doing little to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.
Milly waited until Nunnally calmed down and then started reading again:
"I don't have much else to talk about, honestly. Since I have no doubt Milly is either the one reading this to you or is reading this to the rest of the student council, I'm including my own greetings to her, Shirley, Rivalz, and Nina. I hope you guys are doing well and I will come by and visit you as soon as I return to the Tokyo Settlement. Oh and Shirley, we can go out to dinner after I graduate. We can work out an actual day and time then."
Milly broke off and blinked, staring at that line and then turning to Shirley who was blushing and looking everywhere but at Milly. "Oh, Shirley? Something you wanna tell us?" she asked with a grin.
Shirley's blush deepened and she looked down. "I, uh, m…may have…uh…asked Lulu out…t…to dinner in Nunna's last letter," she stammered out.
"Good for you! It's about time that you took the plunge!" Milly said happily, patting the red-as-a-tomato Shirley on the shoulder.
"I'm shocked that Lelouch actually agreed to it," Rivalz murmured. "Hasn't he been like completely clueless since day one?"
"Maybe he's finally gotten a clue," Milly said and went back to the letter. "Well, okay, the rest of the letter is just him giving his greetings to Prince Clovis and Jeremiah so, yeah, we've read the part dealing with us." She handed the letter back to Nunnally who took it and tucked it away. "Now, let's get to work! And then, Shirley, we can start planning your date with Lelouch!"
"B…But that's like five weeks away. Why are we starting now?" Shirley said with a frown. "And why are we planning anything? We're just gonna go out to dinner."
"But you wanna make a good first impression, right? I think I got the perfect outfit that will definitely show off your curves," Milly said with a perverted smirk as Shirley went red again.
"M…Madame President!"
While Milly and the rest of the student council were all right for Britannians, Kallen was once again reminded of just how much of a perverted She-Devil Milly really was.
. . .
May 7, 2016
Basic Training Camp
...And I got to spend some time with Jer and Clovis today. We had lunch in the garden in the Viceroy's Palace and talked about when you and I were younger. It was nice and relaxing, a nice break from schoolwork, especially since we didn't have school today.
Milly came up with an idea for a ball that she's planning on holding. She just came up with this yesterday during the student council meeting. It's going to be a fairy tale-themed ball and it sounds like it's going to be fun. I offered to help with the decorations and Sayoko's going to be making some snacks for it. I think she's going to try and figure out the secret for your brownies this time.
I want to get this letter out before the mail stops being delivered so I better end it now. I hope that you're having a good time but I miss you. I love you, big brother.
Love,
Nunnally
Lelouch put the letter down and returned it to the envelope just as the bell ending the lunch break rang.
"So what are we doing next?" Tadashi asked curiously as the group, after throwing their trash away, walked out of the mess hall and headed toward the training grounds along with the rest of the recruits.
"The Fit-to-Win Obstacle Course," Kay said.
"Another one?" Tadashi groaned.
Lelouch couldn't help but agree with him. Even if he had built of a lot of stamina, well, more than he had when he first started out, as well as some muscles, he didn't suddenly like exercise or training. And he hated the obstacle course, more so than he did the drills in the morning or the foot marches.
"It doesn't seem like it'll be that bad," Suzaku said.
"You would say that, exercise nut," Lelouch said.
Suzaku smirked at him. "Real original, Lelouch," he said.
"Once again, if it works…"
The group entered the training area and Sergeant Greene strode to stand in front of the recruits, causing all of them to stand at attention. "At ease," Greene said and then gestured to the obstacle course that lay behind him. It was a series of various kinds of obstacles, such as a three foot high wall, a low crawl wire, a thirty inch high balance log and so on. It didn't seem like it would be that difficult.
"You will be running against the clock in this," Greene stated firmly as he clasped his hands behind him and paced, his cool eyes scanning the recruits. "You have fifteen minutes to finish the course." He strode off to the edge of the clearing and everyone moved to the starting line.
"And begin!" he barked out.
The recruits took off.
No surprise that Kay and Suzaku were leaving everyone in their dust. Suzaku was an exercise nut and Kay was fast and nimble. Both of them were able to ease their way through the obstacles they came across; they did have some trouble, such as with the balancing log, but they managed to make it over them.
Lelouch was just glad that he was able to stay with the main bulk of the recruits. The obstacles really weren't that hard for Lelouch to get through and, thanks to the breathing exercises that Kay had taught him during the unarmed combat unit a few weeks ago, he was able to keep himself from losing his breath.
As it was, it took him fourteen minutes and ten seconds to finish the obstacle course.
"Okay, who won between you two this time?" Rayne asked as she swallowed a drink of water once they had gathered in the area where the recruits were allowed to cool down and rest.
"Kay," Suzaku said.
"By two seconds," Kay said with a quiet smile.
Rayne laughed. "So it's one to one then? I wonder who's gonna end up having the most wins by the time basic training ends?" she said.
Lila, frowning, opened her mouth to respond and Rayne, noticing, said quickly, "Not that they're gonna be focusing on that 'cause that's not what basic training is about, of course." It was obvious she did not want another professionalism lecture from Lila and, judging by the relieved looks on Tadashi's, Kay's, and Suzaku's faces, Lelouch mused that they probably didn't either.
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: I feel kinda disappointed in this chapter and I don't really know why
Bakura: it sucked
Blaze: (lifts up flaming machete) you wanna repeat that a third time?
Bakura: (wisely shuts up)
Lelouch: I thought it was okay
Suzaku: so did I
Blaze: I suppose so.
Kallen: so what's happening in the next chapter?
Blaze: you know that girl that was briefly mentioned, more or less just her name, earlier? The one that was mentioned when Erin was introduced?
Suzaku: oh...her...is she gonna be another Bree?
Lelouch: please, oh please, don't make her another Bree! Please!
Blaze: (chuckles) relax. She's not a yandere and she's really only a minor character, brought in for the purpose of showcasing the self-entitled, superior-than-thou side of Britannian society that we all know exists. She's more a symbol than anything, basically she's a shallow bitch—in the eyes of those who see and interact with her anyway—and won't really play a large part in this arc. She does play a slightly larger part in Arc III but not really that much.
Kallen: why do I get the feeling she's cannon fodder?
Blaze: I have no idea what you're talking about. Moving on! So she's gonna make an appearance in the next chapter. What else will happen? A lot, including more with Naoto and Kallen and more with B.B. and Tara, including touching a bit more upon Tara's Geass.
Lelouch: cool
Blaze: I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
