Blaze: You know...I'm just posting it as is because I know there were some mistakes and some things that didn't quite make sense, or weren't realistic, but I can't quite think of them right now, and haven't been able to remember them for the past few months. (Something to do with Rai...I think…). If anything seems unrealistic, I'm sorry but I wanted what happens to Rai to happen and this was how it came out.
Bakura: you do know that is no excuse for taking two months and eleven days to update.
Blaze: (sweatdrop) you actually counted…?
Bakura: no, I made my host count it
Ryou: (sighs and shakes head) let's just get on with the opening author's note. Blaze would like to apologize for the lateness of this update but she hopes that you enjoy it nonetheless.
Blaze: and thank you to Lelouch V.B., Death-Prince-3, RobynHood3, pianomaster135, Guest, harlequin320, Doommajor, Imperial warlord, Shadow-Shinobi666, MichaelJCaboose007, OBSERVER01, amillionconstellations, DYnoJackal19, B-Kira, Raxius, Scarease, and Tertius711 for reviewing the last chapter.
Ryou: Blaze hopes that you guys enjoy this chapter and, once again, she is sorry about the long wait. Reviews are much appreciated!
. . .
August 1, 2006
Outskirts of Shanghai, Chinese Federation
"No! Stop! Stop talking! Stop talking!" A scream sounded, causing the people that were gathered to back off a little bit. The fear that echoed in the small trembling silvery-white haired boy's voice was enough to get them to back off. The boy was curled into a ball on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut, his silvery white hair falling into his face, his little hands clenched into fists.
"Stop talking! Stop talking! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" He screamed, rocking back and forth.
C.C. swiftly wove her way through the crowd of people. She had only left Mao for a little while, and there had been no one close enough for him to hear the thoughts of, but she hadn't counted on the caravan arriving earlier than what the city had planned for.
She pushed past a few people, meandered around another, and finally broke free from the crowd that had gathered around the small, trembling, screaming boy.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop talking! Stop talking!" The boy screamed, his hands going to his ears and he clutched at them as if that would stop the voices that were echoing in his head.
Oh Mao, C.C. thought, moving forward. She hadn't expected the small boy's Geass to go out of control quite as quickly as it had but it had. She didn't know if it was because of his age or because he did use it quite a bit. It could be a combination of the two.
She moved forward and knelt down beside Mao. She drew the silvery-white haired boy into her arms and gently rocked her back and forth, her long green hair falling on him like a green waterfall. She lifted her golden eyes to the crowd and glared at them.
"There's nothing to see here," she snapped. Gradually, the people in the caravan moved away.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Mao screamed, clutching tightly at his ears.
"Shh," C.C. whispered, lowering her head again and gently rocking the small boy in her arms. "Shh, it's okay. Don't listen to them. Just listen to the sound of my voice. Just listen to it. Listen only to me. Focus only on me. It'll be okay. I'm here. Calm down and listen to my voice."
The trembling boy's screams started to die down and he lifted his head, his Geass-encompassed eyes filling with tears and he launched himself at C.C. He clung to her, crying and trembling but at least he wasn't screaming anymore.
As his trembles died down, C.C. stood up and walked away from the people in the caravan that were still hovering nearby. She walked until she was far enough away so that Mao wouldn't hear the thoughts of the people in the city anymore and looked around for someplace to spend the night.
She finally found a barn off the side of the road. It looked like it would fall apart at any moment but it would do. She made her way to the barn door and shouldered it open, looking around until she spotted a stack of hay nearby. She walked over to it and, putting Mao down, she began to pull the hay off the stack.
"C.C.?" Mao whispered, lifting his head.
"I'm still here. I'm just making us somewhere to sleep so we'll be comfortable," C.C. said as she laid the hay around. Once the layer of hay was thick enough that it would be a bit more comfortable than sleeping on the floor, C.C. turned to Mao and lifted him up. She walked over to the hay and laid down, resting Mao next to her.
"At least we have a roof over our heads," she said.
"You'll stay with me?" Mao whispered, gazing pleadingly at C.C.
"Yes, I will," C.C. murmured.
"Thank you. I love you, C.C.," Mao murmured and, closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.
C.C. closed her eyes as well and soon drifted off to sleep herself.
. . .
37
The Chinese Mind Reader
April 8, 2017
Tokyo Settlement, Area 11
The ship glided to a halt, the waters that had been churning behind it calmed down, and the main engines shut down. The large group of people gathered on the deck of the ship moved toward the boarding ramp as it was lowered. Among them was a tall Chinese man with medium-length silver-white hair and long bangs hanging over his face. Black and purple headphones encompassed his head, purple sunglasses covered his eyes, and two golden earrings rested in his ears. He was dressed in a light-blue short jacket with symmetrical gold and blue intricate designs with a long Chinese linen shirt with maroon sleeves. Buckles and straps wrapped around his wrists and brown gloves adorned his hands. Long black trousers covered his legs, tucked into brown boots with two straps on both sides, and buckles around his calves.
"Hmm, so this is Area 11. So this is where she has been this entire time," Mao said to himself as he followed the crowd of people off the boat, keeping the voice of his beloved C.C. echoing in his head so as to drown out the crowd's thoughts. It had taken him so long to find even a whisper of a trace of where his beloved had gone but, finally, his long search had paid off.
Now where will she be? She has to be around here but where can I find her? He thought as he strode onto the dock and headed for the settlement that stretched out beyond.
He moved further and further from the crowd of people and, when he was out of range of them, he slowly pulled the headphones off and paused the recorder that he had tucked into the pocket of his jacket. He gazed around, reaching out for the mind of someone nearby; there weren't a lot of people around and that helped Mao focus his attention.
...don't know where I'm going. Where the hell am I?
...quite annoying.
...caught a glimpse of a green-haired girl. Wonder who she is.
Mao focused his attention on the mind of the person who'd just thought that and drifted toward it, smirking when he caught sight of the Britannian soldier, an Honorary Britannian by the looks of him, that was walking toward the Shinjuku Ghetto. He had burnt-orange-colored hair and tanned skin, no doubt from the time he spent outside, and he was dressed in a gold-and-black uniform that, while still militaristic, separated him from everyone else.
"So you saw a girl with green hair and you don't know who she is?" Mao said loudly.
The boy, Tadashi his mind said was his name, jumped and whirled around, gun in his hand and pointed at Mao.
Mao just raised his hands and clapped, giggling. "Oh don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you about that woman you saw," he said.
...How'd he know about that? And what's someone from the Chinese Federation doing here? I should alert Prince Lelouch…
"Why bother alerting the prince when I just want to ask you a question?" Mao said.
...Shit. How did he know I was thinking about doing that? Did he read my mind?
"Why yes I did," Mao said with a laugh. "So this green-haired woman?"
"I dunno what you're talking about," Tadashi said.
...I wonder if he's talking about the same girl that's staying at the Viceroy's Palace. Lelouch only told us not to tell anyone about her so she's probably important. I wonder why she's so important…
Following that thought, Tadashi thought about the description of the woman and Mao grinned when he realized that he had, indeed, found his beloved. But what was she doing with a prince? He needed to know more and the best way to get answers would be to get close enough to the prince and read his mind.
"Why thank you," Mao said and, laughing, strode off.
"That was weird," he heard Tadashi mutter before he walked off.
Mao continued on to his destination, heading straight for the Viceroy's Palace. He gritted his teeth when far too many thoughts echoed in his mind but he forced himself to endure it as he sought the one that he wanted to read. He focused on the palace itself; he didn't know how much time had passed by before he finally found the mind he was looking for.
...have quieted down since Lake Kawaguchi but what is the Liberators' endgame? They clearly don't support the JLF and they didn't do anything to me, despite the fact that I'm the Viceroy, but…
"So this is the prince that kid mentioned?" Mao murmured and focused on that mind again, one hand twitching toward his headphones but he forced himself to continue. He needed to know more; he needed to confirm the truth.
...What the hell is she doing here? I told her to try to avoid attracting the attention of everyone in the palace. It's bad enough my Royal Guard and Suzaku know about her, though that had been on complete accident, and Tadashi's big mouth. I wish she'd listen to me and I can't even use my Geass on her; she already said it wouldn't work.
Mao froze. Geass. C.C.? You gave out Geass? To this prince? He stole you away from me! That little bastard! He stole you away from me! He thought furiously. Turning around, he put his headphones back on and turned up the volume of the recording, eager to listen to his sweet beloved's voice to rid himself of the headache that was forming. As he listened to it, he thought about what to do with he knowledge that he now had.
He didn't know for how long he'd been walking when he suddenly ran into someone, causing both of them to stumble.
"Watch where the hell you're going, you fucking moron," the bluenette he'd run into snapped in fury, shoving Mao hard away.
"There's no need to be so rude," Mao huffed, stumbling again but managing to keep his balancing. He studied the man; his blue hair was short-cropped and his eyes were so dark they were nearly black. He didn't look Eleven but he also didn't look Britannian; European, maybe?
"What the fuck are you looking at?" the man snarled.
Mao didn't answer. Instead, he lowered his headphones, thankful to find that this man was the only one within his range. He quickly found all that he needed to know about this young man.
He went by the name Nightfall.
He was the leader of the second half of the divided Liberators.
He was a sadistically unstable psychopath who delighted in killing others.
He was in the Tokyo Settlement to finish gathering the information he needed to put his plan into action.
And…
"You have a vendetta against Prince Lelouch, eh?" Mao said with a grin.
"How the fucking hell do you know that?" Nightfall exclaimed, glaring at him.
"I just do. I have a vendetta against him too. Why don't we work together to get back at him?" Mao suggested.
"Tch, I wanna fucking kill him. Whether it's slowly and painfully like it was with Stromberg or quickly, I don't care. I just wanna fucking kill him," Nightfall said. "So I guess we could work together, so long as I get to be the one who kills him. Got it?"
"Fine by me," Mao said with a grin, clapping his hands. Oh C.C., soon we will be reunited. I look forward to the day where I can see your beautiful face again, he thought and laughed.
"And everyone says I'm crazy," Nightfall muttered.
. . .
Lelouch's Office, Viceroy's Palace
"Why are you here?" Lelouch said, rubbing his head and giving the green-haired woman an irritated look.
Said green-haired woman was currently lounging on the couch with her feet tucked under her and a slice of pepperoni pizza in her hands. Her amber eyes studied him apathetically as she chewed on the pizza, grease dribbling down the side of her mouth.
"Is it really such a big surprise that I would check up on you?" she said.
"Whether you wished to check up on me or not, you could have done that when I didn't have my entire Royal Guard in here with me," Lelouch said. He had been speaking with most of his Royal Guard, he gave Tadashi leave to go visit his family for his little brother's birthday, about what happened the day before as well as discussing possible reasons for why the Liberators acted as they had—and why they called themselves the United Liberators—when C.C. had strode into the office like she owned the place. He had dismissed his Royal Guard at that time to ensure that no knowledge of Geass got out; he may trust his Royal Guard but not enough to tell them about Geass and the immortal witch who lived with him.
"They already know I'm here. That Tadashi kid spotted me a few days ago and told them," C.C. said with a shrug.
"Yes, I know, but that does not mean that Euphie or Cornelia knows about you and I would rather keep it that way."
"I was bored though. You should learn to treat a lady better than keep her stuffed in a room all day long with nothing to do."
"You're the one who has part of the military after you."
"Do you really think I want to go back there? I can keep myself hidden," C.C. said simply and tilted her head to the side, studying Lelouch. "You're just afraid that someone will find out about my ability to hand out Geass."
"It is an honest concern."
"Perhaps but we are accomplices at the moment so you have no need to worry about me using my ability on others, not so long as you are capable of keeping your end of our contract," C.C. said idly, taking another bite of her pizza and chewing it. "So what will you do now, boyo? Keep me trapped in that room with nothing to do while you continue to bend your knee before the Emperor?"
Lelouch snarled. While he knew that was exactly what he was doing—and he hated every damn minute of it—C.C. did not have to put it so bluntly like that. "It must be easy for you to look at the world with such apathetic eyes. Is there no one in the world that you care about? That you would gladly do anything, even bend a knee to someone you loathe, to keep safe?"
C.C. was silent for a long moment. "Perhaps, at one time, a long time ago," she said finally. She lowered the slice of pizza and added, "But can you really achieve your dream for your little sister if you continue to bow your head in submission to the Emperor?"
"Change will come," Lelouch said, relaxing back into his seat and turning to the stack of papers that littered his desk. "But I will not do anything that will jeopardize Nunnally's safety. As long as she is still in danger, I will do as the Emperor commands." And hate every damn minute of it.
C.C. hummed. "You really are a complicated person, Lelouch," she said and cast a sidelong glance at the only other person in the room. "And what are your thoughts on your prince's feelings, Suzaku Kururugi?"
Suzaku hesitated, casting a sidelong glance at Lelouch.
"You know you can speak freely when we're alone, Suzaku," he answered the unspoken question.
Suzaku swallowed. "I understand why Lelouch hates the Emperor but...if I remain with him, I hope that I can help him before that hate and desire for vengeance completely overwhelms him and he makes a choice that he will regret," he said finally. "We don't agree on a lot of things, like what happened with Kusakabe, but we are working toward the same goal."
"You are loyal to him," C.C. mused and then leaned forward, fixing inquisitive amber eyes on Suzaku. "But, tell me truthfully, hypothetically speaking, if you were forced to choose between serving your prince or serving Britannia, which would you choose?"
Lelouch's head shot up and he fixed a withering glare on the green-haired witch. "C.C..." he growled warningly.
C.C. ignored him. "Tell me, Suzaku, if you had to choose between your best friend or the country that you serve, which would you choose? Loyalty to your best friend or loyalty to the crown, the very crown you know your best friend hates with a passion?"
Lelouch's hand gripped into a fist. Damn it, C.C., you're going to ruin everything that I've managed to accomplish with Suzaku, he thought. He didn't want Suzaku to know, yet, that he was planning on turning against the Emperor and Britannia just as soon as he found a way to keep Nunnally safe and out of the crossfire. He still had to work out Suzaku's naively foolish belief that the system could change from within and that was challenging enough on its own without C.C. making it more complicated.
"I..." Suzaku trailed off, lowering his head. "I...know Britannia isn't perfect but...Lelouch can change things for the better. I don't have the power to do that, no matter how far in the ranks that I rise. Lelouch, on the other hand, he's a prince and he could, someday, take the throne of Britannia. I...I believe that if Lelouch takes the throne then change will happen."
Lelouch's pen dropped and he whipped his head around to stare at Suzaku, so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. When did this happen? He knew that Suzaku wanted to change the system from within but he hadn't thought that Suzaku had actually thought that far ahead.
"Oh?" C.C. raised an eyebrow, amused. "So your answer to my question is both. It's not a question of who you are loyal to, it's a question of when will the time come when both choices become one. Interesting." She hopped off the couch as she finished off the pizza and stretched her arms above her head. "I will be heading back to my room and leave you two boys to discuss this amongst yourself." Without another word, she left the office.
Lelouch barely noticed her leave, still watching Suzaku. "Suzaku...do you really believe that I can create the change that we're both seeking? And by taking the throne?" he asked finally.
"You've created miracles before," Suzaku admitted. "And you are in line for the throne and, if the media's right, you are the Emperor's current favorite so...is it really such a big reach that you could take the throne someday?"
Lelouch was silent for a long moment. "Perhaps not," he said and turned his gaze to his desk. "But I never had any intention of ruling, Suzaku. I never gave it any thought because of how far down the line of succession I was; if anyone is going to take the throne after my father, it would be Schneizel." And that is what Schneizel wants and what we've teamed up to achieve, along with my own desires, he thought.
"Maybe so," Suzaku said. "But...I still think that you could change Britannia for the better if you took the throne. Maybe that's just my own personal opinion based on what I've seen in recent months since we were reunited but that's what I think."
Lelouch hummed, contemplating Suzaku's thoughts, hopelessly naive though they were. Lelouch knew of just how cutthroat and discriminatory the political sphere that governed Britannia really was. Even if he did take the throne, the change that he and Suzaku sought would still not be easily obtained and Lelouch was likely to be blocked every chance the nobility and rest of his family got. And that was just the start of the troubles that Suzaku's idea would bring up if it ever happened.
Suzaku, you are too naive. Someday, that naivete is going to cost you but I hope that I can open your eyes before that happens, he thought.
Deciding that he needed to get his mind off that, and off C.C.'s annoying words, he stood up. "I'm going to check on Nunnally," he said.
Suzaku nodded and moved to Lelouch's side as he led the way toward the door.
. . .
Meeting Room, Student Council Clubhouse
Nina was the first to arrive at the meeting room and she immediately made her way to her computer. Due to the highjacking of the hotel, Milly had decided to postpone the vacation for later and they had all come home. Milly insisted that it would be better because it would give everyone a chance to calm down after such an experience and Nina was inclined to agree.
She sat down at her computer and powered it up, her thoughts drifting to the incident at the convention center hotel. She felt bad that she had caused all of that to happen but she hadn't been able to help it; those Elevens just reminded her of that time…
She shoved the thought out of her mind and closed her eyes. And yet Nunnally, Shirley, and Milly had all been there to comfort me and try to help me and Lelouch…That had been a surprise for the prince to actually reveal himself in order to get those Elevens to let Nina and Nunnally go because she knew that he would be in danger. Those Elevens were terrorists after all and terrorists have killed Britannians, and members of the Royal Family—like Clovis—before and yet he'd still done it.
He'd still given himself up to protect her and her friends.
Granted, Nina wasn't stupid. She wanted to believe that Lelouch would have stepped in to save any one of them but a small part of her was sure that he'd only done it because Nunnally had been in danger.
But when she thought about that, she remembered the way he'd looked at all of them and reassured them all that they were going to be all right.
"You are all safe now."
He hadn't just said you, hadn't just been referring to Nunnally; he had been referring to all of them. He had reassured all of them that they were going to be safe after he gave himself up and, perhaps, that was why a larger part of Nina felt that he would have revealed himself even if Nunnally hadn't been in danger.
Nina was brought out of her thoughts by the bright light from her computer and she blinked, surprised by the faint heat on her cheeks. Why am I blushing? She swallowed and forced herself to focus on her research, trying not to think about the cause of the blush, mostly because she wasn't sure what had caused it.
She had only just been thinking about Lelouch and what he did for her, Nunnally, and the rest of the Student Council the day before.
She felt her cheeks heat up. Could that be…?
Nina has never really shown any attraction toward members of the other sex, though that was primarily because she was very uncomfortable around them. Only her guy friends on the Student Council were exceptions so she couldn't understand why she was blushing just thinking about her royal friend. She had to admit that he was rather handsome but then no girl could deny that Lelouch was handsome but…
The door opened, distracting Nina from her thoughts and she turned to find Adeline making her way into the meeting room, pushing Nunnally's wheelchair in front of her. Her shoulder was in a bandage and her arm was in a sling but she didn't seem to be having a hard time.
"Good afternoon, Nina," Nunnally greeted Nina.
"Afternoon," Adeline said.
"Good afternoon," Nina said quietly and returned her attention to the computer. She bit her lip, then added, "Um, Nunnally, how are you? After yesterday..."
"I'm okay," Nunnally said with a soft smile. "It was...a scary experience, yeah, but it all turned out for the better in the end, right?"
"All thanks to Lelouch," Adeline commented.
"Yeah...Lelouch..." Nina was surprised again by the faint blush that appeared on her cheeks.
"Are you okay, Nina?" Nunnally asked, tilting her head to the side, her bluish-purple eyes concerned.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Like you said, it's over and nothing bad happened so I'm okay," Nina said. She tried to sound confident and reassuring, even though she wasn't feeling that way at all. It seemed as if Adeline and Nunnally bought it though.
The door opened and the rest of the Student Council wandered into the room. Rai moved over to sit beside Nunnally, giving her a shy smile in greeting when she greeted him with a happy "good afternoon, Rai!" Nunnally had really warmed up to Rai in the time it's been since the assassination attempt.
Milly, grinning, sat down at the head of the table, dropping the folders she'd been holding onto the wood, while Shirley and Rivalz sat across from Rai and Nunnally and Kallen sat on Rai's other side while Adeline slid into a seat on Nunnally's other side.
"Okay," Milly said, clasping her hands together. "Before our two lovebirds over there get distracted, let's get to work."
Rai went red. "What...we...I mean...I...huh?" he stammered out.
Nunnally's cheeks reddened. "Milly," she admonished the blond girl.
"Hey, I call it as I see it. Anyway, we have exactly one week until the spring festival so we need to finalize the plans and start getting everything ready," Milly said. "I still haven't found a pilot for the Ganymede either to help with the giant pizza but I'm thinking of asking Lelouch if he'll do it. If not, maybe his knight will be willing to do it."
"But we need to finalize the ideas," Milly added and handed a folder out to everyone. Nina paused in her typing to take the folder Adeline handed her and opened it to the first page, which had the image of an origami crane on its surface.
"Okay, the first thing is Nunnally's suggestion, an origami booth where she and Sayoko will teach anyone who wants to learn how to make simple origami creations. For that, we will need to stock up on origami paper so Adeline, I'll leave you in charge of getting the paper."
"Why me?" Adeline asked.
"Because I said so. Next page!"
Nina flipped the page and the process went on until everyone had been assigned a duty for the upcoming festival. Adeline would be getting supplies for a couple of the booths, Rivalz and Nina were in charge of ordering and organizing the food supplies for the giant pizza, Kallen was to help Milly with directing the entire thing and handling other matters, like security, Rai, Euphie, and Shirley would be helping to get the supplies for the rest of the booths as well as organizing them.
The door opened before anyone could ask too many questions about their respective duties and everyone turned toward it.
"Big Brother!" Nunnally cried happily and Nina started, nearly dropping her folder but she managed to keep her grip on it as Lelouch made his way into the meeting room. He was dressed in his normal royal attire, which made Nina wonder if he'd just come from work. Suzaku stood at his side, scanning the area as he always seemed to do whenever they entered the room.
"Nunnally," Lelouch said warmly, meandering around the table and giving Nunnally a hug, a loving smile on his lips.
Nunnally smiled and hugged Lelouch back. "How are you?" she asked, leaning back and studying her brother's face.
"I'm as well as can be. Just busy dealing with the consequences of yesterday. There are far more than I had anticipated," Lelouch said, kissing Nunnally's forehead and straightening up. "But I decided to take a break and came to check up on you and see how you were doing."
"I'm doing fine, Big Brother," Nunnally said.
"No one is bothering you about what happened?"
"Not me, no. Adeline kinda threatened to break a couple of people's jaws if they didn't leave me alone and, after she actually did punch a kid in the face for being a bit too persistent, everyone's left me alone," Nunnally said.
"That reminds me. I got detention. Damn. I didn't think detentions could be handed out on the weekend," Adeline grumbled.
"But it's a big pain in the butt for the rest of us," Shirley complained. "We're being bugged about what happened everywhere we go and it's annoying. I mean, it's only been a day and they're still bugging about it."
"It really is," Rai said quietly.
Kallen nodded in meek agreement. "But at least you are all okay," she said.
"It was thanks to Lelouch!" Milly leaned toward Shirley and grinned as she added, "Who knew your lover could be a knight in shining armor too?"
"M...Madame President!" Shirley cried, her face going bright red.
"Milly!" Lelouch groaned at the same time, a faint blush on his cheeks.
Knight in shining armor? Nina thought, looking at Lelouch who was glowering irritably at Milly.
"What? That's what you were," Milly said.
"If anyone's a knight in shining armor, it's Suzaku," Lelouch said.
"He's an actual knight so I can see that," Nunnally said with a giggle.
"Yeah, I can see that too," Euphie said and grinned at Suzaku who coughed, his cheeks going red, and looked away.
"Hey, Rai, can you get me some origami paper?" Nunnally asked.
"Sure," Rai said, getting to his feet and moving over to the cabinet. He returned with a stack of origami paper and placed it in front of Nunnally.
"Thank you," Nunnally said with a bright smile, which caused Rai to blush and his blush deepened when Nunnally's hand brushed his when she reached for the origami sheet on top.
"Y...You're w...welcome," Rai stammered out.
Lelouch watched Rai like a hawk, his eyes narrowed.
"Siscon," Milly teased.
"I am not a siscon!" Lelouch snapped.
"What's a siscon?" Nunnally asked innocently.
"Nothing, nothing to concern yourself with."
. . .
April 9, 2017
Viceroy's Palace, Tokyo Settlement
Sunday found Nunnally and Euphemia seated on a blanket next to the artificial stream in the gardens of the Viceroy's Palace. They were eating sipping at tea while enjoying the peaceful afternoon and waiting for Cornelia and Lelouch to take a break from their duties to spend time with them. Both of them had said that they would try and Nunnally hoped that they would.
She may have been able to spend a little bit with her big brother at Ashford yesterday but it hadn't nearly been enough. She supposed that, while she was hiding it behind a smile around her friends, she was still shaken up by what happened on Friday; Euphie and Adeline both knew that but she hadn't really talked about it with anyone.
She supposed after all that had happened to her since her royal heritage had been revealed, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that she was shaken and a bit skittish. Her therapist was definitely helping her get over what happened with Tara, both times, but this newest incident was definitely something that she was going to have to talk with her when she saw her next.
She was glad that her therapist was kind and was willing to listen no matter what Nunnally talked with her about. The only thing that Nunnally hadn't discussed with her therapist was something that she was trying not to worry about herself.
The feelings that Tara's words still stirred up within her, those feelings of uselessness and the fact that she felt that, no matter what Lelouch said, she was still a burden to him. She has been trying for weeks to convince herself that Lelouch really didn't see her as a burden and so if he didn't see her as a burden then she wasn't one but there were days when it was harder than others.
Today was one such example and Nunnally wasn't entirely sure what had brought on those thoughts.
"What's wrong, Nunnally? You're expression just went sad. Was it something I said?" Euphie asked concerned.
Nunnally blinked and blushed when she realized that she had tuned out her half-sister's words and gotten lost in her thoughts. She felt bad for ignoring Euphie and immediately set out to rectify that. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm sorry for ignoring you. Um, what were you saying?" she asked.
Euphie frowned in concern and Nunnally was pretty sure the pink-haired girl didn't believe her. But she didn't push. "I was talking about the cat I found in the Tokyo Settlement," she said. "It was on Thursday and I'd just gone out for a little walk in disguise and I ran into this little kitten. It was so cute! And...I may have smuggled it into the Viceroy's Palace while I was visiting Nellie."
Nunnally blinked. "So there's a kitten running around the Viceroy's Palace, and has been running around the palace since Thursday?" she asked.
"Um, yeah. I was gonna look for him yesterday but I got distracted by the work for the Student Council and..." Euphie trailed off, blushing.
Nunnally's lips quirked and she started giggling. "Well, maybe Adeline and I can help you look," she offered. "It probably would be best to find him before Nellie or Big Brother find him."
"Yeah, probably," Euphie said. She put down her tea cup and added, "But are you really okay, Nunnally? 'Cause you know that you can talk to me about anything if you want, right?"
"I know," Nunnally said, chewing on her lower lip and looking down at the warm amber liquid in the tea cup in her hand. "I just started thinking about something that I haven't thought about in weeks and...I don't...I..." She trailed off, her voice starting to shake a little and she bit her lip, putting the tea cup back onto its little plate before she dropped it.
"Nunnally?" Euphie whispered.
"Euphie, why am I such a burden to Big Brother?" Nunnally blurted out.
Euphie started, dropping her tea cup but ignoring the splash of tea that stained her dress. "What?" she said. "Why would you ask that, Nunnally? You could never be a burden to Lelouch. He loves you more than anyone."
"I just...I feel like I cause so much more work for him and I'm just so useless and helpless! I couldn't even do a thing to help myself or Nina at Lake Kawaguchi. He had to give himself up, and put himself into danger, because I couldn't do a damn thing for myself! And I hate it! I hate that I'm nothing more than a weak worthless bitch who can't do anything!" Nunnally burst into tears and Euphie, taking her tea cup and putting it down, quickly gathered Nunnally into her arms.
"Go get Lelouch, Adeline," she ordered Adeline.
"Right," Adeline said and Nunnally vaguely heard her jog out of the gardens through her choked sobs.
"Shh, shh," Euphie whispered, rubbing Nunnally's back but she said nothing more and simply let Nunnally sob.
. . .
"Suzaku?"
A pained wince. "Yeah?"
"You have a cat attached to your ankle."
"I know."
"...Why do you have a cat attached to your ankle?"
"I have no clue."
Suzaku winced again as he attempted to remove the small gray kitten that had lodged both its claws and teeth into his ankle for some reason. He knew that he didn't have the greatest luck when it came to animals, cats hated him for no apparent reason, but he was not expecting to get attacked by one when he stepped out of Lelouch's office for a second to deliver a message to Jeremiah.
Lelouch folded his arms across his chest, watching the entire scene with amusement in his eyes. "Haven't cats always hated you for no reason?" he asked.
"Yeah. Ow! I still don't know why. Ow!"
"This is hilarious! I really hope someone is video taping this," Rayne laughed.
"You wouldn't find it funny if you, ow!, had a cat lodged in your, ow!, ankle that won't, ow!, let go," Suzaku said through gritted teeth as each of his attempts to remove the kitten only resulted in the kitten sinking its claws or teeth deeper into his ankle. "This is getting ridiculous! What in the world do cats have against me?"
Lelouch laughed but moved forward and, kneeling down, gently pried the kitten from Suzaku's ankle. The cat let go and curled up in Lelouch's arms as the prince stood up, stroking the cat's head. "He seems to like me," he said.
"Why would he like you and not me?" Suzaku said bewildered. "I love cats but you don't really care for animals period."
Lelouch shrugged. "Maybe you made it mad at you or something," he said.
"I've never seen that cat before in my life," Suzaku said and studied the cat. He experimentally stretched out a hand toward the cat only to yank it back in an instant when the cat's hackles raised and it hissed. "Really?"
"You gotta admit, this is very funny," Rayne said, nudging Lila in the side.
"I suppose," Lila said, her lips quirking slightly.
"I have to wonder just how a cat got into the Viceroy's Palace to begin with though. The palace has impeccable security after all," Dimitri said.
"Yeah, to stop humans from entering. After all, who ever heard of a cat posing danger to the residents of the palace?" Rayne said. She waved a hand at the kitten and added, "And that cat seems like it only wants to hurt Suzaku so it's perfectly safe."
"Not for me," Suzaku complained. Being in his best friend's office with just the people that he had trained with, the fellow recruits turned soldiers that he'd become friends with, was the only reason why he was letting loose and acting his age.
Lelouch snickered.
"The great white knight taken down by a small feline," Rayne said and burst out laughing.
"Rayne," Suzaku protested.
"How about white knight versus kitten. Kitten wins?" Kay said, which caused Rayne's laughter to grow harder as she clutched at her side.
"Really, Kay?"
"How about white knight loses his first battle to a kitten?" Lila said.
"Not you too, Lila!"
Everyone chuckled, even Dimitri, and Suzaku folded his arms across his chest, resisting the urge to pout.
The door to the office opened, cutting everyone's laughter off, and a panting Adeline rushed into it.
Lelouch frowned. "Adeline? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Nunnally just burst out crying while we were in the gardens. Princess Euphemia sent me to get you," Adeline said.
Lelouch put the cat on his desk and bolted out of the room before Adeline finished speaking.
Suzaku darted after him, easily able to keep up with his prince's strides.
The two of them, with Adeline trailing behind them, darted down the hallway and into the elevator that would take them to the gardens. Once the elevator came to a stop, Suzaku and Lelouch headed down the hallway and slipped into the garden.
Nunnally was still sobbing in Euphemia's arms but Lelouch was across the gardens in seconds and gathering his little sister into his arms. Nunnally latched onto him in an instant, burying her face into his chest and sobbing.
"What happened, Euphie?" Lelouch asked as he stroked Nunnally's hair.
"I...I'm not entirely sure," Euphemia admitted, looking at Nunnally worriedly. "We were just talking and she suddenly looked sad so I asked her what was wrong." She explained the rest of their conversation, Suzaku briefly wondered if the cat that Euphemia had brought into the palace was the same cat that had taken a disliking to him, and then explained the rant that Nunnally had unleashed.
Lelouch's lips thinned as he looked down with warm eyes at the sobbing princess he held in his arms. "She broke down like this after what happened with Tara," he said quietly. "She was getting better and her therapist has been helping a lot but...Lake Kawaguchi must have brought all those feelings Tara made her feel back to the surface."
"Tara? That girl that you said..." Euphemia trailed off, her eyes going sad as she gazed at Nunnally. "She shouldn't have to deal with any of this."
"I agree," Lelouch murmured. "She should've just remained a student and not have to worry about the troubles being a member of the royal family brought with it." His eyes hardened but he said nothing more, just kept stroking his little sister's hair.
Eventually, Nunnally calmed down enough to pull back and gaze up at Lelouch. "B...Big Brother?" she whispered.
Lelouch wiped the remnants of her tears away from her eyes. "I'm here, Nunnally," he said quietly.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be. Euphie told me about what you said and I want to emphasize that you are none of those things you think you are. You're not worthless, you're not a burden, you're not useless, and you're not weak," Lelouch whispered softly.
"But...you were in danger...and I..." Nunnally began.
"Nunnally," Lelouch interrupted gently, stroking a thumb along Nunnally's tearstained cheek. "I did what I did because it was to keep you safe. I would do anything to protect you and keep you safe but just because I would do that, that doesn't mean you're a burden and that doesn't mean you're weak, worthless, or useless. I've already told you that and I did so because it's the truth."
Nunnally buried her face back into Lelouch's chest, clutching at his clothes. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I...I thought I was getting better b...but..."
"It takes time, far more time than simply a month, but I have no doubt that you will get over it. You're a strong girl and you have the strongest heart out of everyone that I have ever met. You aren't weak, far from it really," Lelouch said softly.
Nunnally sniffed and gazed up at her big brother again. "R...Really?" she stammered.
Lelouch touched his forehead to hers. "Really," he assured her softly.
She smiled. "Thank you, Big Brother," she said and rested her head back onto his chest.
Suzaku watched the heartwarming scene between brother and sister.
The door to the garden opened and Kay stepped into the garden. "Forgive me for interrupting, Your Highness," Kay said with a bow when Lelouch glanced toward him, narrowing his eyes. "But General Andon wishes to speak with you in person at the Tokyo Military Base now. He says it is urgent."
Lelouch frowned and brief hesitation filled his eyes.
"Go on, Big Brother," Nunnally said, giving Lelouch a small smile. "I'll be okay now."
Lelouch hesitated again but, when Nunnally gave him a look, he nodded. "I'll be back as soon as possible," he said and kissed Nunnally's forehead. "If I don't get back by the time you return to Ashford, I'll call you tonight."
"Okay, Big Brother," Nunnally said and Lelouch, gently putting Nunnally back onto the blanket she'd been sharing with Euphie, stood up and, with Suzaku falling into step beside him, walked out of the gardens.
. . .
Tokyo Military Base, Tokyo Settlement
"It's been a few weeks since we've been here," Lelouch commented nonchalantly as he and Suzaku made their way down the hallway with his Royal Guard gathered around him. While what happened with Nunnally was on the forefronts of his mind, Lelouch was able to put it carefully away to focus on his job.
As he told C.C., until he could get Nunnally safely out from under the thumb of the Emperor, that was all he could do. It was even more important that Lelouch do nothing to incur the Emperor's wrath while his beloved little sister was in such emotional turmoil. He hoped that her therapist would be able to help her start recovering from what happened at Lake Kawaguchi though.
He walked into General Andon's office and was surprised to find his elder half-brother Schneizel on the monitor on Andon's desk. "General Andon, Brother, you wished to speak with me?" Lelouch said with a polite incline of his head as he gestured for his guard to wait outside. He slid into the seat across from Andon and Suzaku took up his position on Lelouch's right.
"Lelouch, it has been a while," Schneizel greeted him. "You have certainly amassed quite the reputation and appear to be keeping it if what happened with the Yamato Alliance is any indication."
"I assume that you did not ask me here to discuss that," Lelouch said, not one to beat around the bush.
"You would assume correctly," Schneizel said.
"The Emperor is starting to take notice to just how powerful the Liberators are becoming and the Liberators actions and speech at Lake Kawaguchi a few days ago is proof that they are getting more powerful," Andon said. "You would not know this but, seven years ago, a few weeks before the invasion of Area 11, the Liberators spoke that exact speech and it stirred the masses."
"Organizations, big and small, from various areas flocked to the Liberators and greatly increased their size or gave them the support that they used to continue their streak of wins against Britannia," Schneizel said.
"And you think that will happen again now?" Lelouch asked.
"It is possible. Father has stated that he does not wish for that to happen but whether any of us can stop that is up for debate. However, he does have a new set of orders for you," Schneizel said. His purple eyes were calm and satisfied and Lelouch had this odd feeling that whatever new orders the Emperor had for him was going to work well with his elder half-brother's plan.
"Lelouch, the Emperor has declared that you are to focus your attention on eradicating the Liberators from Area 11. He has also declared that you shall be promoted once again; you will be promoted to General and you shall assume General Andon's position. The Emperor has decreed that you will be given full command of the 11th Division in Area 11."
Full command of the 11th Division but that meant…? Lelouch's lips curved into a cool smirk. The Emperor has just handed all of Area 11 to me on a silver platter. This...This will definitely go a long way in fulfilling my own plan.
"I was planning on offering you my position when I retired anyway," Andon said. "So I will simply have to retire a few weeks earlier. Congratulations, Your Highness."
"Thank you, General," Lelouch said calmly.
. . .
"Ohh the big bad prince got a big promotion," Mao said and chuckled, clapping his hands together. "Whatever. Whatever. You in position?"
"Of course I am, you fucker. I've been in position. Just let me know when the prince decides to leave that office. I dunno how the fuck you're able to know this stuff but, frankly, I don't fucking care," Nightfall said.
"Oie, oie. I don't even know how you managed to get us both into the base to begin with but it's so great that you were able to. And I'm not annoying thank you very much," Mao said with a giggle as he pressed himself in the shadows and gazed toward the hallway where the prince and his knight and royal guard had disappeared. He clutched at the dart blower and handful of darts that Nightfall had given him, preparing to knockout the prince's Royal Guard and his knight.
Soon, soon, you will be mine, my beloved, Mao thought with a giggle. His head was hurting though since he had to keep his headphones off to keep in contact with Nightfall and it was irritating him but it was all for the best. Because if he could kill the prince who dare steal his beloved from him then he wouldn't have anything standing in his way of his beloved C.C.
"Yes, you are fucking annoying. Now stop talking or you're going to draw the entire fucking base down on our heads."
Mao rolled his Geass-encompassed eyes. Nightfall's thoughts clearly stated that he was greatly irritated by everything.
He paused when he heard voices and turned to the hallway, grinning when he spotted the prince and his knight and Royal Guard walking down the hallway. "Showtime," he said in a whispering sing-song voice.
. . .
Rai eyed the Tokyo Military Base warily and wondered why the hell Milly had insisted that he be the one to ask Lelouch about the festival on Saturday. He hadn't wanted to go anywhere near the military; even now, something about the military screamed at him to run and get away. He swallowed, telling himself that he would be fine, and stepped into the military base.
Why Milly couldn't wait until Lelouch returned to the Viceroy's Palace, Rai didn't know but, then, the military base was the one place in the Tokyo Settlement that he had yet to visit. He realized, with a jolt, that there was a chance that Milly had sent him there to see if he would regain some of his memories. He could have been a soldier after all and the military base might help him remember that.
He supposed that it was as good an idea as any as he hadn't been making any progress toward regaining his memories since he'd arrived in front of Ashford Academy.
He walked down the hall, looking around for someone to ask about the prince while, at the same time, feeling both out of place and still experiencing those get away feelings. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there—why Milly thought he could actually get away with this without getting into trouble, Rai didn't know—but Rivalz did suggest that if he got arrested then he could just charge Milly with the needed bail money.
That did nothing to help Rai's nerves.
Why did I have to come here? Why couldn't she have waited until the prince visited Ashford Academy? Or I could've gone to the Viceroy's Palace. It probably would have been easier for a student to get into the Viceroy's Palace than the military base, Rai thought.
As he walked down the hall, he was surprised by how empty the base was, which was really weird because he was pretty sure that even when no one was fighting, there still should be soldiers around either patrolling or training themselves and their men.
Rai neared the security station he would need to pass to get deeper into the base and froze when he felt a gun suddenly press against his side.
"Well, well, looks like we've got ourselves someone who don't belong," the man behind Rai said. "What should we do with 'im?"
"You know your orders," a man in the security station said, poking his head out of it. "Kill anyone who shows up."
"Yeah, yeah, okay." The man threw Rai into the security station and trained his gun on the white-haired boy as Rai turned and attempted to get to his feet. "Sorry, kid, but orders are orders."
"I haven't even done anything," Rai protested.
"Still. We've got our orders."
Rai gritted his teeth, fear flooding through him as the man in front of him cocked his gun and prepared to fire it. Am I going to die here? He thought; he was pressed up against the wall and there was no room to squeeze past the man in front of him. Who are these people? Why are they here? They aren't Britannian but they aren't Elevens either. Terrorists?
"Kill the kid already, Scar," the second man said irritably. "We're already running on borrowed time 'cause there's a shift change coming up in half an hour."
The first man, Scar, nodded. "Fine," he said.
Rai pressed his back closer to the wall, though he knew that wouldn't help him at all, and panic began to spread through him, panic mingling with fear. Suddenly, a faint burning sensation erupted in Rai's left eye, an uncomfortable but not painful burning sensation that Rai recognized. While he felt a feeling in his gut that he shouldn't be doing this, he found himself tapping into the same power that had gotten him free from that lab.
"Leave me alone!" He said just loud enough for the two men in front of him to hear him.
A sphere of red shot away from him, encompassing the entire security station, and leaving a ring of red around the irises of those two terrorists. They blinked and looked at each other before the first man holstered his gun and they wandered out of the security station.
The faint burning sensation went away as the red sphere collapsed and Rai sagged against the wall, closing his eyes as nausea for some unexplained reason went through him. He still had no idea why his mind kept telling him that it was wrong for him to use that ability and, while he had not used it once since he'd gotten out of that lab, he really didn't have a choice. They were going to kill him.
That didn't make the feeling go away.
Forcing himself to not think about that and, instead, track down the prince, Rai pushed himself to his feet. He couldn't dwell on what just happened because those guys were obviously up to no good and the prince should be warned that something was wrong.
Rai just wished he knew what was going on.
He darted out of the security station and down the hallway, looking around for anyone that he could ask directions from. He rounded the corner and found himself near the hangar where a few knightmares were placed along with supply boxes and crates and technicians wandering around, writing on clipboards or talking into their communicators. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary but those terrorists had been at the security station.
Could they have already gotten into the base and those two people were just there to prevent people outside from interrupting? Rai thought.
. . .
Suzaku was having a bad feeling and it wouldn't go away.
He frowned, tuning out the conversation between Rayne, her twin, and Lila on a party that Lila's parents were holding at their house Sunday evening, and scanned the area. His hand twitched toward the holster where his gun was stored.
"Something wrong?" Lelouch asked, bringing himself out of the thoughts he appeared to have drifted into and looking at Suzaku.
"Something just feels...off, my prince," Suzaku said, still looking around with a frown. Why do I get the feeling that we're being watched? And where is everyone? The base was busy when we arrived but it's not as busy now, which is odd, he thought as they were about to pass the door leading into the hangar.
Suddenly, Rayne yelped. "Kay!" as Kay suddenly slumped to the ground with a dart attached to his neck. Suzaku reacted instantly, tackling Lelouch out of the way just as more darts were shot toward the Royal Guard. The two of them went tumbling through the door and into the eerily empty hangar bay.
"Ha, you do have quick reflexes, oh Mr. Knight in Shining Armor," a laughing voice said and Suzaku narrowed his eyes as a silver-haired Chinese man strode into the hangar, throwing a blowpipe over his shoulder. He had purple sunglasses resting over his head and headphones hanging around his neck.
"Who are you?" Suzaku demanded.
"I have nothing to say to you. I'm only here to speak with the thief behind you," the Chinese man said.
"Thief?"
Lelouch pushed himself to his feet, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked.
The Chinese man giggled, clapping his hands together. "You don't really wanna know that. You're far too concerned about your Royal Guard and about how I got in here. Rest assured, I have my ways," he said.
Lelouch stared. "How did…?"
"...I know that? Take a wild guess," the Chinese man said with a chuckle and tilted his head to the side. "And don't bother on trying to contact security. My companion has already dealt with them. And your guards will be unconscious for a good hour by the way."
Lelouch's jaw clenched. "You can read minds," he said finally.
"Bingo! Give the boy a prize," the Chinese man said, clapping and laughing before he briefly lowered his purple sunglasses to reveal dark eyes, both of which were encompassed by the sigil of Geass.
"You have Geass as well," Lelouch said.
"Just as you do. Oh, I know all about your power, how you can only use it on people once, how you have to have eye contact with them. I know all of your power's weaknesses," the Chinese man said as he replaced the sunglasses. "And I also know that you, thief, will pay for stealing my beloved from me."
"What are you talking about?"
The Chinese man snarled. "You know who I'm talking about! My beloved C.C! You stole her from me, you thieving bastard," he snapped.
"I see," Lelouch said. "So you were one of C.C.'s contractors as well?"
"We are more than that. We are lovers and you tore us apart," the Chinese man snapped. "And you're gonna pay for that. Nightfall and I will ensure that."
Suzaku froze, eyes wide with shock. Nightfall. He whipped his head around to look at Lelouch and, while Lelouch's face remained unfazed and his eyes impassive, the slightest twitch of his jaw and slight tensing of his posture told Suzaku that he was just as shocked and worried as he was.
After all, Nightfall has wanted Lelouch dead ever since Sapporo.
"So he's finally making his move," Lelouch murmured.
"He's been planning something like this for a while since he left you his little message. Oh and don't bother on hiding it. I know you're scared, Demon Prince," the Chinese man said with a laugh. "As you should be, you thieving bastard."
Suzaku shifted until he stood in front of Lelouch, scanning the area since he didn't know what this Chinese man and Nightfall had planned. They were in the hangar bay, there were a couple of knightmares stationed nearby, and the place was devoid of technicians. The supply boxes and crates easily provided places for assassins to hide.
Lelouch figured that as well, turning and pressing his back to Suzaku's, his handgun in his hand as his intelligent amethyst eyes scanned the area.
"That's not gonna help~" the Chinese man said in a sing song voice and laughed. "You're good to go, Nightfall."
"About fucking time," Nightfall's voice echoed over the communicator that the Chinese man had held to his ear. "Unless you want to get fried alongside the bastard prince and his knight, I suggest you get the fuck outta the way, Mao."
The Chinese man, Mao, laughed and darted away.
What is he planning? Suzaku thought.
"Even you can't dodge a knightmare without one of your own," Mao said.
A crash sounded and Lelouch swore. Suzaku twisted his head and paled when he saw that, somehow, Nightfall must have highjacked a Sutherland and was currently aiming its assault rifle at Lelouch.
"Try escaping from this, you bastard," Nightfall's voice called from within the Sutherland as the assault rifle powered up.
. . .
Rai darted across the hangar bay while the rogue Sutherland was distracted with powering up its weapons system. He didn't know if he could really do anything to help but it was clear that the prince and his knight would not get out of this matter alive unless he did something. If they tried to move, that Chinese man would probably gun them down but if they didn't then that Sutherland would kill him.
Rai just needed to distract that Sutherland.
I'll use another Sutherland. I dunno how well this will work out since I don't think I've ever piloted a knightmare before but I've gotta try, he thought as he bolted up the stairs leading to the cockpit of the available Sutherland. He slipped into the cockpit, glad that the activation key was already in there, and inserted it. He activated it; thankfully, this one didn't require a unique activation code.
Once the systems powered up, Rai shot the knightmare forward, surprised by how smoothly he was able to do that, and slammed it directly into the rogue Sutherland, causing its blast to go off course. It struck the railing above but Rai didn't focus on that as he jumped back and, removing his own assault rifle, began firing at the rogue Sutherland.
The rogue Sutherland immediately danced out of the way and the voice that sounded faintly Russian echoed from him. "Who the fuck are you?"
Rai ignored the question and dove forward, exchanging the assault rifle for a jousting lance and ramming it toward the rogue Sutherland. He danced out of the way, moving so swiftly as if the knightmare was a part of his own body, and stabbed toward the enemy. The enemy moved out of the way but Rai morphed the stab into a slash and the jousting lance crashed into the side of the rogue Sutherland, causing it to slide to the side.
Rai jumped forward, exchanging the lance for the rifle, and firing rapidly. He didn't even know what he was doing; he was acting on autopilot, moving as if he was fighting on the ground and the Sutherland seemed to be obeying his movements...
Flames coiled into the sky as he darted forward, dancing to the side to avoid a fist aimed at his face, and crashed a roundhouse kick into the back of the enemy's head. He whirled around and fired the handgun in his hand at another enemy and then at another…
Rai gasped, blinking and confused by that sudden image that had come into his head.
While he was unsure of where that had come from, it gave him an idea.
He jumped backwards, dancing to the side to avoid the rogue Sutherland's jousting lance and, jumping forward, landed a roundhouse kick with his landspinner into the back of the rogue Sutherland's cockpit. As it stumbled to the side, Rai pivoted, assault rifle in hand, and peppered the rogue Sutherland with bullets. His movement brought him in front of the enemy, and between the enemy and Prince Lelouch and his knight.
"Damn you, you little fucker. Get the fuck out of my way," the rogue knightmare's pilot snarled.
Rai keyed on his loudspeaker. "No. I'm not letting you harm His Highness," he said firmly…
"I...I...we won't let you hurt anyone! I'll fight. We'll all fight."
Rai gritted his teeth as those words echoed in his head, words that he felt he had said before but he wasn't sure where or when. Another memory?
"Gah, fine then. I'll just kill you first!" the pilot across from him snarled and launched his knightmare at Rai.
The white-haired boy yanked himself from his thoughts and quickly met the oncoming attack with one of his own.
. . .
That sounds like Rai, Lelouch thought, marginally amazed by how proficient of a knightmare pilot Rai was even though the likelihood that he ever piloted a knightmare in the past he couldn't remember was slim.
Mao snorted in amusement. "Nightfall getting beat by a boy? Ha. Whatever. I know I said I'd let Nightfall be the one kill the thieving bastard but, since he's busy..." he began, pointing his gun at Lelouch.
But Suzaku was already in motion. While Mao was distracted by the fight, Suzaku had slipped into his blindspot and launched himself at him. With a spinkick straight to the face, he caused Mao to stumble and knocked his gun out of his hand. Darting forward, he grabbed Mao's arm.
"You are under arrest for the attempted assassination of Prince Lelouch vi Britannia," Suzaku said firmly, tightening his grip on Mao's hand.
Mao snarled and yanked hard on Suzaku's grip. "Let go of me, Father Killer!" He shouted.
Suzaku froze.
Lelouch's gaze snapped away from the fight between Rai and Nightfall to look at his best friend.
Mao, using Suzaku's shock to his advantage, yanked his arm free from the brunet's grip. "That's right, you're a murderer. You killed your own father seven years ago," he sneered smugly.
"I...I...I..." Suzaku stammered out.
"Genbu Kururugi was said to have committed suicide," Lelouch said with a frown.
"A lie," Mao said with a chuckle, smirking at Suzaku. "Everyone has been lying for him. Genbu Kururugi called for a do-or-die resistance and you thought stopping him would end the war. What a childish idea. The fact is you're a murderer!"
"I...I..." Suzaku stammered out, his shoulders shaking.
Mao laughed. "Everyone in Kyoto knew; that was why they covered it up, making it look like a suicide even though it was all you fault!"
"I had no choice!" Suzaku cried, his green eyes wide with wild grief and panic.
"You caused Japan's unconditional surrender by committing such a great sin. It's no wonder you have a death wish!"
Suzaku screamed and fell to his knees, his shoulders shaking and tears streaming from his face.
Lelouch, snarling, fired his handgun directly at Mao. Mao dodged but not swift enough and he screamed in pain when the bullet crashed into his shoulder, throwing him off his feet.
At that moment, Rai jammed his jousting lance into Nightfall's factsphere and sped forward, sending the knightmare directly into the wall dangerously close to where Mao was struggling to get to his feet. The balcony above their head shuddered violently as the support system was taken out and Lelouch darted forward, grabbing Suzaku and diving toward the heart of the hangar bay.
Rai's knightmare jumped back and the balcony collapsed, causing debris and dust to cloud the area and silence fell, broken only by Suzaku's choked sobs and the whirr of Rai's borrowed knightmare.
. . .
Lelouch's Office, Tokyo Military Base
"They staged an attack that drew the majority of the base's active forces a few miles north of the base and then attacked and knocked out the security while everyone was distracted, Your Highness. Security cameras caught them in the act but they were long gone before we could catch them. We have issued an alert throughout Area 11, warning all regiments and police forces to keep an eye out. I have also followed through on your orders and increased security around the Viceroy's Palace and Ashford Academy," Jeremiah reported. He was nursing a bump on his head from when he'd hit the wall after he'd been hit by the knockout drug in that dart. He was still upset that he hadn't noticed the attack before it'd happened but he was grateful that Kururugi had reacted as quickly as he had.
Speaking of Kururugi, he seemed out of it. While he remained leaned against the window, his eyes were distant, and he was looking everywhere but at Lelouch or at anyone else in the room.
Prince Lelouch was unharmed safe for a few scraps and bruises that came from how he'd landed on the floor earlier. He was pacing the length of his office, his brow furrowed, and his eyes showing that he was deep in thought. He nodded once to acknowledge Jeremiah's words as he came to a stop in his pacing.
"Was anyone found in the wreckage?" he asked.
"No, Your Highness," Jeremiah said, biting back his frustration. After the attack, he'd ordered members of the Black Knights to immediately search through the wreckage for any sign of the two assassins. All they'd found was a knightmare with its cockpit ejected, a hole in the wall, and a pool of blood on the ground.
"So they escaped," Prince Lelouch murmured.
"I included the Chinese man, Mao's, description among the others when the alert was issued but Nightfall's description is one we don't have, since we've only ever seen him in a knightmare," Jeremiah said.
"That will have to do for now," Prince Lelouch said, brow furrowing in thought. He waved a hand toward Jeremiah. "You're dismissed. Increase the security around the base."
"Yes, Your Highness," Jeremiah said with a salute and turned on his heel.
"Um, us too?" Rayne asked.
"Yes. I'd like to speak with Suzaku alone. Also, go and have Rai sent up here."
"Okay..." Rayne shrugged and pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against.
Jeremiah led the way out of the office with the rest of Prince Lelouch's Royal Guard walking after him.
. . .
Suzaku watched the Royal Guard leave, tensing since he already knew what it was that his best friend wanted him to talk about. He'd managed to calm down by the time help had arrived at the scene but was still twitchy and shaky. He knew that there were people out there who knew about what really happened to Genbu Kururugi, like Snows, but he hadn't wanted Lelouch to know.
He hadn't wanted his best friend to now be burdened with the knowledge.
Lelouch waited until the door was closed before he turned to Suzaku. Suzaku avoided his gaze, looking at the ground.
"Everyone believes that Genbu Kururugi committed suicide," Lelouch began. "And it was a necessary lie, one that should be left alone."
Suzaku swallowed. "Thank you," he said quietly, lifting his head finally to look at his best friend.
He remembered when C.C. had spoken to him earlier and how he'd explained that he wanted to remain by Lelouch's side in order to help ensure that Lelouch didn't make a choice that he would regret. He had been thinking about his father when he said that; he knew of just what it felt like to actually kill one's own father and he was hoping that Lelouch wouldn't do the same thing he did.
He knew that Lelouch hated his father but he was hoping that his best friend wouldn't make the same choice that he had. Even if Suzaku had done it in order to stop the do-or-die resistance, and save thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lives, he'd still done it and still carried the guilt with him.
He didn't want his prince to be burdened with that same guilt.
Lelouch nodded once and a quiet knock sounded on the office door. "Come in," he called, moving over to his desk and sitting down as the door opened.
Rai stepped into the room, looking a little nervous. "You wished to see me, Your Highness?" he said with a bow.
"Yes, take a seat," Lelouch said, waving a hand at the armchair across from the desk.
Rai sat down.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for saving my life and the life of my knight earlier today," Lelouch said.
"You're welcome, Your Highness," Rai said.
"Also, I would like to discuss your fight with Nightfall," Lelouch said. "I did not know you were a knightmare pilot."
Rai chuckled nervously, running a hand through unruly white hair. "Neither did I, Your Highness," he admitted.
A naturally gifted pilot then, Lelouch thought. "It is possible that you were a pilot in your past," he said.
"Maybe..." Rai sounded doubtful.
"Nonetheless, I would like to extend an offer to you, as payment for saving my life," Lelouch said.
"An offer, Your Highness?" Rai asked surprised.
"Yes. I would like you to join the Black Knights," Lelouch said.
"Join...the military?" Rai's eyes went wide and Lelouch frowned at the paling of his cheeks. He had a feeling that whatever had happened in Rai's past, it involved the military and it wasn't good.
"You would be under my direct command, Rai. I understand that you are wary of joining the military, likely due to something that happened in your past, but rest assured that nothing will happen to you while you remain under my command. I will not force you to decide but I believe that your skills as a knightmare pilot should not be something that you just let slip by you since you can use your skills to help protect those who cannot protect themselves."
Rai's eyes glazed over momentarily and he blinked, snapping himself back to the present.
Suzaku wondered at that.
"I...I will do it. To protect those who can't protect themselves," Rai said finally. "Besides...it might...it might help me regain my memories."
Lelouch nodded. "On that note," he said, "a mandatory medical exam will be required. If you wish, we can do an MRI scan to see just what is causing your amnesia. We also might be able to do a DNA test to figure out your identity at least."
"You can find out who I am?" Hope glistened in Rai's voice.
"Possibly yes."
"Okay, Your Highness. Thank you."
. . .
Abandoned House, Shinjuku Ghetto
"Damn that stupid knightmare pilot," Nightfall growled, pacing while glaring at Mao who was propped up against the wall. His headphones were once again resting over his ears and his sunglasses were still over his eyes but Nightfall could tell by the pained twist of his lips that he was still feeling the pain in his shoulder.
Nightfall wasn't a medic. He'd done the best that he could with what little knowledge he had of medical stuff, which was mostly disinfecting it to the best of his ability and bandaging it since the bullet had gone straight through. Even if he was a sadistic bastard, he wasn't about to let his current only ally in his quest for vengeance against the prince die.
"We were so close," Mao moaned, pouting.
"Tch, I wasn't expecting that damn knightmare," Nightfall growled and turned to glare at Mao. "You'd better have another plan or I'm leaving your ass here."
Mao huffed. "Of course I have another plan. We just use someone as bait to draw the prince to us and force him to give himself up in exchange for the hostage," he said.
"And who the fuck would be important enough to the Demon Prince that he would give himself up for them?" Nightfall demanded.
Mao laughed. "There's only one person that we can use against him like this," he said with a grin. "His little sister. Nunnally vi Britannia."
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Suzaku: where's Blaze?
Blaze: WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET DIANE'S SACRED TREASURE?! (Is currently running for her life with an enraged Lelouch chasing after her with Diane's War Hammer Gideon)
Suzaku: ah, I see. And Blaze doesn't own Nanatsu no Taizai by the way. Also, I'm surprised the mob of Nunnally Fans aren't helping him. Wonder why that is
Kallen: (points out the window)
Suzaku: (looks out the window)
Bakura: (currently has Raid Raptors – Revolution Falcon, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and Starve Venom Fusion Dragon surrounding the group of terrified Nunnally Fans) try to make a move, I dare you!
Suzaku: …why?
Kallen: Blaze promised to give him free reign do whatever the hell he wants in a world of his choosing for a full week if he kept Nunnally's Fans from killing her. Also, Blaze doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Suzaku: please don't choose our world, please don't choose our world, please don't choose our world
Kallen: (listens to Suzaku plead to whatever deity was willing to listen and sweatdrops) anyway, Blaze does hope that you enjoyed this chapter and, as usual, reviews are much appreciated.
