Chapter IX
The assassin flicked blood from the blade as he lunged at Suzaku, streams hit the floor. "You goddamn filthy traitor!" he repeated, adding more to his condemnation.
Suzaku easily side-stepped the man and shoved him away. Unfazed, the man returned, and swiped through the air with the knife with precision attacks, cutting Suzaku's uniform. The man was obviously versed in using the knife, which now Suzaku took as a six inch military grade. It was very sharp with a serrated edge, light gleamed along its metallic surface with every swipe.
Suzaku avoided another swing of the blade, falling into his military defensive training.
The man used the knife with expertise, but he also had a certain randomness to his attacks. He was obviously filled with anger and hatred that it was clouding the weapon's propriety. With a more clear head, the man could easily do a lot of damage than what he was doing.
And Gino's lesson suddenly came back to him like a slap in the face.
Suzaku was this man, before Gino pointed it out. Staring into this man's blood-thirty and erratic eyes was like looking into a mirror, all he wanted was revenge. It was the same Suzaku subjected Lelouch too after Euphie's death, he could think of nothing else.
"You sold out your own kind, aligning yourself with the Empire!" the man proclaimed. "Zero was our saviour, and now he's disappeared. And you probably murdered him!"
If only you knew the truth…
The man charged him, and with some more quick footing, Suzaku avoided getting stabbed within inches of the knife plunging into his mid-section. But it did cut his uniform again. The force of the attack and the near-miss caused the assassin to stagger off balance. He stumbled, then turned back. But when he stood, Suzaku delivered a round-house kick to the man's face, and the assassin twirled in the air, and slammed hard to the floor.
His father owned a dojo, and the Kururugi family was known in some circles as skilled martial artists. Before the invasion of Britannia, the school had nearly fifty certified students. His father was the Prime Minister of Japan, but the school had been established before he got into politics, and then some of his former students began to teach the next generation.
The assassin lay still. But Suzaku knew the man could regain consciousness at any time, so he stomped on the man's knife wielding hand despite no longer holding the weapon, and the man cried out. Suzaku thought he heard a crunch.
The man folded into himself, clutching his hand in. "You bastard! You broke my hand!"
Suzaku cursed the man with a stare, then picked up the knife and looked at it. He recalled his encounter with the man in the corridor, then in a security guard uniform.
The incident was an indicator for tightened security measures.
No wonder the man eyed him with such disdain, playing it back. The man had pissed himself, when he was singled out, potentially caught, wondering if his mission was compromised after too much effort to get where he was.
And now that he thought about it, the man had been assigned the wing where Suzaku lived only a few weeks back. He would've taken better notice if he paid more attention to the guards. He promised he would for now on. He must have infiltrated the ranks with a secret murderous plot.
Suzaku had seen too many to count. The Elevens considered him a traitor. The lengths some of the disenchanted went to—was beyond awe-striking, Suzaku thought.
Suzaku tossed the knife away, well out of the assassins reach. Then, he remembered Perez.
He ran to Perez and knelt down, looking at the young man up and down with sympathy. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If only he had not answered the door. The assassin had struck quickly, and thought Perez was his target. The mistake must have shocked him.
Perez held his stomach, he had lost a lot of blood. He looked pale, almost anemic. He coughed, and a trickle of blood streamed out of the corner of his mouth.
"Perez, stay with me," Suzaku said. "I'll get help."
With swift grab, Perez took hold of Suzaku's arm when he attempted to stand, halting Suzaku. Suzaku took it as a plea for help. "It'll be okay, Perez, I'll be right back, I promise!"
But then Perez gripped tighter with a hidden strength which actually made Suzaku wince.
"Perez, let go of me, I'm going to get you some help."
Suzaku then looked out of the corner of his eye, as the assassin began to stir, clutching his broken hand to his chest. From the look on his face, his fight was not finished. Perez gripped Suzaku's wrist even tighter, and the young man looked at him with an intense, but hurtful stare.
And then a sudden realization took hold, and Suzaku looked at Perez, and then at the assassin. "No…" Suzaku mouthed in disbelief.
The assassin looked around for the knife he brought, but when he didn't find it, he attempted to use something else—a weapon of opportunity.
Suzaku pulled at Perez's grip, finally releasing it, came to a startling truth. He stood on his feet.
Perez didn't come here to apologize, he had come to make sure their target was here, and alone. Perez must have signalled the assassin with some sort of communication device on his person, when Arthur was busy with his antics. Perez had been alone. When the assassin accidentally stabbed Perez when he answered the door, in a moment of strike-first the assassin probably thought their plot had seemingly gone awry. But, obviously, follows of any fraction against the Empire were prepared to lay down their lives for their cause.
The assassin brandished a silver letter opener he found on a work desk, where Suzaku signed all his official papers near the wall, and held it out, his broken hand just a claw now.
And that was when Arthur pounced, jumping on the assassins back. It man startled and twirled around as Arthur bit down on his ear, the man yelped.
It was enough of a distraction and Suzaku charged the man.
Arthur jumped to safety just moments before impact as Suzaku tackled the man to the floor, and they barrel rolled. Suzaku quickly got to his feet as the man held his stomach, in pain, obviously unprepared for the attack. But he haphazardly started to reach out for the letter opener again.
Suzaku grabbed it first and held it to the man's throat, pinning him down. "Who sent you?" he demanded. "How many more of your cell have infiltrated Knight headquarters? But you're—Britannian?"
The man spit in Suzaku's face. Suzaku recoiled, but he kept his weight on the man. Suzaku stabbed the man's good hand, and the man screamed.
"Answer my question, now!"
The man's face contorted with pain. "The RFF!" he sputtered out.
"The RFF? What's that?"
"The Revolutionary Freedom Front! We welcome anyone who opposes the Britannia Empire's rule, like a legion! Zero was our last hope to bring the Empire down to its knees!"
"A legion, for we are many," Suzaku said. "Am I right?"
"Yes, anyone who shares our cause including former members of the Black Knights can join."
So, Lelouch's influence has affected a great many to join fractions against the Empire, even the common citizenry who oppose authorization, Suzaku surmised. They're desperate, just like the Eleven's who later became the Black Knights.
The military still had some of the Black Knight members in jail, executing only a handful to state to the world that the Empire was absolute. But, obviously, there were still some who dared challenge the Empire, albeit in other ways. This man being one of them. And even, Perez. They had gotten this far—even into Knights Headquarters, biding their time.
"Tell me who your leader is, now!"
The man shook his head, then smirked in an almost amused matter despite the muscles of his face tense with pain, involuntary tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. "He's untouchable. And he's too powerful for even you to take him down." The man laughed insanely.
The man suddenly had a bout of inhuman strength and pushed Suzaku off him. Suzaku was taken aback, falling off. The assassin then did the unthinkable. He ran, charged a window, and crashed through it, falling to the cement below.
Suzaku looked down, the man's broken body lay still, a puddle of blood flowing out from underneath. Suzaku was shocked that he would take his own life than expose his comrades.
A loyal guard looked up from below, perplexed.
"Secure the scene, guard!" Suzaku ordered.
The guard saluted, and said, "Yes, Sir Knight!"
How far had the infiltration gone, Suzaku wondered.
After investigators arrived, Suzaku told them everything that had happened. Gino also arrived, and was shocked, and watched as EMTs take Perez's body away in a body bag. He had been totally taken in with Perez for the last year unaware of his true agenda.
Suzaku felt sorry for Gino. He held Arthur, with all the activity in his quarters.
Gino frowned, then slammed a fist into a hand. "Goddamn!" he said. He then directed his attention to a soldier standing near by. He pointed. "I want everyone's credentials checked and double checked in headquarters: all staff, workers, and helpers—everyone!"
"Everyone, sir? Even Britannian's?"
Gino's eyes narrowed. "Are you deaf, soldier? I said EVERYONE! Now, go!"
"Y-yes, Sir Knight!" the soldier snapped at attention, saluted, and then ran out the door.
Suzaku looked at Gino with surprise. It was not like Gino to shout, or be angry. But Suzaku knew Gino was hurt. Perez being a traitor was probably also a deep personal stab to his pride. The way they interacted in the arena was like two close friends.
Gino gulped. "He could've killed me," he said of Perez. "I trusted him."
Whose the naive one now? Suzaku thought to say, but relented. After everything Gino did for him with the boxing match when it came to Lelouch, only to fall prey to the same thing with Perez. There was no need to throw salt into the wound.
"No…" Suzaku said, frowning. "I was their target. The television broadcasts honouring me as a new Knight of the Round, telling everyone that I had taken down Zero…that was their motivation. The Black Knights are defeated, but obviously there are other fractions that don't like the Empire. And to them, I'm the most hated man in the world."
His communicator beeped and he answered it. Of all times, he was called out for a mission.
Gino left without saying another word.
To be continued...