"Lelouch?" Nunnally heard her brother come out of the bathroom, only to frown in confusion as she didn't hear a certain telltale sound. It was first thing in the morning, a school day. Lelouch usually checked and maintained his appearance in the bathroom before coming out. He would then shut the door behind him before straightening the cuffs of his uniform. It was as stiff and restrictive as formal wear so he treated it as such. But this time there was no short, sharp sound of rustling fabric as he stiffly straightened his cuffs. He wasn't wearing his uniform. "Are you not going to school today, big brother?"
She heard the smile in his voice as he answered. "I'm afraid I have some things to take care of today that can't wait. Reuben, Milly and Sayoko know how to get hold of me if there's an emergency." He knelt. She felt the movements of his hands as they rested on her chair. "If there's a problem, anything at all, just call for Sayoko and–"
"I know." She smiled back. He could be such a worrywart sometimes. "I'm just going to school. What are you doing?"
"Just delivering something for some friends."
That was an evasive answer. "You'll be safe?"
"Hey, I thought I was the big brother here. It's my job to worry about you and keep you safe."
"And it's my job to do the same for you, big brother."
His head dipped. "No it isn't. I'll keep you safe. It's your job to go to school and have a good day so I don't have to worry, okay?"
"Well... It might not be my job, but I'll still worry about you anyway," she protested. "So promise you'll be safe. Okay?"
"I promise I'll take every precaution to make sure I come home safe," he answered, sounding like he was patronising her. But that was just a part of their relationship after what had happened. Lelouch felt like he had to protect her from the world. It wasn't always something she appreciated, but she always knew his heart was in the right place. "Have a good day at school."
"Okay. Goodbye, Lelouch." She reached out for his hand but felt only the ghost of his touch as it moved away. As she heard his steps turning around then walking for the door.
"Are you ready for school, Lady Nunnally?" Sayoko asked, the slight shift of the wheelchair telling the blind girl their maid had taken hold of the handles.
"... Yes. Thank you, Sayoko."
As she was wheeled to the door she felt a severe disquiet, all centred around her brother. Around his actions.
They had always been so close. She had grown to depend on him after the tragedy, and then even more so after the invasion. But even before all that they were connected in a way even siblings rarely were. With everything they had gone through together, they understood each other in ways that almost defied understanding. It was like with a simple touch, she could feel what he was feeling. Understand his emotions and empathise with him.
If they weren't siblings it would almost have been romantic...
But, they both knew they had this connection. Or at least he knew she would have his number just by taking his hand. More than once she had called him out for that rush he felt after a successful gambling trip! After that nice girl Shirley kept telling him not to! It was very rude!
But... Today... It wasn't that he just happened to not touch her at all. He purposefully refused to. Maybe he thought she wouldn't notice, being blind, but she did. And having noticed it today, she looked back on the past few days and realised. Ever since their father had died, they hadn't come into contact even a single time.
He was hiding something from her.
-(-)-
"There! That's all of the paperwork for the swimming club filled out and ready to be filed!" Shirley Fenette announced proudly, neatly aligning the small stack of papers and stapling them together.
Milly smiled in approval as she took the stack and flipped through it, all the while her eyes flicked from the papers to the cheery redhead who handed them over. Watched as Shirley took the moment to fully relax. Sagged in her chair, only to then sit up and arch her back with her arms raised in a satisfying stretch.
The blonde heiress knew an image that appealed to her when she saw it. Shirley didn't know it, but she was the reason Milly realised she played for both teams. Even all the way back when they first met the swimmer was so bouncy, both physically and emotionally. At the same time, she also pitied the cheerful girl a little. A bit of a pushover at times. After all, that was why she was here filling out the paperwork for the swimming club even though she wasn't the club captain or vice captain. This was supposed to be the job for one of those two, and yet Shirley was here doing it instead. She was a member of the student council so she would know best how to get it done, right? It was kind of sad. Not that the girl seemed to mind at all.
Yes, she could be a pushover at times. Surprisingly, frustratingly stubborn at others.
Still... The blonde licked her lips as they curled into a mischievous grin. This wouldn't be a terrible time to get a little playful. Not if she was going to put her assets on display like that. Moving behind the chair, she stooped low to get a good handful of both of her redhead friend's delightful sweater melons.
"Wha–! Hey!" Shirley complained, her arms still raised in her stretch. "Hey, Prez, come on!" It was also perhaps a little telling that she didn't make any real move to stop Milly's actions, instead looking about for anyone who might see such shameless behaviour. There were no boys in the room. And so her protests remained half-hearted, her efforts to resist her more lustful and grabby friend stayed limited to making sure the groping wasn't quite so rough.
"Well if you give me an opportunity like that, how am I supposed to pass it up?" Milly asked playfully, kissing the shell of her ear.
"Prez, that's too much!" the swimmer complained, leaning away from the kiss.
"Want to stay pure for Lulu?" the Ashford heiress teased, leaning in again to whisper in her ear. "Come on, it doesn't count if it's just us girls. I won't tell if you won't." Though if Milly completed her objective, she was fairly sure Lelouch wouldn't mind.
"Please..."
The blonde sighed, giving the girl's bountiful bosom one last squeeze before letting go. She stood, came around to Shirley's front and sat on the desk table, one leg crossed over the other. The harshest reaction Shirley gave to her shameless actions as a pout as she fixed her blouse. "Speaking of Lulu," Milly continued the teasing, even if not in a physical manner, "When are you planning on making a move?" Silence. And not as part of any silent treatment. Just an unwillingness to speak on the subject. "Shirley..."
"He's... He's got so much on his plate already with Nunna and... And he keeps going out and doing things and I know he's still gambling even though he said he'd stop and... I..." Green eyes flicked Milly's way as if to gauge her reaction. Her body sagged slightly as she came to the correct conclusion that the blonde wasn't buying it. "I just... It's fine if things stay like this, right?"
This was the stubbornness that frustrated Milly. When it came to doing things for other people she was often happy to. When it came to doing things for herself, going for the things she wanted, Shirley was happy to dither until it slipped through her fingers. To Shirley, Lelouch was there, she could admire him at her pleasure. But if she ever tried for more than that, what if he said no? Then all she could do would be to pine over a false hope. Something that would never be. Conveniently ignoring the fact that if she never did anything, it still would never be. But she had all the time in the world, right? The girl probably imagined waiting right up until graduation to finally pluck up the guts enough to confess. Some fantasy that they would enter the adult world together. Again, conveniently ignoring the possibility of someone else moving in. Or fate dealing a hand that might separate them sooner.
Arguably, both of which had happened.
Milly was willing to share, of course. She had to be, but also she wouldn't turn her nose up at beautiful girls sharing her bed, and her future husband's of course. And she was more than aware of the practical benefits to forging alliances or tying superb women of skill or intellect into their circle. But therein lay the problem. Tying women to Lelouch with polygamous marriages held benefits, if the women provided benefits. Milly loved Shirley. Lelouch held some mild affection for her too. But she was undeniably ordinary. A bright and cheerful schoolgirl. Beautiful. But little more than that from a purely practical viewpoint. So the more women of prestige, position or proficiency Lelouch became entangled with, the more difficult it would become for plain old Shirley Fenette to find a place for herself in his heart.
And even worse, Milly couldn't deny the part of her that worried such an outcome might even be for the best. Even if Shirley caught Lelouch's attention early, all of those things would remain true. She would still be in the company of women of power and importance. Milly wouldn't quite put herself in such company either but she was trained enough to swim in those waters. Shirley would be completely unprepared. Even if she got her foot in the door, she would struggle to keep up.
"It's fine," Shirley said with a little more confidence, though also the kind of false confidence of someone balking out of fear. "I'll just... I'm just waiting for my moment!"
Waiting for her moment. Milly would bet Rivalz told himself the same thing and oh look! Moment passed! Not that it would've ever worked out for him but now he'd end up feeling like it could have if he had gone for it and he'd probably blame Lelouch out of some garbage 'guy code' or whatever else and all this could easily be avoided if people would just sack up and say how they feel!
Having worked herself up into a fervour, she pulled the redhead up and out of her chair, grabbed her by the shoulders, leaned in close, took a breath. "GUUUUUUUTS!"
"Loud..." Shirley whimpered.
"Sweetie," Milly continued quieter, "What do you think is going to happen? Do you think he's going to wait forever? Do you think others should wait forever for you to pluck up your courage and put yourself out there?"
"What do you mean?" It was like the idea of someone else swooping in to take him had never entered into her romantic fantasy.
And so it was on Milly to shatter that fantasy. Because the idea of Shirley and Lelouch living a simple and happy life together was already dead and buried. "If you don't act, you miss your moment. That's how the world is." She had realised, just as Shirley needed to realise. Whether Shirley could find a place in Lelouch's heart? Whether she could keep up with his other lovers? None of that mattered if she never even tried. And whether she tried would be up to Shirley alone.
The blonde left the student council room, not quite in a huff, leaving Shirley behind. The confused redhead left to ponder why exactly her friend had been so adamant, why she was so forceful this time. What her thoughts might have been were anyone's guess. But before long she filed the paperwork away herself and left too.
Leaving Nina Einstein alone in the room.
She was used to such things by now. She didn't make a nuisance of herself, and everyone knew she didn't care much about interpersonal drama. So they left her to her own devices. As a result, she probably knew more about her friends' personal lives than they did, entirely against her will. She was working and she wasn't going to leave for their sake, and they all knew better than to try and kick her out just so they could have an argument. So... She was privy to most personal conversations had in the student council office. She knew about Rivalz' crush on Milly. She knew entirely too much about Shirley's crush on Lelouch.
And because of that qualifier on most personal conversations, she had a suspicion that the relationship between Milly and Lelouch had probably progressed beyond a mere crush.
Again, she didn't especially care of course. But she had heard the whole thing. She wondered to herself as her fingers moved over the keys of her terminal, as her eyes scanned the data, double-checking the readings. Would Shirley figure out Milly had already 'made a move' as she called it? But then, why was Milly pushing Shirley to do the same? Was she being cruel? Milly had never seemed the type. Just pushy.
Then again, with how Milly behaved around girls... Maybe there was a little more to it than that. The image of the blonde molesting the redhead popped back into her mind entirely against her will. She swallowed, moved her glasses out of the way to wipe at her eyes. Fought the warmth that sprung to her cheeks and the discomfort in her... In her private place.
She shook her head, set her glasses back in place and stared at the screen all the harder. Gossip and interpersonal drama didn't matter. She had work to do.
-(-)-
"Kallen, I'm just saying maybe you should give it some thought."
"And I'm just saying shove it up your ass!"
"Starting to feel like we shouldn't be here for this..."
Kallen's eyes moved from her brother's best friend Ohgi to the blue haired resistance member who spoke. "Shut up, Sugiyama! Don't tell me you agree with this!"
"I don't even wanna get involved..."
The redhead had thrown caution to the wind. Despite the pleas for her to stay away, she couldn't handle it alone anymore. At home the smugness of that woman, the despair of the other one. And then school where every student and teacher alike would say good riddance to knowing her brother was dead. And then yesterday. Some Britannian bastard telling her she should become a knight? Fight for Britannia? The people who destroyed the lives of everyone she actually cared about?
No. She had gotten away at the first chance she got, came right here to her brother's resistance cell. To his friends. To the people who shared her loss. At first it was good. There was reminiscing. There was shared empathy and sympathy alike. Grief gladdened by toasts to his memory. Tamaki even gave her a beer over it. Said for all the shitty things about Britannia, she might as well take advantage of the lower drinking age. And then, after toasting Naoto, they toasted the death of the emperor. Wondered if Naoto's soul had cursed the monster before he passed on.
But then... They had talked about the aftermath of that. The increased military drills. The arrival of a Knight of the Round. And Kallen had brought up the 'Knightmare Piloting Experience Day'. About how she was apparently a natural. About how that prick thought she should sign up for knight training.
And then... Ohgi had gone quiet.
And then he said something stupid. And wouldn't back down.
"Look, Kallen, I get it. I do."
"Do you?!" she demanded. "They killed Naoto! What makes you think I could ever fight for them?! I'd rather die!"
"Who said anything about fighting for them? Kallen, the way you talked it sounds like you'd be walked right into pilot training the second you walk through the door. Think about what that means. Getting the best training they have. Getting access to knightmares. Equipment. Information. All kinds of things that could help us in the fight against Britannia."
"Do you think I'm an idiot, Ohgi?" Kallen asked, her voice roughened by anger. "You think I don't know about that stupid promise he had you make? I know how this'll go. I'd go into training ready to help you guys but you'd just keep telling me to maintain my cover, over and over again until all of you are dead, because you made some bullshit promise to look after me! I don't want that, Ohgi! I want to fight, to take back what they stole from us!"
"Not like there's much fighting to be done now anyway," Inoue remarked, deflecting some of the tension. "Everything's screwed. Even the JLF have gone to ground."
Minami nodded. "Word is they're trying to figure out if they want to act now or wait until the Chinese show up so they can kick Britannia when they're down. A lot of groups are following their lead."
"That doesn't mean we have to, right?" Kallen pressed, trying to get the others on her side. "We still have the plan Naoto came up with. We can still do it."
"Did you forget about the military lockdown already?" Ohgi asked out of frustration. "Everything's changed now. Even if we wanted to, we'd have to go over all of it to account for that. And a Knight of the Round. Not to mention getting hold of our backup plan just became a whole lot harder."
"So you wanna just sit and–!"
"Guys!" Tamaki's voice appeared alongside the sound of his shoes slapping on the stairs. "Guys! This just got dropped outside the front door!" he informed everyone present, holding out a brand new budget cell phone.
"What?!" Inoue exclaimed. "Tamaki, you moron, get rid of that! What if it's a bomb?!"
The phone began to ring.
"Then... It... Probably would've gone off just now?"
Ohgi sighed, holding out a hand. "Give it here." He took the phone, stared at it and came to a decision. He held up a finger to his lips as he looked at everyone in the room in turn. Spent an extra second staring at Kallen who scoffed and looked away. An extra two seconds at Tamaki who looked affronted to be singled out. Then answered the call, immediately putting it on speaker. He had no intention of hiding anything from the others. "Hello?"
"Who would I be speaking to right now?" the voice on the other end asked in perfect, if stiff, Japanese.
Kallen's eyebrows furrowed, but she stayed silent. "It's impolite to ask that before giving your own name."
"So it is. But that type of cagey answer tells me that the phone ended up in the right hands. As for who I am, well I apologise for my rudeness but I'll have to be a little cagey myself. Suffice to say, I could become an ally of yours, or perhaps you an ally of mine."
Kallen's expression had gone from confusion to screwed up in frustration. Not that anyone knew why. But she could have sworn she heard that voice before.
"An ally? An ally to who exactly?"
"To the Japanese, of course. I would hardly be contacting resistance cells and offering them aid otherwise."
"I could think of a couple other reasons you might do that."
"You think perhaps this is some sort of trap?" the voice asked with what sounded like amusement. "I applaud your caution, but if that were my aim... Well, I wouldn't much need such underhanded methods. I know the people in this building are the members of a resistance cell. Were I from the Britannian authorities, that would be all the cause I needed to take drastic actions. And were I from the Britannian authorities, there isn't much you would be able to do to stop me."
"Say I believe that," Ohgi allowed, thinking as quickly as he was able. It made sense enough to him. They were seven people with rifles. If the Britannians knew they were Japanese resistance, a knightmare would rip the front of the building open and crush all of them dead. "What is it you want?"
"I want to know if our aims are compatible. And so I must once again be rude and turn your question around on you. What is it that you want? What is the aim of your group?"
"To fuck up the Britannians!" Every set of eyes in the room snapped to Tamaki, silently asking if he was a complete idiot. "... Sorry."
"And here I thought this was a private conversation," the voice on the phone spoke again, sounding more amused than anything. "Though is that the goal you strive for? To do the Britannians harm?"
"We want a free Japan," Ohgi answered, glad to see Kallen was staring Tamaki down, daring him to speak again. "We want the Japanese to be able to live their lives with pride again."
"Hm. Well, at least one of those goals is plausible and one we share. But for the sake of argument, how do you see a free Japan occurring? I hope it's a little more than fighting and hoping for the best."
"We fight. We destabilise Britannian control until they can't maintain their hold on us anymore. This is the perfect time to do it, when they're too busy fighting amongst themselves."
"I see. So you would prefer a Chinese occupation to a Britannian one."
"No. We'll keep going until we're our own nation again."
The voice sighed. Sounding at once disappointed and perhaps a little condescending. "This is a time of turmoil, nameless resistance member. Everyone is fighting everyone. Britannia, Euro Britannia, Europia, Chinese Federation, even what's left of the Middle Eastern Federation. Every empire and superpower claws for territorial gains. All of them eyeing these islands like the finest cut of beef. Every one has plans on the drawing board for how to take Japan. Not a single one is even considering the possibility of Japan securing its independence, let alone taking the idea seriously. If Britannia lose their 'Area Eleven', the Chinese will happily devour you next. And the blood of the Japanese will run through the streets again to make it happen."
It was a more than plausible view of what was to come. It spoke on the worry that no one had voiced when they had discussed the JLF's potential actions. Attacking the Britannians now could mean taking back their country if they were successful. But it also meant they would be the ones to face the invading Chinese instead. And attacking the Britannians while the Chinese were invading would simply give the Chinese an easy victory.
Even so... "So what? You're suggesting we just roll over and accept it? Let the Britannians treat us like dirt, let the Japanese live in squalor and misery begging for scraps?"
"Hardly. I simply ask you the question. If you had to choose one, do you fight for Japan or the Japanese? For flag and the idea of nation, or for the reason that nation existed in the first place?"
It had been so much easier when he believed the two were one in the same. For as little as he could trust the man on the other end of the call, he conceded the man's point. They weren't the same thing. Still, it wasn't just his choice to make. He looked to each of his comrades. Prompting each to answer.
"The Japanese."
Four different voices spoke it in turn. He looked to Kallen who shook her head, refused to answer. Then to Tamaki.
"Both!"
Of course he would choose to be an obstinate asshole. Still, Ohgi gave his own answer. "The Japanese. We fight for the Japanese."
"Then we may be able to come to an accord," the voice answered in approval. "And so I will tell you a little about myself. I am in a position in which I will be able to unseat the current administration of this land and take their place. That is my first objective. Once I have done so, I will have two focuses. Defending this land and bringing peace to it. That means repelling the Chinese Federation and achieving equal treatment for the Japanese."
"And we're supposed to just take you at your word on that," the resistance leader stated flatly, doubtfully.
"Of course not. Simply judge me by my actions, past and future. For a start, I care enough about Japanese culture and history to have learned to speak the language fluently, haven't I?"
"... You're Britannian."
"How else would I be able to take the position of Viceroy?" the voice asked in English before switching back to Japanese. "I lived in Japan before the invasion. I walked through a field of corpses, the work of that rotten empire. I intend to change it. Carve out the rot so it might heal and become something worthy of existing."
"And what if we don't want that?" Ohgi asked, clearly distrustful, and it would take little thought to guess where it came from. "What if some Britannian handing us our soiled dignity isn't enough for us?"
"So your dignity can only be washed clean with the blood of your enemies?" A pause, long enough that the sneer was tangible as he finished, "How Britannian of you."
"Bastard–!"
"Be as angry as you like. I intend to work for a kinder world. Even with such a goal there might be reasons to shed blood. So far as I'm concerned, wounded pride is not one of them." The frustrated breath that came through the speaker suggested Ohgi wasn't the only one getting heated. "But we're both speaking out of anger. I've heard enough that I believe we can overcome our differences given time and reason to trust. Pursuant to that, I have a gift for you."
"A gift, huh?"
"That's right. Consider it a proof of intent. Three streets over to the south there is a large truck. I suggest you move it somewhere inconspicuous. The keys are hidden between the sections of the passenger seat. Keep this phone. I'll call if we might be able to work together."
The phone beeped, an indication of the call ended from the other side. "Minami," Ohgi called, "Come on, we're gonna check this out."
"Ohgi, wait," Kallen tried to stop him.
"Kallen, whatever it is, it can wait." He didn't wait for a response, already running down the stairs and out the front door. South. Three streets over so east, south for three blocks then back west. And there it was. "Minami."
"On it," the bespectacled man confirmed as he jogged toward the truck cab, opened the unlocked passenger door and searched around the seat. He found the keys but kept quiet about it, returning to the back of the truck with them.
Ohgi took the keys, eyed the container. It would be too dangerous to just take it without knowing what was inside and there was no one around. No one paying enough attention to get much from a peek inside anyway. He unlocked the back doors and pulled one open. Peering inside, he could make out enough to know it was a lot of high tech equipment. But not enough to know exactly what it was. "What is all this stuff?"
"A simulator. A knightmare simulator." Kallen gave the unexpected answer, panting slightly from chasing them down. She had barely caught a glimpse at the inside of the truck but she might have guessed even without looking. "Ohgi, I know who that was!"
-(-)-
"Lelouch?"
For Nunnally, it was another late night visit. A much guiltier one. After everything she had realised, she couldn't simply wait to find out what her brother was up to. The timing of it, it was too suspicious. Just like she had said to him that morning. He could tell her not to worry about him but she always would, especially when he so rarely worried for himself. And their father's death, and Lelouch suddenly became distant? No. She couldn't accept that. Even if it were something innocent, something like not wanting to burden her, she couldn't accept that. She needed him, but he also needed her.
"I'm sorry, my lord," Sayoko apologised for both of them. "She had another nightmare and–"
Lelouch stared at her. She couldn't see it but she could feel it. Another one of those things, she supposed. Just as she could read him with a touch, she could feel when he could see right through her. "It's fine," he cut Sayoko off, rising out of bed. Once again taking her chair into the room. "You can go back to sleep, Sayoko."
"Thank you, my lord."
He wheeled her to the side of his bed, but then waited for their maid to leave entirely. Waited for the click of her bedroom door closing. Only then did he lower himself down, drop the arms of her chair. Stopped. "I guess I should've known better."
"I said I'll always worry for you, Lelouch," she reminded him, her voice quiet. "Even if you don't want me to. I'd rather worry for you than pretend there's no reason to."
"Are you sure?" he asked her one last time. "I can't keep things from you forever, but there's no going back once you know."
"I promise, big brother." She let a weak smile form on her face, preparing herself for the worst. "You're my brother, my most important person, no matter what."
There was a pause. Perhaps Lelouch steadying himself. Before she felt the hands resting in her lap taken in his.
... Oh.
