Turn 3: How to Break a Delusional Idiot

Kallen is giving me a look. A look that's screaming at me, 'What the hell did you do?!'

I make a shushing gesture to her and mouth 'later'.

Several hours later, I sit down in my bed, my witch raising an eyebrow.

Nunnally was very upset. She wouldn't go to sleep unless I stayed and held her hand.

...Even before, I had never hated Suzaku, merely pitied him. But perhaps this time, I can do something different.

Something Lelouch could not have done.

CC lays her head on my shoulder. "You're going to help him." Not a question, a confirmation.

I take out a hairbrush I borrowed from Nunnally. "If you'll turn around, I'll tell you what the first act of this opera entails," I purr.

Her smile could light up the clouds.

I brush gently, loosening the split hairs and knots. Thankfully, Lelouch has years of experience doing this for his sisters.

"Suzaku isn't what he seems to be." I trail the brush down her emerald locks. "You know the official story about how the war ended, yes?"

She nods. "Of course. I was in Japan before the war."

I whisper in her ear, "It's a lie. Genbu didn't kill himself."

She turns around in surprise. "Then who...?"

Her eyes widen. Clever girl. "Oh...hahahaha!"

I smile as she connects the dots. It's a cruel joke, one only an immortal could appreciate.

She wipes her eyes as she returns to her seated position, looking over her shoulder. "So why patricide then? In your case, it's obvious. But Suzaku doesn't strike me as the type."

I sigh as I resume brushing, my eyes closed in reminiscence. "Suzaku was always a headstrong idiot with his own sense of morals. When he found out his father was planning a total war against Britannia, he was horrified."

I open my eyes, a melancholy expression on my face. "A normal child of ten couldn't understand it. Why should his people have to die in a war they couldn't win?"

CC picks up my train of thought. "So he confronted him and stabbed him. Who else knows?"

I tap my cheek. Lelouch wouldn't actually know the answer to this question. But given what I know about the original timeline, I can make an educated guess.

"At best guess? The Six Houses of Kyoto, Colonel Kyoshiro Tohdoh, and whatever is left of the Kururugi family."

I sigh as I put down the brush. "I'm going to have to hurt him. He may not forgive me for it. But it's better than letting him live as he is now."

CC tilts her head. "Live how?"

"A corpse's life. Not really alive. Seeking only to die as a martyr for his crimes."

Her eyes narrow and she closes them as she shakes her long hair. "In other words, not too dissimilar to how you were before we met?"

I kiss her cheek softly, "Precisely."

I pull up the covers and lie back. "Tomorrow is going to be busy. Ready for mayhem?"

She cuddles up next to me. "I wouldn't have contracted with you otherwise," she says with a smile.

"And you're paying for your cock teasing after we save your friend," she says with a poke to my chest.

"Of course, my witch."