Turn 5: How to win friends and avoid getting killed in the process.

"Class, we have a new student, Suzaku Kururugi."

Right on time, Suzu. And everyone else is giving him the stinkeye.

Well, no. That's not quite true. The student council is cautious, but nobody except Nina is giving him any kind of bad look.

Fuuuuuck. What the hell am I going to do about her? I know she's naive and innocent, I know she's not evil, just misguided.

But the other side of me says her naïveté will kill millions unless I seize control of FREIJA or turn her.

Hmmm. Perhaps a conversation about the revelations about Clovis's projects is in order.

I discretely signal Suzaku and Kallen to meet me on the roof. CC will be waiting per my instructions.

A few minutes later, we're here. I give a whistle at CC's twin tail hairstyle with the school uniform. "For a girl who's never been to high school, you certainly look the part of an innocent schoolgirl." I say smoothly.

CC leans against the fence, her golden eyes twinkling with amusement. "I wasn't expecting to enjoy this. A rather large number of boys tried to ask me out."

I raise an eyebrow. "Any worth mentioning?"

She shrugs and walks towards me. "Compared to you? Not even close." She kisses me lightly, then smiles at Suzaku, who's somewhat nervous with her predatory expression.

"Although, your boyfriend isn't bad."

I give her a light swat on the ass. "Behave CC. We haven't even kissed properly yet."

She gives a slight yelp, then swats back. "Don't start something you can't finish, boy." She says tauntingly.

"I finished you, didn't I-"

"WILL YOU STOP SEXUALLY HARASSING EACH OTHER AND GET TO THE POINT?!" Kallen yells at us, breaking character from her schoolgirl mode.

The sheer force of her lungs bowls CC and I over.

"Well Kallen the thing is..." I say.

"It's not sexual harassment if we're both enjoying it." CC finishes.

Kallen clenches her fist at us. "And I suppose our feelings don't enter into the equation?" She grinds out.

"Oh if you're feeling left out, we'd be happy to include you." CC chirps with a leer towards the redhead.

Kallen hauls me to my feet. "You. You promised answers. Start talking or I start hitting."

Suzaku puts a hand on Kallen's shoulder. "Nobody hurts Lelouch while I'm around." He says seriously.

I wave him off. "As long as she's not breaking bones or causing major injury, I don't mind if she hits me."

Kallen blinks at that. "What."

I smile gently at her. "You're cute when you're mad. Your inner fire makes you luminescent."

She drops me with a blush forming on her cheeks. "Start talking before I hit you on general principle." She whispers.

I stand up and dust off.

Time to face the music. Cup set, Suzaku ready to pull her off me, CC watching amusedly.

As ready as I'll ever be.

I pull out a file from my jacket. "I already showed this to Kallen. Suzaku, read that. That's what Shinjuku was really about."

Suzaku gingerly opens the file. And as he reads through it, goes through a range of emotions. Disgust, sorrow, fear, disbelief, anger.

He shuts it with a shudder. "Lelouch...What is Code-R?"

I gesture to CC, who promptly falls into a curtsy with a mocking smirk.

I love how fast she picks up my trolling.

"Suzaku Kururugi, Kallen Kozuki-Stadfelt. Meet CC. Code-bearer. Immortal. Witch. And the real reason for the Shinjuku incident. She, is Code-R."

You can hear the crickets chirping. Hmm. Actually since this is Japan, probably should say Cicadas.

"Bullshit." Kallen sums up her reaction in one word.

"And on that note, let me tell you about my magic mindrape eye." I say nonchalantly.

"Look, if you and that green-haired bitch aren't going to actually answer questions, I'm out of here." Kallen turns to try and leave.

"Sit down and shut up." I say with a commanding tone.

Kallen stops mid-motion and turns around slowly. Her blue eyes meet flinty amethyst.

"I don't care if you insult me. Hell, I find it amusing. But you do not get to insult CC or make light of her torments at the hands of my bastard half-brother." I growl out the last few words.

I point to CC. "Everything that's in those files? She was the victim. The only reason she's intact is because her immortality restores her completely from any injury."

CC takes a knife from her jacket, and slowly cuts her palm open. As Kallen and Suzaku watch in astonishment, the wound seals itself up.

Less dramatic than walking off a headshot, but good enough to prove my point.

"...This is why Shinjuku died?" Suzaku says with a broken voice.

Oh no. No no no. Don't have a panic attack on me Suzaku.

He falls to his knees. "This is why Shinjuku was massacred? To cover up an experiment? That's why Clovis mentioned 'urban renewal'?"

He looks up, his green eyes shimmering with tears. "I fought for Britannia for years. Thinking I could change it from the inside...but how many of their leaders are like Clovis? People who would massacre an entire district to cover up a mistake?" He says in a distraught manner.

He looks at CC's golden eyes. "Who else knew about what was being done to you?"

I'm actually curious myself. I raise an eyebrow. "You don't have to ans-"

"The Emperor."

So...he did know. Not that surprised. But then again, Clovis never really understood what he was dealing with, did he?"

"VV, a man deep in the Emperor's confidence, taunted me while I was captive. I'm certain Charles knew I was in Japan, if not the condition I was kept in." She snarls as she clenches her fists, blood dripping on the ground from her nails.

"Who's VV? And Charles?" Kallen asks suspiciously.

Uh oh. Explaining the Geass order is not something I wanted to do yet. No need to panic people.

God damn it CC.

"I'm making your French ass pay for this later." I mutter at her.

"Since CC cannot keep her big mouth shut...Vincent Zi Britannia, aka VV is an immortal like CC. He runs a special research and covert ops group called the Geass order. As for Charles...CC has history with my family. Following my mother's assassination, CC left out of disgust."

I look down at Kallen's eyes. "We have deep seated reasons for wanting Britannia to burn."

I gesture to my left eye as a red glow emanates from it. "This was CC's gift to me. Geass. The power of the king."

The red light fades away. "Mine is the the Geass of Absolute Obedience. I can implant a single unbreakable command onto a pers-"

Annnnnd I have a face full of angry redhead. And not in the fun way.

Saw that one coming.

"What the fuck did you do?" She roars at me as she lifts me by my jacket.

Suzaku is about to move, but I hold up a hand.

Better let her vent now.

"What the fuck is this bullshit? Hell, why should I believe you?"

I flip my phone open and hit a button in response.

Rather hard to maintain disbelief in the face of conclusive evidence.

Even Suzaku is non-plussed.

There it is. Clovis's royal guard kick-dancing in a line, and then blowing their brains out with their sidearms. Brain and bone matter floating in the pool of blood.

Kallen pales, then socks me in the eye. "So you used this super power on me to make me like you and be your loyal slave? You Britannian son of a-"

I can't take it. She's so wrong, it's funny. I'm likely getting punched again, but I can't help myself.

"Hahahahahaha." I laugh quietly, face down.

"What's so funny you basta-"

"Q-1, if I had geassed you into loyalty to me, you would not have been able to question it, or give me a zinger on my eye."

She stops dead-still and drops me.

"Oh my god...please tell me I don't like this pervert." She says with her head in her hands.

"No accounting for taste I suppose." I say with a shrug.

OWW! Take a fucking joke, Kallen! God damnit!

Wearing the cup was definitely a good idea.

"Besides, the only person here I did use it on was Suzaku."

Suzu does a double take at that.

"What?!"

"CC is immune fyi."

Great, now Suzaku is holding me up.

"Lelouch, what did you..."

For all that people rip on Suzaku for being an idiot? It's not true. He's ludicrously stubborn. Sure, he's not on my level.

But who is? It's pretty obvious something weird happened the night I defragged his head.

"What was the command?" He whispers.

"You should be able to guess." I say back.

"I want to hear you say it."

I sigh. "Be honest with yourself for one hour."

He looks down, hair over his eyes.

Ugh! This is a recurring theme today, isn't it? I rub my solar plexus after Suzaku's punch knocks the wind out of me.

"On the one hand, I'm not happy with you right now."

I snort. "Pretty fucking obvious. But tell me, Suzaku?" I look him dead in the eye.

"Would you rather be the pitiful delusional moron with a death wish you were before?"

That stops him cold.

He shakes his head slowly. "No. But I'm going to show you what I think about what you did." He looks me in the eyes, a fire in those green orbs.

What the?! I find myself being held in a dip by Suzaku's arm. Guess they fixed him up pretty fast.

"Suzaku what are you -"

Mmm. Well well, it's a much different experience to be on the receiving end of a kiss like this.

Hmm, tastes like mint mocchi.

Suzaku breaks the kiss and lifts me to my feet.

For once, I don't have a fast comeback. I'm too surprised he had the guts to do that.

CC apparently was filming this...and...huh. Kallen is definitely a yaoi fan girl, albeit a closet one given that she's trying not to look and hiding her nosebleed.

"So, see you for dinner tonight?" I say after catching my breathe.

He nods, his face red.

"Excellent. And as recompense, I have an idea that both you and Kallen will enjoy."

Kallen wipes her nose off discretely as she tries not to think about what she just saw.

"I quiver in anticipation." She drawls out sarcastically as she walks away. Suzaku following after her, still blushing.

I look to CC with a grin.

"No."

I frown at her. "What? I haven't said anything."

She nods. "Yet. I know what you're going to say. Or at least have a pretty good idea. And if you do it, I will hit you." She taps her cheek. "Also, 'make my French ass pay?' I think I need to teach you a lesson." She says with a smirk.

I rub my chin for a moment in contemplation of her threat.

I put my face right in front of hers and smile.

"Worth it."

The resulting kick in the ass is worth every penny.

CC and I eventually come back down, albeit with our uniforms slightly disheveled and CC pulling me by my jacket collar, a winning smile on her face.

Everything is going according to plan.