I don't own the 86 series or elements from Code Geass, those belong to their creators. This is for fun, not profit.
Chapter 4: The New Arrivals
December 2nd, Stellar Year 2148
About a month has passed after Ernest had told Athrun, Frederica, and Teresa about the other details of his plan.
After getting the five 86 the necessary citizenships to be official citizens of the Federacy, they also live in the same house as the four of them and they'll be the adopted children of Ernest.
But Athrun could tell he was looking forward to that last part of being their father which made him sighed.
Today was the day for them to arrive with Ernst going to bring them to their new home. As they were waiting for Ernst to return with the 86 kids, Athrun was in his room reading a book to pass the time.
He then heard a car coming as he stood up and looked through his window, and saw it was Ernst's car.
"Guess they're here. Might as well greet them." Athrun said before he closed his book and placed it on his table, he then left his room and that's when he soon heard noises downstairs.
"Hurry!" He heard Frederica shouting. "Push that desk! We need to hurry!"
He then heard screaming along with falling noises, and Athrun sighed to hear that as he placed a hand on his face.
"Oh no…" Athrun mutters.
"Welcome, poor souls who were banished from your country!" Said Frederica.
Athrun soon arrived at the entrance where Frederica had greeted their new guests as she was standing on top of a table with lamps turned and pointed at her back to make herself look more imposing.
He was hiding behind a wall as he watched Frederica.
"The Great Giad welcomes you with pity and compassion! We don't expect any kind of recompense from low-borns like you, so your thanks are enough!" Frederica said before she pointed at them but the one called Shinei turns to the door which enrages Frederica as she stomps on the table. "Hey, red-eyes! Why are you looking away?"
"I thought there might be someone else here." Shinei answered.
"You shut the door! Are you making fun of me?!" Frederica exclaims as she stomps on the table.
"Yes." Shinei nodded, and that offended Frederica as she turned away from them with her arms folded.
"This is the problem with low-born people from the Republic." Frederica mutters.
Athrun sighs as he mends his temple.
"Yeah…Like that's the only problem…" He mutters to himself.
"But it's like they said, 'The more you argue, the more you'll get along'."
Athrun turned and saw Teresa was standing beside him.
"Teresa. I suppose you've had a hand in this?" Athrun asked and Teresa nodded.
"Why of course. Frederica wanted my help, so I wanted to oblige her." She answered, and Athrun sighed as he shook his head.
"Honestly, you were supposed to talk her out of it, not encourage her." Athrun told the maid.
"Do you think she'll listen to me even if I tried?" Teresa asked.
"Well, I suppose that's true…But still…" Athrun said.
That's when they heard Raiden's voice.
"Ummm…Mr. Ernst, I hate to say it, but you need to discipline your daughter better."
"Oh, No. She's not my daughter." Ernst said and before he could explain, Frederica soon turned back to them.
"Do you really think I'm the daughter of this lowly bureaucrat? I'm-" She said.
Athrun stops her as he chops her on the head. The survivors of the Spearhead Squadron were surprised to see an Alba in this house.
"Alright, that's enough Frederica." Athrun told her.
"Athrun...Why do you always have to do that?" Frederica asked with her hands on her head.
"For your own good. Not to mention you shouldn't say rude things to Ernst. He may be an idiot, but he did let you stay here out of the kindness of his heart." Athrun told her.
"I know, but I only wanted to give these poor souls a good first impression of me." Frederica told him, and Athrun rolled his eyes.
"Sure you were…" Athrun said.
"I'm being serious!" Frederica shouted.
Ernst then notices the look that their new tenants were looking at Athrun in certain ways, two had looks of contempt and two of them had look of unease as well.
"The girl is Frederica Rosenfort. Some things happened, and now she's staying here." Ernst explains, and Frederica becomes sad to hear that as she lowered her head.
"And he is?" Theo asked.
"Oh yes, I should introduce you. Kids this is Athrun Lionheart, due to circumstances like Frederica he also lives here with me. Will it be a problem for you?" Ernst asks as they look at Athrun before the blonde turns away from him.
"No…" He mutters.
Ernst nervously hummed and Athrun sighs as things might be awkward in this house from now on.
They were now in the living room as they were seated on different chairs, and Teresa had soon served them some lemonade and cookies, and Frederica was gulping them down.
"Frederica, come on, at least try to show better manners to our guests here." Athrun told her but she just ignores him, and Athrun sighs once again before he turns to the 86. "I apologize on her behalf. She's still adjusting to living here."
"I know you kids want to hear the full story. But it will be annoying to explain it all to you. So to make it simple, I've put them down on paper as my son and daughter. But regardless, you'll be living together for a while. So I'd appreciate it if you'd think of Frederica as a slightly naive little sister." Ernest requested as Frederica chugs down her lemonade in one go.
Raiden chuckles.
"'Little sister', huh?" Raiden said.
"Oh, and there's something else you should be aware of. You see, believe it or not but Athrun here was the one who found and saved you kids." Ernst told them and the four of them were surprised to hear that.
"What? Him?" Raiden asked.
"Yes. Me." Athrun said. "And you don't have to worry about thanking me or anything like that. I saw five people who were in trouble and I couldn't ignore it."
Kurena gave him a look before she turned away from him.
"Athrun, you didn't have to say it like that. Oh, I almost forgot, on paper, I've adopted you. So you can call me 'Dad', if you want." Ernst said with a smile and a hand on his chest.
But the 86 and Athrun each gave him a narrow look as Frederica began to eat the other plate of cookies. Ernst sweat drops.
"W-Well, in anycase, I hope you'll at least get along with Athrun. He's around the same age as you kids, but I hope you'll get to see him as your new big brother." Ernst said as he placed a hand on his shoulder before Athrun smacked it away.
"You don't have to take what he says seriously, he can be an idiot sometimes." Athrun said and Ernst flinched before he lowered his head. Athrun then gave the five 86 an assured smile. "But, like him, I hope you'll at least be comfortable here as you stay with us. This might be your chance for a new start, away from the battlefield."
As Frederica was chewing on her cookies, she then noticed the scar around Shinei's neck.
"What's that on your neck?" Frederica asked.
"Frederica, no." Ernst said as he stood up. "I told you their situation. You have wounds you don't want touched, either."
"He's right, Frederica." Athrun said as he stood up as well. "We all have our scars to bear, and you're no exception."
Frederica frowns before she huffs and turns away from them. She then stood up to greet the 86.
"I'm the cute little sister you've been given to heal your wounds. The family and home and happiness you lost…" Frederica said before she walked towards Shinei. "The noble and compassionate Federacy is willing to give you. Be very nice to me! Big brothers and sisters!"
Shinei soon begins to ruffle Frederica's hair rather roughly as she screams, much to Athrun's surprise and Ernst nervously chuckles to see that. After she had gotten free, she soon hugs onto Teresa as she cries on her chest.
"Teresa, they're being mean!" Frederica cries, and the maid begins to comfort her.
"Right, right. Frederica, everything that just happened was your own fault." Teresa said before she introduced herself to their new guests. "I'm Teresa. I'll be taking care of you. Welcome home, everyone."
After they had dinner, Athrun began to guide the 86 to their rooms as they were walking in the hallway together. Athrun soon stops at the door of one of the said rooms.
"Here we are." Athrun said before he turns to one of the doors and opens it to show the five 86 one of their rooms. "The rooms are set to be simple and comfortable for you guys as much as possible."
Athrun then pointed to two other doors beside the one he just opened, and pointed to two doors on the other side.
"The boys' rooms are on the left while the girls' are on the right." Athrun said before he pointed at his own home. "My room is on the far left of the end next to the boys."
"Are you serious?" Kurena asked as she didn't like that.
"If it means anything, it wasn't exactly my choice either." Athrun told her, and Kurena turned away from him. "In any case, if you have any questions you just have to let me and Teresa know and we'll help anyway we can."
"Don't bet on it." Kurena said before she heads to one of the rooms and slams the door closed.
"Kurena…" Anju said before she bowed her head to Athrun. "I'm sorry about that mister Lionheart. She didn't mean to be rude."
"It's alright. And you don't have to call me mister. I'm not that older than any of you are. Just call me Athrun." Athrun told them. "Also, I would understand her rage, given the Republic's treatment towards the 86. Same goes for the rest of you. And if I was in your shoes, I would feel the same."
Theo slightly clenches his hand which Raiden notices.
"But I won't bother convincing you that I'm nothing like those Republic scum." Athrun told them which got their attention. "I always believe that action is more powerful than words. But, I'm not going to force you to believe me either. So you're free to hate me as long as you want, and I won't ask for your forgiveness. If that's alright with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Raiden said.
"Good. Just as long we're on the same page." Athrun said before he took his leave.
As they watch him leave, Raiden couldn't help but chuckle as he felt a little nostalgic.
"I swear that guy, acting all cool like that. Kind of reminds you of a certain saint we know. Don't you think so?" Raiden asked.
"Maybe." Shinei answered.
After returning to the kitchen, Athrun was seated on the kitchen table with Frederica as she was drawing pictures on her notebook of herself, Athrun, and the five 86.
Teresa was gathering the dirty dishes from their dinner while Ernst had left to give Shinei that belongs to him.
After putting the dishes away, Teresa was now preparing coffee and Ernst had soon returned as he entered the dining room.
"Thank you, Teresa." Ernst told the maid.
"Not at all, sir. Kids that age eat a lot. It's fun to cook for them." Teresa said before Ernst took a seat on the table.
"I'm sorry. This is likely to be difficult." Ernst said.
"That's one way of putting it. I just know things are going to be hectic from here on. But I suppose it's not a bad thing." Athrun said.
"Not at all. Serving you is my job." Teresa said before placing a cup of coffee for both Ernst and Athrun.
"Do you think it's a stupid way of trying to compensate for things? That I'm using them as a replacement?" Ernst asked.
"No. They could never be that. Every person is their own, irreplaceable individual." Teresa told him.
"She's right. Not to sound heartless, but just like how the three of us could never replace what you've lost, you'll never be able replace what Frederica or myself had lost." Athrun told him.
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Ernst said.
"But still, people try to bury the past. In whatever way they can." Frederica stated before Ernst picks up his cup
"Whom are you talking to, Empress?" Ernst asked, and Frederica paused for a moment before she answered.
"Kiri…" Athrun then turns to her in sadness.
"Frederica…" He mutters before he leans on his hand with his elbow on the table.
Despite the heavy atmosphere in the room, Athrun wonders how things will turn out in this house with their new guests living with them.
To Be Continued…
There you have it, hope you like it. Review to tell me what you think of the story.