After the opening song which, by the way, is now being thoroughly enjoyed by its growing fanbase amongst the audience in Anya, Gino, C.C, Kallen, Kaguya, and Tianzi, the title for the episode is shown.
STAGE 3
The Classmate is a Lie
"What does that mean?" Tamaki looks around for answers.
"Fuck..." Kallen whispers as her face turns pale, having a feeling it's going to show her.
All of her.
Jeremiah: "Why the hell are we letting the Elevens go?! What about the poison gas they've stolen?!"
Britannian Army: "But it's by order of Prince Clovis."
Britannian Army: "What about Bartley? Get the general staff on the line."
Britannian Army: "They're not at their posts, sir."
Britannian Army: "Are you telling me Prince Clovis is alone on the con?"
A group of refugees can be seen walking away as Britannian soldiers watch.
Kallen is among them. She looks over her shoulders at Clovis' command center, wondering why the Prince ordered the massacre to be put to an end, at least this one anyway. Who knows when and where Britannia will go on another murder rampage.
"I can understand why the guards aren't there if Lelouch used his Geass on them, but why was Bartley not there?" Schneizel wonders.
"The coward must've fled," Jeremiah huffs.
Lelouch stands up from his sarcastic kneeling posture and points his gun at his older half-brother, who begins nervously trying to placate him.
Clovis: "I'm overjoyed, Lelouch. They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back. We should depart for the homeland immediately."
Lelouch: "So you can use me as a tool of diplomacy? It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."
Clovis tenses up, afraid of facing Lelouch's wrath.
"Lady C.C, I have a serious question," Sayoko states. "I know Clovis doesn't seem like he has received any hand-to-hand combat training at all and that he's frozen because he has a gun to his head, but why does he seem so afraid of Lelouch specifically? Lelouch was never an intimidating presence, physically speaking, so was it his temper?"
The Witch nods. "You're right. Clovis knew how petulant Lelouch could be. Even as a child, Lelouch could hold surprisingly long grudges on the rare times he did so. Most adults chalked it up to him growing up, but none of them knew how the lengths that his unimaginable his anger would reach."
Lelouch: "That's right. It was because my mother was killed." His tone takes a dangerous edge.
As Lelouch narrates, a flashback of eight years prior is shown. Several dozen bullets fly into three separate, rather ornately large windows, the muzzle flashes reflecting off a large chandelier, giving the audience the immediate sense that some sort of ambush had happened to a powerful family.
Lelouch: " Mother held the title of Knight of Honor, but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other imperial consorts held her in contempt."
The audience is in discomfort, but Rivalz breaks their focus by asking, "What does he mean by that? Why would they hate Lelouch's mother just because she was a commoner?"
Cornelia clutches her seat in a tight grip as she tries to reply as calmly as possible. "Most of the royal family prided themselves on being pure-blooded, people who were born into status, usually those who had several generations of such lineage. For my father to wed Lady Marianne was a betrayal of their expectations."
Kallen shakes her head. "Why would the Emperor marry a commoner? You'd think someone like him would also be ingrained with that mindset."
"He did it because it is rumored that she was the only woman he cared for. Besides, as Emperor, he could do just about anything he wanted."
The redhead growls, "Hard to imagine that guy loving anyone but himself..."
Schneizel silently agrees with the ace Guren pilot.
A woman with long black-hair, who is clearly dead or dying, is riddled with bullet holes as she lay on top of a familiar girl, shielding the shell-shocked child as she trembles underneath the corpse. Both of them are on a staircase, a couple other dead bodies of guards nearby.
The audience stayed silent, not wanting to point out the obvious fact of who that little girl was.
However, much to her dismay, they send looks of sympathy towards her instead of her brother.
Nunnally feels uncomfortable, so she decides to change the topic. "About the way Clovis is speaking to Lelouch... I don't remember much from back then, but I think that all our siblings that weren't fond of us were wary of Lelouch. Well, at least most of the more capable ones while the others mocked him. Lelouch just had a way about him. Even some of the ones who once cared for him, such as Clovis, Odysseus, and Euphie, all felt that way. The only ones who never batted an eye were Cornelia and Schneizel. I can remember Odysseus telling me that Lelouch is a good person, but should he be pushed too far, he'd snap in a way that they'd all never forget, especially if something bad happened to me."
They all understood the point she made. Regardless of whether or not they believe Lelouch stopped caring for his sister, the fact remains that he was very overprotective of her, and for damn good reason.
Several steps above Marianne near the top of the staircase stands Lelouch, a horrified expression on his face similar to Nunnally's while also laced with worry, trying to figure out how he can go down their to retrieve his sister without getting killed.
Lelouch: "Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool. You people killed my mother!"
"How dare he!" The Witch of Britannia snarls at her half-brother's accusation. "How dare he lump us all together!"
Flashback ends.
Clovis: "It wasn't me! I swear to you it wasn't!"
The Viceroy's tone sounded so terrified yet honest due to the fear of his brother, that many members of the audience outside of the Britannian imperial family felt that he spoke the truth, even without the use of Geass.
Xingke instinctively covered Tianzi's eyes, feeling that she may need to witness most of the deaths that Britannia caused in the war so she grows up to be a better person, but not this one he senses is about to happen.
After all, Clovis may be a mass murderer, but children shouldn't be taught that it's okay to participate in an endless cycle of betrayal and death.
"Um... Xingke? Why are you covering my eyes?"
"You may listen to the conversation, Your Highness, but I feel that you shouldn't watch this."
"O-Okay..."
Lelouch: "Then tell me everything you know. The truth cannot be hidden from me any longer. By whose hand was she slain?"
He activates his Geass upon asking the question, and the tension in Clovis' eyes, the fear, fades away as his pupils dilate in submission.
Then, he answers in a monotone voice.
Clovis: "My brother, Second Prince Schneizel, and Second Princess Cornelia, they can tell you."
The Princess in question frowns. "What? But I was part of Lady Marianne's security detail! Even if there was somehow a traitor among her closest personal guards, as unlikely as that is, it definitely wasn't me. I know that for a fact."
"You were one of her guards?!" Orange Boy exclaims in surprise.
"Yeah... Why?"
"... Nothing. I'll ask you about it some other time. You'll find out eventually." He gestures his head to the screen confidently so as to not draw suspicion to himself.
Nunnally hopes that her brother's pursuit of revenge didn't destroy him.
Lelouch: "They were at the heart of this?"
"He sounds surprised," Guilford notes to his liege. "Princess, maybe he did, at some point, hold some affection for both you and Prince Schneizel."
While Schneizel nods, Cornelia only glances down for a moment with a frown, unsure if what he said is true.
"... Perhaps at one point. However, even if he didn't hate Euphemia, because I don't see how anyone could hate her, he must've despised me and used that as motivation to kill her. THAT is unforgivable."
Clovis stays quiet, so Lelouch looks disheartened.
Lelouch: "That's all that you know, isn't it."
He deactivates his Geass as the strange power's color in his eye morphs back to normal.
The Viceroy's free will returns as he returns to Earth alongside his prior fear, raising his hands up in front of his face protectively.
Clovis: "I swear it wasn't me! I had nothing to do with it!"
Lelouch: "I believe you. However..." He approaches the Viceroy and raises the gun to his forehead.
Clovis: "Please, you can't! We may have different mothers, but you and I are still blood!"
This was too difficult to watch, even for those who hate the Britannian royalty more than most, such as Kallen and Chiba, so almost everyone looked away except for the three royals and C.C, the Witch being the only one happy to see one of her tormentor's die.
For the first time since they started watching this, and definitely not the last, Kallen couldn't bring herself to defend Lelouch.
Lelouch: "You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."
His voice is callous as he begins slowly squeezing the trigger.
Before his death can be shown, the scene changes to a flock of birds scrambling.
"Huh? What happened? Did he kill the guy or what?" An oblivious Rivalz says.
Milly groans. "Yes, he did. Those birds flying away symbolize Prince Clovis' cold-blooded murder."
Villetta's eyes widen. "Hang on! It took me this long to realize, but Lelouch stole my gun and used the same weapon to kill the Viceroy."
At Ashford Academy, a piece of rolled up paper hits a sleeping Lelouch on his head, startling him from his nap.
It's the Student Council President, Milly Ashford.
Milly: "Wake up, Lelouch! I know you were sleeping! Your hands stopped moving!"
She hits him repeatedly
Seeing their first interaction, Milly is amused. All the current and former club members are.
Lelouch: "Well, you don't have to beat me up over it, do you?"
Rivalz: "Huh, serves you right for ditching me like that!"
Shirley: "That's right! What was up with you yesterday?"
The orangette hides behind a facade of curiosity mixed with disapproval for him ditching school to go gambling, but it is obvious to the future spectators that she is actually concerned for him.
Lelouch: "Oh... Well..."
He looks away, trying to come up with an excuse, only to come up empty-handed.
"Well, would ya look at that?" Gino chuckles. "It looks like our friendly neighborhood Demon is incapable of lying."
Guilford addresses him, "Lord Weinberg, Emperor Lelouch was anything but nice! Even before his reign as Emperor, I've never experienced anything but his animosity directed towards Princess Cornelia and I."
"I was joking." Guilford glares at him. "What? Are you gonna shoot me for making a harmless joke? If so, then you'll be no different than his fascist regime."
Nunnally agrees with the blond. "He's off-duty. Let him be."
C.C bothers to correct Gino. "About the lying part, what we're seeing here is just one of Lelouch's many masks. I'm certain that he knew that Shirley held feelings for him."
"How do you know that for sure?!" Kallen shouts, her mood plummeting as she thinks about any other girl having feelings for the man she loves, the one she believes she should be with.
Not that she has any right to after abandoning him twice.
"I just do."
L.L exchanges a glance with C.C as they both think the same thing.
At some point, Lelouch will have to reveal himself to the audience, that he's still alive, as well as the fact that he's taken, because by the end, someone will end up figuring out that he is alive, and they will tell the others, so he might as well come out and show himself.
Right now isn't a good time.
But when?
Perhaps before the SAZ? Or even a little earlier?
They're not sure yet.
Milly: "That's enough, you guys." She smacks her paper roll onto her other hand a couple times like a baton. "Let's not get sidetracked here. If we don't come up with a fix for the club activities budget, there won't be money left for anything at all!"
Nina: "And if it comes to that point..."
Rivalz: "The Equestrian Club will be pissed. We don't want 'em comin' in here on horseback!"
In the background, a horse can be heard neighing as said club member shows up on the majestic creature, peaking into the Student Council window for a few seconds before leaving, as if to say, "I heard that! I'm watching you..."
The Ashford students laughed.
"Oh Rivalz," Kallen wipes tears of joy from her eyes. "You always had a loud mouth."
"Um... Sorry?"
Milly: "Rivalz, can't you be a more serious student council member?"
Shirley: "You know, it would have been nice of you if you would have reminded us about this mess a day ago!"
Rivalz: "I would have to say a day later. Then we would have given up."
Lelouch: "Good idea. We can still do that."
This time, more of the audience joins in on their laughter, mainly Tamaki, Gino, Kaguya, and Tianzi, amused at Lelouch backing up his wingman.
"Why do I get the sense that Cardemonde is a comic relief character?" Xingke says with a smirk.
"Moral support?" Rivalz offers, not upset at all about his role.
Milly: "GUTS!"
"You what, mate?" Schneizel mutters.
Much like the characters on-screen, some of the audience covers their ears at Milly's scream as the present-day girl in question simply giggles.
Tamaki uncovers his ears. "WHAT?! ... WHATTHE FU-"
"Hey! Enough cussing! There are children here!" Kallen says.
"Oh no! The children!" Blood and violence is fine, but whatever will we do with a little bad language?!" He wiggles sarcastically.
"... He has a point, Tianzi. Just don't use any bad language. If they say something you don't understand but wish to know what it means, just ask me, and I'll forbid you if it falls into that category," Xingke says.
She nods. "Un!"
Tamaki points at Milly. "And you! What the hell was that?!"
Meanwhile, Villetta shudders at the memories of the things the strange Student Council President made her do.
Rivalz: "Are you trying that guts spell again?"
Milly: "Yeah, I want you people to start putting your all into this."
Gino shakes his head. "You're such a weirdo, but in a good way."
"Thank you!" Milly agrees.
Lelouch: "I really don't think that your magic's gonna do a whole lot."
"Come on, Lelouch! You just gotta believe!" The President says.
"He can't hear you, you know." Chiba deadpans.
"Can you stop pointing that out for once?" Gino gestures towards Nunnally, whose mood clearly drops, so Chiba relents.
Shirley: "Actually it's got me going, Madam President!" She smiles and enthusiastically raises her hand sideways in typical rich Britannian fashion.
While Chiba silently grumbles about the gesture and how only stuck up jerks do it, the Student Council, again, feels that sense of loss.
Without Shirley, they would never be whole again.
All they can do now is to try to slowly pick up the pieces of whatever is left of their broken hearts.
Kallen sighs. 'Shirley... You were the first Britannian who was ever kind to me.'
Unbeknownst to her, Zero is thinking something similar, despite having met Euphemia before his transfer to Ashford Academy.
Shirley's acceptance of others and her kindness can be remembered so vividly and warmly by many beyond just the club, even C.C kinda wishes she took the time to get to know her, with the only other person outside of Lelouch she cares for being Nunnally.
Unfortunately, in C.C's mind, she had been hated for what she had become, an immortal, something out of her control, so she never bothered getting too close. A reluctance due to an old resurfacing fear of being cast out lingered deep down when she came to care for Lelouch more and more.
Shirley's death affected Lelouch just as much as Euphemia's did.
Milly: "Supple AND willing. That's what I like."
Shirley: "I train hard in the gymnastics club!" She cutely flexes an arm with a smile.
Milly: "That's not what I was getting at." Her tone changes to something different... Something naughty.
"... I don't like where this going..." Kallen cringes.
"Ho ho! But I do," Gino smirks, earning an elbow to the ribs. "Ow!"
"Pervert."
"What? Girls fantasize all the time about guys being in love together, but us men can't think about a little girl-on-girl action? The hypocrisy and double-standards are unreal!"
His comment earns blushes from every single female present, not even Cornelia and Nunnally were spared the mental images.
Well, except C.C, who doesn't blush for anyone but Lelouch due to the fact that she doesn't share their virgin mindset and felt dead inside for nearly a millenium.
Behind his mask, Suzaku blinks. 'Shirley was in three different clubs? I didn't know that. She must've worked so hard.'
Shirley: "Huh?"
Milly: "You're a ten."
Shirley: "Huh?!" Her eyes widen innocently and then looks down at her own figure as she begins catching on to what the President implied.
Milly: "From what I've seen in the girls' bathroom anyway, you've been filling out in all the right places, huh."
Rivalz: "Hoh hooo!" Rivalz laughs sarcastically as he eyes Shirley, as if to say, "What do you have to say for yourself? What will you do now?"
Shirley: "Wha-What are you talking about, you perv?!" She crosses her arms over her chest, feeling eye-raped by Milly.
Akito blushes and buries his half of his face into his knees.
Leila notices his behavior. "Are you okay?"
"This is embarrassing to watch."
"Ahahaha... I know how you feel."
Tohdoh averts his eyes from the screen momentarily. "This just feels wrong. Seeing these interactions between a bunch of high school kids feels like a major breach of privacy."
"Agreed," Cornelia sighs. "As a matter of fact, why are we watching all this in the first place? A.A! I know you can hear me! Can't we just skip all this and jump straight to the SAZ to find out what happened between Lelouch and Euphie?"
"Nope!" A.A's voice responds, still unseen to them.
"FUCK." Cornelia curses loudly. "Fine."
"Language!" Xingke scolds, gesturing to Tianzi and Kaguya.
Tianzi shakes her head disapprovingly at Cornelia, despite being 16-years-old and almost not a loli. Almost.
But Kaguya rolls her eyes. "I'm not a kid anymore! I'm 19!"
"Still a kid to me, kid." Xingke deadpans.
"Hmph!" She pouts and crosses her arms.
The club disassembles as its four members other than the President make their way down the hallway.
Shirley: "Geez, our President's just a dirty old man on the inside! Sullying the meeting with her filthy mind."
Nina: "Yeah, well, that's Milly for you."
Rivalz: "Hahahaha! Look on the bright side. We got the budget balanced, didn't we?"
As the four of them enter their classroom, they hear other students gossip as they're huddled around a laptop.
Male Student: "They used poison gas?"
Male Student: "Man, that's freaky! Shinjuku's only thirty minutes from here!"
Female Student: "Oh my god! I saw smoke rising over in Shinjuku! It must have been the gas!"
"Ever heard of fire, you moron? Or explosions?" Kallen says to the student on the screen.
"Apparently not," Gino shrugs.
Xingke frowns. "Come on, you two. Be nice. They're just innocent kids who know next to nothing about war."
Nunnally nods. "I have to agree with General Xingke. I was once just like them."
Kallen lowers her head in shame. "When you put it that way..."
Male Student: "Are they saying anything else about it?"
Shirley: "Shinjuku?" She turns her head towards Lelouch.
Lelouch: "I heard about it in real time from a friend. That's why I called you yesterday." He smirks sheepishly.
Nunnally frowns. "It seems Lamperouge was just another mask big brother had to wear."
She thought back to his monologue at the end of the first episode. 'Was the time you spent with your friends all a lie? Which is the real you, Lelouch?'
Cornelia sends Nunnally a comforting look. "Don't worry, Nunna. We'll find out what Lelouch's true thoughts and feelings were."
Male Student: "Hey, check out the footage of those dead Elevens."
Female Student: "Oh! Don't look at that!"
Chiba slams her armrest loudly. "Oh, piss off! I bet they would be fine with looking at the corpses of their country's soldiers in order to honor them."
Lelouch: 'This is strange. Why would they cover it up?'
Suddenly, he remembers killing Clovis as a flashback shows that he really pulled the trigger, so he runs off to the bathroom and throws up in the sink off-camera.
As he washes himself off, he thinks, ' Are they hiding Clovis' death to fend off anarchy? But if that's the case, when they finally do announce it...'
He looks up at himself in the mirror and lets out a self-deprecating laugh.
Lelouch: "Humph. I guess that I'm not as tough as I thought I was."
"He really killed him! I thought Zero did, though?" Rivalz exclaims as he shares a glance with Milly.
Their memories are simply not adding up.
Gino whistles. "Damn. Clovis aside, I have to say this jazz music is fire."
"Lord Weinberg-!"
"Sorry, Lord Guilford, would you prefer I say that this jazz music is da bomb?"
"..."
"I didn't think so."
Jeremiah: "That ex-civil servant is such a fool."
Villetta: "So are you referring to Bartley?"
Ohgi is surprised. "What? Bartley was a civil servant before joining the military? Hey Orange, did he receive any training at all, at least in tactics?"
"Of course he didn't. His father was a Baron, so once a Britannian had those kind of connections before Master Lelouch's reign, they would be allowed any position they could possibly desire, even if they're not qualified for it?"
"What do you mean before Lelouch?"
"Lelouch is actually secretly loved by many common Britannians who understood what he was trying to do. He used his Geass on all his siblings before Schneizel FLEIJA'd them and overthrew all opposition from the rich, mainly the nobility and the Purist Faction. You have to understand that while Master Lelouch's methods were unsavory, he got the results everyone wanted by killing every old greedy politician and their 3-year-old grandchildren just to make sure no one continued the cycle of hatred known as war."
"They let people like Bartley into your military, Schneizel?" Chiba is disgusted.
Schneizel nods. "Yes, unfortunately. Had things gone my way, I'd have made Britannia a meritocracy, but a kind one."
"Ha! That's funny coming from the guy who blew up all of Pendragon!" Tamaki points out.
Schneizel sighs.
Jeremiah: "The killer has breached our heaviest security twice already. This perfunctory inspection is a farce."
Villetta: "Margrave Jeremiah, now that Prince Clovis is out of the way, we pure-bloods can-"
The teal-haired man held a finger in front of her lips to silence her.
Jeremiah: "Let me make that call. We still need to woo everyone over."
"Hey MILF, what happened to all that purist stuff? You got addicted to boring Japanese men like that oaf over there?" Tamaki smiles devilishly at Ohgi, who glares at him.
Villetta's eyebrow twitches in annoyance as she closes her eyes to control herself from beating him up. "Sure, something like that. And stop calling me MILF!"
"What's wrong with it, MILF?"
"Grr!"
"I am interested in this, as well." Tohdoh stares at the couple. "For what reason would you leave Britannia to join us? Normally, I wouldn't question this, as was the case with Diethard, but you, like most of your kind, had a superiority complex. You Britannians are taught that you're at the top of the food chain, so why degrade yourself in the eyes of your countrymen?"
"I... I suppose that I got fed up with the Purist Faction. We were living in a world that didn't want people like us anymore. The only ones who supported us were the Britannian elites, a very small minority."
"So you decided the best way to assimilate was to marry our Deputy Commander?" Sayoko glares at the woman, knowing full well that she has no intention of letting her and her back-stabbing husband leave unpunished after this is all over.
"No," Anya butts in. "The Deputy Commander was just a side quest in her journey for power. Ms. Nu is nothing more than a flip-flopping bandwagoner who jumps ship as soon as she sensed Britannia was doomed because of Zero. Her loyalty to Zero was as faux as her love for that cheap ingenuine mockery of a JoJo character over there." She points at Ohgi, who is unaware how hard he just got roasted.
Gino cackles, being the only other one to understand her sense of humor since they're good friends. "Good one, Anya!"
She smiles.
Several seats over, L.L's shoulders are trembling. One would think he's trying not to have a seizure or go into diabetic shock or something, but he's actually trying to hold back his laughter at what Anya said, which would result in everyone finding out that Lelouch vi Britannia is still alive and kicking.
Lelouch walks into his classroom as he eavesdrops on a group of girls talking to a certain redhead.
Female Student: "Kallen! It's been ages!"
Student: "Are you all right? Sophie's been worried sick all this time."
Student: "You're okay though, right?"
Kallen: "Yeah. I just have to go easy for a little while."
The Britannian Prince's eyes widen as he remembers. This girl posing as a student is the same terrorist from the truck he got stuck in that took him to Shinjuku.
Lelouch: 'Of course. That's why she's so familiar.'
"Jeez. He instantly recognized me!" Kallen scratches her head.
Rivalz leans over to Lelouch's desk and tries to tease him for watching Kallen.
Rivalz: "What's up, buddy? See something you like? You've got a thing for her, don't ya!"
Shirley can be seen eavesdropping on Rivalz and Lelouch a few desks over.
Kallen throws something at Rivalz, a heavy water bottle. "Idiot!"
"Hey! I don't even remember any of this!"
Lelouch: "Just thinking this a rare event. She hasn't been here at school since this whole term started."
Rivalz: "Kallen Stadtfeld. They say she's sick or somethin', and she barely showed up at school last year either. Still, her grades are at the top of the class. And she's a member of the Stadtfeld family, which means she's well-bred and ROLLING in money! Man, you sure know how to pick 'em."
The Stadtfeld heiress is seen sitting out of gym class.
Lelouch: "It's not like that."
Rivalz: "Aah, you don't have to hide it. A touch too sheltered though, if you ask me."
"Mr. Cardemonde has terrible standards for girls," Leila scolds. "I didn't even know that male gold-diggers existed until now."
"... Isn't Milly sheltered, though?" Nina says softly to Rivalz.
Kallen winces when she hears Lelouch say he wasn't into her.
"The Lelouch x Kallen ship has sunk!" Milly took out a notepad and draws a very wide x over that one amongst many other possible ships written in it.
Tianzi nods with a grin. "It appears Lelouch x C.C is still the favorite!"
Kaguya frowns as does Cornelia, both for completely different reasons.
The girl they're gossiping about is seen eating lunch outside with a group of girls when a bee suddenly flies up to them, so most of them run away, screaming in terror, yelling for Kallen to flee.
"AHHHHH! RUN!" Tamaki lets out a girlish scream at the characters on screen, to which Gino and Kallen laugh at his expense.
"Is he scared of bees? How the hell is he a member of the Black Knights?" C.C sends an annoyed look his way.
She pretends to run away to keep up appearances before she ducks behind a bush where the bee follows her.
Kallen: "I don't get it. Why is a bee after me? Hm? I wonder if there's a hive nearby..."
Suddenly, she swipes the bee out of the air with her bare hands, killing it instantly.
Kallen: "God, I hate this! I'm sick of acting like a freakin' invalid!" She glares in the direction she ran from as she casually slips a sandwich into her mouth.
"Holy hell!" Gino gasps at her reflexes.
However, before she can leave, she notices a presence to her left, watching her.
It's Lelouch, who is standing a few feet away.
Kallen: 'Crap... He saw me...' She curses herself for letting her Stadtfeld mask slip in front of someone she doesn't trust, nibbling on the sandwich without using her hands.
Gino laughs. "Hahaha! You look cute when you eat, Kallen."
"Wha-?!" She blushes.
"Actually, you just look cute in general, but this makes me miss the limited time I spent at Ashford Academy. I only transferred there for my last year of high school, so I wish I could've spent my youth there with you..." He smiles at her.
Her heart leaps. 'What the hell?! It's not like I have feelings for him or anything! Lelouch is the one that I...'
Then, she remembers how Lelouch said he wasn't into her. She remembers how he didn't resist when she kissed him, the Demon Emperor, but he didn't kiss her back either. He merely stood there and allowed her to non-verbally express her feelings for him.
"Gino..." She whispers. "Once we take a break from watching however many episodes we do, you and I need to talk."
His eyes sparkle happily. "Sure thing!"
Although, that happiness is just him trying to keep her interested. After all, he knows the redhead still has feelings for Lelouch, so he doesn't get his hopes up.
Milly, who turned around to see their interaction, jots onto her notepad. "I'm adding Kallen x Gino as a possibility!"
"MILLY!" Kallen shrieks.
Lelouch narrows his eyes at her suspiciously.
Lelouch: 'There's no question it's her.'
Kallen: "Can... Can I help you or something?" She says with her mouth still full, sounding nervous.
Lelouch: "I want answers." He activates his Geass and directs it at her.
The girl straightens her back like a soldier snapping to attention.
Kallen: "Of course."
"He used his Geass on you! I knew it!" Cornelia points at the screen. She looks over to Kallen, expecting her to be in a Geassed state similar to how Akito was earlier, as the boy had such an order placed on him by someone, maybe Lelouch?
However, much to her disappointment, the redhead glares at her.
"Didn't you hear what he said? He wants answers. He never ordered me to be his slave."
"Hmph. We'll see about that!"
Lelouch: "Were you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?"
Kallen: "Yes."
Lelouch: "Why terrorism?"
Kallen: "Because I'm Japanese. Though, technically, I'm half Britannian."
Lelouch: Half-blood? But why go so far?"
Shirley can be seen walking in a hallway on the second floor, stopping at a window when she sees Lelouch and Kallen talking in the courtyard.
Kallen sighs. "This must be where Shirley got jealous with the idea that Lelouch and I were a thing."
The Geass wears off as she snaps out of it.
Kallen: "Um... Did you want something?" She says softly in her well-practiced mask.
While everyone else is confused over why the Geass effect stopped, Gino mentally screams how adorable her voice is.
Lelouch: "No. I got what I wanted here." He walks away, but turns around to address her. "Oh, wait. Just to be sure. Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku," He orders with his Geass.
Kallen: "What do you mean about Shinjuku? Why would you say that?"
Cornelia's eyes widen. "What?!"
"A second limitation, it seems." Tohdoh exchanges a quick glance with Xingke as they both grow anxious.
"Second?" Tamaki says dumbly.
Jeremiah nods. "The first is that his Geass cannot be used on knightmares because it requires eye contact."
"Oh, cool... Wait, then that means... I knew it!"
"What? You figured it out?"
"Yep. Hahaha! It means that Geass really isn't absolute ALL the time. See how quick Kallen regained control? She was able to fight back because she hates not being in control of her own life."
That's not at all where Zero thought Tamaki would go, but now that he said it, perhaps he's right. He remembers Euphie, in her dying moments, fighting off whatever Geass order was placed on her.
The vast majority of the time, the victim isn't able to regain control by their own willpower, but a select few have, even if their numbers are outliers.
Kallen is the first they've seen to do so.
She sighs at the direction Tamaki took the conversation. "Regardless, the likelihood that Lelouch didn't use his Geass on us has increased exponentially."
"We don't know that!" Cornelia and Chiba shout at the same time.
The redhead smirks. "Soon, we will."
Nunnally frowns in the direction of Schneizel and Cornelia, as the latter growls her disdain for Lelouch. "Did you two lie to me?"
Cornelia snaps out of her rage and stares at Nunnally, uncertain how to answer her, afraid how she would react.
Deep down, there were moments where even she insulted some of the siblings she once loved or still loves, and Nunnally is one of them, as Cornelia thought herself untouchable by them, that she was always right and they were always wrong. She never thought she would see the day where she would be afraid of the once blind and still crippled, wheelchair-bound girl, who is 13 years younger than herself.
"Nunnally, what do you mean?"
"You said Schneizel was collecting evidence that proved that Lelouch was Geassing all sorts of people into submission, including the Black Knights."
Schneizel raises a finger. "Not proof, Nunnally. Conjecture. At the time, it was nothing more than a list of people we believed he may have used it on when we took into account all testimonies available of their personalities and prior behavior, even for those that wound up dead."
'So, fabricated evidence then, huh. Or at least one with some truths mixed into a nasty blend of twisted lies used to manipulate the Black Knights into getting rid of the biggest potential rival. I never thought I'd see the day that Schneizel would sell out his own family so easily.'
Nunnally sucks in a deep inhale. "I see." She manages to hide and preserve her anger.
Deep down, she knows that Schneizel's goal was to turn the Black Knights against her older brother. However, there would be no use stating that as a fact, because even if they somehow believed her, it would take the feeling of justice and pleasure out of their reaction when they see the truth for themselves, that they betrayed him for nothing.
In his dying moments, Lelouch shared only three different memories with her, as she never received his entire life story from his code:
Firstly, his motivation for fighting. This always had been for vengeance against their father, for the truth of their mother's death plus why Nunnally ended up in the condition she was in, and most importantly, to create a gentler world for Nunnally. This caused her a great deal of grief, thinking that her brother died because of her, but now, she sees that he died FOR her, for the world they both wanted, so she won't let his sacrifice be in vain.
Secondly, she saw how broken he became when he thought Nunnally died, and how shocked he was when the Black Knights threw him to the wolves. But instead of fighting back, he accepted that he was going to die since he thought he lost her, his reason for living.
And lastly, she saw the agreement he made with Suzaku. Zero Requiem. An idea she herself planned to use with the Damocles.
Everything else remains unknown to her, but she truly believes her brother wasn't pure evil, even if he did terrible things, because he did them for her sake.
Realizing she sank deep in thought, she shakes her head and focuses on the truth unfolding in front of her, patiently waiting for the moment she can relish when the Black Knights' despair in the fact that they were wrong.
Lelouch: "Go back to class," He orders her again, his voice firm.
Kallen: "As soon as I get an answer to my question, I will."
Lelouch: 'It's not working? What's going on here?'
They both glare at each other as he slowly backs away.
Shirley: "Hey, Lulu! Kallen! You know, it's time to head over to the chem lab! You'd better get a move on!" She shouts from the window she opened, waving.
He runs away as he contemplates what went wrong.
Lelouch: 'It didn't work? But...'
.
.
.
Several hours later, it has gotten dark out.
Sayoko: "Well, what shall we do? He may be late again this evening."
Nunnally: "I'll wait. He said that we'd have dinner together tonight."
"Nunnally's debut!" Tianzi cheers and claps softly.
"Ehehe. Thank you."
A sad look crosses Kallen's face. "Nunnally, did you and Lelouch not eat together often?" She can't help but think about all the time she and Naoto lost because of constant planning and fighting for the resistance, the times he forced her to stay as far from the ghettos as possible for her own good.
A sour expression makes its way onto Nunnally's exterior. "Before Shinjuku, we did, but... After that, he didn't actually spend much time with me at all, really. I understand why he did it. I understand that he was trying to fight for my sake. I understand that he kept his distance because he wanted to make sure that if something happens to him, no one would find me; he was trying to keep me safe. But I-"
Tears stream down her cheeks, but instead of sobbing, she wipes them away and turns her wheelchair around to glare at the masked man behind her. "I'll never be able to enjoy more of all those little moments, for him to spoil me, and to tell him I love him ever again because of you. I know why you killed him, and I get your reasons. After all, the two of you were sick. However, I will NEVER forgive you."
Zero lowers his eyes in shame and trembles in shock.
Nunnally has discerned Zero's identity.
The way she worded it, sick, could be interpreted by the others in different ways. Some like Tamaki and Tianzi would think quite literally.
Some would think that she felt disgusted by Lelouch and the new Zero's 'sick' behavior.
Others, such as Chiba, Ohgi, and Cornelia, would say they, the Demon Emperor and his Knight of Zero, were mentally 'sick' and needed to be put down, and Zero was a third-party in on the plan, not knowing that the new Zero is Suzaku.
But Suzaku knows what she meant. Lelouch and Suzaku were 'sick' of it all. Sick of the war. Sick of fighting each other. Sick of the constant lying, betrayals, deaths of loved ones, and corruption.
It needed to be put to an end.
L.L burns imaginary holes in the back of Zero's head with his eyes. 'So it seems Nunnally knows who you are, Suzaku. You better not blow your cover before they all see the truth for themselves.'
The maid folds a pink piece of paper and hands it to Nunnally.
Nunnally: "Ah? A bird?"
Sayoko: "Yes. It's a crane."
Nunnally: "Amazing! The Japanese are so skillful!"
The Empress can't help but smile. "I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again: thank you, Sayoko, for taking care of me for all those years."
The ninja shakes her head. "You're welcome, but there is no need to thank me. I swore my loyalty to you and Master Lelouch, after all. Besides, you're like a daughter to me."
Watching their exchange left a warm feeling growing in Cornelia's icy heart. Bit by bit, she's coming to accept that perhaps not all Japanese were terrorists or crazed maniacs so willing to pick up their weapons and banzai charge towards their deaths rather than surrender to Britannia.
'That woman... I hate feeling like I owe her, but she took care of Nunnally for a long time and protected her as well as Lelouch, at least until the elder sibling was old enough to make his own decisions. However, it seems that she never willingly left Nunnally before Schneizel used her against the Demon Emperor. When this is all over, I ought to thank her somehow.'
Nunnally turns her head towards the door.
Sayoko: "Lady Nunnally?"
The door opens, and in walks the young lord of the house.
Lelouch: "I'm sorry I'm so late."
Nunnally: "Hi, Lelouch! Welcome home!"
Sayoko: "Yes, welcome home, my lord."
Lelouch: "No place like it, Sayoko. Right, Nunnally?"
"Did you hear him enter the house before he was near the door?" C.C asks, wondering if that's the case, or if she simply sensed him with a connection to him of some kind, similar to her own connection with the boy.
She nods. "I did. Blind people tend to have better hearing than most, especially at a young age."
The scene changes to a Britannian military-science installation. The audience can see multiple straight jackets hung up on a wall.
General Bartley is seen addressing a small group of scientists. Behind them in a dark corner are two other large canisters that look exactly like the one that housed C.C.
Bartley: "As you know full well, the project was a complete failure. Therefore this research division is being gutted."
Scientist: "Wha...? Yes, but-!"
Bartley: "I've set up a place in Narita for you. Move everything out there. While we may have no memory of it, the fact is the other staff officers and I left Prince Clovis on his own."
"So that's what happened. I thought His Highness would've used his Geass on them, but it seems that Bartley deserted, regardless if it was of his own volition or not," Lloyd snickers.
Meanwhile, C.C, while appearing impassive, is actually glaring at the screen behind thinly-veiled stoicism as her golden cat-like eyes make it hard for most to tell what she's feeling.
Her partner notices. 'Are you okay?'
'I'm fine. I'm just glad those people are all dead, especially Clovis. Thank you for killing him. He put me through so much torture that I almost lost my sanity, but then, I remembered that I've been through far worse, so I resisted to the best of my abilities. Using my powers, I lashed out and sent those scientist fake mental images of their deaths, so they had to seal me in one of those canisters to contain my power.'
L.L sighs in relief that things played out the way they did. Had he failed, who knows what would've happened to C.C.
He berates himself for allowing himself to feel a shred of guilt for killing Clovis, even if it was just a moment that he mourned his late brother.
Bartley: "I'm gonna be called out on the carpet for this back at home. When that happens, if His Majesty learns this experiment's gone on without his knowledge, I...
Scientist: "Understood, sir. We'll start prepping immediately."
On a table are all sorts of scientific papers and theories written with titles that make it obvious how insane these people are, but that's not what is most eye-catching.
It's two pictures.
The first one shows C.C in her straight jacket, unconscious, hands strapped to her seat, a machine on her head for neurological scans as scientists around her collect data.
The second one is even more disturbing. It shows a girl that is clearly C.C, despite its faded image due to time. She is dressed in early 20th century clothing, a long skirt, a coat, and a beret on her head. She is running across a battlefield, trying to flee.
And behind her are the tools for war that give an even better indication when this photo was taken. The first tanks ever created and the first airplanes. Soldiers are seen peaking out of trenches.
"What the hell?" Tohdoh says out loud. "That's World War One!"
"Pizza girl..." Kallen softly says, realizing that her biggest rival in love, as well as someone she has begrudgingly wanted to be friends with since the two cooperated to get Lelouch's memories back, had a very difficult life, considering the obvious human experimentation done to her, and Kallen knows that's probably a huge understatement.
They all look at C.C for answers, and much to their frustration, she stays quiet, not caring that they'll learn about her past, too. However, for once, they respect her wish to stay silent.
Well, except Lloyd, who begins stating his theories out loud. "Hm... I wonder how it is possible she was alive over a hundred years ago and still exists today? Perhaps, someone secretly discovered a way to slow her aging process significantly?"
"... O-Or she's immortal?" Nina shyly says. "I am a believer in science myself, but I have seen Lelouch use his Geass, so it's obvious that there are many mysterious things that exist in this world. Remember in the first episode? C.C took a bullet to the head for him and dropped dead, yet here she is with us."
"That... That's ridiculous! Maybe it's some kind of healing power AND a way to greatly slow down her aging process, right C.C?" Kallen says, as if trying to convince herself that immortality is impossible, something most people would agree with.
"Who knows." C.C deadpans and shrugs.
Kallen groans. But in all seriousness, she herself isn't quite sure why she wants to dismiss the notion of immortality. Or maybe it's because the idea involves C.C? Maybe it's because it's hard to imagine the emotionless yet smug pizza-obsessed girl, who is usually impossible to read, experience such hardships.
Maybe she's against the idea because it hurts to think about someone she secretly cares about suffering in silence.
Nunnally: "Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about the art of origami. Fold a piece of paper the correct way, you can make birds, boats, almost anything."
She brings her spoon up to drink her soup, but some of it gets on her chin, so Lelouch uses a napkin to clean her face.
Lelouch: "Easy there. You don't have to tell me everything all at once, you know? It's not like I'm going anywhere."
Nunnally: "Yeah, you're right. Thank you."
Lelouch: "You're very welcome."
While everyone fawns over how cute Nunnally is due to her moe factor, the Empress frowns. 'But you left. You're dead. You're dead, and it's my fault as well as Suzaku's fault.'
Nunnally: "I'm so happy, 'cause last night you scared me a little."
Lelouch: "Did I? Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind, is all."
Nunnally: "Hey. They say if you fold a thousand of these cranes, your wish will come true. So if there's anything at all that you've been wishing for..."
Lelouch: "No, not really. What about you? Do you wish for anything?"
Nunnally: "I wish the world was a gentler place."
Xingke whispers to Tohdoh, "Seems like he really isn't nothing but a monster like we thought him to be."
"Aye. His motivations are becoming more and more clear."
The Japanese General grimaces with guilt when he remembers Lelouch's desperate voice screaming at any and all Black Knights to find Nunnally after the FLEIJA destroyed Tokyo, only to have his orders overwritten by Tohdoh himself, who had chosen to withdraw their forces instead.
He's an overprotective big brother. That, he knew from the beginning. He saw the boy who became good friends with his student, Suzaku, and how much he hated his own father and his own nation.
'Why did I betray him? Even if he didn't use his Geass on us, I now suspect that Lelouch falsely admitted to us being nothing more than his pawns so that we could kill him. He must've been so devastated when he thought his sister was dead that I think he gave up. He wanted to die!'
In response to Nunnally's wish, Lelouch reassures her.
Lelouch: "When the day finally comes that you can see again, I'm sure that it will be."
Nunnally: "Really?"
Lelouch: "I promise."
Nunnally trembles as she lowers her head and cries silently. 'But that day, the world wasn't a gentle place.'
Seeing the grief he has caused her, Suzaku wishes he could comfort her. It pains him greatly to see her like this. "Your Majesty..."
He never thought he would miss Lelouch so much, or more accurately, he forgot how much he loved Lelouch like a brother.
Lelouch: 'The truth is there are very few paths our future can take. The Ashford family is sheltering us for now, but how long can that last? If our identity is exposed, even Rivalz, Shirley, and the others will abandon us. We'll end up political tools, or casualty of royal ambition. I have to build a world where Nunnally can at least find happiness.'
His thoughts are interrupted by his little sister intertwining her pinky finger with his and raising them.
Nunnally: "Sayoko taught me this the other day. It's called a Japanese promise. Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie. Pinky promise song~!" She giggles cutely.
Lelouch: "Well that's scary! I may have to eat a thousand needles someday."
Nunnally: "That's right. So I better not catch you telling lies, okay?"
The Empress wishes she could take back that she said that, feeling that she somehow jinxed her older brother and got him killed.
Lelouch: "Don't you worry. I'll never lie, I swear."
His smile disappears as his eyes narrow in determination to protect her.
Lelouch: 'Not to you anyway.'
She winces.
Suzaku sighs. He thought it would be easy seeing the truth behind Lelouch, but it wasn't. Add that to the fact that all three discs are showing absolutely every important thing even he and everyone else did, then he could only steel himself and hope he can take the inevitable verbal backlash.
The next morning, Lelouch is on his way to school, but he looks back at the massive mansion he now calls his and Nunnally's home.
He stands on a pathway next to a small, clean river going into an unseen tunnel, most likely a sewer or an irrigation used as a natural resource.
Looking down at the water, he activates his Geass and stares at himself in the liquid's reflection.
Lelouch: 'This is the only weapon I have. And I don't even know how to use it.'
?: "Lelouch!" A voice calls out.
It's one of his teachers. The man is carrying a briefcase and headed to work.
Teacher: "Class will be starting in a minute, you know."
Lelouch: "Oh, yes sir."
Without hesitation, he takes this opportunity to test a theory on the weapon he was thinking about: His Geass.
So, he activates it.
Lelouch: "Um, sir? What are the topics going to be for the essays on your next exam?"
Teacher: "The humiliation of Edinborough, the transfer of the capital, and north and south war topics."
"Now he's cheating on tests? Hmph. What an idiot." Chiba snorts, serving to annoy Nunnally again.
As long as she doesn't do it too frequently, she can keep her head for now...
Cecile, on the other hand, heard the comment, and is slowly growing more and more furious. 'That two-faced snake! You know nothing about His Majesty!'
Lelouch: 'So, I haven't lost the power, then.'
Lelouch: "Sir? What exactly are the topics going to be for the essays on your next exam?
Teacher: "Right. Very funny. Maybe you should try studying, huh? Just apply yourself, you'll do fine," The teacher says while walking away.
Lelouch: "Yes, sir!"
He smirks, scheming.
Lelouch: 'As I suspected, I can only use it on a person once.'
"What was that you were saying about me being under the influence of Geass?" Kallen taunts.
"Yeah! I knew it! I believed in him!" Tamaki is now oozing arrogance.
Tohdoh sighs. "It appears that our accusations against him, while not baseless, may not have been justified."
"But sir-!"
"Enough, Chiba! Black Knights, I think we all need to have a talk when we take a break from watching."
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about!" Ohgi is getting quite nervous.
"Shut up, Ohgi!" Kallen yells. "You're just trying to tuck tail and run like a coward!"
Rakshata exhales a puff of smoke from her pipe. "As a scientist, I can tell you that what Lelouch is doing here isn't wrong at all. He's simply discovered a new weapon in his arsenal and is testing out its capabilities, effects, and limitations. In his shoes, we all would've done the same thing by using it on someone we know."
Kallen can be seen on the school rooftop, talking to Ohgi over the phone about how caged her school life is. She wants to pursue the voice they heard over the radio in Shinjuku, but Ohgi tells her to stay put.
He tells her to forget about Shinjuku and hangs up, making Kallen think back to what Lelouch told her.
Lelouch: "Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku," He says in a flashback. Even though he used his Geass, from her perspective, both his eyes stay the same purple color.
Kallen begins feeling suspicious of him.
Lelouch is seen answering a question when the teacher picks on him as Kallen listens to his voice, trying to remember if it matches the one who led them to victory in Shinjuku.
Kallen: 'It could be... No, I can't remember well enough to be sure.'
As he finishes talking and sits down, he notices Kallen watching him with a mirror, which she closes casually.
Lelouch: 'All I did was simply mention Shinjuku, but...'
Kallen: 'If he knows who I really am, then...'
Lelouch: 'At the first opportunity...'
Kallen: 'I need to take care of him.'
"Okay, so now that we know that these discs are going to show all the shitty things all of us did, we should keep track of them all. I'm mentally noting that Kouzuki considered or even possibly attempted to murder my little brother," Cornelia suggests.
"I see how it is. A part of you still loves him dearly, so you're using that and the fact that I considered silencing him to hold against me."
"In all fairness, he was thinking the same thing about you."
The tense moment is broken up by the fact that they agree on that part. Both Lelouch and Kallen were trying to off one another when they first met at school.
"Let me offer my unbiased opinion," Schneizel raises his hand. "I don't actually think Lelouch was going to try to kill Kallen, but he did hold the same goal as her, which was to silence the other. In this case, I think he knew that she was far too useful to him to simply kill off, so he wanted to keep her quiet by convincing her to join him."
"That makes sense," Rivalz nods. "Lelouch seems like a pretty charismatic guy."
Classes finally end, and most of the students have left except for Lelouch, Shirley, and another group of girls surrounding Kallen.
He approaches Kallen, which the other girls notice, as they fall silent.
Lelouch: "You think that you could spare a minute? I need to talk to you." His tone holds a hint of malice as they give each other suspicious, challenging looks.
Shirley and the others look on with many surprised, "Huh?"s.
Kallen: "Sure. I was wondering when you were gonna ask."
Shirley lets out a surprised sound.
The other girls squeal as if they're hearing a love confession.
Kallen blushes. "Those idiots..."
"Now that I think about it, did any of our classmates find out that you're a member of the Black Knights?" Milly says.
"Other than the Student Council, no, luckily."
Jeremiah can be seen destroying the knightmares escorting the APC with Clovis' coffin and General Bartley in it, not buying Bartley's excuse that he doesn't remember.
Cornelia squirms uncomfortably. "Sounds like Lelouch used his Geass on Bartley, after all. Bartley doesn't seem like he's lying."
Back with Lelouch and Kallen, the two end up at the front entrance of the Student Council clubhouse.
Kallen: "I didn't even know this room existed."
Lelouch: "It's the clubhouse for the Student Council. They built it as a ballroom for various special occasions."
Kallen: "And we won't be disturbed inside here?"
Lelouch: "Yes, that's correct."
The two stare each other down, determined to first question one another.
A shout from a familiar voice draws their attention away, however.
Shirley: "Here it is! I found it! Look! This is it, right?" She holds up a microchip and hands it to Nina as she gets off from her crouched position on the second floor.
Nina: "What a relief you found our lab data."
Then, Rivalz gets off the floor and comes into view.
Rivalz: "Good. My ass is killing me!" He clutches at his hip.
The entire audience bursts out laughing at Rivalz's comment, even C.C and Tohdoh chuckle.
"Not your legs, but your ass?" Akito quirks an eyebrow.
Rivalz nods. "Haha, yeah. I hate doing squats, but running is alright."
Milly is seen walking in with a strange camera angle from between her legs as she sets down different trays of food that appear to be appetizers for a larger meal, possibly.
"Um... What's with the thigh gap?" Tamaki scratches his hair awkwardly.
Milly doesn't mind too much, but Rivalz looks away.
Confused, Lelouch asks what's going on, so Milly explains that they're inducting Kallen into the Student Council by throwing her a welcoming party because her grandfather thought she would have a hard time in the other clubs with her 'poor health'.
One by one, the other members of the Student Council kindly introduce themselves to Kallen.
Nunnally also joins them and warmly greets their newest member.
"I think when Nunnally greeted me and Milly said that she's Lelouch's sister, I was so surprised to actually see a wheelchair-bound girl who is also blind that I felt pity for her, which influenced me to spare Lelouch's life when I had a good chance to kill him when I finally got alone with him."
"Thank you, Kallen," Nunnally says.
"Alone with him?" Gino mutters in jealousy.
Rivalz gets out some champagne to celebrate Kallen's induction, and Shirley tries to stop him from opening the bottle, so he tosses it over to a surprised Lelouch, who is immediately ambushed by Shirley.
However, she accidentally tackles Lelouch, making the bottle cap projectile fire at Kallen, who quickly swipes it away. Unfortunately, the entire drink comes spraying out and drenches Kallen as everyone watches awkwardly at what they've done.
As all this is happening, Milly kindly hands Nunnally a cup of orange juice.
Nunnally hears the soda-like fizz of the drink pour out.
Nunnally: "What just happened?" She says innocently, multiplying her moe factor by over 9000.
Anya giggles. "That must've been quite the awkward first day on the job. What a way to ruin the fun."
Gino nods. "Children shouldn't drink alcohol."
For some reason, Kaguya, who has drank sake before, feels irritated at that.
Shirley is handling putting Kallen's uniform in the laundry machine.
Shirley: "We have clothes for her?"
Milly: "Sayoko's on it."
Suddenly, a naked Kallen can be seen in the shower.
"AAAAAAAAAHHH! DON'T LOOK, OR YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" She screams, specifically for the men.
Gino covers his forehead to block his closed eyes as he turns towards Kallen's direction so that the girl he likes can see that he isn't peeping. "Just let us know when it's over, okay?"
Tamaki buries his face into Gino's back, who screams, "WHAT THE F- GET OFF ME! I'M NOT GAY!"
"I'M NOT GAY EITHER! BUT IT'S TOO AWKWARD SEEING MY ONLY FEMALE FRIEND LIKE THIS!"
Tianzi pouts and glares at Xingke who has no intention of peeping, but this time, she is the one who reaches up to cover his eyes anyway.
L.L digs his masked face into C.C's side. She sighs and caresses his thick, fabulous hair.
Akito does the same thing with Leila.
All the other men simply turn around or have their ears pulled by their female companions.
Kallen: "This is why I hate Britannians."
"So you hate me?" Gino pouts.
Irritated, Kallen flicks his forehead.
"Ow!"
There's a knock at the door.
Lelouch: "It's Lelouch. I've brought you a change of clothes."
Kallen: "You can come in. I've drawn the curtain already."
Lelouch: "Sorry about all this. I know they can be a little over the top." He analyzes the bathroom for any traps.
Kallen: "That's okay. Nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in a while, you know?"
Lelouch: "These are some of my clothes. Hope that's okay."
Kallen: "It's cool. Don't worry about it. That was fast. You went all the way to the boy's dorm?"
Lelouch: "Actually, I live here. It'd be pretty hard for my sister to live off in the dorms. The principal of the school lets us stay here as a favor."
Kallen: "I see..."
Cornelia turns towards Milly. "Does that mean Ruben Ashford knew about Lelouch and Nunnally's entire situation?"
The blonde nods.
Lelouch: "Anyway..." He turns to leave.
Kallen: "Hey, wait! Can you hand me that pouch over there?"
Lelouch: "Sure."
Slowly, he walks over and reaches into the shower to hand it over without looking.
Suddenly, she grabs his arm in a tight grip, slapping the pouch out of his hands and onto the shower floor.
Surprised, he smirks.
Lelouch: "... You really are a live-wire, aren't you?
"What just happened?" Tamaki complains.
"Nothing! Just don't look, or I'll gouge your eyes out!"
"Don't worry! I wouldn't do that to Naoto's little sister."
Kallen: "Were you the one in Shinjuku?"
Lelouch: "What do you mean?"
Kallen: "Don't play dumb. You brought up Shinjuku the other day... Why?"
Lelouch: "Why do you ask? Is there something wrong with Shinjuku?"
Kallen: "Don't answer my question with a question! Yes or no, that's all I wanna hear out of you."
She reaches down and grabs the pouch, pressing a concealed button that activates the blade of a knife now sticking through the pouch.
"You pulled a knife on him," Cornelia glares at the ace. "Maybe if you trusted him more, Euphemia wouldn't have died, and neither would Lelouch!"
The redhead winces. Maybe she's right; Lelouch wouldn't have had to wear a mask around her and might've even confided in her regarding his plans. Maybe she isn't. All they can do is see the past to learn from their mistakes.
Most importantly, they can learn more about Geass.
Lelouch glares at her knife-wielding hand, not scared.
Suddenly, the telephone in the bathroom rings, so he glares at the phone.
"Okay, why is there a landline in a bathroom? That makes no sense," Villetta complains. "There's no way you kids were that busy enough to have such a thing installed in that corner of the Student Council clubroom, right?"
Milly giggles.
Lelouch: "If I don't answer it, someone will come. That okay?"
He reaches over and picks the phone up with his free arm.
Lelouch: "Hello? Ashford Academy Student Council. No, this is... Oh, it's for you. He says he knows you."
Reluctantly, Kallen sets her pouch-knife down and takes the phone up to her ear.
Kallen: "Hello?"
Zero: "Glad you're still alive, Q1."
Surprised, she peaks out of the curtain to look at Lelouch and see how he is reacting, but the boy is still feigning mostly disinterest with minor irritation at being woman-handled.
Schneizel chuckles. "Well played."
"Huh? What's goin' on?" Tamaki is as clueless as usual.
"Obviously, his Geass allows him to see the future to prerecord a voice message. There's no way he was smart enough to predict everything she would say," Chiba tries to discredit him, but the others don't listen, knowing that they've learned pretty much everything his Geass can do aside from a few more limitations and long-term effects he has yet to mention.
Having faced him in battle several times, even Cornelia knows that Chiba is just talking out of her ass.
Zero: "16:00 hours, the day after tomorrow, the observation deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone."
Kallen: "Who are you?! How did you arrange that cease-fire order?!"
The phone beeps in repetitive intervals to let her know that he has ended the call with, "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"
Kallen: "Hey! Don't hang up!" She shouts, and in her annoyance at being kept in the dark, she pulls the phone cord closer and accidentally draws back her curtains, fully exposing herself to anyone in the bathroom and its doorway, including Lelouch.
Lelouch: "Did you say cease-fire? Sounds like you keep dangerous company."
Kallen: "Oh, um... That was..." She tries and fails to talk her way out.
"I was never good with words compared to Lelouch," Kallen sighs, blushing at her own on-screen very unwomanly actions.
'Damn it! Why am I so stupid?! By exposing my skin to him, I will never be able to get married! Especially not to him, the man I grew to admire...' She screams mentally.
Lelouch: "Let me guess! You're talking about a game? Something online?" He says politely, but any look in his eyes from a person that knows him gives away that he's laughing at her inside his head.
Kallen: "Uh, yeah, you got me. 'Cause, you know," She lets go of his arm slowly, "I've been shut up in my house so long..."
"You're a terrible liar, Kouzuki. He didn't even have to verbally probe his way into your mind, much less use his Geass again, even if he could," Cornelia scolds, much to her surprise. "All female soldiers must toughen themselves up if they hope to survive, especially under any kind of interrogation!"
She sheepishly scratches her hair. "Er... Thanks for the advice, I guess?"
Lelouch: "That's what I was warning you about when I told you not to bring up Shinjuku before."
He rubs his arm casually, as if in discomfort.
Lelouch: "Seriously, some guys will try to show you footage of what happened that day and it's pretty damn grim."
Lamperouge looks away awkwardly.
"By the way... You know I can see you, right?"
Confused, Kallen glances down and finally realizes that her nudity is visible, so she whimpers in embarrassment and closes the curtain while crouching and hugging herself.
Lelouch: "Um, I won't tell anyone. Later." He leaves.
Kallen: "I was wrong..." She whispers in shame.
"Okay, everyone can look now."
"You weren't wrong, though. The bastard had us all fooled!" Cornelia says.
On the other end of that mysterious phone call, a person is holding a small device that records audio files.
Zero: "Glad you're still alive, Q1." The recording replays before the person presses a button to stop it.
It's Sayoko Shinozaki, Nunnally's caretaker and secret ninja bodyguard. Her irises are red with Geass that disappears, so she snaps back to reality and looks around, confused.
"It appears Master Lelouch used his Geass on me," Sayoko states.
"And yet, you still tried to kill me," Villetta crosses her arms and gives the maid an unfriendly look. "Just how much did you know about him? Or did he make you his slave?"
CLING!
Villetta gasps as a kunai is thrown her way. The black knife embeds itself in between her legs, deliberately placed just a mere centimeter from her womanhood.
Sayoko glares icily. "Don't EVER question my loyalty for Master Lelouch. I would've done anything for him and Lady Nunnally without the influence of Geass. To answer your question, I learned that he was Zero after the First Black Rebellion. C.C told me. She also told me about his Geass, and I believed her since she shared her memories of the time she and Lelouch spent together."
Villetta gulps in fear of the woman as Zero approaches her, takes the Kunai out of the damaged seat, and hands it back to Sayoko.
Kallen and Lelouch are walking back to the main entrance of the clubhouse where they were at with the others earlier as he explains how the Student Council works in terms of the amount of paperwork and the school events.
Nunnally: "Lelouch, it's awful!"
Lelouch: "What is?"
Milly: "Prince Clovis has been found dead."
Rivalz: "They're saying he was killed."
On the TV, Jeremiah is giving the press a speech, most of the major leaders of the Purist Faction standing behind him.
Jeremiah: "Prince Clovis has been taken from us. He fought for peace and justice against all of the Elevens. He died a martyr! We must all bury our sorrow, and carry on his will."
"How could you seriously believe that? The man ordered a mass murder and displaced almost the entire native population by force!" Ohgi is incensed.
"I was foolish back then, a person who truly believed in Emperor Charles' vision. However, for those of you who wonder why I then fought for Master Lelouch, who was an even worse tyrant to some, all I'm going to say for now is that my loyalty never truly was with Britannia, nor did I ever really care for the country."
"Then why, Jeremiah, did you create the Purist Faction?" Villetta asks.
"Humph!" He laughs. "My friend, that wretched organization was truly a blight upon all of Britannian and international society. I didn't care how they treated the Numbers, but I hated how they put down normal, everyday Britannian people. Plus, the position was both one of political and military importance due to its power, so I pretended to be like them."
The former Margrave avoids the word 'commoner' so as to not give clues to anyone who could figure it out.
Zero now realizes, in one of his past battles against the man loyal to Lelouch, why the man said, "Loyalty trumps all."
In a certain sense, Jeremiah was similar to Suzaku's old foolish self since he also trying to change the system from within, even if it was only to help Britannian commoners while still putting the Numbers down.
In the ghetto, Ohgi and his squad can be seen watching the TV. They should be happy that Clovis is dead, but hearing that Jeremiah intends to continue the violence made them anything but.
TV: "We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news. The man suspected as the murderer has been captured. According to this report, the suspect is an Honorary Britannian. Private Suzaku Kururugi, a former Eleven and Honorary Britannian. I repeat, Suzaku Kururugi arrested for murder."
Lelouch looks on in shock as the TV shows Suzaku being escorted by soldiers, protesting his innocence, only to be backhanded across his face.
-End of Episode 3-
Next Episode Preview
Lelouch: "Shouldn't I be happy at this news? Suzaku is still alive. But why has he been arrested in my place? I have to save him. I don't care what it takes! If I have to step up my plans, so be it, for I have the power to do it."
Everyone stays quiet for a while, and seeing that nobody has anything to say, A.A says, "It seems that you're all ready for the next episode, but I'll give you a minute to gather your thoughts."
Zero thinks to himself, 'Lelouch looked and sounded worried about me. But that doesn't make any sense!'
Wanting to remain neutral on the matter of Lelouch being evil, at least for now, but also wanting to voice an opinion, Leila says to Akito, "Aside from us, everyone here is personally acquainted with Lelouch to an extent, and those that hate him feel wronged by him in some way, but I don't understand where their resentment is coming from. I get Princess Cornelia's vengeful scorn since he killed her sister, but the others? What is their reason? From what I've seen, he seems like the type to do terrible things, but with good intentions, so why can't they see that?"
The Britannian woman, regarded as the guardian angel of Europia's people, one of the ones who hates war even more than Suzaku Kururugi, can understand the Demon Emperor.
Hyuga is the type of soldier who usually chooses to shoot first, ask questions later, but she has a good point.
"It must be the image he painted for himself in their eyes. Herd mentality. The lamb follows where the crowd goes. You and me? We don't do that. Under your command, we've been taught to identify Friend or Foe before making a decision, and he sure as hell seems like a friend to me more than this pathetic little stampede."
"Exactly. Of course, I could be wrong and maybe he changed for the worse, but as things are right now, I would've rather fought alongside him than these people who can't think for themselves."
Their conversation isn't kept quiet or intentionally loud, as everyone hears them, but they don't care.
Those who stand by them respect them even more.
Those he disagree find themselves feeling angry the two.
Some are about to scold them, but the next episode begins before they can.
To Be Continued
About those jokes I was making about Tianzi and Kaguya learning how to cuss, I just realized Tianzi is 2 years younger than Nunnally, Nunnally is almost a full 3 years younger than Lelouch, and she was born in 2003, meaning at this point, since this fanfic takes place in 2022, she was 14 in R1, 15 in R2, and 18 in this fic.
Also, the wiki states that the title of this episode is called, "The False Classmate". However, The False Classmate makes it sound like Kallen is just pretending to be a student while not really being one, which isn't true. She is a student.
So instead, I want with "The Classmate is a Lie", which is what the subtitles give me on the title screen for this episode's MP4 I have saved, and because it sounds more like a title from Lelouch's perspective when he realizes that Kallen's schoolgirl act is a façade.
Also, the only other girl I sorta ship Lelouch with is Shirley, but not enough to take him away from best girl C.C. :)
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STAGE 3 Bloopers
Kallen is in the shower holding Lelouch's arm at knifepoint.
The phone rings.
Lelouch: "Hello?"
Zero: "Ey yo, put the girl on the phone."
He hands her the phone.
Kallen: "Who is this?"
Zero: "Kallen! Kallen, get to the ghetto! We have to cook METH!"
Kallen: "What?!"
Take #2
Zero: "We're no strangers to looooove. You know the rules, and so do I!"
Kallen: "Bitch, I'll kill you!"
Take #3
Zero shows up at the shower and busts down the door, startling both Lelouch and Kallen.
Lelouch and Kallen: "What the-?!"
Zero: "Ha! You thought it was Lelouch, but it was me!" He takes of his mask to reveal his powdery wig.
Lelouch: "The Emperor?!"
Charles: "I am Charles zi Britannia!"
Lelouch: "But why? Why would you do this?"
Charles: "I spent enough time in a strange dimension that I met another version of me from a different realm. So, Charles gave me the power to fight Charles while pretending to be Charles from the future!"
Lelouch: "You're kidding! You're doing this just to go on an adventure?! Who are you?!"
Charles: "I'm the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude!"