Chapter Nineteen: Refrain

Kallen was not happy as she led Suzaku and Euphie through the streets.

Her interview had been... upsetting. The women had lost practically everything. And the people around her had lost so much to this stupid drug. To make matters worse, all the bullet holes had reminded her of the Shinjuku Massacre.

Yes, they'd paid Britannia back tenfold for what they did. But stuff like this was still happening. And to make matters worse, Euphie was still here. The spoiled noblewoman had been waiting for them outside had distracted her. Euphie had this very condescending way of looking at things, even if she didn't realize it. It was in how she spoke about people like they weren't here and held herself apart. It was a bit like the aura Cornelia had put out, except less proud, less confident. And the worst part was how she was pretending to be sorry about how out of touch she was.

And here Kallen was, playing tour guide and explaining things. Meanwhile, Lelouch was with his half-sister, Princess Cornelia doing god knows what. No, no, that thought process made absolutely no sense. Yes, Cornelia had been very imposing in terms of posture and had a very impressive... physique.

Just looking at her had gotten Kallen thinking despite her best efforts, but...

But that was no reason for anything like that to happen between her and Lelouch. Lelouch had been on a council with Milly for years. There was no way he'd give into that kind of temptation. Even if Cornelia was very beautiful. No, where had that thought come from?

"So what are we doing now?" asked Euphie, providing an excellent distraction.

Kallen turned straight toward her. As she looked at the pinkette, she tried to keep her mind focused. Unfortunately, focusing on anything else had been difficult. And Euphie was pretty good-looking herself-

Why was Kallen thinking like this? She'd been on a Student Council with Milly too long.

Forcing herself to focus, Kallen spoke. "Now, I guess we head back. Unless there's somewhere else, you'd rather be going?" Her gaze me Euphie's, and the noblewomen looked away and shifted uneasily.

Kallen guessed she was being a bit hard on her. And having the nobility learn about what is going on could help.

"Oh, um, I think I've seen enough," said Euphie. "I wouldn't feel comfortable sticking around much longer-"

And then a young boy ran by them. Kallen watched him pass and suddenly caught sight of a needle in his hands. It was still full, thank god, but she'd seen it before. She reached out and grabbed the kid by the shoulder. He turned, clad in rags, and struggled.

"Hold on!" said Kallen.

"What's wrong?" asked Euphie.

"Hey, let go," said the boy, struggling. "I didn't steal anything."

"This is Refrain," said Kallen, drawing the vial out of his hand. "Where did you get this, kid?"

"Oh um, from a little way off," said the boy. "He's giving out free samples."

"Free samples?" asked Kallen, going still. "Show me where he is. Now." And she mentally reminded herself of the gun in her pocket. Someone was trying to create customers for a drug racket.

Why would the gangs dare pull something like this now?

The boy obeyed and led them on. As they walked, Kallen thought about calling Naoto. Then again, Naoto had been away when she'd arrived. He'd gone to meet with Kyoto about something and couldn't be back. A lot of the resistance group had gotten killed at Shinjuku, so the dealers might be pressing in on their turf.

Damn Clovis to hell.

Looking back, she saw Euphie looking concerned. The girl kept running her hands through that well-curled hair. Who even taught her to comb that hair anyway. It did look nice on her but-

Not the time.

Coming to a corner, the boy pointed out the man. He was huge, bald, and clad in a black leather outfit. At the moment, he was speaking with a child and offering him a needle. Kallen raised her camera and snapped several shots as he did so.

"So you're trying to catch him in the act?" asked Euphie.

"Yeah," said Kallen.

"Hey kid, you got a minute?" the man asked of a boy.

"What is it?" asked the boy.

"I'd like to help this place out," said the man.

"How?" asked the boy, distrustfully. "The Britannians wrecked everything."

"Sure, but there are ways that people can have it back," said the man. "See this, this thing here can bring you back your happy memories. Good times, bad times, all you need to do is inject it."

"Isn't that Refrain? Um, we're not supposed to take that kind of thing," said the boy.

"Oh come on, what's the worse that can happen?" said the man. "Not like there's a lot to live for in this place anyway. Just take it now, and if things get really bad, you can use it later.

"No harm done, right?" And he smiled.

"Right," said the boy.

"I've got the pictures," said Kallen, finishing. "Now I just need to take care of this."

And she drew out her gun.

"Kallen... is that a gun?" asked Euphie.

Then Kallen remembered Euphie was a naive newcomer. She fell into her sick girl persona quickly. "...Oh, how did this get here?"

"Why do you have a gun in your school uniform?" asked Euphie, staring with obvious shock.

"Self-defense," said Kallen. "I'm going to go shoot that guy."

"Shouldn't we call the police?" asked Euphie.

"Police are part of the problem," said Kallen. "We've got to take him out now." And she pointed the gun at him, trying to get a shot.

"Hang, on, if you shoot him, you can't get him to testify," said Suzaku. "We'll never know who he was working for."

Kallen looked back, then to where the man was walking off. "...Fine."

"Look, he's moving off. Let's follow him and see what he's up to," said Euphie.

And Kallen found herself obeying. Together the three of them made their way after the man. Periodically he'd check behind him. Fortunately, Kallen knew how to avoid notice, and Euphie and Suzaku stayed behind. It helped that the guy was overconfident; he probably figured there was no one to stop him. Eventually, he came to a warehouse and knocked. Guys with guns opened the door, and they came in.

"So, um, Kallen, you seem to know your way around here well. Like, really well," said Euphie.

Kallen felt somewhat offended by the implication. "So what if I do?"

"I get the feeling you come here a lot more than occasionally," said Euphie. "Are you... really the daughter of a noble?"

Kallen paused and, eventually, decided to come clean. A part of her that resented having to spend her life lying burst out of her. So just revealing the truth at this point seemed the lesser of two evils. "...Look, I'm half-Japanese, okay. My Mother and Father got divorced after the invasion because of political pressure. His new wife was sterile, so he pretended as if I was her daughter and made me his heir.

"My real Mother works as a maid in my house and is always groveling to get his attention. She doesn't have any more ambition in life than to be someone's mistress—all for a guy who doesn't give a damn about her.

"All my friends from when I was a kid living here. So I have to come here in secret.

"And if you tell anyone about this, I guarantee you, you'll be sued for libel."

"But it's true," said Euphie, blinking.

"Doesn't matter," said Kallen. "Father has money; he'll win by definition. Nobles always win when they go up against commoners. Justice is for sale.

"Now, quiet for a second; let's get around the edge of that building."

The three of them slipped around the edge of the building. Kallen saw broken warehouse windows above. They were out of her reach, though.

"Come on, Euphie," said Kallen. "Give me a boost into this window."

"Well, I-" began Euphie. "Okay."

Fortunately, Euphie seemed to be fairly fit. Kallen would have picked Suzaku, but he'd have a clear view up her skirt from below. Stepping onto the girl's hand, Kallen climbed onto her shoulders and looked in below.

There she saw Refrain piled in boxes. A lot of Refrain and many junkies, muttering to themselves and people who weren't there. And sitting across a table was a fat, dark-skinned man with a blonde wig. He wore a suit, and with him were well-dressed men with guns. Raising her phone, she started to record the events.

"You sure about operating in Shinjuku here, King?" asked a man.

"Why not?" asked the dark-skinned man, looking intently at a chessboard. "The resistance groups here have all gotten wrecked by Gottwald. That means there's a real potential to expand outward. Plenty of young future customers just waiting to see their memories come true.

"You boys gave out the samples, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we did. But Naoto will crack down hard if we show up here again," said the other. "We're lucky he was gone and at half-strength."

"Don't worry," said King. "Once the kids are hooked, they'll come looking for us. Pack it up, boys. I've got love to find at Babel Tower tonight."

Black King.

Kallen stared as King walked out the back to where he had a car waiting. "Go get 'em King," laughed a man.

Kallen dropped down and saw Euphie slump down. Obviously, she'd been getting a lot more exercise than she was used to. Kallen felt a bit of sympathy and thought this had gotten dangerous. "Let's go. We've seen enough."

"Hang on, maybe um..." began Euphie.

"What?" asked Kallen.

"Maybe we should get some shots of the people under the effects of Refrain," said Euphie. "They said there were some in the other warehouse."

"I've already got the footage," said Kallen. "Though you've got guts, I admit."

"Thanks," said Euphie.

Checking her phone, Kallen looked at the footage. Then she saw one of the junkies. It was a brown-haired woman acting as though she was talking to an ordinary person. She overheard her voice over the conversation. "Kallen... Naoto... you're all grown up, my... my little... girl..."

"That..." Kallen stammered. "That can't be..." All the times she'd heard Mom ask her questions, only to be shut down, ran through her mind. They repeated on the loop.

"What's wrong?" asked Euphie.

"That's my mother down there," said Kallen watching the video. And slowly but surely, the realization hit her. Mom hadn't stayed for her worthless father at all. It had been... "You... you mean you stayed for me?"

Kallen felt angry. Angrier than ever before.

And that was why she drew out her gun. Moving to the door, she was stopped by Suzaku and pinned to the ground. "Kallen, get ahold of yourself," said Suzaku.

"Let me go, Suzaku," said Kallen. "I'm going to kill every single scumbag in there."

"Kallen, that won't help at all," said Suzaku. "We have the pictures; we can bring the information in and get these people convicted. But if we start a firefight, it won't help her.

"If anything, you might shoot her by accident.

"With any luck, she'll come down and go home. Then you can get her help and talk to her. Drug dealers run heavily armed. They probably have heavy equipment in there."

"Kallen, he's right," said Euphie. "We've got to go. I... if we bring this to the authorities, I promise you, I'll do everything I can to see something done about this."

Kallen stared.

Her Mother was hooked on Refrain.

When had it happened? How had it happened? Kallen had no idea because she'd just ignored her all this time. Mom had stayed in a house with a guy who cared nothing for her for Kallen, and now...

This was Kallen's fault.

"...Fine, we'll go," said Kallen.

And they left just like that.

Kallen walked away from her Mother like she had so many times before. And for the first time, she didn't want to do it. Every step made her think of all the times she'd dismissed and shunned her.

She'd make this right. She had to.

Euphie put a hand to her shoulder suddenly. The warmth of her hand was comforting. And for once, Kallen didn't push someone away.