OK Number 4! - Sincerity

"Of course. It'll be okay, I can get them what they need. I finished fourth, so I get a bonus payment from the team. I'll make sure you're okay."

"Thank you brother, I never doubted you. I'm so proud of you."

Lelouch nodded to his younger sister, who smiled up towards him from her hospital bed, mangled legs hidden beneath layers blankets. His grip on the bouquet of flowers, held between his two fists, seemed to shake slightly. This always happened when he met with his crippled sister, a task he traditionally delegated to Rolo, the third member of their estranged troika, all of whom had separated from the Lamperouge family proper. However, Rolo was in Nagasaki for a GP3 event, leaving Lelouch with the proverbial hot potato of handling the hospital staff, who were increasingly eager to vertically lever Nunnally's healthcare fees.

Of course, Nunnally would never know of this, at least if Lelouch had anything to say about it. Her recovery was to be as comfortable and swift as possible. Leaving the flowers at her bedside, he gave a muted nod to the nurse attending to her sister, the eternally scrupulous Sayoko Shinozaki, employed on Reuben Ashfords coin to appease Lelouch, their best driver in some time, from moving elsewhere. Lelouch had no intention of doing so until his contract was concluded in ten months, as he needed the money, however he was more than happy to deceive his boss until the end of the season.

He quietly signed his thanks to her, before moving to leave. While he loved his time with his sister, their meetings, as well as inferring a fistfight with hospital staff, were marred by Lelouch's slight personal guilt as to his sisters condition, emphasised by his lack of bedside manner. He simply never knew what to say, other than make further promises that everything would work out in the end.

"Um, Lelouch?"

Fortunately, it seemed Nunnally had her own topic of conversation she wanted to pursue, and so he graciously asked "Yes? What is it?"

"I, um… I heard that you had a crash with the new driver, Miss Kōzuki." Nunnally explained, before asking "Was she alright? You really need to be more careful out there, it's quite dangerous."

Lelouch paused, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as he reached for an explanation. It was entirely typical of her to be worried about his health, particularly in light of the elder Kōzuki's recent injury, which had itself prompted a bout of texts and phone calls urging him to not race. Attempting to pacify her, he answered "It was a pretty slow impact at the slowest part of the track. I was defending my line, and she turned into me. It's unfortunate, but we were both okay, and I finished fourth. I promised you I'd keep safe, and I don't intend to break that promise."

Nunnally seemed somewhat assured by this, however she insisted in her maternal fashion "You really should apologise to her though. She's been through a lot, and I don't think it was very nice for her."

Lelouch frowned, before trying to parse together an answer. Eventually, he replied "Brushes and collisions are a part of all this. Everyone accepts that, or they wouldn't take part."

"Even so." Nunnally retorted. "Whether it's allowed, or expected, or not, it's still better to apologise anyway. She sounded like a lovely person on the radio, and I don't want to hear about you fighting with someone else."

Lelouch had what could be considered a rather strong will, and a knack for getting his way at the end of all things, however even he had a dubious track record of standing up to his sister. He huffed under his breath and shrugged "I suppose it couldn't hurt. But you better get some rest in the meanwhile if I'm doing this! I don't want to hear about you exerting yourself."

Nunnally chuckled, and responded "Alright, that sounds fair."

Patting this side of the bed frame to indicate a wave goodbye, he left the flowers and departed from the room, thinking over what he was to do. He knew where Kallen was, roughly; the race had only just ended, and so she was likely making her way to her own injured sibling in Mie University Hospital, a ten minute drive to the south of the private clinic Lelouch had negotiated his way into. Hopping into his coupe, he had driven out of the car park and pulled onto the main road as his phone began to ring, routing onto his Bluetooth audio.

"Lamperouge speaking. Who is it?" Lelouch spoke, too tired to inject much enthusiasm into his tone.

"Hey Lelouch, it's Suzaku." the voice replied.

Lelouch leaned back into his seat, and replied with more vigor "Hey Suzaku, congratulations on the win today. Conditions were treacherous, and you had some wicked pace. I'll get you next time."

"Yeah, sure." Suzaku laughed. "The no-stop was ambitious, but you overreached yourself. The one stop was probably better."

"I still beat Kozūki."

Suzaku hmmed in a questioning fashion before commenting "It's funny you mention that. I've heard you've been a naughty boy."

"I don't know what you could possibly mean." Lelouch joked, before explaining "I had the inside line. I was a little behind, but I was still entitled to space. Racing incident if you ask me."

Suzaku didn't reply initially, before adding "So where are you now? You weren't at the celebrations, I felt a little lonely."

Embracing Suzaku's tongue in cheek tone, Lelouch replied "You're the first Japanese driver to win this Grand Prix, I'm sure there was someone there at the party. For your information sir, I was visiting my sister Nunnally."

Suzaku laughed, and replied "True, but it wasn't the same without you."

"I'll see if I can make it up to your place tonight. You're still based up in the countryside, right?"

"Indeed. That's fantastic then. That said, I'll be back in the simulator tomorrow, so it'll be an early start. On the topic, I've heard you've been speaking with Cecile?"

Cecile Croomy was the Rosenberg team principal, who managed their strategy and driver lineup. Lelouch sighed, and responded "The thing is, Reuben, and Rivalz are great and all, but there's a ceiling. I'm having to pull off backwards strategies almost every race to get points. I've been with them my whole career, but ultimately I need to move on for Nunnally's sake."

Suzaku didn't say anything for awhile, before commenting "Well, Odysseus is retiring this year, so I'm sure you could get the seat if you actually put in effort."

"Ah crap, then I'm gazumped." Lelouch joked, before continuing "In all seriousness, Cecile seemed pretty onboard. Everyone's gunning for Kallens seat, so there won't be too much competition."

"Aye. If she doesn't perform, she'll have every driver up and down the grid breathing down her neck for a Rebellion seat." Suzaku affirmed. "So what are you up to now?"

Lelouch paused, trying to phrase his current endeavours in a slightly less embarrassing fashion than that he was apologising to Kallen for crashing into her because his sister had an entirely excessive influence in his decision making.

"Nunnally is making you apologise to Kozūki isn't she?"

Lelouch's immediate instinct was to swear violently, however a slow car in the middle lane instead forced him to swerve violently before he had the opportunity to complete the expletive. He couldn't believe Suzaku had managed to so immediately guess what he was up to, and so he sulked slightly before commenting "For the record, I put up a solid thirty seconds resistance."

Suzaku laughed out loud, before replying "Noted Lelouch, noted."

Lelouch shook his head jovially, as he indicated to turn right towards the University, before Suzaku continued "You know, I was wondering one thing."

Lelouch allowed Suzaku to continue after a moment's pause, who then asked "What was the deal before the race? You basically gave her the one stop strategy for free."

"I offered it to you as well, you just thought I was bluffing. On a related note, you owe me a thousand yen."

It was Suzaku's turn to swear, but he got beyond it, asking "Even so, why say anything? If you knew you were right, why not just keep it to yourself?"

"I thrive in uncertainty and instability. You know-"

Lelouch would have gone on to explain his reasoning, however he was quickly approaching a good parking spot, and decided to troll Suzaku and interrupt himself with "Actually, I've got to run. I'll explain another time. Au revoir Kururugi."

"Wait, hold on now, you haven't answered my-"

The Isetetsu rail line, constructed in 1973, only had two stops between Kawage and Tsu, allowing for swift transport across from the Suzuka facilities to the hospital. It was small, rapid, and robust, however it had the great disadvantage of being used by half the population of southeastern Japan at the same time on their way home from the race. There was less room than the cockpit of the Rebellion car. Rather fortunately, she didn't have far to travel, and departed the train within walking distance of Naoto's ward. The rain had mostly dispersed soon after the race had ended, and Kallen had had to attend a brief press conference prior to her departure. As a result, it was almost five in the evening by the time she arrived, and the October chill was settling over Kansai.

Kallen, with a five minute walk ahead, had plenty of time to mull over things. It was problematic that she was off the pace to such an extent that she wasn't able to pull off an undercut, however it was only upwards from here. While Tohdoh hadn't proven altogether too helpful, she supposed Naoto, with more time until the next race, would be able to talk her through the car and its behaviour. Even so, getting overtaken with an entire pit stops advantage was not brilliant for morale.

Kallen's mood was confused by the sight of a consternated Lelouch Lamperouge, gesticulating in a very French manner at a hapless receptionist, who seemed at once obstinate and extremely confused. While her initial instinct was to intervene, there was something intensely amusing in the interaction between the two that caused her to wait and watch, at least until a pair of security guards approached the pair, seemingly to remove the foreigner.

While she had serious reservations about Lelouch, many of which she hoped to air to him in the near future, she really didn't want to see him arrested, and so strode forward into the lobby to see what could be done. The receptionist, now somewhat free to address visitors now that Lelouch was trying not to be thrown out, turned to Kallen and sighed.

"I'm terribly sorry Miss Kōzuki, this man insisted on seeing your brother. Don't worry, he hasn't caused much trouble, just a lot of noise. Probably some obsessed fan."

Kallen smirked, shaking her head as Lelouch was being dragged away, before commenting "No, he actually isn't. He knows us both, you can let him past."

The receptionist was naturally surprised by this, however eventually signaled the guards to release the desperate man, who brushed himself off dramatically, and pridefully extended his chin at his former captors, who ignored the taunt. Kallen sighed, and approached him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a quiet hiss. Naoto and Lelouch never got along, and so his visit made no sense. He straightened at this question, seeming to gain some formality. After a moment, he eventually grumbled out "I apologize."

Kallen had to do a double take to ensure that the prideful Lelouch had in fact just apologised for something, which only served to disarm her previous anger at him.

"I um…" was all she could muster initially, before Lelouch elaborated "I'm sorry for making contact with you on the second to last lap."

Kallen blinked multiple times, before asking "Are… are you for real? Are you being made to say this against your will or something?"

"Yes." Lelouch answered, with no shame. Kallen chuckled, at once mollified and amused by his honesty. His shamelessness was obviously not good for any genuine apology, however it was so blunt that she couldn't help but chuckle, which caused Lelouch in turn to smirk, visibly holding in a chortle. There was something human in his candid approach that defused her initial anger.

"Unbelievable…" she sniggered, before Lelouch could elaborate "In spite of that, of course I would rather have not hit you. Ultimately, I'd rather forget the whole thing. After all, it's hardly ideal to be making enemies with someone so new."

This struck Kallen as a little self interested, however it was preferable to getting into a muddy fight, and so she decided to take a leaf out of his book and try to turn the situation to her benefit. Taking a moment to form the idea in her head, she replied "I'll let you off the hook, but you'll have to do something for me."

He gave a strange smirk, combining surprise with amusement, before answering "Whatever you request, ma'am."

Kallen smirked, and responded "I'll hold onto that one actually. I'll cash that in when I'm in a tight spot. In the meantime, check your mirrors going into corners."

It was Lelouch's turn to be surprised, as what had been a snicker contained to the edge of his lip grew to a healthy chortling chuckle, as he responded "Oh my… heh… I did not anticipate this. My my, I think you shall be most interesting driver in the future, if this is indicative. In that case, I owe you a debt."

Smiling for reasons known only to himself, and presuming the matter he came to address was solved purely by virtue of their transaction, moved to leave, heading towards the exit with no apparent remorse. To him, this contract absolved him, and so he moved as a free man. The dichotomy was something to behold, as he waved backwards and departed with a shout of "Oshiyoseru!"

After feeling somewhat like a hurricane had just blown past her, Kallen shook herself and decided to move on. Ultimately, while it was nice to have a favour in her back pocket, spending time attempting to decipher the actions of Lelouch was an exercise in wasting one's time. Once he had departed through the sliding doors, leaving behind aggrieved floor staff and not insignificant disruption, Kallen turned and moved along herself, heading towards Naoto's room.

He invited her in verbally as soon as she knocked, clearly eager for company. She stepped into the room with great enthusiasm, eager to see how her brother had felt about the race. He made his initial feelings very clear with a cheery squee from his bed, grinning from ear to ear, having few other features at his disposal with which to express his glee. He eventually decided to just announce his sentiment, with no lack of volume.

"WELL BLOODY DONE!"

Kallen winced out of a kindly fondness, very familiar with her brothers frequent fits of pride for his sisters accomplishments, finding a charm in its loudness and vigor. Like her, he was very open with his emotions, which was part of how they got on so well. He beckoned her over, before continuing.

"Man, you scared the daylights out of me, starting on wets. But hell, it worked out. Points on your debut race? That's madness."

Kallen blushed, before Naoto continued "Seriously though, I knew Lelouch would be a prick. You have to leave the space, absolutely unbelievable. Complete pay driver."

"In his defence, he recommended the one stop to me." Kallen defended, with a sudden desire to excuse the Frenchman in light of their conversation of the lobby, where he had proven altogether more personable than on the grid. "He's not a brilliant driver, but let's calm down."

Naoto huffed, but dropped the topic to return to his former happy sentiment, commenting that if Tohdoh had some bad luck later into the season and his title challenge crumbled, Kallen could even win a race in her maiden year. Kallen appreciated his enthusiasm, however she wasn't certain exactly what he meant with his comments regarding Tohdoh. Surely it would come down to their respective pace on the day?

Kallen voiced these confusions, which caused Naoto to pause, and attempt to backtrack his comment, however Kallen was having none of it.

"Naoto, this isn't funny. You were really resistant to me joining the team, and now you speak like this. What's the problem?"

Naoto was visibly distressed, clearly torn between not wanting to explain his thoughts to Kallen and his care for her. Pressed by Kallen's insistent stare, he eventually began to mumble parts of an answer.

"My reasoning… probably wrong, mind you… was that, at least when I was there, was there was some decision making that was rather old fashioned. They're a solid team that wants to win, and sometimes that isn't always fair to everyone."

Kallen frowned, trying to parse through Naoto's doublespeak, before he eventually continued, more decisively "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

She blinked in confusion, before bluntly responding "Hell yeah!"

He relaxed, before commenting "Then relax! If it becomes a problem, then we'll deal with it together, but there's no point crapping all over a fantastic day!"

She nodded, before commenting "Even so, there is still work to be done. I still have a lot of pace to find, and I need someone familiar with the car to talk me through handling and setup."

Naoto grinned. "That, I can help you with."

Kimi's Qualified in second, and I'm shook. We're overdue some good luck, so I'm looking forward to Sunday. With regards to this Chapter, I wanted to lend some humanity to Lelouch and provide an insight into how he thinks, which will come much more into play later in the story. I'm a little disappointed the race didn't get any reviews, but sure look now, that happens. I'd really like to hear about which characters you'd like to see, and what direction you want me to take this.

Also, you bet your ass Kallen is going to call in that favour.

~Eth0