OK Number 20 - Smile!

Lelouch didn't stop smiling for a long time after winning. Far be it from him to ever slip out of his natural state of sarcastic grins and quiet smugness, even he found the natural inclination to beam like a complete idiot to be altogether too irresistible. On the podium, conducted by the humourless Kyoshiro Tohdoh, he found himself lost for words, resorting back to French more than once. There was a sudden fumbling incompetence, unexplainable, that washed over him after he crossed the line, that sent him mad with celebratory gusto. Fist pumping, roaring across the radio, and donuts on the track were the most acute symptoms that grew less pronounced over time, but the toothy smile remained long after the podium had ended, long after the parties had entered the cushy numbers, and long after all the booze was gone.

Indeed, there was still an upward turn etched into the finer detailing of his cheeks as he disembarked the plane to Japan, the site of both the next race and Nunnally's medical centre, and he was very much looking forward to visiting both.

There was an immense confidence that came with a race win, particularly ones first. One felt as if a great pressure was relieved, that that need to prove oneself was now met and all the pent up anxious waiting was over. The monkey was off the back, and one could finally relax.

Of course, that didn't apply to everyone.

"Suzaku? Where are you?"

Lelouch stood at the door of Suzaku's sukiya villa like a bit of a berk, alone but for a suitcase and the bluest sky in the world. The palette was balanced with the yellow of the wooden former coffee house and the brown of the dry dirt, devoid of grass in the vast heat. It was also, annoyingly, devoid of the buildings owner and resident, one Suzaku Kururugi.

"Is he really going to make me…" Lelouch grumbled, looking about the porch incredulously. Receiving no answer, he shrugged and set about breaking into his best friends house.

Fortunately, Suzaku was a creature of habit, and whether in France, Japan, or anywhere in between, he could be counted on to hide his key under the first tile immediately left of the doorframe. Prying off the loose ceramic square with his pocket knife, he was rewarded with a single steel key, laid in the centre of the break between the tile and the foundations. Seizing his prize with zeal, Lelouch moved towards the lock and with a swift turn, was granted entry. He stepped inside, and locked the door behind him.

The classical house was conservatively decorated and soothing in its design, however it was not quiet, as Lelouch realised why his friend wasn't answering the door, as he heard the furious sound of a treadmill spinning and the associated stomping of feet. It was fitting, Lelouch supposed. Suzaku had always been a fitness fanatic and an alleged vegetarian, who had long tried to cajole Lelouch into the mysterious world of physical exercise. While Lelouch had been dubious of the whole affair, and had had work anyhow, Suzaku was reaping the dividends of his discipline, and was probably the most physically fit driver on the current grid, perhaps matched only by Li Xingke.

Finding the gym rat was a simple matter of following the running noises and the growing grunts and heavy breathing down a flight of stairs and through a set of doors into Suzaku's personal exercise centre, with the named man sprinting along the road to nowhere. He had an oxygen feeder mask strapped across his face and blood tubes monitoring his oxygenation and pressure. He was more sweat than man, and was in such a focus that he didn't notice Lelouch until he walked up next to the mill and tapped the metal bar to get his attention.

Turning his head, Suzaku fell out of his tunnel, and immediately turned off the programme, allowing the rolling road to slow before he hopped off. Pulling off his oxygen mask, Suzaku stared at him listlessly for a few seconds before breathlessly asking "How... you get in?"

"Find a new place to hide your key."

From Suzaku's facial expressions, it appeared once again as if it took several seconds for Lelouch's answer to register, however after a somewhat concerning gap, likely generated by his exhaustion, he eventually nodded and looked aside to remove the blood linkages as if Lelouch breaking and entering was just something that was to be expected. He was visibly drained, and even in spite of that took great precision in untangling himself from the cables strapped to his chest and arms, before chugging a mysterious dark liquid. Watching the colour slowly return to his friends face, Lelouch felt brave enough to inquire further, asking "How's the performance?"

Wiping at his face with a towel, Suzaku nodded to acknowledge the question with satisfying haste before replying "Good, good. Trying to peak on altitude training. Can't afford to put on mass, otherwise I'll hit the maximum weight and we can't run ballast, so I'm staying away from muscle training."

One of Lelouch's few genuine attributes as a driver was his low weight; he was the skinniest man on the grid, and while the FIA mandated that drivers should be of equal weight with a ballast added to each drivers car to get them up to the weight of the heaviest driver, it did not say where this ballast had to be placed in the car. This gave the teams with lighter more control over the cars weight distribution. With Lelouch, the ballast was twenty-two kilograms, with the benchmark set by Luciano Bradley, which was an immense asset in setting up the cars balance. Twenty-two kilograms over the nose or tail of the car had an immense impact on turn-in and grip. Suzaku knew that he needed to keep his weight down, and so was focusing on cardio exercises.

"I mean, you saw what Kallen was like after Australia and Bahrain. Fast, yes, but utterly shattered. Any advantage you can get, right?"

Suzaku frowned at Lelouch's aside, as he tapped at a keyboard to turn off the treadmill, before noting "Well, not any advantage."

Lelouch smirked, and, pointing a finger at Suzaku, replied "Evidently. And you lost out. I've been telling you since F3, you can't laze about waiting for an opportunity you feel is ethically consistent with your many principles. Races is won and lost in thousandths of a second."

Suzaku shrugged, unconcerned, before remarking "I'm a quick thinker. I saw the move you made laps before, and I determined it was far too risky. Can't score points if I don't finish."

"True enough." Lelouch conceded, pausing for a moment before beginning with caution with a simple "Although…"

Watching with the corner of his eye, he caught the moment where he piqued Suzaku's curiousity, and took some pride in it. Drawing out the 'o' sound, he eventually continued "It is worth observing that you lost points to her. The points delta between you and her increased from seven points difference to seventeen. Taking the risk, you would either end up ahead of her, decreasing the delta, or, if it failed and there was an incident, neither of you score points and the difference between you remains at seven points. Staying back was probably the worst thing you could have done."

Suzaku blinked, before asking "Are you saying it would have been better to crash into her than finish behind her?"

"As a strict hypothetical, you would have lost less points relative to her."

Suzaku was once again not surprised, and chuckled at his friends strange way of thinking, before replying "Tell you what, let's see who wins the Championship first. You with your maths, and me, winning it my way."

Lelouch smiled, and defensively replied "I don't make bets I won't win. It's bad for business."

They both had a laugh at this. Lelouch was under no delusions as to his place as a blagger. Incredibly intelligent, yes, but largely reliant on subterfuge to get ahead while he was still young and could feign speed. Self-aware to a fault, Lelouch had made a career of carefully picking his fights to build a brand that could pay for his siblings' futures, one of whom was desperately vulnerable and the other of whom was actually a fast driver.

Speaking of which, Lelouch remembered to ask "So when is Nunnally arriving?"

Suzaku paused again, looking at Lelouch with quizzical eyes for a long time before the Frenchman saw panicked realization reach his irises.

"That was today?"

Lelouch rolled his eyes, and sarcastically replied "No, it was the 3rd of May of next year. Of course it's today you fool!"

Lelouch was able to bask in the rare joy of watching Suzaku let out a vicious swear in panic, before the Japanese man literally leaped across the room as if he had all energy in the world, flying into the shower like a rocket. Lelouch, somewhat bemused, stood in the middle of the gym like a gherkin until Suzaku had attended to his sweat, if not his hair, which remained an unknowable mess of knots and ends. Rushing on a shirt and jeans, Suzaku had transformed from his tired state to a more presentable tired state, clearly excited for the big day.

Nunnally was getting out of hospital. It still made Lelouch shiver with excitement to think about, that she could finally be at the end of her ocular treatments after so long, but she was to be removed and driven out for legal reasons for Lelouch to meet her, and he had decided to host the gathering in Suzaku's house, with his friend similarly eager to meet his sister at the end of her long road to recovery, though she would likely have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. While Lelouch was still livid that that had been taken from her, he once again could not find it in him to be anything other than delighted right now.

"Well, erm… yeah, in that case we may want to set up for her then."

Suzaku, who likely now realised that he may also want to get lunch going, invited Lelouch back upstairs and into the kitchen, where he went about the delicate business of preparing a meal for them when everyone arrived.

"Will Rolo be joining us?" Suzaku asked, to which Lelouch shook his head and replied "He's testing with an F2 team, he may get a drive with them which would be great news. However, it's in Spain, so it may prove challenging for him to make it for tea here."

Suzaku laughed, and was likely about to say something before there was a knocking on the door. Both men froze as they realised who it was and realised that they wholly unprepared they were to host much of anything. They stood still in shock before a second ring of the both sent them into motion, with Lelouch taking charge, yelling "You finish the lunch, I'll run interference!"

Sprinting up through the hallway towards the front door, Lelouch did the trip in less than thirty seconds, before taking a moment to examine himself. Closely shaved, hair was in good shape, his shirt was tucked and slacks were still ironed. This was going to be the first time in a decade his sister could see him with her own eyes, and he wanted to live up to her expectations. She had always spoken so keenly of having her vision back, and he did not want to let her down again.

Taking in a deep breath, he unlocked the door and pulled it open, only to be greeted with the end of a very strange sentence.

"-strange, he always kept his key under… oh, Lelouch!"

The man paused as he examined the scene before him. Nunnally looked down, puzzled, as Sayako, her nurse who had looked after her for years, now kneeling on the tiling, held a slab of concrete up with both hands. Both women seemed to be staring intently at the exposed dirt horizon below the removed tile, at least until Lelouch made himself known. It took him a moment to realise what had transpired.

"Were… you trying to break in with his spare key?"

Sheepishly, Nunnally looked aside before replying "Maybe…"

Frowning, unsure whether to be proud or horrified at his sisters line of thinking, mirroring his own, before he realised that neither of these were quite right. He had missed the wood for the trees, as he caught his sisters gaze, and perhaps just as importantly, her eyes. He could see her eyes, open and acknowledging, and he suddenly found his throat jam up. His eyes widened as they shared a look, however as he tried to verbally express his wonderous joy-tinged surprise at something he had been informed and ought to expect, and yet could never have properly prepared himself for, he could only arrived at a stuttering silence.

"I- Nunnally…" he tried, before falling to his knees, gripping the wheels of her seat and staring at her from a level plane. He struggled to hold it, before succumbing to even that and beginning to tilt his head down and cry.

He had been dreaming of this moment for a decade, and in spite of knowing its date to the minute for over two months, with all that time and more to prepare, he could not contain himself. All he had ever hoped for Nunnally was safety and peace, he had venerated that concept and idealised it so much that now its presence seemed impossible. He was being deceived, there must surely be a caveat, a catch.

"Brother, it's me…"

He looked up again, and smiled. Shaking his head, he could only just about chuckle through his miserable features. Of course it was her. Nunnally was, in spite of learning some bad habits about housebreaking from her brother, positively unable to be deceptive, or to play a mean trick. She knew what to say to reassure him to the syllable.

This time her really did chuckle. What first impression was this? Nunnally had waited over ten years to see him and this was what he gave her? Further, that what he gave her was so predictable that she knew what to say to assure him? This would not do.

Stealthily wiping away his tears, he rose with pride to embrace his sister, hugging her about the shoulders and, taking the moment while his face was out of sight at the apex of the hug to clean his face properly, pulled back, smiling as he allowed Nunnally to see her brother.

"Ugly as you'd imagined?"

There was a humility to self-deprecating humour that Lelouch did enjoy invoking, and it did wonders to lighten the mood as Nunnally gave a very light chuckle, like the tingle of a Christmas bell. She crunched her eyes as she shook her head, and replied "Don't be silly! You're all grown up, big and tall, just as I'd imagined. You look great, though um…"

Eyebrows raising with caution, he carefully enquired "Yes?", drawing out the 'eh' and the 'ss' elements, to which Nunnally paused, seeming to want to pick her words carefully.

"I'd have thought you'd put on a bit more muscle than that."

Lelouch froze, as Sayako chuckled. Quickly recovering, he shook his head, and replied "Children can be so cruel."

Sayako smiled, before adding, much to Nunnally's amusement "She's fourteen, teenagers can become a bit rebellious at that age you know."

"I've been trying to get him to weight train, but the stick always has other plans."

Lelouch turned from his crouched position to see Suzaku standing over the three of them with oven mitts and a gentle smile. Lunch was ready, evidently. Lelouch would not have minded a bit more time alone with Nunnally in the least, but he would have plenty of time in the coming week. As he stood to wheel Nunnally inside, Sayako also stood and moved to address Lelouch.

"I'll be off then. This event is for you."

Lelouch frowned, before commenting "Nonsense. I insist you join us."

Sayako remained visibly uncertain, seemingly not willing to push her luck, before replying "I appreciate your offer, but this is a private reunion for your family. It is not my place."

"Rubbish!" Lelouch replied. "You helped my sister return to health for years, sticking by her through thick and thin. You're a damn sight closer to family than a great many people I've blood relations to. You help Nunnally, and you get a seat at whatever table I'm responsible for. You're as welcome here as anywhere for all you've done."

Nunnally smiled, and turned around to reassure the maid, following up with "That's right, Aunt Sayako!", which caused her to blush, and Lelouch to chuckle, as he watched Sayako convince herself. He was not familiar with the moniker Nunnally had given Sayako, but in light of how much the Japanese woman had done for her and how much time they had spent together, it was no surprise that they had formed a close bond. However, this had done a great deal to incriminate Sayako, which she knew.

"I guess I wouldn't mind… to eat with you all. Thank you."

"It would be my honour." Lelouch reassured, as he stepped inside, following a surprisingly fresh and clean Suzaku through to the kitchen, where he had concocted a rapid collection of dishes, none too extravagant but all quite significant when placed together on a platter with some clever presentation. Suzaku was visibly proud of his work, and invited his guests to enjoy.

Not another word was spoken for some time, as all parties were extremely hungry, not least Suzaku, who ate quite a bit more than Lelouch assumed possible for a human. Whatever the case, it was quite a delicious meal, prepared with all the finest ingredients, with the finest of all being hasty desperation, almost undetectable and yet unquestionably adding to the dish. Some people really did perform under pressure, Lelouch acknowledged, and such people made excellent racing drivers.

Once the meal was finished, Nunnally broke into twenty questions, eager to learn about all the things she had missed out on. She was infinitely fascinated by Lelouch's rare violet eyes, and quite excited to learn she had inherited them in a lighter shade. Much time was spent peering into a mirror in pleased fascination. Suzaku's eyes, though a less rare shade of green, also enjoyed a place of honour by virtue of their sheer, fiery intensity, reportedly "hotter than the sun."

The talk eventually turned to Suzaku and Lelouch's day job. It had been ten years since she had laid eyes on a racing car, and was excited to watch her brother in action, particularly once she learned that he had in fact won his first race.

"Why don't we watch that one then?" Lelouch suggested, silently looking forward to reliving one of the better days in his racing career. Suzaku copped on immediately, but kept it as a quiet joke by privately rolling his eyes when only Lelouch could see, before smiling. Nunnally would enjoy watching her brothers succeed, so it was not a bad shout.

Putting on the recording, Nunnally was immediately fascinated, both with the new, more aggressive cars that were low slung and high tempo and with the drivers. She was biting into her pillow as Kallens tyres wore and Suzaku closed up, immediately invested in their battle. She was up in arms at the backmarkers holding Kallen up after she pitted, even though she was purportedly the enemy, as they were "robbing us of a battle later on at the front.", and she almost had to look away as Lelouch sent a last minute dive up her inside, leaving no room and no chance for Kallen to defend, as he switched direction only moments before the braking zone. As the race ended, she was almost out of breath.

"That was so exciting!" she proclaimed. "Things have changed so much, it's incredible. You did so well to get past Lelouch!"

Lelouch, balancing humble with smug expertly, thanked her, before she went on "That Kallen was really fast though, it's freaky. She's a good driver."

Suzaku nodded, before commenting "On one lap pace, for sure I've got catching up to do. But she needs to race smarter, manage her tyres, and so on. She hit a few of those backmarkers, which she had no business doing. She still has quite a bit to learn, and if she thinks that she's on the back foot, I think she'll likely compound the issue by driving even harder to come back to parity with myself and Lelouch."

Absorbing this with rapt attention, Nunnally was now intensely invested in the story, and said "Goodness, I can't wait for Suzuka!"

Lelouch, with a desire to make his sister happy, replied "It's not that far, would you want to be down at the track for the race?" She was nothing if not receptive to this idea, however Suzaku cautioned by noting "Sayako would have to be there as well, but she doesn't know her way about the paddock. Who would help them on the day? The Rebellion team has enough on its plate."

Lelouch flitted his eyes down to consider this, before coming to a realisation, and replying "I think I know someone who might be able to help."

Suzaku frowned, and asked "Who?"

For clarity, Kallen's first season was the 2017 season, and we're now in 2018. I messed up the dating in chapters past, but hopefully we're on the same track now. In any case, look forward to the Japanese Grand Prix coming in the next installment. See you then.

~Eth0