Here's the next chapter. Anyway, I don't own Code Geass or any of the characters just the OC.
27. Knights Of The Round.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Suzaku Kururugi and I'll be returning to classes here at Ashford Academy starting today. I look forward to studying here." Suzaku announced in front of the class.
Many of the students in the classroom started to whisper about him with each other.
"Suzaku Kururugi?" A male student said.
"The guy who conquered half the E.U. with Prince Schneizel?" Another male student said surprised.
"The White Reaper is coming to school here?" A third male student said amazed.
"He's the Knight of Seven." A female student said in awe.
"But he's an Eleven." Another female student reminded her.
"Doesn't matter. He is the Emperor's immediate subordinate…" The first female student argued.
The reaction of the students to Suzaku's introduction was the complete opposite of how it was when he first enrolled in Ashford Academy One Year Ago. Back then he was meet with fear and discrimination whereas now he is met with admiration and awe. An example of how much weight the title Knight Of The Round holds in society even among students.
"Okay, quiet down." Villetta interrupted the talking among the class. "Sir Kururugi has been reassigned to Area 11 and that's why he's coming back to school here. Why don't you take the desk next to Lelouch for now."
"Yes, ma'am," Suzaku said as he walked up to his desk.
Once Suzaku and Lelouch made eye contact they both became deep in thought. Each of them was reminiscing about the string of events that lead the two of them here.
"Suzaku. You… You were my first real friend." Lelouch thought.
"But the war tore us apart." Suzaku thought.
"The Second Pacific War, the conflict in which Britannia took control of Japan." Lelouch thought.
"After its defeat, Japan became an area colony of Britannia." Suzaku thought.
"I, who was abandoned by my homeland." Lelouch thought.
"I, who was forced to abandon my homeland." Suzaku thought.
"When we reunited, we were at once enemies and allies." Lelouch thought.
"Although I was Japanese, I was also a Britannian soldier." Suzaku thought.
"I was Zero. We both hid our true identities." Lelouch thought.
"We fought each other." Suzaku thought.
"However, those are memories of what really happened." Lelouch thought.
"Before peace could finally be established Lelouch was captured along with Euphie." Suzaku thought.
"I was careless and let myself fall into the hands of V.V, and my worst enemy?" Lelouch thought.
"The Emperor rewrote three things in Lelouch's memory. And V.V sealed them." Suzaku thought.
"Nunnally." Lelouch thought.
"Anything about Zero." Suzaku thought.
"That I was a prince of the royal family of Britannia." Lelouch thought.
"In order to right this wrong, Euphie, Logan and all the others involved secretly were doing whatever they could to get back Lelouch's memories." Suzaku thought.
"But for some reason despite knowing that truth, you left Euphie and Japan and instead became a Knight of the Emperor." Lelouch thought.
"I became a Knight Of The Round, even though it meant leaving my place beside Euphie." Suzaku thought.
"The only thing I didn't know is why you would do that, that's why I wanted to see you so I could hear your answer." Lelouch thought.
""And so, the two of us now…"" The two of them thought at the same time. At that moment Suzaku arrived at his desk and was right in front of Lelouch.
The two of them hide their true thought and greeted each other with a smile.
"Hey, welcome back. It's been some time." Lelouch said with a smile.
"I missed everyone a lot," Suzaku said with a smile.
Shirley and Rivalz ran up to Suzaku to greet himself themselves.
"Suzaku feels like forever," Shirley said.
"You've really come up in the world, haven't you?" Rivalz said as he wrapped his arm around Suzaku's shoulder.
Milly sudden enters the classroom herself.
"Suzaku's back? Where is he?" Milly asked excitedly.
"Madam President, class is in progress, do you mind?" Lelouch said amused.
"Oh, what's with you, Lelouch?" Milly complained.
Everyone quickly gathered around Suzaku and welcomed him.
Ashford Academy Front Yard
After the class was Lunch-break and the members of the Student Council seat around on the benches in the front yard having Lunch together and catching up with Suzaku.
"And so everybody up and left except us. They all went back home. Even the teachers." Shirley informed.
"Back to the homeland?" Suzaku asked.
"Yeah and that's the reason why we're the only ones here at school who know you," Lelouch explained. "Right Rolo?"
"Yeah, Right." Rolo nodded.
"That explains why I don't recognize anyone here," Suzaku noted.
"Hey you saw Zero's face, didn't you?" Rivalz changed the subject. "So what did he look like?"
"Is he really a girl?" Milly guessed.
"It's really Prince Clovis, right?" Rivalz guessed.
"Or a prince from another country?" Shirley guessed.
"Um…well…" Suzaku looked unsure.
"Can't you share that with us?" Lelouch asked.
"No, it's a military secret," Suzaku answered. "I'm sorry…"
Suzaku was interrupted when Arthur the cat suddenly appeared on his lap and bit his hand. As usual.
The rest of them besides Lelouch were surprised to see him.
"Arthur?!" Milly said surprised.
"Oh, you brought him with you?!" Shirley said surprised.
"Well, Suzaku, you really have a thing for cats, don't you?" Lelouch commented amusedly.
O.S.I Underground Base
Afterwards, Suzaku was in the meeting room of the O.S.I Underground Base beneath Ashford. Currently, the only ones present were himself and Villetta. She was currently asking him to report on Lelouch's behaviour.
"Did anything leap out at you during your contact with him?" Villetta asked.
"No, not especially," Suzaku reported.
"Then we can conclude that the subject's memories haven't returned," Villetta said.
"That would be the ideal conclusion, but also a hasty one." Suzaku pointed out. "There's also the matter of C.C."
"That's true." Villetta thought for a moment. "It seems the student council is planning to throw you a welcoming party. Please reconfirm his state then."
"Yes, understood," Suzaku said before he got up to leave.
As leave walked out the door, he reached into his pocket and took out something. It was the badge that Euphie once gave him that signified his status as her Knight. He looked at it with determination.
"It won't be long now." Suzaku thought to himself.
Ashford Academy
A little while later Lelouch and Rolo were outside the main school building and in front of a teacher who was also an undercover O.S.I agent that was working with Villetta.
"Teacher, could you please overlook all the campus infractions that Rolo and I are involved in?" Lelouch requested while using his Geass.
The teacher was now under Lelouch's control and obeyed.
"Very well. I can do that. Just don't wander off school ground so often, you two." The teacher responded.
"Yes, sir." Lelouch and Rolo replied in unison.
"The only member left now is Miss Villetta, right?" Lelouch asked.
"Correct. According to the information we got from their base, we've taken care of all the agents in Area Eleven." Rolo confirmed.
"Then we won't have to worry about surveillance tomorrow and since Villetta, on the welcome party I can speak to Suzaku without interference," Lelouch said.
"Do you need any help?" Rolo offered.
"There's no need. Just make sure everything at the party goes as planned. At the very least we should let them enjoy the party." Lelouch said.
Area Eleven Government Bureau
Later that day at the Government Bureau. Edgar and Claudio, two of the Glaston Knights were in front of a large monitor and were reading about the recent acts of terrorism that have been occurring over Area 11 ever since the establishment of the United States of Japan.
"Iwate… Wakayama… Tokushima…" Edgar listed.
"There are reports from Yamaguchi, too," Claudio noted.
"Hmpf! Zero makes an appearance again and now we get this." Edgar said hurtful.
"It may be an effect of Lord Guilford's absence, too," Claudio said.
"If this keeps up, our Sakuradite supply will also be…" Edgar was interrupted when they both heard an explosion.
"Emergency! Unknown M.R.F. within the perimeter." An announcement was heard over a loud-speaker.
"What is it?" Claudio asked surprised.
"No way. This government bureau controls all of Area 11." Edgar said in disbelief.
Lower Floor Of The Bureau
Within a lower sector of the Government Bureau, there was a High-Tech looking red, blue and silver coloured fighter plane flying through after breaking in. The one piloting the plane was Gino Weinberg. The Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Knight Of Three.
"Hahaha. Getting in here couldn't have been easier. These guys are almost annoyingly sloppy. Is this the best line of defence that Area 11's got to offer?" Gino mocked amused.
Soon a group of Sutherlands stood in front of his path and started to fire their Assault Rifles at him.
"Ah-ha, perhaps I was being a bit hasty," Gino said interested.
Gino swiftly used his plane to perform high-speed manoeuvres to dodge their attack and fired two large Slash Harkens mounted on the sides of his plane at the Sutherlands promptly destroying them. He continued his advance until something else appeared in front of him causing Gino to stop.
This time it was two Gloucesters piloted by Edgar and Claudio
"I don't know who you are. But this ends right here." Claudio declared.
"Pitiful. That armament shows you care more about protecting the building. Oh well, too bad." Gino said as he pulled a lever on his right.
After that Gino's plane started to change.
"What?" Claudio gasped at what he was seeing.
The two large Slash Harkens opened up and two arms appeared from them.
"That Knightmare?! Could it be the one…" Edgar said shocked.
Two legs sprouted from beneath the plane and the plane itself transformed into the body of a Knightmare. Now it was a Knightmare Frame standing on two legs with two MVS Pick-Axes in each hand and Wrist mounted Slash Harkens. The transformation was completed when a head comes out from the top.
"I see. That's what we are dealing with. The variable Knightmare Frame Tristan. Which makes you Lord Gino Weinberg, the Knight of Three. Am I correct?" Claudio asked.
"You are. I'm putting you guys to the test. All right. Try and stop me." Gino said.
The Tristan brought both its MVS Pick-Axes and combined them to create a double-edged MVS Scythe. Also known as the MVS Polearm.
"Very well we accept your challenge. We can't allow this insult to go unanswered." Claudio said.
"Don't hold back. Gimme your best shot." Gino said as he aimed his weapon at them.
"As you wish!" Edgar yelled.
They both charged at the Tristan. Intending to impale it with their Jousting Lances.
"Thank you." Gino taunted.
The Tristan easily out-manoeuvred both the Gloucesters and got in-between both of them while simultaneously parring both their attacks and slicing off the head of Edgar's Gloucester.
"Why you…" Edgar said angered.
"Stop it!" Suzaku suddenly called out.
As if it was on cue Gino blocked both Edgar and Claudio's attacks and stopped moving.
"That's enough. The battle's been decided." Suzaku declared while walking up to them.
"Then Sir Kururugi, is that the final decision of the Knight of Seven?" Claudio asked.
"It is," Suzaku confirmed.
Edgar grit his teeth frustrated.
"Hey, Suzaku." Gino greeted exiting his Knightmare's cockpit.
"Gino, I thought I asked you to bring the Lancelot here for me," Suzaku said with Arthur beside him.
"Yeah, but Earl Asplund is coming with it next week." Gino ran up to Suzaku and placed his hands on Suzaku's shoulders. "Not to change the subject, but what's with the outfit?"
"I came straight here from school. It's required." Suzaku told him.
"Very fashionable," Gino commented, wrapping his arms around Suzaku.
"Gino, I know you are from a great noble family, but can't you act more normal?" Suzaku asked somewhat bothered. "By the way, you are amazingly heavy."
"Is it over?" A female voice from within a Knightmare spoke.
Hovering above them was another powerful-looking dark-purple and white coloured. Knightmare Frame. It had short but thick limbs and a heavy-looking body. It seemed to be designed for power inside of speed. The pilot of this Knightmare was another Knight Of The Round. Anya Alstreim the Knight Of Six who had pink hair, the appearance of a young child with a dull expression on her face.
"The Mordred? Anya came along, too?" Suzaku realized.
"Is it over?" Anya asked a second time.
"Yep, Suzaku made me end it," Gino explained.
Anya sighed and took out a phone diary.
"How dull." Anya yawned bored.
"I wasn't expecting this many forces to come. But considering the situation it makes sense." Suzaku thought to himself. "Lelouch, I can already tell you have some things you need to confirm with me and three days from now, at the welcome party, everything will be made clear. After all, there are some things I need to tell you as well.
Black Knights' Submarine Base
Two days later. It was nightfall at Area 11 and docked at the port harbour of Yokosuka was the Submarine Base the was controlled by the Black Knights. After being gone for a Year the core members of the Black Knights. Todoh, Ohgi, Tamaki, Chiba, Asahina, Senba, Minami, Sugiyama, Yoshida, Inoue, and Rakshata were all back from the Chinese Federation after being summoned by their leader Soul, signalling the return of Zero and the restart of their battle against Britannia.
Right now they were all in the meeting room conversing with each other.
At that moment Euphie and Urabe walked in the greet them.
"Welcome everyone, I'm glad you all arrived safely." Euphie welcomed them.
"Euphemia," Ohgi said.
"Long time no see." Tamaki greeted carefreely.
Urabe walked up to Todoh and the rest of the members of the Four Holy Swords and bowed to his superior.
"General Todoh, I am pleased to see you well," Urabe said respectfully.
"Raise your head, Urabe," Todoh said. "You have done your job well in my absence."
"Yeah, he's right. You should feel proud." Asahina praised.
"Even though you were on your own, you were able to succeed in finding Zero," Senba added.
Urabe raised his head. "You honour with your praise."
"Not that I mind the pleasantries but, aren't we missing someone." Rakshata pointed out.
"She's right, where's Zero?" Sugiyama asked.
"Soul too, shouldn't he be here?" Chiba added.
As if on cue, Soul then entered the room. Beside him were C.C, Kallen, and Lyre.
"I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long," Soul said.
"Soul, if you're here then is—" Yoshida began to ask.
"I can already guess what you plan to ask." Soul cut him off. "Unfortunately Zero will not be joining us tonight, but make no mistake he will soon."
"And what off R.R?" Todoh asked.
"He's currently with Zero." Soul replied.
"Moving on, since we're all here, let's begin our discussing," Euphie said, pointing to Lyre. "First of all, I'd like you all to meet our newest member."
Lyre stepped forward and removed his mask to reveal his face. "My name is Orpheus Zevon, I'm also known by my alias, Lyre."
Some of the others were surprised.
"Lyre? Our contact, from Peace Mark?" Ohgi said surprised.
"He's a Britannian," Chiba noted.
Soul turned to hear. "Is there something wrong with that fact?" He asked.
"Nothing at all," Todoh answered for her. "Nationality isn't an issue. But the fact remains that this is a surprise, why would a core member of Peace Mark become a Black Knight?"
"Yeah, that's right." Tamaki agreed. "You guys always did things on your own from the start. So why join us?"
"Your leader made us a deal we couldn't turn down, all I'm doing is keeping my end of it," Orpheus answered.
"How interesting," Rakshata noted.
"Moving on," Soul said. "With the actions we've taken, the Black Knights have gained more members, power, and influence than we ever had before. Because of that fact we are now able to fulfil our objective of establishing our own Nation, however, the fact remains that we're still in a Britannia colony and thus we have no choice but to fight."
"Well yeah, I mean wasn't that always the plan?" Tamaki asked.
"It's more complicated than that," Kallen said. "Even though we're technically a nation, we only have support from Xingke and his soldiers."
"What about the Council General?" Ohgi asked.
"The Council General is dead," C.C informed them. "Soul made sure of that."
"I see, you've already started on that," Todoh said.
"Indeed, and more than that, our main problem is we sorely lack the ability to fight. Considering almost all our Knightmares were lost after the Babel Tower incident." Soul informed them.
"How much do we have left?" Asahina asked.
"Besides, the Gekkas you brought with you, we only have a few Burais plus the Agravaine and Guren," Soul said.
"I could upgrade the Guren and Agravaine, but it'll take some time," Rakshata said.
"Unfortunately that won't solve our problem," Orpheus said. "A few days ago Knights Of The Round arrived at the Government Bureau."
"Knights Of The Round, does that include Suzaku?" Todoh asked.
Soul nodded. "It does."
"That reminds me, why did Kururugi become a Knight Of The Round in the first place?" Inoue asked.
"Yeah, he is on our side right?" Minami asked.
Euphie looked upset. "He is, but there's a reason why Suzaku joined them."
"Okay, and that is?" Asahina asked.
"The truth is we needed an inside man in the Emperor's inner circle," Soul said. "After all, as you remember the Emperor is capable of getting in our way using methods we aren't aware of. Like during the ceremony for the Zone."
"Oh yeah, the Emperor was the one who sent those people who captured Zero and Euphemia," Ohgi said.
"That's right," Euphie said. "Because of that, we realized that there will always be a chance that the Emperor could try something behind the scenes again, to be prepared for such an outcome in the future and to gain inside information on Britannia's military actions we had Suzaku join them and gained the highest possible rank."
"So Kururugi is our inside man." Sugiyama realized.
"That's great," Tamaki said excitedly.
While it's true that was one reason why Suzaku became a Knight Of The Round, that wasn't the only reason. In fact, that wasn't the main reason either. The truth was that the main reason was something only known to those who either possessed Geass or were present during the time they entered the Thought Elevator on Kamine Island.
"Don't get too excited. For one thing, we have to make sure this remains hidden, so whenever we see Suzaku, be it on the battlefield or otherwise we have to treat him as an enemy and he'll be doing the same." Soul reminded them. "And more than that, he won't be our only concern. Both the Knight Of Three and Six will be with him, and they have state of the arc Knightmares as well."
"There's also that fact that Guilford and the Glaston Knights are here too," C.C noted.
"In other words, we're at a disadvantage," Ohgi said concerned.
"Right now, it's fortunate that the Britannian forces can't take action since they lack a Viceroy. But we need more Knightmares." Soul turned to Rakshata. "Rakshata, the Military District of India should have the next generation Knightmares along with Float units correct? How soon can they get here?"
Rakshata thought for a second. "It shouldn't take too long to round them all up, but it would still take a few days for them to reach us."
"Then will just have to make do until then." Soul turned to the others. "Right now, all we can do is prepare ourselves until the newly selected Viceroy arrives."
"About that," Euphie spoke up, with an uncomfortable and upset expression. "I actually know who the next Viceroy will be."
Everyone else was surprised by this information.
Ashford Academy
The next morning at Ashford, the welcome party for Suzaku had begun. Although the welcome party was more of a large festival. Inside the control room were the members of the Student Council. Suzaku had a ribbon on his uniform. Rolo and Rivalz were wearing chefs aprons over their uniforms, while Rivalz also had a chefs hat. Lelouch was wearing an art-crafted necklace. Shirley was wearing a short pink jacket and white mini-skirt with long pink leggings and red shoes, over her school-swimsuit, her hair was also tied into two long twin-tails. Finally, Milly was dressed in a High-Class noble lady looking red dress suit, with white frills and a hat to match.
"Apologies for the delay. We are now officially kicking off the welcome party for the Knight of Seven." Milly announced over the loudspeaker. "Give the word, guest of honour."
"Yeah, umm, I don't suppose I can refuse," Suzaku asked hopefully.
"Sorry, no. It's a presidential order." Milly replied with a smile.
"Just accept it. She sets the rules in this school." Lelouch said knowingly.
"All right, guys," Suzaku said with acceptance as he went up to the microphone. "I'll get ready then. Meoooooooooooow!"
On Suzaku's call, the festival began. Fireworks went off and there was a large sign that said Ashford Academy Annual Festival. Students were wearing costumes and set up a large number of booths and stands all over the campus. There also rides and attractions.
In one of the kitchens, Lelouch and Rolo were chopping onions and placing the chopped onions in a large bowl.
"Lelouch, are these things appropriate for the occasion?" Rolo asked.
"That's Milly for ya. The Prez loves events like this. She's also over-compensating for last year." Lelouch reminded him.
"So because the making of the giant Pizza wasn't successful last time, she wants to try again?" Rolo asked.
"That's right, Milly hates leaving things unfinished, though considering Euphie and her announcement stole the show last time, I was hoping she'd forgotten." Lelouch then noticed how Rolo was chopping the onions. "Rolo, I've told you. That's dangerous. Here, hold your knife like this. Got it?"
Lelouch demonstrated and Rolo followed his lead.
"Like this?" Rolo attempted.
"Careful of your fingers," Lelouch warned him.
While they were doing that, Rolo stopped.
"Lelouch, about what we talked about before…concerning Geass."
"Right, about how your Geass' has evolved," Lelouch said seriously.
Rolo nodded. "Right, both mine and Big Brother's. C.C told us that this happens if you use your Geass enough. And with been using ours a lot this past year."
"And how does this evolution process work?" Lelouch asked.
"It starts out in stages. First, your Geass activates in your eye permanently, second, it will awaken in both eyes, and third, you can activate and deactivate it at will." Rolo listed. "Right now we're on stage two."
"I don't see your Geass in your eyes now." Lelouch noticed. "Why is that?"
"Even though it's always in my eye, I can choose when I want to stop time or not. Also, C.C gave us both special lenses to wear over our eyes for the time being." Rolo explained.
"I see, and what changes are there to your powers?" Lelouch asked.
"For me, it isn't much of a change. It's just that the maximum time limit of how long I can stop a person's time has been doubled and the cool downtime has been halved." Rolo said.
"That's excellent Rolo," Lelouch said pleased. "Your Geass was already a powerful weapon and advantage, and now its usefulness has increased. This will make you an even greater asset on the battlefield."
Rolo smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. As for Big Brother's Geass. Unlike before where it could just tell the difference between truth and lies, it also has the power to read a person's emotions."
"Emotions?" Lelouch seemed confused.
"I don't quite understand it myself. But he said he can now understand a person's true intentions and clearly see what they are feeling, as long as they are within his line of sight." Rolo explained.
"That power is extremely useful. In fact, I can already see so many ways on how that power can be advantageous." Lelouch thought to himself, feeling victorious. "Logan's Geass was already a great help on its own, but I never would have guessed it had the potential to grow further. It makes me wonder what my Geass will be like when it evolves."
"Umm, Lelouch?" Rolo brought him out of his thoughts. "You've been silent for a while, is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine Rolo." Lelouch waved off and smiled. "I was just thinking that it feels like I've fallen behind, considering both your powers have grown stronger and mine haven't."
"That's not true, we've just been using ours longer than you," Rolo argued. "And besides, unlike me, you don't have to rely on your Geass."
"Hah, Rolo. You don't have to try to make me feel better." Lelouch said amused.
In a different part of the campus. Gino and Anya were attending the festival wearing casual attire and looking at the different stands and attractions. Will Gino seemed excited by all this, Anya still had her normal emotionless expression.
Right now Gino was holding a large Ice-Cream cone and looking at a stand that had a deep fryer and saw the food become deep-fried.
"Wow, would ya look at that? Hey Anya, check it out." Gino said amazed.
Anya simply took a picture with her camera-phone.
"Recorded," Anya muttered.
"You sure love that stuff, huh? All right. So now what? There's nothing, in particular, to do here. Should we take a tour of where the commoners go to school?" Gino asked excitedly.
Ashford Storehouse Basement
Meanwhile, Rivalz was underneath the school Storehouse looking for energy fillers to power the Knightmare being used to make the Pizza.
"I'm here now. In the storehouse under the school." Rivalz said while talking into an earpiece communicator. "Okay, so where are those spare energy fillers?" Rivalz finds a large cardboard box that had warnings to not open it written on the front. "Hey, didn't these belong to Nina?"
Ashford Academy Festival Grounds
Lelouch was on the school roof talking on a communicator with the Black Knights.
"All right. Understood. Go through cell F in Kyushu and make contact with Diethard. Yes, that's right. Have Rakshata come here and…" Lelouch paused when he looked down from the ledge and saw C.C in a Student Uniform walking through the festival. "She wouldn't...!" Lelouch said panicked.
On the festival grounds Rivalz was passing out flyers to people passing by and C.C walked up to him.
"Come and watch us make the world's biggest Pizza pie," Rivalz announced.
"Do you have information about it?" C.C asked.
"Of course. Here's a flyer for you." Rivalz said giving her a flyer before walking off to continue. "Come see the world's biggest Pizza."
Once Rivalz was gone Lelouch ran up to C.C.
"Hey what do you think… you're doing?" Lelouch asked while breathing heavily from running so much.
"I'm looking for something I left behind," C.C answered casually.
"Why are you so obsessed with the stuff anyway?" Lelouch asked irritated. "Come on."
Lelouch then proceeded to place a paper bag with eye holes over her head and began to escort her away from the scene.
"Acting a little devilish, aren't you?" C.C commented.
"Shut up, witch." Lelouch rebuked. "Don't you understand your situation?"
"The Emperor is trying to capture me and he is using you as bait," C.C said.
"That's right. We can't afford to be careless. We already have a problem, a woman I can't use my Geass on." Lelouch said.
Ashford Swim Club Pool Area
At the same time, The swim club is hosting a cafe at the pool area and the club members are working at the cafe while wearing their school-swimsuits. Villetta because she is their coach is forced to pose in a provocative swimsuit along with some of the other swimming team members as a means of advertisement, allowing the boys to marvel at all of them. Shirley was also with them wearing her swimsuit.
"From pretty girls…" A swim club girl said.
"To, sexy grownup women." Another swim club girl said pointing to Villetta.
"Welcome to the swim club cafe where you get exactly what you want." All the girls announced in unison.
All the male students at the cafe cheered.
"Oh, I'm so glad the coach agreed to do this for us," Shirley said happily.
"So help me. Shirley, you'll die a thousand deaths for this." Villetta was smiling on the outside, but on the inside she is enraged. "If I didn't have to play teacher for my mission, I'd…"
Flashback One Year Ago
"I used to be a school teacher so I was feeling…" Ohgi said looking at the festival.
Flashback End
Villetta remembered the time she came to the festival with Ohgi while he took care of her after she lost her memories and those thoughts upset her. The expression on her face became a sad one.
Ashford Academy Festival Grounds
Meanwhile, Suzaku and Milly are sitting by the Ganymede, and Suzaku is sitting atop the Ganymede looking over a checklist while Milly is playing with Arthur,
"They've confirmed that the Guren Mk-II is there. I assume Kallen is in the consulate building." Suzaku informed her.
"I see. It's hard to judge her. They call themselves resistance fighters but still…To think all this time, she was a Black Knight." Milly said upset.
"Nina's doing quite well," Suzaku said, hoping to change the subject. "She just presented a thesis at the Science Academy."
"I wonder if she's planning to perfect the Ganymede." Milly assumed.
"Dunno. Unlike Lloyd and Cecile, Nina's speciality is…" Suzaku stopped after realizing what he just said.
Milly now becomes upset since Lloyd was brought up.
"Has Earl Asplund happened to mention me?" Milly asked, hopeful.
Arthur stops and looks down upset.
"Afraid not," Suzaku answered.
"Maybe he was overwhelmed. The wedding was put off because I had to repeat school." Milly said, trying to convince herself.
"The thing with him is… so many things are wrong with him as a human being so…" Suzaku defends her by lecturing Lloyd, giving Arthur time to suddenly snatch his quill pen and ran off. "What a…Arthur, that's Euphie's!"
Suzaku chased after Arthur.
"Suzaku!" Milly runs after him, dropping the checklist. "You're the guest of honour! You have to wait here! You can't run off like that!"
"What have we here?" Gino asked as he and Anya walk up to the checklist and he picks it up. "They're using a Knightmare to create a giant pizza?"
At a different part of the campus, Lelouch and C.C were standing atop a moveable flight of stairs that was attached to a truck that was holding a large crate of tomatoes with the top of the crate open. The top of the were standing next to the opened top of the crate.
"I see, So the person who gave the Emperor his Geass is the same person who instigated mine and Euphie's capture?" Lelouch said.
"That's right. But you shouldn't delve into it any further." C.C warned him.
"I'm already involved in this," Lelouch argued.
The two of them stood in silence for a moment with Lelouch waiting for answers. After a few seconds, C.C broke the silence and responded.
"V.V." C.C simply said.
"V.V? Have you told the others about him?" Lelouch asked.
"No, I decided to wait until you returned before I did," C.C said. "Anyway about Villetta she—"
"Lulu!" Shirley called out from a distance.
"What's up, Shirley," Lelouch replied.
To avoid Shirley from noticing C.C, Lelouch quickly shoves C.C into the tomato crate and closes the lid.
Shirley appears from around the corners and sees Lelouch. "Oh, there you are."
"Do you need something?" Lelouch asked pleasantly.
"Well, I have a little problem that I hope you can help me with," Shirley said while climbing up the stairs. "Miss Villetta seems to be avoiding me, so I was thinking you should… huh? You're alone?" She noticed after reaching the top.
"Yeah," Lelouch confirmed.
"I could've sworn you were talking to someone just now?" Shirley said unsure.
"No. We are the only ones here. Just the two of us." Lelouch insisted.
"Just the two of us? What awful timing. But this might be my best chance to tell him how I feel." Shirley thought before talking out loud. "Ah…listen…umm…Lulu, would you go…"
Shirley speaks nervously and briefly looks away. When she looks back she sees a life-sized green plushie costume suddenly appear and clamps its mouth over Lelouch's head and shoulders.
"Sorry, but I couldn't quite catch that," Lelouch said, his voice muffled.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Shirley asked confused.
Inside the costume, it is revealed that Kallen is controlling the plushie with her and Lelouch's faces getting uncomfortably close to one another in an attempt to disguise herself. Inside the costume, Kallen is only wearing a tight-fitting black vest and black skin-tight short-briefs.
"What are you doing?" Lelouch asked quietly. "If someone spots you as well…"
"Don't worry. I came here to take pizza-girl back." Kallen informed him.
"Fine. She's in with tomatoes. Take the whole container and make sure you don't—" Lelouch was suddenly interrupted.
Outside the costume, Shirley grabbed hold of Lelouch and was trying to pull him out.
"Who's in there being so rude?" Shirley said while pulling.
Shirley finally succeeded in freeing Lelouch and pulled him out while accidentally throwing him off the crate and on the ground. To his dismay
"How undignified," Lelouch muttered displeased.
Shirley proceeds to try and remove the head of the costume. "Will you quit standing there and say something?"
"If I say something, she'll find out who I am." Kallen thought, trying to stop Shirley.
Kallen attempts to flee but Shirley stops her. "Oh hey, wait."
"Shirley, be careful with that," Lelouch told her.
Suzaku and Milly then arrive while looking for Arthur.
"Hey, Lelouch," Suzaku called out.
"Say, have you seen Arthur?" Milly asked.
"He grabbed a valuable quill pen for me and—" Suzaku stopped when they all heard a banging.
At that point, C.C who was still inside the crate of tomatoes was kicking the wall which was the source of the banging noise.
"Oh no, is he inside that thing?" Suzaku asked going up to the crate.
"No! Cats and tomatoes don't mix!" Lelouch tried to convince him desperately.
Suddenly the crate is lifted up, to everyone's surprise, what is lifting it is the Ganymede and it holds the crate up.
"You're supposed to start with this, right?" Gino said inside the Knightmare.
It is revealed that Gino has hijacked the Ganymede.
"It can't be. Gino?" Suzaku said recognizing the voice.
"Yeah, this commoner school is really a blast," Gino said gleefully.
Gino then proceeds to take the tomato crate and drive off to take it to the giant Pizza.
"Hey! Wait!" Lelouch shouted cashing after him.
Kallen runs after him as well.
"Hey!" Shirley said as she followed after Kallen.
Arthur ends up in the Ganymede's path and promptly runs away.
"Was that Arthur?" Suzaku asked.
"We'll have to change the schedule," Milly said disappointed.
This leads to Suzaku and Milly chasing Gino as well.
Over to Rivalz who was standing in front of the giant Pizza oven with a large crowd there to witness. Rivalz was once again acting as the announcer of this event.
"It looks like it's coming out onto the parade route now. It'll be marched around the school building first then make its way down here.
Gino despite his obliviousness to the fact that he is being chased, proceeds to follow the instructions on the checklist. "Even though it's a vintage Knightmare, it's handling well. Okay, the route's all set so… shake time!" Gino starts shaking the crate to mix up the tomatoes, throwing around C.C who is still inside.
"What a mess. It's taking her straight to the stage." Lelouch said while chasing Gino.
"Let me at least see who you are!" Shirley called out while chasing Kallen.
Suzaku increases his running speed and quickly outpace Lelouch. Lelouch is then outpaced by Kallen as well, and then Shirley. At that point, Lelouch runs out of stamina and hunched over out of breath.
"I'm not cut out for this sort of thing." Lelouch cursed while breathing heavily.
"Release the hounds!" Milly shouted as she outpaced Lelouch despite her dressed slowing her down.
While this was happening Gino finally arrived at the sight of the giant Pizza and Rivalz announces the arrival not realizing whose piloting the Knightmare.
"Over there. The knight of Seven, Suzaku Kururugi. He's arrived along with Andes-grown Ultimate Tomatoes. Suzaku, come on over, you're the one we've been waiting for." While Gino is piloting the Ganymede Arthur is still in front of his path running away, Suzaku manages to somehow outpace the Ganymede and retrieve Arthur, showing he is not the pilot and confusing Rivalz. "Um, except that…"
"There's a different person piloting," Gino revealed gleefully.
Gino proceeds to come to the pizza crust with a screeching halt, nearly running over Rivalz in the process, at which point all the tomatoes are liquified with C.C still inside. Lelouch manages to get there first by taking a shortcut and is standing on a balcony of the school building.
"Team-Leader one," Lelouch called out to a student on the ground using his communicator. "Turn around and look up at me."
The student turned around and saw Lelouch. "Yes, what is it, Vice-President?"
"Employ system pattern, rouge!" Lelouch ordered activating his Geass.
The Geass took control of the student as Gino pours the tomatoes onto the crust, causing C.C. to also fall down onto it.
"Now going to system pattern, rouge. Release fire extinguishing gas. Initiating." The student pushes a button on a computer screen, which covers the area in pink bubbly smoke that covers the entire area making them unable to see the Pizza or C.C, while also giving Kallen and C.C the chance to jumps at Kallen's plushie costume and tries to pin her down over the grassy hill but Kallen throws her off and runs.
Gino laughs, amused and excited about the smoke display and all of the people in the area becoming comically delirious because of it. "Hahaha. What's the matter. Is it really that much of a surprise?"
"What the hell's going on here…" Villetta asked while running through the smoke still in her provocative swimsuit.
Because she couldn't see where she was going she bumped into Kallen and knocked off the top of her costume and made her fall over.
"Sorry, are you okay?" Villetta asked, not noticing who it was.
"Ah… Oh no. it was my fault." Kallen assured her before she saw Villetta's face and gasped, quickly putting the top of the costume back on to hide. "That was…"
Shirley after tumbling down the grassy hill was now laying down on the bottom of the hill with her legs spread out and one pointing upwards.
"Huh?" Shirley heard a clicking sound and looked to her right confused.
Anya was standing next to her holding up her camera phone and took a picture of Shirley.
"Recorded," Anya muttered. "Thank you, Miss."
"No problem. You're welcome." Shirley said, not sure what else to say.
Suzaku takes Arthur into a tree and begins petting him.
"Oh, Arthur," Suzaku muttered.
"Well, sometimes you just get these little filler incidents in life and that's fine," Milly said while walking around the school grounds.
When the bubbly smoke finally faded Lelouch, C.C, and Kallen all meet up on the roof to talk about the situation. Rolo after being called by Lelouch went up there to join them. As they spoke Kallen removed the top of the costume.
"So then the person who saw you was from the swim club?" Lelouch asked.
"I think it may have been the teacher." Kallen clarified.
"You mean Villetta?" Rolo asked.
"I didn't get her name. But the weird thing is that I think I remember seeing her at the festival last year with Ohgi." Kallen remembered, she turned to Rolo. "You remember right? You were there too."
Rolo nodded. "I do, and I already informed Lelouch and my Brother about Villetta."
"Kallen, the truth is Villetta is a Britannian soldier who was formerly part of the Purist Faction. But back at Yokosuka, Diethard and Rolo were sent to kill her and at the time we believe they did."
"She was shot twice, once in the front and the other in the back. But she someone survived." Rolo said.
"But then, why was she with Ohgi?" Kallen asked.
"Ohgi most likely wasn't aware of who she was and simply believed she was a person on the brink of death, with that in mind he must have nursed her back to health. Logan and myself speculate that she might have suffered mentally from her near-death experience, making her into a different person." Lelouch explained. "We planned on taking care of her after the Zone was dealt with, but things didn't work out. To make matters worse it appears that her change was only temporary."
"But the one thing we never found out was why Ohgi kept her the whole time." Rolo pointed out.
"That's true, why did Ohgi harbour her and why did he keep her a secret?" Lelouch wondered.
"When it comes to these sorts of things, you two are really very thick." C.C reprimanded Lelouch and Rolo before leaning on Lelouch's shoulder. "The truth is…"
C.C whispered something in Lelouch's ear.
O.S.I Underground Base
After most of the festival was done, Villetta went down to the base only to find it was empty and to her greatest shock Rolo suddenly appeared and was now holding her at gunpoint.
"Rolo Raymond? You're one of them?" Villetta asked shocked.
At that moment, Lelouch walked in as well and stood beside Rolo with a confident expression.
"Villetta Nu. The woman who was awarded the rank of baron for ascertaining Zero's real identity. But unfortunately, you didn't realize the identity's of any of the other members of the Black Knights who hide their identity's, like R.R for example." Lelouch said with a confident smirk. "And more than that, unknown to most, you are connected to the Black Knights yourself.
"Not true. I never betrayed—" Villetta denied immediately.
"Kaname Ohgi." Lelouch interrupted which caused her to go silent. "If word of your relationship with him ever got out, you'd have to relinquish that title you worked so hard to earn. Why not be reborn as someone new? The truth is I've been aware of this fact for quite some time and I was planning on killing you. But this outcome might be more advantageous to both of us." Lelouch then reaches into a small bag and takes out something wrapped up. "Oh, yes. Shirley gave me this to give to you. So the timing works out nicely."
Lelouch unwraps the object and it is revealed to be a bottle of Wine.
"Happy birthday, Coach Villetta," Lelouch said ironically.
Realizing the situation she was in, Villetta knew she had no option but to accept.
Tokyo Settlement Highway
Later that night, Xingke was riding in a limo with Kallen and C.C, between them was also the box that belonged to Nina which they took with them. Xingke was having a phone call with Zero.
"It seems I owe you another debt," Zero said over the phone.
"I simply used my diplomatic immunity. Besides, I'd like to repay my debt to you as quick as I can." Xingke replied.
"Then may I ask you another favour of you," Zero asked.
"We've entered into an alliance so I'll at least hear you out," Xingke said.
"I'd like to get in contact with the High Eunuchs." Zero requested.
Xingke was silent for a second.
"There's no need for you to asked that, Soul has already made the preparations for that favour," Xingke informed him.
"I see, then I'll be sure to thank him for that. It seems he's become quite adept in setting the groundwork for our objectives." Zero said pleased before hanging up.
Xingke smiled. "I concur."
Ashford Academy
Back at Ashford, a ball is taking place to end the festival and everyone is dancing in the courtyard. Everyone is enjoying the ball, although Arthur is alone, Rivalz is wallowing because Milly is happily dancing with Gino despite the fact that he is dancing with someone as well, and Anya is recording the dancing. Lelouch isn't enjoying the ball and is instead on the roof and calling Xingke. After the conversation was done Lelouch hung up and put his phone away.
"Now I have no enemies in the Tokyo Settlement." Lelouch thought.
"Lelouch." Suzaku greeted as he suddenly appeared on the roof himself.
"Shouldn't the guest of honour be at the main stage?" Lelouch asked.
"Hum, no. Everyone seems to be having a fine time without me. Besides, I wanna discuss something with you." Suzaku said standing beside him.
"What is it?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"Well you see," Suzaku said hesitantly. "It's the reason I become a Knight Of The Round."
Lelouch was surprised and immediately turned to Suzaku.
"I can already tell that it's what you've wanted to ask me for a while." Suzaku continued.
Lelouch thought for a moment before he spoke. "It's true, I've wanted to know this ever since I got back my memory. Suzaku why would you of all people become a Knight Of The Round? Why did you leave Euphie despite how you both felt about each other to join Schneizel and then go to become that man's Knight?" Lelouch clenched his fists when he thought of the Emperor. " Even though you know the truth about Geass and myself and you saw how far he is willing to go? I wanted to hear the reason from your own mouth."
Suzaku looks down and has a sad smile. "I don't blame you for wanting answers. It isn't a surprise to me when you look at it like that. The truth is, I did it to protect Nunnally."
Lelouch's eyes widen. "Nunnally?"
"I'm sure you've heard, that Nunnally was found and taken back to the Royal Family a Year ago," Suzaku said. "In other words, she is in the hands of the Emperor."
Lelouch grimaced when he heard that.
"Lelouch, after your memories were sealed, two things were revealed to me," Suzaku said. "The first was how much I cared about Euphie and how I felt when she was taken. She's someone who is irreplaceable to me, when she was taken I almost couldn't think straight and all I could think about was how much I wanted to get her back, also how much I never wanted something like that to happen again. And then I realized." Suzaku looked at Lelouch with a knowing smile. "That's how you feel all the time when it comes to Nunnally."
Lelouch averted his gaze. "…That's right."
"The second thing I realized." Suzaku then leaned on the railing of the roof. "Was how naive I was."
Lelouch then seemed confused.
"In this world that we currently live in overly idealist sentiments like 'I want to make things better the right way', or 'I want to stop people from dying' are words that tend to come from those who are naive. When corruption was rampant, all I ever did was utter words that sounded well-meaning but lacked any weight behind them. Once realism sets in, anyone can tell you that's not how the world works."
"…Suzaku," Lelouch spoke shocked.
The words Lelouch was hearing from his friend were words he never thought Suzaku would say. This was a complete breakdown of Suzaku's previous beliefs.
"I've long since discovered that such hopes are virtually impossible and have no place in this world because of the large boundary that insists on resisting change." Suzaku continued. "It's not that changing the world is impossible, it's that changing the world is only possible through great sacrifice, pain, and hardship. That's what you believed from the start, right?"
Lelouch processed his words, before nodding. "Yes, I fought because I believed I had to, regardless of the cost. Society can't be changed without some form of destruction."
"Lelouch, was everything I've done up until now wrong?" Suzaku asked upset.
Lelouch shook his head. "No, you were simply doing what you believed was all you could do."
"But that's just it, what could I really do? A new world cannot be born from the current one if its core is rotten." Suzaku said. "Any given system of power, corrupt or otherwise did not get that way overnight. There are many layers to bodies of power and there is a structure in place that must be overthrown. Society must be pulled up from the roots by those who don't just say they can make things better but those who truly intend to do so. Yet I was biased and ever since my father died I only ever believed that any form of resistance was automatically wrong and I couldn't understand that something as big as changing an entire Society from within was far too big a task to do on my own."
"Suzaku, when you desire to change the world, the world may end up changing you and neither one of us are an exception to that," Lelouch said. "We're both two people who had the same intentions, yet our life experiences led us to find completely different answers and make different choices. But our conflicting ideals made us go about those intentions in different ways."
Suzaku was quiet for a moment. "…Do you remember, when I said the means are more important than the results?"
"I do," Lelouch said.
"That's easy enough to say, but in truth, I lacked any real conviction or resolve. Content to simply follow." Suzaku said ashamed. "No matter how virtuous the means, what possible result could you achieve like that?"
"And is that what you discovered?" Lelouch asked.
"It is. That's why I realized, I can't accomplish a thing unless I gain some conviction." Suzaku said. "And more than that, Euphie's already decided to fight for what she believes in and so I decided I would do the same, even if it means going against the rules," Suzaku said with emotion. "Lelouch, I truly believe that, and so now I stand as your ally."
"Suzaku, then you—" Lelouch said, in realization.
"Yes, that's right." Suzaku interrupted. "Even though I wanted to protect Euphie, if I went with her would be no one to protect Nunnally. So I moved up in rank as much as I could and eventually become a Knight Of The Round, that way I could be the eyes and ears that would know what Britannia was planning in advance so stopping them would be easier. But more than that, I would be in a position where I would be close to Nunnally, I'd be able to keep her safe from the Emperor."
Suzaku then walks up to Lelouch and sightly lowered his head, surprising Lelouch.
"Lelouch, I swear to do everything in my power to protect Nunnally, so I'm asking you. Protect Euphie, if I were to lose her, everything within me would fall apart." Suzaku said desperately.
Lelouch went up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"This isn't necessary," Lelouch said gently. "Don't forget, Euphie is an important person to me as well. And remember we're friends, if there is something you wish to protect more than anything, I'll protect it. Because when there was something I wanted to protect more than anything, you protected it."
Suzaku raised his head and smiled.
"Thank you," Suzaku said gratefully.
"Come on, there's no need for that. And besides Euphie already has someone reliable protecting her. Even now." Lelouch reminded him with a smile.
"Logan, he is reliable at times like this." Suzaku agreed with a smile.
"Lelouch!" Rolo called out suddenly appearing on the roof.
Lelouch and Suzaku turned to see him.
"Rolo, what are you doing up here?" Lelouch asked.
"I could ask you the same. I've been looking for you two ever since the ball started." Rolo said.
"Right, we did just leave without telling anyone." Suzaku realized.
"Anyway, I just got a call from Big Brother," Rolo said.
Lelouch seemed surprised. "From Logan?"
"Yeah, he said there was going to be an announcement on Area Eleven's next Viceroy," Rolo informed.
Suzaku was taken aback when he heard that.
"The new Viceroy, well I should have known a new one would be selected before long," Lelouch said.
"About that," Suzaku spoke up. "There's something you should know. Truth is, officially I came to Area Eleven to be the aid to the new Viceroy."
"Hmm, you did?" Lelouch questioned. "But why would they choose you? Who are they?"
"That's the thing," Suzaku said, feeling uncomfortable. "It's Nunnally."
Both Lelouch and Rolo gasped in shock when they heard Suzaku.
"Suzaku…What did you just say?" Lelouch asked, hoping he just heard him wrong.
"The new Viceroy of Area Eleven is Nunnally," Suzaku repeated.
To Be Continued
And that's the chapter. And to start things off, the core members of the Black Knight are back, I decided to have them return because I felt now was the right time since things are moving forward. Not to mention it was a good opportunity to have them meet Orpheus, plus Euphie and Soul confirmed that Suzaku is on their side.
Other than that, Rolo revealed that both his and Logan's Geass' levelled up this past year and yes so will Lelouch's, I just haven't decided when yet. As you saw through the festival happened as usual, but that couldn't be helped all that much.
To end things up Lelouch and Suzaku spoke on the roof and Suzaku finally revealed why he became a Knight Of The Round. And from this point forward I want you all to understand, the Suzaku in this story is not the Suzaku from the canon. He let go of all the Self-righteousness and vanity. He stopped trying to maintain the appearance of having the moral high ground, and he's now using his rank and position to help Japan and Nunnally in a new way. For the start, I always planned on having Suzaku become a different person and this is who he is now.
To end things up, now the Black Knights and Lelouch know that Nunnally is coming to be the Viceroy. And things are going to get complicated.
So see you next time, leave a review, hope you enjoyed, and have an awesome day.