Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass
Nobody even mentions her death. It's as though she's irrelevant. It's as though she never existed. Suzaku is hearing words similar along that line quite often these past two days. Existed, non-existance, exist, any words similar to those, he's heard all. However, he didn't think that it'd apply to Sophie. None of his classmates act as though just yesterday, Sophie magically tripped over her feet and fell onto the stub that protruded out the top of her umbrella, basically stabbing it straight through her throat when she fell on it.
Even Lelouch, the one who witnessed it along with him, doesn't mention her, he doesn't even seem fazed by the sudden seen of a dying girl. Shirley, one of the only students who's happy to socialize with him, the one that he thought was highly emotional, actually succeeds to stifle her tears and continue along with the rest of her peers, acting as though the empty seat next to her wasn't occupied yesterday by Sophie, one of her good friends. Now, Suzaku notices how the majority of the class glowers at him regularly, that he's tempted to scrawl upon his schedule as though the 'glaring at Suzaku' period is now a daily thing. One girl seems to particularly enjoy it: Kallen. One might think her as an ill, innocent defenseless female, but normally, most girls that fit those traits don't narrow their glittering eyes in his directionn angrily. Her mauve eyebrows always crinkle downwards whenever she so much glances in his direction, her sapphire eyes sharpening into a perfected glare, her scowl matching the rest of her frowning features-then, then, five seconds later, her scowl vanishes, replacing it with a soft smile, and her eyebrows slowly arches, her eyes returning into its dilated shape. As though he didn't capture her glowering at her angrily.
"Lelouch," Suzaku scrambles to catch up with his friend. "Why won't anyone talk about Sophie?" Suzaku snaps. His friend continues to walk, and Suzaku easily matches his steady pace. "Why won't we talk about Sophie? They're acting as though she wasn't real-like you!" Suzaku pokes his unresponsive friend in the shoulder. Yes, Suzaku is missing his lunch for this-so Lelouch better have an explanation for all this. The ebony-haired beauty sighs aloud, as though irritated by Suzaku's persistent attitude, and rolls his naturally narrowed eye, and Suzaku suspects that underneath his eyepatch, his other eye is also twirling up at his annoying presence. "Lelouch!" Suzaku groans, gripping onto the shoulder of his friend, shaking him slightly, and Lelouch jerks away, and Suzaku retracts his hand. Lelouch must not be used to physical contact.
"...We..." Lelouch hesitates, as though carefully analyzing his words. "Don't talk about the dead here," Lelouch explains slowly, in a manner that Suzaku isn't used to, after all, his dear old friend always seem to know exactly what to say even when the moment hasn't come yet. He never takes the time to think about what to say like this-it's because he already thought about it.
"Why don't you mourn for her?" Suzaku inquires reluctantly, when his confidence wavers as Lelouch himself remains passive, yet, his eyes darken in a sinister matter. "This happened before, didn't it?" He skeptically asks, and Lelouch briskly continues walking. Suzaku didn't even notice when Lelouch stopped walking, but he seats himself at an outside bench in a confined area. "Lloyd-you don't know him-told me that there was a guy named Lelouch, and he died here, didn't he? And something about a curse and him appearing in the old school photo," he confides, and Lelouch snaps his book shut, staring up at him, his indifferent featuers sliding off, and he stares back at him, with wide, orchid eyes.
"How much do you know?"
"That depends-tell me what you know yourself," Suzaku challenges. Lelouch knots his lips, and reopens his book to a page with a dog ear to mark it. Tired of this, Suzaku slams the book shut within his friend's hands. "Lelouch!" The said boy claps eyes with him, a snarl parting from his lips. "Tell me," he moans, sliding down the bench next to his angered friend. Suzaku's aware of his childish tone and griping voice, but he really, really, wants to know. "Lulu!" Suzaku recalls the name that Nunnally would always use, and to Suzaku's pleasure, Lelouch's eyes slit down upon him, a grimace forming upon his lips upon hearing Suzaku call him by his christened nickname.
"Please, please!" Suzaku whimpers. Lelouch sighs aloud, groaning even, at Suzaku's childish antics. "Telll meee," Suzaku hates resorting to begging, but hey, it's just payback from Nunnally using that on him. Yes, this is Lelouch, but that just makes it even better.
"Suzaku, please don't," Lelouch exhales. "You really shouldn't even be talking to me," Lelouch restates sadly. Suzaku is quite aware of that.
"Yeah, why is it that everyone hates me and hates you?"
"They don't hate you. They just disliked that you ruined the whole thing, people starting to die because of you, and also because you shouldn't talk to people who don't exist. But it's too late now," Lelouch explains nonchalantly. He gropes for his book, and returns to reading it. "But don't worry, it's not your fault, now that you already talked to me, I guess I do exist," Lelouch exclaims.
"My...fault?" Suzaku stares at Lelouch, at his simplified answer. 'people starting to die because of you,'. Lelouch's exact words, causes Suzaku to stare at the retreating figure of his friend, as Lelouch heads back into the school building.
"It's not his fault!" Rivalz claims angrily. Suzaku's able to hear the loud, echoing voice of his friend down the hallway, with the walls decorated with chipping paint. He enters the classroom quietly. "It's not his fault that we didn't tell him!" He stands to the side, waiting for the small group to notice him, which they clearly failed to do so.
"No, he's the reason, he's the reason why Sophie's dead!" He purses his lips. Is Kallen currently shouting about him? Suzaku's heart begins to chop faster against his ribcage at that thought. No, that's illogical, there's no explanation behind this...then again, it's not like he has more information compared to them. "Sophie's dead because of him, and who's next?" A thick silence blankets over the classroom, until suddenly, the door opens, and Lelouch enters, unsuspecting to Kallen's next move. "You!" Suzaku flinches as Kallen grips onto Lelouch's arm, causing him to lose grip upon his stack of thick books, yet, Lelouch remains indifferent, and inclines his head, as though gesturing for her to continue. "How could you let him talk to you?" Kallen roughly shakes Lelouch's arm.
"I'm right here," Suzaku clears his throat, and the small group turns to him, and Lelouch even gives him a small wave, and Suzaku returns it with a strained smile. Shirley beams in delight, thankfully, and Rivalz and Milly exchange glances. Kallen has a very different welcome, and she releases Lelouch's arm carelessly, and storms over, facing him. Despite the fact that she's probably half a head shorter, and in her school uniform and usually adopted front she appears harmless, right now, she's quite intimidating, yet, Suzaku stiffens, and gazes right back, refusing to back down first. "What's going on?" Suzaku finally speaks.
"You killed Sophie!" Suzaku cringes at those words.
"How is that possible? She tripped!" Suzaku retorts.
"She actually died from an umbrella," Lelouch confirms, and Kallen stares at him murderously, while Milly awkwardly clamps her hand on his shoulder, as though ready to drag him away from Kallen, who seems ready to stab him. Lelouch spares Kallen a look of disinterest.
Rivalz finally takes control over this screwed up situation, which, Suzaku inwardly admits, never thought he'd ever give Rivalz the credit for doing so. After all, Rivalz doesn't seem to be the type to be able to quiet down a rowdy student and awkward bystanders who seem reluctant to help. "Kallen, it's not his fault. We never told him about classroom 3-1, how was he supposed to know?" Kallen finally seems to be injected with a huge dose of common sense, as her arched shoulders finally relax, yet, her menacing glare remains fixated onto Suzaku. "Kallen, I think we should tell him."
"Tell me what?" Suzaku quickly asks, ready for information that the whole class is obviously keeping from him.
"Ever heard of the ghost story? About Lelouch Misake? I assume you did, but it wouldn't be uncommon if you didn't," Milly starts, and she shifts onto a desk, swinging her legs, and her heels tap against the metal structure of the desk legs to a steady beat. Suzaku nods. "Okay, you did. Well, now, it's basically a habitat for spirits. We don't know why, but there's a random pattern with a spirit decides to come over for a visit. It's a different spirit every time. And the whole thing is-we do this every year just for sure-is that we make one person, the Another. The Another is a person that we will pretend doesn't exist, and Lelouch happens to be chosen to be so. If we do this, then for the whole year, we're guaranteed one year of safety from the killer. However, if we mess up, and it turns out there is a killer this year, then they'll begin to pick off the students one-by-one, as a sacrifice each month." Milly explains.
"What?" Suzaku whirls around, yet, everyone seems quite solemn-even Rivalz isn't laughing at such a crude explanation. "How? Spirits aren't real," Suzaku blusters.
"Shut up," Kallen snorts. "And because you talked to the Another, and acknowledged his existence, the killer is angry, and kills one student each month." Suzaku begins to understand how Kallen related his accident with Sophie's death. "And we don't even know who's going to die next." Suzaku blinks.
"Wait, but who's the killer? Just find the one acting suspicious." Suzaku inquires, eager for more answers by now.
"The killer is the ghost. The killer is unaware that he's dead, and everyone-including his or her mind, will be altered. Everyone will believe this killer was always part of their class, and so will the killer him or herself. They don't even know they're dead, that's why we can't necessarily claim who's the killer judging by their attitude or actions, because there's no real way of knowing without a confession or solid evidence, and neither of those will exist." Suzaku stares at them, dumbfounded. Suzaku doesn't believe in these things. He turns to Lelouch, who often thinks rationally, yet, he makes no objection against the others' bizzare claim, rather he seems quite captive as an audience of this unfolding drama.
"Then, finally," Rivalz stuffs his hands into his pockets uncomfortably, and Suzaku refuses to meet his eyes. "We'll know who the killer is, after we look at our class picture we take in the middle of the year, and then, we'll finally see that one student that we don't remember. After all, we won't remember who the student is anymore, because our memories will return to normal. So when we check the school photo and see that one person we don't remember-that person is the killer."
"This...what?" Suzaku stares. "H-how do you even find this out?" Nobody answers him. "Wait, so somebody in our class, is a spirit that came back here," Suzaku begins to try and settle down what they're saying. "But why do they come here?"
"We're not entirely sure, but we assume it had something to do with pretending that Misake was still alive...and well, she came back to visit us. Maybe the ghosts copied her, maybe they're attracted to all the death, we don't know." Milly starts. "There's actually a specific name for the person who's not suppose to be here...we call them a Nonexistent."
"Let's not forget this is all his fault," Kallen clears her throat.
"You are very intent on accusing him," Lelouch grumbles. Kallen turns sharply towards him.
"Don't forget it's also yours," Kallen glowers sharply. "Sophie wouldn't be dead, if you two didn't break the cycle!"
Suzaku stares after Kallen, who stomps out of the room, blinking away tears miserably. The others begin to try and comfort them, yet, Suzaku remains distraught. Maybe it's because Kallen is right. After all...it's not as though Lelouch can tell him not to talk to him. Suzaku was the one to approach him. And he now caused one death, with a string of murders sure to follow.
And there's nothing they can do about it.
"You really want to know what's under my eyepatch?" Lelouch finally sighs after Suzaku politely inquires him. After all, Suzaku feels as though he already pressured Lelouch enough for answers for a day. He finally rips it off. Suzaku frowns, inclining his head. His other eye is quite normal, the same vibrant orchid hue, with the glassy glaze coating his retina.
"Wow...it's...purple," he stammers sadistically. Lelouch just smirks. Then, to Suzaku's shock, a glittering red symbol unfolds beneath his pupil, hooking under the circular shape and stretching out across the middle of his eye, representing a familiar shape of a cartoon bird. "I don't think anything can surprise me anymore," Suzaku admits. "But why would you hide it? There's nothing wrong with it," he questions. The glimmering crimson symbol vanishes, leaving behind a healthy purple orb.
"I see things with this eye, things I don't want to see," Lelouch says, and cautiously, he conceals his eye once more. "Come in," Lelouch continues, dropping the topic they were discussing about. "Nunnally will be pleased to see you," he opens the door.
