Lelouch walked to the Shinkro and changed into his Ashford uniform. Lelouch started the long walk back to the school. How was he going to explain to Milly and Rivalz about his whereabouts and how was he going to tell them about Rolo?

Lelouch entered the school ground and could see the damage the FLEIJA has done. A bit more and the school would too be wiped out of existence. Entering the front door, he could see a mass of people in the auditorium.

'These must be the people who lost their home...because of me.' thought Lelouch in despair.

"HHEEEYYY Lelouch."

Lelouch turned to where the voice was coming from. It was Rivalz, waving his hand in the arm, running towards him with Milly alongside him.

"Where have you been, buddy? We're worried about you." said Rivalz

"Oh, really. I'm sorry. I had some things to do." said Lelouch with a fake smile on his face.

"Where's Rolo?" asked Milly.

That's when Lelouch's fake smile turn into a real frown. "Rolo's...Rolo...He's...gone."

"What do you mean he's gone? Like, did he went back to the homeland or something?" asked Milly, hoping that what she said was true.

"No, Milly," Lelouch replied, slowly shaking his head. "He's dead."

Milly gasped as she put her hands up to her mouth while Rivalz look stunned.

"He was caught during the incident that just occurred when we got separated." Lelouch lied.

"Oh, Lelouch, I'm so sorry," said Milly as she put a hand on Lelouch's shoulder. "Have you heard about Shirley?"

Of course, he heard about Shirley. Hell, he was practically there when she drew her last breath. "Yeah, I'd run into one of her friends and she told me about it."

Rivalz frowned at the misfortune that his best friend had to face and decided to change the subject. "Hey, Lelouch, you know that your room was kind of destroyed and you know you can be my roommate cause mine is heading back to the homeland, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, sure." said Lelouch.

"Great. I'll get things set." said Rivalz as he ran off.

Milly looked at her friend. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Milly let out a small smile and left Leouch to his thoughts. Lelouch looked down on the crowd in front of him.

"If only I listen, this could have all be prevented." whispered Lelouch.

He was done. No more. He'll let the world run its course.

Lelouch walked off to join his friends and go on about his daily normal life.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" asked Kallen.

Things have been uneasy in the Ikaruga for the Black Knights. They had just found out about the truth of the fearsome leader; that he was nothing but a Britannian Prince named Lelouch who has the power of Geass that could make you obey him without whim. Panic was in the air and fear was in the mind of all except one.

Kallen Kozuki knew about the truth of Lelouch and his geass for a year now but didn't tell anybody else about it. She knew she hated when Lelouch keeps secrets from her but she was no different by keeping a secret about Lelouch and who he was; a Britannian Prince and a student that goes to the same school as Kallen was the masked leader.

"Yes, we are. He used us and that despicable geass." stated Ohgi with his hand clap together, looking at the pictures of their fallen comrades.

"I trusted that guy. He's suppose to be my best buddy." cried Tamaki, being as stupid as he can be.

Bang.

A pair of broad hands slammed loudly on the steel surface. All eyes turned towards the sound, only to find Diethard hunched over the table with his steel-blue eyes cast downward. His spindly fingers trembled as they curled within his palms.

"We don't have any other choice. We must announce Zero's death"

"Eh?" the others questioned.

"Diethard, you know that he is alive out there" Chiba said

"I'm well aware" he responded. "But like I proclaimed earlier, we don't have a choice. If we wish to keep our standing and as much of our power, we must do it"

"We haven't even located Lelouch yet" Ohgi butted in. "Why not wait until then?"

"By then, it could be too late. We have to do something"

"This isn't the way to do it. There are so many things that could go wrong. If we are discovered then—" Minami explained

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"I…well, I—"

"Do you plan on revealing Geass as well?" Rakshata asked. She cocked an eyebrow with her glazed, emerald irises staring directly into blue. "It could possibly work to our favor"

"No, that's not possible. How can we prove that Zero was manipulating us with such power? They'd just wave us off and send us away. We can't have that—especially not at such a critical moment"

"What then will we do if he appears before us again?"

"It wouldn't matter" Diethard shot. "Ultimately, Zero, the masked hero, is merely a symbol—a symbol that anyone can assume. Even if he were to return, what evidence does he have that he is the real one? No, we do what we must."

Kallen looked at everyone around her. They were ready to declare Zero dead and go on about without him. Is it possible to go on without him? Last time they did that. half of the organization were either capture, executed or went into hiding.

As Kallen left the room, unnoticed, she started thinking about Lelouch and the last word he said to her.

Kallen, you have to live.

Why would he say such a thing? Why would he ask her to live? Did he care about her the same way she...?

No, Lelouch never care about me. He said I was his most useful pawn of them all. He used us all and yet...

There was something. Something inside Kallen that made her feel like half of it was a lie. That something in her heart tells her that she was having doubts about herself and her feelings.

"Kallen?"

The blue-eyed woman swung around to see a thin man with a sharp face and protruding black hair.

"Ohgi! What're you doing here? Don't you have business to attend to with Toudou and the others?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you." replied Ohgi

"Oh, okay. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
-

"What?"

"Like I mentioned, this is our way of advancing. Diethard and the others are making the announcement as we speak"

"This isn't right, Ohgi. You can't just declare Zero dead when you know just as well as I do that he's alive"

"That isn't the issue at hand, Kallen. Moral conflicts can be set aside for now; We made a peace agreement with Britannia"

"Peace agreement? You said Prince Schneizel promised the return of Japan in exchange for Zero."

"We can't fully depend on his word to deliver his end of the deal. For one, he specifically asked for the arrest or the death of Zero, but he escaped before we could do so. If he wanted to, he could use that against us and make our agreement void. The point is, for the time being, we will fight alongside the Federation and Schneizel's forces to defeat the Empire, but when the time comes, we will need to take matters into our own hands"

In her mind, a peculiar image appeared: a man with piercing violet-eyes turned to her and smirked haughtily. Kallen gritted her teeth and tightened her fists; she reared her head and shot him a death glare.

"Bullshit! You're planning on betraying him when you've used him up, is that it?"

Ohgi's eyes briefly widened in shock and he took a step back. However, as quickly as it came, it disappeared. His features hardened and he regained his footing; his brows furrowed and he mirrored her expression in attempt to obtain the upper hand in dominance. He couldn't let her push him around—not now. Not when the situation is critical for them and the people of Japan.

"The situation is different now, Kallen"

"How is it different? Please, tell me Ohgi. Because the way I see it, it's the same as what you and the others did to Zero. You'll use him up and throw him away as soon as you've had enough of him. So, who betrayed whom first?"

"Look, I don't agree with the methods we're taking, but if it'll get us to where we need, then why not? We'd be done with this war much faster and we can finally move on with our lives"

"That's not the point." yelled Kallen."The point is that once we do this, we can never take back on what we did and it will haunt us for the rest of our lives and those we care about."

"I know that!" he exclaimed. "And I'm willing to suffer that much for everyone's sake. All we need is time to mend our wounds and wash away our mistakes. And what of you? I thought we shared the same goal. Don't you want Japan back? Do you want to live the life you had before the war started?"

"Of course I do! I—"

"Then why are we arguing over this? If these Britannians are willing to offer us a way, we should seize the opportunity and make the best of it. This discussion is over"

Now it was Kallen's turn to be taken aback. She backed away from him, shaking her head in utter disappointment.

"What happened to you?" she whispered. "You would never go through with this knowing our people's honor and pride would be at stake. I can't believe you would stoop this low. I thought the Britannians were despicable and deceitful but you are just like them."

"I'm doing this for you! For the people I love—to protect them! Can't you see that? Naoto would have wanted it!" he shouted vehemently.

"Naoto would have never wanted any of this. He would never bow down to Britannia." Kallen shouted back.

Ohgi straighten himself up and spoke. "I'm doing what is best, Kallen. Deal with it." He then walked away from her.

Kallen punched the wall with her fist in anger. She didn't know who to be more angry with. She just hope that they haven't made the biggest mistake of their lives and completely dammed Japan and the world into the hands of Britannia.