Note: Do you like Bleach? Come check out my other fanfiction, The Lost Secrets of the Quincy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. It belongs to its creator. I only own this little fanfiction, and a few books.

Chapter 7

Aya

As I was looking for Lelouch, I heard a crash in the control room. I went in and saw Karen on top of Lelouch in an awkward position.

"Oh, joy…" I muttered. "Are you cheating on me, Lelouch?"

"Crap, this is REALLY awkward…" Karen said. I sighed.

"Meh, I don't care. I swear, it always happens to everyone at least once, so…"

"Tabasco sauce."

I turned and saw C.C.

"When did you-" Lelouch began.

"Who cares, where's my Tabasco sauce? There's nothing but la yo sauce here." C.C. continued. I sighed and took out some sauce out of my pocket.

"Here. One of the Black Knights had a bottle and I swiped it." I said.

"Oi, isn't that stealing?" Karen said. I looked at her. She remained in the awkward position.

"GOD just get off him already!" I yelled. Karen yelped and obeyed. I sighed again.

"Lord Zero, come to Ikaragua right away! We have a problem!" An announcement was made.

"What? A marriage of convenience?"

The empress of the Chinese Federation was going to marry my fiancée's older brother, Odysseus. This way, it would cause trouble for Lelouch…

"Maybe I should show up at that wedding…" I proposed.

"No. You are staying at the island at all times." Lelouch ordered.

"So behind this-" Diethard began.

"Indeed, there is another man. A chance to resolve the icy relationship between the Chinese Federation and Britannia in one fell swoop. A man that played such a devil-like move." Zero said.

"Shi-chan." I finished.

Leloush

This was bad.

Just when I kidnapped Aya, now this marriage of convenience would ruin my plans. Prince Schneizel was here. He would find Aya quickly.

I couldn't help but look at Aya.

And it was the last time I saw her for many months.

Suzaku

"Did the Empress acknowledge all this?" I asked Cecile.

"If their side is saying okay, then we can only trust them." Cecile answered. "Besides, this is one path towards peace. Let's enjoy our time here as guests!"

"Do you think we'll find Aya here somewhere?"

"It's possible. She might try to escape and come here. After all, her fiancée is here."

"Suzaku! I found it! I found it! This, right? The charred newt you were talking about." Gino said, running up with a dragon carving. "How do you eat this thing?"

"That's just decor for the dish." I said. It was humorous how these people were so oblivious…

"Décor?" Gino asked. "But we ate a similar looking bird just now, didn't we?"

"Bird, you mean phoenix?" I asked in disbelief.

"Was it that kind of dish?" Cecile asked. "I thought it was just meat, but it was carrots-"

Suddenly, Anya's cell phone beeped behind her. Cecile turned, beginning to scold Anya lightly.

"Is this potato?" Gino asked me. "Can I eat this?"

I shook my head.

"The Prime Minister of the Holy Empire of Britannia, Second Prince Schneizel has arrived."

Everyone turned as Prince Schneizel arrived, escorting Nina.

Anya, Gino, and I kneeled as we welcomed the Prince.

"It has been a long time, Your Highness." I said. "His Majesty has instructed us to be under your command here, Prince Schneizel."

"Three Rounds members, that is very dependable. However…" Schneizel said.

"Ah, yes, Your Highness?" Gino asked.

"This is a ground of celebration. I wish you would be a bit more relaxed." The prince said.

"Yes, Your Highness." Gino finished.

"Suzaku, how is everyone at the academy doing?" Nina asked.

"Look over there." I said, looking pointedly at where Milly stood, who waved. Nina immediately went to speak with her.

"Representative of the Sumeragi Concern…Sumeragi Kaguya has arrived!"

"Kaguya?" I said, turning. "What?"

Kaguya, Karen and Zero walked into the room.

"Zero!" the Prince's aide cried. "Coming in so openly…"

"Guren's pilot is here too…" Gino said with a smirk.

"Who invited him to this place?"

"Terrorists…"

"My, my…" the Prince said, raising his glass of wine to Zero.

"Schneizel," Zero said. "You are the man behind this after all?"

The palace guards suddenly surrounded Zero, Kaguya, and Karen.

"Kaguya!" Princess Tianzi cried, getting up from her throne, only to be stopped by one of the feudal lords.

"The tribute arrived by himself, how pleasant!" he cried happily.

"Is Kaguya going to Britannia as well?" Tianzi asked.

"Forget about her already." Another feudal lord scolded her by Prince Odysseus. "She is a girl destined for the death penalty."

"That's wrong!" Tianzi cried. "This isn't Britannia!"

"The Black Knights have killed Gao Hai." The feudal lord next to Tianzi explained. "Let us handle these affairs, please." He leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Isn't that how we have done things all this time?"

"But…My friend…" Tianzi began to argue.

"Stop this quarrel already." Schneizel ordered. "Tonight is a celebration, no?"

"But…" another feudal lord began to argue.

"Miss Sumeragi, at tomorrow's wedding ceremony, could you refrain from bringing Zero along, please?"

"That…" Kaguya began. "Can't be helped I guess."

"If Britannia's Prime Minister says so…" the feudal lord agreed, giving a dismissive hand signal to the soldiers. "Back off!" The soldiers obeyed.

"Schneizel…" Zero began. "You have shown yourself before me."

I immediately stood in front of the Prince protectively.

"Hmph, of course, he would take precaution." Zero muttered.

"Kururugi-san, do you remember me~?" Kaguya suddenly sang, coming between us. "Your cousin?"

Anya and Gino joined next to me.

"Of course." I answered coolly.

"We now the only ones left of the six clans of Kyoto." Kaguya stated.

"Kirihara and the others were supporters of terrorism." I explained. "The death penalty couldn't be avoided."

"Have you forgotten~?" Kaguya continued. "About the fact that Lord Zero saved you in the past?" I gasped. "Do you plan on bringing the death penalty to the one that saved you~?"

"The two things are different." I growled.

Kaguya clapped her hands together. "Such a pity." She said. "If only words could kill a person."

"Prince Schneizel" Zero suddenly interrupted, obviously bored by our conversation. "A game of chess, if you will?"

"Oh?"

"If I win, I would like you to give me Kururugi. If I lose, I'll give you Kaguya."

"And whoever wins will get a bonus; Schneizel's fiancée." Said a familiar voice.

"Aya!" Schneizel called out cheerfully. Aya pushed past Zero and began to walk towards us. The Prince stepped towards her.

Zero grabbed Aya's arm. Karen realized what he was doing, and she grabbed Aya's other arm.

Aya gritted her teeth and glared at both of them.

"No. Future Princess Ayame is not part of the deal." Zero said firmly.

"You're right; we'll take her from you whether you like it or not…" I said. Anya and Gino prepared themselves.

"Not now." The Prince said. "If I win, the bonus will be that you will take off that mask."

"Very well." Zero said.

The game began and was close. I looked at Karen, who was staring at me.

She was the Ace of the Black Knights. I remembered back when Aya would have now stood next to Zero, if Lelouch was him.

Anya and Gino spoke amongst themselves behind me. Anya stared at Karen, who then looked away.

Zero moved his King.

"King?" the Prince asked in disbelief.

"If the King doesn't move personally, his subordinates won't follow." Zero answered.

"A good insight." The Prince said. "Well then, I shall do the same."

He moved his King as well.

The game went on for another while.

"A battle of stubbornness and hatred." Lloyd said. Zero moved his King again.

"And? You won't be able to advance any further." He said.

"Hmm…at this rate, it'll end up being a threefold repetition." The Prince said.

"It is not what I wanted, but shall we call it a draw?" Zero asked.

"No. You must not underestimate the white king." The Prince answered.

To everyone's disbelief, the Prince moved his King in front of Zero's!

"Checkmate." He said.

"If Zero moves his pawn,"

"Schneizel's…"

"…king will be taken out." I finished.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Zero asked. "Are you telling me to grab victory?"

Zero moved his King diagonally back one step.

"His Majesty would've taken the king without any hesitation." The Prince said wisely. "I seem to somewhat understand what kind of a person you are now."

Suddenly, Nina ran up with a knife, ready to kill Zero. Aya came out of nowhere and tried to stop her, grabbing the hand that didn't hold the knife. I grabbed the other wrist.

"Zero! Vengeance for Princess Euphemia!" Nina cried. Aya struggled to hold her.

"Nina! Stop!" she cried.

"Stop it, Nina!" I yelled.

"Why are you two stopping me? Suzaku, you were Euphemia's knight, weren't you?" Nina cried.

I stopped.

Why was I stopping her?

"Looks like you're an Eleven after all!" she yelled, releasing her hand from mine.

Aya hit the knife out of Nina's hand and caught it. She slapped Nina on the face.

"Nina! Snap out of it!" Aya cried. Nina stared at Aya.

"Aya! You're a pure Britannian! Why are you…" she began. She then slapped Aya back with such force that Aya crashed into the chess table. Aya crumpled to the ground, the chess pieces falling around her. She was struggling to breathe again.

Nina took the knife and ran towards Zero again, only to be stopped by Karen, who bent back Nina's wrist, forcing Nina to drop the knife. Nina backed away, horrified.

"Nina…" Karen said, trying to figure out what to say.

"Karen…You're of half-Britannian blood, yet you…" Nina began.

"No, I'm a Japanese." Karen interrupted firmly.

"Japanese? You mean an Eleven, right? An Eleven pretending to be my friend!" Nina yelled. "Give her back! Give Princess Euphemia back! I need her! My goddess!"

I stopped Nina again as she was running away.

"Nina…" I began to say.

"Zero killed…her…" Nina said and gave up and went limp. I caught her as she fell.

This was another tragedy that Zero created.

I released Nina and she crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

"Nina…" Karen said. She kneeled and picked up the knife.

"Forgive me for all I've done…but…" she continued. Gino kneeled next to her, and Karen gave the knife to him.

Aya interrupted when she began to cough uncontrollably into her handkerchief. She held the end of the table so she wouldn't fall. I kneeled next to her.

"Aya?" I asked. Aya removed the handkerchief from her mouth which was stained with blood.

"Oh God…" she whispered. She began to cough once again.

"We need to get a doctor!" Prince Schneizel cried. "Forgive me, Zero. Let us end our entertainment here. And to confirm, please refrain from attending tomorrow's ceremony. A game of chess won't be able to solve things this time."

Zero nodded and began to leave.

"Are you just going to let Ayame go?" Karen said.

"I can't have her die. That would lose the whole purpose." Zero said. They soon were gone.

It really didn't matter at the moment whether I should have gone to catch them or not. Aya was more important. Aya then began to cough again, and a few drops of blood seeped through the handkerchief and stained the carpet.