I Heard The World

by YamiPaladinofChaos

AU. A different world, a familiar war. Kururugi Suzaku wages a crusade against the Empire of Japan to free Brittania. Lelouch Lamperouge disguises himself in a mask to atone for a terrible crime. Kouzuki Kallen and her brother Naoto are the Japanese Empire's new hope. Shirley Fenette seeks vengeance for all she has lost. The future can only accept one vision of justice, my friend.

13. Chapter 12: A Devil Put Aside

I've got a lot of bad things that I wish that I had never done

'cause they're coming back, coming back to me now
And don't think I'll feel guilty or that I'll apologize

'cause I got my way, and that means I was right

-"What Are Friends For", Reel Big Fish

Chapter 12

A Devil Put Aside

02:00 AM Imperial Standard Time

Japanese Imperial Forward Base Akihito, Eurasian/Japanese Border

The wind howled amongst the snow covered trees like the voice of a vengeful god, shifting the torrents of hail all around them, battering the watchtower from which two men stood, peering out at the darkness.

"Sentry duty blows," Private Chang Yung-fa scowled, dropping his spent cigarette to the half-frozen ground of the watch tower's floor and crushing the butt with excessive force. "Get me another."

"This is your last one, Chang." His shift partner, Private Jake Bernstein, passed over a fresh cigarette, giving him an annoyed look. Jake was one of the few Brittanians assigned to their almost all conscripted Chinese battalion, and had been Chang's friend since the two arrived at Basic together. "We only got so many of these."

"I only burned through mine because those stupid sentry cameras had to go down on our shift of all things, meaning the Staff Sergeant forced us to come up here in a fucking Russian blizzard," Chang replied irritably, "Damn it… I hate this country…"

"Weren't you born in this country?" Jake commented, pulling his arms together around himself.

"Not this part of old China," Chang refuted, shaking his head as he began pulling free his lighter from his pocket. However, the cold and his gloves made his grip slip, causing the lighter to fall to the ground.

Because he had crouched down to pick up his lighter, Chang stayed alive longer than he otherwise would have.

Barely audible in the howl of the vicious blizzard, the crack of a sniper's bullet rang twice, and Chang was covered in a veritable rain of Jake's blood as the man's body fell to the floor. His face was half gone, replaced with a horrifying mishmash of blood and brain and bone, but his other eye remained intact and stared lifelessly over at Chang, frozen forever in an expression of annoyance.

"Oh shi-" he managed, before the sniper, with professional accuracy, fired through the thin metal sheet that constituted a railing and hit him dead on between the eyes.

Far away, atop a snowy hilltop, Commander Orsus Zoktavir grinned a butcher's smile as he watched the second spray of blood from his electric binoculars, savoring the view for a moment before he tapped the communicator in his ear to activate it.

""Tsel' unichtozhena!" he rumbled in Russian, his voice a deep, resonating bass, sounding intensely satisfied. "Da. Go."

As his teams did as they were instructed, he turned towards the man behind him with that same grin. "Enjoying the view, Brittanian?" he questioned in English, his voice heavily accented.

The Brittanian in question gave him an expressionless look, his scarred, leathery face already obscured by the hood of the heavy greatcoat he was wearing.

"I was never here," he reminded Zoktavir. "I know nothing of this."

For his part, the Commander only barked out a booming, wild laugh that was covered up by the storm around them. "Of course not. Just like we won't know anything about you in a few weeks. All of these actions are just one beneficent coincidence."

The Brittanian's scarred face cracked into a wry smile.

"That would require a beneficent god, and the only gods I know of are cruel and evil and should have been destroyed already," he muttered, turning away. "I'll leave the rest to you Commander."

He headed back towards a waiting helicopter, which had its doors already open and waiting for him. As he stepped inside, shaking off bits of snow that clung to his greatcoat, he was greeted by a raucous laugh.

"You look ridiculous covered in all that snow," Luciano commented, looking calm as ever, crossing his arms behind his head as he propped his legs up on the seat opposite of himself. "Why are we all the way out in the ass end of Siberia anyway?"

"This is China," the Brittanian corrected, shaking his head as he pulled it free from the confines of the coat's hood. "And we're here, I believe, because our friends at Einherjar don't believe we're entirely trustworthy- they want to remind us of their power, and how easily they could destroy us."

"And they used the Butcher to do it," Luciano said in amusement, glancing out the doors to the massive, nearly seven foot tall giant of a man still standing on the hilltop. "Scary guy."

"And the most vicious dog Einherjar has," the other man agreed, settling into another of the helicopter's seats, tapping the pilot as he did so in order to alert the man it was time to leave. "Much like you were considered, in the old days."

"Old days? Are you saying I've lost my touch, old man?" Luciano challenged, his teeth bared in a wolf's grin.

"You let Clovis escape alive," he reminded the redhead.

"Clovis was a dupe who never knew a thing," Luciano scoffed, rolling his eyes. He paused, and reached under the seat, pulling free a black business bag, and from within that a laptop computer. "Besides, I think you'll forgive me when you see this footage we downloaded from the Factsphere of our test subject's Knightmares."

After a few audible keystrokes, Luciano presented him with the laptop proudly. On the screen was a video, in poor quality, from the point of view of the Knightmare.

He watched as a golden machine battled the Knightmare, watching two other Sidhe Knightmares, likely their other test subjects, come in and attack in sequence as well. The movements weren't coordinated like trained soldiers, he observed, but rather mechanically, done on observation rather than instinct.

His attention spiked when the golden machine began to glow a fierce, azure blue that was barely caught on video by the Factsphere, and Luciano, knowing that would catch his attention, paused it.

"So someone else built a Homunculus Drive," he muttered in wonderment. "From the looks of it, it's an energy supplement and amplifier to the Yggsdril Drive, like our own version."

"I thought you'd be interested in it," Luciano practically crowed, clapping his hands. "And guess what? This is that terrorist Jinchuu people have been talking about."

"The vigilante who has been attacking our shipments?" he blinked. Now there was a surprise. Could it be V.V., striking at him from the shadows? Still, the shipments of Reaper were nothing- things were already far beyond drugs at this point. "Interesting… I think we'd better meet him."

"How do you want to play it, boss? I assume if we let word get out about a big enough shipment he'll be bound to show up," Luciano questioned.

"That will do," he agreed, nodding, and his scarred face grimaced into a slight smile. "In fact, pretty soon I'll even have a new toy for you to test out when you're capturing him."

"They're ready?" Luciano asked, eyes widening, looking almost like a kid at Christmas.

"They are," he confirmed, a hint of amusement in his voice at Luciano's utter rapture. "Most of them are to be saved for Day Zero, but you can use a few to capture this Jinchuu. And remember, we need him alive- I want to know how he got his hands on a Homunculus Drive, and what he knows about V.V. and the Geass Order."

"I'll get him to you alive- or mostly alive," Luciano promised half-heartedly, grinning.

"There's one more piece of business I want to discuss," he continued quietly, ignoring Luciano's maniacally jovial tone. "I've heard reports there's a factory in Dudley that's attempting to replicate Reaper in an underground lab. The lab is run entirely by criminals, so there's no true threat, however, as they attempt to discover the formula that makes our drug, things could become… complicated."

"Because they just might stumble onto its real purpose," Luciano finished, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Consider it done."

00000

Lelouch tapped a finger against the keyboard contemplatively, resting his cheek against the palm of his other hand, propped up on its elbow. The document open on the laptop held a full bullet pointed outline, though he had paused mid sentence as he returned to the thoughts that had spurred him writing the document.

What could Luciano have wanted at the airport, Lelouch thought to himself. He destroyed the entire place in an absurdly showy manner… none of it makes any sense… I have to be missing something.

He chewed his lip and continued the rhythmic tapping noise, furrowing his brow.

"You forgot your dinner again, highness."

He blinked and jerked in his chair, turning around to face Jeremiah's amused expression. The older man held a metal tray in his hands, upon which sat a steaming plate of ham, peas, and potatoes, as well as a tall glass of iced tea.

"Ah… thank you Jeremiah. Must have lost track of time while I was working on these plans for Naoto-san," Lelouch said, blinking his suddenly tired eyes as he reached out and took the tray, setting it down on the desk. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"Countless times sir. But my respect must be shown." Jeremiah peered at the document, reading off the title and the objective statements before he turned back towards Lelouch, who was staring at him expectantly.

"Contingency plans for the entire London area being compromised?" he said in astonishment. "That's a bit much, don't you think sir?"

Lelouch shook his head as he took a slow drink of the tea, sighing in appreciation afterward. "Naoto-san and I both agree that Luciano could be up to anything, and that his organization must have a great deal of resources to pull off the attack on the airport. We can't discount anything."

"The True Knights… that group collapsed after the death of Lord Bismarck. There's no way they could have survived this long to resurface," he muttered with a frown, shaking his head. "Luciano must have spent the past seven years preparing for this on his own, building this new organization."

"But what's he after? And why now? He had to have chosen this time for a reason," Lelouch muttered, furrowing his brow again in frustration as he scowled. "None of it makes any sense."

"Well there's no sense in dwelling," Jeremiah said comfortingly, patting him on the shoulder. "There are plenty of other matters that need your attention."

He was, of course, attempting to push Lelouch towards the rapidly cooling plate of food that Lelouch was steadfastly ignoring, but naturally his young charge passed by the obvious, as always.

"True," Lelouch said with a tired sigh. "Jinchuu is still out there, and this airport problem has been taking away from my efforts to search for him. And with Clovis captured, the BLF will have to respond, especially if my suspicions are correct."

Jeremiah frowned, straightening. "Are you still certain it is Princess Cornelia in charge of the resistance movement?"

Lelouch nodded, rubbing his forehead.

"The facts are clear if you know where to look," he insisted patiently, his tone that of one giving a long practiced and thought out lecturer. "A member of the royal family is the most viable candidate to lead a resistance movement, and would also, conversely, have the most reason to hide that fact. Cornelia and the Third Imperial Armored disappeared in Scotland within a few weeks of the official surrender. Most of the biggest engagements the BLF have staged are consistent with tactics I learned from Andreas Darlton, the same tactics he taught to Cornelia, and as far as I know, she and I were his only students in the royal family. There are a few discrepancies that I suspect are linked with Schneizel's influence, but those are only vague suspicions that do not contradict my initial hypothesis."

"And you assume that Princess Cornelia will mount a rescue operation," Jeremiah concluded, his face marred by a frown.

"Cornelia has always had a soft spot for Clovis. She won't let Japan hold him in prison and execute him," Lelouch replied calmly, leaning back into his chair and tilting his head back, lost in old, dusty memories of his life as a prince. "But she'll be smart about it. She knows the prison in Greenwich is a risky venture. So she'll strike when it'll be easiest… when we transfer him to a more secure facility, for example."

He breathed out slowly, watching the few errant strands of his overly long bangs fly up for a moment as he did so. "I'll have to plan a secure route and a security plan once I know where we're transferring Clovis to," he murmured, half to himself.

"Right, well, until you do," Jeremiah began again, pushing the plate towards him, but once more, he was ignored.

"Jinchuu is the real issue. His interference at the airport was covered up, but it presents a deviation from his original behavior- he saved Japanese citizens, citizens of an empire he swore to destroy," Lelouch said softly, oblivious to the plate of food next to him. "The man's a danger to us all, and he only ever acts for his own purposes… I thought before he might have been an agent of some unknown organization at first, but with this… he has to be acting alone. One man's will, controlling a weapon of incredible power."

"Just one man, acting alone?" Jeremiah blinked, the implications coming through instantly to a trained solider such as himself. "Where does he get his supplies? His intelligence? He'd have to some kind of network, even unknowingly."

"Naoto-san assumes he has a way of getting information from us. After all, his identity is unknown, so anyone could be leaking information to him without even realizing it," Lelouch answered with a shrug. "As for the supplies… he must have some kind of benefactors, but whoever they are, they must not care what he does with his power."

"They just let a man loose with that much power?" Jeremiah exclaimed skeptically, frowning.

"Once we lock that psychopath up, I can spend plenty of time picking apart the psychology of his actions," Lelouch muttered determinedly. "For now, I think we should start looking into recent Sakuradite battery shipments. Could be that someone is nicking a few batteries off a shipment, a small amount that could easily be taken as errors in shipping manifestos."

"I can make some calls," Jeremiah offered. "And since the package arrived yesterday, sir, I can also visit the docks personally."

"Please do, but be careful," Lelouch murmured. "These people might be dangerous."

"Of course, your highness," Jeremiah said with a sweeping bow.

As he turned to leave, however, Jeremiah cast a wry glance backwards and said idly, "Speaking of dangerous, your highness… C.C. seemed rather cross at dinner. Do be careful."

Lelouch visibly stiffened, and Jeremiah's lips twitched. Just as he was about to shut the door on his way out, without turning around, he added, "Oh, and remember to finish those peas, my prince. You're still a growing boy."

00000

"Kallen-sama still isn't talking to you, Suzaku-sama?" Milly questioned, setting down his customary morning cup of tea on his desk. "You two should have made up last night."

"No, she wouldn't talk to me, even at dinner. She just… acted like I wasn't there," Suzaku muttered with a scowl as he blew on the surface of the green tea, hoping to cool it off. "What did I say?"

Milly only giggled, and his scowl deepened.

"Alright, well, this might cheer you up. Kaguya-sama has sent word that she will be coming here, tonight, to dine with you," Milly said formally, presenting him with a letter. "It's the first official visit she's made to the house in quite some time."

Suzaku nodded along, opening the letter and scanning it with only a minimum amount of attention, focusing more on his own thoughts than the words on the page.

Though Kaguya did spend a great deal of time in Brittania running and attending her pet project Academy, the fact remained that they actually saw each other occasionally at best, and almost always on official state business.

Unlike himself, Kaguya was very popular with the people of the Empire- beloved by both the pure blooded Japanese and the 'second class' citizens alike as both a political figure and a humanitarian (and also for a brief year, pop star. Suzaku secretly had her debut album on his computer, a fact that only Lelouch was aware of, which his so called best friend kept as incredibly useful blackmail material). She did charity work, endorsed the rights of non-Japanese citizens, and even opened that Academy in order to facilitate relationships between the Japanese and Brittanian peoples.

Suzaku hated her a little for all of it. Kaguya was too idealistic, too blind to see that for every run down orphanage she donated to, for every political lobbyist she persuaded to give greater rights to conquered peoples, for every little thing she tried to do for the down-trodden… it was all for nothing, really.

Those orphans still didn't have their families back. Those politicians were ineffectual or corrupt or both and would likely reverse those laws or not even bother to enforce them at all. Nothing was really changing in the world.

All of it was just assuaging guilt, in Suzaku's mind, because Kaguya understood, on some level, that all of her fame and wealth and influence was bought by the blood of millions, just like himself.

But if the Empire was gone, there would be no war orphans, no people stripped of their national sovereignty and pride, no need for all of it.

The one-time Suzaku had said as much to Kaguya, they hadn't spoken again for over a year.

Still, the public needed its prince and princess to be a family, and underneath it all Suzaku acknowledged Kaguya only wanted to do good, in whatever misguided way she could. She was still his cousin, and he did love her. He just didn't always see eye to eye with her.

"Please tell her I look forward to it, and I'm happy to host her here at the mansion," Suzaku said quietly. "And Milly, did you manage to get what I asked for?"

The blonde nodded, and reached inside of one of her hidden pockets to produce a small USB drive. With a glance at him and a silent request for permission, she reached over and plugged in the device into his laptop, typing in a few keystrokes after it booted up.

"This is the blueprint of the factory in Dudley, which is primarily a Sakuradite refinement and treatment facility that handles most, if not all, the Sakuradite mined in the country and offshore at the Sakuradite rigs," Milly said quietly, passing over the laptop after bringing up the image file. "According to this, the main building, here, has a container that is almost always holding a large amount of Sakuradite waiting to be refined, which we can use to destroy the facility. We have to be careful though, because the prisoner living quarters are situated adjacent to the primary factory building- fenced off and guarded by watchtowers, of course, but still close enough that they may be caught in the blast."

"Not a problem," Suzaku said grimly, clenching his jaw as he studied the outline of the complex. "I can set those people free before destroying the factory."

"You didn't say you were going to bust anyone out of jail," Milly commented, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

Suzaku blinked, turning towards her with a slightly perplexed look. "Why wouldn't I? The factory in Dudley is one of the first ones established- it has the most amount of political prisoners, people taken in the early years before I took power here."

"True, I guess just destroying the weapons factory and planting a banana grove there or something wouldn't be enough for you, but… well… not to rain on your parade there, Suzaku-sama, but what exactly will you do with those people once you free them?" Milly noted, glancing up at him. "It's not like you can just take them back with you.

"True, I didn't think of that," Suzaku acknowledged with a frown, bowing his head. "What do you think, Milly?"

"You should recruit them!" Milly exclaimed, clapping her hands delightedly. "Maybe make a resistance group of your own! The Knights of Earthly Justice or something like that."

"I can't go around training people, Milly- I'm barely able to keep my position as governor and Jinchuu as it stands," Suzaku refuted, shaking his head. "Much less manage an underground organization."

"Then you should send them off to the BLF or something," Milly shrugged, waving her hand dismissively.

"The BLF…" Suzaku murmured. So far, he had avoided having too much to do with that group- he refused to be used by them as a tool, lest they blunt his purpose. And if they discovered his identity… well, there could be all sorts of problems there.

He remembered that young commander he met though, that day in the Underground that seemed like a different lifetime ago. Gino, his name was- didn't he say that if Suzaku ever wanted to talk to the BLF, to go to a place called Malory's and ask for him?

"Hey Milly," Suzaku began, an idea forming in his head, "I need you to get a message out for me…"

00000

Euphemia hummed idly to herself as she grabbed another dish from the pile, one of the nameless tunes she often found herself unconsciously singing at times. For some reason, whenever she was alone, she found this one particular tune coming to mind more than any other.

"I remember that song."

Euphemia let out a slight yelp and nearly dropped the dish in her hands as she turned to her right to stare at Suzaku's apologetic face.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked gently, peering at her quizzically.

Still somewhat rattled, Euphemia shook her head, offering him a small smile. "N-no. I'm fine, Suzaku-sama."

As she met his eyes, however, she remembered his terrifying expression yesterday, that dark rage that she had never seen before on his face, as though Suzaku had become a different man altogether for a few moments, and shivered.

Suzaku, for his part, accepted her statement, and continued on ignorantly, "Well, I was just about to go over and visit Nunnally, and wanted to see if you wanted to come along- Milly has errands to run today, so she won't be able to come."

"Uh… yeah, sure, Suzaku-sama," Euphemia said quickly, nodding along. "Just let me finish up here. Milly-san said we needed all the chores done quickly today to prepare for your cousin's arrival."

Suzaku nodded in acceptance, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, simply watching her work, the two of them falling into a slightly awkward silence.

Finally, after a minute or so of not talking, Suzaku finally spoke. "Hey Euphie… you're a girl, right?"

Euphemia actually gave him a rather frosty, near indignant look over that remark, and he coughed, realizing his mistake.

"Er… okay, what I meant was… do you know why Kallen would be so angry at me for saying she was like a guy to me? I mean, I didn't really mean anything by it, I just tried to say she was one of my best friends and…" Suzaku trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

Euphemia's indignant look faded into a mixture of pity and girlish amusement. "Oh Suzaku-sama," she said with a shake of her head, "I think maybe Kallen-sama just wants to be seen as a girl, as well as your friend."

"I know she's a girl," Suzaku muttered stubbornly.

Euphemia giggled at his obstinacy, and Suzaku smiled at that.

"You've really changed, Euphie," Suzaku noted gently.

"I've changed?" she questioned, blinking in confusion.

"Or, I guess it's better to say you're acting more and more like your old self as the days go by," Suzaku corrected with a shrug, smiling a little wider at her. "It's a good thing, Euphie. Even if you can't remember your past, you're still you."

Euphemia felt her cheeks redden just a tad at the warm praise coming from Suzaku, and she looked away quickly. "Um… I'm done now, Suzaku-sama. We can go."

Suzaku blinked at the sudden change in topic, but accepted it, still as confused about women as he was when he started the conversation.

Still, he was happy to see Euphemia growing more and more lively- it made his next decision much easier.

"Hey Euphie," Suzaku began, as Euphemia turned around from drying her hands on a washcloth, peering over at him curiously. "I'm going to be going out of town for a few days, maybe a week, and I'd rather you stay here for right now- it's safer than being in a hotel where anyone might see and recognize you. Is that alright with you?"

Euphemia nodded, though her lips pressed together in a vague frown. "Um… Suzaku-sama… what are you going to be doing?"

"Oh just some official state business, going around for a goodwill mission, checking in on other parts of the country, that sort of thing," Suzaku said vaguely, forcing out a weak chuckle, trying to keep the conversation away from the exact specifics. He was stopping by a few major cities (including Dudley, the target site), but all in all the trip was just a good cover story. "It's all kind of boring, really, so don't worry too much about it…"

He trailed off when he realized Euphemia wasn't laughing, and just kept looking at him, even crossing her arms with that same no-nonsense, "Stop lying right now or I'll get mad" look she used to give him and Lelouch as a child when they tried to keep her out of their 'boys only' activities.

It worked now just as effectively as it did then, and Suzaku wilted.

"Suzaku-sama… I told you before you don't have to lie to me," Euphemia whispered softly, placing a soft, warm hand over his own with a pleading look. "I… I know."

Suzaku felt his heart skip a beat. "Euphie…"

"I'm not going to say anything else, and I don't have any way to help so I'm not going to get involved," Euphemia interrupted insistently, fixing him with a wide-eyed stare. "But you don't have to lie to me. Just… be careful."

The vulnerable expression and worried tone Euphemia's voice had taken on scared Suzaku, as he suddenly realized that, aside from himself and Milly, Euphemia was virtually alone. She had no memory of her mother, her father, her sisters, her brothers… any family or friends she had before that day in the Underground.

If something happened, she'd be alone again too.

"I will," Suzaku promised, though even he had to acknowledge it was more or less a lie- he was planning an assault on one of the most important factories in the country, guarded by the military (the deceased Kusakabe's division, not Naoto's own personal forces).

But Euphemia wasn't truly alone in the world- she just didn't know that.

Suzaku made a decision in a split second. All he had to do was pick up the phone and send a message…

00000

"I've forwarded you my recommendations for security regarding the prisoner transfer," Lelouch said quietly. He was leaning against the window of a deserted school hallway, keeping one eye out the window and one on the stairwell to make sure no one was coming by.

School was going to be over in just a few minutes, but Naoto said that this time would be the best to call, so Lelouch made some excuses and headed off to make the call. It helped being the Vice-President when you wanted to skip a class period.

"Thank you," Naoto said quietly. "Our search is narrowing, by the way- I think we've got the name of an arms dealer who might have the information we're looking for."

"Should I-" Lelouch began, but was cut off.

"No, I think I should keep you as an ace in the hole," Naoto interrupted, "Besides, if we're trying to keep this low profile, you might attract too much attention in that mask. Anyways, it's probably best I leave you here in case anything goes wrong. I've already left standing instructions with Major Minami to take his orders from you in an emergency if I am unavailable. And if he is not available, and any soldier asks for confirmation of your authority, tell him you are acting under Emergency Order Zero, code word Winter Contingency."

Lelouch blinked. That was a stunning level of power for someone outside the chain of command to be handed- with that standing order, Lelouch could quite easily take power at any point Naoto was incapacitated.

"Kallen-san won't like that," Lelouch murmured softly, a note of humor in his voice.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Naoto replied wryly. "Just remember those instructions- there might be a situation someday where I'll need you to take over."

"What do you mean by that?" Lelouch questioned, frowning, tucking one arm under the arm holding the cellphone, shifting his posture slightly. "Did something happen?"

"Just keep your head down and ears open for now," Naoto said evasively. "I'll let you know if anything comes up."

And with that, he hung up, leaving a confused and worried Lelouch on the other end of the line.

Just what was that all about, Lelouch thought to himself, staring down at his phone with a mixed expression. Maybe it's-

"Hey Lelouch!'

Lelouch, still leaning against the wall, slipped slightly, startled, glancing around wildly until he saw who had called out to him.

"Who were you just talking to, Lelouch?" Kallen questioned, peering at him quizzically as she moved closer to him.

Why does everyone insist on asking me that exact question when I'm trying to hide my secret identity, Lelouch wondered as he forced out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "N-No one, Kallen-san. Did you have something you needed from me?"

Kallen blinked, looking a little confused at his evasiveness, but she nodded along, and said, "Yeah, actually. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Lelouch by the tie (not again, he thought, annoyed) and dragged him off down the hallway and out the doors of the building, ignoring his flailing and garbled yelps for her to release him.

As soon as they were outside and alone in the school gardens, well away from where most people would be coming by, Kallen released him, and Lelouch coughed, rubbing his throat and giving her a slight glare.

"You could have just let me walk with you instead of dragging me off like that," he protested hoarsely. "Or even stayed in the hallway- I know the gardens are a bit more private, but honestly, no one is going to be on that stairwell until the school bell rings."

Kallen only smiled sweetly in response.

Lelouch scowled. "Alright, what's so important," he muttered, straightening his tie and smoothing out his wrinkled shirt.

Kallen's expression changed in an instant, and she looked away, though not before Lelouch caught a glimpse of an uncomfortable look on her face, and his scowl softened.

"Did something happen?" he questioned, blinking.

Kallen remained silent.

"Look, I mean, I'll do whatever I can to help, Kallen-san," Lelouch assured her gently, "But unless you tell me what's wrong I can't really-"

"Why is Suzaku such a jerk!" Kallen blurted out.

"-help and wait what?" Lelouch finished, blinking as his jaw fell slack. "What do you mean? Did he do something wrong?"

"He just… he just doesn't know when to stop talking!" Kallen insisted, her voice nearly strangled with raw frustration as she clenched her fists. "I mean, jeez, I don't like Kaguya's idea much either, but he didn't have to insult me like that! And what does he mean, I wouldn't look good in a dress? I oughta-"

"Okay, I think it's a safe guess to assume Suzaku said something that ticked you off," Lelouch joked weakly, interrupting her tirade as he held up his hands.

"Er… yeah, sorry, I guess I got carried away there," Kallen admitted, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Well it's not healthy to keep stuff like that bottled up I guess," Lelouch muttered, more to himself than to her, before he continued in a louder tone, "Okay, so, Suzaku insulted you- what did you want from me?"

Kallen shrugged, her cheeks darkening into a more substantial red than before. "Well… I mean… I guess I just really needed to talk to someone about this and vent, you know?"

"What about your brother? Or the President?" Lelouch questioned, raising an eyebrow as he added, "I mean, I'm flattered, but I would think there are others you've known longer…"

"I'm going to visit my brother today, but I'd rather not talk to him about this, really. And if I talk to Kaguya that can only lead to worse problems down the road," Kallen insisted, crossing her arms defiantly as she gave him a 'Are you dumb?' look. "Besides, you've known Suzaku a long time, and I thought… I don't know, that you'd have some insights."

"True," Lelouch admitted, knowing full well Kaguya was probably not the kind of person to defer to in this matter. "But as for insights… you've known him even longer- you should know that Suzaku would never intentionally insult a friend. He always means well, even if he is rather rough and uncouth about it at times."

Kallen's features softened at his words, and, though rather reluctantly, she nodded. "Alright… so what you're saying is, Suzaku's an idiot, but he's not a jerk."

Lelouch chuckled. "Yes." He opened his mouth to say more, when his phone began to buzz gently, chiming cheerily.

"Ah," Lelouch said, blinking, "Excuse me one moment. I have a text."

He flipped open his phone, and his mouth quirked into a wry smile as he saw the name of the owner of the message.

Speak of the devil, Lelouch thought to himself.

The message was short.

The usual place, Saturday, three o'clock.

Suzaku always liked to pretend at being secret agents or such when they were kids- he had been so delighted when Lelouch came up with their own secret hand sign language that, even though it took him four times as long to learn the language as it took Lelouch to create it, he had done it with amazingly dogged persistence.

When he looked up and met Kallen's questioning gaze, he smiled and showed her the name.

Kallen laughed a little at that, shaking her head. "He must have been sneezing while he texted you," she chuckled, and looked as though she was about to comment when another voice broke in.

"Yoo hoo! Kallen-chan!"

From the second story window, Kaguya's cheery face was visible, and her arm moved energetically back and forth in a vigorous wave. "Come on, the meeting's about to start!"

Lelouch and Kallen exchanged a droll smile, and Lelouch glanced up at Kaguya with an amused look. "Okay, we'll be there in a minute, President…"

Kaguya glanced down, as if noticing Lelouch for the first time, and smiled a little wider, if it were possible. "Oh, not you Lelouch-kun! I need you to run over to Commercial Street and place some orders."

"Can't you just phone it in?" Lelouch questioned loudly, frowning.

"Well I can't choose decorations based on what some lady is telling me they look like," Kaguya said as if it were obvious, giving him a nonplussed look. "But I'm going to need to get ready to visit my cousin today, so I can't go off to the East End personally, so I'm sending my right hand man."

"Me, in other words," Lelouch sighed, nodding his head. "Alright, alright. I assume I have the right to choose whatever I think works."

"Naturally- you have excellent taste, Lelouch-kun, despite being a boy," Kaguya said happily.

"Thanks for that vote of confidence," he muttered.

00000

Rivalz yawned sleepily, wishing for the umpteenth time he hadn't given in to temptation and watched the documentary on motorcycles that had been playing right before his usual bedtime. Still, school was over now, and as he crossed his arms behind his head and walked with the crowd towards the above ground rail system.

Though he was a member of the Brittanian Liberation Front, he had to admit he kind of liked the rail system the Japanese installed over the old Underground railway- much cleaner and faster, really.

As the crowd thinned out Rivalz was surprised to spot a familiar face heading towards the Station as well, and he called out, "Oi, Lelouch-san!"

The Vice-President of the Student Council glanced backwards, and offered him a friendly smile in greeting. "Ah, Rivalz-san. Are you going to the Station as well?"

"Yeah," Rivalz replied, giving him a curious look. "I've never seen you go this way- you going out to the East End?"

"Ah, yeah, Commercial Street. Student Council business and all that. And yourself?" Lelouch asked politely.

Rivalz grinned. "I'm headed the same way. My job- you remember, that pub I was working at when you came by? The Commercial Street Station is the closest one to it."

"Oh right," Lelouch murmured, the memory of that encounter coming back to him. It had only been a few days since then, but that was also before he assumed the name of Rei, and the time before that seemed long ago now. "Yes, I remember."

After that, the two of them began to exchange pleasantries, and, to his surprise, Rivalz found Lelouch rather easy and interesting to talk to, the two of them falling into an amiable atmosphere as they walked into the station and towards the tram.

"So what do you for fun, Lelouch-san?" Rivalz asked curiously, as they boarded the train.

"I like chess," Lelouch admitted, as the two of them took a standing space near one of the doors, "Though any kind of game is interesting to me. C.C. bought us a PFP Homestation when it came out, so I've had to play a lot of those with her."

"Oh wow, I didn't really figure her for the type to like video games," Rivalz said in surprise, blinking. "What kind of games do you guys play?"

"We have a pretty varied library- League of Heroes, Princess Tactics, Iron Kingdoms, Call of the Mission: Medal of Valor, and for a short while she even had me playing Land of Battlecraft," Lelouch rattled off, a slight smile on his face. "We used to play fighting games like Alley Fighter 4, but I got better than her so she sold the game."

"Oh Battlecraft," Rivalz said fondly, grinning. "Which server were you guys on?"

"Bloodtide," Lelouch answered, meeting Rivalz's gaze with a curious look. The train shook slightly and Lelouch's hand shot up automatically to grab at one of the handholds. "You play?"

"On a different server, but yeah, I played when it came out. A friend of mine got me into it, though since she moved to the Eurasian Federation I haven't played much," Rivalz replied, shrugging with one arm, using the other to hold onto the handhold above him. "So besides video games, you said you like chess? Have you ever heard of the chess games they have at Hyde Park sometimes?"

"The ones people play for money?" Lelouch blinked. He had heard a rumor about that from some people who had come by the bakery once or twice, but he had never believed that people actually risked money on those games.

"That's the ones," Rivalz said cheerily, grinning again. "If you've got a knack for it, you can win plenty of money there."

"What sorts of people are gambling on these games?" Lelouch asked, bewildered. It just seemed silly to gamble money on chess.

"Snooty former nobles, a lot of the time, the ones who have the money and connections to still live comfortably even now by being useful in some way to the new government. Not a lot of Japanese come by- they prefer to thumb their nose at chess and play shogi or Go instead, so it's a nearly all Brittanian crowd," Rivalz explained casually, his expression bright. "I can take you there sometime."

Lelouch gave him a dubious look. "Rivalz-san, if I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted me to enter these games and win that money… presumably splitting a share with you."

Rivalz grinned and tried his best to look innocent.

Lelouch thought about it, then finally shrugged and nodded. "Well, I'll think about it."

And the funny thing was, he actually meant it.

Because between his mundane life at the Academy (yes, somehow Kaguya's insanity taking over his daily life had made madness routine) and the mind numbing, stressful time he was spending as Naoto's personal war adviser, winning a little money off of a few ex-nobles while getting a bit of intellectual fun out of the deal sounded rather appealing.

00000

Shirley was finding herself more and more accustomed to arriving at that rather innocent looking wooden door of the Student Council room as the days went on, her footsteps now taking her almost automatically from her classroom to the clubroom. It was kind of fun, she had to admit, especially when C.C. or Kaguya made Lelouch flustered and he started turning red, his normally smug, self-assured nature vanishing completely.

As she opened the door, she was greeted by the familiar sight of the Student Council- Sumeragi lounging lazily in her absurdly ostentatious pink monstrosity of a chair, C.C. reclining into her chair, yet another magazine in her hands, and Kouzuki busy with a notebook.

One member, however, was absent, which brought Shirley to a halt.

"Ah… Lelouch-san isn't here?" Shirley questioned, her words catching the attention of the other three girls.

"Oh no, Shirley-chan! I had to send him to take care of some Student Council business! Sorry, I should have let you know in advance," Kaguya apologized, bowing her head as she got out of the chair.

"Ah… okay," Shirley said, blinking in surprise as she turned to go-

"Oh don't leave!" Kaguya said quickly, grabbing at her sleeve. "Stay, please! We could use another voice in deciding things for the Ball!"

Shirley hesitated, and Kaguya seized upon her moment of weakness, pulling her onto one of the empty chairs.

"Now," Kaguya said happily, once Shirley was in her seat, "What are you thinking to go as for the Ball, Shirley-chan?"

"I… I haven't really thought about it," Shirley said slowly, trying to hide a small frown. She was a member of the Brittanian Liberation Front, a Knightmare pilot even- she had more important things to worry about than some silly ball.

"I think you should go as a magical girl! Or maybe a cute witch!" Kaguya suggested, grinning. "I think you with an overly large witch's hat, staff, and maybe a small black cat would be perfect!"

C.C. coughed, and Kaguya and Shirley both glanced over at her.

"Oh yes, I know what you're going as, C.C.-chan," Kaguya said, waving her hand dismissively, "But your costume will be so different from Shirley-chan's over here."

"A witch's costume," Shirley muttered, feeling an odd moment of nostalgia coming over her. "I did that once, when I was eight…"

"Well, then this is perfect! Bring back the old, fond memories of your childhood!" Kaguya urged, clapping her hands delightedly. "Now, Kallen-chan, let's work on your costume."

Kallen's cheeks went slightly pink as she looked up at Kaguya from her notebook. "Look, Kaguya, I…"

"I'm thinking bunny suit!" Kaguya suggested suddenly.

"Not on your life!" Kallen shot back, horrified at the very prospect. "I would never, ever do that."

Even Shirley, who rather disliked Kallen on a professional level as an enemy, had to admit that even she wouldn't wish that kind of embarrassment on the other girl.

"Oh fine, if you don't like that idea…" Kaguya hummed thoughtfully, tapping her index finger against her lips. "How about a red plugsuit? You could get some hair extensions and some red hair clips too!"

"That show's a little dated," Shirley commented idly, without thinking.

Kaguya blinked, turning back towards Shirley with an expression of delighted surprise. "Oh, Shirley-chan! You watch anime?"

"Er… Rivalz likes them, and he convinced me to watch a few with him," Shirley admitted embarrassedly.

"Did you see the new movie?" Kallen asked curiously.

Shirley met her gaze and, for once, didn't feel that usual rush of dislike and resentment toward the other girl that she usually did when looking at her. Most of the time, Kouzuki Kallen was a symbol of the Empire, a traitor to her Brittanian blood and a terrible enemy of the BLF.

Right now, to Shirley, she looked like just another girl.

"Yeah, I did," Shirley nodded. What the heck, talking won't change anything between us. We're still enemies outside of this school. "I loved the new CGI."

"Right?" Kallen said excitedly. "The mecha were so cool- I wish I had something like those."

"You pilot a mecha in real life," C.C. noted dryly, glancing up from her magazine.

"Yeah, but those mecha are way bigger," Kallen refuted, grinning.

"Still, psychic control over a machine?" Shirley commented, raising an eyebrow. "That's just science fiction."

"True, there's no way anyone has a machine like that," Kallen agreed, shrugging. "But it's cool. Hey if you want I can let you borrow some of my other mecha series, Shirley-san. G-Fighter is cool…"

"It's kind of tacky," C.C. said, wrinkling her nose in disdain.

"Cheesy can be good," Kallen said defensively. "It's better than a more depressing series anyway."

"True, true," Kaguya agreed, cutting in with a smile as she turned back towards Shirley. "So, Shirley-chan, besides anime that you're forced to watch… what else do you like? Any hobbies?"

"Swimming, I guess," Shirley said automatically, shrugging. "I've always enjoyed it- if I didn't have anemia I might have tried out for the swim team here."

"Oh, well that sounds lovely! Maybe you can teach me sometime," Kaguya murmured, "I don't really know how to myself."

Being offered to teach the princess of the enemy nation swimming, Shirley thought. This is beyond surreal. Secret identities are confusing.

00000

Rivalz waved goodbye to Lelouch as they split off from each other at a stoplight- Lelouch was headed to a more respectable part of town, the part of town owned now by the Japanese, while Malory's was well out of the way of the main areas, a nice hole in the wall in a lower-middle class neighborhood for Brittanians only.

He found, despite their apparent differences, that he rather liked Lelouch- the guy was funny, in his own way.

Rivalz's good mood increased significantly as he stepped inside Malory's to see a blonde- a hot blonde, at that, with a bombshell figure, dressed in a modest blue skirt, matching blouse, and green jumper- sitting at one of the tables, looking bored.

Without thinking, he glanced over at Mac, who grunted and inclined his head towards the girl, who was already standing as he walked in the door, and walking right towards him.

Oh God oh God I should have worn cologne or something, Rivalz thought, panicked, wishing he had changed out of his school uniform (as it was, his tie was crooked and loose, his shirt hadn't seen an iron in a week, and his slacks had a mustard stain on them from lunch).

"Hi, are you Rivalz?" she asked, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear with a friendly smile that made his pulse quicken. "I was told to leave a message for Gino Weinberg, and that barkeep over there said you could get it to him for me?"

"I… er…" Rivalz stammered, flushing, "Yeah, y-you can leave the message with me, Miss…"

"I'd rather not say," she said with a titter, offering him a coy look.

"Uh… yeah, that's cool," Rivalz said blankly, more to say something, anything coherent than for the sake of understanding.

"So can I get a pen or something?" the girl asked politely.

Man, her eyes are really, really blue.

Rivalz stared. "Uh… a pen?"

The girl smiled in amusement, and held up a notepad she had probably gotten from Mac. "To write down the message."

"Oh, of course," Rivalz said awkwardly, and tried to shift around to get his backup off his shoulder so he could grab a pen, but only succeeding in bumping into her instead, nearly knocking her over.

She reeled back, placing her hands against his chest to steady them both, and gave him another one of those smiles. "Whoa there cowboy."

"Uh… sorry," Rivalz managed, ducking his head so she couldn't see his embarrassed flush. God, what the hell was wrong with me… and why are her hands so soft!

She let go of him as they regained their balance, and Rivalz finally grabbed a pen and presented it to her.

He gained a small smile as a reward, and, after a minute or so of scribbling, was handed the message in question.

"Thanks for the pen," she said lightly, handing it back to him with a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Rivalz."

"Nice meeting you too!" he said, voice breaking- of course, she was already out the door when Rivalz finally mustered up the courage to reply, rendering the greeting moot.

As Rivalz shakily made his way over to the bar, Mac passed him a glass of water and grunted.

"Yes, I know she was out of my league," Rivalz said defiantly, and gulped down a large amount of water for his suddenly dry throat.

Mac's rough, weathered face grimaced into what might have been a leathery smile.

"Oh shut up," Rivalz muttered.

00000

Milly smiled widely as she exited the bar- she hadn't managed a reaction like that out of a man in, well, ever, and she wasn't even in the maid outfit. He was kind of cute too, in a darkish, boy-next-door sort of way.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone began to pulse from within her purse, and Milly put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ahoy, Milly!" Lloyd's cheery alto lost none of its lilting, off-kilter joviality even through an electronic medium.

"Ah, hello, Lloyd," Milly said in greeting. Lloyd had been instructed to call Milly for any and all dealings, to help keep up Suzaku's cover story. "Do you have the new Sakuradite batteries?"

"They're at the shop, ready for delivery," Lloyd chirped. "At the rate your boy is going through them I've already started looking into getting another batch."

"Thanks again for doing all this, Lloyd. Really," Milly said gratefully.

"The technology in your friend's machine is well worth the effort of helping out," Lloyd replied with a high laugh. "Fascinating stuff- I've been going over some of the tests we've done and they are simply unbelievable. And any time we're able to look at the technology inside, we can't get a good read on what makes it tick- there's a big black box we can't crack."

The technology… suddenly Milly remembered Euphemia's garbled, robotic words from that harrowing night at the airport. All that techno-wizard babble sounded like gibberish to her, but maybe Lloyd knew something about it. After all, he had been one of her grandfather's top R&D men before the war.

Now what were some of the things Euphie-chan said… something about a Faust Protocol… armor structure… oh, Homunculus Drive. That has to mean something.

"Hey Lloyd," Milly began slowly, trying to sound casual, "Have you ever heard of anything called a Homunculus Drive before?"

Lloyd actually fell silent at that- and that action alone concerned Milly above all others.

"Well, now, Milly, you lied to me!" Lloyd finally cackled after a long moment, "You told me old Reuben never shared any technological secrets with you!"

"My grandfather?" Milly blinked in confusion, pressing the phone closer to her ear. "Just what does my grandfather have to do with all of this?"

"Your grandfather was the one first theorized the possibility of a Homunculus Drive, of course!" Lloyd declared, sounding puzzled. "Converting psychic impulse into a Knightmare control matrix capable of generating energy independent of the Sakuradite battery- of course, not even he could work out an engine capable of that. It violates one of the basic laws of the universe, that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. Of course, your grandfather insisted that psychic energy, or willpower, as he liked to say, was a form of energy itself."

"So… this Homunculus Drive…" Milly said slowly, trying to understand and keep up with Lloyd's quickening tone, "Is it dangerous? To the user, I mean."

"Well…" Lloyd drawled, sounding as though he was pulling dusty memories out of the dark, "The think tank your grandfather had working with him on the project did hypothesize there could be adverse effects on the psyche of the user. Amplification feedback loop and all that."

"What does that mean?" Milly pressed, biting her lip worriedly.

"Insanity is obviously a risk- a human being can only take so much cerebral input, and an initial connection to the Homunculus Drive could quite possibly destroy a man's mind. But individuals with the will to overcome that, your grandfather also said, could potentially use the Homunculus Drive without going insane immediately… though the risk of mental contamination would still remain," Lloyd commented in his same lilting tone, an almost whimsical note in his voice as he talked about the horrific side effects of this technology.

"And what exactly does mental contamination mean?" Milly asked impatiently, nearly drawing blood from her lip with the force she was biting down with.

"It's like suffering a brain injury," Lloyd explained, either not noticing or not caring about the intensity of her tone- with him, it could be either. "Loss of emotional control. Difficulty with memory or perhaps long term thinking, like someone can't plan things out that well anymore or something. It might not be all the time, but the momentary lapses, we postulated, could potentially grow more frequent and longer lasting, maybe even becoming permanent through prolonged usage."

Milly frowned, feeling her stomach turn over as the implications hit her.

Events of the past month came back in a blur.

The first day Suzaku-sama brought home that machine, he barely even considered the full implications of what he had been doing, or even how to get basic supplies to keep his machine running.

Or at the airport, when he wanted to go charging in without a plan again- Suzaku-sama is headstrong and stubborn, but even he should have known that wasn't a good plan…

"But it can't be," Milly whispered. Suzaku-sama's just forgetful, that's all.

But a loss of emotional control…

Just a few hours ago… I've never seen him so angry before. Not ever, not even when he first saw those labor camps.

"That's an awful lot of problems," she commented, trying to instill brevity in her voice and failing as she pushed away the memories, refusing to even acknowledge that horrific idea.

"Why do you think the project was scrapped? No one could figure out a buffer interface that would solve the problem," Lloyd quipped. "And besides, it's not like anyone's actually built one of these things. Technology's too far advanced- can you imagine, a way to psychically control a Knightmare Frame? Your friend's machine taking verbal commands is ludicrous enough."

"Ah… true… this is all just theory anyway, right?" Milly said awkwardly, forcing a laugh. "How do you know so much about all this, anyway Lloyd?"

"I was on the think tank, of course," Lloyd answered simply, as if it were obvious.

Milly blinked. "If you were on the think tank, do you think you could come up with some kind of countermeasure to the side effects? Hypothetically, of course," she added with a weak laugh.

"A buffer system might be able to delay or reduce the effects," Lloyd replied with a humming noise, "But you know, Milly, now that I think about it, your friend the Prince's machine does show some characteristics of a Homunculus Drive powered machine…"

"Okay, listen, Lloyd, please- keep this between us for now, alright? I don't want Suzaku-sama hearing about this discussion just yet," Milly pleaded, though her tone took a note of steel.

"Sure, sure. I'm going to poke around in my old notes, see if there's anything on that Drive that I can't remember off the top of my head anyways," Lloyd said carelessly, probably not even noting the concern in her voice. "Talk to you later then!"

"Yeah," Milly said numbly, shutting the phone as she tried not to think about the conversation she just had, or its terrible implications for her master.

00000

"Oh, I always love coming to your house, Suzaku," Kaguya said cheerily, her eyes practically drinking in the Western style décor as she clapped her hands in glee. "No one will let me get any of these adorable Brittanian-style rooms at the Sumeragi estate."

Of course not, Suzaku thought to himself wryly. The very idea of putting anything gaijin in one of the centuries old estates of the Six Houses was nothing short of blasphemy.

His own decision to build and live in a Western style house, and even employ Brittanian maids instead of Japanese serving girls was considered highly eccentric already, but his status gave him at least some leeway when not in the mainland. Besides, being reviled or mocked by the Japanese nobility wasn't something Suzaku cared that deeply about.

"Where's Kallen-chan?" Kaguya blinked, glancing around the room. "I would have thought she'd be here."

They were in the formal dining hall, a large, stately room that had been decorated to look more 'authentically Brittanian' by Milly. Surrounding the two royals were nearly all of Suzaku's household staff, excluding Milly, who was apparently running late. Euphemia stood nervously in one corner of the room, looking as though she desperately wanted to avoid messing up tonight.

Suzaku coughed, looking uncomfortable. "I uh…she's visiting her brother today. It'll just be you and me, Kaguya."

"Funny, she should have said something to me at the Student Council meeting," Kaguya murmured, a brief frown crossing her usually sunny face before it faded, and she sat down in a chair that one of the maids pulled out for her. "Oh well."

"Right, you appointed her to the Council," Suzaku said, a note of amusement in his voice as he took his own seat across from Kaguya, nodding in thanks to Euphemia, who had been the one to pull out his chair. "I can imagine she was pretty shocked."

"Oh her face was classic. Almost as good as that time I guessed her Tanabata wish," Kaguya said with a giggle.

"You never did tell me what that was," Suzaku commented lightly, allowing himself a small smile.

"It's a girl's secret," Kaguya explained primly, her tone suggesting she had said this phrase a number of time already.

Suzaku shook his head. "Right… Speaking of things like that, I heard you chased away another potential match the Imperial Council was trying to set up for you," he commented.

Kaguya smiled, her expression giving away nothing. "Oh please, there's no way that a crotchety old man like that could have been my match," she said dismissively. "The Council has to consider men of power, but I don't want just any man of power."

"Sooner or later they will force you, you know," Suzaku muttered. "They did with me."

"Oh, but you and Kallen-chan have known each other for so long! The match is perfect, politically and personally," Kaguya exclaimed, and Suzaku really had nothing more to say on the subject.

After that, the maids shuffled around, presenting the first course of the meal, a light salad and cream of mushroom soup (Suzaku, in defiance to usual traditions, had gone with a full Western style meal, which he knew Kaguya would appreciate).

As they dined, Kaguya glanced up at him with a pensive look, and, too casually, she said, "I heard from Kirihara-ojii-san that your stewardship over this land might be revoked."

Suzaku stiffened, though he drank his soup as though nothing was wrong. "Yes," he said, and nothing more.

"Do you want me to talk to the Council?" Kaguya asked politely- in most things, she would have gone ahead and done exactly what she pleased, but even Kaguya had to respect his wishes in matters such as this.

"No, that's alright," Suzaku replied, shaking his head, pausing to wipe his mouth with his napkin. "Thank you for your concern, but if the Council wants to do this, they will."

"Are you doing alright, Suzaku-kun?" Kaguya pressed, peering over at him as their soup and salad plates were taken away, traded out for the main course, Beef Wellington.

"I'm fine," Suzaku said stiffly, "Though, I am preparing a short diplomatic leave next week."

"Oh really?" Kaguya blinked. "It seems a bit sudden- are you sure it'll be alright, considering the state of things?"

"It's because of the state of things, actually," Suzaku explained, taking a slow drink of his water. "I think I need to step away from London for a bit, visit the countryside and take stock of how the rest of the country is doing."

Kaguya tilted her head, as if considering his words, before she nodded. "That makes sense," she said slowly, and offered him a smile. "You're growing into your position as a Prince and a governor, Suzaku-kun."

The praise felt hollow to Suzaku, though he smiled back. "I've had time to grow into it. The first year I was here was awful- no one listened to me. Every proposal I made, every change I tried to effect… came to nothing."

"But you kept trying," Kaguya said politely, a slight urging in her voice. "People have noticed your efforts, Suzaku-kun."

"Instead of noticing, they should try to follow," Suzaku said quietly, a darkness in his tone. "I heard there was another 'pacification' in rural China just last month. That doesn't sound like anyone's trying to change."

"The people there were sheltering rogue elements and building weapons to fight the local authority," Kaguya defended reluctantly, sighing as she set her utensils down, her appetite spoiled by the mention of the killings. "The Empire is old, Suzaku-kun- we won't be able to change it immediately. It takes time, and the work of all of us."

"Too much time, and in the meantime too many people die," Suzaku muttered, shaking his head in anger. "We need change now. Not in a decade or two."

"When you ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne, that's when you can really make things change," Kaguya said, reaching across the table to place a gentle hand over his own, but he pulled away.

"I don't want the throne," Suzaku all but snarled, his plate of food forgotten.

"You used to," Kaguya said faintly, meeting his fury with a tranquil, though sorrowful gaze. "Oh Suzaku-kun… you've changed so much. You used to love the Empire with all your heart."

"They betrayed everything I thought we stood for. All that talk about honor, and the Justice of Heaven… and in the end I was used to start a war which the Empire only fought out of greed," Suzaku hissed, as the memories of that day, seven years ago, returned.

"There's no such thing as justice, kid," came the sneering voice. "All that matters in the Empire is power."

"I'm not condoning what was done," Kaguya said softly, her tone that of steel covered in velvet, "But what's done is done."

"Yeah," Suzaku agreed hoarsely, looking down, his fists clenched. "What's done is done."

They lapsed into silence for a minute, until Kaguya spoke again.

"So… what are you going to be for my Halloween Ball?"

Suzaku's head jerked up from his food and he frowned, giving her a severe look. Kaguya was always the master of the Mood Whiplash, but right now, he just didn't want to deal with it.

"Why do you do that?" Suzaku asked softly. "Why do you always do things like that- we were talking about something serious just a moment ago, something that means a lot to me, and then you switch over to another of your ridiculous ideas? How can you just act like things in the real world don't matter?"

Kaguya, for once, didn't laugh. She smiled, but it wasn't her usual sunny expression- rather, it was solemn, a smile that belonged on someone far older and wiser than herself.

"Because they do matter," Kaguya said simply. "Because if I stop making the absurd and silly and ridiculous happen… all we have left is the real world. And that's a terrible place, don't you think?"

Suzaku was so flabbergasted he barely registered the question, meeting Kaguya's calm, seemingly ageless eyes with uncertainty. "Y-yeah…"

That solemn, sage-like smile faded, replaced by that familiar sunny grin. "Good! So, I was thinking you should do a matching costume with Kallen-chan, maybe matching plugsuits, or some other kind of anime couple theme…"

And as Kaguya rattled on and on about her idea, for once, Suzaku didn't find it so absurd.

00000

"He's not at the officer's mess?" Kallen said with a blink.

Alice, who had met her at the gate of the base, shook her head. "No, sorry Kallen-sama. He's been in his room most of the day."

"What?" Kallen said in confusion. "That's not like him."

"He got a call from someone. After that, he told everyone on base to do practice maneuvers and shut himself up in his quarters. Even Lieutenant Sancia hasn't been allowed in to see him," Alice said concernedly, as they walked towards the officer's barracks.

Now Kallen was worried. Sancia was her brother's right hand woman, the person he trusted above all else. If even she wasn't allowed to see him…

Kallen made it to her brother's room and tried the doorknob, but it clicked with the distinctive sound of a locking mechanism.

"Naoto-sama never locks his room," Alice commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Good thing I have a key," Kallen muttered, fishing the key out of her pocket. "Alice, you'd better let me handle this alone."

Alice nodded, stepping back as Kallen entered the room, which was dimly lit, and so it took her a moment to adjust to the change in lighting. This room was her brother's lounge, of sorts, where he rested and occasionally did his work, and contained a desk, a couch, a mini-fridge, and a television on the far wall.

After she did so, she spotted her brother, and fell back in shock.

"Have you… have you been drinking?" Kallen sputtered.

Naoto glanced up at her from his half-empty beer bottle, and then looked around at the four more bottles scattered on the floor. "It's possible," he admitted.

"What!" Kallen shrieked, stomping on towards him with a furious expression. Her hand cocked back to slap the bottle out of his hands, but Naoto was faster, grabbing her wrist mid swing.

"I was always better at hand to hand," Naoto chided as he got to his feet, straightening, keeping his hold on her wrist.

"What is wrong with you?" Kallen demanded, yanking her hand free. "You're cooped up in your room drinking at this hour? You've never done this before- and even refusing to see Sancia!"

Instead of answering, Naoto grabbed a single sheet of paper off the desk and passed it off to her, taking a long swig of his beer afterward.

Kallen read off the paper and her face went deathly pale. Shakily, she looked up at her brother, who nodded grimly.

"No official word has hit or will hit the media yet, but this is confirmed by the military High Command in Kyoto," Naoto explained tiredly, falling back onto the couch. "As of 0900 Tokyo time, we have confirmed reports that the Akihito Forward Base in northern China was attacked by Federation forces."

"Emperor preserve us," Kallen whispered, dropping the paper to the floor. "That means…"

"It's going to be war," Naoto agreed darkly, downing the last of his drink. "The call I got today was from High Command, General Ikari himself. They've instructed me and elements of the 75th Regiment to escort a diplomatic envoy to the Federation."

"Wait, why would the Federation accept diplomacy if they're already attacked?" Kallen exclaimed, blinking in confusion. She was a soldier, not a diplomat, but even she could see that made no sense.

"The Eurasian Senate is claiming it was an unsanctioned action, and they are even offering reparations for the dead. And the Einherjar Commander responsible for the attack is Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov," Naoto said quietly, and even he shuddered at the name. "Which means it is plausible, if not probable, that this was a simple matter of an overzealous commander."

"The Butcher…" Kallen leaned back against the table, shaking her head. She had heard of his reputation- most professional soldiers had, at one point or another. The town of Khardov was a city within the former country of Russia which had been a long holdout of the Unification War, or at least it had been until the Butcher paid it a visit. Now it was a ghost town. "A madman like that should never be allowed to lead men."

"I was there in Manchuria- I fought him and his people. Trust me, I know," Naoto muttered, pulling free another beer from his mini-fridge. Bad memories in Manchuria- Zoktavir's name coming up in the report made drinking all the more desirable. "But since it was a madman who did the attack, we are obligated to accept the Federation's plea for diplomacy. If they wanted to attack and not show their hand, Zoktavir is the perfect soldier for the job."

"When we attacked Brittania, we didn't wait for diplomacy," Kallen noted- she had made it a point to study the Three Month War in detail while at the Imperial Academy.

"Brittania was a tiny nation in comparison to the Federation, and a war with Eurasia could take years rather than months. We can't descend into a war we're not fully sure we can win, especially with the Equatorial League ready to make themselves into a kingmaker," Naoto scowled, shaking his head. "I hate politics, but right now it's keeping us from descending into a bloodbath the likes of which the world has never seen."

"Why you?" Kallen asked curiously, settling down on the couch next to him. "Why send you to the negotiation table?"

"I'm the highest ranking military officer so close to the Federation's requested meeting point. And the 75th is… quite frankly… expendable," Naoto muttered, sipping his beer, and at Kallen's look, he waved his hand to silence her. "No, don't give me that. Both High Command and the Imperial Council consider me and my unit as something of a curious experiment, nothing more. If this turns into a trap we won't be missed as much as a more experienced and 'pure' regiment. "

Kallen sighed, unable to meet her brother's eyes any further. It always hurt to be reminded that, despite her brother's decorated record, he was still hampered by his desire to integrate non-Japanese into the military on such a level, a desire that her brother had first had because of her.

"When do you leave?" she finally asked, looking back over at him.

"Next week," Naoto said softly. "I'm leaving Rei in charge of the rest of the forces here- unofficially, of course, but you will follow his commands in any battle situation, including the transfer of the prisoner Clovis to the mainland. Rei and I both have a feeling that will lead to some trouble."

"Rei?" Kallen sputtered, her ennui giving way to outrage. "You want to leave a masked man who we don't even know in charge?"

"He's a better commander than me, and I trust him. With Sancia and myself away, he's my choice, and that's final," Naoto insisted coldly.

"You don't have any authority over me," Kallen shot back, crossing her arms.

"Not in any official terms, but I am still your older brother, Kallen," Naoto reminded her, narrowing his eyes. "I'm asking you to do this for me. Please. While I'm gone, listen to him."

"Fine," Kallen finally replied, "But I won't like it."

"I never expected you would," Naoto joked weakly, chuckling.

"What about Suzaku?" Kallen questioned, frowning. "With you gone, wouldn't it be harder to hide Rei's involvement?"

"Suzaku's actually going out of town before I am, as part of his duties as governor, looking in on the other cities," Naoto answered, giving her a quizzical look. "I'm surprised you didn't know."

Kallen blushed. "Er… I actually haven't talked to him in a day or so."

"Oh?" Naoto questioned, raising an eyebrow, a real smile breaking through his gloomy expression. "Why's that?"

"No reason. Shut up!" Kallen said quickly, punching her brother in the arm.

And despite the pain, and the knowledge that, in the coming days, he and his people would probably be on the forefront of the bloodiest war mankind had yet seen, Naoto laughed.

00000

"So yeah, now the school president is looking for a witch outfit for me to wear," Shirley explained, shaking her head incredulously. "I can't believe someone so insanely helpful exists in the universe. I mean, I guess it's not so bad, it's just… weird."

Walking alongside her down the school hallway, listening patiently and looking almost pensive, was Rivalz, who replied, "Huh, never thought you'd be talking so much and so nicely about someone from the Empire."

Shirley scowled, and he amended quickly, "I mean, it's a good thing! I always thought you were a tsundere, just minus any dere, but hey, here you go making friends!"

He flinched as Shirley whirled on him, ready to deliver another dose of corporal punishment for his careless words, but before she could strike, a voice rang out.

"Hello Rivalz-kun, Shirley-san," Lelouch Lamperouge greeted politely, waving at them from down the hall as he approached.

"Hey Lelouch!" Rivalz said happily, flush with his narrow escape. "Glad I caught you! I found one of those chess matches- Sunday, around noon, if you're interested."

Lelouch blinked. "I…"

Rivalz smiled pleadingly. "Oh, come on, man. It'll be fun- I'll be with you every step of the way. And if you're really as smart as everyone says you are, you're bound to win a ton of money."

Lelouch sighed, and shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt." He was about to continue, when another voice down the hall called out to him, and he replied, "Yes, yes, coming Sensei."

He gave Shirley and Rivalz an apologetic look. "Sorry, I have to go. Shirley-san, I'll see you afterschool."

And with that, he jogged off. As they watched him go, Shirley turned towards Rivalz with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when did you two get so close?" Shirley questioned archly.

Rivalz shrugged. "We took a train ride together and ended up talking the whole way over to Commercial Street. He's a pretty cool guy, Shirley. Normal as all hell, but cool."

Shirley frowned doubtfully and said nothing.

Rivalz rolled his eyes at the expression. "Oh, come on Shirley, even you have to admit he's not as bad as you used to say he was. He's a nice guy- I mean, sure he's pretty idealistic, but hey, that's not really a sin, is it?"

Shirley sighed in acceptance.

"Alright, fine, I'll admit, he's not so bad," she said reluctantly, shaking her head. And Lelouch, she supposed, really wasn't- as a tutor he was ever patient and never overtly critical, and she had seen the way the Student Council members seemed to always rely on him. He might complain, but he never once refused C.C. or Kaguya's requests.

There were worse things than being a naïve, idealistic idiot with a nice streak, she supposed.

00000

Despite the news that a war was on the horizon, there was still plenty to do on the home front for Naoto. He had already decided early on who he was taking and who he was leaving behind- almost all of his most experiences companies were to go with him, except for Taiyou, which would remain here to support Kallen.

But there were still plenty of papers to sign, requisitions to be made, and the unending hunt for Jinchuu and the Brittanian Resistance to worry over. Lelouch could handle the last problem, but seeing as how his 'Rei' persona was only viable during a true battle and not before, that meant Naoto was still doing seventy five percent of the work.

And when running on barely three hours of sleep, that became rather hazardous.

Tiredly, Naoto ran a hand over his face, hoping to pull away some of the exhaustion as he sighed. He had spent most of last night tossing and turning, dreaming of war and fire- in several of them, he had found his sister's broken, battered body in the wreckage of a battle.

Kallen had participated in skirmishes and small, isolated battles before, but a war with the Federation would be different. The Shichitennou would be sent out to the front lines to bolster the troops, and Kallen would be a high priority target as both the Seventh Sword and as a public figure of great moral and political value.

He could never really tell her that, but that was the real reason he had picked up drinking again- the very real fear that he could lose his baby sister in a war she was too young to be fighting.

"The car is outside waiting, Commander," Sancia announced, entering his office without preamble, breaking his reverie.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Naoto said, bowing his head as he cracked his neck, trying to get a bit of the soreness out of the muscles. As he stepped out of the office, Sancia fell in step behind him in a single practiced motion, only moving in front of him once they reached the car to pull the door open for him, which Naoto accepted gratefully.

As he settled into his seat and watched Sancia take the seat next to him, Naoto remarked idly, "Isn't it Brittanian custom to have the man open the door for the woman?"

"I would assume the Imperial culture overrides Brittanian custom," Sancia replied easily, without missing a beat, "And besides, you outrank me, sir."

Naoto snorted. So many strange customs and differences- Naoto had been raised differently than most Japanese nobility, his mother's affair with a Brittanian changing part of her views about the world and how things should be, but he was still vastly more comfortable with his own culture than any others.

They rode the rest of the way in silence, until they reached their destination, a police station about twenty minutes from the military base.

That had been one of Lelouch's ideas, really- use the regular police to bring in the suspect rather than the military police, in order to lower suspicion from Luciano that they were onto him.

He and Sancia entered the police station without ceremony, though almost everyone stopped and paused to stare at them in full uniform.

Naoto walked straight towards the officer working the desk, whose eyes were wide as saucers, and spoke. "Commander Kouzuki Naoto, here to see a prisoner. I've already told the details to your superiors."

"Er… yes, right away sir," the policeman said hurriedly, and picked up the phone, murmuring a few quiet instructions before gesturing toward a door on the left hand side. "It's right through there- do you need an escort?"

"No, this is matter of Imperial security, officer- as far as you and everyone else here is concerned, we were never here," Naoto said briskly, a note of ice in his voice.

It worked, and the officer swallowed, nodding frantically, and he and Sancia proceeded alone into the interrogation wing of the police station, saying nothing until they reached the security door, which needed outside approval to be unlocked.

As they waited, Sancia spoke.

"I heard you were drinking again, sir," Sancia said softly, breaking the silence, stepping behind him, arms crossed behind her back, her expression betraying nothing.

"I haven't fallen off the wagon, Catherine," Naoto assured her, as he glanced over his shoulder at her, using Sancia's first name to convey how serious he was- in the years they'd been working together, he had only used it three times before."I just… between hearing the Butcher's name again and knowing we're at the tipping point of a war… I just needed something to take the edge off."

Before they could speak again, the security door buzzed, and swung open automatically, to reveal the prisoner.

"Colonel Jacob Madd, I assume," Naoto said briskly, tossing the file they had on him carelessly onto the metal table. The room was standard for interrogations- plain, unadorned gray tile, well-lit, and a one way window for observation connecting to the other room which held video and audio recording equipment.

"Former colonel," the man in question corrected. He was a squat, bald-headed and unpleasant looking man with beady black eyes that gave off an eerie impression. Madd was dressed in a concealing overcoat and collared shirt and slacks, utterly nondescript. He smiled a toothy smile. "Though I assume you already knew that, Commander."

Naoto stared back without rising to the bait. He was too experienced a soldier at this point to let an interrogation fall into the prisoner's pace at this early stage. He took the seat across from Madd and folded his hands.

"Sancia, read me off the charges against the former colonel," Naoto instructed calmly.

"Yes sir. Three counts of possession of contraband material with intention to distribute, along with charges of blackmail, extortion, resisting arrest, and even assaulting an officer of the law," Sancia noted tonelessly.

"A man's got a right to privacy in his own home," Madd responded with a grin.

"Quite. Well, the Empire has the right to question anyone suspected of being involved with terrorist activities," Naoto shot back, his tone remaining pleasant. "Which just so happens to be you right now."

Madd said nothing, still smiling.

Naoto stood up, fixing Madd with a cold stare. "Listen, Colonel, I don't really have time for games. You sold the guns and other material to a group of terrorists headed up by one Luciano Bradley- I want to know everything you know about him."

"Never heard of him," came the predictable reply, as Madd grinned a little wider.

"Sure you have," Naoto said smoothly, folding his hands as he took the seat across from the colonel, Sancia standing next to the door. "Colonel, I'll be honest, we're going to have your financial records in a matter of hours, and if I find a single trace that leads back to Bradley… well, the penalty for aiding and abetting terrorists is death by firing squad."

Madd looked singularly unimpressed. "My records are clean- I run a legitimate business, and terrorism is bad for that."

Naoto snorted, drumming his fingers against the table. "I'll bet."

"Oh come now, Commander," Madd said slowly, his tone oily and slithering, "We're the same, you and I. Soldiers and arms dealers, we both need battles."

Naoto met his gaze and rose up out of the chair without a word.

"Oh, you're angry now? You won't acknowledge the truth that you are a man who needs war, just like myself?" Madd questioned with a chortling laugh, his grin threatening to split his face.

A grin which faded a few seconds later as Naoto calmly, without breaking his gaze, shot Madd in the knee.

The shorter man howled in agony as he fell off the chair and onto the cold tile, clutching at his wounded knee with choked, breathless gasps, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

Even Sancia looked taken aback by the sudden onset of violence from the normally affable Naoto, though she stayed silent.

"Don't play games with me, Madd," Naoto snarled, grabbing the man by the collar and hauling him up to his feet, slamming him into a wall, pressing his gun underneath the man's chin. "Because right now, I'm sort of out of patience, and I have no qualms about ending your life right here and now if you prove to be useless- or worse, an obstacle."

"I…" Madd's words were broken by an agonized sob.

"Now talk!" Naoto roared, slamming him into the wall again.

"O-okay," Madd managed, voice choked with a mixture of pain and fear. "I'll tell you."

Naoto relaxed his hold, but didn't release him. "Where is he!" Naoto shouted in fury.

"I don't know where he is. He came to me- he had recommendations, a reputation amongst… my crowd," Madd said through hissed gasps, "He paid all in cash, no wire transfers."

Naoto pressed the gun deeper into his throat with a significant look, and Madd swallowed.

"He does a lot of dealings with Reaper, though, that I know," Madd said quickly, gasping loudly as his eyes began to glaze over. "Please, I think I need a doctor…"

"You'll get your doctor when I get my answer," Naoto said coldly. "He deals in Reaper?"

"As far as I know, he IS the Reaper trade," Madd insisted, hissing in agony. "All the deals come from him. That's why he came so highly recommended- practically every syndicate and gang out there has either been forced to work under him or has cut a deal with him. And that's all I know, I swear!"

Naoto stared at him a moment longer, then finally, without looking back at her, said, "Sancia, tell the police we're done here, and that the prisoner could use a doctor."

He turned and walked out of the room without another word, Sancia following. Behind them several uniformed officers went running into the open room and the sounds of the screaming prisoner, though no one stopped Naoto on his way out.

It was only when they got back into the car and were seated next to each other that Sancia finally spoke.

But first, she slapped Naoto, full on across the face, with a resounding blow.

Naoto stared at her unflinchingly after the blow, rubbing his cheek with a dark look.
"I could have you court-martialed for that," he said icily.

"You won't, sir," Sancia said, though her tone was uncharacteristically shaky. "You crossed the line back there, sir. This is not Task Force Four, and we are not in the special-forces anymore. We can't do things like that."

"We needed the information," Naoto responded tonelessly. "You know guys like Madd won't talk unless they think they're dying, Sancia. It's like with that Vietnamese drug lord we had to take out three years ago- the interrogation had to be fast and dirty."

"The Kouzuki Naoto I knew then was a good soldier, maybe even a great soldier," Sancia said quietly, without meeting his gaze. "But he was naïve. It was only after that drug lord… when we went to Manchuria to hunt down the Butcher…"

"Don't," Naoto bit out, clenching his fists. "Don't you dare bring that up. Those kids… what we did to those kids…"

Sancia sighed, and, hesitantly, placed a hand over his.

"You decided things had to change after that day. You built the 75th out of outcasts and veritable freaks when you got promoted to Commander… you changed, Naoto. You changed when you decided that this system, this Empire, had to. But what you did today…" she paused, and drew her hand away. "That was the old Naoto. The soldier who shot first and never asked questions."

Naoto took a deep breath after she finished, shutting his eyes tightly. She was right, of course. Before the incident in Manchuria… before his own government ordered him to shoot and kill women and children in a village that was supposed to have been concealing Zoktavir's troops… he had been a different man. Patriotic, loyal, and blind.

God, he remembered a girl he found, after the massacre (it could never be called a battle). She was younger than Kallen was at the time. A young man who might have been her older brother had died perched over her corpse, trying to shield her from the bullets.

That was around the time he first started drinking alone, at night.

"Thank you for that," Naoto finally said, his voice unsteady as he opened his eyes and met Sancia's own. "Thank you."

"Anytime, sir," Sancia replied reservedly, though there was a hint of warmth in her voice.

00000

"So we're going to see another of my siblings?" Euphemia asked in wonderment. She was, for once, out of the old-fashioned, modest maid's outfit and in a long yellow skirt, white blouse, and short jacket (clothes Milly had apparently insisted Suzaku buy for her a while back for occasions such as this).

"Your brother," Suzaku confirmed softly, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose, hoping his sunglasses and more 'teenager-appropriate' clothes would conceal his identity. Today he wore a light blue windbreaker, a dark shirt with some kind of design emblazoned on the front, and jeans.

The two of them were walking through the park, both of them in more casual street clothes to avoid drawing any undue attention to themselves.

"Did you just find him too?" Euphemia pressed excitedly, grabbing onto his arm as she peered up at him.

Despite himself, Suzaku flushed at the contact, and his voice stammered slightly as he spoke. "Er… no… he's in hiding, like you, and I've known where he is for a while. But it's dangerous for you two to be together right now."

Because if anyone finds out you're connected with the Caliburn and you're around Lelouch, they might start hunting after him, Suzaku thought to himself. And if his best friend got hurt because of something Suzaku had done… well, that was just something he couldn't live with.

And for the time being, within the mansion, under his protection, Suzaku could keep Euphemia safe. There was no need to break the status quo.

But if something were to happen…

Suzaku swallowed, throat tight as he turned back towards Euphemia, stopping as he placed his hands on his shoulders, removing his sunglasses so he could meet her eyes to convey how serious he was.

"Listen, Euphie… I know you must be excited, but you can't meet with him directly. Today, at least. I just want to talk to him for right now, alone, and make sure that if something happens to me, he knows to come get you as soon as possible," Suzaku instructed quietly, feeling a pang of sorrow for outright forbidding a girl who had no memory of any family from meeting her brother.

Euphemia bit her lip and looked away.

"Please, Euphie," Suzaku pleaded, bringing her gaze back up at him. "Please promise me you won't follow me into the clearing. Just… stay behind for now. Do it for me."

After a moment, Euphemia sighed, and replied, "Okay Suzaku-sama. For you."

Suzaku smiled in relief. "Thank you, Euphie."

He released her, and turned away, putting his sunglasses back on his face. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Stay there, okay?"

"I'm not helpless," Euphemia pouted, but nodded along, planting herself on the park bench to wait. She only sat there a moment, however, when her attention was caught by a black cat with a distinctive distinctive black mark scar on its face striding along the back of the bench.

"Oooh, kitty!" Euphemia said happily, chasing on after the cat.

"I said stay… oh, whatever," Suzaku muttered, and gave her a lingering glance and a smile, and then pushed into the small clearing in the park which he and Lelouch had always promised to meet.

Lelouch, for his part, was already waiting, leaning against the aged old oak tree on the far side of the clearing with an expectant gaze.

"You're late," he noted dryly, tapping the watch on his wrist.

"Sorry," Suzaku said with a careless shrug. "I got tied up."

Lelouch gave a soft 'humph' noise in response. "I guess I should have expected by now that punctuality is not part of your repertoire."

Suzaku rolled his eyes. "Right, right, mister manners."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean I'm pretty sure one time we dumped paint on top of your etiquette teacher for being a snooty bastard and had to avoid your mother for at least three days," Suzaku reminded him with a grin.

Lelouch's face had a small smile of its own at the memory. "Okay, fine, so I'm not the paragon of good manners either."

The two of them smiled for a moment longer, before Lelouch spoke again. "So, have you made up with Kallen-san?"

Suzaku avoided his gaze, his cheeks dusted with the light red of embarrassment. "Not quite yet. Between preparing for my trip out of town and her schoolwork, neither of us has had a good chance to really talk. I mean, we see each other, but…"

Lelouch chuckled, and Suzaku stopped speaking to glare at him. "It's not funny, shut up."

"It's a little funny," Lelouch said, amused.

Suzaku scowled.

"Alright, so, what did you call me all the way out here for?" Lelouch asked, deciding to spare his friend any more embarrassment for now.

"So, Lelouch, I was thinking," Suzaku began, "Um… with all the things that are happening lately, between this Jinchuu and the increasing terrorist activity… I was thinking, maybe you can relax a little."

"Relax?" Lelouch blinked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean… you can go see Nunnally, for example," Suzaku said, his voice quickening in pace as he pressed forward excitedly.

Lelouch, however, did not share his enthusiasm, and his face, in fact, paled with what might have been shame. "N-no, I can't," Lelouch managed hoarsely, shaking his head.

"But Lelouch…" Suzaku began, but was cut off.

"I said I can't!" Lelouch said loudly, his voice breaking. "So please, don't."

Frowning, Suzaku nodded, deciding to try a different track. "Okay… but I mean… if something were to happen to me… I mean, I'll be going out of town for a while, and there's always a chance I'll be recalled back to the homeland…"

Lelouch gave him a searching look, frowning. "Is something wrong? Is this about the skirmish over in China with the Federation?"

Suzaku shook his head. He had barely even thought of that incident. "No… but I've just been thinking… without me, Nunnally needs you. And… say if I was able to find another of your siblings, like Euphie… I mean, if I found them, I could help them, but if I wasn't around then you could…"

"You won't find Euphie," Lelouch said quietly, his tone definitive.

Suzaku blinked. "Lelouch, I know it's been awhile, but she is still alive." And somewhere in this park right now…

"Trust me, she won't be found," Lelouch said distantly, refusing to meet his eyes.

Suzaku sighed. "Please, Lelouch, just… I want you to come by my mansion if anything should happen to me, or I can't return to Brittania for any reason. There are things there I need you to have." Among them, your sister. "So promise me you will. On our friendship, promise me you will come to the mansion."

Lelouch didn't speak for a long while, and Suzaku feared even this plea would fail. But, finally, he spoke.

"For you," Lelouch said quietly.

Suzaku's face broke out into a relieved smile.

"Thank you, Lelouch," he said gratefully, before adding carelessly, "Besides, like I said, it's not like anyone's looking for you anymore."

00000

"Fenette. Welcome," Cornelia greeted politely, inclining her head as she extended a gloved hand out to the younger woman. She was dressed in a long military coat and business suit and skirt.

"Commander," Shirley replied, making an awkward, unsure salute as she glanced around the darkened warehouse.

"Walk with me, Fenette," Cornelia said quietly, turning on the spot and striding up a flight of metal grate stairs and up to a walkway, with Shirley following obediently behind.

It took a few moments for Cornelia to start speaking again, as they reached the top of the stairs. "Do you know the story of Marianne the Flash, Fenette?" she questioned, without glancing backwards.

Shirley nodded. "Yes ma'am." Most girls who grew up around the same time she did in Brittania had- a common woman who had so impressed the Emperor with her valor and skill she became one of his wives. It was practically a fairytale.

"Empress Marianne earned a reputation as the first true Knightmare pilot Ace in the world, using the experimental prototype Knightmare Frame Ganymede," Cornelia continued, her boots clacking against the metal grate as they continued down the walkway. "Ganymede, as you might know, was the first modern Knightmare Frame, and was developed in Brittania by the Ashford foundation."

"I've heard this story," Shirley said politely, unsure of why she was getting a history lesson. "The Ganymede was retired after the De Dannan type Knightmare Frame was developed, wasn't it?"

"True, but there's a part of Marianne the Flash's story that is only known to a few," Cornelia responded, halting on the walkway. This area was only dimly lit by a single overhead lamp, and Shirley could barely see past the edge of the railing.

"Which is, ma'am?" Shirley pressed, feeling a tad impatient with the seemingly pointless story which she was being told.

"We all knew a war with Japan was coming," Cornelia said distantly, lost in old memories, "The Sidhe variants were being put into production, and the Ashford Foundation was looking for advances into the next generation of KMF technology. They created a prototype Fifth Generation Knightmare a month after the war began, and Empress Marianne volunteered as a test pilot."

"A Fifth Gen… but, Brittania hadn't even started on its Fourth Generation," Shirley interrupted, confused. Ever since she started working as a pilot, she had started brushing up more and more on the technical aspects of Knightmare Frames.

"We were going to back-engineer from the prototype to standardize our Fourth Gen KMFs and get them on the front lines. However, the war ended too soon for those plans to come to anything," Cornelia finished, a bitter note in her voice.

"What happened to the Fifth Generation Knightmare?" Shirley questioned curiously.

Cornelia's dark expression faded, and she snapped her fingers, the lights coming on throughout the warehouse.

"Its right here," she replied, a note of satisfaction in her voice as she gestured to the side, where a Knightmare Frame stood like a sleeping god.

Shirley stared, open mouthed at the machine. It was… beautiful. So much sleeker and sharper than her boxy old De Dannan, which now seemed like a woefully outdated piece of equipment in comparison.

The head was triangular rather than the traditional rounded shape of a normal Knightmare Frame, the 'tip' of the triangle forming a chin, featuring a black visor over its 'face'. The rest of the body was slender, the design seemingly being intentionally feminine, with hands that ended in sharpened claws rather than traditional fingers. Attached at the elbow section of the Knightmare's arms were two blade-like appendages that, Shirley guessed, could be moved forward to become blades on the arms.

The entire body was cobalt blue with sharp silver detailing, and the only decoration was a single gold eagle on its chest.

"The AF-50 Amalthea," Cornelia said proudly, planting her hands on the railing as she stared at it alongside Shirley with a wistful look. "Reuben Ashford had a passing fondness for astrology, and the moons of Jupiter were his favorites. I returned to the capitol for a few days after the official ceasefire, and before I left to return to Scotland I took it with me, so Japan wouldn't get their hands on the technology."

"It's… amazing," Shirley breathed, and, reluctantly, tore her gaze from the machine and back towards the commander. "But if you've had this thing the entire time, why haven't you used it?"

Cornelia's wistful expression faded into a more conflicted look. "The Amalthea was incomplete. Like I said, the Ashford Foundation thought we had more time. It took seven years for us to even assemble the necessary parts to finish it. But even incomplete, someone could have potentially piloted it, but it was… dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Shirley blinked. Piloting was always dangerous.

"The first time Marianne the Flash tested the Amalthea she broke three ribs and severely damaged her arterial heart valve due to the stress of using the machine," Cornelia explained quietly. "The best Knightmare pilot the Brittanian Empire had to offer… and she almost killed herself with this beast."

Shirley's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked back over at the once beautiful looking Knightmare Frame with a newfound sense of trepidation.

"Reuben Ashford quickly came up with safety measures to protect the pilot, but those were the parts that remained incomplete until just recently," Cornelia continued, obviously trying to reassure her, and she even managed a smile.

"And are you…" Shirley said slowly, trying not to presume too much, "Are you asking me to pilot it?"

Cornelia nodded, just once, saying nothing.

"Why me?" Shirley pressed, confused. "Gino taught me everything I know about a Knightmare Frame, and you, Commander, are a great pilot yourself…"

"Weinberg and myself have duties outside of piloting- neither of us can afford to put ourselves in the thick of the fighting all the time," Cornelia replied. "But more importantly… I've heard about your father, Fenette. That you fight for a personal reason, one that drives you, that pushes you to fight on when others would give up. It's made you a damn good pilot that can match up to any of our most trained and experienced professional soldiers."

Shirley tilted her head as she met Cornelia's gaze, still unsure.

"I understand that feeling, Fenette," Cornelia said softly, moving closer until she was standing just in front of the younger woman, and extended her hand out, palm up. There, sitting at the center of her palm, was a Knightmare Frame activation key. "And that's why I know I can trust you with this weapon."

"Thank you, Commander," Shirley said quietly, taking the key and saluting. "I won't let you down."

Cornelia met her gaze and, after a moment, saluted back. "I hope not, Fenette." The gesture of respect lasted a little longer, and then Cornelia relaxed, and spoke again. "Now, before I let you start testing the Amalthea for yourself, Darlton said you had been following a lead on Jinchuu that you should discuss with me ASAP."

Shirley blinked, still trying to wrap her head around being handed the keys to what was likely the most powerful weapon in the BLF arsenal, and, stutteringly, replied, "Uh… oh yes, sorry. During that first incident with Jinchuu in the Underground, I encountered a Brittanian boy my age who was neither unaffiliated with us or the Japanese military. His name is Lelouch Lamperouge-"

Cornelia's head whipped towards her so fast that Shirley stopped speaking and fell back a step. The Commander's expression, normally so stately and regal, had warped into a vicious expression of hatred.

"Say that name again," Cornelia said slowly.

"Uh…"

"SAY IT AGAIN!" Cornelia shrieked, grabbing Shirley by the front of her shirt and pulling the younger woman face to face with her.

"Princess!" came a sharp, rough voice, and General Darlton hurried along the walkway behind them, quickly pulling Shirley and Cornelia away from each other and shooting the Commander a severe look. "Remember yourself."

Cornelia panted harshly, still looking furious, but, after visibly struggling to contain her fury, she finally gave Shirley an apologetic look. "My apologies, Fenette. I shouldn't have lost control like that. Please, continue."

"T-t-that's okay," Shirley managed shakily, smoothing out her shirt. "I've uh… been keeping an eye on Lamperouge since that day, trying to ascertain if he has any connection to this Jinchuu, but so far my investigation has revealed nothing."

"Of course it wouldn't," Cornelia snapped irritably, drawing another warning look from Darlton. After nodding in reluctant acceptance of her second in command's silent warning, she continued in a calmer tone, "Lelouch Lamperouge is a coward and a traitor. He would never fight openly like this Jinchuu."

"I… I'm sorry, ma'am, what has he done?" Shirley asked, bewildered. "As far as I can tell he's just a teenage boy."

"He's not just any teenage boy, Fenette," Cornelia all but snarled, though her voice was that of a controlled fury, "Lamperouge is the original maiden name of Marianne Vi Brittania, Empress of Brittania. He thought he was clever, using his mother's name as a disguise."

"Wait… Marianne the Flash is Lelouch's mother?" Shirley blurted out, eyes wide as saucers. "Wouldn't that make him…"

"The Seventeenth Prince of Brittania, Lelouch Vi Brittania," Cornelia finished, narrowing her eyes. "He disappeared, and went underground… but I always knew he would resurface. And this time, Schneizel can't protect him from me."

"Protect him, Commander?" Shirley started feeling like she was nothing but a sounding board for Cornelia, constantly asking questions to keep the conversation moving forward.

Before Cornelia could speak again, Darlton cut in with a cough. "Fenette," Darlton said firmly, "We want you to intensify your investigation of Lelouch Lamperouge. Now that you know his true identity, it may give you greater insight into his activities."

"And," Cornelia snarled, drawing attention back towards her, "When you learn everything he knows about Jinchuu and his activities, you are to terminate him for treason against the Brittanian Empire."

"T-terminate? You want me to kill Lelouch?" Shirley stammered.

Cornelia reached into her gun holster, and pulled free the service pistol, handing it to Shirley butt first.

"Take this gun, put it to his heart, and before you shoot, tell him that this is for Euphie," she said slowly, her tone now that of measured hate. At Shirley's confusion, she continued, "Fenette, trust me, Lelouch Lamperouge is the biggest traitor in our history. The surrender, the Blood Sunday riots that took your father's life, all the pain of the past seven years can be traced back to that one man."

Cornelia paused, and fixed her gaze on the younger woman. "But if you want me to make it perfectly clear, in terms I know you, of all people, can understand… Lelouch Lamperouge killed my family, Fenette. He killed the people I loved most in the world just as surely as the Empire killed your father. And that's why I need him dead."

Shirley said nothing for a long, long while, simply staring at Cornelia, and then the gun, in total shock.

"Oi, Commander! General! Meeting's about to start!"

Gino's familiar tenor startled Shirley out of her contemplation, and before she could react Cornelia had already pressed the gun into her hands and whispered into her ear, "Please, Fenette. As someone who knows the pain of losing those you love."

And then the Commander pulled away, and called out, "Thank you, Weinberg. We will join you shortly."

Shirley listened to the sound of the Commander's boots on the metal grating begin to fade away, and Darlton started on past her as well, though he clapped her on the shoulder with a sympathetic look as he brushed past her, leaving Shirley alone with her thoughts.

00000

Cornelia and Darlton walked in silence towards the conference room that had been built in one corner of the building. It was only when they had gotten out of earshot of Shirley that Cornelia finally spoke.

"Okay, say it," Cornelia said quietly, shutting her eyes. "I put too much of myself into Fenette right there, and let personal feelings compromise the mission and our organization."

"If you know all that, Commander, then there's no need for me to say anything," Darlton replied politely, his tone reserving judgment.

"But Lelouch is alive, Darlton, and living free," Cornelia continued angrily, "I let him get away once, because Schneizel convinced me to help cover up the truth, and by the time I could have done anything else he had gone."

"You've asked a teenage girl to potentially compromise her cover identity over a personal vendetta that has no tactical or strategic value to our goals," Darlton rumbled, though his tone of voice was not a rebuke. "You're too close to this, Princess."

Their conversation was halted after that, as they reached the door to the conference room, where Guilford stood outside waiting at attention.

"Everyone is awaiting your arrival, your highness," Guilford said politely, bowing.

"Thank you Guilford," Cornelia said quietly, mentally adjusting for the meeting, pushing aside her thoughts of anger and vengeance as she opened the door.

"Nelly!"

Cornelia practically flinched at the nickname, eyes widening as a familiar face stood up from across the conference room table, waving energetically.

"Nonette," Cornelia greeted, her tone shaky, like someone encountering their worst fear made manifest, "I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that anymore."

"Eh, I decided that promise was stupid," Nonette replied cheerily, and unceremoniously pulled Cornelia into a headlock. "Now come on, let's get a smile on that face."

This is not helping my reputation, Cornelia thought despairingly, as she jerked free of the headlock, shaking her hair out and fixing Nonette with a glare. "There'll be time to reminisce after we get done with this meeting," she said icily, scowling.

"Yeah, yeah," Nonette said, rolling her eyes as she fell back into her seat, propping her legs up on the table.

Cornelia sighed, and took her own seat, with Darlton at her right side. "Guilford, if you would please?"

"These are the dossiers on the key members of the colonial government," Guilford said stately, moving around and passing out a stack of vanilla folders to the rest of the table, "Study them well."

"But we know who these people are," Nonette complained, crossing her arms behind her head with a bored look, glancing over at Cornelia. "Come on, Nelly, you can't be serious."

Cornelia flushed slightly at the nickname again, but remained firm, shooting the other woman a glare.

"Read," she said slowly, her tone taking an edge. "Every bit of information could be useful."

"Prince Kururugi Suzaku, age seventeen," Nonette muttered grudgingly, picking up the first folder. "Crown Prince of the Empire… and kind of a looker. He has nice eyes."

Cornelia sighed. "Not relevant, Nonette."

"The Prince is purportedly an idealist," Claudio cut in, eyes still glancing over the dossier even as he spoke. "He's led a number of agendas aimed at pursuing reforms to the system… most of which have failed, meaning either he has very little support, political clout, or is just all talk."

"In other words, he's mostly inconsequential, except maybe for use as a hostage," Dorothea concluded briskly, her mouth set in a frown as she turned towards Cornelia. "Commander, he was fostered in Brittania for a time- what did you make of him?"

"I only saw him a few times, and never outside of public functions," Cornelia replied, her expression distracted with remembrance, "He was… arrogant. Brash. And proud, proud of his empire above all else."

"Well something must have changed if he's gone all humanitarian for underdogs," Gino commented airily. "But if he's not the issue…"

"Then it's the real power here, Commander Kouzuki Naoto," Nonette finished, pulling out the second dossier with a whistle. "Also not bad looking. Seems to be a trend."

"Seriously Nonette, not relevant," Cornelia growled, tapping her finger impatiently against the table. "Can someone please stick to the business at hand?"

There was a cough, bringing all eyes gathered around the table towards Darlton's grizzled face, and Cornelia gave him a grateful look for steering the conversation away from personal appearance.

"The Kouzuki's are a powerful noble family, though they are a tad nouveau rich compared to say, the Six Houses," Darlton said calmly, without even opening his dossier. "Their power stems from control of several key Sakuradite mines around Mt. Fuji, which were found on their ancestral land at the turn of the 20th century. They are considered one of the families just a step or two below the reigning Six Houses in wealth and influence. The current Head of the household is his mother, Kouzuki Michiko."

"I thought she was married." Gino blinked in confusion. "She didn't take her husband's name?"

"Sometimes, if the wife's house is higher in status, it is known for the husband to take the wife's ancestral name instead," Guilford informed him. "And her husband, Kouzuki's father, also passed away in the third year of their marriage in a plane crash, so she would have had to go back to her Clan anyway."

"And so a few years later a Brittanian swoops in and comforts the still grieving widow, leaving behind a half-blood child in one of the most powerful families in the Empire?" Gino asked carelessly, raising an eyebrow with a whistle, which drew an irritated look from every female at the table, plus Kewell.

"Yes, that's about the rough of it- the man's name was Lord Matthew Stadtfeld, or former lord, I should say," Darlton rumbled, resting his cheek lightly against his closed fist, elbow propped up on the table. "He was banished from court for his little dalliance and stripped of his titles and incomes."

"The circumstances of politics long past are of no use to us," Cornelia said dismissively, her tone somewhere between a growl and a snarl. "I wanted you to look at his military record, not his parents."

There was a brief silence as pages were shuffled around in the dossiers, before the table returned to the original purpose of the meeting.

"Graduated after four years at the Imperial Academy in Kyoto in the top ten percent of his class, saw two years on the front lines in Burma as a Lieutenant, another three as a Captain in a Special Forces unit that saw action in over a dozen different countries, and finally being promoted to Commander of his own regiment less than a year ago," Nonette read off, whistling appreciatively. "Boy's on a fast track, a bred and groomed officer."

"His sister is going to marry the Crown Prince, after all, not to mention her status as one of the Shichitennou," Dorothea commented with a bored shrug. "Still, his record is impressive, even if helped by politics. The man seems like a skilled, if traditional tactician."

"Funny," Claudio noted, raising an eyebrow as he reached towards the laptop hooked up to the projector, tapping it a few times to bring up a word document report. "We managed to obtain a copy of the after action report of the airport incident, and all of it is decidedly against Kouzuki's previous tactics. Splitting up your forces into several teams for a coordinated strike, delivering an unmanned Knightmare into a hot battlefield, and even deceiving your opponent into willingly dividing his forces as if of his own volition… brilliant tactics."

"Too brilliant," Cornelia muttered, looking suspicious. "This is a plan that takes an incredible degree of cunning, more than this Kouzuki has shown according to records. At our last encounter, his attack was more reliant on superior firepower and numbers than tactics."

"I once considered the possibility of unorthodox Knightmare delivery onto a battlefield for an emergency situation," Darlton murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "It was a thought exercise I did with… no, couldn't be."

"What was that?" Cornelia asked sharply.

"Nothing, your highness," Darlton said quickly, shaking his head with a cough. "Just an idle thought."

Cornelia eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before she accepted his answer and turned away, giving a sharp nod towards Guilford to continue speaking.

"I'd like to move back for a second and speak on the matter of the regiment that Kouzuki commands, if I may, ladies and gentlemen," the bespectacled knight said quietly, pushing his glasses up on his face as he furrowed his brow. "The last several pages of Kouzuki's dossier are an intelligence report estimating the exact assets and command structure of the 75th Armored Regiment."

"Assets include an estimated two hundred Shinran Knightmares each with a pilot, five hundred technical support staff, three thousand regular Imperial Army infantry, fifty tanks, twenty pieces of artillery and about a hundred transport vehicles, including one super-heavy Naginata-class command vehicle," Claudio read off gravely, frowning. "Add this to the existing occupational forces and that's an enemy well above our capability to fight head on."

"We're not going to fight them head on," Cornelia replied calmly, and gestured towards the folders. "Your third and fourth dossiers contain profiles on the final two figures of importance- Kouzuki Kallen and Sumeragi Kaguya."

"It's amazingly careless that the Empire lets two highly important public figures such as the Crown Prince and this Princess Kaguya live so far away from the homeland," Kewell commented, speaking up for the first time.

"It's well known that the Six Houses are the real choosers of power, not blood. Since the death of the main Imperial line and the rise of the Six Houses which were all originally branch families, primogeniture has been less important than influence," Claudio replied, leaning back into his chair as he glanced over at Kewell. "If they were to lose both of those children then the Six Houses would simply 'suggest' an heir to the Emperor, another of their number, who is also related to the current Emperor, if not directly, thanks to centuries of intermarriage. The risk is minimal, in reality."

"That's still pretty cold," Gino muttered.

"That's politics, blondie," Nonette said sweetly, resting her chin on the backs of her folded hands as she flashed him a smile. "I take it we're not following your brother's lead, Nelly, and trying to take these kids hostage."

"Our ultimate goal is freedom, not war," Cornelia said with a shake of her head. "We harm someone of royal blood and we're asking for a blood feud that will leave the public begging the Imperial Council to burn Brittania to the ground before they let us win back our freedom."

"So we're not going to go after their leaders, just convince them to leave?" Gino muttered, raising an eyebrow. "What are we going to do, ask them nicely?"

"We're not going to ask," Nonette said dangerously, with a fierce grin.

"It's actually rather simple- we must show the Empire that, ultimately, their interest here is too costly, and force them to relinquish their hold," Guilford finally answered politely. "Everything we do is aimed towards that."

"And our first step will be to free Prince Clovis La Brittania from the grip of Japan," Cornelia said slowly, nodding towards Claudio, who tapped the laptop again to bring up a different image. "We are going to mount a rescue operation. Guilford will explain in more detail."

"According to our sources, Commander Kouzuki and a large portion of his forces will be leaving London for a diplomatic mission to the Federation around the time when Prince Clovis is scheduled to be transferred," Guilford explained slowly, "And, the governor, Prince Suzaku, has also scheduled a diplomatic leave of his own for the Brittanian countryside in that same week- if ever there was an opportunity to strike, it would be then."

"A hit on a convoy, huh? As long as we know the route, shouldn't be too much of a problem," Gino murmured, crossing his arms behind his head with a confident look.

"Agreed. We'll begin planning the assault once we have the full details of the security, time, and route they plan to use," Cornelia said briskly. "Now, are there any other matters we should discuss before we dismiss?"

"Actually," Gino called out, drawing all eyes around the table towards himself as he pulled out a small piece of notepad paper, "There is something else. Someone left a message with one of my men, Rivalz, earlier this week."

He passed the note along to Cornelia, who read it slowly, as if in disbelief, her eyebrows raising higher and higher as she went down the page. Finally, she looked up at Gino with a piercing stare. "And you're sure?" she questioned.

"I gave Jinchuu that contact information myself and told him to look for me at Malory's, so yes, I'd say it's fairly accurate," Gino agreed, nodding. "It took him longer than I thought to reach out though."

"So we finally have contact from the mysterious Jinchuu," Nonette murmured contemplatively, leaning over the table to peer at the note herself. "What does he want?"

"He's planning a strike against the labor camp factory in Dudley," Cornelia explained, pulling the note away and giving Nonette a reproachful look. "He wishes for our support in getting the prisoners out of the facility and into hiding. He doesn't need military support, just our network to help these people."

"Dudley, huh?" Dorothea raised an eyebrow. "If this is for real, that could be a major windfall for us- as one of the first factories, it has a lot of political prisoners and former military held within. The kinds of people we can use."

"I know it's uncertain if this is really him, or if it is, if we can really trust him," Gino began, knowing where the conversation would be headed next, "But I'd like to volunteer my own cell for this mission."

"It's risky," Nonette reminded him, pursing her lips into a frown.

"But Jinchuu is a wild card that we cannot ignore," Darlton rumbled, inclining his head in a gesture of respect towards Gino's offer. "If we rebuff him here, we may not get another chance at contact."

"If you know the risks, you may proceed," Cornelia allowed, a hint of reluctance in her voice, "However, you cannot take Fenette. I need her here."

"Done," Gino agreed, nodding her head. "Besides, I'm sure she's got plenty on her mind already."

00000

"Seasons don't fear the Reaper, nor do the wind, the sun and the rain," the man pleaded, smiling toothily as he held up the syringe like an offering or a prayer. He was ragged and filthy, his eyes sunken like a corpse. "Come on baby, we can be like they are. Just one more hit."

The girl, maybe twenty-five but with a body so emaciated and damaged she looked as though she was dying, giggled madly and offered her arm out to him.

Just as the syringe touched her skin, however, a gunshot rang out, striking right between the two drug addicts.

"Get the hell off my street," Shirley snarled, pointing the gun at the man, and then the girl, finger resting tersely on the trigger, and the two scrambled away, nearly knocking each other over in their attempt to get away.

"Freaking addicts," Shirley muttered, lowering the gun and pocketing it. She wasn't too concerned about anyone calling the cops or snooping about the gunfire- this neighborhood was at the lower end of the spectrum, and no one wanted to get themselves or, even worse, the police involved.

Things were getting bad out on the streets, she reflected, as she entered the apartment complex where she and Rivalz both lived. The fact that Reaper addicts, or the Living Dead, as some called them, were out on the street openly shooting up made that abundantly clear.

This is the real world, Shirley thought to herself bitterly. Not the shiny, carefree life at the Academy. Here, where people like those two get high on drugs because there's no other alternative.

She had started to forget that. Started to forget that beneath the polite smiles and carefree everyday life most people led there was blood in the streets, blood that would never wash away except with vengeance.

The Commander's words came back to her in a flash.

"Fenette, trust me, Lelouch Lamperouge is the biggest traitor in our history. The surrender, the Blood Sunday riots that took your father's life, all the pain of the past seven years can be traced back to that one man."

The drugs, those people… this is Lelouch's fault, Shirley wondered, frowning. Even… even the Riot? The one that killed my father?

00000

Seven years ago…

All around them, it was chaos. Their street, where Shirley had spent plenty of days playing with the neighbor's children (Mary and Denise, she remembered distantly), was filled with screaming, panicked people fleeing from the advancing wave of armed and armored soldiers in riot gear.

The Bloody Sunday riot had been going on for an hour now, and the Japanese retaliation was now in full swing- and their street had been picked for 'pacification'.

"Shirley, Margaret, get back inside!" her father, who never raised his voice above a jovial laugh, shouted furiously at them, pushing her mother and herself towards the door.

As the soldiers marched into the street, firing their rifles into the crowd, killing dozens in a spray of misty crimson, they seemed more like machines, devoid of mercy or pity for the men, women, and children they were gunning down.

Eventually, the soldiers stopped firing- not out of mercy, but so the riot squad members could break ranks, raising their nightsticks and rifles to bludgeon the populace back into submission.

Shirley saw Mrs. Hendricks, Mary's mother, have her skull split open by the butt of a Japanese soldier's rifle. She thought she heard Mary scream for her mother, before one of the soldiers beat her over the head with a nightstick (the next morning, Shirley would see Mary still lying there, in the street, the blonde locks she had once been so proud of sticky and matted with dried blood).

"Get back inside!" her father screamed again, forcing her to tear her gaze away from the sight of the people she'd grown up knowing dying on the street, pushing her sobbing mother through the door.

Her father looked back, just once. Maybe it was to see if it was safe, or maybe to see if he could help anyone else hide in their house, or maybe even just idle curiosity, a force of habit.

For his trouble, he caught a stray bullet caught him in the temple.

Richard Fenette took a long time to fall. He had been a bit of an overweight man, his face chubby and belly beginning to round out from years of working from a desk as an engineer, not really too tall or too short, just average. Plain, with no real distinguishing features except a jolly smile and a distinctive chuckle and a scent like old cigarettes and cocoa that Shirley always loved.

He was an utterly unremarkable man in every way, but somehow, watching him fall to the ground was like watching God die.

"Daddy!" Shirley shrieked, reaching out towards him, just before the door shut, and their eyes met for the last time.

That single moment would remain the most haunting thing in her mind for the next seven years, a fixed point in time for her, unchanging, unending.

In some ways, Shirley knew, she would always be that ten year old girl, in the hallway of her own house, watching her father die.

And then the door was slammed shut, and her mother had spirited them away into the downstairs closet, hiding in the dark and waiting for the monsters on the street to finish the slaughter, and everything was pitch black darkness and the bitter warmth of tears on her cheeks.

00000

Shirley didn't remember how long her mother just cowered in that closet, holding her tightly to her chest so Shirley's screams and sobs for her father wouldn't be overheard, all the while silently crying for the husband she had lost.

Her mother had used up all her bravery in that night- Margaret Fenette was a ghost of a woman after that, barely able to hold a job, let alone take care of a ten year old girl who just lost her father. They moved out to the countryside with Shirley's aunt, Margaret's sister, who cared for them as best she could, and was the one who sent a stipend to Shirley every month for food and necessities.

Even now, seven years later, those memories still haunted her dreams.

Dimly, she realized the anniversary of that incident was next month… she would have to go out to the countryside for a day to visit her mother.

"If you had anything to do with that, Lelouch Lamperouge, or Lelouch Vi Brittania, or whoever you are," Shirley growled, and rested her hand on the gun, feeling the reassuring weight of vengeance in her grasp, "Then I will kill you."

With the resolution of murder in her heart, Shirley went inside.

Author's Notes

If anyone actually knows who and where Zoktavir is from, honestly that would surprise me greatly. (And if you do, play like you've got a pair folks. Except if you're Cygnaran, because then you're playing like a pansy)

I'm on a pretty solid roll here, so I don't really have a lot of stuff to say. This chapter was really, really long, way beyond what I planned for it considering it was originally half of a chapter.

Lelouch's sins are slowly coming to light, but don't think you know the whole story just yet folks. I've been limited by the themes of this story as to how much I can tell, but suffice to say that I've been needing to wait for the story to progress far enough where I can show both Suzaku and Lelouch's sins at the same time. We're not quite there yet, but we're close.