Audacity chapter 7.
**I've been doing very little editing lately, not because I'm having a beta reader do it or anything *however I have acquired a beta reader* but it's mostly due to the fact that I have had very little sleep recently. But not to worry I will be back and forth between older chapters sprucing up what I can, where I can.**
I inhaled the thick humid air barely keeping my patience as I waited for Shirley's answer. I was finally granted sanctity when she spoke.
"O-okay…" She said this barely above a whisper. My smirk transformed to a genuine smile as I decided to perform what I still believe to be a truly proper action in this situation. I stood up, my eyes clearly closed but my face angled directly at her. I reached over blindly towards the wall where the faucet handle was, turning off the water not caring that I got my recently changed uniform a little wet in the process.
"Lulu…" Shirley said with a little more volume this time. I then turned, navigating by memory, I found the towel rack just to the left of where the shower curtain used to stand. Gripping said towel in my left hand I then reached for her with my right- deliberately aiming high so I would not grab her breast. I found her shoulder and proceeded to wrap the towel around her, tucking the fabric into itself so it would not fall to the ground.
"I will… But not like this, when we are both ready I will." Saying this while finally opening my eyes and embraced her. Just like earlier I brought my mouth close to her ear and spoke deeply.
"I promise, Shirley." I paused and decided to skip the kissing step in order to pursue the option of covering my bases.
"This was truly an accident… And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, however, I can't help but to tell you how happy I feel right now." In my mind I knew the word happy didn't quite cover it, it was more along the lines of 'mostly sane' and it was a wonderful feeling. Because once I felt it, I no longer cared about not knowing anything about my past and being uncertain of the future, all that mattered was I had something now.
And I'll kill and die to keep it. Hoping that I had both gained her trust and admiration with my actions, I looked her in her eyes only to find them both brimming with tears. I reached up and held her head in my right hand then kissed her on the forehead, only to turn abruptly and begin leaving the room. Just as I was about to close the door behind me I was stopped by her voice.
"Lelouch… Thank you, most guys wouldn't have done what you just did." I smiled inwardly but kept my face straight for the most part.
Took more restraint than you might believe Shirley. Just before I close the door I whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
"Only for you, Shirley." Immediately after I shut the door the rest the world and universe became apparent to me, I realize how fast my heart was beating and how clear my thoughts were. I then proceeded over to the couch in order to sit down and calm myself. Once seated I leaned my head against the wall just above the backrests of the couch. Realizing this wasn't working I then proceeded to shake my head vigorously, stopping once I realized that if I lost this feeling the previous void of insanity would grapple with me again, attempting to model my thoughts with black tendrils of hate and distrust.
I was unable to hear anything from the bathroom so I made an attempt to listen closely by focusing my eyes my pants leg and clearing my thoughts. The weak attempt at amplifying my hearing was quickly disrupted by me noticing a stray thread on my pants leg. Not one to let something so out of place remain on my person, I reach for my knife in order to cut it, only to realize that I didn't have it.
Crap I dropped it over by that tree… I stood quickly getting close to the bathroom door.
"Shirley!" I said pausing only briefly for her to reply.
"Y-yes?" was her muffled response.
"I left something outside that I need to go pick up, wait for me here and I'll walk you home. I should be back in about 15 minutes… So until then just make yourself comfortable." Unwilling to wait for a response, I headed after one of the two remaining items that I felt a fond attachment to.
That tree should be way over there. I thought as angled myself toward the correct area shortly after exiting the building without incident. Jogging up to the tree, I scanned the roots on the ground beneath it, but to little avail for I could not find a single trace of the gleaming blade.
"Looking for this?" Came a bored tone from behind me. I spun around quickly, not recognizing the voice and because of that feeling I was moved into a defensive posture with my hand in my chest pocket. I then saw the girl from the video. Her hair just as long and green as I remembered along with her incredibly odd fashion statement of an outfit. In order to not seem too surprised, I immediately came up with something to say.
"Uh… I'm sorry but you really should be dead right now, you kinda got shot in the head." Kinda?... More like completely! I couldn't help but think this as she shifted her posture into one of boredom by crossing her arms underneath her breasts.
"True, but I can't die." My eye twitch at the statement. I then face palmed, surrendering myself to the absurdity of the situation.
"Not much surprises me any fucking more." I mumbled. With my hand still yet to be removed from my chest pocket I straightened my stature.
"well then… What do you want?" I asked bluntly knowing that my question more than likely would not be received well. Her eyes widened; she was visibly shocked by both my acceptance of the situation and the simplicity of my question. This look of shock only lasted for brief moment as she recovered herself.
"I have a small list of demands." I nodded a signal imploring for her to continue. "I would like refuge, food, and my wish granted." Now was my turn to be wide-eyed, I realized that this was all game to her.
Well then, two can play this game. "Fine… I'll agree to the first two, if you give me back my knife." She complied by tossing the weapon towards me, forcing me to try and catch it at a non-dangerous angle. I succeeded and flicked it closed, replacing it to its original position in my pants pocket.
"But as to the third one, considering I don't know what it is, it will have to wait to be evaluated some other time for a yes or no answer on a later date." Dropping the arrogant sarcastic tone I began anew.
"Or I could make this easy…" I stated maliciously. "{Forget everything about me.}" I turned ready to walk off, confident my power had worked its magic. I was sorely disappointed as she remained motionless and apathetic.
"That won't work on me." The immortal stated simply. I was startled to say the least. This girl could brush off my most powerful weapon without even blinking… therefore she was dangerous and I wanted her as an ally, not as an enemy.
"Great… well in that case meet me here in about an hour and a half to discuss what you and I have to offer each other." If anything. I added mentally. I turned leaving the incredibly odd encounter to be sorted out later as I made my way back towards where Shirley was waiting. It didn't take long for me to walk down the hallway and knock on the door to my own room all things.
"You ready to go?" I asked as I opened the door. The sight I saw when I entered was not that of which I expected, it was of Shirley who was laying passed out on the bed. It was an adorable site, for she was curled up slightly, her knuckles lined up just before her lips. I decided to leave her there so she could sleep, mostly due to the fact that I didn't have the heart to wake her up. Instead I walked into the bathroom and hung up her clothes on the towel rack.
"Wait…" I paused my actions, because just at that point in time I had remembered that in my possession and services there was a maid at my disposal.
She should be able to get these clean and dry by tomorrow, if not I'll do it myself. And thus with my new ultimatum I set off in search of my maid, ambling about the area designated as my dorm being sure to shut the door softly as not to wake Shirley. I pulled out my phone to check what time it was, on a side note I remembered I needed to buy a watch in case my phone became unavailable or ran out of battery. It was only eight o'clock so everyone should still be up and awake I determined.
"Now if I was a maid where would I be?" I wondered as I made my way to the dining room. Inside my younger sister Nunnally was eating dinner peacefully with the maid whose name still eluded me.
"Oh hello big brother." Nunnally said softly "will you be eating with us tonight?" despite the fact I was very hungry since I had not eaten anything for very long period of time, I still was not comfortable conversing with someone who was so close to me before I had lost my memory. I wasn't ready for a random slip up quite yet. However, for some odd reason it caused me a twinge of pain to decline her invitation.
"No I just came to see if I could get this washed and ready by tomorrow?" I lifted the still damp uniform up slightly as a gesture for the maid. The shorthaired maid took this is as the signal to retrieve the fabric from me. I nodded in thanks, but before I could turn to leave I was assailed by a question.
"Lelouch, you've been acting strangely lately… Is everything all right?" I toyed briefly with the thought of giving everything away. But once again the idea of the padded walls and straitjacket did not appeal to me, so as usual I opted for a way out.
"Of course, I just have a lot of catching up to do at school recently. " Once again I felt the strange pang pain as I lied to her. Nunnally smiled sincerely. Despite being blind, I could see the absolute affection and caring she had on her face as well as her posture and body language.
"I'm really glad that you're taking school seriously."
"Yeah. I guess some Shirley's lectures finally got to me." I laughed as I made my exit after a brief goodbye. Instead of heading back to my room I decided to go back to the tree where the green haired immortal was waiting for me.
She said she wanted a wish granted, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. It might have something to do with my Geass. Will she leave once she gets what she wants or will she try to kill me? I'll just have to play this very cautiously.
I observed the immortal simply sitting beneath a tree waiting patiently.
"I'm back early." I broke the silence and gained her attention. "For the sake of convenience I'm going to have to ask your name."
"What's in a name?" she asked enigmatically, either avoiding the question or building a preamble up to the answer.
"If you don't tell me I'm just to come up with a name that you probably won't like." I said this, allowing just a little bit of frustration to be apparent in my voice. I wanted to make it clear wasn't going to play this game by her terms.
"No need to get upset, you may call me CC." I blinked once at the absurdity of the name. But then again she couldn't die, wasn't affected by my Geass, and had given the damnable power to me. So as to why a strange name bothered me so much, I had no answer.
"That's all fine and dandy I suppose, as to your first two accommodations, I can agree to them because of the power you gave me. I feel like I owe you." I pause to shift my stature to a more comfortable position.
"However, this 'wish' you spoke about earlier you're going to have to be more specific about. That or you're just going to have to hope I fulfill it unknowingly." She stared back at me with her standard stoic expression.
"I'm not going to tell you what it is; you're just going to have to wait." I grit my teeth some; this wasn't going to be fun if she was going to be difficult.
"Okay fine… Then just tell me what I need to do in order to hurry things along some… That is if you can without giving it away." A small hint of a smile graced her lips, as she seemed amused by my choice of bargaining.
"Just continue to use your Geass is much as possible… It will do the rest by itself."
That was cryptic, but it's easy enough to accomplish… It's not like I wasn't going to do that anyway, even if she didn't ask. I inhaled deeply, scanning all angles of my next decision thoroughly.
"You have a deal for now, unless there are significant changes I will shelter you." I paused remembering the last thing she had said. "And you can believe me when I say this… I will use my Geass frequently so there's nothing to worry about on that front." I motion for her to follow me as I began walking back to, what I hoped would be the last time tonight, my dorm.
Dammit can't remember that maid's name… What was its… ah! Sayoko! That's it! A wave of relief washed over me as I remembered this semi crucial piece of information. I held the door open for CC politely once we have made it to the front. She entered nonchalantly as if she owned the place. This irked me slightly but I refused to let it show.
Going back to the dining room where Sayoko was ( Hopefully) I held my hand up as a signal for CC to wait just outside of the doorframe to the said room. Seeing that Sayoko was indeed still standing behind Nunnally while she was eating, I called for her.
"Sayoko, could you please come over for a minute? I'd like to talk to you about something." Sayoko bowed politely to Nunnally then quickly made her way over to me. Making sure to keep my voice low so Nunnally wouldn't hear I Geassed her.
"{Obey me.}" I commanded as usual.
"{Of course master Lelouch.} Being satisfied with her reply I followed up with my instructions.
"You're to take this girl and preparer her a room to stay in; she will be living with us from now on so acknowledge her as a member of the household. Inform me tomorrow whenever things are arranged properly…" I paused remembering something. "Oh, and don't forget to have the uniform I gave you cleaned and dried by tomorrow morning."
I couldn't help but feel a little bad for Sayoko. I did honestly hope I didn't give her any orders that would keep her up all night. Ignoring this, I quickly made my way back to my room where my source of sanity awaited me.
I hope she's still sleeping peacefully. I thought as I opened the door once more. My hope was rewarded as sight of her nestle in a different position- facing the wall- greeted me. I smiled and pulled the blanket up over her body and shoulders. Deciding to sleep in my uniform I thought to myself.
Guess I'm sleeping on the couch. I then turned out light and slept till morning.