Chapter 8: Pizza and Princess, Secrets and Sisters (Code Geass)
As I mentioned before explaining everything, it was Thursday and Thursday means pizza and pizza means… a really long line in the cafeteria. Despite EPIC boasting the widest variety of foods in the country at any school, a large majority prefer two foods: hamburger and pizza. Why American and Italian food is so popular I don't know but Thursday is a pizza day for me, regardless if we are in the open air or Geofront. However, today is one of those lucky days when I beat the rush. Grabbing a full pizza (to the envy of all I passed), I head out of the cafeteria to one of the bridges connecting it to the main building then from there, take another bridge that connects the main building to the club rooms and facilities.
"Hey, Pizza girl-chan!" I call out to the lone figure standing in the middle of the bridge. She turns and says with comic derision, "Well, if it isn't Long Name-san." She gives me a small smile then grabs the box I am holding without any reserve. C.C., the green-haired beauty who dragged me through the ghetto. C.C., the person who owned up to the fact for pizza on me every Thursday. Not that I mind. Spending lunch with a beautiful girl is more than most high school boys could ask for, even if I knew I had no chance with her. Despite her mercenary attitude at first, we eventually became friends through an incident involving Lelouch Lamperouge, but I'll get to that later. Speak of the devil, here he comes with Suzaku Kuzurugi and Euphemia vi Britannia. "Oh! It's C.C.!" Euphemia pointed out. "C.C.! What are you- oh," Lelouch, at first angry, now showed annoyance, "It's you, Hanashimoto-san." "Forgive him, Sei-kun," Suzaku interceded, "He's always been horrible about breaking old habits." "No offense taken, Suzaku-san," I reply. "Given the kind of pressure he was under and still under, I don't mind." Everyone tensed except C.C. who kept eating. "Anyhow, hello Lelouch-san, Suzaku-san, and Euphemia-hime." "Sei-kun, how many times to I have to tell you?" Euphemia pouted, "Call me Euphy-san at least. Don't treat me like a princess but as a fellow student." I blush since I had forgotten. "Sorry… Euphy-san," I say falteringly. Euphy smiled and nodded affirmatively.
When school began again, Saya, my younger sister, began to rehabilitate from the horrible shock of our parents' death. A person instrumental in this was Nunnaly Lamperouge, Lelouch's younger sister. Despite her blindness and her inability to use her legs, her tenderness healed the large wound in her heart. After hearing about me, she wanted to meet me. "I too have a brother about the same age," she said eagerly, "Wouldn't it be nice if they also became friends?" Then it was just a simple matter of finding time. Since we all lived on campus, it was relatively simple. After tea was served by their maid, Sayako, Lelouch asked me for a game of chess and the girls watched. It was not a close game but neither did it reach a conclusion.
I was in a tight spot with no way out. Lelouch smiled confidently as he saw the end in sight. His face was almost screamed, "Game over. My win." But then I saw green hair and a face appear from behind a door. He saw my expression change and asked, "What is it, Hanashimoto-san?" "Is there someone at the door?" Nunnaly asked. Saya replied, "Who is the green-haired onee-chan?" Lelouch whirled in his seat, "C.C.! I thought I asked you to say in the room while we had visitors!" "Huh?" C.C. said belligerently, "I thought I heard a familiar voice and came out." "Ah!" I said pointing at C.C. "You are the woman who helped me out of the Ghetto!" Everyone looked at her but C.C. looked at me sideways but said nothing. Lelouch stood up and, putting on a smile, said, "Hanashimoto-kun, I have something to ask you in private. Come with me." "What about our chess game?" I asked, trying to stall. "Wouldn't you say the conditions of victory are met for black?" He asked knowingly. I glanced at the chess board. It was a dead game.
I followed him through the door C.C. had come out of and found myself in an empty hallway. Lelouch turned and faced me again however one of his eyes had changed from its normal dark blue to a strange purple with a v-shape across it, "Lelouch vi Britannia orders you to forget about how you met C.C. and that she has any connection with the day you met her." "As you command," I said unconsciously but then shook my head and said, "Wait… what? What were you saying about me forgetting about C.C.?" Lelouch turned pale and his confident expression slipped into confusion, "Impossible! No one should be able to resist my Geass!" "Geass?" I asked accusingly, "What do you mean, Lamperouge-san?" Advancing on him and boxing him in against the wall, I said threateningly, "What did you try to do to me?"
"I'll explain it to you, Hanashimoto-san as well as what happened the day I rescued you." "C.C.!" Lelouch's face turned to anger. "But," she raised a finger, "I have a condition." "Name it," I said without hesitation. "I want pizza every Thursday, your treat," she said unabashedly. Lelouch and I were caught completely off guard by the whimsical nature of the request. My anger, however, pushed me through confusion, "Done!" "Oy, wait, C.C.!" Lelouch himself got riled up. "Lelouch," she said sternly, "He is the person's whose life I have saved and himself has a strange power which protects him from your Geass. I am sure with such power comes discretion." Then she explained how Lelouch himself was Zero and had planned the brilliant campaign of the Black Knights using the power of his Geass: an ability that allowed him to command absolute obedience. However, it required him to have eye contact with his target and it was one time use. In good faith, I shared my story and my strangely protected mind. Because of my unalterable memory, his Geass was ineffective because of his request for me to forget.
"However," C.C. said, "It would be much more convenient if you did not tell anyone who Zero truly is." "The reasons are obvious enough," I said, "Though what of this whole vi Britannia business? Do not think I have forgotten about that." Lelouch slapped his forehead, "I am the son of King Charles vi Brittania. Disinherited, I bear a grudge against him because he let mother die. Also, since his philosophy is that the weak have no place in this world," at this, his expression softened, "I need to create a place where Nunnaly can live in peace." This pierced my heart as I remembered Saya. I can never erase that look of horror, the look of beautiful innocence and faith being shattered. And I can never forget the oath I made that day to transform that lost happiness into a new joy. I grasped his shoulder, "You need not explain any further. I understand perfectly." I looked through the crack in the door at the two girls who were laughing at something, their innocent faces glowing like angels.
Then the bell rang. Lelouch looked up and Sayako appeared at the door. "That must be Master Suzaku and Euphy-hime." I paled in surprise, "Suzaku Kuzurugi, pilot of Lancelot and Knight of Euphemia vi Britannia, third princess? Why on earth are they here?" Lelouch brushed past me as he said off-handedly, "Euphy was always friends with Nunnaly and I and found out through accident that I am Zero. I lived with Suzaku before the Britannian invasion of Japan. We are best friends, you might say." Sayako opened the door and Lelouch received his guests, none other than the two most famous attendees of EPIC Academy: Euphemia vi Britannia and Suzaku Kuzurugi.
"Euphy! Suzaku!" Lelouch cried out and opened his arms in welcome. "Lelouch!" Euphy said, ecstatic, taking his hands in greeting. Suzaku smiled and, putting a hand on Lelouch's shoulder, "Good afternoon, Lelouch!" Nunnaly appeared at the open door pushed by my sister, "Euphy, is that you?" she asked. "Nunnaly-chan," Euphy moved to embrace her gently. After releasing Nunnaly, she looked at my sister, "Who is your new friend, Nunnaly-chan?" My sister blushed when she recognized Euphemia but Nunnaly took Saya by the hand and placed it in Euphemia's. "This is Saya Hanashimoto. She sits next to me in arts class and my history class and helps me with everything." "Is that so?" Euphy said, smiling at my sister. She blushed a deeper red, "Nunnaly-chan is too kind, Euphemia-sama." "No," Euphy shook her head, "Nunnaly doesn't exaggerate and please, call me Euphy-san at least." "Yes, … Euphy-san," Saya said, stumbling over the words. Euphy squeezed her hand warmly and nodded in affirmation.
Suzaku had turned to me and held out his hand, "Suzaku Kuzurugi. If I remember correctly, you are Hanashimoto-kun from our History class." I took his hand reflexively but my words were much less familiar, "Yes, history class. Kuzurugi-san, it's an honor to make your acquaintance." He snickered, "No need to be so formal, Hanashimoto-kun." "Indeed, Hanashimoto," Lelouch chimed in. "We are all friends here. Call me Lelouch," "And call me, Suzaku." How can Lelouch switch gears so fast? I wondered. Wasn't it only seconds ago we were discussing his darkest secret and now he is so jovial you could never guess at it! I laughed awkwardly, "Well, I guess since we're all friends, call me Sei," "Sei?" Suzaku asked, "I thought it was something different." "It is," Lelouch said as the room randomly went quiet, "but who could possibly say Shishiseishin and take it familiarly?" Long name stare from everyone, though after thinking about it, Suzaku smiled, "Lion-heart. Your parents named you well," then grimacing, "Too bad it doesn't sound better." I scratched my head self-consciously.
Though Euphy pushed through the awkward break in the conversation, "Well, shall we go in? I would like to hear more about you, Sei-kun, Saya-san." "I will get tea for the guests," Sayako said, bowing and leaving the hall. We followed her into the room where Lelouch and I had been playing chess but we left the pieces as they were and turned instead to Nunnaly's art project: folding 1000 cranes. She wanted to make a wish, apparently, but I did not ask her. Wishes are best kept secret until they come to fruition. However, some secrets should die in the dark and never see the light of day until redemption comes to burn them away.
Though here at lunch sitting and chatting, laughing as we help Lelouch escape from President Milly Ashford's pranks, playing through the innocence of abandon, there are no secrets here to trouble us. There is only Lelouch, Suzaku, C.C., Euphy, and Sei. We run past Saya and Nunnaly, who wave to us, even though we are hotly pursued by a crowd of screaming girls and screaming boys. Rivalz eventually runs interference and Lelouch escapes into the buildings. But then the bell rings and we start heading back to class. Though as I cross the bridge, C.C. just finishes the last bite of pizza. "Thanks again, Sei-kun. Until next week." And then she is gone. I run my hand through my hair. I lead a strange life.