The False Checkmate Threats in a Shower, and a Blue Butterfly
A lone soldier approached Prince Clovis's land cruiser/HQ/giant thing. He was dressed with a typical Britannian enlisted soldier for an urban firefight deployment. His helmet contained a sophisticated respirator and movement highlighting visor. A turquoise blue flak jacket designed to block shrapnel donned the body. The arm armour was designed to stop small arms fires as well as shrapnel since the arms are hit thrice as much as the larger torso in a city when assailants are in buildings. Unlike most enlisted men, he lacked a primary weapon: no rifle, no missile launcher, no flamethrower, and no shotgun. In the holster was a pistol, but the pistol appeared to be the type issued anti-tank and anti-KnightMare soldiers so that the user wouldn't risk self damage in close quarters rather than the sidearm variants given to officers. In any event, this soldier clearly lack any marks of a commissioned officer.
The guard gestured his gun at the incoming soldier. "Halt! Where is your ID? This is the vessel Prince Clovis is on." He said.
The soldier took off a helmet revealing black hair and his eyes. "An inspection at last? You've become quite spread out as I planned" Lelouch's left eye started glowing and a bird symbol appeared. "I am under the orders of Prince Schnitzel" his eye returned to normal. "I want you to let me pass through here."
"I see. All right" said the guard, standing attention.
Kallen was running around desperately. Their savior was gone and they didn't even have time to get the civilians away, only using a backup shelter. They needed to regroup there. If Britannia didn't find them, they might be able to sneak away. Given the indiscriminate purging of the ghetto, throwing away their weapons and grouping into the civilians will fail because the civilians are the target.
"This all happened because you decided to rebel against Britannia!" said one woman in the shelter.
"What? You damn cowards!"
"How many people do you think have died?"
"Shut up! We've also had a lot of our people killed or captured" said a brown haired rebel wearing a purple vest and wielding a submachine gun.
"Ogi-san, what about the person who was talking with us?" said Kallen.
"I don't know. He won't answer calls either, so he might have died" said the rebel leader. Suddenly, the old giant doors were blown open. Britannians swarmed in.
"See, I told you. We would have been better off using the poison gas than listening to some guy we don't even know!" said the armed rebel.
"But.." said Ogi.
"Nagata, you idiot!" said the brown haired and hot tempered rebel.
Britannians poured out APCs. Three self-propelled artillery gun vehicles pointed into the crowd, a rather unwise move given that firing artillery at this distance would put the vehicle itself in the blast zone. A Sutherland stood 10 meters behind, the pilot trying to look best as if he had more than three shots left. "How foolish for you Elevens to be hiding out here. Prepare to fire" said an artillery officer. The civilians huddle in fear. Kallen thought she would die.
Suddenly, loudspeakers started crackling. "To all troops. Cease fire immediately. As the Governor of Area 11, I the 3rd prince, Clovis la Britannia issue these orders. All troops cease fire. Cease all structural destruction activity as well. Help the wounded regardless of whether they are Britannians or Elevens! I am issuing these orders as Clovis la Britannia. Cease Fire Immediacy. I will not allow further conflict"
A series of lights, cameras, and microphones turned off. "Was that OK?" asked Clovis la Britannia.
"Yes, that was perfect" said the hostage taker. "I need a forward explanation to some of your command posts"
Clovis pointed to a console. "A simple way to do it is to scroll for names alphabetically and select who you want." The boy imputed through a list of commands, narrowing down to commissioned officers. Clovis saw three top level generals directly reporting to him were selected, though they weren't trusted enough to not leek anything to his father. An officer with three layers of superiors before reaching Clovis was selected. He was the closest officer not part of the personal guard. An infantry platoon commander was selected. Margrave Jerimiah Gottwald was selected. The boy scrolled rapidly and picked a random addition. He then opened a one way communication channel.
"The terrorists got some poison gas. The reason we were purging the ghetto is that the terrorists are hiding among the civilians. I gave the order because we had to stop them from getting away with the gas, even at the cost of some Elevens in the ghetto. However, we were a little late in perusing them. Had we arrived half an hour earlier, it should have been easy. But fifteen minutes after we started purging the ghetto, the poison gas was already gone. The terrorists put up some resistance despite that they got away with what they wanted. They probably did that to paly mind games with us and civilian lives don't matter to them anyways" said Clovis. He shut down the coms.
There was some confusion in the middle ranks of the officers. Thousands of relieved but dejected ex-Japanese left the various hiding places they were using, walking passed armed guards. Mingled with the civilians were the terrorists, down their one stolen KnightMare, failing to protect the civilians killed earlier, and they didn't even get their poison gas for the trouble. "What do you mean let the Elevens go?! We still need to retrieve the poison gas" said one major.
"But those are his Highness Clovis's orders" said another officer.
"I want to listen to the opinion of the other officers" said the first major.
"It seems the other generals are not around. I did hear we lost the poison gas midway through the operation" said General Cornelius, who was directly contacted by Clovis.
"Are you saying the only one in the Broadcast room is His Highness?" said one infantry platoon officer.
"No officers in any event. There are guards outside his vehicle. But officers like me were sent to get a better handle on the situation as the coms were full of meaningless chatter. We're quite spread out" replied the general.
Back in the broadcast room, Clovis was being a generally cooperative if a bit passive resisting hostage. "What's next? Shall I sing a song for you? Or be your opponent in chess?" said Clovis, getting bored.
"It brings back memories" said the boy holding a handgun. He removed his helment and let it roll on the floor. "You don't remember? We would often play chess together. I always won though"
"What?"
"Remember? At the Aries Imperial Villa" said Lelouch vi Britannia.
"Insolent. Who are you" said Clovis, getting annoyed.
"It's been awhile brother" said the other prince stepping closer. Clovis was shocked. It has been years but he recognized that face. "The firstborn of the deceased Queen Marianne. The 17th successor to the throne. At your service, Lelouch vi Britannia." Continued Lelouch, bowing and putting his arm around his shoulder respectfully.
"Lelouch? But you're…?" gasped Clovis.
"'Supposed to be dead'?" said Lelouch. "I have returned your highness in order to change everything"
Clovis felt joy and relief that almost stifled his fear. Lelouch was alive! Ironically, most of his private callousness to the Elevens he governed was due to them being responsible for the supposed death of Lelouch. He smiled. "I'm so happy Lelouch. I thought you died in the invasion of Japan. Well thank goodness you're alive. How about it?" said Clovis. Some of his fear returned when he remembered to focus on what he was seeing in the present, which was a boy pointing a gun to him. "Would you like to go to the Motherland with me?"
"So you can use me on the diplomatic scene again?" asked Lelouch. "You seem to have forgotten why we were used as tools." Clovis gasped as he remembered Marianne. "That's right, because mother was killed. Mother's rank was Knight of Honor and Queen Consort, although she was originally a commoner. She was an eyesore to the other imperial princesses. But going so far to stage a terrorist attack… to Kill mother!"
Clovis immediately realized Lelouch thought he was a conspirator. "It wasn't me! It really wasn't me" screamed Clovis.
"Then tell me what you know! No one can lie to me" said Lelouch. His eye glowed red and an image of a bird appeared in his eye. "Answer my questions" he said. "Who killed her?"
Clovis immediately relaxed. "I don't know. The 2nd prince Schnitzel and the 2nd princess Cornelia. For that apparent terrorist attack, if anyone in the royal family knows, they would know."
"They were the masterminds?" said Lelouch. He was surprised at the thought Cornelia would do such a thing at her age, at the time, to nobility, even one born a commoner. Clovis sort of slumped, closed his mouth, and gave a blank look.
"I guess you don't know that much" said Lelouch, releasing his eye.
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it! I didn't make anyone do it either!" said Clovis. Holding his hands up"
"I know that" said Lelouch lowering his gun. An evil grin spread across his face. He approached Clovis "But…"
Clovis was horrified, not at the thought of dying, which was something he didn't want to do anytime soon, but that someone he grew up with like Lelouch would harm him. He was so happy Lelouch was alive a minute ago, but now Lelouch looked ready to kill. "Stop it… Even though we have different mothers, we were raised as bothers. I'm still your brother".
"The world won't be changed by petty words alone" said Lelouch, aiming at the head, and then the heart. Three shots were fired.
Lelouch was surprised by a voice.
"Hey, Lelouch! You were asleep just now weren't you? I saw you stop working!" said an orange haired girl, slapping him with a rolled up series of papers.
Lelouch's attention slowly materialized. It was Shirley "So? You don't need to hit me." He said. He was inside the Student Council office.
"That's your punishment for leaving me" said Rivalz, a blue haired boy.
"All right, all right, all right. Don't change the subject. If we don't hurry up and finish the inspection of the budget of the blubs, we won't be able to approve the budget" " said Milly a girl with blond hair flowing past her shoulders. She was the student council president.
"The horseback riding club is close to us. They might just start suddenly com charging in again" said Rivalz, smiling at the though.
"Rivalz, you're a member of the Student Council after all" said Milly, oblivious to the horse and rider behind her. A blue butterfly went over to the window. The horse rider went away. The butterfly seemed to look at Lelouch and then followed the rider.
"President, it would have been better if you remembered this one day earlier" said Shirly.
"The correct answer would be 'three days later." That way, it would be too late and we'd have to give up"
"That's a good idea right no" agreed Lelouch.
"GUTS!" said Miley.
"That 'guts' magic again?" said Rivalz.
"Yes! You feel the desire to work harder" said Miley, wagging a finger.
"Fake magic like that won't work" said Lelouch.
"President! I think it's affect me" said Shirley returning to paperwork.
"That's great. The athletic types are more honest" said Miley.
"I've been training for this" said Shirley flexing her right arm muscles and forming a fist.
"That's not what I meant. They're quite splendid." said Miley, lowering her gaze so she no longer looked into Shirley's face. "I checked them out recently in the bathroom of the female dormitory. You have good balance in top and bottom" Rivalz made a grunt of approval and stared at Shirley's boobs.
"What are you saying? Pervert!" cried Shirley.
Later the paperwork was eventually finished. "Geez! I swear the president id a middle-aged man on the inside!" said Shirley.
"Milly has always been like that" said Nina, a girl with glasses.
As the trio of council members arrived, they saw some students huddled around with a laptop. "They said it was a poison gas attack. Isn't that scary? Shinjuku is only 30 minutes away" said the owner.
"Shinjuku?" said Shirley thinking that sounded familiar. Lelouch walked into the classroom.
"I called you yesterday because of this. I heard about it form a friend of mine while that was all going in real time" said Lelouch. The students continued watching the news report for half an hour. Bodies were being evacuated. A local policeman who was on the vase initially before his borough was superseded was interviewed, but the military stayed mum.
There was no mention of the Governor. "Strange. Why are they hiding that information?" thought Lelouch. He remembered killing his brother and started to feel bad. He went to the bathroom and threw up. Lelouch continued to ponder. "Are they hiding the death of Clovis to prevent confusion from spreading? But if they were to do that, when they announce that, all else being equal the damage will be greater. So not all else will be equal. Britannia must be cooking something up" thought Lelouch. "Hmph. My nerves are still too weak for this" he mumbled. "If I'm going to destroy Britannia, I need to do this many more times" thought Lelouch.
Far away, two people were discussing the attack on prince Clovis. The turquoise haired one of them was dressed in a blue outfit, with a golden outline, golden collar and a red decorative wing. "The culprit got through security thrice. It must be those outdated inspection methods" said Margrave Jerimiah Gottwald.
"Margrave Jerimiah, now that Prince Clovis can no longer rule Area 11, we of the Purist Faction…" said his bluish-teal ponytailed companion, only stopping when a gloved hand was put to her face.
"I'll give out the orders. Wait until everything is sorted internally" said Jerimiah. He and Villetta would not let this opportunity escape. Although it was rather tasteless to profit after the shooting of a prince, they needed to act quickly. They were not sure if Princess Cornelia or Prince Henry would do unilateral political favors for them if they were assigned to Area 11. Cornelia would furthermore not be manipulated with kind words and a luxurious lifestyle. Prince Schnitzel has his own agenda, and whatever it was Villetta knew it wasn't their own. On top of that, there were other Britannian factions who had their own ideas about Area 11, one of them only wanting to hold it just for strip mining and not caring about the stability of their occupation. Since those princes and princesses were the 1st, 3rd, and 4th most likely candidates to replace Clovis if the homeland didn't allow a military governor for long periods of time, they needed to consolidate positions and put their friends in charge of key military and administrative positions in Area 11. So long as they do their jobs, their allies can't be dismissed or demoted once placed, only transferred.
It was in another class break. There was three regular classes plus PE for the day. Lelouch had to agree that most Britannians would enjoy the "Rich Idiot with no Day Job" lifestyle, even though he himself is board.
"Kallen! It's been awhile. Is your body OK?" said one girl.
"Sophie was worried" said another girl.
"Yes, I can't push myself too hard though" said the girl in the center sitting down. It seemed thee girls of the Ashford Academy made friends with the one sitting down. Lelouch recognized her as Kallen Stadtfeld. The pink haired girl was a rich only child.
Suddenly, Lelouch recognized something else in his classmate. He remembered the terrorist who went past him in the truck to operate the KnightMare. Kallen was a terrorist. Lelouch wanted to monitor her. He opened a notebook and started observing mostly inconspicuously. Inconspicuously to anyone who didn't know him of course.
"Lelouch, what are you looking at? Perhaps you have a crush on her?" inquired Rivalz. He wasn't entirely correct, but he did notice Kallen had his attention.
"I just think it's unusual to see her. She hasn't been at school since the opening ceremony has she?" said Lelouch.
"Actually, she has on seven occasions. One time a whole 19 school days in a row. Kallen Stadtfeld. It seems her body is kind of weak. She only showed up occasionally last year too. But her grades are top notch. She's the daughter of the Stadtfeld family, so she has money. Plus she has a quite personality. You've got refined taste" said Rivalz.
"That's not it" said Lelouch.
"Denial, denial" teased Rivalz.
Lelouch continued his surveillance of Kallen. He only did so a third of the available time and made it appear he was more interested in Cornelia, one of the girls in her social circle. Later a bee circled lazily around the group causing panic. The girls dispensed. The bee followed Kallen.
Kallen looked somewhat intimidated and quiet as she ran away and later was examining the bee. Lelouch was wondering if he had the wrong pink haired girl. Suddenly, she got irritated and killed the bee in a swipe. "Geez, this pisses me off! I shouldn't have chosen such a weak personality to fake" said Kallen. Lelouch closed the distance. Kallen stuffed a sandwich into her mouth. "Oh no, I was seen" she mumbled through the sandwich. Lelouch's doubts quickly vanished. He needed to stop second guessing himself. "I-is there something you want from me?" asked Kallen as she tried to wipe all emotion from her face.
Lelouch looked into the girl with his left eye. The power activated and an image of a bird appeared and made a flap before relaxing. "Answer my question" he said.
"Yes" said Kallen, standing attention.
"You were piloting a Glasgow in Shinjuku yesterday weren't you?" asked Lelouch.
"Yes" replied Kallen.
"Why are you a terrorist?" said Lelouch.
"Because I'm Japanese, even though half my blood is Britannian" said Kallen. Lelouch was shocked. For most humans hair color was limited to red, brown, black, and blond. For Japanese red was rare. Europeans and Britannians also have blue, turquoise, and pink as common colors, plus a few uncommon ones. But the girl was a half. Lelouch continued to inquire her motivations.
Eventually Lelouch had finished. As if physic, Kallen suddenly returned to normal once he was satisfied with his questions. "Um, was there something you wanted to ask from me?" she asked. It seems her cover personality tone had returned to her voice. It didn't sound as authoritative as she was when she asked "is there something you want from me?"
"No, I'm done" said Lelouch. He started to walk away but quickly turned back to face Kallen. His left eye glowed "Say nothing about Shinjuku."
"What do you mean by 'about Shinjuku'? What do you mean by that?" said Kallen, puzzled.
"Go back to the classroom" ordered Lelouch.
"I will after you answer my question" said Kallen. Lelouch deactivated his eye.
"It doesn't work? What is this supposed to mean" thought Lelouch. Lelouch took a step back awkwardly. His face had the expression on might have after trying forgetting someone's name after spending a whole week together.
"Lulu! Kallen!" called a voice from above. "We're in science lab next. Hurry up!" said Shirley.
Suddenly Lelouch realized he was so focused on Kallen while making it look like his attention as elsewhere he forgot his responsibilities as a student. "Oh no! I need to get the equipment for the experiment" said Lelouch.
Later that night, a girl in a wheelchair and a maid were doing origami. Neither of them had eaten yet. "I'll wait. He said that he wanted to eat dinner with me" said Nunnally, Lelouch's crippled sister. She had sandy born hair and her legs were useless, needing a wheelchair. She was blind, although if one looked at her one might assume that it was simply her eye muscles were paralyzed and she couldn't open her eyes.
The maid finished her paper crane. "Here. It's done" she said.
Nunnally reached out and carefully felt it out without crushing it. Over the years she got good with her hands. "A bird?" she inquired.
"Yes. It's a crane" said Sayako.
"Amazing. Japanese people are talented aren't they?" said Nunnally. Soon she sensed a new presence and turned her head toward the door.
In came Lelouch. "Sorry. I'm late. I'm back, Nunnally, Sayako" said Lelouch.
Later Nunnally explained her day. "Sayako was explaining to me Origami. If you fold a piece of paper numerous times you can turn it into things like birds and ships" said Nunnally. She started to add some soup, but haste and blindness make a bad combination. She spilled some.
"You don't need to talk so quickly. I won't be going anywhere" said Lelouch, wiping the soup from his little sister's face.
"Elder brother, last night you were scary" said Nunnally.
"Really? Sorry. I had a lot of things on my mind" said Lelouch, thinking about Clovis.
"Hey. They say if you fold a thousand of these paper cranes, your wish will be granted" said Nunnally, holding out the first one she made. "If there is anything you wish for…"
"No I'm…" said Lelouch, still thinking about Clovis. "How about you? Is there something you want" said Lelouch.
"I wish for a kinder world" wished Nunnally.
"I'm sure by the time you cans e the world will be like that. I promise you it will be" said Lelouch. Lelouch considered their position. The Ashfords had basically let them live in for three years for free before Lelouch could pay for his living expenses. And they had the right to expel Lelouch and Nunnally at will, tuition paid or not. They were on the siblings' side though. Through the effort of the Ashford family, they had been protected and concealed. But he wondered how long that can happen. If their identities as out of favor princes were revealed, they would either be used as diplomatic pawns or fall to a conspiracy. "I must create a world where at least Nunnally can live happily" he thought.
Nunnally put their hands together with their pinkies locked. "I learned this recently. It's how Japanese people make promises" said Nunnally. She started moving their hands up and down. "'If I lie, I will swallow a thousand needles. Cut your finger'" said Nunnally, separating their hands at the last line.
"That's scary. I would have to swallow a thousand needles" said Lelouch. Whoever thought of that certainly was a fan of black comedy.
"Yup, so you shouldn't lie" said Nunnally, still holding out her pinky to the air.
"Don't worry, I won't lie" said Lelouch. "At least not to you" he continued in his mind. For his plan to work, his life would be made of lies/.
Simultaneously, a meeting was held in a bunker at the Tokyo Concession. A monocoled general was giving a briefing to a group of military officers and scientists. "As you know, the plans have all failed. We will abandon the laboratory because of that. We have prepared a place in Narita. Everything will be transferred there. A seventh of you will go there too and the rest of you will be put on paid leave for three weeks to three years. If other departments don't pick you up, the private sector will need talent. Even though no records were made, the fact that the other officers and I have left His Highness Clovis remains. I will most likely be send to the homeland as responsibility for this. You must try to salvage what we can now that the girl is gone. Also if the fact that I was conduct this experiment in secret becomes known to the Emperor…" said General Bartley.
"Understood. We'll prepare as quickly as possible" said an officer. The technocrat faction made a huge blunder with these secret experiments. It was known this girl had the interest of the Emperor for three years over a decade ago, although as a captive, advisor, or consort was unknown. It was not even known if they met. Not only would the Emperor not approve, it was this experiment which started the Battle of Shinjuku Ghetto… and mid ranking member of their faction who was high ranked in the military (a general) and permission to speak with Clovis on a regular basis left Clovis alone.
The next day, Lelouch needed to find out what was going on with the strange power. It was his only weapon, and it seemed to not work. Previously, he found out the limit of needing eye contact, being seen on the screen was inadequate.
"Lelouch, it's almost time for class" said a teacher.
"Oh, right" said Lelouch. He decided to give it another try. His left eye glowed and the bird image appeared. "Teacher, please tell me what the questions on the next argumentative exam will be" requested Lelouch politely.
"The humiliation of Edinberg and the battle on the new continent" said the teacher. Lelouch released the power. It was obviously still working.
Lelouch watched the teacher return to normal. "Teacher, please tell me what the questions on the next argumentative exam will be" said Lelouch, activating the power again.
"Quit joking and study seriously! You can do it if you try" said the teacher.
"OK" said Lelouch, in the tone one might say if rolling eyes after an annoying order, although his eyes were still. "I see, so it only takes effect onceon the same person" thought Lelouch.
Later Kallen was talking to her terrorist contact. "So, how does it feel to be back to school after such a long time?" said Ogi.
"Boring. Yesterday was a class on history. Hey wouldn't it be better if I went down there?" said Kallen.
"The military is keeping a close watch right now. Stay there until things cool down" said the terrorist leader.
"But that voice…" said Kallen.
"We can't search for someone with a voice as a lead. Besides, Naoto would be happier if you remain a student Kallen. Forget about Shinjuku for a while. I'll contact you again" said Ogi. He looked around the dump of a base they had. There was a flag of Japan and a picture of Kallen's family from years ago.
Kallen felt somewhat defeated at the thought of the lost opportunity they had and the order to lie low. But then again, he had a point that things were moving behind the scenes. She had the luxury of hiding in a safe place while the ghettos were vulnerable to normal crime.
Later that day Kallen studied her classmate carefully, almost staring at him at times. The voice was similar, but a memory a voice isn't reliable. Lelouch focused on class and ignored the unwanted attention, easier now that he wasn't actively spying.
"The only piece of information I leaked out was Shinjuku, but I must settle this quickly" thought Lelouch.
"Hey Lulu, how about" said Shirley.
"Sorry Shirley, maybe another time" interrupted Lelouch. He approached the pack of girls, who were chatting away.
"Oh really?"
"Kallen, you live at home right?"
"Do you have stuff like a curfew?"
Lelouch entered the perimeter Kallen's friends formed around her. This was a calculated risk. If Kallen was completely ignorant or merely suspicious, he was now directly calling attention to himself. On the other hand, Miley wanted to add a new member to the student council, so that was a (weak) excuse if he needed to backtrack. "Can you come with me for a moment? There's something I want to talk to you about" said Lelouch.
The girls were surprised. In fact, Lelouch got some level of attention from other idle members of the class too. "Sure, I thought you would ask me that" said Kallen. She knew his attention was on her.
"Huh?' said Shirley. The other girls squealed.
Kilometers away, a convoy was headed to a military base. General Bartley held his head in shame. Now that the laboratory was secure, he was going to have to pay for his incompetence. Or perhaps it was the incompetence of his subordinates since he's not on the security detail. "I'm sorry Your Highness" he said, looking at what appeared to be a coffin. A Britannian decal was draped over it. Inside Clvois's body was connected to several tubes.
Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald and his followers were in Sutherland KnightMares. He squad outnumbered three to one quickly dispatched the regular army guarding the convoy. They were allowed to eject peacefully since they were only doing their job of course.
"Do you understand our determination? Are you still spouting such futile excuses?" demanded Jeremiah. His Sutherland opened up the half-track containing Bartley and Clovis. Jeremiah opened up his KnightMare and poked out, revealing the pilot's cockpit and himself.
"Ask the others who were there! If you need testimonies…" said the bald general.
"Caring only for yourself? How disgusting! I will not allow you to stay by His Highness any longer!" said Jeremiah.
"I didn't know there was a place like this on campus" said Kallen. She was in a grand room in a dormitory complex the size of most non-boarding schools. There was glass and marble everywhere. A large balcony let one see to the ball-room style floor.
"It's a clubhouse made specifically for the student council to use. It was made with enough space so balls and other events could be held here" said Lelouch. The two teenagers stood in front of each other.
"There will be no interruptions here" said Kallen.
"That's right" said Lelouch, knowing there was one last interruption coming. Shirley was present, the president was coming in and Miley had one thing to say to him.
"I found it! This is what you were looking for, right?" said Shirley, holding a small device.
"Yes that's it. That's the experimental data" said Nina.
"Geez, by back hurts" said Rivalz. Ok, it seemed most of the student council was present. Lelouch knew Shirley would help Nina after she lost her data, but he didn't think they would all come.
Miley opened up a door. She was no longer wearing the Ashford Academy uniform but looked like a short skirted waitress at a fancy restaurant. "Did you find it? I'm done with all this, so let's begin" said Miley. She was wheeling in a cart of luxurious food.
"Woah, amazing" said Rivalz.
"As expect of Miley" said Shirley.
"Free to praise me as much as you want" said Miley. The appetite of the student council watered as she set the dishes.
"Um, what is this for?" asked Lelouch. He knew Miley wanted her here, but for what?
"Didn't you bring her because you knew? Kallen, we're adding you to the student council. My grandfather requested it" said Miley.
"The chairman?" asked Lelouch. The Chairman was the only reason he was alive right now.
"Yup. He said since Kallen's body is weak, normal club activities would be difficult. Oh! I am Miley, student council president. Nice to meet you" she said.
"Oh, nice to meet you" said Kallen.
The others came down the staircase and introduced themselves. "I'm Rivalz, the secretary. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!" said Rivalz.
"I am Shirley. I'm also part of the swim team. Nice to meet you" said Shirley.
"I'm Nina. I hope if I do something big in the future my life's achievement won't kill 33 million people" said Nina.
"Oh yes, nice to meet you" said Kallen.
"Um, Shirley? Could you put this on the table?" said a wheel chaired girl. She was bringing a cake.
"Thank you Nunna" said Shirley.
"Nunnally? You came too?" asked Lelouch.
Kallen was surprised. The uniform on Nunnally failed to match the Ashford Academy uniform. In fact, it seemed that didn't belong to any school. "She's Lelouch's little sister. She's home schooled" said Miley.
"I'm still in middle school or would be if I attended school and I'm not really aprt of the student council" said Nunnally.
"It's ok. You'll defiantly be a member eventually" said Rivalz.
"Kallen, nice to meet you" said Nunnally.
"Nice to meet you" said Kallen.
"OK! How about I start off with a toast?" said Rivalz. He brought out some champagne. Shirley protested and a struggle over the bottle began.
"That's for you Nunnally" said Miley, handing over a glass of orange juice.
"Lelouch, pass!" said Rivalz. He threw the bottle which was barely caught.
"Lulu, I won't let you have it that easily" said Shirley. She rushed over and quickly pinned him to the group. There was a struggle and Lelouch protested. Suddenly, the cork came loose.
The wine poured out of the bottle. Unfortunately, it went straight into Kallen's hair. Kallen let out a tiny grunt. "What's wrong?" asked Nunnally. The student council ate no more than a seventh of their available food and Kallen left to shower. Lelouch was not sure why changing cloths isn't sufficient since wine smells nice in hair even if it is a horrible waste of wine, but that was her choice. In any event, now that he had her attention and there was an opportunity to speak alone, it was time to put his plan into action. Lelouch went over to grab Kallen some clothing. It was his casual wear, for outside the Academy. The others went over to wash Kallen's uniform.
Kallen was annoyed. "That is why Britannia is so… geez" said Kallen. She heard a knock on the door. She had left it unlocked so someone can leave her a change of clothes.
"It's Lelouch. I brought you some spare cloths" said Lelouch.
"Come on in. I have the curtains drawn" said Kallen.
Lelouch walked in and turned his eyes to the side. "Sorry about that. They're a lively bunch" said Lelouch.
"It's OK. It's not so bad having some mindless entertainment like that from time to time" said Kallen.
"The spare cloths are mine. Do you mind" said Lelouch.
"I care about that. You must be pretty fast. You went all the way to the male dormitory didn't you" said Kallen as she rubber her shoulder.
"I live here. It's difficult to have my sister live here in the dormitory. We got special permission from he chairman to live here" said Lelouch.
"I see" said Kallen.
"I'll be going" said Lelouch, making sure to step loudly.
"Wait!" said Kallen. Lelouch stopped moving. "Can yo get that pouch for me?" requested Kallen.
"Sure" said Lelouch. He picked up the pouch and walked over to the shower. Kallen suddenly grabbed his wrist. "You're more energetic than I thought" said Lelouch. It has been less than seven days. Either she is too hot blooded to live a double life without messing up eventually or her terrorist leader is an utter moron. If the only information he gave out was "Sinjuku" and her superior said something like "find anyone who could possibly be the voice with our limited information even at the cost of potentially blowing your cover" for example.
"Were you in Shinjuku that day?" inquired Kallen.
"What are you talking about?" said Lelouch.
"Don't play dumb. Why did you say Shinjuku?" said Kallen. She was clearly not fooled despite Lelouch successfully sounding confused.
"Is something wrong with Shinjuku" said Lelouch, now going for a curious tone.
"Don't answer a question with a question!" threatened Kallen. "The answer is yes or no" She brought up her pouch and activated a blade. "I don't want to hear anything other than that" said Kallen. Lelouch could see the outline of the knife and her arm thanks to the positioning of the light. He was amazed at the making of this concealed weapon. He thought that Kallen would try to overpower him bear handed or chokehold. This was unanticipated, but if his timing was perfect, it wouldn't matter too much, just raising the stakes if he was wrong. It was also a colossal tactical error committed by Kallen if she was not ordered to do so. She could not be certain Lelouch was in Shinjuku. If there was even a 1/3000 chance she was wrong, threatening Lelouch was simply not worth it. Based on her available information, there was no way even a 30% certainly could be achieved.
The phone rang. "If I don't answer it, someone will come" said Lelouch. He wondered why the landline was in the bathroom. Perhaps it was so that girls could order pizza while showering. At least the phone was waterproof, so if it served that purpose, it would work.
Lelouch picked it up on the third ring. "Yes? Ashford Academy Student Council. This is not our main number. No I'm… yes" said Lelouch into the phone. "It's for you. He said that if you answered, you would know" he said to Kallen. He handed the phone over. Lelouch had won.
Kallen picked up the phone with some curiosity. "Hello?" said Kallen. It was triggered.
"Sounds like you're OK, Q1" said the voice on the other side of the phone. Kallen gasped and moved the curtain a little to get a look at Lelouch. He was staring away, a phone idly on the long cord. Was she wrong? "Don't interrupt, I'm busy. Tomorrow, three days, and 37 days from now at 1600 hours, come to the viewing platform of the ex-Tokyo tower by yourself. Depending on the heat, I have something for you one of those times" continued the voice.
"Who are you? The one who gave the order for the ceasefire was…" said Kallen. Suddenly she heard a click. "Hey, don't hang up!" she said. In her frustration, she dragged the phone cord and moved the curtain.
"What do you mean by 'order the ceasefire'? Your friend seemed dangerous" asked Lelouch.
"That was… um" said Kallen nervously, eyes daring between the ground, the phone and Lelouch.
"Can I guess? You were talking about a game, right? Some kind of video game or something" said Lelouch.
"Yes. That's right. I started playing because I was stuck home so long" agreed Kallen. She released her grip on Lelouch. His body no longer forced to a particular orientation, the most natural position for his head was whatever direction his body was instead of facing Kallen.
"That's why I warned you that you shouldn't say anything about Shinjuku. There are people out there who try to show you pictures and videos" said Lelouch. He looked down to his wrist and rubbed it gently. He glanced at Kallen and she was looking at his arm. Does the girl have no modesty? Surely she had realized that when she was holding him, the default position of his head would face into the curtain she opened up. And even with his arm released, any boy was free to look in any direction. Lelouch turned away and looked at the door. "By the way I can see" said Lelouch.
"Huh?" said Kallen. She looked at Lelouch, and then looked down. "Ehhh!" she screamed. Kallen closed the curtains and wrapped her arms around each other and something.
"Um, I won't tell anyone. See you later" said Lelouch. He left the bathroom with a small smile. You had to enjoy the small things. This was especially important since he was going to be very busy in the future. Three days in fact.
In another room, Sayako turned off an audio recorder. The orange glow in the maid's eyes vanished. "Huh?" said Sayako.
Later Lelouch was brining Kallen up to speed on what went on weekly at the student council. "Even though we're the student council, there's not a lot of work to do" said Lelouch.
"Events? You mean like the cultural festival?" said Kallen.
"Yes, but that's far away. We will be doing things like organizing 'Gender role reversal festival,' 'Absolute Silence Party,' and 'Wear Your Swimsuit to Class Day" said Lelouch.
"What?" said Kallen with a dopey look on her face.
"It's the president's hobby. You'll be forced to tag along eventually so be prepared" said Lelouch.
Three hours before and kilometers away Margrave Jerimiah Gottwald was finishing a preliminary investigation of Clovis's. He was furious that General Bartley didn't even try to investigate hard. The military investigators mostly just collected information without any degree of processing the information.
His Highness' personal unit consisted of over 3000 infantry, 30 Sutherlands, 15 artillery pieces, and 100 anti-aircraft weapons. Only a few dozen of the infantry were present that day, most of them were deployed to the north for… whatever General Bartley did as he was in charge of it at that time. Now those, except a few officers who transferred to research in Narita before he took over, are a normal mixed unit that reported to Countess Lieutenant Mary, one of his followers who needs a triple promotion so her rank matches her new position. Under their disposal at that time were several Honorary Britannian infantry units with new recruits. They were not trusted with weapons without doing either a heroic act or surviving three combat deployments. One of them Private Kururugi Suzuku had found the terrorist and their poison gas and a student hostage. Private Kururugi Suzuku was shot for insubordination when he suggested the student was not a terrorist. A watch saved him and he was given medical treatment until he was deployed by the special envoy for some research. The envoy did not give the Purist Faction any information about what they were testing, or any relevant equipment. Therefore the only things keeping track of his time were the time stamps of the medical staff on the clipboards.
His Highness' personal unit deployed in Sinjuku had a death window of half an hour. Villetta Nu claimed to have the exact time. Unfortunately the video from her KnightMare is unavailable. Her memories would give a 3 minute window, but even Jeremiah is not sure of her testimony. So half an hour it is. It is possible that the Honorary Britannian recovered from his wounds, since his skin wasn't punctured, and killed Clovis's personal unit. The special envoy recorded data for whatever happened in the battle, but even if he used executive authority to demand them, the video itself was deleted by Lloyd in what he admits was a mistake. Since they won't even mention what weapon it was, Jeremiah assumed it was deadly. Furthermore, he lacks an alibi aside from the Lloyd, Cecile, and the guy temporarily assigned to the special envoy. Jeremiah believes they were right about his alibi, but mistaken about the time. None of them saw a watch, clock, or anything to indicated time from the time they claimed Suzuku was present with them to three hours after the shooting of Clovis. So he had no alibi.
Investigation of the murder weapon yielded a partial print. For every random 9000 individuals with fingerprints, only 3 would match this partial print. Private Kururugi Suzuku had a match on the computer. The computer only can give possible matches, but while false negatives are unheard of with the new algorithm, false positive matches have been known. Jeremiah sent the prints and 10,000 dummy prints of people with known alibis to the fingerprint experts of the Tokyo Police, the local military unit, and a private lab that favors the Purist faction. Jeremiah Gottwald had a feeling that without his prompting, they would find one Honorary Britannian matched the print.
There was the culprit's gun itself. There was a serial registration number and a 1 meter RFID chip that gave out its identification. This was one of the guns used in shooting practice by Honorary Britannians. Since they aren't fully trusted yet, careful monitoring is done to make sure each is returned after a practice session. Over the past 3 years, over 3000 incidents of stolen practice weaponry was reported, in contrast to 12 the year before that. Looking at normal crimes such as burglaries, muggings, homicides, and driving without licenses, stolen practice firearms per practice session (only one incident out of tens of thousands of practice sessions) went up along with normal crimes. The increased recruitment of Honorary Britannians meant more practicing, so the spike in stolen weapons isn't too suspicious of itself. The stolen guns often ended up on the private market, not much of it reaching the resistance. And in the grand scheme of things, handguns are one of the things the JLF can make. Making ammunition is expensive for them since they have to do it in secret, but possible. Weapons is more difficult, but not for handguns.
Jeremiah Gottwald made a phone call to the Sendai base. There was an incident where 30 handguns, 90,000 clips for them, and 5 anti-armor rockets were stolen. The JLF overpowered three Honorary Britannians whose bodies were found the next day. The guards failed to call for backup and tier keys were sued to open the storage. One of those weapons had the same ID number as the one used to shot Clovis. It was the same gun no doubt. And Jeremiah's suspect was training in Sendai at that time. What if the guards were overpowered thanks to insider information? For sure, a mere enlisted man would not formally know the guard detail information let alone a trainee, but guards can have loose lips since the training and storages were not a secret.
There were footprints found near the vehicle Prince Clovis used. Inspection of the rubber showed it was not issued to the guards around Clovis. Each company made rubber a bit differently, and it gave a different result on the test. Honorary Britannians deployed that day and the 3rd Boston regiment had their boots from the same company that matched the print. The guard units had their boots issued at different times form three different companies. Of course, this did not preclude different people switching boots. Most of them looked the same and Jeremiah knew he would trade his for more comfortable fitting ones if he accidentally wrote the wrong size on the uniform requisition form. Also, the company that made the boots would have sold other boots too, and since boots aren't weapons they could have very well made one exactly the same for civilian use.
Jeremiah made seven calls. This private was in the army for three years. Where did he come from before then? The surname sounded familiar. Furthermore, he still used his surname first like an Eleven.
After getting his answer, Jeremiah Gottwald found his answer. Aside from "My superior officer shot me!" Private Kururugi Suzuku had a motive. Combined with the suspicious death His Highness's personal unit during or possibly after his discharge from medical treatment, the print on the gun, the fact that the suspect used this very gun in practice months ago and no alibi seems to make this a done deal. The first three are suspicious lines of evidence pointing to the private. The last one screams "if you have even one line of evidence, then he's the one who did it!"
This was politically continent. If an Honorary Britannian was convicted not only of murder but regicide, then he could limit the flow of Honorary Britannian applicants to 3,000 a year. Since only Britannian and Honorary Britannians can have government posts, social benefits, public Higher Education, and more, this would finally give the Purist Faction what they wanted. The firstborn child of a Britannian and Honorary Britannian is considered a Britannian if they speak English and pay a small fee. If someone is an Honorary Britannian and an only child at time of death of his father and has one Britannian and one Honorary as parents, he is considered a Britannian if he pays a fee. But Jeremiah is worried about severe dilution. Firstborns and only children are obviously short in supply. If an Honorary Britannian has 1 pure Britannian great-grandparent, at least 6 Honorary Britannian or Britannian great-grandparents, and both his parents are either Britannian or Honorary Britannians, then he is legally born a full blooded Britannian regardless. This applies to his siblings too. All of these mixed breeds would be considered part of normal society!
Normally in a military tribunal, the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Honorary Britannians have almost all the rights of pure blooded ones, but there are a few where the rights were implied instead of spelled out. Instead of entitling them to all rights, they were given a list of rights followed by "and anything sensible that would still allow strength of nobility." Since Honorary Britannians were common Britannians, at least one judge on Cuba declared that "anything sensible" was all rights. This was one example. Honorary Britannians were always judged as Britannians in Area 11 civilian courts and military tribunals ever. But these courts didn't rule that had to be the case. If judged as an Eleven, the burden of proof lies on… whoever the judge feels like humoring that day. No seriously, sometimes Elevens get a normal trial because they looked better than the prosecutor. In the rare cases of a jury trial, the judge handpicks which facts from either (or facts from both) side the jury is supposed to believe until the opposing side refutes it.
Jeremiah decided he would charge Suzuku with shooting Clovis if the print matched. The military tribunal will consist of seven instead of the usual three judges. He would instruct them to try him as an Eleven, a first for a multiple judge situation. There would be one vacancy, and Jeremiah will fill the seventh with his handpicked judge. The fact that the print was a partial print instead of a full one will be omitted from the trial, but no other suppression of evidence will be needed. Jeremiah was so convinced he was right that he didn't think of it as fixing the case so much as hurrying up the proceedings.
Around the time Lelouch was being threatened by Kallen, who was in the shower, Jeremiah had received the information on the prints. He didn't tell them what the crime was, so given that they responded so fast all of them had nothing better to do. He had prepared a press conference and a speech was ready.
Lelouch walked into the student council special room. A TV was set up. News was on. It was labeled "Press Conference With Margrave Jeremiah form Sate Broadcast Room." "Prince Clovis was a victim and no longer capable of governing. He will become a martyr in the battle against the Elevens while perusing peace and justice! We must carry out his ideals in this sad time" said Jeremiah.
The news station was no longer on the press conference. Three channels ere dedicated to His Excellency's press conference, but this one was just news. "We just received breaking news. The person through to be the primary suspect has been apprehended. According to the announcement it is an Honorary Britannian: The Private Kururugi Suzuku. The suspect is a former Eleven"
Lelouch watched in horror as Suzuku was dragged by a soldier in the middle of an escort. He didn't know whether to be happy or not. Suzuku was somehow alive. But why was he arrested in Lelouch's place? Lelouch knew he needed to save his friend no matter what happened.
Author's Note: Sorry I'm slow in updating. There are a few reasons I started from the begining. one is I wanted to start with small changes that escalates to a tipping point where Lelouch finally decides to take a gamble. I'm also trying to make Jerimiah a bit deeper, while keeping the awesome and loyalty. Another reason to start formt he begining is that I wanted someone who only looked at the wikipedia article and didn't watch any episodes to be able to follow this. In other words, it will not just be a fanfiction, but a story that is readable and complete. I am also having a bit of formatting issues. When I hit "enter" to start a new line in a word document to create spacing, the doc manager seems to lump several blank spaces into one. Another effect is that my note is in the body of the story, I added it to the word document directly. But on other fanfics like s/7522480/3/The-Last-Hurrah you'll notice that there is a clear line sepearting the story and the author's note, indicating he typed his note in some place other than the document that got uploaded into the story. Thing is, I can't figure out where the site allows me to add notes. If you want to let me know anything (like how to put the notes seperatly or something) please send me a PM. If you have any thoughts about the story itself, continue to set reviews. I should be able to get the next chapter in 3 weeks.