*Note - If you spot seemingly random text in italics, those are voices in Rai's head...don't worry you're not going crazy, it's just him.*

Chapter 2 - Starting Anew

The warm rays of sunlight on his face and the presence of someone hovering over him slowly roused Rai back into the waking world. While his first instinct upon feeling another person so close to him was to run, the amnesiac boy quickly realized that whoever it was held no hostile intent. Gradually opening his eyes, his hazy vision focused on the visage of a beautiful blond-haired woman with mischievous, but kind sky blue eyes, and a body that would put many supermodels to shame dressed in a classy yellow school uniform.

"…Angel…?"

"Ohohoho! It's a lovely compliment, but wrong answer," the woman replied in a giddy voice, "You have two guesses left before you have to play a punishment game!"

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Rai looked up again at the now grinning face of Milly Ashford, "Ah…apologies, Ms. Milly. I guess I'm more out of sorts than I first thought."

"It's quite alright, you are still recovering from whatever ordeal put you into this condition," the SC president dismissed with an airy wave of her hand, before glancing at the man with concern, "Did you sleep well last night? We were a little worried when you nodded off right after introductions."

Rai stared at her for a moment, trying to recall the events of the previous day. After getting the names of the student council members, he had lapsed back into sleep, still feeling immensely weak.

"I'm sorry about that, and I did sleep well," he replied, earning a small smile from the blonde beauty. Mentally, however, the amnesiac felt a hollow disappointment at how peaceful his night went.

'...why do I feel as if I'm missing something...something important? And what was that...shadowed figure, that caused me so much pain when I was trying to tell everyone my name?'

"That's wonderful!" Milly exclaimed, jolting Rai out of his self-pity, "I was afraid you would probably have nightmares or something, but I'm happy that wasn't the case."

The silver-haired boy nodded, finding himself lost in Milly's smile and soft gaze. Somehow, her joyful expression helped his melancholic attitude fade away, if only for a few moments.

'…She has a really pretty smile…'

Lelouch was deep in thought as he casually made his way through the halls to the student council room. Finding Rai on the school grounds so randomly had raised quite a few mental red flags to the ex-Britannian prince.

'We weren't able to figure out anything other than his name…for all I know, he could have secretly been sent by that man to search for Nunnally and I,' he mused, unable to see any other reason why the silver-haired boy would just so happen to collapse outside of the school council building, appearing as though he'd been in a struggle with someone before succumbing to his fatigue, 'If anything, maybe I could use this new 'power' of mine to ask him a few things…'

Approaching the door, the SC vice president soon heard the voice of his president inside, followed by the quiet, gentle voice of their recovering guest. Stepping inside, Lelouch suppressed the urge to face-palm as he observed Milly conducting her own, personal interrogation of the mysterious Rai.

"So where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Engaged? Are you royalty? Do you hail from Britannia?"

"U-U-Uhhh…?"

"No need to be shy, tell me! Tell me! Oh! Are you a knight?! Actually no, you look too young to be a knight…maybe a soldier in the army? Could you be a pilot of a Knightmare Frame?!"

"…."

"Milly, I think that's enough," Lelouch intervened, much to Rai's hidden appreciation. The blonde troublemaker pouted cutely at her stern vice president, "Oh come on, Lelouch! I was just asking him a few harmless questions."

The ebony-haired boy sighed, "It is one thing to ask questions, and another to bury someone under several of them within a minute," he turned his gaze to the still-stunned young man in the bed, "My apologies Rai. Milly can be a bit excitable when it comes to learning about people…especially their weaknesses and quirks."

"Hey!"

Rai shook his head, "I-It's ok. I can understand her curiosity."

"Right…well, now that that's out of the way, I do have a couple questions of my own," Lelouch began slowly, subtly picking up on how the silver-haired boy tensed up somewhat, "What were you doing that had you end up passed out in the bushes next to our building? From the condition of the clothes you were in, it looked like you got into some trouble…?"

Rai paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts and answer in the best way possible. Unfortunately, he had no answer, a pained grimace coming to his face as he attempted to dredge up what he could. "I….I can't remember…"

'painlightshoutingrunninghadtogetaway…'

Lelouch and Milly's eyebrows furrowed, not expecting such a reply, "You can't remember?"

'hadtorunhadtorunhadtorunshadowsshadowseverywherehadtorun!'

"N-No…I'm sorry." Rai frowned as he stopped concentrating on his recollection, the headache that had been building up suddenly vanishing along with some of his anxiety.

Lelouch pressed on, "Ok, how about this then. Where are you from? What's your family name?"

Again, the silver-haired man paused, doing everything he could to try and bring up something, anything from before the moment he woke up in bed the previous day. It was for naught.

'Everything will be ok…'

"….I can't remember…"

"Hmm…what about anyone important to you?" Milly picked up, "Do you recall any friends? Lovers? Fellow classmates at a school you went to?"

'What a useful pawn you were…'

"No…I can't…," Rai looked down to his lap in frustration, his fists shaking as they gripped his sheets, "I can't remember anything except my name…not my family…not my country…or if I had any friends, or what happened to me last night….everything's a blank…"

The blonde president gasped, holding a hand to her face as she stared at Rai in shock, "That's….that's terrible…."

Lelouch, however, wasn't buying it, 'He can't remember…or he refuses to tell us? If he is a spy, then feigning amnesia would be a good cover, but too obvious of one. Still…'

"That settles it then," Milly shot up from her seat next to the bed, surprising both Rai and Lelouch, "Clearly, you have fallen victim to terrible circumstances, and as you are, I cannot let you go back out into the world in good faith. Until you've recovered your memories, you're welcome to stay at Ashford Academy for as long as you like!"

Both boys' jaws dropped at the exuberant young woman's invitation, albeit for different reasons. While Rai was overcome by the woman's kindness, Lelouch was exerting a great effort not to question Milly's sanity. It wasn't working as he found himself shouting before he could reign it in.

"Are you serious, Milly?! You can't just offer enrollment to someone we just met right off the bat!"

"I didn't say anything about enrolling him, Lulu," Milly chided playfully, "I just said he could remain here while he recovers. But now that you mention it, if he truly has no clue about where he came from, then maybe enrolling him here would be the best idea. You're a genius!"

'HOW THE HELL DID THIS BECOME MY IDEA?!' Lelouch screamed in his head, fighting the urge to pull on his hair as Milly turned back to face Rai, "I'll have my grandfather draw up the paper work immediately! I can already tell you're going to love it here!"

Rai could only nod, still stunned by the blonde beauty's show of kindness towards him, a person she had only met the day before, "T-Thank you so much for this…I really appreciate it."

Milly gave him a beaming smile that almost blinded the recovering young man, "Think nothing of it! Now then, Lelouch, could you go fetch the documents I'll need from the office downstairs?"

"You can't be serious!" Lelouch argued back, "We should have him put in the medical wing and released to a legitimate hospital in the city! We can't look after someone with amnesia, let alone have him just enroll as a student!"

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss, Lulu!"

"What's going on here?"

The arguing SC president and vice president turned to the doorway, where the rest of the student council were making their way in. Rivalz stared at the two questioningly, while Shirley and Nina focused on Rai, who was currently looking over at two people he hadn't met yesterday.

One was a red-haired girl who was also very beautiful, but appeared somewhat sickly, with a distant look on her face. Her hair was neatly combed and fell to her shoulders, while her blue eyes seemed tired. The school uniform did a poor job of hiding her feminine curves, although Rai was beginning to suspect that would be the case with most of the girls he might see at Ashford. The strange girl glanced at him for barely a moment, but the silver-haired boy could have sworn he saw glint of suspicion in her stare.

The other newcomer was a girl that appeared to be a couple years younger than everyone else in the room, with billowing light-brown hair that fell to her back. Her eyes were closed, but she had an innocent expression of curiosity on her face. What caught Rai's attention the most was the fact that this girl was in a wheelchair.

"N-Nunnally?! What are you doing here? I thought you were resting," Lelouch immediately walked over to his younger sister, "And where's Sayoko? Wasn't she looking after you?"

"I was with her not too long ago, but then I decided to go to the gardens for a bit," the young girl replied, "On my way back, I ran into the others and they told me about a boy they found yesterday."

Rai watched the interaction between the two curiously, until a gentle hand on his shoulder caught his attention. Looking up, he saw Milly giggle, "Sorry, I forgot that these two weren't with us yesterday when you woke up. The red-haired girl is our newest Student Council member, Kallen Stadtfelt," Kallen perked up a bit and gave the silver-haired boy a shy wave, "and that little angel talking to Lelouch is Nunnally Lamperouge, our vice-president's younger sister."

Hearing her name, Nunnally looked over to the bed and said gently, "It's nice to meet you. I hope the others have made you comfortable."

Rai smiled at the girl, her voice sending a warm feeling through him, "It's a pleasure to meet you too. Everyone here has been very kind, I'm really grateful for all their help."

"We're happy to be of assistance, Rai," Shirley answered happily, "Are you feeling any better from yesterday? You seemed really tired."

Milly answered before Rai could even think of a response, "He slept just fine, but we learned something dreadful. It seems Rai has no memories at all of anything before he woke up yesterday."

At that, the entire room minus Lelouch, Rai, and Milly gasped, the reactions varying from person to person. While Shirley began tearing up at the news, Nina and Rivalz looked at the boy in shock. Kallen also appeared surprised, and Nunnally turned to her brother, "Is it true, big brother? Did he really lose his memories?"

"It looks that way, Nunnally," Lelouch replied grimly, "we asked him if he could recall where he came from or why he looked like he'd been in a fight with someone when we found him, but he couldn't remember any of it."

"That's terrible!" Rivalz nearly shouted, before turning to face Rai, "Hey, if there's anything you need at all, and I mean ANYTHING, you just let us know, ok? Here at Ashford, we look after our own!"

Rai nodded his thanks, "I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, Ms. Milly has already offered to enroll me here until my memories are recovered."

"That sounds just like our president," Shirley sighed, but perked back up almost immediately, "but it'll be nice to have a new face around."

"A-Agreed," Nina chimed in, "No one in your condition should be on their own out there. We'll help you however we can, Rai."

The silver-haired boy nodded, tossing Nina a smile as he responded. "I can't thank you enough for your help."

The dark-haired girl turned away quickly to hide a developing blush, "N-n-no problem. Think nothing of it!"

"Well then, it sounds like we'll need to throw a proper welcome for our newest additions," Milly spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "I was originally just planning a welcome party for Kallen as our newest council member, but now we can celebrate Rai's impending enrollment into the academy! Prepare the ballroom, my diligent lackeys!"

"For the last time, we're NOT your lackeys, Milly!" Shirley cried, but her protests went ignored as the mischievous blonde hastily pushed her and Rivalz out of the room, an exasperated Lelouch and a nonchalant Kallen and Nunnally following behind. Nina sighed before shyly walking up to Rai's bed and placing a bag on his lap.

"Milly asked me to bring this up for you…it's your new uniform," she began haltingly, seemingly too embarrassed to glance into the young man's eyes, "She probably intended on enrolling you from the beginning. P-Please, take your time and come down when you're ready."

Rai nodded as the girl quickly turned and left. Peeking at the uniform inside the bag, the young man leaned back into his bed and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Energetic…stubborn…willful…shy…but they're all nice people." He muttered to himself as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"So why do I feel so sad when I see them? As if I was surrounded by such people before?"

Rai tugged lightly at the collar of his dress shirt as he made his way down the hall, the boy still unused to his new uniform. It had taken a little longer than he had anticipated to put it on, his movements stiff as if he hadn't been able to move for a while for some reason. Once he had finished and inspected himself in the mirror, the amnesiac boy slowly made his way to where Milly had told him they would be preparing his and Kallen's welcoming party.

'They really don't have to do so much for me…they've only just met me yesterday…' he mused as he approached the doors. It still struck him as odd how a group of people could be so welcoming to someone they didn't even know, let alone someone with absolutely no memories of who he was, 'Do I even really deserve such kindness? I don't remember what kind of person I used to be before all of this happened…what if-'

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly stumbled, almost losing his footing and falling to the floor. Luckily, the silver-haired boy was able to quickly recover, and there wasn't anyone around to notice. Placing his hand against the wall for stability, Rai took a few breaths to calm the growing nausea in his stomach and right himself at the same time. "What the…what was that? I didn't feel that weak when I got out of bed…"

Shaking it off as nothing, he continued towards the ballroom, where he was quickly noticed by a very busy orange-haired girl, "Rai! Glad you could make it! The uniform looks good on you!"

"A-Ah, thank you, Ms. Shirley," he replied with a slight stutter, for some reason getting rather flustered at such a simple compliment, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Shirley placed the stack of plates she was carrying down on one of the nearby tables before answering, "Well, I think we have everything handled here, but if you want, you could ask the president if she has any tasks for you. Just don't push yourself too much, ok?"

"I'll try not to, thanks," he replied before looking around the rather spacious ballroom. All around the rest of the student council members were hard at work preparing a long table and setting out food. From another entrance, the amnesiac noticed Nunnally wheeling in with a large tray of assorted baked snacks and sweets. Somehow, it seemed the blind young girl was able to sense him, as she turned in his direction and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Rai! Are you feeling any better?"

"Y-yes, a little," Rai replied, a bit dumbfounded at Nunnally's spatial awareness. He knew that she must've had to train herself relentlessly to be so self-aware of her surroundings to the point she could determine his exact location before he could speak a single word. Shirley walked up to him with another stack of plates and giggled, "It's a little shocking, isn't it? Even though she's blind, Nunnally is able to pick up on any new presence around her. Kinda took us a while to get used to it, but if we managed it, then so will you."

The boy nodded, earning another grin from the orange-haired girl. Just as she was about to step away, her foot seemed to catch on something, almost sending her teetering to the ground, plates and all, "Kyaaa!"

Everyone's heads turned to Shirley's scream, but instead of seeing the usual sight of the girl on the ground rubbing her forehead and broken plates on the ground, their eyes bugged out at what they DID see.

Somehow, Rai had managed to not only catch Shirley in one arm, but he also caught the stack of plates as well, without dropping a single one. From the look on his face, the boy probably hadn't even registered what he'd done, "W-What the…?"

"W-W-Whoa…those are some crazy reflexes you got there," Shirley said as her breaths came in quick pants from the shock, "T-Thanks, Rai. You saved me."

"N-No problem," he muttered before righting Shirley on her feet and handing her the plates. All around the room, the rest of the student council could only stare at the spectacle amazed.

Or in two cases, amazed and highly suspicious.

'Those reflexes…a normal person could never react that fast, or with that kind of precision,' Kallen thought as her stare went from shocked to cautious, 'Could he really be an amnesiac? Or has he been placed here by the army to rout out any rebels? Has my cover been compromised?!'

On the other end of the room, Lelouch also narrowed his eyes in distrust, 'He definitely can't be a normal student…I don't think even Suzaku could ever pull off what Rai just did. I have to keep a closer eye on him…'

"Well Rai, it seems you've been hiding stuff from us," Milly chided playfully as she approached the slightly dazed boy. Not wanting to be a part of whatever the mischievous president was planning, Shirley quickly walked off with the plates. Turning to the beautiful young woman, Rai shook his head, "Honestly, I didn't even know I could do something like that…it just…happened."

"I see…well either way, I'm glad you were able to catch her. Those dishes are rather expensive and Shirley has always had a bit of a clumsy streak," Milly giggled at Shirley's angered shout of "Hey!" from across the room, "In any case, do you think you could take this tray of drinks over to Kallen for me, please? I have to help Nunnally set up the snacks."

Rai nodded and took the tray from Milly and headed over to Kallen. However, just as he was but a few steps away from the redhead, a powerful wave of nausea suddenly swept through the silver-haired boy's body. Destabilized by sudden loss of all his strength, as well as a powerful wave of chills running through him, Rai stumbled forward, the tray slipping from his hands and his previous forward momentum hurling the drinks into Kallen. The red-head shrieked as she was covered in all sorts of juices and sodas, while the others ran to where Rai was kneeling on the ground, one hand clutching his chest while the other feebly balanced him on the ground. He was heaving deeply, trying to keep bile from rising up to his throat while his head felt like a bongo drum being used at a festival with reckless abandon.

"Rai! Rai! Are you alright?! Answer us!" Milly cried frantically as she placed a gentle hand on the young man's back.

"…I'll…be alright," he replied haltingly as the unbearable nausea began to recede, only for his face to pale slightly as he saw the mess he made of Kallen's clothes. It was actually Rivalz that voiced aloud exactly what the silver-haired boy was thinking at the moment.

"…well damn…"

"Tch…stupid Britannians and their celebrations," Kallen muttered to herself in frustration as she scrubbed her skin in the shower. After the whole debacle with Rai collapsing out of nowhere, Milly had sent her to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Lelouch had offered to bring her a fresh change of clothes while she was showering, much to the president's hidden amusement.

"Well, if anything it'll give me a chance to figure out what he meant when he mentioned Shinjuku," the red-haired rebel mused, thinking back to earlier that morning when Lelouch had cornered her and told her to forget about the infamous ghetto. Clearly he knew something regarding it, and the only thing she could think of was that somehow, someway, the ebony-haired boy had figured out her identity. Kallen eyed her small pink purse laying on the side of the bathtub. If it turned out that Lelouch knew she was with the rebellion…

A sudden knock brought her out of her thoughts, "E-Excuse me…Ms. Kallen? I've brought a fresh change of clothes for you…"

'Rai?! I thought Lelouch was the one that was supposed to bring me something to change into…?' Kallen thought, 'Wait! Actually, this might be an even better chance.'

"C-Come in," she answered with a slight stutter, hating how she had to sound like a weak little girl. Hearing the door open and footsteps coming closer, she pulled the curtain aside slightly to peek out, "I-I thought Lelouch was supposed to bring me the clothes. What happened?"

Rai looked down at the ground as he placed the clothes on a bench, "I ran into him on his way over. I offered to give you the clothes instead…I wanted to use the chance to apologize for the incident."

Kallen felt a sudden warmth in her chest when she saw how upset at himself Rai appeared, but she brushed off the feeling, steeling herself for what she felt she had to do, "I-I see…it's ok. Uhh…do you think you could hand me a towel?"

Seeing her point to a fluffy white towel hanging on a rack next to him, Rai nodded and picked it up. Turning his head so as to not see anything inappropriate, he raised his arm to hand the towel off. Kallen, however, had other plans, as she quickly grasped the young man's wrist in a tight grip. Neither of them expected the amnesiac to suddenly turn his wrist in Kallen's grip and pull against her thumb with enough force to break free without breaking the girl's finger. Both looked at each other with stupefied expressions.

"What the…?! How did I…? I didn't mean to…"

Kallen reacted first, grabbing her mini purse and lunging out of the bathtub at Rai. Still in a daze at what he did, the silver-haired boy couldn't react in time and was tackled to the ground. Kallen wasted no time mounting him and flipping out the knife hidden in her purse, holding it to the somewhat shaken man's neck, "I knew it! There's no way you could be a regular guy with better reflexes than a trained soldier! Who are you?!"

Despite knowing that he should feel panicked at seeing a naked, aggressive girl with a knife aimed at his throat, Rai felt unbelievably calm, "I t-told you all…I don't remember anything prior to…Ms. Milly and Mr. Lelouch finding me…I'm telling you the truth-"

"I don't buy it!" Kallen interrupted angrily, leaning down closer to his face and pressing the edge of the blade lightly into his neck, "First Lelouch mentions Shinjuku the other day, then right after that some amnesiac boy just shows up out of nowhere and starts attending school with us? Just tell me the truth, you're with the Britannian army and you know who I am, don't you?!"

"I have no idea…I honestly have no idea who any of you really are other than how you introduced yourselves to me," Rai replied back, still wondering why he felt so calm when he could possibly be killed at any moment, "I don't know how I was able to break your grip like that, or how I managed to catch Ms. Shirley. My body just…reacted. That's the best way I can explain it…"

The two were suddenly interrupted by the phone ringing. Glancing up at it, Rai narrowed his eyes, "I don't know why there's a phone installed in the bathroom…but suffice to say, someone might come investigate if you don't answer…"

Blue eyes met lighter blue as Kallen stared down at the vulnerable man. Realizing he was right about the call, she slowly lifted the knife from Rai's throat, "If you say a word…it'll be the last thing you ever do, understand?"

Seeing him nod, the young woman sat up and reached for the phone, heedless of the fact that she was giving Rai a perfect view of her shapely, nude body from her shapely, generous breasts to her toned, flat stomach…

…and down there too. He saw everything down there.

'…I see the carpet matches the drapes…'

"Y-You've reached the Student Council, Kallen Stadtfelt speaking."

"…Good to see you're still alive…Q1."

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who she was speaking to, "It's….it's you…the one from Shinjuku…!"

"1600 hours the day after tomorrow. The observation deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone."

"Who the hell are you!? How did you manage to get that cease-fire order called through?!" she yelled into the receiver, becoming even more incensed, "Don't you hang up on me!"

After hearing nothing else from the other side of the line, Kallen angrily slammed the phone back on its receiver, nearly breaking it. Seeing her extreme reaction, Rai spoke up, "I guess…that wasn't from the student council then?"

Finally remembering who she was with, the fiery redhead shot a cautious look at the boy beneath her, "So…you mean to tell me you don't know who that was? You really had nothing to do with Shinjuku either?"

Rai let out an uncharacteristic sigh, "As I was trying to tell you…and as I've told the others…I don't remember anything prior to waking up in that bed…"

Kallen stared into his eyes for a moment longer, searching them for any signs of subterfuge. There was none, "So you really…didn't know who I was…at all…"

The temperamental red-head's face began to pale as the full implications of what she had just done began to sink in. However, her would-be-victim's next words would change that.

"No…I didn't…and it's not like you've let any critical details slip either," the silver-haired boy reassured, although he had no idea why he was trying to put the young woman at ease, "Despite not having my memories…I can understand that people have their secrets…you have my word, I won't tell anyone about any of this."

As much as she didn't want to, something within Kallen just knew she could trust the strange young man, who even after having his life threatened by her, was doing whatever he could to appease her fears of having messed up critically for no reason, "…and I'm supposed to just trust you…just like that?"

"…I guess so…"

'…who is this guy?' Kallen almost couldn't believe what was happening, but decided to muse on it later. Bringing her knife back to his throat, she leaned in close enough to put her mouth next to his ear, "…if I so much as think that you said anything to the others…your memories won't be the only thing you'll have lost…understand?"

Rai nodded, "…I understand…I should…probably get back now."

The red head waited a few moments before getting back up and removing the knife from his neck, sliding the sharp weapon back into its hiding place. Shooting the boy one final glare, she rose from his lap and faced the other way, giving him the chance to get back to his feet and make his way back to the dorms…but not before Rai was given a delectable view of the fiery redhead's perky, round derriere swaying as she turned.

It was only moments after he left that Kallen went over what just happened in her head, and quickly looked down at her body.

Her still nude body.

"KYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Hey, isn't that the new motorbike parts store that just opened up?! Can we stop there real quick?! Please?!"

"Silly lackey, this isn't the time for personal trips. We're showing our new friend around the city, remember?"

"Will you STOP calling us that?! I swear I'll file a complaint on you, Milly!"

Rai looked from face to face as the three most talkative members of the student council lightly bickered amongst each other while they continued down the street. After the party a couple days prior, Milly had come up with the idea to take Rai to the city, believing that maybe seeing the area might trigger something in his memory. The rest had mostly agreed, although Kallen and Lelouch both declined, citing prior-made plans that couldn't be changed.

"It's truly a shame Lulu and Kallen weren't able to make it, but I suppose I can let them off this one time," the blonde president reflected, remembering their refusals, "Kallen especially seemed rather…adamant about not coming with us…I wonder why?"

Upon hearing the name of the fiery redhead, Rai blushed faintly and glanced off to the side, recalling their "incident" the other day…as well as a rather vivid dream he'd had last night of the gorgeous red-head. It had started from when she had pressed herself against him to whisper in his ear, but instead of a deadly threat, she had begun kissing his neck, making her way slowly to his lips. Before long, his clothes had vanished from his body, and next thing he knew, she was in his arms, their lips still locked in heated passion as their hands roamed each other's bodies feverishly. The silver-haired boy's blush intensified as he remembered Kallen's hand sliding down to grasp his hardened member, pulling it towards her entrance and-

"R-Rai? Are y-you ok? You're blushing…"

"Huh?" Rai looked over at Nina, who was looking at him with concern, and with a small blush of her own. Realizing he had almost been caught reminiscing about…naughty stuff, the silver-haired boy silently thanked the forces that be that he didn't start having a nosebleed, "I'm fine…but thank you for asking, Ms. Nina." He managed to get out while giving her a smile, mentally grateful to her for helping him not get TOO carried away with his daytime fantasy.

The bespectacled girl's face turned an even darker shade of crimson at the small smile aimed at her and turned away quickly, "Y-Y-Y-You're welcome!"

"Hey, you two! You're lagging behind on the tour!" Shirley called out, grabbing the attention of Rivalz and Milly, who were further ahead. The wily president's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Rai and Nina catch up, although from the look of things, the boy seemed just fine.

'He had a rather terrible episode the other day at the party,' she mused, remembering how badly his body had been shaking, as well as how green his face became for a few moments, 'Hopefully the blood samples I took from him before he woke up will reveal more about his condition…'

Those had been more than a headache for Milly to acquire. Despite being asleep, Rai seemed to have a sixth sense that gave him prior warning to anyone trying to draw his blood, and ended up swatted several needles away from himself. It was only after one had become embedded into the wall next to her head that Milly called in the heavy artillery, aka her old maid Sayoko to do so. With her special training, she gave off no presence for Rai to latch on to while managing to get three vials worth of blood from him.

"So over here is the new mall that opened up, and across the street is the history museum," Shirley continued to point out various places of interest to the amnesiac boy, who seemed rather curious about them. None of them really triggered anything in his memory, however, much to his disappointment.

"It seems…that I may be from another place after all," he said quietly, though the others heard him perfectly, "…none of these places seem to strike a chord with me."

Rivalz frowned, "Damn it! And here I was hoping we could trigger something," he paused when he felt his stomach rumble, "…you know, we have been walking around for a while. Why don't we grab lunch?"

"Capital idea! Very well then, where shall we go?" Milly asked, listening to several choices before Rivalz suggested a new restaurant that had opened up not too far from them that specialized in french cuisine. She noticed Rai's eyebrows perk up ever so slightly, "Does a French restaurant sound ok to you, Rai?"

The amnesiac boy nodded slowly, "Sure…I don't know if I ever tried it before…but first time for everything, right?"

"Then it's decided! Forward my loyal disciples!"

"Mouu~! What is it gonna take for you to stop calling us that?!" Shirley yelled out, but Milly had long since started on her way to the new restaurant. Sighing, the orange-haired girl walked along with her head down, "…I wish Lulu were here…"

Rai looked at the downtrodden girl before turning to Nina, "Are they…always like that?"

"Y-You could say that," Nina squeaked out, still unable to look at the boy in his navy blue eyes, "Lelouch usually acts as a bit of a buffer between Milly and Shirley, s-so without him here…well…"

"…I see…"

'No wonder he seems so tired all the time...'

Ten minutes later, the group was seated at a large table within the newly opened La Vie en Rose, named after the owner's favorite song from a forgotten age of music. It was a quaint, modern place with several tables and comfortable chairs. In the center of the restaurant was a large oval-shaped bar with several flat screens hanging from it, displaying either the news or some sporting event. All around, waiters and waitresses rushed about getting orders and delivering food, yet despite how busy they seemed, the atmosphere was still rather peaceful…something Rai was subconsciously grateful for.

'…maybe I don't like really busy places? I wonder…'

"Have you decided on what you want to order, Rai?" Milly asked from across the table. Rai looked down at the menu for a moment, "I…think I'll go with this one."

Rivalz looked over at his choice and smirked, "You really seem to have a thing for chicken and chips, don't you?"

Rai blinked confusedly, "…I do?"

Everyone at the table chuckled a bit, before Shirley chimed in, "That's all you've had for lunch the past two days since the party. It's like you don't even see anything else in the cafeteria!"

Rivalz perked up though. "No, not just that. Remember when he saw the pancakes in the morning? Or the Cola we gave him later that afternoon?" he recalled to everyone, causing another wave of laughs to go around the group.

"Soon enough Rai will be dying his hair orange, acting really hyper and wanting to talk about all sorts of random things, like sloths and pancakes." Shirley joked, tears of laughter spilling from her eyes. However her whimsical flight of imagination brought everyone's minds to a screeching halt at the thought of Rai with hair as bright as Shirley's, blurting out whatever came to his mind at random and causing those around him much untold grief while holding a freakishly large war-hammer that could change into a grenade launcher.

'Wait...freakishly large war-hammer? Where did that come from?'

Once Milly had that mental image in her mind she broke out into even more laughs, slamming the table with her fists for a moment before taking a breath to calm down.

"Oh I believe you've been watching too many of those ancient cartoons, Shirley," Shirley bristled at the accusation, however Milly continued on unencumbered, "but yes Rai, you do seem to be quite the picky eater. Well, that or you just found something you really liked and just want to enjoy it while it lasts." The busty blonde explained.

The silver-haired boy filed that bit of information at the back of his head for the moment, as the waitress finally arrived to take their orders

As the others told the young woman in the apron what they wanted, Rai found his eyes pulled to one of the television screens. Instead of a football or croquet game, however, there seemed to be a report regarding a procession of some sort. The cameras zoomed in on a barricaded road, with a large mob of people on either side chanting angrily. Some even had all sorts of trash and rocks in their hands, their enraged eyes scanning all over the street for a target.

"Hmm…that doesn't look too pleasant," he said quietly. Shirley regarded him for a moment before taking a look at the television herself, "Hm? Oh, isn't that trial scheduled for today?"

The rest of the table went silent as they too turned to watch the events unfold. Milly nodded her head as she recalled something she had heard in the hallways, "I believe so. The trial for Suzaku Kururugi."

Seeing the silver-haired boy's confused glance towards her, the beautiful blonde explained, "About a week or so ago, the presiding viceroy of Area 11, or governor in more simple terms, Prince Clovis la Brittania, was murdered during an uprising in the Shinjuku Ghetto," her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the beginnings of the procession appear on the road, "by the time the uprising was pacified, the death toll was estimated to be well into the thousands, both Elevens and soldiers alike. Suzaku Kururugi, an Eleven granted the title of Honorary Britannian for his service in the army, was accused of the assassination soon after the Shinjuku Incident and was subsequently arrested."

Rai nodded, although in truth he barely understood what Milly meant. The only understanding that really stuck with him was that someone important had been killed and his accused murderer was heading to trial, 'Eleven…Honorary Britannian…how strange…'

The more he rolled those terms in his head, the more his lips curled into a distasteful frown. It sounded terrible to be labeled a number of all things rather than a person.

"Hey, now that I think of it, didn't we pass a cordoned off road a couple blocks away?" Rivalz asked, glancing outside at what appeared to be an assembling crowd, "Do you think that procession's gonna pass this way?"

"I-I-I hope not," Nina stuttered fearfully, her body beginning to shake at the thought of being anywhere near an Eleven, let alone one accused of killing a Britannian prince, "E-E-Elevens are frightening!"

Rai took a quick glance at the terrified-looking girl, his eyes showing a slight hint of curiosity and concern, 'Strange...if she is so fearful of these "Elevens," then why come to their home country to attend school? Maybe I'll ask her about this some other time...'

Milly sighed, "I don't think we'll have to worry. The barricades we passed could have been for something completely different-"

"Hey! Look at that! Something's coming!"

The students at the table perked up and glanced outside, where they were just able to catch a glimpse of an extravagant-looking white car go by a couple blocks away, on the very street that was lined with barricades. Moments later, the same vehicle appeared on the television in the restaurant, stopping a few meters away from a large procession that was awaiting on the other side of a highway entry ramp. Handcuffed in filthy prisoner rags while standing on a mobile platform, a stunned Suzaku Kururugi looked on at what seemed to be Prince Clovis' old transport. Judging from the surprised looks on the faces of the military and the crowd, they shared the wrongfully accused man's thoughts on the matter.

'What the hell is going on?!'

"Guys! Look at the top of the car!" Rivalz shouted, getting everyone's attention back. Standing on the roof of the car was a man dressed in what appeared to be an extravagant formal suit of purple, black, and gold, with a black cape draped across his shoulders and ending at his heels. His entire head was covered by a mask, completely concealing his identity from everyone.

"Who…is that…?" Rai asked, though no one was able to answer. The cameras zoomed in on the mysterious figure, but were unable to catch much of the dialogue between him and the commanding officer in charge of the procession, the aristocratic Jeremiah Gottwald.

"I wonder what they're saying," Shirley leaned in the direction of the tv, trying her hardest to read Gottwald's lips as he conversed with the suspected terrorist. A few patrons pointed at the screen when four knightmare frames jumped down and surrounded the car, with more shouting in surprise as the walls of the car collapsed, revealing a strange red spherical contraption. But it was the words that one cameraman caught from the suspected terrorist only moments later that would bring the heartbeats of everyone watching to a grinding halt.

"…the one who really murdered Prince Clovis…was myself!"

Gasps and screams tore apart the silence of La Vie en Rose, as the many patrons and staff could barely believe their ears. The student council members were no better, the bewilderment from hearing the masked man, now identified as Zero, outing himself as the murderer of a Britannian prince had numbed their tongues.

"Oh my goodness!" Milly shouted, her hands covering her mouth as her eyes remained glued to the screen, "Could he…could he really be the true culprit?!"

"Maaaannn, this is just crazy!" Rivalz exclaimed, while Shirley, Nina, and Rai raptly paid attention as the reporters caught the rest of the exchange. Apparently, Zero had some kind of insider knowledge regarding a scandal involving Gottwald and something related to "orange," because moments later the pompous purist ordered the release of Suzaku to Zero. Rai narrowed his eyes at the two as they walked closer together, before jumping from his seat when he noticed something, "Look! He's got something in his hand!"

The rest of the table looked back at the report just as Zero pressed a button on what appeared to be a detonator of some kind. Behind him, the device collapsed, releasing a large plume of violet gas into the streets. The assembled mobs quickly devolved into panic and fled the area. Rai glanced outside the restaurant and noticed that they weren't as far from the commotion as he would've liked, "Everyone! We have to move now! That gas could be headed this way!"

The student council wasted no time jumping from their seats and dashing outside, immediately being swept up by the frantic crowd rushing to escape what they believed to be a deadly poison.

"AAAAHHHH! MILLY! RAI! NINA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Shirley shouted out, she and Rivalz squirming around other fleeing bystanders as they tried to hook back up with their friends. Elsewhere in the crowd, Milly had just grabbed onto Nina's hand, the smaller girl immediately hugging herself to the president's chest and sobbing in fright when she had been about to be pushed onto the ground and trampled on, "It's ok Nina! I've got you."

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!"

Milly looked up to see another surge of frantic people about to bowl her and Nina over. Closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable to come, she was instead shocked as someone grabbed her and her Nina and pulled them off to the side of the road, the unknown savior throwing their body over them for extra protection. Opening her eyes, the mischievous blonde was shocked to find none other than a steely-eyed Rai hovering over her as the crowd ran past, "R-R-Rai?!"

"…I'm glad…I was able to find you both," Rai managed to get out as another frenzied bystander roughly pushed against him in their blind escape, "I…started fearing the worst when…you both were separated from us."

A teary eyed Nina looked up and noticed her savior cringe slightly, "R-Rai! But how!?"

"I heard you crying…" Rai spoke quietly, the girls almost unable to hear him over the noise of the panicked mob, "…and I followed the sound to you…something just told me that you needed me to protect you…"

Suddenly, the silver-haired boy's eyes widened, the light from them fading as he caught the echoes of a memory…of another time when he was shielding someone…another girl…

'Don't worry about me! Get out of here now!"

'I can't! I won't! I have to protect you!

'I didn't mean to give that order! Stop! STOP IT PLEASE!'

'...Protect...to the very end...'

'Is that so? Very well…you can both die then!'

'Why...why is this happening!?'

'*******, get down!'

BANG!

A gunshot suddenly rang out and the memory began to fade. The last thing Rai saw as his vision was consumed by darkness were the teary-eyed faces of Milly and Nina as they screamed his name.

"….so he's re-awoken…took him long enough…"

Laying on the roof of the student council building at Ashford Academy, a lovely young woman with long, light green hair and slightly bored-looking amber eyes gazed up at the darkening sky, the light breeze slightly ruffling her odd white outfit. A moment passed before she suddenly let out a small giggle.

"Yes, I do imagine he'll cause quite a stir in this lifetime…especially if he ends up recalling his old life later…"

She paused again in her seemingly one-sided conversation, her soft face slightly scrunching up in thought, "…that is a good question. V.V. does need his power at some point…although how it might be affected by his new 'upgrades' is a mystery…"

Sitting up, the strange girl glanced around before sighing and slowly getting to her feet. Lightly tapping her backside to rid it of any dust, she turned around and began to make her way to the edge. As she stared out at the open fields in the middle of the campus, a small, amused smile came to her face.

"Of course Marianne…I'll keep a close eye on him…and on your children as well."

A red sigil, in the shape of a bird appeared on her forehead as she continued on with talking to seemingly thin air.

"After all, I failed to protect all of them once before. To neglect my duty twice would make me no worse than the nun."

Author's Note: Greetings again everyone, and again apologies for the long wait. I'll probably be apologizing for that all the time, so consider yourselves warned. Due to some very drastic changes in my life, including the tragic passing of someone very dear to me, progression might take an even worse hit with this and my other fic. But rest assured, I'm not stopping either of these. This stuff is way too fun.

So Rai is slowly recovering and beginning to establish a better rapport with the student council...as well as having his fair share of mishaps. How will this affect his future?

Well...there's only really one way to find that out.

Big shout out to my beta and co-author for this story, Cloud Link Zero. Hope to see y'all at the next chapter!

Ciph signin out.