The Black Queen

I hate being an invalid. Weak and sickly is just so contrary to my nature that I'm honestly surprised I ever pulled it off. Lelouch isn't the only one who can wear a mask. Speaking of his masks, I'm still trying to figure out which was real and which was the mask. The Demon Emperor had been a ruse, that much was sure. Lelouch Lamperouge was a ruse. Lelouch vi Britannia was dead. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed the only identity he held that wasn't a mask, was the one he hid behind an actual mask.

I'm glad that I remembered to put my mask on before I left for Ashford Academy. Ohgi was surprised that I didn't argue with going back to school, but I didn't dare give him my reason. The truth would have me put in a mental hospital in a heartbeat. A partial truth and if Tamaki ever got wind of it, I would never hear the end of his teasing.

When I made my way to class, I was trying to make a decision. Lelouch would already know who I was soon enough, so the choice of revealing myself to him wasn't the one I had to make. The question was if I should keep the secret that I knew who he was to myself?

If I let him keep his secret, things would play out much the same way they had the first time. I would follow him. I would put my faith in him. But if he revealed himself to me, or if he was revealed to me, I wouldn't leave him there, when he needed me the most.

On the other hand, if I revealed that I knew, he wouldn't have to go through everything alone. He would have me there to help him keep his dual identity under wraps. But he might see me as a threat.

Option three, I could let him keep his secret, but subtly hint that I knew. Now that could be fun.

Option three it was.

I barely heard the irritating voices of the Britannian students around me. They were there, but I was completely zoned out, like I was hearing them from the inside of a fishtank.

These girl weren't my concern right now. Lelouch was, and when he wasn't, I still had to figure out what the heck was going on with my eye. Why I could apparently slow time down. I'd experimented with it a little bit. I could call on it at will. And I wasn't sure if it slowed everything down or just sped me up. But it was something akin to those movie bullet time sequences. It scared me almost as much as it excited me.

Humanity fears that which it does not understand, after all.

We Black Knights were shameful proof of that.

I allowed some fake assurance of my health to the four annoying girls around me to escape my lips right as I caught sight of my King walking through the door into the classroom. I almost tilted my head in curiosity when he did a double take at seeing me. So he still recognized me, although I wasn't entirely sure how. I never exited the Glasgow for him to do so. Which meant he had to have seen me before I ever entered it, or after I left it. I suppose it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, does it?

It didn't matter, I soon found myself lost in the violet eyes that denoted his royalty while he walked past to sit at the seat behind me. I follow him, looking over my shoulder to do so. I'm kind of surprised he never tried to hide those violet eyes. Not only were they girl magnets, and he so despised fangirls, but they were glaring evidence of who he really was. Seriously, Lamperouge was his mother's maiden name. He didn't bother to change his first name, and he did nothing to hide his appearance. How the hell did the Royal Family not find him? An Internet search for the name 'Lelouch' was not that hard! It wasn't like it was a common name to begin with!

The rest of the day continued just like that. A dull stream of memories that I knew were going to come, and happened just as I remembered them. If it wasn't for the fact that I could still act independently, changing little things here and there like the wording of certain conversations, or the fact that if I focused I could actually make out each detail, I might have thought I was in a dream.

Even the damn bee was still there. I acted exactly as I had before, knowing that that is what triggered Lelouch to see me and, more than likely, confirm his suspicions the first time. This time though, I wasn't silenced by concern over how to explain the death of the bee to him. "Oh, hey Lelouch." 'Smooth, Kallen. Real smooth.'

"I want answers." He responded, and his eye lit up red. A bird symbol of sorts contained within the iris. Geass? But...nothing happened. Maybe it was because he already had done this to me before. 'So he did Geass me. For answers?' She wondered. "Of course." I answered. Deciding to play along. Best he thought his trick worked on me. Though mentally I was scrambling for how to act as if I were under his Geass. How tried hard to remember how the people he used it on responded to it. But...it was easier said than done as I searched through my memories.

Best go with short, professional answers for now. Act like military. Shouldn't be too hard. I was for him, may have been a hot head but I still knew how to stand at attention and keep it short.

"Were you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?" That one took me by surprise. Seriously? That was his question?

"Yes."

"Why terrorism?"

Now that was a loaded question. So much so that I called on the burning in my left eye, hoping the iron blanket would delay him long enough for me to think of an answer. I had no memory of this conversation, so I didn't remember what I told him. And he had changed my viewpoint so much in the last two years that my answer now would have been completely different than my answer then. What was the answer then? Ah. Right. I dispelled the curtain, and allowed time to return to normal, hoping that he hadn't noticed.

"Because I'm half-Japanese." Probably would have declared that I was Japanese originally, and spouted some technicality that I was also half-Britannian, but then again, the man in front of me had showed me that my Britannian blood wasn't a curse. It was just part of who I was. If he had told me on the Ikaruga when we betrayed him, what I meant to him. If he hadn't pushed me away, I would have followed him into whatever hell I'd chased him into in a heartbeat. I probably would have given up my name as Kozuki to be with him. If he'd still become the Emperor, I would have been at his side as a Stadtfeld.

I loved him.

"Guh? Halfblood?"

I really had to fight to keep from laughing at that.

"But why go so far?"

Okay, so that was also a loaded question.

"Because my Brother died."

Not a big secret. Not one I minded sharing with him in the least. Again, I had no memory of this conversation whatsoever. So...I wasn't sure if this was how it had gone the first time or not.

He seemed to pause, apparently trying to think if he had any more questions. I didn't move, waiting for the next question. But he turned away, apparently deciding he was finished, and turned to walk away. I relaxed.

"Oh, right. Just to be sure…" His eye lit up again. And mine widened when I realized something. It was his left eye. "Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku."

This I remembered. This was where I began to suspect him. I scrambled for an answer despite the fact that my brain was recoiling from my realization. His left eye when he tried to Geass someone. My left eye when I called for that...thing. That slowed down time. 'Do I have a Geass? How?!'

"What do you mean? Shinjuku? Why would you say that?"

His eye was still flared, and he seemed panicked. "Go back to class!"

I was so tempted to just follow his direction. It was so easy for me to do, now. I'd followed his voice without question with the exception of one god forsaken moment of stupidity for so long now that it was almost second nature. And even then...I'd still followed his voice. I didn't follow his heart, or mine. I followed his orders. Go. Leave. Live.

Proof enough that I shouldn't always follow his direction to the letter, I suppose. And especially not now, when I remembered I acted like a hothead. "When I get an answer, I will!"

I didn't need the answer. So it was just amusing to me when he took a few steps back, looking like he was seriously debating just turning and running for his life when he realized his Geass wasn't working.

Thankfully, at least for the sake of his sanity, Shirley interrupted us. Good, that hadn't changed either. Although I'm sure if I changed enough things in the past, my memories of the future would start to become less and less useful...so I had to be careful.

I was walking on a tightrope, it seemed. On one hand, if I changed too much, my memory of the future would be useless. So I had to completely change things before Kamine Island. Before I left him to Suzaku's mercy. But I had to keep things roughly the same at least until Narita. Suzaku would be a major problem. I had to find a way to beat the Lancelot, but even I wasn't sure I could do that without the Guren, even with an extra two years of memories on my side. Or maybe I could stop him from becoming Euphemia's Knight? That title was what had given him the power and the standing to be a royal pain in Lelouch's side in the first place...but how I would I accomplish that, exactly? Just let him die instead of letting Lelouch save him? No. Royal pain in the ass or not, he was still Lelouch's friend. He hadn't done anything yet, and even if he had, that would change far too much. Zero would either never be introduced to the world, or he would be ridiculed for a failed attempt to save Suzaku. And I couldn't exactly force the damn guy to join the Black Knights…

But I'm getting ahead of myself here, aren't I? First I needed to figure out how I would handle the meeting with the Student Council. Should I still allow myself to get drenched in champagne? My cheek flushed as I remembered the fiasco in the shower. When he tried to dissuade my suspicion on who he was. Leading me back to my original questions as I was coming to school. Should I let him know that I knew? Should I let him think that he'd tricked me? Or should I keep him in the dark either way, and let him think that I suspected?

And what was my damn plan anyway besides saving him from himself?! The only thing I knew for sure at this point was that I'd do everything I could to stop the SAZ Massacre and I wouldn't leave Lelouch alone when he needed me the most. Was that it? Was I just going to follow him no matter what happens? Would we end up leaders of a free Japan? Or would something interfere and force him to become the Emperor again? At the end of this would I be a Kozuki? A Stadtfeld? 'A Lamperouge or a vi Britannia?' Some small part of my mind whispered. Causing me to flush despite myself and growl in frustration.

God, I hated all this strategizing. 'Dammit Lelouch, this is your job!'

The Next Day

'Option 1: Let the champagne spill. Wait for the call in the shower, expose it as a recording.'

'Option 2: Let the champagne spill. Wait for the call and play along.'

'Option 3: Avoid the champagne, see if Lelouch has any other bright ideas for trying to prove he wasn't the voice at Shinjuku.'

'Option 4: Let the champagne spill. Hit on him, see what happens.'

'Wait, what?' I asked myself, flushing...my face had to be as red as my hair as I sat in class. I'm supremely surprised no one else saw. 'And I called him the pervert...Jesus…' I glanced down at the mirror I had open to spy on him. Unlike last time, it wasn't due to any suspicion on if he was the voice from Shijuku...I knew that much. I hadn't even brought it up on the phone with Ohgi. Actually, I was probably a little bit too short with Ohgi...But could anyone blame me? He betrayed Lelouch. He talked me into betraying Lelouch!

No. This time I was watching him just to watch him. I told myself it was so I could keep an eye on him. Keep him safe. But this was Ashford Academy. This was one of the safest places in the entirety of Japan, or Area 11. However the hell you chose to call it. So it was probably for the same reason that anyone who noticed...besides him, probably...would think. And the same reason that I would no doubt deny if they called me on it. I was admiring him.

"You think that you could spare a moment? I need to talk to you." He asked, and I debated following with the script once again. But...this was just too much potential fun to see if he got flustered.

Nothing to do with my interest at all. Nope. Not a factor.

"For you? Of course." Somehow I'd managed to keep my voice sickly, but added a flirty tone to it. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask." Thud. Hm? Was that Shirley? Or one of these other four nitwits that surrounded me whenever I bothered to come to Ashford?

I was a little bit disappointed when he didn't respond at all. Either he was just too suspicious of me, or he was as dense as the damn armor of the Damocles. Still. The reaction from the other girls had me fighting back laughter. 'Sorry, Shirley.' I thought momentarily, only a slight hint of actual remorse in my tone. Honestly, Lelouch wasn't that dumb. He knew Shirley liked him. And he knew I was flirting with him just now. But for me, he either thought it was some kind of trick to get his guard down...likely...or he just didn't trust me enough to feel remotely that way yet...also likely. So it was probably both, at this point. With her? He just considered the life he led, or even the possible lives he could lead, far too dangerous.

Sadly, I forgot precisely how the incident with the champagne had even happened, so the decision on whether to take it or not was out of my hands. Still saved myself from getting blasted in the face with that cork though. Without even using my...Geass? I still don't know if that's what this is. I should probably check the next time I look in a mirror. Why hadn't I done that during class? Right. Staring at Lelouch. That's why…

So here I was, in the shower, waiting for him to show up.

"Uh...Sorry about all this. I know they can be a little over the top." I smirked at the uncomfortable tone to his voice, which I hadn't really noticed the first time. So he hadn't really thought this whole situation through.

"That's okay. Everyone has to let loose once in a while, right?" I was far more relaxed now than I was the first time. I had no intention to kill him. Or threaten him. Nor was I uncomfortable with him seeing me like this...He'd done it a lot in the past before anyway, right? Plus I liked him.

"These are some of my clothes. Hope that's okay."

I smirked and took the bait. "Pretty fast trip for going all the way to the boys dorm and back."

"Actually. I live here." Of course, I knew that. "It'd be pretty hard for my sister to live off in the dorms. The principal of the school lets us stay here as a favor."

"I see. Speaking of that...Nunnally and Lelouch, eh? Weren't those the names of a Prince and Princess that disappeared a few years ago?"

'What the hell possessed you to ask that?! That's even worse than suspecting he's the voice from Shinjuku!' I screamed at myself mentally.

"Huh?!" The panicked sound that came from his mouth gave away his shock. And the truth to my statement. He was probably busy re-writing thoughts in his head. Suddenly the comment he'd made to me about Shinjuku wasn't a concern, it was whether or not I knew his true identity. If I knew both…

"It's okay, you know. If you are. I won't say anything. You must have a good reason for hiding it. I was just curious. Truth is I'm hiding a few things too. My birth name is Kallen Kozuki-Stadtfeld." I tried to calm him. My heart racing in my chest. 'God. So. Fucking. Stupid...Why?!'

Brrrriiiiiiiingg.

Saved by the bell, oh joy. "You might want to answer that." I suggested, still trying to shake him from his shock. Knowing exactly what would be on the other end of that call.

Great. Dissuade him of the thinking that I know he was the voice from Shinjuku and let him know that I knew he was an exiled prince instead. Way to flipping go.

I was so absorbed in my panic I zoned out while Lelouch answered the phone, only remembering to come back to life when I took the phone from his shaking hand to answer it. "Hello?" Now. How close to play to the script on this call, since I already SCREWED EVERYTHING ELSE UP?!

"Glad you're still alive, Q-1."

"Oh. It's you." He partially relaxed when I said that. At least I had that going for me.

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

"You got it, doc." I noted, before hanging the phone back to Lelouch. "Sorry, apparently I have a new doctor's appointment scheduled…" I explained, knowing a lack of an explanation would tip off more warning bells. Or maybe the easy explanation would worry him.

'You're playing this way too cool, Kallen…' I berated myself. 'Strategizing. Not. My. Job.'

"Hey." I called as he quickly made his way out the door, a glance around the curtain told me he was looking for all the world like this bathroom was suffocating him. I couldn't blame him. "I mean it. I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."

'All of them.'