Me: I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

Suzaku: I wish that other people besides you could come back. There are some that I wish….

Me: Oh, get off of it. You're just depressed because we watched "At Least With Sorrow".

Suzaku: Look, you would be pretty depressed too if you were me. That's a very emotional episode. I just-

Me: *covers Suzaku's mouth* Okay, no spoilers! I suppose you do have a point though.

Suzaku: Yes, I generally do make one once and a while.

Me: Surprises, surprises…

Thanks for all of the reviews! I was ecstatic when I saw that I had some. Thanks a bunch! I'm just going to reply to an anonymous one here.

gaby: No, Suzaku will not have the same Geass as Lelouch. He's going to have something completely different. I'm not positive what it's going to be, but I should have it figured out by the end of this chapter. Possibly in the next chapter, it depends on how this one ends up being written.

Note: In the contract, bold and italics is C.C. talking. Just italics is Suzaku.

Thanks, read on!

Lelouch ran as fast as he could, which truthfully wasn't all that fast. After possibly a minute or two, his legs ached, and his breath came in short pants. He bent over for a moment to catch his breath, and then stood up. As soon as he did, his eyes met those of Elevens. Some were simply curious about the presence of a Britannian schoolboy in the ghetto, others had a murderous look to them as if they wanted to hold a knife to his throat.

It was a tense situation, and for a moment Lelouch was unsure of what to do. After considering his options, he plowed through the crowd that had gathered around him and continued following his target. Well, now it wasn't so much following as it was searching. His respite had caused him to lose the truck's trail, so he wasn't sure where it had ended up.

As he slowed his pace to a walk, he silently cursed himself for going on this goose chase. There was little to no chance that the transport vehicle held what he was searching for, but the curious and mischievous side of him hadn't let him just let a possible opportunity run away. It went against every fiber of his being.

Then again, so did any kind of physical activity.

Lelouch wanted to bang his head against a wall. As of now, this was his situation: Firstly, he was a Britannian in the ghetto. If he did anything too rash, he'd be strung up on a flagpole. Secondly, he had absolutely no idea where he was or where he was going. To add to that, he had almost zero innate direction skills. Lastly, he was going to be late for school, which in turn meant that as soon as he returned, he'd get chewed out thoroughly by Shirley for not "applying himself".

This day was just getting better and better.

Nevertheless, he pushed on. Perseverance was one of his strong suits; once Lelouch Lamperouge had set his mind on something, it was almost impossible to sway his decision. Of course, this quality trait had gotten him into a couple of scrapes, but it had all turned out fine.

As he turned the corner into an abandoned alleyway, he spied several Britannian soldiers passing on the other side. Quickly, he ducked back into the street. If a soldier spotted him, they would take him back to Ashford Academy thinking that they were doing a good deed. But if he were taken back to school, he'd lose his chance.

Proceeding carefully, he peered back into the alley. There were no soldiers in sight, so he cut across it and walked into the next street. It was practically deserted. The Elevens generally avoided soldiers, so when they had passed by, the numbers had hidden in fear. Luckily, the soldiers had pushed onward and had left the street too. Lelouch smiled. Finally, a stroke of luck.

He ran down the street, as there was obviously no sign of the truck here. Unless, of course, the truck had magically shrunk itself down to the size of, say, an apple. But, since that defied all the laws of physics, he didn't give the street a second glance.

He continued in a hit and miss search pattern for a while. Patrolling the dilapidated ghetto, he searched for any sign of his target. But sadly, after an hour he had come up with nothing. The truck was nowhere to be found. He was about to give up and go home.

That was when he heard the gunshot.

A woman's shrill scream followed, than several more rapid gunshots. People screamed, children cried, and in a moment the eerily quiet ghetto was alive with action. Within a minute, hundreds were dead. Blood spattered the walls of buildings and alleyways; Elevens lay dead in the street.

The soldiers were massacring the Elevens. But under whose orders? Lelouch wondered. Who would command such a thing? It couldn't have been Clovis. Clovis may have been a bit of an airhead, but he never would order such a thing. Or would he? How well did Lelouch know his half brother?

For a moment, Lelouch stood in the street lost in thought. Only when the bullet pierced his flimsy school uniform and pain blossomed across his chest did he realize what was happening.

After several seconds, he completely blacked out.

scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak-scenebreak

Suzaku stared at the mysterious girl. Who is she? He thought. Why is she here? What did she do?

After a moment, he snapped himself out of his reverie and began unbuckling her bindings. First, he unbuckled the strap that held her arms tight to her chest and they relaxed. After that, he quickly snapped the bindings that held her sleeves together. Finally, he began working on her legs. But just as he had firmly grasped the buckle with his shaky hand, he was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps.

Soldier's footsteps.

Suzaku abandoned his task and whirled around. The special squadron stood before him in all their glory. The general, smug as ever, stood at the head of the group his eyes fixed on Suzaku. "Good work, private. You seem to have recovered the target."

"Yessir," Suzaku replied and advanced forward. "But I was told this was poison gas."

"Yes, well, it is quite unfortunate that you discovered it wasn't. Sorry, Kururugi." The general smiled sadistically and reached for his gun. Out of survival instinct, so did Suzaku. But before he knew it, a soldier knocked it out of his hand and sent it skittering across the floor. Two more grabbed his arms, effectively restraining the teenage boy.

The general, who had a flair for the dramatic, cocked his handgun and kept it pointed at Suzaku. "Any last words, Kururugi?"

Suzaku opened his mouth, then swallowed hard and shook his head. He had last words, but they weren't ones for the Britannian army.

In one fleeting moment, the bullet was fired. Suzaku braced himself for death, but out of nowhere came a flying green and white blur, along with a cry of "He mustn't die!"

Then it was over. The blur crumpled into a heap on the dirty ground, and Suzaku finally realized that it was the girl he had been in the process of rescuing. She had unbound her legs herself, and had taken his bullet. Blood flowed out of a fatal chest wound, mere inches from her heart.

"No!" cried Suzaku as he fought against the soldiers that held him in place. He wasn't sure why, but this girl's death stuck a chord with him. Most likely, it had to do with fact that she had given her life for his. Of course, the fact that they were complete strangers probably had something to do with it to.

This time, the general didn't say anything. His usually smug face was twisted into a grimace (even ruthless soldiers don't enjoy killing defenseless teenagers unless they're absolutely insane), and spark of sympathy alighted in his eyes but then vanished in less than a second.

Just as he was preparing himself, Suzaku felt a hand reach out to touch his boot. As soon as it made contact, he was whisked away out of reality and into an ethereal world of thought and mind.

You don't want it to end here, do you?

Suzaku was taken aback by the voice in his mind. What? How…

You seem to have a desire to live on.

This is… impossible…

If I grant you power, will you go on? I will grant you a deal; in exchange for this power you must agree to make my one true with come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While living in a world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time… a different life. The power of the king will condemn you to a life of solitude; are you prepared for this?

Suzaku, wherever he actually was, was stunned. Grant a wish… not to die? What was the wish? Would it be worth it? Either way, it was all he had left.

I accept that contract! Suzaku stood ramrod straight, military style, and saluted.

All of a sudden, he was back in the damp tunnel. Nothing had changed, and he didn't feel any different. The general was still gazing at him, and he was still locked in place by his arms. Where was this "power of the king"? Wasn't it supposed to save him?

The general pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced his forehead, a true death shot. Suzaku crumpled in the arms of the soldiers, dead.

Apparently not.

Me: All done! Phew, I finally got this up. Sorry if you were waiting, but I've been pretty busy. Rehearsals for the school play have been intense. Well… intense-ish.

Suzaku: You… shot me…

Me: Well, yes. But all in all, it came out quite nicely, don't you think?

Suzaku: No. I don't think.

Me: Well, whatever. You'll just have to wait for the next chapter. But I might be too busy with… well, let's say rehearsal (as opposed to rewatching R1) to update soon.

Suzaku: You don't need to rewatch it. You've seen it three times.

Me: Yes, but this time, one of my comments got 123 thumbs-ups! WOOP WOOP! Can't say that's ever happened before.

Well, I should probably sign off. Thanks for reading, PLEASE review! I love to read reviews, and I try to respond to most of them! Each reviewer receives an e-hug! Please? TWO e-hugs?

R&R?