Lawli: I completed my last final exam/essay today, and afterwards could only think of one thing: writing fanfiction! I just hope that my creativity hasn't totally died after all the projects, essays, and tests I had to do! But even if it has been, I'll try my best to continue this story! Because I'm so happy with all the positive response I received for the last chapter! Honestly I was nervous about posting such an AU story, so I was so relieved to see it being received well!
Special thanks to... -w- easy enough; eMi to mAo 374; VirtualDraconium; Sparxyu; L Lexuran; ...; Senorita Lucha 777; PheonixShadow; Princess of Oblivion; and 6-The-Cloaked-Nocturne-9 for reviewing the first chapter!
Suzaku is introduced in this chapter. Yay~
Please read, enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out! Feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated!
The Charlatans of Circumstance
-Chapter Two-
Being an Eleven living in Britannia made for a life full of disadvantages, especially when it came to finding work. The Britannian people were prejudice by nature – it was just the way they were raised – and outward displays of racism towards the Numbers were something practiced on a daily basis.
By this point, Kururugi Suzaku had grown used to being turned away by potential employers just because of their bias against his heritage. It mattered not that he'd been living in Britannia most of his life – that he'd rejected his nationality and adopted Britannia's, becoming an Honorary Britannian.
That's just on paper, people told him constantly, as they slammed the door in his face; you're still nothing more than a worthless Eleven.
Britannia invaded his homeland of Japan not long after his seventh birthday. Before that, Suzaku had lived a privileged life as the Prime Minister's only son, with the only serious thing to worry about being the Kendo lessons that he used to attend every day. The proud nation of Japan put up a worthy fight against the enemy nation, but in the end Britannia proved to be a far stronger opponent.
Suzaku had been there when they stormed the shrine where he and his family lived. He hadn't known what was going on, he'd been too afraid to make sense of it all, but he remembered a lot of smoke, a lot of screaming.
He fled the country, along with his aunt and his young cousin, Kaguya – the only other two members of his family presumed alive. They left Japan for Britannia, hoping for a better life in the Mainland than they would receive in a conquered territory.
They left behind everything... their pasts, their title...
And now he was nothing, nothing but a Number, reduced to scrounging the streets in the evening for lost change.
He tried not to let it bother him, the fact that he lived in poverty. After all, having a negative attitude wouldn't help him at all, and pitying himself would certainly make the days harder to get through.
But it proved difficult, especially on days like today, when try as he might he failed to earn more than a measly fifteen pounds.
Nowhere near enough...
Truth be told, Suzaku didn't care about money, or status. If he lived alone, his socioeconomic situation wouldn't faze him in the least bit. As it was, he didn't just have himself to look after.
Two years ago his aunt became ill. They hadn't the means to help her – medicine was expensive, and many doctors refused to treat non-Britannian patients. She'd died soon after contracting the disease, and not long ago her daughter Kaguya began to show signs of it as well; high fever, fatigue, severe cough, instances of collapsing.
Suzaku refused to lose his last remaining relative. No matter what, he would find a way to cure her.
Lelouch knew his destination from the moment he stepped foot outside the mansion. It was quite a far walk from the Lamperouge estate, but out of the desire for privacy he declined the invitation from his chauffeur to drive him anywhere further than the center of town. It was very important that no-one who could get back to his mother knew where he was about to go. Actually, it was rather important that no-one at all knew where he was about to go.
After all, a brothel was hardly a place for a respectable gentleman to be visiting.
"I was wondering when you would come to see me," a female voice greeted.
Before him stood a wise-looking woman donned in a fashionable black dress, the bodice of which was lined in gold to match her eyes. Lelouch recognized her easily as the owner of the brothel.
Lelouch quirked a brow at the woman, a smirk curving his lips upward. "And who says it is you I came to see, C.C.?"
C.C.'s expression mirrored his own. "Considering your aversion to the female gender, I could only presume that it was not any of my girls."
It was a blow to his masculinity, but with his mother accusing him of being homosexual every so often Lelouch was used to that. There was also the fact that C.C.'s statement was true, although not exactly in the way C.C. meant for it to be.
Lelouch did not consider himself averse to the female gender, per say, he just... did not have any particular interest in them. Not to say that he didn't find women attractive, because he did – he was very much a man in that aspect; he just didn't especially enjoy being in their company, mainly because of the way women tended to act when in his presence, reducing themselves to giggling fools in an attempt to appear cute and impress him.
C.C. was different.
C.C. – not the woman's given name, but what she preferred to go by – was what most people would refer to as strange. Certainly she was nothing like the typical Britannian woman – she was tactless most of the time, favoring straightforwardness over wasting time phrasing things politely, and fiercely independent – and that was exactly why Lelouch had been drawn to her in the first place.
She was intriguing, with a sense of humor similar to Lelouch's own, and an apathetic outlook on life that Lelouch found refreshing. Moreover, he was comfortable in her presence, which was more than he could say for any other Britannian woman he'd ever encountered. C.C. did not fawn over him, did not fight for his attention, and she certainly never called him pretty. To be frank, Lelouch didn't even think C.C. cared about him at all; there was nothing between them other than a mutual desire for a tolerable companion, which they both had trouble finding.
No dreamy eyes, no flirtatious smiles... nothing related to romance in any facet.
She was the perfect companion for Lelouch.
"What is that?" C.C. asked as she stepped aside for him to enter.
The top hat his mother so detested had resumed its perch atop his head, offering somewhat of a disguise against bystanders who might recognize him.
"You don't like it?" Lelouch returned her question with another, removing the hat to examine it himself, hoping to find what everyone else found so appalling about it.
C.C. regarded him for a moment before deciding, "I think it suits you."
Unsure of whether this was a compliment or an insult in disguise – and leaning towards the latter – Lelouch merely frowned in response and placed the hat back on his head defiantly.
"Won't you come inside? Or would you rather we stand in the doorway?" C.C. prompted when he made no further attempts to say anything.
Lelouch shook his head. "Actually, C.C., I was hoping we might take a walk."
C.C. didn't bother concealing her laughter as Lelouch revealed his reason for wishing to speak with her. The glare Lelouch shot in her direction amused her all the more.
"It isn't funny," Lelouch bristled, fists clenching..
"On the contrary," C.C. disagreed, looping her arm through Lelouch's as they continued to walk, "I find it highly amusing. That mother of yours... She hasn't changed one bit, I see. But I suppose things wouldn't be very interesting for you if she did."
Lelouch tilted his head away from her. "Perhaps not interesting, but surely less worrisome..."
A small noise resounded from the back of C.C.'s throat, her only response to that statement. They continued in silence, passing expensive boutiques which every so often they stopped to gaze in the windows of. As the pair approached a jewelry store near the end of the street, C.C. tugged gently on Lelouch's arm and pointed at the display.
Exhibited in the window were diamond rings, all varying in size and style. Lelouch frowned as he gazed down at them, hating each of the rings and what they symbolized.
"To think you may have to be a customer of that store soon, Lelouch," C.C. teased as he pulled them away from the window.
"That will not be happening," Lelouch assured.
"How can you be so sure?"
Lelouch paused a moment to look down at C.C., whose head was turned in the opposite direction, gaze still focused on the ring display. He closed his eyes and resumed their easy pace. "Because I know myself," he answered simply.
"We never know ourselves entirely," C.C. stated. "That is what I believe, at least."
"Your personal beliefs hold little value to me," Lelouch told her honestly, wishing to get back to the original matter at hand. "Nor were they what I wanted to hear when I asked for your advice."
She released his arm, and Lelouch blinked in silent question.
"Perhaps I am disinclined to help you with your problem, Mr. Lamperouge," C.C. said, shocking Lelouch with the iciness of her tone.
"C.C..." Lelouch began, but his voice trailed off as he locked eyes with her. An emotion he couldn't identify swam in her golden eyes, which he was unused to seeing as anything other than indifferent or amused. Before he could even inquire about this, however, C.C. shook her head and her expression was once again neutral.
"However, I am aware that you can do very little without my assistance. You are really quite pathetic in that regard."
Eyes narrowing, Lelouch took a step closer to her. He'd never in his life hit a woman, but the remark made him angry enough to want to. C.C. was often careless with her words, saying whatever she wanted in any way she pleased, not thinking of the people she might offend in the process; but this, Lelouch knew, had been deliberate.
She was goading him, hoping to elicit any type of reaction. She —!
Lelouch grunted as someone collided with him, almost knocking him to the ground as he stumbled back as a result. His hat now lay beside his feet. Growling, he hastily tried to regain composure, turning to face his assailant.
"O-oi!" he cried after the young man who hadn't even stopped to apologize after running into him. Reckless idiot, he fumed, smoothing out the wrinkles in his pants as he watched the man's retreating back. He's going to seriously injure...
Lelouch's eyes widened as he realized that the wallet he normally kept in his left pocket had magically disappeared.
"Thief!"
He'd been livid. But more than that, he'd been desperate.
Luciano Bradley, the only doctor in town willing to take Kaguya as a patient, was a crooked man, who demanded far more than the value price of the medicine needed to treat her – knowing fully well they couldn't afford it, that they just didn't have that sort of money even with all the odd jobs Suzaku worked.
"You get me that money, Kururugi, 'else the girl's as good as dead."
"Dr. Bradley, you don't understand! That kind of money, I—"
"I don't care to hear your excuses. If you want that medicine, you'll find a way to pay me."
Suzaku's eyes burned with the angry tears he refused to shed.
Five hundred pounds... five hundred pounds for a single treatment, and Kaguya would need more than just one treatment. It would take him weeks, possibly months to afford that; and even if he did somehow manage to get the money Dr. Bradley asked for, how in the world could he ever be expected to keep paying?
"I will tell you, Kururugi, that I do accept other methods of imbursement..."
Nails digging into the palms of his hands, Suzaku stormed down the street, disgust written all over his face.
That bastard, actually expecting him to...
Suzaku clenched his eyes shut tightly, refusing to even finish the revolting thought.
But it might be my only option. Unless...
Opening his eyes, he focused on a young couple standing in front of a jewelry store not too far away. They appeared wealthy, judging by the clothes they wore and the way they carried themselves. The woman was staring into the window of the boutique intently, pointing out one of the rings on display – probably asking her husband to buy it for her.
It was nauseating how blithe the rich could be, throwing away their money left and right in order to purchase unnecessary things.
Suzaku's nostrils flared as resentment washed over him. To have that kind of money...
... To have that kind of money, he would do anything.
Before Suzaku even realized it, he was running – running towards the couple who had long since left the store window without buying anything. Suzaku was by no means trained in the art of thievery, but he had picked pockets successfully in the past. With elderly gentlemen, performing such an act was rather simple. This Britannian was much younger, but physically didn't seem very fit, and Suzaku was confident in his ability to escape should the other man prove stronger than he looked.
He rammed into the man's shoulder, hands darting out quickly as they stumbled back, reaching for the left pocket where Suzaku could make out the bulge of a wallet. Once it was safely in his grasp, Suzaku tucked the change purse away inside his clothes and continued to sprint off.
A satisfied smirk appeared on his face. That had been almost too easy. Suzaku felt a bit bad for the guy... at least, until he heard the man calling after him.
"Thief!" a deep voice hollered, and Suzaku knew the couple had caught on.
Willing his legs to move faster even at the cost of appearing more suspicious, Suzaku turned a corner sharply, well aware of the shouts that followed him.
"Catch him!"
"Which way did he go?"
Suzaku spotted an alley several feet away, just narrow enough to squeeze into. Glancing over his shoulder, he felt relieved to find that many of his pursuers had either given up or were just to slow to keep up. Perfect. He would hide in the alley for a while, until the disturbance was forgotten.
For several minutes he remained still, hardly daring to even breathe lest he be discovered. Shadows of men passed by, and Suzaku watched them all nervously until he deemed it safe enough to let his guard down.
Lowering himself to the floor, Suzaku allowed himself to smile at the job well done and fished the wallet out to count his prize.
Emerald eyes bulged.
Inside the wallet were a number of fifty pound notes.
Two hundred... two hundred pounds!
"Excuse me," a distinctly female interrupted his mental celebration.
Suzaku's heart jumped in his chest and he quickly closed the wallet, eyes darting upwards and catching those of the woman whose husband he'd just stolen from.
Lawli: Oh, C.C., you are one of those characters who I find exceptionally difficult to write properly. . I just hope I didn't butcher your personality TOO much. And I couldn't resist making Luciano Bradley the evil creepy doctor. Because I always thought he was a slimeball in the show... so I thought he'd fit the role nicely. lol
Anyways, please tell me your thoughts on the chapter!
Hopefully I'll be able to update before then, but if I don't then Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! (Heheheh...I'm wishing for the Code Geass CLAMP artbook from 'Santa'. ;) )