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Title: Triangular

Author: DnKS-giRLs

Rating: PG-13

Characters/Pairings: Schneizel-Suzaku-Lelouch

Disclaimers: As per usual, we have no claim over the characters mentioned in this story. Wishful thinking could only get you that far.

Warning: Containing mention of homosexual relationship that might offend some people, shamelessly sappy, indecently silly. Hey, that rhymes.

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Chapter 3 – History

Schneizel vi Britannia was a man who always appreciated beauty whenever he saw it. Maybe he was not as committed as his cousin, Clovis, who seemed to worship beauty as his religion. He was not able to paint as good as his cousin and though he could say he was pretty good at poetry, it was not something he would do for life. But he could say in pure honesty that he did appreciate beauty.

Of course, that pair of shocked amethyst eyes staring at him from behind silky black tresses was something he could dub as beauty. And he appreciated it. Greatly.

He could hear Professor Villetta speaking, telling that he would lead group G for their research project. At that statement, he could see his dear little brother's face grew even paler. He could also see the brown haired boy that was sitting on his brother's side nudged at him worriedly.

Suzaku Kururugi, he thought with an inner smirk. Finally he was able to meet the boy in person.

Beside him, Professor Villetta continued her talk. He schooled his expression as he both paid attention to her words and at the same time, paid yet more attention to his dear Lelouch. Was his brother that surprised to see him back, he wondered. Or maybe he should wonder if his brother was that mad at seeing him suddenly coming back.

"You are a lucky man, dear Schneizel," someone whispered to him. He turned his face a little and came face to face with the smirking Professor Canon Maldini. "Your little brother is in your group."

He smiled at his long time friend and said, "Good fate indeed."

Oh yes, he thought in his mind, Lelouch had to be really angry at having him suddenly coming back and becoming his counselor, no less. He was amazed that his brother had not bolted out of the room yet. Maybe it was because of that Suzaku boy who seemed to be holding Lelouch's wrist. Maybe it was his attempt at soothing his apparently upset friend.

Cute.

But of course, Lelouch was Lelouch. So he was not a bit surprised when his brother tore his wrist from his friend's hold and stood up in his seat. If anything, he waited for that moment to happen.

"Excuse me, you over there," he said, not caring if his words should disturb Villetta's explanation on the project. "Do you need anything?"

He saw Lelouch stiffen. "I'm going out."

"We are still having class," he said in his most professional tone. "So we would like you to sit back down, please, and wait until the class is done."

He kept staring at Lelouch as his little brother glared back at him. But in the end, he saw his brother slowly sitting back to his seat. With that, he turned his face to Villetta, "Please do continue, Professor Villetta."

"Thank you, Professor Schneizel," Villetta said to him with a sly glance. "Continuing what I have said, by the end of this term, we will have you submit your reports on the subject assigned to your group. The person with best report from each group will then be allowed to deliver their presentations in class. Remember that your grade for this subject heavily depends on your final report."

He saw Villetta stop speaking to make her speech sink deeper.

"Now you are dismissed. Please follow your professors and they will give you the briefing regarding your research," Villetta said. "Group A, follow me!"

The class suddenly became noisy as students were standing all at once and trying to reach their professors. Strange thing was, Lelouch, who just a mere minute ago seemed so eager to leave the class, was now seemed so reluctant to move from his seat. Sighing a little in his heart, Schneizel then decided to take the matter into his own hands.

He walked to the direction where his brother sat with his friends. Keeping a charming smile on his face, he greeted his dear brother.

"Lelouch," he said gently. "It has been a while. I was informed that you are in my group, is that true?"

He did not expect an answer from his brother so he was a bit surprised when Lelouch looked up at him with a beautiful smile.

"Indeed, it has been a while, Schneizel onii-sama," Lelouch said calmly. "For how many years had it been since you left, I wonder? Three years… oh, my bad, it was four years ago, wasn't it? And now you suddenly come back and become my professor. Imagine my surprise."

Schneizel felt his eyebrow twitch. He knew it was a bad thing the moment he heard Lelouch took Politics as his major in university.

"As much as I love hearing you calling me 'Schneizel onii-sama'," he said. "I would greatly appreciate if you would call me Professor Schneizel while we are in class. I do not want people to think I favor you more than the rest."

"Let's talk about this matter later in more private setting, like during an afternoon tea, or a game of chess, perhaps?" Lelouch smiled evilly at him.

A game of chess, he thought. He knew why Lelouch suggested such thing to him. He still remembered the time he was introduced to his little brother. Lelouch at first refused to call him 'onii-sama'. And he only managed to make him do so after he beat him in chess. After that, every time they had any arguments, they solved it with a simple game of chess. It seemed during the four years of his absence, Lelouch's habit of viewing a chess game as the solution of every argument still remained the same.

"A game of chess sounds splendid," he smiled before staring at the people sat around his brother who seemed to listen at their conversation attentively. "But now we have more pressing matters at hand. Shall I take that the six of you belong to group G?"

He could hear them murmuring their affirmative. He could also see Lelouch twitch. But it was not the most important thing at the time. He was still a professor with a duty at hands. He could play his role as a kind older brother later.

Besides, Lelouch was no fun when he was in his cranky mood.

"Nice to meet you all," he said to those students. "I am Professor Schneizel vi Britannia and I will be your counselor for this research project. I would like to talk about this project further with you so could you please follow me? I already prepared a small meeting room for us. But firstly, I believe introduction is necessary."

"Nice to meet you too, professor," one of the women said to him. "Please allow me to introduce our little group to you. My name is Milly Ashford."

Ashford, he thought, so she was the great granddaughter of Lord Ashford, the one who established the Ashford Academy.

"This is Shirley Fenette," the woman who just introduced herself as Milly Ashford said again, gesturing to a long haired lady on her side. The lady bowed slightly at him and he returned the favor. "The gentleman on her side is Rivalz Cardemonde. This lady is Kallen Kouzuki. And this is Suzaku Kururugi. I suppose I do not have to introduce you to the last member of our group since I believe you are already acquainted with him."

"Thank you for the introduction, Milly. Oh, I hope you all don't mind if I call you by your first names," he said politely at her before directing his gaze to the six of his students. He waited for their affirmative nods before he continued. "Now that the introduction has been taken care of, would you all please follow me?"

He started to walk out of the classroom and he could feel the students following him. He allowed a small smirk as he saw Suzaku dragging Lelouch by his hand. It seemed for the time being he could confide Lelouch's well-being onto the boy's hands.

Suzaku Kururugi, he thought as they walked through the corridors of Ashford Academy. He did not know much about the boy. He just knew that Suzaku used to be Lelouch's childhood friend whom he had to leave when their parents got married. He also knew that they were reunited during Lelouch's last year in high school, the very same year when he went abroad to study. He never had the chance to see personally the one who managed to be his brother's first friend, the first person aside from their mother that his brother ever cherished. Yet now that he saw them together, he began to understand why Lelouch cherished Suzaku so much.

That boy was the constant of his world.

Though maybe, he later thought with a depressed groan, Suzaku was far too lenient on Lelouch. He came to the conclusion when they finally reached their small meeting room and came inside. All of them minus Lelouch and Suzaku. It appeared that being an almost twenty one year old man did not make Lelouch stop playing hide and seek. And it also appeared that one Suzaku Kururugi was not enough to make his brother act more like an adult.

"We seem to be two people short," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Please excuse me for a while to search for our missing members."

Slightly annoyed and greatly amused at his brother's childish behavior, he began searching for his two missing students. He did not have to search for long though, because after two turns he began to hear his brother's voice conversing with someone. Suzaku, he thought, and from what he could hear, it seemed the boy was trying to make Lelouch end his stupid attempt at escapade.

He was not eavesdropping, really. It was just they spoke too loud he couldn't help but listen as he walked closer to their direction.

"…is your brother. Come on, Lelouch…" Suzaku's voice, he thought.

"Because he is my brother, I refuse to follow him!" that was his little brother's angry voice.

"Don't be like that… didn't you say you wished him back?"

"I did not! And why are you taking his side? Have you been charmed by him like those many stupid girls?"

"I'm not taking sides… but, well… your brother… he…"

"What?"

"He does look a whole lot cooler in person than in photographs."

During that certain time, Schneizel arrived at the scene. He allowed a small amount of surprise to surface in his mind at Suzaku's choice of words. If he were able to, he would surely give more thought on that statement he just heard. Yet there were things prevented him from doing so. The first was the fact that the two boys already caught sight of him. And the other was the particular look he could see forming on his brother's face.

Lelouch, his brother, had a look of unadulterated betrayal on his face. He remembered that look. It was the very same look his brother had on his face when he told him he was going to leave him for several years ahead. But why Lelouch now had that look on his face again after hearing Suzaku's comment about him? It almost seemed as if…

Oh, he thought, well, if it was not what he could dub as a complicated matter.

"Professor," Suzaku greeted him. "Sorry, we seem to lose sight of the others."

"It is a good thing that I came searching for you, then," he smiled. "Please follow me. Your friends are already waiting. And now, make sure not to lose sight of me."

He turned his back at them so that they would not see the look of deep calculation on his face. Slightly relieved that he could hear them following him, he still had a great amount of worry in his heart. Lelouch, his brother, what was his relationship with that Suzaku Kururugi actually? He could easily pretend that they were merely friends and that look of betrayal was purely because his brother did not like the fact that his friend complimented his brother.

But why someone reacted so strongly at someone complimenting his brother?

Oh, Lelouch, he thought grimly. He knew what might be implied from that simple act he just saw. And he did not really like what he thought.

Thankful that they already reached the meeting room, he opened the door and the three of them entered. Inside, he tried to push his thought to the back of his mind. There, he was a professor and he had a responsibility to uphold toward his students. His personal thoughts had to wait, even if said thoughts were about his Lelouch, his dear little Lelouch.

He took a breath as he arranged some papers on the table before him. He could see the eyes of his students watching his every move, eager for his explanation. Exhaling the breath he just took, he showed nothing on his face but a professional appearance.

"Good morning," he began. "We will begin the briefing now. Kallen, would you please distribute these papers to your friends?"

He watched as Kallen did his instruction and continued. "Our project for this term is about the rebellion against The Empire that happened five decades ago, led by a mysterious man named Zero. Do any of you have any recollection regarding the event?"

He smiled when he saw Lelouch raising his hand.

"Yes, Lelouch?"

"The Black Knights, or so they called themselves, was a faction that went against the act of discrimination that The Empire practiced toward Japanese people," his brother's confident voice calmly recited the fact. "They were led by a man named Zero whose identity still remained a mystery until now. Though they lost in the final battle, their movements caused the universal awareness about the equality of human rights and were able to make The Empire lose many of its colonies. Their leader, Zero, was killed by The Empire's White Knight and his death ended the war. After the war, The Empire was forced to change its policies. It is said that ever since that time, the practice of racism slowly ceased out in The Empire."

He nodded. It was as expected from his brother to give such astounding answer.

"Very good. I especially chose this subject because we all live in the land of Japan now. Five decades ago, you wouldn't find this scene in your classroom, where the Japanese could pursue education like the rest of you," he explained. "Surely you have all learned about this piece of history. And surely you are all familiar about the political moves The Empire took during that time. But in this occasion, I won't take that as the subject of our project."

He smirked as he prepared his next speech. He knew his students would be surprised at hearing what he was about to say.

"During this project," he said calmly. "I want you to explore the political decisions of Zero. I ask you to analyze the reason behind every decisions and what results came from them. You are then required to choose one certain political move that you thought as the one with the greatest impact. I also expect a sensible reason behind your decision why you choose it. You may also analyze the effect of that decision in today's era, what it entailed, and what good and bad things came from it."

He ended his explanation and watched the growing interest appeared on his students' faces. He knew his choice of subject was not conventional, but he was sure something good would come from that. After all, a bit of creativity wouldn't hurt.

"But, Professor," Rivalz raised his hand. "Doesn't the identity of Zero remain unknown, as well as personal information about him?"

"Indeed, it's true," he said. "So your point is?"

"Doesn't that mean we can make some speculations of our own in our reports?" Rivalz said.

"You may make your own speculations as long as you have the facts supporting your assumptions," he said. "And please make clear distinction about the facts and your assumptions in your reports. Any other question?"

"Sir," Suzaku raised his hand. "Can we also include factors from The Empire to support our report, like the political decisions made by the Emperor at that time?"

"If you deem that necessary," he nodded. He reminded himself that Suzaku was from the Military Division so of course his superiors would get mad at him should he make his report solely focused on the greatest terrorist ever recorded in their country's history.

"Excuse me, Professor Schneizel," Kallen also raised her hand. "Can I include personal interview or an inside report from the ex-member of the Black Knights?"

He raised his eyebrow, "That would be much encouraged."

"You have acquaintance associated with the Black Knights?" Shirley said in amazement.

Kallen only nodded as she said softly, "My grandmother was one of the loyal followers of Zero…"

He could understand why Kallen refused to meet Shirley's eyes. The Fenette family was known as loyal supporters of the Emperor. During the war that broke out five decades ago, they joined the faction fighting the Black Knights.

"Oh," Shirley said with a smile. "It is a good thing that the war had ended long ago, then, so we can be friends without thinking about such stupid thing like race or nationality."

Seeing the relieved smile on Kallen's face, he also felt relieved. It was indeed a good thing that the war had ended. Many lives lost in the war but it also saved yet many others.

"So, Professor," Milly Ashford began. "I take that we can use our utmost creativity in this report?"

"Provided you have some sound logic behind your creativity, yes," he agreed.

"So if I am to speculate that behind the mask of Zero was a woman, as long as I have some facts supporting my theory, it is allowed?" Milly asked with a smirk.

"Of course," he said. "Even if you are to speculate about the idea of Zero and the White Knight involved in a romantic relationship, I would not mind, as long as you can explain your way of thinking with some facts and not merely guess works. But remember that the main point of this report is about Zero's political decisions, so if you want to create such astounding romance elegy, I suggest you change your course to 'Study on Quixotic Literature in Medieval Era'."

That statement of his was enough to force some chuckles from his students. And he watched in satisfaction that Lelouch also had a smile on his face, albeit a small one.

"We will have weekly meetings, like this one we are currently having. You can use those times to present me your progress reports or to consult me regarding your works," he said. "I will also update you with information that I think might be of use for this project. May I have your e-mail addresses and phone numbers so that I can contact you?"

He watched as his students did his instruction. Afterwards, they discussed several things regarding the rebellion that was their research subject. He was amazed at his students' inspiring wits. It seemed he was lucky indeed to lead group G, not only because his brother was in it, but also because the students in said group were really astounding students with sharp minds and refreshing ideas.

Discussing interesting thing like politics, or at least he always thought politics was interesting, really made him forget the time. Moreover so because Lelouch was also contributing to the discussion. His brother really had some talents in politics. He did not feel the clock ticking but when he examined the watch on his wrist he realized that more than one hour had already passed. It was still too early to end the class but since it was only their first meeting that day, he thought it was tolerable.

And besides, he thought as he eyed Lelouch saying something to Suzaku, there were still some things he had to do.

"I know it's still too early to end our session," he said, tidying up his papers. "But I think it's enough for today. We will meet again next week during the same day and hour like today. By that time, I hope you already have a general idea of the Black Knight's rebellion. I will send some materials to your e-mail addresses so be sure to check your inbox. You are dismissed."

His students began to put their belongings to their bags and stand up from their seats. He watched them leaving the room, but when he saw Lelouch walking to the door, he managed to put his hand in his brother's shoulder.

Lelouch looked back at him with his amazingly deep amethyst eyes and asked, "Is there something you need from me, Professor?"

He noticed the slight pressure Lelouch put on the word 'professor' yet he said nothing about it. Instead, he just stared back into his eyes and said calmly, "We are not in class again, Lelouch."

Lelouch sighed, "Then, do you need something from me, Schneizel onii-sama?"

He contemplated. His other students already left the room. But he could feel someone waiting just outside the door as if not wanting to disturb their privacy. He knew that someone was still waiting for Lelouch. He knew that Suzaku was still waiting for Lelouch.

"Your friend is waiting so I will make it short," he said, giving Lelouch the smile he reserved only for him. "Have an afternoon tea with me, dear little brother?"

He saw Lelouch narrowing his eyes dangerously, yet he asked, "When?"

"Tomorrow, 4 p.m. at my quarters?" he said. "And we can have that chess game you want so much."

He heard Lelouch mumbling something but his brother nodded his affirmation nonetheless. Smiling victoriously, he kissed his brother's forehead like what he always did in the past and saw him off. Lelouch did not reject his kiss, though he also did not seem to eagerly wait for it like he did in the past.

Maybe, he thought as he watched Lelouch and Suzaku walking together on the corridors, it was a sign that his brother was growing up. He had left him for four years, anyway. Many things surely had changed. Lelouch had his set of friends. He had his life and his way to live up his life. As the older brother, he should be happy at seeing his brother all growing up. But he felt a sense of resentment in his heart at having his beloved little brother taken from him.

He saw Lelouch laughing with Suzaku on their way to their next class and he smiled. It seemed that Suzaku was a nice person.

For now, he was content with just merely watching those two boys. For now, he was content to be an observer. But should he see anything that may lead to something adverse, he would make his move. He would never let his brother get hurt. Not even destiny could mar him if he could prevent it.

- end chapter 3 -