7:00 PM

Shinjuku Ghetto

The two transports carrying the remaining Black Knights finally pulled into an alleyway at the edge of the Shinjuku ghetto. Halfway down its length, a second alleyway met with it in a T-intersection turning towards their left. Darlton and Tōdō made the turn with some difficulty due to the size of their vehicles and the tight corner, and were immediately faced with a dead end.

Minami grumbled and stepped out into the alleyway. The walls directly in front of them and to the right both appeared to be concrete and were painted in a dark grey tone. The wall to their left was similarly designed, save for a rusty door twenty feet or so away from the far wall. Above the door was a dirty sign marking it as the delivery entrance to a green grocer.

He casually made his way over to the door and pressed a small white button on its right. A bell sounded throughout the store, although the sound was muffled by the heavy door. Slightly less than a minute later, a rectangular section of metal slid away and was replaced by a pair of eyes.

"What's the number?"

"Twenty-three."

The man behind the door grunted in approval, sliding the peephole closed and unlocking the door from the inside. Minami reached out and opened it in time to see the owner passing back into the front of his shop. He turned to the right and walked to the far wall, searching for the keypad he knew to be there.

It took him a few minutes to find it and input the code, feeling somewhat embarrassed for keeping the rest of the group waiting. It was only the first time he'd ever been inside the shop; recently Tōdō had been doing it, but he was currently busy driving.

Up until a few weeks ago it had been Tamaki's job to get out and work the keypad, on the basis that any work in the back of a fruit shop was right up the alley of the Internal Cleaning Supporter. Technically he could have forced the job onto Kallen – Tamaki having given up his post to her – but she hadn't been herself for a long time and something like that wouldn't help her.

Minami himself had no idea what was wrong with their old ace pilot. He knew that there was something more than depression affecting Kallen, but he wasn't close enough to her to know for himself what it was.

It was obvious to all of the Black Knights that Tamaki and Kallen had been growing much closer over the past year, to the point where they had developed something of a brother-sister relationship. More than one person, Minami included, could tell that Tamaki was aware of whatever was affecting her, although he seemed to be the only one who was. Still, everyone was thankful that she had at least confided in someone, although they didn't know whether she had specifically told him, or he had discovered it inadvertently.

Everybody was reluctant to ask Tamaki what he knew; they respected Kallen enough not to encroach on her privacy if she was unwilling to confide in them. Most of them had avoided questioning either of the two, at least. Ōgi had been the only one ever to confront Tamaki, insisting that he needed to know in order to fulfil a promise he made to Naoto – to protect Kallen.

Tamaki had replied that she wasn't a little girl anymore and didn't need his protection, speaking in a darker tone than most of them had ever seen him use before. Ōgi was slightly taken aback by his vehemence, but persisted with his questioning on the basis that it had to be something really serious for Tamaki to become so hostile about it.

After fifteen minutes of increasingly aggressive argument, Tamaki finally snapped. Just as Ōgi was about to make another counter-argument, Tamaki threw a loaded right hook, catching him unaware and slamming him into the hallway wall.

The rest of the Black Knights had been in shock; Ōgi's jaw had been dislocated and there was some blood on the ground where he had fallen. Next to Kallen, Tamaki had been the second best hand-to-hand fighter in their original resistance cell, but he'd never used his skills outside the dojo or one of their missions. They had thought that he would say something to Ōgi, but instead he'd just scowled at him and walked off.

Ōgi's comrades had been somewhat disappointed with him, but were over it in a few days. Tamaki, however, took almost a week to remain in his company without aggression, and over three to return to their previous dynamics. He felt somewhat guilty about punching him, knowing Ōgi's motives were only of concern for Kallen, yet he refused to make an apology. Kallen had explicitly told him that she didn't want any of the others to know about her condition. If it couldn't be treated, then there was no point worrying them; she would just have to do everything she could to help the Black Knights win the war before she succumbed to its grasp.

Minami had been absent for the confrontation, being filled in by Cornelia when he returned later that night. His knowledge only extended as far as Ōgi stepping out of line when questioning Tamaki about something to do with Kallen. Being unaware of what was actually affecting Kallen and not hearing the argument, he wasn't able to form much of an opinion about the events other than being slightly disappointed in Ōgi and commenting to Cornelia that he would make a great father one day.

Shrugging, he made his way back out into the alleyway, making sure the door had locked behind him. At the point where it met the building straight in front of the vehicles, the road had dropped down considerably, creating a fifteen metre long ramp leading into an underground car park.

The hidden vehicle depot was just one of many ways the Black Knight secured their resources. Another was to use the fruit shop. The owner was an unwavering supporter of theirs and had agreed to allow them to place the keypad activating the entrance in the back of his shop. All he had to do was ask for a number; if a Britannian was investigating them, they would almost certainly guess either 'Zero' or 'Eleven,' so he could simply tell them that he wasn't expecting an order with that number and report back to the Black Knights about it.

These sorts of safeguards were a necessity for the Order of the Black Knights. It was perfectly safe for them to be seen in public, but their resources needed to be kept well hidden. They knew Schneizel wouldn't take any action against them in person, thanks to his plans to use their resistance for his own ends; he'd had plenty of chances before, but he'd never taken any. What he had done repeatedly is confiscate their resources and cut them off from supply routes, leaving them with no chance of successfully launching a rebellion.

Schneizel was virtually in control of all of their actions, influencing their moves to improve his own position in the game. He was playing both the White side and the Black side of the board at once; by claiming them as his own pieces, he made sure that they had no chance of winning. Zero was an acceptable King for them to have, but ultimately Schneizel had power over even him.

Since the battle which had lost them almost their entire army, he'd gained complete control over Zero; the public execution was scheduled to start in a little under an hour. He would begin the cycle again once Zero had been killed. He would allow them to have another King and build up their defences for a while, before he swooped and killed that one too.

It was all a matter of how many checkmates he could attain and how many victories he could show the public before he felt that they were no longer necessary, putting the board away and declaring himself the victor.

Minami followed the two transports into the depot, pausing as he entered to enter the same code into another keypad on the inside wall. Two heavy duty mechanical lifts raised the section of road back up to its original position as two more moved into place to hold it there on a more permanent basis.

Cornelia took charge as they disembarked, ushering everyone towards a key-coded stairwell entrance which led up to the main street. Everyone knew exactly how to get in and out perfectly, but nobody mentioned it; she obviously needed to do something to keep her mind focussed.

They made their way towards the execution grounds in total silence. Their group was still wearing the black mourning clothes they had worn to Tamaki's funeral, so they stood out easily. A few startled gasps came from people in the street as they recognised either Tōdō or Cornelia, both of whom were easily identifiable. Many more shed a tear as they passed; whether it was for a loved one who had died as a Black Knight or for their leader Zero who was about to be executed, they couldn't tell.

It was ironic that they would have to attend Zero's execution on the day Tamaki's funeral was held, prompting them to attend still in their mourning clothes. More than one of them smiled sadly as they came to similar conclusions. Zero always did have a flair for the dramatic; his subordinates attending his execution as such would mark a great defiance. Schneizel didn't want to kill them off, so allowing the public to identify them completely would go a long way to restoring some of the hope which would be inevitably lost with Zero's death.

Cornelia scowled as the execution grounds came into sight. Schneizel had been particularly arrogant when selecting the location; it was to take place where Kururugi Suzaku's execution was scheduled to be held after his false conviction for murdering Clovis – where Zero had scored his first public victory against the Holy Britannian Empire.

She felt foolish to think that she had once said Schneizel would have made a great Emperor if the times were better. Time and time again over the past year he had proved that not only did he lack any sort of care for his people, he could be ruthless at times. He was subtle about it, to be sure, but it was obvious that he no longer conformed to the Schneizel she thought she knew – one with no ties to anything, even to his own life.

Ever since they had been children, Schneizel had always been Charles' favourite. They would talk for hours discussing strategy as they played chess in His Majesty's private rooms. The particulars of what they discussed stayed firmly between the two of them, although Cornelia – and Lelouch, she suspected – had a feeling that simple chess strategies were the least of what they discussed.

Nobody ever made any comment about Schneizel being Charles' favourite. Some may have thought it unfair for a ruler to be favouring any one of his heirs – particularly one which wasn't the first-born – but not under the banner of the Holy Britannian Empire. Domination of the week, prevalence of the strong, evolution through murder and conquest – these were the fundamental policies of Britannia, and indeed, of Charles Zi Britannia. He never openly stated it, but it was clear that any of his heirs was welcome to his favouritism, but they had to defeat Schneizel to receive it.

Although he never appeared to care for his father's respect or attention, Lelouch was the only one to ever come close to defeating Schneizel in a game of chess. He had never once managed to win, but he'd managed to achieve a stalemate many times. Schneizel simply couldn't lose; the way he made his moves made it seem as though he played in such a way that no matter how exposed or under-protected his King was, it was impossible to do anything more than stalemate him.

It was as if capturing even his King would not be enough to defeat Schneizel away from the chess board.

Regardless, simply defeating Schneizel at chess wasn't enough to constitute defeat in the eyes of their shared father. If they wished to fulfil that requirement, they would need to defeat him at an international level; they would need to defeat him in war. Charles had all but announced Schneizel as his successor when he was still in his early teens, yet the throne was still open to contention; the Emperor encouraged any attempt to take hostile action against his favourite son.

Clovis had taken to the unspoken challenge the fastest out of all of Charles' heirs. He would challenge Lelouch over and over again to games of chess, hoping to win his father's approval by showing him his ambition. He would always lose, however, and none of the other members of the Imperial Family would ever comment on his skill or lack thereof – something which was, to him, even worse than a negative assessment of his abilities.

Clovis' life had always been ruled by ambition, and it had been his downfall in the end. Schneizel had also dedicated his life to his ambition of becoming Emperor, but Clovis hadn't had that as his first priority. Clovis' ambition was for personal gain – riches, respect, position and power. His arrogance and self-interest had led him to order the massacre of the Shinjuku ghetto to protect himself. He had personally initiated the very same battle in which Lelouch had led his first successful assault on Britannia – culminating in him losing his own life to his younger half-brother.

Weeks before Lelouch had been banished from Britannia, Cornelia had noticed him acting far more distant than he usually would. His facial expressions seemed permanently set in a position indicating deep thought – a far more serious version than the one he would use when playing chess. It was an unnerving change and Cornelia had taken it upon herself to, with the help of Euphemia, figure out what was affecting him.

Neither of the two princesses ever found out what the issue was, but more than once they had noticed him returning from the direction of Charles' private rooms a few minutes before he and Schneizel would finish their nightly discussions. Cornelia suspected that Lelouch had been listening in on their meetings and perhaps overheard something he wasn't supposed to hear, but suggesting something like that without proof could get her into a lot of trouble. Regardless, she refused to choose her father over her little half-brother, and would never have reported him, even if she did have proof.

The remaining Black Knights came to a stop a minute's walk or so away from the venue, and a venue it was indeed. All traffic had been blocked off for two weeks prior in an effort to make preparations. Nobody really seemed to know what those preparations were until that night, however, as it was finally opened to the general public.

More than one member of their group made a fist with their hands and had to bite back a curse at what they saw. One side of the road – the side where the civilians had stood during Kururugi Suzaku's failed execution – had become the site for a long stretch of stadium-style seating. There were a number of entrances at the back of the new concrete structure, which seemed to be the only available entry-points – the rest being blocked off by gates, while the two road entrances were patrolled by knightmare frames.

Grimacing, they slowly made their way over to the entrance, making sure that whatever form of hat or cap they had chosen was successfully concealing their identity. Cornelia made to enter first, pushing gently through the small crowd before she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, filthy Eleven."

Within a second she had spun around and landed a hard slap on the man's cheek. Guilford followed her example immediately, punching him viciously in the stomach and pinning him up against the wall. Fortunately, nobody in the thin crowd had paid any attention to the sound of her slap, so the rest of the Black Knights formed a makeshift wall to shield them from sight. The man's eyes widened in fear as Cornelia approached him again.

"Well?"

The man gulped. "You…you have to buy a ticket."

Guilford punched the man again, but was stopped from hitting him a third time by Cornelia. "We won't be buying a ticket to your little show," she replied forcefully, her teeth clenched as she spoke.

He whimpered slightly and coughed from Guilford's blow, before turning back to face her. "You won't be able to get in if you don't; there's a turnstile that you'll need a ticket to pass through that door. You can get a ticket from the booth to my left. Now get off me!" he finally demanded, pulling himself away from Guilford and stumbling back towards the gate.

Guilford allowed him to go; he didn't seem like he was going to cause any trouble over their appearance and he wasn't very useful to them anyway. Shrugging, he followed the group over to the booth where Cornelia was fuming over the listed ticket prices. Ōgi spoke up after a few minutes.

"I don't think I can do this."

All eyes focussed on him, silently asking what he meant.

"I…I don't think I can stand being here to see them make a mockery of Zero's death. Just this show was bad enough, but to force us to pay admission? I can't accept that."

A few nods were exchanged, everyone completely agreeing with what Ōgi was saying. Still, for the most part, they retained their resolve to continue. Tōdō opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Villetta.

"If it's alright…I'd like to go with Ōgi. I don't think I can cope with watching this either, especially since I was involved here last time with Kururugi…"

Tōdō fell silent for a moment; he wanted everyone to attend and pay their final respects to Zero, but as a leader he also knew that some people deal with things in different ways, and that a situation which is not stressful for one person may impact on another severely. He sighed.

"Go on, then. We understand."

Villetta gave him a grateful smile, before turning to take Ōgi's hand. Both of them tried to give some sort of short inspirational line to help their comrades, but ultimately were forced to settle for saying that they would be watching on the television from home.

Kallen watched them leave in silence, biting her lip as she inwardly debated as to whether or not she should leave herself. There was a small feeling inside her which told her to stay, but it was being completely overwhelmed by the pain it brought her to see everything Lelouch had lived and died for, come crashing down.

She raised a hand to her eye, wiping away a stray tear which had fallen before she could do anything about stopping it. 'Forgive me, Zero.'

"Tōdō," she began shakily, keeping her eyes focussed on the ground in front of her. "I don't think I can stay either…"

He nodded to her with a sad smile. He'd assumed that she wouldn't be able to attend the execution; Lelouch's death had taken a far greater toll on her than any of the others. A few days before he had realised that she might also have known about Suzaku, making the event even more painful to her than if it was just a reminder of Lelouch's failed plans.

He knew about what had transpired on the day of Lelouch's execution, although he was sure that Suzaku wasn't aware of his knowledge. The moment he had recognised Suzaku's movements, he had likewise realised Lelouch's plans for self-sacrifice.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth to know that the Black Knights had failed to keep the delicate peace he had so carefully instilled with his death, and ever more so that they'd allowed Schneizel to manoeuvre them into such a position where any progress on their part was detrimental to their cause. On top of that was the guilt he still felt from sending Tamaki to his grave, and the intense self-loathing he had subjected himself to for not being able to win the battle from his sacrifice, allowing it to be in vain. If it wasn't for Chiba, he would likely have succumbed to the temptation of seppuku over the past few weeks.

"Of course, Kallen," he replied softly, forcing the somewhat foreign tone out from between his lips. "If you hurry, you'll probably be able to catch up to Ōgi and Villetta."

She shook her head. "No, there's something I have to do first."

The remaining Black Knights seemed slightly hesitant about letting her go, but after seeing what Tamaki had done to Ōgi they figured that they wouldn't get in her way if it had anything to do with what he had found out.

She slowly turned to leave, but was stopped by Cornelia's hand on her shoulder.

"Stay safe, Kallen."

10:00 PM

Execution Grounds

Two hours later the execution still hadn't taken place, and the crowds were becoming increasingly agitated. Whispers began to break out in the otherwise solemn crowd, spurning hundreds of rumours which spread like wildfire. Some offered that Zero had never been caught at all, and that Britannia was simply bluffing, while others insisted that he had been executed elsewhere to prevent any rescue attempts, and his body would be brought before the public afterwards.

Perhaps the strongest rumour was that the Black Knights had somehow secured Zero's release, through either diplomacy or recovering him by force. The Black Knights themselves caught onto this fairly quickly – having anticipated such a rumour would develop – but couldn't seem to share in the excitement. They had spent hour after hour debating different plans to rescue their leader, but even with the diplomatic immunity practically granted to them by Schneizel, they hadn't been able to come up with a single idea which would work.

Despite the shared feeling of despair, every one of them held their heads up high with dignity. To the people, Zero was an icon for hope. The Black Knight's were Zero's army, but as far as the people's hope went, they were expendable. Zero's army was exactly that – the army belonging to Zero and nothing further. Even if Zero were to die, as long as another Zero took their place the hope could be revived. The Black Knights could never show weakness; they could never show that they saw Zero as mortal.

The Black Knights knew that another Zero wasn't just going to come out of nowhere. If there was someone else talented enough and passionate enough about their cause to become Zero, then he or she would have already joined their organisation. Any new 'Zero' they were likely to come across would almost certainly be someone catering to their own ego.

The final verdict had been that one of them would have to become the new Zero if the current one could not be rescued. Tōdō had been the first to volunteer, followed immediately by Ōgi and Darlton. Tōdō's application had been denied straight away, on the basis that the Black Knights needed 'Tōdō of Miracles' to be publically visible.

Ōgi's had been likewise rejected. Since Villetta gave birth to their child, he had never been quite as effective as he was during the initial rebellion. As much as they respected their comrade, giving him the responsibility of Zero's mask simply wasn't an option when he had neither the expertise nor the ability to devote himself to it completely.

It was decided that the mantle would fall to Claudio Darlton if their current Zero was to be executed – an event which seemed certain unless they were granted a miracle. His strategic ability had skyrocketed over the past year as part of the Order of the Black Knights' command group. It still wasn't to the level of Tōdō, Cornelia and Suzaku – let alone Lelouch – but he had proven himself a reliable and capable leader in a number of skirmishes which had been left under his control.

Regardless, a dummy Zero – for that's exactly what they were planning on creating – had no need for strategic ability; since Zero would be internal and everyone would be aware of their identity, all decisions could be discussed and decided upon as a group, rather than Zero holding all the power. It was an advantage in that they could be more certain of their plans, but a disadvantage in that both the previous and current Zeros were more able than them.

What a dummy Zero did need was charisma and the ability to motivate troops. Darlton had that magnetism in spades. It was easy enough to elect someone to give their decisions as orders, but if that person couldn't inspire the confidence necessary to keep an army together, then their decisions would be useless.

In truth, they needed a strategist over and above what Darlton or any of the others were capable of if they wanted to have a good chance of winning the war. It was possible by themselves, but each and every one of them needed to step up from their original roles as predominantly advisors and group leaders, and become something stronger.

10:00 PM

Execution Grounds

Three floors below, at the entrance to the ad hoc grandstand, two people passed through the turnstiles. One was a young girl dressed in a black hooded sweater; the other was a young man wearing a blue baseball cap, as well as a brown jacket lying open to reveal a light blue sweater underneath. They began to make their way towards the far end of the triple-storey construct, as they both took in the festive nature the Britannian vendors were promoting.

"Don't you think this is all…a bit much?" the girl began slowly, her eyes fixed on a stall which was selling figurines of a shackled Zero.

Her partner smirked and let out a short laugh. "A bit much? It's just a bit of harmless fun, Shirley."

"Harmless fun?" she half-shouted, turning to him immediately. "This is an execution and you're calling it harmless fun?"

He shrugged and walked over to the vendor selling the figurines, Shirley following him reluctantly. "I'll take one."

The Britannian salesman grinned greedily, showing off a missing tooth; evidently, he had found himself on the wrong side of some particularly dangerous 'Elevens' while trying to sell his goods. The man in the baseball cap stopped him a moment before he placed the figurine in the bag.

"Wait…would you like one, Shirley?"

The girl beside him growled. "Of course I don't want one! Why the hell are you even buying that, anyway?"

The man ignored her completely, taking his hand away from the bag to allow the vendor to place the figurine inside. After the transaction had been completed, the man thanked him and continued towards their original destination, followed by a clearly agitated Shirley.

Over the five minute walk she had managed to calm down completely, walking side-by-side with the man she had followed in as they ascended another staircase. He finally came to a stop outside one of the aisles leading from the corridor to the main seating area.

"These seats are directly in front of where Zero will be executed. The Order of the Black Knights are located in the standing space at the bottom of the tier. We will be seated in the front row, so the Black Knights will be less than a few feet away from us."

Shirley leant to her right as he spoke to look down the aisle, spotting the Black Knights congregated towards the front of the tier. She turned her gaze back to him and raised an eyebrow as he turned to a bin and began to fish around in his pockets.

She smiled slightly as she recognised the bag containing the chained-up Zero figurine he had purchased earlier, but her smile quickly morphed into an indignant glare as he disposed of the paper bag rather than the figurine like she had expected.

He turned to her as he replaced the figurine in his pocket and spoke, noticing the angry expression she had on her face. "Is something the matter?"

She sighed, her facial expressions softening under his gaze. "Do you really have to do this to them?"

It took a moment for him to answer, formulating the best way to convey his point as he stared off into the crowd. "Look at these people" he began, indicating not just the Black Knights but every member of the crowd. "Zero is already dead to them. Zero is their hope, without him they will crumble."

He paused and turned to face her directly. "How was it that the legend of Zero began?"

Shirley seemed confused for a few seconds. Her eyes became glazed as everything she knew about Zero replayed itself in her head.

"…I see."

The man nodded at her reply and turned back to face the crowd, gesturing with both hands to encompass the entire venue.

"Look at this; Schneizel is turning it into a show – a spectacle. He has no idea how perfectly he's playing into our hands…"

10:15 PM

Execution Grounds

A further fifteen minutes had passed without announcement from the Britannian troops who still patrolled the grounds below and the crowds had become slightly louder than they had been previously from the wait.

Cornelia passed the time in complete silence, as did most of the Black Knights – save for Tōdō and Chiba who had engaged in a depressingly nostalgic conversation over the past ten minutes. There seemed to be no sign that Zero would be brought out any time soon, so Cornelia turned her attention back to the crowd she had been studying for the majority of the two hours they had been standing there.

Most of the people in the section the Black Knights stood in were 'Elevens,' although there were more than a few Britannians mixed in among them. Britannian or not, there didn't seem to be a single person who was taking any sort of excitement or joy out of the occasion. She knew they existed; every merchant working in the venue was clearly against Zero and it was almost certain that if there were those dedicated enough to make figurines, there would be plenty who shared their sentiments but didn't have the skill or desire to work there. In all likelihood they sat elsewhere, avoiding the Black Knights like the plague.

She noted with pride that none of the 'Elevens' in the area acted remotely aggressively towards the Britannians seated alongside them. Racial hate crime from the 'Elevens' to the Britannians had decreased dramatically over the past three years, the 'Elevens' realising that they had a definite chance to achieve equality through the Black Knights, and hence not needing to vent their frustrations at their perceived oppressors.

Similar crimes from Britannians to 'Elevens' had decreased also, but not by nearly as much; There were still many who supported Charles' Darwinist ideologies – Odysseus having completely reinstated Charles' policies during his reign – and continued their mistreatment of 'Elevens' with even greater vigour thanks to their repeated victories over the Black Knights.

Conversely, there were also many Britannians who seemed visibly uncomfortable with the reinstatement of the previous system. They would regularly boycott facilities which only serviced Britannians, avoid applying for jobs which were available solely to Britannians and even purchase real estate within the Shinjuku ghetto. It wasn't necessarily that they were making a statement of support for the 'Elevens,' but more that they felt awkward intermingling with a society based off arrogance and inequality.

These types of people were instantly accepted by the 'Eleven' population, regardless of their personal history, be they lawyers, government officials or even those who served in the military during Japan's initial conquering. More than a few nobles had also been known to throw away their titles in disgust, having – like many other Britannians – experienced a society without the prejudice they had been previously used to, and realised that they preferred it.

Cornelia's positive assessment of the people in her area ground to a halt as her ears picked up the sound of a new voice.

"I wish they'd just bring out the entertainment, I'm getting bored."

Cornelia, along with almost everyone in the entire box, whipped her head around to see who could be making such insensitive comments at a time like that. The first thing she noticed about the young man in the front row was the blue baseball cap he wore covering his face. He could have been either Britannian or an 'Eleven,' considering that none of his face was visible, and that the only skin he had left exposed was on his pale white hands. She suspected that he was Britannian – or at least a foreigner – based off his choice in clothing and the style of his dark hair, sticking out from under his cap.

The girl sitting in the seat to Cornelia's right was obviously there with him. She wore a black sweater with a hood which the Second Princess knew was clearly to conceal her identity in a similar fashion to the man's baseball cap. The girl looked over at the man after he spoke, seeming more curious than anything, but didn't comment, returning her attention to the road below.

The rest of the crowd seemed livid, but held off from engaging in any sort of argument or physical quarrel with the man for the sake of maintaining an atmosphere fitting for Zero's farewell. Everyone averted their gazes almost at once to avoid meeting his, but allowed them to snap straight back towards him when he spoke again.

"I heard he's already been killed; nobody will get to see the performance if that's the case." His amused tone was accompanied by a short laugh, and more than half of the crowd looked ready to attack him. They might have followed through with it if he hadn't spoken again. "Call me if anything happens; I wouldn't want to miss the entertainment."

Everyone let out a breath they hadn't realised they had been holding as he stood and left the area with his hands in his pockets. More than a few people exchanged their heated feelings towards the 'bastard' who had previously been sitting with them, paying no attention to the fact that his companion was still in her seat.

Fifteen minutes had passed since he'd left, and the crowds had completely reverted back to their solemn demeanour. The delicate calm was immediately broken as the same man wearing he rust-coloured jacket walked back into the seating configuration, his arms full of packages. He flopped down in his seat when he reached it, causing a few of the more precariously perched items to fall to the ground. Shirley gave him a curious glance.

"What have you got there?"

"Refreshments," he replied simply. "This show is taking far too long to begin, and who could say no to a chocolate bar or an ice-cream anyway?"

Shirley rolled her eyes, still hidden by the veil of darkness gifted to her by the hood she was wearing. 'He's acting really strange.'

The rest of the crowd and even some of the Black Knights were about to assault him, and finally snapped after his next action. Gathering the pile in his lap up into his arms, he calmly stood up and began to hand out various sweets and other confectionary items with a 'you don't have to thank me' or an 'it's quite alright' regardless of their responses.

In fact their responses were anything but how he seemed to be perceiving them. Almost every single thing he gave away was thrown back at him with a scream, often hitting him in the forehead and landing back in his pile to be given to someone else. He continued handing out sweets unperturbed by the crowd's hostility towards him.

Eventually he moved onto the Black Knights, who held onto the distasteful gifts for the sake of taking the moral high road, but still refused to respond to him – not that he minded, continuing to comment as if they were thanking him.

His performance was interrupted as he reached the last member of the Black Knights. Guilford was the first to lose his composure, lashing out with a vicious left hook which caught the young man in the jaw. Miraculously, his cap stayed firmly fixed to his head. He stumbled backwards from the shock as Guilford took a step towards him.

"How can you act like that when one of our comrades is about to die?" he shouted. "This is a joke to you! Do you have no respect?"

The man regained his composure and stood to his full height, raising a hand to his lip in order to wipe away some blood from the hit. When he spoke, the change in his behaviour took everyone completely off-guard.

"Kururugi Suzaku."

Most of the crowd seemed confused at the mention of the former Knight of Zero, while Tōdō's eyes widened in shock. 'He couldn't know, could he?'

He spoke again without waiting for a reply, his voice far more serious than his previously carelessly antagonistic self.

"Kururugi Suzaku was in this position once, I believe."

Tōdō allowed his tension to fall away. 'He doesn't...'

Guilford's scathing response was immediate. "But Zero doesn't have Zero to rescue him!"

"You're right, of course." He replied with a shrug, before turning to leave. "Enjoy the show."

Darlton placed a hand on Guilford's shoulder to calm him as the man slowly walked off, not being followed by the girl who was with him. After he had calmed down somewhat, he made his way down the line collecting the various sweets they had been given with the intent to dispose of them immediately.

Cornelia ignored Guilford for a moment as he stood patiently in front of her, waiting for the item she had been given. Instead, she looked at the stars for a moment, recalling the man's final words. There was something not quite right about what he had said – a hidden meaning of sorts that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

'Enjoy the show.'

Her eyes widened slightly as she realised what he had been hinting at. Smiling softly, she unwrapped the ice-cream she held in her hand and took a bite out of it, never once taking her eyes away from the stars in the sky.

"What are you doing, Hime-sama?" Guilford shouted immediately, completely shocked by her actions.

Cornelia turned her gaze away from the stars and looked him directly in the eyes. "I'm going to do exactly what he said," she responded with a smirk.

"I'm going to enjoy the show."