'Sup bitches. I know I've been gone for some time, but I'm back. Yours cries have been heard. Your prayers have been answered. Enjoy this chapter and await some more~

Chapter 9

It was early in the morning. Suzaku's eyes opened to meet the sunlight. The alarm on his phone was buzzing loud and irritatingly. He sat up groggily, rubbing his mussed up brown hair. Then he paused with surprise. Usually his body woke him up an hour before his alarm made any sound. Now he's slept the full night, and he actually felt like he had a good rest.

This wasn't normal.

However, with the stack of homework piling up on the nearby kitchen table, he sighed to himself, realizing being in Hinamizawa was never normal apparently. The town changed since he was little.

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Suzaku arrived at the school, meeting up with the rest of the kids. Keiichi looked dishevelled, like he was the one who didn't get any sleep. Rena was following him with concern on her face, and Rika just blankly stared at nothing, something she silently started to do. Mion and Shion greeted him when he reached the hallways, and they entered their own classrooms.

The three eldest sat down in their seats, and Mion sighed irritably.

"What's wrong, Onee?" Shion asked quietly.

"Kei-chan got a warning from Oiishi-san last night..." She replied, "Turns out Child Welfare went to visit Bacchan about the situation."

"Oni-baba?!" Shion gasped, "No way!" She turned to look over her shoulder at Suzaku, "Remember what Kimi-chan said yesterday? Child Welfare probably didn't want to jeapordize their company over this because so many people still hate the Houjous..."

She clenched her fists, "And so they met the Sonozaki family to tell them about it, I bet..."

"...The Sonozaki family head would be a great ally in this, y'know..." Suzaku commented.

"No duh!" Shion shrugged, "But seriously...trying to get Oni-baba in this would be a terrible idea..."

"Isn't it?!" A brunette girl was suddenly twirling herself around their desks. It was Sandra, one of the girls that always teased Shion.

She smiled joyfully as she stood next to Suzaku's desk, "Do you honostly expect that Eleven family to help? Aren't the Houjou's traitors? They'd never try and help each other!"

"Oh, shut up." Shion said quietly, "How do you think us Elevens were able to get by? We stuck together for almost 9 full years."

Sandra looked taken aback for a second, obviously not expecting Shion to bite back that quickly.

"Don't you have more productive things to do, Sandra-san?" Suzaku asked blandly.

"Well, I have people's days to ruin, so sure!"

Shion sighed, "You guys are unbelieveably stupid."

Keiichi and Rena suddenly ran in before Sandra could whip up a response.

"G-Guys!" Keiichi panted, "You gotta come now!"

"Why?" Mion asked.

"No time to explain!" Rena said, grabbing the twin's hands and yanking them up.

"Let's go!" Keiichi had grabbed Suzaku's shirt, and they all ran out of the classroom, leaving a bewildered Sandra behind.

They reached Rika's classroom quickly and stopped by the doorway, Keiichi and Rena moving so Mion, Shion and Suzaku could see. They all gathered and looked.

It was Houjou Satoko, unloading her school books at her desk. She was moving slowly but surely. Her purple eyes were dimmed, they barely had any life in them, almost like she was blind. Her blonde hair looked a bit untidy, but her black headband was still there and her green uniform looked clean.

"Satoko!" Shion exclaimed, preparing to step forward.

They first looked over at Rika and Satoko's teacher, a woman named Futawa Miwako. She noticed them by the doorway, saw Satoko, then nodded slightly to the elder kids.

Suzaku had to keep a grip on Shion's shoulder as they approached Satoko. The green-haired girl looked almost ready to tackle her in an embrace, which probably wasn't the best idea...

Satoko had sat down, but looked up with her lifeless eyes at the three, Keiichi and Rena by their sides.

"Good morning, everyone." She said, but her voice was quiet. Rika sat next to her, silent but watching intently.

"Satoko..." Shion swallowed, "..Are you okay?"

Satoko blinked once, "...I've had a very terrible fever. That's why I didn't come into school for the past few days. I'm sorry I had to make you guys worry about me."

Feelings Suzaku hadn't felt in over a year welped up inside of him. It was compassion and worry as he stared at the little blonde girl sitting there. He hadn't felt this way since he had seen Nunally sob over her brother's death, and he was forced to stay and not do anything at the time.

Satoko seemed to be worse than Nunally, because she wasn't crying. No, she seemed red-eyed from tears probably earlier, but now she was silent and still, like a statue. In his opinion, that was worse than sobbing.

"Satoko." Keiichi said, "You're uncle kept you at your house, didn't he?"

"He didn't let you come to school, isn't that right?" Rena asked cautiously, "He...wouldn't let you go."

Satoko raised her head a bit, then repeated, "I've had a very terrible fever. That's why I didn't come into school. My uncle was taking care of me, and insisted I shouldn't go anywhere until I got better."

"You're...kidding...right?" Shion widened her eyes, "You...really..are kidding?"

"Sa-Satoko..." Mion leaned forward a tad, "We're your friends, aren't we? Don't you trust us?"

Satoko looked down. Rika said nothing, she just sat there.

It was unbelievable to see. The Knight of Seven had been exposed to many things for the past few years...death, war, crime, violence...buildings were destroyed, people were shot and killed...

Millions died because of his actions...

And this was the scene that made him feel horrible. Something he didn't cause this time. It wasn't his fault Satoko's uncle was a cruel person. It wasn't his fault he returned to Hinamizawa.

But...he still felt hollow...the same hollowness he felt arriving at this small rural town, hidden in the mountains, away from most modern technologies.

"...Satoko." Suzaku finally spoke, "Are you listening to me?"

Satoko glanced at him slightly, "Yes, Suzaku-san. Is there something you would like to tell me? It isn't anything awful is it...? I...don't want to hear anything awful..."

"No, it's not awful. ...Does it hurt anywhere, Satoko?"

She made a faint smile, "I'm fine, Suzaku-san. Even without Nii-Nii here, I can survive by myself."

Suzaku closed his eyes, then walked up next to her and kneeled down to her side. He was a tall man, so he was pretty much eye level with Satoko. Shion's fist was to her chest, eyes wide as she watched him.

"You know..." He said softly, "...I met someone about 2 years ago. She was a very sweet person, so kind and gentle, and we became friends. She was part of a...noble family, and we couldn't see each other often, but yes...I realized later that I was in love with her, and I could tell she loved me too."

Satoko had turned her head to look at him, "I'm glad...Suzaku-san...that somebody loves you..."

Suzaku sighed, "But the next part is, I admit, awful. Can I still tell you, though?"

There was a bit of silence, then Satoko nodded. All of the students plus the teacher was watching. Kimi stood by the doorway, unmoving as she and the others saw Suzaku's shoulders beginning to slump a little.

"I lost her then. She died, and we never got to spend any time together as a..." Suzaku lowered his eyes, "...I miss her alot, but it led to making some wrong choices. Choices that I really regret."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Rika blink once, Keiichi, Rena and Mion widened their eyes, and Shion stood there, emotions piling up in her face.

"I'll never get her back. But I realize she'd never approve of the stuff I've done since she died." He looked back up to Satoko again. She was staring at him with those dull eyes, but her expression was now slightly surprised.

"...If...Nii-Nii...saw me now..." She whispered slowly, "...What if he..."

Suzaku shook his head, "Satoko, do you think Satoshi would like seeing you in pain, with all these bruises?"

Satoko didn't reply, as Suzaku asked again, "Would he?"

Footsteps suddenly came from the hallway and Satoko jerked her head toward the noise quickly, eyes wide with fear. Everybody almost jumped at the sudden movement.

"M-My..u-uncle..." She stammered, bringing her fists to her chest. Literally all the kids in the room moved. Their eyes were wide and their mouths were open, and they looked like they were prepared to run somewhere if they needed to.

"Satoko." Suzaku had reached forward and put both hands on the side of her face, turning her head towards him again, "Focus. Please answer me."

Satoko's eyes filled with tears, she reached up and touched his hands, "B-But, m-my uncle is..."

"He's not here." Suzaku said firmly, "He won't hurt you. Not in here. I'll never let him."

"N-Never?"

"Never."

The tears streamed down the little girl's face, before she jumped forward into the young man's arms, sobbing wildly and horribly against his chest. Suzaku clutched her tightly against him, face in her hair. He didn't want to lose this girl. She was too sweet, too kind, too happy to be defiled like this. He would definately protect her, no matter what.

Too many innocent people had died by his hand, and hell always seemed to be over the brink, waiting patiently for the day Suzaku either breaks his Geass or it breaks on it's own, but for now he was going to redeem himself by protecting this girl.

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They had called Dr. Irie over to the school. Satoko had burnt herself out and had quieted down in Suzaku's arms, but she still gripped onto him tightly and refused to look and speak to everyone, only hid her face in Suzaku's chest as they moved into the infirmery so class could start. She looked so terrified, even around her own friends and classmates. When the the doctor saw Satoko as he entered the room, his brows furrowed, glancing at Mion and Keiichi, who only looked sullen.

"Thank you for holding onto her, Kiryuu-san." He smiled, though it seemed a bit forced, "I need to give her a shot to calm her down."

At this Suzaku suddenly backed away, holding the small girl closer against him, "A shot? Why do you need to give her a shot?!"

Satoko stirred, lifting her head up, eyes wide with fear. Irie slowly raised up his hands.

"Kiryuu-san...please...don't make this difficult. If you get nervous, Satoko-chan's condition could get even worse."

"Condition?" The young man's eyes widened, and before he could protest Shion already took Satoko from him, laying her onto the hospital bed as Irie injected a syringe into her shoulder.

He tried to intervene but Rena and Keiichi were already in his way, ushering him into the hallway to let Irie to his work. Soon Satoko's whimpers died down as her body stopped shaking and her face grew more relaxed. She seemed to be sleeping now.

Suzaku was fuming. He wanted to get in there and see him, but they would not allow her to go.

"Something isn't right with Satoko." He said fiercely, "I can't believe she's this frightened. She's being abused too much, you guys. Why did Irie-sensei give her a shot, he didn't say it was a tranquilizer, how would that help?!"

"Suzaku-kun, hush." Mion said in a low voice, moving him to a bench in the hallway, making him sit down, "...Guys, should we tell him?"

"Tell me what?!" Suzaku demanded, turning his gaze to Shion, who wasn't watching him, "What is it you haven't told me?"

"Suzaku-san, you have to calm down." Rena had her arms crossed and she looked a tiny bit weary yet worried, "This is something Hinamizawa has kept quiet. Its normal for outsiders not to know about it. We don't mention it at all, but we don't get mad if people find out. The news is very slowly spreading."

Rika stood back behind the others, by the doorway, watching Satoko sleep peacefully in the hospital bed in the room. Suzaku clenched his fists slightly, then said in a grim tone, "Tell me. Right now. I demand you to."

All of the kid's eyes were wide. Compared to Suzaku, they were all children. Suzaku may be only 19 (or only 17 as he pretended to be) but he had seen more, known more, done more than some adults in the world. He could be called a grown man, he was no longer a child. And thus, the simple innocent students of the Hinamizawa Branch School were surprised by this adult tone, the way he sounded almost threatening. They looked like they were being scolded by their parents, judging by their shocked expressions. Suzaku Kururugi wasn't fucking around. He had to know.

"Calm down..." Keiichi treaded slowly, "Satoko is very sick."

"What do you mean she's sick?!"

Keiichi shook his head then looked at Rena, "Explain it the way you and Rika-chan do."

Rena nodded and stood in front of Suzaku, who was still sitting on the bench. Then she raised a pale dainty finger and held it up, pointing to the wall, without taking her large blue eyes off him, "Suzaku-san...tell me what you see."

Suzaku looked at the wall, almost glared at it with frustration, and he answered, "I see a stain on it."

"Exactly." Rena nodded, "It is a stain. But look at it more closely."

Suzaku didn't move, something told him he didn't really have to. Rena then continued quietly, "If you were afraid of spiders, that stain would be spiders. If afraid of flies, you'd see flies. For Satoko-chan, when she heard those footsteps earlier, she immediately thought it was Houjou Teppei. That is Satoko's sickness."

"Even when there's nothing to fear, she always believes somebody will hurt her." Shion said. Suzaku looked at her, seeing her head was turned away to the side, watching the stain, "Even if you reassure her dozens of times, there's no difference. She constantly will be paranoid of everything around her unless she takes certain shots everyday."

Suzaku shook his head, taking it all in. He then stood up, towering over the younger kids, "Why can't you just admit her to a hospital? This is some sort of psychosis disease, there has to be a cure."

"There isn't." Mion said grimly, slightly hugging herself, "Not now. Satoko-chan is stuck in a dangerous level of the disease. Besides, she'd probably refuse to go to a hospital. Not even at this time."

"No cure?!" Suzaku's eyes widened, "I've seen psychosis being treated! If this is some rare disease, why hasn't anyone tried to find a cure yet?!"

Everyone hung their heads, and Rena whispered, "They won't give us the funds."

"What do you mean?!"

"The Britannians." Keiichi spat, "They won't give us the funds to help research the disease more. Irie-sensei is doing everything he can at the moment, and he's making a lot of progress, but its not enough. Soon Satoko-chan could possibly reach a breaking point before they find a cure."

"If anything, her time with Houjou Teppei will surely kill her." Shion muttered.

"But...Britannia knows?" Suzaku's eyes widened even farther.

Mion nodded, "My family has been making petitions and meeting with officials for months to try and get funds for research. We've been denied every time. Furthermore, they're mainly the reason the disease isn't public. Because Britannia doesn't want a panic being caused among the world. We don't really mind not mentioning it, though. It's so much easier since the disease can't spread out of the village."

"But...the Empress." Suzaku argued, "Surely she could-"

"Its useless, alright?!" Shion interrupted, "We can't even get an audience with her. Just because she's kind and generous, some of the nobles and ranks that we speak to are still pompous selfish bastards. They probably don't even tell her this is happening. And health researching isn't really Zero's forte, so he's not gonna be much help either!"

Suzaku looked taken aback at Shion's coldness. Almost as cold as he always is. Of course she seemed to be terribly upset about the whole predicament. However, there seemed to be another reason why she was angry. Like she was angry with Suzaku himself.

Slowly, he reached a hand up and rested it on his head, already aching from all the new information, "...what're we going to do then...?"

"Simple!" Keiichi replied, "We're gonna get Satoko free from her uncle! Its that simple!" He glanced around at his friends, "Look, I've still got a few ideas, okay? We need to save Satoko and then she can be relaxed and calm again, and the Syndrome won't hurt her anymore!"

Everyone still looked unsure, before Rena spoke up, "Kei-chan's right. We can't give up on Satoko-chan. She's our friend and we love her." She looked over and smiled, "Right, Suzaku-san?"

Suzaku didn't even know how to respond. He just nodded, closing his eyes in defeat and turning away from them, surprising the younger kids.

"Are you okay?" Mion asked, her voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine..." He replied tensely, "Its just...I can't believe I never heard about this...this psychiatric disease..." He looked over his shoulder, "How is one affected by this "Syndrome"? How did Satoko obtain this?"

"Irie-sensei has been looking into it for quite some time." Rena replied sadly, "It's...apparently its a parasite that grows furtively in Hinamizawa's unique climate that...gets inside your body after about a month of being in the town." She shuddered, "Once somebody who's infected is exposed to intense mental stress, then the disease gets even worse inside their mind...he said it could even cause brain damage."

Suzaku's eyes widened. All of the kids looked even more uncomfortable, besides Shion. It must have seemed very hard for them to swallow when they first have learned about it. But they were just children!

How on earth can they know about something like this? Perhaps it was because of the fact that technically, they were the oldest kids in the entire area.

"That means...everybody in this village is infected?" He froze, "Does that mean I'm infected?!"

"No." Mion abruptly spoke, "Why do you think Hinamizawa is so cut off from the rest of society? We barely have telivision, neither of us have cellphones, computers are only used for school purposes..." Her expression grew dark, "We live in a dangerous and unknown place. Britannia wants nothing to do with a measly Eleven town. However, Irie-sensei was able to use the rest of his small funds to create a vaccine, one that would prevent a person from being a host for the parasites. It doesn't cure."

"Vaccine?" The knight said quietly, "But, I never got a shot for the vaccine."

"Actually..." Rena said, blushing slightly, "You did." At Suzaku's shocked face she continued, "After Shii-chan knocked you unconscious with the tazor, Irie-sensei injected you with the vaccine before you got completely infected, in the spot where you were tazed. Thats why it probably hurt extra."

Suzaku turned back towards everyone. Rika was barely paying attention, staring off at the hospital room where Satoko lay. The anger inside of him seemed to reach boiling point, but he kept it down. How could this happen? He was a fucking Knight of Round, for God's sake, and then the Knight of Zero...and not one single word was uttered about this seemingly doomed town. This could possibly be the biggest coverup since Britannia took over everything. If any scientist heard about this, every 9 in 10 would be offering up their services to Irie, hoping to contribute to this cause of curing the disease. Nunnally would be sending who knows how much limitless money she had to provide funds.

Everybody would be jumping at the chance to save these people. However they've had the wool pulled down over their eyes.

Suzaku wanted to murder whoever decided to cover this up.

Keiichi nodded lightly, "So far, Satoko-chan is the only person we know of who's reached this point in the disease. She's been fine so far because she had been taking shots every day, but now that her uncle came back, obviously she hadn't been able to take her shots at all." He furrowed his eyebrows, "And we don't want her to have a breakdown...it could cause serious damage to her brain."

"We get it, Kei-chan." Shion snapped suddenly, taking everybody by surprise, "You don't need to keep going on about things we already know."

Keiichi looked taken aback, "I...Suzaku-kun didn't know."

"Yeah, well sucks for him." Shion stood up, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure Satoko is comfortable. You can sit here and talk all you want while I actually do something." She then stormed into the infirmary, shutting the door behind her.

"What's her problem?" Keiichi scoffed, "She doesn't have to be such a drama queen. We're all worried about Satoko, y'know."

"She looked like she was mad at Suzaku-san." Rena commented thoughtfully, and Suzaku gave her a small glance.

But he sighed and turned back towards the kids. Rika was now staring at him with her deep lavender eyes, seeming to be so wise among her years.

"And you guys aren't..." He murmured, "...afraid of this disease?"

Rena looked down quietly, and Keiichi reached over and comfortingly put an arm around her shoulders. "We didn't know about it until several months ago...almost a year I think. There...was someone who wanted to use this disease to their advantage."

The younger boy gestured to the purple-haired girl, "They wanted to kill Rika-chan most of all, and then destroy the rest of the village."

Suzaku stared at Rika in shock, who looked fearless in her determined stance.

It was this little girl who spoke back, "But we defeated Fate and saved the village long enough for a cure to be found. We have to protect Satoko from her uncle or the Syndrome will kill her."

She extended a hand out to him, eyes flashing, "Kiryuu Suzaku...will you help us? We alone crushed Fate, but perhaps we've needed a new ally."

Suzaku didn't know what to say. They needed him, these kids. Satoko needed him. As he looked, he saw Mion's ready smile, Keiichi's passionate smirk, Rena's optimistic expression...and no doubt Shion would be a part of this as well if she knew what was happening. He stepped forward, gazing down at the little girl, before he swooped down and assumed a kneeling position, one that only a knight could make so perfectly. He heard the startled noises of the older kids, but he ignored them. He bowed his head in front of Rika, like she was the high princess of her castle, who had just commanded him to slay the dragon.

"I will help you to the best of my abilitities, Furude-san." He said, before he raised his head and met her eyes, "I will help you save Satoko."

Rika's smirk was visible, but it quickly vanished when she reached forward and started ruffling his brown hair, "Mii...silly Suzaku! You didn't have to kneel. Nipah!"

He felt a little red tint his cheeks as everyone laughed at him and heaved him to his feet. There was nothing but smiles and hope. Satoko was sleeping soundly, for the moment safe. But she was going to be all right. As long as they had hope, she would be.

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So now we have a bit more explanations. Suzaku learns about the Syndrome. In my version of the Syndrome, you don't get infected after a full month. Britannia discovered the dangers of the disease and basically left the entire town alone. Out of sight, out of mind. Lots of people barely know it exists. They have no technology, well they do, but not a lot. Its why the kids don't recognize Suzaku anyway.

Please review! I hope you enjoyed!