Disclaimer: I own nothing. You hear me? NOTHING!
Alright, before I go into my usual nonsensical prattling, let's talk serious stuff. I'm gonna answer a few general concerns and questions I've spotted in the reviews. Have I mentioned how much I love getting reviews, by the way? Seriously, they're a large part of my inspiration for actually writing this stuff.
Anyhow. First concern to address is that of power levels. Someone pointed out in a review that they felt Omnimon (Bismark's) and Infermon (Lelouch's) were weaker than what one would expect of them. This is both true and intended.
In the case of Bismark's Omnimon, it is a fusion of a Wargreymon and a Metal Garurumon, who are his two digimon partners. The Royal Knight digimon who was entrusted to defend "God" in some Digimon series or another (I don't know all of them, only the various digimon shows. None of the Manga stuff. Bear that in mind.) is... well, not. It's Omnimon, not a DNA/Jogress digivolved pair of megas. It's on it's own level. Bismark's partners are not the only Omnimon in existence, but they ARE the only one in the Human world.
Another note that fits into this; Digimon in the Digital world will often be stronger than their counterparts, if any, in the Human world. Exceptions to this include, mainly, the Digidestined Digimon. Others would be Coronamon/Lunamon, who originated from the Digital world. There is an explanation for this aside from the obvious fact that the digital world is a dog-eat-dog world and you NEED to be strong to survive.
And as far as Infermon goes? I'll start off from the POV of an author. Giving Lelouch Infermon as opposed to Kurisarimon is a very difficult decision to make. Kurisarimon are basically immobile. I've seen them float off the ground, but they don't seem to have any form of locomotion. Writing it was somewhat awkward, and it restricted a lot of the more intelligent/strategic decisions Lelouch could have made during quick paced fights. It was restricting. And just flat out giving them the ability to reach Ultimate with no strings attached at a point in the story where Ultimate level digimon are few and far apart, restricted to about a dozen including those who could go above it? He would be too strong too soon. So I gave him a weaker, much weaker in comparison to the Infermon from the movies who was ridiculously strong to begin with, Infermon.
Just because something has the form of an ultimate doesn't mean it's as strong as an ultimate. Take Whamon for example. When he digivolves from Champion level, he just becomes a bigger and stronger version of Whamon. Literally, not even a name change. Just pure power addition. That's what will happen for Infermon once I'm at a point in the story where it can happen without making Lelouch overly powerful.
Finally, don't think too heavily on the power of the digimon in the digital world just yet. The trip to the Digital world will be much further into the story, much much further in. Suffice to say, by the time we get to the actual digital world all of the people going into it will be strong enough to pose a threat to the various powerhouses within it. That ought to tell you that it's gonna be a while.
Moving on to another thing. Someone seems to think I meant to say Hyogamon, which is basically an ice version of Ogremon. I didn't. There is a digimon called Hyokkomon, it's a rookie level digimon that looks something like a canary using it's egg as armor. And it carries a sword. It's an honest mistake, but I figured I'd clear that up for you guys.
This should be the last thing to cover before the story begins, so here it is. Sorry for the large AN but I feel informing you guys like this is better than leaving you in the dark.
For those of you who feel too many Digimon are being introduced, there IS a reason for it. Did you guys think Lelouch finding a Digivice and partnering with Keramon would just be an isolated incident? Lelouch is the FIRST Digidestined in this universe. In Digimon Adventure, there were seven to begin with and then an eighth. In Digimon Adventure 02, there were three new ones that the show actually followed, along with two who were from 01 but grown up, and another who joined up later... but there were like a hundred all around the world. Probably more. It was a pretty big number.
Adventure 01 was in a world where Digimon were a complete unknown, and the first seven kids were basically pioneers in the field of Digimon. In this story, their existence has been known for seven years and people have actually managed to control them for their own plans. Britannia and the EU have a LOT of digimon under their control, compared to the handful that will be on Lelouch's side. We're not going to see too many of them because Area Eleven was supposed to be stable and thus didn't require interference from the Empire's strongest weapons, they were better used elsewhere. Likewise, the EU has to use their Digimon to fend off Britannia's own whenever they can. China has a powerful and motivated Mega on their side in addition to a few others who've yet to be mentioned in detail. Suffice to say that Li Xingke and his higher ups have digimon.
So while it may seem like I'm adding an influx of digimon to the story, I'm really not. So far I've added Keramon, Coronamon, Lunamon, Tentomon, and Dokunemon to the human world in a permanent fashion. Anyone else had already been there from the start, like Commandramon and the other KoTR digital partners, and Cornelia's GeoAgumon (Sounds neat to me. *Shrug*)
However, the main players have been established thus far. I won't be dropping in new digimon to partner up with everyone and their mother, though there will be a decent amount of them because I need to equalize the powerbases. That is to say, either Lelouch, Nina, and Rivalz get ridiculously strong or I introduce more digimon to their side to even it out. This is necessary. Not only is Britannia a nation which controls a third of the world, but they also have a near monopoly on Digimon because they've had the technology to control them for longer than anyone else. Let's say Britannia has about a hundred digimon of various levels of power, excluding the Knights of the Round and any Royal controlled Digimon (not an actual number btw. Just a hypothetical.). You would need three Megas or one mega and two powerful ultimates to handle that many digimon. Add them to the Knights of the Round who can reach Ultimate level, some who can go higher? Yeah. You see the problem here. There's only so much strategy can accomplish when you're THAT outgunned. So more digimon will need to be introduced, eventually, to help even things out.
Well shit. This has gone on way longer than I'd like, but I still have one last thing to say. There WILL be more Digidestined. I'm planning to have five of them. The difference between Digidestined and regular Tamers (those with digimon parnters) is that the Digidestined can merge with their digimon, I don't know quite how many Tamers there will be just yet. And on the note of merging with digimon, has anyone else noticed that every new season of the Digimon anime brought new forms of Digivolution? First came regular digivolution and DNA, then Armor and more DNA digivolving, then came Bio-Merging in Tamers, and Spirit Evolution in Frontier, and Burst Mode in the next one. Now there's Xross Wars with DigiXross or whatever (Haven't looked into it.) So with this in mind, I gave them something LIKE bio-merging except with fundamental differences. Such as the ability to do it in the human world from the start.
So without anymore rambling from me, here's the story.
It had been a long time since Lelouch had been truly frightened. The last time had been when the bombs fell upon the Kururugi Shrine and Nunnally hadn't been directly in his sight.
While his terror now paled in comparison to the sheer bone chilling horror he felt in that instance, it was the closest he had ever come to matching that. He had lost his Zero mask.
A cat. A stupid, insignificant tomcat had stolen one of the two pieces of physical evidence that could be used to identify him as the most wanted criminal in Britannia.
He had been led on a wild goose chase around the entire campus of Ashford Academy, being forced to move slower than he would've liked in order to keep Suzaku fooled into believing he was still as weak as he had been seven years ago, and nearly fallen off of a building and injured or killed himself because one of the shingles had been loose.
And after all of that, they found the cat. But it didn't have his mask.
The whole situation was made worse by the fact that Milly had decided to adopt the feline as a pet. So the beast who may have cost him everything would be living the life of luxury from now on. Wasn't that just peachy?
After the whole fiasco had died down, only one good thing had come of it. Suzaku had managed to find a place for himself in the Student Council at Lelouch's request, and after the boy had saved him from falling to his death the other members had been happy to accept him. The smile on Suzaku's face almost made Lelouch feel better about being unable to find his mask.
Almost. Helping the boy who had once been his best friend was nice and all, but it didn't change the fact that Lelouch may find himself either arrested or escaping arrest and subsequent execution within the next few days.
Right now, the dark haired boy was doing something that would change that. Long ago, he had hacked the security systems of Ashford and linked them to his own laptop. This meant, in short, that he could control Ashford almost entirely. He could sound alarms, commence lockdown, unlock individual rooms, view and edit security footage, and many other things.
Currently he was tracing the cat, Arthur, as the animal ran through the academy halls. It wasn't too difficult, the cat hadn't been attempting to avoid the cameras after all, but he made certain to delete the footage from each individual camera that showed the masked feline. Thankfully, due to the Mass Breach, not many students were on campus. So far it didn't seem like Arthur had been spotted during his run.
Maybe the cat had just lost his mask somewhere? It was possible. The mask was certainly not made to fit a cat, the fact that it stayed on as long as it had was a shock in the first place, and so maybe the animal had jarred the mask off of his head and it landed in some obscure place that no one would have located yet? And if a student had picked up the mask, he would find them and Geass them to keep quiet about it and give him the names of anyone they'd told. From there he'd have to run damage control.
For a moment, he grimaced as the guilt of using this potentially harmful power on an innocent student hit him, but it had to be done. He couldn't be found out here. Nunnally would be exposed for sure.
And that was simply not going to happen if he had any say in the matter.
Tsumemon remained silent in his duffle bag, completely aware of just how dangerous this situation was. Zero had killed a member of Britannian Royalty. That was a big deal. Prince Clovis la Britannia was the first member of the Royal Family to be killed since Marianne vi Britannia, and his killer had both a face and a name unlike those who had slain the Knight of Two. He had the hatred and fear of an entire Empire aimed at him. So Lelouch had a right to be nervous at his potential exposure.
The digimon was also unhappy that he had been unable to help Lelouch catch the cat that had made off with his mask, but Lelouch had made it clear to him that he absolutely had to remain a secret. Which was why it was so surprising he was willing to throw away his secrecy for the sake of the Knight of Six, but Tsumemon couldn't really fault him for that. According to Lelouch he had history with the girl back when he was a child, when the girl had lived with his family to take etiquette lessons.
The little blue digimon stifled a short snicker, remembering how Lelouch had described that particular activity as ridiculous. Not because his mother was a commoner before her marriage to the Emperor, oh no. It was because Marianne vi Britannia was most certainly NOT a trophy wife who did little more than sit around and look pretty. She was a soldier, Knight of Two, and she had used her Knightmare frame at least once to intimidate other consorts.
Not the sort of person most would trust to teach their children etiquette.
Lelouch himself was still busily examining the footage of the security cameras, fingers gliding across the keyboard and touchpad with speed an accuracy that many a pianist would applaud.
He frowned, however, realizing just how close he was getting to the end of the cat's path. The chase had ended near the tower, and there were only a few cameras left until he reached the one viewing it. "The cat still has my mask, though..." He murmured, sighing quietly to himself.
Shifting the screen once more, he gasped aloud seeing just who was on the screen. "N-Nina!" Lelouch exclaimed in shock. And there was Arthur, the cat. Wearing his mask and pawing at Nina's leg.
He watched her face twist first to shocked fear, before slowly being taken over by the horrifying realization that the mask of Zero belonged to one of her classmates and closest friends.
That made matters so much more complicated. Infinitely so.
Geassing a random student was one thing, and even that would leave him feeling somewhat guilty. But using this power on Nina, a member of the Student Council? He had practically sworn to himself that he wouldn't use it on them.
Even worse was the fact that this was Nina, a girl who had lost her mother to terrorists nearly seven years ago. Finding out that he was Zero would be a major hit to her possibly fragile psyche.
"So... the green haired one with glasses?" Tsumemon piped in from his desk, looking over the screen. "This got a whole lot more complicated, didn't it?" He asked, watching as Nina slid the mask into her bag just as another boy ran by her.
Lelouch's brow furrowed. "She hid the mask. It may have been reflex, or she may have consciously decided to keep it a secret. The entire campus was aware that whatever Arthur had made off with belonged to me. Hopefully this means she didn't tell anyone else." Another sigh escaped his lips, this time more of an exhausted sigh than his first. "It just had to be Nina, though, didn't it? Can I not catch a break?"
"So I take it you're not going to use your Geass on her, Lelouch?" C.C. called out from her position on his bed. "You seemed adverse to the idea of using it on your friends." Said witch was, as usual, clothed in nothing but one of Lelouch's shirts. Her current position had her laying on her back, her head facing him, with her legs lazily kicking at the air. Only a scant few inches of cloth were covering her decency, and somehow despite her lazy kicking motions those final few inches would not be given. Also as usual.
Damn seductive witch. She did it to get under his skin, and he knew it. But it was damnably effective despite his knowing so.
And with legs like that it was no wonder.
"I'll do what I must." Lelouch replied, teeth gritting as he released a third sigh, this time to get his mind off of the incredibly attractive woman lying on his bed and back onto the matter at hand. It really was a hard decision, after all.. Geass could make all of this disappear easily. Nina would go back to her normal life and Lelouch's secret wouldn't be revealed.
But he wasn't sure what kind of side effects his Geass could have. For all he knew it could cause a delayed death on it's targets. C.C. hadn't helped much, saying that each Geass could manifest itself differently from person to person. And she hadn't said that something like what he theorized was an impossible.
Her exact words were "In my life, I've yet to come across a Geass that has a delayed side-effect that kills it's target outright. However, each and every Geass power is different. What you described, while I've not seen it before, is a possibility. Though I have encountered many Geass with rather... dangerous side effects, they are mostly directed towards the user themselves." And then she had given him a pointed look, warning him to be mindful of his ability's growth. Whatever that meant, exactly, he had yet to learn. At the very least he could take solace in the fact that she had stressed that the absolute worse case scenario he'd come up with was a very slim possibility.
Geass would be his absolute last resort in this situation. He couldn't forgive himself if he was to harm his friends so carelessly, even if it was the most effective way to handle a situation.
That last thought actually brought a slight upward tilt to his lips. It was practically the opposite of how Britannia worked. If you wanted to get stronger you used others to get there and then threw them away. It was a dog-eat-dog world out there, after all.
The exiled prince stood, shaking away his idle thoughts. "It's late. I'll have to be discreet while making my way to the girl's dorm."
Unfortunately, the girl's dorm was still in use. While school wasn't in session for the week, many of the girls had decided to stick around campus for the sake of convenience. The school was a lot closer to most of the city's hotspots than any other residences most of them had, and some simply had no other residence nearby due to their families remaining in the mainland.
The boys who had been displaced by the destruction of their dorms were all either with any family or close friends they had in Area Eleven, or staying in a hotel who's proprietor owed the Ashefords a favor and thus gave a heavily reduced price for a week long stay.
Needless to say, it was a rather large favor. It had also been the first time Ashford had ever had this issue. The foundation of the Settlement was practically earthquake proof, powerful windstorms were quite rare, and flooding was also practically nonexistent in the actual settlement due once again to it's foundations. Damages on the scale Ashford was facing right now were quite uncommon.
Lelouch would bet that over sixty percent of Ashford's female population were still on campus. It was quite late, around midnight he noted, and so nearly everyone should be asleep or in their rooms. Sneaking in wouldn't be too difficult, however remaining undetected while inside could either be extremely simple or an exercise in futility depending on his luck.
... Did he really want to bet on luck right now? Perhaps waiting until tomorrow would be better... but the longer he waited the more time Nina would have to gather her thoughts. And the more time Nina had to gather her thoughts the more likely she was to turn him in.
"You know, I never took you for the kind to sneak into the girl's dormitory. Didn't think panty-raids were your style, Lelouch." She frowned slightly as he entirely ignored her jab, though the frown melted away into a positively predatory smirk mere moments later. "I'd offer to let you see mine... but I'm not wearing any~." She accentuated this by allowing the shirt to raise ever so slightly more...
"I'm busy thinking, witch." Lelouch replied, completely unphased. He had barely even spared her a glance, and not even the smallest tinge of pink stained his cheeks.
Said witch blinked, her mouth slightly agape. Was this seventeen year old, warm blooded male actually ignoring her nearly flashing her naughty bits? That was both impressive and aggravating. Impressive because, frankly, she was hot. In addition to the fact that she was sexy and she knew it, C.C. also knew how to use it. She'd been around long enough to pick up quite a bit in the way of seduction.
So, when an immortal woman with the body of an attractive young lady and the seductive know-how of an experienced courtesan was point blank ignored by anyone, it was rather impressive.
It was aggravating because this meant that either he'd been playing along with her, he could basically turn off his sex drive on demand, or he was getting used to her trying to get under his skin via subtle methods.
... As subtle as practically flashing someone could be, of course. This meant she'd either been had, she could be ignored at the drop of a hat, or she needed to step up her game. Considering she had been around a lot longer than Lelouch, C.C. felt she could safely assume that the first option was not the case. The second seemed quite likely, though she was sincerely hoping it wasn't because that would be no fun at all, and the third meant she would actually have to try and get him hot under the collar instead of just taking the occasional shot like she had been.
And while C.C. was pondering on just how far she was going to go to get that delightful expression of his, Lelouch had left the room.
Nina couldn't sleep. There were quite a few reasons for this, though the main two would be her thoughts and her fears.
Her thoughts were all circling hopelessly around the identity of Zero, and over just what she was supposed to do with that knowledge. She didn't want to turn him in to the authorities, he was her friend. One of the few people who actually associated with her, though that would likely be by her own actions more than anything people had against her. Worse than that would be the fact that his little sister would be devastated if something were to happen to him, or if she even found out he was a terrorist. This lead to her hopelessly thinking on just what she could do in this situation. Nina didn't want to get Lelouch arrested, but he was a terrorist. He had killed a member of royalty.
Zero had terrified Nina upon his debut, simply because someone who could completely outmaneuver the military as easily as he did was someone who would not be put down without a fight. And Britannia most certainly wanted to put down Zero.
Another question that haunted her mind was this. Just what was Zero, what was Lelouch, going to do next?
That scared her more than Zero's debut could, for certain. Lelouch was a genius. While he may not have the scientific knowledge Nina had, his all around intellect and tactical ability definitely put her to shame. Nina was smart, perhaps even a genius, but only in her own field. Science. She knew this and she knew it well.
Lelouch was simply brilliant. Aside from physical activities, Nina had yet to see Lelouch fail at something he tried. From cooking to instrument playing to any type of video game Rivalz had bugged him into playing and even to the very same subject Nina had such proficiency in. Lelouch could do nearly anything and do it well. She had no doubt that if Lelouch's interest lied as deeply in science as her own did that he may well have surpassed her in her own field.
With that in mind, and seeing that he had already bested the military twice on two separate occasions, it was honestly quite terrifying to think of just what Zero could accomplish. He had gone silent for the moment, though no one could rightly say why. Many people were speculating that he had gone into hiding because the Witch of Britannia had arrived in the Settlement and was quickly stomping out terrorist factions left and right. Others believed he was simply biding his time until a suitable opening presented itself.
Knowing what she did now, Nina could safely say it was the latter. His opponents were on the move, Lelouch just had to find the correct moment to make his own move.
Moving away from her thoughts going wild in her head while she was sitting awake restlessly, we come to the second reason Nina was unable to sleep.
Nightmares. Already Nina had run through scenarios where Lelouch killed her for learning his secret, though she quickly squashed those thoughts before they could take root too deeply, and she knew from experience that nightmares tended to follow. After the horrible things Nina had seen in her dreams, she wasn't eager to try her luck after discovering the fact that one of her friends had killed people in cold blood, namely a prince of the nation they called home.
It was ironic, really. Not two days ago Nina had been lamenting the fact that her dreams had taken an erotic turn involving the dark haired vice president, but she would vastly prefer them to the inevitable nightmares involving that same dark haired boy grinning viciously at her as his finger slowly pulled back the trigger of a pistol.
She'd seen him make that smile once to creep out Rivalz. Curse her near photographic memory for bringing it up in these circumstances.
A sudden, light tapping at her door made Nina's head shoot up in surprise. Slowly standing from her bed, Nina crept over to the door. "Yes? Who's t-there?" She asked, quietly.
While she had her suspicions, the girl was desperately hoping she was incorrect.
"It's Lelouch."
And of course it was.
"May I come in?" His voice called quietly, just loud enough to carry through the wood of the door.
Nina let out a shuddering sigh, steeling her resolve and mentally preparing herself for what was certain to be a difficult and possibly dangerous conversation. "Y-yes." She managed, her voice nearly cracking due to her nervousness.
The girl opened the door, moving away from it rather quickly like an animal poking at something potentially harmful. The dark haired boy looked her over once, easily discerning that she was quite distressed.
"Nina." Lelouch began, closing the door behind him and making certain to lock it just in case. "I..." He sighed. He had made his way here so quickly that he really didn't know just what to say to her. It was one of the rare moments in which Lelouch simply had no idea what to say, while still remaining cognizant. "... You found my mask."
And there it was. The admission straight from the lips of the suspect. She knew, he knew she knew, it was time to continue before either she freaked out or he lost what he was going to say. "You probably don't understand why I'm doing this, Nina. I can't force you to understand, either."
"Why?" Nina asked him, hands clenching. She made certain to keep a respectable distance from him, as though he would lash out at any second to strike at her. "What do you want to accomplish by doing this, Lelouch?"
Lelouch closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again you could see the difference. It was a subtle shift in posture, but a simple glance at his face and anyone who knew him could tell that he was determined. Those were the eyes of a man who had the utmost conviction in what he was doing. "This world is rotten, Nina." He began, his sudden change clearly affecting the girl. "It's rotten to the core and Britannia is at the center of it. This empire is expanding, eating away at the world as it goes. Every area conquered becomes just that. Another "Area" of the "Holy Empire". Lives are lost, and entire cultures are demolished and subjugated."
Nina was taken aback by just how... emotional Lelouch was on this subject. She hadn't known what to expect, but this most certainly wasn't it. She had seldom seen the dark haired Vice President so moved. He was still quiet, his volume just above a whisper, but the emotion in his voice was unmistakable at any volume.
"But that isn't what is truly horrid about this empire." He continued, looking directly into her eyes. "The strong survive in Britannia just to crush the weak underfoot. Is that right? No, but in Britannia it's the norm. Everywhere you look it's another example of the strong preying upon the weak. And it's not only socially acceptable, but expected. How can this empire be anything but a perfect example of everything that is wrong with the world?"
With her hands tightly grasping her skirt, Nina sat back on the bed. "You feel strongly about it..." She noted. "Lelouch... your last name isn't Lamperouge, is it?" The green haired girl asked rhetorically, looking him in the eye as she said this. "You're actually Lelouch vi Britannia, aren't you? An exiled prince, thought to be dead?"
Much to his credit, Lelouch didn't falter. "Yes. I am Lelouch vi Britannia, the prince who was cast away by his own country for daring to challenge the Emperor's decisions."
Honestly? He had figured Nina would put two and two together. No one, not Nunnally, Milly, and most certainly not himself, talked about the past of the Lamperouge siblings. Nina had been friends with Milly for nearly as long as Lelouch had been, and she knew of the Ashford's connections to Marianne vi Britannia. How could she not? It was common knowledge.
And so when a pair of siblings with no real backstory suddenly came into their lives, with the support of the Headmaster of Ashford and friendship of his granddaughter, someone like Nina would ask questions. And in doing so, she would find answers.
He wasn't surprised. This was one of the few things he had the time to take into account before reaching her room.
"S-so... what is all of this, then, Lelouch?" Nina practically whimpered. "Is this just revenge? Is that why you would kill your own brother?"
Lelouch's teeth grit slightly, and he looked over the girl. She was scared of him.
It hurt. It hurt him badly. One of his friends, someone who he had spent hours at a time with on a semifrequent basis, and they were scared of him.
The fire in his eyes dimmed. "No." He replied, quieter than his previous speech. Why did she have to find out? Why did she have to be scared of him?
How long had it been since he had been genuinely hurt by someone else? He couldn't honestly say he knew. This was the first time he had to deal with a close friend being blatantly scared to be around him. Even the Emperor throwing him away alongside his sister didn't hurt him as deeply as this did. With the Emperor, he could be angry. He could hate that man and eventually be the one to put an end to his life.
With her, it was a different story. At the moment, she had every right to be fearful of him. He was a murderer. He was a rebel. She was just a student."N-Nina..." He nearly begged. "You know it's still me, right? Even though I'm Zero, I'm still me. I wouldn't hurt you or any of the student council. You know that, right?" Lelouch could hardly believe how pathetic he sounded right now. Or how horrible he felt. This was something he had never expected to happen. It seemed so ludicrous. One of his friends was terrified of him and they had perfectly valid reasons for it.
Nina's eyes widened slightly as she realized something. The person standing before her right now wasn't Zero. This wasn't the exiled prince of Britannia.
... Or... perhaps that's exactly who he was. Someone who had been thrown away once and would do almost anything to keep it from happening again.
The girl had never seen Lelouch in such a state before. He looked ready to slip into depression.
This was Lelouch. Her friend. He was an exiled prince, and he was a terrorist who had killed a prince, but standing before her was a seventeen year old boy who was terrified that one of his friends was scared of him.
What a sobering thought that was. And here Nina had believed she was the only one having a mental crisis over this event.
But what was she supposed to do in this situation? Had anyone ever had to deal with this before or was she just that unlucky?
She was supposed to be angry. He was supposed to be in the wrong here! He was a terrorist! He had killed people! She was supposed to be repulsed and terrified because he was Zero!
That was what was supposed to happen. The reality? After looking into a pair of nearly heartbroken amethyst eyes, she couldn't keep any of the fear or ire she had towards him. Those weren't the eyes of a killer. Those were the eyes of a person who was praying that they wouldn't lose someone close to them over their own actions.
Nina sighed. Before she really knew what she was doing, the girl had made her way closer to Lelouch.
Said boy tensed as she gently embraced him, before relaxing with a barely audible sigh of relief. "No, I'm not s-scared of you Lelouch." She assured him, allowing the taller boy to lean against her.
"Nina... I can't apologize for this. For Zero." Lelouch began, relieved beyond measure that Nina had calmed down. And calmed him down, for that matter. "I'm doing what I know is right. It's not just about revenge..." Revenge was a dangerous thing. Some people could desire vengeance so much that it blinds them to the rest of the world. It could end with the one seeking revenge becoming even more irredeemable than the one who had wronged them in the first place.
Lelouch would never allow himself to be blinded by his desire for vengeance. Above everything else, there was his desire to rebuild this rotten world anew. This revolution wasn't just for him, it was for everyone too weak to fight against their oppressors.
Long ago, Lelouch had promised to obliterate Britannia. He still intended to. But it wasn't the driving force behind his actions.
The war he was waging now... it was for Nunnally. It was for the Japanese. It was for the rebels fighting and dying meaningless battles against Britannia. It was for those tangled within the wretched society lurking beneath the pristine appearance of Britannia.
Revenge was not his motivation. It was something to be accomplished along the way.
"Then... w-what?" Nina whispered, a small frown marring her face. "I d-don't understand why you're doing this."
Lelouch sighed against her shoulder. "Nina, I'm doing this because no one deserves to be stripped of everything and left to rot. Every day, I look at this city and feel anger burning up inside of me. I was there when the first bombs fell, Nina. I walked through a war zone and saw the decaying bodies of soldier and civilian alike. Men, women, children, all dead because Britannia wanted more. I had to lie to Nunnally, tell her we were walking near a landfill."
Nina shuddered, feeling him tense in her arms once more. He had carried Nunnally, crippled and blind, through a battlefield. And he had pretended it was nothing but a landfill to protect his little sister.
How many sights had he seen and ignored that would make grown men vomit, all for the sake of his sweet little sister? What kind of will power did a ten year old have to possess to ignore the terrible things he must have seen as he traversed a field of corpses?
"There were three of us." He carried on, startling her with both his sudden continuation and the revelation that he and Nunnally had not been alone in their trek. "Kururugi Suzaku traveled with us. He couldn't always stomach seeing his own people crushed by Knightmare frames or filled with bullets. I told Nunnally he had a weak stomach. I made fun of his horror at seeing the corpses of other Japanese being devoured by insects and crows. All to keep Nunnally ignorant of the terrible things we had seen. The two of us were ten."
Now Lelouch was the one holding Nina upright, as she nearly lost her ability to stand. Suzaku? The new student who was in the military? He had been with Lelouch and Nunnally through that?
Nina was positively horrified. She knew what happened in wars, people died for their countries and for their beliefs. But she had never truly known what happened in war. And hopefully she never would. It was hard enough just hearing what the dark haired boy holding her had gone through, she couldn't imagine going through it herself.
"And after all of that, after ravaging this land and it's people, Britannia stripped them of everything. Their possessions, their homes, their name, and even their culture. Britannia took everything from them and they still fight. Because Japan never truly gave up, even if the nation had surrendered. The people of this nation are strong willed. It's not just that I want to help the Japanese, but I want them to help me. I won't stop at freeing Japan." Lelouch moved, gently sitting the shaky Nina on her bed. "It's not the people of Britannia I'm fighting, Nina. It's the ideals. I won't ask you to agree with me, but I hope you understand why I'm doing this. I'm going to change Britannia. Even if I have to tear it to the ground and build it back up again." And he intended to do just that. He would obliterate Britannia. He had promised, after all.
The girl could hardly believe it. How had this meeting turned out this way? After hearing everything he'd said, after seeing how strongly he believed in his words, Nina could actually find herself agreeing with him somewhat.
Nina was xenophobic. New people and new things made her nervous. It was one of the main reasons she had advanced so far scientifically, because she was so utterly comfortable with it. The more she learned the more she understood and the less unfamiliar the subject became to her.
However, she did not hate new people or new things. They simply made her nervous.
Elevens, Japanese. She did not hate them. They made her nervous, scared her. Her only experiences with them for the longest time had been knowing that they had been the ones to kill her mother, and rarely interacting with Sayoko. It would be wrong to hate all of them because of the actions of one group, though. Her mother was a casualty in this war, it wasn't an intentional attack on her. How could she hate Sayoko for something the woman had nothing to do with? Or hate Suzaku when he had been victimized even more than her, having lost a parent and seeing his country in tatters and his people dead and dying?
Britannia had established a military base. It was still new, barely out of construction. Hardly manned. It was a prime target for the remnants of the Japanese military, now known as the Japan Liberation Front. In an all out frontal attack, the base was destroyed and nearly everyone on the base was killed. The base itself was completely and utterly destroyed, with absolutely nothing salvageable left behind. That was when the Japanese had first gained access to the Knightmare Frame's technology.
Despite her inherent fear of the Elevens because of how little she knew of them, Nina did not think they deserved the treatment Britannia gave them. After talking to Suzaku only once, Nina could see he was a genuinely nice person. According to Shirley, he had also risked his safety during the Mass Breach in order to protect the school. He and Sayoko were prime examples that not all Elevens were bad people. Suzaku was an Honorary Britannian in the Britannian military, and Sayoko had been a faithful servant to the Lamperouge siblings since hardly a week after their arrival. Nina didn't know just how badly Suzaku must have been treated, but she knew it couldn't have been pleasant being an Eleven in a sea of Britannian soldiers.
Even in school, he had been given a wide berth. The only ones who had spoken to him were Shirley, Rivalz, and herself. And she had practically been forced into it. He was an outcast.
Just like all the Elevens.
Lelouch was right. What Britannia was doing to these people, to all the people their Empire had conquered, was wrong. It was terrible. But before today she had simply ignored it.
Just like all Britannians were supposed to.
Was it really so easy to completely ignore the suffering of an entire race, when they were seen almost every day? Those few Elevens who had given up their pride in hopes of a better life were still guaranteed to suffer more than prosper. The Honorary Britannian system made it easy to turn a blind eye. After all, all it took was a few signatures and an Eleven was given rights as if they were a Britannian, right? It was their own fault for being so prideful.
But in truth the system was nothing but a false hope. Honorary Britannians were barely citizens at all.
However... Nina had more reasons than just her mother's death to be distrustful of Elevens. The girl was fully aware that her own, limited, experience with them was not something to judge an entire race on. But even so, the negatives she had to associate with them were far more impactful than the positives. First her mother had been taken from her... and then they had hurt her more directly.
Layla Einstein's body had never been found. She was not the only person unaccounted for, however she was the only one that mattered to Nina. Her family had been denied even a proper funeral.
Nina had made a terrible decision, a few years later. She had decided to travel into the Ghettos, to the ruined military base, seeking closure for herself.
She didn't find her closure. What she did find was something that haunted her even today.
"Nina." Lelouch's voice broke her from her thoughts, thankfully. She didn't think anything good could come from dredging up those particular memories again.
"Y-yes?" Nina asked, her indigo eyes meeting his own.
Lelouch was quite torn. After all that, he most certainly did not want to use his Geass to get his mask back and protect his secret. However, he was completely unsure as to where Nina stood on the matter. The best case scenario he could imagine would be for Nina to promise not to turn him in, return his mask, and pretend that this never happened. Worst case scenario would be forcing him into using his Geass on her. With that in mind, Lelouch spoke. His voice remained firm, but soft. "I need my mask back. And I need you to keep this between us."
There it was. The moment of truth.
The bespectacled girl fidgeted at being put on the spot, taking a few silent moments to contemplate. 'He's Zero. He intends to continue fighting. And he wants me to keep his secret.' That boded the question; just how much did Nina resent Zero? He had, so far, killed Prince Clovis after saving the remaining residents of Shinjuku, and rescued an innocent who had been accused of said murder with entirely nonviolent methods. Frankly, Zero had yet to do anything that really hurt her in any way. While Prince Clovis was, well, a prince, Nina didn't know him or care for him, and Kururugi was an innocent man being paraded before a sea of hateful Britannians for the most damning crime Area Eleven had seen.
Her fear of Zero hadn't stemmed from what he had done, though. It had come from just what he would do. Knowing Lelouch, and after hearing how passionately he had spoken, Nina could safely say that he fully intended to topple Britannia.
That was a scary thought. But at the same time, it was Lelouch. He had never done anything to hurt her, or the student council in general. And in the end, Nina only really cared about Sayoko, Nunnally, and the council. She had no other friends, her father was extremely distant, she hadn't seen him in months, and the person she had a slight crush on was standing right in front of her practically declaring war on Britannia. Turning Zero in after all this, when she had been opposed to it from the beginning? Not likely.
Nina nodded to herself, decision made. She smiled at Lelouch, meeting his gaze once more. "This will be our little s-secret."
Her heart fluttered in her chest at the smile she received. "I'm glad."
That "slight crush" wasn't so slight, come to think of it.
As if he hadn't dealt with enough for one day, though it was technically a new day he realized, Ohgi had decided to call him. At two in the morning.
"Look, Zero. It hasn't gone public yet, but Cornelia's wiped out the Blood of the Samurai group." The man informed him over the phone.
"Understood. Hold tight and lay low, it's not time to act yet." Lelouch replied, leaning against a tree alongside the concrete path.
Ohgi paused for a moment, before continuing. "Zero, I don't want to sound insistent, but the Blood of the Samurai weren't small time. They're not the JLF, but they were some of the closest to them. With them gone, there aren't many other good targets for Cornelia to hit. I'm concerned she'll be coming for us soon."
Lelouch frowned. The man did have a valid point. The Blood of the Samurai group were just under the JLF in terms of raw military might. While they lacked Knightmare Frames, they were not short on much else. Their destruction was a big step for Cornelia.
However... "Ohgi, I need you to trust me. If we make any hasty moves against someone like Cornelia we'll be doomed. This isn't Clovis, an artist playing at being a general. She is a veteran soldier with numerous conquests and victories under her belt. We will need to be extremely cautious in dealing with her. So trust me to make the right decision, like you have twice before, and I will." The dark haired boy sighed quietly, leaning further against the tree. How long had it been since he last slept? It was nearing twenty hours he could bet. And he still hadn't gotten around to filling Nunnally in on the ridiculous series of meetings he was having. Not to mention the fact that Anya would likely be showing up at their doorstep some time today, and who knew when Euphemia would turn up. He would at least like to be rested for these things.
Why did he have so many problems to deal with, recently? Callous though it may be, Lelouch was honestly quite glad Cornelia hadn't provided the opening he needed just yet, instead just mowing down other groups. He had so many other things that HAD to be dealt with, he couldn't be sure that adding another huge thing like that wouldn't trip him up.
When Ohgi spoke again, it was with a sort of roguish confidence. "You're right, Zero. I trust you and so does the rest of the group. You'll know when the time is right, and we'll be ready. Just a call away, after all."
Lelouch smiled a bit. He rather liked Ohgi Kaname and his merry band of misfits. "Good man. I'll be sure to let you in when we've got the opening we need. If anything major comes up, be sure to inform me. Zero out." And with that, he hung up.
One good thing about conversing with his partners in crime would be the fact that they often did so in Japanese. So on the off chance, very off as a matter of fact, someone caught any of the conversation, they probably wouldn't understand it.
Except Kallen, Sayoko, Nunnally, Milly, Suzaku, and Reuben. While that may seem like a decent amount of people, it wasn't too difficult to make sure none of them were within earshot. And with Sayoko it didn't matter because she was fully aware of his position as Zero and all that came with it.
Hm. Despite his rather atrocious luck with random meeting lately, he'd hit the jackpot by meeting with this group back in Shinjuku.
Ohgi Kaname was an inherently kind man, who cared for his subordinates. He was intelligent and friendly, enough so that gaining his trust wasn't terribly difficult. And with the trust of the leader, it made gaining the trust of everyone else that much easier. Average to above average knightmare pilot, relatively well practiced.
Kozuki Kallen. A girl his age, quite the looker, and with a dangerous temper. Extremely fun to tease, though hazardous to his health. Her trust in Zero seems to be on par with Ohgi's, and she is a legitimate Ace Knightmare pilot. An extremely precious commodity. Her half Britannian heritage may also make her more accepting if his identity is ever revealed. Though she may attempt to strangle him one way or the other.
Shinichiro Tamaki. Complete and utter imbecile in most cases. Hot headed, foul mouthed, none too bright. He seems to have a bit more faith in Zero than the rest of the group, for the moment. His skill in a Knightmare is second to Kallen's, though he didn't come close to being an ace himself. Definitely above average, and especially so since he had the most experience with the Glasgow the members of their group had learned with. The go-to Pilot before Kallen had joined up with their crew, for whatever reason. Quite proficient with explosives.
Sugiyama Kento. Above average intellect, relatively calm individual. Seems to be in a relationship with one of the group's only female members, Inoue Naomi. Apparently a good cook. Trust in Zero only extends as far as that of the other members. He cares enough about them that he'll put his faith in their decisions. Gaining Ohgi's trust helped in this matter. In terms of Knightmare capability, he ranks third in the group. Unlike Tamaki, however, Sugiyama was a level headed person with a good head on his shoulders. Certainly someone who's word ought to be taken into account.
Moving on from the male half of the equation, there was Inoue Naomi. Also a very intelligent individual, slightly less calm than her significant other. Her trust in Zero is the main reason Sugiyama was willing to put any real faith in him, for the moment. She was quite willing to believe in him, after being shown twice that he wasn't all talk. Her capabilities in a Knightmare were average, though it was clear she was more suited for a different position. However, until they could begin to expand she would have to make due in a KMF.
Yoshida Toru was an interesting case. He was experienced in Knightmare frames, and he had poured a lot of effort into maintaining his knowledge of various KMF's and their capabilities, along with any other military advancements he could find to learn about. While he lacked natural talent in a Knightmare, he made up for it with sheer knowledge of exactly what any given frame is capable of, save those that were unknown such as the Lancelot. However, his analytical ability was superb even when dealing with complete unknowns. From a short glance at the Lancelot he had been able to accurately guess most of it's abilities, as well as point out that the pilot seemed to be injured due to slight shifts in performance during the short battle. A very interesting person, indeed. However, his trust in Zero went only as far as Ohgi's orders. Zero had yet to earn this man's trust, though he did have his respect. It was a start.
And finally, Minami Yoshitaka. He was... well, normal. Very much so. Aside from his unusual hair color, a dark purple, everything about this man screamed "average". And that in and of itself was terribly intriguing. The type of "normal" that Minami radiated was the same type of "normal" Sayoko had, he wouldn't have noticed it if not for the fact that he had learned things from the woman. He wasn't sure quite how similar the two of them were, however it seemed likely that Minami Yoshitaka was skilled in the ways of espionage. And he wasn't bad in a Knightmare, either. His trust in Zero seemed to be inbetween Sugiyama and Inoue.
All in all, Lelouch could say he had picked up quite the interesting group of accomplices.
And speaking of accomplices, his mind drifted to yet another person who had that title.
C.C. was an enigma. At times she would be helpful, and others she would go out of her way to be a pain in his ass. Worse, she was always attempting to mess with his head through constant use of her undeniable attractiveness. It was rather annoying, to say the least. And they were sharing a bed, so waking up each morning with a beautiful women strewn over him was a common occurrence. He had never thought that would be a problem he'd have, what with his normal attitude towards the fairer sex.
The witch had certainly blown that particular expectation out of the water. However, despite her relentless teasing she had done several things to help him. First and foremost, she had taken a bullet for him. Literally. Despite her inability to die, she had thrown herself in front of him and saved his life. Definitely a plus for her. And then there was his power. While he would have to be extremely careful with it, due to his lack of knowledge, it was probably his most powerful weapon. The ability to bend someone's will so completely that they would ignore self preservation instinct and kill themselves, with a smile, was absolutely astounding.
Even more so, the witch had actually warned him to be careful of overusing his power. While she hadn't been specific, just the warning itself was helpful since it had come at a time when he was debating whether or not to be extremely conservative with his use of Geass.
Finally, there was the fact that she was absolutely gorgeous. He was still a warm blooded teen, after all, and he certainly knew how to appreciate a beautiful woman.
Lelouch chuckled, pushing himself off of the tree he had been leaning against. He looked at his phone to check the time, grimacing as he realized it was nearly three in the morning. "Looks like I'm going to be sleeping in." He noted.
What? Milly had given the council a break from the mountains of paperwork since most of it had been done on day one. While Rivalz, Milly, and Shirley could do whatever it was they did on days off, Lelouch had a feeling he and Nina would both be catching up on their sleep.
... Provided, of course, a certain Witch didn't make it difficult for him. He had noted a peculiar gleam in her eye just as he left his room, earlier.
"Lelouch? What are you doing out here at this hour?" A voice called, drawing his attention. Speaking of the devil, here was Milly in all of her mischievous glory. Though... she seemed somewhat different. Less chipper, more subdued. It was odd. And worrying.
He blinked. "I could ask the same of you, couldn't I Madame President?" And indeed he could. It was quite unlike Milly to be out and about at this time in the morning. Even more worrisome.
The buxom blond allowed herself a brief chuckle. "Guilty as charged. I'm just... thinking about something."
Some people may have left it at that, but those people weren't the kind who knew Milly Ashford as well as he did. In this case, thinking meant worrying and Milly Ashford was not one to worry about things. That was left to Nina and Lelouch. "Milly, what are you worried about? It's not like you to let little things get to you." Which, of course, meant that this was not something little. As a matter of fact, it had to be something big in order to keep Milly up thinking about it.
A sad sigh slipped from her lips, before she spoke up again. "My parents are trying to marry me off again... but I don't think I can get out of it this time, Lelouch." Milly wrapped her arms around herself, doing nothing to hide the worry in her expression.
Lelouch almost found himself growling in anger. This was one aspect of Milly's parents that he utterly loathed. They didn't care about their daughter, just what she could do for them. After the Ashford's fall from grace with his mother's death, they had been attempting to marry Milly off to any man with some status to his name. Up until now, Milly had been able to scare them off through various pranks and other embarrassing mishaps during their first meeting.
However, now she seemed genuinely worried. Just who could they be trying to hitch her with that she wasn't confident in her ability to drive them off?
Suppressing his anger with his friend's parents, Lelouch moved over to the girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just who is it that they're trying to marry you off to this time, Milly?" He asked. There weren't many people who came to mind.
"Earl Lloyd Asplund." She replied, frowning up at him. "He's... odd. Very odd. I honestly don't know what I could do that would scare away someone who's called the Emperor "Charlie" to his face." Because, seriously, what do you to someone who just smiled through a glare from one of the most powerful men in the world? People had been executed for less, and yet this man had been both audacious enough to say that to the Emperor and entirely calm after doing so.
Lelouch blanched. Lloyd Asplund? As in Suzaku's boss, the scientist responsible for the Lancelot? ... And what was that about calling the emperor Charlie? The dark haired boy sighed. "That is... odd. I've met the man before."
It was Milly's turn to be shocked. "You have? Where did you meet him? I haven't even met the man in person yet." All she had on him was the research she had done, which she had done and nearly every noble in Area Eleven, that told her quite blatantly that this man was insane. With his position as the head of a special research division, funded and backed by Prince Schneizel himself, Lloyd only interacted with a very specific type of people. Namely, anyone who could help further his research on his experimental Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot.
Hearing that Lelouch had met him at all was a complete curveball.
The boy himself gave a rather nervous chuckle. "I met him a few days ago. After I'd heard about what happened in Shinjuku, I wanted to visit the makeshift memorial the locals had built. I... just felt like I had to see the damage we had caused to that place for the second time." While that hadn't been his actual inspiration for visiting the ghetto in the first place, it had been why he stayed. A partial truth. "Long story short, I found Suzaku and he was unknowingly escorting Euphemia li Britannia around the settlement. She had demanded he take her to the ghetto for similar reasons to me..."
Milly's eyes went wide. "You were found out!?" She whispered frantically. "Please tell me she didn't find out you're alive!"
He rolled his eyes, placing his hands on her shoulders. "She did. It's fine. She's in on the secret now, too. And due to circumstances, so are Lloyd Asplund and his assistant Cecile Croomy, who are both under oath not to breath a word of it to anyone." This wasn't about him, though, it was about her. And he told her as much a few moments later, after she had freaked out sufficiently. "Back on topic. He seems like the kind of man who wouldn't be interested in relationships. What could your parents have possibly offered that a man like him would actually want..." He trailed off as realization hit him. Lloyd Asplund was the leading expert on all things Knightmare related. You could bet that if there was some sort of Britannian KMF prototype, Lloyd Asplund had something to do with it. The Ashfords had once been in that spot, having developed... "The Ganymede." He noted aloud with a bemused snort.
Blue eyes went wide. "Right..." It made sense, after all. The Ganymede was, essentially, the first Knightmare frame to hit the battlefield. It came from a time when the Knightmare frame wasn't a mass production weapon. While the frame itself was outdated, now, someone like Lloyd would want to tinker with it just because he could. But still... "That doesn't really help me get out of this, Lelouch. And you can let go of my shoulders now."
Lelouch did so, sheepishly. "Sorry. I can get you out of this mess. I'll just need to talk to Earl Asplund." In actuality, while the Ganymede was housed in Ashford's facilities, it wasn't quite theirs anymore. Ownership of the Knightmare frame Ganymede was in the hands of Reuben Ashford, specifically. At least, it was. But then the man had given it to him.
It had been his mother's Knightmare, and after Reuben had given him the keys one day and declared it his, Lelouch had begun learning how to pilot it. The controls were actually more complicated than those of the more recent Sutherlands and Gloucesters, while still retaining a similar feel. That was one reason he actually knew how to pilot the Sutherland he had stolen from Villeta Nu back in Shinjuku. The entire point of mass producing Knightmares was to make them simple enough for your average soldier to use with a bit of training, whereas the Ganymede's controls were complicated just because of how much it took to make the thing work.
Apparently Reuben had never gotten around to telling his son-in-law about the fact that the Ganymede was no longer in legal possession of the Ashfords, so they had attempted to use it as a bartering tool. Whoops.
So after informing the man that the Ganymede wasn't in the possession of the Ashford Family, he would likely lose interest and call the whole thing off.
A few seconds later, Lelouch noticed that Milly hadn't said anything at all despite his assurance that he would be able to save her from an unwanted marriage. He made to say something, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as his oldest friend glomped him. "Thanks so much, Lelouch!" She exclaimed, holding him tightly. "I've been worrying over this for the past four days, you don't know how good it feels to have this off my shoulders! Milly Ashford remains single!" A grin found it's way onto her face, and she sent him a saucy wink. "Unless, of course, you want to dispute that? Hmmm, Lu~lu?"
He allowed himself a small smirk, deciding to go along with her teasing for the moment. One of his hands found the small of her back, pulling her closer to him, while the other reached up and lifted her chin so that they were looking eye-to-eye. "And what if I do, Madame President?" Lelouch practically purred, his grin widening as he felt her shiver. "What would you do about it?"
Milly's cheeks were tinged pink, though her grin was still in place. "At the rate we're going? I'd probably ask you to be gentle." Noting that her reply seemed to have caught him off guard, Milly grinned wider and continued. "I mean, we are right by a pretty wooded area. Just a few minutes walking and we may not have to worry about me being too loud." That also got her a reaction, judging by the pink on his cheeks and the slightly wide eyes. Deciding to throw another one at him, Milly made a show of licking her lips. "To be honest, I always wanted my first time to be outside. Under the stars, it'd be so romantic. Care to make a girl's wish come true?"
Lelouch recovered adamantly, though it was quite obvious that thoughts of the two of them together were floating around in his head, and shifted so that she was pressed up against the tree he had been leaning against. "Maybe I will." He replied, his hands on either side of Milly's head as he leaned his face in until they were nose to nose. "Just think of all the things I could do to get back at you for all these years of teasing me, Madame President. I can just imagine it now, you panting out my name in short gasps as I sent you into a world of pleasure." Their foreheads were touching now. "Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
The buxom blonde was having a hard time believing this. Generally, Lelouch would fold first. Now he had continued on and Milly wasn't quite sure she wanted to stop him.
Their usual routine would involve Milly teasing Lelouch, Lelouch either teasing back or deciding to ignore her entirely, and if he did tease her back Milly would throw out another sentence or two, perhaps a lewd gesture, and then he would give up.
But for the first time, Lelouch had come out on top in one of their games. It had gone so far that the only way to actually continue on from there would be crossing the line entirely, rather than just dancing on it. And while the thought wasn't exactly undesirable, Milly wasn't quite sure if she wanted to go that far with anyone at the moment.
Lelouch grinned widely after a few moments of silence from the flustered blonde. "I win." The boy noted cheerfully, rather pleased with himself for actually managing to render Milly Ashford speechless.
Said girl pouted. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Lelouch. It looks like I'll need to up my game from now on. When did you even get good at this?" He'd never teased her back like this, not this far at least.
Smile growing even wider, Lelouch shrugged. "Secret." He replied, chuckling at the annoyed glare he received in response. "What? Did you expect me to give you a story about how I learned everything I knew from an experienced courtesan?"
Milly giggled. "I doubt you'd even have the stamina to keep up with an experienced courtesan." She jabbed back, poking him in the chest lightly.
His smile dropped to a frown instantly.
Sometimes, it seemed like he could never just win.
After a particularly long day, Lelouch finally made it back to his room and, more importantly, his bed for some well deserved rest.
Thankfully, despite the peculiar look he had received from C.C. she hadn't attempted to bother him and simply let him sleep off his fatigue.
It was now around one in the afternoon, and Lelouch was just beginning to wake up.
In his bleary state of mind, Lelouch hardly noticed the other presence in his bed. It was probably C.C., nothing new there. He rolled over, one eye peeking open to inspect the green haired witch he shared a bed with.
What he saw was not what he had been expecting. First of all, rather than green hair he saw pink. That immediately raised alarm bells in the teen's mind. Further alarming him was the fact that a pair of ruby eyes were dully staring into his own, now wide open, violet eyes.
"You're awake." Anya noted simply.
"Yes... and you're in my bed." Lelouch replied, trying to keep calm. Anya was in his room. Where was C.C.?
"Nunna asked me to wake you up." The apathetic pinkette replied. And she hadn't really cared for the idea of shaking him awake. Maybe poking his cheek until he woke up would have worked. Ah well, this was what she had done and it worked.
Lelouch blanched. "So you crawl into bed with me?" This girl was such an oddball. Did she know anything about personal space? Obviously not seeing as how she was blatantly invading his own. They were inches apart at the moment.
"You woke up." She pointed out. Clearly she saw nothing wrong with this.
He sighed. Arguing about how this was not the most effective way to wake someone up would not get him anywhere, he realized. "Right..."
"Nunna wants to have lunch with us." Anya informed him, rolling out of his bed.
Lelouch followed after a moment, standing in nothing but a pair of pants and glancing around his room, trying to figure out where C.C. had gone.
While he was busy looking at anything but Anya, she herself was looking at him almost exclusively. A small blush, almost unnoticeable, came to her cheeks as she inspected the unsuspecting Lelouch.
'Why is my face getting warm?' She pondered, this particular reaction being completely new to her. In addition to her face warming up, she could feel her heart beating a little faster. Anya shook her head after a moment, calming herself down.
Or, rather, trying to. She didn't quite know how to calm herself down seeing as how she had never been excited before.
What in the world was Lelouch doing to have this effect on her? It was so strange.
"Anya." The voice of the boy in question brought her out of her musings, and Anya looked over at him.
"Yes?" She asked, noting his rather pointed look.
"I'm trying to change. Do you mind?" He asked, nodding towards the door.
"Not really. Go ahead." Anya answered, head tilted slightly.
Lelouch blushed brightly. "Just... just leave the room, please?"
"Okay." Anya answered, walking out of the room a moment later.
He sighed. Something was wrong with that girl. Aside from the obvious lack of emotion, she also lacked any form of tact whatsoever. So much for those etiquette lessons from his mother.
Lelouch suppressed an amused snort. Honestly, who the hell thought giving his mother a young and impressionable girl to teach was a good idea? Nunnally had been enough of a terror in her younger years.
The thoughts of fonder days soon spiraled downwards. He had always complained about how hard it was to look after Nunnally as a child, what with her running off and causing mischief. But he was her big brother, so he had to look out for her and put up with her silly antics.
If he could go back now, he would never have complained about her wild behavior. That part of his little sister had practically died the day their mother had been gunned down.
He never knew just how much he would miss the chaos she brought to his life.
Britannian medical science was the best in the world. But they could do nothing for his little sister's legs, or her inability to open her eyes.
Maybe one day, they would advance enough for her to walk again, open her eyes once more.
Hopefully by then he would have created the gentler world she deserved.
But for now, he would change his clothes, go downstairs, and have lunch with his little sister and an old friend from his childhood.
Soon Cornelia would give the opening he needed to make his move.
He would be ready. Once she gave him his opening, he would take it. He would start his journey towards building a gentler world for Nunnally in earnest. He would topple Britannia and it's corruption.
Things were going to be a lot more hectic, soon.
And so he would take this chance to relax and savor it, because it may be the last chance he'll have in a long time.
And we're done for the moment! Woo!
So, Nina has calmed down and agreed to keep Lelouch's secret. Remember, since Kawaguchi/Euphemia and all that hasn't come along yet she's got no reason to overly favor Britannia or overly despise Zero. That would make her a lot more neutral towards the whole issue, especially if she learned that Lelouch was Zero from the get-go.
I never did quite understand why they had such a blatantly obvious chance to reveal Lelouch's identity to someone from Ashford (Milly, Rivalz, Shirley, Nina, any of them would have been interesting to see with knowledge of Zero's identity. Mainly Rivalz and, of course, Nina because neither of them really got much development in the series. Aside from Nina going ballistic several times and masturbating to pictures of Euphemia.) but they didn't take it. It kinda felt like the whole cat-stealing a mask thing was kinda pointless.
I mean, yeah, it introduced Arthur and integrated Suzaku into the council, but that's about it.
Anyhow, very little on the other characters this chapter. A chance for Lelouch to meet up with Lloyd and the interesting bits that can follow from that, along with getting Milly out of an undesirable situation.
And Anya being...
well...
Anya.
I just love Anya. She's so amusing with her completely lackadaisical responses and statements, not to mention her complete disregard for common sense. I mean, really, bring the fucking MORDRED to a friendly little event? Sent the whole area into defcon three or whatever. I fell out of my chair laughing at that scene.