Code Geass: Lelouch of the Digidestined

by Demon of Zero

Digimon were created as an artificial life, their original purpose lost to humanity with the death of their creators. And so the world gave them a purpose, horrible though it may be. Those that emerged in the human world were captured and enslaved, used as soldiers and weapons. And despite these changes, still some things remain the same. Zero will rise and the world will change.

11. Chapter 11

Alright, so chapter eleven. This is not some major landmark like 100k words or 10 chapters or whatever, but meh. Let's throw a party anyhow.

*Applause, fireworks, streamers, Milly in a cat suit, Lelouch being forced into a dress again, that kind of thing.*

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass or Digimon. Are these even necessary on a site dedicated to fanfiction? I don't actually know the legal bits of that one.

---

Staring out over the water at the hostages gathered around one of the hotel boats from within her Gloucester, Cornelia released a low growl. Zero had actually gone and saved the hostages, but that presented the problem that he now had them under his control. If anything, the situation had only become more problematic because Zero was a much more dangerous individual than Kusakabe.

If she were to make an aggressive move, the captives would quickly become Zero's bargaining chips. And unlike Kusakabe, Zero would be able to escape after buying enough time with the hostages. Hell, he could escape whenever he damn well pleased.

Considering that one of their digimon had flight capabilities, it was only a matter of time before these Black Knights managed to escape.

Earlier, when she had claimed that Zero would not leave that island alive, Cornelia had not expected him to actually save the hostages. She had believed his intent would be to rescue the JLF from the mess they had gotten themselves into. As a new face to the fight, he needed to build goodwill with the larger groups currently operating within Area Eleven after all.

With the JLF, there was simply no way for Zero to get them all out. He would have been able to, at best, secure Kusakabe and the higher ranking JLF members present, and then make good on his escape. That would have saved the higher ups, but left the rank and file soldiers to their fate. In the end, it would have been a successful rescue on his part, even if the soldiers were killed.

But a man like Zero wouldn't have settled for that; he would have planned to save all of them, down to the last man. It was how he operated, go big or go home. He was trying to be some kind of messiah for these people and so he needed to keep creating miracles.

That was where Cornelia would have caught him, when he was trying to get away with the soldiers who had taken over the hotel. To move such a large number of people would have simply been too much. As she said, they would need a miracle to escape, and eventually Zero's luck would run out.

That was not what happened, however. Rather than joining the Japan Liberation Front in their endeavor, Zero had put a stop to their entire operation. He had saved the remaining hostages, freely returned them. He'd taken it upon himself to slay Kusakabe personally. And he did it all with nine people including himself.

Apparently Zero didn't give a damn about building goodwill with the larger resistances in Area Eleven.

Which was why there was nothing the Witch of Britannia could do but watch as a Kuwagamon carried Zero and his men away from Kawaguchi, from yet another victory over Britannia.

There were no air units capable of both pursuing and apprehending a Kuwagamon, even one that only had a single set of arms to attack with. Anyone Cornelia sent after the beast would be killed, no matter who it was or how many troops she sent. Digimon were simply in a league of their own compared to human weaponry. Technological advances had only just given them a prototype KMF capable of standing toe-to-toe with a powerful Champion, and even that was iffy at best as the battle had ended on the digital monster's terms.

"That bastard..." She growled, clenching her fists angrily. After the insults she had suffered tonight, Cornelia's desire for Zero's head on a pike became even more powerful. To insult her was one thing, but to go so far as to bring up Euphemia...

Her teeth grit as she couldn't help but recall the appalled expression on her little sister's face after she'd learned of the events of Saitama, all because of Anya Alstreim's inability to censor herself. Euphemia had learned of the attempted purge of Saitama ghetto as opposed to the false story of assaulting a terrorist stronghold thanks to that girl. And as one of the Knights of the Round, there was nothing Cornelia could do to the Knight of Six in return for that.

Euphemia still refused to speak with her beyond a painfully formal greeting each day.

"My lady, we've begun securing the hostages." Guilford chimed in, drawing her from her thoughts. "As promised by Zero, none of the remaining civilians appear to be harmed. Lady Alstreim has been drugged according to the students who were with her, but they say that Zero personally assured that she was dealt no permanent damage."

Sighing tiredly, Cornelia replied. "Good." She wouldn't really have minded permanent damage to the Knight of Six after the girl had let Euphemia know all about Saitama in full detail, but it was just as well that she remain unharmed. Despite Cornelia's distaste for the girl, she was a capable pilot and her partner was too dangerous to remain alive without her to keep him loyal. "Inform me when the civilians are all accounted for, and send someone to search for the bodies of the men thrown from the roof immediately." It infuriated her that all she could do for those men was have them buried properly, but giving in to the terrorists demands was unacceptable.

And as much as it pained her to admit it, even just to herself, hearing that Zero had put an end to Kusakabe had brought her some degree of satisfaction. Personal feelings aside, Zero at least seemed to have morals. It was clear from his announcement tonight that he had no intention of committing wanton acts of terrorism. That, at the very least, brought her a small sense of relief. This meant that she wouldn't need to worry about massive civilian casualties from him, as it would mean undermining the image he was presenting to the world.

Allowing herself to slump back into her seat, the princess allowed one final admission to herself. "Zero is more than just some upstart, it would seem." This was not a man she could afford to take lightly; he was not a fool playing at war, but an actual strategist of great skill. To underestimate him any further would surely lead to her defeat.

This was not like her conquests in what was now Area 18. This man, this Zero... he was like nothing Cornelia had faced before. With his brilliant mind and dangerous ideals, this foe was quickly becoming a major threat. His approach was different. Rather than hiding out and striking from the shadows, Zero had faced Britannia head on and declared himself their equal. He stood tall and proud before the world and presented himself to them with full confidence that he would live up to his words. That kind of enemy was dangerous simply because of the presence they commanded.

In addition, two digital monsters of Champion level were under Zero's command. That was more than could be said for any resistance group that Britannia had faced before. No one possessed such dangerous assets but the unconquered countries of the world, who used them to hold off the coming tide of Britannian invasion.

That Zero possessed two of these creatures, with such dangerous attributes as they had shown... that alone made him a greater threat than the JLF, right out of the gate. Digimon were far more versatile than anything the largest resistance group in Area Eleven could field. In five minutes, just one of those digimon could cause more damage to the settlement than the entirety of the JLF in the same time frame. And this was before taking into account the fact that the digimon were being commanded by a tactician Cornelia was steadily being forced to acknowledge as a legitimate threat.

Perhaps it was time to reconsider the offer her brother Schneizel had presented her when he had informed her of Anya Alstreim's deployment.

While it would be something of a blow to her pride, the situation was becoming more and more volatile in Area Eleven. The presence of another Round would serve as an additional buffer just in case things went further out of her control. It was better to allow this now and succeed than to risk being caught off guard and suffer the humiliation of defeat.

She could only hope that Sir Weinberg would be less trying to deal with than the Knight of Six.

"My lady." Darlton's voice cut into her thoughts this time.

Sighing lightly, still frustrated that she would have to resort to such measures as asking for a second Round, Cornelia replied to her knight. "Yes, Darlton?"

Clearing his throat briefly, the scarred man relayed the newest information they had received. "It would appear that Zero has left a message of some sort, using the stolen recording equipment. We've got people looking over it now to make sure nothing has been tampered with in any way, and at your Highness's leisure it is available for viewing."

A much more frustrated sigh was the rugged knight's answer. Of course the mouthy bastard would have more to say to her. "I'll be sure to look over that later." Cornelia was not looking forward to that, however.

Even if it wasn't the real man, just a recorded message, the Witch of Britannia had no doubt dealing with Zero would aggravate her.

It seemed to be a talent of his.

---

"Sooo..." C.C. drawled with a raised brow, lying on her side on the bed. "You went out tonight to save your friends from the Japan Liberation Front's hostile takeover, and ended up coming home with a girl's phone number." The immortal witch continued incredulously, amused by the absurdity of this.

Offering her a bemused shrug, Lelouch replied from his desk chair. "So it would seem." Kaguya wanted to keep in touch, and had been quite insistent that she was not going to let him get away from her again after seven years of separation. He could understand where she was coming from, of course, considering he felt the same way. She had just been the first to suggest exchanging contact information.

He would need to get back in contact with her soon, for a multitude of reasons.

Sighing, C.C. rolled onto her back and began kicking idly at the air. "So how many does this make, again? I mean girls who know of your not so secret identity."

Lelouch's reply was grit out, accompanied by a small glare. "Three. One of whom was informed of my own volition, thank you very much." Nina had been an accident, he still didn't know how Kaguya pieced it together, and he'd willingly informed Kallen of his identity. "Or I suppose four if we're counting you as well?"

"Oh, and what of your maid?" C.C. shot back with a grin, enjoying his frustration at the entire subject.

A bark of laughter was his response to that, catching the witch off guard somewhat. "Sayoko has been in on this since the beginning, you know. Since before you, even." Sayoko held the incredibly important position of keeping his little sister safe. With the knowledge that Nunnally was being protected by someone as skilled and dangerous as Shinozaki Sayoko, Lelouch could rest easy. Perhaps it seemed like a lacking use of such a skillful woman as her, but she had accepted his decision without complaint.

Even if his war forced him to leave Nunnally for extended periods of time, he would be able to sleep easy knowing that she would be safe. Such comfort was not something he would want to be without, it was a godsend for him in reality. Never having to question his little sister's safety no matter where he was, that kind of security was something he took great solace in. "But if you must include her, then yes. Five women in total, yourself included, are aware of my identity as Zero. Out of the millions of people inhabiting the planet I can safely say that five is not so large a number." It was more people than he'd intended to learn of his identity at the beginning, however. That rather miffed him but there was just nothing he could really do about it.

C.C. had been a complete curveball that he'd simply never seen coming; people didn't just come back to life after being killed. Or so he'd thought.

Sayoko was one of his closest confidantes and had been aware of his plans for years, her knowledge was completely intentional and incorporated into his plans.

Kallen's awareness stemmed from a desire to build firm bonds of trust with what would come to be the core members of his Black Knights, the group that had worked with him in Shinjuku to defeat Clovis. If he had wanted his identity to remain secret to her he could have arranged it, this was a choice he had intentionally made.

With Nina, however, it had been entirely accidental. She was not supposed to know his identity, or even that he held a grudge against Britannia in general. Things simply had not worked out like that, and she had been brought into the fold as a result of these bizarre circumstances. It was a mistake that had, in the end, been a beneficial mistake... but still, something he had never meant to happen.

And now Kaguya had somehow pieced things together. This was the only one that was not immediately helpful in some way, and the only one he couldn't reasonably explain... outside of C.C.'s inability to die, that is.

How Kaguya had known, or even considered, that he was Zero remained a mystery to him. Kaguya had only recently learned that he was still alive, and Zero did not act enough like Lelouch vi Britannia for such a connection to be obvious. She clearly had to have definitive proof of some sort, as there was no other reason for her to even consider the idea enough to try and call Zero on it.

That boded the question; how? Was this something others could take advantage of? Could his identity be in danger of being exposed to even more people?

As if answering that unspoken question, there was a knock at the door. "Pardon me for stoppin' by so late, but do you have a moment t'speak with me Mr. Prince?"

Frowning thoughtfully at the easily recognizable presence of Anya's partner digimon, due both to his distinct voice and the fact that he'd referred to him as a prince, Lelouch gestured for C.C. to make herself scarce as he replied in order to buy a few moments. "Give me a moment."

Huffing silently, the green haired immortal ducked under the bed, dragging one of the pillows with her.

Lelouch blinked. Was that where she always hid? Either way, for the moment the incriminating presence of C.C. had been hidden, and so Lelouch made his way over to the door and opened it for the small form of his late-night visitor.

Oddly enough, Missimon was alone. It would have been bizarre to see Anya this late at night, especially considering what had happened earlier, but to see her partner without her was even more unusual.

Keeping his expression neutral but pleasant, Lelouch greeted the little creature with a small smile. "Missimon. Did you and Anya get out of that mess at Kawaguchi alright?"

Slipping into the room, Missimon replied. "Yes, thankfully Anya wasn't hurt. They drugged her with something, but the doctors say it's nothin' serious." He didn't really pay any attention to just what had been used on her, just the assurance that no permanent damage had been done was all he'd required.

Letting his genuine emotion through for a moment, Lelouch growled lightly. "I'm glad to hear that... if the JLF had hurt her, I don't know what I would have done." By that, of course, he meant that he didn't know just how he would have killed them and shattered their organization. He just knew that he would do it.

It didn't matter to him that Anya was a Britannian soldier, and the JLF would have benefited from her death. Some people may call him selfless, but that wasn't quite true. As a matter of fact, he was a very selfish person. Rather than putting aside his feelings, he instead held close to them. So yes, he was a selfish man who would do anything to protect the things he cared about.

Missimon laughed grimly at the statement, before suddenly glowing white. After a brief moment, Commandramon stood before him. "I know full well what I'da done to 'em." He growled, tone notably gruffer. "Consequences be damned, I would've hunted them down one by one and cut their sorry asses down." A grin stretched across his maw as he finished his statement on a brighter note. "But it's all thanks to you that I don't have ta' do that, isn't it?"

'It was only a matter of time before this happened.' Lelouch acknowledged that Anya's partner would have been able to put two and two together after he had been forced to reveal Keramon during the mass breach. That didn't make this situation any better, though. "I'm not sure what you're implying." The teen replied easily, just as surprised as one would expect a high school student accused of something so vague. Surprised more at the fact that they were being accused of something than the implication of what they were being accused of.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Commandramon spoke once more. "Eh. Truthfully it doesn't matter to me whether ya' acknowledge this or not, or even if I'm somehow wrong on this one." He shrugged, the motion drawing attention to the rifle strapped across his chest. "I'm just here ta' say this, let's say it's one of those "just in case" things if you wanna keep playing dumb." Saying this, he inclined his head deeply. "If you're not Zero, fine. But in case you are, and I'm almost certain you are or I wouldn't be here, hear me out."

Bowing further, going so far as to remove his helmet, the digimon continued speaking. "Thank you. You've done something tonight that I don't think I can ever repay you for, you saved her. I wasn't able to do it, to rescue her." Admitting this brought a snarl to his maw, before Commandramon calmed himself once more. "If I'd made even one sudden move, they would've killed her. And it all happened so fast, I couldn't keep'm from getting her in the first place. I was useless." The digimon's tone became shaky, and after a moment Lelouch was surprised to see a few tears fall to the floor.

"But you! You saved her!" He laughed joyously, an uplifting laugh that was the result of relief and giddiness all at once. "My partner, you got Anya out of that mess safe and sound. I was screamin' in my head for someone, anyone, to help her... and you did it. For that, I can't thank you enough, but I'll start by keeping your secret. We may be on different sides in this war, but I don't give a damn about the motivations of this empire. Everything I do, I do for that girl. And she loves you." Shaking his head ruefully, Commandramon looked the dark haired youth in the eyes, his own still watering slightly. "She actually loves you. So much so that if you asked her to leave Britannia, she'd do it in a second. There's only one thing tyin' her to them and she'd give it up for you, Lelouch." Anya's friendship with Gino was one of the few constants in her life. He was always there, and he stuck around even after she'd forgotten all about him.

How many people would be willing to deal with a friend who sometimes woke up with no idea who they were?

But for this guy, one of the people she would never be able to forget, someone who's very presence made her happy... she would give up Gino. It wasn't that her friendship with Gino wasn't strong, it was just that meeting Lelouch was quite possibly the best thing that had happened to Anya Alstreim in seven years.

If forced to choose between Gino and Lelouch, there was only one option. As much as Anya valued Gino's friendship, and as her partner he knew she did, Lelouch made her happy just by being around her. She could actually smile, honestly smile, and actually feel it. That was just invaluable. It was unfair just how valuable such a thing was, because once you gained that after going so long without it, you would do anything to keep it from leaving you again.

Unable to stomach playing the fool another moment in the face of such heartfelt gratitude, Lelouch gave a simple reply. "I would never ask her to do that for me."

A grin stretched across the digimon's maw once more. "And that's why I'm content to keep your secret. Cuz' you're probably a better person than half'a the folks I've met in the military. Probably more than half if I'm bein' honest." The rank and file soldiers of Britannia may have been more mild compared to the higher brass he was used to dealing with, but as far as people he'd actually interacted with, even briefly, Lelouch was miles ahead of them in decency as a human being.

Because Lelouch knew just how important he was to this girl, and he endeavored not to abuse it. He didn't want to put Anya in a position where she would need to choose between him and Gino. He wanted to let her keep both of them. Even if she would leave Britannia and join him in his fight against them, Lelouch wasn't going to use that for his own gain.

Commandramon appreciated that. There was someone else out there who cared about his partner this much, that was a good feeling. Anya really only had him, Gino, and Hyokkomon originally. Now she had Lelouch and Nunnally back as well. For a girl who had so little, gaining back the two oldest friends she'd ever made after seven years apart was a miracle. Especially because these two were unique in that they allowed her memories to remain intact and her emotions to shine through.

Why that was the case he would never know, but as her partner Commandramon had a greater understanding of that girl than anyone else. Her memories of those siblings and their mother were clear as day, while everything else was covered in a murky fog. Before meeting Lelouch that day at Ashford, Anya had resigned herself to always having to record her memories on that little pink phone. Never being able to recall any new memories she made herself, always forced to rely on the pictures and diary entries she made.

But with the vi Britannia siblings still among the living, Anya could possibly make new memories that she would never forget. Clearly they had some profound effect on her, just from interacting with her normally they'd brightened the dull mask of his partner's face with a smile that he'd never seen from her before.

It sort of stung that he couldn't make her smile like that, but there was no jealousy. For whatever reason, these two were connected deeply with Anya Alstreim and her condition. That was simply something he couldn't do anything about.

All he could do was make sure that the two who made her so genuinely happy remained alive, so she could continue to enjoy her time with them.

Degenerating once more in a flash, Missimon hovered before Lelouch to give his parting words. "I fight for Anya, and Anya alone. She's my partner and I love her more than I've ever loved anything before." He freely admitted this. Anya was his world. "You care for her, I can see that clear as day. For that, you're a friend to me no matter what you're fighting for. I can't show too much leniency or I'll get called on it and possibly endanger her, so don't expect me ta' throw any fights for ya'... but if it comes down to it, and things start to look grim for ya', I'm letting Anya know just who's behind that mask." Quickly moving back into the doorway, the digimon had one last thing to say before he left. "What she does from there is all up ta' her, but I think you of all people can guess where that'll go right?"

And then he was off, leaving a frowning Lelouch standing before open door of his room. "That's obvious, of course..." He mumbled to himself, closing the entrance once more. "She would immediately drop everything and come to my aid. Everything she'd gained from Britannia, she would throw away in a heartbeat for me." He wouldn't let it come to that. Even if the only thing Britannia had given her was Gino Weinberg's friendship, Lelouch would not take that from Anya. "To allow that would be a horrible failure on my part."

"You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were in love with that girl." C.C. mumbled pointedly as she crawled out from under the bed, quickly returning to her position on top of it.

Returning his gaze to the immortal witch, Lelouch replied easily. "I do love her."

Snorting in a very unladylike manner, C.C. replied after situating herself on the bed. "I'm aware, just like how you love your sister, your friends, and even your maid. You're quite the caring individual, surprisingly." Coming from the upbringing he'd had, she still didn't understand how Lelouch had come out like this. Rather than just having a soft spot for his sister, the boy seemed soft all around... under the thorns that covered his usual demeanor, that is.

A devious idea formed in her head after a moment, and the immortal witch decided that tonight was the night she made her move. "What about me, then, Lelouch? Do you love me as well?" While it was mostly a jab at him, she really was quite curious on the matter.

Unable to keep the amused grin off his lips, Lelouch replied. "Thus far you're the only person to intentionally take a bullet for me. I'd be a heartless person if I didn't love you for that."

Her response came in the form of a thoughtful frown, as she looked to the ground. "... will you say it, then?" She mumbled quietly. After a few moments of silence, C.C. looked back towards him, feeling rather silly, only to find the boy less than a foot from her, leaning down to meet her gaze.

Reaching his right hand up to cup the immortal woman's cheek, Lelouch gave her a positively radiant smile as their eyes met. "I love you, C.C." He spoke simply, concisely, and yet with emotion that was perfectly clear.

Almost finding herself blushing, C.C. replied lightly. "My, my, that was pretty good..." She mumbled under her breath. "... one would almost believe you meant it." But that was fine. Just hearing it was nice. Very nice, in fact. It had been a long time since anyone had told her that.

A fine brow raised questioningly, and for a moment it appeared Lelouch was going to say something, before he simply shook his head and allowed a bemused grin to take over his lips. "I suppose this would be faster than talking anyway, wouldn't it?"

Blinking at the statement, C.C. was taken entirely by surprise as Lelouch suddenly became more forceful, pushing her from her seated position onto her back, pinning her beneath him. "W-wha-!" Whatever she had to say was cut off by a very passionate kiss.

Separating after a few moments, a pair of searing amethysts met her surprised amber gaze. "I do love you." Love was something of a bizarre concept to him at times. Lelouch didn't just like his friends, he loved them. They were among the most important people in the world to him, if any of them needed his help he would provide it in a heartbeat. That was love, to him. "Perhaps it's a bit different for me, coming from such a strange life as I've led, but I can tell you quite surely that you're one of the people I love."

For him, romantic "love" wasn't something he was terribly interested in seeking. Lelouch was fairly certain he could live his entire life without entering a relationship and be perfectly content. If this would make C.C. happy though, he would do it. Because to him, that was love. The desire to do anything in your power to make a person happy. It was the only love he'd really experienced, and the only real change would be the severity of the feeling.

With Shirley, it wasn't so easy to just give her what she wanted. She would be expecting a committed relationship with a typical civilian boy who, while at times mysterious, was still just a civilian. He couldn't drag her into this mess, she deserved far better. And yet he couldn't bring himself to simply reject her, so he'd let the issue stand for so long it had simply become the norm. While not a solution in the slightest, there was nothing he could really do other than outright telling Shirley they would never be together, which would break her heart and put strain on their friendship more likely than not.

Much as he hated to admit it, Lelouch was scared of the day he would be forced to solve the issue with Shirley once and for all.

For now, however, he would simply continue to act oblivious, and keep Shirley far away from his war.

It was better that way, she had no place in something like this.

However, C.C. was already knee-deep in his conflict. Thus, there was no fear of further involving her. The immortal witch knew just what she was getting in to, and if she was willing to make that decision after knowing the situation, Lelouch wouldn't stop her. If this was what she wanted, then he would give it to her.

"Does that satisfy you?" He asked, his voice a gentle whisper in her ear.

"No." C.C. replied immediately in an impish tone, a grin coming to her blushing face as she narrowed her eyes at the teen. She hadn't expected this at all, but it was a very pleasant surprise. Perhaps he wasn't hopeless after all. That intensity he had a penchant for had such potential. "But I can think of something that will... satisfy me." Licking her lips, her gaze looked something like a predator that had found it's prey.

Using the surprise from the statement, C.C. managed to turn the tables on her contractor, straddling him as she pinned his upper body with her arms. "As a matter of fact, I think this will satisfy both of us..."

Lelouch's expression made it quite clear to her, however, that this was not between predator and prey.

A pair of predators eyes locked, challenging grins on each of their faces as the game began.

---

The next morning was pretty much par the course for Lelouch. Blearily wake up in the arms of a beautiful, mysterious, and immortal green haired witch, briefly ponder how things had come to be like this, and then decide that it really didn't matter because it was happening right now and C.C. was absolutely, astoundingly gorgeous.

Unable to tear his eyes away from the breathtaking sight of her content face as she slept, Lelouch also received his answer to the question of whether or not last night had been a dream as both he and the ethereal beauty sharing a bed with him were stark naked, her slim body pressed gently against his own rather lithe frame. 'That was... one hell of a night.' He thought to himself with a small, bemused chuckle. It had been such an experience that he'd honestly thought it may have been a dream, that had to tell one something.

For his first time Lelouch was fairly certain he'd performed quite well. C.C. seemed quite satisfied by the end of their copulation. Through a fair amount of guess work and his partner's practically encyclopedic knowledge of the subject he'd come away from the experience with a much firmer grasp of the art of lovemaking than he'd entered with.

C.C. had lived long enough to know exactly what she liked. By the end of the night he'd known just as well as her.

"... y'know next time you guys wanna do that, could ya' maybe warn me so I can find somewhere else to sleep?" Keramon, noticing his awakening, asked dryly. "The two of you were louuuuud..." The digimon drawled in annoyance.

Blushing a bit at being admonished for such a thing, Lelouch gave a sheepish reply as he sat up. "Sorry about that, Keramon. It... was sort of spur of the moment." He hadn't really put much thought into that course of action one way or another.

Giggling in his usual maniacal manner, Keramon waved off the apology. "S'fine. She looked like she needed a hug... you just kinda' took it one step further... or like twelve steps further." The digimon shrugged, offering a 'more or less' gesture with his hand.

Lelouch chuckled to himself abashedly, violet eyes searching the room for his clothing. Spotting his pants at the side of the bed, he slid his foot beneath them and kicked upwards, grabbing the garment from the air. "I'm glad these didn't end up on the other side of the room." He'd forgotten all about Keramon in the heat of the moment last night, which was rather humiliating. While the digimon didn't seem particularly embarrassed by the actual events of last night, more annoyed than anything, Lelouch couldn't help but feel somewhat awkward after he'd had sex in the same room his partner was sleeping in. At the very least he wouldn't need to ask the digimon to look away while he searched for a pair of pants. The dresser was on the opposite wall from him, and these clothes were still clean.

He'd only been wearing them for an hour or so before they'd been shed. The fact that his underwear had remained in the pants was a testament to just how quickly things had escalated. After getting the essential clothing on, Lelouch began looking around for the rest of his clothes from yesterday.

A dainty yawn and the shifting of the covers signaled C.C.'s awakening, as the woman sat up and began stretching her arms above her head. Completely uncaring of her nudity, she blearily glanced around the room, spotting the shirtless Lelouch and grinning lecherously at the sight. "Could do without the pants blocking my view, but otherwise that's a good look for you boy."

Snorting wryly, but unable to fully remove his gaze from the tantalizing sight of the beauty sitting on his bed, Lelouch replied. "I'm not particularly fond of traipsing about naked."

"You should give it a try." The witch offered in response, seemingly quite serious. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate the sight." Just about every girl in this school would probably jump at the opportunity to see him sans clothing.

Throwing on a shirt lying on the floor, Lelouch's face took on a thoughtful look as he pretended to consider the immortal's suggestion. "No, I don't think I'll be doing that." Seeing her face fall, he couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Did you not get a good enough view last night, witch?" Upon further investigation, he realized that this was the shirt C.C. had been wearing last night rather than the one he'd been using.

C.C. giggled perversely, giving her contractor the only answer he needed.

A soft knock at the door drew the teen's attention. "Master Lelouch, breakfast is ready." Sayoko. Lelouch idly wondered if she was already aware of the events of last night. Knowing her, she at least had an idea.

Sayoko knew damn near everything that went on anywhere near her. It was actually quite terrifying, but thankfully she was on his side and thus he had nothing to worry about in that regard.

"Thank you Sayoko. I'll be there in a few minutes." He replied, searching the room for the remaining pieces of his uniform.

"Oh, and master Lelouch?" Hearing her tone as she said this brought an uncomfortable expression to his face. "Congratulations, but in the future you may want to consider your volume. Someone passing by may get the wrong idea."

He twitched. "I'll keep that in mind, Sayoko." Of course she knew. It didn't surprise him in the slightest, but it was still rather annoying. Sayoko, while loyal to a fault and one of the people he trusted the most in this world, was not above teasing him whenever an opportunity presented itself. He'd become used to the off-handed comments and mocking giggles from when he'd first begun learning from her. At the time, his physical state had been absolutely pathetic. She never had to try very hard to find something to tease him about. Looking back on it he honestly couldn't blame her at all.

And to think, he'd only just managed to advance far enough to make her try to find things to make fun of him for. Now she had a whole new route of attack.

That was going to be fun to deal with.

C.C. snickered. "I like her."

"Of course you would." Lelouch replied easily, rolling his eyes. After a few moments of silent searching, he'd gathered his remaining garments and dressed himself fully. All that remained was to locate his bag.

"Think fast!" Keramon called, tossing said item to him suddenly.

Catching it without much trouble, and turning to give his partner a smirk, Lelouch replied in a humorous tone. "That's one of my specialties, you know."

The digimon chuckled to himself, degenerating to his In Training form once more. "Good thing, too, cuz' we've been needin' a lotta' that skill lately." With that, he hopped up onto Lelouch's shoulder, before leaping into the open duffel bag. "Man, I kinda' wish you could shrink just so ya' knew what it was like to ride around like this all day. It's surprisingly fun." He just kinda snuggled up into that pillow and lazed about for most of the day as his partner went about his business, which was great.

"Really, now?" Lelouch asked with a small laugh. It was certainly an interesting perspective, for sure. There was some curiosity as to just how it would feel to be a creature of that size, but the fact that he'd actually become an Infermon on several occasions was far more than most humans could ever claim. That was more than enough for him.

Lelouch actually had the memory of being a creature that he was not. That was bizarre and yet thrilling in and of itself. Despite the fact that he was now human, he remembered exactly what it was like to be an Infermon on a physical and mental level. He didn't really put too much thought into it as, on the surface, it seemed normal to him. Perhaps in the same way that Keramon and he had become linked so closely, the transformation seemed so natural that it never really seemed worth questioning.

Upon actually thinking of it though, the absurdity of the whole thing became clear. And yet still, it was natural to him, a part of him that felt as though it belonged.

Waving briefly to the still nude immortal situated on his bed, Lelouch turned and began to make his way towards the door. "I left the credit card for you again. Just don't go starting rumors by answering the door naked or something."

"Wait." C.C. stopped him with a surprisingly serious tone.

Looking back towards her, Lelouch blinked at the pensive expression he saw on her face. "Are you alright?" He made his concerns known with a small frown.

Sighing, the ageless green haired woman spoke up. "You recall how you voiced your suspicions about Anya Alstreim's condition to me, correct?" At his nod, she continued. "I agree; it does not seem like anything natural. Nor are there any methods to induce that effect available to the mundane." Mundane in this case meaning anything not directly related to Geass.

Having his suspicions confirmed, Lelouch gently prodded further. "Do you have any thoughts on the matter?" She had originally taken that line of questioning with a stony face and refused to comment too deeply, so he would allow her to say what she wanted rather than asking anything specific. With C.C., that tended to have better results.

Tucking a stray strand of hair back, C.C. replied. "There is one Geass I'm aware of that has similar side effects. It gives the ability of possession, essentially. Aside from the memory loss and restraint of emotion though, there is also a small bleed off. Rather than personality or memories, this Geass shares skills," raising a hand to stop his question, the witch explained further, "the user and the victim are linked mentally for the duration of the Geass spell, so to speak. However, rather than memories, the victim receives the raw skill..."

She seemed to struggle for an adequate explanation, before nodding after thinking of a satisfactory way to put it. "For example; if a master chef were to use this particular Geass on someone, the person it was used on would not gain the memories of cooking the meals, but they would have a much better grasp of cooking in general. To others it may appear that they had a raw talent for it, whereas it was really just the bleed off from the Geass." This effect was not, however, something that would happen after a single, short term use. Which meant that for the bleed to be strong enough to actually influence someone to the degree she was suspecting, there must have been either long term use or several short term usages... the latter of which was impossible, though Lelouch wouldn't know that.

Marianne's Geass transferred her consciousness from her body to her target's body, forcing the target's mind into the backseat and causing blackouts. However, prolonged usage would force her mind to the back, giving control to the victim until Marianne could wrest it back.

If C.C.'s suspicions were correct, the woman had managed to transfer her mind into Anya Alstreim's body. Along with the black outs and emotional restraint, this theory explained how such a young girl possessed so much talent in knightmare combat, to the point where it was almost instinctual.

That was a creative way to keep oneself 'alive', she supposed. As someone who's primary goal in life was to die, though, she couldn't really appreciate the sheer refusal to let it end.

A deep frown crossed Lelouch's face. The implication was fairly clear there; whoever the user of this Geass was, they were likely a soldier of some sort. Anya's talent in a Knightmare frame, oftentimes overlooked due to her preferred method of simply blowing everything sky high, was downright prodigious. That information was not difficult to come by, as a brief search on the profile of any of the Rounds would reveal basics of that sort. The Knight of Six was the youngest ever to be Knighted, and fairly often people neglected to keep in mind that her position was not for show.

He was quite uncomfortable with the implications of that. "You seem quite familiar with this particular Geass." Lelouch mumbled curiously.

"I should hope so, considering she was one of my previous contractors." While she said this in a fairly off-handed tone, it was clear to him that she was becoming less comfortable with the subject. "... at any rate, you shouldn't worry too heavily on this. There isn't anything you can do to help, I suspect that this Geass user has been inhabiting your little sweetheart's mind for the past several years," She blatantly ignored his deadpan stare at her referring to Anya as his "sweetheart", "the black-outs are likely the instances where they are taking control from Anya, and according to her these aren't frequent and never cause her harm. Unless something has changed, the user should remain unaware of anything going on when not directly controlling her host. So your habit of letting sensitive information slip because of your complex shouldn't become more of a problem than it already is." Shrugging with a sense of finality to her, Lelouch could do nothing but sigh at both the ending of the discussion and the jab at him.

This would have to do. Prodding further would do nothing more than strain their relationship, and he trusted C.C. enough on matters of Geass to take her word on this. However, there was one final question he felt he had to ask. "C.C., do you believe Anya would have joined the military at all without this Geass user's influence?"

Her reply was quick and simple. "No. Especially not at such a young age. The girl is fifteen or so isn't she?" The girl had probably been snatched up the moment Charles became aware of Marianne's possession of her, not only so that he could keep his beloved wife's consciousness safe, but so that he could continue to make use of the Knight of Two's skill and ability.

Lelouch nodded idly. "I thought so too." Whoever this person was, they had practically stolen Anya's ability to choose how to live her life. She would likely never have drawn the attention of his father had this soldier never possessed her, but since they had done so she had ended up in the military at a young age. No other path in life had been open to her from the moment that soldier had used Geass on her.

Perhaps not now, but one day he would find a way to help her. For now Lelouch would have to settle for just being there for the girl that had once been like another little sister to him.

"Well, off you go to do whatever it is you're doing." C.C. sent him off with a playful shooing motion and an impish grin.

Eyes rolling, Lelouch offered a brief wave over his shoulder. "Thanks for the information." He said as he walked out the door.

Behind him, the immortal's grin softened into a melancholy smile as she cuddled one of the pillows to her chest. 'This will hurt years from now, but for the moment I guess I can just enjoy myself.' Life hadn't been this interesting for a long time. Even if it was bound to end eventually, C.C. could appreciate this while it lasted.

Chasing death could wait a few more decades, she supposed. Time wasn't an issue with her after all.

---

Sitting within her personal quarters, Cornelia li Britannia was looking over the message Zero had left for the third time.

"Greetings to you, Cornelia li Britannia." The recording had been addressed to her specifically, rather than to the military as a whole. Zero was on screen, arms tucked beneath his cape as was his usual stance. "First and foremost, I would like to apologize. As I was quite pressed for time, our exchange may have seemed more hostile to you than I had intended. Indeed, such a short time did not allow me to elaborate upon just what I meant. However, I doubt you're truly concerned over such trivial matters; as we are enemies in the first place, I'm certain you already hold a great amount of hostility towards me."

He was certainly right about that. The man had murdered her brother, made a fool of the military on multiple occasions, and openly stated his intent to fight a war against her country. That was just stating the obvious.

"As such, I will move on to the main intent of this message. I, Zero, intend to free Japan from Britannia. As such, conflict is sure to arise. This is unavoidable." Indeed it was. Area Eleven was the premier producer of Sakuradite, perhaps the single most important resource for the Britannian war machine. There was simply no way that they would allow this area to leave Britannian control.

"However, I refuse to stoop to petty acts of terrorism such as what Kusakabe led his troops to tonight. As I announced before the world, the Black Knights fight those who abuse the power they've gained, be they Britannian or otherwise. The common man need not fear our organization, and as such you needn't fear similar actions from us."

It was this statement that guaranteed that Zero was entirely different from what she'd dealt with before. He did not accept the moniker of "terrorist" in the slightest; this man saw himself as their equal. This was clear in the way he spoke to the actions he'd taken. Rather than allow himself to be branded as a terrorist, he let the world know where he stood. His goal was to become more than a terrorist, more than a rebel, and he wanted the world to know it.

A man like Zero was dangerous. He intended to oppose Britannia, but on top of that he was positioning himself as a symbol of 'justice' in order to gather more men and women to fight alongside him.

"While our priorities include the protection of the innocent, you've made it quite clear with your actions in Saitama that you don't extend the same courtesy. As I said, you've disappointed me in this regard."

At that line, she couldn't help but growl. Saitama had been a mistake, she admitted to herself now. Had everything gone according to plan, things would have been swept under the rug and any guilt she felt could dull over time. But somehow, Zero had completely outmaneuvered her that day.

The civilians had been evacuated. The enemy soldiers fought back, pushed her troops to retreat. And then her trump card at the time, Sealsdramon, had been anticipated and despite the near defeat of the enemy digimon, neutralized. The enemy had successfully retreated, and on top of that humiliation, Euphemia had learned of her attempt to purge Saitama.

What had at the time seemed to be a foolproof plan to lure Zero out of hiding had ended up becoming one of her biggest regrets in years. She wasn't sure how long it would be before her sister finally warmed up to her again. The cold shoulder from sweet little Euphie was not something Cornelia had ever expected to see, and it killed her a little inside every time she saw it.

Saitama was a risk that had not paid off.

"I assume you won't care," a nonchalant shrug accompanied this statment, "but I am willing to forgive your actions that day as no innocent lives were lost. Despite the attempt to do so, no harm was done in the end. I can consider that a lapse of judgement and move on."

She couldn't help but give a gruff laugh at that. He was right, his forgiveness meant nothing to her. Was that meant to be some kind of joke?

"When we meet next, it will likely be as foes. On that day, know this; I will not be fighting you for revenge." With that, the recording ended.

Cornelia sighed. "He certainly does like to talk, doesn't he?" She mumbled to herself, idly thinking on that last line. Was that meant to be in reference to her intent to avenge Clovis, or was there more to it?

Zero didn't speak in riddles, but the potential for deeper meanings did exist. She wasn't sure whether or not that final line was something more ominous than it may first sound.

As she had suspected the night prior, dealing with Zero was trying even if it was only a recording. The masked man was occupying more of her thoughts than she would have liked to admit.

The door opened, and Cornelia was about to verbally terrorize whoever had decided to disturb her, before that urge was stifled by the realization of just who had done so.

"Sister." Euphemia's tone was soft, a far cry from the enthusiasm she typically displayed. "I came to talk. Instead of just trying to let this blow over, it would be best to talk about it."

A frown tugged at the elder sister's lips as she replied. "Alright, then." This was going to be all around uncomfortable for her, but there was nothing to be done for it. If going through this would get her sister's smile back then it was worth it.

Nodding lightly, Euphemia began the conversation as she settled lightly into a chair across from her sister. "I won't pretend to know how difficult you have it trying to catch Zero, to keep order. I wouldn't know anything about it." Even as sub-viceroy, she carried next to no authority or even knowledge on matters involving the military. Cornelia had been quite certain to keep her far out of that field for the moment, despite her protests. "But I have to ask you; why?"

That was the question Cornelia had been dreading. "I needed a surefire way to lure out and capture Zero. Saitama was the best possible solution." Saitama was a known terrorist stronghold, base of the Yamato Alliance. While the exact numbers of the group were unknown, it wasn't a stretch to assume that the residents of Saitama were either conspirators or outright members. At least that was what the media could say to keep things under wraps.

"But WHY!?" Euphemia leaned forward, shouting angrily. "Those were civilians, sister! And you were going to kill them, just for trying to live their lives!" How had she even considered that as an option? If even half the residents of Saitama were outright members of the Yamato Alliance it would have shocked her. And even then, that still left the other half. There was no way Cornelia thought that every single person in Saitama was a terrorist, which meant that she had made the conscious decision to damn them anyway.

Trying to keep her calm in the face of her sister's outrage, Cornelia gave her response in an even tone. "Zero is a menace, an incredibly dangerous individual who has the potential to cause serious harm. Already he's murdered a prince, our brother Clovis, so what else could he accomplish if left alone?"

Settling back into her chair, Euphemia gave a disapproving frown. "So you sacrifice an entire ghetto of innocent Japanese to capture or kill a single man?" She refused to deny these people their name. That was disrespectful on a level that the princess had never been willing to stomach.

"I was willing to shoulder the guilt in order to protect our country." Yes, she was aware that there were probably more innocent civilians in Saitama than there were terrorists. And yes, she would actually have been guilty for ordering their deaths; Cornelia was not heartless, and she realized full well that these were human beings with hopes and dreams that would be taken from them forever upon her order, for a crime they had not committed.

However, her own people were much more important to her than the Elevens, and Zero was a very large threat to her people, as well as the man who had taken another of her family from her. If she could see him captured or killed, she would sacrifice an entire ghetto of Elevens.

The guilt of doing so would fade over time, but the satisfaction of paying Zero back for her brother's murder would never leave her. This time, with her family's killer right before her, she would not let them slip away. Not like all those years ago when she had been ordered to call off the investigation of Lady Marianne's assassination.

Euphemia shook her head. "Sister..." She didn't know how to respond to that. Right there, her sister had acknowledged that her actions were wrong, but at the same time she had done it anyway despite knowing this. "One life doesn't justify taking a thousand, no matter who the one is." Seeking revenge for Clovis was fine. While she wasn't one to do such things, the girl knew that it helped her sister cope. But to throw away so many lives in an attempt to get her vengeance was simply not right.

If she could bring her beloved brother back to life, just as he was the day before his death, at the cost of an innocent man... Euphemia couldn't do it. And yet her sister was willing to sacrifice far more uninvolved civilians just for the satisfaction of revenge upon Clovis' killer.

She could never approve of that.

Leaning forward, Cornelia replied in a tired voice. "I regard that operation as a mistake, Euphie." For a multitude of reasons, some of which her sister had outlined. "What's done is done, and cannot be undone. All I can do is move on towards the future, and I assure you I've no intention of repeating Saitama." Some of her fears about Zero had been alleviated. The man had claimed to be above petty terrorism, and Cornelia felt she could believe that much at least.

None of his actions thus far had resulted in a single civilian casualty. The fiasco at Shinjuku, his first appearance, had consisted entirely of his rallied rebels fighting Britannian soldiers. From there, Kururugi's break-out had been conducted in a fashion that clearly put civilian safety as a priority. Despite the fact that Zero could simply have overpowered the escorting Sutherlands, he had gone out of his way to rescue the boy without his partner digimon.

Had Zero resorted to force, there may have been many casualties among the gathered civilians. His chosen method, while much riskier for him, had prevented any harm from befalling them. It had also called a previously respected man to fall under heavy scrutiny, though that topic was one she wouldn't dwell on.

And from there he had participated in the events of Saitama solely to stop her from purging the ghetto, followed by rescuing Britannian hostages from the JLF, who she had originally expected him to join forces with.

All in all, the man had proven himself to her in more ways than one. Zero was an enemy she could come to respect before she killed him.

Saitama had originally been a move made to force Zero out of hiding, when she had believed him to be scheming something big, something that could be incredibly dangerous and take many innocent lives.

After the fiasco last night, it became clear that Zero's intent was to face the military in actual conflict and win. She would need to worry about his interference during military operations, but there would be no concerns of these Black Knights taking hostages or attacking civilian structures.

With that, the need to hunt down Zero became far less serious. It had originally been priority number one due in part to her intent to seek revenge, as well as his unpredictability, but with this she could go about her business and eliminate Zero once the chance arose. Rather than attempting to smoke him out in the first place, which had failed spectacularly last time.

Euphemia's expression softened. "I can forgive you, then, so long as you don't try something like that again." Had her sister succeeded in purging Saitama, she had no idea whether or not she could find it in her to forgive. That was simply an atrocity, something she could never condone.

"That's good. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me a smile for good measure?" Cornelia smirked at her, relieved that this would be behind them.

Rather than just a radiant smile, Euphemia captured her sister in a loving embrace. "Sister, I love you. Sometimes you have to make hard choices, and I understand that. But there are just some things that should never be options in the first place." Such as trading the lives of hundreds for a chance at revenge.

"I love you too, Euphie." There was no more she could say on the topic. While she regretted it, there was nothing to be done but move on. Moving forward, she wouldn't make such a mistake again.

Getting revenge on Zero was inevitable. He would continue to oppose Britannia, and eventually his luck would run out. On the day that happened, Cornelia would shatter his rebellion and avenge her brother.

Until then, she would simply go about her business and await her opening.

Life moves on.

---

"I'm going to go crazy if this keeps up!" Milly shouted angrily. "It's the last day before classes pick back up and I can't even go do ANYTHING because of the paparazzi!"

After the incident at Kawaguchi, reporters were pretty much swarming anyone they could find for interviews and whatnot. Considering the fact that Milly was the granddaughter of the headmaster of one of Area Eleven's most prestigious schools, it was obvious that she would draw attention.

Adding the knowledge that Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six, attended the academy and had also been involved in the incident?

It was quite apparent that Ashford was gong to be getting a lot of publicity off of the events of last night.

Seated around the council room, the attending members could only offer their sympathies to the frustrated Ashford heiress.

Everyone but Suzaku had shown up to the council room today. There was no meeting or anything of the sort, but everyone had sort of congregated there due to the lack of other things to do, or the intent to track down Shirley and Milly, both of whom were practically stuck in the school due to the massive swarm of reporters.

Rivalz had already had his freak-out over Milly's safety, with all the crocodile tears and bear-hugs one would associate with such. It was easy to tell that the boy was immensely relieved by her safety especially, though Shirley had also been victim to one of the almost flamboyant displays of affection.

Anya, who had surprised everyone with her arrival that day, had not received a hug from Rivalz. Due to her usual demeanor, the bluenette had decided that she wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

'Not from me, anyway.' He chuckled to himself, eyeing the unlikely sight of his best friend cuddling with the youngest of the Knights of the Round. Their relationship was still something of a mystery, but it was clear that the girl had a particular fascination with his bestest buddy, who could only return his scrutiny with a shrug and expression that practically screamed "what can you do?"

Rivalz found it absolutely hilarious. The "Ice Prince" of Ashford Academy, the local heartthrob who was known for his unapproachable demeanor, was unable to keep the act up in the face of the infamous "Robo-girl" of the Rounds, known for her inexpressive personality and fascination with her phone.

Lelouch, who's lap was once again occupied by Anya as covered above, could only sigh and just accept the affection. Denying her wasn't even an option for him, especially not after last night. If she hadn't initiated the hug earlier he would have done it, relieved as he was to see her unharmed. Last night had terrified him, though he'd kept it under wraps fairly well. Shirley, Milly, and Anya all caught up in the same incident that went on to take two lives? It had been a nightmare come true.

Speaking of Shirley, she was also somewhat put off by their inability to leave the school without being mobbed by the press, though she was taking it much better than the fuming President. "I'm just glad that things worked out, and that it's all over now." Ever the optimist, she couldn't bring herself to be too down after everyone had made it back from Kawaguchi safe and sound. The reality of the situation had dawned on her after the fate of the two men taken from the room was revealed, that they could actually have been killed. Compared to that, being hounded by the media wasn't such a horrible fate.

Really, the one thing that was annoying her at that moment would be the younger girl snuggled into her crush's lap. How did some random girl just show up and start getting so affectionate with Lulu? She just didn't understand it.

"I'm glad too, but I wanna go do somethiiiiiiiiiing!" Milly exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "Especially since the so-called vacation I planned ended up going sour." That part really bothered her. She'd tried to do something nice for the council and ended up getting two of her friends caught up in a terrorist attack. Even if they got out okay, she wanted to make it up to them somehow.

"Meh. I mean you're forcin' the rest of us to stay here to keep you company, isn't that good enough?" Indeed she was. After arriving, each and every member had been subjected to the whims of their wonderful president, but Rivalz didn't really mind that much. It wasn't like he wanted to be anywhere else today anyway.

She would probably continue to keep them there until the whole thing blew over as a matter of fact. This was just day one. Kallen, Anya, and Suzaku could get away due to their living arrangements and occupation, but they were stuck with her. Normally his own job would give him a reason to skip out on the whole ordeal for a bit, but the boss was a surprisingly generous man sometimes.

After learning the exact circumstances behind his little meltdown, the old man had just smiled and offered him a week vacation to be with his friends. Unpaid vacation, mind you, but a single week without a paycheck was a fair price to pay for the opportunity to spend time with everyone after that mess. It was really just a guarantee that he would still have his job in a week when he came back.

"Hmph." Milly huffed childishly, wrapping her arms around herself.

A quiet little giggle drew attention to Nina, who blushed at the scrutiny she'd drawn to herself. "I'm really glad you're all okay." Zero had saved them. If not for Lelouch's decision to become Zero, that situation would have ended much differently. But, then, perhaps Zero was the only reason that had occurred in the first place. That possibility did exist, after all. But either way, she was thankful that Lelouch had been able to rescue them from Kawaguchi.

She was also extremely grateful for Lelouch scheduling that meeting yesterday. If not for that, she would have been along for the ride at Kawaguchi.

Nina didn't think she could handle that kind of situation, and considering just how much power she could call upon these days that was a scary thought. According to her partner, the Digivice reacted to emotions. In her panic who knows what kind of disaster she could have ended up causing?

"Eek!" Lost in her musings, Nina didn't notice Milly moving until it was too late and her breasts were already under attack by the girl's wandering hands. "M-MILLY!" She began flailing her arms at the giggling blond, eventually forcing her to back off. Glaring petulantly at her old friend, Nina berated her with a scarlet blush. "D-don't do that!" It was bad enough before she came to terms with her sexuality, now that she had actually given thought on the matter the teasing was even more embarrassing.

A cute pout came to Milly's lips as she replied. "No fun at all."

"You shouldn't do things like that anyway!" Shirley scolded, covering her own chest preemptively.

Offering a nonchalant shrug, Milly didn't even bother to defend her actions. "Boys aren't the only ones who appreciate such things, you know."

Noticing the antics of the president, Anya tilted her head curiously before bringing her hands to her own chest with a small frown. After a moment, she looked up at Lelouch who's expression had suddenly taken a nervous shift as he guessed where this was going. "... do you like them big? Are mine too small?" She asked, motioning to her decidedly flat chest, drawing everyone's attention with the rather sudden question.

Feeling the expectant eyes of almost the entire council upon him all of a sudden, Lelouch gave a strained smile as he attempted to come up with a suitable answer to that. "I don't really care too much one way or the other." He eventually replied with a small chuckle, inwardly hoping that this fairly neutral answer satisfied Anya's passing fancy and she wouldn't pursue this line of questioning.

Unfortunately, her expectant gaze remained on him. "So mine are good too?"

"Yes Anya, yours are perfectly fine." Lelouch decided to just go with it so he could get this over with. This girl just did not understand how social interaction worked, did she? But that was just how she was, he supposed.

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, the girl returned her attention to her phone without even noticing the awkwardness she'd caused for the boy acting as her seat.

Visibly containing her laughter, Milly spoke again. "Right, so since we're all gathered here let's discuss our newest event!" This drew the attention of everyone but Anya, who was still idly playing with her phone. "Yes, that's right, a grand reopening festival and welcome for our lovely new mascot; Arthur!"

"Meoooow." The cat in question perked up at his mention, before promptly deciding he didn't care and going back to napping.

Yes. Arthur. The little monster that had nearly exposed his identity. As he'd expected, Milly took the stray in and now he'd had to deal with him prancing around. For whatever reason, the cat seemed to have taken a liking to him, and Lelouch didn't really have it in him to hate an animal that had no idea what kind of mess it caused. It wasn't as though the tomcat knew just what kind of issues his little stunt presented.

Also, he was not going to be known as the man who held a grudge against a damn cat.

So now Arthur had been popping in and out of his residence like he owned the place, as cats tended to do. Nunnally liked to keep the windows open to let in fresh air, which gave Arthur many opportunities to visit. Though his sister seemed infatuated with the cat anyway, so it wasn't an issue. Thankfully no one was allergic.

"A festival for the cat?" Kallen mumbled. Were they seriously going to plan a whole school-wide event for a stray cat? That seemed kind of like overkill.

Milly shrugged. "Well, since class has been out for a while because of the whole digimon incident I figure we may as well do something fun for everyone returning. Besides, it's been a while since we've had an event." They were overdue in her mind.

Lelouch sighed. "Technically speaking, I suppose you've got a point. It has been a few months since our last major event." He'd been hoping she would forget for a little longer and save him a bit of work. Sadly, it was not to be. "So, then, what do you want to do for this festival Milly?" He really hoped she didn't say anything about pizza or cross dressing.

"Oh, you know." She grinned. "The usual, but with a cat theme to it." Really she just wanted a party, but when the potential to have said party become school-wide presented itself she would grab that opportunity. This was going to be great.

Bringing a hand to cover his face, Lelouch sighed again. "... I'll start planning." Because it was always him that had to do this part. Milly loved to through these extravagant parties, but had no idea how to go about setting one up without him having to clean up the mess it would doubtlessly result in. She had once tried to plan one of these events herself without his aid; going so far as to expressly forbid him from helping.

In the end, after the spectacular failure of Ashford Academy's first attempt at the world's largest pizza, she reconsidered her stance on the matter.

... of course their next attempt had gone just as well, despite his planning. For some reason they just could not seem to make that work no matter what they did. It was bizarre.

As the exasperated vice president dropped his hand back to it's previous position, it was interrupted midway by Anya's own hand. Offering no explanation for her actions, the girl managed to grab hold of his other hand as well and maneuvered his arms around her, before leaning further into him. After settling into her new position, the girl gave a content little sigh and closed her eyes.

Shirley was not amused.

---

As was the norm for him recently, Lelouch's plans had taken an entirely different direction than originally intended.

Originally, he'd intended to go up to his room and get the information he was to present the core members of the Black Knights in order, that information being on their next targets. Rather than mindlessly heckle the military or civilians, they would be turning towards the criminal underbelly of Britannia that actively contributed to the low quality of life the Japanese experienced.

Everything from illegal drugs to slave trade, corporate fraud to corrupt politicians. They would be rooting them out and showing it to the world. That would get public support at all time highs; no one could accuse them of being simple terrorists if they went and performed the police's job better.

That was the original intent. Rather than that, he'd had to divert his attention after finishing dinner with Nunnally, Sayoko, and Anya towards a whole new problem.

Another Digital Field had appeared, this time in the underground access tunnels.

Following the loud metallic clanging, Lelouch could only assume that this digimon was mechanical in some fashion as he attempted to get the drop on it, Keramon in tow. The tunnel was widening now, into a large room with pipes along the ceiling and dim green light illuminating it.

In the middle of the room, glancing around in a frenzy, was a rather small creature. It was about his own height, which seemed quite odd considering it had to be a Champion, but size wasn't a good measure of power when digimon were involved.

Covered head to toe in metal armor, the creature looked like a mix between a Roman gladiator and a knight of old. A pair of stubby legs covered in plate led up into a metal plate kilt, above which sat what appeared to be a leather covering of sorts with a harness, which he could see held a pair of sheathes for the rapiers the creature was currently swinging around like a lunatic.

A pair of foggy grey-green eyes peered out from beneath a metal visor on it's helmet, which was capped with a bright red feather. Connected to it's body were two long, gangly arms, each of which held one of the previously mentioned rapiers.

All in all, the creature didn't look too terribly intimidating, but it was most certainly a Champion. There was simply something about this creature that let one know it was more dangerous than a Rookie, yet it lacked the sheer presence of an Ultimate level digimon.

Lifting the digivice he'd been keeping in his left hand, Lelouch was surprised to hear a voice coming from it. "Gladimon: Champion level digimon of warrior origin. Using it's long arms to it's advantage, this digimon's reach is deceptively long." A metallic, modulated voice announced his presence to the digimon inadvertently.

"Tch." He appreciated the information, but that was quite awful timing. It would have been much better if he'd known that the damn thing could do that before today. Keramon appeared just as surprised as him, so this wasn't some prank like the Rookie's usual antics.

Sighing to himself as the Gladimon caught sight of him, Lelouch quickly activated the digivice. "Well, here we go again." He mumbled.

"Looks like it. Kekekeke..."

In a flash of amethyst light, Infermon appeared in place of the two. "Well... shall we begin?" He taunted the Gladimon in a menacing hiss.

With surprising speed for a creature of it's stature, Gladimon rushed Infermon with his rapiers held before him in a lunge.

Quickly, Infermon leaped into the air, attaching himself to the ceiling and aiming down at the enemy who had stopped his charge after missing his target. "Hell's Grenade." The blast shot straight down, a small explosion signaling the attack had hit it's mark. However, as expected of another Champion, Gladimon was not done so easily.

"SWORD DANCER!" The Gladimon's voice was raspy and filled with unquestionable fury. It was clearly berserk, but that didn't stop it from using the attacks that were instinctual to any member of it's species.

Lunging up at Infermon, the gladiator digimon began spinning, striking with it's blades in every direction at once. It was a powerful attack, the rapiers clearly imbued with some sort of energy. Allowing that to hit the ceiling could have caused issues.

With that in mind, Infermon pushed off of the ceiling to meet Gladimon halfway. "Network Grenade." Tucking his limbs in, the spider digimon rammed directly into the armored form of his foe.

Doing so had resulted in a few superficial scrapes here and there, but none were worth mentioning. Gladimon was likewise unharmed from the clash, only a slight dent in it's helmet showing that it had even been in conflict at all.

The two were now in a stand off of sorts, staring at one another from opposite sides of the room, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Hell's Grenade!" A probing shot fired to test the enemy's reflexes.

A flourishing thrust of the rapier in Gladimon's right hand negated the attack with haste, demonstrating above average reflexes.

Firing another, as the enemy seemed to lack ranged attacks, Infermon noted that the attack was once again countered with the right rapier.

Unwilling to simply allow Infermon to pepper it with projectiles, Gladimon made it's move. Kicking off from the ground at high speed, the Champion was prepared for his enemy to dodge this time. It was also fully prepared to dodge itself should Infermon attempt to counter with Network Grenade again, intending to dodge and strike the passing foe.

With that in mind, Infermon did neither of those things, instead deciding to close the distance and get within Gladimon's guard.

Dodging a rapier strike, a perfect opportunity presented itself to Infermon as he fired another Hell's Grenade. Gladimon had attacked with both arms and missed, leaving his guard open.

Another explosion, more powerful than the first, signaled the success of the attack. Gladimon was forced back, smoking from the impact and clearly injured from the attack.

"Hell's Grenade!" A stream of the blasts came from Infermon, the gladiator unable to block them all due to the sheer volume. These were smaller, less powerful strikes, meant more to suppress the enemy's movement rather than deal actual sticking damage. Of course, if enough were to hit you it wouldn't matter one way or another.

Gladimon made a valiant effort, but simply couldn't continue blocking the constant stream of projectiles. Eventually, the Champion would fall.

As such, it's next move came as no surprise to Infermon.

"SWORD DANCER!" With a shout, Gladimon initiated a much more powerful attack than it's original attempt. It was clear that the armored warrior was putting everything it had into this one, the frenzied look in it's eyes never disappearing even for a moment.

Once again, Infermon dodged by taking to the air and attaching himself to the ceiling, avoiding the whirling cyclone of blade strikes below him for the moment. Rather than wait for the enemy to once again leap at the ceiling, he decided to try and end this now. Gathering energy, he fired a stronger Hell's Grenade than any of the previous, impacting the top of Gladimon's head and slowing his attack by a fair amount from the impact.

Pushing from the ceiling again, Infermon dropped directly down onto the Gladimon. "Network Grenade." With his horn aimed downward at the enemy, he plunged onto Gladimon and punctured it's chest and slammed it into the ground, the additional force of the drop hitting not a second later and causing the downed Champion to explode into particles.

Absorbing the data of his foe, Infermon sighed. "That went well enough, I suppose... no structural damage. Only superficial marks on the walls and floor..." His last attack had put a fairly small pothole in the ground. Noticeable, yes, but not something one would blame on a digimon.

The slash mark on the other hand were somewhat disconcerting, but considering he was one of the only people who even used these tunnels it would probably go unnoticed.

Another flash announced the return of Keramon and Lelouch, the duo glancing about idly. "S'not often y'see a Gladimon runnin' around. Usually they all have this thing about trainin' their asses off until they're Knightmon, so I dunno what one was doin' here." Typically, rifts between worlds didn't just appear in populated areas. You'd usually have to stumble upon one in a fairly remote place or accidentally cause one yourself somehow.

So either that was a runaway Gladimon, it was a Gladimon out on a mission for the Empire, the Empire was experimenting with opening Digital Rifts on command and had some success, or the Gladimon was a Knightmon that had been weakened enough to degenerate upon entry to one of said rifts.

Lelouch felt the hair on the back of his neck raise for a moment, and leaped away from his prior position in surprise. However, upon giving the room another glance, he could see nothing incriminating. "... I don't like this." He mumbled.

Keramon, who had been somewhat shocked by the sudden movement, couldn't help but comment. "Er, what the heck was that about?" His partner had just sort of freaked out for a second there.

"I could swear I caught something moving in here. Sayoko used to constantly take cheap shots at me for the sake of training." Which he still thought of as her excuse for messing with him, but it had come in handy before. Once you'd gotten used to the constant threat of someone trained extensively in stealth waiting in hiding to take a shot at you, it became a lot harder for anyone not trained extensively in stealth to ever sneak up on you.

Usually it never really came up, no one but his friends ever really bothered to try sneaking up on him anyway. Except the fangirls, but they were pretty easy to spot even before Sayoko started making him paranoid.

Frowning, his partner could only shrug. "Sorry Lelouch, but I can't tell anything different in here."

Lelouch shook his head tiredly. "Let's just go. The Gladimon is dealt with so we can rest easy for now." Despite saying so, he felt some unease. Just what had caused that sensation he'd felt a moment ago?

And with that, the two left, unaware of the pair of striking blue eyes watching their departure.

---

Once he'd returned to his bedroom, Lelouch was surprised to see no sign of C.C.

Instead, he was greeted with a simple note lying on the bed.

'I get the feeling you're going to have a guest tonight one way or the other, so I'm borrowing the guest room down the hall.' Well, that was certainly ominous.

Showing the note to Keramon had gotten him a clueless shrug, before his partner had degenerated and made his little nest for the night, this time under the bed for whatever reason. Lelouch wouldn't judge him for his odd behavior.

At any rate, who was C.C. expecting a visit from? Nina and Kallen both knew of her, Anya had gone back to her current residence, and Kaguya wouldn't just drop by like that.

... well actually she probably would, but not before they got back in touch via phone. She would at least wait until that happened. He was fairly certain. About seventy percent.

Anyway. Guests? Aside from Anya, no one he could think of would constitute as a "guest". Perhaps she felt like Euphie was going to stop by? But that was a stretch one way or another... Or maybe Milly?

'... this is absurdly complicated.' Really, just how many people did he actually have to worry about dropping by unannounced? Anya, Euphemia, Milly, Kaguya... these were all actual distinct possibilities.

Anya was just Anya. It was a no brainer that she may decide to just visit him, no matter what time it was. She had very little regard for such things. But, then, she had already left. Would she leave and then just come back on a whim? Possibly.

Milly was in a similar boat. Especially after Kawaguchi, she may drop by for the sake of venting about that whole mess, which was fine with him. If she needed a shoulder to cry on or just someone to talk to, he would always be there for her. However, she was seemingly content to just bask in the happiness that came with everyone surviving such a dangerous event.

Euphemia was a possibility. Something could have happened, or she may have decided to come speak with him about Saitama. He'd caught from Anya that the younger princess knew the actual details of that day, and as such there was always the potential that she may need to vent to him about how her sister had ordered a slaughter just to lure a single man out of hiding.

But then, she was also considerate enough that she probably wouldn't drop by his room in the middle of the night unannounced to do so.

And then there was Kaguya, who was all around a wild card. That girl always did whatever she felt like at any given time, with little rhyme or reason. She was constantly doing something that inconvenienced either him or Suzaku, but would always manage to end up putting smiles on their faces despite that.

As such, it was possible she would drop by in the middle of the night without warning. She was Kaguya, after all, and that meant that just about anything was possible with her.

But still, since she'd wanted to get in contact via phone it stood to reason that she was busy with her own things and wouldn't be able to take a night to just go bug him, and as such she would need a fairly good reason to drop by suddenly. Considering the state of affairs in Japan right now, it was doubtful any emergency or other significant event would give her reason to do so.

Deciding to just stop caring until it became relevant, Lelouch crumbled the note up and tossed it into the trash can near his desk before removing his jacket and shirt.

After doing so, he fell face first onto his bed and sighed contentedly. It had been quite some time since he had the damn bed to himself. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

It wasn't that it was an inconvenience or anything, but goodness was that woman clingy in her sleep...

Not too long after this, Lelouch managed to doze off.

Whoever C.C. suspected a visit from would have to either wake him up or wait until he woke up.

Or, as he would find out in the morning, they could have just chosen to crawl into bed with him.

---

Shinjuku wasn't exactly a nice place to live. It was a ghetto, after all, so that was to be expected.

Despite that, it served as the residence for a fair amount of people, just because they had nowhere else to go really.

Tamaki Shinichiro was one such person. Most of the Japanese were, honestly. Honorary Britannians could live as second rate citizens in the settlement fairly easily, but any Japanese person could tell you that the system was a damn joke. Not only would you be sacrificing your dignity, your quality of life wouldn't improve nearly enough to be worth that kind of cost.

He wasn't going to throw away who he was just for scraps from the table, Tamaki was better than that.

Tonight, he'd decided to go for a walk. There was no real motivation for it, the decision was spur of the moment. But it gave him some quiet to think about things.

Things like the weird ass recurring dream that just would not leave him alone. He'd had this same dream every night since Shinjuku and it was absolutely annoying the shit out of him, especially since Kallen had been having similar ones. They hadn't spoken more on the topic just yet, but it was going to have to happen soon just because this was weird.

Two people having dreams that were practically identical, every night since the same night? That was the kind of shit that happened in novels or movies or something, and Tamaki was pretty damn sure that the real world worked a little bit differently.

But clearly that wasn't entirely correct as this was happening despite that fact. "Uhg..." The redhead groaned, slumping his shoulders and leaning against a wall. "The fuck is going on these days? I swear..."

Distracted as he was with his thoughts, Tamaki hardly noticed the fog roll in. That was sort of odd though, they didn't usually get fog in this area.

... oh. That couldn't mean good things. Quickly drawing his handgun, the Black Knight member retreated behind one of the crumbling walls and attempted to hide himself from sight. "Fuck me..." He mumbled, making certain that his weapon was in good condition.

A digital field? Fucking really? He totally needed this shit right now.

Hopefully it'd just be a berserk Rookie, or even something that wasn't nuts in the first place. Just not a Champion. Dear fucking Kami above, it better not have been a fucking Champion or he was so going to die.

A horrible roar nearly forced Tamaki to jump out of his skin in fright, goading him to peer through a hole in the busted wall to take a glance at what had ended up arriving through the rift.

What he saw was exactly what he hadn't wanted; a Champion level digimon, a giant red dinosaur known as a Growlmon, that was not happy in the slightest. "S-Shit!" He practically whimpered, ducking back down and praying to any deity listening to keep the fucking dinosaur from murdering him with it's big meaty claws.

And again he nearly pissed himself as the creature's giant red arm slammed down onto the wall, practically slicing through the solid stone and clearly revealing the terrified redhead to his assailant.

'... I'm gonna die to an oversized fucking gecko.' He couldn't help but feel the irony that he, a rebel fighting against Britannian rule, would end up dying not to his sworn enemies, but to some random Growlmon with a chip on it's shoulder. Wasn't that just fucking great? He'd never see the day Japan was freed, hell he wouldn't even see his friends again.

"Fuck that... FUCK THAT!" With a shout, Tamaki took a shot at the digimon's glaring amber eye and took off running.

"RAAAAAAAAH!" It had hit the digimon... just not in it's eye. The creature had moved the moment he pressed the trigger, as though it sensed the attack coming, before moving after him at a rather casual pace. "You're going to die for that, human!" There was no rush for him, the human couldn't run and neither could his target.

"It spoke?" The rebel couldn't help but wonder aloud, rushing into a dilapidated building for a moment, intending to weave in and out of them in order to buy himself more time. "The fuck? I thought that these things were berserk when they came through to our world?"

"Not always." Another voice noted calmly.

Turning to regard the other person involved in this fucked up scene, Tamaki received his second surprise of the night as he spotted a Black Guilmon crouching behind some rubble within the building's defunct first floor, which had at one point been a lobby. "Another one? And you're both completely sane? Then why the fuck is big-red out there trying to smush me?"

Brow raising at the rather composed tone of the redhead, the Black Guilmon couldn't help but be impressed. This situation was entirely out of the realm of normal human expectations, yet this one was quite level headed in the middle of it. "He's after me. At first I suppose he attacked you before realizing just where he was and what was going on, but now that you've shot him you're just as much a target as I am. Sorry to say that there isn't much hope for either of us."

It had taken them a while, but finally the Empire had caught up to their escape. The Knightmon that had been after them had been lured away by his partner's valiant effort, but that still left him with the insurmountable odds of facing a Wargrowlmon.

But then suddenly he was in the human world, and Wargrowlmon had become Growlmon. This was more manageable. Their odds of success went from zero percent to roughly twenty percent.

Slim, and he held no illusions about his chances there, but the possibility of victory did exist and he was more than willing to pursue it.

As the enemy in question slammed into the building, his head was met with a burning purple sphere of explosive force. "Pyro Grenade!" The upside to his transformation would be that his Rookie level was almost ridiculously powerful. A direct hit from a Pyro Grenade was enough to damage certain Champion levels, even outright deleting some.

Growlmon was not one of the few who could find themselves deleted in a single Pyro Grenade, however if he could successfully land a few dozen without being defeated then there was hope.

"Dragon Slash!" Growlmon swung his arm, the blade glowing with power as it plowed into the Black Guilmon, driving the smaller digimon through a wall and out into the street.

The single hit had spelled the end of this battle. Pathetic as it was to him, the Black Guilmon just could not stand back up after a single devastating strike from the Champion level that had been his opponent.

At the very least, his interference should have been enough to secure the human's escape. That man had no place in such a conflict, it wasn't his fight nor was it one he had a fair chance at winning, and the human ought to have known that just as well if the display of ruthless strength had anything to say about it.

Even now, Growlmon was charging a sure-kill Pyro Blaster to remove him from existence, the heat of it could be felt from his downed position even. There was surely no sight more intimidating that the human could ever have seen.

... so why, then, had the man stayed?

Another shot rang out, a bullet driving into the distracted Growlmon's open maw. The surprise and pain force him to close his mouth, the partially charged attack detonating within and providing a painful and effective distraction.

"C'mon." The redhead crouched down, quickly aiding the Rookie to his feet. "We're gonna make a break for it."

The man was clearly not going to be able to move them both at any respectable speed. However, Guilmon had no energy left. It had taken only a single strike to drive the energy from him entirely. "No. Go without me. I'm dead weight." This human had prolonged his life for just a little bit, and he was grateful for that at least, but there was simply no more he could do.

"... Nah. I'll just carry you then." Zero had claimed they would be allies to the weak, knights for justice, that they would be heroes for anyone who needed them. Why would that include only humans?

Now was as good a time as any to start making good on that image.

"YOU!" The roar was accompanied by a gout of flame, signaling that Growlmon was not down for the count at all. "I'm going to ROAST YOU!"

Once again, Tamaki fired a round at the Champion. This time it was slashed midair by the creature's glowing arm blade. It was quite clear that Growlmon was no longer playing games with him.

With that in mind, he unloaded the entire clip for no reason other than because he could. One got through, striking the upper body of the dinosaur but causing only superficial damage.

Growlmon then began charging another Pyro Blaster as the weapon fire ceased.

"... well fuck." Tamaki sighed. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for heroics. He didn't have kickass knightmare skills like Kallen, he wasn't a tactical genius like Zero, hell he wasn't even half the leader Ohgi was.

There wasn't anything special about him at all really, other than the fact that he was fighting for his homeland rather than bowing his head.

All he could do was face his death with a grin. It had been a good enough run, hadn't it? He'd lived long enough to trounce the military in Shinjuku, the place he'd called home for years now. How was that for accomplishments?

Maybe he wouldn't see Japan free, or even see his friends again, maybe he'd never be remembered and maybe they would never know what happened to him.

So fucking what? Tamaki had lived his life and he had regrets, but didn't everyone? So all he could do was be at peace with himself in the last moments.

But still... if he could, he'd smash that fucking overgrown gecko. He'd live on, see the world Zero was gonna build, dick around with his pals, and one day he'd start a fucking bistro.

Damn would that be sick, he laughed to himself as the fire fell upon him, lighting the entire area of impact ablaze, lighting the night with it's brilliance.

But within the flickering flames, another radiant light began to glow...

---

Plot? Plot. Plot!

Savvy?

Anywhoo, moving forward. This is chapter 11. I'm going to give this another once over after I grab some noms and then post it. This is being self-betaed atm as I'm no longer bugging Thanathos to help me out with it, so any decline in quality can be blamed on that. Lemme know how much I suck in a review, eh?