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.

14. Chapter 14

And so I move on to chapter 14, making more progress on this story than I would ever have expected. Man. I broke 200k words. I'm legit surprised at myself right now. That's a lot of words.

Anyhow, disclaimer: don't own Code Geass, don't own Digimon, don't own nothin'.

That's covered. Moving on. Oh and this is probably the chapter that has earned the M rating on this little piece of work of mine. Fair warning.

---

Two days had passed since the night of the Black Knight's first strike against the criminal underworld of Britannia.

Each of those nights had seen another criminal group being struck down. A small drug smuggling crew and an illegal arms operation had fallen to the Black Knight's crusade against injustice in addition to their more impressive strike against the largest human trafficking group known to operate in Britannia.

Unlike the Underground, these groups did not field impressive defenses whatsoever. The most dangerous thing they had run across by this point would be a Glasgow, with the drug smugglers having not even that much to defend themselves with.

Honestly, it was almost disappointing.

Of course you would never hear that from Lelouch, because the moment he even briefly entertained the thought things would immediately become twenty times more difficult just to spite him.

Despite their routine nighttime activities interfering with sleep, the three students involved in the active conflict were almost entirely unhindered by it. None of them were unused to such things dragging them past the point of sleep.

Nina had frequently put off sleep in favor of working further on whatever project she had in front of her.

Kallen was already involved in illegal activities before the formation of the Black Knights.

And Lelouch himself was used to it for a few reasons. Being carried away with his work, late night gambling with Rivalz, and training in the dead of night with Sayoko.

Since none of them were particularly put off by the late nights they were pulling now, the daily routine of the student council had remained mostly the same.

School was back in session, and so everyone had sort of fallen back into their usual act.

Lelouch couldn't help but wonder, later, just how that routine could be shattered not even a week after it had settled back in. They hadn't even gone a single week without something weird popping out of the blue to interrupt the established flow.

The council had assembled once again for a regular meeting, which had almost immediately turned into a social gathering seeing as how nothing terribly urgent had to be taken care of. That was perfectly normal. The oddity hadn't occurred until sometime into the meeting itself.

Lelouch had arrived first, flanked by Nina who he had met in the hall on the way.

Second to the meeting had been Milly, who had asked for a progress report on the festival plans. After being assured that things were on track, she had moved off to bother Nina for a few moments before settling down at her seat and pulling out one of her romance novels to read until the others arrived.

Nina, blushing again from the attention Milly had given her, had simply began typing away at her keyboard as per the norm. He had taken his usual seat and settled in, allowing his mind to wander idly as the remaining members poured in.

About five minutes after Milly's arrival, Shirley and Kallen walked in together, idly chatting about the media still trying to get an interview. It had taken a couple days of the attention for the orangette to really get sick of it.

Suzaku had shown up next, practically being drug along by Rivalz who was grinning and chatting up a storm about some new game coming out in the next few months. The Honorary Britannian clearly had no idea what the blue haired boy was on about, but wasn't willing to interrupt him or show blatant disinterest.

Following the duo was Coronamon, who had hopped onto the back of Suzaku's usual chair and was now settling in there until the boy sat down, clearly intending to make use of him as a seat as usual.

Anya was the last to arrive. This wasn't particularly unusual. She tended to either be one of the first or one of the last to arrive. Missimon had followed her in, before settling in on the top of the large climbing tree that had been set up for Arthur and lazily looking over the assembled council.

With everyone in their positions, the meeting had begun on a smooth note. No major issues were around to be brought up, and so it had quickly degenerated from work to play.

"M-Milly that's not a good idea." Nina offered to the blonde who had just pitched a suggestion for the upcoming festival. "I'm act-tually fairly c-certain that's illegal." There was simply no way they would be allowed to get their hands on that many fireworks in any legal fashion. She couldn't seriously have considered that a legitimate option.

Lelouch was not so gentle in his rebuttal to the idea. "No." That was all that needed to be said. There was no way in hell he was going to do that even if he could obtain the materials to do so.

Fireworks were one thing; the amount of fireworks she was suggesting, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. They were not doing that no matter how much she wanted to.

"Poo. Spoil-sports." Milly pouted. "Fine. How about a cro-"

"NO." This was a much firmer refusal than the previous. "If I hear the word "cross dresser" from you even as a joke, I swear I am going to find some way to ruin this festival for you Milly. Do not test me on this." He was not going to be shanghaied into wearing a damn dress again. Especially considering just how well he pulled off the look. That was probably the most disturbing part of it for him.

Rivalz, when forced to go along with that particular scheme, looked like a boy forced into a dress no matter how much time and effort went into making it look natural.

If only Lelouch were so lucky.

He'd agreed to the cat costumes because he could just throw on some ears and draw on some whiskers and be on his way. Not only was cross dressing mortifying on many different levels, the outfits that had been forced upon him tended to be uncomfortable even before considering that they were women's clothing.

"... not even-" Milly was cut off again.

"No. It's not happening. Don't push it." There was no argument here. "I can make this festival great for everyone but you, Milly. Do not push me."

The blonde deflated. "Fine." Lelouch was so mean sometimes. All she wanted was more pictures of him in drag, was that so much to ask? Honestly, a boy should not get to be that pretty in a dress. Not one that disliked cross-dressing, at least.

As annoying as it was to admit, Lelouch was pretty much the only one of them that could pull of the regal noblewoman look. It wasn't just about the clothes, there was just an air one had to have about them to fit that kind of cool beauty image... and Lelouch had it. So in other words all of the really fancy, sophisticated dresses that she had on hand for dress-up purposes were wasted on just about everyone else.

Shirley wasn't good at being stoic. It just did not fit her, and you could tell she was struggling all the way through it. Nina had that habit of blending into the crowd one way or another, so she didn't work in that role either. Milly herself was just too bright for that look.

And for the sake of gender equality, she had once stuffed Rivalz into one of the dresses just to make sure.

It didn't work. It did not work.

Which left all of those dresses unused. It was almost a crime.

But Lelouch was right; there were many ways the festival could carry on while simultaneously spiting her, so she would drop it. Maybe Kallen would be able to pull off the look better than the rest of them? It was worth a try.

"... what's cross dressing?" Anya mumbled, tilting her head back to look at Lelouch from his lap.

Gritting his teeth, the dark haired boy replied with a sigh. "Wearing clothing that is typically specific to the opposite gender. For instance, a man in a dress or a woman in a tuxedo."

Nodding slowly, Anya asked her second question. "So... you've worn a dress?"

"Yes. I've been forced into a dress by Milly before." It almost pained him to admit such, but he wasn't going to lie about something so trivial.

The pinkette blinked. "I wanna see." She stated simply.

"I'm not wearing a dress for you." Lelouch immediately replied. Even for Anya, he was not going to be put into a dress. That kind of thing would probably take Nunnally, Euphie, and Anya all asking together for him to finally break.

Because eventually, he would cave in. There was no two ways about it; Lelouch held no illusions as to where his indomitable will stood in the face of people he cared greatly for.

"... are there pictures?" The Knight of Six was far more interested in this topic than the boy serving as her seat was comfortable with.

Milly immediately shot out of her chair, grinning widely. "Why, as a matter of fact, there are!" Pulling out her own phone, she quickly navigated to a certain picture before gesturing for Anya to come over.

As the pink haired girl hopped out of his lap, Lelouch sent a baleful glare Milly's way. "You told me that you had deleted that picture." It was the black dress. He knew it was.

"Yeah, one of the twelve I took." She stuck her tongue out at him. "So now I've got eleven of them on my phone and numerous copies stored in various places you'd never think to look."

So in other words he was never going to be rid of that humiliation and it was best to just move on with life. Wonderful.

It was at this point that the routine shattered, because a new player had joined the game.

The door burst open, and everyone's attention shifted to the entrance to catch sight of a new face.

Said face was covered by a massive grin as the boy in question ran into the room. "Anyaaaaaaaa~!"

Moments later, the student council was watching the newcomer, a blue eyed blonde with three braided ponytails falling to just below his shoulder blades, as he gleefully embraced the youngest person attending the meeting, going so far as to pick said lackadaisical girl up and twirl her around. "I've missed you so much!"

The girl in question blinked as she was twirled about. "Gino?" That was weird. He wasn't supposed to be here, was he?

"Hi Anya! I got assigned here like a week ago so I got here like four days earlier than I needed to so I've been doing random stuff and blowing time so the Viceroy doesn't kill me for showing up early and then I figured out where you were going to school and so now I'm here!" The second sentence he uttered without a single breath or pause.

It was around that time that everyone looking on realized just who was happily twirling the Knight of Six around. This was in part due to the fact that his name had been said by Anya, and also partially due to the fact that he was garbed in the full attire of the Knights of the Round, forest green cape included.

Had their meeting really just been crashed by the Knight of Three?

Apparently so.

"... let me down. I need to see the pictures of Lelouch in a dress." And yes, this was what Anya was focused on at the time despite the surprising arrival of one of her closest friends.

"Oh. Can I see too?" Gino had no idea who Lelouch was, but he didn't really care too much. It sounded like a guys name, so more likely than not the sight of them in a dress would be amusing.

Milly recovered adamantly from the random visit from a high ranking member of the military. "I wasn't expecting to see someone like you drop in unexpected, Sir Weinberg." The others were still in a sort of shock.

Having finally released the deadpan girl that he'd been so excited to see again, Gino threw his hands behind his head. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about popping in so suddenly since none of you folks have ever met me before... but I hadn't seen Anya in a while, and it's been so boring without her wonderful personality around to brighten my day."

The remaining members of the council had mostly calmed down. Anya was now busily inspecting the picture on Milly's phone, which had been offered to the girl the moment she was within arms reach. Every so often she would look up and steal glances at Lelouch, who was torn between exasperation and annoyance.

Honestly, he was hardly even surprised at this point. Gino Weinberg was in the Tokyo Settlement now. Wasn't that just wonderful?

No, actually, it really was not. Unlike Anya, the Knight of Three's partner digimon actively used his Ultimate form. That was a disadvantage that Lelouch really had no idea how he was going to overcome without disabling the blonde through underhanded means.

"... so now I've met two Knights of the Round." Rivalz offered, leaning in closer to Lelouch as he spoke. "One of them has an obsession with you that I'm still laughing over when you're not looking, and the other is reminding me way too much of Madame President right now."

Lelouch sighed as the blonde knight in question finally made his way over to Anya and began looking over the pictures in question.

"Whoa. That's a guy!?" He called out, looking up in shock to spot the most likely candidate for the person in the picture, namely the sulking guy with the dark hair. "Holy crap. You pull that look off way better than most girls I've seen!" Gino was legitimately impressed and moderately disturbed. If he hadn't known that was a dude going in, he would probably have said something about wanting to see what was under that dress.

Another sigh, much deeper than the first, was the only answer that statement received from the boy in question.

---

It was a good thing that the council meeting hadn't really been important, because after Gino Weinberg crashed the party everything got completely derailed.

By this point it seemed like the remaining members of the council had gotten over the fact that they now had a second member of the Knights of the Round hanging out with them, and they were now just conversing casually among one another.

"So then the guy just kinda fell over. I'm not even sure what happened, but as he's gearing up to fight me for flirting with what turned out to be his fiance he just trips." Gino shrugged in confusion. "To this day, I still have no idea how or why that happened, but he tripped, yanked a tablecloth off the nearby table, and pulled a crapton of plates and whatnot on top of him."

"... I have pictures." Anya chimed in from her newly reclaimed seat on Lelouch's lap, navigating to said pictures on her phone.

Gino grinned. "This is why I love Anya. She's got pictures of almost every crazy story I've picked up since meeting her, so now people can't say I'm bullshitting them." It was awesome. He got into all kinds of ridiculous shenanigans with or without Anya around, but when she was there he could almost guarantee there would be pictures to accompany it.

And speaking of Anya, he was honestly really surprised to see that she was getting along with normal people. These folks seemed to honestly like her, which was more than he was expecting when he'd heard Anya was going to school.

Truthfully, he'd been expecting her to be all alone. It was nice to be proven wrong, she'd actually made friends! That was way more than he could have expected.

He liked to go to parties. Usually, he would drag Anya along just to mess with people.

It was partially so that Anya would be more used to social situations, but mainly to mess with people.

So he'd seen how well she got along with the nobility. Even girls her own age were not a better result as far as making friends went, because Anya had zero interest in seeking friendship.

That was one of the main reasons Gino had gone out of his way to make friends with her, just because she was making it difficult. That had been a fun time.

But here, with these commoners, Anya seemed pretty much at home.

Gino was also fairly certain that she had a crush on the black haired guy, considering the fact that she had immediately settled into his lap not a minute after they had finished viewing the picture of said black haired guy in a dress.

He shook his head, trying to put that out of his mind for the moment.

A guy in a dress had no right to be that damn pretty.

But really, the thought of Anya actually having romantic interest in anybody was completely new. He really did not know how that had happened.

"... his shoelace was untied." A dull voice pointed out, having noticed something about the picture. "While he was dancing around like an idiot, he tripped over his shoelace."

Moments later, another monotone chimed in. "Oh. I see it too."

"Wait. You're telling me that's what tripped him up?" Gino asked, leaning over the back of the chair they were seated in to get a better look. "Well hot damn, his shoe IS untied."

Lelouch, who's lap was occupied by Anya as per what had become the norm, could only sigh. "I'm not sure what's more surprising; the fact that this buffoon tried to fight you, or the fact that he managed to knock himself out attempting to do so." Or the fact that he was the first person to notice the fact that said buffoon had managed to trip over his own shoelaces.

But to be fair it wasn't like it was some big event, Gino probably had a lot of incidents like that one. He was something of a flirt, it seemed.

Thus far he had made a pass at every girl in the room save Anya. It was fairly clear that he was doing it more out of habit than any actual intent, but that hadn't stopped Milly from chucking a book at him when he'd tried it on Nina.

All and all, Gino seemed to be a fairly lax individual. Pretty much everyone had gotten used to his presence by this point. He kind of fit in.

"GINO!" A voice called out, drawing attention to the sword wielding canary chick that had just rushed into the room through the open window. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO RUN OFF YOU ASS!" Said sword wielding canary leaped at Gino, swinging his sword wildly.

Thankfully the blade was covered by the sheath or this might have been more alarming. As it was, everyone was just watching in bemusement as the little digimon chased his cackling blonde partner around the room. "Oh c'mon Hyokomon, I was booooooored!" Mid laugh, the knight leaped over the table. This prompted Hyokomon to follow, still swinging his blade.

"I don't care! You left me in the middle of the Tokyo Settlement with no idea where Ashford Academy was! Do you know how awkward it was asking for directions? Huh!? DO YOU!?" Hyokomon shouted, removing the sheath from his blade so he could throw the blunt object at Gino.

Gino caught it with a laugh. "Hah! You're not gonna actually cut me, so I win now." He was entirely unprepared for the flying kick to the face, falling over and releasing the sheath as he did so.

With a flourish, the tiny ronin sheathed his blade in a fluid motion before securing it to his back once more.

Coronamon chuckled, before clapping. "T'was certainly a grand display of finesse, Hyokomon."

"Eh?" The chick blinked. "A Coronamon? But that doesn't make sense... wait. Oh, it's you?" Well that was interesting. "Weren't you supposed to be like a hundred times bigger and stronger or something?" He could have sworn Apollomon was a Mega level enforcer of the Celestial Empire.

The Rookie growled in annoyance. "I hath lost much of my strength due to Dianamon. During our last bout, the two of us were spirited away from the digital world. T'was with much surprise and anger that I realized despite my best effort, that wench still drew breath." He'd been so close to finally ending this century old battle, but his revenge had been stolen away from him.

Hyokomon nodded. "Huh... well. Never thought I'd meet you again, but I guess this is okay too. So long as you're on our side." His own time in the digital world had been spent as a soldier for a different faction, he had served under the Sovereign. At one point, he had even crossed paths with Apollomon himself.

Rather than engage in a pointless battle, as they both had known which of them would prevail, the two had spoken with one another. At the time, Butenmon had been scouting about the nearby area, neutral ground. Meeting Apollomon, who had been doing the same, had led to an interesting conversation about values and honor.

Honestly, Hyokomon looked forward to having him around on their side this time. It had been a long time since he'd had a good, long conversation with someone who actually knew about the digital world's politics to hold up in said debate.

Now if only he could do something about the way this nut job spoke, so he could actually understand everything the weirdo said. No one else Hyokomon had come across insisted on such bizarre speech patterns.

"Oi. You kicked me in the face." Gino spoke up flatly, finally raising from his position flat on his back. "Why did you do that?"

"BECAUSE YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOKYO SETTLEMENT YOU ASS!" Hyokomon immediately rounded on the inconsiderate nincompoop he called his partner. "I had to ask directions from random civilians passing by. Between all the gawking, picture taking, autograph requests, and occasional freak out, I have had it up to here!" He held one of his wings above his head. "With you today."

Gino promptly stood up, and compared the height of Hyokomon's "up to here" with his own reach. "Huh. So you're pretty intolerant if that's all it takes to get you mad. Try taking deep breaths, or listening to soothing music."

The chick twitched in annoyance. "I think I hate you. I really, really think I do."

"Think again!" Gino replied, scooping the angry bird into his arms and hugging him. "You're my little buddy. You can't hate me." The blonde then fell back onto his rear end, before flopping onto the floor gracelessly. "Ow. Mean."

Hyokomon had rammed the pommel of his sword into Gino's gut, causing this reaction.

Watching the byplay between the two, the student council members each had their own opinions of the pair.

Lelouch was torn between annoyance and exasperation. These two were just short of being dimwits, and yet he was looking at two of the most dangerous things Britannia had on it's side. Gino Weinberg, a prodigy in both knightmare combat and conventional aircraft. Hyokomon, partner to the Knight of Three and capable of reaching and maintaining Ultimate form indefinitely.

It was rather obnoxious that such dangerous obstacles to his plans had just barged into his home turf and made themselves comfortable, but what could you do?

Nina was still somewhat flustered from the light-hearted flirting Gino had initiated, cheeks slightly red. She wasn't used to boys complimenting her out of the blue like that, and it had come as quite a surprise.

And then Milly had tossed a book at him. Said book had struck true, which had knocked the blonde knight onto his rear. She really didn't know what to think. He was a threat to their operations, but otherwise seemed to be a genuinely nice person.

Hyokomon was just adorable, though. He seemed quite easy to rile up, unlike Keramon and Dokunemon. Keramon just laughed everything off, and Dokunemon was the silent kind of angry. So such a vocal little bird was surprisingly cute to watch.

They were still the enemy, however.

The resident redhead of the council, Kallen, was more on the boat of the two being dangerous adversaries and complete nuisances. She wasn't one for socializing with the higher brass of Britannia, whether or not they were nice people outside of battle. It didn't matter, after all, because on a battlefield there would be no hesitation from them.

She'd been iffy about getting close to the student council members when she'd first been drug into their hijinks, but over time she'd grown accustom to actually having friends. Her previous group was made up of shallow little dolls who had nothing but boys and clothes on their minds, so the council had been a very large step forward.

There was only one boy-crazy girl here, but she made up for it by being easily the nicest person Kallen had ever met. Not a single soul she'd come across in her entire life was so blatantly kind to every single person they had met. So with that in mind, Kallen didn't particularly mind the fact that Shirley was head-over-heels for Lelouch and hid it extremely poorly.

Poor thing was probably never going to have her love requited, though. It sucked, she couldn't help but note as she glanced towards the lovestruck orangette, but there really was just no way Lelouch would accept her feelings while he was fighting a war against their homeland. Too much risk involved for her. Even if Lelouch did return her feelings, he wouldn't allow the two of them to get too close for her own safety.

Kallen really did respect that about Lelouch, at least.

The rest of the council was made up of very interesting individuals, all of whom the rebel girl had taken a liking to. Milly was nuts, but she was entertaining and clearly much smarter than most people would think by looking at her. Rivalz was pretty cool, though he was kind of a jackass at times. Lelouch himself? Before knowing he was Zero, Kallen had been on the fence about him. He wasn't a horrible person, but she didn't exactly like being alone with him. Mainly because he was a total fucking ass at times. Every single time the two of them had been alone in any fashion, he'd brought up the shower incident just to spite her.

Nina had been something of an oddity at the start, but she'd begun to understand the girl a bit better after the events at Saitama. The two of them had become fast friends.

She honestly did not care very much for Suzaku, though. Becoming an Honorary Britannian wasn't some irredeemable sin in her eyes or anything like that, but the fact that he'd gone and joined the military on top of that was rather off-putting. And then there was the fact that he was the pilot of the white knightmare frame, the Lancelot, which had nearly cost them their victory at Shinjuku. And according to Lelouch, he wanted to try and change Britannia from the inside rather than fight them.

Suzaku wasn't a terrible person; he was actually pretty nice. The only issue would be that he was a complete idiot if he thought that fighting for Britannia was going to save lives, or that an Honorary Britannian was going to be able to change the way Britannia operated by following their rules.

And then there was Anya.

The redhead sighed, looking over the assembled council once again. Gino was still telling stories of his many party-time mishaps, with most of the council paying rapt attention. The exceptions to that would be Nina, typing away at her computer as usual, and then Lelouch who was more occupied with the girl in his lap, who was scrolling through various pictures related to the story Gino was telling.

Anya was kind of a touchy subject, honestly. Kallen didn't particularly like her, mainly because she didn't want to like her. That girl was the enemy, plain and simple. Getting close to her while knowing full well that she would one day lose allies and friends to her was not something Kallen was willing to do.

But Lelouch was extremely fond of her. And Kallen completely understood, really she did. That girl had been one of his earliest companions, a dear friend. She totally got that he would continue to care for her no matter which side the girl fought for. Kallen would be the same way if she was in his spot.

The issue here was that it made things very uncertain as far as how Anya was to be treated on the battlefield.

Kallen was honestly terrified of what would happen if someone got a lucky shot and managed to take Anya out in battle. She did not ever want to find out, especially not after learning just how much of a connection there was between emotion and the digivices, because Keramon had used the "Skullgreymon Scenario" as his example.

Skullgreymon was a horrifying monster straight out of a scary movie, with the power to level cities if left alone. There had been a single bio-emergence of that species, and it had been the largest digimon related disaster in history.

So if Lelouch and Keramon were put together as Infermon, and they went through the kind of severe emotional trauma that losing Anya would bring, it could have positively awful results.

That was not something the redhead had ever expected herself to be scared of, but there it was. Honestly, if not for that then she may have already tried to kill the girl. Yes, it would cost her the place she'd built for herself in this school, and yes it would ruin any shot she had at blending in like she had been thus far, but removing one of the Knights of the Round was a big deal.

However, Lelouch would not allow it under any circumstances. Rather, he would kill her himself before she even got the chance to harm Anya. Kallen had no illusions about where she stood on that front. Lelouch was viciously protective of his friends, the incident at Kawaguchi had proven that very well. Rather than simply letting things run their course with the explosives that night, he'd deliberately lured the remaining JLF members to their doom. The soldiers had been slowly taking room after room, forcing their way through... until one of those rooms exploded, with all of them inside.

Devious, vicious, and perhaps even cruel. These were things that one could say about Lelouch. And yet at the same time, he would give everything to protect the things he held dear.

'Frankly,' Kallen thought to herself with a mental sigh, 'that guy is an enigma.' She just didn't get how someone could end up like Lelouch had. Kallen knew the story of his life, and it was pretty fucked up. She wasn't even going to try and pretend that he didn't have a good reason to be as messed up as he was at times, because he did. War changed people, and he'd been right in the middle of that at the tender age of ten.

Starving, exhausted, terrified, hopeless, she could hardly imagine what that would feel like.

Yeah, it wasn't like his entire life had been that awful, but the simple fact that he'd gone through that mess in the first place was good enough reason for him to be as messed up as he was sometimes. Hell, the real surprise came from the fact that he wasn't as cruel and vicious as she would've expected. The genuine care and affection he had for basically everyone close to him was extremely jarring. He was a mixed bag of kindness and cruelty, and it really just did not compute.

How could someone so kind at times gleefully slaughter the JLF soldiers who had been doing nothing more than following orders? How could someone so cruel risk his life time and time again to save others?

It just didn't make sense. Lelouch didn't make sense.

"Kallen, you alive over there?" The sudden mention of her name drew the redhead out of her musing. "You've been staring out into space for the past couple of minutes. Are you feeling unwell?"

Ah, Milly. "No, I'm fine. Just thinking." The redhead replied with a small, reassuring smile. "Thanks for the concern, though." The sick act sucked, but it was nice to see people genuinely concerned over her wellbeing. Even if it was all fake, she really did appreciate the fact that these people honestly cared enough to ask about her health.

Milly shrugged. "Well, alright. But if you do feel sick just tell us, we wouldn't want you fainting on the way home or anything." That would be awful. Really, they were lucky Lelouch and Nina had both been so busy that day otherwise Kallen may have just been in that room out cold for the night.

Of course Lelouch just had to chime in. "If you'd like, I could walk you home just in case." The smile he sent her way seemed genuine enough, but there was an undertone of amusement to it that the redhead caught.

He was such a jackass sometimes. Intentionally dropping flags like that to mess with Shirley. The girl was now blushing, and glancing nervously between the two of them as though Kallen was intending to steal him away.

Damn was that girl paranoid.

---

After the meeting had ended everyone sort of split off into their own groups.

It had started when Milly had decided that since the paparazzi had finally calmed down enough for them to reasonably sneak out, there was going to be a girls night out in the settlement. Considering the result of the previous get-together, she wanted to go out and do something that wouldn't end up with them in a life or death situation. Miraculously, she had managed to convince everyone but Nina to come along.

The fact that Nina hadn't wanted to go didn't particularly surprise anyone; she had never really been one for such things. Kallen had somewhat surprised them by volunteering to go, the surprise being from the fact that the supposedly frail redhead tended to go straight home after school.

And Anya hadn't been difficult to convince into going. She was sort of apathetic to these things, which usually resulted in her going along pretty easily with just about anything.

That was kind of how she treated every aspect of her life, actually. From social gatherings to military actions, Anya really was just being pulled along by the flow for the most part.

Seeing as how the girls had decided to hit the town, Rivalz had decided that this presented the perfect opportunity for the guys of the council to have a night of their own.

He was brutally shot down by Lelouch's refusal. "I've simply got too much work to do to skip out on it for a night, Rivalz. Milly's festivals don't plan themselves you know." Which was entirely true by the way. Between all the working he'd done for the festival as well as the Black Knights operations, Lelouch was operating off around five hours of sleep per night. It was going to begin taking it's toll on him if he didn't get some rest soon. He intended to finish up some work on the festival plans before turning in at a reasonable time tonight.

"Aw, c'mon buddy, we can go bowling. You like bowling."

Briefly, Lelouch was tempted by the offer. Bowling was one of the very few physical activities he was actually openly good at. While he would eventually tire if forced to play multiple games in a row with no rest between them, typically his still admittedly lacking stamina never really came into play in that particular game. Really, the only thing he was outright better at than bowling when it came to things of that sort would be darts.

People gave up trying to play him in darts very, very quickly. They had given up on beating him at pool almost as fast. However, he hadn't quite scared everyone off of bowling just yet.

He was still perfectly capable of giving Rivalz fits at the game, though. The thought was actually quite tempting as it had been some time since the bluenette had suggested bowling.

However, he remained resolute. "Sorry, Rivalz." He replied with a regretful smile. "I'd love to, really I would, but I just can't drop everything to do that tonight. Perhaps a different day."

Seeing Rivalz deflate, Suzaku decided to intervene. "Er... I could go along with you if you want?" Seeing the other boy immediately perk up, the Japanese boy continued on with a bright smile. "I've never really played before, but I'm sure it would be fun and I've got nothing else planned tonight."

The surrounding boys blinked at the Honorary Britannian's admission. "You've never gone bowling before?" Gino, who was still hanging around for whatever reason, chimed in. "Man. I mean it's not like the end of the world or anything, but bowling is a good time." He liked it, at least. It was really casual, but there was still a level of competition that was undeniable. From what Gino could tell of the brunette, he'd probably get a kick out of it.

"W-well I know how to play, I guess, I've just never really gotten the chance to." Suzaku chuckled sheepishly as he replied, idly rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

Lelouch winced slightly at the implication. Suzaku had never really had anyone to go and do anything of that sort with since the war seven years ago, had he? Throwing himself into the military like he did had pretty much sacrificed any free time he may have had to socialize in the first place, up until he'd been promoted to Warrant Officer in the aftermath of the Orange incident. After that, along with his new schedule, Lelouch realized that Suzaku was probably experiencing the concept of "free time" for the first time in a long while.

"... alright." He spoke up, clapping his hands. "I've changed my mind. We're going bowling." He ignored Rivalz cheer to give a small smile to the blinking brunette. "After all, it'd be a shame to pass this up." For once in his life, Lelouch was confident in his ability to beat Suzaku in a game that did not rely solely on mental attributes. So what if said boy had never played a game in his life while Lelouch had become accustom to it after many nights of idly hanging out with Rivalz? It would still be a win over the other boy that no one could deny.

"Mind if I tag along?" Gino interjected suddenly. "I'd like to actually play a match where some nobleman didn't end up complaining about how hard the sixteen pounder was to use." Really, if there was such an issue with using the damn thing why in the world didn't they move down a couple pounds? There were lighter weights for a reason. The sixteen pounder wasn't even the most frequently used weight anymore. Fifteen pound balls had pretty much become the standard, but these guys had this macho complex or something about using the heaviest ball available.

Gino enjoyed bowling a fair bit. He did not, however, get many chances to play with anyone capable. His colleagues in the Rounds consisted of Anya, people he rarely interacted with, and Luciano, who he could only wish he interacted with less.

God was that guy a lunatic.

... he did, however, absolutely rock at darts. Gino was not petty enough to deny the talent he had for throwing pointy metal things at targets, which was actually fairly cool.

However, Luciano was still a total dick and Gino did not enjoy being near him for prolonged periods of time... or any amount of time actually. No amount of rocking skill at darts was going to make him worth hanging out with.

Frankly, he'd rather play darts with Anya despite her complete lack of interest in the game because Luciano had a habit of pretending the bullseye was actually someone's eye, and that shit was creepy. He could only imagine what taking that fucking loony bowling would be like. He'd probably end up comparing the pins to the breaking of someone's bones or some other equally messed up analogy.

Gino also did not appreciate the man's blatant disrespect towards women, as if he needed more reasons to dislike a person. He had been forced to attend far too many parties to act as that guys babysitter to make sure he didn't do anything illegal to the assembled noble's daughters. And on top of that, the redheaded sadist seemed to think making vaguely threatening statements involving Anya's wellbeing was in some way intimidating him. In reality, it just made Gino much more eager for the day the Vampire of Britannia screwed up so he could shove a stake through his heart.

In both a metaphorical and literal sense, because it would be ironic as all hell for Luciano to get staked through the heart.

"... yeah. I really don't get to go bowling much." He continued idly, drawing away from murderous thoughts. Such a shame too, because he really did enjoy it. Bowling, that is. Not the murderous thoughts. "So can I come along or no?" Gino was totally prepared to be rejected. He was a total random to these guys, all of whom knew one another fairly well. It wasn't exactly like he was a friend, or even an acquaintance. "I am totally prepared to purchase the snacks." He did, however, have a trump card. Money was no object to him and he was a glutton on his own, so they would totally be good on eats.

Rivalz shrugged. "Welp, we can split into teams this way. You and Suzaku against me and Lelouch." And no, Rivalz was NOT just making these teams so that he could avoid being trounced by Lelouch. Totally not.

"Huh... well, we are both in the military, so that kind of fits." Suzaku mumbled. A couple of soldiers against a couple of schoolkids. That was a fairly amusing thought. While he'd never played before, Suzaku was familiar with the rules of the game and had actually seen it played. And he was good at pretty much anything physical, so a little bit of time to warm up and this might not be that difficult at all.

Throwing an arm over the shoulder of his newly announced teammate, Gino laughed. "Alright! Man, this is gonna be great." He was seriously looking forward to having a night to just have fun with some new people.

Lelouch smirked in response. "I suppose this is worth blowing off a couple hours of work on the festival... I'll just make it up somewhere along the line." It wouldn't be that difficult to do, really. Originally he'd just been meaning to get everything organized so he'd have an easier time of it in the wake of the Black Knight's next operation, but it would be fine. "I'm going to go let Nunnally and Sayoko know where I'll be. We're going to the usual place, Rivalz?"

"Yep. Owner is a friend of my boss." Which meant they got discounts because he worked for the owner's friend, which was a great reason to keep coming back to the same place. "We'll head on out, meet us there."

Since there were three people and he didn't much feel like having someone riding behind him on his trusty steed, it appeared they would be making use of public transportation. The bowling alley he had in mind wasn't terribly far away at any rate, it would take about fifteen minutes or so to reach. Lelouch would end up taking about five or ten to let Nunnally and Sayoko know where he was going, with the longer end of the spectrum being likely if he actually ran into his little sister himself rather than just informing their maid.

Why, you may ask? Because he could never leave things at short and sweet with Nunnally. Lelouch absolutely adored that girl and it showed blatantly in any interaction between the two of them.

So he'd probably arrive a few minutes later than them, which would give the three of them time to get the lanes set up and the food order in. Knowing the usual speed of the cooks, it would probably be about five or ten minutes after the order before they got their food. Depending on how much they ended up ordering, since Gino Weinberg had offered to foot the bill on that particular tidbit.

Far be it from Rivalz not to make use of such hospitality.

So after about fifteen minutes of travel, they would end up with like ten minutes to get the lanes and food orders in, and ten minutes after that they could start the game with food at the ready. It'd come down to whether or not the rest of them felt like waiting to start, though. Rivalz himself was perfectly content to fill his stomach before and during the game.

"... I hath been withholding my questions for quite some time, but I can no longer stand it; what is this bowling of which you speak?" Coronamon chimed in at last, having had enough of not knowing what everyone was talking about.

Suzaku blinked at the sudden realization. "Oh yeah, that's right. You're not from this world, are you? Well, bowling is a sport... a game." Actually, the brunette wasn't even sure what bowling counted as.

On his way out of the room, Lelouch replied to that. "Technically speaking, sports are classified as "a contest or game in which people perform certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other.", so bowling classifies as a sport." And with that, he left the room.

"... Heh." Rivalz snickered. "He's always got to have the last word."

Nodding, Suzaku replied. "Lelouch has always been like that."

"Y'know..." Gino interjected in a wondering tone, scratching his cheek idly. "I still just don't get how he pulled off that dress so well." Really, that was still something he had on his mind. It was a thought that probably would never leave him honestly, because that was weird. Cross-dressers who genuinely enjoyed donning pretty dresses and dolling themselves up he could totally understand, but a guy who blatantly hated the very thought of it should not end up looking so good in drag with minimal effort.

A stomp drew everyone's attention back to the short orange digimon who was not content to be ignored. "Thou hath hardly answered my question regarding this "bowling", yet the conversation hath quickly drawn away." Coronamon was not trying to be insistent or obnoxious, but damnit he was curious and they had just kind of moved on without even bothering to give a satisfactory explanation. That was borderline rude.

Suzaku chuckled sheepishly as he gave his response. "Sorry, Coronamon. Tell you what, we're about to head to the bowling alley now so why don't we explain on the way?" They should probably get going soon.

The digimon responded with a nod. "Very well. Shall we be off, then?"

And with that, the three humans and two digimon began their trip to the bowling alley.

---

"So we have two lanes. One for us, one for Hyokomon and Coronamon." Rivalz announced as they all sat around one of the tables placed just above their lanes, with three separate pizzas in front of them and an extra large order of mozzarella sticks. Currently, the group was eating.

The set up was fairly simple; the actual bowling floor was separated from the rest of the area by a wide set of stairs that reached from one end of the building to the other, with railings and small waist-high walls acting as a sort of buffer after every two lanes.

That ended up giving every group in any particular lane a bit of free space to wander about in without disturbing others.

Everything inside the buffers was your space to use, but the actual bowling area itself was left open. It was probably because at that point you'd actively be walking through other people's games, so that served as something of deterrent to keep people from wandering that way.

And the carpeted area outside of the buffers was free roam, where the arcade, pool tables, front desk, and concessions were located.

All in all, it was a fairly nice place. Rather than dropping by in their school clothes, or knightly attire in the case of Gino, each of them had changed into their typical casual clothing.

"So to confirm; thou say that the objective of this game be to roll thine ball down yonder lane, thusly felling the pins at the end?" Coronamon confirmed once again.

"Yep. Just don't toss it or anything. Roll it. Don't break the ball, the floor, or anyone's bones." Rivalz elaborated, hefting one of the fifteen pound balls. The bluenette was garbed in a simple attire consisting of a sleeveless denim hoodie, colored a faded green, over an olive shirt, with a pair of black jeans. "These things can hurt people if you're just throwin' them around like snowballs." The fact that they had brought a pair of digimon to a bowling alley had caused some concerns, initially, as this was the first time the establishment had seen that.

It had begun a five minute debate over whether or not digimon were pets, which were not allowed. In the end, the manager had gotten involved and just moved things along considering that the creatures were sentient and civilized, and one of them was partnered with Gino Weinberg, who had shifted his attire enough that people weren't immediately figuring out who he was.

Once the manager had arrived and immediately noticed the connection between Hyokomon and the Knight of Three, he'd quickly let them through without issue.

"Are we requesting bumpers on their lane or no?" Lelouch questioned, wearing his usual casual clothes; his brown jacket over a black shirt, with a pair of grey pants. Glancing towards the small creatures, he continued. "I don't know how well Hyokomon plays, but Coronamon has never done this before so it may be for the best... or he might break them..." Considering the little orange furball could smash through solid stone, it wasn't an unfair concern to have.

"No bumpers." Hyokomon asserted. "Nuh uh." On top of the fact that he didn't need them, the canary was certain Coronamon would be fine as well.

Rivalz finally noticed something. "Er... hey. How exactly do you bowl anyway? You don't have fingers."

Hyokomon replied easily. "I put the ball on the ground, and depending on my mood I either push it with my foot or get a running start and drop-kick it down the lane." As though this were perfectly normal behavior.

The trio from the student council turned towards Gino, who was snickering into his hand. "Yeah. He does that." Gino confirmed, breaking into another fit of laughter. He'd changed from his uniform into some of the random casual clothes he'd bothered to carry. A simple sleeveless shirt, colored grey and patterned with black tiger stripes, covered his upper body while his pants were simple blue jeans. "Oh man, it's always so great when people see him do it." Amazingly enough, Hyokomon's accuracy with that method was quite high.

Shaking his head, Lelouch replied. "So long as he doesn't injure anyone, that will work." It wasn't really like there were many other options for him to use, so why not?

"Right... so Rivalz is up first, here." Suzaku pointed out, glancing up to the scoreboard as he took a bite of his pizza. The brunette had decided to just go with his usual clothing as well, though he'd taken off the jacket for the moment, the blue garment lying on one of the benches nearby. This left him wearing his yellow shirt and faded blue jeans, the jeans having a single strap that went from his left side around hip level, over his shoulder, and connected to the back of his pants in the same fashion. "Should we start now or what?"

Shrugging, the blue haired boy stood and gave a stretch. "Yeah, I'm good on stuffing myself for the moment. Let's roll." He paused for a moment, blinking as a wide smile spread across his face. "Heh. Roll." Puns were great when you made them on accident.

Lelouch groaned. "Just go take your turn..."

Gino and Hyokomon were both snickering at the pun, while Suzaku seemed only a bit less amused.

With his job done, Rivalz took a small bow and procured himself a ball. Walking down to the lanes themselves, he smirked. "So this is either going to be a gutterball, a strike, or a seven-ten split. I like those odds!" Getting a good start, he reeled back his arm and took a few steps forward, before swinging his arm and releasing the ball.

"Oh, pretty good roll." Gino commented. "We're already at a higher level of play than the usual folks I do this with."

Pins flew into the air briefly, before gravity forced them back to the ground. Rather than any of the predicted outcomes Rivalz had given, there were only two pins left standing and they were directly beside one another, the two furthest to the back and left. Seven and four.

Nodding to himself, the bluenette replied. "Welp, it's not what I was expecting but why not? I think I can deal with a spare." Or at least he hoped this would be a spare. There were few things more aggravating in bowling than missing an easy spare like this, but he'd managed it before.

But this time Madame President wasn't along for the ride, so his mind was off of the terribly occupying effect that the motions of rolling the ball had on her impressive bust.

Or it was. Nope, back to the moment at hand. Concentrate. He retrieved the ball once again and quickly made his second roll of the game, nailing the seven and four pins both with the ball itself and netting himself a spare. "Cool." He muttered, turning back to the assembled group. "And that, my friends, is how Rivalz Cardemonde bowls. Please, feel free to take notes." The boy put on a false haughty air.

"My turn!" And with that announcement, Gino quickly made his way down while toting his own fifteen pound ball. "I'm gonna knock these bad-boys out of the park, lads!"

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "While his enthusiasm is commendable, I believe he's getting a bit too into this." That guy was hyper as hell. It was hard to believe that he was a high ranking member of the Britannian military considering the way he acted, but who was he to judge?

The sound of crashing pins brought everyone's attention to the result of Gino's first frame. "Steeeeeerike one!" The blonde announced, turning to the rest of their group with a grin, hand held out in a peace sign.

"What? Aw man. Here I am thinking a spare is great, and you just blow me outta the water not five minutes later?" Rivalz complained, sullenly nibbling on a mozzarella stick.

Gino laughed as he made his way back up to the table, grabbing a celebratory slice of pizza. "Sorry old chap, but I'm always in the groove for this kind of thing." Taking a bite of the pizza in his hand, he turned to the dark haired member of their party. "Your turn there, bud."

A small smile spread across Lelouch's lips as he stood. "So it is." It had been quite some time since he'd gotten a chance to play, but he certainly wasn't about to be shown up by one of the Knights of the Round.

Taking his own ball, Lelouch sauntered down to the lane with his confident smile in place.

Rivalz took notice. "Oh man, he's got that look on his face again..." The boy muttered with a nervous smile.

""That look"? What's "that look" mean?" The blonde questioned, unsure of what the other guy was on about.

Another round of pins crashing drew them to Lelouch's first strike of the game.

With a groan, Rivalz replied. "That. That is what it means."

A wide grin spread across Gino's lips as Lelouch made his way back with that same smirk still firmly in place. "You're up next, Suzaku."

The brunette in question could only laugh nervously. 'Well, at least now I know why he was so eager to play...' He thought to himself, preparing his own attempt.

Rather than the fifteen pounder, he'd gone straight to the sixteen pound ball. It wasn't even really a macho decision, considering he had little difficulty with it at all. The weight felt better to him.

So you take a couple of steps with your arm reeling back, then just roll it. Seemed simple enough.

Executing the motions with all the poise and grace one could expect of a trained martial artist, Suzaku could only smile as he rolled the ball down the lane, the satisfying crash of pins a melody to his ears.

Much like Rivalz, he'd been left with an easy spare. His own had consisted of three pins standing, but a second roll ended that little rebellion.

Turning back to the group, he was treated to the sight of Rivalz applauding madly. "Hah! Your first time and you roll a spare, good one buddy!"

Blushing slightly under the praise, the boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've always been good at physical things." It wasn't a difficult game to understand, really. Roll the ball down the lane, knock over the pins. The difficult part came in actually hitting all of the pins. But he wasn't all that bad at it, all things considered. With a good stance and the ability to time your release well, it wasn't too hard to at least hit the pins.

"My turn again, then. Sooner or later one of us is gonna have to screw up if we don't want this game to be a tie." That'd be awkward, he pondered as he made his way back down, passing the brunette and beginning his own attempt.

With another satisfying crash as pins went flying, Rivalz faced perhaps the most dreaded obstacle in any bowler's way. "... well, shit." He mumbled, as two pins stared towards him mockingly. "There goes that." The seven ten split was not an easy thing to beat, since the two pins were so far from one another on top of being the furthest to the back. All in all, it wasn't something that Rivalz felt confident in beating.

That didn't mean he wouldn't be giving it a try. "Right..." Reeling his arm back, Rivalz let loose with another roll. His goal was to knock the seven pin into the ten by rebounding it off of the side wall.

"Well at least he hit the seven, right?" Gino chuckled as the seven pin immediately went into the pit, leaving a single pin up.

Rivalz, bummed out by his failure, slogged up to the table and proceeded to drown his sorrows in soda and pizza as Gino happily stepped down to take his own turn.

The depressed state only became worse as Gino bowled a second strike. "... Well ol' buddy, it looks like you're going to have to step up your game if we wanna win this, cuz' I'm just about worthless." He chuckled, giving Lelouch a wry smile.

"Don't be ridiculous, Rivalz." Lelouch replied consolingly, before completely shattering the effect with his next sentence. "You're wonderful comic relief. That's useful."

Recoiling as though struck, Rivalz gave his groaning response. "This is my best friend? Man, I make horrible life choices."

Offering a shrug, Lelouch stepped back onto the bowling floor with his ball in hand, preparing to take his turn. "Don't be like that, Rivalz." He began with a small smirk. "If not for me, you'd be significantly shorter on cash and living a much safer lifestyle." The part time vigilante was of course referring to their numerous exploits throughout the settlement, which had earned each of them a very hefty sum over the years.

"As if. I'd just find another genius to tote around." Rivalz returned with a flippant wave. "I'm sure there are a lot of them running around."

Gino and Suzaku were both fairly confused by the byplay, unaware of just what kind of shenanigans the other two boys got up to, and the two digimon were too busy on their own lane to even care.

"No, no... don't you dare throw that ball, Coronamon!" Hyokomon chirped frantically, seemingly stopping the orange digimon from doing just that. "You're gonna get us tossed out and if that happens then... er..." He paused and gave considering to just what he could do in retaliation, before giving up. "Actually, I have no idea what I'll do since turning into a Champion just to start a fight with you over something as ridiculous as that would be stupid, but I will do something and you can bet you'll rather I didn't!" Scathing. Good job, Hyokomon. You really told him.

"T'was not a toss I was preparing for, Hyokomon. The intent was to familiarize mineself to the weight of the chosen ball." Coronamon replied back in a calm and completely reasonable tone, hefting the ball once more. "Aye, this ball doth suit mine fancy. It hath the perfect amount of weight." Fifteen pounds was perfect, in his eyes. It was a single pound less than the heaviest available, which was not terribly noticeable but at the same time it helped enough with control and he just so happened to like the number fifteen more than sixteen.

"... oh." Hyokomon replied after a moment. "Okay, that's fine then. I was just concerned you'd try tossing that thing straight down the lane towards the pins." Which seemed like a perfectly valid concern to have considering he was dealing with a digimon known almost entirely for demonstrating his own strength and skill.

Raising his nose in a haughty fashion, Coronamon responded. "Hmph. I hath no regard for humankind as a whole, yet as of now I reside in their realm. Thus, it is their rules I must follow. If such rules prevent me from sending a spherical weight crashing into white pins at high velocity, then so be it." He really did want to try that, though. Also maybe setting the ball on fire before throwing it. Just for dramatic effect.

But he wouldn't, because that was against the rules and he was a law abiding digimon whether he be in the Digital World or the world of humans.

Hyokomon blinked, before shaking his head incredulously. "Right. Well you're up first, so just go ahead."

Taking the ball between both hands, as his fingers were not quite long enough to hold the ball via the holes meant for such a thing, Coronamon hefted it forward and let loose a battle cry as he released the ball, which sped down the lane at high speed and hit the pins with enough force to send all but three of them flying backwards.

His aim had been off, somewhat, due to his method of rolling as well as his inexperience with the sport. The pins furthest to the left had been spared, for the first roll. "So now I simply strike forth at the remaining pins once mine ball returns to me?" Coronamon queried, turning to regard the canary.

"A-yup, it's that simple. Good job by the way, for a first timer that wasn't a bad roll by any means." Hyokomon wasn't too terribly impressed considering Coronamon actually had hands capable of gripping the damn balls, but from the perspective of someone who'd seen a lot of first time bowlers from various excursions with Gino it was clearly a cut above many of them.

Smirking at the praise, Coronamon preened. "Many thanks for your compliment, friend. I do believe I will come to enjoy this "bowling" game." The sound the pins made when struck was incredibly satisfying.

Once the ball made it back to him, the orange digimon quickly launched it back down the lane to strike down those that would mock him by remaining upright.

Another satisfying crash signaled that those standing against him had fallen once more, and Coronamon chuckled. "Thou should have simply fallen over out of principle, pins, but thy ignorance hath been your downfall."

Hyokomon could only shake his head. This guy was a nutjob, but whatever. It was better than Luciano or his mindless pet of a DemiDevimon. "My go." With that, he stepped forward, rolling his own ball along the floor as he went. Sometimes it sucked not having the ability to carry large objects easily, but he'd been dealing with that ever since he came to the human world so it wasn't that awful anymore.

Settling the ball in the center of the lane, Hyokomon backed up and took aim down the line. "Hm..." From where he'd centered the ball, if he was to give it a good shove it should result in either a strike or present a good opportunity for a spare. That was, of course, if he hit it right. It was a very precise thing for Hyokomon, because he had to shove the damn thing with his feet in order to move it.

Nodding to himself, the canary chick dashed forward and hopped, landing on one foot and sending the other into a kick. The ball was struck with enough force to send it rolling down the lane, where it eventually crashed into the pins and resulted in a strike. "Woot! Haha, I've still got it!" He cheered, dancing around idly.

"Splendid! I applaud your precision and force, Hyokomon." It was quite the display of skill. Kicking a ball like that, hitting it full on with the bottom of your foot, didn't exactly give the best control. The fact that the canary digimon had struck true despite that was actually fairly impressive.

And so the two digimon continued their friendly game, neither really trying to outdo the other.

The humans, on the other hand, were a bit of a different story.

Well, two of them at least.

"Heh. You gotta mess up sometime, Lelouch my boy." Gino taunted as the dark haired boy went up to roll once more. As of now, they were at their fifth frame and both Gino and Lelouch had rolled nothing but strikes. Things had started to get competitive between them, whereas Suzaku and Rivalz were both content with their mixed bag scores of fifty two, for Suzaku, and the forty four from frame four where Rivalz had landed another spare, which left his final score up in the air at the moment.

Lelouch's reply was a simple "Hmph." as he rolled yet another strike with apparent ease, meeting Gino's challenging gaze with his own.

At this point it was less a matter of winning the team game and more of one-upping the other.

Passing by the black haired teen on his way down to the floor, Suzaku couldn't help the exasperated expression on his face. Lelouch was always so competitive over little things like this, but that was just who he was.

Another roll ended fairly well for Suzaku, leaving him staring at an easy spare. All in all, he was getting the hang of the game rather quickly. It had been a long time since he'd had so much fun doing something so simple, being in the military didn't spare him many opportunities to go out and enjoy himself like this.

Making his way back up to the table after landing said spare, Suzaku snatched one of the mozzarella sticks settled beneath the heat lamp on the table and took a bite, amusing himself by seeing how far the cheese within would stretch before snapping.

The food was pretty good, honestly. Yeah it was just pizza and fried cheese, but hey. Good food was hardly ever good for you. They were positively loaded on the mozzarella sticks, too. Gino had a thing for them, something about the little cheese sticks positively delighted him for whatever reason.

Suzaku wasn't going to ask.

Nor was he going to ponder why Lelouch kept shooting odd glances towards the pizza. There was probably a story there, but he wanted no part of it.

---

The game had ended in a victory for Rivalz and Lelouch, largely due to Suzaku's inexperience dragging the point total of his team down. That wasn't unexpected and it certainly wasn't something the blue haired boy or the young Warrant Officer cared about, nor did the other members of their respective teams.

It had stopped being a team game for them the moment they locked eyes after one another's first strike.

What had followed was probably one of the most competitive bowling matches Rivalz had ever seen, in which Lelouch and Gino both gave their absolute best to one up the other.

Things had been close. The ending, for that matter, was extremely close. Lelouch had rolled a near perfect game, with only a single spare to his name, ending up with a total of two hundred and seventy nine points.

Gino himself had rolled two spares throughout the game rather than one, which put him behind Lelouch by twenty points.

The most impressive thing, in Rivalz mind, was the fact that Lelouch's only spare had been on a seven-ten split. He'd actually managed to get the seven and ten in a single roll, something that the bluenette still couldn't quite get over. Why did Lelouch make this stuff look so easy?

As far as the digimon's lane? Well, their score had been fairly mixed. Considering they each spent their frames trying more and more ridiculous ways to get the ball down the lane, it was a surprise that they'd reached a middling score in the end. At any rate, Coronamon seemed all around pleased with the night, and Hyokomon enjoyed bowling in general.

All in all, tonight had been a success. Everyone had a good time, and the incredibly competitive vibe had dissipated and Rivalz could finally breath properly without all the tension in the air.

Honestly, the boy could almost swear he spotted lightning clashing every time Gino and Lelouch met eyes during the game. It was unnerving as all hell. But finally that was over, and they'd descended back into a more amiable atmosphere.

The blonde had accepted his loss gracefully, and the two of them had gone up to return the bowling shoes while Rivalz and Suzaku took care of the cleanup around their area, as well as gathering the leftover food so it didn't waste.

"So, Lelouch." Gino spoke up, after the two had finished speaking with the lady managing the counter. "Just wanted to say something really quick. Ah, and don't take this the wrong way." He chuckled a bit. "Man, this is gonna sound really weird I'm sure..." A sheepish smile found it's way to the blonde's face as he continued trying to think of how to word his next statement.

Lelouch's brow rose in curiosity. "I doubt anything you say will offend me." It was rather difficult to get under his skin with words alone, but Gino didn't know him well enough to know that already.

Sighing and deciding to just get it over with, Gino finally made his reply. "Right... so. Anya seems to have taken a liking to you. More than she has to any other guy I've ever met. And it's weird, to me, because I've never seen her like that before. But she's happy." He scratched his cheek with a small smile. "Happier than I've ever really seen her, actually." He still didn't get what it was about these people that made her so content, but it was a major improvement over the depressing sight he was usually greeted with.

That's not to say he found hanging out with Anya depressing; just that she always looked so painfully sad, to him. And there was never anything he could really do to help her, which was the depressing part.

Carrying on before Lelouch could interrupt him in his brief pause, Gino continued. "So here's the weird part. I'm pretty sure she's got it bad for you, and I'm pretty sure you're aware of it. I don't know what you intend to do with that knowledge, and it's not my place to try and convince you one way or another on it. So all I'm gonna say is this; if it comes to that point, you better take care of her." He chuckled a bit, feeling sort of awkward. "Man, feels like I'm her older brother or something the way I said that, but whatever."

A small chuckle came from the dark haired boy, before it grew into a genuine laugh. Nothing loud or boisterous, but a genuinely amused laugh that Lelouch just couldn't contain. "Honestly?" Lelouch mumbled after his laughter died down, a small smile on his lips. "I'm glad that she has someone who cares so much for her."

Gino was a good person. Whatever faults he had, whatever else about him Lelouch didn't know, he could pretty much guarantee the blonde wasn't an awful human being like so many other Britannians he'd come across as of late.

He cared about Anya, a girl who he'd needed to reintroduce himself to several times, more than many people cared about their family. It was heartening to see such a thing, because if anyone needed a friend like that it would be her.

Blushing a bit at the unexpected praise, Gino coughed and looked away. "Oi. Don't get sappy on me here. This is already awkward enough for me." He'd just played the overprotective big brother card and he wasn't even related to Anya. Really, he'd only done it because this was such a bizarre situation. Anya had never acted like this before, had no experience with relationships or even people. And while Lelouch seemed like a swell guy, he had to let it be known that there was at least one person out there that would care enough if he hurt the girl to do something about it.

No one was going to take advantage of Anya for any reason so long as he could help it.

"Rest assured, Gino, that I would never hurt her for any reason." Lelouch spoke, drawing the blonde's attention back to him. 'And I'll make anyone who does pay dearly.' He thought to himself, the smile one his lips untainted by the malicious thoughts in his head.

Nodding, Gino clapped a hand on Lelouch's back. "Good to hear, pal." Well, thankfully that was over. Good grief was that awkward but it needed to be done.

"Hey!" Rivalz called out, carrying the remaining food in a bag. "So we've got enough leftovers to split evenly between us, and I went ahead and did that. So everyone's got a couple slices of pizza and some mozzarella sticks left over." Those of them who openly had Digimon had been given a larger share to compensate for said creatures, but that still left a fair amount for Lelouch and himself.

Idly, he wondered how Motimon would feel about pizza. It was one of the things he'd yet to try. The little blob adored pretty much any food he brought home, but the reactions varied.

For such a stoic little creature, he certainly did like his food. It was a shame he had to spend so much time cooped up in Rivalz room, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Maybe get a bag or something? Yeah, maybe something like what Lelouch had got himself after Shinjuku. That could work... wait.

'Hold the phone! A duffel bag, yeah, that'd be a great way to carry around an In-Training digimon.' They tended to be small enough that it'd be a fairly comfortable ride, a trait most In-Training digimon shared. '... oh man.' It was around this point that Rivalz finally realized just what Lelouch had been toting around all this time.

Sure, he wasn't one hundred percent sure, but honestly? It made so much sense. After he got caught up in the events of Shinjuku, Lelouch had taken to carrying that bag with him just about everywhere.

Gino and Suzaku wouldn't notice. Neither of them had been around long enough that they understood how big of a change it was for Lelouch to suddenly be carrying a bag like that everywhere. For all they knew he could have always done that.

But Rivalz was piecing things together after it finally occurred to him.

"Rivalz? You alright there, man?" Gino poked the boy's forehead, leaning uncomfortably far into his personal space bubble.

Coming out of his internal thoughts just in time to notice Gino's face directly in front of his, the blunette released a surprised yelp and quickly took several steps backwards. "Personal space, personal space!"

The blonde cackled at the reaction. "Awww, c'mon, it's not like I was gonna do anything. You kinda spaced out, y'know?"

Looking around, Rivalz noted that everyone had noticed his little inner monologue. "Ah. Sorry, sorry, something just hit me." He chuckled. "Forgot what my schedule for work was supposed to be, so I just wracked my brain trying to remember."

While the excuse was fair, there was one person who didn't buy it. Of course, Rivalz had made the excuse with this thought in mind. Lelouch knew him better than that.

So now Lelouch knew two things; one, that he was lying to Gino and Suzaku about what was on his mind. And two, that he wanted the dark haired boy to know that he was lying.

A small gesture from Lelouch almost put a smirk on the other boy's face. 'Say more later.' Man, what a reversal of events. He was stopped from confirming by another signal from the other boy. 'Suzaku knows' Idly moving some of his hair with his eyes cutting towards the brunette who's back was turned.

Oh. Suzaku also knew this little sign language? Neat. Lelouch did say they were old friends, but Rivalz didn't realize that went all the way back to age ten. Either way, it was clear he would be speaking with his pal later on, and he'd have his chance to make some inquiries then.

But for the moment, it was time to go. "Welp, we're all set up to get going." Rivalz announced, distributing the little boxes filled with food to their various owners. "It's been a good time, we'll have to do this again some time. Maybe gather up the whole council." Oh man that'd be fun. With any luck they could convince Nina to come along again.

Unlikely, he realized, considering last time she had been a jumpy mess due to the constant banging of the bowling balls on the pins setting her off like a rabbit hearing gunshots.

... Rivalz was a bad person for finding that as funny as he did, but he knew for a fact that Lelouch was just as amused by it.

Gino nodded with a small grin. "Yeah, it's been great. I'm gonna head off to the Viceroy's place now. I think I've waited long enough that she won't scalp me for showing up early and stealing her thunder or something like that." Man was Cornelia territorial, it was kind of scary. Gino didn't get why she was so uptight about things like that.

What, did she think he was going to swoop in and take all the glory or something? Why the hell would he need to? As the Knight of Three, there really were not many places higher for Gino to go, and the only position he could see possibly reaching from military accomplishments was currently filled by Bismarck Waldstein. Said position would likely be held until the man passed away.

But whatever. He was supposed to have shown up tomorrow, but "arriving" a couple hours before midnight should be fine. Hopefully. Ah, whatever, it's not like the Princess could actually do anything to him for it.

"I think I'll stop by work and see if Lloyd has anything going on." The man had recently gotten into some sort of advanced testing for a new invention of his, one that he was positively giddy over. That could have possibly horrifying results, but it could also be really really neat and Suzaku would be lying if he said there was no interest from him.

Coronamon perked up at that. "You speak of the card system the man hath been toying with?" He himself was fairly interested in that considering what the man had explained to them the last time Suzaku brought it up. If that actually worked, it could revolutionize the field of battle all over again.

Suzaku nodded idly. "Yeah, he's still messing with it last I checked. He'd probably still be around."

Seeing an opportunity, Lelouch decided to take it. "Would it be possible for me to come along as well? I've been meaning to speak with Earl Asplund about something for a while now." And if the man was working on something, it may be best to try and figure out what it is, no matter what it was, so he wouldn't be caught off guard later on down the line. Coronamon mentioned something about cards, but that wasn't terribly informative at all.

The brunette blinked in surprise. "About what?" What in the world would Lelouch have to speak to Lloyd about? The man had been sworn to secrecy in front of a princess, there was no concern for his identity there. Anyone who disobeyed a command of that sort from royalty would be put to death almost guaranteed. So what did he need to speak with his boss for?

A small frown appeared on the other boy's face. "It's something I'd rather not mention in front of those not directly related to it, but rest assured it is important." It wasn't his story to tell, and he wasn't going to go around spreading Milly's personal business for no reason. If Suzaku absolutely had to know, then he would consent, but otherwise he would not be revealing the main reason for visiting Lloyd.

"Er... alright." Suzaku sighed, shaking his head. "If you say it's important, that's all I need to know." He wouldn't pry into it. Lelouch was a smart guy, smarter than he could ever hope to be, so he clearly knew what he was doing.

Rivalz balked. "Alright. I guess I'm goin' home then." It wasn't like there was much else for him to do, considering everyone else was taking off to various places. He would've asked to tag along with Lelouch and visit Suzaku's workplace, but something in his best bud's eyes told him it wasn't a social visit. So he'd leave that. "You're gonna need to take me along with ya' to work one of these days, Suzaku. I'm dyin' to see what you're up to." Honorary Britannians rarely found themselves promoted to Warrant Officer, let alone promoted and then shipped off to engineering. So he was totally up to something cool. The situation surrounding him was just too weird for his new position not to be interesting.

Cracking his back, Gino turned to walk away, throwing one last glance at Lelouch and shaking his head. "I hope you know Anya is totally gonna try and force you into a dress whenever the opportunity arises." He chuckled at the sudden glare this drew from the dark haired teen. "Aw, c'mon, you know she's gonna. You make it look good." And with that, he made his leave with Hyokomon in tow, ignoring the horrible stare of an annoyed Lelouch upon his back.

"... Note to self; if Gino continues to hang around, convince Milly to bribe and or blackmail him into participating in some form of crossdressing event." Lelouch mumbled bitterly, fully intending to locate some sort of leverage to hold over the Knight of Three's head to do just that. Bastard wouldn't think it was so funny when it was him stuffed into one of those frilly monstrosities.

The other two just shook their heads.

---

"Oho~!" Interesting, interesting, such wonderfully eventful days these were. Lloyd didn't often get visitors, so few people wanted to come by and see him after all, but the few that he did receive were always such colorful folk. "How do you do tonight, Your Highness?" He greeted the dark haired youth with an overdramatic stage bow, straightening his glasses as he rose.

"Earl Asplund." The response was, as expected, not nearly so cheerful. Such a dull boy that Lelouch, what a shame. Lloyd could have used another intelligent mind to banter with. Ah well, at least it was an improvement to the glares. Goodness did that boy have an intimidating stare. If he'd been any other man he may have actually been concerned.

But, well, Lloyd wasn't normal enough to be intimidated by such things. Dear old Charlie hadn't given him a scare, so it wasn't such a surprise to learn that his spawn was in the same boat.

Tilting his head curiously, Lloyd chuckled. "Earl Asplund? Hmph. Lloyd is fine, you know, Your Highness. I hardly even remember I'm an Earl." What did titles matter for one like him? So long as he had his machines, his pudding, and his funding, there was nothing in the world that Lloyd had any need for.

"Lloyd, then." The boy smiled slightly. "I'd actually like to speak with you about matters of a more personal nature." Seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of Suzaku and the eccentric Earl's assistant, Cecile, he elaborated further. "Not to offend; I don't know how much you two would know about the topic." He was being intentionally vague. Lloyd would almost certainly know what he meant.

"Ah, you mean my engagement to Miss Ashford?" Lloyd guessed, smiling at the surprised exclamation from Suzaku. "Ah yes! I'd forgotten entirely to inform Warrant Officer Kururugi of my impending marriage. At any rate, am I to assume Your Highness opposes the union?"

Ignoring the confused babbling from the shell-shocked pilot, Lelouch carried on. "Milly is a close friend of mine, and she doesn't wish to be involved in the marriage. She cannot say so herself without directly opposing her parent's wishes, but I would like to state her feelings on the matter."

The white haired scientist bobbed his head in acknowledgement. "Alrighty. Well, I suppose Miss Ashford would be against marrying someone such as myself. Cecile has a great many things to say about my ability with human beings in general, let alone those of the fairer sex." People were not Lloyd's strong suit. He dealt in machines, which made much more sense to him.

As such, the marriage itself was not terribly important to him. Really, it was just an opportunity to get his hands on an antique. And even that wasn't so much something he wanted, just something he saw an opportunity to take. All in all, he had nothing against calling the whole thing off. It hadn't been his idea in the first place.

Of course he wouldn't just outright say that. No, first and foremost Lloyd would see what kind of entertainment could be gleaned from this situation. "So, then, you're acting on behalf of Miss Ashford in order to have me call the engagement off?"

"That would be accurate, yes. Would you consider doing so with just a request?" Despite his rather icy demeanor, the boy was nothing if not polite. "I would certainly appreciate it, and I can assure you that Milly wants nothing to do with marriage in general at the moment." Certainly not, she was still in school wasn't she? Didn't girls at that age like to flit about like butterflies and do whatever their little minds came up with at a moments notice? Or something like that. Lloyd still didn't understand women, not even after numerous lectures from Cecile on the very topic whenever he did something to offend.

Lloyd hummed thoughtfully. It was a very simple request, and one that wouldn't adversely affect him at all. Even if he went through with the marriage, it wasn't like he would suddenly drop everything to play with the relic of a knightmare the Ashfords possessed. His intention had been something closer to perhaps creating an altered, upgraded version of the Ganymede further down the road.

Marianne the Flash had been a very impressive devicer, and Lloyd had some interest in seeing the machine that had been so pivotal in that legend rise once again. That woman had done things in a KMF that simply defied reason and logic; she'd made that outdated frame do things that were only just becoming possible with the creation of the Lancelot, and so he couldn't help but wonder just how much of that performance was the pilot and whether or not the machine was hiding some kind of secret.

However, that would never be something Lloyd could dedicate much time to. He would be far too busy for the foreseeable future with numerous other projects ranging from the Lancelot to finally managing to stabilize the Gawain's Hadron Cannon properly... and the Float System as well. That was important too.

All in all, Lloyd had his work cut out for him and so he really didn't need another project eating up his time. So this wasn't going to hurt him at all.

But... "In truth, there isn't really much benefit to calling it off now. That's not to say I'm unwilling; I just don't see a reason at the moment to call it a show."

A smirk found it's way to the boy's face. "Well, I do have one thing of note to mention to you." He chuckled, reaching into his jacket. After a moment, he retrieved something of great interest to those present. An activation key, clearly designed for a Knightmare frame. "You're aware of my history as a member of the royalty, and as such I'm sure you can guess just what I'm holding?"

Lloyd could, in fact, guess. "Ah." And with that, it became clear what the young man intended to tell him. "So, then, the Ganymede is no longer in possession of the Ashford family?" Which meant that the wedding had lost what little meaning it had in the first place.

Nodding, the boy elaborated a bit on the circumstances. "Reuben Ashford, the man who had previously possessed this key, decided to give it to me. Something of a gift you could say. He never got around to informing anyone about the official transfer of ownership, but..." He now had ownership of the machine, meaning that the entire thing that Lloyd had agreed to this wedding in the first place for wasn't in the hands of those who had bargained with it.

"Oh, darn." Lloyd mumbled. "Well, I suppose that's off then. Good enough I suppose, if Miss Ashford wasn't interested in the first place." Picking up from his quieter tone, the scientist clapped his hands together, changing gears immediately. "Ah, yes, yes! I just remembered something. Oh Suzaku~, could you and Coronamon be dears and help me test something out? Oh, and do stay and watch Your Highness, I'm terribly proud of this little invention of mine, I think you'll find it most interesting!" The man began speaking a mile a minute, quickly darting about his laboratory without regard for what others were saying or doing, eventually breaking off to dash over and practically snatch Suzaku away from the others, ushering the brunette and his partner into another room with tangible giddiness.

"Er... sorry about Lloyd, Your Highness. He's always like this." Cecile, the motherly assistant to the lunatic of an Earl, apologized to the dark haired prince. And unlike Lloyd, who's "your highness" was always made with a mocking tilt, she actually seemed genuinely respectful.

"... just Lelouch is fine. I gave up those titles years ago." He didn't particularly mind it when the foppish Earl made a mockery of the title, it was amusing if anything, but actually hearing the title uttered as though he was still among the royalty grated on him a bit. "I never liked them anyway." No one should be held on a damn pedestal just due to their heritage. Respect should be earned, not given freely based upon birth.

The woman stumbled a bit at that, clearly unused to the idea of referring to royalty so casually. "Uhm... A-alright, Prince Lelouch." The reply was somewhat awkward and it was perfectly visible on her face that she was still concerned about offending.

Lelouch sighed. "Just call me by my name. It's best to get into the habit if we were ever to meet in public, after all. I wouldn't want an accidental honorific to expose the secret I've been guarding for seven years."

Blushing somewhat at the insinuation, Cecile nodded. "Lelouch, then. Just Lelouch." She repeated it to herself as a form of assurance. She hadn't actually considered the possibility of meeting the prince in public, but it certainly did exist considering the fact that Suzaku was working with them and went to the same school as him.

"Good." The boy replied with a small smile. "I'm sure Earl Asplund has something interesting to show, considering how quickly he drug Suzaku off."

Cecile nodded. "It's something of an off and on project he's been fiddling with for the past several months... nearly a year, come to think of it." She briefly counted the months in her head, before bobbing her head in confirmation. "Yes, the past nine months or so. He never had all the right materials to make much progress on it in more than sporadic bursts, but recently he's been making progress at an alarming rate." It was actually really scary how well Lloyd did his job, because a man like that did not make one think of "hard work and dedication" at first glance.

A curious expression took over Lelouch's face. "And just what would it be that he's so engrossed in right now?"

"It's... something of an augmenting system for Digimon." That was the best way she could really describe it. "Essentially, it allows-" She was cut off by the man himself dashing back out of the room, with a bewildered Suzaku in tow.

The brunette had a new addition to his attire, in the form of a dark grey pouch attached to the strap from his pants. It rested just above the button itself, and appeared to be held on by a loop on the pouch. On top of that, he was carrying a small rectangular device, colored a mixture of dark orange, white, and gold. Coronamon, seated upon his shoulder, was staring intently at the device.

"We're baaaaack, and the card-loader system is a resounding success!" His glee was briefly restrained as he noted something regarding the system in question. "... However, we are still lacking somewhat in resources for the project. Thus far we have seven different cards in working condition." His excitement immediately picked up again. "But they do work, and oh my goodness do they work! Ahaha!" Lloyd began twirling around in glee, ignoring the peculiar looks he was getting from the prince, the exasperated look from his assistant, or the still bewildered expression on his devicer's face. None of these things mattered in the face of his success!

Lelouch spoke up, breaking the man from his revelry. "Card loader system?" He questioned, clearly wondering just what the man was on about.

Calming himself, Lloyd began his explanation. "Well, you see, digimon are data. Somehow, even I don't quite know how, they are sentient creatures with the ability to think and feel just the same as a human being, they are entirely our equal in that regard. But still, they are data." Seeing that his point was across, Lloyd continued. "As such, they can be transported into digivices for a multitude of different reasons, ranging from stealth to mere convenience. But that was just the beginning." His excitement was getting to him, but the man held it back for the sake of explanation. "So! My thinking was simple; if the digimon were data, then surely there was a way to see that data, or parts of that data, and make use of it." The bizarre attacks that digimon were capable of, often times defying human comprehension, had to be data as well. "Such as the "attacks" of digital monsters, for example an Angemon's Hand of Fate attack. Since Angemon is comprised of data, there would have to be some sort of code within that data that would allow the Hand of Fate attack to be used." He practically giggled in glee. "And I was right! There was, and I could find it, and I can isolate it and then..."

"... you can contain it." Lelouch spoke in realization, genuinely impressed by the ingenuity of this man. Whether or not there was a use for such a thing, containing the isolated strand of data that allowed the use of the attacks of a digimon was a big step forward. But according to the earlier notes in the conversation, Lloyd had gone further already. Those cards he'd been mentioning. That was where the data was contained, and as such, that data could be used to augment a digimon.

"Yes indeed, Your Highness! I've contained the data strands in these handy little cards." The man quickly reached over to Suzaku's new pouch, pulling one of said cards out. They appeared to be a plastic-like material, similar to a credit card, and the one he now held was a simple blue card with six angelic wings in the center. "In particular, this one is a favorite of mine. While results on Knightmare Float systems are still rather lacking, I've found something wonderful here! I call it Hyper Wing." Idly twirling the card between his fingers, the man shook his head and let loose a joyous laugh. "Flight! It enables flight for any digimon it's used on. I'll need to test the duration of the effect, but just the simple fact that it worked is enough for now!" He was positively giddy, and it was plainly obvious for everyone there.

Lelouch, however, was less enthused. 'This is a very large step forward in digital monster combat, and it's in enemy hands. How unfortunate... the only advantage I have here is knowing just how powerful this is from the beginning, rather than learning the hard way.' Rather than dwelling on his thoughts, the teen decided to go with the more practical route of fishing for more information. "So how does the actual process work?"

The response from the scientist was quick and enthusiastic. "That's the best part; it's so simple a noble could do it! You just swipe the card through the device. Easy-peasy."

Holding back a snort at the shot at nobility, Lelouch shook his head. "I won't lie to you, Lloyd, this is genuinely impressive." It was quite possibly the single largest practical advancement in the history of digital monster studies. Considering the obscurity of said field, there were only so many other tangible milestones for one to compare with... and Lloyd Asplund had been the one to make most of those milestones in the first place.

It was disturbing to see that one man, especially a man like this, had the ability to be not only one of the leaders in the advancement of knightmare frame technology while also being one of the very few scientific authorities on digimon, a man at the top of the hill in both fields. But it was staring him right in the face, and Lelouch just didn't know how to feel about it.

Lloyd Asplund was probably going to be one of the largest obstacles in his way, simply by merit of bolstering the enemy's forces tremendously with his discoveries and inventions.

But that was fine. It wouldn't stop him. Lelouch was not going to be swayed from his decisions no matter what the enemy had to throw at him, he'd already resolved to face Britannia and he would succeed or die trying.

"Thank you for the compliments, Your Highness." Lloyd basked in the simple praise. "Your elder brother, the second prince, is far more stoic whenever I present such things to him. Though I reckon his partners would have a field day with this one." Prince Schneizel was a very difficult man to impress, and even if you did impress him he'd never let you know it. Such a cruel, cruel man... but he paid Lloyd to make things. So Lloyd could tolerate his cruelty and lack of praise for his many accomplishments.

Lelouch frowned. "Schneizel, hm?" He missed Schneizel, his brother had always been good for conversation and chess, two things the dark haired prince adored. "Ah, those cards you mentioned, can they be used multiple times or will a single use deplete them?"

"An excellent question, Your Highness, and one that I am more than happy to answer!" Lloyd exclaimed, prancing back over to the less bewildered Suzaku and swiping yet another card from the pack. This card had a simple red square in the center, though it was the same material and it's general color was also the same blue as the previous. "Each and every card can be used multiple times, as they are nothing more than... templates, you could say." He nodded briefly to himself, thinking of the best way to explain. "Ah! Yes, yes, consider it this way; the way digital monster's special attacks are formed can be considered a path, of sorts. What I've done here is recreate the paths on these cards, as well as introduce an outside stimuli in order to allow any digimon's data to take that path." The man paused to see if his explanation had been sufficient.

Nodding lightly, Lelouch repeated it in his own words. "So the card contains a pattern, the digimon provides the energy to power it, and the digivice is the focus for the whole process?" Like a cycle, the process began with the digimon, who's power flowed into the device. The power was then used to create the effect engraved on the card, which flowed back into the digimon and allowed the effect of the card to modify them.

Lloyd clapped enthusiastically. "Correct, Your Highness!" He was beginning to like this new prince, much more talkative than his usual one. Unfortunate that he couldn't switch the two of them out, but what could you do? Prince Schneizel had the resources to continually fund his projects, so the bespectacled scientist would continue to put up with the princes apparent lack of interest in his projects.

"Meaning that once you've learned the correct pattern for any given card, you can simply recreate it whenever you desire?" Lelouch questioned, another enthusiastic nod coming from the silver haired man as confirmation. "Most impressive. Please, go on." It was clear the Earl wanted to gush more about his invention, and who was Lelouch to deny him that simple pleasure?

Information was a wonderful thing, and Lelouch had a brilliant source of it right in front of him.

Suzaku and Cecile were off to the side, both honestly quite concerned by how well the scientist and prince seemed to be getting along, looking on silently.

The brunette was the first to break the silence. "Are... are they... bonding?" He mumbled in confusion, blinking in bemusement at the sight of a positively giddy Lloyd speaking with an attentive Lelouch, who seemed genuinely interested in the topic at hand, something that made Lloyd even more enthusiastic.

Cecile's reply came in a strained tone. "It would appear so." She mumbled with a strange smile. "Lloyd doesn't get to really speak at length about his projects with anyone but me." The woman explained, turning to regard to Warrant Officer. "So now that he's found someone else who will let him go on and on about his newest advances, it's likely he won't quit until late into the night."

Honestly, what surprised her most was the fact that the prince seemed to be legitimately discussing the subject with Lloyd, as though he also had a solid grasp on the concepts at work. While the original explanation Lloyd had used was very simple, it was now clear that Suzaku was the only one who would really have needed the simplified explanation to figure out the process.

"So this is the mysterious Prince Lelouch, huh..." She mumbled to herself, shaking her head. "You know, it's funny... the two of them, Lelouch and his sister Nunnally, they're regarded as something of a legend in some circles of Britannia."

Suzaku blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Mhm." Cecile hummed in response, elaborating further. "While there have been many, many members of the Royal Family, very few have been exiled. Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally were the first occurrence of two siblings being exiled, and the circumstances surrounding their disappearance are highly unusual. The two of them sent to Japan, which was invaded not long after, and then never seen again." She shook her head in bemusement, still in shock over the fact that not only were they alive, the two exiled royals were still in Area Eleven. Moreover, the eldest of the siblings was now chatting animatedly with her boss. "Such a strange world in which we live, wouldn't you agree Suzaku?"

Seeing his eccentric boss still engrossed in a very deep conversation with the boy who had been his best friend even after seven years apart, Suzaku couldn't help but smile as he replied. "Yeah, it is kind of strange... but I like it." Sure, there were things that he had to change, and there were many bad things about this world, but all the same Suzaku enjoyed every moment of it.

That was why he was willing to fight to make the world a better place, because it deserved to be better. But it was a long road, and Suzaku wasn't sure if he would make it... but just the fact that he gave it his all would be enough, whether or not he succeeded.

---

Stepping back into his room after a long night of conversing with Earl Asplund about various aspects of his newest invention, which had proven extremely informative and even resulted in him being given one of the augment cards as a gift from the eccentric man, Lelouch couldn't help but sigh at the sight that greeted him.

Looks like he wouldn't be getting his sleep any time soon. "Hello, Kaguya." He greeted, smiling gently towards the girl.

Said girl gave a wave from her position on his bed, a bright smile on her lips. "Hi there, Lelouch. How was your day?" She asked curiously, emerald eyes sparkling.

"Fine, fine. And you?" His response was equally light, as though their meeting was completely normal and she hadn't snuck into a private campus for a second time to see him. At the very least she was actually clothed this time, wearing the same outfit she usually wore as opposed to the incredibly revealing nightie she'd previously brought.

Kaguya giggled. "Much better now that you're here." She flirted, throwing him an impish grin.

Rolling his eyes, Lelouch acknowledged the other figure in his room. "Lunamon, I assume?" He asked, getting a nod for his troubles. "I see. Where is C.C. by the way?"

Lunamon was the one to answer. "She has gone to another room for the night." The digimon explained, before a slightly confused look crossed her face. "Something about keeping a deal, she said?"

Another giggle from Kaguya brought a strange feeling into Lelouch's chest. "And just what deal would that be, Kaguya?" He had a sneaking suspicion he knew where this was going to go.

"Why, that's easy, silly." The girl began with a whimsical tone, giving a radiant smile. "We agreed to share you, but I get you to myself the first time."

Lelouch sighed. "Yes, I figured it would be something like that..." He'd almost forgotten how weird his love life had become, going from non-existent to a night of passion, and then evolving into some sort of bizarre triangle in which C.C. didn't care about sharing, Kaguya seemed genuinely excited at the prospect, and he didn't have a choice in the first place.

"Unfortunately..." Kaguya released a dreary little sigh of her own, fanning herself idly with a hand. "I'm actually here for something other than that." She admitted, drawing the exasperated boy's attention with that admission.

"Really now?" He mumbled, setting the duffel bag containing Tsumemon down and unzipping it fully to allow his partner out. "And just what would that be, then?" Lelouch would admit to being curious now.

Nodding lightly, Kaguya leaned back onto the bed and began lightly kicking her legs in the air. "Currently, the Six Houses of Kyoto are in the middle of discussions regarding resource distribution. Most of it has been decided, with only one major resource left over and two groups competing for it."

"And I assume the Black Knights are one of those two groups?" Lelouch replied.

"Yep." The girl chirped happily. "You're currently the largest threat to Britannia, the only one close to you would be the JLF." A giggle from her let the boy know just how "close" she felt that was. "So that major resource is in the form of Japan's very own seventh generation knightmare frame, the Guren."

Lelouch's eyes widened somewhat. "Really, now, a seventh generation frame?" That was impressive. Taking into account both the expenses in creating such a machine as well as the difficulty in actually creating one, the fact that Kyoto had even a single seventh generation frame was absolutely huge. "That is quite the interesting piece of information."

Kaguya rolled over on the bed, moving to lie on her stomach and continuing to regard him with her usual bright expression. "Uh huh! And right now, we're still trying to figure out just who gets the lovely young lady to themselves." She gave him a small, conspiratory smirk and continued on. "Of course, a certain someone happens to have a rather powerful ally within our ranks... if they should happen to desire that seventh generation frame, that ally could certainly see about making it happen." In reality, it would be as simple as saying she wanted Zero to have the frame. While Kirihara was the leader of the group, she held almost as much sway as the man himself.

"And just what would I have to do in order to have that ally cooperate with me in that endeavor?" Lelouch asked, genuinely curious as to what she would want.

Shaking her head, Kaguya spoke once more. "Uh uh, this isn't about that. Like I said, this is actually an important decision. If you think your Black Knights can make better use of the Guren than the Japan Liberation Front, then tell me. I'm putting my faith in your judgement." She smiled fondly at him.

A small smile formed on his lips, as Lelouch moved forward to settle in on his bed beside the girl, lying on his back with his head turned towards her. "I would say that the Black Knights would be able to make use of a seventh generation knightmare, more effectively than the JLF that is. Where the JLF has the Four Holy Swords and Kyoshiro Tohdoh to boast as their pilots, none of them can compare to the genuine ace pilot that I've come across."

The girl blinked, looking curiously towards him. "You've got an ace pilot?" When Lelouch called someone an ace, it wasn't to say they were good at piloting a knightmare. It was to say that they were such a high grade that calling them good would be insulting. To hear him confidently call someone an ace pilot, she couldn't help but wonder just who it was and why Kyoto hadn't gotten wind of them yet.

"Yes, our ace certainly lives up to the name. I would wager she could fight at the level of the Knights of the Round." However, she'd been so very limited by the specs of her machines. In a beast such as this Guren, a seventh generation knightmare frame, Kallen would be an absolute menace. "Given the proper machine, I would bet on Kallen against just about anyone in a knightmare." He spoke with absolute faith in the girl's abilities. The ability she'd displayed in a shoddy old Glasgow made it obvious to Lelouch that she was an ace, and upgrading to a Sutherland had only exemplified that even further. In a seventh generation frame, a frame that matched the specs of the Lancelot... it was enough to make him laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kaguya asked, tilting her head questioningly. All of a sudden he'd began snickering, before it had become a full on laugh.

Lelouch replied immediately. "I'm imagining Kallen piloting a machine with specifications comparable to the Lancelot... she would be practically unstoppable for anyone but your cousin or a powerful Champion." Honestly, the Lancelot had the potential to defeat a lot of Champion level digimon with ease. Had that machine been present during the Mass Breach, with Suzaku at the helm, then the Ogremon would have been completely demolished. Having gone toe to toe with the metal monster himself, Lelouch could honestly say that fleshy digimon would be in serious trouble against it.

Kaguya pouted. "... if you keep lavishing praises on this girl, I might start feeling jealous." She was only partially joking. Hearing him going on about how skilled his ace pilot was would be fine if it wasn't a girl. "Is she pretty too?"

Snorting in amusement, Lelouch gave his answer. "She's beautiful, yes... but her temper is positively vicious." Which made taunting her all the more amusing. Seeing the girl's pout, he couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You're adorable, you know that?" Kaguya was smart, resourceful, beautiful, and all around a treat to have around. On top of this, she had moments where he could hardly stop himself from hugging her.

Just like Euphemia, really.

The girl flushed at the sudden compliment, before speaking up again. "So you think that your ace will make better use of the Guren than anyone in the JLF?" She asked one last time, just to be sure, and to draw the subject away from her envy of the pilot.

"Yes, I'm certain. Tohdoh and his Four Holy Swords are better suited for semi-high spec machines and teamwork. If one of them was in a drastically improved knightmare, it could cause holes in their usual strategy for one thing." The five of them were well known among the resistance fighters for being a well oiled machine in combat, flowing in and out of battle like water. Each and every one of them had excellent ability in a knightmare frame, clearly above average, but they weren't quite aces. Tohdoh did come close, though.

A smirk came to the girl's lips. "... it's really funny you should say that." She giggled at the raised eyebrow. "We recently decided to pass over some new toys to the JLF, specifically five highly upgraded Burai units. Their performance level is about on par with a Gloucester."

"Interesting. So Tohdoh and his direct subordinates can be expected to pilot those, then." That was convenient. If he could get Tohdoh on his side, it would be a serious boon. "So is that all of the business you came to talk about, then?" He asked the girl, who gave him another impish smile in return.

"For the moment, yes... why? Do you want me to leave?" She pouted again, succeeding only in making the boy's eyes roll.

Chuckling, Lelouch replied to her. "If all you wanted to do was ask about who to give the Guren to, you could have just called." She had his number, after all.

Kaguya stuck her tongue out at him in response. "This kind of thing is best spoken about in person, wouldn't you agree?" As if she would actually call him when she knew where he lived and had the ability to sneak out easily. It was far more entertaining this way.

Lelouch rolled from his back to his side and gave the girl a look. "So you didn't come here to spend the night? I would be surprised considering how comfortable you've made yourself on my bed."

Seeing an opportunity, Kaguya offered her rebuttal with a cheeky grin. "I know something we could do to make it more comfortable for both of us." Her tone made it quite clear what she meant.

"If you mean sleep then I'm all for it. I haven't been getting much of that lately." Lelouch replied simply.

A sigh slipped from her lips. "You are no fun at all, you know that?"

"Hm?" The boy mumbled, peering at Kaguya questioningly. "What would make me fun, then?" He asked, despite his better judgement.

Pondering for a moment, Kaguya gave an answer fitting for one such as her. "Well you could always throw away any inhibitions you have and just take me right now."

"Somehow, I just knew you were going to say something like that." Lelouch muttered in reply, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. "You know, I still don't quite understand your fixation with me. We hadn't seen one another in such a long time, but...-"

Kaguya cut him off. "But all of a sudden here I am practically throwing myself at you, right?" She sighed gently, before speaking in a quiet voice, remembering a time that seemed so long ago, head resting on her arms. "I can always tell him later, I don't know if I'll still feel this way years from now, we're so young it wouldn't be a good time to try and decide something like this. I have all the time in the world to tell him..." Seeing realization light up in his eyes, the girl offered a wan smile. "You see now? I didn't get the chance back then. I knew I liked you, but we were young, and I wasn't sure if anything would come from it, I wasn't sure of anything really." She admitted these things with a rueful look. "But before I got the chance to do anything, you were gone. And I thought you would be gone forever." The beginnings of tears welled up in her eyes. "But then, all of a sudden you were back. So I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."

Was it possible she was forgoing one mistake for another? Yes, entirely. But Kaguya had decided to just go for it. If this was a mistake, at least she could say it wouldn't be the same one.

But all the same, she didn't think this would be something she would regret. Lelouch wasn't perfect, but he had all the qualities she wanted in spades. He was kind, he was caring, he was intelligent, and he was the kind of man who would stand against the world for someone he cared about. Moreover, he was the kind of man who could be expected to win when faced with those odds.

So if she could take this opportunity to make her move, she would. Her second chance had dropped right into her lap, and Kaguya wasn't going to hope for a third later on down the line.

Maybe it seemed sudden to Lelouch, but she'd been thinking about this for years by now. If they'd been a bit older, if she'd been more certain of her feelings, if she hadn't been afraid of making things awkward between them, or whatever reasons she'd concocted back then. She wasn't going to make any more of those excuses.

So what if they were still young? They were both actively involved in something that could cost them their lives, they had damn well better be capable of making such decisions by now. And so she still wasn't entirely sure this would work out, but at least she would try. And as far as making things awkward between them? Lelouch wouldn't let something like that get in the way of his friendships; they meant far, far too much to him for that.

And even if she had to share him, what did that matter to her? If she had to choose between sharing Lelouch or not having him at all, wasn't it obvious what she would pick? She wouldn't try and break up a relationship between two people for her own benefit, even if she did feel confident competing with the unnatural beauty that was C.C., so that only left one option to get him.

"I know what I'm doing." She asserted, giving him a warm smile. "Or at least what I want to do. I don't want to hope for a third chance to let you know."

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh, something that resulted in a glare from the girl. "I really did miss you." His laughter died off, replaced by a gentle smile that made her pulse race. "If this is what you want, then I'm not going to stop you. You're aware of just what you're getting into." The boy sighed a bit in exasperation, though his smile remained. "Far be it from me to actually have a normal relationship in the middle of all the absurd events in my life."

Because, really, that would just be too easy.

Kaguya gave a radiant smile, shifting so she could wrap her arms around him, snuggling into his chest. "I knew you'd see it my way." She chirped brightly. Lelouch was such a softie, he would cave sooner or later. Usually it was later, but sooner worked fine for her too.

She loved that about him too. He always had such a hard time saying no to her or Nunnally back at the shrine, and if the two of them both wanted something then it was guaranteed because Lelouch would never be able to resist if they both asked.

"Don't I always, in the end?" The boy pondered in whimsical exasperation. "... I'm going to go to sleep now." He noted after a few seconds of silence between the two.

Chuckling, Keramon gestured towards the rabbit digimon with his hand. "Oi, Lunamon, could you come with me for a bit? I've got some stuff I wanted to ask you and these two look like they're gonna be preoccupied." He was honestly sort of surprised this hadn't ended like that night with C.C., but whatever. There was still time for that to happen and it really would not shock him to find the two of them naked tomorrow.

Lunamon nodded breifly in response. "Very well, lead the way." She was curious as to just what the other digimon wanted to discuss, as well as excited to speak with another digimon from a species that was nearly extinct.

And with that, the two digimon exited the room and left their humans alone.

"What was that about?" Kaguya asked curiouly, cuddling closer to her new pillow.

Biting back a yawn, Lelouch replied. "Keramon and I had questions we'd like to ask your friend, but I don't really feel like going through that tonight so I'm going to sleep instead and let him take care of it." His partner was much more well rested considering he didn't need to stay awake at all during the day.

"Ah. So it wasn't an effort to get me alone and have your way with me?" Her tone made it quite clear how disappointed she was by that.

Lelouch gave her an exasperated look, before shaking his head. "No, that wasn't the intent at all." She really did want this, didn't she? It wasn't even idle banter at this point, she was legitimately disappointed that he hadn't concocted some scheme to get her all to himself for a night. That was just ridiculous, but then Kaguya was a strange girl. He wouldn't claim to know just how her mind worked in a million years, so all he could do was go along with her whims.

He was tired, but at the same time... well, it wasn't like putting off sleep for a bit longer would kill him.

(LEMON START: SKIP IF YOU LIKE. GOES FROM HERE TO END OF CHAPTER SO YOU WON'T MISS ANYTHING IMPORTANT)

One of his arms snaked around the girl's waist, drawing her body closer to him and bringing a surprised squeak from her. A pair of hopeful emeralds peered shyly into his own amethyst gaze. "But..." As he said this, his other hand moved to her rear end and gave a squeeze to the soft flesh, earning him a second squeak, intermixed with a moan, from the Sumeragi heiress. "I'm sure arrangements can be made..." With this final announcement, he moved to capture her lips with his own.

Kaguya moaned into the kiss, surprised by the sudden aggressiveness from the former prince. "Ah!" She gasped as he gave her bottom another squeeze, which allowed him to push forward and deepen the kiss, his tongue easily dominating her own in a brief contest of wills, before the girl simply allowed him to explore her mouth as he pleased.

Grinning smugly at the reactions he was getting, Lelouch broke the kiss for a moment, much to the girl's disappointment, before her cries were renewed as he moved his lips to her neck and began kissing and sucking on the tender flesh.

"L-Lelouch!" She moaned out between gasps for breath, pleased with this sudden development. "A-ahhh!" Her hands had moved above her head, gripping fistfuls of the sheet to maintain what little composure she could. Kaguya gave herself willingly to the pleasure, allowing the boy to do whatever he liked with her.

That was a privilege that he took great advantage of, shifting the two of them so that he was now straddling the smaller girl's waist as she lay on her back, continuing his ministrations to the sensitive flesh of her neck, one hand steadying himself while the other began to loosen the sash holding her robe closed...

Noticing just where his hand was going, Kaguya's eyes widened before anything she could have said was cut off by yet another moan as the teen's hand had reached her bare skin, smooth fingers lightly dancing across her budding breasts with skill that left her wondering just how this boy had only recently lost his virginity.

He should have been so good at this! She didn't have much time to ponder that conundrum, barely stifling a much louder moan as he captured the nipple of her left breast between his left hand's thumb and index finger, the tender attention steadily driving her wild, especially considering his assault on her neck had yet to let up.

Lelouch, who had intentionally halted the kiss for the sake of hearing her moans and gasps more clearly, gently ran his tongue from the side of the girl's neck and up to her earlobe, which he promptly captured between his lips, all the while his left hand continued to massage and toy with her breast. "Do you like this?" He whispered sensually into her ear, lightly blowing on the lobe that he had released only a moment before.

Between her pleasured moans and gasps, Kaguya managed to form a reply. "Y-yes, please k-keep going!" This was amazing! Her dreams hadn't lived up to the real thing in the slightest, and there was more to come, far more if she had any say in the matter. She didn't even care how he had gotten so good at this with only a single night's worth of experience.

Luckily for her, Lelouch had no intentions of stopping after going this far.

Another kiss, a chaste contact of the lips that was hardly even worth being called such, left the flushing girl glaring petulantly at him for teasing her so. A pair of smoldering emeralds stared up at him, met by his own cool gaze as he smirked down at her. Just as she was clearly about to say something about the lack of attentions, he gave her left nipple another light pinch and her words were replaced by a gasp of pleasure. Following that, he maneuvered his other hand into her robe and proceeded to relentlessly tease her sensitive breasts.

The expression on her face, Lelouch noted, could not be described as anything but erotic. The girl's flushed face, mouth parting as short gasps supplied her breath, eyes half lidded and clouded with lust. At that moment, he was in complete control, each and every one of his actions resulting in these wonderful effects on the beautiful girl beneath him. One hand briefly ceased it's attentions to yank the top half of Kaguya's robe open further, revealing the small chest of the younger girl, who's heavy breathing was making her perky little breasts bounce in an incredibly arousing display.

As the cool air of the room touched her bare skin for the first time that night, Kaguya's blush grew wider. While Lelouch had clearly seen her before, he'd made an effort to look away when it finally occurred to him just what was going on, and at that time it had been her in control. This time, that was not the case. His hungry gaze remained locked on her bare upper body, drinking in the sight greedily as she squirmed and writhed beneath him in sudden bashfulness, looking away as she was unable to meet his eyes for the moment.

Her actions did nothing but amuse him, as he took the opportunity to tease her more. "Look at me, Kaguya." He practically purred the order, a satisfied smirk finding it's way to his lips as the girl reluctantly did as told.

Kaguya's cheeks were stained with a rosy red blush, and on her neck he could see the marks he'd left from his earlier attentions. Her eyes were staring up into his own like a mouse caught beneath a cat.

And Lelouch certainly felt like the cat who had caught a particularly tasty looking mouse, his amethyst eyes staring down at the girl who had stopped her squirming for the moment to meet his gaze.

She was adorable, as he had said earlier. Rather than hugging her, though, he had a better idea. "Good girl..." Lelouch murmured in praise, both hands moving to reveal even more of her skin, pulling the shoulders of her robe down to free her arms from the wide sleeves, revealing her entire body from the waist up to him. This action resulted in another bout of bashful fidgeting from the girl. "Here's your reward." As he said this, the older boy leaned down to capture her lips for another passionate kiss, before breaking off and trailing soft kisses down from her lips, back towards the smooth skin of her neck, before moving even further down...

"A-ah!" A mixture of realization and anticipation lit up in Kaguya's eyes as Lelouch's path downwards reached her collarbone. Moments later her suspicions were confirmed, as a devious pair of violet eyes glanced up at her just before capturing her right nipple between his lips. Unable to contain herself, the girl threw her head back and moaned loudly, eyes closed and face flushing even brighter as the pleasure overwhelmed her senses.

Seeing that positive reaction, Lelouch continued his ministrations by beginning to gently suckle the stiff nub while his hand attended to her other breast. Rather than targeting her nipple, his focus was on the areola, using his index finger to trace circles around the sensitive flesh.

Hands still clenching the sheets, Kaguya continued to writhe and squirm beneath her lover as he drove her mad with pleasure. "L-Lelouch..." The Sumeragi heiress panted out hotly. "I'm all yours... so... take me... please." Her body was on fire right now, and she needed release. The girl didn't know how much more of this teasing she could take.

"Tell me what you want me to do." Lelouch ordered with a devilish grin, shifting so that he loomed over Kaguya's body with his arms on either side of her own, no longer touching her in any way.

A small whine came from the girl as she glared up at him. "Y-you know what I want." This was cruel. He was being way too cruel right now. Was he really going to make her say it? Lelouch knew exactly what she wanted!

His grin widened. "I know, yes... I would just like to hear you say it." She knew just what he wanted her to say, and if she was going to resist then he would continue to tease her relentlessly until she broke down. "So go ahead. Just a few little words." Lelouch would be the first to admit that he was a bad person sometimes, because he took way too much satisfaction from watching the girl squirm in embarrassment. Perhaps it had something to do with her previous attempt to get under his skin with that damn sleep gown of hers.

Finally, after a few moments of petulant glaring, the girl caved in spectacularly. "DAMN IT LELOUCH, JUST FUCK ME ALREADY!" She blurted out, realizing moments later what she had all but shouted and clasping her hands over her mouth, blushing furiously with her eyes clenching shut in humiliation. What if someone heard her? Someone had to have heard her, she'd practically screamed it!

If possible, Lelouch's grin seemed to widen even further as he stared down at her victoriously. "As you wish, Kaguya." At this point, he was done teasing her. She'd said what he wanted to hear this whole time, so he would stop bullying the girl. In hindsight, maybe he had been a bit too mean to her. 'I suppose I'll take this opportunity to make it up to her.' The former prince thought to himself, hands deftly moving to remove the final few pieces of cloth hiding his prize from view.

Moments later, an incredulous Lelouch couldn't help but comment on something he noticed. "Someone was prepared for tonight, it seems... or perhaps you just never bother to wear them at all?" Perhaps it wasn't the best time to mention something like that, but he had to say something about it. "Come to think of it, I didn't see any lying around that morning either..." Despite all of her previous clothes being strewn about his room haphazardly, he didn't catch sight of anything even remotely resembling panties.

Almost miraculously, Kaguya's composure resurfaced as she opened her eyes, the pair of emeralds sparkling mischievously at the question. "I've never bothered with underwear, even back when we were little." Her still flushed face took on an almost proud expression as she revealed this, managing to keep herself collected even though Lelouch had a perfect view of her entire naked body, including her most precious place. "But less about my clothes... why are yours still on?" It had only just occurred to her that Lelouch was still fully clothed while she was stark naked beneath him, and that was something that annoyed her greatly. Had this entire time really been spent with just him toying with her? That simply would not do.

After quickly leaning in for another kiss, one that lingered for a few moments, Lelouch pulled back with a gentle smile and began unbuttoning his jacket.

Kaguya gave a lecherous smirk as more and more of her lover's skin was revealed, drinking in the sight of his lithe build as he stripped his shirt off, not even trying to hide the fact that she was staring just as intently as he'd inspected her earlier. He hadn't put on any noticeable muscle mass, but there was something about him that seemed a bit... firmer. He used to seem so frail when they were younger, especially compared to Suzaku, but now he seemed a bit more solid, healthier even.

"Like what you see?" He asked, a playful glint in his eyes.

An energetic nod was her response, eyes still roaming the smooth, unblemished skin of his upper body. "Yes, yes I do." Deciding to try and take a more active approach from this point on, Kaguya propped herself up with one arm and placed a hand on the boy's stomach, giving a slight push. "Lay back for me, will you?" It was her turn to have some fun with him.

With a small shrug, Lelouch obliged her and leaned backwards, releasing the girl from her previously position pinned on the bed. His upper body fell back on the pillows at the head of the bed, arms propped beneath his head as he gave the dark haired girl an inviting smile.

Shivering a bit in anticipation, Kaguya kicked off what little cloth still clung to her form and crawled towards the lounging teen, taking great satisfaction in the bulge that she could see in his pants. How she hadn't noticed that up until now was beyond her, but it probably had something to do with the relentless teasing that Lelouch had been putting her through. Between the sudden influx of pleasure and the intensity of his gaze, she had barely been able to think.

Leaving such thoughts for later, the girl straddled her lover's waist, making a point to grind her posterior into his groin, grinning smugly at the reaction this garnered. Kaguya leaned forward to initiate a kiss of her own, noting the vast difference between now and earlier. When he'd first made his move, Lelouch's expression had been almost oppressively intense, but now she could see nothing but a gentle warmth and fondness in his eyes as opposed to the frighteningly intense amethysts that had pinned her down earlier.

His arm moved to wrap around her waist with all the care one would give to a precious piece of art, pressing her body closer to his own as they kissed. His other hand had entangled itself in her hair, softly encouraging her to continue the kiss as long as she could. The feeling of his bare flesh meeting her own was like paradise for Kaguya, and so she had no issue with allowing him to hold her so closely. She simply basked in the warmth of the embrace for several minutes, before leaning back to break the kiss with an impish grin. "As much as I'm enjoying this, there's something I want to try... I think you'll like it." Despite her earlier outburst, the heiress was not going to just rush past the foreplay and on to the main event. That had been a mixture of frustration and arousal speaking, but now that Lelouch had stopped bullying her she was content to wait a bit more for the actual lovemaking... of course that time wouldn't be spent idly.

Kissing the dark haired boy's neck and drawing a pleasured groan for her efforts, Kaguya made certain that she would be leaving a mark on the pale skin as she continued to nip and suckle the soft flesh. It was only fair, after all, considering her own neck would have a similar one. After she was certain there would be a noticeable discoloration from her attentions, the girl proceeded to lick and kiss her way downwards to his navel, and further towards his groin as she began running out of unobscured skin. "These are in the way, you know..." She giggled airily, running a fingertip along the clearly present bulge in his pants.

"I suppose you have a point there." Lelouch admitted with a smirk. "Something should be done about that, shouldn't it?" Despite saying this, he made no move to do so, clearly leaving that to her.

Kaguya replied with a grin of her own, meeting his eyes as she replied. "Someone should take care of it... I suppose I'll do the honors." Delicate little hands maneuvered towards the button of his pants, quickly unfastening the garment. Another moment later and the zipper had been pulled down entirely, as the girl's smile grew to be more and more like that of a child unwrapping a gift Christmas morning. Soon enough, her actions revealed the teen's member in it's entirety.

And she stared. "... wow." She was actually about to do this, wasn't she? It was kind of surreal. Kaguya wanted this, and she knew that for a fact, but she hadn't expected Lelouch to oblige her so easily. And now she was staring at his dick and it was sort of intimidating because she wasn't quite sure that was going to fit.

He certainly wasn't monstrously large or anything, but from what she knew of typical penis sizes Lelouch was above average in that regard, and she herself was fairly small in the first place. And it wasn't like she knew how much she could even take in the first place, seeing as how tonight would be her first experience beyond her own two hands.

The boy noticed her concerns and his caring instinct kicked in. "We can stop now if you like." He wasn't going to make her do anything she was uncomfortable with, no matter how far they'd gone. If she wasn't sure for even a moment, he wouldn't press her on. This wasn't even really for his sake in the first place, after all.

"No!" That certainly snapped Kaguya out of her daze, drawing a glare from the girl at his insinuation. "We are not going to stop after all the teasing you put me through earlier!" There was no way he was going to get out of this without being just as enraptured with her as she had been with him earlier. None whatsoever.

She did appreciate that concern, though. It was one of the things that made Lelouch so easy to love, the fact that he was so selfless when it came to people he cared for. If he could do anything to make someone he loved happy, he would do it in a heartbeat so long as it was a personal sacrifice.

But she had no intention of quitting after all that.

Lelouch couldn't hold back his amusement, brief chuckles escaping him as his head shook in exasperation. "Good grief... there's just no stopping you once you've set your mind to something, is there?" He gave her a bemused smile, the fondness in his gaze drawing a brief blush from the girl situated between his legs.

"Hmph!" The Sumeragi heiress gave a haughty sniff in response. "I'm not about to be intimidated by something like this. What kind of wife would I make if I couldn't even do this much?" She ignored the blink and mumbled response from the boy in favor of throwing caution to the wind and taking the stiff rod between her soft little hands, drawing a pleasured groan from the boy that was much more intense than her anything she'd heard previously. Seeing such a positive reaction from something so simple, she began to slowly pump her hands up and down the shaft, eyes locked on his face to see just what kind of effect the motion had.

Another pleased rumble came from Lelouch as she continued her actions, which emboldened her a bit further, the girl leaning forward to blow lightly on the tip.

Moments later, Kaguya steeled herself with a deep breath, an action that drew a bemused glance from her lover. Without a word on the matter, she leaned down and took the tip of his penis into her mouth, running her tongue around the sensitive head.

"Ahhhh..." A low groan tore itself from Lelouch's throat, as he forced himself to keep from thrusting upwards immediately at the new stimulation. She'd decided to go ahead with that rather suddenly, hadn't she? But then this whole ordeal was quite sudden, wasn't it?

Bah. It was going to happen sooner or later if Kaguya kept up her interest in him, and she seemed serious about it. If this was what she wanted, he would give it to her. And really, it wasn't like this was something difficult to give. He didn't have any issues with carnal acts of pleasure, but neither did he have the interest to pursue them on his own.

Though after experiencing the act itself, it was hard to tell whether or not his stance on that matter would change. Looking down at Kaguya, who had really gotten into the act after she'd gotten some confidence from his earlier reactions, Lelouch really would have to question whether or not he would be going forward without the intent to do this again.

As mentioned, Kaguya was very into her current activity. She seemed quite fond of giving long, slow licks up and down the length of his shaft, periodically taking as much of the member as she could into her mouth. One hand propped herself up, while the other was in fondling the sack as she continued to administer her affections to his erection with her nimble little tongue.

It was getting more and more difficult to stop himself from forcing the girl down and obliging her earlier outburst, especially because those sparkling little gemstones of hers were casting him devious glances every so often, displaying quite clearly her satisfaction with the effect she was having on him. But he would endure it for a while longer, because she was clearly enjoying herself and who was he to take that away from her?

Though there was one thing he wanted to try, which he hadn't gotten the chance to do just yet. Shifting slightly to get into a better position for what he intended to do, Lelouch drew the curious gaze of the Sumeragi heiress. Giving her a small smile in return, the exiled prince explained his actions a bit. "I'd like to try something, it seems rather unfair that you're the only one doing any work."

Kaguya tilted her head curiously, which, considering her state of dress, was an almost unbearable mixture of adorable and erotic. Her eyes lit up after a moment as the realization hit her, a sultry smile making it's way onto her face as she replied. "Oh my... I think I like where this is going."

Soon enough, the two of them had shifted positions entirely. Lelouch lay flat on his back, while Kaguya had taken up a new position on top of him, her lower body directly in front of his face, leaving her staring once again at the penis that she'd been attending to only a few moments before.

Lelouch began to curiously inspect the treasure he had unveiled just a few minutes earlier with his fingers, his partner for the evening expressing her delight quite vocally in the form of a low moan as she retook his shaft between her hands. A groan of pleasure threatened to spill out from his lips, but Lelouch suppressed it and continued his own explorations of Kaguya's lower body, and with more than just his hands.

"AH!" Another loud gasp escaped Kaguya's lips as she had her first experience with cunnilingus, followed by a series of pleasured moans and gasps as her lover really got into the swing of it, his tongue stimulating her in a way she'd never felt before. "L-Lelouch... ah... k-keep doing t-tha-AH-THAT!" She squeaked loudly as her clitoris was taken in between two fingers, which began to gently tease her all while his tongue continued to attend to her dripping entrance. Her hands continued to work the shaft of his erection, though the movement was somewhat erratic due to the effect Lelouch's tongue was having on her lower body.

It wasn't long before the continued ministrations of his tongue and hand brought Kaguya to her climax in a spectacular display. Managing to stifle the scream she had been about to let loose, Kaguya's love-cry instead came out as something of a strangled squeal as her release drenched the face of the boy who had caused this reaction in the first place.

Breathing heavily, the girl slumped forward bonelessly as she began trying to compose herself. Nothing she'd ever done to herself had resulted in such a powerful orgasm, which wasn't really all that surprising. But the difference had been absolutely vast; she was still recovering from it half a minute later, having only just steadied her breathing. "Wow..." She sighed out airily, with a silly smile stretched across her lips. "That was amazing..."

A snort of amusement drew her attention to Lelouch, who's next words sent shivers up the girl's spine. "You say that as though we were done here." He had been aroused before, but after that display he was almost painfully hard and getting more and more impatient for a release of his own. At this point he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer.

But even so... "Kaguya, are you sure this is what you want?" He ignored the glare he received in response, eyes locked onto her own as the girl rolled off of him and settled down on her knees.

"After all of that, you're still wondering if I'm alright with this?" She mumbled incredulously, before relenting under his gaze. He was so dense sometimes, but at least he cared enough to ask even though he was almost at the bursting point. She had a front row view of his erection and it looked painful at this point, but despite that he was asking if she wanted to stop. It was sweet, but still. "Of course I'm sure!" The girl snapped back, before quickly shifting positions and straddling the larger boy's waist, one hand reaching back to take hold of the stiff member. "Now shut up and fuck me." She demanded. He'd waited long enough, and she was starting to get impatient herself.

Shaking his head in bemusement, Lelouch offered the girl a small smirk. "If you're sure, then." With that said, he made a move of his own, sitting up quickly and steadying the girl with his arms as he shifted both of their positions until they were seated with her in his lap, the soft body of the girl pressed flush against his own, bringing an almost sinfully pleasant sensation. His stiff rod was positioned at the entrance to Kaguya's womanhood, the flesh of the two sensitive organs just barely touching.

Briefly, the former prince considered asking just one last time if she was certain, but one look into those lovely pools of green killed the question in his throat. She wasn't going to be stopping now even if he wanted her to, they were too far for that option to even be considered anymore. Hell, she hadn't considered it an option from the very moment they had begun, had she?

"Well." Kaguya mumbled to herself, shifting so she could take hold of the shaft and guide it into her. "Looks like we're about to find out if this will even fit in the first place." With that said, she reached one arm around the boy's neck and pulled him into a searing kiss, before she dropped down in one swift motion, drawing gasps from the both of them for different reasons and filling herself immediately with his manhood.

Breaking away from the kiss for a moment, Lelouch spoke. "Are you alright? You didn't have to do it so suddenly." His voice was brimming with care and concern, worried that the girl had hurt herself.

She giggled. "It's fine, silly..." It had been somewhat uncomfortable, but not really painful. And whatever discomfort came from it was completely worthwhile, because it was about to be replaced by something much more pleasant. "Give me a moment to get used to it, then you can move some." Kaguya was very pleased to find that he did, in fact, fit. It was a tight fit, and if he were any bigger or she any smaller it would have been a different story, but a fit nonetheless. But actually having something inside of her, especially something that was stretching her walls out so much, was still something she wanted to have a couple moments to get acclimated to before they moved any further.

Lelouch sighed at her response. "You really do just do whatever you like, you know that?" She really should have given him some sort of warning before doing that, because he'd just been engulfed by the wonderful sensation of being buried to the hilt in her extremely tight little entrance, the soft walls of flesh squeezing him tightly. As close to the edge as he was, it was a surprise he didn't come right there. But he'd managed to restrain himself, and it was a good thing too because he was not fond of the idea of accidentally impregnating Kaguya for a whole myriad of reasons.

"Hehehe..." Another dreamy giggle slipped from her lips, as the girl leaned forward to snuggle into his chest. "You're just figuring this out?"

He rolled his eyes, before leaning back a bit himself and wrapping his arms around the girl's waist. "No, just pointing out the obvious I suppose. Are you sure you're not in any discomfort?"

Kaguya peered up at him with a smirk. "Is that your way of saying you're eager to start moving?"

"It could be taken that way, I suppose." Lelouch admitted, tracing tiny circles on the small of her back with his left hand.

Nodding victoriously, the girl replied. "You can start whenever you like. Just be gentle with me, okay?" As if he would be anything but gentle. Kaguya wasn't even sure if Lelouch was capable of being rough in bed. It would probably end up awkward for everyone if he tried.

His first thrust drew a squeak from Kaguya, who hadn't quite known what to expect from the action. This had been her first time with anything larger than a finger inside of her, and so she had been somewhat nervous.

That sentiment died out somewhere around the fourth time he thrust into her, it's memory long forgotten by the fifth. It was around that point that Kaguya lost count, but all that mattered was that he hadn't stopped moving.

"A-AH! L-Lelouch, k-keep goi-G-GOING!" She panted out hotly, leaning up against his chest. Kaguya was in bliss right now, only in part due to the wonderful sensation her lover was filling her with.

She'd been wanting this for a long time now. Perhaps not this act exactly, but she'd wanted to be with Lelouch since their time at the shrine. As a child it had been a childish crush, puppy love, the kind where she dreamed of holding hands and kissing cheeks. As she'd grown, it had morphed into a more mature fantasy that included everything from cuddling to the lovemaking itself, but none of those dreams compared to the real thing in the slightest.

But perhaps the most amazing part was that she had actually managed to make those dreams a reality, because the girl had never expected that to happen. Lelouch was supposed to be dead, and even if he had gone into hiding there was no way the two of them would meet again... except they had, because she'd fallen in love with an absolutely wonderful man who'd taken it upon himself to start a war against an oppressive country, one that controlled a third of the world, with nothing but his intellect and whatever resources he could gather along the way.

"It feels good, I take it?" Lelouch questioned, continuing to thrust upwards into the girl as he asked, the sensation making it a bit difficult for him to get the words out himself.

"Yes!" Kaguya's reply was short and sweet, just about the only thing she could actually manage to get out at the moment through the gasps and squeaks of pleasure as he pounded away at her.

A grin slipped on to his face at that. "G-Good to hear." Lelouch was getting closer and closer, he knew that much. It wouldn't be too long before he couldn't hold back any more. With that in mind, he decided another change of positions was in order.

Kaguya squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly on her back, legs wrapping around Lelouch's waist as he smirked down at her. Her questioning gaze was met by his own, as he made no offer to explain the sudden change. As he leaned down to meet her lips in another passionate kiss, one hand began to tease her clit again as his thrusts began anew.

And with that, Kaguya no longer cared about the new position as she was far too occupied with Lelouch's affections.

Several minutes passed by with Lelouch continuing to mercilessly thrust into her, occasionally breaking the kiss to move down and take one of her nipples into his mouth as his left hand continued to tease her sensitive pearl, his right hand being used to steady himself.

The Sumeragi heiress had managed to notice, through her pleasant haze, that his body was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Was hers the same way? Probably, but she could clearly see the light shining on to his pale skin, and the glistening sweat catching the light had quite the effect on his appearance. Those lovely violet eyes of his were currently a pair of smoldering amethysts, filled with affection and lust all for her. His breathing was heavy, just like her own, and it made the slim upper body all the more interesting to watch as he kept thrusting into her.

His face was flushed red, probably equal parts due to the physical activity and the arousal, and whenever she could see his mouth it was open, releasing his own moans and pleasured gasps.

With all of that, she could safely say that Lelouch was just as enraptured with her as she was with him. The thought brought a warm feeling to her stomach.

Or maybe that was the almost frenzied thrusting from her lover bringing her to another orgasm. A combination of the two, probably. "C-coming... I'm coming!" She announced loudly, hands once again reaching above her head to grip the covers.

Lelouch could barely restrain himself as the girl's walls began to contract, clearly feeling the effect of her orgasm. He knew full well that his own climax was near, and so he pulled himself out from her and wrapped his left hand, which had previously been occupied with her clitoris, around his shaft. After a few moments of pumping the member himself, his own orgasm came, the seed spraying out across Kaguya's lower body and stomach.

The teen then allowed himself to fall forward, landing next to the younger girl, reaching an arm around her and pulling her close.

Neither of them were sure quite how long they basked in the afterglow silently, but eventually the quiet was broken. "... do you have a towel somewhere?" Kaguya asked idly.

Lelouch chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. We should probably clean up anyway, shouldn't we?" He was drenched in sweat. That was not a pleasant feeling at all. "The bathroom is over there." He would also probably need to change these sheets, because they had several wet spots now.

Nodding in agreement, the girl offered a suggestion of her own. "Good. Let's go shower together." A lecherous smirk came to her lips. "You can wash me all over."

This brought a sigh from the teen. "You're incorrigible." He muttered fondly.

"You know you love it." Kaguya replied with a cheeky grin.

He smiled warmly at her, fond eyes taking in the lovely sight of her nude body once again. "Yes." Lelouch replied after a moment of consideration. "For whatever reason, I do love it." The boy admitted, before frowning as he noticed some of his hair sticking to his face from the sweat and other fluids. "Let's go clean up now, shall we?"

He had a feeling that they weren't quite as finished as he'd originally thought though, a feeling which was redoubled as the girl stood from his bed and began to saunter off towards the shower with a noticeable sway to her hips, turning her head to offer an impish grin just before she entered the bathroom.

Well, at least life was never dull, Lelouch thought to himself with a rueful smile as he made to follow.

---

AN: And that's a chapter. I've been fighting with this for like three weeks and it's not been a good time. I actually meant to get this out way sooner, but between my grandfather ending up hospitalized like twice, my cat dying, and all around being busy and having issues with writers block, it just didn't happen.

BUT! It's out now and I know where the next chapter is going, so that's good. Can't say when it'll be out, but it'll get there sooner or later.

Also I wrote a lemon. I kinda got carried away and next thing I knew I was like two thousand words into a sex scene. At that point I had to finish it. You can expect these periodically I suppose, feel free to skip them whenever you see them because I won't be including plot relevant stuff really.

Anyhow. Question for my readers here; what digimon do you think I'm going to give Mao? Cuz' I'm giving Mao a digimon. And I know which one I want to give him. But I wanna see what you guys think.

For reference sake, it's a digimon who's biggest role was in Tamers.

EDIT: I fucking knew I'd messed something up. Keramon flicked off the lights... and I kinda forgot he'd done that. Fixed it. Don't judge me it was like twelve in the morning or some shit.