Super sorry for the late update!

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I don't own Code Geass

Ch.18

Lelouch 17

Lelouch watched as students filed out of the auditorium after being dismissed from classes for the day after the academy's chairman spoke on Clovis's death. The prince's eyes caught the form of a retreating red head. Lelouch's eyes narrowed.

Kallen.

"Lulu!" Lelouch turned attention to the girl in front of him, giving him a genuine smile. "How do you think Isa and Suzu are doing?"

Lelouch continued walking by her side frowning, "The purebloods are going to give then trouble."

Kallen 17

'Great. The entire day off! Now I can go to Shinjuku!' Kallen thought to herself as she weeved through the throng of students trying to get off campus.

"Kallen!" the red head snapped her head towards where she heard someone call her. She came upon a boy jogging to her before stopped some ways in front of her. "You're Kallen Stadtfeld, right?"

"Yes." Kallen raised an eyebrow at him confused. He was clearly Japanese, and even though she was sure she had never met him, he still looked familiar for some reason. Kallen frowned, "Can I help you?"

The boy smiled at her, "I'm Eiji, I'm friends with Isabella."

Kallen blinked. Friends with Isabella. As in, comrades with Isabella in the Britannian military. Kallen backed up from the boy. This is why she cursed the name of Leabella God Damned Britannia! Not only was that witch royalty, but she was turning Kallen's countrymen against themselves. Kallen narrowed her eyes at the boy; well, now she couldn't consider him a fellow countrymen.

Eiji's eyes widened seeing her retreat, "Whoa!" He waved his arms around. "Hold up! I'm here on friendly terms."

"How should I know that?" Kallen questioned looking around where they stood. They were still in a populated area, but students were keeping their business and ignoring them. Eiji followed her eyes seeing that they were surrounded.

"Um," Eiji scratched the back of his head, "Do you mind if we go somewhere more private? I mean I don't think you want people hearing about "the group."" Eiji used air quote to emphasise his point. Kallen's eyes widened before snatching his wrist pulling him along till they walked into one of the nearby school buildings.

"Alright, what is it?" Kallen said defensively her body tensing when she faced him, "Are you here to arrest me or something?"

"What? No!" Eiji exclaimed shaking his head, "I'm Minami's brother I would never do that to one of his or Isabella's friends."

"Minami?" Kallen said is like a question, but he just nodded. Now, she saw it. Minami and the boy had the same hair color, though Eiji's was longer, and eyebrows.

"Anyway," Eiji started after letting Kallen process the information, "I just wanted to tell you that Isabella will be with you when you go to Tokyo Tower." Kallen blinked, surprised, yet in the back of her mind she really wasn't. "I'm supposed to accompany you through out the day till then."

Kallen scoffed folding her arms across her chest, "I don't need a bodyguard."

"Too bad," Eiji said definately while fishing out a pair of keys from his pocket, "Captain's orders. What she says goes." Kallen grumbled. She didn't need to be baby sitted, even if Isabella ordered it. "C'mon," Eiji started, "Not all military people are sticks in the mud."

Kallen looked at him through the corner of her eye.

Isabella 17

Isabella, in her school uniform walked about the Engineering department of the military base. Along her way random engineers and officers would bow their heads to her and she made her way toward where she knew the Special Core unit was commandeering space for the Lancelot.

Lloyd scrutinized the air around him as Isabella sat on the railings some way behind him. "...the purebloods have the military in an iron grip."

"Now, why would you say that, Lloyd?" Isabella asked displeased by the man's statement.

Lloyd didn't turn around to face her, exercising his plight to ignore a person's status as much as possible, but he did address her presence, "Ah hello, Your highness." Isabella sat up straighter looking around at the workers who caught his words, eyes widening. She consciously checked the hair color by her shoulder tensing when she indeed saw blonde then looked at Lloyd.

Cecile looked from her to Lloyd, "Uh, sir, it's Miss Isabella."

Lloyd blinked turning around to see the blonde looking at him perplexed. "Well," he said in-a-matter-a-fact way, "I suppose it is." Isabella frowned at him, and he threw his arms in the air, "Honestly, Isabella, you and the princess sound so alike."

Isabella narrowed her eyes at him, "Perhaps you need to have your hearing checked, Lloyd. The princess would be troubled if she heard that you were confusing other people for her."

Lloyd smiled her mischievously before bringing his index finger to his lips, "Let's keep is our little secret."

Isabella stared into at the man's gleeful eyes already vaguely seeing memories and practically hearing the gears in his brain move automatically. "So," she looked away from Lloyd to look at the standing Lancelot being worked on, "Leabella and Suzaku are going to need you in court with the Lancelot's time sheet from that day in Shinjuku."

"Oh," Lloyd raised an entertained eyebrow, "so, the princess has figured it out?"

Cecile looked between the two confused, "Figured what out?"

"The Lancelot was still online when Prince Clovis gave the cease fire order, where he was most likely already at gunpoint and his advisers had left him alone by that time," Isabella said as she jumped from the railing to walk over to the two.

"When Suzaku was signing off of the system," Lloyd continued after her, "The princess was found in the elevator apparently knocked unconscious, and the prince was dead."

Kallen 17 Eiji 18

A warm breeze blow through a quaint park near the center of the settlement. The park was sparsely filled due the majority of people being in mourning of Prince Clovis. However, near the fountain in the park where most vendors, mainly Honorary Britannian, were selling food, two teenagers were sitting on a stone bench.

Kallen bit into into a hotdog that Eiji handed to her not moments ago.

"How is it?" Eiji asked after she swallowed.

Kallen frowned at him, saying in a monotone voice, "It's a hotdog."

Eiji grinned stretching his arms above his head, "Sorry." He looked over at the fountain as he said, "It's just, it''s been so long since I've had street food."

"That's Britannia's fault," Kallen said darkly.

Eiji shrugged, "Well, I see it as more of a choice." Eiji gave her a sidelong glance, "When I joined the military I had to eat healthier. Still do. The whole squad is on a meal plan."

"Does Isabella know you're breaking your diet?"

Suddenly the violet haired boy became silent. Kallen raised an eyebrow and looked up him twitching when she saw his dark cobalt eyes staring at her with complete seriousness. "Don't tell her; she'll sic R.R. on me."

"R.R.?" Kallen questioned.

"Oh," Eiji's face brightened some, "Princess Leabella adopted him when we left Belarus. He had been in the President of Belarus's custody for a while, till he sort of attached himself to Leabella. Nobody really knows how he got there, but he's apparently from Spain."

'European?' Kallen thought, "How old is he if the Princess adopted him?"

Eiji rubbed his chin, "Don't know really. Probably like thirteen or something."

Isabella

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Lloyd said after he and Isabella still in her school uniform entered the viceroy's office.

"If you're implying to this alias of mine, I assure you I can handle it," Isabella said running her fingers through the blonde wig.

"Although that is a concern," Lloyd said leaning on one of the couches in the center of the room, "I'm talking about this situation with Suzaku." Isabella looked at him darkly. "The purebloods are no joke. Your brother was able to hold them down because they weren't so active, but now they got what they've been waiting for. They're going to use any means to disgrace the honorary system even if it's an attack on you and your squad. "

"I understand," Isabella said determined.

"Do you really?" Lloyd said incredulously, "You may not care so much about your reputation with the nobility, but think about the citizens. How much do you think they will trust you when you're supporting someone accused of treason?"

"But he didn't do it," Isabella countered.

"That very well does not matter," Lloyd shot back, "He won't be able to walk around in the military base, much less in public without someone thinking he's a traitor."

"I get it!" Isabella snapped as she looked out the window. She could see small ant like people walking the streets of Tokyo, "I've got a lot to prove, and I'm going against everything people think that's right, but I'm they're viceroy now."

"Are you really?" Lloyd asked quietly.

"What?" Isabella asked, surprised by the question.

Lloyd looked at her firmly, "You have the title of viceroy, but are you acting as one? Your job now is to be a leader of Area 11, a Britannian settlement. It's your duty to lead the Britannian people, along with the Honorarys. But, first and foremost you are a Britannian Princess. You must hold your people on the top of your priorities."

Isabella looked down to her desk. Utop the desk was a small ornate globe resting decorated to look like the Britannian flag. Isabella sat at her desk looking at the globe as the Britannian crest stared at her accusingly.

Lloyd sighed before saying, "We can discuss the Lancelot another time." Then, without another word, he left.

Isabella let her head drop to the surface of the desk when she heard the door close shut. She still kept her eye on globe.

'Your Highness?' the disguised princess raised her head as the voice spoke out. Isabella propped her chin up to see the small comm sitting on the desk where her new secretary was speaking to her.

"Yes, Ms. Stonewell?" Isabella said raising an eyebrow, "My appointment with the chair of transportation was the last one today."

"I understand, your highness," Ms. Stonewell replied hesitantly.

"How do you know I was in my office?" the blonde asked. She had told the office staff that she would be gone after lunch.

"...I saw Dr. Asplund walk out of your office."

Isabella sighed sitting up, "What did you need, Ms. Stonewell?"

"It's his highness," the woman said urgently, "He said he wanted to speak with you as soon as possible."

"Who?" Isabella asked incredulously before her asleep computer came alive with a familiar collar ID asking for a video call. "...Schneizel. Thank you, Ms. Stonewell."

"Yes, princess."

Isabella groaned before accepting the call with her brother. Before long, Schneizel, wearing a gaudy smirk appeared on her computer screen. "Why do you insist in hacking the system to contact me, Schneizel?" Isabella asked without greeting him.

"Well, you don't give me much of a choice with you avoiding all my calls for the past week, not to mention our other siblings calls," Schneizel replied smoothly.

"I'd think you would get a hint, are you not as intuitive as I gave you credit for?" Isabella shot back.

"I appreciate that you hold me to such a high degree, but I'm just simply getting what I want," Schneizel said.

"So, tell me what you want," Isabella said, "Your sister is quite busy."

"I can tell," Schneizel started, "I thought school classes were cancelled throughout the nation; don't tell me your academy isn't in observance of Clovis's death."

"Why should death hinder a person's education?" Isabella asked looking dumbfounded. To that she got a chuckle from her older brother, "Though, classes are cancelled today. However, I need to go somewhere in the guise of a student."

"You went all out," Schneizel commented, "That wig of yours suits you well."

"Thank you," Isabella said looking down at the blonde tresses, then looked up at the screen again, "So, what was the reason for you trying to contact me so forcefully. Don't tell me you think I can't handle the settlement?"

"I don't doubt your ability to control Area 11," Schneizel said smoothly, "Though, a few of our siblings and I are concerned. We've never seen you work alone."

"You've never seen me work at all; unless you paid any attention to Belarus's Wrath, which I doubt," Isabella replied.

"Well, you know that Cornelia and I did; we were only part of the few that knew you were in Belarus," Schneizel said.

"You knew I was in that country?" the princess question incredulously.

"We were ordered not to interfere," the prince replied. Isabella stayed quiet. She knew what that meant. Their father knew she was kidnapped by Belarusian spies.

Finally after simply staring through the screen at her brother, Isabella started, "I have something I need to address soon outside of the office. We'll talk later."

"Very well, Leabella," Schneizel said nodding, "Or did you give your little character a name?"

The princess smiled, "Isabella."

Schneizel smiled warmly. Before he hung up, he commented, "I believe if Nunnally had ever reached your age, she would look how you do now."

That left the frozen girl in her office, staring at the blank screen before her that showed her reflection.

Kallen Eiji

Kallen looked around the parking lot down the street from the Tokyo tower. Eiji was still attached to her like a leech though, at the moment, the boy was on his phone speaking to who she presumed was Isabella.

The redhead sighed looking down to her wrist watch. It was a quarter till 4. She had gotten a text from Kaname telling her that he and a few others were close by. Where the hell was Isabella?!

"Hey," Eiji called her catching her off guard. She snapped around to look at him as a slick black car parked just behind him. Out came, Isabella in her Academy uniform, and Kallen found a young looking boy sitting next to where the blonde was previously sitting.

Kallen blinked when Eiji started for the car and jumped in the passenger seat next to Yuuto, who was in the driver seat. "Wait," Kallen started, "You seriously stayed just to keep an eye on me?"

Eiji looked at her with his cobalt eyes smiling, "Following orders."

Kallen groaned and looking at an amused Isabella, "Why!?"

The blonde shrugged, "I needed to know where you were."

"You could have just called me," Kallen countered.

"Alright," Yuuto said from the drivers seat speaking through the passenger side window, "You two need to get to the tower."

"Got it," Isabella said to Yuuto with slight distaste. Kallen rose a groomed brow as Isabella looked at her nodding to start walking as she turned away from the car.

Kallen looked over at the car. Eiji shrugged and closed the window as Yuuto shot her a salute driving away. The redhead turned seeing the blonde waiting for her already on the side walk.

"What was all that about?" Kallen asked when she got Isabella, and they started for the tower.

Isabella sighed stretching her arms out, "Royalty stuff. Something came up, and….y'know."

"You can just quit," Kallen quirked.

Isabella snorted, "Yeah, 'cause that would be easy. I'll give my two-week notice tomorrow."

Kallen laughed, but it died down when she see Isabella's still irritated expression. "How serious was it?"

Isabella looked around the street as she spoke, "We found out information about when we were Belarus."

"You mean," Kallen started forwarding her brows, "When you and the princess and her guard were there?" Kallen blinked before asking more, "Why were you there? I mean, you're Britannian. How did you end up in Belarus while Lelouch and Nunnally were here?"

Isabella paused mid-step, but continued pretending it never happened, "Well, we were separated when we were younger. The student council told you that right?"

"Yeah," Kallen said following.

By that time, they had finally made it to the tower. Isabella looked up at the partially destroyed structure, "I joined the military, rose in rank, and got the position as Princess Leabella's advisor."

"You mean that's the story you tell people." Kallen said definitely, "Because you were somehow in Belarus."

Isabella looked over at Kallen through the corner of her eye, "I technically have two stories."

"Two?" Kallen questioned.

"Yeah," Isabella continued, "In one, I'm Britannian. In another, I'm just like the rest of our squad."

Kallen narrowed her eyes at the blonde, "You're not Japanese."

"No," Isabella said as they entered the tourist entrance, "I'm Belarusian."

Kallen stared at the blonde with wide eyes. Belarusian? Not Britannian. Belarusian!? A few feet ahead of the redhead, the blonde bit her lip, hearing Kallen's upset mind start running at a thousand miles an hour.

"Wait!" Kallen called as Isabella entered the elevator. When the breathless redhead entered the thankfully empty car, she continued, "So, you're not Lelouch's sister?"

"I didn't say that," Isabella said smoothly.

"But, you just said," Kallen said lost.

Isabella snapped her head at her, "Look," she started firmly, "We'll talk later. We need to focus on this voice."

"Right," Kallen said obediently like she was receiving orders.

The two girls browsed around the gallery, quickly finding Kaname and the others, but not greeting them. Isabella looked at the clock that hung on the wall across the room: 3:58. Almost. The blonde looked around with anticipation. It wasn't crowded by it also wasn't empty. She took in the profile of all the people around them. None looked suspicious, but she couldn't trust it.

The blonde jumped at the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket. Isabella rose an eyebrow, seeing the collar ID: Kaname.

"Yes?" she asked looking over at the group of men.

'Hey,' Kaname started over the phone, 'Um...this might sound crazy, but is there a possibility of Suzaku being this voice?'

Isabella ran an exasperated hand through her hair, "Seriously? No, he's-"

'Attention please,' a women started over the intercom, 'Paging Ms. Kallen Stadtfeld,' Isabella snapped her head to where the redhead once was, pulling the phone away from her ear, not finding any sign of her 'from Ashford Academy; one of your personal items has been turned into the kiosk on the observation deck.'

Isabella brought the phone back to her ear, "Let's go.."

'Got it.' Isabella briefly watched as Kaname and the others rushed to the stairs leading to the top floor before rushing over to the elevator to catch up with Kallen.

Isabella sighed when she made it to the observation deck, rushing over to the window that looked over the surrounding area. If that crook was using indirect means to get in contact with them, he most likely wasn't in the tower anymore. A few meters away, footsteps caught her attention, and Kaname and the others were seen from the corner of her eye.

The blonde jumped when she felt a pat on her shoulder. Whipping around, she came upon Kallen. Kallen looked at the phone in her hand confused. Isabella looked at the device with distaste and turned back to look out the vast window. Few people were outside, but one retreating form caught her eye. The figure had a stark dark mop of hair and was obviously male with a phone to his ear. Isabella sighed exasperated. They were at just the right angle where she couldn't make out any defining features, and she couldn't see his face.

Kallen's questioning voice, made Isabella's ear twitch as she whipped around to see the collar ID on the phone, "Zero?" Both girls positioned themselves to hear through the receiver as Kallen answered the call, "Hello?"

'I want you to board the outbound train on loop line 5, and bring your friends.'

"What?" Kallen asked forwarding her brows. Isabella groaned. This guy was making them go on a wild goose chase.

The blonde took the phone before speaking, "Fine, we get it. We'll be there."

There was a pause before 'Zero' spoke, 'So nice of you to put aside your military work to come see me, Isabella.'

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped before hanging up. She looked over at Kaname then to Kallen before making her way to the stairs with everyone at her heels.

Yuuto 26

"I was expecting her highness to be here," Diethard Ried said after looking from R.R. who was sitting in Leabella's desk chair and Masanori who was standing by the boy.

"Unfortunately," R.R. said looking the ash blonde up and down, "She was unaware of this appointment."

"Oh?" Diethard said surprised, "Is it common to keep issues from the Princess?"

"It's not like that," Masanori spoke up looking up from a stack of papers in his hand, "I'm simply in charge of the majority of the Princess's media issues. With her fast promotion, she delegates simple tasks to her higher officers."

"You're going to make the man think he's insignificant to Leabella," R.R. cut in.

Diethard brought his attention to the boy. He surely wasn't more than a tween. He wasn't an Eleven, but he certainly wasn't a Britannian either.

"Excuse me," Diethard started, "But, if I may ask, who are you?"

"He is a child brought from Belarus; the princess and he grew up together in the country, so she adopted him when she returned to Britannia," Masanori recited.

"Oh," Diethard looked down at the boy again. He had fluffy blue-black hair that was disheveled yet still looked soft and silky while his slightly tan skin brought out his icy blue eyes. "Don't you miss your parents? Your country?"

R.R. stared blankly at him, "I don't remember my parents, and I can care less about my country. I simply follow Leabella."

Diethard nodded, "Now, on the matter at hand."

"Yes," Masanori started, "The princess compliments your work on Prince Clovis's memorial ceremony. She said, 'I personally think it's too over the top, but his highness would have loved it.' In my opinion, I was quite surprised with how fast you had everything planned out for the ceremony."

"It's quite common for memorial programs to be set in advanced for important people," the blonde said formally.

Masanori frowned filing through his pages, "That brings up the topic of her highness's program."

"Yes, should we plan an appointment, where she could attend," the reporter started, but Masanori cut him off.

"The princess, already had the detailed she would care for," the soldier passed over the sheets of paper.

"She thinks ahead," Diethard commented.

"Yes she does," Masanori agreed with a sigh, "Her highness also say that anything she left out, could be decided by you. She doesn't have that much tact for event planning. Along with that, her favorite colors are green and black. Though, black would be too morbid for a ceremony to honor royalty, so just stick to the green."

"Understood," the reporter replied. "Is there anything else?"

"The princess also understands that Lord Margrave Jeremiah is planning on having Suzaku Kururugi's transfer from the military base to his court martial publicized," Masanori stated.

"That is correct."

"Her highness requested that you also plan to shoot the trial, as Viceroy she is allowing selected reporters into the courtroom. She chose you," Masanori said.

"It would be an honor," Diethard replied.

"Excellent, now there is just one thing left to address," Masanori said. Diethard waited for him to continue, "The princess was quite displeased with the report on her dance with this 'mystery man.'"

Diethard smirked, "Well, there isn't much we can do about that. Now that her highness is the viceroy, reporters will be asking about this man even more. Everyone wants to find a scandal as I'm sure you know."

"Yes," Masanori agreed, "Though, she has something to keep the media's mind off of this mystery man."

"Do you know who she was dancing with that night?" Diethard asked.

"No," Masanori said flatly, "Now, the princess would like a statement to be published."

"What is it?"

"The princess is planning on choosing a knight very soon. This knight will be chosen from her guard and she will have a ceremony for the occasion in the coming months."

Whoo! Super sorry for the late update.

College is no joke. I literally have a finally in an hour and a half, and I'm hear updating my fanfics.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and Happy holidays!