Disclaimer: I own none of the characters presented in this fiction, except one. All characters aside from Ulrike are the property of Sunrise.

To enter a story is to ensure that you leave it someday.

– Indian Proverb

THE STRANGER, THE SAINT, THE HORN, AND THE WORD

Chapter 5 – Arrivals and Exits

Incipio.


Nunnally was in a terrible mood.

Her empathic link with her siblings was pouring out a constant assault of guilt, anger, self-reproach, sadness, and unhappiness on her mind, which felt like a battering ram directed against her peace of mind. She was invariably pursued by an itch that seemed to indicate that she should do something, anything to ease their pain, but as she didn't know the circumstances, and she suspected that trying to interfere would only make things worse for both her and her siblings.

So, she did what she could to make their day off more comfortable, tried not to be sour about their bad moods converging on her, and tried not to dwell on the negative emotion that was gradually eroding her patience and tact.

Soon I'm going to be so irritable and unhappy, even Euphemia won't want to be around me. Not that she wants to be now, she thought, a little blackly.

Soon, not even Nii-sama…

This was so scary and definitively not funny that her stress level went up a couple notches from it alone.

Maybe if I start swearing, someone will come and help me, she thought, somewhat frantically. Let's see, what swear words do I know? Well, there's "dang". I remember Nii-sama getting mad when Cornelia said it where I could hear it. And then, I guess, there's "fudge". Everyone seems to use that one whenever I'm around, even when Cornelia shushes. Oh yeah, and then there's "shoot". Okay, three is enough, right?

Nunnally took a deep breath.

In a would-be dirty litany, she began rattling off as many "swear" words as she could, at the top of her lungs.

"Dang! Fudge! Shoot! Dang Fudge! Shoot Fudge! Fudge Dang! Dang! Dang! Shoot! Fudge! Shoot! Fudge! Fudge! FUDGE!"

She finished triumphantly, before realizing that there was someone else in the apartment. She studied the gait, almost automatically, and identified it as Milly.

"Um, Nunnally? What were you doing just now?" said Milly, somewhat unsteadily. She sounded as if she was trying not to burst out laughing.

This did not improve Nunnally's mood. She said, somewhat peevishly, "I was swearing to try and get someone to rescue me from this horrible horrible MOOD I'm in!"

"That was swearing? It sounded more like what a cartoon character on a G-rated show would come out with…" Milly gave up, and laughed out loud.

Nunnally deflated, and said in a small voice, "None of those… were swears?"

"No, Nunnally." Milly's voice became gentler. "They were not swears."

Nunnally's mouth crimped, and without giving any warning, including to herself, she burst into tears.

"Oh, no, Nunnally, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, I was just… " Milly tried to calm her down, with little success.

"You didn't mean to laugh? Milly, I am having one of the worst days of my life! I'm sorry for getting angry with you. But I feel awful, and being laughed at doesn't help!" At this, her sobs grew more distressed, and she gave herself over entirely to crying.


That, thought Milly, most decidedly did not bode well for her siblings, who would, as long as they remained in range of the empathic link, feel all of Nunnally's misery, along with their own. The house would be filled with crying siblings in short order, with only Milly to stave off complete emotional collapse.

Not a fun situation.

Milly made a decided grab for the wheelchair, and rolled Nunnally out into the sunshine. She pushed her all the way to the Academy gates where she hailed her family's limo, folded up Nunnally's chair and stowed it, lifted the still sniffling Nunnally into the back, got in herself, and said, "George – home."

"Yes'm," came a voice from the front.

They drove off, Nunnally's tears drying.

This is the second time I've used the family limo for "personal" reasons in as many days, thought Milly. I'm going to get it from Father…

Suppressing a sigh at the chewing out Father would no doubt give her she turned to Nunnally.

"Are you OK, Nunna-chan? I know what you're going through, and it must really stink if you're reduced to crying because I laughed at you. You're usually never that touchy."

Nunnally nodded a couple of times, and gulped down another round of sniffles before answering.

"Yes… I'm okay…"

Milly examined her closely. "Now that I look at you, you really don't look well, Nunna-chan. Have you been eating right?"

"Yes… I've been eating well… it's just… my brothers and sisters are all simultaneously downcast and depressed, and I feel it all, and I feel like I should be doing something, and I can't, and it all makes me feel terrible, and then that gets reflected back to them and makes them feel even worse! It's never been this bad! And besides all that, I had to make sure they all ate today, at least something, and look after them all! But I still feel so useless!" At this, Nunnally looked like she was about to cry again.

Milly hastily put an arm around her, and hugged her till she got over her momentary hysteria.

"It's all right, Nunna-chan, it's all right. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to have you stay over at my house for a little bit, because I don't think it's a good thing for you to be back at your apartment for a while; you shouldn't have to handle your siblings' feelings right now. You can meet my maid, Sayoko. She's nice; I think you'll like her. And I need to see about beating some sense into Lelouch and Cornelia…" She cracked her knuckles menacingly at this last.

Nunnally nodded, looking a little upset at this offhand reference to her siblings, but more cheerful all the same.

"Okay, Milly. Would you take me inside, please?"

"Certainly, princess. I live to serve," Milly answered, adopting a faux-formal tone.

Nunnally giggled a little at that, and Milly picked her up, put her in her wheelchair, and rolled her inside.

Later.

Nunnally was delighted to meet Sayoko, who immediately took to the girl, and began teaching her origami. As Sayoko guided Nunnally's hands through the motions of making paper cranes, Milly watched the pair contentedly from the couch. Sayoko was certainly the most capable and amiable maid Milly had ever had (and she had had quite a few), and she was rapidly becoming one of Milly's favorite servants, as well as a good friend. Milly was a little suspicious of the way Sayoko thought of others; she seemed to see every interaction between males and females in the dirtiest light possible. Even though this bespoke a certain point of view only acquired by covert and persistent voyeurism, Milly didn't mind it that much. It reminded her of her grandfather, after all.

Her contentedness was soon spoiled, however, by the arrival of one of her least favorite servants: her father's footman, Aloysius. He embodied everything she didn't like in servants, and had a few nasty surprises of his own to throw in. He was greedy, vain, conniving, lecherous, sycophantic, and all-around unpleasant. She suspected him of voyeurism, too, not as inoffensive as Sayoko's and directed towards her, but fortunately Sayoko had been prudent enough to ensure her mistress's safety from such rude spying. She was quite an accomplished martial artist, and was able to knock him from his perch in the tree across the road before saw anything of importance. He had never forgiven Sayoko for this, and was even now trying to find a way to get her removed.

He gave Sayoko a dirty look as he strolled into the room, even as he smiled greasily at Milly.

"The master wishes to see you, Lady Milliarde. Alone, if you please."

Uh-oh, here it comes… thought Milly apprehensively.

"Can't it wait a little, Aloysius? I've got a friend over, as you can see –"

"I'm afraid, Lady Milliarde, that the master wishes to see you right now. Regardless of how many friends – " he looked down his nose at Nunnally as he said this, no doubt thinking her to be a commoner " – that you have over."

This snide comment nearly drove Milly to attack him. Ooo, I wonder what he'd do if he knew it was a princess he'd been so rude to… probably die on the spot. For a split second, she considered telling him that, just to see if he would die, but regretfully discarded this idea, because he probably wouldn't believe her. Shame…

"All right, Aloysius. Take me to him."

"Excellent, Madam." He led her to her father's study, where her father was working.

Mr. Ashford didn't look up when his daughter entered the room. He was a heavyset man, with thinning hair, and humorless gray eyes. He had never liked his daughter very much, wishing for a son, and the reversal of his fortunes had had an extremely detrimental effect on his relationship with her, such as it was. He saw her, now, as good for nothing more than improving the family's destroyed connections.

He pointed with his pen to a chair in front of his desk, and said curtly, "Sit."

She did so, smoldering. He finished the letter he had been writing, and, putting his pen down, looked at her.

She hated looking at her father. Every time she looked at him, she saw in every line, in every expression, disappointment. He radiated it like a fire radiated heat; he was pleased with nothing, and would not be pleased even if it was perfect. He was determined to be disillusioned, and to find the flaws in everything, and if he could not, to condemn it as impossible and illogical. She felt herself grow more cynical just by being near him, and she, who had inherited her grandfather's optimistic outlook, hated it. The only thing he liked was criticism, and he was very good at it.

He directed a flat-eyed stare toward her, and she held it grimly, until he looked away. Ha.

"Milliarde – " (and that was another thing she hated; he refused to call her Milly) " – have you been successful with any of your matches?"

"No," she said, feeling shame and anger well up.

"No, sir."

"No, sir," she repeated tonelessly.

"You know, Milly, the rest of the family is depending on you. We have to have you marry into a family with some consequence. We gave you your childhood; now, you must do us this service and redeem the Ashford name from your grandfather's culpable stupidity – "

Rage burned white-hot in her at this slur on Grandpa. He's a better man than you, you conniving, stiff old sneak. She said nothing, though; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of punishing her for talking back.

He didn't notice her fury, and he continued his chastisement.

" – so, if you receive an offer of marriage from any quarter, as long as the asker is Earl or higher, then you will accept. Am I understood?"

She nodded, jaw tight.

"Good. Now… I have noticed that you have spent a great deal of time with the banished prince and his sisters these past weeks. I would like you to stop. He is a danger to our name, and we were dragged through the mud on account of his mother." He injected a poisonous tone into the last word; he abhorred Empress Marianne for ruining his family's name. "You will cease all contact with him and his sisters; I will not have you risk our return to fortune with unwary fraternization. If you keep this up, I may have to inform the emperor of his continued existence."

That was the last straw. Milly snapped.

Suddenly she was on her feet, and her father was eye to eye with her, looking surprised. Sayoko had taught her how to disable a man in the last few weeks, looking suspiciously all the while at Aloysius; punches in certain areas, twisting joints beyond where they were meant to bend. She was very happy to see it worked, although her father was not the best fighter, nor was he in the best of shape.

"You bastard. You bastard."

"How dare you! Release me! I demand that you release me at once! I am your father, and will not be treated this way!"

Milly continued, barely hearing her father's commands over the roar in her ears. "You don't care what I want, do you? Or that Lelouch and his sisters need friends? Let me tell you two things. I want to marry whom I want, when I want! And you are sure as hell not going to tell me to stay away from those four! They're all my friends! They've been my friends since I was two! And I am not going to give up four friends that I treasure and who treasure me for a man who only cares what I can do for him! You're not my father! You've never been my father! You're just a man who made the minimum contribution to give me life, and kept his hands off until he needed something, then thought he could use his contribution like a hammer, to make me do what he needed! Grandpa has been more of a father to me than you ever have, or ever could be! And you – called – him – stupid – you – miserable – old – jackass!" She punctuated each word with a vicious elbow jab. He grunted at the blows.

She bent down to speak in his ear, lips white. "And if you tell anyone about them - I'll fucking murder you! I'll - I'll tell the emperor that you're conspiring against him. See if you survive that."

When he had recovered enough to speak, he turned to her, white with rage. His lips looked numb as he said, "You'd treat your father this way? You - you -" He stopped, clearly trying to control himself. He began again, in a monotonous voice. "You are no daughter of mine. Get out. I disown you. When you see the Ashfords ascendant – you'll know – you'll know what you've missed. If I see you then – I'll not recognize you, even if you beg your hardest. I'll get you and that senile old fool who somehow fathered your mother out of this family before you can do any more harm – and I'll get his money as well, I hope. I know I can put it to better use. In any case, I hope you enjoy your prince and princesses. They're all you'll have. Now take your foul nursemaid and that cripple and GET. OUT. OF. MY. HOUSE!"

He lost control at last, and began roaring incoherently at Milly, his dislike turned to utter hatred. A tiny bit of fear fluttered in her chest at the instability, but her anger was stronger, much stronger. It actually gave her a kind of detached pleasure to watch the man that she had thought the picture of calm indifference and noble detachment completely break down at his daughter's rebellion. But even though she was pleased she had broken his composure, what she really felt… was freedom.

The door to my cage was open all this time, and I never realized. I never realized it would be so easy to break out.

Now... now... I'm free. It was a thought to celebrate.

She turned her back on her father's fury, and went to tell Sayoko and Nunnally that they were leaving.

Later.

"But, Milly, why would you leave your family for us? We don't want you to be hurt because of us! Please, if it'll help, go back and tell him that you'll never see us again! It's all right! We'd get along fine without you… maybe…"

Nunnally's doubtful ending to this speech did not help her case, and, anyway, there was no possible circumstance that could convince Milly back into the arms of the Ashfords. She was free from familial responsibility for the first time in her life, and she was enjoying it.

So this is what it feels like to be a commoner… Not bad.

Of course, her outburst and dismissal would probably bring a world of trouble down on Grandpa's head, but he was trouble personified when he wanted to be. He could certainly handle his straight-laced son-in-law and his budget lawyers all by himself, and Milly was going to ensure that he was guarded day and night to stave off the possibility of "unfortunate accidents".

Hmmm… I bet Sayoko would be willing to guard him. I kind of wanted her to stay with me though…

Wait a minute. I just got kicked out of my house. I probably can't live in my dorm all the time, and I don't think Grandpa has room for me.

So… where do I stay?!

Milly did not want to end up on a bench with newspapers piled on top of her. That would be embarrassing as well as unpleasant, and she was pretty sure she'd get molested. Nunnally, apparently following the same train of thought she was, said, a little diffidently, "Well, Milly… if you're sure that you don't want to go back home… would you like to stay with us?"

Milly, surprised, said, "Are you sure that you can accommodate me? Your apartment isn't that much bigger than a few dorm rooms together; I've seen it. And I am not a very good roommate…"

Nunnally giggled at that. "Oh, don't worry, Milly. I'm sure Nii-sama, Nee-sama, and sister Euphie will be delighted to have you." Her face clouded a little, and she frowned. "If they ever get out of their funk… though it does seem to be a little better now."

Milly considered the offer. It really wasn't bad; she would be spending more time with the siblings like Grandpa had suggested, she would help them out of whatever trouble they were in easier closer to them, and best of all, she would have more opportunities to embarrass Lelouch!

She smiled at the girl, then remembered she was blind, and said, somewhat hurriedly, "Yes! All right, Nunnally! I'll accept your delightful offer! Expect me in about half an hour, I need to get my stuff from my dorm; I think Sayoko got the rest." Out from under Aloysius's thieving hands, probably...

Her mood was exuberant. Today was the first day of the rest of her life.

Wow, that phrase is cliched. Ah, well. It feels... apt.

She smiled beatifically. Guess who's coming to stay, Lelouch!


"We're having who stay over?!"

Euphemia, roused from her gloom, unsuccessfully tried to calm Lelouch, even as she giggled at his horror and surprise. "Now, now, Lelouch, it's not so bad… It might even be helpful! You and I will both be on the student council soon, and having the President live with us will speed things up a lot!"

No, no, no, oh, no! Why?! Why does the universe do this to me? First I get Euphemia eavesdropping, and now Milly as a semi-permanent tenant! I'm going to have to start locking my door… not that that will stop her…

Oh, well. It's too late now, I suppose. And at least Euphemia's cheered up. That makes me feel better about… what I did.

It didn't help a lot, though.

"Okay, Lelouch, let's go down and show her the place!"

"Why? She's been here before!"

"Ye-es," said Euphemia, somewhat sanctimoniously, "but she wasn't a boarder then. She is now, and therefore, we need to show her around." Without waiting for an answer, she bolted downstairs.

Lelouch groaned, and followed his sister. She was completely insufferable when she got into one of these moods; it made him, for one, want to hide in his room. Cornelia got a funny smile on her face whenever she saw Euphie so exuberant, though. Her face seemed transformed by joy whenever she saw her little sister so joyful, as if Euphemia was the conduit by which Cornelia experienced the world, and she was paralyzed by such happiness.

As he walked downstairs, he thought, a little pensively, Nunnally is precious to me for very much the same reason; the only way I see good in the world is through her. But that wasn't entirely true, he realized. Euphemia's been bleeding into my thoughts a great deal lately; she helps me see light as well. He wasn't sure how he felt about that; he had come to think of his devotion to Nunnally and his desire for revenge against his mother's killers as the only things keeping him on the path he had started down. If I have too many ties to the world, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave it when the time comes. And I must. The world does not need another warmonger. Cornelia has taught me that much in her classes, at least. I wonder if she thinks the same way? His sister was a counterpart to him in many ways; was this one more? We are both royal, both chosen, both vengeful, both adoring a sister… both destined to die? Perhaps…

He was shaken from these heavy thoughts by a sudden engulfment in a great deal of Milly. He thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't shorter, or he would be suffocating right now.

"Hi, Lulu! Guess who!"

"…President?"

"Now, Lulu," Milly scolded, "if I'm going to live in your house, you're going to start calling me Milly all the time, got it?"

"W-what?! You can't order me around in my own house!" Wait. That's idiotic. She always orders me around.

Has someone been giving me stupid pills lately?

Milly smirked over her shoulder at him as she carried her bags inside. "Our house, now, Lulu! By the way, where should I stay…? In your room, Lulu? I know it very well… the bed especially…"

Lelouch, sputtering as his sisters roared with laughter, followed her with more bags…

And thus, Milliarde Ashford became a tenant at the Vili.


Nina was a little worried.

The rumors going around school were the wildest she had ever heard: Milly being disowned and thrown from her house, the Lamperouges and Langenrosas being related somehow, a secret tryst between Miss Cornelia and an unnamed student (gender uncertain: Miss Cornelia's orientation was a hot topic of gossip, given her relationship with her sister and refusal of dates; Nina did not usually join in), and the grand finale, the one that had her worried, a Number who served in the irregulars was enrolling in Ashford Academy.

She was friends with some Numbers; she had even collaborated with a few on a study of superconductor properties a few years back. But those were people she knew, people she trusted from years of communication and steady friendship. Nina was afraid of people she didn't know, and the rumored new student being a Number didn't help matters. Every time she saw an Eleven she didn't know she was set on edge until they went away. As just being outside frayed her nerves, she preferred to talk to people through the protective screen of her computer, or not talk to them at all. She was a solitary creature by nature, and although she had a few people she treasured above herself, she rarely, if ever, saw them. She kept herself busy, with schoolwork, with learning, and with her "project". She wanted to change the world, she had sacrificed most of her young life to it, and she thought the trade was more than fair.

Maybe I don't have to worry… Maybe he'll be nice…

She was praying that he would be, because she needed no distractions at this stage. She was too close to her goal.

She worked on, late into the night, and into the morning. When Milly walked in, looking for the student council schedule master copy (she needed a new one), she found her asleep at her computer. Milly closed her program, and carried her to her bed. After tucking her in, she said, quietly, "Sleep well, little genius."

Then she went to get a copy out of Lelouch.


One day later.

Cornelia chalked up the words "Military Advances Since the Discovery of Sakuradite in 1863" up on the board, and underlined it with a sweeping motion. "Well, class, here's your essay topic. Anyone surprised?" A chorus of groans met her statement; she laughed, and scolded, "Oh, come on now, you must have seen this coming; we haven't had an essay week for an entire month!" From the back, Euphemia and Lelouch gave her dirty looks; Euphemia hated writing essays, especially ones on military history, and Lelouch hated having to exert himself toward something other than on their work with the Shinjuku Group. Well, isn't that just too bad, thought Cornelia, giving them a sunny smile. Guess you won't be making the plans for the next raid, Lelouch. It's my turn and you know it.

As the class heaved out their notebooks and began to examine their textbooks desperately for any information on "Military Advances Since the Discovery of Sakuradite in 1863", there was a knock at the door. One of the students opened it, and another student, clearly serving messenger duties, walked in and handed a note to Cornelia. "Thank you," she said, somewhat surprised. She hadn't heard that anything was happening today; but then, she was rather out of the loop, having missed the last two staff meetings, and even then, the student council was not the most predictable of bodies, even at the best of times. Milly was very… spontaneous with her ideas, and tended to implement them without warning.

That aside, the note didn't look like it originated from student council hijinks. Cornelia looked it over. It read: New student coming to your class. He's an Honorary Britannian serving in the irregulars, so prepare your students for him.

As her eyes rose from the paper, she saw the door open again.

A brown-haired, green-eyed teenager walked into the room.

He looked a little nervously at the class, and said, in a timid voice, "Hello, I'm Suzaku Kururugi. I recently enrolled here. Where shall I sit?"

It was fortunate that all of the students were either engaged with their essay preparations or with staring at the newcomer, because had any of them chanced a glance at their teacher, or two of her pupils, they would have seen the same elated, thunderstruck look on their faces.

Three minds had one thought:

He's alive!

Chapter 5 – Arrivals

Consumo.

Author's Note: Finally, Suzaku appears! (Okay, I know that we saw him in the first chapter in the Lancelot, but that was a in medias res opening, and this is before that chronologically.) But anyway, I promise he will feature much more in the story from now on. In fact, he's going to have a prominent part in the next two chapters, along with Lelouch and his three sisters. The next two chapters I think I will release together, as the next one will be a flashback, and it's kind of a gyp just to give you a flashback chapter, and I think it's high time for a battle chapter. So the next update may take a little longer. Thanks for reading, as always. Stay shiny!