Flashback

"Jeremiah, is this necessary?"

"Yes, it is milord. Now please pay attention."

The young Prince, not yet of age ten, sighed as he turned his eyes back up towards the Margrave, the heels of his hands propping his chin above his lonely desk. The older, tanned man sighed, looking down at the object of his tutelage with a certain frustration that was unavoidable in spite of his fierce devotion to both him and his mother. He sighed, and resumed his lecture.

"And so, in 1807, then Queen Elizabeth retreated to Edinburgh, where a revolutionary militia arrested her and forced to abdicate, ending the monarchy. This event became known as The Humiliation of Edinburgh-"

Jeremiah paused again, looking down at his quarry with some admitted disdain as the boys fragile attention had already broken, his eyes drooping back towards his empty paper. Jeremiah stepped over to the young man's desk and stood, allowing the dark haired boy to draw his gaze upward before asking "What exactly is distracting you so thoroughly from this important moment in history?"

The young man took a moment to respond, thinking over his reply before answering slowly. "What makes it so important?"

Jeremiah's eyes widened in shock, as he prepared to scorn the young lad before he raised a hand to silence his protector turned tutor. Jeremiah bided, waiting further explanation, which was provided promptly by Lelouch, who said "I recognise it was key in the forming of our nation, but explain to me its practical application?"

"It is key for understanding the cause and effect of how our great Empire functions!" Jeremiah protested, who was acutely aware he was now on the defensive. Lelouch, considering this, replied "While this is true, it pales in comparison to what can be learned from what is going on right now."

"Do you not care about your heritage?"

"No, I don't. I'm very glad we've reached the root of the issue." Lelouch coolly responded, smirking at his minor victory. Jeremiah adopted a more curious pose, before asking "What about when it will be needed? Perhaps not in battle, or in court, but in Emperorship-"

Jeremiah caught a sneer, which he followed up on by asking "What, are you opposed to the idea of ruling the world? That's not like you."

This was said jovially, and Lelouch broke into youthful laughter, joined shortly after by Jeremiah, whose bellowing chuckles lasted a few moments before Lelouch appeared to consider what Jeremiah had said.

"While your… prognosis… prognosis, is that it? While your analysis of my way of thinking isn't wrong, what with chess, strategy, et cetera presenting an image that would seem ideal as Emperor, it's not an ideal I aspire towards. In truth, I'd make a terrible Emperor."

This fascinated Jeremiah. Lelouch had often trusted Jeremiah more than others, but still this was an interesting insight. "So you won't get involved in the line of succession? Why not just renounce your claim?"

Lelouch was now fully engaged in the discussion "My claim gives me some leverage about the place, and is in general just convenient. But more to the point, my personality is antithetical to being an Emperor or Regent. The thing is, I've often found myself thinking in terms of fighting against… something. I don't like the term 'establishment' in a political context, but buying into it for a moment, I would never fit into it. I would be an outsider in an insider's role. I would never get beyond spinning my wheels. The role of Emperor fits someone like Schneizel, or at a push Cornelia."

"So what does that make you? A rebel?"

Lelouch laughed again. "Now that won't do, eh Jeremiah? No, that won't do at all."

Jeremiah saw that a line was nearing, and so backed off, before adding "Remember, not everything works out the way you intend. You may become a very different man then you are now. The Lord works in mysterious ways."

"I never had you down as religious."

"I assumed you were, being a member of the Royal Family."

"Admitting Existentialism in this family might not invoke the wrath of the Lord, just that of the Emperor."

This sent Jeremiah into another fit of laughter, joined by Lelouch into the sunless afternoon.

"Again."

From above, the Lt. Col Kyoshiro Tohdoh watched as the young Suzaku reacted to the news of his further torment, as he looked briefly incredulous, before sighing and turning back towards the tree. The Japanese child breathed in, his lungs expanding threefold as he reached for some small droplets of air, searching for some dry oxygen amidst the hot, wet day in the forest.

Having thoroughly washed his lungs clean, pressing air like a fluid through the strainer, Suzaku stood and executed a perfect kick, his leg swinging parallel to the solid dirt around on an arc centred on his hips, smashing against the saturated wood, making a satisfying 'thwack' off Suzaku's leg protection. The ten year old then recoiled on muscle memory, returning to a standard fighting stance. The entire maneuver had taken under half a second, and had sent birds within a short radius flying at the sudden movement, in spite of it being a carbon copy of a move they had been repeating for over an hour.

"Good. Again."

And so they continued, Tohdoh admitting no latitude as Suzaku continued to hit the mark, his shins smacking the limbs of the tree with repeated efficiency and power. Tohdoh simply sat and observed, as Suzaku grew more and more weary, his movements growing more unready between blows, swaying this way and that, but he refused to compromise his kicks, to the point that he would often take a moment to sit between kicks, before Tohdoh called him back up to engage, when he would use the momentum of leaving the seated position to force his kicks home.

Tohdoh sat waiting, as the tree suffered further and further, as Suzaku suffered further and further and further. It went on for two hours into the sweltering Sunday before Tohdoh raised a silent hand. Suzaku paused to breath, before looking up.

"I see you have utterly failed to understand the purpose I have brought you here for."

Suzaku looked shocked, moving forward before catching himself and retreating. Tohdoh's face remained stoic as he inwardly sighed. Suzaku's heart was in the right place, but a fundamental mistake was being made.

"Suzaku, why did you continue kicking? You know as well as I do about performance drop off."

"Did I do poorly?"

"That's not what I asked."

Suzaku seemed to look inward, not certain of himself as Tohdoh waited for Suzaku to explain to him what seemed to him at this point obvious. He knew this would be a problem, being one he shared with his father; the boy was too damn stubborn.

"I did as asked… You said to keep… going…"

"I did that. However, that answer is again wrong. Why didn't you point out the redundancy of the exercise, or the condition of your stamina?"

Suzaku didn't answer, unsure of how to proceed. It was as Tohdoh expected, he didn't have a clue. He explained slowly, whispering "I have trained you for three years now, but much like a leg thrown too many times against a tree, the value of longevity has ceased to increase. Listen, Suzaku; I am not always right. In times of crisis, all men, myself included, may lose our heads and should that time come, you need to know to keep yours. Suppose dishonourable orders came from on high, would you execute them?"

Suzaku had no answer for a moment, before responding "But how would that happen? Bad orders make bad results, and short of a mistake, intentional blunders can only lead to bad things for all involved, including the one who made it. The system makes sure of it!"

"And what if the system fails?"

"As long as there's people inside it working to keep it on the rails, it can't."

Tohdoh frowned, before chuckling softly. "I appreciate the sentiment, but your logic is circular. You claim the system is infallible, because of the need for efficiency, and that people should obey orders to maintain that efficiency, however at the same time you say that the solution to an abuse of the system by an authority figure with an ulterior motive is to continue within that system?"

Suzaku clearly didn't understand all the words that Tohdoh had just thrown back at him, but in a moment it was clear he grasped the basic concept, as his brow furrowed and he replied "Well, of course if you have a bad guy, you disobey his orders, but I know you're not bad. I'll know next time. But quitting out is no good, because if you're not in the system, how can you change it, Tohdoh?"

It was Tohdoh's turn to pause, and nearly crack his solid facade. This was thoroughly amusing, and very intriguing from the point of view of Suzaku's emotional development.

"No, indeed no. And I trust you of all people will be keeping whatever system you latch onto on the straight and narrow."

Suzaku beamed a toothy grin. "Of course!"

Thank you to Vasalli, Patjeeson, and MM Browsing for reviewing this arc. Please give your opinions on the story so far, so that I might grow as a writer!