Chapter Thirty: Made For Love And Revolution

Arc Eight: Killing With Kindness

Opening: "Carousel" - Nico Touches The Walls

Suzaku let out a breath of exhaustion as Euphemia sat down opposite him, worn out from a spate of affection. Everything about her excited him like they had just met, and continued to do so even as he spent his hours outside addiction hoping to kick it. He would fret at home and love at work.

"Are you alright Suzaku?"

Suzaku suspired, releasing the heavy air from his lungs before perking up. "Yeah, ready to get back to work."

That he was. His hormonal habit of procrastinating had gone on for long enough, and the arrival of reports from Babel Tower seemed like as good an excuse as any to return to work. Sure, he could hardly think of anything else when she drew near, but that was not excusable. This could not remain the status quo, where he would spend his time in service of the public on personal matters. He would have to find some distance, but distances could have humble beginnings.

He looked back up as he shuffled his papers to an upright position as Euphemia stood opposite. She seemed to recognise what he was hoping for, and said "I'll be off then and leave you be. Perhaps I can see how Nunnally is doing."

"That would be nice, yes." he smiled, as he began to cheer somewhat as his spirits returned. Euphemia grabbed her coat and things from his desk and moved towards the door, opening it slightly before pushing it shut again. She whispered "One more before I go." into his ear before pecking him on the cheek.

"And for you…" he replied, brushing her cheek with his fingers as he pushed his lips onto hers, embracing her fully, sharing the kiss as fully as possible to last the time they would be apart with his new outlook. It was-

"As to that- the hell is going on in here?"

Suzaku and Euphemia broke apart in a moment of panic as they both pivoted to the outraged voice, which transitioned from droll to shrill as quick as a flash. At the foot of the now open door stood an enraged Lelouch, tailed by a surprised, but more neutral Diethard Ried. It took a moment for Lelouch to move beyond his angry, shocked posture while the lovers were stuck, like deer in headlamps.

Finally, Lelouch turned on Diethard, and said, sounding on the teetering edge of patience, whispered through grated teeth to him "I'm terribly sorry, I'll have to defer that last question, something's come up."

Diethard, uncertain of what was to happen with him and when he could call back to conclude their discussion, began "But-", however Lelouch was having none of it, roaring "Scram!" at the first sign of questioning, something Diethard promptly did, before Lelouch slammed the door shut behind the fleeing journalist.

Suzaku watched Lelouch take a moment to glare into the door, head depressed slightly exposing his nape for a moment before he stood tall, and, refusing to share his face with either of them, began to walk around the side of the room, exploring the perimeter for reasons Suzaku could guess at. There were minor observable motions that he could not quite conceal, including the edges of a shaking head and twitching fists in Suzaku's portrait view of his subordinate. After several moments, Lelouch had made his circuitous way to the opposite side of the room, standing beside the windows to the city, which he shut with slow, yet stiff movements of the arm. With that, he finally turned to face the two lovers, stepping forwards a step until he could rest his arms on Suzaku's desk, which Suzaku and Euphemia stood in front of. Suzaku was now acutely aware that Lelouch was on the Prime Minister's side of the desk that sat between them.

After another moment's search for words, Lelouch finally looked up and simply said "Explain to me what I just saw."

Suzaku could only look at shoes. This was just his luck; as he resolved to get better, to find some balance, he was finally caught, and all his bottled uncertainty meant his only reply was a guilty look. However, Euphemia, with far less responsibility at stake, was less intimidated by Lelouch, replying "You saw enough. I doubt you need a full breakdown.", defending her and Suzaku. She obviously had enough pride to not want to incriminate herself, pride being something Suzaku lacked in his shame.

"I saw more than I ever wanted to, thank you." Lelouch hissed, unleashing a fraction of his clear venom.

Hating to see Lelouch act in such an ugly fashion towards his sister, Suzaku extended an arm and tried to calm him, beginning "Lelouch, please-"

"Shut up!"

The room was silent again, before Lelouch began his rant proper, hissing "How could you both be so irresponsible? If I could walk in here and be greeted with you two doing whatever the hell that was, could you imagine if someone else did? I had Diethard with me for God's sake! He's a reporter!"

"I'm sorry!"

Lelouch paused at Suzaku's apology, before, in a more even tone asked "Are you? Being sorry means understanding what you've done wrong, and I'm in no way convinced of what might happen once I leave this room. Do you understand, or do I have to lay out the reasons why this is inappropriate?"

Suzaku swallowed what little he could to clear his throat, before doing what Lelouch wanted, knowing he was in the wrong. "It… it is wrong because… because the imbalance of personal power could lead to a situation where I could take advantage of your sister. She is my secretary, and I control her employment status, and I could, if I so desired, behave unethically. I would never let that happen, but I apologise for allowing the circumstance to-"

Lelouch sighed, and wiped at his forehead before gesturing indecisively with his right hand, as if reaching somewhere in front of him for words to express his sentiments. After a moment, he spoke again, though he was tripping over his own thoughts.

"You… seem to be labouring under the… tragic misconception that I would, without context, give a damn about my… friend… Suzaku being in a relationship with Euphemia, or his secretary, or both. So, I'm… I'll ask again. Why should I have not seen what I saw?"

Suzaku, growing frustrated at Lelouch's indirectness, commented "You seem to know."

Lelouch looked increasingly horrified, as he hissed "You could have been seen. How the hell would you have been elected dog catcher in the prairies if three weeks before the vote if someone… if Diethard, or Tohdoh walked in instead of me? Have you no shame?"

"Are you saying…" Suzaku said, putting two and two together, "That your objection is based on our relationship making it harder for us to get elected?"

Suzaku was furious at Lelouch's shallowness, but Lelouch responded in kind with his own fury, explaining "I am saying that my objection is based on you selfishly risking over eight years of struggle on the part of yourself, Ohgi, me, and throw it away? We are in a position to restore Japan's economy and people, and you value that possibility below your own satisfaction. Do you not understand the consequences this would have beyond yourself?"

Suzaku paused to think of a counter argument before Euphemia provided one, asking "Well what would you rather we do? Live apart, ignore each other?"

"Yes."

Suzaku was initially sympathetic to Lelouch's concerns, and was willing to concede a lot, but his patience for Lelouch's impersonal demands that had at once nothing to do with them personally and needlessly punitive results was now thinning.

"And what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if I asked you to never see Nunnally again, if that meant your struggle was safeguarded?"

The scowl Lelouch grew in response to that question was a sight to behold. It was vivid and terrifying, with lines drawn down his brows in black like an inked in comic character. His mouth and nose twitched and morphed slightly, eventually arriving at a tight, narrow arrangement befitting the mother of all sour tastes, an unholy creature that sought to destroy all that which was in its wake. It took him a moment to spit out "There is no comparison… at all. How… however… if separation were to bring about her... security, I would imagine-"

Lelouch ran out of steam, as Suzaku could barely respond. He came to realise he was out of breath, and Lelouch, for his heavy, deep breaths, looked to be much the same, leaving both of them only able to express their distaste for the others standpoint in glares.

And while Lelouch had been glaring something fierce, Suzaku was now properly angry. Lelouch's response to the question on Nunnally was truly shocking to Suzaku after all that Lelouch had said about her being so important.

But Euphemia was still hopeful, begging Lelouch "Please, we will be more careful, we'll even stop being close as often, or keep it to personal hours. Please, for me."

Lelouch cringed in a moment of visible weakness. His sister's words could bend him yet. However, after what appeared to be a moment of genuine introspection on the part of Lelouch, Suzaku watched as his eyes narrowed in some manner of realisation.

"How… how often do you do this? How much time have you spent in this office..."

Suzaku's vision was suddenly reacquainted with his shoes as he suddenly looked down, which was all he could do. While he appreciated Euphemia's effort to reach a compromise, it had exposed the other part of this whole affair that he was concerned with.

His silence was met with more horrified silence from Lelouch, and even Euphemia could not rescue the moment. After some time, Lelouch elected to step aside from behind the desk, walking out towards the door, the clacking of his stiff soled shoes echoing throughout the office. He stopped at the door, not turning around but simply calling back "Do whatever you deem best, Prime Minister."

Kallen Kozūki chuckled from behind her mask as Tamaki concluded his extraordinarily convoluted and, in truth, rather unfunny anecdote, however the sound of his voice after so long was enough to sweeten the average joke to, to invent a word, chuckleworthiness.

For the remainder of the Black Knights, for whom Tamaki's novelty was long past, a groan or something to that effect was the only response Tamaki was afforded, to his great visible disappointment. Still, he would eventually go on to get over it, before resuming his usual duties of ruining the Black Knight's budget.

In the meantime, they all went about their various businesses, waiting for Kyoshiro Tohdoh to return from Parliament and meet the returned Zero for the first time, as it had taken some time for Lelouch and his bloc to smuggle Kallen out of jail. In the intervening time, Lelouch had been away with C.C to arrange communications, consisting of several Chinese made flip phones and back channels, which she had brought back earlier that morning.

The other benefit of her new colleague beyond not being handed back to the Empire was the sudden influx of heavily laundered money, courtesy of the former stock tycoons leftover holdings from eight years ago, which had been helpful in reasserting hegemony within the organisation. After years of living on a shoestring budget, the hard core of the group was very pleased to have some sort of creature comforts, as well as the restoration of regular pay. When asked, she claimed that, being legally dead, she was now able to use a greater amount of her family's money.

The money was badly needed beyond just keeping the rebels smiling; Kallen's departure had led to a severe shortage of supplies, to the point that there had been no Knightmares to field at the Battle of Babel Tower. Kallen made a mental note to find Rakshata Chawla again, as the Guren had been an excellent flagship model, and she was keen to work with the Indian once more.

As she considered this, she felt a vibration in her pocket, which took a moment for her to identify as her new cheap phone going off in silence in her pocket. After a moment of staring at the screen blankly, she eventually caught on that it would probably be a bad idea to take this call in sight or sound of the others.

"One moment, I need to take this call." she explained, and she was nodded off by Tamaki, who seemed engaged in something likely unrelated to his duties. She stepped out of the lounge area and up into her private study, where she removed her mask and answered the phone.

"Lelouch?"

"When on this line, use Akira if you wouldn't mind."

Kallen caught the reference back to the name that he used as a rebel, and appreciated the subtext of him returning to it after all this time, but also acknowledged the more substantive part of the point, that being Lelouch's need for secrecy. Taking a moment to clear her throat and sit down, she began again.

"Of course, Akira. What do you need?"

"What are you doing at the moment?"

"Waiting for Tohdoh to get back."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, probably Lelouch looking through his various Parliament notes to see where Tohdoh ought to be. This hypothesis was confirmed as he replied "You'll be waiting a while, he should be in a meeting with party donors about now, so we have some time."

Kallen briefly shuddered at how many meetings and bureaucratic affairs both Lelouch and Tohdoh must surely deal with on a daily basis, before Lelouch continued "So what will you do when he arrives, a debriefing, speech, or?"

"Ah, yes." Kallen replied, finally understanding his overarching point. Lelouch was very keen on reducing the more terroristic elements of the Black Knights, or at least repurpose it. That began with controlling Zero's message. While she wasn't over the moon about it, it was hardly like she was in a position to relitigate that. Even if things did get out of hand, she could still withdraw and escape at any time. It wasn't like Lelouch had any way of enforcing their deal, besides snitching. While she wasn't convinced he was above that, it wouldn't do much good once she was at large. That said, she didn't want to look the gift horse in the mouth too soon. After this brief introspection, she answered his question.

"Once he's back we'll be having a word in private, before I give a speech to his men that have been away for the last few days after escaping Babel."

Lelouch made a noise of affirmation that was blurred over the phone line, before commenting "And the crux of the discussion?"

Kallen briefly ran over her mental notes. It required some sophistry on how to view the RPJ, which was a contentious issue within the Black Knights themselves. Some thought the RPJ was worth nothing at all, and they ought to treat it the same way they did Area 11, with contempt, while others thought they could focus more on Britannian implements while subverting the freedoms the RPJ did afford. Explaining this to Lelouch, she laid out what she was going to tell Tohdoh.

"Like you said, focusing on the Geass Order and ridding the RPJ of the Britannian agents and away from harming the RPJ, though-"

"Let's not forget, vague terms. I'm not exactly keen on knowledge of the nature of Geass being disseminated amongst your colleagues."

"Fair enough." she answered. While she wanted to trust her comrades, knowledge of Geass would be a bridge too far. They would deem her insane or worse.

"I'll trust you then to handle tactics for our strategy. I'll expect a full report through our channels on material losses."

Kallen shook her head in amusement. He was still a stockbroker even after all this time. She could only pity his maid Sayoko and all the paper she would have to contend with throughout Lelouch's various filing adventures.

"Anything else?"

Lelouch paused for a considerable period of time, to the point where Kallen had to check to see if he was still on the line. It was clear he was coming to some manner of decision, which became evident, when, with great hesitation and audible anxiety, he spoke again.

"When you are speaking with Tohdoh, mention to him in isolation that you have it on very solid grounds that Prime Minister Kururugi is in fact seeing his Secretary, the former Princess Euphemia in an… intimate fashion."

Kallen paused in turn, realising the implications of telling Tohdoh this. This was a marked departure from the Lelouch of pre-RPJ days, who had stayed by his friend, and it surprised her to no end that he was throwing Suzaku under a bus in this way, even after all this time.

She could only wonder what Suzaku had done to incite his wrath.

"Will… will that be all?"

Lelouch was silent for a third time, before exhaling deeply and answering "Yes, I think that is everything. I wish you well."

She was about to hang up, before the phone gave out one last sentence, though she suspected Lelouch didn't want hear to hear this segment, particularly given its implications.

"Ah, Diethard, welcome back, sorry about sending you off earlier, I actually wanted to discuss just that issue for a moment."

She heard no more before the line went dead, and Kallen was left alone, feeling for the first time in her life that she had been outflanked by Lelouch in terms of things she would be willing to do to achieve her goals.

Outflanked indeed. Suzaku may have been made for love, but Lelouch fills in Osamu Dazai's other criteria, and carries that attitude with him. In truth, this Chapter was by no means easy to write, and was pretty damn emotionally draining at times. As much as I enjoy fictional misery, Lelouch exposing his friends secret love life to get ahead is just not pleasant, no matter how you slice it.

I want to focus on this point briefly. While we enjoy Lelouch's bold machinations, what seems to be lost in many instances is how we may view him if he were a bit less fictional; some of his more ugly deeds are lost in our collective anti-hero worship. He took advantage of his sister's death to launch a counteroffensive right off the bat, and abandoned his troops at the Battle Of Tokyo; not really admirable traits. This is not to give him the 'Ron the Death Eater' treatment, but I just wanted to lend a bit of perspective. His bold schemes have bold consequences.

Said consequences will hopefully become a bit more plain in Chapter 31, Silent Answers. Stick around for that, and I'll see you all soon. Stay safe, rate, review, and don't get distracted from your work while I'm gone.

~Eth0