Chapter Thirty Six: Knives and Ambitions
Arc Nine: Shining City On A Hill
Opening: "Heart Of Steel" - Takahashi Hiroki
"Kyoshiro Tohdoh was a patriot, though perhaps not in the sense you or I might be familiar with. He was loyal to the idea of Japan in concept, borrowed from his time in the pre-war administration. His time spent fighting for what must have, for him, seemed to be the last glimpse of Japan and her autonomy cemented a romantic view of her, one he felt deeply for. If he saw Japan hurt, he himself hurt."
Lelouch winced silently as he finished his sentence, with his right hand, formerly on the pedestal but now sliding down to his stomach, pressing against the gunshot wound buried deep in his waist. He tried to hide the action as best he could, before sighing, playing the moment off as a dramatic pause.
It would be really awkward to be revealed as the second Zero during the funeral of his main enemy due to a shared injury.
In truth, all had been going well up until that point in the incident. His bluff against Guilford had worked excellently, and Lelouch had been well on his way to destroying all the evidence against him. And then he received a bullet in the gut. A ricochet, according to Sayako, who had patched him up once he had made sure Tohdoh was dead and unable to incriminate him. He had insisted on seeing only Sayako, as every doctor in Japan knew Zero had the exact same wound Lelouch would have shown them. She was not pleased, but she saw to it he was fixed up as quickly as possible. He had seen Nunnally briefly, who had been quite reserved for reasons he didn't understand. Sayako mentioned that they had seen Suzaku the other day, and that it had not ended on pleasant terms. He attempted to enquire further, however he was grumpily stabbed by a sewing needle as Sayako continued the stitching, and he remained silent. He was fixed up quite quickly after that.
At least, to an extent, as even now, giving the speech at Tohdoh's funeral, he still was caught by sharp pains in his intestines that threatened to expose his darkest secrets. Undeterred, he continued to spill his guts.
"Let us not be wrong in our words, but let us not also be cruel in our memories. He loved Japan like a father a son, and while that paternal instinct ended in tragedy, it was undoubtedly a well meaning love. I had the honour of serving alongside him in Parliament, and I can say I have never met a man who cared more for the ideals of a nation, even at the unfortunate expense of her people. I would ask you to remember a life's work, not one moment's error."
Concluding his stream of blatant lies, Lelouch gave a slight bow of the head to the blacked crowd before stepping off the podium, holding in his breath to brace his abdomen as he walked back towards his seat, in the front row of the funeral and next to Shinichirō Tamaki, which was incredibly awkward to say the least. The normally loud man had spoken before him, uncharacteristically muted, and had given a solemn, if genial speech.
Lelouch, through Kallen, was aware that Tamaki was an incredibly fanatic supporter of Zero, and was likely conflicted even now, several days after the end of the Tosa Incident, where Zero had come out against him and the other rebelling Knights. Then again, demoralisation had been the point in resurrecting Zero; in a war for hearts and minds, a hero was always a good selling point. There had been a risk that Tohdoh would tell his subordinates Zero was dead or a traitor, but that would have meant admitting that he had killed her, which would not have worked in his favour in the eyes of his subordinates.
In truth, it had been a true act of desperation to dress up in such attire and take to the front lines; the bullet to the waist hammered home the point that Lelouch was better suited to desk work. However, the stakes, both personal and political, were too high, and the line had looked set to break open in front of Tokyo's southwestern frontier, and so he relented; using a cache he was told about by C.C, he put on a spare Zero uniform, and for the first time in his life, stepped onto the frontlines, breaking his promise to Suzaku.
Lelouch felt that, all in all, he was okay with that.
Still, it had worked; the battle was won, his name was saved, and the Revanchists, as poor taste it was to admit, were blunted both politically and electorally; while casualties were not terrible, Lelouch's final charge had intentionally killed as many higher ups within the Black Knights as he could get away with. This was to prevent anyone who could have possibly known about him and Kallen getting out, but this had the side effect of killing a disproportionate amount of Revanchist Representatives, who held disproportionately high positions in the Black Knights, on average.
Not the worst of side effects, though he would never admit it to a living soul.
In any case, Naomi Inoue, the Revanchist Representative from Shizuoka and new provisional leader of the scarred party stood to give her speech, the last of the day. She took the stand, and briefly crossed eyes with Lelouch. It was unavoidable; he was seated front and centre, and was drawing glances from all directions. It was to an extent natural; he was one of only three Ameliorates present in a sea of weeping Revanchists, and felt somewhat boxed in and alone.
Which was not a bad way with which to describe his state of mind. For all his heroics on the front line, Lelouch was positively devastated to see the sort of destruction that had been wrought upon Japan. It showed him more than anything that their new Republic faced all manners of threats. It proved to him the need for alertness, and how, even now, he was surrounded by enemies.
Perhaps it was a bit more literal now, as it would probably be easier to name funeral attendees who were not Black Knights. That included Naomi Inoue, whose speech continued even in his mental monologue.
"Tohdoh was an inspiration to all of us, in his strength of will, patience, and breadth of wisdom. Lelouch mentioned that he loved Japan as an idea, but he sold it short. I remember…"
Naomi stopped briefly, before shaking her head slightly and concluding "... I remember when he announced he would get married, we were all shocked he could move past his love for the country. For him, its safety and prosperity was worth any sacrifice."
His attention caught, Lelouch looked up as she concluded her brief speech.
"He was willing to betray his country to save it."
Lelouch suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
The funeral, set in the cold morning just as the sun glanced the burial site, didn't last much longer, the harsh blues and oranges bidding a final peace to Tohdoh. Most talked alone, isolating themselves in pairs and threes to share their grief privately. Lelouch didn't fully relate, oxidising his isolation as he realised he really didn't have a great emotional feeling inside him. It was unfortunate to have Tohdoh die, after knowing him so long, but it needed to happen for the good of the country.
How do you tell a funeral audience you don't really care a great deal? His speech, like any good political speech, had been lies. Everything felt muted, and yet cutting, like the cold, sharp morning wind in its contrast between him and his surroundings; together, yet incomparably different.
"Mr Lamperouge?"
He turned around, seeing Naomi in a frame, an image put up to brace against her emotional dam. He wondered how it felt to mourn an enemy of Japan as if he were its hero, but he kept that to himself.
"Yes, Ms Inoue?"
Naomi seemed to hesitate, before moving forward with commendable emotional precision "You… knew Tohdoh, back when you first arrived here? Back in your youth?"
Lelouch grimaced. He really didn't want to talk to anyone here, but he tried to be polite in answering "Yes, he was always a guiding figure back then. My former colleague Suzaku trained under him for some time. It truly is a… loss to Japan."
"Why did he do it?"
Lelouch was caught off guard, gave no answers beyond stutters lost in the noise of the biting wind, almost frosty for being the height of summer. He obviously knew the answer, and would have had no issue articulating it if he so desired, but the surprising nature of the question gave him a plausible excuse to remain silent.
"Why did he… when even Z-"
She caught herself, but it did no good; Lelouch knew the word she held back from saying. Moreover, knowing why Tohdoh did what he did made the irony of this conversation far more cynically personal.
He drew near, standing a little shorter than Naomi but dominating the conversation with a chin tilted far higher than it had any right to, and whispered into her ear "You were there, weren't you? You were with them, you were a member."
Naomi froze, realising she had been caught, before Lelouch looked aside and waved his hand slightly to relax her, as she whispered back "Lelouch… I didn't know he would…"
She sounded apologetic, as if trying to explain her guilt away, but Lelouch said nothing, the emotional torque spinning up slowly as he was acutely reminded that this had in part been caused by him.
Not just Tohdoh's death; Lelouch could rationalise that, but his role in creating the disaster was only hammered home by the desperate, unknowing cries of a grieving admirer, who could only wonder at a cause for Tohdoh's irrationality when no cause that could approach the reality had the ability to cross her mind, due to its all too dark nature. She would question like this as long as she mourned, for an answer Lelouch planned to keep very deep inside, buried behind precautions and future plans that would prevent such darkness ever being needed again.
"It's okay…" he lied, trying to comfort the woman who looked increasingly like she would go into an outburst of emotion. Lelouch was not a man of great affective empathy, recognising pain but uncertain how to respond to this hot, loud potato, that had been dumped on his lap.
However, his cognitive empathy was attuned enough that when she responded with "I… I didn't ever mean…", he could relate to the inability to fully form words in the face of the guilt they secretly shared.
"Please… I know I cannot… but please, forgive us."
Lelouch could only look in shock as she bowed slightly, apologising on behalf of the Revanchists but also hiding behind them, combining the feeling of good from moving past a past wrong with the diffusion of responsibility.
Rentai Sekinin was the term, Lelouch recalled. Collective Responsibility. Tohdoh had taught him it. Perhaps it was true enough. A party who preached violent reclamation of their nation's birthright could hardly disown several of their higher members trying to violently reclaim their nation's birthright. However, Lelouch knew the truth for both Naomi and himself were not that simple. Lelouch's deceit was straightforward; for the safety of the nation, he had assumed the role of Zero, first by proxy and then in person, and this plan had prevented the takeover of violent Reactionaries, just as he had planned. More people died than had been ideal, but the concept has proven sound.
Naomi's conceit was more obscured. Lelouch wasn't certain how much she cared, and how much she wanted to save face on behalf of the terrorists, who still possessed their knives and ambitions. In speaking for the Revanchists, and apologizing on their behalf, she spread her personal sin across a wide canvass, so that the scorn on her herself might be that bit less. She would now shrink to a cell, an inkblot, and weather the storm through her smallness.
Looking into her eyes as she rose again, he saw no depth, just two inkblots. She apologised as a formality, and expected that forgiveness to restore the status quo. The question was how to respond to this.
Of course, the answer was not to be found in Lelouch's distaste for Naomi's crocodile tears, but in his responsibility as a Representative, which had called overtime for the Britannian.
He tried to back off, and whisper "It is not in my power to forgive you. It is in your power to be better people, and Japan may forgive you."
It was a banal answer that was only partially honest, but the objective, to instill a conservative shame that was both rightful and long due was necessary. Perhaps this could persuade them to act better, but Lelouch remained cynical.
She nodded, taken aback by his honesty but not to such an extent that would offend. That thin line, like the sharp blades of wind that cut between them as the sun took pride of place in the sky, casting the dirt Tohdoh lay under with the solitary stone that marked him.
He would lie there forever, remembered as a warrior for Japan, a patriot. While Lelouch knew from over a decades familiarity with the Lt. Colonel that his heart was in the right place, however heart did not mend houses, or feed the hungry. For these reasons, Lelouch had never been big on heart, valuing actions and more specifically results over intentions or philosophy. This had been one of Suzaku's problems, caring too much about the heart compared to the effects on the population.
But just as Tohdoh was down in the dirt, Suzaku was out in the woods; politically dead, and irrelevant. However, if the arc of history had any justice, it would weigh the actions of insurrection and betrayal above a heart of loyalty and patriotism.
However, the Reactionary forces would secure Tohdoh's legacy, which proved their power through people like Naomi. Of course, he had his own part in this charade, a collective effort to commemorate the sinul dead; his own speech had played its own role, and it had to to be within several time zones of tasteful.
He shook his head as he walked away from Naomi to return into himself, angry at his own partalking, and the fact it was necessary at all. He knew that even now he would still have to fight the forces fighting within the Home Islands to destroy them and all the progress that had been gained.
More than anything else, Lelouch felt very alone, like he was looking through one way glass at a vehicle going off the cliff, and wondering if he was the only one noticing.
The funeral wound down, the false emotions and crystallised formalities of forgiveness wore at Lelouch, with the private understanding of just how off base both the legitimately tearful and the people who seemed to only care to justify themselves and their admiration for Tohdoh, the traitorous fool who acted rashly on dubious information, killing his superior and engaging in a rebellion against the state, actually were.
He should have been dropped in a ditch for all the respect he deserved as far as Lelouch was concerned. The fact that this commemoration had been anything other than an abject condemnation showed there was still plenty of work to be done. Tohdoh had crossed the third rail, and in spite of dying, had survived, something that disgusted Lelouch. He ought to have been electrocuted and run over by a societal train, and yet those supposed patriots venerated him.
He maintained his cool all the way back to his office, where he proceeded to kick the living daylights out his couch until he collapsed on top of it in exhaustion.
Tosa would never happen again. Lelouch swore he would not allow it; he would grasp whatever apparatus, use whatever means, and seize whatever opportunity he could to ensure this massacre would be the last. That began with gaining the relevant powers, and that began with the Ministry for Defence.
Decided to slow down a bit after a Chapter worth four days of conflict to return to the personal, and I must admit that I enjoyed writing this Chapters visceral emotions greatly. Most of this was written on my weekends trip up to Kirkistone, so perhaps a few laps is what I need to get the blood pumping properly. Obviously, most of this Chapter was static explanations and elaborations, which is why I can't do Chapters like this as much as I'd like. In the words of Grosse Point Blank, a wicked rippin' shame.
A wicked rippin' shame also being an excellent euphemism to describe the sardonic fashion Lelouch views Tohdoh's death, in all his insincere political double talk, however his reaction to Tohdoh's supporters may be a bit more severe than a few words. These actions will not go unchallenged however, as not even Lelouch cannot avoid being flanked, what with all his own private machinations, however as Lelouch accumulates power it may prove too late.
The transition from the building of private power in this arc to the building of public power and legal authority begins here with the Nanshin-Ron Arc, which kicks off with Chapter 37, As Far As I Could Throw Him. Before that, there'll be a brief flashback to meet our colleague out in the woods, who is not pleased at the last few Chapters' developments.
Until then, be respectful at funerals, rate, review, and stay safe. See you all again soon.
~Eth0