Chapter Thirty Seven: As Far As I Could Throw Him

Arc Ten: Nanshin-Ron

Opening: "Sweet" - SID

"What about Taizo Kirihara?"

Kaname Ohgi, fingers wedged between files entrenched in the mother of all filing cabinets, looked back towards the Labour Minister and Representative from Nara, Ayame Takaya, who held the picture of the leader of the Six Houses of Kyoto , now a powerful lobbying group, up for him to see.

Nonplussed, Ohgi asked over his shoulder "What about him?"

"For President?"

Ohgi, realising the question Ayame was asking, pried one hand out of the mass of files and folders, while using his off hand to bookmark where he had been prowling to grab a look at the picture Ayame had flashed. The picture wasn't flattering, but then again neither was the reality, as Taizo had faced significant medical challenges in 2020 that degraded his state considerably.

Since they had gotten rid of Kaguya Sumeragi as Governor and declared a Republic, the Ameliorate Government had wrestled with the issue of picking a new Head of State for the new country. They had a wealth of candidates for the largely ceremonial position, however upon closer inspection many proved to be less than ideal.

"I mean, he's certainly got the credentials to be President, but wasn't he quite close to Kaguya? We don't want to send the message that nothing has changed. Also, what if his heart conditions play up again?"

Ayame ran her hand through her smooth, brown hair and pointed towards the picture before commenting "It's funny you make that point; my only worry was that he was seen as too close to the Revanchists."

Ayame didn't have to elaborate on why that was a problem; Kyoshiro Tohdoh had done a good enough job himself. Ohgi shook his head, and with his free hand threw the photo into the rubbish bin.

"Back to the drawing board."

Ayame went back to looking for suitable candidates, as Ohgi continued to flick through the files in his drawer, half thinking about what had transpired in the last two weeks since the Tosa Incident. There had been significant effort put into rebuilding central Honshu, as well as attempts, led by Zero, to reconcile many of the disaffected Black Knights, and bring the men, many of whom were full time terrorists, and integrate them and their knowledge of combat into the Republican Army. This had led to a dramatic increase in their manpower and supplies, but Ohgi, though not in opposition to seeing their stable transition to peacetime living, was still wary of both this plan and its sponsor.

Was Zero a Cincinnatus or a Caesar? It seemed obvious to Ohgi that this Zero was not Kallen, but that gave him no insight into who this new Zero was. Was this Zero truly in favour of the Republic, or an opportunist? The new Zero, like Lelouch Lamperouge, existed in a space in a mind where he did not trust them any further than he could throw them, but was willing to let them prove their worth, though Lelouch was approaching the latter end of his band of patience.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door, and Ohgi, paw still trapped in the filing cabinet, could only shout across the room from his position sat like a toddler on the floor "Come in!"

The knob on the oaken door turned rapidly as new Representative Saburo Okawachi burst into the room, looking out of breath and clutching a newspaper. Ohgi didn't know Saburo that well, though he did recall a memo from Lelouch that simply read "Do not select Rep. Saburo [A] for M.o.D.", though the reason as to why Lelouch had sent that to him was beyond his knowing, such as many things the Minister for Finance got up to these days. He had replied by saying that Lelouch might be able to help him pick a new one if he really wanted, and the conversation went on for a while via post-it notes.

Still, Ohgi believed in making friends, and so asked "Are you alright Saburo?"

The man shook his head, before chucking the newspaper held under his arm onto Ohgi's desk and asking "What did you say to Lamperouge?"

Ohgi began to worry, only able to guess at what his increasingly emboldened colleague had done now, responding "I haven't said anything; we exchanged a few memos that didn't have much conclusive substance. What's he gone and done?"

Saburo raised an eyebrow worthy of Suzaku Kururugi, before commenting "There must have been heavy subtext in those memos; he claims you offered him the position of Minister for Defence."

Ohgi frowned, and replied aggressively "I did no such thing."

Saburo shook his head again as Ohgi abandoned the cabinet entirely, folders flopping on top of each other as he departed, to scoop up the newspaper on his desk. Highlighted was a paragraph near the bottom of the front page, which Ohgi read aloud.

"Chief of Staff to the Finance Minister Jeremiah Gottwald commented earlier today that he and Lamperouge had been in discussions with the Prime Minister over him taking the reins of the Defence Ministry during this critical time, and that Lelouch, while concerned over the pressures of managing two Ministries at once, was quote 'More than happy to do whatever was needed of him'."

Ohgi threw down the paper in disgust, commenting "In discussions to take the reins my ass. I told him he could help pick a new Minister for Defence, not that it was him!"

"In his defence, he did pick one; he just picked himself." Ayame joked, as Ohgi shook his head dejectedly. He saw her realise this was probably a bad time to be fatuous, and she continued "Still, perhaps he's switching out? It's not necessarily the case that he wants two at once…"

"But that's the thing." Saburo countered. "It says in the quote that he was concerned at the pressures of running two Ministries."

The room fell silent, as Ohgi clenched his fists. This was the downside of Lelouch. He knew how to handle himself politically, and had given the country enormous amounts of credit, bringing the new nation to financial and political prosperity while handling all the paperwork himself.

He had always insisted on doing all the paperwork himself.

Which, Ohgi supposed, was symptomatic; Lelouch likely felt as if only he, blessed with the white man's burden, could be the only one to take care of the nation, as no one else could possibly suffice, and had encroached on the duties of others at the expense of the separation of powers. While Ohgi had been aware of it before, and had deemed the problem manageable, this action had in its brash publicity proved that a response was necessary.

Unfortunately, it was its brash publicity that made it such a good strategy.

"So why not just not give it to him? Tell him to jog on?"

The question came from Ayame, and Ohgi had already passed by that train of thought, and was several stops ahead, however Saburo was more than willing to fill in the gaps.

"It boxes us into a corner, see. It forces us to publicly go out and reject this, as he claims Ohgi has already offered it to him. If we don't want him to get the job- and we don't- we would actively have to go out of our way and say 'No, Lelouch is lying.' Remember, he has his own base of support, and he likely thinks that it would be too politically damaging to us to go out of our way to reject him, as they'd sour to us and think we betrayed him."

Ayame frowned, not fully understanding, before asking "So...why would this work? How does this work? If Lelouch, your subordinate, starts making up conversations in his head about how you offered him the Minister position, how does it do anything else other than hurt him for acting like such a fool?"

Ohgi nodded, and waved a finger at Ayame to emphasise her point "You are right, in that if we call that bluff he will lose support, and a lot of it, however what he thinks, what he's betting on, is that we will also lose support from his base. He knows he'll lose, and he knows he'd probably lose more than us, but he's betting we'd lose just enough to not try it at all, because his supporters will dislike us for making him look foolish. It gives us a whole heap of trouble we didn't need, rejecting him, and relitigating everything in the press, it'd be a mess. He's betting on us not being willing to step into that mess."

Ayame nodded, catching on quickly. To demonstrate this, she framed it in an analogy with "He's playing poker. That's all it is. If we try to call his bluff, we both lose money. That's the lose-lose proposition."

Ohgi, appreciating his appropriation of his favourite personal saying, continued it with "Then, in his mind, there's the win-win proposition. In his mind, he gets the position, and we get an excellent Minister for Defence."

"And a healthy dump on democracy."

Saburo had concluded with the thought Ohgi had been harbouring, though perhaps with a little more undiplomatic bitterness than Ohgi's angry disappointment.

Ohgi could guess at Lelouch's motivations. Like a true technocrat, he felt that things could only be handled by him, or they would be done improperly

They now all knew the problem, but the silence throughout the room was the only solution they could find.

They needed to find a way to appease Lelouch and avoid the trap he had laid for them, while also limiting his power permanently. Ohgi would not stand for this any further; he wanted to be rid of this issue forever, to never have to face Lelouch's uppityness ever again. To do that, he would have to offer Lelouch the win-win to end all win-wins, an offer he couldn't refuse that would place the Britannian high up on a shelf, above everything else but functionally irrelevant. It was time to do something.

Fortunately, that line of thinking, wanting a path for Lelouch that was prestigious enough to not be rejectable and powerless enough to not be troublesome, Ohgi happened upon the solution, bounding upwards and walking across the room with fresh zeal that drew the attention of the entire room.

"Idea?" Saburo asked, as Ohgi swiped a phone off his desk and spoke into the handle.

"Get Lelouch Lamperouge to my office immediately."

Slamming the phone down, Ohgi rubbed his palms together and waved his two colleagues to come round to his side of the desk as he whispered his plan.

"When he comes into the room, congratulate him in unison."

Ohgi saw them frown at his plan, which he felt was nothing short of genius, and while he was eager to share his spark of inspiration with them, he feared Lelouch walking in in the middle of his explanation.

He wanted to see the surprise and defeat in Lelouch's eyes in real time.

It took three minutes for Lelouch's quad knock to strike the office door, at which point Ohgi called across the room to invite the Britannian inside. Saburo and Ayame stood behind him, uncertain of their Prime Minister's plan but familiar with his intention, and confident in his ability as a politician. They knew what to do.

Lelouch turned the knob and stepped inside, where he was immediately bombarded with cries of "Congratulations!", as Ayame and Saburo stepped forward from behind Ohgi's desk to shake Lelouch's bewildered hand. It was lovely to see the look of confusion on his face, but even as he acknowledged that, Ohgi shook his head privately. He would not be like Lelouch. This was to protect democracy, not to pursue a vendetta.

After Lelouch had been thoroughly muddled, Ohgi stood up, though he did not move out from behind his desk, and extended his hand. Somewhat befuddled, Lelouch accepted the handshake as Ohgi joined into the rounds of "Congratulations!", before offering Lelouch a seat on the opposite side of his desk.

"Well, Lelouch, I'm glad to be able to congratulate you on this. You've been chomping at the bit for something new, and I'm so happy to be able to offer you a very prestigious position"

Ohgi watched as Lelouch's eyes narrowed in a fashion that made his thoughts plain. He had no idea what was coming, and was desperately attempting to figure it out. Fortunately, Ohgi was more than willing to enlighten him.

"You would, if you accept this, become the First President of Japan."

Ohgi delivered the gut punch with falsetto innocence, as if he was offering the greatest of honours, which he technically was, but you would not know it from the face Lelouch put on at this news. It was the look of someone just realising their critical error, and receiving a healthy dose of reality, but Lelouch wore the look with a unique silent outrage, a bitter realisation of defeat.

"I see… so the Presidency?"

Ohgi nodded, as he watched Lelouch do the mental maths. He couldn't reject it, as it was a position of recognition, and to reject it would be seen as calculating and petty, and that damage would fall on Lelouch, and not on the party, as it was Lelouch's personal decision whether or not to accept it. He would have little power, only the ability to refer Bills to the Supreme Court and nominal command of the military. He would also be unable to hold a Cabinet position while President.

Ohgi had to stop himself from smiling as Lelouch's face relaxed, his maths reaching the same conclusion Ohgi had. In his reach for a higher position in Government, Lelouch had made it to the top, and was about to discover just how lonely it was up there.

"Yes. There were a lot of candidates, but your recent conduct and communications have proved to me that you belong in that position more than any other."

Lelouch now wore a more neutral face now, the shock having worn through him and his lizard brain engaged, but Ohgi was fairly confident that he had an airtight plan. Lelouch now understood why Ohgi was doing this, and the blank stare hid so much fury, the Prime Minister knew. Judging by the smug faces of Saburo and Ayame, visible behind Lelouch, he was onto something, as they stood behind the panicking Britannian holding in chuckles in their collective Schadenfreude.

Ohgi ignored them, and went to look Lelouch in the eye as he said "It was a tough call, but I really feel that nobody deserves that role more than you."

Lelouch tried a half hearted attempt to escape his fate, replying with an undercurrent of sarcasm "I would be honoured, but I'm surprised you couldn't find someone better, perhaps with more experience as an Executive. In my time as a Legislator, I have-"

"Oh no, as soon as you came to mind, I was convinced. Remember, you've been so eager to expand your work, and I can't imagine anything more expansive than representing your country on the international theatre."

Lelouch's face was solid as stone, long having stopped finding the joke funny. He obviously needed a bit more encouraging, and so Ohgi took the knife and twisted it a little, clarifying things for his subordinate.

"Of course, it'd be an awful shame if you weren't feeling up to it. One would have to wonder about your priorities, why you turned it down after having been so eager to be Defence Minister. Needless to say, people would talk. I'd advise you take this win-win proposal, where you retain some dignity, and avoid the lose-lose proposition."

Ohgi guessed Lelouch knew better than to fight this, and his hunch was correct. For all his flaws, Lelouch was probably within the three smartest people Ohgi had ever met, and could see what had happened very well without Ohgi laying it out.

"Well, I suppose, when you put it that way, I would be honoured to accept this position."

Ohgi, revenge exacted, extended an arm to greet his new President, who returned the gesture with great vitriol, if not glee. The handshake was akin to a bear ripping at your arm, or the annoying man at your workplace wanting to communicate how little he thinks of you. But Ohgi didn't care. Lelouch wouldn't be a problem anymore.

The vote to appoint Lelouch was a close one, but not for the reason it should have been. Lelouch, being renowned as a snakelike, toxic character would have been roundly defeated in a normal political climate, however here, the fight was not with the opposition but with the quorum. So many Revanchists had died or resigned in shame that filling the chamber with enough members to vote for a President was a challenging feat, however Lelouch was officially inaugurated on the 29th of June, to great fanfare.

The ceremony was held in the height of summer at Chiyoda, a set of old palaces isolated in greenery in the heart of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, with a great many dignitaries in attendance. Beyond the politics of forcing Lelouch upstairs and out of the way, it was a big event along the path of Japanese independence.

Ohgi, who had the dubious honour of swearing the Britannian in, was nonetheless still quite proud of himself. He had stood for something when it counted, and had nipped the growing ambitions of a potential tyrant in the bud. While he knew his colleague had good intentions, he also knew Lelouch's Japan was an authoritarian one, and the Prince's forced departure from Parliament was, in Ohgi's mind, his greatest achievement.

Take that Lelouch!

This comeuppance has been in the pipes for so long, and I'm so pleased to do justice to my imagination. The cherry on top was the messenger Ohgi, who continues to be a joy to write.

I was also pleased to be able to make use of two minor characters I introduced earlier, the Minister for Labour and the rejected Black Knight, to give the Parliament environment some cohesiveness. While Saburo is not an OC, Ayame is, and I believe is one of the only significant ones in the story. To my memory, the only other OC's with names are Minoru and his colleagues, the metalworkers in R1, and Daichi and his colleagues, the Black Knights from the Geass Directorate. I've wanted to keep things authentic, so please be sure to let me know how that line between breadth of world and familiarity of canon is being handled. The last thing I want to do is throw around names for their own sake.

Also, while I don't normally address Flashbacks, the most recent one centring on a character who has left the narrative, in his words, was not accidental. I don't just ditch characters who have been around for half the story lightly.

Unless their name is Kallen Kozūki. Hehehe. I'm still not sorry.

In any case, I hope to see you again soon for the next Chapter, Decision Maker, which is Chapter 38 of 48. In the meantime, be safe, don't bite off more than you can chew in front of your boss, and rate and review.

~Eth0