A/N: Lelouch gets sentimental… Kind of hard not to when you're faced with so many memories of the past. I'm not sorry about the interlude quality of his thoughts here xD Also, thank you so much for your interest in this story. Thank you for reading, reviewing, asking questions, faving, and following.
Also, since some have asked questions and I'm only too happy to answer... For any Anon who asks a question that I can't answer through a DM, please know I'll answer any queries you have in the A/Ns in the next chapter (provided it avoids spoilers). Thank you!
Chapter 6: A Delicate Balance
Ashford University is ranked as one of the most prominent universities in Japan and overseas. Living up to its stellar reputation, the university's board of directors and the non-profit organization that spearheaded it developed academic programs 'to shape the world's most brilliant young minds' — or so they claimed in one of their many brochures. There were four cubbies full of them, stacked neatly at the security post by the front gates. Coupling the university's exceptional academic achievements was its flair for aesthetics — from the manicured lawns and neatly trimmed hedges, all the way to the grandiose outdoor arches that led to the main building.
Even after all these decades, it still maintained the pristine quality and classical architecture of what used to be the Holy Britannian Empire.
And it wasn't Ashford University back then… It was just Ashford Academy — otherwise known as his and Nunnally's second home during their years on Japanese soil.
"It's so different, but so much of it is the same." Lelouch muttered under his breath.
It was over 90 years ago and counting, and yet, it felt like it was from a different life. The last time he'd set foot here, he'd been an Emperor. And since then, the school grounds have expanded even more.
That's right… Ashford Academy — now Ashford University — and its founding family stood the test of time and against all odds, waded through plenty of modern history's most pivotal moments. This very same school was a primary witness to the beginning of the end for the Britannian empire. It became a battleground during the Black Rebellion, suffered through significant damages from a nuclear warhead during the Battle for Tokyo, served as the site where the UFN congregated at the behest of 99th Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, and became a refuge during the nuclear wars.
Everything was so…surreal.
"Is this what it feels like?"
"What does?" C.C. walked alongside him and watched his subtle reactions as they made their way through an ever thickening crowd of students. It made sense, considering today was the day of the opening ceremony for the school year.
"To visit a place you called home many years ago, and then come back almost a century later to find that it's changed, but so much of it still remains the same. Somehow…"
Did Lelouch know that he was so full of wonder at this very moment? It was draped over his face like a transparent veil. And behind that veil was a mind that tirelessly shifted from the past to the present. C.C. knew and understood that feeling. She'd felt it a thousand times over in many places, not just here. The novelty of this same experience had lost its awe-inspiring quality for her, but she had to admit that even she felt strange, coming back to this place with the man who used to be just another one of her contractors.
Was he thinking of his friends — his loved ones? Was he fondly remembering all the moments they shared together on these very grounds?
With little words to say, C.C. stepped closer and intertwined her fingers with his. The affectionate gesture caught him off guard. He stopped staring at the bustling activity before their eyes long enough to look at C.C. against the backdrop of what used to be Ashford Academy. She was the only living remnant of this school from his time.
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and as if she read his mind, softly told him, "It's haunting, isn't it?"
They came to this University with a purpose in mind: to find Light Yagami and ask him questions about Naomi, but also to see once and for all if he possessed the murderous Geass that sent L and the Japanese police on this wild goose chase. But nothing could have prepared Lelouch for the phantom pain that now throbbed in his chest.
So many things happened in this school… So many events he would rather forget. And for the memories he knew he would cherish, he held them all close to his heart. For the last 90 years, there were very few places he would ever call home. There were only four: Aries Villa, the Kururugi Shrine, his and C.C.'s old apartment in Switzerland, and Ashford Academy.
"Come… Let's go find the auditorium."
Lelouch shook his head and willingly fell into step beside C.C. as they left the entrance and walked hand-in-hand to wander the familiar grounds.
Nostalgia aside, they had to locate the opening ceremony venue.
=OoOoO=
Before he and C.C. left their hotel suite, Lelouch had anticipated crowds, vendors, and a lot of walking. He was not wrong…
Even during his days as a student, Ashford Academy was impressive in size — as far as school campuses went. He always accepted it for what it was because it had to be big. Ashford had an equestrian club and two football fields — not even counting the other clubs they used to have on top of students' dormitories and gym facilities that mirrored the extravagance of the empire that used to control Japan.
And now, almost a century after Britannia's downfall and since the establishment of the UFN, and other pleasant and unpleasant world affairs that followed, the high school had morphed into a titanic academia; offering a system of education that began at kindergarten all the way to postgraduate studies. Its origins as a Britannian school attracted international students the world over. The proof of that had never been so stark.
They'd managed to find the right auditorium (Ashford University apparently had four) in an area entirely new to Lelouch. It must have been part of the expansion in the last few years or so.
"I think we're here too early." C.C. muttered monotonously.
"That's good. It means you'll have an easier time finding a seat." Lelouch gestured towards the building with a tilt of his head. "How's the ear piece?"
"It's fine."
"And your ID?"
"In my purse."
After delicately patting her hair and the locks that framed her face, C.C. craned her neck backwards to survey the height of this auditorium aptly named Amalthea Assembly Hall. And right below the intricate stone carving of the name of the domed structure was a cheeky banner decked out in Ashford colors, framed by balloons and curled ribbons, proudly announcing: ALL COLLEGE FRESHMEN, WELCOME!
C.C. glanced over her shoulder at the cobbled pathway lined with sakura trees and saw yet more students approaching the venue. Just how big was the current population of college students then? There seemed to be no end to its attendees.
"And while I go find myself a seat, what will you be doing?" C.C. was turning to leave for the massive double doors that marked the threshold to Amalthea's grand hall, but she paused and waited expectantly for his answer.
Lelouch offered a wry smile and shrugged. "I'll find ways to entertain myself while you're off sleuthing. Best of luck."
Yeah, right… C.C. could have rolled her eyes. But she shook her head instead, returned the affectionate squeeze of his hand, and left him behind.
Lelouch watched her go and he didn't turn away from his view of the auditorium entrance until C.C. disappeared behind the doors.
He could have gone with her, but they both agreed that they could cover more ground this way. It was just a matter of who would run into Light Yagami first. Lelouch had his bets on C.C., because there was no way he was spotting someone in this plaza because of the ever thickening crowd. At least inside the auditorium, C.C. could claim an optimal seat and even meet Light properly if she timed her interactions right. The article said the students who topped the entrance exams would be giving a speech, so that would probably put Light at the front row or at the stage. Lelouch's presence outside of the auditorium was just insurance. Plus to be honest, he was thinking of exploring what he could of Ashford University, just to satisfy his curiosity to see what else changed and what remained the same.
"I wonder if— ACK!"
What the hell was that? And who the hell was this?
Taken aback from the sudden assault on his back, Lelouch coughed into the sleeve of his jacket, swallowed the profane word that almost left his lips, and desperately held onto the newsboy cap that partially concealed his face from overly perceptive eyes — not that anyone had cast a second look at him ever since he'd been here. He was just another foreign face in the crowd of students who all came from different parts of the world.
"Hey, Freshie!" An overexcited masculine voice gushed beside him and Lelouch realized too late why his breathing was shallow. The fool had an arm around Lelouch's shoulders and was holding him in a semi-headlock. "See a club you like? You look smart, I bet you'd fit in with the Math Club, we have—"
"No, he's definitely artsy." A different voice barged into his space. It belonged to a young lady standing on her tiptoes. She was leaning so far into Lelouch's space, he caught himself leaning dangerously back. "Maybe you'd be interested in the Pottery Club? Our booth is just over here."
"What?! No, I found him first! You can't just—"
And so the argument ensued… Didn't the idea of clubs belong to high school students? Apparently it didn't. And apparently, Ashford was only all too glad to nurture the culture of club activities. Overeager club members who were hoping to bolster their numbers for the upcoming semester in the hopes of getting a bigger budget was the least of Lelouch's concerns, but it was annoying all the same. The two students who'd practically violated his personal space didn't even give him a chance to get a word in edgewise, and what's more, they both acted like he didn't even exist.
Lelouch didn't see the point in correcting them or breaking up their fight.
He quickly left them behind, all the while checking to see if the unwarranted body slam had damaged the expensive piece of equipment he had on his person. Losing contact with C.C. was the last thing he wanted to happen. He was hoping to listen in on C.C.'s eventual conversation with Light Yagami, not just hear of it afterwards.
With that being said, why all this excitement for an opening ceremony?
Gods, he could swear that Milly's influence had breached the decades at this point.
During his own tenure as Vice President of the Student Council in this same campus decades ago, he and the other officers had run themselves ragged because of Milly Ashford's demanding and extravagant events. She ran the school like it was her playground. Still, he wouldn't deny that he had fun. For a moment, he let nostalgia take the reins and in his mind's eye he could still see Milly and all of his friends as they had been: young, carefree, shielded from the atrocity of the world. Even when the darkness of war had eventually encroached and burst that happy little bubble they'd all indulged in, they all still found it in them to smile. Lelouch made sure that they would… It was for them that he'd destroyed Britannia and remade the world; to give them the respite they deserved after all the bloodshed he'd caused and the pain and betrayal he spawned.
Where were they all now?
As the years went by and as the decades crawled past, he'd heard less and less of them (especially after C.C. brought him back from the dead)...
Nina left behind a remarkable legacy of scientific research that benefited the UFN and the Black Knights and he still had a handful of her published journals to this day (the rest having been destroyed during most of the nuclear war).
The last he heard of Rivalz, his friend had gone to university too and had been well on his way to finishing a degree in business management. He didn't hear of anything else after that and all he could hope for was that Rivalz lived his life the way he wanted too — that he lived it happily.
Milly was a respected news anchor and an award-winning journalist. She was the easiest to keep track of as she remained in the public eye up until she announced her retirement on live TV at 57. He always took the time to watch her documentaries. It was surreal yet lovely to find out that she'd had her own family.
In the years after his resurrection, he kept in touch with Shirley. It was through her that he'd heard of Rivalz's successes and through her that he'd heard of Nina receiving prestigious awards. Shirley was the very epitome of the world he recreated: kind, hopeful, and so vivacious. And he watched from afar with genuine happiness when she found the prince charming she always wanted.
Kallen continued her career as a Knightmare pilot for the Black Knights up until the use of the machinery was unanimously outlawed by the UFN's member nations in the year before the nuclear war broke out. The world forever knew her and respected her as the best pilot of their generation, and Lelouch liked to claim all the credit in the privacy of his own thoughts. Because wasn't it through his rebellion against Britannia that Kallen truly flourished as a pilot and grew in spite of the hardships and the heartbreak they'd been through? She was the ace up his sleeve in every battle and he couldn't have asked for a more loyal friend. He cared about her enough to push her away, so the world would never say that Kallen Kozuki was a friend to the Demon Emperor.
Suzaku… His first friend, his best friend, his worst enemy, and the brother he would always choose. He'd had years to contemplate on the words he spoke to Suzaku, the promises he made him keep, and the oaths they'd both broken. They committed sins together and atoned for them in the years that followed. Apart from Nunnally's, Suzaku's eventual demise at the hands of time was one of the worst he had ever experienced. He never acknowledged it out loud, but he knew a part of him had died the moment Suzaku took his last breath. As children, they were each other's lifeline in a wartorn Japan; as a Britannian soldier and as a rebel, they went at each other's throats; as a Knight serving his Emperor, they cast the lives they wanted to live aside and chose the path that doomed them to everlasting atonement; and as guardians of Lelouch's new world from the shadows, they worked together to hunt down those who were unworthy of the Power of the King. He and Suzaku were each other's strength and weakness.
And Nunnally… Dear, sweet, precious Nunnally — his very reason for living, his source of hope for the longest. The world forever remembered her as a great philanthropist and a brilliant politician and lawyer who carried out reforms for the sake of those who needed them. As expected of his excellent little sister. She was the proud holder of four academic doctorate and masters degrees that served her well in her career. Every time they spoke during the years after Zilkhistan, he never ceased to remind her how amazing she was. She surpassed her big brother in every single way, and he couldn't be prouder. Even when he could no longer see her, even when time took away her youth and replaced it with the elegance and wisdom of an accomplished woman, Lelouch vi Britannia had watched over her all the same. And he had languished in his devastation when Fate eventually took her smile and her kindness away from the world.
Through it all, as his friends journeyed through life until they finally breathed their last or until he had no way of knowing where they were anymore, Lelouch was still present, still youthful and yet so jaded.
C.C. had been right… The more time forgot him, the more disconnected from the world he felt — even more so than when he came back from C's World.
In the end, after they had all gone, it was just him… Him and C.C… His C.C.
Jarring himself back to the present, Lelouch swallowed the sudden lump that formed in his throat and blinked back the unshed tears. He suddenly had the urge to call C.C. to check how she was doing in the auditorium. So preoccupied into his musings was he, he didn't even notice that he'd claimed a seat on one of the empty benches that lined the side of the busy plaza in front of the auditorium.
Lelouch released a heavy sigh and buried his face in his hands. Maybe he shouldn't have come to Ashford if it meant being assaulted by fond memories that would make him miss his friends. As much as he loved and accepted his life with C.C. now, it was still hard to deny the fact that he would always cherish the chaos and bliss of his own youth — of his time in Ashford Academy and the friends he and Nunnally had made here.
He'd probably already missed Light Yagami as he barreled through memory lane. Oh well… At least no other nosy club representatives made any move to bother him. Most of them were preoccupied with other interested freshmen now. They moved from one booth to the next, asking questions, trying out fun activities. One booth, in particular, caught his eye and his fancy. An introduction into the fascinating game of chess, the club's tarp said. They had four portable tables laid out on their little area of the plaza. Each table had the familiar two-toned board — alternating colors of brown and red and black and white.
One chess game couldn't hurt, right? It would probably help take his mind off of a few things.
A club representative who looked to be nineteen or twenty saw him approach and immediately assumed he was a freshman again. That was fine… Better that than have someone scream that Lelouch vi Britannia was alive and well in Ashford (although that was very unlikely given that 90 years had passed and he should definitely look like an old man now, but he didn't).
"Hi there! You interested in the Chess Club? We love welcoming new members, and it's totally cool if you don't know how to play the game yet. We're all about teaching people and helping them become Chess Grand Masters! Oh! Name's Daiki by the way." He exclaimed excitedly, making big gestures towards the line of chessboards.
There were already two pairs of students squaring up against each other.
"But how about a challenge?" The same guy who'd welcomed him spoke up all of a sudden, quickly noticing how their newest visitor's eyes wandered to the untouched chess boards with all the pieces set up.
"What sort of challenge?"
"We're giving away prizes to anyone who can beat our resident Chess Master. You up for it?" Daiki declared excitedly, pointing to himself and grinning like he'd won the biggest prize of the century. He was like a puppy — barely restraining himself from bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Lelouch couldn't stop the arrogant smirk and he wondered what kind of kick this man would get if he ever deduced that he was actually challenging the former 99th Emperor of Britannia to a game of strategy. But Lelouch held his tongue and simply said, "All right. It could be fun."
"That's the spirit!"
Lelouch regretted his arrogance when the other man immediately clapped him in the back… hard.
Suppressing the offending cough but not before casting a dirty look at his assailant, Lelouch claimed a seat on the side of the chessboard that he always preferred: Black.
"If you're new to this, you might want to take White. White moves first."
Lelouch shook his head. "It's all right. I'll take Black."
Their game began in earnest but as it progressed, the wide and welcoming smile that had once been across Daiki's face gradually morphed into frustration and eventually a scowl as Lelouch matched each and every one of their resident Chess Master's moves, forcing the White pieces into constant retreat until Lelouch chipped away at each defense one by one. In the end, he'd checkmated the White King, much to the astonishment and mild disappointment of his opponent.
"You beat me… Oh my god, you beat me. I—" Daiki the 'Chess Master' stuttered, and Lelouch just watched with self-satisfaction glittering in his purple eyes. "You're not an amateur, are you? You saw through every single strategy that's made me win before, and you… you…"
He couldn't even finish, he was so amazed. Lelouch kept his face passive and he didn't say anything. Daiki was a different story, however. His loud exclamations got the attention of the other students and some came over to see what was going on.
Lelouch didn't know how it happened, but it somehow turned into a revolving door of chess matches as one challenger after another stepped up to the proverbial plate to get decimated by Lelouch's army of rampaging black chess pieces. He was now the opponent to beat as each chess club member present got curious and gave into their intrigue — agreeing to a matchup with Lelouch out of curiosity or out of misplaced pride.
The crowd around the Chess Club's booth came and went, at one point clearing up enough for Lelouch to lock eyes with… a very strange-looking student. Was he really a student? He carried himself so…apathetically — like he could care less of what was happening or what others thought of him. Well, that latter thought was probably true.
Because who attends a prestigious University's opening ceremony dressed in plain blue jeans and a frumpy long-sleeved white shirt? And maybe he could blame the Spring wind, but would it have been a crime to run a comb through that tousled head of ebony hair?
"Uh… Hey!" Daiki piped up, noticing the unintentional staring contest. "Do you want to play too?"
He sidled up to the strange student's side and was about to greet him in the same manner that he greeted Lelouch, but was it Lelouch's imagination or did that stranger just so casually evade the unwarranted physical greeting? Either way, the stranger shuffled forward on untied white tennis shoes with his hands tucked into the recesses of his jeans' pockets, slouching worse than anyone he'd ever seen.
Lelouch kept his mouth closed and didn't take his eyes off of the approaching student with all his odd mannerisms.
"You wouldn't mind another round." The stranger trailed off, words slightly muffled by the thumb he stuck to the corner of his mouth.
It was supposed to be a question, but it sounded more like a demand to Lelouch. Now where had he heard that brand of brusqueness before?
Either way, Lelouch agreed with a nod and a, "Of course not."
He could never say 'no' to a challenger. When it came to chess, he knew full well that he was arrogant. But to his credit, he had every right to be. Only his brother Schneizel had ever beaten him at the game, and no one else ever came close. Well, C.C. was the exception, but she never bothered to play against him seriously. He beat her in chess more often than not, but in her most competitive mood, C.C. just frustrated him constantly by pulling stalemates, forcing the game to end in a draw. He had long given up on trying to coax C.C. to follow his whims when it came to chess. She simply wouldn't fold. But for others, it was fair game. Plus, gambling on chess games over the years against other gamblers remained a significant source of profit for him.
So these latest round of chess matches from one eager student after another was a breath of fresh air, to say the least.
The stranger claimed the chair opposite Lelouch. He climbed onto his seat and dropped into a crouch, with his knees drawn up to his chin, and the thumb of his right hand at the corner of his mouth.
What the hell?
Up close, Lelouch could finally see his face clearer and he silently noted the dark bags that framed the other man's pitch dark irises. Wide black eyes set against ashen skin.
And because no one was making a move to start, Lelouch hastily drew himself back into the moment with a harsh mental slap. He needed to get a hold of himself.
"White takes the first move."
The stranger looked up from staring at the chessboard and mumbled his response around half a mouthful of thumb. "Oh… Right. I knew that."
The match began with a simple opening move: White Pawn to E4.
Lelouch refrained from making any assumptions about the opening, but he had goals for this match. Taking the White King was the end-all, but his current objective was to set the pace, establish control of the board, and draw White's forces to his side of the board where he could pick him apart piece by piece.
=OoOoO=
Acing the Ashford University entrance exams was one phase of the plan. After clearing that, L had resigned himself to attending the opening ceremony, knowing full well that it would be crowded and busy. Still, it was the best place to confront Light Yagami. The time had come.
But out of all the outcomes he'd expected for the day, he hadn't planned on getting drawn into a group of students playing chess on the plaza in front of the assembly hall.
His insatiable curiosity won in the end and he found himself sitting down for a match against a freshman — or against someone L assumed to be a freshman;the boy looked no older than Light Yagami, perhaps younger. This same boy had effortlessly beat a string of challengers before L — ending all the games with a checkmate every single time. He'd had the satisfaction of witnessing the boy's exasperation when one particular student squared up to him with all the misplaced bravado one could muster when they lacked the skill. That match ended in a fool's checkmate — two moves. Very aptly named.
Despite what other people liked to assume because of his appearance, L quite enjoyed games. The challenging ones in particular, were a special brand of fun.
Criminal investigations were games too… High stakes games where he couldn't afford to lose because lives were on the line. His own included.
And L never lost…
When he posed his query, the freshman had agreed. L pretended not to notice the way the boy was gawking at him. To be fair, the hyper-focused attention would not have been noticeable to other people, and besides, the boy had every right to stare.
L knew he wasn't the most conventional-looking person, and his appearance certainly broke a lot of norms. Showing up to an opening ceremony with a speech to deliver while looking like he did was bound to turn some heads. The boy didn't look like he recognized him as one of the students who topped the Ashford entrance exams either. Odd.
Deep into observations, L almost forgot about making an opening move entirely and had to be reminded.
And so he began: White Pawn to E4 — just to see how the boy would respond to that.
The Black Pawn on the opposite side of the board was moved to C5… A Najdorf Sicilian.
Interesting…
So the boy wanted to set the pace, did he? He chose this opening with the intent to establish control of the playing field.
L would not let him.
=OoOoO=
Lelouch was only mildly annoyed that his current opponent seemed to know what he was going for. Less experienced players always tried to exploit this type of opening, mistaking the defense for nothing more than a random opening move. But not this student… Not him.
He never looked up at Lelouch ever since this game began. With those dark eyes trained on the board, he didn't counter with a move that Lelouch expected and what he was hoping for. His opponent mobilized one of his White Knights, forcing Lelouch to fast forward and respond by moving one of his pawns forward to free his Black Queen and let her take the field if the need arose. Without faltering, the strange student mirrored the move and opened the board for his White Queen as well.
So that was how they were going to play this then?
Lelouch glanced at his opponent's face to see the same expression: blank. No trace of glee or smugness. For a while, they fell into the mundane rhythm of the game. Black took White and White took Black — trading moves and deciding which piece should be on which tile on the board. After the earlier altercation between pawns and one of his opponent's White Knights, not much has happened. They'd lost and gained audiences as they played, but Lelouch cared less.
This time, the stranger moved one of his White Knights to B3.
At this point, Lelouch was sure they both knew that they were setting each other up for something, a future attack, a race to claim each other's King, or maybe a chance to shore up defenses to make their respective courts impenetrable.
Lelouch had his answer on the stranger's next move.
Thin pale fingers grasped the head of the idle White Bishop and used it to launch an aggressive offense, moving the piece four squares forward diagonally. Its presence threatened one of his Black Knights — a piece he had placed on the frontlines and kept there repeatedly. Their current audience reacted with a chorus of "Ooohs" and "Uh-ohs", but neither response triggered a spark of violent emotion between Lelouch and the strange student.
Cocking an eyebrow, he leveled his opponent with another curious stare and found the other guy moving his thumb back and forth across his lips, apparently steeped in contemplation as he bore holes into the chess board with those intense dark eyes.
Now what should he do?
His opponent placed the White Bishop right there, almost as if he was begging Lelouch to take his Black Knight to safety. But to what end? What was his opponent thinking?
Well, he could move the Black Knight back into the safety of the pawns, but perhaps that was something his enemy wanted him to do. There wasn't an opportunity to set up a checkmate just yet, plus the White Bishop was all alone, surrounded by Black Pawns and a Knight.
Lelouch released a sigh and decided. He'd let him take the Knight if he wanted. It was a small price to pay to see what his opponent would do. Lelouch could plot out the necessary string of possible outcomes then. Instead of taking the Black Knight to safety, he left the piece vulnerable and moved one of his Black Bishops to E6.
And this decision came with the most obvious consequence.
The White Bishop took the Black Knight, and Lelouch retaliated by using one of his Black Pawns to take away the offending White Bishop.
Just as he expected…
Following the string of sacrifices, Lelouch observed keenly as the White Queen made her entrance at last. Her master put her on tile D3 — not far enough into enemy territory, but present at the center of the board in a favorable and flexible position. The way for the White Queen was clear.
Their audience's waning interests were apparent as the crowd slowly dwindled. In their eyes, the excitement of the chess match had died one game ago. Lelouch couldn't blame them. In his matches prior to this one, the game would have ended by now — with the White King in checkmate, but not this time.
He and his opponent had spent the last few minutes mirroring each other's moves. The stranger responded to Lelouch's last move by castling his White King, moving the most important piece into relative safety, away from the center of the board and putting the Rook in a more active position. For the next few moments, they stuck themselves into a place where they both shored up their defenses.
Lelouch's eyes narrowed in slight annoyance at the current position of the pieces on the board. Nothing had gone according to his plan, and underneath the stoic mask his opponent wore, Lelouch was sure that he knew that and that was exactly what he wanted. Was this strange student irritated? Pleased? Satisfied with the current direction their match was going?
At the moment, both of them had equal control of the board. Neither of them had the advantage nor the disadvantage. They'd struck a delicate balance without even intending to. All this time, they'd each prevented one another from making a fruitful offense while trying to lure the other into making a stupid move.
Neither has succeeded so far… This was infuriating.
"How long have you been playing this game?" Lelouch caught himself blurting out the question that lingered in the back of his mind.
The question was met with silence and for the longest minute of his life, Lelouch resigned to the fact that he wouldn't get an answer.
"I don't play it often, if that's what you really mean." The stranger mumbled, the corner of his lips drawing upwards into an unsettling smile.
Lelouch stared at the latest move his opponent made and cocked an eyebrow. White made another advance. One of the White Knights was in the way of one of Lelouch's Black Bishops. What was this man thinking? Setting up an obvious bait when Lelouch didn't fall for the previous ones… If he didn't know better, he would be inclined to feel insulted. Taking the White Knight using the Black Bishop would clear the way for the White Queen. Even if the White King's mate took the Bishop or moved to another direction in the board, his opponent would have cleared his conditions regardless.
It was best to leave the Black Bishop in danger then… He had other priorities: like advancing one of the other Bishops to start infiltrating White's side of the board.
What followed was another string of attempts to catch each other in a net — attempts to secure an opening for victory. One laid trap after another, each trap failing in quick succession as they stewed in their game of anticipation and prevention. At one point, Lelouch realized too late that he'd carelessly fallen for one of the baits, letting his Black Bishop have the reins for a short moment only to fall into a dangerous position once one of the White Pawns moved. It had been a trivial mistake that was easily fixed with a simple retreat.
But where could they go from there?
Lelouch leaned back a little, hands on his lap as he quietly surveyed the board after moving one of his Black Bishops away from the line of fire.
Both the Black and the White King were as far away from the fighting as possible, relatively sheltered behind pieces that could be readily sacrificed for the protection of the most valuable piece on the board.
Glancing up to try and gauge his enemy's blank expression all over again, Lelouch could glean nothing. He was just a student crouching over the chessboard like some ashen gargoyle, mouth set in a straight line as one pale index finger pushed the White Queen to a tile where it could take Lelouch's Black Bishop from the side.
She was close — too close. Given the chance, and if he allowed the Black Bishop to die, would it really bring the White Queen to where she needed to be? Well, not really… The Bishop was unprotected and if he let it die, he didn't see the advantage for his opponent after that. Would his opponent be greedy enough to take a Black Pawn in an attempt to check the King?
Going off of how this stranger had been playing so far, it didn't feel like a move he would make. It would be hasty, not to mention stupid. If his enemy used the White Queen to take the Black Pawn diagonal to Lelouch's Black King, it would be an easy check, yes… But that would also put the White Queen in foolish danger — surrounded by the King, the Rook, and the other Bishop waiting a few tiles away. Lelouch blinked in silent surprise…
Wasn't that an outcome that he should hope for? For his opponent to make a stupid move and give Lelouch the opportunity to begin placing his pieces where he wanted them to be?
Why was he hoping for a masterful play-by-play then?
Regardless, Lelouch moved his Bishop out of the way, and he found himself gaping at the board yet again when the stranger didn't retreat. He maintained the offense instead and moved the White Queen again, placing her next to Lelouch's Black Bishop on tiles H5 and G5 respectively. He could have taken that Black Bishop, but he didn't. To block the White Queen's steady progress, Lelouch mobilized one of his Black Pawns. It cut off the White Queen's movements forward, but not diagonally, and Lelouch wanted that. He wanted to suck the White King's mate into the midst of his black pieces so she would be consumed by the Black King.
But yet again, the trap had failed. At this point, it wasn't even disappointment that Lelouch felt anymore — just resignation. His opponent didn't move the White Queen again as he'd wished. One of the White Pawns moved to F4 instead.
With the fighting mostly concentrated on the right side of the board, Lelouch was well aware that his enemy forced him into defense. He used his last move to shore up the Black King's protection, taking the Black Bishop back to F6, and the other student did the same, pushing one of the White Knights back to D2 to form a solid line in front of the White King still sitting idle in B1.
On Lelouch's next turn, he pushed one of his Black Knights to D4, placing the piece right in the frontlines. The other student responded to the offense by placing one of the White Bishops in the most advantageous position possible. And Lelouch had to suppress a grin. He saw that coming. If the White Bishop had gone to F1, that would turn the piece into a sitting duck. But his opponent had taken that White Bishop to C4 instead of F1: it was safe from Lelouch's advancing Black Knight and in the future if he tried to move in, that particular White Bishop was supported by another Bishop, the Rook, and the other White Knight.
Had their game finally begun? Were they done assessing each other's strategies?
It was all a matter of who tipped the scales in their favor first.
Over the next few turns, Lelouch kept the Black Knight on the offense, moving it across the board in response to his opponent's initiatives. They settled into the motion of advancing and retreating, letting Black take White and White take Black. Slowly and steadily, Lelouch realized they were picking each other apart — a Bishop to a Bishop, a Rook to a Pawn, and yet in spite of their efforts, their audience could see that a checkmate was not happening over the next three or four moves.
Off to the side and behind him, he could hear some members of their audience discussing the current game and about how this was the longest match so far — out of all the other matches that Lelouch had taken on. One of the other students or chess club members asked if either he or his opponent would forfeit the game soon simply because if this went on any longer, they could probably be here all day. They were all fair assessments, but Lelouch intended to win. The path to victory was right there, and it wasn't long for the taking.
His opponent hadn't moved from his crouch at all since this match began and Lelouch was beginning to wonder if the other student was purposely making himself uncomfortable. Hunched over the chessboard, those dark eyes wandered upwards for once and they stared at each other again as the stranger moved his White Queen diagonally, placing her in the midst of Lelouch's black pieces.
What was he doing?
Why was he deliberately putting his White Queen in danger? What was he—
But of course... Of course it was.
Suddenly it all made sense. The clearance sacrifices, the gradual reduction of white pieces, the White Queen's slow but steady progress across the board. Somehow his opponent succeeded at making his most valuable piece as non-threatening as they appeared while being completely aware of the fact that Lelouch was hunting the White Queen while setting up his black pieces for an eventual checkmate. But now the fruit of his opponent's moves all culminated in this grand unveiling.
The stranger was intending on sacrificing the White Queen to move the Black Pawn out of the way, making room for the unassuming White Bishop on D5. If Lelouch took the Queen using the Black Pawn (because that was the only piece in a position to take her out of the game), he would put his own Black King in check. Still, if he moved the Black King out of the way, the monarch had nowhere to go but a tile in H8. Backed into a corner with no Knights nearby and his Black Queen still stationary with the other pieces standing in her way, his Black King would be stripped of a defense. Any flimsy attempt at securing his King would be futile when his opponent would eventually mobilize the White Rook on H1, move it forward to take the Black King's only protection, and put him in Checkmate.
It was clever... It was an efficient setup if it had succeeded.
But Lelouch saw through it all the same and would not let it happen.
Avoiding the loss, Lelouch averted disaster and left the White Queen alone. Instead, he brought his Black Queen out at last, moving her diagonally to place her in B6.
Their eyes met over the chess pieces yet again and in that heavy pitch black gaze, Lelouch discerned a heightened awareness of what would follow. His opponent recognized that his own plans for Checkmating the Black King had been derailed.
As precarious as the metaphorical scale appeared during this entire match, it ended just as it began.
Silent as ever, without breaking away from Lelouch's own intense gaze, the stranger pushed the White Rook to H1 in silent defiance — delivering the point that they'd made the same set of moves three times in a row, they weren't making any progress with the game, and neither of them had the sufficient material to force a Checkmate in the next three turns or so.
"It seems we've arrived at a stalemate." The stranger muttered casually, a thumb pressed to his lips.
"So it would appear."
A draw was a draw.
As they reached the game's end, the crowd that had gathered slowly moved away, some muttering about how it was one hell of a match, and yet others disagreeing and commenting how off-putting it was that it all ended just like that. No spectacular display of cornering the king, no checkmates.
Resigned, both Lelouch and the stranger rose from their seats and began to leave. Lelouch thanked Daiki and the other Chess club members for the opportunity to play before quietly falling into step with the brilliant oddball who'd achieved what none of Lelouch's opponents couldn't in a long time. They stopped walking when they reached the foot of the stairs that led to the assembly hall.
"To be honest, draws are rare for me." Lelouch shook his head and stared up at the welcoming banner above them with balloons waving in the wind.
The stranger tilted his head in acknowledgement. "For me as well."
"At one point, you would have had me with that Queen…"
"But you saw right through it."
They shared a small and mildly amused smile… until Lelouch realized something stupid and stopped himself short of mentally berating himself for the social blunder. Best correct that mistake.
"I'm sorry. We've played an entire game, and I never even asked for your name. I'm Julius, by the way. Julius Hale."
Hands stuffed into his pockets, the stranger just stared at Lelouch with that same blank expression he'd become familiar with in the span of an hour or less.
"I'm Hideki Ryuga."