Even as Bismarck moved to intercept the knightmare primed to explode, he despaired. Its target was clear: the clubhouse. The terrorist didn't know that the clubhouse had been designed to withstand such an attack; the problem was that it would narrowly clip by the main building where over a thousand students were hunkered down to wait out the assault.
A quick glance at his console confirmed the size of the payload: too large. Bismarck had to intercept it on the large fields, else the blast radius would endanger them all.
If he failed to disarm it in the scant few seconds he had, he would be dead. Grimly, he wondered if the boy hoped for them to both perish, safely away from the students.
This was not the time for playing around. He strained the muscles in his left eyes, pushing them against the thin threads that sealed his geass shut.
The unit's future trajectories expanded before him, and he moved to anticipate them. He'd make it, with barely enough time.
And then the unit would launch a chaos grenade— The future split into paths. Pure chance would dictate where it would go.
Safely to the side. Back to the street, where innocent civilians would be caught. Through the window of the main building. Into the clubhouse—
Shit.
The future rippled, and Bismarck hesitated—a second that he did not have. That had never happened before.
A white knightmare—the Lancelot—erupted into the future, and then into the present with a flying spin-kick.
"It's armed!" Bismarck barked, regaining his senses. The chaos mine was thrown, and in that moment, he chose to intercept it, to leave the bomb to an Eleven.
The air in Area Eleven was definitely contaminated.
"I know, sir."
Bismarck shuddered as the chaos mine went off, barely contained by his shields as his energy levels rapidly plummeted to the tune of the blaring alarm. The boy had known and decided to kick a bomb?
If he had such resolve, why hadn't he fought earlier? Why had he refused to defend himself?
The Lancelot deployed its Maser Vibration Sword, pinning its opponent with a swift strike.
"You need to get back, Sir Waldstein. I'll contain it."
On the console, the unit blinked rapidly.
"Defuse it, you idiot," Bismarck shouted. A twist of the shields threw the sputtering chaos mine into the air, in the direction of the clubhouse where it would be the safest.
Then, he ran to the unit, to the bomb, to help an Eleven.
As the metal hand plunged into the knightmare's chassis, he reassured himself that the suicidal pilot's intel was well worth the risk.
Lelouch staggered back, his fingers spasming. Suzaku—That had been Suzaku's voice.
His friend was the pilot of the white knightmare, the infernal unit which had foiled his plan at Narita.
He had ordered Kallen to destroy it. How close had she come? How close had Lelouch come to killing his oldest friend?
And here the idiot was again, somehow back in a knightmare after being arrested, and throwing himself on bombs.
A bomb he didn't even know how to defuse!
Lelouch shoved his way through the door. His abrupt actions caught the guards by surprise, and he burst into a mad sprint.
They caught him seconds later, as he desperately reached for the door.'
"Let me go!" he screamed.
His friend was about to die. Suzaku was about to die.
There was nothing Lelouch could do about it. He sagged in their arms, waiting for the walls to shake, the ground to rumble.
What was he going to tell Nunnally?
"Your Highness," one of the guards prodded cautiously. "We need to return. It is not safe here."
It was just like last time. He was powerless to save his friend from his own foolishness.
He knew why Suzaku had done it. The unit had been so clearly heading to the clubhouse.
Lelouch needed to go back. Shirley was still out there, in danger because of him.
"Your Highness… Are you alright?"
Shirley—Suzaku—Kallen…
He only brought suffering for those to close him. He didn't even know if Shirley was alive.
His nails gouged into his palm. The pain grounded him against the pounding in his ears.
Whoever had done this would pay. He would play his father's game for now. He would be the good little prince that they wanted, the perfect stalking goat.
He would do that all to claim every scrap of power he could because whoever was behind this needed to pay.
He would make them rue the day they were born. For now, he would wait and see whether his father would deliver justice for his mother. She had waited for so many years. She could wait a little longer.
Lelouch paused. Everything was too still.
With a desperate lunge, he ripped away from his guards again and burst through the door.
Desperately, he lifted his hand against the blinding light. The white knightmare stood unharmed. Kneeling by the unit was Bismarck's knightmare.
Suzaku… Suzaku was alive.
Lelouch rushed forward, his fragile lungs burning against the strain.
Ahead, Suzaku slowly climbed out his knightmare. He dropped to his knee, the perfect picture of dutiful submission.
Lelouch despised it.
His hand curled into a fist. "You absolute idiot! How dare you!"
Suzaku righted himself, only acknowledging the blow by gently raising a hand to prod his eye.
That infuriated him even more because Suzaku never let him hit him.
"Who gave you permission to do that?" Lelouch spat.
Finally, he responded, lifting his head. "Lelouch?"
"You could've died! Were you going to let me watch you die again!"
"Again?" Bismarck asked, having come out as well.
Lelouch ignored him. "What would I tell Nunnally then? That you finally choked on your own idiocy? You told us you were in engineering, not a knightmare pilot! You were on the front lines!"
Suzaku had the audacity to look confused.
"Tell me, what the hell were you thinking! Or were you even thinking at all? Because you certainly seem to have taken leave of your senses since we split up."
"You live in the clubhouse. It was heading there." Suzaku's eyes were wide and pleading. "I am sorry that I scared you."
"You didn't even know how to defuse the bomb," Lelouch snapped. "Were you planning to die?"
Suzaku flinched, and his eyes dropped. "You're the Crown Prince."
"Don't give me that fucking bullshit. I wasn't anyone when you took a bullet for me."
"That's not true. It was the right thing to do."
"If you were so concerned about doing the right thing, you wouldn't have joined the Britannian army."
"And what else was I supposed to do?" Suzaku screamed, jumping to his feet. "Die for some stupid terrorists so the Britannians can hate us even more! At least, I can prove something."
"Yes! Because you'd at least have your pride."
"Pride?" Suzaku scoffed, his eyes dark. "Pride is why innocent people die."
"Oh, and the Britannian army doesn't kill innocents?" Lelouch sneered. "You're accomplishing nothing. A single person will never prove anything. They'll use you until you're a shriveled husk of yourself and spit your corpse into an unmarked grave. At least, rebels give people hope. You trample it with your sickening idealism."
"Hope? For Japan? What good is that when they're starving. I'm a soldier to change people's minds so my people can work in the future. I convinced the students here, didn't I?"
"No. You did not. I declared you as my friend. I made you a member of the student council. The students know what it means to mess with me and most decided you weren't worth it. The truth is you're a coward, Suzaku. You can't bear the fear of failure, so you didn't even bother to try."
"You know nothing," Suzaku snarled. "You're safe behind these walls, free to do as you wish if you would just swallow your damn pride. At least I was doing something, while you spent your time philosophizing in luxury. And for what?" Suzaku swung out his arm. "No matter what you think of Zero, he killed Prince Clovis. He would take your head in an instant. Every damn terrorist would. Your pretty words mean nothing."
Wait, was that why Suzaku had refused to join him? Because he thought Zero would kill… Lelouch?
Or was that just another excuse, so Suzaku could assuage his own guilt.
Lelouch pinched his nose. "None of that gives you the right to die."
Churlish, Suzaku crossed his arms. "That's not something you get to decide."
"Funny enough, there is. As a prince of this realm, I formally discharge you from the Britannian military. Live your life as a normal student." Lelouch paused, the urge to tell him the truth unbearable. "Kallen was one of the terrorists on that truck… a very skilled red-haired pilot. She could've attacked me when the Emperor made his announcement. She didn't."
Suzaku gaped. "Kallen? Isn't she sick? I thought you two were… She's with the Black Knights—Were you trying to get recruited!"
"I don't have time for this. I have a terrorist to deal with, some Britannian noble who is so opposed to a commoner's son sitting on the throne that he would bomb a school of innocent children."
Without another word, he spun around. Bismarck fell into step behind him.
"The student, Shirley Fenette, save her. If they kept her alive, they'll use her to try and kill me. Do not let her die."
"Yes, Your Highness."
For now, he needed to get to Rivalz and talk to those terrorists and buy Shirley some time.
There was an old fashion clock on the opposite wall. For Shirley, it was her only connection to the outside world as time warped inside the room.
She felt like it had been hours. It had barely been an hour. Every tick of the second hand seemed to herald her inevitable death.
Even if Lelouch cared enough to rescue her, would he be allowed to do anything? He was the crown prince.
She shivered, drawing her arms more tightly around herself. The movement reminded her of Lelouch's gun, hidden beneath her shirt.
Her gaze wandered to the armed guards as the futility of the situation hit her again. Maybe, she could kill one before they took her down.
Her lungs spasmed, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to regain control over her breathing. It felt like someone had grabbed her lungs and squeezed.
She had killed that woman, a Britannian soldier. She hadn't meant to. Hadn't been thinking.
But now she was.
To raise the gun deliberately, to take a life… Hot bile clawed its way up her throat.
She barely managed to swallow it down, the remnant coating her tongue and only serving to make her nausea worse.
The elderly noble sighed in frustration, and she froze, watching him out of the corner of her eyes. He toyed with the phone, flicking it shut.
Open. Click. Shut. Open. Click. Shut. Open. Click. Shut. Open. Click. Shut.
He was impatient.
"Please," Shirley begged quietly, tears burning in her eyes.
He regarded her with amused disdain and slowly approached. "Do you want to see what your dear friend has to say?"
The display was white enough to burn the eyes. There was not a single response.
She would've thought she merited more than that. A reply at least.
He snapped the phone shut again. "Have you changed your mind? You are a nice girl, and following through on my threats would be regrettable."
She had loved him enough to kill for him, even though he was her father's killer. She had loved him so much, but he never saw her.
The best she could get was a pity kiss in the rain.
What would her father say? What would he think?
Despite everything, her heart still longed for Lelouch. She wanted to help him. She wanted to see one of those way too rare smiles.
She wanted to slap him and demand an answer. Why did her father, who had never harmed anyone, have to die for his justice?
"No," she answered, scrunching her nose at a strange scent of smoke. "I'm not a jealous little girl who lashes out because her love is denied. If you wanted one of those, you should've kidnapped someone else."
The phone buzzed, and the noble's eyebrows drew up in abrupt surprise.
Lelouch?
He flipped it open and scoffed. "All this time to ask if you're still alive? That is even crueler than ignoring your existence outright."
She frowned at his tone. He was unsettled. Was that truly what the message said?
"Talk," he ordered, suddenly holding the phone in front of her.
Should she say anything? Was she getting her hopes up for nothing? They could always kill her faster than he could rescue her.
"Don't make me say it again," the noble warned.
She wanted to be strong, to tell Lelouch that he shouldn't worry about her. Instead, she cried, "Please, Lelouch. Please, I'm scared."
The phone snapped shut.
"You're certainly good at bringing girls to tears," a sarcastic voice interrupted.
The noble flinched, spinning around with a small pocket knife.
By the wall, a young boy looked at him unimpressed. He had sandy hair and the face of a model. His dead, cold eyes rendered him as attractive as a corpse.
"Can't you knock like a normal person?" the noble snapped.
The boy barked out in laughter. He would've fit right in with the seniors, boys on the cusp of adulthood with facial hair coming just in.
"Why are you here?" the noble asked impatiently.
"Careful. You are not my master. He handed you the keys of the kingdom, yet you have botched this job quite thoroughly."
"So the plan failed," the noble said.
The boy frowned. "Yes. Plan B as well."
"I did everything you asked. This is not on me. If anything, you failed. You should have—"
A shot fired. The boy calmly holstered his weapon. "Careful, I said. Leave the Area. My employer has further use for you."
"But—"
His hand shifted to his hip and the noble fell silent.
"I will handle plan C. You may leave now."
The noble rushed to grab his coat, and Shirley clenched her jaw in unease. The entire time she had been there, the noble had been in utter control.
He hesitated at the door. "May I ask, who foiled the plan? Was it Bismarck?"
"No one. The men were more well disciplined than expected. We anticipated the boy causing problems, but apparently the Emperor broke him to heel. He behaved himself."
"I see," the noble whispered and slipped out the door. Half of the guards followed him.
"You'll behave yourself for me, won't you?" the boy asked, his breath tickling her ear.
She screeched in shock. He had been across the room!
"Take off your jacket."
"What are you going to do to me?"
"I gave you an order. Last warning."
With shaking hands, she began to unbutton her coat. He offered her a vest. In her panic, she hadn't even noticed him retrieving it.
She slipped it on, and he leaned forward, snapping a buckle shut.
"Put on your coat."
What is it, she wanted to ask. Her tongue refused to move. She was petrified.
At least the noble had been predictable. His elegance and poise had felt familiar.
This boy was wrong. His eyes were too cold. His voice was too even, with pauses between each word that were slightly too long. He scared the posh noble.
Somehow, she got her arms through the sleeves. The buttons proved impossible. With her tremors, she could barely hold them, much less slip them through tiny button holes.
With a sigh, the boy leaned in and fixed her jacket over the vest. He turned to the guards, and she watched in amazement as he slowly drew his gun while they continued to watch unperturbed.
In the time it took her to inhale, the three guards were dead.
"Get up," the boy ordered. He grabbed her arm, pulling her to the door. "He wanted to be gentlemanly about it, to convince you."
The air outside was dreadfully warm. The vest cocooned her chest, intent on roasting her alive.
"Don't bother trying to run. You won't like the consequences." His grip on her arm was like a set of manacles, securing her at his side, uncomfortably close. "Don't worry. You're returning to your precious school."
She didn't trust him. It had to be a lie.
As they walked along the street, she desperately wished that someone would stop them, ask if she was alright. Her tongue sanded the upper crest of her mouth as she tried to figure out what she could say, what she could scream.
Surely, someone would help.
Yet the first person they met walked by without a second glance. Then the second and the third.
By the time they turned into a busy street, she had begun to despair over how their eyes always glossed over them, as if they were ghosts.
"Please," she whispered. She had to be louder. She would make them notice.
He yanked her sharply to the side as a crazed smile split his face. "Listen," he shouted, "I have taken her hostage!"
What in the world… Why would he…
No one responded. Their eyes continued to pass over them as if they were nobodies.
"Keep walking," he ordered.
They were nearing Ashford Academy now although the streets were packed with people. They didn't even complain as the boy rudely shoved past them.
It was like… they weren't there.
Yellow police tape cordoned off the side street, and the officers said nothing as they slipped under the tape.
Her captor's steps slowed, and he carefully observed their surroundings.
"This is as far as I go." He let go, pulling out a letter from inside his jacket. "You're almost back, congratulations. Tell them, you have an urgent message for Prince Lelouch's eyes only."
Her hands were surprisingly steady as she accepted the letter. Was he really going to let her go?'
"Give him a hug as well; he must've been worried sick."
"Why?" she asked quietly, hating how tiny her voice sounded.
The question seemed to please him. "This is your mission. Get in there. See Prince Lelouch. Give him the letter. Hug him. And most importantly, do not breathe a word of what you heard or learned today." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I will know if you disobey. And if you do, I will kill you and then your mother while she sobs at your funeral."
"I understand," she grit out. She had been terrified. Now, she was too angry to be scared.
Her mother had suffered enough.
He patted her shoulders. "Good."
Seething with rage, she kept her eyes focused on him as he turned around. She wanted to look away and forget this entire ideal, but he had threatened her mother.
The police guards didn't even notice as he brushed past them, stealing a sandwich out of one of their hands.
If only she could do something—
Wait.
Before she had been out numbered and too terrified to button her own jacket. Now, she was free and her heart pounded steadily.
The boy could attack her anywhere. She would not see him coming. He was a threat—to her, her family, and Lelouch.
She drew her gun and aimed. Her hands held steady.
A life. She was about to take a life again. This time, there was no panic. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Her father's hands rested on her shoulders. His voice echoed in her mind, correcting her posture.
He had drilled it into her head countless times: one only aimed to kill.
Her finger rested on the trigger. Her target was still in sight. He would soon be in the crowd of people.
If she missed—
She couldn't think of that. She had one chance. The question was if she could intentionally take a life.
She remembered how terrified she had been standing on the edge of her first high dive. The water so far below her. But she had already walked out on the platform. Her toes were curled over the edge. It was cold.
The moment she had taken aim, the outcome had been inevitable.
She had taken a deep breath and ju—
The gun recoiled. She was falling. She had taken the leap. The water was approaching.
The boy hit the ground.
Everyone turned; someone screamed; the police officers were rushing towards her.
Her father had congratulated her as she climbed out of the pool. She hadn't remembered hitting the water. He smiled at her wildly, praising her and insisting she posed for a photo.
He was dead. Crushed beneath rubble.
The boy was dead. The woman was dead.
Shirley was a murderer.
She spun around and emptied her stomach.
"Hands on your head," the officers ordered.
She squeezed her eyes shut. The rage was gone. Whatever kept everyone from noticing the boy was gone. All that was left was blind panic.
She struggled out of her jacket, vaguely noticing the officers frankly shouting at each other and falling back.
She needed to get the vest off. It was too hot. She couldn't breathe.
The buckle was stuck.
A knightmare landed by her. She struggled with the buckle.
Why wouldn't it come off!
What was she doing? She had killed him! What if he had accomplices. Her mother… She needed to make sure her mother was safe.
"Shirley Fenette?" a deep male voice asked.
She looked up, staring at the grim expression of the Knight of One.
"I told them no," she explained.
"I am sure you did. Lelouch is very worried for you."
"You don't have to lie."
He sighed. "I need you to sit down."
She sat. He wasn't nice to Lulu, but he wasn't going to kill him.
"Do you know what you are wearing?"
She shook her head.
"Swallow this," he ordered, pushing a pill into her mouth. "These men are going to help take it off, do you understand? It's important that you remain calm. Let them help you."
She nodded. She wasn't stupid. Her eyes felt so heavy.
"You need to stay awake. It's very important."
Dismayed, she watched the knight retreat as a group of people in heavy suits rushed forward. They took the gun out of her hands.
She felt strangely calm. Her limbs felt limp. Something about this was incredibly wrong, but she didn't have the energy to fight anymore. She was so tired.
"Hey, eyes open. Stay with us. I have a daughter, you know. She's two years younger than you. Her hair is red too."
"That's nice," she murmured. Sir Waldstein had told her to stay calm.
"Yeah, smart kiddo too. I'm hoping I'll have saved enough to send her next year to Ashford Academy. It's a good school, you know."
"I like it."
"I'm glad. Will you promise me to show her around? She's a bit shy."
"Okay." She would've done it anyway. She liked helping the new students.
"Got a wire here. Your end?"
"Clasp was a bust. Nasty little fucker here."
"Bad word," Shirley mumbled.
"Just trying to keep her calm. We have no idea what set this thing off."
"And I was hating Zero for all the overtime. This is demented."
"Hey, Zero is paying my daughter's tuition."
"I'm sure he would if you asked," Shirley told him sincerely.
"Sure, he would, kid."
"I'll tell him you're nice and that he should. He owes me. He killed my father."
"I think it's best you stay away from terrorists for now. On two, Mark. You ready?"
"Ready. By the grace of the Emperor… One. Two!"
"Saw my life flashing before my eyes there. Moving to the next one."
"Zero doesn't like the Emperor."
"I can imagine, kid."
"Understatement if I ever heard one."
"I love my father; he was so good." She nodded, feeling tears run down her cheeks. "I miss him. He was always there, helping me. Maybe that's why Zero hates his so much, because he left him."
"Yeah… And why do you know so much about Zero?"
"Because he told me. He's so scared."
"Don't bother making sense of it. Her wires are all crossed with the shock and meds talking. No idea what he gave her. Still not as strange as that one guy who insisted he was Ra"
"He did," she said petulantly. "Except he doesn't know that I know. I saw his face."
"As long as it keeps the kid awake. We have no idea what sets it off. This is going to haunt my nightmares for months if we survive this. Although Zero's daddy issues might give me something to laugh about after."
Shirley frowned. "You shouldn't laugh. He's so scared because he thinks his father doesn't mean it, making him the heir."
"The heir? Oh, wait. I've got it. Blue. It's fucking blue, right?"
"I think… you're right. By the grace of the Emperor, let it be over. On two."
"One, two."
"His father announced it to everyone. It wasn't very nice," Shirley complained. "Zero said we're targets now. I didn't believe him, but they… they took me."
"Fuck yeah! It worked. Wait. Did she just say…"
"Kid… Zero is an Eleven…"
She blinked, allowing them to guide her arms and take off the vest. The world was very wobbly. "Japanese. He says that always, but he's Britannian."
"Zero is not the Crown Prince."
"He hates that." She groaned. "Who took the sun?"
Waldstein sighed. "You're seeing the nurse before Prince Lelouch."
"Um, sir?"
"Yes?"
"She's really high and saying things… and well, sir… It could cause rumors and she doesn't have any idea what she's saying of course. But well… the kid keeps talking about Zero. She's confused him with someone else."
"No, I didn't," she whined. Her eyes widened. "That's why you keep hovering! So he doesn't run off to be a terrorist again. He always told us it was gambling. Which is also bad!"
"I… see." Bismarck's arms wrapped around her, and she giggled as she flew through the sky. He was so warm. "Your cape is nice."
"I need child pills apparently," he grumbled. "We'll talk about how the hell you managed to figure that out when you're not high as a kite."
"I'm flying!"
Villetta carefully pushed open the door, peering into Zero's office. The others had insisted she should deliver him some food.
Their condescension rankled her; she was more than their maid. But to keep her cover intact, this was the role she would have to play.
"Zero?"
He didn't respond. He had a tendency to do that. Human interaction did not come easily to him.
As she set down the plate on the table, he erupted into deep laughter.
"Sir?"
"Such a fascinating mind, so loud, so cruel, so full of compassion." Zero laughed again. "He treasures it so much, so I will take it from him."
Warily, Villetta retreated from the room. This Zero was downright creepy. His cackles followed her down the hall.
Slowly, the secrets are unravelling... And I managed to put out a chapter on time yay.
The next chapter will be next Wednesday, after which I will stop feeling bad for having taken such a long break from this fic and will resume an every other week update schedule. If all goes well (aka I finish my one-shot that is starting to grow out of control, an unfortunately far too common occurrence), I'll also be posting a one-shot tomorrow in celebration of Zero Requiem day/the anime finished airing.
Lastly, this fic has a TvTropes page thanks to EnderGamer. :)
Chat with me on the discord: discord . gg / MFKuCGYxcT