AN:
Responses to reviews: In regards to the whole IRL references thing, not gonna have an argument about it. You can of course believe what you want in regards to what you think happened with historical figures and the development of modern corporations and pop culture. I won't stop you, you can disagree with me, but as this is my story (a trashy fanfic on an old website written for fun about a silly anime) and not yours, I will write as I see fit. I made my case on why I did it and it you don't agree that's a you-problem. Any further reviews regarding this topic will be ignored. If it makes you feel any better such things will not be brought up often, it's a background thing and you can for the most part completely ignore it... except for Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut is cannon and there's nothing you can do about it :p
And yeah, nah, not gonna bash Suzaku, I dislike him on a personal level even if I understand why he did what he did, and disagree with it. Same with Ohgi. Here in this fresh story they both have a chance to not be Muppets so we'll see how things play out.
In regards to Lelouch's poker face, yes, in Canon he had an excellent one when he was given time to prepared. It's part of his ability to switch between masks- not to mention his literal Zero mask. Lelouch in that scene was 13 years old, not a grand rebel leader and he doesn't have experience with using his poker face in gambling matches or other strenuous situations. Lelouch is an extremely emotional and expressive person by nature, even if he can learn to mask it. That aside, Kallen has been with him for a few years by that point and knows him, she can read Lelouch like a book because she's been around him and talked to him almost every day for the past few years. So even though Kallen is saying he has a bad poker face, that's her speaking from experience with him and learning his ticks. Everyone should consider not just what is being said but who is saying it and why they might think that way.
As for Kallen's "assets" growing in, yes you are right. Though the hugs are from birthdays and holidays, at the age of 14 they are both definitely starting to notice. They are still in the best friend phase but not much longer, puberty is hitting them both in the face by this point and well, Kallen is gonna grow into a 10/10 as we all know. And I'm sure everybody reading this story is already familiar with how popular our dear Lulu was with... well the entire female student body of Ashford, and a chunk of the males. Lelouch and Kallen may instinctively go for side-hugs or awkward shoulder pats as they dance around the Does he/does she "like me" thing that will last for a little bit.
As for Naoto knowing, he will be answering that question himself in one of the next few chapters.
For Kallen's sickly persona, she uses it in class, though not around Lulu, Nuna and Milly, she may eventually drop it around Shirley and Rivalz but she isn't sure about them yet. Nina is a long way off because of her rampant Xenophobia/Racism but that may change.
And for the training thing, yes. Kallen is gonna be running his ass ragged alongside Sayoko, and eventually Tohdoh again for a little while once we reach his introduction to the story. But Kallen's training has already begun, Lelouch has been subtly teaching her in his own way, though now he's gonna be more pro-active about it. Kallen will inevitably become Lelouch's top field commander, and Lelouch is gonna be a good knightmare pilot even if his training regimen makes him wanna die.
Kallen's best-friendship has been great for Lelouch, as well as his pre-existing relationship with the Kozuki Resistance. Alongside help from the Ashfords we can expect great things from our beloved Black Prince. Rather than a distrustful, Vengeful, and spiteful anti-hero, he may just turn into the true symbol of justice that Zero always pretended to be.
Lelouch huffed, his breath hot and heavy as he slouched over, his hands on his knees and sweat pouring down his face. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt, sweat pants and gym shoes, standing on a sidewalk as he struggled to catch his breath.
His legs burned, and his ribs ached like he stretched a few too many muscles.
Lelouch's new drill Sergeant was relentless. For months now she had mercilessly put him through the ringer. Every day after school he spent at least one full hour on some form of exercise.
She had him on a rotation, every other day was general cardio in the form of lots, and lots, and lots of running and cool-down walks. Between the cardio days, he had to work out in Ashford's Gym with her watching closely. Leg day was usually pretty easy since his excessive cardio had done well to build them up. Arm day was hell, as was core day.
He found himself struggling to make progress when it came to raw physical power, at least at first. He was embarrassed to find that he could just barely lift the bench-press bar WITHOUT weights on it, much to Kallen's dismay when he first started. He was much better now, able to handle 200 pound weight sets after months of work.
His core was just as much hell, crunches where the name of the game and he hated it, but he knew it was good for him and Kallen wasn't letting him quit anyway, so he had to keep trying and work through it.
He looked up from his position to see Kallen was running in place, her feet bouncing off the ground as she waited patiently for Lelouch to pull himself together.
He might have complained, and whined, and occasionally tried to make excused as to why he couldn't do his exercises, but at the end of the day he always did them, and she knew he appreciated her sticking with him through all this.
His eyes immediately fell back down and he blushed, since Kallen was running it wasn't just her feet that where... bouncing, and he felt ashamed for even thinking of her in that way.
'You're not Milly! You shouldn't be looking at her like that, you're disgusting and if she found out she'd be disgusted with you too!' He criticized himself inside his own head.
He reached for the water bottle hooked to his pants and pulled it off, taking several deep gulps before pulling it away and breathing a moment longer.
"Let's go." He declared and started running again, and Kallen smiled, happily running alongside Lelouch and keeping pace with him. It was more or less a jog, not a sprint, so Kallen had no problem keeping up this speed and talking to him.
"You're doing great." She encouraged. "Just a bit further, then we can stop and grab some grub, I'll buy since this is gonna be a new milestone for you, we can have a little celebration!" She chirped.
He shook his head, inhaling gulps of air as fast as he physically could. "N-no, I'll buy!" He insisted. "I'm... the one... who's loaded!" Lelouch said breathlessly.
She pouted. "I wanna treat you. C'mon Lulu I appreciate how generous you want to be to me, but do you think it's fair for you to always be the one paying for things, leaving me feeling like a gold digger?"
He stopped at that, his eyes dilating for a split second. 'Shit, she's right, I didn't consider that, damnit!' He really was his own worst critic.
"You're right." He gasped out. "I'm sorry... I just..." He inhaled. "Just wanted-"
"I know." She said simply, playfully nudging his shoulder as they came to a stop at the road crossing. "Just, let me do nice things for you too, ok? We're best friends, it's a two-way street, I'd feel awfully selfish if I didn't get the chance to show how I feel..." She trailed off, flushing as she realized how she might have worded that but it was too late to take back.
Lelouch, thankfully, didn't seem to notice the wording and took it at face value. "Of course." He huffed out. "Is... is this it? Please tell me this is it..." He begged.
"Well... technically there's one more kilometer to go-"
He looked like he was ready to roll over and die.
"But I guess we can call it a day, we ran at a faster pace than usual for the first half so it's probably hitting you harder anyway." She smiled. "Cmon, let's go! There's a frozen yogurt place I've been meaning to try!" She insisted, grabbing his hand and dragging his sorry ass around the corner and towards a nice little hole-in-the-wall shop that was nice and cool on the inside, a far cry from the blazing summer sun he just put up with.
He collapsed into the nearest empty booth near the window and kept breathing, just trying to get as much oxygen as he could. Kallen gave him a playful headpat, ruffling his hair before walking towards the counter and ordering for the both of them.
"2 medium cups please, one strawberry, one chocolate." She asked at the counter after checking the flavors available.
She saw that the girl at the counter was most definitely Japanese- an honorary Britannian, and once she had paid for the frozen treats she slipped the cashier a 100 pound note. "Your tip." She said to the flabbergasted girl with a playful wink. And she walked away with her purchase before they could respond.
When Kallen returned to the booth, Lelouch was a bit better, still breathing harder than normal, but it had calmed down considerably in the short time she spent at the counter, the shop was practically empty so they could talk somewhat freely.
"Nathan texted me, said he was planning an op, but he needs a runner to deliver a message, you in?"
"Even more running?" He complained half-heartedly with a playful smirk, causing Kallen to roll her eyes, but she couldn't help grinning back at him. "I don't see why not."
"Good, I'll take point, you'll be my backup."
He nodded. "Who's the recipient?"
"Bots."
He hummed. The pair of them got used to using double-speak in public when it came to talking about the Kozuki Resistance and its missions. 'Bots' was a simple acronym for Blood of the Samurai.
"What's in the message?" He asked, earning a shrug and a hummed "iunno." From his partner.
He sighed. "Well I suppose it's not like he's asking us to raid a police station or something. This should be pretty simple."
"Yup." Kallen agreed and they both began to enjoy their treats. Kallen got chocolate, while Lelouch enjoyed his strawberry.
"Hey Lelouch...?" She spoke up suddenly, causing him to hum and look up at her.
She looked like she was struggling to say something, concentrating heavily on how she wanted to word the thoughts she had, but no matter what, she couldn't seem to will herself into saying it. She sighed.
"Nevermind, it's nothing." She lied. "Just wanted to ask you about a tricky question I had on my math test but I think I figured it out."
"Oh, alright." He said, before looking out the window. The setting sun was casting a nice golden glow over the city streets and turning the skyline a brilliant shade of burnt yellow, orange and pink, he always loved seeing the sunrise and sunset so it caught his attention.
But Kallen was focusing entirely on Lelouch, staring at him from across the booth, her frozen yogurt all but forgotten as her expression turned forlorn.
'Lelouch... please' She thought to herself, clasping her hands together beneath the table and squeezing tight.
'Give me a sign.'
"C'mon, please, give me a sign!"
Cornelia Li Britannia had her Sutherland custom digging through the rubble of the collapsed building alongside the Glaston Knights. General Darlton was at her side, but rather than helping to dig, his frame was watching her back as his Sutherland stood overwatch. His unit was glaring at the other unit standing across from him. A grey and purple knightmare- covered in bloodstains, a prototype known as the Gloucester, holding a silver jousting lance and an assault rifle in its arms.
Uproarious laughter was coming from the prototype unit, a mad cackle escaping the lungs of the pilot inside.
Cornelia was hyperfocused on digging, until finally removing a large piece of rubble with help from the Glastons, they saw the upper torso and head unit of a purple Sutherland. Sparks and hisses of smoke erupted from its partially crushed Chassis.
"Guilford!" Cornelia shouted. "Guilford are you ok!? Speak to me!" She begged over the loudspeakers.
Give me a sign.
The head unit twitched and turned slowly to look up at her, flooding Cornelia with relief. Guilford was alive and awake, but he could still be injured.
"Just hang on my Knight! We're getting you out of there!" She promised, and redoubled her efforts to dig him out. Slowly she along with her Glastons managed to lift off most of the rubble covering the knightmare. They gently pulled the Sutherland out of the rubble, and Cornelia saw that the cockpit was dented up pretty badly, but hadn't quite crumpled.
Thankfully the emergency release hatch seemed to still be functional. The cockpit opened and Guilford crawled out, blood running down his forehead as he clutched his lower right ribcage, digging out a chunk of shrapnel with a low grunt of pain.
Cornelia, now knowing Guilford would be ok as the paramedics ran towards him, immediately spun around in her Sutherland custom to look at the Gloucester.
"Bradley!" She snapped. "You insubordinate cur, you almost killed my knight of honor, what is wrong with you!?"
"I did my job, these lower lifeforms where trying to get concessions out of us by using POW's as human shields, I took care of them."
"YOU BROUGHT DOWN A BUILDING ON MY KNIGHT AND KILLED DOZENS OF MY MEN! WE WHERE ABOUT TO REACH AN AGREEMENT!" She screamed.
"Britannia does not negotiate with lesser beings." He said simply.
Cornelia raised her Sutherland's rifle, pointing it right at him.
"Ahahah-" Luciano tutted. "Come now princess you aren't that dumb, you know what will happen if you attack me don't you? Daddy dearest won't appreciate you assaulting one of his chosen agents." He laughed.
The bitter truth. She couldn't fire at the Knight of 10. To assault a Knight of the Round was to attack the Emperor himself. Her hands where tied.
She punched the inside of her cockpit, glaring daggers at the bloodstain covered knightmare in front of her, wishing nothing more than to kill him then and there.
But she couldn't, there where too many witnesses, and there was no way it could be falsified as a friendly fire incident when this damn country didn't even have knightmares themselves for anyone to misidentify.
She had to let him walk, and he knew that.
Livid and unable to take her anger out on the target in front of her, she activated her landspinners and drove off towards her G-1, escorted by Darlton and the Glaston Knights. They made their way past the checkpoints manned by Glasgows without a fuss.
She entered the hangar, dismounted her frame, and left for her private office without a word.
She entered her quarters, and immediately kicked her office chair into a wall without a word, pacing back and forth completely oblivious to her surroundings as she fumed silently. Her fists clenching and un-clenching. She imagined herself killing and torturing the vampire of Britannia in a variety of heinous ways, allowing herself to feel catharsis over it.
She almost didn't hear the knock at her door
"What!?" She snapped, turning to look at the door and saw that it was cracked open, and a lilac eye was peering at her with fear and trepidation from a lower angle.
Cornelia softened her gaze and kneeled, holding her arms out for a hug.
A pink blur ran inside and threw their arms around Cornelia, Euphie hugged her elder sister tight and sniffled.
"L-lord Guilford, is he..."
"He's gonna be ok." Cornelia said soothingly, gently running a hand through Euphie's long strands of hair. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Euphemia insisted. "You're mad at Bradley, I am too, I was just more worried about you and Guilford."
Cornelia smiled, gently ruffling Euphie's hair. "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me powderpuff, I'm stubborn like that."
"They'll probably kick you out of hell for insubordination." Euphie joked, and Cornelia grinned widely.
"It's the other way around actually, the devil took my seat."
Euphie smiled back. "Then again, if you wound up in hell it would be an awful mistake..."
"Oh?" Cornelia pondered. "How so?"
"You're an angel big sister, my angel... just like... like..." Euphie's lips quivered and her eyes watered. She didn't finish but Cornelia knew what she was trying to say.
"You're right Euphie, Lelouch and Nunnally where angels, and they still are now, just... just in a better place." She mumbled, the eyes of the elder princess filled with grief.
They never really did get the chance to mourn properly.
"I miss them... I miss them so much!" Euphie cried, burying herself into Cornelia, and the warrior princess accepted, holding her tight.
"So do I Euphie... so do I..."
Euphie hiccuped. "Do you think they'll forgive us...?"
Cornelia was startled by Euphie's question. "What do you mean?"
"For what's happening... for what we're doing."
"Euphie." Cornelia said firmly. "You've done nothing wrong, there's no blood on your hands, not a drop."
"But what about you?" Euphie whispered. "I can't bare the thought of them judging you harshly I-"
"Oh Euphie..." Cornelia cut in again, tightening her grip. "Lelouch would have done anything and everything to protect Nunnally, we're very alike he and I. I'm sure if he found out what I'm doing and why I'm doing it he wouldn't hold any of it against me, not a bit. And Nunnally can't being herself to hate anything."
Euphie nodded sadly, seemingly unable to find any words, she just tightened the hug a bit more, and they stayed like this for a little while longer, both of them closing their eyes and willing into thoughts their memories of the Ares villa, and the family that lived there.
For just a little while, they reminisced on their happiest days.
Shibuya, much like every other special ward and district of Tokyo that did not fall within the confines of the colonial Britannian Tokyo settlement, was a ghetto.
And like every other ghetto, there was a 'Resistance Movement' made up of locals who more or less acted like the police. They rarely actually did much resisting, and typically stayed within the confines of the Ghetto they where native to, rarely branching out.
Of course, each resistance movement did at least know of the others, but contact with another group was usually never attempted for a plethora of reasons. Some good, some bad.
The Kozuki Resistance was different, under Naoto's firm leadership, and due to its position as being a sort of middle ground thanks to Shinjuku's location, the Kozuki Resistance was almost like a hub for the other cells. Information was passed through their hands in exchange for favors, and due to the fact that Naoto was loaded from Gambling money, he could pay for the "cooperation" of other groups.
It wasn't very efficient, it lacked in just about every meaningful way, but it was something, and something was better than nothing.
Kallen took point, being a more familiar face to most Resistance leaders due to her close resemblance to Naoto, who was fairly well known. If a Resistance member saw her approaching they weren't likely to shoot.
Lelouch was not so lucky. He was acting as her backup. 2 armed individuals where safer than 1 and if things went south they could rely on each other. However in order to make sure he didn't draw any negative attention, he went fully covered up.
Along with his pants and shoes he wore a black sweater and black gloves. His face covered by a textile cloth that went from his neck to over the bridge of his nose. His hood was up, and to top it all off he was wearing sunglasses. A red band was visible, being worn not around his forehead but instead tightly around his neck, like a choker almost.
He felt ridiculous, but he knew it would keep them safe from anti-britannian scrutiny so he would readily wear it as long as was needed.
When they arrived at the base for the Blood of the Samurai base, Kallen was allowed inside, but Lelouch was forced to wait at the entrance with an armed guard. The exile wanted to protest, but a reassuring glance and a nod from Kallen set him at ease.
So Lelouch would wait, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Hey punk." The guard called out to him. "What's with the getup, got something to hide?" He sneered.
"I do." He said simply, trying to sound neutral.
"Oh yeah?" The guard said, stepping closer. "Like what?"
Lelouch groaned internally, he hated dealing with these types. But Instead of voicing his annoyance, he spoke a logical excuse.
"I'm an informant. I have Britannian citizenship so I can gather data for the Resistance, but if there are ever spies watching us they'd get a picture of my face and then I wouldn't be able to do my job anymore since they'd identify and kill me."
Technically, all true from a certain point of view.
The guard grunted, accepting the answer. "Don't like people hiding their faces, whatever."
Lelouch sighed with relief that a crisis had been averted, and went back to waiting silently.
The interaction however did give him an idea.
'I can't really show my face to any members of the resistance- outside of the Kozuki cell at least. They get it, they know me, but not the others...' He mused in his thoughts.
'If I'm going to be out and about I'll need a better way of hiding my identity, a mask, an outfit, maybe I'll even craft an entire persona... I don't want to alienate Britannians or Japanese. I want to be a symbol that people can rally behind regardless of race... but how?' He continued his internal monolog, before his attention was taken by the sound of the door opening, and Kallen walked out unscathed.
She turned to face him. "Messages delivered and received, let's get the hell out of here."
It was dark out by this point, part of why he felt so silly wearing those sunglasses, they didn't really get to have dinner yet.
"Let's head back to my place." He offered. "I'll cook something up for us and you can crash on the couch. You'll be able to sleep in a little that way."
"Sure." She agreed, and they both walked away, relaxing as they left the Shibuya ghetto unscathed.
By the time they got back it was well past 10 PM, so they where quiet. Lelouch took off his sweater, textile mouth covering, and sunglasses, tossing them onto the side table, but was much more gentle with the red band Naoto had given him, instead laying that down gently next to the sunglasses.
It was a strangely reverent act, and one that Kallen noticed with a smile. She was elated to know how much that band Naoto gifted to Lelouch meant to him. Even though he didn't say it, his actions spoke much louder than any words would.
With that, he turned to look at her. He noticed her smile and he smiled back, practically on instinct.
"What?" He asked.
"Oh nothing, I just can't stop thinking about how silly you looked."
He rolled his eyes. "Yes well its all I can do for a disguise, what do you expect me to do, get a tan and wear a fake beard?"
She snorted. "That would look even worse."
"Exactly." Lelouch confirmed with a wry grin. "Now I'll go whip something up, don't expect a 5 star meal out of me."
"Lelouch, you could make boxed Mac n' Cheese taste gourmet, let's be real here." Kallen deadpanned
The exile shook his head, trying to mask his blush at her compliment. "Whatever you say, now pardon me while I go to the kitchen and pray my legs don't fall off."
"They hurt that bad huh?"
"They burn like a motherfucker." He replied.
Kallen giggled. "You know you never used to really curse that much."
"Yeah, unfortunately living with Milly for a few years has started to rub off on me." He grumbled. "She calls them 'sentence enhancers' like that makes it better."
"You fuckin bet it does." Kallen retorted playfully, and Lelouch shot her an evil eye.
"You're lucky Nunnally is asleep."
"Technically you used a cuss first you sisacon." She said before sticking her tongue out.
"Not a sisacon..." He groaned out half-heartedly before walking into the kitchen, and preparing a meal for both of them.
It wasn't anything fancy. Some frozen chicken reheated in the oven, canned corn that got pan-fried for a minute in olive oil, and ironically- boxed Mac n' Cheese with a few simple seasonings thrown in, making Kallen giggle for a moment in amusement.
The night passes on without much else happening. There was a bit of small talk as they ate together, but nothing more. Lelouch felt exhausted by the end of it all, grabbing his apparel that he had put to the side and walking to his room after wishing Kallen a good night and getting one in return.
He stopped by Nunnally's room, seeing that she was fast asleep, he'd have to make it up to her tomorrow morning with a nice breakfast to treat her. Nunnally loved French toast.
He smiled upon seeing her sleeping peacefully, and gently shut the door with a click, before walking to his room and setting everything down. He put everything away until it came to the headband, which made him pause.
'I'd been leaving it out as a good luck charm... but now I feel like it would be for the best to find a place for this thing.' He hummed, and began opening and closing his drawers, looking for one that had some free space.
'No not that one... not that one, not that one either... maybe-'
He opened the drawer at the very bottom of his nightstand and stopped dead in his movement as he stared inside.
Sitting there alone, covered in dust, untouched for years, was a small black box, currently latched shut, it was lined with fine silver around the openings.
He stared at it, feeling a pang of bittersweet memories out of the painful echo of his past wash up on the surface of his mind...
Ares Villa, Dec 4'th 2009 ATB.
"Lelouch, come here little one!" The 11th prince heard the call of his mother, he had just finished his move against Schneizel, this was the closest he had come to winning. On the board his black king was but a single space away from Schneizel's white. The second prince was always an aggressive player, and Lelouch had learned over the course of their many matches that the best defense against an aggressive opponent was to be an equally aggressive player, if not more so.
'Damn' the little boy thought. 'Our kings are so close, if I could just move in a little closer, I could force a 3-fold repetition!' He lamented. It would have been a draw, so Lelouch wouldn't have won, but it would be the first time Schneizel didn't win either, progress.
With that in mind, he swiftly apologized to his brother, who simply gave him a calm, understanding smile and nodded at him.
Lelouch took that as his excuse to run as quickly as his short legs could take him as he ran out of the game parlor and towards the sound of his mother's voice.
The little boy ran past all manner of servants and guards, preparing the Villa for tomorrow's festivities, he was turning 10! And he felt elated.
He turned the corner to see her waiting for him by his room. He ran up to her.
"Yes mom?" He asked with a smile. He was always a mother's boy.
"I have something for you, it's an early birthday gift, a special one." Marianne said, gently placing one of her guiding hands on the boy's shoulder and ushering him into his room.
He was excited, a special gift from his mom! The best mom in the world! Who wouldn't be excited?
Marianne closed the door behind them, and turned him around so they faced each other. She kneeled before him and pulled out a small box.
It looked to be made of soft velvet, at least on the outside, a deep, dark shade of black, rimmed with polished silver along the opening and the latch.
He took the box with reverence and opened it, and gasped when he saw what was inside.
"B-but mother!" Lelouch began to protest. "This is yours, I can't take it from you!" He insisted anxiously, only for her to smile at him.
"You're right, my little Lulu. This is mine, and I have decided I want it to be yours."
"I... why...?"
"One day, you will need this, it will be yours to bestow upon another who you come to trust with your life. They will be there to share the burden, the weight of responsibility that rests on your shoulders. When the day comes you will know what to do with this. I expect you to give it to someone I'd approve of, they need to meet my standards." She said playfully
Lelouch gulped, looking down at the box, and the item held within, he stared at it for a moment, before shutting the lid.
It felt heavy in his hands, he knew how precious this was, what it meant, even at his young age.
"Your father loves you, you know."
He blinked, looking up at her, frowning. "I... I don't..."
Father... father was never around.
"I know it may not seem that way." She acknowledged. "But I promise you, deep down in his heart of hearts, you and Nunnally are precious to him. Believe me."
He nodded tepidly, feeling some small measure of reassurance. Did Father really love him? Nunnally? And mom? It felt too good to be true, and he doubted it, but the idea of the Emperor truly caring about him... it warmed his heart
He didn't get a chance to respond, as one of the servants called out Marianne's name, asking her about the placement of a decoration. She kissed his forehead, and gently ruffled his hair before standing up and leaving the room.
He stood there, staring down at the small box in his hands and running a thumb over the black velvet lining. His grip tightened ever so slightly as he sat on his bed and closed his eyes.
"Thank you mom..."
"Thank you mom." Lelouch whispered, kissing the palm of his hand and then laying that hand on top of the lid, closing his eyes. He took a deep, heavy breath as his shoulders sagged, before silently draping the Kozuki headband next to the last thing his mother ever gave him.
He then closed the drawer, stood up, kicked off his shoes, and flopped into bed, and turned off the lamp.
Lelouch woke up with a groan the next day, his eyes blinking open, he cracked his neck and rubbed the. Back of his neck, yawning.
He did not sleep well, too many emotions.
Deciding there wasn't a point in just laying there he sat up, stretched, and got out of bed. He padded out of the door with his socks on and groaned. It always took him a minute to wake up.
He went to the main foyer to see Kallen sleeping soundly on the couch, he looked at her for a moment, smiling a little as she snored lightly. He then went to check on Nunnally, and he found the same.
Deciding to get an early start on his chores, he did some light cleaning in the kitchen to make sure everything was spotless before starting the prep-work for breakfast as the sun peaked through the kitchen window, it's golden light filtering through and making everything feel just a bit more lively as the room tinted a shade of golden yellow.
Hearing the click of light footsteps behind him to see Sayoko entering the kitchen.
"Good morning miss Sayoko."
"Good morning Master Lelouch."
He rolled his eyes. "Sayoko how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Lelouch."
"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Sayoko?" She shot back playfully, making him smirk.
"Want to help make breakfast? I ended up staying out later than I expected so I couldn't tuck Nunnally in, I was thinking French toast today."
"An excellent choice." Sayoko agreed. "She will love it as always."
He huffed, just a little bit prideful in his cooking skills. "Of course she does, I'm just that good."
Sayoko swatted his shoulder lightly, causing him to chuckle as he set about preparing to make breakfast.
Sayoko helped get out the tools and ingredients before leaving the kitchen, likely to check up on Nunnally. Shortly afterwards, Kallen walked in, seeing Lelouch staring to get cooking.
"Mm, good morning." She yawned and rubbed one of her eyes, her hair was a bit messy.
"Good morning." He responded. "I hope you like French Toast, it's Nunnally's favorite."
"Never had French Toast." She admitted. "I only ever really had traditional Japanese breakfasts before the invasion, after that it was pretty much either Toast, eggs or supermarket cereal brands."
"Huh, well you're in for a treat, I usually only make it for her once a month so that she doesn't get tired of it but this is an exception."
"Is it good?"
"Would you believe me if I said it was my favorite too?"
Kallen chuckled. "Well I guess I'm in for a good time. I'm gonna go get cleaned up, and thanks for letting me crash last night, I wasn't ready to go home..." She mumbled the last bit, and her tone made him concerned, but he decided not to press the issue as she was already heading to the shower.
Things went smoothly from then on. Nunnally woke up as well, though like him she took a few minutes for her brain to fully boot up. She was wheeled out by Sayoko to the breakfast table and her nose wrinkled cutely as she smelled what was coming out of the kitchen, before smiling, she recognized exactly what he was making by scent alone and was giddy with excitement.
Sayoko sat down next to Nunnally, doing a few last-second touch ups on Nunnally's sandy brown hair and Kallen too joined them at the table looking freshened up and wearing a clean outfit.
Lelouch walked out, wheeling a small cart with plates of big fluffy pieces of French toast along with butter, real Maple syrup, a duster of powdered sugar, whipped cream, and an ensemble of sliced bananas, strawberries with the tops cut off, and blueberries.
It didn't take long for everybody to dig in. Lelouch himself was helping Nunnally eat while Sayoko and Kallen dug in.
This was a new experience for the redhead, and what a treat it was. The bread was soft, fluffy and sweet, and good by itself, but after adding bits of the toppings Lelouch brought with, the delicious combination made flavors burst in her mouth.
She didn't even have words, she just scarfed it down, unable to control herself, it was simply too tasty.
She finished before the others, and was content to nurse a glass of orange juice that she poured for herself from a carton that was brought out to the table.
She watched the cute interactions that Lelouch had with Nunnally. Whenever he and Kallen where out and about, he was typically calm, cool and collected, only occasionally showing his true feelings. When in private however things where different. He was much more open with Kallen when they where alone. But that begged a question, why was Lelouch so closed off in public? Why did he feel a need to put a wall up so often? What was going through his mind?
Looking at him now, how he interacted with Nuna, her heart warmed watching it. Lelouch was many things, but if she had to pick one, single defining quality, is that he was a perfect big brother, dare she say- as good as Naoto even.
After Nunnally finished another of her own bites, she tilted her head in Kallen's direction.
"Hey Kallen?"
"Yes Nuna?" Responded lightly.
"I have something to ask you." Nunnally began. "What shape do you think happiness would be, if it where a physical object?"
Kallen raised an eyebrow, but Lelouch seemed to recognize what Nunnally was getting at and interjected on her behalf.
"It's a conversation we had with Suzaku, before the invasion." He offered the information. "I don't remember how we got to the topic, but he said he thought that Happiness, if it had a shape, would look like glass, that it might be invisible at first, but if you shift your perspective just a little, you'll see it."
"Huh." Kallen mused. "That's... deeply philosophical for a 10 year old."
Lelouch chuckled. "He plays the foolish muscle head but he's smarter than he lets on."
Kallen hummed, nodding. "That's an interesting perspective, and not exactly wrong, it sounds like he's trying to say that happiness can be found anywhere if you look at things from the right angle."
Lelouch nodded. "That was my deduction as well." Lelouch said as Nunnally reached up to hold one of his hands.
"Well..." Kallen thought about it for a moment. "I don't think he's wrong, but I don't think he's right either."
"Oh?" Lelouch asked. "Go on." He said intently, and Nunnally seemed just as interested.
"Well... humans are innately different. And there's all kinds of things that make us happy. Glass is a metaphorical representation wherein some measure of happiness can be found anywhere, but it feels impersonal. What makes one person happy might not interest someone else, or worse might even make them unhappy, or apathetic." She went on. "And even though plenty of things make us happy, there's different kinds of happiness. Some people get a dopamine rush when they're entertained, or feel excitement from a spike of adrenaline as they ride a roller coaster. Is that genuine happiness or just fleeting wish fulfillment?" She asked.
She thought a moment longer. "I believe everyone has their own shape of happiness. That each and every person finds true, genuine moments of pure happiness in specific things, something that truly makes them feel complete, and it's up to them to find that shape."
Lelouch, for his part, had been left speechless. He never expected something quite so deep from Kallen.
'I guess I underestimated her... she really is more intelligent than she sometimes shows.' He thought to himself, and then pondered her own interpretation on the subject.
He looked at Nunnally, and Sayoko, and yes, of course Kallen, and he found himself simply unable to stop smiling, he felt warm, and at peace in this moment... complete.
Yes... he was sure of it, this was it.
This was his own personal shape of happiness.
A/N: Whats in the fuckin box!? Write your guess in the next review!