Walking through the wide hallways of Ashford always calmed me. I waved at the passing students, who were calling out to me after my little break, with my intact hand as the prosthetic held my thermos filled with fresh tea from the teachers break room. I had an after school extra lesson with a few students at six o'clock, but before that I had to go and check up on the student council. I hope they didn't do anything too stupid while I was gone. Considering almost all of them were in the room preparing something that looked suspiciously like a cake and a bottle of wine inside a bag they must not have done anything too problematic. Though is all that for a welcome back party?
Heh, they did all that for me? Even Kallen, Suzaku and Alice were there, who were more often than not skipping school for 'personal' or 'health related' matters, were taking part. You'd think I'd be more terrified that I'd be found out by my own students, who were basically child soldiers and have to harm them but I just found it amusing for some reason.
"Maybe it's funny seeing your students trying to hide something so obvious and failing at it?" Her voice asked me.
I saw the ghost lean forward with her hands behind her back, she smirked at me from the reflection of a glass painting frame hanging on the white wall. I felt a smile stretch across my face.
"Maybe… Maybe it is." I whispered inside the now empty hallway. The ghost smiled at me and disappeared once more. As soon as she disappeared I dispersed my bugs to search for the last member of the student council that was missing. I doubted he wouldn't be here, after all he put the council and his friends before almost everything else. The singular exception being Nunnally of course. My bugs couldn't find him inside but eventually the gnat I had put on him came back into range.
He was leaning on the far edge of the roof of the main school building and talking on the phone with some odd device attached to the bottom of it. I couldn't understand what he was talking about yet -I still hadn't gotten used to hearing from my bugs yet- but I could tell that whatever it was he was fairly happy about it. He shut off his phone, straightened his posture and called someone else…
My 'work' phone began ringing at that exact point. I felt my heart come to a standstill and slowly looked at the caller id displayed on the small, green screen of my flip phone; Nemo. Oh, for fucks sake, you've got to be kidding me. I opened the phone and brought it up to my ear after a cursory check around me.
"Good day Weaver. I know you prefer calls to take place later at night but this matter is of particular importance." Lelouch's jaws moved and Zero's voice emerged from my second phone. I could barely keep my voice straight as I answered.
"What kind of importance? The 'we might be killed in a few hours' sort or 'the we must act quickly' type of deal?" Some amusement still leaked but at least I wasn't laughing.
"Thankfully the latter. I've gotten intel on an attack planned by Cornelia that will take place in three days time, the black knights will be leaving by friday afternoon. I do not have much time right now as I have an important… event to get to, so we will have to discuss the details later tonight." On a hurry to get to my welcoming is he? Well I guess Milly would tear him apart if he was late. I pulled the phone away from my face to hide my snort at the thought of Zero dying at the hands of a scorned Milly.
After my humor died down I replied. "Alright, I'll keep my schedule open, I feel like this is going to be problematic. I'll be waiting for your call." with that I shut off the phone and took a deep breath to calm myself…
Then proceeded to break into laughter. Lelouch? Lelouch the prince in hiding is a masked revolutionary? He's making calls from the school rooftop!? "Pfffft!" I leaned on the nearby wall and made sure to not push the emotion off on my bugs, I wanted to enjoy this. I mean… What can I even say? The miracle worker, the man Britannia is terrified of, is one of their own princes hiding inside a school and directing a revolution from the school rooftop!
"Even I can't say anything to that…" The ghost said from the reflected world on a window.
"Right? This is just stupid! Ha… Is he just that confident he won't be found out?! Lelouch is by no means stupid but arrogant? Well, less said about his pride the better! I don't know what to feel. Should I despair and worry that one of my students is risking his life like that or feel proud of him for fighting against the wretched system? Or perhaps just find amusement in his ridiculous way of going about his rebellion.
I'm lucky no one was near or I would've been locked up in a psych ward because of my laughter. Well knowing britannia I would've 'escaped' and sold as a slave on the black market or something like that. That thought annihilated any hints of amusement in me and my laughter abruptly stopped… Oh well, let's go check out this party then.
I took the long way around to make sure Lelouch could reach the club house before I did. I had forgotten how out of shape he was, he had to constantly stop to regain his breath and even when he did run he wasn't particularly fast. I should make sure he attends PE. His current weakness could kill him in the field.
Finally making it to the council club house I opened the door with a clear smile on my face and was blasted by confetti. I had noticed the confetti poppers in their hands but they just straight up aimed them at me!
"Welcome back Miss Hebert!"
The student council members' and the two middle schoolers' voices shouted. My grin widened.
"I've only been gone for a week, brats. You missed me that much?" I asked with clear mirth in my voice. It was Nunnally that answered me first.
"It just didn't feel right without you watching over us miss Hebert. I really felt worried, you know." Called out Nunnally from her position right besides Lelouch. The blind and crippled girl was always eager to talk with me whatever chance she got. I don't know why but she seemed to like me, so it wasn't surprising that she answered first.
"Well now that you're back it's fine, right?" Rivalz followed without a moment's hesitation after Nunally, trying to steer the party away from 'we were so worried, what happened?' talks. No doubt it's because he doesn't like that kind of atmosphere but this time it benefitted me since I didn't want to lie to them.
"Sure it is. I just hope you haven't done anything too reckless while I was gone." My voice was berating but the small smile on my face gave my emotions away.
"Don't worry, miss Hebert. I made sure everyone worked their ass off, I even got that deal with the tomato importer you were going to call." Milly excitedly tried to assure me. So you loaded the paperwork off on everybody, while you bullied the poor dealer until he gave you what you wanted. Haa… seriously, this girl.
"For now just enjoy your party! Speaking off!" After that she ran off towards a side room and after a few seconds and the sound of a pot falling off she pushed a large, and I mean meant for meal that could feed a family of four large, cart with an opaque cake plate on it inside.
"With this we can finally get started!" With some fanfare Milly pulled the cap off and revealed the massive white creamed cake inside. Shrily swiftly brought in plates and Rivalz , who had run off a few seconds before, and brought in what looked like good quality champagne. My eyebrows were raised at simply how fast they had done it. Had they practiced before or was it just the years of surprise parties showing their influence?
I simply breathed out and watched the kids go about the party. Watching their carefree smiles and jolly conversations was one of life's greatest joys for me, after all I couldn't have stayed a teacher if I actually hated my students, especially not in Ashford with its ridiculous standards for teachers.
"Excuse me miss, here's your cake." The polite slightly accented English made me jump, I swiftly turned and saw the Japanese maid of the Ashfords. I hadn't even noticed her! How the fuck did she get this close without me noticing her? Even if considering the lack of bugs in here I should've noticed her, she must've hit at least a singular gnat. But no, nothing, she just appeared behind me! I reluctantly accepted the plate and fork she was offering me.
"Not going to lie, you scared me there, miss…?" I said to the creepy maid.
She smiled proudly and bowed her head clearly trying to hide the smile
"Shinozaki, Shinozaki Sayoko. I apologize, it's a bad habit that I've picked up from my work." Well you certainly don't sound sorry, do you? Oh well…
"Well, pleased to meet you, Miss Shinozaki. Apology accepted, just try to make some noise next time, okay?" Wait a minute… Shinozaki? I tried to take a second glance at her but she was already gone. Is she somehow connected to the Shinozaki Clan that my Hama Yumi was made for?
They were supposedly some kind of black ops group working for the former Japanese government, so her becoming Lelouch and Nunnally's maid and bodyguard makes sense. Except she used to work for the Ashfords before the vi Britannia's sought asylum with them. I remember seeing her around the school, sometimes serving as Milly's caretaker…
She might end up being trouble later on, but she could also end up being useful. It depends entirely on whether she knows of Lelouch's secret identity or not. The best thing to do for now would be to not make her suspicious of me. For now I'm just their teacher and not worth watching out for, if she ever becomes a problem I'll remove her. She can't keep evading my bugs forever.
I shook my head and tried to relax. It's just my paranoia. The maid is someone to investigate but no need to overreact. I glanced at the student council, who were trying to build a champagne fountain, and Shirly who was being held back from taking the alcohol away by Milly. I let out a content sigh.
Eventually my gaze found the two students standing off to the side, Nunnally and Alice with tall glasses full of orange juice in their hands. Cute. Alice seems to be describing what's going on to Nunnally. I took a bite out of my cake and began approaching the two but just before I was about to call out to them Alice's phone rang. She hurriedly pulled it out and upon seeing the caller id her face paled, she made an excuse I couldn't hear and ran out of the room to take the call.
I stepped next to Nunnally and watched her go. "Miss Hebert, do you think she's alright?" Nunnally asked me without turning her head. My eyebrows rose, she had somehow realized it was me despite all the noise around.
"She'll be fine, maybe it's a boy or something." I knew for a fact it was not a boy or something else meaningless from how strict her stance had become and just how much she was sweating.
"I'm surprised you managed to tell it was me despite all the noise." I continued on with clear incredulity.
Nunnally responded with a small giggle. "Well, your steps are really similar to Sayako, you both move so silently yet firmly the vibrations you make lets me feel you despite you making no noise. So it's easy for me to recognise you both." This girl is incredible, but it's not surprising considering her brother's own capability.
The Shadow appeared on Nunnally's drink glaring at her inquisitively. "That's downright superhuman, even blind people can't just feel vibrations on the floor and identify people like that. Is it just plain eugenics or something more… supernatural in nature?" I let her ponder about that, I doubt it's something like a power. If people were triggering on this world it would've made more waves.
This world is rife with suffering, a perfect playground for the passengers; so why didn't they come here? Was it just too far or was there something preventing them that is now not here?
The Flesh Garden flashed across my eyes accompanied by the twisted forms of the most deformed case 53's imprisoned inside the Cauldron base. I had had no time to be horrified by the former humans and their twisted bodies back then but now I could see all of them right in front of me, testaments to what beings like the passengers could do to us if something goes even slightly wrong. I shook my head to dispel the disturbing images. I just hope there isn't something similar to the passengers here, I really don't want to deal with a war between eldritch horrors.
Finally returning to reality I found Nunnally holding onto my prosthetic hand and looking at me with clear worry stretched across her face. "You were gone again, Miss Hebert. Your episodes are coming back again." I found myself feeling bad for worrying the little girl, who had already suffered so much.
"I'll get myself back together, don't-" I tried to assure her but she cut me off.
"They're why you were gone weren't they? But you are doing something dangerous Miss Hebert, aren't you. You're not the type to just go to a psychiatrist and take the proper way, no you're trying to solve them directly." I almost flinched back as she said that. Her odd insight scared me, for a second I thought she somehow knew of my identity, but common sense won out.
"Haaa… Nunnally, please don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want you kids to be in harm's way because of me." Please just leave it be Nunna, just enjoy whatever you have left in your life and leave things like this to me.
Her frown deepened but after a second or two she gave in. "Fine, but you have to promise me two things: First, You won't abandon us and will come back in one piece no matter what. What would we do if we suddenly learned that you had died in a ditch somewhere. You're more than just a teacher for Milly, Lelouch and I."
I… know that. I know that I have something to live for here. I do want to see all of them graduate, get jobs, marry and all that but… I still need to fight. If I don't risk myself, if I don't fight, the being known as 'Taylor Hebert' will crumble. I am wrong… I could stay silent, I could live a happy life but a voice in the back of my head would always keep telling me 'how dare you not take action?', 'You must do more', 'Fighting is your only purpose'.
I tried to tell her how I couldn't make promises I wasn't sure to keep but she quickly listed her second demand as if preventing me from saying it would make it untrue. "Second, keep big brother safe." Huh? My mouth made an 'o' shape, she had somehow felt my shock and giggled.
"People always think I'm ignorant of my surroundings. I know Alice works for the military, I know Kallen isn't really sick, I know how the other teachers see me and I know my brother is doing something far too dangerous. I don't know why he's doing it so suddenly and seemingly without reason, neither do I have a clue as to what he's doing. Whatever the case, I know you can keep him safe. You are involved with whatever he's doing, you told me yourself with your surprise; so you can make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
I felt the urge to bitterly laugh. Oh Nunna, you are a lot more incredible than people think aren't you. Your naivete shines through yet it's tempered by unexpected resourcefulness, it is no surprise you managed to catch even me off guard.
A small laugh escaped my lips. "Fine Nunna, I'll make sure he comes back to you in one piece. But! But, you can't tell other people about this, okay?" She smiled at me and held out her hand with her pinky stretched out. I tilted my head and asked. "What's this?"
"A pinky promise. Wrap your pinky around mine, and promise me." She said giddily. So I knelt down and stretched my pinky out. Among the merry party, despite the loud noises of the student council' shenanigans I made a promise that would bind me for a long time. The loud crash of the champagne fountain and subsequently the shattering of hundreds of glasses broke what was most likely a pivotal promise. I sighed and glanced at the glass fragments on the floor.
"It fell down didn't it?" Nunnally asked with clear childish amusement in her voice.
"Yes. Yes, it did." I answered.
All good things must come to an end. Thus our party ended and the mess was cleaned up by the students and some of the Ashford's personnel. Nunnally and Alice left to do a class project and after I reminded the unusually troubled looking Alice of our remedial class, that would take place next week. The remaining students and I moved to the student council room to either finish some leftover work or in my case file away some papers for archiving.
Having said that there was a distinct lack of work going on on the council side. Suzaku and Lelouch were going over all the paperwork and Nina was working on her research, but the other half of the council was either playing with our cat, Arthur, or simply flipping through the channels on the wall mounted Tv.
I would've chastised them if I wasn't busy trying to haul 10 inch thick files onto the top of a very tall red wood cupboard with only my intact hand while standing on a wooden chair. Now I had my metal hand with its adjustable fingers latched onto the top edge of the wooden cupboard, so my position wasn't exactly that perilous. It just wasn't very stable either. I could've talked to them at the same time but I feared even talking would upset my balance and make me fall.
As I picked up another file and climbed back onto the chair the channel on the Tv changed to a news channel. "...our final story for this program will be about the very controversial Black Knights and a possibly very interesting insight into their organization!" The excited announcement of the newscaster made my heart almost stop. I panicked for a second and thought that the Black Knights may have already been exposed, but my thoughts caught up soon enough and I calmed down before I could even load off the emotions to my bugs.
If the Black Knights had been exposed, Lelouch and I would've been safe thanks to our protected identities and a military operation would've been carried out before the news announced it. So what did these guys even find out? I glanced at Lelouch and he had also stopped doing paperwork and was now glaring at the news.
"Ehhh, them again? These days the only thing anyone ever talks about seems to be them." Complained Milly. Odd, you'd think she'd be a fan of the black knights. She reached out to take the remote from Shirley but Kallen, who had suddenly stopped cuddling Arthur, was faster.
She tried to make excuses but her extremely unconvincing tone and the way she averted her eyes and fiddled with her wrists made them extremely unconvincing. Milly naturally couldn't resist the temptation.
"Oh, does somebody have a crush on Zero? I hear he's really popular among the younger years, but you too Kallen?" Said Milly with her trademark teasing tone and rushed to hug -and possibly sexually harass- the redhead who was now blushing furiously. Kallen kept trying to say something to deny her 'clear' crush on the masked revolutionary but was consistently interrupted by Milly.
I focused back on the news to both put my mind off that scene, I knew Milly was harmless and none of the council minded it that much but it still reminded me of miserable times. I banished the images of the petty torment from my mind and focused back on the news.
"Last night a group suspected to be a cell of the famous terrorist organisation known as the Black Knights have attacked a Military supply depot located near the Nerima Ghetto late at night, it is currently unknown what the terrorists managed to steal during the hours long battle but they were eventually driven off with light casualties." I had to force myself not to snort at the man's announcement. Driven off? Light casualties? Hours long battle? The entire raid barely lasted an hour and we had demolished the garrison. But I guess that's what's expected of state controlled media, this world never developed many of the online platforms that made up a large amount of online activity back on Earth Beth, so the news outlets can get away with a lot more lies.
The anchor had begun speaking again while I was thinking. "During the lightning raid very little footage was able to be collected, due to most cameras being destroyed by the Black Knights. Thankfully the personal helmet mounted camera of Lance Corporal Jerome Hutson, may he rest in peace, managed to capture vital information. Viewer discretion is advised, the following video contains blood, gore and violence." I wonder what this 'vital' information is? Maybe some Black Knights being gunned down? Or maybe just civilians being slaughtered?
The video started and I quickly noticed where the soldiers were and who they were. After all, the guy carrying a flamethrower running through tight hallways in the camera's field of vision made it readily apparent just who they were. I almost lost my balance but my prosthetic , which was still locked around the edge of the cupboard, managed to carry my weight and I straightened myself. On the tv the soldiers had begun to talk.
"Squads one to four have all stopped responding, whoever or whatever's in the barracks is going to be trouble boys, but keep calm and check your corners, we'll get through this yet." Said the lead soldier -most likely the sergeant- in a vain attempt to reassure his squad. The other soldiers responded with various quips and jokes, jokes that were clear bravado in face of real danger. Then they stepped into that dimly lit, cramped hallway and an audible buzzing was heard, they all fell silent. The wingbeats of a million insects echoed through the hallway like the agonized screams of a thousand voices, drowning out even the constant gunfire from outside.
"Fuck… this is some horror movie shit." Muttered the man behind the camera. The point of view soldier was clearly terrified. He glanced down at his rifle and at his teammates to gauge their reactions only to find similarly terrified soldiers.
"Did they summon a demon!? I didn't fucking sign up for this, I'm not a priest!" Another soldier cried out. Only to be immediatly rebuked by the sergeant. "Shut the fuck up and keep walking! They're terrorists not a fucking Cult, they wont summon demons or cast spells. Now Leon check the damned cafeteria!" The sergeant once again tried to keep the cohesion of his unit but just as he said that my swarm turned the corner.
"Oh fuck me, I knew I would need this!" Screamed the flametrooper. He brought his flamethrower to the bear and spewed gouts of flame at the screeching swarm, barely keeping them at bay with the pinkish flames of a sakuradite-petroleum mixture. The rest of the squad were soon to follow, echoing his warcry with screams like "I knew it, they made a pact with the Devil!", "EMPTY EVERYTHING!", "Just fucking shoot!" or "Why bugs!?". They were actually keeping the swarm at bay, but then…
Two Bangs rang out and drowned all other noises out despite the cacophony of bugs and rifle rounds inside the hallway. A singular heartbeat passed and a black figure armored by shiny gray panels and dressed in a haunting black burst through the doors right besides them and smashed into the soldier right in front of the formation -the sergeant- one of the figures arms smashed into his throat and brutally caved it in.
The black figure then turned towards the camera but her masks ominously shining red lenses weren't even directed at the camera instead glancing at another soldier. Yet the figure spun around and threw a kick right at the camera soldier's head. He flew off his feet and landed on his ass realing. Two gunshots were heard through the microphone but the lens was blocked by the soldier's hand, which was cradling his head. The cameraman finally pulled his hand off the lens and the black figure was seen once again running towards the rest of the squad with her black hair blowing behind her.
A soldier tried to gun her down but the ravenous and possessed bugs slammed into his hands and visor making him unconsciously jerk and causing his rifle's bullets to miss. Without stopping her gait the figure shot him twice as well. The cameraman had broken out of his trance by now and desperately tried to get his sidearm out of its holster to try and assist his squadmates, but by the time he looked back up his last squadmate was on the ground bleeding out from the knife wound to his heart. The armored figure slowly rose back up to her full height. She stood there in the dimly lit, blood stained hallway looking nowhere in particular.
It was at this point that the soldier finally brought up his quivering hand and pulled the trigger. A single bang echoed through the bloodstained hallway and the figure staggered. She brought an arm up to her shoulder and rolled it a singular time, then she slowly turned revealing her bloodstained mask and armor. She clacked her tongue once and flung her right arm towards the camera, something very fast flew by and the soldier screamed in pain. He glanced at his right arm to find his gun gone and a shiny black knife shallowly embedded into his forearm through his armor. "No…" He whispered, but the figure began stepping over the corpses with clear irritation.
"No! No! Please, don't! I beg you!" He begged. The steps continued.
"SOMEONE! Anyone! Please save me! Mama, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, just please… let me live!" The steps continued.
"I'll stop being a soldier! I'll… I'll repent! Just please let me see my sisters and mother one more time, please!" He had begun crying at this point. My heart sank. I hadn't heard this with the adrenaline coursing through me, I had only concentrated on killing him as quickly as I could.
The terrifying figure stopped at the feet of the prone soldier, calmly raised her large pistol and fired twice. The camera fell backwards and cut away. My stomach was churning and by the looks of their faces the student council was having a similar experience for entirely different reasons. Fuck… Fuck… Fuck…
I just… fuck me. I tried to take a deep breath but ended up slipping on the chair below me. I distinctly heard voices screaming 'Miss Hebert!' but disregarded them in favor of righting my position so that I could at least take the fall safely but before my body hit the ground two firm arms caught me.
Kallen had managed to dash right besides me and catch me in her arms, the same Kallen who was still pretending to be sick. Kallen you should've just let me fall, it would've been easier. Judging by the shock on their faces the rest of the student council had definitely seen what she'd done, it wouldn't be easy for her to play it off and she made no effort to. She simply set me down carefully and I thanked her.
All we can do is try to play it off. After thanking her I grabbed a glass of water from the table and I sat on the chair I had just fallen off of. Kallen stood still for a moment and her face became serious. She had apparently grasped the consequences of her actions, I waved at her to calm her down and her face eventually returned to her mask. She knelt back next to Arthur and simply ignored the inquisitive looks from the rest of the student council.
Thankfully after a few questions regarding my health and jokes on Kallen's sudden athleticism the rest of the council dropped the matter as well. They must've found the atmosphere awkward, but I saw Milly's gaze linger on Kallen. I doubted she'd let this go that easily, but she must've thought it would be better to save it for later. I shelved the matter for later as well and just tried to catch the last bits of the news.
"This lightning raid was conducted outside of Zero's usual modus operandi, decidedly lacking the showmanship he's known for and being a smash and grab. Zero has thus far never raided a military outpost for supplies due to him strictly following his proclamation that the Black Knights are "knights of justice". Thus experts believe that it may not have been Zero who led the raid. The current theory is that the cell responsible for this raid is outside of the main chain of command and is instead led by the currently unnamed, masked individual shown on film."
I almost spit all the water in my mouth out at that. They thought I was the leader?!
"This claim is further supported by the Black Knights taking no credit for the raid and remaining silent thus far. However it has been confirmed that the attackers were using Black Knights equipment and tactics, this may mean that this group is still affiliated to the Black Knights but believes in taking a more Pragmatic approach. Currently no further information has been uncovered but an investigation has been launched." The news entered an add break after that
I glanced at Lelouch, who seemed to be very amused by the news. He's definitely going to try and rope me into playing into this image, but I have no intention to be even more bound to the Black Knights. While I trust Zero more now that I know Lelouch is Zero, since he doesn't know I'm Weaver he still doesn't fully trust me, so he might use me as bait or make me take the fall for something.
Lelouch is weak against those he trusts, he wouldn't put my life into danger for a minor benefit if he knew who I was but right now he might just sacrifice Weaver because her only worth to him is as an experienced combatant and untraceable scouting tool -I guess from now on also as a way to get away with morally dubious acts without breaking his knights for justice act-. I don't really want to be commanded by other people either, I still have some issues with authority due to my past experiences even if I have gotten over most of them. This might end up being a real problem.
"Despicable." I glanced up at Suzaku ,who had uttered those words with uncharacteristic spite from his seat next to Lelouch. He sometimes got like this when the Black Knights were brought up, but he seemed really pissed off this time. "The Black Knights are already causing chaos but a group like this is even worse. Their supposed leader is a clear psycho and her followers are most likely alike. Radicalists among radicalists, who most likely wouldn't try to change the system from within even if they had the chance to. Their type would make millions suffer if it means even the slimmest chance at destroying what they see as wrıng." He was getting heated now.
"Results are meaningless if the methods are wrong. What good is honor, peace and liberty if it comes at the cost of thousands of lives?" The rest of the student council was also starting to get uncomfortable, so I decided to calm Suzaku down. I opened my mouth and…
"What shortsightedness, what arrogance… Suzaku, ideals like those are the quality of fools." subsequently threw liquid sakuradite at the fire. He looked shocked to hear something this drastic coming out of my mouth. The rest of the student council also had similar looks of shock on their faces. Who could blame them? The once silent safety net that diffused arguments and rarely joined a conversation was suddenly challenging one of the most radical students and calling him a fool.
I was surprised too by the sudden fire inside my belly. Hell, it almost feels like I'm young again. I won't let this go… I've stood silent for far too long. Also calling people out on their bullshit -and subsequently being called out on my own bullshit- used to be a hobby of mine, it's quite nostalgic.
Suzaku was clearly angry, he didn't much like being challenged did he now? He opened his mouth to refute my claim but I acted faster. "Changing things from the inside just doesn't work in systems like the one we live in. You only got where you are because you were lucky Suzaku, I doubt you'll ever land a rank higher than being a Warrant Officer despite your straight up superhuman physical abilities. Unless you can find someone to put on the throne that is." I saw Suzaku glance at Lelouch when I said that. Oh he knows too does he? Well, he is supposed to be an old friend of Lelouch's. It makes sense that he does know.
He almost backed down but regained his resolve. "So improbability is the excuse? They won't get anywhere with terrorism either! They're only harming more innocents in their selfish quest for freedom, they can't beat Britannia like that! Us Elevens won't get what we want if they simply kill and maim their way to it! What use is freedom and equality if the very earth can't be seen because of the corpses of their 'martyrs' and their so-called 'oppressors'!" He finished his heated rant with a shout. I wonder how he can speak such meaningless ideals with such passion and hope.
My mouth opened again before I could even think. "You say that they should do nothing then? Simply sitting by and doing nothing won't get them anything and they've already seen what being honorary Brittanians entails, so they won't remain silent any longer. Violence should always be a last resort, but sometimes there are no other ways out from the very start."
"Besides, when all's said and done, isn't armed resistance the 'correct' answer according to our own country? Isn't it what we preach with our Social Darwinism?" Although my other arguments were said in a serious and cynical manner, the last sentence was without a doubt filled with sarcastic amusement.
The kids were confused, all of them were sending me similar looks. They must not have understood what I had meant so I continued. "Our society, nay our nation's very ideals are based on Social Darwinism. Might makes right and it is correct for the strong to devour the weak. When looked at from this angle it seems like the Japanese are integrating really well!" My explanation turned their confusion into a wide variety of emotions. Milly was cradling her head whispering something that sounded suspiciously like 'oh my god Taylor' over and over again. Rivalz and Shirly were scrunching their faces and looking away most likely trying to put their minds off of what I had said. Nina was staring directly at me, her eyes were wide open, her mouth made a distinct 'o' shape and her hands had left the keyboard. I couldn't see where her hands were but it looked like she was pulling her skirt downwards. That's… odd. I'm getting a bad feeling from that, but for some reason I don't want to delve deeper.
Kallen was distraught, so much so that her face had blanched. She reacted really badly, is she a social darwinist or something? Well, she is a noble. One that is really close at hand. I discarded that thought and continued surveying the student council. My eyes turned towards Lelouch who was very blatantly smiling, teetering on the brink of laughter. When everybody is focussed on me he doesn't have to keep his mask on, does he?
He's most likely frustrated that I'm comparing the Black Knights to Britannia but me calling out their hypocrisy must've seemed funny enough for him to forget that. And finally Suzaku, who seemed just about ready to explode. He was breathing calmly trying not to descend into another rant.
Impressive, I had forgotten he could be disciplined too. After a few more seconds Suzaku's green eyes met mine. I could see a swirl of emotions going through them. Disappointment, frustration, hesitance, guilt, pity, determination, despair… What a mess you are. Contradictory emotions warring with one another will eventually ruin him. The look wasn't a foreign one in his eyes, merely one I hadn't noticed until now, the already emotional boy must have been suffering under such contradictions for a while. My amusement evaporated and guilt set in.
I… should've realized it before but with what I've just said he most likely will never trust me ever again. Suzaku is nothing if not stubborn so with my sudden bout of passion I might've just lost my only opportunity at making sure he doesn't make a mistake. God… I really fucked up. Does he have anyone other than Lelouch he trusts? Anyone I can trust to help him through his troubles? No… no one comes to mind.
I almost missed Suzaku turning around and rapidly moving towards the door. I tried to rise up and reach out to him but his hand found the doorknob first. He turned the bronze knob and began pulling the door inwards but suddenly someone from the otherside also pushed the door. The wooden door flew inwards and slammed into Suzaku along with the dark blue haired figure behind it. The woman shrieked as she fell and suddenly a bout of nostalgia hit me… Who is she?
Milly immediately moved in to help untangle the two and I also moved closer and crouched down. I extended my prosthetic arm at the woman who was profusely apologizing to Suzaku who she seemed to know. Suzaku finally replied to the woman after shaking his daze off.
"Ah, it's fine, Miss Cecile! I'm really sorry I wasn't careful either!" …Cecile?
"I'm really sorry Suzaku, Lloyd wanted you back at base ASAP and I heard you were here from the horse riding club." Before continuing to explain she noticed my outstretched hand and after a momentary gasp quickly accepted it. I used my whole body and stepped back to pull her up but she lost her balance as she was rising. I caught her lightly as she fell towards me and stood her up.
"Ah, I'm really sorry! I'm bad at keeping my balance. Thank y-" She turned her head upwards to look at my face but the moment she caught sight of it she trailed off.
"TAYLOR?!" She clasped her hands around my shoulders and began shaking me. Before I could even process what she had said I stopped her from shaking me and tried to get a better look at her face to recognize her.
She apparently realized I hadn't recognized her and explained. "I'm Cecile Groomy. From Lewis Marshall Technical University of Arts and Sciences, you were my mentor back then!" She excitedly told me.
My brain finally caught up and the image of a younger girl with a nose piercing, piercings all along her ears, black lipstick on her lips wearing a crop top and those odd studded bracelets laid itself over the prim and proper military woman. This was the same girl who had skipped two grades and became my student in the mentorship programme during my junior year!? Now that I look at her again the similarities are apparent but they are there. That's surprising… I mean I know people can change very rapidly, I myself am a testament to that but still…
It took me a few seconds to string together a sentence after that shock.
"Sorry Cecile, you… look really different. I couldn't recognise you" I slowly said, showing my shock very clearly.
The woman, who I still couldn't associate with Cecile, blushed and tried to hide her face with her hands. "Military regulations didn't allow piercings for the engineering department…" She admitted. So she would've still worn them if it was allowed!? I heard Suzaku mutter 'piercings?' from right beside us.
"But more importantly! I thought you had died during the war!"
"Well, I clearly did survive. I just didn't have any addresses to send mail to."
"Oh… right, you didn't have a phone. Ah, I know! You should come with us, Lloyd would actually be happy to see you again." The pudding guy is here as well?! Knowing my luck Rakshata is probably also here. If we can find a few of the guys from my department as well it'll be like a full reunion.
"I can't. I'm going to have some supplementary lessons with some students today, that includes Suzaku by the way. Though I could give you my number if you have your phone with you." I do want to talk with Cecile again, I really do. She's a good girl and an old friend, but I really don't feel like walking into a military compound after yesterday. It's an irrational fear, but the amount of times paranoia and irrational fear has saved me is uncountable. I do admit that not dealing with Lloyd also is a major plus.
"Oh…okay. Another day then." God, she sounded really disappointed. I stepped closer and gave her a friendly hug. "It's nice to see you again, Cecile. I'll come visit sometime to tell you all about what I've been doing and you can tell me how life has been treating you after university, okay?" I promised her.
She quickly returned the hug. "I'll take you up on that promise, though Suzaku and I really need to get going." She admitted with disappointment. We broke our hug and I motioned for Shirley to hand me some paper and a pen.
I quickly wrote my number on a small sheet of paper and handed it to Cecile, who left with Suzaku promising to bring him back on time for the lessons. The wooden doors slammed shut and left me to my fate with four very curious teenagers and Milly, who had smelled fresh drama in the water.
Why am I a teacher again?
An: Really sorry for the delay. Real life has hit me like a truck so the updates from now on till literally Summer are all going to be erratic. So yeah… Anyways! This chapter is more about revelations and making Taylor interact with the Student council. Next few chapters are going to be full of action so a calmer one with a few revelations should be acceptable… right?
Whatever the case, for now please enjoy and review when possible.