AN: I do not own Code Geass.

XxPistolgun: I'm glad you like the story so far.

DarkDremora: Kallen's speech was definetly inspired by her character poem, as I really wanted to have her say those words out loud to Lelouch in some way, and I thought that speech would be the best time.

lastC27: I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Chapter 21: Fear

"What is fear?" Charles asked V.V as they enjoyed breakfast in the Emperor's room.

Of course, the blond was taken aback by this question, as it was obvious, "It's simple. Fear is an emotion every living being relies on once they've been backed into a corner. Dogs, cats, humans, lions, they're all the same in that aspect. Of course, the topic of how much fear they each feel is something to be explored. What does it take to shake a lion's heart? Is it being outnumbered? Or having its family killed in front of them?"

The Emperor wasn't happy with this response, "I believe you misunderstood my question. When I asked 'what is fear?' what I really meant was, what does fear feel like?"

"Why are you asking such boorish questions?" V.V clenched his fork, "We haven't gotten any closer to finding the sword of Akasha, nor have we found C.C. She should be our top priority."

"Please calm down, it's just a question. While I would appreciate you answering it, you don't have to, if you don't want to." Charles replied while taking a bite of his food.

V.V sighed heavily, "When someone is faced with a dangerous situation, they become afraid, and try to either run away, or submit. That is fear. The feeling of absolute terror that makes you submit."

The Emperor hummed, "I see you have the same view as Schneizel… while you're not exactly wrong with your answer, there's one crucial part to it that's missing."

The blond grew irritated, "And what's that?"

Casmir and Jasper walked through the Shinjuku ghetto, stepping on broken glass and pieces of torn up pavement in the process, "Are you sure we should be doing this? We don't even have confirmation of Master C.C being in the Viceroy's custody." Casmir casually commented as a little girl hid behind a pillar.

"Are you forgetting that I'm your superior officer on this mission?" Jasper retorted, "Then again, I suppose you also forgot that you were supposed to get us the files on Code R." his subordinate shifted upon hearing the criticism, "Your incompetence knows no bounds. Thankfully, you're not all useless, as that Geass is the only thing saving your hide right now."

Casmir looked down in shame, "Then… can you please go over the plan once again?"

The long-haired commander sighed in frustration, "Fine. First, we'll enter the meeting spot, where our appearance as soldiers should scare the terrorists enough for you to use your Geass on all of them. After that, we'll attack the chemical plant where Code R supposedly takes place." his eyes narrowed while taking out a small USB drive, "We'll give them this. The map to the facility. This way, they'll find a way inside, allowing us to search the building while they cause absolute mayhem." he put the USB back in his pocket, "Though, if we end up finding nothing relating to Code R there, then we're ordered to retreat to the capital, and a replacement will be sent to complete the mission."

"What!? Then we'd have failed!"

"We've already failed." Jasper's eyes narrowed, "If you don't want to disappoint master V.V, then you'd best hope that this 'lead' of yours is reliable."

Casmir clenched his fist in anger, "Let's go." he muttered while walking forward.

Kallen took in a deep breath as Jasper and Casmir entered the building. She heard Tamaki and Ohgi's breath stricken behind her, as they got closer, "What's with that guy's hair?" Tamaki whispered as Jasper stopped a few feet away from Naoto. "Why aren't they saying anything?"

Jasper's beady eyes scanned the resistance leader from top to bottom, before doing the same to the rest of the group, "Are you Naoto Kozuki?" he asked in a harsh tone, causing Ohgi to stand just a little taller.

"Something's not right… I know that Ohgi and Tamaki haven't been in a situation like this yet… but… why're they moving so much?" Kallen glanced at Lelouch, who's palms were sweating.

"Geass… could such a power exist? I know I said to prepare for the possibility, but how can you fight against such a thing?" the Prince's eyes wandered to Casmir, who stared back intently, "If I had that kind of power… things could be so much easier…"

"Yes, I am Naoto Kozuki. You wanted to meet with me, so here I am."

Jasper leaned left, his eyes lingering on Lelouch for a second, before returning to the older Kozuki, "Yes… we are aware that you want to strike a critical blow to Britannia." that wasn't anything to boast, as nearly every resistance group wanted to do the same, "And we want to help you…"

"How so?" Naoto asked while Casmir clapped his hands, breaking the tension.

"Every move they make… it's slowly instilling fear in our minds…" Lelouch glanced at Tamaki and Ohgi, "Clearly it's working." he then clenched his sweaty palms, "And that fear is spreading to me too…"

Jasper looked over at Kallen, who was looking as cool as a cucumber, "This should do…" he snapped his fingers, and Casmir activated his Geass.

Casmir's Geass is the Geass of Fear Contagion. The requirements to activate it are harsh, as the target(s) have to fear the user significantly. Though, upon activation, the Geass sends shock images through the victim's mind, sending them deeper into despair, allowing for the user to grant commands upon them. However, the Geass will be broken once the person is no longer fearful. In group settings, the power is even weaker, as if there's even one person who's not afraid, then the Geass won't work, as they grant something dubbed the 'savior effect', by Casmir.

The savior effect is similar to when a hero shows up in movies to save civilians. The fear on those people's faces instantly vanishes upon the Hero's appearance, because they know that everything will be all right, so long as the Hero's there.

Of course, why would Jasper give such an order, if he was aware of Kallen not being affected by fear? That's simple, as they planned for this very circumstance. The quickest way to get rid of the savior effect, was to kill the savior.

Casmir quickly drew a pistol from his jacket, and pointed it at Kallen, causing Naoto's eyes to widen in surprise. "No! I won't make it in time!" images of his sister falling lifeless to the ground flashed through his mind.

However, Kallen wasn't worried about herself, instead, she quickly moved to the left, and pushed herself and Lelouch behind a piece of rubble. Naoto, Ohgi, and Tamaki followed her lead as the former teacher fired a few shots.

Casmir and Jasper took cover behind two metal pillars adjacent to the rebels, "Great. Now it's a waiting game," the latter muttered, "Why'd you hesitate?"

The former peaked his head out from behind the pillar, "I saw a flash in that building. If I had shot just then, I would've died."

While it was a proper assumption to have, it was wrong. It was true that there was someone on the other end of that flash, however, they were currently paralyzed with fear, "I can't do it…" Mario muttered as his finger shook around the trigger, "The man who threatened my sister was right there… why didn't I shoot?"

"We have to kill the red head," Jasper told Casmir as the girl in question ran transitioned to another position, "Once she's dealt with, the others will soon fall to your Geass."

That was another thing, the Geass of Fear Contagion didn't need to see someone in order for it to work. Sure, if you wanted pinpoint accuracy, the user had to be staring their target in the eyes, however, for a broader situation like this, it was better to sacrifice the accuracy for efficiency.

Naoto cocked his pistol and said, "We'll provide suppressing fire for Kallen, then she'll be able to get the drop on those two."

Ohgi and Tamaki nodded in agreement, while Lelouch watched the red head carefully as she crawled behind an aluminum panel, "If you want to use those toxins of yours, you'd better do it now," Jasper whispered to Casmir as he saw Kallen's figure dart to their left.

"But the space it too enclosed… we'll be caught in the fumes like this."

Obviously, his commanding officer didn't care, "Just throw it!"

Hesitantly, the subordinate pulled out a home-made gas grenade, tossing it at Kallen's position in the process. However, the red head poked her pistol through a small gap in her cover, and shot Casmir in the shoulder, causing him to fall over in pain. This didn't stop the gas from spread, though, as she was eventually forced out into the open, where Jasper was waiting with his gun drawn. Just before he could open fire, Naoto, Ohgi, and Tamaki jumped out from their cover, shooting at the soldier in the process.

Though, because of this, they were caught in the fumes, while Lelouch desperately tried to hold his breath behind them.

Jasper was forced to retreat behind his pillar as Kallen rushed his position. This time, he waited patiently for the rebels to stop shooting, then, he'd take the opportunity to kill the red head.

That opportunity would never come.

Kallen blitzed past his position with blinding speeds, only now, she held a rag against her mouth, with her other hand pressing a gun into the soldier's side. Before he could react, she pulled the trigger, killing the soldier in one shot.

After witnessing such a display, Casmir evacuated the building, followed by the rebels, who were coughing up a storm… well, all except Kallen, "tear gas…" she muttered while checking up on Lelouch.

"Oh yeah! Just check up on him first!" Naoto said between coughs, "Don't worry about your big brother, he'll be okay."

The red head rolled her eyes, "I was only checking on him first because he was the closest."

"Speak of which," Tamaki fought through tears of pain, as he pointed at Lelouch, "What the hell were you doing?" he broke out into a coughing fit once again, allowing for Ohgi to jump in.

"He's got a point. Why didn't you join in? We could've had him, then Kallen wouldn't've had to put herself in danger."

Naoto put his hand over his mouth, holding back the insidious feeling of throwing up, "She did it again! She killed him so effortlessly… I know it was a stressful situation… but still, she ran out there like she's done this before."

"Here." his sister called while putting a bottle of cold water against his face, "Wash your eyes with this."

In the background, Tamaki and Ohgi were already rinsing their eyes with water, while Lelouch simply stared at the bottle, "Thanks…" he replied while taking the bottle, "Did you see where the other one went?"

That's when Lelouch joined the conversation, "B1 texted me. He said he's going after him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tamaki asked, "That punk didn't even fire his weapon when that bastard pulled a gun on Kallen."

"You say that like you would've done anything."

"What'd you just say to me!?"

"That's enough!" Naoto commanded, "Let's just be thankful that it ended well."

The Prince handed his phone to Kallen, then he leaned into her ear, creating a light blush on her face, "I've put a tracker on Mario's jacket. Follow him, and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." he whispered before heading back into the warehouse, this time, he was armed with the same rag Kallen used to cover her mouth, which he used to do the same to his own.

Naoto narrowed his eyes upon the sight, nearly forgetting about what had just transpired. Though, the thought still stewed in the back of his mind.

"Hey, where are you going, Kallen!" Tamaki called as the girl in question ran deeper into the ghetto.

"C'mon, let's follow her," Ohgi said while running after the red head, "That other guys still around here somewhere, we can't just let Kallen travel alone."

Naoto wanted to follow, but his attention was quickly caught by Lelouch, who exited the warehouse with a USB drive in hand, "What did you do?"

The Prince shrugged, "I was just checking that guy's body for anything useful."

"That's not what I meant," the resistance leader coldly retorted, "Why is my sister running into the Ghetto?"

"I've sent her to find B1."

"Don't fuck with me, Lelouch." Naoto's voice turned stern, "I know that other guy you brought in is just a kid. Not only that, but you handed him the sniper rifle we acquired." he slowly approached the Prince, causing him to take a step back, "Lelouch, I don't want you converting child soldiers to our cause, and much less have them kill our enemies." he put his hand firmly on the boy's shoulder, "It's despicable. Children should be in school. Not in a war zone."

Lelouch shrugged off his partner's hand, "And what if they wanted to? The man threatened B1's-"

"Use his name."

The Prince was taken aback, but soon cleared his throat and continued, "Mario's sister was threatened by that man. He wanted to get revenge, so I allowed him on this mission."

Naoto's eyes narrowed in doubt, "You and I both know it's not that simple. Be honest with me."

Lelouch sighed in frustration, "God… this is annoying… I hate having to explain myself," as much as he hated it, this was something he had to do, "Fine. I'll explain it, just don't tell any of your 'friends', about this, okay?"

"Alright… but remember, you'll have to reveal yourself to them someday."

"Ah yes… the part that I've been dreading this whole time…" the Prince didn't show it on his face, but he wasn't looking forward to revealing his identity. He didn't even want to show up in person today; the only reason he did was because Naoto demanded his presence. Saying things like, "My people need to put a face behind my informant. How can you expect them to believe me if my contact never shows up?"

Regardless, that intrusion worked, as it got Lelouch to show up in person, of course, he wasn't beyond livid about it, "I get it already… now listen up, because I'll only say this once…"

"Have you ever heard of the saying, a cornered dog has the sharpest bite? I believe that the same logic applies to humans," the Emperor explained to V.V as he took another bite of his food, "Do you know why we don't eradicate the losers after we completely take over an area?"

V.V rolled his eyes at the lecture, "It's because an Empire can't function without its people. Thus, we allow them to live, so long as they serve as cogs in the machine."

"That's only one part of the answer, brother." a red mark of irritation appeared on the blond's forehead, nevertheless, Charles continued, "You see… if we make it clear that we only serve to eradicate a civilization, what will its people do? They'll fight to the death, meaning it will be harder for us to gain land, not only that, but our casualties will skyrocket, even with our Knightmare frames, it would be costly. So instead, we offer them an ultimatum; allow them to live without rights in a Ghetto, or join us as Honorary Britannians. Some will rebel, obviously, but those who see the value in becoming a part of the Holy Empire, will join us for a better lifestyle. This effectively limits the amount of 'cornered dogs' we have to deal with significantly."

Once again V.V couldn't help but see the pointlessness in this conversation, "Respectfully, what's your point?"

The Emperor sighed, "My point, is that fear isn't just one emotion. Everyone feels fear differently. Some cower in the face of danger, while others run straight into it. In both cases, the people are feeling fear, but how they respond to it, is completely different. You can't expect everyone to cower behind the might of your military, as those who primarily feel anger from fear, will fight back. Those people are dangerous; they won't fight with the same rules as we do. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

V.V nodded, "Yes… I understand… though, I'd like to know why you brought up such a topic in the first place?"

Charles stood up, "It was just something I thought of this morning. That's all."

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go!" Casmir stumbled over a piece of rubble as he clumsily moved through destroyed building after destroyed building. His wound still bleeding profusely, leaving a trail that led right to him. "Damn it… I can't go back to Master V.V like this! I need results… otherwise…" images of children being given a Geass at a young age flooded his mind; the experiments done on them, the torture they suffered, everything came through due to the immense terror he was feeling, "I'll be replaced by one of those monsters!"

The final image was of a pink-haired girl with blue eyes, smiling menacingly. Suddenly, a knee was sent into the side of his head, knocking him into a broken down pillar, "You bastard!" shouted his assailant, Mario Disel, "I'll kill you." his eyes were strained and bloodshot, giving the once innocent looking Ashford student, a deranged look.

He had been caught in Casmir's Geass. Of course, the latter didn't know this, as he wasn't aware of Mario spying on them, but once his Geass activated to send shock images to Naoto, Lelouch, Ohgi, and Tamaki, due to its large range, Mario was caught in it. Without someone with a 'savior effect' to stop them from flooding his mind, the boy went deranged from seeing hundreds, if not thousands of scenario's of his sister dying to the hands of Casmir Poole.

Fight or Flight response is something every living creature goes through when faced with a stressful situation. To either run or fight, is a decision every living thing must make to survive. Mario chose fight, while Casmir chose flight.

The black-haired boy charged forward, landing a powerful blow to his opponent's chest that knocked the wind out of him, then he followed up with a controlled palm strike to Casmir's nose, breaking it upon contact. Normally, the soldier would be able to defend himself against an untrained civilian like Mario, however, due to the rapid blood loss he was suffering, Casmir was blinking in and out of consciousness. Thus, unable to defend himself properly. Disel grabbed Poole by his collar and slammed him into the ground, hitting his skull on the concrete, giving him a concussion. Then, Mario mounted the former teacher, and began delivering punch after punch to his vulnerable face that was now covered in blood.

With each strike, blood splattered in every direction as Casmir laid there on the brink of death, not even bothering to defend himself. Meanwhile, his assailant's face and fist were covered in his blood. However, as if his body was refusing death, Casmir felt a jolt of energy move his arms up in a defensive posture, blocking Mario's final strike, which he was going to use a large black suitcase to do, then he looked into the boy's eyes, "Forget about me!" he shouted with his Geass activated.

Despite feeling such anger toward Casmir, Mario was still fearful of him, after all, that's what drove him to this point. Due to this fear, the soldier was allowed to use his Geass for one final command. Once the boy stopped moving, Casmir pushed him off, and began running away, kicking up dust as his heavy legs moved tirelessly.

Of course, things weren't that simple, as Mario didn't forget about the former teacher… at least, not in the intended way. You see, Geass commands are mainly based on perception; for instance, if a child was given the Geass command 'die', the chances of them actively trying to kill themselves are low, considering that a child can't comprehend what is means to 'die'. Granted, the Geass command will still take effect, but until the child knows what it means to 'die', nothing will happen.

In this instance, Casmir commanded Mario to forget about him, however, due to how his Geass works, this is a direct contradiction, since in order for his Geass to work, the victim must fear him. But, if the victim doesn't know who Casmir is, how can they fear him? Thus, the second the Geass command took effect, it was broken due to Mario's lack of fear.

Quickly, the boy realized what was going on, and opened his briefcase, unfolding the sniper rifle's stock, taking up a kneeling position, training his sights on the retreating figure of Casmir, who was desperately hobbling away. Then, a shot rung out. The soldier felt something pierce his heart, causing him to immediately drop to the ground.

Mario exhaled as the smoke from his rifle cleared, that's when he heard the sound of class cracking to his right, "M-Mario… is that you?" a little girl poked her head out from behind a pillar; she was shaking.

"Hina…" the boy looked at his blood-soaked hands, "Wait… it's not what it looks like!" he pleaded.

"Why… why did you do that?" the little girl asked

Mario quickly approached Hina, causing her to stumble back in fear, "Please… that man… he wasn't a good person. If I hadn't… if I hadn't killed him, then he would've killed Maya…"

The little girl known as Hina was one of the many kids both Mario and Maya fed when they came to the Ghetto. She might not look like much, but she's very observant, mainly because she doesn't have anything else to do. So, once she saw two strangely dressed Britannians enter the Ghetto, her curiosity got the better of her, and she followed. "He would've killed big sis…"

Of course, Maya and Hina weren't related, but the little girl liked referring to the duo as her siblings, since they cared for her like one of their own. "Yes… that's why you have to keep this a secret from her… Maya can't know, for her own sake…"

The little girl nodded her head, "O-okay… I'll try to keep this a secret…"

From a far, Kallen watched the interaction, "So that's one of the people they helped?" her eyes wandered to Casmir's lifeless body, "His Geass… he definitely had one… but why didn't he use it? I saw the symbol in his right eye, and yet nothing happened after that." she sighed, "I guess there's still a lot I don't know about Geass."

"Kallen!" Ohgi's voice called, startling both Mario and Hina, causing them to run away, "oh, there you are." his eyes eventually wandered to Casmir.

"Whoa… you actually got him… how'd you do that!?" Tamaki jumped in, "It's about time we got one of those opportunistic scumbags…" he ran up to the dead soldier, "Naoto said these guys were the cause of many resistance cells being busted." he kicked the body, "It feels good to finally pay 'em back for the hurt they cause."

Ohgi, on the other hand, had different thoughts, "Was Kallen really the one who killed him?" it wasn't that he thought the red head was weak, no, the issue was the resolve. Could Kallen really resolve herself to kill another human being? That was the question circulating in his mind; because like Naoto, Ohgi cared for Kallen, almost like she was his own sister. So for him to, presumably, see her kill another person, it shocked him slightly.

Of course, Kallen didn't kill Casmir, but Kaname didn't know that.

"Let's get back to Naoto," the red head said while holding her head in pain. It was another migraine.

"What about the body? We can't just leave him out here, right?" Ohgi asked

"Our informant said he'd take care of it," it was only for a second, but Kallen's eyes wandered over to the run-down convenience store, where Mario and Hina were hiding.

"You mean that chump? I was wondering why he was here in the first place, after all, he hardly did anything!" Tamaki commented, "He honestly should've just said that he was a part of the cleanup crew to begin with."

Kallen was slightly annoyed at how he referred to Lelouch as 'the cleanup crew', but held her tongue as she couldn't reveal his identity. No, the Prince had to be the one to reveal himself to the rest of the cell. It can't be done any other way. "Let's just go."

Meanwhile, somewhere in Pendragon…

"What?" a member of Eden Vital whispered into V.V's ear of Casmir and Jasper's deaths, "I should've known better than to send some nobodies to complete such a special task."

"Would you like to send in another operative?"

"Yes… this time, I want one of the experiments to take care of this. What's the status on Rolo?"

"His latest report says there have been some… unexpected developments. Mainly with Princess Cornelia and her forces scaring off the middle eastern official by occupying the town he was supposed to be visiting."

"Damn it. At first, I was happy with Cornelia's deployment into Area 18, as I thought it'd be the fastest way to get to the thought elevator there, but now her progress is actively hindering my investigation," V.V clenched his fist, "Then what about Clara? What's her status?"

"She's currently on standby. Shall we send her into Area 11?"

Almost instantly, the blond answered, "Yes. Tell her to find C.C by any means necessary, even if she has to kill Clovis to do it."

"It will be done, Master V.V" the Eden Vital membered bowed, before leaving the blond's room.

"Once Rolo's finished in Area 18, I'll send him over to assist Clara in Area 11. With those two working together, they should be able to find C.C without any trouble." he then looked over, and saw a picture of him and Charles, "Don't worry, our dream will be achieved someday, I'll make sure of it."

"It looks like Geass was just a rumor after all…" Lelouch sat along the bank of a river as Naoto plug the USB drive into a laptop, "I suppose I can't blame Kallen for thinking such a thing existed, after all, I'm still struggling to explain why Maya's memory is foggy."

"Hey! This is some good stuff!" the Kozuki called out, "There are maps of that Chemical plant I was looking into a few months ago… and hell, there's even information on an experimental Knightmare bay somewhere in that facility."

"A Knightmare bay?"

"Yeah. It says here, it's housing a 7th Generation Knightmare frame."

To be honest, most of the information on that USB was heavily inflated, for instance, there was no experimental Knightmare bay in the chemical plant. Instead, the chemical plant was located next to one of Camelot's main research divisions. Of course, there was an experimental Knightmare frame in the research building, however, even a refrain addict would know that.

"I hope you're not suggesting we steal that. It's not like a Glasgow, not even close." Lelouch lazily answered while leaning back.

"Obviously not!" Naoto shouted, "I'm just saying… it's something to look out for in the future…"

"Sure…"

"Anyway, it says here that the best time to attack would be on… Thanksgiving. Do you think we can do that?"

"Nope. I've got plans." Lelouch replied bluntly

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I promised my sister that I'd spend Thanksgiving with her, there's no way I can back out from that," the Prince then pointed his finger at Naoto's face, "Which is more than I can say for you."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Naoto exclaimed

"When's the last time you and your sister hung out?"

"Today-"

"Today doesn't count!"

The resistance leader sighed, "You know I can't just hang out with her, especially since the military is looking for me. Even Jeremiah won't be able to bail me out if I get caught"

"I suppose that's true… still, you could make an effort at least." Lelouch looked up toward the sky.

"Speaking of relationships," now, it was Naoto's turn to go on the offensive, "I noticed how close you and my sister are getting."

"Oh… so it's gonna be one of those conversations…" the Prince looked at the Kozuki, "I'll admit, your sister and I have gotten closer over the past few months. At first, I thought she-"

Naoto wasn't buying it, as he interrupted his speech with, "You know that's not what I'm referring to."

Of course, it wasn't. After all, Naoto had seen how his sister reacted around Lelouch, especially at Clovis land due to Milly's remark, and he willingly ignored the signs, as it wasn't his place to say anything about who she dates. However, just because he trusts Lelouch enough to help him liberate Japan, that doesn't mean he trusts him with his sister.

"I've been stewing over the thought of you and my sister being… together, and while I was okay with it at first. Recent events have changed my mind."

"Is it me being a Prince that bothers you?" Lelouch asked

"No… it's more like your nature that I disapprove of." Naoto clarified, "You and I aren't fools; this line of… business isn't exactly something you can juggle with a normal life. While I admire your attempt to keep a steady relationship with your sister, someday that's going to change."

"I know. The thoughts crossed my mind. I could get killed someday, and Nunally wouldn't even know why. It would be a tragic end."

"That's why I don't want you and my sister becoming a thing. I don't want to see her hurt if you kick the can."

Lelouch leaned forward, resting his head on his knees, "Just when I thought I'd gotten rid of those thoughts… Naoto has to remind me of the frailty of a relationship in these times. I already know it all, and yet…" in the past, the Prince could easily push the red head away without a second thought, after all, the only thing on his mind at the time was getting revenge on those who wronged him. However, now things have gotten out of hand. He allowed Kallen to get too close, and now he didn't want to let go. When she was around, he felt an oddly warming sensation in his heart that he couldn't quite explain; all he knew is that it felt good, and that he didn't want the feeling to dissipate.

"I understand what you mean… but I can't make any promises regarding your sister, and I's relationship progressing." Lelouch answered calmly.

Naoto sighed heavily, "You were supposed to say 'Yes sir, I'll leave your sister alone'."

The Prince chuckled, "By the way, your mother's going to be spending Thanksgiving with me and my sister."

"What!?"

"Kallen's going to be there too."

The Kozuki didn't know what to be offended by more; the fact that his sister didn't mention any of this, or the fact that he wasn't invited. To which he openly shared his disappointment, "Why wasn't I invited!?"

"Oh sorry." Lelouch now looked Naoto in the eyes, "Do you want to join us for Thanksgiving this week?"

"You already know the answer to that!"

"Then please don't feel offended that I didn't invite you," the Prince said as a gust of wind blew over them.

Silence overtook them for a moment, before the conversation continued, "Why did you invite my mother anyway?"

"It's simple… my sister wanted me to invite Kallen for Thanksgiving, and since I was already there, I chose to also invite Ms. Kozuki." Of course, there were more reasons, such as Lelouch feeling bad for how she was treated by Mrs. Stadtfeld. Though, he'd never say them out loud.

"I see… well, thank you."

"For what?"

"For treating mom like a human being. I know it might sound ridiculous, but basic human decency isn't very common amongst the Britannian nobility, especially when dealing with numbers." Naoto explained

Lelouch faced forward, "Don't mention it."

AN: I'm going to be honest, I'm not too happy with this chapter. I don't know why. Everytime I look at it, I can't help but feel like something's missing, but I just can't put my finger on what.

The Geass being an interpretation on someone's perspective was mainly based upon Akito and how he was told to 'die' at a young age, yet he didn't because his brain couldn't comprehend what it meant to 'die'. Although, I don't know if they actually gave an explanation for that, but to me, Geass commands being based on perception makes sense, since they mainly target the person's brain, and if their brain is incapable of comprehending the order, then they wouldn't be able to go through with it.

Also, Clara, the girl from Oz the reflection is going to be making an apperance. Due to how young Rolo was when he became an assassin, it's most likely that Clara is also a fully capable Geass user, even if she's a year behind her manga appearance. Another thing, I don't remember if it was ever stated when Cornelia began her conquest of the middle east, however, considering how big the middle east is compared to Japan, and from the singular battle we're shown of the conflict, the middle east was actually able to hold their own against the regular Britannian troops quite well. So gathering all of that together, I'd say the conflict was at least 8-10 months long.