A/N: This chapter was rough. Somehow, this was one of the more difficult chapters of the story to write, primarily because, as a friend pointed out, I had written myself into a corner again. Thankfully, with a little help and a sprinkle of inspiration, this chapter marks the first of what I would like to call the, "Wrapping this mess up" chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for reading. And to those who have kept up with this story since the beginning...you guys are the best. If it weren't for some of you, I would have given up trying to finish this one a LONG time ago. Best wishes and God bless you all!
Disclaimer: Code Geass, Sailor Moon, and all the other fandoms that got wrapped up into this story are owned by their respective creators and copyright holders. This story is merely a Fanfiction, and I only own my original characters such as, Kara Fennette, A.A., Kitsune Yokai, etc.
Warnings: This chapter gave me trouble and my ability to write fight scenes is still...not as good as I would like, but this is Fanfiction. You guys aren't expecting perfection...at least I don't think you are. And if so...stop that.
Chapter 126
Swansong
August 1st, 2010, marked the beginning of the end.
The war between the Holy Britannian Empire and Japan would cease within the next ten days thanks to the strength of the newly developed Autonomous Knightmare Frame, a mighty invention pioneered in part by the Kaiba Corporation under the direction of Gozoboro Kaiba. Though raised in what was once known as the United States of America, the business tycoon was quickly labeled a traitor due to his ancestral link to the Japanese people.
What they didn't know was that another traitor lived among them or that he was just ten years old.
Suzaku Kururugi.
He, along with his friends Lelouch and Nunnally Vi Britannia, happened upon the Juban district of Tokyo on this first day of August; and during their wandering through the city, it was Suzaku who spotted the Hikawa Temple and suggested it as a temporary haven.
This simple suggestion marked the beginning of the end of the district's prosperity, though that outcome would not happen for another seven years.
Their meeting with the young shrine maiden, Rei Hino, set other disasters in motion none of them would have ever anticipated.
But again, these things would not come to pass for seven more years.
With a natural inclination to suspect every stranger of foul play, Lelouch Vi Britannia did not get along with Rei immediately. Even after concluding she held no ill intentions toward him, his sister, or Suzaku, the exiled prince kept his heart under wraps.
This got under the fiery maiden's skin to the point that ten veins were ready to pop out of her skull whenever she had to interact with the sullen, irritable boy.
Rei couldn't bring herself to voice these things to Nunnally. Friendly and polite as she was, the blind, crippled girl was hardly the right person to complain to.
And so...
"Why is Lelouch such a meanie!?"
Rei screamed this with pure indignation as she picked up a cluster of rice with her chopsticks. Suzaku, who had been sitting across from her at the dining table, merely laughed at the girl's inaudible grumbling while she chewed.
"He's not that bad once you get to know him."
"He's a pig," she snorts in argument, sounding like a pig herself. "I went into his room to give him his breakfast this morning and he called me ugly!"
Well, she wasn't all that pretty while frothing at the mouth like this, but Suzaku wisely kept that musing to himself.
"Lelouch isn't…the easiest to get along with," he says instead, remembering how their first meeting went. "He's…a jerk sometimes."
"Sometimes!? More like ALL THE TIME!"
Suzaku smirks and sips at his miso soup while Rei moves on from her rice to the freshly cooked tempura on the dish next to it.
They usually ate lunch alone together since Nunnally preferred to eat with Lelouch. Plus, Rei didn't want to be in the grumbling boy's presence anymore than she had to.
It was an amicable arrangement everyone felt good about.
During these lunches, the priestess in training would tell Suzaku everything about her day or ask him questions about random things she thought he might have an interest in, but despite any effort she exhibited to keep from complaining, these conversations always found their way to Lelouch and his less than favorable attitude.
His friend was an odd sort of obsession for Rei, but the displaced Japanese boy indulged her because, like the boy she loved ranting about, she doted on Nunnally with the kindness and patience of a saint. Though stubborn and ruthless when provoked, Rei was, at her core, a very caring and passionate girl.
He felt at ease with her, which was a far cry from what he'd felt wandering through the countryside in the blistering heat while the scent of rotting corpses dismantled by warfare ravaged his nose.
"Don't worry about it," he says after a moment, shaking himself out of those memories. "He'll come around. You'll see."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I think he's just bad with girls that aren't Nunnally."
"Really?" Rei asks, raising a brow at him. "How come?"
"Beats me," Suzaku answers, shrugging as he picks up his bowl of rice. "But I can tell he likes you."
Her frown becomes more pronounced. "But he called me ugly."
"He's lying. He does that."
"Why?"
Suzaku pauses mid-bite.
"Why does anyone lie?" he wonders lowly, placing his bowl back on the surface of the table. "To protect themselves? To protect others? To gain advantages? There's all sorts of reasons why people lie."
"Have you lied?"
It's a simple question with a simple answer, yet Suzaku can't bring himself to say anything.
Rei stares at the boy intently, waiting.
Eventually, her murmurs…
"What do you think?"
The young girl takes a sip of tea then says, "I think…you have good reasons to lie."
Suppressing a gasp, Suzaku looks at Rei's face, fearful that she might know things about him she shouldn't, but upon seeing the petulant pout on her face, he relaxes.
He already knows what she's going to say next.
"Lelouch on the other hand, doesn't have any good reason to lie about how I look. He's just mean!"
Suzaku laughs, relieved and puzzled by her fixation with his friend all at once.
"Well, no one is nice all the time."
"Not even Nunnally?"
"Well, maybe Nunnally, but the rest of us?" He laughs again, in a teasing mood now. "No way. And I know for a fact that Lelouch has nothing on you when you really get mad."
Rei giggles and flexes her arms. "That's right! I can actually do real damage! Mean words can't compete with a knuckle-sandwich!"
"Right. So don't worry about anything Lelouch says."
"Okay," she replies, smiling brightly at him. "I won't anymore."
"Good."
"You're a great friend, Suzaku. The best!"
The young boy doesn't agree with her statement, but rather than argue, he returns her smile and picks up his chopsticks to finish his rice.
"Do you want to play a game with Nunnally after we're done eating?"
"You bet!"
Kururugi Shrine
January 5th, 2018
12:41am
Nearly eight years ago, Suzaku was the one to reassure me about Lelouch's less than kind behavior towards me by explicitly telling me he liked me.
Why I'm remembering that now after having set fire to the Kururugi Shrine, I don't know.
Perhaps it's realizing that more violence and bloodshed can't erase what's already been lost. Sins have been committed on both sides of the conflict between Britannia and Japan, but that isn't the battle I'm fighting tonight.
The war Suzaku and I fight is one with Lelouch at its center.
Any time we've been at odds with each other, he's been the focus.
This moment is no different, except now there's real rage behind it on my end. My brother is dead thanks to this man, and if I allow him to keep living, he'll destroy everything else that's precious to me…
Including Lelouch…
Especially Lelouch…
Because his hatred for Zero runs deep, and I know some part of him hates me too.
Geass is a power I created, and that power didn't just rip Princess Euphemia out of his arms. It also took what little agency he had over his own pathetic life.
Lelouch's decisions incited those results, but he would have never been in the position to make those decisions if not for my own choices during the Silver Millennium.
Serena's choice to bring me back from the dead using Geass…
…
If Geass didn't exist…so many things would be different.
The devastation I've wrought upon us all…is unforgivable. I know that. I've known that for a long time and yet everyone, especially Lelouch, keeps telling me to forgive myself.
I can't forgive anything. Not anymore.
Someone must pay for it all in blood…and I'm unable to pay that price thanks to the Geass Chain.
Suzaku, regardless of what was once a precious friendship, is a good second candidate. After all, Lelouch's command for him to live doesn't make him immortal, and compared to E.E. and others the Sailor Scouts have fought against in the past, he's completely helpless.
I can do it. I can kill him here and now.
But a small part of my soul screams in protest at the thought, making me hesitate when a swift Flame Sniper straight through his heart in the split second he was off guard from surprise could have made this easy and painless.
Regret tears through my soul while I watch the glow of the inferno shining in his widening emerald eyes, yet my mouth twists into a wicked sneer of delight.
Something isn't right here. Within me...a sinister energy fueled by the resentment of betrayal stretches itself toward Suzaku, its desire to destroy him clear. It's an entity that's pragmatic in nature. From the depths of my mind I can hear thin wisps of whispered chiding for my display of unnecessary emotion. The goal should be to kill, not to torment...
"R-Rei…?"
Lita's voice draws my focus away from my warring thoughts. Standing between me and Suzaku on these stone steps, she's holding an unconscious and bloody Ami in her arms and straining to keep herself upright on shaky knees.
The sight of my friends reignites my fury.
"I see that it wasn't enough for you to kill my brother." I murmur, struggling to keep my voice in a neutral tone. "Now you're trying to eliminate my teammates too."
Genuine surprise flashes across Suzaku's face at my words.
"Your brother?"
"Yeah," I answer, shifting on my heels to face him fully. "My brother. You killed him, Suzaku."
Lita glances between us, her eyes shimmering with apprehension.
"The only relative of yours that I have in custody is your grandfather…"
"About that," I interrupt, taking slow steps down the stairway. "I'd like to know which prison you have him rotting in so I can go get him after we're through here."
Suzaku narrows his gaze on me when I pause by Lita's side.
"You won't be leaving here alive."
I raise a brow at his words, perplexed by his sudden inclination to kill me instead of just taking me into custody like before.
Has this knight's thinly veiled malice incentivized this foolhardy attempt at vengeance? Is he that desperate to make Lelouch feel what he felt when Euphemia died?
Do these questions even matter? Who am I to judge Suzaku for these emotions?
I'm here for vengeance too after all.
But he's forgetting something pivotal here.
And so I ask him…
"What makes you think you have what it takes to kill me?"
He hesitates for a beat, then lifts the gun in his hands until the barrel is pointing toward my chest.
"Suzaku, don't!" Lita shouts in horror. "You can't…"
"What does it matter if he shoots?" I cut in, chuckling lightly as Suzaku grits his teeth. "We can't die anyway, Sailor Jupiter."
"Rei, we don't…"
"I'll buy you and Ami time," I whisper, interrupting her again. "Get as far away from here as you can."
"But Rei…"
She trails off and I take her inability to speak as the cue to keep moving forward.
The Geass Chain has brought me back twice already. It can bring me back a third time for all I care.
Furious as I am, it's more important to make sure Lita and Ami get to safety, and for that end…
"Go ahead and shoot."
Suzaku tightens his hold on the gun, baring his teeth while his eyes dart between me and the burning shrine that served as the birthplace of his traitorous nature.
That will end here one way or another.
"Stop it, Rei!" Lita roars, a panicked edged to her voice now. "Don't goad him into something he'll regret. Suzaku didn't know…"
"It doesn't matter!" I scream, not willing to look back at her as I continue my descent. "Hurry up and leave!"
"Nobody is going anywhere!" Suzaku shouts, widening his stance along the stairs. "Rei! Your path of destruction has to end!"
I smile at him.
"I agree. So go ahead. Shoot me."
His expression twists into an agonized grimace. "Rei…"
When the knight's hands start shaking around the gun, I know I've won this battle of wills.
"Well?" I taunt, smirking. "What are you waiting for?"
Pure satisfaction flows through me while Suzaku fights to steady his hands.
This image is familiar.
No. Not just familiar…
This is the same pose he held while pointing a gun at Lelouch on Kanime Island, except his eyes are different tonight.
Suzaku's stare then was full of wrath, indignation, and hopelessness.
Right now…the heartache brimming through his entire demeanor is almost enough to make me rethink everything.
Unfortunately, he's given me this look before. He's acted compassionately only to turn around and take what little hope I had left to salvage our broken friendship.
It's what I deserve. I know that, especially after everything I put Mina through. She needed my compassion and got none from any of us as a result. That's my sin to bear, and I don't want anyone to cut me any slack anymore, Suzaku least of all.
And yet here he is…hesitating to pull the trigger on the woman he knows is responsible for everyone's suffering.
…
I expected Lelouch to despise me once he regained his memories.
The reason? Well, aside from Suzaku, the exiled prince of Britannia is the least forgiving person I know.
His decision to love me beyond my sins is a blessing and a curse in equal measure. I don't know how much that decision is rooted in Lelouch's own will or the part of me that now influences his heart.
That's probably the bulk of what's made me so angry in the first place. Beyond the grief of discovering my brother's…Tomaru's death…the rage I feel is built on the foundation of chances I keep receiving without having deserved any of them, which is further fueled by the malicious entity whispering within me.
This aspect of Lelouch's heart was born out of his childhood traumas and given strength through Geass.
His shadow clings to me, begging for a justice he can't claim for himself.
I want to give him that. I've already taken so much.
Please... Kill him... Kill him for me, Rei.
That voice isn't truly Lelouch, but it's close enough to make my heart race.
Suzaku...
He stands below me, blabbering on about how he intends to kill me while waving that stupid gun around, but his resolve to pull the trigger on me is shaky at best. He wanted to protect me from Lelouch at one time. He angrily told me to leave the guy behind to save myself.
I didn't let him sway me. I made the choices I had to make, for better or worse.
Indecisiveness on my part…only led to more pain.
So if nothing else…
"Decide Suzaku," I command, determination singing through my soul as I draw near the barrel of his shaking gun.
He whimpers out a gasp when my footsteps halt in front of him.
"I… I just…"
"I've decided who I'm going to be in this world," I mutter lowly, folding my hand around the barrel to guide the firearm to my chest.
Suzaku's movements still as he stares up at me, holding back tears.
"Now it's your turn to do the same."
It dawns on me then that these words are from a vision I saw over a month ago.
How funny. How terribly ironic that I was so scared of finding myself in this moment, staring Suzaku down while he points a gun at me.
Now…I'm hoping he'll shoot. Perhaps the Geass Chain isn't as effective as we all have been led to believe. Sure. I've come back twice, but is there any real guarantee that I'll be able to keep coming back over and over?
At some point I'll run out of chances.
And as far as I'm concerned…Suzaku lost all his chances long ago.
He's just as destructive as I am.
The only difference between us is that he's too prideful to admit to what he truly is, a filthy, murderous traitor. He truly believes he can be something different. I thought that too once. I thought that a few hours ago even, but now…
What's the point? We are who we are.
If he wants to live a lie, fine. But I won't let him walk the fence anymore.
"You need to decide here and now who you're going to be," I growl, tightening my grip around the weapon pressed against my chest.
I've been shot there before…so there's nothing to fear.
"And I'm going to stand here and wait for you to decide."
"Well, I'm not a fan of this development."
Kitsune Yokai ruminates on the current situation unfolding at Kururugi Shrine from the comfort of a stretch limousine she has reserved for her personal use only. A second limousine, with Serena Tuskino, Lelouch Lamperouge, Rolo Lamperouge, and A.A. as passengers, follows close behind. Members of her security team are riding with them as well to ensure no one takes off the blindfolds they agreed to wear to safeguard her compound's location.
Her sullied clothes and fox mask rest on the seat across from her.
"Sailor Mars' suicidal tantrum could provide a good test," she thinks, tying the sash of the luxurious silk robe now adorning her body. "There's just one problem. If I push this too far too fast, Kururugi's body could give out. He's already in a weakened state thanks to our battle earlier."
Crossing her legs, she taps an index finger against her knee.
"I was hoping I would have more time to examine him and the girl housing the soul of Venus' Alternate, but the man is as reckless as I've heard. What a bothersome lot. This generation is completely hopeless."
She ponders over her options for another minute or so, then, releasing a sigh, she presses the black button above her head.
An instant later, a voice answers through an intercom.
"Yes, Lady Kitsune?"
"Check with Servant 2201 about the accommodations for our guests," she orders pleasantly, leaning back against her seat. "And have Servant 55 prepare Conference Room fifteen for a meeting tomorrow morning. By then, all the pieces for the game should be under my roof."
"Understood, milady. Anything else?"
"Yes. Have Servant 301 prepare a gift basket for Earl Asplund as an apology for breaking another one of his toys. He hates that."
"Yes ma'am. Will that be all?"
"Indeed. Thank you."
"My pleasure."
She clicks the button again to cut off the connection then bends over to open the mini fridge near her feet.
"Gonna need to be hydrated for this," she muses, humming a soft tune to herself as she withdraws a kiwi flavored vitamin water.
A ringtone breaks through the quiet the instant she grabs the water. Sighing lowly, the woman stretches her free hand across the seat to tap the 'Answer Call' icon on her screen.
"Yes?" she answers, unscrewing the cap of her drink after pressing the "Speaker" button.
"How are you?"
"Tired but good," she replies, smiling upon hearing the voice on the other end. "You?"
"It's been a suuuuuper boring day. Nothing but paperwork. If something interesting doesn't happen soon, I'm going to burst!"
Kitsune releases a soft laugh. "Well, you can always come home for a while. How long has it been since we last saw each other? Two months?"
"Three actually."
"Awwww. Do you miss me?"
"Terribly…but you know how it is." There's a dramatic sigh on the other end of the phone. "Can't leave my humans alone for too long."
"Yes, I know how much you love your humans," Kitsune agrees, taking a small sip of the water. "Don't overwork yourself on their behalf though. I need you to stay in tip top shape."
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you? You said you're tired. Did you have trouble rounding up Zero and the Sailor Scouts?"
"About as much as can be expected." Pausing, she takes another small sip of her drink. "Sailor Mars went rogue a little while ago. Gotta handle that…which is not going to be fun. She's a bit manic, that one."
"You'll manage. You're the best at what you do."
"As are you."
Suddenly, she hears shuffling followed by a groan of irritation.
"Honey, I have to go now. I'll call you once it's morning there."
"Alright. Talk to you then. Love you."
"Love you more, my little fox."
CLICK.
As soon as she hangs up, Kitsune guzzles most of the water in the bottle, releases a satisfied gasp, then carefully crosses her legs beneath her until she's sitting in a lotus position along the seat.
"Time to take care of business," she whispers, closing her eyes. Inhaling slowly, she attempts to narrow her focus…
Only to immediately lose it upon remembering something else she needs to handle first.
With one fierce movement, she presses the button above her head again.
"Yes, Lady Kitsune?"
"Have Servant 48 order a flower arrangement for my husband," she commands. "Make sure they overnight it to him with my usual note."
"Understood, Milady. Also, 2201 assured me that everything is ready for our guests."
"Excellent. Thank you, Servant 9."
"My pleasure."
With a final click of the intercom system, Kitsune resumes her lotus position along the seat and closes her eyes.
"Now then. Let's see how we can fix this."
"Decide Suzaku."
Rei, dressed in her Sailor Scout attire, halts less than a foot away from me and the gun I can't get a firm grip on regardless of the resolve I had upon arrival. Behind her, a blazing inferno licks at the structure of the shrine I called home nearly eight years ago.
Perhaps I should feel some semblance of rage at this action she's taken, but it's not as if this place holds anything positive for me anymore. This is where I committed my first act as a monstrous traitor.
This is also where I met the first and worst friend I've ever had.
If anything, watching Kururugi Shrine burn to the ground is cathartic.
There are worse things to lose in this life. I've experienced many of them over the years.
Looking into Rei's violet eyes, dull from having collected regret after regret, I know there's more at stake here than our individual goals to fix the damage we've caused others.
I should pull the trigger. I need to pull the trigger.
And yet I don't. I can't.
Because this is the first time I've seen Rei since the Christmas Ball.
That night didn't go well for many reasons. E.E. attacked Ashford Academy while a remnant of the Black Knights ransacked the Tokyo Settlement with Cecelia Ashford at the helm, murdering countless civilians at will. It was a night where I needed to be in a hundred places at once, but every move I made was the wrong one no matter what.
Even when the opportunity came to prevent a tragedy, I wasn't fast enough.
It isn't reasonable to take the blame for the actions Mina took against her mother or anything that followed, yet a part of me does.
She was kidnapped because A.A. pretended to be me.
If I had offered my help to her before then…
…
No.
I don't know if anything would have changed. It's pointless to speculate what can't be undone.
But that's just it, isn't it? Joey told me Mina shot Rei three times. One of those shots pierced her chest…and she choked on her own blood. He witnessed the whole thing from start to finish.
That was an irreversible action that should have had an irreversible consequence.
Even though Kara told me Rei was alive…even though I'd had others confirm her location and medical status…
The shock and relief of seeing her face to face has me questioning everything I set out to do tonight, especially because she's on a mission to dismantle everything around her.
And suddenly I…
…
This girl is my friend.
…
This girl is someone I have cared deeply about since we were children, and no matter how necessary it is to take action while I have the chance, my body won't listen to logic.
On the night of the Christmas Ball, she stood at the top of the ballroom's stairs. She had looked radiant that night, and I remember how fiercely jealous I'd been of Lelouch at that moment. Wanting Rei in that way was a shock to my system and guilt churned away at me for feeling any semblance of attraction to anyone since Euphie's death was, and still is, a constant ache in my chest. Those feelings toward another woman, no matter how fleeting, is a betrayal to her memory and the love we held for each other.
Staring at her now, I feel like I could vomit.
From her posture to the way she's baiting me...
It's just like Zero.
That alone should be enough for me to end her life. She's too far gone if her heart has truly bent to his will like this.
Even so I…
"I… I just…"
Rei stops in front of me, clasping her hand around the barrel of my gun.
"I've decided who I'm going to be in this world," she mutters lowly, pressing the metal against her chest. "Now it's your turn to do the same."
A part of me wants to ask her what decision she thinks she's made. To me it just looks like she wants me to put her out of her misery…
But a moment ago…she said the Sailor Scouts couldn't die.
So what would shooting Rei now achieve if she just…comes back?
It makes any action I take against her pointless…
"You need to decide here and now who you're going to be," she growls, tightening her grip around the gun. "And I'm going to stand here and wait for you to decide."
Everything I do…
Everything I try to achieve…
It's pointless in the end…
I just… I just…
"And once you've decided you'll show me and the world exactly who you are."
She's going to stand there and wait, she says.
All I can do is laugh.
"Rei…do you honestly believe there was ever a choice for me?"
The fire senshi loosens her grip at my question, giving me the exact opportunity I need to yank it away from her as something within my soul snaps clean in half.
I hereby command you to love me.
"There was never a choice for me!" I roar, watching as the sharp momentum of my movement makes Rei wobble on the stairs. "Not ever!"
Snapping her gaze to mine, she quickly regains her footing and backs up a step to wait out my next move, anticipating a physical retaliation out of me, but I can't move. Not yet.
So please... Don't hate yourself!
"When my father decided to keep the war going, he knew it was a losing battle," I tell her, pointing the gun at her again. "He would have used Lelouch as a bartering tool! He would have killed Nunnally!"
Confusion fills Rei's gaze.
Don't die, Suzaku! You got to live!
"Suzaku…what are you…"
"Shut up!" I scream, forcing myself to keep my finger off the trigger. "You've done enough talking for a lifetime! Maybe if you actually listened to anything but your own backwards logic, you'd learn something!"
With a grimace, the fire warrior starts to gather flames within her palms while taking a glance toward Lita. Clear irritation shines in her violent gaze when she notices that the thunder senshi hasn't moved a single inch.
"Lita…you need to…"
Live!
Raising my arm, I fire out a warning shot into the sky. Rei and Lita both flinch, but now their attention is squarely focused on me.
"We were just kids!" I exclaim, lowering my arm against my side. "What would you have done in my place if it was your father trying to kill your friends!? Tell me! Was I supposed to let Nunnally die!"
"Of course not," Rei fires back, her confusion shifting into fear. "But I don't understand what any of that has to do with…"
"EVERYTHING!" I point the gun at her head, angry that my hands are still shaking around the weapon. "I became a traitor that night! To my father! To all of Japan!"
Wallow in remorse when you have time for it.
"And?" she asks, stretching her arm out in front of Lita, wordlessly demanding she retreat. "You think that justifies everything else you've done!?"
"Yes! Because that decision ruined my entire life!"
You called out to me. You convinced me that I could...that I could find redemption for what I've done but...
Rei clicks her tongue and scoffs.
"So that's it then? You're justifying your sins by playing the victim?"
My free hand strikes out, clutching a fistful of the collar of her Sailor uniform. Caught off guard, the fire disappears from her palms and Lita tries to step forward to intervene, but I point the gun at her to prevent it while tugging Rei closer to me.
"You don't get it, Rei," I murmur fiercely, peering into her frightened gaze. "Going into my father's study with that knife in my hand sealed my fate. I gained results in the most disastrous way possible, but even now, even after all these years, I can't think of any other way I could have saved our friends. It was up to me to make the difference and there were no good choices. Sound familiar?"
How could you? How could you do this to me!?
"I…"
"That's what happened when you had to choose between your grandpa and Chad, right?" I ask, sneering out the words. "And did you not put Mina in that same position, knowing what that type of guilt would do to her!?"
Rei's eyes brighten with rage and suspicion.
"What did you do to Mina!?"
I wanted to die. That's all I wanted.
I know, Mina. I know.
"I helped her, unlike you!" I answer, shoving Rei away from me. She stumbles back a bit, but quickly gathers her footing.
"Suzaku! What did you do!? Where is she!?"
I merely laugh in her face.
"You know what's sad?" I ask, ignoring her questions. "After all this time, you can't seem to grasp that I have made every desperate attempt to live honorably, but those efforts don't mean anything to anyone, least of all you!"
And then, as if that weren't enough to make me long for death, the one person who understood my reasons is dead and gone thanks to the man I saved eight years ago.
He was supposed to be my best friend…and yet he didn't even bother to apologize. All he did was ask for more.
Please Suzaku. Can't we call a temporary truce? I need your help. Together we'll be able to save Nunnally.
"I've been fighting to be someone else, someone worthy," I explain, trying and failing to escape the mania crawling through my veins. "I have done everything I could to protect you and your friends throughout all of this because at one time we were friends! I cared about you! I wanted you to be safe too!"
"And now?" she questions, curling her hands into fists.
For a few seconds I hesitate, my heart shattering as the truth sings through my blood.
You're a MONSTER!
"I know who I am, Rei. I've always known."
Curling my fist, I bite down on my tongue and force myself to follow through with a punch to her stomach.
She gasps, eyes widening in obvious surprise and pain as her knees buckle, and I'm about to shoot a bullet through her skull when the sound of sparking electricity reaches my ears.
"I should have kept my eyes on Lita."
A whip of electricity hurls itself toward me, forcing me into a back flip as a means of escaping electrocution. Landing on the sidewalk in a crouch, I quickly raise my gun and aim towards Lita's legs, but Rei has already conjured up a ferocious flame while on her knees.
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
I leap to my right, narrowly avoiding the fire's heat blazing through the frigid winter air, but there's no time for me to gather my bearings. Another blast of flames sails toward me, forcing me to jump into the road.
"Thanks for the save, Jupiter!" she shouts to Lita, giving me a few precious seconds to catch my breath. "Don't worry! I won't let him catch me off guard again! Take Mercury and go! NOW!"
While still talking, the fire warrior storms down the stairs and waves her arms in the air to conjure another flurry of fire blasts from her palms. The first onslaught forces me to duck down as she narrows the gap between us. It's a distraction tactic meant to keep me on the defensive so she can strike me with a close-range blast.
To counter this, I back flip away from the second set of flames then run in an arc around her, avoiding any follow-up strikes.
"WOULD YOU HOLD STILL, YOU RAT!"
Bracing myself, I sidestep several wisps of heat until I'm directly behind her. She starts to pivot, giving me the clean shot I was waiting for.
"BANG!"
The bullet splits through the flames, hurling toward her face at a blindingly fast pace, but somehow Rei manages to raise her left arm to shield herself at the last possible second.
The bullet sinks into the back of her forearm just a few centimeters shy of her elbow. An eruption of crimson escapes from the wound, but the fire warrior isn't distracted by the wound. With a howl of furry, she doubles the speed of her attacks, making it nearly impossible to weave out of the way. The inferno chases each movement I take, eventually encircling me in a wide dome of blistering heat.
It's in this dome that I can truly feel the intensity of her rage and despair.
The Geass command to live whispers, but…
"You won't escape this!" Rei taunts, her tone far more vindictive than I've ever heard it. "Why don't I draw the flames in a little closer? Make you really feel the heat!"
The dome shrinks, making it even hotter, but this inferno isn't tearing at my skin and hair just yet. Rei must be controlling the temperature as well as the ferocity of this fire.
"Rei! That's enough!" Lita shouts from outside my prison. "Killing Suzaku isn't going to solve anything…"
"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!? GO!"
There's a rumbling of thunder, but it's difficult to see what's happening past the thickening dome. The fumes alone are choking me, making my eyes burn…
"I've got to find a way out...or else I…"
"This isn't going to bring Tomaru back to life!"
My eyes widen at that name.
"Tomaru… Tomaru Kawaguchi? Are they saying that kid…is Rei's brother?"
"You think I don't know that!" Rei cries, her silhouette more visible now that she's losing her concentration. "This isn't just about me getting vengeance anymore! Suzaku is our enemy now!"
"Don't you think we should keep him alive? He knows where Mina is!"
I look around the dome, trying to see if running through the flames might produce good results, but it shrinks further, and the fumes begin to rob me of breath.
Crackling electricity reaches my ears.
"Lita…don't do this right now! Stand down or so help me, I'll…"
"Or you'll what!? Think about this for five seconds..."
The dome shrinks once more. The potency of the fire's heat seeps into my skin, just waiting to tear at it, to incinerate me in one violent swoop.
Lelouch's voice screams out to me in that instant. He tells me to live. He tells me there's only one way out.
Raising my gun, I aim toward Rei's silhouette and pull the trigger.
"BANG! BANG!"
"GAH!"
The flames diminish, and I sink to my knees, inhaling fresh air with a type of greed I've never felt before in my life.
"REI!"
Gasping, I look toward the senshi and notice Rei's broken form on the ground as Lita kneels next to her, trying to examine the wounds. From here I can see one of the bullets slammed into her hip, but as for the other, I can't accurately place where it sank into her body. All I know is that the shots I fired weren't fatal.
My actions won't rid the world of Geass or Lelouch's ambition. His crusade can go on with or without Sailor Mars as a factor, regardless of her power, but…
The Sailor Scouts, an embodiment of chaos, have fallen thanks to their choices.
Lita glances at me, her emerald eyes conveying her shock and horror with the entire situation as I stumble back to my feet. She has attachments to both sides of the conflict. She's a Sailor Soldier that is loyal to her friends, but by the same token she's in love with a man who calls me his friend.
I'll have to thank Gino for giving me an advantage.
Stepping forward, I approach the two soldiers with my mind firmly set on eliminating them all.
I'm no longer in denial about who I am.
"Suzaku…" Lita shakes her head, begging with her eyes for me to retreat, to stay back when she inches her way in front of Rei's trembling body. Propped up on the stairs, I see Ami, battered and broken as her eyes start to flutter open.
"I'm sorry," I reply, aiming the gun at Lita first since she's the immediate threat in my way…
But I let down my guard too soon.
Without warning, Rei bolts into a sitting position with her left arm extended toward me and the sigil of Geass glowing in both of her eyes. Her blood levitates from the bullet wounds at an alarming speed, causing me to stumble backward.
"What the..."
"MARS BLOOD SNIPER!"
The crimson liquid surges forward, transforming into an arrow that morphs into a bright, sharp gust of flame.
My gun clatters to the ground…
Lelouch's command doesn't even get a chance to filter through my brain…
But something else moves my right arm up…
The attack connects against my palm, and it feels like every cell in my arm incinerates on contact, but…
Faint chuckles flutter inside my brain, and then, amidst the sheer physical agony whirling up my right arm and through my chest, I find the will to extend my left arm at Rei as guttural screams retch themselves from my throat.
And then, all at once the vicious fire rips itself out of my body through my left hand in a ferocious swirl of blue flames.
Astonishment and horror takes over Lita and Rei's expressions...
That's the last thing I see before everything goes dark.
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one. I'm hoping to end this story on chapter 130, so...one down and four more to go. Thank you again for reading everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Best wishes and God bless you all.
