Chapter 7: The School Festival Pt.1
September 21st
With a laptop in hand, a secretary walked through the halls of Area 11's Viceroy palace, her heels echoing with each step as she got closer and closer to her destination; Viceroy Clovis' Room. "My Lord." she called with a firm knock, "I bring urgent news."
"Enter." the Viceroy's voice boomed, upon her entry, he immediately asked, "What is it?"
Clovis was sat at a wood desk with piles of papers surrounding him; he wasn't used to this kind of work, as his specialty lies in party planning, however, ever since the rebels got away after what would be known as 'the Glasgow' incident, security in the Ghetto has been amped. And with this, came a lot of paperwork, and with paperwork, came an irritated Clovis.
"Sir, you have a call." the Secretary said while holding out the laptop.
"Can't you see I'm busy?"
"But it's urgent."
"Well, tell whoever's calling, to go fu-"
Without warning, the secretary opened the laptop, and placed it in front of the Prince. There, on screen, sat Charles Zi Britannia atop his throne, "Clovis." his voice boomed.
This immediately caused the Viceroy to sit up in shock as his secretary left the room, "F…father, it's so good to see you. What brings this occasion?"
"I heard you had a… rebel problem?"
"Oh… well, we did try to capture them last month with a Glasgow we set a tracker on… but I hardly see how that's important enough to take up your time…"
"You're right. I don't care what kind of pathetic rebellion Area Eleven is putting up," harsh, "However, what I'm calling you for is… something personal."
"Is it another kid?" Clovis jests
Charles stared at his son with disdain, clearly, his joke wasn't appreciated, luckily for him, the Emperor ignored it, and continued, "I'm requesting you to search for a specific individual, and upon finding them, I want you to keep them in your custody, out of sight from the public."
At that moment, General Bartley walked into the room with a yellow folder in hand, "And who is this individual?" Clovis asked his father, pretending not to see the General
"Her name, is C.C," that name caused Bartley's eyes to widen in shock; the same would've happened to Clovis, if he wasn't in front of his father, who continued with a description of the girl, before ending it off with, "I assume you'll get it done. Good day."
As soon as the call ended, Clovis slumped in his chair, "My Lord… your father… does he know?"
"It sure seems like it…" the Viceroy responded, "My father… he must already know she's in our custody. But how?"
"Perhaps… it's just a coincidence?" Bartley followed up, "There's no way he could've known. We have a very small team working on Code R, there's no way one of them would leak information."
"Maybe…" Clovis muttered, "Keep an even tighter lock on Code R. I don't know what my father will do to me once he finds out we've had her all this time, and quite frankly, I don't want to know. Now, leave. I need to think."
With that General Bartley left the room, but not before dropping off his yellow folder, which Clovis looked at intently, "C.C? Even my father's taken an interest in you… that's quite a feat…" he thought to himself, closing the folder and staring at a large painting of Lelouch, Nunally, and Marianne Vi Britannia. "But I can't think about that. Right now, we've got an insurgency to deal with, and I can't allow those filthy Elevens to trample my late brother and sister's legacy! I swear, I will avenge you, Lelouch, Nunally!"
…
….
…
"Good morning everyone!" Milly's voice rang throughout the school campus through an intercom, "The Ashford Academy School festival begins… now!"
Toward the front of the campus, the students set up dozens of stands, each being different in their own right; some served food like noodles or hot dogs, while others set up games where Britannian visitors could play and win prizes. Inside the school building, each classroom was adorned with different decorations, one was a haunted house, while another was a maid café… then, there was the classroom of Lelouch, Shirley, Rivalz, and Kallen…
"Where is he!?" Milly exclaimed while holding a turkey costume, "Where's Lelouch!?"
"Madam President," Shirley greeted the raging blonde, "Do we really have to dress up as turkeys for this?"
"No… not you… only Lelouch and Rivalz!"
The blue-haired boy in question then entered the classroom, this time, adorning a turkey onesie, "Why did I agree to this?" he thought with a downtrodden look
"Oh my god!" Milly fawned, "You look so adorable!"
This caused Rivalz to blush profusely, "Oh yeah… that's why…"
"Anyway," the President turned to Kallen, "Hey~ where's Lulu?"
The red head instinctively backed away, "Why're you asking me?"
"Well… you've gotten pretty close to him, huh? So I just assumed you'd know where he is~"
It was true; in the past month, Lelouch and Kallen had been hanging out a lot more often, and Milly noticed, because it wasn't like the cold-hearted Vice-President to be interested in anyone. So for him to get close with someone, they had to be special. "The answer to your question is no. I don't know where he is."
"Oh? So you don't deny you've been getting close? Uh oh, Shirley, you'd better make your move fast~" Milly teased
On the surface, it looked like Milly was just teasing Shirley again, however, Kallen knew better. The Blonde was trying to spark conflict, that way, she could coax the red head into revealing Lelouch's position. And of course, the first step of her plan worked, "No way!" the poor orange haired girl replied with a blush, "Kallen and Lelouch… they're not like that…" she turned to her friend, "Right?"
"Of course not!" Kallen replied with a deep blush.
"Oh yeah? What's this?" Milly asked while slowly encroaching on the blushing girls, "Don't tell me~ a love triangle?"
"No way!" the girls shouted in two different tones
This caused the President to laugh, "Oh yeah? Your reactions say otherwise. Don't worry, Kallen, you can keep your secrets… for now." she then left the classroom, leaving both flustered girls a blushing mess.
Meanwhile…
"And here we are," Naoto muttered to himself while staring at the gates of Ashford with a camera in hand, "Kallen would kill me if she found out what I'm about to do. But I can't help it! This'll be the first school festival she's ever been a part of, or at least… ever since Britannia invaded." he then stepped onto the campus with a smile, "Regardless, I can't let this memory pass by without being recorded! So… please forgive me, sis"
Little did he know, he was being watched from afar by a familiar raven-haired boy, who was currently managing the festivities from a rooftop, "What is he doing here?" Lelouch wondered with an irked expression, "God, he looks like such a creep, brown leather jacket, blue jeans, fake glasses and brown work boots, he just looks like a criminal! Not only that, but why're you holding the camera so close to your chest!?"
Suddenly, the boy's phone rang, causing him to answer it almost instantly, "Milly's currently questioning the science club for you," Kallen explained, "Whatever your plan is for them, it better be good."
Lelouch watched as Naoto traveled from stall to stall, taking pictures of each booth, and eating several concessions along the way, "Don't worry. The science club should be right on schedule with the task I've given them."
"Speaking of tasks, are you still going to be piloting the Ganymede?"
"For the five-meter pizza? Yeah, I'll be there."
"But I thought you were hiding?"
"Well, it's been my job for the past year, so I don't see why I would skimp out on it now, especially since we don't have a replacement. Why do you bring it up?"
"Um… no reason," Kallen lied. In truth, she always wanted to pilot the Ganymede, but because of her pretending to be sick in the last timeline, the opportunity was instead passed on to Suzaku. But, this time it was different, now, she just has to build up the courage to ask.
"Hey… Lelouch… if you don't mind… could I…"
A few seconds went by without a follow-up; for the first time, it seemed like the fiery red head was at a lost for words. Was it embarrassment, or something else? Nonetheless, upon realizing she wasn't ending her question anytime soon, Lelouch ended the conversation with, "If that's all, then goodbye."
Kallen's phone beeped, indicating that the other line had been disconnected, "Damn it Lelouch! I'll get you for this!" she muttered with a red face.
…
"I've finally found you!" shouted Milly from the balcony below Lelouch
The boy sighed while putting his phone away, "Congrats, except you're down there, and I'm up here."
"Don't worry. I've got a plan in mind!"
Lelouch watched as Milly ran back inside, prompting him to swiftly leave the roof, and dart through the halls, dodging multiple student displays, grabbing their attention in the process, "Damn, I'm already out of breath," he thought while coming to a stop in front of a haunted house.
"There you are!" the she-devil's voice rung out from behind him
"Already!?" Lelouch exclaimed as started running again, this time, he ducked inside the haunted house, where he already rigged an escape route. Inside, the walls were pitch black, making it almost impossible to navigate without the dim colored lights guiding you, but Lelouch managed to place an order for a secret door to be installed, that led straight into the students 'staff' room. There, the boy found one of their windows open with a rope tied to a desk, "Good, they've done the job perfectly," he thought while slowly climbing onto the windowsill.
"Where'd you go Lelouch~" Milly's voice called out from within the haunted house, it was clear that she hadn't found the door, and probably wasn't going to for a long time.
Once he successfully mounted the window, he slowly used the rope to descend onto the festival grounds, using one of the large trees as cover to make sure nobody saw him. After that, Lelouch made his way to a familiar tree that overlooked the settlement, there, he rested against its large trunk, with a cool breeze blowing across his forehead, calming him down. The breeze against the sweat on his forehead cooled him down significantly, allowing him to relax even more, then the bushes next to him shook, and out came Kallen Stadtfeld.
"Well, isn't this familiar?" he jests
Kallen took a seat next to Lelouch, "Don't give me that. You made this our official meeting spot, remember?"
The Prince chuckled slightly, "Yes. Though, I didn't ask you to come here, which means you've got something you want to ask me, right?"
The red head sat straight up, somehow, he already figured her out, "Listen, there's something I wanted to ask you… and it's kind of embarrassing, so… please don't laugh… but-"
Just before she could finish her sentence, a wild Milly Ashford jumped out from the bushes, "Aha! So you were hiding Lelouch!" she proclaimed, "Not only that, but… you were planning on confessing your love too! Oh, how this news would break poor Shirley's heart."
"Damn it, she must've followed me here!" Kallen thought while standing up
Meanwhile, Lelouch was already gone, leaving behind a comical smoke trail in his wake, "Aw… did I scare away your date?" the President added
With a blushing face, Kallen growled, "It's not like that!"
"Oh really~ cause it sure sounded like one~"
The red head quickly ran out from behind the tree, and began chasing after Lelouch, who she easily caught after a short sprint, grabbing his hand in the process, "C'mon, we're leaving!" she commanded while running at full speed, practically dragging the Prince. "Milly's just trying to get into my head!" Kallen thought while rounding a corner, scaring a group of students who were eating ice cream.
"Kallen… slow down!" Lelouch shouted
After hearing this, the girl ran into the nearby student council room, and locked the door, "We should be good… for now…" she muttered while Lelouch struggled to stand up.
"What… was that speed?" he thought while looking at the red head
"What are you looking at?" the girl in question snapped, her face still red with embarrassment.
"You do know Milly has a key to this room, right?"
"A… key?" Kallen questioned as she heard some faint voices approaching.
"Really? Kallen's protecting Lelouch?" the voice of Shirley asked
"Yep. I saw it with my own two eyes!" Milly's voice replied, "Don't worry, once we have the whole school hunting them down, they'll have no where left to run!"
How ominous. Regardless, Kallen knew what Milly was planning with those words; she was coming to the student council room to use the intercom and alert the entire campus for a manhunt. The red head's eyes darted around the room until they fell upon a locker, then she looked at Lelouch, "Hey, I've got a plan."
…
"Oh man…" Naoto thought while taking a seat on a bench, "I can't seem to find Kallen anywhere… does she know I'm here and is just avoiding me? No… that can't be!"
The Kozuki let out a heavy sigh, then a voice cut through his thoughts, "Why're you so sad?"
He turned around, and saw a blue-haired boy standing there with a big smile, "Ah… I'm not sad, it's just… I'm disappointed… you know?"
The boy took a seat next to him and asked, "Disappointed with what?"
"Well…" it was fine to tell him, right? So long as he only describes things vaguely, "You see, I came here for my sister, right? But no matter how much I look for her, I just can't seem to find her. I have a feeling she knows I'm here, and is avoiding me…"
"Oh really? That's so sad"
"Yeah. It's been a while since she's been to a school festival, so I thought I'd take some pictures with her to commemorate the moment…"
"She's a student here, right? What's her name? maybe I can help you find her"
Just before Naoto could respond, the voice of Milly Ashford cut through their conversation with, "Attention everyone! It's time for another manhunt!"
"Manhunt?"
"Today, our targets are Kallen Stadtfeld and Lelouch Lamprouge!"
"Kallen!? Wait… Lelouch!?"
"Upon their capture, you are to bring them to me at the turkey stand! As for the prize; if you're a part of a club, your club will gain a HUGE budget increase, AND you'll get a free turkey!" the President said, ending the announcement
"Don't worry about that," the blue-haired boy explained upon seeing Naoto's worried face, "This is a common occurrence, though… the Prez doesn't usually sick the entire school on Kallen too. I wonder what she did?"
"Lelouch goes here? Oh yeah, he was wearing a school uniform when we first met, but it was too dark for me to see the emblem…" Naoto thought, "There's only one way to know for sure"
"Sorry about that. Anyway, about your sister-"
Before the boy could finish his sentence, Naoto stood up abruptly and said, "I've got to go now, but thanks for the encouragement."
"Oh… sure, my name's Rivalz by the way!" the boy shouted, "And if you need any help, feel free to swing by the turkey stand!"
Naoto waved Rivalz goodbye as he ran past various stalls, "If Kallen and Lelouch are together, that must mean-"
…
Meanwhile…
"Oh? It seems the Vice-President's in trouble," a science club member commented, "Shall we lend him some aid?"
A bespectacled member pushed his glasses up with a smirk, "Yes, I believe we shall. Make preparations for plan Sigma!"
…
"Now that that's done," Milly said while letting the intercom go, "Let's join the hunt, Shirley!"
The orange haired girl nodded in agreement, and followed the President out the door. However, there were still two people present in the council room, and they were currently hiding in a locker, "This was a stupid idea!" Kallen thought while her face was inches away from Lelouch's.
She felt the boy's hot breath on her neck as he squirmed back, trying to make as much room as possible, "Why'd you stick us in here!?" he muttered
"Because…" Kallen moved a bit closer to him, "This was the only hiding spot in the room."
"We could've just ran!"
"You really just want to run for the rest of the day?" the girl asked with a quirked eyebrow
Lelouch shook his head, and said, "Well, now that they're gone, can you get the door?"
The red head moved her hand backwards toward the handle, however, stopped just before it, then she slammed her palm against the wall next to Lelouch's head, "Not yet. I still have something to ask you."
"Wh-what?" the Prince asked as his face flared red
It was a blush, the first she'd ever seen. "Listen here," she commanded with a smirk, "Can I pilot the Ganymede?"
This question caught Lelouch off-guard, "What?"
Kallen moved even closer to him, piling on more pressure, her chest firmly pressed against his, "I said: Can I pilot the Ganymede?"
"No… I heard you the first time… but-" his eyes began to dart back and forth between Kallen and the locker door, "Why do you want to pilot it?"
"Because I've always wanted to pilot a Knightmare"
The locker was heating up by the second, and Lelouch was feeling all of it; his brain was now running a million miles a second. He had to get out of there. "Open the locker," he commanded
"Not until I get my answer," the red head countered
"You'll get your answer after we get out!"
"I don't believe you"
"Well, you have to!"
Kallen's face slowly inched closer to Lelouch's, stopping only inches away from his lips, "No, I don't."
The Prince's breath hastened, gently caressing the red head's lips; the last time she kissed the boy, he didn't kiss back, but he didn't reject her either, and as tempting as it was to initiate one now, she knew it was too early. Suddenly, Kallen's phone rang, breaking the tension, "Gonna answer that?" Lelouch asked all too quickly.
Kallen took out her phone, and immediately panicked upon seeing the caller ID, "Naoto!? Why would he be calling at a time like this!? It must be important!" she thought while answering the phone, ignoring her hostage as she asked her brother, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong!? I should be asking you that question!" the older Kozuki quipped as a bunch of football players ran past him, "All of Ashford is looking for you and… Lelouch!"
"Oh no. This isn't good. With Naoto here, it's only a matter of time before Lelouch finds out… wait, what's Naoto doing here!?"
"Who is that?" the Prince asked
"Lelouch? So it really is you!" Naoto called after hearing the boy's voice
"Wait… Naoto?"
"Okay! We need to leave!" Kallen shouted before things could escalate, and tried to open the locker door. Hint; tried. "Oh great…" she muttered
"See? This is why this was a bad idea," Lelouch commented, "The locker's door's always been finicky, so unless we open it from the outside-"
"You guys are in a locker!?" Naoto exclaimed, cutting Lelouch off.
"Today's really not my day…" the red head thought before asking, "Naoto, do you mind coming to student council room? I'll give you directions"
"Are you sure I can go there? What if a student-"
"Everyone's too busy with the manhunt to notice, just get here… quick," Lelouch sighed heavily as Kallen her head on his shoulder, "Shut up." she said preemptively
"I didn't even say anything."
"You were going to say 'I told you so' in the most annoying tone possible."
"Would you please give me some directions!" Naoto shouted
…
…
…
"Thanks for that," Lelouch said while stepping out of the locker, sweat dripping down his brow.
"So it really is you." Naoto muttered
"What are you doing here?" Kallen asked while taking a seat in a nearby chair
"How rude! You didn't even thank me!"
"Answer the question."
"Fine." the older Kozuki took a seat across from Kallen and said, "I just wanted to take pictures of you during the festival."
"I thought you were joking about that!"
"No, I wasn't!"
The siblings then turned to Lelouch, who stood awkwardly while watching them bicker, "By the way, when were you gonna tell me you knew Lelouch?"
"Are you kidding me!? Do you know how many guys are named Lelouch around here?" Kallen fired back
"Yeah, I suppose you're right… speaking of which, have you found a Glasgow yet?"
"You really want to talk about that now!?" the Prince exclaimed while pointing at a camera, "You're lucky I can delete the footage later!"
Naoto looked at the camera, then back at Lelouch, and with a serious tone, said, "Let's go outside"
…
"I've found a single Glasgow, but it's described as heavily damaged and being sold at an… exorbitant price" Lelouch explained to the resistance leader once they were outside, "Today's the day I'm supposed to meet up with the seller, but as you can see… I'm kind of busy."
"What do you mean? Why don't you just leave?"
"I have to pilot the Ganymede"
"No way! That thing's here!?"
"Yep," Kallen cut in, "And I want to pilot it."
"I heard you the first time; now, as much as I'd love to hand over the reins to you, do you even know how to pilot a Knightmare?"
That's when Naoto joined in, "She's been in enough simulations to get the gist"
Upon hearing this, Lelouch sighed, "That's good and all, but how am I supposed to explain your sudden skill in Knightmare piloting?"
"Well, rumor has it, we've been hanging out a lot recently," Kallen added, "So, why don't you make something up like… you've been teaching me how to pilot in your spare time?"
"That could work… but I was hoping to use that rumor for something else…"
"Were you the one who started it!?"
"I might've given it a little shove to get it going…"
Naoto watched the two bicker back and forth with an exasperated expression, "Just what is going on!? Did Lelouch know about Kallen this whole time? And what's this rumor about?"
"By the way," the boy in questioned turned to the older Kozuki, "We're going to have a talk about your heritage later," Lelouch then pulled out his phone and dialed a number, "Is it ready yet? Good." he hung up and tossed Kallen the keys to the Knightmare while telling her the activation code, "Once you get into the Ganymede, wait until my signal. Naoto, I'll need you to help me deal with the President."
The older Kozuki smiled and said, "I don't know what you're planning, but it sounds like fun! And as long as I get a picture of my sis in that Knightmare, it'll all be worth it!"
Kallen hit her brother in the back of his head, "Keep your head on straight! If Lelouch gets caught, you-"
Suddenly, Naoto spoke in a firm tone, "Kallen. We're also going to have a serious conversation about this later."
This tone even scared Lelouch, reminding him once again just how cold-hearted the resistance leader could be. Nevertheless, he now had all the pieces to complete his plan.
AN: Lelouch mentioned that they used to create a 5-meter wide pizza for the festival, and they were only attempting the world record because Milly came up with the idea on impulse. Also, Kallen mentioned wanting to pilot the Ganymede in canon, but because of her sickly persona and Suzaku's presence, she couldn't.
This is being split into two parts because there's a lot to cover, and I know I'll miss some things if I just include it all in one chapter.
