"You are going to be joining us for the Halloween party next week. You have no choice in the matter."

When Milly had said that to Lelouch, he immediately tried to weasel his way out of attending. "Sorry, madame prez, but I won't be able to make it. I already have other plans."

"Oh, no you don't! I've asked Rivalz, Suzaku, Nunnally, and even Sayoko about your schedule, and you don't have anything planned for Halloween!" She put a finger into his face. "Either, you've got something that you don't want anyone to know about, and that has its own set of problems attached, or you are trying to get out of joining!"

As usual, Milly had managed to at least keep up with Lelouch. Thankfully, he had an out. "Trust me, it's nothing so dramatic. I simply have a game planned for that day. I just don't want anyone to worry about me. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it though; I'm not able to change the date without some consequences."

Milly didn't back down though, instead only growing a smirk. Suddenly, Lelouch had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. "Oh, sweet, naive, stupid Lelouch. You might have to pay for not going to do some gambling, but you'll pay even more so if you miss the Halloween party. You want to know why?"

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

Milly let her mouth form into a Cheshire grin. She moved out of the way revealing an upset, pouting Nunnally. Said sister opened her mouth, and in the most heart wrenching voice she could muster, she said, "Big brother, I was looking forward to seeing you dress up with the rest of the student council. I was really proud of the costume I had prepared; I wanted to get your opinion on it..."

The ex-prince simply scowled at the student council president and whispered, "You are a cruel, cruel woman."

"Love you too, Lulu!"


Five Days Till the Party

Lelouch didn't like being coerced by Milly, much less for a costume party. But, he disliked disappointing his sister more so. So, here he was, going to the mall with Rivalz in an attempt to find a costume. And no, he didn't invite Rivalz, but rather the other way around. Whether Rivalz was put up to this by Milly or just decided to personal pick out a costume for Lelouch, the terrorist didn't know.

Truthfully, he didn't have anything specific planned for that day, just some minor Black Knight related chores he wanted to get done. In hindsight though, he should be able to have most of them finished the day before; he just would need to give his subordinates a day off to rest. Halloween seemed like a good day to allow that. At the very least, it'd likely result in Kallen being forced to attend this with him; call him petty if you want, but he refused to be the only miserable person there.

He idly wondered what everyone would wear. While he expected Milly and Rivalz to pick out those ridiculous "anime" characters – why they so readily partook in "Eleven" culture, Rivalz especially, Lelouch didn't know, but he wished they stayed away from the absurd mecha shows. 'Evangelion isn't even the slightest bit realistic in terms of actual Knightmare technology.'

He was pulled from his thoughts by Rivalz's voice, and his spot by Rivalz's hand. "Trust me, I'll help you pick out the best costume imaginable! It'll fit you perfectly! In fact, I've already got a couple ideas!"

Lelouch sighed. "Rivalz, that isn't nearly as reassuring as you think it is."

"What?! I'm great at picking out costumes and whatnot! Milly even praised me on it! If you really don't like it that much, then you'll only have to wear it once! Besides, I have a feeling that Nunnally will find it appropriate."

Lelouch just glared at him. "Milly told you to play the 'Nunnally Card' if I wasn't agreeable, didn't she?"

"See, this is why I think you're the smartest person I know! It's like you can read my mind, or something!"


Somewhere in China, an albino with weird eyes sneezed.


"Fine, I'll play along. For Nunnally's sake."

Rivalz patted Lelouch on the back. "See? That's the spirit! And trust me, I've put a ton more thought into your costume than mine!"

Lelouch became curious. "What is your costume, Rivalz?"

"Oh, it's this character from this anime that takes the role of protective big brot-"

"You know what," Lelouch stopped him, "never mind. I'd rather it be a surprise." 'At least then I'll only have to be cursed with the knowledge for the one party instead of every day that passes beforehand.'

Rivalz looked a bit confused at the violet-eyed boy. Eventually, he shrugged. "If you say so. I never thought you'd be interested in not spoiling yourself for an anime character though."

Lelouch held his nose, doing his best to not have an aneurysm. "Just... let's get to the costume isle and be done with this."

"I take it back. I refuse to do this."

The reason for Lelouch's outburst? Simple. The only costumes that Rivalz considering were of a variety of the characters that Lelouch had a distaste for. It was an area specifically of costumes specifically for mecha anime characters. He even thinks that he sees a few Zero costumes in there along with them – Lelouch was really conflicted about seeing that.

"Oh, c'mon Lelouch! It's not that bad! I mean, the worst costumes on here are probably just the Darling in the Franxx ones. NO ONE wants to wear that trash anime!"

"Rivalz, that isn't the issue! The issue here is that I refuse to wear any of these! I also find it highly ignorant that they placed Zero in with these one dimensional character stereotypes!"

"Oh, lighten up, Lelouch! I wasn't going to make you wear any of these!"

Lelouch calmed down, and was slightly confused at where Rivalz was going with this. "You're... not?"

Rivalz waved Lelouch's worries away. "Oh, no way! I wouldn't want to put you with all these posers! And I agree, Zero definitely deserves to be distinguished from the rest of these posers! Or, at least most of them."

Lelouch had forgotten just how much of a Zero fanboy Rivalz was. In all honesty, he was surprised that Rivalz wasn't going as some variation of the masked terrorist. Lelouch wasn't sure whether he should be offended by that or not.

But... "Then, why are we here? Unless you are wearing one of these costumes and just forgot something?"

Rivalz laughed. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. Although, I did get the basis for my costume from here." Lelouch balked. "Don't worry, I only got the basic materials from here; I sewed the rest myself!"

Lelouch exhaled. That was good to hear. He was glad to know that Rivalz hadn't completely fallen prey to the curs – "Wait, you can sew?"

The blue-haired boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I once heard that girls dig when a guy can cook and sew, so I taught myself so I could impress madame prez! I actually helped with her costume a good amount! Oh, she's going to look..." Rivalz thankfully cut himself off before he could make Lelouch any more uncomfortable, and shook his head.

Meanwhile, Lelouch began to think that this entire situation was nothing more than a dream. Surely such absurd coincidences happening all at once were not possible in reality.

Lelouch shook his head. "Just... why are we here?"

"Oh, right. We're getting Kallen's costume!"

Lelouch groaned in response. "Of course..." Well, at least he got his wish about not being the only miserable person there.

"What? I think Kallen would look great in a mecha pilot suit! Fits her, somehow."

Lelouch had to suppress a snort at that. Despite his annoyance at the genre that he disliked the most, hearing Rivalz so accurately describe Kallen so unknowingly had tickled Lelouch. Rivalz had no idea just how right he was.

Still, he didn't like being here any longer than necessary. And since he doubted that the surprise excuse wouldn't work a second time... "Rivalz."

Said boy turned to look at Lelouch. "What's up?"

"Worry about Kallen's costume later; we're here to get mine," Lelouch said with a familiar shade of red in his eye.

"Alright. Sure," Came Rivalz slightly mechanical reply.

Was it wasteful to use a Geass command on such a pointless, fruitless activity? Yes. Did Lelouch particularly care? Not in the slightest.

Lelouch let out a sigh of relief as Rivalz guided him to another section of the store. 'Why is this more difficult for me than planning a coup d'état? And why is Zero being lumped in with the rest of these idiots?! There giving me a bad name!'


October 31st

Lelouch felt out of place among the rest of the school, most of which decided to dress up for Halloween. Because Rivalz – apparently – knew how to sew, when they bought all that components for his costume from the mall, Rivalz only got the general, basic features: an ankle-length, black tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat, cinched black pants, brownish black boots, and red gloves. From what Lelouch was told, there were also some gold accents on the waistcoat, and there was also a white domino mask along with it, but Rivalz insisted it was a surprise.

So the fact that everyone was now staring at him with either awe and reverence, or with jealousy and rage made him wonder just who the heck he had dressed up as.

"Man, that costume fits you even more than I thought it would!" Rivalz's comment and presence should have surprised the vice president, but it just got on his nerves. When Lelouch turned around, he was finally able to see Rivalz's costume. Evidently, his lack of recognition was apparent to Rivalz, since he said, "Oh, I'm Kamina from Gurren Lagann! I told you my costume was from the mecha section!"

Lelouch did at least recognize the same, both of the character and the show. If he was honest, quite possibly the only aspect that Rivalz shared with the character was the blue hair. In every other way, including personality and physique, the resemblance was minimal. "Oh. I suppose I can see some similarities." Lelouch wasn't going to share all that though, nor was he going to go off on him for choosing an insult to KMF pilots, however tempted he might be.

"Glad you agree!" Rivalz was never a good judge of character. He did, however, notice Lelouch's confusion about his own costume. "Hey, do you not even know who you're dressed up as?"

Lelouch's eye twitched. Through gritted teeth he said, "No Rivalz, evidently I did not know who I was dressing up as."

Rivalz looked like he wanted to say something else, but his attention was promptly stolen by something behind the ex-royal. When Lelouch turned around, He saw Milly in costume, and was slightly surprised; she was wearing a particularly modest outfit. Granted, it was modest for her standards, which meant it was still pretty provocative. The character she dressed up as, he was at least able to recognize, much to his own chagrin.

Cynthia from the Pokémon series.

The blonde stood in front of Lelouch and with an outstretched hand declared, "Our eyes met, so we have to battle! ...in the costume contest! Don't try to fight, Lulu! You're fate has already been sealed!"

Perhaps if Lelouch knew who he was cosplaying, he would have responded in kind, hoping that would satisfy her. Because he didn't, all he did was animatedly reply, "For the last time, Milly, I'm only doing this for Nunnally's sake. I refuse to be coerced into anything further!"

Instead of any other sensible reaction, Milly's smile simply grew. "Oh please, you really think that I would be so short sighted? When I told her it would be a good way to see if you were willing to put in the effort into this, she agreed instantly! She really wants to see you do your best on this!"

Lelouch found his fist shaking. "I reiterate. You are a cruel, cruel woman, Milly Ashford."

"Love you too, Lelouch!"

"Hey," Rivalz felt a bit threatened, "I'm right here!"


Lelouch saw many more costumes as he walked through the school. He found many people as the typical vampires, zombies, and witches, but also a surprising amount as generic Knightmare Frames and even a couple Zero's. He felt an odd sense of pride at seeing so many people acknowledge and respect him, even is it was out of fear.

'Who knows,' he thought jokingly, 'maybe one day one million people will be wearing Zero costumes. Eh, who am I kidding; like that's ever going to happen.'

While there were a few others in those dreadful mecha pilot outfits, they were very few and far between. He was grateful for that, since he's heard that Neon Genesis Evangelion had been gaining traction with the student body somehow. Why so many indoctrinated by Britannia's social Darwinism were so readily accepting Japanese animation, he had no clue, but with a clearer head he was able to realize that it was a step in the right direction.

All those feelings of gratitude vanished upon meeting with Kallen, who was dressed in a NGE pilot outfit.

Before he could even comment on it, she venomously said, "Don't say a word." Lelouch was actually surprised that Kallen's timid facade had been broken like this.

He sighed and scowled, "Oh, trust me, I'm in the same boat you are. If I had my way, I wouldn't even be here, but Milly is using Nunnally to force me here."

"Hey, at least that harpy doesn't have any blackmail on you! That's what she's using for me!"

Lelouch had a hunch what specifically Milly had on Kallen. Once he had a moment to speak, he asked, "So, who are you supposed to be dressed as? I recognize NGE, but I'd thought Rivalz would have you wear..."

"What, Rei's outfit?" He nodded at her assessment – given her demeanor here at Ashford, he imagined that people would think she was more like the albino clone than the other pilot. Yet...

"So why you are in Asuka's plugsuit?"

Sure enough, the red queen was wearing the face of the tsundere trope's red outfit. With what Lelouch knew, it was the obvious pick, with how fiery both were. Both were also some of the best pilots. But, given what Rivalz, and even Milly to an extent, knew, she was more reserved and fit Rei's character more so.

Kallen's only response was, "I have no clue! Something about 'paying homage' to my predecessor? Whatever that means!"

Lelouch nodded, equally confused. Unfortunately, as Lelouch was going to more, his eyes unconsciously drifted to how skin tight the costume was – he was still a teenager and had hormones raging through his veins. Once he was aware of what he was doing, he immediately stopped and turned away, but not before memories of the shower incident found their way into his mind. 'Why must I suffer this fate?!'

Thankfully, Kallen didn't notice, instead looking over his own costume. "So, who is this supposed to be? Kinda gives me similar vibes to Zero..."

Lelouch wasn't sure how to take that, since he didn't know who the character was. So he only shrugged. "I wish I knew. Rivalz was the one to pick it out."

She groaned empathizing, "You too?!"


After a brief moment where he and Kallen mutually vented about their grievances with Rivalz choosing their costumes for them, they eventually made their ways to the gymnasium, since that was where the costume contest was taking place. He noticed several people gawking at him and Kallen, most of which were of the opposite gender looking upon them. Was his costume really that charming, or was it just him that was the novelty?

Before he got a good answer, he crossed paths with someone wanted to talk with him. Lelouch couldn't notice who it was immediately with his costume, but after a closer inspection and the figure saying, "Lelouch, it's me," he was able to deduce who it was.

"Suzaku?"

"Yep!" He looked completely different. Either he was wearing a fantastic wig, or he had died his hair ginger for this outfit. He even was wearing dull gold contacts. Beyond that, he was wearing a casual blueish grey and white long sleeve baseball jersey T-shirt. Over top the shirt was a dull brown Japanese school uniform. Lelouch was actually very surprised that he didn't see anyone really look down on the Japanese boy, although that could just be that no one had really seen him. What took Lelouch a moment to notice – and he really should have noticed this first – was the fact that Suzaku had two foam scimitars strapped on his back: one a pure white with an elegant black pommel reaching into it, and a black one with red hexagons with a matching white pommel.

Kallen looked with slight suspicion towards her fellow Eleven. While Lelouch could see that she was wondering if what he was doing was respectful toward the culture, he could swear that she's also trying to place where the costume is from.

Lelouch decided to take the plunge for her. "So, Suzaku, I didn't think you were one for such a generic outfit. Care to explain who you're cosplaying as?"

Suzaku rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous laughter. "Well, you see, I didn't know what to dress up as, so I got some advice from Rivalz." Both the other two sighed in disappointment, but Suzaku didn't notice, so he kept going. "He said that my overbearing desire to do good and help others reminded him of a character from a visual novel. I think he said his name was Shirou Emiya?" Evidently, Kallen recognized the name, and let out an appropriate noise.

Lelouch felt the name was vaguely familiar. "I'm not fully familiar with that character. Do you know what his main trait is?"

"Swords."

"Swords?"

"Swords. And apparently helping people, often to the point of his active detriment."

Ah, now Lelouch could see the resemblance.


Finally at the gymnasium, He found his remaining friends all waiting on the sidelines for him. While Nina had a frankly unsettling Euphemia costume, Shirley went much more classic. The red head had decided to go as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She looked really good in it, and it was clear that she put a lot of work into it. Lelouch had complimented the costume, but weirdly, she seemed to be red in the face from the moment he walked in. When he asked if she had a cold, she simply replied that it was his costume. She took a moment to get some water to help calm herself.

"My costume must look pretty bad if it made Shirley was so embarrassed just by looking at it."

Kallen, Suzaku, and Rivalz since he was walking by, all had varying degrees of disbelief on their faces. Suzaku's was mixed with amusement, Kallen's was marred by a bit of red herself, and Rivalz's had audibly said, "Are you kidding me, Lelouch? How can someone so smart be so dense?"

"What do you mean?"

All three facepalmed.

It was around that time that Milly finally came out on stage. Taking a microphone, she extravagantly declared, "Welcome one and all to the Ashford Academy Costume Contest!" A round of applause came from the room, with a few catcalls thrown in the mix.

Once the chaos died down, she continued, less loud but just as forceful, "As you all know, today is Halloween! And because of that fact, because you all liked the Crossdresser's Ball last year-" a shiver went down Lelouch's spine at the mention "-we the student council had unanimously decided to hold this costume contest!"

No one in the student council that declined was given an opportunity to deny that part.

"And just like last year, there will be a special surprise for the winner! Unlike last year though, we'll be leaving that a surprise for the participants!" She punctuated her sentence with a wink.

Of course, this brought back the catcalls, and some murmurs of dissatisfaction had joined them this time. When Lelouch looked to his side, he saw Rivalz practically drooling at his crush. Lelouch only sighed, both at the antics of his friend, and in resignation at being put up with Milly's hijinks.

Here's hoping that this all is worth it in the end.


"This is asinine."

Lelouch was beyond frustrated with, perhaps, the most important aspect of this contest: you had to act out a scene of the character you're dressing up as. It was the main reason that only those that were cosplaying specific characters were allowed to compete. That had gone over well with the students. Although, considering what all Milly has done in the past, this wasn't actually all that unexpected.

Still, though, the problem of not knowing who he was dressing up as was present.

"Aw, c'mon Lelouch!" Rivalz was attempting to help boost his best bud's confidence. "You'll do great out there! I'm sure Nunnally will be happy with you just trying your best!"

He grit his teeth. "One day, playing the Nunnally card with stop working for you and Milly."

Rivalz grinned, "But that day is not today!"

Lelouch had a couple of minutes before it was his turn, so he decided that, in order to make Nunnally happy, he'll... 'ugh' do his best impersonating the character. He took a deep breath and asked Rivalz, "Who is the character I'm playing? What's his motives, his goal?"

Rivalz, for perhaps the first time in his life, wore Milly's Cheshire grin perfectly. "Ya see, Lelouch, Milly told me something the other day. She said, 'If Lelouch knows too much about his character, then he'll win without any difficulty.' And I agree with her."

Lelouch felt a pit form in his stomach. "Where are you going with this?"

Rivalz shrugged, "I'm going to only give the basic description of your character, and only by comparing him to another!"

"Rivalz, I hope you die in a fire."

Said boy just giggled. "Don't worry! You'll do fine! Even with just knowing that your character claims to be an ally of justice, but is hated by high society like Zero, I'm sure you'll at least get second place!"

"That's not enough to put together a-!"

"And next up," Milly's voice came through the speakers, "we have the school's favorite: Lelouch Lamperouge!"

He simply glared at Rivalz, who returned it with a pair of thumbs up.

'When this is over, if I ever have to see a costume again, it'll be too soon.'

When he stepped out from behind the curtain, a storm of applause welcomed him. He looked to his left to see Milly hosting the event, and past her was a committee of each of the club presidents judging. He looked onward to see the rest of the school watching him, waiting for his performance.

"Alright, Lelouch! Whenever you're ready! Steal their hearts!" As Milly said this, she wink towards him. He realized that she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't tell exactly what.

He took a deep breath, knowing that he only had one chance. He got that hint from Rivalz about this character being close to Zero in terms of persona, and apparently 'stealing hearts' was also a clue. Putting those two together, Lelouch had a basic outline of what he presumed the character to be.

'Here goes nothing.'

The spotlights shone on him, and he could feel the Zero persona surface. With an outstretched hand and narrowed eyes, he looked upon the audience.

Before pointing toward Milly.

"Milly Ashford, a practitioner of a great many sins! Your vanity, lust, and pride have turned this place of education into your own personal playground!" As he spoke, Lelouch didn't miss that acid jazz music had joined his display of acting – this was planned from the beginning. He couldn't help but shake his head affectionately before continuing with a flare of his hands.

"Your numerous 'festivals' and 'parties' are nothing more than an attempt to gain from others what you haven't been handed on a silver platter! As such, you will be judged, forced to face all the crimes you have performed on others! I will make you confess to your crimes and steal your heart!

"But don't look too much for me in advance. You'll never see it coming."

With a swish of his coat, and a turn on his feet, the audience went ballistic; clapping, whistling, everything. His performance even made Lelouch smirk a bit. It felt like how he portrayed Zero with all the ups that came with it, but with very few of the downs; this was entirely for fun, and he appreciated that.

Once he made his way back to the backstage, he found Rivalz, Suzaku, Kallen, Shirley, and even Nina all looking at him with veritable awe. Rivalz, Suzaku, and Shirley were all slack-jawed, yet still smiling at him. "Man, if this is what happens when you actually apply yourself," Suzaku mused, "then you'd be able to do a lot in the world!"

Rivalz enthusiastically agreed. "Ditto! Like, WOW! That was incredible! I knew it would be, and you didn't even know everything about your character! I mean, I know that Milly gave you a bit of a hint, but still!"

Kallen seemed deep in thought about something, but pulled herself out to respond. "Yeah, I agree. I didn't do that great of an impression, but you did something that good with just basic knowledge. That's really impressive."

Lelouch just sighed and turned to Rivalz, "Did you tell them who I was before you told me?"

Said blue-haired boy chuckled nervously, "Well, I kinda needed to so they could appreciate your performance."

"Well then? Who was I up there?"

"Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts!" The reverence that Rivalz had on his face said that he held this character in very high regards. Then he went on a rant describing the character. "He's from the game Persona 5, and uses his special power of Persona to steal the evil desires of corrupt people in his society! It's a really cool game where the power of friendship actually-!"

Thankfully, Milly's voice cut him off. "Alright, everyone, it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for!" Everyone began making their way towards the back of the stage so they could easily enter should they be called on. "For our third place contestant we have..!

"Nina Einstein with her absolutely stunning Euphemia li Britannia costume!" This was a surprise to most of the student council when Nina went up on stage. Simply put, somehow, despite her own shyness, she managed to craft a nearly perfect Euphie, both in costume and in acting. But again, it was so perfect, that it actually caused everyone to feel a bit unnerved by her, and the applause from the audience now reflected that; it felt like everyone was walking on eggshells, and that was probably the reason she only got third.

While Nina took her place on stage, Milly continued, "For our runner up, and the one who nearly managed to snag first, I guarantee you'll be surprised, folks! It's Suzaku Kururugi!" The applause this time was much less nervous, but Suzaku definitely was. The look of surprise on his face as he took his place on stage really hammered home just how little thought of his performance. And somehow that, combined with him truly giving his best for fun, managed to really sell his acting.

The lights dimmed, showing only Milly. The audience waited with baited breath, but deep down, everyone knew who the winner was.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the winner that you've all been waiting for! He's managed to steal not only my heart, but all yours as well! Give it up for Lelouch Lamperouge!"

Once more the audience erupted with cheers. As Lelouch walked up to his spot, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and smirk. 'So, all of this was set up from the beginning, huh? Gotta say, I respect the work Rivalz and Milly put in, if nothing else.'

As he gave a bow to the student body, he and many others realized that something was missing...

The prize.

Milly, however, did not forget. "And since we have out winner, I think it's time we gave him the prize! Nunnally!"

When he heard his sister's name being called out, Lelouch looked unconsciously. What he saw was awe inspiring. His sister was wearing a beautiful pink dress, and had her hair braided in a very specific way, with flowers and other accessories along with it.

She was dressed up as Repunzel. Specifically, the version from the movie Tangled. Nunnally had loved that movie, even if she couldn't see it. She had once told him that she empathized and sometimes felt like she was the one trapped in a gilded cage. Only in her case, the cage followed her. It broke his heart. But when she said that being with him had helped her feel free, that being with her friends made her feel free, it broke his heart in the other way.

And the fact that she looked so much like that version of the character despite never seeing her, it almost brought tears to his eyes to think about.

As she approached him, she held out a coupon that said 'get-out-of-school-free-card' and a camera and said, "I'm so glad that you were the one I managed to give this to, Lelouch. I knew that you'd put your effort into this."

Lelouch let out a bittersweet laugh. "Nunnally, for you, I'd do anything."

They both smiled at each other, taking in the moment.

Yeah. Maybe this was worth it after all.

"Time for a commemorative photo!" Milly shouted, taking the camera and moving in front of the siblings.

The picture that was taken was both argued against keeping for many months, and treasured for many, many years.


AN

So, just so you guys know, I wrote all of this in the span of 48 hours, and most of it in 12. I experienced stress unlike any other known to mankind. I wish I had some up with the idea and motivation for this one shot a week ago, where I'd be able to accurately give each character a costume and a moment.

As for why I decided to make this? Well, you can blame Death Battle for reigniting my love for Persona right before Halloween. Combine all that with unprecedented amounts of motivation to write on my part, and you've got this fic! (FYI, as a fan of both, I feel both Giorno and Joker were both handled fairly)

If anyone want so use the comparisons that I've given here (Lelouch = Joker; Suzaku = Shirou; Kallen = Asuka), feel free to use them for inspiration!

Hope you all enjoyed this little Halloween oneshot! Hope you all have a good day!