It was the day the JSDF would be completing its temporary movement west toward Kyushu. Kallen was already there. The lion's share of their logistical support was already there. A majority of their KMFs were either there or already en route to their destinations. All necessary to be completed early, long before any battle would occur. By all indications of OSI, the Britannian intelligence service, the Chinese Federation were already moving. The only thing mildly slowing their progress was the practical concern of ships to cross the Korea Strait. They might have had an absurd number of minimum spec knightmare frames, but the true heart of warfare lay in logistics, not the strength or number of your forces. An army of one hundred thousand was an army of zero if they couldn't take the field.

Of course, the Chinese knew that as well as Cornelia did. Which was why the elder li Britannia sibling had her naval forces facing the would-be invaders to prevent the taking of Tsushima Island. If Lelouch was reading her intentions correctly, it was not an effort she intended to maintain in the long term. For the most part, Britannian doctrine was comparatively light on naval conflict. Historically, they had been among the best on the water but with the rise of knightmares, priorities shifted to the wonder machines that could take an entire nation so long as they could get on land. There were efforts to invest into naval warfare more recently due to other world powers developing their own knightmares. Naturally these efforts included or perhaps even prioritised the creation of the Portman knightmare frame, the first aquatic model. But the broad doctrine remained the same. Get knightmares on the ground and let them demolish everything in their way. Everything else, air superiority, naval superiority, lesser concerns so long as knightmares made it onto enemy territory.

In truth, it wasn't a faulty methodology. A little short-sighted, perhaps. After all, other powers were narrowing the gap when it came to the superiority of Britannian knightmares, especially Europe. But for now it remained true. In the hands of capable military commanders, Britannians had the distinct advantage in ground combat.

And in this specific case? The necessity of how the Chinese had to invade dramatically cut down their means of diminishing the Britannian advantage. The Chinese had numbers. The Gun Ru, the trash knightmare built in the thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. But numbers only mattered if they could get ashore. For Cornelia, her objective would be to stall the Chinese forces at sea long enough to secure coastal defenses. Once that was complete... The Chinese invasion would be stalled. Whether Cornelia would choose to whittle away at them until their threat would be nullified, or attempt a more ambitious and demonstrative end to the conflict, it would be difficult at best for the Chinese to turn it around.

Lelouch made a promise to himself. Once things were more open, once certain truths were revealed, he would need to thank Euphemia. While he had confidence he would be able to coordinate a capable defense himself with what local forces were available, a seasoned commander with significant forces at her disposal certainly saved him some headaches in the short term. How it would play out in the long term was another matter, but for now, he was grateful.

He was also grateful for... Well. It had gotten a little uncomfortable letting Nunnally sleep in his bed. An incredibly vivid dream where he did unforgivable things to her, it could have that effect. He couldn't bring himself to stop, however. Not when it was so important to her, when it brought her comfort in these distressing times, and soon he would be gone so out of guilt for leaving her alone there was very little he would refuse her anyway. But while it brought Nunnally comfort, he couldn't deny it helped him too. Every morning waking with her cuddled into him, he woke up with an inexplicable clarity. A determination and focus that let his analytical mind come to worthwhile conclusions before the day was even begun.

But once again, begin it must, much as he might wish otherwise. "Nunnally."

"Mm," his beautiful little sister murmured as her eyebrows furrowed, her lips creasing into a tiny frown. Waking her up was a little heartbreak he had gotten used to, just the little wonder of if today would be the day she would open her eyes. "Lelouch..." No. Not today. She smiled, taking his hand under the sheets, though frowned again. "Oh."

"It's time to get up."

"Does it have to be?" she asked plaintively. "Can't we stay here for a while longer?"

"I'm sorry, not today." He took her hand and raised it to his lips to kiss her knuckles before letting go and climbing out of bed. Moving to her side of the bed to prepare her chair.

She pulled herself toward it, letting him guide her into it.

They enjoyed a pleasant breakfast, though he could feel Nunnally's tension. Her anticipation and worry. "Nunnally." He took her hand again across the table. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

She struggled. He could see it on her face. Desperately wanting to believe it without hesitation, but having lived through enough pain to be unable. "Promise me you'll be safe?"

"I'll be careful," he answered. Not quite what she asked for.

"Mm."

Sayoko, ever the dutiful maid, helped Nunnally get ready for school while Lelouch got dressed.

They were ready to leave. He knelt down next to her chair for a private goodbye. "I'll be back soon. Things are going to change a lot. Remember, Milly will make sure to get you somewhere safe no matter what happens."

"I know."

Her hand reached out to him. He took it, guided it toward his cheek as he smiled. She smiled too, before she leaned toward him, closing the distance between them. He thought she would kiss his cheek.

She did not.

Her lips found his. Not an unfamiliar action. But it was the...Insistence. That was the word for it. It was a kiss, not a chaste peck between family members. Was it out of fear? Of desperation for him to come back safe? Lelouch wanted to think so, but the way her lips moved–

"Please come home safe, Lelouch."

"Uh... Of course I will," he promised, almost entirely on autopilot as he moved behind her to wheel her out of their rooms. What... What was...?

"SURPRISE!"

"Ah!" Lelouch yelped as several figures jumped out from behind tables in the dining hall. Milly, Shirley, Rivalz and much more sedately, Nina. "I'm definitely surprised. What's going on?"

"We're seeing you off, of course!" Milly announced, leaping forward to wrap him in a hug. "You're going to be gone, it's only right we say goodbye!"

"Only we didn't have any real plans so this is pretty much all you get," Rivalz added with a sigh and a helpless smile. "We don't even know where you're going! Not for anything bad, I hope?"

Bad? Well that was a matter of perspective. And in truth only Rivalz and Nina didn't know where he was going. In that context... Milly feeling the need to do something as he was leaving made sense. A big to-do as a distraction? That was definitely her. Lelouch expected Ashford would be host to three entirely different nonsense events while he was gone. "Just some family business to take care of."

The vague answer got a shrug from Rivalz. "Well, hurry back, yeah? We'll go for a drive or something! I heard about this great underground gam-mmmm," the carefree boy stopped short as Shirley glared at him, "mmmmmon restaurant we could try!"

Lelouch couldn't help but wear a somewhat sad smile. "I'm not sure I'll have a lot of time for 'gammon' when I get back." Not that he would get back. He wouldn't be coming back here. Not the same way. "Hey, Rivalz. Thanks for... Well for everything. Especially indulging my 'gammon' habit." So many things had been made easier thanks to that. And... It was nice, the times he could almost pretend his history hadn't happened. Pretend he was just another student hanging out and flouting the rules.

"Uh, wow, you're welcome I guess but now you're just making me worried!"

Lelouch understood that. Of course he did. But it was probably his last chance to say these things as just Lelouch Lamperouge so he wanted to say them. "Nina," he said as he took the anxious girl's hands, "Thank you for being the opposite of Milly. We really need that."

"Hey!"

"Um, I, thanks?" Nina asked.

He smiled. Turned toward his lovers. "So you're really seeing me off?"

"Well after that last comment maybe I don't want to!" Milly huffed. Lelouch waited, knowing she couldn't hold that position to save her life. "Or maybe I'll just hold a grudge while you're gone so you can pay me back, mister!"

Blonde and redhead followed him as he walked to the car. "Boris will take you where you need to go," Milly said as they stood at the car. "You'll be careful." It wasn't a request for a promise. It was a demand.

"As I can." He smiled, leaned toward Shirley and kissed her, before doing the same for Milly. "Look after Nunnally for me?"

"Of course," Shirley answered.

"We'll make sure you have nothing to worry about," Milly promised. "Let me know what the plan is and I'll get it done."

"Thank you." With a last look, he opened the car door and slipped inside.

He didn't see as Milly turned around to see a blue haired boy who had been watching the scene transpire. Nor her heavy sigh as she realised the difficult conversation she was about to have.

Neither did he see the green haired girl watching from the window of his bedroom as the car left the academy grounds. She fished out the bribe he had given her, a little plastic card. "To think he could actually talk me into this."

He wanted her to stay here. He had asked the maid and his paramours to look after his wheelchair bound little sister. But he had no expectations that they would be able to protect her. That job had been left to C.C. It was a dangerous task to leave to her. It was dangerous to leave any task to her that wasn't to her whims. It was unwise for him to trust her this much.

Though he disagreed.

She had invested in him. In his success. That was his observation. His reasoning. If she wanted him to succeed, his greatest vulnerability needed to be protected at all cost. At the very least, it was solid reasoning. She could scarcely imagine what would happen to Lelouch if he lost Nunnally. If he couldn't protect her, someone had to, and there was no one he would trust entirely with such a task. All he could do was trust C.C.'s motives being in line with what he wanted.

He was right, though he didn't know she would have done it regardless. Nor did she particularly need the bribe.

But, as she started dialling, she wouldn't pretend she'd do anything but take that bribe for all it was worth. "Hello, Pizza Hut? Yes, it's me again."

-(-)-

Mount Fuji. If the Britannians had their way, it would have been one of the most secure regions of Japan. The lifeblood of the empire. The single largest sakuradite mine in the entire world. The entire world guzzled the substance like fresh water, and yet it continued to flow out of the mountain without hindrance, interruption, or any sign that it would run out. Controlling that singular supply had ensured the trade dominance of the Britannian Empire, maintained it even as the wolves looked at the dominant power with hungry eyes.

So of course Britannia wanted it to be secure. But at the same time, it couldn't be. General Britannian policy when it came to the economy of a newly conquered Area was to allow the local economic powers to remain in control, even if they were now obeying Britannian masters. Thus, the sakuradite extraction, one of the more lucrative pillars of the Japanese economy, was left in the hands of the Japanese. Given the importance of it, Britannia might have wished otherwise, but the truth was sakuradite mining was a dangerous and labour-intensive job. Naturally that meant the 'superior' Britannians didn't want to lower themselves to manual labour. With Japanese in direct control of the operation and Japanese doing the actual work, there was no way any kind of robust security measures could be anything more than a joke.

And of course, that was how Britannian oversight of the operation was barely more than a quota for the Japanese overseers to fill. So long as the sakuradite flowed, there would be no interference. And for that lack of interference, those overseers remained almost as powerful as they had always been. Money and influence. Enough that Lelouch could guess more or less how the JLF was funded and supplied. Exactly who was dealing under the table remained a mystery, but it would be easy to find out.

The plan was for him and Ohgi to arrive separately. For one simple reason.

Lelouch smiled behind his mask as he approached the car intended to take him and Ohgi to the meeting. The driver stared at the blank black mask with skepticism. Like he was unsure how to proceed. "Can I help you?" Naturally. There was supposed to be a recognisable face alongside the masked man.

"An appropriate question. You can and you will," Lelouch answered as he pulled his mask aside to reveal his left eye, "Obey all my commands."

The response died on the driver's tongue. The words, "Yes sir," taking its place.

The mask moved back into place. "Excellent. Name the heads of the Six Houses of Kyoto."

"Taizo Kirihara. K-Kaguya Sumeragi."

Lelouch waited, expecting a few more names, but it seemed the man was finished speaking. "And the others?"

"I don't know."

... Hm. Information on a need to know basis. A simple driver only needed to know certain names to complete his duties.

Well. Kirihara wasn't especially surprising. Lelouch did know the man from before the invasion, if only briefly. Suddenly his judgments about the Six Houses hiding behind the Japanese felt hollow. If there was such a thing as a true believer, Kirihara was it. The man might have been a duplicitous snake, but his objectives were always consistent. He believed in the concept of Japan as a nation and would absolutely lay down his life for it. The old plutocrat simply knew there were better ways for him in particular to serve his ideals. For Lelouch, that may actually have been worse than if the Six Houses were just opportunists like he had believed. An opportunist could be swayed to see things his way. Kirihara would do everything in his power, up to and including dying, to undermine a Japan that was anything less than fully independent.

That other name though... "Kaguya Sumeragi. As in the niece of Genbu Kururugi?"

"Y..." The man seemed to struggle, just a little. And he had stuttered on giving her name before.".. Yes."

Was he resisting the geass? Was that even possible? No one else had done so. "Tell me where I can find her?"

Fear. Genuine fear. The placid acceptance of someone under the effects of a geass was momentarily gone. "I c-can't–!" But then as soon as it appeared, it was gone. "The Sumeragi estate on the western slope of Mount Fuji."

Lelouch smiled. Another few questions and a command to forget his presence entirely and he was ready to move forward with his intentions. He certainly had no intention of walking himself into check. A message sent to his second in command conveyed the new plan, and a message to their contact at the Six Houses rearranged the specific time of the meeting. So unfortunate when schedules and appointments suffer delays, but he was sure they would understand.

Well. They would understand. But that would only make them angrier about it.

What an utter lack of surprise it was to find the Sumeragi estate was an austere Japanese house. Not what Lelouch would consider a mansion, though it was certainly large, with sizeable grounds mostly dedicated to calming gardens and a pond with a deer scarer because of course. Well, he certainly wouldn't denigrate it for being so traditional.

With the informational assistance of his new, unwilling ally, Lelouch quickly found his way onto the grounds through the least guarded path. A quick geass of her personal security to obey, followed by an order to ignore and cover his presence and he almost casually slipped inside the house.

"I am not to be disturbed," Kaguya said as he entered the room. She didn't look at him. Instead she was entirely focused on a screen displaying another place entirely. What looked almost like a security feed. She sat seiza at her table, drinking tea from a simple, possibly antique, clay cup. A closer look at the screen suggested it was showing the place Lelouch was supposed to be. The place Ohgi would be taken to. They had knightmares in place. That was potentially a problem.

Her brow furrowed, the only indication she was displeased. "Is there an issue that requires my attention?" No anger, no shouting, no demands to be left alone. That spoke well of her. Her head turned slightly to bring her visitor into her sight–

Zero smiled behind his mask at her stunned expression. "Good afternoon, Lady Sumeragi," he said, hands behind his back. "You have a lovely home."

There was apprehension. Fear. Let alone having a masked stranger in her house who managed to bypass the entirety of her security, it was the masked stranger who her organisation were attempting to... 'negotiate' with. A negotiation that they now both knew would have been done while looking down the barrel of a knightmare-scale assault rifle. And yet, she mastered herself anyway, controlled that fear. "Thank you, my staff do excellent work maintaining it on my behalf. I hope they remain well?"

The question. Did he kill her people? Wondering for the safety of those under her, or wondering if she screamed would they arrive in time to help? Looking at her face, he believed it was the former. "I saw no reason to harm anyone. After all, this is a meeting with diplomatic aims. I wouldn't want to give a poor impression." A joke. Obviously coming here like this and putting her on the backest of back feet wouldn't endear her to him. On the other hand, she knew just as well he could clearly see how the Six Houses wanted to begin these talks.

"I appreciate your consideration. Shall we sit?"

As he agreed to her proposal, Lelouch grew more impressed by Kaguya with every passing second. He remembered the little girl at the Kururugi Shrine, the bratty one Suzaku complained about. The one he had briefly met. It seemed she, like him, had gone through significant growth and change, living through the invasion and occupation that followed. There were very few people even of her station who wouldn't panic in her current situation. Instead, she ensured the safety of her people, then rolled with the situation to begin talks, no matter how disadvantaged she was.

"Must you wear the mask?" she asked. "I would like to look my guest in the eye."

He chuckled. He couldn't help it. She would like to look him in the eye? She was asking for the most dangerous thing she could possibly do. The irony was amusing. Enough that he felt an... Unexpected temptation. To give her exactly what she wanted.

It would be so easy...

All it would take was taking off the mask and speaking two words. 'Obey me.' This girl who had so quickly managed to impress him would be his to command. It was an intrusive thought, one he wouldn't act on. He had said it himself to C.C. when she questioned him on the subject. A subordinate under geass was less useful than one who wasn't. No matter how appealing the thought was to his awakened primal instincts (and that was itself a realisation he would need to examine), he couldn't act on it. Not without destroying the very thing that caught his interest.

"Is something amusing?"

"A little," he admitted, though came up with something beyond the true reason on the spot. "You of course understand I can't simply reveal who I am just like that, else I wouldn't wear the mask at all, or perhaps I would have simply gone to the meeting with Kirihara."

"Kirihara?"

Feigning ignorance. "Please, Lady Sumeragi, I came right here, didn't I? Of course I already know the names of the Kyoto House leaders."

She swallowed. "Is that so?" Raising the cup to her lips, she took a careful sip. Buying time to think. "Yoshida must be in big trouble then."

Alright. That was a little less impressive a gambit, but Kaguya was much cuter for the attempt. "I assume that must be someone in charge of your security."

"So knowing the other leaders was a bluff."

"I'm afraid not." Or rather, it was, but even if he didn't know the other leaders, he had a list of suspects. People with the level of money and influence for even the possibility of them being considered the equal to two of the wealthiest Japanese families. No one with the name 'Yoshida' was on that list, or even near it. He had left her with no recourse. If she still believed he was bluffing, there was no way to know without knowing how he saw through her own gambit. She could give a real leader's name, but that would be such a risk it wasn't even worth considering. "May I ask what Lord Kirihara wished to discuss? Beyond finding my identity, of course."

"The Six Houses," she said, once again not confirming Kirihara's identity, clever girl, "wish to understand your intentions. As a Britannian, the JSDF must be an attempt to curry favour with the Japanese people. Though we aren't certain of the reason behind it. The Britannians never cared for such things in the past. Even so, your propaganda campaign has been unexpectedly effective."

"Peace is a popular message. That shouldn't be a surprise."

"Peace, yes. Subservience, no."

The masked Britannian hummed. "Even that shouldn't be a surprise, honestly. I'd argue phrasing it as subservience is unfair, but I can understand how people may only see it as such. But when I take power, I have no intention for the Japanese to live in subservience."

"When you take power."

He nodded. "The prevailing Britannian attitude, rather, the one enforced by the former emperor's dogma, is that native Britannians are inherently superior. If they weren't, someone would have stopped the rampant conquering by now. A flawed position, but one that brought us to where we are. Britannians forcing 'numbers' to live in squalor and bow and scrape to have their basic needs met, let alone for respect."

"And your position?"

"... Are you at all familiar with the history of the Roman Empire?" he asked.

"Some. Enough to know the Britannian Empire is largely modelled after it."

"In certain ways. Unfortunately the assumed superiority of native Britannians is what undermines the methods. Take for example, the Honourary Britannian system. The path to 'respectability' for the 'numbers' as they would describe it. On paper, an honourary Britannian has nearly all the same rights as a native Britannian. In practice, they are treated like scum by the Britannians, and traitors by the Japanese." Politely, he didn't bring up how the resistance efforts were a large part of the reason for that treatment. It would be hypocritical of him to do so. He had thought the same until the situation and thus his perspective was forcefully changed. "They suffer abuse from all as they seek the only real path they have toward a better life. That is, the only realistic one the common man has available. Not everyone has what it takes to give their very lives for the dream of glorious Japan."

"Mocking it is doing you no favours," Kaguya warned.

"Mocking it? Not at all." Well, maybe a little, but only a little. "Japan is beautiful. The land, the people, the history, the culture. I was lucky enough to experience it before the Britannians arrived in force. A desire to turn back the clock, to return to what once was, I can empathise with that desire. However, time does not move backwards no matter how much we might wish for it. Fighting to return to the past is a failing proposition from the start. All we can do is fight for a better future. A future that may take the shape of a more peaceful world."

"And that's what you claim to fight for."

"... This is not an Area," he said by way of explanation. "I cannot change the world. But at the least, I can change the empire. The world I envision, this is not Area Eleven. It is Japan. A part of the Britannian Empire. Its people, Japanese Britannians. Full citizens, full rights, treated with the respect, dignity, and given the same opportunities as any other Britannian. Victory in war won't achieve that, but I will achieve it all the same, and forge a peaceful, kinder world for all people of the empire."

The wheels were turning in Kaguya's mind. Attempting to decipher his words, find the lie in them, or perhaps she had already decided he was lying without considering otherwise. In which case she moved on to what his true motive was here. "And for that, you need support." And it appeared she had decided on her conclusion. "I see. That sounds like a beautiful dream. And I believe it may be worthwhile to continue negotiations that we might come to terms, perhaps even assist in your inevitable conflict with the viceroy."

... Ah. So that would be a 'no' on believing him. And perhaps an unintentional reveal of the Six Houses' true intentions. One of his theories had been proven correct. They thought he was a Britannian making a grab for power, and intended to use him as a means of undermining the local government, just like how they intended to do so with the JLF before the unfortunate incident. The plan hadn't changed. Merely shifted slightly.

However, "Conflict with the viceroy?" he asked as though surprised by the expectation, as though it wasn't a reasonable conclusion to come to. "Sorry, it seems you've taken a mistaken impression of the situation. Clovis already answers to me."

Her eyes widened, her attempt at maintaining her diplomatic composure broken. "What? Then... Then why even come to this meeting?"

"A good question." To figure out who they were and what they wanted. That was the real answer, but Lelouch was nothing if not an opportunist. He moved around the table, eschewing propriety as he knelt far closer to her, close enough to touch as he stared into her eyes. "As I said, the world I envision, I can't achieve it alone. I need people to believe in it just as I do. The JSDF, they believe in it, and they've been working hard to convince as many as they can that it can be made a reality. It won't be enough. I need people the world over to see my vision as something worth fighting for."

"You...! That can't...!" Ah. She was still a teenager. No amount of training in this would fully prepare her for the real thing. Not caught so off guard by the meeting, not forced to take the lead on something she was only supposed to observe, and not against someone who defied every single one of her expectations.

"It can," he insisted, taking her hands. "All it takes is for enough people to believe in it, to want a world like that."

She blushed. Of course she did. He had stepped far beyond the realms of propriety and given her no choice but to accept it. Worse, he had given her no choice but to believe his every word was sincere. He didn't need the Six Houses' resources. Not to fight Clovis. Not to fight the Chinese. Not even to fight the rest of the empire. In fact, because he 'knew all of them', he knew they promised to only be a hindrance to any of those objectives. The beating heart of the Japanese resistance and he had the knowledge to snuff it out in one stroke. The only thing they could provide was a voice that would be heard by the Japanese people. He would say he didn't especially need them for that either. The JSDF were doing fine and would only do better once the truth was revealed.

All the mysterious masked man had done was bestow upon a teenage girl a romantic dream of a peaceful future where their conflicts would be a thing of the past. Taking her hands and pleading with her to believe in that dream.

And Milly thought he was bad with women.

A single conversation wouldn't be enough to convince her. Well, it might have been. He wasn't inside her head and perhaps she was more naïve than he realised. But speaking to her here wasn't in hopes of winning her over immediately. If he wanted that, he would give her a command and be done with it. No, this was to make her consider. To wonder at a possible future of collaboration. Something hard for her to believe, but it would be impossible to dismiss it entirely. And soon, when he finally put all of his preparations into motion, she would have no choice but to believe it.

"It seems our time is up," he said, not releasing her hands as he gave a significant look to the screen that showed a car arriving at the arranged meeting place. Zero released the blushing maiden's hands to reach into his jacket and pull out a radio, clicking it on.

-(-)-

"I can't believe you did that," Ohgi said in a defeated tone of voice as he drove the mountain road west, sounding like he wanted the day to be over.

"What part of it seemed out of character?" Lelouch asked from the passenger's seat of the car.

The older man glanced at him, scoffing. "None of it, I guess. More that you were able to pull it off at all. Doing an end run around all of the Six Houses' security?" He shook his head. "Leaving me holding the bag though..."

"It wasn't the first time I've put you in danger and it won't be the last," Lelouch answered without a hint of shame. "And as you said, my part wasn't without risk either. And now we don't need to worry about interference from them."

The negotiations with Kirihara went less smoothly than with Kaguya. He was much more skeptical, more stubborn in his ambitions as Lelouch expected. The prince believed the only reason Ohgi was allowed to leave unmolested was because of the belief Lelouch didn't value Ohgi at all, and the correct conclusion that Kirihara would be ruined or dead if he actually decided to cross him.

Not that Lelouch believed that would stop the old relic for all that long. But it would stop him for now. And as a bonus, there was a new incentive for making the coming conflict an inspiring victory for the Japanese. If it inspired in a certain girl a sense of awe and devotion, that was just another reason to give it his all.

From the car, to the train, a six hour journey westward took the leaders of the JSDF across the western half of Honshu finally stopping at their destination. A port city preparing for war. Shimonoseki.