Three years had passed. Three years that seemed to pass in an eye-blink. Was that down to being a child again, Lelouch wondered? Or was it because three years was an utterly inconsequential amount of time to a devil? Or perhaps it might have been because his first childhood had been filled with hardship, while this one was actually quite pleasant for the most part. Much of his days were filled with self-improvement via magical studies with Anastasia or with.. workouts, though at the very least such exertions were at the behest of Sairaorg. Any day spent with his little brother was a day spent well in his opinion, no matter how much the ordeal made him want to throw up.

Sairaorg was growing to be a monster and his Rook piece only made the difference more plain. Lelouch simply couldn't keep up anymore, though he was always willing to try.

There were also a few more occasions spent with his extended family. Rias had come out of her shell a great deal since he first met her. That shy little thing had been replaced with an excitable (and occasionally bratty) girl curious about anything and everything. But what endeared her to him more than anything else could, was the inexplicable love she had developed for Japan. He hadn't done anything to inspire it, at least as far as he was aware. He had thought, maybe it was her older brother? Sirzechs' Knight was the famed samurai Souji Okita. Perhaps in an idle moment he had told Rias of his homeland and she had been inspired.

As it turned out... Unfortunately not. He had brought a gift with him on one visit, some genuine, traditional Japanese garb straight from Japan. Her reaction had been everything he had hoped for, stars in her eyes as she took in the hand-woven fabric. An instant later she had grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off to essentially play dress-up. He had been more than happy to indulge her, but then she insisted the outfit she had dressed him in had to be red for some reason. Oddly specific. Maybe she had wanted it to match her hair? With a little magic he changed the colour, and then made some alterations to hers...

And then she had said a lot of things he didn't understand. He had been fairly certain she was play-acting but he had no idea of what. She had called him a dog demon at one point, ranting about someone named Kikyo and Kagome... Eventually he had to confess he had no idea what she was doing. Horrified, Rias had sat him down in front of a television and forced him to watch one of her favourite shows with her.

And thus, Lelouch was introduced to 'anime'. It turned out Rias had an affection for Japan, but one mostly mired in its depiction in her favourite Japanese cartoons. Well... Whatever made her happy, he supposed.

There was of course the issue of his arranged marriage to contend with. Lord Bael had been forthcoming with details after Lelouch's meeting with Zekram. It was... A delicate situation. There were positives and negatives for every option they could take going forward. The Bael heir's distaste for the Phenex's disrespect for his family had been brought up, used as a bargaining tactic. It gave them options. Greater bargaining power now that Herodotus knew how much the Phenex needed this arrangement more than the Bael did. But it also allowed cracks to form in the agreement, signs that it was not as sure a thing as previously believed. Would it fall through? Would Lelouch try to pass it off to his younger brother? He hadn't decided yet. And strangely enough, it had more or less become his decision.

Well, he had at least another year before a decision needed to be made. That would be his would-be betrothed Ravel's debut. A traditional event for declaring marriages arranged at an early age, the debut of the younger of the two. The fact that he had not even met her perhaps coloured his distaste for the idea. Britannian nobility would at least be allowed to meet before the arrangements were finalised but with devils' reticence for children being exposed to outsiders, that was not an option. He had met her older siblings at the debut of the Phenex's youngest son Riser. They were... Well, if he were being frank, they came across as a family of social climbers above all else. Which would be fine, but it brought back unpleasant memories for Lelouch of the vipers nest that was the Britannian court.

A problem for the future. He still had time.

His problem for the present was as it had been for the past near decade since his awakening in this new world. Discovering what it meant to be a devil, and discovering what this world had in store for him. And for the first, a fundamental facet of being a devil was the forging of contracts. He had gone along on a couple of his mother's. It had not been what he had expected. She had been summoned to a not especially legal tiger sanctuary for the sake of corralling the great cats after an escape attempt. And then on another, summoned by what could only be described as a cat lady who wanted her 'little beauties' to sing for her.

It... Was perhaps somewhat underwhelming for Lelouch. As someone who had engaged in a faustian bargain of his own once upon a time, this world's version seemed terribly mundane. Misla admitted those contracts were intentionally chosen because they were rather tame. That he shouldn't try to bite off more than he could chew and take not of who and why he was being requested. There were safeties built into the seals so they couldn't be used by someone who didn't genuinely want to form a contract so they were, outside of a few extreme outliers, considered safe. It was essentially a lecture of a mother wanting her son to be careful as he stepped out into the wider world.

It was a difficult thing for Lelouch to accept, that kind of genuine care for him. It was strange to have real parents. Marianne had pretended at that kind of affection, Charles had never bothered. Misla and Herodotus... They weren't pretending, and for as cold as Herodotus was at times, he did care in his own way. Instead it was Lelouch who had been pretending, and even then, he couldn't say for certain it was an act anymore.

Lelouch shook himself. It wasn't the time for such deep introspections! He was on holiday! Well, not really. But it was his first trip to this version of the human world and he knew he should savour it, no matter how much the sun was being a wretched annoyance. They were in Britain! Famous for its terrible weather! Then again, the biblical God was verifiably real here so maybe he was making a point.

Sara laughed at his irritable expression. "You'll get used to it, Lelouch. Before long you'll not even notice it except for feeling a little drowsy."

"Come on, Lulu! Let's go see the statues!" Sairaorg shouted excitedly.

"Ugh," Lelouch groaned, "What I'd give to adapt as well as he does."

"Would you like me to do something to boost your spirits, Master Lelouch?" Ana asked.

"No, thank you Ana," he demurred, "We're supposed to keep a low profile. No magic. I'll manage, I promise."

The low profile was to enjoy their travels in peace. The itinerary did not stop with just the Cardiff city centre. However, there was a secondary purpose to taking a trip to the human world personally and that was to distribute Lelouch's own contract seals. He didn't precisely need to do so personally. In fact, he had his familiar doing most of the work. But with wanting to visit the human world and needing to start fishing for contracts, it only made sense to kill multiple birds with a single stone.

"Woooow!" Sairaorg breathed, marvelling at a statue of the welsh dragon. "It's so tiny! It looked way scarier in the books."

"He's tinier now, being trapped in the Boosted Gear," Sara added, "Not that it makes him any less terrifying."

"Oi, check out the fuckin' beast in the lush clothes, like!"

"Me?"

Lelouch looked over out of the corner of his eye, seeing a group of young teens, around his age, moving up to crowd around his brother. Well. This had just turned into a very stupid situation.

"Aye, all the 'roids you been takin' turned you deaf? Where'd you get the flash duds?"

A puzzled Sairaorg looked back to his elder brother. "Lulu, what did that mean?"

"Ha! Fuckin' 'Lulu'!" one of the kids barked out a laugh, setting of a round of supporting laughter from his friends.

"He asked if the muscle-building drugs you take turned you deaf, and where you bought your nice clothes."

If anything, that only confused the young devil even more. "People take drugs for that?"

"They can, if they feel insecure about themselves but aren't willing to put in the work to do something about it."

The teens were still laughing about the nickname, meanwhile Sairaorg's face had turned to a puzzled frown before he turned to face the boys. "So they said I'm weak and lazy?"

"Ey mate!" one of the boys jabbed another to get his attention, "Baby beefcake's starting on you!"

"Watch out, mate! Fuckin' roid rage!"

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose. To think, somehow this version of Britain had a reputation of pompous poise. And yet the reality seemed to be a nation of people with a chip on their shoulder about nothing at all. Perhaps it was his bias talking. He had seen a variation on this society become a cesspool of social darwinism. That had been depressing, but this was depressing in an entirely different way. "Sairaorg, don't kill them. Ana, please make sure he doesn't kill them. Or maim them," he added as an afterthought.

"Ey what–?"

Ana barely had time to place the spell on Sairaorg to hamper his abilities before the tiny titan was leaping onto the lead punk, grabbing him by the shoulders and flipping to throw him into one of his friends. The situation only devolved into further tiny violence from there.

"Sara, make sure people don't remember this, please," for both the devils' and the humans' sake. No one's life would be made better by remembering this event took place.

His eyes scanned the passers-by as Sara got to work with a little hypnosis, letting them know they had forgotten something important at home, or they needed to do some shopping elsewhere. An entire crowd of people suddenly found they had better things to do than listen to the cries for mercy from the street punks getting the beating of their lives from a pint-sized titan. Lelouch wondered if he should perhaps talk his brother out of wearing muscle shirts everywhere. They probably weren't doing anything to prevent moments like this.

As his eyes drifted over the people wandering away, he froze.

Blue eyes.

Red hair.

It couldn't be! It literally couldn't be! He only caught a glimpse but–!

His feet were moving before he knew he wanted them to. Sara shouted after him but he wasn't listening. Already he was shoving his way through a crowd that had gotten in his way of trying to find that girl. As he pushed through he saw no sign of her. He ran along the street, looking down side streets in the hope he could catch up.

She was gone.

If she were even there to begin with.

"Lelouch!" Sara called after him again as she caught up to him. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw..." Saw what? A girl from his past life? Or just a girl with red hair and blue eyes that he wished was someone he knew. "Never mind. My mind playing tricks on me, I suppose."

The blonde sighed exasperatedly. "You shouldn't just run off like that, Lelouch. You're capable for your age but you never know who might be around the next corner."

"I know, you're right," he admitted. "Sorry. Let's just get back and we'll see where we are with distributing the contract seals. And... Make sure those kids don't die, I suppose," he yet again added as an afterthought.

-(-)-

Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland. The travels of the small group of devils continued on as much for sightseeing as for developing a client list. They very specifically didn't go south to Italy, not wanting to get anywhere even close to the Vatican. The entirety of Italy was unofficially defined as church territory much like the famous cities of sin were more often than not devil territory. Nor did they go north to Scandinavia. The Norse were somewhat protective of their lands. Not to the point of aggression but the group of devils would certainly have been secretly or not so secretly watched during their stay. Not something they were particularly interested in enduring even if they had nothing to hide.

The plan had initially been to keep moving east towards Russia but Anastasia had grown increasingly uncomfortable with the idea as they travelled nearer to her homeland. Eventually admitting the reason for her unease.

"I... They do not want me there. And if I'm honest, though I love my homeland, I cannot bear to return after what they did to my family. Could we go somewhere else? Please?"

She had never asked much of Lelouch. Nothing significant before this. And the pain behind her eyes was enough to convince him. It struck him then, how similar their pasts were. Family assaulted by their own countrymen, lost family. And yet when it filled his heart with hate, she only felt sorrow.

They left Europe the next day, teleporting to an entirely new continent full of sights and sounds that would be new to all of them. America.

Their first stop was of course the town of Salem which, despite its history of religious dogma defining their culture ended up a haven for the occult and the home of one of the continent's magician guilds. A perfect place to spread out some contract seals. Then west to Albany, New York. A strange choice of destination as far as most of the party were concerned. The state capital wasn't even the most significant city in its own state. But Lelouch had been insistent.

Why wouldn't he want to see what Pendragon looked like in this world?

He had laughed uproariously on seeing it, the grand spectacle that was his birthplace in another world was in this one an utterly ordinary city. Entirely unremarkable. He laughed so hard the others started to grow worried but he waved them off, saying he saw all he needed to see.

From there? Another great trek across a continent. First down to New York City, a much more appropriate view of at least one part of Washington's America. Lelouch had to say he appreciated this one more. The city was a hive of activity, a city of high life and low-lives. Though there was of course social scheming and skullduggery, of course every society had a little of that, Washington's America had a much greater focus on hard work as the path to success. It was a core principle to their way of life. The idea that if you work hard enough you could be successful no matter where you came from. In truth, it was a sentiment that seemed to span across the globe to some degree. Seeing it in action gave Lelouch a feeling of... Contentment. It seemed this world didn't need saving.

A realisation that was perhaps as bitter as sweet. For as much as humanity were mostly doing fine, he himself was still left without direction.

They carved a path westwards, making sure to leave a few (a lot) of the contract seals behind in the more devout regions. Religious dogma often led to isolated youth seeking to question their faith. After all, if God wouldn't listen to their devotion, perhaps the Devil would lend an ear?

Then came a fun part of their trip. Though not one Lelouch had expected.

"YEEEEEEeeeeee...!" The shout of a young boy gradually faded away as he plummeted down the side of the Grand Canyon. Or rather, ran down the side, only to continue running as he hit the bottom and then race back up the other side. "eeeeeEEEAAAAHHHHHH! LELOUCH! WE NEED TO GET ONE OF THESE FOR HOME! WE COULD DO SO MUCH TRAINING!"

"WE HAVE CANYONS AT HOME!" Lelouch shouted back.

"... AS BIG AS THIS ONE?!"

"BIGGER!"

Suddenly a huge section of the canyon was frozen over with a smooth surface of ice. "Master! Master! Look!" Ana exclaimed before hopping off of the edge to slide down her giant ice slide. "Weeeeeeheeeheeeeeeeee!"

Sara rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "Kids."

Lelouch's eyebrow raised. "Ana is ninety-nine years old."

"And I'm six hundred and twelve," Sara retorted. "You're all kids to me."

The Bael heir conceded the point by way of leaping off of the frozen cliff edge himself. "Woohoooooooo!"

Further west into Nevada. This part was not at all for the sake of drumming up customers. An effort was being made to spread seals but in truth, Nevada and California were mostly devil turf and the relationships there had been forged over decades. Lelouch wasn't likely to get much traction in those regions without some serious, dedicated effort on his part. No, mostly coming this far west was for sightseeing. It was hard to resist coming to a den of vice like Las Vegas.

Ana grabbed his arm and pointed. "Ooh! Master! I want to try the spinny thing with the lights!"

Some were more susceptible than others.

Armed with a fistful of quarters, the white-haired princess bounced toward the slot machine of her choice.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! Kshhhhhhh!

And won within three tries.

"Ana," Lelouch began with a light chiding tone, "Did you get a little help with that machine?"

"Of course not, Master!" Ana denied, "Viy can't help with machines."

… Oh, he thought. Well that was a relie–

"One of the wheel thingies was a little bit off so I jolted it with a little force spell!"

… Oh.

"We should leave," Sara said with sudden urgency, looking to the end of the aisle of slot machines to see suited men. "We should really leave."

Not men. Devils.

"Yes," Lelouch agreed immediately, realising they just accidentally messed with another devil's spot. "Come along, Ana."

"But! But the shiny!"

-(-)-

Having travelled from one side of Europe to the other, coast to coast across America, there was only one more place that Lelouch truly wanted to go.

Japan was... Beautiful. He had always thought so, despite the circumstances of his arrival. Despite being a prisoner, a political hostage. Its natural beauty, its traditions, the strong sense of duty, purpose and diligence instilled in its people. And then he had seen all of it torn down to turn it into a Britannian franchise with a veneer, a mocking parody, of the culture that had been crushed.

And here it stood. In a world so different from his own. Allowed to flourish. There had been hardships. It had been an unpleasant surprise that Japan had been an aggressor in its most recent war. Ironically a lesser villain of the Axis forces on the great stage of World War Two, fighting against the Allies and specifically the heroic USA, or so the narrative went. A disastrous war ended with weapons that conjured memories Lelouch would rather forget. And after it was over, Japan had returned to fierce isolationism.

And in doing so, it had thrived. It was not flawless. Every nation of this new world was flawed in its own unique way. But still, this Japan had held onto the beauty he had once fallen in love with. It had been allowed to grow and change on its own terms to be what it was now.

He would admit, they had stayed overlong in Japan. What had only been intended as a week stay had morphed into three. He knew they would have to return soon. There were celebrations he needed to be present for. The new Sitri heir's debut, and Rias' shortly thereafter.

And so he stepped into a store and walked up to the smiling clerk. "Excuse me, what anime would you recommend for a girl who really likes Inuyasha?"

-(-)-

A/N: Yes, I know in the show Pendragon was shown to be in California. But then Oz the Reflection had it be somewhere on the East Coast, apparently. I don't know which is supposed to be the current canon, nor is it particularly important. Though if the Britannian capital was on the west coast I feel like they'd have gone to Japan to lock that shit down way sooner than they did.

Also yes, Lelouch's opinion of the Japanese role is WW2 is more than a little biased.

Also also, if Lelouch believing the good ol' American dream of hard work as a path to success reads a little unrealistic nowadays, remember the current calendar year of this story is 2000.