Looking over a status report from Euphemia regarding developments in Area Eleven, Schneizel absently had a rook retreat toward the center as his personal line began ringing with an expected number. Answering the call and bringing it up on his computer for a face-to-face, the White Prince was unsurprised to see a coldly furious Cornelia glaring at him.

Naturally, he favored her with a smile. "It's been a few days, beloved sister. I was beginning to worry about you."

"Give me one good reason not to go to Area Eleven."

"There's an ongoing investigation into our late brother's… less than honorable activities," he easily replied with a wave of the report, "and a softer touch than yours is required to handle the burgeoning social unrest in light of the assassination attempt on Euphemia two days ago."

Cornelia leaned closer to her screen and dropped a fist against something hard, likely a table. "That's all the more reason I need to go and protect her! These desert mongrels aren't a foe worthy of my personal attention; there's no sensible reason that I can't leave Darlton in charge of mopping up here!"

"Dear Cornelia, your precious brand of zealous tenacity is perhaps the last thing Euphemia needs right now."

"You're trying to keep me away from her," Cornelia accused. Accurately so, Schneizel would admit to himself, but sadly bereft of any consideration for surrounding context. "I will have an explanation, and if it isn't to my satisfaction…"

Oh, Cornelia… such a genius on the battlefield, but so quick to throw away those higher faculties when it came to Euphemia. I should have intervened in your relationship long ago, Schneizel lamented with a sigh. I owe the both of you an apology.

It would have to come later, though. There were too many players in the game, whose pieces and very presence could only be deduced by their effect on the wider board.

"Euphemia is a Princess and an adult in her own right," he chided her. "By constantly fighting her battles and solving her problems, you make it impossible to prove that she can do it on her own and you stunt her development. Staying under your umbrella isn't healthy for her… and I can see now that it isn't for you, either–"

"My sister isn't some pawn to be toyed with in your wretched games!"

Cornelia at a glance, Schneizel mused. Blessed with insight sharp enough to catch a glimpse of the bigger picture, but too controlled by her desperate sentimentality to make the fullest use of it.

"On the contrary," he replied with a truly genuine smile, "no other piece in Chess fits her so perfectly as the Pawn. I can imagine no higher compliment befitting her."

Schneizel could only imagine, from the look on Cornelia's face, how her vision must have subjectively turned blood red as she hung up on him.

Small, unassuming, and limited in capacity to act in the short term… but unrivaled in sheer potential to evolve and promote.

The Prime Minister glanced up at an old group portrait of the Knights of the Round from long ago, in particular at a black-haired beauty near the center in starkly plain clothes. It could be said that Britannia's blessing is the emergence of Queens from unexpected places.

"That's enough of that," he told himself as his gaze slid to a desktop framed photograph of the sixth treasured sibling that the Emperor's chronic apathy had stolen from him. "I've a great deal of work to do."

Clovis's smiling face stared up from behind glass, as if to encourage him in spite of their common failings.

On the other side of the world, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia growled in frustration. Damn Schneizel and his compulsive need to dance around the issue. That wretched island is infested with traitors and terrorists… and instead of properly committing to pest control, he sends a would-be negotiator. It's just common sense that no peace can last while two sides still remain standing.

Cornelia took a deep breath, and opened the flap of her command tent. "Darlton, have the supply lines caught up with us yet?!"

The massive scarred veteran snapped to a sharp salute, clipboard in hand. "Moments ago, Your Highness! We've already begun energy filler and ammunition resupply on the forward units!"

Crisp, straightforward efficiency; the way all matters of administration should be. If only a plague might befall the scheming bureaucrats and self-interested politicians of the world, her job would be so much easier.

…easier, but perhaps less satisfying for it. "Guilford."

"Your Highness!"

"Arrange an officers' meeting in half an hour," she ordered, "we're going over the assault plans."

"General," a young lady hollered as she ran into the central camp, panting heavily as she stopped before hurriedly saluting. "We're running out of salt and the caravan lost most of theirs!"

A salt shortage…? A nuisance, but not one without bereft of solutions. "Then we'll take a share of what we need from the capital city later," the Princess decided as she gave the girl a once-over. Marika Soresi… her brother's become quite infamous of late.

With a short sigh, Cornelia raised her voice to carry through the camp. "Pilot Soresi! Effective immediately, you're barred from the cockpit until further notice. Make yourself useful with the mess crew and stay there until I have more time to decide what to do with you."

Marika flinched like she'd been slapped in the face, but didn't argue. "Y-yes, Your Highness!"

You're a capable soldier, a worthy subordinate, and cute as a button to boot, Cornelia lamented as the former pilot ran off, doubtless struggling not to cry. But given what your brother tried to do, you're too much of a morale risk to be permitted on the front lines again. I'll see to it that you're transferred somewhere better suited for your current situation.

"You're quite beside yourself over the business in Area Eleven, aren't you?"

Cornelia imperiously cast her gaze upon the camp before her, not immediately answering the concerned whisper at her back until she was satisfied that all was as it should be. "Is it truly so obvious?"

"Not to most," Guilford replied. "Though it wouldn't surprise me if Darlton suspects. If I may be as bold as to say so, Your Highness, it's for the best that we settle your nerves before anyone else has a chance to see they're frayed."

"You wouldn't speak so far out of turn unless you had some ideas," she murmured before stepping back into her tent. "Out with them."

Guilford nodded, matching her pace step for step by instinct. "You're frustrated that the Prime Minister is keeping us on a leash as if we were but hounds, when Her Highness Euphemia may be in mortal peril as we speak. At the worst possible time, he's left you feeling powerless and ineffectual."

Cornelia sat herself on her cot, ruthlessly pushing away the nightmares that had haunted her sleep for eight years. Night after night, varying visions of the Emperor throwing away Euphemia to be slaughtered as he'd done to Lelouch and Nunnally after completely dismissing Lady Marianne's murder.

Nevermind the waking nightmare she constantly lived in; the vicious reality that anyone Cornelia loved could and would be ripped away from her at a moment's notice if she ever stepped out of line, if she weren't strong enough, if she delivered anything less than perfect results.

I haven't been able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time since that day without tranquilizers… not without Euphemia holding me, at any rate.

Cornelia violently suppressed an anxious twitch and kept an iron fisted control on her breathing, even as her heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest. "The problems are evident enough, Guilford." Am I truly so keyed up that it's a struggle to even think for myself?

Guilford closed his eyes, empathizing with his liege lady's suffering. "Remember that your influence extends beyond your reach, Your Highness. Though you and I may be physically restricted…"

"I can still act through an agent," Cornelia realized with a start. "A proxy."

At once, her mind began to clear as she latched onto the idea. Someone of low enough influence who won't threaten Euphie's position, but capable and trustworthy enough to carry out my will…

"Keep an eye on things around the camp for me, Guilford. I've another call to make."

"At once, Your Highness."

As Guilford left, Cornelia returned to her desktop video phone and input a far less frequently-used number…

You want her in our life, don't you?

Well, yeah–

And you want her to keep wanting us in her life, right?

No shit–

Then ask questions and get to know her.

"So, ah…" Ugh, small talk is Actual Hell. In a civilized society, I could do this over a keyboard with a fraction of the anxiety…

Do you have another strategy to be comforted when you're vulnerable without making yourself vulnerable?

JUST BECAUSE IT'S LOGICAL DOESN'T MAKE IT EASY! What if I say or ask something stupid?!

I can feel the grin stretching its way across Suzaku's metaphorical face in the back of my mind.

But what if you don't?

FUCK. YOU.

And fuck this dithering around, something something fifty-fifty odds… "You mentioned before that your dad wanted you to go into medicine instead of engineering, right? Is that too heavy to ask about?"

Elle practically double takes as I vomit out the question before it can drag anything from my gut up with it, before shaking off her surprise with a bittersweet smile. "No, I don't mind. The short version is that my dad was one of the primary engineers behind the Knightmare Frame, and when he saw how much bloodshed Britannia was spreading with it he… he kind of broke down inside. He didn't want me to get my hands dirty with weapons development like he did."

"So… what got you into engineering in the first place?"

Elle grins, a clear enough sign that I've moved into safer territory. "Because when I was a kid, I thought Sumiko Ozawa was just the coolest and I wanted to be like her. Imagine, a little Britannian girl taking a Japanese character as her role model – pretty out there, huh?"

A female character named Ozawa who created advanced technology…? "Are you talking about Kamen Rider?"

Elle positively lights up with a smile that would knock me on my ass if I weren't already sitting –

"You're a fan too?! This is so great, I haven't had anyone I could talk to about it outside of Lloyd and dad who don't really care and at most only humor me, how many of the series have you seen?! You agree with me that Decade's interruption by the invasion was an absolute travesty and that we should get Toei to bring it back, right?! What's your favorite design?! Do you like Showa better, or Heisei?! I loved that Heisei wasn't shy about getting experimental with their concepts and themes, but they had a bigger tendency to be hit-or-miss compared to the older shows–"

Elle blinks, like she only just realized that we're nose-to-nose and she's damn near pushed me on my back.

Wow, Suzaku mutters in our shared mind. I'd thought you were an otaku, but she really might give you a run for your money…

Elle swallows, and abashedly gives us back what personal space she can manage. "I am so, so sorry for totally geeking out like that…"

Like a ninja, I sneak an arm around Elle's waist and pull her close for a peck on the cheek. "Don't be, it's cute as hell."

Elle squeaks in surprise, staring at me for just long enough to tell me I fucked up without telling me I fucked up – before nuzzling up against me. "I'm not saying you have to take the initiative like that more often," she murmurs. "But I definitely don't think I'd complain if you did."

Is that an invitation?! I'm pretty sure that's an invitat-

"Hey, aren't you a Baron's daughter? You shouldn't lower yourself by associating with some wretched Number – and certainly not in public."

As one, Elle and I turn to look at the rude sonuvabitch that saw fit to stick his nose in our business, and our eyes fall on an unimpressed Britannian blonde guy about Suzaku's age who looks like an amateur bodybuilder. His ice cold gaze falls on Elle with disappointment, before sliding over to me with the disgust you'd normally reserve for dogshit on the bottom of your shoe.

"As the son of a Viscount," he continues while turning his eyes back on Elle, "I consider it my responsibility to remind you of the insult it presents to your heritage and to all Britannians."

My first thought is to tell him that we work for the Prime Minister and then ask who the hell he is. And possibly choke him out if he tries to swing on us.

My second thought is to stop and ask myself if just up and whaling on this guy is really the right thing to do, if that means taking away Elle's chance to do anything herself; sure I believe in stepping up for a gal's honor… but at the same time I don't want to overstep and, like, deny her agency or anything like that. Does it speak ill of me that I don't have an immediate understanding of what the right thing to do is? Am I just overthinking the hell out of this when it might be as simple as the guy just needing a punch in the mouth? What if–

"Hey! Have you even so much as a word I've said to you, Eleven?!"

"Oh shit, were you still talking dude?"

Elle busts out laughing at the sheer baffled indignation on Viscount Jr's face, backed up by a chorus of giggles echoing through the rest of the train car. Should have figured we'd have an audience…

Our little lordling clenches his fists and growls through his teeth, probably actively plotting my murder if that rage in his eyes is any clue. "Do you have a death wish?"

PfffftAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Suzaku resumed control over his body, almost as agitated by the unexpected encounter as by One cackling like a hyena in his mind, figuratively pounding his fists on the floor in absolute hysterics. "Forgive my crassness," he said with a slight nod as he stood to face his new adversary, "but I had expected the son of a Viscount to show better etiquette in the presence of a lady. For that reason, I didn't take you seriously at first."

The self-declared Viscount's son bristled –

"Viscounts are superior to Barons, you ignorant Eleven."

– and promptly decked Suzaku in the face as Elle gasped in outrage. "You're in no way better," she snapped. "Just wealthier, and probably without anyone in living memory having to work for it."

Suzaku, for his part, rolled easily with the impact, bending his joints to absorb it.

"Money is power… and the simple reality is that I, Chadwick Storm, have more than you. And for that reason, you will OBEY!"

To punctuate his decree, Chadwick swung at Elle with the back of his hand – only to grunt in unexpected pain as a steel grip clenched around his wrist like a vise.

"I let you have that first punch as an apology to anyone bothered by our public display earlier," Suzaku explained, "and because I might well have deserved it regardless."

As Chadwick grit his teeth and failed to wrench his captured hand out of Suzaku's vicious grip with increasingly desperate fervor, the Honorary Britannian turned to his lady friend. "Is there any particular way that you might prefer me to deal with this?"

Elle didn't answer at first, watching with wide eyes as Chadwick broke out in a furious sweat from trying to pull Suzaku's grip open with his free hand, and progressed to savagely beating Suzaku's wrist and arm with hammer blows that had no visible effect.

A moment later, her lips pursed as her expression turned annoyed again, and she leveled Suzaku with a pointer finger. "You shouldn't have just let him hit you like that; you need to learn to stand up yourself!"

Unlike literally anything the now openly-swearing Chadwick was trying to do, this drew a worried reaction from Suzaku. "Wait, what?"

"If anyone takes issue with us being affectionate to each other in public," she growled, "then in the first place they can go climb a tree as far as I'm concerned… but even putting that aside, you shouldn't just let people deck you like that."

"But–"

"I don't like seeing you hurt."

Suzaku deflated like a balloon, even as Chadwick fell to his knees panting in tightly-controlled agony from trying and failing to find a position that made his wrist lock any easier to bear.

"I'm sorry, Elle."

Elle folded her arms over her chest, not entirely impressed. "Are you sorry for letting him swing on you like that, or that I'm upset with you?"

Suzaku swallowed and looked away in a clear moment of soul-searching, before anxiously meeting her eyes like a scolded puppy. "...I apologize for being inconsiderate of your feelings when I let him hit me."

"...Eden," Elle huffed as her annoyance gave way to a lopsided grin. "I can't stay mad at you when you're that adorable. Here, let me take a look at you."

Suzaku leaned close for inspection as Elle poked and prodded at where he'd been hit, checking it over with a keen eye. "...looks like there might be a small bruise forming," she muttered with a sigh. "As a ranking officer, I'm not without responsibility if you get into trouble like this, you know?

Suzaku bowed his head in apology. "I'll do whatever it takes to make it right with you."

"There's no need to be so dramatic; you fought a guy for my honor, he hit you, and I helped you learn an important lesson about how others react when you don't take care of yourself. It's that simple!"

As Elle stepped back with a triumphant grin, hands on her hips, Suzaku couldn't help but smile adoringly back at her in return –

"LET GO OF ME, YOU BARBARIAN OAF!"

– only to stare in split-second confusion at the howling Chadwick still held captive in his grip, so wild-eyed it was a wonder he hadn't started trying to chew his way to freedom. In that short cognitive gap, One couldn't resist the chance to throw a little more shade. "...oh wow, you're still here? I thought you went home already."

"HOW DARE YOU TREAT THE SON OF A VISCOUNT WITH SUCH UTTER DISRESPECT?! MY FATHER WILL HEAR OF–!"

"Of his son who went begging daddy for help after he tried to interrupt a lower-ranking noble and some dumb Eleven and then faced consequences for it?" he asked with a Ryoma Nagare grin. "Gotta be real, dude, that's pretty weak."

At that moment, a grumpy old man in the train car spoke up. "Blondie swung first. And he swung on the lady, too."

"I saw the whole thing," a gossipy office lady agreed. "That Honorary did nothing wrong!"

For seemingly the first time, Chadwick remembered there was an audience as Suzaku finally released him. "You…"

Exhausted and barely able to get back up off his butt, Chadwick shakily aimed a pointer finger with his good hand at the rest of the folks in the train, not fully comprehending that the dozen or so cellphones pointed at him must have been recording or even streaming the scene. "All of you will pay for your role in this humiliation!"

His threat was undermined by the black-and-blue ribbon around his other wrist, that hand only just beginning to regain some color in it.

"You can't punish the entire internet," a cheekily-grinning schoolboy announced, confirming that he, at least, was filming and posting everything in front of him.

Chadwick stared uncomprehendingly at the cheery youth, before his last shred of sanity withered away to nothing amidst a storm of hate and indignant rage as he lunged for Suzaku! "THERE'S NO WAY A MERE ELEVEN CAN DO THIS TO THE LIKES OF –"

Suzaku parried the oncoming fist with casual ease, before dropping Chadwick like a sack of bricks with a haymaker.

"Sure there is," Suzaku explained with a sigh as he adjusted his jacket while the other passengers burst into applause, "and it's simple: I'm stronger than you."

"Not just stronger, but nobler, cooler… and all-around better if you ask me!"

Suzaku and Elle turned in surprise to the approaching voice, finding the schoolboy who'd been recording the whole thing. "That's an Ashford Academy uniform," Elle observed.

"You're…?" We're not repeating what happened with Princess Euphemia, Suzaku swore as he let the word trail off in the form of a question.

"Rivalz Cardemonde," the youth introduced himself. "Secretary of the Ashford Academy Student Council!"

"It's a pleasure," Suzaku said with a nod, offering a handshake that apparently made Rivalz's day.

"Man, the Prez is just gonna flip when she hears about this! If that transfer student coming in's even half the guy you are, then we're looking at one heck of a school year!"

Suzaku just offered a blank smile, not showing for a moment his doubts of whether it was still even worth going to Ashford. With Lelouch so hellbent on tearing the world apart, being in the same space as him will probably just make things awkward for Nunnally and the rest of his friends. I still can't exactly just rat him out to my superiors in good conscience, no matter how much it would probably make my life easier…

…actually, I don't know that there's anything meaningful we can do to Lelouch without it coming back around and impacting Nunnally.

It took Suzaku everything he had not to scowl at the realization, knowing the inexplicable red flags it would have raised. He probably doesn't even realize she's effectively his hostage…

"Our stop is coming up," he said instead as an escape route from the conversation, thankful that it was actually the case. "Be safe out there, and have a nice rest of your day."

For her part, Elle only barely registered anything said after Rivalz mentioned his President as mortification rapidly took hold of her. It's only a matter of time until Milly sees that whole thing with me and Suzaku having a moment right there in public, and then I just know she's gonna tease the heck out of me as soon as she gets the chance…!

As the train rolled to a stop and the doors slid open, Elle quickly took hold of Suzaku's hand and all but dragged him out onto the platform. "Please don't let my embarrassment show on my face," she whispered to herself.

Passing by a newspaper display with headlines touting the publicized trial of terrorists caught at Shinjuku, Elle caught a glance of her reflection in the protective glass – beet red and desperate not to meet anyone's eyes. So much for that idea!

"So–" Come on brain, give me a distraction…! "Oh, have you had any ideas for that homework Princess Euphemia gave you yesterday? I know things have been kind of hectic the last twelve hours, but…"

"Um, no, you're – you're fine, it's fine, I ah…"

Surprised to hear Suzaku so utterly and absolutely tongue-tied behind her, Elle slowed her pace enough to turn and check on him – and almost performed a double take when he looked at least as awkward as she felt. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Suzaku frowned, looking almost anywhere but at her. "...you'll laugh at me."

"Suzaku, I promise I'm not going to laugh at you or anything right after I spent last night taking care of you."

"...I've never held a girl's hand like this before."

Elle immediately slapped her free hand over her mouth to keep from breaking her promise. That's the most adorable thing I've ever heard! It just makes me want to cuddle and squee all over him...!

"It's awkward and embarrassing and I hate it," Suzaku continued, "but I also don't want to let go because it feels like there's no coming back from it if I do."

…well, that sure went from dork to dark in a hurry.

Elle considered her options for a moment, in part using the time to suppress any further lingering giddiness her boy might have taken the wrong way. "Just to clarify, it's not that you hate holding my hand; you hate not knowing how to deal with the unexpected feelings you get from holding my hand, right?"

Suzaku had barely even begun to answer before Elle silenced him with a short kiss. "It's alright, Suzakkun. Anytime you need some time to try and get your head on straight, just let me know and I'll always be ready to help – even if that's by giving you some space. …of course," she added with a wink before locking her arm around his, "right now I'd rather do what I can to make you more comfortable with me, and exposure plays a certain role in that."

A hurricane of emotions blew across Suzaku's face, before settling on what Elle took to be a mix of love and… shame? "You're entirely too good for me."

Her answer for that idea, compliment be damned, was to dig an elbow into his side. "Can you let me be the judge of that?"

For the better part of a city block walking arm-in-arm to work, the question hung in awkward silence until Suzaku let out a sigh. "I can… I'll try."

"I'll take it," Elle said with an affectionate bump against him. "So, about that homework?"

"Right… I've got a few ideas for a basic framework," Suzaku began with a nod. "Although I'm not committing to much until we get back to base; I need to review the orders she gave me to make sure I stay in my mandate."

"Yeah, I can't imagine being stupid enough to take material that sensitive out of a secure facility."

The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence until they made it to Camelot's temporary base in the warehouse district, passing by a moving van being loaded up with various equipment. And with the back doors of the mobile operations van wide open, Cecile had no trouble at all spotting her subordinates' approach. Her gaze narrowed for an instant on Suzaku's and Elle's linked arms, but she kept any further reaction in the back of her mind as they separated to meet her with a smart salute.

"Warrant Officer Suzaku Kururugi, reporting for duty!"

"Second Lieutenant Lubie, also reporting!"

"Excellent timing you two," Cecile called out with a smile. "We're packing up to change locations, and we needed more bodies–"

"Oh Marieeeeeel~! I've found the most delightful thing to show you~!"

Elle cringed at the use of her full given name, even as she turned to face the cheerfully approaching Lloyd. "Can't it wait? I'd have figured the sooner we get done moving, the sooner we can start the next round of trials..."

"Oh this won't take long," Lloyd promised as he dangled his phone in front of her, a video already playing on its in-built web browser.

"You shouldn't have just let him hit you like that; you need to learn to stand up yourself!"

Elle watched in slowly-dawning dread as her and Suzaku's private moment from earlier in the train played out on the screen, with a view counter in the bottom corner already in the thousands.

It was with the precision of a researcher and the experience of an older brother that Lloyd yanked his phone out of range from Elle's mortified lunge, before continuing to dance and sidestep as she kept trying to reach for it.

"GIMME THAT!"

"Oh," Lloyd crowed, "to see you mentoring your junior officer like this – kids just grow up so quickly these days!"

"LLOOOOOYD!"