The impromptu date at the amusement park seemed like it had gone reasonably okay.

"...okay nothing," Elle snarked to herself in the bathroom mirror, head in her hands as she slumped against the sink.

"You brought Suzaku home to meet your dad," she continued, "and then on finding he was out visiting someone else for the night you dragged your boyfriend into your bedroom, practically threw yourself on him, and got each other half-naked before suddenly freaking out and running in here when you remembered you might not see him again after he leaves."

I can only imagine what must be going through Suzaku's mind; I bet hurt or pissed off from mistakenly thinking I've rejected him… no, wait, knowing him he's probably-

Sure enough, his pleading voice came through the closed door at that moment. "Elle, I… don't entirely know what I did that must have startled you, but I'd like to apologize if you would let me."

-taking all the blame on himself, she concluded with a sigh. "You didn't do anything wrong, Suzaku. There's nothing you need to apologize to me for. I… I just panicked, that's all."

"Do you… want to talk about it?"

Elle bit her lip, looking down past her plain white bra and soaked-through underwear at the floor. "I… it scared me to death, you know? Seeing what Zero did to you... waiting for hours in the hospital hallway for the operation to end, praying you'd make it through… hearing you'd been kidnapped by terrorists... I swear my heart jumped halfway up my throat when S- when Bradley suddenly announced he wanted a piece of you today. And then when we were together just now, I remembered that you're going to the capital soon; that you have to might have to duel the Knight of One, and…"

Weakly dropping her fist against the marble sink as tears fell to her feet, Elle choked out a sob. "It just… suddenly hit me that this could be the last night I can spend with you. That our story together could be cut short at any moment, with nothing I can do about it… and I freaked out. I don't know how to handle it."

"Can I come in?"

"I'd prefer you didn't see me like this," she admitted.

"...what if you turned off the light?"

Elle huffed, equal parts annoyed and amused that her objection had been taken as a problem to solve rather than left as-is. I guess men are like that sometimes… but thinking as an engineer, I guess it's partly my fault too.

After a moment's hesitation, she flipped off the switch and cast herself in pitch-black darkness, with only the faintest ray of light coming in under the door. "It's unlocked."

The door opened quietly, enough that Elle's first clue it had even happened was the warmer air wafting in from the hallway and brushing against her skin. She shivered at the sensation, before letting out a squeak of surprise when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and chest from behind.

"You really are adorable."

Elle leaned back with a sigh into the bare, tightly-muscled chest those arms were attached to, letting Suzaku hold her. His body's so warm… "I appreciate that, but I would like to hear other things from you now and then that don't just highlight my being cute. Like that I'm beautiful, or sexy…"

The redhead trailed off at that, suddenly remembering what she'd seen back when she accidentally walked in on him in the hotel shower… what she'd felt through his pants only minutes earlier when she was straddling him. "W-well, maybe that one doesn't have to be said outright…"

Suzaku gently kissed the back of Elle's head, a low chuckle rolling across the back of her skull. "I... think I get it."

I sure hope so, because that would make one of us.

For a while, neither of the pair said anything, content with each other to hold and to be held in silent darkness. And then Suzaku's embrace tightened around Elle, making her feel a bit like the old teddy bear she'd relied on as a small child.

"Look, I… I'm not exactly fearless about the situation either. I was already furious about Zero taking away from me a week I should've been able to spend with you and the others – and when Bradley entered the equation, the best I could really do was try and keep myself too distracted to worry about it. Although I guess it helped that I didn't have a lot of time for that anyway… you're right that life's been absolutely insane lately, and… for me, at least, it's been pretty rough for a lot longer than that. Like having to walk barefoot on a gravel road because you know there's nothing behind you, but you can't see what's in front of you. Sometimes, just getting out of bed feels like an exercise in masochism."

Elle stiffened, remembering Euphemia's words from earlier that day.

When he called himself a machine… I've never heard him sound so free.

"You deserve the truth, Elle. And the truth is… there's a part of me that's ready to stop walking. To let the candle go out instead of burning forever to no good result."

"Suzaku…!"

Elle shook as a new wave of sorrow and grief began to swell up inside her – only for it to crash and break when he continued.

"...but the bigger part of me doesn't want to go. Not yet! Not when there's still so much I want to do with you! Not when I still have a chance to keep growing as a person, to change myself into someone you can really be proud of, even if it means I have to keep walking! Even if I'm clumsy, even if I constantly trip and make a fool of myself trying…!"

Elle swallowed, and reached her hand back to the light switch. "Suzaku, I… I'm going to need you to look me in the eye and promise me something."

"What is it?"

He didn't immediately say he'd do anything, she noted. Not sure yet if that's good or bad.

She took a deep breath, and flicked the light back on, bathing them both in a harsh off-white radiance.

Time to find out.

"Promise me that you've got something pushing you onward that isn't just dependence on me, or Euphemia, or Cecile, or anyone else; that you're not just clinging to life for someone else's sake, but that you've got something you can strive for of your own, on your own if you need to."

Elle met Suzaku's gaze in the mirror, her crystal blues unflinchingly staring into his forest green.

"...I do."

She almost collapsed on the spot from relief, struggling not to laugh when Suzaku wasted no time in catching her and holding him even closer against his chest. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… hoping that maybe we can can make this work after all."

With a smile, Elle pushed herself free from Suzaku's grasp before taking him by the hand and tugging him back toward the bedroom. "C'mon, Suzakkun. Let's walk."

Leading him back to her bed, she gently sat him down. "I know you get marketed as a White Knight," she muttered with a glance at his black boxers, "but dark colors honestly look pretty good on you too."

"If you still have concerns, we don't have to go all the way… I'm happy to just hold each other."

"No, if our time might be limited then – then I want to try and make it count. I want to feel you, Suzaku… and I want you to feel me."

While she'd been speaking, Elle had reached around her back to start undoing her bra clasp. And when Suzaku gave her a nod of agreement, she let it fall. "I know they're a bit on the small side, but–"

"They're yours, beautiful."

Elle gasped when Suzaku reached out and palmed her breasts, before letting out a soft mewl of pleasure when he started circling each nipple with his thumbs. Settling herself onto his lap and straddling him, Elle pushed Suzaku onto his back. "What's mine is yours, too."

As the pair ground themselves against each other, lips melting together in a kiss, their hands began to wander.

Each steadily getting drunk on the other.

His, sliding down her back to grope and knead her behind, pulling her hips flush against his and drawing out an aroused groan.

Hers, reveling in surrender to his touch as she traced his deliciously muscled chest and arms.

"Nnh...! You're big enough to make me a little nervous," Elle admitted, eyes half-shut with love and lust. A moment later, she smirked. "...but I'm still pretty sure I can take you."

Suzaku threw his head against the mattress and laughed, his entire body shaking enough that it gave Elle a clean opportunity to grab his waistband and tug it down out of the way. "I'd like to see you try."

Licking her lips at the fresh sight of what was about to go inside her, Elle leaned down and practically purred against Suzaku's neck. "Mm... I. Bet. You. Would~"

With one hand, she tugged her panties to one side to expose herself, while daintily sliding the tip of her finger across Suzaku's length. Jeez, it's so hot… I can already feel it pulse and jump at my touch… "I'm gonna start slow so I can get used to it, okay?"

Any remaining hesitation or reservation Elle might have still had vanished when he flashed her a smile. "Hey, just take your tiiiime..."

Elle smirked a little at the groan Suzaku trailed off into when she'd gripped him, taking a second to revel in the thrill it gave her to see the effect she could have on him. Talk about your confidence boosters...

"You ready, Suzaku?" she asked, already starting to pant with excitement as she lined him up with her entrance. "What comes next is so much more than this."

It was funny, how completely and utterly Suzaku had surrendered the reins to her. The power put in her hands over a bona fide superhuman, an ace pilot who could stand among the best in the world despite an almost total lack of experience.

On one level, it was intoxicating. On another level, terrifying.

But both of those feelings paled in comparison to the sheer trust Elle could see in the wild green eyes staring back up at her.

"Do it."

With this final consent, Elle began to lower herself down onto him, her entrance parting as they joined together.

It was slow going, both lovers letting out their own gasps and whimpers as a new wave of carnal sensation crashed upon them with each successive inch of penetration.

"Ho… holy shit," Elle panted with wide eyes and quick, shallow breaths. "You're... not my first, but… but wow I'm gonna be sore in the morning…!"

Holding herself upright with outstretched arms against Suzaku's chest and already drenched with sweat, the redhead looked down at her with a nervous grin. "So that's… that's everything inside, right?"

She wasn't certain she could stretch much further, so their joining had to be complete. ...right?

Suzaku didn't answer at first, clearly trying to keep some control of himself with deep, deliberate breathing. "Fuck, you feel good around me…"

"You feel great in me," she agreed, before shivering as her lover's hands slid up her thighs to rest on her hip. "I'm so stuffed that I can feel you twitching inside me every time one of us breathes… you're rubbing spots I didn't even realize I had…!"

Leaning a little bit forward to give Suzaku a closer view of her breasts, Elle began to gently rock against him. Slowly grinding back and forth, serving up an appetizer for the feast of sensation soon to come.

"I… I think I'm ready to dance if you are," Suzaku said with an audible gulp.

"This side of you is cute sometimes," Elle admitted, "but now and then I'd like to see you take more of a direct initiative. You know?"

Neither expecting nor waiting for an answer, Elle slowly raised herself back up a few inches, relishing in the way her naked lips clung to Suzaku as if to keep him inside...

...and then her head snapped back with a sharp cry as Suzaku bucked up into her on the descent, hilting himself completely inside and sending a jolt of pleasure tinged with pain racing up Elle's spine and into her brain like a lightning bolt.

Elle's entire body twitched and shook for a few seconds in her new, fully impaled state, before starting to fall forward on top of Suzaku. Two strong hands were there to steady her at the shoulders, while the young woman blearily shook her head to try and clear it. "Th-that was–"

"A little more of what you're looking for?" Suzaku asked with a grin.

Elle swatted at him with a chuckle, before blinking when Suzaku wiped away some drool starting to overflow from her mouth.

"…"

"…"

And then she swallowed, biting her lip with her face almost as red as her hair. "You dick," she whispered with a smile. "If you're in this kind of mood for once, then I want as much of it as possible tonight."

"You sure about that?"

"Just flip me on my back and fuck me, damn y–aah!"

It was like asking for wishes from a genie; no sooner had Elle made her request then it was granted as Suzaku rolled the pair to one side and pressed her into the mattress.

"Please tell me you're at least on some kind of pill," he whispered into her ear in a tone that lit her womb on fire with ever-rising lust. "Because with what you're doing to me, it's hard to promise that I'll be able to stop before it's too late."

"Don't worry, I'm safe–nnh! Ahn! AHH–!"

And just like that, Suzaku was pounding into Elle with quick and aggressive strokes, only withdrawing about halfway from each thrust before driving into her again hard enough to quickly push her over the edge as the sounds of smacking flesh mixed with her cries.

"So tight…! Gonna–!"

That was enough, as Elle wrapped her legs around her lover's waist, back arching with a cry while her nails dug into his back. "Oh, fuck! Do it!"

Suzaku drove Elle into the bed one last time, the pair desperately clutching each other close as her tunnel greedily milked every drop it could from him.

When the twitching lovers' respective orgasms began to fade, Elle wheezed out a laugh as Suzaku collapsed onto her. "You were pretty good," she whispered, reaching up to stroke Suzaku's hair.

Slowly, Suzaku lifted his head enough to look her in the eye. "Pretty… good...?"

"Yup. Pretty good," she confirmed, giving Suzaku a kiss before nuzzling into his neck, lazily tracing a circle against his chest. "I came right before you did."

"I'm… really glad. That it was apparently as good for you as it was for me."

Elle met Suzaku's tender gaze with one in kind, gently stroking his face. "That playful, take-charge side of you really turned me on, Suzaku… but even when you're not in a state where you can show it, I never want you to forget that I'm in your corner."

And then Elle let out a gasp as she felt Suzaku get his second wind, staring up at him with wide eyes. "...you don't plan on letting me walk tomorrow, do you?"

The faux-innocent smile on Suzaku's face instinctively made her clench and squeeze around him, eager to milk his flesh for more.

It would be a while yet before the pair finally, actually slept.

August 27th, 2018. Lubie household, morning.

Lenard Lubie wasn't expecting much when he opened the door to his home and hobbled inside with his cane after a long night of trying to verbally rip his irresponsible student a new hind end… just another morning in which he'd struggle to the couch and take in his quiet, lonely house until it became overwhelming and he turned on the radio or television for a distraction from the silence.

He certainly hadn't expected to find his daughter waiting for him at the kitchen table with an anxious look on her face, nor the young man she'd been so clearly smitten with sitting next to her.

...Eden above, I'm going to need some coffee for this.

"You're up bright and early," he said with a smile as he approached, avoiding dwelling on the likelihood that Mariel had actually brought her boyfriend home the night before, missed him, and… done as teenagers sometimes will. "If I'd known to expect guests, I'd have made some breakfast yesterday to heat up for you."

As the young Japanese began to open his mouth, Mariel suddenly jerked up out of her chair with a clear flash of insight and slight panic on her face. "No, don't worry, I can take care of that! Um, ah, do either of you two know what you'd like to eat?"

"I'll thank you to put some coffee on," Lenard replied, watching Suzaku awkwardly fidget as though he hadn't been about to hop up and offer to serve his own hosts when he should be the one receiving their hospitality. Was the boy merely eager, even desperate, to please or impress? Or perhaps… "And if it isn't too much of a bother," he added, "some fried eggs would be nice."

"Oh come on, Dad," Mariel huffed on her way to the fridge. "You don't have to try and minimize the effort involved on my behalf."

Lenard agreed and took a seat for himself, distracting himself from the way Mariel tried to conceal her ginger hobbling by keeping his attention her boyfriend instead. "...in that case, I'll share in whatever our guest would like."

Suzaku instantly froze up, clearly not fond of being put on the spot. "I… I'd be fine with…"

And then the young man coughed into his fist, before straightening up in his chair and meeting Lenard's gaze with a bit more confidence. "Given the short notice, I'm just fine with bacon and eggs."

While Mariel got to work at the stove, Lenard leaned back, momentarily feeling every bit as brittle and tired as the wooden seat beneath him could be. "So you're... Kururugi Suzaku, aren't you? It's a pleasure to meet you, young man. My name is Lenard, I'm Mariel's father."

Suzaku clearly looked taken aback at the form of address, and awkwardly glanced away for a moment… but only for a moment. "I appreciate the effort, Mr. Lubie, but I've gotten so used to the Britannian naming order that I'm more comfortable with that now. I'd respectfully prefer if you didn't make any other out-of-the-way concessions like that on my behalf."

While Lenard was still processing that, Suzaku turned to look at the redhead cooking their meal a small distance away. "...although she never lets me use her full first name-"

"Only Dad and Lloyd are allowed to use it," she snapped, "and Lloyd only because I'm tired of being ignored when I tell him to cut it out!"

"What's wrong with Mariel?" Suzaku asked. "I think it's a cute name."

"Well on that point you're wrong, it's an old lady name and there's nothing cute about it!"

"But you have it and you're cute," Suzaku pointed out, and Lenard caught a glimpse of his daughter's face starting to turn a deep shade of red.

"...well I still don't like it," she grumbled.

"It's been a few years since I've seen my daughter so visibly affected by a man's compliments," Lenard quietly noted. "Although if you don't mind my prying, wouldn't a young man your age be better served at school than in the cockpit?"

Suzaku groaned at the question, before trying to rub away a visible headache. "Officially I should be taking morning classes at Ashford, but life of late hasn't – been conducive to that. Honestly, I'm gonna have to spend most of my trip to Pendragon doing make-up homework…"

Lenard chuckled at the annoyance in Suzaku's voice, fondly remembering when he used to help Mariel with her childhood school assignments.

Truly, such happier times… times left in the past, that weren't coming back.

...but maybe, just maybe times that could enjoy a successor. "I haven't encouraged many visitors of late," the old man admitted. "But if you'd like, once you return, I wouldn't object to hosting you again now and then."

Suzaku didn't respond at first, instead turning to watch Mariel putting the finishing touches on everyone's breakfast and prepare to serve them all. "Yeah, it makes sense that you wouldn't be anywhere close to done assessing your daughter's boyfriend."

"Oh, I trust her judgment as to your character well enough."

Lenard leaned back, recalling Suzaku's valiant display of combat prowess the day before. The way he ducked between moods, and happily called himself a machine...

No, young man, it's your well-being I'm more concerned about.

The reclusive baron adjusted himself in his seat to properly dine as his daughter brought some plates full of food and set them about the table. "Well, it certainly sounds like you have a busy day ahead of you, so I propose we get ourselves filled and then you can be on your way."

"Dad," Mariel whined, "just because we've got stuff to do today doesn't mean you're not important or worth spending time with-"

"I know, honey, and if you've got the day off then you can come back to visit more or we can catch up on the phone. But right now, you've made what smells like a wonderful breakfast and I'd hate for it to get cold while we're talking."

"He's right, Ma-"

Suzaku flinched and froze under the redhead's paralzying glare, quickly discovering that she apparently wasn't yet ready to relent on her earlier stated opinions.

"...ma'am," he finished lamely, before the trio ate in a comfortable silence.

Ashford Academy, after classes.

"They said Suzaku's supposed to be coming in today, right Ms. President?"

"Shirley, I swear that's the third time today you've asked me… if I didn't know better, I might just think you had it as bad for him as for Lulu! Oh, wait, I know what this is – you'd like to be the filling in a sandwich between those two, isn't that right?"

Shirley Fenette could just feel her entire face lighting up at the blonde's lewd insinuation – not only that, but the shameless leer that served to broadcast how Milly was clearly imagining just such a thing… and the ghost of a mental image it threatened to spawn in Shirley's own mind.

"Jesus, Madame President, could you please get your brain out of the gutter for five seconds! I'm not crushing on Suzaku, I'm just worried about him after all that stuff on the news!"

Shirley hadn't thought it possible, but Milly just grinned even wider in response. "Oh, you're free to say that if you want to… but I've never known you to follow the news for anyone else's sake, now have I?"

Argh, why does she have to keep acting like there's more to this than there is?! "Well that's just because nobody else I know is the kind of big deal who'd even be on the news!"

Wait, when Milly called Shirley out for not normally following the news… was that a subtle way of calling her dumb or uninformed?! "A-and besides, even though we're friends there's still a lot you don't know about me!"

The blonde simply raised an eyebrow at her for several seconds, unimpressed, and Shirley felt herself wilt at her bluff being so easily recognized.

Lelouch huffed at the end of the table, gallantly coming to her rescue like a knight in shining armor on a white horse. "You shouldn't be so relentless in teasing her, you know. It's completely reasonable to be concerned for an acquaintance after hearing reports of their abduction by terrorists."

From the computer desk in the corner, Nina nodded in agreement. "Especially after what that horrible Zero did to him…"

...and then the mood in the room absolutely plummeted through both floors and into the underground basement.

Weirdly enough, Kallen was the only soul in the room who didn't seem terribly downcast at the mention of it… but then again, Shirley couldn't recall the pair of them actually having a chance to meet. And a sickly girl like Kallen probably kept herself away from anything to do with violence… so, yeah, it actually made a lot of sense why the redheaded duke's daughter wouldn't be as affected as the rest of the council!

And if there was anything Shirley thought she hated more than the President's needlessly perverted brain, it was a gloomy atmosphere when there didn't need to be one – so the best thing to do here would be to build on Kallen's example and cheer everyone up!

"Come on guys, even if watching… that, happen on TV was scary as heck," Shirley admitted while looking around the room, keeping her fists up to show off her spirit, "they still said since then that he managed to get back up and even rescue himself from those kidnappers, right?! So I'm sure he's okay, and we'll all see it for ourselves as soon as he drops by for all the homework he missed!"

"Man," Rivalz drawled with an exasperated grin. "Imagine signing up for school, then getting beat into a coma, then getting kidnapped, then waking up, then having to save yourself because apparently the army's full of idiots, and then having to come and pick up all the classwork you missed during your nap at once! Sure sucks to be that guy, am I right?"

Kallen met the question with a polite smile, while Milly let out a playful hum. "Oh, I don't know about that… I bet a guy with a life that interesting probably has lots of beautiful women cozying up for his attention all the time."

Nobody missed Rivalz's attempt to sneakily ask Lelouch what he'd have to do to be that guy, and Shirley definitely didn't miss when she threw a ball of paper at him for it, to Milly's laughter and applause.

"I bet you think he's pretty cool too, right Lulu?"

Lelouch almost jumped in his chair at the unexpected question, giving Shirley a completely befuddled look that made her break out into giggles. "I mean, it sounds like he and the Princess are trying to stop the fighting so nobody else has to get hurt! I know I'm not big on politics or heavy stuff like that, but it sounds like a real step up from the way Prince Clovis was doing things, right?"

Hehe… this is my chance to show off to Lulu that I can pay attention to big stuff too!

So fixated on Lelouch was she, that Shirley completely missed how Kallen turned away from the table with a scrunched-up look like she'd sucked on a lemon.

As Lelouch opened his mouth to answer, Milly smacked a rolled-up newspaper against the table. "I'm as happy to chat about pretty boys as the next gal, but we do have some budgeting to take care of!"

And then the door opened, with the very subject of conversation himself walking through it.

"...or maybe that can still wait for another minute," Milly whispered as Suzaku and Lelouch locked eyes, the fun and friendly mood twisting again into something tense.

"It seems as though the reports of your injury were greatly exaggerated," Lelouch says with a smile before turning to his friends. "See how he's walking around so easily? Nothing a little doctor's visit can't handle."

Suzaku seems to twitch at the vice-president's characterization of events, but just shakes his head with a wry grin. "You might be surprised at what you can live through these days."

Rivalz leaned over in his seat closer to Shirley, whispering, "Is it just me, or do these guys almost feel like they're gonna fight?"

Even if she understood his nervous question, it seemed Nina might have been the only person in the room not to hear him.

Kallen tensed up in her seat, probably to look for a teacher, while Lelouch stood from his seat and welcomed Suzaku in with a wave.

Jaw set and eyes locked on target, Suzaku walked over… only for the boys to yelp in surprise when Milly came up from behind and put them both in a double headlock, squishing their faces into the sides of her breasts. "I know you alpha males have an instinct to prove who's top dog in front of such lovely ladies, but this is my school and your dominance displays will therefore be conducted in the manner that most amuses me – and given your wildly disparate skillsets, I think the fairest option would be a crossdressing contest!"

"No!" Lelouch cried, clearly distraught. "Anything but... lace!"

Suzaku, for his part, immediately started tapping out. "I give! I give!"

Milly let the pair loose with a twirl, before fixing them with a grin. "You two have no idea how much power you've just given me, do you?"

Suzaku and Lelouch shared a look and seemed to reach some kind of unspoken truce, while Rivalz stared in confusion before turning to Milly with a pout. "Hang on, does that mean I'm some kind of beta male?"

Milly spared him a sympathetic glance and a shrug. "Why ask me? I'm not the one who decides that."

Rivalz withered for a moment at the deflection, before getting fired up. "Okay then, I'll enter the crossdressing contest too! If that's what it takes to prove myself, then I'll show that I can rock a skirt better than either of these guys!"

"I'm sorry but Lelouch would destroy you without trying," Suzaku immediately replied.

"I've no choice but to agree," the raven-haired prince agreed with a nod. "Milly's been trying to put me in a dress for years because she knows how disgustingly pretty I am. You might be able to match Suzaku with enough hard work, but I'm afraid my natural advantages in that arena are just too much for you to overcome."

Shirley, Kallen, and Nina all stared at the trio of boys in shared stunned silence until Milly threw her hands over her gut and bent over laughing. "I LOVE IT! This is what I want to fill everyone's lives with!"

"...I just realized that this was a strange game from the start," Suzaku muttered with a blank look, "and that the only winning move was not to play."

"Alrighty," Milly proclaimed, "then as your student council President I hereby declare that our pretty boy toys will compete before the whole school in a crossdressing pageant tomorrow! We'll call it the Princes of the Universe pageant, with the abrupt notice as an excuse to minimize risk of budgetary excesses–"

Suzaku loudly snapped his fingers in front of Milly's face to get her attention, after having failed to do so with more polite means. "If you can pause your fantasizing long enough to hear me out," he said with a smirk, "I've been trying to tell you I'm being shipped off to the homeland later today because reasons I'm not allowed to talk about. Since I don't know for sure when my duty schedule would allow me to come back here to goof around again, I tragically cannot compete and must therefore withdraw my name from the event."

The busty blonde gasped in shock and horror at the Japanese brunette, looking absolutely devastated… no, heartbroken by the news. "But… but, you can't just not play! That's not allowed!"

The smug grin Suzaku was fighting and badly failing to keep off his face clearly said something like it is if it's my winning move, but instead he just unfolded a sheet of paper with largely-redacted deployment orders on it that had already been signed off on by Milly's grandfather, the academy headmaster. "Sorry about this."

"If you were sorry," Milly pouted as she ran a hand through her hair, "you wouldn't look so damn happy about it."

"I'm sorry on an empathetic level that you're disappointed," Suzaku clarified. "But I'm not sorry on a material level, insofar as my having an excuse to get out of being stuffed into outfits that don't belong on me."

"Mrgh…" Milly gave the paper back with a haughty sniff that betrayed her true noble upbringing to any who might have been fooled by her naked exuberance or perverseness. "Hmph! Don't expect me to forget this, hot stuff. I've got you on my list now."

"What kind of list is that, Milly? And who's that boy you're talking to? I don't think I recognize their voice…"

All assembled turned to the unexpected voice at the door, one that Suzaku hadn't heard in the better part of a decade.

"Oh, Nunnally, there you are!" Shirley cheerily chirped in a desperate attempt to help make sure the tension that Milly had broken a minute ago stayed that way. "This is the transfer student we were telling you about before, the guy who can only attend classes part-time because he's in the military!"

In her wheelchair, Nunnally momentarily stiffened up in surprise. "Su...zaku?"

Suddenly realizing the context in which she'd last discussed Suzaku with the little girl, Shirley bopped herself on the head. "But he's doing a lot better now! He already said a minute ago that he's not hurt anymore, or anything!"

"I'm… about as well as can be expected," Suzaku agreed. "Suzaku Kururugi, at your service. It's nice to make your acquaintance."

Nunnally hesitated for a half-second, before smiling. It was a pure and honest thing, even in spite of the pain – and even frustration – that she had to pretend like this was their first time meeting. Even if she had to pretend they weren't already friends… it was still a relief to know he wasn't hurt anymore. "Thank you very much," she replied with a hand over her heart. "I'm Nunnally Lamperouge; Lelouch is my big brother. It's nice to meet you, Suzaku."

Suzaku nodded... and then when he looked back at Lelouch, the air immediately got tense again before he looked away. "Much as I'd like to just hang around and make friends, I'm afraid I don't have all day. Is there any possible chance that someone," he said while pointedly looking at Nina with an expression that almost seemed like a call for help, "could please direct me to where I'm supposed to pick up my make-up homework so I can get out of your way?"

Nina nodded and started to get out of her seat before Lelouch held up a hand and stopped her. "Of course, I'd be glad to. Since I'm already on my feet, and all."

Shirley turned her glance from Suzaku's look of annoyance, to Lelouch's friendly, innocent smile, then back to Suzaku… and her eyes narrowed.

Seriously, just what kind of beef does this guy have with Lulu? It's not like they've ever even spent more than two minutes in the same room together…

...right?

Nunnally, for obvious reasons, couldn't really see how the drama was playing out in front of her. But when she clapped and asked if she could join the pair on their walk to the main office in hopes of making friends with the new transfer student, it was like a switch had been flipped.

Now Lelouch was fighting back a look of panic, while Suzaku had thrown up his arm to cover a suspiciously fake-sounding sneeze – and with it, cutting off the auburn-haired girl's glimpse of a grin that looked nothing short of vindictive. "If that's what the little lady wants," he said when his expression was a little more under control, "then I see no reason not to oblige her."

And then he mouthed something that Shirley couldn't quite catch – but it made Lelouch tense up like she'd never seen before in her life. "...of course. Let's be on our way, then."