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code_geass
defade.livejournal.com in code_geassTitle: Fate/Rendezvous & Trouble
Word Count: 3,467
Rating: G
Genre: Humour, Drama, Mystery(?????)
Pairing: Does it look like SuzaLulu? That is because you believe in it, and that is your wish.*is pwwned* Muahaha. I never thought imitating Fuuma would be such fun. Basically this tranlates to - hints of it, might be, might not be, depends on how you look at it. Oh, sadly, no fluff scenes this time.
Summary: Some say meetings are precious moments in one's life and often brings hapiness, but to Lelouch, meeting a certain someone in a certain someday only brings trouble. And thus, his organized life is turned upside down.
Disclaimer: Support the rebellion. Eat Pizza Hut.
Previous Stages
Stage 4. Realization
"...and so, from now on, I shall be enrolling in this Ashford Academy. Nice to meet you all, I am Kururugi Suzaku."
The young boy standing in front of the classroom finished his introduction.
Lelouch's jaw dropped.
He had never expected to see Suzaku in a place like this. Sure, they might have a chance of meeting in some future circumstances, being on different sides. But when that time comes, he'll be 'Zero', and Suzaku would be a Britannian soldier, one who opposes Zero.
Their latest meeting was like that.
He had held out his hand to Suzaku, asked Suzaku to join him, but Suzaku refused – saying that he wanted to change Britannia from the inside.
Heh...changing Britannia from the inside? Lelouch smiled sadly at the thought. Britannia is already corrupt, no amount of changing will do it any good.
And the one before that...a would-be heartwarming reunion between two childhood friends if not for the interference of the Britannian soldiers. Those damn bastards.
Seeing Suzaku here was also a relief to Lelouch. He knew that Suzaku had been declared innocent, but only seeing him like this had reassured him. If Suzaku could afford to go to school with all those troublesome things going on for him, it means that he really is okay.
Suzaku walked to an empty seat a few rows across from where Lelouch was sitting. A place, Lelouch noted, where no one was near. Still, the whole class stared at him fearfully as if Suzaku was a vessel holding poisonous gas or something. To them, Suzaku might just as well as be one.
People were whispering to each other and pointing at Suzaku.
"Look! He's the culprit who murdered Prince Clovis!"
"Ehh? But I thought they declared him innocent!"
"You never know. He might just have another few of his tricks up his sleeve."
"They say he's an Honorary Britannian, but in the end, he's just a filthy Eleven."
"Hmph. Giving up his pride as easily as that and ending up as a dog of the army? Does he even dare to call himself a Japanese?"
"He probably doesn't even have any pride to begin with, bowing down at those Britannian bastards."
Suzaku ignored those whispers among fellow classmates and proceeded to take out his books. He pretended that nothing has happened at all, but Lelouch can see it – it was all on his face -, he was hurt deeply by those cruel remarks, especially those from the Japanese.
Lelouch felt pity for his childhood friend. Suzaku's stubbornness and his own sense of righteousness made him choose to walk down the hardest path.
Two paths. Between them lay thorns.
Suzaku was neither completely accepted by Britannians nor Japanese – his own people. Yet, this was his path, his choice, and his future. Lelouch can do nothing about it except silently observe and give him support. When the bell signaling for the start of another play rings, though, Lelouch will stand below the spotlight in the form of 'Zero' - the antagonist in Suzaku's story.
-
First period felt exceptionally long today. Everything the teacher had said fell deaf to Lelouch's ears, his attention had been on Suzaku.
Lelouch had been throwing glances at Suzaku every few minutes, Suzaku acted quite normal and unaware of the tension that’s been building up in the classroom. Occasionally Suzaku returned Lelouch's glances and their eyes will meet for a split second before fixing their attention on the blackboard again, but most of the times Suzaku just ignores him. Lelouch knew that Suzaku didn't want people to know that they were friends, but still couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when the latter didn't reply.
Class had finally ended. Lelouch gathered up his books and started to leave. Almost immediately, Rivalz bounced towards Lelouch, telling Lelouch that he had something 'good' to show. Lelouch declined, saying that he had something else to do. It was probably another one of Rivalz's "proofs of courage", as he called them. To Lelouch, they were as good as "proofs of stupidity".
Lelouch stopped at the door for a brief moment, and - seeing that he had caught Suzaku's eye - gave his shirt collar a slight pull. Suzaku's eyes showed understanding.
Lelouch smiled to himself and started making his way to the stairway leading towards the top.
-
Lelouch was on the rooftop of the main school building. A cool breeze blew. Below him he could see nearly the whole campus of Ashford Academy - large gardens filled with exotic plants surrounded the main school building, behind the main school building was the tower and the multi-purpose dome. To his left he could see the two student dormitories, and, in between them, the Ashford Academy Clubhouse. It was the most neatly furnished building in the whole campus, and with more facilities than the other buildings. Overall, the campus of Ashford Academy was certainly a magnificent sight - Ashford Academy isn't called an aristocrat's school for nothing.
"Lulu-chan..." Mokona called out from his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"Has Suzaku-kun done something wrong?"
"Why?"
"Because...everyone was unfriendly to him...and talking about him, when he just came. Mokona feels very sad." Mokona's ears drooped a little.
"Does it bother you?" Lelouch asked, a little bit surprised.
Mokona nodded silently.
Lelouch turned around to face the scenery in front of him and answered in a calm voice. "Suzaku hasn't done anything wrong, but those people...they only want to believe in what their heart wants - the easiest and most convenient answer, but at the same time, the shallowest answer. They take whatever there is for them on the surface, so that they don't have to dive deeper in search for the truth."
"...is he your friend?"
A stare.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"Because Mokona can feel it...Mokona is good at telling the relationships of people around Mokona! It's one of Mokona's 108 Secret Abilities!"
Sometimes Lelouch really has trouble understanding Mokona. Just thinking about it gives him headaches.
"Yes...we used to be childhood friends. But I haven't seen him for seven years..."
"Ah! Mokona thought so!"
"..."
"Understanding Lonely People is also one of Mokona's 108 Secret Abilities!" Mokona added with much enthusiasm.
Lelouch didn't want to know what Mokona's other abilities were. Really.
He heard footsteps coming up from behind him, he turned around and found himself face to face with Suzaku.
"It's been more than seven years since we used this sign." Lelouch pointed to his shirt collar.
"Yeah. 'Let's go and talk on the attic', was it? Really brings back memories."
Lelouch smiled as he remembered the days when he and Suzaku played together. They went everywhere, to mountains, to forests, to plains, and sometimes even to the sea. They explored every piece of land near Suzaku's home. They were truly happy back then.
He remembered the day when they reached a mutual agreement on this sign.
That was a Sunday, but not even a single sunlight penetrated the thick dark clouds. A storm was raging outside, bolts of lighting could be seen every now and then, and the sound of thunder would be heard shortly afterwards.
Lelouch and Suzaku had spent half of their day burying themselves among the huge amount of books stored in the basement, reading book after book, until...
"Lelouch, I've found some interesting things here!"
Lelouch crawled to where Suzaku was sitting, and saw that it was a Japanese book Suzaku had. He squinted at the unfamiliar characters.
"Hand...wheel?"
"No, it says 'sign language'!" Suzaku laughed. "A kind of language that doesn't use any kind of sounds, but only body movements to convert the message. You must've heard of that before, right?"
Lelouch nodded, remembering the time when he was still living in the palace. He used to spent lots of time in the huge library there, reading through books that he could and sometimes couldn't understand. Nevertheless, they had all proved to be very interesting to him. He loved books, or maybe more specifically, the knowledge stored in and presented by them. His discovery of International Chess was also due to the hours he spent in the library.
"It seems quite fun to me, so why don't we make some signs of our own, Lelouch?" Suzaku said.
"Uh- of course!" Lelouch answered. He didn't know why he was doing this, but most of the time, what Suzaku said always makes sense to him in one way or another.
"You know, you are always tidying your shirt collar whenever you wear a shirt like that."
"Uh...so?"
"Why don't we make that into a sign! Uhh...let me think about it...'dinner's ready'? No, no...'order a Pepperoni Pizza'? Uh, no way...erm..." Suzaku sank deep into his thoughts.
Lelouch sighed.
"'Let's go and talk on the attic.'"
Suzaku was startled. "Huh?"
"'Let's go and talk on the attic.' How about it? We always do that, don't we?"
"Of course! That's a nice one!"
"Then it's decided."
Memories of those happy days with Suzaku were still engraved in Lelouch's mind even after so many years. These are the things that he'll never forget.
"I'm really glad that you're okay, Lelouch. You got me really worried, it's really a relief to see you here." Suzaku brought him back to reality.
Lelouch grinned. "Same here. Never thought that we would meet in a place like this."
"Me too, to think that I went to your school...I was really surprised to see you."
"...don't you have lots of work to do in the military?"
Suzaku grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Well...you see...there's this person I bumped into yesterday...you could well say that it's fate or something. Anyway, that person said that a 17-year-old like me should as well as go to school, even if I'm in the military."
"By the way, what happened to that girl? You know, the one in the capsule." Suzaku suddenly remembered and asked.
"We were separated during the confusion of the battle...I didn't know where she went after that." That was partly the truth. Lelouch hadn't seen the mysterious green haired girl ever since the incident, and he was quite bothered by the contents of the covenant and the girl's wish. But that can wait...for now, his only aim was to destroy Britannian. Anything can wait.
"Oh...I asked around in the military, but no one seems to know about it."
They went silent for a while. It was Suzaku who spoke up after a few minutes.
"By the way, Lelouch...it's been bothering me for quite a while now, but the thing on your shoulder...?"
"Oh, this? Mokona is just someone I happen to meet a few days ago." Lelouch gestured towards Mokona. He knew that he could trust Suzaku with such a secret.
"Hel~lo! This is Mokona! Nice to meet you, Suzaku-kun!" Mokona held out its paw.
Suzaku laughed and shook Mokona's hand. "I hope we can get along well, Mokona."
Mokona immediately jumped onto Suzaku's head. This action surprised him a bit.
"Mokona gets along with everybody!" Mokona declared proudly, and hopped onto Lelouch's shoulder again.
"Suzaku-kun also reminds Mokona of a friend!" It held up its left paw. "Therefore, Mokona is sure that Suzaku-kun will also become Mokona's friend!"
Suzaku smiled at Mokona's friendliness. It's such a strange creature...but nonetheless a nice one.
"By the way Suzaku..." Suzaku turned his attention to Lelouch. "Do you have any work to do tonight?"
"No, I'm mostly free now since I've been moved over to the engineering department."
Heh...engineering department..."I'd like you to come over to my house tonight. I'm sure Nanaly would like to see you, she's really worried about you, you know."
"Of course I'd do that."
-
Nanaly's fever had almost gone down now, she only had a light headache and could go around in her wheelchair again. Both Lelouch and Sayoko had insisted for her to stay at home and rest for another day, so she remained in her bed for most of the day. She welcomed Lelouch warmly when he stepped into his home.
"Welcome back, onii-sama. How's school going for you today?"
"Just the usual things. Are you feeling any better now, Nanaly?"
"Yes, the fever had already gone down. And I heard from Sayoko-san that onii-sama had stayed with me for the whole time, you must be tired today..."
"Not at all, Nanaly. You know that I'd always do that for you. And I have a present for you today..."
Lelouch made a sign to Sayoko, signaling for her to remain silent, and beckoned for Suzaku to come closer to Nanaly. Suzaku seemed hesitant at first, and looked at Lelouch, as if asking for his approval. Lelouch gave him a brief nod, and Suzaku cupped his hands around Nanaly's small hand.
Nanaly gasped. She could recognize that warm touch. It's been a long time since the last time she felt it, but there was no mistake, this was definitely-
"I'm so glad that you're okay..."
She couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She was so relieved.
Everyone smiled.
-
"Hey, Lelouch..."
"Mmm?"
"Don't tell me...you're still obsessed with pizza?"
Lelouch nearly choked on the piece of beef he was eating.
"Because...before you kicked me out of your kitchen, I thought I could see some empty pizza boxes in a corner. Actually, why did you kick me out anyway?'
"I told you already, didn't I?" Lelouch stated matter-of-factly as he started cutting another piece from the steak on his plate. "This time, I'm the host here, and the guest should just stay seated instead of trying to help in the kitchen."
Suzaku laughed nervously. "Haha...you do have a point. Then what about the pizzas?"
Lelouch pretended to not hear anything.
"Onii-sama...he's been collecting points." It was Nanaly who had answered.
"Aha. That's just like you, Lelouch." Suzaku smirked knowingly.
Lelouch still stayed as calm as ever.
"But lately...onii-sama seemed to be turning a little soft in some areas...I'm a bit worried." Nanaly said jokingly.
"Lelouch, you shouldn't worry Nanaly so much, she's your sister after all." Suzaku added.
"Yes, yes Lulu-chan. Mokona - the hero of justice - will punish those that do not take care of their sisters!" Mokona chimed in, squeaking from Lelouch's shoulder.
Lelouch's face held no expression, but his fork and knife was shaking.
"Ah! I remember hearing from the television one day that you'll get a Cheese-kun pillow if you have enough points...onii-sama...don't tell me..."
"Mokona remembers too! Cheese-kun is very round and fluffy, just like Mokona!"
"Lelouch..."
The trio snickered-
Lelouch glared. "You three-!!"
-and laughed out loud.
Lelouch silently smiled to himself as he observed Suzaku and Nanaly laughing happily. It's been a long time since he had felt so happy, and so...normal.
The rest of the night followed as Nanaly and Suzaku exchanged stories about him and...pizzas. Pepperoni ones, to be exact.
And the fact that Mokona was there didn't help at all.
-
"Ah! Tonight was fun! Thank you for inviting me to your house, Lelouch."
Suzaku was walking down the steps from the front door of the student clubhouse. It was very late, Nanaly and Mokona were already asleep in their respective beds. In the former's case, her own one, and in the latter's case, Lelouch's.
"I should be the one thanking you. It's been a long time since Nanaly was so happy...and me too." Lelouch said as he followed Suzaku.
Suzaku stopped in his tracks, and said in a small but firm voice. "I think...it'll be better for both of us if we pretend we don't know each other."
Lelouch's eyes widened.
"What...are you saying?"
"Just think about it, Lelouch. What would people think if they found out that you were friends with an Honorary Britannian?" Suzaku's voice was still firm, but Lelouch could hear the sadness in it.
"..."
"...if we weren't careful, the fact that you're a prince might also be found out." Suzaku finished his sentence with a solemn tone.
Lelouch looked away. He did not like being reminded of his true identity. It brings back too many unwanted memories from an even more unwanted past.
"...to the very least, can you come to our house again sometime?"
Suzaku smiled. "Of course I'd do that. But I have work to do at the military, so I might not be able to come over very often. Still, I'll make sure to come once in a while, I promise."
"Thank you, Suzaku."
Suzaku gave Lelouch a little wink and continued down the stairs. Once again, though, he stopped in his tracks and turned around with a big grin on his face.
"Lelouch..."
"Hmm?"
"...good luck on getting a Cheese-kun."
"You-!"
Suzaku waved at him and ran away happily.
-
The next day.
Tension was still building up among the students. They were whispering to each other in hallways whenever Suzaku passed through, and avoided him at all costs.
"Say, Lelouch, weren't you a bit weird yesterday?" Rivalz questioned.
"Hmm? I just got a bad grade on my history test. That's all." Lelouch was used to lying anyway. But then again, he didn't do all that well on that particular test.
Rivalz burst out laughing.
"If that was a joke, it's a really good one, man."
Lelouch chuckled.
Behind Rivalz, Lelouch saw Suzaku heading towards them. Almost instantly, the hallway quieted. Suzaku walked on as if nothing had happened, and Lelouch pretended that he didn't see anything when Suzaku passed them.
The hallway started getting noisy again after Suzaku entered his classroom.
Rivalz continued his conversation with Lelouch.
"The thing that I wanted to show you yesterday-"
Stare.
"-and no, Lelouch, it is not one of my "proofs of courage", no matter how much I wanted to show you another one."
Rivalz fumbled in his pockets for something, and, finally finding said thing, pulled it out and handed it to Lelouch.
It was an article from a newspaper, obviously cut out.
"You might've already known, but anyway..."
"This is...?" Lelouch asked, confused.
"Just read it, and you'll know!"
Still mildly confused, Lelouch started to read the article.
Famous Scientist Claimed To Have Found Cause For Mysterious Disappearances
One of the top Britannian scientist, Charles Spencer (Age 37), claimed to have found the cause for a series of mysterious disappearances over fifty years ago. He-
"Wait- a scientist? Found cause to disappearances over fifty years ago? Why would a scientist-?"
"Well-" Rivalz scratched his head. "Because the disappearances were really strange- what? You have never heard of the mysterious disappearances over fifty years ago?" He asked in disbelief.
"I've heard about them before...but-"
"Even though it happened a long time ago, it's still a popular topic for discussion - people speculating on possible causes and adding their own twist to the original disappearances. Actually, the popular version right now is not even accurate at all. The newspaper had a column about it, but I thought you would know, so..."
Lelouch just stared.
Rivalz cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway- the disappearances, as you know, they started a long time ago. People just started disappearing one after each other for no clear reason at all - exactly one hundred disappeared, but none could be found. They were all teenagers about fourteen to seventeen, and coincidentally, all of them were loners in one way and another - outsiders. At least that's what I know.
Also, according to the newspapers and internet, all of them disappeared in some place faraway from urban areas - forests, plains, beaches etc. Only their belongings are found."
Lelouch waited for Rivalz to continue.
"And the strangest thing - at the place where they supposedly disappeared, a strange mark of sorts was always found somewhere around. Even stranger - the mark disappears after a week and never shows up again."
"...this just sounds like some popular urban legend to me." Lelouch said.
"Of course not!" Rivalz snapped. "It's been on the newspapers! And all over the internet! Look for yourself if you don't believe! Sheesh, Lelouch, you're always such a rational person."
Rational...? Lelouch laughed bitterly to himself. I've been anything but rational lately.
"So...how was the mark like?"
Rivalz seemed satisfied at Lelouch's interest.
"It's very weird...like a bird or something, but not exactly. Ah! I can sketch it for you." Rivalz reached into his pocket again.
"...I do hope it's not like one of your stickmen."
Rivalz sulked. "Really, man, I'm not that bad, am I?"
He found a piece of paper and began sketching on it with a ballpen.
"Hmm...I think it's like this...not sure tho', drew it from memory...here!"
He held out the piece of paper proudly.
Lelouch took it and squinted at Rivalz drawing...but something was familiar with the shape.
He gasped with realization. Even with Rivalz's messy lines entangling each other, the shape is still recognizable.
Geass...?
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Took me a really long time...this chapter. Want to know why? First, the author likes to mustang from writing the fic, secondly, the author just went to a field trip last week and could not write for a whole seven days, thirdly, the author, after getting the format material book of Geass, found that she had reconstructed Ashford Academy in only one paragraph, and lastly but not least, the structure of the chapter was changed like...a billion times or something. I originally intended for it to be a retell of episode six from the cat's perspective, and added with something else that mirrors the situation...but was met with totally different results.<--no idea what she was talking about
I scratched that idea, since the other side was a bit OOC and kind of impossible, and developed a new structure for it. The chapter was also originally intended to be oveer 6,000 words long - but again, the author feels like seperating them into two chapters.
For those who are wondering about C.C.'s appearance - rest assured, or maybe not, since she will appear in later chapters, as in, very very late ones. If I really continue writing till that point, since although the basic storyline for this fic is set, the development is totally...urgh. So just wait and see. You may also notice that some of the lines in the fic are actually heavily influenced by other anime - for example, a line from last chapter "She was in a nightmare where she couldn't fight back or speak" was actually an inaccurately translated line from the opening song of D. Gray-man. There's also something that looks like the title of a random chapter of DG floating around this chapter....
Oh, and both Fuuma and Lulu would probably trying to kill me for 1. using his words in a weird way and 2. exploring his obbession for pizza. Don't blame that on me, blame that on Pizza Hut! Actually, really makes me wonder what Fuuma will react if his words were thrown back at him in a mocking way...*off-topic*
P.S. Lulu's mistake in reading the kanji was actually my mistake.XDD;; The first time I saw 手話 I totally read it as 'tewa', and typing tewa gets me 手輪. So there.;_;
Word Count: 3,467
Rating: G
Genre: Humour, Drama, Mystery(?????)
Pairing: Does it look like SuzaLulu? That is because you believe in it, and that is your wish.*is pwwned* Muahaha. I never thought imitating Fuuma would be such fun. Basically this tranlates to - hints of it, might be, might not be, depends on how you look at it. Oh, sadly, no fluff scenes this time.
Summary: Some say meetings are precious moments in one's life and often brings hapiness, but to Lelouch, meeting a certain someone in a certain someday only brings trouble. And thus, his organized life is turned upside down.
Disclaimer: Support the rebellion. Eat Pizza Hut.
Previous Stages
Stage 4. Realization
"...and so, from now on, I shall be enrolling in this Ashford Academy. Nice to meet you all, I am Kururugi Suzaku."
The young boy standing in front of the classroom finished his introduction.
Lelouch's jaw dropped.
He had never expected to see Suzaku in a place like this. Sure, they might have a chance of meeting in some future circumstances, being on different sides. But when that time comes, he'll be 'Zero', and Suzaku would be a Britannian soldier, one who opposes Zero.
Their latest meeting was like that.
He had held out his hand to Suzaku, asked Suzaku to join him, but Suzaku refused – saying that he wanted to change Britannia from the inside.
Heh...changing Britannia from the inside? Lelouch smiled sadly at the thought. Britannia is already corrupt, no amount of changing will do it any good.
And the one before that...a would-be heartwarming reunion between two childhood friends if not for the interference of the Britannian soldiers. Those damn bastards.
Seeing Suzaku here was also a relief to Lelouch. He knew that Suzaku had been declared innocent, but only seeing him like this had reassured him. If Suzaku could afford to go to school with all those troublesome things going on for him, it means that he really is okay.
Suzaku walked to an empty seat a few rows across from where Lelouch was sitting. A place, Lelouch noted, where no one was near. Still, the whole class stared at him fearfully as if Suzaku was a vessel holding poisonous gas or something. To them, Suzaku might just as well as be one.
People were whispering to each other and pointing at Suzaku.
"Look! He's the culprit who murdered Prince Clovis!"
"Ehh? But I thought they declared him innocent!"
"You never know. He might just have another few of his tricks up his sleeve."
"They say he's an Honorary Britannian, but in the end, he's just a filthy Eleven."
"Hmph. Giving up his pride as easily as that and ending up as a dog of the army? Does he even dare to call himself a Japanese?"
"He probably doesn't even have any pride to begin with, bowing down at those Britannian bastards."
Suzaku ignored those whispers among fellow classmates and proceeded to take out his books. He pretended that nothing has happened at all, but Lelouch can see it – it was all on his face -, he was hurt deeply by those cruel remarks, especially those from the Japanese.
Lelouch felt pity for his childhood friend. Suzaku's stubbornness and his own sense of righteousness made him choose to walk down the hardest path.
Two paths. Between them lay thorns.
Suzaku was neither completely accepted by Britannians nor Japanese – his own people. Yet, this was his path, his choice, and his future. Lelouch can do nothing about it except silently observe and give him support. When the bell signaling for the start of another play rings, though, Lelouch will stand below the spotlight in the form of 'Zero' - the antagonist in Suzaku's story.
-
First period felt exceptionally long today. Everything the teacher had said fell deaf to Lelouch's ears, his attention had been on Suzaku.
Lelouch had been throwing glances at Suzaku every few minutes, Suzaku acted quite normal and unaware of the tension that’s been building up in the classroom. Occasionally Suzaku returned Lelouch's glances and their eyes will meet for a split second before fixing their attention on the blackboard again, but most of the times Suzaku just ignores him. Lelouch knew that Suzaku didn't want people to know that they were friends, but still couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when the latter didn't reply.
Class had finally ended. Lelouch gathered up his books and started to leave. Almost immediately, Rivalz bounced towards Lelouch, telling Lelouch that he had something 'good' to show. Lelouch declined, saying that he had something else to do. It was probably another one of Rivalz's "proofs of courage", as he called them. To Lelouch, they were as good as "proofs of stupidity".
Lelouch stopped at the door for a brief moment, and - seeing that he had caught Suzaku's eye - gave his shirt collar a slight pull. Suzaku's eyes showed understanding.
Lelouch smiled to himself and started making his way to the stairway leading towards the top.
-
Lelouch was on the rooftop of the main school building. A cool breeze blew. Below him he could see nearly the whole campus of Ashford Academy - large gardens filled with exotic plants surrounded the main school building, behind the main school building was the tower and the multi-purpose dome. To his left he could see the two student dormitories, and, in between them, the Ashford Academy Clubhouse. It was the most neatly furnished building in the whole campus, and with more facilities than the other buildings. Overall, the campus of Ashford Academy was certainly a magnificent sight - Ashford Academy isn't called an aristocrat's school for nothing.
"Lulu-chan..." Mokona called out from his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"Has Suzaku-kun done something wrong?"
"Why?"
"Because...everyone was unfriendly to him...and talking about him, when he just came. Mokona feels very sad." Mokona's ears drooped a little.
"Does it bother you?" Lelouch asked, a little bit surprised.
Mokona nodded silently.
Lelouch turned around to face the scenery in front of him and answered in a calm voice. "Suzaku hasn't done anything wrong, but those people...they only want to believe in what their heart wants - the easiest and most convenient answer, but at the same time, the shallowest answer. They take whatever there is for them on the surface, so that they don't have to dive deeper in search for the truth."
"...is he your friend?"
A stare.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"Because Mokona can feel it...Mokona is good at telling the relationships of people around Mokona! It's one of Mokona's 108 Secret Abilities!"
Sometimes Lelouch really has trouble understanding Mokona. Just thinking about it gives him headaches.
"Yes...we used to be childhood friends. But I haven't seen him for seven years..."
"Ah! Mokona thought so!"
"..."
"Understanding Lonely People is also one of Mokona's 108 Secret Abilities!" Mokona added with much enthusiasm.
Lelouch didn't want to know what Mokona's other abilities were. Really.
He heard footsteps coming up from behind him, he turned around and found himself face to face with Suzaku.
"It's been more than seven years since we used this sign." Lelouch pointed to his shirt collar.
"Yeah. 'Let's go and talk on the attic', was it? Really brings back memories."
Lelouch smiled as he remembered the days when he and Suzaku played together. They went everywhere, to mountains, to forests, to plains, and sometimes even to the sea. They explored every piece of land near Suzaku's home. They were truly happy back then.
He remembered the day when they reached a mutual agreement on this sign.
That was a Sunday, but not even a single sunlight penetrated the thick dark clouds. A storm was raging outside, bolts of lighting could be seen every now and then, and the sound of thunder would be heard shortly afterwards.
Lelouch and Suzaku had spent half of their day burying themselves among the huge amount of books stored in the basement, reading book after book, until...
"Lelouch, I've found some interesting things here!"
Lelouch crawled to where Suzaku was sitting, and saw that it was a Japanese book Suzaku had. He squinted at the unfamiliar characters.
"Hand...wheel?"
"No, it says 'sign language'!" Suzaku laughed. "A kind of language that doesn't use any kind of sounds, but only body movements to convert the message. You must've heard of that before, right?"
Lelouch nodded, remembering the time when he was still living in the palace. He used to spent lots of time in the huge library there, reading through books that he could and sometimes couldn't understand. Nevertheless, they had all proved to be very interesting to him. He loved books, or maybe more specifically, the knowledge stored in and presented by them. His discovery of International Chess was also due to the hours he spent in the library.
"It seems quite fun to me, so why don't we make some signs of our own, Lelouch?" Suzaku said.
"Uh- of course!" Lelouch answered. He didn't know why he was doing this, but most of the time, what Suzaku said always makes sense to him in one way or another.
"You know, you are always tidying your shirt collar whenever you wear a shirt like that."
"Uh...so?"
"Why don't we make that into a sign! Uhh...let me think about it...'dinner's ready'? No, no...'order a Pepperoni Pizza'? Uh, no way...erm..." Suzaku sank deep into his thoughts.
Lelouch sighed.
"'Let's go and talk on the attic.'"
Suzaku was startled. "Huh?"
"'Let's go and talk on the attic.' How about it? We always do that, don't we?"
"Of course! That's a nice one!"
"Then it's decided."
Memories of those happy days with Suzaku were still engraved in Lelouch's mind even after so many years. These are the things that he'll never forget.
"I'm really glad that you're okay, Lelouch. You got me really worried, it's really a relief to see you here." Suzaku brought him back to reality.
Lelouch grinned. "Same here. Never thought that we would meet in a place like this."
"Me too, to think that I went to your school...I was really surprised to see you."
"...don't you have lots of work to do in the military?"
Suzaku grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Well...you see...there's this person I bumped into yesterday...you could well say that it's fate or something. Anyway, that person said that a 17-year-old like me should as well as go to school, even if I'm in the military."
"By the way, what happened to that girl? You know, the one in the capsule." Suzaku suddenly remembered and asked.
"We were separated during the confusion of the battle...I didn't know where she went after that." That was partly the truth. Lelouch hadn't seen the mysterious green haired girl ever since the incident, and he was quite bothered by the contents of the covenant and the girl's wish. But that can wait...for now, his only aim was to destroy Britannian. Anything can wait.
"Oh...I asked around in the military, but no one seems to know about it."
They went silent for a while. It was Suzaku who spoke up after a few minutes.
"By the way, Lelouch...it's been bothering me for quite a while now, but the thing on your shoulder...?"
"Oh, this? Mokona is just someone I happen to meet a few days ago." Lelouch gestured towards Mokona. He knew that he could trust Suzaku with such a secret.
"Hel~lo! This is Mokona! Nice to meet you, Suzaku-kun!" Mokona held out its paw.
Suzaku laughed and shook Mokona's hand. "I hope we can get along well, Mokona."
Mokona immediately jumped onto Suzaku's head. This action surprised him a bit.
"Mokona gets along with everybody!" Mokona declared proudly, and hopped onto Lelouch's shoulder again.
"Suzaku-kun also reminds Mokona of a friend!" It held up its left paw. "Therefore, Mokona is sure that Suzaku-kun will also become Mokona's friend!"
Suzaku smiled at Mokona's friendliness. It's such a strange creature...but nonetheless a nice one.
"By the way Suzaku..." Suzaku turned his attention to Lelouch. "Do you have any work to do tonight?"
"No, I'm mostly free now since I've been moved over to the engineering department."
Heh...engineering department..."I'd like you to come over to my house tonight. I'm sure Nanaly would like to see you, she's really worried about you, you know."
"Of course I'd do that."
-
Nanaly's fever had almost gone down now, she only had a light headache and could go around in her wheelchair again. Both Lelouch and Sayoko had insisted for her to stay at home and rest for another day, so she remained in her bed for most of the day. She welcomed Lelouch warmly when he stepped into his home.
"Welcome back, onii-sama. How's school going for you today?"
"Just the usual things. Are you feeling any better now, Nanaly?"
"Yes, the fever had already gone down. And I heard from Sayoko-san that onii-sama had stayed with me for the whole time, you must be tired today..."
"Not at all, Nanaly. You know that I'd always do that for you. And I have a present for you today..."
Lelouch made a sign to Sayoko, signaling for her to remain silent, and beckoned for Suzaku to come closer to Nanaly. Suzaku seemed hesitant at first, and looked at Lelouch, as if asking for his approval. Lelouch gave him a brief nod, and Suzaku cupped his hands around Nanaly's small hand.
Nanaly gasped. She could recognize that warm touch. It's been a long time since the last time she felt it, but there was no mistake, this was definitely-
"I'm so glad that you're okay..."
She couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She was so relieved.
Everyone smiled.
-
"Hey, Lelouch..."
"Mmm?"
"Don't tell me...you're still obsessed with pizza?"
Lelouch nearly choked on the piece of beef he was eating.
"Because...before you kicked me out of your kitchen, I thought I could see some empty pizza boxes in a corner. Actually, why did you kick me out anyway?'
"I told you already, didn't I?" Lelouch stated matter-of-factly as he started cutting another piece from the steak on his plate. "This time, I'm the host here, and the guest should just stay seated instead of trying to help in the kitchen."
Suzaku laughed nervously. "Haha...you do have a point. Then what about the pizzas?"
Lelouch pretended to not hear anything.
"Onii-sama...he's been collecting points." It was Nanaly who had answered.
"Aha. That's just like you, Lelouch." Suzaku smirked knowingly.
Lelouch still stayed as calm as ever.
"But lately...onii-sama seemed to be turning a little soft in some areas...I'm a bit worried." Nanaly said jokingly.
"Lelouch, you shouldn't worry Nanaly so much, she's your sister after all." Suzaku added.
"Yes, yes Lulu-chan. Mokona - the hero of justice - will punish those that do not take care of their sisters!" Mokona chimed in, squeaking from Lelouch's shoulder.
Lelouch's face held no expression, but his fork and knife was shaking.
"Ah! I remember hearing from the television one day that you'll get a Cheese-kun pillow if you have enough points...onii-sama...don't tell me..."
"Mokona remembers too! Cheese-kun is very round and fluffy, just like Mokona!"
"Lelouch..."
The trio snickered-
Lelouch glared. "You three-!!"
-and laughed out loud.
Lelouch silently smiled to himself as he observed Suzaku and Nanaly laughing happily. It's been a long time since he had felt so happy, and so...normal.
The rest of the night followed as Nanaly and Suzaku exchanged stories about him and...pizzas. Pepperoni ones, to be exact.
And the fact that Mokona was there didn't help at all.
-
"Ah! Tonight was fun! Thank you for inviting me to your house, Lelouch."
Suzaku was walking down the steps from the front door of the student clubhouse. It was very late, Nanaly and Mokona were already asleep in their respective beds. In the former's case, her own one, and in the latter's case, Lelouch's.
"I should be the one thanking you. It's been a long time since Nanaly was so happy...and me too." Lelouch said as he followed Suzaku.
Suzaku stopped in his tracks, and said in a small but firm voice. "I think...it'll be better for both of us if we pretend we don't know each other."
Lelouch's eyes widened.
"What...are you saying?"
"Just think about it, Lelouch. What would people think if they found out that you were friends with an Honorary Britannian?" Suzaku's voice was still firm, but Lelouch could hear the sadness in it.
"..."
"...if we weren't careful, the fact that you're a prince might also be found out." Suzaku finished his sentence with a solemn tone.
Lelouch looked away. He did not like being reminded of his true identity. It brings back too many unwanted memories from an even more unwanted past.
"...to the very least, can you come to our house again sometime?"
Suzaku smiled. "Of course I'd do that. But I have work to do at the military, so I might not be able to come over very often. Still, I'll make sure to come once in a while, I promise."
"Thank you, Suzaku."
Suzaku gave Lelouch a little wink and continued down the stairs. Once again, though, he stopped in his tracks and turned around with a big grin on his face.
"Lelouch..."
"Hmm?"
"...good luck on getting a Cheese-kun."
"You-!"
Suzaku waved at him and ran away happily.
-
The next day.
Tension was still building up among the students. They were whispering to each other in hallways whenever Suzaku passed through, and avoided him at all costs.
"Say, Lelouch, weren't you a bit weird yesterday?" Rivalz questioned.
"Hmm? I just got a bad grade on my history test. That's all." Lelouch was used to lying anyway. But then again, he didn't do all that well on that particular test.
Rivalz burst out laughing.
"If that was a joke, it's a really good one, man."
Lelouch chuckled.
Behind Rivalz, Lelouch saw Suzaku heading towards them. Almost instantly, the hallway quieted. Suzaku walked on as if nothing had happened, and Lelouch pretended that he didn't see anything when Suzaku passed them.
The hallway started getting noisy again after Suzaku entered his classroom.
Rivalz continued his conversation with Lelouch.
"The thing that I wanted to show you yesterday-"
Stare.
"-and no, Lelouch, it is not one of my "proofs of courage", no matter how much I wanted to show you another one."
Rivalz fumbled in his pockets for something, and, finally finding said thing, pulled it out and handed it to Lelouch.
It was an article from a newspaper, obviously cut out.
"You might've already known, but anyway..."
"This is...?" Lelouch asked, confused.
"Just read it, and you'll know!"
Still mildly confused, Lelouch started to read the article.
Famous Scientist Claimed To Have Found Cause For Mysterious Disappearances
One of the top Britannian scientist, Charles Spencer (Age 37), claimed to have found the cause for a series of mysterious disappearances over fifty years ago. He-
"Wait- a scientist? Found cause to disappearances over fifty years ago? Why would a scientist-?"
"Well-" Rivalz scratched his head. "Because the disappearances were really strange- what? You have never heard of the mysterious disappearances over fifty years ago?" He asked in disbelief.
"I've heard about them before...but-"
"Even though it happened a long time ago, it's still a popular topic for discussion - people speculating on possible causes and adding their own twist to the original disappearances. Actually, the popular version right now is not even accurate at all. The newspaper had a column about it, but I thought you would know, so..."
Lelouch just stared.
Rivalz cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway- the disappearances, as you know, they started a long time ago. People just started disappearing one after each other for no clear reason at all - exactly one hundred disappeared, but none could be found. They were all teenagers about fourteen to seventeen, and coincidentally, all of them were loners in one way and another - outsiders. At least that's what I know.
Also, according to the newspapers and internet, all of them disappeared in some place faraway from urban areas - forests, plains, beaches etc. Only their belongings are found."
Lelouch waited for Rivalz to continue.
"And the strangest thing - at the place where they supposedly disappeared, a strange mark of sorts was always found somewhere around. Even stranger - the mark disappears after a week and never shows up again."
"...this just sounds like some popular urban legend to me." Lelouch said.
"Of course not!" Rivalz snapped. "It's been on the newspapers! And all over the internet! Look for yourself if you don't believe! Sheesh, Lelouch, you're always such a rational person."
Rational...? Lelouch laughed bitterly to himself. I've been anything but rational lately.
"So...how was the mark like?"
Rivalz seemed satisfied at Lelouch's interest.
"It's very weird...like a bird or something, but not exactly. Ah! I can sketch it for you." Rivalz reached into his pocket again.
"...I do hope it's not like one of your stickmen."
Rivalz sulked. "Really, man, I'm not that bad, am I?"
He found a piece of paper and began sketching on it with a ballpen.
"Hmm...I think it's like this...not sure tho', drew it from memory...here!"
He held out the piece of paper proudly.
Lelouch took it and squinted at Rivalz drawing...but something was familiar with the shape.
He gasped with realization. Even with Rivalz's messy lines entangling each other, the shape is still recognizable.
Geass...?
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Took me a really long time...this chapter. Want to know why? First, the author likes to mustang from writing the fic, secondly, the author just went to a field trip last week and could not write for a whole seven days, thirdly, the author, after getting the format material book of Geass, found that she had reconstructed Ashford Academy in only one paragraph, and lastly but not least, the structure of the chapter was changed like...a billion times or something. I originally intended for it to be a retell of episode six from the cat's perspective, and added with something else that mirrors the situation...but was met with totally different results.<--no idea what she was talking about
I scratched that idea, since the other side was a bit OOC and kind of impossible, and developed a new structure for it. The chapter was also originally intended to be oveer 6,000 words long - but again, the author feels like seperating them into two chapters.
For those who are wondering about C.C.'s appearance - rest assured, or maybe not, since she will appear in later chapters, as in, very very late ones. If I really continue writing till that point, since although the basic storyline for this fic is set, the development is totally...urgh. So just wait and see. You may also notice that some of the lines in the fic are actually heavily influenced by other anime - for example, a line from last chapter "She was in a nightmare where she couldn't fight back or speak" was actually an inaccurately translated line from the opening song of D. Gray-man. There's also something that looks like the title of a random chapter of DG floating around this chapter....
Oh, and both Fuuma and Lulu would probably trying to kill me for 1. using his words in a weird way and 2. exploring his obbession for pizza. Don't blame that on me, blame that on Pizza Hut! Actually, really makes me wonder what Fuuma will react if his words were thrown back at him in a mocking way...*off-topic*
P.S. Lulu's mistake in reading the kanji was actually my mistake.XDD;; The first time I saw 手話 I totally read it as 'tewa', and typing tewa gets me 手輪. So there.;_;
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(no subject)
I like the part about Lulu, pizza & Cheese-kun! XD
(no subject)
Anyways, I don´t mind you changing the story anymore (poor Lelouch and cheese-kun XD)I still like it!!!!!!!
Oh, and you could change the dialogue between Lulu and Mokona into;
Mokona: "is he your lover?
Lelouch stares.
Keep it up(morefluffmorefluffmorefluff)
byebye
(no subject)
The main reason that I changed it was because I didn't want to follow the anime series too much, people get really bored reading fics like that. And as to what happened between this chapter and last chapter, I'll leave it up to your own imagination.<--procrastinating
Lulu needs to get pwwned by pepperoni pizza more. He is simply cute that way.
OMG CHEESE-KUN/LULU OTPI COULD TOTALLY DO THAT, YEAH.XDDD;;; Poor Mokona probably wouldn't get away with THAT though. Lulu would probably kick it off his bed.
(I promise, promise, promise that if I do not procrastinate, your newly-baked fluff will be coming up soon.XDD)
(no subject)
Btw, kanji? Where's the kanji?
(no subject)
...you just made me realize I didn't put any 'previous chapters' links. I fail.
lol That could be possible.XDD;; I couldn't wait until I get to the part where Suzaku and Syaoran meet.
Oh, 'sign language' in kanji is 手話, read as 'juwa', but since the first kanji could also be read as 'te', I mispronounced it the first time, causing it to turn into 'tewa' =手輪 in my Japanese typer.
(no subject)
(no subject)
Feels like it's a setup to the bigger plot. I really like how you do Suzaku-Lulu relationship here, too. They feel really comfortable with each other, which is always a plus for anything, friendship or pairing. :D
(no subject)
It would be awesome and absurd at the same time if *somehow* Lulu's identity was revealed because of a Cheese-kun. Though I can't really see how that can happen.XD;;Actually, I think I spilled too much stuff in this chapter.>_> I was afraid that someone might figure out what I was planning.-_-;; Suzaku is probably the only one aside from Nanaly that Lulu feels really comfortable around with, and that probably goes with Suzaku too...he seems to feel quite comfortable around Cecil too...that is, until she started to make onigiri for him.
(no subject)
Suzaku : *hunthunt* Oh Cheese-kun, where are you?
Cheese-kun : HERE MISTER. (Figuratively)
Suzaku : Gotcha! I~ found~ your~ secret~, Lulu~ *triumphant hum*
C.C. : WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING WITH MY CHEESE-KUN.
Suzaku : *shriek*
Dou?
Suzaku seems like he's easier with people than Lelouch, though it's understandable. Suzaku doesn't really have to hide his history. Whereas with Lulu, Suzaku is about the only one he can be completely (relatively speaking) honest with and drop his "Lelouch Lamperouge, normal, well-adjusted guy, oh yes, nothing wrong at all" act. And the moral of the story is, don't let Brits make Asian food for you unless they know what they're doing. (I had the experience once. It was very unpleasant)